Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the 13th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Evening, Jan. 12, 1873.

It was announced this afternoon that I should speak here this evening. Brother George Q. Cannon is here, however, or will be I expect, and when he comes I would much sooner listen to him than speak myself, and I presume you would also; therefore when he comes I shall be pleased to give way that you may have the pleasure of listening to him. He is only here today and will be going away again; I am here frequently.

I always take pleasure in speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God to my fellow men, and especially to the Saints. I feel that my lot is identified with theirs, and I expect to be associated with them, not only in time but in eternity. The Gospel that we have received has unfolded unto us principles pertaining to eternal life that we were entirely ignorant of heretofore. It has put us in possession of certainty in relation to the future, and we always have confidence so long as we are keeping the commandments of God. We know for ourselves of the truth of the doctrines that we believe in, because, having obeyed the Gospel, the Spirit, which in Scripture is called the gift of the Holy Ghost, has been imparted unto us, and that Spirit does in the latter days just as it did in former days—it unfolds the things of God to those who receive it and reveals to them the relations they hold to each other and to God and his Church and kingdom, not only in this life but in that which is to come; for we have entered into eternal covenants. The covenants which men enter into generally are of a transitory nature, and pertain only to time, and when time ceases with them these obligations terminate. Our covenants, however, are of another character. We enter into eternal covenants with God to serve him faithfully here on the earth, and then we expect to be associated with him in the heavens. Having entered into covenants of this kind we feel that there are certain responsibilities and obligations resting upon us, which it is our bounden duty to perform. And then we consider that there are certain duties which God has laid upon us in relation to ourselves, to those who have existed before us and to those who shall come after us. Our religion is not something in which we alone are personally concerned, but the moment people are put in possession of the Spirit of God they begin to feel interested about the welfare of others.

It would be a very hard thing for many people in this day to do as the Apostles did in former days, that is to go without purse or scrip, trusting in God for their sustenance, to preach the principles of life to mankind. It has never been considered a hard thing by the Elders of this Church to pursue that course. Inspired by the Spirit of God they feel as God feels towards the human family—a desire to bless, comfort, and instruct and to lead them in the paths of life. God places this principle in the hearts of his servants—it emanates from him and is part of his nature; and inasmuch as the orders are dictated by this spirit in their acts insomuch do they resemble their heavenly Father, who is full of benevolence and “causes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and makes the rain to descend on the just and on the unjust;” and hence whenever we become acquainted with the principles of life ourselves we feel a desire to communicate the same unto others, and I see those all around me, here in this assembly, who, as well as myself, have traveled thousands of miles—I have traveled hundreds of thousands—on the same principle as the ancient disciples did, trusting in God for sustenance while proclaiming the principles of life to the people. Men do not always appreciate this; but that makes no difference, the principle is the same.

God is kind, benevolent and merciful to the human family. He feeds and clothes them as he does the lilies of the field, or the birds. He takes care of them, but they do not appreciate this. Thousands and millions of the human family seem hardly to comprehend that God has anything to do with them, or that they are under any responsibilities or obligations to him. Still as a father, full of kindness, benevolence and love, he feels after the human family and he seeks to promote their happiness and well-being, and he would save and exalt them in his kingdom, if they would be obedient unto his laws. We understand this principle, and therefore are governed and actuated by it, and no matter what the thoughts and feelings of others may be in relation to us, we know for ourselves that God has spoken. I know for myself, if nobody else does, that God lives, and I obtained this knowledge through obedience to the Gospel that he has revealed unto us in these last days. I know that it is the privilege of all men to have this knowledge if they will obey the Gospel and be governed by its principles; and hence when I and my brethren have gone out to preach the Gospel, we have told the people precisely the same things as were taught, in former times, by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He told his disciples to preach the Gospel to every creature, the promise being that he that believed and was baptized should be saved, but he that believed not should be damned; and said he: “These signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, if they drink any deadly thing it shall not harm them, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” They, in other words, should receive the Holy Ghost, and that Spirit would take of the things of God, and show them unto them.

I have gone forth and I have told the people as the disciples did formerly. When they have asked me what to do to be saved, I have said, “Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the Holy Ghost.” “What is that?” “It is the same that it was in former times, or it is nothing at all. It produces the same results as it did in the days when Jesus and his Apostles were upon the earth, or it is not the Holy Ghost. It is not a fantasy, or I am a false teacher.” That is the position that I have assumed always, wherever I have gone; there is no mincing this matter. I felt like Moses did when he was leading the children of Israel to the land of Canaan, as we heard Brother Pratt talking about this afternoon. The Lord said he would not go with Moses and the people because the people were rebellious and stiffnecked, but Moses plead with him, saying, “Oh God, if thou goest not with us, carry us not up hence;” and if I cannot have a religion that God will sustain with the Holy Ghost, I want nothing to do with it, and I will have nothing to do with it. Feeling these sentiments and principles, I have always had confidence in God. I know in whom I have believed; and understand that God is at the helm, leading, guiding, controlling and governing the affairs of his people.

What is it that has brought you Latter-day Saints here? It is the principles of the Gospel. You heard them perhaps in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany or some other parts of the earth; no matter where you heard them, when you did hear you believed them. You had the same teachings that I have spoken of today. And I have heard men praising God in these different languages for sending the Gospel unto them, and for communicating unto them the principles of eternal truth. They knew by the same principle that we knew it, that the Gospel which they had heard was true, and they could bear testimony to it. And it was in consequences of this that you Saints came here. You heard Brother Pratt talking today about the gathering, about the Lord taking one of a city and two of a family, and bringing them to Zion. Did you come here because you considered that this was a better land? No. Was it because you had friends and associations here? No, you left your friends and associations. Was it because there was something very desirable for you here? No, it was because God had dictated it, and because the Holy Ghost which you had received planted a desire in your bosoms to come and mingle with your brethren. As the Scripture says, “I will take them, one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring them to Zion, and I will give them pastors after my own heart that shall feed them with knowledge and understanding.” You hardly knew, in many instances, how or why on earth you struggled and toiled and obtained the means to come to this land. Your brethren, here, operated upon by the same spirit, sent forth their means to assist you; and before railroads were built here, as many as five hundred teams were sent year after year to the frontiers, to bring from there those who were desirous of coming. Those who were scattered did what they could, and those who were here did what they could, and the result of these united operations is that thousands of you are now here who would not have been had it not been for this.

The question then arises, What are we here for? “Oh,” say some, “we have a pretty good country here.” Yes, but what about the country? We did not come here after gold or silver; most of us came before that was discovered. I came to this city before it was known that there was any gold in California. We did not come here because it was a beautiful place, for when we arrived it was inhabited by Digger Indians, wolves, bears and coyotes—a desolate, arid plain, a howling wilderness. That was the position in which we found the country. And to get here we had to make the roads and build the bridges, and when we got here we did not have orchards and vineyards, and beautiful pleasant places ready for us, we had to make them. We had to roll up our sleeves and take our teams and go into the canyons and drag down the logs, and saw our boards by hand. I have sawed many a one by hand and George Q. Cannon has assisted me. “What,” say some, “do you ministers saw?” Yes, we ministers saw and we work, and I would be ashamed to be dependent upon anybody but myself for a living. I hope that God will ever preserve me from that, and I shall feel grateful to my Heavenly Father if he will always enable me to obtain my own. I remember being over in Tooele a number of years ago, and a party said to me, “Brother Taylor, I wish you would come here and preach.” “Well,” said I, “I am here, am I not?” “Yes, but we would like you to come again.” Said I, “Perhaps I will, when I get ready.” “Well, but if you will come here, we will make you up something, we will get you some chickens, a little flour and some pork,” and I do not now remember what else. Said I, “I am very much obliged to you, very much indeed, for your proffered kindness, but I always prefer to dig my own potatoes, and I would just as soon plant them as not, and then dig them.” These are my sentiments, and also those of my brethren. Here is Brother Woodruff; he has traveled hundreds and thousand of miles, as I have, and he generally digs his own potatoes and he knows how to plant them, and on these points, for diligent labor, I will set him against any man in this Territory.

We did not come here then, for anything of that kind. There were no houses here when Brother Woodruff and I first came here, and before we had any we had to make them. Before we had any gardens we had to make them; before there were any flowers we had to plant them, and we had to plant the seeds before any trees grew. I have got trees in my orchard now that grew from seeds planted by my first wife, which she brought from the East when I came here. People come here now, and many of them say, “You have a very beautiful city here.” Yes, our city is well enough. “And you have a very pleasant place, and nice streams of water.” Yes, but we had to make the ditches for them to run in, they did not run as they now do when we first came, we have had to do everything that has been done.

Well, what do you gather together for? What is your object? Just precisely what the Prophet told of thousands of years ago. You know that Brother Pratt was talking about fleeing “as doves to the windows,” and while I was listening to him I was very much interested, and thought we had been fulfilling the words of the Prophets. I think that some of our folks, both young and old, sometimes forget “the pit whence they were dug, and the rock whence they were hewn;” and I think they spend a great deal of their time in frivolity and nonsense. This is not the case generally, and I do not care, this evening, to make accusations; for I delight to see that many are engaged in Sunday Schools, and in acts of benevolence and kindness and many of our young brethren and sisters are engaged in labors of a similar kind. But a large number are thoughtless, forgetful, careless and indifferent in relation to the things of God, and to the duties and responsibilities devolving upon them, and I fear are forgetful in many instances of the object of their existence.

Many strangers are now amongst us, parties whom we term, “Gentiles.” They have their ideas, feelings, systems, and modes of worship, and we have ours. Do we wish to interfere with them? No, no, and I would protect, to the extent of my ability, any religious denomination in this Territory, and no man should interfere with them. What, the Episcopal church? Yes. The Methodist? Yes. The Presbyterians and the Catholics? Yes, no matter who or what they are, I will protect them. If God has a mind to bear with people, I will. Then, you would not persecute anybody for the sake of their religion? No, not at all, that is a matter between them and their God, and they have a perfect right to worship as they please, or not to worship at all, and they ought to be protected in all their rights to the fullest extent. No man ought to interfere with them, and no gentleman, no Latter-day Saint who understands himself would do so. They have a right to worship as they please, or not at all if it suits them. Then we have our rights, and one of them is to protect the people—everybody, socially, morally, religiously and politically—in every position, and to preserve a good, wholesome state of affairs in our midst, and not to be interfered with by anybody, outsiders or insiders. Ministers and editors preach and write and tell us that when the waves of “civilization” shall roll over Utah, things will be changed, and say they, “The people will become elevated and refined in their feelings and they will be like us.” Some of their waves are not very pleasant, they have brought a lot of scum with them, and it babbles and stews and froths and foams, and exhibits anything but that which is pleasant and enticing, or that is calculated to promote the happiness and well-being of man. We do not have any sympathy with gambling, drunkenness and prostitution, for instance, and these are among the waves they have brought. They find fault with us for having more wives and children than they, and for preserving purity and chastity in our midst, and they would introduce their infamies amongst us. Gentlemen, we hope you will keep your waves back, where they belong, put them in your own cesspools, keep them where they originated. No such things have been originated by us, we came here to get rid of them, and that we might fear God, and worship him in spirit and in truth, according to the principles that he has revealed. The Scriptures say, in speaking of the last days, that perilous times shall come—men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, trucebreakers, having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof.” This is a very singular statement, but I do not think you would have to travel very far among our reformers—those who have come to reform and regenerate us—to find this pattern fully exemplified. Are they lovers of their own selves? There are a great many here who would not object to take our possessions, and give us nothing for them. Covetous, the Scriptures say. Why, at the time Buchanan commenced his raid upon us, they had it all planned, and had our possessions apportioned, and had agreed who should have this establishment, that and the other. But it did not exactly work, and they did not get them, but that did not alter the feeling or principle that existed. Covetous, boasters and proud! I am quoting from your own Bible—King James’ translation—and one of your own Prophets predicted these very things of you. Boasting! How much swaggering do we see around everywhere? No matter where you go you see little boys growing up full of pride, impudence and impertinence. They are called “Young America.” Beautiful specimens, and fine men they will make when they are full grown! Plenty of them come along here. We know all about them. What is the feeling abroad in the world in relation to disobedience to parents? Who the devil cares about father or mother? Say the young folks, “I am of age and I will do as I d—d please;” and off they go, and do as they please. The Prophets have testified that these things would be, and what we see and hear is only fulfilling their words.

What kind of people should these be? They should have a form of godliness, many of them be very pious, have long faces, and for a pretence make long prayers. Jesus in his day accused some of being men of this kind, and said he, “These shall receive the greater condemnation.” They shall be truce and covenant breakers. Have we any such now-a-days? Why if a man borrows five dollars he must give a mortgage on something, because the lender fears he will be cheated out of it. Men have no confidence in each other’s word. I would not give a straw for a man if I could not trust his word. There is nothing of him, no foundation, nothing to tie to. Yet these are the very people that the Prophet said should exist in the last days. They enter into covenant and never think of fulfilling it. Their word amounts to nothing, their integrity has no foundation.

I speak of these things for your information, for this is the condition of the world. And are we free from it? Not by a long way—I wish we were. I wish there were more honesty, virtue, integrity and truthfulness, and more of every principle among us that is calculated to exalt and ennoble humanity. I speak of these things as a shame to the human family; and if they exist among the Saints it is a crying, burning shame, and we all ought to be disgusted; for if anybody in the world ought to be men of integrity, truth and honesty, we should be, everywhere and under all circumstances. And if we say a thing it ought to be as worthy of belief as if we had sworn to it, and as if we were bound by ten thousand ties to accomplish it. But if a man has not the principle of integrity in his own self you cannot put it there. The Latter-day Saints should be ashamed to mix up with these things, and to prostitute the principles which God has revealed unto them. I speak of these things to warn you against them.

The Lord has brought us here, that we may be taught and instructed in correct principles and led in the paths of life. Did we gather here to get religion and to prepare to die? Nothing of the kind. I do not care one particle about death. I have had him grin at me numbers of times, but I care nothing about him, and I ask no odds of him. I know something beyond death. We are here to prepare to live, and to teach our children how to live after us; and to teach the world the same lesson if they will only receive it. We know that our spirits existed with the Father before we came here. We know that we are immortal as well as mortal beings, and that we have had to do with another world as well as this. We know that the world abounds with corruption; but it is our business to keep ourselves from it, and to progress in virtue, truth, integrity and holiness. We came here to be saviors. “What, saviors?” “Yes.” “Why, we thought there was only one Savior.” “Oh, yes, there are a great many. What do the Scriptures say about it?” One of the old Prophets, in speaking of these things, says that saviors shall come up upon Mount Zion. Saviors? Yes. Whom shall they save? In the first place themselves, then their families, then their neighbors, friends and associations, then their forefathers, then pour blessings on their posterity. Is that so? Yes. This reminds me of some remarks I heard a short time ago. There was a number of gentlemen, travelers, passing around the world, and on their way they stayed here awhile. They wanted to obtain some information from me upon certain subjects, and I took them around a little, and among other places I took them to see the Tabernacle and the foundation of the Temple. Said one, “When you get that Temple built you will have another place to meet and preach in.” “Oh no,” said I, “that is not for preaching.” All the idea that most men have about a Temple of the Lord is that it is for preaching. “ Well,” said these gentlemen, “what is it for if not to preach in?” I answered, “The Christian world have no knowledge of what Temples are for, but we build them for the same purpose as they were built for anciently—to perform ordinances in them.” “To perform ordinances?” “Yes, among others, baptism for the dead?” “Baptism for the dead?” “Yes, baptism for the dead, that those who have lived before us, and have not been in possession of the light that we have, may be placed in a position in which they can receive intelligence from God, and salvation at his hands; that all God’s creatures who have lived may have an opportunity to have the Gospel preached to them, and to participate in its blessings. As Paul says, ‘If the dead rise not at all, why, then, are ye baptized for the dead?’” Said I, “The Christian world know nothing about these things, but God has revealed them to us, hence we are baptized for our dead, that they may partake of the Gospel and have the opportunity of being exalted in the kingdom of God.” Hence, as the Scriptures say, “saviors shall come up on Mount Zion.”

There are a great many more reasons why we engage in these operations, which it is not necessary to talk about to you Saints; you understand them in part, but not much; but you will understand more when it is developed. Well then, we are desirous of blessing our posterity. We read of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, before they left the world, calling their families together, and under the inspiration of the spirit of prophecy and revelation, putting their hands upon their heads and pronouncing certain blessings upon them, which should rest upon their posterity through every subsequent period of time. We have the same Gospel and Priesthood, and the same light and intelligence, and we are after the salvation and exaltation of our families that shall come after us, as they were, and we are seeking for God’s blessings to be poured upon their heads as they were. And if our fathers have died in ignorance of the Gospel, not having had an opportunity to listen to it, we feel after them, and we go forth and are baptized for them, that they may be saved and exalted in the kingdom of God with us.

Is this the Gospel? Yes, the very Gospel that Jesus taught, and when he was put to death in the flesh, and was quickened by the Spirit, he went and preached it to the spirits in prison who sometimes were disobedient in the days of Noah. Did he preach to them that they should stop there? No, not at all. What did he come here for? To open the eyes of the blind, to unstop the ears of the deaf, to preach glad tidings to the poor, to open the prison doors to those that were bound, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. That is what he came to do; and when he got through preaching to the living he went and preached to the spirits in prison, and “opened their prison doors,” as the Prophets said he would do, “to those that were bound.”

We are after these things. God has shed upon us the light of eternal truth, he has revealed to us the everlasting Gospel, and that Gospel brings life and immortality to light. We are seeking to walk in that light, to enjoy these privileges ourselves and to impart them to others, that others with us—the living and the dead, those who have been, those who are and those who are to come, may rejoice with us, that we and they may obtain exaltation in the celestial kingdom of God.

May God help us to be faithful, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the 13th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, January 12, 1873.

My address this afternoon will be intended for those who profess to be Latter-day Saints—those who have entered into covenant with the Lord our God. I am surrounded with those who know by experience that we are dependent upon the influence and inspiration of the Holy Ghost to enable us to teach the things of the kingdom of God. My faith is that no man, in this or any other generation, is able to teach and edify the inhabitants of the earth without the inspiration of the Spirit of God. As a people we have been placed in positions the last forty years which have taught, in all our administrations and labors, the necessity of acknowledging the hand of God in all things. We feel this necessity today. I know that I am not qualified to teach either the Latter-day Saints or the world without the Spirit of God. I desire this this afternoon, and also your faith and prayers, that my mind may be led in a channel which may be beneficial to you. In my public teaching I never permit my mind to follow in any channel except that which the Spirit dictates to me, and this is the position we all occupy when we meet with the Saints, or when we go forth to preach the Gospel. As Jesus told his Apostles, Take no thought what ye shall say, it is told us, Take no thought what we shall say; but we treasure up in our minds words of wisdom by the blessing of God and studying the best books.

We are told in the 24th chapter of Matthew that Jesus, on a certain occasion, taught his disciples many things concerning his Gospel, the Temple, the Jews, his second coming and the end of the world; and they asked him—Master, what shall be the sign of these things? The Savior answered them, but in a very brief manner. As my mind runs a little in that channel, I feel disposed to read a portion of the word of the Lord unto us, which explains this matter more fully than the Savior explained it to his disciples. That portion of the word of the Lord which I shall read, is a revelation given to the Latter-day Saints, March 7, 1831, forty-two years ago next March. It commences on the 133rd page of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.

[The speaker read the revelation, and then resumed his remarks as follows]:

I want to ask who are looking for the fulfillment of these events, and who upon the earth are preparing themselves for the fulfillment of the word of the Lord through the mouths of Prophets, Patriarchs and Apostles for the last six thousand years? Nobody that I have any knowledge of, without it is the Latter-day Saints, and I for one feel that we are not half so much awake as we ought to be, and not half as well prepared as we ought to be for the tremendous events which are coming upon the earth in quick succession in these latter days. Who can the Lord expect to prepare for his second coming but his Saints? None. Why? Because, as is said in this revelation, light has come forth to the inhabitants of the earth, and they have rejected it, because their deeds are evil. This message has been proclaimed among the Christian nations of Europe and America, and in many other nations for the past forty years. Inspired men—the Elders of Israel—have gone forth without purse or scrip declaring the Gospel of life and salvation to the nations of the world, but they have rejected their testimony, and condemnation rests upon them therefor. As the Prophet said, “Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people.” Who believes in the fulfillment of prophecy and revelation? Who, among priests and people today, has any faith in the sayings of Jesus Christ? If there be any people besides the Saints whose eyes are open to the great events which will soon overtake the nations, I would like to know and visit them. I would to God that the eyes of the Latter-day Saints were open far more than they are to those things that rest upon them! The Lord is looking to them alone to build up his Zion here in the mountains of Israel, and to prepare the bride, the Lamb’s wife, for the coming of the Great Bridegroom. I believe in the fulfillment of the revelations which the Lord has given to us, as much as I believe that I have a soul to save or lose, or as much as I believe in the shining of the sun in the firmament of heaven. Why? Because every word that God has ever spoken, whether by his own voice out of the heavens, by the ministration of angels, or by the mouths of inspired men, has been fulfilled to the very letter as far as time has permitted. We have fulfilled many of the sayings of the Prophets of God. The revelation I have read this afternoon was given forty-two years ago. Has there been any sound of war since then? Has there been any sound of war in our land since that period? Has there been any standard lifted up to the nations, any gathering together of the people into these mountains of Israel from nearly all nations? There has. We have had a beginning, the fig tree is leafing, putting faith its leaves in the sight of all men, and the signs in both heaven and earth all indicate the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When my mind, under the influence of the Spirit of God, is open to comprehend these things, I many times marvel and wonder, not only at the world but also at ourselves, that we are not more anxious and diligent in preparing ourselves and our families for the events now at our doors, for though the heavens and the earth pass away, not one jot or tittle of the word of the Lord will go unfulfilled. There is no prophecy of Scripture that is of any private interpretation, but holy men of God spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, and their words will be fulfilled on the earth.

We are approaching an important time. As Jesus once said, The world hate me, and without a cause, therefore I have chosen you out of the world, and the world hate you also. The servant is not above his master, you are not above me, they have hated me and they will hate you. The Lord has chosen the Latter-day Saints, and through them has sent a message to all nations under heaven. The Zion of God is opposed by priest and people in every sect, party and denomination in Christendom. The Elders of Israel have been called from the plow, plane, hammer and the various occupations of life, to go forth and bear record of these things to the world. We have followed this up until the present time for more than forty-two years—forty-three years next April. The kingdom has steadily grown, and while we have labored we have seen the fulfillment of the word of the Lord. The sea has gone beyond its bounds, there have been earthquakes in divers places, and there have also been wars and rumors of wars. These are only a beginning, their fullness had not yet opened upon the sons of men, but it is at their doors; it is at the doors of this generation and of this nation. And when the world rise up against the kingdom of God in these latter days, should the Saints have any fears? Should we fear because men, in their secret chambers, concoct plans to overthrow the kingdom of God? We should not. There is one thing we should do, and that is, pray to God. Every righteous man has done this, even Jesus the Savior, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh, had to pray, from the manger to the cross, all the way through; every day he had to call upon his Father to give him grace to sustain him in his hour of affliction and to enable him to drink the bitter cup. So with his disciples. They were baptized with the same baptism that he was baptized with; they suffered the same death that he died, being crucified as he was. They sealed their testimony with their blood. Never– theless all that Jesus said concerning the Jews has had its fulfillment to the present day. This should be a strong testimony to the whole infidel world of the truth of Christ’s mission and divinity. Let them look at the Jewish nation and the state of the world, in fulfillment of the words of the Savior eighteen hundred years ago in Jerusalem. It is one of the strongest testimonies in the world of the fulfillment of revelation, the truth of the Bible and the mission of Jesus Christ. The Jews have fulfilled the words of Moses, the prophets and Jesus, up to the present day. They have been dispersed and trampled under the feet of the Gentile world now for eighteen hundred years. When Pontius Pilate wished to release Jesus Christ, saying that he found no fault in that just man, the high priests, scribes, Pharisees and other Jews present on that occasion cried, “Crucify him, and let his blood be upon us and upon our children.” Has it not followed them to this day, and been manifest in their dispersion, persecution and oppression through the whole Gentile world for eighteen hundred years? It has. And they have to fulfill the words of the Lord still further. As I have been reading to you today, the Jews have got to gather to their own land in unbelief. They will go and rebuild Jerusalem and their temple. They will take their gold and silver from the nations and will gather to the Holy Land, and when they have done this and rebuilt their city, the Gentiles, in fulfillment of the words of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and other prophets, will go up against Jerusalem to battle and to take a spoil and a prey; and then, when they have taken one-half of Jerusalem captive and distressed the Jews for the last time on the earth, their Great Deliverer, Shiloh, will come. They do not believe in Jesus of Nazareth now, nor ever will until he comes and sets his foot on Mount Olivet and it cleaves in twain, one part going towards the east, and the other towards the west. Then, when they behold the wounds in his hands and in his feet, they will say, “Where did you get them?” And he will reply, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, your Shiloh, him whom you crucified.” Then, for the first time will the eyes of Judah be opened. They will remain in unbelief until that day. This is one of the events that will transpire in the latter day.

The Gospel of Christ has to go to the Gentiles until the Lord says “enough,” until their times are fulfilled, and it will be in this generation. Forty years have passed since the revelation I have read was given to the sons of men. We are living in a late age, although it is true there are a great many vast and important events to transpire in these days. But one thing is certain, though the Lord has not revealed the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man shall come, he has pointed out the generation, and the signs predicted as the forerunners of that great event have begun to appear in the heavens and on the earth, and they will continue until all is consummated. If we, as Latter-day Saints, want anything to stir us up, let us read the Bible, Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, they contain enough to edify and instruct us in the things of God. Treasure up the revelations of God and the Gospel of Christ contained therein.

As an individual, I will say that I feel a great responsibility resting upon me, and it also rests upon you. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young alone have not been called to build up in the latter day that great and mighty kingdom of God which Daniel foretold, and which he said should be thrown down no more forever. I say, they were not called to be the only ones to labor in building up that great and glorious Zion, which was to become terrible to all nations; nor their counselors; nor the Twelve Apostles; but this responsibility rests upon every one of the Lord’s anointed upon the face of the earth, I do not care who they are, whether male or female, and the Lord will require this at the hands of all the Latter-day Saints. I therefore desire that we may be awake to these subjects, and to the position we occupy before God and in the world.

The inhabitants of the earth may hate and oppose us, as they did Jesus Christ, and as they have all inspired men, as they did Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the prophets who ever lived. They have always been a thorn in the flesh to the world. Why? Because they had enough independence of mind to rebuke sin, to maintain the promises of God unto man, and to proclaim the declarations of the Almighty unto the inhabitants of the earth, fearless of consequences. The last song sung here was, “Do what is right, let the consequence follow.” That is what I say to the Latter-day Saints. Let us do what is right, maintain our religion before God, be valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ, and prepare ourselves for his coming, for it is near, and this is what God requires at our hands. He leans upon no other people; he expects from no people but those who have obeyed his Gospel and gathered here, the accomplishment of his great work, the building up of his latter-day Zion and kingdom. And, as I have said, this responsibility rests not only upon Prophets and Apostles, but upon every man and woman who has entered into covenant with him. I say that we are too near asleep, we are not half awake to the position that we occupy before God, and the responsibilities we are under to him. We should be on the watchtower.

Who is going to be prepared for the coming of the Messiah? These men who enjoy the Holy Ghost and live under the inspiration of the Almighty, who abide in Jesus Christ and bring forth fruit to the honor and glory of God. No other people will be. There never was a more infidel generation of Christians on the face of the earth than there is today. They do not expect that God will do anything in a temporal point of view towards the fulfillment of his promises; they are not looking forward for the establishment of his kingdom, or for the building up of his Zion on the earth. Their eyes are closed to these things, because they have rejected the light. When Joseph Smith brought this Gospel to the world, there was a great deal more faith in God, a great deal more faith in his revelations, and, according to the light they had, a great deal more pure and undefiled religion than there is now. We have carried the Gospel to all Christian nations who would permit us, and they have rejected it, and they are under condemnation. Our own nation is under condemnation on this account. This land, North and South America, is the land of Zion, it is a choice land—the land that was given by promise from old father Jacob to his grandson and his descendants, the land on which the Zion of God should be established in the latter days. We have been fulfilling the prophecies concerning it, for the last forty years. We have come up here and established the kingdom. True, it is small today, it may be compared to a mustard seed, but as the Lord our God lives, the little one will become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation, and the Lord Almighty will hasten it in his own time, and the world will learn one thing in this generation, and that is, that when they fight against Mount Zion, they fight against the decrees of the Almighty and the principles of eternal life.

I rejoice before God that I have lived to hear the principles of eternal life proclaimed to the sons of men; I rejoice that I have lived to see this people gathered together, I rejoice in coming to the land of Zion with the Saints of God. When we came here twenty-four years ago, we were a little handful of men, pioneers; we came to a parched and barren desert. Since then we have built up six hundred miles of cities, towns, villages, gardens, farms and orchards; and while doing this we have had to contend with the opposition of both priest and people. Have they prevailed? They have not, and they will not. Why? Because he who sits in the heavens, the Lord our God, has decreed certain things and they will come to pass; because the Lord is watching over the interests of this people. He requires us to work with him, he is at work for us. It is our duty to build these temples here—this in Salt Lake City, another in St. George, in Logan or wherever they may be needed for the benefit of the Saints of God in the latter days. I think many times that many of us will get to heaven before we shall want to go there. If we were to go there today, many would meet their friends in the spirit world and it would be a reproach to them, for you, Latter-day Saints, in one sense of the word, hold in your hands the salvation of your dead, for we can do much for them. But I think many times that our hearts are too much set on the vain things of the world to attend to many important duties devolving upon us connected with the Gospel. We are too much after gold and silver, and we give our hearts and attention to temporal matters at the expense of the light and truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have not much time to spare as a people, for a great work is required at our hands. I know that, without the power of God, we should not have been able to do what has been done; and I also know that we never should be able to build up the Zion of God in power, beauty and glory were it not that our prayers ascends into the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth, and he hears and answers them. The world has sought our overthrow from the beginning, and the devil does not like us very well. Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, does not like the idea of revelation to the Saints of God, and he has inspired the hearts of a great many men, since the Gospel was restored to the earth, to make war against us. But not one of them has made anything out of it yet—neither glory, immortality, eternal life nor money. No man or people ever did make anything by fighting against God in the past, and no man or people will ever make anything by taking that course in the future.

This is the work and kingdom of God; this is the Zion of God and the Church of Christ, and we are called by his name. The Latter-day Saints have to abide in Christ, and we cannot do that unless we bring forth fruit, any more than the branch of the vine can unless it abide in the vine. To abide in Christ we must enjoy the Spirit of God, that our minds may be enlightened to comprehend the things of God. When I look at the history of the Church of God in these latter days I many times marvel at what has been done and how we have progressed, considering the traditions, unbelief, failings, follies and nonsense that man is heir to in the flesh. We have had a great many traditions to overcome and the opposition of the world to contend with from the beginning until today. Brethren and sisters, we should be faithful. The Lord has put into our hands the power to build up his Zion and kingdom on the earth, and we have more to encourage us than was ever possessed by any generation that has preceded us. We have the privilege of building up a kingdom that will stand forever. Noah and the Antediluvian world did not have this privilege. Enoch built up the Zion of God a little while, and the Lord took it away. Jesus and the Apostles came here. Jesus fulfilled his mission, preached the Gospel, was rejected by the Jews, and was crucified. His disciples had a similar fate, and the Gospel was taken to the Gentile nation, with all its gifts and blessings and power, and Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles warned them to take heed lest they, in turn, should lose it through their unbelief.

You know how it has been with them—that there has been a falling away, and that for seventeen hundred years the voice of a Prophet or Apostle has not been heard in the world; and now again, in these latter days, the Lord Almighty, remembering his promises made from generation to generation, has sent Angels from heaven to restore to man the Gospel and has given authority to administer the same. The Revelator John, says he saw an angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, Saying with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give glory to him who made the heavens, the earth, the seas and the fountains of waters, for the hour of God’s judgment has come.”

Oh! ye Gentile nations, wake up and prepare yourselves for that which is to come, for as God lives his judgments are at your door. They are at the door of our nation, and the thrones and kingdoms of the whole world will fall, and all the efforts of men combined cannot save them. It is a day of warning, but not of many words, to the nations. The Lord is going to make a short work, or no flesh could be saved. If it were not for the manifestation of the power of God what would be the fate of his Zion and people? The same as in the days of Christ and his Apostles. The Lord has had Zion before his face from before the foundation of the world, and he is going to build it up. “Who am I,” saith the Lord, “that I promise and do not fulfill?” The Lord never made a promise to the sons of men which he has not fulfilled, therefore Latter-day Saints, you have all the encouragement in the world to sustain you in the faith that the Zion of God will remain on the earth. The work is in our hands to perform, the God of heaven requires it of us and if we fail to build it up we shall be under condemnation, and the Lord would remove us out of the way and he would raise up another people who would do it. Why? Because the Almighty has decreed that this work shall be performed on the earth, and no power on earth or in hell can hinder it.

I would here say to our delegate to Congress, when you go to Washington, have no fears with regard to the opposition of men. You have every reason to go in confidence, and do your duty, knowing that the Lord will stand by you, and so has every man in the Church and kingdom of God. I care not where we are placed or what God requires at our hands. He is at the helm, and he has protected us until today. Where should we have been a few years ago when the army was sent to destroy us, if it had not been for the protection of the Almighty? We should not have been here. And so it will be in days to come. The world hate us because the Almighty has called us out from the world to proclaim his Gospel and build up his kingdom. Let us be faithful, for the Lord is going to protect us, and build up Zion. He will also gather Israel, rebuild Jerusalem and prepare the way for his second coming, in the clouds of heaven. Then let us, Latter-day Saints, wake up to our duty. Think nothing too hard that the Lord requires of us. Let us build this Temple that we may attend to the ordinances for the living and the dead. If we do not do this we shall be sorry. When I see men who have received the word of God, and tasted the powers of the world to come, and then turn away, I think of the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins. It will pay us to be wise and to have oil in our lamps, to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and to live our religion and keep the commandments of God day by day. Brethren are passing away. I have been away three or four weeks on a visit to the people in the upper settlements, and since my return I hear of this man and that man dead, whom I saw well and hale before I went away. So it will be with us in a little while. We shall pass away and go to the other side of the veil, and the burden of the building up of Zion will rest upon our sons and daughters. Then rejoice in the Gospel of Christ. Rejoice in the principles of eternal life. I am looking for the fulfillment of all things that the Lord has spoken, and they will come to pass as the Lord God lives. Zion is bound to rise and flourish. The Lamanites will blossom as the rose on the mountains. I am willing to say here that, though I believe this, when I see the power of the nation destroying them from the face of the earth, the fulfillment of that prophecy is perhaps harder for me to believe than any revelation of God that I ever read. It looks as though there would not be enough left to receive the Gospel; but notwithstanding this dark picture, every word that God has ever said of them will have its fulfillment, and they, by and by, will receive the Gospel. It will be a day of God’s power among them, and a nation will be born in a day. Their chiefs will be filled with the power of God and receive the Gospel, and they will go forth and build the new Jerusalem, and we shall help them. They are branches of the house of Israel, and when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and the work ceases among them, then it will go in power to the seed of Abraham.

Brethren and sisters, let us remember our position before the Lord! Let us try and keep the faith, let us labor for the Holy Spirit, that our hearts, minds and eyes may be opened, that we may live by inspiration, that when we see dark clouds rising and evils strewing our path, we may be able to overcome. The Savior was tempted, so were his Apostles, and if we have not been we shall be. As the Lord told Joseph Smith, “I will try and prove you in all things, even unto death. If you are not willing to abide my covenants unto death, you are not worthy of me.” Did Joseph abide unto death? I think he did, and he with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, will sit at the right hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, and will receive his glory and crown. He was true and faithful unto death, and his testimony is in force today, in language as loud as ten thousand thunders. Whether it is believed or rejected it will have its fulfillment on the heads of this generation.

By and by great Babylon will fall and there will be wailing, mourning and sore affliction in her midst. The sons of Zion have got to stand in holy places to be preserved in the midst of the judgments that will shortly overtake the world. We can see how fully the revelation, calling us to go to the western countries, has been fulfilled. In less than forty years, a standard has been lifted up, and people gathered here from France, England, Scotland, Wales, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and almost all the nations of the earth in fulfillment of that revelation. When it was given no man among us knew anything about Salt Lake or the Rocky Mountains; but it has been fulfilled before our eyes. We have come up here, and in so doing have fulfilled the revelations of God so far. Let us continue, I pray God my heavenly Father that he will bless the Latter-day Saints; that he will give us his Holy Spirit and wisdom, that our eyes may be opened, that we may have faith in the things of God. Let a man lose the Holy Spirit and what faith has he? None, either in God or in his revelations, and that is what is the matter today. You may take the best friends we have outside of this kingdom, and you can hardly get them to believe that God has any– thing to do with the affairs of men, or that he has power to do anything for them, either as individuals or nations. If their eyes were open one moment they would understand that God holds them all in the hollow of his hand, weighs them in the balance and that they cannot make a move without his permission. They would no longer wonder why the Latter-day Saints have faith in God if their eyes were open so that they could understand the work and things of God. They cannot understand it, they cannot even see the kingdom of God unless they are born of the Spirit of God, and they cannot enter into it unless they are born of the water and the Spirit, according to the words of Jesus to Nicodemus.

I have a desire that we may be faithful in our mission and ministry, as Elders of Israel and as Saints of God, that we may do our duty, and maintain our position before the Lord. Let our prayers go up before him. If I have any forte it is prayer to God. We are not called to build up Zion by preaching, singing and praying alone; we have to perform hard labor, labor of bone and sinew, in building towns, cities, villages; and we have to continue to do this; but while we are so engaged, we should not sin. We have no right to sin, whether we are in the canyon drawing wood, or performing any other hard labor, and we should have the Spirit of God to direct us then as much as when preaching, praying, singing and attending to the ordinances of the house of God. If we do this as a people we shall grow in the favor and power of God. We should be united together, it is our duty to be so. Our prayers should ascend before God, and I know they do. I know that President Young is prayed for—I know that his Counselors and the Twelve are prayed for, and that the Church and kingdom of God is prayed for. We should continue this, and if we pray in faith we shall have what we ask for. The Lord has taught us to pray, and I rejoice that I have learned to pray according to the order of God, for in this we have a promise—that where two or three agree in asking for any thing that is just and right, it shall be granted unto them.

May God bless you! May he give us wisdom, and his Holy Spirit, to guide us, that we may be enabled to be true and faithful to our covenants, and be prepared to inherit eternal life, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the 13th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Jan. 5, 1873.

I take pleasure in meeting with the Saints. I like to break bread with them in commemoration of the broken body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and also to partake of the cup in remembrance of his shed blood, and then to reflect upon the associations connected therewith: our relationship to God through our Lord Jesus Christ; our relationship to each other as members of the body of Christ, and our hopes concerning the future; the second appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, when, we are given to understand, he will gird himself and wait upon us, and we shall eat bread and drink wine with him in his Father’s kingdom. I like to reflect upon all these and a thousand other things connected with the salvation, happiness and exaltation of the Saints of God in this world, and in the world to come.

We have one day set apart in seven for the worship of God, and I think it a very great mercy we have, for we can thus draw aside from the world, its cares, perplexities and anxieties, and, as rational, intelligent, immortal beings, reflect upon something pertaining to the future. We are very much engaged, generally, in relation to things of time and sense. Our hearts, feelings and affections seem to be drawn out in this direc– tion, and these are the only things which a great many people have in view. Jesus, in speaking to his disciples, tells them not to take any thought about what they shall eat or drink, or wherewithal they shall be clothed, for, said he, after all these things the Gentiles seek. We, of course, must take this as being specifically addressed to his disciples under the circumstances in which they were then placed; the principle involved in his words is nevertheless true. Says he, “Consider the lilies of the field, they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Again, he says, reflect upon the fowls of the air, they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father takes care of them, and will he not also take care of you, O ye of little faith?

There is something beautiful in reflecting upon many of these subjects, and something, very frequently, that is quite in harmony with our feelings when they are in accord with the Spirit of truth and the light of revelation. We feel, then, that we live in God, and as the Scriptures say, that in him we move and have our being. If we have life, or health, or possessions; if we have children, and friends, and homes; if we have the light of truth, the blessings of the everlasting Gospel, the revelations of God, the Holy Priesthood, with all its blessings and government and rule, all these and every true enjoyment that we possess come from God. We do not always realize this, but it is nevertheless true that to God we are indebted for every good and perfect gift. He organized our bodies as they exist in all their perfection, symmetry and beauty. He, as the poet has expressed it,

“Makes the grass the hills adorn, And clothes the smiling fields with corn, The beasts with food his hands supply, And the young ravens when they cry.”

He is merciful and kind and benevolent towards all his creatures, and it is well for us to reflect upon these things sometimes, for we thus realize our dependence upon the Almighty.

In speaking of the affairs of this world, it is often asked by many—“Why, should we not attend to them?” Of course we should. Do we not talk of building up Zion? Of course we do. Do we not talk of building cities and of making beautiful habitations, gardens and orchards, and placing ourselves in such a position that we and our families can enjoy the blessings of life? Of course we do. God has given us the land and all the necessary elements for this purpose, and he has given us intelligence to use them. But the great thing he has had in view is, that whilst we use the intelligence that he gives us for the accomplishment of the various objects that are desirable for our well-being and happiness, we should not forget him who is the source of all our blessings, whether pertaining to the present or the future. Mankind everywhere and in all ages have universally manifested a desire to obtain the things of this world—gold, silver, houses, lands, possessions, &c. This desire is inherent in man; it was planted in our bosoms by the Almighty, and is as correct as any other principle if we can only understand it, control it, and rightly appreciate the possessions and blessings we enjoy. The earth was made for our possession. The lands, waters, mountains, valleys, the trees, the minerals, vegetation of all kinds, plants, shrubs and flowers—all these things were made for the use of man, and it is for us to appropriate them to their proper use, to estimate them at their proper value, and as rational, intelligent, immortal beings, to comprehend the object of the creation of these things, as well as the object of our creation, and why and how, and under what circumstances we can enjoy them, and how long we can retain possession of them. In examining the human mind you will find many correct feelings and instincts planted there, if men would be governed by them. I do not know but it is this the Prophet has reference to when he says, “There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth it understanding.” Another Scripture says that “God has given to every man a portion of his Spirit to profit withal;” but then, many men do not profit by it; and although they have this light or intuition within themselves, they are not governed by it. There is a party of religionists in the world, called Quakers, so strongly impregnated with this idea, that they think that this inward monitor is sufficient to guide men in all their acts in life.

There are certain political principles (I am referring to the freedom of the human mind), that are very pertinent on this point. When the framers of the Declaration of Independence assembled on this continent, far away from other nations and peoples, in reflecting upon governments and man, the very first thing that they struck upon was this—“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Almost simultaneously with them, or I believe a very little after, I will not be positive as to the date, a number of gentlemen got together in Paris, France, to lay the foundation of a government which they thought would be a government of the people, and they expressed themselves in almost similar words to those which were expressed here. And you will find, in examining the history of the world, that whenever mankind have been oppressed or bound down, there has generally been a reaction, a continual striving among the people to liberate themselves from their bondage, to gain freedom and the exercise of those inalienable rights of which I have spoken.

One great principle which has existed among men from the beginning of creation until now, is a desire, planted within them by the Almighty, to possess property—lands, houses, farms, &c., and in a national capacity, to possess territory, to increase their boundaries, and to extend their rule and dominion. As I said before, this principle is correct, only it wants controlling according to the revelations of God.

Our time on the earth is very short and transitory. No matter what we acquire it amounts to but very little, and we soon leave it. There is no great statesman, warrior, king, emperor or general, who has acquired extensive territory, but who has had to leave it soon. This is the universal history of mankind. You may go back to the old Assyrian empires, or examine the history of the kings of Babylon and Nineveh, and the mightiest among them have passed away after a brief exercise of power; no matter how extensive their possessions were. Read their history in the Bible and, although some affect to despise that book, it is the best history we have, and contains a hundred times more information in relation to those old nations than you can find anywhere else. When the Medes and Persians dispossessed the Assyrians, they had just the same ideas as the Assyrians had—they wanted to extend their territory, and they did it, but what did it amount to? Not very much when we speak of it as immortal beings; when we speak of it as mortal beings, as butterflies that flutter around for a short time, and then die, it might be a sort of transient, passing glory, like a sunbeam when the sun shines from behind a cloud—it appears very brilliant, but it soon passes away. So it was with their glory, and where is it now? Why you can scarcely find where their mightiest cities stood. People think they can, but there is nothing definite about it, and their glory, pomp and majesty have no more existence now than their cities. They had a correct principle planted in their bosoms, but, it was perverted and corrupted, and they sought by fraud, strategy, war, robbery and plunder to possess themselves of dominion, empire and authority, and when they got through, they had to lie down among the silent dead; and could neither move a hand, stir an arm, move a leg nor open an eye, but had to be devoured by worms.

That is the history also of the Grecian and Roman kingdoms. It was said of Alexander that after he had conquered the world he sat down and wept because there was nothing more for him to subdue, and I have heard it said frequently, in regard to individuals, that they wanted everything in their own grasp; and if they had had a world, it would not have been big enough, they would have wanted a little piece outside to make a garden patch. We see man here striving anxiously for the possession of lands, houses and so forth. That is all right enough, but it wants to be corrected. I will refer you to some Scripture about Abraham. We read that God took him upon a certain hill, and told him to lift up his eyes eastward, westward, northward and southward, and said to him, “To thee and to thy seed after thee will I give this land.” Here was a promise made by God. Of course Abraham ought to have felt interested in it. But was it pertaining to this world only? No, certainly not. I mean was the promise confined to Abraham’s lifetime? No, certainly not. Then what had it reference to? These are questions that demand our serious attention and consideration. We find also that there was a promise made to Joseph, that he should possess a land, rich and fruitful, abounding in the precious things of the earth, and the precious things of the mountains, and of the everlasting hills; that should abound in corn, wine and oil, and the rich blessings of life, and that he should become a multitude of nations in the midst of the earth. These blessings were spoken by men who were just, as it were, tottering on the brink of the grave, by Moses and Jacob, for instance, who put their hands on the heads of their descendants and blessed them previous to their departure. How was it in regard to the promise made to Abraham? Did he really possess that which was promised him? Certainly not. Yet God promised. Then why did not Abraham possess that which was promised? Because it was not ne– cessary at that time. Stephen, in talking about it, I suppose about eighteen hundred years after, says that “God promised these things to Abraham, but nevertheless he gave him none inheritance in it, no not so much as to set his foot on;” but, says he, he will give it to him and his seed. That is, they shall by and by inherit. This was the idea and feeling they had in relation to this matter. They did not consider the world at that time in a perfect state, and men who understand themselves do not consider it in a perfect state today. Abraham and his seed had that land given to them and they will possess it, redeemed and renewed, when it will be worth having. Well, then, how is it? A good deal as it was with the rich man that Jesus spoke of in his day. He had gathered around him a great quantity of property, and said he, “Soul, sit down and be at rest, do not trouble thyself any more, take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry, for thou hast much goods laid up for many years.” Jesus says, “Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee,” and then whose shall these things be which thou possessest? Would he have them? No. Who would? Perhaps his children and wife, perhaps not, just as it happened; there was no dependence then any more than now about such things. All that the rich man knew was that his soul would depart, and that his body would be placed in the ground to feed the worms. These things ought to lead us to reflection. As I said before, the principle or desire to acquire the goods of this world is in itself good, but it has been perverted by man; and when Gentiles and “Mormons” seek for nothing but what they shall eat and drink, and wherewithal they shall be clothed, they are both fools, for they do not know at what time their souls will be required of them.

If man were to live up to the privileges with which he is surrounded; if he followed the light of revelation and sought for and became acquainted with God, and correct principles in relation to the future, he would not want to lay up so much the treasures of the earth as the treasures of eternal life. But you are now talking of spiritual things? No, I am not, I am talking about temporal things, and I will go back, and examine some men who have lived here on the earth, Job, for instance. He said, “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand in the latter day upon the earth, and that I shall see him; and though worms feed on my body, yet in my flesh I shall see God.” Job, when he was resurrected, expected to stand upon and to inherit the earth in the latter days, when the earth should be redeemed.

Another prophet, speaking of the same things, says, “I shall stand in my lot in the end of the days.” He also expected an inheritance upon the earth. And then, the ancient apostles, in talking about these things, said that the Saints should live and reign on the earth after the resurrection, when the earth should have become purified. Hence it is very natural for a feeling of this kind to be planted in the bosoms of men, that is, an attachment to the earth, for it is man’s eternal inheritance, but that feeling must be sanctified.

Who is it that will possess the earth? Is it those ancient monarchs who fought, conquered, subdued and slew their thousands, waded through seas of blood to gain empire? No, not at all. Is it the man, who, by fraud, deception, trickery, dishonesty and chicanery, took advantage of those around him, and so amassed large wealth and possessions? Verily no. Who will, then? Let Jesus speak. Says he, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” They are the ones who will rejoice before God in the possession of the blessings of earth, and not the kings and other characters to whom I have referred. One of the prophets saw the end of these kings and rulers, and he says, “They were gathered together, as prisoners are gathered together, into a pit, and they were shut up for many days, and after many days they will be visited.” They will have some chance of salvation and of an exaltation, but they have to remain in prison for many days, like the antediluvians had, before Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison, who were sometimes disobedient in the days of Noah.

We have a great many principles innate in our natures that are correct, but they want sanctifying. God said to man, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowls of the air, and the creeping things that creep on the face of the earth.” Well, he has planted, in accordance with this, a natural desire in woman towards man, and in man towards woman, and a feeling of affection, regard and sympathy exists between the sexes. We bring it into the world with us, but that, like everything else, has to be sanctified. An unlawful gratification of these feelings and sympathies is wrong in the sight of God, and leads down to death, while a proper exercise of our functions leads to life, happiness and exaltation in this world and the world to come. And so it is in regard to a thousand other things.

We like enjoyment here. That is right. God designs that we should enjoy ourselves. I do not believe in a religion that makes people gloomy, melancholy, miserable and ascetic. I would not want to spend my life in a nunnery, if I were a woman, or in a monastery if I were a man; and I would not think it very exalting to be a hermit, and to live by myself in a poor miserable way. I should not think there was anything great or good associated with that, while everything around, the trees, birds, flowers and green fields, were so pleasing, the insects and bees buzzing and fluttering, the lambs frolicking and playing. While everything else enjoyed life, why should not we? But we want to do it correctly and not pervert any of these principles that God has planted in the human family. Why, there are some people who think that the fiddle, for instance, is an instrument of the devil and it is quite wrong to use it. I do not think so, I think it is a splendid thing to dance by. But some folks think that we should not dance. Yes, we should enjoy life in any way we can. Some people object to music. Why music prevails in the heavens, and among the birds! God has filled them with it. There is nothing more pleasing and delightful than it is to go into the woods or among the bushes early in the morning and listen to the warbling and rich melody of the birds, and it is strictly in accordance with the sympathies of our nature. We have no idea of the excellence of the music we shall have in heaven. It may be said of that, as one of the Apostles has said in relation to something else—“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive of those things which are prepared for those who love and fear God.” We have no idea of the excellency, beauty, harmony and symphony of the music in the heavens.

Our object is to get and cleave to everything that is good, and to reject everything that is bad. One reason why religious people in the world are opposed to music and theaters is because of the corruption that is mixed up with them. Wicked and corrupt men associate themselves with these things, and degrade them; but is this any reason that the Saints should not enjoy the gifts of God? Is that a correct principle? Certainly not. It is for them to grasp at everything that is good, and calculated to promote the happiness of the human family.

I remember the time very well, and many of you do, when we used to commence our theatrical amusements here by prayer. We do not do so much of it now. This practice is put to one side. I suppose one was right and the other is right. I merely speak of these things. All our acts should be sanctified to God. You know that we are in the habit of having parties occasionally. I will give you my ideas about some of them. I have attended one or two lately, and I think we are running rather wild, and that we do not act as much like gentlemen and ladies as we should, nor quite as much like Saints as we ought to do. I think there is a great deal of impudence and pertness, a great amount of interfering with other people’s rights in these places, and I think that we need correcting, that is, in our Ward. I do not know how it is here in yours. Perhaps you do better here. I am speaking of things as I see them. I think we ought to elevate everything of this kind to its proper standard. We ought not to intrude upon or take advantage of anybody, even in amusements. When this is not observed, I will tell you what it leads to: it leads to a separation in society, inducing men and women who desire to be polite, refined and courteous, to keep out of the company of those who do not take this course, and produces, if you please something like an aristocracy, which is very repugnant to the wishes of good feeling men and women. But they have either to do this or to be run over in many instances.

I speak of these things for your information. I do not know that you need any information of this kind here. I suppose I ought to have delivered this lecture in our Ward. In all our amusements we should see that things are conducted right, and we should never forget to act the part of ladies and gentlemen, and we should do away with frowardness and impudence, and treat everybody with kindness, courtesy and respect. I speak of these things because they strike my attention. But perhaps I have said enough on this subject.

We are here—a number of Saints. Well, you have outsiders among you. That is none of our business, they are not us. I am now talking to Saints. We have come here to fear God and keep his commandments. I do not expect to frame my religion, ideas or amusements to suit the feelings of any man under the heavens. I want to get my inspiration from God, and be led by him, and I want to honor him in all my acts. I do not care what this, that, or the other man does. Know ye not that God has called us from the world to plant among us the principles of eternal truth, to teach us correct principles, and to show us how to conduct ourselves towards one another, and towards all men? To show us also how to enjoy life, what course to pursue to elevate ourselves in the world, and to bring up others to our standard? We should never descend to others. That is my feeling, but I have seen some do it. Go out among the Indians here, and you will see traders among them who, instead of lifting up the Indians, go right down to them. I do not object, my– self, to have good, decent, respectable, honorable men associated with us more or less; but I do object to descending to the morality of the wicked and corrupt. I do not believe in drinking, or in the lasciviousness and dishonesty that are practiced by many who call themselves honorable men. I want nothing to do with them, and I say, “My soul, enter not thou into their secrets; and mine honor, with them be not thou united.”

We have come here for the purpose of elevating ourselves, and of elevating the people that we are among. We have come here to build up Zion, to be taught of the Lord, to establish righteousness, and to prepare a people for his coming. What is there in the world that we do not know? We knew their religion, philosophy and morality before we came here. We came here in order that we might prepare a people for the time when the bursting heavens shall reveal the Son of God, when creation shall feel his power and cease to groan, and when all people under the heavens shall say, “Blessing, glory, honor, power, might, majesty and dominion be ascribed to him that sits on the throne and the Lamb forever.” We came here to introduce principles in regard to our religion, morals, social status, the covenants that we make with God, and all things pertaining to this world and the world to come. And because of this, heavy responsibilities devolve upon us as parents, Elders in Israel, Bishops, Presidents, High Priests, Seventies, and in every office in the Priesthood and all the various avocations in life, that we may be able to say, finally, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, I have done that which is right, I have been full of integrity, virtue, holiness and purity, and hence is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, shall give unto me, and not unto me only, but to all those who love the appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” These are some things we are after, the attainment of which ought to be the object of our existence.

Well, but is it not right for us to have lands? Certainly, we have come here for the purpose of building up a Zion, and we ought to use all diligence for its accomplishment. You Saints possess facilities here that people never possessed before. Do you realize this? Perhaps that is stretched a little. I expect that in the days of Enoch they had a splendid time and that they lived in a very happy manner. But we are living in the dispensation of the fullness of times, when God is gathering all things together in one, and he has brought us from different nations, countries, climes and peoples. What to do? To make fools of ourselves? Is our object to live as the wicked do—to be “covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, heady, highminded, despisers of those who are good, to have a form of godliness without the power?” No, we came here that we might learn the laws of the Almighty, and prepare ourselves and our posterity for thrones, principalities, powers and dominions in the celestial kingdom of our God. We talk sometimes about Zion that has got to be built up in Jackson County; also about a New Jerusalem that has to be built and prepared to meet a Jerusalem that shall descend from the heavens. How do our lives and actions compare with these things? Are our hearts, feelings and affections drawn out after them, or are we forgetful and our minds swallowed up with the affairs of time and sense? Are we preparing our children for this time, and spreading an influence around us wherever we go to lead people in the paths of life and lift them up to God? Or are we taking a downward course—come day, go day, just as it happens? I think we ought to wake up and be alive, and endeavor to pursue a course that will secure the smile and approbation of the Almighty. Everyone of us, as fathers, mothers and Elders of Israel, ought to cultivate the Holy Ghost in our hearts, and let it burn there like a living fire. We ought to draw near to God, and receive from him light and life and intelligence. We ought to seek for wisdom to manage our youth, that they may grow up in the fear of God. Well, we are doing this, more or less? Yes, very well indeed, in many respects, and in many respects very poorly. I feel led to talk of these things, and what I am led to refer to, I speak about. We ought to be preparing our youth to tread in our footsteps, if they are right, that they may be honorable members in society, that when we get through in this world and go into the other, we may leave behind those who are full of integrity, and who will keep the commandments of God. We ought to teach our children meekness and humility, integrity, virtue and the fear of God, that they may teach those principles to their children. No matter about many of these furbelows, or whether they can dance round dances or not; that is not of very great importance. No matter whether they are in the tiptop of fashion, or whether their feathers and ribbons are all right, only get the spirit, heart and feelings right. Let the heart be drawn out to God. Let there be an altar in every house, and let the sacred fire burn on that altar. Seek to implant in the hearts of your youth principles that will be calculated to make them honorable, highminded, intelligent, virtuous, modest, pure men and women, full of integrity and truth, who will represent you correctly, that is, if you walk correctly, and if not, that will represent, at any rate, the principles of truth which you profess to believe in, that they with you may have an inheritance in the kingdom of God, and inherit the earth, for Jesus says it is the meek that will inherit the earth.

There are many things that we may hear that we do not fully comprehend; and we perhaps see many things that are distasteful. But never mind the actions of men, especially the leaders of the Church and kingdom of God. You are not their judges. God is. You follow their counsel, and if they and you have the Spirit of God, you will see eye to eye. The Scripture says, “The watchmen will see eye to eye when God brings again Zion,” perfect in holiness. If you have committed sin, pray that God may forgive it. If your family has sinned, pray that God may forgive them, and lead them in the right path, and do not be too censorious about others. We are none of us perfect, we all need mercy, and if we exercise judgment without mercy, perhaps judgment without mercy may be meted to us. Let us be, merciful. Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Let us have our hearts right, our spirits pure and our affections sanctified, and let us seek to promote a love of those principles among our youth everywhere where we go, that we may be blessed of the Lord and our offspring with us. Then when Zion shall be redeemed and the purposes of God shall be accomplished, no matter whether we possess much or possess little, God will be with us, and he will bring us off victorious, and we shall join in singing, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and has risen again, to receive glory and honor, and power, and might and majesty and dominion;” and if we are faithful, we shall live and reign with Christ on the earth.

May God help us to be faithful the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the 13th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Dec. 29, 1872.

We are, this afternoon, commemorating according to our usual custom, one of the most important events that has ever transpired in our world, and one which most concerns the whole human family, namely, the death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ for the redemption of the human family. No other event can be compared with this in its importance, and in its bearings upon the human family. Everything else is but of a secondary consideration, when compared with the atonement that has been wrought out in behalf of man by the great Redeemer, yet, strange to say, there are those in the Christian world, so called, who profess to believe in Christianity and yet deny the efficacy of the atoning blood that was shed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. More especially has this been the case for a few years past. I suppose there are many thousands who deny this now, where there were but few at the time of the rise of this Church. This has arisen, probably, from the multiplication of spiritual influences, which now prevail to a very great extent in the Christian world—influences that are evil, revelations, false visions, spirit rappings and mediums. Almost without exception these false spirits have taught those who have listened to them, that there is no efficacy in the Atonement.

There is no subject more fully developed and made manifest to the children of men in modern revelation than that of the atonement. Much is said in relation to other doctrines, all of which have a bearing on the atonement, that lying at the foundation of the whole. If the evil one can prevail over the human family so as to get them to deny this fundamental doctrine, he knows that they are safe, so far as serving him and failing of their salvation are concerned. If they can only be wrought upon and deluded so as to disbelieve in the doctrine of the atonement, it does not matter to Satan what else they may believe. It is not my intention, however, this afternoon, unless so led by the Spirit of the Lord, to dwell much on this subject. It is one that has been so thoroughly taught to the Latter-day Saints, that I esteem it almost unnecessary to repeat that with which they are so familiar. By partaking of the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper every Sabbath day, we commemorate that great event. If we do not preach so much about it by word of mouth we certainly fulfill the commandment which God has given requiring us to remember unto the Father the crucified body and shed blood of his Son, without which there would have been no remission of sin, and no redemption, and mankind would have remained in their fallen state. No light could have penetrated the hearts of the children of men, and there would have been no resurrection, no exaltation in the kingdom of God without the atonement. When we speak of total depravity, it has reference to certain conditions. Man is not totally depraved now, and the reason is, there has been an atonement; but do away that, as many do, and total depravity would reign, and men would live and die totally degraded beings. All the light that has come into the world, and that lights every man that comes into the world, has come by reason of the atonement. It is an event that all Christian societies commemorate more or less, or at least they did in former times. They are getting more lax now since the devil and his angels have given so many revelations against the atonement.

The Roman Catholics, about 532 years after Christ, set apart a day called Christmas, which they no doubt believed at that time was the day of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The reason why they set apart Christmas and have kept up its commemoration from that day until the present time, was because a certain monk, a member of their church, named Dionsysius commenced a calculation to ascertain, if possible, the period of time from the birth of Christ to the time the calculation was made; and from all the information that he could glean he set it down at 532 years. They had not printed works in those days as we have now; they had not access to the abundance of historical and chronological information then that we have; but from all the information that Dionysius could glean, and making a calculation thereon, he came to the above result.

He also made a calculation in regard to the day on which he supposed the Savior to have been born, and that was set down as a day to be celebrated by the Roman Catholics church. They have certain ordinances in regard to that day, which you may see observed in their church in this city. People, prior to this time, did not date their documents from the birth of Christ. If they were writing a letter they did not say, in the year of our Lord 520, in the year of our Lord 416, and so on; this was never done until the calculation of Dionysius was made, then it was adopted by the Roman Catholics and by all nations among whom they had power and influence. By and by other chronologists made calculations as to the time of Christ’s birth, and from the information they could gather together, they discovered that Dionysius had made a mistake, and that Christ was born about one year before the time set by him. But by this time there were great numbers of important State and other documents and papers in existence, all dated according to the incorrect calculation of this Romish monk. How to remedy this the people did not know, for it would not do to alter all these dates.

Another set of chronologists made calculations, and they discovered that Dionysius had made a mistake of two years in regard to the time of the Savior’s birth. Four others, very learned men, sought diligently, and from the information they obtained they found that Jesus was born three years before the time published by Dionysius. Five others made it four years; some few made it five years before, and some seven years before the time specified by this Romish monk. All modern chronologists who have taken up the subject, agree that Dionysius was incorrect, at least several years. But did the people alter the dates of their documents and manuscripts when his error was fully made manifest? Not at all; they have continued that old, erroneous reckoning down to this present year. But they have attached the name of vulgar era to it, in order to indicate that it is incorrect. Vulgar era! I think the name is inappropriate, for there are thousands of people at the present day, including the youth of our land, and perhaps many who have had a collegiate education, who never knew or inquired into the meaning of vulgar era, or why the term was introduced. Its real meaning is, incorrect era or date. For instance, we write a letter today, and we call it the 29th day of December, 1872. This is according to the vulgar era, or erroneous date, or the reckoning of Dionysius; but this is not the true date. The probability is, independent of the Bible or Book of Mormon, from the great mass of testimony that has been accumulated for generations past, that Jesus was born nearly four years prior to the commencement of this vulgar era, so that our present year, 1872, should be 1876. You will find a full account of these matters in the writings of the learned, in encyclopedias, and in various works touching upon chronology, so that you have no need to take my testimony alone on this subject, for you have access to our library here in this city, and you can examine works on chronology and see that I am correct. There may be those here who would like me to cite some works on this subject. I will cite one that I read while I was in England, a Bible dictionary, by a very learned author named Smith. This subject is treated very plainly and fully in that work. I think that Mr. John W. Young of this city has this work in his private library. The reason why I make these remarks is, that this is the first Sabbath after Christmas, and the day on which I believe the Roman Catholics in this city are celebrating certain ordinances in their church in commemoration of this event.

Having found out that there is an error in regard to the year of Christ’s birth, now let us inquire if the day observed by the Christian world as the day of his birth, the 25th of December, is or is not the real Christmas Day? A great many authors have found out from their researches that it is not. I think that there is scarcely an author at the present day that believes that the 25th day of December was the day that Christ was born on. Still it is observed by certain classes, and we, whether we make any profession or not, are just foolish enough to observe this old Roman Catholic festival. The boys and girls all look forward with great anticipations to Christmas. Many of them, it is true, do not know the meaning of it, or why it is celebrated; but when we come to reflect on the matter, it is all nonsense to celebrate the 25th day of December as the birthday of Jesus. It will do for a holiday, so you might select any other day for that purpose. It is generally believed and conceded by the learned, who have investigated the matter, that Christ was born in April. I have seen several accounts—some of them published in our periodicals—of learned men in different nations, in which it is stated that, according to the best of their judgment from the researches they have made, Christ was crucified on the 6th of April. That is, the day on which this church was organized. But when these learned men go back from the day of his crucifixion to the day of his birth, they are at a loss, having no certain evidence or testimony by which they can determine it. I intend this afternoon to give light on this subject from new revelation, which we, as Latter-day Saints, can depend upon. I will read to you from the Book of Mormon, some things that happened, at the time of the crucifixion, on this great western hemisphere, and I will say we have a date given there in connection with these events, showing how old Jesus was at the time of his crucifixion. It may not be amiss, however, for me to make a few remarks before I commence reading, to inform strangers who may be present, that the inhabitants of ancient America, and those who wrote the Book of Mormon were Israelites! That when they came from the city of Jerusalem, 600 years before Christ, they were a righteous people, and had prophets among them, and that they kept the law of Moses. Now the sacrifices and burnt offerings of that law were typical of the great offering that was to be made by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The ancient inhabitants of this continent, to whom I have referred, understood the nature of these ordinances, and they looked forward to the coming of the true Messiah and celebrated it by these ordinances, the same as we look backward and celebrate his death and sufferings by partaking of the symbols of, as we have done this afternoon.

Now if God led a company of Israelites from Palestine to colonize this continent, and taught them to keep the law of Moses with its sacrifices and burnt offerings, typical of the great sacrifice that was to be made at Jerusalem, it would not be at all strange for him to give to them a sign concerning Jesus, when he should be born, and when he should die. He did this by the mouths of prophets. Numerous prophets were raised up on this land, and they prophesied to the inhabitants thereof, and taught them about the coming of Jesus, and what signs should be given at the time he should come. They taught them that the night before Jesus should be born there would be no darkness on this land, but that it would be perfectly light. They would see the sun set in the evening, and that, during the night, until it should rise the next morning, there would be no darkness; that great signs and lights would appear in the heavens, and that they were to be to them indications of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. These signs were given, and by them the people on this continent knew the very day that Jesus was born.

Some years after this, before the crucifixion of Jesus, they fell into great wickedness. They persecuted the prophets, shed their blood, stoned them to death, and cast them out of their midst, and they were full of wrath and indignation and sinned against great light, so that the Lord was under the necessity of sending other Prophets to them, telling them that at the time of the crucifixion, if they did not repent, many of their cities should be burned with fire, many destroyed with tempests, and that they should be visited with sore judgments and calamities; and that during the time Jesus should be lifted up on the cross, there should be tremendous earthquakes upon all the face of this continent, and that after that there would be three days and three nights of darkness, and that this darkness should come immediately after the execution of the Savior. Now let us read what the Prophet says on page 450 of the Book of Mormon concerning these events, which transpired just as they had been predicted.

“And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, in the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as had never been known in all the land.” From what period was this date reckoned? We are informed on page 435 of this book, that the Nephites began reckoning the beginning of their year from the sign given them at the birth of the Savior—the night without darkness. Previous to that they had reckoned from the time of their leaving Jerusalem, 600 years before Christ, and they continued this some five centuries, until they changed the form of their government on this continent, and introduced judges; then they reckoned their time from the beginning of the reign of the judges. This mode of reckoning lasted ninety-one years. Five hundred and nine years having passed away before the reign of the judges commenced, and ninety-one added to that made 600 years from the time that Lehi and the colony came out of Jerusalem. Then they changed their mode of reckoning, and reckoned from the time this great sign was given in the heavens, so that we know what this date means—“in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, and in the fourth day of the month.” Now I think this gives us a clue to the age of Jesus when he was crucified, but we will read on, and see about the storm.

“There arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land. And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder. And there were exceeding sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land. And the city of Zarahemla did take fire.”

Zarahemla was their great capital city. It was located in the north part of South America, on one branch of that river that we call the river Magdalena, that runs down from the mountains to the northward, and empties into the Caribbean Sea. On the west side of that river was located the great city of Zarahemla. We will now read further:

“And the city Zarahemla did take fire. And the city Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof were drowned. And the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that in the place of the city thereof there became a great mountain.”

Now if our miners, those who go into South America, should happen to dig in a few thousand feet, and should come across old buildings, they need not be astonished, for the Lord made a terrible revolution in the land. There came a great mountain in the place where this city stood; “and there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward”—what we term South America.

“But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward”—North America—“for behold the whole face of the land was changed because of the tempest, and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the exceeding great quakings of the whole earth; And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough. And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shook till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate. And there were some cities which remained; but the damage thereof was exceedingly great, and there were many in them who were slain. And there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away. And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth. And behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of the land.”

You can see from this, what terrible convulsions have taken place on this continent, even here in these mountains. In the mountains west of this valley, you will find the strata of rock set up almost perpendicular; that was not the way they were first formed. You will also find there, as elsewhere, strata dipping at a greater or less angle into the earth. The cause of all this has been the terrible convulsions that our globe has undergone, and more especially at the time of the crucifixion.

“And it came to pass that when the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did cease—for behold they did last for about the space of three hours; and it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these great and terrible things were done in about the space of three hours— and then behold there was darkness upon the face of the land.”

I might go on reading, if it were necessary, in regard to the weeping, wailing and mourning of the people during these three days of intense darkness—no sun, moon, nor stars were to be seen, and the vapor was so great that the inhabitants of the land could feel it, the same as the darkness was felt in the land of Egypt. It was not, of course, the darkness that was felt, but the vapor that was so thick. There is one thing, however, to which I wish to call your special attention, before I make any further remarks in regard to the date that is here given. When this darkness dispersed, it is said to have been morning. You will find it on page 454. “And it came to pass that thus did the three days pass away; and it was in the morning, and the darkness dispersed from off the face of land, and the earth did cease to tremble, and the rocks did cease to rend.”

You might say that this was not three days and three nights, for Jesus was crucified and died on the cross at 3 o’clock in the afternoon at Jerusalem, and consequently for it to have been just three days and three nights, you might suppose that the darkness must have dispersed in the afternoon. But this book tells us that when the three days and three nights of darkness had passed away it was morning. Now why this discrepancy—for it seems to be one—between the Bible and the Book of Mormon? Can you account for it, and tell why it should have been morning in America? The reason is because of the difference in longitude. The writer of the account in the Book of Mormon resided in the northwestern portion of South America. Now you take a map of the world, and see the difference in longitude between the place where. Jesus was crucified, and that where the writer of the Book of Mormon lived, and you will find that it is about seven and a half hours. Now you subtract seven and a half hours from 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and what time would it be when the three hours of quaking and the destruction of cities expired, or when the darkness commenced? Would it not be in the morning? Take away seven and a half hours longitude from 3 o’clock—the time that Jesus expired—and would it not be half past seven o’clock in the morning with the inhabitants of this land, while it was afternoon with the inhabitants in Jerusalem?

I presume that Joseph Smith, being an unlearned man, never saw this to the day of his death; that is, he never understood it. I never heard him, or any learned man refer to it until after his death; but reading it over myself, I saw, at first, there was an apparent discrepancy between this book and the New Testament; one placing it in the morning, and the other in the afternoon. When thinking of this seeming discrepancy, the difference in longitude occurred to my mind, and that is just what it should be to account for the difference in time given in the two books; and this, though not direct, is incidental proof that the man who translated this book was inspired of God. I do not think that Joseph Smith, to the day of his death, knew that a difference in time at different places on the earth was caused by their difference of longitude.

We will now go back to the date, at the commencement of the extract I have been reading—“in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, and on the fourth day of the month”—that would make him thirty-three years, three days and part of another day old, at the time of his crucifixion, according to the account given in the Book of Mormon. But this does not decide his age exactly, unless we can learn what kind of years the Nephites reckoned. Did they reckon their years as the English and Americans do? No, I presume not. How can we learn the length of their years? I do not know of any better method than going back to the early Spanish historians who lived contemporary with Columbus, the discoverer of America. When they penetrated into Mexico, and conquered that country, they found that the Mexicans were partially civilized, so that they had many records, although their mode of keeping them was very different from those of other nations. The Mexican calendar gave their views and ideas with regard to the length of the year, and their mode of reckoning them. This was about the close of the fifteenth century, for Columbus discovered America in 1492. Soon afterwards these Spanish historians became extensively acquainted with Mexican literature, their form of writing, and the half civilization that existed among them. I have in my possession nine large volumes, got up soon after the Book of Mormon was translated, by Lord Kingsborough, on Mexican antiquities. The nine volumes will probably weigh over two hundred pounds. Five of them contain nothing but plates of antiquities, the other four contain translations, in English, Spanish and French, of the declarations of historians concerning Mexican literature and their knowledge concerning the length of the year. They reckoned 365 days to the year, but did not add what is termed the intercalary day every four years, to make what we call leap year. They did this only once in fifty-two years, and then they added thirteen days, which made one day for every four years. This shows that they had a very good idea of the length of the year.

When Jesus was crucified, at the age of about, thirty-three years, if the Nephites reckoned according to the Mexican portion of the Israelites, they had not added the eight days that we would add for leap year, consequently this would shorten their years, and instead of being thirty-three years, three days and part of the fourth day, it would bring it, according to our reckoning, eight days less than the Book of Mormon date, or thirty-two years, three hundred and sixty days and fifteen hours. This, then, it is highly probable, must have been the real period that existed between the birth and the crucifixion of our Savior.

Now we have a clue in the New Testament to the time of his crucifixion, but not of his birth; that is, we know that he was crucified on Friday, for all of the Evangelists testify that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, and that on Friday Jesus was hung on the cross, and according to the testimony of the learned, that was on the 6th of April, consequently by going back from the crucifixion 32 years, 360 days and 15 hours, making allowance for the longitude, it gives Thursday for his birthday. Again, making allowance for the errors of Dionysius the monk, adding four years or nearly so to the vulgar or incorrect era, it would make the organization of this Church take place precisely, to the very day, 1,800 years from the day that he was lifted up on the cross.

This is something very marvelous in my mind. Joseph Smith did not choose the 6th of April upon which to organize this Church: he received a commandment from God, which is contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, setting apart that day as the one upon which the Church should be organized. Why did he set up his kingdom precisely 1,800 years from the day on which he was lifted up on the cross? I do not know why. The Lord has his own set time to bring to pass his great purposes. If Joseph Smith had been learned in chronology and in the writings of the world; if he had been a middle-aged or an old man of experience, or a man who had access to libraries, instead of a farmer’s boy, then we might have supposed that perhaps he had studied chronology, sought out the true era, found out how to distinguish between the true and the vulgar, and then find out the true date of the birth of Christ and his crucifixion, and got it all arranged together nicely and harmoniously, and then have pretended that he had had a revelation to organize the Church precisely 1,800 years from that great event. This is what we should have to concede if we wanted to make out the work an imposition: but the very fact that God commanded that boy to organize the Church on that day, ought to be regarded as strong collateral evidence of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

Perhaps I have said all that is needful on this matter. If I were to celebrate Christmas, or the birthday of Christ, I should go back a little less than thirty-three years from his crucifixion, and it would bring it to Thursday, the 11th day of April, as the first day of the first year of the true Christian era; and reckoning on thirty-two years, 360 days and fifteen hours from that, it would bring it to the crucifixion, and bring it on Friday also.

In saying that “it was the thirty-fourth year, first month and fourth day of the month” on which the great storm and earthquakes took place, there is another thing to be noted—that it must have taken place on Friday, according to the Nephite reckoning in order to bring his crucifixion on Friday. If Tuesday was the first day of the 34th year, the second day would be Wednesday, the third Thursday, and Friday would have been the fourth day of the month, just as the Book of Mormon says, bringing it correct according to the reckoning of the days of the week.

There is another thing that, perhaps, a great many of the Latter-day Saints and many of the world have not reflected upon; that is; that the beginning of our present New Year is incorrect, reckoning the years from the birth of Christ, for the first day of January was not the day of his birth. We call it the first day of the year, but it has no reference to the day of Christ’s birth. The first day of the year of the true Christian era should be the day of the Savior’s birth—the 11th day of April. About 122 years ago we did not have the first day of January for New Year. At that time, or thereabouts, everybody in America and England reckoned New Year’s Day on the 25th of March. That had been the first day of the year for many generations. How came it to be changed to the first day of January? In 1751 the Parliament of Great Britain passed a law that the year should be moved backwards from the 25th day of March to the 1st day of January, making the year 1751 some eighty-four days shorter than all the other years had been. Why did they do this? In order to place New Year in connection with a certain event in astronomy. Those who are acquainted with the earth going round the sun, know that the path in which it moves is not a circle but an ellipse, or elongated circle. You make a wire into the form of a circle and then pull it out, and that is the form of an ellipse. The sun is situated in one of the foci of this ellipse, and is nearer to the earth on the 1st day of January or the 31st day of December, by about three millions of miles, than it is on the 1st day of July. The object of placing the year back was to have the year begin when the earth was in its perihelion in going around the sun. This was not the only alteration that has been made, but this accounts for the phrases “new style” and “old style,” with which you occasionally meet in historical documents, the former having reference to the new mode of reckoning, the latter to the old mode.

I have said that this was not the only change made in time. In the year 1752—when the second day of September had arrived, in order to bring the year to correspond with the seasons, it was found necessary to set the time forward so that the 3rd day of September should be called the 14th, eleven days being dropped out of the calendar. This was also established by parliamentary law; and in this way the seasons have been brought to correspond, in some mea– sure, with the length of the year. All these things should be taken into consideration in our dates; and when we read the saying in the Book of Covenants that the Lord organized his Church in the year of our Lord 1830, in the fourth month, and on the sixth day of the month, the Lord made his language to correspond with our present mode of reckoning, that is, he adopted the reckoning of the English, established by parliamentary law. Instead of reckoning the year to begin on the 25th of March, he says, “It being in the year of our Lord 1830, the fourth month, and the sixth day of the month that the Church was organized.” We are not on this account to take this as the real date, but it is adapted to our present mode of reckoning. I have made these remarks, that no persons, if they should feel disposed to search into chronology, might be misled in relation to this matter. Being so near Christmas and New Year, I have deemed it appropriate to dwell on this subject, for the purpose of enlightening the minds of all who may be present, so far as I have information in regard to it.

Now, if I have not already occupied too much time, I desire to dwell a little upon the subject of the chronology of our world. We have no dates on which we can depend as to the period or history of our globe from the creation down to the present time. Chronologists differ in regard to the history and age of the world. Some make the age of the world, from the creation to the coming of Christ, to be four thousand years. Archbishop Usher has introduced this chronology into King James’ Bible; and in that you will find all the dates adapted to that particular reckoning; and according to his reckoning you will find that Christ came in the year of the world 4004. Is this to be depended upon? Not at all. Many chronologists equally as learned, and who have made deeper researches than he has on this subject, differ with him materially. There are many who place the birth of Christ at 5500 years from the creation; others place it at 5490, others at 5508 or 9 years. There are about two hundred chronologists who all differ in regard to this matter. Many Jewish chronologists make it over six thousand years from the creation till the birth of Christ, so that you see when we attempt to take up the subject on the learning of the world, we are in the midst of confusion—no person knows anything about it. It is not really necessary that we should know, but we have some little light on this subject.

We know that it was not six thousand years from the creation to the birth of Christ. How do we know this? God has told us in new revelation that this earth is destined to continue its temporal existence for seven thousand years, and that at the commencement of the seventh thousand, he will cause seven angels to sound their trumpets. In other words, we may call it the Millennium, for the meaning of the word millennium is a thousand years. Six thousand years must pass away from the creation till the time that Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven, and he will not come exactly at the expiration of six thousand years. When the Prophet Joseph asked the Lord what was meant by the sounding of the seven trumpets, he was told, “That as God made the world in six days, and on the seventh day he finished his work, and sanctified it, and also formed man out of the dust of the earth, even so, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth, and complete the salvation of man, and judge all things and shall redeem all things, except that which he hath not put into his power, when he shall have sealed all things, unto the end of all things; and the sounding of the trumpets of the seven angels is the preparing and finishing of his work, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years—the preparing of the way before the time of his coming.” This quotation will be found in the Pearl of Great Price, p. 34.

Neither of these trumpets have sounded yet, but they shortly will; and this gives us a little clue to the period and age of our world. We know that six thousand years have not yet elapsed since the creation, but we know that they have very nearly expired. We know that God set up and established this kingdom 1,800 years from the date of his crucifixion, preparatory to his coming in the clouds of heaven to receive the kingdom that he sets up here on the earth, and to rule and reign over all people, nations and tongues that are spared alive. Perhaps this is sufficient on the history and chronology of the world; but for the benefit of the Saints, and it will not hurt the strangers, although they do not believe in our revelations, I will refer to some further evidence and testimony on this subject.

In the new translation which Joseph Smith was commanded to make of the Old and New Testament, we find that some of the dates given in King James’ translation of events before the flood are incorrect, but they are corrected in the new translation. For instance, the age of Enoch, as given in King James’ Bible, is incorrect. The new translation gives a lengthy prophecy which was delivered to him before the flood, and this prophecy relates to generations in the future as well as to things that were past. Enoch, in his vision, saw the great work that he was destined to perform on the earth, in preaching the Gospel among the nations, and gathering out a people and building up a city called Zion. He saw that in process of time the people of Zion would become sanctified before the Lord, that the Lord would come and dwell in their midst and that by and by, after the city had existed 365 years, it with all its people, would be taken up to heaven. And all the days of Zion in the days of Enoch, says the new translation, was 365 years, making Enoch 420 years old when he and his people were translated, which is older than the age given him in the uninspired translation.

In this new translation we have also a much greater history of the creation of the world than is given in the uninspired translation made by the forty-seven men employed by King James. In that book we have a very short history of that great event; but the inspired translation shows that the periods of time called days, in which the several portions of the work of creation were performed, were not by any means of such limited duration as the days we speak of, but from what is revealed in the Book of Abraham, they were probably periods of one thousand years each. God might have been for the space of a thousand years in organizing a certain portion of this creation, and that was called the evening and the morning of the first day, according to the Lord’s reckoning, one day being with him as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. By and by another day’s work was performed, which I do not suppose was a day of twenty-four hours, but an indefinite period of time, called the second day—the evening and the morning of the second day. By and by the third day’s work was done, and then there was the evening and the morning of the third day. Three thousand years probably, passed away in the performance of these three days’ work. In the fourth day the Lord permitted the sun and moon to shine to give light to the earth. What regulated the evening and the morning the first three days we do not know, for neither sun nor moon were permitted to shine until the fourth day. I have no doubt, the Lord has a variety of methods of producing light. The new translation gives us some information on this subject, for there we read that, “I the Lord created darkness on the face of the “great deep.” In King James’ translation it says darkness was on the face of the great deep, and I, the Lord, said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” Now how did the Lord create this darkness? He has a power, the same as he had in causing darkness three days and nights over this American land. But before that darkness was created what produced light? It must have been light here on this earth, and probably was so thousands of years before the Lord created darkness; and then he had the means of producing darkness, and afterwards of clearing it away, and then called it morning. But how long that morning had existed we do not know, unless we appeal to the Book of Abraham, translated by Joseph Smith from Egyptian papyrus. That tells us in plainness that the way the Lord and the celestial host reckoned time, was by the revolutions of a certain great central body called Kolob, which had one revolution on its axis in a thousand of our years, and that was one day with the Lord, and when the Lord said to Adam, “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” the Book of Abraham says it was not yet given unto man the true reckoning of time, and that it was reckoned after the Lord’s time that is one thousand years with us was a day with him, and that Adam, if he partook of the forbidden fruit, was to die before that day of a thousand years should expire. Hence when we go back to the history of the creation, we find that the Lord was not in such a great hurry as many suppose, but that he took indefinite periods of long duration to construct this world, and to gather together the elements by the laws of gravitation to lay the foundation and form the nucleus thereof, and when he saw that all things were ready and properly prepared, he then placed the man in the Garden of Eden to rule over all animals, fish and fowls, and to have dominion over the whole face of the earth.

There is another very curious thing revealed in Joseph Smith’s translation, and one that explains some mysterious passages in the first and second chapter of Genesis. In the first chapter of Genesis in King James’ translation we read that on the fifth day the Lord made the whales, the fish and the fowls of the air. On the sixth day he made the animals, beasts and creeping things, and last of all he made man, male and female. Now read along in King James’ translation to the seventh day, and we are told that there was not a man to till the ground, yet he had made them male and female on the sixth day. Now, where were they made? They were made in heaven first. All the children of men, male and female, all the spirits of beasts, fowls, fish and creeping things were made spiritually in heaven before they were placed temporally here on the earth, and the spiritual creation differs from the temporal creation. The new translation says that man was the very first flesh made here on the earth; whereas, according to the account in King James’ translation, the flesh of beasts, fowls and fish was made on the fifth day, before man was made. But in the great temporal work of placing man on the earth, he was the first flesh formed and placed here among all the works of God. He had made the spirits of fish, fowls and beast, but none of them were permitted to come to the earth in their fleshy tabernacles until man, the great masterpiece, was placed here—then they were brought before him—for him to give names to them.

In the work of creation the first is last and the last first. God made the spiritual part of this creation during these six days’ work that we read of; then he commenced the temporal work on the seventh day. He planted the garden on the seventh day; he placed man in that garden on the seventh day; formed the beasts and brought them before the man on the seventh day, all this being the temporal work, the first being spiritual. Not so in the last of his work—the great work that is to come. When the seventh millennium shall arrive the Lord will redeem man and bring him forth from the grave, and he will begin to redeem this creation not making it entirely immortal and spiritual, like a sea of glass. It will exist for a thousand years in a temporal condition, as it was before the Fall. This will be the first of his temporal work in the last days. By and by when the millennium has passed, and the earth passes away and dies and its elements are melted with fervent heat, and there is no place found for it as an organized body, he will again speak and there will be another creation—a creation of this earth out of the old materials; in other words a resurrection of the earth, a literal resurrection. That will be the last of his work. In the morning of creation spiritual first, and lastly temporal. But in the ending temporal first in the redemption, and lastly spiritual, which will be the perfection or ending of his work.

There are a great many things that God has revealed to us as Latter-day Saints, and it would be well for us, for our Elders and for all, to search these revelations, to prepare their minds to understand what God intends to do with our creation, and those who are prepared to inherit it, when it is made new. We, if faithful, shall inherit it in its temporal condition before the millennium passes away. Though our bodies may go down to the grave, God will bring us forth. He will redeem us and bring together bone to its bone, organize the flesh, sinews, muscles and every part of the body in its proper place, cover it with skin, cause the breath to enter into us, and the Spirit from on high to quicken us, and the human spirit, that will dwell in a celestial paradise, to return and take possession of the body. Then we shall inhabit the earth, not at first in its glorified state—that state which eventually awaits it, but in the beginning of its redemption in its temporal condition during the thousand years, of which the work before the Fall was typical.

God bless you. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the 14th Ward Assembly Rooms, Sunday Afternoon, Dec. 15, 1872.

It would have been my choice this afternoon to sit and listen to others, but having been requested to address the congregation I cheerfully comply, having a desire in my heart that God will pour out his Holy Spirit upon me and upon the hearers, so that we may be mutually edified. We call ourselves the children of the Most High God. It is a term that is Scriptural in its nature, and that has been applied to the people of God in all ages. In the hymn that was sung, at the opening of this meeting, this subject was more fully portrayed, according to the views of the Latter-day Saints, than is generally expressed by religious people in the world, for I believe that all religious people claim to be, and term themselves, the children of God. It may not be amiss to investigate, for a little while, the reality of this title, and see if we can come to some kind of an understanding in regard to our being the sons and daughters of the Most High God. It is said by some that we are his sons and daughters only by adop– tion, or through obedience to the Gospel; that we become his sons and his daughters, through being born of the water and of the Spirit. Now I admit that it is necessary for the human family to be thus adopted; there would, however, have been no need of this adoption if mankind had never become wicked and corrupt. If there had never been any sin in the world, I do not think that adoption would have been necessary. According to my views, and I believe, according to the views of the Latter-day Saints, and also of the ancient Saints, we were at one period legitimately his sons and daughters independent of adoption, and this will carry us to the first ideas manifested by revelation, in regard to the origin of man. Many people suppose, when Adam was placed in the garden of Eden, that then the first of the human family originated. I admit that that was the origin as far as man’s temporal existence here on the earth is concerned; but had we no prior existence? Was that the beginning of man? Was it, in reality, his origin? This is a very important question, and a correct answer thereto would certainly be calculated to cheer the hearts of the children of men. That man had a secondary origin here on this earth, and was placed in the Garden of Eden, are Scriptural facts, which we all believe; but did not our first parents, and all their descendants have an existence, before there was any Garden of Eden on this earth? I think it is admitted by the whole Christian world, that man is a being compounded of body and spirit, at least all the Christian societies with which I am acquainted believe this. They all believe that within man’s body or tabernacle of flesh and bones there dwells an immortal spirit. All Christian societies, with perhaps very few exceptions, believe that this human spirit, which dwells within the tabernacle, will exist after the dissolution of the body. There may be some few Christians who believe that the spirit is disorganized or dies between the time of death and the resurrection. I think this view is entertained by some few individuals, but the great mass of the human family believe that when this body falls asleep and crumbles back again to its mother earth, the spirit still survives as an organized being or personage. Some, however, do not believe that the spirit is a personage. They think it is something which cannot be defined, something that has neither the shape nor the properties which we give to any kind of material substance. The views of the immaterialist are that the spirit occupies no space, and has no relation to matter, something entirely separate and distinct from matter. There are however, but few in the Christian world who have worked themselves so far into the depths of these mysteries, as they term them, as to believe in such absurdities as these. I could not believe it for one moment—I never did. To suppose that there is a spirit in man and that that spirit has no shape, no likeness and occupies no space, as the immaterialists inform us in their writings, is something that I do not believe, and never could believe, unless I became perfectly beside myself, and deranged in my mind.

We, as Latter-day Saints, believe that the spirits that occupy these tabernacles have form and likeness similar to the human tabernacle. Of course there may be deformities existing in connection with the outward tabernacle which do not exist in connection with the spirit that inhabits it. These tabernacles become deformed by accident in various ways, sometimes at birth, but this may not altogether or in any degree deform the spirits that dwell within them, therefore we believe that the spirits which occupy the bodies of the human family are more or less in the resemblance of the tabernacles.

Now a question arises, If this spirit can exist separate and independent of the tabernacle, when the tabernacle dies is it unreasonable to suppose that it could exist before the tabernacle was formed? This is an important question and in my estimation there is nothing absurd or unreasonable in the least degree, in believing that that personage that we call the intelligent spirit, which can exist between death and the resurrection, separate and distinct from the body, could also have had an existence before the body was formed, that is, a pre-existence. This is a Scriptural doctrine, for there are many passages in Scripture which, in my estimation, prove that man had a pre-existence. If we turn to the first and second chapters of Genesis, we shall find it clearly indicated that man had an existence before he was placed in the Garden of Eden. In the first chapter of Genesis we are told that God made the earth, and the seas, and the grass, and the herbs and the trees in about six days of time. We also read that on the fifth day of the creation he made the fish and fowls; that on the sixth day he made the animals, and last of all that he made man, male and female created he them. This seems to have been the last work of creation on the sixth day. Read on still further, in the second chapter of Genesis, and we are informed that on the seventh day there was not yet a man to till the ground. Now how are we going to reconcile this with that which is stated in the preceding chapter—on the fifth day he made the fowls and the fish, and on the sixth day he made the animals before he made man, and on the seventh day there was not yet a man to till the ground. And then we are informed about man’s being placed in the garden on the seventh day; and also that on that day the beasts were formed and brought to the man to see what he would call them. This seems to have been another department of work that the Lord accomplished on the morning of the seventh day. He planted a garden on the seventh day in Eden, he placed the man in that garden on the seventh day; and then we are informed that he brought the beasts of the field and the various animals that he had made before the man, and man gave names to them on the Sabbath day; but on the sixth day they were made male and female. I reconcile this by giving a pre-existence to man; such is my faith. I believe that man had an existence before the Lord commenced the great temporal work of creation, so far as this planet is concerned. How long he had existed prior to the formation of this planet I do not know, but it is certain God seems to have formed the spiritual part of it in the six days, and when it comes to the temporal part that seems to have been the work of the seventh day. On the seventh day the Bible says that God ended his work. He did not altogether end it on the sixth, but he ended it on the seventh day.

When we come to new revelation which God has vouchsafed to give to his people in these latter times, this subject is made very plain; and on these new revelations in connection with the old, what little light we can gain through the hymn that was sung at the opening of the meeting, was founded, “When shall I regain thy presence,” as expressed in the first verse, showing that we once were in his presence and existed where he is, but for some reason we have been banished therefrom, and that when we are redeemed we shall return again, or as one of the inspired writers has it—“the spirit shall return to God who gave it.”

This returning of the spirit to God who gave it, clearly shows to my mind that the spirit once existed with God and dwelt in his presence, otherwise the word “return” would be inapplicable. If I were going to China it would be inapplicable for me to say I am returning to China. Why? Because I never have been there, consequently the word “return” would be an improper word. So in regard to the saying of the prophet, it would be entirely improper to say that, after the body crumbles to dust the spirit would “return” to God who gave it, if it never had been there.

Jesus seems to have been a pattern in all things pertaining to his brethren, and we find that he had a previous existence—his spirit existed before he came and tabernacled in the flesh. This is abundantly proved in the Scriptures. In the prayer which he offered to his heavenly Father beseeching him to make his disciples one, he says, “Father, glorify thou me with that glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Now if Jesus dwelt with the Father before the world was, why not the rest of the family, or in other words, the rest of the spirits? It certainly was not his tabernacle which dwelt there before the world was, for he came in the meridian of time, and his spirit entered a tabernacle of flesh and bones, and was born of a woman, just the same as all the rest of the human family. What then is the meaning of that Scripture which speaks of Jesus being the elder brother? It certainly could not have reference to him being the eldest so far as his natural birth on this earth was concerned, for he certainly was not the eldest, for generation after generation had preceded him during the four thousand years which had passed away, from the time of creation until he was born; but yet he is called the “elder brother.” In another Scripture it is said of him that he was ‘” the firstborn of every creature.” This would imply, then, that Jesus, so far as the great family of man is concerned, was the firstborn of the whole of them. How and when was he born? He was born in the eternal world, not his flesh and bones, but that intelligent spirit which dwelt within his tabernacle was born before this world was made, and he seems to have been the first spirit that was born, and for this reason he became the elder brother; and we are told in many Scriptures in the New Testament, that we are his brethren, and that he is not ashamed to call us his brethren. I look upon him as having the same origin as we had, only he was the eldest; and if he was born in the eternal world thousands of years ago, why not all the rest of his brethren, so far as their spirits are concerned? I know that the objection will immediately arise in the minds of individuals who have not reflected on this subject, if we were intelligent personages thousands of years ago, and dwelling in the presence of God, and of Jesus, our elder brother, how is it that we have no remembrance of anything that transpired in our pre-existence? I answer this question by saying, that when we came into this world from our former state of existence, and had our spirits enclosed within these mortal tabernacles, it had a tendency to take away our memories so far as the past was concerned. It did so in relation to Jesus. He had great knowledge before he was born into this world—sufficient to create the heavens and the earth, hence we read in the Hebrews that God, by his Son, made the worlds. This was before Jesus came here, and he must then have been the possessor of great knowledge to have been able to do that; but when he took upon himself flesh and bones did he forget this knowledge? We read in the Scriptures, speaking of Jesus coming here and taking a body of flesh and bones, that “in his humiliation his judgment was taken away.” What humiliation? His descending from the presence of God his Father and descending below all things, his judgment was taken away, that is, his remembrance of things that were past, and that knowledge which, while in the presence of his Father, enabled him to make worlds, and he had to begin at the first principles of knowledge, just the same as all his brethren who came here in the flesh. We read that Jesus, as he grew in stature, grew also in wisdom and knowledge. If he had possessed all wisdom, and had not forgotten that which he formerly possessed, how was it that he could increase in wisdom as he increased in stature? It shows clearly that the wisdom which he had possessed thousands of years before, had for a wise purpose been taken from him. “His judgment was taken away,” and he was left, as it were, in the very depth of humility, beginning at the very first principles of knowledge and growing up from grace to grace, as the Scriptures say, from one degree to another, until he received a fullness from his Father. Then when he did regain all his previous knowledge and wisdom, he had the fullness of the Father within him, in other words, “in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

Now if his knowledge was forgotten, and his judgment taken away, why not ours? We find this to be the case. What person among all the human family can comprehend what took place in his first existence? No one, it is blotted from the memory, and I think there is great wisdom manifested in withholding the knowledge of our previous existence. Why? Because we could not, if we had all our pre-existent knowledge accompanying us into this world, show to our Father in the heavens and to the heavenly host that we would be in all things obedient; in other words, we could not be tried as the Lord designs to try us here in this state of existence, to qualify us for a higher state hereafter. In order to try the children of men, there must be a degree of knowledge withheld from them, for it would be no temptation to them if they could understand from the beginning the consequences of their acts, and the nature and results of this and that temptation. But in order that we may prove ourselves before the heavens obedient and faithful in all things, we have to begin at the very first principles of knowledge, and be tried from knowledge to knowledge, and from grace to grace, until, like our elder brother, we finally overcome and triumph over all our imperfections, and receive with him the same glory that he inherits, which glory he had before the world was.

This is the way that we as a people look upon our previous existence. There is something truly cheering in contemplating the previous existence of man, much more so than in the old idea of the sectarian world—that God is constantly creating, that he did not finish his work some five or six thousand years ago, but that he is creating all the time. They will tell you that they have spirits in their bodies capable of existing after the bodies have crumbled back to mother earth. Ask them the origin of these spirits, and they will tell you they originated about the time the infant tabernacles of flesh and bone originated. Hence, according to their ideas, God has all the time been creating about one person every twenty seconds, which I believe is about the average rate that persons are born into the world; in other words, about three a minute, and according to their ideas the Lord is engaged in making spirits with this rapidity, and sending them here to this world.

I cannot, for my part, see that there is any more absurdity in believing that he made them thousands of years before they came here, than to suppose that he made them just before they came here, and entered into the tabernacle. One can certainly not be more unreasonable than the other.

Because we cannot recollect our former existence is no proof whatever that we did not have one. I can prove this. In regard to this present existence, what person is there in this congregation who can remember the first six months of his or her infancy? There is not a man nor a woman on the face of the earth, I presume, who can remember this; but no person will argue, on that account, that he did not exist at that time. Oh no, says the objector, that would be an improper method of arguing. Our memories have nothing to do with a previous existence. If we remember it, all good; if we do not, it does not alter that existence.

If we were born in heaven before this world was made, the question might arise as to the nature of that birth. Was it by command that the spiritual substance, scattered through space, was miraculously brought together, and organized into a spiritual form, and called a spirit? Is that the way we were born? Is that the way that Jesus, the firstborn of every creature, was brought into existence? Oh no; we were all born there after the same manner that we are here, that is to say, every person that had an existence before he came here had a literal father and a literal mother, a personal father and a personal mother; hence the Apostle Paul, in speaking to the heathen at Ephesus, says, “We are his offspring.” Now I look upon every man and woman that have ever come here on this globe, or that ever will come, as having a father and mother in the heavens by whom their spirits were brought into existence. But how long they resided in the heavens before they came here is not revealed.

We will refer now to the 19th chapter of Job, to show that there were sons of God before this world was made. The Lord asked Job a question in relation to his pre-existence, saying, “Where wast thou when I laid the cornerstone of the earth?” Where were you, Job, when all the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy; when the nucleus of this creation was commenced? If Job had been indoctrinated into all the mysteries of modern religionists, he would have answered this question by saying, “Lord, why do you ask me such a question? I had no existence at that time.” But the very question implies the existence of Job, but he had forgotten where he was, and the Lord put the question as though he did exist, showing to him in the declaration, that, when he laid the cornerstone of the earth, there were a great many sons of God there, and that they all shouted together for joy. Who were these sons of God? They certainly were not the fleshly descendants of Adam, for he had not then been placed in the Garden of Eden. Who were they then? They were Jesus, the elder brother, and all the family that have come from that day until now—millions on millions—and all who will come hereafter, and take tabernacles of flesh and bones until the closing up scene of this creation. All these were present when God commenced this creation. Jesus was also there and superintended the work, for by him God made the worlds, consequently he must have been there, and all felt joyful, and shouted for joy. What produced their joy? It was foreknowledge. They knew that the creation then being formed was for their abiding place, where their spirits would go and take upon them tabernacles of flesh and bones, and they rejoiced at the prospect. They had more knowledge then than the world of mankind have now. They saw that it was absolutely necessary for their advancement in the scale of being to go and take tabernacles of flesh and bone; they saw that their spirits without tabernacles never could be made perfect, never could be placed in a position to attain to great power, dominion and glory like their Father; and understanding that the earth was being created to give them the opportunity of reaching his position, they sang together for joy. They composed a hymn, and if we could have a copy of it, we should no doubt find that it was a hymn in relation to the construction of the earth and its future habitation by those spirits in the form of men. I should like to see that hymn myself, and if we had it we would get our choir here to sing it. I think it would impart a good deal of information to us, and perhaps we would shout for joy again.

It is very evident that this was the belief of the people in the days of the Savior. Even the Apostles and those with Jesus evidently believed in the pre-existence of man. This is manifest from a certain question which they put to Jesus on the occasion of a blind man making his appearance before him. They said to him, “Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” In other words, did this man sin before he was born, and in consequence of his sin was he born blind? Or was it that his father sinned that he was born blind? This question would have been very foolish to put to the Savior, unless they had believed in the pre-existence of man. But they not only did believe it, they also believed it possible for man to sin in that pre-existence, and that the penalty of that sin might be carried down to this state of existence, and be the cause of blindness at birth, and with that belief they put the question to the Savior. That would have been a very favorable opportunity for him to have corrected them, if their ideas about pre-existence had been false. He could have turned to them and said, he could not have sinned before he was born, and that be the cause that he was born blind, because he had no previous existence. But he said no such thing, he replied, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the glory of God might be made manifest.”

In the first and second chapter of Genesis, in the new translation given by inspiration through Joseph Smith the Prophet, this subject is made very plain. After Joseph had translated the Book of Mormon from the gold plates, the Lord commanded him to translate the Bible. Now you know that we have no inspired translator at the present day among any of the nations. We have translations of the Bible made by the wisdom and learning of men, but as each translator has differed in his views, no two of them agree. Indeed, when we go back in the history of the Bible, we find that about four hundred and fifty years before Christ, Ezra compiled into one volume the different books of the Old Testament so far as they were given. Previous to that they had been in scattered manuscripts. The five books of Moses were kept in the Ark of the Testament. The writings of Joshua and others who followed Moses were kept here and there, and but very few copies were to be had in those early days. Indeed, so scarce were the copies of the Bible, that in the days of the kings of Israel they had lost almost all knowledge of any written copy of the Bible. They retained many of their ordinances, their Temple worship, and so on, but written copies of the Bible had so nearly disappeared, that on repairing the Temple at a certain time they found a copy of it hid up, but they did not know whether it was true or not. They had nothing to compare it with, and the only way they could ascertain whether it was a true copy of the Bible was to send for a man of God—a Prophet—and get him to inquire of the Lord whether it was genuine or not. Thus we see that the people in those early ages were not favored as we are in these days with copies of the Bible. But Ezra, according to the history, gathered up these fragments as far as he could.

Two hundred years before Christ there were seventy-two Israelites, said to be six out of each tribe, met together in the city of Alexandria in Egypt, and they translated the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms from such Hebrew copies as they happened to have possession of, into the Greek. This was called the Septuagint translation. Jerome, a staunch Roman Catholic, translated this Greek version called the Septuagint into what was termed the Vulgate—a Latin translation. That, and copies of it made by scribes for many generations, became the Bible of the Roman Catholics; and even to this day, so far as they use Latin they appeal to that edition of the Scriptures called the Vulgate.

In the year 1610 the Vulgate edition was translated into English. This was called the Douay Bible, because it was published at the town of Douay in France, and it is the Roman Catholic Bible, so far as the English translation is concerned, to the present day. It differs materially from the Protestant Bible.

About the same time that the Douay translation was published—in 1607, King James the First appointed fifty-four men, some six or seven of whom did not serve, to translate the Bible from the original Hebrew, and they gave us that version called King James’ translation.

All these translators that I have spoken of translated by their own wisdom, according to the best understanding they had. None of them were prophets or revelators, and not one of them understood the meaning of the original text like a man of God filled with the Holy Ghost. But they have made a very good translation notwithstanding, especially the forty-seven who labored under the appointment of King James. Different parts of the Scriptures were portioned out among six different classes of translators, and they, I believe, have given us the very best copy of the Bible in existence, so far as translations by human wisdom are concerned.

But to come back again, as I said before, after having translated the Book of Mormon, this young man, Joseph Smith, a man of no education or learning, comparatively speaking, was commanded to translate the Bible by inspiration. He commenced the work, and the first and second chapters of Genesis containing the history of the creation are very plain and full. In the first chapter the Lord speaks about the spiritual creation of all things before they were made temporally. In the second chapter he goes on to state that there was not yet a man to till the ground, “for in heaven created I them.” That explains the mystery about the work previously spoken of in the first chapter, and shows that it had reference to the great work which God had performed in the heavens before he made this earth temporally. This same doctrine is inculcated in some small degree in the Book of Mormon. However, I do not think that I should have ever discerned it in that book had it not been for the new translation of the Scriptures, that throwing so much light and information on the subject, I searched the Book of Mormon to see if there were indications in it that related to the pre-existence of man. I found them in a great revelation that was given to the prophet who led the first colony to this country from the Tower of Babel at the time the language was confounded. This great prophet had a remarkable vision before he arrived on this continent. In this vision he saw the spiritual personage of our Savior as he existed before he came to take upon him flesh and bones; and Jesus, in talking to this great man of God, informed him that as he appeared to him in the spirit so would he appear to his brethren in the flesh in future generations, and said he, “I am he that was prepared from before the foundation of the world, to redeem my people.” He furthermore addressed himself to this great man saying, “Seest then that thou art created in mine own image?” That is, man here on the earth is in the image of that spiritual body or personage of Jesus, so far as we are not deformed. “Seest thou that thou art created in mine own image, yea even in the beginning created I all men after mine own image.” This is about the only place that refers pointedly to the pre-existence of man in the Book of Mormon. I think there are one or two other passages in which it is just referred to.

Now admit, as the Latter-day Saints do, that we had a previous existence, and that when we die we shall return to God and our former habitation, where we shall behold the face of our Father, and the question immediately arises, shall we have our memories so increased by the Spirit of the living God that we shall ever remember our previous existence? I think we shall. Jesus seems to have gained this even here in this world, otherwise he would not have prayed, saying, “Father, glorify then me with that glory which I had with thee before the world was,” showing plainly that he had obtained by revelation a knowledge from his Father of something about the glory that he had before the world was. This being the case with Jesus, why not his younger brethren also obtain this information by revelation? And when we do return back into the presence of our Father, will we not there also have our memories so quickened that we will remember his face, having dwelt in His presence for thousands of years? It will not be like going to visit strangers that we have never seen before. Is not this a comfort to persons who expect to depart this life, like all the rest of the human family? They have a consolation that they are going not among strangers, not to a being whose face they never saw, but to one whom they will recognize, and will remember, having dwelt with him for ages before the world was. Looking upon it in the light of reason, independent of revelation, if a person were to form a system of religion according to the best light that he had, would it not be more happifying and calculated more in its nature to give joy and peace to the mind to suppose that we were going back to a personage we were well acquainted with, rather than to one we had no idea of? I think I should prefer, so far as reason is concerned, to be well acquainted with people I am going among.

These are the expectations of the Latter-day Saints: we do not expect to go among strangers. When we get back there we expect this place to be familiar to us, and when we meet this, that and the other one of all the human family that have been here on the earth, we shall recognize them as those with whom we have dwelt thousands of years in the presence of our Father and God. This renewing of old friendships and acquaintances, and again enjoying all the glory we once possessed, will be a great satisfaction to all who are privileged to do so.

If we ever dwelt there, it is altogether likely that God made some promises to us when there. He would converse with us, and cheer us up. Being his offspring—his sons and daughters, he would not be austere and unwilling to converse with his own children, but he would teach them a great many things. And all this will be familiar to us. We read in the New Testament that God did make promises to us before this world was made. I recollect one passage in one of the epistles of Paul, either to Timothy or Titus, the Apos– tle says, “In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began.” To whom did he make that promise? I contend that we had the promise of eternal life before the world began on certain conditions—if we would comply with the gospel of the Son of God, by repenting of our sins and being faithful in keeping the commandments of God.

There are many Scriptures in the New Testament that have relation to the previous existence of man, which I do not at this time feel disposed to quote. They can be searched up by the Latter-day Saints, and by all who are curious enough to enquire into these things. There are some other things, however, which I feel anxious to bring forth in connection with the pre-existence of man. One thing is our origin more fully. I have already stated that the spirits of the children of men were born unto their parents. Now who are the parents of these children?

There are certain promises made to the Latter-day Saints, one of them being that when we take a wife here in this world, it is our privilege by obedience to the ordinances of heaven, to have that wife married to us for time and for all eternity. This is a promise which God has made by revelation to his Church, hence the Latter-day Saints believe in the eternity of the marriage covenant. This is one of our fundamental doctrines. We consider that a marriage for time alone is after the old Gentile order, and they have lost all knowledge of the true ordinances and order of heaven. They marry until death separates them. I believe that almost every religious society, in their marriage ceremony, use this phrase, “I pronounce you man and wife until death shall part you!” This sort of a marriage never origi– nated with God; the marriage that originated with him is the same as that of which we had an example in the beginning—the first marriage that was ever celebrated here on the earth. Do you enquire what was the form of that first marriage between Adam and Eve? I will explain it in a few words. They were united as husband and wife by the Lord himself; when they were united they did not know anything about death, for they had not partaken of the fruit of the tree that was forbidden, and they were then immortal beings. Here were two beings united who were as immortal as you will be when you come forth from your graves in the morning of the first resurrection. Under these conditions Adam and Eve were married. I do not believe that the Lord used the ceremony that is now used—I marry you until death shall separate you. By what means did death come into the world? After this marriage by partaking of the forbidden fruit, they brought death on both male and female, or as the Apostle Paul says, “By one man sin and death entered into the world, even so shall all be made alive, and every man in his own order.”

It seems then, that if there had been no sin, death never would have come upon Adam and Eve, and they would have been living today, immortal, nearly six thousand years after being placed in the Garden of Eden, and would they not still be husband and wife? Certainly, and so they would continue if millions and millions of ages should pass away, and you could not point out any period in the future, when this relation would cease; no matter how many myriads of ages might pass away, unless they by sin brought death into the world. All will admit, who reflect on the subject, that this marriage was for eternity, and that death interfered with it only for the time being, until the resurrection should bring them forth and reunite them.

The “Mormons,” or Latter-day Saints, believe in this kind of marriage, and the first one ever performed on the earth is a pattern for us. Moreover God has revealed to us the nature of marriage, and that its relationships are to exist after the resurrection, and that it must be attended to in this life in order to secure it for the next life. For instance, if you wish to obtain a great many blessings pertaining to the future world, you have to secure those blessings here. You cannot be baptized in the next state of existence for the remission of sins; that is an ordinance pertaining to the flesh, which you must attend to here. And so with all other ordinances which God has ordained, you have to partake of them here in order to have a claim on the promises hereafter. It is so with regard to marriage; and this agrees with what Jesus has said in relation to their not marrying nor giving in marriage in that world. There will be no such thing there. Why? Because this is the world for all these ordinances to be attended to. Here is the place to secure all the blessings for the next world. We have to show in this probation that we will be obedient in obeying the commandments of heaven so that we may have a claim on every blessing pertaining to the next life. Consequently, we have to secure this marriage for eternity while in this world. When a female in the Latter-day Saint Church marries a person outside the Church it is not a marriage in our estimation, in the scriptural sense of the word, it is only a union until death shall part them. When a person does this we really consider them weak in the faith; indeed it is equivalent in my estimation not only to being weak in the faith, but since these revelations were given on the subject, if people with their eyes wide open will still reject these important things, and marry a person outside the Church, it shows to me very clearly that he or she has no regard for the word of God, nor for their own salvation. They are lacking not only in faith but in the principle of obedience. They have no hope when they marry outside the Church, but when they marry in the Church according to this order, and the persons who officiate in declaring them husband and wife, being commissioned of God and having authority to administer in all the ordinances of his kingdom, that marriage is not only for time, but for all eternity.

Another question. Having been married for eternity, we die and our spirits go into celestial paradise. We come forth in the morning of the first resurrection as immortal males and immortal females. Our wives, married to us for eternity, come forth, and they are ours by virtue of that which God has pronounced upon them through those whom he has appointed, and to whom he has given authority. We have a legal claim upon them at the resurrection. But here comes forth a person that is married outside. She comes up without a husband, he without a wife, or any claim upon any of the blessings. Here is the difference between these two classes of beings. One dwells as an angel, without any power to increase their species, family or dominions, without the power to beget sons and daughters. This class will be angels. Perhaps many of them will be worthy of obtaining a degree of power, glory, and happiness, but not a fullness. Why? Because they have not come up to that position of their Father and their God. He has power to beget and bring forth sons and daughters in the spirit world; and after he has brought forth millions and millions of spirits, he has power to organize worlds, and send these spirits into these worlds to take temporal bodies to prepare them in turn to be redeemed and become Gods, or in other words, the sons of God, growing up like their father, possessing all his attributes, and propagating their species through all eternity. Here then is the difference between these two classes of beings—one having lost what they might have obtained and enjoyed if they had had faith in God and been willing to obey his commandments. But the others are worthy, as the Apostle Paul has said, to obtain a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while the others will be angels or servants, to go and come at the bidding of those who are more exalted.

This is what Paul meant when be said that in the Lord the man is not without the woman, neither is the woman without the man; as much as to say that in order to be in the Lord and to obtain a fullness of his glory and exaltation, you cannot be separated; or in other words, to speak according to the common phrase, you cannot live old bachelors or old maids and go down to your graves in this condition. That is not the order of heaven, why? Because marriage is essentially necessary to qualify them to propagate their species throughout all eternity, that they in their turn may have worlds created on which these sons and daughters of their own begetting may receive tabernacles of flesh and bones as we have done. This is the order by which all worlds are peopled by spirits that have been born in the eternal worlds; and these worlds are organized expressly for them that they may go and have another change, another state of being different from their spiritual state, where they may possess bodies of flesh and bones, which are essentially necessary to the begetting of their own species. Spirits cannot bring forth, multiply and increase. They must have bodies.

We have said this much on the hymn that was sung in the morning, and these ideas are fully inculcated therein, and they are established and founded on the revelations God has given in different ages. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the 13th Ward Assembly Rooms, Nov. 24, 1872.

I have, through upwards of forty years’ experience in the public ministry, learned some few lessons in regard to public speaking. In the first place I know that the wisdom of man avails but very little, and that our own judgment, thoughts and reflections are not what the Lord requires; but he does require, and has required, ever since the rise of this Church, that his servants should speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. A revelation given to the Elders of this Church in the year 1831, says, “My servants shall be sent forth to the east and to the west, and to the north and to the south, and they shall lift up their voices and speak and prophesy, as seemeth me good; but if you receive not the Spirit you shall not teach.” This is a commandment that the Lord gave to his servants over forty years ago. I have seen a few times from the commencement of my ministry, when my mind seemed to be entirely closed up, and when what few words I could stammer forth before a congregation, were altogether unsatisfactory to my own mind, and I presume to those who heard me. But I do feel thankful to God that lately, from year to year, he has favored me with a liberty of utterance and with the power and gift of the Holy Ghost. I acknowledge his hand in this, for I know it has come from him, and having experienced the two conditions of mind I know the difference. I know that, not only as public speakers, but as individual members of the Church of the living God, there are many things pertaining to our everyday duties, which if we clearly understood by the light of the Spirit, we would escape many things which cause unhappiness. It is the want of clearly understanding the will of the Lord under all circumstances that causes us to fall into many of the evils that we pass through in life. I can look back on my past life and can speak from experience in these matters. I can remember many times when, if I had been guided by the Spirit of the Lord in regard to temporal matters, it would have been well with me; but not altogether understanding what the mind of the Spirit was, the course I have taken at times has been very disadvantageous to me. I will relate one circumstance of this kind as a sample. Some few years ago, I had a few hundred dollars in goods and property, and I expended all that I had in a store. Not one of these cooperative stores, but in a store kept at Fillmore. Being requested by the merchants in that place to purchase a bill of goods for them, and to give my own note until they could settle it; and being anxious that their business should go on and prosper, I was foolish enough to do as they wished, by which I brought myself into great difficulties, and lost over two thousand dollars by the transaction. I had the bill of goods to pay for, and lost all I put in besides. If I had understood the teachings of the Spirit—and I did have some impressions in relation to the matter, but if I had fully understood them I should not have fallen into these unpleasant circumstances. I have no doubt that there are many others among the people of God, who can see where they have erred, because they did not have the Spirit of God upon them at the time.

I can see, also, many times when the Spirit of the Lord whispered to me, and I scarcely knew whether it was my own thoughts and imaginations or whether it was the revelations of the Spirit; yet it seemed to be the Spirit of the Lord, and I followed the teachings, and was prospered in so doing.

If we, as a people, would live up to our privileges, how many difficulties might be avoided! How many Latter-day Saints would constantly live in the light of revelation! This puts me in mind of a text which I have often heard quoted, but I do not know that I have said much in relation to it. Neither do I know where it is recorded, but I think it is somewhere in the writings of Solomon. The passage I refer to says that there is a spirit in man and the Spirit or candle of the Lord, I do not remember which, giveth it understanding. The idea is that in these tabernacles of ours we have an intelligent spirit which God has placed there, and he has ordained that the Spirit of the Lord shall light up these human spirits of ours, that we may follow in the paths of light, truth and righteousness and obtain eternal life.

This text also puts me in mind of one that is recorded somewhere in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, in which the Lord, speaking directly to this people, says that the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit. I cannot tell you on what page nor in what section of the Book of Covenants this can be found; but you who are in the habit of reading that book will find these words, as I have quoted them. “Whatsoever is truth is light, whatsoever is light is Spirit,” consequently, if we could always follow in the light, instead of following in the channel of darkness, we would always follow in the path that would lead to peace and happiness, and we would avoid ten thousand difficulties which beset our pathway.

Another revelation that agrees with this will be found in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, in a very lengthy communication made by the Lord to this Church, which shows very plainly that light is the principle and law by which everything is governed. I will quote the revelation as near as I can remember it. Speaking of his presence, he says, “As he is in the sun, and is the light thereof, and the power thereof by which it is governed; and as he is also in the moon, and is the light and the power thereof; and in the stars; and the light which shineth is the same light which quickeneth your eyes, which is the same light which quickeneth your understandings, the light which is in all things, and which giveth life to all things, and which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sits upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things, which light proceedeth forth from his presence to fill the immensity of space.” When we put all these texts together, we find that this great principle of light which should enlighten the mind of man, and by which he should be led continually, is something that is not confined to one little part of space; it not only lights the sun, moon and stars and all the heavenly bodies, but it is in and surrounds all things, and gives life to all things.

Here is something that we do not perfectly understand. The principle of life by which we are able to move, think and reason; the principle of motion and of power is a principle of light. And there seems to be a connection or relation between these principles that govern the motion of living beings and the light that proceeds forth from the sun. But we do not understand that relation. God has told us that it is the law by which everything is governed; and we cannot find a law throughout universal space, but what light has something to do with it. But we do not know in all cases how it operates. We do not know, for instance, how light operates in making a blade of grass grow out of the earth. We cannot understand how particle comes to its particle, how it is organized in a certain form, and finally produces the complete blade of grass. We do not know how this is carried on, but the Lord has told us that it is done by the principle of light. We do not know, either, how it is that we can communicate with different and distinct parts of the earth almost instantaneously through the medium of the electric wires. We understand that this phenomenon exists, but we do not know the cause of it; if we did we should find, according to the revelation which God has given, that it is accomplished through the medium of light. How that light operates we do not know, God has not revealed that. He has only told us that light is the cause and the power by which everything is governed.

We see a stone, and when we hold it in our hands and let go of it, it does not stand still, neither does it fall upwards, neither does it go horizontally, but it falls downwards to the surface of the earth. We have named this gravitation. But what is the cause? No one knows. No person can tell why that stone does not stand still. We see it fall and we see all terrestrial bodies fall to the surface of the earth, but we cannot tell why this is so. The cause, however, is light, but how that light operates we do not know.

We see the sun shine, and we know that it illuminates the face of this world and of many other worlds. Its light proceeds forth from that center and radiates to immense distances. We see all this, but what connection is there between this and the understanding or light that is in man, that assists him in his power of thought and motion? What connection is there between the shining of that light and the light that is within us? We do not know, and yet God has said that the light which proceeds forth from these heavenly bodies is the same light that quickens the understanding of man and that gives life to all things. We do not understand all these things which God has spoken and given. For instance we see a candle set on a table; we apply a match to that, and immediately there is light where before existed darkness. Chemists tell us that this is a chemical operation; that the light proceeds not from the tallow but from a principle called oxygen—a certain portion of the atmospheric air which we breathe; that that principle has a great tendency to unite with the materials of the candle, and in so doing it gives out its light. But how this light is produced and sustained by a combination of the elements of the candle and the oxygen of the atmosphere we do not know, only we know that it is the power of God, we know that it is the light which is in all things. But what I term knowledge, and what we should all term knowledge, is to understand not only the phenomena but the cause of these things. We endeavor to distinguish between the natural and the spiritual light, but is there any such thing as drawing a line of distinction between the two? Who can do it? Where is the man or philosopher that can tell the distinction, and where one ends and the other begins? They cannot do it. If we take the revelation which God has given we learn that there is no difference; it is the same light that produces both effects, and the light which darts along the electric wire is the same as that which comes from the distant bodies of the universe, only it has a different name, and operates a little differently. The time will come when the Latter-day Saints, if faithful, will have an understanding of all these things. We have made a commencement in the right channel; we have placed ourselves in an attitude to learn the first principles in this great, divine university called the kingdom of God. God has given us his Holy Spirit, which is the commencement of knowledge, light and intelligence. But unless we walk according to the light and the mind of that Spirit, wherein are we benefited? We are not benefited at all. “If my words abide in you,” says Jesus, “you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be given unto you.” This promise is given unto every Latter-day Saint. The Book of Mormon, however, qualifies this saying a little. It says, “Whatsoever we ask in faith, which is right, believing that we shall receive, it shall be given unto us.” These words—“which is right”—greatly qualify the promise. The Lord has not bound himself by promise to give to the children of men whatsoever they ask for, unless it is absolutely right that they should ask for that thing. If what we ask for in faith is right, then he is bound.

This puts me in mind of a passage in the revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants in relation to prayer. He says, “You shall receive whatever you ask for in prayer which it is expedient for you to receive; but if any among you shall ask for that which it is not expedient for him to receive it shall turn to his condemnation.” We must, in the first place, try to have light enough to discern what is right or expedient for us; in the second place, to ask God the Eternal Father in the name of his son Jesus Christ, for the things which we know he is willing to bestow upon us. Then we can ask in faith, for we have the promise that we shall receive.

The great difficulty with me, and I presume it is also the experience of almost every man and woman in the Church of the living God, is, we are not so faithful as some of the servants of God have been in former days. Some of them were so faithful that they lived constantly in the light of revelation. Their minds were opened to it, and scarcely a thing could transpire but what they understood it beforehand. They did not need the news or intelligence to be brought to them from a distance, but there was a spirit within them and the candle of the Lord gave that spirit understanding in regard to things that were transpiring thousands of miles distant. They lived for this; they walked before the Lord so faithfully that they were entitled to know, not only things that were present with and that would benefit themselves and the people among whom they dwelt, but also things in the future—ages and ages to come were opened up to their minds, and their minds comprehended them by permitting this candle of the Lord to shine upon and illuminate them.

It is my most earnest desire to live so as to discern under every condition and circumstance in life precisely what would be most pleasing in the sight of God for me to do, and when I comprehend this I can act as a person who does not grope in the dark, like the blind man who gropes for the wall; but if I live for it, the path in which I should walk will be plain, the Spirit of God being as it were a lamp to my feet, and my guide and instructor by day and by night. Do you not desire Latter-day Saints to be instructed in this way? Every honest-hearted person will answer yes. Every one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, and who desires eternal life will acknowledge that he does desire to be thus guided and led.

But now having spoken so much about the benefits of this light, and how good it would be to be continually guided and instructed by the spirit of revelation, there is another thing connected with it which we perhaps do not all fully understand. Supposing a person were thus guided all the time, from waking in the morning until they retired to rest at night; and then when asleep if his dreams were given by the same spirit, and this should be the uninterrupted condition of an individual, I ask, where would be his trials? This would lead us to ask, Is it not absolutely necessary that God should in some measure, withhold even from those who walk before him in purity and integrity, a portion of his Spirit, that they may prove to themselves, their families and neighbors, and to the heavens whether they are full of integrity even in times when they have not so much of the Spirit to guide and influence them? I think that this is really necessary, consequently I do not know that we have any reason to complain of the darkness which occasionally hovers over the mind. I recollect that Lehi had a very great and important dream communicated to him, and his son Nephi had the same renewed to him. While Lehi was on his way to this country he dreamed that he wandered many hours in darkness; that there was a certain rod of iron, notwithstanding this darkness that seemed to gather around him, on which the old man leaned steadfastly. So great was the darkness that he was fearful he should lose his way if he let go the rod of iron; but he clung to it, and continued to wander on until, by and by, he was brought out into a large and spacious field, and he also was brought out to a place where it was lighter, and he saw a certain tree which bore very precious fruit. And he went forth and partook of the fruit of this tree, which was the most precious and desirable of any fruit that he had ever tasted; and it seemed to enlighten him and fill him with joy and happiness. Lehi was a good old man—a man who had been raised up as a great prophet in the midst of Jerusalem. He had prophesied in the midst of all that wickedness which surrounded the Jews; and they sought to take away his life, because of his prophecy. But notwithstanding this gift of prophecy, and the gifts of the Spirit which he enjoyed, the Lord showed him by this dream that there would be seasons of darkness through which he would have to pass, and that even then there was a guide. If he did not all the time have the Spirit of God upon him to any great extent, there was the word of God, represented by an iron rod, to guide him; and if he would hold fast to that in his hours of darkness and trial, when everything seemed to go against him, and not sever himself therefrom, it would finally bring him where he could partake of the fruit of the precious tree—the Tree of Life. Con– sequently I am not so sure, that it is intended for men of God to enjoy all the time a great measure of his Spirit.

I will refer to another example—one that I have often quoted. It will be found in the “Pearl of Great Price.” It is a revelation that was given renewedly to Joseph Smith, concerning what God revealed to Moses, before he was permitted to go down and be a deliverer to the children of Israel. The Lord severely tried Moses, as well as enlightened him. He had to pass through both conditions of experience—a condition of great light, truth, knowledge and understanding in the ways of God, and a condition of darkness and great temptation. Hence we find that on a certain occasion God called Moses up into a very high mount, where he bowed down before the Lord and cried mightily unto him, and the Lord heard his prayer, and the glory of God descended and rested upon him, and he beheld many great and wonderful things. His mind was opened to things that he never had understood before—things that were great and marvelous. Yet the Lord showed him but very few of his works, for he told Moses on that occasion that no man could behold all his works except he beheld all his glory; and no man could behold all his glory and afterwards remain in the flesh. To behold all the works of God was more than any mortal man could endure.

Moses, after receiving this remarkable vision, had such great knowledge and intelligence unfolded unto him that he marveled exceedingly, and while gazing upon the works of God, the Spirit of God withdrew from him, and he was left unto himself, and he fell to the earth, for his natural strength departed from him. “Now,” said Moses, “I know for this cause that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.” But he had learned by the contrast that man, in and of himself, was as nothing, and comparatively speaking, less than the dust of the earth, which moves hither and thither by the command of the great God; but that man, being an agent unto himself, and God not having a disposition to control this agent contrary to certain laws and principles, when this agent was left to himself he found that he was nothing. The Lord then permitted Satan to appear in a personal form and visit this great man of God. Here, now, was a contest. Satan came up before Moses, not in all his ugliness and maliciousness, but assuming the form of an angel of light. Satan said, “Moses, son of man, worship me!” Moses looked upon Satan and said, “Who art thou, that I should worship thee? For I could not look upon God except his glory should come upon me, but I can look upon thee as a natural man.” Here was the difference. He could look upon this individual who came to him pretending to be an angel of goodness and light, and have none of the glorious feelings that he had before. Hence said Moses, “I can discern the difference between God and thee. Get thee hence, Satan!” Satan did not feel disposed to give up the attack, and he commanded him again to worship him, and he exerted a great power and the earth shook and trembled, and Moses was filled with fear and trembling, but he nevertheless called upon God for he was convinced in his own mind that his visitor was one from the infernal regions, a personage of darkness, and he felt to rebuke him, and in his fear he saw the bitterness of hell, that is, the fear and trembling that came upon him, and the darkness that surrounded him, gave him an experience of the bitterness and misery of those who are in torment. After a certain period of time in which Satan tried to overpower him, Moses gained strength from God, and commanded Satan, in the name of Jesus Christ, to depart, and he departed. Moses then received strength, and he continued to call upon God, and the glory of God again rested upon him, so that he beheld the works of the Creator, and he began to inquire very diligently concerning the earth upon which he dwelt. The Lord saw proper on that occasion, after severely testing Moses with the opposite power, to show to him the whole earth. Not merely portions of its surface, but he showed the whole of the inside as well as the outside, for the revelation says, “There was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.” If we go to the top of a very high mountain, we can only behold a very limited landscape, for the most distant portions of our view are generally obscured by the vapors of the earth or by smoke, so that we only see a dim outline. But here was a man of God, having the Spirit of God lighting up his mind to that degree that he could see every particle of the earth. This was a wonderful development of the mind and powers of man. I do not suppose that the mind of Moses was constituted any different from the minds of the congregation now before me; every one of us has the same kind of human spirit that he had. Though not called with the same calling, yet we have the same kind of spirit, and are the children of the same Father. Now if Moses had within him a certain undeveloped principle, which for the space of some eighty years he did not know that he possessed, until God on that occasion lighted it up and brought it forth, so that he was capable not only of looking upon the surface of our globe, but of looking into its interior, I do not know why each and every one of those now present before me have not the same faculty and gift, if it were only developed.

I bring up these things to show how God deals with his children—his sons and daughters—by lighting up the mind, and then leaving them awhile in darkness. It is not likely that many of us, with the little experience that we have, could resist such great temptations as Moses did. If such powers were brought to bear on our minds they might overthrow and destroy us, but he was prepared beforehand; he had beheld the glory of God, and had received strength from the heavens, consequently when the opposite powers assailed him, his previous experience strengthened him, and he held fast to the rod of iron notwithstanding the darkness he had to contend with.

When Moses received this great light and saw the whole earth, he felt a very great anxiety to know how the earth was formed. It would be very natural for a man suddenly endowed with the power to behold every particle of the earth, to ask, “How was this made?” and Moses said, “Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and show me concerning the heavens and the earth, and then thy servant will be content.” The Lord told Moses that there were many heavens, and many worlds that had passed away by his power, and that as one heaven and one earth should pass away, even so should another come, and there was no end to his works and to his words. Then Moses limited his desires.

Here we see something asked of the Lord by Moses that was not expedient, it was not wisdom in the Lord to reveal it to him, he could not know all about the many heavens. Then he asked the Lord, saying, “Show unto thy servant concerning this earth and this heaven, then will thy servant be content.” The Lord then gave him what we term the Book of Genesis, one of the first books of Moses, telling him, in answer to his prayer, how he formed and created this earth and this heaven, and the various stages thereof, as performed in the several days, until on the sixth and seventh it was completed. This, according to new revelation contained in the “Pearl of Great Price,” is the way Moses obtained a knowledge of the history of this creation. Other men, before his day, also obtained it. Abraham, who lived several hundred years before Moses, had the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord God gave unto him in the land of Chaldea, and by the aid of this instrument he also obtained a knowledge of the history of this creation, and not only of this, but of many others, God also giving the names of many of them, such as Kolob and others, which it is not necessary for me to repeat. But the Lord, in various ages, has manifested these great things to the children of men. But all these great Prophets, Seers and Revelators had to experience their seasons of darkness and trial, and had to show their integrity before God in the midst of the difficulties they had to encounter. Shall the Latter-day Saints despond, then, because they may have seasons of darkness, and may be brought into trials and difficulties? No! Let us be steadfast, holding fast to the rod of iron—the word of God—and to our honesty, integrity and uprightness, that God may be well pleased with us whether we have much or little of the Spirit. I do not know how we could have many trials, if we were all the time filled with the Spirit and continually having revelations.

This puts me in mind of the experience of our Prophet Joseph, and of David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and others. You are familiar with many things contained in the history of Joseph, about his hours of trial. He had some before the Lord permitted him to take the plates from the Hill Cumorah. God showed him where those plates were, and he was commanded by the angel to go and view them. He did so, and when he first saw them he put forth his hand to take them. But was he suffered to do so? No. What was the reason? He had not had the trials necessary to prove his integrity, and this must be proved before he could be entrusted with so sacred a treasure. Hence he was told to go and be obedient to the Lord, and to come there from time to time, as he was commanded by the angel of the Lord; and when the time had fully come he was permitted to take them.

Do you suppose, from the time he saw the plates first, to the day when he was permitted to take them, being some four years, that he had no temptations, trials, darkness or difficulties to grapple with? We are told in his history that, besides the glories of heaven that were opened to his mind, the powers of darkness were also portrayed before him. The Lord showed him the two powers. What for? To give him the experience necessary to enable him to discern between that which came from God and that which came from the opposite source. He saw, as Moses did, these evil beings personally. They were manifested before him in their rage, malice and wickedness. He had also many seasons of sorrow, tribulation, difficulty and temptation; and when he had proved himself be– fore the Heavens, and before the Saints in Paradise who once dwelt on this continent, and had shown that he was full of integrity, God permitted him to take the plates, and he translated the record thereon into the English language.

Perhaps I have spoken sufficient in relation to these two powers. What I have said has been with the design to comfort and encourage the Saints, that they may not think, because some are tried this way, and some that way, and some another, that something has befallen them different to what has taken place upon the human family before, and that they are more tried than any other individual that has ever been upon the earth. Do not think this, Latter-day Saints, but strengthen yourselves in God, and in the hour of your trial call upon him, and he will impart strength and faith to you, light up your understandings, and bring you through victoriously, and your blessings will be still greater than before your temptations came upon you.

By and by the time will come when the veil, which hides this earth, and shuts out its inhabitants from the presence of God, will be removed. We read this in the Book of Covenants. The earth is now shut out from the presence of God, and all the inhabitants, and the animal creation, the fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea, and everything wherein there is life, all are shut out from the presence of God. Because of the fall of the great head and being who was to have dominion over this creation, it is banished, a veil is let down which hides us from the presence of God. This veil or covering will soon be taken away, and the earth will roll back again into the presence of God. When I speak of the earth’s rolling back again, I do not mean that the Lord is going to translate it from its present orbit around the sun; I do not mean that it is going to be moved from its present position, which it has occupied for six thousand years; but I mean that the veil which shuts us out from the presence of God will be removed.

Those who are sufficiently pure to abide that day have great promises made to them. You will find these promises recorded in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. We are told that when that day arrives, God’s people, whether those who have died and are resurrected, or those who are living on the earth, shall know all these things that I have spoken of. They shall know about the earth, and all things in, under or around about it, and all the power thereof and the materials that enter into its constitution. All these things will be open to the mind of man, and it will be one of his natural gifts apparently. I say natural, because it will be so frequent. That which we call natural is something, generally speaking, that takes place all the time, and the frequency of the thing makes it to us natural. Well, when this covering of which I have spoken is removed, the knowledge that the people will then have of the mysteries and wonders of creation will be such that they will many times be in about the same condition that Moses was in during the short interval of light and glory that was manifested to him. If that man of God could retain his existence as a mortal being after that great manifestation of the power of God unto him on that occasion, I do not know why the minds of all who are counted worthy to live, when the Lord removes the veil, cannot be developed the same as the mind of Moses was, that they may grasp and comprehend the things of God the same as he did. I cannot, in my own mind, see so much difference, as many people suppose, between the ancients and the moderns. I believe that God is willing to bless all his children, ancient or modern, if they live before him worthily.

We read in Isaiah of a time when a certain people called Zion should be clothed upon with the glory of God, and their city be lighted up with a cloud by day and the light of a flaming fire by night, and they should be so highly favored that, so far as light was concerned, they should not need the light of the sun by day, nor the moon by night, for the Lord their God would be their everlasting light, and the days of their mourning would be ended. We also read in the same connection that when that day comes, “thy children,” speaking of Zion “shall all be righteous;” that is, they would be a people upon whom and to whom God could manifest himself as he did to Moses and others; that the knowledge of God would cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep. Jeremiah has said that the time would come when the new covenant should take its full effect here upon the earth; that there would be no more need of ministers and priests to teach the people, although there would be need for ordinances to be administered, and for the priesthood to administer in other capacities; but so far as teaching the people to know the Lord was concerned it would be unnecessary. In that day no man would need to say to his neighbor, “Know ye the Lord.” Why? Because all would know him, from the least unto the greatest, for Isaiah says they should all be taught of the Lord, all be righteous, all receive revelation and visions, all prophesy and dream. That is, God would reveal by his Spirit in different ways, at different times and by different methods to his people those things that would comfort and build them up in their most holy faith.

When we see the great necessity there is at the present time to teach, and see how prone men are to forget that which they are taught, we say, they are like him who beholds his natural face in a glass and turns away, and straightway forgets what manner of man he is. It is just so with regard to teaching the people; they need to be stirred up continually, because of the weakness of their minds and memories; and naturally viewing this weakness, it seems almost impossible to believe that it will ever be different, as long as men are in a mortal state. Yet I do not look at it in this light. I look for a great change and revolution among the inhabitants of our globe. I look for the veil to be taken not only from the earth, but from every creature of all flesh that dwells upon the face thereof; and all will be in the presence of God. God himself will be their God, and they will be his people. God himself will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, no more sorrow nor crying, for all things will become new, and God will be with his people from that time henceforth and forever.

Does this mean that God will all the time dwell upon the earth? No. There will be a connection, an opening between man and God, that will bring us into his presence, and whether he shall be far distant or near it will make no difference. Here is a principle that none of us fully comprehend. We speak oftentimes of going to and returning from God, of going to heaven, and so on. I have no doubt that many of us will be counted worthy to approach near to him so far as distance is concerned. But then, when we come to reflect that distance will be comparatively annihilated, between God and the worlds he has made, so that it will make no difference, as far as his presence is concerned, whether he is close by or millions of miles distant—there will be a mutual communication between the Creator and his children all the time, consequently there will be union and fellowship with him, and rejoicing in his presence, though he be in a world far beyond Kolob, of which Abraham speaks.

As an illustration of this principle, let me bring up some temporal phenomena here on the earth. A few years ago, when I was a boy, no such thing was dreamed of as conversing with our neighbors two or three hundred miles distant. And if such a thing had been thought of and it had been mentioned, the dreamer would have been at once set down as a fanatic or enthusiast, or as one beside himself, crazy or weakminded. That was the idea our fathers had, and the idea that some of us old men had when we were boys. But since that period God has seen proper to inspire certain individuals with information and knowledge, to erect telegraph poles, and through the medium of wires attached to these poles, placed upon nonconductors of electricity, we are enabled to converse instantaneously, almost, with the most distant parts of the earth; and if there is proper wire connection we can send our message to the other side of the globe in one or two seconds and get a return as quickly. Is not this making neighbors of the nations? So far as this one means of communication is concerned, it is quite neighborly. We in Salt Lake City can sit down by the side of our warm fires and converse with persons sitting by their fires. The people of these two cities can talk together, though it is quite expensive as yet to do so.

Supposing now that it were possible to invent something still further, by which we could see our neighbors in London, and the people in London could see us in Salt Lake City, then we could both converse and see. And if we could do this, do you not see that, so far, distance would be almost annihilated?

Again, suppose that by some medium now unknown to us, we could absolutely be able to hear, not by the vibrations of this coarse atmosphere of ours, but by the vibrations of some fluid spread through space, more refined, operating upon the organs of the immortal ear, transferring sounds at an immense distance, say millions and millions of miles, conveying them with the rapidity of the electric fluid itself and perhaps with a velocity a thousand times greater, then we could both see and hear, and also converse with our neighbors at long distances from us; and if such means of communication were opened among the different nations of the earth, they would all be neighbors.

Now extend this principle, and let us suppose that there was a medium of communication by which immortal beings could see, hear and communicate from the earth to the sun, and from the sun to the earth; from the earth to Jupiter, and from Jupiter back again to the earth; from the sun to the most distant planetary bodies of our system, and back again from those bodies to the sun; and then from the solar system itself to some of those starry spheres, and from one sphere to another, taking in whole groups of systems, until finally we had means of communication with all the different worlds of the universe, as we have now between Salt Lake and London, only through a more refined and perfect medium, would it be necessary under these circumstances that our Father and God should be directly here on the earth in order for us to be with him? Not at all. He could be situated on a world as far distant as some of the fixed stars from us, and there he could sway his scepter over millions of worlds and systems, and all of them be in his presence, the veil having been removed; while those powers that are latent, now as it were, in the mind of fallen beings like man, being developed among all the inhabitants of these worlds, they could communicate with him and he with them. Would it not be said, under these circumstances, that they were all in the presence of God? Yes, and it would obviate the necessity of traveling and spending millions of years on long journeys through space in order to get into his presence.

I expect that in future ages all these things will be made manifest to the children of God. If we are to grow up in light, intelligence and truth, and become gods, even the sons of God; if we are to be filled with light, understanding and knowledge; if we are to understand all things pertaining to our earth and to other worlds, then it seems to me that we must approximate very nearly to the fullness of the blessings that are now enjoyed by him who is our Father and our God. I do not consider that man has all of his senses developed here, and because we have not yet exercised some of our senses that have slept unknown to us ever since our birth, that is no argument that we do not possess such senses, no evidence at all. You might take a man that had the faculty of seeing in perfection, and if he was born where not a glimmer of light ever entered his eye, he would not know that he had such a faculty, and you could not by talking instill the idea into his mind, he could not comprehend it. He would say, “I have the sense of feeling, and the sense of smelling, and the sense of hearing, but this sense of seeing that you talk about I have no idea of, what is it?” He would have to experience it in order to find out what was meant by seeing objects at a distance, defining their colors, and so on. But when he looked on the surface of nature by the aid of light, when it was once brought to bear upon him, what a world of knowledge would rush into his mind, not all at once, but by degrees. So it will be with the Saints of God, when their latent faculties begin to be developed and brought forth, so that they can gaze upon the works of God.

This great future reward is worth living for, and this is what we should seek for, even for the enlightenment of the Spirit. This is what we should endeavor to cultivate in all our business transactions, and in all our concerns here in life. If we cultivate this Spirit, it will increase upon us, and it will grow brighter and brighter, until the perfect day, and we shall rise by degrees into that high position that God intends for his children, to make them gods, to dwell in his presence forever and ever. Amen.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered at the 42nd Semi-Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, October 9, 1872.

I want to express my feelings to the Latter-day Saints upon certain points of business which pertain to our welfare, and I wish to do it without being obliged to raise my voice so high and so loud as to infringe upon the organs of speech to that degree that I shall have to stop. If the people will be still, they can hear me in my common voice perfectly easy. I will not go into all the details with regard to the duties of the Latter-day Saints, and their desires, as they have manifested them by gathering out from the world, and assembling themselves together. They generally understand them, and they can read for themselves the doctrines of the Church, and the reasons why we are gathered together. But I wish now to impress on the minds of the people the necessity of our taking a course to be able to exist and to sustain ourselves—to have something to eat and wear—hats to put on our heads, and coats, mantles, blankets, vests, shirts, garments and other things suitable to wear and to make our bodies comfortable, provided that the Lord should knock the underpinning from under Babylon. The time will come when Babylon will fall. If it should fall now, it would leave us pretty destitute. We would soon wear out our head dresses and fine clothing, and what should we do? Why, we should be as badly off as the Saints were when they came into this valley, twenty-five years ago. They picked up a few buckskins, antelope skins, sheepskins, buffalo skins, and made leggings and moccasins of them, and wrapped the buffalo robes around them. Some had blankets and some had not; some had shirts, and I guess some had not. One man told me that he had not a shirt for himself or family. If Babylon should happen to tip over, so that we could not reach out and gather the necessaries of life, we should be in a bad condition. I want to put you in mind of these things, and it is my duty to say to the Latter-day Saints that they should take measures to sustain themselves—they should lay a foundation for feeding and clothing themselves.

You are well aware that there has been a great deal of money spent in this Territory to get machinery for the purpose of working up the wool and cotton, and I think you are pretty well aware that there have been a great many thousand words spoken to the Latter-day Saints in these valleys, upon the necessity of raising sheep, though we have had a tide of opposition against this. Still, wool raising is now proven to be a success in these mountains, any and all of the Bishops to the contrary notwithstanding. This is a fine wool growing country, no better in the world. We have proved this; and we have got a great deal of machinery here to work up the wool, most of which is now standing still for the want of wool. Many of those who have been prevailed upon to raise sheep, have got so covetous and love money so well that they must sell their wool for money, and send it out of the country, in consequence of which the factories are now standing still. I think there are a few who will recollect that, in the excitement of purchasing wool here last May, June and July, in many instances I refused to buy their wool. If I would have paid a little more than agents from the east, I could have got it; in some instances I got it for a little less. I bought some and let a good deal go, and told the people with whom I conversed upon the subject, that I would let the buying of wool alone until Fall, then I thought I could send east, buy my wool and ship it back here, and I believe I could get it cheaper than I could get it then. And it is now verily so, for I can send to Philadelphia, New York, Boston, or anywhere in the eastern country, and buy wool and ship it back here from 10 to 30 percent cheaper than I could buy it here last spring. I can send west and buy wool and ship it here and save a still higher percentage. This is the difference in the price of wool last spring and the fore part of the summer, and now what our friends and brethren who own factories will do with regard to purchasing wool, I am not able to say. Some of them, probably, are able to buy wool, and quite a number are not, and they who are not will, in all probability, let their factories stand still.

I want the brethren and sisters to take an interest in sustaining ourselves here in these mountains. It is the duty of the Bishops to see that the members of their Wards take a course that will build up the kingdom of God, not only in providing food and raiment, but see that the people do their duty with regard to the law of God in preserving themselves in purity. My mind is now upon those things which some people call temporal, and I wish to urge them upon the Latter-day Saints. I want them to save their wool and to keep it in this Territory. If we have not factories sufficient to work up all the wool that grows in this Territory, and in these mountains, we will send and get more machinery, and build more factories, and work up the wool for the people. It is the duty of those who grow wool to keep it here. It is the duty of the wife of the man who owns sheep to look to it, and see that that wool is not sold and carried out of the country. It is the duty of the Bishops to see these men, and urge upon them the necessity of keeping the wool in the mountains where it can be worked up; and the Bishops should set the example themselves. We expect they do; if they do not, they are not fit for Bishops. It is the duty of the Bishops to see the wives of these men and their children, that they may prevail on their greedy, covetous fathers or husbands, who would sacrifice the prosperity of the kingdom of God for a little worldly wealth, and see that they do not run distracted or go crazy over a little money. I say the Bishops should see to it, that these men who have sheep act like rational, reasonable men. What are you here for? What did you come for? Virtually you all say you left Babylon and came here to build up the kingdom of God; but our acts speak as loud, and a little louder than our words can. We witness to one another and to the Heavens, and to all people, that we believe in building up the kingdom of God on the earth. There is an item that ought to be before the Latter-day Saints with regard to the kingdom as it will be built up. They ought to teach themselves—read the Scriptures, the Old and New Testament, the prophecies, what the Savior and his Apostles have said, and what has been delivered to us in the latter days, and compare them, and then draw their own conclusions, and see if they are under the necessity of working temporally, literally, manually, physically for the building up of the kingdom of heaven. I say that we are or it never will be built up. With regard to the fundamental facts of our doctrines, we cannot show to any person that we have faith therein, except by our works. If I were now in the world, and an Elder was to come along and preach, and I were to go and hear him, the act of walking to the meetinghouse or to the private dwelling house, would be manual labor. I might believe every word such an Elder said in preaching the Gospel, but if I never took any steps towards fulfilling his requirements who would know anything about it? Nobody on the face of the earth. Would there be any manifestation that I had faith? Not the least in the world, and if it started to grow in my heart while listening to the Elder, without works on my part it would soon die out and cease to exist. If I do believe, it is a manual labor to get up and say to the people, “I believe that what this man has said is true.” That is an exercise of the body, and a temporal labor. Well, this Elder says, we should repent of our sins. I do repent. He says we should obey the Gospel, and the first thing after having faith or believing it, is to go down into the waters of baptism, and to do that is a temporal act, physical labor; and the act of baptism by him is also a temporal act or labor. And so in everything else with regard to the Gospel and the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth—we must have works or we cannot have faith. I cannot divide between the two. The Elder is preaching, I believe, I confess and obey, and I cannot, for my soul, divide the temporal, the manual, the physical labor from the internal faith and hope and joy which the spirit gives, and which cause obedience in my acts.

I wish to make this application right here to the Latter-day Saints. If we believe that God is about to establish his kingdom upon the earth, we believe firmly that we have got to perform a manual, temporal labor to bring this about. If the kingdoms of this world ever become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ, it will be by his people conforming to the plans instituted for the establishment of a kingdom here on the earth. You may call it temporal, no matter what it is called, it is territory, it is dominion. In the first place we must have territory, then we must have people; and in order to organize this kingdom, we must have officers and laws to govern or control the subjects. To make the organization of a kingdom perfect, we must have every appendage necessary and proper, so that the Savior can come and reign king of nations as he does king of Saints. We shall be under the necessity of raising breadstuff, and then we shall want to eat it. We shall have to raise our fruit as well as eat it; we shall have to raise our vegetables as well as eat them. We shall be under the necessity then of making hats, or of going without them; we shall be under the necessity of making clothing—coats, vests, pants, shirts and so on, or else go without them. We shall be under the necessity of having courts organized, unless all are in the Lord and all walk in his way; if that were the case, I do not know that we should want any sheriff, marshals, constables, magistrates, jurors, judges or governors, because the word of the Lord would govern and control every person; but until that time arrives we shall want officers, so that we will be prepared to reckon with the transgressor, and we shall have transgressors in building this kingdom, for it will be some time yet before all are in the Lord. The law is for the transgressor, consequently we must have officers, and we already have in this kingdom as now organized all the officers necessary, every quorum, every organization, every court and authority necessary to rule all the nations that ever were or ever will be upon the earth, if they serve God, or try to do so. But if we must have an organization after the order and wishes of those who are ignorant of the things of God, we must have political and municipal organizations. Kingdoms are organized to suit the conditions of the people, whether the government is that of the people, in the hands of a few individuals, or centered in one. But the kingdom of heaven, when organized upon the earth, will have every officer, law and ordinance necessary for the managing of those who are unruly, or who transgress its laws, and to govern those who desire to do right, but cannot quite walk to the line; and all these powers and authorities are in existence in the midst of this people.

Now, we have this kingdom organized here upon the earth, and we shall be under the necessity, by and by, of understanding this, or we will be left in a very destitute condition. It is my duty to say to the people that it is their duty to make their clothing; and permit me to say, still further, upon the subject of the fashion of cutting cloth and putting it together again, that it is most useless, unbecoming and ridiculous. The present custom of many is such that I would as soon see a squaw go through the streets with a very little on, as to see clothing piled up until it reaches, perhaps, the top of the hedge or fence its wearer is passing. If I do not say much about such customs and fashions, I shall probably skip over some naughty words. In my feelings they are positively ridiculous, they are so useless and unbecoming. Do you recollect a fashion there was a few years ago, that has now nearly ceased, when a woman could not walk through the streets without holding her clothes two feet in front of her if her arm was long enough? I shall not say what I thought of those who followed this fashion. Now it is on the other side, and I do not know but they will get two humps on their backs, they have one now, and if they get to be dromedaries it will be no wonder, not the least in the world. I recollect a fashion of cutting up cloth some forty years ago, that was very peculiar. A lady would go into a store and say to a merchant, “I would like to get a dress pattern this morning.” “Very well, what will you have?” “Oh, bring down your goods and show them. This suits pretty well! I think I will take this.” “Madame,” says the merchant, “If you will buy the sleeves, I will give you the dress.” This, of course, is jocosely said. I refer now to what was called the “mutton-legged” sleeve—by comparison it took seven yards for the sleeves, and three for the dress. That was the way they dressed then. How unbecoming! How unbecoming it is to see ladies dress as they do in some places at the present day. Then another fashion is to wear their dresses short in front, walking through the streets, and a long train dragging in the dirt behind. How unbecoming! This is not modesty, gentility, or good taste; it does not belong to a lady at all, but to an ignorant, extravagant, or vain-minded person, who knows not true principle. I take the liberty of saying that these fashions are displeasing in the sight of truth, mercy and justice. It is displeasing to the Spirit of the Lord for persons to array themselves in any way whatever that is disgusting to the eye of the pure and the prudent. There is not a Latter-day Saint nor a Former-day Saint that ever did, or ever will expect to see any such customs or fashions when they get into heaven. If they were to see an angel, they would see a being beautifully but modestly dressed, white, comely and nice to look upon.

I would like to advise the Latter-day Saints to avoid these foolish customs and habits. Let them pass by and not follow them; they do not belong to us. I would like to repeat to the ladies what we have said hundreds and thousands of times—they should make their own headdresses and fashions, independent of all the rest of the inhabitants of the earth. Pay no attention to what others do, it is no matter what they do, or how they dress. Latter-day Saints should dress in that plain, neat, comely manner that will be pleasing and prudent, in every sense of the word, before the Lord, and try and please him that we serve, the Being that we acknowledge as our God. Not flaunting, flirting and gossiping, as a great many are, and thinking continually of their dresses, and of this, that and the other that will minister to and gratify their vanity. Such women seldom think of their prayers.

I am extending my remarks much longer than I intended. But how is it about the Word of Wisdom? Do we observe it? We should do, and preserve ourselves in all things holy before the Lord. How is it about keeping the Sabbath day? We have some articles that we would like to read here, but the people have them to read at their leisure. We should observe the Ten Commandments, for instance, that were given to Moses. If we do that, we shall be a pretty good people. But there is nothing in those commandments about building factories and raising wool, for the children of Israel, at the time they were given, were in a condition that they did not need factories, they did not need to raise wool. If they had goats and sheep with them, they made mutton, and tanned the skins probably, but I do not know what they did with them. It appears that their clothing did not wax old, and they probably had no need to spin or weave. But we have need to, we have got to make our own clothing, or to get it some other way—buy it or else go without it; and we ought to keep the Word of Wisdom, and keep the Sabbath day holy, and preserve ourselves in the integrity of our hearts before God.

I want to ask if the people pay their tithing? Bishops, do the people of your wards pay their tithing? I will answer the question for you and say, No, they do not. Some people in modern times shudder at the word tithing—it is a term they are not used to. They are used to sustaining Priests, to donating for building meetinghouses, and administering to those who wait at the table of the Lord, or that do their preaching and praying for them. And this is done by subscription, donation, and passing the plate, hat or basket, but the word “tithing” is frightful to them. I like the term, because it is scriptural, and I would rather use it than any other. The Lord instituted tithing, it was practiced in the days of Abraham, and Enoch and Adam and his children did not forget their tithes and offerings. You can read for yourselves with regard to what the Lord requires. Now do the Latter-day Saints pay their tithing? They do not. I want to say this much to those who profess to be Latter-day Saints—If we neglect our tithes and offerings we will receive the chastening hand of the Lord. We may just as well count on this first as last. If we neglect to pay our tithes and offerings we will neglect other things, and this will grow upon us until the Spirit of the Gospel is entirely gone from us, and we are in the dark, and know not whither we are going.

It is the duty of the Bishops to see that their wards pay tithing. But we have Bishops who are not reliable—men, for instance, who will take tithing grain when it brings a good price in cash, and when good beef is bringing cash they are so kind to their wards, and especially to their sons, that if a son has got a parcel of wild horses on the prairies that are not worth a yearling calf a head, they will say to him, “Drive up your wild horses, my boy, I will trade with you, and let you have neat stock, yearlings, or two years or three years old, or wheat that is in the tithing bin, I will take your horses. I will send down word to the General Tithing office, that there are so many horses here belonging to the tithing office.” Such horses are a curse to us, or I can say they have been to me as an individual. I have raised stock enough to supply this whole Territory, if they had been taken care of. But they were like the Indian’s boy. The missionary had been telling him that if he brought up a child in the way he should go, when he was old he would not depart from it. But the old chief has got it, just about as it is, and said he, “Yes, bring up a child, and away he goes;” and this is the way the horses go. And as for the neat stock, if any of it ever gets out of my sight that I do not know where it is, and cannot send and get it, I always calculate that a thief will have it. I never trouble myself to look after it, there are too many men riding on the prairies with their blankets behind them, and their dinner in their blanket, and their lassoes with them to hunt up all the stock there is. This wild stock that is turned in on tithing is a curse to us. And where does the wheat go to? I am not disposed to, but I could tell names of Bishops who have taken our tithing wheat out of the bins and it has been sold by them or their families. And they have taken our stock that we wanted here for beef to feed the public lands, and traded it off for wild horses. This is a pretty hard saying, but it is true, and I could tell their names if I were obliged to.

If the people will pay their tithing, we will go and do the work that is required of us. It is very true that the poor pay their tithing better than the rich do. If the rich would pay their tithing we should have plenty. The poor are faithful and prompt in paying their tithing, but the rich can hardly afford to pay theirs—they have too much. If a man is worth enough that he would have a thousand dollars to pay, it pinches him. If he has only ten dollars he can pay one; if he has only one dollar he can pay ten cents; it does not hurt him at all. If he has a hundred dollars he can possibly pay ten. If he has a thousand dollars he looks over it a little and says, “I guess I will pay it; it ought to be paid anyhow;” and he manages to pay his ten dollars or his hundred dollars. But suppose a man is wealthy enough to pay ten thousand, he looks that over a good many times, and says, “I guess I will wait until I get a little more, and then I will pay a good deal.” And they wait and wait, like an old gentleman in the east; he waited and waited and waited to pay his tithing until he went down, I guess, to hell, I do not know exactly; but he went to Hades, which we call hell. He went out of the world, and this is the way with a great many. They wait and continue waiting, until, finally, the character comes along who is called Death, and he slips up to them and takes away their breath, then they are gone and cannot pay their tithing, they are too late, and so it goes.

Now this is finding fault with the rich, and I am going to find fault with the poor by and by. But if we will pay our tithing we will be blessed; if we refuse to do so the chastening hand of the Lord will be upon this people, just as sure as we are here. You may say I am threatening you. Take it just as you please. I do not care. You may grease it and swallow it, or swallow it without greasing, just as you have a mind to. It is true, and we will find it so.

Will the Latter-day Saints pay their tithing? Will they keep the Sabbath day holy? Will they deal justly with their neighbors? In my own feelings I excuse a great many naughty things that are done in our midst. I know that men and women brought up in different countries come here with their prejudices, and with the instincts which they have had bred in and born with them, and which have grown up with them; and many of these traits of character are obnoxious to others brought up under other circumstances. These traditions cling to the people, and cause them to do many things which they would not do if they had been differently taught. Their morals have not been looked after in their youth and as prudently preserved as they should have been. Children should be taught honesty, and they should grow up with the feeling within them that they should never take a pin that is not their own; never displace anything, but always put everything in its place. If they find anything seek for the owner. If there is anything of their neighbor’s going to waste, put it where it will not waste, and be perfectly honest one with another. Take the world of mankind and they are not overstocked with honesty. I have proved that. In my youth I have seen men, who were considered good, clever, honest men, who would take the advantage of their neighbors or workmen if they could. I have seen deacons, Baptists, Presbyterians, members of the Methodist church, with long, solid, sturdy faces and a poor brother would come along and say to one of them, “Brother, such-a-one, I have come to see if I could get a bushel of wheat, rye or corn of you. I have no money, but I will come and work for you in harvest,” and their faces would be drawn down so mournful, and they would say, “I have none to spare.” “Well, deacon, if you can let me have one bushel, I understand you have considerable, I will come and work for you just as long as you say, until you are satisfied, in your harvest field, or haying or anything you want done.”

After much talk this longfaced character would get it out, “If you will come and work for me two days in harvest, I do not know but I will spare you a bushel of rye.”

When the harvest time comes the man could have got two bushels of rye for one day’s work; but the deacon sticks him to his bargain, and makes him work two days for a bushel of wheat or rye. I used to think a good deal, but seldom spoke about any such thing, for I was brought up to treat everybody with that respect and courtesy that I could hardly allow myself to think aloud, and consequently very seldom did so. I thought enough of such religion, at any rate, that such Christians called me an infidel, because I could not swallow such things, but I could not if they had been greased over with fresh butter. I did not read the Bible as they read it; and as for there being Bible Christians, I knew there were none; and if their religion was the religion they liked, said I, “Just go your own way, I want none of it.” I wanted no religion that produced such morals.

If we pay our tithing, and begin to live a little stricter than we have heretofore, in our faith, cease to break the Sabbath, cease to spend our time in idleness, cease to be dishonest and to meddle with that which is not our own, cease to deceive and to speak evil of one another, and learn the commandments of the Lord, and do them, we shall be blessed.

Suppose we should say to a few of the Latter-day Saints, if we could find those who would answer the purpose, “How would you like to build up a stake of Zion, a little city of Enoch? How would you like this? Would you like to enter into a covenant, and into bonds, according to the law of our land, and let us bind ourselves together to go into a systematic cooperative system, not only in merchandising, but in farming and in all mechanical work, and in every trade and business there is; and we will classify the business throughout, and we will gather together a few hundred families, and commence and keep the law of God, and preserve ourselves in purity. How would the Latter-day Saints like it? Do you think there could any be found who would be willing to do this?” Let me say to you, my brethren, I have a very fine place to start such a society as this that would probably sustain from five to ten thousand persons. I would like to make a deed of this property to such a society, and enter into a covenant with men of God and women of God that we would go to and show the world and show the Latter-day Saints how to build up a city of Zion, and how to increase intelligence among the people, how to walk circumspectly before our God and before one another, and classify every branch of labor, taking advantage of every improvement, and of all the learning in the world, and direct the labor of men and women, and see what it would produce; follow it out for ten years, and then look at the result. Our friends who visit us here say that we have done a good work, and we bear testimony that we have been greatly prospered. It is true that most of the people in this house came here like myself comparatively naked and barefoot. I left all I had in the States. I say all—no. I had some wives and children whom I brought along with me. Some of them had shoes to their feet, some had not; some had bonnets, some had none. Some of my children had clothing, and some had very little; and we took up our line of march and left all. I believe for some four pretty nice brick houses, and a nice large farm, timber land and so on, I got one span of little horses and a carriage worth about a hundred dollars, the horses were worth about sixty dollars apiece, the harness about twenty. I think that was everything I got for my property. We came here and we have been prospered and blessed. If I had the privilege of living with a community that would do as I say for ten years, I would show them that our blessings now, in a temporal point of view, have been but as a drop to the bucketful. But would we bear this? Would our feelings submit to this? Would we not want to go and serve the devil if the Lord were to heap riches upon us? We see that what he does now makes men covetous, they cannot even pay their tithing. Well, do we get all that we want? No, each man wants it all, and as long as this is the case with us, I think the saying common among the boys in my youth will be good—“Every man for himself, the devil for us all.” Just as long as every man works for himself we are not the Lord’s; we are not Christ’s, we are not his disciples in this point of view, at any rate. If we had faith to be baptized, we do not carry out the principles of the salvation that he has wrought out for us. He is going to set up his kingdom—a literal, temporal kingdom. It will be a kingdom of priests by and by. If we had been willing to fully carry out the rules of the kingdom, followed counsel, and worked together for twenty-five years past, the blessings we have received are not a drop in the bucket to what we would have received.

Some twelve or fifteen years I labored faithfully with our merchants here, before I could get them to break through that everlasting covet– ous crust that was over them, and consent to operate together in merchandising so as to give the people a chance with us. And it was the design and the feeling of men here, belonging to the Church, to aggrandize themselves and to monopolize to themselves the wealth of the community. And if another one sprang up and had good luck they would take him into the corps, into their fellowship, and he would belong to the order, and that was to make a few rich, and grind down and make every other man poor. That was the design, no question of it. But I determined with God and the good to help me that I would break that everlasting covetous crust and I succeeded at last. Are we making enough in our mercantile business here now? Yes, we are making all we should make. I suppose a great many would like to know how we are doing. It would be no harm for me to tell you perhaps that, the last six months, the Board of Directors of Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution are able to declare a dividend of ten percent, with five percent in reserve, which is added to the capital stock, and is as good as money. That is good enough for me, it yields some thirty per cent per annum.

If we would work together in our farming, in our mechanism, be obedient and work as a family for the good of all, it would be almost impossible for anybody to guess the success we would have. But we have got to do it in the Lord. We must not do it with a covetous heart. Always be ready and willing that the Lord should have it all, and do what he pleases with it. I have asked a favor of the Lord in this thing, and that is not to place me in such circumstances that what he has given me shall go into the hands of our enemies. God forbid that! But let it go for the preaching of the Gospel, to sustain and to gather the poor, to build factories, make farms, and set the poor to work, as I have hundreds and thousands that had not anything to do. I have fed and clothed them and taken care of them until they have become comparatively independent. I have made no man poor, but thousands and thousands rich, that is, the Lord has, through your humble servant.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered at the 42nd Semi-Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, October 9, 1872.

Suppose we should examine a city in a stake of Zion conducted after the order of Enoch! We would like to look, for a few moments, upon the facts as they would exist. If a people were gathered together, were they many or few, who would follow out the instructions given them in the Bible and in the other revelations that we have, they would have to be very obedient, and probably many would feel to say, “I wish to manage my own affairs, I wish to dictate myself, I wish to govern and control my labor, I cannot submit to have anybody else dictate me. This is servitude, and is nothing more nor less than slavery!” I suppose there are some who would feel thus. When I look at the Latter-day Saints I think how independent they are. They have been very independent, there is no question of it. When they have heard the Gospel, though, perhaps, in the flood of persecution, and the finger of scorn pointed towards them, they have said, “The Gospel is true, and if my friends will not believe it, it makes no difference to me, I am independent enough to embrace the truth, and to gather out from the midst of Babylon and to make my home with the Saints.” There are plenty of such people here in this house—men and women, old and young. There are young people here who have left their parents and everything they had on the face of the earth for the sake of the Gospel. Middle-aged men have left their wives and their children, saying, “I am going to live according to the plan that has been laid down in the Scriptures for the salvation of the human family.” This certainly exhibits as much independence as mortal beings can manifest, and yet we have said we will yield strict obedience to these requirements, preparatory to enjoying the glory that the Lord has for the Saints. I will ask, Is there liberty in this obedience? Yes, and the only plan on the face of the earth for the people to gain real liberty is to yield obedience to these simple principles. Not but that we should find a great many who do not exactly understand how to yield obedience, strictly, to the requirements of heaven for their own salvation and exaltation; but no person can be exalted in the kingdom of heaven without first submitting himself to the rules, regulations, laws and ordinances of that kingdom, and being perfectly subject to them in every respect. Is this the fact? It is even so. Consequently, no person is fit to be a ruler until he can be ruled; no one is fit to be the Lord of all until he has submitted himself to be servant of all. Does this give the people liber– ty? It is the only thing in the heavens or on the earth that can do so. Where is the liberty in subjecting ourselves strictly to the requirements of heaven and becoming one in all our operations to build up the kingdom of God upon the earth? By strict obedience to these requirements, we prove ourselves faithful to our God; and when we have passed through all the ordeals necessary, and have proved perfectly submissive to all the rules and regulations which give life eternal, he then sets us free and crowns us with glory, immortality and eternal lives; and there is no other path that we can walk in, no other system, no other laws or ordinances by which we can gain exaltation, only by submitting ourselves perfectly to the requirements of heaven.

Now suppose we had a little society organized on the plan I mentioned at the commencement of my remarks—after the Order of Enoch—would we build our houses all alike? No. How should we live? I will tell you how I would arrange for a little family, say about a thousand persons. I would build houses expressly for their convenience in cooking, washing and every department of their domestic arrangements. Instead of having every woman getting up in the morning and fussing around a cookstove or over the fire, cooking a little food for two or three or half a dozen persons, or a dozen, as the case may be, she would have nothing to do but to go to her work. Let me have my arrangement here, a hall in which I can seat five hundred persons to eat; and I have my cooking apparatus—ranges and ovens—all prepared. And suppose we had a hall a hundred feet long with our cooking room attached to this hall; and there is a person at the farther end of the table and he should telegraph that he wanted a warm beefsteak; and this is conveyed to him by a little railway, perhaps under the table, and he or she may take her beefsteak. “What do you want to take with it?” “A cup of tea, a cup of coffee, a cup of milk, piece of toast,” or something or other, no matter what they call for, it is conveyed to them and they take it, and we can seat five hundred at once, and serve them all in a very few minutes. And when they have all eaten, the dishes are piled together, slipped under the table, and run back to the ones who wash them. We could have a few Chinamen to do that if we did not want to do it ourselves. Under such a system the women could go to work making their bonnets, hats, and clothing, or in the factories. I have not time to map it out before you as I wish to. But here is our dining room, and adjoining this is our prayer room, where we would assemble perhaps five hundred persons at one time, and have our prayers in the evening and in the morning. When we had our prayers and our breakfast, then each and every one to his business. But the inquiry is, in a moment, How are you going to get them together? Build your houses just the size you want them, whether a hundred feet, fifty feet or five, and have them so arranged that you can walk directly from work to dinner. “Would you build the houses all alike?” Oh no, if there is any one person who has better taste in building than others, and can get up more tasteful houses, make your plans and we will put them up, and have the greatest variety we can imagine.

What will we do through the day? Each one go to his work. Here are the herdsmen—here are those who look after the sheep—here are those who make the butter and the cheese, all at their work by themselves. Some for the canyon, perhaps, or for the plow or harvest, no difference what, each and every class is organized, and all labor and perform their part.

Will we have the cows in the city? No. Will we have the pig pens in the city? No. Will we have any of our outhouses in the city? No. We will have our railways to convey the food to the pig pens, and somebody to take care of them. Somebody to gather up the scraps at the table, and take them away. Somebody to take the feed and feed the cows, and take care of them out of the city. Allow any nuisance in the city? No, not any, but everything kept as clean and as nice as it is in this tabernacle. Gravel our streets, pave our walks, water them, keep them clean and nicely swept, and everything neat, nice and sweet. Our houses built high, sleep upstairs, have large lodging rooms, keep everybody in fresh air, pure and healthy. Work through the day, and when it comes evening, instead of going to a theater, walking the streets, riding, or reading novels—these falsehoods got up expressly to excite the minds of youth, repair to our room, and have our historians, and our different teachers to teach classes of old and young, to read the Scriptures to them; to teach them history, arithmetic, reading, writing and painting; and have the best teachers that can be got to teach our day schools. Half the labor necessary to make a people moderately comfortable now, would make them independently rich under such a system. Now we toil and work and labor, and some of us are so anxious that we are sure to start after a load of wood on Saturday so as to occupy Sunday in getting home. This would be stopped in our community, and when Sunday morning came every child would be required to go to the school room, and parents to go to meeting or Sunday school; and not get into their wagons or carriages, or on the railroads, or lounge around reading novels; they would be required to go to meeting, to read the Scriptures, to pray and cultivate their minds. The youth would have a good education, they would receive all the learning that could be given to mortal beings; and after they had studied the best books that could be got hold of, they would still have the advantage of the rest of the world, for they would be taught in and have a knowledge of the things of God.

Bring up our children in this way and they would be trained to love the truth. Teach them honesty, virtue and prudence, and we should not see the waste around that now is witnessed. The Latter-day Saints waste enough to make a poor people comfortable. Shall I mention one or two instances? I will mention this one thing anyway, with regard to our paper mill. Can you get the Latter-day Saints to save their rags? No, they will make them and throw them out of doors. Is there a family in this community but what are too well off in their own estimation to take care of paper rags? I think a good many of them would rather steal their beef and what they want than stoop to pick up paper rags to make paper to print our paper on. Not all would do this, but a few; and the majority are so well off that they have not that prudence which belongs to Saints; and I feel sometimes a little irritated, and inclined to scold about it, when I see women who were brought up without a shoe to their foot, or a second frock to their back perhaps, and who lived until they were young women in this style, without ever stepping on to an inch of carpet in their lives, and they know no more how to treat a carpet than pigs do. Do they know how to treat fine furniture? No, they do not; but they will waste, waste—their clothing, their carpets and their furniture. I hear them say sometimes, “Why, I have had this three years, or five years.” If my grandmother could have got an article such as you wear, she would have kept it for her daughters from generation to generation, and it would have been good. But now, our young women waste, waste.

This is finding fault, and I wish I could hurt your feelings enough to make you think of it when you get home. If I could make you a little mad, when you get home if you see a pretty good piece of carpet, thrown out of doors you will go, perhaps, and shake it and lay it up, thinking that it may be serviceable to somebody or other; and if you cannot do anything else with it, give it to somebody who has not a bed to lie upon, to put under them to help to make a bed.

If we could see such a society organized as I have mentioned, you would see none of this waste. You would see a people all attending to their business, having the most improved machinery for making cloth, and doing every kind of housework, farming, all mechanical operations, in our factories, dairies, orchards and vineyards; and possessing every comfort and convenience of life. A society like this would never have to buy anything; they would make and raise all they would eat, drink and wear, and always have something to sell and bring money, to help to increase their comfort and independence.

“Well, but,” one would say, “I shall never have the privilege of riding again in a carriage in my life.” Oh what a pity! Did you ever ride in one when you had your own way? No, you never thought of such a thing. Thousands and thousands of Latter-day Saints never expect to own a carriage or to ride in one. Would we ride in carriages? Yes, we would; we would have them suitable for the community, and give them their proper exercise; and if I were with you, I would be willing to give others just as much as I have myself. And if we have sick, would they want a carriage to ride in? Yes, and they would have it too, we would have nice ones to carry out the sick, aged and infirm, and give them exercise, and give them a good place to sleep in, good food to eat, good company to be with them and take care of them.

Would not this be hard? Yes, I should hope so. If I had the privilege and the power, I would not introduce a system for my brethren and myself to live under unless it would try our faith. I do not want to live without having my faith and patience tried. They are pretty well tried. I do not know how many there are who would endure what I endure with regard to faith and patience, and then be persevering in the midst of it all. But I would not form a society, nor ask an individual to go to heaven by breaking all the bones in his body, and putting him in a silver basket, and then, hitching him to a kite, send him up there. I would not do it if I had the power, for if his bones were not broken he would jump out of the basket, that is the idea. I see a great many who profess to be Latter-day Saints, who would not be contented in heaven unless their feelings undergo a great change, and if they were there and you wanted to keep them there, you would have to break their backs, or they would get out. But we want to see nothing of this in this little society.

If I had charge of such a society as this to which I refer, I would not allow novel reading; yet it is in my house, in the houses of my counselors, in the houses of these Apostles, these Seventies and High Priests, in the houses of the High Council in this city, and in other cities, and in the houses of the Bishops, and we permit it; yet it is ten thousand times worse than it is for men to come here and teach our children the a b c’s, good morals, and how to behave themselves, ten thousand times worse! You let your children read novels until they run away, until they get so that they do not care—they are reckless, and their mothers are reckless, and some of their fathers are reckless, and if you do not break their backs and tie them up they will go to hell. That is rough, is it not? Well, it is a comparison. You have got to check them some way or other, or they will go to destruction. They are perfectly crazy. Their actions say, “I want Babylon stuck on to me; I want to revel in Babylon; I want everything I can think of or desire.” If I had the power to do so, I would not take such people to heaven. God will not take them there, that I am sure of. He will try the faith and patience of this people. I would not like to get into a society where there were no trials; but I would like to see a society organized to show the Latter-day Saints how to build up the kingdom of God.

Do you think we shall want any lawyers in our society? No, I think not. Do you not think they will howl around? Yes, you will hear their howls going up morning and evening, bewailing one another. They will howl, “We can get no lawsuits here; we cannot find anybody that will quarrel with his neighbor. What shall we do?” I feel about them as Peter of Russia is said to have felt when he was in England. He saw and heard the lawyers pleading at a great trial there, and he was asked his opinion concerning them. He replied that he had two lawyers in his empire, and when he got home he intended to hang one of them. That is about the love I have for some lawyers who are always stirring up strife. Not but that lawyers are good in their place; but where is their place? I cannot find it. It makes me think of what Bissell said to Paine in Kirtland. In a lawsuit that had been got up, Bissell was pleading for Joseph, and Paine was pleading for an apostate. Paine had blackguarded Bissell a good deal. In his plea Bissell stopped all at once, and, turning to Mr. Paine, said he: “Mr. Paine, do you believe in a devil?” “Yes,” said Mr. Paine, who was a keen, smart lawyer. Said Bissell, “Where do you think he is?” “I do not know.” “Do you not think he is in hell?” said Bissell. “I suppose he is.” “Well,” said Bissell, “do you not think he is in pain [Paine]?” They almost act to me as if they were in pain. They must excuse me if there are any of them here today. I cannot see the least use on the face of the earth for these wicked lawyers who stir up strife. If they would turn merchants, cattle breeders, farmers or mechanics, or would build factories, they would be useful; but to stir up strife and quarrels, to alienate the feelings of neighbors, and to destroy the peace of communities, seems to be their only business. For a man to understand the law is very excellent, but who is there that understands it? They that do and are peacemakers, they are legitimate lawyers. There are many lawyers who are very excellent men. What is the advice of an honorable gentlemen in the profession of the law? “Do not go to law with your neighbor; do not be coaxed into a lawsuit, for you will not be benefited by it. If you do go to law, you will hate your neighbor, and you will finally have to pick some of your neighbors who hoe potatoes and corn, who work in the cabinet shop, at the carpenter’s bench, or at the blacksmith’s forge, to settle it for you. You will have to pick ten, twelve, eighteen or twenty-four of them, as the case may be, to act as a jury, and your case goes before them to decide. They are not lawyers, but they understand truth and justice, and they have got to judge the case at last.” Why not do this at first, and say we will arbitrate this case, and we will have no lawsuit, and no difficulty with our neighbor, to alienate our feelings one from another? This is the way we should do as a community.

Would you want doctors? Yes, to set bones. We should want a good surgeon for that, or to cut off a limb. But do you want doctors? For not much of anything else, let me tell you, only the traditions of the people lead them to think so; and here is a growing evil in our midst. It will be so in a little time that not a woman in all Israel will dare to have a baby unless she can have a doctor by her. I will tell you what to do, you ladies, when you find you are going to have an increase, go off into some country where you cannot call for a doctor, and see if you can keep it. I guess you will have it, and I guess it will be all right, too. Now the cry is, “Send for a doctor.” If you have a pain in the head, “Send for a doctor;” if your heel aches, “I want a doctor;” “my back aches, and I want a doctor.” The study and practice of anatomy and surgery are very good; they are mechanical, and are frequently needed. Do you not think it is necessary to give medicine sometimes? Yes, but I would rather have a wife of mine that knows what medicine to give me when I am sick, than all the professional doctors in the world. Now let me tell you about doctoring, because I am acquainted with it, and know just exactly what constitutes a good doctor in physic. It is that man or woman who, by revelation, or we may call it intuitive inspiration, is capable of administering medicine to assist the human system when it is besieged by the enemy called Disease; but if they have not that manifestation, they had better let the sick person alone. I will tell you why: I can see the faces of this congregation, but I do not see two alike; and if I could look into your nervous systems and behold the operations of disease, from the crowns of your heads to the soles of your feet, I should behold the same difference that I see in your physiognomy —there would be no two precisely alike. Doctors make experiments, and if they find a medicine that will have the desired effect on one person, they set it down that it is good for everybody, but it is not so, for upon the second person that medicine is administered to, seemingly with the same disease, it might produce death. If you do not know this, you have not had the experience that I have. I say that unless a man or woman who administers medicine to assist the human system to overcome disease, understands, and has that intuitive knowledge, by the Spirit, that such an article is good for that individual at that very time, they had better let him alone. Let the sick do without eating, take a little of something to cleanse the stomach, bowels and blood, and wait patiently, and let Nature have time to gain the advantage over the disease. Suppose, for illustration, we draw a line through this congregation, and place those on this side where they cannot get a doctor, without it is a surgeon, for thirty or fifty years to come; and put the other side in a country full of doctors, and they think they ought to have them, and this side of the house that has no doctor will be able to buy the inheritance of those who have doctors, and overrun them, outreach them, and buy them up, and finally obliterate them, and they will be lost in the masses of those who have no doctors. I know what some say when they look at such things, but that is the fact. Ladies and gentlemen, you may take any country in the world, I do not care where you go, and if they do not employ doctors, you will find they will beat communities that employ them, all the time. Who is the real doctor? That man who knows by the Spirit of revelation what ails an individual, and by the same Spirit knows what medicine to administer. That is the real doctor, the others are quacks.

But to the text. We want to see a community organized in which every person will be industrious, faithful and prudent. What will you do with the children? We will bring them up until they are of legal age, then say, “Go where you please. We have given you a splendid education, the advantage of all the learning of the day, and if you do not wish to stay with the Saints, go where you please.” What will you do with those who apostatize after having entered into covenant and agreement with others that their property shall be one, and be in the hands of trustees, and shall never be taken out? If any of these parties apostatize, and say we wish to withdraw from this community, what will you do with them? We will say to them, “Go, and welcome,” and if we are disposed to give them anything, it is all right.

Where are we going to find the greatest difficulty and obstruction with regard to this organization? In the purse of the rich? No, not by any means. I have got some brethren who are just as close, tight and penurious as I am myself, but I would rather take any moneyed man in this community, and undertake to manage him, than some men who are not worth a dollar in the world. Some of this class are too independent. They would say, “I’ll go a fishing,” or “I guess I’ll go a riding, where I please.” Well, if I were to give out word, and say to the community, Send in your names, I want to see who are willing to go into an organization of this kind, who do you suppose would write to me first? The biggest thieves in the community. Do not be shocked at that, any of you, whether you are strangers or not, for we have some of the meanest men that ever disgraced God’s footstool right in the midst of the Latter-day Saints. Do not be startled at that, because it is true. I have told the people many a time, if they want anything done, no matter how mean, they can find men here who can do it, if they are to be found on the earth. I cannot help this. You recollect that Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a net which gathered all kinds. If our net has not gathered all kinds, I wonder where the kinds are that we have not got. I say that some of the worst men in the community would be the first ones to proffer their names to go into such an association. I do not want them there. Is this the fact? Yes it is. I understand it exactly. But if such a community could be organized, to show the Latter-day Saints how to build up the kingdom of heaven on the earth, I would be glad to see it—would not you?

If this could be done I want to say to the Latter-day Saints, that I have a splendid place, large enough for about five hundred or a thousand persons to settle upon, and I would like to be the one to make a donation of it, with a good deal more, to start the business, to see if we can actually accomplish the affair, and show the Latter-day Saints how to build up Zion. Not to make a mock of it. Not go and preach the Gospel without purse and scrip, and gather up the poor and needy, and have them bring Babylon with them. Leave Babylon out of the question. Make our own clothing, but do not put seventeen or twenty-one yards in a single dress, neither be attired so as to look like a camel. It is not comely, it does not belong to sensible people, nor to any people who wish to carry themselves justly and correctly, before the heavens and intelligent men.

If the ladies want silks, we have the mulberry here of all kinds; we have the silkworm eggs here, and we have made the silk. Go to work now and raise worms, and wind the silk, and weave it and make all the satin ribbons you wish for. We have men and women here, who did nothing in their lives before they came here but weave satin ribbons and satin cloth. This is their business, they know how to get it up. If you will raise the silk, dress yourselves just as beautifully as you please.

By and by when this people learn the value of the mulberry and the silkworm, you will see the women with their few trees in their yards and around their lots, and for shade trees in the streets; and the children will be picking the leaves and feeding the worms, and they will get up silk dresses here like those in the East Indies. The silk dresses they make there you can put them on and wear them until you are tired of them, and almost from generation to generation. We can make them here just as good. And we can have coats and vests and pants made of our homegrown material, which a man would wear for his best suit, and hand down to his posterity. When we have learned the worth of silk we will make it and use it instead of linen. We have a splendid country for raising silk, but not a good country to raise flax in; splendid for raising wool, grain, fruit, vegetables, cattle, milk, butter and cheese, and here we are importing our cheese. We ought to be making cheese by the hundreds of tons. We ought to export it in quantities; but instead of that we are sending to the States for it.

Where are your cows? Have you taken care of them? If you see a community organized as they should be, they will take care of their calves; they will have something to feed them on in the winter, and they will take care of their stock and not let it perish. What a sin it is to the Latter-day Saints, if they did but know it, to abuse their stock—their cattle, milk cows and horses! Through the summer they will work and use them, and in the winter turn them out to live or die as they can, taking no care of that which God has given them. Were it not for the ignorance of the people, the Lord would curse them for such things.

We ought to learn some of these facts, and try to shape our lives so as to be useful. Let the men make their lives useful. Let the women make their lives useful. Mothers, teach your daughters how to keep house, and not how to spend everything they can get hold of. I will just say a few words on this subject. We have hundreds of young men here who dare not take girls for wives. Why? Because the very first thing, they want a horse and buggy, and a piano; they want somebody to come every day to give them lessons on the piano; they want two hired girls and a mansion, so that they can entertain company, and the boys are afraid to marry them. Now mothers, teach your girls better things than these. What are the facts in the case? If you had been brought up to know what property—fine furniture, carpets, and so on, was worth, you would take care of it, and be prudent in the use of it, and teach your girls to take care, instead of wasting it. Do you believe it? This does not hit all, but too many. I wish you would hearken to these things. I am taking up the time, and not giving to others an opportunity to address you. We have not said what we want to say to the Latter-day Saints. We ought to have a house four times as large as this, and we ought to fill it; and we ought to sit together not only four days, but a week and perhaps two weeks, and leave home at home, leave Babylon in Babylon—leave everything and come here to worship the living God, and learn of his ways, that we may walk in his paths. This is our duty, and what we should do. But there are so many who can hardly spend time to go to meeting on the Sabbath day; and they can hardly spend time to go to Conference. They have so much business on hand, so many cattle to take care of; they have money to let out, or money to borrow; they have men to see to, or something or other, and it seems as if the affections of the people are hankering after the things of this world too much, too much! Stop, Latter-day Saints, and reckon with yourselves, and find whether you are actually in the path of obedience to the requirements of heaven or not. Some suppose that they are serving God and are on the road to eternal life, but many will find they are mistaken if they are not careful. We had better reckon with ourselves and look over our accounts, and see how we stand before the Lord. See if we are doing good, if we are bestowing our substance on the poor, that they may have food to eat and habitations to dwell in, and be made comfortable: see if we are sending our means for the poor in foreign lands, and aiding to send the Elders to preach to the nations and gather up the people and make them happy and comfortable. Instead of doing this I fear that many are wandering away from the commandments of the Lord. “O fools, and slow of heart to believe!” We can get rich a great deal quicker by serving God than by serving ourselves, do a great deal better, and do a great deal more good. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. He is anxious, and is waiting with extended arms and hands, comparatively, to pour the wealth of the world into the laps of the Latter-day Saints, if they will not give it away to their enemies. But now, just as soon as anything is given to the Latter-day Saints they are looking from east to west, and from north to south, to see where they can strew that that God gives them among their enemies—those who spurn the things of God, and would destroy his kingdom from the earth. I say, let the Lord keep us poor rather than forsake our religion and turn away from it! Why cannot a man serve God with his pockets full of greenbacks, and not lust after them one particle? If he cannot do it, he is lacking in wisdom, faith, and knowledge, and does not understand God and his ways. The heavens and the earth are full of blessings for the people. To whom do they belong? To our Father in heaven, and he wishes to bestow them upon his children when they can receive and dispose of them to his name’s glory.

We shall have to stop here. We are going to adjourn our Conference, though we have not said half what we wish to say to you and to ourselves, for we want to be co-workers together. Now let me say to the First Presidency, to the Apostles, to all the Bishops in Israel, and to every quorum, and especially to those who are presiding officers, Set that example before your wives and your children, before your neighbors and this people, that you can say: “Follow me, as I follow Christ.” When we do this, all is right, and our consciences are clear.

God bless you.

Discourse by Elder Brigham Young, Jun., delivered at the 42nd Semi-Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, October 8, 1872.

I believe it is pleasing, generally, for an Elder in this Church to have the privilege of bearing his testimony, though it may be done with fear and trembling, before the people; yet the knowledge which God has given to the Elders of Israel inspires them to declare it unto the world. Although I am considerably afflicted, as well as my brethren, with this manfearing spirit, yet it is a pleasure to me, and I hope it ever will be, to stand before the congregations, and tell them that I know, by the revelations of Jesus Christ, that this is the people of God. I may not be able to instruct the people to that extent which others might, but with the help of the Spirit of the Lord I can testify to that which I do know, which I have experienced in my life, and which has been brought home to my under– standing. I think that it strengthens me in the principles of the everlasting Gospel every time I have the privilege of testifying to their truth.

It is almost impossible for this people to realize that they are called by the power and authority of the Almighty, and that they are the Saints of God, nevertheless it is true if we are living that religion which we profess to believe in. Let those who have not received a testimony to that effect go before their Maker, seek him in all diligence, be faithful to that which they know, and he will reveal it unto their minds. We have not come to this earth to idle away our time, or to throw away that precious gift which is within the reach of all whom God has created. Eternal life is extended unto us by a merciful Creator, and we have the opportunity of gaining an exaltation in the kingdom of God if we have a mind to improve it. We have come here without a knowledge of a former existence, we are like strangers in a strange land. The knowledge that we have acquired guides us to some extent, enables us to gain a living, and in part to understand the things of the kingdom of God. Brethren and sisters, we are here as strangers in a strange land, and a guide is what we want—a guide for our actions on the earth. God has given us one—he revealed a guide through Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and others who have lived in modern times, and they have revealed the will of the Almighty unto the people. We are not left destitute, so that we can be led away by every manner of doctrine; when we hear people say, “Lo! here is Christ, lo! there is Christ,” we are not left to ourselves, neither have we to seek the advice of men to know whether these expressions are true or not, because the Spirit of the Almighty has testified unto us that the revelations contained in those books—the Book of Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon, which we received through Joseph Smith, are true, and they are given unto us for our guidance.

Is it necessary to ask this people if they are acquainted with the revelations contained in these books, which have been given unto us as a guide to eternal life in the presence of God? Do we understand the revelations contained within the lids of these books? They contain blessings and truths inestimable, for they point the way back into the presence of our God. Do we study and understand them, or are our minds taken up with such light reading as naturally tends to distract the attention from the principles of the Gospel? There is too much fault– finding and confusion, and too much of the world in the midst of this people, and especially in the midst of the Latter-day Saints who dwell in Salt Lake City. It is true that temptations are broadcast in our midst, and we meet them on every hand. But is that any reason that we should give way to them? Is it any reason that we should adopt the follies and fashions of the world because they have been introduced into our midst? Well do I remember the time when, in this city, it was customary for the Saints to retire to rest without locking their doors. There was no necessity to lock granaries, or stables, or to guard property as we are compelled to do now. But times have changed, the temptations which the Lord said should overtake his people have come, and they have come for our salvation, for without them it would be impossible for us to show to God that we are for him and his kingdom and that, under any and all circumstances, we are determined to work righteousness upon the earth. I do not complain because these temptations have been introduced into our midst, for they are necessary. If the Lord sees fit to permit them, I have nothing to say only by way of counsel, and to exhort the Saints not to indulge in those things which would have a tendency to grieve the Spirit of the Lord. I am aware that these evils are not pleasant, and probably if we could understand and comprehend evil without coming in contact with it, God would never have placed us on this earth, so far from our home, so far from those with whom we dwelt in the eternal worlds. He never would have placed us here but for our own good.

Here are the books—the Bible, Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants—which are given for a guide to the people of all the earth, if they will but listen to them; but they will not listen to the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and yet I have failed to discover a learned man who could take those books and tell where they differed in doctrine in the least. They cannot do this, because the doctrines of all are the same, for they all proceed from God, and they contain his plan for the salvation of his children upon the earth. Shall we obey the revelations which have been given? If I could have an answer from each individual here today, professing to be a Saint, I have no doubt it would be “Yes.” And if strangers, and the nations of the earth knew that we believe in them as firmly as we believe in anything on the earth, they would say, “If you believe in them, practice and obey them in every particular, and live according to your conscience and the law which God has given you.” I, by the revelations of the Almighty, understand these books to be true. I know that Jesus is the Christ. Not because I have read it in the books which I have named, or because I have heard Joseph Smith or others testify to it, but I know it by the revelations of God, just as others have known it in former dispensations of the Gospel, and just as others know it in this dispensation. Saints should live their religion; they should obey the principles which have been revealed and which are contained in these books. But there is too much ignorance concerning these revelations; they are not sufficiently studied; or if studied they are not remembered, if I am to judge from what I see around me. In traveling and preaching among the people, there is one revelation which presses itself particularly on my mind, and which I think the peo– ple would obey if they considered that it came from the Almighty. But as they do not obey it, I suppose they do not consider that it came from God. I refer to a revelation given in the year 1833, called the Word of Wisdom. We fail to obey it today, and we shall fail tomorrow unless we make a short turn and determine in our own minds that we will obey it. How many of us have disregarded that revelation, in every particular? It is to be found on page 240 of the Doctrine and Covenants, and it shadows to me that a time will come in the midst of this people when a desolating scourge will pass through our ranks, and the destroying angel will be in our midst as he was in Egypt when he slew all the firstborn of the Egyptians. God says “the destroying angel shall pass by” and shall not harm you if you will observe to do these things. Now if we believe this revelation, and I take it for granted that we do, though I may choose to doubt in my own case and some others, yet I assume that as a people we believe it; but what assurance have we that that angel will pass us by unless we do observe it? No more than the children of Israel would have had if they had failed to mark their doors and lintels with the blood of a lamb, as Moses had commanded them. What effect would a failure to comply with this commandment have had on them? Would the Destroyer have passed by the firstborn of Israel? I trow not; I think the firstborn of Israel would have been slain as well as the firstborn of Egypt. That was a revelation given by the Lord to Moses for the salvation of Israel; the Word of Wisdom is a revelation given by the Lord to Joseph Smith for the salvation of this people, and if we disobey we have no more assurance than Israel had that the destroying angel will pass through our ranks and leave us unscathed. There is not a father or mother before me today who would like to see a child borne away to the graveyard because of their disobedience. Well, light is given, it has come to us, and it is for us to obey it, and to put into practice the commandments which God has given us. It is true that the Word of Wisdom does not say anything about drinking tea and coffee, but our leaders—men inspired of the Almighty, in whom we have full confidence, have told us that it includes these things, and that should be sufficient for us. The Word of Wisdom says that in those times, through the wickedness which is in the hearts of men, they would seek to destroy this people, by introducing into their midst something deleterious to health. If these are not the exact words, they are tantamount. Now is it necessary for us to observe the Word of Wisdom with regard to tea and coffee? Just as much as with regard to tobacco and liquor, because it has been so defined to us, and I so understand it.

When I think of these things, I think of what I have seen among the men who have been called particularly to labor on our railroads and in our cooperative institutions. What is the situation of some of the young men who labor in these institutions and upon our railroads? If they do not follow the examples set by those who travel and labor on other roads, then I do not understand it. I find that our young men are copying after the young men who travel on other roads—they smoke and they drink, with as much assurance as though they had followed it all their lives; and I doubt not, if they continue in the pursuit of such practices, they will become as proficient in other sins as some I have seen elsewhere. If young men wish to continue habits of this kind I have no objections, so far as I am concerned, but I do not wish them to invade my household. I do not wish my children to keep the company of men of this class. I do not wish my daughters to go into the society of men, even though they profess to belong to this Church, who will smoke, drink and swear, and who are ready to commit all the other sins contained in the catalogue if they had the opportunity, and were from under the eye of those who would condemn them. I know these things exist upon our railroads, and also in our cooperative institutions more or less, throughout this country. Now what course shall we pursue with regard to these things? Shall we foster them? If you see a young man in a cooperative store he dresses better and has a little more means and influence than other young men of his own age in the community. He exercises that influence for good or for evil over the minds of younger members of the community. My sons see such young men smoking and drinking, and they say “Why should not we?” And they will be likely to, until they arrive at years of discretion, and get sense to know better. Some may say, “Oh, they will turn round by and by, and do better.” We have no business to hope that, when once these evil habits are acquired by our children, they will turn round and do better when they arrive at years of maturity; at least I have no right to hope it on behalf of my own children. I hope to prevent it in their youth; I could not hope to stop it after they had commenced and become confirmed in it, although in some cases I might succeed. But I wish to prevent it, for I believe that prevention is better than cure.

It is our business, brethren and sisters, to put our foot upon these practices, and to discountenance and condemn them whenever we see our youth practicing them. This people are not gathered here to practice the sins which are prevalent in Babylon, at least I do not so understand it. The Scriptures teach me, and the Spirit of the Lord bears testimony, to cry unto the people to come out of Babylon, and not to drag Babylon or its sins into our midst. They are not necessary for our happiness. It is astonishing to me when I look over the people in this and other countries, to see the immense number who use tobacco and liquor. I sometimes wonder how the world lived so long without tobacco before the discovery of America! Now nearly everybody smokes or chews. They did without it before America was discovered, and they could now if they were so disposed. This people could if they would, and yet they are importing perhaps more tobacco, tea, coffee and liquor than ever before during their existence as a Church. I believe this is the case, from all I can hear and learn on the subject. This is wrong. We can go into our settlements in the north, south, east and west, and it is just as necessary to have tea, coffee and tobacco now, as ever. I can also find that where there is an almost boundless range, and the people can have an unlimited number of stock, all their cheese is imported—they eat States cheese there as they do in the city. Home manufacture is neglected, and our cows are left to die on the range, and we are expending the very bone and sinew of this community to get means to import articles which we can raise in abundance here. This will ruin us as a community if it is practiced long enough. These things may not be quite so prevalent as my words may imply. I do not mean to say that all the people disregard the Word of Wisdom; but I fear that the great majority do. If the brethren who have been called to occupy responsible positions in the midst of the people fail to observe the Word of Wisdom, it will grieve the Spirit of the Lord, and if they do not turn and repent they will leave this Church. That is my faith—if they continue to use these things, and to impress the minds of the people with the idea that it is utterly unnecessary to observe the Word of Wisdom, they will lose the spirit of this work and will eventually turn from it. The presiding Elders of this Church are called to observe the Word of Wisdom, and in all things to set a good example before the people. That is their business, and that is their mission, and as long as they live they will never have a greater.

Brethren, let us seek to understand and practice these things, and also endeavor to instruct the minds of our wives and children with regard to the principles contained in these books. Endeavor, brethren, to build up Zion, and not Babylon. I think very often, when I am speaking to the people, of a remark to President Young. He has been in the Church a great many years. On one occasion, only a very few years after the Church was organized, the Prophet Joseph counseled him and others never to do another day’s work to build up Babylon, and he has obeyed that counsel. I know he has for twenty-five years past, and I am satisfied he has from the time the counsel was given.

Do we need to go away from home to build up Babylon? Do we need to leave this city to build up Babylon? No, continue to indulge our fancies for fashion and for the practice of those habits and customs which a corrupt civilization has introduced into our midst, and we are building up Babylon in the most approved style. That is my belief. Our outside friends have brought a great many good things here; they have improved our city, they are building fine buildings, and are expending their capital liberally. I do not object to this, but I do not want it to lead us from the path of truth and to bring us into bondage, to sin and iniquity. There is no necessity for this if we wisely use that which God has given us. You remember the time, brethren, after we had been in this valley a year or so, we were, in a manner, naked and barefooted, and were a thousand miles from any supply of clothing, and it was impossible for us to manufacture it, for there were no sheep in the country, nothing to manufacture cloth with, and no means to obtain it. You remember the prophecy delivered here upon this block by the late Heber C. Kimball, that within a certain time—a very brief period—clothing would be as cheap in Salt Lake City as in New York. What prospect had we at that time that his prophecy would be fulfilled, for a journey to the States and back again then required months to perform, and there was seemingly no chance of a supply of clothing from outside importation? Yet within the time specified, the prophecy was literally fulfilled, and clothing was far cheaper in the streets of this city than in the streets of New York. This is only one among the many prophecies which have been delivered and fulfilled. Some of you remember, and others of you have heard it spoken of, when President Young, in July 1847, while walking on this block, about where the Temple now stands, said to the brethren who were around him, “if our enemies will let us alone for ten years we will ask no odds of them.” Ten years that day, brethren, we got news that an army had left the confines of the States at that time, for Utah. What for? Their boast was, to destroy the “Mormons.” Did we ask any odds of them? No. Did we ask anything of them? No. We attempted to give them supplies, but they would not receive them. Brethren, this is the Church and kingdom of God, and we are led by holy men, men inspired by the Almighty. They give us a little now and a little then; we receive line upon line and precept upon precept, and if we give heed thereto, God will strengthen us, and the kingdom will grow and increase beneath our watchcare.

Is it necessary for us to remember the prophecies and the revelations which have been given for our salvation? If we have the truth—the Gospel of the Son of God—and we testify that we have, it is just as necessary for us to remember these things as it is for us to be saved in the kingdom of God. That is our position today; and it is impossible for any human being who has made covenant with the Almighty to be saved in his kingdom if he disregards the revelations and counsels that are given by the servants of God. I do not expect strangers to understand and believe this as we do. Strangers have not come here for the purpose of identifying themselves with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the people to whom I am talking came here for that express purpose. They came here for their souls’ salvation, they want to be saved in the kingdom of God. They had the testimony in the old countries, in the States, or wherever they received the Gospel, that God had revealed himself to the children of men and that his kingdom was established on the earth, and they received light and intelligence which they never before possessed. They came here to build up the kingdom of God, and that kingdom is rolling forth and increasing and will continue to do. But are we giving way to folly and fashion to such an extent as to blind our minds to the great purpose we had in coming here? I hope not. I hope that we are living our religion.

Brethren, I testify to you that this is the kingdom of God, and that you are in a faith that will lead you back into the presence of your Father and God. I also testify that if the people of the nations of the earth will obey the Gospel they will receive salvation at the hands of the Almighty, and if they reject it they will receive condemnation at his hands at the last day.

May God bless you, Amen.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered at the 42nd Semi-Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, October 8, 1872.

Since the commencement of our Conference we have heard very much valuable instruction, and testimonies which have been very cheering to the hearts of those who have heard them; and no doubt every person who has attended Conference from its commencement until the present time, and who will continue until the Conference shall terminate, will feel amply rewarded for the time spent, and will go away feeling better prepared to perform the duties which may devolve upon him or her.

There is so much to talk about connected with our circumstances and condition, that it requires a portion of the Spirit of the Lord to enable a person, in speaking, to dwell upon those points which are best adapted to our present requirements. We are not situated as any other people, that is, in many respects, and instructions adapted to our circumstances would differ probably from those which would be required by others. We have been, from the commencement, a peculiar people; our religion is in many respects at the present time a peculiar one; yet, if there be any distinctive peculiarity about the religion of the Latter-day Saints, it is that they believe and receive the Scriptures as they are, and do not attempt to put double meanings to their teachings. Our religion being peculiar, the effect of it is somewhat peculiar. The message which the Elders of this Church declare when they go forth to preach the Gospel has a different effect, upon people who listen to it, to that which is declared by any other denomination. Not because faith in Jesus Christ, repentance of sin, baptism for the remission of sins, and laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost are taught, but because, following these principles, there is declared unto the people the propriety and the necessity of gathering out from the various nations where they dwell, from the midst of their kindred and their former associates, and concentrating at the place which God, as the Elders testify, has selected as the place for his people to reside in. This is a strange doctrine, and one that is peculiar to the Latter-day Saints, and, as I have said, the effects upon the people are peculiar. No sooner do they hear the proclamation of this doctrine, and in some instances before, than there springs up in the hearts of those who have received the testimony of the Elders a desire to gather out, and be associated with the people with whom they have joined, and whose faith they have received. I suppose that among the thousands who live in this Territory, who have been gathered from the various States of this country, and from the various countries of Europe, of Asia and the islands of the sea, there is scarcely one to be found who did not, as soon as he or she embraced the Gospel, have an intense desire to gather with the people of God, and to become closely associated with them, to believe as they believed, to live as they lived, to share their trials, to partake of their prosperity or adversity, as the case might be; to receive instructions from the man whom they believed God had chosen to preside over his Church upon the earth. And the effect upon the Latter-day Saints in every land is the same in this respect. You may travel to the most inhospitable climate—to the bleak regions of the north, or to the sunny climes of the south; to the lands of sterility and barrenness, where hardship seems to be the lot of the people, where privation is one of the incidents of their existence; or to the lands of fertility, where the inhabitants acquire a livelihood with ease; in fact, no matter where you go, nor whatever the circumstances may be which surround the people, when they hear the testimony of the servants of God, and receive and act upon it, the same spirit takes possession of the people, and they gladly forsake the lands of their nativity, and the associations of life—of early life and mature age, the homes of their childhood and the graves of their ancestors, and wend their way with joy and gladness to this strange land, which God, as they verily believe and know, by the testimony of his Holy Spirit, has prepared as a resting place for them. This is the universal effect wherever the Gospel has been preached, and in this respect the Latter-day Saints are a peculiar people.

But though we have gathered together, as we have, in this country, there seems to be in the minds of a great many people a disposition to overlook the reasons which God our heavenly Father has had in view in gathering us out, and collecting us together, and making us one people. The prophecies which were recorded in ancient days, as well as those which have been given us in the day in which we live; all point forward to this great dispensation, as a time when God should do a great and mighty work in the midst of the earth, and when a great revolution should be effected and a great reformation accomplished among the children of men; when he should have a peculiar people—a people who should be gathered out from all nations, a people who should be free from the vices and the evils of all nations, a people upon whom he should place his name, and whom he should recognize as his. We are told by the Revelator John, that a time would come when the people of God should be commanded to come out of Babylon, out of confusion, when they should be gathered out from every nation, from the remotest parts of the earth, and when he should make of them a great and mighty people.

We see a partial fulfillment of this prediction in this Territory—this people are gathered from various lands, and are dwelling together in peace and in union, without litigation, animosity or strife, all harmonizing together—their interests blended in one. To my mind this is one of the most remarkable phenomena to be witnessed on the face of the earth. It strikes me as such, and although familiar with it from my childhood, I look with wonder and astonishment at the great work that has been done in gathering this people together. Visitors come here, and they are full of admiration for the great labors that have been accomplished by the Latter-day Saints in transforming this wilderness land into a fruitful field, in creating these gardens, in erecting these houses, in adorning this land with beautiful habitations and with groves, and making this soil, once so barren and sterile, teem with fertility. They admire the physical works which we have accomplished; but to my mind there is something greater than this to be admired. There are works which far surpass the work accomplished on the face of nature. When I contemplate the work that has been accomplished in gathering the people from the various nations; when I see men of various languages and, originally, of various creeds, born under various forms of government, spread throughout this land, dwelling together in peace, union and love, worshiping together in the one Tabernacle, or in the same places of worship throughout the length and breadth of this Territory, I see something which to my mind is far, far more surprising than anything wrought by our physical labors. I see a power wonderful in its effect—a power which has molded the heart’s and blended the feelings of the children of men, and created a oneness in their midst, the effects of which are witnessed all around us. God has done this, and to his name the glory must be ascribed. Man cannot do these things, he cannot thus affect and operate upon the minds of his fellow men. He may produce some effect, may accomplish some results, but that union, love and harmony which we witness among ourselves is beyond the power of man to bring about—it is the power of God which he has manifested; and for wise and great ends has this wonderful God– like power been restored, which binds the hearts of men to their fellow men, and causes them to cooperate, as they have done in this land, in accomplishing the labors which have devolved upon us.

But yet, though I can admire these things, brethren and sisters, there are many things which we have neglected to do, which devolve upon us. God has given unto us a great mission in the earth, and whether we realize it or not it is a fact. He has entrusted to us, as a people, a great and mighty work to perform. We look around us in the various nations as well as in our own nation, and we see a great many evils existing, we see these evils increasing in magnitude, and becoming more formidable and threatening every year that passes over our heads. Probably we who reside in these mountains, and have done so for a quarter of a century, can realize the evidence of these evils better than they who live in the midst of them and witness their gradual growth without noticing the great changes which have been effected. But we see extravagance, corruption, and a lack of virtue and public morality; we see the breaking down of those barriers which formerly existed, and a sapping and demoralization of public sentiment and of private morality throughout the nation of which we form a part, as well as in other nations.

Now there is laid upon us, as a people, the labor of establishing righteousness in the earth. There is laid upon us the duty of building up in purity and power a system which God has revealed unto us. Not a system of theocracy to be exclusive in its effects, not to build up a class, a priesthood that should domineer and wield unjust and oppressive power over the hearts and minds of the children of men. Our mission is to lay the foundation and to build up a system under which all the inhabitants of the land can dwell in peace and safety. But I notice a difficulty in our own midst, and that is that we yield, to a great extent, to the tendencies of the age, to the influences which surround us on every hand. We must refrain from this, we must set our faces like flint against every species of corruption, against every kind of wrong, in whatever form it may approach us. We must seek with all the energy that we have, to build up in truth and righteousness that which God has committed unto us, and establish impregnably the system of reformation with which we are entrusted. There can be no better way for us to commence than by listening to the counsels that have been given unto us in the past, and which have been the means of producing the peace, happiness and prosperity which we witness among us.

There are tendencies to be witnessed in this city, and among our own people here, that we have to guard against. We well know that, of late, there has been an increase of wealth, and of the means of acquiring luxuries and comforts. God has bestowed these upon us, and the question now is with us, Will we use these, means aright, with an eye single to his glory? Will we, with our increased prosperity, devote ourselves in the future, as we have in the past, to the building up of the kingdom of God, as our paramount duty? Not for our own aggrandizement, but for the benefit of our fellow men in every land, as well as for the benefit of those who reside in this Territory. If we do this, God will bless us. But you know what the fate of all people has been who have been similarly situated to us in the beginning. In their early days they were pure, they were not extravagant, they were simple in their tastes, habits and dress. They did not allow their minds to go out after earthly things, or to be placed upon them. But means and wealth will always increase among frugal, economical, virtuous and industrious people, for it is one of the natural consequences which follow industry and well-directed labor, and we are no exceptions to this rule. We live in a land that has been barren and sterile above all lands on this continent, and by well-directed energy and industry, by perseverance, temperance and frugality, we have been blessed, and now the fruits of our long-continued abstemiousness and industry are beginning to flow in upon us, and we are becoming wealthy. Our lands are becoming valuable, our surroundings are becoming, if not luxurious, at least comfortable, wealth is pouring into our laps, and the prospect is that ere long we will be as wealthy a community, probably, as can be found between the two oceans. This seems to be the natural tendency of events at the present time.

Now the question arises—and I deem it an important one for this Conference—it has rested on my mind, as I doubt not it has on the minds of the brethren—will we as a people devote the means that God is giving unto us, for the preservation and continuation of that system that he has revealed unto us? Or will we scatter it abroad, destroy ourselves, and spoil the future which God has in store for us? We must be a different people from every other that has preceded us, if we fulfill the predictions of the holy Priesthood, for God has said, through the mouth of his prophet Daniel, thousands of years ago, that this kingdom should not be given into the hands of another people, but it should stand forever. It should not share the fate of previous attempts of the same character, and be overthrown in consequence of the weakness of the people, and the abandonment by them of the principles of truth and righteousness. There is nothing plainer to my mind than this, that if the Latter-day Saints become luxurious and extravagant; if they love the world and forsake their former purity; if they forsake their frugality and temperance, and the principles which God has revealed unto them, and by the practice of which they are today the people that they are; we shall be overthrown as others have been overthrown. But I do not look for any such result, for I believe firmly in the prediction of Daniel, that this work, when established, shall not be given into the hands of another people, but it shall stand forever, and there will be means and agencies used and brought to bear on the minds of the people, to prevent such a catastrophe as that to which I have alluded—to prevent the downfall of the system and the overthrow of those connected with it, and to prevent the victory of that which is evil over that which is good, holy and pure.

These means have been indicated in revelations which have been given unto us. We are not living as we should live. As a people we follow the systems of our fathers in regard to the management of wealth. We follow in the footsteps of those who have preceded us. We are innovators so far as religious thought and doctrines are concerned, and we have been bold innovators. We have not hesitated to adopt great reforms, and to proclaim them, and we have sought, with all the energies God has bestowed upon us, to make them facts in the earth. We have proclaimed this doctrine of gathering, and the people have been gathered together. This is a great innovation, it is a bold step, and it has resulted in success thus far. It is not now a novelty, or a new and untried experiment, for the gathering of the people together has been going on for forty years and upwards. But it was a great innovation when introduced. It is so with other doctrines which the Elders of this Church have taught. God inspired their hearts, and they, regardless of all consequences, fearlessly proclaimed the truth which he imparted unto them. We have made a great revolution in our domestic relations, and in our social system. We have taken a bold stand, and have been fearless of the consequences, because God, as we testify, has revealed unto us a principle that should be practiced, and which we should carry out, and be the pioneers in inaugurating for the redemption of men and women, and that should check, and, in fact, effectually cure, the evils under which Christendom has groaned for centuries. The Elders of this Church did this, and have risked all the consequences, from the time the system was inaugurated until the present time. The results of this we can all see, in the purity and chastity of our community; for strange as it may seem, in no other land are the chastity and virtue of women so highly respected as in Utah. Throughout the length and breadth of this Territory public sentiment is utterly opposed to anything that would violate that chastity and virtue.

In these directions, then, we have been bold and fearless innovators. But so far as financial matters are concerned, so far as the accumulation and management of wealth are concerned, we have not followed in the path which God has marked out. Yet the time must come, and we may as well prepare our minds for it, when we shall have to take a great step in this direction, and when we shall have to follow the path indicated by God in order to escape the evils that are inevitable, and that will otherwise most assuredly come upon, and overwhelm us.

I have told you that others who have preceded us have fallen a prey to evils. The increase of wealth in every nation has been attended with fatal consequences. We have but to read the history of our race from the beginning until the present time to rest assured of that. Men have said, probably, to all of you who have been out and mingled with the world, “It is very well for you Latter-day Saints to talk about your condition now, because you are a primitive people, you are a young community, you have not been tempted and tried. Wait till you increase in wealth, and until you become familiar with the sins which surround the wealthy. Wait until you are brought in contact with luxury; wait until the spirit of reform which animated your pioneers dies out, and a generation rises up who will think more of the world, then there will be a different feeling and spirit, and you will not be persecuted, hated or despised. You will become more popular, because the world will become familiarized with your ideas. Then ‘Mormonism’ and the Latter-day Saints will become like every other people that have preceded them—overcome by the luxuries of the world, and by the love of riches.” Have you not heard remarks of this kind time and time again? Doubtless they have been made to you or in your hearing.

Now, how shall we avert these evils? It is very well to say that God has established this kingdom; it is very well to say that this is his Church. Did he never have a Church or kingdom on the earth before? Did he never have a people on the earth before? Why, most certainly he did. He had churches before this; he had people before he chose the Latter-day Saints. He had communities that he owned and recognized before we were organized. Yet they went the way of all the earth, and the Church of God disappeared from the midst of the inhabitants of the earth. Luxury, corruption, vice, extravagance, the love of wealth and the allurements of sin prevailed in all the earth, and the devil—his satanic majesty—held high carnival throughout the earth because of the influence and power of these things over the hearts of the children of men. It is true that God established his work before; we know it to be true; and because he has established it in our day, we need not think that he is going to preserve it without using means to do so. He has revealed, and will continue to reveal, law, and that law must be obeyed by us, or we cannot be preserved. The time must come when we must obey that which has been revealed to us as the Order of Enoch, when there shall be no rich and no poor among the Latter-day Saints; when wealth will not be a temptation; when every man will love his neighbor as he does himself; when every man and woman will labor for the good of all as much as for self. That day must come, and we may as well prepare our hearts for it, brethren, for as wealth increases I see more and more a necessity for the institution of such an order. As wealth increases, luxury and extravagance have more power over us. The necessity for such an order is very great, and God, undoubtedly, in his own time and way, will inspire his servant to introduce it among the people. I do not wish to foreshadow when it will be done, or what the circumstances will be that will call it forth, for this is not my province; but I feel led to talk upon it, and to prepare my own heart, and to seek, with all the faith and influence I have, to prepare the hearts of my brethren and sisters for the introduction of this order. It will doubtless be a time of trial, and will be attended with many things that will test our feelings; but when we view the great results that will follow its introduction and its perfect establishment upon the earth, we should be filled with thanksgiving and praise that God has devised a scheme of this kind. You can see already the effects of the partial introduction of something akin to it in cooperation. We have had that established in our midst, and what are its effects? We witness a gradual diffusion of means throughout the community, greatly benefiting all its members. One of the effects of this which we witness is that wealth does not increase so rapidly in the hands of the few, and that the poor are not kept in poverty so much.

Before cooperation started, you doubtless saw and deplored the increase of wealth in some few hands. There was rapidly growing in our midst a class of monetary men composing an aristocracy of wealth. Our community was menaced by serious dangers through this, because if a community is separated into two classes, one poor and the other rich, their interests are diverse. Poverty and wealth do not work together well—one lords it over the other; one becomes the prey of the other. This is apt to be the case in all societies, in ours as well as others; probably not to so great an extent, but still it was sufficiently serious to menace us as a people with danger. God inspired his servant to counsel the people to enter into cooperation, and it has now been practiced for some years in our midst with the best results. Those who have put in a little means have had that more than doubled since Z. C. M. I. started—three years last March. And so it is with cooperative herds, cooperative factories, and cooperative institutions of all kinds which have been established in our midst, and all the people can partake of the benefits of this system. You can see the effect of cooperation on the people. But this is only a limited system, it does not extend as far as needed, although it required faith to enter into this; yet it will require more to enter upon the other of which I have spoken.

While upon cooperation, let me here say that we can witness the good effects of this to the Church, and we shall feel them in days to come. President Young, the other day, paid into the cooperative establishment—Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution—a hundred thousand dollars tithing—the tithing of his own personal means—and it is now where it will yield profits for the benefit of the whole Church. Now, if this amount had been used to pay the hands on the public works and those laboring for the Church, how long do you think it would have lasted? It would very soon have been used up. But I have admired the wisdom, and have felt thankful that there was a sum placed where it could be used for the benefit of the work, and at the same time yield a handsome return for the investment. I do not think it will take more than three years, if the Cooperative Institution prospers as well in the future as in the past, for this sum to double itself in the shape of dividends. I refer to this in passing, because it is a testimony today, after three and a half years have elapsed, to the wisdom that prompted the establishment of this institution; but notwithstanding this you are aware that many cried out against it, and denounced it as very unwise, and likely to end disastrously, and several apostatized through its inauguration because they wanted all the profits themselves, and were unwilling the people should have any. But we have the facts before us. The people who entered into it have been blessed exceedingly, and they will continue to be so if they persevere.

But I have said that this is only a stepping stone to something beyond that is more perfect, and that will result in the diffusion of the blessings of God to a greater extent among us. In other lands you see the people divided into classes. You see beggars in the street, and men and women who are short of food, dwelling in hovels and in the poorest of tenements. At the same time, others revel in luxury, they have everything they need, and more than they need to satisfy all their wants. Every philanthropist who contemplates this, does so with sadness, and measure after measure has been devised to remedy this state of things. Our community is not a prey to these evils. Beggary and want are unknown in this Territory; at the same time we have no very rich men among us. Like other new communities we are more on an equality than we would be if we were older, and if we were to become an old community under the system which prevailed before cooperation was established, then it is very probable that some of the class distinctions to be seen in other communities would be seen in ours. It is to avoid this that God has revealed that which I have alluded to, and his design is to bring to pass a better condition of affairs, by making men equal in earthly things. He has given this earth to all his children; and he has given to us air, light, water and soil; he has given to us the animals that are upon the earth, and all the elements by which it is surrounded. They are not given to one or to some, to the exclusion of others; not to one class, or to one nation to the exclusion of other classes or other nations. But he has given them to his children in all nations alike. Man, however, abuses the agency that God has given him, and he transgresses his laws by oppressing his fellow men. There is selfishness in the rich, and there is covetousness in the poor. There is a clashing of interests, and there is not that feeling among men which we are told the Gospel should bring—a feeling to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. This does not exist on the earth now, it is reserved for God to restore it. We pray that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, and when it shall, then the order which exists in heaven will be practiced and enjoyed by men on the earth. I do not expect when we get to heaven, that we shall see some riding in their chariots, enjoying every luxury, and crowned with crowns of glory, while the rest are in poverty.

I have spoken longer than I intended, but there are some few thoughts on my mind to which I will allude in this connection before I sit down, and that is, brethren and sisters, that we should, to the extent of our ability, foster these institutions that have been established among us. We should do all that we can to sustain ourselves—sustain our own factories, do all in our power to maintain these things that we have established, and seek with all our energy to foster them. We have factories here that can make as good cloth as any of their size, probably, in the nation. They ought to be sustained by us. Brother Erastus Snow related an incident a day or two ago in relation to their operations at St. George. They received quite a quantity of cloth from the factory of President Young. He told the storekeeper at St. George not to say anything about where it was manufactured. At the same time they received a consignment of eastern manufactured goods. They were put side by side on the shelves of the store and sold to the people. There were very few—some two or three persons—who knew that any of these goods were manufactured in the Territory. They sold very readily to the people, who said they were the best goods they had bought. They wore them, and they wore well. Several lots were received from the President’s factory, and sold in the same way, the people remaining in ignorance a good while as to the place of their manufacture, and imagining that they were brought from the east. There is an idea prevailing among many of us that something manufactured abroad is better than that manufactured at home. President George A. Smith, Elder Woodruff and myself, on our recent visit to California, examined the Oregon and California goods. We went through a woollen factory there, where very excellent goods were made. We saw some blankets and some other things which were manufactured there, which cannot be surpassed. I recollected that I had heard parties here, who had purchased Oregon cloth, praise it very highly; but in examining that class of goods in California, I found that the cloth manufactured in this Territory compared very favorably with it, and had they been put side by side, bolt by bolt, it would have been very difficult to tell which was Utah and which was Oregon manufacture. Indeed if there was any preference I was inclined to give it to our own cloth.

We have factories that can make straw hats, straw bonnets and every thing of this kind. We have good tanners’ and shoe shops, and harness shops. We have a great many manufactories in our Territory that should be fostered by us as a people. We should guard against luxury and extravagance, and use that which is manufactured at home.

That God may bless us, that he may pour out his Holy Spirit upon this Conference; upon those who speak and those who hear, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.