Remarks by Elder George A. Smith, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1862.

I arise simply to call the attention of the brethren of the Priesthood now present to an item of counsel, which was disseminated among the people a year ago by the Presidency, and while they traveled through the Territory north and south during the summer and fall. It was enjoined upon the people and Bishops to make a change in the policy of herding cattle.

The manner of herding cattle has been to gather the horses and cows together and let some boys drive them out; then the boys would go and gamble, or get into some kind of mischief while the cattle went astray, and those boys would plot and get up some ill-conducted scheme so that our herding proved to be a nursery for thieves to be planted amongst us and eat up our vitals, the vitals of the whole people. The counsel was given to have the system of herding changed and put into the hands of wise, judicious men, and have the boys sent to school or kept at industrial pursuits under the control of their fathers, and not any longer make this system of herding our stock, which has been adopted in the different wards of this city and Territory, a school of hell.

This has been impressed forcibly upon our minds, not only here but north and south, and in some instances attempts were made and perhaps in a few in– stances it may have been carried out, but as a general thing, so far as last season was concerned, proved a failure. Perhaps the Bishops would announce what the counsel was, but did not see that it was carried into effect. But now that the people have got the counsel and we are now opening a new season and getting ready for the spring and summer’s operations, I therefore feel anxious to remind the brethren in regard to this important item, for I tell you if we do not look after our boys and lay a foundation for keeping them in the right way they will go to destruction. It is therefore important that all the brethren should unite in carrying out this instruction according to the advice given.

I felt to make these remarks, and I will further say that I am delighted to hear and see so many together at this time, and I consider it is a good opportunity of disseminating good instruction throughout Deseret.

May the blessing of God attend you and all the inhabitants of Deseret, who desire to do right.

There is a proposition that we put it to vote, and that we carry into effect this counsel. [The motion was put and the brethren voted unanimously to obey this counsel.]

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1862.

I hope to have the power and ability to speak loud enough for all to hear what I have to say.

I have been very much instructed during this Conference. I have been enlightened to a certain extent with regard to the authority of certain persons holding office in this kingdom. I have reflected much upon the Holy Priesthood and its various offices, but I feel that I have become more fully educated in the knowledge of the rights of men holding the Priesthood during this Conference. I rejoice in being where we can receive a correct education in regard to the things of the kingdom of God. I might truly say that I am astonished at some developments which are made before the people at different times. Brother Joseph Young remarked that there was no law against doing good.

There were remarks made last evening in regard to the mass Quorums of Seventies that are organized in the different settlements, and also in reference to the High Priests, of which there are Branch Quorums in the various settlements. It has been found that where there has been a President and Bishop in a Branch, it has been a cause of difficulty, and it was considered by Elder Hyde and others that this practice ought to be abolished. I have asked myself the question whether when we have received such blessings as have been conferred by the Priesthood of the Most High, we should come down from our exalted position, or whether we should not have the spirit of forbearance, the enlightenment of the Holy Ghost in our midst to expand our minds, to enable us to understand our duties, or shall we take a course to deprive ourselves of the blessings of the Melchizedek Priesthood, as did ancient Israel? This is what you are virtually doing in your neighborhoods where you exclude the Presidents of Branches. We are a people who expect to expand in our minds, to establish on the earth the kingdom of the Great God, and we are a people that never expect to retrograde, but to have all the keys of the Priesthood; to go forward conquering and to conquer until the whole of the inhabitants of the earth shall be redeemed and brought into subjection to the will of God. It is very natural that the Presidents of the Seventies should feel after the condition of their members. These Quorums are divided up and scattered through the different settlements; one man belonging to one Quorum—another to another; therefore, we find various Quorums represented in the different branches of the Church throughout this Territory, and it is right and proper that the Presidency of these Quorums should have some organization by which they can feel after their members and know their standing, that they may be reported up to headquarters from time to time. There is no law about this; it is by permission, and it is right. Now is it not possible that these organizations can be kept up without causing friction or difficulty between the brethren? If we are guided by the right spirit, I think they can.

Is it impossible to have a President and a Bishop in the same Branch without there being strife and contention among the people? There has been too much of this, but with the instructions that we are receiving we can improve.

I would not bring this before the public, if it had not been brought there already, for I am ashamed of such things, and I dislike to see them exhibited before the public, only as it becomes necessary for their correction. It appears to be the opinion of some that these things must be so, but I contend that it need not be so, and it is only the ignorance of the people that gives rise to this spirit of contention in certain places. And I feel now that after attending a Conference of this kind and receiving correct instructions upon all these points, there need be no more contention. It has been necessary to bring this before the Conference that we might receive instruction in reference thereto.

Well, brethren, it is evident to me that we have not progressed as far as I thought we had in the knowledge of the Priesthood, its officers and their respective duties. We have many blessings bestowed upon us by our Father in Heaven, and he is willing to bestow more, if the people were willing and capable of receiving them. I feel the same as brother Heber said that there is a great majority that are willing to do right, and that the predominating influence is for God. I feel it is so, and I bear my testimony to it. Then let us step forward and take hold, prove to God and angels that we will strive to overcome this spirit of contention that is in the world, and each and all magnify our callings, get together and consult for the interests of the kingdom and for each other’s welfare, that we may act in unison in all things that there may be union throughout the house of Israel, and in all the branches and settlements of Zion.

This kingdom is a school to all of us; we are learning our duties, and we should strive to improve and progress in everything that is good, and I think the great majority are improving, and it should be our determination to reduce those things to practice that are for our benefit and salvation.

When we came here we resolved to do this, and let us now carry it into practice in our daily lives. Let us consult the general welfare, and do what we do for the benefit of the kingdom of God. We can shut out the blessings of the Almighty by our own acts, by our strife for power and influence. But this is no way to gain permanent influence, and as we have seen today, and during this Conference, by the instruction that has been given, we are the individuals who shut out the influence of the Holy Ghost and the blessings which we might otherwise enjoy.

My advice is to have no contentions about who holds the most authority, for if you contend about your Bishops and Presidents, the first thing you know is that you have no President at all, and instead of going ahead (it is as brother George A. Smith said) you have to come down to a wheelbarrow arrangement. I do not like that kind of doctrine; it is contracting instead of expanding. I want to see Israel expand and become capable of receiving those blessings which are in store for the faithful.

We have to commence this work in our own bosoms, for this spiritual warfare is like the temporal, which was so beautifully illustrated by brother Hyde yesterday. The first fruit he tasted in the orchard he thought to be the best, but it got better and better as he tried the pipping and greening, and these principles are like the fruit trees in the orchard, they require digging about and cultivating, in order that those principles may dwell in our bosoms continually for our social welfare. Let us labor to eradicate the tares, the chaff, and the miserable traditions which control our nature and acts to a great degree, and let us see if we cannot get a little of the Holy Ghost to dwell in our minds, to enable us to live according to the principles of our holy religion; let us strive to expand and go ahead in doing those things that are necessary to enable us to progress in the way of intelligence, to gain that knowledge of the truth which is in readiness to be poured out upon us from the Almighty.

Shall we spend our time like the world, or shall we live and labor to build up the kingdom of our God? Now all you that freight for the Gentiles, that go out on the road in the employ of the Gentiles driving stage, or trading and working at the beck of the Devil, to promote the Devil’s kingdom; let me exhort you to turn about and not continue to mingle with the wicked. You had better never see a dime in the world. Need I say anything else when there is the pride of Israel, of those who have enlisted in the cause of King Emanuel engaged in trading and doing the works of the Devil, and thereby encouraging and aiding in the building up of his kingdom? Need I say a word against our brethren going and engaging themselves to do this when they so well understand that it is not the Mission of the Latter-day Saints to labor for anything but the upbuilding of the Church and kingdom of God? Here is the Mission of the Saints to go and aid in the gathering of the poor, to labor here for the building of the Temple wherein we can officiate for the dead and prepare to redeem Zion and to build up the waste places thereof, and to establish the principles of righteousness and truth upon the earth. Let our enemies learn their true position; let them herd their own cattle, delve in the earth for themselves, gather their own straw, make their own mortar, build up their own cities, but let us raise our own cotton, indigo, tobacco, build up our own cities—even the cities of Zion for the honor and glory of God; if all our labor be in the right place we shall become independent of our enemies, make the desert become fruitful and blossom as the rose. Here is work enough for the Saints without working for the Devil or his agents or imps. The Lord has commenced his work and has planted the standard of Zion and there is plenty of business to do suppose that all Israel should go into it. If it were correct for men to go and devote their time, talents, and strength in working to build up Gentile cities where would be the interests of the kingdom? If it is good for you to do this it is good for others, and if it is good for you to sell whiskey it is good for me. The truth is that we can exercise a better influence without having anything to do with these things. I have no desire or wish to do any such thing. But some will put the cup to their neighbor’s lip, ruin their neighbor’s children by such practices. It is not in the economy of Heaven made necessary for anyone to take such a course. There is plenty to do to occupy all the talent, ability, and intelligence of all Israel without taking any such course as this, and of that nature too, which instead of promoting evil will tend to virtue and righteousness and finally to exaltation, things which will tend to the enlightenment of the mind and to the advancement and spreading abroad of the principles of salvation and eternal lives. It is for us to be engaged preparing ourselves for those ordinances which we look forward to with such earnest anticipation, and anxious desire to administer and officiate for our dead, that they may come forth in the first resurrection, and enjoy the blessings purchased by the Redeemer of the world.

I do not know but we are now building up a Temple in which may be revealed the keys of the resurrection of the dead. We are building up a Temple to the name of the Most High, and there is plenty of business for every individual who lists to do his part. Do not let us pander to the Devil, nor strew our ways to strangers, but let us take that course that will be best calculated to establish the principles of righteousness upon the earth, to establish the reign of the kingdom of God.

The scepter of this Church and kingdom has been wielded by the Almighty power of God, and it will so continue, for the time has come when the Lord has commenced to get a foothold in the earth, and we have been called from the midst of the Gentiles to establish a nucleus of power for the benefit of the pure in heart. What better are we if we go on in wickedness encouraging the power of the Devil, than those who know not God? We might as well have stayed in the world. Then let us understand our high and holy calling, and also strive to understand the calling of the servants of God, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world and its wickedness, and keep in our possession the Spirit of the living God. We see the judgments of the Almighty spreading through the land, and what assurance have we that we shall not be afflicted unless we live so as to be without condemnation? Do we think that we shall be shielded from the judgments of the Almighty if we lay ourselves liable by the same acts as the world? If we do we are mistaken, for if we are guilty of the same crimes and wickedness the results will be the same with us as with the world, with the exception perhaps that the judgments will overtake us a little quicker, for they will commence with us. For it would thwart the purposes of the Almighty to let the wicked get a foothold and predominate in the midst of Israel, where he intends to prepare his people for the building up of Zion and the New Jerusalem.

Brethren and sisters let us be energetic in the discharge of our duties which now devolve upon us in our various locations. Let us be industrious and useful in our day and generation, and not lend our means or talents to build up interests opposed to the kingdom of God, but let everything that we can command be devoted to the upbuilding of that kingdom, and in this we will meet with the approbation of our Father in Heaven, and then will be found place for the power, the knowledge and intelligence which the Lord will take from the world and bestow upon us if we are worthy to receive them. The times are pregnant with great events, and the Lord has no desire to take back this knowledge from the world, if he can find a place to bestow it. Then, let us be wise and faithful that this knowledge may not be taken back, but see that we do those things that are good, not wasting our time with the vain philosophy of the world. Let us prepare to enjoy all those things that have been conferred upon man from the beginning of time, that we may secure the truth that has been revealed, that this intelligence may find place in the midst of the Saints of the Most High God, and that we may improve and advance from one point to another until we shall combine all the knowledge and intelligence which have been revealed, and receive that which the Almighty is ready to bestow upon us, that we may thus perfect our own being and progress in the knowledge of God and in the things pertaining to our existence here and hereafter.

The Apostle said, “If in this life only we have hope we are of all men the most miserable.” That might be true then, but I hardly subscribe to it now, but I contend that the course which the Lord has marked out tends to happiness and exaltation here, saying nothing of the life which is to come. The Gospel is calculated to make good men of bad men, it introduces good instead of evil, happiness instead of misery generally, and it is also calculated to draw out the capacities of men to the fullest extent for the benefit of man. Let us participate in those enjoyments that we may prepare for the life to come, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1862.

When we first came to these valleys, we urged the brethren to believe that they could raise grain here, for but few of them believed it; and raising peaches was supposed by nearly all to be entirely out of the question. It is now proved beyond a doubt that we can raise in these mountains, not only the best of grain, but the finest of fruit.

If the Elders of Israel had taken the counsel which has been given them for eight years past, we would have had gold enough on hand to buy one quarter of the State of Missouri; which we might have owned as well as not, and lived in it when we pleased. There is one practice among this people that I am at war with, and I pray God to give me strength and ability, with the faith of the righteous, to root it out from our midst, and that is, they would seemingly rather be damned than not give their money to their enemies. Will they raise flax, cotton, and fruit? No; but they will put fortunes in the pockets of strangers, to import from a distance what we can produce at home. If this people had followed the counsel given to them, there is not a man in Israel would have raised a bushel of wheat for our enemies who came here to cut our throats, without making them pay from five to ten dollars a bushel for it. I do not wish to scold, but still I do most cordially dislike the conduct of certain men with whom we are obliged to associate in a Church capacity. It is impossible for me to speak pleasantly of their conduct while they, in their feelings and affections, lean toward the wicked who will take the name of God in vain and curse the chosen of God. Even now, many of our brethren are running after them begging for a little job of hauling, for a little employment here and there, and apparently would lick the dust of their feet for five cents.

While brother Erastus Snow was speaking upon our being under the necessity of importing various articles from abroad, I tried to think what there is that we cannot make here. There is as good material in this Territory for making hats as there is in any part of the world, and we have the mechanics who can put it together. We have an excellent button machine, one capable of producing as good buttons as these I now wear in the bosom of my shirt. There are tons of bones and horns bleaching upon the prairie, which can be manufactured into as good buttons as any man need to wear, if some of our button makers would take hold of the machine and work it. We also have men here who can make pressed buttons which will do very well.

I see here, today, many who are dressed in homespun, and they look comfortable and comparatively independent. Some of the sisters I see, wear homemade shawls, and to me, they appear far more appropriate than do the gaudy trappings of foreign make. I cannot see why we should send to buy from strangers that which we can manufacture ourselves, if it is not to satisfy a disposition to please and pamper that power which is opposed to the kingdom of God on the earth.

When the Lord cuts off every resource from this people, only that which is immediately around them, they can then live as well if not better than they do now, and attain to a state of self-sustenance much sooner than if he should continue to plead with them to rise up in their strength and do as they ought toward becoming independent before all foreign temporal facilities are entirely cut off. Enoch was three hundred and sixty-five years in getting a people ready to receive the blessings the Lord had to bestow upon them, but in the latter days his work will be cut short in righteousness. Were the Lord to be as indulgent with us as many want him to be, and continue to bear with the sins of the wicked, I presume it would take him fully as long to prepare the people in his day, but he will not wait so long. The Lord can oblige this people to come to the standard he wishes them to reach, but I have very little faith that many will attain to it in the flesh.

If we could not buy imported hats, we would make them of the material we have here. If we could not buy a yard of cotton cloth, we would raise cotton and make it. We can make spinning wheels and jennies; but brother Erastus inquires where are we going to get the spindles, if we do not import them. That we have need to import spindles is not correct. We have plenty of men here who know how to make iron, and steel, and spindles. Brother N. V. Jones has produced specimens of iron from magnetic ore. He has not made cast iron from that ore, but the best of wrought iron can be made from it. Do our brethren make it? No. They want to go to California after gold, or they wish to freight for this man or that man who has nothing in common with the interests of the kingdom of God. In the same proportion that men operate to encourage the importation of foreign productions, so far, according to their influence and means, they operate against the advancement of the kingdom of God on the earth. Many may not believe this statement, though to me it has become an established fact. Any man of this Church and kingdom who exerts his influence, strength, and means to promote any community, or to build up any city, except the people and cities of Zion, is exerting his strength and means against the kingdom of God.

Our speaker this afternoon commiserated our friends in the east who are now destroying each other, but who were once united in taking from us our homes and possessions, and winked at the shedding of the blood of our best men, and who have taken the lives of our brethren and sisters, of our fathers and mothers, of our wives and children. The tottering grayhaired sire excited no commiseration in their breasts, neither did the aged grandmother whom they deprived of her children—her last prop and stay, except her God, and left her to fall into the grave without a relation to speak an encouraging word in her dying moments. Our history records hundreds of such cases in consequence of the persecutions, mobbings, and drivings to which this people have been exposed. Infants, the youth, and the middle-aged have dropped into untimely graves by hundreds. They have taken our lives from the earth and swallowed up our substance, and forsooth we feel very much to pity them in their present condition. I will inform sympathizers, that if the fountain of pity and commiseration keeps pace with the increasing calamities that will come upon our enemies, where they only have yielded drops, rivers will flow, for the press is only just beginning to come down upon the ungodly—they can only just begin to feel its pressure; but there is a weight hanging over them that is ponderous in its crushing and desolating force. Would I lift it off from them if I had the power? No, but I would let it crush the guilty, ungodly wretches—the priest in the pulpit, the judge on the bench, the governor, and the rulers, and would let the common people go free.

After a long struggle we expect to be able to redeem Zion, to establish the Center Stake thereof, and from thence spread abroad in the vastness of our increasing numbers, and in the greatness of our power and infinitude of our wealth, build hundreds and thousands of cities and magnificent temples to the name and honor of our God; and we will enter those temples and officiate for our forefathers and our relatives who have died without a knowledge of the Gospel, and for those ignorant thousands who are paid for killing each other in the present war, and we will give them a salvation—All who have not sinned against the Holy Ghost, or shed innocent blood or consented thereto. The priests have riveted their fetters and chains around the millions, and they more or less influence every political man in our Government, to ridicule and fight against God and every holy principle that comes from heaven. If these fetters were broken asunder, and every man and every family permitted to judge for themselves, hundreds of thousands would embrace the Gospel as soon as they could have the privilege of hearing it, receive their ordinations and endowments, and be ready to go forth and hasten the work of building Temples wherein to officiate for those who had not in their lives the privilege of going into a Temple to receive their washings and anointings. Were it not for priestcraft and political-craft, I am satisfied that scores of thousands on this continent would now embrace the Gospel.

I would like to see the footsteps of the Almighty (and they are now beginning to be visible) in his going forth to cut off the bitter branches; and by-and-by the stone cut out of the mountain will begin to roll, and if it does not soon crush some of the toes of the great image, I am mistaken. From present appearances I think the toes will be pretty well mutilated before the stone reaches them. I pray for this constantly, for I would be glad to see the inhabitants of the earth have the privilege of believing the Gospel for themselves, and not any more be bound by the blighting influences of priestcraft. In this country and in the old countries politicians and wealthy men, who have any influence whatever over their neighbors, or over a family, or district, exert that influence to keep the people from embracing the Gospel the Lord has restored again to the world, by threatening to injure them, to stop their wages, turn them out of employment, or out of their houses, if they embrace “Mormonism,” and thus the masses are bound down.

Will we still continue to build up and foster our enemies, and give them our life’s blood? If we intend to cease doing so, we will cease trading with them in the way and manner we have done and are doing. You may enquire what we are going to do. I will tell you what I have not done; I have not sent to the States this season for any factory cloth, nor for any calico, and I shall say to my family you must make your own clothing or go without. “What are we going to do for pins and needles?” Do without them, or use thorns. When we cease importing them, necessity may become the mother of invention in this as well as in many other cases. I have often wished there was not such a thing as a pin or a needle when I have found them sticking in garments, in my shirt, on my pillow, in the chairs, on the door rugs, strewed over the floors and passages, and in the streets. I will venture to say that the quantity of pins and needles that has been brought into this Territory has not done one-tenth part of the service they would, if they had been properly taken care of and not wasted. People will hardly stoop down to pick up a needle or a pin, but they will go to the stores and buy them. Ladies will take a dollar ivory comb, put it in water, and then comb a child’s hair with it; it is never dry, the ivory softens, and the comb is used up in a very short time, when a good comb of that description ought to last five years in a common family. Mothers have not learned that water will spoil an ivory comb. There are some combs made of gutta percha, that comb the hair better than horn, but they are brittle and require to be used with care; but the first you know, one is on the floor and the rocker of the rockingchair has passed over it and rendered it useless.

Where do you keep your needles? On the floor, in the cradle, on the bed, upstairs and downstairs, in every nook and corner of the house. Where are the pins? All over; you can pick up one wherever you are. Do we answer the end of our creation in thus wasting, with a prodigal hand, the good things which our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon us? The people are ignorant and careless touching these matters, and in them do not answer the end of their creation, and will not without prudently making the best possible use of that which God gives us.

We can make everything we want; and that is not all, we can, if we are disposed to, cease to want that which we cannot make. The moment we do this, and are satisfied with our productions, we are an independent people.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1862.

Instead of giving a text to be dwelt upon by those who may address us during this Conference, as I have done on some occasions, I say to the Elders, speak upon such subjects as may be in your minds. Open your mouths, and have faith that God will fill them with useful and instructive information, that all who hear may be blessed and built up in the strength of God. If we meet as we should, conduct ourselves as we should while we are assembled, and live as we should when we are separated, our meetings will certainly advance the kingdom of God on the earth.

As formerly, I present myself before you this morning in the capacity Providence has led me to occupy, acknowledged and sustained by you as the dictator, counselor, and adviser of the people of God. Hundreds and thousands of the Latter-day Saints exercise faith for me, and pray for me and my Counselors, and for the Twelve Apostles and others who are leaders and dictators in this Church and kingdom, but neglect to pray for themselves. They apparently have more faith for me than they have for themselves. Apparently, they will be more fervent in spirit while in prayer before God for the leaders of this people, than they will be for themselves. They wish their leaders to be far more holy, to be filled with more light, more intelligence, more faith, more compassion, more charity, more love, more humility than they themselves are. They wish their leaders to be filled with the patience of Job and the integrity of the angels, while they themselves neglect to attain to all this fulness. They do not sufficiently control themselves; they give way too much to passion and the idle follies of life.

I seek as diligently as you do that the leaders of this people may be and do precisely as God wishes them to. I pray as fervently as you do that the will of God may be done on the earth as it is in heaven, and that we may be molded and fashioned in all goodness, after the image of Christ. I have the same faith that you have for the leaders of this people, and I have all the fervency of desire I am capable of, that God will make the people just as pure as they want their leaders to be.

This is a great and good people. I am well acquainted with their inmost wishes and desires, for what they pray, and what they labor and toil to accomplish. Is their labor fully effectual, and their toil altogether calculated to bring them that which they desire? No matter what our exercises may be before the Lord for the advancement of truth and the power of the kingdom of God upon the earth, if our everyday life does not accord with our profession, our religious exercises are all in vain. We may have all faith so as to remove mountains, to pluck up trees by the roots and plant them in the sea, and be enabled to perform greater wonders than have ever been performed by man in the name of Jesus Christ with his Priesthood upon us, yet if we are not pure in our affections, true and fervent in our love for God, and holy in our spirits, all this will avail us but little. Our spirits should reign supreme in our bodies, to bring the flesh into subjection to the will and law of Christ, until the carnal, devilish spirit that fills the heart with anger, malice, wrath, strife, contention, bickering, faultfinding, bearing false witness, and with every evil that afflicts men, is entirely subdued. If this evil power is not vanquished by the power and love of God, the whole course of nature will be set on fire with the fire of hell, until the whole body and spirit are consumed. This is the way I read the order of God, the will of God, the law of God and his holy Priesthood, the love of God, and all that pertains to his kingdom on the earth.

The Apostle Paul says we are nothing without charity, whatever else we may possess. Using my own language I should say, without the pure principle of the love of God in the heart to subdue, control, overrule, and utterly consume every vestige of the consequences of the fall, the fire that is kindled within the nature of every person by the fall will consume the whole in an utter and irretrievable destruction.

We meet to be instructed; and at the termination of our Conference we should be a little farther advanced toward the holy kingdom of our Father and God, and be better prepared to build up his kingdom on the earth, than we were at its commencement.

In speaking of the tongue the Apostle says, “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” If the tongue cannot be tamed, it can be bridled. “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridle not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” If this unruly member is not held in subjection it will work our ruin, for, “The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, and it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” If the tongue is unbridled and uncontrolled, it sets in motion all the elements of the devilish disposition engendered in man through the fall. The Apostle has represented it well, in comparing its influence to the fire of hell which will eventually consume the whole man.

We are met in this Conference, expressly for the purpose of enlarging our views upon the importance of our Priesthood and duties; that our love for God, truth, and the household of faith may be increased; that our sensibilities may be sharpened to a keen relish for goodness and a just sense of right; that our judgments may become more impartial and discreet in all their conclusions, so that when we go from this Conference whether as Bishops, Elders, High Priests, High Councilors, or as members of the Church and kingdom of God in the last days, we may find ourselves sensibly improved, our aspirations more elevated, our natures more divested of low selfishness, and in every way better prepared to judge in Israel, and to lead the sheep of the fold of Christ in a manner more acceptable to the Great Shepherd.

It would be a matter of great satisfaction to me if all the Bishops were perfectly impartial when sitting in judgment on their brethren, and completely invulnerable to the influence of bribes and selfish leanings to the dictates of prejudices formed in favor of this or that person. I may not be entirely free from such prejudices, but, if I am required to sit in judgment upon an individual against whom I have entertained a prejudice, it has ever been my manner to inform that person of it upon the first opportunity that presented itself. Will you do this Bishops, and frankly acknowledge that you are unqualified to sit in judgment upon any person against whom you are strongly prejudiced?

So far as I have power, and with all the understanding God has given me, I seek to base all my conclusions upon facts when I am judging my brethren. When they are penurious, covetous, and for a trifling gain of some kind will overlook right, frown upon the majesty of truth, disregard justice and in all their actions manifest a strong preference for the god and glory of this world, I am prejudiced against their unrighteous preferences, but not against them as individuals; for if all the good and the evil, the strength and the weakness of which they are capable will range within the limits of a few square inches, as individuals they require my sympathy, while I abominate their sins.

I am not ignorant of the weaknesses of mankind; and in many instances when they would do a good act, the Devil, by some means, takes the advantage of them and leads them to commit an evil; as the Apostle says, “when I would do good, evil is present with me.” There is a number of people in this Church, who, when they would correct their lives, and conclude to perform the greatest good in their power, do that which brings disgrace upon them—the very thing they did not want to do. This weakness we should struggle bravely to overcome. We hold them in full fellowship in the Church of Christ because they design in their hearts to do right, but do not at all times manage to perform it. All men are not equally afflicted with these weaknesses. We have Bishops, Presidents, men of standing and experience in the kingdom of God, who, according to my judgment, do very wrong in many instances, but they may be blinded through selfishness.

I will here refer to a principle that has not been named by me for years. With the introduction of the Priesthood upon the earth was also introduced the sealing ordinance, that the chain of the Priesthood from Adam to the latest generation might be united in one unbroken continuance. It is the same power and the same keys that Elijah held, and was to exercise in the last days. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” By this power men will be sealed to men back to Adam, completing and making perfect the chain of the Priesthood from his day to the winding up scene. I have known men that I positively think would fellowship the Devil, if he would agree to be sealed to them. “Oh, be sealed to me, brother; I care not what you do, you may lie and steal, or anything else, I can put up with all your meanness, if you will only be sealed to me.” Now this is not so much weakness as it is selfishness. It is a great and glorious doctrine, but the reason I have not preached it in the midst of this people, is, I could not do it without turning so many of them to the Devil. Some would go to hell for the sake of getting the Devil sealed to them.

I have had visions and revelations instructing me how to organize this people so that they can live like the family of heaven, but I cannot do it while so much selfishness and wickedness reign in the Elders of Israel. Many would make of the greatest blessings a curse to them, as they do now the plurality of wives—the abuse of that principle will send thousands to hell. There are many great and glorious privileges for the people, which they are not prepared to receive. How long it will be before they are prepared to enjoy the blessings God has in store for them, I know not—it has not been revealed to me. I know the Lord wants to pour blessings upon this people, but were he to do so in their present ignorance, they would not know what to do with them. They can receive only a very little and that must be administered to them with great care.

A portion of this community will not improve, will not plant out a fruit tree nor a shade tree, expecting to be driven from their homes. Such neglect of duty is the very way to bring the power of the Devil upon us. Let every man go to with his might and build a good house for his family to live in, and make them comfortable and happy, and gather around them an abundance of the blessings and comforts of life, and do it by the power of God and the Spirit of the Holy One, in all diligence and faithfulness, and let us preach the Gospel, send the Elders to gather the poor and the meek of the earth, each one doing all the time all he can to accumulate means to accelerate this great and glorious work in the name of Israel’s God, being full of faith, humility, and charity; then we have done our duty, and all we can do to further the kingdom of God.

When we are doing the work of the Lord with all our might, and the evil within us is subdued by the power of God, and the light of Christ so shines within us that we can see clearly the things of God and men truly as they are, and all is judged by a righteous judgment, then we may look at and talk about the faults of each other without in the least disturbing our peace. When we do this, working faithfully for the building up of God’s kingdom, we are ready to acknowledge all things we possess to be the Lord’s, holding them for him in time, not knowing what he will do with them in the future. Let us teach our families the principles of righteousness by our conduct, which will go further than mere words. Let our private life be worthy the imitation of the best on earth, for it preaches a more lasting sermon than the tongue can preach. If we pursue this course the Lord will never suffer us to be driven from our homes. “I always thought,” said one, “that you were driven from Jackson County for your wickedness?” Yes, and I always acknowledge it; it was to bring us to our senses.

The Lord wants us to live up to the spirit of the times, and in the ratio the wicked nations are going down, he wants his people to rise in intelligence and importance as statesmen, noblemen, and rulers; first learning to govern and control themselves.

I will recur again to the sealing power I have already glanced at. If men are sealed to me, it is because they want to be; and if they will be good, and hearken to my counsel and live a righteous life, I will agree to dictate and counsel them; but when men want to be sealed to me to have me feed and clothe them, and then act like the Devil, I have no more feeling and affection for them than I have for the greatest stranger in the world. Because a man is sealed to me, do you suppose that he can escape being judged according to his works? No. Were he sealed to the Savior, it would make no difference; he would be judged like other men. Let us do what we do from a pure and holy principle, desiring only to promote the kingdom of God and be as nigh right as possible, that when we judge, we may judge in righteousness.

One great blessing the Lord wishes to pour upon this people is that they may return to Jackson County, Missouri, and establish the Center Stake of Zion. If our enemies do not cease their oppression upon this people, as sure as the Lord lives it will not be many days before we will occupy that land and there build up a Temple to the Lord. If they would keep us from accomplishing this work very soon, they had better let us alone. “I will purge the land,” saith the Lord, “cut off the evildoer, and prepare a way for the return of my people to their inheritance.” We pray for this, but are we preparing ourselves, to live according to the laws of Zion? This I will say, to the praise of the Latter-day Saints, there are hundreds and thousands of them who have been in the Church, some longer and some shorter, who, when you inquire about them, are paying attention to their own business; this proves that they live in peace with their God and their neighbors, doing as well as they know how. But when we speak of the officers of this Church, a great deal is required of them by the Lord and the people.

I wish to endure, and live the doctrine I preach to the people; to live with them, and with them fight the Devil until we kick the last one off from the earth.

If a Bishop does not want drunkenness in his Ward, let him be a sober man. If he does not want gambling, he must not be a gambler. If he wishes the truth always spoken, he should not lie. If he wishes the rights of the people respected in the holding of property, he should not steal. We wish to see the kingdom of God advance, that we may be prepared for the blessings the Lord is anxious to give to us.

May the Lord bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 23, 1862.

I am now looking upon the best people on the earth, that we have any knowledge of. There is not another community that presents the same amount of honesty, purity of heart and life, and integrity to God and to one another; yet much can be said upon our weaknesses, shortsightedness, and proneness to wander from right and do evil. I do not know that I should do right in giving full vent to some of my views and feelings concerning this people.

While conversing with some brethren the other day upon the conduct of this people as viewed by the intelligence of Heaven, I said, that it was a wonder to me that God had not long ago destroyed us all. His mercy and long-suffering are truly marvelous. Again, when I realize the object of our creation, the day of our trial we are now passing through, the weaknesses the Lord has ordained to come upon the children of men, and the steps to be taken for the exaltation of the human family my heart is filled with gratitude to God, it exults in his great beneficence. I glorify his name that he has spoken from the heavens, and noticed us mortals. I am exceedingly rejoiced that we have the privilege of living in the day when the Lord has spoken to the children of men, and revealed the Priesthood and placed it upon men, giving them the privilege of attaining to glory, immortality, and eternal lives. In the midst of our great weaknesses and manifold failings, we have abundant cause for exceeding great joy in the Gospel of our salvation. Are these great weaknesses to be found in the birds of the air, in the fishes of the sea, or in the beasts of the field? No. The animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms abide the law of their Creator; the whole earth and all things pertaining to it, except man, abide the law of their creation.

I now see before me beings who are in the image of those heavenly personages who are enthroned in glory and crowned with eternal lives, in the very image of those beings who organized the earth and its fulness, and who constitute the Godhead—still here is the evil, and we are the ones who are accountable; for we are the “lords of creation.” We hold in subjection the creation; we avail ourselves of the great truths found in the arts and sciences, we navigate the seas, we survey the land, we convey intelligence with lightning speed, we harness steam and make it our servant, we tame the animals and make them do our drudgery and administer to our wants in many ways, yet man alone is not tamed—he is not subject to his Great Creator. Our ignorant animals are faithful to us, and will do our bidding as long as they have any strength; yet man who is the offspring of the Gods, will not become subject to the most reasonable and self-exalting principles. How often have we witnessed a faithful animal conveying his master home so drunk that he could not see his way or sit up; yet his faithful animal will plod through mud, shun stumps, trees, and bad places, and land him safely at home.

Are we even obedient to our better judgments and to truth that is self-evident? Many of us have been taught the doctrine of total depravity—that man is not naturally inclined to do good. I am satisfied that he is more inclined to do right than to do wrong. There is a greater power within him to shun evil and perform good, than to do the opposite. We have the powers of darkness, or the influences opposite to good, to contend with, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” There are two classes of influences, one tends to good and the other to evil; one to truth and life, the other to falsehood and death. Evil is sown in our nature, but there is not a person who is not prompted to do good and forsake evil, though there are but few who, from their own volition, will subject themselves to be perfectly obedient to the law of Christ, yet there are dispositions that will be subject to the truth through cruel mockings and scourgings, bonds and imprisonment. Truth is for us, right is for us, life is ours.

Our enemies accuse the leaders of this Church of having too much influence over the people. How much influence have I, or any other man that ever lived in this kingdom, over an apostate? It is now as it was in the days of Joseph. While people retained the spirit of their religion, they looked upon him as one of the best men on the earth; but when they gave way to the spirit of apostasy, then he was the worst of men. This has been so in all ages with every Prophet, Apostle, and righteous man and woman; they have had the warmest friends, and the bitterest enemies. No man has friends like those who are righteous; their friendship is even unto death, and then it reaches throughout all eternity. The friendship of the wicked must fade away, sooner or later; while the friendship of the righteous will last forever and ever. When we understand the truth let us abide by it, and boast not in our own strength, but glory in the strength of the Almighty.

The Elders often tell how many they have converted, and how many churches they have built up in different parts of the world. When persons apostatize from the path of right, I think some of them are man-made converts; as a Methodist preacher remarked to a drunken man lying by the wayside, who hailed him with delight saying, “You are my father in Christ, you converted me.” “I should think so,” said the preacher, “for it is very clear that you are not one of the Lord’s converts.” We cannot make Latter-day Saints of anybody on this earth but ourselves; we have not even power to make a Saint of a wife, or a child, a brother, or sister, in the least degree, unless they will hearken to counsel and obey the principles of righteousness, which I contend they are naturally inclined to do, were it not for the awful apostasy there is in the world. All persons must possess their intelligence free and independent before God.

I preach the Gospel to the Latter-day Saints; and if a person comes into our community and wishes to know further with regard to life and salvation, I will tell him as freely as ever I breathed the mountain air; but you cannot find one person that I ever crowded my religion upon either in or out of the Church. I have my reasons for taking this course. I never preach such sermons as, “Well, Mr. C., or D., have you heard any of our Elders preach? Do you know anything about Mormonism?” “No.” “Why, our Gospel is the Gospel of life and salvation, it is the only true plan of salvation for the people; and you must be a ‘Mormon;’ if you are not a ‘Mormon,’ you must expect to be damned.” If a person wishes to know my religion, I am willing that he should know the whole of it. There is nothing secret or hidden in it; the whole plan of salvation is for the human family, and is as free as the waters that flow from our mountains into the valleys. If you thirst, drink until you are satisfied, for you are truly welcome. This is the nature of the Gospel, and the character of Him who has sent it. It is free for all. But I am not disposed to compel any person to partake of that which they dislike, or have an aversion for.

This may not be right in every case. Why it is right with me is, that, if a person urges upon me that which I am not disposed to receive, it creates in me an alienation of feeling toward that person. I am naturally opposed to being crowded, and am opposed to any person who undertakes to force me to do this, or not do that. In my youth I was supposed to be an infidel, and perhaps in one respect I was, though I would have freely given all the gold and silver I ever could possess, to have met with one individual who could show me anything about God, heaven, or the plan of salvation, so that I could pursue the path that leads to the kingdom of heaven; but I did not want to be urged, and I am so inclined to this day. Yet I am convinced that it would not do for every man to pursue this course in every circumstance. We can guide, direct, and prune a tender sprout, and it inclines to our direction, if it is wisely and skillfully applied. So, if we surround a child with healthy and salutary influences, give him suitable instructions, and store his mind with truthful traditions, maybe that will direct his feet in the way of life.

There are persons of twenty, forty, and sixty years of age, who never saw a day in which they knew their own minds. They seem to be undecided in all their actions, like a child a few years old, and need some person to direct them. I am somewhat different from this class of persons. Should I be told that it is time to wash my face and eat my breakfast, I should be strongly inclined to notify my informant that I knew that as well as he did. So some of our Elders who preach in the world, will go into this or that house, begin to converse with the members of the family, and tell them they must be baptized or be damned. This will turn some persons against them and the truth, simply because they will not be compelled to do anything; while there are others in the world who would not embrace the truth, unless they were ordered to do it; probably they are those who will be compelled to come in.

There is a class of people that will not move to do themselves good, only as they are urged and commanded. There is a wide difference in people in this respect. There are instances in this community that if a wife does not urge her husband to pray in his family, he would never do so. And again, there are men in this city and throughout the settlements as good men as need be, who are driven from this duty by the teasing of a wife. “Now, pa, come, do let us have prayers; I have got all the children here and the Bible, and I do want to have prayers.” He cannot bow to that kind of compulsion, to save him; and if he should be damned he will not be made to pray in such a manner, for when he prays he means to do it for his God, and not because a woman teases him to do it. If a wife of mine should undertake to direct me in such a manner, I should give her to understand that I would tell her and the children when to come to prayers, when to go to parties, and how to reverence the Holy Priesthood and their God; I should never pray in creation, if I could not do it independent of the dictation of a woman.

I know that the people need more or less teaching and urging all the time, Sunday after Sunday, to keep them in the path of safety. How easy we get out of patience! We get a little hasty, and do a little wrong, because we do not train ourselves—do not conquer ourselves, and subject ourselves to the law of Christ. Sisters speak evil of sisters, they hear of it, and straightway return the compliment in a spirit of vindictiveness. Elders have contention with Elders; they do not understand alike, and are not disposed to in their deal. Elders are agreed on the way and manner necessary to obtain celestial glory, but they quarrel about a dollar. When principles of eternal life are brought before them—God and the things pertaining to God and godliness—they apparently care not half so much about them as they do about five cents. “We want the dollars.” What are they good for? Dollars will do good, if you can keep them until they will do good, using them in the right way. Men will scramble over each other to get gold and silver, and when they have it they waste it; it passes from them, and they know not how, doing them no good.

You can go into many houses in this Territory and find, for cooking utensils, an old skillet in which they cook their meat, heat their dishwater, wash their dishes, mix up pig feed, &c.; and when they set their table it is in keeping with the old skillet; you find little to eat, and that is half burnt and half cooked, unpalatable and unhealthy. The wife and children have scarcely a decent dress, and all around, in the house and out of it, is a picture of misery. Yet if you ask the owner of the house whether he has any cattle on the range, “Oh, yes.” How many? “I do not know; I had fifty head the other day, but I am not sure how many oxen and cows I have.” How many calves have you? “I think I have fifteen or twenty.” Do you have any butter for breakfast? “No;” and when they have any, it is about the size of a walnut and as white as cheese curd. They do not know how to make butter and cheese, yarn and cloth, nor do they try to learn. The wool is wasting; the flax, if any is grown, is left to rot; indolence, dirt, and scarcity reign where cleanliness, beauty, order, and plenty could be produced by the hand of industry, economy, frugality, and care. There is a wonderful amount of ignorance with regard to our temporal life, to say nothing of our spiritual life.

A misunderstanding of five dollars in a settlement will sometimes set some of our Elders to quarrelling and contending, and spending the time of the High Council and Bishop Courts, and making a cost of a hundred dollars. You cannot bring up anything that relates to Priesthood, God, heaven, or heavenly things, that will move them in the direction of a quarrel, and yet they will contend about a little filthy lucre which they cannot hold; they pass by the things of God as naught compared with it, living year after year, learning little or nothing that pertains to life eternal, but would rake earth and hell to secure a few cents. Money is not wealth; neither can you subsist upon it, in the absence of the common aliments of life. It is the love of money that is a mischief—that is the root of all evil. Love not gold, nor silver, nor anything of the kind, but gather around you that which will make you “healthy, wealthy, and wise;” then all will be right, and real wealth will increase around you, and wisdom from God will illuminate your course through life.

We pray for wisdom, but God will as soon put bread and meat in our cupboards without any endeavor of ours, as he will give us wisdom without our trying to get it. If a man wants a farm, let him make it; if he wishes an orchard he plants it; if he wants a house for his family to live in, he must gather the materials and build it. The Lord instructed the people in primitive times how to smelt the ores and work in the different metals, how to hew stone, how to build houses and temples. He will give us wisdom in these things, but he will not come down to do the manual labor.

As we prepare materials to build a house or temple, so man can prepare himself for the reception of eternal wisdom. We go where the materials for a house are, and prepare them to answer our purpose; so we may go to where eternal wisdom dwells, and there diligently seek to possess it, for its price is above rubies. I have frequently said that the greatest endowment God ever gave to man is good, sound, solid sense to know how to govern ourselves, how to choose the good and refuse the evil, to know how to sever the right from the wrong, the light from the darkness, and gather to ourselves that wisdom which comes from God, and reject that which comes from beneath. Let all be brought into subjection to the will of God, and then there would be no contention about a trifle, but every man would contend lawfully for the things of God, and more earnestly than for silver and gold.

May the Lord bless the good and fill the earth with the righteous. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 16, 1862.

It is often remarked that we do not understand things alike, but I am of the opinion that the inhabitants of the earth understand in the spirit, or, in other words, in the intelligent portion of their organisms, nearer alike than they have power to communicate.

We believe we are entitled to the gift of the Holy Ghost in extent according to the discretion and wisdom of God and our faithfulness; which gift brings all things to our remembrance, past, present, and to come, that are necessary for us to know, and as far as our minds are prepared to receive the knowledge of God revealed by that all-wise Agent. The Holy Ghost is God’s minister, and is delegated to visit the sons and daughters of men. All intelligent beings pertaining to this earth are instructed from the same source.

In the New Testament and Book of Mormon, we learn that when the Gospel is preached the people are taught to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to repent of their sins, be baptized for the remission of sin, and receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands; the Holy Ghost is then the special gift of the Father, and is his minister. He also gives intelligence by angels, as well as by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and by opening the minds of the Saints to behold in vision things as they are in eternity. When true doctrines are advanced, though they may be new to the hearers, yet the principles con– tained in them are perfectly natural and easy to be understood, so much so that the hearers often imagine that they had always known them. This arises from the influence of the Spirit of Truth upon the spirit of intelligence that is within each person. The influence that comes from heaven is all the time teaching the children of men. “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” Again, “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” Again, “How oft is the candle of the wicked put out!” We have nothing independent of the Almighty. We preach, we hear, and we are instructed. We try to so live as to gain more information, more light, more command over ourselves, and more influence and power to increase the good and discourage the evil, until we can comprehend the great principles of existence and eternal progression.

We should be more happy, if we could more successfully carry into effect the knowledge we now have. The Lord said, “Let there be light: and there was light.” The Council in heaven said let there be an earth, and let there be a firmament above and beneath it, and it was so. They said let there be heat and cold, and it was so. They said let there be spring and summer, autumn and winter, and it was so. We can say let the people be clothed, and they are clothed; let them be warmed, and they are warmed; let them be housed, and they are housed. If we put forth the ability God has given us, we can bring forth the very things we say shall come. If we say let there be wool, or let there be flax, they will come; if we say let there be iron, steel, brass, or any other metal we need, it will come. If we say let there be cotton and woolen yarn and let them be made into cloth, it will be done. The Lord said let there be an earth, let there be light to light it, let there be seas and dry land, air, rocks, trees, fruits, and shrubs of all kinds, grasses and flowers, and vines that yield fruit above the ground and in the ground, for the use of man and beast, and it was so; but all these productions come according to natural principles. Man is surrounded by those productive principles, and is endowed with power to act upon them; and according to the amount of intelligence he possesses and the labor he expends are the productive results.

This people are increasing in the wisdom which cometh from God, and their power to organize the crude elements around them into the necessaries of life is in ratio to their increase of intelligence and application of labor. In this way we ought to understand these great principles. We need not seek for a revelation to know how to make cloth, when the mode is plainly marked before our eyes. Sheep produce a textile material, and how to make it into cloth has been known time out of mind; we can raise sheep in abundance. I do not look for power from the heavens that will produce for us wool, cloth, iron, food, or anything we need, without being made with hands. We should understand what is required of us to sustain ourselves.

It was observed this morning, that the teachings the people are con– stantly receiving are of a temporal character, and I should think that, if such teachings were carried into practice by them, spiritual blessings would be attained through temporal means. It is all of God. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.” The mountains, valleys, and plains, all the wealth of precious metals hid in their bosoms, all the teeming fulness of vegetable productions, and all animal existences in their endless variety are the Lord’s. All that can be produced from the soil by the ingenuity and industry of man is the Lord’s. The Lord has given the earth to the children of men, that by the union of mind and matter, inspired and directed by the power of the eternal Priesthood, all may be made subject to the Great Supreme of the universe. It is our duty individually as well as our privilege, to learn how to dispose of the earthly wealth we may possess, to the glory of him who has permitted us to hold it, for in temporal blessings honestly obtained and wisely placed to their legitimate use are concealed mines of spiritual and eternal wealth. If we magnify and make honorable this temporal existence, by the practice of every good and righteous principle that comes within our knowledge, we honor and magnify that spiritual existence, and that heavenly intelligence, which the Father of all has placed within us. This is the way to increase in temporal and spiritual wealth. If we pursue diligently this path, there is not the least danger of any persons being lost, but they will be prepared to inherit after death a more glorious and heavenly sphere than they now dwell in.

I know that the great majority of mankind, who are created for a noble and glorious purpose, are ignorant of these heavenly principles; and they cleave to their ignorance, and love darkness rather than light. They will not be taught by an authorized minister of heaven, but they hire men who are as blind and as ignorant as themselves to guide them in the way they choose to walk in. From the days of the creation until now, I do not think there is one man out of a million who has made so much as a scratch upon the world’s history, to show that he was entirely devoted to God and truth; but the generations of mankind have sprung up and decayed like the grass of the field.

When the Spirit of revelation from God inspires a man, his mind is opened to behold the beauty, order, and glory of the creation of this earth and its inhabitants, the object of its creation, and the purpose of its creator in peopling it with his children. He can then clearly understand that our existence here is for the sole purpose of exaltation and restoration to the presence of our Father and God, where we may progress endlessly in the power of godliness. After the mind has thus been illuminated, the ignorance and blindness of the great mass of mankind are more apparent. Yet there is no son or daughter of Adam and Eve but what has incorporated in their organization the priceless gem of endless life, for the endless duration and endless lives which they are approaching.

Are the people glorifying their Father who is in heaven? Do they take every step possible to do the will of God on earth, and magnify their calling? Is every act of their lives made to increase their intelligence, to add to their faith, virtue, and to virtue, knowledge, and to knowledge, temperance, and to temperance, patience, and to patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity, and to improve upon every gift and grace which God has bestowed on them through the Gospel? I fear not. There is yet to be seen a willful and covetous disposition in some few of our brethren and sisters. “I want a ribbon,” says a sister, “and I will have it whatever the consequence may be.” “And,” says a brother, “I want a horse, and I will have it, if I steal it, and run the risk of being damned for it.” I am sorry to say that some few of the Elders of Israel have such feelings and desires. One of the brethren this morning was complaining of sins rising in the heart, and of the self-will of fallen man, and the evil which the Devil had power to engender in the hearts of our parents, who have entailed it on their children. How shall we overcome this inclination to evil? Let the will of God predominate over the will of the creature. Let the husband and father learn to bend his will to the will of his God, and then instruct his wives and children in this lesson of self-government by his example as well as by precept, and his neighbors also, showing them how to be brave and steadfast in subduing this rebellious and sinful disposition. Such a course as this will eventually subdue that unhallowed influence which works upon the human heart.

We are all endowed with the resolution, more or less, to deal with ourselves as we would deal with a child or with a neighbor. In case a child will not be controlled by his parents, but is disobedient and refractory to a hopeless degree, what would his parents be apt to do? I can answer for myself: I presume I should say to such a child—leave me. But I have no such children; and it is hard to say what I might do, were I tried. If a child of mine, who has come to years of discretion, should say to me, “I will do this, and I will not do what you require of me,” I should use the rod of correction sufficiently to teach that child better. Why not in the same way, institute a proper and salutary correction over the rebellious spirit that at times arises in the human breast? Why not govern and control the appetite, that it may be subject to the law of Christ? But how is it? Why, “I must have some tobacco, if I am damned for it.” Or, “I must have a cup of tea, if I am damned for it.” Or, “I must have this or that, if I should have to go to hell for it.” It is like saying to our Heavenly Father, “I will not mind you, I will not obey your commandments, but I will have my own way and follow the bent of my own inclinations; my appetite shall be nursed and pampered, though it be at the expense of your displeasure.” Instead of pursuing this course, listen to that Spirit God has given to all, which teaches the right and how to avoid the wrong, and say to appetite, to disposition, to temper, to the whole man, you must do as I command you; I am an officer, a general in the army of Christ and I will be obeyed.

Every man and woman is called to the same office; let us magnify it, and exert a mighty influence over this organization, and rise up in the strength of the great I Am, and by the power of his eternal Priesthood, command every power, every pulse of our natures to be subject to the law of God and truth, and not suffer this low, sinful, groveling, dark, benighted, cursed spirit we have received from the fall to bear rule in us. All persons who suffer themselves thus to be ruled, disgrace themselves and do not honor the being God has given them. If men are ruled by the power, principles, and righteousness of the Holy Priesthood, they will find themselves in possession of all the wisdom they need to meet every emergency of this changing existence, and all they require to conquer the world, the flesh, and the Devil.

How very far the inhabitants of the earth live short of their privileges! How far they live beneath the blessings the Lord has in store for them! Is it not more or less so with us as individuals and as a community, who profess to be the friends of God? We live far short of the blessings the Lord has in store for us. When the visions of our minds are opened, we can then more fully realize this truth. And again, when the vision is closed up we are found, as a general thing, doing the best we know how, and we may be considered pretty good men and women. This is true, yet there is an eternity of knowledge before us to learn.

It is as much as I can do with all the power I have with the heavens and with the Latter-day Saints to say, let there be a carding machine in this Territory, and it is done; to say, let there be a nail factory in this Territory, and it is here. Again, all that has been said, and all the praying that has been done, and all the faith that has been exercised, and all the combination and union of effort among the Saints have not brought to pass one say of the President’s in regard to iron; he said, let there be iron, but there is no iron yet. Brother Wells has told you the reason, this morning. A man says, “I am going to make iron, and I will have the credit of making the first iron in the Territory. I will have the credit of knowing how to flux the ore that is found in these regions, and bringing out the metal in abundance, or no other man shall.” Now, the beauty and glory of this kind of proceeding is the blackest of darkness, and its comeliness as deformity.

We have said, let there be a carding machine, and it is here. Let there be sheep, and there are sheep; wool, and it is here; and now who will say let there be flax and then produce it? Let there be linen cloth, and then produce it by means of the power and ability we possess? We know how to perform this labor, and how to produce this material. There are brethren before me who know how to make as good linen cloth as was ever manufactured in any country. It is so with other things. By-and-by, somebody will say, let there be silk, and silk will be produced here. All we have to do is to grow the mulberry tree, import the eggs of the silkworm, and apply the skill that is already in our possession, and we can produce an abundance of sewing silk, silk dress patterns, silk vesting, and anything we need in the shape of silk drapery. Silk is in the elements around us, and not only silk, but all things which pertain to the earth; and again, all things which pertain to the heavens; all things which pertain to time, and all things which pertain to eternity, which is the same with God today, yesterday, and forever. I am extremely anxious that this people should understand the value of their existence here, and the great worth of that immortal spirit which is clothed upon with an earthly house, preparatory to an eternal exaltation and eternal lives. Honor this earthly house, for in it are concealed the rudiments of all knowledge, the root and foundation of science that we have any knowledge of. Mankind are capable of collecting and retaining an immense amount of knowledge, if they will diligently apply the ability God has given them; in fact, they are made to travel on through an endless progression of improvement. I have only time to give a few hints on this subject, though it might prove very interesting to you, were I to classify these great truths and dwell upon them, item by item, through a course of lectures.

Do you know, mother, the worth of that child in your lap? There is not a mother here, I presume, that knows the real value of her offspring. We say, “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away,” &c., when our children die. The truth is, the Lord has given and we do not know the value of the gift we have received, and it is taken from us; not because the Lord wants the child, for there are myriads of spirits in heaven, and more coming all the time. They do not want the spirit back again—they do not need it in the spirit world. It should remain here, and we should know the worth of it sufficiently to take care of it and preserve it on earth, until it has fulfilled the measure of its creation—brought forth all the fruits of its existence, and become ripe to go home to a higher state of glory to rest for a season, until it is time again to unite the body with the spirit.

A thousand glorious principles open up to my mind, that I cannot now dwell upon; but there is one subject pertaining to our temporal existence that I wish to present; the news we receive from the east and from the west is of wars and floods, trouble and sorrow. Our southern settlements have suffered by floods; they have lost their farms, gardens, and orchards. The water has risen twenty-five feet higher than it has ever been known to rise before in San Bernardino and other parts of California. I wish to warn this people, that they be not caught unprepared when spring opens. Make the best provisions in your power to ward off destruction by high water into City Creek and other mountain streams running through our settlements. Particularly, let the brethren who are living on the Cottonwood bottoms, take care, or we may hear of their passing down Jordan. The earth is now saturated with rain and melted snow, and if the snow in City Creek goes away with a warm spring rain, the first we know, some of the people may be washed down into the river.

May the Lord bless us. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 16, 1862.

I feel thankful at the improved appearance of our Tabernacle this morning. The President said, “Let there be light: and there was light.” Brother Taylor said if he was going to preach he should take that for a text, but I am not in the habit of taking texts. I shall, therefore, make such remarks as may come into my mind.

Behold, light has come into the world, and the Saints are the evidence of it, because their minds have been enlightened by the truth which they have received, through the influence of which they have been gathered out from the midst of the nations of the earth, that they might build up the kingdom of God, a kingdom of righteousness where they are not in danger of being overwhelmed with the darkness and corruptions of the world from whence they came. We have come out from Babylon into these mountain valleys for this purpose. We have been brought together by the favor of the Almighty, that we might form a nucleus of strength and power on the earth to aid and assist one another, to strengthen the cause and build up the kingdom of God, to establish righteousness so that this kingdom cannot be swallowed up by the wicked and ungodly. Here, also, we can have a clearer vision and view, more light and understanding than we could in the countries that we came from. The vision is less obscured by surrounding objects.

While brother Woolley was praying that we might have light, I felt to add one sentence, which was, that we, the Latter-day Saints, might do as well as we know how, that we might be able to accomplish the work assigned us. A person may have it in his heart to do so, but he may not have if in his ability to do as well as he knows because of the controlling circumstances which surround him at the time. This doubtless, is frequently owing to the ignorance of those associated with him, and if the people cannot do as well as they would at first, let them not be discouraged, but try again, and continue their efforts, perhaps they may bring greater influences to bear and combine more power as they proceed, until, finally they will be successful. When the prayer was being offered, I felt to say, “O Lord, enable thy people to do as well as they know how,” and I doubt not but this is the feeling in the hearts of all the sincere and faithful. And they ask, what can I do? How can I best serve my Master’s cause? With the large majority of those that profess to be Saints, to know how to be the most useful in the midst of the Saints of the Most High God is the ever-prevailing desire; it is a constant thought. We have instructions from time to time, line upon line, precept upon precept given to us by our president, informing us how to eradicate evil from our bosoms, to form a union of effort, of strength, of power, of faith to combine the elements together for the advancement of the kingdom and cause we have espoused, and those instructions of late have been, in a measure, upon points of a temporal character for the temporal salvation of the people. We should depend upon ourselves and upon our own resources and exertions for the things that are necessary for our temporal sustenance.

If we wish to do anything that will be a credit to ourselves, let us now in the days of peace and prosperity, show our faith by our works, and labor to bring about for ourselves and the kingdom, those things that are necessary for our own support and existence, to manufacture our own clothing, to begin to lay aside those things that are unnecessary while they are within our reach, provided that we do it of our own voluntary act for the sake of holy and righteous principles, for the sake of doing right, then we may be entitled to a small mead of praise; but that individual who only reforms when he is obliged, is not entitled to praise. When there is an abundance of luxuries here, and we show that we can abstain from them and lay them aside to depend upon our own exertions, we thus gain strength and power, instead of waiting till the things are entirely shut out from us.

We desire to prove our integrity to ourselves and to our God. This perhaps is in the bosoms of all the Saints; they would like to show that they are willing to abide the teachings that come from the President to them, and to lay the foundation for bringing those things from the elements which they require. Let us endeavor to make a little calculation, exercise our intellects, be active and energetic, and combine together the ability which we find in our midst; let us also combine our efforts and means as well as our faith. We are frequently in difficulty to establish some mechanical branch of business. We have thus far been frustrated in our attempts to manufacture iron, not so much for want of the mechanical skill, as in consequence of a certain unrighteous ambition which some have had to be the first to bring out good iron.

The Adversary is opposed to our progress, and he will strive to subvert every enterprise, but how does it become the Saints to let the evil influence and the power of the Adversary control them to that extent that if one brother cannot accomplish what is wanted, he feels in his heart that no one else shall? How does it look when a man cannot produce iron, for him to feel in his heart to operate for the purpose of thwarting every other man, and for this purpose get up a division and a contention among the brethren? This is the spirit that has been in Iron County; it is a kind of rivalry that is engendered in hell. To let the power of the Devil enter in and produce such feelings among Saints that ought to know better, and that ought to do better, is a disgrace to a people calling themselves the people of God.

I speak of iron to illustrate this subject, because it is a case with which you are all familiar, and because it is an article of which we stand so much in need. There are other things, though perhaps of less moment, in which this kind of strife does exist. There is such a thing as a commendable rivalry, a desire to excel, and which tends to build up, but this of which I speak is a design to thwart the operations and to keep in men’s own bosoms the knowledge which would do others good; yet they appear to delight in keeping looked up in their own bosoms that knowledge which would be of service to the community. Such persons fall far short of doing as well as they know how, or of doing all they can for the building up of the kingdom of God; all such will most likely become darkened in their counsel and lose the knowledge which they possess, for the Lord has not bestowed that light and intelligence for such a purpose. If I understand the subject, we are here to use our best ability to aid with our might and power to bring about the purposes of the Almighty in the last days. Hence, when we see men continue to be actuated by such unworthy influences which we find to be both disagreeable and disgraceful, we should strive to help them in overcoming them. Perhaps we do not all think of it in this light. If we do not, let us search out and see where we do give the Evil One power over us, and how he takes the advantage and causes us to do things which hedge up not only our own way, but the way of others. I do not suppose there is any person, even the most feeble, but could do some things for the advancement and benefit of this people, if they could and would do as well as they know how. With all the intelligence which the President possesses, I have no doubt but he could at many times do a great deal better for the benefit of Israel if the people around him pos– sessed more of the disposition to exercise and bring into use the knowledge and power to do good with which the Almighty has endowed them, but owing to their lack of diligence, and command over themselves they let the Adversary get power over them, and that thwarts him in his purposes which he would otherwise accomplish. The Lord himself cannot accomplish as much with a people who are slow to comprehend, who do not resist the powers of darkness and who do not overcome the power of the Evil One, but permit Satan to rule predominant in their bosoms and throw obstacles in their way, as he could and would with a people who not only being willing and obedient but who exhibit a disposition to govern and control their evil propensities, subdue and eradicate them from their bosoms, and give free scope and power to the intelligence, light, and knowledge with which they are so graciously endowed.

Well, then, we see that here is a labor that we can perform ourselves, if we will be careful and look into our own bosoms and eradicate therefrom the evil influences which we permit to come in there and darken our own counsel and minds, and be a clog in the way of the kingdom instead of helping it along.

In all measures which need our help, we should strive to see the utility of them, if possible as soon as those that have set about to do the work, and let our faith be to go about the labor required of us; let us go about it unitedly, with one heart and one voice. Then, cannot we ac– complish things as the Lord wants? Yes, we can, and then we shall soon see the kingdoms of this world tremble and fall to pieces. There are some portions of this community, I am aware, that feel right about the temporal progress of this kingdom.

I am speaking of these matters that you, my brethren and sisters, may lend a helping hand and let the kingdom increase, that we may all see the work of our God roll forth and increase with greater power and magnitude. Our President desires it, and so does the Almighty, and he will bestow his blessings upon his people and cause them to prosper exceedingly.

I presume there is no person living, who, if it had been possible twelve years ago to have looked forward to this time, and seen the vast increase of this mighty work and its magnitude, but would have considered it the most glorious scenery that could be exhibited to their view. No person could have imagined it, unless the Lord had shown it to him by opening the vision of his mind to see it.

We have truly attained to great blessings, still greater are before us, and we can rejoice more abundantly in the faith as we witness the development and progress of the great work in which we are engaged. We see great and important events before us, and duties to perform that are of great importance. Let us take hold with a will and with our whole heart, that we may progress more abundantly than we have hitherto done, which is my prayer and exhortation in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 6, 1862.

I feel thankful to be with you today, to sit and listen to the teachings we have heard, to be associated with the Saints of the Most High. Like our brother who has just spoken, I do feel thankful that I am here and have a part and lot in this great world in which we are all engaged; it is a work capable of filling the utmost desire and capability of the human mind, or wish or thought of that individual whose mind has been ripened into an understanding of the principles which lead to eternal life and exaltation in the kingdom of God. Man, in this kingdom, is placed upon a basis, upon a foundation by which he can cultivate himself with the graces and the attributes of a God. It is a work of progression. We are caught in the world by the Gospel net in the condition in which people of all other communities are found.

We are found in the world in sin, ignorance, and degeneracy, surrounded by all the influences of evil, having our traditions in common with the rest of mankind, and from all this the Gospel is capable of reclaiming us; from all that is hateful, such as strife, discord, dissension, and every species of sin and iniquity, our religion is calculated and designed to save and redeem us, if we will let it, by availing ourselves of its power.

This is the work which lies before each and every one of us as Saints of the Most High God. We have this privilege within ourselves if we choose to cultivate it.

It has been said by some, and I suppose it to be true doctrine, that God is truth, but that does not prove that truth is God; for truth like love, wisdom, and goodness, is an attribute and not a person. All these attributes of Deity lie in our pathway, and they are strewn around us to be laid hold of, and are calculated in their tendency to improve and exalt us as well as the Gods, and we have the privilege of assuming a position in which we can clothe ourselves with the blessings which lead to life everlasting, or we can disgrace ourselves with the excesses and deformities of the wicked, and all those things that lead to destruction, and which do not continue. The principles of eternal life are laid before us, both good and evil are present with us; we have the power of rejecting those good and wholesome principles, or, on the other hand, we have the privilege and the power of controlling our volition and directing it in that channel which will clothe the mind with the graces and beauties of the Gospel, which are calculated to bring us up into that position where we shall have a right to these blessings which emanate from heaven, and which will make the society where we dwell beautiful and glorious, and ultimately lead on to exaltation in the eternities to come. Eternal life is here my friends, my brethren and sisters; we are in a part of that existence which is eternal. True, we are passing through that portion which is called time, but is not this a part of eternity?

We have nothing in our possession but what is lent or given to us to improve upon for eternity, no, not even our present lives. We do not pay sufficient attention to the life that we at present enjoy, or we should understand that it is as much eternal life as any that we shall ever attain to, for surely at the present time we have no existence in all of the eternities but in this. We may not have to pass through changes in the life which is to come as we do here, but it is for us, while here, to comprehend and appreciate the beauty and glory which lie in our pathway. We may have to labor and dig and delve in the earth, but, if so, we should remember that there is a dignity in labor when that is directed by the intellectual power, with which, in all the creation of God, only man is endowed, for the development and combination of the elements with which he is surrounded for the use and the benefit of the world in which he lives.

It is true that evil is strewn in our pathway, but we should labor to get all evil thoughts from our minds, and strive to cultivate those graces which come through faith, and which are calculated to eradicate from our being those things which lead downward, instead of leading us in the path which is unto eternal lives and eternal progression while here as well as in the world to come.

To live here and perform the duties of today is the present business of the Latter-day Saints, and to lay a foundation that will carry us safely through this and prepare us for that life which is to come, and it is also our duty to obey those principles which are revealed through obedience to the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we will continue to be faithful and seek after those principles that will tend to exalt us here, then we will be exalted hereafter; but it is of no use thinking of being exalted in the eternal worlds unless we apply those principles in our conduct here.

If we suppose that we can go through this life straight into the kingdom of God, and attain to exaltation by being clothed with hypocrisy and falsehood, we are simply mistaken; such a course of life is not calculated to lead to that end. If we are exalted, it must be by putting in practice those principles which are exalting in their tendency, and which are given us through the inspiration of the Almighty. Thus will be formed a character in this life that will endure in that which is to come.

I can endorse the sentiment expressed by brother Bayliss, who was speaking before me, that it is our duty to do all we can for the spread of truth, and to ornament our minds with the truths of the Gospel, that we may combine those principles to form that character and connection with the heavens which we have the opportunity of doing more abundantly here, in these sequestered vales than in the scattered condition of the Saints in the midst of the nations of the earth.

Witness the power that we can wield in the earth, by gradually spreading abroad those principles which we have received, until finally righteousness shall spread over and cover the whole earth, put an end to the power of the wicked, bind Satan and cast him from the earth, as has been spoken by the inspired writers.

I suppose it will be accomplished this way, by filling up the measure of our creation in union, truth, and oneness, and by officiating in those ordinances of the Priesthood which shall seem good unto the Almighty. It is for us to prepare to walk in that way which shall be marked out, and to go and perform every act as we shall be dictated through the instrumentality of the servants of God, whom he has appointed to dictate and guide in order that his purpose may be accomplished at least in the valleys of the mountains, where he has provided an asylum for his people.

This kingdom is established to the extent of the power that is now wielded, and there is no other place upon the face of the earth to which good men who desire to promote virtue and establish justice can rally except to this, and it is accomplished through the instrumentality of the Gospel we have embraced. Others have their institutions, some of which are very good, but there is more than an overbalancing amount of corruption, from which those who would do good, have not the power to disenthrall themselves.

There is such unlimited power to do evil, which the wicked use for the oppression of the feeble, to oppress the poor, the honest in heart, whom they rule by priestcraft, kingcraft, and every other wicked craft that mankind in their degeneracy can devise, so that it would seem almost impossible even for the Almighty to establish his kingdom and save his people, without withdrawing them from the wicked nations.

People come here and have full liberty to do or not to do; to live their holy religion or not to live it; to be honest, faithful, and true, or to reject those principles and clothe themselves with that which is evil; they have the freest volition to exercise their right of will. We expect, however, that those who come here are those who have elected and chosen for themselves to do the will of God, and to follow the counsel of him whom he has chosen to rule in his Church and kingdom. We have reason to believe this, but then when we reflect upon the past, we are satisfied that others must have come with a different motive. Some of us are apt to forget that we should furnish and adorn our own minds, with a comprehensive knowledge of the Gospel; that we should furnish the material rather than expect that some greater and more powerful influence will do it for us. We sometimes find that people are careless in regard to their duties in this respect, and Satan is always ready to step in and take the advantage of such an opportunity. Now we should not be indifferent and lay down the armor of the Gospel, and say this is no advantage to me. No, my dear brethren, it will be an advantage and a blessing to all of us, if we honor the kingdom of God and live its principles, and if we do not, it will still roll on, whether we go with it or not.

We have no right to be indifferent to any principles revealed in this kingdom, but we should feel an interest in everything that is laid before us, that we may be of some use and benefit to the Church, fill up our days in usefulness in any department of the kingdom of God in which we may be called to act. I pray God to help us to do this; to help us by giving us of his Spirit to strengthen our minds that we may overcome the evil; that we may seek to do everything that is good; that we may secure that aid and assistance that will enable us to bring our spirits back pure and holy, into the presence of him who gave them unto us, that we may not give Satan the power over us, not strengthen those chains which he has, through the agency of the fall, obtained over the human family, but that we may overcome that evil as far as possible, even to the obtaining that knowledge and intelligence which was said to have been obtained by the brother of Jared, whose faith was so great that the Lord could not prevent him from looking within the veil. Why? Because he had clothed him– self with those principles which lead to exaltation, so that he could see beyond the vision of human ken, and the Lord could not keep him from penetrating behind the veil.

If we are going to have anything excellent it is for us to look after it, and not let the Devil rule over us, but ornament our minds by our own virtuous acts and our bodies with the workmanship of our own hands. If we take this course the Lord will help us by placing the elements that are for the welfare and comfort of mankind within our reach. During the travels of the children of Israel, he showered down provisions upon them that they might not have to labor in the wilderness, and ordained that their clothing should not wear out, but otherwise than that, and a few other such instances, I do not know that he ever helped a human being except by placing within his reach the elements for him to combine therefrom for his support. He has put into our hands the power to combine the elements and to provide ourselves with those things that we need, and as I said in the commencement of my remarks, there is a dignity in labor, in drawing from those elements things necessary for our own benefit and advancement as intelligent beings. Let us therefore endeavor to improve the earth upon which we live, and make it pleasant to the sight of God and man.

May God help us to comprehend and obtain those great blessings which he has in store for his faithful Saints, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at the Dedication of the New Theater in Great Salt Lake City, March 6, 1862.

Man is organized and brought forth as the king of the earth, to understand, to criticize, examine, improve, manufacture, arrange, and organize the crude matter, and honor and glorify the works of God’s hands. This is a wide field for the operation of man, that reaches into eternity; and it is good for mortals to search out the things of this earth.

The elements are to be brought into shape and operation for the benefit, happiness, beauty, excellency, glory, and exaltation of the children of men that dwell upon the earth; though we cannot produce that which has not already been produced. Are we capable, by our most critical researches, of finding that which has not already been found? We are not. We are capable of improving upon the crude elements, until we understand the organization of this earth, and the power by which it is sustained, for what purpose man was created, and the immortality that will crown his existence. All this is what others have learned before us.

Were we capable of scanning the eternities of the Gods, we should find works and exhibitions of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and power, by whom? By those who were as we are. It is the privilege of man to search out the wisdom of God pertaining to the earth and the heavens.

Professing Christians generally would not consider this a fit position for those who profess the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ to occupy. These Saints of the Most High appear here in the capacity of an assembly to exercise and amuse the mind of the natural man. This idea brings at once to my mind a thousand reflections. What is nature? Everything that pertains to the heavens and the earth. “My son,” says the Christian father, “you should not attend a theater, for there the wicked assemble; nor a ballroom, for there the wicked assemble; you should not be found playing a ball, for the sinner does that.” Hundreds of like admonitions are thus given, and so we have been thus traditioned; but it is our privilege and our duty to scan all the works of man from the days of Adam until now, and thereby learn what man was made for, what he is capable of performing, and how far his wisdom can reach into the heavens, and to know the evil and the good.

It is written in the Scriptures, “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” Is there an evil thing upon the earth that he does not fully understand? There is not. The Psalmist very beautifully illustrates this idea—“Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” The Lord understands the evil and the good; why should we not likewise understand them? We should. Why? To know how to choose the good and refuse the evil; which we cannot do, unless we understand the evil as well as the good. I do not wish to convey the idea that it is necessary to commit evil in order to obtain this knowledge.

Upon the stage of a theater can be represented in character, evil and its consequences, good and its happy results and rewards; the weakness and the follies of man, the magnanimity of virtue and the greatness of truth. The stage can be made to aid the pulpit in impressing upon the minds of a community an enlightened sense of a virtuous life, also a proper horror of the enormity of sin and a just dread of its consequences. The path of sin with its thorns and pitfalls, its gins and snares can be revealed, and how to shun it.

The Lord knows all things; man should know all things pertaining to this life, and to obtain this knowledge it is right that he should use every feasible means; and I do not hesitate to say that the stage can, in a great degree, be made to subserve this end. It is written, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” Refuse evil, choose good, hate iniquity, love truth. All this our fathers have done before us; I do not particularly mean father Adam, or his Father; I do not particularly mean Abraham, or Moses, the Prophets, or Apostles, but I mean our fathers who have been exalted for millions of years previous to Adam’s time. They have all passed through the same ordeals we are now passing through, and have searched all things, even to the depths of hell.

Is there evil in the theater? In the ballroom? In the place of worship? In the dwelling? In the world? Yes, when men are inclined to do evil in any of these places. There is evil in persons meeting simply for a chit-chat; if they will allow themselves to commit evil while thus engaged. Can we not sift out every particle of wheat from the vast body of chaff we find in books on science and religion? That we find in governmental constitutions and judicial rulings? In learned commentaries and on law and order? And in the rudiments and advanced branches of education? Can we not even make the stage of a theater the platform upon which to exhibit truth in all its simple beauty? And sift out from the theatrical lore of ages the chaff and folly that has encumbered it? And preserve and profit by that which is truly good and great? This, however, is not the work of a day or a year; but, as the chaff is protective to wheat in a pile, so the true lore of ages is concealed and preserved in the chaff pile of folly and nonsense, until the Saints of the Most High cause a separation.

We shall endeavor to make our theatrical performances a source of good, and not of evil. Rather than the latter, and rather than it should pass into the hands of the ungodly, I ask the Lord to let the whole fabric return to its native elements. It is our privilege and our duty to search all things upon the face of the earth, and learn what there is for man to enjoy, what God has ordained for the benefit and happiness of mankind, and then make use of it without sinning against him.

Our eyes are delighted in seeing, our ears in hearing. We behold the faces of our friends, we see the gems of intelligence sparkling through those outward windows of the soul; and what a blessing it is to see the countenances of our friends radiant with delight. Our senses, if properly educated, are channels of endless felicity to us, but we can devote them to evil or to good. Let us devote all to the glory of God and the building up of his kingdom, for in this there is lasting joy.

Man is of the earth, earthy; but the Spirit is pure from heaven. This mortal existence must be prolonged by the use of food. Food that is good for the use of man is abundant in the elements, and God has endowed us with the ability to combine the elements, through the means of useful plants and animals, to supply ourselves with all we need. Should we refuse to avail ourselves of this means, hunger and nakedness must be our portion. Heaven will not perform the labor that it has designed us to perform. We must sow, reap, clean, and grind into flour our wheat, and make it into bread. Were we not to do this, we should go without bread until doomsday, and without clothing, if we wait for the Lord to make clothes for us. It is for us to search out the elements, learn how to combine them to make silk, wool, linen, cotton, and every other textile material that can be made into cloth, for the comfort and convenience of man.

When man is industrious and righteous, then is he happy. Sin blights all true happiness, and throws a deep gloom over man’s whole existence. Let us be righteous, and then learn to make ourselves comfortable and joyful in the possession of creature comforts. Man is always happy when he is righteous. The Lord will not build our houses and temples, after he has given us the elements and taught us how to build comfortable houses, magnificent temples, and commodious places of worship. Everything that is joyful, beautiful, glorious, comforting, consoling, lovely, pleasing to the eye, good to the taste, pleasant to the smell, and happifying in every respect is for the Saints.

Tight-laced religious professors of the present generation have a horror at the sound of a fiddle. There is no music in hell, for all good music belongs to heaven. Sweet harmonious sounds give exquisite joy to human beings capable of appreciating music. I delight in hearing harmonious tones made by the human voice, by musical instruments, and by both combined. Every sweet musical sound that can be made belongs to the Saints and is for the Saints. Every flower, shrub, and tree to beautify, and to gratify the taste and smell, and every sensation that gives to man joy and felicity are for the Saints who receive them from the Most High.

There are many of our aged brethren and sisters, who, through the traditions of their fathers and the requirements of a false religion, were never inside a ballroom or a theater until they became Latter-day Saints, and now they seem more anxious for this kind of amusement than are our children. This arises from the fact they have been starved for many years for that amusement which is designed to buoy up their spirits and make their bodies vigorous and strong, and tens of thousands have sunk into untimely graves for want of such exercises to the body and the mind. They require mutual nourishment to make them sound and healthy. Every faculty and power of both body and mind is a gift from God. Never say that means used to create and continue healthy action of body and mind are from hell. Such means never originated there. Hell is a great distance from us, and we can never arrive there, unless we change our path, for the way we are now pursuing leads to heaven and happiness.

When the Saints come into this building, and look on this stage, to see our brethren and sisters perform to satisfy the sight, to satisfy the ear, and the desires and mind of the people, I want you to pray for them that the Lord Almighty may preserve them from ever having one wicked thought in their bosoms, that our actors may be just as virtuous, truthful, and humble before God and each other as though they were on a Mission to preach the Gospel.

I say to those who perform, if anything is discovered contrary to the strictest virtue and decorum, the offenders must leave this building. I intend this remark to apply also to the musicians. I wish the dramatic company to seek diligently and in all kindness to promote the happiness of all concerned.

Unless by my order, I do not wish a drop of intoxicating liquor brought into this house; I want the actors behind the curtain, the musicians in the orchestra, and the audience to hear and observe this.

When this house is finished, there will be places in the passages where cakes, pies, fruits, &c., can be bought; but no intoxicating liquor will be allowed in these saloons. No drunken person will be permitted to enter this house. I will not have it polluted and disgraced by the presence of the drunken, nor my brethren and sisters, who strive continually to do right, annoyed by the filthy breath of a poor, miserable, filthy loafer.

We intend to preserve the strictest order here; we do expect the people to come to this house praying, and their whole souls devoted to God, and to their religion.

Tragedy is favored by the outside world; I am not in favor of it. I do not wish murder and all its horrors and the villainy leading to it portrayed before our women and children. I want no child to carry home with it the fear of the fagot, the sword, the pistol, or the dagger, and suffer in the night from frightful dreams. I want such plays performed as will make the spectators feel well; and I wish those who perform to select a class of plays that will improve the public mind, and exalt the literary taste of the community.

If we wish to hold a Conference in this hall, we shall do so, and shall use it for all purposes that will satisfy our feelings in doing right, and no evil.

May God bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 2, 1862.

All things were created firstly spiritual; then it seems that secondly, all things were created temporal. The laws and principles that tie together spiritual and temporal things are so complicated, are so interwoven with each other, so inseparably connected, and yet in the minds of the people they appear so distinct one from the other, that we evidently need a great deal of experience and reflection to make this subject clear to our understandings. I shall only make a few remarks, and leave the subject I shall now introduce for others to speak upon.

This building is set apart expressly for the worship of the Lord our God, and to many it may seem to infringe upon the rights of our religion to talk about temporal matters here. In the beginning things were created first spiritual, then temporal; but now it is first temporal and then spiritual. We cannot attend to any one of the ordinances of the Holy Priesthood without a temporal act. We must perform a temporal labor—a manual labor—in order to arrive at the condition which fits us to receive the full benefit of the spiritual. At present the few remarks I shall make will be upon the matter of obtaining rock for our contemplated temple, which we intend to build upon this block. The canal that we started from Big Cottonwood Creek to this city was for the purpose of transporting material for building the Temple. We have learned some things in regard to the nature of the soil in which the bed of the canal is made that we did not know before. We pretty much completed the canal, or, in other words, we hewed out the cistern, but, behold, it would not hold water. We have not the time now to make that canal carry water, so we will continue to haul rock with cattle; and when an opportunity presents, we will finish the canal. We now contemplate repairing the State road, so that we can haul heavy blocks of granite. We were not very successful the last winter in hauling rock, for the road was so soaked with water that it was almost impassible; but we will now repair that road, and continue our hauling.

We cannot even enter the Temple when it is built, and perform those ordinances which lead to spiritual blessings, without performing a temporal labor. Temporal ordinances must be performed to secure the spiritual blessings the Great Supreme has in store for his faithful children. Every act is first a temporal act. The Apostle says, faith comes by hearing. What should be heard to produce faith? The preaching of the Word. For that we must have a preacher; and he is not an invisible Spirit, but a temporal, ordinary man like ourselves, and subject to the same regulations and rules of life. To preach the Gospel is a temporal labor, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is the result of a temporal labor. To be baptized is a temporal labor, both to the person administered to and the administrator. I am a living witness to the truth of this statement, for I have made my feet sore many a time, and tired myself out traveling and preaching, that by hearing the Gospel the people might have faith. The blessings we so earnestly desire will come to us by performing the manual labor required, and thus preparing all things necessary to receive the invi– sible blessings Jehovah has for his children.

Do we need a Temple? We do, to prepare us to enter in through the gate into the city where the Saints are at rest. Ordinances necessary to this have not yet been performed and cannot be in the absence of a suitable place. We wish a Temple, not for the public congregation, but for the Priesthood, wherein to arrange and organize fully the Priesthood in its order and degrees, to administer the ordinance of the Priesthood to the Saints for their exaltations. The first thing to be done is a temporal labor with the pick and the spade, to prepare a good solid road upon which to haul the rock; then we call upon the quarrymen to get the rock out of the mountains and split them into sizes convenient for putting upon wagons. Now all this work is not done by faith alone, but nerve, bone, and muscle are exceedingly essential with faith, also, in this case, the strength of the ox. When the rock is on the ground, it must then be hewn and prepared for the walls. While this work is progressing on a still morning, you may hear a hundred chisels at work, and we want to hear two or three hundred at work. Thus we will rear the Temple of the Lord, and when it is completed we can enter therein and receive the ordinances of the Holy Priesthood, and our spiritual blessings; but we first have to perform our manual labor, and we wish the people to fully understand this. I will now call upon Bishop Hunter to make some remarks. ——————

I wish to preach another discourse.

At a Bishops’ meeting, on Thursday evening last, it was concluded to cut a large ditch on the upper side of the State road, from here to Gardner’s mill, to carry off the water from the surface of the road, which would then soon be in good order for travel. This matter I wish to have laid before the people, to receive an expression from them whether they will sustain their Bishops in this labor, and this is the reason why we speak of it this morning. If the work is properly taken hold of and in good earnest, with strong hands and willing hearts, it will soon be accomplished. The Bishops are willing to have the ground divided among them, which Bishop Hunter will attend to.

We want to build this Temple as speedily as possible, through the blessings and kind providences of the Almighty in whom we will trust, doing the labor our hands find to do, asking no questions as to what we are going to receive when the Temple is done, or how long we shall be in building it, but we will build it as fast as possible. Some care nothing about building a Temple, for, say they, as sure as we commence we shall have to fight the enemy. If we have an enemy to encounter the quicker we do so the better, for we are able to do whatever the Lord requires. Union is strength, and this terrifies our enemies. Who can resist the power possessed by the Latter-day Saints in their union? And the stronger our union, the more mighty are the bands of our strength; while disunion is weakening our enemies, and splitting them asunder; they will be left in weakness, while we shall grow in strength in our union, and in confidence in God and each other. And let us take a course to create confidence in ourselves as well as in our neighbors, and we will constantly grow strong.

We can all help a little in repairing the road I have mentioned, so I will ask the brethren and the sisters too, will you sustain your Bishops in making a good road upon which to haul rock for the Temple? [The vote was unanimous in favor.] Let Bishop Hunter and other Bishops, as far south as Fort Union, proportion to each ward its share of the labor to be done on the road.

I thought well of the discourse this morning; I like a great deal of it. Were I to speak what is now in my mind, I should say that succotash is the best dish I ever partook of; you get that, when I talk to you, and you had it from Bishop Hunter this morning, a little of this, and a little of that.

The kingdom of God is before us; we have it to build up, and to establish the Zion of our God upon this land. And if I am right in my views and feelings, the Latter-day Saints cannot labor too fast nor too diligently to accomplish the work they are called to do. Then let us go to with our might, and labor faithfully to establish that kingdom which is all and in all to us. May the Lord help us. Amen.