Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered at Bountiful, May 17th, 1868.

I have been looking back over my own experience a little, with regard to the religion that we have embraced. I have been asking myself what proof have the Latter-day Saints that they are actually in the path that leads to everlasting life? Have the Saints any evidence that they love and serve God? I will tell you my experience in a few words. Before the gospel came to me, the world was dark and thorny; and I studied for myself to do business as a man of the world. I soon became disgusted with the world as it was, for I found that I could scarcely trust anyone. When the gospel came I found what I wanted. It filled every wish, desire and hope pertaining to this life or that which is to come. I received it and the spirit and life of it, and I have asked myself, while sitting here, what proof have I that I love God, that I delight to serve Him and build up His kingdom? It is natural to love somebody, or something or other. If you find a person who does not wish to love some object, you would call that man or woman an unnatural person. If I am asked what I love, I would answer, “I love this gospel which I have received.” “Do you love the wicked?” No. “Do you not like to converse with them?” No. I have no delight in the wicked, in their conversation or society, only to do them good. This proves to me that if I do not love God I do not love any being. If I do not love His gospel which He has revealed in the day in which we live, I do not love any principles upon the earth. If I do not love the people who are gathered out from the nations, who compose the Church and Kingdom of God on the earth, I do not love anybody. If I do not love to talk about our religion and to teach it to others, have it in my house and with me all the time, I do not love anything. If I spend a minute that is not in some way devoted to building up the Kingdom of God and promoting righteousness, I regret that minute, and wish it had been otherwise spent. This proves to me that the Spirit of the Lord is with me.

Our teaching to the brethren and sisters is for them to purify themselves. I shall not ask them to love the Lord our God with all their hearts, it is a requirement of Heaven, and you know it as well as I do. But will ask some things. Will our brethren cease using language which they should not use? This is one of the rules in the School of the Prophets. Will the Elders of Israel pray in their families? Will they pay their tithing? We can ask this, for it is an outward labor. If they do not love the Lord with all their hearts, they can pay their tithing, and pay it as an old gentleman in the east said he could do when he was paying a poor man some grain. He said the devil stepped up to him and whispered “scoop but a little,” He stood and listened, and something said to him again, “scoop out a little,” tempting him. Said he, “Mr Devil, leave my barn; if you don’t, I’ll heap every half bushel for this poor man.”

They can heap up the half bushel, and send in the butter and eggs for the Public Works, and to feed the poor a great many of whom are supported from tithing; they can perform required labor, if they do not love the Lord with all their hearts; and they can cease to take the name of the Lord in vain. If you say you get tempted to use language you should not use, I will tell you what to do. If you are in the canyon and your cattle are likely to fill you with wrath, fill your mouth with India-rubber and keep it close that the words cannot get out. Do not say a word to grieve the Spirit of God.

Cease contending with each other. Keep the Word of Wisdom. There are but few of the Elders now who use tobacco, and our sisters can do without their tea and coffee. They can keep the Word of Wisdom, for many of them do keep it. I only saw one cup of coffee last summer during my trip south, and it was for an old lady eighty years of age. She asked me if she might not take her cups of coffee; and I told her to take it, and blessed her and her coffee. We can stop the use of liquor. We can be wise in our work and not labor beyond our strength. We can cease running in debt and purchasing things that we could do without.

If the Latter-day Saints could look at things as they are, they would see that there is a grievous sin upon this people for neglecting their stock and letting them perish; turning their sheep on to the range for a few hours, and bringing them up and penning them twenty hours out of the twenty-four, until they become diseased and sickly. If the people could see as an angel sees, they would behold a great sin in neglecting the stock which the Lord has given them, for it is the Lord who gives us the increase of cattle and sheep, yet many of the people treat them as a thing of naught. I heard a man say, in 1853, that it was a curse to the people to have so much wheat. He said he could not get anything but wheat for his work. I told him if he did not see cause in this life, to repent his saying, he would yet repent it. These are all the gifts of God; and when we treat lightly His gifts, it is a sign we desire that which we should not possess.

These are things concerning which the people need to be instructed. We should take a course to preserve our lives and the lives of the animals committed to our care. We should refrain from using swine’s flesh. We should breathe the pure mountain air in our bedrooms. We should have lofty rooms, high above the ground, for though this earth is pure, compared with miasmatic places, the air that is above the ground is preferable to that close to it. We should have plenty of pure, fresh air. If children are kept in close bedrooms, they become puny and weakly. Let them sleep where they can have abundance of pure air, in well ventilated rooms, or out of doors, in the summer time, in a safe place; it will be most beneficial for their health.

In building up the Zion of God on this land we must become very different from what we are now, in many respects and particularly in financial matters. I look at myself and ask myself what have I done to become wealthy? Nothing; only to preach the gospel. Yet I have nothing but what is the Lord’s. He has only made me steward over it, to see what I will do with it. I have never walked across the streets to make a trade. I do not care anything about such things; I desire to preach the gospel and build up the Kingdom of God. True, I have considerable wealth, but it has not been my wisdom that has put it in my possession. There are many men who are so anxious for wealth, that if they cannot make a fortune in a few months, they feel they are not succeeding according to their desires, and they turn to something else. I do not do this; nor am I anxious to spend a dollar as fast as I make it. Some people feel as if a dollar would burn a hole in their pockets; and you will see a great many almost crazy to spend whatever they have. When they see wheat selling for a price far below its value, instead of putting it in a bin and keeping it, they dispose of it—throw it away, comparatively speaking. I keep it, and by this means I am now able to feed the public hands.

Years ago, Brother Kimball counseled the people to lay up two year’s provisions, and then enough for four, for six and for seven years. I have it now, and I am dealing it out. Some people have so much faith that although the grasshoppers are around in such vast numbers, they are confident of an abundant harvest, because of the movements made to gather the poor this season. They say the Lord would not inspire His servants to bring the poor from the nations that they might starve. And so believing, they will go and sell the last bushel of wheat for comparatively nothing, trusting in God to provide for their wants. My faith is not of this kind; it is reasonable. If the Lord gives good crops this season, and tells us to lay up from that abundance, I do not think He will increase His blessings upon us if we foolishly squander those He has already given us. I believe He will bless the earth for His people’s sake; and I will till it and try to get a crop from it; but if I neglect to take advantage of the goodness of the Lord, or misuse or treat lightly His mercies, I need not expect that they will be continued upon me to the same extent. Have not my sisters here, gleaned in the fields around for years past? And when they have had their gleanings thrashed out, have they not taken the grain to the stores and sold it to our enemies, instead of laying it by? And yet they will expect to be blessed continually with plenty! I have not so much faith as this. I have a reasonable faith, a sustaining faith, one that I can build my hopes upon; and I think I will not be disappointed. I labor and toil, but I do not waste my labor.

Now, you who wish to hire out with the wicked and mingle with the ungodly, does it suit you to hear the name and character of the Deity profaned, and every principle of propriety violated? If you go to the gold mines, or wherever the wicked are, you will hear the name of that Being whom you recognize and acknowledge as your Savior, blasphemed and taken in vain, and the name and character of the Almighty vilified and abused. Can you bear this? Does it suit you to have your ears saluted with such language and your spirits contaminated with such society? I would not associate with those who blaspheme the name of God, nor would I let my family associate with them. By this you may know whether you are in the path that leads to life and salvation. If you can hear the name of the Deity lightly spoken of and blasphemed, and not be shocked at it you may know that you are not in that path. Some of the young men who had been with the surveying party last year, wanted to come into my house as friends and visit my daughters, when they came home. They asked me if I had any objections. I told them I had. They asked me the reason. My reply was, I believe you have been wicked, while you have been gone. Have you not been in the habit of taking the name of the Deity in vain? They admitted they had occasionally; and I told them that was my objections to their being in my house. I do not wish my daughters to be entangled with any who do not serve God. I would rather see everyone of them sealed to Father Perkins here, who is 85 years of age, than that any of them should be sealed to a wicked man.

Can you mingle with the wicked and feel contented in their company? If you can you are on the road to destruction; you are not on the road to perfection. If you can deal, and trade, and visit, and ride, and be with the ungodly, and cannot see the difference between them and the righteous, if you are ever saved in any decent kingdom, it will be because you are totally ignorant. But if you can truthfully say, I love prayer, not swearing; I love truth, not lying; I love honesty, not dishonesty; I love God and His laws, you may be assured you are on the road to exaltation and eternal life. Let us sustain the kingdom of God; and if we do, we will sustain ourselves in truth and righteousness.

From my remarks, some may gather the idea that if a poor, miserable, corrupt, wicked person was to be found among us, who was suffering for lack of food, he should be turned out of doors. No, no; feed him, and let him go his own way; but do not let him have any influence in your families. Be kind to all as our Father in heaven is kind. He sends His rain upon the just and the unjust; and gives the sun to shine upon the evil and the good. So let our goodness extend to all the works of His hands, where we can; but do not yield to the spirit and influence of evil. Do not encourage wickedness in our midst. Do not encourage the wicked to come and live with us, to lead our brethren astray. Do not follow after vain and foolish fashions. If our ladies see a new fashion brought in by some poor, miserable, corrupt person, they adopt it; and everyone wants to pattern after the fashions that are brought here no matter how ridiculous they may be nor how wicked the person who introduces them. Many of the fashions are unbecoming and inconvenient. They do not become Saints. And the daughters of Israel should understand what fashions they should have, without borrowing from the impure and unrighteous. They should hearken to the counsels of those whom God has appointed to lead His people. We have the words of life; we are the head; and we should lead in fashions and in everything that is right and proper; and not be led by the world. We have salvation to offer to the people; and if they will not accept it, the result will be with themselves.

The Latter-day Saints should wake up and begin to think of these things. We must mark out a path for ourselves and walk in it. Just as sure as we are the Church and Kingdom of God, just so sure have we to give laws and fashions to the world, sooner or later. When we walk humbly before the Lord and observe His precepts, we can say to the world, follow us and our fashions. Then they may offer us fashions—new ones—from New York, from London, from Paris, but we will not have them. We will tell them we are capable of making our own fashions, and our own clothing, without following after anyone.

Brethren and sisters, I can say with all my heart, God bless you. I desired to come here to see you, to talk with you, to see how you felt. By coming into this house I can tell something of your spirit. You are improving. The people are improving as well as their leaders; and if they will look at their own experience, they will say concerning the subjects I have been treating on, “That is what I have been looking for and what I want.” We desire to get closer to the mark, to have closer communion with God, to be prepared for the day that is approaching, when we will have to go and build up the Center Stake of Zion, where the order of Enoch, as is recorded in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, will be established.

May the Lord bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, at Bountiful, May 17th, 1868.

There is a large congregation of people before me who profess to be Latter-day Saints, though they are few in number when compared with the people at large. But those who are here, are here because of our religion. It is very seldom that you find a person in our midst, who is one of our citizens, who has come here with any other object than to serve God, be numbered with His Saints, help to build up Zion and establish peace and righteousness upon the earth. We look upon each other as though we ought to be Saints indeed; but while we are looking at our brethren and sisters we are very apt to behold their faults instead of their virtues. We are all liable to err; we are subject to weaknesses and liable to go astray; to do that which we should not do, and leave undone that we should do. This seems to be interwoven with the nature of all mankind through the fall. Still, we are here as Latter-day Saints; we have assembled ourselves together to become one; to become the people of God, the children of Zion, the children of light. We are here for the express purpose of separating ourselves from the world and establishing that order of government that we read of in the Holy Scriptures; and we desire to see the glory of Zion upon the earth that has been spoken of by the Prophets of God.

The mass of the people in Christendom are taught to believe in the Bible, and they are taught to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer and Savior of the world. This is the tradition of our fathers. This has been taught to us. And the Christian world have sought to understand enough with regard to the plan of salvation to prepare them to enjoy the happiness and bliss of a world where righteousness reigns triumphant. A portion of the Christian world say they are preparing for the Millennium and the Second Advent of the Savior; but their lives and conduct do not agree with their professions. They are taught to believe the sayings of Jesus and the Apostles and Prophets, sufficient to die by, and that they may be prepared to enjoy heaven hereafter; but they have no idea of making a heaven here on earth, of building up the Kingdom of God, that Jesus can come and receive his own. Our traditions have been to try and get through this world having religion enough and belief enough in Christ so that we could leave it and go where we could enjoy heavenly bliss forever. The Christian world have very limited ideas with regard to the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth. We as Latter-day Saints have confessed before Heaven, before the heavenly hosts, and before the inhabitants of the earth, that we really believe the Scriptures as they are given to us, according to the best understanding and knowledge that we have of the translation, and the spirit and meaning of the Old and New Testaments.

We have confessed before angels and men, and have acknowledged by our acts that we believe most assuredly that Jesus has called upon us as his disciples—those who will receive the truth, obey His commandments, observe His precepts and honor His laws, to come out from among the wicked, to separate ourselves from sinners and from sin. If we have not confessed this by our acts as well as by our faith, then we are mistaken concerning the gathering of ourselves together. But we have confessed it, and we do believe it, and it is for us to live according to that which we acknowledge. We acknowledge the covenant under which we live; we believe it, and are honest in our belief; and we will honor that covenant by obedience to the laws of God. If we do not, our words and our actions contradict each other. By our acts, by our coming together, by our leaving our homes, our friends and our birthplaces that were dear to us according to the customs and belief of the world, we have declared our desire to serve the Lord. We have left the graves of our fathers—as our natives here would say, who lay great stress on birthplaces as well as many civilized nations; many have left fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters; and some have left husbands and some have left wives and children: what for? Because they believed in the words of Jesus and His Apostles, as well as in the Prophets and in the testimony of the Prophet Joseph and the Elders who have been sent unto them. This people have confessed this, and have shown to the world that they are honest in their belief; and that they are willing to carry out in their lives the spirit and meaning of this faith. Is not this the situation of the Latter-day Saints? It is. This is our profession before the Heavens and all the inhabitants of the earth. Yet when we examine the feelings, views, wishes, desires and aspirations of this people, we see them wandering after almost everything but that which they should possess. With all these professions, and our willingness to forsake fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, wives and children, houses and homes, and the comforts of life for the gospel’s sake, we are yet far from aspiring to the holiness and the purity and perfection of Latter-day Saints. That people should forsake everything on the earth that would naturally be dear to them, of a worldly nature, for righteousness’ sake, and then fall into a deeper vortex of folly and sin than they were in before, is astonishing.

My mission to the people is to teach them with regard to their everyday lives. I presume there are many here who have heard me say, years and years ago, that I cared very little about what will take place after the millennium. Elders may preach long discourses concerning what took place in the days of Adam, what occurred before the creation, and what will take place thousands of years from now, talking of things which have occurred or that will occur yet, of which they are ignorant, feeding the people on wind; but that is not my method of teaching. My desire is to teach the people what they should do now, and let the millennium take care of itself. To teach them to serve God and to build up His Kingdom is my mission. I have taught faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. These principles you were taught in foreign lands. You are teaching them to your children. There is scarcely a child in Israel but is looking forward with anxiety to the time when he or she will be baptized. These things we understand alike. We have been baptized and have had hands laid upon us for the reception of the Holy Ghost. We have been taught to exercise faith, and to enjoy the gifts of the gospel. What has to be taught now? How to live. Have they to be taught to send for the Elders when they are sick, and that the prayer of faith will heal them? They understand these things. We are to be taught with regard to our everyday life in a temporal point of view.

Some may think they have the privilege of going to the gold mines or doing as they please, without being instructed concerning their temporal duties; that no person has a right to interfere with their temporal matters. Yet we have been performing labors year after year from the beginning, of various kinds, that the people have not seemed to think have had anything to do with temporal matters. I commenced such labors in the beginning of my career in the ministry. When the people believed and received the gospel, I commenced my temporal labors. They were baptized, which is a temporal work. By the laying on of hands—another temporal labor—they received the Holy Ghost. When they received that Spirit they saw they were to be gathered out from among the wicked. They saw the judgments of God were to be poured out upon the ungodly. This they saw in the vision of their minds. They saw the Saints were to be gathered out, understanding this by the Spirit which they had received. What had to be taught to them then? To gather up their little substance; if they had a farm or possessions, to sell them; and gather up with their families and friends and substance, to the land of Zion. And where is the land of Zion? It is wherever the finger of the Lord has pointed out for His people to gather to. That is the place to go to. I recollect a lady asking me in Canada, in 1832 or ’33, how large Jackson County was; and when I said 30 miles square, said she, “Suppose the whole world would embrace your doctrine, how would they get into Jackson County?” My reply was that, “Jackson County, in that case, would cover the whole world. Zion will expand as far as the necessity of the case requires it. You need not fear but there will be room for you, if you believe and gather with the Saints.”

We commenced teaching the people the doctrine of Jesus, and then we commenced to build up the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth. We commenced this years ago. Have we been successful? In part, we have. A few have been gathered together, but our work is not accomplished. The Lord never could teach His people while they were among the wicked how to live by themselves, how to unite their efforts and their whole power for the establishment of His Kingdom. This kingdom is not of the world, says Jesus. It is different from any other kingdom that is now upon the earth; and while the people of it are mixed with the people of other nations and kingdoms, the Lord could never teach them how to establish His Kingdom. He must get them away from the wicked; gather them out; bring them into a place He has reserved for them to gather together, where He can teach them of His laws.

As I said once to my brethren in the school of the Prophets—I have not asked you, I dare not ask you to fulfil almost the first requirement of the Kingdom of Heaven, almost the simplest principle, and one of the first things that should be observed. I have not asked the people yet to perform this great labor, I will say it is a great labor, and if I were to refer it to you, you would say the same. You may ask what it is? It is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself. Now, is this not almost one of the first requirements that God has made of His people? and I have not yet required it of the people. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and then speak evil of thy neighbor? No, no! Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and speak that which is not true? No, oh, no! Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and take that which is not thy own? No, no, no! Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and seek after the riches of the world and forsake your religion? No! Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and take His name in vain, curse and swear? No, never! If the love of God was really in the hearts of all who call themselves Latter-day Saints, there would be no more swearing, no more lying, no more deceiving, no more speaking evil of one another, no more running after the ungodly nor dealing with the enemies of Zion, no more running after the gold mines; nothing would be sought after only to build up the Kingdom of God. This we have not yet asked. But we do ask some things. Let us forsake those sins that are so grievous, and let us try to do right before the Heavens and with each other. Look at the Elders of Israel today; how many of them are gone to hunt gold. Hundreds of them are running off to Cheyenne to get work on the railroad. Where are their crops, their flocks and their families? All left, that they may get a little wealth.

We have been crying to the people for years and years to cease their trading and trying to speculate with the enemies of this people. We have said to them, “Store up those things that the Lord gives to us, these are years of plenty, these are the days when the abundance of the blessings of Heaven are upon the soil we occupy; treasure up your wheat or our traders will take our flour and carry it to our enemies.” But our elders will go and borrow money of strangers for the sake of speculating. Is this a fact? I do not know how it is here in Bountiful, but it is so in other places. Bountiful is a good and suggestive name; is it an appropriate one? Have you here an abundance of flour? If so, I will call upon you for some for the Public Works. There is nothing, nor has there been for a long time, to supply the public hands, only what I furnish out of my private storehouse. If you have an abundance of beeves and flour and butter and eggs, and other things, will you furnish something for the Public Works? But if you are as they are in many other places, many of you have not got breadstuffs to last you one week. If one-half have breadstuffs to last them till harvest, it is more than they have in other places. Yet we have asked the people to save their wheat against such a year as last year or this year. Here are the devouring insects ready to take everything that we have. These are things the people have got to be taught to observe. There are certain rules in life and certain principles to be observed by this people. They must cease trading with those who would destroy us. To be called out from the wicked, and then take a course to call the wicked to us, how inconsistent it is! If the Lord were to say, “I will let the wicked drive you again, and I will call you to another place, where there is no one to disturb you;” how long would it be until the course taken by many would call the wicked in among us again, to seek to destroy us? The Latter-day Saints must stop this course, or they will bring evil upon themselves, and we will have to leave. These are the things we have to learn. We have the privilege of choosing now. It is in our hands, it is within our power, whether we will stay in these mountains and build up the Zion of our God, or make the wicked and ungodly fat by our labor and give them our possessions. This many are doing, by running in debt to our enemies, and pursuing a course that is wrong. If they do not cease it they will have cause to weep and mourn.

All Latter-day Saints enter the new and everlasting covenant when they enter this Church. They covenant to cease sustaining, upholding and cherishing the kingdom of the devil and the kingdoms of this world. They enter into the new and everlasting covenant to sustain the Kingdom of God and no other kingdom. They take a vow of the most solemn kind, before the heavens and earth, and that, too, upon the validity of their own salvation, that they will sustain truth and righteousness instead of wickedness and falsehood, and build up the Kingdom of God, instead of the kingdoms of this world. When we came here to these valleys, who were here to trouble us? Nobody; but we have fed those who would destroy us, opened our houses and farms to them, to speculate and trade and traffic and get gain, and what do we make by it?

Now, some of my brethren may ask, “Brother Brigham, do you expect to dictate me where I shall sow my wheat, and when I shall sow it, and in similar matters?” I have said and will say again, if Brother Brigham had time to be in every house he would teach them how to keep house. How many sisters set up their stockings by guess work, and do not know the number of the yarn and the number of the needles to use? In this matter I would instruct many of the sisters, if they would not take umbrage at me for doing so. The sisters ought to know about housekeeping and the brethren who farm about farming, but they need to be taught. Learn to be neat and cleanly in all that you do. Do you ask me if I am going to dictate you in such matters? If I am not to dictate you, you are not to be saved in the kingdom I calculate to be saved in. If I know something that you do not understand it is my duty to teach you; and if you know something that I do not know, it is your duty to communicate your knowledge to me, till we become perfect by increasing in knowledge. Brethren, we have many things yet to learn. Many of the brethren south are ruined by running in debt; men of handsome property, which will go for comparatively nothing because of their vain imaginations.

Ye Latter-day Saints, learn to sustain yourselves, produce everything you need to eat, drink or wear; and if you cannot obtain all you wish for today, learn to do without that which you cannot purchase and pay for; and bring your minds into subjection that you must and will live within your means. When we, as a people, can come to understand that we can live by ourselves, then we can live of ourselves, without any outside world. We did live so when we first came here. Were there any stores to go to? Were there places to go to where money could be hired? Did we live? Yes. Were we healthy? Yes. Much healthier, as a people, than we are now. Did we grow and increase? Yes; and as soon as we had time to till the earth and reap a crop, we produced wheat and corn and potatoes. We turned our cattle on to the range to make our beef. We had plenty of wheat. We began to make our clothing here. We drove in sheep and we took care of the wool, and made it into cloth. I brought a carding machine with me. It was the only one in the Territory for years, and it carded up a great deal of wool. We made up this wool into cloth and wore it. When the gold came, then merchants came and the spirit of speculation came. Then men ran to the gold mines to get money; and then was the rush to the stores. Says the husband “I must have a suit of broadcloth and a fine pair of boots;” while the wife and daughters said they must have nice bonnets and dresses; and this has been continued until we have involved ourselves.

Are you going to be dictated in these matters? Yes, or you will sooner or later leave the Kingdom of God and go somewhere else. Is it hard to say this to the people? Is it infringing upon their rights? They have the privilege to choose the good or to choose the evil. It is as manly and as praiseworthy for an individual to make the choice to do good, work righteousness and love and serve God—it is more noble, than to choose the downward road. One or the other will be the choice of every individual. Do not trifle with evil, or you will be overcome by it before you know. Our business is to build up the Zion of God on the earth. Do you think you will do it and go hand in hand with the wicked? No, never. I know you may say, and say truly, according to the parable spoken by Jesus to his disciples, when the bridegroom was coming, the cry was, “Go ye out to meet him,” but while he tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And when they awoke with the cry, “the bridegroom is here,” there were foolish virgins among them who had no oil in their lamps. He did not say that they would be among the ungodly. It is among those who are the bride, the Lamb’s wife, that the foolish are to be found. But he never has instructed us to call on the ungodly, and those who would mob us, to make foolish virgins. Some may quote the parable of the wheat and the tares and say they must grow together. Let me tell you, the tares will be in the field, and many will think they are wheat, until harvest comes; but at no time has the Lord said, bring the wicked and ungodly among my people to scourge them; for they are capable of bringing upon themselves all the evil necessary to perfect the good. The Lord bless you: Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 10th, 1868.

The gospel which we preach is the gospel of life and salvation. The Church which we represent is the Church and Kingdom of God, and possesses the only faith by which the children of men can be brought back into the presence of our Father and God. The Lord has set his hands to restore all things as in the beginning, and by the administration of His Holy Priesthood, save all who can be saved, cleanse from the world the consequences of the fall and give it to the hands of His Saints. I am a witness of these things. How far short we may come of being what we should be, or of improving as fast as we should, matters not; this is the Kingdom of God, this is the way of life and salvation, and all who hearken to and receive it in their faith, and live it in their lives, will have the privilege of returning to their Father and their God; and none else will come into His presence. It is true that the spirits of all people will return to God who gave them, both Saint and sinner, but as to their staying there and becoming permanent settlers in His immediate presence is another question.

The practical part of the lives of the Saints in our day, and in former days on this earth or on other earths, is another part of the great subject of salvation. The faith of the people as a general thing is correct; but the lives of many of the Latter-day Saints are far from being what they should be. To be Latter-day Saints men and women must be strictly honest; they must observe that code of moral religion which is taught in the world and which is as good as can be taught. There are numbers of the human family who profess the religions of men who live the moral code acknowledged among them as strictly as men and women can do.

When we talk of the true Church of Christ we speak of a system of theology, the principles of which will bear upon every motive and act of mankind. If there is a fault in the people, it will make it manifest; if there is a weakness, it will be made apparent, for the Lord takes this course that His children may exhibit what is in them. In the latter days He will reveal the secrets of the hearts of the children of men. He is now doing this by breaking up the people here and there. He is leading them through circumstances to try them to the uttermost. If we are not tried in all things already, there is plenty of time yet for us to be so tried, even as Abraham was. Be patient, my brethren and sisters, for we shall all have the privilege of being tried to the uttermost if we are worthy. How many trials Abra– ham had, and how severe they were we have not been fully informed. A portion of his life has been committed to paper, and handed down to us, which we can read at our leisure. Whether he was tried as we are tried, and in as many ways as the Latter-day Saints are tried, I do no know. There is no question but that he was tried sufficiently to prove before his Father and God that he was worthy of the blessings he obtained—that he was worthy of the priesthood and the keys thereof—that he was worthy to receive the articles of truth, to dispense salvation to his father’s house and to his friends and neighbors, and to all who would hearken to his counsels.

The Latter-day Saints are a very peculiar people, and they are led in a peculiar way. We are brought into circumstances so as to be a stumbling block to the nations, through the failings and weaknesses of the Latter-day Saints. Jesus was a stumbling block to the nation of the Jews, and to the generation in which he lived, and, to all that knew him, and how singular it is that Jesus Christ, at this late day, and at such a distance from the theater of his operations, should have attained such celebrity and fame; even his disciples are not only canonized, but almost deified, and looked upon as though they were gods come down to dwell with men. Every circumstance connected with the Savior’s life is looked upon as being divine. Christendom now acknowledge that Jesus was the Son of God; they look upon him as God manifested in the flesh according to the New Testament; yet the generation in which He lived did not see these tokens of divinity which this generation recognize. To them he was “a root out of dry ground”—“a stumbling block,” “a rock of offense.” So with the Latter-day Saints. They are a stumbling block to this generation. The world see all their weaknesses and faults, and see no divinity in the work in which they are engaged. Yet this is not to be wondered at, inasmuch as the world could not see it in Jesus when he dwelt in mortality. We are looked upon as a low, degraded, ignorant set of fanatics. This is the opinion of the great majority of the learned and refined world. Others say that our people are the dupes of a few. We do not claim to be very wise, but we do know that that portion of mankind called Christians in our day, who profess to be followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, are grossly ignorant of His character, and of the means and way of Salvation which He offers to the world. The Latter-day Saints, as a people, may not be so far advanced in the knowledge of many of the sciences, as their neighbors; but they are learning how to take care of themselves, which is one of the greatest arts known to man. When the most learned and scientific among men scrutinize their own lives and experience, they are under the necessity of acknowledging that they are faulty, weak, ignorant; they are “strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”

Instead of considering that there is nothing known and understood, only as we know and understand things naturally, I take the other side of the question, and believe positively that there is nothing known except by the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, whether in theology, science, or art. The world receive information and light on great principles of science and knowledge in the arts, to subserve the hidden purposes of the Almighty, but they are ignorant of the source from whence it comes to them. They seek not to know God, whom to know is life everlasting. They seek not to know the source of their own existence, and of all light and truth. They are not willing to acknowledge His hand in anything; and for this the God of Heaven is displeased with them, and His anger is kindled against them. They have every evidence that can be asked that Joseph Smith was a prophet sent from God, yet they cannot acknowledge it; while at the same time, with the scriptures in their hands, they can but acknowledge the supremacy of the doctrine we preach over the dogmas of the age, and in the growth of this community in the time of a constant stream of abuse and persecution, gathering the poor from all nations, they must acknowledge the superior wisdom and power displayed, that cannot be attributed to man. The wisdom which God has given them teaches them better. It teaches them that a secret something, an invisible agency is evidently at work behind the curtain. What mortal has the power to call people from the ends of the earth? While Jesus Christ was in the flesh He did not manifest his power. How much power did He manifest over the people of the world in His day? Did He send His disciples to the nations and call His followers together from the ends of the earth by thousands? He did not. There is no doubt but that He had the power to call the people together; but he did not manifest it. The people saw no exhibition of this power when he was among them. But He is doing it now, and if it had been the time to do it in His day it could have been done by the power of the heavens through Him, as it is now done by the same power through Joseph Smith and his brethren. God is now displaying His power in a marvelous degree, whispering to the inmost souls of the children of men in foreign lands with a still, small voice, “flee to the mountains, for the day of the Lord is upon the wicked nations of Babylon;” and the cry: “come out other, my people” has gone throughout the world. Do we improve as fast as we should? We do not improve as fast as we might; but I am happy to know that we improve, and we can improve more if we please. Compare the progress of the Saints in the days of the Savior and His disciples, with the progress of the Saints in these days.

When a “Mormon” Elder offers evidence of this great work to unbelievers, they tell him that he is a party concerned, and his evidence cannot be taken with regard to Joseph Smith’s mission. I ask the Christian world where are your witnesses that Jesus is the Christ? Who are those who testified of His mission, and how many are there? Eight persons testified of Him, and their testimony is recorded, and they were his disciples and parties concerned; yet at this day all the Christian world is ready to receive their testimony. I testify that this work of God in which we are engaged has been commenced to gather the house of Israel and establish Zion in the last days, and has more outward and weighty evidence to prove that it is of God than there was in the days of Jesus to prove that he was the Christ. When the Book of Mormon came forth it was testified to by twelve witnesses, and who can dispute their testimony? No living person on the earth can do it; and besides the testimony of these twelve witnesses, hundreds and thousands have received a witness to themselves from the Heavens, and who can dispute their testimony? No living person on the earth can do it. This infidel world inquires, “where do you get your testimony?” We answer, we get it from the Heavens. Were we to ask them where they get the knowledge they possess, they reply, “We do not know; it came to us; we know not its source.” We have testimony that the Bible is true, that the prophecies contained in it are true, that Jesus is the son of God, and came to redeem the world. Have the so-called Christian world this kind of testimony? They have not. All the testimony they can boast of is the testimony of eight men who lived nearly two thousand years ago. The infidel world cannot receive their testimony, because they were parties concerned.

We are asked if signs follow the believer in our day as in days of old. We answer, they do. The blind see, the lame leap, the deaf hear, the gift of prophecy is manifest, also the gift of healing, the gift of revelation, the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Jesus said that these signs should follow them that believe. His Church and Kingdom always have these signs which follow the believer in all ages when the true Church is in existence. Do they follow any but believers? They do not. The gift and power of the Holy Ghost, as enjoyed by the ancient saints, and its various manifestations, are not received in the faith of modern Christian sects. They say that the gift and power of the Holy Ghost have ceased; that the canon of Scripture is full; that there is no more new revelation, no more prophecy, no more inspired visions, no more administrations of angels as in days of old, no more voice of God from the heavens, no more inspired prophets and apostles, who seal on earth and it is sealed in heaven; from whence then have they testimony that Jesus is the Christ, and that God lives? The very book which they believe to be inspired, and which they offer to the heathen and the infidel as the strongest evidence they possess for the divinity of their religion declares positively that signs shall follow the believer, and this very important declaration and promise they discard altogether. We say that signs do in our day follow the believer, and here is the witness and testimony that Jesus is the Christ.

If we speak of ourselves our testimony is nothing, but if we speak by the power of God that is within us, the same Spirit bears witness that we are the true followers of the Lord Jesus, and convinceth the world of sin and of a judgment to come. The Spirit of the Almighty is abroad among the people, and all who will listen to the truth will be convinced by the spirit of truth, and they will flow together from distant lands, and as the salt of the earth is gathered out the nations will break to pieces; and are they not at this time breaking to pieces? The honest in heart are gathering out by thousands and tens of thousands from the nations of Babylon. They are leaving their fathers, and mothers, and husbands, and wives, and children, and friends, and associations, at the call of the gospel preached by the Elders of this Church. What power, but the power of God, could stir up the world and enlighten the soul and better the condition of multitudes, teaching them to make the wilderness blossom as the rose and the desert places to be inhabited?

After the Latter-day Saints are gathered together, I repeat, that we do not improve as fast as we should. This Word of Wisdom which has been supposed to have become stale, and not in force, is like all the counsels of God, in force as much today as it ever was. There is life, everlasting life in it—the life which now is and the life which is to come. We have had this Word of Wisdom thirty-five years last February, and the whole people have not yet learned to observe it after the true spirit and meaning of it. There is within a few years past a great improvement in this, so much so that I very much doubt whether a tobacco spittle could be found upon the floor of this tabernacle after this congregation is dismissed. Tobacco is not good to receive into the human system; hot drinks are not good. We will use cold drinks to allay thirst and warm drinks for medicine. Flesh should be used sparingly, in famine and in cold. The people are beginning to listen to these things. The Spirit of the Lord is urging the people to cease from everything that is evil, and to reform in their lives; for unless the spirit urged the people to do right, we might as well talk to the sides of this house. We are urged by the spirit to refrain from articles which tend to death, to preserve this life, which is the most precious life given to mortal beings preparatory to an immortal life. It is our business to prepare to live here to do good. Instead of crying to the people prepare to die, our cry is prepare to live forevermore. These mortal houses will drop off sometime, and when they are cleansed and purified, sanctified and glorified, we shall inherit them again forever and ever. Let all the Saints pursue a course to live. Let those who fight against God’s Kingdom fall asleep; and let those who build it up live and prosper until their work in the flesh is done. We say to worldly-wise men, acknowledge the hand of God in your greatness and wisdom and in all the blessings which you receive, for you receive them all from him.

Are we improving as a people? We are. I have said, and say today, that according to the age of the people we have improved as fast as the church of Enoch. I trust we improve faster, for we have not as much time as they had. In some of the first revelations which were given to this Church the order of Enoch was given for a pattern to this people; and Enoch patterned after the heavens. The object of the School of the Prophets is to train ourselves until we can receive the order of Enoch in all its fullness. In the commencement of this Church the Latter-day Saints could not receive it, and they were driven from city to city, as the Lord said they should be through the mouth of His servant Joseph, until they should be willing to receive this order.

There is no evil in doing good, no wrong in doing right. It is the evil that people do which renders them obnoxious to the heavens, hateful to each other, and unworthy of their being upon the earth. Let the people be righteous, full of love, faith and good works, loving and serving God with all their hearts, and they are happy, and they strive to make everybody around them happy. From henceforth the wicked will become more wicked, and their wickedness will be made more manifest, and the corruptions which now lurk in darkness will stalk abroad, and confidence and safety will vanish from among men, until the good-meaning people among all nations will be willing to flee to any place to find peace and safety. Let us be obedient to the Man we serve. We believe in a one Man power, and that Man is God our Father, who lives in the Heavens. In being united with Him we can see the beauty of the order of heaven.

The written word which we have, namely, the Old and New Testament, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants all agree in testifying that Jesus is the Christ, but no man can know this without the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. Flesh and blood did not reveal that fact to Peter, but the Father who is in heaven. By this power do we known that Christ lives and is the Savior of the world, and has commenced His work in the last days, to gather His people, redeem and build up Zion, gather the remnants of Israel, bring the Gentiles into His covenant who will receive the gospel, restore the Jews to their land, and establish the New and Everlasting covenant, which He established with the fathers and ratified to the children. We are in this work; and we are called to be faithful and to sanctify ourselves as a people and prepare for the coming of the Son of Man. May God help us to do so. Amen.

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the Tabernacle, Bountiful, Sunday, April 12, 1868.

I have not the least disposition to talk to you if you do not wish me to, and if you say you do not want me, I will say good morning and go home. It is no pleasure to talk to a people who will not receive what you say. You know me, and then again you do not know me. You do not know who Heber C. Kimball is, or you would do better. You do not know yourselves, do you? Then how can you expect to know me? A man came to me this morning desiring to have some talk with me. I asked him if he was an honest, upright, truthful man? He replied that he thought he had no right to answer that question; but finally, he said he was an honest man. After he said that, it was revealed to me what sort of a man he was, but not before. I wish the people here today to behave themselves, as this is the Sabbath. Do you know what is the gospel? The gospel is the power of God unto all that obey, not unto all that believe, for the devils believe. Suppose now, for instance, I had here three rules, one a twelve inch, one a six inch and one a three inch. Would the three inch rule measure as far as the twelve inch? No; nor can the three inch or the six inch man measure as far as the twelve inch man, yet both may be good men and just as good as the man that can circumscribe thirteen inches. Therefore, if a man in this respect should be a little behind, we should not whip him up as we would a horse, but we should be lenient towards him.

What brother Stevenson has said this morning is all good, and you would know it if you read the Bible and the Book of Mormon. There is not one quarter of you that read those books as much as I do; if you did, you would know they coincide the one with the other. This book, the Book of Mormon, is a pure record, and I know it, although it treats of wars and contentions. I have lived nearly all my life where it came forth and I understand all about it.

I have been to the altar where Adam offered sacrifices and blessed his sons and then left them and went to heaven. Now I want you to read the Bible and the Book of Mormon, for we have to build a city, we who are righteous and keep the celestial law, we have to build a city that will compare with the one that has gone to heaven. Consider these things and then see how you are progressing.

You sit in judgment on your neighbors, when you are guilty of more tricks than they are, and when there is more evil in you than in them. Jesus said, “thou shalt not speak evil of thy neighbor,” and the commandments say, “thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor,” and the commandments are binding upon us. Jesus said also, “thou shalt not commit adultery.” Now some persons look upon adultery as an awful thing, which it is; but they pay no attention to the other command, which is equally binding, forbidding them to speak evil of their neighbor. It is said thou shalt not speak against the anointed; yet you do speak against them, and justify yourselves in doing evil. It is difficult for many here even to hold my name sacred; and when I have heard of what some men here would do, I have asked myself what manner of men they were. In doing the things that I have been speaking of you commit sin and violate your covenants. Do you doubt that I am one of the Lord’s anointed? Do you not know that I am? This then will affect you unless you make restitution. Shall I tell you how? I wish I could refer you to the revelation. I have had men lie to me, and I have known this by the spirit of revelation, yet I could not prove it. Now these are not men of God. Some of you would like me to present the truth clothed in a fine dress and with hoops rather than that I should present it stark naked; but I speak this for your good, and why then do you wish to run away from or injure your friends?

The Twelve Apostles, when first anointed, went into almost every part of the States, from Ohio to Nova Scotia, and organized Conferences and called on the whole Church to make donation of their means to purchase that land that God said had to be purchased either with money or with blood; and the whole Church, save the leaders, came under condemnation because they did not comply with the revelation. The revelation that gave us the authority and which says, “Let my servants go, &c.,” is in this Book of Covenants. At another time Zion’s Camp was called, before I became an Apostle, and Joseph gathered up the Lord’s warriors, His young men, the male members of the Church, and it took nearly every male member from Nova Scotia to Missouri to reinstate the Lord’s people in the land of Zion. Those young men did their duty, and the Lord accepted their offering. They were the actors then, and are the leading men of the School of the Prophets today. Will this School of the Prophets stop? No, it was commenced in the days of Joseph, and it will not stop. Unless, however, there is a reformation right here, there is not one in twenty that will go and possess that land. Are you practical spinners? Can you adorn yourselves with the work of your own hands? Can you beautify and adorn the earth? I tell you that in general you are not going there unless a reformation takes place. Some of you will not be honest, some of you will not pray unless you are where someone can see you; and if some of you were going to my mill here, and should fine a chain, you would look around to see if any person saw you, and if not, you would hide the chain at once; and such men call themselves Saints. I am telling you the truth, and I tell you that if you will put on Christ and live in Him you will see a great deal better than I can with my glasses. You cannot lead a person astray unless that person is willing to be led astray; a man could not be persuaded to lie unless he was inclined to lie; and if we tell a lie to deceive, we have to pay that debt before that sin is atoned for. It is said, “Thine own words will condemn thee;” and it will be so when we go to judgment, and we cannot help it. I am an apostle, and Brigham Young is an apostle, and the voice of the Spirit called Brigham Young and myself in Kirtland, and Joseph Smith was told to place the priesthood upon us, and have we ever flinched? No. Now, when you are brought to judgment and you know that Jesus is there, that Joseph is there, that Brigham is there, that Willard and myself are there, and you are asked what have you been guilty of, you will have to give in your own testimony, and you cannot get around it. The axe is laid at the root of the tree, and the acts of men and women will condemn them. There are hundreds and thousands of men in this Church today who have a plurality of wives which will be taken from them and they cannot help themselves, because they do not keep the celestial law.

The office of an apostle is to tell the truth, to tell what he knows. Has the Lord spoken to me? He has. I have heard His voice and so have you; and when you hear my voice, and it is dictated by the Holy Ghost, you hear the voice of God through me, but you do not believe it. Great is the condemnation that will come because of lying. Now, let me say to you, be honest, and you, sisters, stop you slanders, and if you wish your characters exalted, exalt that of your neighbor. It is time for us to arise and wake up. I am telling you these things for your good, but you do not know it. There are many here today who, unless they repent, will never see my face again after my eyes are closed in death. I tell you that the man who justifies another in the shedding of blood is a murderer, and the man who justifies another in tantalizing his fellow creature or in speaking against another is as bad as the man who does these things. I have not one word of reflection to make against you, yet you are living at a poor dying rate. Do you doubt it? I want you to be faithful, and I do not want a man or a woman of you to be lost.

I wish now to talk to the little boys, my young brethren, and I want them all to hear me. What I have been saying today, my little boys, will apply to you as much as it will to your fathers. I wish you to be obedient to your fathers and to you mothers; but if your mothers tell you not to do that which your fathers tell you to do, you go right away and do as your father has told you, for he is the head. And, brethren, come to meeting instead of running about on the Sabbath day, and cease to tell lies. Let us, brethren, try and bind up everything and take hold together. I feel as the Savior did, I do not wish to leave you alone, I wish you to improve. I think as much of the people in this ward as I do of the people in any other ward in the Territory. I prayed last night and this morning that your minds might be prepared to receive my words. What would you give for a plow that had no point to it, or for a pair of glasses that you could not see through? And again, what account would you be if no dependence could be placed in you?

I will now refer you to a little of my history. I was born in Vermont, and brought up very poor, and when nine years old I laid in my bed and in a vision saw those things that I have since passed through. Soon after I was baptized, brother Orson Pratt came to my house. I was standing in the door yard when he came, and at the time I felt much of the holy Spirit upon me. I was then a potter at my wheel. While brother Pratt was talking with me a voice spake to him and said “Orson, my son, that man will one day become one of my apostles.” I did not know this till afterwards. A voice also spoke to me and told me my lineage, and I told my wife Vilate that she was of the same lineage, and she believed it. I told her also that we would never be separated. I could tell you a thousand things that happened in that early day. I have been, as I have already told you, to where Adam offered sacrifices and blessed his sons, and I felt as though there were hundreds of angels there, and there were angels there like unto the three Nephites. I have also been over the hill Cumorah, and I understand all about it. I remember the time when I was baptized into the church, and how after I was baptized, Alpheus Gifford said he felt impressed to ordain me an elder. I was on my knees and jumped up and told him to hold on that I was not a learned man, and I thought that my ordination would injure the work. But presently the Holy Ghost came upon me till I thought that I should be burnt up. I could speak in tongues and prophesy, and I understood the scriptures. And now let me tell you that I was never made to die, that is spiritually; but that I am an inhabitant of this earth and will never destroy my right to it. It is my Father’s and I know it, and His angels administer to men. This you can read in the Book of Mormon. Cleave now to the truth, and remember that a limb separated from a tree is not much, and so we are not much when separated from the truth. Therefore honor God and honor those you know; for if you do not honor those you know you will not honor God. If my children will not subject themselves to me they will not subject themselves to God; and so with our wives, they cannot honor God unless they honor us.

Jesus said, “suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” They are heirs to the kingdom of heaven, and when they die they go to heaven. They are with Jesus. Our children are heirs to our rights and privileges, and when an earth is organized for us we will take our children there as God our Father brought His children here when He came.

Let us be faithful and humble and keep the commandments; and if we will eat meat, let us eat that which is mild. I am inclined to think that pig meat is not good, and that fine flour is not good, and the finer the flour we eat the shorter will be our lives. It would be better for us to eat coarse bread, such as the Graham bread. I now feel to say peace be with you, peace rest upon you and I say my peace shall rest upon you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the New Tabernacle, afternoon, April 8, 1868.

President Heber C. Kimball has exhorted the bishops to gather around them the young men and teach them the privileges which they enjoy, and try to lead them in the right way. Bishops, I wish you to hearken to this piece of good advice. I will give each of the young men in Israel, who have arrived at an age to marry, a mission to go straightway and get married to a good sister, fence a city lot, lay out a garden and orchard and make a home, and especially do not forget to plant a proper proportion of mulberry trees. This is the mission that I give to all the young men in Israel. And I say to you, sisters, if you do not know how to milk a cow, you can soon learn. If you do not know how to feed the cows, you can learn. If you do not know how to feed the chickens, get them and learn how, and if your husband takes you to live in ever so small and humble a cottage, make it neat and nice and clean, and set out flowers around the doors, and let the husband plant fruit trees and shade trees, and let wives help their husbands that they may be encouraged to take hold of more important business that will create an income sufficient to sustain their wives, and by economy and care become wealthy in a short time, and have your carriage to ride in. What a satisfaction it will be to you to know that what you possess is the result of your industry and economy. “It was not given to us by grandfather, or by father, or by mother, or any relation; but we have got these comforts by our industry, saving, and the blessings of the Lord.” By this means our young men and maidens will gain for themselves credit, respect, and a name in Israel worthy of the admiration of all good persons. How much better is this course than the opposite, to spend precious time to no profit, always being in a state of dependence. Were the Lord to speak of such conduct, he would use terms to show that He is not well pleased with it.

I have a short sermon for my sisters. I wish you, under the direction of your bishops and wise men, to establish your relief societies, and organize yourselves under the direction of the brethren, and establish yourselves for doing business, gathering up your little amounts of means that would otherwise go to waste, and put them to usury, and make more of them, and thus keep gathering in. Let this be commenced forthwith. Ask your husbands to furnish you some straw for hats and bonnets, and when you get it put more than three straws over your head, and make a hat that will shade you from the scorching sun. I have a great desire to live and see the prosperity of this people, and one thing among the rest, I would like to see the time when our sisters will take more pains to beautify their children. When your children arise in the morning instead of sending them out of doors to wash in cold, hard water, with a little soft soap, and wiping them as though you would tear the skin off them, creating roughness and darkness of skin, take a piece of soft flannel, and wipe the faces of your children smooth and nice, dry them with a soft cloth; and instead of giving them pork for their breakfast, give them good wholesome bread and sweet milk, baked potatoes, and also buttermilk if they like it, and a little fruit, and I would have no objections to their eating a little rice. Rice is an excellent food for children, and I wish some of the brethren would cultivate it in these valleys. Upland rice will flourish in this country. Train up your children to be beautiful and fair, instead of neglecting them until they are sunburned and become like the natives of our mountains. Let the sisters take care of themselves, and make themselves beautiful, and if any of you are so superstitious and ignorant as to say that this is pride, I can say that you are not informed as to the pride which is sinful before the Lord, you are also ignorant as to the excellency of the heavens, and of the beauty which dwells in the society of the Gods. Were you to see an angel, you would see a beautiful and lovely creature. Make yourselves like angels in goodness and beauty. Let the mothers in Israel make their sons and daughters healthy and beautiful, by cleanliness and a proper diet. Whether you have much or little clothing for your children, it can be kept clean and healthy, and be made to fit their persons neatly. Make your children lovely and fair that you may delight in them. Cease to send out your children to herd sheep with their skins exposed to the hot sun, until their hands and faces appear as though they lived in an ash heap. I call upon my sisters to lead out in these things; and create your own fashions, and make your clothing to please yourselves, independent of outside influences; and make your hats and bonnets to shade you. I wish you, sisters, to listen to these counsels, and place yourselves in a condition to administer to the poor. Get your husbands to provide you with a little of this and a little of that of which you can make something by adding your own labor. I do not mean that you shall apply to them for five dollars and ten dollars to spend for that which is of no profit, but manufacture something that will be useful, as well as beautiful and comely.

You ought to enter into the cultivation of silk. Our bench lands are well adapted to the growth of the mulberry tree, the leaves of which produce the natural food for the silkworm. There is no better land nor climate in the world than we have for this branch of business. We can make ourselves independently rich at this business alone, if it is properly pursued. There ought to be a plot of land in each ward devoted to the cultivation of silk, and a cocoonery built in the center of it, and in the season thereof let the children of the wards who have nothing to do, and aged people, gather the leaves and feed the worms. The work is light and interesting, while the sales of wound silk, for which there is always a market to be found, will do much towards feeding and clothing poor persons that would otherwise be entirely dependent. If the worms are well taken care of, the season of feeding only lasts from thirty-five to forty days. If I cannot succeed in getting the sisters with their children to attend to this business, I shall be under the necessity of sending to China for Chinamen to come here and raise silk for us, which I do not wish to do. To pay people the wages they want here would prevent us from raising silk profitably. We look forward to the period when the price of labor here will be brought to a reasonable and judicious standard.

Now, sisters, go to forthwith and get you an acre of land, and get the Bishops and the brethren to fence it, and prepare it for the reception of the trees, and go and help them; but, be sure to wear a wide brimmed hat while doing it, so as not to get tanned with the sun and the wind. Go to and raise silk. You can do it, and those who cannot set themselves to work we will set them to work gathering straw, and making straw hats and straw bonnets; we will set others to gathering willows, and others to making baskets; we will set others to gathering flags and rushes, and to making mats, and bottoming chairs, and making carpets. I pray you in Christ’s stead to let gold hunting alone, and pray the Lord to cover it up in our region of country that it cannot be found. Those among us who are anxious to find rich gold deposits, are equally anxious to destroy themselves, and are no wiser than our little children are in handling sharp-edged tools. They would not only destroy themselves, but all around them if they had the power to do it. Instead of hunting gold, let every man go to work at raising wheat, oats, barley, corn, and vegetables; and fruit in abundance, that there may be plenty in the land. Raise sheep, and produce the finest quality of wool in large quantities. By the migratory system of feeding sheep in this country they will be healthy, and produce large clips of wool. I hope, by the blessings of the Lord, to demonstrate this the present season. In these pursuits are the true sources of wealth, and we have as much capital in these mountains to begin with as any people in the world, according to the number of our community. Real capital consists in knowledge and physical strength. If we know how to apply our labor, it will produce for us everything we can ask for; it will bring to us the food and the clothing we want, and every facility we need for comfort, for refinement, for excellence, for beauty, and for adornment. It will bring to us the wealth of the world, the gold and the silver, although gold and silver are not real wealth. They are useful as a medium of exchange, as foundation upon which to base a currency, and to use as ornaments and household vessels; and so gold should be regarded until there is enough of it to pave our streets. O, ye Elders of Israel who are greedy for gold, instead of wasting your time in search of it, gather around you the comforts of life, with which the elements are loaded, and make yourselves rich in all the elegancies and conveniences by means of economy and industry. I wish the sisters to lead out in the fashions. It is very little difference what fashion you produce. I would just as soon see you wear hats with wide brims as not, if you have that fashion that will give comfort and convenience and produce health and longevity. We wish to promote the longevity of the people. Tell your husbands to get you a heifer calf or two and some chickens, and you will feed them, and take care of them, instead of feeding pigs, and if your husbands have springs on their land, get them to clean them out and dam them up a little, and introduce the spawn of the best fish we have in these mountains, and collect all the information that has been printed, and which comes within your reach on the subject of raising fish. And raise your potatoes and parsnips and carrots for feeding them with, adding a little corn meal, or a little oat meal. We can raise fish here, and the cost will be one fourth less per pound than other meats. You may think that fowls are injurious to the garden; but they are not. They will pick up grubs and cut worms and other destructive insects, and the good they do in this respect will far overbalance any trifling injury they may do to young plants. They will keep your gardens clean of these pests, and fatten, giving you plenty of eggs to eat. Take care of them, and get a little patch of lucerne planted to give to your young heifer, and rear her until she gives you her increase. This is for you young women who want to get husbands. Tell the young men that you will sustain yourselves, and teach them how to sustain themselves if they do not know how, if they will only come and marry you. Now, girls, court up the boys, it is leap year. Give them to understand in some way that it is all right. You are ready, and you want to help them to make a good home, to form a nucleus around which to gather the blessings and comforts of life, a place to rally to. While you are on the move and unsettled you can get nothing that is permanent. Tell the boys what to do, and you sisters of experience, ye mothers in Israel, go to and get up your societies, and teach these girls what to do, and how to get the boys to come and marry them. The neglect and lazy habits which our boys are falling into are a disgrace to us, to say nothing about the sin of such conduct. They produce nothing, and consider themselves unable to take care of a family, and they will not marry. This conduct of theirs leaves our young women without partners; they want somebody to look to, and something that they can do to advantage and bless themselves, and have a home to go to. Young men, fit you up a little log cabin, if it is not more than ten feet square, and then get you a bird to put in your little cage. You can then work all day with satisfaction to yourself, considering that you have a home to go to, and a loving heart to welcome you. You will then have something to encourage you to labor and gather around you the comforts of life, and a place to gather them to. Strive to make your little home attractive. Use lime freely, and let your houses nestle beneath the cool shades of trees, and be made fragrant with perfumes of flowers.

These are practical teachings; they are things which this people must be taught, for if we do not learn to take care of ourselves and save ourselves who will do it for us? Will the Gentiles help us, and care for us? Will they do us good? No. And I tell you further, Elders of Israel, that you do not know the day of your visitation, neither do you understand the signs of the times, for if you did you would be awake to these things. Every organization of our government, the best government in the world, is crumbling to pieces. Those who have it in their hands are the ones who are destroying it. How long will it be before the words of the prophet Joseph will be fulfilled? He said if the Constitution of the United States were saved at all it must be done by this people. It will not be many years before these words come to pass. How long will it be before they will be coming here for bread, for the bread of life, and for the bread which sustains the body? Do you know this? You do not. This community live as it were from hand to mouth. They must learn to lay up food. Notwithstanding all that has been said to the people on this subject, not one man to thirty has bread sufficient to last him one year. As our mechanics are paid, they might have laid up their hundreds if not their thousands a year. Brethren, learn. You have learned a good deal it is true; but learn more; learn to sustain yourselves; lay up grain and flour, and save it against a day of scarcity. Sisters, do not ask your husbands to sell the last bushel of grain you have to buy something for you out of the stores, but aid your husbands in storing it up against a day of want, and always have a year or two’s provision on hand. A great abundance of fruit can be dried. There are but few families in this city who do not have the privilege of drying and laying up fruit. Yet the majority of families in this community, instead of using fruit that was dried last fall but one, are using fruit dried last year when the grasshoppers were here. A year’s supply should be kept ahead, so that families would not be compelled to eat fruit that had been injured by grasshoppers and other insects. We should accumulate all kinds of nutritive substances, and preserve them from worms, which can easily be done. If we do not take care of ourselves, we shall have a very poor chance to be taken care of. If we will hearken to the counsel that is given to us we shall know how to sustain ourselves in every particular. Mothers in Israel, sisters, ask your husbands to take care of the sheep they have got, and not willfully waste them; but multiply them and bring our wool to the factories to be manufactured, or trade it for yarn and cloth. The woolen mills which we now have in the country will work up a great deal of wool if they can get it. Who is there in our community that raises flax? Is there any attention paid to this culture? I think not, but it is, “Husband, sell your wheat, sell your oats to buy me the linen I want.” We shall in the future have flax machines here to make the finest of linen; and we can make the cotton and silk in abundance. I would urge the brethren of the southern country to plant cotton sufficient to supply the wants of the factories that are now in the country, and let us continue our labors until we can manufacture everything we want. All this is embraced in our religion, every good word and work, all things temporal, and all things spiritual, things in heaven, things on earth, and things that are under the earth are circumscribed by our religion. We are in the fastnesses of the mountains, and if we do these things, and delight in doing right, our feet will be made fast and immovable like the bases of these everlasting hills. We ought not to desire anything only on righteous principles, and if we want right, let us then deal it out to others, being kind and full of love and charity to all. My brethren and sisters, I have occupied considerable time; but I have not spoken one tenth of what I wish to say to you. By the authority that the Lord has granted to me, I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 8th, 1868.

Thirty-eight years ago the Prophet Joseph Smith, in a little upper room in Father Whitmer’s house, Fayette, Seneca County, New York State, gathered six men together by commandment of God, and proceeded to organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Perhaps this was the smallest number with which a church was ever organized. But the Savior compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed, which, He said, is the least of all seeds, but which, when grown, becomes greater than all herbs, so that the fowls of the air can lodge in its branches. From this small beginning the Latter-day Saints have become a great people. That which has brought this about, specially, has been the fulfilling of the commandments of God, given through Joseph and the ancient prophets, in reference to the gathering of His people from Babylon in the latter days. One reason assigned by the Lord for the gathering of His people is set forth in the revelations of St. John, where He says, “Come out of her O, my people that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” This, in a few words, explains the chief reason for the Lord requiring His people to gather together. But the prophets Isaiah and Micah assign another good reason—they predict that the mountain of the Lord’s house in the last days shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and the nations shall flow unto it, saying. “Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, for He will teach us of His ways, that we may learn to walk in his paths.”

These two scriptures show unto us that the Lord has required His people to gather in the last days, that they might escape the sins of the wicked, and the plagues which shall be poured out upon them, and that they might be taught in His paths, taught to govern themselves, to correct their foolish habits and customs, and to train themselves and their offspring that they may be able to build up Zion according to the law and order of Heaven.

We have already made a commendable advance in this direction. I rejoice in moving to and fro among this people to see the spirit of improvement manifested by them in both temporal and spiritual things, and the increase of unity in their midst. Yet there is still room for further improvement in all these matters. There is one principle which fathers and mothers, and the Elders of Israel generally, should understand and teach to their children, that is, what trials and tribulations this people have passed through to establish themselves in this, their mountain home; and that these things have been borne for the Kingdom of Hea– ven’s sake and not for filthy lucre’s sake. Had it been gold or silver or worldly comfort we had followed after, we should not have gathered together; but should have been scattered through this wicked world. We left these worldly considerations when we embraced the gospel and emigrated to this country. Yet our common foe is on the alert to neutralize our efforts and to draw away our young men, and many of the middle aged who have forgotten the testimony of Jesus and have ceased to realize that this is the work of God, and when they hear reports of the discovery of gold or silver, or think they see a chance to make money by digging for gold or by freighting, they launch forth and strike hands with unbelievers, engage in their enterprises, and neglect the good work of God. This ought not to be. Our young men are heirs to the priesthood and of all the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant, and they ought not to employ themselves in building up the kingdom of darkness or spending their strength with unbelievers. But I suppose it is all right to have these temptations spread before us, in order that the people may be proven more effectually. It is important that our young men, and all Israel who do not thoroughly understand these principles, should be taught, so that the love of the gospel may be uppermost in their hearts.

I am persuaded that the Lord is perfectly willing that His people should possess every good thing the earth will afford, orchards, gardens, vineyards, houses, carriages and every other good thing, to be enjoyed with thanksgiving and used with prudence and judgment. I am aware that the hosts of hell have sought to control the wealth of the world, and Lucifer has ever sought to allure the righteous, as he did the Savior when he offered Him the kingdoms and wealth of the world if He would only fall down and worship him. It becomes the Elders of Israel, young, middle-aged or old, to imitate the example of the Savior, in saying, “Get thee behind me Satan.” As to the riches of the world they belong to the Lord, and He gives them to whom He will. If we are determined to devote our lives to the kingdom of Heaven, and not to this world, we shall in due time inherit all that is good for us to inherit; and unless we realize the objects of our existence, and learn to govern and control our spirits so as to devote ourselves and our energies and all the means given to us to build up Zion, then the good things of this life would be wasted upon us comparatively.

During the progress of this Conference there have been various means of industry and enterprise spoken of and presented for the consideration of the people, such as the producing of wool, flax, hemp, cotton and silk, and the introduction of machinery for the manufacture of the raw material into the various fabrics necessary for the use of the people in cold and warm weather. The subject of developing the mineral resources of our Territory is one of great importance. Iron, copper, coal, lead, zinc, and tin abound in our mountain home, and the development of these minerals is of far more importance to the welfare and prosperity of a nation, than the development of mines containing the precious metals; for the latter are limited in their use, while the grossest metals are those that, in their uses, enter into all the ramifications of life. The discovering and opening of gold and silver mines tempt the cupidity of the blind worshippers of mammon, and spread corruption among the people. The prayers of every good man and woman should ascend to God, that in Zion these precious metals may be covered up and concealed until it is His good pleasure for His Saints to possess the kingdom, so that they may be governed and controlled by the righteous instead of the wicked.

There is much neglect in some of the distant settlements on the part of our foreign brethren, with regard to taking out their naturalization papers. The word “white” is stricken from the Constitution of Deseret, and when the citizens of African descent are admitted to the polls, the adopted sons of America who have come here to obtain homes for themselves and their posterity, should not be indifferent respecting the rights of citizenship and neglect to take the steps necessary to secure to themselves the full privileges pertaining thereto.

The emigration of the poor has commended itself to the hearts and feelings of the people, and I am sure that their liberal response to the calls made upon them last October will do much to commend them to the favor of Heaven, and to secure the blessing of the Lord upon the labor of their hands. Let us continue in this great work, and let every bishop and elder exert himself in his sphere, to encourage the people to send in their available means of every kind, that our President and those whom he calls to assist him may be able to carry out the glorious program that he has adopted for the gathering of the poor. Let the people in every ward be awake and alive to this subject, that neither provisions nor teams for the outfit may be lacking when the time comes to send for the poor. If the people find that their plans for freighting and other business are thwarted to some extent in doing this, they will in the end find themselves richer, for the Lord has given us abundant evidence in times past that He controls the avenues of wealth and prosperity to this people. And who need fear the locusts and grasshoppers? Have we not been tried in these things before? And if it is essential that we should be again, all right. I can say with David of old, “I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread.” The Lord has said, “it is my business to provide for my Saints,” and if He does not do it we certainly cannot. We may plow, sow, and irrigate, but we cannot give the increase. And if the blade grows, it may wither or the locusts devour it; and if they do God directs them, for there is not a sparrow which is not fed by our Father in Heaven, neither does a hair of our heads fall to the ground without being numbered; neither is there a locust that is not cared for by Him who rules all things, and He can dispose of them as seems to Him good. He can move them east, west, north or south, and can destroy or multiply them at pleasure. And He can preserve our crops; but He certainly will not do it unless we adopt the measures He has ordained. We must plow and sow and plan and leave the event with Him. He will not forsake His people, and He will provide for the multitude that we may gather up.

We may exert ourselves to the utmost to gather the poor and send forth our teams to bring them to our homes and He will provide abundance for us to feed them and ourselves and the locusts that He sends among us. And when the locusts have eaten enough, He will bid them leave, providing we are not overanxious to transport our substance to feed the wicked and build up hell in our midst. If the Lord thinks that the locusts will be less offensive and do less harm than herders of the ungodly in our borders, I am contented to feed them, provided our people will cease feeding their enemies. I do not mean that we shall cease feeding the hungry, no matter whether he is Saint or sinner; but cease to feed and build up the wicked who will not labor with us to develop the resources of the country and help to build up Zion. God has called us to turn away from the folly of sustaining and building up Babylon—the worshippers of mammon—those who have no interest in common with us in establishing Zion and building up the Kingdom of our God upon the earth.

With regard to the aborigines of this continent, there are several prophecies in the Book of Mormon to the effect that they will one day become a pure people; but that will not take place until the fulness of the Gentiles has come. Then, according to the promise, the Spirit of the Lord will be poured out upon them and they will inherit the blessings promised. Until that time we expect they will be a scourge upon the people of Zion, as the Lamanites were a scourge to the Nephites of old. That which the Lord is pleased to use as a scourge today, He may use in days to come as a means of support and of strength. It becomes the Latter-day Saints as a people to cherish the principles of love and good will to all men, and especially the household of faith; and also to the natives, who are blind and ignorant pertaining to the principles of the gospel, and not to thirst for their blood, nor be very revengeful for every wrong that they, in their blindness, may commit; but to exercise generous forbearance. God will enable us to inflict such summary chastisement upon them as circumstances may require, when it is His good pleasure that they should be chastened. Or else He will take it in hand Himself, for He can easily destroy, by various diseases, those who are shedding the blood of the Saints. And this will be far more acceptable to Him than if it were done by us.

It certainly ought not to be specially gratifying to anyone to shed the blood of his fellows, whether red, black or white. I have seen that the Lord has taken care of the Lamanites as well as of the Latter-day Saints, and He requires that we should exercise our reasoning powers, and not throw ourselves heedlessly into positions where we are exposed to the wrath of the savages. Inexperienced men who are unacquainted with Indian habits and customs, and their mode of warfare, should never be trusted beyond the confines of our settlements with their wives and families, to commence operation on their own account. They thereby tempt the cupidity of the savages. Men of experience, energy, watchfulness—men with kind hearts and generous impulses, who can forgive an injury—are the men who should be selected on all occasions to lead out in the formation of new settlements on our frontiers; and they should be sustained by obedient and experienced men, who will help to control and take care of the people and keep them out of danger.

I have thought many a time that the Lord has suffered the natives in various places to drive in our outpost; just as a wise vine dresser will clip off the end of his vines that they may produce more fruit and make less wood. We are sometimes in the habit of scattering too far. Being over anxious to spread, we lay on more warp than we have filling for.

I would say a word in relation to the missionaries who went South last fall to the Muddy. Brother Joseph W. Young and myself left here on the second of March and visited the settlements between this place and St. Thomas on the Muddy. The bad condition of the roads and the limited amount of time at our command, having to return here to Conference, prevented us devoting that amount of time to the settlements that we wished to. But we found them generally in a prosperous condition; though in some places we were reminded of what we saw last winter in Salt Lake City, and of Israel of old when Moses went up into the mountain and they got Aaron to make them a calf. Still as a general thing we found the people prosperous.

I will say for the benefit of those who have sons and daughters and friends there, who have been reared in and about Salt Lake City and the older settlements, that it must not be expected that everything will run smooth with them, or that they will realize all their expectations. There are many here who assisted in establishing settlements in Salt Lake Valley, and who know the difficulties we had to encounter for the first two or three years; and there are others who have gone out and buffeted the difficulties of establishing settlements upon our borders north and south. The country on the Muddy affords facilities for extensive and prosperous settlements, but there is a lack of timber. They have done very well for fuel, as within about thirty miles of St. Thomas there are large groves of cedar and pinion pine, which will supply them with fuel for many years, and a good natural road to it, and springs of water in the grove. There is also considerable sawing timber in the mountains twenty miles east of St. Thomas; and a much larger body of excellent saw timber in the mountains west of St. Thomas about fifty or sixty miles. But in both these places portable steam mills are necessary, as there are springs of water in the timber, but no creeks sufficient for water mills. And until they are able to get mills to saw their lumber, they cannot make very much advance towards building. As to fencing, the only fences in that region of country are two stone corrals, one in each settlement for corralling the stock at night which is herded in the day. And I am fully satisfied that it is very much cheaper; and that they will make far greater progress in developing the country by adopting this system of herding their stock, than they would by attempting to fence their land. And I will say that in my visit to that country I have not, to the best of my recollection, seen one single animal preying on the crops in that section of country. I wish I could say as much for the best fenced sections of country in the other portions of our Territory.

Those who went down to St. Thomas last Fall seem comfortable, pleasant and happy. Everything around them exhibits an air of thrift and comfort. I cannot say quite as much for those located at St. Joseph. For many of those who went to that settlements heard of a country higher up stream, and they felt anxious to visit it; and instead of settling down at once and beginning to improve and make themselves a home, they waited in hope of finding a better country. By and by in the course of the Winter a man, who was responsible and ought to have taken a different course, led them out to the Upper Muddy, and when they were called back again to St. Joseph, they came feeling disappointed. The result was, their feelings were unsettled, and six weeks or two months of their labor may be said to have been thrown away; and yet not thrown away, for I trust the experience they have received, and the instruction which followed, have sealed lessons on their minds that they will not forget, and that will prove more valuable to them than any amount of means they would have earned by that two month’s labor. And I trust God will overrule it for their good.

They were much pleased and rejoiced to see us among them, and to hear our word; and were ready and willing to be told what to do, and to go with their might and do it; and I believe that since our visit among them they have settled down in their feelings and have gone to work in good earnest to make themselves homes. They have not Salt Lake market to go to, and they cannot procure all the little luxuries of life; and their food and manner of living will necessarily be somewhat crude and primitive, but wholesome and healthy. I scarcely know of a single instance of sickness among them. There were a few who, when they were migrating south last year during the months of November and December, and were exposed to severe storms, took cold and fever, but since their arrival in that country they have been healthy.

It is very natural for them, like children, to feel after home and father and mother, and the scenes of their youth. And it is very natural, too, for the sympathies of parents to be with their children. But let not this mistaken sympathy lead parents to give wrong counsel to their children to their hurt. It requires stout hearts to develop a new country like that; but perseverance, time and patience will accomplish it. There is plenty of bread—the staff of life—in the country, and no necessity for actual want among any of them. It is not now as it has been in St. George and on the Muddy, where there was no bread in the country and we had to come to Sanpete or to Salt Lake City to fetch it.

I would say to all who have been called and have not gone—for judging from the best information I have, not above half of those called are in the southern country—for the sake of your own future welfare and prosperity, respond to the calls that have been made upon you and strive to fill that mission with confidence, boldness and energy. Or if there are good and sufficient reasons why you should not do so, go to the President and make known your circumstances, that you may be released, that your consciences may not condemn you and that your God may not condemn you, and that your future usefulness may not be curtailed. Let no one flatter himself that he can pass along in obscurity, unnoticed, and neither magnify his calling, nor yet be discharged from it. It will linger around you, it will haunt you and will be like a canker worm gnawing at the root of your felicity. Take steps to be exonerated one way or the other, and God will bless you: Amen.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 7th, 1868.

The subjects which have been touched upon by brother George A. Smith ought to be of paramount importance to us as a people under our present circumstances. The gospel of life and salvation, which we have received, would be of comparatively little avail to us unless we can prolong our lives and the lives of our children and posterity on the earth. The greatest boon that God has given us, and that upon which every other hinges, is life. With life we need health, the power to carry out designs of our being upon the earth. Without these blessings everyone must perceive that other blessings which we value very highly would be of little or no account. God has moved upon His servant Brigham in a very powerful manner of late to stir up the peoples minds to the consideration of a great variety of subjects connected with our temporal well-being; and the more these subjects are reflected upon the more important do they appear, and the more we hear about them, the more we are impressed with the necessity of paying attention to them.

We have heard considerable of late, especially since twelve months today, on the subject of the Word of Wisdom. Almost every elder who has spoken from this stand has felt the necessity and importance of calling the attention of the people to this subject. We are told, and very plainly too, that hot drinks—tea, coffee, chocolate, cocoa and all drinks of this kind are not good for man. We are also told that alcoholic drinks are not good, and that tobacco when either smoked or chewed is an evil. We are told that swine’s flesh is not good, and that we should dispense with it; and we are told that flesh of any kind is not suitable to man in the summer time, and ought to be eaten sparingly in the winter. The question arises in the minds of a great many people, “What then are we to eat if we drop swine’s flesh and eat very little beef or mutton, and cannot drink tea or coffee, why, dear me, we shall starve to death.” In conversation with one of the brethren the other day, he remarked “the diet of the poor is principally bread and meat, and if they dispense with meat, they will be reduced to very hard fare.” I reasoned with him on the subject, and before we had got through, I believe I convinced him that other articles of food could be raised more cheaply and in greater variety than the flesh of animals. But just at the present time we are destitute, to some extent, of this needed variety; and, hence, the very apparent necessity that we as a people should turn our attention to the multiplication of varieties of food in our midst. We should not confine ourselves to a few articles of diet and be content therewith; but the people who have the opportunity of so doing should cultivate a variety of food for the benefit of themselves and families.

It is a fact, which the experience of ages has confirmed, that man of all creatures, requires the greatest variety of food. His stomach is fitted to digest a greater variety of food than the stomach of any other animal. God has created him lord of creation, and all that is created around us is created for man’s use and benefit. It would therefore be very unwise for intelligent man, inasmuch as God has given to him the vegetable creation, and has made him lord of the animal creation and placed him as monarch of the finny tribes, to be content to sit down and eat as our degraded Indians do.

It is to remedy this that we hear the teachings that are given at the present time by the servants of God. Man requires food to build up his body. He requires food that is adapted to the development of bone, muscle and sinew; but this is not all. He requires food that is suitable to feed his brain and to supply the waste sustained in consequence of the use of his mental faculties. There is a necessity, therefore, for us to take these things into consideration. My opinion is that it will be most difficult for fathers of families to induce their wives and children to refrain from the use of tea and coffee, if they do not supply their tables with other articles in their place, and unless food, suitable to the requirements of the human system, is provided, our wives and children will be exposed to constant temptation to transgress the counsels that are given in regard to our diet. It is an exceedingly difficult thing for most people to break off and discontinue cherished and long standing habits. A man who has never drunk tea, coffee or spirit, or one who has never chewed or smoked tobacco, is not at all affected by the counsel to discontinue their use; but they who have been accustomed to them miss them when they are deprived of them, and they want something to supply their place. I speak, now, not from my own experience, but from what I have heard others say on these things. There is a craving felt by parties when they discontinue the use of these stimulants, and they need variety. This variety must be supplied, and we must take steps to supply it.

The culture of fish has been alluded to. Physiologists say that fish contains more of the elements necessary to strengthen and build up the brain than almost any other known substance. It would supply a great want if we had it in abundance. But our supply of this article of food is very limited, and hence we are taught at the present time to take measures for its increase. I see no reason why we should not raise our own fish as we do our eggs or chickens. This Territory is better adapted to the raising of fish, in consequence of our system of irrigation, than any on the Continent we know anything of, and I believe that the time is not far distant when our farmers will raise fish for their own tables as they now raise beef, mutton, pork, fruit or any other article of diet now in use. It can be done easily by bestowing a little attention, thought and care on the subject.

We must also cultivate fruit more extensively than we now do; and we must multiply every variety of diet, and if it is possible discover new varieties. It is only a few hundred years since the potato was discovered, and what a blessings it has proven to man. There are other vegetables, probably, as good and as healthful as it is if we could only bring them into use. But vegetables are not grown among us as they should be; there is not that attention paid to them that, it seems to me, they should receive. My theory is, that if we wish to raise a healthy, noble looking, intellectual and perfect race of men and women we must feed our children properly. We must prevent the use by them of every article that is hurtful or noxious in its nature. We must not permit them to drink liquor or hot drinks, or hot soups or to use tobacco or other articles that are injurious. I do not believe that you could ever make as great and noble race of men, if you feed them on one article of food alone, as if you gave them a variety of diet. We have illustrations of this in India, where the chief diet is rice—of itself a very good article of food. We have other illustrations in the case of other races. A people who, for instance, are fed on potatoes alone do not have the stamina that they would have if they had a greater variety of food. Such a people could, I believe, be kept subjected more easily to thralldom than a nation which is better fed. The millions of India are kept in subjection by as many thousands of Europeans. There are doubtless many causes for this, among the chief of which is their diet.

God has given to us a land that is bounteous; every variety of food can be produced here in the greatest profusion. It only requires the exercise of the powers with which we are endowed, with proper industry, to bring forth food in the greatest abundance and supply every want of man and beast. But whilst I speak in this strain about a variety of food, I am opposed in my own feelings, to a great variety of food at one meal. I believe that we enslave our women; we crush out their lives by following the pernicious habits of our forefathers in this respect. We sit down to table and, especially if we have friends, our tables are covered with every delicacy and variety that we can think of. I believe in variety at different meals, but not at one meal. I do not believe in mixing up our food. This is hurtful. It destroys the stomach by overtaxing the digestive powers; and in addition to that it almost wears out the lives of our females by keeping them so closely confined over cooking stoves. A variety of food is not incompatible with simplicity of cooking; they can go hand in hand. We can have a variety in diet, and yet have simplicity. We can have a diet that will be easily prepared, and yet have it healthful. We can have a diet that will be tasteful, nutritious and delightful to us, and easy to digest; and yet not wear out the lives of our mothers, wives, daughters and sisters in its preparation.

These are topics, my brethren and sisters, that should claim the attention of the Latter-day Saints, because they pertain to our everyday existence here on the earth; and if we follow the course marked out, and seek to follow the counsels given, the result will be that, here in these valleys, we shall raise a race of men who will be the joy of the earth, whose complexions will be like the complexions of angels—full of health, purity, innocence and vitality; men who will live until the wheels of life will stand still in consequence of the gradual decay of the body; not afflicted and brought to the grave prematurely by disease engendered by improper feeding and other unhealthy habits. We can do what no other people ever could do, at least no other people living in the present generation. We are here a new people, forming our habits and laying the foundation of a great work, and of course are in a state of transition. We can therefore, if we so please, accommodate ourselves to new habits—habits recommended and taught to us by the servants of God. One of the great advantages that would result from our having a more simple diet would be that we should be less apt to overload our stomachs through the tempting character of the food we eat. How often is it the case, after we have eaten enough, somebody will say, “Here is something I would like you to eat a little of; do taste it.” Well, you taste, and before you are aware of it, you have eaten more than you should; your stomach rebels, and you feel that you have done a wrong, and if your stomachs are weak, you have to pay the penalty of your imprudence.

We are expecting a heavy emigra– tion this season. We hope to see them come by thousands. How are these brethren and sisters to be employed? Already we are under tribute. The great majority of the articles of clothing that we wear is imported, and there is nothing more apparent, to those who reflect on this subject, than that we as a people must turn our attention to the creation of new industries. Our President has led out in this direction. He has set an example to the capitalists of this Territory, worthy of all imitation by introducing machinery and urging upon the people the cultivation of certain articles—such, for instance, as cotton and wool. It is a matter of necessity for us to turn our attention to these branches. We must use the facilities God has given us in the best possible manner for increasing the means of employing those who come into our midst. It should be our aim as individuals, as families and as a community to dispense with everything that we cannot manufacture. I am told that thousands of dollars a year are expended in supplying our tables with mustard imported from the East. I have no means of knowing the truth of this, but it seems incredible, that we, with the facilities we have for its production, should depend upon importation for the supply of a common article like mustard.

But this is only one article. When we sit down to our tables, and take a survey, we find many articles that are thus imported. It may be, and frequently is said by a certain class of persons that articles can be imported much cheaper than they can be manufactured here. This is urged by them as a reason for importing; but it is a delusion and a snare, and the man who utters such a sentiment is an ignoramus. He knows nothing about the true principles of building up a people and kingdom. That which is manufactured here, though it cost ten times the amount it would cost in the east, is the cheaper, for that is the commencement of independence. The man or the family who carries on home manufacture is laying the foundation for true and lasting independence. They are helping to emancipate the people here from the thralldom under which we have groaned, sweat, toiled and bled for years. This Territory has been bled of its money and life by this erroneous idea. We must stop this drain or we will sink into slavery more abject than that felt by any other people on the continent. The cause of God requires us to take a different course, and if we pursue that marked out for us, means and facilities will increase on every hand. We would like to see it fashionable in the Territory to dispense with all articles that are imported. But now, when one family procures an imported article, their neighbors feel that they are not in the fashion unless they have the same. One lady and gentleman must have a fashionable bonnet and hat, and their neighbors must have the same. You can see the result—these fashions make us slaves. Our young ladies are ashamed to go into company unless they can dress like their companions; our young men feel the same. And it is not confined to one class; we all partake of it to a certain extent. We must reform; there is nothing more apparent than that. We must change our habits, and make it fashionable to have articles of our own manufacture, and dispense with all articles that are not so, unless they are absolutely necessary for our comfort and well-being.

The Lord has multiplied around us every facility for making us a great and mighty people. We have been able, in an astonishing manner, to create comfortable homes; the land has been touched by the power of God, and it yields to us of its strength in abundance. Nowhere on the face of the earth can food be raised of a better quality than here. Our cereals, fruit and vegetables are unsurpassed in the world. We can also produce the finest of hemp, flax, wool and silk. All these articles can be produced in abundance here, if we will bestow the attention and care necessary for their culture.

When we reflect upon our position twenty years ago—then this Territory was a desert and we were cut off by almost illimitable stretches of barren waste from the rest of the world—we can realize to some extent what God has done for us. Now we and our children and the stranger can dwell here in peace, comfort and security. This should stimulate us to press forward. There is no work too great, under the blessing of God, for us to accomplish if we will only exercise the ability and power that He has bestowed upon us. I look forward to the day, and I trust it is not far distant, when we will have everything in our midst necessary to make us a great and mighty people; when our young people will be the best educated, trained to the best manners, dressed in the best clothing, and appear to better advantage than any people on the continent or in the world. I look forward to this; and it seems to me that it is in the near future. Great and wonderful changes will be effected in Zion. Our young people will be educated in true principles; they will be healthy and beautiful, filled with the Holy Spirit, and attractive to God and man. Our habitations will be delightful to visit; our orchards and gardens and all our surroundings will be the most beautiful that can be imagined. Is there anything to prevent it? Nothing but our own unfaithfulness. God, who has blessed us as we are blessed today, is willing to bless us more abundantly. Heaven is full of blessings to be poured out upon us, if we will only prepare ourselves to receive them. The faith that the Saints are now manifesting in sending for the poor will bring down the blessings of God upon them, and will increase our faith to accomplish those labors that we have yet to perform. Send for five thousand people! Yes, and the Latter-day Saints can do it and perform their other labors too. What effect does this have upon us? It fills us with faith and confidence that there is no labor that can be assigned to us that we cannot perform. And this is the training that God is giving to us. It is upon the principle that gymnasts perform their feats of almost super human strength—by continued practice. It is so with us. God in the beginning gave us small works to accomplish. We performed them, and as a consequence, had faith to attempt greater, and thus we have gone on until today. And the work we are now doing is preparatory to some greater work that He has yet in store for us to accomplish.

May God bless us, my brethren and sisters and His wisdom be given unto us. May His Holy Spirit rest mightily on all the Latter-day Saints that their minds may be filled with it, that when the prophet and servants of God speak unto us, our hearts may be prepared to receive their counsels, treasure up our words and carry them out in our lives, that when Jesus comes we may be prepared to meet Him, which may God grant for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Discourse by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 6th, 1868.

We have been in the habit of looking contemptuously on the sectarian world, so far as their habits appear to us to be indications of hypocrisy. Among them men take great pains to seem to be religious. They will put on a long face, a sad countenance, and on the Sabbath day they will endeavor to seem to be very holy. But as soon as the Sabbath has gone by, a great many men will not scruple to commit the most outrageous acts of dishonesty and corruption, thinking, perhaps, by being so very good on the Sabbath day, that the wickedness and corruption of the remaining six days will be sanctified and justified.

Well, we have looked contemptuously upon a spirit of this kind, and in so doing some of us may have failed to appreciate, as we ought, the importance of observing the Sabbath day. We may have felt that it was a tradition that we and our fathers had inherited from the sectarian world. There are many instances of our brethren failing to observe the Sabbath day. Some going to the canyon on a Saturday for wood or lumber, knowing that they could not return with their loads until Sunday; or going out to hunt cattle when they knew they could not accomplish what they desired without breaking the Sabbath. I feel a desire to call the attention of the Conference to the consideration of this subject, because it not only involves a commandment given in the law of Moses, and endorsed by the New Testament, but it has been also enjoined upon us by revelation, through Joseph Smith in the present generation; and if we neglect it we have no right to expect the blessings of God to that extent that its observance would ensure. We find on the 149th page of the Doctrine and Covenants something on this subject, to which I wish to call the attention of the brethren and sisters. It reads as follows:

“Wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, saying thus: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it. Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things. Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High; Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days, and at all times; But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.

“And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full. Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or, in other words, rejoicing and prayer.”

I read this simply to call your attention to the law as it has been given to us through Joseph Smith, our Prophet, and to impress upon the minds of the Elders the necessity of observing it.

We find it also enjoined upon us in a portion of section 4, of a revelation on page 160, of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which reads as follows:

“And the inhabitants of Zion shall also observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”

I have felt that it was necessary to call the attention of the Saints—the brethren especially, to this subject, because I believe it affects us in various ways. We should come together on the Sabbath day and partake of the Sacrament, and we should do no work, but what is necessary to prepare food for ourselves, or to feed our animals. We should observe the Sabbath as a day of rest, and if we do it faithfully we shall live longer; for my impression is, saying nothing about the commandment of the Lord, that nature requires one-seventh of our time for rest, and that when a man has worked fifty-two Sundays in a year, he is at least fifty-two days older than he needs to be, and has not done as much work during the year as if he had worked only six days a week and had rested the seventh. I hope our brethren will hereafter make their calculations to observe the Sabbath and thus act in accordance with the law of God. The evidence is plain on the face of the Book of Mormon, that when men commence to live in accordance with the laws of the gospel, as the people of Nephi did for about two hundred years after the Savior visited the land Bountiful, they shall begin to be stronger and to live longer. Amos, the son of Nephi, kept the records on the plates of Nephi eighty-four years, and his son Amos kept them one hundred and eleven years: Book of Mormon, pages 494-6, sections 8 and 11. Previous to this period the Book of Mormon shows that the Nephites were a short-lived race. The observance of the Sabbath, as well as the observance of every other commandment of God, has a tendency to prolong human life. There is nothing to prevent us commencing, by observing the Word of Wisdom, to lengthen our days, in accordance with the words of the prophecies of Isaiah, which says, “for as the days of a tree are the days of my people.”

There are several subjects I wish to refer to in addressing my brethren in Conference. One of them is the emigration of the poor from Europe, which was agitated last Fall Conference. Some of the brethren have contributed liberally, and sufficient means has been collected to aid a considerable number; but nothing like what was desired. Yet with what has been raised here, with that which may be possessed by some who are partly able to help themselves, we expect to bring five thousand adults to the railway terminus. We also expect to raise the wagons, mules and oxen necessary to fit up teams, and the necessary provisions and teamsters, guards and arms, to go from here to the terminus of the railroad, and bring home the brethren and sisters and their children who may gather to that point. We also want to make plans and calculations, and every man and woman throughout the Territory should feel that it is a part of their duty to contribute his or her share to accomplish this; and then to lay a foundation for setting all these people to work at something that will enable them to live and acquire a competence as well as return the means expended in bringing them here. Those indebted to the Perpetual Emigration Fund should feel the importance of paying their indebtedness; and those who are not indebted should feel alive and awake to the accomplishment of this object. It is a great and glorious work which we have undertaken, and it will never do for us to be discouraged and leave it half done.

There is another subject under consideration, which weighs very heavily upon the minds of the Saints. The Word of Wisdom recommends us to use the flesh of animals sparingly. The law of Moses prohibited to Israel the use of swine’s flesh; but in the Gentile world at the present day it is considered superior, as food, to almost every other kind of flesh. And even among us, with the education and training that we have received, there is a great deal of it used. It seems to be a pretty general idea among the people that swine’s flesh can be more easily raised than any other; but there is no doubt that, with proper care and attention, other kinds of meat might be produced with equal facility. For some reason God, by special law, prohibited its use to the children of Israel; and it certainly seems desirable that we should also discontinue its use, as within the past few years in some countries where a great amount of pork has been consumed the people have been afflicted with a kind of pestilence—a disease which is considered incurable. It is therefore wise and prudent for us to adopt plans to procure supplies from other sources. In some countries the culture of fish has recently been introduced. It was commenced, in the first place, by sportsmen for the purpose of increasing the amusement of anglers; but the French government, under the reign of the present Emperor, have commenced to stock the rivers of France with fish for the purpose of increasing the supply of healthful food to the people. This is being done successfully in New England, where rivers were formerly well stocked with salmon and other varieties of fish, though for many years they have become extinct. Laws have been passed in New Hampshire, Maine and other Eastern States, requiring the owners of mills to construct fishways over their dams, so that fish can pass freely up and down the streams, the dams having heretofore effectually prevented this.

Persons have also been employed to restock the rivers, and in this way many choice varieties of fish have been again successfully introduced. The real fact is, they are as easily raised as hogs, if the proper attention is paid to them. Our beautiful lakes—such as Utah Lake and Bear Lake—our rivers, and even our springs can, with a very little trouble and expense, be made to yield an immense quantity of this healthful food. I wish to call the attention of the Bishops and Elders, at home and abroad, to the propriety of studying this question; and if they lack information on the subject just let them drop a note to the Hon. W. H. Hooper, our Delegate at Washington, and ask him to furnish information on the culture of fish. He has it in his reach through the Bureau of Agriculture, and can send it under his own frank, and that will put you in possession of the information you require. You can feed fish as well as hogs, and they will eat a great many things you are little aware of, and with a little trouble you can procure that which will furnish an agreeable and healthy change in our diet.

I also wish to advise our brethren—the Bishops especially, to consider the propriety of taking proper measures for the production of poultry. Their flesh is agreeable and much more healthful as food than using great quantities of pork, as we are compelled to do in many instances.

I will also call the attention of the congregation to the subject of raising silk. We are anxious to dress in broadcloth, and to wear fine clothing; but there is a difficulty in the way of our sending abroad for them, for we have scarcely anything that we can send to purchase the necessary material; hence the necessity of taking measures to raise it here. The revelation given to the Church years ago to let the beauty of our garments be the workmanship of our own hands, although it has not remained a dead letter, has never been fully complied with; and it is time that we, as a people, should be thinking of some new industry by which the kinds of clothing we desire may be produced, and also have a production or staple of some kind that we can send abroad that will bring us wealth in return, instead of sending away all our money, and bringing nothing back.

It has been proven by a few years’ experience that the mulberry tree grows in this country; the climate agrees with it, and it grows rapidly and thrives well. It has also been proven that the silkworm is healthy in this climate, and experiments have proven the fact that silk of a fine quality can be produced here in abundance. Now, silk has commanded gold in all ages. It once would pay for transportation overland on the backs of animals from the frontiers of China to the west of Europe; and silk garments have been considered so delightful that they were worth their weight in gold. And in consequence of the high esteem in which it has ever been and is yet held, the trade in silk is still very remunerative. We would like to see our wives and daughters clad in the most delightful silk, but we cannot get it; and yet it can be cultivated and produced by their own nimble fingers, in this climate, just as easily as flax or wool, and at very little more expense. Several years ago in the States there was quite an excitement on this subject; but it proved a failure. The reason was that in many of the States where the experiment was tried the climate was too severe for the culture of the proper varieties of the mulberry; they would kill with the winter frosts, and then the summers were too damp or rainy for the healthy production of the worm. Our climate is peculiarly fitted in these respects. Our dry summers and mild winters are both suitable, and there is not a doubt but as fine silk may be produced here as anywhere in the world. President Young has taken pains to introduce the mulberry. He sent to Europe and obtained the proper kind of seed. It can be grown from the seed and multiplied to any extent from the cuttings. Our brethren in every ward should take this matter in hand and plant out these cuttings, and send for the silkworms, and set in operation a new branch of industry, which will employ us some six weeks or two months in the summer time in feeding and taking care of the worms; the residue of the labor—winding and manufacturing the raw material into silk can be conducted through the year. Millions of dollars worth of silk might thus be annually pro– duced in this Territory, from labor that now counts very little.

The feeble, the aged, the lame, and almost any person, no matter how weakly, might be employed at this business; and silk always fetches such a price that it would pay us for sending it abroad, in addition to the amount we might use.

It is just as easy for us to clothe ourselves with silk, the workmanship of our own hands, as to go ragged. Then, I feel it, conscientiously, to be a duty we owe to ourselves as a people, and the obedience we owe to the revelations of the Lord that we should add this industry to the branches we have already commenced.

We should also take care of our sheep, and continue to erect woolen manufactories, and never relax our efforts in the cultivation of flax, hemp and cotton, for all these articles in their time and season are indispensable; and with the whole of them put together—the silk, wool, flax, hemp and cotton, we need ask no odds of mankind for clothes to wear, however beautiful we may choose to make them.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the New Tabernacle, April 6, 1868.

The items of instruction which have been laid before us by Elders George A. Smith and George Q. Cannon are very important to us, they are subjects which we have dwelt upon for years. It is generally known among us that we commenced some years ago to raise cotton in the southern portion of our Territory, and it is also known that machinery to manufacture it has been introduced into this country. All this has been done to encourage the people to become self-sustaining. I am ready to acknowledge that the Latter-day Saints are the best people, and the most willing people to do right that I know anything about. But when we take into particular and close consideration their acts, and compare them with the teaching they are constantly receiving, we think and say they are very far from taking all the counsel given them of the Lord through His servants. But were they to be counseled, for instance, to go to the gold mines, many of them would obey with alacrity. If they were to be counseled to chew or smoke tobacco, many would lift up both hands for this, and shout for joy? If the sisters many of them, were counseled to continue the use of tea and coffee they would sit up all night to bless you. When we are counseled to do that which plea– ses us then are we willing to obey counsel. Yet when I consider the pit from whence we have been taken, and the rock from whence we have been hewn, I can say, praise to the Latter-day Saints. Again, when we consider the immensity of knowledge and wisdom and understanding pertaining to the things of this life, pertaining to the learning of this world, pertaining to that which is within our reach, and ready for the use and profit of the people, and particularly with regard to taking care of ourselves, and then consider our shortcomings, and slothfulness, we may look upon ourselves with shamefacedness because of the smallness of our attainments in the midst of so many great advantages.

A thorough reformation is needed in regard to our eating and drinking, and on this point I will freely express myself, and shall be glad if the people will hear, believe and obey. If the people were willing to receive the true knowledge from heaven in regard to their diet they would cease eating swine’s flesh. I know this as well as Moses knew it, and without putting it in a code of commandments. When I tell you that it is the will of the Lord to cease eating swine’s flesh, very likely someone will tell you that it is the will of the Lord to stop eating beef and mutton, and another that it is the will of the Lord to stop eating fowl and fish until the minds of the people become bewildered, so that they know not how to decide between right and wrong, truth and error. The beef fed upon our mountain grasses is as healthy food as we need at present. Beef, so fattened, is as good as wild meat, and is quite different in its nature from stall-fed meat. But we can eat fish; and I ask the people of this community, Who hinders you from raising fowls for their eggs? Who hinders you from cultivating fruit of every variety that will flourish in the different parts of this Territory? There has not been a day through the whole winter that I have not had fresh peaches, and plenty of apples and strawberries. Who hinders any person in this community from having these different kinds of food in their families? Fish is as healthy a food as we can eat, if we except vegetables and fruit, and with them will become a very wholesome diet. What hinders us from surrounding ourselves with an abundance of those various articles of food which will promote health and produce longevity? If it is anything, it is our own neglect; or, in other words, which will answer my purpose better, the want of knowing how.

We cannot say there are loafers on our streets; still, there are persons in our community who seem to have no other aim in existence, than to pass away their time to no purpose or use to themselves or the community. They have nothing to do, and think that they cannot apply themselves to anything that will benefit themselves and their families, when they might with great propriety be engaged in laying out a garden, fencing and planting it, and laying a foundation to make themselves and their families comfortable. It is true we have taken a great share of this people from manufacturing districts, where the great masses of the people know nothing about cultivating the earth; but they can learn it soon, if they will, after they get here. Let your minds be at home, and let your attention be directed to that which the Lord has given you for honor and glory to yourself, instead of being like the fool which Solomon wrote about, whose eyes are in the ends of the earth. Consider that you are at home, and strive to make your homes happy, comfortable and delightful; let the spirit which you enjoy yourself abound therein.

What is the reason that our brethren do not progress faster in their improvements? In a great measure it is for the want of leaders. But this is not altogether so. Generally it is for lack of judgment and wisdom, tact and talent, taste, industry and prudence in our Bishops. As it has been said, as with the priest so with the people. This is the case in a great measure; and we can say, as is the Bishop so are the members of his ward. It is the duty of the Bishops to take a course to make their lives, characters, doings and sayings fit examples in all things to the people of their wards. Some of our Bishops have made no improvements for eighteen years. I have asked the Bishops to sow a little rye, to make straw for hats and bonnets. A few have done so. I have asked them to do the same thing this spring, that the sisters of their wards may have straw to manufacture. If the Bishops have not time to do this, or have not the ground, get some of the brethren to do it who have time and ground, and let there be an acre of rye sown to each ward, and then ask the sisters to gather it in the proper season. Some say that wheat straw is as good as rye, if properly prepared. Gather the straw, and make your bonnets and hats, and wear them when you come to this tabernacle; and make hats for your husbands and sons to wear, and for your brothers and your sisters, your daughters and your mothers, and let us see all the sisters and all our brethren and all our children wearing hats and bonnets of material produced and manufactured by ourselves. I have been pleading for this for years and years.

This is leap year; let the ladies take the lead in this and every other species of home industry at which they can be employed. We have asked the sisters to organize themselves into Relief Societies; I again ask the sisters in every ward of the Territory to do so, and get women of good understanding to be your leaders, and then get counsel from men of understanding; and let your fashions proceed from yourselves, and become acquainted with those noble traits of character which belong to your sex. Ever since I knew that my mother was a woman I have loved the sex, and delight in their chastity. The man who abuses, or tries to bring dishonor upon the female sex is a fool, and does not know that his mother and his sisters were women. Women are more ready to do and love the right than men are; and if they could have a little guidance, and were encouraged to carry out the instincts of their nature, they would effect a revolution for good in any community a great deal quicker than men can accomplish it. Men have been placed on the earth to bear rule and to lead in every good work, and if they would do their duty today in our own government, and then throughout the world, they would stop whining about the “Mormons” marrying so many wives, and the ladies would have somebody to protect them and they would not need to flee to the “Mormon” Elders for protection. But outside of this community they are destroying the sex, ruining all they can, and then they boast of their villainy. Shall I say that the women are shortsighted? I will say they are weak; I will say that it is in their nature to confide in and look to the sterner sex for guidance, and thus they are the more liable to be led astray and ruined. It is the decree of the Almighty upon them to lean upon man as their superior, and he has abused his privilege as their natural protector and covered them with abuse and dishonor.

I wish the whole people of the United States could hear me now, I would say to them, let every man in the land over eighteen years of age take a wife, and then go to work with your hands and cultivate the earth, or labor at some mechanical business, or some honest trade to provide an honest living for yourselves and those who depend upon you for their subsistence; observing temperance, and loving truth and virtue; then would the women be cared for, be nourished, honored and blest, becoming honorable mothers of a race of men and women farther advanced in physical and mental perfection than their fathers. This would create a revolution in our country, and would produce results that would be of incalculable good. If they would do this, the Elders of this Church would not be under the necessity of taking so many wives. Will they do this? No, they will not; and there are many who will continue to ruin every virtuous woman they can, buying the virtue of woman with money and deception, and thus, the lords of creation proceed from one conquest to another, boasting of their victories, leaving ruin, tears and death in their pathway; and what have they conquered? A poor, weak, confiding, loving wo– man. And what have they broken and crushed and destroyed? One of the fairest gems of all God’s creation. O man! For shame. If the men of the city of New York alone had done for the last twenty years as the men of this community have done, from two to four hundred thousand females from sixteen years of age and upwards, whose dishonor and ruin are mercifully covered in the grave, would now be in life and health, moving in the circles of happy homes, prayed for, respected, loved and honored.

Now, ladies, go to and organize yourselves into industrial societies, and get your husbands to produce you some straw, and commence bonnet and hat making. If every ward would commence and continue this and other industrial pursuits, it would not be long before the females of the wards of our Territory would have stores in their wards, and means sufficient to send and get the articles which they need, that cannot yet be manufactured here and which they may want to distribute.

It is an old saying that a woman can throw out of the window with a spoon as fast as a man can throw into the door with a shovel; but a good housekeeper will be saving and economical, and teach her children to be good housekeepers, and how to take care of everything that is put in their charge. I do not wish to go into detail here; I see too much; I know too much of the waste and neglect of our females to feel satisfied with them. Is this any more so with the female portion of our community than among the males? No, not at all; but the neglect, the idleness, the waste, and the extravagance of men in our community are ridiculous. They are constantly taught better; they know better; yet, in many instances, the same reckless waste is indulged in by the whole family. If we will learn to be wise and careful, we shall devote all our time in that way that will be of the greatest advantage to us and to our common cause, continually bettering our condition, and become more and more competent to do good.

I have tried continually to get this people to pursue a course that will make them self-sustaining, taking care of their poor—the lame, the halt and the blind, lifting the ignorant from where they have no opportunity of observing the ways of the world, and of understanding the common knowledge possessed among the children of men, bringing them together from the four quarters of the world, and making of them an intelligent, thrifty and self-sustaining people. This is a work that is worthy the attention of the Saints. We have gathered thousands from many nations. By the aid of the Almighty we have raised them out of penury and miserable dependence, and have taught them how to become wealthy in possessions, useful to themselves and their neighbors, good citizens, and, I trust, faithful Saints. We are still continuing our labors in gathering the poor from foreign lands, and the people are doing marvels in contributing their means for this purpose; and it is still coming, and we hope to be able to still enlarge our operations for the deliverance of the poor and downtrodden Saints of all nations. We can continue to receive and send means until July.

Now, sisters, will you commence to pay attention to the raising of silk? There are numbers of sisters in our community who could pay attention to this industry, and teach the children to gather the mulberry leaves and to feed the worms. I wish all those sisters whose hands are not tied with large families to enter into this business with heart and hand in their different wards. Plant the mulberry tree, and raise silk every year, also silkworm eggs. By pursuing this business faithfully, year by year, it will bring a yearly revenue to each ward of thousands of dollars, making the people more and more able to perform works of benevolence and mercy, and to make themselves more and more comfortable in their living.

The Kingdom of God is upward and onward, and will so continue until its power and influence extend to the relief of the honest of all nations. It is for us to look to the welfare of the Kingdom of God; for it alone will sustain us, build us up and save us now and hereafter, and prepare us to enjoy a blessed eternity. May God bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, March 29th, 1868.

I am thankful for the privilege of again meeting with the Saints in this city, for the privilege of speaking to them, and of hearing others speak; and, in fact, I am happy in this life, which is a very excellent one, answering the purpose for which it has been ordained—a state of existence wherein to prepare for a better kingdom and a better life. We are now in a day of trial to prove ourselves worthy or unworthy of the life which is to come. We have reason to be thankful that the Lord has given unto us this opportunity and privilege of receiving truth and acting upon it for our own good, the privilege of increasing in knowledge and in wisdom, in understanding and in all things pertaining to this life and to that which is to come. I often think that we are dull scholars, slow to comprehend things as they are, slow to believe, and slow to act in the right. We often act without wisdom, and often speak without consideration, causing grief and sorrow to our hearts. But we are here in this life to learn; we are in a great school, and if we are diligent and faithful, and fervent in our studies, then we have hope of being prepared to enter into an existence wherein we shall receive more than we can receive in this state—where we can adopt in our lives principles of exaltation and progres– sion faster than we can here. Let us apply our minds to wisdom in this life.

The Latter-day Saints who dwell in these valleys have left their all to gather with the Saints, and for the express purpose of preparing for the coming of the Son of Man. When we consider this, and then consider how we spend our time—the precious time allotted to us in this life—to me it is a matter of astonishment. Men and women for slight causes make shipwreck of faith, lose the spirit of the Gospel, losing the object for which they left their homes and their friends. We are all searching for happiness; we hope for it, we think we live for it, it is our aim in this life. But do we live so as to enjoy the happiness we so much desire? There is only one way for Latter-day Saints to be happy, which is simply to live their religion, or in other words believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every part, obeying the gospel of liberty with full purpose of heart, which sets us free indeed. If we will, as a community, obey the law of God, and comply with the ordinances of salvation, then we may expect to find the happiness we so much desire, but if we do not pursue this course we cannot enjoy the unalloyed happiness which is to be found in the Gospel. To profess to be a Saint, and not enjoy the spirit of it, tries every fiber of the heart, and is one of the most painful experiences that man can suffer. Let not the Latter-day Saints deceive themselves, let them not pursue a course that will bring sorrow to their hearts instead of joy and peace. Let them not flatter themselves that they will receive salvation in the kingdom of God while living in the neglect of their duties. Unless we live our religion and sanctify ourselves by the law of God, we flatter ourselves in vain that we shall be made instrumental in the hands of God in preparing the way for the coming of the Son of Man, for the redemption of Zion according to the words of the prophets, for the redemption of the earth, for the gathering of the children of Israel to the lands of their forefathers, for the ushering in of the fullness of the Gentiles and the reign of universal peace. These are serious matters with me, and should be looked upon as such by all the people.

It is true that we are weak, feeble, frail, and prone to wander from the paths of righteousness. We are made subject to vanity, still it is our duty to bring into subjection to the law of Christ all the powers of our natures. If we thus subdue the wicked man that is within us, sanctifying the Lord God in our hearts, we may then begin to enjoy the glorious hope of joining the throng that will be gathered with the sanctified, and of being prepared for the coming of the Son of Man, when it will be said—“Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.” Now, will we deceive ourselves and be found among the foolish virgins, with no oil in our vessels; and when the wheat and the tares are separated, shall I be found a tare or a wheat? Let us ask ourselves the question, am I a wheat or a tare? The proof as to whether we are tares or wheat may be seen in our lives, as it is written—“For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Again, “not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” This is the proof—keep the commandments, observe the ordinances, and preserve the institutions of Christ’s Church inviolate, doing all things that are required of us, as unto the Lord, sanctifying ourselves before Him, and, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” By pursuing this course no person who is a true follower of Christ will be left without a witness, for “if any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.” I am satisfied that no man can live faithfully according to the requirements of heaven without having the testimony of the Spirit that they are born of God; but if they do not live so, they have no such assurance, for the Lord is under no obligation to give them the witness of the Spirit, but if they live as He requires them He will fulfill unto them His promise. He is held to this according to His own word to His children that He would send unto them the spirit of promise, even the Holy Ghost, which will show them things to come.

When I speak to the Saints I include myself. I profess to be a Saint with the rest of my brethren and sisters, and my public and private life is the proof whether I am truly a Saint or not. This is not all, but the spirit which I possess and communicate to the people is another proof, and the spirit which you possess and communicate to your neighbors is the proof by which you are known, as it is with myself. If we walk in obedience to the covenants which we have made with God and one another, we have the assurance that we shall walk no more in darkness, but in the light of life—in the light of the countenance of our heavenly Father. Then we can bear witness that we are born of God, and testify of Jesus as being the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; and we then can strengthen our brethren, and are prepared to speak the truth to a wicked world and call upon them to repent, and forsake their sins, return unto the Lord, seek salvation, and make their peace with God before it is too late.

A great many good people, who possess much of the spirit of the Lord, are naturally given to doubting, having so little self-reliance that they sometimes doubt whether they are Saints in truth or not. These often doubt when they should not. So long as they are walking humbly before God, keeping His commandments, and observing His ordinances, feeling willing to give all for Christ, and do everything that will promote His kingdom, they need never doubt, for the Spirit will testify to them whether they are of God or not. There are some who are always fearful, trembling, doubting, wavering, and at the same time doing everything they can for the promotion of righteousness. Yet they are in doubts whether they are doing the best possible good, and they fear and fail here and there, and will doubt their own experience and the witness of the Spirit to them.

As we are now partaking of the emblems of the body and blood of the Savior, I will refer to this ordinance of the house of God, and ask the Latter-day Saints to call to mind their own feelings on this subject, as a testimony regarding their faith and assurance. Do you delight to partake of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper? Would you assemble yourselves together here, Sabbath after Sabbath, for the express purpose of partaking of the broken bread, and of this water that has been prepared, as a witness to God, our Father, that we have received the Gospel of His Son, that we do delight in His words, and in keeping His commandments and requirements, thus testifying to our Heavenly Father, and to His Son Jesus Christ, that we are the disciples of Jesus? Would you leave your homes in the distant parts of the city to bear this witness and attend a meeting to observe this ordinance? The great majority of this people would do this Sabbath after Sabbath, month after month, and year after year, if they were left entirely to their own choice, without the interference of bishops and teachers, while a few would consider it not convenient to attend meeting, because the witness of the Spirit is not in them. Again, do we delight to call upon the Father in the name of Jesus—is it our joy and happiness to do so? Do we believe that He will hear our prayers, and that we shall receive benefit from our petitions to Him in the name of Jesus? Do we rely upon Him, and are we acquainted with His character in the least degree? Have we any knowledge of Him? Let us answer these questions in our own minds, that we may ascertain whether we do delight to bow down before Him to ask for the things which we need, and seek unto Him for His Spirit to guide us, and preserve us from all danger, that we may not wander into by and forbidden paths and fall out by the way, but be kept constantly in the narrow path which leads to life everlasting. Is it our pleasure to do good to our fellow creatures, by traveling far away from our homes and friends to preach the gospel to a perishing world? This applies to the Elders of Israel, and also to the mothers and daughters and sons of those Elders. Do they delight to part with their husbands that they may go and call upon the nations to repent of their sins? Is it a joy to them to bear the burdens of a family in the absence of their husbands, preserving everything they have left? Is it a pleasure for the Elders to travel among the nations without purse or scrip, traveling from people to people, and from neighborhood to neighborhood, submitting to the finger of scorn and the abuse of the wicked and ungodly?

I will here say, however, that I have been treated kindly when traveling among strangers to preach this gospel. I do not know that I ever asked for a meal of victuals without obtaining it. Still, I have seen enough from the experience of others to know the real feelings, and to understand the desires of the ungodly concerning the Elders of Israel. They do not desire them any good.

If you can answer these questions in the affirmative, it is a testimony to you that you delight in the things of God, that you delight in building up His kingdom, that you delight in the Zion of the Lord as established in latter days. The answer of every faithful heart to these questions is—Yes, I delight in these things, and these are so many evidences that they are of God. Do we delight to feed the poor and clothe the naked? We do. I am happy in my reflections, it is a source of gratification to contemplate facts as they are, and I can say of a truth that I have done more, probably a hundred times over, for my enemies in feeding, clothing, and lodging them, and doing them good than they all ever did for me. Has a minister of religion ever passed through this country and been refused the privilege of speaking in any of our places of worship? No. Can the vilest of the vile enter into a house belonging to a Latter-day Saint and complain of suffering for food, and be turned away unsupplied? It is no matter whether they are Christian, Pagan, or Jew, they can tarry overnight and be made as comfortable as the family can make them, and they can depart in peace and safety. Can the Elders of Israel say this of the world? They cannot.

Whether it is a credit to me or not, that is with the Lord, but He has given me the ability that whenever I have wished to receive favors from those who knew me not I have obtained them. I know it is the custom of many Elders to say, “I am a ‘Mormon’ Elder; will you keep me overnight?” and he is at once spurned from the doors of the stranger. Whether it is a credit to me or not, I never told them I was a “Mormon” Elder until I got what I wanted. I have thus stopped at many a house, and had the privilege of introducing the principles of our religion, and they have exclaimed, “Well, if this is Mormonism, my house shall be your home as long as you stay in this neighborhood,” when, perhaps, if I had said, “I am a ‘Mormon’ Elder” at the first they would have refused me their hospitality. I can say to the world they used me pretty well, and I have no fault to find with them in this respect. I have been abused sometimes by priests, but on such occasions I have ever been ready to defend the cause of righteousness and preach the gospel to all. The Elders of Israel have received more kindness from the infidel portions of mankind where they have traveled, than from those who profess Christianity.

Thousands of the Elders of Israel who are now occupying these valleys are now willing, if called upon, to leave their families and homes to go and preach the Gospel in all the world, and be abused, and cast out and suffer poverty and want for the Gospel’s sake. Is not this a witness that you are right before God? It is. You are willing to feed and clothe the needy, and send means out of your scanty supplies to foreign lands to gather the poor Saints from those old countries; and it is marvelous in my eyes what the people have done within a few months back. About the 5th of February last we found that we could only raise about from eight to nine thousand dollars to send to Europe for the poor. Elders Hiram B. Clawson and Wm. C. Staines started for New York on the 17th of the month. Last Conference I had faith that the Lord would favor us and multiply means. When we came to send away the means we had, we were able to send 25,000 dols. with the brethren. This means was contributed in small amounts; but it is marvelous how it came in. We have exercised faith in this matter, and now we are able to send 25,000 dols. more, and we have not touched a bushel of wheat or a hundred of flour nor an animal that has been turned in, and the means keep coming in, and it comes more and more, and they will continue to give until the emigration is over. This is a witness to the people that they are right before high Heaven in these things, that the Elders are right in going to preach, that their wives and mothers and daughters are right in preserving their means and property from wasting in the absence of their natural guardians. They are right if they delight in coming to meeting to partake of the sacrament, and to bow down before the Lord and worship Him. They are right in feeding the poor and in paying their tithing.

I will here say to the Latter-day Saints, if you will feed the poor with a willing heart and ready hand neither you nor your children will ever be found begging bread. In these things the people are right; they are right in establishing Female Relief Societies, that the hearts of the widow and the orphan may be made glad by the blessings which are so abundantly and so freely poured out upon them. And, inasmuch as we have embraced the fullness of the Gospel with honest hearts, the Lord has sworn by Himself that He will save us if we will continue to be obedient to His will. It is our privilege to seek unto Him and obtain His Spirit to witness unto us continually regarding our labors and works, that we may always know whether we are in the line of our duty or not.

This is the gospel; this is the plan of salvation; this is the Kingdom of God; this is the Zion that has been spoken and written of by all the Prophets since the world began. This is the work of Zion which the Lord has promised to bring forth. We are right when we pray for our neighbors, for our brethren and friends, and for our enemies. We are right when we are striving to become of one heart and of one mind. We are right when we are humble before the Lord, when we are as willing to forgive as we are to be forgiven. We are right in educating our children, and while we strive to be educated in every useful branch of an English education, let us also be learned in every moral and physical attainment; let us learn how to take care of and preserve ourselves and friends, how to plant, how to gather, how to build up, and how to beautify.

The Saints in these mountains are a stalwart, athletic people. They have a great capital of bone, muscle, and sinew on hand. When this is not employed in the establishment and maintenance of various industries, in prudent, economical labor, the employed doing justice to the employer, working to do good for their own benefit and the benefit of the Kingdom of God, gathering around them in abundance the comforts of life, the great capital which God has given to us as individuals and as a people is wasted. This reminds me of what I said to the people of Provo. They naturally might have expected that they were going to be made more prosperous as a city by the money which we should take there. I told them that we brought nothing but knowledge to direct them in their labors and to teach them how to employ their time. This is the greatest wealth we possess—to know how to rightly direct our labors, spending every hour advantageously for the benefit of our wives and children and neighbors. This is right and commendable; it is required by Him whom we say we serve, and it is the only true way to fill honestly the mission we have here upon earth. We should not only learn the principles of education known to mankind, but we should reach out further than this, learning to live so that our minds will gather in information from the heavens and the earth until we can incorporate in our faith and understanding all knowledge which is useful and practicable in our present condition and that will lead to life eternal.

Ye wise men of the world, ye men who profess to know how to guide the destinies of great nations, ye kings and potentates, ye emperors and rulers, who of you could take a people as poor and as ignorant in the affairs of this world as the Latter-day Saints were when they were scattered abroad among the nations, and gather them together, organize them politically and religiously, and show them how to become healthy, wealthy, and wise like this people? Statesmen and rulers can lay waste and destroy, but who of them can build up, enrich, and save the nation? They are not to be found. They give no evidence of possessing the capacity, for the proof of the ability of men to rule and manage is their works. I told them at Provo I would teach them how to get rich, in wasting no time, and wisely disposing of all ability which God has given them to do good.

I have not spoken of the wrong, and I wish never to have an occasion to do so, that I may never have occasion to find fault with Israel again. It is the good I delight to dwell upon and promote and encourage. I delight to see the inhabitants of Zion increase in good works, in faith and faithfulness, and let sin pass behind, while they go on valiant and strong in the service of God. If we will hearken to counsel we shall be the best people in the world; we shall be as a bright light set upon a hill that cannot be hid, or like a candle upon a candlestick. We declare it to all the inhabitants of the earth from the valleys in the tops of these mountains that we are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—not a church but the church—and we have the doctrine of life and salvation for all the honest-in-heart in all the world. Who else has got it? Is it to be found in the creeds of Christendom? It is not. We have the living oracles of the Lord Almighty to lead us day by day. In consideration of these things we should be exemplary in all our actions. We may do great works for the good of the poor, we may give all our goods to feed them, and our bodies to be burned for the work of God, yet if we trifle with the sacred name of the Lord, and with our own salvation, it will profit us nothing, and we shall be found wanting, with no oil in our vessels in the great day of the Lord.

High Councilors, do you have any trials before you? “Yes.” Have the brethren complained of each other? “Yes.” Are their feelings alienated one from the other? Is there a party spirit manifested in the Council? “Sometimes.” Do the brethren go off satisfied with the decisions of the Council? Bishops, do you have any trials? Are the feelings of the brethren in your Wards alienated? “Yes.” What should they do in such cases? They should follow the rules laid down, and be reconciled to their brethren forthwith. I think that it can be shown that the great majority of difficulties between brethren, arises from misunderstandings rather than from malice and a wicked heart, and instead of talking the matter over with each other in a saint-like spirit, they will contend with each other until a real fault is created, and they have brought a sin upon themselves. “Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.” When we have done good ninety-nine times and then do an evil, how common it is, my brethren and sisters, to look at that one evil all the day long and never think of the good. Before we judge each other we should look at the design of the heart, and if it is evil, then chasten that individual, and take a course to bring him back again to righteousness.

I want you to learn all you possibly can, and teach your neighbors, giving them all the information you can. When I see a brother or a sister refuse to impart knowledge, I know there is something wrong in the heart of that person. I am here to do good, and to teach my brethren and sisters to sanctify themselves, to get their food, to build cities and make farms, to teach them to accumulate knowledge, and then dispense it to all.

I hope to see the time when we shall have a reformation in the orthography of the English language, among this people, for it is greatly needed. Such a reformation would be a great benefit, and would make the acquirement of an education much easier than at present. I say to fathers and mothers, never say a word that you would not be willing your son and daughter should say, or commit an act you would not sanction in your son or daughter, and so walk before your children that they may be prepared by your example to walk in the ways of life everlasting, and they will not depart from them; and if they, notwithstanding your example, should become froward in their feelings, and unruly, they will soon see the folly of their ways and turn to their parents and acknowledge their faults and again wish to be feasted at their father’s table. Parents should never drive their children, but lead them along, giving them knowledge as their minds are prepared to receive it. Solomon has written, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” I do not think that these words of Solomon will justify the ruling of children with an iron hand. Chastening may be necessary betimes, but parents should govern their children by faith rather than by the rod, leading them kindly by good example into all truth and holiness.

Our children who are born in the Priesthood are legal heirs, and entitled to the revelations of the Lord, and as the Lord lives, his angels have charge over them, though they may be left to themselves occasionally. We should learn our own nature, and live worthy of our being. When Jesus Christ was left to himself, in His darkest hour, he faltered not, but overcame. He was ordained to this work. If we should ever be left to ourselves, and the Spirit withdrawn from us, it will be to try the strength of our integrity and faithfulness, to see whether we will walk in His ways even in a dark and cloudy hour. At times our children may not be in possession of a good spirit, but if the parent continues to possess the good spirit, the children will have the bad spirit but a short time. Parents who are Latter-day Saints are the ruling power; they are the kings and queens. Rule in righteousness, and in the fear and love of God, and your children will follow you. May God bless you. Amen.