Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, July 19, 1863.

I have no doubt that the people in general suppose it is a very easy thing for me to arise and speak to them, but I realize my weakness as well as other men, and probably I feel as diffident as most other men. When I first went forth to preach to the world I suffered a great deal in my feelings, probably as much as any man that ever attempted to preach. When I reflected upon my own inexperience I felt like a child, and I do today. For this reason I think much about those young men who have gone forth to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They will feel the need of being assisted by the Almighty when they are traveling through the European countries. Part of them are under twenty years of age, and they will realize their dependence upon God more than ever they have done before. I was over thirty years old when I commenced preaching the Gospel, but they are all young and well adapted for learning, hence they have many advantages. In those early times we did not know one hundredth part of the principles of the Gospel that we now know; in fact, there was but very little revealed, and we had not learned to understand the Scriptures except to a very limited extent. We had a little understanding of what was already revealed and written in the revelations given through Joseph the Prophet. I look over these things when I am thinking of those boys, and that is not all, I pray for them continually. I never bow before God without asking him in the name of his Son to remember those young men, and I know he will bless them with the power of his Spirit to guide them in the way of life. They do not know scarcely at present whether they understand much about the principles of the Gospel or not, and they will not really know until they have had some experience more than they had here at home. They are brought into a position where they will feel the necessity of calling upon God, and when they get home again they will find that they have had quite an experience, such an experience, too, as will be of lasting benefit to them. I used to think that anybody knew as much as I did, for I had very little confidence in myself, but I had confidence in God or I could not have preached at all. They will have just such feelings, and if they have any confidence at all it will be in God. Well, this is the case with most of us, and it is right; our confidence should be in him and not in ourselves, for without his assistance we are nothing and can do nothing towards the salvation of the human family. To be sure, the world are as ignorant as we were in relation to the Gospel of Christ, but we are the chosen of the Lord and he will support us in all our under– takings in righteousness. In those early times we were made to realize the truth of the Scriptures which Paul addressed to the Corinthians—

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.”—1 Corinthians, i chap., 26-29 verses.

The world are in the same or a more ignorant condition than we were before the Gospel found us. We live in a very peculiar time; it is a day of warning and not of many words. The Elders now have to labor a great deal harder to bring people into the Church than they did in the first rise of it. There is not now one man brought to the knowledge of the truth by receiving the Gospel to where there was a hundred thirty years ago. It seems as though the people are blinder now than they were thirty years ago, and ignorance prevails to a greater extent than it did at that time. Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—Matt. xi., 28-30.

Now, brethren and sisters, reflect upon these things, and remember that those who have embraced the Gospel and do not make it their study to promote the interests of the kingdom of God, neglect their duty to that kingdom of which they are sub– jects. It is the duty of every one to labor day by day to promote each other’s happiness, and also to study the well-being of mankind. When we take a course opposite to this, we become uneasy, unhappy and discontented; we are not satisfied with anything that is around us; our food, our raiment, our habitations, and all that we possess becomes an annoyance to us; now what is the cause of this? It certainly does not originate with the Spirit of God, for that will never render anyone unhappy. You all understand, when you are in the right, that it is the spirit of the world, or that spirit which controls the world, which causes people to feel in this way; and unless they drive it far from them it will lead them down to sorrow, misery, and death. It is a spirit that inclines to kill and destroy, and that inclines the wicked to waste away everything there is upon the earth. The Saints should be particularly careful to avoid the influence of this spirit of destruction, for it is not of God, and we can all see now it leads mankind to destroy each other.

Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” It is very easy to understand that a man can see very little of a kingdom unless he goes into it, and a man to see and understand the kingdom of God must first become a member of the Church of Christ, and then he progresses until he has an opportunity of looking into the kingdom, of becoming acquainted with its officers and laws, and hence it is that Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” When the kingdom of God is organized upon the earth, it is done to protect the Church of Christ in its rights and privileges, so that you see the Church makes a government to protect itself, but who knows what that government is? All those to whom it has been revealed, and no others. Let the Saints reflect upon these matters which I am laying before them. Think of your holy endowments and what you have been anointed to become, and reflect upon the blessings which have been placed upon you, for they are the same in part that were placed upon Jesus; he was the one that inducted his Apostles into these ordinances; it was he who set up the kingdom of which we are subjects. This is the kingdom of which all the Prophets spake, and to which Daniel alluded when he said, “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” It is a blessing to have the privilege of entering into the kingdom of God and partaking of the privileges and blessings that are bestowed upon its members.

The testimony has gone forth that whosoever will repent and be baptized for the remission of sins shall receive the Holy Ghost. This is the only way whereby mankind can be saved. Still mankind will devise systems of their own, in preference to walking in the way which God has marked out: and it appears that every man has his own way and wishes to walk in the path which he himself marks out, and it is a good deal with mankind as the writer of the Proverbs describes it, “There is a way which seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

When people embrace the Gospel they are then called upon to do all things which Jesus has commanded them, to live by the instructions of the Apostles and Elders of the Church. If they have been guilty of stealing, they must steal no more; for if they are found guilty they will be cast out as the law of God prescribes. They must not bear false witness, nor do anything that is forbidden in the ten commandments, which you know we were all taught to reverence when we went to the Sunday school in our childhood. Is that all that is required of us? No, those ten commandments do not constitute one hundredth part of the commandments that God gave to Adam in the beginning. Just let us look at these commandments, and then compare them with some of those given in our own day. In the 20th chap. of Exodus we find the Lord introducing the subject by reassuring the Israelites that he was the Lord their God; who had brought them out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage, and then he proceeds to speak and to command them what to do and what not to do; and in these commandments, which I will read to you, the Almighty shows that he is very jealous of his honor, and that he requires the undivided service and worship of his people. It will not do us any harm to look over those commandments, but it may do some of us a great deal of good, and, therefore, I will call your attention to them. We find them written in the following language—

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

“And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

“Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:

“But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

“Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

“Thou shalt not kill.

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.

“Thou shalt not steal.

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”—Exodus, 20 chap., 3-17.

These items contained in the above commandments are things that we ought all to consider and have a more lively interest in. We should read them occasionally, as well as other parts of the word of God, and we should endeavor to cultivate that which we see to be good.

We have the Priesthood of the living God in our midst, that Priesthood which is after the order of Mel– chizedek; it is the authority which God instituted in the beginning, and there is no salvation nor exaltation without it. If the present generation wish an exaltation in the kingdom of God, and desire the benefits and blessings of the Priesthood of the Most High, they must bow in obedience to the mandates of Heaven. Through this Priesthood the law of God has been revealed to man in this generation, to let mankind know that he still lives, and that he still has a care for his children and watches over them with paternal affection. Among the revelations which we find in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants there is one which was given in Feb., 1831, in which is contained the general outlines of the law which is to govern the Latter-day Saints. You may read the whole of that revelation when you have time; I will only call your attention now to the 6th and 7th paragraphs, which read as follows—

“And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come.

“And again, I say, thou shalt not kill; but he that killeth shall die. Thou shalt not steal; and he that stealeth and will not repent shall be cast out. Thou shalt not lie; he that lieth and will not repent shall be cast out. Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shall cleave unto her and none else. And he that looketh upon a woman to lust after her shall deny the faith, and shall not have the Spirit; and if he repents not he shall be cast out. Thou shalt not commit adultery; and he that committeth adultery, and repenteth not, shall be cast out. But he that has committed adultery and repents with all his heart, and forsaketh it, and doeth it no more, thou shalt forgive; But if he doeth it again, he shall not be forgiven, but shall be cast out. Thou shalt not speak evil of thy neighbor, nor do him any harm. Thou knowest my laws concerning these things are given in my scriptures; he that sinneth and repenteth not shall be cast out.”

Thus you see that the Lord was very particular in giving commandments through Joseph Smith at the commencement of this Church, and these commandments apply to all who embrace the Gospel, and without obedience to these, in connection with the rest of the revelations and commandments that have been given to this Church, there is no promise of salvation in the celestial kingdom. It is true there are many moralists and men who in many respects are very good, who do not embrace the Gospel; all such will be rewarded according to their works. If their works are good, good will be restored unto them; and if their works are evil they will be punished for their sins. And remember, the Lord says that those who lie shall be cast out of the Church, and this applies to every man and woman, and they can read it for themselves in the Book of Covenants. We are also commanded there not to speak evil of our neighbors, for if we do and do not immediately repent, the penalty is that we shall be cast out of the Church. Now, how important it is that we should observe these commandments and do them, especially as the Bible says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”—James 2, 10. You know if a man lies he offends in that particular and breaks one of the commandments, and he that said, Thou shalt not bear false witness, said also, Thou shalt not kill, therefore, by breaking one part of the law of God a man becomes a transgressor, and the law given to us in our day says that all such shall be cast out of the Church if they do not repent.

Now I touch upon these little things, knowing that if you do not hear and obey these, you will not pay any attention to the greater things. If I disregard any of the little things that pertain to my duty, I am guilty in the sight of God, and it is just so in regard to the law of the land. It is precisely so here with our laws in Utah; they are good, and well adapted to our circumstances and condition; but yet there are some persons who are not willing to observe them.

I feel that I am a weak, frail mortal; I realize that we are all frail beings, but those that suppose we cannot observe the laws to which I have referred, are mistaken. I know that I can refrain from evil, and I also know that any other person can who tries. It is quite a common thing with the world to commit sins, and then to argue that they cannot do any better, but this is a misunderstanding; any person who tries can refrain from evil.

What effect does this gospel produce among the inhabitants of the earth? Does it unite them together in one, and make them all of one heart and one mind? No, but it would produce this effect if the people would receive it, and universally adopt it as their rule of action, instead of which a great majority of mankind reject it, and hence it produces the effect which Jesus said his mission would. He remarked: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”—Matt. 10:34-36. This has truly been one of the results of the preaching of the gospel. The Elders have converted one here and another there; they have fulfilled the scripture which says: “I will take two of a family, and one of a city, and bring them to Zion.”

We now see a similar condition of things politically, to what has long existed religiously. Our own country is now suffering in consequence of this spirit of opposition, and it is causing many hearts to mourn because of losing their friends, and when the trouble will be at an end, is not for me to say. Now the Presbyterians of the North are preaching and praying against their Presbyterian brethren in the South; and this is precisely the condition of the Baptists, Methodists, Quakers and Shakers, and I am really sorry that such is the case. There are many honorable and peaceable citizens who are moving West in consequence of the lamentable state of our once happy and peaceful country.

When I think of these things I always reflect upon the travels of this Church; I call to mind our trials and privations in leaving Kirtland, Ohio. I call to mind our blessings and our troubles in the State of Missouri; I think of what we passed through and endured in the State of Illinois, and I shall not soon forget our wearisome and toilsome journey from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters, and then from the Frontiers of Iowa to these peaceful valleys. I rejoice many times in my reflections when I consider the goodness of the Almighty unto us, in bringing us to this goodly land. Here we can enjoy ourselves in the liberty of the gospel; we can make ourselves comfortable, and surround ourselves with the comforts and blessings of this life. In this respect we are privileged and blessed above many of our fellow creatures, and our blessings ought to cause us to look with compassion upon, and have charity for those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. It is our duty to consider what we were before we heard the gospel; we were quite as ignorant of God, Angels and heaven as the children of disobedience now are, but through the medium of Joseph Smith we were brought to an understanding of the principles of eternal life, and many of us have since been to the nations to teach them repentance and baptism for the remission of sins. Jesus set the example, and although he was without sin he submitted to the ordinance that he might fulfil all righteousness. John objected to perform the ordinance, but after Jesus had informed him it was requisite that he should honor the law of heaven, John then consented to officiate. As a proof that that was acceptable, the heavens were opened, and a voice heard to say—“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Now this conduct of our Savior was an example to all mankind, and every person who desires salvation must pass through this ordeal. By being baptized and keeping all the commandments, we become the beloved sons and daughters of God, the Holy Ghost descends upon us, and we are continually enlightened by its benign influences. After becoming members of this Church it becomes our duty to set a good example before all men, to pursue a course that will be acceptable in the sight of God and worthy of imitation, and let me encourage everyone to be faithful to their covenants, and live pure and holy lives before God.

The members of this Church are all blessed with the privilege we enjoy this day, of partaking of the emblems of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. When Christ instituted this supper he enjoined its continuance upon his disciples, and we have been instructed to observe it in this generation. Jesus remarked at his last supper: “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”—Luke 22. 15, 20.

To some it may be a curiosity that we partake of water instead of wine. [President B. Young: Tell them that the Lord told Joseph that he would accept of water]. Yes, the Lord has warned us against taking impure wine, and in a revelation given to Joseph Smith as early as September, 1830, he revealed his will on this subject in the following language—“Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Lord, your God, and your Redeemer, whose word is quick and powerful. For, behold, I say unto you, that it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory—remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins. Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, that you shall not purchase wine neither strong drink of your enemies; Wherefore, you shall partake of none except it is made new among you; yea, in this my Father’s kingdom which shall be built up on the earth. Behold, this is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth.”—Doc. Cov., Sec. L., Par. 1 & 2. This is what we are doing this afternoon, and, brethren and sisters, let us be faithful and remember in partaking of this ordinance, we renew our covenants, and we have a promise that we shall receive a renewal of the Holy Spirit, to enable us to be humble and to perform the duties that are enjoined upon us as Saints.

Whatever transpires, if we are faithful in this kingdom, will all tend to the happiness, pleasure, and exaltation of this people. We ought to be the happiest people on the face of the earth, for we are blessed with a knowledge of the gospel, with an understanding of the ordinances which pertain to eternal life, and we are blessed with peace while our neighbors are afflicted with a desolating war.

Brethren and sisters, I exhort you above all things to hold fast to your integrity, seek for righteousness and cleave unto it, and if you see anything that is contrary to these holy principles among this people, you may know that it is not good. There is no person in this Church who can increase in the knowledge of God, in the spirit of revelation, in the gift of prophecy, in visions or in dreams, unless they cleave unto God with full purpose of heart, but by being faithful these gifts will be multiplied unto the Saints.

Now when I went to England the first time I did not say anything about the gathering. About ten days after I had baptized brother George D. Watt, he came to me, his face shining like that of an angel, and, said he, just as sure as the Lord lives the Saints will gather to America. I told him to prophesy on, for I knew it was of God. I name this circumstance to show that the Spirit makes manifest to individuals many things of which they have never before heard. Now what is there to prevent the Latter-day Saints enjoying those gifts and graces of the gospel which they used to enjoy when they first joined the Church? What can prevent us from obtaining a knowledge of things past and things to come? There is nothing to prevent even our little boys and little girls having these gifts and blessings, except it be a slackness on our part in our duties towards God. I know there is a slackness with many of this people; there is a spirit of division, of contention and strife creeping in among the Latter-day Saints, but still I am happy to know that with the majority there is a great improvement. I know also that those brethren that are engaged in assisting to gather the poor, their blessings will be great indeed; they will have a reward in the present and in the future. On the other hand it is a matter of regret that there are others who do not feel interested enough to make up their butter and carry a tenth of it into the Tithing Office. Some of them think it is too small a matter, others are indifferent and don’t care anything about it, and thus a great many of the people neglect their tithes, and do not put them into the Lord’s storehouse; hence the poor, the laborer upon the public works, and the families of our missionaries lack many of the comforts of life, which the people who are laboring exclusively for themselves constantly enjoy. I presume you all remember what Christ said in regard to the poor widow who gave her small donation at the treasury of the synagogue, but lest some of you should have forgotten it, I will remind you of it: “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”—Mark 12. 41, 44.

Let me now say to the Latter-day Saints, if you will cast in your tithes and your offerings you will be blessed with greater abundance; the Lord will open the windows of heaven and bestow upon you a greater blessing. It will be with you as the Lord spoke through Malachi to the Israel of his day; after rebuking them the Lord promised them a great blessing. “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.—Malachi 3. 8, 12.

This will be our blessing if we are faithful; then let us awake to righteousness and we shall be abundantly blest. Let us all volunteer to help President Young in every endeavor that he makes to push forward this great work, and then we shall never again want for bread, for the Lord will shed forth rain upon the earth to water our crops, and we shall raise all the bread we need, and have some to spare for our friends. I have seen the time when our brethren have had to eat beef-hides, wolves, dogs and skunks. You may smile, but I can tell you that it was no laughing matter at that time, for there were many who could not get even dogs to eat. Many of the brethren in those trying times were clothed in skins of wild animals. I felt impressed to prophesy to them, and I said, “Never mind, boys, in less than one year there will be plenty of clothes and everything that we shall want sold at less than St. Louis prices;” and I thought when I came to reflect upon it that it was a very improbable thing, and brother Rich told me that he thought I had done up the job at prophesying that time, but the sequel showed the prediction to be of the Lord. In less than six months, the emigration to California came through here laden down with good clothing, bacon, flour, groceries, and everything we wanted. The opening of the gold mines had caused them to rush for the scene of excitement; they came with their trunks full of the best of clothing, and they opened them and turned out a great deal of the clothing, and the brethren and sisters bought good coats, vests, shawls, and dresses at a mere nominal price, and in this way the Lord supplied our wants, and he will do so again if the circumstances ever require it. This is the God that I believe in, and in him I put my trust. I know also that he will fight our battles from this time henceforth if we will only do right. He will turn our enemies aside and cause all things to work together for our good. Therefore, let us trust in him, and he will send his angels to watch over us, and he will preserve us as in the hollow of his hand.

May the Lord multiply his blessings upon you, brethren and sisters, and upon all the faithful ministers and Saints throughout the world, and may He bless all those who do good, who love righteousness and desire the welfare and building up of Zion; I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made on the Public Square, Great Salt Lake City, July 8, 1863.

In compliance with your polite invitation, I am here for the purpose of speaking to you a short time.

I can readily understand that you wish to see the notorious Brigham Young; well, you can now look at him, and in so doing you will not see a very marvelous sight, though my name is had for good and for evil the world over.

Some of you may have passed through this city before, though I presume the majority of you are strangers here, and, like other people, you want to see all there is to be seen and know all there is to be known.

In regard to the position of the people called Latter-day Saints in Utah, we occupy the half-way house between the settlements on the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean. Here the traveling public can renew their supplies, and prepare to meet the toils and hardships of the remainder of their journey.

The short time you stay in this city, or vicinity, you will have to judge for yourselves as to the cha– racter of the people here. We can represent all classes—the good, bad, and indifferent; but if you wish to truly know the people who are now living in these mountains, you will have to tarry long enough among them to gain the desired information. If you wish to know why we are here, it is simply because we had nowhere else to go; we were obliged to go somewhere, and, as a wise Providence designed, we lodged here. If any of you wish to be more fully informed upon this point, you can, at your leisure, search the history of this people, for it is before the world.

We had anticipated, when we came into these distant valleys, that we should be entirely secluded from the world—that we should trouble no person and that no person would trouble us. The “Mormon” Battalion had been disbanded in California, and some of that body first discovered gold there; the news of that discovery quickly reached the eastern States, and thousands were soon upon our track. Instead of being se– cluded, we find ourselves in the great national highway. We must be known, and we could not be in a better situation to be known than where we are.

I think I am not mistaken in the conclusion that you wanted to see the notorious Brigham Young more than to hear his politics or his religion, though I can give you a short political speech, if it would be gratifying to you.

The spirit of our politics is peace. If we could have our choice, it would be to continually walk in the path of peace; and had we the power, we would direct the feet of all men to walk in the same path. We wish to live in peace with our God, with our neighbors and with all men. I am not aware that we have ever been guilty of inaugurating any difficulty whatever.

We claim the privilege of freedom of speech—of giving our views on national affairs and on religion—and this privilege we claim wherever we are in our free country. Is there any particular sin in this? Is there anything in this that is contrary to the constitution of our country, or to the institutions of freedom established by our revolutionary fathers? Freedom of speech is a right which we hold most dear, considering, at the same time, that every person availing himself of this right is accountable to his fellows for the manner in which he uses it.

Touching the present trouble that exists in our nation, I can say that we consider it very lamentable and disastrous. Mankind do not understand themselves nor the design of their Creator in giving them an existence in the world. It was never designed by him that his children, who claim to be intelligent beings, should slay each other; such conduct is anti-Christian and repugnant to every lofty aspiration and Godlike prin– ciple in the better portion of man’s nature. War is instigated by wickedness—it is the consequence of a nation’s sin. We have, however, but little to say upon the war which is now piercing the heart of the nation with many sorrows, for we are far from its scenes of blood and deadly strife. We receive contradictory statements over the wires, and are left to form our own conclusions.

As to religion, we believe in the Old and New Testament, and consider it unnecessary to hire learned divines to interpret the Scriptures; we receive them as they are, “Knowing that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation.” We are aware that many mistakes have been introduced into the Scriptures through the ignorance, carelessness, or design of translators, yet they are good enough for us and well answer the purpose designed of God in their compilation, viz., to lead all men, who will be guided by them, to the fountain of light from whence all holy Scriptures emanate.

Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity. How shall we believe the Scriptures, if we do not believe them as we find them? We consider that we are more safe to follow the plain letter of the Word of God, than to venture so great a risk as to depend upon a private interpretation given by man who claims no inspiration from God and who altogether discards the idea that he gives immediate revelation now as anciently.

We believe in God the Father and in Jesus Christ our elder brother. We believe that God is a person of tabernacle, possessing in an infinitely higher degree all the perfections and qualifications of his mortal children. We believe that he made Adam after his own image and likeness, as Moses testifies; and in this belief we differ from the professedly Christian world, who declare that, “His center is everywhere, but his circumference is nowhere.” Their God has no body nor parts; our God possesses a body and parts, and was heard by Adam and Eve, “Walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” They say that their God has no passions; our God loves his good children and is, “Angry with the wicked every day,” “And him that loveth violence his soul hateth;” and he reveals his will as familiarly to his servants in all ages as I reveal my thoughts to you this evening.

We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world, and try to keep his sayings. He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” One commandment to his disciples was to preach his Gospel in all the world, and baptize believers for the remission of sins, and then lay hands upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, that they might possess the gifts and graces promised in the Gospel to all believers.

We worship a God who can hear us when we call upon him, and who can answer our reasonable petitions, and who gives guidance and direction to the affairs of his kingdom which he has established on the earth in our own day. We believe in making his statutes our delight, in observing his ordinances and keeping all his commandments. You may inquire whether all professed Latter-day Saints do these things. My answer is, They should do them. Are they all truly Saints who profess to be Saints? They should be. Are all this people, in the Scriptural sense, Christians? They should be. Do they all serve God with an undivided heart? They should. Many of them do, seeking daily to do his will. You do not find many of this class of Saints wandering idly over your campground, wanting and desiring this, that and the other from the passing stranger. Those who visit you in this way wish to see how you look, as you want to see how the “Mormons” look. The great mass of this people tarry at home, they are in their houses, their gardens, their fields, and shops, paying attention to their own business, and not running after strangers for gain; and in attending to their own business many get rich. While some of our community wish to see how their former Christian brethren look, they, at the same time, wish to trade with you, and a stranger might suppose that they are first-class Latter-day Saints. Do not be deceived, for all first-class Latter-day Saints, both men and women, may be found minding their own business at their homes or where their business requires their presence. To know them and how they live is the only means by which you can form a true conception of the “Mormon” people.

We are trying to improve ourselves in every particular, for God has given us mental and physical powers to be improved, and these are most precious gifts; more precious are they to us than fine gold. God is our Father, and he wishes his children to become like him by improving upon the means he has supplied for this purpose.

I do not know that you have hitherto met with any difficulty from the Indians on your journey. You have heard of Indian hostilities against the whites on the western route, but you will have no trouble with them if you will do right. I have always told the traveling public that it is much cheaper to feed the Indians than to fight them. Give them a little bread and meat, a little sugar, a little tobacco, or a little of anything you have which will con– ciliate their feelings and make them your friends. It is better to do this than to make them your enemies. By pursuing this policy you may escape all trouble from that quarter, while you are journeying on the Pacific slope.

I am satisfied that among the red men of the mountains and the forest you can find as many good, honest persons as among the Anglo-Saxon race. The Indian faithfully follows the traditions and customs of his race. He has been taught to steal and to shed the blood of his enemies, and the most expert in these inhuman practices is considered a great chief or a great brave. The Anglo-Saxon race has been taught not to steal, not to lie, not to shed the blood of mankind. If the Indian steals or sheds the blood of those he considers his enemies, he is doing what he considers to be right, and is not so much to blame as the white man who commits such crimes, for the white man knows them to be wrong and contrary to the laws of God and man. We have men among us, whose fathers and mothers belong to the Church of Latter-day Saints, that will steal our horses and run them off to sell in California, and then steal horses there and sell them to us in Utah.

Travel in kindness and peace with one another, and cultivate a friendship on this journey that will be lasting after you have reached your destination. You are now essential to each other for mutual safety; let not this be lost sight of, and approach each other as becomes intelligent beings who are brothers. Judge not each other rashly, for you will find that ninety-nine wrongs out of a hundred committed by men are done more in ignorance than from a design to do wrong.

My friends, you have seen me—Brigham Young—the leader of the people called “Mormons.” You see a mere mortal like yourselves, but the Lord Almighty is with me and his people. He has led us by the right hand of his power, and he gives me wisdom to lay before his people good, wholesome doctrines, and to set good examples before them. By pursuing this policy we expect to restore the confidence which has been lost among men and the integrity that belongs to the heart of man.

Try to do right and God will bless you. I heartily bid you God speed on your journey. Farewell.

Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in Provo City, June 27, 1863.

I discover that we shall have to speak very loud in this Bowery in order to make this large congregation hear. I perceived this when I came into the meeting; at the further end I could scarcely hear the singing.

This is quite a large congregation, and I am happy to see it. It is very gratifying to see the inhabitants of this county come together to a Conference, and I suppose it is pleasing to you; it gives you a good opportunity of seeing each other and renewing your acquaintance. I think I am safe in saying that this is the largest gathering there has been in Provo since our move south in 1858. Here is an audience of from four to five thousand Latter-day Saints, come together for the purpose of being instructed in the principles of eternal life, and I sincerely hope you are all of one heart and one mind to do good and build up the kingdom of God.

I do not feel very well in body this morning; probably this is because of traveling yesterday. I left home at half-past ten o’clock in the morning and came through in good season last evening. I got a good place to rest over night, but as the people here appear to be very diligent, more so than those in Salt Lake City, I had to get up at six this morning to get my breakfast. I feel well in spirit but feeble in body. I feel very anxious in relation to the welfare of this people, not only in Provo but throughout these mountains, yes, I feel interested in every man, woman, and child that belongs to this Church. I wish to see them prosper in all that is good and holy.

During the short time that I may address you, I wish you to be as still as possible; do not let your minds and eyes go out after the vain things of this world, but concentrate them upon the things of God; be still, calm, composed and full of faith, prayer, and good desires, then, if such a spirit prevails, I am perfectly satisfied that before this Conference closes you will feel yourselves very much blessed of the Lord. I will also remark that I am sensible that no man can speak to a congregation of people upon any subject, only according to the intelligence that is in the people. There are quite a number of this congregation who knew Joseph Smith the Prophet, and he used to say in Nauvoo that when he came before the people he felt as though he were enclosed in an iron case, his mind was closed by the influences that were thrown around him; he was curtailed in his wishes and desires to do good; there was no room for him to expand, hence he could not make use of the revelations of God as he would have done; there was no room in the hearts of the people to receive the glorious truths of the Gospel that God revealed to him. I refer to these things to show that this feeling has been experienced by others as well as myself, and if as great and good a man as the Prophet Joseph felt like this, no wonder that I should be effected and be wrought upon by surrounding influences. But, notwithstanding all this, I rejoice in the blessings of peace and truth that flow through obedience to the Gospel to every honest soul.

When I look back to the days of Joseph and then compare the people now to what they were in those early times, I discover that we have made a very great advancement, and I rejoice in it. We all can see this and are willing to admit of it, but does this tell the whole of the story? No; I say that if we look at the opportunities the Saints have had since the days of Joseph, the long season of peace and freedom from mobs, we are compelled to say that the Latter-day Saints have not advanced more than half as rapidly as they might have done.

Perhaps you will not agree with me in what I am now going to state, but be this as it may, I am satisfied that it is true. This people will never improve in their minds or advance in spiritual intelligence until they improve and advance their temporal interests. Public and individual improvements always advance and help forward the intellectual. Now, property here in Provo is not worth any more today than it was ten years ago; the reason of this is, that everything is at a stand, very few improvements are being made; there is no spirit of enterprise except of a private character. I speak particularly of Provo at this time, because of our being here and because it was the second settlement made in these valleys. This city and Ogden were the next places established after Great Salt Lake City, and you may now look around you and see if the improvements made are, and have been, according to the facilities afforded. Are your habitations, your gardens, your fields and vineyards in that state of cultivation that you have had the opportunity and power of putting them?

In conversing with a man last night upon the subject of property in this city, and its present value, he wanted to know what I considered such a field worth, pointing to a certain place nearby. I replied that it ought to be worth about a thousand dollars, but of course it is not worth that amount now, because there is no improvement about it or in the neighborhood. Now, I can tell you all candidly that unless you advance in these temporal improvements you never will increase in spiritual knowledge; the one cannot thrive without the other. You may think it strange that you cannot enjoy religion and the Spirit of God in a little, miserable log cabin, but you must remember that the temporal and spiritual go hand in hand, they are inseparably connected, and you may rest assured that the one cannot advance far along the path of progression without the other. This has been one of my principles ever since I came to a knowledge of the truth.

Public improvements always have a tendency to make a town or a city flourish. To the people of Provo I will say, in the first place build, or rather complete your meetinghouse, and then go forward with such other public improvements as will rouse up your spirits, elevate your minds to action and make you energetic in the Work of God, and the blessings of the Almighty will rest upon you and you will increase in the knowledge of the principles of eternal life. This I know by experience and by practice.

Some may ask why I talk so much about these temporal matters. I do this because I feel it to be my duty to do it, and not particularly on account of any desire that I have to speak of them. Our immediate and daily connection with temporal things renders it important that we should be reminded of our duties in relation to these matters.

We have been taught that our Father and God, from whom we sprang, called and appointed his servants to go and organize an earth, and, among the rest, he said to Adam, “You go along also and help all you can; you are going to inhabit it when it is organized, therefore go and assist in the good work.” It reads in the Scriptures that the Lord did it, but the true rendering is, that the Almighty sent Jehovah and Michael to do the work. They were also instructed to plant every kind of vegetable, likewise the forest and the fruit trees, and they actually brought from heaven every variety of fruit, of the seeds of vegetables, the seeds of flowers, and planted them in this earth on which we dwell. And I will say more, the spot chosen for the garden of Eden was Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, where Independence now stands; it was occupied in the morn of creation by Adam and his associates who came with him for the express purpose of peopling this earth.

Father Adam was instructed to multiply and replenish the earth, to make it beautiful and glorious, to make it, in short, like unto the garden from which the seeds were brought to plant the garden of Eden. I might say much more upon this subject, but I will ask, has it not been imitated before you in your holy endowments so that you might understand how things were in the beginning of creation and cultivation of this earth? God the Father made Adam the Lord of this creation in the beginning, and if we are the Lords of this creation under Adam, ought we not to take a course to imitate our Father in heaven? Is not all this exhibited to us in our endowments? The earth made glorious and beautiful to look upon, representing everything which the Lord caused to be prepared and placed to adorn the earth. The Prophet Joseph frequently spoke of these things in the revelations which he gave, but the people generally did not understand them, but to those who did they were cheering, they had a tendency to gladden the heart and enlighten the mind. By faith and works we shall subdue the earth and make it glorious. We can plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof; we possess this power within ourselves. I would not give a fig for faith without works, for it is dead, even as the body without the spirit is dead. If you wish salvation, go to work with your might and strength to do what the Lord requires at your hands through his servants whom he has appointed. You need not expect him to come to you, especially as you are not prepared to see him. As members of the body of Christ we are called upon to labor and to do our part towards building up his kingdom, and should all have equal interest in that kingdom. We manifest our attachment to the principles of progress and improvement, both of which are intimately connected with the building up of Zion, when we plant orchards and vineyards, and when we make good gardens, good farms, and when we build good houses; in doing all of which we get a liberal reward as we go along. Then let us stretch forth our hands and build up the towns and cities of Zion.

Supposing we had the facilities for water power in Salt Lake City that you have here, it would have been much farther advanced than it is; we should have occupied every eligible site with machinery before this time. Look at brother Taylor’s mill race that crosses the main thoroughfare below here; why, there is more water running down there than runs in President Young’s mill race and any other three streams that we have in the neighborhood of Salt Lake City. You might have factories here, spinning and weaving by machinery, and in fact every kind of machinery that you need. We can make many kinds of machinery right here. We are certainly blessed above all other people on the earth, although there are but a few that realize it as they ought to; but such as have been driven from their homes and stripped of all they possessed from two to six times, as I have, they can appreciate the blessings of peace and prosperity that attend the Saints in these valleys. I have seen the Latter-day Saints scattered by the ruthless hand of mobocracy to the four winds; driven from Missouri and from Illinois by their enemies in the dead of winter and exposed to the severity of the season. For what? All because they believed in God and acknowledged Joseph Smith to be his Prophet.

The Scriptures say, “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again;” and again the injunction is given in another place, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” What is now taking place with our enemies? They are suffering far more than we did, right in those very places from which we were expelled by mob force. Brother Henry Lawrence was telling me that quite a number of those counties and places formerly occupied by the Saints, are now left destitute; and in some of the settlements the people are left in a state of comparative nudity. These are the effects of this horrible war, and what kind of a condition do you think we shall be in if we continue to depend upon the world for supplies? At present we are dependent upon them for our cloth, and we buy large quantities of prints that when brought here are very little better than rags. I can tell you that if you depend upon our enemies you will be sadly mistaken, for they will not long be able to supply themselves.

I am told that St. Louis is now one of the worst places to live in in America, and the inhabitants profess to be loyal to the Government, but I presume the truth is, that half of them are traitors. They are constantly hearing of riots and troubles of one kind or another. By-and-by it will be just as bad in Ohio, New York, and Massachusetts. To secure ourselves against these troublesome times, we must make the articles of clothing that we need to wear and we must produce the food that we need and require to sustain these our decaying bodies. Then we should remember that the articles we make from the cotton we raise down in our cotton country will last four times as long as those we purchase in the stores of Salt Lake City, especially if the ladies won’t try to wash them to pieces. And we can take the flax and spin it into tablecloths and we shall see it become whiter and whiter every time it is washed, until we shall be delighted with our home-manufactured articles; besides, it will be almost impossible to scrub such cloth to pieces.

Some of you may ask if I am doing any of these things. Yes, I am doing all I possibly can, realizing, as I most assuredly do, that hard times are coming upon this nation. I calculate to have my garments of fine wool next fall. I am aware that some of you have got it into your heads that wool won’t do to make into garments. Will those of you who entertain that idea have the kindness to look at the condition the Savior was in at the time of his crucifixion. We read that when they had crucified him “They parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.” The Savior’s under garment was knitted, and Joseph Smith always wore that kind, and therefore I think we have no occasion to be ashamed of homemade garments. Wool is designed especially for winter use. In regard to the cotton goods, I will here say, you can go into the cotton district of our Territory and take your wheat and flour and exchange any quantity with the brethren who reside there. They have gone into cotton raising there on an extensive scale, and I can truly say that of all the good feelings and influences I ever felt that I never felt better than I did while visiting the Saints in Washington county. It is a country where the Devil cannot get a foothold. He delights in robbing, killing and destroying the righteous man and all who will not submit to the influence that comes from the lower regions. Why do we take a course to leave our wives and children comparatively destitute of the comforts of life? We have the privilege of becoming an independent people, and there is no necessity of living poor.

If the Latter-day Saints in the city of Provo and in all other cities and towns of this Territory would put up good, substantial fences around their gardens and fields, then our sisters could go into the gardens and supply their tables with fruit of every desirable kind and all in the season thereof, and this would be a blessing to all. But as it is now, the trees are planted and eaten down year after year by the cattle, and thus the men’s labor is lost and the trees destroyed. In Salt Lake City there are a few who have been waked up to diligence, and the result is that they have got a nice variety of apricots, peaches, plums, apples, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, and some have got cherries and pears. Now I want to see you do these things here that you may make yourselves happy and comfortable, and also that you may place yourselves in a situation that our Father and God can send his angels to visit and to bless you. Don’t you think that angels would like to see a garden around your houses if they were to come and visit you? Who are angels? They are sanctified men who once lived upon this earth and held the Priesthood just as we do now, and who are co-workers with us. Were there angels along with us on our southern trip? Yes, and I felt as if every hair of my head was filled and quickened with the lifegiving power of God. That power was upon brother Brigham, and we were filled with it.

Whenever this people are improving in good works, then is the time that we feel the goodly and heavenly influence. I never felt it more in my life than when I was on that journey; I never before experienced that freedom of speech that accompanied me on that mission. Every man, in fact, who went with us on that southern trip felt to praise God for the blessings that rested upon us all.

We traveled eight hundred and fifty miles in thirty days, and President Young and myself preached fifty times each. When we would get through a day’s journey it seemed that we were so tired that we could not preach, but the lifegiving power of God was upon us, and by that we were enabled to endure the labors and fatigues of that journey. It seemed that we had one eternal blessing for the people; we were full of the blessings of the Priesthood, and, in fact, we could not speak without blessing the inhabitants of that county, for the faith of the people drew the blessings from us. We also felt to bless the earth that it might bring forth abundantly everything that is placed therein by the industrious hands of the Saints of God; we blessed the cattle, the fruit trees, the waters, and, in fact, everything that is for the use and benefit of man.

I have now expressed some of my feelings upon a number of subjects, and I feel well in doing this, for I know that the Saints of God ought to be wide awake to their duties. You all believe in “Mormonism,” I have no doubt; you have been baptized into the Church for the remission of sins, had hands laid upon your heads by those having authority, and you doubtless know that “Mormonism” is true, but yet you are not fully converted to the necessity of having the power of God with you always. I know that that power does not dwell with us as it ought. I put myself in, for I am here with you and I am one of your brethren. We who preside over you have to stick to you, although there are a great many dead limbs among you, but we shall stick to you until you learn to live your religion. We want to see you bow before the throne of grace in humility and let your faith and works go hand in hand. Paul said to the Church at Corinth, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” Then apply this to yourselves and awake to a full sense of your duties to God and to each other. “Draw nigh unto me, and I will draw nigh unto you,” says the Lord through his Prophet, and this declaration you will find to be as true in our day as it was in the day that it was spoken. I will tell you what I am afraid of, brethren, if you do not wake up to a sense of your true position, the Lord will send a flood and wash you out of those bottoms, and thus make you come on to this bench and build up a respectable city.

My feeling and my faith is all the time, God bless this people, and may he accept of the labors and offerings of the righteous, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ: Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, June 14, 1863.

I am very fond of hearing my brethren speak to the congregations of the Saints; it affords a pleasing variety of the talent and ability that exists in the Elders of Israel. The object of our meeting together is to learn and to increase in the knowledge of the truth. Truth cleaves to truth and light to light. No man possessing the spirit of his religion can arise to speak to the Saints without imparting something that is bene– ficial. We are blessed with a great privilege in meeting here to worship the Lord our God and to speak comforting words to each other.

It would be very gratifying to me if I had the ability to so speak to the Saints as to divest them of every error they possess and give them eternal truth without in the least ruffling their feelings. Our weaknesses are known to ourselves, and in many instances to each other, but we have the privilege of learning and of increasing in faith and in the knowledge of God and godliness. We have the privilege of learning more and more of the earth which we inhabit, of the object of its creation, of the people that dwell upon it and of all things pertaining to ourselves.

The Lord has revealed a great many precious principles to this people, and knowledge which cannot be obtained by the study of the learned of the world, “who are ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth.” One of the greatest blessings that can be bestowed upon the children of men is to have true knowledge concerning themselves, concerning the human family and the designs of Heaven concerning them. It is also a great blessing to have wisdom to use this knowledge in a way to produce the greatest good to ourselves and all men. All the power of earthly wealth cannot give this knowledge and this wisdom.

If mankind could know the object God has in their creation, and what they might obtain by doing right and by applying to the source and fountain of wisdom for information, how quickly they would turn away from every ungodly action and custom. But as the Prophet says, “Ephraim is joined to his idols: let him alone.” “Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.” Instead of seeking unto the Lord for wisdom, they seek unto vain philosophy and the deceit and traditions of men, which are after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. They are led by their own imaginations and by the dictates of their selfish will, which will lead them in the end to miss the object of their pursuit. Were you to inquire of the leading men of the world—of kings, rulers, philosophers and wise men—the end or result of their pursuits, they cannot tell you. This I believe; and I think it is quite evident, according to what I have witnessed.

What object was there, we might ask, for inaugurating the present war that is spreading dismay through our once happy land? Is it to kill off the African race? No; but ostensibly to give freedom to millions that are bound, and in doing this they did not know that they would lay the foundation for their own destruction as well as that of the object of their pursuit. Those whose minds are opened to see and understand the purposes of the Most High are made happy in a timely deliverance from approaching evil. “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.” We have the priceless privilege of applying our hearts to wisdom, and of learning the things of God while the wisdom of the wise men of the world perishes and the understanding of their prudent is hid.

I can say, for the satisfaction of my brethren who have spoken today, that I do not know that I have heard them say anything but truth; they have advanced good doctrine, good ideas, even to having our clothing last us for years; I should be quite willing to have mine last for a great length of time. The coat I am now wearing I have had six or eight years, and I would like to have it last me six or eight years longer, and use any money I might have for buying another coat to deliver some honest, poor, starving soul who is deprived of liberty and the common comforts of life. I would like to take the price of this coat and send it abroad to gather the poor and place them in like circumstances we are now enjoy– ing, that they might have the privilege of going to the same fountain that we do for food, raiment and intelligence. The old adage has it, “The back will trust, but the belly will not.” Hundreds of our brethren and sisters in foreign lands are now in a dying condition through want of food. If my hat, coat, boots, shoes, &c., would last half a century or a whole one, and I had the means every year to buy myself a fresh supply, I would thank God to put it into my heart to send that means to gather the poor.

The doctrine is correct, the advice is good for this people to be prudent with what they have around them and not to waste their substance. When brother G. D. Watt was speaking this morning I could not entirely free this people from the imputation of shamefully and disgracefully wasting a portion of the substance which God has so kindly and so abundantly given to them. We were exhorted by brother Watt to be prudent, saving, frugal and economical; to learn to gather the good things of life around us in abundance, to extend our possessions on the right and on the left and hold them all for God. If we are permitted to gather around us gold and silver and all the treasures that the Gentiles seek, instead of hoarding them up in iron chests or burying them in the ground for use in a future day, let us use them to send the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, to gather the poor Saints from every land, and to gather from the rocks and caves and dens of the earth the house of Israel. It is the duty of every person to thus put their money and other means to usury. We should all learn to use the blessings God has bestowed upon us with the greatest possible economy, doing good with the means he puts into our hands, and he will enlarge our means and our capacity to do more good. We do not possess a great deal at the most. I am blessed with plenty of food and raiment, with good houses for my family to live in, &c. I wish some good man, that is worth his millions, would give me half what my property is worth, I would be thankful, and give every dollar of it to preaching the Gospel, gathering the poor Saints, building the Temple and Tabernacle or anything else to do good and build up the kingdom of God, and I would commence afresh to make more property.

There are a great many things with regard to the providences of God which this people do not yet understand. The Jews did not understand that God, in his kind providence, was building up his Church among them in the days of the Apostles. The same ignorance blinded the world in the days of Noah, and so it is in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.

My brethren who spoke this morning will excuse me for referring to their remarks. Brother Little exhorted the brethren, this morning, to take from their little piles, as he called them, and add to brother Brigham’s big pile. Brigham’s individual pile is already large enough, though, in reality, we should have only one mess chest, one place of deposit, one storehouse, one “pile,” and that is the kingdom of God upon the earth; it is the only storehouse there is for Saints, it is the only “pile,” the only safe place of deposit, the only place to invest our capital. This is rational to me; and all who contend for an individual interest, a personal “pile,” independent of the kingdom of God, will be destroyed. I, apparently, own horses, carriages, houses, lands, flocks, herds, &c. The Lord has entrusted to me all this property, in his providence; I have not run after it or sought it, it is the Lord’s; if, under this consideration, you agree to add to Brigham’s “pile,” I am willing you should do so.

I would not have an individual interest for all the gold and silver upon the earth or in it. What I possess, whether wives and children, goods and chattels, will not be mine, in the strict sense of the word, until I have passed all the ordeals that God has ordained that his children shall pass; until I have overcome every sin and every obstacle to my being crowned in the celestial kingdom of our Father and God. If I am unfaithful with that which God has put in my possession, it will be taken from me and be given to another. I have no individual “pile,” no individual storehouse. I do not think a man or woman can be found who can truly testify that they ever knew Brigham, for an individual interest, to neglect one moment any public duty that devolved upon him in the kingdom of God. That is my only business; it is all the business I have on hand. I take the Lord at his word, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all other things shall be added unto you.” I do not know but that he will take away every particle of property I seem to have and let me become a beggar; and if that is his wish, I would as soon beg my bread from door to door, if it is the mind of God and will add glory and honor to his kingdom, as to possess my thousands and live in luxury. “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;” if the Lord adds “all other things,” all right; and if he does not, it is all right.

Scores of my brethren cleave to the gold and silver and wealth of this world; if their minds were right before the Heavens, as they should be, the Lord would pour into their laps an abundance of gold and silver until they were satisfied, but to give it to them now would damn them. He withholds it from them, and I am thankful that he does. I pray him to withhold from me and this people everything that will do us an injury. As fast as we prepare ourselves for the blessings the Lord has in store for us, so fast will the Lord pour them upon us.

Thirty years ago, when I first began to tell the people about the Gospel of life and salvation, I told them just as I do now, that the kingdom of God will extend, increase, grow and spread abroad on the right and on the left until, by-and-by, the inhabitants of the world will know that the Lord is God, and that he has set to his hand again to gather Israel and establish forever the kingdom that is spoken of in the prophecy of Daniel, which is now set up, and it will go forth until it rules all things upon the face of the earth. When I first bore this testimony it was to those who heard it like an empty sound; only a few obeyed, but now the mere sound, the mere report of this Work heard from afar, penetrates their ears and sinks into their hearts, bringing fear and dread to the wicked. But let me say to all the inhabitants of the earth, “Fear not, borrow no trouble; but to those who are afraid of truth and justice, fear on.” There is no question but what many fear justice and truth and the attributes of God more than they dread and fear anything else.

To all who love truth, mercy, and justice, I will say, that when God rules on the earth he will rule in righteousness, dealing out mercy to all such persons, and they will be perfectly satisfied with the reign of Christ. But they who have sinned so great a sin that they cannot be forgiven will dread the day when Jesus Christ shall reign. Multitudes now read about that time, and it will come and the kingdom of God will go forth to the east, to the west, to the south, and to the north, and none will be found who dare lift up their voices against the rule and reign of the Son of God. “To him every knee will bow, and every tongue confess,” and we cannot help it. I look forth to that day with a great deal of real pleasure and satisfaction, when the righteous will reign upon all the face of the earth.

We are all liable to err; are subject, more or less, to the errors incident to the human family. We would be pleased to get along without these errors, and many may think that a man in my standing ought to be perfect; no such thing. If you would only think of it for a moment you would not have me perfect, for if I were perfect the Lord would take me to Paradise quicker than you would be willing to have me go there. I want to stay with you; and I expect to be just perfect enough to lead you on—to still know a little more than you know; you may increase as fast as you can, and I will keep just a little ahead of you; if you do not believe it, try it, and you will learn whether the Lord is not capable of still leading you through as weak an instrument as your humble servant.

We have a great labor before us. The building of this Temple is not a drop to a bucketful when compared with the labor we have to do. Let this people say that they will not build the Temple by Tithing, and then let the Lord say to a few of us, “My servants, will you build that Temple?” Our reply would be, “Yes.” I could build it alone, if required, as well as I could build any other building, and the Lord would throw every means into my hands that I needed for the work. It is God who gives the increase; he throws into our path the blessings we enjoy. Every man and woman ought to know that they can do all that he wishes them to perform; but there is an abundance of Tithing, and more than we need, if it could be had in a shape that we could use it to advantage. It now costs us nearly as much as it is worth to take care of the Tithing, because the people throw on to a few the responsibility of caring for the Tithing property. Is it not public property? And should not a mutual interest be felt for its preservation and proper disbursement?

When the brethren come to work out their labor Tithing, they do not expect us to board them and find them tools to work with. I accidentally learned one thing when I was south, and might have known it before if I had only thought of it. I went into a little bit of a Tithing room where there was a few hundred pounds of bacon; I said, “You have some meat here.” “Yes,” was the reply, “but the most of it is gone, for we have sent a great deal with the teams which have gone for the poor, and we expect the rest of it to be wanted for our teamsters who are hauling rock for the Temple.” Try the experiment with one who comes here to pay labor Tithing, get up a boarding house and board him, a clothing store and clothe him, and the labor that is done will not cover half the expense of feeding and clothing them. What did we expect you to do when we said, in the circular, take a little of this and a little of that? We expected the people to bear this expense and not take it out of the Tithing Office. But it seems that what should have come to this Tithing Office has been sent for the poor. I did not ask the Tithing Office for meat and clothing to fit out what teams I have sent, and never thought of it. When we first called for teams to go to Florence, we called for thirty; twenty-seven went, and I furnished more than half of them and did not ask the Church to find me meat, but others have, and they can have all of this, that and the other they want out of the Tithing Office; and if a Bishop gets ten dollars in money or other good pay he is sure to manage to send a load of wood or brush to some person in his Ward, charge the Church with ten dollars, and put the money in his pocket. Can we build a Temple on such terms?

Where are the bacon and eggs that should come to feed the workmen? I had my teams ready to go out for such articles, but they are away towards the States with the teamsters; the meat, the lard, the eggs, the butter, the cheese, and everything is gone to the States. We have said to the teamsters who have gone east, We will give you credit on labor Tithing; and we have to board them, too, have we? I expect we shall have to find wagons for them by-and-by, and then oxen and everything else. You can see how men can think and contrive how to use up this and that—to use up all the butter, all the eggs, all the meat, all the cheese, and all the money—“and when we cannot sell wheat at any price, then you poor slaves who work on the public works may take it and build up the kingdom with it.” This is a little harder than I spoke last Sunday, and you may judge of it as you please. “Do you know all this to be true, brother Brigham?” I do.

I do not wish any of my remarks applied where they do not belong. If there is a presiding officer in this kingdom who is not equally with myself under obligation to see the kingdom of God built up, I would like to see him. Some may be careless, unconcerned, drink whiskey, and loiter away their time, or try to accumulate for themselves, but I will promise such that they will sink to rise no more; they will dwindle away to nothing, and their names will be forgotten among men.

We had better build up the kingdom of God, and consider ourselves under obligations to do it, and see that we actually magnify our high and holy calling before the heavens. We have the privilege of preparing ourselves to inherit the celestial kingdom. Is there another people on the earth that has the same reason for rejoicing that we have? Those who have power to overcome temptation, to subdue their own passions and inclinations to evil, have more reason to be thankful than those who have not thus overcome. Let us have compassion upon each other, and let the strong tenderly nurse the weak into strength, and let those who can see guide the blind until they can see the way for themselves.

I exhort the Bishops and the people to do better. Do not charge to my account hundreds and thousands of dollars when it is where I cannot handle it and do good with it. I could have made this whole people rich long ago if I had possessed their confidence, as I should, but if I had made them rich, through the blessings of the Lord, I expect it would have destroyed them. I do not, however, ask your confidence any further than you can be made subject to the law of Christ and not love the world and the things of the world. I do not wish an influence that would be to my injury and to the injury of this people, but I really fancy to myself that if this people called Latter-day Saints were devoted perfectly to the building up of the kingdom of God, I should have a great deal more influence with them than I now possess, and I should be able to control their purses as well as their souls.

Many, when they come here, are in the depths of poverty, but when they find that they can stand alone and become a little independent, how quickly they forsake their God and their religion for that which is of no profit. Let us desire and pray for these things which will do us good, trusting in the Lord, seeking to know and do his will, and we shall come off conquerors and be crowned with crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives in the celestial kingdom of our Father and God. I hope this will be the case with most of us, and should like it to be the case with all. I would delight in seeing the inhabitants of Zion prepared to enjoy all the glory there is for the faithful.

May the Lord help us: Amen.

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, June 12, 1863.

Jesus said to those whom he had appointed to go forth and preach his Gospel, “Go your way: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.” Again, “And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.”

This is one of the blessings that belong to the Church and kingdom of God in this and in every other age of the world when God has had a Church upon the earth. When people attempt to preach the Gospel without the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they are under the necessity of study– ing or of writing their sermons, thus presenting the cogitations of their own hearts in support of the doctrines and tenets of their particular sects. When the Lord sets to his hand to perform a work and to build up his kingdom on the earth, his servants whom he calls to do this work are obliged to trust in the Lord their God and to lean upon his arm for strength, for no man can tell what the will of God is unless it is revealed to him by the revelations of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost.

This is the principle that has sustained the Elders of Israel, in our own day, in all their labors among the nations to build up this kingdom for the last time and to preach the Gospel in the ears of all people and nations. The servants of God in Zion, in all their counsels and deliberations for the promotion of holy and righteous principles, have to be constantly governed by it. Had it not been for this principle, this congregation, gathered from almost every nation under heaven, would not have been found here today; we might have preached to them until doom’s-day, and we, of ourselves, by our own wisdom and ability, could never have convinced them of the truth of the Gospel the Lord has revealed in our day for the gathering and salvation of the honest-in-heart and for the establishment of righteousness over the whole earth.

Not only the men who bare record of these things had the testimony of Jesus Christ, but it also reached those who heard their words, bearing record of the truth to every honest-hearted person throughout all the world for the last thirty years. We cannot know the hearts of men, nor the will of God concerning nations, kingdoms and people only as it is revealed to us by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. President Young reproves, corrects, gives revelation and teaches doctrine and principle, for the benefit of this people and mankind in general by the revelations which God gives to him. This principle inspired the hearts of ancient Prophets and servants of God and sustained them in every trying scene; it has also been the comfort and sustaining power of the servants of God in this last dispensation from the foundation of this kingdom to the present time. As the ancient Apostles were called, so have the modern Apostles and servants of God been called to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, and the gift and power of the Holy Ghost has sustained them when they were brought before kings and rulers. The Savior preached and traveled and suffered until he gave up the ghost on Calvary; that same power sustained him under every circumstance, and made known unto him the will of his Father. This is one among the many blessings which the Latter-day Saints enjoy. God reveals unto us light and truth and brings to our remembrance things which are according to the will of God which we should teach. This is a great consolation to us, and to realize our position in the mountains. We have been led here by the gentle hand of God. No man could have foreseen what would happen to the nation of the United States had it not been revealed to us in the revelations which God gave to his Prophet Joseph Smith. The revelations concerning what shall transpire in the last days can be read in the Book of Mormon, Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and in the Bible. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” When we were called upon to leave our homes and our holy Temple in Nauvoo, it was a great trial to many. When we came to this country as pioneers, we built the bridges, killed the snakes and opened the way for the emigration of Saint and sinner, saying, it is all right; but we did not know how soon the calamities that are now upon the nation would break forth, yet we knew they would come soon. By what power did we influence these men and women before me to leave their homes and their country to dwell in these distant wilds? They were influenced by the inspiration of the Almighty which always attends the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all ages. There was a spirit in them, and the inspiration of the Almighty gave it understanding, and they were moved upon to listen to the advice that the servants of God gave them to gather to the place the Lord had appointed to locate his people. This is the hand of God, and we should be thankful for this good land and for our homes. We here dwell in peace and stand in holy places in a land which has been dedicated to God; and the power of righteousness prevails here, and hence we have power to remain here in peace. We remain here in peace because righteousness and the power of God dwell here. It is true the enemy of God and all the righteous, the Devil, who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, has sought our destruction from the beginning and has stirred up the wicked to seek our overthrow; yet the Lord has preserved us. We should be thankful for this, and we should honor God and worship him with undivided hearts, doing our duty constantly and pursuing that course wherein we shall be justified before the Lord.

No man can value sufficiently the life he now holds and the place he now occupies in this world, unless he is moved upon by the Spirit and power of God to enlighten his understanding. What is the chief end of man? It, seemingly, is to get gold and fame and the honor that man bestows, to gratify their sensual propensities and desires. Do the great mass of mankind seek to honor and glorify God, seeking by every lawful means to bring their bodies into subjection to the law of Christ? Do they understand that they are the offspring of God and are made after his image and likeness, and placed in this world to pass through a short probation to prepare them to dwell eternally in the presence of the Father and the Son? Are not nine-tenths of the human family more ready to blaspheme the name of God than to honor it? Would they do this if they were in possession of the Spirit of God to magnify their calling and fulfill the object and end of their creation? No. Everything that God has made keeps the law of its creation and honors it except man. I have always marveled at this. Man– kind, who are made after the image of God to answer high and noble purposes, are the only beings in creation that will blaspheme his name and set at naught his authority. They have an agency, and the Spirit of God is offered to them as freely as the light of the sun, which shines on the just and on the unjust, if they would receive it. All the light and intelligence man ever did or will have, has come through that principle and power; and in company with this, the Lord has raised up men in our own generation, to whom he has sent the administration of angels and laid on them the responsibility of bearing record to the Gospel, with a promise to all nations, both Jew and Gentile, that, if they will receive the testimony of his servants, they shall receive the Holy Ghost, who shall bear record unto them of the truth. Have the nations received the Gospel? Yes, one of a family and two of a city, here and there one, and they are gathered together to stand in holy places and to build up the Church and kingdom of God in the last days, to prepare the way for the coming of the Son of Man. The mass of this generation have rejected the Gospel; they have shed the blood of the Lord’s Prophets and consented thereto, and have driven from their midst those who bear the words of eternal life. One of the most liberal and free Governments under the heavens has driven out from them the only people under the heavens that God acknowledges as his Church, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus which they bear. We have been driven to the valleys of these mountains for our good; the hand of God has led us here. Great affliction awaits the nation from which we have been driven out and the wicked nations of the Gentiles on this land and in foreign lands.

We live in a momentous age, and our responsibilities are great before the Lord and to this generation. We have borne record of the calamities that should be poured out in the last days and they are coming to pass. For thus saith the Lord, “And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people. For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall on the ground and not be able to stand. And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds. And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people. And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” Again, “I, the Lord, am angry with the wicked; I am holding my Spirit from the inhabitants of the earth. I have sworn in my wrath, and decreed wars upon the face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked,” &c.

If a thousand Prophets had proclaimed to this nation what has come to pass since 1860 to the present time, who would have believed them? Not a man, unless they possessed the spirit of revelation. What the Prophet Joseph Smith foretold thirty years ago is now come to pass; and who can help it? Have the Latter-day Saints been the cause of this dreadful war? No. While Joseph Smith was living, every public and private calamity that happened in the land was laid to his account. It is not Joseph Smith or his brethren that do these things, but the Lord has laid his hand on the nation. It is a consolation to the Saints when they contemplate upon what God has spoken through his servants which is now being fulfilled before their eyes. All that has been spoken by ancient and modern Prophets have had their fulfilment until now, and will have until the scene is wound up.

No man ever did or ever will obtain salvation only through the ordinances of the Gospel and through the name of Jesus. There can be no change in the Gospel; all men that are saved from Adam to infinitum are saved by the one system of salvation. The Lord may give many laws and many commandments to suit the varied circumstances and conditions of his children throughout the world, such as giving a law of carnal commandments to Israel, but the laws and principles of the Gospel do not change. If any portion of this generation be saved, it will be because they receive the Gospel which Jesus Christ and his Apostles preached. When the Lord inspires men and sends them to any generation, he holds that generation responsible for the manner in which they receive the testimony of his servants. He called upon us, and we left our occupation to go forth in our weakness to preach his Gospel; we had no power in and of ourselves to do this, only as the Lord gave us strength by his Spirit; and we have so far built up his kingdom upon this principle; we have been governed by this principle of revelation in all our public and private works which we have done for God. We shall build our Temple upon this principle, and carry out all the purposes of the Lord our God in the latter days upon the same principle and upon no other.

The very moment that men undertake to move for God in their own way and upon principles of their own coining, they will fail to accomplish that which they design. The world has tried this for generations. It is now almost universally acknowledged throughout Christendom that no man is properly qualified to preach the Gospel unless he has passed through a college or some other institution of learning to study theology and get a knowledge of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew—of languages dead and living. Does this system of learning, alone, give power to administer salvation to mankind? Does it give evidence and bear witness to the hearts of men by the power of the Holy Ghost and the revelations of Jesus Christ? It does not. The disciples of Christ, anciently, were illiterate men, yet they bore record to the learned that God had sent them with a message of salvation. Jesus Christ, whose life was a scene of affliction and sorrow, who apparently had arose from the lower grades of society, was eminently endowed with the spirit and power of revelation from his Father and bore record of his works to Jew and Gentile under its influence and power.

The servants of God in every age have always been governed by the same power; and we must build up the kingdom of God by it or not at all. We look to him for guidance in what we shall do from day to day; we have been guided in this way hitherto and shall be so guided unto the end.

I thank God that we have embraced a Gospel that has power in it; that we have the true organization of the Church and kingdom of God, with its Apostles, Prophets, Pastors and Teachers, gifts, graces, and blessings for the work of the ministry and the edifying of the body of Christ. The moment any of the helps, governments, gifts, and powers are done away from the Church militant, schism is created in the body and it no longer can cooperate with the Church triumphant in heaven against the power of the Devil and wicked men. We cannot build up the kingdom of God in our day and overcome the powers of evil which prevail over the world, without inspired Prophets and Apostles, gifts, powers, and blessings, any more than they could in the days of Jesus and his Apostles. We have this Church organization and the power which attended it in ancient days, and we seek constantly the welfare of the children of men.

We have a great Work laid upon us, and we are responsible to God for the manner in which we make use of these blessings. The Lord requires of us to build up Zion, to gather the honest-in-heart, restore Israel to their blessings, redeem the earth from the power of the Devil, establish universal peace and prepare a kingdom and a people for the coming and reign of the Messiah. When we do all we can to forward and accomplish this Work then are we justified. This is the work of our lives, and it makes life of some consequence to us. When men are destitute of the Spirit of God they do not prize life, unless to indulge the cravings of unenlightened and perverted human nature; they cross each other’s interests, become filled with the spirit of wrath and indignation and thirst for and shed the blood of each other. Would they do this if they were inspired by the Spirit and power of God? No. That which is good is of God and that which is evil emanates from the Devil.

The Lord permits judgments to come upon the wicked, but he never sends a great calamity upon the world without first sending Prophets and inspired men to warn the wicked of approaching chastisement, giving them, at the same time, space for repentance and means of escape, as witness the time of Noah, Lot, &c. And, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man.” When the messengers of God have given a faithful warning to the wicked of their approaching overthrow, and the testimony is sealed, then will the Lord come out of his hiding place and vex them with a sore vexation. All that the Savior said should come upon the wicked Jews was literally fulfilled, and his blood is now upon them and their children. The hand of God has been zealous in holding the Jews under the rod until this day. Why? Because they rejected the testimony of the Son of God and his Gospel. That is the cause of the great trouble today that is vexing this nation and other nations in the old world. You may put all the judgments of God together that have befallen the nations and tribes of men from the beginning, and the afflictions they suffered are no greater than are now ready to be poured out upon the Gentile world.

John the Revelator saw this day. He saw, also, “An angel of God fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” That angel has delivered his message and thousands of Elders of this Church have been called to this ministry; it has been laid upon our shoulders. I have traveled more than a hundred thousand miles in the last thirty years to preach this Gospel, and many thousands of it with my knapsack upon my back and without purse or scrip, begging my bread from door to door to preach the Gospel to my own nation. Thirty years ago it was said unto us, You hear of wars in foreign countries, but you do not know the hearts of men in your own land, for you shall soon have greater wars in your own land, &c.

How is it, my friends, is there trouble in the eastern countries? What means this crowding of our streets with emigrants to the west? The Lord God has spoken through his Prophet; his words have been recorded, and he is backing up the testimony of his servants in fulfillment of his word; and the end is not yet. War and distress of nations has only just commenced, and famine and pestilence will follow on the heels of war, and there will be great mourning, and weeping, and lamentations in the land, and no power can stay the work of desolation and utter overthrow of the wicked.

More than twenty-five years ago I wrote a revelation which Joseph Smith gave, wherein he said that the rebellion should commence in South Carolina, and from that, war should spread through this nation and continue to spread until war should be poured out upon all nations and great calamity and destruction should await them.

I published the Book of Doctrine and Covenants in England in 1845, and since that time it has been published in many different languages, and thus we are sending the revelations which Jesus Christ has given to his people in the last days to the different nations and tongues, that they may be left without an excuse. We know these things are coming, and because of them we are here in Utah, and the Devil and the wicked do not like it. Every evil principle and power is opposed to us and our testimony. Do we not desire to do all men good? We do; and in proof of this I only need say that we have labored for many years in poverty and hardships to carry salvation to the nations. Some of the European nations have closed their doors against us, and in some of those nations we have preached the Gospel and gathered out many souls, and thousands more will yet come like clouds and like doves to the windows to join with us in the enjoyment of the great blessings which the kingdom of God offers to all people.

The highest object of man in this life should be to prepare himself to dwell with his Father and God in his presence. It is for this reason that the millions of spirits that tabernacle here are sent from the eternal worlds to pass a short probation in mortal bodies, and they are all the children of one Father. If we receive the Gospel and live its precepts we shall receive celestial glory; if we reject it we shall be punished, though we may have a redemption and a glory, but it will be in a diminished degree. We should lay these things to heart; we should endeavor to understand our true position and we should do all in our power to benefit our fellow man and to bring salvation to the nations.

I rejoice that the Lord still holds the door open, that we still have the privilege of sending the Elders to the nations; while this door remains open we shall continue to preach the Gospel to the Gentile world. When they reject it, it will be taken from them and then we go to the Jews, and the ten tribes will come from the north to Zion to be crowned under the hands of the children of Ephraim. And the remnant of the Lamanites who are cursed below all humanity that we are acquainted with—who have been filled with the spirit of bloodshed which they have inherited from their fathers—they will embrace the Gospel in the due time of the Lord. They are of the house of Israel, and this spirit of war will be taken from them and they will become the children of God, but not until the Gentiles have entirely rejected the Gospel. Anciently it was preached to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles; in the latter times it will be first preached to the Gentiles and then to the Jews—the first shall be last and the last first. This is the great work which is laid upon us today. We should be true and faithful today, and then we ought to follow this practice until death, and then shall we be entitled to have a crown of life. Is it not more honorable to do good than to do evil; to try to honor and serve God who is our Father and who has given us every blessing, than sin against him? Would not such a course bring more happiness and pleasure to us than to blaspheme the name of God and dishonor ourselves, bringing darkness and condemnation to our spirits?

I pray that God may bless us and save us in his kingdom, which I ask in the name of Jesus Christ: Amen.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, June 7, 1863.

I have a few things to say to the Latter-day Saints with regard to ourselves. From the first of our coming into these valleys we have instructed the people concerning the facts that are now so visible and manifest in the nation to which we are attached. It was then understood by us and was as plainly before our minds as are the facts that are now in their progress.

We also have a warfare to engage in, and, as the Apostle says, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”

The warfare that I wish particularly to speak of today is that which wars against all opposition to economy and to the obtaining of the knowledge of God and that wisdom which comes from him pertaining to self-preservation. My warfare is, and has been for years, to get the people to understand that if they do not take care of themselves they will not be taken care of; that if we do not lay the foundation to feed and clothe and shelter ourselves we shall perish with hunger and with cold; we might also suffer in the summer season from the direct rays of the sun upon our naked and unprotected bodies. We have striven for years to convince the Latter-day Saints that rags and ruffles will cease being brought to us from a foreign market, though a struggle is still made to bring them here. We have warred against the principle of promoting and making wealthy those who wish us no good, and we have found it hard to convince our brethren and sisters that the saying of the Savior is really as true when applied to us as it was when applied to his followers in his day, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” Thousands of this people this day will not believe that saying. We have this to war against, and the warfare should be engaged in by every Latter-day Saint. The same responsibility, the same influence, the same power and the same objects to be attained should rest upon every person who is a member of the Church, as much as upon me and my brethren who are contending with me constantly for the permanent good of Israel. We have contended long to convince this people that they must become self-sustaining.

I can, notwithstanding this, endorse all that brother George A. Smith said this morning concerning the great improvement of this people and the good feeling they manifested to us on our southern trip. The people who have settled in that country are certainly contented. Many of them said to me, “We love to live in Great Salt Lake City, love to go to meeting there, but we should very much dislike now to be counseled to return there again to make our permanent abode. We like the country and climate here, we like our calling and situation, and we are happy and contented.” I am ready to endorse all the goodness and good-feeling that were manifested, and I can truly say that love, union, faith, fervency of spirit, and faithfulness to our religion are greatly on the increase among the Latter-day Saints, or I am much mistaken; still the warfare is not ended in regard to our being self-sustaining.

We have evidence now before us which sufficiently proves that the ruffles and the rags will not continue to come here for a great length of time, and we shall have to do without them or make them ourselves. Sixteen years ago, when we were camped upon this temple block, I told the people that there existed, in the ele– ments around us in these mountain regions, wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, flax, hemp, silk, and every element for producing the necessary articles used by man for food, raiment and shelter. We breathe it in the atmosphere, drink it in the water, dig it when we dig in the earth, and walk over it when we walk. Here are the elements for every cereal, vegetable, and fruit, and for every textile material that grows in the same latitude and altitude in any part of the world. No country in the world will yield more and a greater variety of the products of life than will portions of this mountain country. We have proven all this to be true. There is not a better wheat country than this, and we can raise as good rye and corn as can be produced in any part of the earth; we can also raise as good vegetables as I ever saw, and in as great a variety as need be asked for. We have raised hemp, flax, cotton, and silk, all of the best quality. We can make ropes and sacking, and cotton, silk and woolen goods in abundance; we have the elements and skill to combine them.

There is no better sheep country than this. Some farmers suppose that their failure to raise wool is owing to ill luck; this is a mistake. I have expended more, in the early settlement of this country, to produce wool than any one man. I have bought sheep by hundreds, but I never saw the time that I could go out and herd them myself, consequently had to depend upon others. The treatment that sheep receive from most of those having them in care is by no means conducive to their thrift. The lambs are too often left for the wolves and dogs to herd or to the care of an inexperienced boy or girl. Large numbers of sheep are often huddled into little, filthy pens and kept sixteen hours out of the twenty-four in their own filth and stench. For this you will be called to judgment, and if there is no one else to charge you with the wrongs I will. There is not a better country in the world to produce wool than this mountain country, if the sheep are properly taken care of.

Now, then, I ask, how many of my brethren and sisters will enlist with me in this warfare, not to contend with and against carnal weapons, but against the foolish traditions, pride, and vain imaginations of the people called Latter-day Saints? Will my wives and children enlist with me in this work? I have striven with all my might to set a good example before this people; I have striven with all the power I possessed to introduce every good into their midst. I do not know of an evil practice that I am not willing to part with this hour to do good to this people. If there is a wrong in my practice, religiously, morally, politically or financially, I wish some of you would let me know it. If I strive to do right and to take a course to save myself and this people, should not the people do the same? Myself and my brethren who are with me heart and hand are always ready and willing to do everything in our power to promote the kingdom of God upon the earth and to save the people who profess to be Saints, and all the inhabitants of the earth that can be saved, then why should not all the Saints do and feel the same? Are we not all under obligation to be Saints, to build up the kingdom of God, to bring forth righteousness and deliverance to the honest-in-heart, to gather up the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to send the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, giving all a privilege to hear and believe it and to build up the Zion of our God upon the earth? Is not this obligatory upon every member of this Church and kingdom, upon one as well as upon another in their calling and capacity? You all answer in the affirmative. Then why not begin from this day to sustain ourselves and cease feeding and clothing those who wish us no good and giving them our money for that which is comparatively worthless?

Is brother Heber C. Kimball willing to enlist with me in this work? I can say yes for him. Are his wives and children willing to enlist with him and then with me? Is brother Daniel H. Wells willing to enlist with us? I can answer favorably for him and for a great many others. Why not every man and woman go to with their mights and try to do something towards sustaining themselves?

The feelings of many are, “How are we going to get gold to buy what we want—to procure what we consider the necessaries of life?”

You have read that piece of excellent advice called the “Word of Wisdom.” I shall not say you must obey it; you can read it over again and refresh your memories, and I give the privilege to the Elders of Israel to cease using tobacco, and if they will not cease using it, then raise it; and then, also, to cease using spirituous liquors to excess. At the time Mr. Holladay kept store opposite the south gate of this block, he annually received not less than $29,000 for the article, tobacco. His books will now show this. Into Livingston’s store I presume this people annually paid for the article, tobacco, not less than $35,000, and that, too, when we were but few; what must our bills be at the present time? I think I am safe in saying that we have paid, for tobacco alone, at least $100,000 a year during the last thirteen years. Now, especially you Elders and leading men of Israel, will you do yourselves a favor by letting it alone from this time? Brother George A. Smith says that the two-penny institution of Jackson and Stewart, in Provo, took over $15,000 a year for tobacco alone. If you will let this article alone you will benefit both yourselves and the community. If you will cease drinking spirituous liquors you will thereby be benefited individually and benefit the community. A man who indulges in any habit that is pernicious to the general good in its example and influence, is not only an enemy to himself but to the community so far as the influence of that habit goes. A man who would not sacrifice a pernicious habit for the good it would do the community is, to say the least of it, lukewarm in his desires and wishes for public and general improvement. Tobacco is not good for man; spirituous liquor is not good for a beverage, but in many cases it is good for washing the body.

Dare I venture to invite the sisters to favor themselves by letting alone the article called tea? Some of that which is imported to this country from California, and for which you pay from three to four dollars a pound, is not much better than hay. I merely wish to say that you now have the privilege and invitation tendered to you to cease drinking the filthy stuff. Again, I kindly tender you the privilege of making your own bonnets from straw or grass. There are no handsomer bonnets nor trimmings for them than are and can be made from straw. I have raised rye year after year for the express purpose of having the straw manufactured into hats and bonnets, and have invited my sisters to gather and use it and welcome. Some thirty years ago, at a State fair held in the State of Ohio, a young lady took the premium on Leghorn bonnets, and her sample of Leghorn was made of the common red-top grass of which we grow an abundance in this valley. You can have the privilege of gather– ing the red-top grass and preparing it to make Leghorn bonnets and hats for yourselves and your children. I will invite my brethren to procure and plant the multicaulus or mulberry tree; let your wives and daughters feed silkworms with the leaves, and thus produce silk for ribbons, for dresses, for bonnets, for scarfs, shawls, neckties, gentlemen’s vests, &c. We have skillful artisans among us who can dye and weave the silk into every possible design for beauty and utility. Let us be active in procuring machinery that will manufacture our cotton and flax into fine yarns for thread of every number and fabric of every quality; then our sisters can knit and manufacture in different ways their frills, ruffles, and laces to suit their tastes.

I am perfectly able to send to the east and buy what I and my family need, but there is a mighty influence in a good example, and what would my precept be worth without my example, besides the conscious gratification of having performed my duty to my God, to myself, to my family and to this people?

I have engaged in this warfare and I have tried to teach my family, my neighbors and their families the necessity of our leading out in these matters, and thus set the example for the whole Church to follow. This hat was made of straw which grew on my farm near this city. It has been my handsome hat for twelve years, and does it not look well yet? It is all homemade excepting the ribbon. Trimmings made of straw are the nearest and richest for straw bonnets and straw hats.

Shall we make our light clothing of the cotton which we can raise here in abundance? They will raise more cotton in our southern settlements than we can possibly use before another crop comes off. Shall we buy their cotton from them and manu– facture it into clothing, or pay the stores seventy-five cents a yard for cotton cloth? We have power to perform this useful labor, or to neglect it and tease husbands and fathers to buy at the stores the articles which we think we need.

Who will enter with me and my brethren into this warfare with their whole souls? I call it warfare, because it has been so with me for years; it has continually been a heavy weight upon my shoulders. I have for years been pleading with the people to take a course to sustain themselves. Some few are trying to do so but it would be a great relief to me if I could in truth say that we, as a people, are trying to do so. I could sound the feelings of the whole community upon this subject by organizing clubs and societies for this, that, and the other, all pointing to and having in view the great self-sustaining principle, but such clubs, societies, or firms are apt to clash more or less and run into sectional differences and sectional feelings. This I do not want. When we say we will do a good thing, I want the whole community to be of one heart and of one mind in that matter. If we say we will sustain ourselves and be independent of foreign productions and a foreign market, let the whole community at once become a unit on this point by forthwith beginning to supply themselves with the necessaries of life produced in their mountain home.

Some will argue that they could not wear in warm weather a garment made of the cotton yarn spun in our little factory in Parowan; I do not think the argument a good one. It has been strenuously argued by our ladies that hoops are a cool and comfortable fashion, but I cannot understand how they derive the benefit that is claimed for crinoline when the accustomed quantity of clothing is still worn. This argument is something like the one often used in favor of drinking spirituous liquors, “We drink liquor in summer to cool us and in winter to warm us.” “We put on crinoline and the accustomed number of garments in summer to keep us comfortably cool and in winter to keep us comfortably warm.” I argue that a dress made of Utah yarn, worn over a reasonable quantity of underclothing, would be more light, comfortable and healthy than the style of dress now used by our ladies.

What do you say? Shall we make ourselves clothing from Utah cotton, from Utah flax, from Utah silk, from Utah wool, and wear cloth from Utah looms, or go without? And you, my sisters, my wives, and my daughters, come here to meeting clothed and adorned with the workmanship of your own hands and rejoice therein; and do the same if you have occasion to go to a party, and tell your neighbors what you have done.

The wicked and selfish portion of mankind are constantly engaged in pandering to their own selfish and avaricious desires, regarding not the wants and sufferings of their fellow beings. Were the biographies of all the really great and good of mankind known to us, we should know that they lived to do good to their fellow beings, to benefit and bless their families, neighbors, friends and the human family at large; such men have proved themselves worthy of their existence. Let us all seek diligently to know what we can do to benefit our fellow beings. We must try with all our power to overcome every injurious tradition and custom we have learned from our fathers and teachers.

We must learn to think for ourselves, and know for ourselves, and provide for ourselves. We can here produce any amount of the raw ma– terial, and we are importing machinery, and shall continue to do so until we shall be victorious over the traditions and customs which oppose themselves to our becoming self-sustaining and independent. I never mean to give up the conflict; I never mean to yield one point until I see this accomplished; while every obstacle surmounted, every object gained, every purpose accomplished and every aim in view is to build up the kingdom of God upon the earth, save and redeem the house of Jacob, and save all the inhabitants of the earth that can be saved.

I shall not worry while I am struggling to gain this great conquest, but I intend to live and feel well about it. The man who fights with coolness and calculation in moral and domestic reform will win every time. Let us apply our minds to know what our life is worth and what we can do to sustain it and the lives of those who are connected with us, instead of continually whining for something to satisfy “great, big self,” instead of wanting this and that, instead of being miserable because we do not do this or because we do not do that, instead of being unhappy because this is so or because that is not so, all of which we cannot help with all of our complaining. Let us see what we can do to do good to our children, to our neighbors, to our husbands, to our wives, to our brethren and sisters, and then to the inhabitants of the whole earth. Let us make ourselves capable of doing at least a little good, and this will occupy our minds upon something that is indeed profitable to others, and will somewhat divert our attention from worshiping ourselves and blaming everybody that does not do the same.

I will now address the Bishops, and the people through their Bishops and Teachers. Why are we not as willing to pattern after good as after evil? Since we again commenced labor on the Temple we have been much troubled and perplexed with regard to getting Tithing labor. I immediately put on the work two good mule teams with a good man to manage each, then I put on two good common laborers to work on this block; I feed, clothe and pay the men, sustain the teams and keep the wagons in repair. I shall receive credit for this on labor Tithing. Besides this, I have kept two and sometimes three teams with drivers traveling to and from the country settlements to gather and bring in butter, cheese, eggs, &c., for the hands who work on the public works. For this team work I ask nothing but labor Tithing. I have given other men the privilege of doing the same. Have they done it? No, not one, with the exception of brother Daniel H. Wells’ having one yoke of oxen and a wagon on the public works.

Since I have been in these valleys, when I have received fifty cents, fifty dollars, or ten thousand dollars, I have invariably put it into the general fund; not every dollar, because I have my family to support. Who has followed that practice? Very few, if any. They may not have had the means nor the advantages for getting them that I have had. Do those who have the means do this? They do not. From the beginning I have striven with my might to get men to bring machinery into the country, to get them to raise sheep and wool, have the wool made into cloth and then wear it. Who has followed my example in this? Instead of bringing in machinery and in every way within my power encouraging home production, suppose I had brought large quantities of goods from abroad, encouraged gold mining, trading, trafficking, specu– lating, erecting whiskey palaces and gambling saloons, I should have been hailed as a great Prophet, a wise leader, and a great financier by those who love to swim in such waters, and hundreds would have been with me heart and hand.

When there was no whiskey to be had here, and we needed it for rational purposes, I built a house to make it in. When the distillery was almost completed and in good working order, an army was heard of in our vicinity and I shut up the works; I did not make a gallon of whiskey at my works, because it came here in great quantities, more than was needed. I could have made thousands of dollars from my still, which has ever since been as dead property. Have others followed my example in this? They have not, but there was a whiskey shop established here and another there. Some have even told me that they would starve if they did not make whiskey. I said to them, make it then, and be damned, for they will be damned anyhow. Am not I able to make whiskey? Yes; there stands the still and the stillhouse to this day, which I have never used and from which I might make thousands of dollars. Have I made whiskey and sold it in what some call Whiskey Street? No. Had I done so how many would have hailed me with, “You are a good man, brother Brigham, and you are the right man to lead Israel; thank God for such a man: he keeps a whiskey shop, drinks liquor, trades with our enemies and hugs them to his heart as long as there is any money in their pockets, and takes them to his house and introduces them to his wives and daughters; what a blessed man brother Brigham is.”

I will now confine a few of my remarks directly to the people who live within easy reach of this Temple Block. They say they pay labor Tithing. If the farmer, merchant, and mechanic are asked to pay a little labor Tithing, “O yes, and we mean to be credited for it in full.” “When will you pay it?” “When it is too cold, wet, and stormy to go a fishing and hunting. While we can work in the field, go after wood, or go to shoot ducks with pleasure, we will not pay you one day of labor Tithing.” They come in the winter to pay it when labor is not wanted. Who pays labor Tithing? “Everybody.” Who pays their grain Tithing, their stock Tithing, and their money Tithing? “Everybody.”

We feed and clothe some two thousand persons on these public works. Let me ask the Bishops of this city, and there are twenty Wards, how much money have you paid into the Public Treasury these five years past? Then ask the Bishops of the different Wards throughout the Territory the same question, and I think, if they answer the question fairly, it will be found that they have not paid one dollar to where we have had to pay out five hundred in cash or its equivalent. Our public hands have hats, coats, vests, shirts, garments, pantaloons, shoes, &c.; who buys these articles of clothing? They have to be bought and the money paid for them. The wives and children of our work-hands are well and comfortably clothed; who buys and pays for this clothing? Brother Wells could tell you a story about this, if he had a mind to do so. I say to the public hands, henceforth, if we have not the articles on hand that you want we shall not go to the store and buy them, neither will I permit brother Wells to do so; if he does he must pay the debt, for I will not.

I will now say to the Latter-day Saints, though this belongs to a General Conference, Will you do me the kindness to cease paying Tithing from this time forth, unless you pay it in a different manner than heretofore? They pile up wheat in Cache County, in Utah County, in Sanpete and in every other county distant from this city, in bins and houses where much of it becomes musty and good for nothing. Will they draw it to us here, where it can be put to use? Not much of it. They will let it spoil, unless they can have the privilege of using it themselves, and in many instances they have had the use of it. If wheat in the distant counties could be sold for a dollar-and-a-half a bushel in cash, we should get a comparatively small quantity of wheat in this Tithing Office. If they would give us fifty cents for every bushel of grain they pretend to pay in on Tithing in some kind of property that we can make use of, we would be much obliged to them. We cannot even get this; too many manage through their Bishops to pay their Tithing in a way to do us but little good.

If the people will cease paying Tithing, and let us understand it, we can build up the Temple ourselves, for I can put forty more teams to work on the public works, if I say the word. Presidents Kimball and Wells can do the same.

I am going to give the people the privilege to build the Temple by donations; as to saying that it is being built by Tithing, it is not so.

Some hundred thousand dollars a year are paid out by the community for tobacco, and the cash Tithing paid on this money expenditure probably does not amount to a thousand cents. How can the people be justified while committing such errors only upon the score of ignorance? We are trying to instruct you in the knowledge of the truth, that you may learn better. I do not condemn the Latter-day Saints for all this.

It is almost useless to ask any man possessing means to pay a little labor Tithing; if any is paid in the season when it is wanted, the poorest portions of the community pay it. The Second Ward is one of the poorest Wards in the city, and I have observed, when I have been at the Bishop’s meeting, that that Ward has responded to the calls of the Bishop better than any other Ward in the city.

I will now give the privilege to Bishop Hunter to put a good mule team to work on this Temple Block, and there sustain it and let it work until we say it is enough. I give brother Kimball the same privilege. And there are Bishops Raleigh, Cunningham, J. C. Little, and Leonard W. Hardy, to whom I give the same privilege, and they need not ask one farthing, only to be credited on labor Tithing. Then there are Bishops Sheets, Pugmire, and Edwin D. Woolley and John M. Woolley, and all the rest of the Bishops, with the members of the Wards who are able, I will give them the same privilege, that we may have what team work we want. I wish you all to bring your free donations to this work, and not seek to put your property in a shape that it cannot do the good we wish, and then say you owe no Tithing.

If the people have a mind to pay Tithing, pay it as it ought to be paid. I would rather have fifty cents a bushel in good available property, than to have all the grain that is paid in where it is not available, for it would do more good. The argument generally used is, “I pay my Tithing, and that is all that is required of me.” But have you no care, no responsibility beyond this? Do you not feel that the interest of this kingdom is your interest? And should you not feel anxious that the kingdom of God should be built up, become mighty, able to protect itself and independent of all other kingdoms? Should you be entirely indifferent; as to how the financial affairs of God’s kingdom on earth are managed? If this kingdom suffers, will you not suffer with it? If it prospers, becomes wealthy and powerful, will you not prosper and become wealthy and powerful with it?

I am willing to give you an account of my stewardship. Let every man have a care for the public property which is devoted for the public good. If a man knowingly puts a hundred bushels of good Tithing wheat into a bin of smutty, unsound wheat, but thinks that it is none of his business, he does an evil and his offering is not acceptable to the Lord; it is his duty to see that his good Tithing wheat, or anything else, is deposited where it will be taken care of and properly appropriated. We will either stop the paying of Tithing, or have it paid in a way that will do us good.

If we want a job done, we will tell you about it; then we want you to do it in the proper time and place, but we do not want labor Tithing paid in the winter. The Lord requires obedience of his people, which is better than sacrifice.

There is a warfare in which we are all engaged, and there is a victory which we have to win to become self-sustaining and independent, preparing ourselves for the days that are fast approaching.

May the Lord bless you: Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, May 31, 1863.

We have met to commemorate the first day of the week, and we hope that every heart will be concentrated upon the business before us. We do not hold that the first day of the week is the only day upon which to worship God, for we ought also to worship him on the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh. It was the custom of Christ’s disciples to meet together on the first day of the week to break bread in remembrance of his death and resurrection; we follow the same custom. The Lord knows the wants of his mortal children, and has appointed unto them one-seventh part of the time for rest, though we cannot say, in every sense of the word, that this is a day of rest to the Latter-day Saints or to the professing Christians, some of whom are in the habit of rising at sunrise to hold prayer meetings; they then eat breakfast and hurry away to the morning service until noon; in the afternoon they again have meetings, and class meet– ings, prayer meetings, confessing meetings, &c., and so continue until nine in the evening. To such persons I cannot consider it really a day of rest. According to the revelations given to us, it is a day upon which we are commanded to meet to break bread, to confess our faults to God and to one another, being determined to lay aside every evil and prepare ourselves for the duties of the coming week; so we meet together to worship the Lord and to speak of his goodness, to wait before him, to be instructed and have our minds guided and directed in the ways of life and to remember the Lord’s death until he comes again. I am happy that we have the privilege this morning of meeting in this capacity, under the quiet shade of this comfortable Bowery.

Our hearts have been made to feel the divine influence that comes from heaven to prepare us to build up the Zion of our God upon the earth in the latter days. That we may enjoy our meeting this morning, let us strive to concentrate our thoughts upon the object of our assembling, for there is a proneness in the mind to wander, and it often requires considerable effort to stay it upon any one purpose. The cares and wants of this life occupy our minds deeply, but when we come to understanding we shall learn that our Father in heaven takes cognizance of all these matters. “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.” “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” “He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.” If we are faithful we shall learn in due time that all things are sustained and endured by his all-wise providences. We are too apt to trust entirely to our own ability for procuring the desirable necessaries of life. We are too apt to suppose that we alone guide, govern and control our doings and their results. We are too apt to aspire to the power to control the whole world and to make all bend to our wishes and dictation.

Man is the lord of the earth, but with his knowledge and power he is not able to tell how a blade of grass grows. All men must come to this very rational conclusion, that “Paul may plant, and Apollos may water; but it is God who gives the increase.” It was not our choice that we came into the midst of this desert region, but through the providence of Him who governs and controls all things we are planted in the midst of these deserts. There are reasons for this, and causes produce their effects; in short, we are here for the express purpose of preparing for the coming of the Son of Man, to bear off his kingdom to the nations and gather up the house of Israel, according to the words of the ancient prophets and the revelations given to us in our day.

We are now gathering the children of Abraham who have come through the loins of Joseph and his sons, more especially through Ephraim, whose children are mixed among all the nations of the earth. The sons of Ephraim are wild and uncultivated, unruly, ungovernable. The spirit in them is turbulent and resolute; they are the Anglo-Saxon race, and they are upon the face of the whole earth, bearing the spirit of rule and dictation, to go forth from conquering to conquer. They search wide creation and scan every nook and corner of this earth to find out what is upon and within it. I see a congregation of them before me today. No hardship will discourage these men; they will penetrate the deepest wilds and overcome almost insurmountable difficulties to develop the treasures of the earth, to further their indomitable spirit for adventure.

We are not in this region by choice, and there is no hardship that this people would not face and overcome. If there is a corner of the earth that can possibly be inhabited by mortals, the Latter-day Saints would venture there if they conceived it to be their duty, and overcome every obstacle and soon make the desert waste blossom as a rose. Such an undertaking is as easy to them, comparatively speaking, as it is to go from one town to another. It is marvelous to the world that the poor, ignorant, deluded “Mormons,” as they call them, can make so much real improvement. Is there another people on the earth, with the same facilities, that can do what the Latter-day Saints can? There is not. Is there another people on this earth that are as united as they are? There is not. Is there another people on this earth that can be controlled as easily as they can? There is not. There is a good reason for all this. There is a certain portion of divinity within mankind. This prompts man to seek in every possible way after that which will sustain him.

It is true mankind have wandered and have fallen from that which they might have attained through the redemption made by Jesus Christ; but there is one point in connection with this statement on which I differ from the orthodox divines of the day. They say that man is naturally prone to evil. In some respects this is true, where by the force of example and wrong tradition has become ingrained, but if man had always been permitted to follow the instincts of his nature, had he always followed the great and holy principles of his organism, they would have led him into the path of life everlasting, which the whole human family are constantly trying to find.

Every person is, to a greater or less degree, seeking to sustain himself, to obtain influence, power, wealth, wisdom and knowledge, all to further his individual aims. It is somewhat remarkable that wealth is considered the root and foundation of all earthly influence and power, when the truth is that gold is not power. A man may possess all the gold, silver, and precious stones in the world, which are called wealth, and yet starve to death. Wealth does not give true greatness. It will purchase medical aid in case of sickness; it will purchase food, clothing and shelter; but true wealth consists in the skill to produce those conveniences and comforts from the elements. All the power and dignity that wealth can bestow is a mere shadow, the substance is found in the bone and sinew of the toiling millions. Well directed labor is the true power that supplies our wants. It gives regal grandeur to potentates, education and supplies to religious and political ministers, and supplies the wants of the thousands of millions of earth’s sons and daughters. There are conditions and panics in society that all the power of earthly wealth cannot avert.

How happy, how secure that nation or people would be who knew how to sustain themselves forever and forever. Had the rulers of our nation known how to sustain the Union to an everlasting continuance, this knowledge would have been beyond all price. Had they possessed wisdom to have maintained the nation in its true character, in all its liberal institutions built upon the Constitution and Declaration of Rights, the Government would have continued inviolate in truth and purity and power, and would have continued to increase in power, importance and extent. True knowledge would have enabled them easily to accomplish all this. True knowledge is true power, and power adds to power—influence to influence. If this had continued in our nation, it would not merely have annexed Texas to our flag, but would have added the whole continent of North and South America. What would the nation have given for the knowledge to accomplish all this? What would the present rulers give for knowledge and power to so control the minds of that portion of the people who are still in the Union as to continue themselves in office—the leading spirits of the nation—to dictate the condition, future life and prosperity of this great and magnanimous people?

When the pioneers came into these valleys we knew nearly all the families which composed the settlements in Upper and Lower California. Is there a man that has ever been elected to represent that people in Congress that has not bought his election with money? Men are willing to spend all they have to attain the accomplishment of their purposes in a political point of view. All this power can be obtained by political aspirants without money, if they possessed true knowledge. I could be sent as a delegate to Congress without giving one farthing for the office, because I have true knowledge. Teach the people true knowledge, and they will govern themselves.

Men marvel that I possess the influence I do over this people, no matter where on the earth they are located. If we had fifty thousand members of the Church in China, though they never saw me, they would obey my counsel, because I send true knowledge to them and teach them the principles that tend to their own good and happiness. Their eyes are open to see this, and they willingly obey my counsel. Men think the power and influence I possess are obtained by necromancy or some other evil power. The power of the Devil is great upon the earth, but it is fast playing out, and the inhabitants of the earth must have true knowledge.

It has been told me from my youth up that opposition is the life of business, especially in the political arena. It is opposition that has ruined our nation, and has been, is and will be the ruin of all nations. In our nation slavery is the great bone of contention. Do we oppose the principle of servitude? I oppose it not in my judgment. If I have a manservant or a maidservant, they are flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone—they are the children of God as much as I am. In the providences of God their ability is such that they cannot rise above the position of a servant, and they are willing to serve me and have me dictate their labor. Then let them do service to me, and it is my duty to treat them kindly and reward them accordingly. All the nations of the earth are composed of one flesh and blood, and God will bring into judgment the nation that abuses the liberties it possesses. If he has given me power to rule this people, or to own a hundred slaves, he requires at my hands how I use this influence and power over his creatures, and he will punish me if I abuse it. If I were the dictator of the nation in which I live, I should be held responsible to Him for that power and influence. He would expect me to rule in righteousness.

This people is an astonishment to all the world. We pick up the beggar in the street in England—and we have baptized hundreds of them—we bring him here and put him in a situation to earn his living. They never owned anything before, but after they come here they soon begin to own a pig, a cow, a few chickens, and by-and-by a team; then open farms and soon become men of wealth. It is our business to elevate the beggar and not keep him in ignorance.

If you wish to gain power in the minds of any people, give them the same opportunity that you possess to become independent and self-sustaining, and endow them with all the wisdom and knowledge that they are capable of receiving, and let them increase with you and unitedly grow and become strong. Through their oneness, the Latter-day Saints have become a terror to the enemies of truth. We do not buy the people with money, but we have striven in every way that is lawful and right to get a little money to bring the poor and destitute of other nations here and put them in a position to take care of themselves. I am sorry to say that some few have requited this kindness by joining hands with our foes against us and have become our most deadly enemies. They, however, have no power to injure us, for God rules in the heavens; and if we pursue our course and the even tenor of our lives, the Lord will spread truth in the world and all nations will possess it and be influenced by it; then they will know how to govern and control themselves, but now they do not. With all the power I possess, I cannot prevent a man from cursing and swearing if he is disposed to do so; the Lord himself has not influence enough to do it, what then is to be done with him? Guide his mind and affections into a better channel until he sees the folly of his course and understands the benefit of a more righteous way and a more manly life, then will he pursue the path to truth, peace and the fellowship of the Saints of God on earth and in the heavens; then will he increase in love, joy, wisdom, knowledge, and power. Are not these things so? Judge ye, my friends.

I am accused of a thousand evils, but I have never feared but one thing with regard to myself—and that is, that I should be left to do an evil that people may truly blame me; while they cannot speak evil of me and tell the truth, it never harms me. I care nothing what false statements are made about me when I faithfully follow the counsels of Heaven; they are no more to me than the croaking of the crane that flies over my head. If a High Priest, an Elder, or any other man that comes within the purview of my influence does wrong, I would as soon tell him of it as not and show him how to do right; if he is offended at me for so doing, it proves that he is destitute of knowledge. If the angel of darkness reproves you for your evil deeds, thank him for it, but tell him to keep at a respectable distance and that you will try not to need any more of his kind offices.

The nation that is angry at the reproof and rebuke of the righteous proves that it is on the high way to ruin. We do not coerce nor drive people. I am very much of the opinion that it would be useless for anybody to undertake to drive me to heaven or to hell. My independence is sacred to me—it is a portion of that same Deity that rules in the heavens. There is not a being upon the face of the earth who is made in the image of God, who stands erect and is organized as God is, that should be deprived of the free exercise of his agency so far as he does not infringe upon others’ rights, save by good advice and a good example.

It is written in the Scriptures, “If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long a time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?” The Father is a perfect man in every part, a person of tabernacle endowed with all the features and attributes of a perfect being.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” How vain it is for us to think that we are going to grasp all things independently of God. Monarchs on their thrones have taken unto themselves power to hold and control the destinies of the people over whom they reign, when suddenly death in some way has seized them and their thrones have been left vacant for other aspirants to power and rule. When misuse of power has reached a certain stage, the divinity that is within the people asserts its right and they free themselves from the power of despotism. The nation that lifts itself up against God and rules in unrighteousness he will call to an account in his own way.

Elevation, exaltation and glory are the objects of the Father in peopling this earth with his progeny. Do not be afraid that I say too much when I call his earthly children his progeny. It is supposed by many modern Christians that the Old Testament has become obsolete; they regard it more as a book of history relating more particularly to past ages than to us; but we will quote from if in support of God’s being our Father and our being his progeny. Moses gives us to understand that Adam was created precisely after the image and likeness of his God. And in the New Testament Jesus Christ says, “and call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.” Again, Paul says, “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” He is the Father of every spirit that has ever taken an earthly tabernacle. Again, Paul, in writing to the Hebrews, says, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,” &c.; and “I and my Father are one,” says Jesus; what, one body? No, it never entered the Savior’s mind that such a rendering of this saying would ever enter into the minds of persons holding the least claim to good sense. They are no more one person than I and one of my sons are one person. If my son receives my teaching, will walk in the path I mark out for him to walk in, if his faith is the same as mine, his purpose is the same, and he does the work of his father as Jesus did the work of his Father, then is my son one with me in the Scriptural sense. “Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.” Jesus was the express image of his Father, and he was so much like the rest of the people in his day that he passed and repassed among them as another man, without creating any special remark. “Hath not the Scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?”

Christ and his Father are one in their faith, in their views, in their ministry, in their purpose and in their operations to accomplish their Godlike designs. Jesus came from the heavens to the earth to subdue all things and bring all into subjection to the will of the Father, “That they all may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.” No one can suppose that Jesus wished to be understood that he and his Father and his disciples were all one person.

We believe in one God, one Mediator and one Holy Ghost. We cannot believe for a moment that God is destitute of body, parts, passions or attributes. Attributes can be made manifest only through an organized personage. All attributes are couched in and are the results of organized existence. True knowledge will teach the people who they are and the design of their creation. We are the sons and daughters of celestial beings, and the germ of the Deity dwells within us. When our spirits took possession of these tabernacles, they were as pure as the angels of God, wherefore total depravity cannot be a true doctrine. “You must be a freethinker, Mr. Young.” Yes, and also a freedoer. I am not afraid to rebuke any person when necessary, nor to tell the truth anywhere when it is proper and I am called upon to do so.

I am limited in knowledge and in the ability to convey the knowledge that is within me and often resort to gestures to convey what my language fails to impart; neither am I mighty in writing—I can convey more by language than I can by writing.

Do you wish to possess enlarged influence in a political point of view? Gather around you the poor and honest of mankind and bestow your charity on them, not by giving them in the way that charity is almost universally understood, but supply them labor that will pay an interest on the outlay of means and, at the same time, afford food, raiment, and shelter to the laborer; in this way the man of means becomes a benefactor to his race. Let him instruct those who know not how to cultivate the soil, who know not how to plant gardens and orchards and vineyards, in all these useful and profitable employments. Let him teach them the use of animals and how to profit by their labors and products. After he has taught them how to raise the wool and the flax, let him teach them how to make clothing of various kinds. Now they have their bread, meat, clothing, vegetables, fruit and dwellings which they have produced by their labor under the direction of the rich, good man whose capital and wisdom have elevated those poor persons from a state of destitution and want to a state of comfort and comparative independence. Now, I ask, has he not gained great influence over that people? And as they increase will not his influence become more extensive? Then let him teach them the truth, and not divide them up into Whigs, Tories, Democrats, &c.

Who is the most suitable judge between man and man? The man who is the most capable of judging between right and wrong; let him sit upon the judgment seat, and do not ask him whether he is a Democrat, a Whig, a Tory, or a Republican. Is he a just man, and will he render in impartial judgment? If so, I care not to what political party he belongs; I am content that he should adjudicate between me and my neighbor.

We teach the whole human family the way of life and salvation. The Latter-day Saints have the advantage of the same power that revealed to Peter of old that Jesus was the Christ; “Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

The Latter-day Saints and every other person who is entitled to salvation, and all except those who have sinned against the Holy Ghost, may know that Jesus is the Christ in the same way that Peter knew it. Miracles do not give this knowledge to mankind, though they may serve as collateral evidence to strengthen the believer. The miracles of Jesus were known to the Jews, yet they suffered him to be put to death as a deceiver of mankind and one possessed of a devil.

If miracles prove a person to be divinely sent, then we are safe in declaring the Witch of Endor, who raised up Samuel, and the magicians of Egypt to be divinely sent. I will have it printed and sent to the world that no miracle is any proof of a man’s being sent of God to perform a mission in his name. Though Jesus Christ wrought miracles before the eyes of the Jews, they clamored for his blood and said, “Crucify him, crucify him, and let his blood be upon us and our children.” This has certainly come upon them. Jesus Christ told what would befall the nation of the Jews, and it has been literally fulfilled. Were I to bring a proof in favor of our religion I would quote the sayings, relating to this nation, of that man whom God has sent in the latter days with eternal life to them. There is more solid proof in favor of a Prophet’s being divinely sent when his words are fulfilled than all the miracles he can work.

The nineteenth century is not destitute of miracles; we have spirit rapping, spirit writing, spirit muttering, table moving, and the curing of diseases of long standing by the same influence and power. “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?”

If all men understood the great work of the last days brought forth by the Prophet Joseph and its ultimate results, they would invest all their capital stock in this great speculation. We are for self, for power, for knowledge, for thrones, for dominions, for eternal life. We are for the kingdoms that God has promised to the righteous; and they have received great and precious promises. Paul says, “For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours,” &c. Again, “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” He has chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, and he will give them all things. We are serving a good master, and he will give us all he has promised. Will you all enlist and serve this great Captain of our salvation to the end of the war? Then shall you obtain all the influence and power you can wish for. In the govern– ment of God there is all the security offered to its subjects they can desire; in it their individual rights and property are perfectly safe. Were I worth millions of money I should wish to invest it under a government that offered to me the greatest protection and security. God rules in the heavens and on the earth; he sendeth seed time and harvest; winter and summer; he controls the good and the evil, and stays the evil and the plague when it has answered his pleasure; when the contending armies of our nation have served his purpose, he will say peace be still and the civil strife will cease.

My brethren and sisters are anxious for my safety, and will warn me of danger. I know better than they do when there is danger, and when it lies harmless like a lifeless tiger at the feet of the hunter. There have been times when I could travel abroad with impunity, and within twenty-four hours afterwards the assassin would be on my path. There are times when I could go to California and they would hail me as one friend hails another, and the spirit of the times would soon be reversed. Joseph Smith knew this, and when he went to Carthage he said, “I go to death; I go like a lamb to the slaughter; I go to my fate.” Those who understand the spirit that rules in the atmosphere and in the hearts of the children of men are aware that they do not feel today as yesterday, tomorrow as today. Many men have greeted me and my brethren with all the cordiality with which one man can greet another, and in a short time their feelings have changed to the most deadly hatred. Confidence has left the human family; there is but little substantial principle or virtue left in which confidence can be placed. We have to restore confidence to the world by being just and true to ourselves, to one another and to our God from this time henceforth and forever.

I suppose that more than half a million of the brave sons of our country now sleep in the dust in consequence of what I consider an unnecessary war, and the end is not yet. They have left their wives and daughters unprotected in a land rent asunder with a fratricidal war, and what are to become of them? You remember the scripture which reads, “That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” He may say in the latter times, Now, my sons, take unto yourselves wives of the daughters of men and raise up a posterity unto me, and teach them the way of life and salvation and the arts of peace, that they may war no more forever. And they will gather up the old cannon and weapons of war that are now making such devastation, and convert them into implements of husbandry and useful machinery. By and by it will be said to the servants of God, “Go down and see if there is anything worth saving,” for it is written, “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”

Let us faithfully live our religion and learn what our present lives are worth.

May God bless everybody that can be blessed is my prayer all the time: Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, May 31, 1863.

I feel grateful for the privilege of bearing my testimony to the truths of our holy religion, in which I hope to live all the days of my life. It has taught me things that are of importance to my soul’s welfare here and hereafter. It has placed me upon a basis of improvement and knowledge that leads to understanding, wisdom and power in the counsels of heaven.

What true conception had we of God until our minds were lit up with the truths which the Almighty has revealed in these last days? We did not know in what capacity he was our Father; we had no rightful conception or knowledge of God or of his Son Jesus Christ, of whom it is said, to know is life eternal. The learned divines of the day could not inform us anything about him, or give us any information in regard to our own origin. All this we have learned by embracing “Mormonism,” or the truths which the Almighty has revealed in these latter times. Now we know he did reveal himself in former days. We can now see and understand what these things mean that have been written by former Prophets and servants of God who were inspired by the revelations of Jesus Christ; but these things we could not understand until he revealed himself again and we have received this knowledge through his servants in our own day.

The orthodox churches have taught us that those who are of the orthodox may possibly be saved, but for the heterodox there is no chance of salvation at all—they must go down to, and be damned in an endless hell, must be doomed to the bottomless pit. They, however, had no just conception of the design of the Almighty with regard to our being and could give us no knowledge with regard to our origin or destiny. Another class of religionists would save all in the kingdom of God—bring all into his presence indiscriminately, no matter whether they are in their sins or not; the plan of salvation, they say, is sufficient to save them all.

There is a plan whereby all who have not sinned the sin unto death may attain to a certain glory and salvation. There is a principle revealed in the great economy of Heaven by which we can act for another; whereby the generations which have died in ignorance of the Gospel may be administered for by the living, that they may be judged according to men in the flesh. This principle has been revealed in these last days, and it is a great and glorious prin– ciple; one that gives great joy and satisfaction to the believer. It throws a mantle of charity over the whole human family; our heavenly Father does not consign to an endless misery his children who have not been informed in the plan of life and salvation and who have not lifted up their hands knowingly against him; it provides a way in which they may participate in the blessings of our common Father which he dispenses to his faithful children. Our holy religion teaches us to extend charity, knowledge and power to all mankind. Are they not our brethren and sisters? Have we not a common origin? Have we not a common Father who is the Father of our spirits? Then are we not of one family, brethren and sisters indeed, and should we not so act towards each other?

How great should be our satisfaction, joy and thankfulness to our Father in heaven that we have become the recipients of this knowledge, that we can place our feet upon the rock of salvation and become messengers of salvation to all people; to take them from their low and degraded condition and elevate them to the knowledge of God. Is there no reward in this? Is there no glory, no blessing in this? Time will disclose whether there is a blessing or not in reaching forth the helping hand to the honest poor and needy among the nations to deliver them from the thralldom of sin and from the poverty that presses heavily upon them; by these have they been chained down hand and foot and could not help themselves. We break their chains asunder and bring them into the liberty of the Gospel; we not only unbind their spirits but their hands and their feet, and we place them in a condition to take care of themselves. This is true charity. You may give a piece of bread to a hungry person, and when the cravings of hunger return some one else must administer to his wants again; to put that person in a position to earn his own subsistence is true charity; in this way you direct his feet in the path of true independence, he is then only dependent on his own exertions and on the blessings of his God.

When people are taken from the pernicious influences that are too prevalent in the world and directed in the paths of sobriety, truth and heavenly intelligence, what is there to hinder them in the midst of the Saints from walking in those paths? The effort to do right continually under such circumstances is nothing in comparison to what it is when they are continually surrounded with evil influences and evil examples. In this they are benefited and blessed, and here again is the mantle of charity and love thrown over the poor and destitute who hunger and thirst after righteousness as well as for those means necessary for their temporal subsistence.

These are a few of the opportunities and privileges which are conferred upon this people of doing good. They have the greatest opportunity of doing real substantial good to themselves and their fellow creatures of any people on the face of the earth. Those who come up here and assist in the great Work will also participate in the great blessings which will be their reward. Let these precious opportunities which are thrown in our way be eagerly improved, for it is a great and glorious Work in which we are engaged, and one which is full of benefit to the human race at large.

Why then should the world seek to subvert, overthrow, persecute, destroy, and make waste those who are engaged in so great and beneficial an undertaking. There is no reason why men should tread upon the oil and the wine. There is no reason why men should not sustain holy and righteous principles that will elevate and exalt mankind if they will let them. There is no reason whatever why people should oppose the Latter-day Saints or seek their destruction and overthrow; when they do it they do it without reason—they do it because they hate righteous principles, to satisfy their own wicked intentions and desires; they love to lie rather than to speak the truth, and they do it at the instigation of the Devil without any rational feeling or reason whatever. They will be condemned because they love darkness rather than light. They have the power to do evil, and inasmuch as they list to obey the powers of evil they will be damned. They have the same privilege that we have of obeying the truth and of receiving light, knowledge, and intelligence from heaven, and may participate in the same blessings we enjoy. When they choose the path of evil they do it on their own responsibility. A great portion of the world will reject the good and cleave to the evil; this has been so from the beginning. As astonishing as it may appear, a vast majority of mankind will not receive the truth, but they will reject it and trample under their feet the oil and the wine, crucify the Redeemer afresh, slay the Prophets, and overthrow truth and righteousness as long as they have power to do so.

But the day has now come when those principles will be sustained on the earth. They have already obtained a foothold in these valleys; the Almighty has set his hand to work to establish his kingdom on the earth never again to be thrown down or to be prevailed against.

We are here in the mountains, thank God for that; and we hold the principles of life and salvation for all the world; we send forth the heralds of life to proclaim them, and they are taking deep root in the earth. The power to bind and to loose is here, even the power of Heaven, and it cannot be eradicated again and overcome. That day is past. We live in a day fruitful of big events. The Lord Almighty is walking about and we have heard his footsteps. He is at work in the midst of the nations; this is very manifest to us who dwell here four thousand feet above the level of the sea; from this elevation we can see clearly and have a better understanding of the movements of God among the nations beneath us. The Lord has anointed our eyes and we see through a purer atmosphere.

I believe we appreciate as well as we can these great mercies and blessings. There is one of them which we certainly can appreciate very sensibly, and that is the blessing of peace and quiet in these sequestered vales. The Lord has greatly blessed this land and caused it to bring forth in its strength nourishment for our sustenance; he has planted our feet by the still waters and given to us health, wealth, peace, and quietude. We can appreciate these blessings now if we never could before, when we see the desolation and misery which have been foretold coming upon the wicked and ungodly nations. A river of light and intelligence flows to this people from the heavens through the holy Priesthood. The fountains of life eternal are opened for all to go to and drink. Can we think of this without being melted in thankfulness to our Father and our God? Should we not put forth our best endeavors in the channel of our duty? Should we not be honest, faithful and true with that which is committed to our trust, and diligent in the performance of every duty?

Can we pursue unerringly the course marked out for us by him who is the choice of Israel to lead and guide Israel in the great interests of life. He instructs us to draw from the elements that which we consume and become independent and self-sustaining. We have enlisted to walk in this channel—a great many have done so. Can we continue to improve still more and produce still greater results by a still greater perseverance?

I was pleased and gratified beyond utterance at the report brought back from the south by the President, when he said there was a decided improvement in this people; thank God for that; but it is a great thing to improve. Let us continue to improve, inasmuch as we have fallen short heretofore, and let us seek to remove every obstacle out of our path and bring about the temporal improvements we are told to perform with greater celerity. I allude to these things because they give us comfort, pointing, as they do, to greater freedom and greater independence; at the same time, we will not forget to improve our minds and progress in the knowledge of God and in the things which pertain to eternal life and glory hereafter. We will not forget to instill into the young minds of our children principles of honor, of truth and of righteousness towards God, and obedience to him, to his servants and to his laws, for it is this that will make them honorable and great in his eyes and will exalt them in his presence.

If any of us have been guilty of dishonest practices, let us eschew evil and seek to do good instead, let us eradicate the poison of sin from our own bosoms, and let the Spirit and power of the Almighty reign there and have free course to run and be glorified in us, and let this in– fluence spread abroad through every ramification of society. These are my desires and most sincere wishes. Let us be united in our love for God and truth, for in unity there is strength, and in unity of this kind is made manifest the almighty power of God. If we do this everything is for us; nothing shall be withheld from those who love God and keep his commandments; all things that are worth having will he give to them. These are blessings and mercies which are enjoyed by no people besides this people.

The self-styled orthodoxy of the day will do no person any good, so far as giving them a title to an inheritance in the presence of God is concerned; there is no balm of Gilead in all they can do, say, or bestow on mankind, for the fountain of life and intelligence is not with them. So far as they inculcate morality, it has a salutary influence in restraining mankind from sinking back into the worst phases of barbarism, but it receives no impetus, no progression from their teachings, for those who make no profession of religion at all are generally more strictly moral, more strenuously honest and more faithful in the duties of life than those who profess the religions of Christendom.

The religion we profess is the fountain of intelligence; it inculcates morality, truth, virtue and every principle of true knowledge, and this leads to true power and true excellence; it has with it the vigor of life and leads to exaltation and to the presence of our Father and God. Let us appreciate our blessings and be careful not to hurt the oil and the wine; let us be careful that we do not trample upon the principles which our Father has revealed for our guidance, but let us be constantly actuated by the influence of the Spirit of the Almighty which is within us and let us never grieve it away; if we do this, we shall not wander into forbidden paths, into darkness nor into error, nor be left to believe a lie that we may be damned. If we will follow out the principles of our holy religion, we will become the greatest and the mightiest people upon the earth, and we shall have power given to us to go forth in the mighty power of Israel’s God and redeem the earth from the thralldom of sin and its consequences and raise high the banner of freedom, the banner of salvation to the human race. There is a nucleus formed where all the honest-in-heart may rally—where they will find safety for themselves and their means; here their rights will be respected and their means protected. All people can rally to this standard because it is firm and steadfast, and the individual rights of all will be respected; and it is the only place on the face of the earth where this assurance can be given, all else will crumble and go to pieces and be wasted away. This kingdom embraces all that is permanent and lasting; it will endure throughout time and throughout all eternity, and we with it. We do know that the Lord has commenced his great and marvelous Work and he will continue it and break in pieces the wicked and ungodly nations until they shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and his kingdom which is now being set up will continue forever and ever. This is our testimony to all men; our cry is, Come out of her, my people, lest you partake of her abominations and of her plagues which have been decreed upon her.

May the Lord help us to take a course that shall lead us onward and upward, that we may receive and hold the dominion for God, and that it may continue to increase and spread until the earth is redeemed and Christ shall possess the kingdoms under the whole heavens, which is my prayer, in the name of Jesus: Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, May 24, 1863.

I am thankful for the privilege of meeting with you here this morning, and I pray that we may all be able to properly appreciate the blessings we enjoy in the many opportunities we have of worshiping the Lord our God in peace and quietude.

Two weeks ago this day, we met with the people in the city of St. George, situated in what is called “Mormon Dixie.” Our congregations there were nearly as large as the congregations that commonly meet in this Tabernacle. We met a great many familiar faces, and for a moment we could have almost imagined ourselves in Great Salt Lake City.

Our southern journey has been one of great satisfaction to me, more so, I think, than any journey I have formerly taken to visit the Saints in this Territory.

Until this year brother Kimball has not been further south with me than Harmony. He could not refrain from speaking in fervent terms of the good spirit that was manifested through the thousands of cheerful countenances that were uplifted in the settlements to greet us as we passed along. This, and numerous other indications and manifestations in their cordial greetings, bespeak a great improvement in the moral and physical condition of the people. We cannot be deceived in coming to this conclusion, for whoever enjoys the light of truth and has so lived as to increase the Spirit of truth within himself can testify to the workings of that Spirit upon the hearts, the understanding and works of the Saints generally. I speak for myself; I am sensible of the increase of the knowledge and Spirit of God within myself. This being the case with myself, I can easily realize the increase of the same Spirit in my brethren. This is a matter of great joy and rejoicing to me and my brethren. I do not think that brother Kimball attended one meeting where he did not express his thankfulness because of the improvement visible among the Latter-day Saints.

It would take some time to give you a detailed account of our journey. The Deseret News correspondent has, through that paper, given you a pretty fair account of our travels, and what of interest has not already been laid before the public will appear in due time. I do not deem it necessary to make lengthy statements touching our journey south. Suffice it to say that in the short space of thirty days we traveled some eight hundred and fifty miles and held thirty-nine meetings. I spoke in all the meetings except one, speaking comforting and encouraging words to the people. I believe that brother Kimball spoke in nearly all the meetings we held during our journey.

It would be a source of great joy to me if I could speak of all the Latter-day Saints in the same terms of commendation that I can of a few. As people increase in the knowledge of God and godliness their joy will increase, though some seem to think that knowledge does not produce joy, peace, and glory. So far as my experience has taught me, the knowledge of God possessed by persons of good understanding gives great satisfaction and joy, not only under ordinary circumstances but far more in the midst of deepest affliction. Where the spirit of happy submission to the providences of God is not to be found, I conclude at once that there is a lack of the knowledge of God, pertaining to his purposes and designs regarding his people individually and collectively. As a people advance in the knowledge of God, joy will increase with them, and, whether in bonds or free, they can behold the goodness, the mercy and the long-suffering of God to the workmanship of his hands. If we could understand ourselves, our own organization, the great plan of the heavens, and the attributes with which we are endowed, exercising them to accomplish the purpose for which they were placed within us, we could be constantly happy in every circumstance and under every providence of God in which we may be placed. Let our minds once be opened to behold only in part the handiworks of God, the stupendous machinery of the heavens and the earth, the power by which all things are sustained, the harmony that pervades all the works of God’s hands, distributing his favors to all impartially, causing his sun to shine on the just and unjust, then can we be happy, indeed, in every changing scene and shifting circumstance of life. We are made to enjoy all that God enjoys, to inherit all he inherits, to possess all the power that he possesses, all the excellency with which he is endowed—all things are to be brought into subjection to him by his faithful children, that they may enjoy all things with him; these considerations bring peace to the heart that is opened to understanding.

Our teachings to the brethren and sisters south have been such as would meet their circumstances and wants, as our teachings are to the people here. You can readily understand, without any particular explanation, that the teachings of the Heavens to men on earth have, I may say, a certain amount of sameness, varying as the providences of God vary. He instructs people according to their circumstances, locations, wants and the dispensations in which they live. We have not preached faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost with the gifts and powers of the Gospel, &c.; but we have taught them how to build up a literal kingdom of God here upon earth. The first principles of the Gospel have been taught this people in the countries from whence they have been gathered, the ordinances of the Gospel have been administered to them, and in this they have experienced great joy, but they were, at the same time, taught to gather to Zion where they might be instructed how to live one with another without sinning, how to overcome every evil propensity in their nature, how to rise in the morning, how to take care of and sustain their bodies through the day, how to go to rest at night, how to feel one towards another and towards their God; not to bring heaven down, not to unveil the beauties and glories of the upper world, not to unveil the face of Him who sits upon the throne, whose face we could not behold in our present state and live, but to make heaven here by teaching the husband how to live and deal with his wife or wives, with his sons and with his daughters; by teaching the wife how to live with and treat her husband and her children, and the husband, wife and children how to live with their neighbors, that all anger and malice and all sin may be overcome by the people and never again gain mastery over them. These are the mysteries that belong to the kingdom of God upon the earth; as to the mysteries pertaining to the Father and the Son, to angels, and to the powers of the heavens and the fulness of the glory of Zion, we shall learn in good time.

Tradition has taught us that the great purpose of religion is to prepare people to die; that when they have passed through a change of heart, become converted, then they are ready for glory at any moment and to dwell with the Father and the Son in the heavens to all eternity. This is a mistake; for they have to improve, become substantially changed from bad to good, from sin to holiness, here or somewhere else, before they are prepared for the society they anticipate enjoying. They would not be nearly so well prepared for the society of the sanctified in heaven as a person brought up in the lowest classes of society would be prepared to properly present and conduct himself among the highest and most polished grades of mankind. Those who are counted worthy to dwell with the Father and the Son have previously received an education fitting them for that society; they have been made fully acquainted with every password, token, and sign which have enabled them to pass by the porters through the doors into the celestial kingdom. We have been traditioned to think that to rise up and speak in a meeting is to bear the cross of Christ. How often we have been exhorted to take up our cross by telling our experience before our brethren? This is but a small part of the experience and labor of the faithful Saint. I will prove you and try you, saith the Lord, by placing you in the most abject circumstances you can be placed in; I will surround you with your enemies, expose you to their derisive laugh, to the finger of scorn and to the hatred of the wicked, then will I see whether you will acknowledge me and bear your cross manfully. All this and more has to be taught the people in Zion. They must learn there how to sanctify themselves and become steadfast in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have taught the brethren, during our southern trip, what pertains to their everyday life, just as we teach you. We want all the Latter-day Saints to understand how to build up Zion. The City of Zion, in beauty and magnificence, will outstrip anything that is now known upon the earth. The curse will be taken from the earth and sin and corruption will be swept from its face. Who will do this great work? Is the Lord coming here to convert the people, and then drown the whole of them as the Catholic priest served the Jew? No. Is he going to convince the people that he will redeem the Center Stake of Zion, beautify it and then place them there without any exertion on their part? No. He will not come here to build a Temple, a Tabernacle, a Bowery, or to set out fruit trees, make aprons of fig leaves or coats of skins, or work in brass and iron, for we already know how to do these things. He will not come here to teach us how to raise and manufacture cotton, how to make hand cards, how to card, how to make spinning machines, looms, &c., &c. We have to build up Zion, if we do our duty.

In the first place, we have to become sanctified; and I may here say that our views of sanctification differ very much from the views held by some of the popular sects of the day, for they think that sanctification consists in shutting the door and securely bolting it against fulfilling the first commandment that God gave to our first parents. I will put my own definition to the term sanctification, and say it consists in overcoming every sin and bringing all into subjection to the law of Christ. God has placed in us a pure spirit; when this reigns predominant, without let or hindrance, and triumphs over the flesh and rules and governs and controls as the Lord controls the heavens and the earth, this I call the blessing of sanctification. Will sin be perfectly destroyed? No, it will not, for it is not so designed in the economy of Heaven.

All the Lord has called us to do is to renovate our own hearts, then our families, extending the principles to neighborhoods, to the earth we occupy, and so continue until we drive the power of Satan from the earth and Satan to his own place. That is the work Jesus is engaged in, and we will be co-workers with him. Do not suppose that we shall ever in the flesh be free from temptations to sin. Some suppose that they can in the flesh be sanctified body and spirit and become so pure that they will never again feel the effects of the power of the adversary of truth. Were it possible for a person to attain to this degree of perfection in the flesh, he could not die neither remain in a world where sin predominates. Sin has entered into the world, and death by sin. I think we shall more or less feel the effects of sin so long as we live, and finally have to pass the ordeals of death. Do not understand that in the flesh we shall ever overcome the power of sin to such a degree that we shall never taste death. I do not look for any such thing, though what we call death, or laying down this body, is only the door to a higher state of life for the faithful. If we live our religion it will enable us to so overcome sin that it will not reign in our mortal bodies but will become subject to us, and the world and its fulness will become our servant instead of our master. Those who list to obey sin are the servants of sin. We should never list to obey that which corrupts, for in so doing we become servants to corruption. We should so live as to make the world and all its natural blessings subservient to our reasonable wants and holy desires.

The Latter-day Saints are improving, and I am rejoiced; my heart is filled with joy on this account. Do they improve in building? Not as much as they should. Do they improve by manufacturing the things they need to wear? Not as much as they should. Do they improve in educating their children? Not as much as they should. But they improve in their faith and in their love one to another; they improve in the light of the holy Gospel. The people are generally improving in these respects, and we are glad of it.

Great Salt Lake City is the first established city in the mountains, and we look for more improvement in the spirit of the people here than in any other settlement. The Lord expects this place to advance faster than any other place among all the settlements of the Latter-day Saints. Do we know how to rise in the morning? Do we leave our couches in the morning with anger in our hearts? Do we feel disconsolate, afflicted and oppressed by the Adversary? We can get rid of all this by going down upon our knees and praying until we overcome that feeling of discontent and misery and become kind to our companions and offspring, to the inmates of our habitation, to our flocks and herds, to our neighbors and to every creature God has made. We may say that our work drives us and that we have not time to pray, hardly time to eat our breakfasts. Then let the breakfasts go, and pray; get down upon our knees and pray until we are filled with the Spirit of peace. I may say, my wife is hurrying me and I feel out of sorts; perhaps I have not had very pleasant dreams, have thought somebody was abusing me or got angry with somebody in my sleep, and I rise in the morning tired and feeling unpleasant with myself and everybody around me: while the Elder who has dreamed of preaching the Gospel to the nations, of building up Zion and laboring for the Gospel all night in his mind and feelings, being filled with the Holy Ghost, rejoices in his sleep; his slumbers are sweet to him and he rises in the morning filled with the good Spirit, and with him it is, “God bless you wife, God bless you my children.” He feels to bless his house and his gardens, his orchards, his flocks and his herds, and everything looks pleasant to him and he rejoices exceedingly in the works of God’s hands. He cherishes no malice, no anger; the spirit of the enemy has no place in him. How happy is such a person when compared with the man who is constantly laboring to amass gold and property, making this his only end and aim. How the Devil will play with a man who so worships gain.

Let me say to the brethren and sisters, when you are chastened by any of your leaders, never consider that the enemy does it, but receive it always as a kindness from the hand of a friend and not as from an enemy. If your Presidents were your enemies they would let you alone in your faults. If you are beloved of the Lord you will be chastened; receive it with joy.

We are in one of the strongholds of Zion; let us, therefore, so live that our days and nights will be pleasant unto us, and never spend an hour without the light of truth beaming upon our understandings. I ask my friends who are with me daily, I ask my family, “When do you see me out of sorts?” You say, “We do not expect to see you angry, brother Brigham; we do not expect to see you anything but just right.” If you expect to see me just right, why do you not try with a little more determination to become just right yourselves? How is it, my brethren and sisters? If I am expected of our Heavenly Father to live just right, is not the same expected of you? If I am are you not also in duty bound to so live as to enjoy the Spirit of truth, light and intelligence? Are you not under the same obligation to purify your hearts as I am? If any of the First Presidency or the Twelve should speak an angry word, you consider it to be very much out of character, but are you any more privileged to speak angry words or to indulge in scolding at and quarreling with one another? The First Presidency have no such privilege, and if they have no such privilege why should you have? Let each of us begin at home and train ourselves until we become masters of ourselves, gaining the victory over every passion, if we have to pray one-half of each day until the Spirit of truth reigns within our hearts.

Some think that they should not, if they feel evil in their hearts, at the same time appear to feel good—that they should not dissemble in the least. The Devil can quote Scripture in abundance against hypocrisy. If I did not show anger towards a brother when I felt it, I should be considered a hypocrite. The Devil says, do not dissemble, do not carry two faces, do not show a pleasant countenance when you at the same time feel angry in your heart. I say, suffer not anger to rise in your countenance, to speak through your eyes, nor through your organs of speech, and in this way keep it down until you are free from it, as you would any other evil. To say that inward evil must outwardly be made manifest in order to escape the opprobrium of hypocrisy is a trick of the Devil to cheat men out of the blessings that are in store for them. By the word hypocrisy I do not here mean a counterfeiting of religion or goodliness to gain sordid ends, but to appear good and practice goodness contrary to the promptings of the evil one or the unregenerated impulses of the human heart. If the Devil says you cannot pray when you are angry, tell him it is none of his business, and pray until that species of insanity is dispelled and serenity is restored to the mind.

We are inhabitants of a world of sin and sorrow; pain and anguish, every ill that can be heaped upon intelligent beings in a probation we are heirs to. I suppose that God never organized an earth and peopled it that was ever reduced to a lower state of darkness, sin and ignorance than this. I suppose this is one of the lowest kingdoms that ever the Lord Almighty created, and on that account is capable of becoming exalted to be one of the highest kingdoms that has ever had an exaltation in all the eternities. In proportion as it has been reduced so it will be exalted, with that portion of its inhabitants who in their humiliation have cleaved to righteousness and acknowledged God in all things. In proportion to our fall through sin, so shall we be exalted in the presence of our Father and God, through Jesus Christ and by living the righteousness of his Gospel. All this the people will understand in due time through their faithfulness, and learn to rejoice even in the midst of afflictions.

We have taught the brethren south to raise flax and cotton and to put up machinery for manufacturing cloth. We have also taught them to live so as to ever be at peace and on the best of terms with each other. Two cases of difficulty, I think, were the only ones we were called upon to examine. As to High Council and Bishops’ Courts, we have almost forgotten that any such courts exist. Why is this? Because we are continually importuning the brethren to faithfully live their religion and not let a few dimes and dollars or a little mistake infringe upon the fellowship of one with another. Perhaps a neighbor’s cow is in his garden, and he is angry with his neighbor, when, at the same time, that neighbor is as innocent as an angel. Nine hundred and ninety-nine cases of difficulty out of a thousand arise from circumstances not worthy of notice. There are but few persons who really design to injure each other. I do not believe there is one man or woman in a thousand, in this community, who designs to do wrong, though there are hundreds that do wrong, and some who do a great many wrongs, but they do not design to do wrong. They can truly say, with the Apostle Paul, “When I would do good, evil is present with me.” Paul had been a very wicked man; he had done all he could to destroy the Church of God, and, consequently, was given over to the buffetings of Satan, so that when he would do good the Devil had such power over him that he had to keep up a continual warfare. Let us endeavor to do the good and leave undone the evil.

Some desire to do good all the time, still it seems that almost every act they perform results in evil; look upon such persons as they are, through eyes of mercy, and not measure them with your measure. If you are endowed with wisdom and understand– ing, if you escape the evil and do the good, thank God that you have knowledge, and do not condemn your brethren and sisters who are weaker than you are for falling into evil when they know no better. This is the teaching of the Spirit of the Lord all the day long.

When the books are opened, out of which the human family are to be judged, how disappointed the professedly sanctified, longfaced hypocrites and smooth-toned Pharisees will be, when the publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven before them; people that appeared to be full of evil, but the Lord says they never designed to do wrong; the Devil had power over them, and they suffered in their mortal state a thousand times more than you poor, miserable, canting, cheating, sniveling, hypocritical Pharisees; you were dressed in purple and fine linen, and bound burdens upon your weaker brethren that you would not so much as help to lift with your little fingers. Did you ever go without food, suffer with toothache, sore eyes, rheumatism, or the chills and fever? You have fared sumptuously all your days and you condemned to an everlasting hell these poor harlots and publicans who never designed an evil. Are you not guilty of committing an evil with that poor harlot? Yes, and you will be damned while she will be saved.

Let us look at our neighbors as they are, and not as we want them to be; let us learn enough to know what we are ourselves and what our brethren and sisters are, and learn the true designs of their hearts, and then judge them as God judges them and not according to outward appearance; then every contention will cease, every heart will beat high to build up Zion, and the follies and weaknesses of our neighbors we shall not think of.

We all know that we need material for clothing; then let us look out for it and not neglect the matter until we are found in a state of nudity, without the power to clothe ourselves. These are the mysteries of the kingdom of God upon the earth, to know how to purify and sanctify our affections, the earth upon which we stand, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the houses in which we dwell, and the cities which we build, that when strangers come into our country they may feel a hallowed influence and acknowledge a power to which they are strangers, “For all is dedicated to the Lord and consecrated to him, and the Spirit and power of God reigns there and the power of the enemy can find no place.” When the people of the Saints have attained to this happy state, then will they say, “Give us more room to dwell,” and they will never be driven from such ground. All hell may then give up the chase, for they never can drive the Saints from a spot that is hallowed by the faith of the Saints, through the medium of Jesus Christ by the power of the Father, for that place is dedicated and sanctified to him.

We are in possession of the valleys in the mountains, and the Lord has led us here. We have tried to be admitted into the family of States, but we are scarcely permitted to be a Territory. We are here, and they can do nothing against us. They are not capable of afflicting this people, if we live our religion. Let every man and woman sanctify themselves and their possessions, dedicating all unto the Lord, then will we be driven? No, neither will our possessions be given to the kingdom of the Devil; they belong to God, and he will hold them for himself, and they will remain uncontaminated and we with them, until we go back to build up the Center Stake of Zion.

This season we called for five hundred teams to send for the poor; some of those teams came some four hun– dred miles and then started on the journey over the plains to bring in the poor. Suppose we should call for five thousand teams to go and build up the Center Stake of Zion and establish it that it shall never be thrown down, would they be forthcoming? They would, and when that time comes we shall leave a great many more in the mountains than are now here, and we shall see Zion rolling forth on the right and on the left, like the waves of the sea, which no earthly power can stem.

I will here mention the incident of two of our Elders, while on their way to the Sandwich Islands, being blown up and killed on a steamboat. It is all right. If you wish to know how I feel about them, I will say that the Lord took them while they were in the humor of trying to do good. I would not have given a red cent for all the good they would have done in the vineyard. It made me think of an anecdote I have already alluded to, concerning the Jew whom the Roman Catholic priest pushed under the ice while he professed belief in the Christian religion. God dictates all these matters, and will work out his designs in his own way. He will deal with the Latter-day Saints for their good and with our enemies for our good; and when a nation kills his Prophets he will deal with them accordingly: he will chasten them, as he is doing at this time.

I am for the kingdom of God. I like a good government, and then I like to have it wisely and justly administered. The government of heaven, if wickedly administered, would become one of the worst governments upon the face of the earth. No matter how good a government is, unless it is administered by righteous men, an evil government will be made of it. The Lord has his eye upon all the kingdoms and nations of men, with their kings, governors and rulers, and he will sink the wicked to misery and woe, and we cannot help it.

Let us be just, merciful, faithful and true, and let us live our religion, and we shall be taught all things pertaining to the building up of Zion. Let us train our minds until we delight in that which is good, lovely and holy, seeking continually after that intelligence which will enable us effectually to build up Zion, which consists in building houses, tabernacles, temples, streets, and every convenience necessary to embellish and beautify, seeking to do the will of the Lord all the days of our lives, improving our minds in all scientific and mechanical knowledge, seeking diligently to understand the great design and plan of all created things, that we may know what to do with our lives and how to improve upon the facilities placed within our reach.

This is as good an earth as need be, if we will make it so. The Lord has redeemed it, and it is his wish that his Saints should beautify and sanctify it and bring it back to the presence of the Father and Son yet more pure, more holy and more excellent than it was in its original state, with ourselves upon it.

It pleased me very much, when I returned home, to see a good many little boys learning to cut rock, thus doing good to their parents, themselves and the kingdom of God. Send on some more boys and put them in the joiner shops, or learn them to make shoes, harness and everything that will be useful and profitable. Every Elder should have at least one trade, and if possible more than one, and still continue to learn and improve in a knowledge of the world and all things pertaining to it, learning how to better the condition of everything that exists—in particular of ourselves and those around us. Let the husband make an improvement upon his kitchen and pantry and upon his bedrooms for the benefit of his family, and improve his gardens, walks, &c., beautifying your habitations and their surroundings, making pavements and planting shade trees.

Cease lying, cease taking the name of God in vain, cease being dishonest with your employers, with one another and with your God, and the Lord will love and bless us. Let us learn our duties one toward another, the husband to the wife, the parents to their children, and the children to their parents, and let us all learn and practice our duties to God and his kingdom. God bless you: Amen.

Remarks by Elder Orson Hyde, made at the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1863.

Brethren and sisters, I feel thankful for this opportunity of speaking to you for a short time. I feel under obligation for this privilege of speaking a second time before an assembly like this, and I will try not to infringe upon the time of the brethren who have not yet spoken to you, but who I know are anxious to do so. To this end, I will endeavor to confine myself to matters that are directly before us and to present them as they appear to me.

I may refer to some things that are a little foreign to the texts we have had given to us, but I hope I shall not be tedious.

We discover that the nation and people from whom we have come are engaged to the utmost of their ability in waging war upon each other. In consequence of this, there is tax upon tax, or rather I should say one tax levied after another to pay the enormous cost of this fratricidal war. One draft after another is being made to bring into the field as many men as possible, the best and those that will be the most efficient to fight the battles of the nation. It is also perceivable, by reading the late dispatches, that there are apprehensions of a serious war with the Indians and a partial squinting at a foreign war with England and possibly with some other power. How this may be and how it may turn out, it is not necessary for me to predict, but as the life springs to these deliberations and to these transactions that are now going on, I refer you to the predictions and revelations given of the Lord through Joseph Smith. Brethren and sisters, the nation of them that afflicted Israel have now found a way to use all their muscular power, and have they not use for all their beef cattle, for all their horses and for all the mules and wagons that they can muster into service? The nation go to war for the purpose of saving themselves, for the purpose of protecting themselves in their nationality, and they intend to make the banner of the nation universal, swayed without let or hindrance. Well, now the question is, How will these things result? What will be the result of them? They saw fit to decline the offer that Heaven made to them when it presented to them the scepter of peace through the everlasting Gospel. The means used was by many considered to be too insignificant to bring down the high and lofty, to bring them to consider the diminutive things of Mormonism. No, the Gospel came under a name that was too insignificant and too degrading; but I have seen a something before now wrapped up in a very ordinary style that has presented a somewhat rough exterior, but inside the cover there has been contained true, genuine wealth, and when it became visible it astonished its beholders, and it is and will be so with “Mormonism.” It was wrapped up by circumstances in the beginning, and, in fact, it is still out of sight in the estimation of the world. It was wrapped up—in what shall I say? In swaddling clothes, arrayed in a very unseemly garb; but those that have unrolled it have discovered the valuable treasure, and some few of them can appreciate it, for they have learned that it is the gift of heaven, given to the earth, born upon the earth and cradled there. Much too low a region to secure the privilege of the society and consideration of the great and noble. Those few that have looked to the healing balm, to the merits of the thing itself, instead of to the misrepresentation of its enemies, have not only been healed, but healed and saved by it, and some of them are now basking in heavenly realms of light; for despite of all the disadvatageous circumstances by which they were surrounded in this life, there were a host of friends ready to hail them in that blessed world, where they are beyond the reach of mortal foe and all the powers of darkness.

The nation of which I was speaking is employing all these means to which I alluded with a view to safety; but the question is, whether infinite wisdom and the economy of God will not cause these means to prove their ruin and to produce ends and results the very opposite to what they anticipate. My opinion is, that the results will show that the wisdom of the wise shall perish and the understanding of the prudent be hid. Now, if the nation employ all these means to make their own breastworks and bulwarks, secure themselves against an outward enemy and against a day of famine, they would do well. In their own estimation and feeling they are displaying superlative wisdom, but in the estimation of the Almighty they are destroying all their vitality and power. If this be the design as a chastisement from the Almighty for the transgressions of the people, then they will weaken and waste away each other until retributive justice is satisfied. While they will make such efforts and exertions for their kingdom and government, which is but one of time, what should we do and what exertions should we make to build up a kingdom in which there is life, exaltation and glory for evermore? Should we not labor to clear away and to demolish the great Babylon of corruption that has afflicted the human race with increasing strength from the fall of man? This great fabric will be destroyed in this generation. And I ask, How much exertion should we make towards building up the kingdom of God, which is destined to fill the whole earth?

I can tell you that this nation is going to be furnished with all the business they can attend to, and I expect when they have issued their last dollar in specie they will then issue, their scrip by tens and by hundreds of millions. While this is going on, we shall have all the business that we can attend to, and we shall see more than ever the necessity of faithfulness and fidelity to the kingdom of God.

We have heard some good remarks about this Tabernacle; we have also had some good instruction relative to the building of the Temple, the emigration of the poor, the sending out of missionaries to preach the Gospel of life to the nations, and to this end we have been called upon to provide a fund for their assistance, and also for the assistance of their families during their absence from home, that is, such of them as have families who will be dependent upon the fund. This is an important call, and one that should be attended to as far as we have the means to comply with the requisition. Not only has this matter been laid before us, but we must remember George A.’s sermon, in which he was so emphatic in regard to raising hemp and making ourselves hemp coats to prevent our being placed in as bad, if not a worse condition than our natives are at the present time in these mountains.

With all these matters before us, it really seems as if there would be plenty of business for us all, that is, if we are attentive to the requirements of the Priesthood. Let me say further, that if we task our energies to the utmost of our capacity, there will then be no troubles from without. It does seem that every nerve has got to be stretched and every possible means within our power used for the building up of the kingdom of God. We shall be required to employ ourselves indefatigably for the promotion of truth, for the strengthening of the stakes of Zion; and then if there be no more strength remaining for us to defend ourselves against the pitiless foe, then, I say, if all our means, ability, and powers are exerted to build up the kingdom which the Almighty has established, he will say, “Let them alone, they have enough to bear; their sacrifices and labors are accepted.” If we do not do this and neglect to comply with the requirements made of us, perhaps the surplus strength which we possess may be called into requisition by an enemy from without. This is an item worth remembering by all Saints.

Now, here is a Tabernacle to be built, and what argument shall I need to urge in its favor. Here are today I do not know how many thousands of people exposed to the wind and dust under this Bowery, and at this early season of the year we are very liable to have rain or snow. Not only so, but the winter, although only just passed, may be said to be again approaching, and in that season of the year we have representatives coming from all parts of the Territory to legislate for the good of the community, and to have their feelings cemented together by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be instructed themselves in the important duties of their callings, then to return to their several and respective localities and labor to edify the Saints and to keep them posted up with regard to the things required of them.

It is important that we have a comfortable place to meet in, and I hope the brethren will bear in mind the necessity there is for having this building erected. Now, here with us there is everything to be considered that is requisite to make life comfortable; and while upon this point let me ask you one thing, or, in other words, present a figure to you. I will suppose that we are standing by a large dock, and while there we see a ship out at sea, and she has sprung a leak, and the pumps are playing to endeavor to keep her afloat, but she is going down, and there are lots of women and children, and they are crying out, “For Heaven’s sake, save us, we are going down.” Now, if those on shore would not fly to the rescue, but would allow that ship, with her passengers and crew, to go down, their cries unheard, what would all the world say of such inhumanity? They would say, “You are a set of unfeeling wretches.” Well, now, on the other hand, supposing that we should employ every means in our power and get all the help we could, and thereby save those unfortunate creatures and bring them safely to shore, what would they say? Why, they would say, “You have done well, you have done nobly in rescuing falling and sinking humanity and bringing them to land.” What is that sinking ship of which I figuratively speak? Why, it is old Babylon, and she is fast sinking through the leak, and the parties interested may rig all the pumps and employ all the hands they can to work them, but she is sinking, sinking; and who are those that are crying for deliverance, who are chained by afflictions, bound by poverty and confined to the sinking ship, and whose cries are ascending up to God for their deliverance? Well, it says in the old Prophets, “There shall be saviors come up upon mount Zion;” and if this be so, we have to save the world, for we have the character and reputation of professing to be those saviors spoken of.

Babylon the Great is that ship of distress of which I have been speaking, and many of the passengers thereon are crying, “For God’s sake, deliver us.” and if we can supply the place of boats with wagons and teams, the passengers can be brought home in security. Then, instead of applying the oar, let the teamsters be in readiness with the necessary fit-out; let the wagons be in order, and, to the best of our ability, let us supply those who are going on this mission with the necessary comforts of life. If we cannot do this as well as we would, let us do the best we can. Our business is to build up the kingdom of God, and we should each do what we can for its accomplishment. I have been on board of ships a great deal, and probably I feel the weight of this figure more than those who have not had this experience.

I will suppose an individual case; for instance, here is a man, his wife, and three children on board a vessel that has sprung a leak. This man has a good deal of money and other property on board, and he discovers that the vessel is fast letting in water, and the man says, “O, my wife; O, my children: my wife and children and my money will all go down together;” with such a family, under such circumstances, such an ordeal is terrible. Now, in such a case as this, a man loses all that he has got; his money, his wife, his children, and his all.

Now, we will try this case on the other hand. Supposing the ship to be in a dangerous condition, and the man, with thought as quick as lightning, says, “Money, take care of thyself; wife and children, let us do the best we can to save ourselves.” With this he pulls off his coat and stuffs it into the hole where the leakage is, and by this and other means does all he can to stop the ship from sinking. By taking this course he manifests an independence of character, a fortitude and a determination to live, and thereby saves the ship and many of its passengers. The ship is hauled into port, and the man says, “I have lost all, but I have saved all.”

In regard to building up and embellishing the kingdom of God and preparing the way for the coming of the Son of Man, let me ask is there anything we will not be willing to sacrifice for its accomplishment? I believe not, for those that make the sacrifice will be crowned with laurels of honor, they will be sanctified among the angels, and be pointed at as the ones that have held out the hand of deliverance to the poor and oppressed Saints. But says one, “I withheld my cattle and my means when called upon; they dwindled, they pined away, others were stolen, and thus I lost them all. I wish I had them now; I wish I could have done something that would have been spoken of as honorable by the sanctified ones; but now, poor, penurious, wretched soul that I am, I have wasted my substance; I have wasted it and lavished it upon the pleasures of life, and, alas! I have no inheritance in the kingdom of God.”

Brethren and sisters, let us build a Temple, let us build the Tabernacle, and then we shall feel as comfortable as I anticipated we should when I heard George A. speaking of it.

I feel thankful for the privilege and honor of standing before you. I know that our religion is true; I know that it came from heaven, and I know that in these days it is as it was spoken by the Prophets of old, “Touch not mine anointed, neither do my prophets any harm.” Why not? it may be asked. Simply because they will have the management of your affairs by and by, and they will bring the blush upon your face, should any of you interfere with them now. Be wise, therefore, and be instructed, ye judges of the earth; “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry with thee, and thou perish on the way.”

I would merely add that we have the mouthpiece of the Almighty with us, and it speaks to the nations and to the people of the whole world. Go where you will to find the word of God, circumscribe the universe, and where will you find a man that can stand up and say, “Thus saith the Lord God Almighty?” You may search the world over, and you will not find one; but here are men having responsibility pertaining to the kingdom of God. In the world you may find men of eloquence, strength, and refinement; but can you find that peculiar leaven of righteousness that is here? No, gentlemen; corruption stalks abroad in the land, and the tempter stands forth presenting to the unwary all the allurements which lead to the abominations of Great Babylon. Could I speak with the voice of an angel, I would say that God has spoken from the heavens through his servants in the last days, and that here is the mouthpiece of the Most High, ready to instruct, to correct, and to impart the principles of eternal life to every inquiring soul. Inquire, then, for it is not too late yet; to obey is life everlasting; in this Church is peace and happiness, and out of it misery and woe.

God bless the Saints forever, and God bless all that bless them and all that feel to sustain the servants of the living God. Let the blessings of everlasting peace be with them, which is my prayer in the name of Jesus: Amen.