A Discourse by Elder Daniel H. Wells, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 9, 1856.

It appears to have fallen to my lot to occupy a few moments of this morning. Though unexpected to me, I rejoice in the opportunity of addressing you in a public manner, in meeting with the Saints of God, and learning those principles which are calculated for our exaltation. I rejoice in being numbered with the Saints of the Most High, and that I have a part in the great work of the last days in connection with my brethren—those with whom I am more closely associated, and those who are before me.

I feel assured that this work is all-important, and that we consult our own interests more than those of any one else in being engaged in it. I rejoice in the present position, prospects, and condition of this people, and in the progress which they have made in gathering those who are zealous of good works, and whose aim and designs are to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. We are fast becoming a great nation; we have passed on from stage to stage until we are recognized as a nation composed of Saints—of “Mormons.” We have made great strides in power and influence since this people were organized, and it is a matter of great rejoicing with me.

Of all government organizations on earth, I deem the organization of this Church, with its First Presidency, its Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, of High Priests, of Seventies, its Bishopric, &c., the most perfect. It is one great whole, and perfect in all its parts. That First Presidency have called around them men to aid and assist in carrying on the business requisite in rolling forth this work, to build up cities and temples, and to assist in counseling and leading the people.

Then does it not become our duty to rally round the standard raised by that Presidency, and to sustain and uphold them? I think it does; and it is more particularly to this point that I wish to direct the attention of the congregation.

Our cause affords sufficient occupation to absorb the attention, energies, and ability of every man and woman in the world, aside from the few who embrace the faith. We will say, then, that whatever the First Presidency wish to accomplish should be sustained; and they should be supported by the entire mass of the people, in order that the people may be united, and that all operations may be carried out as directed from day to day.

We expect to build up the kingdom of God on the earth, that we may have access to the courts of heaven and participate in those endowments and exaltations in this life and in the life to come which we anticipate. Do the people understand, or do they not, that it is their privilege and duty to devote all they have, as well as their energy and ability, for the furtherance of this Gospel? It sometimes appears to me that if they understood this matter in the light in which I do, the First Presidency would not be so burdened with debt as they now are. Many are probably not so well acquainted with the business operations of the Church as I am; for they are not appointed to specially operate in that department. Last season’s opera– tions in the emigration of the poor created over fifty-three thousand dollars indebtedness, which was rolled in upon the Presidency to meet here. In whose hands are these means? In the hands of those who have been brought here, and the brethren who have lent them come with their drafts to draw the pay. The past season has been financially disastrous; and when disasters visit the people, they affect the heads of the Church, who feel them more sensibly than do any other part of the community. Large numbers of cattle perished on the Plains, our crops were destroyed by drought and grasshoppers, and many cattle and horses died during the winter. These losses have materially curtailed the resources of the Church, and it had not funds with which to promptly meet all indebtedness. Worse than all, most of the creditors require every dollar to be paid in money, and that, too, forthwith; the amounts must be forthcoming in money. Suppose we say that the Emigrating Fund Company are responsible for their debts, and should be; but what are their resources? It is well known that they consist of the debts which are held against those who have been assisted, and the cattle and wagons with which they came. Unless these debts are collected, and the oxen and wagons turned into money, how can the Company meet their liabilities, so long as only cash will be taken in payment? There has been no sale for this kind of property by which money could be realized; and the poor, who have been assisted, have not been in a situation to refund the money which has been expended in their transportation. Wherefore it is easy to comprehend what becomes of the means of the Perpetual Emigrating Company. The whole weight of indebtedness falls upon the President, when at the same time he is not obliged by law or by any fair, reason– able, or honest requirement to pay one farthing of it. He has absorbed the resources of the Church to meet this indebtedness, for which nothing but money would answer; and that is the source from whence money has come, and not from the resources of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company.

Why cannot the brethren who hold claims against the Company exercise a little judgment and patience, and wait until the people who have been assisted are able to pay? Some of the creditors may say that they are poor. And what if they are? They say that they had means once, and they take it hard to be shortened. What of that? What if they should come on a level with the rest of their brethren? Is there no reward in this? Are they not professedly Saints? And do they not wish to gain an eternal exaltation with the Saints? Suppose you do let your means go in this way, what of it? And suppose you never get it again in cash, there are the resources of the Company. Take them, and that in strictness is all you could do.

But no: many are ready to apostatize if they cannot get their money. Some were not in the city a week, and others not a day before they came to see if they could not get their money, for fear they would come to want. I mention this conduct because it is not right. I would like brethren to come into this kingdom with an understanding that their salvation will cost them all they have got and all they ever will have. Perhaps there are a few who measurably feel and realize what the Presidency have to encounter in these and other business operations; for there is hardly a poor person in the Church but expects to have the Presidency sustain them. They are the first ones they apply to, it seems to me, to sustain them. This they are willing to do, if they had the ability, and generally they have had the ability; and perhaps that is one reason why the poor throng them.

We have Bishops, Teachers, Deacons, and Priests in this kingdom, according to its organization; and I would here ask one question: Is it not manifest that these helps should stretch forth their hands and strive to assist? There is such a thing as overburdening the Presidency in these matters.

I do not presume, in this crisis, that the Bishops and their helps have food sufficient to support all the poor in their Wards; but what do I suppose? That they have heads on their shoulders, and that the Teachers have, and they can calculate, and devise, and manage, and arrange for their neighbors, and those who are under their care; and I suppose that it is their duty to do so, and take that care from the Presidency of the Church. The conduct of many would indicate that they think that the Presidency can easily attend to each of their individual affairs, and those too of a trifling character. I almost daily turn away numbers who press to the President with trifling questions.

I will mention one instance, by way of illustration. The other day a man came to ask the President if he could not inform him how he could collect a debt from one who owed him. What was that to President Young? I told him to attend to his own business, and to go to the proper authorities. Do you suppose that President Young is going to collect all the debts of this people? Just reflect for a moment what an immense amount of business would roll upon that man, if he would let the numbers who wish to, consult him upon every trifle.

I have referred to only one instance; but similar ones are as numerous as the stars in the heavens. He has the most patience of any man in the world, or he would not listen to nearly as many as he does. I have observed one thing—the poor, the weak, and afflicted I never knew him to turn away: he will always condescend to their smallest wishes. It is a great burden upon him, and I can tell the people that it is wearing heavily upon him. Let any person, if he wishes to comprehend the matter fully, tax his mind to the utmost in a thousand different ways in a day, seeking to advise and counsel for the best good of those who apply to him, and he will find that it will fast wear him down to the grave.

The power of faith and the blessings of the Almighty sustain our President. Were it not for them, no man on earth could perform the labor he performs; and I believe that no other man ever did.

Circumstances render it impossible to go on with the Public Works. We have work enough to do, but we have not provisions to give the laborer. It is unpleasant to stop the Public Works, not only because it retards improvement, but because those who have been laboring on the works look to that quarter for their subsistence. Many who have labored there are without breadstuff or anything to eat; and they think that if they can get to work as formerly, they will get food. The only wonder to me is that anything has been left until now, and there is not much. We have to get along from hand to mouth in order to conduct matters on the present limited scale, and are obliged to stop operations until after harvest. It is the counsel of the First Presidency for every one to be diligent in raising grain and other products of the soil, that we may replenish the granaries and storehouse, and have food to sustain the laborers.

The everyday duties of life are the ones which are particularly incumbent on the Saints; and it is for them to be humble and perform their duties faithfully, and the great work of the last days will go on. It is rolling forth with magnitude and power, and these small appearing matters are as important as anything else towards the accomplishment of that end.

We have a few business operations that we would be pleased to keep in motion, if we could get the provisions with which to do so. In this connection I will make a few remarks touching the Deseret News. Is it not a good paper? And are not the people edified and profited by it? How do they pay for it? There is not enough received on subscription to sustain the hands who publish it—the compositors, and pressmen, and others necessarily engaged upon it. I know this fact from what little knowledge I have of that department, although that is not particularly the department I have much to do with. Subscriptions are paid in everything except provisions and money, and other valuable articles requisite in publishing a paper.

Aside from that, there are not one-fourth as many papers subscribed for as there should be, and then paid for in good available means, at least so far as each one might be able. About 4,000 papers are now issued, and certainly 12,000 should be. Then it might be afforded cheaper and be paid for promptly; and the people can easily pay for it, because EVERYTHING THAT CAN BE THOUGHT OF is taken in payment. Why do not the people sustain their paper more liberally? They will do some good by doing that both to themselves and the cause. A new volume is now commencing, and I recommend those who take it to continue to do so, and to use an exertion to have their neighbors take it. And let those who realize its value procure subscribers and send in their names, accompanied with the pay, so far as possible, and that will help to sustain the paper. What makes me think and speak of it? Simply this: There are men who work on it that are weak, through want of suitable provision, insomuch that working off the 4,000 per week is too hard for them. They are now rationed on half a pound of breadstuff per day, and they begin to look sickly and to sink under the labor, for want of more food. We have to give extra rations for extra work, on account of having to carve so closely. Then why not come on with six dollars in advance for the new volume, that the men who work on it may have something to administer to their health and comfort from week to week?

Has there been means enough in the hands of those who attend to that department to sustain it? No: they have had to call upon the Church for aid. The subscribers have failed to furnish provision enough to feed the men actually at work on the paper, or money with which to purchase it. There are many who have available means, but do not take the paper. They could and should take it and pay for it. I am satisfied of this.

It is the wish of the President that the Big Cottonwood canal be completed this spring. When provisions are again plenty, we may set men to quarrying rock for the Temple, and the canal be prepared for its transportation. It is desirable to have this work done with labor-tithing, particularly so far as the laborers can furnish themselves. Let the Bishops call out the brethren to complete that work as speedily and as extensively as it can be done without interfering with tilling the soil, that it may be timely secured against high water. These are some of the labors which the First Presidency desire to carry out, and everybody should respond and manifest, by their performances, their faith concerning them.

I am not much of a hand to go into the mysteries, or to strive to peep into futurity, to see how this or that is going to be done in the world to come, and to strive to find out how high an exaltation I am going to attain to. Those are matters that do not concern me at all. I have no uneasiness on those subjects. I have always felt that if I did my duty from day to day, and remained faithful to the end, I should get a reward that would be perfectly satisfactory to me, whatever it might be: therefore I never concern myself about what is going to be my reward in future life. It was sufficient for me, when I learned this faith, that I might be permitted to have a name among the Saints, be numbered with them, have the opportunity of showing by my works whether I was a Saint of the Most High God, and be permitted to assist my brethren, and do what little I could for the rolling forth of this kingdom, and building it up, regardless of the consequences in the future, and perform those duties set before me from day to day with the best ability and talent I could command, devoting myself exclusively to the building up of this kingdom.

That is the way in which I at first looked at “Mormonism,” and it is the way I have looked at it ever since. I am so strong in the belief of the doctrine, that I recommend every one of the brethren and sisters to look at it in the same light in which I do. It is the all-absorbing topic with me; and it is no matter what I am called to do in this work, it is for the sake of truth—no matter how tired and fatigued I may be, it is for the sake of truth.

The more we can do, so much the better; for it is our duty, nothing more—it is our privilege, nothing less. And it is one of the greatest privileges that has ever been extended to the children of men. That privilege is a blessing which should be appreciated, and which I have often found was not sufficiently so, by some portions of the people. I have known people applying for inducements to dwell among this community, asking, “Can I get a living, in case I obey the truth? Shall I be sustained in my profession as a lawyer, teacher, &c.?” as though that had anything to do with the question—as though “Mormonism” must support and sustain them. It will do it, it is true; but it is their business to do all they can to sustain and promote that.

The heavens are ready to shower down blessings, if the people are ready to receive and sufficiently appreciate them. The reasons that we have not the blessings of the Almighty in greater abundance arise from the fact that we are not at present capable of receiving more. When and where have this people ever seen the day when they have not had just as much labor to perform as they could stand under? I have never seen that day, and I do not expect to.

Then let us firmly bear up our shoulders, and nobly bear off the kingdom. It is our work, if we will do it. The Lord wants us to do it: it is a privilege he has extended to us. We have this to perform, and he is letting the duty rest upon our shoulders as fast as we are able to bear it. Shall we complain that it does not come fast enough? Let us gird up our loins and go forth in the strength of the Almighty, and accomplish the work as rapidly as we can.

The Lord has set his hand to gather his people. Then let us realize the good he has called us to perform, and be more diligent to do his will. Let us exert ourselves in this work to the utmost, and be more humble, faithful, and diligent, and the labor will increase, inasmuch as we are able to do more. Who does not wish to see a Temple reared? Whose hearts would not leap for joy to see that structure going up? Then let us go to with all our might and raise grain; and when we raise it, let us be careful how we use those blessings, and not, as in times past, treat them lightly and tread them under our feet.

Let us improve, in this particular, as in all other duties, and the blessings of the Almighty will be continued with us in greater abundance as we progress. Let us do all we can to sustain the Presidency in the operations they wish carried out. Let us respond to their calls when made, and abide the counsel given from time to time. Let us live unitedly and shape our lives according to the Gospel, both in the sight of our God and our brethren. Let us put away quarrelling and contention, and be willing to edify and counsel one another.

Let us do these things, and remain prayerful and humble before the Lord, and see if he will not pour out a blessing greater than we have ever yet enjoyed. But when the blessing comes, there is the danger. Let us remember that we are always dependent on the great God, the giver of all good. Do the world realize this? He will make this people know it, and make them understand that they are, whether he does the world or not.

If the past will not suffice, we shall be chastened until we do understand that we are dependent on Him, and that we have to walk by faith. Can we walk by faith? He is trying some of us, I think. Do you feel afraid that you will not have plenty to eat? I never do. I recollect a circumstance that took place with myself in 1849. I was living in a family of twelve persons, and we were out of provisions. A neighbor, whose family was sick, informed me that he had not anything in the house to eat. I told him to call and I would give him some flour. I went out to get some breadstuff, and when I was out he called. My sister-in-law told him to call again. When I made him that promise, I did not know where the flour was coming from, and there was not half as good a chance as there is now. When he called again, I had the flour for him. In that way we lived, and I felt no uneasiness about where the next meal was coming from. We had to ration ourselves, and had something every time we needed it. If the brethren would feel that way, I think they would save themselves much anxiety.

I think if the people will exercise their faith as well as their works, and use every means in their power, that they will be able to manage pretty well, with the help of their Teachers and Bishops. I am not in the least concerned but what there are provisions among the community sufficient to carry us through, if a proper disposition is made of them, and economy is adhered to by all. I have no uneasiness on this matter, and recommend my brethren to have none.

I would recommend to every individual a proper diligence in providing; and if the brethren who have would open their hearts and distribute in wisdom, it would be a very good thing; and I know that they do in a great measure. Some are apt, at times, to make complaints against those who have a little grain stored away, if the owners do not deal it out to suit their notions. Some will complain of the person who is doing his best to accommodate them. Though there may, sometimes, be cause for complaint, at other times, when the matter is fairly scanned, there is no cause.

I am rejoiced with being able to say that there are not many in our midst who would refuse to divide to the last crumb they have, even if they did not know where the next was coming from. Hence, the people may feel encouraged (those who are destitute), because they have assurance of faith that, so long as food is among the community, they will have a part of it. I speak of these things, that the inexperienced may have their faith increased, and that they may feel to rejoice that they are as well situated as they are, amid Saints of the Most High, and that the Lord loves them while showing them that they are dependent upon Him.

He has work for us to do. Do we realize that we are the persons he has called to do it? That we are in his hands, and that he is teaching us from day to day by his Prophets, and servants, and his hand-dealings towards us? If we do not realize this, should we not? Remember that it is our Governor who governs, rules, controls, and directs all matters for the best interests of this people. Then let us be submissive and humble in his hands, like clay in the hands of the potter, and let him mold us to his likeness. If we will do this, the Lord will bless us; and if we appreciate his blessings, he will continue them.

Do you not know that he delights to give good gifts to his children, more than any of us do to our children? Do you not know that the heavens are full of blessings designed for this people? Then why do we not uniformly walk in the paths of righteousness, that we may continue to be the people of the Lord’s choice, to do his work in the last days, and give him the honor and glory? Who can rise up and say, in their own minds, I have done this; this is my work? No—the Lord has done it. And if we are privileged to be his humble instruments, let us be satisfied with that honor. Let us put on the harness and work a work of faith, for the interest of the kingdom of God upon the earth. This is my exhortation.

I know that this Gospel is true, and I feel to bear my testimony that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of the Most High God, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that President Brigham Young is Joseph’s lawful successor; that the organization of this kingdom is the organization owned of the Almighty, even the kingdom of God upon the earth.

That kingdom does exist, and it is our happy privilege to be numbered with the Saints, and to have a part in this matter. Then let us rejoice continually, and do what we can to pro– mote the interests of the cause of Zion, build up cities and temples, do whatever else may be laid before us, and improve upon the blessings the Almighty bestows upon us continually. May we improve our minds and strengthen our understandings, that we may be fully qualified to perform those duties incumbent upon us, from day to day, with ability before our God. Amen.

Speech by Elder G. A. Smith, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1855.

My Friends—I arise on the present occasion to address you, with my heart filled with emotions that are not easily described, apart from feelings which pervade my mind resulting from the present celebration of the anniversary of our country’s independence. It is with a high degree of pleasure that I witness such an immense assembly, and compare it with celebrations of this ever-memorable day which I have attended in my native State, in my early life. The anniversary of the day on which our fathers declared the independence of the American States I have ever felt a disposition to celebrate, whenever circumstances and situation would possibly admit of it, as the day on which our fathers declared the independence and freedom of millions of people yet unborn. It was a great step for a few colonies to take, to attempt to wring from the hands of the king of the most powerful nation upon the face of the earth their liberties, the right of self-government—of choosing their own rulers—those inalienable rights which belong to man, and are the boon of his Creator, and which kings had held in their grasp for ages. Our revolutionary fathers were unwilling longer to be ground down by iron rules and cast-iron notions of one stupid and corrupt ruler that oppressed them, and struggled for their freedom. Under the guidance and fostering care of the God of heaven, these colonies were made free—free to act in obedience to all those principles he has given the sons of men their agency to act upon.

This is a great illustration of the importance and power of the principle of union. When the signers of the Declaration of Independence put their names to that heaven-born instrument, they were perfectly aware that the success of their cause depended upon their being united. It was absolutely necessary that they should all hang together; for if they did not, they were perfectly sensible they would all hang separately. The united colonies at that time were ready to sustain the leader of the revolution almost en masse. There were a few districts where divisions took place, and those divisions caused more cruelty, bloodshed, and sorrow than any other circumstance pertaining to the whole revolutionary struggle.

By this grand step our fathers secured to us the right of self-government. However much wicked men may have opposed and abused the institutions the revolutionary fathers have established and put in motion—whatever corrupt officeholders may have done in violation of them, the great point is gained which enables the American people to choose their own rulers and produce such a form of government and such protection as are necessary for their growth, their freedom, and their continual well-being.

It was through the most flagrant violation of these sacred rights and principles of the Constitution of our country by perjured officers, who were sworn to do their duty and suppress mobs and violence, that the rights of freemen, which were bequeathed to us a priceless legacy, sealed with the blood of our fathers—that the Latter-day Saints were driven, en masse, from their peaceful homes in the United States, and were obliged to flee, destitute, into a desolate wilderness, where we are laying a foundation for a State in the great Federal Union, where we can enjoy our own religious institutions and form a government, and where we are organizing our own community, agreeable to the general Constitution of our country, that we may be made partakers of the blessings which are actually guaranteed unto us by that sacred instrument. Under these circumstances we rest until the day shall come that shall so revolutionize our American Government as to put every treacherous scoundrel where he ought to be, to reap the reward of perjury and corruption, that he may have the privilege of being banished by his Maker—that he may enjoy the society of the father of lies, until he is satisfied with that kind of fare. [At this point of the speaker’s remarks, a small round table, that had been brought for the Honorable Judge Kinney to lay his papers upon, fell from the stand upon which the speakers were sitting, and was broken by the fall.] So, the end cometh suddenly, the day of corruption is short, and its downfall is sure. [Great laughter.] The old fabric of corruption is getting so rotten, it will fall of itself and crumble to dust, without any effort to overthrow it; and the pure principles of good government, justice, righteousness, and purity will become so clearly unfolded, that we shall wonder that it was ever possible such a mass of corruption ever shrouded our country, or that so great a number of the rulers of the American States should ever give countenance to the rule of mobs, or the destruction of the people’s rights by any common convention of scoundrels.

The circumstances and pleasures of the day which have so far passed would have been without alloy or a pang of grief; but I behold on this platform the vacant seat of one who was associated with us on the last celebration—one who addressed us on that occasion with such a flow of natural eloquence and pathos of feeling, and to whose talents and instruction we were indebted for a great portion of the interest of that occasion. The Honorable Leonidas Shaver, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and Judge of this judicial district, has been suddenly called from the busy scenes of this life into eternity—a worthy man and profound jurist, who, by his straightforward and upright course, has honored his profession. His studious attention to his duty, his fine intellect, polished education, and gentlemanly bearing have won for him the universal admiration and respect of this community. It was only necessary to be acquainted with him to love him. Our worthy instructor and expositor of the law has been called from our midst suddenly. He not only administered the law, but honored it himself. Hear it, O ye judicators of the law, and pattern after him. And we this day look round upon those that surround us, with this solemn reflection, that but a short season can pass until it will be our turn to follow him.

This circumstance should caution us against sin of every description, and prompt us to live uprightly, walking in accordance with all the laws and principles of human right and Divine revelation, that we may be prepared for so great and solemn an event, when it shall come, when it will be our turn to participate in the realities of death.

It is well understood that the principles of truth are bound to prevail. It makes no difference what the opposition may be, or what length of time that opposition may continue, or how much sin is perpetrated to prevent it, or rivers of blood and millions of treasure wasted to oppose it, yet truth will ultimately prevail; and the day will come when a “Mormon” can be respected in other portions of the world as much as any other man—yes, exactly as much as though he professed any other religion. Why? Because “Mormonism” is truth, and truth will prevail. Those principles which are laid down in the very formation and genius of the General Government of the United States knew no religious sect: all were alike. And when these principles can prevail as our fathers handed them down to us, freedom will not be a name: and the day is approaching, and it is not far distant, when all the corruption and wickedness which serve to bring distress and misery upon a considerable portion of the community will be done away. That order of things will vanish, and this people will have the opportunity of enjoying all their privileges and rights in every portion of their loved country that they can in these mountains.

If ever William Tell was happy when he found himself free from the grasp of his enemies, so this people felt to rejoice when they were encircled within these vast deserts and almost impenetrable mountain walls. It was not the beauty of the country, the barren deserts, the rocky mountains, this isolated position, that invited us here: we came here simply because it was the only place of refuge which offered to us security from the hands of our persecutors, where we could actually enjoy our constitutional rights. We are here, thank God, enjoying all the privileges of American freemen, and all the blessings and ordinances and powers which lead to an eternal exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our God.

And I will tell you, my friends, what I hope. I hope that the first mob that rises in these valleys will experience the same sensation (and worse, if possible) that a certain gentleman, a leader of a mob in Jackson County, Missouri, did, whose name was James Campbell, who had been long famed among his comrades as one of the bravest men in that county. It was on the occasion of the Battle of the Blue. He gathered up his men and fired fifty-three rifles into a small party of the “Mormons” that were hastily gathered together for mutual protection. There were only fifteen or sixteen guns among the “Mormons.” They returned the fire, at which many of Campbell’s comrades left in a hurry; but he concluded to stay and tussle it out with the “Mormons.” There was an old revolutionary soldier, named Brace, in the “Mormon” company, who had fought in many battles under Washington, in the war of Independence. He fired his musket at Campbell without effect, and he fired at the old soldier also without effect; but Campbell being able to load quicker than he could, there was no alternative for Brace but to run at him with the butt end of his gun before he could reload: so he commenced yelling like ten thousand Indians, and charged Campbell with the butt end of his musket. Campbell, to save himself, suddenly wheeled his horse and plied the whip. This gave the old veteran a chance to re-load. He then fired his piece, and killed Campbell’s horse as he was jumping over a fence, which left him hanging there; but Campbell in his terror did not know whether he was running on his feet or riding on his horse. So he ran across the country with all the power he possessed, whipping behind him, as he supposed, his horse, crying, “Get up, or the Mormons will kill us! Get up, or the Mormons will kill us!” So I want the first mob that rises in this country to feel, and all those who hold power and influence in the nation, who, by that means seek to distress and afflict the innocent—I want all such men to feel like the illustrious Campbell. I want the same terror to fall upon them that fell upon him, and the same powers of locomotion to clear out, crying, “Get up, or the Mormons will kill us!” as he did, although his horse lay on the fence dead, near a mile behind him.

With these sentiments, these few ideas, which are offered without having had time for studied reflection and preparation, I say, May we long live on the face of the earth, and enjoy the blessings and privileges of American Independence! Amen.

An Address by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1854.

We have heard a very beautiful relation from Elder T. D. Brown, of the mission at the South. It seems that everything we undertake in righteousness prospers, and the Devil and his agents cannot help themselves, if we are faithful.

The Zion’s ship that was spoken of today, which runs in Snag harbor, has prospered from the first day it was launched, and every man and woman who stick firmly to that ship will prosper from this time henceforth and forever. That I know, for I have been on board that ship, and am now sailing upon it.

The first time I went to England, I was on board of Zion’s ship, and Joseph came to me while I was sailing, and put into my hand a rod; and I presume, if I have dreamed once of being aboard of that ship, I have dreamed it a hundred times. I have been in it in the midst of dangers and in the most dangerous places. I have seen trees and stumps, mountains and rocks, and everything else that could be placed in her course thrown before her to stop her in her course; but she can sail through a mountain or on dry land as well as upon the water. I have this in dreams; and I will say to the brethren, Just so long as you keep aboard of that ship you will prosper. I do not care whether it is in the midst of the Lamanites or among the Jews—whether it is in Italy or in Denmark, in Europe or in America, we will prosper, and I know it. That is my testimony.

As brother George A. Smith was saying, there are some who want to enjoy ancient “Mormonism”—that is, as “Mormonism” used to be when it was a small sapling. But it is now becoming a lofty tree, and its branches are beginning to shoot forth all over the nations of the earth; ancient “Mormonism” has grown to such a degree. Many have been in the background, and have left the tree, and it has grown to that extent, they do not know it. That is the trouble with them: they don’t know what “Mormonism” is. But this is “Mormonism,” and this is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and President Young is the true and legal administrator and delegate sent from God, and we are his brethren, and he is on board of Zion’s ship, and he is the captain; and if we will stick to it, we shall never run foul of the rocks; and whoever he tells to take hold of the helm, he will tell them in what direction to steer; and she is such a good sailor, and so true to the helm, she will run right between or over all snags.

Do you believe it, you old “Mormons?” [“Yes.”] Well, then, why don’t you grow with the tree, and with the branches thereof? Brother Brown would grow faster living on bread and water, and water and bread, with a little milk. Gentlemen, if you don’t look out, the ship will get out of reach, and the tree will grow out of your knowledge, so that you will forget what manner of a tree it was; because, as the tree grows, it changes in size and appearance, just the same as a child as it grows to manhood; and if you had not been with him all the time, you would not know him, although he were your own son.

The text that President Young gave us bears upon my mind considerably, and it is a thing we ought to take into consideration; not me alone, but every man and woman that belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; not only those who are indebted to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, but all ought to throw in their mites and enlarge this Fund. The means can be paid in here, and the poor can be brought out from the nations. Hundreds have come on this year on the strength of this Fund. It is the duty of those who have been brought out by it to go and work forthwith for means to pay their indebtedness. It does not belong to you, but it belongs to those who have made the Fund: it belongs to that Company, and to every individual, if they have not placed in it any more than a picayune or a halfpenny.

Look at the poor in old England. I have heard that some have feelings against me, because I have spoken of the poverty of the people in that country. I know more about its poverty than the natives of the country do. Those who come from there don’t know as well about it as we do. In the last letter that came from my son William, he wrote that, “I feel to weep and mourn and lament, when I behold the poverty of the people: they are starving to death, and there are scores and hundreds of my brethren in the poorhouses of the country: the husband is put in one poorhouse, the wife in another, and the children in another.”

That is the case with our brethren there; and while you are here in the midst of luxuries—while you are enjoying these blessings of the Lord, can you see your own brethren afflicted? It is not only so in England, but in Ireland, in Scotland, in Denmark, and in Sweden, and in all the nations of the earth. Do they enjoy what we enjoy? No. Although there are some who want to return to their native country, to enjoy their own habits and customs, yet there is no rational man or woman who wants to return.

Brethren, did you ever reflect upon these things, and try to find out what you could do? Supposing there were not any more Saints than what are in this room today, if we were to put forth our hand as one man, what could we accomplish? There are people enough in this congregation to accomplish more than the whole Church has, if they would only believe and act upon the instructions given them. Solomon says, “The liberal man deviseth liberal things; and by his liberality shall he live.” I have proved the truth of this saying to my fullest satisfaction and to my astonishment, time and time again. When I have been poor and penniless, and could not raise five dollars, I have gone to work, by the counsel of my President, and built me a good house, and furnished it; and says brother Brigham, “You shall build that house, and you shall have your fit-out.” I did it according to his word, and it was clear of debt, and I had a good fit-out.

I have done the same here upon the same principle; and said the President, “Brother Kimball, take one load of rock, and a load of sand, and a load of clay, and say to the masons and joiners, Go ahead; for I never built a house yet, but I was better off when I had done it than when I began.” And brethren and sisters, that is the reason I keep on building. [Voice; in the stand: “You will get poor if you stop.”] Therefore I go ahead. Many will sit down and count the costs—how much it will cost to put a potato in the ground, and then how much it will take to raise a hill around it; and they find out the expense is so great, they will never plant a potato nor make a hill, and they never will accomplish anything. Do you know that is true?

Let us go to work now and enlarge this Fund, and let us do it at this Conference; and let those who are indebted to it go to work immediately and pay up. We shall probably hold this meeting for a time, and your hearts shall be enlarged; and if you could only go home while they are enlarged, and all the puckering strings loosened, and back the thing right up, the Perpetual Fund would be rich. I know that men and women have consciences that want to screw this way, and twist that way, and every way under God’s heavens, before they can come to the right thing. If you want to grow and thrive, and want to have the Spirit of the Lord, and the Holy Ghost to be with you, and have dreams and visions, and gold and silver, and herds and flocks, wives and children, and every other good thing, go ahead in every duty, and never falter one moment, and tell the Devil to kiss your foot.

The Devil is on the puckering line, and he will pucker every Saint and every man there is upon the earth, so that they would let their fellow beings lie down in a furrow of the field and starve to death; and these are your brethren and sisters, if you only but knew it, just as much as your brethren and sisters are according to what you call the flesh. This is the feeling of many—“Well, if I could only get dad, and mammy, and granddad, and uncle John, and aunt Nancy, and Sally here, I would not care a damn for all the rest.” Who cares about having only Nancy and Sally? Let us have Susan and Polly and Timothy and Andrew out, too. What do you say? [Voice in the stand: “Let us bring them all out.”] Yes, let us bring them all out. The wars, distress, and confusion among the nations are increasing the value of provisions. It was just as much as you could do to live, when you were there.

What do you say, brethren and sisters? I do not want you to say anything, unless you go ahead and do what you say. Shall we go ahead and enlarge these funds, and pay up our debts? [Voice in the stand: “Aye.”] Well, all who are in favor of paying up your debts to the Fund, to the Church, and everybody else, I want you to signify it by raising your right hands, and then say, “Aye.” [“Aye.”] And when you come tomorrow, bring along your pennies, and let us keep gathering and enlarging the pile, and keep enlarging it, and gather the Saints together from the four quarters of the earth. We are the persons to do that business; and when we have accomplished our part as servants in the flesh, God will send angels he has had in reserve to accomplish what we cannot accomplish. But he will make us buckle up to the work; and if we should happen to lie down and sleep before we have done all we might do here, he will tell us to awake and go about our business, and accomplish that we might have done while we were in the flesh. You have got to do it, as sure as the sun ever rose and set; you may wait as long as you have a mind to before you begin.

My feelings are for us all to concentrate our energies with the head of this Church, and put the wheel in operation, that, when another year comes, we may see a hundred times more come out by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund than we have ever seen.

I believe I have stuck to the text pretty well. May God bless you, and help you to be faithful and fulfil your covenants, from this time henceforth and forever. Amen.

An Address by Elder George A. Smith, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1854.

I can say, in connection with brethren who have addressed you in the former part of the day, that it is with the greatest pleasure I arise at the present Conference to cast in my mite, and offer a few reflections upon the things of the kingdom as they are rolling before us.

Our beloved President, at the close of the forenoon service, gave us a text he wished to have considered.

It has been my lot to be somewhat conversant with the Saints who dwell in the Valleys of the Mountains, or especially those who reside south of this city. My acquaintance with them has been very great for the last five years. There is no doubt but that a feeling of carelessness and indifference has been manifested by many in these valleys in relation to bequeathing their debts to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund for the assistance they have received. It is not only an indifference which has been felt towards the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, but also to individuals who have expended their means to help their friends, neighbors, or brethren to this valley. They have frequently been treated with indifference and neglect, and I may say almost with cruelty, by some persons who have thus been helped. They are unwilling, until they can be very comfortable themselves, to assist those who have helped them. I have had my feelings hurt by instances of this kind which have been laid before me.

Now, then, if I understand the text, it amounts to about this—namely, our Savior’s golden rule—“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Or, to use this expression of the Savior’s, in connection with that of our President, which would be, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, under like circumstances; for this is the law of the Prophets.”

There is no object on the face of the earth more to be desired, than to bring the poor and honest Saints from the condition in which they are placed in the Old World, and set them down here in the midst of these mountains, where, by their own industry, economy, and prudence, they can provide for their wants and for the wants of their children. The difficulties which surround the Saints in the Old World are increasing. The great wars are involving the principal nations of the earth at this time in very serious expenses, which are taking from the laboring masses millions and millions of dollars to supply the fighting hosts with weapons of death, and engines for the destruction of their enemies and the prosecution of their ambitious designs. While the Allied Powers are thus engaged, they are consuming the very source upon which the millions of the poor and needy are depending for their bread—for their existence.

If, during the time of peace that has prevailed in Europe for the last ten years, it was necessary to help the poor and the needy away, it becomes tenfold more so under the present circumstances, when the nations are involving themselves in very expensive and disastrous wars.

It may be supposed that I am a little partial to some particular parties that are connected in this war. I am referring more particularly to the Allied Powers; but really I feel very little interest in the matter, any further than wherever Britain carries her sway the Gospel can follow in her liberal wake. To be sure, when a boy, my playmates used to say, “Two upon one is one too many;” and consequently, if there is any sympathy, it would be in favor of Russia, as they are the weaker party, and are likely to have the worst of it. Then, as far as the contest is concerned, there may be a very great feeling of indifference in the minds of many whether Turkey is actually devoured by the Russian bear, or carved up by the lion of the west of Europe. The event is precisely the same, let it turn which way it may, as far as it affects us in our emigration movements: it serves to stop the channel of trade, and consequently affects the interests of the laboring classes of Great Britain, and a great proportion of the members of our Church are of this class.

I would say to those who are in arrears to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, who know themselves to be such—If you have got houses, lands, cows, sheep, farms, or property of any description, come forward like honest men and settle up to the uttermost farthing, and begin again to amass property; and if you have been owing to this institution for one year; or from the first of its operations, give a liberal interest for the capital you have held, and which could not be used or increased by the operations of the Fund. That would be my advice upon this subject; and then, if you are able to subscribe enough in addition to bring one or two families, do that also. My advice to those who have just arrived is that they fall not in the rear, as it has been this day complained of; but let them make it their first business to square off with the Fund that brought them here—to furnish this means as soon as it is in their power, to bring somebody else out from distant countries; and then you can take a fresh start in this mountain world. Even if you are a little behind when you have done this, scramble until you catch up again; for the facilities are a thousand to one in these valleys to what they were seven years ago.

When the Pioneers came here, it looked a hard chance. There was not a single house to rent; and as to there being any prospect of having any, it looked very slim. But there have been slight changes since, and a very great change in relation to breadstuff. We have bread in abundance now; but then the only prospect of supply we had was millions of black crickets. The change has been effected, and persons who land here with nothing but their hands, their bone and sinew, if they are indebted to the Fund or to persons for bringing them, they can soon pay these debts; and not only that, but they can soon establish themselves comfortably, and be prepared to help others.

I have noticed, in the course of my travels, an occasional individual, which, I presume, had lost by some of those who have not been willing to pay up. Be that as it may, I have come across individuals who would lurk among the Saints. “Why,” say they, “what can be the matter? Something is dreadfully wrong: this is not ancient ‘Mormonism’—this is not the old religion we used to have years ago in the days of Joseph: something is entirely wrong. I do not see things as I used to; I do not understand them.” And they finally begin to complain, and find fault, and murmur; and so it goes on from one time to another, until they wonder if they could not get a better location in California. I have heard men murmur when they were surrounded with plenty, with peace, and the blessings of heaven. What is the cause of this? The cause is in themselves. Do you who have crossed the Plains this season expect to find the inhabitants of these valleys perfect? I think, from all accounts, you were ill prepared to associate with them, if you had found them perfect: there would have been room, at least, for a doubt whether you could have been admitted at all. The great fault lies in individuals not doing right themselves, but undertaking to make others do right, or to find fault with others for not doing right.

It is some time since I read the New Testament; but I believe, if I recollect rightly, there is a passage, somewhere in the Gospel according to St. Mark, which says, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed in the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” Well, I met a man that in the days of Joseph Smith used to be a very great man, in his own eyes at least—very spirited in the Church—tremendously so; and he tells me that things are going wrong. “Why,” says he, “things are not now as they used to be.” We will admit it: things are entirely different to what they were twenty years ago. Did any of you ever raise Indian corn in your lives? If so, you remember, when it is six inches high, it is very beautiful to the eye; it looks green and lovely; and it will grow very rapidly, if you will only keep the weeds out of it: it will grow so rapidly that you can almost see it growing from day to day, and it is a pleasure to cultivate it. Suppose a man should go into a cornfield when the corn is six, eight, or ten inches high, who had not been raised in a country where it was cultivated, but in some corner of the earth where it did not grow, and he had never seen such a plant before, and let him employ himself a few days in hoeing it and admiring its beauty—suppose by some means he becomes perfectly blind for two or three months, and then goes into the field after he has received his sight, he now beholds corn seven, eight, and ten feet high, with large ears upon it—he would exclaim, “What is this? Who has destroyed the beautiful plants that were here two months ago? What has become of them?” He is told it is the same corn. “Oh, it cannot be, for the corn is little stuff, and only grows eight or ten inches high, and very unlike this awkward stuff.”

This compares well with some of our “Mormons,” who are a little afflicted with the grunts: they do not know that the work of the Lord has been spreading rapidly, and growing stronger, and become more formidable than it was twenty years ago. There has been considerable advance since we used to gather around Joseph and Hyrum, in Kirtland, to keep the mob from killing them.

I remember on a certain occasion the brethren were called together to prepare to defend Joseph against the mob, who were coming to destroy him, if possible. Brother Cahoon was appointed captain of one of the largest companies, and it had ten men in it: it was the biggest company we could raise but one, and that contained fourteen men. Brother Cahoon gave us some advice: he advised us, if the mob came, and we were obliged to fire, to shoot at their legs. But, should they advance upon us now, we would shoot higher than that: so, if anybody will look at it candidly, they will see that we have grown and improved considerably in our ideas. To shoot at the legs of a mob is now altogether behind the times in “Mormonism.” After brother Cahoon had advised us, brother Brigham rose and said that if the mob tackled him, he would shoot at their hearts; and some of the company nearly apostatized. We must remember that we are in the advance; for the Lord has said, in these days, he has commenced to do a great work, and called upon his servants to lay the foundation of it. The foundation being laid, then the work has to be done. In order to be participators in this, we must be honest with ourselves, with our brethren, and with the poor among the Lord’s people. If we are, the blessings of God will flow upon us, and our knowledge will increase, and all the light and intelligence that we desire from God will be poured out upon us, and our means will increase, and our substance will be blessed unto us. But if we adopt the other principle, although men do it from covetousness, it is the identical way to become poor. The Prophet said, The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by his liberality he shall stand. This is the truth: it has been so among all generations, and with this people from the beginning.

It was customary, before we entered this Church, to hear a great deal of text preaching. The learned ministers would select a text or passage of Scripture, measure it by a theological rule, divide it into heads, and then preach from it, preaching about everything in the world but the thing in the text. After they had gone through this kind of maneuvering long enough, they would then appeal to the congregation to know if they had not preached to them the doctrine laid down in the text. Well, if I have preached from the text, excuse me.

I will close my remarks with the old-fashioned appeal; and if I have not preached the doctrines contained in the text, let me advise my friends to give heed to those doctrines anyhow.

A Discourse by President H. C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 16, 1854.

There can be no person, who is at all acquainted with the Scriptures, but must be satisfied that the remarks that brother Herriman has made this morning are strictly true. They are fully substantiated by the Bible, which you all profess to believe, and which the professing world say they believe.

Brethren and sisters, let your minds be composed and settled down in the Spirit of the Lord, and have his Spirit to be with you always, and especially when you come to the house of worship.

It is a common thing, not only in this Church, but in the churches of the sectarian world, for people to say, “Come, let us go to meeting today, and try if we cannot get warmed up in our hearts and refreshed by the Holy Spirit.” Now, that is customary among all religious people. Well, whom do you expect to refresh you here, if you are not refreshed when you come to meeting? For you should always have your hearts warmed up, and your bodies pure, when you visit the house of the Lord. Make not the outside of the cup and the platter clean alone, but also the inside. People who keep the inside of the cup and platter clean are very apt to wash the outside of it. You all hate to eat food from a filthy dish, and to drink water out of a dirty cup; but you love to eat out of a clean dish, and sleep in a clean bed. Every person naturally loves to see a clean house and clean garments, if they themselves are filthy.

Upon the same principle, inasmuch as we will repent of our sins and turn from them, and then go down into the waters of baptism—into pure water, and be immersed—overwhelmed in the same, that our sins may be remitted—washed away (not, however, for the washing away of the filth of the flesh, but to answer a good conscience before God and man), and then receive the imposition of hands by a man having authority, that we may receive the Holy Ghost—I say, the Holy Ghost, being a pure spirit or influence, even after all this is done, will have an objection to perform his office in an impure tabernacle. That is the reason why a great many never receive the Holy Ghost, because they say they are pure, and lie to God, and also to the Holy Ghost.

This is the Gospel that was taught you by the first Elders who bore the joyful message to foreign nations; and the moment the Holy Spirit rested upon you in your first introduction into this Church, you actually felt the Spirit of prophecy and revelation. I know this to be a fact when we introduced the Gospel into old England. Here is brother George D. Watt, our reporter, for instance. I never told him anything about gathering to the land of America—that it was the promised land. One night, we met with a small company of the new members in Preston, Lancashire, and brother George commenced reading the Book of Mormon. After a little, he rose up and said, “The land of America is the promised land; it is Zion, and we shall be gathered there, although you have not told us anything about it.” He prophesied that within two weeks after he was baptized. The Holy Ghost dwelt in you to show you things to come. It showed brother George that this was the land of Zion, and that the Saints in all nations had to be gathered there: it brought it to his remembrance, if he had ever thought of the thing before and forgotten it. This is the effect it had upon you. I presume there is not a single individual but what can exclaim, “It was really so.”

That same Holy Ghost inspired you to speak in new tongues, to prophesy, to interpret tongues, to see visions, and have dreams to edify and comfort you. It was with you when you went out, and when you came in—when you lay down, and when you rose up. That is the office of the Holy Ghost—to dwell and abide with those who keep the commandments of the Almighty in faith believing. He delights to dwell with such; but he does not delight to dwell in unholy temples. You know that naturally, because there is not one of you, unless you make a practice of being filthy and dirty yourselves, that ever wishes to go into a filthy place.

Now, if these are your feelings, for heaven’s sake do not ask the Holy Ghost to dwell with you, when you do not pursue a course to cleanse the body, not only internally, but externally, from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet. You know this is what I believe to be sanctification.

I have heard brother Gifford talk about sanctification, and I understand the principle of sanctification was laid before you by President Young. What would sanctify you and prepare you to enter into the presence of God, and to enjoy his Spirit?

We read in the Bible that the Lord told Joshua to sanctify Israel; for, says he, “there is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel.” And on the morrow they sanctified themselves by stoning to death Achan, the son of Carmi, who stole the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment. They also stoned to death his wife and his children, his oxen and his asses, and burnt them with fire, together with his tent, the silver, the gold, and the garment, in the valley of Achor.

Thus all Israel put to death the transgressor, and sanctified themselves before the Lord. Would it not be an excellent course to pursue with this people, to sanctify them to the fullest extent of the word? There are individuals in these valleys who profess to be Latter-day Saints; but do they by their works make their profession honorable? No; their works and their profession are very dissimilar indeed. I think it would be an excellent thing for this people to be sanctified from such persons, and have them cleansed from our midst, by making an atonement.

You may say, “You might put this into practice; but it would extend to many who are passing through here, who steal and plunder, and drive away cattle and horses.” But let me inform you that there are many instances of that kind, where they are encouraged, or property is put into their hands by characters who dwell here and profess to be Saints.

When you undertake to prune a diseased tree, you commence your operations at the root of the evil, and continue to trim it out to the top of the tree, or as far as it extends, and throw the diseased branches into the brush heap and burn them, as I used to do when I was logging, and then take the ashes and make potash and soap with them, and then cleanse away filthiness with it. This is what I call sanctification.

So you see I am in full fellowship with my brethren, though I was not here last Sunday when the subject was introduced. I can bear testimony to every word they said as being true, because I never knew them to tell a lie. My feelings are, I wish to God wickedness was done away from our midst. My brethren and myself have often reflected and remarked upon the happiness we should enjoy when we could fully separate ourselves from the world, from wicked men, wicked women, and wicked practices.

Previous to our coming to these valleys, I wished and prayed that, when we went to the valleys, there would not any of the wicked persons follow us who are eternally hanging on our skirts. These are my feelings and desires now, and the earnest wishes of hundreds and thousands of men and women who dwell in these valleys.

I know there is a good people here—a better people than dwells in any other portion of the world. And the emigrants who are going to California are perfectly astonished, when they arrive here, to see that we are a civilized people. They are astonished beyond measure as they gaze upon this people, whom they supposed to be a poor, miserable, outcast race of beings. Did any of them ever go into a city where there were more peace and prosperity, and as few loafers, since they were born? We never saw any loafers in our streets until they came. I am not saying anything against them, but I am noticing the views they entertain about us. They have expressed it many times, that they never were so astonished as when they came into these valleys and found a civilized and industrious people—a people who knew how to build up a city, and incorporate it, and enforce the laws. And a day will come when we shall put them in force more strictly. God is only waiting upon you in his compassion, that peradventure you may repent of and forsake all evil, and turn to him.

We are the people of God; we are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the foundation of which, in these last days, was begun by the Almighty sending an holy angel to Joseph Smith to reveal to him his will and establish the everlasting Gospel that was preached in the days of Jesus, even faith, repentance, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the ordaining of Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Evangelists, Pastors, Patriarchs, Bishops, Deacons, Priests, and Elders. This is the true Church of God, although there may be a few in the valleys who do not live up to their holy profession; but because they are unfaithful to their God and to their religion, it does not affect in the least the truthfulness of the principles of heaven. I see some turn away from this Church because of the conduct of others. This has nothing to do with our faith; but we are to have our faith grounded. It is for us to dig deep, and lay our foundation upon a rock, that when the winds blow, and the storms and hurricanes beat upon us, we may still find ourselves firmly established upon the rock of truth.

I will tell you, gentlemen (I address myself to those who have nothing to do with us as a people), this is the Church and kingdom of our God; and the day will come, eventually, when the nations and kingdoms of the earth will become the “kingdoms of our God and his Christ.” This doctrine is found in this good old book, the Bible, which all of you profess to believe, and have to kiss to give validity to your oaths, when you are sworn before a magistrate to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

We believe in every man having his rights, and being sustained in them. And we wish you to understand that we are not exactly such a people as many suppose.

It is believed in the world that our females are all common women. Well, in one sense they are common—that is, they are like all other women, I suppose; but they are not unclean, for we wipe all unclean ones from our midst: we not only wipe them from our streets, but we wipe them out of existence. And if the world want to practice uncleanness, and bring their prostitutes here, if they do not repent and forsake such sins, we will wipe the evil out. We will not have them in this valley, unless they repent; for, so help me God, while I live, I will lend my hand to wipe such persons out; and I know this people will.

Such things cannot exist here. The civil authorities will never make a law admitting of prostitution in the City of the Great Salt Lake: it never can be permitted while we live. We know it is the custom among some nations to authorize by law such abominations, giving licenses to houses of ill fame. But remember, if ever it is allowed among this people, it will be when righteousness has ceased to dwell in their midst. It never can be allowed in this community in male or female, whether they belong to the Church or not; and we will wipe out such abominations, the Lord being our helper.

That is sanctification. Our holy religion is to purify, purge, cleanse, and sanctify this people. We care not what people think or say about our course in this respect; it is our religion, and we will not have corruption where we dwell, if we can help it. That is one reason we were not permitted to live in the States: we were determined, by the help of God, to be virtuous men and women. So they drove us, from time to time, and from place to place, until they drove us into the mountains; and I assure you, I, for one, feel thankful to my God that I live in these mountains, and that there is no man or woman who loves righteousness but what will feel as I do.

The Lord has led us upstairs until we have entered into the chamber; and, for heaven’s sake, let us not pollute it, for fear we should be led downstairs again. We are now high up towards the presence of the Lord, and he feels to bless us, and his hand is over us for good; and he will curse every hand that is raised against us, if we will do right; and our enemies will go backwards and not forwards.

My prayer is, by night and by day, that every man and woman that bless this people, and desire to do them good, may be blessed of the Lord God; and I know he will bless them. But every man and woman who shall raise a weapon against this people, or devise evil against them, my prayer is, that they may be cursed; and they certainly will be cursed, and God will frustrate all their designs, and he will lead his people on from victory to victory, until they triumph over all their enemies.

What do you say, brethren and sisters? Do you not think it best for us to do right, each person individually being led by the dictations of the Holy Spirit, listening diligently to those who are appointed to lead, govern, and dictate this people? You know what I mean by this. President Young is our governor and our dictator. It is for me to walk with him, and for you to walk with those who go before you.

I know how it is in the world, for I have lived there. I was born in Ver– mont, and raised, the most of my days, in the State of New York, Ontario County, and so was President Brigham Young; yet many emigrants who came through our valley thought we were moose, camels, or dromedaries. They did not know what we were; they, no doubt, thought we had horns on our heads: they had no idea we had eyes and legs like human beings; but they supposed we were some kind of nondescript animal. I know this is so: I have been in the world, and they cannot think we are human!

However, whether we are human beings or not, I know that I was born in Vermont, among the rocks, and have lived the greater portion of my days among those who are without God in the world; and I know their corruptions—yes, as well as they do. I know the wickedness in their cities, in their synagogues, and in their high places. I understand it all. Still they calculate that we, who have more than one wife, shall not have land in proportion to our families. Well, we are ready to buy what we need, when it comes in market.

This we learn from the public prints; so there can be no harm in my talking about what is published all through the United States. If a law was put in force throughout the Union—namely, that no grant of land shall be given to any except those who have but one wife, and no mistresses, many of the first class of the nation would have to console themselves with as little land as the “Mormons.”

Our wives are publicly acknowledged by us, and we sustain them as such, and we hold them sacred. How is it with the world? Do they have mistresses for illicit intercourse, hired and sustained to satiate their wanton appetites? We cannot have any land, because we honorably marry and sustain our wives; but others are entitled to privileges, notwithstanding their secret abominations.

We are a people who want to purify ourselves, and be clean from such characters, and bring up our children in the way they should go. One of my sons and brother Brigham’s oldest son went to England this season through the United States. They never knew what was in the world before, for they never were there under the same circumstances. In their letters to us, they wrote something like this—“My God, my God, help us to get safely back again to the mountains; for we had no idea of the awful corruptions of the world we live in, until we traveled through the United States.” And they have yet seen only a small portion of the ungodliness, wickedness, and corruption of the New and Old Worlds. The old countries are corrupt indeed; but the new are not a whit behind them in the blackness of their wickedness.

These are my views, and the Lord knows that I believe in the principles of sanctification; and when I am guilty of seducing any man’s wife, or any woman in God’s world, I say, sever my head from my body. These have ever been my feelings from the days of my youth. This is my character, and the character of President Brigham Young. It was the character of Joseph Smith and of Jesus Christ; and that is the character of the Apostles of Jesus, and that must be sustained by this people.

If we pursue that course, do you not think we are bound to rise and to prosper—that is, in Jesus Christ? Yes; and we will stand to him, and to his cause, and to him who is placed to govern and dictate the kingdom of God on the earth. By taking this course continually, subjecting ourselves to the Priesthood, we never shall fall—no, never. We shall never get into a difficulty but what we can get out again. But let us be careful to get into it lawfully, and we shall prosper, and shall rise triumphantly over every difficulty, on that principle; and on the ship of Zion we shall bravely live through every storm, though they may be heavy; and though rocks and quicksands and the Devil and the world may be in our way, they cannot move us from our path.

Let us do right, and sanctify ourselves before the Lord God, and purify our habitations (I mean the tabernacles of our spirits), and then our houses, and our children, and our servants, and our handmaidens, and everything there is about us with which we have to do, and then use all with clean hands and pure hearts. If we take that course, do you not suppose God will stand by us? There is not one of you but what knows this naturally.

Now, when you go home, everyone of you begin to live as you were told last Sabbath and the Sabbath before, and do right, and seek to build up the kingdom of God; pay attention to all things that God requires of you by his servants.

Many wish for the time when President Brigham Young and his brethren will be relieved from attending to temporal matters, and attend to spiritual matters altogether. You will have to wait for this until we get into the spiritual world and have to deal with spirits. All things pertaining to this world, both spiritual and temporal, will be dictated by the Prophet of God—by our President. He dictates how to build a Temple—how high, how wide, how many rooms it must contain, whether it shall be of this, that, or the other form; and the Tithing House and all public works pertaining to this people are dictated by him. Some wish to rid him of having anything to do with temporal matters. That cannot be, in the nature of things; for, as one of the ancients said, “As the body is dead without the spirit, so is faith without works, being alone.” So, as long as the body, which is temporal, is joined to the spirit, he must have to do with temporal things.

Reflect upon it. The spirit is joined to these bodies to quicken them, that we may have to do with temporal matters; for when the spirit leaves vegetable or animal organization, the body dies, or returns to the earth. There is not a being in heaven or on earth, but what has had a body, has one now, or will have. Cease your works, and then your faith is dead. I care not for a man’s faith unaccompanied by works, and his works must correspond with his faith. He must be virtuous, and enjoy the Holy Ghost, and the revelations of God, that when a man speaks, you may know it is by the same Spirit, and you will be edified; then you never will be deceived.

My prayer is for you to be faithful, active, and retain the Spirit of the Lord God, and go ahead, and fight manfully, purifying yourselves from all iniquity.

I never had a bloodthirsty spirit; for I never fought in my life, but I always yielded before I would have any difficulty with any man. But let the Spirit of God Almighty rest upon me, and see if I do not walk up to the battle’s front. I had that spirit when I was in the world, and it is never in me only when the Lord puts it there.

Let us be pure and keep the commandments of God, and let the world say and do what they please. These are my feelings all the time.

May God bless you, and help you to do right, whether other people do right or not. This is my prayer and blessing upon you, from this time henceforth and forever. Amen.

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1854.

I realize the nature of my position in rising to speak to an assembly of intelligent gentlemen and ladies on such an occasion as the present. I probably feel my incapability more than can be perceived by my hearers. Still my mind is active, and my understanding is fruitful, whether I have ability or not to express that which is in me.

While my friends have been speaking, I have been much amused, edified, and delighted, especially in having Whiggery and Democracy so ably illustrated. I do not think they could have been exhibited more easily, more naturally, more to the understanding of all, and more true to the spirit and universal deportment of those two leading parties of the nation, as they now exist, than they have been by my predecessor in the stand today; and I presume I am speaking the feelings of the greater part of this assembly.

While brother George A. Smith was speaking upon the rise and progress of the American Revolution, a few items ranging in the same line occurred to my mind, which I have a desire to express in the hearing of this assembly.

The revolutions made by the Government of the United States, with regard to real progression generally, are small indeed; so small that it is impossible to perceive any advancement. It is true the Constitution has been revised by the voice of the people; but wherein is it bettered? Some say it is bettered; but as to the light and knowledge that now exist with regard to the true spirit of republicanism, the revolution is on the retrograde motion. No one will question for a moment that many revolutions in the United States have become in a great degree popular, notwithstanding they have been in many instances unconstitutional and in open violation of the statute laws, and have been winked at by the most influential officers of the Government. There has been a progressive revolution since the close of the war, but not in virtue, justice, uprightness, and truth. It has become quite a custom, and by custom it has the force of law, for one party to mob another, to tear down and destroy Catholic churches, drive citizens from the ballot box, disallowing them the right of franchise, and persecute, plunder, drive from their possessions, and kill a great people. Revolution in the United States is progressing; but to the true spirit of Democracy and the science of government, the Revolution I refer to is strictly opposed.

With regard to Democracy and Whiggery, no person can exhibit them better and in a truer light than Judge Shaver has today. The General Government, as a whole, do not understand truly what Democracy and Whiggery really are.

What would my friend George A. Smith tell you with regard to these two political bodies that now rule over our country, were he to address you upon this subject? He would tell you that one of them is a monster having many heads, and the other is a monster with no head at all. The impulse that is given to the Government is like that of the animal creation: when they are hungry, they are impelled to eat, and to drink when they are thirsty. When this necessity presses upon them, all the sensitive powers are on the alert to search for food. All their natural impulses to action originate in the appetite: they receive them from the demands the interior of the animal makes upon the creature. It then becomes the duty of the head to search out a method to supply these demands with food suitable to the nature of the animal, which administers health, strength, vigor, growth, and beauty to the whole body.

What ought to be the Government of the United States? And what are Whiggery and Democracy as they now exist? Nothing, and a little less.

I believe in a true Republican government; but where is the man capable of exhibiting in their true character the principles of such a Government? I do not profess to be that man: still I believe I am as capable to search into the merits of the subject, and can understand the general principles of true Republicanism as well as any other man, though I may not be capable of setting it before the people in its perfection. I can, however, talk a little about it.

Is there a true Republican government on the earth? There is. Do you inquire, Where is that government? I answer, It is here. I am a true Republican, if I understand what the term signifies. But I put my own definition upon such terms; for in many instances our lexicographers have widely mistaken ideas, and widely disagree upon the meaning of words. They may trace the etymology of words, through the living and dead languages, to their roots, as they suppose; but there is a great probability of their being mistaken still.

A government that is perfect would be called Democratic. True Republicanism, and what is meant or understood by true Democracy, is the same; but the full extent of true Democracy cannot be told by any man at this time. In entering upon a point that I do not fully understand, and can in nowise fully explain, I shall content myself to talk about it according to the extent of my capacity and the understanding I have of the subject, and leave the little I have to say with the people. The question, What is a true Republican government? is easily answered. It is a government or institution that is perfect—perfect in its laws and ordinances, having for its object the perfection of mankind in righteousness. This is true Democracy. But Democracy as it is now is another thing. True Democracy or Republicanism, if it were rightly understood, ought to be the Government of the United States. They might have had that government long ago; but as it was said by my predecessor in the stand, “Whom the Lord would destroy, he makes mad;” consequently, he must take away the wisdom of that man, or of that people. No man or people possessing wisdom will give vent to wrath, for that is calculated to weaken, to destroy, to blot out of existence.

When the Supreme Ruler of the universe wishes to destroy a nation, he takes away their wisdom in the first place, and they become insensible to their own interests, and they are filled with wrath; they give way to their anger, and thus lay the foundation of their own destruction. To him who seeks to save, he gives wisdom, which enables any people, nation, or individual to lay the foundation for strength, increase, and power. When we look abroad upon the nations, we can see this truth verified; and when we look at home in our own nation, it is no less verified. We see that wisdom is actually departing from the lawgiver, and the knowledge and the discretion the judge possessed years ago have vanished. We discern that the very policy adopted by the nations to fortify them in strength is calculated to sap their foundations. The axe is laid at the root of the tree, and all nations are filling up the cup of their guilt.

Suppose I were speaking to the assembled millions of the inhabitants of the United States, what counsel or advice could be given to them that they might regain what they have lost? Can any temporal means be adopted to save them from the vortex of ruin into which they are fast approaching—a doom which they never can avert without sincere repentance? Yes, there is seemingly a human policy, if adopted, that would snatch them from destruction. What is it? Let the people rise en masse to lay the foundation of a wholesome, independent, free, Democratic (as the people call it), Republican government—a government which, if carried out, will be perfect in itself.

Let us look at it in another point of view. Suppose this people inhabiting these mountains are broken off entirely from the nations of the world, rendering no allegiance to any earthly power combined or isolated; free to make laws, to obey them, or to break them; free to act, to choose, and to refuse, and, in every sense of the word, to do as they please, without any fixed order of government whatever; and they wish a Constitution—a system of government for mutual protection and advancement in the principles of right, to be framed according to the best wisdom that can be found in this community—I say, let them govern themselves by a Republican system of government, selecting a man from their midst to preside over them. And whom should they select to fill so important a station? The best man they can find. Should they keep him in office only four years? Should they make a clause in their Constitution that a President shall serve at most for only two terms without a vacation in his services? That is an item that should not be found in the Constitution of the United States, nor in the constitution made by this or any other people. We should select the best man we could find, and center our feelings upon him, and sustain him as our President, dictator, lawgiver, controller, and guide in a national capacity, and in every other capacity wherein he is a righteous example. Though we find as good a man as there is in the nation, yet we should not lay facilities before him to become evil, were he so disposed. Great care should be exercised to guard against placing such a power at the command of any mortal.

Shall we give him twenty-five thousand dollars per annum, and make him superior to any other honest man in the Territory, State, or kingdom, in things pertaining to this world? Or lay inducements before him to become proud, haughty, and neglectful of the true interests of the people? No. For if he is capable of ruling the people and dictating them, he is capable of taking care of himself. If we cannot find a man willing to control and guide us without our pouring the gold and silver into his coffers and exalting him above the rest of us, then we will take one less capable, who will do it for nothing.

Do you ask why I would recommend this course? I answer, Because of the weakness of man. Were we to elect a man to preside over us in this capacity, and give him three, four, five, eight, or fifteen thousand dollars a year, the streets would be full of demagogues; you would see them perched upon every anthill, croaking out their stump speeches for this or that man to be our ruler; and the paid lackeys of each candidate for office, in the streets, in the public places, and in the houses of the citizens, would be using their influence for their employers in their respective circles, and wherever they would be listened to.

Whether such a man as a ruler will do good to the people, is not thought of, either by the candidate or by his lackeys; but the one is after the thousands of dollars, and the other after his paltry fee. The welfare of the people they do not consider. What will be the best policy to pursue for the good of the people at large is not in all their thoughts.

Let the people see to it that they get righteous men to be their leaders, who will labor with their hands and administer to their own necessities, sit in judgment, legislate, and govern in righteousness; and officers that are filled with peace; and see to it that every man that goes forth among the people as a traveling officer is full of the fear of the Lord, and would rather do right at a sacrifice than do wrong for a reward.

What would be the result, if this course was adopted by the people of the United States? It would destroy the golden prospects of those who were seeking for gain alone, and men would be sought for, in the nation, State, or Territory, who were for the people, and would seek earnestly for their welfare, benefit, and salvation. We want men to rule the nation who care more for and love better the nation’s welfare than gold and silver, fame, or popularity.

Are there any such in the United States? Yes, plenty of them among all classes of men, though they have little or nothing to say about politics. Many of them are much like one Mr. Hovey, from Cayuga County, New York, that I once asked if he was going to the election? “No,” he replied, “I will never give another vote in the United States.” I asked the reason for such a course. “Why,” said he, “they will set up the Devil as a candidate for the office of President, then set up his apostate brother, who has forfeited his inheritance, and run him in for sake of opposition.” There are plenty of men who would do that and worse. The nation, however, is not lost yet; there are as many as five righteous men in the city, at least.

Let the people lay the foundation for carrying out the Republican Government which was instituted by our fathers, instead of maintaining a government of anarchy, confusion, and strife. Were this people here an independent people, and had the privilege of selecting their own officers, and I should be chosen to dictate them in their selections, I would watch and guard faithfully their rights, and see that they selected men who had not the dimes in view. The motto should be—“If you do not labor for the good of the people, irrespective of the dimes, we do not want your services; for if you labor for the money, you seek to benefit yourselves at the people’s expense.” I make this application and turn it eastward, which you know is the way the world rolls. If the Government knew what the wants of the people were, they would take away the salaries of political demagogues, and stop their running and their stump preaching, from one end of the land to the other, to make proselytes to their cause. This would have a tendency to put an end to party names, to party jealousies, and to party conflicts forever. And the people should concentrate their feelings, their influence, and their faith, to select the best man they can find to be their President, if he has nothing more to eat than potatoes and salt—a man who will not aspire to become greater than the people who appoint him, but be contented to live as they live, be clothed as they are clothed, and in every good thing be one with them.

It is yet in the power of the people of the United States to lay a foundation to redeem themselves from the growing consequences of past errors. What would be the result, were the United States to take this course—viz., to strike out that clause in the Constitution that limits the services of a President to four years, or the term of service of any good man, and continue to revise the Constitution and laws as they become familiar with their defects; then reduce the salaries of all officers in all the departments? Would not such a course revolutionize any kingdom or government, and be very likely to produce union and prosperity?

Are there any more improvements that might be made? Yes. If we are what we profess to be—a Republican Government, there is no State in the Union but what should be amenable to the General Government holding to the old English rights in Rhode Island. Then Congress, with the President at their head, could meet and veto every act made by any department of the Government, if it was necessary. So let Congress come together when any of the States transcend the bounds of right, and hold them amenable for their actions. The General Government should never give any portion of the nation license to say they are free and independent. This should only apply to the nation as a whole. We have a little experience in this kind of independence. For instance, the Government of the United States were willing to take my money for lands in Missouri, which were in the market; but the people in that sovereign, that free, and independent State rose up and mobbed me, drove me from my possessions, and confiscated my property to themselves; and the General Government has no power to redress my wrongs. This is only one instance among many of the kind which I might enumerate to show the impolicy and downright mockery of such boasted independence. While such outrages remain unredressed, this nation never should defile the sacred term by saying they have a REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT.

The General Constitution of our country is good, and a wholesome government could be framed upon it, for it was dictated by the invisible operations of the Almighty; he moved upon Columbus to launch forth upon the trackless deep to discover the American Continent; he moved upon the signers of the Declaration of Independence; and he moved upon Washington to fight and conquer, in the same way as he moved upon ancient and modern Prophets, each being inspired to accomplish the particular work he was called to perform in the times, seasons, and dispensations of the Almighty. God’s purpose, in raising up these men and inspiring them with daring sufficient to surmount every opposing power, was to prepare the way for the formation of a true Republican government. They laid its foundation; but when others came to build upon it, they reared a superstructure far short of their privileges, if they had walked uprightly as they should have done.

What shall be done? Let the people, the whole American people, rise up and say they will have these abuses regulated, and no longer suffer political demagogues to gamble away their money, but turn them out of office to attend to their own business. Let the people make a whip, if not of good tough rawhide, of small cords at least, and walk into the temple of the nation, and cleanse it thoroughly out, and put in men who will legislate for their good, instead of gambling away their money and trifling with the sacred interests of the nation which have been entrusted to their keeping.

I would not speak so plainly, were it not that statesmen use the same privilege, and that, too, in the halls of Legislatures. We can never get a true Republican government upon any other principle. The object those have in view who look and long for the gaudy trash of this world should be removed, that men may occupy the high and responsible seats of the nation who will care for the welfare of the people, and cannot be bought with money, or that which it can purchase.

Can the Constitution be altered? It can; and when we get a President that answers our wishes to occupy the executive chair, there let him sit to the day of his death, and pray that he may live as long as Methuselah; and, whenever we have good officers, strive to retain them, and to fill up vacancies with good men, until there are none who would let the nation sink for a can of oysters and a lewd woman.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of the Constitution were inspired from on high to do that work. But was that which was given to them perfect, not admitting of any addition whatever? No; for if men know anything, they must know that the Almighty has never yet found a man in mortality that was capable, at the first intimation, at the first impulse, to receive anything in a state of entire perfection. They laid the foundation, and it was for after generations to rear the superstructure upon it. It is a progressive—a gradual work. If the framers of the Constitution and the inhabitants of the United States had walked humbly before God, who defended them and fought their battles when Washington was on the stage of action, the nation would now have been free from a multitude of place-hunters who live upon its vitals. The country would not have been overrun with murderers and thieves, and our cities filled with houses of ill fame, as now; and men could have walked the streets of cities, or traveled on conveyances through the country, without being insulted, plundered, and perhaps murdered; and an honest, sober, industrious, enterprising, and righteous people would now have been found from one end of the United States to the other.

The whole body is deranged; and the head, which ought to be the seat of sense and the temple of wisdom, is insensible to the wants of the body, and to the fact that, if the body sinks, the head must sink also.

I want to tell a political anecdote; or, at least, I will tell it so nigh that you will guess the whole of it. Two fellows were stump speaking for office in the State of Illinois: one of them was a lawyer, of flowery, eloquent speech; and the other was a rough and ready homespun mechanic, but a man of sound sense. The lawyer made his speech in flaming language, interlarding it with expressions of sensitive regard for the people’s interests. The mechanic mounted the rostrum, and says he—“I cannot make a speech to cope with this man’s speech; but I can tell you what he and I want. He wants your votes. Now, if you will give me your votes, when I get into office, you may——and be damned.” They both felt so; and there are but few exceptions to this practice. Office seekers are full of tricks and intrigues of every kind to get an office, and then the people may——and be damned.

The progress of revolution is quite considerable in every government of the world. But is the revolution for the constitutional rights of the people in progress? No: it is on the retrograde. I know how they can be brought back to the people, and the Government be redeemed and become one of the most powerful and best on the earth. It was instituted in the beginning by the Almighty. He operated upon the hearts of the Revolutionary Fathers to rebel against the English King and his Parliament, as he does upon me to preach “Mormonism.” Both are inspired by him; but the work unto which they are called is dissimilar. The one was inspired to fight, and the other to preach the peaceable things of the kingdom of God. He operated upon that pusillanimous king to excite the colonists to rebellion; and he is still operating with this nation, and taking away their wisdom, until by-and-by they will get mad and rush to certain destruction.

Will the Constitution be destroyed? No: it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, “The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.” It will be so.

With regard to the doings of our fathers and the Constitution of the United States, I have to say, they present to us a glorious prospect in the future, but one we cannot attain to until the present abuses in the Government are corrected.

You have heard our Judge relate an incident, which is only one more among numberless abuses perpetrated by the rulers of the nation. The particulars of this incident can be found upon our dockets, showing that the President of the United States assumes to himself power to remove a circuit Judge. I am not a lawyer; but I wish to propound a question—By what law, constitutional or statute, has the President a right to remove a United States’ Judge, except for illegal conduct or inability? It is, to say the least, a flagrant assumption of power. What business have they thus to remove our Judges? What end have they in view? I’ll tell you. It is—

“Tickle me, tickle me, O Billy, do; And, in your turn, I’ll tickle you.”

I have perhaps detained the congregation too long. May God bless you! Amen.

A Speech by Elder Orson Hyde, Delivered in Great Salt Lake City, July 4, 1853.

Friends and Brethren—I arise before you this morning to reiterate in your hearing an interesting and an important truth, with which, however, you are well acquainted. We are a branch of the tree of liberty planted on the 4th of July, 1776; and as the first display of oratory and burst of eloquence from this stand, on this interesting occasion, was a flower that bloomed on our boughs, and was immediately succeeded by the precious fruit, there remains but little for me to do but to feast myself and you on the theme which has been so ably and beautifully presented, illustrated, and enforced upon your hearts, under the banner of our common country, on whose folds is inscribed, “The downfall of tyranny, and the rising star of Israel’s hope.”

The great family of nations on this globe, among which ours occupies the most enviable position, stands in the same relation to the Supreme Ruler of all that servants do to their earthly master. There are some designed to perform an honorable part, and shine with more brilliance and splendor, and exert a controlling influence; while many others, like “the vessels of dishonor,” are equally necessary to cause action and reaction, until the elements of nature, in all their various ramifications, shall retire to their common level, “and the knowledge and glory of God fill the whole earth, as the waters cover the great deep.” Not every member of this great family does the will of God by choice; but the wisdom, providence, and power of Zion’s king will overrule the acts of every nation to the furtherance and execution of HIS designs; and therefore the nations will be constrained to say—“Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name belongs the glory.” While, therefore, we acknowledge the hand of Providence in all things, we acknowledge not the designs, plans, and schemes of all nations, anymore than we acknowledge the correctness of the plans and designs of Joseph’s brethren in selling him into Egypt.

Considering the earth a stage, and the nations and powers thereof so many actors, what part has our nation chosen to act in the grand scenes of the last days? The days of farces are gone by; realities now claim our attention, and we should discipline our minds and accustom them to sober thought, and prepare our hearts and nerves for the substances that have so long cast only their shadows before them to awaken our fancy and speculations, and pleasingly or painfully excite our unstable souls.

Observe Christopher Columbus in his silent meditations; mark his untiring and faithful observations! Behold him watching the western breeze, and marking, with zealous eye and anxious heart, every substance that floated on the ocean’s eastward-bound current as, probably, from the New World he sought. Listen to the philosophy of his reasoning, that a Western Continent was necessary to preserve the equilibrium of the earth, and to balance it correctly on its own axis. Inspired of the Almighty God of heaven, he encountered the ridicule and jeer of a faithless and unbelieving world. Bound and hampered by the chains of poverty, he possessed not the ability to prosecute the voyage of discovery so dear to his heart, and so intimately connected with his hopes of future greatness and renown. Brooking every difficulty—combating opposition, calumny, and reproach from almost every quarter, he surmounted every obstacle, obtained an outfit that was as little fitting and proper for the great enterprise as was the manger for the birthplace of the Virgin’s Son. The time had arrived for the discovery to be made. Millions of spirits in the spirit world, who had not yet taken bodies, nor passed the ordeal, in earthly tenements, of a residence on this benighted globe, were waiting with anxious eye for the area of heaven-born intelligences to be extended or opened to the gaze of mortal eye, that there might be room for them to come down and play their part, in their time and in their season, on the stage of human life. The three old crazy vessels were enough! The Spirit Angel was their guardian and their guide, and was with them on the stormy deep. Another important reason why the discovery should be made: The history and record of a fallen people, containing light from the spirit land, and truth from heaven, were buried in the soil of the Western Continent; and although engraven on golden leaves in a strange and unknown tongue, still they must come forth, being among the secret things that should be revealed.

With the view of raising up a Church pursuant to the doctrine contained in these records of a fallen people, a government has to be established on this chosen and promised land, whose provisions should be liberal enough to allow and tolerate every principle, pre– cept, and doctrine of the new Church which then existed only in prophetic vision. The Constitution of the United States forms the basis of that government, extending protection to all, and showing especial favor to none.

After this government became fully established, and had time to command the respect of all nations, lo! the angel of God from the courts on high descended to earth, and “Cumorah’s lonely hill,” in the State of New York, was made to yield up the golden records to the stripling ordained and chosen of God as the agent to enlighten the world with the words of nations long since extinct, whose ruined cities, towns, forts, and various other works of improvement are left as a striking memento of fallen greatness.

Let it never be forgotten, but let the mind’s eye always be directed to it as the eye of the storm-beaten mariner is ever directed towards the polar star or the beacon lights, that, while they ward off danger, they inspire with joy. It is a prophetic saying, relating to the destiny of this country, contained in the records found in Cumorah, and translated by the stripling youth, whose blood has sealed the truth of his translation—hear it, all ye ends of the earth! “THERE SHALL NO KING BE RAISED UP ON THIS LAND; AND WHOSOEVER SEEKETH TO RAISE UP A KING ON THIS LAND SHALL PERISH.” “This land,” means both North and South America, and also the families of islands that geographically and naturally belong and adhere to the same. There are promises and decrees of God in relation to “this land” of an extraordinary character. No other land can boast of the same. How beautifully does the spirit of the above prophetic sentiment chime in with the great American principle, “that no foreign prince, potentate, or sovereign will be allowed to interfere in the affairs of this Continent!” Spain must give up Cuba; England, Canada; and the United States of America must hold, as her dependencies, every country on the Western Continent, with the islands along its borders. Mexico would not allow our agents to preach the Gospel within her borders. The Catholic faith, sustained by political power, to the exclusion of all others, is a cause sufficient for revolutions at home, and for a conquest by a power whose policy it is to let religion stand upon its own merits.

The great design of Providence in raising up our nation, and freeing it from the yoke of a foreign power, and in arming it with energy, strength, and skill, was to make it the honored agent to suppress religious intolerance and usurpation, and to open effectual doors for the free investigation of every subject that can enlist the interests and attention of men, that every principle that will stand the test of a close and scrupulous examination, whether moral, political, or religious, may be drawn out and applied to practical use in that department to which it belongs.

The United States should therefore be regarded by the Latter-day Church as the men that fell the timber and clear the land, removing every obstacle in the way of ploughing and the sowing of seed. Remember, that whatever land or country falls under the Government of the United States, there you may go and preach the Gospel, and not be thrust into prison for it as you now are in many countries. The press also—that mighty engine of power, is free and untrammeled wherever the American eagle builds her nest. I think I hear a voice in low tone from yonder corner reproaching thus—But, in the United States, your Prophets have been killed, your houses burned, your fields laid waste, your grain consumed by fire, your people driven and scat– tered before the bitter blasts of persecution, like clouds before the wind!

Ah, too true! But the Constitution and laws of the country were not guilty of these cruel and bloody deeds. It was a lawless mob that did the mischief—an outbreak to which every country is subject. But you may ask, Why were the offenders not punished for their cruelty? Because human legislation had failed to affix a penalty proportionate to the offense: hence the Almighty has taken that matter into his own hands, and will award to them a punishment that will be fully adequate, by making them the eternal servants of the persecuted and martyred ones. If the nation had done all she could to wipe out the stain of these cruel and bloody deeds, herself would have been spotless.

In the spring of 1834, a move was made from Kirtland, Ohio, to the State of Missouri, by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and many of his friends. During the journey, from time to time, some murmuring and insubordination were manifest in the camp. This called out many reproofs and admonitions from the Prophet, until at length, on one beautiful day when the sun shone in all its beauty and splendor (having failed to silence the murmurings in the camp), he uttered in substance the following language—Brethren, by your murmurings and complainings, you have grieved the Holy Spirit. I have reproved you often—reasoned and remonstrated with you from time to time, and you have not heeded the admonition; and now, therefore, so sure and certain as you behold yonder sun shining in the heavens, without a cloud to obstruct its rays, just so sure and certain will the destroyer lay you waste, and your carcasses shall fall and perish like rotten sheep. Only about two weeks after, the cholera broke out in camp, and the awful pre– diction was fully verified, to the consternation of the stoutest heart. Some eight or ten died and were buried in a night! But did the Prophet cease his anxiety for the welfare of the camp? Did he become alienated in his feelings from his friends in their hour of chastisement and tribulation? Did he turn to be their enemy because he had spoken hard things against them? No! His heart was melted with sympathy—his bosom glowed with love, compassion, and kindness; and with a zeal and fidelity that became a devoted friend in the hour of peril, he personally ministered to the sick and dying, and aided in burying the dead. Every act of his, during that severe trial, gave additional assurances to the camp that, with all their faults, he loved them still.

If the United States have been guilty of a great dereliction of duty in not making an effort to redress the sufferings and wrongs of the “Mormons,” and the “Mormons” have said that this inaction and indifference on the part of the Government in relation to their grievances will draw upon the nation a scourge and chastisement from God, we have no more idea that the great purposes and designs of the Creator will be changed in relation to this nation, in consequence of this merited chastisement, than the purposes and designs of a father to rear up his son in honor, integrity, and truth will become changed by the infliction of chastise– ment for some transgression or misdemeanor.

The “Mormons” feel their wrongs: they know them; and while they live they will not forget them: they cannot if they would. They will remember them also in the spirit world and in the exalted courts of the celestial kingdom. When they enter, it will be asked, “Who are these? And from whence come they?” The answer will be—“These are they who have come up through great tribulation,” &c. They will not forget! Still, like the Prophet, who stood by his brethren until death, so will the “Mormons” stand by their country while any foe dares to set his unhallowed foot upon our shores, or upon our borders.

Under the guardianship of high Heaven, all things are moving gloriously onward. We have recently had a liberal slice off from Mexico, but the whole loaf must come. The north must give up, and the south keep not back, while the islands are waiting for thy law. The voice of God, through American policy, with loud and thrilling notes, cries, Come unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved from the yokes of tyrants—from the chains and fetters of bigotry, superstition, and priestcraft, and regale yourselves under the tree of liberty, whose branches are rapidly extending, and whose fruit is rich and desirable, and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.