A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Nov. 14, 1852.

The hymn which has been sung, I think, is a very appropriate one, and if we can all put it in practice, if we all say we will commence to do it from this day, I imagine that we have created a heaven already in our own minds. If we would forsake everything that is unrighteous, that creates sorrow and misery in this world, you will all admit that I and you would be at once in possession of a heaven of happiness.

The discourse we have heard from brother Taylor was a rehearsal of a great many things we have passed through, that is, many of us. Those who have passed through these things have appreciated them, and they are actually in possession of more knowledge and experience than those who have not passed through them. Still, we find, in the course of our experience, that many think they have more experience, and know more and comprehend more, than their neighbors. However, I will let time suffice to give them an experience in that matter—time is necessary to bring it about. I have said it many times, that I had no doubt that every man and every woman would, perhaps, get all the experience they wanted. And as for this people, I do not say to what they can be brought; but sometimes I have thought, or had my doubts, whether or no the majority of them will take a course to keep peace in our midst, and secure to us continually the comfort and consolation we now enjoy.

The majority of you enjoy greater blessings this day than you ever did in your lives. I have traveled over a great portion of the earth in days that are past. I have seen the sorrows of the world. I have seen this people, or many of them, very poor, and penniless. I have dwelt in England, and a part of the time in London, and established the Gospel there, when I have lived upon my two penny loaves per day, with a glass of water. You that have come from there, know what kind of a thing a penny loaf is; there certainly is not that substance existing in it that there is in a piece of good solid bread the breadth of my three fingers; it is not all bread, but it is a mixture, a combination of other fixings, something like their milk in London, which they make from chalk; so if any of you are destitute of milk cows, I am telling you how you can make milk. I speak of these things because I have experienced them. I want to know if there are any people brought to that, in this community? Do you live as poor and as penniless as you did there? No, you do not. There are many here that did live there and they have now their abundance, and they eat so much here that they are almost disabled, their minds are not so active, and this is the cause many times they are not to be found in this hall—they eat so much, they are under the necessity of going to bed, not to rest themselves, but to rest the food they have taken. This is too much the case. If I take food in the afterpart of the day, it is disagreeable for me to speak in the afternoon; it is hard and laborious. When you go from this place and return to your homes, you eat so much, that when you return here again, those that do, you are as void of receiving intelligence and the Spirit of the Lord God as a stone. This I know to be true; that is, with many of that portion that do return. There is nearly one-half of this congregation who disable themselves, and are obliged to go to bed to rest their food, on the Sabbath afternoon. I am not speaking of this thing as though it is practiced here any more than it is in the whole world. You do not train your bodies, and cultivate your minds, in eating and drinking, in partaking of the fruits of the earth; your lives are wasted away, not in a useful manner, but in a very useless manner. You throw away your lives. I could prove it to you very easily if I had you in a place where I knew who you were. I know I cannot teach here, and come upon little matters, that, nevertheless, are important to be known. Why? Because it would be considered ridiculous. What did brother Brigham say here one day, when he was speaking upon the works of the human family, and that they would have to give an account of their works? Said he, “It is ridiculous for me to recount their works, or speak them before any public assembly.” So you would consider, many of you, that the holy order of God, or what I would say to you, is ridiculous; on the other hand, many of you would consider it the most consistent. But allow me to say, that your salvation and exaltation depend upon what you consider indelicate for a man to speak in a public congregation.

Brethren, there is not anything I fear, sisters, there is not anything I fear, in this world, but that we shall prosper, and dwell upon the earth, and continue in the Valleys of the mountains, and never be removed, that is, if we will be faithful, and do as well as we know how, and follow the dictates of the Holy Spirit of God, and of him and his brethren who preside over us. If we do this, we never shall be overcome. These things have been talked about many times, and I might split my lungs, and my brethren might do the same, unto some people in the world; for the more you talk to them, the more light that is revealed to them, the less they seem to appreciate it. If they do seem to appreciate it, they do not obey it, they do not walk in the path marked out; but they will receive instructions from day to day, and enter into the most solemn obligations, before God and angels, that they will observe them, but before they get home they forget them. Is not this true, gentlemen? Is it not true, ladies? I will tell you my feelings plainly about these matters. I wish to God that this people would do as they are told, as brother Taylor has said today. You know what my belief is, and I am satisfied it is the belief of every person here. Many are willing to eat and drink, wear clothing, and lie down to sleep, and they think they are going to be ushered into the Kingdom of God by that portion of men and women that are faithful. This is a mistake, gentlemen and ladies. If you do not cultivate yourselves, and cultivate your spirits in this state of existence, it is just as true as there is a God that liveth, you will have to go into another state of existence, and bring your spirits into subjection there. Now you may reflect upon it, you never will obtain your resurrected bodies, until you bring your spirits into subjection. I am not talking to this earthly house of mine, neither am I talking to your bodies, but I am speaking to your spirits. I am not talking as to people who are not in the house. Are not your spirits in the house? Are not your bodies your houses, your tabernacles or temples, and places for your spirits? Look at it; reflect upon it. If you keep your spirits trained according to the wisdom and fear of God, you will attain to the salvation of both body and spirit. I ask, then, if it is your spirits that must be brought into subjection? It is; and if you do not do that in these bodies, you will have to go into another estate to do it. You have got to train yourselves according to the law of God, or you will never obtain your resurrected bodies. Mark it! You do not think of these things, you only think of today. If you can pass along today, it is all right, thinking that brother Brigham, brother Heber, brother Willard, and the Twelve, with brother Joseph at our head, will lead you all into the celestial world. We cannot do it. Why? Because Justice sits at the door, and will not admit a single soul until he has paid the uttermost farthing. Do you think we can pass you in there clandestinely? If you do, you will find justice sitting at the door, and she will require justice at your hand, and mercy will claim all that is due to her, but mercy will not rob justice, not one writ, neither will justice rob mercy; they are united together, just as much as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ever were. As brother Brigham said here, if you sin against God, you have got to satisfy Him; and if you sin against Jesus Christ, you have got to make confession to Jesus, and He and the Father can forgive you; and if you sin against the Holy Ghost, you have got to satisfy the Holy Ghost, for neither the Father nor the Son can forgive that sin. Is not that good law? That is the law of Deseret, gentlemen. And when you sin against brother Brigham, will the Father forgive you? No: you have got to ask forgiveness of brother Brigham. And when you sin against me, you have got to seek forgiveness of me, before you get it from the Father. You have got to repent of your sins, and turn unto the Lord your God, with full purpose of heart, and cease your murmuring and complaining, that you may be forgiven.

I could not get a company here last Conference, I could not get one solitary vote for a man to preside over a company, of murmurers. You cannot organize ten murmurers in this whole city; for if you can get them together, they cannot agree, and that is the difficulty.

I will tell you what will be good for us, and it will bestow upon us all the luxuries of this life, of heaven and earth. You are talking about heaven and about earth, and about hell, &c.; but let me tell you, you are in hell now, and you have got to qualify yourselves here in hell to become subjects for heaven; and even when you have got into heaven, you will find it right here where you are on this earth. When we escape from this earth, we suppose we are going to heaven? Do you suppose you are going to the earth that Adam came from? That Eloheim came from? Where Jehovah the Lord came from? No. When you have learned to become obedient to the Father that dwells upon this earth, to the Father and God of this earth, and obedient to the messengers He sends—when you have done all that, remember you are not going to leave this earth. You will never leave it until you become qualified, and capable, and capacitated to become a father of an earth yourselves. Not one soul of you ever will leave this earth, for if you go to hell, it is on this earth; and if you go to heaven, it is on this earth; and you will not find it anywhere else. Is it not hard to bring these truths home to you. I tell you I am at home now, and I am in heaven; but the heaven I have to enjoy is the heaven I make myself. Do you know it? Well, if this be the case, which you will probably all admit, for it will be the case with me, it will be the same with you, and you cannot help yourselves—I want to know if you have any peace at home, in your families, only what your wife and children make? You have not. If you make peace and a heaven in your habitations, then you are in heaven, both you and your families. Now suppose we apply this principle to the house of every man in Israel, who is a father of a family, and they all agree they will make heaven at home, and after that they all conclude to come together and make a general heaven. But the first place to begin to make a heaven, is to make it at home, and then we will club together, and conclude to have it all over. Do you understand my logic? Do you, brother Hyde? [Elder Hyde, “Yes, sir.”] These are my feelings.

Now let us go to work, every one of us, and pull together, and put means into the hands of the Trustee-in-trust, pay up our tithing, and then if we have a surplus which we do not want to put out to usury now, put it in the hands of the Trustee-in-trust. Go to work, not only next spring, but now make preparations, and let us build a temple. What say you? I do not want you to say yes, unless you calculate to do it, but, as brother Joseph used to say, “Yankee doodle do it.” Now go to work, and do the thing right up, and when next fall comes to pass, let us see the walls of the temple erected, and the roof on it. What say you? It is just as you say. No one man has the capacity and power to do it himself, but if you say it, and you will do it, there will be a temple next fall, with a roof upon it. Do you believe it? You do. You nod your heads; come, nod them a little lower still; none of your half winks here, but whole winks or nothing. We can do it just as easily as I have built a little house on the corner there. How do you feel, brethren? Do you feel, do it? Don’t you say yes, or give me a half wink, without meaning it; but, as the girls say, give me a whole heart or nothing. I do not want you should have my heart, and I do not want you should have the hearts of my brethren, because if you have their hearts, they will do nothing for God or His cause. You know I talk just as I have a mind to, when I get up to talk here. Do you consider it sensible, that we go to work, and rear a temple to the name of the Lord, and have the roof on it next fall? Say? None of your half winks to me again; is it not reasonable to say, it cannot be done unless you do it?

It is necessary to unite and cultivate the hearts of this people together, more than anything else. The subject of building a temple alone will not do it, or your means; but to bring this to a focus, your hearts must be where your treasure is. If you place your treasure in the temple, your hearts must be there, they are wherever you place your treasure. The Scripture says so, and so say I. I am a servant of God, a man of truth, and President Young is my brother, my leader, and governor, and shall be forever and ever, and you cannot unhorse me if you try, and we will unhorse the whole of you if you do not do right. Shall we go to work, and build a temple, and a wall around it? Now, gentlemen, if we do it at all, we have got to commence the work, and continue to progress in it until we have completed it. You must put your means and labor in it. How many hands do we see here on the public works weekly? Why there is scarcely a man to be seen, except regularly employed hands. Do not talk to me about doing a thing, when you do not do it. As brother Hyde said, it is punctuality that will save you. The Lord said, through Joseph, in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, that a covenant breaker never could be saved. You never can be saved, only in truth and faithfulness to God, and those whom He has appointed and selected to govern the affairs of His Church on the earth. Now, you say, “Brother Kimball, you talk rather barefaced, the Gentiles will hear you.” That is what they dread. Bless your souls, we want they should hear it more and more and more, until the kingdom of our God brings under subjection every kingdom in the world. Can we do it; gentlemen and ladies, upon any other principle than by being one? Tell me if any of you have got an argument to prove to the contrary? I know you have not got it; if you have, I am ready for it today.

I am perhaps trespassing upon your time and patience; well, I do not care whether I am or not, you seem to sit very easy notwithstanding. It is not very cold; though your faces appear rather blooming; your eyes are bright and your spirits look cheerful. I do not think you are cold; you never saw a man or a woman have the blues yet, but they looked black, and their flesh looked blue, like the green fly. I have got the start of you, for I have on a great coat. I have not spoken in public for some time, and I did not know if ever I should again, my lungs are so injured by speaking in private meetings.

What do you say now, casting away the blues and everything of this kind, what do you say about going to, ye Bishops, with your several wards, after this day—tomorrow morning, with light hearts, and cheerful spirits, and glad countenances, to prepare for the erection of a temple to the name of the Almighty. We want to get stone on the ground, and other preparations are necessary to be made, to lay the foundation for this work. What do you say? I will have no half winks, neither will I call a vote without you go it as the heart of one man. What do you say, brethren and sisters? Will you say, “Yankee doodle do it?” If you do, say aye. [All said, “Aye.“]

There, Bishops, I will deliver up the meeting into your hands.

An Address by President Brigham Young, Delivered at the General Conference in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Oct. 9, 1852.

There is a matter of temporal business that I wish to lay before this Conference, and I embrace the present opportunity to do so. I have not very acute feelings upon the matter, but I have frequently known cases of difficulty and dissatisfaction come before me, which were calculated to annoy my feelings, and the feelings of this people. I feel very acutely, very exquisitely, upon certain subjects pertaining to their history, but on the present occasion I am quite careless and indifferent as to the subject I now propose to lay before the Conference. If we could obtain a hearing of all the male members of this community, or in other words, get all the inhabitants of these valleys together, that portion of them that can hear and understand, it would be better; but seeing that this cannot be done, we shall have to content ourselves by laying before this Conference the matter, pertaining practically to the actions of men, that we now wish to present. It is concerning the canyons, the wood, the timber, or whatever the canyons situated near these valleys produce.

Wood seems to be the first and most prominent product of the canyons. The situation of them is too well known to make it necessary for me to offer a description. I believe that there are some acts performed in these canyons, of which the actors are ashamed, and they would rather I would pass over these points, and the hard words they have made use of; they would much rather have them forgotten by all who have a knowledge of what they have done and said in the canyons.

There are a great many whose experience exceeds the experience of brother Hyde in this matter. His short experience, he says, teaches him, that if he had the power in his hands, he would decree that all men who go into the canyons for wood and timber should be saved. This may be the mind of others, and to them it may serve as an excuse for outraging the principles of righteousness, but to another class of men it would be no excuse at all. I believe it would be just as necessary for the boys, when they have mounted their sleds on the top of the hill, to curse, and swear, and fight, and quarrel, while they are riding down with all ease, and without any trouble, as it would be to curse, swear, and fight while drawing their sleds up the hill to enjoy another ride. You know, boys enjoy themselves very well while their sleds are traveling down the hill at a great speed; it is hurrah with them, and all is right; but in dragging their sleds up the hill, they fall down sometimes, and bump their heads, and bruise their knees against the hard snow, and they have no sooner recovered their foothold than down they go again, and so they get into confusion. Now it appears to me to be just as necessary for them to quarrel in riding down the hill, as it is for them to quarrel in drawing their sleds up the hill, as for any good it accomplishes in either case.

It is an uphill business to go into these canyons and get wood, to say the least of it. If I am able to present what I would like to present, and what I have previously had in my mind, and exhibit it in a few words, and in its true colors, I believe an expression upon it from this Conference will have a salutary influence upon the community; that is my opinion, and the reason why I now present the subject before you. I will call upon my brethren who sit here, to let their past experience answer a question, or perhaps more than one. Are you not dissatisfied, and is there not bitterness in your feelings, the moment you find a canyon put in the possession of an individual, and power given unto him to control the timber, wood, rock, grass, and, in short, all its facilities? Does there not something start up in your breast, that causes you to feel very uncomfortable? You may be ready on the right and on the left to say, “No, I am not aware that it affects me any.” This may be the case with a few, but while we find one here and another there of that class, do we not find multitudes of the other class that would be very irritable upon that subject—a facsimile of a roily fountain much disturbed, or like the troubled sea that casts up mire and dirt? Why I judge the matter in this light is because of what I have learned previously to this day, concerning the real feelings of the majority of the people touching this matter. There were a few instances, some two or three years ago, of the legislative council assigning canyons to individuals. Now it is in the hands of county officers to dispose of such matters. Are the people satisfied with these assignments? They are not. Could they be satisfied were they placed under different circumstances in relation to this matter? They could. Have we power as a people to introduce an order of things that will give general satisfaction? I will say, that it depends altogether upon circumstances. It can or it cannot be done, just as the people please.

I will relate a few circumstances or incidents that have taken place here, but I will not name particular places, nor individuals. Mr. B. goes into the canyons, without any leave or licence, and without even asking for a grant; he makes his way up a canyon, and finds, on each side of him, both firewood and fence poles. He climbs the mountain, for two or three miles, works a road, and gets to the timber, poles, and wood, at an expense of from one to five hundred dollars. He commences to get out poles, and keeps his men and teams laboring there from day to day. Now how long will he remain there before news will come into the city, that Mr. B. is getting timber and poles at such a point, and that it is a most excellent chance there? Well, some of the citizens will say, “Has brother B. worked a road up there?” “Yes.” “Can we get up with a team?” “Yes.” “Then let us go and get some wood and poles.” How long would it be before the eyes of a portion of the community would be turned directly to that spot? How long would it be before they would go to the very place where brother B.’s road branches off from the main road, and go up the mountain (of course they could see no other track than where Mr. B. was getting out his wood), and get poles, wood, and timber? They would not stop to look on the mountains around them, and make new roads for themselves. No, they can only get wood, poles, and timber where brother B. is getting them, after he has been at the trouble and expense of making a road. When they find brother B. there, he says, “You cannot come into this canyon, for I have worked the road myself, to facilitate the getting of my wood and poles here.” Another person comes along with twenty or thirty wagons. Mr. B. says to him, “Look yonder, there is plenty of timber, and as easy to get at as this that I call my own.” Friend H. replies, “But I will be damned if I don’t get wood where you get it.” Mr. B. says, “And I’ll be damned if you do go there.” This is the language of men who sit here before me today, and so near me that I could put my hand upon them. They go up in the canyon, and there quarrel with each other. Let friend S. once pass by the road that Mr. B. has made, and he may go on up the canyon ten miles, surrounded with wood, and not get a stick of timber, for he and friend H., with his train, and others, never can see and understand how they can get poles in any other place than where friend B. has made a good road leading to where he gets his. Is this so? You Elders of Israel will go into the canyons, and curse and swear—damn, and curse your oxen, and swear by Him who created you! I am telling the truth. Yes, you will rip, and curse, and swear, as bad as any pirates ever did.

Suppose these characters do as the old Quaker did when he whipped the man: he took off his coat, and said, “Religion, do thou lie there, until I whip this man.” The boys, or many of them, who go into the canyons with wagons and teams, do the same: they lay down their religion at the mouth of the canyon, saying, “Thou lie there, until I go for my load of wood.” I expect, in all probability, it was the case with Elder Hyde, for he never would have thought that he ought to be saved for going into the canyon once, if he had had his religion along with him.

I do not wish to say much upon this subject, I am not spirited in it, nor do I care much about it. I want to show to this community a plan by which these matters of business transactions can be brought to some kind of a system, to the better accommoda– tion of the public. We will suppose, when strangers come to these valleys, that they find land offices, canyon offices, timber offices, &c. They enter, and walk up before the clerk in the office, and inquire what facilities there are to get a living here. Out steps the landlord and says, “This valley and all the canyons belong to old General Harris, and to his heirs after him. That valley over yonder—Utah Valley, belongs to old General Wolf’s heirs; and there’s another valley, that belongs to another man; and I am here as the guardian of these heirs to all this property, I am here to dispose of it.” “We want to settle here,” say the people, “can we get any land?” “O yes,” the landlord replies, “lift up your eyes to the right, and to the left—do you see the grass?” “Yes.” “Do you see the lovely streams that gush from the mountains?” “Yes.” “Do you see this vast prairie before you?” “Yes.” “Look at the soil, it is rich and productive. We do not have winters here, as you do in the eastern countries, but your cattle can feed in these mountain valleys both winter and summer.” The landlord says again, “Lift up your eyes and look: this wood, land, and the grass that you see growing, and all these valleys, with all they contain, you are freely welcome to; go now, lay out your city plots and your farms, dig your ditches, and turn the streams whithersoever you will, for to all this you are welcome.” Would they not think he was one of the finest men that ever was? Would they not love such a landlord? The people inquire again, “What chance is there here for getting wood?” “O,” says he, “that is another thing, I will talk to you about that.” “We wish to know if we can get wood here to burn, to cook our food with, and to keep our houses warm; and upon what terms?” Says the landlord, “My hired servants are up in the Red Butte Canyon, or they may be in Canyon Creek Canyon, or over in the west mountains; I have got servants, and plenty of wood, this you can have on certain conditions.” “What are your conditions, good landlord?” “These are my conditions—you must take your teams into Red Butte, where you will find a gate, and a man living there, to him you will have to pay 25 cents for getting a load of wood.” “But how is the road after you get through the gate?” “O, it is a good road, and the wood, timber, rock, and everything else are first rate; and now you go and get a cord of good wood for 25 cents. Or you may go to the west mountains, there the canyons are all prepared for you, the roads are made, and I keep men there to see that they are kept in good repair, and all you have got to do is to pay 25 cents for the use of the road.” What would be the feelings of this people under such circumstances? Do you suppose they would feel as those do that have kept up a continual quarrelling, murmuring, and bickering, and have given way to wickedness? The canyons are precisely in the position I present them to you in this similitude; and you murmur at the council, at the legislative assembly, at the county court, and at everybody that wants to make these canyons convenient and passable to the community.

Again, I ask the question, what would be the feelings of this people, supposing they had come to these valleys under such circumstances? “The valleys, the grass, the soil, the water, and all the advantages you are welcome to, but I shall charge you 25 cents per load for your wood.” If you won’t answer the question, I will for you: every time you would meet with that landlord, it would be, “God bless you, you are the best man on earth;” and you would be ready to lick the dust off his feet; you would not say “God damn you, I will get wood where I please.” I am ashamed to repeat the language that is too often made use of, but I do it that the community may see how disgraceful it is, and frown upon every man that will allow himself to be degraded by the use of such filthy language; it is a disgrace to the wicked, to say nothing of Saints. Again upon this point, would you not take off your hats, and say, “Thank you,” every time you met that landlord? Yes, you would, and I know it. Well, supposing the legislative body in these valleys should say to some man, Take that canyon, and put a gate at the mouth of it, and make a good road to the wood and timber, and to defray the expense of this, lay a tax of 25 cents on every man that passes through with a team to get wood, timber, or anything else the canyon produces—could you bless that legislature, could you greet it with smiles and thanks, for doing that for this people? Or would you curse it?

If I had time to do so, and if it would be wisdom, I could demonstrate, by a mathematical calculation, definitely and truly, and you might take into the calculation Red Butte Canyon, and every other canyon that the people have been into—I could demonstrate that they have destroyed more horses, mules, harness, oxen, wagons, chains, and ox yokes, and other property, in getting out of these canyons what they have got, than what would lay a first rate turnpike road in every direction, as far as they have penetrated these canyons. Suppose we have a canyon here within one mile of us, open to all the people, I ask where is there a man that would work the road to the wood? He is not to be found in this community. If it were open and free to all, I might spend a thousand dollars there, and never get one load of wood. I have done just such things myself. I have gone to work and made roads to get wood, and have not been able to get it. I have cut it down, and piled it up, and still have not got it. I wonder if anybody else can say so. Have any of you piled up your wood, and when you have gone back could not find it? Some stories could be told of this kind, that would make professional thieves ashamed. It is not all of this community that possesses such spirits. A flock of sheep consisting of thousands must be clean indeed if some of them are not smutty. This is a large flock of sheep that have come up to these mountain valleys, and some of them have got taglocks hanging about them, or in other words, there are those that will do what you have heard exhibited to you today.

What shall be done with sheep that stink the flock so? We will take them, I was going to say, and cut off their tails two inches behind their ears; however, I will use a milder term, and say, cut off their ears. But instead of doing this, we will try to cleanse them; we will wash them with soap, that will come well nigh taking off the skin; we will then apply a little Scotch snuff, and a little tobacco, and wash them again until we make them clean. That is what I am doing now. Peradventure we shall find a few such sheep here in the flock, and a few that have got the itch; these are apt to spread the disease among those that are clean, for they will run along and rub themselves on others, until all are smitten with the disorder, and it would be hard to tell in which it originated.

I do not want to destroy the people, I want to wash them, and, if necessary, apply the Scotch snuff. If this community would let any man of sense, of calculation, of a good mind and judgment, sit down and make his calculations, with regard to their getting wood out of these canyons, they would see the advantage of taking the course the legislature has marked out, so clearly, that this whole people would speak out boldly and say, “You men having authority, look up every canyon in these valleys, and put them in the possession of individuals who will make good roads to the timber, that we may get there without breaking our wagons, or without breaking our limbs, destroying our property, and endangering our lives.” I say, every man of good sense would exclaim, “Put these canyons into the hands of individuals, with this proviso—make good roads, and keep them in good repair.”

To exhibit it to the people in another point of view. I will suppose a Gentile owns all these canyons, Uncle Sam, for instance. He determines he will work these canyons himself, work the roads, &c., and draw his revenue from them by the people’s getting their timber—should we not esteem it a blessing? We should. If it would be a blessing to him, or to any rich company of speculators, then why would it not be a blessing to us, to act upon the same principles ourselves? Could you tell any reason why not?

A great many here do not understand certain things that exist; I can tell you some of them. If any individual will come here and live, and find out how we do business, learn and understand our business transactions, he will see that exhibited that will prove to him a great many things he is not acquainted with. I will take one of the best individuals we have, and put him into the tithing office, put another into the stonecutter’s shop, and another in the joiner’s shop, and let them work there one or two years, when the books are examined they have taken up every farthing of their wages, and many have contracted considerable debts in that office, some are owing 800, 1,000, and some as high as 1,500 dollars. Now comes the decision. Suppose you owe that store across the road there 1,500 dollars, would you try to pay it? Yes, you would lie awake at nights to think how to pay those merchants that do not belong to the kingdom of God, you would offer them horses, and wagons, and oxen, to liquidate that debt. But that man who owes on the tithing books will say, “Just straighten that up for me, cancel that debt, for I want my name to look as good on the tithing books as the rest.” Would he say this to a Gentile? No, he would not. We never see such goodness, such kindness, such benevolence, such philanthropy in the persons who owe the tithing office anything.

Did you ever ask me to liquidate your debts? You may answer the question for yourselves. I shall not name anybody. But let one of these merchants ask for the payment of a debt, saying, “I am going away in September,” and you conclude that that debt must be paid—do you pay it? Yes, you will sell everything you have on earth, to pay it. But do you owe the tithing office anything? “O yes, and I am going to work it off; I know I owe about 1,500 dollars. But you know it won’t do to owe the Gentiles anything. Brother Brigham, can’t you lend me some money to pay a small debt on that store? Can you let me have a yoke of cattle, my family is suffering for want of wood?” You trace those cattle, and where are they gone to? Why, to pay the enemies of this people. You would take out of this Church the last dime of money, and every ox, and cow, and horse, and hand them all over to our enemies, and let the Church sink to the nethermost hell, for aught you care. That is the difficulty that exists here. If I have got your spectacles, or your shoes, or any other thing of yours, the common saying made use of is, “O, never mind, it is all in the family, you are a brother, it is all right.” I am telling you as it is in that tithing office. What did you hear read, last April Conference? That there were 48,000 dollars owing to the tithing office; yet do you try to pay that debt? No, but the word is, “Brother Brigham, trust me another thousand;” and you never will pay it on the face of the earth, and you think me rather hard because I scold you. These are the difficulties that are here among us.

There exists a double spirit, there is a false, hypocritical spirit in many of the people; it is bred in the flesh, and in the bones, it is received from their fathers and mothers, a hypocritical pretension to friendship, when the real thing itself does not exist in them, and never did; but they are destitute of the true knowledge of the principles of righteousness. I have frequently thought it was not good for a man to have around him too many friends. I have said to my brethren, heretofore, “Don’t love me quite so well as to take away all I have got. I want you to love me pretty well, I have plenty of flour now, and scores and scores of tons I can distribute, but do not take my soul out of me, do not love me quite to death. I am willing to be loved sincerely, but covet not that which I possess, under a false pretension of love to me.” There is that spirit among this people, but it is for want of knowledge, and a proper understanding. Did they possess these, there would be no difficulty in the case.

Now, for instance, a great many inquire, saying, “Why does not our Church keep a store here?” Many can answer that question, who have lived here for some years past; and you who make such an inquiry, would have known the reason, had you also lived here. You that have lived in Nauvoo, in Missouri, in Kirtland, Ohio, can you assign a reason why Joseph could not keep a store, and be a merchant? Let me just give you a few reasons, and there are men here who know how matters went in those days. Joseph goes to New York and buys 20,000 dollars’ worth of goods, comes into Kirtland and commences to trade. In comes one of the brethren, “Brother Joseph, let me have a frock pattern for my wife.” What if Joseph says, “No, I cannot without the money.” The consequence would be, “He is no Prophet,” says James. Pretty soon Thomas walks in. “Brother Joseph, will you trust me for a pair of boots?” “No, I cannot let them go without the money.” “Well,” says Thomas, “Brother Joseph is no Prophet; I have found that out, and I am glad of it.” After awhile, in comes Bill and sister Susan. Says Bill, “Brother Joseph, I want a shawl, I have not got the money, but I wish you to trust me a week or a fortnight.” Well, brother Joseph thinks the others have gone and apostatized, and he don’t know but these goods will make the whole Church do the same, so he lets Bill have a shawl. Bill walks off with it and meets a brother. “Well,” says he, “what do you think of brother Joseph?” “O he is a first-rate man, and I fully believe he is a Prophet. See here, he has trusted me this shawl.” Richard says, “I think I will go down and see if he won’t trust me some.” In walks Richard, “Brother Joseph, I want to trade about 20 dollars.” “Well,” says Joseph, “these goods will make the people apostatize; so over they go, they are of less value than the people.” Richard gets his goods. Another comes in the same way to make a trade of 25 dollars, and so it goes. Joseph was a first-rate fellow with them all the time, provided he never would ask them to pay him. In this way it is easy for us to trade away a first-rate store of goods, and be in debt for them.

And so you may trace it down through the history of this people. If any brethren came into the midst of them as merchants, I never knew one of them go into their stores and go out again satisfied, neither did you. If I had 100,000 dollars worth of goods in that store, owned by myself, or held by a “Mormon” company, in six months the goods would be gone, and we should not have 100 dollars to pay the debt. But let an infernal mobocrat come into our midst, though he brands Joseph Smith with the epithet of “false Prophet,” and calls the “Mormons” a damned set of thieves, and would see all Israel scorching in Tophet, you would give him the last picayune you could raise.

There is not a man who has been in this community a few years but knows I am telling the living truth. Do any of you hate me for it? Do any of you love me for it? It is all the same to me. Do you love the cause? “Yes,” every heart at once responds, “I love the cause, I love the Lord and my religion.” If I would only permit myself to swear, I would say, What the devil is the reason, then, you don’t live according to it? What keeps you from that? What is the reason you cannot pay me what you owe me, as well as your enemy. You continue to trade with the Almighty that way, and it will sink this whole people down to hell. You trade with the Almighty worse than you do with the devil. These things exist, and you know it. A man comes into this Church with a little property, and he must suffer them to pick him until he is as blind as brother Leonard is, that sits over there, or else the people will turn round and curse him, and sink him to the nethermost hell if possible. They have treated Edwin D. Woolley so, and others. Can they keep a store among this people? No, they must let them have the goods, and wait until they can pay them, if they ever do it at all.

They got up a quarrel, about a year ago, and every High Priest and Elder were going to cut Thomas Williams off from the Church, because he asked them to pay their just debts. I said to Thomas, “If they do not pay you as they agreed, arraign them before the High Council; I will be your lawyer, and they shall be cut off from the Church.” They had got it all cut and dried, that if he asked them to pay him, he should be cut off from the Church, but I told them that if they did not live up to their agreement, they should be cut off from the Church, and then be tried by the law of the land.

How has Thomas Williams behaved here? He has paid his tithing, and done good to this people; he has handed over nails, cotton cloth, and other necessary articles. When he brings in his goods, he pays his tithing on them honorably, yet he can be abused; and it is so with every man who comes into the midst of this people with goods, unless he pays them out at random to Tom, Dick, and the devil. Latter-day Saints cannot keep a store of goods, because they will not act as Latter-day Saints, but they will sustain their enemies. How much do you suppose you have paid into these Gentile stores within four months? Can you give a rough guess? I can tell you, if you do not know, for I know something about it. You have paid to them 300,000 dollars within the last six months. The brethren think that we are very hard with them if we ask for a little tithing. I wonder if we have received 30,000 dollars, which we should certainly have received in silver and gold, if the people had been faithful in paying their tithing on the money they have spent at these stores; the money has gone, from time to time, in gold and silver, by boxfuls, to the east. There is not a span of mules that could be found in this valley, able to draw the money, if it were all in silver, to the States, that this people have spent with these merchants within a few months past; they must therefore do business upon the principle of checks; in any other way it is a burden to them to get it over the plains. These are the difficulties that work against our living and doing as we should do.

I will now go back, and say to all the inhabitants of these valleys, if I had the power, and the people were willing to subscribe to that which would do them good, I would look up all the canyons containing wood and other facilities, put gates at the mouths of them, have good roads worked in them, so as to make the wood and the timber easy of access, and make the people pay for the roads and the keeping of them in good repair. If I was a Gentile, and I owned these canyons, and should make such a proposition, it would be so that I could hardly get down to this meetinghouse without some one crying out, “I move that we give that gentleman a vote of thanks;” another would second it, “For that is certainly a Gentile of the first class.” [The speaker made motions, such as bowing and scraping, as the poor serfs of foreign nations do, who subsist on the patrimony of a titled fellow mortal.] I make these motions to show this people how disgraceful it is; it is a disgrace to any community to act as they have done towards the measures of those who wish to do them good all the day long. If a Latter-day Saint wants to do good, why not bless him for it. But no, it is overlooked as a thing of naught. Now, if I do ape out a little of these feelings here, it is to show you how they look inside. I can see them in the people, I know what there is in the midst of them, I know what they have to contend against, and the difficulties and weaknesses they are subject to; it is the want of true knowledge and a sound understanding which causes them to act as they do; if it were not for that, if this people had the knowledge of angels, and then did as they do, they would be sent to hell before the rising of another sun; but as they are ignorant, and inasmuch as they desire to do good, God winks at their foibles, and hopes by it to bless them.

Now, I am going to have an expression from this Conference, with regard to the plan that we, as a community, shall adopt; not as a county, not as the Legislature of Utah, not as civil and military officers, but as officers and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and before I take the expression, if there is one man in this house who feels himself capable of showing a better method, or of producing a better plan to keep the people from running over each other, from breaking each other’s necks, and the necks of their horses, I will give him an opportunity of presenting that plan. In the first place, the feelings of individuals are—what advantage can I get by introducing this plan? I wish you to remember that all I can get by it is, to protect you against running over and trying to kill each other. We do not own the canyons, but the plan is—let them go into the hands of individuals who will make them easy of access, by paying them for their labor. Before I take an expression, I want to see if there is a man that can rise up and propose a better plan than I propose, which of course would be to our advantage to adopt in preference to mine. I have talked long enough upon this matter. The motion is, that we, as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the capacity of a General Conference assembled, and embracing the whole community in the midst of the mountains, recommend, and give it as our opinion, that the best method of disposing of the canyons is to put them in the hands of individuals to make good roads in them, and obtain their pay by taking toll from those who use the roads, at a gate erected for that purpose at the mouth of each canyon. Now, sisters, I want you to vote also, because women are the characters that rule the ballot box. If you are in favor of this motion, as Latter-day Saints, signify it by the uplifted hand. [Unanimous.]

Let the judges in the county of Great Salt Lake take due notice, and govern themselves accordingly. The same thing I say to the judges of any of the other counties of the territory, Take notice, and govern yourselves accordingly. Put these canyons into the hands of individuals who will make good roads into them, and let them take toll from the inhabitants that go there for wood, timber, and poles. Now this is my order for the judges to take due notice of; it does not come from the Governor, but from the President of the Church; you will not see any proclamation in the paper to this effect, but it is a mere declaration of the President of the Conference. Let these things go out to make the people satisfied, and feel contented to have the privilege of getting wood without breaking their necks and destroying their teams.

I want to occupy a few moments more, and talk about our contemplated temple. It has been moved, seconded, and carried by this Conference, that we build a temple here of the best material that America affords. If this is done, it will have to be built of platina; and I do not know that there is any of it to be got in this territory. It is purer, stronger, and is every way a better metal than pure gold. If we cannot get the platina, we must build a temple of pure gold; that is here, I know. But if the Conference want us to build a temple of pure gold, they will have to put into the tithing stores something besides old half-dead stinking cows, and old broken-kneed horses; or if they even put in all the good cattle they possess, will it build a temple of gold, of silver, or of brass? No, it will not.

I am inclined to offer a chemical argument with regard to the material for building a temple in our present circumstances. The best materials, I have mentioned, probably. Iron might be better than stone; the time will come when the Lord will bring for brass gold, for iron silver, and for stones iron, and for wood brass, to beautify His sanctuary, and make the place of His feet glorious. That will be, but it is not now. I thought, when I was at Iron County, and saw the iron mountains, that the iron was actually come instead of stone.

But for the chemical argument touching the material for the building of a temple in this city. It has been proposed, that we send to San Pete to get the rock. Some say it will cost too much, others say we cannot do it, and others say that we can. I, not being a practical chemist, but only a chemist in theory, shall have to use my own language, to express my ideas. You may bring the stone from San Pete, which is a beautiful specimen of rock, and erect a temple here with it; then you may take this sandstone that is found in abundance in the Red Butte Canyon, and build a temple of that; then you step over to the Emigration Canyon, and get this bastard marble, and build another of the same dimensions as that you have built of the red sandstone. Now you have got the San Pete rock temple, the red sandstone temple, and another built of limestone, or bastard marble I call it; then, right beside of that, another one of adobies, mixed with pebbles—take that clay, and these pebble stones that are so abundant here, and mix in with them straw, and build another temple of that composition, besides the three which are built of different kinds of rock, and let them stand together—which do you think will stand the longest? Being a chemist in theory, I should say, according to my mind, when the San Pete rock is washed into the Jordan, the other buildings will still be standing, and be in moderate condition. The red sandstone will go the next, and the other two still remain, the bastard marble or limestone will be in pretty good preservation; and when that is all decomposed and washed away into the Jordan, you will find that temple which is built of mud or adobies, as some call them, still remains, and in better condition than at the first day it was built.

You may ask any practical chemist, any man who knows, understands, and studies the elements, and he will corroborate these statements. This is a matter I want you to look at, to think and meditate upon. I do not talk about the expense of the building, and the time it would take to erect it, but its durability, and which is the best material within our reach to build it with. If you take this clay, which is to be found in abundance on these bottom lands, and mix with it these pebble rocks, and make adobies of the compound, it will petrify in the wall and become a solid rock in five hundred years, so as to be fit to cut into millstones to grind flour, while the other materials I have mentioned will have decomposed, and gone back to their native elements. I am chemist enough to know that much. My simple philosophy is this. The elements of which this terra firma is composed, are every moment either composing or decomposing. They commence to organize or to compose, and continue to grow until they arrive at their zenith of perfection, and then they begin to decompose. When you find a rock that has arrived at its greatest perfection, you may know that the work of decaying has begun. Let the practical chemist make his observations upon a portion of the matter of which this earth is com– posed; and he will find, that just as quick as it is at its perfection, that very instant it begins to decompose. We have proof of this. Go into Egypt, for instance, and you will find the monuments, towers, and pyramids, that were erected in the days of Joseph, and before he was sold into Egypt; they were built of what we call adobies, clay mixed up with straw; these fabrics, which have excited interest for so many ages, and are the wonder of modern nations, were built of this raw material. They have bid defiance to the wear of ages, and they still remain. But you cannot find a stone column that was reared in those times, for they are all decayed. Here we have actual proof that the matter which is the furthest advanced to a state of perfection, is the first to decompose, and go back into its native element, at which point it begins to be organized again, it begins to congeal, petrify, and harden into rock, which grows like a tree, but not so perceptibly.

Gold and silver grow, and so does every other kind of metal, the same as the hair upon my head, or the wheat in the field; they do not grow as fast, but they are all the time composing or decomposing. So much, then, for my views touching the material to be used in building a Temple upon this block. You may go to San Pete and get stone for it, and when five hundred years have elapsed you will not find a building. You may build of that red sandstone, and it will live out the San Pete rock, and the limestone will outlive that. But when you come to the adobies, they will outlive either of them, and be five hundred years better than the day they were first laid. This is a pretty strong argument in favor of a mud building.

How long has the city of Washington been built? What was there before my father entered into the revo– lutionary war? Where was the Capitol then? It was in Philadelphia sixty years ago, there was no such thing as a Capitol in Washington. Let me ask a question—is it built of rock? I never was there. [Voice, “Yes.”] It is built of rock. The House of Representatives was rebuilt in 1812, not more than forty years ago. Would any of you that have not been there, suppose that it would need patching up already to make it comfortable for the representatives of the nation? This, however, is the case, for within ten years past eighty thousand tons of putty have been used to putty up the places where the stone has decayed by the operation of the elements, and it has not yet been built forty years. I mention this, because I wish the Conference to know what they are doing when they commence to build a temple of stone. As for myself, I know enough about rock. If a man should undertake to put me up a stone house, I should wish him to build it of adobies instead, and then I should have a good house. We are talking about building one for the community, and I mention this about the Capitol to show you that the rock does not endure; the moment it becomes as hard as it is ever going to be, that moment it begins to decay. It may be a slow process in growing, or decomposing, yet it is doing the one or the other continually.

I have my own individual thoughts, of course, and these I express with regard to the temple. According to my present views, there is not marble in these mountains, or stone of any kind or quality, that I would rather have a building made of than adobies. As for the durability of such a building, the longer it stands the better it becomes; if it stands five thousand years, it increases in its strength until it comes to its highest perfection, be– fore it begins to decay. What do our “Mormon” boys say about trying to dig into one of those old Catholic cathedrals that are now standing in California? They say they might as well have undertaken to dig through the most solid rock you ever saw, as to dig through those adobie walls. Do you think they are decaying and falling down? No, they are growing better all the time, and so it is with the houses we live in. If they have good foundations, these houses that we live in will be better when they have stood fifty years than they are at this day. I will not say that it is so with a stone house, or with a brick house; for when you burn the clay to make brick, you destroy the life of it, it may last many years, but if the life is permitted to remain in it, it will last until it has become rock, and then begin to decay.

As for the temple, I will give you the nature of your vote with regard to it—the sum of it was, that those that dictate the building of it be left to do with it as they please. They will, anyhow. But I give it as my opinion that adobies are the best article to build it of. I do not fear the expense, neither do I care what you build it of; only when it is built, I want it to stand, and not fall down and decay in twenty or thirty years, like brother Taylor’s one would, that he was giving an exposition of; “that when we go within the veil into the heavenly world, we need not be ashamed of it, but when we look down upon it, it will be of solid rock:” but if it is built of San Pete rock, when he looks down to see it he will find it aint there, but it is gone, washed into the Jordan. It cannot remain, it must decay.

May the Lord bless you. Amen.

An Address by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Oct. 9, 1852, at the General Conference.

The subject President Young wished me to speak of is in regard to our temple, which we shall soon commence to build—what course we shall take, and what kind of materials it shall be built of; whether we shall build it of the stone that is got in the Red Butte Canyon, or of adobies, or of the best stone we can find in these mountains. For instance—at Sanpete there is some splendid stone; and inasmuch as we intend to build a house unto the Lord for Him to accept, for His angels to come to as ministers to give instructions, I can feel, myself, as though we are perfectly able to build one, of the best kind of materials, from the foundation to the tip top. We are able, and we have strength and union, and we have bone, and marrow, and muscle, and we are able to commence it next year.

I merely present these things for the brethren to consider and reflect upon. We can go to work and make an adobie house, and lay the foundation of stone from Red Butte, and then we can plaster it outside, and make it like the Tithing office. I would like to see something pretty nice, something noble, and some of the most splendid fonts that were ever erected. I know for a certainty that our President is perfectly able to give us the design of this contemplated house, and all other necessary instructions. What we need is to receive those blessings that we all want, and this must be felt more, especially by those who have come in this present season. These blessings are just as necessary for those who go South, as for those who go North, it makes no difference. They will all, however, get their blessings, and enjoy their privileges in obtaining those things. We have plenty of time, and there is no particular hurry, but it is for every man to walk up to his duty in the time being, and then when tomorrow comes, walk up to it tomorrow, and so let us do all we can, for we have got considerable over one thousand years to work, and when we have worked one thousand years, there will be another, and another, and we shall be at work to all eternity. There is no end to our work for the living and for the dead. Let us try and be active to do whatever we find to do today.

Let the brethren go and get farms, and locate themselves, and raise good fields of grain, that they can bring in the firstfruits of the earth. This is what is required to be done at the present time. Take this course, brethren, and then everything you possess will prosper, and you will be abundantly blessed. It is just as necessary to be engaged in one thing, as it is in another. It takes many kinds of materials to build a house, so it requires all kinds of materials to build another earth like this, it requires the same kinds of materials to make one man as it takes to make another. But let us try to temper ourselves according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the plan of salvation.

We will bring up a few comparisons. Now supposing brother Tanner goes into the shop, to make a scythe, and he takes the materials necessary for the formation of that scythe, is he dictated to by it, as to how he shall mold it and fashion it? Would you have the scythe rise up and say—Brother Tanner, what do you do so for? Why do you strike me on the back? Well, it is just as ridiculous for you to undertake to dictate to President Young, or those whom he sets to work. It is not for you to dictate to them. Upon the same principle, supposing I have a lump of clay which I put upon my wheel, out of which clay I want to make a jug; I have to turn it into as many as 50 or 100 shapes before I get it into a jug. How many shapes do you suppose you are put into before you became Saints, or before you become perfect and sanctified to enter into the celestial glory of God? You have got to be like that clay in the hands of the potter. Do you not know that the Lord directed the Prophet anciently, to go down to the potter’s house to see a miracle on the wheel? Suppose the potter takes a lump of clay, and putting it on the wheel, goes to work to form it into a vessel, and works it out this way, and that way, and the other way, but the clay is refractory and snappish; he still tries it, but it will break, and snap, and snarl, and thus the potter will work it and work it until he is satisfied he cannot bring it into the shape he wants, and it mars upon the wheel; he takes his tool, then, and cuts it off the wheel, and throws it into the mill to be ground over again, until it becomes passive (don’t you think you will go to hell if you are not passive?), and after it is ground there so many days, and it becomes passive, he takes the same lump, and makes of it a vessel unto honor. Now do you see into that, brethren? I know the potters can. I tell you, brethren, if you are not passive you will have to go into that mill, and perhaps have to grind there one thousand years, and then the Gospel will be offered to you again, and then if you will not accept of it, and become passive, you will have to go into the mill again, and thus you will have offers of salvation from time to time, until all the human family, except the sons of perdition, are redeemed. The spirits of men will have the Gospel as we do, and they are to be judged according to men in the flesh. Let us be passive, and take a course that will be perfectly submissive.

What need you care where you go if you go according to direction, and when you get to Coal Creek, or Iron County, be subject to that man who is placed there to rule you, just the same as you would be subject to President Young, if you were here, because that man is delegated by this Conference, and sanctioned by this people, and that man’s word is law. And so it is with the Bishops; they are our fathers, our governors, and we are their household. It is for them to provide for their household, and watch over them, and govern and control them; they are potters to mold you, and when you are sent forth to the nations of the earth, you go to gather the clay, and bring it here to the great potter, to be ground and molded until it becomes passive, and then be taken and formed into vessels, according to the dictation of the presiding potter. I have to do the work he tells me to do, and you have to do the same, and he has to do the work told him by the great master potter in heaven and on earth. If brother Brigham tells me to do a thing, it is the same as though the Lord told me to do it. This is the course for you and every other Saint to take, and by your taking this course, I will tell you, brethren, you are on the top of the heap. We are in the tops of the mountains; and when the stone shall roll down from the mountains, it will smash the earth, and break in pieces everything that opposes its course; but the stone has to get up there before it can roll down.

We are here in a happy place, in a goodly land, and among as good a people as ever the Lord suffered to dwell upon the face of the earth. Have I not a reason to be proud? Yes, I am proud of the religion of Christ, I am proud of his Elders, his servants, and of his handmaids, and when they do well I am prouder still. I do not know but I shall get so proud, that I shall be four or five times prouder than I am now.

I want a vote from the congregation concerning the temple, whether we shall have it built of the stone from Red Butte, or of adobies, or timber, or of the best quality of stone that can be found in the mountains. It is now open for discussion.

Our temple block is 600 feet square, and according to the number of people that compose the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are able to build a temple that size, and do it easier than we built a temple at Kirtland. I put the motion which is before you, that we build a temple of the best materials that can be furnished in the mountains of North America, and that the Presidency dictate where the stone and other materials shall be obtained; and that the Presidency shall be untrammeled from this time henceforth and forever. I want every brother, sister, and child to vote one way or the other. All in favor of this motion raise your right hand. [It was unanimous.]

An Address by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 8, 1852.

Brother John Young said he felt as though he wanted to talk; I told him to open his mouth wide, and he would be very apt to pour out something. What he has said, and what President Young has said before him, today, is verily true. I felt a flow of good feelings while he was speaking, and this I feel all the time while sitting under such teachings. The ideas advanced are so plain and simple, it seems to me as though every person possessing a sane mind, when they leave this house, or when they go home from this Conference, will do right, will determine in their hearts to do as they are instructed. If they will do this, it is well with them.

There are a great many who have the idea, that the time will come when we shall be broken up as a people. Do I fear any such thing? No, I do not fear anything. I fear nothing that is in heaven, or that is upon the earth. I do not fear hell nor its combinations; neither hell, nor the devil, nor any of his angels, has power ever me, or over you, only as we permit them to have. If we permit the devil to have power over us, and we are seduced by him, and we crouch down under his power, then he will have dominion over us. Upon the same principle, we let sin have power over us, but it has no power over us unless we subject ourselves to it.

I think and reflect much upon these principles, and I wish to God, that you, my brethren, the Elders of Israel, when you go home from this place, would treasure up the counsel that you have received, that you would nourish and cherish it in your hearts, then you never would be unfruitful nor walk in darkness, nor be left to murmur, complain, and find fault.

When I proposed to the brethren of the complaining class, that they be organized into a building committee, I wish you to understand, that I had not heard anyone murmur, but I heard there were some. I was rather inclined, however, to believe that those who told it were the ones that murmured, but they wanted to throw it off from their own shoulders, and make it out that somebody else was complaining. I do not believe you were, brethren. I do not believe we can raise material enough to organize a company of such characters. I do not believe you are going to murmur, but I believe you will go to and do as you have been told. I want you to do so, I know the blessings you will obtain in so doing.

Go and take up some good farms, but do not take up too much, as a great many in this place have done, they have taken up from one hundred to one hundred and fifty acres, and have then undertaken to put in 50 acres of wheat, when they could not attend to the half of it. Be cautious in this matter, put in no more seed than you can manage, and improve all the land you do take in, and be faithful to God, and I know that He will bless the land for your sakes, and He will bless you abundantly, and He will bless your increase, and He will bless your wheat, and your corn, and everything that pertains to you.

I have spoken about these things many times. There is nothing impossible with God, but He will not do anything that is contrary to His law, and that is not according to his designs. I have said, many times, if you only have faith, and listen, and put works with your faith, doing as you are told, it is not impossible for a hen to lay two eggs per day. To prove this, I have sheep in this valley, and so have other people, that have had four lambs this year, and we have over thirty lambs now of the second crop. I have seldom heard of such a thing in my life. This is quite a testimony to bear, but I can prove it to be true, now, on the spot, if it is necessary. The sheep have brought forth the second crop of lambs. That is a great curiosity, but it is true, and has taken place here under our immediate notice, and some of the sheep that have been so prolific belong to me.

This is not contrary to my faith; we are the children of Israel, and it is for us to be faithful, and listen to the will of heaven, and to the man that presides over us, and to his associates, for they will not teach you anything only what he sanctions; you need not be afraid, for if I should teach wrong doctrine or principle, here is the authority to correct me, that this people may have correct views. Well, inasmuch as we are the children of Israel, we are bound to prosper, if we continue in the goodness of God, and walk in His precepts; if we do not, it will be with us as it was with the children of Israel of old, our burdens will become hard to bear; but I believe ourselves, our flocks, our herds, our crops, and everything that pertains to the earth which we inhabit, will greatly multiply and increase. These are my feelings, and this is my faith all the time—I have no other.

We should teach our children righteousness, if we would raise them up in the way of the Lord, as it is spoken in the Book of Mormon. Let mothers teach their children as they were taught then. Three thousand of those men are worth more than one hundred thousand not raised as they were. They had faith that they should never fall in battle, because their mothers taught them so. Although there was much of their blood shed, yet not one of them fell. That was the result of proper instructions being given them by their mothers. Mothers, I wish you would wake up and act in your office and calling, as well as the brethren. It is their calling to go and preach the Gospel, build up the kingdom of God, and establish righteousness, and it is for you to be stewards at home, and attend to the things that they leave behind, and to get wisdom and knowledge in all these things pertaining to your duty.

When I heard brother Brigham preaching here today, and laying things of worth before us, I felt greatly to rejoice, and I believe you felt as I did, and as though they never would be eradicated from your minds, but that you would treasure them up in your hearts. We have not a great while to stay on the earth, if we live to the full age of man. We must all die, sooner or later, as it regards our earthly tabernacles, but our spirits will continue to live forever. If they go to a state of happiness, they will be happy; and if they go to a state of misery, they will be miserable. You all know this as well as I do, then why do you not live accordingly? I presume you will.

A great many things of this kind have been laid before the brethren who have come from England, and from the States, and from different nations of the earth. They will hear many more things taught here in addition to what they have heard in Old England. They could hear nothing there, except the first principles of the doctrine of Christ; but since they have come here it is all let out, that is, a great many things; the bird is let out of the cage, and they have it before them to read and reflect upon; it is the truth, it is the word of God, and the revelations of Jesus Christ, which were revealed to brother Joseph and others.

As to the power and authority invested in brother Brigham, do I doubt it? Have I the least hesitation as to his calling as the President of this Church? No, no more than I have that God sits upon His throne. He has the same authority that brother Joseph had. That authority was in the Twelve, and since brother Joseph stepped behind the veil, brother Brigham is his lawful successor. I bear testimony of what brother Joseph said on the stand at Nauvoo, and I presume hundreds here can bear witness of the same. Said he, “These men that are set here behind me on this stand, I have conferred upon them all the power, Priesthood, and authority that God ever conferred upon me.” There are hundreds present this day who heard him utter words to that effect, more than once.

The Twelve had then received their endowments. Brother Joseph gave them the endowments, and keys and power were placed upon them by him, even as they were placed upon him by Peter, James, and John, who ordained him. That is true, gentlemen, because they held the Apostleship last, and had authority to confer it upon him, or any whom the Father had chosen. Brother Joseph called and ordained the Twelve Apostles of the last days, and placed that power upon them. Five of those men who received that authority from under his hands are now living. Have I any doubt? Why, no. I know all about it, I am a witness of this Gospel, of the order and power of the Priesthood, and of the organization of this Church from the beginning. I glory in it, I glory in this Gospel, I know it is like a root out of the dry ground, it neither has form nor comeliness to this world, it is against them every way, and they will run against it and snag themselves. You know a root out of dry ground has many snags or sharp points to it, and they stick out many ways; so the people run against a snag when they run against this work, or against the servants of the Most High. I know, as well as I know that I live, that every man that fights against it will be damned. I know it, and am bearing testimony to what I know, gentlemen, and you may know it just as well as I do. This Gospel, this kingdom, this Church, and this people, are the pride of my heart, I have no pride in anything else. I have pride to see this work roll forth, and turn over the kingdoms, and break in pieces the nations of the earth. I know that every man and woman, every nation and king that oppose it, will wither like a limb that is severed from a tree.

Now there are a great many people that have broken off from this Church, we will not mention names, but have they not withered? Yes, and so will you if you turn away from it, and if you refuse to obey the counsel that is given to you, you will wither away like a limb that is cut off from an apple tree, or the grass that is mown down when the sun strikes it. We are the people of God, and we cannot prosper upon any other principle than to cleave together, to cleave to His work, to amalgamate our feelings in one, and nourish the all-powerful principle of union, all feeling a general interest for the public welfare.

As President Young has said, this is the household of faith, this is his house, and this is his people, and he is our leader, our Governor, he is our Prophet, and he is our Priest. As I have said in other places and in other meetings, when speaking to the Elders, when they are sent from this place, they are sent forth by the shepherd that God has stationed here; he is the head shepherd that is visible on earth, under the direction of Joseph, and he sends forth the Elders as shepherds to gather up the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and bring them home to put them into the fold. I have said that you have no business to make a selection of any of these sheep, or to make a choice of them, or make any covenant with them, until they are brought home and placed in the fold, and then if you want a sheep or two, ask the shepherd for them, and if you choose a sheep without taking this course you will get your fingers burnt. Why? Because they are his sheep—mark it. How would you like it, were I to go and take one of your sheep without permission, would you ever think of such a thing? One is just as right as the other. You will learn these things by and by. I would rather have my head laid upon a block, and severed from my shoulders, than ever make a proposal to any woman living upon the earth and marry her, unless I had permission from the chief shepherd. That tells it. I do not know that you can all understand me, but those who have their eyes open understand it. I only hint at these things, that you may be careful of the course you take.

Well, then, he that will not provide for his own household is worse than an infidel, and hath denied the faith. If this is brother Brigham’s household, I belong to him, and it is my household. Well, then, provide for it, provide for Israel first, and when they have got enough, then let others have it. Do not let others have the bread until Israel, the household of faith, are provided for. Do you understand it, brethren? If you do, say aye. [Aye.] All say aye for Israel.

Now we are going to stick together. Those that have come in here are like clay brought from different parts of the earth—it is taken out of the bank and thrown into the mill, and the mill has been grinding it until it has become pliable and passive; then we send out the Elders to bring in a fresh supply of new clay, and it is thrown into the mill, where it has to become passive, and thus the mill keeps grinding and grinding, and mixing that which is thrown into it. As soon as you are passive others come in.

It keeps us thrashing all the time. The reapers go forth, and bind up the wheat and draw it in, and thus we keep throwing in new wheat all the time, and we shall never get the floor empty, but we must thrash and thrash until we are worn out, and others will come up and continue it. Did you ever see them thrash in country towns in England? It is something like that. We are passing through the mill, and we have got to be thrashed and cleaned up, and the chaff has to be separated from the wheat in passing it through the fanners. There are three ends to this mill in the mountains, where the chaff goes out. Brother Brigham does not grind any in his mill, without first passing it through the smut machine; so we have got to pass through the smut mill, before we are fit to be thrown into the hopper to be ground.

We must be passive as clay in the hands of the potter. The potter takes the passive clay, and molds it into numerous shapes; he can make it into a milk pan, or into a crock, or into a cup, or a jug, and from that into ten thousand shapes; he does everything according to his own pleasure, and as the Master Potter has told him to shape it. If the Master gives him a pattern, he must mold according to that pattern; it would make him busy indeed if he were to work according to every pattern. We must work according to the Master’s pattern. If we take this course there will be no trouble. Go forth, then, upon your farms, sow your grain, and when you get your sheep, they will have two litters a year, but if you do not do right you shall have none. Does not God love to bless those who appreciate His blessings? Yes, just as much as a kind father loves to bless his son. Our Father in heaven is much more willing to bless us than we are to bless each other.

Let us remember these things in which we have been instructed. And let us take hold of that wall when the Conference is over, and put it round this block this winter, so that next spring we may fill it up with shrubbery of all kinds, and decorate it, and prepare it for future purposes. And let us build up a temple with diligent hands. I have helped to build up two temples, and have had my endowments in them, and in other places; but to have an endowment that is proper and consistent, is to have it in a temple that has been built and consecrated to that purpose. Now go to, and get your farms, and bring in the firstfruits of the earth, the first things you raise; bring them in here and commit them into the hands of the Bishops. Remember that, and you shall have an endowment, and shall be greatly blessed with that blessing you have not room to contain, if you only appreciate it We want these things to roll on, God’s work to prosper, and His kingdom to be built up, and the work of God to spread to all the nations of the earth.

Do I fear the world? I do not fear them, I never did fear them, and I have seen enough of their stuff. I have been driven with the rest of my brethren from the United States and from my native home, but what do I care for it? My kindred are there, but they do not believe the Gospel, nor the revelations of Jesus Christ; they believe in the spiritual knocking, and nearly all the world are going into it, and receiving revelations for themselves from the regions of despair. It used to be with them, “Old Joe Smith, an old gold digger,” but all are digging gold now, and all are getting revelations, but they did not believe a word from him. He was a Prophet of God, and they cannot help themselves. They slew him, and that nation has got to smart for it, and it will be as much as the Saints can do to gather out of it. If they stay there, they will not gather from there; it is necessary to gather the wheat, and put it into the barn; if it is left out, the storms will come and actually waste or destroy it.

Let us be stirring and moving the principles of life and salvation forward in every rightful and possible way. I do not care what I am told to do, if it were to take an adobie and turn it over 500 times a day; if I am doing the will of God, if I am doing the will of him who sent me to do it, it is none of my business nor yours. It is for us to do that which we are told to do. You need not trouble yourselves about brother Brigham, nor about brother Heber, nor about the Twelve; brother Brigham will attend to them, and then, if they live faithful, will judge you and your children, and the nations of the earth, and those that are dead. Don’t you judge those men—that is for brother Brigham to do; if we need thrashing, he is capable of thrashing us, it is none of your business; and we will sit down and bear it like good fellows, and not move our tongue; if it should move, we will take it between our teeth, and give it a nip, and say, “Stay there, you little fellow.” As for the Twelve, and brother Brigham, and brother Willard, they are all men of God; and there never were better men than the Twelve that live in these last days—better men never lived. [A voice in the stand, “True.“] It is true, and I know it. Every soul of them can be prepared in two days to go to the nations of the earth, if we say so. You have got to be so too, brethren and sisters; you have got to learn to be subject to the Priesthood, as well as these brethren, and your children must learn the same lesson, and then you will be molded into vessels of honor, but you cannot be molded into vessels of honor except you be subject. You potters know it, if you have worked at the potter’s business as I have.

I love to talk about these things. I love the Saints, they are the pride of my heart. As for the world; its gold or silver, or anything that pertains to it, my heart is not upon it, but upon this Church and kingdom, and it never will be overcome, worlds without end. [A voice in the stand, “Amen.“] Although we may be scattered to the four quarters of the earth, we will gather again, never to be removed any more, henceforth and forever. Amen.

A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 7th, 1852, at the General Conference.

The brethren have heard considerable about going south; and I know there is considerable feeling manifested upon this matter. There are a great many persons in this valley, who are working against this operation; I mean fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, and other relations. Nearly all of these persons have city lots, and they propose to divide them with the emigrants, rather than that they should leave the city; and at the same time take one hundred and fifty or two hundred dollars out of their brethren’s pockets for that which cost them little or nothing; so they have a certain object in view in persuading people to stay in the city. These things have a strong tendency to bind the brethren here. There are also many other things that have the same tendency. They reason among themselves, saying, “If we go to Iron County, or to Millard County, we shall perhaps lose our blessings, our sealings, and our endowments, and many other privileges;” and conclude to stay here for the purpose of obtaining these things. I will tell you that stay here for this purpose, you will not get your blessings as soon as those will who go and settle where they are counseled. For none of you can have these blessings until you prove yourselves worthy, by cultivating the earth, and then rendering to the Lord the firstfruits thereof, the firstfruits of your cattle, of your sheep, and of all your increase. This is how I understand it. Now go and get farms for yourselves while you can.

Those brethren in Iron County, and those that are still at Coal Creek, pretty much all of them, are ironmongers; they were the first to go into the iron and coal business and leave their farms. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred acres of land under cultivation in those valleys, that you can have the privilege of purchasing, or of cultivating for the time being, until you can make farms for yourselves. In the city of Manti, half of the houses are vacant; there are houses enough empty there to accommodate fifty or a hundred families. In Iron County also there are similar advantages.

Fillmore City, in Millard County, is situated in a very extensive valley. I think we travel, as we are going to Iron County, somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty or sixty miles, and then it extends west far beyond the power of the eyes to see; the fact is, we can see no distant mountains at all in some directions; and there are numerous rich valleys that are connected or which communicate with this, on to Iron County. Millard County we wish to make strong and powerful, for there is the center of the government of the State of Deseret, and where the governor and his associates, some time in the future, will dwell part of the year. There will be a building erected there for the use of the general government of this State and for the general government of the Church and kingdom of God. Then why need you be afraid of the result of anything that is best for you to do? Let grandfather, grandmother, brother or sister, have no influence over you to turn you aside from your duty.

If brother Brigham is not of more consequence to you than your brother or sister, or father or mother, or anything else that pertains to this life, I would not give much for your religion. If you will reflect for a moment, and let the Spirit of the Lord—the spirit of revelation, have place in your bosoms, so that you can foresee the future events which we are approaching, and let your minds expand by the power of the Holy Ghost, you will not hesitate one moment to go to these valleys.

We have no wish to get rid of the Saints, but the counsel that is given them to go and settle those places, is for their best interest, and for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God.

You have arrived safely in this valley, by the providence of God, from Old England, where it rains almost every day, and where they have to keep the lamps lit, sometimes, in order to pass through the streets safely in the day time. Often, when I was there, I had to sit and read in the day time by candle light; and we very seldom durst go out without an umbrella, for if we did, we were sure to get soaked to the skin before we returned. It is not so in this country; and the further you go south, the higher the valleys are, until you go over the rim of the Great Basin, about sixty miles, down to the Rio Virgin. As soon as you get there, you are where it is summer all the year round; but we do not wish you to go there until you are appointed to go. We want you to go where you are sent, for you cannot get your endowments until you have proved yourselves—that is what we intend; it is the mind of brother Brigham, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Prophet of God, who holds the keys of life and salvation pertaining to you, and me, and all the world—not a soul is excepted, neither man, woman, nor child; they all belong to him; for he is the Prophet, he is our Priest, our Governor, even the Governor of the State of Deseret.

I think more of the things that pertain to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the kingdom of God, than I do of these little petty territorial matters. I presume if the brethren in this Conference will go into these valleys, and grow wheat, raise cattle, and other products of the earth, and then give one-tenth of all their increase into the Lord’s storehouse; and one-tenth of all they have got now, we shall be able to set to immediately, and build a temple, and finish it forthwith, and abandon the idea of the Church building houses for individuals, to get a few dollars here and there to carry on the public works. Let us attend to the Church matters, and rear that wall round the Temple block as soon as possible, and apply the Church funds to this purpose, instead of putting them into the hands of a few individuals, that would perhaps pay one hundred dollars, or turn in a yoke of cattle, and say, “Build me a house, and then let the Church pay the difference.” They will pay so much, and perhaps the rest of it is sucked out of the vitals of the Church. This is afflicting the Church; it cannot carry this burden, but must and will throw it off, and use the tithing in building a temple, a baptismal font, storehouses, and such things the Church has need of. I do not know whether you have any desire to have a temple built or not. Have you reflected upon it, that we may go to with our might, our means, our substance, and with all we have to build a house to the Lord, to build fonts, that we can attend to the ordinances of salvation for ourselves, our children, our fathers, and mothers, both living and dead? What do you say? If you say we shall do so, raise your right hands. (All hands were up.) It is clear that they will have a temple, brother Brigham.

Now if you will take hold together, and do as you have been told, and go and people those rich valleys, except those who have been counseled to stay here, for if they are wanted here, it is necessary they should stay here; you shall be blessed. Gather up your substance, and go and make farms for yourselves, that you can raise from two hundred to three thousand bushels of wheat next summer. We have been in those valleys two or three times on exploring expeditions, and we are going again next fall, over the mountains, down into the lower world, if the Lord will. We shall thus travel back and forth, and live about as much in one place as in another; for the future we shall keep on the move, going to and fro, and shall never be easy; we never want to be, nor that you should, until the kingdom of God prevails over this earth. We will fill up these mountains, take up the land, and, as they used to say in the States, “become squatters,” and we will become thicker on the mountains than the crickets ever were.

If you can once break up the ranks of the crickets, it breaks up their calculations, and under such circumstances they never will undertake a war upon your crops. In like manner we have to become one, and build a Temple, that we may learn the principles of oneness more fully, to prepare for all things to come, that when we become fixed for war, we may whip out all the enemies of truth, and never yield the point, neither man, woman, nor child that is in Israel.

As for murmurers and complainers and faultfinders, we want to give them some employment, and we shall attend to that part of the business before long. After meeting we will lay the thing before them, and all the murmurers, and complainers, and faultfinders, &c., we want they should raise their right hand to do some good. If they want to vote, we will appoint a meeting at the Council House directly after Conference, and organize them into companies, and appoint a building committee to build brother Brigham a house, and the person who murmurs the worst shall be the President. We will give him the same right which we gave to Father Sherwood; but it was a tie between him and Zebedee Coltrin which should preside; but Father Sherwood’s tongue being more limber, he whipped out Coltrin, and got the Presidency. We will organize a company of males and females, for we calculate to give females an office in that company, and they shall be upon an equal footing with the men. Now there’s a chance for you women who seek to be equal with your husbands. This is sticking to the text brother Brigham gave yesterday. But I believe I will stop speaking for the present.

Delivered by President Heber C. Kimball, September 23, 1852, on the Death of Sister Mary Smith, Relict of the Martyred Patriarch Hyrum Smith, and Who Departed this Life at the Residence of President Kimball, September 22, 1852.

I wish to make a few remarks, on this solemn occasion, in regard to sister Mary, and in regard to what brother Brigham has said, which is perfectly congenial to my feelings.

As it regards sister Mary Smith’s situation and circumstances, I have no trouble at all, for if any person has lived the life of a Saint, she has. If any person has acted the part of a mother, she has. I may say she has acted the part of a mother, and a father, and a Bishop. She has had a large family, and several old people to take care of, and which she has maintained for years by her economy and industry.

One thing I am glad of, and I feel to rejoice in the providence of God that things have been as they have. She came here sick on the Sabbath, eight weeks ago last Sunday, for me to lay hands upon her. She was laid prostrate upon her bed, and was not able to recover afterwards. I felt as though it was a providential circumstance that it so happened. She always expressed that she knew the thing was dictated by the Lord that she should be placed here in my house, though accidentally. She probably would not have lived so long, had she been where she could not have had the same care. On Tuesday evening, eight weeks and two days since, she came here sick; from that time until her death she was prayerful and humble. I have never seen a person in my life that had a greater desire to live than she had, and there was only one thing she desired to live for, and that was to see to her family; it distressed her to think that she could not see to them; she wept about it. She experienced this anxiety for a month previous to her death, and she wept and prayed that the diseased place might be opened.

She was never left alone, after she became sick. My family, and brother Brigham’s family, and others, waited upon her all the time. She had every attention paid to her, that ever was paid to a sick person. This she expressed, herself, times and times again. Sister Thompson has been here ever since sister Mary was taken sick, and she paid every attention to her. I say, with regard to my family, if ever there were good feelings shown to any person, they have manifested them to her, so also have brother Brigham’s family, and others who live around here. I will say so much in their behalf, and for the consolation of the friends of the departed.

I am thankful to the Lord God, that I have had the privilege, with my family, to do Mary a kindness; it is a consolation to me. Do I regret it? No. I never regret a good deed that I have done in my life. If I regret anything, it is that I have not the ability to do more good.

Let us do all the good we can. Show all the kindness we can to the world, to both Saint and sinner, to all upon the face of the earth, and I know we shall receive our reward for every good and for every evil work we do, but I do not want to be rewarded for anything but that which is good. May God grant me life, that it may be spent for the good of this people, and for the comfort and consolation of brother Brigham. God forbid I should ever grieve his feelings, and the Spirit of God, from this time forth, that when I die I may depart in peace, to mingle with those who have gone before me.

I know sister Mary has departed in peace; she has gone home. I never heard her murmur against brother Brigham in my life, nor against me. If I went to see her, it was well; if not, it was all the same. She has come to see me, sometimes once, and sometimes twice a week. When I have seen her, I have said to her, I have no time to come and see you, Mary, therefore you must come and see me. She never considered it too much trouble to come and see me and her brethren. I am satisfied she desired to live for the benefit of her children. I know she has given them good counsel, and if they will follow it they will never be in trouble. I feel well towards them, and towards all present, and, in fact, I have nothing against any being upon the face of the earth. I feel to rejoice, I am comforted, and I feel to praise the Lord God; and when I have done my work, I will go to my brethren, and be with those I have associated with from the beginning. Why I believe it, is, because I have an assurance for myself, which is like an anchor, and taketh hold of that which is within the veil. I shall land safe; this is my feeling, and I have no other desire in my heart, nor ever had from the first day I enlisted into this Church. I never had any wish, but to do that which is right all the time. Considering the character of my calling, connected as I am and have been with the Prophet, Apostles, and Patriarchs of Jesus Christ, and with holy men of God, I do not consider that anything else but doing right is the character of such a man, it is the nature of his calling and office to be an Apostle, and issue forth the light and truth of God, from this time henceforth and forever. These are my feelings, brother Brigham, all the time. [President Brigham Young, “I know it.”] When I eat and when I drink, when I go out and when I come in, my prayer is, and feelings are, to do right; and I am glad I did right to sister Mary, and took care of her, and that my family had the pleasure of nourishing her; the satisfaction this gives me, is worth more to me than a hundred thousand dollars. Do I believe they know it in heaven? Yes, as much as you do. I want to live all the time in righteousness, as I know that God sees me and all the works of His hands. When we see as He sees, and comprehend as He comprehends, it will be by the same powers and keys that we are known to Him. I rejoice exceedingly before God, that I am a Latter-day Saint, that I am a “Mormon” Elder in Israel, for what I know, and for what I have seen and passed through; it is worth more to me than gold and silver, or precious stones; what I have passed through has given me an experience, and I praise the Lord God that I am a member of the house of Israel, and one of the elect of God; and I shall dwell with you in eternity, and I know it.

May God bless you forever, Amen.

A Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, August 29, 1852.

It is quite unexpected to me, brethren and sisters, to be called upon to address you this forenoon; and still more so, to address you upon the prin– ciple which has been named, namely, a plurality of wives.

It is rather new ground for me; that is, I have not been in the habit of publicly speaking upon this subject; and it is rather new ground to the inhabitants of the United States, and not only to them, but to a portion of the inhabitants of Europe; a portion of them have not been in the habit of preaching a doctrine of this description; consequently, we shall have to break up new ground.

It is well known, however, to the congregation before me, that the Latter-day Saints have embraced the doctrine of a plurality of wives, as a part of their religious faith. It is not, as many have supposed, a doctrine embraced by them to gratify the carnal lusts and feelings of man; that is not the object of the doctrine.

We shall endeavor to set forth before this enlightened assembly some of the causes why the Almighty has revealed such a doctrine, and why it is considered a part and portion of our religious faith. And I believe that they will not, under our present form of government (I mean the government of the United States), try us for treason for believing and practicing our religious notions and ideas. I think, if I am not mistaken, that the constitution gives the privilege to all the inhabitants of this country, of the free exercise of their religious notions, and the freedom of their faith, and the practice of it. Then, if it can be proven to a demonstration, that the Latter-day Saints have actually embraced, as a part and portion of their religion, the doctrine of a plurality of wives, it is constitutional. And should there ever be laws enacted by this government to restrict them from the free exercise of this part of their religion, such laws must be unconstitutional.

But, says the objector, we cannot see how this doctrine can be embraced as a matter of religion and faith; we can hardly conceive how it can be embraced only as a kind of domestic concern, something that pertains to do– mestic pleasures, in no way connected with religion. In reply we will show you that it is incorporated as a part of our religion, and necessary for our exaltation to the fullness of the Lord’s glory in the eternal world. Would you like to know the reasons? Before we get through, we will endeavor to tell you why we consider it an essential doctrine to glory and exaltation, to our fullness of happiness in the world to come.

We will first make a few preliminary remarks in regard to the existence of man, to his first existence in his first estate; and then say something in relation to his present state, and the bearing which it has upon his next or future state.

The “Mormons” have a peculiar doctrine in regard to our pre-existence, different from the views of the Christian world, so called, who do not believe that man had a pre-existence. It is believed, by the religious world, that man, both body and spirit, begins to live about the time that he is born into this world, or a little before; that then is the beginning of life. They believe, that the Lord, by a direct act of creation, formed, in the first place, man out of the dust of the ground; and they believe that man is possessed of both body and spirit, by the union of which he became a living creature. Suppose we admit this doctrine concerning the formation of the body from the dust; then how was the spirit formed? Why, says one, we suppose it was made by a direct act of creation, by the Almighty Himself; that He molded the spirit of man, formed and finished it in a proper likeness to inhabit the tabernacle He had made out of the dust.

Have you any account of this in the Bible? Do the Scriptures declare that the spirit was formed at the time the tabernacle was made? No. All the tabernacles of the children of men that were ever formed, from remote generations, from the days of Adam to this time, have been formed out of the earth. We are of the earth earthy. The tabernacle has been organized according to certain principles, and laws of organization, with bones, and flesh, and sinews, and skin. Now, where do you suppose all these tabernacles got their spirits? Does the Lord make a new spirit every time a tabernacle is made? If so, the work of creation, according to the belief of Christendom, did not cease on the seventh day. If we admit their views, the Lord must be continually making spirits to inhabit all the tabernacles of the children of men; he must make something like one thousand millions of spirits every century; he must be working at it every day, for there are many hundreds of individuals being born into the world every day. Does the Lord create a new spirit every time a new tabernacle comes into the world? That does not look reasonable, nor Godlike.

But how is it, you inquire? Why the fact is, that being that animates this body, that gives life and energy, and power to move, to act, and to think; that being that dwells within this tabernacle is much older than what the tabernacle is. That spirit that now dwells within each man, and each woman, of this vast assembly of people, is more than a thousand years old, and I would venture to say, that it is more than five thousand years old.

But how was it made? When was it made? And by whom was it made? If our spirits existed thousands of years ago—if they began to exist—if there were a beginning to their organization, by what process was this organization carried on? Through what medium, and by what system of laws? Was it by a direct creation of the Almighty? Or were we framed according to a certain system of laws, in the same manner as our tabernacles? If we were to reason from analogy—if we admit analogical reasoning in the ques– tion, what would we say? We should say, that our spirits were formed by generation, the same as the body or tabernacle of flesh and bones. But what says revelation upon the subject? We will see whether revelation and analogy will agree.

We read of a certain time when the cornerstones of the earth were laid, and the foundations thereof were made sure—of a certain time when the Lord began to erect this beautiful and glorious habitation, the earth; then they had a time of joy. I do not know whether they had instruments of music, or whether they were engaged in the dance; but one thing is certain, they had great joy, and the heavens resounded with their shouts; yea, the Lord told Job, that all the sons of God shouted for joy, and the morning stars sang together, when the foundations of this globe were laid.

The SONS of God, recollect, shouted for joy, because there was a beautiful habitation being built, so that they could get tabernacles, and dwell thereon; they expected the time—they looked forward to the period; and it was joyful to them to reflect, that the creation was about being formed, the cornerstone of it was laid, on which they might, in their times, and in their seasons, and in their generations, go forth and receive tabernacles for their spirits to dwell in. Do you bring it home to yourselves, brethren and sisters? Do you realize that you and I were there? Can you bring it to your minds that you and I were among that happy number that shouted for joy when this creation was made? Says one, I don’t recollect it. No wonder! For your recollection is taken from you, because you are in a tabernacle that is earthly; and all this is right and necessary. The same is written of Jesus Christ himself, who had to descend below all things. Though he had wisdom to assist in the organization of this world; though it was through him, as the great leader of all these sons of God, the earth was framed, and framed too, by the assistance of all his younger brethren—yet we find, with all that great and mighty power he possessed, and the great and superior wisdom that was in his bosom, that after all, his judgment had to be taken away; in his humiliation, his reason, his intelligence, his knowledge, and the power that he was formerly in possession of vanished from him as he entered into the infant tabernacle. He was obliged to begin down at the lowest principles of knowledge, and ascend upward by degrees, receiving grace for grace, truth for truth, knowledge for knowledge, until he was filled with all the fulness of the Father, and was capable of ruling, governing, and controlling all things, having ascended above all things. Just so with us; we that once lifted up our united voices as sons and daughters of God, and shouted for joy at the laying of the foundation of this earth, have come here and taken tabernacles, after the pattern of our elder brother; and in our humiliation—for it is humiliation to be deprived of knowledge we once had, and the power we once enjoyed—in our humiliation, just like our elder brother, our judgment is taken away. Do we not read also in the Bible, that God is the Father of our spirits?

We have ascertained that we have had a previous existence. We find that Solomon, that wise man, says that when the body returns to the dust the spirit returns to God who gave it. Now all of this congregation very well know, that if we never existed there we could not return there. I could not return to California. Why? Because I never have been there. If you never were with the Father, the same as Jesus was before the foundation of the world, you never could return there, any more than I could to the West Indies, where I have never been. But if we have once been there, then we can see the force of the saying of the wise man, that the spirit returns to God who gave it—it goes back where it once was.

Much more evidence might be derived in relation to this subject, even from the English translation of the Bible; but I do not feel disposed to dwell too long upon any particular testimony; suffice it to say, that the Prophet Joseph Smith’s translation of the forepart of the book of Genesis is in print, and is exceedingly plain upon this matter. In this inspired translation we find the pre-existence of man clearly laid down, and that the spirits of all men, male and female, did have an existence, before man was formed out of the dust of the ground. But who was their Father? I have already quoted a saying that God is the Father of our spirits.

In one sense of the word, there are more Gods than one; and in another sense there is but one God. The Scriptures speak of more Gods than one. Moses was called a God to Aaron, in plain terms; and our Savior, when speaking upon this subject, says, “If the Scriptures called them Gods unto whom the word of God came, why is it that you should seek to persecute me, and kill me, because I testify that I am the Son of God?” This in substance was the word of our Savior; those to whom the word of God came, are called Gods, according to his testimony. All these beings of course are one, the same as the Father and the Son are one. The Son is called God, and so is the Father, and in some places the Holy Ghost is called God. They are one in power, in wisdom, in knowledge, and in the inheritance of celestial glory; they are one in their works; they possess all things, and all things are subject to them; they act in unison; and if one has power to become the Father of spirits, so has another; if one God can propagate his species, and raise up spirits after his own image and likeness, and call them his sons and daughters, so can all other Gods that become like him, do the same thing; consequently, there will be many Fathers, and there will be many families, and many sons and daughters; and they will be the children of those glorified, celestial beings that are counted worthy to be Gods.

Here let me bring for the satisfaction of the Saints, the testimony of the vision given to our Prophet and Revelator Joseph Smith, and Sidney Rigdon, on the 16th day of February, 1832. They were engaged in translating the New Testament, by inspiration; and while engaged in this great work, they came to the 29th verse of the 5th chapter of John, which was given to them in these words—“they who have done good, in the resurrection of the just; and they who have done evil, in the resurrection of the unjust.” This being given in different words from the English translation, caused them to marvel and wonder; and they lifted up their hearts in prayer to God, that He would show them why it was that this should be given to them in a different manner; and behold, the visions of heaven opened before them. They gazed upon the eternal worlds, and saw things before this world was made. They saw the spiritual creation who were to come forth and take upon themselves bodies; and they saw things as they are to be in the future; they saw the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial worlds, as well as the sufferings of the ungodly; all passed before them in this great and glorious vision. And while they were yet gazing upon things as they were before the world was made, they were commanded to write, saying, “this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him, that he lives; for we saw him, even on the right hand of God: and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father; that by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created; and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.” Notice this last expression, “the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (meaning the different worlds that have been created and made). Notice, this does not say, that God, whom we serve and worship, was actually the Father Himself, in His own person, of all these sons and daughters of the different worlds; but they “are begotten sons and daughters unto God;” that is, begotten by those who are made like Him, after His image, and in His likeness; they begat sons and daughters, and begat them unto God, to inhabit these different worlds we have been speaking of. But more of this, if we have time, before we get through.

We now come to the second division of our subject, or the entrance of these spirits upon their second estate, or their birth and existence in mortal tabernacles. We are told that among this great family of spirits, some were more noble and great than others, having more intelligence.

Where do you read that? says one. Out of the Book of Abraham, translated from the Egyptian papyrus by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Among the great and numerous family of spirits—“the begotten sons and daughters of God”—there are some more intelligent than others; and the Lord showed unto Abraham “the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones.” And God said to Abraham, “thou art one of them, thou wast chosen before thou wast born.” Abraham was chosen before he was born. Here then, is knowledge, if we had time to notice it, upon the doctrine of election. However, I may just remark, it does not mean unconditional election to eternal life of a certain class, and the rest doomed to eternal damnation. Suffice it to say, that Abraham and many others of the great and noble ones in the family of spirits, were chosen before they were born, for certain purposes, to bring about certain works, to have the privilege of coming upon the stage of action, among the host of men, in favorable circumstances. Some came through good and holy parentages, to fulfill certain things the Lord decreed should come to pass, from before the foundations of the world.

The Lord has ordained that these spirits should come here and take tabernacles by a certain law, through a certain channel; and that law is the law of marriage. There are a great many things that I will pass by; I perceive that if I were to touch upon all these principles, the time allotted for this discourse would be too short, therefore I am under the necessity of passing by many things in relation to these spirits in their first estate, and the laws that governed them there and come to their second estate.

The Lord ordained marriage between male and female as a law through which spirits should come here and take tabernacles, and enter into the second state of existence. The Lord Himself solemnized the first marriage pertaining to this globe, and pertaining to flesh and bones here upon this earth. I do not say pertaining to mortality; for when the first marriage was celebrated, no mentality was there. The first marriage that we have any account of, was between two immortal beings—old father Adam and old mother Eve; they were immortal beings; death had no dominion, no power over them; they were capable of enduring forever and ever, in their organization. Had they fulfilled the law, and kept within certain conditions and bounds, their tabernacles would never have been seized by death; death entered entirely by sin, and sin alone. This marriage was celebrated between two immortal beings. For how long? Until death? No. That was entirely out of the question; there could have been no such thing in the ceremony.

What would you consider, my hearers, if a marriage was to be celebrated between two beings not subject to death? Would you consider them joined together for a certain number of years, and that then all their covenants were to cease forever, and the marriage contract be dissolved? Would it look reasonable and consistent? No. Every heart would say that the work of God is perfect in and of itself, and inasmuch as sin had not brought imperfection upon the globe, what God joined together could not be dissolved, and destroyed, and torn asunder by any power beneath the celestial world, consequently it was eternal; the ordinance of union was eternal; the sealing of the great Jehovah upon Adam and Eve was eternal in its nature, and was never instituted for the purpose of being overthrown and brought to an end. It is known that the “Mormons” are a peculiar people about marriage; we believe in marrying, not only for time, but for all eternity. This is a curious idea, says one, to be married for all eternity. It is not curious at all; for when we come to examine the Scriptures, we find that the very first example set for the whole human family, as a pattern instituted for us to follow, was not instituted until death, for death had no dominion at that time; but it was an eternal blessing pronounced upon our first parents. I have not time to explain further the marriage of Adam and Eve, but will pass on to their posterity.

It is true, that they became fallen, but there is a redemption. But some may consider that the redemption only redeemed us in part, that is, merely from some of the effects of the fall. But this is not the case; every man and woman must see at once that a redemption must include a complete restoration of all privileges lost by the fall.

Suppose, then, that the fall was of such a nature as to dissolve the marriage covenant, by death—which is not necessary to admit, for the covenant was sealed previous to the fall, and we have no account that it was dissolved—but suppose this was the case, would not the redemption be equally as broad as the fall, to restore the posterity of Adam back to that which they lost? And if Adam and Eve were married for all eternity, the ceremony was an everlasting ordinance, that they twain should be one flesh forever. If you and I should ever be accounted worthy to be restored back from our fallen and degraded condition to the privileges enjoyed before the fall, should we not have an everlasting marriage seal, as it was with our first progenitors? If we had no other reasons in all the Bible, this would be sufficient to settle the case at once in the mind of every reflecting man and woman, that inasmuch as the fall of man has taken away any privileges in regard to the union of male and female, these privileges must be restored in the redemption of man, or else it is not complete.

What is the object of this union? is the next question. We are told the object of it; it is clearly expressed; for, says the Lord unto the male and female, I command you to multiply and replenish the earth. And, inasmuch as we have proved that the marriage ordinance was eternal in its nature, previous to the fall, if we are restored back to what was lost by the fall, we are restored for the purpose of carrying out the commandment given before the fall, namely, to multiply and replenish the earth. Does it say, continue to multiply for a few years, and then the marriage contract must cease, and there shall be no further opportunity of carrying out this command, but it shall have an end? No, there is nothing specified of this kind; but the fall has brought in disunion through death; it is not a part of the original plan; consequently, when male and female are restored from the fall, by virtue of the everlasting and eternal covenant of marriage, they will continue to increase and multiply to all ages of eternity, to raise up beings after their own order, and in their own likeness and image, germs of intelligence, that are destined, in their times and seasons, to become not only sons of God, but Gods themselves.

This accounts for the many worlds we heard Elder Grant speaking about yesterday afternoon. The peopling of worlds, or an endless increase, even of one family, would require an endless increase of worlds; and if one family were to be united in the eternal covenant of marriage, to fulfill that great commandment, to multiply his species, and propagate them, and if there be no end to the increase of his posterity, it would call for an endless increase of new worlds. And if one family calls for this, what would innumerable millions of families call for? They would call for as many worlds as have already been discovered by the telescope; yea, the number must be multiplied to infinity in order that there may be room for the inheritance of the sons and daughters of the Gods.

Do you begin to understand how these worlds get their inhabitants? Have you learned that the sons and daughters of God before me this day, are His offspring—made after His own image; that they are to multiply their species until they become innumerable?

Let us say a few words, before we leave this part of the subject, on the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The promises were, Lift up your eyes, and behold the stars; so thy seed shall be, as numberless as the stars. What else did He promise? Go to the seashore, and look at the ocean of sand, and behold the smallness of the particles thereof, and then realize that your seed shall be as numberless as the sands. Now let us take this into consideration. How large a bulk of sand would it take to make as many inhabitants as there are now upon the earth? In about one cubic foot of sand, reckoning the grains of a certain size, there would be a thousand million particles. Now that is about the estimated population of our globe. If our earth were to continue 8,000 years, or eighty centuries, with an average population of one thousand millions per century, then three cubic yards of sand would contain a greater number of particles than the whole population of the globe, from the beginning, until the measure of the inhabitants of this creation is complete. If men then cease to multiply, where is the promise made to Abraham? Is it fulfilled? No. If that is the end of his increase, behold, the Lord’s promise is not fulfilled. For the amount of sand representing his seed, might all be drawn in a one-horse cart; and yet the Lord said to Abraham, thy seed shall be as numerous as the sand upon the seashore; that is, to carry out the idea in full, it was to be endless; and therefore there must be an infinity of worlds for their residence. We cannot comprehend infinity. But suffice it to say, if all the sands on the seashore were numbered, says the Prophet Enoch, and then all the particles of the earth besides, and then the particles of millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to all thy creations and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and thy curtains are stretched out still. This gives plenty of room for the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham, and enough to spare for the fulfillment of similar promises to all his seed.

We read that those who do the works of Abraham, are to be blessed with the blessing of Abraham. Have you not, in the ordinances of this last dispensation, had the blessings of Abraham pronounced upon your heads? O yes, you say, I well recollect, since God has restored the everlasting Priesthood, that by a certain ordinance these blessings were placed upon our heads—the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why, says one, I never thought of it in this light before. Why did you not think of it? Why not look upon Abraham’s blessings as your own, for the Lord blessed him with a promise of seed as numerous as the sand upon the seashore; so will you be blessed, or else you will not inherit the blessings of Abraham.

How did Abraham manage to get a foundation laid for this mighty kingdom? Was he to accomplish it all through one wife? No. Sarah gave a certain woman to him whose name was Hagar, and by her a seed was to be raised up unto him. Is this all? No. We read of his wife Keturah, and also of a plurality of wives and concubines, which he had, from whom he raised up many sons. Here then, was a foundation laid for the fulfillment of the great and grand promise concerning the multiplicity of his seed. It would have been rather a slow process, if Abraham had been confined to one wife, like some of those narrow, contracted nations of modern Christianity.

I think there is only about one-fifth of the population of the globe, that believe in the one-wife system; the other four-fifths believe in the doctrine of a plurality of wives. They have had it handed down from time immemorial, and are not half so narrow and contracted in their minds as some of the nations of Europe and America, who have done away with the promises, and deprived themselves of the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The nations do not know anything about the blessings of Abraham; and even those who have only one wife, cannot get rid of their covetousness, and get their little hearts large enough to share their property with a numerous family; they are so penurious, and so narrow and contracted in their feelings, that they take every possible care not to have their families large; they do not know what is in the future, nor what blessings they are depriving themselves of, because of the traditions of their fathers; they do not know that a man’s posterity, in the eternal worlds, are to constitute his glory, his kingdom, and dominion.

Here, then, we perceive, just from this one principle, reasoning from the blessings of Abraham alone, the necessity—if we would partake of the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—of doing their works; and he that will not do the works of Abraham and walk in his footsteps, will be deprived of his blessings.

Again, let us look at Sarah’s peculiar position in regard to Abraham. She understood the whole matter; she knew that, unless seed was raised up to Abraham, he would come short of his glory; and she understood the promise of the Lord, and longed for Abraham to have seed. And when she saw that she was old, and fearing that she should not have the privilege of raising up seed, she gave to Abraham, Hagar. Would Gentile Christendom do such things now-a-days? O no; they would consider it enough to send a man to an endless hell of fire and brimstone. Why? Because tradition has instilled this in their minds as a dreadful, awful thing.

It matters not to them how corrupt they are in female prostitution, if they are lawfully married to only one wife; but it would be considered an awful thing by them to raise up a posterity from more than one wife; this would be wrong indeed; but to go into a brothel, and there debauch themselves in the lowest haunts of degradation all the days of their lives, they consider only a trifling thing; nay, they can even license such institutions, in Christian nations, and it all passes off very well.

That is tradition; and their posterity have been fostered and brought up in the footsteps of wickedness. This is death, as it stalks abroad among the great and popular cities of Europe and America.

Do you find such haunts of prostitution, degradation, and misery here, in the cities of the mountains? No. Were such things in our midst, we should feel indignant enough to see that such persons be blotted out of the page of existence. These would be the feelings of this community.

Look upon those who committed such iniquity in Israel, in ancient days; every man and woman who committed adultery were put to death. I do not say that this people are going to do this; but I will tell you what we believe—we believe it ought to be done.

Whoredom, adultery, and fornication, have cursed the nations of the earth for many generations, and are increasing fearfully upon the community; but they must be entirely done away from those who call themselves the people of God; if they are not, woe! woe! be unto them, also; for “thus saith the Lord God Almighty,” in the Book of Mormon, “Woe unto them that commit whoredoms, for they shall be thrust down to hell!” There is no getting away from it. Such things will not be allowed in this community; and such characters will find, that the time will come, that God, whose eyes are upon all the children of men, and who discerneth the things that are done in secret, will bring their acts to light; and they will be made an example before the people; and shame and infamy will cleave to their posterity after them, unto the third and fourth generation of them that repent not.

How is this to be prevented? for we have got a fallen nature to grapple with. It is to be prevented in the way the Lord devised in ancient times; that is, by giving to His faithful servants a plurality of wives, by which a numerous and faithful posterity can be raised up, and taught in the principles of righteousness and truth: and then, after they fully understand those principles that were given to the ancient Patriarchs, if they keep not the law of God, but commit adultery, and transgressions of this kind, let their names be blotted out from under heaven, that they may have no place among the people of God.

But again, there is another reason why this plurality should exist among the Latter-day Saints. I have already given you one reason, and that is, that you might inherit the blessings and promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and receive continuation of your posterity, that they may become as numerous as the sand upon the seashore. There is another reason, and a good one, too. What do you suppose it is? I will tell you; and it will appear reasonable to every man and woman of a reflecting mind. Do we not believe, as the Scriptures have told us, that the wicked nations of the earth are doomed to destruction? Yes, we believe it. Do we not also believe as the Prophets have foretold, concerning the last days, as well as what the new revelations have said upon the subject, that darkness prevails upon the earth, and gross darkness upon the minds of the people; and not only this, but that all flesh has corrupted its way upon the face of the earth; that is, that all nations, speaking of them as nations, have corrupted them– selves before the Most High God, by their wickedness, whoredoms, idolatries, abominations, adulteries, and all other kinds of wickedness? And we furthermore believe, that according to the Jewish Prophets, as well as the Book of Mormon, and modern revelations given in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, that the sword of the vengeance of the Almighty is already unsheathed, and stretched out, and will no more be put back into the scabbard until it falls upon the head of the nations until they are destroyed, except they repent. What else do we believe? We believe that God is gathering out from among these nations those who will hearken to His voice, and receive the proclamation of the Gospel, to establish them as a people alone by themselves, where they can be instructed in the right way, and brought to the knowledge of the truth. Very well; if this be the case, that the righteous are gathering out, and are still being gathered from among the nations, and being planted by themselves, one thing is certain—that that people are better calculated to bring up children in the right way, than any other under the whole heavens. O yes, says one, if that is the case—if you are the people the ancient Prophets have spoken of, if you are the people that are guided by the Lord, if you are under the influence, power, and guidance of the Almighty, you must be the best people under heaven, to dictate the young mind: but what has that to do with the plurality of wives? I will tell you. I have already told you that the spirits of men and women, all had a previous existence, thousands of years ago, in the heavens, in the presence of God; and I have already told you that among them are many spirits that are more noble, more intelligent than others, that were called the great and mighty ones, reserved until the dispensation of the fullness of times, to come forth upon the face of the earth, through a noble parentage that shall train their young and tender minds in the truths of eternity, that they may grow up in the Lord, and be strong in the power of His might, be clothed upon with His glory, be filled with exceeding great faith; that the visions of eternity may be opened to their minds; that they may be Prophets, Priests, and Kings to the Most High God. Do you believe, says one, that they are reserved until the last dispensation, for such a noble purpose? Yes; and among the Saints is the most likely place for these spirits to take their tabernacles, through a just and righteous parentage. They are to be sent to that people that are the most righteous of any other people upon the earth; there to be trained up properly, according to their nobility and intelligence, and according to the laws which the Lord ordained before they were born. This is the reason why the Lord is sending them here, brethren and sisters; they are appointed to come and take their bodies here, that in their generations they may be raised up among the righteous. The Lord has not kept them in store for five or six thousand years past, and kept them waiting for their bodies all this time to send them among the Hottentots, the African negroes, the idolatrous Hindoos, or any other of the fallen nations that dwell upon the face of this earth. They are not kept in reserve in order to come forth to receive such a degraded parentage upon the earth; no, the Lord is not such a being; His justice, goodness, and mercy will be magnified towards those who were chosen before they were born; and they long to come, and they will come among the Saints of the living God; this would be their highest pleasure and joy, to know that they could have the privilege of being born of such noble parentage.

Then is it not reasonable, and con– sistent that the Lord should say unto His faithful and chosen servants, that had proved themselves before Him all the day long; that had been ready and willing to do whatsoever His will required them to perform—take unto yourselves more wives, like unto the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of old—like those who lived in ancient times, who walked in my footsteps, and kept my commands? Why should they not do this? Suppose the Lord should answer this question, would He not say, I have here in reserve noble spirits, that have been waiting for thousands of years, to come forth in the fulness of times, and which I designed should come forth through these my faithful and chosen servants, for I knew they will do my will, and they will teach their children after them to do it. Would not this be the substance of the language, if the Lord should give us an answer upon this subject?

But then another question will arise; how are these things to be conducted? Are they to be left at random? Is every servant of God at liberty to run here and there, seeking out the daughters of men as wives unto themselves without any restriction, law, or condition? No. We find these things were restricted in ancient times. Do you not recollect the circumstance of the Prophet Nathan’s coming to David? He came to reprove him for certain disobedience, and told him about the wives he had lost through it; that the Lord would give them to another; and he told him, if he had been faithful, that the Lord would have given him still more, if he had only asked for them. Nathan the Prophet, in relation to David, was the man that held the keys concerning this matter in ancient days; and it was governed by the strictest laws.

So in these days; let me announce to this congregation, that there is but one man in all the world, at the same time, who can hold the keys of this matter; but one man has power to turn the key to inquire of the Lord, and to say whether I, or these my brethren, or any of the rest of this congregation, or the Saints upon the face of the whole earth, may have this blessing of Abraham conferred upon them; he holds the keys of these matters now, the same as Nathan, in his day.

But, says one, how have you obtained this information? By new revelation. When was it given, and to whom? It was given to our Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, Joseph Smith, on the 12th day of July, 1843; only about eleven months before he was martyred for the testimony of Jesus.

He held the keys of these matters; he had the right to inquire of the Lord; and the Lord has set bounds and restrictions to these things; He has told us in that revelation, that only one man can hold these keys upon the earth at the same time; and they belong to that man who stands at the head to preside over all the affairs of the Church and kingdom of God in the last days. They are the sealing keys of power, or in other words, of Elijah, having been committed and restored to the earth by Elijah, the Prophet, who held many keys, among which were the keys of sealing, to bind the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers; together with all the other sealing keys and powers, pertaining to the last dispensation. They were committed by that Angel who administered in the Kirtland Temple, and spoke unto Joseph the Prophet, at the time of the endowments in that house.

Now, let us enquire, what will become of those individuals who have this law taught unto them in plainness, if they reject it? [A voice in the stand, “they will be damned.“] I will tell you: they will be damned, saith the Lord God Almighty, in the revelation He has given. Why? Because where much is given, much is required; where there is great knowledge unfolded for the exaltation, glory, and happiness of the sons and daughters of God, if they close up their hearts, if they reject the testimony of His word, and will not give heed to the principles He has ordained for their good, they are worthy of damnation, and the Lord has said they shall be damned. This was the word of the Lord to His servant Joseph the Prophet himself. With all the knowledge and light he had, he must comply with it, or, says the Lord unto him, you shall be damned; and the same is true in regard to all those who reject these things.

What else have we heard from our President? He has related to us that there are some damnations that are eternal in their nature; while others are but for a certain period, they will have an end, they will not receive a restoration to their former privileges, but a deliverance from certain punishments: and instead of being restored to all the privileges pertaining to man previous to the fall, they will only be permitted to enjoy a certain grade of happiness, not a full restoration. Let us inquire after those who are to be damned, admitting they will be redeemed, which they will be, unless they have sinned against the Holy Ghost. They will be redeemed, but what will it be to? Will it be to exaltation, and to a fulness of glory? Will it be to become the sons of God, or Gods to reign upon thrones, and multiply their posterity, and reign over them as kings? No, it will not. They have lost that exalted privilege forever; though they may, after having been punished for long periods, escape by the skin of their teeth; but no kingdom will be conferred upon them. What will be their condition? I will tell you what revelation says, not only concerning them that reject these things, but concerning those that through their carelessness, or want of faith, or something else, have failed to have their marriages sealed for time and for all eternity; those that do not do these things, so as to have the same ordinances sealed upon their heads by divine authority, as was upon the head of old Father Adam—if they fail to do it through wickedness, through their ungodliness, behold, they also will never have the privilege of possessing that which is possessed by the Gods that hold the keys of power, of coming up to the thrones of their exaltation, and receiving their kingdoms. Why? Because, saith the Lord, all oaths, all covenants, and all agreements, &c., that have been made by man, and not by me, and by the authority I have established, shall cease when death shall separate the parties; that is the end; that is the cessation; they go no further; and such a person cannot come up in the morning of the resurrection, and say, Behold, I claim you as my wife; you are mine; I married you in the other world before death; therefore you are mine: he cannot say this. Why? Because he never married that person for eternity.

Suppose they should enter into covenant and agreement, and conclude between themselves to live together to all eternity, and never have it sealed by the Lord’s sealing power, by the Holy Priesthood, would they have any claim on each other in the morning of the resurrection? No; it would not be valid nor legal, and the Lord would say, It was not by me; your covenants were not sealed on the earth, and therefore they are not sealed in the heavens; they are not recorded on my book; they are not to be found in the records that are in the archives of eternity; therefore the blessings you might have had, are not for you to enjoy. What will be their condition? The Lord has told us. He says these are angels; because they keep not this law, they shall be ministering servants unto those who are worthy of obtaining a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; wherefore, saith the Lord, they shall remain singly and separately in their saved condition, and shall not have power to enlarge themselves, and thus shall they remain forever and ever.

Here, then, you can read their history; they are not Gods, but they are angels or servants to the Gods. There is a difference between the two classes; the Gods are exalted; they hold keys of power; are made Kings and Priests; and this power is conferred upon them in time, by the everlasting Priesthood, to hold a kingdom in eternity that shall never be taken from them worlds without end; and they will propagate their species. They are not servants; for one God is not to be a servant to another God; they are not angels; and this is the reason why Paul said, Know ye not, brethren, that we shall judge angels? Angels are inferior to the Saints who are exalted as Kings. These angels who are to be judged, and to become servants to the Gods, did not keep the law, therefore, though they are saved, they are to be servants to those who are in a higher condition.

What does the Lord intend to do with this people? He intends to make them a kingdom of Kings and Priests, a kingdom unto Himself, or in other words, a kingdom of Gods, if they will hearken to His law. There will be many who will not hearken; there will be the foolish among the wise, who will not receive the new and everlasting covenant in its fulness; and they never will attain to their exaltation; they never will be counted worthy to hold the scepter of power over a numerous progeny, that shall multiply themselves without end, like the sand upon the seashore.

We can only touch here and there upon this great subject, we can only offer a few words with regard to this great, sublime, beautiful, and glorious doctrine, which has been revealed by the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, Joseph Smith, who sealed his testimony with his blood, and thus revealed to the nations, things that were in ancient times, as well as things that are to come.

But while I talk, the vision of my mind is opened; the subject spreads forth and branches out like the branches of a thrifty tree; and as for the glory of God, how great it is! I feel to say, Hallelujah to His great and holy name; for He reigns in the heavens, and He will exalt His people to sit with Him upon thrones of power, to reign forever and ever.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, August 22, 1852.

Brethren and Sisters—I feel happy in having the privilege of meeting you once more in the Valley of the mountains. It is now about three years since I left this place. Since then I have traveled a great distance, enough, if in a straight line, to have gone round the world. Had I only had that to do, I should have been back some time ago. Before I enter upon anything else, I will tell you some of my feelings, and speak of other things afterwards.

I feel glad to see you, brethren, sisters, and friends, and permit me to say that I feel just at home, for Zion is my home; wherever the people of God are, I feel perfectly at home, and can rejoice with them. It seems as though I want to look at you. I have been gazing around at this, that, and the other one, while brother Wallace was preaching; I have been trying to think where I had seen them, and the various scenes we have pressed through together, in different places—in journeying, in perils, in mobbing, in difficulties and dangers of various kinds. But out of all we have been delivered, the hand of God has been manifested towards us in a remarkable manner. And then I see people here from different nations, with whom I have associated—from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and from other nations of the earth; from the Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern States; from Canada, and from almost all parts of the world. I think of the various changes, annoyances, and tribulations that we have passed through, the deliverances we have ob– tained, and the hand of God which has been manifested to us in all these things; and I rejoice, and praise God my Savior. I feel perfectly at home, in fact I feel at home wherever I meet with the Saints of God—in this country, or in other countries, but this is the grand home, this is the home for the gathering of the Saints of the Most High God, the place where the oracles of God dwell, and where the Spirit of God is preeminently poured out, where we have come to learn, of the great Jehovah, the sacred things pertaining to, and associated with His kingdom.

I am not going to preach. I wish to tell my feelings, and look at you, and think about what we have done, and what we are going to do, for it is not all done yet—we have only commenced the great work of the Lord, and are laying the foundation of that kingdom which is destined to stand forever; what we shall do, is yet in the future; we have commenced at the little end of the horn, and by and by we will come out at the big end.

I was talking about troubles, but I don’t know that we need talk or care about them. We have had some little amusements and frolics among the Gentiles, some few difficulties, but we have struggled through them all, and we are all here safe and sound. True, some of our friends have dropped by the way, they have fallen asleep, but what of that? And who cares? It is as well to live as to die, or to die as to live, to sleep as to be awake, or to be awake as to sleep—it is all one, they have only gone a little before us. For example, we have left other parts and come here, and we think we have got to Zion; they have gone to the world of spirits, and they think they have got to heaven; it is all right. We have left some of our friends behind in various places; when they arrive here, they will shake hands with us, and be glad they have got to Zion; and when we go to where our departed friends are gone, we shall strike hands with them, and be glad we have got to heaven; so it is all one. Although our friends were sorry when we left them, yet they rejoiced as well as we, that we were going to Zion; and so we shall rejoice with those who have died in the Lord, for they rest from their labors.

We have the principles of eternal life in us, we have begun to live, and we shall continue to live, as the Methodists very properly express it, “while life, and thought, and being last, or immortality endures;” and this is the beginning of it, consequently other little circumstances in this world, or even life or death; have very little to do with it. Some people have said to me, sometimes, Are you not afraid to cross over the seas, and deserts, where there are wolves and bears, and other ferocious animals, as well as the savage Indians? Are you not afraid that you will drop by the way, and leave your body on the desert track, or beneath the ocean’s wave? No. Who cares anything about it? What of it, if we should happen to drop by the way? We expect the Lord and His angels can do as much as brother Benson has done in gathering up the people—he has brought a great host from Pottawatomie—and the Lord can surely as easily “send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four quarters of the earth,” and, as old Daniel says, we shall all come up and stand in our “lot in the end of the days.” These things don’t trouble me, but I have felt to rejoice all the day long, that God has revealed the principle of eternal life, that I am put in possession of that truth, and that I am counted worthy to engage in the work of the Lord, and be a messenger to the nations of the earth. I rejoice in proclaiming this glorious Gospel, because it takes root in the hearts of the children of men, and they rejoice with me to be connected with, and participate in, the blessings of the kingdom of God. I rejoice in afflictions, for they are necessary to humble and prove us, that we may comprehend ourselves, become acquainted with our weakness and infirmities; and I rejoice when I triumph over them, because God answers my prayers, therefore I feel to rejoice all the day long.

I feel as though I am among the honorable of the earth when I am here; and when I get mixed up with the people abroad, and mingle with the great people in the world, I feel otherwise. I have seen and deplored the weakness of men—their folly, selfishness, and corruption. I do not know how they feel, but I have witnessed a great deal of ignorance and folly, I think there is a great deal of great littleness about them. There is very little power among them, their institutions are shattered, cracked, and laid open to the foundation. It is no matter what principle you refer to—if to their religion, it is a pack of nonsense; if to their philosophy and politics, they are a mass of dark confusion; their governments, churches, philosophy, and religion, are all darkness, misery, corruption, and folly. I see nothing but Babylon wherever I go—but darkness and confusion, with not a ray of light to cheer the sinking spirits of the nations of the earth, nor any hope that they will be delivered in this world, or in the world to come.

I have been with my brethren here who went with me some years ago to foreign nations—brother Erastus Snow, who is here; brother Lorenzo Snow, who has not got back yet; brother F. D. Richards, who has been over in England; and brother Pratt. There has been a great work done in all of these places, but I will leave these brethren to relate their own affairs themselves. I rejoice to associate with them, I rejoice to hear of their prosperity, and to see the wisdom, intelligence, and prudence that have been manifested in all their deportment and transactions. I could not have bettered it, and I do not know that anybody else could. Everything has been going on well, and prospering, the hand of God has been with us, and His angels have been on our path, and we are led to rejoice exceedingly before Him as the God of our salvation.

It gave me great joy, on my way home, to find the Saints leaving Kanesville. It seemed as though they were swept out with a besom almost. When I was there, I rode out in my carriage one day to a place called Council Point. I thought I would go and visit some of the folks there, but, when I got there, behold, there were no folks to see. I hunted round, and finally found a place with something like “grocery” written upon it. I alighted, and went into the house, and asked a person who presented himself at the door, if he was a stranger there. Yes, says he, I have only just come. And the people have all left, have they? Yes, was the answer. I next saw a few goods standing at the side of a house, but the house was empty, these were waiting to be taken away. I went into another house, and there were two or three waiting for a boat to take them down the river, and these were all the inhabitants I saw there!

When I first reflected upon this removal, my heart felt pained. I well knew the disposition of many of the men on those frontier countries, and I thought that some miserable wretches might come upon them after the main body of the Saints had removed, and abuse, rob, and plunder the widow, the orphan, the lame, halt, blind, and destitute, who might be left, as they did in Nauvoo; and thus the old, decrepit, and infirm would be abused, insulted, and preyed upon by wretches in human shape, who never have courage to meet men, but are cruel and relentless with the old, infirm, the widow, orphan, and destitute. But, thank God, they are coming, nearly all, old and young, rich and poor.

When I see my brethren and sisters here, I cannot help but to rejoice with them, and especially with those who have been engaged in these various labors.

The reports that have reached me from time to time, of your prosperity—accounts of the great work of the Lord that was going on here, have caused me much joy. I have heard of your progress in the city, and out of it; of your various settlements and explorations; and of the many organizations made by the Presidency. This has been joyful to me while abroad in foreign nations.

Some people think that preaching is the greatest part of the business in building up the kingdom of God. This is a mistake. You may pick out our most inferior Elders, in point of talent and ability, and send them to England to preach and preside, and they think they are great men there. Their religion teaches them so much more than the Gentiles know, that they are received as the great men of the earth. Anybody can preach, he is a poor simpleton that cannot, it is the easiest thing in the world. But, as President Young says, it takes a man to practice. A great many preach first-rate when they get abroad; you there meet with most eloquent men, they will almost make the stones un– der your feet tremble, and the walls of the building to quake; but the moment they get into a little difficulty, they immediately dwindle down into nothing, and they have not got as much force as would draw a mosquito off its nest.

But the things that are going on here, require talent, force, energy, a knowledge of human nature and of the laws of God. The sacrifices that are being made, in leaving home, and traveling from place to place, combating and overcoming the many difficulties that we have had to cope with, and standing in a distinguished position in the eyes of the nations of the earth, are no small affair. They gaze with astonishment at the stand that this people take at the present time in their territorial capacity; to that all the nations and courts of Europe are looking. Talk about preaching; this is a matter of another importance entirely. I do not care how eloquent men are—these are all good in their place—but it is the organization in this place; the wise policy of the Governor who presides here, in the extension of this infant state, by building up new colonies, &c.; making such extensive improvements that preach louder among the courts of Europe, at the present time.

It is one of the most remarkable things that has ever taken place in any age; and kings, and philosophers are obliged to acknowledge it. I remember noticing an article in the London Times, not long ago (and it is one of the leading papers of the day). In speaking about the “Mormons,” giving an account of some affairs associated with the Church, and with the establishment of a Territorial Government here, the editor remarks nearly as follows—“We have let this people alone for some time, and said nothing about them; we have been led to believe that they were a society of fanatics and fools, &c.; but let this be as it may, their position in the world, in a national capacity, demands at our hands, as public journalists, to report their progress, improvements, and position.” I sent the Epistle of the First Presidency to the Journal Des Debats, which is one of the principal papers in Paris. They published the Epistle, and the chief editor made some excellent remarks upon it, and signed his name to them. It was taken from the paper, and translated and published in Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, and Germany, and thus, in their various languages, it was spread before the nations of Europe. Our place and people are becoming well known abroad. While in the city of Paris, I had to do with some of the leading government men. In seeking to obtain authority to preach, all I had to do, generally, was to send my card—John Taylor, du (from) Deseret.

We are becoming notorious in the eyes of the nations; and the time is not far distant when the kings of the earth will be glad to come to our Elders to ask counsel to help them out of their difficulties; for their troubles are coming upon them like a flood, and they do not know how to extricate themselves.

I will here give a short history of some of my proceedings. I was appointed to go to France some years ago, in company with some of the Twelve, who were appointed to go to other places. The First Presidency asked us if we would go. Yes, was the reply; we can go anywhere, for if we cannot do little things like these, I don’t know what else we can do. Some people talk about doing great things; but it is not a great thing to travel a little, or to preach a little. I hear some of our Elders saying, sometimes, that they are going to do great things—to be rulers in the kingdom of God, Kings and Priests to the Most High, and are again to exalt thousands of others to thrones, prin– cipalities, and powers, in the eternal worlds; but we cannot get them out of their nests, to travel a few miles here. If they cannot do this, how will they ever learn to go from world to world?

We went, and were blessed in our journeying. We had a pretty hard time in crossing the plains, and I should not recommend people to go so late in the season as we did. We should have lost all our horses, but the hand of God was over us for our good; He delivered us out of all our dangers, and took us through safely. When we got to the Missouri River, the ice was running very strong, so that it was impossible to ferry; but in one night the river froze over, and we passed over as on a bridge, in perfect safety; but as soon as the last team was over, the ice again removed. Thus the Lord favored us in our extremities.

You may inquire, how did you get along preaching? The best way that we could, the same as we always do. We went to work (at least I did) to try to learn the language a little. I went into the city of Boulogne, and I obtained permission there from the mayor to preach; this I was under the necessity of doing. At that time, I had not been very particular in seeking recommends as I went along; but I had a recommend from Governor Young: he told the folks I was an honorable man, and signed his name to it as the Governor of the Territory of Utah, and Willard Richards as Secretary. I told the mayor, in relation to these matters, I had not many papers with me, but I had one that I obtained from the Governor of the state I came from. “O,” says he, “Mr. Taylor, this is very good indeed, won’t you leave it with me, and if anybody finds any fault, I shall have it to refer to.”

Several Protestant priests from England commenced to annoy us, and wanted to create a disturbance in the meeting, but I would not allow it, besides I was in a strange city, and was received courteously by the mayor, and wished my meeting to be orderly. These insolent men came to create disturbance in our meetings, but seeing they could not get a chance of speaking inside the doors, they followed me in the streets, asking me questions as I walked along. Among the questions, they said something about “Joe Smith.” Says I, “Who are you talking about? I was well acquainted with Mr. Joseph Smith; he was a gentleman, and would not treat a stranger as you do me.” They still, however, dogged after me, asking me more questions. I told them, I did not wish to talk with men of their caste. They finally sent me a challenge, and we had a discussion; the result of it you may have read as published. The Methodist preacher denied his calling, and was to be removed from his place, in consequence; and the others sunk into forgetfulness—I could obtain no information of them when last there. I decreed, then, I would let the English alone, and turn to the French.

I went from there right into the city of Paris, and commenced translating the Book of Mormon, with brother Bolton to assist me. We baptized a few; some of them men of intelligence and education, and capable of assisting us in the work. Brother Pack went to Calais, and raised a small Church there. We afterwards united some English Branches, Boulogne en France, to it, called the Jersey Islands. There the people speak half English, half French; and brother Pack went to preside over them. Brother Bolton and I remained principally in Paris, and in that neighborhood; we there organized a Church. Before I came away, we held a Conference, at which four hundred members were represented, including those Branches that were added to the Branch in Calais.

We have got a translation of the Book of Mormon, as good a one as it is possible for anybody to make. I fear no contradiction to this statement from any man, learned or illiterate. I had it examined and tested by some of the best educated men in France. I have got a specimen with me. [The Book was produced, which was beautifully bound.] This is the Book of Mormon, translated into the French language, and it is got up in as good a style as any book that was ever published, whether in the Church or out of it. The translation is good, the printing is good, and the paper is good. I have made some little alterations, that is, I have marked the paragraphs, and numbered them, so as to tell where to refer to, when you wish to do so; and in some instances where the paragraphs are very long, I have divided them. The original simplicity of the book is retained, and it is as literal as the genius and idiom of the French language would admit of.

This book is stereotyped, and I have arranged it so that when copies of this work are sold, a certain amount of money is put away, that when another edition is called for, the money is there; and thus it can be continued from time to time, as necessity shall require, until 200,000 copies are printed without any additional expense. We also publish there a paper called “L’Etoile du Deseret” (The Star of Deseret). It is got up in good style, and printed in new type. It is also stereotyped, and most of it is new matter. I have given an account of the organization of the Church, and a brief history of it; of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the evidences of it; of the doctrines of the Church, and the position of things in this country, &c., &c. These are some of the leading items of this publication. Instead of filling it with the news of the day, we have filled it with all that is good for the people to read, that it may be a standing work for years to come. It contains articles written on baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, the necessity of gathering together, and all the leading points associated with the religion we believe in, that there may be evidence forthcoming at anytime and place, in the hands of the inquirer. If men should be there, not acquainted with the language, and individuals should make inquiries of them relating to the doctrines of their religion, they have nothing to do but hand them this Number or that Number of the “Star of Deseret,” containing the information they wish. This will save them a great deal of trouble in talking.

We found many difficulties to combat, for it is not an easy thing to go into France and learn to talk French well; but at the same time, if a man sets to work in good earnest, he can do it. I have scratched the word “can’t” out of my vocabulary long since, and I have not got it in my French one.

The Spirit of the Lord was with us, and with the people, and He prospered us in our undertakings, and we were enabled to accomplish the thing we set about. We had difficulties to cope with in regard to the government. If it had not been for the position of things there in relation to the late revolution, that was then brewing, I believe we should have obtained the privilege from the government to preach throughout all France, and also protection for the Elders.

I petitioned the Cabinet for that privilege. While talking to some of them, they told me there would be no difficulty in obtaining permission. But we were unable to obtain the liberty we wished. And I believe it originated from the position of things just before the revolution broke out; it was through that, or through difficulties in Denmark, wherein a mob was raised against the Saints. They were then banishing strangers out of Paris, and would not allow them a place there unless they were wealthy persons, and had money in the bank, as security for their conduct.

“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and Brotherhood,” was written almost upon every door. You had liberty to speak, but might be put in prison for doing so. You had liberty to print, but they might burn what you had printed, and put you into confinement for it. The nations of Europe know nothing about liberty, except England; and there it is much the same as here, that is, liberty to do right.

When you get into France, Germany, or any of the foreign nations, where the language is different from ours, the spirit of the people is different, and it appears to me that a different spirit is carried along with these languages, which is peculiar to them.

I might tell you about their political state, but I will preserve that for some political speech or other; we will let that go for the present. At the same time, there are thousands of as good spirited, honest hearted men as I ever met with in any part of the world; they are quiet, calm, peaceable, and desirous to know the truth, and be governed by it; and if we only had liberty to preach to them the principles of truth, thousands would flock to the standard of truth.

Infidelity prevails there to a great extent, and at the same time a great deal of a certain kind of religion, a sort of Catholicism; not the Catholicism that was, but which is. Men have got sick of it, and look upon it as moonshine and folly. You may divide the people into three classes—the most religious class are the women; from observation you would judge that they attend to the affairs of the souls of their husbands, as well as their own. The fact is, the men care little about it themselves. You will find nothing but women in the places of worship there, while on the other hand, if you go out to the public promenades, and theaters, and public amusements on Sunday, you will see men by thousands; and if you judge of their religion by their actions, you would consider that the theater and public amusements are their places of worship; at the same time, that the Church is the place to do penance, and that the women do it.

I am not surprised that infidelity should prevail in such countries. I declare, personally, if I could see nothing better than what is called Christianity there, I would be an infidel too; and I say the same also in regard to Protestantism. The Protestants talk a great deal about Catholic priests, but I believe they are much more honest in the sight of man, and will do more for their pay, than any Protestant minister you can find. You will find them up at five o’clock in the morning, saying mass, and attending to what they consider are their religious duties—visiting the sick, and going among fevers and plagues, where Protestant ministers dare not go. This is my notion of that. (A voice in the stand—The children are always lazier than their daddy.) The idea of taking Protestantism among the French people is nonsense, for one Catholic priest could prevail over fifty Protestants. The Catholic priests are more intelligent, they know the basis upon which their church is founded, and they can reason upon principles the Protestants cannot enter into. Protestants can do very well when they have got a mass of their own people around them.

When I was in Boulogne, some Protestant ministers were afraid lest I should make a division among them; they were fearful lest I should show up some of their follies, and the Catholics should laugh at them. One of these Jesuit priests came to me; he was a well educated man. In speaking on those discussions, says he, when they ask about the character of your founders, just examine into theirs, and I will furnish you all the testimony you want. I told him I was much obliged to him, but I could attend to my own business. I thought if I could not get along, and defend “Mormonism” without the help of a Jesuit priest, it was a poor case.

I was speaking, awhile ago, about the people there being divided into three classes. One of them you may call infidel, under the head of Socialism, Fourierism, and several other isms. Communism is a specimen of the same thing, and they call it religion! These are generally known under the head of what is called Rouges, or Red Republicans. There is one class that think it is necessary to sustain religions as a national policy, to subdue the minds of the people, and make them easier to govern. The third class is in the minority a long way; it is those who are actually sincere in their religion.

I will give you a specimen of Protestantism as I witnessed it in a grand anniversary Bible Society meeting in Paris. There were some of the most notable men in Paris going to preach there and that attracted the attention of the public. The meeting was held in one of the principal Protestant churches. The late Prime Minister of Louis Philippe, Monsieur Guizot, presided, and many other eminent men were present. M. Guizot is a man of great ability, and quite an orator, so that all parties respected him on account of his talent. As he was going to be there, and deliver a speech, it attracted quite an audience. I went to hear them, in company with a French minister that was baptized there. The place was pretty well crowded, not so full as this hall is this morning; but in that country it was considered a first rate congregation. When M. Guizot finished his discourse, about one-third of the congregation left. I thought this a curious proceeding; they don’t act so in Protestant countries. Another got up to speak, and when he had made a speech, another third of what was left, left the house and went away; and when four or five of them had made speeches, there were about as many left in the house as you would see at a Catholic chapel at mass. I was really surprised at the indifference and carelessness manifested.

This was at the anniversary of a Bible Society in the city of Paris, where some of the most notable men gathered together. I speak of this to represent to you the position of things there, and the spirit of the people in relation to these matters. In a theater, or in any public spectacle, all would have stayed till the last.

It is among this people we have got to introduce the Gospel. When they come to see it, they rejoice in it, but we do not preach religion much to them, for a great many of them are philosophers, and, of course, we must be philosophers too, and make it appear that our philosophy is better than theirs, and then show them that religion is at the bottom of it. It would be nonsense to talk about justification by faith: they would say it was moonshine, or something else. You have got to talk common sense, you have got to affect their bodies as well as their souls, for they believe they are possessed of both. When they once get interested in the work of God, and get the Spirit of God, they rejoice exceedingly in the blessings of the Gospel. I have seen Saints in that country who rejoiced and thanked God, for the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant, as much as ever I saw Saints in any country.

I had thought, after having completed the translation of the Book of Mormon into the French language, in which I was assisted by brother Bolton, of returning home last year, but I met with the Epistle of the First Presidency, from which I could learn their desire that we should stay another year. I, therefore, thought I would alter my course immediately, and follow the directions of the Spirit of God—for I wished all the time, as Paul says, to be obedient to the heavenly calling; I wished at all times to pursue the course the Spirit of the Lord should dictate. I knew it would dictate them right, though I did not see at that time that it would be of much benefit for me to stay long there, as it was no place for preaching in. The government, after studying about these things some time, denied us the privilege of preaching; and all the place we had to meet in was a private room; and, according to a law of the government, if more than twenty persons were known to meet together they were in danger of being put in prison. The officers were continually on the alert, and when we would meet, lest there should be more than twenty people, they would be counting how many there were in the room, and thus the Saints were continually under the spirit of fear of the authorities. It is under these circumstances we have had to labor.

As it stated in the Epistle, that it was better for the brethren to extend their labors to other nations, it immediately occurred to my mind to go to Germany, so I made a plan before I got up in the morning, for thought flows quickly, you know. The plan was—to publish the Book of Mormon there. I wrote to brother Hyde to send me out some brother that was acquainted with the German language, and my letter got there about the time he left for the Valley, and he did not get it. I said to bro– ther Bolton, and brother De La Mere, who was from the island of Jersey, that there was one man in the Valley I wished was here, and that was brother Carn. There was one brother in France, who was a German, and was well acquainted with the languages, both German and French. I engaged him to go with me to Germany, that is, to translate. However, I went over to England, and thought we would hunt in England to find some person qualified to go and preach in Germany. I found many Germans, but none with sufficient experience in the Church. Finally, I thought I would start by myself. When I got to London, I met with brother Dykes; he had said something about going to Germany, but he concluded he had better be with brother Snow, as he was acquainted with the Danish language; he had got his discharge from that engagement, and was on his way home when I met him. This placed things in another position. He said he would like to go if his family could be provided for, but I could not say anything particular about his family.

I finally had him go for a month or two, for I did not wish to put a thing upon him I would not do myself. He felt a desire to go, and said he would do as I said, so I told him to go for two months. I made an appointment to meet him in Germany, as I had to go through France.

When we arrived there, we started the translation of the Book of Mormon, and it was half completed before I came away. We also started to publish a paper in Germany, called Zions Panier (Zion’s Banner). I wished to be perfectly satisfied that the translation was right; brother Richards and I heard some of it read in Boulogne, and we thought it was very good, but still it had to be altered. I, therefore, got some of the best professors in the city of Ham– burg to look over it: some few alterations were necessary, but not many. Also, with regard to the paper, one of the professors said he would not have known it was written in English and translated; he should, if not told to the contrary, have supposed it written originally in German.

I have often heard men in this country splutter a great deal about the meaning of odd words in the Bible, but this only exhibits their folly: it is the spirit and intention of the language that are to be looked at, and if the translator does not know this it is impossible for him to translate correctly, and this is the reason why there are so many blunders in the Bible. I believe the English Bible is translated as well as any book could be by uninspired men. The German translation of the Bible, I believe, is tolerably correct, but some of the French editions are miserable.

A Protestant minister in Germany refused to discuss the doctrine of Baptism, because their Bible is so plain upon that subject that the doctrine of sprinkling could not be maintained. Among the German people, we find a great deal of infidelity, but at the same time we find very much sterling integrity, and there will be thousands and tens of thousands of people in that country who will embrace the faith, and rejoice in the blessings of the Gospel. We have sent our French papers to Switzerland, Denmark, and to Lower Canada, and some of our German papers to France, and vice versa.

The languages in these countries are mixed up: it is a profession more general than it is in this country; they think a man is very ignorant if he professes to be a teacher and does not know two or three languages, but with all their knowledge of languages, there is a great amount of ignorance. There are men there acquainted with two or three languages, and that is all they do know; if you except that, there is not an ounce of common sense remains. What if you can read French, or German, or Hebrew, or anything else—what good would it do you unless you read to understand the works written in those languages? Simply none at all. A man is a fool if he boast about anything of that kind.

The Book of Mormon by this time is printed and stereotyped in the German language. I left brother Carn there, to attend to this business: everything was going on smoothly, so I thought I could leave it as well as not. When I got to Liverpool, and was about coming away, the very man I wanted to come from the Valley arrived there. I was glad to meet him in Liverpool.

I shall want to get some folks to go to France, and to Germany. I would not ask anybody to do that which I would not do myself.

There are books, thousands of them, if you cannot talk to the people, you can give them the books to read. But you can learn the language, or you are poor concerns. Any sane person can.

I do not know that it is necessary for me to say anything more. O yes, I organized a society to make sugar, and a woolen manufactory. The sugar factory will be here soon. If you will only provide us with beets and wood, we will make you sugar enough to preserve yourselves in. We can have as good sugar in this country as anywhere else; we have as good machinery as is in the world. I have seen the best specimens of it in the World’s Fair, but there was none better than this; there is not any better on the earth, nor better men to make sugar than those who are coming. I found this affair as difficult to arrange as anything I have had to do. We could not bring the other machinery on this year, for we had as much on hand with the sugar machinery as we could get along with, so we had to leave it, that is, the woolen and worsted machinery, to another year. I can say also of this, that it is as good machinery as there is in the world. It is the same kind of machinery that is made use of in the west of England to make the best kind of broad cloth; also a worsted manufactory to manufacture cloth for ladies’ wear, such as merinoes, and alpaccas, and other sorts of paccas. I don’t know the names of them all; and various kinds of shawls, blankets, carpets, &c., &c., if we can only command the wool.

After having gone through these things, I will say again, I am glad that I have got back to this place. Some people have asked me if I was not pretty near being taken up and put in prison by the authorities of France. I might have been, but I did not know it.

A gentleman in Paris would make me promise to call on him when I came back to Paris, and make his house my home. I agreed to return, and stay a few days in that city, and hold a Conference there. This was a few days after the revolution. I saw the place where the houses had been battered down, and the people killed by wholesale; where they were shot down promiscuously, both big and little, old and young, men, women, and children. I was there soon after this occurrence; and at the very time the people were voting in their President, we were holding a Conference on the same day, for I thought they would have something else to do than to attend to us. Some of the Elders, however, were afraid to come to Paris, lest there should be difficulty.

There were about 400 represented at this Conference; Elders, Priests, and Teachers were ordained; and a Conference was regularly organized. The Spirit of the Lord was with us, and many were ordained to the Priesthood with a Presidency over the nation.

After I had left Paris, on my arrival in England, I found a letter from brother Bolton, who is president in France; he informed me that the haut (high) police had been inquiring for me at my lodgings, but that the gentleman of the house had kept him talking for two hours, defending my character, &c. They came to the house ten minutes after I had left in a cab for the railroad, but I had then finished my work, and when they would have put their fingers on me, I was not there. But at the very time they were voting for their president, we were voting for our president, and building up the Kingdom of God; and I prophesied then, and prophesy now, that our cause will stand when their’s is crushed to pieces; and the kingdom of God will roll on and spread from nation to nation, and from kingdom to kingdom. And from these nations we have been preaching the Gospel of Christ to, you will see thousands and tens of thousands yet flocking to Zion, and singing Hallelujahs to the God of Israel.

Did we not talk about England in the same way when the Gospel was first introduced into that country? Brother Kimball prophesied the same things of that country, and they have all come to pass, and this will come to pass by and by, for there is “a good time coming, Saints, wait a little longer;” and we will rise up like the servants of the living God, and accomplish the work He has given us to do; and when we have done our work here, we will then join our friends in the eternal worlds, and engage in acts more vast, more mighty, and that will require more energy than the works we are now engaged in.

I rejoice that I am happy to meet with you and my family: you are my friends, and you are the friends of God, and we are building up the kingdom of God, and by and by the kings and princes of the earth will come, and gaze upon the glory of Zion.

I used to think there was a good deal of intelligence among the world, but I have sought for it so long I have given up all hopes of ever finding it there. Some philosophers came to visit me in France, and while conversing, I had to laugh a little at them for the word philosophy is about every tenth word they speak. One of them, a Jesuit priest, who had come in the Church, a well educated man, was a little annoyed in his feelings at some of my remarks, on their philosophy. I asked them if any of them had ever asked me one question that I could not answer. They answered in the negative. But, said I, I can ask you fifty that you cannot answer.

Speaking of philosophy, I must tell another little story, for I was almost buried up in it while I was in Paris. I was walking about one day in the Jardin des Plantes—a splendid garden. There they had a sort of exceedingly light cake; it was so thin and light that you could blow it away, and you could eat all day of it, and never be satisfied. Somebody asked me what the name of that was. I said, I don’t know the proper name, but in the absence of one, I can give it a name—I will call it philosophy, or fried froth, which you like. It is so light you can blow it away, eat it all day, and at night be as far from being satisfied as when you began.

There are a great many false principles in the world, and as I said before, whether you examine their religion, their philosophy, their politics, or their national policy, you will find it a mess of complete baby work, there is nothing substantial about it, nothing to take hold of. There is no place that I have found under the whole heavens where there is true intelligence, but in the land of Zion.

I will risk our Elders among the world, if they will only brush up their ideas a little. I will take any of you rough looking fellows, put you in a tailor’s shop a little, and start you out like gentlemen, as large as life. I tell you there is a great difference between our people and others. Many others have a nice little finish on them; they may be compared to scrimped up dandies; but everything is on the outside, and nothing in the inside.

Our folks who are operating round here in the canyons, and on the land, are listening to the servants of God, and studying principles of eternal truth; they are like young rough colts, with plenty of bone, sinew, and nerve in them; all they want is rubbing down a little, and they will come out first rate. I believe in the polish, and a little of everything else, you know I am a Frenchman now.

I have found that all intelligence is good, and there is a good deal in the world, mixed up with all their follies. It is good for the Elders to become acquainted with the languages, for they may have to go abroad, and should be able to talk to the people, and not look like fools. I care not how much intelligence you have got, if you cannot exhibit it you look like an ignoramus. Suppose a Frenchman should come upon this stand to deliver a lecture upon Botany, Astronomy, or any other science, and could not speak a word of English, how much wiser would you be? You may say, I thought the Lord would give us the gift of tongues. He won’t if we are too indolent to study them. I never ask the Lord to do a thing I could do for myself. We should be acquainted with all things, should obtain intelligence both by faith and by study. We are instructed to gather it out of the best books, and become acquainted with governments, nations, and laws. The Elders of this Church have need to study these things, that when they go to the nations, they may not wish to return home before they have accomplished a good work.

When I was in Hamburg, there were 30,000 soldiers quartered in the city, and that is called a free city. If you ask any of the inhabitants what they are doing there, they will answer—Ich weise nicht (I don’t know), but we have to keep them. They are there because the Emperor of Austria placed them there, and he had power to have them there.

In Paris, you would suppose you were in an armed city for you could not step anywhere without meeting soldiers at every step.

When I was in Hamburg, I had to go and get a permit to authorize me to stay one month, and when that was done, I had to get another to authorize me to stay another month. The only thing we can do in that country at present is to baptize some of the citizens, and set them to preaching, as they have more rights and privileges than a stranger. No man has a right to receive his own son into his own house, if not a citizen, without a card; or a permit from the Government; and that is a free city, so called. We cannot know anything about the blessings and privileges we have as Americans, without becoming acquainted with the condition of other nations, this is one of the greatest countries in the world, but they (the Americans) do not appreciate their privileges.

I am glad to see things moving on so well here; I observe great improvements and changes: you have done a great work, and God will bless you for it. I am glad to see and hear that you are more diligent in paying tithing, and attending to your duties than before I left. It is not hard to do the will of God, and if some of you would go out into the world for two or three years, you would not find it hard to repay tithing when you came back again. I am glad to hear of these things—of the building up of the kingdom of God; and union is strength, and to fulfill the will of God brings down blessings upon our heads. I now expect to rest a little, and visit a little, and we will talk and preach, and do all the good we can in this world, and then go into the next to do more good.

I feel obliged to the brethren here for putting me up a house; and brother Brigham, I am much obliged to you for it; God bless you for it. And I pray that the blessings of God may rest down upon all the Saints, worlds without end. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, August 1, 1852.

As there is still a little time which may be occupied to our benefit this morning, I arise to improve it.

These are happy days to the Saints, and we should rejoice in them; they are the best days we ever saw; and in the midst of the sorrows and afflictions of this life, its trials and temp– tations, the buffetings of Satan, the weakness of the flesh, and the power of death which is sown in it, there is no necessity for any mortal man to live a single day without rejoicing, and being filled with gladness. I allude to the Saints, who have the privilege of receiving the Spirit of truth, and have been acquainted with the laws of the new covenant. There is no necessity of one of these passing a day without enjoying all the blessings his capacities are capable of receiving. Yet it is necessary that we should be tried, tempted, and buffeted, to make us feel the weaknesses of this mortal flesh. We all feel them; our systems are full of them, from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet; still, in the midst of all these weaknesses and frailties of human nature, it is the privilege of every person who has come to the knowledge of the truth, to rejoice in God, the rock of his salvation, all the day long. We rejoice because the Lord is ours, because we are sown in weakness for the express purpose of attaining to greater power and perfection. In everything the Saints may rejoice—in persecution, because it is necessary to purge them, and prepare the wicked for their doom; in sickness and in pain, though they are hard to bear, because we are thereby made acquainted with pain, with sorrow, and with every affliction that mortals can endure, for by contrast all things are demonstrated to our senses. We have reason to rejoice exceedingly that faith is in the world, that the Lord reigns, and does His pleasure among the inhabitants of the earth. Do you ask if I rejoice because the Devil has the advantage over the inhabitants of the earth, and has afflicted mankind? I most assuredly answer in the affirmative; I rejoice in this as much as in anything else. I rejoice because I am afflicted. I rejoice because I am poor. I rejoice because I am cast down. Why? Because I shall be lifted up again. I rejoice that I am poor, because I shall be made rich; that I am afflicted, because I shall be comforted, and prepared to enjoy the felicity of perfect happiness, for it is impossible to properly appreciate happiness, except by enduring the opposite.

I was glad to hear brother Babbit speak this morning. He wondered why he had been called to the stand to speak, and could not conceive of any other reason, except it was that the people might know whether he was in the faith or not. He guessed pretty nigh right. He has been gone some time, and travels to and fro in the earth, playing into law up to the eyes, mingling with the bustle of the wicked world. Has he got any faith? We think he has. I wanted to hear him speak, and to know what his feelings were, and if the root of the matter was in him; so we had him come before the public congregation, to exhibit it there. My reasons for pursuing such a course are known to myself; but one thing is certain, if we magnify our calling as Elders in Israel, we are the saviors of the children of men, instead of being their destroyers. We were ordained to save the people, and to save them in the manner the Lord has pointed out. The Savior came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance; and we preach to the people, and call upon them to be saved—not the righteous, but we call upon sinners; for those that are well, need no physician, but they that are sick. With those who are saved already, we have nothing to do. But it is those who are in sin and transgression, who are in darkness and in weakness, those who are wrapt up in the superstitions and false traditions of the nations that have lived and passed away, whom we must plead with and try to save; and if they begin to see, continue to anoint their eyes with truth, that they may see clearly; and put them in every possible condition we can place them in, to encourage them to call upon the Lord, and trust in Him alone; for those who will trust in the Lord will be made strong.

As for the weaknesses of human nature, we have plenty of them; weakness and sin are with us constantly; they are sown in the mortal body, and extend from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet. We need not go to our neighbors for sin, to palliate all our crimes, for we ourselves have plenty of it; we need not crave weakness from our fellow man, we have our own share of it; it is for us to trust in the Lord, and endeavor to deliver ourselves from the effects of sin, plead with every person to take the same course, and propose and plan every possible means to become friends of God, that we may thereby become friends of sinners, and receive a great reward in a day to come.

I am satisfied with the remarks of brother Babbitt and if we sum them all up, and make a close calculation upon the whole, looking over the lives of Prophets, Patriarchs, and Apostles; not overlooking the circumstance of Peter denying his Lord, or any of the old ancients faltering in their steps, transgressing, falling into weaknesses, turning away from the commandments of the Lord, or being overtaken in any fault whatever—sum up the whole, and add the weaknesses and sins of modern Prophets, Apostles, and Saints; then sum up all the weaknesses and sins of mankind, and bring them together, and you will find that it will never justify you nor me one moment in doing a wrong thing, in forsaking the Lord, and serving the devil, or any of his emissaries. Consequently, I feel to urge upon every person who has named the name of Christ, the necessity of his being faithful to the requirements of his religion, and of shunning all evil, as quick as he becomes acquainted with the principle by which he can discriminate between good and evil; and cleave unto the good, follow after it, pray for it, and cling to it by day and by night, if he wants to enjoy the blessings of a celestial kingdom. I wish this for myself and for my brethren. Never think that the Lord will permit you to commit a little sin here, and a little sin there; that He will permit you to lie a little, serve yourselves or somebody else a little, besides Him, because you have faith, and are a professed friend of God, and have a desire to see His kingdom prevail, thinking you will be saved at last. This throws a person, at least, upon the ground where he is liable to be overthrown by the enemy. It is a risky position to stand in, to say the least of it, for a Saint of God to say he can serve himself, or the enemy, or anything else in this world, for gold; those who do it, stand upon slippery ground, and if they are saved at all, it will be by the skin of their teeth; so I will not justify any person in pursuing such a course. Brother Babbit has to law it here, and law it there; though he may not feel justified in doing so, I rejoice to hear him declare that the root of the matter is in him. Would I not rather see him an almighty man before God, thundering out the truths of eternity, and living in the flame of revelation, than see him engaged in the paltry business of pettifogging? I thank the Lord for all the good and for all the faith there is in him. Brother Babbit is near to my heart, for notwithstanding all the faults of the brethren, I love them—the old, middle-aged, and young; if they have a particle of love in them for the truth, they are near to my heart. I wish to bind them to the Lord, and to His cause upon the earth, that they may secure to themselves salvation.

I am happy, and am made glad this day. If you wish to know what I think of brother Babbit, I will tell you. If we could keep him here a few months, and in our councils a few years, I think that he would despise litigation as he would the gates of hell. If we had him here, we would wrap him up in the Spirit and power of God, and send him to preach glad tidings to the nations of the earth, instead of his being engaged in the low and beggarly business of pettifogging. If he would dwell among us, doubtless he would despise it, for it is from hell, and it will go there.

We have heard good remarks, but let me forewarn you again, that the Elders in Israel need never flatter themselves that they can serve the devil, because they think the root of the matter is in them, for before they are aware, they will be led captive by him, and he will lead them down to hell. That is my exhortation, not only to the Elders in Israel, but to all Saints.

There is one thing in the sayings of brother Babbit, which I will refer to, in relation to the loyalty of this people. I am at the defiance of the rulers of the greatest nation on the earth, with the United States all put together, to produce a more loyal people than the Latter-day Saints. Have they, as a people, broken any law? No, they have not. Have the United States? Yes! They have trampled the Constitution under their feet with impunity, and ridden recklessly over all law, to persecute and drive this people. Admit, for argument’s sake, that the “Mormon” Elders have more wives than one, yet our enemies never have proved it. If I had forty wives in the United States, they did not know it, and could not substantiate it, neither did I ask any lawyer, judge, or magistrate for them. I live above the law, and so do this people. Do the laws of the United States require us to crouch and bow down to the miserable wretches who violate them? No. The broad law of the whole earth is that every person has the right to enjoy every mortal blessing, so far as he does not infringe upon the rights and privileges of others. It is also according to the acts of every legislative body throughout the Union, to enjoy all that you are capable of enjoying; but you are forbidden to infringe upon the rights, property, wife, or anything in the possession of your neighbor. I defy all the world to prove that we have infringed upon that law. You may circumscribe the whole earth, and pass through every Christian nation, so called, and what do you find? If you tell them a “Mormon” has two wives, they are shocked, and call it dreadful blasphemy; if you whisper such a thing into the ears of a Gentile who takes a fresh woman every night, he is thunderstruck with the enormity of the crime. The vile practice of violating female virtue with impunity is customary among the professed Christian nations of the world; this is therefore no marvel to them, but they are struck with amazement when they are told a man may have more lawful wives than one! What do you think of a woman having more husbands than one? This is not known to the law, yet it is done in the night, and considered by the majority of mankind to be all right. There are certain governments in the world, that give women license to open their doors and windows to carry on this abominable practice, under the cover of night. Five years ago the census of New York gave 15,000 prostitutes in that city. Is that law? Is that good order? Look at your Constitution, look at the Federal law, look at every wholesome principle, and they tell you that death is at your doors, corruption in your streets, and hell is all open, and gaping wide to enclose you in its fiery vortex. To talk about law and good order while such things exist, makes me righteously angry. Talk not to me about law.

Suppose that the things they are pleased to say about this people are true, do you suppose I care about it? I do not, for I ask no odds of them. This people have treated them kindly. Did we not pay for our land honorably when we settled in Missouri and other places? We have paid them millions of dollars for land, of which we have been basely robbed; and shall I crouch down, and say I dare not speak of it? I would rather have my head severed from my body in this room, than be compelled to be silent on this matter. I am a green mountain boy, I was born in the State of Vermont, and plead for my rights, and the rights of this people, upon the broad Constitution of the United States, which we shall certainly maintain, in spite of the poor, rotten, political curses that pretend to enforce the Constitution. I ask no odds of them. I will feed them, if they come hungry to my door, for they are flesh of my flesh. The King upon the throne, and the President in his chair, are the same to me as these poor emigrants, who are lying around my doors—when they are hungry, I feed them; when they are sick, I nurse them; the same as I would the President of the United States, or any of the kings of Europe, unless they were better men.

As for the pride that is in the world, I walk over it, it is beneath me. To see men who are called gentlemen of character, sense, taste, and ability, who pass through this city, and come bending with their recommendation, saying, “Governor Young this,” and “Governor Young that”—it makes me feel to loathe such hypocritical show, in my heart. I shall not say all I think about it. If they would come to me, and say, “Brigham, how are you?” or, “I want to speak to you, &c.,” with a good honest heart in them, instead of, “Governor Young,” “Governor Young,” in a canting tone, with hearts as black and deceitful as hell, they would command that esteem from me which is due to an honest man.

A blackleg is a polished rascal. If you go to the polished circles of society, you will find the greatest scape-graces and pickpockets concealed under the most polished gentlemen in appearance. A man never can be a polished scoundrel, until he can figure in polished society. It proves the truth of the saying, that it takes all the revelations of God, and every good principle in the world, to make a man perfectly ripe for hell.

You will not see in the nature of a man who has a soul in him, and who is filled with the Holy Ghost, a disposition to bow and scrape to every blackguard that may come in the shape and address of a gentleman. But if you are thirsty, hungry, or destitute, I will assist you. How many have I helped away to California, and given them bread and meat, notwithstanding they wanted to go to the devil; this made no difference to me; I have helped them, and told them to go, if they wished to. There is no tyranny here, but perfect liberty, which is a boon held sacred to all men. They have a right to come and go as they please. I do not ask you to be a “Mormon.” Can you point out one person who has entreated any of the emigrants to become “Mormons,” since they came into our midst? Since their arrival here, we have been kind and hospitable to them, and have not cared whether they have been “Mormons” or Methodists. They can come and hear preaching, if they think proper; but we shall never put them to any trouble because they are not “Mormons.”

You may say you do not believe in God. Well, it is your privilege to believe as you like; you can believe in the Methodists’ God, that has neither body, parts, nor passions (which amounts to nothing at all), if you please.

But one may say, “I belong to the holy Catholic Church.” You have a right to belong to what Church you please. Another may say he believes in and worships a white dog, for he has lived with the nations who have a tradition teaching them to do so. It is all right; you are as welcome to worship a white dog as the God I do, if it is your wish. I am perfectly willing you should serve the kind of a god you choose, or no god at all; and that you should enjoy all that is for you to enjoy.

There are some things, however, I am not willing you should do. For instance, I am not willing you should steal the money out of my pocket, and then cry, “Bad dog;” and get somebody to kill me. I am not willing you should enter my house to defile my bed, or endeavor to bring death upon an innocent people. I am not willing you should drive me and my brethren from our houses and farms, as has been the case in former times. There are scores of thousands, I may say hundreds of thousands, of acres of land in the United States, for which we have paid money, but which we cannot possess. I am not willing you should drive your cattle into my corn field, which has been done before my eyes, by men who have thought, “You are only poor damned Mormons anyhow, and we’ll tread you down.” I am willing every man should worship God as he pleases, and be happy. But the measure that has been meted to this people, will be measured to that people; and it will be heaped up, pressed down, and running over; and then as much again thrown in; all this good measure I am willing they should have when the Lord will. I shall not exult in the miseries that will come upon them, but weep over them; whereas I have seen a mob with their rifles pointed at me by hundreds, and could not be moved to tears, but I felt like Daniel of old,“I will worship my God, and pray with my windows open, if my life should be the penalty.” I would not be afraid if the whole artillery of the United States, with the best engineers that could be raised to manage it, were arrayed against me for righteousness’ sake, knowing that the God of heaven, in whom I trust, would not suffer a ball to touch me, if it was His will that I should yet live. This I have felt time and time again.

I do not desire to harass the feelings of the people by reiterating the past, but if you want these things buried up, treat us like men and human beings, and they will be forgotten, but if you still want to probe us with the hot iron of persecution, probe on.

We came here ourselves, unassisted by any power, but that of God, and walked through the Indian tribes as independent as I am this day. We dug our way through the canyons, and made the roads to this place; while at the same time five hundred of our most energetic men were fighting the battles of the United States in Mexico.

When our women and children were left on the banks of the Missouri, in a helpless condition, I said to one of the United States officers, who had been threatening those who were left behind—“While I am gone to find a home for my family, if you meddle with them, or insult them in the least, by the Gods of Eternity I will be on your track.” And had their threats been executed, I would have slain them, even though I should have had to go into the heart of Washington city to do it. Says he, “Mr. Young, you talk strangely.” “Well,” I said, “let my family alone;” for they wanted to persuade them back to the other side of the river, to afflict them still more.

Five hundred of our best men were then in the United States’ army, traversing the sandy deserts and scorching plains of the South, without shoes to their feet, or clothes to cover them.

There are scores in this congregation who can prove this declaration. On one occasion they traveled day and night for ninety miles, through the scorching sands, without one drop of water. And now, as payment for this arduous service, they try to taunt us by saying—“We don’t want to give you Mormons anything.” I care not if you should never give us one dime.

Now let me tell you the great killing story—“Governor Young has sixteen wives, and fourteen babies.” Now they did not see that sight; but the circumstance was as follows. I took some of my neighbors into the large carriage, and rode down to father Chase’s, to eat watermelons. When driving out of the gate in the evening, brother Babbit walks up, and I invited him into the carriage, and he rode up into the city with me, and I suppose he told the United States’ officers. That I believe is the way the story of sixteen wives and fourteen children first came into circulation. But this does not begin to be the extent of my possessions, for I am enlarging on the right hand and on the left, and shall soon be able, Abraham like, to muster the strength of my house, and take my rights, asking no favors of Judges or Secretaries.

Do you think we shall all die in Utah? If so, why have we not died ere this, when we dwelt in the midst of a people that cherished hostile feelings against the Latter-day Saints? Who delivered Joseph Smith from the hands of his enemies to the day of his death? It was God; though he was brought to the brink of death time and time again, and, to all human appearance, could not be delivered, and there was no probability of his being saved. When he was in jail in Missouri, and no person expected that he would ever escape from their hands, I had the faith of Abraham, and told the brethren, “As the Lord God liveth, he shall come out of their hands.” Though he had prophesied that he would not live to be forty years of age, yet we all cherished hopes that that would be a false prophecy, and we should keep him forever with us; we thought our faith would outreach it, but we were mistaken—he at last fell a martyr to his religion. I said, “It is all right; now the testimony is in full force; he has sealed it with his blood, and that makes it valid.”

I would be happy, exceedingly happy, to let our past experience and afflictions sleep forever; but the Lord will not suffer me to let them sleep. I would be willing to forget them, but I cannot. The Lord will never suffer this people to dwindle down, and be hid up in a corner; it cannot be; neither does He want any person to help them but Himself. Satan and the Lord never can shake hands, and He will let the nation know it; for He has got servants who will do His righteous will, and that faithfully. I would rather be chopped to pieces at night, and resurrected in the morning; each day throughout a period of threescore years and ten, than be deprived of speaking freely, or be afraid of doing so. I will speak for my rights. I would just as soon tell a government officer of his meanness and filthy conduct, as I would any other person; they are all alike to God, and to those who know His will.

I have studied the law, and say again, I defy the united authorities of the earth to show where this people have not been loyal, wherein they have not proved loyal, in Germany, in France, in England, or in the United States; for they are the best people upon the face of the earth to observe the law and keep order. I want to live perfectly above the law, and make it my servant, instead of its being my master. That is the way to live; to be humble before God, and observe the laws; for there is no necessity of breaking the laws in America, in keep– ing the commandments of God. When the law is our master, the yoke is hard to bear; but when it is our servant, it works easy; whereas, if it be our master, we are continually compelled and driven by it.

There is not a single constitution of any single state, much less the constitution of the Federal Government, that hinders a man from having two wives; and I defy all the lawyers of the United States to prove the contrary.

Let the past experience be buried in the land of forgetfulness, if the Lord will; but if this is done at all, it will be by showing kindness towards us in the future. If they wish us to forget the past, let them cease to make and circulate falsehoods about us, and let all the good people of the Government say—“Let us do this people good for the future, and not try to crush them down all the day long by continuing to persecute them.”

If we are a company of poor, ignorant, deluded creatures, why do not they show us a better example? Why not send the money to pay the expenses of our legislature, and the expenses of the expeditions against the Indians, as they do to other territories? Their present course towards us, put in language, is, “We will squeeze them still, and dig out their eyes if it be possible.” While they continue to pursue that course towards us, we shall continue to tell them of it. It makes me think of what an old farmer said in Boston, who had been in the habit of paying his merchant’s bills very punctually, but, from some cause, he did not continue to meet his payments as usual. The merchant sent for him, and said—“I have always found you to be a very honest man, why do you now lie to me?” The farmer replied—“Because I am pinched.” The merchant asked—“How hard should an honest man be pinched to make him lie?” The farmer replied—“Just pinch him till he lies.” They want to pinch us till we are led to do something to bring the whole nation down upon us, according to the plan of old Tom Benton, but, gentlemen, this cannot be done, for there is a God in Heaven, and He rules, thank His Holy Name; and we will be wise enough to keep His commandments, that we may be saved. Amen.

Delivered by Elder Orson Pratt, at the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 25, 1852.

I have been requested to preach the funeral sermon of the wife of brother Levi Savage, who died last December; and since coming to this place this morning, I have been requested to preach the funeral sermons of several of the Saints who have died in England; and I have concluded, instead of limiting my address to any one individual case, to preach what may be considered a general funeral sermon of all the Saints that have died in all past ages and generations, with all that shall die hereafter, and the funeral sermon of all those who are not Saints, and also the funeral sermon of the heavens and the earth; and for this purpose I will take a text, which you will find recorded in the 51st chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah, and the sixth verse—

“Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.”

All things with which we are acquainted, pertaining to this earth of ours, are subject to change; not only man, so far as his temporal body is concerned, but the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, and every living thing with which we are acquainted—all are subject to pain and distress, and finally die and pass away; death seems to have universal dominion in our creation. It certainly is a curious world; it certainly does not look like a world constructed in such a manner as to produce eternal happiness; and it would be very far from the truth, I think, for any being at the present time to pronounce it very good: everything seems to show us that goodness, in a great degree, has fled from this creation. If we partake of the elements, death is there in all its forms and varieties; and when we desire to rejoice, sorrow is there, mingling itself in every cup; and woe, and wretchedness, and misery, seem to be our present doom.

There is something, however, in man, that is constantly reaching forward after happiness, after life, after pleasure, after something to satisfy the longing desire that dwells within his bosom. Why is it that we have such a desire? And why is it that it is not satisfied? Why is it that this creation is so constructed? And why is it that death reigns universally over all living earthly beings? Did the great Author of creation construct this little globe of ours subject to all these changes, which are calculated to produce sorrow and death among the beings that inhabit it? Was this the original condition of our creation? I answer, no; it was not so constructed. But how was it made in the beginning? All things that were made pertaining to this earth were pronounced “very good.” Where there is pain, where there is sickness, where there is sorrow, and where there is death, this saying cannot be understood in its literal sense; things cannot be very good where something very evil reigns and has universal dominion.

We are, therefore, constrained to believe, that in the first formation of our globe, as far as the Mosaic history gives us information, everything was perfect in its formation; that there was nothing in the air, or in the waters, or in the solid elements, that was calculated to produce misery, wretchedness, unhappiness, or death, in the way that it was then organized; not but what the same elements, organized a little differently, would produce all these effects; but as it was then constructed, we must admit that every particle of air, of water, and of earth, was so organized as to be capable of diffusing life and immortality through all the varied species of animated existence—immortality reigned in every department of creation; hence it was pronounced “very good.”

When the Lord made the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, to people the atmospheric heavens, or the watery elements, these fowls and fishes were so constructed in their nature as to be capable of eternal existence. To imagine anything different from this, would be to suppose the Almighty to form that which was calculated to produce wretchedness and misery. What says the Psalmist David upon this subject? He says that all the works of the Lord shall endure forever. Did not the Lord make the fish? Yes. Did He not make the fowls of the heavens? Yes. Did He not make the beasts of the field, and the creeping things, and the insects? Yes. Do they endure forever? They apparently do not; and yet David says all His works are constructed upon that principle. Is this a contradiction? No. God has given some other particulars in relation to these works. He has permitted the destroyer to visit them, who has usurped a certain dominion and authority, carrying desolation and ruin on every hand; the perfections of the original organizations have ceased. But will the Lord forever permit these destructions to reign? No. His power exists, and the power of the destroyer exists. His power exists, and the power of death exists; but His power exceeds all other powers; and consequently, wherever a usurper comes in and lays waste any of His works, He will repair those wastes, build up the old ruins, and make all things new: even the fish of the sea, and the fowls of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth, must yet, in order to carry out the designs of the Almighty, be so constructed as to be capable of eternal existence.

It would be interesting to know something about the situation of things when they were first formed, and how this destroyer happened to make inroads upon this fair creation; what the causes were, and why it was permitted.

Man, when he was first placed upon this earth, was an immortal being, capable of eternal endurance; his flesh and bones, as well as his spirit, were immortal and eternal in their nature; and it was just so with all the inferior creation—the lion, the leopard, the kid, and the cow; it was so with the feathered tribes of creation, as well as those that swim in the vast ocean of waters; all were immortal and eternal in their nature; and the earth itself, as a living being, was immortal and eternal in its nature. “What! is the earth alive too?” If it were not, how could the words of our text be fulfilled, where it speaks of the earth’s dying? How can that die that has no life? “Lift up your eyes to the heavens above,” says the Lord, “and look upon the earth beneath; the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner.” In like manner! What! The earth and the heavens to die? Yes, the material heavens and earth must all undergo this change which we call death; and if so, the earth must be alive as well as we. The earth was so constructed that it was capable of existing as a living being to all eternity, with all the swarms of animals, fowls, and fishes that were first placed upon the face thereof. But how can it be proved that man was an immortal being? We will refer you to what the Apostle Paul has written upon this subject; he says that by one man came death; and he tells us how it came: it was by the transgression of one individual that death was introduced here. But did transgression bring in all these diseases and this sorrow, this misery and wretchedness, over the whole face of this creation? Is it by the transgression of one person that the very heavens are to vanish away as smoke, and the earth is to wax old like a garment? Yes, it is by the transgression of one; and if it had not been for his transgression, the earth never would have been subject to death. Why? Because the works of the Lord are so constructed as to exist forever; and if death had come in without a cause, and destroyed the earth, and laid waste the material heavens, and produced a general and utter overthrow and ruin in this fair creation, then the works of the Lord would have ceased to endure according to the promise, being imperfect in their construction, and consequently not very good.

But what was this sin, and what was the nature of it? I will tell you what it was; it was merely the partaking of a certain kind of fruit. But, says one, I should think there is no harm in eating fruit. There would not be unless God gave a command upon the subject. There are things in nature that would be evil without a commandment: if there were no commandment, it would be evil for you to murder an innocent being, and your own conscience would tell you it was an evil thing. It is an evil for any individual to injure another, or to infringe upon the rights of another, independent of any revealed law; for the savage, or that being who has never heard of the written laws of heaven—who has never heard of the revealed laws of God with regard to these principles—as well as the Saint, knows that it is an evil to infringe upon the rights of another; the very nature of the thing shows that it is an evil; but not so in regard to many other things that are evil; which are only made evil by commandment.

For instance, here is the Sabbath day: a person that never heard the revealed law of God upon the subject, never could conceive that it was an evil to work on the Sabbath day; he would consider it just as right to work on the first day of the week, as on the seventh; he would perceive nothing in the nature of the thing by which he could distinguish it to be an evil. So with regard to eating certain fruits; there is no evil in it of itself, it was the commandment of the Great God that made it an evil. He said to Adam and Eve, “Here are all the fruits of the garden; you may eat of them freely except this one tree that stands in the midst of the garden; now beware, for in the day you eat thereof you shall surely die.” Don’t we perceive that the commandment made this an evil? Had it not been for this commandment, Adam would have walked forth and freely partaken of every tree, without any remorse of conscience; just as the savage, that never has heard the revealed will of God, would work on the Sabbath, the same as on any other day, and have no conscience about the matter. But when a man murders, he knows it to be an injury, and he has a conscience about it, though he never heard of God; and so with thousands of other evils. But why did the Lord place man under these peculiar circumstances? Why did He not withhold the commandment, if the partaking of the fruit, after the commandment was given, was sin? Why should there have been a commandment upon the subject at all, inasmuch as there was no evil in the nature of the thing to be perceived or understood? The Lord had a purpose in view; though He constructed this fair creation, as we have told you, subject to immortality, and capable of eternal endurance, and though He had constructed man capable of living forever, yet He had an object in view in regard to that man, and the creation he inhabited. What was the object? And how shall this object be accomplished?

Why, the Lord wanted this intelligent being called man, to prove himself; inasmuch as he was an agent, He desired that he should show himself approved before his Creator.

How could this be done without a commandment? Can you devise any possible means? Is there any person in this congregation having wisdom sufficient to devise any means by which an intelligent being can show himself approved before a superior intelligence, unless it be by administering to that man certain laws to be kept? No. Without law, without commandment or rule, there would be no possible way of showing his integrity: it could not be said that he would keep all the laws that govern superior orders of beings, unless he had been placed in a position to be tried, and thus proven whether he would keep them or not. Then it was wisdom to try the man and the woman, so the Lord gave them this commandment; if He had not intended the man should be tried by this commandment, He never would have planted that tree, He never would have placed it in the midst of the garden. But the very fact that He planted it where the man could have easy access to it, shows that He intended man should be tried by it, and thus prove whether he would keep His commandments or not. The penalty of disobedience to this law was death.

But could He not give a commandment, without affixing a penalty? He could not: it would be folly, even worse than folly, for God to give a law to an intelligent being, without affixing a penalty to it if it were broken. Why? Because all intelligent beings would discard the very idea of a law being given, which might be broken at pleasure, without the individuals breaking it being punished for their transgression. They would say—“Where is the principle of justice in the giver of the law? It is not there: we do not reverence Him nor His law; justice does not have an existence in His bosom; He does not regard His own laws, for He suffers them to be broken with impunity, and trampled under foot, by those whom He has made; therefore we care not for Him or His laws, nor His pretended justice; we will rebel against it.” Where would have been the use of it if there had been no penalty affixed?

But what was the nature of this penalty? It was wisely ordained to be of such a nature as to instruct man. Penalties inflicted upon human beings here, by governors, kings, or rulers, are generally of such a nature as to benefit them.

Adam was appointed lord of this creation; a great governor, swaying the scepter of power over the whole earth. When the governor, the person who was placed to reign over this fair creation, had transgressed, all in his dominions had to feel the effects of it, the same as a father or a mother, who transgresses certain laws, frequently transmits the effects thereof to the latest generations.

How often do we see certain diseases becoming hereditary, being handed down from father to son for generations. Why? Because in the first instance there was a transgression, and the children partook of the effects of it.

And what was the fullest extent of the penalty of Adam’s transgression? I will tell you—it was death. The death of what? The death of the immortal tabernacle—of that tabernacle where the seeds of death had not been, that was wisely framed, and pronounced very good: the seeds of death were introduced into it. How, and in what manner? Some say there was something in the nature of the fruit that introduced mortality. Be this as it may, one thing is certain, death entered into the system; it came there by some means, and sin was the main spring by which this monster was introduced. If there had been no sin, old father Adam would at this day have been in the garden of Eden, as bright and as blooming, as fresh and as fair, as ever, together with his lovely consort Eve, dwelling in all the beauty of youth.

By one man came death—the death of the body. What becomes of the spirit when the body dies? Will it be perfectly happy? Would old father Adam’s spirit have gone back into the presence of God, and dwelt there eternally, enjoying all the felicities and glories of heaven, after his body had died? No; for the penalty of that transgression was not limited to the body alone. When he sinned, it was with both the body and the spirit that he sinned: it was not only the body that ate of the fruit, but the spirit gave the will to eat; the spirit sinned therefore as well as the body; they were agreed in partaking of that fruit. Was not the spirit to suffer then as well as the body? Yes. How long? To all ages of eternity, without any end; while the body was to return back to its mother earth, and there slumber to all eternity. That was the effect of the fall, leaving out the plan of redemption; so that, if there had been no plan of redemption prepared from before the foundation of the world, man would have been subjected to an eternal dissolution of the body and spirit—the one to lie mingling with its mother earth, to all ages of eternity, and the other to be subject, throughout all future duration, to the power that deceived him, and led them astray; to be completely miserable, or, as the Book of Mormon says, “dead as to things pertaining to righteousness;” and I defy any such beings to have any happiness when they are dead as to things pertaining to righteousness. To them, happiness is out of the question; they are completely and eternally miserable, and there is no help for them, laying aside the atonement. That was the penalty pronounced upon father Adam, and upon all the creation of which he was made lord and governor. This is what is termed original sin, and the effect of it.

But there is a very curious saying in the Book of Mormon, to which I now wish to refer your minds; it reads thus: “Adam fell that man might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” Says one, “If Adam had not fallen, then there could not have been any posterity.” That is just what we believe; but how do you get along with that saying which was given previous to the fall, where he was commanded to multiply and replenish the earth? How could he have multiplied and fulfilled this commandment, if “Adam fell that man might be?” Let me appeal to another saying in the New Testament: “Adam was not deceived; but the woman, being deceived, was in the transgression,” says the Apostle Paul. Well, after the woman was deceived, she became subject to the penalty; yes, after she had partaken of the forbidden fruit, the penalty was upon her, and not upon Adam; he had not partaken of the fruit, but his wife had. Now, what is to be done? Here are two beings in the garden of Eden, the woman and the man; she has transgressed, has broken the law, and incurred the penalty. And now, suppose the man had said, “I will not partake of this forbidden fruit;” the next word would have been, “Cast her out of the garden; but let Adam stay there, for he has not sinned; he has not broken the commandment, but his wife has; she was deceived, let her be banished from the garden, and from my presence, and from Adam’s presence; let them be eternally separated.” I ask, on these conditions could they fulfil the first great commandment? They could not. Adam saw this, that the woman was overcome by the devil speaking through the serpent; and when he saw it, he was satisfied that the woman would have to be banished from his presence: he saw, also, that unless he partook of the forbidden fruit, he could never raise up posterity; therefore the truth of that saying in the Book of Mormon is apparent, that “Adam fell that man might be.” He saw that it was necessary that he should with her partake of sorrow and death, and the varied effects of the fall, that he and she might be redeemed from these effects, and be restored back again to the presence of God.

This tree, of which they both ate, was called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Why was it thus termed? I will explain a mystery to you, brethren, why this was called so. Adam and Eve, while in the garden of Eden, had not the knowledge you and I have; it is true, they had a degree of intelligence, but they had not the experience, they had not the knowledge by experience, which you and I have: all they knew was barely what they knew when they came there; they knew a commandment had been given to them, and they had sufficient knowledge to name the beasts of the field as they came up before them; but as for the knowledge of good, they had not got it, because they never had anything contrary to good placed before them.

We will bring up an example. For instance, suppose you had never tasted anything that was sweet—never had the sensation of sweetness—could you have any correct idea of the term sweetness? No. On the other hand, how could you understand bitter if you never had tasted bitterness? Could you define the term to them who had never experienced this sensation, or knew it? No. I will bring another example. Take a man who had been perfectly blind from his infancy, and never saw the least gleam of light—could you describe colors to him? No. Would he know anything about red, blue, violet, or yellow? No; you could not describe it to him by any way you might undertake. But by some process let his eyes be opened, and let him gaze upon the sunbeams that reflect; upon a watery cloud, producing the rainbow, where he would see a variety of colors, he could then appreciate them for himself; but tell him about colors when he is blind, he would not know them from a piece of earthenware. So with Adam previous to partaking of this fruit; good could not be described to him, because he never had experienced the opposite. As to undertaking to explain to him what evil was, you might as well have undertaken to explain, to a being that never had, for one moment, had his eyes closed to the light, what darkness is. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was placed there that man might gain certain information he never could have gained otherwise; by partaking of the forbidden fruit he experienced misery, then he knew that he was once happy, previously he could not comprehend what happiness meant, what good was; but now he knows it by contrast, now he is filled with sorrow and wretchedness, now he sees the difference between his former and present condition, and if by any means he could be restored to his first position, he would be prepared to realize it, like the man that never had seen the light. Let the man to whom all the beauties of light have been displayed, and who has never been in darkness, be in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, deprived of his natural sight; what a change this would be to him; he never knew anything about darkness before, he never understood the principle at all; it never entered the catalogue of his ideas, until darkness came upon him, and his eyesight was destroyed: now he can comprehend that the medium he once existed in was light. Now, says he, if I could only regain my sight, I could appreciate it, for I understand the contrast; restore me back again to my sight, and let me enjoy the light I once had; let me gaze upon the works of creation, let me look on the beauties thereof again, and I will be satisfied, and my joy will be full. It was so with Adam; let the way be prepared for his redemption, and the redemption of his posterity, and all creation that groans in pain to be delivered—let them be restored back again to what they lost through the fall, and they will be prepared to appreciate it.

In order to show you the dire effects of the fall, it is not only necessary to say that old father Adam has experienced that penalty, and laid down his body in the dust; but all generations since that time have experienced the same; and you, and I, and every man, and woman, and child, have got to, undergo that penalty; it will be inflicted upon us, and thus will the law of God be magnified, His words fulfilled, and justice have its demands. It is not because of our sins, that we die; it is not because we have transgressed, that we die; it is not because we may commit murder, or steal, or plunder, or rob, or take the name of the Lord in vain; it is not these things that bring the death of the body; but it is Adam’s sin that makes the little child die, that makes kings, princes, and potentates die, and that has made all generations die from his day down to the present time. Don’t you think there ought to be some way to redeem us from this dreadful calamity? We had no hand in the transgression of Adam; you and I were not there to participate in it; but it was our great father who did it, and we are suffering the effects of it.

Cannot some of the wise medical men of the age—some of the great physicians and doctors of the day, who have studied medicine all their life—can they not imagine up something new, that will relieve the posterity of Adam from this awful calamity? They have not done it yet. Dr. Brandreth recommended his medicine for all kinds of diseases, and even it was said that steamboats were propelled by its power; but it made no man immortal; it did not save one man; and it is doubtful in the extreme—it is certain, that no man in this mortality has ever discovered that medicine which will relieve us from these awful effects transmitted from father Adam to this present time. There is a remedy, but it is not to be found in the catalogue of the inventions of man; it is not to be found in the bowels of the earth, or dug out of any mines; it is not to be purchased by the gold of California, or the treasures of India. What is it, and how was it discovered? It was the Being who made man, that made him immortal and eternal, that Being whose bosom is filled with mercy, as well as justice, that exercises both attributes, and shows to all creation that He is a merciful God, as well as a God of justice; it was He that discovered this wonderful remedy to preserve mankind from the effects of this eternal death. But when is it to be applied? Not immediately, for that would frustrate His designs: when the body has got back into the dust, and after man has suffered sufficiently long for the original sin, He then brings him forth to enjoy all the bloom of immortality; He tells Death to trouble him no more; He wipes away all tears from his eyes, for he is prepared to live forever, and gaze upon His glory, and dwell in His presence.

This great Redeemer is stronger than Death, more powerful than that direful monster who has come into the world, and laid siege to all the inhabitants thereof; He will banish it out of this creation. How will He do it? If the penalty of the original sin be the eternal separation of body and spirit, how can justice have all its demands, and mercy be shown to the transgressor? There is a way, and how? It is by the introduction of His Only Begotten Son, the Son of His own bosom, the firstborn of every creature, holding the birthright over every creation He has made, and holding the keys of salvation over millions of worlds like this; he has a right to come forth and suffer the penalty of death for the fallen sons and daughters of man. He offered his own life: says he, “Father, I will suffer death though I have not merited it; let me suffer the demands of the law. Here I am innocent in thy presence; I have always kept thy laws from the day of my birth among thy creations, throughout ages past down to the present time; I have never been re– bellious to thy commandments; and now I will suffer for my brethren and sisters: let thy justice be magnified and made honorable; here am I; let me suffer the ends of the law, and let death and the grave deliver up their victims, and let the posterity of Adam all be set free, every soul of them without an exception.” This is the way that justice is magnified and made honorable, and none of the creations of the Almighty can complain of Him, that He has not answered the ends of justice; no intelligent being can say, “You have deviated from your words.” Justice has had its demands in the penalties that were inflicted upon the Son of God, so far as Adam’s transgression is concerned.

I will explain a little further. So far as that transgression is concerned, all the inhabitants of the earth will be saved. Now understand me correctly. If there are any strangers present, that have not understood the views of the Latter-day Saints, I wish you to understand that we have no reference in any way to our own personal sins; but so far as the original sin of father Adam is concerned, you and I will have to suffer death; and every man and woman that ever lived on this globe will be redeemed from that sin. On what condition? I answer, on no condition whatever on our part. “But,” says one, “where I came from they tell me I ought to repent for the original sin.” I care not what they tell you, you will be redeemed from the original sin, with no works on your part whatever. Jesus has died to redeem you from it, and you are as sure to be redeemed, as you live upon the face of this earth. This is the kind of universal redemption the “Mormons” believe in, though in one sense of the word, it is a different kind of universal redemption from that which the nations have been in the habit of hearing. We believe in the universal redemption of all the children of Adam into the presence of God, so far as the sins of Adam are concerned. They will obtain a universal redemption from the grave. It matters not how wicked you are; if you have murdered all the days of your life, and committed all the sins the devil would prompt you to commit, you will get a resurrection; your spirit will be restored to your body. If Jesus had not come, all of us would have slumbered in the grave; but now, wicked as we may be, if we go down to the grave blaspheming the name of the Lord, we shall as sure come up again as we go down there. This is free grace without works; all this comes to pass without works on the part of the creature.

Now let us pause upon another subject, as we pass along. Don’t you know, my hearers, that there has been another law given since man has become a mortal being? Is it the Book of Mormon? No. After man became a mortal being, the Lord gave him another law. What was it? “You have now got into a condition that you know good and evils by experience, and I will give you a law adapted to your capacity,” says the Lord, “and I now command you, that you shall not do evil.”

What is the penalty? Second death. What is that? After you have been redeemed from the grave, and come into the presence of God, you will have to stand there to be judged; and if you have done evil, you will be banished everlastingly from His presence—body and spirit united together; this is what is called the second death. Why is it called the second death? Because the first is the dissolution of body and spirit, and the second is merely a banishment—a becoming dead to the things of righteousness; and as I have already remarked, wherever a being is placed in such a condition, there perfect misery reigns; I care not where you place them; you may take any of the celestial worlds, and place millions of beings there that are dead to righteousness, and how long will it be before they make a perfect hell of it? They would make a hell of any heaven the Lord ever made. It is the second death—the penalty attached to the commandment given to the posterity of Adam, viz., “You shall cease to do evil; for if you cease to do evil, you shall be redeemed from Adam’s transgression, and brought back into my presence; and if you cease not to do evil, you shall be punished with everlasting destruction from my presence, and from the glory of my power,” saith the Lord.

“But,” says one, “He is so merciful that He would not inflict such a penalty upon us.” Have you ever seen a man that has escaped from the first death? Or who had any prospect of it? No; you cannot find a remedy to hinder him from going down to his grave. Has there been any escape for any individual for 6,000 years past? Now, if the Lord has been punctual to make every man, woman, and child, suffer the penalty of the first transgression, why should you suppose that you can stand in His presence, and behold the glory of His power, and have everlasting life and happiness, when He has told you that you should be banished therefrom, that the second death should be inflicted upon you? For the first provocation, He has fulfilled to the very letter the penalty of the law; so will He in the second, and there is no escape. Says one, “Is there no escape?” No; not so far as you are able to provide. But I will tell you that there is a redemption for man from this second death or penalty, and the Lord remains a perfect, just Being, His justice being magnified.

There is a way of escape from the effects of your own individual transgressions, but it is different from the redemption from the original sin of Adam. The redemption from that sin was universal without works, but the redemption from your own personal sins is universal with works on the part of the creature—universal in its nature, because it is free to all, but not received by all. The salvation, or redemption from your own sins, is not by free grace alone, it requires a little work. But what are the works? Jesus Christ, through his death and sufferings has answered the penalty, on condition that you believe in him, and repent of your sins, and be baptized for the remission of them, and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, and continue humble, and meek, and prayerful, until you go down to your graves; and on these conditions, Jesus will plead for you before the Father, and say, “Father, I not only died for Adam’s sin, but for the sins of all the world, inasmuch as they believe in my Gospel; and now these individuals have repented, they have reformed their lives, and have become like little children in my sight, and have performed the works I have given them to do—and now, Father, may they be saved with an everlasting salvation in thy presence, and sit down with me on my throne, as I have overcome, and sit down with thee on thy throne; and may they be crowned, with all the sanctified, with immortality and eternal life, no more to be cast away.”

Don’t you think the Father would accept an appeal of this kind from His Only Begotten Son? Yes. He is our Mediator, to plead before the Father for those who will comply with his commands, and the laws of his Gospel. The way is simple, so simple and easy that many step over it and say, “O, that is of no consequence, it is of no avail, it will do no good to be baptized in water.” But if the Lord had not constructed it upon a simple plan, adapted to the capacities of all men, they might have had some excuse; but as it is, they have none: all you have got to do is to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, turn away from your sins, cease to do evil, saying, “Father, I will cease from this time henceforth to sin, and will work the works of righteousness; I will try to do good all the days of my life; and I witness this before thee by this day going down into the waters of baptism; and thus cast off the old man, with his deeds,” and henceforth live in newness of life. If you will do this, you will just as sure be redeemed from your own sins, and the penalty thereof, and be lifted up to dwell in the presence of God, as you have been redeemed or lifted up from the waters of baptism. This is the Gospel, the first principles thereof, by which you can be redeemed from your own sins; and by and by death will come, and it will be sweet to you, for Jesus has suffered the penalty of sin; the pangs of sin are gone, and you fall asleep in peace, having made sure your salvation, and having done your duty well, like those we are preaching the funeral sermon of this morning; and thus you will fall asleep, with a full assurance that you will come up, in the morning of the first resurrection, with an immortal body, like that which Adam had before he partook of the forbidden fruit. This is the promise to them that fall asleep in Jesus.

When our spirits leave these bodies, will they be happy? Not perfectly so. Why? Because the spirit is absent from the body; it cannot be perfectly happy while a part of the man is lying in the earth. How can the happiness be complete when only a part of the redemption is accomplished? You cannot be perfectly happy until you get a new house. You will be happy, you will be at ease in paradise; but still you will be looking for a house where your spirit can enter, and act as you did in former times, only more perfectly, having superior powers. Consequently, all the holy men that have lived in days of old, have looked forward to the resurrection of their bodies; for then their glory will be complete.

What did Paul say upon this subject? He said, “I have fought a good fight,” “I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” Do you understand this passage? Remember that this crown that Paul speaks of, was not to be given in the day we die; but it is to be given in “that day”—the day of the Lord’s appearing; it is to be given to all those that love his appearing; then is the time that Paul will get his crown; then is the time that the Saints who fall asleep in our day, will receive their crowns—crowns of rejoicing—kingly crowns. What good would a crown do a man who is miserable and wretched? Many persons have worn crowns in this life; tyrants have had crowns of diamonds and gold; but what benefit are they? None at all, except to a being who has made himself perfectly happy by his obedience. But what are we to understand by this crown of righteousness, which is to be given to the Saints? We understand that it is actually to be a crown of glory; that they are to be kings in reality. John speaks in the first chapter of his Revelation to the Churches in his day, and represents the Saints to be Kings and Priests; he says, Christ “hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father;” and this too, while in this life.

In another place he speaks of those who are dead—about their singing a new song: “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou hast redeemed us Oh God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests.” Here then we find, from the first chapter, that they were made Kings and Priests before they were dead; and in the next quotation; we find that they still retained their kingly office after death, and actually had made songs to express their happy condition—“Thou hast made us kings and priests.” Now we see the reason why they are to wear crowns, for they will be made Kings and Priests on the earth: the Lord then, must have some way to give this kingly power.

Do you understand this, brethren and sisters? If you were to speak, I should hear innumerable voices respond, “Yes, we understand it; the Lord has revealed the ordinances; we know how the sons and daughters of God obtain this kingly office, while living here in this mortal tabernacle.”

We will pass over that; suffice it to say, that death does not wrench it from them; for they are to be kings, not for a day, or for this short life, but they are to remain to all eternity kings; having their thrones, and acting in the duties belonging to their kingly office. Compared with this, what are all the little, petty kingdoms of this earth worth? They are not worth one snap of the finger. The kings of the world exercise a certain authority over the nations—over their subjects, issuing laws, and framing governments, and controlling them; and do you suppose that the Saints will be kings in the eternal world, and sit down upon thrones, in silence, not exercising the functions of their office? No. That is not the way the Lord has organized His creations; if there are kings, you may depend upon it they will have kingdoms under their control; they will have authority and dominion; they will give laws to those subjects over whom they bear rule; they will control them by the priestly office, for it is combined with the kingly office, and neither can be separated to all eternity. Is our God so narrow and contracted in His feelings, in His views and disposition, that He would limit the authority of the priestly office to this little globe we inhabit? No. God has more expansive views; His works are without beginning, and without end; they are one eternal round. What kind of works are they? They are to make creations, and people them with living beings, and place them in a condition to prove themselves; and to exercise the kingly and priestly office to redeem them after they have suffered pain, and sorrow, and distress; and to bring them up into the presence of God; that they, in their turn, may become kings and priests for other creations that shall be made, and that shall be governed and ruled over by those possessing the proper authority.

We do not believe that everything has got to be limited to this little space of time in this world; but the Saints will be doing a work that will be adapted to beings that are the sons of God in the fullest sense of the word, that are precisely like their Father; and if so, they will be like Gods, and will hold dominion under that Being who is the Lord of lords; and they will hold it to all eternity.

We will come back to our text. We have been talking about the funeral sermon of the earth; the earth is to wax old like a garment and pass away. I have already proved to you the redemption of man, and how he will become immortal and eternal; now let us look after his inheritance; we will see if he is to be lifted up in space, without any inheritance to stand upon, without any land upon which to raise manna for eating, or flax for the spinning and making of fine robes and other wearing apparel. Let us see if it is to be a shadowy existence, like the God that is served by Christendom, “without body, parts, and passions,” and located “beyond the bounds of time and space.”

The earth is to die; it has already received certain ordinances, and will have to receive other ordinances for its recovery from the fall.

We will go back to the creation. The first account we have of the earth, it was enveloped in a mass of waters; it was called forth from the womb of liquid elements. Here was the first birth of our creation—the waters rolled back, and the dry land appeared, and was soon clothed upon with vegetable and animal existence. This was similar to all other births; being first encompassed in a flood of mighty waters, it burst forth from them, and was soon clothed with all the beauties of the vegetable kingdom. By and by it became polluted by Adam’s transgression, and was thus brought under the sentence of death, with all things connected with it; and as our text says, it must wax old and die, in like manner as the inhabitants upon the face thereof.

The heavens and the earth were thus polluted, that is, the material heavens, and everything connected with our globe; all fell when man fell, and became subject to death when man became subject to it. Both man and the earth are redeemed from the original sin without ordinances; but soon we find new sins committed by the fallen sons of Adam, and the earth became corrupted before the Lord by their transgressions. It needs redeeming ordinances for these second transgressions. The Lord ordained baptism, or immersion of the earth in water, as a justifying ordinance. Said he to Noah, “Build an ark for the saving of thyself and house, for I will immerse the earth in water, that the sins which have corrupted it may be washed away from its face.” The fountains of the great deep, and the windows on high, were opened, and the rains came and overwhelmed the earth; and the dry land disappeared in the womb of the mighty waters, even as in the begin– ning. The waters were assuaged; the earth came forth clothed with innocence, like the newborn child, having been baptized or born again from the ocean flood; and thus the old earth was buried with all its deeds, and arose to a newness of life, its sins being washed away, even as man has to be immersed in water to wash away his own personal sins.

By and by the earth becomes corrupted again, and the nations make themselves drunken with the wine of the wrath of great Babylon; but the Lord has reserved the same earth for fire; hence He says by the prophet Malachi, “Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, &c.” A complete purification is again to come upon the earth, and that too, by the more powerful element of fire; and the wicked will be burned as stubble. When is this to be? Is it to be before the earth dies? This is a representation of the baptism that is received by man after he has been baptized in water; for he is then to be baptized with fire and the Holy Ghost, and all his sins entirely done away: so the earth will be baptized with fire, and wickedness swept away from its face, so that the glory of God shall cover it. As the waters cover the great deep, so will the earth be overwhelmed and immersed in the glory of God, and His Spirit be poured out upon all flesh, before the earth dies. After this purifying ordinance, there will be a thousand years of rest, during which righteousness shall abound upon the face of the earth; and soon after the thousand years have ended, the words of the text shall be fulfilled—“The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment,” &c. When the earth waxes old, and has filled the measure of its creation, and all things have been done according to the mind and will of God, He will say to the earth, “Die.” What will be its death? Will it be drowned? No: it is to die through the agency of fire; it is to suffer a death similar to many of the martyrs; the very elements themselves are to melt with fervent heat, and the hills are to be made like wax before the Lord. Will the earth be annihilated? No, there is no such a word in all His revelations; such a thing was never known in the bosom of the Almighty, or any other being, except in the imaginations of some of the moderns, who have declared that the globe was to become like the “baseless fabric of a vision.” It is one of the sectarian follies, that the elements and everything else are to be completely struck out of existence. The Lord never revealed, or thought of, or even hinted at such a thing.

The earth will not be annihilated, any more than our bodies are after being burned. Every chemist knows that the weight of a thing is not diminished by burning it. The present order of things must be done away, and, as the apostle John says, all things must become new; and he tells us the time when: it is to be after the millennium. The passing away is equivalent to death, and all things being made new is equivalent to the resurrection. Is the new earth to be made precisely like this earth? No; but as this earth was, before sin entered into it; and we shall inherit it. This is our heaven, and we have the title to it by promise, and it will be redeemed through the faith and prayers of the Saints, and we shall get a title from God to a portion of it as our inheritance.

O ye farmers, when you sleep in the grave, don’t be afraid that your agricultural pursuits are forever at an end; don’t be fearful that you will never get any more landed property; but if you be Saints, be of good cheer, for when you come up in the morning of the resurrection, behold! there is a new earth made, wherein dwells righteousness, and blessed are ye, for ye shall inhabit it. “Blessed are the meek,” says our Savior, “for they shall inherit the earth,” though they have died without a foot of land. The Latter-day Saints were driven from one possession to another, until they were driven beyond the pale of civilization into the deserts, where it was supposed they would die, and that would be the last of them; but behold, they have a firm hold upon the promise that the meek shall inherit the earth, when they come here with immortal bodies capable of enjoying the earth. True, we can have plenty of the things of this life in their cursed condition; but what are all these things? They are nothing. We are looking for things in their immortal state, and farmers will have great farms upon the earth when it is so changed. “But don’t be so fast,” says one, “don’t you know that there are only about 197,000,000 of square miles, or about 126,000,000,000 of acres, upon the surface of the globe? Will this accommodate all the inhabitants after the resurrection?” Yes; for if the earth should stand 8,000 years, or eighty centuries, and the population should be a thousand millions in every century, that would be eighty thousand millions of inhabitants; and we know that many centuries have passed that would not give the tenth part of this; but supposing this to be the number, there would then be over an acre and a half for each person upon the face of the globe.

But there is another thing to be considered. Are the wicked to receive the earth as an inheritance? No; for Jesus did not say, Blessed are the wicked, for they shall inherit the earth; this promise was made only to the meek. Who are the meek? None but those who receive the ordinances of the Gospel, and live according to them; they must receive the same ordinances the earth has received, and be baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, as this earth will be when Jesus comes to reign upon it a thousand years; and be clothed upon with the glory of God, as this earth will be; and after they have died as the earth will die, they will have to be resurrected, as this earth will be resurrected, and then receive their inheritance upon it.

Look at the seventeen centuries that have passed away on the eastern hemisphere, during which time the sound of the Gospel has never been heard from the mouth of an authorized servant of God. Suppose now that out of the vast amount of the population of this earth, one in a hundred should receive the law of meekness, and be entitled to receive an inheritance upon the new earth; how much land would they receive? We answer, they would receive over 150 acres, which would be quite enough to raise manna, and to build some habitations upon, and some splendid mansions; it would be large enough to raise flax to make robes of, and to have beautiful orchards of fruit trees; it would be large enough to have our flower gardens, and everything the agriculturalist and the botanist want, and some to spare.

What would be done with the spare portions? Let me tell you of one thing which perhaps some of you have never thought of. Do you suppose that we shall get up out of the grave, male and female, and that we shall not have the same kind of affections, and endearments, and enjoyments that we have here? The same pure feelings of love that exist in the bosoms of the male and female in this world, will exist with seven-fold intensity in the next world, governed by the law of God; there will be no corruptions nor infringements upon one another’s rights. Will not a man have his own family? Yes; he will also have his own mansion and farm, his own sons and daughters. And what else? Why, the fact is, man will continue to multiply and fill up this creation, inasmuch as it is not filled up by the resurrected Saints after it is made new.

And what will he do when this is filled up? Why, he will make more worlds, and swarm out like bees from the old hive, and prepare new locations. And when a farmer has cultivated his farm, and raised numerous children, so that the space is beginning to be too strait for them, he will say, “My sons, yonder is plenty of matter, go and organize a world, and people it; and you shall have laws to govern you, and you shall understand and comprehend through your experience the same things that we know.” And thus it will be one eternal round, and one continual increase; and the government will be placed under those that are crowned as kings and Priests in the presence of God.

Much more might be said, for we have only just touched upon these things, only turned the key that you may look through the door and discern a little of the glories that await the Saints. Let me tell you, it has not entered into the heart of man to conceive the things which God has laid up for them that love Him, unless he is filled with the Holy Ghost, and by vision gazes upon the thrones and the dominions, the principalities and powers, that are placed under His control and dominion; and He shall sway a righteous scepter over the whole.

This we will consider a kind of resurrection sermon for this creation, and all the righteous that shall inhabit it. We have not time in this discourse to preach the resurrection of the wicked, nor point out the place of their location.