Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, July 18, 1875.

I will read a few verses in the 29th chapter of Isaiah, commencing at the 18th verse. [The speaker read from the 18th verse to the end of the chapter.]

That which I wish to call to your mind, more particularly, on the present occasion, will be found in the first verse that I read—“In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book.”

The Latter-day Saints are a peculiar people among the inhabitants of the earth of the present age, peculiar in many things, peculiar in many religious notions and views. We profess to believe in this book, the Jewish record, called the Bible. We are not peculiar so far as this item of our faith is concerned; but in addition to the Bible, we believe in another book, called the Book of Mormon, which we believe to be equally sacred with the Bible. Some may, perhaps, call the Book of Mormon a bible, and in one sense of the word it may be called that, for it is a collection of sacred books, the same as the Jewish record is. The difference between the two records is merely in the history, and in some of the prophetic writings. The Bible professes to be a history of the people who lived on the eastern continent, while the Book of Mormon professes to be a history of the people who lived in ancient America. We have denominated the Jewish record the Bible, because it is a collection of books said to have been written by inspired men. I do not see any reason why we should not also, as Latter-day Saints, call the Book of Mormon a bible, it being a collection of books written by Prophets and Revelators. Perhaps, however, the world, or those who are strangers to the evidences concerning these two books, may object, and say that we have no right to call the Book of Mormon a bible, unless we can bring such evidence to substantiate its divinity as we can concerning the Jewish record. But supposing that we are in possession of similar evidences concerning this book in relation to ancient America, as you are in regard to the Bible, the history of the people of Palestine; supposing that we can bring forth as many evidences and substantial testimonies to prove the divinity of the Book of Mormon, as you can to prove the divinity of the Jewish record, then why should we not include it among the sacred books, and denominate it a bible, as well as call the Jewish record such? I will, this afternoon, by the assistance of the Spirit of God, endeavor to lay before you, Latter-day Saints, and strangers who may be present, some of the evidences that we have concerning the divinity of this book which we esteem so highly—the Book of Mormon.

In the first place, I will give you a very brief statement concerning the manner in which the Book of Mormon was found. In the year 1827, a young man, a farmer’s boy, by the name of Joseph Smith, was visited by an holy angel, as he had been for several years prior to this time. But on this occasion, in the fall of 1827, he was permitted to take into his possession the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated—the angel gave them into his hands, permitted him to take them from the place of their deposit, which was discovered to Mr. Smith by the angel of God. With this book, called the Book of Mormon, was a very curious instrument, such a one, probably, as no person had seen for many generations; it was called by the angel of God, the Urim and Thummim. We know that such an instrument existed in ancient times among the Jews, and among the Israelites in the wilderness, and that it was used to inquire of the Lord, and so sacred was that instrument in the days of Moses, that Aaron, the chief priest of the whole house of Israel, was commanded to place it within his breastplate, that when he should judge the tribes of the house of Israel, he should not judge by his own wisdom, but should inquire of the Lord by means of this instrument, and whatever decision the Lord, by aid of the Urim and Thummim, should give, all Israel should give heed to it. The same instrument was in use, many hundred years after the days of Aaron, by the Prophets of Israel. David inquired by means of an instrument of that kind, concerning his enemies, who pursued him from city to city, asking the Lord certain questions—whether his enemies would come to the city where he happened to be, and whether he would be delivered up to them by the people of that city; and the Lord gave him all necessary instruction, and by this means he was delivered out of the hands of his enemies from time to time.

But it seems that, before the coming of Christ, for some reason, probably through wickedness, the Urim and Thummim were taken away from the children of Israel, and a prophecy was uttered by one of the ancient Prophets, before Christ, that they should be many days without a Priest, without the Urim and Thummim, without the ephod, and without many things that God blessed them with in the days of their righteousness; but that in the latter days God would again restore all his blessings to the people of Israel, including their counselors and their judges as at the first.

With these plates that Joseph Smith, the Prophet, obtained through the instructions of the angel, he also obtained the Urim and Thummim, and by their aid he copied a few characters from the plates, and translated them. He was not a learned man himself, but an ignorant farmer’s boy, scarcely having the first rudiments of education. He could read and write a little, and that was about the amount of his educational acquirements. After having copied a few of the characters from these plates and translated them, he committed them into the hands of Martin Harris, a man with whom he was acquainted, who lived not far from his neighborhood; and Martin Harris took these few characters and their translation to the City of New York, to show them to the learned, and if possible to get some information in regard to their meaning. This was in the year 1827. Martin Harris was then a middle-aged man, being about forty-six years of age. On arriving in New York City, he visited the learned Dr. Mitchell, professor of languages, and obtained some information from him in relation to the manuscript which he held, and was recommended by Dr. Mitchell to see Mr. Anthon, professor of ancient and modern languages, probably one of the most learned men in ancient languages that ever lived in our nation. Mr. Harris went to see Mr. Anthon, and showed him the characters. The professor examined them and the translation, and, according to the testimony of Martin Harris, given from this stand, he gave him a certificate that, so far as he could understand the characters, the translation seemed to be correct; but he wished further time, and desired that the original plates should be brought to him. Mr. Harris then informed him how Mr. Smith came in possession of the plates—that he did not find them accidentally, but that an angel of God revealed to him the place of their deposit. This was after Martin Harris had obtained the certificate from Professor Anthon, and just before Mr. Harris took his leave of the learned gentleman; the latter having ascertained how Mr. Smith came in possession of the plates; that part of them were sealed, and that the Lord had given a strict command that they should not be shown to the public, but only to certain witnesses; I say that, the professor, having learned this, wished to see the certificate again; Mr. Harris returned it to him, and he tore it up, saying that there was no such thing as angels, or communications from the Lord in our day, and upon Mr. Harris telling him that a portion of the plates were sealed, he very sarcastically remarked, that he could not read a sealed book.

Mr. Harris left him, and returned, some two hundred and fifty miles or more, to the neighborhood where the plates were found, and informed Mr. Smith of his success with the learned, after which the Lord gave a special command to Joseph, unlearned as he was, that he should translate the record by the aid of the Urim and Thummim. Mr. Smith commenced the work of translation. Mr. Harris, acting as his scribe, wrote from his mouth one hundred and sixteen pages of the first translation, given by the Prophet.

The work was continued from time to time, until finally the unsealed portion of the Book of Mormon was all translated. In the meantime Martin Harris, Joseph Smith, the translator of the book, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, four persons, retired to a little grove in the year 1829, not far from the house of old father Whitmer, where this Church was organized. They retired to this grove for the special purpose of calling on the name of the Lord, and they all knelt down and commenced praying, one by one, and while thus engaged they saw an angel of God descend from the heavens, very bright and glorious in his appearance; and he came and stood in their midst, and he took the plates and turned over leaf after leaf of the unsealed portion, and showed to these four men the engravings upon them; and at the same time they heard a voice out of heaven saying unto them, that the plates had been translated correctly, and commanding them to bear testimony of the same to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people to whom the translation should be sent. In accordance with this command, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris have attached their testimony after the title page of the Book of Mormon, testifying to the appearance of the angel, signing their names and testifying to the correctness of the translation; testifying to having seen the plates and the engravings upon them, and to the voice of the Lord, which they heard out of the heavens.

Now let me say a few words concerning the nature of this testimony. This testimony was given prior to the publication of the book, and also previous to the organization of the Latter-day Saint Church. The book was printed early in 1830, with their testimony. Thus you perceive that this work, this marvelous work, was not presented to the inhabitants of the earth for their belief, until God had favored them with four persons who could bear witness to what their eyes had seen, what their ears had heard, and what their hands had handled, consequently there was no possibility, so far as these four men were concerned, that they themselves could be deceived. It would be impossible for four men to be together, and all of them to be deceived in seeing an angel descend from heaven, and in regard to the brightness of his countenance and the glory of his person, hearing his voice, and seeing him lay his hands upon one of them, namely David Whitmer, and speaking these words—“Blessed be the Lord and they who keep his commandments.” After seeing the plates, the engravings upon them, and the angel, and hearing the voice of the Lord out of heaven, every person will say that there was no possibility of either of these men being deceived in relation to this matter; in other words, if it were to be maintained that in their case it was a hallucination of the brain, and that they were deceived, then, with the same propriety might it be asserted that all other men, in every age, who profess to have seen angels, were also deceived; and this might be applied to the Prophets, Patriarchs, Apostles, and others who lived in ancient times, who declared they saw angels, as well as to Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer. But says the objector—“No, those who testify that they saw angels anciently were not deceived, but they who come testifying about such ministrations in the latter days may be deceived.” Now let me ask, is there anything logical in such reasoning as this? If these, in the latter days, who testify to having seen angels, were deceived, all who testify to the same things in former days might have been deceived on the same grounds. And then, if these men, whose testimonies are attached to the Book of Mormon, were not deceived, it must be admitted that they were impostors of the most barefaced character, or else that the Book of Mormon is a divine record sent from heaven; one or the other must be admitted, there is no halfway in the matter. If they were not deceived—which they could not possibly have been according to the very nature of their testimony—then there are only two alternatives—they were impostors, or else the Book of Mormon is a divine revelation from heaven.

Now let us inquire what grounds there are to suppose that they were impostors? Forty-six years have passed away since this angel appeared and showed the plates to these individuals. Has anything transpired during this time that would give us any grounds to suppose that they were impostors? For instance, has either of these witnesses, or the translator of the engravings on the plates, ever, under any circumstances, denied his testimony? No. We have some accounts in the Bible of men of God, some of the greatest men that lived in ancient times, denying the things of God. We read of Peter cursing, and swearing that he never knew Jesus, and yet he was one of the foremost of the Apostles. His testimony was true so far as seeing and being acquainted with Jesus was concerned, and in regard to the divinity of Jesus. Why? Because God had revealed it to him and yet he denied it. “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjonah,” said Jesus, speaking to Peter, “for flesh and blood have not revealed this unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven.” Peter knew, just as well as he knew that he had a being, that Jesus was the son of God, it had been revealed to him from the heavens and though he afterwards, through fear, in the presence of the high priest, cursed and swore and denied it, yet the former testimony that he had given was true.

Now did either of these three men or did the translator of the Book of Mormon, ever deny the truth, as Peter did? Did they ever in any way deny the divinity of the Book of Mormon? Never, no never. Whatever the circumstances they were placed in, however much they were mobbed and ridiculed, however much they suffered by the persecution of their enemies, their testimony all the time was—“We saw the angel of God, we beheld him in his glory, we saw the plates in his hands, and the engravings thereon, and we know that the Book of Mormon is true.” Joseph Smith continued to bear this testimony until the day of his death; he sealed his testimony as a martyr in this Church, being shot down by his enemies, who were blackened up and disguised, in order that they might not be known. Oliver Cowdery did not live his faith as he should have done, and he was excommunicated from this Church during Joseph’s lifetime. Did he still continue to hold fast to his testimony? He did. Never was he known to swerve from it in the least degree; and after being out of the Church several years, he returned to Council Bluffs, where there was a Branch of the Church, and at a conference he acknowledged his sins, and humbly asked the Church to forgive him, bearing his testimony to the sacred things recorded in the Book of Mormon—that he saw the angel and the plates, just according to the testimony to which he had appended his name. He was rebaptized a member of the Church, and soon after departed this life.

Martin Harris did not follow up this people in the State of Missouri, neither did he follow us up to the State of Illinois; but we often heard of him, and whenever we did so we heard of him telling, in public and in private of the great vision that God had shown to him concerning the divinity of the Book of Mormon. A few years ago he came to this Territory, an old man, between eighty and ninety years of age, and spoke from this stand, in the hearing of the people. He then located himself in Cache County, in the northern part of the Territory, where he continued to live until last Saturday, when he departed this life in his ninety-third year—a good old age. Did he continue to bear testimony all that length of time—over forty-six years of his life? Did he, at any time during that long period, waver in the least degree from his testimony? Not at all. He had a great many follies and imperfections, like all other people, like the ancient Apostles, like Elijah the Prophet, but after all, he continued to testify to the very last concerning the truth of this work. Nothing seemed to delight him so much as to tell about the angel and the plates that he had seen. It was only a short time prior to his death that one of our Bishops went in to see the old man; his pulse was apparently sluggish in its movements, and nearly gone, but the sight of the Bishop seemed to revive him, and he said to him—“I am going.” The Bishop related to him some things which he thought would be interesting, among them that the Book of Mormon was translated into the Spanish language, for the benefit of a great many of the descendants of Israel in this country, who understand the Spanish language, in Mexico and Central America. This intelligence seemed to revive the old man, and he began to talk about the Book of Mormon; new strength, apparently, was imparted to him, and he continued his conversation for some two hours, and in his last testimony he bore record concerning the divinity of the work, and was rejoiced to think that it was going forth in another language, that those who understood that language might be made acquainted with the wonderful works of God.

I will here state that Martin Harris; when he came to this Territory a few years ago, was rebaptized, the same as every member of the Church from distant parts is on arriving here. That seems to be a kind of standing ordinance for all Latter-day Saints who emigrate here, from the First Presidency down; all are rebaptized and set out anew by renewing their covenants. There are thousands of Latter-day Saints who have gone forth into the baptismal font, and been baptized for their dead kindred and friends. Martin Harris requested this privilege, and he was baptized here in Salt Lake City for many of his kindred who are dead. I mention these things in order that the Saints may understand something concerning this man who has just left us, almost a hundred years old. God favored him, highly favored him. He was among the favored few who went up from the State of Ohio in the summer of 1831, and journeyed nearly a thousand miles to the western part of Missouri, to Jackson County. The Prophet went at the same time, and that was designated as the land where the Saints should eventually be gathered, and where a great city should be eventually reared, called the city of Zion, or the New Jerusalem, and that the Saints should be located throughout all that region of country. God gave many commandments in those days concerning what might be termed the United Order; in other words, concerning the consecration of the properties of the Church. These things were given by revelation through the Prophet. Martin Harris was the first man that the Lord called by name to consecrate his money, and lay the same at the feet of the Bishop in Jackson County, Mo., according to the order of consecration. He willingly did it; he knew the work to be true; he knew that the word of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph was just as sacred as any word that ever came from the mouth of any Prophet from the foundation of the world. He consecrated his money and his substance, according to the word of the Lord. What for? As the revelation states, as an example to the rest of the Church.

As I have already mentioned, one more witness remains who saw that angel and the plates. Who is it? David Whitmer, a younger man than Martin Harris, probably some seventy years of age, I do not recollect his age exactly. Where does he live? In the western part of Missouri. Does he still hold fast to his testimony? He does. Many of the Elders of this Church, in going to and fro among the nations, have called upon him from time to time, and they all bear the same testimony—that Mr. David Whitmer still, in the most solemn manner, declares that he saw the angel and that he saw the plates in his hands. But he is not here with us; he has not gathered up with the people of God. That, however, does not prove that his testimony is not true, by no means.

Now then, let me bring forth some predictions or prophecies concerning these three witnesses. In the forepart of the Book of Mormon, we have a prediction that there should be three witnesses; it was uttered nearly six hundred years before Christ by a man, a Prophet of God, who came out of Jerusalem and came to this American continent; and in speaking of the last days, when this record should come forth to the human family, he foretells that there should be witnesses who should know of a surety concerning its truth. I will read what he says, “And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words of a book, and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered. And behold the book shall be sealed; and in the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof. Wherefore, because of the things which are sealed up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore the book shall be kept from them. But the book shall be delivered unto a man, and he shall deliver the words of the book, which are the words of those who have slumbered in the dust, and he shall deliver these words unto another.”

Now this man spoken of was the translator, Joseph Smith; and the delivering the words to another had reference to what I have already related—the delivery of a few of the words of the book to Martin Harris. “He shall deliver the words unto another; But the words which are sealed he shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book. For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof. And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall he read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men, which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth. Wherefore, at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the man of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from the eyes of the world, that the eyes of none shall behold it save it be that three witnesses shall behold it, by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein. And there is none other which shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of God, to bear testimony of his word unto the children of men; for the Lord God hath said that the words of the faithful should speak as if it were from the dead. Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to bring forth the words of the book; and in the mouth of as many witnesses as seemeth him good will he establish his word; and wo be unto him that rejecteth the word of God!”

This was translated from the plates, and written in manuscript, before Martin Harris, David Whitmer, or Oliver Cowdery ever saw this angel, but there was a promise; it was on record; it was in the manuscript that three witnesses should behold it by the power of God. That prophecy, as I said before, was delivered nearly six hundred years before Christ. There was another prophecy delivered nearly a thousand years afterwards, which I will also read—“And now I, Moroni, have written the words which were commanded me, according to my memory; and I have told you the things which I have sealed up; therefore touch them not”—speaking to the translator that should find his records—“therefore touch them not in order that you may translate; for that thing is forbidden you, except by and by it shall be wisdom in God. And behold, ye may be privileged that ye may show the plates unto those who shall assist to bring forth this work; And unto three shall they be shown by the power of God; where– fore they shall know of a surety that these things are true. And in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established; and the testimony of three, and this work, in the which shall be shown forth the power of God and also his word, of which the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost beareth record—and all this shall stand as a testimony against the world at the last day. And if it so be that they repent and come unto the Father in the name of Jesus, they shall be received into the kingdom of God. And now, if I have no authority for these things, judge ye; for ye shall know that I have authority when ye shall see me and we shall stand before God at the last day.”

Here then were two prophecies delivered about a thousand years apart, translated before the three witnesses saw the angel. It was in consequence of these prophecies that these men went out to the grove to pray. You may ask me why they went there to pray? Because they had read these things, and they saw that there were to be three witnesses that should know by the power of God, being revealed to them from the heavens, concerning these matters, and they felt anxious that God might show them these things, that they might be the favored three.

Were there any others who saw these plates? Yes. How many? Eight; all of whom are now dead except one, John Whitmer, who is still living. They saw and handled the plates, and saw the engravings upon them, and they testify of the same to all people to whom the work should be sent. How many does this make? Three witnesses, eight witnesses and the translator, twelve in all, twelve who saw and bare record of the original. Now I ask everyone in this house, Saints and strangers, have you as many witnesses that have seen the original of any one book of the Bible, the Old and New Testaments? Have you one witness even that has seen the original from which any one of those books was transcribed? No, not one. You have the transcription of scribes from generation to generation; you have the translations from these manuscripts handed down from generation to generation, and transcribed one copy after another, until they have passed through, perhaps, thousands of copies, before the art of printing was known. But you believe the Bible, do you not? Replies one—“Oh yes, we believe that, but as to the Book of Mormon we doubt very much about that.”

Well, now, let me ask, is there anything inconsistent in a people receiving the testimony of twelve witnesses who saw and handled the original of the Book of Mormon, when they, at the same time, believe in the Bible, the original of which was never seen or handled by any man of this generation? In other words, which of the two is most consistent to believe in? The Latter-day Saints believe in both, because we know the Bible is true, for the Book of Mormon testifies of it, and we have obtained a testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon; and hence, as that book speaks of the Bible, we know that the Bible is true. When the people, mentioned in the Book of Mormon left Jerusalem, and came to the land of America, they brought the books of the Old Testament with them from the history of the creation to the prophecies of Jeremiah, and in their writings made on this land, they speak of the divinity and truthfulness of the Old Testament scriptures. Hence we, as Latter-day Saints, know one book to be true just as well as we do the other. But with the world it is different, for as they never had this testimony, the truth of the Bible rests to them entirely upon secondhand testimony. But we will pass on to other testimonies.

I will now refer you again to the 29th chapter of Isaiah, from which I read concerning a book, the words of which were to be heard by the deaf—“In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book.” What book do you mean, Isaiah? He means the one that he had just been speaking of in the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th verses—“And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot: for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precepts of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.”

Here we perceive the nature of the book that he mentions in the 18th verse, and we learn something about the way that it was to be brought forth; that the words of the book, not the plates themselves, not the original, but the transcript, a copy of the words, the words of the book would be delivered to the learned, requesting them to read it.

Martin Harris, who has now gone from our midst, was the honored instrument in the hands of God in fulfilling this prophecy, as I have already related, giving you the names of the learned to whom he presented these words. I have also related to you the conversation in the interview which Mr. Harris had with Professor Anthon; when he learned that an angel had appeared, and that part of the book was sealed, in a kind of sarcastic way the Professor remarked—“I cannot translate a book that is sealed.”

Now notice the next sentence—“And the book is delivered to him that is not learned.” Not the words of the book, not a few sentences, but the book itself is delivered to him that is not learned, saying—“Read this I pray thee.” And what did he say? “I am not learned.” He felt his weakness. That was the exclamation of Joseph, when he was commanded to translate the engravings on the plates. He looked upon himself as too weak to engage in a work of this description, and the Lord answered him in the very words made use of by Isaiah. When Joseph said—“I am not learned,” the Lord said—“Forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men, therefore behold I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” And Joseph fulfilled the commandment of the Lord, and Martin Harris wrote the first 116 pages of manuscript; and Oliver Cowdery and others also wrote from the mouth of Joseph, while he was engaged in translating. Was not this a marvel– ous work? What could be more marvelous? A young man, a ploughboy, a boy that had scarcely any education, only as he obtained it in a country school; a man who had never studied theology, probably had never read the Bible through in his life. A young man of this description to be called upon to translate a language that was spoken by the ancient inhabitants of this country! A marvelous work indeed, and a wonder and an astonishment to the people. Isaiah says the people would wonder about it. He says—“Stay yourselves and wonder, cry ye out and cry, they are drunken but not with wine; they stagger but not with strong drink. For the Lord hath poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the Prophets and your rulers and the seers hath he covered.” That is the condition of the people; or as is expressed by Isaiah in another place, “Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people.” The Prophets are covered; the seers are covered, the revelations of God that were given in ancient days are covered to them. They are taught, not by inspired men, not by communications and revelations from heaven, but by the precepts of men, is the fear of the Lord taught to them.

“In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.” A great many people, perhaps, would want this spiritualized; but, whether it is spiritualized or not, I can bear testimony to one thing which I have seen with my own eyes, and that is that those who were deaf, so deaf that they could not hear the loudest sound, have been instantaneously restored by the administrations of the Elders of this Church, and thus the deaf, the literally deaf, have been enabled to hear the words of the book.

The eyes of the blind, not those alone who are spiritually blind, but of those who are blind physically, should see out of obscurity and out of darkness, when that book was revealed. Now I know that this, too, has been the case, and many in this congregation know it and have seen it; some have seen those who were born blind restored to their sight by the power of God since this book came forth. Thus have been fulfilled, literally, the words of our text.

“The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord.” There have been a great many meek persons among all Christian denominations, we do not dispute this; good, honest, upright persons, meek, humble, prayerful souls; but they wandered in darkness; they hardly knew which way to turn. One was crying, “Lo here,” and another, “Lo there;” another, “This is the way, walk ye in it;” and another, having an opposite doctrine—“We are the true Church, come and join us.” Thus they have been distracted and their minds crazed, comparatively speaking; yet they were anxious beyond measure to know the will of God. This book, when it came forth, was to set them in the right track. “The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord.” In what way? “Because,” says the Prophet, in the 24th verse, “they who erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they who murmured shall learn doctrine.” However much you may have erred, because you have been taught by the precepts of men; however much you may have walked in darkness and blindness, with the Prophets, seers, and revelations of God covered, and no voice of inspiration in your midst; however much you may have groped in outer darkness, yet if you have been meek before the Lord, you will come to understanding when this book makes its appearance, and not till then.

But will this take place in the latter days? Does it not refer to some former age of the world? Read what is said in the 20th and 21st verses, and you can judge of the age of the world in which this book was to come forth. “The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” Not the rich particularly, unless they have a mind to; but the poor are to be gathered out from the nations to get homes for themselves. “For the terrible one is brought to nought, the scorner is consumed; and all that watch for iniquity are cut off, and they that make a man an offender for a word and that lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate.” All these are to be swept off. Has any such period ever arrived since Isaiah uttered this prophecy? No; but when a certain book should come forth it should bless the meek and lowly in heart, for their joy should increase in the Lord. And the poor among men be gathered out from the nations. Then, behold and lo, all that watch for iniquity shall be swept off from the face of the earth; there will be a clean sweep of them. As it was in the days of Noah so will it be in the days of the work preparatory for the second coming of the Son of man—every wicked person will be destroyed from the face of the earth, showing clearly that the revelations of this book refer to a latter-day work. Also in the fourth verse, in speaking of the people who should write this book, the Prophet says they shall be brought down, shall speak out of the ground, their plates, their books, their records, their writings, should come out of the ground—“Your speech shall be low, out of the dust,” the same as the Book of Mormon was taken out of the hill, anciently called Cumorah, in the State of New York.

Again, he says that the multitude of all the nations that fight against the people of God, shall become like the dream of a night vision, shall be as a hungry man who dreams, and behold he eats, but he awakes and his soul is faint; like a thirsty man that dreams, and behold he drinks, but he awakes and his soul hath appetite. So shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.

Now, we do not care how many persecutors there are; if they include all the nations, kingdoms, and governments of the earth, it matters not. The multitude of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion will become like the dream of a night vision—be swept away. That agrees with what I have already quoted—that all who watch for iniquity, all the scorners, and all who fight against the work of God, will be consumed from the face of the earth.

Now how is this book to affect the house of Israel? Is it for their benefit particularly? They have been a long time scattered, a long time abroad among the nations; are they to be affected by this book that is spoken of by Isaiah? Yes. Read the 22nd verse, which I have already once read before you—“Therefore, thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.” Why? Because this book comes forth to bring the house of Jacob from all the nations and kingdoms of the earth; and this will commence just as soon as the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled; not until then. We must be warned first; we Gentiles must hear the word first; and when we count ourselves unworthy of eternal life, and fight against the book, and against the Zion and people of God, behold the Lord will then remember the house of Jacob, and they will no longer be ashamed, as they have been for about seventeen centuries past; they will no longer wax pale, as they have done wherever they have been scattered, for the Lord says, in the 23rd verse, that Jacob, when he shall see his children, the work of his hands, in the midst of him, that is, gathered out from among the nations, they shall sanctify my name, and shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

Where will this work commence among the house of Israel? Among the remnant that we call the American Indians, who are the literal descendants of Israel. They seem to be more sunken and degraded than all the rest of Israel, but God will stretch forth his hand and will bring them to the knowledge of the truth. The descendants of Manasseh, and the descendants of Ephraim, are also mixed in with them, and they also will be brought to the knowledge of the truth, as the Lord has said by the mouth of Jeremiah, concerning the great latter-day work and the restitution of the house of Israel—“Ephraim is my firstborn.” In the great latter-day work, then, the Lord will search after the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, and will bring them also to the knowledge of the truth.

Do you wonder, then, that after forty-five years have passed away since the organization of this Church, and the voice of warning went forth to the Gentile nations, that God, in his mercy and power, should commence a work among this remnant of the house of Joseph, that wander as a multitude of nations upon the face of this continent? Recollect what Jacob said, concerning the seed of Joseph, in the 48th chapter of Genesis—they were to become a multitude of nations. They never were a multitude of nations in Palestine, neither in Asia, Europe, nor Africa, and if the prophecy is not fulfilled upon the great western continent, it will not be fulfilled at all. But it has been fulfilled on the continent of America; and we behold throughout the whole of its vast extent, from the frozen regions of the north, to Cape Horn in the south, a multitude of nations. Who are they? They are principally the remnants of one tribe, the remnants of the tribe of Joseph, and they are a multitude of nations in the midst of the earth. The Lord has commenced the gathering and restitution of the house of Israel among the very lowest specimens of humanity, and he will raise them up first, to carry on his great and marvelous work. The tens of thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh, will push the people together to the ends of the earth. Ephraim will not do the work alone, but he will be assisted by Manasseh. The Indians, the Lamanites, who will take hold in this great latter-day work, are the horns of Joseph, not to scatter the people, but to push them together. Where? To the ends of the earth, the 33rd of Deuteronomy says, and I have no doubt that when Moses saw this continent in vision, he called it “the ends of the earth.” There was to be a gathering there; they were to be pushed together; instead of being gathered from the nations of the earth back to Palestine, they were to be gathered in the latter days away in some distant country, that Moses designates by the term “ends of the earth.”

It is for this reason that God promised, by the mouth of Moses in the 33rd chapter of Deuteronomy, that he would give to Joseph a land more precious than the land of all the other tribes—a land of all climates, blessed with the precious things of the earth, and a fullness thereof; with the precious things brought forth by the sun, and the precious things brought forth by the moon, with the chief things of the ancient mountains, and the precious things of the everlasting hills. All these were to be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. “Blessed of the Lord be his land”—that was the promise that God gave to this one tribe, a land far superior to the inheritance of all the rest of the tribes. Jacob, who lived a long time before Moses, pronounced a similar blessing, as recorded in the 49th chapter of Genesis. When blessing his twelve sons, and telling them what should come to pass in the latter days, he says concerning Joseph—“He is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall.” That is, his branches should not stay in Jerusalem, or in Palestine, or in that land alone, but they should run over the wall to some distant country. Hence he says, in the same blessing, “The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the uttermost bounds of the everlasting hills, and they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.”

I suppose that Jacob saw this land as well as Moses, and he designates it a land afar off; the utmost bounds would signify a very distant land. He said this land was over and above, what his progenitors gave to him and he would give it to Joseph. No wonder that Moses said—“Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the deep that coucheth beneath.” For if Moses had a vision of it, he would look down through the earth and see that the great Pacific ocean rolled under his feet, that it couched beneath, and he would speak of it in that light, as it was revealed to him. No wonder that the Prophet Ezekiel, in speaking of the great latter-day work and the restitution of Israel, prophesied concerning the records of Joseph, that they should come forth, and be united with the record of Judah, to bring about that great work. The precious things of heaven were to be given to Joseph on this land. Blessed of the Lord be his land for the precious things of heaven, more precious than the fullness of earth, more precious than the productions of the various climates of the earth, more precious than the grain, and the gold and silver of the earth. The precious things of heaven revealed to the people of Joseph on the great land given to them unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills.

Said the Lord to Ezekiel—“Son of Man, take thou one stick and write upon it, for Judah, and for the house of Israel, his companions; then take another stick and write upon it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for the house of Israel, his companions, and join them one to another into one stick, and they shall be one in thine hand.” Then he said to Ezekiel—“When the people shall say unto thee, tell us what thou meanest, say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, behold I will take the stick of Joseph, written upon for Joseph, and I will put it with the stick of Judah, and they shall become one in mine hand. Just the same as the two sticks were one in Ezekiel’s hands, so the Lord would make these two books, of Judah and Joseph, one in his hand.” What to do, Lord? What are you going to do when these two records are joined in one? “Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone. I will gather them on every side, I will bring them into their own land, I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel. They shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.”

Has that ever been fulfilled? “Oh, no,” says one, “that has never yet come to pass;” and it never will until the Lord brings forth the writings of Joseph and joins them with the Jewish record. Then we may look out for the restitution of Israel; as soon as the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, we may look out for the day of the Lord’s power, when he will cause the very powers of heaven to shake for the benefit of his people. The powers of eternity will be moved to bring about the great work of the restitution of the house of Israel. Then the mountains shall tremble, and the little hills shall skip like lambs, as is prophesied by the Psalmist David. Then all things shall feel the power of God, and his arm will be made bare in the eyes of all the nations, until the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God, manifested in behalf of his covenant people Israel. It will be emphatically the day of the Lord’s power.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, on the Occasion of the Attendance of the New England and New York Editorial Excursion Party, Sunday Afternoon, July 11, 1875.

I will call the attention of the congregation to a portion of the word of God contained in the 19th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. [The speaker read the 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 verses.]

I have read these passages of Scripture in order to dwell, this afternoon, if the Lord will, and his Spirit shall so direct my mind, upon the subject of marriage, and to show wherein the people called Latter-day Saints differ in their views from other Christian denominations in relation to this great and divine ordinance, and to make such other remarks, not particularly connected with the subject, as the Spirit of the Lord may direct.

First, however, before taking up this divine ordinance, it may be well to state, in brief terms, some of the views of the Latter-day Saints in regard to the doctrine which they have embraced. I shall endeavor to be very brief on every point, in order to enumerate, as far as possible, the variety of doctrines and principles which we have embraced, that are peculiar to us as a people. I will commence by saying, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not grown out of the various religious societies that now exist, or that have existed, in Christendom; neither has it grown out of any of their institutions. Our Priesthood, our doctrine, our authority, the organization of our Church, and everything connected therewith, have been something revealed directly from the heavens. Perhaps you may inquire—“Have you not been guided more or less in relation to these principles by the book which is called the Bible?” I answer that, in the organization of the kingdom of God on the earth in the nineteenth century, we have been guided by direct revelation to us from heaven. We do not profess that our doctrines and principles are entirely distinct and something entirely different from those which are recorded in the Bible, we are far from making any such profession; but we believe that the same God who organized his kingdom in ancient times, and revealed his will to the inhabitants of the earth, has revealed, in these last days, principles in accordance with those revealed in former times, and that he is a consistent Being, and that he would not communicate a Gospel for the inhabitants of the earth to observe in the 19th century that was not revealed and understood in former ages. The same Gospel, therefore, which God has revealed anew in our day, when compared with the Gospel contained in the New Testament, is found to accord in every principle, and in all its ordinances and institutions, with ancient Christianity.

This Church was organized on the 6th day of April, 1830. The very day of the month on which it should be organized was pointed out by new revelation; the officers that were placed in the Church were appointed, and the names of many of them were given by new revelation. The duties of these officers were also appointed by direct revelation from heaven. God organized the Church with Apostles in it, the same as he organized his ancient Church; he organized it with Revelators and with Prophets, inspired from on high, the same as he organized the ancient Christian Church. He commanded the people to believe in his Son Jesus Christ, as the great Redeemer who died in the meridian of time for the sins of mankind. He commanded, by new revelation, that we should believe in the same Redeemer and in the same atonement; he commanded us to repent of all our sins, forsake all unrighteousness, cease to do evil and learn to do well, and to reform our lives in every respect, the same as he commanded the people in the ancient dispensation of the Gospel. By new revelation we were commanded to be baptized by immersion in water, for the remission of our sins, the same as he commanded the people in ancient times to attend to the same divine ordinance. By new revelation, he commanded his servants the Apostles, and those to whom he gave power and authority, to lay hands on all baptized believers, and to confirm upon them the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, the same as was practiced among the Saints in ancient times. By new revelation the Lord promised that certain signs should follow the believers among all nations, kindreds, tongues and people to whom this Gospel should be sent. All that would believe, men and women, were promised certain signs, among which I will name that they should cast out devils, speak with new tongues, and if they should take up serpents, or drink any deadly thing, it should not hurt them, they should lay their hands upon the sick and they should recover. The same promise was made by our Savior under the ancient dispensation of the Gospel. He commanded his servants, in these days, to go forth and preach to the Gentile nations first; and when we had faithfully borne our testimony to them, and they were sufficiently warned, then we were to turn to the scattered and dispersed remnants of Israel in the four quarters of the earth, and preach the Gospel to them. He commanded, by new revelation, that his servants should say unto the inhabitants of all the earth that would believe, repent, be baptized, and receive the Gospel of the Son of God, that they should leave their respective nations, and gather together in one place, which the Lord, by new revelation, should appoint.

All this was given by new revelation. Does it agree or disagree with the Scriptures contained in the Bible? Judge ye for yourselves. Did the ancient Christian Church have inspired Apostles, who had power to call upon God and receive new reve– lation from him? So does the modern Christian Church, which God has reorganized on the earth; claim to have the same officers, Apostles, not in name merely, but inspired from heaven, to receive new revelations, as the ancient Apostles were. Is there any disagreement, then, between the former pattern and the latter-day pattern? Did the ancient Christian Church have a multitude of inspired Prophets, men and women, who could prophesy concerning future events? So the latter-day Christian Church, organized by new revelation, has an abundance of Prophets and Prophetesses to whom the future has been opened, and they foretell future events; hence there is no disagreement between the ancient pattern and the latter-day pattern. Did the Apostles lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and did the Spirit of God descend from the heavens, and fall upon the baptized believers through the laying on of hands? So in the latter days have the same blessings been given among all the nations and people and kindreds and tongues, wherever this Gospel has been preached. No difference, then, so far as this is concerned.

Did the ancient Christian Church have a great variety of members possessing a variety of spiritual gifts? So does the latter-day Christian Church believe in the same thing. Did any in the Christian Church presume, in ancient times, to take unto themselves the authority of the ministry, without being called of God by new revelation? Never, no never! All were called by new revelation to officiate in the various offices of the Church, after the same pattern that Aaron was called. “No man,” says Paul, “taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron.” Everybody knows, from the history given, how Aaron was called by new revelation. Have any among all the peoples and nations of the earth authority to administer baptism? Yes. Who are they? Those who are called by new revelation, and none else. Have any authority to administer the Lord’s Supper among all the Christian nations of the earth? Yes. Who are they? Those to whom the Lord has spoken, whom the Lord has called as he called Aaron. Have any Christian denominations who deny new revelation, authority to administer this sacred ordinance? Not one upon the face of the whole earth. Are ordinances, administered by those who deny new revelation, accepted by the Most High? Not one of them. Why? Because God does not sanction that which is not appointed by him.

Perhaps some may inquire, if this does not cut off the Christian Church from the face of the earth? I answer, it does, unless God has a Christian Church with revelators and Prophets in it, and whose officers are called by new revelation. Inquires one—“Do you mean to say that we have had no true Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries?” I do mean to say this, unless there have been persons authorized, according to the requirements of the holy Scriptures. If we can find a Church anywhere on the face of the earth that has Apostles in it, and revelators, and inspired men, then we have a true Christian Church; but if we cannot find this, then we have no such Church. If we can find a church that has the gifts and the signs spoken of by the New Testament, we can find a true Christian Church; but if we can’t find such, we have no reason to believe that there is such a Church on the earth. “But,” says one, “we call ourselves Christians.” That is a very easy matter; but calling yourselves Christians or Christian churches does not make you such. Inquires one—“Is it not contrary to the Scriptures to suppose that the world would be left for so many centuries without a Christian Church?” No; it is in accordance with the Scriptures, for they foretell the Apostasy, the falling away and the darkness that should reign over the nations, and show that instead of having true teachers, men would heap to themselves teachers without authority from God, uninspired men, whose ears would be turned away from the truth unto fables. This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now. A short time after the death of the last of the Apostles, the Christian Church, what few of them remained, were persecuted from mountain to mountain, from den to den, from one cave of the earth to another, and from nation to nation until they were entirely exterminated and rooted out of the earth. Well, what was left? An apostate Christianity, a Christianity without revelators, without any voice of God, without any Prophets to unfold the future, without visions, without any communications from the heavens. Apostasy succeeded the Christian Church and has borne rule over all the nations of the earth; and these Scriptures have been fulfilled; for they say that a certain power should arise, and make war with the Saints and overcome them, and they should be given into the hands of that power.

But is our earth always to be left without the Church and kingdom of God, and without Apostles, Prophets, or a voice from the heavens? No. John saw in his vision on Patmos how the Gospel should again be preached among the nations, after great Babylon should arise, after she should persecute the Saints and destroy them from the earth, and present her golden cup full of filthiness and abominations for all nations to drink thereof.

After he had seen this, he saw how the Christian Church should again return to the earth. In the fourteenth chapter of Revelation and sixth verse, he says—“I saw another angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.” And another angel followed this one that had the Gospel, saying—“Babylon is fallen, is fallen.” Why? Because she hath made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Immediately after this the Son of Man was seen by John, sitting upon a white cloud, coming in his glory and power to destroy the nations of the earth. Here, then, were three great events portrayed by the ancient Apostle John, which should take place just prior to and at the time of the coming of the Son of Man. The Gospel is to be brought by an angel. For whom? For all people. Now, if there had been any people, nation, kindred, or tongue, in any part of the earth that had the Gospel, and had the authority to administer its ordinances, there would be no necessity for this angel’s coming, all we would have had to do, would be to hunt up that people, and there, among them, we should have found Apostles, Prophets, revelators, and men having power to call upon God, and get revelation; and then persons would be called by new revelation to the ministry. But no such people existed, and hence, when the angel brings the Gospel, it has to be preached to all people, nations and tongues, under the whole heavens.

Now the Latter-day Saints have happened to live in the day when the Lord has sent this angel, and when he has again established his Church, and has commanded his servants to go forth, calling them by name, to preach the Gospel to the people, without purse and scrip, to organize his people among all nations and to say unto them—“Gather out from all these nations unto one place.” “But,” says one, “what does this mean? Did the ancient Apostles and the ancient Christian Churches gather?” I answer that the same doctrines which they taught are taught in these days; yet when it comes to some of the great temporal principles of salvation, God has varied in his plans in every dispensation. To Noah a command was given to build an ark; that was the way in which was to be effected the temporal salvation of all believers in his day. Abraham was commanded to leave his country, kindred and friends; that was a command of a very different character to the one given in the dispensation of Noah. In the days of Moses, another command was given quite different from that given to either Noah or Abraham, and so on down. In the days of Jesus, so far as temporal salvation was concerned, the believers were permitted to remain at Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia and in all the countries wherever the Christian Church was organized; there was no gathering in that day. But the last dispensation is to be a dispensation of gathering together of all of the people of God. It is spoken of by Paul in the first chapter of his epistle to the Ephe– sians, where it is said “that, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, the Lord will gather together in one all that are in Christ, whether they be in the heavens or upon the earth, that they may all be gathered in one.”

Now if this angel who brought this Gospel from the heavens, and commanded this Church to be organized, had left out this gathering together in one, we would have had reason to suppose him to be an impostor. Why? Because the great essential feature of the latter-day dispensation was a gathering together in one of all things in Christ. That is the reason why these vales are filled with inhabitants of different nations and tongues; they have heard in different parts of the earth the sound of the Gospel which God has brought to light in these latter days by an angel; they heard the voice of the Lord calling upon them to flee from Babylon, and to gather together in one, and that is why they are here. This agrees with the testimony of John, that, after the angel came, the Gospel should be preached to all nations. He heard a great voice from heaven, saying—“Come out of her, my people, lest ye be partakers of her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have reached to the heavens, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” That voice, recollect, was not to be a cunningly devised fable, got up by a certain number of divines or theologians, according to their own wisdom; it was to be a voice from heaven, a new revelation, commanding the people to do this. About a hundred thousand of the Latter-day Saints, dwelling in this mountain region, building up towns and cities for some four or five hundred miles in extent, have heard the voice of the Lord from the heavens and have gathered out. You have heard the proclamation, when the latter-day kingdom was established, to take your lamps and go forth to meet the Bridegroom. Instead of staying in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, or among the islands of the sea, you have been commanded to take your lamps and gather out; this is like the fish net that was cast into the sea, and “gathered all kinds, both good and bad.” “Do you mean to say,” says one, “that there are some gathered among you who are bad?” Yes; if there were not the parable of our Savior would not be fulfilled. But by and by there will be a sorting out, and the bad will be cast away unto their own place, while the good will be gathered into vessels and be saved.

This will be fulfilling the words of the Prophet Isaiah, in the 43rd chapter—“I will gather them from the east, and from the west, I will say to the north give up, and to the south keep not back. Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even every one that is called by my name.” Says one—“Do you really think there will be no Christians left in the north, nor in the south, nor in the east, nor in the west, but that everyone that is called by the name of the Lord will be gathered in one?” Yes, that is what we believe, and that is one of the peculiarities of what the world call “Mormonism,” we do not believe there will be a Christian left on the whole face of the earth, but what will be gathered together. “Well,” says one, “if that is true, if Isaiah told the truth about that, and the day is at hand for his prophecy to be fulfilled, the nations will truly be in an awful dilemma, when every Christian is gathered out.” I think they will, I think you draw a very correct conclusion.

Why does the Lord gather them out? As the Prophet Isaiah has said in another place, he gathers them out to the mountains, and they say one to another—“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob.” What for? “That he may teach us of his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.” It seems, then, that the Lord will have one people somewhere on the face of the earth, up in some mountainous region, who are going to teach the nations his ways, and how to walk in his paths.

Now, if we can find out where that mountain is where the Lord is going to have a house built, and to which the nations shall gather, it will be well for us to open our eyes and to see whether we are gathering together to learn the ways of the Lord.

Perhaps you may enquire, “What peculiarities are to be taught in the mountains different from what are taught abroad?” I answer, undoubtedly there will be a great many; and among the rest is that of marriage, and now we come to the words of our text. You may ask, “Do you not marry here in the mountains, as we do in the East?” In reply, I will say, in the first place, that marriage is a divine ordinance, as you see by the words of my text—“What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” Now how does the Lord join together persons in marriage? Does he ordain a justice of the peace, who avows himself to be an infidel, and does not believe in God, or his Son Jesus Christ, or in the Gospel of life and salvation? Has such a man the authority of God to join the sexes together in marriage? Suppose that such pronounce the marriage ceremony, what has the Lord to do with it? Does the Lord inspire the infidel—one who has no faith nor con– fidence in him, to join together the sexes in marriage? I think not.

But suppose we pass by the infidel who holds the authority of the civil law to administer the ordinance of marriage, are there not many persons among the Christian nations, who do believe in God and his Son Jesus Christ, who are justices of the peace, and who have authority, under the civil laws of the country, to administer the ordinance of marriage? I answer—there are many who hold this authority under their respective governments; we do not dispute this. The infidel I was speaking of, who is a justice of the peace, has authority by the laws of his State or county, to administer and officiate in the ceremony of marriage. But God has nothing to do with it; it answers the ends of the civil law, and that is as far as it goes.

Now suppose you take those persons who are not infidels, but who profess to believe in God, and they hold authority, under their various governments, to pronounce a man and woman husband and wife, has the Lord anything to do with that? He has if he has appointed that minister or justice of the peace; if he has given him a revelation authorizing him to officiate in the ordinance of marriage, then he has authority to do it, according to the mind and will of God. But on the other hand, if God has said nothing to him, he has no divine authority—and if he is a sectarian he is sure to reject all revelation, unless it happens to be in the Bible, and the Bible calls no man by name in the 19th century to officiate in marriage, neither in baptism nor any of the ordinances of the Gospel—his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ does not give him divine authority to administer the ordinance of marriage. Nevertheless the individuals whom he marries are mar– ried according to the laws of the country, and the marriage is legal so far as the laws of the country are concerned; but if God has not spoken to those men, if he has not given them revelation authorizing them to do this, their ceremony, so far as God is concerned, would be just the same as though it was administered by a heathen priest, just the same as though it was ministered by an infidel, for God has nothing to do with it.

Who is it then, that the Lord joins together? It is those who are married by one authorized of God to officiate in that sacred and holy ordinance, and the Lord could not do this, without he gave new revelation; hence you begin to understand what our views are as Latter-day Saints in regard to the nature of marriage. Inquires one—“Do you mean to say that there have been no marriages legal in the sight of God for nearly seventeen hundred years past, among all the nations?” Yes, that is what we say. Those old and middle-aged men, who were married in the nations before they heard the sound of the Gospel, were married legally according to the laws of man, and their marriages will stand all the controversies of the law, and their children are legal heirs to their property; but they are not joined together of the Lord.

Now let us come to a marriage where the Lord officiates. It is indirectly referred to here, in this 19th chapter of Matthew—“In the beginning God made them male and female.” And who officiated in the first great marriage ceremony? It was the Lord. Probably, if there had been any man on the earth at that time who held the keys, authority and power, the Lord would not have come and officiated directly; but inasmuch as the marriage was between the first pair who dwelt upon the earth, and there was nobody else to officiate, the Lord took it in hand to officiate himself; and after he had formed the woman he brought her to the man, and the man said—“This, now, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, therefore she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.”

Now let us inquire in regard to the perpetuity of this first marriage, for all Christendom, and I do not know but all heathendom, have got the curious idea into their heads that marriage pertains only to this little speck of time called our present life, and that by and by the grim monster Death will come along and part man and wife asunder, and that is the end of the marriage union. Such is the idea of all Christendom, and that is the way they marry; it is after this form that justices of the peace, the professed ministers of the Gospel, and all the judicial authorities of the various states, territories, nations, countries and empires of the world have officiated in the marriage ceremony—“I join you together,” or, “I pronounce you husband and wife,” as the case may be, “until death shall you part.” Oh indeed! It is a very short time to be married, is it not? We might die in the course of a day or two after being married, then the contract is run out, no more claim after that, according to their ideas. But now, in relation to this first marriage between Adam and Eve, who were they? Two immortal beings. What! Does God marry immortal beings? Yes. We have no account of his coming officially to marry a couple of mortal beings; I do not know that we have any such account anywhere. But these two personages, Adam and Eve, were immortal. Says one—“I never knew before that immortal beings were to be connected as husbands and wives, I thought marriage pertained to mortality, and until death should us part, and that was the end of it.” I know that we have had a great many erroneous ideas about baptism, about the laying on of hands, about marriage, and about a great many things, all of which came in consequence of the darkness that is spread over the nations, since ancient Christianity was rooted out of the earth. Two immortal beings—Adam the bridegroom, Eve the bride, stood up together, and the Lord gave the bride to the bridegroom. For how long, I wonder? If he had learned the ceremony of these Protestant and Catholic denominations, he might have said—“I pronounce you husband and wife until death shall separate you.” No, I think he had never learned that; death had not then come into our world; the forbidden fruit had not been eaten then; there were no fallen beings then on the earth, no mortality yet upon the face of our fair creation, but two immortal beings who were capable of enduring to all ages of eternity were united together in marriage.

This, then, was marriage for eternity, not for a little speck of time, not for a hundred or a thousand years, not for a million years, but for all eternity, to be as durable in its nature, action and effects as the immortal beings themselves. “But,” inquires one, “are you sure that Adam and Eve were immortal?” I am; the Scriptures inform me that by transgression sin came into the world, and death by sin. If sin had not come into the world there would have been no death. “But, do you really think that Adam and Eve would have been alive today?” Yes. Can you reflect in your minds upon a period in the future, when they would not be immortal, when they would be overcome? Can you point out the time when they would no longer be husband and wife? Never. When did the Lord give the commandment to be fruitful and multiply, etc.? He gave it to them as immortal beings. Supposing it had been possible for Adam and Eve, before they fell, to have had children, what kind of children would they have been? Would mortal children have descended from immortality without any transgression? Would people of flesh and blood and bones come into the world from immortal parents? No. We must suppose, then, that when God said to Adam and Eve, “be fruitful and multiply” that he spoke to them as beings that were not fallen.

Perhaps you may enquire, how long would they have multiplied and fulfilled this commandment? I answer, as long as eternity endures. Can you tell how long that will be? “Do you mean to say there would be no end to their increase?” None at all. If they had fulfilled that great commandment, and had multiplied their posterity, their children would have been immortal, as well as the parents, and there never would have been a period throughout all the endless ages of eternity but what they would have continued to increase their children—their own sons and daughters.

Perhaps you may say—“I really thought that mankind now, over the face of the earth, were fulfilling that great first commandment.” You have been highly mistaken; we have not one of us fulfilled it. “Do you mean to say that all these people here who have been married and have multiplied sons and daughters throughout all this Territory, have not been fulfilling the command given to Adam?” Not one pair of us, we were not in a condition to do it; we shall be by and by, however, when we get our immortal bodies, as Adam had his. But while we are here, we are permitted to multiply—what? Poor, weak, pusillanimous, fallen, sickly bodies, calculated to last at the longest, seventy, eighty, or a hundred years, and then crumble back to their mother earth. Are you going to substitute such an offspring as this to fulfill the great first commandment that was given to immortal man? Oh no, the Lord will accept no such substitution as this.

But how can we fulfil the commandment then? I will tell you how—be married for all eternity, as your first parents were, and then, when you come up in the morning of the first resurrection, and God again restores to you your bodies, male and female, you can fulfil that commandment that was given in the beginning, to the first immortal pair.

Shall we continue to multiply through all eternity? Yes; there never will be a time when those who are really married for eternity will cease to multiply their species, not children subject to pain, disease and death, but children of immortality. Millions on millions will be multiplied, worlds without end, by each pair of immortal parents, and their children will be as immortal as themselves. Then the commandment will be fulfilled.

Perhaps some of you may say—“Your remarks explain a certain passage we have often read, the 11th chapter of Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians, and 11th verse, which says—’Neither is the man without the woman in the Lord, neither is the woman without the man in the Lord.’ We never knew what that meant before, but it seems that you Latter-day Saints have got a clue to it.” It seems then that if we wish to fulfil the object of our creation, and if we are truly in the Lord, then we must go into the eternal worlds as married, not for time; not by some justice of the peace that is an infidel; not by a man that has no right to join us together under the revelation and authority of the Most High; but we must be married for eternity by a man who has the right to speak, being commanded of the Lord, holding the keys of authority and power, who can say to the man and woman, I pronounce you husband and wife for time and all eternity. Then you will be married according to the pattern given; then you will have a claim upon each other after death. But have married people, in the nations, a claim upon each other after death? I mean those who have not been married after the pattern and authority of heaven. By no means. Their contracts are made only for a little space, some twenty, thirty, fifty or seventy years, as the case may be, then death comes along and the contract runs out; and when you come up in the resurrection who are you? Have you any wife there? Oh, no. Why not? Because you were not sealed or married, to each other by divine authority, that is the reason. What position will you occupy? If you have been pretty good people and have kept the commandments of God as far as you understood them, and have done well in many respects, you may have the opportunity of becoming angels; but there is quite a difference between angels and those who have the privilege of endless increase, and of being crowned as kings and priests in the eternal worlds. Whom do you suppose you will reign over? Will you get somebody else to multiply and spread forth their offspring, and then give that offspring to you? Will you go to your neighbors and say—“Come, you were married for eternity when you were back in yonder world and you have come forth, having a claim to your wife or wives in the morning of the resurrection. I did not attend to that matter while there, and I was not married there according to the first pattern that was given in the Bible, and inasmuch as I failed in doing this will you, neighbor, give me part of your children? I should like to be a king, and have some subjects to reign over, will you part with some of your children?” “Oh no,” says the neighbor, “if you neglected, in yonder world, the divine ordinances pertaining to the probation, you must bear the loss, I cannot spare any of my children. They belong to me; they are under my patriarchal government, they will be my kingdom and I shall reign over my own offspring forever and ever.”

What will this poor man do then? Why he will have to be an old bachelor, if we may use the expression, and continue that way to all ages of eternity. He will do for a servant, and they will have a great many servants there. A man of God has a great kingdom, and his kingdom spreads forth, and his subjects multiply like the stars of heaven, or the sands upon the seashore, and he will naturally want some who have bodies of flesh and bones to go and minister for certain purposes; and those who have deprived themselves of the benefits of marriage for eternity, will do first-rate for that, if they have been righteous enough to get into a position where angels are.

There were some in the days of our Savior righteous enough for that, but through the apostasy that had prevailed some three centuries before he came, they had lost the authority of obtaining this higher glory, and when Jesus spake to them about the resurrection of the dead, he said—“In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage.” To whom was he talking? Not to the righteous, but to some of the members of the pious denominations that happened to exist in that day, that had in some measure lost the spirit of the Lord. Such never having been married for eternity in this world could rise no higher than angels in the next world; and if they became righteous enough to become celestial angels, they would be servants forever. Servants to whom? Those that are worthy to receive a kingdom and a glory, that have attended to their ordinances and to the commandments of God, and have been led by him in all things pertaining to marriage as well as other things.

Let us now come to another item that grows out of marriage for eternity. For instance, there are a great many in this congregation who were married by the Gentile laws, by justices of the peace and various other officers, in England, Scotland, Wales, Denmark, and in the various nations of Christendom. They come up here with their wives, many of them just as good people as can be found anywhere on the earth. Were they married by divine ordinances? Did God join them together? No. Are they, therefore, to be condemned? No. Why not? Because God did not send the word to them. When the word goes forth from the Lord Almighty to a people, and light comes into a nation and among a people, then comes condemnation if that light is rejected, but not till then.

The word of the Lord told you to gather up here. What for? That you might, among other things, be married according to the law of God. I am endeavoring to tell you some of our peculiarities. We do believe that every man who gathers up with the Saints, whether married by the Gentile law or not, should be married by one holding divine authority to officiate, and thus have the ordinance, the ministration sealed on earth that it may be sealed in the heavens; then it will stand; but everything that is not done by the authority of God will not stand, but will be shaken; and when the day of the resurrection shall come, it will only be that which God has appointed that will endure the test. In that day, when they come up out of their graves, there will be no chance for people to be married, any more than there will be for them to be baptized. If people do not get baptized here in this life, they will have no chance to be baptized there. And Jesus says, that if you are not born of the water and of the spirit, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven, that is, into the highest kingdom, the highest glory, the third heaven; you cannot enter there, consequently you must not put off baptism until the resurrection day, and say you will attend to it then, for that will be too late for baptism, and also for marriage.

Here is another question. A great many of those good people abroad, who, with their ancestors, back for seventeen hundred years, while God had no authority or Church on the earth, have gone down to their graves, without knowing anything about the pattern of marriage as recorded here in the Bible, which is eternal in its nature. What are you going to do with them? I answer, it would look rather hard if there was no provision made for them, would it not? There are about seventeen centuries or generations, and if we compute a thousand million of people for every generation, coming upon and passing away from the earth, we shall have about fifty thousand million altoge– ther, who have gone down to their graves without baptism, without the administration of the ordinances, without divine authority to administer in their marriages! Do you suppose that the Lord has made no provision for all these things? All must have a chance. There is not an individual that ever lived upon the earth, from the days of Adam down to this time, whether it was among the heathen or savages, who never heard of Jesus or of the true God, and who went down to his grave in total ignorance; there never was a man or woman on the face of the globe, but what will have an opportunity, either in this life or in the life to come, to obey and enjoy the benefits of the Gospel of Salvation.

“But did you not say that there was no opportunity for them to attend to these ordinances in the life to come?” I did. “Then why did you say, that there will be an opportunity for them?” There is quite a difference between having an opportunity, and attending to the ordinances. You cannot attend to the latter in the life to come. Parties who have died in this generation or in the generations passed, without having an opportunity to be baptized by a man holding authority, will have an opportunity of hearing the Gospel in the life to come; but they cannot attend personally to the ordinances thereof. Why? Because God has ordained that men, here in the flesh, shall be baptized in this life; or, if they die without a knowledge of the Gospel and its ordinances, that their friends in the flesh, in the day of his power, when he brings forth the everlasting Gospel, shall officiate for them, and in their behalf. This is another peculiarity of the doctrine of the Latter-day Saints—baptism for the dead.

You see a Temple building here, east of this tabernacle, and a great many inquiries are made respecting the nature of this building. Some suppose that we are going to hold meetings in it, and preach to the people; but no, that pertains to the tabernacle. God has pointed out the uses of a Temple by new revelation, the same as he pointed out the object of a tabernacle in the days of Moses, and the object of the Temple of the Lord in the days of Solomon; and among those objects he has told us that in the basement of the Temple there should be a baptismal font. What for? That those who are living here on the earth may be baptized for and in behalf of those who die without a knowledge of the Gospel.

Does that reach back to all generations who have died in ignorance? Yes. To all our ancestors? Yes; it reaches back to our fathers, our grandfathers and their progenitors away back to ancient days, when the Priesthood was upon the earth. Baptism for the dead! The same thing was attended to in ancient times, so that we have not got a new pattern, it is the old pattern renewed. Paul says, in the 15th chapter of the first of Corinthians—“Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead?” Sure enough! It was a strong argument to prove the resurrection of the dead, that the people who belonged to the ancient Christian Churches had the privilege of going and being baptized for those who had died before the Gospel came among them.

Now do you not see that we are not so uncharitable as a great many would suppose? Instead of sending all the generations who lived in former ages to hell, because they did not happen to hear the Gospel, and because there was no Christian Church upon the earth; I say that, instead of sending them all to an endless hell, God has made provisions that the living may act for and in behalf of the dead. The ordinances thus attended to here on the earth in behalf of the dead, will be recorded and sealed here by proper authority; and what is thus recorded and sealed here will be recorded and sealed in the heavens in behalf of those individuals; and if those spirits who are in prison and in the eternal worlds will repent when the Gospel is taken to them, they can have the benefit of the ordinances administered for and in their behalf here, and they will have part in the first resurrection.

Then again, if baptism for the dead is true, every other divine ordinance is equally true and necessary for the dead, for one is just as consistent as the other. The laying on of hands in confirmation upon a person that is living here in the flesh, for and in behalf of those who are in their graves, is just as consistent as baptism for the dead.

Again, if our fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, have died without being married by divine authority, the same authority that would cause a people to act for the dead in relation to baptism, would cause them to act for and in behalf of the dead in relation to their marriage ceremonies too. Such a plan gives them all a chance. For there are no marryings, nor baptisms, nor confirmations, in and after the resurrection. The resurrected dead can do none of these things; but if it is done here for them, and they will accept of it, it will be acknowledged in the heavens. Hence, here is another peculiarity of the Latter-day Saints pertaining to the Temple, the house of the Lord to be built in the tops of the mountains in the latter days, as Isaiah says in the second chapter—“Many people shall say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us of his ways, that we may walk in his paths.” A Temple, therefore, instead of being a place for teaching and preaching, is a place for the administration of holy ordinances.

Another question. A great many have wondered why so many people in the eastern, southern and middle States have been stirred up for a number of years past in searching out their ancestors. Now the Lord does a great many things unknown to the people, and this is one of them. The people do not know why they are interested in their ancestry, but they are wrought upon by some invisible operation, and they feel very anxious to know about their progenitors. I think that some four hundred different families have already got extended family records, tracing their ancestry back from generation to generation to the first settlements of the New England States, and then back into Old England if it is possible, to make out the connection. Do they know what they are doing this for? No; they feel wrought upon, that is all they know about it. Now I will tell you why it is, for a great many of the people in this congregation, and many who are scattered through the villages, towns and settlements in this Territory, emigrated from the New England States, and they had fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, and ancestors, now in their graves, who were just as pure, upright, virtuous and honest in their feelings as we their children are. Now we are going to act for them. We have not time to search up all these genealogies, but all we have to do is to go and get the books which the Lord has wrought upon them to get up, containing the names of hun– dreds and thousands of the dead, and we will receive baptism, confirmation and marriage for eternity, and all the ordinances of the Gospel for them, that they, if they will receive what is done for them, may come forth in the resurrection, and inherit all that their children will inherit. Why? Because they were worthy of it. Our pilgrim fathers were a good people, just as worthy as we are, but unfortunately they did not happen to live in the time that God has set for establishing his kingdom on the earth, and sending his angels from the heavens.

Thus you see that this Gospel reaches after the dead as well as the living. Our Savior set the example in regard to this matter, for we are told that when his body lay in the tomb, his spirit was not idle; and instead of going off into the heavens and sitting down there for three days and three nights in perfect idleness, he had something to do, and while his body lay in the tomb, his spirit went and opened the prison doors in which were confined those who were drowned in the flood. What! Were they in prison? Yes. Did Jesus truly visit them? Yes. Did he preach to them? Yes. Where have we this recorded? In Peter’s declaration. He says that, “Jesus was put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit, by which he also went and preached to the spirits which were in prison, which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing.” Oh indeed; He went to those old antediluvians then, that had not received their resurrection, and preached to them. What did he preach to them? The following verses tell us what he preached. What would you think he preached? Says one—“If he followed the ex– amples of our sectarian preachers, he would go and tell them that their doom was irrevocably fixed, that they were cast down to prison, never to be recovered; that as the tree falls so it lies, and that there was no hope in their case.” Well, that was not the kind of preaching that Jesus did to the antediluvian spirits. “For, for this cause,” says Peter, “was the Gospel preached to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, and live according to God in the spirit.” Though they were in the spirit world, without any bodies, yet they had the privilege of hearing the same Gospel that Jesus preached to those here in the flesh. They could repent, for that is an act of the mind; they could believe in Jesus, for that is also an act of the mind; but the spirits could not be baptized, for that is an act of the body, it is something that pertains to this life. Jesus could preach repentance to them, he could preach the same Gospel to those antediluvians that he had preached to men in the flesh, and they could then be judged according to men in the flesh, and live according to God in the spirit. Men in the flesh could be baptized for them, and they could come forth and receive all the blessings of those who received the Gospel in the flesh.

There are a few more remarks which I would like to make, if time will permit, upon a subject which grows out of this eternal marriage or union between the male and the female. For instance, here is a good young man who courts up a wife in the kingdom of God. He says to her, “Let us go and be married for time and all eternity, according to the requirements of heaven.” Very well; they are agreed in it; they attend to the ordinance, and it is sealed upon their heads and recorded for their benefit. We will say that, in the course of two or three months after this marriage, some accident befalls the wife and she dies. They loved each other and were married for all eternity, and he mourns over the fact that in his youth, in the very prime of his manhood, he is left alone, a widower. Now is it right for him to marry another wife after having been married to one for time and for all eternity? Is it right for him again to receive a young lady for a wife? “Oh, yes,” you answer, “it is perfectly right, because that would not be living with two on the earth at the same time.” Very well, he goes and marries again; and now the question arises, suppose that they only marry for time, or until death shall part them—we will suppose this, because the man already has a wife on the other side of the veil—what is to become of the second wife in the morning of the resurrection? Can you answer that question? If he only marries her for time, she has no husband when the resurrection comes. Perhaps she is just as good a woman as the wife the man married first for all eternity. What are you going to do with her? Shall she be left in a condition where she can have no posterity, no endless increase, no kingdom in connection with a husband, and no husband? Shall she be left throughout all the future ages of eternity without any such privilege, while the first wife, no better than she is, is married for all eternity, and inherits all the blessings arising therefrom? Would not there be partiality in this? There certainly would. How are you going to remedy this? We answer, when this widower takes this second wife, let her also be married to him for time and all eternity, the same as the first; then, by and by, when the resurrection comes, there come up the two women. What will you do then? This introduces plurality into the next life, does it not? Polygamists in the next world? It certainly does; and these two women, both having received this man as their husband for all eternity, one of them will now be in just as good a condition as the other.

Let this principle be extended. There are some cases in life where two women might die, and a man be still left in his young days without a wife, and he marries a third and perhaps a fourth; in the resurrection they are contemporaneously his wives. Plurality, therefore, would be perfectly consistent in the world to come, but, “Oh,” says a sectarian, “how awful it is in this world!”

Thus you see that the very moment we admit the eternity of marriage, the very moment that we admit that Adam and Eve were immortal beings, when they were married, and we undertake to follow that pattern, plurality necessarily comes along; either marriage has no bearing upon eternity, and no bearing upon immortality and immortal beings, or else plurality of wives necessarily must exist in eternity.

Says one—“Turn it about the other way, then we shall have plurality of husbands.” Let me say to the congregation that the object of marriage is to fulfill the commandment which God gave to immortal beings. Could a woman multiply faster by having two husbands? Everybody knows that in this respect there is a difference between the male and the female. In this life, at any rate, if one woman had two husbands, instead of making her more fruitful, the probability is that it would prevent her raising any offspring at all; and if she did, how would the father be known? And hence, God has strictly forbidden, in this Bible, plurality of husbands, and proclaimed against it in his law.

I should be glad to touch upon a great many other points, in relation to plurality, but time will not permit. You have heard partially explained some of the peculiarities of the faith of the people called Latter-day Saints. Now what is necessary in regard to polygamists? Our enemies say, “There should be a law passed that all polygamists should be shut up in prison from five to ten years, as the case may be, and pay a heavy fine.” Very well; this is the voice of the people. But does the voice of the people rule in a manner that is inconsistent with the Constitution of our country, by taking away the rights of the minority? Is it the order of our government that the minority must have their rights wrenched from them because the majority decide against them? Let me ask, suppose the majority of the people should decide against infant sprinkling, many look upon that with the utmost horror, and it is only a small minority in our nation that believe in that awful doctrine, suppose the majority should take it into their heads that those who practice infant sprinkling should be imprisoned, they have the same right to do that as to do the other thing which I have named.

Again, there is a certain class of people, and they are far in the minority in this great nation, who believe in dancing on the Sabbath day. I allude to the Shaking Quakers. Would it be right to pass a law against this small minority, and say they shall be imprisoned, because the voice of the people in general happens to denounce their practice of dancing as a crime? “But then,” says one, “polygamy is a crime.” Who told you so? Does the Bible tell you so? Oh no, neither the Old nor the New Testament; no Prophet, no revelator, no Apostle, no man of God, nor Jesus himself, nor any angel ever denounced it as a crime, but on the contrary they advocated it, and the Lord himself administered in this divine ordinance. He gave to Jacob his four wives and children, so Jacob tells us in Genesis.

Then we might continue and show that every Christian denomination in the United States possesses peculiarities which the majority do not believe in, and which they are convinced should be denounced by the civil law as criminal, and that those who practice such peculiarities ought to be imprisoned for doing so. But because the majority of people condemn a principle, that is no proof that it is a crime. Supposing that the great majority of the people condemned the principle of baptism by immersion, would it be right to pass laws punishing those who practice it? No, the Constitution of our country was framed to protect the people in every item of doctrine that they might glean out of this Bible, and instead of condemning these doctrines as criminal, all the States and all the Territories ought to leave Bible principles as matters of conscience; especially the great principle of marriage should be left open and free to all, either to marry one wife, or two or three, or a dozen, as the case may be, only making laws in relation to criminal abuses of the marital state, and in regard to property, how it should descend to the children, etc. But the very moment that they pass laws that are proscriptive and restrictive in their nature, condemning principles that are not condemned in the Bible, taking away the privileges of the people to believe that which is contained in the word of God, religious liberty is in danger, and there is no telling where that infringement will lead to. By and by they may have a blending of Church and State; and no one must believe anything, unless it be doctrines or creeds got up by the State, or by Congress, or by some legislative body; and everybody must bow to that, or be fined, or imprisoned, or be burned, butchered, or hung.

That our great, and free country may never be afflicted with such a species of despotism, is my most earnest prayer. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered June 27, 1875, in the Second Ward Schoolhouse, Salt Lake City, at the Funeral Services of John Houseman, Aged Six Years, and Willie Franklin, Aged Four Years, Sons of William and Ann Wheeler, Burned to Death at Wanship, Summit County, U. T., June 24, 1875.

I am entirely dependent this morning upon the Spirit of the Lord to guide and direct me in what I may say upon this painful occasion. Those who have assembled here—Brother and Sister Wheeler, and their friends who mourn with them, are dependent upon the same source for comfort in their serious bereavement; and in fact we are all dependent upon the blessing and Spirit of the Lord in all the labors of life, and I hope that, in our services this morning, a large measure of that Spirit will be imparted unto us.

I feel disposed to read the first chapter of Job as a preliminary to any remarks I may make. [The speaker read the first chapter of the Book of Job.] We also see in reading the history of Job that the devil did not finish with him there, as it seems the devil had another conversation with the Lord on this subject, in which he informed the Lord that a man would give anything for his life and that if he, the devil, touched Job’s flesh, he would certainly curse God. And it seems from reading this history that the Lord put Job into the hands of the devil, to do as he pleased with him, only to spare his life. Of course the history is familiar to you all who have read the Bible, and you are aware that the devil smote Job, and he was covered with boils from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, so that he was in great distress, trouble and tribulation, yet in the midst of it all he did not sin, but acknowledged the hand of the Lord.

I may say with regard to the case which has brought us together this morning, it is a little similar to that of Job. We meet with some strange things in the history of our lives in the dispensations and dealings of God with men. In the case before us we are called to mourn the loss of two children taken from Brother and Sister Wheeler, we may say as suddenly and, in one sense of the word, as miraculously, as were the sons and daughters of Job. His affliction consisted not only in the loss of two children, but of all his children and also of all the possessions that he had, yet still, under all this he said—“Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

I know very well it is hard for any person to be called to pass through the scenes that we sometimes are called to pass through in this life, it is so in the case before us this morning. The loss of these little children, taken away as they were, is certainly painful, not only to the parents, but to every person who reflects; and it is a very hard matter for any of us to enter into and appreciate the depth of sorrow which parents feel on occasions like this, it is difficult to bring the matter home to our own hearts unless we have been called to pass through similar affliction and sorrow. At the same time there is no doubt that we all sympathize with our friends when called to pass through trials and bereavement. And I will here say to Brother and Sister Wheeler, and to all my friends, there are a great many worse things in this world than the case we are now called to mourn.

Our children are taken away from us in infancy and childhood, and they are taken away as Job’s were, in one sense of the word, through the dispensations of Providence, causing us severe trials. This we will acknowledge; but, as I have already said, there are many things in this world that are far more painful and afflicting than to have our children burned to death. My friends may ask—“What is Brother Woodruff driving at in this remark?” I will tell you. I have lived in these valleys twenty-seven years, since the pioneers came here. I have seen a whole generation of men and women grow up in these valleys of the mountains, and they have become parents. I have seen some, I will not say a great many, but I have seen some young men, I say nothing about maidens, who have met with untimely deaths and who have gone to the grave disgraced, and a dishonor to themselves and to their parents. Circumstances of this kind are far more painful to any parent in the world than it is for their children to meet with sudden death by accident or any other way. I do not make these remarks to apply to Brother and Sister Wheeler, for none of us know what course our children will take. We set good examples before them, and we strive to teach them righteous principles, but when they come to years of accountability they have their agency and they act for themselves.

Many things are transpiring in the earth today which we should regard as great calamities and as grievous to be borne if we had to pass through them. Think of these late earthquakes in South America, eight thousand people out of ten thousand in one city sunk in the earth in a few moments. And then, the tremendous floods that are sweeping over France and other parts of the earth, causing the death of hundreds and thousands of men, women and children. All these things are in fulfillment of the revelations of God, and of the judgments which he has promised should come upon the earth in the last days. One of the purposes which the Lord has in view in gathering his Saints to the valleys of the mountains is that they may not share in the sins or partake of the plagues of Babylon; therefore we have reason to rejoice before the Lord because of his mercies and blessings unto us. And with regard to a case like this before us this morning—the loss of those children—I want to say a few words for the consolation of those who are sorrowing. In the first place these children are innocent before the Lord; as to their death and the cause thereof, that is in the hands of God, and we should not complain of the Lord or his dispensations any more than Job did. These children have been taken away very suddenly, and in such a manner as to cause great sorrow and distress to their parents, but there is this consolation connected with the matter—they are innocent, they are not in transgression. They have paid the law of death which God passed on Adam and all his posterity; but when their spirits left their bodies and got into the spirit world their trouble and affliction were over. Their death was a very painful one, but their suffering is now over, and in a few years from now they will come forth out of their graves in the morning of the resurrection, not marred by fire or any element, but clothed with glory, immortality and eternal life, in eternal beauty and bloom, and they will be given into the hands of their parents, and they will receive them in the family organization of the celestial world, and their parents will have them forever. They will live as long as their God lives. This, to Latter-day Saints, who believe in the resurrection, should be a source of comfort and consolation.

Why our children are taken from us it is not for me to say, for God never revealed it unto me. We are all burying them. I have buried one-third of the children that have been given unto me. I have had some thirty children born to me, and ten of them are buried, all of them young. The question may arise with me and with you—“Why has the Lord taken away my children?” But that is not for me to tell, because I do not know; it is in the hands of the Lord, and it has been so from the creation of the world all the way down. Children are taken away in their infancy, and they go to the spirit world. They come here and fulfill the object of their coming, that is, they tabernacle in the flesh. They come to receive a probation and an inheritance on the earth; they obtain a body or tabernacle, and that tabernacle will be preserved for them, and in the morning of the resurrection the spirits and bodies will be reunited, and as here we find children of various ages in a family, from the infant at the mother’s breast to manhood, so will it be in the family organization in the celestial world. Our children will be restored to us as they are laid down if we, their parents, keep the faith and prove ourselves worthy to obtain eternal life; and if we do not so prove ourselves our children will still be preserved, and will inherit celestial glory. This is my view in regard to all infants who die, whether they are born to Jew or Gentile, righteous or wicked. They come from their eternal Father and their eternal Mother unto whom they were born in the eternal world, and they will be restored to their eternal parentage; and all parents who have received children here according to the order of God and the holy priesthood, no matter in what age they may have lived, will claim those children in the morning of the resurrection, and they will be given unto them and they will grace their family organizations in the celestial world.

With regard to the future state of those who die in infancy I do not feel authorized to say much. There has been a great deal of theory, and many views have been expressed on this subject, but there are many things connected with it which the Lord has probably never revealed to any of the Prophets or patriarchs who ever ap– peared on the earth. There are some things which have not been revealed to man, but are held in the bosom of God our Father, and it may be that the condition after death of those who die in infancy is among the things which God has never revealed; but it is sufficient for me to know that our children are saved, and that if we ourselves keep the faith and do our duty before the Lord, if we keep the celestial law, we shall be preserved by that law, and our children will be given unto us there, as they have been given here in this world of sorrow, affliction, pain and distress. It has no doubt been a marvel many times, in the minds of men and women, why God ever placed men and women in such a world as this, why he causes his children to pass through sorrow and affliction here in the body. The Lord has revealed something to us concerning this matter, and we have learned enough about it to know that this thing is necessary. We know that we are created in the image of God, both male and female; and whoever goes back into the presence of God our eternal Father, will find that he is a noble man, a noble God, tabernacled in a form similar to ours, for we are created after his own image; they will also learn that he has placed us here that we may pass through a state of probation and experience, the same as he himself did in his day of mortality. And time and again it has been revealed in the revelations of God given in our day, as well as in the Bible and Book of Mormon, that these things are necessary in order to enable us to comprehend good and evil, and to be prepared for glory and blessings when we receive them. As the Apostle argues very strongly in the Book of Mormon—“If we never taste the bitter how will we know how to comprehend the sweet? If we never partake of pain how can we prize ease? And if we never pass through affliction, how can we comprehend glory, exaltation and eternal blessings?”

The Lord has said concerning Jesus, that he descended below all things that he might rise above all things, and comprehend all things. No man descended lower than the Savior of the world. Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, he traveled from there to the cross through suffering, mingled with blood, to a throne of grace; and in all his life there was nothing of an earthly nature that seemed to be worth possessing. His whole life was passed in poverty, suffering, pain, affliction, labor, prayer, mourning and sorrow, until he gave up the ghost on the cross. Still he was God’s firstborn son and the Redeemer of the world. The question might be asked why the Lord suffered his Son to come here and to live and die as he did. When we get into the spirit world, and the veil is withdrawn, we shall then perhaps understand the whys and wherefores of all these things. In the dispensations and providences of God to man it seems that we are born to suffer pain, affliction, sorrows and trials; this is what God has decreed that the human family shall pass through; and if we make a right use of this probation, the experience it brings will eventually prove a great blessing to us, and when we receive immortality and eternal life, exaltation, kingdoms, thrones, principalities and powers with all the blessings of the fulness of the Gospel of Christ, we shall understand and comprehend why we were called to pass through a continual warfare during the few years we spent in the flesh.

It certainly does require a good deal of the Spirit of the Lord to give comfort and consolation to a father and mother mourning for the loss of their children; and without the Gospel of Christ the separation by death is one of the most gloomy subjects it is possible to contemplate; but just as soon as we obtain the Gospel and learn the principle of the resurrection, the gloom, sorrow and suffering occasioned by death are, in a great measure, taken away. I have often thought that, to see a dead body, and to see that body laid in the grave and covered with earth, is one of the most gloomy things on earth; without the Gospel it is like taking a leap in the dark. But as quick as we obtain the Gospel, as soon as the spirit of man is enlightened by the inspiration of the Almighty, he can exclaim with one of old—“Oh grave, where is thy victory, Oh death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin, and the gift of God is eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The resurrection of the dead presents itself before the enlightened mind of man, and he has a foundation for his spirit to rest upon. That is the position of the Latter-day Saints today. We do know for ourselves, we are not in the dark with regard to this matter; God has revealed it to us, and we do understand the principle of the resurrection of the dead, and that the Gospel brings life and immortality to light. We have received the Gospel, and if we are true to the principles of that Gospel as long as we live, we shall be made partakers of immortality, exaltation and glory.

I know very well that the loss of their children in this terrible manner is a sad affliction to brother and sister Wheeler. It was a sad affliction for Job when his children and possessions were taken from him in an hour, but yet he had sense or knowledge enough to understand and say that when he came into the world he possessed neither children, houses, lands, horses, oxen, camels nor asses, but that all his wealth had been given to him by the Lord, and that the Lord had taken them away and blessed be his holy name. I will say to our mourning friends, your children are taken away and you cannot help it, we cannot any of us help it; there is no censure to be given to parents when they do the best they can. A mother should not be censured because she cannot save her sick child, and we have to leave these things in the hands of God. It will be but a little time until they will be restored to us; in a little time brother and sister Wheeler will again have the children whose loss they now mourn.

With regard to the growth, glory, or exaltation of children in the life to come, God has not revealed anything on that subject to me, either about your children, mine or anybody else’s, any further than we know they are saved. And I feel that we have to put our trust in the Lord in these afflictions, we have to lean upon his arm and to look to him for comfort and consolation. We do not mourn under these afflictions as those who have no hope; we do not mourn the loss of our children as though we were never going to see them again, because we know better. The Lord has taught us better, and so has the Gospel; the revelations of Jesus Christ have shown us that they will be restored to us in the resurrection of the just. And I will here say with regard to the Gospel of Christ, that it is one of the greatest mysteries under the heavens to me why there are so few of the human family, whether in the Christian, Pagan or Jewish world, who take any interest in eternal things, in the state of man after death. If we read the Bible we learn that Noah, filled with revelation, and with the Gospel in his hand, although he labored a hundred and twenty years, could not get a solitary soul except his own family to go with him for salvation. It was similar in the days of the Patriarchs and Prophets, and if we come down to the days of Christ, we find that his testimony was rejected by the rabbis, high priests and the great mass of the people, and he chose for his Apostles twelve poor fishermen, and they and very few of the people, comparatively speaking, were all that received the teachings of Jesus and followed him through the regeneration; while the whole Jewish nation, with these few exceptions, were ready to put their Shiloh to death, and he was the person upon whom the salvation of the whole house of Israel depended. It is just so today. The great majority of the people reject the words of life and salvation which are proclaimed unto them. God, in these last days revealed the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith by the teachings of angels out of heaven, and its principles are made known to the world, and there has never been a congregation of Gentiles, from that day to this, to whom the Elders of Israel have borne record of these things, but what the Spirit of God has also borne record of the truth of their testimony; and herein lies the condemnation of this generation, for “light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” I ask, in the name of God and humanity, why is it that intelligent beings, made in the image of God, take no interest in their condition after death? They know they are going to die, and, if they have any sense or reflection, they know they will live after the death of their mortal bodies; still men will sell their eternal interest for money, for a few hundred or a few thousand dollars they will sell all the interest they have in the eternal world; in fact, they take no interest in their eternal welfare. Their cry is—“Give me gold, silver and honors the few years I spend here, and eternal life may go where it pleases, I have no interest in that.” I ask again, why is it that the human family take no interest in these things? We have preached over forty years. I have been engaged in that work over that time, and have proclaimed the words of eternal life to millions of people, and have traveled more than a hundred thousand miles in so doing, and, as the Prophet has said, I have found one of a family and two of a city who have had eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand, and they have been gathered up from the various nations of the earth into the mountains of Israel, and here today we have a little handful of people, out of the twelve hundred millions who dwell upon the earth, who feel an interest in building up the Zion and kingdom of God upon the earth, and who are desirous of being saved in that kingdom.

Now I would rather be poor all the days of my life, I would rather go through poverty and affliction, it matters not how severe, even to the sacrifice of my own life, than lose salvation and eternal life, because I have faith in it and always had. I always have had faith in the Bible and in the revelations of God since I was a boy like these sitting on these seats, eight or ten years old, when I went to the Presbyterian Sunday school and read about Jesus Christ. I believed then that he was the Savior of the world; I believed that the Old and New Testament was true. I believe it today. What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? What will a man give in exchange for his soul? When he comes into the presence of God he can’t buy it. This is the position of the world. There is none of us going to live but a little while; we shall all pass away soon, and our eternal destiny depends upon the few days, weeks, months or years that we spend here in the flesh. Do you not think it will pay a man or a woman to keep the commandments of God? It will, and when we enjoy the Holy Spirit, when we are trying to live our religion here on the earth, we are the happiest people on God’s footstool, no matter what our circumstances may be. I do not care whether we are rich or poor, whether in happiness or affliction, if a man is living his religion and enjoys the favor and Spirit of God, it makes no difference to him what takes place on the earth. There may be earthquakes, war, fire or sword in the land, but he feels that it is all right with him. That is the way I feel today.

With regard to the Gospel of Christ, it is a thing that we should all labor to maintain the few years that we spend here. When I get through with this life and go into the spirit world, I do not want to miss what I have in anticipation. I have always desired to see the Savior, Father Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and those old Prophets we read about in the Bible. I desired this before I heard this Gospel, I desire it today; and I do not wish to miss this, for nothing in this world would pay me for such a sacrifice. But I know that it requires constant warfare, labor and faithfulness before the Lord in order for us to keep in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and to live in such a manner that we may obtain these blessings. Jesus says—“Strait is the gate and narrow the way that leads to eternal lives, and few there are who find it, while broad is the way that leads to death, and many there be who go in thereat.” The road to death is broad enough to catch the whole world, and they do not like to walk in the strait and narrow one, they do not like to keep the celestial law. I have met with professed ministers of the Gospel, in my travels, at whose tables I have eaten and drank, and I have given them the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and have talked to and labored with them, and I have known some of them spend days and days in this warfare, trying to decide which to do, whether to receive the Gospel of Christ and take the reproach of the world, or reject it; and I may say that in nine cases out of ten they have come to the conclusion to reject it. When I visited Fox Island the first time, I went to the house of Mr. Newton, a Baptist minister; and I stayed with him. But first I went to his church and heard him preach, and when he got through I wanted to bear record of the Gospel, for I had a message to that people, and I appointed a meeting for four o’clock in the afternoon, and I preached the Gospel to them, and Mr. Newton took me to his home and I gave him the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and for ten days that man walked about his room until midnight trying to decide what he should do. The Spirit of the Lord bore record to him that my testimony was true, and he felt that if he obeyed the Gospel which I had proclaimed unto him he would lose his good name and honor among men, but that if he did not receive it, he would be damned. Finally he rejected it, and the consequence was that he became a vagabond, and a miserable outcast. I baptized all his flock who owned any portion of the meetinghouse, and if he had embraced the Gospel and been gathered with them he would have been here and saved in the kingdom of God, instead of the vagabond that he has since become. I merely mention this to show how the minds of some men are acted upon by the tidings of the Gospel. Some of them feel that it would be a great reproach to obey that Gospel and to keep the commandments of God. Bless your souls, we who obey the Gospel of Christ are all in good company. Whenever you are persecuted for righteousness sake, said Jesus, rejoice and be exceeding glad for so persecuted they the Prophets and Apostles which were before you.

I will say to all, whether in the church or in the world, it will pay you to keep the commandments of God. Here is a man who has a wife that he thinks a great deal of; they have lovely children, and the ties of affection bind them closely. Now should not such a man have respect enough for God to keep his commandments and so secure to himself his wife and his children in the celestial world after the resurrection? But you cannot get worldlings to believe in such a principle; the people, as I said before, have not interest enough in the things of the kingdom of God to be willing to keep the commandments of God.

I say to the Latter-day Saints, we should be faithful to our God. We are blessed above all the people that breathe the breath of life upon the earth, and we are blessed above all other dispensations and generations of men, for the Lord has put into our hands the power to build up his Zion upon the earth, never more to be thrown down, and this is what no other generation has ever been called to do. But although this is the mission of the Latter-day Saints, we have a continual warfare to wage—a warfare with the powers of darkness, and a warfare with ourselves. The ancients had a similar experience to pass through—they had their day of trials, troubles and tribulations. Enoch labored three hundred and sixty-five years in building up Zion, and he had the opposition of the whole world. But the Lord blessed him so that he maintained his ground for that length of time, and gathered together a few out of the nations of the earth, and they were sanctified before the Lord, and he had to take them away, and the saying went forth—“Zion is fled.” So you may trace down all the Prophets. Read the history of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah and others, and you will find that it was a warfare with them all the way through. And so with Jesus and the Apostles. But all those dispensations have passed and gone into the spirit world, and they have their eyes upon us, and in fact God our heavenly Father and all under him—the whole heavenly host, have their eyes turned towards the Latter-day Saints, because this is the great dispensation of which Adam, Enoch and all the ancient patriarchs and Prophets have spoken, in which shall take place the final redemption of the House of Israel, the restoration of their kingdom, the rebuilding of their city and Temple, the restoration of their oracles and Priesthood, of the Urim and Thummim, and the preparation for the final winding up scene in the last days; all these things will take place in the dispensation in which we are permitted to live.

Let us, then, try and fulfill and perform our duties as good Latter-day Saints. Let us bear with each other’s faults, and bear the yoke of Christ, live our religion and keep the commandments of God. Let us try and bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Let us set them good examples and teach them good principles while they are young. They are given to us by our heavenly Father; they are our kingdom, they are the foundation of our exaltation and glory; they are plants of renown, and we should strive to bear them up before the Lord, and teach them to pray to, and to have faith in, the Lord as far as we can, that when we are passed and gone and they succeed us on this stage of action, they may bear off the great latter-day work and kingdom of God upon the earth. I do not believe that the day is very far distant when the revelations which God has given concerning the last days will have their fulfillment. I believe there are many children now living in the mountains of Israel who will never taste of death, that is, they will dwell on the earth at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will acknowledge that there is a great deal to be done, and the Lord has not revealed to man the day or the hour, but he has revealed the generation; and the fig trees are now putting forth their leaves in the eyes of all the nations, indicating the near approach of the second coming of the Son of Man. It is my faith that hundreds and thousands of the children that have been given to us will be alive in the flesh when Christ comes in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory. The Lord will not disappoint the inhabitants of the earth in these last days in regard to his second coming, any more than he has with regard to other great events and dispensations.

We live in a very important age and generation; we live in the day and time when God has set his hand to fulfill a measure of prophecy and revelation to man, in the great dispensation of all dispensations. As an individual I do not believe that many more years will roll over the heads of the inhabitants of the earth before the resurrection will be upon them, and then these children, which we are called to bury today, will come forth from their graves, clothed with glory, immortality and eternal life. You may ask why I believe this. I believe it because the revelations of God say so. I read the Scriptures, and I believe that the revelations and prophecies therein contained mean what they say, and I also believe that the saying of every Prophet or Apostle spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost will have its fulfillment, and, as Paul said, no prophecy of Scripture hath any private interpretation, but holy men of old spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. They spake the mind and word of the Lord, and none of their sayings will fail to be fulfilled, for the Lord has said—“Though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not fail, but shall be fulfilled.” That is the way I read prophecy and revelation.

The Jews will be moved upon by and by, and they will return to the land of their fathers, and they will rebuild Jerusalem. These Lamanites here will receive the Gospel of Christ in fulfillment of the revelations of God. The Prophets which have been shut up in the north country with the nine and a half tribes led away by Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, thousands of years ago, will come in remembrance before God; they will smite the rocks and mountains of ice will flow down before them, and those long lost tribes will come forth in your day and mine, if we live a few years longer, and they will be crowned under the hands of the children of Ephraim—the Elders of Israel who dwell in the land of Zion. And by and by the testimony of the Gospel will be sealed among the Gentiles, and the Gospel will turn to the whole house of Israel, and the judgments of God will back up the testimony of the Elders of this Church, and the Lord will send messengers who will go forth and reap down the earth. The unbeliever may say that what we term judgments have always prevailed more or less among the nations, and that God has nothing to do with them, they are all natural. Well, if they have always prevailed, they will prevail to a greater extent in these last days than ever before, until everything that God has spoken shall have come to pass. Judgments await the world, and they await this nation, and the day is at hand when the Lord will sweep the earth as with a besom of destruction. In the vision which the Lord gave to Enoch, he saw the heavens weeping over the earth because of the fall of man; and when Enoch asked the Lord—“When will the earth rest from under the curse of sin?” the Lord told him that in the last days the earth should rest, for then it should be redeemed from the sin, wickedness and abominations that were upon it. The earth is now pretty near ripe, and when ripened the Lord will cut them off. These things are before the Latter-day Saints, but the world do not believe in them any more than they believed in the message of Noah or Lot.

Brethren and sisters, let us read the revelations of God for ourselves, and when we read them, let us believe them, and try to live in such a way that we may be ready for whatever dispensation the Lord may have in store for us, and so that we can acknowledge his hand as Job did, and not find any fault with him because of his providences toward us. If we cannot comprehend them now, we shall be able to do so in a little while. The Lord may have purposes in view in his dealings with us that we do not understand; I presume he has. In fact, the whole of the dealings of God to man are a mystery. There is a veil over the world, and it is ordained of God that it should be so, for if it were not so, and if men could comprehend eternal things, as God comprehends them, there is no man on the earth, no matter how wicked he may be, but what would be willing to keep the commandments of God, and to pass through anything that God ordained, for therein he would see there was salvation and eternal life. But God has an order in these matters, as he revealed unto Joseph Smith. He said unto Joseph—“I will prove you whether you will abide in my covenant; if you are not willing to abide in my covenant even unto death, you are not worthy of me.” And it is so with the Saints. If they are not willing to abide in the covenants they have made with God, even unto death if necessary, they are not worthy of him. Jesus laid down his life to redeem the world, and passed through suffering and affliction all his life in order that he might fulfill the mission which was given him. So it is with us. The Lord says—“I am going to prove the children of men.” There are a few individuals in this dispensation who will inherit celestial glory, and a few in other dispensations; but before they receive their exaltation they will have to pass through and submit to whatever dispensation God may decree. But for all this they will receive their reward—they will become Gods, they will inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities and powers through the endless ages of eternity, and to their increase there will be no end, and the heart of man has never conceived of the glory that is in store for the sons and daughters of God who keep the celestial law. And yet God has a veil over all in regard to these things. The whole world will be judged according to the deeds done in the body, and they will inherit kingdoms according to the laws which they have kept, every man being preserved by the law which he has observed, and all will be saved in some glory, except the sons of perdition.

Now, brethren and sisters, the Gospel of Christ is before us. We are all passing along, and it will only be a little time before a good many of us will be on the other side of the veil. Our friends are passing off every day, and we look in vain for many with whom we have been familiar in years that are past. If I go into a congregation of ten thousand and enquire for the Saints I knew in Kirtland, and request them to lift up their hands, it will be like a standard bearer on the mountains, there is only here and there one. You ask a congregation how many of them knew Joseph Smith, and it is only here and there one, they are passing away to the other side of the veil. It is so with us all, we are hastening to the end of life’s journey, and a good many of us are on the downward grade. I ask that what little time I live, I may keep the faith and have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and of the Saints of God, that when I get through I may be satisfied with life, satisfied with my acts, that I may receive a welcome into the Kingdom of God. That is all I ask and all I labor for. As for riches and wealth, I do not want them if they will damn me. I would like to have enough to clothe, shoe and feed my wives and children, and to make them comfortable, if I can get it honestly before the Lord; but I would rather myself and them all be in poverty than to have wealth and be destroyed. Riches are dangerous unless we can use them so as not to destroy us; if we cannot use them to the glory of God and for the building up of his Kingdom, we are better without them. I do not expect to live a great many years longer. The young, the middle-aged and the old are dying off. For many years of my life the gospel of Jesus Christ has been a consolation to me. I have spent a good deal more than half of my life in laboring in this Church. I labored to find this Church, I may say, from my childhood up, and many a midnight hour have I pled with the Lord, in the wilderness, in the woods, and in my mill, and under various circumstances, that the Lord would let me find a people who contended for the faith once delivered to the Saints. I desired this from reading the Bible, and from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for in the pages of that sacred book I learned that a people once lived upon the earth who had communion with God, and they had power to command the elements, and they obeyed them; they conversed with angels, and had the gifts and graces of a religion which had power and salvation in it. I could not find this on the face of the earth. I prayed to the Lord to let me live to find such a people, and he promised that I should, and I have lived to find them. I have seen the faces of Prophets and inspired men, and it has been a great consolation to me. I have my failings and imperfections, and I expect that we are all subject to them, more or less. I want to overcome them, because I desire to partake of eternal life. I also desire this for the Saints of God and for the honest and meek of the earth everywhere.

I have labored many years, and traveled without purse and scrip, preached without money and without price, for the purpose of saving my fellow men. I labor on Mount Zion to try and save the dead; I spend a good deal of time in this. It is a consolation to me, I pray God my heavenly Father to bless you and all the Latter-day Saints, and that he will give us enough of his Holy Spirit to keep us in the path of duty and rectitude, virtue and righteousness, that we may be justified before him. I pray my heavenly Father that he will bless Brother and Sister Wheeler in their bereavement, and give them his Holy Spirit, that, when they lie down at night and rise in the morning and miss their children they may feel to commit themselves into the hands of the Lord, and realize that their separation from their little ones is not forever, but that in a little while they will be restored to them. This applies to us all in the loss of our children. We lay them away in the grave, but they will come forth in the morning of the resurrection, and if we are faithful to the truth, we shall receive them and rejoice with them; and when we have passed through the sorrows of mortality and have the joy and glory of the celestial kingdom conferred upon us we shall then know that the afflictions of mortality have prepared us for and enabled us to appreciate the blessings which God has in store for the faithful.

May God bless us, and give us his Spirit, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered June 27, 1875, in the Second Ward Schoolhouse, Salt Lake City, at the Funeral Services of John Houseman, Aged Six Years, and Willie Franklin, Aged Four Years, Sons of William and Ann Wheeler, Burned to Death at Wanship, Summit County, U. T., June 24, 1875.

I am entirely dependent this morning upon the Spirit of the Lord to guide and direct me in what I may say upon this painful occasion. Those who have assembled here—Brother and Sister Wheeler, and their friends who mourn with them, are dependent upon the same source for comfort in their serious bereavement; and in fact we are all dependent upon the blessing and Spirit of the Lord in all the labors of life, and I hope that, in our services this morning, a large measure of that Spirit will be imparted unto us.

I feel disposed to read the first chapter of Job as a preliminary to any remarks I may make. [The speaker read the first chapter of the Book of Job.] We also see in reading the history of Job that the devil did not finish with him there, as it seems the devil had another conversation with the Lord on this subject, in which he informed the Lord that a man would give anything for his life and that if he, the devil, touched Job’s flesh, he would certainly curse God. And it seems from reading this history that the Lord put Job into the hands of the devil, to do as he pleased with him, only to spare his life. Of course the history is familiar to you all who have read the Bible, and you are aware that the devil smote Job, and he was covered with boils from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, so that he was in great distress, trouble and tribulation, yet in the midst of it all he did not sin, but acknowledged the hand of the Lord.

I may say with regard to the case which has brought us together this morning, it is a little similar to that of Job. We meet with some strange things in the history of our lives in the dispensations and dealings of God with men. In the case before us we are called to mourn the loss of two children taken from Brother and Sister Wheeler, we may say as suddenly and, in one sense of the word, as miraculously, as were the sons and daughters of Job. His affliction consisted not only in the loss of two children, but of all his children and also of all the possessions that he had, yet still, under all this he said—“Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

I know very well it is hard for any person to be called to pass through the scenes that we sometimes are called to pass through in this life, it is so in the case before us this morning. The loss of these little children, taken away as they were, is certainly painful, not only to the parents, but to every person who reflects; and it is a very hard matter for any of us to enter into and appreciate the depth of sorrow which parents feel on occasions like this, it is difficult to bring the matter home to our own hearts unless we have been called to pass through similar affliction and sorrow. At the same time there is no doubt that we all sympathize with our friends when called to pass through trials and bereavement. And I will here say to Brother and Sister Wheeler, and to all my friends, there are a great many worse things in this world than the case we are now called to mourn.

Our children are taken away from us in infancy and childhood, and they are taken away as Job’s were, in one sense of the word, through the dispensations of Providence, causing us severe trials. This we will acknowledge; but, as I have already said, there are many things in this world that are far more painful and afflicting than to have our children burned to death. My friends may ask—“What is Brother Woodruff driving at in this remark?” I will tell you. I have lived in these valleys twenty-seven years, since the pioneers came here. I have seen a whole generation of men and women grow up in these valleys of the mountains, and they have become parents. I have seen some, I will not say a great many, but I have seen some young men, I say nothing about maidens, who have met with untimely deaths and who have gone to the grave disgraced, and a dishonor to themselves and to their parents. Circumstances of this kind are far more painful to any parent in the world than it is for their children to meet with sudden death by accident or any other way. I do not make these remarks to apply to Brother and Sister Wheeler, for none of us know what course our children will take. We set good examples before them, and we strive to teach them righteous principles, but when they come to years of accountability they have their agency and they act for themselves.

Many things are transpiring in the earth today which we should regard as great calamities and as grievous to be borne if we had to pass through them. Think of these late earthquakes in South America, eight thousand people out of ten thousand in one city sunk in the earth in a few moments. And then, the tremendous floods that are sweeping over France and other parts of the earth, causing the death of hundreds and thousands of men, women and children. All these things are in fulfillment of the revelations of God, and of the judgments which he has promised should come upon the earth in the last days. One of the purposes which the Lord has in view in gathering his Saints to the valleys of the mountains is that they may not share in the sins or partake of the plagues of Babylon; therefore we have reason to rejoice before the Lord because of his mercies and blessings unto us. And with regard to a case like this before us this morning—the loss of those children—I want to say a few words for the consolation of those who are sorrowing. In the first place these children are innocent before the Lord; as to their death and the cause thereof, that is in the hands of God, and we should not complain of the Lord or his dispensations any more than Job did. These children have been taken away very suddenly, and in such a manner as to cause great sorrow and distress to their parents, but there is this consolation connected with the matter—they are innocent, they are not in transgression. They have paid the law of death which God passed on Adam and all his posterity; but when their spirits left their bodies and got into the spirit world their trouble and affliction were over. Their death was a very painful one, but their suffering is now over, and in a few years from now they will come forth out of their graves in the morning of the resurrection, not marred by fire or any element, but clothed with glory, immortality and eternal life, in eternal beauty and bloom, and they will be given into the hands of their parents, and they will receive them in the family organization of the celestial world, and their parents will have them forever. They will live as long as their God lives. This, to Latter-day Saints, who believe in the resurrection, should be a source of comfort and consolation.

Why our children are taken from us it is not for me to say, for God never revealed it unto me. We are all burying them. I have buried one-third of the children that have been given unto me. I have had some thirty children born to me, and ten of them are buried, all of them young. The question may arise with me and with you—“Why has the Lord taken away my children?” But that is not for me to tell, because I do not know; it is in the hands of the Lord, and it has been so from the creation of the world all the way down. Children are taken away in their infancy, and they go to the spirit world. They come here and fulfill the object of their coming, that is, they tabernacle in the flesh. They come to receive a probation and an inheritance on the earth; they obtain a body or tabernacle, and that tabernacle will be preserved for them, and in the morning of the resurrection the spirits and bodies will be reunited, and as here we find children of various ages in a family, from the infant at the mother’s breast to manhood, so will it be in the family organization in the celestial world. Our children will be restored to us as they are laid down if we, their parents, keep the faith and prove ourselves worthy to obtain eternal life; and if we do not so prove ourselves our children will still be preserved, and will inherit celestial glory. This is my view in regard to all infants who die, whether they are born to Jew or Gentile, righteous or wicked. They come from their eternal Father and their eternal Mother unto whom they were born in the eternal world, and they will be restored to their eternal parentage; and all parents who have received children here according to the order of God and the holy priesthood, no matter in what age they may have lived, will claim those children in the morning of the resurrection, and they will be given unto them and they will grace their family organizations in the celestial world.

With regard to the future state of those who die in infancy I do not feel authorized to say much. There has been a great deal of theory, and many views have been expressed on this subject, but there are many things connected with it which the Lord has probably never revealed to any of the Prophets or patriarchs who ever ap– peared on the earth. There are some things which have not been revealed to man, but are held in the bosom of God our Father, and it may be that the condition after death of those who die in infancy is among the things which God has never revealed; but it is sufficient for me to know that our children are saved, and that if we ourselves keep the faith and do our duty before the Lord, if we keep the celestial law, we shall be preserved by that law, and our children will be given unto us there, as they have been given here in this world of sorrow, affliction, pain and distress. It has no doubt been a marvel many times, in the minds of men and women, why God ever placed men and women in such a world as this, why he causes his children to pass through sorrow and affliction here in the body. The Lord has revealed something to us concerning this matter, and we have learned enough about it to know that this thing is necessary. We know that we are created in the image of God, both male and female; and whoever goes back into the presence of God our eternal Father, will find that he is a noble man, a noble God, tabernacled in a form similar to ours, for we are created after his own image; they will also learn that he has placed us here that we may pass through a state of probation and experience, the same as he himself did in his day of mortality. And time and again it has been revealed in the revelations of God given in our day, as well as in the Bible and Book of Mormon, that these things are necessary in order to enable us to comprehend good and evil, and to be prepared for glory and blessings when we receive them. As the Apostle argues very strongly in the Book of Mormon—“If we never taste the bitter how will we know how to comprehend the sweet? If we never partake of pain how can we prize ease? And if we never pass through affliction, how can we comprehend glory, exaltation and eternal blessings?”

The Lord has said concerning Jesus, that he descended below all things that he might rise above all things, and comprehend all things. No man descended lower than the Savior of the world. Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, he traveled from there to the cross through suffering, mingled with blood, to a throne of grace; and in all his life there was nothing of an earthly nature that seemed to be worth possessing. His whole life was passed in poverty, suffering, pain, affliction, labor, prayer, mourning and sorrow, until he gave up the ghost on the cross. Still he was God’s firstborn son and the Redeemer of the world. The question might be asked why the Lord suffered his Son to come here and to live and die as he did. When we get into the spirit world, and the veil is withdrawn, we shall then perhaps understand the whys and wherefores of all these things. In the dispensations and providences of God to man it seems that we are born to suffer pain, affliction, sorrows and trials; this is what God has decreed that the human family shall pass through; and if we make a right use of this probation, the experience it brings will eventually prove a great blessing to us, and when we receive immortality and eternal life, exaltation, kingdoms, thrones, principalities and powers with all the blessings of the fulness of the Gospel of Christ, we shall understand and comprehend why we were called to pass through a continual warfare during the few years we spent in the flesh.

It certainly does require a good deal of the Spirit of the Lord to give comfort and consolation to a father and mother mourning for the loss of their children; and without the Gospel of Christ the separation by death is one of the most gloomy subjects it is possible to contemplate; but just as soon as we obtain the Gospel and learn the principle of the resurrection, the gloom, sorrow and suffering occasioned by death are, in a great measure, taken away. I have often thought that, to see a dead body, and to see that body laid in the grave and covered with earth, is one of the most gloomy things on earth; without the Gospel it is like taking a leap in the dark. But as quick as we obtain the Gospel, as soon as the spirit of man is enlightened by the inspiration of the Almighty, he can exclaim with one of old—“Oh grave, where is thy victory, Oh death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin, and the gift of God is eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The resurrection of the dead presents itself before the enlightened mind of man, and he has a foundation for his spirit to rest upon. That is the position of the Latter-day Saints today. We do know for ourselves, we are not in the dark with regard to this matter; God has revealed it to us, and we do understand the principle of the resurrection of the dead, and that the Gospel brings life and immortality to light. We have received the Gospel, and if we are true to the principles of that Gospel as long as we live, we shall be made partakers of immortality, exaltation and glory.

I know very well that the loss of their children in this terrible manner is a sad affliction to brother and sister Wheeler. It was a sad affliction for Job when his children and possessions were taken from him in an hour, but yet he had sense or knowledge enough to understand and say that when he came into the world he possessed neither children, houses, lands, horses, oxen, camels nor asses, but that all his wealth had been given to him by the Lord, and that the Lord had taken them away and blessed be his holy name. I will say to our mourning friends, your children are taken away and you cannot help it, we cannot any of us help it; there is no censure to be given to parents when they do the best they can. A mother should not be censured because she cannot save her sick child, and we have to leave these things in the hands of God. It will be but a little time until they will be restored to us; in a little time brother and sister Wheeler will again have the children whose loss they now mourn.

With regard to the growth, glory, or exaltation of children in the life to come, God has not revealed anything on that subject to me, either about your children, mine or anybody else’s, any further than we know they are saved. And I feel that we have to put our trust in the Lord in these afflictions, we have to lean upon his arm and to look to him for comfort and consolation. We do not mourn under these afflictions as those who have no hope; we do not mourn the loss of our children as though we were never going to see them again, because we know better. The Lord has taught us better, and so has the Gospel; the revelations of Jesus Christ have shown us that they will be restored to us in the resurrection of the just. And I will here say with regard to the Gospel of Christ, that it is one of the greatest mysteries under the heavens to me why there are so few of the human family, whether in the Christian, Pagan or Jewish world, who take any interest in eternal things, in the state of man after death. If we read the Bible we learn that Noah, filled with revelation, and with the Gospel in his hand, although he labored a hundred and twenty years, could not get a solitary soul except his own family to go with him for salvation. It was similar in the days of the Patriarchs and Prophets, and if we come down to the days of Christ, we find that his testimony was rejected by the rabbis, high priests and the great mass of the people, and he chose for his Apostles twelve poor fishermen, and they and very few of the people, comparatively speaking, were all that received the teachings of Jesus and followed him through the regeneration; while the whole Jewish nation, with these few exceptions, were ready to put their Shiloh to death, and he was the person upon whom the salvation of the whole house of Israel depended. It is just so today. The great majority of the people reject the words of life and salvation which are proclaimed unto them. God, in these last days revealed the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith by the teachings of angels out of heaven, and its principles are made known to the world, and there has never been a congregation of Gentiles, from that day to this, to whom the Elders of Israel have borne record of these things, but what the Spirit of God has also borne record of the truth of their testimony; and herein lies the condemnation of this generation, for “light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” I ask, in the name of God and humanity, why is it that intelligent beings, made in the image of God, take no interest in their condition after death? They know they are going to die, and, if they have any sense or reflection, they know they will live after the death of their mortal bodies; still men will sell their eternal interest for money, for a few hundred or a few thousand dollars they will sell all the interest they have in the eternal world; in fact, they take no interest in their eternal welfare. Their cry is—“Give me gold, silver and honors the few years I spend here, and eternal life may go where it pleases, I have no interest in that.” I ask again, why is it that the human family take no interest in these things? We have preached over forty years. I have been engaged in that work over that time, and have proclaimed the words of eternal life to millions of people, and have traveled more than a hundred thousand miles in so doing, and, as the Prophet has said, I have found one of a family and two of a city who have had eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand, and they have been gathered up from the various nations of the earth into the mountains of Israel, and here today we have a little handful of people, out of the twelve hundred millions who dwell upon the earth, who feel an interest in building up the Zion and kingdom of God upon the earth, and who are desirous of being saved in that kingdom.

Now I would rather be poor all the days of my life, I would rather go through poverty and affliction, it matters not how severe, even to the sacrifice of my own life, than lose salvation and eternal life, because I have faith in it and always had. I always have had faith in the Bible and in the revelations of God since I was a boy like these sitting on these seats, eight or ten years old, when I went to the Presbyterian Sunday school and read about Jesus Christ. I believed then that he was the Savior of the world; I believed that the Old and New Testament was true. I believe it today. What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? What will a man give in exchange for his soul? When he comes into the presence of God he can’t buy it. This is the position of the world. There is none of us going to live but a little while; we shall all pass away soon, and our eternal destiny depends upon the few days, weeks, months or years that we spend here in the flesh. Do you not think it will pay a man or a woman to keep the commandments of God? It will, and when we enjoy the Holy Spirit, when we are trying to live our religion here on the earth, we are the happiest people on God’s footstool, no matter what our circumstances may be. I do not care whether we are rich or poor, whether in happiness or affliction, if a man is living his religion and enjoys the favor and Spirit of God, it makes no difference to him what takes place on the earth. There may be earthquakes, war, fire or sword in the land, but he feels that it is all right with him. That is the way I feel today.

With regard to the Gospel of Christ, it is a thing that we should all labor to maintain the few years that we spend here. When I get through with this life and go into the spirit world, I do not want to miss what I have in anticipation. I have always desired to see the Savior, Father Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and those old Prophets we read about in the Bible. I desired this before I heard this Gospel, I desire it today; and I do not wish to miss this, for nothing in this world would pay me for such a sacrifice. But I know that it requires constant warfare, labor and faithfulness before the Lord in order for us to keep in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and to live in such a manner that we may obtain these blessings. Jesus says—“Strait is the gate and narrow the way that leads to eternal lives, and few there are who find it, while broad is the way that leads to death, and many there be who go in thereat.” The road to death is broad enough to catch the whole world, and they do not like to walk in the strait and narrow one, they do not like to keep the celestial law. I have met with professed ministers of the Gospel, in my travels, at whose tables I have eaten and drank, and I have given them the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and have talked to and labored with them, and I have known some of them spend days and days in this warfare, trying to decide which to do, whether to receive the Gospel of Christ and take the reproach of the world, or reject it; and I may say that in nine cases out of ten they have come to the conclusion to reject it. When I visited Fox Island the first time, I went to the house of Mr. Newton, a Baptist minister; and I stayed with him. But first I went to his church and heard him preach, and when he got through I wanted to bear record of the Gospel, for I had a message to that people, and I appointed a meeting for four o’clock in the afternoon, and I preached the Gospel to them, and Mr. Newton took me to his home and I gave him the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and for ten days that man walked about his room until midnight trying to decide what he should do. The Spirit of the Lord bore record to him that my testimony was true, and he felt that if he obeyed the Gospel which I had proclaimed unto him he would lose his good name and honor among men, but that if he did not receive it, he would be damned. Finally he rejected it, and the consequence was that he became a vagabond, and a miserable outcast. I baptized all his flock who owned any portion of the meetinghouse, and if he had embraced the Gospel and been gathered with them he would have been here and saved in the kingdom of God, instead of the vagabond that he has since become. I merely mention this to show how the minds of some men are acted upon by the tidings of the Gospel. Some of them feel that it would be a great reproach to obey that Gospel and to keep the commandments of God. Bless your souls, we who obey the Gospel of Christ are all in good company. Whenever you are persecuted for righteousness sake, said Jesus, rejoice and be exceeding glad for so persecuted they the Prophets and Apostles which were before you.

I will say to all, whether in the church or in the world, it will pay you to keep the commandments of God. Here is a man who has a wife that he thinks a great deal of; they have lovely children, and the ties of affection bind them closely. Now should not such a man have respect enough for God to keep his commandments and so secure to himself his wife and his children in the celestial world after the resurrection? But you cannot get worldlings to believe in such a principle; the people, as I said before, have not interest enough in the things of the kingdom of God to be willing to keep the commandments of God.

I say to the Latter-day Saints, we should be faithful to our God. We are blessed above all the people that breathe the breath of life upon the earth, and we are blessed above all other dispensations and generations of men, for the Lord has put into our hands the power to build up his Zion upon the earth, never more to be thrown down, and this is what no other generation has ever been called to do. But although this is the mission of the Latter-day Saints, we have a continual warfare to wage—a warfare with the powers of darkness, and a warfare with ourselves. The ancients had a similar experience to pass through—they had their day of trials, troubles and tribulations. Enoch labored three hundred and sixty-five years in building up Zion, and he had the opposition of the whole world. But the Lord blessed him so that he maintained his ground for that length of time, and gathered together a few out of the nations of the earth, and they were sanctified before the Lord, and he had to take them away, and the saying went forth—“Zion is fled.” So you may trace down all the Prophets. Read the history of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah and others, and you will find that it was a warfare with them all the way through. And so with Jesus and the Apostles. But all those dispensations have passed and gone into the spirit world, and they have their eyes upon us, and in fact God our heavenly Father and all under him—the whole heavenly host, have their eyes turned towards the Latter-day Saints, because this is the great dispensation of which Adam, Enoch and all the ancient patriarchs and Prophets have spoken, in which shall take place the final redemption of the House of Israel, the restoration of their kingdom, the rebuilding of their city and Temple, the restoration of their oracles and Priesthood, of the Urim and Thummim, and the preparation for the final winding up scene in the last days; all these things will take place in the dispensation in which we are permitted to live.

Let us, then, try and fulfill and perform our duties as good Latter-day Saints. Let us bear with each other’s faults, and bear the yoke of Christ, live our religion and keep the commandments of God. Let us try and bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Let us set them good examples and teach them good principles while they are young. They are given to us by our heavenly Father; they are our kingdom, they are the foundation of our exaltation and glory; they are plants of renown, and we should strive to bear them up before the Lord, and teach them to pray to, and to have faith in, the Lord as far as we can, that when we are passed and gone and they succeed us on this stage of action, they may bear off the great latter-day work and kingdom of God upon the earth. I do not believe that the day is very far distant when the revelations which God has given concerning the last days will have their fulfillment. I believe there are many children now living in the mountains of Israel who will never taste of death, that is, they will dwell on the earth at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will acknowledge that there is a great deal to be done, and the Lord has not revealed to man the day or the hour, but he has revealed the generation; and the fig trees are now putting forth their leaves in the eyes of all the nations, indicating the near approach of the second coming of the Son of Man. It is my faith that hundreds and thousands of the children that have been given to us will be alive in the flesh when Christ comes in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory. The Lord will not disappoint the inhabitants of the earth in these last days in regard to his second coming, any more than he has with regard to other great events and dispensations.

We live in a very important age and generation; we live in the day and time when God has set his hand to fulfill a measure of prophecy and revelation to man, in the great dispensation of all dispensations. As an individual I do not believe that many more years will roll over the heads of the inhabitants of the earth before the resurrection will be upon them, and then these children, which we are called to bury today, will come forth from their graves, clothed with glory, immortality and eternal life. You may ask why I believe this. I believe it because the revelations of God say so. I read the Scriptures, and I believe that the revelations and prophecies therein contained mean what they say, and I also believe that the saying of every Prophet or Apostle spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost will have its fulfillment, and, as Paul said, no prophecy of Scripture hath any private interpretation, but holy men of old spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. They spake the mind and word of the Lord, and none of their sayings will fail to be fulfilled, for the Lord has said—“Though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not fail, but shall be fulfilled.” That is the way I read prophecy and revelation.

The Jews will be moved upon by and by, and they will return to the land of their fathers, and they will rebuild Jerusalem. These Lamanites here will receive the Gospel of Christ in fulfillment of the revelations of God. The Prophets which have been shut up in the north country with the nine and a half tribes led away by Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, thousands of years ago, will come in remembrance before God; they will smite the rocks and mountains of ice will flow down before them, and those long lost tribes will come forth in your day and mine, if we live a few years longer, and they will be crowned under the hands of the children of Ephraim—the Elders of Israel who dwell in the land of Zion. And by and by the testimony of the Gospel will be sealed among the Gentiles, and the Gospel will turn to the whole house of Israel, and the judgments of God will back up the testimony of the Elders of this Church, and the Lord will send messengers who will go forth and reap down the earth. The unbeliever may say that what we term judgments have always prevailed more or less among the nations, and that God has nothing to do with them, they are all natural. Well, if they have always prevailed, they will prevail to a greater extent in these last days than ever before, until everything that God has spoken shall have come to pass. Judgments await the world, and they await this nation, and the day is at hand when the Lord will sweep the earth as with a besom of destruction. In the vision which the Lord gave to Enoch, he saw the heavens weeping over the earth because of the fall of man; and when Enoch asked the Lord—“When will the earth rest from under the curse of sin?” the Lord told him that in the last days the earth should rest, for then it should be redeemed from the sin, wickedness and abominations that were upon it. The earth is now pretty near ripe, and when ripened the Lord will cut them off. These things are before the Latter-day Saints, but the world do not believe in them any more than they believed in the message of Noah or Lot.

Brethren and sisters, let us read the revelations of God for ourselves, and when we read them, let us believe them, and try to live in such a way that we may be ready for whatever dispensation the Lord may have in store for us, and so that we can acknowledge his hand as Job did, and not find any fault with him because of his providences toward us. If we cannot comprehend them now, we shall be able to do so in a little while. The Lord may have purposes in view in his dealings with us that we do not understand; I presume he has. In fact, the whole of the dealings of God to man are a mystery. There is a veil over the world, and it is ordained of God that it should be so, for if it were not so, and if men could comprehend eternal things, as God comprehends them, there is no man on the earth, no matter how wicked he may be, but what would be willing to keep the commandments of God, and to pass through anything that God ordained, for therein he would see there was salvation and eternal life. But God has an order in these matters, as he revealed unto Joseph Smith. He said unto Joseph—“I will prove you whether you will abide in my covenant; if you are not willing to abide in my covenant even unto death, you are not worthy of me.” And it is so with the Saints. If they are not willing to abide in the covenants they have made with God, even unto death if necessary, they are not worthy of him. Jesus laid down his life to redeem the world, and passed through suffering and affliction all his life in order that he might fulfill the mission which was given him. So it is with us. The Lord says—“I am going to prove the children of men.” There are a few individuals in this dispensation who will inherit celestial glory, and a few in other dispensations; but before they receive their exaltation they will have to pass through and submit to whatever dispensation God may decree. But for all this they will receive their reward—they will become Gods, they will inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities and powers through the endless ages of eternity, and to their increase there will be no end, and the heart of man has never conceived of the glory that is in store for the sons and daughters of God who keep the celestial law. And yet God has a veil over all in regard to these things. The whole world will be judged according to the deeds done in the body, and they will inherit kingdoms according to the laws which they have kept, every man being preserved by the law which he has observed, and all will be saved in some glory, except the sons of perdition.

Now, brethren and sisters, the Gospel of Christ is before us. We are all passing along, and it will only be a little time before a good many of us will be on the other side of the veil. Our friends are passing off every day, and we look in vain for many with whom we have been familiar in years that are past. If I go into a congregation of ten thousand and enquire for the Saints I knew in Kirtland, and request them to lift up their hands, it will be like a standard bearer on the mountains, there is only here and there one. You ask a congregation how many of them knew Joseph Smith, and it is only here and there one, they are passing away to the other side of the veil. It is so with us all, we are hastening to the end of life’s journey, and a good many of us are on the downward grade. I ask that what little time I live, I may keep the faith and have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and of the Saints of God, that when I get through I may be satisfied with life, satisfied with my acts, that I may receive a welcome into the Kingdom of God. That is all I ask and all I labor for. As for riches and wealth, I do not want them if they will damn me. I would like to have enough to clothe, shoe and feed my wives and children, and to make them comfortable, if I can get it honestly before the Lord; but I would rather myself and them all be in poverty than to have wealth and be destroyed. Riches are dangerous unless we can use them so as not to destroy us; if we cannot use them to the glory of God and for the building up of his Kingdom, we are better without them. I do not expect to live a great many years longer. The young, the middle-aged and the old are dying off. For many years of my life the gospel of Jesus Christ has been a consolation to me. I have spent a good deal more than half of my life in laboring in this Church. I labored to find this Church, I may say, from my childhood up, and many a midnight hour have I pled with the Lord, in the wilderness, in the woods, and in my mill, and under various circumstances, that the Lord would let me find a people who contended for the faith once delivered to the Saints. I desired this from reading the Bible, and from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for in the pages of that sacred book I learned that a people once lived upon the earth who had communion with God, and they had power to command the elements, and they obeyed them; they conversed with angels, and had the gifts and graces of a religion which had power and salvation in it. I could not find this on the face of the earth. I prayed to the Lord to let me live to find such a people, and he promised that I should, and I have lived to find them. I have seen the faces of Prophets and inspired men, and it has been a great consolation to me. I have my failings and imperfections, and I expect that we are all subject to them, more or less. I want to overcome them, because I desire to partake of eternal life. I also desire this for the Saints of God and for the honest and meek of the earth everywhere.

I have labored many years, and traveled without purse and scrip, preached without money and without price, for the purpose of saving my fellow men. I labor on Mount Zion to try and save the dead; I spend a good deal of time in this. It is a consolation to me, I pray God my heavenly Father to bless you and all the Latter-day Saints, and that he will give us enough of his Holy Spirit to keep us in the path of duty and rectitude, virtue and righteousness, that we may be justified before him. I pray my heavenly Father that he will bless Brother and Sister Wheeler in their bereavement, and give them his Holy Spirit, that, when they lie down at night and rise in the morning and miss their children they may feel to commit themselves into the hands of the Lord, and realize that their separation from their little ones is not forever, but that in a little while they will be restored to them. This applies to us all in the loss of our children. We lay them away in the grave, but they will come forth in the morning of the resurrection, and if we are faithful to the truth, we shall receive them and rejoice with them; and when we have passed through the sorrows of mortality and have the joy and glory of the celestial kingdom conferred upon us we shall then know that the afflictions of mortality have prepared us for and enabled us to appreciate the blessings which God has in store for the faithful.

May God bless us, and give us his Spirit, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, April 11, 1875.

If the congregation will give their attention I will read a few passages from the last chapter of Isaiah, commencing in the middle of the 18th verse. [The speaker read from the 18th verse, commencing—“It shall come,” &c., unto the end of the 20th verse.]

There are some very great and important events predicted in these few lines which I have read, concerning the gathering of all nations and tongues, but more especially the gathering of the house of Israel, a sign being promised—that when that period shall arrive, in the purposes of God, a sign shall be given to the children of men, that they may know when these great events are to take place. In this passage we are not told what the sign shall be, we merely have it promised; but we would naturally draw the conclusion that it will be something of a peculiar character, something that can be distinguished by the nations, kindred and tongues of the earth preparatory to the great gathering that is promised in the Scriptures of truth, “I will set a sign among them.” And after setting this sign he will send missionaries to Tubal, to Javan, to the isles that are afar off, “to Tarshish, Pul and Lud, and to them that draw the bow.” And it is said concerning the missionaries who are thus sent forth, that “they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.” Then, when the sign is set, the missionaries are sent forth and the glory of God begins to be declared among the Gentiles, the Lord will bring about the gathering of his people Israel, bringing them upon horses, in chariots, in litters, upon swift beasts and upon mules to his holy mountain in Jerusalem; and he will gather all nations and tongues when that dispensation shall come.

The Lord has set that sign; the Lord has sent forth the messengers here spoken of to the various nations, as predicted, and already the voice of these messengers is heard in the uttermost parts of the earth, declaring the word of the Lord among the Gentiles, preparing them for the great event predicted by the mouth of Isaiah the Prophet.

Do this people desire to know what the sign predicted by the mouth of Isaiah means? Do you wish to know the nature of that sign? Let me refer you to the words of the everlasting God that have been uttered from the heavens, declared in this record brought forth in the last days, the Book of Mormon. Let us refer to a prediction uttered by the mouth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when he appeared personally upon this great western continent, and taught the ancient nations of America. He has told us by his own mouth what the sign should be for the gathering of all the dispersed of his people, the house of Israel. I will read the words of our Savior to the ancient inhabitants of this western continent. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, all these things”—the things which he had been speaking about to the multitude—“shall surely come, as the voice of the Father hath commanded me. Then shall this covenant which the Father hath covenanted with his people be fulfilled; and then shall Jerusalem begin to be inhabited with my people, and it shall be the land of their inheritance. And verily I say unto you, I will give you a sign that you may know the time when these things shall be about to take place, that I shall gather in from their long dispersion, my people, O house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my Zion. And behold this is the thing which I will give unto you for a sign, for verily I say unto you that when these things which I declare unto you, and which I shall declare unto you hereafter, of myself, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, which shall be given unto you of the Father, shall be made known unto the Gentiles”—that is, when this book, called the Book of Mormon, should be made known unto the Gentiles—“that they may know concerning this, my people, who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, and concerning this, my people, who shall be scattered by them in the latter days. Verily I say unto you when these things shall be made known unto them of the Father, and shall come forth of the Father from them unto you.”

Now, such is the sign. First, this work will be made known to the Gentiles, and will come forth from the Gentiles unto the Indians. “For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth from them unto a remnant of your seed, that the covenant of the Father may be fulfilled which he has covenanted with his people, O house of Israel. Therefore when these works, and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter”—that is, the works which were performed during the first three or four centuries of the Christian era on the American continent, recorded in their records called the Book of Mormon—“when these works and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter shall come forth from the Gentiles unto your seed, which shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity.”

Now this dwindling in unbelief of the American Indians is very evident even to the antiquarians of our country, all of whom will admit that once a civilized nation dwelt on this continent. No learned man living disputes this. Why do they suppose any such thing? The ruins of their ancient cities, palaces and temples, proclaim in the ears of all living that once there dwelt on this hemisphere a great and powerful people, who were civilized and understood the art of constructing beautiful and substantial buildings. But now, O! how degraded, fallen and sunk into the very depths of darkness are the descendants of that once great, powerful and exalted people! “They shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity;” because they rejected the Gospel. In the fourth century of the Christian era they apostatized from the religion of their fathers; they were cursed by the Almighty, a skin of darkness came upon them; they were cursed in all that they set their hands to do, and the withering curse of the Almighty has been upon them from generation to generation, until the present day. They were to dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity.

“For thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the Gentiles, that he may show forth his power to the Gentiles, for this cause, that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and know of the truth of my doctrine that they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.”

Such is the object of bringing this work forth to the Gentiles first. That is why God prepared the way for a great and powerful nation, free from all other nations under heaven, to be established here on this continent. The great purpose which God had in view was to set up a kingdom in the latter days in which there should be full and complete religious liberty and freedom of conscience, that the kingdom might go forth unto the ends of the earth; “and when these things shall come to pass, that thy seed”—the American Indians—“shall begin to know these things. It shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the Father hath already commenced, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people, who are of the house of Israel.”

Now then, here is a prediction in Isaiah, that before the Lord gathers Israel he would set up a sign, showing not only to us but to all people, nations and tongues in the four quarters of the earth that he is about to gather together all the people of the house of Israel. That sign is when these American Indians shall begin to know the Gospel taught and practiced by their ancient fathers. “When that day shall come it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their mouths, for that which had not been told them shall they see, that which they had not heard shall they consider; for in that day, for my sake, shall the Father work a work which shall be a great and marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them which will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. But behold, the life of my servant is in mine hand,” &c.

We will now pass on to the next page. “And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this Gospel shall be preached unto the remnant of this people”—unto the Indians—“verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem, yea the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may come unto me; that they may call upon the Father in my name, and then shall the work commence with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance. And they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them saith the Father, and I will be their rearward.”

Forty-five years have passed away since God brought forth this sign, the Book of Mormon, and sent missionaries to the nations—to Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, Javan, and to the islands afar off, that have not heard his name neither have seen his glory and these missionaries have declared his glory among the Gentiles. Forty-five years of proclamation to the nations of the Gentiles! Forty-five years of warning to all nations and tongues! Now after so long a period has elapsed since God brought forth this wonderful sign, he has begun to work among the remnants of the house of Israel, the American Indians, upon this continent, by his own power. What is it that has stirred them up to believe in this work? Has it been your exertion? Not altogether; yet, no doubt, you, in some small degree, as far as your faith would permit, have helped on the work among these wild tribes. You have sought to recover them, you have fed and clothed them to some extent; you have told them occasionally about the records of their fathers; you have tried to bring them to repentance; but, after years of labor, you have said—“Alas! Alas for them! What can be done to reclaim a people so far fallen into the depths of ignorance and corruption?” Your hearts have been almost discouraged so far as your own labors were concerned. But how soon and how marvelously, when the time had come, has the Lord our God begun to operate upon them as nations and as tribes, bringing them in from hundreds of miles distant to inquire after the Elders of this Church. What for? What do they want with the Elders? They want to be baptized. Who told them to come and be baptized? They say that men came to them in their dreams, and spoke to them in their own language, and told them that away yonder was a people who had authority from God to baptize them; but that they must repent of their sins, cease their evil habits and lay aside the traditions of their fathers, for they were false; that they must cease to roam over the face of the land, robbing and plundering, and learn to live as the white people.

Who are these men who have been to the Indians and told them to repent of their sins, and be baptized by the “Mormons?” They are men who obtained the promise of the Lord, upwards of eighteen centuries ago, that they should be instruments in his hands of bringing about the redemption of their descendants. The Lord God promised them the privilege of working for and in behalf of their descendants in the latter days; and they have begun the work. All this was foretold in this record, the Book of Mormon.

Now I will read a little for the benefit of the Latter-day Saints, for though they have this record lying upon their shelves. I fear there are some who are careless about reading its contents, and perhaps do not understand the signs of the times, and the fulfillment of the purposes of God, which are here so clearly set forth. Jesus appeared on this American Continent soon after his resurrection, three different times that are recorded, and how many other times that are not recorded, I do not know. But he showed himself to them and brake bread with them. But the third time he came to the Twelve whom he had chosen on this land—as he was about to leave them he put a very important question to them. He said unto his twelve disciples, speaking unto them one by one—“What is it that you desire of me, after that I am gone unto the Father?” And they all spake save it were three—“We desire that after we have lived unto the age of men, that our ministry, wherein thou hast called us, may have an end, and that we may speedily come to thee in thy kingdom.” And he said unto them—“Blessed are ye because ye have desired this thing of me; therefore after that ye are seventy-two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest.” And when he had spoken these words unto the nine, he then turns to the three and said unto them—“What will ye that I shall do unto you, when I am gone to the Father?” And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they dare not speak unto him the thing which they desired. And he said unto them—“Behold, I know your thoughts, and you have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before I was lifted up by the Jews, desired of me. Therefore more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death.” These three men had the promise that they should never taste death; “but,” said the Savior unto them—“ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I come in my glory with the powers of heaven. And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father. And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye may bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand. And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one; And the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and the Father giveth the Holy Ghost unto the children of men, because of me.”

What a glorious promise was made to these three men! Did they receive any change? Yes, they did; not to immortality however, but a change sufficient was wrought in their bodies that death should not have power over them. But let us read a little further, it is very interesting. “And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he touched every one of them with his finger save it were the three who were to tarry;” that is, he touched the nine who were to preach until they were seventy-two years old and who were then to be taken home to God, “and then he departed. And behold, the heavens were opened, and they (the three) were caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things. And it was forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the things which they saw and heard; And whether they were in the body or out of the body, they could not tell; for it did seem unto them like a transfiguration of them.” That is the way that they received their partial change. “But it came to pass that they did again minister upon the face of the earth; nevertheless they did not minister of the things which they had heard and seen, because of the commandment which was given them in heaven.”

Now these men lived in the first century of the Christian era on this continent; and when that generation all passed away they also lived in the second century of the Christian era, and ministered to the ancient inhabitants on this land. And when the second century had all passed off the stage of action they also lived in the third century; and in the fourth century the Lord took these three men from the midst of the remnant of Israel on this land. Where did he take them? I do not know, it is not revealed. Why did he take them away? Because of the apostasy of the people, because the people were unworthy of the ministration of such great and holy men; because they sought to kill them; because they cast them into dens of wild beasts twice; and these men of God played with these wild beasts as a child would play with a suckling lamb, and received no harm from them. They cast them three times into a furnace of fire, and they came forth therefrom and received no hurt. They dug deep pits in the earth and cast them therein, supposing that they would perish; but by the power of the word of God that was in them, they smote the earth in the name of the Lord, and were delivered from these pits. And thus they went forth performing signs, wonders and miracles among this remnant of Israel, until their wickedness became so great that the Lord commanded them to depart out of their midst. And the remnant of Israel, from that day to the present—between fourteen and fifteen centuries—have been dwindling in unbelief, in ignorance, and in all the darkness which now surrounds them; but notwithstanding their darkness and misery, the three Nephites, for many generations, have not administered to them, because of the commandment of the Almighty to them.

But are they always to remain silent? Are there no more manifestations to come from these three men? Are they never again to remember the remnants of the House of Israel on this land? Let us read the promise. “Behold, I was about to write the names of those who were never to taste of death, but the Lord forbade; therefore I write them not, for they are hid from the world. But behold I have seen them.” Mormon saw them nearly four centuries after they were caught up into heaven, and after they received their partial change. Mormon saw them and they administered unto him. He says—“Behold, I have seen them, and they have ministered unto me. And behold they will be among the Gentiles, and the Gentiles shall know them not.” They will, no doubt, call them poor deluded Mormons, and say that they ought to be hooted out of society, and that they ought to be persecuted, afflicted, and hated by all people. “They will be among the Gentiles and the Gentiles shall know them not. They will also be among the Jews, and the Jews shall know them not. And it shall come to pass when the Lord seeth fit in his wisdom that they shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be fulfilled, and also because of the convincing power of God which is in them. And they are as the angels of God, and if they shall pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus they can show themselves unto whatsoever man it seemeth them good. Therefore, great and marvelous works shall be wrought by them, before the great and coming day when all people must surely stand before the judgment seat of Christ; Yea even among the Gentiles shall there be a great and a marvelous work wrought by them, before that judgment day.”

Now, having read these things, let us come back again to this spiritual movement that we hear of among the remnants of Jacob, in these western deserts, in the northwest hundreds of miles, in the west and in the southwest. It is not confined to hundreds, but thousands testify that men have appeared individually in dreams, speaking their own language and, as Brother Hyde said last Tuesday, these men tell their descendants what their duties are, what they should do, and how they should hunt up this people, repent of their sins, be bap– tized, etc. And the parties who have been thus instructed time and time again, have fulfilled the commandments that they received, and some of them have come hundreds of miles to be baptized, and they are now desirous of laying aside their savage disposition, their roaming habits, and they want to learn to cultivate the earth, to lay down their weapons of war, cease stealing and to become a peaceable good people.

The work thus commenced will not stop here. The Book of Mormon says—“When thy seed shall begin to know these things, it shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of his covenant which he hath made with his people who are of the House of Israel.” This remnant, the American Indians, do not comprise all Israel, they are but a small remnant of one single tribe, namely the descendants of that Joseph who was carried into Egypt. Away in yonder north countries, where I do not know, but away in those regions are ten tribes of the house of Israel. How do you know they are in the north country? Because this Bible has told us that in the latter days they should come out of the north country, and if they were not in the north country they could not come from there. Jeremiah says in his thirty-first chapter—“Behold I will bring them from the north, the blind and the lame with them, and the woman with child; they shall come, a great company out of the north countries.” Where will they go to? Will they go immediately to Palestine, where they formerly had their inheritance? No. Jeremiah tells us where they will go; he tells us there is to be a place called Zion before these tribes come out of the north countries, and when they come with a great company, the blind and the lame with them, and the Lord God leads them with supplication and with tears and with prayers, bringing them forth from those dreary, desolate, cold arctic regions: when that day shall come there shall be a Zion prepared to receive these ten tribes, before they finally go back to Palestine. Is there anything in the Scriptures about this? Yes. In the same chapter of Jeremiah we read that “they shall come and sing in the height of Zion.” Zion, then, will have to be built up before they come; Zion will have to be reared somewhere and prepared to receive them; and it will be a holy place, and it will be a holy people who will build up Zion, so much so that the Lord will bring these ten tribes in to the height of Zion, into the midst of it.

What will then take place? They shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for the wheat, the wine, the oil, for the young of the flock; their souls shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow anymore at all. Why? Because they have got among a good people, where there is no need to sorrow; they have come up into a land that is choice above all other lands, a land that brings forth wheat, and grapes for the producing of wine, where flocks, herds, &c., are multiplied, and their souls will be like a watered garden, and all the sorrows they have experienced for twenty-five hundred years, in the cold regions of the north, will be done away; and they will not sorrow anymore at all.

This same thing is predicted in the sixteenth chapter, as well as in the thirty-first of Jeremiah. The Lord says in the sixteenth chapter—“Behold the days shall come when it shall no more be said the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;” but instead of that saying, there will be another more glorious saying, namely, that “the Lord liveth who brought up the children of Israel from the north country, and from all other countries whither he has driven them.” But will that do away the former saying—“The Lord liveth who brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt?” Yes. Some may suppose that as the Jews retain that saying to this day it never would be done away. The Jews, wherever they may be scattered, whether in Christian lands, or among the heathens where they are anxious to convert them to idolatry, say, “We worship that God who brought up our fathers out of the land of Egypt, and wrought signs, wonders and mighty deeds in bringing them forth, leading them through the waters of the mighty deep into the Promised Land, Palestine.” But notwithstanding they have retained this saying, it will be one day done away, superseded by the manifestations of God’s power in bringing Israel from the north country and all other countries whither they have been scattered, and gathering them to their own land. The Israel of the latter day has got to cross the sea dry-shod, just as ancient Israel did. It is thus predicted in the eleventh chapter of Isaiah. After saying that the Lord would lift up an ensign for the nations, he declares, “I will gather the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth, and I will cause them to pass through the river in its seven streams, and I will smite the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and an highway shall be cast up unto Israel that was left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.” They shall go over dry-shod. They will not have to refer back three or four thousand years to the miracles wrought anciently by the God they worship, but they will tell of things wrought in their own day, which have taken place while they themselves live. “The Lord liveth that brought up Israel out of the north country; the Lord liveth who, in our day, smote the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and also the river Nile in its seven mouths; the Lord liveth who, in our day, cast up a highway in the midst of the great deep, for his chosen to come over.”

Now I will quote a parallel prophecy, delivered to Joseph Smith, one of the greatest Prophets who has lived on the earth in any generation, save it be our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Some forty-three years ago, in speaking of the lost ten tribes of Israel, the Lord says—“They who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves; and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence. And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep. Their enemies shall become a prey unto them, And in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land. And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants. And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence.” To show that they come with power, they come on a highway cast up for them; the ice feels the power of God and flows down, making room for them; and the barren deserts of the north, wherever they may go and need water, will yield forth pools of living water to quench their thirst. As they come to sing in the height of Zion, the everlasting hills, this great Rocky Mountain range, extending from the arctic regions south to the central portions of America, will tremble beneath the power of God at the approach of that people. Then will be fulfilled the saying of David, that the mountains shall skip like rams, and the little hills like lambs, before his people. The very trees of the field will clap like hands, as the Psalmist David has said. Then will be fulfilled the passage that was quoted yesterday by brother Woodruff—“Sing O heavens, be joyful O earth, and break forth into singing O mountains, for the Lord hath redeemed his people,” &c. And when they get to Zion they will begin to say—“The place is too strait for me, give place to me that I may dwell;” then the saying will go forth—“Behold I was a captive. Zion was a captive, moving to and fro, tossed to and fro, and not comforted. Behold I was left alone.” But where have this great company been, where has this mighty host come from? They have come from their hiding place in the north country; they have been led thence by the Prophets of the Most High God, the Lord going before their camp, talking with them out of the cloud, as he talked in ancient days with the camp of Israel, uttering his voice before his army, for his camp will be very great. So says the Prophet Joel, and his prophecy will be fulfilled. When they return to Zion to sing in the height thereof, “They will fall down there and be crowned with glory by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim.”

Now what does this mean? A people that have had such mighty power, a people before whose camp the Lord of hosts has been seen, and his glory by day and by night; a people before whom the mountains and the hills tremble and flee; shall a people of that description fall down and be crowned by another people? Who are this other people, that is, these highly favored children of Ephraim? What particular blessing has the Lord for Ephraim? He holds the birthright. “Ephraim is my firstborn,” saith the Lord in the 31st chapter of Jeremiah. The firstborn in the great latter-day work, holding the keys of blessings for all the twelve tribes of Israel. God has an order in his kingdom. Certain blessings can be received in one way; other blessings are ordained to be received in another form, by certain authorities that are appointed, and who hold the keys pertaining to these blessings. God did not take away the birthright of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, and transfer it to the heads of the sons of Joseph for a purpose that was of no particular account; but he transferred the birthright from Reuben to Joseph that they might hold it as the firstborn among all the tribes of Israel, to bless them in the latter days.

How long will they who come from the north countries tarry in the heights of Zion? Some time. They have got to raise wheat, cultivate the grape, wine and oil, raise flocks and herds, and their souls will have to become as a watered garden. They will dwell in Zion a good while, and during that time, there will be twelve thousand chosen out of each of these ten tribes, besides twelve thousand that will be chosen from Judah, Joseph, and the remaining tribes, one hundred and forty-four thousand in all. Chosen for what? To be sealed in their foreheads. For what purpose? So that the power of death and pestilence and plague that will go forth in those days sweeping over the nations of the earth will have no power over them. These parties who are sealed in their foreheads will go forth among all people, nations and tongues, and gather up and hunt out the house of Israel, wherever they are scattered, and bring as many as they possibly can into the Church of the firstborn, preparatory to the great day of the coming of the Lord. One hundred and forty-four thousand missionaries! Quite a host. All this has got to take place. There are persons in this congregation who will be in the midst of Zion, when the ten tribes come to Zion from the north countries, and will assist in bestowing the blessings promised by the Almighty upon the heads of the tribes of Israel. There are servants of God in the midst of this congregation who will lay their hands upon many of each of these twelve thousand, chosen out of the ten tribes, and set them apart as missionaries to visit the nations of the earth and hunt up the remnants of the seed of Jacob.

Having spoken concerning the gathering of the ten tribes, I will refer again to their Prophets. “Their Prophets shall hear his voice.” Do not think that we are the only people who will have Prophets. God is determined to raise up Prophets among that people, but he will not bestow upon them all the fulness of the blessings of the Priesthood. The fulness will be reserved to be given to them after they come to Zion. But Prophets will be among them while in the north, and a portion of the Priesthood will be there; and John the Revelator will be there, teaching, instructing and preparing them for this great work; for to him were given the keys for the gathering of Israel, at the time when he ate that little book while on the Isle of Patmos. At that time, John was a very old man; but the Lord told him that he must yet prophesy before many kingdoms, and nations, and peoples, and tongues, and he has got that mission to perform, and in the last days the spirit and power of Elias will attend his administrations among these ten tribes, and he will assist in preparing them to return to this land. Whether missionaries will be sent from Zion to hunt up these dispersed tribes in the north I do not know; but one thing I do know, from that which is reported by those who have tried to find a passage to the pole, that there is a warmer country off there, and that birds of passage go north to find a warmer climate. That I know from the writings of intelligent men who have been on voyages of discovery. And I know, furthermore, that they have crossed by means of dogs and sledges a certain portion of this great band of ice and have come to an open sea, which proves that there is a warmer country further north. There is a tract of country around the pole, some seven or eight hundred miles in diameter, that no man among the nations that we are acquainted with, has ever explored. But how much of that land may be fit for habitation I am not prepared to say, for I do not know. I know it would be a very easy matter for the Lord God, by the aid of great mountain ranges encircling them around about, to produce a band of ice which would prevent other nations and people very easily reaching them. I also know that it would be a very easy matter for the Lord God to cause deep and extensive valleys, very deep in comparison with high ranges of mountains around them, where the temperature would be comparatively mild, the same as in these mountains here. We see all the rigors of an arctic winter on our eastern ranges of mountains, while at the same time here are deep valleys in which there is a comparatively warm climate, which makes me think of that which was spoken by the mouth of Isaiah the Prophet in referring to the latter-day work. He says that “when it shall hail, coming down upon the forests, the city shall be low in a low place,” where the climate is warm.

Let me say a few more words in regard to certain things that have already taken place, predicted in the Book of Mormon by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when he appeared on this western hemisphere and taught this remnant of Israel. He told them of certain events which should transpire before the remnants of Joseph should be converted. He says—“Verily, verily, I say unto you that I have other sheep which are not of this land”—meaning America—“neither of the land of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land round about whither I have been to minister. For they of whom I speak are they who have not as yet heard my voice; neither have I at any time manifested myself unto them. But I have received a commandment of the Father that I shall go unto them, and that they shall hear my voice, and shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one fold and one shepherd; therefore I go to show myself unto them.” After leaving this continent, he went to the lost tribes and placed one measure of leaven in the meal that was in that country, having already planted a little leaven among the Jews at Jerusalem, and another little portion of leaven here in America, after which he goes to the lost tribes, and plants leaven in the third mess of meal, and left it to work. He says—“I command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone, that if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me and been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name, that they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and also of the other tribes which they know not of, these sayings which ye shall write shall be kept and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles, that through the fulness of the Gentiles, the remnant of their seed, who shall be scattered forth upon the face of the earth because of their unbelief, may be brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer. And then will I gather them in from the four quarters of the earth; and I will fulfill the covenant which the Father hath made unto all the people of the house of Israel.”

Now I want you to take particular notice of the following paragraph, or a portion of it, which I will read. “But wo, saith the Father, unto the unbelieving of the Gentiles”—having reference more particularly to the Gentiles of this great nation—“for notwithstanding they have come forth upon the face of this land, and have scattered my people who are of the house of Israel; and my people who are of the house of Israel have been cast out from among them, and have been trodden under foot by them; And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among them”—just as our forefathers have done for two or three generations past in smiting, destroying, casting out and driving the poor American Indians—“thus commanded the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel”—meaning sinning against this fulness of the Gospel, that is the Book of Mor– mon, when it shall be sent forth in the latter days—“when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all these things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.”

This prophecy has been fulfilled. It was delivered and in print before there was any Latter-day Saint Church in existence. Now how did Joseph Smith, a farmer’s boy, know naturally anything about the Lord’s taking this work—the Book of Mormon—and this people who believe in the fullness of the Gospel and the bringing of them out from this Gentile nation to these solitary regions? How did he know this so far back as the year 1830? How did he know this before the Church was organized with six members? Yet it has all come to pass. How unlikely it was for such a thing to come to pass, if there was no God in it! If the Gentiles should reject this Gospel which the Lord has brought forth by his power; “and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, peoples, kindreds and tongues, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, deceits, mischiefs, hypocrisy, murders and whoredoms, and shall reject the fulness of my Gospel, Behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my Gospel from among them.”

For twenty-seven years the Lord has been fulfilling this directly before the eyes of all this nation. Little did they think when they came upon us in Nauvoo, and drove us out from our homes and firesides and told us to flee away beyond this great chain of rocky mountains, that they were fulfilling this great prophecy uttered before this people had an existence. “I will bring the fulness of my Gospel from among them;” and mark the next sentence—“and then I will remember my covenant.” When? When he gets the people out from the midst of this nation. “Then I will remember my covenant which I made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my Gospel unto them.” Has it been fulfilled? Yes. It is over a quarter of a century since the Lord brought us out, and laid a foundation for us to live here; and we have been enabled by his power to erect towns villages and cities, to open up farms, and begin to live, and we have got a broad foundation laid; and now, the next thing is—“I will bring the fulness of my Gospel unto thee, O house of Israel;” that is, unto the Indians; in other words—they shall come unto a knowledge of the fulness of my Gospel. “Yet if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, the house of Israel.”

That is the only hope that we Gentiles have. No hope for us whatever, no hope for this great and powerful nation, only by being numbered with these poor, degraded, despised, outcast, dark, and benighted Indians. Are you willing to be numbered with them? In what respect? Not to come down to their customs and habits, their uncleanness, filth, wickedness, darkness and ignorance; but be numbered with them in the inheritance of this great continent, which was given to them by promise, the same as Palestine was given to Abraham and Isaac. God gave it by the mouth of Jacob, who pronounced it upon the head of his son Joseph, it was promised that he should have a separate land from that given to Abraham and Isaac. Read it in the 49th chapter of Genesis. The Lord gave North and South America to these Indians, nearly six hundred years before Christ. And he promised that the Gentiles, in the latter days, who should come upon the face of this land, if they would repent when this Gospel should come forth unto them, they should have the privilege of receiving their inheritance in common with this remnant of Israel—these Indians. But if they did not repent there is another decree. And what is that? “They shall be utterly cut off from among my people.” Thus it is predicted and you have read it for forty-five years. In another place the Lord says—“If they will not repent, behold I will cut off the cities of their land, I will throw down all their strongholds, and I will cut off their horses out of the midst of them, and I will execute vengeance and fury upon them such as they have not heard of.” In another place, which I have not time to turn to and read, it says—“And it shall come to pass that every soul that will not repent of their sins and come unto my beloved son, will I cut off from among my people, O, house of Israel, and it shall be done unto them even as Moses has said, they shall be cut off from among my people.”

Now Moses has told us of that time, and it is repeated again in the 3rd chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that the Lord would raise up a Prophet, and it should come to pass that every soul that would not hear that Prophet should be cut off from among the people. We are told that that Prophet was Jesus, and we believe it. Jesus Christ was that Pro– phet, and the day is to come, as sure as the Lord lives in yonder heavens, when every soul that will not repent, and receive his work, will be literally cut off from among the people, just as Moses has predicted. And it shall come to pass that “kings shall shut their mouths, for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they have not heard shall they behold,” a marvelous work and a wonder, a work that the Lord would perform in the latter days. A strange work, a strange act, so-called by Isaiah the Prophet.

O that I had time to go into the numerous prophecies in the Book of Mormon, and point out the desolations that are to come upon this nation and this generation, if they do not repent! But every jot and every tittle that has not been fulfilled since the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, will be fulfilled to the very letter. Zion will arise, clothed with the glory of her God; the Lord will be her defense; he will be her shield and her buckler; and the power of his own right hand will protect his people. And it shall come to pass that every nation, and every kindred and tongue and people that will fight against the people of God, and against his Zion, will perish out of the earth, and all nations that “fight against Mount Zion shall become as the dream of a night vision. Like a hungry man who dreams and thinks that he eats, but he wakes and his soul has appetite;” so, in the latter days, it shall be with not only one nation but all the nations that fight against Mount Zion. God has stretched forth his hand to exert the powers of the heavens, and he will fulfill and accomplish his work; and there is no power beneath the heavens that can stay his almighty hand. Amen.

Remarks by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered at the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, on Friday Afternoon, April 9, 1875.

We have abundantly proved in our experience that if we do not sustain ourselves, no other people will sustain us, and that we must be united, as was said this morning, in our temporal as well as in our spiritual affairs; and that if we would build up and strengthen ourselves in the earth, it must be by union of effort, and by concentrating our means in a way that shall produce the best results for the work with which we are identified. Cooperation, or a union of effort, has been proved in our experience, when properly carried out, to be most successful. With small means and limited incomes we can accomplish, by wisely uniting our efforts, great results, and to bring about greater union should be our continual effort. As has been said, there may be failures and mismanagement occasionally, but the principle itself is a true one, and it recommends itself to every reflecting mind. We, however, in our mercantile operations in this city and Territory, have been more than ordinarily successful. I have heard reproaches indulged in, or rather reflections cast, upon our general cooperative institution. I think it has been one of the most successful establishments and institutions that we ever have had among us, and I do not know that it has been equaled anywhere, when we reflect that in the short space of three years those who in– vested their means in that institution made one hundred per cent—doubled their original stock; and when the financial crisis came in the east—the panic as it was termed, and many strong houses went down before it, our institution was able to withstand the storm, and tide over, and has met every dollar of its indebtedness promptly, or at least to the satisfaction of its creditors. We have been subjected to a great deal of expense in various ways; but the experience of the past few years enables us to see now how this expense can be curtailed; and profiting by this wisdom and experience, as a community we should take the necessary steps to establish, or rather to arrange it so that it will give the greatest satisfaction. A good deal might be said on this subject in this connection, but as we shall have a meeting very shortly in relation to our cooperative business affairs, probably that would be the proper place for remarks of this character. But I would say, as one individual, to all the Saints—Let us by every means in our power, that is, by collecting the little means that we have, seek to build up and strengthen these institutions in our midst, and they will prove profitable to us, and be a great blessing to the entire community and to Zion.

At this afternoon’s session of the Conference the authorities of the Church will be presented, and it is desirable that there should be a general attendance of the members of the Church, as far as they can possibly come.

To refer again to this subject of cooperation. We have seen its good effects in the settlements throughout the entire Territory. I consider that if it had not been for our institution regulating prices and governing and controlling the mercantile interests of this Territory, we should have lost, by having to pay high prices, thousands and thousands of dollars that we have saved. In Brigham City particularly, judging by accounts that we have heard, have the principles of cooperation been exceedingly beneficial to the people, because of the perfection to which they have been carried out. The great difficulty with us heretofore has been that, as a people, we have not had capital to achieve any very great results. No one man, until quite recently, has had sufficient means to carry on any great undertaking; but by the masses of the people uniting under a cooperative plan, and putting their funds in the hands of those who are judicious and good business men, we can establish every kind of manufacture that is necessary in this country to make us self-sustaining. The manufacture of iron into hollow-ware, and everything of this character that is made of iron; the manufacture of rails for our railroads, of woolen goods of the best character, the establishment of sheep and cattle herds, of cheese factories and tanneries, and of every branch of manufacture that is adapted to our climate and Territory can be carried on upon this principle, and efforts should be made by us as a people to establish and make them successful. I took down with me, when I went to Washington last fall, a suit of clothes manufactured here in this Territory—the wool was grown here, the cloth was made at President Young’s factory, and the clothes were made by our tailors. There was a good deal of discussion in the early part of the session concerning the resumption of specie payments. I remarked to a good many of my friends that if I were a believer, as some of them were, in the power of the General Government to make laws respecting such matters, I should be in favor of making a law that would prevent the importation into this country of anything that we could make ourselves; and I believe that specie payments will be postponed until there is a stop to the extravagance which reigns throughout the country. The stream of gold which ought to be setting in the direction of the United States, in consequence of the multiplicity of our productions and the greatness of our trade, is constantly flowing toward Europe; and while this is the case, we may struggle in vain to get back to specie payments. That which is true concerning a nation is true concerning us as a Territory. If we would be independent, if we would keep the circulating medium in abundance in our midst, we must stop the stream that is flowing from the Territory, and every dollar that we spend here in sustaining a home institution, for making clothes, paying the cloth manufacturer for his cloth, the wool grower for his wool, the tanner for his leather, or the shoemaker for making that leather into shoes and boots, is that much saved to the entire community. One very prominent free trade member of the House, during a discussion on this subject last session, remarked that the suit of clothes he had on cost him but a comparative small amount, and that he had them sent from Canada. Someone replied, by way of joke, that he had probably bought a secondhand suit; but there is no doubt the clothes were new. But suppose they cost less in Canada than the same suit would in the States, cannot you and everybody see, without lengthy reflection, that that money all went into foreign hands, and did not benefit the people of this country? The producer of the wool, the manufacturer of the cloth, and the maker of the clothes in Canada received the benefit. But supposing that thirty-five or forty dollars had been paid for that suit of clothes in the United States, or in the community where the purchaser lived, you can readily perceive that by the circulation of that money in his immediate vicinity, he, himself, if he were in any business, would receive the benefit of the expenditure, and that the extra cost would not be an entire loss to him like paying it out to a foreign community. And so it is with our own manufactures. We talk about brooms and about cheese, butter and other things which can be brought from the east at lower figures than we can produce them; but it is better for us to pay twenty-five per cent more, and I do not know but even a larger percentage, for our home productions, than to send the money away to a distant community where it is circulated and we receive no benefit from it. If we bought homemade cheese, and had to pay ten or fifteen cents a pound more for it (which, however, we are not required to do) than if it were brought from abroad, it is not an entire loss to the community, for we all derive some benefit from the means so spent, because it is circulated amongst us, and if we have anything to sell we get prices in proportion for it, and thus we sustain ourselves. Men may say that such and such things can be bought cheaper abroad than they can be bought at home, and therefore it is better to buy them; but I say that it is suicidal for any community to pursue such a policy, and we, with the experience that we have had in this country on these points for upwards of a quarter of a century, should begin to learn wisdom, and begin to foster home manufactures and home institutions. Our cooper– ative institutions should take into consideration the people’s good, and, if there is ink, matches, cloth, leather or anything else to sell that is manufactured in this country, they should give the preference every time to the home manufactured article so far as possible, and endeavor to stimulate and foster home production and not operate against it.

By this means we build ourselves up, and the people themselves, where they are ignorant, will soon perceive the propriety and the advantage of taking this course; whereas if we pursue the old and opposite course we shall be impoverished and stripped of our means, and, having no branches of home manufacture, we shall continue to be a poor, dependent, helpless people.

Remarks by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered at the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, on Friday Afternoon, April 9, 1875.

We have abundantly proved in our experience that if we do not sustain ourselves, no other people will sustain us, and that we must be united, as was said this morning, in our temporal as well as in our spiritual affairs; and that if we would build up and strengthen ourselves in the earth, it must be by union of effort, and by concentrating our means in a way that shall produce the best results for the work with which we are identified. Cooperation, or a union of effort, has been proved in our experience, when properly carried out, to be most successful. With small means and limited incomes we can accomplish, by wisely uniting our efforts, great results, and to bring about greater union should be our continual effort. As has been said, there may be failures and mismanagement occasionally, but the principle itself is a true one, and it recommends itself to every reflecting mind. We, however, in our mercantile operations in this city and Territory, have been more than ordinarily successful. I have heard reproaches indulged in, or rather reflections cast, upon our general cooperative institution. I think it has been one of the most successful establishments and institutions that we ever have had among us, and I do not know that it has been equaled anywhere, when we reflect that in the short space of three years those who in– vested their means in that institution made one hundred per cent—doubled their original stock; and when the financial crisis came in the east—the panic as it was termed, and many strong houses went down before it, our institution was able to withstand the storm, and tide over, and has met every dollar of its indebtedness promptly, or at least to the satisfaction of its creditors. We have been subjected to a great deal of expense in various ways; but the experience of the past few years enables us to see now how this expense can be curtailed; and profiting by this wisdom and experience, as a community we should take the necessary steps to establish, or rather to arrange it so that it will give the greatest satisfaction. A good deal might be said on this subject in this connection, but as we shall have a meeting very shortly in relation to our cooperative business affairs, probably that would be the proper place for remarks of this character. But I would say, as one individual, to all the Saints—Let us by every means in our power, that is, by collecting the little means that we have, seek to build up and strengthen these institutions in our midst, and they will prove profitable to us, and be a great blessing to the entire community and to Zion.

At this afternoon’s session of the Conference the authorities of the Church will be presented, and it is desirable that there should be a general attendance of the members of the Church, as far as they can possibly come.

To refer again to this subject of cooperation. We have seen its good effects in the settlements throughout the entire Territory. I consider that if it had not been for our institution regulating prices and governing and controlling the mercantile interests of this Territory, we should have lost, by having to pay high prices, thousands and thousands of dollars that we have saved. In Brigham City particularly, judging by accounts that we have heard, have the principles of cooperation been exceedingly beneficial to the people, because of the perfection to which they have been carried out. The great difficulty with us heretofore has been that, as a people, we have not had capital to achieve any very great results. No one man, until quite recently, has had sufficient means to carry on any great undertaking; but by the masses of the people uniting under a cooperative plan, and putting their funds in the hands of those who are judicious and good business men, we can establish every kind of manufacture that is necessary in this country to make us self-sustaining. The manufacture of iron into hollow-ware, and everything of this character that is made of iron; the manufacture of rails for our railroads, of woolen goods of the best character, the establishment of sheep and cattle herds, of cheese factories and tanneries, and of every branch of manufacture that is adapted to our climate and Territory can be carried on upon this principle, and efforts should be made by us as a people to establish and make them successful. I took down with me, when I went to Washington last fall, a suit of clothes manufactured here in this Territory—the wool was grown here, the cloth was made at President Young’s factory, and the clothes were made by our tailors. There was a good deal of discussion in the early part of the session concerning the resumption of specie payments. I remarked to a good many of my friends that if I were a believer, as some of them were, in the power of the General Government to make laws respecting such matters, I should be in favor of making a law that would prevent the importation into this country of anything that we could make ourselves; and I believe that specie payments will be postponed until there is a stop to the extravagance which reigns throughout the country. The stream of gold which ought to be setting in the direction of the United States, in consequence of the multiplicity of our productions and the greatness of our trade, is constantly flowing toward Europe; and while this is the case, we may struggle in vain to get back to specie payments. That which is true concerning a nation is true concerning us as a Territory. If we would be independent, if we would keep the circulating medium in abundance in our midst, we must stop the stream that is flowing from the Territory, and every dollar that we spend here in sustaining a home institution, for making clothes, paying the cloth manufacturer for his cloth, the wool grower for his wool, the tanner for his leather, or the shoemaker for making that leather into shoes and boots, is that much saved to the entire community. One very prominent free trade member of the House, during a discussion on this subject last session, remarked that the suit of clothes he had on cost him but a comparative small amount, and that he had them sent from Canada. Someone replied, by way of joke, that he had probably bought a secondhand suit; but there is no doubt the clothes were new. But suppose they cost less in Canada than the same suit would in the States, cannot you and everybody see, without lengthy reflection, that that money all went into foreign hands, and did not benefit the people of this country? The producer of the wool, the manufacturer of the cloth, and the maker of the clothes in Canada received the benefit. But supposing that thirty-five or forty dollars had been paid for that suit of clothes in the United States, or in the community where the purchaser lived, you can readily perceive that by the circulation of that money in his immediate vicinity, he, himself, if he were in any business, would receive the benefit of the expenditure, and that the extra cost would not be an entire loss to him like paying it out to a foreign community. And so it is with our own manufactures. We talk about brooms and about cheese, butter and other things which can be brought from the east at lower figures than we can produce them; but it is better for us to pay twenty-five per cent more, and I do not know but even a larger percentage, for our home productions, than to send the money away to a distant community where it is circulated and we receive no benefit from it. If we bought homemade cheese, and had to pay ten or fifteen cents a pound more for it (which, however, we are not required to do) than if it were brought from abroad, it is not an entire loss to the community, for we all derive some benefit from the means so spent, because it is circulated amongst us, and if we have anything to sell we get prices in proportion for it, and thus we sustain ourselves. Men may say that such and such things can be bought cheaper abroad than they can be bought at home, and therefore it is better to buy them; but I say that it is suicidal for any community to pursue such a policy, and we, with the experience that we have had in this country on these points for upwards of a quarter of a century, should begin to learn wisdom, and begin to foster home manufactures and home institutions. Our cooper– ative institutions should take into consideration the people’s good, and, if there is ink, matches, cloth, leather or anything else to sell that is manufactured in this country, they should give the preference every time to the home manufactured article so far as possible, and endeavor to stimulate and foster home production and not operate against it.

By this means we build ourselves up, and the people themselves, where they are ignorant, will soon perceive the propriety and the advantage of taking this course; whereas if we pursue the old and opposite course we shall be impoverished and stripped of our means, and, having no branches of home manufacture, we shall continue to be a poor, dependent, helpless people.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered at the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Thursday Morning, April 8, 1875.

[Continued From Page 376, Vol. 17.] We talk sometimes about the Priesthood. Who are we? Who are these Latter-day Saints before me today? Are they not the Priesthood? Are you not, really and truly, a kingdom of Priests? Do you not belong to the First Presidency, the Twelve, the High Priests, the High Council, the Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, or hold some office in the Church and kingdom of God? Is not this really and truly a fact? To a very great extent it is, not exclusively or entirely. Have you not received this Priesthood? Are you not responsible to God to carry out his purposes and designs, so far as they have been committed unto you, in relation to the building up and establishing of his kingdom and the introduction of righteousness upon the earth? Are you not engaged in these things? If you are not you ought to be, this is your calling and profession. What shall we do then? Humble ourselves before God, every one of us. We all need it. Humble yourselves, repent of your sins, and evils, and waywardness, of your iniquities, falsehood, covetousness, pride, haughtiness and corruptions of every kind, and lay them aside, and become men of truth, integrity, virtue, purity and honor, that your hearts and spirits and feelings may be pure before God. Say to the Lord—“Search me, oh God, and prove me, and if there is any way of wickedness within me bid it depart, and let me live my religion, honor my God, walk in obedience to his laws, magnify my Priesthood, and prepare myself and my posterity for an inheritance in the kingdom of God. Let me associate myself with those men of God who have gone before, and with God, and with Jesus, who is the Mediator of the New Covenant, that, all combined, we may roll on the work of God, and accomplish his purposes here upon the earth.”

Why, some of these men you heard Elder Hyde talking about here the other day are beginning to visit the Lamanites. Somebody asked me why they did not come to some of us. Said I—“I do not know, but I think that if I was the father of these folks I should go to them first, seek after them first.” But no matter, let them operate and us operate, and God operate, and don’t let us stand in the way of God. Let us humble ourselves; let us reverence the Priesthood and honor those who are keeping the command– ments of God and managing the affairs of his Church and kingdom on the earth. Let us operate also with the living Priesthood of all ages; with Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Prophets, Jesus, his Apostles, with Ether, Jared and his brother—Lehi, Alma, Moroni, Mormon, the Prophets and Apostles on this continent, and men that have held the same Priesthood that we do, and with them help our heavenly Father to establish and roll on this kingdom; to save the living and the dead and bring in everlasting righteousness, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered at the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Thursday Afternoon, April 8, 1875.

There have been a number of items of interest touched upon by the brethren who have spoken during this Conference, and as it is a time when we meet together for the purpose of receiving general instructions, it seems to me very desirable that the time should be occupied in dwelling upon principles which immediately pertain to our condition and present circumstances. In the remarks which I shall make this afternoon, I trust I shall be led to speak upon those things which immediately concern us, and which pertain to our daily lives.

I rejoice exceedingly in this opportunity, that is, the opportunity of being present at Conference. I believe that I can appreciate it better than I could possibly have done had I been here all the time during the winter. I have, however, during my absence, enjoyed myself better than I could have expected. I have felt that the Lord has been with us as a people, that his power has been manifested in our behalf, and that, so far as the prospects of Zion in the future are concerned, we have abundant reason to be thankful and rejoice. I know that the hope is indulged in in many quarters that the Latter-day Saints are fast losing that faith for which they have been noted, and by the operation of which they have been enabled to accomplish the labors that have devolved upon them in the past in this country as pioneers, and as pioneers in the religious world. I am quite willing, myself, if it is any satisfaction to any individual to entertain this idea, that he should do so; but for myself, and I believe I speak the sentiments of the people, I never, in my life, saw greater cause for rejoicing in the cause of God than I do today. I am not in the least discouraged, but, on the contrary, I feel exceedingly encouraged. I know, it seems to me, better than I ever knew, that God is with this people, that he hearkens to their prayers, and that he watches over them. It is true that there are influences operating upon us at the present time that we have only recently had to contend with, they are comparatively new influences and, to a certain extent, the Latter-day Saints are unaccustomed to them, especially the rising generation. But it has been taught us from the beginning that Zion is to become a great power in the earth, and that she will triumph; but I cannot conceive how Zion can become that which we have expected, or that it will achieve the destiny predicted concerning it, unless it be by passing through ordeals such as those we already have to encounter, and others, still greater, that are yet in the future, by which Zion will show its superiority over every institution and power that exists on the face of the earth.

I have expected for years that the seclusion which we sought in coming to these mountains would be terminated. Everything in the predictions of the holy Prophets concerning the work of God in the last days conveyed this idea to my mind. I looked upon our retreat here as a temporary one, for I well knew from the character of the people and their achievements that, in a short time, we should have the world trooping to us; we should be like a city set on a hill, we could not be hid, and that the eyes of men would be attracted Zionward, therefore I have not been disappointed in witnessing that which we see around us today. It has come probably in some form that I had not looked for, because I could only take a general view, the details I did not understand, but that we should pass through ordeals that should test us, test our faith, test our institutions, test the character of our doctrines, test the practical value of everything connected with us, I never had a doubt; and so far as the future is concerned I look forward to an increase rather than a decrease of these things, to an increase of tests, a multiplication of ordeals that will be calculated in their very nature to test and try us and the system with which we are identified to the perfect satisfaction of everyone connected with it. How else could we expect that Zion should become a power in the earth? How else could we expect that that respect should be accorded to Zion which we are led to believe will be the case? How else will the wisdom and power that God will bestow upon his people be made clear in the eyes of this nation and of the nations of the earth only by these practical tests, by these trials, by surmounting these difficulties, and by showing a capacity to meet, grapple with and overcome every emergency and contingency that may arise? Can we achieve that distinction which is inevitably in store for us as a people if the predictions of the Prophets be fulfilled short of such an experience as this? I think not. The enemies of this work may indulge in whatever anticipations of our discomfiture or downfall they please, but as for us, let us take a practical, sensible view of the work with which we are identified, and prepare ourselves accordingly, so that when the hour of trial shall come, be it severe or not, we may be prepared therefore, having strength and faith sufficient to endure it, and to bear witness unto all men that we have not cherished this faith in vain.

There is this peculiarity about this work, that no power that has yet arrayed itself against it has succeeded in its attempts to gain advantage over it. It is true there have been seemingly temporary successes; there have been times when mobs and violent men have achieved a temporary success and when they have flattered themselves with the idea that their designs against this work have been successful. But one peculiarity has ever marked the career of this people, that is, that events in our history which have seemed to be deadly blows against us and the work in which we are engaged, have turned out to be magnificent successes for us as a community. Trace our history from the beginning, peruse it care– fully, draw the lessons from it which I believe are intended to be conveyed by it, and what do you see? The Church and Zion of God emerging from the difficulties, trouble and seeming disaster sought to be brought upon it by its enemies, brighter, stronger, more firmly planted, more united than it was when the difficulty commenced, or the trouble was first visited upon us. The loss of houses and lands, expulsion from homes that were dearly bought, had no such effect upon this people, produced no such thrill and such deathlike sorrow in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints as did the martyrdom of our beloved Prophet and Patriarch; had we lost our dearest friends; had we lost everything that we valued on earth, it seems to me it would not have compared with the poignant sorrow, the deep, heartfelt anguish that prostrated this people in the depths of humility when the news of the cruel murder of their beloved leaders reached them; yet deadly as that blow was, to all human appearance prostrating the entire people, who felt that they had lost those who stood nearest to God and nearest to them, God in his mercy, out of that great affliction brought forth a great triumph and raised up a man to take the place of the Prophet, who has been in some respects like Elisha following Elijah, possessing, as Elisha desired it might be the case with him, a double portion of the spirit that rested down on his master, Elijah. And God has led us, God has prospered us, and God gave us success that seemed to be commensurate with the depth of our anguish and sorrow, and lifted us up from the depths of humility into which we had sunk, and placed us upon the heights of gladness and joy, and caused us to rejoice as we could not have done probably under other circumstances. And so, when we were driven out of civilization so-called; when we wended our weary way through the wilderness, not knowing where we were going, it seemed as though the last blow had been struck and we had been left a prey to internal dissensions or to the violence of the savages. But God in his mercy, out of that seemingly great affliction, has brought forth great blessing and glory to us, and has honored us, has enriched us, has raised us up and endowed us with blessings that we could not have had where we lived; so that that great blow aimed at us by our enemies has been overruled to be the means of great and wonderful blessings to us, and as an entire people we rejoice today in the possession of a land that God has given unto us, to which he led us and which he designated by the finger of inspiration as the land which we should occupy, and which we this day possess despite all the machinations of the wicked and their efforts to strip us of all power herein. Until this day he has given unto us the supremacy in this land, from north to south, from east to west, and he has made it productive and fertile for our sakes. When we reflect upon our history since we came here; when we think of the many plots and schemes, of the many men who have lent themselves to these plots, who have done all in their power against and to entrap this people; when we reflect upon it all, so far as I am concerned, I am filled with amazement, and with thanksgiving to God our Eternal Father for his goodness and mercy unto us as a people. I know, as well as I know that I live, that no human power could have saved us time and time again as we have been rescued; that there is no wisdom of man that was equal to the emergencies in which we have been placed; but God, in his infinite mercy and wisdom, in his kindness and watchcare over us as a people, has, at the very moment when salvation was needed, stretched forth his Almighty arm. He has rescued us from the grasp of the destroyer when it seemed as though destruction was inevitable and we could not escape. The last five years have been as fruitful, probably, as any period in our history in events of this character. Time and time again has it seemed as though destruction was sure to come upon us, as though there were no way possible for us to escape; but God has heard our supplications and has opened the way of deliverance in a most wonderful manner, and has rescued us from the grasp of those who would destroy us. Others may not see the hand of God in these things; they may say that these things come about from and are the results of natural causes, but those who have prayed to God, whose hearts have been drawn out in supplication to him and who have waited tremblingly for the salvation which he has promised, have seen and they cannot but acknowledge the hand of God in these deliverances, because, as I have said, they have watched, waited and prayed anxiously and earnestly in the name of Jesus for deliverance, and when it has come their faith has been strengthened and their joy increased in the Holy One of Israel; because he has heard and answered their prayers: and today the Latter-day Saints are the people of all people upon the face of the earth who know that God lives, because he hears and answers their prayers. And he, it seems, is determined to have a people upon the earth who will be compelled to put their trust in him and not in man, because man’s power would utterly fail to save them, and no power but his can do it. When I look at all these things it is a matter of surprise to me that men cannot see the hand of God in this work. Yet there are many whose hearts have been touched by the evidences of God’s favor unto us, and they have been surprised and have expressed their wonder that we have been so signally delivered as we have been.

Now there is a great future in store for us as a people. God has said so, and his words cannot fail in being fulfilled. There is a destiny in store for this people that few can comprehend. We have to teach the world lesson after lesson that they have entirely forgotten, or that they never knew. We have to teach them and show them by our example that there is such a thing as living faith, that there is such a thing as trusting in God, being saved by him, that there is such a power as faith in the land, and that prayer, when offered in faith, is effectual in reaching him. We have to show the nations of the earth that God with a small people can accomplish wonderful results. When I think of our numbers, how few we are—we are a great people in some respects, but in numbers we are few and feeble—yet with this few people what is God doing in the earth! What a name he is gaining for his people, his servants! You may travel throughout the earth, in every land, among every people, and let it be known that you are a Latter-day Saint, and you will find that the fame of the people has preceded you, and you will find yourselves distinguished from everybody else. It is exceedingly wonderful that a people so small, numerically so insignificant, a people not wealthy, but it may be said poor, are so noted in the earth. Yet this is the fact, that God intends to make us still more so, he intends to give us a name and a place among the nations of the earth that shall be distinguished above all other people. We are accused, you know, of being disloyal. This has been a story told of us, a charge repeated against us from the very beginning, because men have thought it would be most effective in destroying our influence. The idea prevails in many quarters that we are scarcely as true to the government as we should be. I have heard it stated that were it not for these troops at Camp Douglas, Utah Territory would rebel. By such nonsense as this do men who oppose us seek to deceive the world at large respecting us and our motives and feelings. I have had occasion frequently to talk upon this subject. I have told men that, from my early boyhood, I have been taught to believe that the constitution of the United States was revealed of God, and that the destiny in store for the Latter-day Saints was to uphold constitutional government upon this land; and, that being the case, how could it be reconcilable with the idea that we were disloyal to the Government? But there is a class of men who consider everybody disloyal who does not dance to their tunes, and who does not re-echo the sentiments which they express and seem to entertain. We have a class of men among us here who talk about the one-man power and the tyranny that exist in the Utah Territory, but at the same time if an official were to come here and associate with citizens of this Territory, “Mormon” citizens I mean, they would put him under a ban and brand him as disloyal and unfit to hold an official position under the Government. And why? For years here it has been considered by certain officials as one of the best recommendations to the favor of those in power to hate and abuse the “Mor– mon” people of Utah Territory; and if a man were to dare to associate with “Mormons,” were to speak kindly of or to associate with them, and to treat them as he would other people he would be ostracized and banished, so far as association with them is concerned a non-intercourse act would be passed immediately. And these very individuals talk about the intolerance of the Mormons.

We have these things to contend with, we have these lies to live down, and as far as we are concerned, let them always be lies; let no man have it in his power to say that the Latter-day Saints are an intolerant, proscriptive or an unjust people. Never let this be said of us with truth; but if it be said, let our enemies continue to lie about us until they are tired of it, or until the world become sickened with the falsehoods that are told concerning us. And for us, let us pursue the path that God has marked out, being liberal, truthful, upright, dealing fairly, honestly and tolerantly with every man, so that every class of men who come into our midst may learn that we have received a religion that admits of toleration in the broadest sense of the word.

It has been a matter of considerable satisfaction to me to state that in Utah Territory our pulpits, stands, tabernacles and meetinghouses have always been open to every sect and denomination to come and preach their peculiar views, creeds and doctrines, and that our people have turned out in large congregations to listen to speakers or preachers of other denominations advancing their doctrines; and that not only have congregations of adults been furnished, but the children of the Sunday schools have frequently been assembled in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, that they might pur– posely hear and become familiar with the ideas and views entertained by other religious denominations. This stands out in marked contrast with the practice of almost every other sect, and it gives the falsehood to the stories which have been so frequently told about us.

Now respecting all these things that we are passing through, I recognize the hand of God in them all. I think that we have learned lessons of late that have been profitable to us. For instance, we now know and, while the recollection of the past few years is vivid in our minds we shall continue to know, how to value a just man who sits as a judge, and it may be that it will be so impressed upon us, that when power shall come into our midst, and come it will, as inevitably as the sun rises in the morning over the eastern hills so sure will power come unto us; but when it does come I trust that the recollection of the past will be vivid in our minds and that we will always seek to deal justly and fairly with all who may seek justice at our hands. It has been said that when we acquire power we shall be intolerant, as other sects have been. The Puritans, who fled from England because of religious persecution became, in turn, themselves the persecutors when they had the power. Roger Williams fled from them and took refuge in what is now Rhode Island. They persecuted the Quakers and others who came within their borders with an intolerance that was quite equal to, if it did not exceed, the intolerance to which they themselves had been the victims. And it has been said concerning us, that if we had the power, we would probably tread in the same path, that persecution would only harden us and make us deal with others with a severity which we would not know anything about had we ourselves not been victims beforehand. But I think that God in his mercy will strip us if there be any vestige of this about us; I hope he will, at any rate. If we achieve the destiny that is in store for us, certainly to maintain that character and to retain that power, it will be necessary that we should be just, upright, forbearing and tolerant, and that we should be willing that every man in this broad land should worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, whether his god be the workmanship of his own hands, whether it be the sun, the moon, some animal, or the God of heaven, with Jesus his Son, that we shall be willing that every man should worship God according to his own feelings upon the subject, so long as he does not interfere with us, or with others. I think we have learned this lesson in part. I think the lessons that have been impressed upon us have had an effect in this direction, at least they have had the effect to broaden us; and every lesson of this kind will have such a result as this with us as a people, and on this account I am thankful for them.

I am thankful today that we are not a State. There have been times when I have wished exceedingly that we might be released from territorial vassalage and be incorporated in the Union as a sovereign state. I have desired, and labored for it; but this last winter I have been exceedingly thankful that Utah was a territory and not a state. We are told to acknowledge the hand of God in all things, and I do not see why we should not acknowledge it in being kept in this condition of tutelage and vassalage as well as in anything else. But it may be asked—“Why do you think our condition better as a territory than as a state?” When I heard of events in Louisiana, the federal troops maintaining a government there, against which I was informed, and as I believed, the mass of the people revolted, I thought to myself—Better be an insignificant territory than a state if we cannot have the right of choosing our own rulers and have them act in the offices to which they are elected. Thanks to our insignificance federal troops have not interfered with us here; but if we had been a State, with two votes in the Senate, a vote or two in the House, and electoral votes in the Presidential Election there might have been a temptation to have done with Utah as with other states. But we had no vote; our delegate in Congress had no vote; we had no senatorial representation; we had no vote at the Presidential Election, and this denial to us of our rights, by keeping us in a Territorial condition, has thus far helped to save us. With such a feeling as there has been in this city and territory, for contesting elections, when they have been overwhelmingly on one side—twenty thousand and upward against two or three thousand; when men will contest elections under such circumstances, and endeavor by unjust means to wrest the power out of the hands of the people and defeat the will of the majority; when they will do this, as has been done in this Territory, it would not need a very strong pretext to have them to go farther, to have them appeal for Federal interference, and to try and induce the government to say—“Those whom you call the minority are the majority, they have been unjustly dealt with; affidavits have come here showing that the polls have not been managed properly, the ballots have not been deposited as they should be, and we must decide against you “Mormons” and the men whom you have elected, and put your opponents into power.” I do not say that this is the case in Louisiana, I do not pretend to decide upon that question, it admits of a good deal of argument; but I have been told by members of Congress who visited there—the Committee sent by Congress to investigate matters, that if the federal troops had been withdrawn from Louisiana this winter twenty-four hours would not have elapsed until the McEnery government would have been put in power, and the whole difficulty would have been solved. But the presence of federal troops maintained a government that could not be maintained in and of itself. What is the use, then, of being a State government if the Federal government is to interfere in this manner in State affairs? And with the causes that exist in Utah Territory to make interference popular and a thing to be approved of by thousands, a State government would not be so desirable. I have, therefore, so far as my own feelings have been concerned, been very much pleased at being a territory. I have seen the hand of God and his wisdom in this thing, when if my wish or my will could have been gratified we should have been a State long ago.

The Lord, in his mercy, will preserve us from these evils; in his overruling wisdom and providence he will deliver us until the time shall come for us to be a state if that be his will, and I doubt not that we shall be surprised at it ourselves. I have come to the conclusion, as one individual, that I shall not be anxious on this subject in the future, and shall leave it to the overruling providence of God to bring about when it shall seem good unto him.

As to some of the States in the South they are in such a condition that we, if we were in the same, should think our lot dreadful. I have heard stories of usurpation and tyranny by officials in those states that have caused me to think that, notwithstanding all that we have had to endure in Utah Territory, our lot has been a fortunate one compared with that of others. They have drunk the cup of humiliation to its very dregs. You know there was a time here when it seemed as though every effort was made to bring us under military rule in this Territory, and when the provocations endured by the people here come to be read in history surprise will arise in the mind of the reader, and admiration for the people who so patiently endured the wrongs that were imposed upon them, especially when it is remembered what power we hold here. Why, think of it, a few years ago a Governor came to this Territory immediately after a long and bloody Indian war, in which our citizens were massacred, their property stolen, their settlements robbed and their stock driven off; and immediately after that war a Governor came here who prohibited the militia, every able-bodied man in the Territory, from bearing arms—a most unheard of tyrannical exercise of power; and then a Secretary, while acting governor, afterwards repeated the same proclamation. And this people have borne it patiently and never lifted their hands against these contemptible tyrants. It was doubtless hoped that we would commit some overt act to provoke trouble, so that the federal troops could be brought in and be placed under the control of these officials, who for once in their lives happened to hold position. Not only this, but on one occasion when certain citizens met together as a company, to celebrate the fact of their band having got a new set of instruments a federal judge committed them to a military prison for violating this proclamation, as though a proclamation of the Governor was law! With as great propriety might an Executive claim that he has the power to restore the curfew, and say—“You must have your fires extinguished by eight o’clock at night, or we will put you in a military prison; and you must rise in the morning at the tap of the bell, or we will treat you as criminals.” If a Governor’s proclamation is law, and is to be respected as such, where will it end? Will it end with the imprisonment of men who act as militia men? No; if such acts of usurpation continue, no citizen will be safe, and they will end in the overthrow of liberty and constitutional right wherever permitted.

We have borne these things, and we have borne others, the recollection of which, were I to recite them to you, would make our blood boil. It is not necessary that I should do so; but in talking thus do we talk disloyally? American citizens have the right to talk about officials who trample upon their rights in this manner; we all have the right to question the acts of men in power; it is a right given to us, and the man is not worthy of the name of freeman who will not thus criticize acts of oppression and, in a proper manner, resent them and show his abhorrence of them. It is because they are violative of the fundamental principles of our government that I thus talk about them: and in any other Territory than this they would have provoked a storm of indignation that would have overwhelmed their authors. One of the lessons we have to learn is to have patience, but not to stop remonstrating, not stop talking, not stop appealing, not hold our tongues and let our children grow up with the belief that these things are right. No, proclaim against them, let it be known that they are wrong, that they are contrary to the law of the land, to the Constitution and to the principles of our government; let this be known, and let our children understand what is right, and all men recognize the fact that we understand our rights, whether they are denied to us or not.

I expect to see the day when the Latter-day Saints will be the people to maintain constitutional government on this land. Men everywhere should know that we believe in constitutional principles, and that we expect that it will be our destiny to maintain them. That the prediction will be fulfilled that was made forty-four years ago the seventh of last March, wherein God said to Joseph Smith—“Ye hear of wars in foreign lands; but behold I say unto you, they are nigh, even at your doors, and not many years hence ye shall hear of wars in your own lands;” but the revelation goes on to say that the day will come among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor, must needs flee unto Zion for safety. A portion of that revelation has been fulfilled, the remainder will be. The causes are in operation to bring it about. We are not alone in the thought that the republic is drifting steadily in that direction; that we are leaving the old constitutional landmarks, and that the time is not far distant when there will be trouble in consequence of it, when there will be civil broils and strife; and, to escape them, we believe, men will be compelled to flee to the “Mormons,” despised as they are now. Does this seem incredible? Why, look you, today, throughout our Union, the Latter-day Saints are the most lightly taxed of any people upon the face of this continent. I do not know a community as free from debt as we are. There are one or two States I believe free from debt, but they have had to tax heavily to free themselves. But as a Territory we have never been in debt, and although we have had many temptations to drift in that direction, not a bond belonging to the Territory has ever been issued; not a dollar is owing that cannot be paid. Our cities are out of debt; our counties are out of debt, and I hope they will continue so. Our legislators, county courts and city officers will doubtless take special pains to keep down expenses and let us be burdened as little as possible with taxation, so that we may be a happy and a free people. Let taxes accumulate, and there is a constant temptation for officers to steal your taxes; there must be men elected to take care of your taxes, and there will be hundreds of leaks by which your means will go without benefit to the community, therefore, let us be a lightly taxed people. We are that today, and that is one evidence of the good government there is in this Territory. We have peace here, and we should have little or no litigation if it were not forced upon us, and our courts, so far as litigation is concerned, would have very little to do from the Latter-day Saints; we would settle our difficulties by arbitration, and prevent litigation and money being spent therein. All the tendencies of this people are towards peace, and their aim is to preserve peaceful relations with each other and with the outside world, and we have shown this all the day long.

What is the case elsewhere? Why corruption stalks through the land, and taxation and debt are increasing. It is considered a light thing for a man to get his hand into the government treasury; that is all right, and if so he steal the funds of a city, county or State, they do not call it stealing, however: O no, that is a vulgar name; it will do for the man who robs his neighbor’s hen roost, but they have more fashionable language for the acts to which I refer.

Men in public life, under the present reign of extravagance, cannot meet their expenses, therefore they are exposed to temptation and are led to take advantage of their position. This is not always the case, there are many exceptions; but this is the case too frequently, and good men mourn over and regret it, and they would like to stem the tide and arrest this downward tendency.

This is a lesson that we have to profit by; our officials must be careful, and we must maintain a standard of honesty that does not exist anywhere else. It will not do for the idea to prevail that because a man has an office he has the right to enrich himself from that office. This has not been the case in this Territory thus far; and we may reasonably expect it will not be.

Now, my brethren and sisters, let us live for the destiny that is in store for us. Let us remember that God has a great future for this people, and that how soon it will be granted unto us depends upon ourselves. If we were prepared for it I know that that time would soon come, and we should have opportunities given us of doing good that we do not have today. But I am told that one of the effects of this ordeal through which we are passing, is that there are some young men, and possibly young women, who yield to certain temptations. Young men, who formerly would have been ashamed to be seen smoking on the streets or entering a billiard, a gambling, or a drinking saloon, are now seen in such places, and they do not scruple to use the name of God in vain, or to swear and be profane, and there are some who seem to imagine that it is an evidence of independence and smartness to indulge in these things; and it may be that they go a little further and are guilty of other acts of greater turpitude than these.

No man loses credit by being true to his principles. If he is a Latter-day Saint, let him act out his principles wherever he goes. If he does not believe in drinking intoxicating drinks, let him refrain from doing so everywhere; if he does not smoke, refrain from smoking; if he does not swear—which no man ought to do—let him refrain from it, no matter where he is, and let him be true to the principles of his religion always and under all circumstances, and he will gain influence that he would not have otherwise. Let us as a people take a course of this kind. But there is this tendency—“O, we must be like somebody else.” You can see that tendency at the present time in many things besides men’s conduct. There are men here who would change our city and make it like places they know. They would cut down our streets until they would not be fifty feet wide, and cut down our city blocks until they were like other city blocks, and would narrow our sidewalks, cut down our shade trees, and completely change the character of everything there is about us. They would rob the city of every distinctive feature, and fill the city with nest holes of vice. You can see this tendency here to imitate and do as somebody else does, instead of ourselves being the standard; instead of recollecting that God has chosen us and placed his name upon us, that he has called us to be his Saints, and that it is our duty to maintain our principles, and carry them out in our lives, doing that which is right, regardless of whether it may suit other people or not. It is our duty to have some mind of our own, and if we have a good thing not to be willing to part with it because other people make sport of it. I like our city, our sidewalks and the width of our streets; others may not, but that is the pattern and plan upon which the city was laid out. I would like to see everything connected with our city—and I speak of this because it is a case in point, and I merely speak of it to illustrate everything else—I would like to see us carry out that which is right ourselves. If we have ideas of our own, cling to them, and not abandon them, because they do not happen to be popular. And so with our practices. A man who does not smoke is not any worse for it; he is no less a gentleman when he goes into company because of that. He is no less a gentleman because he does not drink or because he does not swear, because he does not go into a gambling house or a house of ill fame; and how can a man who calls himself a Latter-day Saint, think that he is any more of a gentleman or any better a man because he can do these things when he, in and of himself, knows they are wrong. God has taught us that it is not good for us to do these things; he has given us counsel, he has given us a word of wisdom, and the man who thus disregards the word of God and his counsel does not show very great respect to him, and I do not imagine that God is going to show very great respect to him.

Let us be true to our principles; men admire sincerity, truth and uprightness, and they admire a Latter-day Saint who abides by his principles much more than they admire one who is not true to that which he professes; and you will never lose anything by telling who you are and what you are in a respectful manner, and maintaining that which is right. Of course we need not be bigoted or offensive, or run to any extremes.

May God bless you, my brethren and sisters, fill you with the Holy Spirit, and with desires to teach your children the ways of righteousness, and enable you to bring up a gener– ation that is healthy, pure, virtuous and full of integrity in this land which God has given unto us. That he may thus bless and preserve us is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered at the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Thursday Morning, April 8, 1875.

[Continued From Page 376, Vol. 17.] We talk sometimes about the Priesthood. Who are we? Who are these Latter-day Saints before me today? Are they not the Priesthood? Are you not, really and truly, a kingdom of Priests? Do you not belong to the First Presidency, the Twelve, the High Priests, the High Council, the Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, or hold some office in the Church and kingdom of God? Is not this really and truly a fact? To a very great extent it is, not exclusively or entirely. Have you not received this Priesthood? Are you not responsible to God to carry out his purposes and designs, so far as they have been committed unto you, in relation to the building up and establishing of his kingdom and the introduction of righteousness upon the earth? Are you not engaged in these things? If you are not you ought to be, this is your calling and profession. What shall we do then? Humble ourselves before God, every one of us. We all need it. Humble yourselves, repent of your sins, and evils, and waywardness, of your iniquities, falsehood, covetousness, pride, haughtiness and corruptions of every kind, and lay them aside, and become men of truth, integrity, virtue, purity and honor, that your hearts and spirits and feelings may be pure before God. Say to the Lord—“Search me, oh God, and prove me, and if there is any way of wickedness within me bid it depart, and let me live my religion, honor my God, walk in obedience to his laws, magnify my Priesthood, and prepare myself and my posterity for an inheritance in the kingdom of God. Let me associate myself with those men of God who have gone before, and with God, and with Jesus, who is the Mediator of the New Covenant, that, all combined, we may roll on the work of God, and accomplish his purposes here upon the earth.”

Why, some of these men you heard Elder Hyde talking about here the other day are beginning to visit the Lamanites. Somebody asked me why they did not come to some of us. Said I—“I do not know, but I think that if I was the father of these folks I should go to them first, seek after them first.” But no matter, let them operate and us operate, and God operate, and don’t let us stand in the way of God. Let us humble ourselves; let us reverence the Priesthood and honor those who are keeping the command– ments of God and managing the affairs of his Church and kingdom on the earth. Let us operate also with the living Priesthood of all ages; with Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Prophets, Jesus, his Apostles, with Ether, Jared and his brother—Lehi, Alma, Moroni, Mormon, the Prophets and Apostles on this continent, and men that have held the same Priesthood that we do, and with them help our heavenly Father to establish and roll on this kingdom; to save the living and the dead and bring in everlasting righteousness, in the name of Jesus. Amen.