Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Sunday, Feb. 11th, 1883.

We meet together from time to time, to speak and to hear, to meditate and reflect, to sing and to pray, to attend to our Sacraments, and to seek to obtain a knowledge of the duties and responsibilities which devolve upon us to attend to. And then we are desirous to worship the Lord our God and conform to his laws; to seek an acquaintance with him and with his purposes, and to understand the position we occupy in relation to our Heavenly Father and the world in which we live. These are some of the ideas and thoughts that flow more or less through the minds of the Latter-day Saints; and we are desirous generally to know the mind and will of God, and then to do it; at least, these are the pretensions of the Latter-day Saints. We do not always come up to that standard, however; but the great majority of the people, I am happy to say, are seeking to conform to the mind, and will, and word, and law of God.

It has given me great pleasure lately, in traveling among the Saints to witness a spirit and feeling of this kind, which has been abundantly developed in the different parts of the Territory that we have had the pleasure of visiting. And it is a matter of considerable importance to us, as a people, that we comprehend the position that we occupy in the world, and the various duties and responsibilities that devolve upon us. There are various theories, notions and ideas abroad in the world pertaining to the future. We, ourselves, have been gathered from the nations of the earth under the influence of the new and everlasting Gospel, and under the guidance and dictation of God, our heavenly Father; and we call this Zion, and we call ourselves the people of Zion, or in other words, the Saints of the Most High God. We really make very great pretensions. To be a Saint signifies to be holy, to be pure, to be upright, to be virtuous. The German language is very significant on this point, and they calling us according to our name, denominate us as der Heiligen der Letzten Tage, or as the holy of the last days. This is the profession which we assume. We say that we have come here to learn the laws of God, and to be taught in His ways, and that in us is fulfilled many of the ancient prophecies pertaining to these matters, one of which is: “I will take them one of a city and two of a family, and bring them to Zion; and I will give them pastors after mine own heart, that shall feed them with knowledge and understanding.” There is something very peculiar in the position that we occupy, and in the manner in which we have been brought together, which is not generally understood by the world of mankind.

We profess again to be the Church of God, and to be the kingdom of God; in fact we have any amount of profession; but the question with me sometimes is, how near we live up to our professions, and adhere to the principles that we profess to believe in and to be governed by. For we are told in the Scriptures, that it is “not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” And again Jesus said, “Many will say to me in that day (that is speaking of the day of judgment), Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?” But He says, He will say unto them, “I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Again we are told that he that doeth righteousness is righteous. And further, as a test that is given for the guidance and direction of His people, a strict command is given unto them pertaining to their entertaining an undue attachment to the world. John says: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” No matter what their professions may be, no matter what their position may be; it applies to all. “Love not the world nor the things that are in the world.” We are indeed called here to this land of Zion to perform a peculiar work, which the Lord has placed upon us, associated with what is termed the dispensation of the fullness of times, wherein God will gather together, it is said, all things in one, whether they be things in the heavens or things on the earth. It is a dispensation in which is embraced everything that is connected with any and every other dispensation that has ever existed since the world rolled into existence, or the morning stars sang together for joy; and embraces all these dispensations; it is proper that we should strive to comprehend the various duties and responsibilities devolving upon us. We differ from the world in many respects; and I will try to point out some of these things wherein this difference exists.

We are apt sometimes to be too censorious of the world. We think that they act very wickedly and badly, and that is true; but then, at the present at least, we are not their judges; it is not any part of our duty to sit in judgment upon them. Who are we? The children of our Heavenly Father. Who the world, as we sometimes denominate those that are not of our Church? The children of our Heavenly Father. For God has “made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,” we are told, “and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find Him, though he be not far from every one of us.”

Now outside the Gospel, outside of revelation, outside of any special communication from the Lord, all men, more or less, everywhere have certain claims upon their Heavenly Father, who is said to be the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh. Then we are told, when Jesus spake to his disciples, they asked him how they were to pray. He said, Say, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Who? Our Father—the God and the Father of the spirits of all flesh. When you approach Him, say, our Father who art in heaven. Then, they belong to our Father, as well as we. In regard to the operation of the Spirit upon man, let me draw your attention to a fact that is generally understood by all reflecting men, and that is, no matter how wicked a man may be, how far he may have departed from the right, such a man will generally admire and respect a good man, an honorable man, and a virtuous man; and such a man will frequently say; “I wish I could do as that man does, but I cannot: I wish I could pursue a correct course, but I am overcome of evil.” They cannot help but respect the good and the honorable, although they may not be governed by principles of honor and virtue themselves. This same spirit which is given to every man outside of the Gospel has been manifested in the different ages of the world. When I say outside of it, the Latter-day Saints will understand me. When I speak of the Gospel I speak of the Gospel revealed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and which has existed at times through the different ages, and which, wherever it did exist brought men into close communion with the Lord; hence the Gospel is called the everlasting Gospel. The Scriptures unequivocally state that our Savior “brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel,” and wherever a knowledge of life and immortality existed it was through the Gospel; and whenever and wherever there was no knowledge of life and immortality there was no Gospel. But outside of that there have been many good influences abroad in the world. Many men in the different ages, who, in the midst of wickedness and corruption, have tried to stop the current of evil, have placed themselves in the catalogue of reformers. Some of those have been what are called heathen, others what are termed Christian, and others have been scientific and philanthropic—lovers and benefactors of the human race. The many reformers that existed in former ages have been men many of whom have been sincerely desirous to do the will of God, and to carry out His purposes, so far as they knew them. And then there are thousands and tens of thousands of honorable men living today in this nation, and other nations, who are honest and upright and virtuous, and who esteem correct principles and seek to be governed by them, so far as they know them.

But there is a very great difference between this spirit and feeling that leads men to do right, which is emphatically denominated a portion of the Spirit of God, which is given to every man to profit withal, and what is termed in the Scriptures the gift of the Holy Ghost. Men may be desirous to do right; they may be good, honorable and conscientious; and then when we come to the judgment pertaining to these things we are told that all men will be judged according to the deeds done in the body, and according to the light and intelligence which they possessed.

I will take, for instance, the position of the reformers, going no further back than Luther and Melancthon; and then you may come to Calvin, Knox, Whitfield, Wesley, Fletcher, and many others; men who have been desirous in their day to benefit their fellow men; who have proclaimed against vice, and advocated the practice of virtue, uprightness and the fear of God. But we all, who have contemplated these subjects, know that those men never did restore the Gospel as it was taught by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; neither did they see or comprehend alike in biblical matters; they groped, as it were, in the dark, with a portion of the Spirit of God. They sought to benefit their fellow man; but not having that union with God that the Gospel imparts, they were unable to arrive at just conclusions pertaining to those matters. Hence one introduced and taught one principle, and another introduced and taught another; and they were split up and divided, and the spirit of antagonism was found at times among them; and with all their desires to do good, they did not, and could not restore the Gospel of the Son of God, and none among them were able to say, Thus saith the Lord. And that is the condition of the religious world today; it is Babylon or confusion; confusion in ideas, confusion in regard to doctrine, confusion in regard to ordi– nances, etc. And what shall we say of such men? Shall we say that they were wicked? No. It is lawful to do good always, and anyone who seeks to promote the welfare of the human family is a benefactor of mankind, and ought to be sustained. But now comes another principle which is different to that. We find in reading the Scriptures, that at the time Jesus made His appearance upon the earth, there was a variety of sects and religious parties; there were the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Esselves, and others. But these people were told that there was but one Lord, not many; one faith, not many; one baptism, not many; and one God who is above all and through all and in you all.

Now that was one thing that troubled Joseph Smith in his youthful days, and a recital of his experience in these matters I have had myself from his own lips. There was, in his young days, a religious revival in the region where he dwelt. The people that took part in it were no doubt sincere. I look at such things differently from a great many men. We cannot reasonably suppose that all men are hypocrites about such matters. Finally they, to use their own term, “converted” some, and then there began to be a scramble as to which church the converts should belong. This perplexed Joseph Smith. And having one day while reading in the Bible, come across that passage in the epistle of James, where it says, “If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him,” he went and asked God concerning the matter. And the Lord revealed Himself to him, and among other things that He told him at the time was that none of the sects were right, that all had gone out of the way, and commanded him not to join any of them.

I need not now enter into the details of his history, as these things are well known; but I will proceed. The Gospel that was restored to him was the same Gospel that Jesus introduced and taught; the same Gospel that was taught in part by Abraham, and by Moses—for we read that the children of Israel had the Gospel preached to them in the wilderness, “but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those that heard it.” Therefore the law was added because of transgression. Added to what? To the Gospel. What difference is there between the Gospel and the beliefs of other sects and creeds? The Gospel always did and always will “bring life and immortality to light.” That is the difference. While others are groping in the dark, though their intentions in many instances are to do good and work righteousness, so far as they know, yet they cannot come to a knowledge of God, nor become acquainted with eternal things without the Gospel; without the gift of the Holy Ghost, the spirit of revelation which proceeds from God. And who are to have this? All who obey. “But I thought,” say some, “that that was confined to some one or two, or to half a dozen or a dozen, as the case may be, and that the whole people had nothing to do with it.” This is a very great mistake, and I will now show you the difference between that and the things as they exist in the world; between the position that we occupy and the position that the world occupy.

The world, as I have told you, unaided by the gift of the Holy Ghost, unaided by the Gospel and the light of revelation, are left to grope a good deal in the dark. But not so with the Saints of God; no matter in what age of the world they may have lived, they have been placed under other circumstances; they have had the light of truth to guide them, and revelation direct from the Lord. And here is the difference between one and the other. When Nicodemus came to Jesus he went to him by night; he was much like some men are in this our day, with respect to their private feelings for the “Mormons;” they respect the “Mormons,” they cannot help doing so, but they do not want it known; for the Latter-day Saints, like the former-day Saints, are not popular; in fact, we are considered by many as they were, to be of disreputable character, a people with whom it would not be considered proper to associate. This was the character that the Savior bore among the self-righteous but hypocritical religionists of His day. Yet we call Him the Son of God. And we find Nicodemus, a prominent man, a man of discernment and ability, creeping around the back door, not wishing it to be known that he had called upon the “Mormons”—oh, no!—Jesus of Nazareth; yet he wished to find out something respecting Him, for he believed that no man could do the things that He did except God were with him. Jesus in explaining the Gospel to him, told him that he, in order to understand His teachings and His works, would have to be born again. Nicodemus could not appreciate this saying, he knew not what the Savior meant, thinking the saying referred to a man’s natural birth. The Savior then told him, that unless a man was born of the water and of the Spirit, he could not enter the kingdom of God; that he could not comprehend it; that he could not even see it; that he could not understand the relationship that existed between God and man without the gift of the Holy Ghost. The question would naturally arise, how could man become possessed of this heavenly gift? There was a young man, for instance, a high-minded, honorable young man, who went to Jesus, and addressing Him, said, Good Master, what good thing can I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said, Thou knowest the commandments, “Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not commit adultery, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor thy father and mother, and love God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself.” And the young man said that these things he had done from his youth up. Jesus then told him to go and sell all that he had and give to the poor, and to come and follow Him; promising him that he should have treasures in heaven, or in other words he should have eternal life, and should drink of the streams whereof make glad the city of our God. But the young man went away sorrowful, for he had much possessions.

In regard to the Holy Ghost of which we have spoken, we are told that the disciples were instructed to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endowed with power from on high. They did so, and when they were assembled together in one place with one accord, making prayer and supplication unto the Lord, the spirit of God descended upon them as a mighty rushing wind and rested upon them. And they began to speak in tongues as the Spirit of God gave them utterance. There were people there from different nations, and they heard them speak in their own tongues the wonderful works of God. Some who were present said they were drunk. “These men are drunk with new wine,” said they. “Why, no,” said Peter, “it is only the third hour of the day”—that is about nine o’clock in the morning. People do not generally get drunk as early as that. What did this all mean? Peter said unto them: “This is that which was spoken of by the Prophet Joel, and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit; and they shall prophesy.” In other words, it shall bring them into relationship with God; it shall open the visions of their minds; it shall inspire them with the spirit of revelation; they shall have a hope that enters within the veil, whither Christ our forerunner hath gone: and being led and directed under the inspiration of God, they shall have one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, and be guided in the ways of all truth. Well, when the people asked what they were to do to be saved, they were not told as the Pharisees would tell them, or as the Essenes, or as the Sadducees, or any of the other parties; but they were told to repent and be baptized every one of them in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and they were promised that they should receive the Holy Ghost. In other words, they would be born of water and of the Spirit, and be made new creatures in Christ Jesus. What, then, would the Holy Ghost do for them, and wherein was the difference and the distinction between that and the other spirit—that is, the spirit which the people of the world had; for they had a conscience accusing or excusing them, and many of them felt a desire to do right. But the gift of the Holy Ghost was to place them in a position whereby they could know and comprehend for themselves. What was the command of Jesus to His disciples? “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow those that believe.” What signs? Why, the sick were to be healed, the lame were to be made to walk, the blind to see, and the deaf to hear, and the poor were to have the Gospel preached to them. Now, what did Jesus tell His disciples the Holy Ghost should do when it came? He promised—“It shall lead you into all truth.” What shall it do? Lead you into all truth—not into a diversity of sentiments, not into differences of doctrine, not into a variety of ordinances, but you shall see alike, comprehend alike and understand alike. “It shall lead you into all truth.” What else shall it do? It shall bring things past to your remembrance, so that you will be able to comprehend the things of God as they have existed in the different ages on the earth and with the Gods in the eternal worlds, and you shall see eye to eye. And the Scriptures say that when the Lord shall bring again Zion her watchmen shall see eye to eye. They shall see alike, they shall comprehend alike, they shall be under the same influence. What else shall it do? It shall show you of things to come. You shall be enabled to look through the dark vista of the un– born future, to draw aside the veil of the invisible world, and comprehend the things of God; to know your destiny and the destiny of the human family, and the events that will transpire in coming ages and times. That is what the Holy Ghost will do, and therein is the difference between that Spirit and the little portion of that spirit which is given to every man to profit withal. In other words, men are inducted into the family of God and the household of faith, and they become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Did the disciples promise these things in their day? Yes, they did. Did the people who obeyed the Gospel receive them? Yes, they did, and so evident was it in many instances that Simon Magus, who, when he saw that the disciples by laying on of hands conferred the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the people spake with tongues and prophesied under its influence, offered the Apostles money, with the expectation that they would confer it upon him for his money, so that he might possess this great power. But he was answered immediately: “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.” These men in that day possessed a hope that bloomed with immortality and eternal life—a hope which it was said entered within the veil whither Christ our forerunner hath gone. And then there were a great many of the same class of people to whom Paul alludes when he says: “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, afflicted, tormented,” &c. And, says Paul, “For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” They have obtained a hope that others have not. They have received intelligence which others do not possess. Now, what is the promise that is made to the world today when the Elders of the Latter-day Saints preach the Gospel to them? What have I proclaimed to them? What have hundreds of Elders that are here today proclaimed to them? They have told them to repent of their sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus, for the remission of sins, and they should receive the Holy Ghost. What Holy Ghost? The same as men had in former times, possessing the same certainty, the same intelligence, the same knowledge and faith, and the same relationship to God. And we in our day are taught as they were in their day to add to our faith virtue, to virtue brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness charity, etc., that if these things dwell in us and abound we shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ—not in the “guess so,” not in the opinions, not in the notions, not in the ideas, not in the theories of man, but in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the position which the Saints in these times are called to occupy; this is the thing that has been promised to the Latter-day Saints; this is the principle which they themselves have received, and you Latter-day Saints are witnesses of these things of which I speak. I speak of things that I know; I testify of things that I have seen and that you comprehend, and it is by that very principle that you have been gathered together here into these valleys of the mountains. Here is the difference between uncertainty and doubt, and truth, certainty and intelligence. The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirits—if we are living our religion and keeping the commandments of God—that we are the children of God, as it did to the former-day Saints, and there is no guessing and no uncertainty about the matter. We know in whom we have believed; and if the Latter-day Saints have not this Spirit it is because they are not living their religion and keeping the commandments of God. Very well, this being the difference, what next? Why we are told in this day to proclaim the Gospel to the world as they did in former days. What has been told to the Elders of Israel in these days? “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” Just the same as it was in former days. And have we done it, and are we doing it? Yes. I myself have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles to proclaim this Gospel, without purse or scrip, trusting in the God of Israel; and I would rather go forth trusting in God for my subsistence, backed up by the Lord God of Hosts and by the Spirit of God, and under the promise of God, than under the promise of any earthly potentate that could be found in any part of the world. Why? Because God is always true to His word and sustains those who put their trust in Him. And hence we say it is a certainty. What is the feeling today amongst our Elders? Why here are hundreds of them going on missions, and they keep going. And what is their feeling? I receive numerous letters something like the following: “I have been called to go upon a mission. I esteem it an honor to be engaged in the service of God, and to be a messenger of salvation to my fellow men, and I will try to be ready at the time appointed and fulfill the duties required of me.” These and similar letters keep flowing in; and the Elders go forth in the name of Israel’s God bearing precious seeds, the seeds of eternal life, as messengers to the nations of the earth, the legates of the skies, commissioned by the Great Jehovah to proclaim the words of life to the world, and they return again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them. This is one work we have to do. Sometimes I think that some of our Elders scarcely understand this matter as fully as they might, and I will here make a remark in relation to it. They say that people pay very little attention to them in some parts; in others a great many are baptized, etc. Now, the Elders are not responsible for the actions of other men. It is their business to go and preach the Gospel and to use all diligence and faithfulness and be earnest and emphatic, and to seek for the guidance and direction of the Lord in the proclamation of his word; but they have nothing to do with the people receiving or rejecting their message. If they receive it, it is for their benefit; if they reject it, it is to their condemnation. But the Elder is not responsible, whether they receive it or not. If he fulfills his duties he does just as much in that respect as if thousands were to receive it. But, thousands are receiving it, and we are doing our work and performing our duties, and sending forth the Gospel. And then when we have done that, what else? Why, that is all we can do. Preach these things to the world; deliver the testimony that God has given to us. And what then? Are we to persecute them because they do not believe as we do? I think not. Shall we try to crowd them, and tell them they have not right government and right laws, and that they are wrong in every particular in regard to these matters? I do not know that that is any part of our business. Our business is to preach the Gospel, and if they do not receive it, leave them, that is all. In some particular cases, when the disciples in former days went and preached the Gospel, and the people would not receive it—Jesus told them to go and wash their feet as a testimony before Him in regard to that matter, and he would deal with such people Himself. We have to leave those things in the hands of God, for the nations as well as ourselves are all in the hands of God. It is true that it is said of the Twelve Apostles that hereafter they shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, but it is also true that John the Revelator says, “I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” It is said again that the Saints shall judge the world, but that is not yet; our business now is simply to preach the Gospel and deliver our testimony, to gather together the elect from among the nations, and having faithfully performed our duty to leave the events pertaining to others in the hands of God.

We have gathered to these valleys of the mountains. What duties now devolve upon us? To build up a Zion unto our God. And who is

Discourse by Elder Chas. W. Penrose, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Sunday, Jan. 14th, 1883.

I feel thankful, my brethren and sisters, that I have the privilege, with you, of assembling in this place to worship God; and I feel very thankful that we are able to meet and worship God in the way that He has appointed; and that the religion that we have embraced is no cunningly devised fable of man, but is the very truth of the eternal God, and has been sent down from heaven in these latter times for our benefit, for our guidance, and for our salvation, if we will hearken to and obey it.

The God whom we worship is not a God of our own invention, but a God who has revealed Himself to us, to a certain degree, and who has pointed out to us the way in which we should walk. There is a prevalent idea in the world that all the God there is, is such as men have framed and fashioned in their own minds. It is true that the people of the earth in different ages have imagined a great many things in regard to Deity. They have set up Gods of their own, worshipping them according to their own notions. But this is not the case with the people called Latter-day Saints. They have not framed and fashioned a being to fall down before and worship; but they have received communication from a Divine Being with instructions how they should act, and those instructions form their religion. The leaders of this Church have not invented the system; but every principle connected therewith has been revealed from on high.

The God whom the “Christians” worship is a being of their own creation—if, indeed, there can be such a being as they describe him to be; they have formed certain notions concerning deity, and then they have formulated those notions into articles of faith or religion. So with the heathen nations, so-called. They have formed idols of wood and stone; others have chosen the heavenly bodies, such as the sun, which represent to them certain qualities which they think deity should possess. Not that the heathen nations really and truly worship the wood or the stone, as such; but the images which they set up, or the objects which they adore merely draw their attention to something behind and above and greater than those objects. So with the Roman Catholic. When he bows down before the image of the Virgin Mary, or before the image of the Savior upon the cross, he does not profess to worship the picture or the image; these are merely methods to lead the mind to something beyond what the natural eye sees. But then, these various deities which people worship are, after all, the emanation of their own minds; they are gods of their own invention. Herein lies the great difference between the sects of Christendom and of heathendom, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The people of this peculiar Church worship a Being who has to some extent manifested himself to them, and who has told them what they know concerning Him. And the revelations He has made to us of Himself, and of the Gospel of salvation that we have received have been given in this our day and time through men whom He Himself has chosen for this purpose. So with regard to the different ordinances and doctrines of the Church to which we belong; and so with our mode of worship, and everything belonging to our religion. It has all been revealed to us, and we accept it as having come from a higher source.

Our religion consists of that which God reveals to us, not of that which we make ourselves and then offer to Him. Some people seem to have the idea that God ought to receive their worship, no matter in what way it is made; that He ought to accept the ordinances which they administer or receive, no matter what they may be; that all the worship which they offer ought to be accepted by Deity, no matter in what shape or form it may be devised. This is because the inhabitants of the earth do not understand the true and living God and His ways. The Lord will not accept that which He Himself has not appointed; He will not acknowledge that which He Himself has not revealed. The inhabitants of the earth are, of course, at liberty to devise modes of worship, and they may frame their own religious tenets and doctrines, but these are not acceptable to the Lord, neither is it reasonable that He should be expected to accept them. When God manifests Himself to the inhabitants of the earth and reveals to them truth, and makes known to them ordinances, then the people are under obligations to receive that which God has manifested; but God Almighty is not under obligation to accept that which man has invented. It is true that the doctrines which God has revealed in these latter days are not new; that they are not revealed for the first time, because we are living in the latter days. In previous ages of the world God manifested himself and revealed to the inhabitants of the earth His ways and called upon them to walk in his path; and, therefore, a great many things which God has revealed to us may be found in the ancient Scriptures. Holy men of old, called in the same way as men are in these days, have left on record some things which God manifested to them; and they are written in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and in records that have been lost, but which will be brought forth in this great and last dispensation of God’s mercy to man. So we may take up the book called the Bible, and read a great many principles which have been made manifest to us in our day; but we do not take them from the Bible or any of these records. We receive them because God has revealed them to us; and when we open the Bible or any of the books written by inspiration, and find written therein many things which correspond to that which He has revealed to us, they serve to corroborate the living word of God, which has come down to us out of heaven.

The different sects in Christendom profess to take the Bible, the Old and New Testament, as their guide to salvation; and they say, whatsoever is not found therein and cannot be proved thereby is not to be received as an article of faith. That, in general terms, is one of the principles which runs through the various “Christian” sects. They found their faith, or profess to, upon the Bible. While we do not take that position, while our faith is not founded upon the Bible or on any written book, when we compare the Bible with what we do believe what God has revealed to us, we find it corresponds; we find that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. This Book says that, and that his works are one eternal round. Truth is not new; it may be revealed anew, and it may be new to the people to whom it is revealed. But there is only one plan of salvation, one true and everlasting Gospel. That Gospel God revealed in the beginning; that Gospel God has revealed at different times; and in these latter days he has revealed the same old Gospel again in great plainness, and prepared the way so that all people who desire the truth may come to the knowledge of it, without being left to depend upon books that were written hundreds of years ago, He having poured out upon man again the same spirit to guide and direct them and to enable them to understand God and His purposes, that men had who wrote the things contained in the Bible or in any other inspired book left on record. And herein is another great difference between the religion of the Latter-day Saints and all other religions in the world. We have a living faith, a living God, and the living word of God to guide and direct us every day of our lives. When we read the letter of the word of the Lord, given ages ago, and that has been handed down from generation to generation, we have the satisfaction of knowing that the things which God has revealed to us were revealed to the ancients, and that by receiving these things they came to know God, whom to know is life eternal; and we are thereby encouraged to imitate their examples, and also to avoid the errors which they fell into.

Now although we do not base our faith upon the Bible or any other written work, yet at the same time there are no people upon the face of the earth who believe so much in the sacred scriptures left on record and handed down to us, as do the Latter-day Saints. Though we are not dependent upon books for our religion—for our religion would exist if there were no books in existence, at the same time we manifest by our works that we have more faith in the Bible than the people who profess to base their faith upon it. At the beginning of our religion, if I may use that term—but really there is no beginning, for it is true, and truth is eternal without beginning and without end; every principle of truth always had an existence, and when, therefore, I say beginning of our religion, I mean the beginning of the revelation to the people in the day in which we live—when our religion was first revealed the world was in ignorance concerning God and his ways. It is true there was a glimmering of light concerning him which was obtained through reading the Bible, and other works containing the writings of men who in former times were to some extent inspired. For the inspiration of God in olden times was not confined to the men who wrote the Jewish Scriptures. The Jewish prophets revealed the word of God; the holy men of God who moved among the people in that nation were inspired from on high; but God has permitted His Spirit, which is the light of truth, and which manifests truth, to be poured out upon all the inhabitants of the earth to some extent; for in that they live and move and have their being, and all people of any age, race or country who seek unto God with an honest heart in fervent prayer, desiring truth and to be taught of God, will be enlightened by Him. There have been inspired bards and sages and poets, who have uttered words of truth, words of inspiration concerning things of which they had been enlightened of God. And many things that such men wrote have been recorded and handed down, and scraps of them may be found among all nations and peoples. As the Apostle Paul says, “God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live, and move and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” His Spirit has enlightened mankind in all ages to a certain extent; for the spirit of the Lord, which gives light to the human understanding is the spirit by which we live; it is the spirit of light; it is the spirit of life. And as the light that proceeds forth from that glorious luminary, the sun, gives light to the earth, and also light to vegetation, and to man and beast, so the spirit of Him who created us has been poured out upon all people, and upon all animated things; indeed, we are told in the revelations of God, that the light which lights our eyes is through Him that enlighteneth our understandings, and is the same light that proceeds from the bosom of God, and fills the immensity of space; that it is the same light that lightens every man that cometh into the world—the Jew, the Gentile, the bond and the free. We are told, that “there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” This is that spirit. It is the light of Christ; it is the light of God. It is the life of our bodies, and it is also the light of our minds. This spirit is not confined to one race of people, or to one country, or to one age or generation, but it is universal; it is of Him in whom we live and move and have our being. It is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And if all men would be guided by that natural light, that natural inspiration which gives them understanding, and by which they exist, they would be guided directly to Him who is the fountain of all light; they would then be in a condition to be communicated with by Him who is their Maker and Creator. But the inhabitants of the earth have been from the beginning prone to walk in the ways of darkness rather than in the light, because, as Jesus explained it, “their deeds are evil.” This is the reason why there is so much ignorance in the world concerning God and His ways.

When the Lord, at different times, has raised up men who sought Him, who learned of Him, and who put themselves in such a condition that He could communicate with them, and through them to the rest of mankind, generally speaking, those men have been despised and rejected by the multitude. The great masses of the people have gone downward in error and darkness; it has been hard for them to walk in that straight and narrow path which leads upward to light, to intelligence, to purity, to the presence of Him who is the author of truth; and, therefore, the vast majority of the servants of God, who have been called to be special witnesses of the Almighty to a fallen world, have met with cruel and inhuman treatment from those to whom they were sent. They have generally been persecuted; they have been put to death in many instances in the most ignominious manner; they have been beheaded; they have been torn asunder; they have been cast into furnaces and into dens of wild beasts, and in order to escape maltreatment they have roamed hills and mountains, concealing themselves in dens and caves of the earth; men bearing a heavenly mes– sage, a message fraught with peace and good will to all men, a message too, involving their eternal welfare and happiness. This is the reason why there has been so much ignorance in the world concerning God; and it is in consequence of their disobedience, in consequence of their wickedness, in consequence of their love for darkness rather than light, in consequence of their choosing the things that come from beneath in preference to things that come from above. For there are two opposing spirits or influences upon the earth, just as there are light and darkness. They cannot dwell together; they always were and always will be at war one with another, but one flees away at the approach of the other, as when the light of the morning beams forth over the hilltops, darkness flees away.

The inhabitants of the earth have been willing to be led by the influence of darkness; for there is a spirit of darkness upon the earth as well as the spirit of light, which leads to death as surely and certainly as the spirit of light leads to life. In the beginning God gave to man his agency, leaving him to choose either light or darkness, truth or error, as he might please. When men choose to receive the light of truth, the spirit of truth prompts them to do good, but it does not force them to do so; it is gentle and kind, and will enlighten and bless if people are willing to receive and act upon its promptings; but if men choose to walk in their own ways, they are at liberty to do so without let or hindrance, so far as the spirit of light forcing itself upon them to compel them to walk in the way of the Lord, is concerned. The inhabitants of the earth generally have chosen to walk in the paths which lead to death; they have chosen that which is evil and loved it, rather than that which is good; therefore, they have not been led upward to the Source of Light, or been able to communicate with Him.

When our Heavenly Father commenced this work with which you and I are identified, the world was in darkness and without knowledge concerning God. There was a little glimmering of light among them concerning some things pertaining to God which men had read about in the Bible; and there were some individuals in other generations who, searching after truth, obtained some comprehension of the principles of truth, but they knew not God nor the ways of God. There was no definite knowledge in this age concerning Deity until God manifested himself to the Prophet Joseph Smith in His own person and by His Son. Joseph saw the Lord, and heard the heavenly voice saying, “This is my Beloved Son, hear ye Him:” and he was instructed by the ministration of personages direct from the presence of Deity, in regard to the things of God. So that when he came to lay the foundation of this work, he did not attempt to lay it according to his own notions and ideas, or according to that which he had read in books or that which he had pondered over or that which he or other men had invented; but he made known to others what God had revealed to him. And when he bore testimony that God lived, that Jesus who died on Calvary was the Son of God, he testified of that which he knew because these Divine beings had manifested themselves to him.

Joseph Smith was given to understand of the existence of a certain record written by men who, in former times, in like manner had received the word of God upon this continent. The place of its existence was also shown to him, and he was inspired of God to translate that record into the English language. Now, Joseph Smith in performing that great work received, continually, evidence of the divine origin of what he wrote or caused others to write. It was not the emanation of his own brain, or something that he had concocted, but was the work of the Lord as written by the servants of God in ancient times, revealed to him by the power of the Lord God that he might translate it into our language. So in regard to the revelations given to this Church, and concerning every doctrine and principle pertaining to our faith. They did not spring from his thoughts, they were not the product of his mind; but they were revealed to him by the ministration of holy angels, and by the inspiration of that Spirit which gives light to the understanding. For he received blessings to a greater degree than are poured out commonly upon the children of men, as was the case with other men anciently who were called to perform a special work; his mind was enlightened far beyond the condition of his fellow men, for God bestowed upon him at the proper time the gift of the Holy Ghost, by which he, as well as men anciently, understood and spoke and wrote the mind and will of God. And Joseph Smith learned how to obtain that glorious and heavenly gift not only for himself but for others, and he was enabled to instruct the inhabitants of the earth how they could obtain it, how they could come to a knowledge of the truth for themselves, and commune with God for themselves; how they could obtain a knowledge of His existence through this heavenly gift, so that they might be guided in his ways and know that they were walking in his paths. Joseph could not find this out in and of himself; it was revealed to him from on high; and so with every doctrine and principle, every ordinance and commandment that is in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Now although this religion is divine, coming from God direct, it is not a mysterious religion as some suppose. It is very plain, very simple and very easy to be understood. All the people upon the face of the earth may comprehend it; it may be brought down to the understanding of the weakest of all races; all may learn and comprehend those simple principles by which they may come to a knowledge of God and be taught of him, and by which they may take that course which is right in his sight.

The first principle of true religion is faith. Jesus Christ says, “Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This is verily so. All people must be “born again” to be able to see the kingdom of God, or to be able to comprehend the ways of the Lord. Is this a mystery? No, it is plain and easily understood when we get the spirit and light of God upon it. Jesus said also, “Except a man be born of the water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” A change must take place in the human heart. Men must first be born of the word of God, which lives and abides forever. As the Apostle Peter says, “being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” The Apostle James says, “Of his own will begat He us with the word of truth.” And again we read, “Faith cometh by hearing the word of God.” God’s way is this: He calls men who are fitted for His work, and inspires them, and endows them with authority to represent Him, and sends them forth to preach the word of God. When they bear their testimony to people who are honest in their hearts, who desire the truth and who wish to know of God, the Holy Spirit that is in the servants of God, the Spirit accompanying the word spoken by authority, enters the hearts of such people, and they are born of the word of God, so that they can see and comprehend the truth. A change is wrought upon them by the power and influence of divine truth, by which they are able to see the truth as the speaker sees it; the word spoken by the gift and power of God carries conviction to the heart, and they at once begin to recognize the authority of Him who imparts the words of life to them. They are born of the word and are able to see and understand to a certain degree, their faith and their ideas having been quickened by the power of God. The light and influence of the Holy Ghost radiating and proceeding from the inspired speaker, accompanies his word. As his testimony is borne under the influence of the Holy Ghost and by authority from on high, conviction seizes hold of the people, and if they are honest in their hearts and desires, it bears record in their souls, “Light cleaveth unto light and intelligence.” We know this by experience. When the servants of God first bore testimony to us, a different impression was produced upon us to any that we had experienced when listening to the preachers of the different sects; it was the effect of truth preached by the power of the living God; it bore testimony to our spirits, and we felt that it was true. We could not explain why; we could not, perhaps, comprehend the change, but we knew that something had come to us different from anything we had ever before received; we felt that it was true; the spirit of God bore record in our souls that it was true; we were born of the word, and we could see that this was the work of God, and therefore could yield willing obedience to the ordinance of baptism for remission of sins by one having authority from God. After we had been baptized we were anxious to have hands laid upon our heads that we might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. In using that term, the “gift of the Holy Ghost,” we do not mean some particular gift of the Spirit, but the gift of the Spirit itself—the Holy Ghost given unto us as a gift from God. We will find that term, “gift of the Holy Ghost,” used in the old Scriptures, and in the latter-day Scriptures. It is the Holy Ghost itself given unto us as a gift from the Almighty. “Then laid they their hands upon them and they received the Holy Ghost.” The promise is to those who will repent and be baptized for the remission of sins; they shall receive “the gift of the Holy Ghost.” What is it? It is a greater and higher endowment of the same spirit which enlightens every man that comes into the world; a greater power given unto us as an abiding witness, to be a light to our feet and a lamp to our path; as a restraint against sin, to guide us into all truth, to open up the vision of the mind, to bring things past to our remembrance, and to make manifest things to come. It is the spirit of truth that reveals the things of the Father and the Son, proceeding from the presence of the Almighty and the very glory in which He is enrobed, which makes him like unto a consuming fire. If we receive that heavenly gift all are brought into communion with Him; we can understand something concerning Him, that we may pattern after Him until we become like Him; for if we are continually guided by that spirit, eventually we will come back to His presence and be able to enjoy the fullness of His glory. And while we remain in the flesh He will not be a stranger to us; we will not walk in the dark like the majority of mankind, but we will be the children of the light, comprehending the truth as it is in Him, and seeing the path in which we should walk.

We, then, heard the word and believed it; faith sprang up in our hearts, and we went forth in faith and were baptized; and when the servants of God who had received their missions from the Almighty, who had been ordained under the hands of Joseph Smith or others whom he had ordained, laid their hands upon our heads we received the gift of the Holy Ghost. What was the nature of the influence that was brought to bear upon us? Some physical exhibition of power? No. Could anybody perceive that there was a change in us? No, I think not. I know how I felt, I can bear testimony in regard to my own experience, and I think that my experience in this respect is that of others.

When I heard the word I believed it, and rejoiced in it, and I prayed to God fervently—I was but a boy at the time—in the name of His Son Jesus, that He would manifest to me whether this was true or not, that I might not be deceived by any cunningly devised fable; that I might not be led astray; that no impostor might have any power over me; but that I might be guided in the steps I was about to take, by the light of God. I prayed earnestly and fervently to my Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus, time and time again. Being fully convinced in my heart that this work was true, I applied for baptism; and when I was baptized I received the assurance that my sins were remitted, that I was washed and made spiritually clean and that I came from the water spotless. I could say with the ancient Apostle, “Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.” I was a new creature; I was born again. A change had been wrought upon me; and my desires were to serve God with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength. And when hands were laid upon me by the servants of God, and I received the gift of the Holy Ghost, I felt no physical manifestation. I must say, I felt a little disappointed at first, for I had expected some such manifestation, but I did not receive any at that time. What did I experience? I found that my mind was opened, that I had greater light; that something had come upon me by which I could see clearly the things of God; and when I read the scriptures new light dawned upon them. I was brought up to believe in the Bible. I had read it when a child, and committed a great deal of it to memory; and when I received this gift from the Almighty through the laying on of hands, it brought those things that were past to my remembrance; they stood up clearly and in bold relief before me, and I could comprehend something concerning God. I could feel that I was in communion with Him. When I prayed I could realize that my words were heard, that God hearkened and answered. When I prayed for knowledge and understanding concerning the things of God, they were manifested to me. It brought to me that which is called in the Scriptures, “the peace of God that passeth all understanding.” The joy, the peace, the satisfaction that it brought to me could not be described in words. I knew that my Redeemer lived; I knew that I was born again; I knew the Holy Spirit was working in my heart. Truths were manifested to me that I had never heard of or read of, but which I afterwards heard preached by the servants of the Lord; all this was testimony to me that I had received the truth. I make mention of this because I know this to be the experience of others. When I saw the gifts and blessings of the Gospel manifested, it was a renewed testimony to me. When I saw the sick healed, heard people speak in tongues, and then heard others give the interpretation, and afterwards saw the same fulfilled, many times in a wonderful and marvelous manner, all these things were additional testimonies of the divinity of this work. When I was only a boy I was called to leave my home and friends—none of whom had received the Gospel—to go out into the world among strangers, turning my back upon home, and leaving everything to go and preach the Gospel without purse or scrip, I received further evidence of the truth of this work, for a great many things were made manifest to me during my missionary experience. When I baptized people and laid my hands upon them, confirming them members of this Church, they bore testimony that the Holy Ghost came upon them, which bore record to them that God lived, and that this was His work. And when I laid my hands upon the sick they were healed. All these things were additional testimonies to me, and to those who received the word through me.

I refer to this also because this is the experience of so many of the Elders of this Church; and you have the testimony in your hearts that what I say is true. Wherever the servants of God have gone bearing this message, and the people have received it and obeyed the requirements of the Gospel, they have received the Holy Ghost as a gift from on high; and if they have been led by its light it has increased in them day by day, and they are still going on, their light growing brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. They know that God lives; they know that His existence is not a myth; they know that He is a veritable Being, that He is their Father and their God, ever ready to hear the cry of His children when they are willing to hearken to His counsels; and they know that they are framed and fashioned after His likeness, and that all the functions and attributes of Deity are duplicated in them, that through years of faithfulness and progress in the scale of being and enlightenment, they may develop into the full majesty of His perfections and become like Him.

The Holy Ghost, this greater endowment of that spirit which naturally enlighteneth every man that comes into the world, is conferred upon us through a simple process, the way that God has ordained; and it can come in no other way. If there should be any in this congregation this afternoon who desire to know God, or if they desire to know themselves, they must take this one course—they can do as they please about it, either to receive or reject it, but if they want the blessing of it, they must seek for it in His way. They cannot get it through man-made systems; God has His own way. He acknowledges not, neither does he recognize the ways of men; but if people will hearken to Him and walk in his ways he will be nigh unto them, and will bear testimony to them in language that they, by the power and gift of His spirit can understand. But they must believe; they must also repent; and that repentance that is necessary does not consist in weeping and mourning over sin, but in turning away from it. No man can make God his friend by continuing in sin, neither can any woman. In order to come near unto God and to be taught of Him, they must be humble and childlike, they must be willing to receive instruction, being determined in their hearts to turn away from wrongdoing of every kind, and to cleave unto that which is right. This is a lesson for Latter-day Saints as well as latter-day sinners. If we want to learn more of the things and ways of God, if we want to draw near to Him, we must be humble and childlike, tractable in our nature, making ourselves acquainted with that which God has revealed, and walking in the way which he has pointed out. If the inhabitants of the earth will walk according to the light that God has given to them, whether by the spirit that came to them naturally in their birth, or by that higher endowment called the gift of the Holy Ghost, they will receive a still greater degree of power and light, and their pathway will become brighter and brighter even to the perfect day. If there be any darkness in them, it is because they walk in the ways of darkness, because they do the deeds of evil. No man can come unto God unless he has put away his sins and his follies and is willing to be taught of God. If he thinks that God will come to his terms and accept his whims and notions, he will make a failure of it. If he is willing to hearken, is childlike, willing to be taught, saying in his soul, “O God, manifest thy ways to me, and with thy help I will walk therein,” the Lord will hear and answer him and he will learn of God, and the more he walks in the ways of the Lord the closer he will get to God. But only by faith, repentance, baptism, and by the laying on of hands of those whom God has authorized, can the inhabitants of the earth receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by which they may fully learn and comprehend divine things.

People marvel at the condition of the Latter-day Saints, at their tractability, at the mode of their worship, at the manner in which they sustain the authorities of the Church; and they conclude that we are a people led by the craftiness of men, that we are under men who are desirous to exert authority and power, and be looked up to as superior to their fellows. They reason in that way because they do not understand us; because they do not comprehend our ways, nor the way of the Lord. The reason why the Latter-day Saints are as united as they are, as tractable, as willing to be obedient, is because they have learned for themselves the truth of the Gospel they have espoused. They know there is a God; they know that he lives; they know Jesus is the Son of God; they know by experience that if they hearken to the voice of the Lord—the word of the Lord given to them through His servants—that they are happy, that they have that peace of which I have spoken; and on the contrary, if they disobey the counsels of heaven, they have not that peace, they are not satisfied with themselves, and they are in the dark. The reason why the Latter-day Saints are so tractable, so united, and so devoted to the Gospel of this Church is because they know something about it for themselves; they know it is true, for God has borne witness to them, they have been brought into communion with him, and this is the secret of it.

Now, my brethren and sisters, you know that what I am talking about is true; you know it in your own experience. The Holy Ghost has borne record to you that what I am telling you is not fiction, but is a living fact. And we need not take up the Bible to read the books contained therein to find out the truth of our religion; we know it is true without that. Yet, when we read the contents of this book we find that it corresponds with that which God has revealed to us. We do not depend upon the man who baptized us, or him who laid his hands upon us to impart the Holy Ghost, for a knowledge of this work, we depend upon the inspiration of the Lord—the only source of knowledge of divine things. Every man and every woman in this Church, and every boy and girl who has received the Gospel in sincerity and has verily been born again, has obtained a testimony concerning this work and knows of its divinity for himself or herself. But God has set in the Church for our guidance and direction, Apostles and Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers and Bishops, and other authorities, that the Church with all its branches may be taught in the ways of the Lord, that there may be order in the Church, and that all things may be governed according to the will of God. And we know that when we hearken to the voice of those men we are blessed of God, and when they speak to us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit in our hearts bears witness to us that what they say is true. Some one may inquire, if all the people have the Holy Ghost, if all the people are brought to the condition that they may learn of God for themselves and be gradually led into the presence of the Father, what need of Apostles, what need of Prophets, etc.? There is great need of them. They are absolutely necessary to the government of the Church and kingdom of God. Without them there could be no proper church government, and, indeed, without them we could not receive the blessings that come from the ordinances. God’s plan is to call certain men and endow them with authority, and place upon them the authority to act for Him. This is called the Holy Priesthood, and in that right and authority they preach and administer the ordinances of His Church. It is through the authority of this Holy Priesthood that people are inducted into the Church—through that channel they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, without which it could not be conferred. The Holy Spirit is poured out universally, as I have before remarked, so that all people receive it; but the gift of the Holy Ghost is a higher endowment by which man may be brought into communion with the Lord after having received the ordinances, which must be administered by men holding the Holy Priesthood, and authorized to officiate therein. That is God’s way. When people receive this divine blessing they become members of His Church, an organization ordained for the benefit and blessing of God’s people; an organization which in all respects is after the ancient pattern. In becoming members of the Church we subscribe to the rules thereof. No undue influence is used to induce people to join our Church, or to retain their membership after they have joined it; if they do not wish to subscribe to the rules of the Church, they are at liberty to sever their connection with it; but if they do retain their standing in it, they are expected to subscribe to its rules. At the head of this Church are three men who are united in all things as to its government, representing the Holy Trinity who also are one; not one in personality, but one in spirit, one in faith, one in action, one in desire, one in object. We have a President and two Counselors, who stand at the head of the Church. The President stands at the head of that quorum. God calls him to be His mouthpiece to the whole body. If the Lord has any revelations for the Church, as an organized body, He communicates them through the head. In the rise of this Church He warned and forewarned the Latter-day Saints as an organized community, not to receive revelations through anyone save the head of the Church. The Lord said, “And this ye shall know assuredly—that there is none other appointed unto you to receive the commandments and revelations until he be taken, if he abide in me * * * for if it be taken from him he shall not have power except to appoint another in his stead. And this shall be a law unto you, that you receive not the teachings of any that shall come before you as revelations or commandments; And this I give you that you may not be deceived, that you may know they are not of me.” This is the order. While, therefore, every man and woman can receive the Holy Ghost and know that God lives, can ask and receive, seek and find, knock and have the door opened to him; while everyone can have divine light and comprehend the truth for himself, while it is the privilege of every man to so live that his soul shall be full of the light of heaven, by which he may comprehend the purposes of God as they shall affect men and nations, yet, as a member of the Church he must hearken to the voice of Him who stands at the head, for that is the order. “My house is a house of order, saith the Lord, and not a house of confusion.” If He has anything for the Church, as an organized body, He will speak through the head; and if we are enlightened by the Holy Spirit we will see the safety of it, we will see that without this order we would be liable to be led astray. God will not speak to His Church, through the foot, but through the head. And if the body is of the same spirit as the head, it will respond, just as the members of the human body, if in a healthy condition, respond to the will of the head, in anything that the individual attempts to do. The man standing at the head holds the keys of revelation to the Church; but each individual may receive revelation for himself, if he has the gift of the Holy Ghost. And the Spirit by which God reveals through the head, is the same spirit by which He reveals to the individual for his own benefit. The Church of Christ is a united body; it is not divided against itself, because it is true, and truth is indivisible, it is eternal and cannot be destroyed, neither does it bear testimony against itself. Herein is the unity of the Saints. When the President of the Church speaks, the whole body responds, and when he brings forth anything for our guidance, we say in our hearts, under the same influence by which he is inspired, that is the word of God, and we rejoice in it and hearken to it. Thereby are the faith and obedience of the Latter-day Saints made manifest. And they do this not to man, but to God. Through the head of the Church the voice of God comes to the people, and when they obey it, it is not to man they bow, for the Latter-day Saints are not man-worshippers. They have come out from the midst of priestcraft, they have thrown off the yoke of bondage, and put on the liberty of the everlasting Gospel; and when they yield to the authority of the Holy Priesthood, they bow to God Almighty, their Father, who is represented in His servants upon earth, and not to man. “Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm.” We worship God our heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and that which we obey we receive as coming from him and not from man. That is the order, if we have eyes to see, and hearts to comprehend it. And it is the same with all the different authorities of the Church, each one in his place and calling; one not interfering with another, every part and portion of the holy Priesthood being adapted to every other part, as each part of the human system is adapted and essential to the well-being of the other parts. The head cannot say to the feet, I have no need of thee; neither can the foot say to the head, I have no need of thee, but each part has need of the other. And there is unison in it; there is beauty in it. No one officer or member of the priesthood can encroach upon the privileges of another; but each one has his duties defined, and all are necessary for the order and government of the Church, for the preaching of the Gospel, for the gathering of the Saints, for the instruction of the people that all might be led in the path of life, until they come to the fullness of the knowledge of the Son of God, and be like a perfect man in Christ Jesus. Apostles are necessary in their place; Seventies in theirs; High Priests in theirs; Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons in theirs; Bishops and Presidents of Stakes, etc., in theirs, all having been appointed and ordained of God. This organization is unique in its character; there is nothing like it among the institutions of men, there is nothing like it in the world. There is nothing of an earthly character to be compared with it. It is beautiful, it is glorious, it is harmonious, it is perfect, because it is the work of God. And if we would carry it out fully and perfectly, what a splendid organization we would have! What a mighty people we would be! A people whose God is the Lord, all moving along in perfect harmony, each one accomplishing his part in this great and mighty work. But we are like the rest of mankind to some extent—we are prone to do evil, we are prone to follow our own ways, to take our own course, to be stiffnecked and willful.

Now, my brethren and sisters, we have come out from the world, we have come measurably to a knowledge of the truth, to a knowledge of God; we know that He lives, and we know that by taking the course pointed out to us by the servants of God who have been appointed to lead us, in due time we shall return to our Father and God, and we shall see him as he is, and be like him, and inherit the fullness of his glory.

That we may be able to take this course is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the Meetinghouse, Kaysville, Davis County, Sunday Morning, December 10th, 1882.

We have met again this morning to hear and receive instruction and worship the Lord and honor Him upon this holy Sabbath day.

The heavens are full of knowledge, full of instruction, full of revelation and of principle and decree, and I may say of judgment, all to be made use of in their day and time, and we have a right to all the knowledge, all the revelation, all the principles of truth, that we can claim by faith and diligence in serving the Lord and in the performance of our duty.

I look upon the Latter-day Saints as occupying a position, I may say equal, at least, to that occupied by the people of any other dispensation that God has ever given to man. We are a blessed people; we are favored of heaven and have received at the hands of our heavenly Father a great many blessings both of the heavens and of the earth, and we, as a people, should be grateful to the Lord our God for the many kindnesses He has bestowed upon us. We live, in fact, in the dispensation of the fullness of times, the last dispensation in which the Lord will reveal his mind and will to the inhabitants of the earth, the last time in which the Lord will prune his vineyard, the last time in which he will set up his kingdom upon the earth, establish His Church, and build up His Zion, to prepare for the coming of the Son of Man. And while we sometimes feel and have felt in days that are past and gone, to complain because we meet with oppression, persecution and affliction, yet I wish to say to my brethren and sisters that these things are the heritage of the Saints of God. Any people whom God calls will meet with opposition from those who will not receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This has been the legacy of the Saints of God in every age from Father Adam down to our own day. Those that live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. I believe myself, from the reading of the revelations of God, that it is necessary for a people who are destined to inherit the celestial kingdom to be a tried people. I have never read of the people of God in any dispensation passing through life, as the sectarian world would say, on flowery beds of ease, without opposition of any kind. I have always looked upon the life of our Savior—who descended beneath all things that He might rise above all things—as an example for His followers. And yet it has always, in one sense of the word, seemed strange to me that the Son of God, the First Begotten in the eternal worlds of the Father, and the Only Begotten in the flesh, should have to descend to the earth and pass through what He did—born in a stable, cradled in a manger, persecuted, afflicted, scorned, a hiss and by-word to almost all the world, and especially to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea. There was apparently nothing that the Savior could do that was acceptable in the eyes of the world; anything and almost everything he did was imputed to an unholy influence. When He cast out devils the people said he did it through the power of Beelzebub, the prince of devils; when he opened the eyes of the blind, the Pharisees and priests of the day told the man to “give God the glory; we know this man is a sinner.” And so all his life through, to the day of his death upon the cross. There is something about all this that appears sorrowful; but it seemed necessary for the Savior to descend below all things that he might ascend above all things. So it has been with other men. When I look at the history of Joseph Smith, I sometimes think that he came as near following the footsteps of the Savior—(although no more so than his disciples)—as anyone possibly could. Joseph Smith was called to lay down his life; he sealed his testimony with his blood, and passed through some serious trials and afflictions. In section 122 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants—the word of the Lord given to the Prophet while in Liberty jail—the Lord showed him his condition and position. He refers there to the trials and troubles he was called to pass through, and then compares them with what He Himself (the Savior) had to endure. He says: “And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he? Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.” The Lord showed him in this revelation that these afflictions were necessary. We have been called to pass through trials many times, and I do not think we should complain, because if we had no trials we should hardly feel at home in the other world in the company of the Prophets and Apostles who were sawn asunder, crucified, etc., for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ.

How should we feel towards our enemies? President Taylor of late has called upon us to exercise towards them the same spirit that was manifested by our Savior upon the cross: “Father forgive them they know not what they do.” We should endeavor to exercise that spirit. Our persecutors, those who would seek to destroy us, do not know what they do. They do not comprehend us at all. Why, bless your souls, if the veil was lifted from off the eyes of the President of the United States, from off the eyes of the members of the Congress of the United States, and from off the eyes of our enemies, if this veil were lifted they would bow before the Lord and plead for these “Mormons;” they would do this if their eyes were open to see the future consequences of taking a stand against this Church and kingdom. But there is a veil over their eyes, because of their works of evil; and the day will come when all peoples will mourn who take a stand against the kingdom of God, the Zion of God, the Church of God, and the Lord’s anointed; unless they repent they will, when they pass into the other world, go into outer darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. It is impossible, however, for the Saints of God to inherit a celestial kingdom without their being tried as to whether they will abide in the covenants of the Lord or not.

Well, I feel we are a blessed people. We have prospered. The Lord is fighting our battles. The Lord holds the destiny of this nation and all other nations in His hands. Our enemies can go no further than He permits them.

We live in a day and time when the Lord has decreed to set up his kingdom for the last time upon the earth. That is the reason we have the privilege of building these Temples and these meetinghouses in the mountains of Israel. The Lord has set his hand to establish his kingdom according to his former promises, and it is going to prevail upon the earth. He has told us to fear not our enemies; that though earth and hell combine against us, they shall not prevail, if we are built upon the rock of Christ.

We have come to this earth upon a mission; and we have been gathered to the valleys of these mountains that we may be taught and instructed in the things of God; that we may magnify our calling before the Lord; that we may become saviors upon Mount Zion; that we may have power to go forth and warn the nations of the earth. I look upon the mission of the Latter-day Saints as being as important as that of any people that ever lived in any age of the world. I have often expressed my views with regard to this. As Elders of Israel, very few of us fully comprehend our position, our calling, or relationship to God, our responsibility, or work the Lord requires at our hands. The Lord has given unto us the Priesthood. This is conferred upon us that we may administer in the ordinances of life and salvation. But to enable us to perform our duties acceptably, there is one thing we need, one and all of us, and that is the Holy Spirit. While in Winter Quarters, President Young had a dream in which the Prophet Joseph Smith appeared to him and said: “Brother Young, you exhort this people to obtain the Holy Spirit; with it they can do anything that is necessary; without it they cannot build up the kingdom of God.” In one of my dreams while in Arizona, I had the same admonition from President Young. I thought he was attending one of our conferences. I said to him: “Can you speak to us?” “No,” he replied, “I have done bearing my testimony in the flesh; I have merely come to see the people, to see you, to see what you are doing. But I want you to teach the Latter-day Saints to labor to obtain the Holy Spirit. It is one of the most important gifts that the Saints of the living God can possess. You all need this,” he said, “in order to build up Zion. If you have not this Spirit—the Spirit of the Holy Ghost, the testimony of Jesus, the testimony of the Father and Son—you cannot get along. But if you are in possession of this Spirit, your minds will be open to comprehend the things of God.” This is true. There is not a man in this Church and kingdom today, who, if he is in possession of this spirit, will set his heart upon the things of this world. Any man that loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. We have received something better than the love of gold, silver, houses and lands; we have received the promise of eternal life. We have had conferred upon us the eternal Priesthood by which our heavenly Father has created all worlds and redeemed all worlds and has performed all his works from eternity to eternity.

Then, we should labor to obtain this Spirit while we are upon the earth that we may overcome every evil. We have a mighty warfare on hand. We have to contend against the world, the flesh and the devil. There are temptations that surround every man and woman, that is, if they attempt to keep the commandments of God, and no man or woman can inherit eternal life without passing through this warfare in the flesh. Other generations have had their turn. As a people it is our turn today. The old patriarchs and prophets have gone, their missions are ended, so far as their testimony in the flesh is concerned; but they were valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ; they kept the law, and they will inherit a celestial glory.

I often reflect upon the promises made concerning the Priesthood. The Lord, in a revelation upon this subject, says, Doctrine and Covenants, 33rd to 41st verses: “Whosoever is faithful unto obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. * * * All that my Father hath shall be given unto him. Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved.” Now, I sometimes ask myself the question, Do we comprehend these things? Do we comprehend that if we abide the laws of the Priesthood we shall become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ? I realize that our eyes have not seen, our ears have not heard, neither hath it entered into our hearts to conceive the glory that is in store for the faithful. We are placed in a position to be proven and tried; we must be, we have been, we shall be, until we get through with our labors in the flesh. The Lord told Joseph Smith that he would prove us in all things, whether we will abide in his covenant, even unto death, that we may be found worthy: “for if we will not abide in his covenant, we are not worthy of him.” Jesus Christ abode in the covenant; he kept all the commandments while he was upon the earth. He even was baptized by the hands of John, although it was not for the remission of sin, but to fulfill all righteousness. There was no part of the Gospel that Christ did not fulfill, and he called upon Joseph Smith to fulfill the same. This he did. He laid down his life. He went to the spirit world, and he is there watching over this people. He has power there, and so have our brethren who have gone to the other side of the veil. They are laboring for us. They are watching to see how we perform the work left to our charge.

I hope we live our religion. I hope we strive to keep the commandments of God. We occupy a very important position in the world. There are very few of the inhabitants of the earth who are laboring to build up Zion. There are very few, apparently, who are able to abide the law of God. There are very few who are willing to sacrifice anything for eternal life and salvation, and thousands will have to inherit a kingdom other than the celestial.

Nevertheless, my brethren and sisters, we are laboring and progressing in this work. Zion is advancing; the kingdom of God is rolling on. The progress of this kingdom has never stopped from the day of its organization; it never will until it has accomplished all for which it has been organized and established on the earth to accomplish. We have a great work to do. We are commanded to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth. The Elders of Israel have been doing this for the last fifty years. We are still doing it, in the United States and other parts of the world. We shall continue to labor among the Gentiles just as long as the Lord says we must do so. But at the same time we have now been commanded to turn to a branch of the house of Israel. Here are the Lamanites, thousands and thousands of them surround us. They look to us for the Gospel of Christ. It is our duty to go to them and organize them, and preach to them the words of life and salvation.

Then, again, we have temples to build in our day and time, that we may go into them and do a work both for the living and for the dead. Our mission is more extended and extensive than we realize. There have been no Prophets, no Apostles, upon the earth for the last 1,800 years, that we are much acquainted with, except Nephi, who dwelt upon this continent several hundred years after the death of Christ. There has been no one upon the earth with authority to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth. Many generations have passed away. Many thousands of millions have passed into the spirit world. We are now at the end of the sixth thousand years. We are bordering upon the millennium. We are living in the great and last dispensation, in the which the God of Israel expects us, his servants, his sons and daughters, to perform the work which has been left to our charge. It is our duty to build these temples. It is our duty to enter into them and redeem our dead. Joseph Smith is preaching to the spirits in prison; so are all the Elders who have died in the faith. There are millions of them there, and they must have the Gospel offered to them. Joseph Smith and others cannot baptize the spirits in water, it is not the law; but their posterity, their sons and daughters who are living in the last dispensation, are expected to go into these temples and there redeem their dead. This is a good work, and it is a great blessing for men and women to have this privilege. We have one of these temples finished, and we are doing a great work in that temple. A hundred and sixty-two thousand persons have been baptized for the dead, and nearly seventy thousand endowments have been given in that temple. We have only just begun this work. We want the Logan temple finished, as also the temple at Manti, that the people may go forth and redeem their dead. Our forefathers are looking to us to attend to this work. They are watching over us with great anxiety, and are desirous that we should finish these temples and attend to certain ordinances for them, so that in the morning of the resurrection they can come forth and enjoy the same blessings that we enjoy. We are living in the flesh and have the privilege of receiv– ing the Gospel of Christ for ourselves. Our forefathers had not this privilege; and as their posterity when we meet them in the spirit world we shall have the joy and satisfaction of knowing that we did our duty by them while here upon the earth. We occupy a position in this capacity towards them the same as we do to this generation. We occupy the position of Saviors upon Mount Zion.

There are a great many things I might mention that are of interest to the Latter-day Saints. We should humble ourselves before the Lord. We have been called to set our houses in order, that we should seek to obtain the Spirit of the Lord that it may enable us to magnify our callings in the Priesthood. We are under great responsibility. It won’t pay to apostatize; “there is no money in it.” Any man who receives this Priesthood and tastes of the word of God, and of the powers of the world to come—any man that turns away from these things, apostatizes, and turns away from the Church of God, shall not, in accordance with the revelations of the Lord to Joseph Smith, “have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come.”

The Lord is laboring for his kingdom. In his hands he holds the destiny of this people and of this generation, and if we will do our duty he will sustain and uphold us and Zion will not be moved out of her place. I am anxious to see the Latter-day Saints rise up and magnify their calling. We (the Twelve Apostles, Seventies and others) are called to go forth to preach the Gospel to the Lamanites and organize them. I am glad of it. I have felt for a long time that we should turn our attention to them. They are the literal descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the Lord is working in their midst. The vision of their minds is beginning to be opened, and they are to be taught the things of the kingdom of God. I have thought sometimes that they have more faith than the Latter-day Saints. I traveled among them for one year in Arizona and New Mexico. I visited those that dwell in the walled cities. They have some seven villages on the top of a mountain from 500 to 1,500 feet high. One thing struck me very forcibly while there. Although a good many of these people are superstitious, some of them sunworshippers and so forth, yet they seem to be impressed with the idea that there is going to be a famine. They have enough grain and dried squash laid up to last them for years, and they think the day is not far off when they will need that which they have stored up. Don’t we believe that a famine will come? I know some of our sisters are laying up wheat, I hope the Relief Societies will continue to do so, and the brethren should help them. I believe that the Latter– day Saints ought to store up grain against a day of want. The Bible tells us that prior to the coming of the Son of Man there shall be wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes. All these things will come to pass.

It is a good time with us. The Lord has blessed us. He has blessed the earth for our use; and we ought to dedicate our families, our fields, our crops, our herds, to God. We should pay our tithing according to the law of God. We should attend to all the duties required at our hands. We should not neglect our prayers. Men should seek to enjoy the spirit of God, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit. We should seek to do all the good we can, so that we may feel satisfied when we get through.

I pray God to bless you with His Holy Spirit; I pray that he will give us power to fulfill our calling in the Priesthood, power to build up Zion, power to finish these temples in which we may redeem our dead. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in Payson, Thursday Evening, Nov. 23rd, 1882.

We are living, as Brother Cannon has remarked, in a most important day and age of the world. The times are pregnant with greater events than any we have any knowledge of in the history of God’s dealings with His people among the nations of the earth in the different ages. The very fact of our gathering together as we do is a very peculiar thing. It differs from the way of any other people. It is a part of the Gospel, and inspired by the spirit of revelation, even the gift of the Holy Ghost which comes through obedience to the Gospel. There is and always has been a spirit abroad in the world which is really a portion of the Spirit of God, which leads mankind, in many instances, to discriminate between good and evil, and between right and wrong. They have a conscience that accuses or excuses them for their acts; and although the world of mankind is very wicked and very corrupt, yet it will be found that almost all men, though they may not do good themselves, appreciate good actions in others.

The scriptures say that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though he be not far from every one of us.” The Scripture further says, He has given unto them a portion of his spirit to profit withal. But there is quite a distinction between the position that these people occupy and the one which we occupy. We have something more than that portion of the Spirit of God which is given to every man, and it is called the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is received through obedience to the first principles of the Gospel of Christ, by the laying on of hands of the servants of God. Hence, when the Gospel was preached in former times among the people they were told to repent of their sins; to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of their sins, and then to have hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost. They were told, moreover, what this Holy Ghost would do; that it would take of the things of God and shew them unto them; that it would cause their old men to dream dreams and their young men to see visions; and that it would rest upon the servants and handmaids of God, and they should prophesy. These are the operations of that Spirit which dwells with God, the Father, and God, the Son, namely the Holy Ghost. It is this Spirit that brings us into relationship with God, and it differs very materially from the portion of spirit that is given to all men to profit withal. The special gift of the Holy Ghost is obtained as I have said, through obedience to the first principles of the Gospel. Its province is to lead us into all truth, and to bring to our remembrance things past, present and to come. It contemplates the future and unfolds things we had not thought of heretofore, and these things are very distinctly described in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon, and in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. Herein lies the difference between us and others, and it was so in former times. One of the ancient Apostles in speaking of our relationship to God, says: “Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Again it is said: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God,” that is, rightful inheritors of the things of God, “and joint heirs of Jesus Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” It is the Gospel of the kingdom that has brought us into this relationship with God. We enjoy the same spirit that the Saints enjoyed anciently in the days of Jesus, in the days of Moses, in the days of Enoch, in the days of Seth, back to the days of Adam. The Gospel which we have received is the everlasting Gospel, which, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, brings men into close relationship to God, their heavenly Father, and makes them heirs of all the promises that God has made unto His people. Hence we occupy this position—God is really and truly our Father and we are His children. He is “the God of the spirits of all flesh,” and he has told us to draw near unto Him. He has taught us how to pray, and in what manner to approach Him and to ask for such things as we need. This is the position we occupy if we can comprehend it, and we are called upon by the Almighty to do a great work. He has taken very great pains in introducing the prin– ciples of the Gospel. In the first place He has Himself spoken to us from the heavens, as also has His Son Jesus Christ. He has restored the everlasting Priesthood. All those men who had it in their possession heretofore—that is those who held the keys of it upon the earth—have appeared and restored the authority of the Holy Priesthood which they held. Thus John the Baptist appeared, and laying his hands upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, ordained them to the Aaronic Priesthood, using the following words: “Upon you my fellowservants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.” Peter, James and John afterwards conferred upon Joseph Smith the Melchizedek Priesthood, which holds the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. By this Priesthood the mind and will of God is made known unto man; by it man can walk according to the light and intelligence which God imparts. Men have been ordained to this Holy Priesthood, and they have gone forth to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth. In this labor they have been sustained, blessed and upheld by the Lord, for although the world has generally been opposed to them in their ministrations, yet He has given unto them power, wisdom and intelligence, whereby they have been able to sustain and maintain the principles which God has revealed. And then the sheep of God—that is, the thousands that have been gathered together from among the nations—have been led to see and believe in and obey the Gospel as it has been presented to them. Jesus said that His sheep would know his voice, and a stranger they would not follow. Through the medium of the Gospel we have been gathered together in these valleys of the mountains today. Why did the Lord call upon us? That He might have a people who would obey His law; for the world generally will not listen to the voice of God; the nations of the earth, the kings of the earth, the princes of the earth, the presidents of the earth, the legislators of the earth, and the powers of the earth, will not listen to the voice of God, and He has called us together, as He said He would do, “one of a city and two of a family.” He has gathered us together that we may be taught of Him. It is written in the Prophets that the people “shall be all taught of God;” and we want to progress in this intelligence and in the principles which God has revealed until men shall not say one to another, “Know ye the Lord, for all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest.” This is the position that we are expected to occupy. Having obtained this knowledge of God, we are to teach it to others, so that the eternal principles he has revealed may be disseminated among the nations of the earth, until the honest in heart shall be gathered out, until all that love truth and are desirous to know the will of God and do it, will be under the direction and guidance of the Lord. And then, when the will of God is done among the saints of God upon the earth as it is done in heaven, a part of that which Jesus prayed for will be accomplished. Jesus taught his dis– ciples to pray that the will of God might be done upon the earth as it is done in heaven. At the present time it is not done in all the earth, but it may be done among us if we will subject ourselves to the law of God, the word of God, the will of God, and the principles of eternal truth, and follow the teachings of the Spirit of God; for as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, and if sons then are they heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Now, it is the rule of God which is desired to be introduced upon the earth, and this is the reason why the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith, why John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic Priesthood, why Peter, James and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood, why Moses came to bestow the dispensation of the gathering, and why other manifestations have been given unto us as a people, His elect, whom He has chosen from among the nations. This is an honorable position for us to occupy. We are called to fill various duties that God requires at our hands. And our position is not a nominal thing; it is a reality. It is true that God appeared to Joseph Smith, and that His Son Jesus did; it is true that John the Baptist appeared; it is true that Peter, James and John appeared; and conferred upon him the Holy Priesthood; it is true that Moses and Elias appeared unto him and that these all conferred upon him the keys of their various dispensations; it is true that this Priesthood has been conferred upon us; it is true that the Gospel has been preached by the Elders of Israel to the nations, so far as they have yet gone; it is true that those who have obeyed this Gospel have received the Holy Ghost and have been placed in communication with God our Heavenly Father. These things are all true. It is also true that Elijah has appeared that the hearts of the fathers might be turned to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers—that is Adam, Seth, Methuselah, Noah, Abraham, and the men of God in different ages—that a general interest might be manifested towards the works of God and the people of God as they have existed upon the earth, that we may stand as saviors upon Mount Zion, and build up temples to the Lord, and then go and administer in those temples for the living and for the dead, that there may be, as the Prophet Joseph has said, a welding link that will cement and bind other peoples with us and we with them, and that there may be a bond of union, also, between the people on earth and those in heaven, that we may operate together, they in the heavens and we on the earth, for the accomplishment of the purposes of God pertaining to the peoples that have lived, that now live and that will live.

These are some of the objects of our existence, and this is the reason we are gathered together in these valleys of the mountains. It is a curious thing when you reflect that when you were baptized into this Church nobody could keep you from gathering here. To do so, many wives have had to leave their husbands, many husbands have had to leave their wives, children have had to leave their parents, and parents have had to leave their children. But we are gathered together that we might learn the laws of life and the word of God, and that we might comprehend the duties and responsibilities that devolve upon us—that we might learn how to save ourselves and how to save our wives and children, our fathers and mothers, our uncles and aunts, our grandfathers and great grandfathers, who did not have the privilege which we enjoy. This is the position we occupy, that is, if we are living our religion, keeping the commandments of God and obeying those eternal principles which He has revealed to us. There are no people living upon the face of the earth today, who enjoy the privileges that this people enjoy, nor that have the light, the truth, or the intelligence which we have. The world does not understand us, nor the principles we have received, and consequently we are persecuted, opposed, and abused on all hands. It makes no difference, however. We are here to do the will of God, to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish the Zion of God. And we have been, many of us, to the ends of the earth, I was going to say, but we have not been quite to the ends, in fact I do not know where the ends are; but we have been up and down the earth a great deal, and then there are a great many places we have not yet visited. It is true the world has not treated us very well, and I sometimes think that we entertain too much of the same spirit that the world exhibits towards us. We are inclined to return evil for evil. We ought not to do that. We should return good for evil. “Bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you,” said the Savior. We have had the Gospel committed to us. For what? That we might be the messengers of life and salvation to others, not of death, damnation and destruction, but the messengers of life and salvation. How was it with Jesus when he was upon the earth? “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” He came to be a Savior to the world. He has not set us apart to condemn the world but to preach the Gospel of life and salvation to the world. It is not for us to feel in our hearts a principle of destruction, but a principle of salvation, and to seek to benefit, to bless, and to exalt the human family, as many as will come under the influence of the Son of God, and that those that won’t, why we will leave them in the hands of God; it is for Him in His own way and in His own time, to do with them as He may see fit. It is for us to carry out His designs; it is for the Twelve, the Seventies and others to preach the Gospel to the world and gather out the honest in heart; it is for us to give the inhabitants of the earth fair warning, that they may comprehend the true state of things and have the principles of life presented to them. “But,” says one, “they act very mean towards us.” Well, so they do. But, then they don’t know any better. Don’t know any better? No, they don’t. They don’t comprehend things as we comprehend them. We profess to be acquainted with the Spirit of God, as I before said, and with the light of revelation, they don’t. And furthermore, “The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” Well, but don’t God say He will come out in judgment against the wicked? Yes; but that is His business and not ours, unless He calls on us to help Him, and we must continue to bless them that curse us, and pray for them that despitefully use us. It is our business to preach the Gospel, and gather together God’s elect from the four quarters of the earth. It is for us to act right—that is the First Presidency, myself and Counselors. We are poor, frail, weak creatures, just as you are, and you are just as much as we are; there is nothing to boast about in any of us. Any blessings we have received are the free gifts of God to us. And He expects us to magnify our Priesthood and calling and to honor Him. What else shall we do? We will preach the Gospel; we will try and gather the people when we have preached; we will build Temples as we are doing, and we will administer in them when they are finished, in accordance with the pattern God has shown us, and we could not do so unless He had shown us. Those men that prate so much about our affairs and ignorance, we might build Temples for them, but would they know how to administer in them? No; they would not; and there is not a man living in the world outside of this Church who could perform the first ceremony in a Temple of the Lord of Hosts, and we would not ourselves have been in possession of that knowledge had God not revealed it to us. But having this knowledge we can enter into these Temples and administer for the living and for the dead. But we must humble ourselves before the Lord, we must put ourselves right, we must teach our families the principles of life, we must do right by our neighbors and by everybody, we must magnify the Lord and observe His law, purge ourselves from everything that is wrong, and say, “O God, try me and prove me. Give unto me Thy Holy Spirit that shall light up the candle of intelligence in my soul, that I may be enabled to see myself as Thou seest me, and if there is anything wrong in me show it unto me and give me power to put it away, that I may have the truth and be full of the Holy Ghost, the light of revelation, and the power of God.” We want to put ourselves and our families in order. And then let us learn to acknowledge the hand of God in all things and obey His law and keep His commandments in everything; not in one thing only, but in everything, that the Spirit and blessing of God and the power of God may be with us, that we may be the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; that we may be full of joy, peace and thanksgiving to God our Heavenly Father, that we may be true to our devotions at the family altar, and every morning and every evening bow before the Lord with our family and all that pertains to us. And then let the quorums seek the spirit and power of the Priesthood that belongs to them, whether High Councilors, Presidents of Stakes, High Priests, Bishops, or whatever they may be, that all may magnify their calling and be full of the Holy Ghost and the power of God, laying aside our follies, our covetousness and our evils, and wherein we have done any wrong make restitution for that wrong. Now, this is the word of the Lord to you if you can receive it. Let us try and obey the word and will of God, and keep His commandments, and then call upon the Lord and He will hear our prayers. His eyes are over His people, and His ears are open to their cries. God will stand by His Israel and he will deliver His people if they will only serve Him. No man, no power, no nation can harm you if you are followers of that which is good, for God will sustain His people. Zion is onward, onward and onward. The kingdom of God will be established. No power upon the earth can stay the hand of the Almighty. Let us, then, be humble and faithful, and fear God and keep His commandments, that the Holy Ghost may dwell in us, that the peace of God may abide in our habitations. Let us dedicate ourselves and our families and all that pertains to us to the Lord, and we will feel that we are blessed of Him. The work we are engaged in is not a phantom. We are going to build up the Zion of God; and the kingdom of God will continue to grow and increase, until “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever.” If we will be faithful, God will bless us and prosper us, and all things spoken in the Prophets will be fulfilled.

God bless you and lead you in the paths of life in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Discourse by Elder F. D. Richards, delivered at Logan, on Saturday Afternoon, Nov. 6, 1882.

My dear brethren and sisters and friends, I am much edified by the remarks which have been made here today. I believe that your president is looking after his work throughout this Stake over which he presides, and I hope you will take into careful consideration the subjects he has presented to you, as they are matters of practical importance. We feel that we are numbered with God’s people, and that it is very well with us in a general way, but there is a time coming when we shall each and every one of us be brought to a solemn, serious and faithful understanding of our true relationship to God and to each other, as well as to the work in which we are now called to labor. We all have our free agency to do good or evil. Every faithful Saint will have a desire to find the blessing that legitimately belongs to each particular ordinance and labor in the Church, for there is a blessing belonging to each office and calling, to each labor and duty, and to each particular ministration and work required of us.

The Elders who spoke this morning made allusions to the subject of tithing, which particularly pleased me; some may think this a hackneyed subject and wish we would talk about something else, believing that they know all that has been spoken or written about it; but I think there are a few things pertaining to this matter which we may not have considered. If there is any brother here who feels that today his tithing is onerous or that this tithing is a tax upon him, and that he has got so much he cannot afford to pay tithing on it, or that he has so little that he cannot spare a tenth of it, such a brother does not realize and sense the blessing that flows from paying an honest tithing, for if he did he would deem it just as necessary to obey that law of God to us, in order to obtain the special blessing thereof, as he would of going to his meals in order to derive the temporal blessing of health and strength from partaking of food. If we could take home to our hearts and understandings the sayings of Bishop Hunter here last Conference, namely, “pay your tithing and be blessed,” the subject of tithing would appear of greater moment to us. I recollect, not long ago, being told that a certain person worth his thousands of dollars paid one dollar and fifty cents; perhaps in order to be able to say at the end of the year that he paid tithing. Now, this kind of compromise with one’s conscience is not the thing for Saints—hypocrites may indulge in it.

Will you engage with me a few minutes, and consider the subject of tithing as the Lord has given it to us, and see if we can get to understand it, see if, peradventure, there is something in it worthy to be sought after. Does he give us a requirement that is not fraught with blessing and consolation to us. Not at all. Every requirement lived up to brings consolation and blessing. If I can have the liberty of the spirit to dwell on this subject, I would like us to look at it, and see if there is not something in it which we have not found out and which is both desirable and profitable.

I will read from the Doctrine and Covenants a short but very comprehensive Revelation upon this subject; but before doing so let me say that wherever tithing is spoken about, the word offerings is frequently connected with it. For instance, the Lord by His prophet Malachi, charged Israel with having robbed him of His tithes and offerings. These are words which although not strictly synonymous, are so nearly alike that they are frequently used together, and sometimes one for the other. But as used in the ancient scriptures tithes are not offerings, and offerings are not tithes. It should be kept in mind that this Church was organized more than eight years before the Lord gave to his people in this great and last dispensation a law on the subject of tithing. Let this be borne in mind as we proceed. The beginning of this work was founded in offerings and in consecrations, by the people giving themselves and all they possessed to the work of God when they embraced it. In the building of the Temple at Kirtland, the law of tithing was not known, but every man went to work on that House after the manner of bees returning to their hive, and each bringing in the necessary material to enable them to carry on the work.

When the first Bishop, Edward Partridge, was appointed to the high position of Bishop of the Church in Zion, his duty, as given by revelation, was not to deal with tithing. Indeed tithing was not even mentioned in the whole revelation, but he was required to receive the consecrations of the Saints, and to set off to them their inheritances. No revelation had yet been given upon the subject of tithing. When the Saints had gone up from Kirtland to Jackson County in Missouri, and had been driven to Clay County, and from Clay to Caldwell County, and when Brothers Joseph and Hyrum, David and Oliver, and the leading authorities of the priesthood at that time were congregated in Far West, the then gathering place of Israel, and where a Temple was appointed to be built, it was on the 8th of July, 1838, that the Lord gave for the first time to this people, through the Prophet Joseph Smith the law on the subject of tithing, and we should understand this in order to approach the subject in a correct and proper manner.

Up to this time you will recollect that the Saints had gone to Missouri to receive inheritances according to the order of stewardships, consecrating all they had to the Bishop in Zion; and in turn he delivered to every man his stewardship and gave to him a written deed and covenant, in the name of the Lord, and in the authority of his holy ministerial calling which could not be broken; and as you well know who are familiar with the history, the Saints were during the following winter of 1838-9, driven out from Missouri altogether.

We will now look at this short revelation given through Joseph, the Prophet, at Far West, Missouri, July 8th, 1838, in answer to a question, “O Lord, show unto thy servants how much thou requirest of the properties of the people for a tithing.”

1. “Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the Bishop of my Church of Zion,

2. “For the building of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church.

3. “And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people.

4. “And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.

5. “Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass, that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you.

6. “And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you.

7. “And this shall be an ensam– ple unto all the stakes of Zion. Even so. Amen.”

Before going further I want to stop and consider the question asked by some, what He means where the Lord requires the surplus property of His people as the beginning of their tithing. Let us consider for a moment this word “surplus.” What does it mean when applied to a man and his property? Surplus cannot mean that which is indispensably necessary for any given purpose, but what remains after supplying what is needed for that purpose. Is not the first and most necessary use of a man’s property that he feed, clothe and provide a home for himself and family? This appears to be the great leading objects for which we labor to acquire means, and as, until the time that this revelation was given, all public works and raising of all public funds had been by consecration, was not “surplus property,” that which was over and above a comfortable and necessary subsistence? In the light of what had transpired and of subsequent events, what else could it mean? Can we take any other view of it when we consider the circumstances under which it was given in Far West in July, 1838?

I have been unable in studying this subject to find any other definition of the term surplus, as used in this revelation, than the one I have just given. I find that it was so understood and recorded by the Bishops and people in those days, as well as by the Prophet Joseph himself, who was unquestionably the ablest and best exponent of this revelation.

Immediately following the persecutions of the Saints in the expulsion from the State of Missouri, the Prophet Joseph, in 1839, found the sickly town of Commerce so nearly depopulated, by disease, that its remaining inhabitants were glad to sell out to him their sickly place, which afterwards became the delightful Nauvoo—for God blessed it and made the place healthy as well as beautiful. Soon a site was selected on which to build a Temple, as says the Lord, “which my people are always commanded to build unto my name.” The cornerstones were laid and the gathered saints were diligently at work on the building.

How did they build it? Here for the first time in this dispensation the principle of tithing was practiced by the Saints in the labor of building a Temple. Few, if any, in those days, who came to Nauvoo, had any surplus, and many had not a comfortable subsistence, consequently the tithing of the people on that Temple was mostly in labor as I well recollect—for I worked in the quarry every tenth day when I was not absent on missionary service. I remember very well that every man who was dependent on his daily labor went in good faith and performed the work assigned him, and it was considered and credited to him as his tithing. When brethren who had property gathered there they were tithed of their surplus property, and then after that of their increase of the residue from that time on. So abundant was the spirit of consecration among the Saints in those days, they voted rather than have the Temple fail of completion by the appointed time, they would appropriate their homes and the lots on which they stood for its accomplishment. After paying such surplus as the beginning of their tithing, “those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy Priesthood, saith the Lord.” Again, “Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass, that all those who gather to the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus property, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you.” This is a command; it does not say it may or may not be, but they shall not be worthy to abide among you. “And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept therein, that it may be most holy, behold, verily, I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you.” This language is plain and free from ambiguity. “And this shall be an ensample unto all the stakes of Zion.

I call your attention to this that we may look at it and come to know what it really means to pay tithing. For I do believe that the majority of the brethren want to understand what is the mind of the Lord on this subject, because our blessings all depend upon our understanding what is his mind and will and then carrying it out to the best of our ability. Some who pay their tithing think they ought not to be called upon for any offerings to the Temple or poor, and say, “If I have to make donations I cannot pay tithing;” and they act accordingly.

I might go on to speak about a great variety of views which are taken of this subject, but suppose we take a look at what the Lord said and did about these things anciently. First, a word concerning offerings. People carry something to the poor because they feel it to be a requirement; but do they do it in the way that they may receive the blessings of the Lord that per– tain to the giving of those offerings? There is a great deal more belonging to this than I shall attempt to explain now. The first manifestation of God’s favor and of his disfavor to man over the matter of offerings was towards two of the sons of Adam—Abel and Cain; Abel brought the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof, such an offering was acceptable to the Lord, and because of this the favor and blessing of God was upon him. Cain, his own brother, child of the same parents, brought his offering to the Lord, but his offering the Lord could not accept, it was displeasing in his sight. The Bible does not give us the particular reasons for the acceptance of Abel’s and the rejection of Cain’s offering; but the Talmud, an ancient Jewish record, informs us that “while Abel selected the finest and best-conditioned animals of his flock, Cain offered fruit of an inferior quality, the poorest which the earth afforded. Therefore, Cain’s offering was unheeded, while the fire of acceptance fell from heaven, consuming the gracious gift which his brother had presented to his Maker.”

Cain’s offering did not represent that gratitude and acknowledgement which was witnessed in his brother Abel’s. And while God could pour out his blessing and spirit upon Abel, accepting of his offering, He could not do so to Cain. We may take this down to the times of Israel in the land of Canaan. The Lord, when he gave them the law of tithing, gave also the particular item of offerings. They had to bring peace offerings and different kinds of offerings before the Lord, that by complying with these the favor of God might rest upon them. But to give a more striking and significant instance, let me refer you to the case of Solomon, who, wanting a certain peculiar blessing from the Lord, offered a sacrifice unto the Lord of 3,000 bullocks, and said he, “O, Lord, if thou wilt accept of my offering, I desire not the riches nor the wealth, nor the honor of the world, but I desire wisdom, that I may be able to lead the people in the right way of the Lord.” What effect did this offering produce? The Lord granted the desire of his heart. Here was a standard given. Solomon did not want a blessing worth a certain amount, he wanted one that should reach his people through him; the blessing that he might be enabled to rule over them in wisdom. He sought such a blessing, and not the blessing of earthly goods; and God granted it to him, and he made the wisest of men and the best ruler that ever led that people; although his heart was led astray, after idols, as the Lord told him it would be if he took wives from other nations which were idolatrous. When we make offerings unto God, they should be of the best and the choicest that we have, and when this is the case we can with more freedom and faith ask our Father for some of the best of His blessings. But if we give the poorest of our property as some do, will it be acceptable to the Lord, and shall we obtain the blessing we desire?

If you were going to make an offering to the nobles of the earth, you would never think of presenting anything but the best and choicest of the kind of gift you were going to make. I do not want to speak lengthily upon this matter of offerings, but to merely remind you that when we make offerings we should do so in sincerity, imparting the best we have, as did Abel, and never presenting anything that our better nature would intimate to us would not be acceptable to God or His servants, that we may not share the lot of Cain.

Let us now return more particularly to the subject of tithing. The Lord gave to His people anciently the law of tithing. It is recorded in the 14th chapter of Genesis, that Abraham, when he went out with 318 trained men, in the power of God, slew certain wicked kings, thereby winning the admiration of God’s High Priest Melchizedek, who we are told, went out to meet him when he was returning home, and blessed him. Abraham turned over one-tenth of the spoils that he had taken to this man of God; he did not even take them home, so regardful was he to conform to this law, which he respected and honored, and the observance of which brought such great blessings upon his own head and upon the heads of his generations after him, who also observed this law. Paul, hundreds of years afterwards, quoted it as an example for those of his day.

The Bible informs us that Jacob, while serving for his wives, recognized this law, and said to the Lord: “Of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” The Lord blessed him with the desires of his heart and prospered him exceedingly. He paid his tithing.

So also the Prophet Joseph and other leading Elders of the Church in our own day have covenanted with the Lord and paid their tithing with most careful consideration. When Israel was being brought up from the land of Egypt, and the Lord established his law among them to make them his people, he gave them the following commandment in regard to tithing. Leviticus 27, 30, 34: “All the tithe of the land, or of the fruit of the tree is the Lord’s; it is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.” “Whatsoever passeth under the rod.” Do you know what that means? I will relate the history as it has come down to us. When they came to pay their tithing the Lord told them it should not be the poorest, neither would he ask the best; therefore they put their flock or herd in a pen having an outlet just large enough for one to pass out at a time, and as the animals passed in single-file, the owner stood by with a rod in his hand that had been dipped in some sort of coloring material, counting them as they came out, and touching every tenth animal with his colored rod. He would not go in among them and pick them lest his judgment might not be right, but the flock passed out according to their own inclination, and as they passed, the owner stood with the coloring rod and marked on the back of every tenth animal, and after all had passed out to an adjoining fold, those that were marked were then picked out from the flock. “He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it; and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.” They were to take it as it came, not to pick the good nor the bad; this was the requirement, that they should give to the Lord tithes of all: Leviticus, 27, 30 and 33. There is another feature in this which is worthy of notice, while all Israel paid these offerings and tithes of their seed and grain, flocks and herds, to the ones appointed to receive it—to the Levites; that tribe of Israel was forbidden to have any other property, but they had to live on the tithing thus presented. Still they were required to pay a tithe of what they received the same as the rest of the people. The Scriptures say about this in the 18th chapter of Numbers: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe. And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress.” Thus we see that the Levites had to pay tithing of all they received.

Again, the Lord called upon Israel to hold at certain seasons what they called feasts. He told them that they should bring their supplies, provisions, etc., at the times of these feasts, and that on the first day they should not do any manner of work, but should come together on the day of the feast of Pentecost and the passover, and should remember how the Lord passed by them in the land of Egypt; and the first day and the last day of the feast they were required to keep without working. And the people were commanded to eat before the Lord with clean hearts and with rejoicings, and were particularly requested to invite the Levite who was without part or inheritance among them. The Lord pointed out things definitely for His people, and as long as they obeyed strictly the requirements made of them they flourished and prospered in the land. And it was wonderful how that little land of Canaan was made to support the millions of Israel, with all their flocks and herds. It was truly a land flowing with milk and honey. And it was because of the blessing of God that was upon it.

The Lord our God wants us to sanctify this land unto him by paying our tithing and offerings, that He may bless it unto us and make it a blessed land upon the face of the earth, not only to us but to our generations after us. He has gone so far as to say that kings should not rule over it, and that if the people who live upon it should become wicked, when the cup of their iniquity became full they should be cut off. These are great promises made unto us if we carry out the requirements of the Gospel. And yet, how little do we know of the great blessings that follow obedience to the law of tithing? Some seem to forget that if they do not pay tithing, they are not even entitled to a recommend from their Bishop to partake of the general blessings of the Lord’s house. They do not seem to realize this. The day is coming when you will want to go into the Temple of the Lord which is now being erected in your city, and receive your ordinances there, the records will be searched to see if you have paid your tithing. And then you will have occasion for sorrow and regret if you have not been faithful to this requirement in times of prosperity, and while you could have paid as well as not.

There are some features of this subject which seem like a crowning climax of the text. After the Lord revealed to Israel the law of tithing, and after telling them how to keep the feast of the Passover etc., he tells them another peculiar thing, to which I wish to call your attention, as it is connected with the subject—in Deuteronomy, xxvi, 12, 13.

“When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;

“Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, and to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.”

Here is a curious saying: When thou hast made an end of this tithing, and eaten within thy gates, then thou shalt say before the Lord: “I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have I given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them.” Now, supposing there was an ordinance of that kind instituted among us that at the close of each annual settlement, it was required of each man to say, I have paid my tithing, the tenth of all the Lord has given unto me; I have delivered it to my Bishop or to the storehouse of the Lord, as the Lord has required. And then to say, I have done all things according to the commandments of the Lord my God, and have not failed in any of these things. How many of us could lift up our hands and say that we have done all that God has required? There was the point—God brought it home to the people, and when a man could say this his neighbors knew he was living the law of God. This was something that created confidence and fellowship between man and man. When they could thus testify that they had done all that was required of them, they could also, with good grace and faith, ask the blessings of God upon them and their land as written in the 15th verse of the chapter just quoted: “Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.” As the Lord has in like manner said unto us.

“And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you.”

There is one other thing in connection with this wherein the Lord gave to the people a requirement which it would seem was intended to reach home to their hearts and to prevent greed and covetousness. Every seventh year was a year of jubilee or release when the poor, the unfortunate, the bondmen and the debtor were set free.

If a man borrowed of his neighbor during the early part of the six years, he had more time which gave a better prospect of being able to pay before the seventh year arrived. If another wished to borrow during the sixth year, not having so much time to earn or make the pay, persons having money to lend would naturally feel that it was doubtful if they would get their money back.

Upon this peculiar feature of financial policy the Lord says, “If there be among you a poor man or one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend unto him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.”—Deut. xv., 7-11.

How wonderfully the Lord in all his teachings seeks and works to do away with covetousness, that sin which is idolatry, from the midst of his people. If thy brother come to thee on the sixth year thou shalt not close thine hand against him, but thou shalt open wide thine hand unto him. Thou shalt not let thy wicked heart say, that the seventh year, the year of release is at hand and I perhaps will lose it all.

Brethren, since so exalted sentiments of charitable benevolence were given to the ancients, under the law, shall we to whom the fullness of the Gospel has come, let these precepts pass by unheeded without treasuring them up in good and honest hearts?

I have but just begun to open the door, just commenced to enter into some details that environ this great and vastly important subject. I have only aimed at the importance and general bearing of this law upon the Saints, as touching all that the Lord gives unto us, not dealing in the least with the administration of His law.

Let us consider—who is it that causes the grain to increase when we put it into the earth? Who makes our flocks and herds to increase? Who gives us the vitalizing air we breathe—the liberty we enjoy with all the hopes and promises of eternal life and glory through obedience to the Everlasting Gospel? God the giver of every good gift.

From the foregoing we learn that the law of tithing is a strict commandment, a law which if obeyed faithfully by God’s people will bring blessing, plenty and sanctification of the land occupied by them unto God and His purposes, but if disobeyed the disobedient “shall not be found worthy to abide among the Saints, and this land shall not be a land of Zion unto them.”

That the difference between tithing and offering is that tithing is designated, meaning one-tenth, neither more nor less; while offerings are also required, the amount is left optional with the giver—the measure he metes will be measured to him again.

That the tithing of all that the Lord gives unto us belongs unto Him, and it is our first duty to the Church to pay it, and after that the sacred precepts, teach offerings and a generous benevolence to the poor and needy, whether in gifts or loans—discouraging greed or covetousness of this world’s goods, which is idolatry.

I earnestly pray that the Spirit of God may enable us to master this and all other principles of the Gospel, until we shall possess the riches of eternal life, the greatest gift of God to man. Amen.

Discourse by Apostle Lorenzo Snow, delivered at Logan, on Saturday Afternoon, Nov. 4, 1882.

The speaker commenced by reading the 19th, 20th and 21st verses of the 17th chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, and then said:

It is a question in my mind when reflecting upon the subject herein contained whether we take into proper consideration the great purposes that God has in view with regard to the human family, and the manner in which he proceeds to accomplish them. When the Lord calls an individual or a class of individuals out from the world, it is not always with an object to benefit that particular individual or individuals. The Lord has not in view merely the salvation of a few people called Latter-day Saints, who have been or who may be gathered into these valleys, but the salvation of all men, the living and the dead. When the Lord called Abraham he made him certain promises concerning the glory that should come upon him and his posterity, and in these promises we find this remarkable saying: that in him and in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. Paul in offering an explanation to this, says, in speaking of seed, it did not have reference “to seeds as of many, but one which was Christ Jesus;” that is, in Abraham and in Christ Jesus, his seed, all the families of the earth should be blessed; showing that in calling Abraham and in making this promise, the design of the Lord was to bless not only him and his posterity, but all the families of the earth.

In the dealings of God with man, we find that he often called upon the heathen nations with a view to the accomplishment of certain purposes. The Ninevites, for instance, received a communication from the Lord through the Prophet Jonah, telling them that in forty days their city should be destroyed. This people was worthy to receive warning by a revelation from God, as they manifested afterward in their repentance. And Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord, for he knew that the Almighty had respect for not only one nation and people, but for all nations and peoples that feared Him, and lived according to the light which they possessed; and he believed that the Lord would forgive that people; and therefore that he, as a Prophet, would fail in his prediction, and would suffer in his char– acter as a Prophet. However, we find that Jonah turned up at last in Nineveh, a wiser, if not a better man. And he went to work in earnest, performing the mission to which he had been called, and delivered the message to the people. The king heard of it, and he had that faith in and that knowledge of the character of the Almighty that he believed and humbled himself, and used his influence with his nobles and people that they should do likewise, that the wrath of God might be turned and he had his people preserved. So he came down off his throne and called upon his nobles to put on sackcloth, and commanded that the beasts of the field should be covered with sackcloth, and the people repented and humbled themselves before God in the hope that he would turn away his wrath from them. And they so fully complied with the requirements that his judgment was reversed, and the great city preserved.

And when the Lord called upon the Prophet Jeremiah, he told him that his purposes were not confined to the people of Israel, but that he was interested in the welfare and salvation of all nations. On a certain occasion he was commanded to make yokes and to place them upon his neck; and when the messengers from the various nations should come to visit Israel, he was to send those yokes to their masters, their kings, and tell them what his mind and will were concerning them. The yokes were sent to six different nations, with a message requiring of those several kings certain duties. Those nations did not profess to believe in God; they worshipped idols, but God had respect to them notwithstanding. And it would not be a matter of astonishment to know that those people stood upon a far higher plane of morality and faith in God than the people of our boasted nineteenth century. Now, the Lord told them that it was his intention to make a certain person king over all the nations including theirs, and he required them to submit to this change in their governmental affairs, as he had appointed Nebuchadnezzar to hold dominion over all nations and peoples, and over the beasts of the field. “All these things are mine (says the Lord) and have I not the right to do with them as I please? Now you nations, if you do not wish to be uprooted, listen to the voice of my servant Jeremiah, and bow your necks to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar.” Even His own people Israel whom He had called and proposed to lift up in the eyes of the nations, Jeremiah was commanded to tell them to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, and thus permit themselves to go into captivity; which if they did not they should be overthrown, and Jerusalem destroyed. But they would not listen. They worshipped false gods, and they obeyed not the voice of the Almighty; but were guilty of all kinds of abominations, and were so full of wickedness that the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he permitted him, whom he called his servant, Nebuchadnezzar, to destroy their Temple, break down their altars, and scatter them throughout his kingdom. On a certain occasion the Lord inspired King Nebuchadnezzar to issue an edict in which His people Israel were much interested, as they were in captivity. Nebuchadnezzar had discovered the true and living God, and he felt to honor Him; and in order to fully satisfy his feelings in this respect he passed an edict to the effect that whosoever would not respect the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego should be cut to pieces and a dunghill be made of their houses. In this way the people in Jerusalem and in the country round about while in captivity were compelled to have regard to the true God, according to the edict of the heathen king. This is the way God worked in those days.

Finally when Jesus came, he came as a sacrifice not simply in the interest of Israel, or the posterity of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but in the interest of the whole human family, that in Him all men might be blessed, that in Him all men might be saved; and His mission was to make provision by which the whole human family might receive the benefits of the everlasting Gospel, not, as I say, Israel alone, but the whole human race; and not alone those dwelling upon the earth, but those also in the spirit world. The Apostles at first did not comprehend the universality of the purpose of the Lord, and it took the Lord some time to convince them. There was Peter, he had the idea that the Gospel was to be confined to the Jews; and in order to show him to the contrary the Lord sent a special manifestation, in the form of a sheet let down from heaven containing all manner of beasts, and then commanded him to arise, slay and eat. But Peter demurred, giving as a reason, that nothing unclean had entered his mouth. But he was told that what the Lord had made clean no man should call unclean. And after he had received this heavenly vision, he was waited on by messengers sent by a distinguished personage. It appears that the Lord had found a Gentile who honored Him, who gave much alms to the poor, and who prayed honestly and fervently unto Him. When Peter was conducted by the messenger to the place he learned that it was Cornelius, a Gentile, who had sent for him; who had assembled with his friends to hear what the Lord had to communicate. When Peter discovered himself in the company of Gentiles he considered it highly improper for one who was a Jew to be seen associating with that class of people. And then Cornelius explained how that an angel had appeared to him instructing him to send to Joppa to the house of one Simon, a tanner, etc. On hearing this Peter commenced preaching to him and his Gentile friends. And while he was speaking the Holy Ghost fell upon them, and they spake in tongues and prophesied. His eyes were now opened, and his views became changed from those narrow conceptions that he had entertained in regard to the dispensation of the blessings of the Lord being confined to a few. But when he saw that the Holy Ghost was upon them as it had fallen upon his own people, he asked, Who can forbid water that they should not be baptized? And he commanded that they be baptized. Peter learned that the Gospel of the kingdom was to go to all nations, that all might receive the benefits of the same, according to the promise made to Abraham, that in him and in Christ, his seed, all the nations of the earth should be blessed.

It was equally difficult to convince the other Apostles in regard to this matter, for when they found what Peter had done they chided him for so doing; so he explained to them how this departure occurred; how that the Lord had convinced him as to the propriety of allowing the Gentiles to be baptized.

I have thought sometimes that we take too narrow a view of the character and purposes of God. When the Lord introduces a dispensation to His servants, as a general thing it becomes necessary for them to operate in the interests of many. There is one thing, however, that should not escape our notice. From the verses which I have read the importance and the necessity of the Apostles being united, was shown, in order that the purposes of the Lord might be effective in the world. For unless the Apostles and those that believed on them were united, the world could not believe in the mission and purposes of the Savior. Therefore Jesus prayed to the Father that all those whom the Father had given Him might be one as He and the Father were one, that the world might believe that the Father had sent Him. In fact this is what the Lord designed to effect through Israel in bringing them out from Egyptian bondage; He wished to make of them a united people, a peculiar nation, a nation of people whom God could honor and respect in order that the world might believe, and that they might receive the blessings which He wished to bestow upon them, inasmuch as the human race are all the offspring of God; and if Israel had carried out His requirements, the world, no doubt would have been greatly benefited thereby, and the purposes of God more fully effected. The Lord wished to show His character, and the character of the heavens, and wished to extend his love and blessings through Israel to the whole human family; but Israel was disobedient and would not hearken to His voice. And as to the Apostles, so far as their fulfilling the wishes of the Savior concerning their being one, we are told by the revelations of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph, that his disciples in days of old had feelings one against another, and forgave not one another in their hearts, and for this reason they were chastened, yes, they were sorely chastened. The Apostles were persecuted, and with one exception perhaps, were finally martyred. And the churches they established never came to that union which the Savior prayed for, and consequently they failed to stand the tide of opposition. The Latter-day Saints are trying to do the work that Israel failed to do; and that the former Saints did not accomplish, and we can only do it by becoming one even as the Father and the Son are one, and this in order that the world may believe that we are sent of God. We have got to be perfect, and come to the measure of the stature of Christ Jesus, in order that the world may know that Jesus has sent and commissioned His Apostles, and restored the holy Priesthood. If we have division in our midst; if we be divided either spiritually or temporally, we never can be the people that God designs us to become, nor can we ever become instruments in His hands of making the world believe that the holy Priesthood has been restored, and that we have the everlasting Gospel. In order for us to effect the purposes of God, we shall have to do as Jesus did—conform our individual will to the will of God, not only in one thing, but in all things, and to live so that the will of God shall be in us. We have the same Priesthood that Jesus had, and we have got to do as He did, to make sacrifice of our own desires and feelings as He did, perhaps not to die martyrs as He did, but we have got to make sacrifices in order to carry out the purposes of God, or we shall not be worthy of this holy Priesthood, and be saviors of the world. God intends to make us saviors not only of many that now dwell on the earth, but of many in the spirit world. He will not only place us in a position to save ourselves, but He will make us competent to assist in the redemption of many of the offspring of the Almighty. And that we may assist in the salvation of other people we are building the Temple on yonder plateau; and all Latter-day Saints in this Temple district are called upon to aid in accomplishing this work.

I have come now to what I wish to say about the business of this Temple, in reference to which I desire to speak a few minutes. I suspect that many of the Saints are anticipating the completion of this Temple next spring. As to when it will be finished I am not able to say; I think, however, it will depend upon the efforts we make to that end.

The speaker then went on to speak of the work that was necessary to be done, and proposed a way to accomplish the same; and then said:

I would not be afraid to prophesy, if I were in the habit of prophesying, that the people of this Temple dis– trict will be found ready and willing to do all that may be required by way of completing this building. And I have not the least doubt in the world—I believe it full, that angels will minister to the people, and the power of the Almighty will be made manifest to a greater extent than at any other time, or in any other house, since the days of Jesus. You know how it was in that Kirtland Temple, Jesus the Son of God, appeared in His glory standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, His eyes like a flaming fire, and His hair as white as the driven snow, while His countenance shown like the sun in his brightness. And those who saw Him testify to this fact, and they describe His voice as the sound of rushing waters, as He said: I am He that was slain; I am He that lives; I am your advocate with the Father. Your sins are forgiven you. And He then blessed those who had assisted in building the Temple to His name, and He accepted it at their hands. And this people will be entitled to those blessings that Jesus in His glory pronounced upon those who aided in building the Kirtland Temple, inasmuch as they contribute in the future as liberally as they have in the past.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at Grantsville, Sunday Evening, Oct. 29th, 1882.

I am pleased to have the opportunity of again meeting with the people of Grantsville.

In regard to the remarks which we have just heard pertaining to the desires and intentions of the wicked they are true and correct; but at the same time I do not feel any trembling in my knees, do you? It has been said, the wicked rage, and the people imagine a vain thing; and the Lord will have them in derision. Again, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. There are other remarkable and significant sayings in relation to these things; and whatever the opinions and ideas of men may be, it will be found at last that the Lord rules, manipulates and manages the affairs of men, of nations and of the world, and therefore, neither this nation nor any other nation can do anything more than God permits. He sets up one nation, and puts down another, according to the counsels of his own will. And he has done this from the beginning, whether men believe it or not. And as regards what are called the mighty ones—the kings of the earth—one of the prophets in speaking of them says that he saw them gathered together in a pit; and that after many days they should be visited. All men are but human; their breath is in their nostrils, and they have no power but that which God gives them. Anything beyond this they are powerless to do; and why, then, should His people fear? We certainly have a work to perform on the earth, and God our Father has selected us for that purpose. He raised up Joseph Smith and other men, and conferred the holy Priesthood upon them and today they are found organized as Elders, High Priests, Seventies, the Twelve, etc., by whom the Lord expects to lift up a standard to the nations, and an ensign to the people. And notwithstanding the calculations and plans of the world, we are told that when this standard is lifted up, the Gentiles shall seek unto it, “and his rest shall be glorious.” That is the way I read my Bible: I expect you will find it in yours. We are not going to war. We did not originate this work any more than men originated any work in which God called them to labor, at any former time. God has been the chief mover and manipulator of men in the different ages of the world from the time of their first existence upon the earth to the present. He has given men their own agency, and they have the privilege of receiving or rejecting it, but he holds them responsible for their acts. He does not hold us responsible for the acts of other men, nor for the acts of the nations.

He has given unto us a mission to preach the Gospel to every creature; and he that believes shall be saved, and he that believes not shall be damned. He has given unto us authority and has commanded us to preach this Gospel to the nations of the earth; and we have been doing it now for some fifty years, and are constantly sending out missionaries by way of fulfilling this duty. We have done this and are still doing it, not because the world love us very much; if they did, it would be a marvel, for Jesus in his day said: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” And there has been a spirit of opposition and antagonism to the Church and kingdom of God in all the various ages of the world. Paul speaks of men who had to wander about in sheepskins and goatskins, secreting themselves in deserts, in dens and caves of the earth; of whom the world was not worthy. Said he, these men showed plainly by their acts that they desired a better country; “wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city” which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in the heavens for them. Such men had a knowledge of these things, and they did not seem to care very much about the consequences of their obedience to the laws of God.

The three Hebrew children exem– plified their faith in God when they were told to do a certain thing; but, said they, we cannot do it. “But if you do not we will put you into a fiery furnace.” All right; it is not a very pleasant ordeal to go through, but one thing we know, we will not bow down to your image, nor worship the god which you have set up. And that is a fact in regard to us. We do not know what God will permit men to do or what he will not; but one thing we do know, that is, we will not worship their god nor bow down to their image; and we feel quite easy about the result—at least, that is the way I feel. It was considered criminal for Daniel to pray to his God, but he prayed nevertheless; and the Lord was merciful to him and took care of him. The king felt a little better towards him than some of our pious people feel towards us. He was called a heathen king; but he was a man that had the fear of God in his heart, and he had respect for his fellow men. And when Daniel was cast into the lions’ den, in the morning early the king repaired to the place, and with a lamentable voice cried, saying, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom thou servest continually able to deliver thee from the lions?” Daniel answered: “O king, live forever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouth, that they have not hurt me.” I do not know, but I am inclined to think that if some of you Latter-day Saints had the same ordeal to pass through, that few, if any of the authorities of the land would feel as much interested in you as the heathen king did in Daniel.

It is necessary that we pass through certain ordeals in order that we may be purified. People sometimes do not comprehend these things; they think it would be very nice to do as the Methodists sing about sometimes—sit and sing themselves away to everlasting bliss. And where is that? Somewhere they say beyond the bounds of time and space. I have never come across a person that was able to locate that place; and it is one of those things I never could comprehend. But they did not all do this in former times. When no other power operated against them Satan himself undertook to interfere; and I sometimes think that he has done that very thing in our day. Job, for instance, was a curious sort of a character. It is said that on a certain occasion the sons of God met together, and that Satan also presented himself before them—rather a strange personage to meet with the sons of God. I think sometimes that we have exhibitions of that here. And on that occasion, as usual, he was full of accusations; you know he always has represented the saints of God as the meanest set of people that ever lived, and he is up to his old tricks today; but then, we are told that he was a liar from the beginning. When he went before the Lord—I suppose he had been complaining to Him of the people down below, for he is called the accuser of the brethren—said the Lord to him: Lucifer, hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil? And Satan answered the Lord: Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not thou put a hedge about him, and increased his substance, and blessed the work of his hands—as much as to say: “I, too, would serve the Lord, if he would treat me as well as Job has been treated; but let me have a rap at him and I will show you then what he will do.” And the Lord gave him permission to afflict Job, but charged him that he was not to take his life; and the devil did afflict him, as you all know. But in all that he did he found that Job was true to his God, and that the confidence he reposed in him was not misplaced. Not discouraged, however, the devil appeared again before the sons of God, and the Lord took occasion to remind him that Job “holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movest me against him, to destroy him without cause.” And Satan answered the Lord, and said, “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.” The Lord then permitted the devil to afflict his body, which he did; and on the back of that he got Job’s friends to come and visit him, and comfort him—you have heard of “Job’s comforters”—and they did “comfort” him? They would have him believe that all his misfortunes and sufferings were because of his wickedness, and the judgments of God were overtaking him, and then to crown the climax his wife comes along and says, Job, I would not stand it any longer; I would curse God and die like a man. But, says Job, thou speakest like one of the foolish women. What, shall we receive good at the hands of the Lord, and not evil. And notwithstanding all that was brought upon him, he said, Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him, for I know that my Redeemer liveth; and that He will stand in the latter day upon the earth, and that although worms may wallow in my flesh, and revel in my brain, yet, in my flesh shall I see God, these eyes shall behold him, and I shall see him for myself and not for another. Job had faith in his God, and he delivered him; and in his latter days he gave him more children and more property than he had ever possessed before.

Again, we read of certain people, described in the visions of John, who were clothed in white raiment, singing a song that no man knew or could sing excepting those that were acquainted with the principles that they were. And who were they? They were those that had come up through much tribulation, who had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And are we not told that we must be made perfect through suffering? Are we not told, that “it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering?” I think that is the doctrine that we have read in our Bible; and that is the doctrine that I have always believed in. There are many of our good Latter-day Saints who are grasping and covetous and who take advantage of one another, and who frequently act dishonorably and who say things that are improper and wrong, and that are contrary to the principles of justice and equity; and sometimes it is necessary that men should be shook up a little. God in His wisdom has handled us from time to time. I can see men around me tonight whom I have seen and known for forty years—do you remember, brethren, when we had to leave the State of Missouri, “all hands and the cook?” And did we cry about it? I think not. I felt as happy then as I do now, and I feel quite comfortable tonight. I feel that all is well in Zion. As long as people have within them the principles of eternal life; as long as they have within them the hope that blooms with immortality and eternal life, what do they care about what is happening or going to happen; what do they care what this nation can do or is going to do. They can only do what God permits them.

We have learned many things through suffering, we call it suffering; I call it a school of experience, I never did bother my head much about these things; I do not today. What are these things for? Why is it that good men should be tried? Why is it, in fact, that we should have a devil? Why did not the Lord kill him long ago? Because he could not do without him. He needed the devil and a great many of those who do his bidding just to keep men straight, that we may learn to place our dependence upon God, and trust in Him, and to observe his laws and keep his commandments. When he destroyed the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, he suffered a descendant of Cain to come through the flood in order that he might be properly represented upon the earth. And Satan keeps busy all the time, and he will until he is bound; and I expect they will then have good times until he is loose again. The time will be when he will be cast into the bottomless pit, and he will not be able to deceive the nations any more until the thousand years have expired. I have never looked at these things in any other light than trials for the purpose of purifying the Saints of God, that they may be, as the Scriptures say, as gold that has been seven times purified by the fire.

The Lord has gathered us from the nations of the earth and has given to us His Holy Spirit. He has organized His Church, and He has conferred upon us all the rights and privileges of the Holy Gospel. He has taught us how to save ourselves, and how to save our wives and children, and how to save the living and how to save the dead. He has taught us how to be saviors upon Mount Zion, and he has taught us that the kingdom is the Lord’s; He has taught us that we are operating for him and his kingdom in the interests of humanity; for he is desirous to gather out from the nations all the pure, the virtuous and the noble, men and women who will observe his laws and keep his commandments.

Again, he has given unto us eternal covenants, as referred to this evening, which also are true and have emanated from Him. Can we violate the principles of eternal life? No, never. We have got to put our trust in God, let the consequences be as they may. And as long as we do this, and as long as we keep the holy covenants we have entered into with him and with one another, Zion will triumph; and the wicked will waste away until there will be no place found for them; and the man or the nation that lifts up his hand against Zion will wither before Almighty God. I will prophesy that in the name of Jesus Christ, and I will meet the consequences of what I say. But I will tell you what we have to do, my brethren and sisters, we must fear God in our hearts; we must lay aside our covetousness and our waywardness, our self-will and foolishness of every kind. As brethren, we must humble ourselves before the Lord, repenting of our sins, and henceforth preserve our bodies and spirits pure, that we may be fit receptacles for the Spirit of the living God, and be guided by him in all our labors both for the living and the dead. Our desires must be for God and his righteousness, until we shall exclaim with one of old: O God, search me, and try me, and if there be any way of wickedness in me, bid it depart. It is for us, as fathers and mothers, to go before the Lord in all humility and call upon him that his peace may be in our hearts; and wherein we may have done wrong, confess that wrong and repair it as far as we possibly can; and in this way let every man and woman in Israel begin to set their houses in order, and forever cultivate the spirit of peace, the spirit of union and love. And if the families of Israel do this throughout all the land of Zion, all fearing God and working righteousness, cherishing the spirit of humility and meekness, and putting our trust in him, there is no power in existence that can injure us; for God will stand by and sustain his people, and he will deliver them out of the hands of their enemies. And as for the world I will say again, and as I have said on other occasions, I care not what they may say or what they may do; the wicked, whether men or nations can do no more than our Father in heaven permits them to do, and so long as we are doing that which is right before him, why should we fear—are we not in his hands, and is not the whole world in his hands, and can he not do with us and with them as seemeth him good?

Brethren and sisters, God bless you, and may his peace continue with you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President George Q. Cannon, delivered at Tooele, on Sunday Afternoon, October 29th, 1882.

Our position, as Latter-day Saints, is such that unless we have the guidance of the Lord our God, we are very likely to become involved in a series of difficulties and troubles. This work cannot be built up by man. Man’s power, man’s wisdom, man’s skill, are all insufficient to establish and to carry on the work of our God in the earth connected with the building up of Zion. It is a glorious reflection that from the time this work was founded in these, the last days, up to present time, there has never been a moment when this people have been destitute of the guidance of the Lord, and of the revelations and counsel necessary to enable them to carry out the mind and will of the Lord. At no time have we been left to ourselves. At no time have the Latter-day Saints been at a loss to learn and to find out the mind and will and counsel of God concerning them, either as individuals or as a people.

There have been some ideas afloat among our brethren concerning the authority and the power of those who have been in charge of the work of God upon the earth. I have not heard so much of it myself of late, perhaps, for the reason that my position has been such that I have not had the opportunity of mingling with the people, and learning from them their ideas and feelings respecting this matter. But at the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and probably for many years subsequent to his death, some people seemed to have the feeling that when he died, there died with him some power and some authority and some knowledge that could not be regained very readily, and was out of the possession of those who presided over the Church. This feeling may prevail to some extent at the present time—the feeling that some great one has to arise in our midst in order to revive the old power and restore it to the Church, and to perform the mighty works that God has promised shall be performed in connection with His Zion of the last days. I do not believe that all the Latter-day Saints understand as they should—I speak now in general terms—the authority, the gifts and qualifications which God bestowed upon His servant Brigham; and there were many who, after the Prophet’s death, were not disposed to accord to President Young the same rights, the same authority, the same gifts, that they were willing to accord to the Prophet Joseph. The Rigdonites—the followers of Sidney Rigdon—originated the idea that the prophetic gift did not rest upon President Young, that he did not possess it. The Strangites—the followers of J. J. Strang—labored to the same end. Strang set up a claim that he had been designated by Joseph to preside over the Church, and in fact, showed a letter with the postmark of Nauvoo upon the envelope, in which he claimed that he was thus authorized to preside. Others set up the same claim, and circulated the same idea. William Smith wished it understood that the prophetic office belonged to the Smith family, that it should be some member of that family that should preside over the Church. He entertained the same idea, and circulated it to some extent, that has been entertained and circulated by the son of Joseph—young Joseph, as he is called. And all these influences combined together have had the effect, to a greater or less extent, to create in many minds the impression of which I speak—that there was some withholding of power; that there were some gifts and manifestations of power that ought to be, but were not in the Church; that the prophetic gifts did not follow to the same extent that God designed they should; that although President Young and his Counselors and the Twelve were Apostles, the apostleship did not embody in itself the same gifts, the same powers that were exercised by the Prophet Joseph.

I remember, when on one of my early missions, meeting with an old member of the Church in California, a man of some prominence at one time, and of considerable experience in the Church, who contended that President Young was not entitled to be called Prophet, Seer and Revelator, or to be put to the General Conference as such. His idea seemed to be that when the Prophet Joseph died, the office of Prophet, Seer and Revelator died with him, and, therefore, this claim by the leaders of the Church was a piece of assumption on their parts.

Now, how far these ideas have prevailed and are held I cannot say, because, as I have remarked, my opportunities of mingling with the people, as I did in former years, have not been such as to enable me to speak from personal knowledge, and perhaps if I were to do so they would not talk so freely with me about such things as they once did. But I wish to say that those who look for some increased manifestation of power to come in some form outside of that which we recognize as the governing authority of the Church, are in danger of being deluded and of being led astray. Such persons, if there be any, and I am inclined to believe there are, are in just the condition that the adversary would like people to be in, that he may have influence with them.

Since my return from Washington, in the middle of August last, I have heard more of new prophets and revelators, and their revelations, than I have heard for several years. I do not know how many prophets I have heard of who have arisen; I do not know how many revelations I have heard of that have been given; but there have been quite a number. Many revelations have been sent to me by persons who claim the right to preside over the Church and to be the Prophet of the Church. President Taylor has been the recipient of a number of similar communications, each one setting forth his claim to the presidency of the Church, and to the prophetic office; and some of them requiring us to accept the author as the person whom God has designated to be the revelator to and the President of the Church. Where there is a feeling to look for some authority outside of our present organization of the holy Priesthood, you can readily see how the adversary could take advantage of it, and puff vain, weak men up with the idea that they are to be some great ones. No greater mistake can be indulged in than for any person to suppose that there is not that authority in the Church at the present time that is necessary for the establishment, for the government and guidance, and for the building up and complete control of the Church and kingdom of our God upon the earth, according to the pattern which He has given.

God revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith the necessity of the Priesthood, and until the Priesthood was bestowed, though he had the gifts which constitute a Prophet, Revelator and Seer prior to receiving it, having had the gift of prophecy, and revelations from God, and having exercised the Seer’s gift by looking through the Urim and Thummim—he never attempted to act in any capacity beyond that in which God authorized him to act. Although he possessed the gifts that I have referred to, he never attempted to act in any ordinance of the house of God, or that belongs to the Church of God, until he received authority to do so. And that authority was not conferred upon him when he first saw angels and had some of the gifts of which I have spoken. It required the laying on of the hands of some personage or personages who had the authority of the holy Priesthood. No, Joseph never ran until he was sent. He exhibited in this the qualities of the man that he was; because there are few men, as we well know, who, if they had obtained the gifts that he possessed, would not have overstepped the limit of their calling and authority, and done something beyond their province. But Joseph did not err in this way; he had been too well taught of the Lord, and therefore he waited. He never attempted to preach the Gospel, or to baptize for the remission of sins. But when he found that it was necessary for him to receive the Priesthood, he called upon the Lord, and the Lord heard his prayer, and in answer to his call and that of Oliver Cowdery, sent to them John the Baptist, a literal descendant of Aaron who, by virtue of his descent, held the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, he being the last man upon the earth that held these keys. John had been ordained by the angel of the Lord at the time he was eight days old unto this power, and to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to prepare the way of the Lord. Having been thus ordained by the angel of the Lord, and having been baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and holding the authority and the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, he was a fit personage to come and bestow the keys upon Joseph, who had been chosen to stand at the head of this dispensation. He came, and he laid his hands upon Joseph, and upon Oliver, and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood, which authorized them to administer the ordinance of baptism for the remission of sins. When Joseph received that authority he administered the ordinance of baptism unto Oliver, and then Oliver unto him.

They afterwards received the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood, under the hands of those who last held the keys of that Priesthood upon the earth. When Jesus, you will remember, took His three disciples into the mount, He was transfigured before them, and Moses and Elias administered unto them; and at that time Peter was ordained to hold the keys of that dispensation. He held the keys in conjunction with his brethren, James and John. They came and unitedly laid their hands upon the heads of Joseph and Oliver, and ordained them to the authority that they themselves held, namely, that of the Apostleship. In this way they received the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and could administer in the ordinances that belong to that Priesthood; one of which is the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Until that time they had not received that ordinance. Some might think it strange that a man like Joseph, so gifted of the Lord, should deem it necessary to be administered to by a man or men holding the holy Priesthood, in order to receive the Holy Ghost. But it is upon the same principle that the Son of God had to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness; and yet He was a pure and holy being. And when John said to him, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” Jesus said to him, “Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness:” and John then administered the ordinance of baptism to the Son of God, pure and holy as He was. Our Savior could not, and did not, refuse to comply with any of the ordinances which are placed in the Church for the salvation of God’s children; on the contrary, He set the example by going down into the water and being baptized by John, given as the most humble of his followers did. In like manner it was as necessary that Joseph should be baptized, and have hands laid upon him for the reception of the Holy Ghost—for there is no doubt in my mind that Joseph Smith was called just as the Son of God, our Lord and Redeemer was called, before the foundation of the earth, as Jeremiah in his record says he was—and was ordained to be a Prophet, Seer and Revelator, and to stand at the head of this last dispensation. Although this was the case, it was still necessary that he should be baptized and have hands laid upon him for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and also be ordained to the Priesthood of Aaron and Melchizedek. You remember reading in the Book of Mormon that the Twelve on this continent, whom the Savior chose after His resurrection, are to be judged by the Twelve Apostles that were at Jerusalem. It was with Peter, who was the senior Apostle there, that the keys rested. He was at the head of that dispensation; therefore, those that received the Apostleship on this land were to be judged by the Twelve at Jerusalem. There the keys were; and it was right and proper that Peter, with James and John, should come and bestow them upon him who was to be the head of this dispensation, namely, Joseph Smith.

In addition to this the Prophet Joseph informs us in his letter, addressed to the Saints when he fled away from Nauvoo to escape the hands of his enemies, that “It is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fullness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time.” He, therefore, received the ministration of divers angels—heads of dispensations—from Michael or Adam down to the present time; every man in his time and season coming to him, and all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their Priesthood. So that Joseph, the head of this dispensation, Prophet, Seer and Revelator, whom God raised up, received from all these different sources, according to the mind and will of God, and according to the design of God concerning him; he received from all these different sources all the power and all the authority and all keys that were necessary for the building up of the work of God in the last days, and for the accomplishment of His purposes connected with this dispensation. He stands at the head. He is a unique character, differing from every other man in this respect, and excelling every other man. Because he was the head God chose him, and while he was faithful no man could take his place and position. He was faithful, and died faithful. He stands therefore at the head of this dispensation, and will throughout all eternity, and no man can take that power away from him. If any man holds these keys, he holds them subordinate to him. You never heard President Young teach any other doctrine; he always said that Joseph stood at the head of this dispensation; that Joseph holds the keys; that although Joseph had gone behind the veil he stood at the head of this dispensation, and that he himself held the keys subordinate to him. President Taylor teaches the same doctrine, and you will never hear any other doctrine from any of the faithful Apostles or servants of God, who understand the order of the Holy Priesthood. If we get our salvation we shall have to pass by him; if we enter into our glory it will be through the authority that he has received. We cannot get around him; we cannot get around President Young; we cannot act around President Taylor; we cannot get around the Twelve Apostles. If we ever attain to that eternal glory that God has promised to the faithful we shall have to pass by them. If we enter into our exaltation, it will be because they, as the servants of God, permit us to pass by, just as the revelation says, “pass by the angels and the Gods, which are set there,” to our exaltation.

You know that Jesus said to His Apostles in ancient days, that they should “sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” And Paul says, “The Saints shall judge the world.” This is true. Joseph, then, stands at the head; and then every man in his place after him until you come down to the Elder, the most humble Elder of the Church who has proclaimed the Gospel of the Son of God to the inhabitants of the earth. He will sit as a judge to judge those who have received or those who have rejected his testimony. He will stand as a swift witness before the judgment seat of God against this generation. He will lift up his voice testifying as to that which he has done, and men will be condemned, and men will be justified and women will be justified according to the testimony of the faithful servants of God, each one in his place and station; but Joseph, holding the keys, and presiding over all, subordinate, however, to him from whom he received the keys, as he (Peter) will be subordinate to the Son of God who placed them upon him; each one in his dispensation; each one in his place: each exercising the authority of his Priesthood; each man honoring God according to his faithfulness and diligence in magnifying that Priesthood and calling that God has placed upon him; and each woman in her place receiving her share of glory and honor according to her faithfulness in keeping the commandments of God, and honoring the Priesthood.

I present this matter before you that you may see that when Joseph died he had embodied in him all the keys and all the authority, all the powers and all the qualifications necessary for the head of a dispensation, to stand at the head of this great last dispensation. They had been bestowed upon him through the providences of God, and through the command of God to his faithful servants who lived in ancient days. There was no end scarcely, in many respects, to the knowledge that he received. He was visited constantly by angels; and the Son of God Himself condescended to come and minister unto him, the Father having also shown Himself unto him; and these various angels, the heads of dispensations, having also ministered unto him. Moroni, in the beginning, as you know, to prepare him for his mission, came and ministered and talked to him from time to time, and he had vision after vision in order that his mind might be fully saturated with a knowledge of the things of God, and that he might comprehend the great and holy calling that God had bestowed upon him. In this respect he stands unique. There is no man in this dispensation can occupy the station that he, Joseph did, God having reserved him and ordained him for that position, and bestowed upon him the necessary power. Think of what he passed through! Think of his afflictions, and think of his dauntless character! Did anyone ever see him falter? Did anyone ever see him flinch? Did anyone ever see any lack in him of the power necessary to enable him to stand with dignity in the midst of his enemies, or lacking in dignity in the performance of his duties as a servant of the living God? God gave him peculiar power in this respect. He was filled with integrity to God; with such integrity as was not known among men. He was like an angel of God among them. Notwithstanding all that he had to endure, and the peculiar circumstances in which he was so often placed, and the great responsibility that weighed constantly upon him, he never faltered; the feeling of fear or trembling never crossed him—at least he never exhibited it in his feelings or actions. God sustained him to the very last, and was with him, and bore him off triumphant even in his death.

While he was in possession of all his faculties, and likely to live for many years to lead the Church—in fact the people believed that he would live to redeem Zion—when he was thus situated, impressed by the Spirit and power of God, he called together our leading men, and he bestowed upon the Twelve Apostles all the keys and authority and power that he himself possessed and that he had received from the Lord. He gave unto them every endowment, every washing, every anointing, and administered unto them the sealing ordinances and taught them the character of those ordinances, and revealed unto them the doctrine of celestial marriage, and impressed upon them the importance of their obedience to the same, and made it obligatory upon them that they should obey it and carry it out in their lives, and teach it to others. He taught these brethren that unless they did this the kingdom would stop, it could not make further progress. And filled with the power of God, he blessed them and placed those keys and this authority upon them, and told them that he had thus ordained them to bear off the kingdom. There was no key that he held, there was no authority that he exercised that he did not bestow upon the Twelve Apostles at that time. Of course, in doing this he did not divest himself of the keys; but he bestowed upon them these keys and this authority and power, so that they held them in their fullness as he did, differing only in this respect, that they exercised them subordinate to him as the head of the dispensation. He ordained them to all this authority, without withholding a single power or key or ordinance that he himself had received.

Thus you see these men whom God chose to hold the Apostleship received all this authority from Him. Hence he told the people before he was taken, “I roll this kingdom off on to the shoulders of the Twelve.” Probably there are some in this room who heard him talk in this manner. I was but a boy at the time, but I remember it very distinctly. He evidently wanted his brother Hyrum also to be preserved, and for some time before his martyrdom talked about him as the Prophet. But Hyrum, as you know, was not desirous to live away from Joseph; if he was to be exposed to death, he was resolved to be with him. Our revered President, who is present with you today, was with the Prophet and his brother, the Patriarch, at the time of their martyrdom, and was himself shot down, and his life almost despaired of. But God in his providence reserved him for something else, and his enemies did not have power to take his life.

After the martyrdom of the Prophet the Twelve soon returned to Nauvoo, and learned of the aspirations of Sidney Rigdon. He had claimed that the Church needed a guardian, and that he was that guardian. He had appointed the day for the guardian to be selected, and of course was present at the meeting, which was held in the open air. The wind was blowing toward the stand so strongly at the time that an improvised stand was made out of a wagon, which was drawn up at the back part of the congregation, and which he, William Marks, and some others occupied. He attempted to speak, but was much embarrassed. He had been the orator of the Church; but, on this occasion his oratory failed him, and his talk fell very flat. In the meantime President Young and some of his brethren came and entered the stand. The wind by this time had ceased to blow. After Sidney Rigdon had spoken, President Young arose and addressed the congregation, which faced around to see and hear him, turning their backs towards the wagon occupied by Sidney. Now it is probable that there are some here today who were present on that occasion, and they, I doubt not, could, if necessary, bear witness that the power of God was manifested at that time, to the joy and satisfaction of the Saints. It was necessary that there should be some manifestation of the power of God, because the people were divided. There was considerable of doubt as to who should lead the Church. People had supposed that Joseph would live to redeem Zion. They felt very much as the disciples did after the crucifixion: “We trusted,” said they to the Savior, whom they knew not, while speaking of their Lord, “that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel.” They were saddened in their hearts. So the Saints were when the Prophet Joseph was taken from them. Some even went so far as to think that perhaps God would resurrect him, they had such an idea about his continued earthly connection with this work. But no sooner did President Young arise than the power of God rested down upon him in the face of the people. It did not appear to be Brigham Young; it appeared to be Joseph Smith that spoke to the people—Joseph in his looks, in his manner, and in his voice; even his figure was transformed so that it looked like that of Joseph, and everybody present, who had the Spirit of God, saw that he was the man whom God had chosen to hold the keys now that the Prophet Joseph had gone behind the veil, and that he had given him power to exercise them. And from that time forward, notwithstanding the claims of Sidney Rigdon, notwithstanding the claims of Strang, notwithstanding the claims of William Smith, John E. Page and others who drew off from the Church in the days of Nauvoo; and notwithstanding the claims of other men who have since drawn off from the Church and made great pretensions, God has borne testimony to the acts and teachings of His servant Brigham, and those of his servants, the Apostles, who received the keys in connection with him. God sustained him and upheld him, and he blessed all those that listened to his counsel. No man that ever obeyed all his counsels and teachings was ever cursed, but was always blessed of God; while those who disobeyed his counsel did not prosper. We have all seen this. He led the people by the power of God into this wilderness, taking upon himself such responsibility as no other man dare take, which, of course, he was inspired of God to do. In various ways God sustained him to the time of his death. All the authority, all the power, all the keys, and all the blessings that were necessary for the guidance of this people he held. He held them as his fellowservants, the Apostles, held them; only he, being the senior, had the right to preside, and did preside, God sustaining him in so doing. Then when he died there was no need for any peculiar or overpowering manifestation, such as was witnessed when the Prophet Joseph died, because the authority of the Priesthood was recognized, and among the Twelve there was no dissent. We all knew the man whose right it was to preside, there being no doubt upon this matter. We knew he had the authority. We knew that there was only one man at a time upon the earth that could hold the keys of the kingdom of God, and that man was the presiding Apostle.

Other names had at one time preceded President John Taylor in the order of the Twelve. There were various reasons for this. Two of the Apostles had lost their standing, and upon deep and heartfelt repentance had been again ordained to the Apostleship. In both instances this had occurred after the ordination of President Taylor to that calling. Still, for many years their names were allowed to stand in their old places and preceded his in the published list of the Twelve. The revelation designating Presidents Taylor, Woodruff and Willard Richards to be ordained Apostles was given July 8th, 1838; John E. Page was called to the same office in the same revelation. He and President Taylor were ordained at Far West before the Saints were driven from there. Brother Woodruff being on a mission at the Fox Islands, was afterwards ordained on the cornerstone of the Temple, April 26th, 1839. Brother Willard Richards, when he was called, was on a mission in England, and was ordained in that land after the Twelve went there on their mission. In this way Brothers Richards and Woodruff, though the seniors of President Taylor in years, were his juniors in the Apostleship; he had assisted in ordaining them Apostles. For some years attention was not called to the proper arrangement of the names of the Twelve; but some time before President Young’s death they were arranged by him in their proper order. Not long before his death a number of the Twelve and leading Elders were in Sanpete when, in the presence of the congregation in the meetinghouse, he turned to President Taylor, and said, “Here is the man whose right it is to preside over the council in my absence, he being the senior Apostle.”

Therefore, as I have said, when President Young died there was no doubt in the minds of those who understood principle as to who was the man—it was the then senior Apostle. He was the man who had the right to preside, he holding the keys by virtue of his seniority, by virtue of his position in the Quorum; and he became the President of the Twelve Apostles; and became President of the Church.

Now, let me ask you, is it necessary that somebody should rise up outside of this Priesthood to be a Prophet, Seer and Revelator to the Church? Is it not consistent with the wisdom and government of God to acknowledge His servants who have been faithful all their lives, who have proved their integrity before Him, who have never swerved to the right or the left, and whose knees have never trembled, and whose hands have never shaken—is it not within his power and his wisdom to endow them with all the gifts and qualifications necessary for the guidance of His Church? Certainly it is. There has never been a moment, as I have said, since this Church was organized, since the 6th day of April, 1830, when God has been without ministering servants through whom he has revealed his mind and will to the people. President Young might have received and given revelations to the people in the same manner as the Prophet Joseph did. He had the authority, and he did give his revelations to the people; he gave his counsel. President Taylor has done the same. The Twelve in their labors have done the same. They have taught the people the word of God. The Twelve have the right, every Apostle has the right, to teach the people by the spirit of revelation, by the spirit of prophecy and the power of God. This people, as I have said, have been led by that power and spirit; and it was in this way that ancient Israel was led when Moses stood at their head. He had the authority, he held the keys, and he received revelation from God concerning all the people. It has been so in our day. We have had revelations; and we have revelations still. Our brethren, Brothers George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant and Seymour B. Young have been lately called by written revelation, to hold the positions to which they have been assigned. But is it always necessary to write revelation? Sometimes it is necessary; sometimes it is not necessary, just as God willeth. When the word of God is given through His servants, as for instance, this morning through President Taylor making a certain promise; that promise is just as binding as if written. If we live for it, it will be fulfilled, just as much as if it were written. God has bestowed the spirit of revelation upon His servants. In fact, no man, no matter what his office may be, whether it be Deacon, Teacher, Priest or Elder, Seventy or High Priest, or Apostle, has the right to teach the people unless he does it by the light of the Holy Ghost, by the power of God. He should not attempt to teach the people that which he may have framed in his own heart to say to them. On the contrary, he should treasure up, as God has said, continually the words of life, and it shall be given unto him what to say, even that which shall be suited to the circumstances of the people and of each individual. God has made that promise to the Elders of this Church, unto those who go out to preach the Gospel, and to every man who seeks to teach as he should do—by the spirit of revelation. It is then carried to the hearts of the people, and they are, and will be, judged by it, and will be held accountable be– fore God according to the spirit and knowledge they may have received.

I have presented this matter before you, because I am led to think there is not that disposition to look to and recognize the authority that exists in the Church as it should be recognized. There is at the present time a contest going on in our midst and the tendency to tear away from the moorings of the Priesthood, from the authority and influence of the Priesthood, receives every encouragement. The threats that are being made by our enemies at the present time are for the purpose of destroying the faith, the confidence, and the spirit that are begotten in the hearts of the people towards the Priesthood of the Son of God. If they could get you to repudiate your Bishops, the President of the Stake; if they could get you to repudiate the Apostles and the First Presidency, they would be satisfied; because they would know then that they had struck a deadly blow at the kingdom of God, so far as you are concerned at least. That is their aim all the time. While, on the other hand, it is the aim of the Elders of Israel to bind the people together, and to build up the authority and influence of the holy Priesthood, because we know that in doing so we are acting according to the mind and will of God, and not because we want to exercise authority over you. You know very well that authority has never been exercised over you improperly by any faithful servant of God; that you never have had reason to complain because of anything of this kind coming from the First Presidency, or from the Apostles, or any good man; but on the contrary, the servants of God, of whom our enemies complain, have worn themselves out in your midst, teaching you the doctrines of salvation. They have traveled under all circumstances, visiting the people and teaching them the principles of eternal life, and have worn themselves out at this labor. They have not spared their bodies, nor refrained from neglecting all their earthly affairs when necessary for the good of this people. It has been characteristic of the Apostles and leading men of this Church; and if we had not that spirit, it would be soon seen by the people, and our influence would be correspondingly weakened. It is the aim of the Priesthood at the present time to bind the people together, on the same principle that you adopt, you that are shepherds, when the wolves are around. You get your sheep together in as compact a manner as you can, that no wolves can get access to your sheep. You feel it to be your duty to take care of the flock that may be your own, or that may be entrusted to your care, that not even a lamb may be torn to pieces, or be carried off by either dog or wolf. It is the same with the servants of God. The burden of this people rests upon them. It is upon President Taylor night and day, I know. Every thought and desire of his heart is for the salvation of this people, and to establish and build up the Zion of our God. His feelings are to be a faithful watchman upon the walls of Zion, a faithful shepherd of the flock of Christ; so that when he goes hence, as Brigham has gone, he can report to Joseph and those of his co-laborers that have joined him, that he did his duty faithfully while in the flesh, in caring for and feeding the flock of Christ. I know this is the feeling; and I know it is the feeling of his co-laborers, his fellowservants. And it is because of their intense love for this people, and for the salvation of the children of men that they are impelled to do as they do. They would have you listen to the voice of wisdom, to the voice of revelation, to the voice of the Holy Spirit that is poured out upon us, which bears testimony in your hearts that it is through His power that we have been sustained, and which convinces you that we are His servants. You know when you hear the servants of God, by the power of God that accompanies their words, and by the testimony of Jesus that He gives unto you, that they are His servants. This is your witness, and you are our witnesses as to the truth of our claims and the divinity of the authority which we exercise in your midst. We want to save you. We want to teach you the plan of salvation. We want to point out to you the way in which you should go. We do not ask anything of you of an earthly character. We desire not to aggrandize ourselves. All we ask, and we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that you will be entreated of God, that you will listen to His voice, and walk in the strait and narrow path that leads to lives eternal. And we promise you that if you will do so, we will lead you into the celestial kingdom of God, not of ourselves, but through the power that God has given unto us, and that He will give unto us.

I pray God to bless you, my brethren and sisters, and fill you with His Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President George Q. Cannon, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 8, 1882.

We assemble together in the capacity of a conference for the purpose of being taught concerning our duties as Latter-day Saints, as members of the Church of Christ, and it is of the utmost importance that when we thus meet, that we should have the presence and assistance of the Spirit of God. I should not dare this morning to arise with the intention of speaking to you if I did not hope that I should have the assistance of that spirit. I could not of myself tell that which is best adapted to you and to your circumstances. It requires the all-searching Spirit of our God to reveal unto us, his servants, those items of doctrine, of instruction, of counsel, and if need be, of reproof and warning, which will be of benefit to the Latter-day Saints who are assembled as we are today.

We are living in a momentous time. At no period in the history of the children of God in this dispensation have events been of more importance than those which are now taking place in our midst and around about us. I have been exceedingly thankful for one thing. Amid the threats and menaces and all the attempts which have been made against us to curtail our liberties, to embarrass us, and if possible destroy our religion, one feeling has been uppermost in my mind, a feeling of thankfulness that the Lord our God in this manner is permitting us to see the fulfillment of the words he has spoken through his servant the Prophet Joseph Smith, and through others who have also been inspired of him. Among the earliest predictions that were made concerning this work by the servants of God, was one to this effect, that the time would come when we should not only be opposed by a small circle, a few individuals confined to a neighborhood, but as the work should spread and increase the opposition to it would be in proportion to its growth and its expansion, until it would not be the act of the mob, or the acts of mobs confined to counties or confined to States, but that the time would come that in a national capacity blows would be aimed at us by the nation of which we form a part. Today, my brethren and sisters, these predictions are being fulfilled in our sight. Not one word that God has spoken concerning this work will fall to the ground unfulfilled, and the very enemies of this work—those who are most anxious to destroy it, and to prove the falsity of its claims are the very instruments in the providence of our God, used to fulfill his word and accomplish his designs. Do you think for one moment that Senator Edmunds in framing the bill called by his name, or in presenting it to the Senate for its action, had any idea in his mind that he was an instrument in fulfilling the predictions of God, through his servant Joseph? Have you any idea that the House of Representatives in passing that bill, after it had passed the Senate, supposed for one moment that they were helping to establish the claims of Joseph Smith as a prophet of the living God? Or do you imagine that President Arthur, in selecting the five Commissioners to go to Utah Territory to act in accordance with the provisions of this same law, supposed that he was helping in any manner to establish the claims of what is called “Mormonism” to divinity, or that the Commissioners themselves, in coming here, have once thought that they were playing a part in the great drama of the last days, that they in their sphere were helping, or are helping to establish the truth of this work, the downfall of which is sought to be accomplished? And yet these are the truths connected with this work; these are the facts. The man who framed that bill, the man who introduced it in the Senate, the judiciary committee who passed upon it, the Senate who adopted the report of its committee of judiciary and passed the bill, the House of Representatives who took the bill up and made it law, so far as their action was concerned, and the President of the United States who signed the Act and who appointed the Commissioners under it, and the Commissioners themselves who were thus appointed—all these men in their official capacity have helped, though they thought they were doing the very opposite, to establish the truth of the predictions of the Prophet Joseph, and of President Young and of the Apostles who have been inspired of God from the commencement of this work until this time, and who have predicted that these events would most assuredly take place.

Thus we see, that the wrath of man is made to praise God. The acts of men are converted to the glory of God, and fight as they may, contend as they may, resist this work as they may, this work, the foundation of which God has laid, they can do naught against it. On the contrary, everything they do contributes to its establishment; contributes to prove its divine authenticity, to show that there is an overruling power greater than that of man, even the power of the Most High God, and that he causes the nations of the earth and the powers of the earth to praise him, to add to his glory and to the accomplishment of his purposes.

Before leaving this subject, there is one thing worthy of remark—I have been exceedingly struck with it. The man who introduced the law of 1862 was a native and representative from the State of Vermont. The man who introduced the bill of March 23rd, 1882, was a Senator from the State of Vermont—Senator Edmunds. The President who signed that bill was from the State of Vermont. We had another bill passed June 23rd, 1874, known as the Poland law, special legislation for Utah Territory. The framer of that bill, its champion, the man who did more than any other single man towards pushing it through the House of Representatives, and having it become law, was a Representative from the State of Vermont. The champions of the Edmunds law in the House of Representatives, some of them were from the State of Vermont, notably Mr. Haskell, Representative from Kansas, a Vermonter by birth. It is a remarkable thing that Vermonters should be the chief instruments in framing, urging and securing the passage of legislation against us. On the other hand the man who, in the name of God, was the chief instrument in laying the foundation of this great work in these last days, the Prophet Joseph Smith, was a native of the State of Vermont, and Hyrum Smith, his brother, whose blood mingled with the Prophet’s at Carthage jail, was also a native of Vermont, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Erastus Snow, the Snow family, Albert Carrington, the Farrs, the Calls, the Hatches, and numbers of the leading families in this church were born in that State. How remark– able it is, is it not, that we should have received so many blessings through men born in the Green Mountain State, and that our chief enemies, apparently stirred up by the adversary to destroy the work which their fellow citizens, men born upon the same soil, were the means, in the hands of God, of establishing—that they, Vermonters also, should be stirred up to seek for its destruction.

We may expect from this time forward the same warfare; no cessation, no letting up, so far as the hatred of the wicked is concerned. A part only of the predictions of the Prophet have been fulfilled concerning this latter-day work. We have been told from the beginning that opposition to this, the work of God, should not be confined to one nation, but that it should extend to other nations, and that they who array themselves against us, as others have done in the past, will continue to do so until the whole earth shall be warned and its inhabitants be left without excuse, and the kingdom of God be established in power and in great glory upon the earth.

A great many of our brethren and sisters have thought, and may still think, that we are likely to see very hard times, as the result of the attacks now being made upon us. The hearts of some may almost fail them in looking forward to the future, anticipating that there will be such intense hatred and such active exertions made against us that it will be very difficult for us to sustain ourselves. No doubt we shall have all we can endure. No doubt the Lord will require us to pass through and endure ordeals that will test our faith to the uttermost, and it will seem at times as though we were about to be overwhelmed. The powers of darkness will gather around us and everything will look so threatening, so black and so impenetrable, that except to those who look at these things with the eye of faith, it will seem almost impossible for us to escape. There will be, doubtless, many such hours and many such times in our history in the future as there have been in the past. But what of that? As the trial may be, so will be the strength to endure it. There is a wise desire of the Lord our God in permitting these tests to our faith, to see whether in the midst of gloomy and threatening surroundings we shall falter, shall shrink and become timid and be overcome, or whether in the midst of this gloom, in the midst of these forbidding appearances, our faith will still be strong in our God, and in the promises, the precious promises, which He has made to us. Now we may calculate upon this just as sure as he has spoken.

There is this that is most extraordinary connected with us as a people. God in the beginning made a promise to us, which has been oft repeated, that notwithstanding all our enemies should do against us, we should have peace, peace should reign in our hearts and in our habitations, peace should be in our land and brood over us as a people. This is one of the great promises God made to us in the beginning. Read the closing verses of the 45th section of the Doctrine and Covenants and see what God has said concerning Zion, and the promises that are therein embodied respecting us as a people; that when other nations should be at war—when neighbor should rise against neighbor, when every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor must needs flee to Zion for safety, in Zion there should be peace. Now, as I have said, it is one of the most extraordinary features connected with this work of our God, that when it seemed as though the whole power of the nation was combining from every part of the land, execrations loading the air against the “Mormons” of Utah Territory, petitions coming up by thousands, popular prejudice appealing to popular prejudice and entreating the use of bayonets, of cannon and musketry to destroy us, and when it seemed as though Congress was in such a mood that it was ready to pass any law or to frame any enactment to accomplish those ends; that in the midst of all this unreasoning excitement, in Utah Territory, in the breasts of Latter-day Saints wherever they dwelt in these mountain fastnesses or scattered abroad among the nations of the earth, there was a spirit of unfailing peace, a spirit of quietude, a spirit of serenity, a spirit of calm and undismayed resignation, awaiting quietly and patiently the good providence of our God, knowing that in and of themselves they were helpless to defend themselves against these attacks, but having unshaken confidence in the promises which God had made to his people. O most wonderful! Most wonderful exhibition of calmness! Most wonderful exhibition of consistent faith! Most wonderful exhibition of fortitude, of courage, and of unfailing trust in the almighty power of that God whose existence so many in the world deny. A rare example to the nations of the earth of the willingness of a people to put their trust in their God, even to the very uttermost. Now, my brethren and sisters, if there is any great peculiarity connected with us as a people that is noticeable it is this: You can notice it in yourselves; you can notice it in your brethren and sisters; you can notice it in your children; Presidents of Stakes can notice it; the Bishop can notice it; the Bishops’ counselors can notice it; the High Councilors are witnesses of it; the entire body of Priesthood must see the exhibition of these qualities among the people to this wonderful extent. God be praised for it. I feel to praise Him from the bottom of my heart that He has poured out upon His people this spirit of peace. We have laid down in peace, we have slept in peace, we have risen in peace, we have gone out in peace, we have come in peace, we have prayed in our families in peace, we have gone forth to our labors in peace, we have returned therefrom in peace, we have met together in our assemblies in peace. The peace of heaven, the peace of Almighty God, has descended upon this people, and it has rested upon them in their congregations, in their social associations. God has given unto us this precious blessing. It is beyond price. How thankful we ought to be, that amidst all these murderous threats that have been made against us, He has given unto us this feeling which has deprived us of all fear. Such a spectacle is unexampled in the history of the earth and of its inhabitants—that is in our day. Look where you will, travel where you will, mingle with people where you may, you behold nothing like this; and thus, God is bearing witness to the inhabitants of the earth that he is able to fulfill his promises, to protect his people, and to pour out upon them that precious and heavenly gift that is beyond all price, and they dwell in it and they enjoy it—their wives and their children enjoy it; and there is no fear in the hearts of any faithful man, or woman or child within the confines of our land or in any of the adjacent territories where our people dwell. Why, if we had no other blessing than this, it would be worth all the world to us. But we have, in addition to that, other blessings. God is teaching us many lessons. He is teaching us to put our trust in him. He is teaching us that “sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.” Why should we borrow trouble for tomorrow, as long as we enjoy today, as long as we have peace today, so long as we have the presence of the Holy Ghost today, let the morrow take thought for the things of itself. Let us enjoy this day in peace. Let us lay down this night in peace, putting our trust in God for the morrow. If we thus live day by day—for it is written that the just shall live by faith—if we thus live day by day, I tell you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no power upon the earth or in hell that can disturb the peace, the quietude, the prosperity and success of this people or interrupt the progress of this great and glorious work of our God. I dare prophesy that in the name of Jesus Christ, for I know that it will be justified, every word of it. God has stretched forth his hand to accomplish a work, and that work will roll forth. Men may die, men may be slain, men may fall on the right hand and on the left, but the column will still press forward, it will still march onward gathering in from every land and from every nation the honest, the meek, the lowly, and those who love righteousness and who desire to serve our God. I can truthfully say I do not believe that there ever was a time when threats were made against us, when greater peace and less fear rested down upon the servants of God than at the present time. I look at our President—I always did watch the captain of the ship with peculiar interest, when on the ocean surrounded by icebergs, or when in the midst of great storms, as I have been a few times, I watched his eye and his demeanor, and I fancied, and I think very correctly, that I could form a good idea of our peril by watching him. I have been in storms when everybody on board, excepting the Elders, expected to go down. I did the same thing when a boy, watching the Prophet Joseph, the few opportunities that I had of doing so, I did the same with President Young when he lived. In times of threatening danger and of anxiety I noticed the spirit that moved upon him as well as its operations upon myself. I do the same today with President Taylor: I have watched his bearing and have listened to his words; and I have taken notice of his spirit, as I have also of the brethren associated with him: “I have witnessed but one spirit, and felt but one feeling, and have had but one thought impressed upon me by their demeanor; and this spirit and the impression it makes corresponds exactly with my own. I feel that I am in accord with him and with them, and while this is the case I feel that there is no real danger for Zion; that God our heavenly Father, is still watching over us, and is permitting us to pass through these trials for an express purpose.” As I have already said, the predictions of the holy Prophets could not be fulfilled unless these things did occur. And why should we shrink from them? Why should we feel sorry about them? Why should we wish it otherwise? I can truthfully say, that I never saw a single moment from the time that I left here to go to Washington until I returned that I felt the least discouraged, or anything approaching a feeling of despair or gloom, or anything of the kind connected with the work of God; although, as you know, I was afflicted and bowed down in sorrow because of domestic affliction; but aside from that (and even that did not discourage me) at no moment when in the midst of the worst contest I ever engaged in, did I have a feeling of discouragement or gloom. I knew very well that all that was taking place was in accordance with the plan of our God, with His purposes and His designs. These things must be, in order to accomplish the work of God, in order that every man may be judged according to his works, and in order that this nation, as a nation, may be held to a strict accountability for its acts, or the acts of its representatives. I have nothing, therefore, to regret about this. My feelings I have expressed in this stand since my return; they were expressed by the brethren that spoke upon these subjects.

Referring to the acts of the Commissioners, I am exceedingly thankful for everything that has been done. I have never desired to see us as a people reduced to the degraded level of wicked men and wicked women; no, not for one moment. What, my sisters who have entered into holy covenants, in sacred places, who have in their priestly garments been administered to by the Priests of the Most High God in the holiest sanctuaries that are upon the earth, for them to be placed upon the same level with common prostitutes! My soul revolts at the thought. And my brethren who have in like manner gone into holy places and taken upon them sacred covenants, in the name of the Most High God, and have had the holiest ordinances that God ever revealed to man, administered unto them by that authority which He has given—for them to be reduced to the level of adulterers and whoremongers! God forbid that such should be the case. From the very moment that I read that oath (the oath prescribed by the Commissioners) I thanked God in my heart for it. I would not have it otherwise. I would not have the rules changed in the least degree, unless, of course, our brethren who represent the political interests of the people could by applying, have them changed: but I did not believe they could accomplish this, and I am thankful, therefore, that the rules were not changed, because they draw a sharp line of distinction between the Latter-day Saints and the wicked. It sustains the claim that we have made all the day long, that it is our religion that is assailed; that it is the solemnization of the holy marriage ordinances that the blow is aimed at, and not the illicit commerce of the sexes. And I am glad too that every man and every woman that ever were open to the charge of having engaged at any time in plural marriage are in the same condition; that the rule has been so rigidly made and so sweeping in its character, as to include all who have lived in plural marriage. It is an honorable distinction to belong to a class whose only offense is that they married women, or married men, instead of living together in violation of God’s law. If there are any who think they did not act honorably in thus living, let them ask forgiveness. If they have done something they are ashamed of they can sue for amnesty. While those who have done nothing that they are ashamed of, or that the whole world should not know of, are relieved from the unenviable task of seeking forgiveness.

God is ordering this matter just right; and if we should fail in any point, he will make it up, He will supplement it by his overruling power and wisdom. He is watching our affairs. He knows exactly our circumstances; and he knows exactly how much we can bear; and when we have to pass through deep waters he will be near us; when we have to pass through the fire, he will be on our right and on our left hand. He will not forsake us in our hour of distress and tribulation, but he will be nearer to us then, if possible, than at any other time in our lives. Therefore, of all people upon the face of the earth, we have the greatest cause to rejoice because of these things.

I was very much struck with some remarks—I did not hear all of his discourse, having been called out to attend to some business that could not be postponed—by Brother Lorenzo Snow; they struck me with a great deal of force. I refer to his allusion to the three Hebrew children and the glory that followed their submission to the will of God, and their resistance to the decree of the pagan, the heathen king. I believe that glory will be added to the name of our God by our fortitude and our endurance, and by our maintaining the right. No great principles, like those to which we are wedded; no great work like that in which we are engaged, can be established in the earth, in the present condition of mankind at least, without great sacrifice on the part of those connected with it. We need not expect anything else than this. The Lord, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, in early revelations, told to the church: You are laying the foundation of a great work; how great you know not. And the same words are just as applicable to us today, notwithstanding the growth of the work up to the present time. We with the light we now possess even, cannot conceive of its greatness. It has not entered into our hearts, neither are we capable of conceiving of it. But we are laying its foundation, nevertheless; and God has chosen us for this work. He has inspired us, and he has blessed us thus far in our endeavor to carry it out, and he will continue to do so to the end; and victory and glory will be the result of our faith and our diligence in keeping his commandments.

There is one thing that I wish to refer to; it is a delicate subject, still I feel to touch upon it. The idea was suggested to me a short time ago, while in conversation with one or two of the brethren who were speaking about the influence that is now being brought against the Church, how fortunate it was that there were some who had not obeyed the law of God in regard to plural marriage. There was, as I thought, a spirit of self-gratulation among some who have not obeyed that law, because they could now act as they appeared to think, in some sort, as saviors to the people. I hope there never will enter the minds of the Latter-day Saints, a feeling of that kind, or division of feeling upon this point. I believe there are very excellent, very worthy, very true and very faithful Latter-day Saints of both sexes who have not entered into the practice of plural marriage; and it is not for me to cast reflections upon any of my brethren or sisters about not having obeyed that principle, unless there has been posi– tive disobedience. It is not for me to judge the circumstances, the feelings and the motives, and the hearts of men and women, my brethren and sisters in the Church. God will do this; that is his province. But, on the other hand, I hope there never will be a feeling grow up in the midst of the Latter-day Saints to congratulate themselves because of their reluctance, or their refusal, to obey the command of God, and to think that they have done more wisely in refraining from obeying that command, and that their position is a better one because of their lack of obedience; or, because circumstances have been such that they have not obeyed or been required to obey that law. I hope, I say, that no such feeling will ever be known among us—to judge each other and to comment upon each other, and to indulge in self-gratulation because of anything of this kind.

The Lord has said: “Again I say unto you, if ye observe to do whatsoever I command you I, the Lord, will turn away all wrath and indignation from you, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against you.”

Now, I want to say for myself personally, if I had not obeyed that command of God, concerning plural marriage, I believe that I would have been damned. That is my position; but I do not judge any other man. I am so organized that I could have lived, if necessary, and God had commanded it, as a Catholic priest is supposed to live, without knowing woman. I believe that with God’s help I could have done that all the days of my life, if it had been necessary for my salvation; but, on the contrary, when I had taken one wife, after I had returned from one of my missions, a spirit rested upon me that I could not resist; I felt that I should be damned if I refused or neglected to obey that law of God. It was not prompted by any improper feeling; it was not prompted by a feeling of lust, or a desire for women; but it was an overpowering anxiety to obey the commandments of God. Since I have passed through the ordeals I have, connected with this principle, I can see the wisdom of it, and acknowledge the hand of God in it. For if I had taken wives without being thus prompted and impressed, there might have been times in my experience when I would have questioned myself and said: Perhaps you were too hasty in embracing this principle. But under the circumstances I could not do that. I have never known the time that I could do that. I knew that God had commanded me, whether He had other men or not; and I did obey it because of this overpowering command, believing, as I have said, that I should be damned if I did not. Whatever may be my fate in regard to this principle—I have been deprived of my seat in Congress because of it; and whatever be my fate hereafter, I have no reflections against myself to indulge in concerning my action in the matter. I have done that which I conscientiously believe to be the will of God; and I believe the majority of my brethren and sisters have done the same, have obeyed the principle in the same way. Do I believe that God will bear those out who have thus embraced that principle; do I believe that He will sustain them? I know that He will sustain those who have obeyed it; I know that He will sustain this people. The Prophet Joseph Smith said, and so taught, when he first communicated this principle, that there had come a time in the history of God’s people, when if they did not obey that law, all progress would cease, that the kingdom could go no further. And He commanded the servants of God, His associates, the Apostles, to obey it, under penalty of losing the Spirit of God, under penalty of their ceasing to progress in the work of our God. Now, there was on the one hand condemnation; on the other hand, the fear of the world, the prejudices of the world, the punishment which the world would inflict upon those who should disobey laws already enacted against such practices. What could they do? We are today precisely in the same position that other servants of God have been in, who have been required by men’s laws to do things which their conscience and all their reason, and the good spirit within them revolted against. That is our position today. Whatever men’s laws may be we cannot deny the truth of God, the revelations of God. I cannot do it, I would be damned and go to hell if I were to do it. There is no alternative for me but to suffer all the penalties that man may inflict upon me; and I cannot evade them only as God shall preserve me. That is my position today. Whatever man may do, I must be, I hope to be, true to myself, and to my convictions, and to my God. I must endure all things; I cannot evade them. And there are hundreds in the same position, hundreds of men, hundreds of women. And is there any law of man, is there any penalty that man can inflict that compares with the penalty that God will inflict upon those that will disobey His commandments? I must trust my God; I must rely upon His protecting arm; I must throw myself under His protecting care, or I must perish. There is no other course for me; that is the only alternative before me. To be untrue to my God, to be untrue to the revelations of my God; to be untrue to the convictions of my nature; to be untrue to the women—wives—whom I have covenanted for time and all eternity to love, to revere and to protect, and to my children, children borne to me by those women—to be untrue to these, or to endure all the consequences that man may inflict upon me for disobeying laws which are framed against my religion. I am willing to trust to my God. He has never deserted me in the deepest trouble and distress, in the midst of the most fiery ordeals, He has been at my right hand and on my left, as he has been at yours. He has been around about us, and I am still willing to trust Him. He has never failed—His word and promise have always been sure and reliable.

Now, my brethren and sisters, you who have not entered into this covenant, do not imagine, do not let the adversary instill into your hearts that you are now saviors to the Latter-day Saints. Do not do it. Let me warn you against it; it is a dangerous thought. You will find it delusive, for it is not true. If God saves this people, as I firmly believe he will, it will be through those men and through those women whom men have placed under a ban; whom men have said shall have no power because of the laws that are enacted against them. I tell you, the salvation that will come to this people, will be through the faithfulness of the men of God and the women of God who, in the face of an opposing world, contrary to their traditions, to their education, to their preconceived notions and to the popular prejudices of the day—who have in the midst of all this stepped forward in the vanguard and obeyed the command of God, and have dared to endure all the consequences, and been willing to endure all the penalties. Mark it, it is true. I believe that which I now say to you as firmly as though an angel of God had spoken it; and you will see it fulfilled, every word of it. Let not the fears of the world, let not the threats of men extinguish the love of God, extinguish the faith of God in your hearts and make you tremble concerning these things. Let no such feeling as this take possession of you. I do not want to be defiant; I never had that feeling; but if I cannot obey, I must suffer. That is the position I have taken. If I cannot obey the law of man, I must suffer the consequences: I prefer to do so rather than suffer the consequences of disobeying the commands of God. It is better for me to do this than to do the other. I do not wish to defy man; I say, if you wish to enforce the law, that is your business.

Now, brethren and sisters, let us go from this Conference in calmness, pursuing our various occupations, and endeavoring to profit by the teachings that we have had in the past. If this people could only have carried into effect the teachings they have had from the servants of God from the beginning, how different would our position be today! Elders have worn themselves out. Presidents, Apostles, and Prophets have worn themselves out and have gone to their graves, laboring with this people, and teaching them words of life and salvation, words that it would have been to their eternal interest to have listened to and to have obeyed. We are like the man who, moved with pity, took the frozen snake and put it into his bosom to restore its life, and in a little while, after the warmth of his bosom revived the frozen reptile, it stung him and killed him. We have nourished in our bosom the viper that is doing us more injury today than anything else. If we had listened to counsel, if we had obeyed the commandments of God; if we had been united, if we had not looked so much to our temporal advantage, or that which we thought to be our temporal advantage, how different would our position be today! But this people are like children; the servants of God entreat them and talk to them, but how quickly they forget! They imagine that the counsels they receive are prompted by some spirit that is not exactly the Spirit of God. But we will find that we have to come to it. I believe that God will throw us in circumstances that will compel us to come to the position that He has designed we shall occupy, however reluctant we may be about it. I tell you there is more to be dreaded, there is more to be feared—and you may attach what importance you like to my words, but I know they are true—there is more to be feared today in our midst from the growth of wealth in a few hands, in a single class, than there is from all the legislation that can be enacted against us by the Congress of the United States, more to be dreaded by us as a people. That condition is upon us, the growth of wealth in the hands of a few individuals, threatening us with greater danger today, than anything that can be done by outsiders; more than the Commissioners can do, more than the registrars can do, more than the judges of election can do, or all that can be done by the Congress of the United States. I know that this is true. God does not design to have a people of this kind. He does not design that there shall be classes among us, one class lifted up above another, one class separated from the rest of the people, with diverse interests; interests that are not strictly in accord with those of the masses of the people. Because when this is the case, there is a lack of union. Men are more disposed to compromise principle who have great moneyed interests at stake. In fact, it is a characteristic of human nature that, as a class, this class is a compromising class; their temptation is to yield principle, to yield ground; and it cannot be helped from the very nature of things, because of their circumstances. I can see it in myself; I do not preach something to you that I do not preach to myself. I have to guard against it, and my brethren have to do so. It does not belong to any one man or class of men, it belongs to human nature this feeling of which I speak. God designs in the organization of his kingdom on the earth to prevent this. If it is not prevented, then the Zion of God is not established. Is anyone injured by its prevention? No. The time must come when the talent of men of business shall be used for the benefit of this whole people, just as the talent of President Taylor, just as the talent of President Joseph F. Smith and that of President Wilford Woodruff, and that of the Twelve Apostles, and that of the leading Elders of this Church; as their talent is used for the benefit of Zion, so must the talent of men who are gifted with business capacity be used in like manner—not for individual benefit alone, not for individual aggrandizement alone, but for the benefit of the whole people, to uplift the masses, to rescue them from their poverty. That is one of the objects in establishing Zion, and anything short of that, as I have said, is not Zion, it is not the Zion that the Prophets have foreseen, it is not that which God has promised. We may as well, therefore, every one of us, shape our thoughts to this end and endeavor to keep it in view, for I tell you God will not permit anything very different to this for any length of time. He will scourge us, and drive us if necessary. He will tear us up by the roots; and as sure as God lives it will be so, if we cannot come to it without violent means of this kind, He will have a people that will do these things, and He will bring us into a position to do it, and anyone who thinks differently deludes himself or herself; it is not so written in the book; it is not the design of God. I would feel very sorry if I thought it would do so. I suppose I am as selfish as other men. I would like to benefit my own family. I have to war against this feeling as all have. I do not know that I am any worse than any other people, but I know this feeling has to be warred against. The tendency of human nature is to look after one’s own dear self, to look after one’s own family, to use one’s talent for one’s own and their benefit, without bestowing any benefit upon the people of God. Yet I know it is not a right feeling.

God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and fill you with the Holy Ghost, and inspire those who speak to us by the power or God, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, October 8, 1882.

We have had a very interesting Conference, and a great many thoughts, ideas and reflections have been presented to the people in a clear and pointed manner, and I have been pleased to see the unanimity and harmony that have existed in our midst. And while I attempt to speak to you I shall ask an interest in your prayers that I may be strengthened to perform the labor. It is difficult for a people to under– stand and to retain everything that may be said in a Conference like this, where there are so many subjects dwelt upon and so many principles enunciated; but it is a great blessing for us that we are situated as we are, and that we possess the intelligence which has been communicated from time to time. Many great and precious principles having been revealed unto us, it becomes necessary for us to try to compre– hend them, that we may understand the position we occupy before God, before the world in which we live, and before the intelligences that exist behind the veil in the eternal worlds. We have a great and important mission committed unto us, and it is for us to seek to comprehend that mission and fulfill the various duties and responsibilities devolving upon us. The Lord has given unto us a form of government, an organization, priesthood and authority to enable us to perform these several duties, and he has certain plans, purposes and designs to accomplish pertaining to us, pertaining to this nation, to other nations, and to the world in which we live—pertaining to those who have lived and are now in another state of existence, and also pertaining to those who shall yet live.

The time in which we live is denominated in Scripture “the dispensation of the fullness of times,” wherein it is said God will gather together all things in one, whether they be things in the earth or things in the heavens. This dispensation embraces all other dispensations, all principles and powers, rights, privileges, immunities and developments that have existed among men in the various ages that are past. This globe did not originate with man, nor was it constructed, designed or manipulated by him, nor were any of its organisms, sentient or inanimate; for we are told that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and all that in them is: nor did this dispensation with which we are associated, nor have any of the dispensations associated with the works, plans or designs of the Almighty originated with man. After man had fallen, and it became necessary that he be driven from the garden, it needed the interposi– tion of the Almighty, for as is said in the Book of Job, it was necessary to “deliver his soul from the pit; I have found a ransom.” That ransom was the Only Begotten Son of God who offered himself in the beginning to meet the demands of justice, to carry out the purposes of the Almighty, and to be a Savior and Redeemer to man. Adam was perfectly helpless in this respect, and it needed the direct interposition of the Almighty for the accomplishment of this object. In the patriarchal, or antediluvian age, when men were put in possession of any hope, any intelligence, any knowledge, or any revelation pertaining to God, these things did not originate with man, they came from the Lord and were given by inspiration; and when on account of the wickedness and corruption of mankind the old world had to be destroyed, a way was provided for a small remnant to be spared. By whom? By man? No. God dictated it. The Prophets prophesied about it. They taught the antediluvians as the people of this day are being taught, they warned them of the impending ruin that would overwhelm them, of the prison house to which they would go, and of the wrath and indignation of Heaven which would be poured out upon the peoples of the earth. It came to pass as they had declared. But God provided a way for the perpetuation of the human family. It was foretold to Methuselah that his seed should be preserved to perpetuate the human family upon the earth, and it was so. Noah, who was one of his descendants, fulfilled that decree.

Again, in later ages when the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, they did not originate the method of their own deliverance, or point out the way for its accom– plishment. They were in a state of bondage and vassalage. God raised them up a Moses, revealed His will to him, set him apart for this mission, told him what to do, and after some little difficulties arising from human weaknesses were removed, Moses was accepted, and the Lord became his instructor, and pointed out in all instances the course that he should pursue, and in what manner the children of Israel were to be delivered, and He, the Holy One of Israel, gave them His law and ordinances, and revealed unto them His will, and stood by and sustained, guided and directed them. This salvation did not come from the people, it did not originate with them, they owed it all to God, the source of all truth, all light, all intelligence, all power and blessings. The time at length arrived that the Son of God was to come. Neither the Scribes and Pharisees, the High Priests and Sadducees, nor any of the sects and parties of the day comprehended the things that were about to transpire, and had nothing to do with bringing them to pass. His advent was announced to His mother by an angel, and His birth was heralded to shepherds by an angelic host, and the wise men of the East were led by his star to Bethlehem of Judea, where they found the infant Savior, whom they recognized as the Messiah, and to whom they brought presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh; and whom they worshipped.

It is said in speaking of the Son of God, that he did not come to do His own will, nor to carry out His own purposes, nor to fulfill any particular plan of his own, but he came to do the will of his Father who sent him. Jesus in selecting his disciples, took one man here and another there—a tax gatherer, a fisherman, and others who it was thought were the most unlikely of any men to carry out the purposes of God. He left the great men out of the question, that is the High Priests and the popular and pious of all classes, and he selected his own laborers to perform his own work; and he subsequently told them, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and set you apart unto this mission. When a message had to be proclaimed to the world in these last days the agents were chosen on the same principle. There was any amount of teachers of divinity, any amount of professors of theology, any amount of reverend, and right reverend fathers and all classes of religious men and religious teachers; but God did not recognize them. He chose a young uneducated man and inspired him with the spirit of revelation, and placed upon him a mission and required him to perform it; and he was obedient to that requirement. I speak of this to show that we none of us had anything to do with the introduction of this work, but that, as in all other dispensations in the various ages of the world, God was the originator of everything that tended to develop a knowledge of Himself and of his plans and purposes; to unfold the past, to develop the present, and to make manifest the future.

To whom are we indebted for this book, called the Bible. We are told that holy men of old spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. And from whence did they receive that Holy Ghost? Not of man, nor by man, but by the revelations of God, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We sometimes feel to exalt ourselves a little in the position that we occupy pertaining to the Priesthood, pertaining to our organization, and pertaining to ordinances, etc. What have we to glory in? Nothing. None of us knew anything until it was revealed. None of us could comprehend any of these principles only as they have been made manifest. But by obedience to the Gospel we have received the Holy Ghost, and that Spirit takes of the things of God, and shows them to us. We have received this and hence have been baptized into one baptism, and all partaken of the selfsame Spirit, as Paul expressed it, “dividing to every man severally as he will.” The question arises, What is the object of this? It is that the world should be visited from time to time and communications made to the human family. Because light cleaves to light, truth cleaves to truth, intelligence cleaves to intelligence; and as we are all made in the image of God, and as God is the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh, it is His right, it is His prerogative to communicate with the human family. We are told that there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth it understanding. God having made the earth, made the people to inhabit it, and made all things that exist therein, has a right to dictate, has a right to make known His will, has a right to communicate with whom he will and control matters as he sees proper: it belongs to him by right; and he has seen proper in these last days to restore His Gospel to the earth, and, as I said before, intelligence cleaves to intelligence. We read in the Scriptures concerning man being a son of God. We read in the Scriptures about men becoming the adopted sons of God through obedience to the Gospel. Hence it is said: “Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” By what means? Through the atonement of Jesus Christ and by the medium of the Gospel, which has been introduced in different ages for that purpose. God having felt disposed to reveal the Gospel in these last days, has given the same principles and powers, the same light, revelation and intelligence that he did in former ages, for the accomplishment of the same work, and for the fulfillment of his purposes relating to the human family who are his children. Hence we occupy a very peculiar position in relation to God, in relation to the earth in which we live and the people thereof in relation to both to the living and to the dead.

It is proper for us to comprehend the position that we occupy. We sometimes arrive at curious conclusions pertaining to the wickedness of the world, and a variety of other things associated therewith. And permit me to say here, that we had no more to do with the peoples of the world, or the placing of them in the position they occupy, than we had in restoring the Gospel. We find ourselves a few people mixed up with the world. We find too that when the word of God is made manifest and the revelations of God are developed, that many things as they exist amongst mankind are out of order. There is a great amount of priestcraft, idolatry, corruption, oppression, tyranny, murder, bloodshed, covetousness, licentiousness, and every kind of iniquity that can be conceived of; and that is more clearly made manifest to us because the Lord has been teaching us through the Prophets, and inspiring us with other feelings, and given unto us to comprehend things more clearly than others do. But what have we to do with the people of the world? We complain sometimes that they do not treat us exactly right. Well, they do not in all respects, and I do not think this is very difficult to understand. But there is nothing new about that, God has revealed unto us His law, and they do not comprehend it, neither do they want to; nor did the antediluvians. They were very wicked, very corrupt and very depraved, very immoral and very dishonest; but that was a matter between them and the Lord, and he dealt with them; and it is his business to deal with the nations of the earth at the present time and not ours further than we are directed by him. What is the mission that we have to perform to this nation? It is to preach the Gospel. That is one thing. That was the mission given to the disciples of Jesus in his day: Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned. This mission is being carried out in the fact of our sending representatives of this latter-day work to all the civilized nations that will receive our missionaries. But we are not placed here to control people; we are not placed here to use any improper influence over the minds or consciences of men. It is not for us to attempt to do what Mahomet did—to say that there was but one God, and Mahomet was his prophet, and by force compel all others to acknowledge it. To attempt to do that would be to attempt to interfere with the agency of man; and anything of that kind is altogether foreign to the character and spirit of our mission. We preach the Gospel to the people, and it is for them to receive or reject as they may choose. We have done this to a great extent. Many of you Elders who are before and around me—and there are some thousands—have been engaged preaching this Gospel, but none of you ever used coercion, none of you ever attempted to force any man to obey the message you had to declare. If you did, you did not understand your calling. And when you have been among the different nations preaching this Gospel, have you sought to interfere with their governments or with their laws, or endeavored to stir up commotion or rebellion or trouble of any kind? No. I am at the defiance of the world to prove any such statement. That does not belong to our faith. When the Elders are sent forth, they go as servants of God with a message from the Lord, to unfold the Scriptures, and to bear testimony of the things that they themselves are witnesses of; and to administer the ordinances of the Gospel to all those who believe on their words. This is the position that we occupy in these matters. And what else do we do? We gather the people together; and they no sooner receive this Gospel than they are anxious to gather with the people of God. Why? Because the Scriptures say that they would? Because the Scriptures say, “gather my people, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice?” No, but because they have obeyed the Gospel and received the Holy Ghost, and that Holy Ghost has instructed them pertaining to these matters, as it instructed the prophets in former times that such an event would transpire. The people have gathered together, and you could not keep them back if you were to try to. They have been trying. You know that Mr. Evarts wrote communica– tions to the European ministers requesting them to use their influence by way of putting a stop to the “Mormon” emigration. It is rather a sorry comment upon the government of this nation, that boasts of being “the land of the free, the home of the brave, and the asylum for the oppressed,” and that a little over a hundred years ago the chief complaint against the nation from whence the colonists came, was the lack of religious toleration; to think that they should so far forget their original condition as to call upon what they term the effete monarchies of Europe to assist them in suppressing religious liberty and controlling human freedom. And when this subject was brought before Mr. Gladstone, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, a short time ago by some pragmatical zealot in the British Parliament, calling his attention to the request of the American Secretary, he very distinctly told him that “he was unable to interfere with the operations of the Mormons in England, as he presumed their converts went with them willingly.” Thus while the American government is trying to exert force and to interfere with religious matters and bind the consciences of men, the British government pleads for and guarantees to its subjects religious and social liberty. I am told that Mr. Evarts is a great-grandson of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. I should not have thought that that gentleman would have so soon forgotten the position occupied by his ancestor. But it seems that such is the fact, nevertheless.

I repeat, our mission is to preach the Gospel, and then to gather the people who embrace it. And why? That there might be a nucleus formed, a people gathered who would be under the inspiration of the Almighty, and who would be willing to listen to the voice of God, a people who would receive and obey His word when it was made known to them. And this people in their gathered condition are called Zion, or the pure in heart. I wish we were pure in heart; that is, I wish we were more so than we are. And this is something that we all need to reflect upon, to consider the pit from whence we were dug, and the rock from whence we were hewn. I have heard people say, they were born in sin, and cradled in iniquity. It is probably very true. Many of us have been rocked in these cradles, and we have been nurtured amidst infamies, and we have been surrounded by and enveloped in evils of all kinds. We talk sometimes about Babylon—“Come out of her O my people, that ye partake not of her sins, nor receive of her plagues.” We need not say too much about those people, for we came out from them ourselves; and it would not be becoming on our part to speak badly about our former status. That reminds me of a conversation I had some years ago with some Protestants who were abusing the Catholics. I reminded them of the fact that they descended from them. They were calling the Catholic Church the Mother of Harlots. Well, said I, if that be true, she has brought forth a scurvy offspring. History certainly informs us that the Protestants came out from the Catholics, and therefore, if the Catholic Church is the mother, they certainly must be the daughters, and one would think there should be some affinity between them. It is not considered proper for persons to rail against their mother.

It is well for us to comprehend our position with regard to the nation. Being gathered together, as a people, we have assumed a political status, for we not only brought our religion and our spirits with us, but our bodies also; and by thus being gathered in this land we become naturally an integral part of the United States. We have received by the act of the government of the United States a territorial form of government, in which we are authorized to perform certain functions of a political nature, and to enjoy, as do all other Territories, the free and full rights of American citizens therein, and thus have become a part of the body politic of these United States, with all the rights, privileges and immunities pertaining thereto, as exercised and enjoyed by all American citizens throughout this broad land; and these are guaranteed unto us in the Constitution of the United States and by the Congress of the United States, in an instrument denominated the Organic Act. And I will say this much for the United States; with all her faults and infirmities, I do not believe there is a nation upon the face of the earth today, where we could have as much liberty as we here enjoy and that is precious little, God knows. We are told sometimes that we live under popular government, and that the voice of the people rules. It used to, but who rules now? Well, no matter, we have got to make the best we can of it. We have a territorial form of government, with a governor appointed by the administration. I was going to say, God save the mark. We have judges and other officers; and we have a nominal legislature that makes our laws, but those laws can be vetoed by one man. There is a great deal of absolutism about it. But these are the circumstances in which we are placed; and I suppose it is thought by a great many that we ought to consider it a great privilege to be allowed to live. We do think so, but we are not indebted to any officials for it; they did not give us our life, neither did this government. There are certain principles that are inherent in man, that belong to man, and that were enunciated in an early day, before the United States government was formed, and they are principles that rightfully belong to all men everywhere. They are described in the Declaration of Independence as inalienable rights, one of which is that men have a right to live; another is that they have a right to pursue happiness; and another is that they have a right to be free and no man has authority to deprive them of those God-given rights, and none but tyrants would do it. These principles I say, are inalienable in man; they belong to him; they existed before any constitutions were framed or any laws made. Men have in various ages striven to strip their fellow men of these rights, and dispossess them of them. And hence the wars, the bloodshed and carnage that have spread over the earth. We therefore are not indebted to the United States for these rights; we were free as men born into the world, having the right to do as we please, to act as we please, as long as we do not transgress constitutional law nor violate the rights of others.

Being organized, then, into a government such as it is—that is, the name of a government, the name of a legislature, the name of a free people—being organized as we are, what next? We are necessarily obliged to look after our affairs as men, our political affairs. Our mission to the world is a mission of peace, the Gospel proclaims peace on earth and good will to man. Then, being organized in a governmental capacity, we have certain rights. They profess to give them to us, but they don’t. They try to deprive us of them while professing to impart them. I might enter into a long line of argument here; no matter, I am merely speaking upon some general principles. What then is our duty here, say as a people—leaving religion out of the question altogether? As men and as American citizens, we have the right to all the privileges, and immunities, protection and rights of every kind that any men in these United States have, and no honorable man or men would seek to deprive us of them. When we talk about rights, these are the rights, as I understand them, that we possess in this nation. Is it proper, therefore, for us, as men and as citizens of the United States to look after our rights? I think it is. Do we want to violate law? No, we do not, although we know many of these laws are wrong, corrupt and unconstitutional. We have no right to find fault with others about their religion. We preach the Gospel; they receive or reject it as they please. If we have found the benefit of embracing it, let us be thankful; but we will not interfere with them in their religion. Are they Methodists? They can worship as they please—Presbyterians, Catholics, Baptists, or any other “ists” can worship as they please, that is none of our business, that is a matter between them and their God. But when they interfere with our rights as citizens of the United States, it becomes our business to look after our liberties.

As religionists we call upon them, as a duty committed to us, as we aver, by the Almighty. Our mission is to call upon this nation and all nations to repent of their sins, of their lasciviousness, adulteries, fornications, murders, blasphemies and of all dishonest and corrupt practices. But in this we use no force; having laid these matters before them, they have their free will to receive or reject. As religionists they may proclaim us bigamists or polygamists or what they please, that is their business, and they must answer for their own acts; as politicians or statesmen they must at least give us the benefit of the Constitution and laws; these, as a portion of the body politic, we contend for as part of our political rights. We do not claim, nor profess, nor desire to interfere with any man’s religion or conscience. We have nothing to do with their religion, nor they with ours. Religious faith or belief is not a political factor. The Constitution has debarred its introduction into the arena of politics; and every officer of the United States has pledged himself under a solemn oath to abide by and sustain that Instrument, and not one of them can interfere with it without a violation of his oath.

What have we done in defense of our liberties? I have heard several people say that we are inclined to be aggressive. I think we are not aggressive, but some of the laws are very aggressive. We have a grand jury organized of some fifteen men. How many of them are Latter-day Saints? Two, I think. So I suppose there is one-tenth of the citizens of this Territory loyal, patriotic and honorable, and the rest are considered to be unpatriotic, disloyal, etc. But we ought at least to be tried before we are condemned; that is the law as I understand it. Now this one-tenth of loyal, good and virtuous people get thirteen men empanelled, and the nine-tenths get but two to represent them. But unfortunately for these loyal and patriotic people, carefully prepared statistics show that this ten percent of population supplies eighty percent of the criminals. How is it in other things? There is considerable said about offices and officers. Where is there a man appointed from among the people to hold any office in the gift of the national government? To use the words of a thoughtful non-”Mormon” observer, —though the ‘Gentiles’ constitute only ten percent of the population, yet from this small minority are taken the incumbents of nearly every position of influence and emolument. They have the governor, with absolute veto power, secretary, judges, marshals, prosecuting attorney, land register, recorder, surveyor-general, clerks of the courts, commissioners, principal post office mail contractors, postal agents, revenue assessors and collectors, superintendent of Indian affairs, Indian agencies, Indian supplies, army contractors, etc.”

According to the common usages of men, we have at least a reasonable right to our proper proportion, but it is evident we do not have it. And then our educational interests are interfered with by these very men who state how ignorant we are. For instance, the Legislature of Utah appropriated the means of the people to help build a university. Who was to furnish the means? The people of this territory. Who said they should not do it? The Governor, and through his action the appropriation was vetoed. These are some of the things we have to contend with. On the other hand, laws are enacted inimical to the interests of this people. And then His Ex– cellency goes to work and appoints a set of officers contrary to the law of the land; goes beyond the act of Congress and appoints officers to fill nearly every office in the Territory, vacant or not, as the case may be. I am not going to enter into the details of it, but we have generally found that there were people in those offices; that they had a right there, and that the law provided that they should hold over until their successors were elected and qualified. I believe the law so reads; indeed, I am told that the law not only reads so, but that the Governor’s commissions to many of these officers also reads so, and hence his present action is violative of his own commission.

These are some of the things we have to contend with. Do we wish to fight the government of the United States? No. What shall we do? Stand up for the rights granted to us by the laws and constitution of the United States as American citizens. We have ex post facto laws, religious inquisitorial laws, we have laws which smack strongly of bills of attainder, and we have test oaths presented, all of which and many others are unconstitutional and are violative of our constitutional rights. I have the opinion of some of the best jurists of the nation to the effect that all these things are a violation of law, and that men have no business to be subjected to such infamies, nor become their own accusers. An eminent jurist speaking of this queried how this kind of thing would apply in Washington, where miscegenation has prevailed to so great an extent. Suppose some of those who practiced this thing were placed under such a law, how would it operate with them? Why several members of Congress have said that if the Edmunds law had been made applicable to adulterers, and men had to become their own accusers, it would unseat three fourths of the members of Congress. Ex post facto laws have been passed, which are clearly unconstitutional, and it is for us to test them in the courts, and we mean to do it; for although as religionists we go as messengers of peace to the nations, yet as American citizens we mean to contend for our rights, inch by inch, legally and constitutionally, God being our helper.

Another thing God expects us to do, and that is to maintain the principle of human rights. I have felt sorrowful in watching the action of Congress towards us—sorrowful, not only on our own account, but on theirs. We fear no evil arising from those things, for we are anxiously performing our duty before God. But we owe it to ourselves as men, we owe it to our families, our children, and to posterity; we owe it to the lovers of freedom in this land, of which there are thousands, yea, millions, who despise acts of oppression and tyranny; we owe it to all liberty-loving men, to stand up for human rights and protect human freedom, and in the name of God we will do it, and let all the congregation say Amen. (The immense congregation responded, Amen.)

Joseph, the despised of his father’s house became their deliverer. Moses, the foundling and outcast of Egypt, became the deliverer and lawgiver of Israel. Jesus, the despised Nazarene, introduced principles that revolutionized the moral ideas and ethics of the world. And it may not be among the improbabilities, that the prophecies of Joseph Smith may be fulfilled and that the calumniated and despised Mormons may yet become the protectors of the Constitution and the guardians of religious liberty and human freedom in these United States.

Now these are some of my feelings upon some of these points. And I will proceed a little further and say that I do not blame many men for entertaining the sentiments which they do towards us. There is a feeling and desire to see fair play and honesty deep down in the hearts of millions of the people of these United States, who ardently desire to see justice equally and honorably administered to all people within the nation. That was manifested very clearly during the passage of the Edmunds bill, and while many of those venerable Senators and honorable members of the House could not conscientiously with their limited information and the false statements made by our enemies sustain Polygamy, yet, to their honor be it spoken, they endeavored to maintain human rights, free toleration and religious liberty, and the rights of man without distinction of party throughout the realm. We honor, appreciate and respect such men as honorable representatives of the founders of this nation, and of the thousands who today embrace similar opinions. It is the debauched, the corrupt, the violators of principles and law and desecrators of the sacred principles of liberty, it is their pernicious practices which are striking at the foundation of the institutions of this country and which are demoralizing and destroying the nation, and there are thousands of high-minded and honorable men today who, on account of trickery, hypocrisy, dishonesty and crime stand aloof from the filthy pool of politics. They have seen honor, truth, integrity and virtue trampled under foot, they have seen corruption and crime like a repulsive octopus pushing its Briarean arms into every department of State; they have seen corruption and crime like a deadly simoom permeating every department of the body politic, and debauching and corrupting the nation, and they have shrunk from the disgusting contact; how far they can reconcile this with their ideas of patriotism it is for these aggressors to say. It is not the honorable and upright, the men of virtue and integrity that we would proclaim against; it is the vicious, the untruthful, the calumniators, the corrupt and debauched, the stirrers up of sedition and strife, and the enemies of law, order, virtue, righteousness, justice, human liberty and the rights of man to whom our remarks would apply.

Again, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, and all classes have come among us, and who has interfered with them? Has anybody interfered with their worship? No. Has any violence of any kind been offered them? No, you cannot find it. We are at their defiance to show any such thing here. What have we done? We have fostered them, as has been referred to; we have treated them courteously and kindly and gentlemanly as honorable people ought to do. What have they done? Combined together to publish some of the most abominable falsehoods that were ever circulated with regard to any community. Now, this becomes rather a serious matter. Talk about love for these people! I would do them good. If they were hungry I would feed them; if they were naked I would clothe them; if they were sick I would administer to them; but if they lied about me and about this people I would tell them they were liars and defamers; I do not care how pious they are, or how much religion they have got, I would tell them the naked truth in relation to these matters.

They are the avowed advocates of moral reform, profess to be shocked at our moral obliquity and complain of us as being licentious and corrupt. Even every prominent Christian minister in this city joined in a protest against customs inculcated in the Scriptures by the Almighty, and practiced by Abraham, Jacob, David, and hosts of the most venerated and honorable men that ever lived, practices which they aver are lascivious and corrupt; and these same ministers issued a circular calling upon their fellow ministers and brother Christians throughout the United States to petition Congress for legislation which should stop, as they claim, the “foul system of polygamy,” and hypocritically inserted, to blind the eyes of those not familiar with Utah matters, a request for legislation for the suppression of “adultery, seduction, lewd and lascivious cohabitation and kindred offenses,” that they might “be punishable as in the States and other Territories of the Union;” and political demagogues joined with them in the crusade.

Predicated upon these solicitations scores of petitions were forwarded to Congress to this effect. They obtained their legislation and in their frantic Christian zeal to stamp out polygamy, a Bible institution, Congress, under this priestly influence so far forgot the inalienable rights of man, constitutional guarantees and forms of jurisprudence, as to disfranchise nine-tenths of this community for the alleged crime of the one-tenth, and that too, without trial; thus making the innocent suffer for the alleged acts of the guilty. And today an infamous, expurgatory test oath is introduced, at variance with all precedents in this nation, which as stated by Judge Black, is altogether “odious, unjust and unconstitutional,” which “reverses those rules of evidence which lie at the foundation of civil liberty,” and is a flagrant, violent and direct attack upon the inherent rights of man. Thus in their intemperate, religious zeal making a direct onslaught upon the bulwarks of republican institutions, jeopardizing the safety of the state, and thoughtlessly, recklessly and inconsiderately ignoring every just principle; assailing the fundamental doctrines of political and religious freedom; and exerting all their energies in attacking a phantom to tear down the pillars of state and to destroy the Temple of Liberty, though they themselves, as a Samson, perish in the ruins.

What is the moral effect? This same test-oath, while it assails a Scriptural usage practiced by the most renowned, revered and honorable men of antiquity, who are denominated men of righteousness and the friends of God, protects and sustains the degraded, corrupt and licentious who are supposed to be good Christians and not polygamists.

A very honorable, upright and virtuous gentleman, whom no one will accuse of immorality or vice—the respected ex-mayor of this city, who has filled that office with dignity and honor for the last six years, has a son who was appointed registrar for the Fifth Precinct in this city; this son had the painful and humiliating duty to perform of refusing to register his father’s name, because many years ago he had had more than one wife, but who, through death, was for some time without a wife at all, and has lately married one wife; and yet this young man had to perform the disgusting task, according to the provisions of said test-oath, of registering a notorious keeper of a bagnio, and many of her harlot associates. Another circumstance occurred of a gentleman who came to be registered, but thought it would be impracticable for him to take the test-oath. More honorable than many of his pious associates, he suggested that he did not know that he could take the prescribed oath, for he not only had a wife, but kept a mistress, but on examination he found the oath exempted all those who might engage in illicit intercourse, provided the association was not, as expressed in the oath, “in the marriage relation.” On discovering this, he observed, “I can take that oath, for I am only married to one;” and he was accepted. Another young man in this city, whilst having the test oath read to him, said he could not take it, as he could not swear that he had not cohabited with more than one woman; but when the reading was continued and the words “in the marriage relation” sounded in his ears, be said, “I can go that,” and was duly sworn.

Thus these moral and religious reformers and teachers, these professors of high moral ideas, these inveighers against a scriptural practice professedly because it is immoral, have introduced safeguards to protect the libertine, the voluptuary and the harlot, whilst they have made criminals of those who have been observing a law instituted by the Almighty. Perhaps it would be considered too severe to call these “reverend gentlemen” and those “venerable seigneurs” who occupy honorable positions in Congress by the harsh name of hypocrites, yet it is very humiliating to the sensitive and virtuous to contemplate the result of their ill-timed and intem– perate acts, for they have thus made themselves, while professing purity, the advocates and abettors of vice, licentiousness, immorality and crime.

I wish here to apologize a little for the people of the United States, for I think sometimes we carry the thing too far in relation to them. Here are men supposed—would be in any other community—to be honorable men, reverend men that are teachers of religion, combining against us. And because they are considered honorable men, people say, why there is the Reverend Mr. So and So and So and So, they have requested us to send petitions to Congress, to do this and that because of the wickedness and abominations of this people, and their misrepresentations and falsehoods have been circulated in the religious magazines and in the political papers, until the people abroad hardly know what to think. Many of them think we are a very infamous people; they think we are a great deal more corrupt than they are, and that we need not be. And they go to work to legislate to correct our morals. Now, with thousands of papers circulating these falsehoods, and these falsehoods coming from supposed religious and honorable men, is it any wonder that the people should be deceived with regard to us. I read today an account of an attempt to drive our Elders from some of their fields of labor. What for? Because they are “Mormons.” They are so wicked and so corrupt, and all because the papers and reverend ministers said so and so; and thus thousands of honorable men are deceived; but many of them, when they come to a knowledge of the truth, will rejoice in it. I want, then, to stand in defense of many of the people of the United States who are thus deceived. It is said in the scriptures that the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood. We have certainly had floods of falsehoods, originating, many of them, with these pious people. Do we want much association with these people? I think not. If they circulate falsehoods about us, can we respect them very much? I think not. We cannot hold communion with people who are corrupt, low and degraded. We were down in the sloughs a little while ago ourselves; we have come out from among them and know what they are. We know the infamies which exist there, the licentiousness, the corruption, the social evil, adulteries, fornication, sodomy, child murder, and every kind of infamy. And they come here and want to teach our children these things. We have got to be careful how we guard our homes, our firesides, our wives, our sons and our daughters, from their association. We don’t want these practices insidiously introduced among us. We want to preserve our purity, our virtue, our honor, and our integrity.

The time is hastening on, and I shall have to stop. I wish to make some further remarks, and would have liked to have talked some time longer. But what shall we do? I will tell you what I will try to do. I will try and humble myself before the Lord and seek for his blessing, and say as one of old said: “Search me, Oh God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” I have talked with my counselors in the same way, and they are of the same mind. We have talked with the Twelve about these things, and they are of the same mind. Now, we call upon all you Seventies, High Priests and Elders, you Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons individually and in your quorum capacity, upon the heads of families, upon the various organizations in the Church, upon all the Saints who profess to revere His name, to humble yourselves before God, to lay aside your covetousness and your evils of every kind. And when you have done so, you that meet together for prayers in your holy places, call upon God for guidance, direction and deliverance, and he will hear your prayers and deliver you, and your enemies shall have no power over you, for God is on the side of Israel, and he will preserve his people. No power can stay the progress of this work, for it is onward, onward, onward, and will be, until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and until every creature in heaven and in the earth and under the earth shall be heard to exclaim, Blessings and glory and honor and power and might and majesty and dominion be ascribed to Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever.

We will leave the wicked in the hands of God: He will deal with them in his own way. We are told that the wicked shall slay the wicked; and one thing that I am sorry over in this nation is this: that they are striking at the tree of liberty and trying to fetter humanity and bring men into bondage, they are laying the axe at the root of this government, and unless they speedily turn round and repent and follow the principles they have sworn to sustain—the principles contained in the Constitution of the United States—they will be overthrown, they will be split up and divided, be disintegrated and become weak as water; for the Lord will handle them in his own way. I say these things in sorrow; but as sure as God lives unless there is a change of policy these things will most assuredly take place.

Let us be pure, let us be virtuous, let us be honorable, let us maintain our integrity, let us do good to all men, and tell the truth always, and treat everybody right, no matter their profession or creed, and love our religion and keep the commandments of God, and it shall be well with Zion in time and throughout eternity.

God bless you. God bless all the Latter-day Saints. God bless all rulers and all men everywhere in responsible situations who seek to do right and to preserve law and justice and equity, and to maintain the rights of all men, and let his wrath and indignation rest upon the perverters of justice and those who seek to bind down the human conscience and enslave their fellow men. God bless you and lead you in the paths of life, in the name of Jesus. Amen.