A Discourse by President Joseph Young, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Wednesday Afternoon, April 8, 1857.

I suppose, if I can make you hear who are away at the back side of this vast congregation, that those between here and there will be able to hear also; but I fear that it will be a difficult task.

I am a policeman, or, in other words, I profess to be a peacemaker, and I believe this is the calling of a policeman; consequently, when I see any difficulty or trouble betwixt any two of my brethren, or any two of my fellow creatures, if my interference is solicited, I feel called upon to make peace and to reconcile the parties. If, therefore, I see any difficulties in this city—if I see any abuse practiced upon a fellow citizen, I feel called upon to interfere. This is in me; it is an inherent principle in me: I cannot cast it out. I love to see the rights of my brethren and sisters maintained: that is my disposition exactly.

I endorse what brother Brigham has said; I do it with all my heart; and I do know, as brother John observed this morning, that the revelations of Jesus Christ are accompanied with good common sense. I have never seen any but what were the best sense that I have ever seen manifested.

I am a member of this institution which has been spoken of, called the “Carrying Company;” I am one of those men, and I feel interested in it. But, says one, have you got an investment there? Yes, I have—not exactly in dollars and cents, but I have got my faith and goodwill there; and then you can put with that all that I have on this earth; and if you don’t believe it, try me: it is all on hand.

I am not only for this, but for every other investment and scheme which is made through the proper channel; for I feel that I belong to this Church and kingdom. If I do not, I know not where I belong.

I am a citizen of this planet, and I do not know that I have ever done anything to forfeit my citizenship. I feel that I have an inheritance in these chambers of the mountains, and I have never forfeited that before this body of people.

Do this people inherit the blessings promised? They do. Some are afraid to plant and to build, for fear we should not stay here long enough to eat and inhabit. Will I plant an orchard? Yes sir, I will. To what extent will I improve? To as great an extent as I should, if I knew that I were to be a citizen of this Territory through all generations. I would plant as much as I should want, if I knew that I and my posterity were to live here till the last trumpet shall sound.

[President H. C. Kimball: They will, if they have a mind to; for there are no devils who can drive them away from here, if they do right.]

I will never cease my exertions here, but I will do all that I can to beautify the place. I have done my best to do so, according to my means: I have planted my grape-cuttings, and I have eaten some fruit; I have planted my peach orchard, and have eaten the fruit thereof; and I rejoice to see improvements among this people.

I had the pleasure of planting some three pecks of apple seeds in Nauvoo, thinking they would be useful to somebody, and I believe the trees are there now that grew from those seeds. Yes, there are orchards and vineyards there now, and they will stand there as proofs that this people have been an industrious people.

Why, I tell you, my brethren and sisters, it is one of the greatest follies for men to say that they will not improve because they are not going to stay here. I will build as good a place as I feel I need here; and I will say something else: I would like to see the Temple of the Lord built, and I feel that if it is his will that I should live, I will do what I can towards building that Temple, for I want to see it reared. Brethren, let us rear that Temple—give it into the hands of those who manage the affairs of the kingdom, and all the means that we can, so that the work may be accomplished speedily, and that we may have a renewal of our endowments.

“Why,” says one, “the endowments are going on.” That is true: a portion of the endowments are going on, but there are other things that never will until the Temple is built—of which are the baptism for the dead and our endowments by proxy for our dead friends. Are they going on? No. Will they, before that house is built? No, not that I know of. That is one sermon.

There is another thing. Who is there that feels generous towards that man who has gone beyond the veil—who is gone where he cannot do anything for himself? I tell you I want to see that spirit among the brethren. Suppose, therefore, we get rid of some of our selfishness, and be willing, if proper, to take the wife of some faithful brother who has passed behind the veil, and raise up posterity unto him. If we can do this, in connection with other duties which we have to perform, we shall be doing good for others as well as for ourselves.

What do the Scriptures say? “There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest.” No—there is no device there, for so says brother Brigham, the Prophet. He says that all the endowments have to be given on this side the veil, or they never will be given. [President B. Young: That is true.]

I can say, when I see what there is to do—the mighty work that has to be performed for the living and the dead, the responsibility is great. Who can estimate it? And good order has got to be observed in regard to this eternal inheritance which is in store for the faithful; for without it all are perishing; but by the Gospel and its power there is an eternal endurance, and we have had some foretaste of a few things that are in reserve for the faithful Saints.

I feel, as brother Brigham says, that I want to see that Temple built. Did you ever sit down and meditate, when all was quiet, when the spirit of serenity seemed to fill the whole house, and when it seemed as if there was some messenger there? If you have, although you did not see him, there was a messenger there—there was a good spirit present. As you continue to contemplate upon the dead, you say, “How I wish I could do something for the redemption of the dead!”

You could not bear to behold that messenger who whispers in your ears and invites you to be active in doing a work for your dead friends. That messenger will inspire you with a desire to do something for those who have passed behind the veil. Every man that has the spirit of philanthropy feels that he is willing to do anything for the great and glorious work of redeeming and exalting the dead.

You are also anxious to enter into the Carrying Company, to gather the Saints whose faith is in our God, and whose eyes are turned towards brother Brigham, who is the head of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. To him they look for their deliverance from the thralldom and oppression of the world.

I now want to preach a sermon to the home missionaries. I do not want to hear them preach too long sermons, neither when they are out in the country settlements, nor anywhere else. I should like to have them preach as long as the subject before them is interesting, and so long as the Spirit of the Lord is feeding the flock of Christ.

Jesus at one time addressed himself to Peter and said, “Peter do you love me?” “Yes,” was the reply. “Well, then, feed my sheep.” And again Jesus interrogated him in the same manner, and Peter answered in the affirmative. Then said Jesus, “Simon Peter, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” Peter answered, “Lord, thou knowest all things, and thou knowest that I love thee.” Jesus replied, “Feed my lambs.”

I believe in this doctrine. When the Elders can feed the people, it is all right for them to continue their discourses; but when the Spirit is becoming dull and is declining, or, in other words, when the pond is run out, then is the time to stop; for this grinding by hand I do not believe in.

I know that some preach the everlasting Gospel, and that is a good thing; but I believe that a man can preach it in five minutes.

I love short sermons, and when I am in the country at Conference and other meetings, I feel that they are particularly good, and I rejoice so long as the Elders feed the people. But when the Spirit ceases to operate through a man, I want him to sit down.

It makes me think of a Scotchman, who, when he was a preceptor in an academy, was required to give lectures at certain periods, according to the regulations of the institution. On one occasion he said, “I will give you the following lecture—Never speak but when you have something to say, and always stop when you get through.”

I do love to hear men talk good talk, as the Indians say. It is the best and sweetest music I ever hear. I won’t even except brother Smithies’ big fiddle. The music of the human voice is sweeter to me than that of any stringed instrument. I do not care how illiterate the man is who speaks, although learning is very good; yet, if he speaks by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that is what I like to hear.

Brother William Kimball could not have told me his feelings better than I knew them, for I understood that he felt just as he described. I can tell you that I would rather hear a few words dictated by the Spirit of God, than hear a long sermon delivered without the dictation of that Spirit.

I am for the building of the Temple, for the Express and Carrying Company, and the gathering the Saints from all nations; and if I had ten thousand dollars, I would invests it in such enterprises as these.

I have one boy going to England this spring. I have another in the Printing Office, and that leaves me almost entirely alone; yet I feel to say, Hallelujah! I am glad that my son Seymour is going to England, for I know it will do him good. He is filled with the spirit of preaching already.

I can tell you, my friends, it is very pleasing to me to know that my children are advancing in knowledge and usefulness; and I sometimes hear them talk, after they return from meeting, somewhat as follows—“Who preached tonight?” “The Bishop.” “Who else?” “Oh, brother Clinton and brother Wheelock.” And they seem to think that all the speakers talked so well that it would be hard to tell who talked the best.

Now, do you not see, my friends, that these boys—children I may call them—have got a relish for the Spirit and power of God? My little girls also go to meeting in their turns, and they will inquire of each other who preached. If the answer be that the Bishop preached, or any other man, the next question generally is, “Did he preach well?” “Oh yes,” the reply is; “he talked first-rate;” and I find that they are filled with the spirit of animation and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have not heard them say “dance” the past winter.

I do not discard the practice of dancing; therefore do not misunderstand me; for “Mormonism,” or the Gospel of Jesus Christ, embraces all that is good, and dancing is a scriptural precedent; and it is said that they should go forth in the last days in the dance. Well, upon, this principle, we believe in dancing, and a certain portion of it is useful to the limbs and to the joints, and to the spirits as well.

But notwithstanding all this, wherever there is too much of any one thing, it very naturally produces a reaction; and consequently, there is a suspension of dancing for the present.

If our children do not dance when they are young, the sprightliness, the vigor, and activity of youth are in a manner checked. My father, when I was a boy, would not allow me to give vent to the life and vigor that were in me; and now, if I were to give way to my feelings at times, I should dance too much.

[President H. C. Kimball: You would dance the bones out of joint, I suppose.]

It is not necessary that you should dance the whole of this spirit out of you at once; for if you do, you will have none left, and consequently, no disposition to dance anymore. I thought last winter that the people would tire themselves dancing. When the “driftwood” was taken away, and the course was clear, they danced as if they were never going to stop.

I felt glad yesterday to hear what was said by brother Brigham and also by others who addressed us, and I felt so well that I could have danced. This is the way I feel a great deal of the time. As I observed, my father checked the stream of diversion in us, and would not allow his boys to dance at all; and probably that is the reason why I feel so much like it now.

It is natural for our children to love the Gospel, for religion is a natural thing—it is perfectly natural. You may take a child, and just as soon as you can put it in possession of doctrine, that child will love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only let it understand right from wrong, and there will be nothing but the Gospel in that child. If we set a proper example before our sons and daughters, the Gospel will be manifested through all their actions, and there will be no evil desire in them.

I want to know the bounds of my prerogatives in the Priesthood, and never want to go beyond those bounds.

[President B. Young: Shall I give them to you?].

Yes. I want to know them. It is better for a man to run a little behind the line than to have him go before it. I know there are some things that I can say and do, and there are things that brother Brigham can say and do that I cannot: it is not my prerogative.

Here are brother Brigham, brother Heber, and brother Wells, the First Presidency; then there are the Twelve; then right behind them come the Seventies and the High Priests—two mighty bodies of men, whose business it is to act under the direction of the two first Quorums; then come the Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, who constitute the organization of the Priesthood in the Church, and who are called to assist in preparing the way for Jesus to come. We are (all who magnify their calling and Priesthood) trying to prepare a people for his coming, to purge out those that are filthy, and to put away every evil and wrong from us, and to prepare for the greater weight of glory that is to come.

In order to do this, we are under the necessity of chastising; and the greatest proof to me that there is a man standing at the head who holds communion with God is, to see men receive chastisement in the spirit of humility, without a murmur, and be satisfied that it is for their good.

My opinion was, before I received the Gospel, and is the same now, that the man who has the hardihood and boldness to rebuke his brethren and to tell them of their faults and of their errors is a man of God. Brethren, I want to get rid of my errors.

Brother Brigham said today, when he addressed you, that he wanted those who stand up to instruct the Saints to say something worth hearing; and hence there has been within me a feeling of extreme diffidence, when arising to address you, not only today, but on many other occasions; for there is not in me the power and wisdom to bring out great principles before the Saints; but brother Brigham and brother Heber can. I feel a delicacy in standing before such a vast multitude as are here present, knowing that there are many bright minds in this congregation.

Some think they could say a good deal, if they could have the privilege of coming upon this stand; but when they come here, everything seems to be shut out from their minds, and they can scarcely say a word. The vast amount of intellect—of knowledge that this people possess oftentimes throws persons who speak before them into great confusion.

It is the most peculiar place—the most delicate situation that a man can be placed in; and hence I say that the simpler a man is the better. On this very account it is that I am contending with myself all the time and endeavoring to be pointed in my sayings; for I do not want to go round about, but to say things just as they are.

When I retain the Spirit of God—when that light is in me which was with Jesus in all his counselings, at such times all the beings upon the face of the earth would not intimidate me; but, with a mortal tabernacle, we are subject to the weaknesses of mortality. To communicate intelligence to this people, unless God first communicates to me, is impossible; but when he does inspire me with his spirit, and I speak the things right out, nobody need find any fault; and if they do, it cannot be helped, for we must speak that which the Spirit dictates.

I once knew a little boy who was in the habit of being whipped by his mother when he went to bed, in order to make him go to sleep, and he became so habituated to the whipping that he could not go sleep without it, and he would say, “Mother, come and whip me.”

I do not desire to be of that class, but desire to so live as to be able to discern true intelligence and present it before the people in a way that they can all understand.

Brother Brigham told me to get up here and say something. I have done so, and will now tell you that my all is invested in this kingdom: it is all for the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not gold, nor silver, nor the perish– able things of this world are invaluable to me—such articles will perish and molder away—but those imperishable treasures that can never be destroyed—the inestimable riches that God has put into my possession; for these, my life, my goodwill, my faith, my prayers, and all that I can do and possess are devoted to the establishment of righteousness and the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth. All my substance and every faculty which God has given me are subject to the word of brother Brigham.

When a man thus surrenders himself, his family, his means, and everything he controls to the servants of God, what will he have in return? We have left all and have come off into these valleys, in the midst of the Rocky Mountains; and what shall we have as a reward? Jesus said, “There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.” Is there not a compensation here promised? There is.

Here is a key. When the Devil comes to you and asks you if you want to serve God, tell him that it is none of his business, and that will bluff off the Devil.

Brother Kimball has said that if I had not been sick, I should have died; and I don’t know but I should. I believe it has all been for my good, and I can truly say I have not felt so well for many years as I have felt since I recovered from my sickness last January. When a man is sick, if the mind is uneasy, it injures the body. Since I have got well, I have made a practice of sitting down contemplating and holding communion with God and my own heart; and I do feel and know that I am an heir of salvation; and I do not mean that any enemies shall take this hope and assurance away from me.

I have thought sometimes that I would never die till I had been to Europe. When we went to Quincy, after we were mobbed out of Missouri, and a number of brethren were selected to go on missions, I recollect what brother Brigham said on that occasion. He remarked, “If they did not go and preach, they will apostatize.” I do not know but he made the remark in my presence for my benefit.

Well, we had just survived the bloody persecutions of Missouri, and had got into Illinois, and were all as poor as a church mouse ever was, and many of us felt almost disheartened. We had neither cow, nor ox, nor horse, not one in twenty of us; but the people were humane enough to take us in and assist us a little.

Finally, however, the people of Illinois became hostile, and would not let us live in their midst; and we were forced to seek a home in the midst of these mountains; and, for one, I feel to rejoice that I am here in this healthy climate. But, as a Canadian would say, “This is not a poor man’s country;” but I believe that it is the best place on earth for this people at the present time.

Brother Brigham has redeemed his word in bringing the people here, for he said he would lead this people to a healthy climate. We are here in the midst of these peaceful valleys and mountains; and I do not believe that we shall ever be driven from here, if we do right—never, no never.

I have no trouble about this; for I have been in the midst of mobs, and they once held a council and determined to murder me and my family; but the Lord turned away their anger. This was in Missouri. They demanded our arms; but the brethren said they would not give them up—that they would sooner die. I said, “Brethren, I am the captain of this company, and you should listen to me and to my counsel, and give up your arms.” They did so, and by-and-by the hearts of those men were melted (they were Kentuckians, who had been called upon to assist the mob), and they came to us and said, “We will pay you for your arms when the war is over.” No doubt they talked the matter over, and said, “These are good people; therefore let us pay them for their arms.” At any rate, they paid down their money, but we had to use stratagem.

I do not want to detain you, brethren and sisters; but I do rejoice that we are in these valleys, where there is nothing to induce our enemies to come and drive us. We do not presume that they will come, unless they are paid for coming. And if they ever do come, it is my earnest prayer that I may be filled with the Holy Ghost; then, peradventure, I shall want to carry the flag and be foremost in putting our enemies to flight. But if this people will retain the Spirit of God, and keep fanning the flame of the reformation that is in them, our enemies will not come to distress us—we shall not be molested; for no power can disturb us so long as we are faithful.

May God bless us all and preserve us upon the earth, and continue our usefulness, until we have redeemed our families and friends—till we all are brought up and fitted for his presence; which is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Lecture by Elder Orson Hyde, at the opening of his School in the Council Chamber, Great Salt Lake, January 22, 1855.

Ladies and Gentlemen—The subject that has called us together this evening, to me, is a very interesting and an important one; and I trust that it will be no less so to you, after you shall have understood its import and nature. It is the Science of the English Language.

As this language has been more highly honored in our day, by the Supreme Ruler above, than any other, in that he hath chosen it as the most beautifully grand and impressive medium through which his mandates could be conveyed to mortal beings here on earth, can we be justified if we remain in a state of indifference with regard to its beauty, its richness, and its strength?

The English language is chiefly derived from the Saxon, Danish, Celtic, and Gothic; but in the progressive stages of its refinement it has been greatly enriched by accessions from the Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and German languages. The number of words which it at present consists of, after deducting proper names, and words formed by the inflections of verbs, nouns, and adjectives, may be estimated at over FORTY THOUSAND.

This heterogeneous mass of words, as found in the English vocabulary, when drawn out in line of discourse according to the laws of syntax, and embellished by the force of rhetorical elocution, has made nations to tremble and empires to quake. More glorious conquests have been achieved and victories won by the force and power of language than by all the armed legions that ever marched into the battlefield to meet the foe in deadly conflict. No widow’s tear nor orphan’s sigh detracts from the splendor of the former; no aching heart is left to curse the brutal policy that bereft it of its dearest earthly object. No plaintive notes from the deathbed of thousands of brave and generous warriors to wrap a nation in garments of deeper mourning; and it remains to be disproven that our future destiny, for weal or for woe, is suspended upon our very language. “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

It is too true that this science has been lightly spoken of by men of years and experience; and I must say that it is never pleasing to me to hear anything by way of jest, or in sober earnest, that may be calculated to beget in the rising generation a dislike for this most important branch of education. Should such an influence prevail among our youth, it needs not a prophetic eye to foretell the results. When the present actors have played their parts and retired from the stage, our successors, in the persons of our children, will not be able to keep a proper journal of the events of their time, to speak or write correctly, or to manage and conduct a periodical for the diffusion of that knowledge which it has pleased an all-wise Creator to shed forth from the heavens in our day for the benefit and salvation of man, without foreign aid.

You have, undoubtedly, heard the drunkard speak against drunkenness, the thief against theft, and the profane and profligate person against his course of life, because he has weltered under the smart and sting of his own immoral and criminal acts.

But you never heard the enlightened grammarian speak of this science in terms of the slightest disrespect; and I here predict that you never will, while language remains the agent for the transmission of thought.

The person unacquainted with the science of music, who has no taste or ear for it, might indulge in many slight and ludicrous remarks on hearing a class exercise in some of the first rudiments and rules of the science. But to the skillful musician, his remarks prove no inconsistency or impropriety in the science, but, on the contrary, that he himself is ignorant of it, and also of the path that leads to its attainment. The charms of music consist in the union and harmony of its parts; and when executed by scienced performers, it swells into a melody that holds in spellbound admiration all the finer and more elevated feelings of the soul. But the path that leads to the summit where the flowery charms of this science are wafted on the breath of our most skillful performers, and fall on your ears with such pleasing accents, is winding, steep, and rugged; and it requires patience, perseverance, and industry to gain the eminence.

The music of language consists in the union and harmony of the various parts of speech of which it is composed; and when tastefully selected to clothe a useful thought or valuable idea, and that thought or idea borne to your ear in that dress, awakens emotions almost as vividly pleasing as the maid of your choice, when presented, entwined with the bridal wreath, to receive your most sacred vow.

We are met this evening, ladies and gentlemen, to consider our inclination, strength, and ability to commence or recommence our journey up the rugged steeps of the “Hill of Science.”

The child from five to ten years of age has little or no use for scientific knowledge, from the fact that his childhood bars him against those responsibilities which he is destined to inherit in the progressive periods and stages of his life. But as his mind becomes stronger and more developed by the force of unavoidable circumstances, he is the better qualified to acquire those principles of science which will enable him more successfully to stem the current of opposition in his upward course to moral and spiritual excellence.

Were I now to refer you to our highly-esteemed Governor and President, whose ear for music and language is, perhaps, more acutely discerning than that of any other gentleman present, and ask him if he has not more use for scientific knowledge now, since the increased cares and responsibilities of both Church and State are resting upon him, together with the planning of public works, machinery, and fortifications against Indians, &c., than when he first embraced this Gospel, some twenty-five years ago, and went preaching without “purse or scrip;” and what do you imagine would be his answer? Apply, then, this same principle and course of reasoning to the Church, and what do we discover? When she was in her infancy, she did not attract the attention and gaze of the world. She had little use for scientific knowledge, and little or no time to acquire it; but having become stronger in her intellectual and physical organization, by the force of unavoidable circumstances, such as mobocracy by earth’s degenerate sons, and the bounteous blessings of a generous Providence upon the loyal subjects of his eternal laws, she begins to have greater use for science, and is more eligibly situated to acquire it in these peaceful valleys than when buffeted in the States upon the waves of political strife and religious intolerance, where, perhaps, the first house erected for educational purposes was lighted up by the torch of the incendiary, whose lurid flames cast a sickly glare upon our prospects for scientific pursuits in that country.

We are fast growing into importance, and the eyes of our nation are upon us. Our words and our acts are duly scanned by her officials in private; but if this were all, we should have little to fear. There is, however, a Power above, high over all, that scrutinizes all our acts and doings with an eye that never sleeps. We are not only watched over with fatherly care at home, but other nations cast an occasional glance at us. Their kings and their queens dream of us, and God showeth them some things as they are and as they will be. There will be Daniels and Mordecais in their courts, and, no doubt, Hamans too.

The political world is about to fall and crumble in pieces, in consequence of the great amount of repulsion which its parts possess. The religious world also, like Babel’s mighty empire, or like the millstone which the angel cast into the sea, will sink in the whirlpools of conflicting interests and sentiments, and her remains be “like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.” As saviors on Mount Zion, and as restorers of every just and holy law, whether emanating from heaven, from nature, or from the legislative councils of earth, let us become qualified to act well our part in the great and eventful scenes that will open to our view, and not sacrifice our birthright at the shrine of an unpardonable indifference in relation to qualifications that come within our grasp.

The rising generation are destined to act a more important part in this drama before us. I therefore call upon them to awake and prepare to do honor to their station, whatever or wherever it may hereafter be, while we yet remain in the chambers of the Almighty, with the ensign of peace gently waving over our heads, and plenty in our garners, and our storehouses full.

Think not, my young friends, that you can spend the prime and vigor of your days in the vanities and pleasures of life, and in your more advanced years store your minds with wisdom and knowledge; but let your youthful energies now be devoted to the acquisition of literary and scientific knowledge, that when you arrive to manly strength, dignity, and wisdom, you may call into immediate requisition the fruits of your youthful labors and toil.

Suffer not a sluggardly or indolent mind to induce you to postpone the period for the commencement of scientific pursuits, with the vain and delusive hope that, by-and-by, the principles of education will become so simplified that you can pick them up with as little labor and trouble as you can pick up the cobblestones of the streets. All the education you can acquire in this easy way will not be as valuable to you even as the cobblestones; for the latter, when collected and laid up into a fence, form a secure and impenetrable fortress, as is clearly proven by reference to the wall in progress of erection around President Kimball’s dwelling. But the former will prove too flimsy and spurious to safely fortify your minds against a thousand evils that will beset you on all sides. The value of an object is often (and not improperly) estimated by the amount of labor and toil required to obtain it. The precious metals are not often found in the streets or highways; but in bye and sequestered places, deeply imbedded in the crevices and subterraneous caverns of the earth. If you will have them, you must dig for them. They will cost you much time and labor; but when obtained, they will richly reward you for all your toil. The gems of the ocean are not found floating upon the flood or ebb tides, but in the bed of the deep blue sea. They are hid from the vulgar gaze of the multitude, and only sought by the few who know their value, and who have courage and resolution enough to embark in the enterprise. Scientific knowledge is hid up in the elements, in the caverns, and storehouses of nature, and is only found by those who seek it with all their heart.

The man who neglects to discipline and train his mind in the science of religion knows but little about God or angels, or the glory of the sanctified. What little he does understand, he has borrowed from the labors and toils of others.

The Presidency of this Church are the lovers of learning; and, in my opinion, you, who need it, can take no step in education to please them more than to engage in the study of your own native language. It is the joy and pride of their hearts to see the attention of the people being turned to education. They do not want you to trust to it, however, as to God; but through it they want you to be able to present those truths that Heaven reveals, in that interesting and engaging light that will reflect honor upon you as the agent, upon God as the Author, and upon the Church as the body to be exalted. Lay hold, then, upon education! If you can get it easily, I have no objections. If, upon any principle, you can acquire it in a more easy manner than has been generally adopted in times gone by, you are doubly guilty if you do not attend to it forthwith. Show me one person that ever did jump into a brilliant education without labor and toil in self-application, and then I may be converted to the easy method of obtaining it. But lest I may be wrong in some of my views, I would say—If you can get education easily, get it, and be thankful to God for it. If it should prove a laborious task for you, do not be discouraged or relinquish your exertions.

Language, being the science through which the knowledge of all other sciences is communicated, demands our first and most candid consideration; and as the English language combines, in its genius and construction, both strength and beauty to an extent far surpassing that of any other language now in use, we ought, as students of that language, to apply ourselves with a zeal and perseverance commensurate with the superior powers which it possesses.

There are few persons in the world who care not for the appearance of their dress. They generally want their garments of a good material, and to fit them in a becoming manner. Our ideas and thoughts are also entitled to a becoming dress; and it should be our pride to clothe them with the most chaste and beautiful language, that they may hang around our person as jewels of unfading beauty, even as “apples of gold in pictures of silver.” We, however, may know the meaning of thousands of the most beautiful words in our language; yet if we cannot discover the legitimate relation they bear to one another, and arrange them in a sentence according to the laws of syntax that govern them, we come as far short of the knowledge of the science of language as the architect of the knowledge of his profession, if he understand not where to place his timbers in a building, after they are furnished at his hand.

Grammar, well understood, enables us to express our thoughts fully and clearly; and also in a manner that will defy the ingenuity of man to give our words any other meaning than that which we ourselves intended them to convey.

In justification of a neglect to acquire a grammatical knowledge of the English language, some have argued that the best grammarians differ in their views of the science; and if the most enlightened upon that subject cannot agree, what evidence can be shown that there is any particular good in it? It is true, that our best grammarians may differ in their views touching some immaterial or technical points in the science. But this cannot disturb or interrupt the great channel or laws of language. Allow me to prove this to you right here. The Utah Library perhaps contains the productions of some hundreds of the best authors of which many countries can boast. These authors all wrote under different circumstances, at different times, in different countries, and upon different subjects; and very probably no two of them could have been brought to a perfect agreement upon every point and principle of grammar. But will the most learned gentleman in this city go into that Library and point out one grammatical error in the writings of any of them? He may, perchance, do it; yet I seriously doubt it. There may be typographical errors found, which may have produced indirect grammatical ones; but a manifest grammatical error can hardly be found. This argument ought to silence every cavil on the subject, in my opinion.

There is no science so universally applicable to practicable purposes as that of grammar. Arithmetic, geography, astronomy, botany, penmanship, chemistry, and philosophy are highly profitable in their respective places. But there is no condition or circumstance in life in which grammatical knowledge is not essential, wherein mental action may be involved. We cannot think, write, or speak correctly upon any subject, without a knowledge of the laws of language.

Some persons, who possess not this knowledge, are vain and confident enough to think that they can detect and correct any error in language by the ear. It is true that persons of a naturally refined taste may, by carefully reading the productions of good authors, and by conversing with the learned, acquire that knowledge of language which will enable them to avoid those glaring errors that are particularly offensive to the ear; but there are other errors, equally gross, that have not so harsh a sound, and cannot be detected without a knowledge of the laws that are violated.

I can hold out no reasons or inducements for you to believe that you can acquire a knowledge of this science by giving it only a casual thought, or by looking carelessly over your lessons. But I tell you, and tell you plainly, that unless you can resolve to make it a steady and laborious occupation, and carry that resolution into effect, you never can understand the merits of this science. Yet, if you will cast parties out of your minds, with all the gossip about fashions, trash, and other nonsense, that too often check the progress of the most laudable and beneficial pursuits, and allow me to have full control of your minds for thirty evenings, from six until nine o’clock, and faithfully and truly comply with my instructions touching your duties between schools, I will insure that you will have progressed far enough to enable you to prosecute your studies in this branch successfully to any extent you may desire, without a teacher, even if you know not one part of speech from another at this time, pro– vided you possess that degree of intellect and susceptibility for improvement which are common in society.

Remember, my friends, that you live in a progressive age—an age in which the inspiration of the Almighty is resting upon the world to disclose the principles of science, and bring them into requisition to fulfil his purposes, and they know it not! Remember that to us is committed a more sacred charge—a charge to disclose and proclaim to the perishing nations the principles of eternal life and exaltations, and to gather the ripened sheaves, preparatory to the “feast of the HARVEST HOME.” Remember that knowledge is power, and that you now have a little time to acquire it. Forget not that “God helps those who help themselves.” Secure learning and virtue, and you will be great. Love God and honor him, and you will be happy.

An Address by Elder Orson Hyde, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1854.

Respected Friends and Fellow Citizens—I am called upon, by the wishes and voice of many persons, to be one of your speakers on this ever memorable day. While I congratulate myself upon the honor which you have done me by this selection, I sincerely regret that I am not more amply qualified to answer your expectations. But humble as my efforts may be on this occasion, they are the more freely offered, knowing that the ears and hearts of a generous people will make every allowance for any deficiency that may appear in the style and subject matter of my discourse.

The bursts of eloquence that have thundered from this stand this morning cannot fail to have awakened in the minds of the audience notions and views so enlarged, that it becomes a very difficult task for your present speaker to sustain and carry forward the interest and excitement with which your minds have already been fired by the speakers that have preceded me.

We are met, fellow citizens, to cele– brate one of the most important events that ever embellished the pages of political history—an event of which every American heart is proud to boast, in whatever land or country he perchance may roam—I mean the bold, manly, and daring act of our fathers in the Declaration of the Independence and Sovereignty of these United States—an act worthy to be engraven in letters of living light upon the tablets of our memory, and to be transmitted to our children, with the sacred charge that they teach it to their children, and to their children’s children, till the “stripes and stars” float over every land, and are mirrored on the crest of every passing billow. They had not only the moral courage to sign the Declaration of our nation’s Independence, but hearts of iron and nerves of steel to defend it by force of arms against the fearful odds arrayed against them—the well-disciplined armies and mercenary allies of the foolish and tyrannical George the III, King of Great Britain.

The progressive spirit of the times, on the one hand, and the chains of cruelty and oppression, on the other, inspired the apostles of American freedom to raise the standard of liberty, and unfurl its banner to the world as a warning to oppressors, and as the star of hope to the oppressed. The very name of America causes a thrill of patriotic devotion to her best interests to quiver in the heart of every citizen of Utah, with a zeal and a pride for the welfare of our country that does honor to the memory of those departed heroes whose ashes are mingled in our soil, and made rich and dear to us by their own blood.

Remember Lexington, and Bunker Hill, and lastly Yorktown, with all the intermediate scenes as narrated in the history of the American Revolution! Remember the immortal Washington, chosen to lead our infant armies through the perils and hardships of an unequal contest, to the climax of victory and the pinnacle of fame! His name, embalmed in the never-dying sympathies of his grateful countrymen, will be heralded in the melody of song, “while the earth bears a plant or the ocean rolls a wave.” While Columbia’s sons and daughters regret and mourn his exit hence in accents like the following—

“Cold is the heart where valor reigned, Mute is the tongue that joy inspired, Still is the arm that conquest gained, And dim the eye that glory fired,”

They will comfort themselves and quiet the pangs of their bereaved hearts by chanting like this—

“Too mean for him a world like this; He’s landed on the happy shore, Where all the brave partake of bliss, And heroes meet to part no more.”

In those early and perilous times, our men were few, and our resources limited. Poverty was among the most potent enemies we had to encounter; yet our arms were success– ful; and it may not be amiss to ask here, by whose power victory so often perched on our banner? It was by the agency of that same angel of God that appeared unto Joseph Smith, and revealed to him the history of the early inhabitants of this country, whose mounds, bones, and remains of towns, cities, and fortifications speak from the dust in the ears of the living with the voice of undeniable truth. This same angel presides over the destinies of America, and feels a lively interest in all our doings. He was in the camp of Washington; and, by an invisible hand, led on our fathers to conquest and victory; and all this to open and prepare the way for the Church and kingdom of God to be established on the western hemisphere, for the redemption of Israel and the salvation of the world.

This same angel was with Columbus, and gave him deep impressions, by dreams and by visions, respecting this New World. Trammeled by poverty and by an unpopular cause, yet his persevering and unyielding heart would not allow an obstacle in his way too great for him to overcome; and the angel of God helped him—was with him on the stormy deep, calmed the troubled elements, and guided his frail vessel to the desired haven. Under the guardianship of this same angel, or Prince of America, have the United States grown, increased, and flourished, like the sturdy oak by the rivers of water.

To what point have the American arms been directed since the Declaration of our National Independence, and proven unsuccessful? Not one!

The peculiar respect that high Heaven has for this country, on account of the promises made to the fathers, and on account of its being the land where the mustard seed of truth was planted and destined to grow in the last days, accounts for all this good fortune to our beloved America.

But since the Prophets have been slain, the Saints persecuted, despoiled of their goods, banished from their homes, and no earthly arm to interpose for their rescue, what will be the future destiny of this highly-favored country? Should I tell the truth as it clearly passes before my mind’s eye, my friends might censure me, and I might be regarded as an enemy to my country. If I should not tell the truth, but withhold it to please men, or to avoid giving offense to any, I might be regarded, by the powers celestial, as the enemy of God. What shall I do under these circumstances? Shall I be guilty of the crime of hesitating for a moment? No. Neither time nor place to hesitate now.

Were I called upon to give evidence before a court of justice in a case to which my own father was a party litigant, the foolish might regard me as opposed to my father, if conscience, justice, and truth directed me to testify against his interest; but the wise would regard me as possessing that integrity that kindred ties could not swerve nor decoy from the truth and facts in the case. My testimony in relation to the country that gave me birth, that gave birth to my father and my father’s father, is given upon the same principle, and prompted by a similar motive.

So sure and certain as the great water courses wend their way to the ocean, and there find their level—so sure as the passing thundercloud hovers around yonder Twin Peaks of the Wasatch Mountains, and upon their grey and barren rocks pours the fury of its storm, just so sure and certain will the guardian angel of these United States fly to a remote distance from their borders, and the anger of the Almighty wax hot against them in causing them to drink from the cup of bitterness and division, and the very dregs, stirred up by the hands of foreign powers, in a manner more cruel and fierce than the enemies of the Saints in the day of their greatest distress and anguish; and all this because they laid not to heart the martyrdom of the Saints and Prophets, avenged not their blood by punishing the murderers, neither succored nor aided the Saints after they were despoiled of their goods and homes.

Would to God that we could forget this part of our experience in the land of our fathers! But we cannot forget it. It is incorporated in our being. We shall carry it to our graves, and in the resurrection it will rise with us. Had the United States been as faithful a guardian to the Latter-day Saints as the angel of God has been to them, she would never know dissolution, nor be humbled in dishonor by the decrees of any foreign powers.

I ask no earthly being to endorse this my testimony, or to adopt it as his own sentiment. A little time will prove whether Orson Hyde alone has declared it, or whether the heavenly powers will back up this testimony in the face of all the world.

When Justice is satisfied, and the blood of martyrs atoned for, the guardian angel of America will return to his station, resume his charge, and restore the Constitution of our country to the respect and veneration of the people; for it was given by the inspiration of our God.

One positive decree of Jehovah, respecting this land, is, that no king shall ever be raised up here, and that whosoever seeketh to raise up a king upon this land shall perish. The spirit of this decree is that no king shall bear rule in this country. And the islands contiguous to this land belong unto it by promise, for they are a part and parcel of the land of Joseph, and they geographically belong to it—belong to it by the covenants of the fathers: they also philo– sophically incline to this nearer and greater land.

Europe may look with a jealous eye upon the movements of this country, and contemplate the settlement and adjustment of a “Western question.” But at present there is an Eastern question pending; and it may be wisdom and policy for the United States’ Government to press the adjustment of the Western question simultaneously with that of the Eastern question. If the Western question is settled at all, now is the time for the United States to settle it to the best advantage.

In case of a general war, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, which we have every reason to expect, it will be remembered that we have an extensive coast to defend, not only east and southerly, but also in the west. The transportation of troops will be unavoidable; and the sad and melancholy fate of many destined for the western coast by sea, around the southern cape, should admonish the Government to spare no pains or expense to construct a railroad with all dispatch across the continent, passing through the head and center of Utah Territory; particularly as the transportation of soldiers and the munitions of war are among the less weighty reasons why a railroad should be constructed, connecting the Missouri River with the Pacific coast.

But to confine ourselves for a moment to things within our own Basin. Since the celebration, last year, of our nation’s birth, two of our great and good men have fallen by the hand of death—Doctor Willard Richards and Patriarch John Smith. In them the citizens of Utah have lost true and devoted friends; the country, patriots; the Church, able advocates and defenders; and large families, kind and affectionate husbands and fathers; also several most excellent men shot down by the hostile savage from his ambush. Much suffering has been occasioned by the Indian war. Many of our crops went to waste last year, by reason of it, which has occasioned rather a scanty supply of food. But thanks be to God, never have the fields of the valleys smiled with such glowing prospects of abundant harvest as at the present time.

It is true that some of our settlements lost almost every head of stock they had, by the Indians, last summer, and have been compelled to cultivate their lands with few horses and oxen; yet the extensive fields of wheat now waving in the breeze and fast ripening in the sun are almost incredible.

Praise and thanksgiving be unto our God! This year we have had peace with the red men, and plenty is about to crown the labors of the husbandman.

If the United States are dissatisfied with the expenditure of the twenty thousand dollars appropriated for the building of a State House in this Territory, because a house was purchased that was already built, instead of building one, I have no hesitancy in expressing my conviction that a Government draft on us for the amount would be duly honored ten days from sight, or ten minutes, perhaps. Our Indian wars and other necessary and indispensable drafts upon our time and money in this new country have prevented us from building a house; and we, therefore, have been under the necessity of purchasing a very good and commodious one, built before our Indian troubles were so serious. My voice would be to pay back the twenty thousand dollars! And as the expenses of the war have been wholly borne by us, without a dime’s appropriation for that purpose having yet reached us, we may expect to rely wholly on our own resources and upon the arm of our God.

If we are deemed abundantly able to foot the bill of the entire expenses of the war, pay back the twenty thousand dollars to the Government, build our own State House, or occupy the one already built, and even then support whole omnibuses full of wives and children, though proscribed as we are from the benefits of the Land Bill, the people of the United States must allow that we far excel all other portions of their population in real smartness.

God and our country, now and forever, one and inseparable!

An Address by Elder George A. Smith, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1854.

Gentlemen and Ladies—Fellow Citizens—I arise here to address you a few moments upon a subject which has, perhaps, been worn threadbare by orators, statesmen, and divines, for the last seventy years, in the minds of a great portion of those who have been in the habit of listening to speeches upon the battles of the Revolution, and the causes which put it in motion. The subject has become trite. Every schoolboy who reads American history is, perhaps, better versed in it than he could be with anything that I can advance, by pursuing the old beaten track, or continuing in the channel which has been so long worn. Yet I may safely say, with all that has been said, its real merits have scarcely been approached.

The causes which produced the American Revolution were so far behind the veil, that the writers of American history and the orators who expatiate on the subject on occasions like this, and on other occasions, have not acknowledged that it was the Almighty—the invisible and omnipotent hand of Him who made the heavens and the earth and the fountains of waters, who worked the secret wires, and opened up the revolutionary scene, to lay a foundation and prepare a people, with a system of government, among whom his work of the last days could be commenced upon this earth.

Persons present today may consider that no other country in the world would have allowed the persecutions and oppressions that have fallen upon the work of God in this land, of which many of you have been partakers. But in this you are mistaken; for there is no nation under heaven among whom the kingdom of God could have been established and rolled forth with as little opposition as it has received in the United States. Every species of oppression and opposition, which has aimed at the destruction of the lives and liberties of the members of this Church, has been in open violation of the laws of the country; while, among other nations, the links of the chain of government are so formed that the very constitution and laws of the country would oppose the government of God. This is the case almost without an exception.

I will say, then, the American Revolution had its beginning behind the veil. The invisible providence of the Almighty, by his Spirit, inspired the hearts of the Revolutionary Fathers to resist the Government of England and the oppressions they had submitted to for ages. When ground to dust, as it were, in their mother country, the first settlers in this land looked to the West. They fled from oppression, and planted their standard upon American soil, which was then a wilderness in the possession of savages. The climate, productions, extent, and nature of the country was then unknown to distant nations. It appeared, however, to offer an asylum for the oppressed, even at that early day.

A party escaped from oppression, and landed in Massachusetts; another party, for a similar cause, left the mother country, and landed in Connecticut; and so a number of the early States were formed by settlers who fled from their native country through religious oppression. The young colonies grew until they became somewhat formidable, and began to realize that they were entitled to some common national privileges; that they had a right to the protection of certain laws by which their ancestors were protected; and also that they had a right to an equal voice in the making of those laws.

It is my intention to notice a multiplicity of minor circumstances, to portray the tyrannical spirit that prevailed in the English Parliament, and which were only so many sparks to feed the flame of revolution. What was the greatest trouble? The right of making their own laws was denied them by the King and Parliament; and if they made laws, the King claimed the right of abrogating those laws at pleasure, and also appointed officers who could dissolve the National Assembly and levy taxes without the consent of the inhabitants of the Colonies.

These were the main causes of the Revolution. God caused these causes to operate upon the minds of the colonists, until they nobly resisted the power of the mother country. At that time Great Britain stood pre-eminent among the nations of Europe, and had just finished the wars against several of them combined. God inspired our fathers to make the Declaration of Independence, and sustained them in their struggles for liberty until they conquered. Thus they separated themselves from the parent stock; and, as an historian of that age quaintly said, when they signed that Declaration, if they did not all hang together, they would be sure to all hang separately. Union is strength.

But how does this Revolution progress? That is the question. Has the great principle that colonies, territories, states, and nations have the right to make their own laws, yet become established in the world? I think if some of our lawyers would peruse the musty statutes at large, they would find that there are several colonies of the United States who have seen proper, under the limited provisions then given them, to enact laws for their own convenience; but they suffered the mortification of having them vetoed by the General Congress. Look, for instance, at the statutes in relation to the Territory of Florida, and see the number of laws enacted by that people, and repealed by act of Congress.

It is curious to me that the progress of the Revolution has been so small, referring to that which is produced in the minds of the whole American people. Every organized Territory, wherever it exists, has the same right that the early revolutionary fathers claimed of Great Britain, and bled to obtain—that is, of making its own laws and being represented in the General Assembly as a confederate power.

This Revolution may possibly increase in the future, and is, no doubt, progressing at the present time. One individual in particular, during the present session of Congress, has become so enlightened as to say in the House, “You have no business with the domestic relations of Utah;” and, consequently, I think the principle is making headway.

The United States have increased greatly in power, majesty, dominion, and extent, having half-a-dozen Territories at once already organized, and others calling for an organization. Says the General Government to these organized bodies at a distance, “You may send a Delegate here, but he shall have no voice in the General Assembly; and if you make any laws that do not suit us, we will repeal them, and we will send you a Governor who will veto everything you do that does not exactly suit us.” I want to see the Revolution progress, so that the great head of the American nation can say to every separate colony, “Make your own laws, and cleave to the principles of the Constitution which gives that right.”

For me to rehearse the battles of Washington, and the incidents in the struggle for freedom which every schoolboy knows, would only be to consume time to little advantage. What has been the result? Our forefathers, by their blood, have purchased for us liberty; but as far as the rights of the weak are concerned, the Revolution has progressed slowly. For instance, the Territory of Oregon forms a provisional Government for itself, and then petitions Congress to receive her under their fostering care. The result is, they send them a convoy of Governmental officers, which, by-the-by, never have time to get there; and if they should happen to arrive there, they are unwilling to stay; and thus the people have been left, a whole year at a time, without a regular set of officers. They are deprived of the privilege of voting in favor of or against the officers who are appointed to rule them, and of being heard, through their Representative, in the halls of Congress. Who wants to go there, and not have a voice with the rest of them? Although we have sent a most eloquent gentleman to represent this portion of the American nation, and one who can cry “poor pussy” among them to a charm, yet, at the same time, he cannot have the privilege of voting on any question, however detrimental to liberty and the Constitution.

But the Revolution is progressing, and the time is not far distant when Territories will enjoy privileges that have been held back for the purpose of pandering to a relict of that monarchy which oppressed the American people. Is it reasonable that people dwelling thousands of miles from the parent Government should not have the same privilege of regulating their own affairs as those who live in its vicinity? It is the same kind of oppression and restraint that was placed upon our Revolutionary Fathers by the King and his Parliament. The American Government has fallen into the same errors, touching this point, as the British Government did at the commencement of the Revolution.

This is what I have to say on the rise and progress of the American Revolution. It is progressing slowly. While the nation is extending itself, and increasing in power, wisdom, and wealth, it seems, at the same time, to remain, in some respects, on the old ground occupied by the mother country in the early settlement of this land. I raise my voice against it, for I love American Independence: the principle is dear to my heart. When I have been in foreign countries, I have felt proud of the American flag, and have desired that they could have the enjoyment of as much liberty as the American people.

At the same time, we have a right to more liberty; we have a right to elect our own officers and have a voice in Congress in the management of the affairs of the nation. The time is coming when we shall have it. The Revolution will by-and-by spread far and wide, and extend the hand of liberty and the principles of protection to all nations who are willing to place themselves under the broad folds of its banner.

These are about the remarks I wished to make, and the ideas that were in my mind. May God bless us all, and save us in his kingdom. Amen.

Remarks by President Jedediah M. Grant, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 28, 1854.

I am pleased that this Conference convened upon the 27th, for it is a date written indelibly upon our memories.

We have been blessed in hearing the testimonies which have been borne by Presidents Young and Kimball, and Elder Taylor. I think the majority of this congregation, though they might not be able to bear as strong a testimony as those who have spoken, can bear testimony that the Lord our God, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, has revealed to them that Joseph Smith, while he lived, was a Prophet of God, inspired by the revelations of the Almighty to unfold the eternal truths of heaven to a perishing world.

I believe that the feelings of this people respond to the testimony that has been borne today; and if we should wait here for all this people to express their feelings in relation to their confidence in Joseph Smith as a messenger of heaven, and in the revelations of God through him, we should have to wait many years.

There are some things we know by seeing, and other things we know by hearing, tasting, smelling, &c.; but the light of the Eternal Spirit that brought us out of darkness into the Church of God is the great abiding testimony of this people.

Indeed, men have apostatized after they have seen and heard Joseph, after they have seen angels, after they have seen the sick healed, and after they have spoken in tongues and prophesied, and had the interpretation of tongues. You will recollect that long since I gave you my advice in relation to the proper time a man ought to apostatize. My advice was that he should never apostatize in a dark and cloudy day—never when he felt bad—never because he felt hard towards his brother or brethren in the Church; but when he apostatizes, he should wait for a clear day, when everything around him is prospering; and then, before he apostatizes, he should ask counsel.

In relation to men’s apostatizing, I recollect in the upper room of the Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, when we were assembled there, a very noted man, by the name of Sylvester Smith, bore testimony of what he had seen of the Prophet of God, of angels, &c. He said he wanted to bear testimony, and continued to say, “I have spoken by what you call the Holy Ghost; the eyes of my understanding have been touched, and I have seen convoy after convoy of angels; I have laid hands on the lame, and they have leaped like an hart; I have spoken with tongues and had the interpretation thereof; I have seen the sick healed time after time—but let me tell you, everything I have seen and everything you have seen is the height of idiotism.” This was Sylvester Smith, after he apostatized.

This was the testimony of an apostate, which is conclusive proof to me that a man may see the hosts of heaven—the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof, and gaze on the glory of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost; and unless he retains the Spirit of God, he will apostatize. Therefore my advice to the Saints has been, and is, and whenever I give you good advice in the future, it will be the same, that you propose in your hearts never to depart from God or from his people, only when you are filled with the Holy Ghost; and then when you do it, ask counsel of his servants.

I felt glad when brother Brigham nominated John Smith, the son of Hyrum, to be our Patriarch. I have been acquainted with his father personally. I have lived with him for years, and I know the spirit that is in his son; and I know the Lord God has promised to bless his children, and that his Spirit will rest upon his son, to unfold and teach the eternal truths of heaven to bless the people of God.

I would rather have a young man to fill this office than an old man who is filled with the leaven of sectarianism. Give me a man who was raised by a “Mormon” father and a “Mormon” mother, and raised up in the faith from his childhood. That is the man I want to bless me and the people of God.

Address by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1854.

We have had laid before us many items by the President; and so far as I am concerned, one thing suits me just as well as another. I am very much in favor of all the remarks of brother Brigham, and they are revelation to us, and that from God. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction when I hear a man tell the mind of the Lord, and I can have a testimony to myself that it is the mind of the Lord; and when I have a testimony that it is the mind and will of God, I then know that I have got a similar spirit to the one that revealed it.

It is the privilege of this people from this time henceforth and forever to understand the things that revolve through their minds from day to day and from year to year. The majority of this people imagine to themselves a great many things that are in reality the things of God—things that God is putting into their hearts; but they do not know how to organize them and arrange such ideas into sentences, to convey them to the minds of the people. It takes an Apostle to do it. It is not every man or woman that can do it.

There have been many things related here that you have, no doubt, thought of, but did not know whether they were right or wrong. It is a great consolation to me to have that degree of the Spirit of the Lord to discern all things and be able to tell what is true and what is untrue. Is it not worth more than all the gold of the world? It is; for gold cannot purchase it. It cannot be purchased with jewels, nor with clothing, nor with the souls of men; and it is just as free to you as it is to me.

I thank God for the things that are going to take place, to give every man a fair chance to prove himself to be a Saint or to be a Devil. Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and they will follow me, and a stranger they will not follow.” This is Scripture. What will you do with it? Are those that are going to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, following the Shepherd’s voice? Are those who are leaving the Saints to mingle with the world to search for riches following the Good Shepherd or his Spirit? No; but they are following a stranger, and they do not know the Good Shepherd’s voice nor the Good Shepherd’s Spirit.

Well, I am glad they are going. I went up to my mill yesterday, and as I was coming back, I met several brethren on their way to California as fast as they could drive. I thought they were afraid of getting a mission, if they stayed here to attend the Conference.

I have learned one thing to a demonstration since I became a member of this Church, that if a man is determined to be damned, nothing can hinder it. I have argued with men for hours, for weeks, for months, and for years, to prevail on them to serve the Lord; but my labors have generally been spent in vain on persons who needed so much persuasion to do good. The Spirit of the Lord does not inspire me to trouble myself any more about men who will do wrong. It is enough for me to do the will of the Lord my God, even those things I am dictated to do by my President; and let every other man act as I do, and be perfectly independent whether to serve God or Mammon. I would not now step one step out of my way to head a man’s course that is determined to go to the Devil; but I will say, Go into the fire, that you may be burned out. He will be saved when he comes to himself; but he never will come to himself, until he is burned out like an old pipe that has become impregnated with filthiness.

The idea of having places of location is good. The people will gather there as they did in Kirtland, and in Missouri, and in other places. I consider it to be a screen. You know, when you carry your grain to the mill, you must take great pains to get out all the smut and dirt, and run it through a screen, that the chaff and other useless matter may drop through, before it goes into the smut machine and hopper. It has also to go through a hurricane, that it may blow off all the dust and make it clean. Many of us have been through a hurricane and through earthquakes. A smut machine is a fit representation of an earthquake: it proves every kernel; and if it is a smut kernel, it bursts it to pieces. After it goes through the hopper and the grinders, it is separated by the bolt into flour of two or three kinds, and the bran passes out by itself. Where there is not a good screen to screen off the kernels of smut and chaff, and other obnoxious substances, they will have an effect upon the flour. But do they destroy the flour? No: they only blacken it a little; and it will not rise so good when you make a cake of it, because there is no life in that filthy substance that is mixed with it. The life is in the flour.

Upon the same principle, a great many Saints are emigrating, and also others that are not Saints, but thieves, and liars, and adulterers, and fornicators, and murderers; and they make the good flour, in the eyes of the world, to look a little black. But it does not affect the righteous Saint, the holy man, nor the holy woman, nor does it affect the servants of the living God, who bear the Priesthood of the Son of God. I am very much in favor of having in the Lord’s mill a good screen, smut machine, and bolt. We have ground wheat long enough to know the value of a good screen and smutter; and it is high time these valuable appendages should be attached to the mill, which will be a decided improvement. Every portion of the good wheat is good for something, but the smut is good for nothing: we feed our horses with the bran and fatten our pigs, and the other part of it is good to feed ourselves and our children.

What are my feelings continually? They are—I would to God this people would all do right and walk humbly before their God, and do unto one another as they would wish others to do unto them, and when men labor for each other, labor for their brother as they would wish him to labor for them. But I see men who come to labor for the Lord, who are eye-servants. A man who will be an eye-servant to his God will be to his brother; and that man who will be an eye-servant to his brother will be to his God, and he never will work only as you stand and watch him. I see men work on the public works—one hundred, or perhaps one hundred and fifty in a gang, and I have watched them work, and not over twenty men out of the one hundred and fifty will be at work at the same time, while the rest are standing still. I supposed they had agreed to work by turns, so that they would not become wearied before night. Is this doing as you would be done by? I know, gentlemen and ladies, that it is not; and those who do such things will be brought to an account for them, and for all the works of your lives, whether they be good or whether they be evil, whether they be much or whether they be little. You will not receive a reward for anything more than you merit; and whatever you have done, for it you merit a reward, and that belongs to you; but no men or women in the celestial world will be rewarded for that which they have not done.

Do you suppose the Lord will divide his inheritance to the children of men, unless they have earned a right and title to it? (I speak with regard to this earth.) No, no more than I would leave my inheritance to all my children when half of them had turned away from me and never tried to build up me and my estate. Are such rebellious children heirs to it? If they are in truth, then you are all heirs to the estate of the Almighty, whether you have been true to him or against him—whether you have striven to build up and increase his kingdom or pull it down, and the blessings he has promised to the righteous belong to the wicked as well as to the righteous. I tell you, my family cannot claim any portion of my estate, unless they have assisted in gathering it, and when they have assisted in gathering it and in building it up, they are to be rewarded from that estate according to their merits in building it up and increasing it. That is the way God will deal with the families of the earth, and with this people more especially, and they cannot escape from it. If I seek to build up the kingdom of God, from the time I first came into this Church until I lay down my body in the grave, still my spirit is as capable in another state to continue that work as it is in this. I believe I was active before I came here, in laying the foundation to come here and continue the work in this world. I have come here and received my body to accomplish that which I could not accomplish in the spirit; and now I have got to leave this tabernacle to go again into the spirit world to perform a work I cannot do in the flesh, that I may be prepared to receive my body again and enter into the celestial world with the Gods; and if I am faithful, all things are mine, because I have been faithful in my Father’s business. But that man who will sit down in idleness, and lounge away his precious moments, doing no good to himself, to his brethren, or to his God, will not be an heir to the inheritance; nor that woman who will sit in the corner and grunt, grunt, grunt, until she is all grunt together, and the bumps of grunt stick out in every direction, and she cannot move her little finger to do one good action to build up God’s kingdom, or assist her husband in doing it. It is just so with a great many men and women in this Church, and I wish there were less of them.

No man or woman has taken a proper step—has pursued a course that is according to the mind and will of God, but what it is for his or her exaltation in his kingdom. Suppose they have pursued a right course, and suffered a little in doing so, and then complain about it, will they enter into their exaltation? I tell you, No. Joseph said they would not, and brother Brigham has said they will not, and God has said they will not.

When men or women that have entered into the holy order, and are considered quite unholy by the world, and a little so by some of the good Saints, sit down and begin to find fault and murmur about it, they never will attain to that glory they otherwise would.

Take a righteous course, brethren, and build up the kingdom of God, and all will be well with you continually, and all things will work together for your good. I have not language to explain things any plainer than I do. They are plain enough to me; and if you understand them as I do, they will do you good, and build you up, and nourish you, and strengthen you, and give you grace and patience and humility.

As brother Brigham says, this people are my pride, and my eyes are continually awake to their welfare. This people are a good people, and they are the pride of my heart; and God knows I love to see you do right, and be faithful, and work, and exert yourselves, and do good, and work righteousness all the day long, and not impose upon the Church and upon your brethren, and want them to carry you on their shoulders, and expect them to pity you and coax you and flatter you. Do you expect that such a person will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God and be crowned? No; for if that spirit is in him or her in the flesh, it will be the same in the spiritual world. If any of my family will do wrong in the house, they will do it out of the house; that is, if their spirit will do it in the body, they will do it out of the body. If you do not curb your spirits and bring them into subjection while they are here in their house, you will have to curb them after they have left the house, or they will continue to be refractory. Now, gentlemen and ladies, that is as plain as I can make it to you; and if you do not come to it, it is your own fault and not mine. My prayer is, “O Lord, help me to be faithful, and to continue faithful, and be submissive like the clay in the hands of the potter, that my President can do with me as it seemeth him good.” When I hear of his going anywhere on business, I run over to him and say, “You expected me, did you not?” Why should I wait to be called upon, when I am chosen to nourish and cherish and strengthen him, and to go and come, run, walk, sit, stand, talk, or keep silent, when he tells me? What is a wife good for to me that will not do the same, and then much more, if it is required? What is the Priesthood good for to those who hold the keys of life and salvation to the world, if they are not submissive in the same manner, and more so? This is true, brethren and sisters; and you have got to do it, the whole of you, or else be burned out, and then become servants to the faithful, who have been perfectly passive in the hands of the Almighty, and are crowned in his kingdom.

He says, “The sheep hear my voice, and will follow me, and a stranger they will not follow.” You must learn submission, every soul of you, and then teach it to your children. If disobedient children were under the training of some good man and woman that would in their own example teach them and discipline them by good precept, they would become good Saints. I wish parents to take that course and train their children in the way they should go, and when they become old, they will not depart from it. Are you waiting for the First Presidency and the Twelve to train them for you? It is a hard case for us to manage our own; but we shall not come under condemnation, if we do our best towards them. You will come under condemnation, if you do not train your children to flee from all iniquity, and then there will be none for ours to cling to. You justify yourselves in many things, because you see others take that course. Because our children run into iniquity, you are not justified, if you do not train yours. I am speaking upon the principle of discipline.

The night the plates were given to Joseph Smith from their bed in the summit of the hill Cumorah, I saw, in the firmament above my head, hosts of men in platoons of twelve; and I saw them march until they reached the western horizon, as far as I could see them. After looking upon them for hours with my natural eyes, I never observed a variation of a hair’s breadth in their step, or the least disorder or confusion in their ranks. I think of this sight, and then look at this people: they do not compare in this respect with things in heaven. We are praying continually that things may be on the earth as they are in heaven. When there was a rebellion in heaven, they cast out the rebellious. I may not remain in this earthly house to see the day when the rebellious will all be cast out on earth as they were in heaven; but I shall obtain an organized glorious body and see the day when, if there is an evil in Israel, it will be cast out, the same as it was cast out of heaven. I shall see that day, by the help of God; and my prayer is, by day and by night, “Father, help me to keep thy commandments and magnify my calling and my Priesthood, which will exalt me, and bring me into thy presence, O Lord.” That is what the Priesthood is committed to us for. If we magnify our calling and fill our office, God will magnify us and bring us into his presence. If you believe this, brethren, why do you not live for it? I suppose a great many do, and a great many do not; and those who do not are the persons we are preaching to.

Having made these few remarks, I pray God to bless you, that his peace may be with you, and help you to be faithful and train up your children to be righteous, and as soon as they are old enough, do as brother Brigham and myself have done, send them to the nations of the earth. When my son William returns, I want to have another one ready to send; and when he returns, another; and when he returns, another; and when he returns, I want a dozen there. My children I raise to the Lord, and they shall be devoted to his service, or they cannot prosper. May God grant they may, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

A Discourse by President Orson Hyde, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1854.

As it is now the season of the year for the sowing of seed, some of the parables of our Savior seemed to be particularly impressed upon my mind, and I thought of reading the 13th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew.

[Elder Hyde read the chapter.]

While listening to the remarks in the former part of the day, which cannot be bettered, this parable of the sower that went forth to sow, occurred to me; and as I have been requested to make some remarks this afternoon, that scripture had a particular bearing upon my mind in connection with what has been said.

So far as I know my own feelings and heart, it is to speak the truth clearly to the understandings of all my brethren, that I may do them good and speak according to the mind and will of our Father in heaven, that you may be edified and strengthened. That I may subserve this purpose, I desire an interest in your prayers, that I may speak, what little time I may occupy, according to the mind and will of God our heavenly Father.

As I have remarked in the outset, you know there is a time, which is now, for the farmers to be engaged in seeding their land, almost universally throughout this Territory; but they do not anticipate reaping at present. The time of reaping and gathering into barns is yet in advance. The seed has to be sown, after the soil has been prepared to receive it; and then it has to be tended and watered in all its various stages, according to its requirements; and by-and-by comes the harvest. First it is cut down, then gathered and bound into bundles, then put into small shocks; and then the wagon or cart comes along and takes the sheaves and carries them to the thrashingfloor, and there it is thrashed.

By this time the laborer begins to partake of the fruits of his labor; but before this, all his toil apparently has brought no return, only the satisfaction of seeing his crop coming to maturity and being prepared for the sickle. But now he begins to receive something in return for his toil.

There is a time, brethren and sisters, when the harvest of the world must be gathered; for you recollect, among the wonderful visions John saw on the Isle of Patmos, he says—“And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” It appears there is not only to be a gathering of the wheat, but of the tares also, and that they are to be separated.

When was the time of sowing? I do not speak now in relation to the wheat we grow, but in relation to the word of life that was sown in the hearts of the children of men. It is said, the Son of Man is he that sowed the good seed. It appears, then, that in the days of our Savior was the time of seeding: it was the time of sowing the word of life and dispensing it among the children of men. Sometimes the Savior, in view of the immediate results of that word in a limited sense, says to his disciples, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” At the same time, the general harvest of the world was not then. The time he referred to was the time for gathering in the Saints, the fruits of their labors; but as the field was white already to harvest, it signified that the world was in a proper state to receive the word of life, and the laborers were few; and he says—“Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.”

When we take a more extensive view of the subject, we find that the grand harvest is reserved until the last—until the winding up scene; for it is said, “the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels,” by whose agency this reaping dispensation was committed to the children of men.

Someone may say, “If this work of the last days be true, why did not the Savior come himself to communicate this intelligence to the world?” Because to the angels was committed the power of reaping the earth, and it was committed to none else. And after the mighty champions that hold the keys of this dispensation came and brought the intelligence that the time of harvest was now—that the time of the end was drawing nigh—when this proclamation was made, and the announcement saluted the ears of the children of men, what was to be done next? Behold, the gathering of the Saints begins. That very moment a man or woman embraces the Gospel in these latter times, and they begin to see and understand by the Spirit of truth, the first thing they think of is, “We must go and see the Prophet of God and learn the ways of the Lord from his lips.” What is it that causes this desire in the hearts of the people? It is the spirit of gathering together; for wherever we went, when first this Gospel was sent to the nations, and proclaimed the glad tidings, the first thing those who were awakened by our preaching would say was, “We want to go to headquarters, to run together.” These were the feelings of the people common in the circle of my acquaintance and experience.

In early times there was a spirit that was adapted to the work then. Now, if you were to set me to laboring, to building, and sowing seed upon a farm, and the spirit of preaching the Gospel was with me, I should not have the spirit of laboring upon the farm, for I should have the spirit of preaching the Gospel; and in doing so, I am in my element; my work and the spirit I possess correspond, and each serves to strengthen and advance me in the field of my labors. This is the Spirit of the Savior that was poured out upon the people; and if it had not been for the spirit of running together that came upon them, we might have gone and preached the Gospel and told the people to repent, and have baptized them for the remission of sins, and at the same time they would not have received with our proclamation the spirit of gathering. But they received it, and the Spirit bore witness with our words that the gathering dispensations had actually begun.

In the days of the Savior, there were some who, as soon as they heard the word, as soon as it was sown, received it, perhaps by the wayside; but they did not understand it. Now, I have preached to congregations, and I presume others have, where people under the sound of my voice have received the word the same way; and the spirit has borne such witness to them that their hearts have been actually melted under the influence and power of that preaching; yet say they, with tears in their eyes, “We do not understand: we acknowledge there is a power in it, but at the same time we do not understand it; we do not see why these things are so. Were not our fathers and mothers, who have gone before us, right? We acknowledge there is a power with you; but we do not understand why there should be such a variation from the old path.”

These receive seed by the wayside, and the Devil comes and tempts them and persuades them they do not understand or know anything about it. They feel its power, and he catches the word away and throws mists of darkness before their eyes. These are they that receive the seed by the wayside.

Then, again, the seed falls upon stony places, where there is not much earth. You know, where the ground is stony, it attracts the heat quicker than where there are no stones: it draws the warmth of the sun more; and what little soil there is dries up quicker than where there is soil to retain more moisture; and the seed that falls upon such ground germinates quicker and shows itself quicker. But there was no chance for the root to take deep hold; and when the sun arose and began to pour its strengthening rays upon it, it withered and died, because it had no root in good soil.

This class of hearers will correspond very well with another saying concerning certain characters that re– ceived the truth, and did not receive the love of it in order to have it take effect. We are not only to receive the truth, but also the love of it. And where the love of it is planted, it must flourish—it must succeed and produce a plentiful crop. These are they that receive the seed on stony places. They apparently receive the word as soon as it is proclaimed to them; and before the principles have a chance to take root in their hearts, it springs up and grows, and prospers for a time, but withers in the day of adversity.

The circumstances of some of the people of this Territory leaving for California brought this parable of the sower to my mind. For instance, one distinguished man in the south urges, for an excuse for going to California, the late trouble this people have had with the Indians, or rather in consequence of the rigid measures it was necessary to enter into for protection. He felt himself imposed upon and his rights infringed upon, and therefore he would not stay. He thought the brethren had done him wrong; consequently, he would go away.

Now, as near as I can learn, many have, under the regulations required for those times, felt their feelings to be pinched. Some of them have stood under it like good soldiers, and others have flown the track and will not endure it any longer. They think that better measures could have been instituted.

I am fully of the opinion that the wisest measures have been adopted to enforce upon the people, while the fact is, the operations that are being entered into for defense and protection have been our safeguard. The red men have seen it and marked the progress and design of our works, and they have said to themselves, “It is impossible for us to stand against such operations; therefore we will heave to, for it is of no use to offer further aggression.

Here we see the happy result of the measures entered into so far; and we trust, as there is now a prospect of peace, that the work of preparation will be carried on with tenfold more vigor, that all the works may be fully accomplished that are designed.

Be it remembered that the time of peace is the time to prepare for self-defense against a foe; and perhaps by performing the works now going on, they have been the very means in the hands of God by which our enemies have been disheartened, and their progress in wickedness has been checked.

Has not the measure of bringing together all kinds, both of wheat and tares, been best for the people? It has. The tares must be gathered as well as the wheat, for it is the time of the harvest and of separation. Perhaps the measures that have been introduced have served as a screen or a fanning-mill to cause the tares to fly away. There may be some wheat among them when they go; but it seems to me that they are shrunken kernels. Shrunken wheat may grow by putting it in good soil, and it may not: however, it is necessary that this work of division go on. Not only was the work of gathering to take place by the angels to whom it was committed, but the work of separating the tares from the wheat was committed to the angels also. What! To good angels? I did not say that; though it must be acceded that they hold out very powerful inducements for certain individuals to follow them and take their counsel, &c. I say, perhaps the very works that have been carried on here in the Territory—the rigid measures for the defense and protection of the people, may be one cause why these persons are dissatisfied. It is no doubt the principle, and God may have de– signed it for that very purpose—to draw the line of distinction, and let it be seen who it was that would abide this counsel and who would not. Those who would not would of course be subject to every evil influence—to be guided by any spirit not of God.

Allowing there are some shrunken kernels of wheat gone out from here, I tell you they are gone, in my opinion, where they will find a moist soil, and will get swelled out to a reasonable size, and perhaps in a way they do not look for. And as I said in a discourse not long ago, it is perhaps necessary that these persons should leave the Saints and go to the world, and try to build up the world and themselves. Why is it necessary? Because here they cannot receive that chastisement and scourging they merit, and they must go somewhere else to receive it, and let some other power have the honor of bringing the scourge upon them they actually merit, rather than the Saints of latter days.

Now, then, “the Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that do offend, and those who do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Perhaps when they get under the scourge that awaits them abroad, they may begin to feel the chastening hand of God, and repent and humble themselves, and cry mightily to the God of Israel to have mercy upon them.

It is all working just right. Our enemies, whether white or red, can only go so far; none can get beyond the control of the Almighty. They may take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the earth, and he is there; or if they make their bed in hell, behold he is there. They cannot get from under his jurisdiction, unless they go beyond the bounds of time and space. All things are confined in space, and are under the jurisdiction and control of the Almighty; and if he cannot find them in one place, he will in another.

They are like children who have been under the teachings of a kind father all the day long, who taught them the principles of righteousness, integrity, and truth; but they would not listen, like his good children, to his teachings, but they are rebellious, and will not learn their lessons and be prompted to their duty by the voice of kindness, nor be moved to do right by the affection of a kind father and mother, but they must tear themselves away and thrust themselves beyond the teachings of their parents.

Follow such children through their lives, and what will they come to? You will perhaps find them in a dungeon—in the dark cell of a prison, loaded with chains, if not condemned to a greater penalty there. Perhaps they may then follow after their God, like the prodigal son, that could not be trained in his father’s house. His wild ambition led him to grasp at things that were unlawful for him. “Give me,” said he, “my portion of the inheritance, and let me go.” After he left his father’s house, he was reduced to a state of wretchedness and poverty, and would gladly have fed with the swine. He began to feel not only the lashes of an unsatisfied appetite, but also of a guilty conscience. Said he, “How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”

You remember it was said in the former part of the day that some persons would be servants. On the father seeing the returning prodigal afar off, all the feelings of a kind parent were awakened. “Come, my son, as you have returned, I will not subject you to be a servant like these are that serve in my house; but you are my son. Bring hither the best robe and put it upon him; put shoes upon his feet, and a ring on his hand.” And they began to be merry.

Do you not see that the prodigal son learned a good lesson in the school of adversity, which he could not learn in his father’s house. The spirit of rebellion could not be made to bow to mild and affectionate means; but it yielded under the hammer of adversity. His spirit was made to bend to his father’s will by that means; and, bending home, he came to his father’s house.

These characters, then, receive the seed in stony ground, and have not root in themselves. They feel themselves troubled and oppressed and wronged in the time of danger and tribulation; and they say, “We will go: we are displeased; therefore we will go far away and try our fortune in the world once more. We tried it once before we embraced “Mormonism.” We thought we were satisfied to cast in our lot with the people of God; but we have become dissatisfied and offended, and we will go and try our fortune in the world again.”

They go and try it. They may get hold of the riches of this world, and they may not; but I will tell you one thing—they will not get hold of all the truth of God in their course; they will not get hold of that which satisfies the immortal mind; and while their pockets are lined with gold, their spirits will be troubled and in distress and misery. If ever once the spark of truth has lighted up the understanding and left an impression there, it is not to be erased in a moment, but it lives; and when it is dishonored, it is an arrow in the mind, which will torment them day and night. Go where they will, they cannot get out of the world—out of the jurisdiction of the Almighty, at least.

A great many are now afraid that the gold of California will all be gone before they get any of it. Suppose they get it all—suppose they actually rob the mines of every farthing’s worth of value, what are they going to do with it? Can they place it beyond the jurisdiction of the Almighty, or put it somewhere where he cannot find it, and use it in a way that he cannot control it? I tell you they may dig and dig, and get all the gold they possibly can, and put it in this bank, or in that; but God will control it all by-and-by, and give it to whom he will; and I will tell you to whom he will give it. Says the Apostle to the Corinthians, “all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”

Now, it is not to him that willeth, or to him that runneth (they run to California), but it is God that showeth mercy. He is the character that holds all these things; and where his mercy leans, there is where he will bestow his treasure. Says he, “All things are mine, and I can give them to whom I will.” His rebellious children are like some other rebellious children who try to rob their father and take his money from his place of deposit. They say, “We are your children, and we have a right to this money;” and they break open their father’s desk, because they are his sons, and think it no particular crime to get a little of the old man’s cash to enjoy themselves with.

So it is with all those that are running to California to steal a little of the Lord’s treasure; whereas, if they had remained loyal to their post, and continued to do their duty and build up the kingdom of God, by-and-by he would have given them all they could receive and properly apply. For to one he gave five talents, to another two, &c.; and so he will give to every man according to his ability by-and-by. It will be so even with regard to the riches of this world. The more quickly a man applies that which is committed to him, the more he will have, and the larger and greater and more extensive will be his riches. Let him abide in his calling and in the place where God has placed him to build up his kingdom, and in the final end how will it come out? The Lord gathered the people to where they are gathered by his word; and we may say, to all human appearance, the greatest difficulty is to supply ourselves with the necessary comforts of life; but the battle has been fought, and the victory gained. Fruitful fields are opening all around and extending in every direction.

Why not, then, remain here and wait till the Lord shall shower upon us blessings that will answer the furthest extent of our desires? If we quit the post of our duty, and run to get blessings before they are ours—before we have a right to them, it will have the same effect upon us as stolen apples have upon boys that steal them before they are half ripe—it will set our teeth on edge. If not now, it will be by-and-by.

What is the better way? To remember the counsels given to us in the former part of the day by President Young. Said he, “You who are going to California, pay your debts, and do not steal anything to take with you.” And I would say to those who stay behind, as it is represented the thieves will not all go away, Be very careful when you steal, for it is on interest from the time you steal it; for, remember, you do not get beyond the jurisdiction of the Almighty; and he will make you pay the uttermost farthing. There is no inducement here for anybody to do wrong, but every inducement to do right and keep the commandments of God.

Not only has the dispensation for the gathering of the Saints come, but the wicked also will be gathered. You know it is said, in the last days there shall be “wars and rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places;” and again, “When these things begin to come to pass,” “lift up your heads” and rejoice, “for your redemption draweth nigh.” Again, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” How often we hear it said by many who profess to be Saints, “This thing and that thing are wrong.” Perhaps certain men have lost their property: it is mysteriously missing. “Really,” say they, “we feel offended because such things are practiced, and we will not stay among such a people where such things are.” This is the natural feeling of those who give way to this spirit of complaining, and they center all the blame at headquarters—on the men who are proclaiming against such practices night and day, both verbally and in their daily example.

It is as the Savior said—“The love of many shall wax cold,” and there shall be “wars and rumors of wars. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”

Now, if you want to see the gathering of the ungodly, look at the combined armies of the world assembling for bloody conflict. Look at the meteors in the heavens: they cannot be silent; they must speak the language they are designed to speak in the last days. The nations are perplexed, in distress, wretchedness, and misery. They are clothed in mourning, for the demon of war is let loose, blood is flowing, and the Saints are gathering to the valleys of the mountains to be taught and instructed in the ways of the Almighty.

Let those who go from this retreat of the Saints beware that the demon of war be not stirred up to make their abode more unpropitious in the place they are going to. Beware that a cloud does not burst with all its fury upon the western shores. Congress must anticipate something of this kind, or why did they send the highest order of military talents to the western borders? They see it and understand it. We are about in the center, and all around is commotion. I believe Joseph Smith once said, the next movement we made, we should be brought into the midst of the thrashingfloor; and while they are being thrashed all around, we need not be surprised if we get thrashed a little among the rest.

There will be a mighty thrashing; there will be a thrashing in the valleys, on the borders, and all around among the nations of the earth. It is the time of harvest. You know, as bread is generally scarce at the harvest time, the flails begin to beat upon the thrashingfloor. This is thrashing upon a small scale, before the mighty engines or machines begin to bear. When they begin to work, there will be a wonderful dust and smoke and noise and commotion all around. I tell you to remain here till you are sent away.

I want to say a word about people staying here and there as they please. True, it is a free country, and every man may go where he pleases, speaking after the manner of the world. The President of the Church does not control anybody contrary to their own will. Still, if a man is properly trained, and is in possession of the right spirit, he only wants to hear the voice of the good shepherd, and he will follow it; but a stranger he will not follow.

Brethren and sisters, we can go here or there as we please; yet in another sense we are not at liberty so to do, but to go where the voice of truth directs, if we abide in the kingdom of God. If a man come to me and say, “I want to go to Green River and settle there; shall I go?” my answer would be, “I cannot control you, if you are determined to go: it is a free country. But my feelings are, if you are not satisfied here, you will not be satisfied there; and if you want counsel upon the matter, go and get it from the proper source.” If a man goes there, I want him to go by proper counsel. I will not hinder him, if he is not counseled; but, at the same time, I would not look upon him as I would upon the man who is counseled to go there. And if there was any important trust to be placed upon any man, I should place it upon him that was in the line of his duty; and I could do it in confidence.

In the midst of counsel there is safety. If a man is counseled to go to Green River, Iron County, to San Pete, or to anywhere else, let him go. Let no man seek to free himself from the yoke, or indulge any uneasiness while it is upon him; for when he becomes accustomed to it, it will not gall his neck.

I will tell you, furthermore, what our views are in relation to the circumstances that surround us. I believe that if every person will faithfully abide the counsel given to him while passing through these circumstances, all the evil intended us will result in our greatest good, or it will be turned away, and we shall enjoy ourselves under the smiles of Heaven.

What turned away the wrath of our enemies? It was the Spirit of God that checked them, when they saw the preparations that were being made. The servants of God were moved upon to do certain things, and they have done them. And although there has been some difference of feeling with regard to the preparations for defense through the Territory, yet, so far as I know, and I am proud to know it, all difference of opinion is done away; and when the brethren strike hands together in this union, I tell you the efforts of the enemy are palsied in a moment: they have no power against us, because our union prevails with God, and he fights our battles. Who can withstand Him? He has caused our enemies to be troubled by day and by night. Their dreams have tormented them, until they are dispirited and disarmed of their strength. Your union and fidelity have done it, through the blessings of God which have been upon you.

Now, there was some seed that fell upon good ground, and it brought forth, some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundredfold. I will tell you what I am doing in my garden, in order to remove the stony ground: I go to work and pick out the cobble stones. So if we find stony places, pick out the stones, and clear the vineyard of them, that all the seed of the word that is sown from this stand and falls upon your ears may sink down, not in stony hearts, but in hearts of flesh—that it may fall upon good ground and bring forth, some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundredfold.

With regard to the great field that is opened, for instance in Nebraska, Ohio, and California, it is so big, I fear I shall get lost in it, if I enter it on this occasion. I will therefore leave it for somebody else to explore at the present. It is glorious to me, and it is all right. Let the truth go to the ends of the earth, and let God overrule every movement of this Church for the good of his kingdom.

It is the desire of my heart—I say, let the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands roll and fill the whole earth, and let God be glorified, and his Saints exalted; which may he grant, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1854.

As the subject has been broached concerning the Indians, I will take the liberty to make a few remarks, and with all due deference and respect to my brethren, and especially to brother George A., who has last spoken to you. I am under the necessity, to satisfy my own feelings, to deviate from his remarks a little. I will not say, however, that I shall deviate from his real feelings, though I may from what is conveyed in his remarks.

I wish to say to this congregation and to the inhabitants of the Territory of Utah, in connection with the travelers that are passing through, If the whites in their character and position with the intelligence and knowledge of the world and of mankind which they have, had been as kind to the Indians as they have been to the whites from the beginning, there never would have been a single difficulty to this day. I wanted to make that assertion, for it is verily true.

If the inhabitants of this Territory, my brethren, had never condescended to reduce themselves to the practices of the Indians (as few of them have), to their low, degraded condition, and in some cases even lower, there never would have been any trouble between us and our red neighbors.

This is the key to the whole of it. Young men, middle aged, and boys have been in the habit of mingling with the Indians—of going to their camp and trading with them a little; and they have tried to cheat them. They have sat down in their wickeups and talked with them in the most ludicrous manner: they have gambled with them and run horses with them, and then have taken a game of fisticuff with them. If they had treated them as Indians and as their degraded conditions demanded, it would have manifested their superiority, and a foundation for difficulties would not have been laid.

Brother George says he knows what I have said is true. He did not explain his real feelings on this matter.

Allow me to say a word in behalf of Walker. I tell this congregation and the world that “Indian Walker,” as he is called, has not been at the foundation of the difficulties we have had. He has had nothing to do with them. I told you so last summer, and I tell it to you now. I know it from that which is within me. Has he done no wrong? I did not say he had done no wrong. He has been angry, and felt at times that he would like to destroy this people; but I do know that he has been held by a superior power. At the very commencement of the fuss, he was not in favor of killing the whites.

When Kiel was killed, the Indians were still in the canyon; and when the whites followed them, they could have killed every man; but Walker said, “No—they shall not be killed.” Arapeen took his San Pete squaw and his favorite horse, and killed them, and said, “If God is satisfied, I am.”

Who are the guilty Indians? A few bad men, who thirst for blood, who do not have the Spirit of the Lord, but love to steal Indian children and kill one another—who love to steal from each other and kill anybody or everybody. A few of them we know. But I tell you, Walker has not been the cause of the Indian war. But the Lord will work out the salvation of his people, if they do as they are told. I tell the brethren who live out from this city that the Indians are friendly and wish to make treaties.

Now is the time to build forts and pastures for cattle by ditching and walls. Let the community arise and build large pastures. I am far more afraid of white men stealing our cattle than I am that the Indians will. Go to, now; and do not scatter, but gather.

When men are oppressed, it is in their own hearts and feelings: it is not because oppression comes upon them from any other quarter, that they are dissatisfied. They are not satisfied with themselves—that is the trouble. They may go to the States, to California, or anywhere else, and they will not be satisfied; but they will always be dissatisfied, until they can leave themselves behind. But as long as they must take themselves with them, they will never be without the cause of their dissatisfaction.

They ought to have left self behind them when they started to come here, and have come with a view to build up the kingdom of God. All those who have come to these valleys with such feelings are satisfied. They have always been satisfied, and always will remain satisfied so long as they retain that good intention and do not again bring back self.

I want to say a few words on Indian character. When one tribe of Indians are at war with another, if a few sally out and kill a warrior of the opposite party, that tribe will watch their opportunity, and perhaps go and kill men, women, and children of the other tribe. They do not care whom they kill, if they can kill any of the tribe. This has been taught them from age to age. The inhabitants of the United States have treated the Indians in like manner. If but one person or only a few were guilty of committing a depredation upon a white settlement, they have chastised the whole tribe for the crime, and would perhaps kill those who would fight and die for them.

But no mercy can be shown the poor Indians. No. “We will kill the whole of you, if we can,” instead of hunting out those who have committed the depredation, and chastising them according to their deserts. We must shun this practice, and teach them that the man who has committed the depredation is the man that must pay the penalty, and not the whole tribe. It is our duty to teach them good morals and the principles of the Gospel of Christ. We are their saviors.

As I have done all the time, I tell you again today, I will not consent to your killing one Indian for the sin of another. If any of them commit a depredation, tell the tribe to which they belong that they may deliver up the man or men to be tried according to law, and you will make friends of the whole tribe. They have men among them they would be glad to have dispatched. For instance, there is a man at Utah called Squash-head: it is said he has made his boast of taking father Leman’s child and killing it. We know the other Indians wish he was dead: they do not like to kill him, for fear of their own lives. They would like to have that man tried and hung up for the murder of that child.

We must pursue a different course with the Indians than we have pursued heretofore; and when we do the best we can and all we can, the Lord will do the rest of it, if the people will do as they are told. You have not been counseled to follow them into the mountains, for there are not soldiers enough here to contend with them there and kill one hundred of them. Though we could raise twelve thousand men, and should send them into the mountains, and let them undertake to follow the Indians on foot, where their horses could not find footing, the Indians would escape from them, in spite of their efforts, and steal all their horses into the bargain, and laugh them to scorn. If we wished to destroy them, the only way would be to set deadfalls and traps.

They came pretty nigh starving to death last winter; and they now see, if they are driven from these valleys in winter, they must perish; therefore they now want to make good peace. Treat them kindly, and treat them as Indians, and not as your equals.

I have fed fifty Indians almost day by day for months together. I always give them something, but I never forget to treat them like Indians; and they are always mannerly and kind, and look upon me as their superior. Never let them come into your houses, as the whites did in Utah [County]. There they would let them lounge upon their beds, until finally they would quarrel and become angry, if the women would not let them lounge upon their beds. Great, big, athletic fellows would want to go into the wickeups of the “Mormons,” and lounge upon their beds, and sit on their tables and on their chairs, and make as free as though they belonged to the family. When their familiarities became oppressive to the whites, and they desired them to leave their houses, it made them angry, and I knew it would. This is the true cause of the Indian difficulties in Utah.

I say to the brethren who live in the country, Treat the Indians kindly; and now is the time to finish your forts, and make them doubly strong; and then go to with all your might and prepare places to keep your cattle, that neither white nor red man can possibly steal them from you. If you want to know how strong to build your forts and your cattle yards, I will answer you as I did the brethren when we left Nauvoo. They wanted to know what kind of lariats they must provide, and how securely they must tie their animals. I said, “Tie them so that the Devil cannot get them.” Secure yourselves, then, so that you can lie down and sleep in peace and be comfortable. Now is the time for us to make efforts to build places of safety.

Our meeting has continued about as long as we wished it. The brethren will sing, and we will adjourn till tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.

An Address by Parley P. Pratt, Delivered at the Fourteenth Ward Schoolhouse on Monday, December 26, 1853.

My friends—As we are assembled on this occasion, I desire to speak upon the subject of education. I consider that we never lived in a more important time than we do now. The Lord has something for every member of his Church and kingdom to perform, for he has a great work to do. I consider that every faculty we possess should be called into action; and this work is so important, that no time should be lost. Hence we see the necessity of schools, that we and our children may be prepared to perform all that the Lord requires of us. What kind of a qualification is necessary for us to perform this work? The first thing necessary is for us to obtain the good Spirit of the Lord, and then keep it. Without this we cannot do much good. If the Lord wants a railroad built, or any great manual labor performed, which the Saints are not yet able to do, he inspires the nations of the earth to perform the work, as they have the means to do it with, notwithstanding the nations know not God, neither do they serve him. We are not prepared to do the work of God acceptably, unless we keep his commandments. In order to enjoy his Spirit, we must pursue a course of life that will meet his approbation—we must do the things that God requires of us. The people may be looking for some mysteries from me today; but the older I grow, I feel to be the more simple. What are the means ordained of God for the benefit of our children as well as ourselves? I do not now refer to the obeying of the ordinances of the Gospel alone, for that we all know to be necessary for both ourselves and children. But what were those means laid down in 1830? We are informed in the commandments and law of the Church given unto us, that, “It is the Teacher’s duty to see that the Church meets together often, and also see that all the members do their duty.” Do this people do this? No. Our children are or should be all members of the Church, for they should be baptized at eight years of age; but do they meet together often to pray and speak one to another, or even all the parents of children? They do not. Then they do not do their duty. All officers in the Church are Teachers, except the Deacons, and they are Assistant Teachers. Who should be exempt from meeting together often, if any exceptions should be made? It should be the mother with her nursing infant, who cannot go. All others should meet together often; and when they come together, the Teacher that presides should see that each one takes a part in their turn and do their duty. Can the Teacher find any member, either parents or children, that don’t pray. If so, he can find those that do not do their duty; for when you were baptized you covenanted to keep the commandments of God, and he has commanded us to pray. Yes, each member should take a part. Which of you can find a teacher in our schools that would spend all his time in hearing one or two children say their lessons and all the rest remain idle? You would turn such a teacher out of doors. The Lord is not less wise than man. He has so arranged the school for his children that each one is required to do his duty. As all officers are Teachers, it should be the duty of someone—the Bishop, or someone under his direction, to see that the children and young people, as well as all the others in each Ward, are collected together, and that they be taught to pray and to speak, and be instructed in all things that are necessary; for we and our children should learn and understand, and improve upon every branch of science, knowledge, and duty that is necessary for us, as well as to confine ourselves to any one of those branches. Moroni said it was necessary for the people to meet together often to pray, speak, and teach. When I go abroad, and the people ask me why some of our young people do not do any better, and are so wild, I do not know any better answer than that we do not do our duty to them. The question arises, What is the matter with our children? They are full of vigor and spirit, and they want some way to let it out. But if the Latter-day Saints will do their duty, and gather their children together and train their minds in that channel in which they have soon got to walk, in following the footsteps of their parents in bearing off the kingdom of God, we shall hear no more complaint about them. Is this a mystery—a new thing? No. It is according to the revelations and commandments of God, and it should be taught and practiced in every Ward in this city and in every Branch of the Church wherever it exists, lest we come under condemnation. The people of Zion once were told that they were under condemnation, and would remain under it until they remembered to do the things that were taught them. If we met together often and did our duty, what time should we have to be idle? None at all. If all men, women, and children met together to pray and teach, they would feel that they must live consistent with their profession, and they would in a great measure cease to do evil. Then how long would it be before the Spirit of God would rest upon our children? And how long would it be said that, “I am sorry that we have got to fort up, because the children of my neighbors are so bad that they will spoil mine?” Not long; but it would be said, “I am glad that we can be together—that we can have such good schools and prayer meetings; and the children have such a good spirit, that it encourages mine to good works.” We have to be called to this, for we have to be tried in all things; for if we were not, we should not differ from the Gentiles, who will neither borrow nor lend. The Gentile priests have not been tried in the canyons and many other places, as our Elders have; but we have been tried in a manner that it has taught us to help each other and teach each other. When our children meet to sing, pray, and speak, some may not want to do it. They may say it is too great a trial for them; yet they can do it. With a little practice, that feeling will pass away. Let the names of all in the Ward be taken and given to the Teacher, whether it be the Bishop or anyone that takes the lead of the school or meeting, and let him call upon each one in their turn to pray or speak. Should any young man say, “I wish to be excused, for I got drunk the other day, and would not like to speak,” you then are the very one that ought to pray, and repent, and do better. But what shall I say? Say that you got drunk, and ask the school to forgive you, and that you mean to do better (if you do intend to). This would be a good speech, if you could say nothing more. But if you don’t intend to do better, tell them so; say you intend to get drunk every chance you can get, and do all the mischief you can: then the Teacher will know what to do with you—cut you off from the Church, and have no more trouble with you. Let the child say, “I have been thinking of this work, and mean to keep the commandments of God,” or something of this kind, if he can say it in truth; but speak the truth at all times. You could say something, and you would increase in confidence. Someone may think, “If I should speak or pray, I should spoil the English language.” No matter. In your prayers you do not need to say a great many things to make a speech; but begin by saying, “Our Father, who art in heaven;” then ask for those things that you want and have faith to obtain, and not ask for a thousand things that you don’t expect to get. And how many things can we think of that we should thank the Lord for! No matter how broken your speech, you can ask for what you want of men. But the child does not often ask the parent for anything worth a hundred dollars, for they would not expect to get it; but they would ask for bread when they were hungry, in confidence, and get it. I would ask the Lord for things according to my wants and faith, as Elijah did when he asked for rain, when there had not been any for three years and six months. What would you think to hear brother Pratt pray, and saying, “O Lord, give me some bread today!” This I have had to do all my life. I ask God daily for those things which I want. Now, do not mock God by asking him for those things you do not expect to get.

When the children come to meeting, and anyone should stand out, and would not speak or pray, they will soon come to it, for they would not like to be out of fashion, and we should make praying, speaking, and righteousness fashionable. Then it would not be a trial to do our duty; then all could be taught, and our follies and errors be corrected. The Teachers should be very particular that all the members speak, pray, and do their duty. What, if we should neglect this branch of the kingdom, and our children should be called to make their first speech, and that should be before Congress or before any body of men where it required confidence, care, and wisdom to present their views in a clear, distinct, and understanding manner. I would not be in that situation for a thousand dollars. But let our children commence speaking together, and learn while they are children. And their minds should be stored with good things in the days of their youth; for what good would it do this people to live till the coming of Christ, if they were not doing the work of God and preparing themselves for it, but spending their time in amusement?

All of us may not be called to go on missions, but all should live in such a manner that they may be useful in the kingdom of God. Every woman should help her husband to fulfil his mission. If I am an Apostle, what then? Is my wife an Apostle? She may be engaged in helping in the apostleship. And every sister that desires it can find an opportunity of doing good in the kingdom of God.

How many of you in former days have spoken with delight of the work that was promised you should perform, in your patriarchal blessings—that you should teach and instruct the Lamanites, not only in the Gospel, but in domestic labors. This mission is now about to open before you. I hope all will be ready to fulfil it; and if all set a good example before them, it will do much good; but if some set a bad example before them, it will do great evil, and they will say, “Mormon like Indian; good Mormon and bad Mormon, good Indian and bad Indian.”

I have not said anything about our letters. The Regency are getting out a new alphabet; and when we learn our letters ourselves, we will teach others. We should improve all our time to a good advantage. We have no time to spend in reading novels or false things. Read the best books—the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and those things that contain truth. Do you think the people read those books enough? No. Now, do not neglect those things. We want the knowledge those books contain—the prophecies and doctrines, &c.

Is there one thing that we can neglect and do our duty? No; for while we neglect those things, can we pray for more in faith? No. Can we do our duty as parents, by reading novels or permitting our children to do it; and neglect history, prophecy, and the revelations of God, which contain his commandments unto us, and those principles whereby we become exalted and saved in his presence and be purified? We cannot. May God bless you! Amen.

A Speech by Elder Orson Hyde, Delivered at a General Conference held in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 8, 1853.

Brethren and sisters—I think the words that have just fallen from the lips of our President must have left an impression upon all hearts susceptible of understanding, that time will not easily remove.

I am sure there is no one in this congregation, however he may be entangled in the meshes of the net himself, but must be constrained to say, “True and righteous are thy ways, thou King of Saints.” When we hear the law which governs the right of heirship laid down so clearly, plainly, and forcibly as on the present occasion, we cannot but see; and seeing, we cannot but rejoice and be glad.

When a doctrine with which we have not formerly been acquainted is first preached to us, it is not always that we come into possession of the whole truth pertaining to it at once. This we do not expect.

I will illustrate it by a principle with which we are all acquainted. Does any person in this congregation doubt the ability of those skilled in the manufacture of sugar to produce that article from the beet root in this valley? I presume there is not one that doubts it. Again—Is there anyone that doubts the ability of those who are engaged in the iron regions to produce in time that which is needful and necessary for the comfort and convenience of the people and for the improvement of this valley? Did they produce by the first blast, by the first exertion, that quality of iron that was necessary to cast into andirons like these? [pointing to two andirons which were placed upon the desk.] No. There were many comparatively fruitless attempts before anything essential could be brought out; but these fruitless efforts must of necessity precede the real, the genuine product. So it is with regard to the manufacture of sugar. There have been attempts made this year to produce sugar, and partially successful. We are moving step by step to produce the very article that we need.

How many times have the people of this valley been engaged in various matters and things; but have they brought forth the genuine articles they wished to produce at the very first attempt? No. Is it to be expected that Heaven will pour out the fulness of the truth in all its brightness at once upon us mortals, whose minds are naturally in darkness—naturally mixed with the world and its errors? No. But the Lord first sends mortals like unto ourselves to give us light in proportion to our capacity, and by degrees prepare us to drink of the golden streams in all their rich effulgence and glory.

We have had sudden impressions, intimations, and suggestions, from time to time, which were correct, though perhaps not so clear, and a little error mixed up along with them: therefore, if the exertion to do right has been made and error has stepped in, the President has said he could exercise compassion and wink at the ignorance that has existed. But the time has now come when this error is being swept away by the light of truth, and the pure principles upon which we can ground our faith are beginning to be made manifest.

Jesus Christ is the heir of this lower world. Though he has been deprived, through the operation of the enemy to all righteousness, for a long time of enjoying his right—though the world was his own and everything in it—though all things were made by him that were made, yet, when he came to take possession of his inheritance, his own would not receive him. Hence he said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Even upon his own inheritance there was not room where he might be permitted to lay his head. The day was postponed, and the time thrown in the future, when he should come into possession of his own.

But will that time come? Will the Son of God always be deprived of his right to the inheritance? No; it cannot be. He will come armed with power and glory eventually, and take possession of his own. When he came to take the world, to rule and reign over it, his effort was comparatively a fruitless one; for, instead of this, he was crucified. Fruitless, did I say? Must there not be an experiment—an exertion made before anything can be accomplished? Were there not many exertions made before that andiron could be produced? Certainly. Were they fruitless? Comparatively not; for they were necessary, and must precede that article, to pave the way. The Son of God came to take possession of his inheritance here. Did we say it was a fruitless attempt? I will not say so. It was necessary: it was as it should be. Yet he went from the world without becoming its ruler; he went to accomplish the will of his Father, to gather strength and power to effect, in his own due time, the very object and purpose for which he came. Though he had to lay down his life, it all seemed to be right and necessary; yet this does not discourage him: he is resolved to try it again. Why? Because he is the heir, and will not give up his inheritance, no more than any son would yield up his heirship to a stranger when his eyes are opened and his mind can comprehend his rights and privileges.

I tell you, brethren, this is beginning to look like the restitution of all things, when every right is restored to its legitimate heir. When every man and woman are put in possession of their own, then there is nothing to make life disagreeable. If I should see one belonging to me in the hands of another, I should feel that something was lacking to complete my happiness; but if everything that belongs to me is restored to my jurisdiction and placed under my control, where, then, is the aching void? It cannot be; for every principle, desire, and affection of the whole soul is satisfied, and I will say it is right. When all things are restored to their proper place—every treasure to its rightful heir, there can be no ground for dissatisfaction—no ground of complaint or of murmuring. And He that sitteth in the heavens understands and knows well the time to bring about all these things—the proper time to let the heir know and understand his right.

It would not be wise to tell the inexperienced child that an extensive legacy had fallen to him, until he should be old enough to appreciate it. If it were told him before, he might give way to vanity and a thousand foolish ideas and vices that would prove his ruin. When he is kept in ignorance of it until he is able to appreciate it, it is very likely, when he is informed of it, to make him a dignified being. These principles have been wisely hid from us while we were children. When the time draws near that we can appreciate them, our heavenly Father begins to make them manifest, to show to the heirs what belongs to them; and those who have taken the rights of others must relinquish them: they must fall back into the hands of the legitimate owners. For, just as sure as Lucifer, who has usurped authority over this world, has got to resign it to the Son of God, so sure must every right which has been taken from others be relinquished to its rightful owner. Not that I would compare my brethren who may have transcended certain bounds to Lucifer; but I tell you that Lucifer has a little sprinkling in the matter: this is the alloy. However, it is to be winked at, and heaven’s truth will purge the hearts that beat for immortality and eternal life from all this alloy, and by-and-by they will find themselves “right side up, with care.”

It is for us to attend the instructions we receive from those who are called to teach us, and do our duty in the office and calling unto which we are appointed, and Heaven will provide and take care we get those things which we need. Why, says Isaac (when his father had prepared the wood and fire for the burnt offering), “Where is the lamb to sacrifice?” Oh, says Abraham, looking upon his son with eyes that spoke volumes, and a heart containing a world of feeling, “God will provide the sacrifice.” Little did Isaac think he was the individual. The words of Abraham were enough to teach his son not to give himself any anxiety about that at all. We are to provide the wood and fire, and the lamb God will provide in his own due time. Our greatest concern ought to be how to discharge the duties that are made obligatory upon us—how to act in our respective callings with an eye single to the glory of God.

If I understand my own feelings and am capable of judging of things, I want none of the blessings that belong to my neighbor. I do not crave them. If I come in possession of anything that is not mine, and I might entertain the strongest feelings of attachment towards it, if I must have these feelings sacrificed, and the object of my tenderest regard taken away and given to another, what shall I do? Why, suffer it, and not complain.

Brethren and sisters, I say, things are coming to light, hidden things are being made manifest, and we have reason to rejoice and be glad.

I want to say a few words to the Elders that are going abroad to preach the Gospel. If I had never been abroad to preach, I could not speak upon this matter as I now can, though I have not been abroad, perhaps, as much as many others have; but I have to a certain extent, which has afforded me an experience I wish others to be benefited by. Brethren, do we realize that we are not only seeking for a crown of eternal life in a glorious resurrection, but that the destinies of the world depend upon our course, our actions, and our conduct in life. What are we sent forth to preach the Gospel for? To save the meek: but to the proud, the haughty, and high-minded, we are not sent. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And “how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that publisheth peace, and bringeth glad tidings to the meek.” That is, in other words, how beautiful are the feet of them that come from the mountains, bringing glad tidings unto the meek. How enviable is their position. There are no beings upon earth that, in reality, are so dignified and exalted as the men that have these glad tidings to proclaim to the world, though the world may not know it—may not see them in their true character.

The world does not know them, because it knew not their Master, but crucified and put him to death. This, however, did not deprive him of his glory; and although they did not appreciate the blessing, it was known in heaven, and on earth by the faithful.

So we his servants are going forth to save the meek—to proclaim the truth to the meek of the earth, and gather them together. It is said in the good Book that the Saints shall judge the world. Who are going forth now to judge the world? Who are going forth to bind up the law and seal up the testimony? To whom has this work been committed in the last days? To the servants of our God.

But, says one, in the day of judgment all these things are to be made known, and the destinies of men are to be made manifest away in the future sometime. What does the Savior say? He says, “Now is the judgment of this world, and now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” I see, even in the kingdoms of the world, where their laws are in force and prevail—yea, even here in our city, I see men apprehended for crime. Shall we give them a postponement of their judgment until the final breaking up of the government away ahead? No. But immediately after the crime is committed. I see them arraigned at the bar of justice, tried and condemned; then they may be seen ornamented with a ball and chain in the street.

Now is the judgment of this world; now are the laws of heaven and of earth in force. Shall crime be permitted to accumulate in the kingdom of God, and never meet its doom until the end of the world? Now is the judgment of this world; and when an individual goes forth with the everlasting Gospel, bears his testimony in meekness, and it is rejected by any person or people, and he washes his feet in clean water, bearing testimony of it before his God, what has he done to that people? Do they want to wait for another judgment, when the judgment is already passed? For it is said, Thou shalt go thy way, and return not again to that man or to that house, city, or people.

When the servants of God bind up the law and wash their feet against the people, does not this look like the Saints judging the world? With such a people the judgment is passed. They do not know it; but they will find it out when they wake up from the long sleep of death and reckon their history. They will find out that away back at a certain time a servant of God washed his feet against them. Ah! There the die was cast; there their doom was sealed; there they were barred out against coming into the kingdom of God. That was the important moment when salvation passed from them.

Is there any such thing as men having power to forgive sins on earth and they are forgiven in heaven—of retaining them and they are retained in heaven? When the servants of God wash their feet against those who reject his counsel against themselves, do they retain their sins, or forgive them? The Lord says, “What you do on earth I do in heaven,” because “he that heareth you heareth me, and he that rejecteth you rejecteth me.” Brethren, think of these things, and remember the words spoken still further—viz., “But search with all diligence and care.” Be careful not to wash your feet against any but those that are worthy; but endeavor, with long-suffering, and amid the contradiction of sinners against yourself, to be diligent and patient until it go to the last extremity; but when you have done so against a house, an individual, or people, be careful not to return there again, but go your way, even as it is said.

By-and-by, when we get through this world, we shall have another sphere to act in. But, say the noble and proud of the world, “I care not for your washing of feet or your testimony, because, when I die I go into an eternal world, and there I will meet my God, and not you. He will be more merciful to me. I will have nothing to fear from you, for you will have no more power there than myself.” But when you go into the eternal world, if that same Elder who washed his feet against you in this should be the only God you should ever see or find in the eternal world, then you meet with the rubbers again.

Now, there are Lords many and Gods many; but unto us there is but one God, the great Father of all. When he says, “He that rejects you rejects me,” the same importance is attached to your words as to his. What shall we do when we go into the eternal world, after we have labored and toiled in this for the cause of truth? We are to act upon our Priesthood still; for it is an everlasting Priesthood, without beginning of days or end of life. It lasts forever. What, last forever, and still have nothing to do, as some imagine? We have a great deal to do. When brother Parley was speaking on the condition of the spirits in the spirit world, about their being as dark and ignorant as they are here, I thought we should have plenty to do. These Spirit Rappers that communicate with mortals are no doubt a grade of spirits that are as ignorant of celestial principles as the wild, degraded Indian. The spirit that raps can tell about somebody that comes within the circle of his knowledge; but what does he know about Jesus Christ and the eternal plan of salvation any more than these Indians? Upon this matter they are in the dark. Those men who hold the Priesthood will enter the abodes of those spirits and make a proclamation of the Gospel to them, and I presume it will be something similar to Paul’s proclamation at Athens. The people of that city worshipped all the gods of the nations; and for fear there should be one whom they did not worship, they erected an altar to the “UNKNOWN GOD.” “Whom you ignorantly worship,” says Paul, “him declare I unto you.”

Perhaps the very first proclamation of the Priesthood among those spirits who give spiritual communications to mortals will draw forth a confession of their ignorance of the true God and the principles of life and salvation; but you will go there to put them right and declare to them the true God—the true principles of spiritual communication—to point out wherein their way of communication is not lawful—that there is but one eternal source of true and certain communication to the other world, and that is through Jesus Christ. You will tell them that he has been upon our earth, and visited their dominions long ago, and that he has sent you now to fill his track and set them right.

How was it at the time the Savior came on the earth? There were all kinds of spirits abroad ready to communicate; hence there were false teachers and false Christs. But the Savior of the world entered their dark abode and put them right, to redeem them, and have mercy and compassion on them. So, when we go hence, we shall go into just such a place—into paradise, or the spirit world, to preach to them and regulate them. We shall know better about it when we get there: we shall understand our mission better.

When brother Parley was preaching about the thief on the cross, who was ignorant of the principles of salvation—(the Savior would not stop to preach to him when he was expiring upon the cross, but he postponed it until he got into the spirit world, and there he instructed him) someone whispered to me—I cannot tell who it was—“Would it not be a good thing to send some of our thieves on a mission to take lessons in that school?” It would perhaps be a higher school than this: they might feel themselves exalted and elevated, if they got into a higher class. [A voice in the stand: “There are no stray cattle to look after there!”] I expect stray cattle do not belong to that department. These matters are of moment and of vital importance to the Elders of Israel, and ought to rest with weight upon their minds.

I do not feel disposed to trespass further upon your time. I wanted to reiterate the remarks of the President. He has illustrated the matter and made so it clear that every eye may see it, and every heart understand. He knew what was necessary. He has not only given us a text, but preached the sermon also. I cannot make it any plainer, and it would darken counsel by words without knowledge to attempt it.

I pray and beseech you to be awake to these things; and may God bless us and save us all in his kingdom. Amen.