Brigham Young 1856-1860.

        THE POWERS OF THE PRIESTHOOD NOT GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD--THE
        NECESSITY OF LIVING BY REVELATION--THE ABUSE OF BLESSINGS.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, January 27, 1856.

	I am thankful for the privilege of again appearing here before the
brethren and sisters.  A few of us have been absent for a short time, and,
in our absence, I hope and trust you have been blessed with the Holy
Spirit of the Lord.  I pray for the continuance of the light of that
Spirit to rest upon the Saints, this I crave continually for myself and
for all who profess to be Saints of the Most High.

	As I have frequently thought, and said, when duty requires I am happy
in going from home, and I am happy in returning, for it is my greatest joy
and comfort to do what the Lord requires of me, and what I know to be my
duty, no matter what it is if the Lord requires it of me.  This course
gives joy and peace.  When this principle becomes the acting principle of
all the Saints, we shall find that Zion is here; we shall be in the midst
of it; we shall enjoy it.

	As individuals, we enjoy Zion at present, but not as a community;
there is so much sin, darkness, and ignorance, and the veil of the
covering which is over the nations of the earth is measurably over the
Latter-day Saints.  The same unrighteous principles, which becloud the
minds of men universally, more or less becloud the minds of the Latter-day
Saints.  Though the veil is partially broken to the Saints, though it
becomes thin, as it were, and the twilight appears like the dawning of the
day, yet we may travel for many years before the sunshine appears.  It
does not yet appear to this people, they are merely in the twilight.

	As one expressed it in ancient times, "We see through a glass
darkly"--through a smoked or dim glass--through which we cannot behold
objects clearly with the natural eye.

	We have not faith sufficient to have revelation, to have the visions
of eternity opened unto us so clearly that we may see things as they are,
consequently, we have to live by faith and not by sight.  We have to live
by the principles of the Gospel, which is faith in the heart and obedience
to its requirements.  It is our joy and salvation that we have this
privilege.

	If we could understand the nature of the Priesthood--could comprehend
it fully, this people, as a community, the Elders, as Elders of Israel,
quorums, as quorums, when they present themselves before the Lord, would
possess keys to unlock the treasury of heaven, and we could receive as one
person receives from another.  To us, as a people, the keys of the rich
storehouse of the Lord are committed, yet we do not fully know how to
unlock and receive.  We receive a little here and there, and the hearts of
the people are comforted by the very Priesthood we are in possession of,
which has been given to this people for the express purpose of their
receiving that which God has given them, though not yet to possess it
independently, but as means for trial.

	This Priesthood is given to the people, and the keys thereof, and,
when properly understood, they may actually unlock the treasury of the
Lord, and receive to their fullest satisfaction.  But through our own
weaknesses, through the frailty of human nature, we are not yet capable of
doing so.

	We have to humble ourselves and become like little children in our
feelings--to become humble and childlike in spirit, in order to receive
the first illuminations of the spirit of the Gospel, then we have the
privilege of growing, of increasing in knowledge, in wisdom, and in
understanding.  This is a great privilege, while the world, excepting this
people who inhabit these valleys, and those that are associated with us in
different parts of the earth, are destitute of this principle and
privilege.  Still, many of us, and I may say comparatively all of us, are
upon the same ground, situated precisely like other professors of
religion, in order that we may struggle, wrestle, and strive, until the
Lord bursts the veil and suffers us to behold His glory, or a portion of
it.

	If we did fully understand the principles of the Gospel--the keys of
the Priesthood, it would be familiar with us, and be easy to be understood
and to act upon and perform, and be no more of a miracle to know how to
receive the things of God by revelation, than it is now a miracle to cast
seed into the ground, after it is prepared, and reap our crops.

	An individual who holds a share in the Priesthood, and continues
faithful to his calling, who delights himself continually in doing the
things God requires at his hands, and continues through life in the
performance of every duty, will secure to himself not only the privilege
of receiving, but the knowledge how to receive the things of God, that he
may know the mind of God continually; and he will be enabled to discern
between right and wrong, between the things of God and the things that are
not of God. And the Priesthood--the Spirit that is within him, will
continue to increase until it becomes like a fountain of living water;
until it is like the tree of life; until it is one continued source of
intelligence and instruction to that individual.

	This is one of the most glorious and happy principles than can be set
before any people, or any individual who will be faithful to his God and
to his religion.  Upon whoever are bestowed the keys of the eternal
Priesthood, by a faithful life, will secure to themselves power to see the
things of God, and will understand them as plainly as they ever understood
anything by gazing upon it with their natural eyes, or as clearly as they
ever could distinguish one object from another by their sensations.

	It is the privilege of every person who is faithful to the
Priesthood, who can overcome the enemy, thwart the design of death, or him
that hath the power of it, to live upon the earth until  their appointed
time; and they may know, see, and understand, by revelation, the things of
God just as naturally as we understand natural things that are around us.

	We inquire, is this the character of the people called Latter-day
Saints? We can say it is the character of many of them, but when we
reflect, it is not the case with the whole of them.  There are many who
never fail to improve upon every means of grace given them, upon every
particle of light imparted to them.  They perform every duty that is made
known to them, they cease to do evil wherever an evil is presented to
them, they refrain, so far as is in their power, from every act and from
every thought and disposition which is contrary to the holy Gospel.

	Again, when we look around we see many, very many, men and women who
profess to know the things of God, to belong to His family, to the Church
of the First-Born--the Church of Jesus Christ, who are ofttimes wrought
upon by the Holy Spirit of the Gospel which has caused them to rejoice
therein, who give thanks to their God, rejoice with joy unspeakable, and
you would think they were very near the kingdom of heaven--near the
threshold of the gate which opens into the presence of the Father and the
Son, and yet, if anything crosses them, will give way to an evil temper;
and if anything is presented to them which they do not understand, they
condemn it at once; they are ready to pass judgment upon that which they
do not understand.  If they are crossed by their friends and families they
are ready to speak by the spirit of evil, by the spirit of contention;
they are ready to receive a little malice in their hearts.  They do all
this, they turn round and repent of it, they are sorry for it, and they
say they will try to do better, will try to overcome their passions, or
the temptations of the evil one in their natures.  You see them again,
have they kept themselves pure?  No they have not, but they have given way
to evil, to a little dishonesty, falsifying, shading of sentiment,
speeches, sayings, and doings of their neighbors.  They have given way to
anger, and will remark, "It is true I got angry, I was overcome, true I
acted the fool, but I mean to refrain from so doing in the future."  And
thus they live for a spell, but how long will it be before they are again
overtaken in fault?  Then if a delusive spirit, professedly a righteous
one, is cast into a neighborhood, how easy such people are decoyed by it,
led away by it.

	At one time you see them as enthusiastic as mortals can be, in what
they call righteous principles, and hear them saying, "I have more light
now than I ever had before in my life, I am better now than I ever was, I
am filled with the Holy Spirit."

	This is the way we often find them, they are rejoiced exceedingly and
are upon Pisgah's top--flaming Latter-day Saints, and, perhaps, when the
next day or the next week has passed over they are angry, filled with
malice and wrath.  After a while they will say, "That was a delusive
spirit, it is true I felt joyful and happy, I thought it was the best
spirit and the most light I ever enjoyed in all the days of my life, but I
now find I was deceived, I find that if I had continued in that spirit
there was a trap laid to catch me, to decoy me away, and destroy my faith
in the holy Gospel."  Is this the case with the Latter-day Saints?  Yes,
with many of them.

	Our religion is a practical and progressive one.  It will not prepare
a thief, a liar, a sorcerer, a whoremonger, an adulterer, a murderer, or a
false swearer, in one day, so that he can enter into the celestial kingdom
of God.  We ought to understand that when our lives have been filled with
all manner of wickedness, to turn and repent of our sins, to be baptized
for the remission of them, and have our names witten [sic] upon the Church
records, does not prepare us for the presence of our Father, and elder
brother.  What will?  A continuation of faithfulness to the doctrines of
Christ; nothing short of this will do it.  The Latter-day Saints should
understand this.  Do they?  Yes.  Do they live to it?  A great many of
them do not.  All ought to live their religion every day, and there are a
great many who do.  But there are a great many who do not, who are
overcome with evil, get out of the true path of righteousness, and do
those things which are wrong.  They contend with each other, quarrel, have
broils and difficulties in families, and in neighborhoods, law with each
other touching property, one saying, "This is mine," and another saying,
"It is not yours, but it is mine."  One says, "You have wronged me,"  the
other says, "I have not."  Thus there are thousands of plans which the
enemy of all righteousness employs to decoy the hearts of the people away
from righteousness.

	If this people would live their religion, and continue year after
year to live their religion, it would not be many years before we would
see eye to eye; there would be no difference of opinion, no difference of
sentiment, and the veil that now hangs over our minds would become so thin
that we should actually see and discern things as they are.

	True we labor under many embarrassments with regard to our progress
in Christian life, and it is right we should be situated just as we are. 
We wish to save the world of mankind, and difficulties, embarrassments,
and obstacles are thrown in our way continually.  If this congregation
could live twenty years without communion and intercourse with any other
people, if we did not preach any more to the world, and no more Saints
were gathered from abroad, we might, perhaps, train ourselves so as to see
eye to eye, and that too before we had lived as many years to come as this
Church has been organized.

	But no, if we are instructed now, and understand all it is our
privilege to understand, another year we must have another batch of clay
thrown in the mill, as brother Kimball calls it, and this new supply
spoils more or less of the clay that is already well tempered, and it is
right that it should be so.  Though this is a good comparison--the making
of vessels out of clay, and the grinding up of clay, still, is it in every
respect correct?  We might carry it out perhaps, but I argue, and believe
with all my soul, that if there were 10,000 Saints to emigrate to this
point yearly from England, or any other country, and though thousands of
the wicked should gather with them, it would not prove, for one moment,
that any Saint would be obliged to sin thereby; it would not prove, for
one moment, that this congregation before me would be obliged to do wrong.

	Though we may be mingled together, and our interchanges are as they
are, still if a stranger should look upon us as a community, who have been
here many years, and see but few of the new comers do wrong, and then
judge us off and say, we are all evil, that none of us are righteous, that
there is no good fruit here, that would be an unrighteous judgment and
decision.

	It is our privilege, for you and me to live, from this day, so that
our consciences will be void of offence towards God and man; it is in our
power to do so, then why don't we?  What is the matter?  I will tell you
what the difficulties and troubles are, by relating brother John Young's
dream.  He dreamed that he saw the devil with a looking-glass in his hand,
and the devil held it to the faces of the people, and it revealed to them
everybody's  faults but their own.

	The difficulty is, neglecting to watch over ourselves.  Just as soon
as our eyes are turned away from watching ourselves, to see whether we do
right, we begin to see faults in our neighbors; this is the great
difficulty, and our minds become more and more blinded until we become
entirely darkened.  So long as I do the thing the Lord requires of me, and
do not stop to inquire what I shall tell to my neighbor as his duty, and
pay very close attention to my individual person, that my words are right,
that my actions are right before God, that my reflections are right, and
that my desires are according to the holy Gospel, I have not much time to
look at the faults of my neighbors.  Is not this true?

	This is our practical religion; it is our duty to stop and begin to
look at ourselves.  We may have trials to pass through, and when people
come to me, and tell me that they are wonderfully tried and have a great
may [sic] difficulties to encounter--have their troubles on the right and
on the left, and what to do they are at a loss to know, I say, "I am glad
of it." I rejoice to think that they must have trials as well as other
people.  And when they say, "It seems as though the devil would overcome
me," it is a pretty good evidence that an individual is watching himself.

	If people could always understand the manifestations of the Spirit
upon themselves, they would learn that they can be tempted as well as
other people, and that would make them careful to watch against temptation
and overcome it.  Consequently, I rejoice for them, inasmuch as every
individual who is prepared for the celestial kingdom must go through the
same things.

	I am happy, brethren, for the privilege of having temptation.  A
great many people have thought that in my life I was not tempted like
other men.  I tell them if I am it is none of their business; it is
nothing to them.  Some say "Brother Brigham, you slide along and the devil
lets you alone."  If I have battles with him, I can overcome him single
handed quicker than to call in my neighbors to help me.  If I am tempted
to speak an evil word, I will keep my lips locked together. Says one, "I
do not know about that, that would be smothering up bad feelings, I am
wonderfully tried about my neighbor, he has done wrong, he has abused me
and I feel dreadful bad about it.  Had I not better let it out than to
keep it rankling within me?"  No.  I will keep bad feelings under and
actually smother them to death, then they are gone.  But as sure as I let
them out they will live and afflict me.  If I smother them in myself, if I
actually choke them to death, destroy the life, the power, and vigor
thereof, they will pass off and leave me clear of fault, and pure, so far
as that is concerned; and no man or woman on earth knows that I have ever
been tempted to indulge in wicked feelings.  Keep them to yourselves.

	If you feel evil, keep it to yourselves until you overcome that evil
principle.  This is what I call resisting the devil, and he flees from me. 
I strive to not speak evil, to not feel evil, and if I do, to keep it to
myself until it is gone from me, and not let it pass my lips.

	You should succeed in bringing your tongues into subjection, so as to
never let them speak evil, so that they will perfectly obey your judgment
and the discretion God has given you, and are perfectly obedient to the
will of the holy Gospel.  How long have we to live for that?  I do not
know, but I am strongly of the opinion that it is possible for a person to
overcome their dispositions to evil, to such a degree that they will have
no evil in the heart to slip out over the tongue; and if there is none in
the heart, there is less danger of the tongue being used to the
disadvantage of that individual, or to that of anybody else.  If there is
nothing in the heart which governs us, and controls to an evil effect, the
tongue of itself will never produce evil.

	Quite a number of us have returned from our southern mission, and as
I have given you a few of my views with regard to some of the particular
parts of our religion, I say for myself, and for the rest of my brethren
who have been absent with me, we are happy to see you.  I am, and I am
sure that the rest are glad of the privilege of standing before you again
in this house.  I have nothing particular upon my mind, only to urge all
the Latter-day Saints to live their religion.

	I might say something with regard to the hard times.  You know that I
have told you that if any one was afraid of starving to death, let him
leave, and go where there is plenty.  I do not apprehend the least danger
of starving, for until we eat up the last mule, from the tip of the ear to
the end of the fly whipper, I am not afraid of staving to death.  There
are many people who cannot now get employment, but the spring is going to
open upon us soon, and we are not going to suffer any more than what is
for our good.  I am thankful for the hand of the Lord which is visible; I
am as thankful for this providence of His as for any that I ever received. 
I have told you, years ago, my feelings with regard to their sympathies,
their faith, gratitude, and thankfulness, and their acknowledgment of the
hand of the Lord and of the dispensations of His providence.  My soul has
been grieved to bleeding, to see the waste, and the prodigal feeling of
this people in the use of their bountiful blessings.  Many have walked
them underfoot, and have been ready to curse God who bestowed them.  They
wanted gold and silver, instead of wheat and corn, and fine flour, and the
best vegetables that ever grew upon the earth.  They walked them
underfoot, and set at nought the choice blessings of the Lord their God. 
If I were to see those individuals obliged to gnaw the the [sic] ground in
order to get out the thistle roots, and have no fingers to dig them with,
it would not be a disagreeable sight to me, until they learn to know who
it is that feeds them.

	We never ought to be without three or five years provisions on hand. 
But when you see men run to hell to sell a bushel of wheat for sixty
cents, instead of laying it up in their granaries for a day of scarcity,
you are forced to conclude that they would trade with the very devil, to
get his coat and shoes in exchange for their wheat.  I hope they will
learn wisdom in the future, and lay up wheat to feed the brethren when
they come here from distant countries.  If they will learn wisdom now, I
will promise them, in the name of Israel's God, that the earth will yield
its abundance, as it has heretofore.  Men in these valleys have reaped
crop after crop which grew spontaneously, without putting a drag or a plow
in the land, and yet they are ready to curse God for His blessings.  How
do you suppose the Lord feels?  If He were no better than I am, He would
chastise us far more severely than we have been.  I will give way to
others.

    ETERNAL INCREASE OF KNOWLEDGE--NECESSITY OF CLEAVING TO EVERY GOOD
   PRINCIPLE--MEN ARE NOT MADE SAINTS BY MIRACULOUS GIFTS, BUT THROUGH
       OBEYING THE TRUTH, AND OBTAINING THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT.
  A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, 
                 Great Salt Lake City, February 17, 1856.

	We have just heard brother Morley's testimony concerning the religion
that we have embraced.  The extent of knowledge, incorporated within the
salvation extended to the children of men, will vastly exceed the
researches of the human family, and when they have passed the veil, they
will then understand that they have but just commenced to learn.  Brother
Morley says he never expects to be too old to learn; I believe that
doctrine. That which is to be learned in the eternities of the Gods
pertains to life, and that life is exhibited to the human family in the
degree which they are capacitated to receive it, that they may be taught
as we teach our children, that they may learn the first rudiments of
eternal lives.

	Could we live to the age of Methuselah, and eat the fruits which the
earth would produce in her strength, as did Adam and Eve before the
transgression, and spend our lives in searching after the principles of
eternal life, we would find, when one eternity had passed to us, that we
had been but children thus far, babies just commencing to learn the things
which pertains to the eternities of the Gods.

	We might ask, when shall we cease to learn?  I will give you my
opinion about it; never, never.  If we continue to learn all that we can,
pertaining to the salvation which is purchased and presented to us through
the Son of God, is there a time when a person will cease to learn?  Yes,
when he has sinned against God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the
Holy Ghost--God's minister; when he has denied the Lord, defied Him and
committed the sin that in the Bible is termed the unpardonable sin--the
sin against the Holy Ghost.  That is the time when a person will cease to
learn, and from that time forth, will descend in ignorance, forgetting
that which they formerly knew, and decreasing until they return to the
native element, whether it be one thousand or in one million years, or
during as many eternities as you can count.  They will cease to increase,
but must decrease, until they return to the native element.  These are the
only characters who will ever cease to learn, both in time and eternity.

	A number of items occupy my mind pertaining to the Saints, I may say,
a great many more than I could tell in one day, in one month, or in one
year.  Those who are well acquainted with me, know something of the action
of my mind.  To explain it, let me say to you, if you wish to tell me a
long story, one that will take you two hours to get through with, a key
word will at once give me an understanding of all you could say, in that
long time.  All who are acquainted with me know this, [sic-punc]  Bring
any business matter before me, and the brethren with whom I am associated
in business transactions, know that I need but a word to know the nature
of it.  So it is with regard to my preaching to the people.  If I could
put into them the same spirit and understanding which I have, they could
see and understand things without a long detail of explanation.  But this
is not the case with all the people, therefore I am, in a manner,
compelled to use the time I do in speaking to them upon the various
subjects, at least so far as I can possibly spare it.  If I were disposed
to, I could train myself to get up here and take a text and explain it,
and dwell upon one little item just as long as any other man, but what is
the use of it?  Upon this principle it would take us more eternities than
we shall ever see, to learn what we have to learn, consequently, when I
speak to you I speak the few words I have to say, as I already have upon
the subject of intelligence and learning.

	We shall never cease to learn, unless we apostatize from the religion
of Jesus Christ.  Then we shall cease to increase, and will continue to
decrease and decompose, until we return to our native element.  Can you
understand that?  It is a subject worthy the attention of the eminent
divines of Christendom, and they may search into it until they are tired,
and still know comparatively little about it, while I preach it to you in
a few words.

	I will here introduce a subject that we all should be acquainted
with, I allude to morality.  Have you been taught morality?  Yes, every
one of you have been taught not to use profane language, to be honest in
all your dealings, to be courteous to all at home and abroad, and to be
strictly upright on all occasions.  All this you have been taught from
your youth.

	Many think that all which was taught them by their fathers and
mothers, school teachers and priests, ought to be removed, laid aside,
dispensed with, and that they should begin anew to learn every principle
of civilization.  This is a great mistake.  I make these remarks because I
have heard Elders preach that there was not a sectarian priest--not a man
living upon the earth, or that had lived upon it, neither a reformer nor a
professed Christian, from the time the Priesthood was taken from the earth
until Joseph Smith came, but what went straight to hell fire when he died. 
Yes, I have heard them preach just as absurdly as that.  I have heard many
say, I will dispense with this, and I will dispense with that; and many of
our Elders actually dispense with praying, and say it is nothing but a
sectarian notion.  Were you taught by your fathers to pray?  "Yes, but
that is a sectarian notion."  Were you taught not to pilfer?  "Yes, but we
think, we wont say it aloud, it is nothing but a sectarian notion, and we
have to learn everything over again."  This is a mistaken idea.  There is
only one thing which the people lack on this point, in order that their
traditions and former education may do them good, and that is to know how
to seer the good from the bad, how to assimilate to themselves every good
trait of character they have seen in their fathers and mothers, teachers
and neighbors, and every good thing that has been taught them from their
youth, and how to gather to themselves every good principle they have been
traditionated in, and store that up as their individual property, and then
dispense with every erroneous idea and every inconsistency.  Many things
which have been taught us in our childhood, or in our early lives, are
truly inconsistent, lay them aside and cleave to the traditions which
actually tend to virtue, holiness, chastity, loveliness, kindness,
honesty, and truthfulness in every respect, and gather all the good into
our own store house, and let each one say, that belongs to me.

	Some imagine that they must begin and unlearn the whole of their
former education, but I say, cling to all the good that you have learned,
and discard the bad.  This leads me into a field, the gate to which I wish
to have closed up, locked up, and passed by; I do not wish to say anything
about it.  I will say this much, however, if there are not all kinds of
fish in this Gospel net, I should like to see the kind that is not in it,
and I think that would be something new under the sun.

	Treasure up in your hearts that which tends to virtue.  You say, "I
want an explanation upon virtue."  I wish I could so give it to you, that
you could understand it when I am done talking; I will do my best to do
so.  Learn the will of God, keep His commandments and do His will, and you
will be a virtuous person.  Can you understand that?  If you can know the
will of God and do it, you will be a virtuous person.  You say, "Perhaps I
should be led to do that which is contrary to my former traditions, and to
do that which is really wrong."  No matter anything about that; if you can
know the will of God and do it, you will be a virtuous person, and will
receive knowledge upon knowledge, and wisdom upon wisdom, and you will
increase in understanding, in faith, and in the light of eternity, and
know how to discriminate between the right and the wrong.  I know the
people say that that [sic] they do not understand, that they do not know
what the Lord requires of them.  I say keep the commandments of the Lord. 
We were taught that the commandments of the Lord were this, that, and the
other, in our former lives, but when we can know and understand, by the
revelations of Jesus Christ, the will of our Father in heaven and do His
will, He will make us pure and holy, and fit for the society of angels and
Himself.  Will we not be virtuous then? yes, in the highest sense.  Many
say, "I don't know the will of the Lord, I wish I did.  I do really wish I
knew what the Lord requires of me, but I do not know, and do not know how
to find out."

	I will now refer you to the scripture. [sic-punc] where it reads that
we shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body.  If I do not
know the will of my Father, and what He requires of me in a certain
transaction, if I ask Him to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in
life, or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my
children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from Him, and
then do the very best that my judgment will teach me, He is bound to own
and honor that transaction, and He will do so to all intents and purposes. 
I have often reflected, with regard to people knowing the mind and will of
the Lord by revelation.  My thoughts turn within me in a moment, in my
reflections upon what has hitherto been, and that which actually now comes
before me, concerning the Saints in the last days and in the former days. 
For instance, Jesus, when upon the earth, called twelve men to be
witnesses that he was the Christ.  Then, there were a great many others
who believed that fact, but he showed to those twelve men things that he
showed to none else; he convinced them in a degree that he convinced no
other person, that is, in some instances.

	My mind then reflects, in a moment, did Jesus have the power to make
his disciples believe that he was the Son of God by raising the dead, by
laying hands on the sick, by walking on water, by multiplying the
particles of bread and fish set before the multitude, or by any other
miracle?  Did he convince, and prove to twelve men that he was the Christ,
by the miracles he performed?  He did not.  He did not convince them by
one or all of the acts, which were called miracles, that he performed upon
the earth.  I know that many think that they are a great proof, that it is
astonishing that people will not believe, when they read over the history
and miracles performed in the days of Jesus and his Apostles.  Let me tell
you that if his Apostles were here in this our day, travelling through the
country, raising the dead, laying hands on the sick, casting out devils,
walking upon the water, or doing whatever they might be able to perform,
it would all be no proof to the people that they were sent of God.  I know
that some of you think this is strange, and if so, I have strange views
upon these subjects.  It is no proof to me, it is no proof to any person
else, and often serves to throw persons, relying upon it, into temptation,
and to cast them still further into darkness.  "Have you any proof of
this?"  Yes, right here in our midst.  Men who have professedly seen the
most, known and understood the most, in this Church, and who have
testified in the presence of large congregations, in the name of Israel's
God, that they have seen Jesus, &c., have been the very men who have left
this kingdom, before others who had to live by faith.  I have a witness
right before me, and I am fearful every time that a man or woman comes to
me and relates great visions, saying, "I have had a vision, an angel came
and told me thus and so; the visions of eternity were opened, and I saw
thus and so; I saw my destiny; I saw what the brethren would do with me; I
foresay this and that.  Look out for that man or woman going to the devil.

	I ask, is there a reason for men and women being exposed more
constantly and more powerfully, to the power of the enemy, by having
visions than by not having them?"  There is and it is simply this--God
never bestows upon His people, or upon an individual, superior blessings
without a severe trial to prove them, to prove that individual, or that
people, to see whether they will keep their covenants with Him, and keep
in remembrance what He has shown them.  Then the greater the vision, the
greater the display of the power of the enemy.  And when such individuals
are off their guard they are left to themselves, as Jesus was.  For this
express purpose the Father withdrew His spirit from His son, at the time
he was to be crucified.  Jesus had been with his Father, talked with Him,
dwelt in His bosom, and knew all about heaven, about making the earth,
about the transgression of man, and what would redeem the people, and that
he was the character who was to redeem the sons of earth, and the earth
itself from all sin that had come upon it.  The light, knowledge, power,
and glory with which he was clothed were far above, or exceeded that of
all others who had been upon the earth after the fall, consequently at the
very moment, at the hour when the crisis came for him to offer up his
life, the Father withdrew Himself, withdrew His Spirit, and cast a vail
over him.  That is what made him sweat blood.  If he had had the power of
God upon him, he would not have sweat blood; but all was withdrawn from
him, and a veil was cast over him, and he then plead with the Father not
to forsake him.  "No," says the Father, "you must have your trials, as
well as others."

	So when individuals are blessed with visions, revelations, and great
manifestations, look out, then the devil is nigh you, and you will be
tempted in proportion to the vision, revelation, or manifestation you have
received.  Hence thousands, when they are off their guard, give way to the
severe temptations which come upon them, and behold they are gone.

	You will recollect that I have often told you that miracles would not
save a person, and I say that they never should.  If I were to see a man
come in here this day, and say, "I am the great one whom the Lord has
sent," and cause fire to come down in our sight, through the ceiling that
is over our heads, I would not believe any more for that.  It is no matter
what he does, I cannot believe any more on that account.  What will make
me believe?  What made the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ witnesses? 
What constituted them Apostles--special witnesses to the world?  Was it
seeing miracles?  No.  What was it?  The visions of their minds were
opened, and it was necessary that a few should receive light, knowledge,
and intelligence, that all the powers of earth and hell could not gainsay
or compete with.  That witness was within them, and yet, after all that
was done for them, after all that Jesus showed them, and after all the
power of the spirit of revelation which they possessed, you find that one
of them apostatized, turned away and sold his Lord and master for thirty
pieces of silver, in consequence of his not being firm to his covenant in
the hour of darkness and temptation.  Another of them was ready to say, "I
do not know anything about the Lord Jesus Christ," and denied him with
cursing and swearing.

	Some are apt now to say, "I don't know anything about this Mormonism,
I don't know about the Priesthood."  Did you not once know?  "I thought I
did."  Did you not once know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet?  "I thought
I did."  Did you not once know that this was the kingdom of God set up on
the earth?  "I thought I did, but now I find myself deceived."  What is
the reason?  Because they give way to temptation; they may have had great
light, knowledge, and understanding, the vision of their minds may have
been opened and eternity exhibited to their view, but when this is closed
up, in proportion to the light given to them, so is the darkness that
comes upon them to try them.

	Are you going to apostatize when you are in darkness?  That is the
time to stand firm.  I know there are some people right in our midst, only
about on a par with good quakers; say they "I pray when I feel like it." 
Have you prayers in your families?  "Yes, sometimes, but I do not always
feel like praying, and then I feel as though it would be a sin."

	Let me tell you how you should do.  If you feel that you are tempted
not to open your mouth to the Lord, and as though the heavens are brass
over your heads and the earth iron beneath you feet, and that every thing
is closed up, and you feel that it would be a sin for you to pray, then
walk up to the devil and say, Mr. Devil, get out of my way; and if you
feel that you cannot get down upon your knees for fear you will swear,
say, get down knees; and if they don't feel right when they are down, put
something under them, some sharp sticks, for instance, and say, knees come
to it.  "But I dare not open my mouth," says one, "for fear that I shall
swear."  Then say, open, mouth, and now tongue, begin.  Cannot I say
Father?  Yes, I can:  I learned that in the days of my youth.  Suppose you
say, "Father, look in mercy upon me,"  do you think the devil is going to
snap you up then?  If he is still by, and you dare not open your eyes for
fear you will see him, tell him to stand there until you have done
praying, and bring the body to a state of submission.

	I have taught you that the spirit is pure, when it comes into the
tabernacle.  The tabernacle is subject to sin, but the spirit is not.  A
great many think that the spirits of the children of men, when they enter
the tabernacles, are totally depraved; this is a mistake.  They are as
holy as the angels; the devil has no power to contaminate them, he only
contaminated the bodies.  When your spirit wishes to worship the Father,
and your body is so full of weakness or wickedness, that you feel as
though you could not do it, go to and bring your body into subjection; bow
the knee and confess that Jesus is the Christ, if it is darker that 10,000
midnights in your minds; say, "I am for the Lord anyhow."

	That makes me think of a great many Christians in the world; when
they are sick and in trouble they will pray; if they are in fear of
starving to death for want of good, of freezing through lack of raiment of
fuel, then they will call npon [sic] the Lord.  I know the old Prophet
said, "In the day of trouble they draw nigh unto me."  Get out, say I, in
my feelings, in regard to such a religion.  When I am starving to death it
is time for me to be diligent in getting something to eat; when the ship
is in a storm, it is then time to look out for the rigging.  One may say,
"Are you not going down below to pray, in this dreadful storm?"  "No, I
have no time to pray now, I must take care of the ship."  So it should be
with every Latter-day Saint.  By and bye the storm is over, then let us go
down into the cabin and do up our praying in fair weather.  That is what
"Mormonism" teaches me; and when it is dark as midnight darkness, when
there is not one particle of feeling in my heart to pray, shall I then
say, I will not pray?  No, but get down knees, bend yourselves upon the
floor, and mouth, open; tongue, speak; and we will see what will come
forth, and you shall worship the Lord God of Israel, even when you feel as
though you could not say a word in His favor.  That is the victory we have
to gain; that is the warfare we have to wage.  It is between the spirit
and the body; they are inseparably connected.  The spirit was not made
here, it was organized in eternity, before the worlds were, with the
Father and with angels before they came here.

	When the devil got possession of the earth, his power extended to
that which pertains to the earth.  He obtained influence over the children
of men in their present organization, because the spirits of men yielded
to the temptations of the evil principle that the flesh or body is
subjected to.  This causes the warfare spoken of by Paul, when he says,
"The spirit warreth against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit." 
Paul explained it as well as he could, and I am trying to explain it as
well as I can.  Often when the spirit would do good the body overcomes,
then one does the evil that brings into subjection the spirit.  When the
spirits of men are subject to the body, and continue to be, and commit the
amount of evil necessary to fill up their cup, they are cast out and their
names will be blotted out from the Lamb's Book of Life.

	You know that it used to be a great saying, and I might say worthy of
all acceptation, among the Methodists, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and
my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life."  Their names were always
there, and never will be blotted out, though they may be up and down,
warm, hot, and cool, and though they may sin to-day, and to-morrow repent
of it, but their names will remain in the Lamb's Book of Life until they
sin the sin unto death.  And when their names are once blotted out they
will never be written there again; they will then be numbered with those
who will cease to increase, cease to learn, to multiply, and spread
abroad. 

	But again to the witness, that is on my mind. It was necessary for
Jesus Christ to open the heavens to certain individuals that they might be
witnesses of his personage, death, sufferings, and resurrection; those men
were witnesses. But as Jesus appeared to the two brethren going out of
Jerusalem, he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.  Now
suppose he had eaten that bread, and gone out without opening their eyes,
how could they have known that he was the Savior who had been crucified on
Mount Calvary?  They could not; but in the breaking of bread the vision of
their minds was opened.  This was necessary in order to constitute safe
witnesses, and they returned to Jerusalem and told the brethren what they
had seen.

	When Jesus came and ate fish broiled upon the coals, and told his
disciples to cast the net on the other side of the ship, which they did
and got it so full that they could hardly draw it to shore, would they
have known that he was the Savior by the catching and hauling in a
wonderful quantity of fish, or by anything else that they could have seen
with their natural eyes?  No, but when he came and ate the boiled fish and
honeycomb, he opened their eyes and they saw that he was present with
them.  He had been back to his Father, had ascended to heaven and again
descended, and opened their minds that they might be special witnesses. 
This is necessary.  Did all the disciples, in the days of the Apostles,
see the risen Jesus?  No. I know the inquiry may arise, can a person be a
real disciple without having visions?  Yes, but that person cannot be a
special witness to the doctrine he believes in.

	What makes true disciples to a doctrine, to a religion, to a creed,
or to a faith, no matter what it is which is subscribed to?  To be
faithful adherents to those articles of faith or doctrine taught, makes
them true disciples to that religion or doctrine.  Then if we have the
religion of the Savior we are entitled to the blessings precisely as they
were anciently.  Not that all had visions, not that all had dreams, not
that all had the gift of tongues or the interpretation of tongues, but
every man received according to his capacity and the blessing of the
Giver.  "Well, brother Brigham, have you had visions?"  Yes, I have. 
"Have you had revelations?"  Yes, I have them all the time, I live
constantly by the principle of revelation.  I never received one iota of
intelligence, from the letter A to what I now know, I mean that, from the
very start of my life to this time, I have never received one particle of
intelligence only by revelation, no matter whether father or mother
revealed it, or my sister, or neighbor.

	No person receives knowledge only upon the principle of revelation,
that is, by having something revealed to them.  "Do you have the
revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ?"  I will leave that for others to
judge.  If the Lord requires anything of this people, and speaks through
me, I will tell them of it; but if He does not, still we all live by the
principle of revelation.  Who reveals?  Every body around us; we learn of
each other.  I have something which you have not, and you have something
which I have not; I reveal what I have to you, and you reveal what you
have to me.  I believe that we are revelators to each other.  Are the
heavens opened?  Yes, to some at times, yet upon natural principles, upon
the principle of natural philosophy.  "Do you know the will and mind of
the Lord?"  Yes, concerning this people, and concerning myself.  Do every
one of my brethren and sisters know the will of the Lord?  Let me say to
the Latter-day Saints, if they will take up their cross and follow the
Lord Jesus Christ in the regeneration, many of them will receive more,
know more, and have more of the spirit of revelation than they are aware
of; but the revelations which I receive are all upon natural principles. 
I will give you one revelation which I had in Far West, and it was upon
the same principle that it would be for me to have a revelation now, while
I am talking to you.  It was in the spring of 1838, before there was any
disturbance in Far West, or in Davis County.

	This people, thought I, are obnoxious to these Missourians, our
religion they hate, our Prophet they despise and would like to kill him;
they are ignorant of the things of God; they have received the precepts of
men and drank deep into them, and are so interwoven with their feelings
that the true religion of heaven cannot abide in their minds.  Therefore I
saw, upon natural principles, that we would be driven from there, but
when, I did not know; but still it was plain to me that we would have to
leave the State, and that when we did leave it we would not go south,
north or west, but east, back to the other States.  That I saw upon
natural principles, and I knew what those people were afraid of.  I then
saw that we would go north, as a Church and people, and then to the west,
and that when they went to Jackson County, they would go from the west to
the east.  Mark my words, write them down, this people, as a Church and
kingdom, will go from the west to the east.  I can tell you more
concerning what I saw upon natural principles; I saw that this people
would have to gain a foothold, a strength, power, influence, and ability
to walk by themselves and to take care of themselves, and power to contend
with their enemies and overcome them, upon the same principle that the
whites did when they first came to America and overcame the Indians.  Many
here do not know anything about the history of the early settling of
America.

	New Orleans was one of the first places settled by the Europeans,
after North America was discovered.  St. Louis was settled long before New
York, and in that region you can find apple trees two feet though,
standing among the oaks which are several feet in diameter.  Did the first
settlers stay there?  No, they were either killed or had to leave lest
they should be killed, with the exception of a few of the Spaniards who
intermarried and lived with the Indians.  The whites had to leave and go
down the Mississippi river, and went round into Maine and Massachusetts,
and when they reached there the Indians said, "You are welcome to this
land:" a region where they have thirteen months of winter during each
year.  I use that extravagant expression in order to convey an idea of the
rigor of the climate; but you talk about hard winters and snows here; in
comparison many of you know but little about them.

	I can pick up scores of Yankees here who have lived in countries
where they could have fine orchards, and live like nabobs, and yet, in the
winter season often ride in their sleighs over fences five feet high.  I
have rode over snow in the eastern states when it was fifteen feet deep. 
To return to the subject; I said, upon natural principles, that this
people had to go to a country that the Gentiles do not desire.  I can tell
you another thing, when you see any member of this community wishing to
withdraw and go to where there is a beautiful country--where it is easy to
live, let me tell you that that man will apostatize, or be driven from his
favorite locality: write that down brother George as the word of the
Almighty.

	I have deed after deed of land for which I did not get a cent when I
was obliged to leave it.  I also built many houses in the states, they are
there now, for ought I know; they will fall down some of these days, and I
care not how quickly.  This people can only gain strength upon the
principle of fleeing to a country where the wicked will not live, and
where they can gain strength enough to walk by themselves, and to go where
they please.  This is one of the truths of heaven.

	Whenever you see persons from this place on their way to a milder
climate, seeking a better home, they will apostatize or be driven from
their loved asylum; you may set that down for a fact.  I saw that this
people would have to flee into the mountains, and into a climate and
country that the Gentiles would not desire.  If we are not in such a
place, I do not know where we will find one more undesirable than this. 
Do the Saints delight in this locality?  No, it is repugnant to their
feelings, if they could have their choice.  Did I come here by choice, or
was it not because I had to come?  I like this country, and if it is not
bare enough, cold and disagreeable enough, to those who wish to live in
ease, we will find another location a little farther off.  When we came
here we were one thousand miles from everybody.  Are you afraid of the
Gentiles coming here? Should we all move from this city and give the
Gentiles liberty to occupy our houses, our farms, &c., in five years you
would not find them here; they could not live here, for this is not a
place that would suit them.  If this is not the place for us to dwell, it
is not to be found in texas, in California, nor in old or new Mexico. 
Where is it then?  That is not for me nor you to inquire about, but it
will not be in any of those places.  If we are not now in the right place,
the Lord will lead us to where we can gather up our strength, and multiply
and sanctify ourselves, so that we can go forth and serve the Lord with
clean hands and pure hearts.

	I will now tell you a little more about the witnesses; I have strayed
some from that point, but I never bind myself while I am with the
brethren.  If I were preaching abroad in the world I should feel myself
somewhat obliged, through custom, to adhere to the wishes and feelings of
the people in regard to pursuing the thread of any given subject, but here
I feel as free as air.  You have gathered the idea from me that it is not
the miracles that are performed before a person's eyes that convince him
that one is of God, or of the devil; yet, if the Lord designs that a
person should heal the sick, that individual can do so; but is that to
convince the wicked that the operator is sent of God?  No, it is a
blessing on the Saints, and the wicked have nothing to do with it, they
have no business to hear of it; that is for the Saints, it is especially
for their benefit, and theirs alone.  What should the wicked hear?  They
should hear a man testify that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet of God,
that he was a good man, and that he did plant and establish the kingdom of
God on the earth, and we know it.  "How shall I know?" says one.  By
obeying the commandments given to you.  The Lord has said, go into the
waters of baptism and be baptized for the remission of your sins, and you
shall receive a witness that I am telling you the truth.  How?  By baptism
and the laying on of hands alone?  No.  By seeing the sick healed?  No,
but by the Spirit that shall come unto you through obedience, which will
make you feel like little children, and cause you to delight in doing
good, to love your father in heaven and the society of the righteous. 
Have you malice and wrath then?  No, it is taken from you, and you feel
like the child in its mother's lap.  You will feel kind to your children,
to you brothers and sisters, to your parents and neighbors, and to all
around you; you will feel a glow, as of fire, burning within you.  And if
you open your mouths to talk you will declare ideas which you did not
formerly think of; they will flow into your mind, even such as you have
not thought of for years.  The Scriptures will be opened to you, and you
will see how clear and reasonable everything is which this or that Elder
teaches you.  Your hearts will be comforted, you can lie down and sleep in
peace, and wake up with feelings as pleasant as the breezes of summer. 
This is a witness to you.  You ask the Lord to heal you, or your sick
child, and if He is disposed to do it He will, and if not it is all right. 
If He is disposed to open the heavens and give us a visit from an angel,
it is all right.  If He is disposed to reveal to us, by natural
philosophy, what is going to take place, that is right.  If He is disposed
to show us by vision where this people are going, and when, all right, and
it is right if He withholds that information.

	If, by the whispering of a small, still voice, He dictates you to do
this or that, showing you which is right and which is wrong, it is all
right, and it is right to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in His so
doing.

	But if you had faith to go out to the graveyard and raise up scores
of the dead, that alone would not make you Latter-day Saints, neither if
the visions of your minds were opened so as to see the finger of God. 
What will?  Keeping the commandments of the Lord, to walk humbly before
your God, and before one another, to cease to do evil and learn to do
well, and to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; then
you are a Latter-day Saint, whether you have visions or not. 

	You may be tried and cast down, and be inclined to say that the Lord
has not revealed this or that to you, but that has nothing to do with me
or you.  I do not desire to dictate the Lord in that matter; all I have to
do is to concern myself with the things He requires of me, for it is His
right to pursue His own way, and take His own time and course in dealing
with me.  Can you gain a victory?  You can.
	As I have told you, your spirit is continually warring with the
flesh; you spirit dictates one way, your flesh suggests another, and this
brings on the combat.  What are you to do?  You must bring the hands, the
elbows, the feet, the tongue, and all the organs of speech and every power
of the body into subjection.

	You must say that you will not swear, nor say or do anything which is
wrong.  An elder was cut off from the Church here last Sunday for
swearing.  What do I think of it?  Time and time again have I requested
the High Priests and Seventies to cut off such members of their several
quorums as will break the Sabbath, and take the name of God in vain.  I
say sever them from the tree, for these loose and wicked characters hurt
the tree.  They are like dry limbs, and have become so decayed, that the
moisture leaks through them, and seeks its way into the heart of the tree,
and, by and bye, if we do not cut away such branches, the tree itself will
die.

	I often think that the High Priests and Seventies dare not walk up
strictly to this duty, and I am disposed, at times, to imagine that some
of the presidents of those quorums are guilty of such things themselves.

	Bring the names of such men to this stand and I will cut them off, if
no other person will, and ask no odds of the quorum, and you will go in
with me.  Bring the names of men who take the name of God in vain and do
wrong in any way, and I will not ask for a High Council or Bishop's Court
to deliberate on their case; I will sever them from the tree of life, and
ask them what they are going to do about it.  They will wither and die.

	You may try to make dead limbe grow on the tree, but such a practics
[sic] is a detriment to the bearing of good fruit.

	I want to talk a little more about the witnesses.  I am a witness--of
what?  I have told it here and in Nauvoo.  I know what I am a witness of,
and I know my Apostleship. I am a witness that Joseph Smith was a Prophet
of God.  What an uproar it would make in the Christian world to say, I am
an Apostle of Joseph.  Write it down, and write it back to your friends in
the east, that I am an Apostle of Joseph Smith.  He was a man of God and
had the revelations of Jesus Christ, and the words of Jesus Christ to the
people.  He did build and establish the kingdom of God on earth, and
through him the Lord Almighty again restored the Priesthood to the
children of men.

	Brethren, I am a witness of that; not by my laying hands on the sick
and they being healed, nor by the revelations which are given of him in
the Bible, but by receiving the same Spirit and witness which the ancients
received; by the visions of the heavens being opened to my mind; by my
understanding that which is revealed in the Book of Mormon, and that which
Joseph revealed as comprised in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.

	I am a witness that those are the revelations of the Lord through
Joseph Smith, in this the last dispensation  for the gathering of the
people; and all who reject my testimony will go to hell, so sure as there
is one, no matter whether it be hot or cold; they will incur the
displeasure of the Father and of the Son.

	I am a witness of this; and all who will hear the voice of the
servants of God, pay attention to what they say, and obey the commandments
given to the people, shall receive a testimony and know that we tell them
the truth, that Joseph is a Prophet of God, and did actually finish the
work which the Lord gave him to do, sealed his testimony with his blood,
and has gone to dwell in the world of spirits, until he gets his body. 
All will have to acknowledge that this is true.

	There are many other things that might be noticed, and much more
might be said upon this subject.  I have merely hinted at the witness, at
the privileges, blessings, and duties of the Saints, and at what makes a
Saint, but I feel as though I had talked long enough, or as much as I
should to-day. I have a bad cold, and could cough as well as the rest of
you, but I have been enabled to refrain from coughing since I have been
here, and during the brief time I have occupied while addressing you this
morning.

	I hope and trust that we will order our lives so as to be worthy of
the blessings promised to us, and live to the glory of God, that we may
have a glorious resurrection, and enjoy each other's society in the
kingdom of our God.  This is our constant prayer concerning you, in the
name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

  LAWYERS, AND THOSE WHO PRACTISE ATTENDING LAW COURTS, REBUKED--A CURSE
        PRONOUNCED UPON ALL WHO LOVE LITIGATION AND DO NOT REPENT.
  A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, 
                 Great Salt Lake City, February 24, 1856.

	So far as I am a judge of the true spirit of the Gospel, I think that
we have had that spirit manifested this morning, by brother Joseph Hovey,
in his expression of his feelings, and that too in his own natural way. 
He is a blacksmith, carpenter stone cutter, wood chopper; or anything else
within his power, the particular channel of his operations depending
entirely upon counsel.  Some of the brethren present are no doubt apprised
of the mission which brother Hovey has been engaged in during this present
winter; they may also be apprised that his course was found fault with
when he was in the county of Utah, and more especially while in a place
called Payson.  While I was in Fillmore the brethren wrote to me
concerning the doings and sayings of brother Hovey, and in searching to
know the ground of the complaint against him, I learned that it amounted
to simply this--"If brother Hovey is let alone, the people will confess
their sins."

	I wrote back to them, inquiring whether they thought there was any
danger of any persons confessing to more sin than he was guilty of; that
if they could find out that any had confessed to more stealing, swearing,
lying, and swindling, than they were really guilty of, it would be well to
give brother Hovey a word of caution, and to tell him to hold up a little
and not cause the innocent to belie themselves.  At the same time I said,
that I thought there was not much danger of that, and that they might go
on in that course for some time longer, and not then have made all the
confessions that they ought to.

	I asked brother Hovey to preach to-day, and to frankly express his
feelings as they really existed, that I might have a chance to understand
some of his "Mormonism."  I wish to see the Elders get up here and
manifest their spirits, and speak as they feel when they are alone in
their meditations.  Let us know how you feel, and what you think. We can
form some kind of an idea how a man feels by looking at him, but if you
wish a man to portray himself faithfully you must get him to talk, and I
will insure that the organs of speech will show out the true state of the
mind, sooner or later, and reveal the fruit of his heart.  No man can hide
it if he is allowed to talk; he will be sure to manifest his true
feelings.

	Brother Hovey has referred to several incidents in his experience.  I
will refer to what I witnessed no longer ago than yesterday, in the
court-room.  A lawyer rose to make his plea before the jury; he took up
the laws of Utah, which are strict and pointed in reference to lawyers
making pleas, binding them to fairly array the facts in the case, whether
they are for or against their clients, and he was so serious, so
religious, so pious, and so honest, that he appealed to high heaven to
witness his honesty before the jury.  When he had induced the jury to
believe that he was honest, he stood there and misrepresented the merits
of the case, for half an hour at a stretch, in regular lawyer style.

	Men will portray what is in their hearts, when they talk freely, and
they cannot keep from it.  This is the way in which the Lord will exhibit
the hearts of the children of men.  Will He take out their hearts and show
them to the people?  No, for that would not exhibit the fruit of their
hearts; but He will draw them into circumstances which will compel them to
manifest what is in them.  Let a man rise up here and talk, and freely
express his thoughts, and you can judge of what spirit he is.

	We have just heard the words which give a manifestation of the spirit
of one of our missionaries, and I say now, as I have said before, I wish
we had hundreds of such missionaries throughout this Territory, preaching
to the people, and firing up their hearts with the spirit of honesty, so
that they would entirely quit pilfering, lying, and deceiving, and deal
honestly with one another, with themselves, and with their God, and be
industrious and prudent, and pay attention to their business, instead of
loafing about the streets.  I wish we had one hundred such missionaries in
this city, to get up prayer meetings, preaching meetings, and evening
meetings in every ward.  What for?  To draw away that filthy, nasty mess
which assembles at the corner of this public square.  For a week or two
past, that court-house has been thronged with men, and it is darker than
the bowels of hell.  If you ask me how I know, I answer, I have been there
and seen for myself; have understood how they felt and tried the spirits,
and I saw who were there.  It is a shame for men to be found loafing about
in such places, where there is contention, and quarrelling, and every
stratagem that can be used to deceive juries and witnesses, and lying
before them with all the grace and sanctity of a Saint, pretending to be
one.  Such a place is darker to me than midnight darkness.

	There is not a jury which has occupied seats in that court-house that
comprehends the full scope of truth; they are put there and then their
minds are beclouded, dust is thrown into their eyes, and they do not fully
know truth from error, light from darkness, what is of God from what is
not of God.

	As I have already said, a lawyer commenced his plea yesterday, by
appealing to high heaven to witness his honesty before the jury, and this
he did to decoy their feelings, to throw them off their guard, and in all
this he was true to his client, in accordance with the approved mode of
the Gentiles.  He has been a Gentile lawyer for many years before he
entered this Church, and therefore I do not think that he really merits
such severe censure as he otherwise would for taking the Gentile shoot so
faithfully, as the strong power of tradition and habit still enfolds him. 
Instead of setting before the jury the true merits of the case, and
nothing else, he never touched upon them, but avoided them at every turn
and threw dust in their eyes, that they might give an unrighteous
decision.

	Elders of Israel also throng such a place, and that too when no
spirit reigns there but the devil's spirit, and unless enough righteous
Elders go in to purify the atmosphere and overbalance the power of evil,
you can get nothing from that den but the principles of hell.  There is
not a righteous person, in this community, who will have difficulties that
cannot be settled by arbitrators, the Bishop's Court, the High Council, or
by the 12 Referees (as provided in Resolution No. 4, page 390 of Utah
Laws), far better and more satisfactorily than to contend with each other
in law courts, which directly tends to destroy the best interests of the
community, and to lead scores of men away from their duties, as good and
industrious citizens.  Take from one to two hundred men and detain them in
a court room week after week, just look at it!!  How many men have been
detained at that court-house during the past week?  Will a hundred fill
the number?  No.  Will the time of one hundred and fifty men, for the past
six days, indemnify this community for the wasted time that has been spent
there in trying to decide one case, that any boy 15 years old, possessed
of good common sense, and having the spirit of truth within him, could
have decided in one hour?  I tell you that the time of one hundred and
fifty men, for six days, will not supply the loss to this community which
has been incurred to satisfy the lustful, wicked, cursed, hellish
appetites of professed brethren, in striving to cheat their neighbors, by
employing lawyers to deceive or lie for them, which are synonymous terms
in the eyes of justice, and by bringing in witnesses to screen the guilty
and deceive a jury, whereby they are liable to give a wrong verdict.

	I am making these remarks for your benefit, if you will be benefitted
by them.  I tell you that a cricket war, a grasshopper war, or an Indian
war, would not begin to be so direful as what you would have to pass
through, were it not for your ignorance.  If you are wilfully ignorant you
will have to feel the lash, but if you are innocently ignorant, and do the
best you know how, you may be excused.

	Does the Lord love your conduct when you drag each other before the
ungodly?  When you run after difficulties, contentions, broils, and
strifes?  Do you think He has fellowship with your conduct in such things? 
No, you do not.  Do you suppose that Jesus Christ has?  No.  Do you
believe that angels and good men can fellowship your conduct?  You do not,
for one moment.  There is not a man or woman in this house, whether Saint
or sinner, Jew or Gentile, bond or free, black or white, that can so
believe for a moment.

	Do you believe that your consciences can be clear in the day of
retribution, if you spend your time for naught, and run after the
filthiness of the wicked?  Do you believe that, in so doing, you can stand
in the great day of account with a clear conscience?  You cannot.  Then
why, in the name of common sense, do you tag after the devil and his imps?

	Old grey-headed men, who ought to be fathers in Israel, were
empaneled as a jury on the case I have alluded to, and what were they
after?  The fog, the froth, and spawn of hell, and they feast upon it, men
who do not know their right hands from their left, with regard to the
influences of the Spirit of God.  Might they not have known better?  Yes,
if they had taken the course which Joseph Hovey has taken.  If they would
walk humbly before God and know His will, they would go to work and get
stone and timber, and work at repairing their fences preparatory to
raising grain, potatoes, and other articles of food, instead of following
after courts and the nonsense, wickedness, and lying associated with them.

	Do I say that lying is practised in those places?  Yes, often from
beginning to end.  Men will take a solemn oath that they will tell the
truth, in the name of Israel's God, and nothing but the truth, and then,
if they have a prejudice against Mr. A or B, they will tell their story to
suit themselves, and if possible crush an innocent person.  The juries are
liable to be deceived, where there is so much darkness, and the whole
posse will go to hell, and I will say it in the name of Jesus Christ.

	You men who follow after such a course of things as I refer to, I
would not give the ashes of a rye straw for the whole of you, jurymen,
witnesses, and every other person who countenances such a place.  It is a
cage of unclean birds, a den and kitchen of the devil, prepared for hell,
and I am going to warn you of it.  Some of you wondered why I sent Thomas
Bullock to take your names; I wanted to know the men who were coaxing hell
into our midst, for I wish to send them to China, to the East Indies, or
to where they cannot get back, at least for five years.  Who do we wish to
stay at home?  Such men as Joseph Hovey, men who will pay attention to
making fences, tilling the soil, and providing for their families, those
who will live their religion at home.  But we will send off the poor
curses on a mission, and then the devil may have them, and we do not care
how soon they apostatize, after they get as far as California.

	You may think my remarks are severe upon the lawyers here, but the
most of them take a course which is highly censurable, and you may see
grey headed men running after them, and asking, "Can you call me up as a
witness, or put me on the jury?"--in order that they may get a dollar or
two.  Would I go there for money?  No.  There is not an honest man in this
community would go there merely for money or would plead law unless it was
demanded at his hands, by the principles of justice, to prevent the
innocent from being wronged and abused.  No principle would ever lead an
honest man into a court room, only to preserve the innocent from being
rode down and destroyed.

 	To see professed brethren, old and young, idling away their time in
and around court-rooms, proves them to have little or no love for their
religion, and that they care but little about their God.  I would like to
see a strictly honest community, if we can have one, and then there would
be no differences of opinion brought before a Gentile court--never, never! 
Every difficulty would be settled amicably, without ever calling upon a
court.  I am ashamed of many of you; it is a disgrace for men who profess
to be men of dignity and character--men who have been judges in the
supreme court of their country, to condescend to the mean, low-lied
calling of a pettifogger, and miserable tools at that.  I am ashamed for
such persons, their conduct is a disgrace to them, and to the name of
"Mormon."

	I wish we had in our midst thousands and millions of such men as
Joseph Hovey I would then bid defiance to all the powers of darkness.  But
while we have hundreds and thousands of men, whom we hold in fellowship,
who would rather take off their hats and scrape their shoes to a servant
of the devil, and black his boots, I tell you we are in danger.

	Men who love corruption, contention, and broils, and who seek to make
them, I curse you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; I curse you, and
the fruits of your lands shall be smitten with mildew, your children shall
sicken and die, your cattle shall waste  away and I pray God to root you
out from the society of the Saints.  To observe such conduct as many
lawyers are guilty of, stirring up strife among peaceable men, is an
outrage upon the feelings of every honest, law abiding man.  To sit among
them is like sitting in the depths of hell, for they are as corrupt as the
bowels of hell, and their hearts are as black as the ace of spades.  I
have known them for years; I know where they were begotten and by whom,
and how they were brought forth, and the history of their lives.  They
love sin, and roll it under their tongues as a sweet morsel, and will
creep around like wolves in sheep's clothing, and fill their pocket's with
the fair earnings of their neighbors, and devise every artifice in their
power to reach the property of the honest, and that is what has caused
these courts.  I say, may God Almighty curse them from this time
henceforth, and let all the Saints in this house say, Amen [a unanimous
Amen from 3000 persons resounded through the house] for they are a stink
in the nostrils of God and angels and in the nostrils of every Latter-day
Saint in this Territory.

	We have been driven from the face of man into the wilderness, and now
the poor devils follow us to stir up strife, and to produce the spawn of
hell, in which they delight to live and upon which they feed.  And simple
ones in this community will beg of them, "Cannot I be on the grand jury? 
Cannot I get a little to do in the court?"  You are fools; God will never
pay you; all the pay you will receive will be from the devil, and it will
be miserable pay.

	This I say to lawyers and to all who will run after strife, and I say
it in honesty and soberness before high heaven, before my Father in
heaven, before Jesus Christ His Son, and before the holy angels.

	To see lawyers, as I saw them yesterday, strive to make the jury
believe them honest, and then throw dust in their eyes, who will reward
you for this?  The devil, when he gets you in deep suffering and trouble,
for there he will leave you, and say that he has no more use for you.  You
would do better to labor for the Lord, and you would get better pay.  And
the people of this Territory will make money by paying their honest debts,
and gain property and be blessed in their basket and in their store, in
their fields and in their crops, in their flocks and herds, in their wives
and children, while the withering touch of the Almighty will be upon them
if they practise wickedness.

	Keep away from court houses; no decent man will go there unless he
goes as a witness, or is in some manner compelled to.  I know that many
are obliged to go, but those who creep around to see what is going on, let
me tell you, the devil has possession of them.  I wish such persons to go
to California, if they wish to.  I counsel you to keep away from courts,
we have got the names of those who have attended that court room, and we
will send those characters on long missions, for we want to get rid of
them, and we do not care whether they apostatize or not.

	If the world complain of this, say I, if you have not sense enough to
know the difference between an honest man and a devil, you must run the
risk of it.  I could always discern the difference, and if you have not
insight enough to know when they tell the truth and when they lie, you
have to run the same chance that we have.  People abroad may say, "Why
don't you send us all good men?"  Do you believe them?  No, you do not,
when we send them.  We wish them to stay here, only those whom it is
necessary to have go, but we have no business here for those poor
miserable devils.  I call you miserable, because the Spirit of the
Almighty has no fellowship for you; your names are written with ours here,
and also in the Lam's book of life, as I have often told you, where they
will remain until you sin against the Holy Ghost.  Angels have no
fellowship for you, neither have I.  Now go and prove yourselves, and if
you desire to be Saints you have an opportunity.  Were it not for your
ignorance, there would be a severing between the righteous and the wicked. 
I would not endure what I am obliged to endure, whether I am righteous or
not, I would make a scattering among this people, and make the wicked
leave forthwith.

	I wanted to give you this brief exhortation.  You may say that I have
talked rather hard, but I do not care what you say about it, not one
particle.  I will tell you what I think about the matter, if you do not
stop your wickedness we will lay judgment to the line and righteousness to
the plummet, and I tell you that the hailstorm that will be around you
will sweep away the refuge of lies and all liars.

	I am not afraid of all hell nor of all the world, in laying judgment
to the line, when the Lord says so.  Now, then, behave yourselves, you old
gray-headed know nothings, you are doted; you are--shall I say hardshells? 
No, you are poor old soft shell fogies, that a few pounds of tea and sugar
will buy.

	I feel as ready as any man to honor gray hairs, but I also believe in
the old proverb which reads that "a wise child is better than an old and
foolish king."  We do not want any such men to go to courts.  When they
want you to sit on a jury, tell them to judge the case themselves, and you
keep away and mind your own business.  Let me ask you, is there a man
obliged to go into court and sit on a jury?  No.  Our law will not oblige
him to do it, only on certain conditions.  You can get rid of doing so,
you are there because you love to be there.  You suck down the drink that
is there, eat the food that is there, and sup the broth that is there,
because it is of hell and you like it better than you do the Saints, and
the sustenance of the Saints.  May god bless the honest in heart, and
separate the wicked and unrighteous from them, and curse the latter class
from this time henceforth.  Amen.



            THE NECESSITY OF THE SAINTS LIVING UP TO THE LIGHT
                        WHICH HAS BEEN GIVEN THEM.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, March 2, 1856.

	I have many subjects that I would like to speak upon for the benefit
of the Saints, and one thing in particular I should like to do for them,
which I believe would be the greatest blessing that could be bestowed upon
them, and that is to give you eyes with which to see things as they are. 
If I had power to bestow that description of sight upon the Latter-day
Saints, I do not believe that there is a man or woman but what would try
to live their religion.

	Some might suppose that it would be a great blessing to be taken and
carried directly into heaven and there set down, but in reality that would
be no blessing to such persons; they could not reap a full reward, could
not enjoy the glory of the kingdom, and could not comprehend and abide the
light thereof, but it would be to them a hell intolerable, and I suppose
would consume them much quicker than would hell fire.  It would be no
blessing to you to be carried into the celestial kingdom, and obliged to
stay therein, unless you were prepared to dwell there.

	If people had eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand
things as they are, it would prove a blessing to them, for they would then
order their lives in a manner to secure the blessings which they
anticipate.  However, it is out of my power to thus bless this people, but
the gift has been placed within the reach of every person by the purchase
of the Son of God, and it is for them to obtain it, or to pass along
without obtaining it, just as they may choose.  But some facts are easily
comprehended; take the Latter-day Saints and compare their feelings,
lives, and doings with those of the world, and what will be readily
discovered?  Were any of you now to go forth into the world, if you had
one spark of honesty  or of virtue about you, you would desire to return
as soon as duty would permit, and would exclaim, "I had no idea that the
world was as I found it to be."  Many of our Elders exclaim, on their
return from foreign missions, "How wicked the world has got to be!  They
are growing worse and worse, and go rapidly from bad to worse."  I have
heard them exclaim, "It was astonishing to see how the people could so
alter in the course of two or three years!"

	On this point I will remark that the Elders rapidly alter one way,
and the people of the world alter directly the other way, thus the space
between them increases much faster than we are apt to be aware of.  Elders
who go forth to proclaim the Gospel, unless they do something to clip
their faith, or cause them to apostatize from their religion, so that they
are left in the dark, are generally on the increase in improvement, grow
in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, and gather to themselves more
knowledge than they had before they went on their mission.  They are
advancing in the principles of truth, while the world are receding from
the truth they once had; consequently, it appears to the Elders, and to
those who go from the Saints into the world, that it is growing wicked
faster than it really is, and the Elders do not always realize that their
advancement in truth produces much of the appearance of the great distance
between them and the world.

	If many of this congregation knew, if they had eyes to see, and ears
to hear, they would often be ashamed of their conduct, when contrasted
with all the light that has been manifested in the Gospel of salvation
revealed to us.  We have heard Joseph the Prophet preach, have seen his
face, and have the revelations given through him, and the manifestations
of the Holy Spirit; we have knowledge, we have the living oracles in our
midst, and with all this let me say to the Latter-day Saints that they
stand upon slippery places.  They do not all fully know the paths they
walk in, they do not all perfectly understand their own ways and doings,
many do not altogether realize their own weaknesses, do not understand the
power of the devil and how liable they are to be decoyed one hair`s
breadth, to begin with, from the line of truth.  They are first drawn by a
fine line, in a little time it becomes a cord, it soon increases to a
strong rope, and from that to a cable; thus it grows from the size of a
spider's web, in comparison.

	Let a Saint diverge from the path of truth and rectitude, in the
least, no matter in what, it may be in a deal with his neighbor, in
lusting after that which is not in his possession, in neglecting his duty,
in having an over anxiety for something he should not be anxious about in
being a little distrustful with regard to the providences of God, in
entertaining a misgiving in his heart and feeling with regard to the hand
of the Lord towards him, and his mind will begin to be darkened.

	Brother Amasa Lyman has just observed, that some say "I suppose we
must acknowledge the hand of God in all things."  There is no supposition
with as me to that matter, we can do as we please about it; but we have to
confess or be chastised until we know and understand how things are, and
realize that the Lord God is with us, in our midst and around about us, by
His angels, by His Spirit, and by His eye which searches and researches
our hearts.  If He is not here in person, He is conversant with our
actions, and scans every thought of our hearts and every action of our
lives.  He is in our midst, and we might as well begin to think about it
first as last.

	If there is a misgiving in the heart with regard to confidence in our
God, do you not see that there is a chance for one to slide a hair's
breadth from the truth?  This gives power to the enemy, and if we are
decoyed in the least from the path of duty, do you not perceive that it
produces darkness?  Do you not understand that, in your experience?  Yes,
every Saint does.  If you become dark, do you not know that the enemy has
still greater power to decoy you further from the path?  Then how soon the
people would go to destruction, how soon they would go to ruin!

	I will tell you what this people need, with regard to preaching; you
need, figuratively, to have it rain pitchforks, tines downwards, from this
pulpit, Sunday after Sunday.  Instead of the smooth, beautiful, sweet,
still, silk-velvet-lipped preaching, you should have sermons like peals of
thunder, and perhaps we then can get the scales from our eyes.  This style
is necessary in order to save many of this people.  Give them smooth
preaching, and let them glide along in their own desires and wishes, and
they will follow after the traditions of their forefathers and the
inclinations of their own wicked hearts, and give way to temptation,
little by little, until, by and bye, they are ripe for destruction.

	If I could take away the vail, and let you see how things really are,
you would then know just as well as I know, and I know them just as well
as any man on the face of the earth need to.  I would not ask for a
particle more knowledge upon that subject than I now have in my
possession, were I capable of imparting it to this people, until we
improve upon what knowledge we already possess.  I know the condition of
this people, I know what induces them to do as they do, I know the secret
springs to their actions, how they are beset, the temptations and evils
that are around them, and how liable they are to be drawn away,
consequently, I tell you, brethren, that you need to have the thunders of
the Almighty and the forked ligtnings [sic] of truth sent upon you, to
wake you up out of your lethargy.

	Some may say, "Brother Brigham always chastises us."  But what do I
tell you?  I say that if there are any Saints on earth they are here, if
the kingdom of God is on the earth it is here, if Jesus is not known here,
he is not known upon the earth, if his Father is not known here, He is not
known upon the earth.  What of all this?  If we have this knowledge
greater is the shame, unless we live to it, and greater will be our
condemnation.  The people should be preached to, but they need something
besides smooth teaching.  Comparatively speaking, they should have their
ears cuffed and be roughly handled, be kicked out doors, and then kicked
in again.  Most of the Elders who preach in this stand ought to be kicked
out of it, and then kicked into it again, until they overhaul themselves
and find out what is the matter with them.

	The mass of the people are all asleep together, craving after the
world, running after wickedness, desiring this, that, and the other, which
is not for their good.

	You hear many talk about having made sacrifices; if I had that word
in my vocabulary I would blot it out.  I have never yet made what I call
sacrifices; in my experience I know nothing about making them.  We are
here in this wicked world, a world shrouded in darkness, principally led,
directed, governed, and controlled, from first to last, by the power of
our common foe--him who was opposed to Jesus Christ and to his
kingdom--the son of the morning--the devil.  Lucifer has almost the entire
control over the whole earth, rules and governs the children of men and
leads them on to destruction.  He has millions and millions of agents;
they are in every place, the air is full of them and the earth is full of
them.  You cannot go anywhere without finding some of them, unless it is
among a few of the Saints who have faith to turn them out of their hearts
and affections, out of their houses, and then out of their midst.

	There are a few such places on the earth, but they are very few,
compared with all the world beside.  The world is drunk with its own
folly, with its own wickedness.

	I know that I spoke very harshly to you last Sabbath, but that does
not hurt the oil and the wine; no, not one particle.  There was not a
Latter-day Saint then within hearing of my voice but that his soul
shouted, "Amen, thank God, glory, hallelujah."  You need such preaching as
was that, from day to day, until the rubbish cleaving to you is swept
away, until your minds are upon something beside the follies and vanities
of the world.  You have much to learn.  Do you think I was too rash last
Sunday?  (Voices, no.)  Even then I told you only a small portion of the
truths pertaining to the subjects touched upon.

	I cannot tell you the whole truth, for you are not in a condition to
receive it; my voice is not powerful enough to pierce your hearts; I alone
am not able to remove the scales from your eyes that you may see things as
they are.  I can talk to you here, and diffuse my spirit among you, so far
as you will receive it.  If I have the Spirit of the Lord, and your hearts
are soft, I can impart to you what the Lord has for you through me; that
is all I can do.  I have to cling to my Father, to my God, and to my
religion every day, yes, every moment of my life;  have to plead with Him
and centre all my confidence, hopes, and faith in Him, and so should you.

	There is one thing I desire of this people more than everything else
on this earth, more than gold, silver, houses, lands, and the riches of
this world which are not to compare with it, and that is that this people
would so live as to know the Father and the Son, to know the will of God
concerning them, and to be filled with the Holy Ghost, and have the
visions of eternity opened to them.  Then my soul would be satisfied; that
is all I could ask of them.  I do not care whether we have half rations,
or quarter rations, that is a matter I care but little about.  I would
rather that this people should starve to death in the mountains, than to
have the Lord Almighty hand us over to a cursed, infernal mob.  I would
rather go down to the grave in peace than to fight a mob, unless the Lord
would give me enough Saints to fight and kill the poor devils; in such
case I wish to live and fight them.  But I never want to see a mob again
drive and tread under foot the Saints.

	While brother Amasa was addressing the people, I admired the
principles he taught, and I can apply them to myself, so far as they
pertain to me; but I do not know how my little boys and girls, now growing
up in our midst, could understand what is in the world, unless we sent
them forth so that they could contrast one class with the other.  For my
part I do not need a mob to aid me to purify myself; I do not require to
hear another man take the name of God in vain, in order to complete my
experience concerning profanity.  I have no occasion for the devil and his
imps, nor to see the face of a wicked man while I live, in order to make
me more acquainted with their power.  I will be perfectly satisfied with
the glory and crown I shall receive, if I have no further acquaintance or
experience with the power of the devil, so far as I am concerned.

	If I have to pass through scenes of trouble, sorrow, and affliction,
if we have to fight the devil, and I have the power to live, I pray my
Father in heaven, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to let me live to
enjoy this privilege.  If I, of necessity must pass, through war and
bloodshed, toils and labors, let me live, for I love to fight the devils,
but I love to overcome them.  If I had the power I would doubtless use
them up, perhaps to the injury of the Saints.  Why?  Because if you do not
know wickedness you cannot enjoy the happiness God has in store for you.

	Paul asks, "Shall we sin that righteousness may abound?"  No, there
is plenty of sin without your sinning.  We can have all the experience we
need, without sinning ourselves, therefore we will not sin that good may
come, we will not transgress the law of God that we may know the opposite. 
There is no necessity for such a course, for the world is full of
transgression, and this people need not mingle up with it.

	Can you discern between the righteous and the wicked here?  You know
I have spoken of a certain  class of men who frequent our law shops, and
every other wicked hole they can get into; can they discern the difference
between those who love the law of God and those who despise it?  No.  The
vilest sinner on the earth who will come with a bland countenance, using
the airs that belong to the etiquette of the day, you receive as a very
fine man, a beautiful gentleman.  Do you not know that you need the Spirit
of the Almighty to look through a man and discern what is in his heart,
while his face smiles upon you and his words flow as smoothly as oil?  If
you had the power of God upon you, you might see the sword lurking within
him, and that, if he had the power, he would plunge it in your heart and
destroy you from the earth.  I meet many such men in these streets, and in
the houses round about.

	Do you not know that Jesus told the truth when he said, "They what
are not for us are against us?"  A great many have our patronage and
influence, benefit by our forbearance, and enrich themselves with our
cash, but when that is gone, what shall we hear next?  "Wipe them from the
earth, put them out of existence and let the earth not be infested with
them any longer, for they have no money, no influence for us now; they
cannot patronize and promote us, therefore destroy them from the earth." 
That is the spirit of the devil which reigns in every man who is not a
saint at heart.  This wicked principle may lay dormant, to all appearance,
year after year, lurking in the flesh, until it increases to such a degree
that the flesh has overcome the spirit of light which God implanted in
them, when it exhibits itself, and then the cry is, "Destroy the Apostles
of Jesus and every one of his true followers; root out that clan which
will destroy us unless we destroy them; root them out, that we be no more
pestered with them."

	Suppose one of my brethren had a large family connection, had many
brothers and sisters near and dear to him, as near his feelings as a child
is to its father's or mother's, and that this blood connection, embracing
all the friends he had upon earth, should, on a night so dark that they
could not see one inch before their eyes, mount their horses, put spurs to
them, and start at the top of their speed, on a road that neither they nor
their horses had ever travelled one inch upon, would he not cry at the top
of his voice, "Where are you going?" Would he not say, "You are riding in
the dark and on a road which you do not know?"  They might put spurs in
their horses and reply, "We will perform the journey."  You are the
individuals I am referring to.  Let any one see people hastening to the
brink of an awful precipice, hundreds of feet in depth, and before they
are aware of it, about to leap into the abyss, what feelings would move
the individual looking upon such a sight?  Would he not wish to take them
by the hair of their heads, if they would not stop, and save them if
possible?

	So I fell about you.  I feel like taking men and women by the hair of
their heads, figuratively speaking, and slinging them miles and miles, and
like crying, stop, before you ruin yourselves!  But I have not the power
to do this; I can talk to you a little and can beseech you to stop your
mad career, and can ask your Father in heaven to give you the light of His
Spirit, and when you receive that you will find every word that I said
last Sabbath to be true.  There are men here, by the score, who do not
know their right hands from their left, so far as the principle of justice
is concerned.  Does our High Council?  No, for they will let men throw
dust in their eyes, until you cannot find the hundredth millionth part of
an ounce of common sense in them.  You may go to the Bishops' courts, and
what are they?  A set of old grannies.  They cannot judge a case pending
between two old women, to say nothing of a case between man and man.  We
have already dropped many of them, and we are picking up young men.  We
will train them, and tell them to serve God or apostatize.

	The time is coming when justice will be laid to the line and
righteousness to the plummet; when we shall take the old broad sword and
ask, "Are you for God?" and if you are not heartily on the Lord's side,
you will be hewn down.  I feel like reproving you; you are like a wild ass
that rears and almost breaks his neck before he will be tamed.  It is so
with this people.

	Have we not given you salt enough to season you?  You have been
sweetened with velvet lips, until you do not know salt from anything else. 
Will you hear now?  If I have strength and continue to feel like it, I
will come here and train you every Sabbath, and I wish my sermons to be
like the raining of pitchforks point foremost, until you awake out of your
sleep and find out whether you are Saints or not.  We have a great many
gars, sharks, sheepheads, lamper-eels, and every other kind of fish that
is to be found, in the pond; the Gospel net has gathered them up, and what
may you expect from such a mess?  You may expect the best and worst of all
God's creation mingled here together.  The foolish will turn from correct
principles, go over to the wicked, and cease to be righteous, so that they
can go to hell with the fools.  I wish to have every man who rises to
speak from this stand, lay aside the smooth tongue and velvet lips and let
his words be like melted lead, that they may sink into the hearts of the
people.

	Now do not think that I have cast you off; you are my brethren, if I
have any.  If there are any Saints on the face of the earth they are here. 
I am one with you, and if you turn round and say, "Brother Brigham ought
to live according to his preaching,"  I answer, I live so now that you
cannot keep up with me.  Do not fret yourselves, I am ready to be weighed
in the balance in all my ways, with any of you.  Learn to live your
religion day by day, and do right all the time.  Let us strive to get more
light, more of the grace and power of God, that we may increase therein,
which is my prayer continually.  May God bless you:  Amen.

       INSTRUCTIONS TO THE BISHOPS--MEN JUDGED ACCORDING TO THEIR
         KNOWLEDGE--ORGANIZATION OF THE SPIRIT AND BODY--THOUGHT
                   AND LABOR TO BE BLENDED TOGETHER.  
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, March 16, 1856.

	I do not now rise expressly for the purpose of giving additional
instructions, for we have already heard much to-day; still, I have a few
reflections which I will offer.  Can you not remember hearing public
speakers, both here and in other countries, use many words without clearly
and distinctly conveying ideas?  

	The discourse by brother Vernon, in the forenoon, quite delighted me. 
I was extremely well pleased to hear him clothe his ideas with such
beautiful language, and so easily understood.  Hence, I exhort my
brethren, the Elders, when they rise to teach, edify, or instruct the
people, not to hamper themselves with efforts to merely select nice
sounding words, but to deal out correct and useful ideas, even if you do
not use one word in ten in a way that the learned would deem proper.  If a
speaker presents useful ideas to a congregation of the best scholars in
existence, though not one word of his language is strictly proper, yet
what he says will feed that congregation, far more than will a perfect
volume of nice sounding words which convey few or no important ideas.  I
will leave the correctness of this remark to philosophers of every grade.

	Still, when any one rises to speak, if his mind is stored with
valuable ideas, let him clothe his thoughts with the best language he can
command--that which comes to him easily and naturally.  I really wish to
impress this idea upon the minds of the Elders.

	If you will reflect upon what class of speakers have most edified
you, no matter whether they are taught or untaught in the learning of the
schools, you will readily discover that it has been those whose minds were
stored with good ideas, and who spoke so that you could readily and easily
understand them, whether their language was couched in the most approved
style or not.  When you hear individuals speak whose minds are stored with
rich ideas, do they not benefit you the most?  I care but little about
your language, hand out the ides, and let us know what you have stored in
your minds.

	I will now refer to a portion of the discourse delivered here this
afternoon, and say to the Bishops, that it would be highly gratifying to
me, and to all of us, if you would prove yourselves wise stewards.  You
have a good opportunity to exhibit your abilities, and I say to the Bishop
who has just addressed us, won't you do as I have formerly directed you,
and appoint good, wise, judicious men to go through your Ward, to find out
what is in that Ward, and the situation of every family, whether they have
money, flour, or costly clothing, or whether they are destitute and
suffering?  This is your business and calling.  But many of our Bishops
are sleepy and good for nothing, and if I were going to cleanse the
Church, knowing the character of individuals, I think I should commence
with the Bishops.  Theirs is one of the most laborious and responsible
offices in the whole Church; it is an office which requires men of the
best skill, judgment and talent, to fill, and is one of the greatest
importance.  Bishops, will you take hold and try to make men of
yourselves?  After all I have said now and heretofore, if you were going
to search your Wards, you would be very apt to come to me to inquire what
you should do.  I will tell you, do not let there be one place, in the
habitations of the Saints in your Wards, about which you are uninformed. 
Brother Wooley has reported the circumstance of a Bishop finding a woman
who had been living upon the charity of her neighbors, and who, at the
same time, had valuable property, and money hid up.  I can refer you to
scores of like circumstances, and what is more, to some of the Elders,
those who are supposed to be among the best of our Elders, who have been
preaching abroad and brought their hundreds into the Church, who come here
with a lie in their hearts and on their tongues, with regard to their
means, and declare, emphatically, that they have no means to help
themselves with, neither money nor goods.

	We have brought them here, and they are still owing the Perpetual
Emigrating Fund for their passage, and they have gold, if they have no
silver, and have the richest kind of clothing.  This brings to my mind the
circumstance, of a family in Nauvoo, who were in the habit of travelling
from house to house, begging their living, and said, that they were poor
and destitute.  When the time came for us to leave that city, and that
family was starting to St. Louis, the woman loosed her dress and showed
one of the sisters her stays, and said, "I have my money sewed up in these
stays, and the Church won't get it."  This woman begged her living, and
stayed in Nauvoo almost two years, and would rather be damned than to part
with the sovereigns sewed up in her stays.  Such people will be damned,
and the sooner they leave us the better.

	Were I a Bishop, I would know to a reasonable degree of accuracy, the
value of the clothing owned by those in my Ward, who were calling upon me
for assistance, and I would be familiar with every nook and habitation,
and watch carefully that money was not secreted, and the owners begging
from those poorer than themselves.  I would know whether they had money
hoarded, or hid away.

 	A score of years ago the Elders had to be very watchful, and I do not
suppose that, for many years, I slept so soundly but what the slightest
tap would wake me up.  If any person should say, "Brigham!"  I am ready at
once to ask, "What is wanted?"  I am ready to jump, at a moment's warning. 
No person could stir about, without our knowing it.

	The Bishops should be equally wide awake, and set those whom they
have confidence in, those whom they know to be honest, to be watchmen on
the tower, and let them find out who are suffering.  Doubtless, there are
many who are suffering through want of food, but there is no necessity of
any family suffering in this City, and when this City is supplied, the
remainder of the Territory may be considered independent.

	I presume that we have one fourth less provisions in this City to the
number of the inhabitants, than has any other portion of the Territory,
and yet we need not suffer.  Here we need not be ashamed to beg, when
stern necessity has closed around us.  I do not expect to see the day when
I am perfectly independent, until I am crowned in the celestial kingdom of
my Father, and made as independent as my Father in heaven. I have not yet
received my inheritance as my own, and I expect to be dependent until I
do, for all that I have is lent to me.

	If a man comes to me and says, he is out of food, what of that?  He
is out of food, that is all.  If a man comes along and says, "My family is
destitute of food and clothing," what of that?  Simply that they are
destitute of food and clothing, and still they may be gentlemen and
ladies, for all that, and be honoring their tabernacles and being on the
earth.

	The customs of the world have made it degrading to ask for food, but
it is not, when a person cannot honestly procure it in any other way.  The
man who is hungry and destitute has as good a right to my food as any
other person, and I should feel as happy in associating with him, if he
had a good heart, as with those who have an abundance, or with the princes
of the earth.  They all are esteemed by me, not according to the wealth
and position they hold, but according to the character they have.

	Bishops, will you try to magnify your calling?  I will give you a few
words of consolation; at our next Conference we expect to drop a good many
Bishops, and appoint others, and we intend to keep doing so, until we get
men with good hearts and active brains, to fill that responsible station.

	I will now speak upon another subject; one which I have touched upon
many times, but which, to this day, is but little understood.  I allude to
the organization of the spirit and the body, the distinction between the
two, and their operations.  This subject is not well understood, and
generally not much reflected upon, but is one which the Saints have got to
learn, if they ever learn the real organization of man.  Then they will
know and understand the peculiarities of our present organization, and how
liable mankind are to submit to its weaknesses, and to the influences of
the powers that rule over them.

	Were you in possession of this knowledge, you would be more
compassionate.  As severely as I sometimes talk to you, my soul is full of
compassion.  It has ever been my study to understand myself, for by so
doing I can understand my neighbors.

	If this people would apply their minds to wisdom, with regard to
themselves, they would be more compassionate than they are now.

	From what is at times said here, it might be inferred that every one
who did not walk to the line was at once going to be destroyed, but who
has been hurt?  Who is about to be killed?  Who is about to be taken out
of the way?  When this people have lived long enough upon the earth, to
have the principles of life and salvation disseminated among them, and to
have their children taught in those principles, so that they fully know
the principles of eternal salvation, then let us or our children turn away
from the commandments of God, as some do now, and I could tell you what
will be done with them.

	Brother Wooley has said, the time is not far distant, but it will
never come until the inhabitants of the earth, and especially those who
have been gathered together, have a sufficient time to be educated in the
celestial law, so that each person may understand for himself.  Then if
they transgress against the light and knowledge they possess, some will be
stoned to death, and "judgment will be laid to the line, and righteousness
to the plummet." But people will never be taken and sacrificed for their
ignorance, when they have had no opportunity to know and understand the
truth.  Such a proceeding would be contrary to the economy of heaven.  But
after we receive and understand things as they are, if we then disobey, we
may look for the chastening hand of the Almighty.

	If we could learn ourselves, we should see thousands and thousands of
weaknesses in the people.  They turn to the right and to the left, to this
and that which is wrong; yet if we did know and see things as they are, we
should understand that thousands of those acts are performed in ignorance.

	I presume there are people hearing me talk, who would give the riches
of the Indies, if they had them in their possession, to be able to obtain
the mind and will of God concerning themselves.  They would give all they
possess on the earth, or expect to possess, were they in possession of
keys by which they could know the path to walk in.  What are we going to
do with this class of persons?  I will tell you what I am going to do with
them, so far as I am concerned.  I am going to give them my faith,
confidence, prayers, and full fellowship.  And when they get through with
this probation, if they have done, all the time, according to the best
they knew, God will not hold them responsible for what they did not know,
and they will be received, through the merits of the Son, into the kingdom
of our Father.

	I mention this to inform the people, that they may understand what
they should do with regard to the law of God, and the transgression
thereof.  The law is very strict; and in this congregation there are men
and women who, with uplifted hands to heaven, before the Father, the Son,
and all the holy angels, made solemn covenants that they never would do
thus and so.  For example, one obligation is, "I will never have anything
to do with any of the daughters of Eve, unless they are given to me of the
Lord."  Men will call God to witness that they never will transgress this
law, and promise to live a virtuous life, so far as intercourse with
females is concerned; but what can you see?  A year will not pass away
before some few of them are guilty of creeping into widows' houses, and
into bed with the wives of their brethren, debauching one woman here, and
another there.  Do we enforce upon them the strict penalty of the law? 
Not yet.  I hope their conduct arises from their ignorance, but let me
transgress my covenant, and the case would be different.  I want to live
as long as I can, on the earth, but I would not like to live to violate my
covenants; I would rather go behind the vail before doing so.

 	A few of the men and women who go into the house of the Lord, and
receive their endowments, and in the most sacred manner make covenants
before the Almighty, go and violate those covenants.  Do I have compassion
on them?  Yes, I do have mercy on them, for there is something in their
organization which they do not understand; and there are but few in this
congregation who do understand it.

	You say, "That man ought to die for transgressing the law of God." 
Let me suppose a case.  Suppose you found your brother in bed with your
wife, an put a javelin through both of them, you would be justified, and
they would atone for their sins, and be received into the kingdom of God. 
I would at once do so in such a case; and under such circumstances, I have
no wife whom I love so well that I would not put a javelin through her
heart, and I would do it with clean hands.  But you who trifle with your
covenants, be careful lest in judging you will be judged.

	Every man and women has got to have clean hands and pure heart, to
execute judgment, else they had better let the matter alone.

	Again, suppose the parties are not caught in their iniquity, and it
passes along unnoticed, shall I have compassion on them?  Yes, I will have
compassion on them, for transgressions of the nature already named, or for
those of any other description.  If the Lord so order it that they are not
caught in the act of their iniquity, it is pretty good proof that He is
willing for them to live; and I say let them live and suffer in the flesh
for their sins, for they will have it to do.

	There is not a man or woman, who violates the covenants made with
their God, that will not be required to pay the debt.  The blood of Christ
will never wipe that out, your own blood must atone for it; and the
judgments of the Almighty will come, sooner or later, and every man and
woman will have to atone for breaking their covenants.  To what degree? 
Will they have to go to hell?  They are in hell enough now.  I do not wish
them in a greater hell, when their consciences condemn them all the time. 
Let compassion reign in our bosoms.  Try to comprehend how weak we are,
how we are organized, how the spirit and the flesh are continually at war.

	I told you here, some time ago, that the devil who tempted Eve, got
possession of the earth, and reigns triumphant, has nothing to do with
influencing our spirits, only through the flesh; that is a true doctrine. 
Inasmuch as our spirits are inseparably connected with the flesh, and,
inasmuch as the whole tabernacle is filled with the spirit which God gave,
if the body is afflicted, the spirit also suffers, for there is a warfare
between the flesh and the spirit, and if the flesh overcomes, the spirit
is brought into bondage, and if the spirit overcomes, the body is made
free, and then we are free indeed, for we are made free by the Son of God. 
Watch yourselves, and think.  As I had observed, on the evening of the
14th, at the social Hall, "think, brethren, think," but do not think so
far that you cannot think back again.  I then wanted to tell a little
anecdote, but I will tell it now.

	In the eastern country there was a man who used to go crazy, at
times, and then come to his senses again.  One of his neighbors asked him
what made him go crazy; he replied, "I get to thinking, and thinking,
until finally I think so far that I am not always able to think back
again."  Can you think too much for the spirit which is put in the
tabernacle?  You can, and this is a subject which I wish the brethren
instructed upon, and the people to understand.  The spirit is the
intelligent part of man, and is intimately connected with the tabernacle.
Let this intelligent part labor to excess, and it will eventually overcome
the tabernacle, the equilibrium will be destroyed, and the whole
organization deranged.  Many people have deranged themselves by thinking
too much.

	The thinking part is the immortal or invisible portion, and it is
that which performs the mental labor; then the tabernacle, which is formed
and organized for that express purpose, brings about or effects the result
of that mental labor.  Let the body work with the mind, and let them both
labor fairly together, and, with but few exceptions, you will have a
strong-minded, athletic individual, powerful both physically and mentally.

	When you find the thinking faculty perfectly active, in a healthy
person, it should put the physical organization into active operation, and
the result of the reflection is carried out, and the object is
accomplished.  In such a person you will see mental and physical health
and strength combined, in their perfection.  We have the best opportunity
afforded any people to cultivate these properties of man.

	I do not know that I am trammeled by tradition, or that any of us
need to be, hence we are in the best situation to exhibit, through the
organization of the tabernacle, the labor and properties of the invisible
part.  When a person is thinking all the time he is little better than a
machine; he perverts the purpose of his organization, and injures both
mind and body.  Why?  Because the mental labor does not find vent through
the organism of the tabernacle, and has not that scope--that field of
labor which it desires, and which it was wisely designed that it should
have.  Think according to your labor, labor according to your thinking.

	Some think too much, and should labor more, others labor too much,
and should think more, and thus maintain an equilibrium between the mental
and physical members of the individual; then you will enjoy health and
vigor, will be active, and ready to discern truly, and judge quickly.  Is
it not your privilege to have discernment to circumscribe all things, no
matter what subject comes before you, and to at once know the truth
concerning any matter?  When you see a person of this character, you see
one with a healthy and vigorous mind, throughout the whole operations of
organization.  True, this is not the privilege of every one; some have to
do much thinking, and but little manual labor, while others do much manual
labor with little, if any thinking.  The latter class are as dull and
stupid as the brutes, and when their labor is done, they lie down and
sleep, like the brutes.  They do not think enough, they should bring their
minds into active operation, as well as their bodies.  Men who do much
thinking, philosophers for instance, would apply their bodies to more
manual labor, in order to make their bodies more healthy and their minds
more vigorous and active.

	Let me take twenty years to come, in which to build cities, temples,
tabernacles, halls, dwellings, &c., with my mental organization, and not
put forth my hands, or use any manual labor, to perform any of this work,
do you not perceive that my body would not have labored during all this
period, and that my mind would have labored to excess, even to the
overcoming of the tabernacle.  Again, let me build house after house, hall
after hall, temple after temple, &c., my mind would have something to rest
upon, and my body being weary with labor, I could lie down, and both would
rest together.  When I wish to build a temple it costs me much thought,
and when I see a temple finished on this block, as I have seen it in the
vision of my mind, do you not perceive that the whole of the labor of the
mind, on that matter, is at rest?  This is my philosophy on thinking; and
if I were obliged to think for ten years, and not erect a building, or
help build up a city, or in any way put my thoughts into execution, it
would materially injure my mental faculty, through want of results for it
to rest upon.  But let me engage in active operations, even though I do
not personally perform one day's manual labor, let me see the result of my
thinking budding into existence, and my mind has something to rest upon. 
If I cannot carry out that which is in my mind--that which I wish to
accomplish in all the improvements, in building up Zion in the latter
days, as soon as I am deprived of the necessary physical labor I withdraw
my mind from that object; I will not suffer my mind to rest upon it.  For
instance, we are going to suspend labor upon the Temple for a year, until
we can prepare ourselves more fully for that work.  We have abandoned the
idea of using adobies in the walls of that building, and intend to use
granite.  Now, suppose I should begin to think, and think, and still think
about it, are you not aware that it would be a worse than useless waste of
time and mental labor?  My body would become wearied and languid.  I do
not expect to think about it for one year; good bye to it, for the
present.  I must carry out the labor of my mind, or I injure it.  Can you
go to sleep in one minute, after you have said your prayers and gone to
bed?  Can you cease reflection, bid good bye to thought, and say to the
body, compose yourself and let us go to sleep?  How many now in this house
can do that?  Whether it is natural, or supernatural, mental or
mechanical, it matters not, but I have trained myself to go to sleep when
I get ready, and when I am in good health, as a general thing, in about
one minute I can be fast asleep.

	Until you can govern and control the mind and the body, and bring all
into subjection to the law of Christ, you have a work to perform touching
yourselves.  I delight to talk upon he subject of our organization but I
must do so a little at a time, or I might weary your bodies and distract
your thoughts.  Short sermons fitly spoken, are better than long ones ill
spoken.  May God bless you, Amen.



DIFFICULTIES NOT FOUND AMONG THE SAINTS WHO LIVE THEIR RELIGION--ADVERSITY
   WILL TEACH THEM THEIR DEPENDENCE ON GOD--GOD INVISIBLY CONTROLS THE
                           AFFAIRS OF MANKIND.
  A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, 
                  Great Salt Lake City, March 16, 1856.

	I feel very thankful for the privilege that I have enjoyed this
morning, and for the discourse that has been delivered to us, it is meat
and drink to me--it is joy and peace.  Truly if we are good men, and good
women, we can make ourselves very comfortable and happy, otherwise we
shall be very miserable.

	I believe that it is a hell intolerable for a people, a family, or a
single person, to strive to grasp truth with one hand, and error with the
other, to profess to walk in obedience to the commandments of God, and, at
the same time, mingle heart and hand with the wicked.

	I believe that I should be one of the most miserable beings upon the
earth, if I did not enjoy the spirit of the religion which I profess.  I
also believe that if every person, who professes to be a Latter-day Saint,
was actually a Saint, our home would be a paradise, there would be nothing
heard, nothing felt, nothing realized, but praise to the name of our God,
doing our duty, and keeping His commandments.

	There are thousands of individuals in these valleys, and I may say
thousands within this City, men, women, and children, who are constantly
minding their own business, living their religion, and are full of joy,
from Monday morning until Saturday night.

	On this account, they do not obtrude themselves and their acts upon
the notice of the public, hence, they are known but by few.  Probably my
beloved brother Vernon, who has spoken to you this morning, is not known
by many of this congregation, for since his arrival in our midst he has
been quietly and industriously practising the principles of our religion. 
For this reason a formal introduction of brother Vernon to the
congregation might by some have been deemed necessary, but with me
"Mormonism" is, "Out with the truth," and that will answer our purposes,
and is all we desire.

	Brother Vernon came here with Elder Taylor, when he returned from
Europe.  He is not known except by a few of his associates, who have been
laboring with him at the Sugar Works.  But, suppose he had been guilty of
swearing in the streets, of getting intoxicated, of fighting, and
carousing, he would have been a noted character, and there would hardly
have been a child but what would, by this time, have known brother Vernon;
and the expressions would have been, "O, he is the man we saw drunk the
other day, the one whom we heard swear and saw fight; the one who was
tried before the High Council for disorderly conduct, or reproved before a
General Conference for his wickedness.

	But brother Vernon is almost entirely unknown, because he has lived
his religion, kept the commandments of God, and minded his own business. 
So it is with many in this City, they are known but by few, they live
here, year after year, and are scarcely known in the community, because
they pay attention to their own business.

	They live their religion, love the Lord, rejoice continually, are
happy all the day long, and satisfied, without making an excitement among
the people.  This is "Mormonism."  I wish we were all so, I should then
indeed be very much pleased.

	I think such a state of society would answer my happiness, not
particularly my spiritual enjoyment, for I know that in that particular I
must be happy for myself.  I must live my religion for myself, and enjoy
the light of truth for myself, and when I do that all hell cannot deprive
me of it, nor of its fruits.

	My spiritual enjoyment must be obtained by my own life but it would
add much to the comfort of the community, and to my happiness, as one with
them, if every man and woman would live their religion, and enjoy the
light and glory of the Gospel for themselves, be passive, humble, and
faithful; rejoice continually before the Lord, attend to the business they
are called to do, and be sure never to do anything wrong.

	All would then be peace, joy, and tranquility, in our streets and in
our houses.  Litigation would cease, there would be no difficulties before
the High Council and Bishop's Courts, and courts, turmoil, and strife
would not be known.

	Then we would have Zion, for all would be pure in heart.  I should be
pleased if we had a few more thousands of such men as brother Vernon. 
That class, I am happy to say, is increasing, this I can truly say, for
the encouragement of this community.

	When we reflect upon how many strangers we gather to these valleys,
those who formerly believed some of the various creeds of the day, which
did not fully inform them upon the principles of the Gospel, who come
clothed upon with many of the diverse traditions and customs of different
nations and neighborhoods, and how harmoniously they mingle, how few
differences exist among them, how little strife and wickedness, it is a
subject full of consolation.

	Still there is much more strife than we should have, yet, with all,
consider how easily, under these varied circumstances, we get along, how
easily we pass the time, and with what little difficulty.  I can say in
truth, for the comfort and credit of this community, that the Latter-day
Saints are indeed improving.

	Do you hear of any difficulty among those long tried and proven, or
among that portion of younger members who are thoroughly imbued with the
principles of the Gospel?  Rarely.

	You seldom find persons who have been reared in this Church, or who
were very young when their parents came into the Church creating any
difficulties.  They grow into the truth; they understand those principles
which are taught; they know the very foundation and essence of the Gospel,
they are schooled in the first rudiments of the education of the
Saints--in those principles which are designed for the people in their
childhood, while learning the science of government.

	These principles seem to be lost to the world, judging by their
present operations.  Bother [sic] Vernon beautifully portrayed this fact. 
The principle of correct government seems to be lost by the world, seems
to be taken from the nations.

	The very rudiments of the Gospel of our salvation teach the
principles best adapted to control the child, and if so, of course, best
designed to guide his steps when he has advanced further in life.  And if
best for instruction in the government of one, they must be for that of
two, and if for that of two, then they must needs be for that of a family,
of a neighborhood, of a nation, and of the whole earth.

	No man ever did, or ever will rule judiciously on this earth, with
honor to himself and glory to his God, unless he first learn to rule and
control himself.  A man must first learn to rightly rule himself, before
his knowledge can be fully brought to bear for the correct government of a
family, a neighborhood, or nation, over which it is his lot to preside.

	Is the spirit of the government and rule here despotic?  In their use
of the word, some may deem it so.  It lays the ax at the root of the tree
of sin and iniquity; judgment is dealt out against the transgression of
the law of God.

	If that is despotism, then the policy of this people may be deemed
despotic.  But does not the government of God, as administered here, give
to every person his rights?  Does it not sustain the Methodist as well as
the "Mormon?"  The Quaker equally as well as the Methodist, in his
religious rights?  The Jew as well as the Gentile?  It does.  It will
sustain all the religions, sects, and parties on the earth in their
religious rights, just as much as it will sustain the Latter-day Saints in
theirs.  Not that the diverse creeds are right, but the agency of the
believers therein demands protection for them, as well as for us.

	The law of God is pointed against sin and iniquity, and where they
appear it is unbending in its nature and must, sooner or later, hold
sovereign rule against them, or righteousness could never prevail.

	Do we not see this exemplified in a portion of sacred history?  When
there was rebellion in heaven, judgment was laid to the line and
righteousness to the plummet, and the evil were cast out.  Yet there was a
portion of grace allotted to those rebellious characters, or they would
have been sent to their native element.

	But they must go from heaven, they could not dwell there, they must
be cast down to the earth to try the sons of men, and to perform their
labor in producing an opposite in all things, that the inhabitants of the
earth might have the privilege of improving upon the intelligence given to
them, the opportunity for overcoming evil, and for learning the principles
which govern eternity, that they may be exalted therein.

	I know that this people are improving, notwithstanding we have trials
and are called to pass through difficulties, and have to endure a season
of scarcity.

	I tell you honestly that I do not know when I have been more
thankful, in all my life, than I have to see the pinching hand of want
compel every man and woman to pray God our Father, to give us day by day
our daily bread.

	It makes me happy, inasmuch as the people will not otherwise
understand that the Lord does feed them.  In years of plenty their
understandings seemed closed to this fact, they did not appear to realize
that the Lord made the earth fruitful, and caused it to yield its fruit
bountifully.

	And while our flocks and herds were increasing upon the mountains and
plains, the eyes of the people seemed closed to the operations of the
invisible hand of Providence, and they were prone to say "It is our own
handy-work, it is our labor that has performed this."

	The people are so blinded, when they are prospered, that they do not
realize that it is all due to the direct providence of that God who is
truly invisible to the world, but whose operations should not be
unacknowledged by this people.

	It seems to be so interwoven with our nature, while we are blessed
and surrounded with all the comforts of the earth, to forget that the Lord
furnishes these things to us, [sic-punc]  Then I say that I rejoice, when
the Lord brings us into circumstances calculated to make us aware that if
we are fed it is Him that feeds us, that if we are clothed it is Him that
clothes us, for we cannot do it ourselves, that if we get bread to eat,
from this until harvest, it must be the hand of the Lord that furnishes
it, for of ourselves we cannot obtain it.

	I am glad to see you brought into a state where you may begin to
think and realize from whence your blessings flow.  The Lord rules and
reigns.

	If we could see and understand things as they are, we would
understand that there is not a king upon his throne, that there never has
been from the forming of the earth to this time, without the Lord bringing
about the circumstances which placed that king in that position.  There
never was one dethroned, without the Lord moving the circumstances to
cause it.

	There never was a nation built up and prospered, except by the hand
of the Almighty, and there never was a nation crushed and brought to
naught, without its being done by the generalship--the invisible workings
of Providence.

	The ancient proverb reads, "Whom the gods would destroy, they first
make mad,"  and it is written that the Lord will destroy the wicked, and
He has done so by bringing about circumstances to cause them to destroy
themselves.

	Do you suppose that the Lord would have ever given a king to Israel,
if they had not required one at His hands?  No, He would have been their
king and ruler, and there would have been a Prophet to guide them, had it
not been for their rebellion.  They made choice of a king, and God gave
them one in His anger.

	Their rebellion against the law, the agency given to them allowing
their free choice, induced them to ask for a king, and God gave them one.

	Was it the Lord's choice that they should have an earthly king?  No,
it was not His mind and will, but it was the will of the people,
consequently, He brought about circumstances to give them kings and
rulers, according to their desire, and to bring judgments upon them.

	The Prophet Joseph has been referred to, and his prophecy that this
people would leave Nauvoo and be planted in the midst of the Rocky
Mountains.  We see it fulfilled.  This prophecy is not a new thing, it has
not been hid in the dark, nor locked up in a drawer, but it was declared
to the people long before we left Nauvoo.  We see the invisible hand of
Providence in all this; we realize that His hand has wrought out our
salvation.

	Through His control of circumstances this people have been removed
from civilization, and have been brought to inhabit these vales among the
Rocky Mountains, to dwell in these desolate and barren plains where no
other people, that we have any knowledge of, would live one year, if they
could get away.  The providence of God has brought us here.

	Are we here in fulfillment of prophecy?  The world say that the
Prophet knew nothing about it, that the Lord had nothing to do with it,
that the "Mormons" became obnoxious to them and had to leave, because they
were the weakest party and their enemies the strongest.  "No, God knew
nothing about all this, He had no hand in it, but we could not live with
you Mormons."  They said, "We Methodists Presbyterians, Baptists &c.,
cannot live with you, one of us must leave, which shall it be?  You
Mormons must leave, if we can drive you."  They herald forth that, "It was
us who drove you to the Rocky Mountains as every one knows who is
acquainted with your history."

	"The Mormons must leave and go where no other people will go, and
live where no other people can or will live."  The world cannot see the
hand of the Lord in all our moments, they have not eyes to see, nor hearts
to understand that the Lord showed the future to the Prophet Joseph, and
brought it before him in vision.  They cannot understand that the Lord
produced all the circumstances which effected the removal of this people. 
They do not now understand that the Lord is building up His kingdom on the
earth, is gathering His Israel, for the last time, to make a great and
mighty nation of this people.

	Circumstances have planted the Saints in the midst of the mountains,
have given them a Territory and a Territorial Government, and will, ere
long, give them a free and independent State, and justly make them a
sovereign people.  Circumstances will accomplish all this.  Now, in the
name of common sense, who rules these invisible circumstances?  Is it you,
or I?  True, to a certain permitted degree, we rule, govern, and control
circumstances, in a great many instances, but, on the other hand, do not
circumstances control us?  They do.  Who has guided all these
circumstances, which neither we nor the Prophet knew anything about?  Was
it in the power of a single man, or of any set of men, to create and
control the circumstances which caused this people to be planted within
these mountains?  The moment that you say it was not, you acknowledge the
workings of a Supreme Power.

	The world, and those of us who are destitute of the spirit of the
Gospel, will say, "Oh, it happened so."  Two years ago there was a hue and
cry from east to west, from north to south, and it was heralded forth in
the papers throughout the States and all Europe, that "Governor Young says
he is Governor of Utah and will be, and that President Franklin Pierce
cannot remove him from the gubernatorial chair."  I ask, am I removed?  Is
not Brigham yet in the chair?  God has ruled in all these things, though
we may not know it.  I said then, and I shall always say, that I shall be
Governor as long as the Lord Almighty wishes me to govern this people.

	Do you suppose that it is in the power of any man to thwart the
doings of the Almighty?  They may as well undertake to blot out the sun. 
I am in the hands of that God, so is the President of our nation, and so
are kings, and emperors, and all rulers.  He controls the destiny of all,
and what are you and I going to do about it?  Let us submit to Him, that
we may share in this invisible, almighty, God-like power, which is the
everlasting Priesthood.  We cannot thwart the plans and purposes of the
Almighty.  Do the world comprehend that if this people are faithful to God
they will become a mighty people?  No.  It has been leaked out, to a few
individuals, that the government of the United States is going to send
troops here to drive out the "Mormons."  I say to such threateners, cease
your folly, for you can only do as God permits you.

	When certain immaculate judges went from here, they were going to
obliterate "Mormonism."  What did they accomplish?  They did all they
could, and, like an empty sound, their vaporings passed away and are known
no more, neither are those judges known.  Where is Mr. Branderbury?  Is he
seated in the President's chair, under the wings which shadow this nation? 
Does he control the strength and power of any part of the American Union? 
Where is he?  The last we heard of him he was in Washington, doing a
little writing for this, that, and the other lawyer, when he could get any
to do, and attending to cases as a lawyer, when he could get a few dollars
for transacting a little business of that kind, for this or that man;
running from office to office, and from pillar to post, to obtain a
living.  He is a tolerably good man, after all; and, if he had done as I
counselled him, he would have stayed here, and let that other judge go. 
Mr. Brandenbury was a good sort of a man, he never had any difficulty with
me, and would have done well, if he had only had sense enough to know that
he could not obliterate "Mormonism."  But he thought that his associate
was going to blow the advocates of truth out of existence, when he might
as well blow towards the sun to puff it out.

	When men operate against this people, they may spend all they possess
and all their ability, and it will pass away like an empty sound, and they
will be forgotten.  Such persons have always come to naught, and all who
fight against the people of the Most High will continue to come to naught.

	Who that has lifted his heel against Joseph has ever prospered, from
the day he found the plates, from which the Book of Mormon was translated,
until now?  No man.  So it will be with all others who leave this
community thinking to injure them.  Show me the priest, the church, the
people, the state, or nation, that will prosper in lifting the heel
against the kingdom of God which is built up upon the earth.  They cannot
prosper in such a course.  Do not be fearful, brethren, you and I will
live here just as long as the Lord wishes us to.  If I have fears about
anything, it is that you and I will not live our religion; if we do this I
am at the defiance of all the wicked.  I sometimes become excited when I
talk about them, and so do my brethren.  Why?  Because we are made of
flesh, blood, and bones like other men, and sometimes our feelings are
warm, when we think about the conduct of our enemies.  But what do the
pure principles of the Gospel teach us?  "Be still, and know that I am
God, that I rule in the heavens above, and perform my pleasure on the
earth, and that I turn the hearts of the children of men, as the rivers of
water are turned?"  He asks no odds of anybody.  Who does He call upon to
counsel Him, to dictate Him in the affairs of His rule on the earth?  He
is the Father, God, Saviour, Maker, Preserver, and Redeemer of man.  He
holds in His hands the issue of all things, and will judge every man
according to his works.  I will be Governor so long as God permits, and we
will live here, and have hard winters and unfruitful summers, and suffer
the ravages of the destroying insects--what for?  To bring us to our
senses; I am thankful for it.

	Those of you who have come here without breakfast this morning, do
not go more than five days without eating.  When you have gone that long
without food, make your wants known to your neighbors and tell them that
you need something to eat, and if you come to me I will feed you.  I have
sustained my family comfortably with eight ounces of bread stuff a-day, to
each individual.  I have had my children come to me and ask, "Shall I give
away my rations to-day?"  We have plenty of potatoes, and I presume that
my family does not consume, on an average, more than five ounces of bread
stuff a-day to each person.  We have had plenty ever since the first year
we came here.

	Be mindful, and do not go too long without eating.  Notwithstanding
the scarcity,  I say to those who send their children to beg from house to
house, and who are lugging home a dozen loads a-day--stop that.  There are
families now in this city, who profess to be out of provisions, sending
their children out to beg, and selling flour and meat for money to carry
them to the devil; now stop that.  I say to you Bishops, appoint
assistants to visit every house in your Wards, and instruct them to take
the liberty of lifting up the chest lids, and of looking under the floors
and under the beds, for I tell you that some will hide their provisions
and lie to you, and tell you that they have nothing, while they are
getting money for the flour, &c., which their children beg from this
community, to carry them to hell, or back to the States, or to England.  I
say to such as are compelled to beg, when you have received a sufficiency
to supply your wants, stop.  When the month of June arrives, and the
fields are teeming with their golden fruits, there will be plenty of wheat
and flour for sale in these streets, for there is a reasonable supply of
those articles of food.  This is a word of encouragement, therefore do not
go too long without eating, and if you are now brought to the pass which
compels you to call upon the Lord, saying, "Lord, feed us, for unless thou
feedest us we cannot be fed; my Father open the way that I may get a
little bread to feed myself and children, or I shall not be able to get
it,"  I say, good, glory, hallelujah, that you are brought to your knees
to confess His power, and to acknowledge His hand.  That you may be
faithful is my prayer, all the day long, in the name of Jesus Christ. 
Amen.

    PREACHING--NECESSITY OF THE SAINTS HAVING CONFIDENCE IN THOSE OVER
   THEM--NECESSITY OF WISDOM IN DEALING WITH THOSE WHO ARE DEAD TO GOOD
     WORKS--IGNORANCE OF WORLDLY PHILOSOPHERS--THE PRINCIPLE OF LIFE
          AS SHOWN IN THE DISOLUTION [sic] OF ORGANIZED MATTER.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, March 23, 1856.

	I rise desiring that what I may say may be instructive, edifying, and
beneficial to the people.  At times, when I think of addressing you, it
occurs to me that strict sermonizing upon topics pertaining to the distant
future, or reviewing the history of the past, will doubtless please and
highly interest a portion of my hearers; but my judgment and the spirit of
intelligence that is in me teach that, by taking such a course, the people
would not be instructed pertaining to their every day duties.  For this
reason, I do not feel impressed to instruct you on duties to be performed
a hundred years hence, but rather to give those instructions pertaining to
the present, to our daily walk and conversation, that we may know how to
benefit ourselves under the passing time, and present privileges, and be
able to lay a foundation for future happiness.

	Still, I love to hear historical narrations, to hear the Elders
vividly portray the important events which transpired in the days of the
Prophets, the Savior, and the Apostles, and it also cheers my heart to
hear the Elders of Israel illustrate the beauties and glory of Zion, in
the future.  Yet, when I reduce it all to the duties of the religion we
profess, I realize that it is of vital importance for us to know how to
lay a present foundation for our future destiny, that we may attain that
exaltation, happiness, and glory, which we anticipate, hence, I confine my
remarks, more particularly, to the practical part of religion.

	Again, we often have strangers in our midst, and, perhaps, some who
never heard one of our Elders preach, until they came to this valley, and,
no doubt, they would like to hear a systematic sermon upon the first
principles of the Gospel, to have the speaker formally quote his text,
divide it into four or five heads, and expatiate upon each part, and
illustrate the beauties of Christianity in former days, and picture the
scenes of suffering which the former-day Saints had to pass through, and
then prescribe the duties that pertain to the people, but not the
individual.  Some might prefer to have the speaker dwell upon the general
duties devolving upon the community, but not upon duties pertaining to the
individual, prefering [sic] something or other to please the natural
feelings of mankind.

	This does not suit my disposition, for I am in favor of that
instruction which will enable us, this day, to receive the blessings
offered and teach us to appeciate [sic] them, that we may be prepared to
enjoy the glory that has been revealed.  That is my "Mormonism," my
reflections, my judgment, and the spirit in me dictates this course, not
to speak merely to gratify those who prefer to hear pleasing, delightful
discourses, which sound smoothly to the ear and lull the hearers to sleep.

	What we have heard from brother Frost this morning is that which I am
upon all the time, it was practical religion.  Suppose we should actually
enjoy the light of truth, to such a degree that we could always foreknow
important events--that we had the spirit of prophecy insomuch that we
could foresee our future destiny, would we not lay a foundation to secure
our best interests?  We most certainly would.  It would be the constant
aim of our daily conduct, to secure to ourselves and our families that
happiness and comfort which we desire.

	Is it possible for us to do this?  It is.  There are many who do not
know and understand for themselves.  Now let each person of that class ask
himself this question--"Even though I do not know and understand for
myself, is it reasonable that I should have confidence in those who do?" 
and, through the weakness and blindness of fallen nature, he would answer,
"No."  Still it would be best could it be so, for those who are blinded to
their own interest to have confidence in those who do know and understand
what is for their good, to trust in them, take their counsel, and do in
all things as they are told.  But, no; the spirit of apostacy, the neglect
of duty, tend to cast a vail over the minds of people, and when they
cannot see and understand for themselves, they say, "I think I know as
well how to dictate my own affairs as does brother Brigham, or any other
brother."

	They have no confidence in anybody, and can have none in themselves,
for they do not know themselves.  They do not comprehend their existence,
and were it not that they get tired, and wish to rest, they would scarcely
realize that they had a body; and when their stomachs become empty and
crave food, they are prompted, like the brutes, to seek for something to
eat.  This is the case with some in this congregation, they have but
little more idea of what they are, who they are, and what will be their
future destiny, than has the stall-fed bullock that is fatted for
slaughter.

	What is the matter with them?  The god of this world has blinded
their minds, they give way to selfishness, covetousness, and divers other
kinds of wickedness, suffer the allurements of this world to decoy them
from the paths of truth, forget their God, their religion, their
covenants, and the blessings they have received, and become like beasts,
made to be taken and destroyed at the will of the destroyer.

	This is the situation, not only of the great majority of the world,
but of many of the inhabitants of these valleys; they have no correct idea
of the day of destruction, the day of calamity; they have no realization
of the day of sorrow and retribution.  They put these things far away and
do not wish to think about them, but say, "Let us eat, drink, and lay down
and sleep, and that is all we desire;" then like the brutes they are
happy.  It never enters the hearts of the mass of mankind that they are
preparing for the day of calamity and slaughter.

	This people have yet much to learn, even the best of them.  For one,
I am aware that I know enough to do right to-day, as also do very many who
are now before me.  If sin present itself to them they know what it is,
and know better than to give way to it.  I know that it is not right to do
wrong, and so do the most of the people, and all may and should, as have
all who have received the spirit of the Gospel, and if this knowledge has
gone from them, it is because of transgression.

	I have often referred to the wickedness of mankind, to how liable
they are to step out of the way, how easy it is for them to sin and not
know it, and how important it is that we should have compassion upon them;
yet mercy is not always to be extended to the people, judgment must claim
its right.

	If we wish this Church and kingdom of God upon earth, to be like a
fine, healthy, growing tree, we should be careful not to let the dead
branches remain too long.  You have seen limbs which you supposed
completely dead, yet when the genial influences of spring operate upon
them, only a twig or two of the branch proves to be winter killed.

	The entire limb is not dead but still draws sustenance from the
trunk, and partly lives and is partly dead.  It is so with some of the
members of this Church and kingdom, they partly live and partly do not
live.  Sometimes they enjoy the spirit of the Gospel and feel quite happy,
and speak in prayer meetings, and sometimes make confessions of their
sins.  Their hearts occasionally become a little warmed up, and at times
they feel and act as though they wish to bear fruit, and perhaps among the
twigs of the limb you may find here and there a cluster of fruit. 
Sometimes such members of this kingdom will be found performing good acts
and doing their duty, and again they are overcome and turn away, that is
for a time, and seemingly enjoy none of the spirit of their religion.

	In this manner they pass along, first to the right and then to the
left.  By and bye they will either receive nourishment from the trunk of
the tree, shooting forth into the various twigs of the sickly branches,
filling them with life and vigour, and turning the diseased into thrifty
growing limbs, or the twigs will continue to die until there are none left
alive.  Who can tell whether a limb is actually dead or not, without
proper time to test the matter?  This is a point which ought to be closely
scrutinized by every Latter-day Saint.  You see the failings of your
neighbor, he has performed an act to-day which you know is dishonest and
wicked, by and bye he does something else which is wrong, and you begin to
lose confidence in that person.  When you saw no evil and many traits of
good in him, then you had a foundation for reposing implicit confidence,
but he commits a wrong act and your confidence begins to be shaken.  You
see him commit another evil and another, but can you yet tell whether that
limb is alive or dead?  I think that we, as a people, as individuals, have
got to learn more and more of the mind of God than we now possess, before
we are prepared to judge quickly, distinctly, and truly when limbs are
dead and should be severed from the body of the tree.

	When we have learned that they are really dead, then there is danger
in suffering them to remain too long, for they will begin to decay and
tend to destroy the tree.  When we are satisfied that a limb is dead we
clip it off close to the trunk, and cover up the wound that it may not
cause any more injury.  That is the principle which brother Frost has just
been upon.  But the nice point is, for us to be able to determine when a
limb is entirely dead.  Twig after twig may die, and you may often see
half the limbs of a tree killed by the severity of winter, yet in the
course of the summer the living portion begins to rapidly put forth young
and tender branches, and the increase may be as great, perhaps, as though
no part had died.  That proves the soundness of the trunk, even though
many twigs and branches have died.  It requires great discrimination, to
be able to rightly decide upon the condition of persons in their religious
views, their honesty and integrity before God.

	There are many in this kingdom who are as foolish as men and women
can well be, so much so that it would seem as though they never had sensed
moral instruction.  They give way to wickedness, and outrage the feelings
of those who are truly moral, yet in their hearts they go all lengths for
the kingdom of God on the earth.  They are willing to stand in the front
of the battle, to go to the ends of the earth to preach the Gospel, or to
do anything they are called upon to perform, yet, when you examine their
morality, it highly outrages the feelings of those who are strictly moral
and honest in all their ways.  Do you believe this?  Yes, and many of you
know it.

	Many of our boys who pay in the streets and use profane language,
know not what they are doing, but there are old men, members of the High
Priests' Quorum, and of the High Council, who, when they get into a
difficulty in the kanyon and are perplexed, will get angry and swear at,
and curse everything around them.  I will insure that I can find High
Priests who conduct in this manner.  But on their way home their feelings
become mollified, and they wish to plead with the Lord to forgive them. 
Could you place yourselves in some of our kanyons, or in some other
difficult places, out of sight but within hearing, and hear some of the
brethren curse and swear at their cattle and horses, you would not have
the least idea that they had ever known anything about "Mormonism," but
follow them home and you may find them pleading with the Lord for pardon. 
There are just such characters in our midst.  Do you think they should be
cut off from the Church?  I think that if the Presidents of Quorums would
chastise them it might be beneficial, at any rate it would not hurt them,
and if that will not do, disfellowship them, and let them know that they
must observe the laws of this kingdom, or eventually be cut off.  If you
do not wish to disfellowship them, you who are without sin, take such men
into the kanyon, where they may bellow and bellow in vain, and give them a
good cowhiding, until they will remember, and be ashamed of themselves
when they take the name of God in vain, or lie.

	You may take this counsel spiritually or temporally, just as you
please.  Such characters ought to be whipped, so that they would remember
it to the day of their death, and if they do not then stop their lying,
swearing, cursing, and pilfering, I will tell them that sooner or later
they will be cut off from the Church and go to hell.

	No unrighteous person, no person who is filthy in their feelings will
ever enter into the kingdom of God.  I know that the inquiry is often
made, "What shall we do with such men?"  I say chastise them.  I have
reprimanded some of the brethren severely, and made them first-rate men;
it brought them to their senses.  You may chastise them or take any
judicious course to bring them to their senses, that they may know whether
they wish to be Saints or not.

	If we continue to sin, if we continue to neglect our duty and disobey
counsel, the light afflictions which have visited us in these mountains
are but as a drop to a bucketful when compared with what awaits us.

	What a pity it is that a men who do not know how to govern themselves
in the kingdom of God, do not know enough to observe the counsel of those
who do know.  A pity it is that men and women of mature age, but who have
not got a fair stock of good sense, do not know how to control and apply
what they do know.  Such persons do not know enough to sit still and hear
from others, but they must always be indulging in their own gabble; their
tongues are like a flutter wheel in rapid motion, and their chatter flows
in a continual stream. We have men here who will come into this stand, and
preach you and I perfectly blind, figuratively speaking, and when they are
through they do not know themselves from a side of sole leather, with
regard to the things of God; they are all gab.  What a pity it is!

	I used to think, until I was forty-five years of age, that I had not
knowledge, sense, or ability enough to enable me to associate with the men
of the world, until I learned that the inhabitants of the earth were
groveling in darkness and ignorance, and that their professed knowledge
contained but few correct principles, that they were a set of automatons
on the stage of life, following the maxim, "As the old cock crows, so
crows the young."  All the learned crow one tune, say one prayer, and
mainly act just alike.  The learned world, so called, is a great mass of
ignorance.  I was once conversing with a worldly philosopher concerning
the elements, and he told me how many there were.  I informed him that we
were both ignorant on that subject, but that I knew enough to know that
there was a vast number of elements which philosophers had not yet been
able to classify and determine.  I asked him if he would clearly and fully
define the nature and properties of the element called light, remarking,
you can philosophize, you understand chemistry, astronomy, and many other
sciences; now will you please inform me what puts the light in that
candle?  He replied, "I cannot."  He could not explain the nature and
properties of the light produced by the burning of a cotton yarn in
tallow.  I said to him, do not talk to me any more about philosophy, and
your great learning and knowledge, when you cannot give me the least idea
of the properties of light.

	So it is with the world's philosophy.  All the learning and knowledge
upon the face of the earth cannot, of themselves, make or produce a spear
of grass, or the smallest leaf upon a tree.  Do you know where they come
from and what produces them?  I know their origin and mode of production,
and so do you, though you may not, in your reflections, have fully carried
out the ideas connected with that subject.  I will give you one item which
pertains to what I call natural, true philosophy; and if a philosopher of
the day could understand it and explain it to the world, learned
institutions would send him sheep skins conferring praise and titles.

	I will bring to your minds what I have formerly stated with regard to
the spirit's entering the body.  Our bodies are composed of visible,
tangible matter, as you all understand, you also know that they are born
into this world.  They then begin to partake of the elements adapted to
their organization and growth, increase to manhood, become old, decay, and
pass again into the dust.  Now in the first place, though I have explained
this many times, what we call death is the operation of life, inherent in
the matter of which the body is composed, and which causes the
decomposition after the spirit has left the body.  Were that not the fact,
the body, from which has fled the spirit, would remain to all eternity
just as it was when the spirit left it, and would not decay.

	What is commonly called death does not destroy the body, it only
causes a separation of spirit and body, but the principle of life,
inherent in the native elements, of which the body is composed still
continues with the particles of that body and causes it to decay, to
disolve [sic] itself into the elements of which it was composed, and all
of which continue to have life.  When the spirit given to man leaves the
body, the tabernacle begins to decompose, is that death?  No, death only
separates the spirit and body, and a principle of life still operates in
the untenanted tabernacle, but in a different way, and producing different
effects from those observed while it was tenanted by the spirit.  There is
not a particle of element which is not filled with life, and all space is
filled with element; there is no such thing as empty space, though some
philosophers contend that there is.

	Life in various proportions, combinations, conditions, &c., fills all
matter.  Is there life in a tree when it ceases to put forth leaves?  You
see it standing upright, and when it ceases to bear leaves an fruit you
say it is dead, but that is a mistake.  It still has life, but that life
operates upon the tree in another way, and continues to operate until it
resolves it to the native elements.  It is life in another condition that
begins to operate upon man, upon animal, upon vegetation, and upon
minerals when we see the change termed dissolution. There is life in the 
material of the fleshly tabernacle, independent of the spirit given of God
to undergo this probation.  There is life in all matter, throughout the
vast extent of all the eternities; it is in the rock, the sand, the dust,
in water, air, the gases, and, in short, in every description and
organization of matter, whether it be solid, liquid, or gaseous, particle
operating with particle.

	I have heard some philosophers argue that because no body could move
without displacing other matter, therefore there must be empty space. 
That reasoning is nonsense to me, because eternity is, was, and will
continue to be full of matter and life.  We put a ship in motion on the
water, and have we created an empty space?  No, we have only changed the
position of matter.  Men and animals move upon the earth, birds and fishes
cleave the elements they are organized to operate in, but do they leave a
track of empty space?  No, for all eternity is full of matter and life.
True, element is capable of contraction and expansion but that does not by
any means imply empty space.  You see life in human beings and in the
growing vegetation, and when that spirit of life departs, another
condition of life at once begins to operate upon the organization which
remains.  By way of illustration I will quote one passage from the book of
Job, who in his afflictions was visited by several friends, and after he
had concluded that they were all miserable comforters, he exclaimed,
"Though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."  To
make this passage clearer to your comprehension, I will paraphrase it,
though my spirit leave my body and though worms destroy its present
organization, yet in the morning of the resurrection I shall behold the
face of my Saviour, in this same tabernacle; that is my understanding of
the idea so briefly expressed by Job.  If you wish to know how the quoted
passage reads, see Job, 19 chapter, 26 verse, King James' translation.

	I have formerly spoken about the spirits overcoming the flesh; the
body or flesh, is what the devil has power over.  God gave Lucifer power,
influence, mastery, and rule, to a certain extent, to control the life
pertaining to the elements composing the body, and the spirit which God
places into he body becomes intimately connected with it, and is of course
more or less affected by it.

	Now let some of our philosophers tell us how much empty space there
is, and where it is, in all the eternities that exist, or in other words,
where life is not.  The term death is often used to accommodate the
understandings of the people but they are in darkness upon this subject.

	The spirit leaves a body, and then that body begins to pass away by
another system of life.  I might enlarge upon the death pertaining to this
time, and the death that will be hereafter, but itis [sic] all upon the
same principle, it is plain, simple, natural philosophy, and our religion
is based upon it.

	I will now leave that subject and ask, will you lay a foundation for
your future happiness?

	Quite a number of men came here the first season besides the
pioneers. Brother Frost was one of the pioneers, and probably one of the
first who hammered iron in this region since the days of the Nephites.  He
has travelled through the Territory north, south, east, and west, wherever
he has been sent.  He has also crossed the Pacific ocean, and is again
right here on hand--not dead yet.  There are many others who have held on
in the same way, who have not turned aside but have remained here, or gone
where they have been sent.

	As I was observing last Sabbath, such persons are the characters who
are not generally known, throughout our community, as are the drunkards,
and men who go to law; those are the men of notoriety, but the others are
men of sense, men who mind their own business.  Still, do not go to
cutting off twigs before they ought to be cut off, but if they prefer it,
let them go to California and put their gold and silver into the hands of
the devil, for I ask no odds of them, and expect I could buy the whole of
them so far as property is concerned.  However, be merciful to them.  I
say to those men and women who cannot stay here because famine threatens
the land, because we are threatened with being distressed, and through
fear that we shall all die, just go, won't you?  for you are nothing but
hinderances [sic].

	We have lifted you up, as we do poor horses that are down and cannot
help themselves, and we have nursed you, year after year, and as soon as
you could stand alone, you kick at your benefactors. As soon as you get a
hundred dollars in money, and two or three yoke of cattle, you are ready
to say, "I want to go to the devil now," and say, go, but as the Lord
Almighty lives, you will meet sore chastenings, and pass through much more
sorrow than if you were to continue Saints and remain with the Saints.

	And after you are handled by the devil until you are willing to do as
the Lord wishes you to, then you will be glad to come here and black the
boots and shoes of such men as brother Frost, and will have to do the
drudgery to all eternity, or as long as the faithful have a mind to keep
you.  The poor miserable curses--I call them so because they are
cursed--will prowl around and serve the devil, will run back and forth,
and go to California and to the States, and here and there, and at the
same time pretend they wish to be Saints.

	What will be done with such people?  God Almighty will make them our
servants.  You had better stay here and die, if die it is.  California is
not the gathering place for the Saints; here is the gathering place, and
here we will gather and stay until God says, "Go somewhere else."

	If that is back to Jackson County, do not be scared, for as the Lord
lives this people will go back and build a great temple there.  Do not be
frightened because a few rotten, corrupt scoundrels in our midst cry out,
"O, the troops are coming, and that will be the end of 'Mormonism,'" in
order to deceive the weak-minded females.

	Should you see little boys playing with pebbles and small sticks, and
hear them say, "Get out of the way, we are going to build a great big
structure, that we may climb to the sun, and pull it down," their words
and conduct would be just as sensible as it is for the world to tell us
that "Mormonism" is going to be destroyed.  If we do right we need care no
more about them than we do about musquitoes [sic], for this people will
surely go back to Jackson County.  How soon that may be, or when it may
be, I do not care; but that is not now the gathering place for this
people.

	You will find a great many "Mormons" who have lived in the States
ever since they were driven from Missouri, and who still have a wish to be
"Mormons," but they mingle with the world, and some have joined the
Methodists, some the baptists, &c., so as to be on hand when this people
go back to Jackson County.  Then they expect to walk into Zion; but when
that day comes they will be only far enough advanced to black the shoes of
the faithful, dig trenches hew wood, and draw water, and perform such
other labors as may be required of them, while the Saints dictate the
affairs of this kingdom.  They think that they are going to slip in with
the crowd, but they will find themselves mistaken, for if any one presents
them saying, "Let this or that man in," I will reply, "He stayed in
Missouri all the time that the Saints were in the wilderness."  I should
want to baptize such characters, and then send them to preach to the
spirits in prison.  After they have been there a long time, we will then
send them to make our farms, attend to our gardens, to our horses and
stables, and to do all the drudgery.  They may complain and say, "Really
brother Joseph, we have been good Saints all the time," and Joseph will
reply, "Come here and let me anoint your eyes," then he will touch their
eyes, and they will turn round and exclaim, "Let us be doorkeepers, or do
anything else, that we may stay with you.  Now we have eyes to see, ears
to hear, and a heart to understand; we see that we have been fools."

	They will labor under the guidance and dictation of the Elders who
have ben faithful.  Joseph and his faithful brethren will be at the gate,
and the unfaithful cannot pass.  They think that Jesus will be there, and
that if he is there they will have the privilege of seeing him, and that
they may gain an entrance, but if they have the privilege of seeing Joseph
Smith's coat tail, they may think themselves well off.  If the Father, the
Son, and the holy angels are there, they will only attend to the general
oversight of affairs, and the faithful of this people will have the
privilege of determining who is worthy of admission.

	This is my philosophy with regard to the duties of the Saints.

	Now if philosophers will point out where empty space is, I will pay
them for their trouble, because all the wicked will be running to me to
know where it is, that they may be where God does not dwell, for they will
want the rocks and mountains to fall on them to hide them from His
presence.  I could make money by directing poor devils where empty space
is.  May God bless you.  Amen.

   DISINCLINATION OF MEN TO LEARN THROUGH THE TEACHINGS AND EXPERIENCE
        OF OTHERS--LATTER-DAY SAINTS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF FORMER
        DAYS--SACRIFICE--SHEEP AND GOATS--CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS.
  A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, 
                  Great Salt Lake City, April 20, 1856.

	Sometimes I think it quite strange that the children of men are so
constituted as to need to be taught one lesson all the time, and again it
is not so marvellous to me, when I reflect upon and understand their
organization, and the designed effect thereupon of this state of
probation.  Men are organized to be independent in their sphere, are
organized for an independent being, yet they have, as soldiers term it, to
run the gauntlet all the time.  They are organized to be just as
independent as any being in eternity, but that independency, in order for
them to occupy a position in the sphere of an independent being having
control over all things, must be proved and tried while in this state of
existence, must be operated upon by the good and the evil.

	It is not so strange to me that the people should continually need
talking to, that they should continually need instructing, when I take
this view of the matter.  Mothers when bringing up their children, if they
will observe and reflect, can see and understand the feelings of the whole
human family.  The mother says to the child, "Don't do that; you must not
handle those things;" but the little child thinks itself just as capable
of handling a tea cup, or a tumbler, as are father and mother.  The little
girl takes up a broom to sweep the hearth, but if mother is not watching
her she may let the broom take fire and set it by the bed, and thereby the
bed and then the building be set in a blaze. In the actions of their
children parents can detect the course of all, from the king upon his
throne to the humblest peasant, they are all performing their part on the
theatre of the earth.  

	People may be advanced far in life, and yet be surrounded by
weaknesses comparatively like those of children.  The man or woman of
eighty, sixty, forty, twenty, or the child of two or five years of age,
have something ahead of them to attain to, and which they are striving to
accomplish.  There is a principle in the feelings of people which is
implanted in their organization expressly for them to become independent,
to become Gods, and it is continually urging them to reach forward and to
wish to do and perform that which they do not understand.  These
weaknesses are in the organization, irrespective of age. True, persons can
do many things at twenty-five years of age which they could not do when
but five years old, and men may know much more at fifty than at twenty,
yet the same common weakness is apparent which you can see exhibited in
the little child.  There is one rule to adopt, one course to pursue, one
lesson to be learned, and it is applicable alike to all ages, from the
child of one or two years old to the grey-haired veteran, and which, if
they would learn, would prove highly beneficial, and that is, to do those
things which they know they can do, and when required by a superior to do
a thing they never have done, to take the advice of those who have
successfully performed the same act, and then with the best skill they can
command, do as they are told, and thus further their education in life and
be satisfied.

	If the child could understand and be satisfied that the mother knows
better than it does, when it is told to let the dishes alone, the broom,
or the pin-cushion, or not to swing on the table lest it be turned over
and break the dishes, or not to do this or that, and that such and such
things it might do, it would be a great aid to it to take the course laid
down by a judicious parent, and would save it much trouble while passing
through its mortal career.  I ask myself why it is that people do not
learn to be satisfied and contented with what they do know, until they are
instructed and learn more, and practise this principle in their lives.  We
are taught here all the time to be passive and contented, to do the things
we know how to do.  Still I have no question, but what, if I could
unobserved and unknown to them listen to the remarks of many of the
Elders, or of brethren and sisters, I should hear doctrines taught and
suggestions made which God never designed to have His servants teach.  At
the same time remarks such as these might be dropped, "I am impressed and
the Spirit leads me thus and so; true I believe all that is written and
taught, but I tell you that brother Brigham does not tell us all of it; he
says he does not, but that he tells us as fast as we can understand and
practise what he does teach."  Now that is true; but all do not stop and
reflect, neither do they fully understand the principles of the Gospel,
the principles of the  holy Priesthood; and from this cause many imbibe
the idea that they are capable of leading out in teaching principles that
never have been taught.  They are not aware that the moment they give way
to this hallucination the devil has power over them to lead them on to
unholy ground; though this is a lesson which they ought to have learned
long ago, yet it is one that was learned by but few in the days of Joseph.

	I was speaking about this matter last night, about the feelings of
the people towards the Prophet Joseph.  The mass of the people never
realized, to the day of his death, but what Joseph was made by them.  They
actually believed that he was amenable to the people, that he did not know
it all, and that other men knew things which he did not know concerning
the kingdom of God on the earth.

	Here let me give you one lesson that may be profitable to many.  If
the Lord Almighty should reveal to a High Priest, or to any other than the
head, things that are, or that have been and will be, and show to him the
destiny of this people twenty-five years from now, or a new doctrine that
will in five, ten, or twenty years hence become the doctrine of this
Church and kingdom, but which has not yet been revealed to this people,
and reveal it to him by the same Spirit, the same messenger, the same
voice, and the same power that gave revelations to Joseph when he was
living, it would be a blessing to that High Priest, or individual; but he
must rarely divulge it to a second person on the face of the earth, until
God reveals it through the proper source to become the property of the
people at large.  Therefore when you hear Elders, High Priests, Seventies,
or the Twelve, (though you cannot catch any of the Twelve there, but you
may the High Priests, Seventies, and Elders) say that God does not reveal
through the President of the Church that which they know, and tell
wonderful things, you may generally set it down as a God's truth that the
revelation they have had, is from the devil, and not from God.  If they
had received from the proper source, the same power that revealed to them
would have shown them that they must keep the things revealed in their own
bosoms, and they seldom would have a desire to disclose them to the second
person.  That is a general rule, but will it apply in every case, and to
the people called the kingdom of God at all times?  No, not in the
strictest sense, but the Spirit which reveals will impart the proper
discretion.  All the people have not learned this lesson, they should have
learned it long ago.

	As I have already observed, comparatively few learned, in the days of
Joseph, that he was placed between the people and God, that they had no
more right to dictate him than they had to dictate the angel Gabriel, that
they had no more business to interfere with him, or call him to an
account, than we have to call to an account the angel Gabriel.

	This we all ought to understand, and also how and when to teach and
practise what we do know, and when we have done that much then stop until
we learn more.

	I know, and so do many others, by experience, by what we have seen
and passed through, by what has passed before us and by what we have seen
in others, that when the devil cannot overcome an individual through
temptation to commit wickedness, when he sees that a person is determined
to walk to the line and travel straight forward into the Celestial
Kingdom, he will adopt a course of flattery, will strive to exercise a
pleasing influence and move along smoothly with him and when he sees an
opportunity he will try to turn him out of the way, if it is only to the
extent of a hair's breadth.  And if he cannot keep a person this side the
Gospel line, he will walk with that individual on the line and strive to
push him over.

	That is so invariably the case that people need eyes to see, and
understanding to know how to discriminate between the things of God and
the things that are not of Him.  Will this people learn? I am happy and
joyful, I am thankful, and can say of a truth, brethren and sisters, that
the manifestations of goodness from this people are not to be compared, in
my opinion, with those from any other people upon the face of the whole
earth since the days of Enoch.

	Old Israel, in all their travels, wanderings, exercises, powers, and
keys of the Priesthood, never came nigh enough to the path this people
have walked in to see them in their obedience that was and is required by
the Gospel.  Yet there are thousands of weaknesses and overt acts in some
of this people, which render us more or less obnoxious to each other.

	Still, you may search all the history extant of the children of
Israel, or that of any people that ever lived on the face of the earth
since the days of Enoch, and I very much doubt, taking that people with
their traditions, and comparing them with this mixed multitude from the
different nations now in the world with our traditions, whether you would
find a people from the days of Enoch until now that could favorably
compare with this people in their willingness to obey the Gospel, and to
go all lengths to build up the kingdom of God.

	I have said a great many times, and repeat it now, and whether I am
mistaken or not I will leave for the future to determine, and though, as I
do, Joseph when living reproved the people, that I believe with all my
heart that the people who gathered around Enoch, and lived with him and
built up his City, when they had traveled the same length of time in their
experience as this people have, were not as far advanced in the things of
the kingdom of God.

	Make your own comparisons between the two people, think of the
traditions of the two.  How many nations were there in the days of Enoch? 
The very men who were associated with him had been with Adam; they knew
him and his children, and had the privilege of talking with God.  Just
think of it.

	Though we have it in history that our father Adam was made of the
dust of this earth, and that he knew nothing about his God previous to
being made here, yet it is not so; and when we learn the truth we shall
see and understand that he helped to make this world, and was the chief
manager in that operation.

	He was the person who brought the animals and the seeds from other
planets to this world, and brought a wife with him and stayed here.  You
may read and believe what you please as to what is found written in the
Bible.  Adam was made from the dust of an earth, but not from the dust of
this earth.  He was made as you and I are made, and no person was ever
made upon any other principle.

	Do you not suppose that he was acquainted with his associates, who
came and helped to make this earth?  Yes, they were just as familiar with
each other as we are with our children and parents.

	Suppose a number of our sons were going to Carson Valley to build
houses, open farms, and erect mills and workshops, and that we should say
to them that we wish them to stay there five years, and that then we will
come and visit them, when I go there will they be afraid of me?  No, they
would receive me as their father, just as Adam received his Father.

 	The very man who walked and talked with and knew the God of heaven,
and knew and understood all about making this earth had associates who
were associated with Enoch, and yet twenty-five years of the travel and
experience of Enoch with his people had not advanced them so far, in my
opinion, as this people have advanced in the same time, taking into
account the difference of traditions and other advantages.

	They had not a diversity of languages, but all spoke one language;
they were not trained in the various traditions in which we have been, for
they received only one from Adam; they were as intimately associated as we
would be in living in this City two hundred years, with the gates shut
down upon all egress and ingress, and under such circumstances do you not
think that our traditions would be all alike?

	Yet Enoch had to talk with and teach his people during a period of
three hundred and sixty years, before he could get them prepared to enter
into their rest, and then he obtained power to translate himself and his
people, with the region they inhabited, their houses, gardens, fields,
cattle, and all their possessions.  He had learned enough from Adam and
his associates to know how to handle the elements, and those who would not
listen to his teachings were so wicked that they were fit to be destroyed,
and he obtained power to take his portion of the earth and move out a
little while, where he remains to this day.

	You know that I sometimes reprove you because you deserve it, yet
there is a constant and rapid increase of willingness to build up this
kingdom.

	Where is there a woman that would say to her husband, or to her son,
"I do not wish you to go on the mission you have been called to perform"? 
That would say "It is true you were called, but I do not like to have you
go, cannot you get excused and stay at home?"  I do not believe you could
find five such women in this Territory.

	There may be a few who are going to California that would say, "Yes,
you may go on your mission, but I will go with you."  All they desire is
to get away.  Can you find five such women?

	I care not if they should be old ladies of seventy-five years of age
and had not the first thing to subsist upon, and though their whole
dependence was upon their sons or husbands, they would say, "Go John, my
son; or, go husband, if you do not we shall suffer; but if you go and do
your duty God will provide for us in your absence."  Are not these the
feelings of every wife and mother?

	In the midst of all this some talk about sacrifices, but upon that
point I wish to be allowed to differ from the class who view the matter in
that light.

	There may be some few exceptions, but I have made no sacrifices.
"Mormonism" has done everything for me that ever has been done from me on
the earth; it has made me happy, it has made me wealthy and comfortable;
it has filled me with good feelings with joy and rejoicing. Whereas,
before I possessed the spirit of the Gospel, I was troubled with that
which I hear others complain of, that is, with, at times, feeling cast
down, gloomy, and desponding; with everything wearing to me, at times, a
dreary aspect.

	But have the trees, the streams, the rocks, or any part of creation
worn a gloomy aspect to me for one half minute since I came in possession
of the Spirit of this Gospel?  No, though before that time I might view
the most beautiful gardens, buildings, cities, plantations, or anything
else in nature, yet to me they all wore at times a shade of death.

 	They appeared at times as though a vail was brooding over them, which
cast a dark shade upon all things, like the shade of the valley of death,
and I felt lonesome and bad.  But since I have embraced the Gospel not for
one half minute, to the best of my recollection, has anything worn to me a
gloomy aspect, under all circumstances I have felt pleasant and cheerful.

	When surrounded by mobs, with death and destruction threatening on
every hand, I am not aware but that I felt just as joyful, just as well in
my spirit, as I do now.  Prospects might appear dull and very dark, but I
have never seen a time in this Gospel but what I knew that the result
would be beneficial to the cause of truth and the lovers of righteousness,
and I have always felt to joyfully acknowledge the hand of the Lord in all
things.

	When I was among the wicked, they looked to me as do the wicked, and
when I saw devils possessing the bodies of the children of men I knew that
God permitted it, and that He permitted them to be on the earth, and
wherein would this be a state of probation, without those devils?  We
cannot even give endowments without representing a devil.

	What would we know about heaven or happiness were it not for their
opposite?  Consequently we could not have got along so well and so rapidly
without those mobocrats.  And if mobbers should happen to come here do not
look too sour at them, for we need them.

	We could not build up the kingdom of God without the aid of devils,
they must help to do it.  They persecute and drive us from city to city,
from place to place, until we learn the difference between the power of
God and the power of the devil.

	But does it then follow that we should say to them, "Come on here, we
are good fellows well met?"  By no means, care must be observed that we do
not overrun the rule; we only need enough of them to help do up the work.

	If we should get too many here they would overcome the good, and the
Saints would have to flee.

	Some of our Elders desire all the time to say, as I plainly phrase
it, "How do you do brother Christ, and How do you do brother devil?  Walk
in and take breakfast with me."

	I consider such men useful in their places.  This fact was very
clearly exemplified to me in a dream which I had while so many were going
to California, at a time when many of the brethren were under quite an
excitement about the Saints going there to dig gold.

	I thought considerably about the movement, and there had been a
feeling abroad among the people that when the Saints got into the
mountains "judgment would be laid to the line and righteousness to the
plummet," that the axe would be laid at the root of the tree, and that
every person who did not meet the measure would, in accordance with the
iron bedstead rule, be chopped off if too long, and stretched out if too
short.

	Several supposed that this would be the case; and perhaps thought
that they would be able to so sanctify themselves, that in one year they
could take Great Salt Lake Valley and the regions round about up to Enoch,
or have him come here.  I did not so view the matter, and did not give any
special instructions upon it.

	At that time I dreamed that while I was a little below the road and
just north of the Hot Springs, about four miles from here, I saw brother
Joseph coming and walked up to the road to see him, and asked him where he
was going?  He replied, "I am going north."

 	There were two or three horsemen along, and some men were riding with
him upon a few boards placed loosely upon the running gears of a wagon,
upon which were also a tent and camp utensils.  I wished to talk with him,
but he did not seem inclined to conversation, and it occurred to me that
he was going to Captain James Brown's to buy all his goats.

	I had been promised ten or a dozen of them, but I thought that he was
going to buy every one, and that I should not get a single goat to put
with my sheep, and I laughed in my sleep.

	Pretty soon he came back, with a large flock of sheep and goats
following the wagon, and as I looked upon them I saw some sheep that were
white, pure, and clean, and as large as a two year old cow, with wool from
ten to twenty inches in length, as fine as silk and as white as the driven
snow.

	With them were all lesser sizes down to the smallest goat or sheep I
ever saw, and all mixed up together. I saw some sheep with hair like that
of goats, and goats of all colors, red, black, white, &c., mixed with the
sheep; and their sizes, colors, and quality of fleeces, seemed to be
almost innumerable.

	I remarked to Joseph that he had got the strangest flock I ever saw,
and looked at him slyly and laughed, and asked him what he was going to do
with them.  He looked at me in his usual shrewd manner and replied, "They
are all good in their places."

	On awaking I at once understood the dream, and I then said, go to
California, or where you please, for goats are as good in their places as
sheep, until the time for them to mingle is over.  And in striving to
guide and improve the flock we sometimes have to cry out, shoo, and at
other times to draw them nigh by calling, sheep, sheep.

	We are trying to train the flock, and to turn the goats into sheep,
and the spotted, ring-streaked and speckled into beautiful white, and how
shall we succeed?  Perhaps we shall see rather a curious flock at last,
but we will do the best we can.

	Sometimes I rise up here and really feel to storm at some who are in
this community, for their conduct is awful, it is outrageous.  I presume I
could come here this afternoon and eat bread and drink of the cup, in the
name of Israel's God, with men who would go straight from the communion
and steal my property.

	Let us consider this point a little, for this matter has been through
me, round me, over me, and under me; I have turned it inside out and round
about and looked at it, and then I have turned it over again.  Brother
Fullmer has just alluded to the rails disappearing from fences.  Are not
your fences taken?  Is not you clothing taken when it is hung out to dry? 
And is not wood taken from your wood piles?  How many have to lock up
their wood, or lose it?  Taking property without leave from the owner is
what I call stealing, but many who practise that do not so understand it.

	Even if I had to work by the day for bread, wood, clothing, and
comforts for myself and family, and should then without authority go and
take wood from brother Joseph's wood pile, were he living here and
President of the Church, my judgment, what I know of right and wrong, the
traditions of my fathers, and the teachings of my parents and of the
neighbors where I was brought up would all confirm me in the belief that I
was stealing.  Do all persons feel so?  No, they do not.

	During two or three of the past winters, except the last, I have no
question but that women and children carried from one to three cords of
wood per day from my woodyard, and when the wood was scarce they would
take my fence poles.  I have myself seen the take back loads of wood and
then fill their bags with the chips and small sticks, but when they took
my fence poles and posts I stopped them, and told them that if they were
not satisfied with taking my wood without taking my fencing to leave my
yard, and not to come there to steal any ore.

	But do I see some there yet?  Yes, you may see women and children
carrying away my wood every day. If my workmen ask them what they are
doing, they reply "Brother Brigham said I might have some wood, he will
not say anything."  Do you suppose that those persons fully realize that
they are stealing?  No.

	I will tell you a little that I know about the difference in
traditions and customs, and will go no further than where I have traveled
and preached. A large number of the inhabitants in the old countries are
tenants, renting houses for longer or shorter periods, generally for from
three to twelve months.

	Now suppose that A, when vacating a house, accidentally leaves his
pocket-book in a cupboard, and that B, who next occupies the same
building, finds A's pocket-book with perhaps, twenty sovereigns in it;
what does the custom of that country warrant in such a case? Their
traditions are such that B claims that property as his own, and A cannot
get it, unless B is honest enough to give it up.

	B's course in that case may not be in accordance with law, but it is
according to custom, which in such instances is stronger than law.

	An American would consider, if he was to find hand irons left in the
fireplace, or a chair of sofa left in the sitting-room, that the former
tenant had the right to call and take them away; and if he was to
undertake to smuggle any of those things he would consider himself
stealing.

	That difference of feeling and conduct arises from the difference
there is in the traditions of different countries.  In America a man would
as soon venture to go into his neighbor's house and steal a chair, as to
retain one accidentally left there by a previous occupant.  I will notice
another difference in traditions.

	Among various other occupations I have been a carpenter, painter and
glazier, and when I learned my trades and worked, both as journeyman and
master, if I took a job of painting and glazing, say to the amount of one
pound sterling, or five dollars, and through my own carelessness in any
manner injured the work or material, I considered it my duty to repair the
injury at my own expense.

	In Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, or anywhere else in England if you
employ a glazier to work to the value of one pound, ten or fifty pounds,
and he can manage in any way to put the windows in such a position that
the wind will blow them over and break them, he will do it, in order to
get the work to do over.

	Do they think they do wrong?  No.  Why?  Because their employers
would make them do their work for nothing, and then compel them to live on
roots and grass if their physical organization could endure it, therefore,
says the mechanic, "If I can get anything out of you I will call it a
godsend."

	Servants into he houses of the great ones, if they can get anything
out of their masters besides their wages, call it a godsend.  If they can
take bread, eat, butter, and cheese, without the masters knowing it, to
support their wives, others, fathers, children, brothers, and sisters who
are not capable of taking care of themselves, they will put that provision
in their possession, to keep them from starving to death, and call it a
godsend.

 	Let me do that in this country, and I should consider myself a
culprit, according to my judgment and traditions.  No matter if I were
suffering for bread, and at the same time working among millions of it, if
I could not procure it by my labor, I must ask for it and have it given to
me, for if I got it in any other way, I must consider myself a thief.  Are
the Americans altogether excusable?  No, for if I wish to find the rough
and ready ones, I can do it as quick in America as any where else.

	Shall I tell you what are some of the traditions of a few of the
Americans?  Yes.  If they have not all they need to eat, drink, or wear,
and find an ox or cow on the range over Jordan, or any where else, that
belongs to me or you, and can take that animal and kill it they will do
so, and then sell the meat to you and me, and call that a godsend, and
say, "O we are all of one family."  That is an American tradition among a
few; but as a general thing, the customs of this country and the
traditions of the nations across the great waters differ materially.

	When I went to England the brethren and sisters would not have me to
shave on the Sabbath, they would pay any price to have me shave on
Saturday.  Said I, "I will shave on Sunday morning, if I have no time to
do so on Saturday."  I told them that I did not come there to learn their
customs and traditions, but to teach the people the Gospel of salvation.
That we had traditions in America with regard to blacking boots, shaving,
&c. on Sunday, as well as they, but if I had no time to do that work on
Saturday I would do it on Sunday, if I deemed it necessary.  And if I
wished to go to meeting and worship God, it was just as acceptable to do
so on Saturday as on Sunday.

	Adam Clark is taken by any as a standard amongst the comentators, and
it is said, if the clock struck twelve on Saturday night, and he happened
to have but one shoe blacked, that he would drop the blacking and brushes,
and go to meeting next day with one shoe blacked and the other unblacked. 
That might by some be esteemed a pious example, and by others a wayark to
the kingdom of folly.

	Such are a few of the traditions extant among different people.  I
have no question but that any in our community do things which are
actually sinful if they did but know them right, but their traditions are
such that they act with impunity, and pass on as unconcerned and
unconscious of wrong as if they had just been on their knees praying. If
we live long enough together, we shall have a tradition of our own, and
that is, to be so trained in the law of the Celestial kingdom, to so learn
the law of right, as to be able at all times to know right from wrong, and
then always to do right.  Is this the case now?  No.

	Suppose that several of the brethren were to go for fuel and timber
in Red Bute kanyon, where we generally went when we first came to this
Territory.  Some go on up the kanyon cutting a tree for timber in one
place, and preparing fuel for loading in another, while others follow up
with their teams, and you know that when they get a little brush-whipped
they are apt to become angry, to forget themselves a little, and to say,
"Damn it,"  and directly one will begin to say to himself, "This kanyon is
as much mine as any persons; I think I shall take this tree and this wood
that are already cut."

	Another comes across a wagon that is broken down, and takes one of
the hounds from it and puts it into his own.  Still another passes by
where somebody has lost an axe; he finds it and takes it along, saying,
"Well, it is lost here, we are away in the wilderness, these are as much
my premises as any one's; I will take out this helve and put in another,
and grind the axe over a little, and nobody will know it; thank the Lord,
I have an axe now."

	Do you know that some people feel and act in that manner?  I know
they do.  Some will find wood cut in the kanyon and load it on their
wagons, perhaps that which grandad, with his crippled libs, had toiled
hard to collect together; but that makes no difference, they pile it on,
saying, "I believe I am blessed of the Lord, I am much favored of Him
to-day," and come out rejoicing, having found a load of wood already cut. 
But what have they done?  They have found loads of wood cut to their
hands, and apparently have not reflected but what an angel had cut it
expressly for them.  This is a tradition and custom of the Mountains. 
Some of you may inquire whether I believe what I am talking about.  Let me
tell you what I have observed; two or three years ago I went up City Creek
kanyon to show a man where he might get wood on shares, which I was having
cut.  I came to where my men were cutting wood and brush to clear out the
road, and I told them to pile it so that my teamster could drive up and
load it handily.  Soon afterwards and old gentleman came along and,
without any privilege from me, drove off the man to whom I had just
engaged the wood and began to load it on his wagon.  That individual was
an old Saint, one who had been twenty years in this Church.

	What is the feeling with some of the Yankees, English, Scotch, Irish,
French, Germans, &c?  "We have come to Zion where all things are common." 
The devil has put this idea into the minds of some, and the devil, I was
going to say, cannot take it away from them.  They possess this feeling,
and they are determined to have it so.  With such the idea is,  "We are
all children of one parent, we all belong to the household of faith, we
are one family, and we will have it so, and will not be beat out of it."

	This notion is partly right and partly wrong, and, as I have often
said, people ought to know how to discern between the things that are of
God and the things that are not of God.  This is the spirit they receive
in the first place--"Ye are one in Christ Jesus," and that is right, but
are we one out of Christ Jesus?  Many would like to have it so.  You have
come here from all quarters to be one family, yet if some of you come
across a wagon wheel, you will appropriate it to your own use, asking no
leave; or if you have no axe, you will get one from some part of the great
family, and thank God for an axe; and if you come across piles of wood,
that you have not labored to cut, you shout, "Thank God, hallelujah, I
have found some wood ready cut to my hand."  That is being one out of
Christ.

	Others will say, "Let us take down this fence, and turn our cattle
into this meadow."  You can find plenty of earth and pole fences purposely
thrown down, and might hear the trespassers exclaim,  "O, this is Father's
land, let us enjoy it."  Others will say, "Damn it, it is mine as well as
yours."  I will take some of the reputed best men now in this
congregation, who, through carelessness and thoughtlessness, when they
have done their forenoon's work on their five acre lots, turn out their
cattle in other people's oats, wheat, or grass, while they lay asleep. 
Yes, some of the would-be-thought best men in this congregation are sure
to keep their cattle on their neighbor's lots, and off from their own, and
should you pass along and rouse them up, saying "Why, brethren, your
cattle are in my oats," they would reply, "Really, brother, I did not know
it, I turned them out a little while, and lay down to rest."

	All such people deserve whipping and scolding, and require much
training.  What for?  Not for their goodness, their faith, obedience,
honesty, and anxiety to build up the kingdom of God, but for their
careless, indolent feelings, for their stupidity in laying down and
permitting their animals to trespass upon their neighbor's crops, for
trying to train themselves into the belief that it is right to take this
or that, or to do thus and so, when it is not strictly according to the
law of God.  You and I have got to learn better things.

	Let this land come into market and the brethren buy sections, half
sections, or quarter sections, and soon, and how soon you would hear,
"Bless you, now we have law to defend us."  Can you not see that tradition
makes the brethren, where there is a little difficulty, walk into the
court room with all the confidence imaginable, feeling almost like little
gods,and exclaiming, "Now things will be done as they should be, matters
will go right now."  And what is done?  Why, the lawyers and court take
pretty much all the money; for a debt of five dollars taken into court
they will expend one hundred dollars of your means in lawyers' fees, jury
fees, and other court expenses, when the question could have been settled
in five minutes.

	This is an American tradition, though there are fortunately many
exceptions to the power of this general tradition.  Some men will go into
court and spend five hundred dollars and feel as nicely about it as
possible, even when their case has not been adjudicated as justly as a
sensible "Mormon" boy, ten years old, would do it.  And yet, when they
know this fact full well, they will spend their time, day after day, and
their means with seeming contentment, saying to themselves, "Oh, if we can
only go into the court, and address the court, and say, may it please the
court, may it please your honor, may it please you, gentlemen of the jury,
O, how joyous we shall be--we shall feel as though we were men of some
importance, if we can only get up and strut and splutter before a court." 
Even when merely a judge is sitting there, like a bean on the end of a
pipe stem, who would be flipped off should a grain of good sense happen to
strike him, how big he feels while sitting there for days to adjudicate a
case that should not require five minutes.

	We have got to learn better than to practise and follow after such
nonsense, and learn the principle and law of right.  That is the doctrine,
the tradition which this people have got to come to.  Will they come to
it?  Yes, or be damned, one or the other.  I would not give the ashes of a
rye straw for all the law that was ever made on this earth, outside of
that which has come from heaven, to control a righteous man, neither would
any man or woman that desires truth and righteousness.  Cannot you observe
the law of righteousness as easily as you can observe the poor, miserable,
sunken laws devised by a set of wicked men?  Some may reply, "My
traditions will not let me."

	How do you suppose that the Lord looks upon litigation? It is just as
mean and contemptible, in the eyes of angels and of the Almighty, to go to
law, and thereby wrong a fellow being, as it is for you to go and steal my
property, yet some of you justify yourselves in going to law, and in your
other false and unholy traditions.  Learn the law of Christ and let alone
the traditions of the children of men; make the law of Christ your
tradition, for we have got to come to this position.

	I will now return to where I began, and again ask, why do you require
to be talked to so much?  You know right from wrong; there is hardly a
person here, but what knows right from wrong, then why do you not all do
right?  Because of your filthy traditions and dispositions.  I have often
sincerely and absolutely thought that the doctrine and practice of a
certain lawyer was in the end strictly worldly wise; he first studied
divinity and preached to the people for the salvation of their souls,
until he learned that they did not care so much for their spiritual as for
their temporal salvation, when he studied and practised medicine, but soon
discovered that the poor miserable wills of men were more to them than the
salvation of their bodies, and he finally studied law and indulged all his
clients in the expensive gratification of their wills, which was dearer to
them than the salvation of soul and body.

	When we have an antipathy towards a person, the temptation is strong
to be revenged, and one is inclined to say,"I will do this and that, and
will let the passion of the moment control me."  But we have to learn the
law of Christ, and to train ourselves to it until it will become the
tradition of this people, and then you can bring up your children in the
way they should go.  In every nation, community, and family, there are
peculiar traditions, and the child is trained in them.  If the law of
Christ becomes the tradition of this people, the children will be brought
up according to the law of the celestial kingdom, else they are not
brought up in the way the should go.  Children will them be brought up in
the way they should go.  Children will them be brought up, under the
traditions of their fathers, to do just right, and to refrain from all
evil, and when old they will not depart from a righteous course. Solomon
could not carry out this principle in his life, because he was not
thoroughly brought up in the way he should go.  The old Indian adage is
rather the most applicable to the present practise of many, viz., "Train
up a child, and away it goes, as it pleases."

	If this people could be shut out from all communication with other
people, and have no customs and traditions introduced foreign to the law
of Christ, we should soon see eye to eye, and our traditions would be
framed according to the celestial law; and we should then be prepared to
bring up our children in the way they should go.

	I have spoken with much plainness concerning several traditions and
practices, in order that the Saints abroad may correctly understand that
we are not all, as yet, fully sanctified by the truth, and that both they
and the world may know that the Gospel net still gathereth fish of every
kind, that the flock has some goats intermingled with sheep of various
grades, and that they day of separation has not yet arrived.  May God
bless you.  Amen.

       IRRIGATION--EVERY SAINT SHOULD LABOR FOR THE INTEREST OF THE
         COMMUNITY--IT IS THE LORD THAT GIVES THE INCREASE--ETC.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, June 8, 1856.

	I wish to say a few words before this meeting is dismissed, upon the
subject of the Big Cottonwood Canal.  I have been along the line of the
canal, more or less, during nearly every day of the last week, and I will
say, for the gratification of the Bishops and brethren present, that I
think they have done extremely well.  A great many men have labored on
that canal during the past week, and had it not been for faith, or the
Spirit of the Lord upon them, many might have sunk with fatigue, for they
looked as though they would faint; but they have labored faithfully.  What
was absolutely necessary to be done a week ago to-day could have been done
in one week, if all the labor could have been judiciously applied, an the
portion we derived to finish this season would have now been completed. 
But such drawbacks will occur, when time cannot be previously taken to
make the proper estimate and distribution of men and teams for different
points of the work.  With the circumstances under which we commenced last
Monday morning, it could not be expected but what there would be more or
less confusion and misapplication of labor; but even with these
disadvantages the work has prospered extremely well.

	If we can get the water of Big Cottonwood as far as Big Kanyon, as
ditches have already been opened from the last named point, we can water
the five acre lots and about one-third of the city; but we expect to
continue operations until we bring the water to the termination of the
canal above the city, on the north side.  The large reservoirs formed by
the embankments across the deep ravines will hold an immense quantity of
water, and we wish to have them speedily finished for containing water to
be used when we need it.

	In regard to irrigation, I will venture to say that one-half of the
water is wasted; instead of being applied where and when it is needed, it
runs here and there, and perhaps one-half reaches the drooping plants.  If
people would take a little more pains in preparing ditches, gates, and
embankments for economically conducting water where it is most needed, it
would be very great advantage to them.

	When water is brought to the termination of the canal, which we can
accomplish in a few days, I presume that the reservoirs on the line of the
work and those portions which are excavated in full will contain water
enough to allow the people to irrigate when necessary, and thus do away
with the practice of watering only two hours a week on a city lot, and
much of that to be done in the night. And that is not all, for by the time
the water is fairly on a lot it is taken by the next person whose right it
is to use it.  And lots which have had thousands of dollars expended on
them, and which would yield more than a thousand dollars' worth of fruit
and vegetables, could they be properly irrigated, are only allowed a small
stream of water for two hours once a week, and at the same time and
adjoining lot planted with corn, the hills six feet apart and one stalk in
a hill, comparatively speaking, the balance of the ground being covered
with weeds, is allotted the same time and amount of water as the one on
which the fruit trees and other choice vegetation are worth thousands of
dollars. 

	There ought to be are formation in the distribution of the water. 
The man who will not raise five dollars' worth of produce on his lot, has
the same water privilege as the man who could raise a thousand dollars'
worth.  For instance, brother Staines gets the water for two hours in a
week, and what are his fruit trees worth? He could make his thousand
dollars a year from them, if he were disposed to sell the fruit instead of
giving it away, could he have a fair portion of water.  I have a lot just
below him well cultivated in fruit trees, a nursery, and choice
vegetables, I also can only have the water on my lot for two hours in a
week; when lots near by, with but little on them except weeds, get the
same water privilege, and that too in the day time, while we have to use
it in the night.  Water masters ought to look to this matter, until they
have arranged a more just distribution.

	So soon as we can complete the canal and its reservoirs, the people
will be enabled to water their gardens thoroughly, which will be scores of
thousands of dollars advantage to this city yearly, besides the immense
benefit to the farming lands.  There is much grain growing in the city
lots, and many persons have spaded their ground, not having teams to plow
with, consequently their lots are better cultivated this year than
heretofore, and we wish to water them that we may not lose our labor.  If
we can have your help for a few days more, we shall bring much more water
to the city than we now have.

	I have personally interested myself very diligently in the labors
upon the canal, and have endeavored to follow the instructions of brother
Kimball during last Sabbath.  Who has been impoverished by our labor?  Who
has been injured by it?  Not a single individual, old or young.  Who is
benefited by it?  The whole community: every man, woman, and child.  This
canal will be a lasting benefit; without it we may be discouraged with
regard to the farming interests of this portion of the valley.  We expect
to see this canal completed.  I know that some have thought it would be
almost impossible to complete such a work here, to secure the banks of the
deep ravines, but we shall not leave it until it is completed.

	Shall we stop making canals, when the one now in progress is
finished?  No, for as soon as that is completed from Big Cottonwood to
this city, we expect to make a canal on the west side of Jordan, and take
its water along the east base of the west mountains, as there is more
farming land on the west side of that river than on the east.  When that
work is accomplished we shall continue our exertions, until Provo river
runs to this city.  We intend to bring it around the point of the mountain
to Little Cottonwood, from that to Big Cottonwood, and lead its waters
upon all the land from Provo kanyon to this city, for there is more water
runs in that stream alone than would be needed for that purpose.

	If we had time we should build several reservoirs to save the waters
of City Creek, each one to contain enough for once irrigating one-third of
the city.  If we had such reservoirs the whole of this city might be
irrigated with water that now runs to waste.  Even then we do not intend
to cease our improvements, for we expect that part of the Weber will be
brought to the Hot Springs, there to meet the waters from the south and
empty into Jordan.  Then we contemplate that Bear river will be taken out
at the gates to irrigate a rich and extensive region on its left bank, and
also upon the other side to meet the waters of the Malad.  We know not the
end of our public labors and enterprises in this Territory, and we design
performing them as fast as we can.

	Our preaching to you from Sabbath to Sabbath, sending the Gospel to
the nations, gathering the people, opening farms, making needed
improvements, and building cities, all pertain to salvation.  The Gospel
is designed to gather a people that will be of one heart and of one mind. 
Let every individual in this city feel the same interest for the public
good as he does for his own, and you will at once see this community still
more prosperous, and still more rapidly increasing in wealth, influence,
and power.  But where each one seeks to benefit himself or herself alone,
and does not cherish a feeling for the prosperity and benefit of the
whole, that people will be disorderly, unhappy, and poverty-stricken, and
distress, animosity, and strife will reign.

	Efforts to accumulate property in the correct channel are far from
being an injury to any community, on the contrary they are highly
beneficial, provided individuals, with all that they have, always hold
themselves in readiness to advance the interests of the kingdom of God on
the earth.  Let every man and woman be industrious, prudent, and
economical in their acts and feelings, and while gathering to themselves,
let each one strive to identify his or her interests with the interests of
this community, with those of their neighbor and neighborhood, let them
seek their happiness and welfare in that of all, and we will be blessed
and prospered.

	I do not wish to boast in the least, neither do I think much of
myself, nor ever did, nor do I ever pause much to think, in all my labors,
doings, travelings, toils, and preachings, whether I have friends or foes,
but the care that I have for this community I do manifest in my works. 
Not that I think that I am extraordinarily praiseworthy, or that I am a
very good man, for you know that I have never professed to be a very
religious man; but what I wish you to do to your neighbor I do by you; but
I will not ask my Father in heaven to deal any more kindly with me than I
deal with my brethren.

	My interest is the interest of this community; this has been
characteristic of my course from the beginning.  I have witnesses here to
prove that, from the time I entered this kingdom until this day, this
community and its welfare have been my interest.

	I have proven this all the time, and I prove it still.  I have proven
it this year,  in the scarce time we are passing through.  Ask the poor
brethren and sisters who have come to me for bread if they have been
turned away empty.  I have had a large amount of flour and means, for
among other property I have two of the best mills in the Territory, and a
large farm upon which I generally raise much wheat and other produce.  I
have always raised more grain than my family consumed, and in these scarce
times find the man or woman that I have taken fifty cents from for flour.

	I have had money offered to me, but I have told such persons to go
and buy where flour is for sale; I have none to sell.

	In all my transactions in this community I have acted in a similar
manner. What do I get for taking such a course?  When I came into this
valley I owed for my outfit; I had but little; I do not think that one
third of my family had shoes to their feet, and I had no leather from
which to make shoes.

	We came with what we had, and I borrowed oxen from one man, and
horses from another, which I have since paid for, besides paying thousands
of dollars for my poor brethren who could not pay.

	What the Lord has done for me, you all know.  Have I wronged any man,
or pinched any man in a time of trouble, or in any way taken an advantage
of his necessities?  Bring forward a man whom  I have wronged, and I will
restore to him not only four but tenfold.  My hands are open; I have
naturally an open hand, it does not contract on the needy like that. 
(Holding his hand with the fingers shut.)

	Neither am I like the miller who striked the toll dish with a
crowning hand, thus leaving the grain convex, but who, when he quit
milling and opened a tavern, reversed his hand and left the grain concave.

	I do not wish you to deal any better by me than I do by you, neither
do I wish God my Father do deal any more kindly towards me than I do
towards you.  How came I by what I have?  We may dig water ditches, make
canals, sow wheat, build mills, and labor with our mights, but if God does
not give the increase we remain poor.  Though we bestow much labor upon
our fields, if God does not give the increase we shall have no grain.

	How few there are who fully understand this matter, who realize
thoroughly that unless God blesses our exertions we shall have nothing. 
It is the Lord that gives the increase.  He could send showers to water
our fields, but I do not know that I have prayed for rain since I have
been in these valleys until this year, during which I believe that I have
prayed two or three times for rain, and then with a faint heart, for there
is plenty of water flowing down these kanyons in crystal streams as pure
as the breezes of Zion, and it is our business to use them.

	I do not feel disposed to ask the Lord to do for me what I can do for
myself.  I know when I sow the wheat and water it that I cannot give the
increase, for that is in the hands of the Almighty; and when it is time to
worship the Lord, I will leave all and worship Him.  As I said yesterday
to a Bishop who was mending a breach in the canal, and expressed a wish to
continue his labor on the following Sabbath, as his wheat was burning up,
let it burn, when the time comes that is set apart for worship, go up and
worship the Lord.

	When Bishops and the brethren can perceive and understand that it is
the Lord that gives the increase, after all their exertions to sustain
themselves, they will be satisfied that the glory belongs to Him, and not
altogether to the exertions of man.  You know Paul says that he considered
himself an unprofitable servant, and so is every other man; that is, when
we have done all we can to save ourselves, spiritually and temporally, it
is the Lord who gave us the means.

	He opened up the way of life and salvation, organized the elements to
sustain our mortal bodies, and thus afforded all the means for increase. 
It is all through the wisdom of Him who has created all things, who rules
over and sustains all things.

	Have the Latter-day Saints got to learn this?  Yes.  And they have
got to learn that the interest of their brethren is their own interest, or
they never can be saved in the celestial kingdom of God.

While saying a few words here last Sabbath about the canal, I told you
when you lifted your hands to heaven, in token of your willingness to do a
certain thing that you ought to do it.  A great many of you have had your
endowments, and you know what a vote with uplifted hands means.

	It is a sign which you make in token of your covenant with God and
with one another, and it is for you to perform your vows.  When you raise
your hands to heaven and let them fall and then pass on with your
covenants unfulfilled, you will be cursed.

	I feel sometimes like lecturing men and women severely, who enter
into covenants without realizing the nature of the covenants they make,
and who use little or no effort to fulfil them.

	Some Elders go to the nations and preach the Gospel of life and
salvation, and return without thoroughly understanding the nature of a
covenant.  It is written in the Bible that every man should perform his
own vows, even if to this own hurt; in this way you will show to all
creation and to God that you are full of integrity.

	This people have got to entirely wake out of their sleep, they have
got to be a strictly righteous people, or they will have to meet worse
things than a scanty morsel of bread.

	Do they believe this?  Some think--"Well, perhaps it will be so, and
perhaps not.  I have a little flour now, and I really want the money, and
if I can get twelve or thirteen dollars a hundred for it I can spare it."

	This is the principle some persons operate upon, and it is
sectarianism.  It seems of the long-faced deacon style, who, when a poor
man wants flour for his wife and children, in measured tone and with a
long religious face, says, "No;" but who, after long importunity on the
part of the hungry man, will at last, in a very soft, measured, pious,
long-faced, sighing style, reply, "Well, brother, I have not any to spare,
but I don't know but that if you will come and work for me a couple of
days in harvest, I will spare you a bushel to accommodate you.  I shall
have to hire labor at harvest, can you come and help me?"

	The answer is, "Yes," when at the same time he knows that he can have
two bushels a day for work in harvest, but the long-faced deacon will make
him agree to work two days for one bushel.

	I have heard of a man in this city who was stopped from building a
house. Why?  Because he got first-rate mechanics to work for five pounds
of flour a day, which is at the rate of thirty cents a day.  His Bishop
told him that he could not build a house in his Ward upon any such
principle.

	Do you suppose that such a man is fit to belong to any church?  Yes,
to Joe Bowers' church, and his was a hell-fired church.

	You who have surplus flour hoarded up, give it to the poor,and say
that you will trust in God.

	The first year that I came into this valley I had not flour enough to
last my family until harvest, and that I had brought with me, and persons
were coming to my house every day for bread.  I had the blues about one
day; I went down to the old fort, and by the time I got back to my house I
was completely cured.  I said to my wife, "Do not let a person come here
for food and go away empty handed, for if you do we shall suffer before
harvest; but if you give to every individual that comes we shall have
enough to last us through."

	I have proven this many a time, and we have again proven it this
year.  I have plenty on hand, and shall have plenty, if I keep giving
away.  More than two hundred persons eat from my provisions every day,
besides my own family and those who work for me.

 	I intend to keep doing so, that my bread may hold out, for if I do
not I shall come short.

	Do you believe that principle?  I know it is true, because I have
proven it so many times.

	I have formerly told this community of a circumstance that occurred
to brother Heber and myself, when we were on our way to England.  We paid
our passage to Kirtland, and to my certain knowledge we had only $13.50,
but we paid out #87.00; this is but one instance among many which I could
name.

	You who have flour and meat, deal it out, and do not be afraid that
you will be too much straightened, for if you will give, you will have
plenty, for it is God who sustains us and we have got to learn this
lesson. All I ask of you is to apply your heart to wisdom and to watch the
providences of God, until you prove for yourselves that I am telling the
truth, even that which I do know and have experienced.

	I have experienced much in my life, and I will not ask you to do any
better by one another nor by me than I do by you, and I will bless you all
the time.  I feel to bless you continually; my life is here, my interest,
my glory, my pride, my comfort, my all are here, and all I expect to have,
to all eternity is wrapped up in the midst of this Church.

	If I do not get it in this channel, I shall not have it at all.  How
do you suppose I feel?  I feel as a father should feel towards his
children.  I have felt so for many years, even when I durst not say so; I
have felt as a mother feels towards her tender offspring, and durst not
express my feelings; but I have tried to carry out their expression in my
life.  May God bless you.  Amen.

   REMARKS ON A REVELATION GIVEN IN AUGUST 1831--GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.
     A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, June 15, 1856.

	I will read a revelation printed in the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants, and given in Zion in August, 1831.  It was given in
Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, I think during the first time that
Joseph was in that land.  (The President read the revelation, section 18.)

	I do not anticipate, in the few remarks that I shall make, throwing
any particular light upon this revelation, especially to those who are
acquainted with the circumstances under which it was given,.

	When revelations are given through an individual appointed to receive
them, they are given to the understandings of the people.  These
revelations, after a lapse of years, become mystified to those who were
not personally acquainted with the circumstances at the time they were
given.

	The revelation that I have been reading may be as mysterious to our
children, in a thousand or fifteen hundred years from now, in case the
world continues in the same degree of enlightenment that it has for a few
ages past, as the revelations contained in the Old and New Testaments are
to this generation, and it would be commented upon with the same scrutiny
and accuracy; and men would study, year after year, and fret themselves
almost to death to find out the mysterious meaning of the revelation given
to us their forefathers.

	This revelation is as plain and clear to the understandings of those
who know the circumstances that called it forth, as it would be for you to
understand me should I talk about making a canal to bring the waters of
Big Cottonwood to this city for irrigating our gardens and the farming
lands.  It is plain and easy to be understood, it is familiar to us who
were in that country at the time, we know all about it.

	But a portion of this congregation have not been personally
acquainted with the early experience and travels of this Church, and with
the sayings and doings of the Prophet Joseph, and it may be that they do
not fully understand what this revelation really does mean.

	They do not actually know that there is such a place as Independence,
in Jackson County, Missouri; they have heard of it, and may have an idea
that it is situated in the regions where angels dwell.

	The revelation which I have read was perfectly plain, and could
readily be understood by all the brethren then in Jackson County,
Missouri, and in Kirtland, Ohio, as easily as you can understand me when I
talk about digging canals, building dwellings, tabernacles, temples, and
store-houses, or when I talk about drawing sand and clay, burning lime,
&c.

	Is it strange or is it not strange, to people endowed with wisdom,
that the inhabitants of the earth, beclouded as they are, should have such
revelations given to them?  Is it strange or is it not strange that they
should reject them?

	Would this be a hard question for the congregation to answer? 
Looking at these things, after the manner of the wisdom of the world, we
say that it would be very strange indeed, as a certain professor would
say, "It would be passing strange."

	It would be strange indeed should people receive such ideas, upon
such subjects, as revelations from God, from the Supreme of the Universe,
the great Eloheim, the Creator and upholder of all things, who is
enthroned in eternity in glory and in power, yet who condescends to talk
about such matters as building store-houses, sending men to do this or
that, to go to this or that land, to gather up money for this or that
purpose.  And very many would exclaim, "O, it is money, money, money!"

	That has been the cry continually from the enemies of the kingdom of
God.  You know that was the cry in the days of Joseph; "O, he is after
money, you can see this is in all his revelations; money, money, money; he
wants to get your money!  He pretends it is going into the hands of the
Bishop to purchase lands, but when he gets hold of it you do not get it
again.  It is money, money, money, all the time."

	The commands to go and buy this or that farm, to build houses, sell
out a farm here and rent one there, take a mission to preach the Gospel to
the world, gather money to purchase lands, and divide with the poor
brethren, are all familiar talk with us, easy to be understood, and
without mystery.

	When Joseph received this revelation, it was as plain to the
understanding of the Saints, as are my instructions when telling you what
to do.

 	The Lord said to the people through Joseph, "You must keep the law
here, and be careful to repent of your sins."  Occasionally a man's name
would be mentioned, and he might be pointed out as a pattern for the rest.

	Do you repent of your sins?  If you do not, you will be overcome by
the enemy.  He said to the people, "Repent of your sins and keep the law,
or you will have no inheritance in this region."

	Many who are here now, owned farms there, and some owned large tracts
of land.  Have you possession of them now?  You have not.  You may be
rightful owners of those lands, but you are not the possessors.  There are
many in this congregation who own the right of the soil there, that is to
say, if the government of the United States could or would give any right
to it.

	The Lord said, "Repent of your sins, or you cannot stay here and
receive your inheritance; and this land will not be given to the Saints
until they are scourged and driven from city to city."  This is plain, and
every person can understand it.

	As there are persons named in the revelation which I have read, to
whom I wish to refer more particularly, I will again read a portion of it.

	"Now as I spake concerning my servant Edward Partridge, this land is
the land of his residence, and those whom he has appointed for his
counsellors.  And also the land of the residence of him whom I have
appointed to keep my store-house; wherefore let them bring their families
to this land, as they shall counsel between themselves and me:  for
behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things, for he that is
compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant;
wherefore he receiveth no reward."

	Here are two characters pointed out, brother Partridge and another
whose name is not mentioned here, but whose name was Gilbert, and who was
appointed keeper of the store-house.

	You can understand what this plain revelation meant, and it will come
home to your comprehension.  "For behold, it is not meet that I should
command in all things, for he that is compelled in all things, the same is
slothful and not a wise servant."  Those men whose names are mentioned
were considered to be as holy, I may say, as any men in the world.

	I am a witness, so far as this is concerned, that the persons whose
names are mentioned, and many others of the first Elders of the Church,
were looked upon almost as angels. They were looked upon by the young
members as being so filled with the Spirit and power of God, that we were
hardly worthy to converse with them.  You hear the names of Bishop
Partridge, of brother W. W. Phelps, who is now sitting in this stand, of
Parley P. Pratt, of David Whitmer, of Oliver Cowdery, and the names of
many others of the first Elders who had been up to Zion, and I declare to
you that brethren in other parts of the land, those who had not seen the
persons named, felt that should they come into their presence they would
have to pull off their shoes, as the ground would be so holy upon which
they trod.

	Do you know what distance and age accomplish?  They produce in people
the most reverential awe that can be imagined.

	When we reflect and rightly understand, we learn how easy of
comprehension the Gospel is, how plain it is in its plan, in every part
and principle fitted perfectly to the capacity of mankind, insomuch that
when it is introduced among the lovers of truth it appears very easy and
very plain, and how very ready the honest are to receive it.

	But send it abroad and give it antiquity, and it is at once clothed
with mystery.  This is the case with all the ancient revelations.  Those
which were received and understood by the ancients are shrouded in mystery
and uncertainty to this generation, and men are employed to reveal the
meaning of the ancient Scriptures.

	The people on every hand are inquiring, "What does this scripture
mean, and how shall we understand this or that passage?"  Now I wish, my
brethren and sisters, for us to understand things precisely as they are,
and not as the flitting, changing imagination of the human mind may frame
them.

	The Bible is just as plain and easy of comprehension as the
revelation which I have just read to you, if you understand the Spirit of
God--the Spirit of revelation, and know how the Gospel of Salvation is
adapted to the capacity of weak man.

	If you could see things as they are, you would know that the whole
plan of salvation, and all the revelations ever given to man on the earth
are as plain as would be the remarks of an Elder, were he to stand here
and talk about our every day business.

	I want you to understand this, that you may know how to
understandingly read the Bible and the revelations delivered to you in
your own generation, and how to honor your religion and your God.

	When you read the revelations, or when you hear the will of the Lord
concerning you, for your own sakes never receive that with a doubtful
heart. This is a matter that I have frequently impressed upon the people
here; I have exhorted them from year to year upon this very point, and
have asked, why do you receive the counsel of God with doubtful hearts
when you are taught the way of life and salvation, when things are made so
plain and easy to you that you cannot misunderstand them?  Why do you
admit of such unbelief in your hearts and feelings as to say--"This or
that is beneath the notice of the Almighty, and say that He does not deal
in such simple, small, and every day affairs?"

	Why say, "We want to hear from the stand concerning the
mysteries--the eternal mysteries of the kingdom of God, that which we have
never heard?"  I might say to such, O fools, and slow of heart to believe
all that the Prophets have spoken.  Is it a mystery to you, sisters, how
to knit a stocking?  You all answer, "No, not at all."

	But bring an individual from a world where they never had stockings,
and it is as much of a mystery to that person, as any thing you have ever
thought of could be to you, because he would be perfectly ignorant of all
ideas pertaining to that art.

	You may now be inclined to say, "O, this is too simple and
child-like, we wish to hear the mysteries of the kingdoms of the Gods who
have existed from eternity, and of all the kingdoms in which they will
dwell; we desire to have these things portrayed to our understandings."

	Allow me to inform you that you are in the midst of it all now, that
you are in just as good a kingdom as you will ever attain to, from now to
all eternity, unless you make it yourselves by the grace of God, by the
will of God, by the eternal Priesthood of God, which is a code of laws
perfectly calculated to govern and control eternal matter.  If you and I
do not by this means make that better kingdom which we anticipate, we
shall never enjoy it.

	We can only enjoy the kingdom we have labored to make.  If you say
that  you want mysteries, commandments, and revelations, I reply that
scarcely a Sabbath passes over your heads, those of you who come here,
without your having the revelations of Jesus Christ poured upon you like
water on the ground.

	"Why do you not write them, brother Brigham?"  I will tell you one
reason why:--I expect that they will be one of these days, but I expect
that you will have them written when God and His faithful servants have
suffered enough from the ignorance, foolishness, wickedness, and
slothfulness of the people, from their slowness of heart to believe, and
from their unrighteous dealing one with another.

	Then I expect that there will be just revelation enough given and
written to cut all the ungodly off from the Church, and send them to hell. 
The reason it is not given now, is because of the mercy the Lord still
sees fit to extend towards them.

	You recollect that last sabbath, and two weeks ago to-day, I told the
people that it would be for their good to go and perform a certain piece
of work, which was just as much revelation to you as would be teachings
upon the subject of getting your endowment.  It was life, and was upon the
principles of eternal lives.  I recollect telling you, when you lift your
hands to heaven like that (raising his hand) and say that you will perform
thus and so and do not, that such a course would damn you, as sure as you
are now living.  Men and women ought to fulfil all their covenants.

	I exhorted the brethren not to say that they would do the work,
unless they intended to go and do it, for if they did not, I said they
would be cursed.

	I am almost constrained by the power that is within me to draw the
dividing line in the midst of this people, and to cut many from the
Church, but I plead for mercy.  I have mercy for the people, and I ask God
to bear with the wickedness there is in their midst, which can hardly be
borne with by the spirit and power of the Holy Ghost.

	I said, two weeks ago to-day, that some of you would be cursed, but
have you ever heard me curse the people?  You have not, though I have to
hang, as it were, on a slender thread of faith to plead with the Almighty
to yet spare the wicked in our midst.  What hinders them from observing
the law of God?  Do I or does any other person hinder them?  Who hinders
you from doing a good work?  I am wearied with seeing the conduct of some
of this people, their thieving, lying, tattling, deceiving, running after
the Gentile spirit, after the spirits of this world, receiving delusive
spirits, and adhering to all manner of principles that are not of God.

	What hinders us in living as close to our religion as do the angels? 
Angels do not hinder us, God certainly does not, and we ought to say to
devils, "You shall not."  But in the midst of this people there is a set
of thieves, idolaters, drunkards, whoremongers, and vile persons.  It may
be asked, "Shall we not draw the dividing line soon?"  Yes, some will in
due time get line enough to send them to hell.  Many are pleading for
revelations; do you suppose that Saints lack revelations?  They have
plenty of them, and they are stored in the archives of those who have
understanding of the principles of the Priesthood, ready to be brought
forth as the people need.  I will again read a portion of the revelation,
"For he that is compelled in all things the same is a slothful and not a
wise servant, wherefore he receiveth no reward.  Verily I say, men should
be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free
will, and bring to pass much righteousness, for the power is in them
wherein they are agents unto themselves, and inasmuch as men do good they
shall in no wise lose their reward."

	There is one principle that I do wish the people would observe, that
is, do not ask God to give you knowledge, when you are confident that you
will not keep and rightly improve upon that knowledge.  It is a mercy in
God that many are as ignorant as they are, for were it not so they would
not be borne with as they are.  Do not ask for revelations to dictate you
in this, that, or the other, unless you are sure that you can obey them. 
Do not suffer yourselves to falter in your faith, and to say that the door
of revelation is closed, for I tell you that there are now too many for
your good, unless you hearken more diligently than you have hitherto,
unless you apply more closely in your lives what is revealed and live your
religion more faithfully.

	You are frequently told that the chastisements which come upon this
people are for their good.  We may ask, "Is pinching want for our good? 
Is the destruction of our crops for our good?  Is the losing of our
property for our good?"  Who will lay it to heart?  Who will realize it? 
There are a few who will.  I can say with safety that I firmly believe
that there are five wise virgins and five foolish ones; that there are
five who are wise servants and hand-maidens to five who are foolish.  But
in looking at the people in mass this may not appear, for you are
frequently told that one evil person can corrupt many.  It is an old
saying, and a true one, that "a wicked king can corrupt a nation," and a
wicked father will corrupt a family, and a wicked ruler will corrupt those
he rules over.  We wish to be one, but "Evil communications corrupt good
manners."  Unrighteous dealings and doings appear to exert a wider
influence than righteous ones, consequently in this community when you
find one evil person in a family, or in a neighborhood, that person will
actually make it appear to a stranger that the whole family, or
neighborhoods is evil.  The good and evil are mixed together, the wheat
and the tares are growing together, the wise and foolish virgins are
traveling on together.  Some of the people are actually foolish, and they
think that the Lord looks upon sin with a great deal of compassion, and
are thinking, "O, if I should do this or that I will be forgiven.  Yes, I
will go and tell it all to the heads of the Church and get their
forgiveness, and pass on in my wickedness."  Do you wish your friends to
stay here, and all to be Saints indeed?  Now some children are wicked and
their parents righteous, and again children may be Saints and their
parents wicked.  There are good people who have wicked brothers and
sisters, and they say, "Let us be forgiving, let us hold on to them, if we
have compassion, perhaps they will do better and repent of their sins, and
yet be Saints."  Is this not the feeling of every heart?  It is, more or
less.  Who is there entirely void of these compassionate feelings? 
Father, save your son if possible; save your daughter, parents, if it is
possible; brothers,  save your brethren, if it is possible; save your
sisters, if it is possible; save this man, or that woman, and let us have
mercy on them, we will be compassionate on them.

	A great many come to me and say, "I wish to do exactly as the Lord
shall direct through you, brother Brigham."  If I had the word of the Lord
I would not dare give it to them, unless I knew it was an absolute duty. 
They never would obey it, because they are taught the word of the Lord
here all the time, but do they hearken to it?  Those who have wisdom
within themselves, who have in possession the spirit of the Gospel, know
what they hear from this stand.  They know truth from error, they are
satisfied, and never ask the Lord to give them more revelation, but to
give them grace to observe and keep what they have received.

	You can perceive what kind of characters they are who need to be
commanded, they are slothful and not wise servants.  Many of you may
inquire why I am urging this point today; because it is necessary, it
ought to be done.  I wish those who are Saints to walk uprightly before
their God, and to do everything they can for their brethren who are not
Saints.  I desire every man and woman to exercise themselves to the
utmost, for they will, in all probability, be lost unless we save them. 
You came to me and want to know the will of God, what for?  It would send
you to hell, as likely as not, for you will not do it, and that would lay
the foundation for your condemnation, as it is written, "Those that
receive the commandments of God and do not do them are damned."  I feel to
urge these things upon the people that they may save themselves, that they
may be industrious,  and go to with a ready heart and willing mind, with
all their might, to do the things that are necessary to be done.

	Suppose that the Lord should give you a written revelation through
me, I am satisfied that it would not infringe upon your planting corn,
sowing wheat, and watering in the season thereof.  The very first thing
would be to instruct the people to take care of their temporal lives, for
if a people do not provide to live on the earth they cannot accomplish the
work given them to do.  The first thing to be written would be for people
to prepare to live on the earth, until they could overcome the wickedness
that is in the world.

	This would be dictating you in your temporal affairs; I can dictate
you in those matters, and if the Lord does not move me to the point of
drawing the dividing line, though if He does I expect to be on hand, let
us go to with all our might and do every good work we can, and be
satisfied, and not be continually grumbling and complaining against the
Lord, and teazing Him for more than you know what to do with.

	I could not, nor could any other man, give a revelation that would be
more plain to the comprehension of the people than the one I have read to
you this morning.  There is no mystery about it, nothing mysterious or in
the dark, but every man may easily know precisely what it means; all the
people may understand it to perfection.  This revelation was given to the
people in their ignorance; it was given, we may say, at the birth of the
man child, in the first days of the being of the Priesthood again upon the
earth, and yet it was so calculated and so worded, that every person could
understand it.  Brother Partridge knew what to do; Gilbert, Rigdon, and
Peterson knew what to do; and in Returning to Kirtland the Elders were to
lift up their voices by the way, and to build up Churches.

	One man is told to do this, and another to do that.  Edward, you go
and get your family and move them up here, &c.  Can you understand this? 
It is one of the revelations of God, given to this people in the first
rise of the Church.  I do not expect to give you any particular light upon
it by the way of illustration, for it would be like my telling you that
the sun shines, and that we are within the walls of this Temple Block,
seated under a partial shade, constructed for screening us from the rays
of the sun.  You know all this, you understand it as well as I do; so did
those to whom it was given understand this revelation.  Would you
understand what might be said to you, if I should command you to do this
or that.  Ask some man to command you, and never ask God to do it, until
you are prepared to keep His commandments.

	You are ready to say in your hearts, "We are always scolded."  Who
hurts you?  You will never be hurt, unless you hurt yourselves.  If we
live our religion we shall prosper, and if we live in the neglect of our
duty, and continue to do so, as many do, there will be tribulation and
anguish here, and the chastening hand of the Almighty will be on this
people, more so than it has ever been.  If I could stand here and talk to
you without advancing these ideas, I would endeavor to do so, and would be
very much pleased if there was no occasion for rebuke.  It would delight
me to be able to preach all the time upon the glories of Zion, that Zion
prospers, that we are all in the straight and narrow way, that all feel
fully engaged in building up the kingdom of God, and that every man,
woman, and child is doing right, but such is not the case.  If I could
prevail upon the people to so lay instruction to heart, that they would
repent of their sins and refrain from them, that they would forsake their
hard-heartedness and follies, I should be thankful indeed.

	I need not go into particulars in explaining the feelings of this
people, for they are too well known.  We see them exhibited in our
temporal management, and in our transactions one with another.  Some you
see walking uprightly, and again you may see the honest suffering, and but
few ready to extend the hand of charity to relieve them, while the
dishonest who have followed this people, we will say, for the loaves and
fishes, are begging, and their children also, from morning until night and
hoarding up more than they can possibly consume.  We see these different
dispositions, yet we all are known under the appellation of Saints, we are
all brethren and sisters in the Church of Christ.

	There is a disposition in many of the brethren like this, "I want to
consecrate all I have to the Church, and I will not reserve anything to
myself."  Very well, there are blank deeds in the Office, fill one out, if
you wish, but do as you please about it.  "I really feel as though it
would be a great privilege to give everything I possess to the Church." 
What have you got?  "O, I have a five-acre lot."  What is it worth? 
"Well, I don't know; it is full of saleratus and greasewood."  Such
characters are so loving and kind, and will say, "Now, brother Brigham, I
feel better than I ever felt in my life, I feel happy that I am in the
kingdom of God with all that I have; I have dedicated everything I have. 
Brother Brigham, do you think I can have a house and lot?"  They do not
talk so loud as I am now talking, they whisper in my ear:  "Could you let
me have a yoke of oxen, or a span of horses and a wagon, or twenty bushels
of wheat,"  &c., &c.?  If I were to hearken to one third of such calls,
these characters would drain our means to that degree, that the Church
would never have the first sixpence, from this time forth to the day of
judgment, with which to carry on this work.  There is not one third enough
paid in tithing by this great people, to answer the calls of hypocrites
and ungodly persons.

	Are all hypocrites?  No, but if you see honest persons, you see those
who are ready to take hold and labor with their might, even though they
have but one potatoe in a day; they will suffer rather than impoverish the
Church.

	I will relate a circumstance that transpired lately.  I think it was
last Tuesday or Wednesday night, as I was sitting in one of my houses,
about nine o'clock in the evening, that a little boy, some nine or ten
years of age, came along.  As soon as he came to the door he began a
story, but in such a manner that I could not understand him.  I called him
near to me, and desired him to relate his story again.  He commenced by
telling about his father's dying with the cholera on the Plains, that his
mother was sick and had several children to take care of, and wound up by
saying, that his mother had not eaten anything since the morning of the
day previous.  I told my wife to give him some bread, remarking that if I
could walk as I once could I would know the true situation of that family. 
Brother Wells was by and said, "I can walk,"  I then asked the boy where
he lived; he replied, "Over yonder."  In what Ward?  He did not know. 
What is your name?  "David Jones."  What was your father's name?  "Jones." 
Who are your neighbors?  He did not know.  Brother Wells started off in an
easterly direction with him.  The boy began to limp and complained of sore
feet, and ere long sat down and began to cry loudly and raise the
neighborhood.  Bishop Woolley hearing the crying came up, and, after
trying to make him hush and start for his home, gave him a good spanking,
and started him homeward.  He at length mentioned the name of Bishop
Perkins, and, from that Bishop, brother Wells learned that the name of the
family was Meiklejohn, and that they lived in the Seventh Ward.  After
much inquiry the boy's home was found, though he was determined not to go
home, and it was soon discovered that he had a father (whose christian
name is David) and mother living, both of whom had gone to bed, and a
little sister, who waited on the opposite side of a street while the boy
who begged, was still out.

	The parents of course said the boy did very wrong, and that they had
no idea of his conducting himself so, when the fact is, the boy has been
trained to lie from his childhood by his father and mother, and so has the
girl.  Scores of times would not amount to the number that these very
children have been to my house, and we have given them flour, meal, and
bread which they have carried home.

	On the same evening, persons were overheard talking beneath some
trees.  One said, "Sister, where did you get your flour to-day?"  "I got
it at brother Brigham's."  "I have some money, and shall have to buy
some."

	"Don't buy one pound, but go to brother Brigham and tell him a good
story, and you will get some flour.  I have money, but I will not pay one
cent for my flour."

	I mention these facts to illustrate the spirit that is in a portion
of this community.  If you go into England, or into any of the old
countries, you will see the same class of poor, guilty, miserable wretches
begging for a living, and they carry on that business to such a degree,
and in such a manner, that the rich and those who are in comfortable
circumstances, aware of the rascality of many, often refrain from given to
any through fear of being imposed upon, and thereby the honest, innocent
poor suffer.  They would also suffer here if we were equally fearful of
being imposed upon; but many who are unworthy are now aided, by those who
are ever ready to assist the destitute, lest some honest poor should
suffer; for this reason we withhold not from any.

	If this loose course of begging is suffered to go on in this
community, without a check being put to it, but a few years would elapse
before the honest might be permitted to starve to death in the streets;
for those who have would say, "We do not know but that you have your
thousands at home, and we will not take the trouble to find out."

	We have our arrangements for learning the condition of the people,
and I will here make a few remarks concerning the Bishops.  If they
magnify their office and calling, they will know the circumstances of
every family in their Wards.  But with all our experience in regard to
Bishops, especially those who have been in the Church so long, and who
know so much about the kingdom of God, they ought to know a little more
about the families residing in their Wards, and not quite so much about
the kingdom, if they cannot understand both at the same time.  I very well
know that they have their own families to take care of, and that they are
allowed nothing for their services.  That is partly why we have been
appointing some new Bishops.  I want men to act as Bishops who are smart
enough to take care of themselves, and at the same time magnify their
calling; and if we do not find them to be honest we mean to appoint other
persons, and to continue so doing until that Quorum is filled with honest
men.  I am sorry to say that we have proven a few Bishops dishonest. 
Perhaps some of the Bishops here, or of those who live in other part of
the Territory, will say, "It comes very hard, brother Brigham, for you to
make such a statement as that, and not point out the dishonest person; the
people may think that you mean me."  You are the very ones I mean, if your
consciences accuse you, for if you are not guilty you care not for such a
statement, as your consciences are clear and you are not accused,
therefore I mean those who say, "This is hard."

	Do you wish me to explain myself?  I have proof ready to show that
Bishops have taken in thousands of pounds in weight of tithing which they
have never reported to the General Tithing Office.  We have documents to
show that Bishops have taken in hundreds of bushels of wheat, and only a
small portion of it has come into the General Tithing Office; they stole
it to let their friends speculate upon.  If any one is doubtful about
this, will you not call on me to produce my proof before a proper
tribunal?  I should take pleasure in doing so, but we pass over such
things in mercy to the people.

	Will you repent of your sins, and go to and do that which you know
you ought to do, without being commanded of the Lord, and thus be
compelled to do it, or be damned?  Will you live so as to know the voice
of the Good Shepherd when you hear it, or are you determined to live so as
not to know the difference between that voice and the voice of a stranger? 
In this I fear for the people.  I have explained and commented upon these
seemingly small items, though in reality they are of much importance.

	Chemists who are familiar with analizing [sic] matter, inform you
that the globe we inhabit is composed of small particles, so small that
they cannot be seen with the unaided natural eye,  and that one of these
small particles may be divided into millions of parts, each part so minute
as to be undiscernable [sic] by the aid of the finest microscopes.  So the
walk of man is made up of acts performed from day to day.  It is the
aggregate of the acts which I perform through life that makes up the
conduct that will be exhibited in the day of judgment, and when the books
are opened, there will be the life which I have lived for me to look upon,
and there also will be the acts of your lives for you to look upon.  Do
you not know that the building up of the kingdom of God, the gathering of
Israel, is to be done by little acts?  You breathe one breath at a time;
each moment is set apart to its act, and each act to its moment.  It is
the moments and the little acts that make the sum of the life of man.  Let
every second, minute, hour, and day we live be spent in doing that which
we know to be right.

	If you do not know what to do, in order to do right, come to me at
any time and I will give you the word of the Lord on that point.  But if
you wish the word of the Lord on your nonsensical, foolish notions and
traits, be pleased to keep away from me, for I know too much about such
characters for them to pass before me unobserved.  Mankind are weak and
feeble, poor and needy; how destitute they are of true knowledge, how
little they have when they have any at all.  We have need to increase in
knowledge and understanding, and to apply our hearts more to wisdom.

	How necessary it is for us to live our religion so as to know
ourselves better, and to know how to live better in accordance with the
religion we have embraced.  To know how to gather up the sons and
daughters of Abraham, and to establish the kingdom of God on the earth,
how necessary it is for you and I to live our religion, and not be
slothful and negligent in fulfilling our duty.

	The Book of Mormon, of Doctrine and Covenants, the Old and New
Testaments all corroborate the fact that when you receive the Spirit that
gives you light, intelligence, peace, joy, and comfort, that it is from
God.  But when you, sisters, particularly in your family affairs, are
tried and tempted, when parents and children have a spirit come upon them
that irritates them, that causes them to have bad feelings, disagreeable,
unhappy, and miserable sensations, causing them to say, "We wish it was
some way else; we wish our circumstances were different; we are not happy;
something or the other is always wrong; we wish to do just right, but we
are very unhappy;"  I desire to tell you that your own conduct is the
cause of all this.  "But," says one, " I have done nothing wrong, nothing
evil."  No matter whether you have or not, you have given way to a spirit
of temptation.  There is not that man or woman in this congregation, or on
the face of the earth, that has the privilege of the holy Gospel, and
lives strictly to it, whom all hell can make unhappy.  You cannot make the
man, woman, or child unhappy, who possesses the Spirit of the living God;
unhappiness is caused by some other spirit.

	The spirit of contention divides families as we see some divided.  We
can hardly associate with some persons, for we have to walk in their midst
like walking upon eggs.  What is the matter?  You do not know the spirit
they are led by.  Treat them kindly, and, perhaps, by and bye they will
come to understanding.  What would they do were they of one heart and
mind?  They would be like little children, would respect their superiors
and honor their God and their religion.  This they would do, if they
understood things as they are.  Be careful of them, and treat them kindly. 
Who is there that walks up to the line, and knows the will of God without
being commanded?  A great many do; but it is not all of this people who
are doing as I have been counselling you.  Still I will venture to say
that there are as many wise ones as foolish.  But many will have to
separate from their own family conexions, if they do not do better. 
Parents and children will have to separate, and husbands and wives, ere
long.  How long shall they live together?  Until the Lord says, gather up
the tares and prepare them for the burning.  I am not going to undertake
to separate the tares from the wheat, the sheep from the goats, but we
will try to make you goats produce fleeces of wool instead of hair, and we
will keep hammering at you with the word of God, which is quick and
powerful, until you become sheep, if possible, that we may not have five
foolish virgins in the company.  Though in all this I do not expect to
even desire to thwart the plans and sayings of Jesus Christ in the least.

	Let us do all the good we can, extend the hand of benevolence to all,
keep the commandments of God and live our religion, and after all there
will be five foolish virgins, and if we are not careful, we shall all be
on the list of the foolish ones.

	I dedicate myself, this congregation, and the whole interest of the
kingdom of God on the earth, to our Father, to His Son Jesus Christ, and
to the Holy Ghost, that we may be saved; and I pray that this may be our
happy lot.  Amen.

      THE ORDER OF PROGRESSION IN KNOWLEDGE--THE WAY BY WHICH SAINTS
     BECOME ONE--APTNESS OF MEN TO REMEMBER EVIL RATHER THAN GOOD--A
         CHARACTERISTIC OF SAINTS IS TO REMEMBER GOOD AND FORGET
       EVIL--OUR AFFECTIONS SHOULD BE PLACED ON THE KINGDOM OF GOD
                         ABOVE ALL OTHER THINGS.

	A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery, 
                   Great Salt Lake City, June 15, 1856.

	As I have frequently remarked, it seems that the people need a great
deal of preaching; they require to be preached to continually to put them
in mind of their duties, and to stir them up to perform the works which
they know that they ought to do.  This at first appears strange, and then
again it is not so strange.  Our organization is such, we are subject to
so many spirits and influences that are in the world, that it is not
strange that our minds require stirring up to remembrance, and our
physical powers to diligence.

	As Saints in the last days we have much to learn; there is an
eternity of knowledge before us; at most we receive but very little in
this stage of our progression.

	The most learned men that have ever lived on the earth have only been
able to obtain a small amount of knowledge, in comparison to the vast
store of information that exists for the faithful Saints.

	It cannot be understandingly exhibited by any individual, not even by
an angel, to the people any further than they are able to receive and
comprehend it; consequently the Lord has to descend to our capacities and
give us a little here and a little there, line upon line, and precept upon
precept, as the Prophet has said.

	But we are so organized, and it is so ordained, that we can receive
that little, and still continue to receive a little and a little more, and
treasure up and retain in our memories that which we have received, so
that it will be ready when it is necessary to bring it forth.  What we
learn to day does not prevent our learning more to-morrow, and so on.

	This principle is inherent in the organization of all intelligent
beings, so that we are capable of receiving, and receiving, and receiving
from the inexhaustible fountain of knowledge and truth.

	It has been frequently stated to us, and is a doctrine we understand,
that this people have got to become of one heart and one mind.  They have
to know the will of God and do it, for to know the will of God is one
thing, and to bring our wills, our dispositions, into subjection to that
which we do understand to be the will of God is another.

	We might say that this is the first lesson we have to learn and one
of the easiest, one that is calculated and adapted to the capacity of the
child, to learn to be submissive to our Father in heaven.  Parents require
this duty of their children, when they have become intelligent enough to
understand that the parent is superior in point of government, and strict
obedience is required by that authority.  That the parent is his superior
is one of the first lessons that the child learns--that he is his dictator
to measure and guide his steps, as soon as he comes to an understanding of
what is required.

	If we are obedient to the will of our Father in heaven it
accomplishes one grand object, namely, our being the disciples of Christ,
for he observed to his disciples, "Except ye are one ye are not mine."  "I
am in my Father and ye in me, and I in you," one eternal principle
governing and controlling the intelligence that dwells in the persons of
the Father and the Son.  I have these principles within me, Jesus has them
within him, and you have them within you.  I am governed and controlled by
them, my elder brother, Jesus, is governed and controlled by them.  He
learned them, Jesus learned them, and we must learn them in order to
receive crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives.

	The principle of eternal life that sustains all intelligent beings,
that governs and controls all things in eternity, the principle by which
matter does exist, the principle by which it is organized, by which it is
redeemed and brought into celestial glory, is the principle that is in you
and me, that is in our heavenly Father.

	It is life, it is the life of Christ and of every Saint; in this
capacity they are in us and we in them.  We must be possessed of the
spirit that governs and controls the angels, we must have the same spirit
within us that our Father in heaven is in possession of.

	That spirit must rule you and me, it must control our actions and
dictate us in life, we must cling to it and imbibe it until it becomes a
second nature to us.  We are accustomed to saying second nature, but in
reality it is the first nature that we had, though sin has perverted it.
God planted it there as the predominant principle, but our giving way to
temptation has frustrated the plan and driven it from us.

	How easy it is for people to understand and do the will of God, if
they will throw off their unrighteous traditions and let truth stand for
truth, light for light, and let that which is of God be received as such.

	When truth comes, receive it as from the Lord, and let everything be
simplified to us as unto children, for the Lord has ordained that we may
grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth, and be able to receive
more knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and it is not possible for us
to receive it any other way, only as we apply our hearts strictly to
overcome every evil and cleave to that which is pleasing to the Lord--to
that which tends to life and salvation.  This is the only channel in which
we can become of one heart and of one mind.

	This has been the burden of our exhortations, prayers, and pleadings. 
It was the burden of the exhortations, prayers, and pleadings of the
servants of God who lived in ancient days, as much as it is of those who
live now.  No good person has ever lived on the earth--one who understood
the principles of life--but what he has desired to see the time when the
people would be governed by other principles than those of sin and
selfishness.

	All the righteous have desired to see the people governed by
principles that will endure, and that will give durability to all who obey
them.  Their bowels of compassion yearned continually after the sons of
men, and they labored to bring them under the control and government of
the principles of eternal life, and to cut them loose from the little,
selfish, frivolous, trifling, deathly principles that pertain to this
flesh.

	What would be the result of this effort and desire, if accomplished
among us?  We should be of one heart and of one mind; we should cease to
play the hyprocrite [sic]; we should cease to be slothful servants; we
should cease to do evil and do good continually.

	The reflections of many are that they cannot govern and control
themselves.  And should we ask some whether their memory is good, whether
they can recollect certain transactions which have transpired thus and so,
they would reply, "No, our memory is very treacherous."  That is true, but
in different degrees, with all people.

	We may ask one person, can you remember anything you wish to, and the
reply may be, "It is with difficulty that we remember anything."  This
lack of mental force is found in a large class of mankind, but to search
into the causes of this would take us far back, for they pertain to
parents as well as to children, to the ancient as well as to the modern
inhabitants of this globe.

	Another peculiarity of memory is, the stronger recollection of an
injury than a favor; for instance, take a person of the most treacherous
memory and apply a little cayenne pepper to his eyes, and he will remember
that act as long as he lives.

	It is an old saying, "That we can forgive (it is man's privilege) but
we cannot forget."  Can you forget an injury?  No, you will always
remember it.  But on the other hand, suppose that a friend should come, in
the hour of your distress, to relieve you from pain and suffering, and by
laying his hands upon you your pain is gone; or furnish you food when you
have none, and administer to your wants in everything calculated to make
you happy and comfortable in body and mind, you will forget those kind
acts many times quicker than the act of throwing a little cayenne pepper
in your eyes.

	Think of that and ask yourselves the cause; reason as to why it is
that you can remember an injury better than a kindness; why you can retain
hatred longer than love.  Is it through your fallen nature?  Is it because
you were begotten and born in sin?  Or is it not rather because the power
of the tempter has control over you, and because the world is full of evil
principles, and you have adhered to them?  Yes, this is the cause, and you
must acknowledge it.  The whole world is contaminated with a spirit to
remember evil and forget the good.

	Mankind are organized of element designed to endure to all eternity;
it never had a beginning and never can have an end.  There never was a
time when this matter, of which you and I are composed, was not in
existence, and there never can be a time when it will pass out of
existence; it cannot be annihilated.

	It is brought together, organized, and capacitated to receive
knowledge and intelligence, to be enthroned in glory, to be made angels,
Gods--beings who will hold control over the elements, and have power by
their word to command the creation and redemption of worlds, or to
extinguish suns by their breath, and disorganize worlds, hurling them back
into their chaotic state.  This is what you and I are created for.

 	But in view of all this, what can we discover in ourselves?  As an
instance, A has a favorite dog, which B discovers doing mischief on his
grounds, and kills, whereupon A, who was fond of his dog for serving him
so well, and guarding his house and children so long and faithfully,
becomes highly enraged, and says, "I tell you I cannot stand it, I am so
angry, that I feel as though I should fly all to pieces, and I have almost
a mind to take my rifle and shoot you."  What, for a dog?

	Let a man or woman come forward that can say they have not had such
feelings, to a certain degree.  Yes, you have similar feelings in
consequence of some one's abusing your dog, but when you enter into the
holy city, (should you be so happy as to get there) you will learn that
the dogs will all be on the outside of the walls with the murderers,
adulterers, fornicators, liars, and those who take the name of God in
vain.  "For your conduct towards my dog, I am almost ready to kill you,
neighbor."

	Do you here such language used?  Yes, right in our midst.  Kill
almost any person's favorite animal, and he is ready to draw the rifle to
his eye, in a moment, to shed the blood of his neighbor.  This is the
passion of the animal organization that the devil has power over.  When
such feelings assail you, stop and reflect, and let the spirit within you
reason, and it would say, "Shame on you, Brigham, John, Mary, or Jane?" 
Grant that an individual has done wrong, should we be so provoked about
it?

	We are organized for the express purpose of controlling the elements,
of organizing and disorganizing, of ruling over kingdoms, principalities,
and powers, and yet our affections are often too highly placed upon
paltry, perishable objects.  We love houses, gold, silver, and various
kinds of property, and all who unduly prize any object there is beneath
the celestial world are idolators.

	Some say, "We are placed here, the devils were here, the world is
full of wickedness, and we are subjected to all this without any agency on
our part," but this assertion does not prove such to be the case.  Will
you subject your children to wickedness when it is in your power to
deliver them from it?  We are measurably subjected to it because of the
sin that was in our parents, but have we now the knowledge to deliver our
children from this power?  We have.  Then let us begin and do it, and cast
off your unrighteous traditions, as I have often taught and counselled
you. Let every man and woman bring up their children according to the law
of heaven.  Teach your children from their youth, never to set their
hearts immoderately upon an object of this world.

	Should you train yourselves?  Yes, you should.  Can you remember to
do good instead of evil?  Do you watch the operations of the spirits upon
the people, upon their affections, upon their hearts?  Can you not hear
some of this congregation, as they leave the meeting, and afterwards,
begin to find fault and complain on this wise?  "Well, I do not like this,
and I do not like that, and I think I shall go back to the States.  I wish
I was back in England.  I will not pay my money for flour, but I will beg
it, and send my children to beg it, and spend my money to get away from
here."

	Have I done you any harm since you have been here?  Did my brothers
who proclaimed the Gospel to you, do you anything but good?  "No, O, no." 
If they have done the least thing to injure you, why will you not tell of
it before you leave?  But no, you will not, and as soon as you go away
your testimony will be, "Brothers Brigham, and Heber, and Jedediah, and
the Twelve, and all the brethren at Great Salt Lake are the worst people
we ever saw."  Can you tell of one thing wherein they have wronged you? 
They may have fed you, you may have lived here on their bounty and
kindness, but as soon as you go away, you partake of the spirit of the
world, which I am trying to contrast with the spirit of the Gospel.

	As soon as you are overcome by the spirit of the world, you forget
every good deed and kindness that has been extended to you, and you only
remember the transpiring and infliction of what you deemed to be evil. 
You imagine a thousand things to be evil that would have resulted in good,
had you done right.  Can you believe that?  "O, yes." Those who have
apostatized and left, cannot recollect a kindness that I have done them,
but I can say to the praise of a few Gentiles, who have passed through
here, they have recollected the kindnesses done to them by this people. 
Almost universally, after having received the greatest kindnesses they
ever received, apostates and some Gentiles after they leave these valleys,
vividly remember and proclaim, from Dan to Beersheba, every fancied
injury.

	Brother Tobin lately arrived from the army in Oregon; he there became
acquainted with a part of Colonel Steptoe's command.  Yesterday, as we
were walking about, I told him that the Indians who were tried for the
murder of Captain Gunnison were confined within the walls of the
Penitentiary.  He said that he thought they had made their escape; that he
had been informed that the lock was broken, the gate opened, and the
Indians sent off.

	I informed him that it was true that the Indian prisoners escaped,
but that I soon recovered them, placed them in charge of the Warden, and
wrote to Colonel Steptoe, who was at Bear river en route for California,
acquainting him with the circumstances.  The Colonel replied, and thanked
me in his note.  I asked brother Tobin whether the Colonel did not tell
him that those Indians were recovered.  He replied, "No, but it has
appeared in nearly all, if not all, the western papers, that the "Mormons"
let the Indians out of prison."  They could publish that the Indians
escaped, but they would not proclaim that the "Mormons" speedily recovered
them, and that they are still safely lodged in prison.

	Those who love righteousness and possess the Spirit of God, those who
delight to do good can remember good.  They can remember every good
principle and every good act; and when they read the Bible, the sayings of
the Prophets and Apostles will be as near their hearts as lies are to the
hearts of the wicked.  By this you may know whether you are Saints or not. 
Can you remember good?  If you forget good and remember evil, you may lay
it down as a positive fact that you are on the highway to destruction.  If
you love the truth you can remember it.

	One may here inquire, "Can I strengthen my memory and bring it into
lively exercise?"  Yes, by applying your mind to the point you wish to
improve upon, and you can learn and remember righteous deeds if you are
full of integrity.

	The Gospel of salvation has been revealed unto us expressly to teach
our hearts understanding, and when I learn the principles of charity or
righteousness I will adhere to them, and say to selfishness, you must not
have that which you want, and when it urges that I have no more flour than
I shall need until harvest, and that I must not give any away, not even a
pound, I say, get out of my door.  And when it argues that a brother will
not be profited by our endeavors to benefit him, that you had better keep
your money to yourselves and not let him have this ox, that farm or cow,
&c., and strives to persuade you not to feed such a poor person, not to do
anything for the P. E. F. Company, that you have not any more than you
need, just do as the man did in Vermont, for by the report we would judge
him to be a pretty good man.  He had a farm, raised a large quantity of
grain, and usually had some to spare.  It so happened one season that a
poor neighbor thrashed out his rye, and was to receive his pay in grain. 
The poor man came; the farmer told him to leave his bags and he would
measure up the amount and have it ready when again called for.  He was
alone when measuring the grain, and as he put into the measure, something
whispered to him, "Pour it in lightly," but instead of doing this, he gave
the measure a kick.  When he put on the strike something said to him,
"When you take that off, take a little out the poor man will know nothing
about it."  At last the farmer said, "Mr. Devil, walk out of my barn, or I
will heap every half bushel I measure for the poor man."

	When you are tempted to do wrong, do not stop one moment to argue,
but tell Mr. Devil to walk out of your barn, or you will heap up every
half bushel; you can do that I know.  A drunkard can walk by a tavern,
though I have heard it said that some men cannot go by, or if they do
manage to get by, that they say, "Now I know I am the master, and I will
go back and treat resolution."

	I am aware that some will argue that they cannot do good without evil
being present with them; that has nothing to do with the case.  Though it
may be present with them, as it was with Paul, there is no necessity for
any man's giving way to that evil.  If we should do good, do it, and tell
the evil to stand out of the way.  You are privileged to be masters of
yourselves; you can strengthen your memories, and by a close application
you can train yourselves to remember the good instead of the evil.  If
anybody has injured you, forget it.  Can you do so?  I know you can.

	Forget the imperfections of your brethren; for often the injuries
which you imagine to have been done, arise through the weakness of the
flesh, and without the individual's being aware that he has done you an
injury, and when no evil was designed.  Judge not according to the outward
appearance, but according to the intentions of the heart.  If they
designed to injure you, they sinned; if they have injured you without
design, you are bound to forgive.  Remember good principles, and when you
hear the truth, if you have a love for it, you will remember it.

	It is frequently said by mothers, and is a universal characteristic
of the rising generation, "How easy it is for children to learn mischief;
I do not like to have my children associated with such and such children,
or go to this or that school."  Do they learn any good?  Perhaps they do a
little, and a great deal of evil.  It is natural for children to learn
that which they should not, and to do that which they should not, but no
more so than it is for you and me.  There are many now before me who
desire something put in their possession which would be injurious to them,
therefore do not blame the children so much for desiring to handle that
which is not meet for them to handle, and to possess that which they
cannot take care of.

	What shall we do?  We will cut off every avenue of evil, as fast and
as far as may lay in our power.  You can stop those evil communications
that corrupt good manners in yourselves first, and then keep your children
as strictly from evil as possible, and not many generations will pass away
ere the heavens will acknowledge that there is a reformation among the
Latter-day Saints.  How many generations we do not know, but I sometimes
think that the Lamanites will become a white and delightsome people about
as quick.  It belongs to us to commence the work of reformation, and in
the first place to set the example of good works before our children, and
when they grow up they will say, these are the traditions of my fathers. 
They will thus improve a little, and the next generation will improve a
little more, until the traditions of the children are in accordance with
the principles of the eternal Priesthood, which will produce life and
salvation.

	I will speak a little more upon placing your affections on beings who
are not worthy of them.  Take a Prophet, and Apostle, a man of God, one
who is just as good in his calling and capacity as Jesus Christ was in
his, a man who has adorned the doctrine of his profession, until he is
sealed up unto eternal lives by the power of the Priesthood, one who is
sure of a glorious resurrection, and let him desire to have a wife.  Now
suppose that he gains the affection of a lovely woman and marries her, how
much shall that righteous man love that woman?  Shall he say, "I love this
woman to such a degree that I will go to hell rather than not have her, I
will do even this rather than lose my wife?"  No, for you ought to love a
woman only so far as she adorns the doctrine you profess; so far as she
adorns that doctrine, just so far let your love extend to her.  When will
she be worthy of the full extent of your affection?  When she has lived
long enough to secure to herself a glorious resurrection and an eternal
exaltation as your companion, and never until then.

	Elders, never love your wives one hair's breadth further than they
adorn the Gospel, never love them so but that you can leave them at a
moment's warning without shedding a tear.  Should you love a child any
more than this?  No.  Here are Apostles and Prophets who are destined to
be exalted with the Gods, to become rulers in the kingdoms of our Father,
to become equal with the Father and the Son, and will you let your
affections be unduly placed on anything this side that kingdom and glory? 
If you do, you disgrace your calling and Priesthood.  The very moment that
persons in this Church suffer their affections to be immoderately placed
upon an object this side the celestial kingdom, they disgrace their
profession and calling.  When you love your wives and children, are fond
of your horses, your carriages, your fine houses, your goods and chattels,
or anything of an earthly nature, before your affections become too
strong, wait until you and your family are sealed up unto eternal lives,
and you know they are yours from that time henceforth and for ever.

	I will now ask the sisters, do you believe that you are worthy of any
greater love than you bestow upon your children?  Do you believe that you
should be beloved by your husbands and parents any further than you
acknowledge and practice the principle of eternal lives?  Every person who
understands this principle would answer in a moment, "Let no being's
affections be placed upon me any further than mine are on eternal
principles--principles that are calculated to endure and exalt me, and
bring me up to be an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ." 
This is what every person who has a correct understanding would say.

	Owing to the weaknesses of human nature you often see a mother mourn
upon the death of her child, the tears of bitterness are found upon her
cheeks, he pillow is wet with the dews of sorrow, anguish, and mourning
for her child, and she exclaims, "O that my infant were restored to me," 
and weeps day and night.  To me such conduct is unwise, for until that
child returned to its Father, was it worthy of your fullest love?  No, for
it was imperfect, but now it is secure in the bosom of the Father, to
dwell there to all eternity; now it is in a condition where it is worthy
of your perfect love, and your anxiety and effort should be that you may
enter at the same gate to immortality.

	When the wife secures to herself a glorious resurrection, she is
worthy of the full measure of the love of the faithful husband, but never
before.  And when a man has passed through the vail, and secured to
himself an eternal exaltation, he is then worthy of the love of his wife
and children, and not until then, unless he has received the promise of
and is sealed up unto eternal lives.  Then he may be an object fully
worthy of their affections and love on the earth, and not before.

	I will now briefly call your minds to the principle of being one.  Do
you not comprehend that you ought to have your affections concentrated in
the kingdom of God on the earth?  As I observed here last Sabbath, I do
not reflect much whether I have friends or foes, or care one groat about
it.  I do not care whether you take my counsel or not, provided you take
the counsel of the Almighty.  I do not care what the people do, if they
will only serve God and build up this kingdom.  I do not care what become
of the things of this world, of the gold, of the silver, of the houses and
of the lands, so we have power to gather the house of Israel, redeem Zion,
and establish the kingdom of God on the earth.  I would not give a cent
for all the rest.  True, these things which the Lord bestows upon us are
for our comfort, for our happiness and convenience, but everything must be
devoted to the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth.  I may say
that this Gospel is to spread to the nations of the earth, Israel is to be
gathered, Zion redeemed, and the land of Joseph, which is the land of
Zion, is to be in the possession of the Saints, if the Lord Almighty lets
me live; and if I go behind the vail somebody else must see to it.  My
brethren must bear it off shoulder to shoulder.  We must be of one heart
and one mind and roll forth this kingdom; and when we get the first
Presidency, the Twelve, and so on, shoulder to shoulder to forward the
kingdom, wives and children, what are you going to do?  Will you pull
another way?  No, but let your affections, faith, and all your works be
with your husbands, and be obedient to them as unto the Lord.  And
husbands, serve the Lord with all your hearts, and then we shall be a
blessed people, and be of one heart and mind, and the Lord will withhold
no good thing from us, but we shall put down the power of Satan, walk
triumphantly through the world, preach the Gospel and gather the Saints. 
I say then, let us be faithful, and may God bless you.  Amen.

       THE GIFTS OF PROPHECY AND TONGUES.--THE FORMER CIRCUMSTANCES
       AND PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SAINTS CONTRASTED.--TRIALS AND
          TEMPTATIONS NECESSARY TO EXALTATION.--THE CONDITION OF
              DISEMBODIED SPIRITS.--REDEMPTION OF THE DEAD.
    A Discourse, by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, June 22, 1856.

	I am happy for the privilege of rising again before you to converse
upon those things that pertain to our peace, that most deeply interest us
in our reflections and in our lives, it is a matter of constant joy and
comfort to me.

	It gives me great pleasure to look upon the congregations of the
Saints, while I reflect that some of us have been faithful in this Church
for many years, have preached to the Saints and to sinners, have called
upon people to repent while the finger of scorn has been pointed at us and
all manner of evil has been spoken against us falsely.  And many times the
Elders, while laboring faithfully in preaching to the people, would not
find where to lay their heads, no doors open to receive them, and no one
to feed them, yet they have traveled and searched until they have found a
great many that ought to be honest in heart--a great many who have
embraced the Gospel.

	It has been a hard labor upon many of the Elders of this Church to
accomplish what has been done, to preach this Gospel to so many people in
so many different nations and kingdoms.

	If the miles our missionaries have traveled were counted they would
amount to a great sum, and if you could know how many days the have been
without eating, while calling upon the people to repent, you would find
them to be a great number.

	If the troubles of this people from the commencement of this work,
from the early history of the Prophet, and the persecutions of the Saints,
could be presented before this congregation you would be astonished, you
would marvel at them.  You would not believe that a people could endure so
much as this people have endured, you would think it an impossibility for
men and women to endure and pass through what a great many in this Church
have.  Truly it is a miracle that we are here.

	Taking these things into consideration, and viewing our present
circumstances and the privileges we enjoy, there is not a heart that fully
realizes what we have passed through and the blessings we now enjoy,
without praising God continually and feeling to exclaim, "O praise the
name of our God."

	True, many think and feel that we have hard times here, that it is a
hard country to live in.  We have long cold winters, and we have a great
many difficulties to encounter--the Indian wars, the cricket wars, the
grasshopper wars, and the drouths.

	What we have suffered during the two years past comes before us, and
now the prospect is gloomy pertaining to sustenance for man.

	How many are there who feel and say like this?  "Were it not for
'Mormonism' I should know at once what to do; I know the course I would
pursue."  What would you do, brother?  "I would pick up my duds and leave;
I would sell what I have here, if I could, and if I could not I would
leave it."  These are the feelings of some.

	I will tell you what my feelings are, they are, praise God for hard
times, for I feel that it is one of the greatest privileges to be in a
country that is not desirable, where the wicked will pass by.

	Now, do we all realize this?  No, we do not; though I have no doubt
but that some do.  I will tell you what will make you realize it; to
suffer the loss of all things here by the enemy's coming along and driving
you out of your houses, from your farms and fields, and taking your
horses, cattle, farming implements, and what little substance you have,
and banishing you from this place and sending you off five or six hundred
miles, bereft of all you possessed, without suitable clothing and
provisions for the journey.

	Then you go to work, and toil and labor with all your might, for a
few years, to get another home, and then let another set come and drive
you out of that place, taking your cattle, your farms, and all you have,
telling you that they want your possessions, and by the time they had thus
driven you four or five times, as they have many of us, and made you leave
every thing you have, and threatened you with death, and watched for you
by day and by night, to get a chance to kill you, and they suffered to go
at large with impunity, and would kill you in open daylight if they dare,
after having passed through fifteen or sixteen years of this kind of
persecution, you would thank God for hard times, for a country where mobs
do not wish to live.

	Many of the people in these valleys have no experience in these
things, and I would be very glad to have such persons escape those trials,
if they could receive the same glory and exaltation that they would if
they had passed through them.

	I look upon the people, and as I frequently say, I have compassion
upon them, for all have not experience.  It was told you this morning that
you could not be made perfect Saints in one day, that is impossible.  You
might as well undertake to learn a child every branch of English
literature during its first week's attendance at school, this cannot be
done.

	We are not capacitated to receive in one day, nor in one year, the
knowledge and experience calculated to make us perfect Saints, but we
learn from time to time, from day to day, consequently we are to have
compassion one upon another, to look upon each other as we would wish
others to look upon us, and to remember that we are frail mortal beings,
and that we can be changed for the better only by the Gospel of salvation.

	As it was observed this morning, we ought to be ourselves and not
anybody else.  We do not wish to be anybody else, neither do we wish to be
anybody but Saints.  We wish the Gospel to take effect upon each one of
us; and we can change in our feelings, in our dispositions and natures, to
the extent that was observed by brother Kimball in the comparison which he
made.

	A man, or a woman, desiring to know the will of God, and having an
opportunity to know it, will apply their hearts to this wisdom until it
becomes easy and familiar to them, and they will love to do good instead
of evil.  They will love to promote every good principle, and will soon
abhor everything that tends to evil; they will gain light and knowledge to
discern between evil and good.

	The person that applies his heart to wisdom, and seeks diligently for
understanding, will grow to be mighty in Israel.

	Call to mind when you first embraced the Gospel, how much did you
then know compared with what you now know?  Could you detect error then as
now?  Could you then understand the operations of the different spirits as
you can now understand them?  I know what your reply would be to these
interrogations.

	In the first rise of the Church, when the gifts of the Gospel were
bestowed on an individual, or upon individuals, the people could not
understand but that the giver of the gift gave also the exercise of it;
how much labor the Elders that understood this matter have had to make it
plain to the understandings of the people.

	Take, for instance, the gift of tongues; years ago in this Church you
could find men of age, and seemingly of experience, who would preach and
raise up Branches, and when quite young boys or girls would get up and
speak in tongues, and others interpret, and perhaps that interpretation
instructing the Elders who brought them into the Church, they would turn
round and say, "I know my duty, this is the word of the Lord to me and I
must do as these boys or girls have spoken in tongues."

	You ask one of the Elders if they understand things so now, and they
will say, "No, the gifts are from the Lord, and we are agents to use them
as we please."

	If a man is called to be a Prophet, and the gift of prophecy is
poured upon him, though he afterwards actually defies the power of God and
turns away from the holy commandments, that man will continue in his gift
and will prophecy lies.

	He will make false prophecies, yet he will do it by the spirit of
prophecy; he will feel that he is a prophet and can prophecy, but he does
it by another spirit and power than that which was given him of the Lord. 
He uses the gift as much as you and I use ours.

	The gift of seeing with the natural eyes is just as much a gift as
the gift of tongues.  The Lord gave that gift and we can do as we please
with regard to seeing; we can use the sight of the eye to the glory of
God, or to our own destruction.

	The gift of taste is the gift of God, we can use that to feed and
pamper the lusts of the flesh, or we can use it to the glory of God.

	The gift of communicating one with another is the gift of God, just
as much so as the gift of prophecy, of discerning spirits, of tongues, of
healing, or any other gift, though sight, taste, and speech, are so
generally bestowed that they are not considered in the same miraculous
light as are those gifts mentioned in the Gospel.

	We can use these gifts, and every other gift God has given us, to the
praise and glory of God, to serve Him, or we can use them to dishonor Him
and His cause; We can use the gift of speech to blaspheme His name.  That
is true, and I have as good a right as brother Kimball, to say that what I
am talking about is true.

	He said that all his talk in the forenoon was true, and I have as
good a right to say that my talk is true, as he has to say that his is
true.

	These principles are correct in regard to the gifts which we receive
for the express purpose of using them, in order that we may endure and be
exalted, and that the organization we have received shall not come to an
end, but endure to all eternity.

	By a close application of the gifts bestowed upon us, we can secure
to ourselves the resurrection of these bodies that we now possess, that
our spirits inhabit, and when they are resurrected they will be made pure
and holy; then they will endure to all eternity.

 	But we cannot receive all at once, we cannot understand all at once;
we have to receive a little here and a little there.  If we receive a
little, let us improve upon that little; and if we receive much, let us
improve upon it.

	If we get a line to-day, improve upon it; if we get another
to-morrow, improve upon it; and every line, and precept, and gift that we
receive, we are to labor upon, so as to become perfect before the Lord.

	This is the way that we are to change ourselves, and change one
another, pertaining to the principles of righteousness.

	As brother Joseph observed this morning, "Joseph must be Joseph;
Brigham must be Brigham; Heber must be Heber; Amasa must be Amasa; Orson
must be Orson; and Parley must be Parley;" we must be ourselves.

	What should we be, and what are we?  I will take the liberty of
saying a few words upon this.  We were created upright, pure, and holy, in
the image of our father and our mother, in the image of our God.

	Wherein do we differ?  In the talents that are given us, and in our
callings.  We are made of the same materials; our spirits were begotten by
the same parents; in the begetting of the flesh we are of the same first
parents, and all the kindreds of the earth are made of one flesh; but we
are different in regard to our callings.

	In the first place, we may vary with regard to our organizations
pertaining to the flesh; brother Kimball explained this morning why and
how we vary.

	Let a man be devoted to his God and to his religion, and his wives
with him, and he is very apt to have children that will grow up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord.  If the whole of the father and mother
in all their acts is devoted to the building up of the kingdom of God on
the earth, if they have no desire but to do right, if righteousness reigns
predominant, then the spirit that is within them controls, to a certain
extent, the flesh in their posterity.

	Yet every son and daughter have got to go through the ordeal that you
and I have to pass through; they must be tried, tempted and buffeted, in
order to act upon their agency before God and prove themselves worthy of
an exaltation.

	Though our children are begotten in righteousness, brought forth in
holiness, they must be tried and tempted, for they are agents before our
Father and God, the same as you and I.

	They must bring this agency into action; the passions and appetites
must be governed and controlled; the eye, the speech, the tastes, the
desires, all must be controlled.

	If the people would thus control themselves in their lives, it would
make a great alteration in the generations yet to come.

	But we cannot clear ourselves from the power of satan; we must know
what it is to be tried and tempted, for no man or woman can be exalted
upon any other principle, as was beautifully exhibited in the life of the
Savior.

	According to the philosophy of our religion we understand that if he
had not descended below all things, he could not have ascended above all
things.

	As he was appointed to ascend above all things, his father and his
God so brought it about by the handiwork of His providence, that he was
actually accounted, in his birth and in his life, below all things.

	Did he descend below all things?  His parents had not a house nor
even a tent for him to be born in, but were obliged to go to a stable,
doubtless because they were denied the privilege of a house.

	The Son of Man could not be born in a house, and the poor mother in
her distress crawled into a manger, among the litter that had been left by
the cattle.

	Others may have been born in as low a state as this, but it is hard
to find anybody, among the civilized portions of mankind, that gets any
lower.

	But in the opinion of the people they were not considered worthy of
anything better, and by some means it happened so, though they did not
know why, neither did the people.

	The history of Joseph and Mary is given to us by their best friends,
and precisely as we will give the history of the Prophet Joseph.  We know
him to have been a good man, we know that he performed his mission, we
know that he was an honorable man and dealt justly, we know his true
character.

	But let his enemies give his character, and they will make him out
one of the basest men that ever lived.  Let the enemies of Joseph and Mary
give their characters to us, and you would be strongly tempted to believe
as the Jews believe.

	Let the enemies of Jesus give his character to us, and, in the
absence of the testimony of his friends, I do not know but that the
present Christian world would all be Jews, so far as their belief that
Jesus Christ was an impostor and one of the most degraded men that ever
lived.

	Jesus descended very low in his parentage and birth; but the question
may be asked, did he condescend to be reduced in his understanding?

	By the same reasoning I would believe that he did.  I would believe
that he was one of the weakest children that was ever born, one of the
most helpless at his birth; so helpless that it might have been supposed
that he would never grow up to manhood.

	What is his history?  Read for yourselves the account given by his
friends.  It is said that Josephus has given a pretty just account of
Joseph and Mary, of the Apostles, &c., but he has only given just about as
good an account of Jesus and his parents as some person in London lately
has about the "Mormons" and Joseph Smith their Prophet, though he gives a
pretty fair account.

	Take a man in Paris or in London and let him write a history of
Joseph Smith and the Latter Day Saints thirty years after Joseph figured
on the earth, for the history of Christ by Josephus was written several
years, after he was crucified, and he would come as nigh to the truth,
perhaps, as Josephus did in the history he has given of Jesus and his
Apostles.  Josephus was a pretty fair man, but he knew but little about
them.

	What account would Jesus have given of himself, could he have
transmitted his own statements?  Such as every good man would, for he
would have told the truth; but now we have to take his history from his
friends and from his foes.

	What history do we get from the Jews?  I will venture to say that no
man living on the face of the earth, capable of using language to portray
the character of any individual that lives on the earth, could paint a
worse character than they have given to Jesus Christ.

	Compare that with all that has been said against Joseph Smith, and
you will find that the wisdom of this generation will have to succumb to
that of the Jews, for they portrayed the meanest character in the history
they have given of Jesus; but let that pass.

	You can discern that we have to control ourselves, that by the Gospel
we can actually do so and reform.  Each man and woman, by the spirit of
truth, can conform to that principle to improve until we will know and
understand the things of God, so as to save ourselves by the commandments
and will of God.

	The Gospel is simple, it is plain.  The mystery of godliness, or of
the Gospel, is actually couched in our own ignorance; that is the cause of
the mystery that we suppose to be in the revelations given to us; it is in
our own misunderstanding--in our ignorance.

	There is no mystery throughout the whole plan of salvation, only to
those who do not understand.

	Brother Joseph, in the forenoon, touched upon one principle that I
wish to talk about, that is, our future state--futurity.

	From time to time our fathers and our mothers leave us, their bodies
are consigned to the silent tomb; our Prophets are taken from us; our
companions are taken away; our brothers and sisters leave this world.

	The organization that pertains to this life decays, it becomes
lifeless, we lay it down.  Disease fastens upon our children, and they are
gone.

	I said a few words upon the principle of affection last Sabbath, now
I wish to say a few words with regard to our lives hereafter; I will
extend these remarks further than our existence here in the flesh.

	We understand, for it has long been told us, that we had an existence
before we came into the world.  Our spirits came here pure to take these
tabernacles; they came to occupy them as habitations, with the
understanding that all that had passed previously to our coming here
should be taken away from us, that we should not know anything about it.

	We come here to live a few days, and then we are gone again.  How
long the starry heavens have been in existence we cannot say; how long
they will continue to be we cannot say. How long there will be air, water,
earth; how long the elements will endure, in their present combinations,
it is not for us to say.  Our religion teaches us that there never was a
time when they were not, and there never will be a time when they will
cease to be; they are here, and will be here for ever.

	I will give you a figure that brother Hyde had in a dream.  He had
been thinking a great deal about time and eternity; he wished to know the
difference, but how to understand it he did not know.  He asked the Lord
to show him, and after he had prayed about it the Lord gave him a dream,
at least I presume He did, or permitted it so to be, at any rate he had a
dream; his mind was opened so that he could understand time and eternity. 
He said that he thought he saw a stream issuing forth from a misty cloud
which spread upon his right and upon his left, and that the stream ran
past him and entered the cloud again.  He was told that the stream was
time, that it had no place where it commenced to run, neither was there
any end to its running; and that the time which he was thinking about and
talking about, what he could see between the two clouds, was a portion of
or one with that which he could not perceive.

	So it is with you and I; here is time, where is eternity?  It is
here, just as much as anywhere in all the expanse of space; a measured
space of time is only a part of eternity.

	We have a short period of duration allotted to us, and we call it
time.  We exist here, we have life within us let that life be taken away
and the lungs will cease to heave, and the body will become lifeless.  Is
that life extinct?  No, it continues to exist as much as it did when the
lungs would heave, when the mortal body was invigorated with air, food and
the element in which it lived, it has only left the body.  The life, the
animating principles are still in existence, as much so as they were
yesterday when the body was in good health.  Here the inquiry will
naturally arise, when our spirits leave our bodies where do they go to?

	I will tell you.  Will I locate them?  Yes, if you wish me to.  They
do not pass out of the organization of this earth on which we live.  You
read in the Bible that when the spirit leaves the body it goes to God who
gave it.  Now tell me where God is not, if you please; you cannot.  How
far would you have to go in order to go to God, if your spirits were
unclothed?  Would you have to go out of this bowery to find God, if you
were in the spirit?  If God is not here, we had better reserve this place
to gather the wicked into, for they will desire to be where God is not. 
The Lord Almighty is here by His Spirit, by His influence, by His
presence.  I am not in the north end of this bowery, my body is in the
south end of it, but my influence and my voice extend to all parts of it;
in like manner is the Lord here.

	It reads that the spirit goes to God who gave it.  Let me render this
Scripture a little plainer; when the spirits leave their bodies they are
in the presence of our Father and God, they are prepared then to see, hear
and understand spiritual things.  But where is the spirit world?  It is
incorporated within this celestial system.  Can you see it with your
natural eyes?  No.  Can you see spirits in this room?  No.  Suppose the
Lord should touch your eyes that you might see, could you then see the
spirits?  Yes, as plainly as you now see bodies, as did the servant of
Elijah.  If the Lord would permit it, and it was His will that it should
be done, you could see the spirits that have departed from this world, as
plainly as you now see bodies with your natural eyes; as plainly as
brothers Kimball and Hyde saw those wicked disembodied spirits in Preston,
England.  They saw devils there, as we see one another; they could hear
them speak, and knew what they said. Could they hear them with the natural
ear?  No.  Did they see those wicked spirits with their natural eyes?  No. 
They could not see them the next morning, when they were not in the
spirit; neither could they see them the day before, nor at any other time;
their spiritual eyes were touched by the power of the Almighty.

	They said they looked through their natural eyes, and I suppose they
did.  Brother Kimball saw them, but I know not whether his natural eyes
were open at the time or not; brother Kimball said that he lay upon the
floor part of the time, and I presume his eyes were shut, but he saw them
as also did brother Hyde, and they heard them speak.

	We may enquire where the spirits dwell, that the devil has power
over?  They dwell anywhere, in Preston, as well as in other places in
England.  Do they dwell anywhere else?  Yes, on this continent; it is full
of them.  If you could see, and would walk over many parts of North
America, you would see millions on millions of the spirits of those who
have been slain upon this continent.  Would you see the spirits of those
who were as good in the flesh as they knew how to be?  Yes.  Would you see
the spirits of the wicked?  Yes.  Could you see the spirits of devils? 
Yes, and that is all there is of them.  They have been deprived of bodies,
and that constitutes their curse, that is to say, speaking after the
manner of men, you shall be wanderers on the earth, you have got to live
out of doors all the time you live.

	That is the situation of the spirits that were sent to the earth,
when the revolt took place in heaven, when Lucifer, the Son of the
Morning, was cast out.  Where did he go?  He came here, and one-third part
of the spirits in heaven came with him.  Do you isuppose [sic] that one
third part of all the beings that existed in eternity came with him?  No,
but one third part of the spirits that were begotten and organized and
brought forth to become tenants of fleshly bodies to dwell upon this
earth.  They forsook Jesus Christ, the rightful heir, and joined with
Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, and came to this earth; they got here
first.  As soon as Mother Eve made her appearance in the garden of Eden,
the devil was on hand.

	You cannot give any person their exaltation, unless they know what
evil is, what sin, sorrow, and misery are, for no person could comprehend,
appreciate, and enjoy an exaltation upon any other principle.  The devil
with one third part of the spirits of our Father's Kingdom got here before
us, and we tarried there with our friends, until the time came for us to
come to the earth and take tabernacles; but those spirits that revolted
were forbidden ever to have tabernacles of their own.  You can now
comprehend how it is that they are always trying to get possession of the
bodies of human beings; we read of a man's being possessed of a legion,
and Mary Magdalene had seven.

	You may now see people with legions of evil spirits in and around
them; there are men who walk our streets that have more than a hundred
devils in them and round about them, prompting them to all manner of evil,
and some too that profess to be Latter Day Saints, and if you were to take
the devils out of them and from about them, you would leave them dead
corpses; for I believe there would be nothing left of them.

	I want you to understand these things; and if you should say or think
that I know nothing about them, be pleased to find out and inform me.  You
can see the acts of these evil spirits in every place, the whole country
is full of them, the whole earth is alive with them, and they are
continually trying to get into the tabernacles of the human family, and
are always on hand to prompt us to depart from the strict line of our
duty.

	You know that we sometimes need a prompter; if any one of you was
called by the government of the United States to go to Germany, Italy, or
any foreign nation, as an Ambassador, if you did not understand the
language somebody would have to interpret for you.  Well, these evil
spirits are ready to prompt you.  Do they prompt us?  Yes, and I could put
my hands on an dozen of them while I have been on this stand; they are
here on the stand.  Could we do without the devils?  No, we could not get
along without them.  They are here, and they suggest this, that, and the
other.

	When you lay down this tabernacle, where are you going?  Into the
spiritual world.  Are you going into Abraham's bosom. No, not any where
nigh there, but into the spirit world.  Where is the spirit world?  It is
right here.  Do the good and evil spirits go together?  Yes, they do.  Do
they both inhabit one kingdom?  Yes, they do.  Do they go to the sun?  No. 
Do they go beyond the boundaries of this organized earth?  No, they do
not.  They are brought forth upon this earth, for the express purpose of
inhabiting it to all eternity.  Where else are you going?  No where else,
only as you may be permitted.

	When the spirits of mankind leave their bodies, no matter whether the
individual was a Prophet or the meanest person that you could find, where
do they go?  To the spirit world.  Where is it?  I am telling you.  The
spirit of Joseph, I do not know that it is just now in this bowery, but I
will assure you that it is close to the Latter-day Saints, is active in
preaching to the spirits in prison and preparing the way to redeem the
nations of the earth, those who lived in darkness previous to the
introduction of the Gospel by himself in these days.

 	He has just as much labor on hand as I have; he has just as much to
do.  Father Smith and Carlos and brother Partridge, yes, and every other
good Saint, are just as busy in the spirit world as you and I are here. 
They can see us, but we cannot see them unless our eyes were opened.  What
are they doing there?  They are preaching, preaching all the time, and
preparing the way for us to hasten our work in building temples here and
elsewhere, and to go back to Jackson County and build the great temple of
the Lord.  They are hurrying to get ready by the time that we are ready,
and we are all hurrying to get ready by the time our Elder Brother is
ready.

	The wicked spirits that leave here and go into the spirit world, are
they wicked there?  Yes.

	The spirits of people that have lived upon the earth according to the
the [sic] best light they had, who were as honest and sincere as men and
women could be, if they lived on the earth without the privilege of the
Gospel and the Priesthood and the keys thereof are still under the power
and control of evil spirits, to a certain extent.  No matter where they
lived on the face of the earth, all men and women that have died without
the keys and power of the Priesthood, though they might have been honest
and sincere and have done every thing they could, are under the influence
of the devil, more or less.  Are they as much so as others?  No, no.  Take
those that were wicked designedly, who knowingly lived without the Gospel
when it was within their reach, they are given up to the devil, they
become tools to the devil and spirits of devils.

	Go to the time when the Gospel came to the earth in the days of
Joseph, take the wicked that have opposed this people and persecuted them
to the death, and they are sent to hell.  Where are they?  They are in the
spirit world, and are just as busy as they possibly can be to do every
thing they can against the Prophet and the Apostles, against Jesus and his
kingdom.  They are just as wicked and malicious in their actions against
the cause of truth, as they were while on the earth in their fleshly
tabernacles.

	Joseph, also, goes there, but has the devil power over him?  No,
because he held the keys and power of the eternal Priesthood here, and got
the victory while here in the flesh.

	Before I proceed further I will give you an illustration.  Send a man
that is used to magnetizing people, and see if he can magnetize an Elder
in Israel, one that is full of the faith, or a faithful sister in the
Church of God.  Could Le Roy Sunderland, one of their greatest characters,
magnetize one of the Latter Day Saints?  No.  He might as well try to
magnetize the sun in the firmament.  Why?  Because the Priesthood is upon
you, and he would try to magnetize you by another and lesser power.

	The principle of animal magnetism is true, but wicked men use it to
an evil purpose.  I have never told you much about my belief in this
magnetic principle.  Speaking is a true gift, but I can speak to the glory
of God, or to the injury of His cause and to my condemnation, as I please;
and still the gift is of God.  The gift of animal magnetism is a gift of
God, but wicked men use it to promote the cause of the devil, and that is
precisely the difference.  You may travel through the world and make
inquiries where the Elders have traveled, and you cannot find an instance
where the devil has gained power over a good an faithful Elder through
this power.  He cannot do it, because the faithful Elder of this Church
holds keys and power above that which is used by those who go round
lecturing on magnetism, and operating upon all who will become passive to
their will.  They have not the same power that the faithful Elders of
Israel have, for those Elders have the eternal Priesthood upon them, which
is above and presides over every other power.

	When the faithful Elders, holding this Priesthood, go into the spirit
world they carry with them the same power and Priesthood that they had
while in the mortal tabernacle.  They have got the victory over the power
of the enemy here, consequently when they leave this world they have
perfect control over those evil spirits, and they cannot be buffeted by
Satan.  But as long as they live in the flesh no being  on this earth, of
the posterity of Adam, can be free from the power of the devil.

	When this portion of the school is out, the one in which we descend
below all things and commence upon this earth to learn the first lessons
for an eternal exaltation, if you have been a faithful scholar, and have
overcome, if you have brought the flesh into subjection by the power of
the Priesthood, if you have honored the body, when it crumbles to the
earth and your spirit is freed from this home of clay, has the devil any
power over it?  Not one particle.

	This is an advantage which the faithful will gain; but while they
live on earth they are subject to the buffetings of Satan.  Joseph and
those who have died in the faith of the Gospel are free from this; if a
mob should come upon Joseph now, he has power to disperse them with the
motion of his hand, and to drive them where he pleases.  But is Joseph
glorified? No, he is preaching to the spirits in prison.  He will get  his
resurrection the first of any one in this kingdom, for he was the first
that God made choice of to bring forth the work of the last days.  

	His office is not taken from him, he has only gone to labor in
another department of the operations of the Almighty.  He is still an
Apostle, still a Prophet and is doing the work of an Apostle and Prophet;
he has gone one step beyond us and gained a victory that you and I have
not gained, still he has not yet gone into the celestial kingdom, or if he
has it has been by a direct command of the Almighty, and that too to
return again so soon as the purpose has been accomplished.

	No man can enter the celestial kingdom and be crowned with a
celestial glory, until he gets his resurrected body; but Joseph and the
faithful who have died have gained a victory over the power of the devil,
which you and I have not yet gained.  So long as we live in these
tabernacles, so long we will be subject to the temptations and power of
the devil; but when we lay them down, if we have been faithful, we have
gained the victory so far; but even then we are not so far advanced at
once as to be beyond the neighborhood of evil spirits.

	The third part of the hosts of heaven, that were cast out, have not
been taken away, at least not that I have found out, and the other
two-thirds have got to come and take bodies, all of them who have not, and
have the opportunity of preparing for a glorious resurrection and
exaltation, before we get through with this world; and those who are
faithful in the flesh to the requirements of the Gospel will gain this
victory over the spirits that are not allowed to take bodies, which class
comprises one third of the hosts of Heaven.

	Those who have died without the Gospel are continually afflicted by
those evil spirits, who say to them--"Do not go to hear that man Joseph
Smith preach, or David Patten, or any of their associates, for they are
deceivers."

	Spirits are just as familiar with spirits as bodies are with bodies,
though spirits are composed of matter so refined as not to be tangible to
this coarser organization.  They walk, converse, and have their meetings;
and the spirits of good men like Joseph and the Elders, who have left this
Church on earth for a season to operate in another sphere, are rallying
all their powers and going from place to place preaching the Gospel, and
Joseph is directing them, saying, go ahead, my brethren, and if they hedge
up your way, walk up and command them to disperse.  You have the
Priesthood and can disperse them, but if any of them wish to hear the
Gospel, preach to them.

	Can they baptize them?  No.  What can they do?  They can preach the
Gospel, and when we have the privilege of building up Zion, the time will
come for saviors to come up on Mount Zion.  My brother Joseph spoke of
this principle this forenoon.  Some of those who are not in mortality will
come along and say, "Here are a thousand names I wish you to attend to in
this temple, and when you have got through with them I will give you
another thousand;" and the Elders of Israel and their wives will go forth
to officiate for their forefathers, the men for the men, and the women for
the women.

	A man is ordained and receives his washings, anointings, and
endowments for the male portion of his and his wife's progenitors, and his
wife for the female portion.

	Then in the spirit world they will say, "Do you not see somebody at
work for you?  The Lord remembers you and has revealed to His servants on
the earth, what to do for you."

	Is the spirit world here?  It is not beyond the sun, but is on this
earth that was organized for the people that have lived and that do and
will live upon it.  No other people can have it, and we can have no other
kingdom until we are prepared to inhabit this eternally.  In the spirit
world those who have got the victory go on to prepare the way for those
who live in the flesh, fulfilling the work of saviors on Mount Zion.

	To accomplish this work there will have to be not only one temple but
thousands of them, and thousands and tens of thousands of men and women
will go into those temples and officiate for people who have lived as far
back as the Lord shall reveal.  If we are faithful enough to go back and
build that great temple which Joseph has written about, and should the
Lord acknowledge the labor of His servants, then watch, for you will see
somebody whom you have seen before, and many of you will see him whom you
have not seen before, but you will know him as soon as you see him.

	This privilege we cannot enjoy now, because the power of Satan is
such that we cannot perform the labor that is necessary to enable us to
obtain it.

	When we commence again on the walls of the temple to be built on this
Block, the news will fly from Maine to California.  Who will tell them? 
Those little devils that are around here, that are around this earth in
the spirit world; there will be millions of them ready to communicate the
news to devils in Missouri, Illinois, California, Mexico, and in all the
world.  And the question will be, "What is the news?  There is some
devilish thing going on among the 'Mormons' and I know it.  Those
'Mormons' ought to be killed."  They do not know what stirs them up to
this feeling, it is those spirits that are continually near to them.

	We all have got spirits to attend us; when the eyes of the servant of
Elijah were opened he saw that those for them were more than those that
were against them.  There are two thirds for us, and one third against us;
and there is not a son or daughter of Adam but what will be saved in some
kingdom and receive a glory and an exaltation to a degree, except those
who have had the privilege of the Gospel and rejected it and sinned
against the Holy Ghost, they will become servants to devils.

	How long will they exist?  I do not know, neither do I care.  Every
one of this people, with the Saints that have lived before us, from the
days of Adam until now, and those that may come after us, all say, "Build
up the kingdom of God."  What for"  To save the inhabitants of the earth,
to get them all back into some kind of a kingdom where they can be
administered to, and not have this organized matter return again to its
native element, for we wish this work to be preserved.

	You know that when you make a farm you dislike to see it overrun with
weeds, and it would hurt your feelings to see your houses, barns, and
other property destroyed.  True, you can make more, but how do you suppose
the Lord feels, who is much more compassionate than we are, when He sees
the devil gaining an advantage over His creatures to lead them away to
destroy them?  Do you not suppose that the bowels of His compassion yearn
over this people, and that He is angry with the wicked?  Do you not
suppose that He often feels like saying, "O, my children, why do you not
hearken to what I tell you, and take hold of the principles of life, and
cease pursuing a course that is calculated to destroy you?  I have labored
to bring forth this organization, and I do not wish to lose my labor, but
I desire to have you hearken to the counsel I give to you and prepare
yourselves to endure forever and come into my presence, and if you cannot
do that and abide a celestial law, at least abide the law of a kingdom
where I can send angels to you, and I will send and comfort you and
administer unto you and will raise you up and make you glad and happy, and
will fill you with joy and with peace."

	It is our business to live our religion, and it is all that we have
to do.  "But," says one, "I thought we had got to raise grain."  I have
told you, many a time, that I would not give you anything for your faith,
without you add works.  How are you going to work to build up the kingdom?

	I now wish to leave the subject we have been considering, for I think
I have talked enough about it for the present, and tell you how to prepare
yourselves to build up the kingdom of God and save the honest in heart.

	Here we are in the valleys of these mountains, and I say that there
is not a people on the earth that would live here but the Latter-day
Saints, and it seems almost more than they can do to stay here.  Now if
they would be as swift to hearken to counsel as they are to get rich, and
as they are in pleasing their own dispositions, we should not see the hard
times that we now see.

	When we first came here we had not been two weeks on this square,
before the Big Cottonwood canal which we are now building, was just as
visible to me as it ever will be when it is completed, and you will yet
see boats on it.  It has to be there.  What for?  To sustain this people. 
Do you think we want the water that is now wasted in those natural
channels?  Say, sisters, do you think we want any more water for
irrigation?  Yes, you do, for your peas are drying up, and you are not
likely to have many cucumbers for pickling.

	Have this people been as swift to hearken to counsel as to get rich? 
No, and many of you would rather pray the Lord to send rain, than to
appropriate, by your labor, the waters that are continually flowing from
these kanyons.  I tell you now, as I have before said, I do not have much
faith to pray for rain; and if I had faith and power to bring rain upon
the crops in these valleys, I would not do it.  Why?  Because it would
throw many of you into lazy, slothful, idle habits, and every Gentile that
came through here would covet your farms, and would say, "This is the
finest country we ever saw, how rich you are, how your cattle thrive upon
the hills, your grain grows almost without labor in cultivating the
earth."

	They would soon begin to desire your inheritances, those houses and
this city, and it would be but a few years before we would have to leave,
or contend with them.  As it is now, there is no people that would live
here, except the Latter-day Saints, and they are decidedly the best people
upon the earth, even though I sometimes chastise them, and what I say is
true, for a few deserve chastising.

	I do not believe that the city of Enoch made greater advancement, in
the same period of time, than this people have done in the twenty-six
years of their career, which is saying a great deal for them.  Who else
would live here?  Nobody.  Put Gentiles here and tell them that they had
to be confined here, and they would consider themselves in a worse prison
than a penitentiary.

	Do some of the brethren murmur a little, and say if it were not for
"Mormonism," they would do thus and so?  What of that?  Is there any other
people who would do as well as you do?  No, not another.

	When I find fault with the people for not hearkening to counsel, it
is because I want them to live so as speedily to obtain the reward of
righteousness, and not have to wait so long for it.

	This is a good people, though there are some in our midst who do not
do right.  Plant the Gentiles here, and you would soon see cutting throats
and hear the sharp crack of the rifle at the water sects.  There would be
far more fighting for water than there is among the "Mormons" though some
of them steal it now.

	Many of the brethren feel as I do; if I had my crops growing and
somebody should come along and steal my water, I should say, you will
raise grain, will you not?  Well, go ahead, for we shall get it, if you
raise it.

	Here sits a man I can now look upon who says I am a greater despot
than the Emperor of Russia.  May be I am, for should I see the poor
suffering, I could knock open flour barrels better than Alexander II, and
give the contents to the poor with a better heart than he could.

	Who in the wide world could live here more peaceably than we do? 
Nobody; and I thank God for hard times.  Do you suppose that the Gentiles
want this country?  No; they say, "It is a God-forsaken country," and I
say, hallelujah, for it is the very country I prefer, a country where
nobody else will live but those who are willing to keep the commandments
of God.

	I wish to be tyrannical enough, if that is the proper term, to make
you good men and good women.  Go to with your might this year, and see if
we cannot prepare for another.  This is a great Saint raising country; we
have seen wheat grow here almost spontaneously, and there could not be a
better Saint raising country.

	If a person is honest before God and has more than he needs for his
own use, and does not covet it, he will make a distribution to those who
have not, and there need not any person go without necessary food.  I know
that there are many here who have given out much flour, and they have by
no means suffered on account of their liberality.  There is a man sitting
on the stand who says that scraped the bottom of the flour barrel, and on
the next morning has gone to scrape again, to give out more to the poor,
and found it half full.  She asked him "If he had put it there."  He
answered, "No."  "Well," said she, "I scraped it out last night."

	The Lord wishes to try you; shall we say that we will hoard up the
blessings of God, that we may be able to say that we have a large amount
to ourselves?  No, but divide them out, and do so with an honest heart, in
all humility; and let those who receive blessings receive them with an
honest heart, in all humility and thankfulness.  Some who have, will
withhold, and some of the poor are covetous and will grab a little here
and there and lay it up, or waste it.  If you continue in covetousness,
your substance will shrink and waste away.

	Let the poor, those who have to depend upon their brethren for bread,
after they have done all they can to obtain it themselves be thankful, and
take no more than they require to use in a frugal manner.  By taking such
a course, no person would suffer.

	With some there is a fearfulness, a want of faith and confidence in
God, and a stingy close fistedness; this is the cause of many's being so
pinched.  As I have often done, I again invite those who are distrustful,
and fearful that God is going to forsake this people, to leave, if they do
not wish to be Saints and repose confidence in the God of the Saints.  I
wish such characters would leave; I shall be glad if they will leave.  I
would not have them stay:  I would rather give them flour and help them to
leave because they are a curse to the Saints.  And if the devil puts into
their hearts to leave, I know there will be a certain portion of those
evil spirits go with them, and still we shall always have plenty more
coming.

	All I ask of you is to apply your hearts to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and be Saints.  I will not ask anything else on this earth of you
only to live so as to know the mind and will of God when you receive it,
and then abide in it.  If you will do that, you will be prepared to do a
great many things, and you will find that there is much good to be done.

	We have no time to spend foolishly, for we have just as much on our
hands as we can probably do, to keep pace with that portion of our
brethren who have gone into the other room.

       TESTIMONY TO THE DIVINITY OF JOSEPH SMITH'S MISSION--ELDERS
         SHOULD GO TO THEIR MISSIONS WITHOUT PURSE OR SCRIP--THE
     LORD DEALS WITH THE SAINTS--JESUS THEIR PRESIDENT--SATAN ANGRY.
     A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, August 31, 1856.

	I appear before you to bear my testimony to the truth of "Mormonism,"
that Joseph Smith, jun., was a Prophet called of God, and that he did
translate the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. 
This same testimony all can bear, who have received and continue to retain
the Spirit of the Gospel.

	We are happy to hear from our brethren who have returned from the
fields of their labor, it rejoices our hearts, and we like to see their
faces.  I know how they feel when they return home, for I have felt many
times, in returning to the Saints, as though the privilege of beholding
their faces was a feast to overflowing, my soul has been full.  I rejoice
all the time, and I can understand why brother Clinton has rejoiced so
exceedingly; it is because the lightning and thunder are in him, and
because he gave vent to his feelings.  Brother Robins' calling has been
different, of such a nature that the lightning and thunder in him have
lain dormant, to a certain degree, and he has not enjoyed himself so well
as he would, had he been sent solely to preach and build up churches.

	Let me reduce this to your understandings.  Right here, in our midst,
many who gather from foreign lands, who have undergone all the toil,
labor, and hardship that it is possible for their nature to sustain on
their journey, after they arrive in these valleys begin to sink in their
spirits, neglect their duties, and in a little time do not know whether
"Mormonism" is true or not.  Take the same persons and keep them among the
wicked, and they will preserve their armor bright, but it has become dull
and rusty here; this is the cause of so many leaving these valleys.  The
seas are so calm and the vessel is wafted over them so smoothly, and in a
manner so congenial to the feelings of the people, that they forget that
they are in Zion's ship.  This is the main reason of so many leaving for
the States, California, and other places.  Send those persons among their
enemies, among those who will oppose "Mormonism," among those who will
oppose truth, and let them be continually persecuted, and they will know
very quickly whether they are "Mormons" or not, for they must go to the
one side or the other.  But the condition of society here, and the
feelings of the people, are so different from those of the wicked, that
many glide smoothly along, forget their religion and their God, and
finally think that this is not the place for them and go away.

	I will now state that I am thus far perfectly satisfied with the
labors of the brethren who have returned from their missions this season,
and have come on the stand to-day, and at other times; I am highly
gratified with the doings and labors of those Elders.

	With regard to brother John Taylor, I will say that he has one of the
strongest intellects of any man that can be found; he is a powerful man,
he is a mighty man, and we may say that he is a powerful editor, but I
will use a term to suit myself, and say that he is one of the strongest
editors that ever wrote.  Concerning his financial abilities, I have
nothing to say; those who are acquainted with the matter, know how "The
Mormon" has been sustained.  We sent brother Taylor, and other brethren
with him, to start that paper without purse or scrip, and if they had not
accomplished that object, we should have known that they did not trust in
their God, and did not do their duty.

	Let me call your reflections to the days of Joseph; here are some of
the Twelve, here are the Seventies and Hgh [sic] Priests, and members of
the High Council, and several who have been long in the Church, did any of
you ever receive any support from the Church, while on your missions in
the days of Joseph?  Were you all to answer, you would say that you do not
know the time.

	I came into this Church in the spring of 1832.  Previous to my being
baptized, I took a mission to Canada at my own expense; and from the time
that I was baptized until the day of our sorrow and affliction, at the
martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, no summer passed over my head but what I
was traveling and preaching, and the only thing I ever received from the
Church, during over twelve years, and the only means that were ever given
me by the Prophet, that I now recollect, was in 1842, when brother Joseph
sent me the half of a small pig that the brethren had brought to him, I
did not ask him for it; it weighed 93 pounds.  And that fall, previous to
my receiving that half of a pig, brother H. C. Kimball and myself were
engaged all the time in pricing property that came in on tithing, and we
were also engaged in gathering tithing, and I had an old saddle valued at
two dollars presented to me, and brother Heber was credited two dollars in
the Church books for one day's services, by brother Willard Richards who
was then keeping those books.  Brother Heber said, "Blot that out, for I
don't want it."  I think it was crossed out, and so was the saddle, for I
did not want it, even had it been given to me.  These were the only
articles I ever received in the days of Joseph, so far as I recollect.

	I have traveled and preached, and at the same time sustained my
family by my labor and economy.  If I borrowed one hundred dollars, or
fifty, or if I had five dollars, it almost universally went into the hands
of brother Joseph, to pay lawyers' fees and to liberate him from the power
of his enemies, so far as it would go.  Hundreds and hundreds of dollars
that I have managed to get, to borrow and trade for, I have handed over to
Joseph when I came home.  That is the way I got help, and it was good for
me; it learned me a great deal, though I had learned, before I heard of
"Mormonism," to take care of number one.

	For me to travel and preach without purse or scrip, was never hard; I
never saw the day, I never was in the place, nor went into a house, when I
was alone, or when I would take the lead and do the talking, but what I
could get all I wanted.  Though I have been with those who would take the
lead and be mouth, and been turned out of doors a great many times, and
could not get a night's lodging.  But when I was mouth I never was turned
out of doors; I could make the acquaintance of the family, and sit and
sing to them and chat with them, and they would feel friendly towards me;
and when they learned that I was a "Mormon" Elder, it was after I had
gained their good feelings.

	When the brethren were talking about starting a press in New York,
and how it has been upheld, I did wish to relate an incident in my
experience.  In company with several of the Twelve I was sent to England
in 1839.  We started from home without purse or scrip, and most of the
Twelve were sick; and those who were not sick when they started were sick
on the way to Ohio; brother Taylor was left to die by the road-side, by
old father Coltrin, though he did not die.  I was not able to walk to the
river, not so far as across this block, no, not more than half as far; I
had to be helped to the river, in order to get into a boat to cross it. 
This was about our situation.  I had not even an overcoat; I took a small
quilt from the trundle bed, and that served for my overcoat, while I was
traveling to the State of New York, when I had a coarse sattinet overcoat
given to me.  Thus we went to England, to a strange land to sojourn among
strangers.

	When we reached England we designed to start a paper, but we had not
the first penny to do it with.  I had enough to buy a hat and pay my
passage to Preston, for from the time I left home, I had worn an old cap
which my wife made out of a pair of old pantaloons; but the most of us
were entirely destitute of means to buy even any necessary article.

	We went to Preston and held our Conference, and decided that we would
publish a paper; brother Parley P. Pratt craved the privilege of editing
it, and we granted him the privilege.  We also decided to print three
thousand hymn books, though we had not the first cent to begin with, and
were strangers in a strange land.  We appointed brother Woodruff to
Herefordshire, and I accompanied him on his journey to that place.  I
wrote to brother Pratt for information about his plans, and he sent me his
prospectus, which stated that when he had a sufficient number of
subscribers and money enough in hand to justify his publishing the paper,
he would proceed with it.  How long we might have waited for that I know
not, but I wrote to him to publish two thousand papers, and I would foot
the bill.  I borrowed two hundred and fifty pounds of sister Jane Benbow,
one hundred of Brother Thomas Kington, and returned to Manchester, where
we printed three thousand Hymn Books, and five thousand Books of Mormon,
and issued two thousand Millennial Stars monthly, and in the course of the
summer printed and gave away rising of sixty thousand tracts.  I also paid
from five to ten dollars per week for my board, and hired a house for
brother Willard Richards and his wife who came to Manchester, and
sustained them; and gave sixty pounds to brother P. P. Pratt to bring his
wife from New York.  I also commenced the emigration in that year.

	I was there one year and sixteen days, with my brethren the Twelve
and during that time I bought all my clothing, except one pair of
pantaloons, which the sisters gave me in Liverpool soon after I arrived
there, and which I really needed.  I told the brethren, in one of my
discourses, that there was no need of their begging, for if they needed
anything the sisters could understand that.  The sisters took the hint,
and the pantaloons were forthcoming.

	I paid three hundred and eighty dollars to get the work started in
London, and when I arrived home, in Nauvoo, I owed no person one farthing. 
Brother Kington received his pay from the books that were printed, and
sister Benbow, who started to America the same year, left names enough of
her friends to receive the two hundred and fifty pounds, which amount was
paid them, notwithstanding I held her agreement that she had given it to
the Church.

	We left two thousand five hundred dollars worth of books in the
Office, paid our passages home, and paid about six hundred dollars to
emigrate the poor who were starving to death, besides giving away the
sixty thousand tracts; and that too though I had not a sixpence when we
first landed in Preston, and I do not know that one of the Twelve had.

	I could not help thinking that if I could accomplish that much in
England, in that poor, hard country, it could not be much of a job for a
man to establish paper in New York.  I thought that to be one of the
smallest things that could be; I could make money at it.  We sent brother
George Q. Cannon, one of brother Taylor's nephews, to California, over a
year ago last spring, to print the Book of Mormon in the Hawaiian
language.  He has printed a large and handsome edition of that book; has
published a weekly paper and paid for it; has paid for the press and the
type, and paid his board and clothing bills, though he had not a farthing
to start with, that is, he went without purse and scrip, so far as I know,
as did also brothers Bull and Wilkie who went with him.

	It is one of the smallest labors that I could think of to establish a
paper and sustain it in St. Louis, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, or any
of the eastern cities.  I wish to say this much, for the information of
those who think it is a great task to establish and sustain a paper;
though I am not aware that any of the brethren think so.

	I will relate another incident, which ccourred [sic] during our
journey to England.  Brother George A. Smith accompanied me to New York
City, and we had not money enough to pay the last five miles' fare.

	We started from New Haven in a steam boat, and when we left the boat,
I hired passage in the stage to New York; the captain of the steam boat
happened to be in the same stage.

	When we left the coach, I said to the captain, will you have the
kindness to pay this gentleman's passage and mine.  I had had no
conversation with him during the day, only in interchanging the common and
usual compliments, but when we left him he greeted us cordially, and said
that he had paid our stage-fare with the greatest pleasure, and shook our
hands as heartily as a brother, saying, "May God bless and prosper you in
your labors."

	In five minutes we were in the house with Parley P. Pratt, who had
moved to that city the fall before.  As soon as those of the Twelve who
were appointed on that mission to England came in, we concluded that we
would not go among the Branches, but seek out and preach to those who had
not had an opportunity of hearing the Gospel.

	Accordingly we separated and went into many parts of the State of New
York, Long Island and New Jersey, and some went into the city of
Philadelphia.

	After we had got through with the regular meetings, we proposed to
the brethren, if any of them wished to have meetings in their private
houses and would tell us when and where that we would meet with them.

	It was not more than a week or ten days before we had been in fifty
different places in New York city and the surrounding country, and those
who came to hear us invited their neighbors, and thus we preached and
baptized, and soon gathered means enough to defray the expenses of our
passage to England, principally from those who were the fruits of our own
labor.

	Though the people in the States are daily becoming more hardened
against the truth, yet if I was in New York this day, and it was my
business to be there, I would not be there long before I would have many
Elders preaching through different parts of that city; I would have them
preaching in the English, Danish, French, German, and other languages. 
And soon would have Elders dispersed all over the State, and would raise
up new friends enough to sustain me, that is if the Lord would help me,
and if He did not I would leave.

	That is the way we have traveled and preached, but now we do a great
deal for our missionaries, for they gather money on tithing, and ask me to
credit such and such a man so much on tithing; this course tends to shut
up every avenue for business here.

	We do not receive cash on tithing from abroad, because our
missionaries are so liberal, and feel so rich, that they gather every
dollar that can be scraped up, and then come here and have it credited to
such and such individuals on tithing, without handing over the money.

	This course hedges up the work at head quarters.  Did I have that
privilege?  No, never; and men should not have it now.  If a paper should
be published, brethren ought to have wisdom enough to sustain themselves
and the paper, and they can do it.

	I do not wish to find fault with our missionaries, but many of them
now live on cream and short cake, butter, honey, light biscuit, and sweet
meats, while we had to take the butter milk and potatoes.  That kind of
fare was good enough for us, but now it is short cake and cream, light
biscuit, with butter and honey, and sweet meats of every kind, and even
then some of them think that they are abused.

	I see some here who did not have as good fare as buttermilk and
potatoes; I see some of the brethren who have been to Australia, the East
Indies, &c.  When I returned from England, I said it is the last time I
will travel as I have done, unless the Lord specially requires me to do
so; for if we could ride even as comfortably as brother Woodruff once rode
on one of the Mississippi steam boats we considered ourselves well off. 
All the bed he had was the chines of barrels, with his feet hanging on a
brace, and he thought himself well off to get the privilege of riding in
any shape, to escape constant walking.

	How do they go now?  They take the first cabins, cars, and carriages. 
I wish to see them cross the Plains on foot, and then have wisdom enough
to preach their way to the city of New York, and there, in the same
manner, to get money enough to cross the ocean.  But no, they must start
from here with a full purse, and take broad cloth from here, or money to
buy it in the States, and hire first cabin passages in the best ocean
steamers; and after all this many think it is hard times.

	I want to see the Elders live on buttermilk and potatoes, and when
they return be more faithful.  But they go as missionaries of the kingdom
of God, and when they have been gone a year or two, many of them come back
merchants, and how they swell, "how popular 'Mormonism' is, we can get
trusted in St. Louis for ten thousand dollars as well as not, and in New
York brother Brigham's word is so good that we can get all the goods we
want; 'Mormonism' is becoming quite popular."  Yes, and so are hell and
the works of the devil.

 	When "Mormonism" finds favor with the wicked in this land, it will
have gone into the shade; but until the power of the Priesthood is gone,
"Mormonism" will never become popular with the wicked.  "Mormonism" is not
one farthing better than it was in the days of Joseph.

	The hand of the Almighty is over mankind, and "Mormonism" is hid from
them; they do not know anything about it.  The Lord deals with this
people, and draws them into close quarters, and makes them run the
gauntlet, and tries their faith and feelings.  He draws them into diverse
circumstances to prove whether they believe in Jesus Christ, or not; and
if need be He will let the enemy persecute us and destroy many of us; He
will let them take our substance and drive us from our homes.  Was
"Mormonism" popular with those who have formerly persecuted, killed and
driven us?  Yes, as much so as it is at this day.

	The hand of the Almighty is over the wicked, and He handles them
according to His good pleasure, as He does the Saints.  His hand is over
us, and His hand is over them.  But there is a thick mist cast before
their eyes, so they do not discern the truth of "Mormonism."  Do you
wonder that they are mad, when they see the progress of truth?  I do not.

	The different political parties are in opposition.  One party says,
"We are republicans, and we are opposed in principle to all who are not of
our party."  Can the various parties be reconciled?  No.  Each party
wishes to elect a President of the United States.  We design to elect
Jesus Christ for our President, and the wicked wish to elect Lucifer, the
Son of the Morning, and swear that they will have him; and we declare that
we will serve Jesus Christ, and he shall be our President.

	Do you think that the democrats and republicans have made friends? 
No, they are just as much opposed to each other now as ever they were, and
the devil is just as much opposed to Jesus now as he was when the revolt
took place in heaven.  And as the devil increases his numbers by getting
the people to be wicked, so Jesus Christ increases his numbers and
strength by getting the people to be humble and righteous.  The human
family are going to the polls by and by, and they wish to know which party
is going to carry the day.

	When you see mild weather, when all is smooth and our religion is
becoming popular, the Lord is casting mist before the eyes of the wicked,
and they do not see nor understand what will take place at the polls when
the day of voting comes.  Those who vote for Jesus will be on the right
hand, and those who vote for Lucifer on the left; one part will be right
and the other wrong.  We calculate that we are right, and we are going to
vote for the sovereign we believe in; and when he comes behold he will go
into the chair of state and take the reins of government.  Do you suppose
the wicked will feel bad about it?  That is what they are afraid of all
the time.

	They may kill the bodies we have, they may strive to injure us, but
when the day of the great election comes, as the Lord Almighty lives, we
shall gain our President, and we anticipate holding office under him.  Do
you blame the wicked for being mad?  No.  They desire to rule, to hold the
reins of government on this earth; they have held them a great while.  I
do not blame them for being suspicious of us; men in high standing are
suspicious of us, hence the frequent cry, "Treason, treason, we are going
to have trouble with the people in Utah."  What is the matter?  Wherein
can they point out one particle of injury that we have done to them?

 	True we have more wives than one, and what of that?  They have their
scores of thousands of prostitutes, we have none.  But polygamy they are
unconstitutionally striving to prevent: when they will accomplish their
object is not for me to say.  They have already presented a resolution in
Congress that no man, in any of the Territories of the United States,
shall be allowed to have more than one wife, under a penalty not exceeding
five years imprisonment, and five hundred dollars fine.  How will they get
rid of this awful evil in Utah?  They will have to expend about three
hundred millions of dollars for building a prison, for we must all go into
prison.  And after they have expended that amount for a prison, and roofed
if over from the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the summit of the Sierra
Nevada, we will dig out and go preaching through the world.  (Voice on the
stand:  what will become of the women, will they go to prison with us?) 
Brother Heber seems concerned about the women's going with us; they will
be with us, for we shall be here together.  This is a little amusing.

	Brother Robbins, in his remarks, said that the Constitution of the
United States forbids making an ex post facto law.  The presenting of the
resolution alluded to shows their feelings, they wish the Constitution out
of existence, and there is no question but that they will get rid of it as
quickly as they can, and that would be by ex post facto law, which the
Constitution of the United States strictly forbids.

	Brother Robbins also spoke of what they term the "nigger drivers and
nigger worshippers," and observed how keen their feelings are upon their
favourite topic slavery.  The State of New York used to be a slave State,
but there slavery has for some time been abolished.  Under their law for
abolishing slavery the then male slaves had to serve until they were 28
years old, and if my memory serves me correctly, the females until they
were 25, before they could be free.  This was to avoid the loss of, what
they called, property in the hands of individuals.  After that law was
passed the people began to dispose of their blacks, and to let them buy
themselves off.  They then passed a law that black children should be
free, the same as white children, and so it remains to this day.

	But at the time that slavery was tolerated in the northern and
eastern States, if you touched that question it would fire a man quicker
than any thing else in the world; there was something very peculiar about
it, and it is so now.  Go into a slave State and speak to a man on the
subject, even though he never owned a slave, and you fire up his feelings
in defence of that institution; there is no other subject that will touch
him as quickly.  They are very tenacious and sensitive on those points,
and the North are becoming as sensitive as the South.  The North are slow
and considerate; they have their peculiar customs; and are influenced by
the force of education, climate, &c., in a manner which causes them to
think twice before they act; and often they will think and speak many
times before they act.  The spirit of the South is to think, speak, and
act all at the same moment.  This is the difference between the two
people.

	Matters are coming to such a point, the feelings of both parties are
aroused to that degree, that they would as soon fight as not.  But I do
not wish to speak any longer in that strain, though, if you want to know
what I think about the question, I think both parties are decidedly wrong.

	It is not the prerogative of the President of the United States to
meddle with this matter, and Congress is not allowed, according to the
Constitution, to legislate upon it.  If Utah was admitted into the Union
as a sovereign State, and we chose to introduce slavery here, it is not
their business to meddle with it; and even if we treated our slaves in an
oppressive manner, it is still none of their business and they ought not
to meddle with it.

	If we introduce the practice of polygamy it is not their prerogative
to meddle with it; if we should all turn to be Roman Catholics to-day, if
we all turned to the old Mother Church, it would not be their prerogative,
it would not be their business, to meddle with us on that account.  If we
are Mormons or Methodists, or worship the sun or a white dog, or if we
worship a dumb idol, or all turn Shaking Quakers and have no wife, it is
not their prerogative to meddle with these affairs, for in so doing they
would violate the Constitution.

	There is not a Territory in the Union that is looked upon with so
suspicious an eye as is Utah, and yet it is the only part of the nation
that cares anything about the Constitution.  What have they done in the
States?  Why, in some places they have celebrated the fourth of July by
hoisting the National flag bottom side up, making a burlesque of the
celebration, but "Utah is hell and the devil."  This reminds me of a
circumstance that transpired in England.  A boy was brushing his shoes on
Sunday morning, and a priest observing him said, "What, do you brush your
shoes on Sunday?"  "Yes, sir; do you brush your coat?"  "Yes."  "Well, I
suppose it is life and salvation for you to brush your coat, but hell and
damnation for me to brush my shoes."  That is the difference.

	"Mormonism" is true, and all hell cannot overthrow it.  All the
devil's servants on the earth may do all they can, and, as brother Clinton
has just said, after twenty six years faithful operation and exertion by
our enemies, including the times when Joseph had scarcely a man to stand
by him, and when the persecution was as severe on him as it ever was in
the world, what have they accomplished?  They have succeeded in making us
an organized Territory, and they are determined to make us an independent
State or Government, and as the Lord lives it will be so.  (The
congregation shouted amen.)  I say, as the Lord lives, we are bound to
become a sovereign State in the Union, or an independent nation by
ourselves, and let them drive us from this place if they can; they cannot
do it.  I do not throw this out as a banter; you Gentiles, and hickory and
basswood "Mormons," can write it down if you please, but write it as I
speak it.

	I wish you to understand that God rules and reigns, that he led us to
this land and gave us a Territorial government.  Was this the design of
the wicked?  No.  Their design was to banish us from the earth, but they
have driven us into notoriety and power; we are now raised to a position
where we can converse with kings and emperors.

	In the days of Joseph it was considered a great privilege to be
permitted to speak to a member of Congress, but twenty-six years will not
pass away before the Elders of this Church will be as much thought of as
the kings on their thrones.  The Lord Almighty will roll on the wheels of
His work, and none can stop them; and they cannot drive us from these
mountains, because the Lord will not suffer them to do so.  I desire them
to let us alone; "hands off and money down," we crave no jobs and make
none.  Let them attend to their own business, and we will build up Zion
while they go to hell.  Jesus Christ will be the President, and we are his
officers, and they will have to leave the ground: for they will find that
Jesus has the right of soil.  This they are afraid of, do you blame them? 
No, I do not, and you should not: let them feel bad and worry.

	I have frequently told you, and I tell you again, that the very
report of the Church and kingdom of God on earth is a terror to all
nations, wheresoever the sound thereof goeth.  The sound of "Mormonism" is
a terror to towns, counties, states, the pretended republican governments,
and to all the world.  Why?  Because, as the Lord Almighty lives and the
Prophets have ever written the truth, this work is destined to
revolutionize the world and bring all under subjection to the law of God,
who is our lawgiver.

	I am still governor of this Territory, to the constant chagrin of my
enemies; but I do not in the least neglect the duties of my Priesthood,
nor my office as governor; and while I honor my Priesthood I will do honor
to my office as governor.  This is hard to be understood by the wicked,
but it is true.  The feelings of many are much irritated because I am
here, and Congress has requested the President to inquire why I still hold
the office of governor in the Territory of Utah.  I can answer that
question; I hold the office by appointment, and am to hold it until my
successor is appointed and qualified, which has not yet been done.  I
shall bow to Jesus, my Governor, and under him, to brother Joseph.  Though
he has gone behind the vail, and I cannot see him, he is my head, under
Jesus Christ and the ancient Apostles, and I shall go ahead and build up
the kingdom.  But if I was now sitting in the chair of state at the White
House in Washington, everything in my office would be subject to my
religion.  Why?  Because it teaches me to deal justice and mercy to all. 
I am satisfied to love righteousness and be full of the Holy Ghost, while
all hell yawns to destroy me, though it cannot do it.

	If I were to forsake this kingdom, the car of righteousness would
roll over and crush me into insignificance; and so it will every other man
that gets out of the right path.  What then are we going to do?  We had
better stick to the ship than jump overboard, because if we stay aboard we
stand a good chance to be saved, but if we jump over we shall be drowned.

	Who can help all these things?  I did not devise the great scheme of
the Lord's opening the way to send this people to these mountains.  Joseph
contemplated the move for years before it took place, but he could not get
here, for there was a watch placed upon him continually to see that he had
no communication with the Indians.  This was in consequence of that which
is written in the Book of Mormon; one of the first evils alleged against
him was that he was going to connive with the Indians; but did he ever do
anything of the kind?  No, he always strove to promote the best interest
of all, both red and white.  Was it by any act of ours that this people
were driven into their midst?  We are now their neighbors, we are on their
land, for it belongs to them as much as any soil ever belonged to any man
on earth; we are drinking their water, using their fuel and timber, and
raising our food from their ground.

	I do not wish men to understand I had anything to do with our being
moved here, that was the providence of the Almighty; it was the power of
God that wrought out salvation for this people, I never could have devised
such a plan.  What shall we do?  Be still and know that the Lord is God:
and let all people be silent and know that the Lord Almighty reigns, and
does His pleasure on the earth.  What had we better do? Be submissive and
passive, serve our God and walk humbly before Him.

	The same Spirit pervades the Latter-day Saints in all the world, and
what the Lord designs doing here is made manifest to the brethren in
different parts, and the world feels the power of it and begins to
persecute.  When we commence that temple you will hear the devils howl.

	We are now doing but little besides taking care of ourselves, but the
kingdom has got to be taken and the Lord Jesus come to reign here.  When
you wonder why it is that we are building many large buildings here and
the temple not going on, be silent and patient.

	Here let me ask the old Saints a question.  Have you ever seen a
temple finished, since this Church commenced?  You have not.  The Lord
says, "Be patient and gather together the strength of my house;" then do
not fret yourselves, and if you feel a little worried, be sure that you
are right, and do as you are counseled.

	Why do we urge this upon the people?  They are only counseled to love
God and do His will.  You cannot point out where a man has been counseled
one hair's breadth from this course, and in this we have a right to be
urgent, and strenuous, and sharp in our remarks.  Serve your God and love
your religion.

	I could tell you a great many lessons that I have learned in
"Mormonism," but it is very seldom that I refer to past scenes, they
occupy but a small portion of my time and attention.  Do you wish to know
the reason of this?  It is because there is an eternity ahead of me, and
my eyes are ever open and gazing upon it, and I have but little time to
reflect upon the many circumstances I have been placed in thus far during
life.  They are behind me, and I am thankful that I have not time to
reflect on past transactions, only once in a while, when it seems almost
necessary to refer to them.

	May the Lord God of heaven and earth bless you, and may He preserve
us and all good men and women upon the earth, and give us power to blow
the Gospel trump to earth's remotest bounds, and gather up the honest in
heart, build up Zion, redeem Israel, rebuild Jerusalem, and fill the earth
with the glory and knowledge of our God, and we will shout hallelujah! 
Amen.

        A CALL FOR AN EXPRESSION OF THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE--
      REPENTANCE AMONG THE SAINTS NECESSARY--RENEWING OF COVENANTS.
    Instructions by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
                Great Salt Lake City, September 21, 1856.

	I have an impulse within me to preach the Gospel of salvation.  I am
here by the providence of our God; I have professed to be a teacher of
righteousness for many years, and to preach the Gospel of salvation which
is still within me, and I feel to pour it forth upon the people; and I
present myself here this morning as a teacher in Israel, as a man having
the words of eternal life for the people.

	I feel to call upon this congregation to know whether any of them, or
whether all of them wish salvation.  If they do, I have the Gospel of
salvation for them; and I call upon the people to know whether they are
the friends of God, or only of themselves individually.  I do not know of
any better way to get an expression from the people, as to whether they
wish the Gospel preached to them, whether they desire to believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, to obey his counsels, and live to his glory, denying
themselves of worldly lusts and of every thing that is sensual and
contrary to his Gospel, and feel as though they wanted to be Saints of the
Most High, than to have the brethren and sisters, those who so wish and
desire, manifest it by rising upon their feet.  You will observe all who
do not rise.  [The vast congregation all responded by standing up.]  Take
your seats again.  You have manifested that you want to be Saints, and I
am happy for the privilege of talking to such a people.

	When we get the font prepared that is now being built, I will take
you into the waters of baptism, if you repent of your sins.  If you will
covenant to live your religion and be Saints of the Most High, you shall
have that privilege, and I will have the honor of baptizing you in that
font, or of seeing that it is done.

	As for living here, as I have done for a length of time, hid up in
the chambers of the Lord, with a people that are full of contention, full
of covetousness, full of pride, and full of iniquity, I will not do it. 
And if the people will not repent, let the sinners and hypocrites look
out.  I will repent with you and I will try with my might to get the
spirit of my calling; and if I have not that spirit now to a fulness, I
will get more of it, so as to enjoy it to its fulness.  And if I should be
filled with the power and spirit of the mission that is upon me, I shall
not spare the wicked; I shall be like a flaming sword against them, and so
will all those that live their religion; it is not to be suffered any
longer.

	As I told you last Sabbath, if I was not mistaken, my feelings were
that this people were preparing themselves, many of them, for apostacy;
were preparing themselves for the apostacy of their neighbors and their
families; their children and their friends were all leading the way of the
sinner.  I had not then an idea that I was mistaken; I have not now an
idea that I am mistaken.  I understand these things perfectly well; and if
the people are disposed to awake out of their lethargy and walk up to
their religion, to their duty, to the highest privilege that ever was or
ever can be granted to mortal man upon this earth, which is eternal life,
and will do so, then we will be brethren.  And if not, the thread must be
severed, for I cannot hold men and women in fellowship that serve the
devil and themselves, and give no heed to the Almighty; I cannot do it.

	This people have been taught a great deal; they have had principle
and doctrine fed to them till they are surfeited; and where is the man,
the officer, or the community, that understands what has been taught them? 
There may be one here and there that understands, but generally the eyes
of the people are closed upon eternal things, and they seek for that which
pleases the eye, that which is in accordance with the lusts of the flesh,
that which is full of iniquity, and they care not for the righteousness of
our God.

	I repeat that, as for [sic] as those who are disposed to refrain from
their evils, to renew their covenants and live their religion, I will have
the honor and you the privilege of going forth and renewing your
covenants, otherwise their must be a separation.  Let those who have been
with us ten or fifteen years, who have passed through the sorrowful scenes
that Joseph and many others who have gone behind the vail had to wade
through, look back and see the hand of God that has led us to a land where
we enjoy liberty, where we enjoy all the freedom that ever the city of
Enoch enjoyed, until they were more perfectly made acquainted with God. 
All that we can enjoy more than we do, unless we further acquaint
ourselves with our God and become His friends and His associates, will be
but very little more than we now possess.

	I tell you that this people will not be suffered to walk as they have
walked, to do as they have done, to live as they have lived.  God will
have a reckoning with us ere long, and we must refrain from our evils and
turn to the Lord our God, or He will come out in judgment against us.  I
refer to the doctrine and the teachings that have been laid before this
people; and I will say that it would take me weeks and months to tell you
what has been already told you.  But it passes into your ears and out
again, and is no more remembered.

	Show me the man who knows enough about his God, and is sufficiently
acquainted with the principle of eternal lives to be able to say, "I can
handle the gold and the silver, the goods, the chattels, and the
possessions of this world, with my heart not more set upon them than it is
upon the wind.  I know how to use them, to deal out this and to distribute
that, and to do all to the glory of my Father in heaven."  If there is one
in this congregation that knows how to do all this, will you please to
rise up?  These are things that I have taught you week after week, and
year after year, but do you understand them?  No.  You may say, with
shamefacedness, that there is hardly a man in this congregation that can
righteously manage even earthly things.  Just as quick as you are
prospered you are lost to the Lord, you are filled with darkness.

	Do you think the angels of the Lord lust after the things that are
before them?  All heaven is before us, and all this earth, the gold and
the silver, all these are at our command, and shall we lust after them? 
They are all within our reach; they are for the Saints whom God loves,
even all who fix their minds upon Him and the interests of His kingdom.
Our Father possesses all the riches of eternity, and all those riches are
vouchsafed unto us, and yet we lust after them.

	I have taught you these things weeks and months ago, and yet there is
not a man or woman in this congregation that understands them in their
fulness.  These are simple principles that should be learned; and although
they have been taught you from time to time, yet you have not learned
them.  And for me to repeat to you what I have taught you, and what my
brethren have taught you, would take me weeks.

	And notwithstanding all that has been taught, still the people are
full of idolatry, the spirit of contention and the spirit of the world are
in them, and they are full of the things of the world.

	Well, I just say, my brethren and sisters, it cannot be suffered any
longer, a separation must take place; you must part with your sins, or the
righteous must be separated from the ungodly.  I will now give way, and
call upon others of the brethren to speak to you.  Amen.

        THE PEOPLE OF GOD DISCIPLINED BY TRIALS--ATONEMENT BY THE 
     SHEDDING OF BLOOD--OUR HEAVENLY FATHER--A PRIVILEGE GIVEN TO ALL
                       THE MARRIED SISTERS IN UTAH.
     A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
                Great Salt Lake City, September 21, 1856.

	Before I sit down, I shall offer a proposition to the congregation;
though I will first say a few words concerning our religion, our
circumstances, and the circumstances of the brethren and people generally
that inhabit these valleys, but more especially of those that have the
privilege of assembling at this Tabernacle from Sabbath to Sabbath.

	If they will rightly consider their situation, they will believe for
themselves that they are in a place, in a country, where they can be
Saints as well as in any other place there is on the face of this earth.

	True, we hear some complaints from those who lose the spirit of their
religion, who turn away from us.  They think that this people will suffer
here.  I will give you my feelings upon the subject.

	There is not a hardship, there is not a disappointment, there is not
a trial, there is not a hard time, that comes upon this people in this
place, but that I am more thankful for than I am for full granaries.

	We have been hunting during the past twenty-six years, for a place
where we could raise Saints, not merely wheat, and corn.  Comparatively I
care but little about the wheat and corn, though a little is very useful.

	It is true that this is a good country for fruits of some kinds; this
soil produces, as good peaches as can be raised on any soil, and also
grapes, apples, and so on.  But what of all that?  The man, or the woman,
that mainly looks after the fruit, after the luxuries of life, good food,
fine apparel, and at the same time professes to be a Latter-day Saint, if
he does not get that spirit out of his heart, it will obtain a perfect
victory over him; whereas he is required to obtain a victory over his
lusts and over his unwise feelings; and if he does not get rid of that
spirit, the quicker he starts east for the States, or west for California,
the better.

	If we could not raise any fruit, if we could not raise an ear of
corn, I should be quite thankful if we could raise the oats and the peas,
and make the oat bread and the pea broth, and live on them from year to
year.

	I say hallelujah, this is a first-rate place to raise Saints.  Let
the people complain of hard times, complain of their poverty, their poor
fare and their hard labor; that wood is scarce, that we have to go far for
it, and have to toil so hard to raise our grain; that we lose our stock
upon the prairie, that a cow is gone to-day, and an ox was lost last year;
that if we turn out our cattle they will stray off, and we shall see them
no more.

	How would you feel were you in a country where you could not raise
stock, except you provided comfortable shelter and an abundance of fodder
for them all?

	In the country where I was brought up, could you turn out a calf in
the fall and have it live through the winter?  There never was such a
thing done, to my knowledge; and no man ever thought of such a thing as
wintering a calf, unless he had a shelter prepared for it almost as warm
as the rooms for the children.

	I mention these things for the benefit of those here to-day, if any,
who think that this is not a good country, and who do not really know
whether they wish to stay, or whether we are right or wrong, or whether
"Mormonism" is true or false.

	I would advise those persons to repent of their sins forthwith, and
to try with all their might to get the spirit of their religion upon them,
and if they cannot do that, to take their own course and go where their
hearts desire, for doubtless there is some place where you would wish to
go.

	Those that have the Gospel, who enjoy the Spirit of their religion,
lie down in peace, and wake up full of rejoicing, full of peace, of glory,
of faith and thanksgiving; this is the case with all who are full of good
works.

	We need a reformation in the midst of this people; we need a thorough
reform, for I know that very many are in a dozy condition with regard to
their religion; I know this as well as I should if you were now to doze
and go to sleep before my eyes.

	You are losing the spirit of the Gospel, is there any cause for it? 
No, only that which there is in the world.  You have the weakness of human
nature to contend with, and you suffer that weakness to decoy you away
from the truth, to the side of the adversary; but now it is time to awake,
before the time of burning.

	Whether the time of burning will be this week, or the next, or next
year, I do not know that I care; and I do not know that I would ask, if I
was sure the Lord would tell me.  But I tell you that which I do know, and
that is sufficient.

	I do know that the trying day will soon come to you and to me; and
ere long we will have to lay down these tabernacles and go into the spirit
world.  And I do know that as we lie down, so judgment will find us, and
that is scriptural; "as the tree falls so it shall lie," or, in other
words, as death leaves us so judgment will find us.

	I will explain how judgment will be laid to the line.  If we all live
to the age of man the end thereof will soon be here, and that will burn
enough, without anything else; and the present is a day of trial, enough
for you and me.

	We have got to be rightly prepared to go into the spirit world, in
order to become kings.  That is, so far as the power of Satan is concerned
you and I have got to be free from his power, but we cannot be while we
are in the flesh.

	Here we shall be perplexed and hunted by him; but when we go into the
spirit world there we are masters over the power of satan, and he cannot
afflict us any more, and this is enough for me to know.

	Whether the world is going to be burned up within a year, or within a
thousand years, does not matter a groat to you and me.  We have the words
of eternal life, we have the privilege of obtaining glory, immortality,
and eternal lives, now will you obtain these blessings?

	Will you spend your lives to obtain a seat in the kingdom of God, or
will you lie down and sleep, and go down to hell?

	I want all the people to say what they will do, and I know that God
wishes all His servants, all His faithful sons and daughters, the men and
the women that inhabit this city, to repent of their wickedness, or we
will cut them off.

	I could give you a logical reason for all the transgressions in this
world, for all that are committed in this probationary state, and
especially for those committed by men.

	There are sins that men commit for which they cannot receive
forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, and if they had
their eyes open to see their true condition, they would be perfectly
willing to have their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof
might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins; and the smoking
incense would atone for their sins, whereas, if such is not the case, they
will stick to them and remain upon them in the spirit world.

	I know, when you hear my brethren telling about cutting people off
from the earth, that you consider it is strong doctrine; but it is to save
them, not to destroy them.

	Of all the children of Israel that started to pass through the
wilderness, none inherited the land which had been promised, except Caleb
and Joshua, and what was the reason?  It was because of their rebellion
and wickedness; and because the Lord had promised Abraham that he would
save his seed.

	They had to travel to and fro to every point to the compass, and were
wasted away, because God was determined to save their spirits.  But they
could not enter into His rest in the flesh, because of their
transgressions, consequently He destroyed them in the wilderness.

	I do know that there are sins committed, of such a nature that if the
people did understand the doctrine of salvation, they would tremble
because of their situation.  And furthermore, I know that there are
transgressors, who, if they knew themselves, and the only condition upon
which they can obtain forgiveness, would beg of their brethren to shed
their blood, that the smoke thereof might ascend to God as an offering to
appease the wrath that is kindled against them, and that the law might
have its course.  I will say further; I have had men come to me and offer
their lives to atone for their sins.

	It is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through
the fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit sins which it can
never remit.  As it was in ancient days, so it is in our day; and though
the principles are taught publicly from this stand, still the people do
not understand them; yet the law is precisely the same.  There are sins
that can be atoned for by an offering upon an altar, as in ancient days;
and there are sins that the blood of a lamb, of a calf, or of turtle
doves, cannot remit, but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man. 
That is the reason why men talk to you as they do from this stand; they
understand the doctrine and throw out a few words about it.  You have been
taught that doctrine, but you do not understand it.

	It is our desire to be prepared for a celestial seat with our Father
in heaven.  It was observed by brother Grant that we have not seen God,
that we cannot converse with Him; and it is true that men in their sins do
not know much about God.  When you hear a man pour out eternal things, how
well you feel, to what a nearness you seem to be brought with God.  What a
delight it was to hear brother Joseph talk upon the great principles of
eternity; he would bring them down to the capacity of a child, and he
would unite heaven with earth, this is the beauty of our religion.

	When it was mentioned this morning about seeing God, about what kind
of a being He was, and how we could see and measurably understand Him, I
thought I would tell you.  If we could see our heavenly Father, we should
see a being similar to our earthly parent, with this difference, our
Father in heaven is exalted and glorified.  He has received His thrones,
His principalities and powers, and He sits as a governor, as a monarch,
and overrules kingdoms, thrones, and dominions that have been bequeathed
to Him, and such as we anticipate receiving.  While He was in the flesh,
as we are, He was as we are.  But it is now written of Him that our God is
as a consuming fire, that He dwells in everlasting burnings, and this is
why sin cannot be where He is.

	There are principles that will endure through all eternity, and no
fire can obliterate them from existence.  They are those principles that
are pure, and fire is made typical use of to show the glory and purity of
the gods, and of all perfect beings.  God is the Father of our spirits; He
begat them, and has sent them here to receive tabernacles, and to prove
whether we will honour them.  If we do, then our tabernacles will be
exalted; but if we do not, we shall be destroyed; one of the
two--dissolution or life.  The second death will decompose all tabernacles
over whom it gains the ascendancy; and this is the effect of the second
death, the tabernacles go back to their native element.

	We are of the earth, earthy; and our Father is heavenly and pure. 
But we will be glorified and purified, if we obey our brethren and the
teachings which are given.

	When you see celestial beings, you will see men and women, but you
will see those beings clothed upon with robes of celestial purity.  We
cannot bear the presence of our Father now; and we are placed at a
distance to prove whether we will honor these tabernacles, whether we will
be obedient and prepare ourselves to live in the glory of the light,
privileges, and blessings of celestial beings.  We could not have the
glory and the light without first knowing the contrast.  Do you comprehend
that we could have no exaltation, without first learning by contrast?

	When you are prepared to see our Father, you will see a being with
whom you have long been acquainted, and He will receive you into His arms,
and you will be ready to fall into His embrace and kiss Him, as you would
your fathers and friends that have been dead for a score of years, you
will be so glad and joyful.  Would you not rejoice?  When you are
qualified and purified, so that you can endure the glory of eternity, so
that you can see your Father, and your friends who have gone behind the
vail, you will fall upon their necks and kiss them, as we do an earthly
friend that has been long absent from us, and that we have been anxiously
desiring to see.  This is the people that are and will be permitted to
enjoy the society of those happy and exalted beings.

	Now for my proposition; it is more particularly for my sisters, as it
is frequently happening that women say they are unhappy.  Men will say,
"My wife, though a most excellent woman, has not seen a happy day since I
took my second wife;"  "No, not a happy day for a year," says one; and
another has not seen a happy day for five years.  It is said that women
are tied down and abused: that they are misused and have not the liberty
they ought to have; that many of them are wading through a perfect flood
of tears, because of the conduct of some men, together with their own
folly.

	I wish my own women to understand that what I am going to say is for
them as well as others, and I want those who are here to tell their
sisters, yes, all the women of this community, and then write it back to
the States, and do as you please with it.  I am going to give you from
this time to the 6th day of October next, for reflection, that you may
determine whether you wish to stay with your husbands or not, and then I
am going to set every woman at liberty and say to them, Now go your way,
my women with the rest, go your way.  And my wives have got to do one of
two things; either round up their shoulders to endure the afflictions of
this world, and live their religion, or they may leave, for I will not
have them about me.  I will go into heaven alone, rather than have
scratching and fighting around me.  I will set all at liberty.  "What,
first wife too?"  Yes, I will liberate you all.

	I know what my women will say; they will say, "You can have as many
women as you please, Brigham."  But I want to go somewhere and do
something to get rid of the whiners; I do not want them to receive a part
of the truth and spurn the rest out of doors.

	I wish my women, and brother Kimball's and brother Grant's to leave,
and every woman in this Territory, or else say in their hearts that they
will embrace the Gospel--the whole of it.  Tell the Gentiles that I will
free every woman in this Territory at our next Conference.  "What, the
first wife too?"  Yes, there shall not be one held in bondage, all shall
be set free.  And then let the father be the head of the family, the
master of his own household; and let him treat them as an angel would
treat them; and let the wives and the children say amen to what he says,
and be subject to his dictates, instead of their dictating the man,
instead of their trying to govern him.

	No doubt some are thinking, "I wish brother Brigham would say what
would become of the children."  I will tell you what my feelings are; I
will let my wives take the children, and I have property enough to support
them, and can educate them, and then give them a good fortune, and I can
take a fresh start.

	I do not desire to keep a particle of my property, except enough to
protect me from a state of nudity.  And I would say, wives you are welcome
to the children, only do not teach them iniquity; for if you do, I will
send an Elder, or come myself, to teach them the Gospel.  You teach them
life and salvation, or I will send Elders to instruct them.

	Let every man thus treat his wives, keeping raiment enough to clothe
his body; and say to your wives, "Take all that I have and be set at
liberty; but if you stay with me you shall comply with the law of God, and
that too without any murmuring and whining.  You must fulfil the law of
God in every respect, and round up your shoulders to walk up to the mark
without any grunting."

	Now recollect that two weeks from to morrow I am going to set you at
liberty.  But the first wife will say, "It is hard, for I have lived with
my husband twenty years, or thirty, and have raised a family of children
for him, and it is a great trial to me for him to have more women;" then I
say it is time that you gave him up to other women who will bear children. 
If my wife had borne me all the children that she ever would bare, the
celestial law would teach me to take young women that would have children.

	Do you understand this?  I have told you many times that there are
multitudes of pure and holy spirits waiting to take tabernacles, now what
is our duty?--to prepare tabernacles for them; to take a course that will
not tend to drive those spirits into the families of the wicked, where
they will be trained in wickedness, debauchery, and every species of
crime.  It is the duty of every righteous man and woman to prepare
tabernacles for all the spirits they can; hence if my women leave, I will
go and search up others who will abide the celestial law, and let all I
now have go where they please; though I will send the Gospel to them.

	This is the reason why the doctrine of plurality of wives was
revealed, that the noble spirits which are waiting for tabernacles might
be brought forth.

	If the men of the world were right, or if they were anywhere near
right, there might not be the necessity which there now is.  But they are
wholly given up to idolatry, and to all manner of wickedness.

	Do I think that my children will be damned?  No, I do not, for I am
going to fight the devil until I save them all; I have got my sword ready,
and it is a two-edged one.  I have not a fear about that, for I would
almost be ashamed of my body if it would beget a child that would not
abide the law of God, though I may have some unruly children.

	I am going to ask you a good many things, and to begin with I will
ask, what is your prayer?  Do you not ask for the righteous to increase,
while the unrighteous shall decrease and dwindle away?  Yes, that is the
prayer of every person that prays at all.  The Methodists pray for it, the
Baptists pray for it, and the Church of England and all the reformers, the
Shaking Quakers not excepted.  And if the women belonging to this Church
will turn Shaking Quakers, I think their sorrows will soon be at an end.

	Sisters, I am not joking, I do not throw out my proposition to banter
your feelings, to see whether you will leave your husbands, all or any of
you.  But I do know that there is no cessation to the everlasting whining
of many of the women in this Territory; I am satisfied that this is the
case.  And if the women will turn from the commandments of God and
continue to despise the order of heaven, I will pray that the curse of the
Almighty may be close to their heels, and that it may be following them
all the day long.  And those that enter into it and are faithful, I will
promise them that they shall be queens in heaven, and rulers to all
eternity.

	"But," says one, "I want to have my paradise now."  And says another,
"I did think I should be in paradise if I was sealed to brother Brigham,
and I thought I should be happy when I became his wife, or brother
Heber's.  I loved you so much, that I thought I was going to have a heaven
right off, right here on the spot.

	What a curious doctrine it is, that we are preparing to enjoy!  The
only heaven for you is that which you make yourselves.  My heaven is
here--[laying his hand upon his heart].  I carry it with me.  When do I
expect it in its perfection?  When I come up in the resurrection; then I
shall have it, and not till then.

	But now we have got to fight the good fight of faith, sword in hand,
as much so as men have when they go to battle; and it is one continual
warfare from morning to evening, with sword in hand.  This is my duty, and
this is my life.

	But the women come and say, "Really brother John, and brother
William, I thought you were going to make a heaven for me," and they get
into trouble because a heaven is not made for them by the men, even though
agency is upon women as well as upon men.  True there is a curse upon the
woman that is not upon the man, namely, that "her whole affections shall
be towards her husband," and what is the next?  "He shall rule over you."

	But how is it now?  Your desire is to your husband, but you strive to
rule over him, whereas the man should rule over you.

	Some may ask whether that is the case with me; go to my house and
live, and then you will learn that I am very kind, but know how to rule.

	If I had only wise men to talk to, there would be no necessity for my
saying what I am going to say.  Many and many an Elder knows no better
than to go home and abuse as good a woman as dwells upon this earth,
because of what I have said this afternoon.  Are you, who act in that way,
fit to have a family?  No, you are not, and never will be, until you get
good common sense.

	Then you can go to work and magnify your callings; and you can do the
best you know how; and on that ground I will promise you salvation, but
upon no other principle.

	If I were talking to a people that understood themselves and the
doctrine of the holy Gospel, there would be no necessity for saying this,
because you would understand.  But many have been (what shall I say?
pardon me, brethren,) hen-pecked so much, that they do not know the place
of either man or woman; they abuse and rule a good woman with an iron
hand.  With them it is as Solomon said--"Bray a fool in a mortar among
wheat, with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him."  You
may talk to them about their duties, about what is required of them, and
still they are fools, and will continue to be.

	Prepare yourselves for two weeks from to morrow; and I will tell you
now, that if you will tarry with your husbands, after I have set you free,
you must bow down to it, and submit yourselves to the celestial law.  You
may go where you please, after two weeks from to-morrow; but, remember,
that I will not hear any more of this whining.

	In the midst of all my harsh sayings, shall I say chastisements?--I
am disposed, in my heart, to bless this people; and I do bless you, in the
name of Jesus.  Amen.

      THE HAND-CART EMIGRATION--OPINIONS OF THE EMIGRANTS CONCERNING
          IT--FEMALES ENDURE THE JOURNEY BETTER THAN MALES, ETC.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                Great Salt Lake City, September 28, 1856.

	I think it is now proven to a certainty that men, women, and children
can cross the Plains, from the settlements on the Missouri river to this
place on foot, and draw hand-carts, loaded with a good portion of the
articles needed to sustain them on the way.

	To me this is no more a matter of fact this morning, after seeing the
companies that have crossed the Plains, than it was years ago.  I have no
different knowledge, feelings, or faith, upon this subject to-day than I
have had from the beginning.  It has been a matter of doubt with many of
our Elders who have gone out to preach, and with many who have staid at
home, as to the propriety of starting a train upon the Plains for men,
women, and children to walk.

	Probably my faith has been based upon actual knowledge.  There are a
great many men who know but little about what they can do, and there are a
great many women that never consider what they can perform; people do not
fully reflect upon their own acts, upon their own ability, and therefore
do not understand what they are capable of doing.

	My reasoning has been like this:  Take small children, those that are
over five years of age, and if their steps were counted and measured,
those that they take in the course of one day, you would find that they
had taken enough to have traveled from twelve to twenty miles.

	Count the steps that a woman takes when she is doing her work, let
them be measured, and it will be found that in many instances she had
taken steps enough to have traveled from fifteen to twenty miles a day; I
will warrant this to be the case.  The steps of women who spin would, in
all probability, make from twenty to thirty miles a day.

	So with men, they do not consider the steps they make when they are
at their labor; they are all the time walking.  Even our masons upon the
walls are all the time stepping; they take a step almost at every breath.

	Many people have believed that they could not walk much of a
distance, if they had to walk right along in a road, but this is not so. 
Our carpenters, joiners, masons, tenders, road makers, tillers of the
soil, and persons of almost all avocations in life, men, women, and
children, are subject to continual travel.  These things I have
contemplated, and I have seen walking put into practise.

	The longest journey on foot that ever I took at one time was in the
year 1834, when a company of the brethren went up to Missouri, the next
season after the Saints were driven out of Jackson County.  Many in this
congregation, and some on the stand, were in that company; brother Kimball
and brother Woodruff were in it.  We performed a journey of two thousand
miles on foot; we started on the 5th day of May, and accomplished that
journey inside of three months, carrying our guns on our shoulders, doing
our own cooking, &c.  And instead of walking along without having to
labor, much of the way we had to draw our baggage wagons through mud holes
and over sections of bad road.  Twenty or thirty men would take hold and
draw a wagon up a hill, or through a mud hole; and it was seldom that I
ever laid down to rest until eleven or twelve o'clock at night, and we
always rose very early in the morning, I think the horn was blown at three
o'clock to arouse us, to prepare breakfast, &c. and get an early start;
and we averaged in the outward trip upwards of forty miles a day.

	If we laid by a day, or half a day, we generally calculated to make
the travel of the week average forty miles a day.

	We spent considerable time in waiting upon the sick; and some days
and nights the brethren who were able, were standing over the sick and
dying, and burying the dead; we buried eighteen of the company. 
Notwithstanding all this, inside of three months we walked about two
thousand miles.

	I am not a good walker, though I have walked a great deal in the
course of my life, but it is not natural to me to be a great walker.  I
have walked much during my missions to preach the Gospel; and we have many
in this congregation who have walked from twenty to thirty miles on a
Sabbath, after working hard all the week, and then preached two or three
times.

	When I was in England I found that I was poor at walking, in
comparison with the females there.  Brother Edmund Ellsworth, who has led
this first company of hand-carts over the Plains, says that the females
have stood the journey better than the males; taking the girls and the
boys of equal age, the men and the women, and the females have best
endured the travel.

	In England I could walk comfortably with the men, but if the women
undertook, they could easily out do me in walking.

	Our American women think it strange to advance such an idea as
women's walking.  I will refer you to one individual that many of you
know, and that is sister Turley, who now lives in San Bernardino; after
working hard all the week, she and her husband frequently used to walk
twenty or thirty miles on the Sabbath, and attend three meetings.

	There are many in this congregation that used to walk and preach, and
some of them did so on week days as well as on Sabbaths.

	True, in those old countries people are not in the habit of taking
journeys of hundreds of miles as the Americans do, but they walk through
their towns and counties, throughout their circuits, and walk a great deal
more and better than do the Americans.

	The common people, the masses that work in the factories, do not own
teams in the old countries, and if they wish to visit or go to a fair,
they go on foot.  If they should get any way of conveyance to places where
the railroads have not yet reached, they hire a cart, or perhaps a wagon
on springs, and six, eight, twelve, or twenty persons will get in and ride
for a few miles; but that is only for the sake of the name of riding, and
not particularly for the comfort of it, for they would, as a general
thing, rather foot it than ride in many of their modes of conveyance.

	To the American this seems strange; but you may go into Scotland and
Wales, and then cross to the little island called Ireland, and then to
France and the German States, and pass on to Italy, and you will find the
generality of the people in the habit of performing their journeys on
foot, not depending upon being conveyed in vehicles.

	They are in the habit of working and walking, and their toils and
lobors [sic] are very excessive, and apparently without cessation.  Go
into the mountainous regions of some of those old countries, and you will
see men, women, and children packing soil, like it would be to take it
from the banks of Jordan and carry it half way up the sides of these
mountains, and, when they can get one, two, or three rods of level
surface, making their gardens upon the rocks.

	They will take cows up to such places, and pack up fodder, and there
keep them, for they are not able to go down and feed and return again the
same day.

	They will walk on the brinks of precipices, clamber around the rocks,
pack up the soil from the bottoms, and thus make a subsistence, raising a
few potatoes and whatever vegetables they can, and there they live summer
and winter; they are all the time toiling and laboring.

	In many districts of England, it is the custom to put children into
factories at five years of age, and there they remain so long as they
live.  Children from five years old and upwards, will go for miles to
their labor early in the morning, winter and summer, and must be at the
factory at factory time, and there they must stand upon their feet until
they are dismissed for half an hour, or an hour, to eat their breakfast,
or their dinner, and all the rest of the time they are upon their feet. 
They are used to labor, accustomed to being on their feet and walking.

	We have not yet had a report from any of the brethren who have led
the hand-cart companies, with regard to their traveling across the Plains,
any more than to say they are here.  I think brother Ellsworth says that
seven persons died in his company, between here and Iowa City.  How many
died in the companies last year?  How many will die in the companies who
ride?  Double that number, very likely.  As for health, it is far
healthier to walk than to ride, and better every way for the people.  When
they get up in the morning, instead of wearying the women with running
through the long grass hunting the oxen, &c., they are there in camp, and
if they wish to do any walking, they can take hold of their little hand
carts and go on about their business.  when they come to sandy hills, it
is then no doubt hard.  (Voice, they can then double teams.)  Yes, they
can easily double teams, for they are right on hand all the time.

	The hand-carts look rather broken up, but if they had been made of
good seasoned timber, they would have come in as nice as when they started
with them.  True, the brethren and sisters that came in with hand-carts
have eaten up their provisions, and some have hired their clothing
brought, and they had but little on their carts when they came in.

	They also started with full loads, and I presume it was hard for them
at first, but they became inured to it.  And yesterday I heard many of
them, and especially the women, observing to some of the sisters that came
to see them, while they were questioning them about their journey across
the Plains on foot, "that if we had the journey to perform again, and had
our choice, we would go on foot rather than go with teams, and be plagued
with oxen and wagons."  Why, I will answer one query, "We have not time to
wait for oxen and wagons."

	The hand-cart companies that have come in, had a few strong teams
with them, well able to travel, but the companies had to wait every day
for these teams, and they hindred [sic] them exceedingly.  If this is not
so, let brother Ellsworth correct me; this is what I have heard some of
them say.

	They could have been here ten days ago, perhaps twelve, had it not
been for waiting for the teams.  If persons have a journey to perform and
can get at railroad speed with hand-carts, it is better than to drag along
with ox teams.

	This is the subject I have on my mind, and I presume the people feel
as I do; it is an interesting subject, an interesting event in our history
as a people.  There is nothing that can be brought before the Latter-day
Saints of deeper interest than to know how they can be gathered together,
without so great an expense as has hitherto attended the gathering.

	We know that our sorrows and our cares in this particular are
measurably at an end if we can avoid buying teams and expensive outfits to
bring the people here.  We have now proved that they can come pretty much
by themselves, working their way along and drawing their own provisions,
and also their little ones, and the maimed, and old, and blind.  If any
way can be opened for the gathering together of the poor, it takes off a
great burden and labor from the body of the people.

	It is an interesting subject, and my feelings are precisely as they
have been all the time.  I have believed, and I believe to-day, that I can
take my own family, my women and children, across those Plains, asking no
odds of any team in the world, only what we make ourselves; and I believe
I could beat any ox train at it.  I have always believed it, I believe it
to-day.  I presume my family would feel, as others feel, that it is a hard
task, a great trial; who can bear such great afflictions? to have to walk
a thousand miles?  Those who get into the Celestial Kingdom will count
this a very light task in the end, and if they have to walk thousands of
miles, they will feel themselves happy for the privilege, that they may
know how to enjoy celestial glory.

	I recollect that in my young days, before I made any profession of
religion, when people were disposed to call me an infidel (though they did
not know what infidelity was) because I did not believe in the sectarian
religion, I could not see any utility in it, any further than a moral
character was concerned, yet I believed the Bible.  I felt in those days,
after I had made a profession of religion, that if I could see the face of
a Prophet, such as had lived on the earth in former times, a man that had
revelations, to whom the heavens were opened, who knew God and His
character, I would freely circumscribe the earth on my hands and knees; I
thought that there was no hardship but what I would undergo, if I could
see one person that knew what God is and where He is, what was His
character, and what eternity was; and I presume that the people feel with
regard to religion, to the doctrine of the Gospel, partially, if not
altogether, as I did.  They are very anxious to know the ways of life,
they want to know the ways of God; they want to become acquainted with His
character, to know who He is and what He is.  They want to understand just
as they are directed to understand in the New Testament, and said to be
the words of the Savior, "this is eternal life, to know the only living
and true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent."  To know that God, and
to know Jesus, the people who wish to do right are willing to undergo
anything.  Those that gather here, if they will do the best they know,
will know God, and Jesus whom He has sent, and be as familiar with Him as
they can be with any character whose face they see not; they can know His
character and understand His ways.

	I shall now give way, and call upon brother Ellsworth to address you;
and if any of the other brethren who have been called upon to come to the
stand, are in the congregation, they will please come forward, for it is
of great interest to me, to learn something of the travels of our brethren
and sisters.

 	DISCORD AT MEETINGS REBUKED--A TEXT FOR SPEAKERS AT THE
			CONFERENCE--SUBJECT
 FOR THE PEOPLE--A CALL FOR MULES, HORSES, WAGONS, TEAMSTERS, FLOUR, ETC.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 5, 1856

	I wish the most strict attention of the entire congregation, for if
there is walking and talking within and around this bowery, a great many
will not be able to hear.  And I request those who wish to talk and
whisper, to remove so far that they will not disturb the congregation
to-day, nor during the Conference, as the assembly, undoubtedly, will be
very large.

	If we could possibly build a bowery, or a tabernacle, that would
bring the people so near to us that we would not have to speak so loud, we
should certainly do it; but this we cannot do, for by the time that we
could build a tabernacle for seating fifteen thousand persons nearer the
speaker than are the outskirts of this congregation, the people would have
so increased, that we should just be as far from our object as now.

	I shall require the people to be perfectly still, while they are here
and we are trying to speak to them.  Let there be no talking, whispering,
nor shuffling of feet.  It would be beneficial for mothers who have small
children here that will cry, to leave the bowery, if they cannot keep
their children still.  I make this suggestion, in consequence of what has
passed.

	I will say, in regard to the sisters who bring children here to make
a noise, they have never yet sufficiently thought, nor sufficiently
considered their own place in this world, nor the place of others, to know
that there is any other person living on the earth but themselves; and
they think, when they hear people talk, that it is a noise through a dark
veil.  I cannot say much for the education, based on good feeling, that
such persons have.  Were I to describe it in a plain way, I should say
that they are people of no breeding, that they were never bred but came
up; that is about as good a character as I can afford to give to any
mother that will keep a squalling child in a meeting.  I have never said
to the congregation, look and see who they are, for you may distinguish by
your ears, without looking, the mothers that have had good teaching and
been brought up in a civilized society.

	So it is with some men; and to the disgrace of some of our police, I
will state that in Conference times, and when we have unusually large
assemblies, they will converse right in the congregation, and just on the
outside, disturbing the meeting.  I would that we had a police that
understood good breeding.  If the police want to know how to manage to
keep order, notwithstanding I have frequently told them, I will now tell
them again.  Instead of shouting "silence," go and touch the unruly
person.

	Were I a policeman I would follow a practice of my father's; it used
to be a word and a blow, with him, but the blow came first.  I should act
upon that plan, when persons are holding caucus meetings in or about our
congregations; and if they would not desist, I would rap them hard enough
for them to take the hint without my speaking.

	I make these remarks, because I wish the brethren who will speak to
you to-day, the Elders who have lately returned, to be heard.  Those who
speak in large assemblies understand that they often have to raise their
voices as though they were giving commands to a large army, but we expect
our Elders will speak as they have been in the habit of doing.  If they
can raise their voices above the crying of children and the talking and
whispering of the people, so that all can hear, it will be well; but this
we cannot expect.

	To-morrow our semi-annual Conference commences, and I notice that
many have come in from a distance.  We shall have large congregations
during the Conference, and we wish perfect order maintained.

	I will now give this people the subject and the text for the Elders
who may speak to-day and during the Conference, it is this, on the 5th day
of October, 1856, many of our brethren and sisters are on the Plains with
hand-carts, and probably many are now seven hundred miles from this place,
and they must be brought here, we must send assistance to them.  The text
will be--to get them here!  I want the brethren who may speak to
understand that their text is the people on the Plains, and the subject
matter for this community is to send for them and bring them in before the
winter sets in.

	That is my religion; that is the dictation of the Holy Ghost that I
possess, it is to save the people.  We must bring them in from the Plains,
and when we get them here, we will try to keep the same spirit that we
have had, and teach them the way of life and salvation; tell them how they
can be saved, and how they can save their friends.  This is the salvation
I am now seeking for, to save our brethren that would be apt to perish, or
suffer extremely, if we do not send them assistance.

	I shall call upon the Bishops this day, I shall not wait until
to-morrow, nor until next day, for sixty good mule teams and twelve or
fifteen wagons.  I do not want to send oxen, I want good horses and mules. 
They are in this Territory, and we must have them; also twelve tons of
flour and forty good teamsters, besides those that drive the teams.  This
is dividing my text into heads; first, forty good young men who know how
to drive teams, to take charge of the teams that are now managed by men,
women, and children who know nothing about driving them; second, sixty or
sixty-five good spans of mules, or horses, with harness, whipple-trees,
neck-yokes, stretchers, load chains, &c.; and, thirdly, twenty-four
thousand pounds of flour, which we have on hand.

	I will repeat the division; forty extra teamsters is number one;
sixty spans of mules or horses is part of number two; twelve tons of
flour, and wagons to take it, is number three; and, fourthly, I will allow
the brethren to tell something about their missions, by way of exhortation
to wind up with.

	I will tell you all that your faith, religion, and profession of
religion, will never save one soul of you in the celestial kingdom of our
God, unless you carry out just such principles as I am now teaching you. 
Go and bring in those people now on the Plains, and attend strictly to
those things which we call temporal, or temporal duties, otherwise your
faith will be in vain; the preaching you have heard will be in vain to
you, and you will sink to hell, unless you attend to the things we tell
you.  Any man or woman can reason this out in their own minds, without
trouble.  The Gospel has been already preached to those brethren and
sisters now on the Plains; they have believed and obeyed it, and are
willing to do anything for salvation; they are doing all they can do, and
the Lord has done all that is required of Him to do, and has given us
power to bring them in from the Plains, and teach them the further things
of the kingdom of God, and prepare them to enter into the celestial
kingdom of their Father.  First and foremost is to secure our own
salvation and do right pertaining to ourselves, and then extend the hand
of right to save others.

	I have given you my text and the subject, and shall give way to the
brethren, and request close attention, and that there be no noise; for I
realize that men who go forth to preach are in the habit of speaking to
small congregations, in small halls, where all can hear without much
elevation of the voice.  This cannot be done here, for we have to shout,
and exercise our lungs to the utmost, to make so many people hear.

	I am satisfied that the prayer by brother Spencer was not heard by
one-third of the congregation this morning; a little moving of the feet, a
little whispering, the noise occasioned by mothers' trying to keep their
children still, a little noise of this kind and a little of that, all tend
to break the sound of the speaker's voice, and the people cannot catch his
words, and of course are not edified.  May the Lord bless us all.  Amen.


       REFORMATION NECESSARY AMONG THE SAINTS.--INFIDEL PHILOSOPHY.
  A Discourse, by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, November 2, 1856.

	I am very thankful for the privilege that I enjoy this morning, with
so many of the Latter-day Saints.  I am thankful that we have the
privilege of assembling here to worship the Lord in so comfortable a
building, and in quite a moderate climate.  I am happy for the privilege
of addressing the Saints, and I could hope with all my heart, that I may
never be called upon to address any other class of people; still, the
Gospel must be preached to the world, that the wicked may be left without
excuse.  We have done a great deal of preaching and talking to persons
that knew nothing of the Gospel of salvation, and I have occupied many
years in trying to lay before the inhabitants of the earth the principles
of life and salvation, until, through the providence of God, I have been
called to other duties than to mingle or associate with those who would
not believe and practise the Gospel.  Still, I should have been more than
satisfied, had my duty led me in a path to associate, more or less, with
unbelievers, for I can say that I would rather preach to them, would
rather associate with them, would rather take my chance among a people who
have never heard the Gospel preached at all, than to live in the midst of
the ungodly.  The term ungodly conveys an idea to my mind, perhaps, that
it does not to all present, for it is a fact that a man or woman must know
the ways of God before they can become ungodly.  Persons may be sinners,
may be unrighteous, may be wicked, who have never heard the plan of
salvation, who are even unacquainted with the history of the Son of Man,
or who have heard of the name of the Savior, and, perhaps, the history of
his life while on the earth, but have been taught unbelief through their
tradition and education; but to be ungodly, in the strict sense of the
word, they must measurably understand godliness.

	It is lamentable to any person who understands by the visions of
eternity the plan of salvation, the providences of God to His creatures,
to see one who has his mind opened to see, understand, and embrace the
principles of life and salvation in his faith, and who has the privilege
of being adopted into the family of heaven, of becoming an heir with the
Saints that have formerly lived upon the earth, an heir with the Prophets
and with Jesus Christ, and of being numbered with the children of the Most
High, with a legal administrator to officiate for the attainment of all
these privileges, and to open the door of salvation and admittance into
the kingdom, neglect so great a salvation.  But for any of this people who
enjoy the privilege of seeking unto the Lord their God, of being made
acquainted with the ways of life and salvation, to procure to themselves
an eternal exaltation, who have the privilege of preparing themselves to
dwell with Christ in the presence of their Father and their God, of being
joint heirs with Christ, and with all the Holy Ones that have lived, to
turn from those holy commandments, to cease or neglect performing every
duty made known to them, and to let the gay and giddy fancies of this life
entangle their feelings, and draw them from the principles of eternal
salvation, is most astonishing to me, or to any person that ever had the
vision of their minds opened.

	Every principle of philosophy that is known upon the face of the
earth, every argument and reason that can be adduced, would prove that
such a man or woman was taking a course destructive to themselves; that
they were blindfolding themselves by shutting their own eyes, and,
literally speaking, rushing to a precipice from whose verge they would be
dashed to pieces.  It is most astonishing to every principle of
intelligence that any man or woman will close their eyes upon eternal
things after they have been made acquainted with them, and let the gay
things of this world, the lusts of the eye, and the lusts of the flesh,
entangle their minds and draw them one hair's breadth from the principles
of life.

	True there are many in the world who profess to be what we call
infidels, who have no knowledge of anything beyond the researches of their
education, who have not the faculty to pry into and understand things
beyond what they can see with their natural eyes, hear with their ears, or
comprehend with their natural understandings; yet there are but few that
are really left indeed in the dark, left to be in reality what they
profess to be.  And those few have not one particle of good sound reason,
not one argument on their side, to prove that a licentious, ungodly life
is of any advantage to any person on the earth, but will argue the point,
and that strenuously, that strict morality should be observed among all
intelligences, and an honest bearing, an upright walk, and a gentlemanly
conversation, not giving way to vulgarity and foul language, nor doing
anything in the dark that they would not be willing to be scanned in
daylight.  For all this they argue strenuously, and yet say that they know
nothing about God and eternity.  We are here, we exist on the earth.  I am
sure that I am alive, for I can see others living.  I am endowed with a
certain degree of intelligence, where did it come from?  An infidel might
say, "I do not know."  Where did I originate?  "I do not know."  Who was
the maker and former of all we can see?  "I do not know."  Yet those very
characters will argue the necessity of a moral life, of an honest upright
walk, one with the other.

	But what are their arguments and what are their hopes?  Why, they
say, "We are to-day, to-morrow, perhaps, we shall be no more.  We came
into existence, but how we cannot tell.  We have no faith, or belief, or
confidence in the God that you Christians talk about; we have no
confidence in His providence; by chance we are, and by chance we shall go
and be no more."  Do you not perceive that their arguments land them in
the vortex of ignorance and unbelief, of misery and annihilation?  Go into
the world and observe those who do not possess principles that reach into
eternity, and that are in eternity, principles by which they exist and by
which God created all things, and you will see that those principles are
lost to them, and that, whether they believe in those principles or not,
their course and profession will land them without an existence, or the
possession of the least thing in heaven, earth, or hell.

	These reflections bring to my understanding the greatest ignorance
that can be manifested by an inteligent [sic] people, those in particular
that are now before me, who have had the privilege of the holy Gospel and
neglected their duty, turned away from the holy commandments, and ceased
to live their religion in every point; such conduct does manifest the
greatest weakness, ignorance, foolery, and wickedness that can be produced
by intelligences.  If you comprehend my ideas you will agree with me, for
no sensible man or woman can see the subject in any different light.  If
we are here by chance, if we happened to slip into this world from
nothing, we shall soon slip out of this world to nothing, hence nothing
will remain; consequently we have nothing to gain or lose.  But the man of
better judgment, of more sound reasoning, must know that every thing that
was, that is, or that will be, every thing that can be in all the
eternities in the vast expanse that we behold, must have had a Creator. 
No principles exhibited to the human family will suggest that a book, a
bench, a house, a tree, or any growing or manufactured article, can be
produced without a producer.  All we know, all we see, hear, and
understand, proves to us that there is no fabric without a constructor.

	These reflections lead me to contrast the world with a people like
this before me, a people endowed with intelligence and a knowledge of
heavenly principles.  That is our profession before the world, and is our
confession to God and angels, to all that have lived on the earth and that
are now on it; and you will hear the world exclaim, "You poor Mormons, you
Latter-day Saints that have left your homes, your houses, your friends,
your families, your possessions, the place of your birth, and every thing
that is near and dear to you, you say that the visions of your minds have
been opened, that you have had the visions of eternity opened to your
understanding, so that you do know that there is a God, that Jesus Christ
is the Savior of the world; so that you do know of the principles of life
and salvation proffered to you; and for these you have forsaken all and
gone to the mountains."

	Of these things the whole world are witnesses against us and for us,
wherever the sound of this Gospel has been; and you can hardly find a nook
on the earth where the sound of it has not reached, for it has gone to the
uttermost parts of the earth, and hosts are witnesses of this.  Yet all
acknowledge that you have something superior, that you have light and
intelligence that others do not enjoy; that God has opened up the heavens
to your minds, and taken away the vail from your understandings.  And you
say that there is a God, that you understand His character, that He has
revealed Himself to you, and that you have left all and come to the
mountains, and what is the cry here?  Why the people need reforming, there
is necessity for reformation.

	"I am thankful," says one, "that I found the spirit of reformation
when I came home."  What would an angel of the Lord say, if he came here,
or a devil either?  "O, shame on these Latter-day Saints, it is a disgrace
to intelligence,. to your officers as Elders in Israel, to your
characters, to your names and beings on the earth, that you have had the
visions of eternity opened to you, and many have forsaken everything that
is near and dear to them by way of preparation for the Celestial kingdon
[sic], and now cry out the necessity of a reformation.  It is most
astonishing."  I will leave it to every man, woman, and child, if it does
not look strange.  What! reformation?  Yes, for in one sense we intend,
that is as knowledge comes to us, to reform daily.  But shall the sound go
forth that we do not see and understand things as we did when in England,
in France, in Germany, in Denmark, in the East Indies, or anywhere else on
this earth?  This sound goes forth, it is echoed by the angels into the
ears of our God and Father in eternity, and it is carried on the wings of
the wind over the earth, that the Latter-day Saints are digging and
toiling, going by sea and by land, traversing distances of thousands of
miles and circumscribing the earth to be with their brethren, and when
they get here they need reforming.  Why?  Because they have backslidden.

	You may ask me whether there is a need of reformation.  Yes; and if I
were to dictate you how to reform I should have to tell the old story over
again, as I already have hundreds of times.  First, reform as to your
moral character, dealing, walk, precepts and examples.  Reform first
morally, before you get down before the Lord and plead with Him for the
visions of eternity to be opened to your understandings, before you ask
for the vail to be taken from your eyes.  First reform in your moral
character and conduct one towards another, so that every man and woman
will deal honestly, and walk uprightly with one another, and extend the
arm of charity and benevolence to each other, as necessity requires.  Be
moral and strictly honest in every point, before you ask God to reform
your spirit.

	If the people in their present situation and mode of dealing in this
city, to say nothing of those out of the city, all go to work now and have
meetings and call upon God to get the spirit of reformation, but sing and
pray about doing right without doing it, instead of singing themselves
away to "everlasting bliss," they will sing and pray themselves into hell,
shouting hallelujah.  You cannot be saved by any other principle than that
of the holy Gospel; and if you live in the neglect of the performance of
the duties that you know are required at your hands, if you do not walk
uprightly before God and your brethren, if you do not deal justly with one
another, if you do not walk in honesty and soberness with one another,
your faith is vain and your reformation is vain.  You must repent of your
evil deeds and first of all morally reform yourselves, before you can ask
God for His Spirit to reform and enlighten your spirits.  This is my
doctrine and philosophy; were it not, I would say, let those who steal,
steal on; and you that are in the habit of swearing, swear away; and you
that have been in the habit of taking advantage of each other, cheat away;
and those who lie, lie away; and you that trespass upon your brother,
trespass away; and so continue, Christian like, only be sure, just as you
are going to die, to look out and not have death catch you asleep, that
when it comes you may be awake enough just to repent of all your sins and
turn to God, and then you will be as fit subjects for heaven as powder
would be for a burning dwelling.  Our lime-kiln, when it is burning to its
zenith, would be as fit a place for a powder house, as in the celestial
kingdom for such characters.

	Do you think that I am telling you the truth?  I do not care one
groat whether you think that I am telling you the truth, or not; for when
the day comes that we shall be weighed in the balance, you will know.  I
am charged by the whole world with almost every degree of immoral conduct,
with the most erroneous practices that were ever indulged in by any person
on the earth, and for what?  Because I have such an influence over these
men who are sitting here; because you all hearken to your leader.  I would
to God that this was altogether the truth, for I tell you, in the name of
the Lord, that there would not be a professed Latter-day Saint in this
Territory, but what would live his religion.  They think we are all one,
but when the Saints gather here they are far from being one; they have not
yet learned to be one in Christ, they do not understand the principle of
being one in a church capacity, to say nothing about being one in a family
capacity, or in a neighborhood capacity.  The people might have known,
long ago, what the difficulty is, if the influences, temptations, and
lusts that are in us naturally are given way to, and we are led captive at
the will of him that rules the world; that forms the grand difficulty.

	Do you want to know the reason why I speak of our being so
comfortably situated this morning in so comfortable a meeting house?  We
can return home and sit down and warm our feet before the fire, and can
eat our bread and butter, &c., but my mind is yonder in the snow, where
those immigrating Saints are, and my mind has been with them ever since I
had the report of their start from Winter Quarters, (Florence,) on the 3rd
of September.  I cannot talk about any thing, I cannot go out or come in,
but what in every minute or two minutes my mind reverts to them; and the
questions--whereabouts are my brethren and sisters who are on the Plains,
and what is their condition--force themselves upon me and annoy my
feelings all the time.  And were I to answer my own feelings, I should do
so by undertaking to do what the conference voted I should not do, that
is, I should be with them now in the snow, even though it should be up to
the knees, up to the waist, or up to the neck.  My mind is there, and my
faith is there; I have a great many reflections about them.

	Have any of you suffered while coming here?  Yes.  How many of you
sisters present buried your husbands, or your fathers, or your mothers, or
children, on the Plains?  How many of you brethren buried your wives? 
Have you suffered, and been in peril and trouble?  Yes, you had to endure
anguish and pain from the effects of cholera, toil, and weariness.  Do you
live your religion when you get there, after all the trouble, afflictions,
an pains you have passed through to come to Zion? and to a pretty Zion! 
Men and women start across the Plains for this place, and are they willing
to wade through the snow?  Yes.  To travel through snow storms?  Yes.  To
wade rivers?  Yes.  What for?  To get to Zion.  And here we are in Zion,
and what a Zion! where it is necessary for the cry of reformation to go
through the land, both a spiritual and temporal reformation.  God is more
merciful than man can be, and it is well for us.  Again, when I consider
the backsliding of the people, and their sins, I will not ask God to be
more merciful, and have more sympathy towards me, than I have for my
brethren and sisters.

	A good many teams have already gone out to meet the Saints who are
struggling to gain this place; I can hardly keep from talking about them
all the time, for when I am preaching they are uppermost in my mind.  The
brethren were liberal last Sunday in turning out to meet them with teams,
still if any more feel desirous of going to their assistance, I will give
them the privilege, and advise them to take feed, not only for their own
animals, but also for those of the brethren who have already gone out, for
they will very likely be short.  But I should be more particularly
thankful if the minds of this community could be so impressed and stirred
up, so wakened up, that when those poor brethren and sisters who are now
on the Plains do arrive they may be able to say of a truth and in very
deed, "God be thanked, we have got to Zion."  But fearfulness and
forebodings of disappointment to them are in my feelings.  How far they
may be disappointed, I do not know.

	I do not wish to be personal in this congregation, but let me say to
the authorities, to the Elders of Israel, the Seventies, High Priests,
Bishops, or any other quorum or class of officers, if you will appoint
meetings and have only those present whom we wish to be there, I will then
tell you how to commence a reformation.  I will there be particular and
personal in my remarks, if necessary, and I will talk to you as severely
as I already have to some of the quorums.  Now then, morally reform.  "In
what?"  In everything.  Reform your moral character, and be at least as
moral as you would if you belonged to a Methodist, Presbyterian, or
Baptist church, or to the Roman Catholics: be as moral as those classes of
people, for heaven's sake.  Then there will be a chance for you to reform
in spirit, and to get the light of eternity to shine upon your efforts.

	There are a great many things to be taught and practised.  I have
frequently thought that I would rather preach to and baptize new converts
than to fashion over the old ones, for you can seldom get a good pattern
out of them.  Some will be full of seams and checks, and you never can
make a sound piece out of them.  If I had the material to work with I
would rather make new ones, than patch up the old ones: but as we have not
the new materials to work upon, we must patch up the old ones.  Patch up
yourselves--make your characters comely to each other.  I am not so
anxious about the Spirit; let a man walk as pure and holy as the Gods and
angels, and then see if there will not be the light of eternity in him. 
Let a man or woman walk without spot or blemish and the Spirit and power
of God Almighty will be with them all the time, and the angels of God will
be round about them all the time, they will be preserved to do the will of
God preparatory to an eternal exaltation.

	Do not talk to me and tell me that you are so backslidden and dark,
but reform and get the light of God within you.  Some get up here and say,
"I will live my religion, I will brethren; O pray for me, I will live my
religion, if it costs me my life."  Yes, some of the great men of Israel
talk in that style.  Some of the Presidents come here and say, "I will
live my religion, God being my helper, if it takes away my life."  When a
man talks about his religion costing him his life, I want to ask that man
if he has any common sense about him.  Have you any true philosophy,
argument, light, or intelligence in the least degree?  "O yes, we are
philosophers."  Then ask yourselves from whence you derive your lives,
your means, your property, everything you can enjoy in time and eternity. 
Do you receive them outside of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  No you do not. 
And still a man will get up here and say, "I will serve the Lord, if it
costs me my life."  I will say what I said yesterday, such a man is a
fool.  Such a man is condemned, and the wrath of God is upon him.  His
eyes are closed, and he is no more fit for a President of the Seventies,
or any other quorum, than a red hot lime-kiln is for a powder house.  Cut
such a man off from the Church, for he has backslidden to that degree that
nothing but death stares him in the face, when he looks to God and Christ
with a view of keeping their law.  We wish those rotten branches cut off
from the Church, severed from the trunk of the tree; slash them off, and
put a little wax on where you cut the limb off, that the wound may heal
over, and the tree grow more thrifty.  May the Lord bless us.  Amen.

   COUNSEL CONCERNING IMMIGRATION--BENEFITS TO BE DERIVED FROM AN EARLY
             START--CROSSING THE PLAINS WITH HANDCARTS, ETC.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, November 2, 1856.

	Brother Kimball, in his remarks, touched upon an idea that had not
previously entered my mind, that is, that some of the people were
dissatisfied with me and my counselors, on account of the lateness of this
season's immigration.  I do not know but what such may be the case, as I
am aware that those persons now on the Plains have a great many friends
and relatives here; but it never came into my mind that I was in the least
degree censurable for any person's being now upon the Plains.  Why? 
Because there is not the least shadow of reason for casting such censure
upon me.  I am about as free from what is called jealousy, as any man that
lives; I am not jealous of any body, though I know what the feeling is;
but it never troubled me much, even in my younger days.  Neither am I
suspicious of my brethren, therefore I was not suspecting any censure of
the kind just named.

	Aside from entire want of foundation, and aside from my freedom from
jealousy and suspicion, there are other reasons why I could not be
expected to have indulged in the suspicion of such a charge.  Our general
epistles usually go from here twice a year, and the immigration, the
gathering of the people, is dictated in those epistles, with a
considerable degree of minute detail; I also advance many ideas on the
same subject, from time to time, which are written and published; and I
write a great many letters on this subject, and many of these are
published.

	There is not a person, who knows anything about the counsel of the
First Presidency concerning the immigration, but what knows that we have
recommended it to start in season.  True, we have not expressly, and with
a penalty, forbidden the immigration to start late, but hereafter I am
going to lay an injunction and place a penalty, to be suffered by any
Elder or Elders who will start the immigration across the Plains after a
given time; and the penalty shall be that they shall be severed from the
Church, for I will not have such late starts.  You know my life; there is
not a person in this Church and kingdom but what must acknowledge that
gold and silver, houses and lands, &c., do multiply in my hands.  There is
not an individual but what must acknowledge that I am as good a financier
as they ever knew, in all things that I put my hands to.  This is well
known by the people, and they consider me a frugal, saving man, therefore
there is no ground or room for their suspecting that my mismanagement
caused the present sufferings on the Plains.  I presume that brother
Kimball never would have thought of such an idea, had he not heard it.

	Say that we start a company from the Missouri river as late as the
first of June, and allow them three months in which to perform the
journey, then they have time to travel moderately and one month of good
weather for lee-way, in which to finish the journey, provided they do not
complete it in three months; then they may be ninety days or more in
coming a thousand miles, which a child of four years old could walk it in
that time.  They may stop and feed their teams, and after they arrive they
will have the autumn in which to look round and prepare for winter.  This
is my policy, and then during the first half of the journey the cattle can
get what is called prairie grass while it is at its best, for it is easily
killed by frost, and cattle must have the privilege of feeding upon it
before it is too dry, or frost bitten.  The month of June is the best
month for that grass, and this all know who are acquainted with the
western prairies.  Then they come to the mountain grass in the latter part
of their journey, which though probably dry by the time they get to it, is
filled with nutrition, nearly as much so as grain, and will fatten cattle.

	They can come along moderately, take their time, and arrive here in
August.  They should be here in that month, what for?  To help us harvest
our late wheat, corn, potatoes; to help get up wood, put up fences and
prepare for winter.  This plan also puts into the possession of new comers
time and ability to secure to themselves their winter's provision.  Do you
not see that such is the result?  I have known this all the time.  I have
always said, send the companies across the Plains early.  Companies have
suffered loss upon loss of lives and property, but never by the dictation
of the First Presidency.  Do you not readily understand that if the
immigration had been here a few months ago, or by the first of September,
that they would have had opportunity to rest, and then to secure wheat, to
lay up a few potatoes, to get up wood and lay in the staple necessaries
for winter?

	But our Elders abroad say, by their conduct all the time, that we
here in the mountains do not understand what is wanted in the east, as
well as they do.  They do not proclaim it in so many words, but their
conduct does, and "by their fruits ye shall know them."  Their actions
assert that they know more than we do, but I say that they do not.  If
they had sent out immigration in the season that they should have done,
you and I could have kept our teams at home; we could have fenced our five
and ten acre lots; we could have put in our fall wheat; could have got up
wood for ourselves and for the poor that cannot help themselves; and thus
we might have been providing for ourselves, and making ourselves
comfortable; whereas, now your hands and mine are tied.

 	This people are this day deprived of thousands of acres of wheat that
would have been sowed by this time, had it not been for the misconduct of
our immigration affairs this year, and we would have had an early harvest,
but now we may have to live on roots and weeds again before we get the
wheat.  I look at this matter as plainly as I do upon your faces.  I have
a philosophical forecast, and I do know the results of men's work; I know
what the conduct of this people will produce in their future life.  If I
have not this power naturally, God has surely given it to me.

	Well, what shall be done?  Why, we must bear it.  The Elders east
fancy that they know more about what is wanted here than we do, and we
have to bear it.  Let me have had the dictation of the emigration from
Liverpool, and I could have brought many more persons here, and at a cost
of no more than from three to five dollars of what it has now cost,
provided I could have dictated matters at every point.  That is not
boasting; I only want to tell you that I know more than they know.  But
what have we to do now?  We have to be compassionate, we have to be
merciful to our brethren.

	Here is brother Franklin D. Richards who has but little knowledge of
business, except what he has learned in the Church; he came into the
Church when a boy, and all the public business he has been in is the
little he has done while in Liverpool, England; and here is brother Daniel
Spencer, brother Richards' First Counselor and a man of age and
experience, and I do not know that I will attach blame to either of them. 
But if, while at the Missouri river, they had received a hint from any
person on this earth, or if even a bird had chirped it in the ears of
brothers Richards and Spencer, they would have known better than to rush
men, women, and children on to the prairie in the autumn months, on the
third of September, to travel over a thousand miles.  I repeat that if a
bird had chirped the inconsistency of such a course in their ears, they
would have thought and considered for one moment, and would have stopped
those men, women, and children there until another year.

	If any man or woman complains of me or of my Counselors, in regard to
the lateness of some of this season's immigration, let the curse of God be
on them and blast their substance with mildew and destruction, until their
names are forgotton [sic] from the earth.  I never thought of my being
accused of advising or having anything to do with so late a start.  The
people must know that I know how to handle money and means, and I never
supposed that anybody had a doubt of it.  It will cost this people more to
bring in those companies from the Plains, than it would to have seasonably
brought them from the outfitting point on the Missouri river.  I do not
believe that the biggest fool in the community could entertain the thought
that all this loss of life, time, and means, was through the mismanagement
of the First Presidency.

	I know how to dictate affairs; and no man need to have walked in
darkness touching this duty with regard to the foreign immigration.  You
can read their duty in our epistles, letters, and sermons; and what is the
purport of those documents, on this point?  That we are new settlers in a
wild and uninhabited country, and are thrown upon our own resources; that
we need all our teams and means to prepare for those persons who are
coming, instead of crippling us by taking our bread, men, and teams, and
going out to meet them.  And if the present system continues, this people
will be found like the Kilkenny cats, which eat up each other clear to
their tails, and they were left jumping at one another; such operations
will financially use us up.

	Last year my back and head ached, and I have been about half mad ever
since, and that too righteously, because of the reckless squandering of
means and leaving me to foot the bills.  Last year, without asking me a
word of counsel, without a word being spoken to me about the matter, there
was over sixty thousand dollars of indebtedness incurred for me to pay. 
What for?  To fetch a few immigrants here, when I could have brought the
whole of them with one quarter of the means.

	What is the cause of our immigration being so late this season?  The
ignorance and mismanagement of some who had to do with it, and still,
perhaps they did the best they knew how.

	Are those people in the frost and snow by my doings?  No, my skirts
are clear of their blood, God knows.  If a bird had chirped in brother
Franklin's ears in Florence, and the brethren there had held a council, he
would have stopped the rear companies there, and we would have been
putting in our wheat, &c., instead of going on the Plains and spending
weeks and months to succor our brethren.  I make these remarks because
they are true.

	As to the companies now out, we must bring them in; and another year
we will send men to the Missouri river who understand the right management
of affairs, and will send them in the speediest conveyances, so that they
may not get the "big head" before they arrive there, and then they may be
able to do as we tell them.

	Can people come across the Plains with hand-carts?  Ask brothers
Edmund Ellsworth, Daniel D. McArthur and William Bunker, who led the three
hand-cart companies that have already arrived; and the brethren and
sisters in those companies state that they crossed quicker and easier than
the wagon companies.

	Those who counseled the companies to come on have nearly all gone
back to their assistance, after staying at home but about two days, after
their return from a long mission, thus manifesting their faith by their
works.

	I cannot help what is out of my reach, but I am on hand to send more
teams, and to send and send, until, if it is necessary, we are perfectly
stopped in every kind of business.  Brother Heber says that he will send
another team, and I mean to send as many more as he does; I ought to send
more than brother Heber, for I am fourteen days older than he is.  I can
send more teams, but I do not intend that the fetters shall be on me
another season.

	I will mention something more.  You cannot hear George D. Grant,
Daniel Spencer and others of the lately returned missionaries speak
without eulogizing Franklin D. Richards.  They are full of eulogizing
Franklin D. Richards, but they need to be careful or they will have the
"big head" and become as dead and devoid of the Spirit as old pumpkins. 
And with them it is, "What could I have done without brother George?  And
what could we have done without brother Franklin?--and when you hear me
calling you Rabbi, know ye that I want to be called Rabbi;" and so it
goes, but I suppose that this is not what they do it for.

	Don't you know that I know whether you are good for anything, or not,
without my praising you?  I know all about you, without telling what great
things you have done, and what you have not done, [sic-punc.]  But the
very spirit some have in them of pride, arrogance, and self esteem, has
led men and women to die on the Plains, by scores, at least their folly
has. And if they had not had any such spirit about them, God would have
whispered to them to have held a council, and would have stopped them from
rushing their brethren and sisters into such suffering.  But we must now
rescue those people, and may God help us to do it.  Amen.

        THE EMIGRATING SAINTS WERE PROMPTED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                 Great Salt Lake City, November 9, 1856.

	I wish to say to the brethren, as many as are here to-day, who have
come across the Plains with the hand-carts, that I feel to bless you, and
you may be sure that you have my best feelings all the time.

	While brother Ellsworth was speaking about the Spirit, and the
spirits that were around them, the spirit that he seemed to have to
contend with, and the spirit that the people had to contend with, I wanted
to tell one secret.  While those brethren and sisters were faltering, and
did not know whether to stop or go along, there was faith in this valley
that bound them to that journey, and they were obliged to perform it, they
could not help performing it.  Who had that faith?  The people here; and
the Spirit of the Lord was all the time prompting them, and the brethren
who led them.  They were, as many are now, they were prompted to do as
they did; they could not do anything else, because God would not let them
do anything else.  The brethren and sisters came across the Plains because
they could not stay; that is the secret of the movement.  But let the
devil have his will, and do you suppose that any of them could have
crossed the Plains?  No, not a person ever would have started.  But they
did start, and they performed the journey.

	We are doing a great many things, and Joseph did a great many things,
because the Spirit of the Lord prompts us to do them, as it prompted him. 
Joseph could not do anything else than what he did; it is the same with us
all the time.  The Lord prompted the hand-cart companies all the time, in
the midst of their afflictions, to prepare for and start upon their
journey, and they only had faith and power for the day, and on the morrow
it seemed as though they certainly had to stop.  But when to-morrow came
they had faith and power to perform the journey of that day, and so they
have been prompted day by day, to this point.

	God is at the helm of this great ship, and that makes me feel good. 
When I think about the world, and the enemies of the cause of God, I care
no more about them than I do for a parcel of musketoes.  All hell may
howl, and they may run up and down the earth and seek whom they may
destroy, but they cannot move the faithful and pure in heart.  Let those
apostatize who wish to, but God will save all who are determined to be
saved.

	Brethren and sisters, I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

      THE GOSPEL LIKE A NET CAST INTO THE SEA--GOOD AND BAD IN THE
 CHURCH--EMBRACE PRINCIPLES IN YOUR FAITH, NOT MEN--CONFESS ONLY TO THOSE
      AGAINST WHOM YOU HAVE SINNED--ECONOMIZE THE GIFTS OF GOD, ETC.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, November 9, 1856.

	I rise to explain one principle to Elders who are in the habit of
preaching the Gospel to the world.  Not but what their views coincide with
mine, not but what they fully comprehend the matter, but all have not the
power and faculty to develop what is in them; some are at a loss to
explain that which they understand.

	I wish to refer more particularly to a remark made by brother
Benjamin L. Clapp, who has just been speaking to us concerning men coming
to him in Texas, and saying that things were thus and so in Utah.  What
can they tell about Utah?  To begin with, they do not know any evil of
this people; the sins of this people are with themselves and their God.  I
defy all hell and all the devils in and about the inhabitants of the earth
to substantiate permanent acts of wickedness against the Elders of this
people.

	Suppose that men came to brother Benjamin in Texas, and told him that
I was the biggest scoundrel in the world, do not this people know better
about that than they? and even Benjamin himself knows it to be a
falsehood?  We know that is falsehood, and I should have taken the liberty
of telling them so.

	I never preached in Texas, but I have preached in places as wicked;
and when a man told me that which was not true about this people or about
the leaders of this people, I would take the liberty of telling him that
he was not telling the truth.  I preached during twenty-four or
twenty-five years among the wicked, and I never yet saw a man that I was
afraid to tell that he was saying that which was not so, when I knew
better; frequently they would turn and say to me, "You had better tell me
that I lie," and my prompt reply would be, you do, sir, and that before
God.

	What fault could the world justly find with this people?  Some have
passed through here to California to dig gold, but they have received
nothing at the hands of this people but kindness.  What do they know about
us?  They cannot charge us with one evil.  Suppose there are wicked men
here, I say the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that gathers fish
both good and bad, and I say this because it is true.

	We have in our community the worst creatures that the world can
produce; the Gospel net must gather them of necessity, or the saying of
Jesus, and what he knew of the kingdom in the last day would not come to
pass.  There are as bad men and women within the pales of this Church as
there are upon this earth, and the Gospel being preached to them prepares
them to become devils.  As you have frequently been told, that is the only
way men can become devils; they must have the knowledge to sin against the
Holy Ghost, or yet the day of redemption awaits them, one or the other.

	Suppose I was preaching in the world, and they should alledge that
some of the people in Utah swore, stole, and were wicked in many ways, I
would acknowledge it to be the case.  They might then inquire, "Why do you
say that you have got the Gospel of salvation? and why do you come to us
to preach, seeing that your own people do wickedly?"  I would reply that
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that gathers fish of all kinds,
therefore we must have the good and the bad in Utah, or else it cannot be
the kingdom of heaven.

	We have some of the bad, and those who pass through our settlements,
or sojourn in our midst for a brief period, become familiar with those who
are wicked, but do not become acquainted with the righteous.  The great
majority of this people are righteous, but the worldlings seek out and
mingle with the few wicked here, because both those classes love the
spirit of the world.

	As to the great argument against the kingdom of God, because there
are some evil doers in the Church, I will take the principles and
doctrines taught by Jesus and his Apostles, and show that these go to
prove and substantiate the fact that this is the kingdom of God.  Why? 
Because we can produce the meanest curses there are on the earth, those
who take all the revelations given by the Almighty, and every influence
and revelation they can get from the devil, and make use of them to add
sin to sin.  This fact is also another proof that all hell is against this
people, for there is not a person in the world, that gives way to
wickedness, but what has antipathy against this people.

	Now hearken, O ye Texians [sic]; do you say there are are [sic]
people here who are wicked?  So we say.  Could I wish things to be
otherwise?  No, I would not have them different if I could.  We can
produce the best men and the worse, the best women and the worst, and thus
prove, according to the sayings of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, that
this is the kingdom of God, or at least answers to the Savior's
description of that kingdom.

	Were I in Texas I would say, let me tell you that I have not embraced
any man on this earth, in my faith, but I have embraced the doctrine of
salvation, and it is no matter what the people do in Utah.  Here is the
doctrine of salvation, talk against that, prove that to be false, or find
a flaw in it, if you can.  Ask for the people, they cannot save you. 
Never embrace a man in your faith, for that is sectarianism.

	There are many of the men and women now before me who have looked for
a pure people, and have supposed that that was a proof of the truth of our
doctrines, but they will never find such a people until Satan is bound,
and Jesus comes to reign with his Saints.  The doctrine we preach is the
doctrine of salvation, and it is that which the Elders of this Church take
to the world, and not the people of Utah.

	Some of the Elders seem to be tripped up in a moment, if the wicked
can find any fault with the members of this Church; but bless your souls,
I would not yet have this people faultless, for the day of separation has
not yet arrived.  I have many a time, in this stand, dared the world to
produce as mean devils as we can; we can beat them at anything.  We have
the greatest and smoothest liars in the world, the cunningest and most
adroit thieves, and any other shade of character that you can mention.

	We can pick out Elders in Israel right here who can beat the world at
gambling, who can handle the cards, cut and shuffle them with the smartest
rogue on the face of God's foot-stool.  I can produce Elders here who can
shave their smartest shavers, and take their money from them.  We can beat
the world at any game.

	We can beat them, because we have men here that live in the light of
the Lord, that have the Holy Priesthood, and hold the keys of the kingdom
of God.  But you may go through all the sectarian world, and you cannot
find a man capable of opening the door of the kingdom of God to admit
others in.  We can do that.  We can pray the best, preach the best, and
sing the best.  We are the best looking and finest set of people on the
face of the earth, and they may begin any game they please, and we are on
hand, and can beat them at anything they have a mind to begin.  They may
make sharp their two-edged swords, and I will turn out the Elders of
Israel with greased feathers, and whip them to death.  We are not to be
beat.  We expect to be stumbling block to the whole world, and a rock of
offence to them.

	I never preached to the world but what the cry was, "that damned old
Joe Smith has done thus and so."  I would tell the people that they did
not know him, and I did, and that I knew him to be a good man; and that
when they spoke against him, they spoke against as good a man as ever
lived.

	I recollect a conversation I had with a priest who was an old friend
of ours, before I was personally acquainted with the Prophet Joseph.  I
clipped every argument he advanced, until at last he came out and began to
rail against "Joe Smith," saying, "that he was a mean man, a liar,
money-digger, gambler, and a whore-master;" and he charged him with
everything bad, that he could find language to utter.  I said, hold on,
brother Gillmore, here is the doctrine, here is the Bible, the Book of
Mormon, and the revelations that have come through Joseph Smith the
Prophet.  I have never seen him, and do not know his private character. 
The doctrine he teaches is all I know about the matter, bring anything
against that if you can.  As to anything else I do not care.  If he acts
like a devil, he has brought forth a doctrine that will save us, if we
will abide it.  He may get drunk every day of his life, sleep with his
neighbor's wife every night, run horses and gamble, I do not care anything
about that, for I never embrace any man in my faith.  But the doctrine he
has produced will save you and me, and the whole world; and if you can
find fault with that, find it.  He said, "I have done."

	It is the fashion in the world to embrace men in their faith, or a
fine meeting house, or a genteel congregation, thinking, "O, what perfect
order, and how pretty they look; how straight they walk to meeting, and
how long their faces are during the services; how pretty that deacon looks
under the pulpit; the people are so pretty, the meeting house is so nice,
that we want to join such pretty people."  Such feelings will take a
people to hell.  Embrace a doctrine that will purge sin and iniquity from
your hearts, and sanctify you before God, and you are right, no matter how
others act.

	I wish you all to understand that no Elders go to any place among the
world, but what the wicked find fault with the people of God.  They found
fault with Joseph Smith, and at length killed him, as they have a great
many others of the Latter-day Saints.  What for?  Because of his
wickedness?  No.  But the cry was, "Away with him, we cannot do with this
man nor with his people."  Did they hate him for his evil works?  No.  If
he had been a liar, a swearer, a gambler, or in any way an evil doer, and
of the world, it would have loved its own, and they would have embraced
him, because he could have spread still more delusion through the world
around him.

	We are hated, because we are righteous.  If we have sinned, the
people in Texas know nothing about it; they cannot in truth find a word of
fault with the charater of this people, except with the few we have on
hand ready to beat them at their meanness.  The Lord wants those few here
to fulfil His words and purposes, and they are fit for no other place. 
The sheep and the goats, the calves and the pigs, are all good in their
places.  The Lord will make use of us to His glory; and though a good many
of those who now profess to be good Latter-day Saints may meet
condemnation, even their course will finally result to the glory of God. 
Are these ideas correct?  Judge ye.

	Now, brethren, let me say a few words to you.  Let us repent of our
backslidings and tell the people of Texas that we ask no odds of them, nor
of any one else but our Father and our God, and those we are associated
with in His kingdom.  As brother Benjamin has exhorted you, confess your
faults to the individuals that you ought to confess them to, and proclaim
them not on the house tops.  Be careful that you wrong not yourselves. Do
you not know that if a good person is guilty of committing a crime he
thinks that everybody knows it, and is ready to confess here, and there,
and everywhere he has an opportunity?

	I do not want to know anything about the sins of this people, at
least no more than I am obliged to.  If persons lose confidence in
thenselves, it takes away the strength, faith and confidence that others
have in them; it leaves a space that we call weakness.  If you have
committed a sin that no other person on the earth knows of, and which
harms no other one, you have done a wrong and sinned against your God, but
keep that within your own bosom, and seek to God and confess there, and
get pardon for your sin.

	If children have sinned against their parents, or husbands against
their wives, or wives against their husbands, let them confess their
faults one to another and forgive each other, and there let the confession
stop; and then let them ask pardon from their God.  Confess your sins to
whoever you have sinned against, and let it stop there.  If you have
committed a sin against the community, confess to them.  If you have
sinned in your family, confess there.  Confess your sins, iniquities, and
follies, where that confession belongs, and learn to classify your
actions.

	Suppose that the people were to get up here and confess their sins,
it would destroy many innocent persons.  Does Texas know about it?  No,
nor you about one another, if you will be wise and confess your wrongs
where they ought to be confessed, and keep the knowledge of them from
every person it ought to be kept from.  In this way you will have strength
against the enemy, who would otherwise buffet you and say, "Here is your
wickedness made manifest," and would overcome you and destroy all the
confidence you have in yourselves and in your God.

	If the Lord has confidence in you, preserve it, and take a course to
produce more.  If the Lord had a people on the earth that He had perfect
confidence in, there is not a blessing in the eternities of our God, that
they could bear in the flesh, that He would not pour out upon them. 
Tongue cannot tell the blessings the Lord has for a people who have proved
themselves before Him.

	That we may have confidence in Him, and He in us, let us take a
coures to create it, that He may open the heavens and pour upon us the
blessings and power of the Holy Ghost.

	Fathers, reflect for yourselves.  Suppose that a father had thirty
thousand dollars to distribute among three of his boys, and that one of
them was a spendthrift who would prodigally sow his share to the four
winds, and cause his wife and children to come on his father for support. 
Would that father have confidence to bestow ten thousand dollars on his
spendthrift son?  No, but he would deal it out to that son's wife and
children as they might need, and the rest he would preserve for him to
another time.  Our Father has to deal in that manner with us, for He has
not confidence to know that we will do the things we ought and economize
His blessings, if He should bestow them upon us.

	We are like children who want the looking-glass to play with, and who
cry for the sharp razor and for the moon they see reflected in the water,
desiring them for play-things.  Let us take such a course that God will
have confidence in us, and then we shall receive all we need, all we
desire and ask for.

	Take a wise course; do not be foolish.  I want you to reform, for
there is need of it; though the world knows nothing about it.  They hate
us for the truth's sake, and seek to destroy us; and I say to them, go it
ye cripples, while you are young; for the day is coming in which you will
find yourselves as badly crippled as ever the "Mormons" were.

	May the Lord bless you.  Amen.

   TEMPTATION AND TRIALS NECESSARY TO EXALTATION--IF THE SAINTS PERFORM
  THEIR OBLIGATIONS, THE LORD WILL NOT FAIL IN HIS--HAND-CART EMIGRATION
                     PREFERABLE TO THAT BY OX-TEAMS.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, November 16, 1856.

	I rise to make a few remarks, to satisfy the feelings of the people
and correct their minds and judgment.

	You have heard concerning the sufferings of the people in the
handcart trains; and, probably you will hear the Elders, for some time to
come, those who have lately returned from their missions and those now on
the Plains, speak about the scenes they have witnessed, and I would like
to forestall the erroneous impressions that many may otherwise imbibe on
this subject.

	Count the living and the dead, and you will find that not half the
number died in brother Willie's hand-cart company, in proportion to the
number in that company, as have died in past seasons by the cholera in
single companies travelling with wagons and oxen, with carriages and
horses, and that too in the forepart of the season.  When you call to mind
this fact, the relations of the sufferings of our companies this season
will not be so harrowing to your feelings.  With regard to those who have
died and been laid away by the roadside on the Plains, since the cold
weather commenced, let me tell you they have not suffered one hundreth
[sic] part so much as did our brethren and sisters who have died with the
cholera.

	Some of those who have died in the hand-cart companies this season, I
am told, would be singing, and, before the tune was done, would drop over
and breathe their last; and others would die while eating, and with a
piece of bread in their hands.  I should be pleased when the time comes,
if we could all depart from this life as easily as did those our brethren
and sisters.  I repeat, it will be a happy circumstance, when death
overtakes me, if I am privileged to die without a groan or struggle, while
yet retaining a good appetite for food.  I speak of these things, to
forestall indulgence in a misplaced sympathy.

	You have heard the brethren relate their trials through Iowa; it is a
a [sic] wicked place.  Those regions of the country are the locality of
the afflictions that have come upon this people.  Take Missouri, Illinois,
and Iowa, and they are the places where we have been afflicted and driven. 
What can we expect from those people? anything but hell out of doors?

	Not long since I was talking with one of the brethren, who has
crossed the Plains this season, in regard to the propriety of companies
starting so late.  He argued that it was far better for the Saints to be
striving with all their might, doing all they could to serve the Lord and
keep His commandments, and traveling the road to Zion with intent to build
it up and establish the kingdom of God on earth, even though they should
lay down their lives by the way, than to stop among the Gentiles and
apostates.  I told him it was a good argument, though it was not exactly
according to the will of the people and the will of the Lord, for He
wishes to throw temptation and trial before His people, to prove them
preparatory to their eternal exaltation; consequently, if the people have
not an opportunity of proving themselves before they die, by the ruler of
their faith and religion, they cannot expect to attain to so high a glory
and exaltation as they could if they had been tried in all things.  Yet I
believe it is better for the people to lay down their bones by the way
side, than it is for them to stay in the States and apostatize.

	I told the Elder that his argument seemed reasonable, but it made me
think of the story about a Roman Catholic priest and a Jew.  The priest
was crossing on the ice, and on his way found a Jew, who had fallen
through an air hole, clinging to the edge of the ice, and unable to get
out.  He begged of the priest to help him out, but he would not, unless he
first professed a belief in Jesus Christ.  "I cannot," said the Jew. 
"Then I will let you down," replied the priest, and let go of him.  Still
clinging to the ice, as the priest was about to leave, he again begged him
to pull him out.  "I cannot, unless you believe in Christ."  "I cannot
believe," said the Jew, and the priest let him go again.  At length the
Jew said, "Take me out, I do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all my
might."  "Do you?" said the priest, "then I think it is best to save you,
while you are a Christian and strong in the faith," and he shoved him
under the ice.

	If he could have it so, I would a little rather the Saints could be
privileged to come here and serve the Lord, or apostatize, as they might
choose, for we surely expect to gather both the good and the bad.  You
recollect what I told you, last Sabbath, that we can beat the world at
anything.  If brother Willie has brought in some of the sharks, the
garfish, the sheepheads, and so on and so forth, it is all right, for we
need them to make up the assortment; as yet, I do not know how we could
get along without them; all these kinds seem to be necessary.

	I have seriously reflected upon the gathering of the people.  They
have all the time urgently plead and importuned to be gathered, especially
from the old countries where they are so severely oppressed; and they are
willing to come on foot and pull hand-carts, or do anything, so they can
be gathered with the Saints.  Well, we do gather them, and where do many
of them go?  To the devil.

	In Nauvoo we had obligations, to an amount exceeding $30,000, against
Saints that we had brought from England with our private means; and there
is not to exceed two, of all the persons thus brought out, who have
honorably come forward to pay one cent of that outlay in their behalf; and
some of them were in the mob when it killed Joseph.

	I knew all the time that it was better for many of these persons to
stop in England and starve to death, for then they might have received a
salvation; but they plead with the Lord and with His servants for an
opportunity to prove themselves, and made use of it to seal their
damnation and become angels to the devil.  They had the opportunity, do
you not see that they had?

	If Saints do right and have performed all required of them in this
probation, they are under no more obligation, and then it is no matter
whether they live or die, for their work here is finished.  This is a
doctrine I believe.

	If brother Willie's company had not been assisted by the people in
these valleys, and he and his company had lived to the best light they had
in their possession, had done everything they could have done to cross the
Plains, and done justice as they did, asking no questions and having no
doubting; or in other words, if, after their President or Presidents told
them to go on the Plains, they had gone in full faith, had pursued their
journey according to their ability, and done all they could, and we could
not have rendered them any assistance, it would have been just as easy for
the Lord to send herds of fat buffaloes to lay down within twenty yards of
their camp, as it was to send flocks of quails or to rain down manna from
heaven to Israel of old.

	My faith is, when we have done all we can, then the Lord is under
obligation, and will not disappoint the faithful; He will perform the
rest.  If no other assistance could have been had by the companies this
season, I think they would have had hundreds and hundreds of fat buffaloes
crowding around their camp, so that they could not help but kill them. 
But, under the circumstances, it was our duty to assist them, and we were
none too early in the operation.

	It was not a rash statement for me to make at our last Conference,
when I told you that I would dismiss the Conference, if the people would
not turn out, and that I, with my brethren, would go to the assistance of
the companies.  We knew that our brethren and sisters were on the Plains
and in need of assistance, and we had the power and ability to help them,
therefore it became our duty to do so.

	The Lord was not brought under obligation in the matter, so He had
put the means in our possession to render them the assistance they needed. 
But if there had been no other way, the Lord would have helped them, if He
had had to send His angels to drive up buffaloes day after day, and week
after week.  I have full confidence that the Lord would have done His
part; my only lack of confidence is, that those who profess to be Saints
will not do right and perform their duty.

	You hear the testimony of the brethren with regard to the feasibility
of the hand-cart mode of traveling; that testimony and their experience
have fully sustained the correctness of the views and feelings of myself
and others upon that subject from the beginning.  It is the very essence
of my feelings that the people in this house, if we wanted to cross the
Plains next season to the States, could start from here with hand-carts,
and beat any company in traveling that would cross the Plains with teams,
and be better of [sic] and healthier.  These are my feelings, and they
have been all the time.

	I have argued the point before the people that they are not aware of
their ability, that they do not know what they can do; that they are
healthier when they live in the open air.  What gives the people colds and
makes them sick?  You hear many say, "I had not had a cold this fall,
until I came into our new house."  Brethren and sisters that have come
into the city from living in the kanyons, and those who have arrived from
the States this season, have not been troubled with colds until they came
into warm houses; that gives them colds, by depriving their lungs of the
benefit they are organized to receive from the atmosphere.

	It is a strange thought, but could you weigh the particles of life
that you constantly receive from the water you drink and from the air you
breathe, you would learn that you receive a greater proportion of
nourishment from those sources than from the food you consume.  Many are
not aware of this, for they are not apt to reflect how much longer they
can live when deprived of food than they can when deprived of air.  When
people are obliged to breathe confined air, they do not have that free,
full flow of the purification and nourishment that is in the fresh air,
and they begin to decay, and go into what we call consumption.

	People need not be afraid of living out of doors, nor of sleeping out
of doors; this country is much healthier than the lowlands in the States,
or than many places in the old world.  I recollect that in 1834, myself,
brother Kimball, and others, traveled two thousand miles inside of three
months, and that we too in the heat of summer, [sic-punc]  We cooked our
own food, carried our guns, got our provisions by the way, and performed
the journey within ninety days.  We laid on the ground every night, and
there was scarcely a night that we could sleep, for the air rose from the
ground hot enough to suffocate us, and they supplied musketos in that
country, as they did eggs, by the bushel; they never thought of supplying
less than a bushel or so at once to an individual.  That journey was many
times more taxing upon the health and life of a person, than this season's
hand-cart journey over the Plains.

	You may take the rich and the poor, every person, and they can gather
from the Missouri river, or from parts of the States where there are no
railroads or steamboats, easier than they can with teams.  And I am
ashamed of our Elders that go out on missions, it is a disgrace to the
Elders of Israel, that they do not start from here with hand-carts, or
with knapsacks on their backs, and go to the States, and from thence
preach their way to their respective fields of labor.  Brother Kimball
moves that we do not send any Elders from this place again, unless they
take handcarts and cross the Plains on foot.  When the time comes, I
expect that this motion will be put to vote.

	It is a shame for the Elders to take with them from this place
everything they can rake and scrape.  I can go on foot across the Plains. 
As old as I am, I can take a hand-cart and draw it across those Plains
quicker than you can go with animals and loaded wagons, and be healthier
when I get to the Missouri river.  Our Elders must have a good span of
horses, or mules, and must ride, ride, ride; kill many of their animals,
and get little or nothing for those left when they arrive at the Missouri
river, besides taking four or five hundred dollars worth of property from
their families.  And some ride so much that they do not know how to
preach, whereas, if they would walk, they would be in far better condition
to labor in the Gospel.

	As to the expediency of the handcart mode of traveling, brothers
Ellsworth, McArthur, and Bunker, who piloted the three first hand-cart
companies over the Plains, can testify that they easily beat the wagon
companies.  Brother Ellsworth performed the journey in sixty-three days,
and brother McArthur in sixty-one and a half, notwithstanding the
hindrance by the baggage wagons.  If brother Willie's company could have
had their provisions deposited at Laramie and at Green river, and had been
free from wagons, they would have been in this valley by the time they
were in the storms.

	We are not in the least discouraged about the hand-cart method of
traveling.  As to its preaching a sermon to the nations, as has been
remarked, they are preached pretty nigh to destruction already.  We do not
care whether the hand-cart scheme preaches to them, or whether it be by
the teachings of the Elders of Israel.  They are so bound up with their
friends and so priest-ridden, that they cannot burst through those chains;
and they will have to remain so until Jesus devises some other means to
save them, for the great majority will not hear and obey.

	There are a few who are sufficiently independent to obey the truth
when they hear it.  We will gather them up, and let the devils howl and
let all hell be moved in striving to overthrow this people.  We will
gather the faithful, God being our helper, and we do not care whether the
rest hear and believe or not.  The sound of the Gospel has gone to the
uttermost parts of the earth, as I have told you already; and I know not a
people, and hardly a nation, but what it makes them quake from centre to
circumference.  If they do not believe the sound that has gone forth, let
them disbelieve; we ask no odds of them.

	We do not expect that all the people will believe, and wickedness
will increase while the Saints are gathering together.  If those who
profess to know what right is, will do right and live to the Gospel of
Christ which they understand, there is no danger but what the elect will
be saved, and that the devil cannot get them.  All that Jesus designs to
save he will save; all that are disposed to believe and obey, he is
disposed to save, and will do it.  And those that will falter and hearken
to the teachings and seductions of the world, the flesh, and the devil, he
can save upon the principles he has established.

	Men act upon their own agency; we do not expect that those who will
not hearken and obey will be saved by the Gospel; and many that obey the
first principles of the Gospel will not live their religion.

	Let this people live their religion here.  We cry to you all the time
to live your religion.  Let every man and woman forsak [sic] their evil
ways, and turn unto the Lord with all their hearts, that He may have mercy
on us, that the light may shine, and the nations feel its influence, and
the honest in heart rejoice therein and be gathered to Zion.

	As I told the brethren the other evening, if the candle of the
Almighty does not shine from this place, you need not seek for light any
where else.  If this people have not the light and power of God with them,
the Elders that go forth cannot have the light and enjoy the power that we
do not have here; they must be lower than we are; they cannot attain to
the light that we can here.

	Shall we forsake our wickedness?  I say, thank God, that I see a
spirit of repentance in a degree; but I want to see so thorough a reform
that sin and wickedness will be done away.  Live your religion; that tells
the whole story.  If you live your religion you have the Holy Ghost in
you, it abides with you; you shun evil, and put forth your energies to do
all the good you can; you will refrain from everything that is evil, and
do everything you can to promote the cause of God on the earth.

	It is all embraced in the three words, live your religion; that is
what I wish to say to all good people.  That the Lord may help us so to
do, that we may be accounted worthy to be saved in His kingdom, is my
constant prayer, brethren and sisters, in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.


               ON THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT JEDEDIAH M. GRANT.
      A Funeral Sermon, by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the
   Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, December 4, 1856.

	We expected that this congregation would have been assembled and
seated by ten o'clock, or by a quarter past ten at the latest; it is now
twelve, lacking five minutes, and near the time when we should be moving
to the place of burial.

	The time is so far advanced, that I shall not presume to answer my
feelings, in my remarks on this occasion.  I expected to have had time
enough for offering some of my feelings and views, with regard to the
living and the dead.  True, it would take me a long time to reveal to you
what is in my heart, but I expected to have had time to bestow a portion
thereof on this congregation.

	I will say to those here assembled, and especially to those more
immediately connected with brother Grant in the capacity of a family, you
have no cause for mourning, neither have we.  True, we were very fond of
the company and society of brother Grant; brother Jedediah was a man we
all loved, and we would have liked to have had him staid with us; we would
have been pleased in longer enjoying his society here.

	But this our place of abode is only temporary; we are on a journey;
we have only to winter and summer, as it were.  Brother Grant has got
through here, and has gone to his spiritual place of abode for a season. 
Not that he has reached his journey's end, nor will he, until he has again
received this body that now lies before me.  Every material part and
portion pertaining to his body, to the temporal organization that
constitutes the man, will clothe his spirit again, before he is prepared
to receive the place and habitation that is prepared for him, yet he has
gone to his spiritual home for a season.

	I am aware of the feelings of families and friends on such occasions. 
Many times I can govern and control my feelings, at other times I cannot. 
When I can control my own feelings, I can collect my thoughts and express
my ideas as clearly as my language will permit.

	In the few remarks that I will make to-day, I will not go to the
Bible, to the Book of Mormon, nor to the Book of Doctrine and Covenants,
for my text, for I will give you a text which comprehends the sermon also,
so that if I do not dwell directly upon it, I trust that what I say will
be true, for it will be incorporated in my text, and the text alone will
be a sermon.

	On this occasion I will say, as on other occasions, blessed are they
that hear the Gospel of salvation, believe it, embrace it, and live to all
its precepts. That is the text, and a whole sermon in and of itself.

	Time will not permit me to tell, only in part, wherein they are
blessed, how and with what they will be blessed, for it takes a life time
to prepare for this blessing.

	Some people would have to live to be a hundred years of age, in order
to be as ripe in the things of God as was brother Grant, whose body now
lies lifeless before us; to be as ripe as was the spirit which lately
inhabited this deserted earthly tabernacle.

	There are but few that can ripen for the glory, the immortality that
is prepared for the faithful; for receiving all that was purchased for
them by the Son of God; but very few can receive what brother Grant has
re- [sic] received in his life time.  He has been in the Church upwards of
twenty-four years, and was a man that would live, comparatively speaking,
a hundred years in that time.  The storehouse that was prepared in him to
receive the truth, was capable of receiving as much in twenty-five years
as most of men can in one hundred.

	Though we might say that the time has been short which he has had to
prepare himself in the flesh for receiving all that is treasured up for
the faithful, yet there are but few men in this Church that ever will be
prepared to receive what he will receive, though they live thirty, fifty,
seventy-five, or a hundred years, or to the coming of the Son of Man;
there are but few men that will be prepared to receive the same degree of
glory and exaltation that brother Jedediah will receive.  This may be
attributed to the peculiar organization of man.

	It is not every man that is capable of filling every station, though
there is no man but what is capable of filling his proper station, and
that, too, with dignity and honor to himself.  When you find a person that
is capable of receiving light and wisdom, one that can descend to the
capacity of the weakest of the weak, and can comprehend the highest and
most noble intelligence that can be obtained by man, can receive it with
all ease, and comprehend it, circumscribe it, understand it from first to
last, that is the man that can ripen for eternity in a few years; that is
the individual who is capable of occupying stations that many cannot
occupy.

	Brother Grant we were well acquainted with, and there is no person
but what laments his departure from this world.  But what will we mourn
for?  I want to ask myself that question, as I have a great many times. 
What will you mourn for, because brother Grant has gone where he can do
more good?  No, we will not mourn for that.  Will we mourn because he has
overcome all his enemies here, all that are opposed to Jesus Christ and to
his Gospel, because he has won the prize?  Will we mourn for that?

	He is prepared to dwell with Prophets, with brother Joseph, with the
ancient Apostles, with Moses, with Abraham, and to dwell in the presence
of Jesus Christ.  We will not mourn for that.  What will we mourn for?  He
has lost nothing, but has gained all.

	Why do we mourn?  Perhaps it will be difficult for me to tell you,
yet I know.  It is not the knowledge that God has given you or me, that
causes us to mourn; it is not the Spirit of the Gospel that produces
within us a mournful feeling; it is not the Spirit of Christ, the
knowledge of eternity, of God, or of the way of life and salvation.  Our
mourning proceeds from none of those causes.  What causes us to mourn? 
Neither more nor less, to me and so far as I can convey my idea by
language, than the earthly weakness that is in us.  It is not the
knowledge of the Almighty, the power of God, the light of eternity, but it
is the darkness, the weakness, the ignorance, the want of that eternal
knowledge, so far as I can conceive, that makes any person mourn here on
the earth.  If this conveys the idea to you, as it does to me, it will
satisfy me.

	Mourning for the righteous dead springs from the ignorance and
weakness that are planted within the mortal tabernacle, the organization
of this house for the spirit to dwell in.  No matter what pain we suffer,
no matter what we pass through, we cling to our mother earth, and dislike
to have any of her children leave us.  We love to keep together the social
family relation that we bear one to another, and do not like to part with
each other; but could we have knowledge and see into eternity, if we were
perfectly free from the weakness, blindness, and lethargy with which we
are clothed in the flesh, we should have no disposition to weep or mourn.

	Perhaps it is not proper for me to make a few remarks with regard to
this day's operations.  Funeral ceremonies have often borne upon my mind
with considerable, I will say, weight, and especially since I came into
the vestry at the time appointed for the services to commence.  I have
often reflected with regard to paying particular respect to that which is
useless, to that which is nothing at all to us.  And while waiting in the
vestry, I was pondering upon how many bands of music attended Jesus to the
tomb, upon what the procession was, how many wore crape, who mourned, and
the situation of the mourners.

	There are but few of us but what have been honored with as convenient
a place for a birth as was Jesus, though I presume that his mother was
comparatively comfortable while lieing on the hay in the manger; there are
but few of us but what have had the privilege of a house to be born in.

	I was reflecting upon how many there were to lament and mourn for Him
when he went out of the world; and the few that did mourn had to make
their escape, like going on to Ensign Peak; they had to stand afar off to
mourn, and durst not be seen near the place of the crucifixion.  When the
body had hung on the cross until night, Joseph begged the privilege of
taking it down and carrying it to the tomb.

	I was reflecting further.  Suppose brother Grant could speak to us
this day, he would deprecate to the lowest degree the fuss and parade we
are making.  He would say, "Away with you; stop your blowing of horns,
beating of drums, and hoisting of colors.  Give my body a place to lay and
rest, and do not consider me better than other men.  Take my body and bury
it deep enough, so that it can rest where the floods cannot wash it out,
where is can remain until the trumpet sounds, when I may awake up and help
you again.

	Perhaps it is not proper for me to make these remarks, yet I hope
they will not injure the feelings of any one.  But I say to each and every
one of you, whether I die in this city, or wherever I die, when my spirit
leaves my body, know ye that that tabernacle is of no use, until the
command comes for it to be resurrected; and I do not want you to cry over
it, nor make any parade, but give me a good place where my bones can rest,
that have been weary for many years, and have delighted to labor until
nearly worn out; and then go home about your business, and think no more
about me, except you think of me in the spirit world, as I do about
Jedediah.

	I have not felt, for one minute, that Jedediah is dead; I feel he is
with us just as much as he was a week or a month ago.

	The few words I say will perhaps be a consolation to you, and perhaps
not, but I tell you some of my feelings and views.

	I want you all to remember this; when I die, let your flags remain in
their proper places, omit your parade, and lay me away where I can rest. 
And I do not wish any of you to cry and feel badly, but prepare yourselves
to fight the devils while you live, and after you pass through the vail;
and let me tell you, that there we will do a great deal more than we can
here.

	Another thing I want to promise you, every one of you, if you will be
faithful; I promise it to myself.  True, brother Grant was a great help to
me; he stood by me, and was willing to come and go, and to do whatever was
requested of him, in order to take the burden from me; but I tell you that
we will have not only four, but an hundred fold for him, just as good, and
so we will for every good man that lies down; I promise you that.  Brother
Grant we call a great man, a giant, a lion; but let me tell you that the
young whelps are growing up here who will roar louder than ever he dare,
and instead of there being two, or three, or four, there are hundreds of
them.

	Perhaps many of you will think I am not correct in my views, that I
am enthusiastic, that I am mistaken; but let me tell you that the very
sons of these women that sit here will rise up and be as great as any man
that ever lived, and as far beyond Jedediah, or myself, and brother Heber,
as we are in the Gospel beyond our little children.  I am not going to
gather the lions of the forest from the sectarian world, that is not where
I am going to get them, but the mothers in Israel are going to rear them. 
They will raise hundreds and thousands that will know more about the
things of God in twenty years than Jedediah did in his lifetime, which was
forty years.  Will they know more than I do?  Yes.

	I do not make any calculation, and never did, but that my boys who
are now growing up will be as far beyond me, at my age, as I am beyond the
knowledge I had in my infancy.  We will not mourn for that, will we?  No. 
For one I am comforted, if I can overcome the weakness that is upon me,
which is the result of ignorance; that pertains to the flesh--to fallen
nature.  The cause of mourning does not pertain to God, nor to the things
of God, but arises from the weakness of human nature.

	When we lose such men as we have since we came into the valleys of
the mountains, such men as brother Whitney, brother Willard, brother
Jedediah, brother Orson Spencer, and many others, it is a matter of
regret.

	Brother Grant can now do ten times more than if he was in the flesh;
do you want to know how?  He is in the spirit world, he has conquered
death and hell, and will the grave, when he again assumes his body.  He is
no more subject to the devils that dwell in the infernal regions; he
commands them, and they must go at his bidding; he can move them just as I
can move my hand.  Do you know how that is done?  It is done by the
principle in me that is called will, which principle God has planted in
all intelligences according to the capacity bestowed upon them.  That
intelligence is in us; we may call it will; it is the power of life in
every creature and in all intelligences, and by that power I stretch out
my arm and bring it to me again at my pleasure, I look to the right or to
the left, and I speak according to the dictates of my will.  When I govern
myself, I do this or that, I rise up to go to that city and return again,
I sit down and rise up, and do what I please.

	When men overcome as our faithful brethren have, and go where they
see Joseph, who will dictate them and be their head and Prophet all the
time, they have power over all disembodied evil spirits, for they have
overcome them.  Those evil spirits are under the command and control of
every man that has had the Priesthood on him, and has honored it in the
flesh, just as much as my hand is under my control.

	Do you not think that brother Jedediah can do more good than he could
here?  When he was here the devils had power over his flesh, he warred
with them and fought them, and said that they were around him by millions,
and he fought them until he overcame them.  So it is with you and I.  You
never felt a pain and ache, or felt disagreeable, or uncomfortable in your
bodies and minds, but what an evil spirit was present causing it.  Do you
realize that the ague, the fever, the chills, the severe pain in the head,
the plurisy [sic], or any pain in the system, from the crown of the head
to the soles of the feet, is put there by the devil?  You do not realize
this, do you?

	I say but little about this matter, because I do not want you to
realize it.  When you have the rheumatism, do you realize that the devil
put that upon you?  No, but you say, "I got wet, caught cold, and thereby
got the rheumatism."  The spirits that afflict us and plant disease in our
bodies, pain in the system, and finally death, have control over us so far
as the flesh is concerned.  But when the spirit is unlocked from the body
it is free from the power of death and Satan; and when that body comes up
again, it also, with the spirit, will gain the victory over death, hell,
and the grave.

	When the spirit leaves the tabernacle of flesh and goes into the
spirit world, it has control over every evil influence with which it comes
in contact, and when it takes up the body again, then the body also, with
the spirit, will have control over every evil spirit that is in a
tabernacle, if there is any such being, just as far as the spirit that has
the Priesthood had control over evil spirits.

	Perhaps you do not understand me.  Take a spirit that has gone into
the spirit world, does it have control over corruptible bodies?  No.  It
can only act in the capacity of a spirit.  As to the devils inhabiting
these earthly bodies, it cannot control them, it only controls spirits. 
But when the spirit is again united to the body, that spirit and body
unitedly have control over the evil bodies, those controlled by the devil
and given over to the devils, if there is any such thing.  Resurrected
beings have control over matter as well as spirit.

	Brother Grant's body which lies here is useless, is good for nothing
until it is resurrected, and merely needs a place in which to rest; his
spirit has not fled beyond the sun.  There are millions and millions of
spirits in these valleys, both good and evil.  We are surrounded with more
evil spirits than good ones, because more wicked than good men have died
here; for instance, thousands and thousands of wicked Lamanites have laid
their bodies in these valleys.  The spirits of the just and unjust are
here.  The spirits that were cast out of heaven, which you know are
recorded to have been one-third part, were thrust down to this earth, and
have been here all the time, with Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, at
their head.

	When a good man or woman dies, the spirit does not go to the sun or
the moon.  I have often told you that the spirits go to God who gave them,
and that He is everywhere; if God is not everywhere, will you please tell
me where He is not.  The moment your eyes are opened upon the spirit land,
you will find yourselves in the presence of God, for as David says, "If
you take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the
earth, He is there; and if you make your bed in hell, behold He is there."

	You are in the presence of God, and when your eyes are opened you
will understand it.  Brother Grant's spirit is in the presence of God; and
he is with Joseph, when he is not required to be somewhere else.  He is at
work for the benefit of Zion, for that is all the business that Joseph and
the Elders of this Church have on hand.

	You and I have yet to deal with evil spirits, but Jedediah has
control over them.  When we have done with the flesh, and have departed to
the spirit world, you will find that we are independent of those evil
spirits.  But while you are in the flesh you will suffer by them, and
cannot control them, only by your faith in the name of Jesus Christ and by
the keys of the eternal Priesthood.  When the spirit is unlocked from the
tabernacle it is as free, pure, holy, and independent of them as the sun
is of this earth.  Jedediah can now do more for us than he could by longer
staying here.

	Where do you suppose the spirits of our departed friends are?  Where
they ought to be; they are here, on the other side of the earth, in the
East Indies, in Washington, &c.; they are controlling the fallen spirits
here, or somewhere else.  They could not control the spirits of evil men
while here, only by faith, but now one of our departed brethren can
control millions of disembodied evil spirits; while they were in the flesh
they were afflicted by them.  Is this not a great consolation to us?  Some
one may ask me for the proof for my statements, and may enquire whether it
is in the Bible; yes, every word of it.  I could prove it every word from
that book, but I do not need to go to the Bible, my scripture is within
me.

	Brother Kimball could tell what I will now just touch upon better
than I can, for he heard it; I will, however, say a few words about it.  A
short time before his death, brother Jedediah went to the world of spirits
two nights in succession, and saw perfect order amongst them.  He saw many
of the Saints whom he was acquainted with, and saw his wife Caroline and
his child that was buried on the route across the Plains, and dug up and
eaten by the wolves.  She said to him, "Here is my child; you know it was
eaten up by the wolves, but it is here, and has taken no harm."  It was
the spirit of the child he saw.  He came back to his body, but did not
like to enter it again, for he saw that it was filthy and corrupt.  He
also told how his brethren and family felt, when he told them what he saw
in the spirit world.  He said that his friends felt like saying, "Well
brother Grant, may be it is so, and may be it is not so; we do not know
anything about it."

	You know nothing about what I am telling you concerning the spirit
world any more than brother Grant's friends knew about what he told them. 
Why?  Because we are encumbered with this flesh, we are in darkness; the
flesh is the vail that is over the nations.  When we go from the body, we
have eyes to see spiritual things and understand them.

	I have not answered my feelings, and cannot, owing to the lateness of
the hour.  It wanted but five minutes to twelve when I began to speak, and
it is now time to bring the services to a close.

	I hope you will remember what I have said, for it is true; and if you
do not, I hope it will be told to you until you do.  May God bless you. 
Amen.

   PROPHETS WEEP BECAUSE OF THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE--ONE GENERATION SHOULD
      IMPROVE UPON THE EXPERIENCE OF ANOTHER--MANY SET THEIR HEARTS ON
 PERISHABLE
 THINGS--PROVISIONS ARE MADE FOR THE EXALTATION OF ALL--THE SPIRIT     
      SHOULD
 RULE THE FLESH--LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF MAN--PHENOMENON OF
              FORGETFULNESS--NATURAL PHILOSOPHY--EMIGRATION.
  A Discourse, by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, February 1, 1857.

	Let the congregation be as still as possible.

	I wish to  occupy a short time in speaking to you, and I am not able
to talk with the ease that I could wish, for my health has for some time
obliged me to confine myself pretty closely to my rooms.  This is the
first time that I have walked so far as to come to this Tabernacle since
the burial of Jedediah M. Grant.  My bodily afflictions would not permit
me to walk much, and they also still hinder my efforts in speaking or
exercising.  I have been troubled this winter as are many in this high
altitude, with a rising of the blood to the head; that is what is
troubling me this morning, insomuch that I hardly felt able to get here.

	Aided by the faith and prayers of the Saints, I will endeavour to
speak so that you can hear me, and to edify you according to the best of
my ability.

	I have a great desire to teach people the way of life and salvation;
I have been occupied in that labour for many years.  It has been my chief
business to instruct the inhabitants of the earth how they can secure unto
themselves eternal life.  The more I become acquainted with the principles
pertaining to salvation, and the more strictly I adhere to them, the more
importance I attach to them.

	If I do not always view people as they really are, yet I see them
partially as they are, perhaps, as looking through a glass darkly, and in
the vision of my mind, looking at this people called Latter-day Saints,
and leaving out the residue of the inhabitants of the earth, to give vent
to my understanding, I could cry aloud and weep before the Lord.  It
appears to me that very many, in their understandings, according to the
past conduct of the people, leaving out the present, are too much like
brute beasts, or like the door on its hinges, which opens and shuts as it
is acted upon, and is insensible.  This appears to be the situation of
some of the people.

	Sometimes this seems strange and inconsistent, knowing that mankind
are organized to receive and continue to receive, and that receiving one
fact in the understanding does not deprive them in the least of receiving
another.  There is no heathen nation but what expects their posterity to
improve in all the knowledge they possess, and that is required by the
parents.  But the Christian nations with whom we have been associated,
boast of their intelligence, suppose that they are exhibiting great
knowledge, and that it towers to the heavens, and expect their children to
improve in all the arts and sciences in their possession.

	When people have the privilege of securing to themselves eternal
exaltation, when the words of eternal life are given to them, what a pity
it is that they do not understand, how liable they are to fall out by the
way, and that this is necessary in this state of probation.  Place before
some persons that which their appetites crave and require, and they will
forsake every other thing, even their best friends.  They will contend
against their best friends and benefactors, in order to glut their
appetites.  When I look at this people, to say nothing about any people
but the Latter-day Saints, if I have a correct understanding, some few of
them look to me to be much like what we call brute beasts.  The people are
instructed, from their youth, that there is no end to their learning. 
They are taught by their parents and by their teachers that they can
continue to learn, that they can store up knowledge, treasure up the
wisdom of the world, and never see the time, although they shall live to
the age of Methusela or older, but what they can add to their store of
knowledge.

	When I apply these principles to the Latter-day Saints, it would seem
that when they are once filled, when they are once fed upon the words of
eternal life until their souls are satisfied, they conclude that that meal
will last for ever.  They think they will never require any more, and so
they become empty, faint, wearied, dull, stupid, and before they are aware
of it, they need a spirit of reformation; they need a fresh manifestation
of the power of God to stir them up and waken them out of their sleep, to
remove the scales from their eyes, to arouse them from their lethargy. 
And when again awakened, they begin to see that they have been without
food; then they can realize that they have neglected the more weighty
matters.  I ask the Latter-day Saints, is such the case?  Is it true that
any of the Elders of Israel, with their wives and children, neglect the
things of God, and turn to the paltry, corruptible things of earth, and
let their affections and feelings be attracted from holy principles, and
placed on objects of no moment?  You can answer this question at your
leisure.

	You that see and understand things as they are, you who can obtain
the visions of eternity, whose minds soar aloft to things beyond this vale
of tears, how does it appear to you?  Do you feel as though you can weep
over the people?  Whether you do or not, that is my feeling.  To observe
for what trifling things men and women will turn away from the spirit of
the holy Gospel, after travelling a few hundred miles with, perhaps, a few
little trials to pass through, such as being perplexed with wild cattle in
their teams, with misfortunes and losses; and they thirst, thirst greedily
for the vain and foolish things of the world, and neglect the Spirit and
principles of the holy Gospel.  It has killed them spiritually to pass
through those sorrows, privations, and trials.

	You may ponder these ideas in your hearts, at your leisure.  Such
conduct is one of the most astonishing things to me that ever I have
experienced or beheld; yet I have reasons for thinking that I understand
the natural causes why the people are as they are.

	I flattered myself years ago, that whoevever [sic] embraced the
doctrine of salvation would so live as to enter in at the straight gate,
in this, however, I have been mistaken.  If we this day had congregated
the vast multitudes that have taken upon them the name of Christ, that
have entered into the new and everlasting covenant to serve the Lord our
God, those who have embraced the Gospel of salvation that has been
revealed through His Prophet and Seer in the last days, and then selected
out those who still stand firm in the faith, you would find that but a
small portion of the vast congregation had kept the faith; far the
greatest number would be on the left hand.  If you were to inquire of them
individually, "after you heard the Gospel, believed and embraced it, did
you think you would ever leave the faith?" every man and woman would
reply, "No, no; I will believe and obey until death; no power on earth
shall deprive me of the blessings of the Gospel that I have embraced; for
it I have sacrificed my all."

	Again, would not thousands that have forsaken their fathers, mothers,
children, or companions, for the sake of the Gospel, but are now enveloped
in the spirit of the world, when asked whether they know this Gospel to be
true, reply, "We believe it;" and when asked whether Joseph Smith was a
Prophet, reply, "We believe it?"  Ask such persons why they do not gather
with the Saints, and the ten thousand obstacles that would be presented
would tower up like mountains and keep them from gathering.  Ask them why
they do not pay their tithing, and they have ten thousand excuses and
reasons to render.  Inquire why they do not do something for the Gospel,
and instruct them if they cannot pay their tithing, nor gather with the
Saints, to go and preach to their neighbours, and they will say to you,
"O, my neighbours are pretty well off, they are good people; here are the
Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, &c., and they are good people, and I
really do not feel it my duty to preach to them."  Where are such persons? 
They are in darkness, they have apostatized.  Another great class you will
find have come out in open rebellion to the faith, to those principles
they once testified they knew to be true, and that too by the power of the
Holy Ghost.

	Now leave that vast multitude, and come to this place.  Here is the
gathering of the people; here is the carcass, and the eagles gather to
this place; here they are by thousands and scores of thousands.  Look
through this vast multitude before me, and through the inhabitants of this
Territory, and then go to the United States and to Europe, and the Islands
of the sea, and gather up all who profess to be Latter-day Saints, and how
many of them are there in the way to enter into the straight gate?  How
many are going to be crowned with the Gods?  You will all admit that this
is a hard question to answer.  Do you think one half of them will enter in
at the straight gate, pass by the angels and the Gods, and receive a
celestial exaltation?  I pray they may, even if I do not believe so.

	Is there any person deprived of this privilege?  No, not one.  Has
the Lord cast an obstacle in the way of any individual, to deprive him of
the privilege of being exalted?  No, not one: but every thing that could
be done has been done, every provision that could be made has been made,
every law that could be instituted to encourage and elevate the people, to
increase their faith, their knowledge, their understanding, and to lead
them to life and salvation, the Lord has brought to this people.  Then the
Lord is not to blame.  Are angels to blame?  Are they hindering the
people?  No.  Are the spirits of the just casting stumbling blocks before
the people, or tying their hands, or turning them away from the right
path?  No.

	Do you think that one half of the people walk up to every known duty,
are so doing and labouring that they are in the straight and narrow path
that leads to the lives?  Answer this question at your leisure.  Yet every
person will acknowledge that every thing the Lord could do for our
salvation has been done.  All heaven is anxious that the people should be
saved.  The heavens weep over the people, because of their hard
heartedness, unbelief, and slowness to believe and act.

	You have been taught, all the day long, that you are in a world of
sin; you have been taught, all your lives, that the seeds of sin are sown
in your mortal bodies; you have been taught that the spirit warreth
against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit; that the spirit of
every man and woman that gets into the celestial kingdom must overcome the
flesh, must war against the flesh until the seeds of sin that are sown in
the flesh are brought into subjection to the law of Christ.  This has been
taught you, from your youth up.  There is not a society in Christendom but
what has taught these principles, and you have read them in your Bibles
when you were children.  Your mothers taught you that we were in a world
of sin, and that the enemy of righteousness is all the time ready and
watching to overcome every individual.  You reply at once, "We believe
this doctrine," and yet, from day to day, from week to week, from month to
month, from year to year, we go on as we have.  Some will say, "I did give
way to my evil passion yesterday, and I will give way again to-day, and I
will let the flesh overcome the spirit.  I will bring my spirit into
subjection to my evil passions and evil influences that the enemy of
Christ has sown in the human system.  I will let the tongue speak just
what it pleases; I will rail out against my neighbour; when I get mad I
will blaspheme; I will deceive my brother, or my neighbour," and thus they
bring the spirit into subjection to the flesh, until the Lord Almighty
will withdraw the light of truth from those individuals, and they are
left, if not to apostatize, to deny Joseph as a Prophet, Jesus Christ as
the Saviour, and to esteem Holy Writ and all the revelations from God as a
burlesque.  They are left in the dark, to welter in sorrow in the flesh,
and in the spirit world they never can be exalted.

	Is it, then, any marvel, that those who dwell in the heavens should
weep over the people?  Do you wonder, now, that the Prophets used to weep
over the people in ancient times?  That Joseph used to weep over the
people in his day?  If you do, I do not.

	Here is a large number of the Latter-day Saints situated upon the
mountain tops, and right before each individual is eternal day or eternal
night; eternal light or eternal darkness; eternal love or eternal hatred;
eternal glory or eternal misery.  This would want a great deal of
explaining, to bring it down to your capacities, so that you can
understand; but I use one class of these expressions to convey an idea of
the opposite of the glory prepared for the very people now before me.  The
Lord has done every thing He can do in justice and in truth; in His mercy
and in His longsuffering and kindness there is nothing He has neglected,
in order to put into the possession of this people power to secure to
themselves eternal day, eternal peace, instead of eternal misery.  Eternal
glory, happiness, beauty, power, exaltation, excellency, and every good
thing are prepared for the Elders that now sit before me to enter into the
presence of the Father and the Son, where they could be exalted, sit with
the Gods, be crowned with immortality and eternal lives; become the
fathers, not only of many nations, but of an endless posterity; be the
framers, not only of a kingdom, but of an endless chain of kingdoms. 
Nothing more can be done, than what has been done.

	How many of those now looking on me will order their lives so that
they will secure to themselves eternal happiness an exaltation?  Do you
think that one half of this congregation will answer that question?  I
pray that they may, whether I believe it or not.

	Do you see people neglect their eternal welfare?  A feeling prevails
with some that, "we do not know these things, we have not seen these
things, we do not understand that there is a kingdom prepared for the
faithful; we do not understand that there is a place prepared for those
that are unruly, those that disbelieve, those that neglect the truth and
the Gospel when put in their possession.  We do not know anything about
these things."  Is this so?  What do you say, brethren and sisters?  Have
you seen the Father and the Son?  Do you know where they live?  "O, no." 
Have you seen the courts of glory, have they been opened to your view? 
"O, no."  What next?  The spirit of unbelief takes place in your hearts. 
The enemy, the evil that is in the world, that has caused the trouble,
sorrow, and perplexity, is with you, is your constant companion, and is
continually suggesting that you know nothing about these things,
consequently, without the utmost care and exercise of faith, and close
application in life of the requirements of heaven, you are left to drink
into the spirit of infidelity.

	In this manner people are left in darkness, do not understand the
things of God, neglect their salvation, and go grovelling and feeling
their way through this world, without a ray of light to shine on their
path; hoping that there is a God, and, if there is, that He will be
merciful to them; thinking that, if there is a heaven, they want to go
there; if there is such a character as a Saviour, they hope his blood will
atone for their sins; and if there are any such beings as angels, they
hope they will pick them up, by and bye.  It resolves itself to this, "If
there is a God, O, be merciful to me."  You do not know, do you?  "O, no,
we cannot realize it."

	Let me ask a question, before I proceed further.  How did you feel
when the Spirit of the Gospel first entered into your hearts, when the
light of the Gospel first shone in your understanding?  Had you any such
feelings then within you?  Had you any doubts?  How did you talk, when you
first rose to testify that the Book of Mormon was true, that Joseph was a
true Prophet, that this work was of God, that the Lord Almighty has
revealed Himself in these our days?  Had you any doubts?  "No, I could not
help bearing testimony to those things, I was so full of light and peace." 
Did you hate anybody, at that time?  "No.  I was filled with peace and
union; I loved God and all the works of His hands.  There was no anger,
malice, or wrath in me."  Do you feel so now?  Many of you would tell me,
"no."  Have you abode in that Spirit and feeling?  You will answer, "no."

	You say within yourselves, "I believe the Gospel, I believe the Lord
has revealed the truth concerning Himself, concerning the Son, concerning
angels, salvation, eternal exaltation, &c.; I admit all this to be true." 
Then you have to admit that we are organized to inherit all glory, power,
and excellency; to be filled with eternal salvation and exaltation, and to
become the sons of God, as the Apostle says, to be "gods, even the sons of
God;" fathers who shall endure, and whose posterity shall never end;
though the Apostle turned the point very quick, because the people were
not prepared to receive it.  You admit the fact that we are organized
expressly for the purpose of being exalted with the Gods.

	You have the words of eternal life in your possession.  What next? 
Take your own philosphy [sic]; if I am organized and capacitated to
receive this glory and this exaltation, I must be the friend of Him who
has brought me forth and instituted this exaltation for me; I must not be
His enemy at any time.  Again, you say, "we are organized to become Gods,
even sons of God; to act independently."  You expect to see the time when
you will have at your control worlds on worlds, if your existence endures. 
Take Abraham, for instance, you can read the promise made to him, and
again to Jesus.  "Now," say you, "we are to have kingdoms, thrones,
principalities, powers, dominions, &c."  Can you read it in this book? 
This is the Old and New Testament, which you and I were taught, from our
youth, to believe is the word of God.  If I am to receive these blessings
I will be an independent character, like those who dwell in eternity.  If
this is the case, let me pause for a moment and use my own natural
philosophy.  How can I prove myself the friend of God, who has placed all
this glory within my reach, unless His influences are withdrawn from me,
to see whether or not I will be His friend?  At the time when you receive
the greatest blessings by the manifestations of the power and Spirit of
God, immediately the Lord may leave you to yourselves, that you may prove
yourselves worthy of this exaltation.  Multitudes, on the right hand and
on the left, when this Spirit and power are withdrawn from them, sink into
unbelief, and do not know whether there is a God, or not.  Ask them, "What
did you realize and experience yesterday?"  The reply is, "I do not know
anything about it.  I can see this house, I can see the sun, I can see men
and women, but I can say no more."  "Do you believe what you believed
yesterday?"  "I do not know."

	Can a man be exalted upon any other principle?  When men are left to
themselves, it is then they manifest their integrity, by saying and
feeling, "I am the friend of God.  Do all people realize that?  If they
did, let me tell you, they would cling fast to their integrity.  When the
mind of a righteous man is beclouded by darkness, when he does not know
the first thing about the religion he believes in, it is because the vail
is dropped so that he may act on the organization of his own individual
person, which is calculated to be as independent as the Gods, in the end. 
When you are fully aware of this, then you are ready to lay down your
lives for the cause of God and for His people, if you act on your own
integrity and philosophy.

	One of the greatest trials that ever came on the Son of God when he
was in the flesh, upon that man whom we hold as our Saviour, was when the
mob had him in their possession.  They spit on him, scourged him, mocked
him, and made a wreath of thorns and placed it upon his head, (and I will
insure that it was so placed on his head as to cause the blood to start)
and said to him, "Here is your cross, you poor, worthless scamp, take and
carry it on to that hill, for there we are going to nail you to it."  How
would you feel in such a time, and at that very hour and moment when this
tabernacle suffers, should the Father then withdraw Himself and say, "Now,
my son, I will see whether you will prove yourself worthy or not."  Did he
walk up the hill?  He did, and carried the cross until he fainted under
it; then they took it and went on, and he submitted patiently to the will
of his Father.

	Will you submit patiently to the will of your Father in the hour of
darkness?  Will you say that you are the friends of God?  O shame!  Many
of you will not say so, in the hour of darkness.  Take these Latter-day
Saints, the Elders of Israel, and let many of them pass where they can
hear the name of Jesus Christ and the name of their Father and God
blasphemed, and they will pass along as unconcerned, and will never move a
muscle nor a nerve of their systems.  That is nothing to them compared to
what it would be to have their own dear name spoken against in the least. 
Speak against William, John, or Thomas, and then you will see the fire of
resentment roused in that individual; while, at the same time, they may be
opposed to their Father and God, to their Saviour, to the Prophet, and to
their holy religion.  People may scandalize these as much as the tongue of
slander can, and not a word said, nor a look of disapprobation given. 
But, my dear brethren, those holy men and women, (pardon me if I burlesque
the idea a little) your names are so dear to you that, let any one speak a
word against them, you are at once for fight.

	If you want to know what you should do, when you hear a man blaspheme
the name of God, and you feel that there are ten thousand million devils
around you to see whether you will be for your religion, knock down the
man that blasphemes, and say, "If I cannot pray, I can fight for my
religion and my God."  When you are in darkness is the time for you to
exhibit your integrity, and to prove that you are the friends of Him who
has called you to this glory and eternal life.

	Do you want to know how to pray in your families?  I have told you, a
great many times, how to do when you feel as though you have not a
particle of the Spirit of prayer with you.  Get your wives and your
children together, lock the door so that none of them will get out, and
get down on your knees; and if you feel as though you want to swear and
fight, keep on your knees until they are pretty well wearied, saying,
"Here I am; I will not abuse my Creator nor my religion, though I feel
like hell inside, but I will stay on my knees until I overcome these
devils around me."  That will prove to me that you are the friend of God,
that you are filled with integrity.  This is good for every person to
practise in the hour of trial and darkness.  Say, "I am the friend of God,
and if you abuse Him, I shall abuse you."  This is what Abraham used to
do.  He would take his servants and go out, once in a while, and chastise
the poor, miserable characters that ridiculed the Priesthood that was on
him.

	Here are the people that say they are Latter-day Saints.  Now, if you
can understand your own position, you will know, perhaps, better how to
deal with yourselves and control yourselves; how to bring into subjection
your own dispositions, your passions, appetites, and wills, and let the
Spirit commence and conquer and overcome, little by little, until you gain
the mastery in the spirit.  This prepares the tabernacle for a
resurrection and eternal life.  You cannot inherit eternal life, unless
your appetites are brought in subjection to the spirit that lives within
you, that spirit which our Father in heaven gave.  I mean the Father of
your spirits, of those spirits which He has put into these tabernacles. 
The tabernacle must be brought in subjection to the spirit perfectly, or
your bodies cannot be raised to inherit eternal life; if they to
[sic-phrase] come forth, they must dwell in a lower kingdom.  Seek
diligently, until you bring all into subjection to the law of Christ.

	As to the knowledge of the people, what do they know?  They know many
things.  What do they not know?  Ten thousands of millions of times more
than they know, for, comparatively speaking, they know but little.  What
knowledge we have, we have obtained by an experience.  No man could know
that he could build a building, unless he was to go to work and try.  Were
he to go to work and erect a building, he would then know that he knew how
to do it.

 	Some things you do know, and there are a great many things that you
do not know.  "Can you mention anything that we do not know?"  Yes, we
could enumerate a great many things, and then have mentioned only a small
portion of what is unknown to man.  I will take that class of this
congregation that do not know anything about God, heaven, earth, or hell,
nor about anything else only as they sense with their natural senses, and
ask them, can you tell me your own origin?  I would be glad to see such a
person, but he is not to be found.  Take a man who does not know anything
about these things, and he cannot tell his origin.

	Again, with all the wisdom there is in the world, I can refer you to
another thing which you do not know; you do not know how to take the
native elements and organize a body like the ones you possess.  You may
take the chemical apparatus of the most extensive laboratory, and go into
these mountains, and see whether you can, with all your knowledge and
appliances, make a human body that can breathe, to say nothing about the
spirit:  you cannot do that; then you do not know how.

	If we were to ask the question how we came here, we cannot answer it. 
We know that we are here, and we know that we live.  We know that we see,
hear, smell, &c., through the the [sic] organization of our senses.  We
know that when we have something good to eat, and plenty of it, that we
can satisfy our appetite, and we also know that we get hungry again; we
get sleepy, awake, and go about our business.  The brute beasts know all
this, although their sensitive powers are not so acute, nor possessed of
so extensive a range as are those of the human family; their attention
more particularly belongs to the things of this earth.

	The Scriptures say that man is created but a little lower than the
angels, still the great majority do not know whether there is a God; they
do not even know whether it is of any use to pray to our Father in heaven,
nor whether they have got a Father there.  We do not know how to make a
spear of grass grow on the earth, nor a tree, nor any other kind of
vegetation; all this is beyond our knowledge.  They grow, but we do not
understand how.  They are produced from the elements, but undertake to
organize the elements and make a cucumber grow, and we fail; that is
beyond our knowledge.

	We do know, by observation, that this earth revolves on its axis,
that it has its circuit and performs its annual times.  We know, by
observation, that the firmament is filled with small flickering lights. 
The astronomer says he knows that many of those lights are actually suns
to solar systems, the same as our sun is to us.  Does he know that?  Has
he been there to see?  "No."  Then he may be deceived; men's eyes are
often deceived.  They have had their eyes, ears, and all the other
sensitive organs brought to bear upon a person, and have been positive
that they were conversing with and looking upon him, when at the same time
that person was a hundred miles from them; they were certain that they
heard him speak with their natural ears, yet they were deceived.  So the
astronomer may be deceived by his powerful glasses.  But all the argument
in the world could not make you believe that those stars, or lights, were
not there; you see them.  Suppose that our optical powers have all been
deceived, just as they are in some instances.  There is plenty of proof
that the optic nerve has been deceived, even through a glass, persons
supposing that they saw things which they, in reality, never did see.

	Upon natural principles, leaving out the light of the Spirit, the
light of revelation, or saying that there is no God, and such being the
case, on the natural philosophy of the natural world, and the natural
belief, and ideas of those who imbibe deistical principles, they do not
know whether it is the sun or not that shines upon us; they feel warm,
they think they see the sun.  But if your optic nerve may deceive you, so
the astronomer may be deceived.  "No," says he, "I cannot be deceived,"
and this congregation says, "We cannot be deceived; we know that we hear
you preach to-day; we see you in the stand to-day, and all the earth
cannot make us believe to the contrary."  May be you are deceived.  "But
we cannot be mistaken in this, we do know that it is certain."  Suppose
that you go home and to-night sleep very soundly, and that perchance a a
[sic] stupor should come over you, causing you to forget what has
transpired to-day; I have known such circumstances.  Suppose you forget
to-morrow what has transpired to-day in this Tabernacle, and somebody
should come along and ask you whether you recollected what brother Brigham
said yesterday, you would answer, "I did not hear him say anything."  It
would be said, "You were at the meeting, and I saw you."  You would ask,
"What meeting?  I was not at any meeting."  "Don't you recollect of going
to meeting yesterday?"  "No, I do not."  Did you ever know a person so
forgetful as this?  Well, it is not more strange than much other
forgetfulness, not a particle more.

	A child says, "Mother, where did you put those shears, or that
knitting? or, what did you do with your pipe?"  The reply is, "I laid it
up."  "But you must have had it since."  "Don't dispute me, child," while
all the time she had the pipe in her mouth.  I bring up these small
things, to compare with greater things.  Have you never laid things
carefully away and entirely forgotten them, and, when you have
accidentally found them, had all the circumstances opened to your mind,
and said, "O, I know all about them now, but I have never before been able
to bring them to mind, since the things were so carefully laid by"?  That
is no more strange than it is that you should forget what the Lord has
done for you fifty years ago; that is no more strange, than it is for you
to forget when your spirits came into your bodies, for you came here under
a covenant to prove yourselves, in a day of darkness, to be friends of
God, and under a covenant that you would forget everything that had past
previous to your coming here.

	What do you know?  All that you know, aside from what God has taught
you, is not worth much to you; that I will say on my own responsibility. 
You know that the sun shines; you can see the stars shine in a clear
night.  You know that when you embraced the Gospel of salvation in
England, the State of New York, Vermont, &c., you felt happy; that your
hearts were full of joy and peace; that you felt as though the heavens
smiled upon you, and that all around was glory.  There was no malice,
wrath, or root of bitterness in you, but since then a cloud has come over
you, the vail has been dropped over the vision of your minds, and you have
been left to act for yourselves.  You know all this.

	What do you know on natural principles?  I do not say natural
philosophy, because my religion is natural philosophy.  You never heard me
preach a doctrine but what has a natural system to it, and, when
understood, is as easy to comprehend as that two and two equal four.  All
the revelations of the Lord Almighty to the children of men, and all
revealed doctrines of salvation are upon natural principles, upon natural
philosophy.  When I use this term, I use it as synonomous with the plan of
salvation; natural philosophy is the plan of salvation, and the plan of
salvation is natural philosophy.  I need not say any more with regard to
what you do not know.

	I have shown you, by instancing small circumstances of common
occurrence, that people are apt to deny to day what they knew yesterday;
and you know that you have disputed others with regard to these little
things which have transpired, after the circumstances connected therewith
had escaped your memory.  It is just so with regard to your religion.  And
when you come to the almighty philosophers, those who think they know so
much, they are in the same dilemma; their optic nerves and their glasses
may all deceive them.  Unless a person is taught by the principle of
eternity, and is insured by those principles that dwell with the Gods, he
may be in doubt, because it is a doubtful case.  All is doubtful, except
what comes from the Almighty in His revelations to His people.

	I will now say something about our immigration this season.  In the
providences of God when understood, you will see that one thing has a
bearing upon another.  The providences of God are natural principles, when
they are all understood, but you take a little here and a little there,
and you leave the people in mystery and doubt, and they will say that
wonderful things have taken place, when at the same time you will find
that they have all transpired upon natural principles.

	Previous to the death of Joseph, he said that the time would come
when the Saints would be glad to take a bundle, if they could get one,
under their arms and start to the mountains, and that they would flee
there, and that if they could pick up a change of linen they would be glad
to start with that, and to go into the wilderness with anything, in order
to escape from the destruction that is coming on the inhabitants of the
earth.  This we believed, or at least I did; though it seemed to be pretty
hard that people should be obliged to leave their houses, farms, friends,
and comforts that they had gathered around them, and run from them all.  I
am going to take that as a leading item for this season.

	We have been experimenting.  Five companies, I think, have come
across the Plains with hand-carts, and they have come a great deal cheaper
and better than other companies.  I believe that if a company was to try
it once with ox-teams and once with hand-carts, every one of them would
decide in favour of the hand-carts, unless they could ride more and be
more comfortable than people generally are with ox-teams.

	I count the hand-cart operation a successful one, and there is a
lesson in it which the people have overlooked.  What is it?  Let me ask
the sisters and brethren here, what better off are you to-day, than as
though you had started with a bundle under your arm?  You started with an
abundance, but have you any oxen, or wagons, or trunks of valuable
clothing, or money?  "No."  What have you got?  A sister says, "I have the
underclothes I wore on the Plains, and a dress, and a handkerchief which I
pinned over my head in the absence of my sun bonnets which were worn out,
and I am here."  Are you here?  "Yes."  Did you come across the Plains? 
"Yes."  Do you feel bad?  "O, no; I feel pretty well."  Now reflect, what
else do we want of you, and what else do you want of yourselves?  "Why,"
says one, "I want a dress and a pair of shoes."  Well, go to work, and
earn them, and put them on and wear them.  "I want a bonnet."  Go to work
and earn it, and then wear it as you used to do.

	What do you want here but yourselves?  Nothing, but yourselves and
your religion; that is all you want to bring here.  If you come naked and
barefooted, (I would not care if you had naught but a deer skin around you
when you arrive here) and bring your God and your religion, you are a
thousand times better than if you come with wagon loads of silver and gold
and left your God behind.  If I want to take a wife from among the sisters
who came in with the hand-cart trains, I would rather take one that had
nothing, and say to her, I will throw a buckskin around you for the
present, come into my house, I have plenty, or, if I have not, I can get
plenty.

	Some want to marry a woman because she has got property; some want a
rich wife; but I never saw the day when I would not rather have a poor
woman.  I never saw the day that I wanted to be henpecked to death, for I
should have been, if I had married a rich wife.  I asked one of my family,
when in conversation upon this very point, what did you bring, when you
came to me?  "I brought a shirt, and a dress, and a pair of slippers, and
a sun-bonnet," and she is as high a prize as ever I got in my life, and a
great deal higher than many would have been with cart loads of silver and
gold.

	The people are what we want.  Reflect about this; and let the Elders
when they go upon Missions, sound this in the ears of the Saints; and, if
you please, philosophise upon it, weigh the matter well, and see what else
there is that is in reality good for anything, but just the Saint at the
gathering place; let the Saint come, and we have all we can get.

	I want you to keep in mind what Joseph said, that the day would come
when the Saints would be glad to take a bundle under their arms and run to
the mountains.  What else have they done this season?  Men and women
started with their fine things, they had their gold and their silver,
their flocks and their herds, and their abundance, but they have nearly
all come here naked and bare footed, comparatively speaking; thank God for
that.  What do I care, if not the first particle of the property that is
left behind is ever gathered up again?  You are situated precisely as we
were when we left Nauvoo, Kirtland, Missouri, &c.  We started naked and
bare.  If I can only take myself and my God, and my religion, it is all I
want.  The heavens are full, the earth is the Lord's, and we have nothing
to do but go to work and organize the elements and get what we want.

	This is the day in which we are to learn and to increase in our
knowledge.  Have we got a good lesson this time?  I think we have.  What
is it?  That the Saints, when they start from England, may stop buying
their silks and satins, their ribbons and finery.  You cannot bring them
here, unless Providence provides different for you, than it did for the
immigration last season.  If you have a fine silk mantilla, a fine satin
dress, fine kid shoes, a fine lace bonnet, and you say that you want to
carry them to Zion, do as they did last season.  Here are the poor we have
to bring over.  Now let me tell you that if you had taken the money you
paid to William Walker to bring out the baggage, and used it for the
gathering of the honest poor, it would have done some good; but that
property is spoiled, I understand, and I am glad of it.  Much of it was
spoiled before it was taken from Iowa City, or, if it was not then, it
probably is now.  And I expect that the goods are all spoiled at the
Devil's Gate.  You will pardon me for my abruptness, but I will tell you
what that operation made me think of, that what you did not leave in
hell's kitchen, you had to leave at the Devil's Gate.  If you only honour
your God and your religion, the silks and the satins, and the money you
paid out for them, may all go to hell with the balance.  Live your
religion, and the promise I make you is that you shall have what you want
in righteousness.  "Then," some one may say, "I will have a new dress
to-morrow, if that is it."  But will you not wait, until your patience is
well tried?  If you will not, I will make you, if I can.  At the proper
time, you will have all the riches you need.  If you had riches now, they
would do you no good.

	Recollect the text, which is that the time will come when the Saints
will be glad to catch a bundle under their arms and run to the mountains. 
The time has been when they undertook to come with an abundance, but they
got here with nothing.  Take the money that was laid out for those
articles which you expected to put on when you came into this Tabernacle,
and it would have more than made a comfortable fit-out for the companies
from the States.  If those articles had been left in the stores, and you
had taken your sovereigns and half-sovereigns, and shillings, and pence,
you would have had enough to have brought all the companies over those
Plains.  This is something that I want you Elders to think of; and I want
you to thunder it among the people, long and loud, like the thunders of
Mount Sinai.

	Take the money heretofore spent for useless articles, and pick up
your poor neighbours who have not the first shilling; make your way to
Liverpool, pay your passage across the ocean to the United States, and
then take a hand-cart, or a good hickory stick between two, and put you
[sic] luggage on it, and let the hand cart go, and walk to Zion.

	When you get here, we want nothing but yourselves, if you have your
God and your religion with you; but if you  have not them, stay back.  We
have already got enough half-hearted Christians here; we have enough poor
devils here now, and half-hearted hypocrites, and we do not want any more
of them to come here.  All hell is boiling over to fill this place with
such poor, miserable characters.

	If you bring yourselves, it is all we want.  Take the money that
bought the goods which have been left on the way, and it would have
brought every soul that came in last season, without the assistance of the
P. E. Fund Company; and, instead of our paying out fifty or sixty thousand
dollars, that sum would have been saved.  That money would have made your
fit-out across the Plains, to say nothing about what has been done for you
at this end of the route.

	Again, we could have taken every soul that has come in this season
with the wagon trains, by the P. E. Fund, &c., and brought them from
Liverpool cheaper than we brought them out of the snow at this end of the
journey, to say nothing of the hardship and suffering.  Do you not see
that there has been a great outlay that we must save hereafter?

	I will say to the Saints abroad, if you can get some good hickory
cloth, or some buckskins, and let the sisters make dresses and garments
that cannot be easily torn, and that will last till you get here, and come
and bring yourselves, that is all we want.  And for the time to come, let
the P. E. Fund money alone, and let your silks and satins alone, and take
the means you have, and bring yourselves to this place.

	The Lord, in His providence, has shown you and me, and the community
in this Territory, and will show to the people in the old countries, if
the Elders are faithful, that they may bid farewell to bringing their
millions' worth of goods here.  If they bring anything, let them bring
their sovereigns here; the gold will do them more good here than anything
else.  Do not peddle it out in the world.  Get the Lord to send an angel
with you; get His Holy Spirit to travel with you to this place, and leave
all trash behind.

	If the companies are composed solely of young females, they may come
by tens of thousands, if they like, for I have never yet seen anything in
this market than can equal the hand-cart girls.

	I want to see men and women come as I have suggested; and I think
just as much of them, if they come and bring their religion with them, as
though they came with cart-loads of gold, silver and merchandize.

	I wish you to contemplate upon these things! and I want you to listen
to my exhortation in spiritual things.  Here is a people before me that
say they are in a reformation; I believe it.  There is a good spirit they
have now in their possession, which some have not had for some time.

	I believe that the brethren and sisters are trying to do right, to
make satisfaction, and to order their lives better before God and each
other.  And let me tell you that, when you have lived a whole life time,
you will find that you have never righteously had a single hour to spend
for anything except reformation, for an increase of faith, for a growth in
the knowledge of the truth.  You have no time to backslide, nor to spare
for the world.  It is God and His kingdom; all things else will be
secondary considerations.

	I am happy for the privilege of speaking to you to-day, and I trust
that I shall see you here many times.  I pray for you continually, and I
know that you pray for me.  I do not ask this people to pray for me, for I
have the witness that there is not an honest heart in this kingdom but
what is praying for me continually.  You are before me always, and my
whole desire is for your welfare, and the welfare of the kingdom of God on
the earth.  May God bless you.  Amen.



 
      TO KNOW GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE--GOD THE FATHER OF OUR SPIRITS AND
BODIES--THINGS CREATED SPIRITUALLY FIRST--ATONEMENT BY THE SHEDDING OF
BLOOD.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, February 8, 1857.

	I feel myself somewhat under obligations to come here and talk to the
people, inasmuch as I have absented myself for some time, and others have
occupied this stand.

	Perhaps I will not talk to you long, but I desire to pursue some of
the ideas that brother Cummings has just laid before you.  I can testify
that every word he has spoken is true, even to the advancement of the
Saints at a "small gallop."  Though that is rather a novel expression,
still it is true, as well as all the rest which he advanced.

	The items that have been advanced are principles of real doctrine,
whether you consider them so or not.  It is one of the first principles of
the doctrine of salvation to become acquaint- [sic] with our Father and
our God.  The Scriptures teach that this is eternal life, to "know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent;" this is as much
as to say that no man can enjoy or be prepared for eternal life without
that knowledge.

	You hear a great deal of preaching upon this subject; and when people
repent of their sins, they will get together, and pray and exhort each
other, and try to get the spirit of revelation, try to have God their
Father revealed to them, that they may know Him and become acquainted with
Him.

	There are some plain, simple facts that I wish to tell you, and I
have but one desire in this, which is, that you should have understanding
to receive them, to treasure them up in your hearts, to contemplate upon
these facts, for they are simple facts, based upon natural principles;
there is no mystery about them when once understood.

	I want to tell you, each and every one of you, that you are well
acquainted with God our heavenly Father, or the great Eloheim.  You are
all well acquainted with Him, for there is not a soul of you but what has
lived in His house and dwelt with Him year after year; and yet you are
seeking to become acquainted with Him, when the fact is, you have merely
forgotten what you did know.  I told you a little last Sabbath about
forgetting things.

	There is not a person here to-day but what is a son or a daughter of
that Being.  In the spirit world their spirits were first begotten and
brought forth, and they lived there with their parents for ages before
they came here.  This, perhaps, is hard for many to believe, but it is the
greatest nonsense in the world not to believe it.  If you do not believe
it, cease to call Him Father; and when you pray, pray to some other
character.

	It would be inconsistent in you to disbelieve what I think you know,
and then to go home and ask the Father to do so and so for you.  The
Scriptures which we believe have taught us from the beginning to call Him
our Father, and we have been taught to pray to Him as our Father, in the
name of our eldest brother whom we call Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the
world; and that Saviour, while here on earth, was so explicit on the point
that he taught his disciples to call no man on earth father, for we have
one which is in heaven.  He is the Saviour, because it is his right to
redeem the remainder of the family pertaining to the flesh on this earth,
if any of you do not believe this, tell us how and what we should believe. 
If I am not telling you the truth, please to tell me the truth on this
subject, and let me know more than I do know.  If it is hard for you to
believe, if you wish to be Latter-day Saints, admit the fact as I state
it, and do not contend against it.  Try to believe it, because you will
never become acquainted with our Father, never enjoy the blessings of His
Spirit, never be prepared to enter into His presence, until you most
assuredly believe it; therefore you had better try to believe this great
mystery about God.

	I do not marvel that the world is clad in mystery, to them He is an
unknown God; they cannot tell where He dwells nor how He lives, nor what
kind of a being He is in appearance or character.  They want to become
acquainted with His character and attributes, but they know nothing of
them.  This is in consequence of the apostacy that is now in the world. 
They have departed from the knowledge of God, transgressed His laws,
changed His ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant, so that the
whole earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof.  Consequently it is
no mystery to us that the world knoweth not God, but it would be a mystery
to me, with what I now know, to say that we cannot know anything of Him. 
We are His children.

	To bring the truth of this matter close before you, I will instance
your fathers who made the first permanent settlement in New England. 
There are a good many in this congregation whose fathers landed upon
Plymouth Rock in the year 1620.  Those fathers began to spread abroad;
they had children, those children had children, and their children had
children, and here are we their children.  I am one of them, and many of
this congregation belong to that class.  Now ask yourselves this simple
question upon natural principles, has the species altered?  Were not the
people who landed at Plymouth Rock the same species with us?  Were they
not organized as we are?  Were not their countenances similar to ours? 
Did they not converse, have knowledge, read books?  Were there not
mechanics among them, and did they not understand agriculture, &c., as we
do?  Yes, every person admits this.

	Now follow our fathers further back and take those who first came to
the island of Great Britain, were they the same species of beings as those
who came to America?  Yes, all acknowledge this; this is upon natural
principles.  Thus you may continue and trace the human family back to Adam
and Eve, and ask, "are we of the same species with Adam and Eve?"  Yes,
every person acknowledges this; this comes within the scope of our
understanding.

	But when we arrive at that point, a vail is dropt, and our knowledge
is cut off.  Were it not so, you could trace back your history to the
Father of our spirits in the eternal world.  He is a being of the same
species as ourselves; He lives as we do, except the difference that we are
earthly, and He is heavenly.  He has been earthly, and is of precisely the
same species of being that we are.  Whether Adam is the personage that we
should consider our heavenly Father, or not, is considerable of a mystery
to a good many.  I do not care for one moment how that is; it is no matter
whether we are to consider Him our God, or whether His Father, or His
Grandfather, for in either case we are of one species--of one family--and
Jesus Christ is also of our species.

	You may hear the divines of the day extol the character of the
Saviour, undertake to exhibit his true character before the people, and
give an account of his origin, and were it not ridiculous, I would tell
what I have thought about their views.  Brother Kimball wants me to tell
it, therefore you will excuse me if I do.  I have frequently thought of
mules, which you know are half horse and half ass, when reflecting upon
the representations made by those divines.  I have heard sectarian priests
undertake to tell the character of the Son of God, and they make him half
of one species and half of another, and I could not avoid thinking at once
of the mule, which is the most hateful creature that ever was made, I
believe.  You will excuse me, but I have thus thought many a time.

	Now to the facts in the case; all the difference between Jesus Christ
and any other man that ever lived on the earth, from the days of Adam
until now, is simply this, the Father, after He had once been in the
flesh, and lived as we live, obtained His exaltation, attained to thrones,
gained the ascendancy over principalities and powers, and had the
knowledge and power to create--to bring forth and organize the elements
upon natural principles.  This He did after His ascension, or His glory,
or His eternity, and was actually classed with the Gods, with the beings
who create, with those who have kept the celestial law while in the flesh,
and again obtained their bodies.  Then He was prepared to commence the
work of creation, as the Scriptures teach.  It is all here in the Bible; I
am not telling you a word but what is contained in that book.

 	Things were first created spiritually; the Father actually begat the
spirits, and they were brought forth and lived with Him.  Then He
commenced the work of creating earthly tabernacles, precisely as He had
been created in this flesh himself, by partaking of the course material
that was organized and composed this earth, until His system was charged
with it, consequently the tabernacles of His children were organized from
the coarse materials of this earth.

	When the time came that His first-born, the Saviour, should come into
the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came Himself and favoured that
spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any other man do it.   The
Saviour was begotten by the Father of His spirit, by the same Being who is
the Father of our spirits, and that is all the organic difference between
Jesus Christ and you and me.  And a difference there is between our Father
and us consists in that He has gained His exaltation, and has obtained
eternal lives.  The principle of eternal lives is an eternal existence,
eternal duration, eternal exaltation.  Endless are His kingdoms, endless
His thrones and His dominions, and endless are His posterity; they never
will cease to multiply from this time henceforth and forever.

	To you who are prepared to enter into the presence of the Father and
the Son, what I am now telling will eventually be no more strange than are
the feelings of a person who returns to his father's house, brethren, and
sisters, and enjoys the society of his old associates, after an absence of
several years upon some distant island.  Upon returning he would be happy
to see his father, his relatives and friends.  So also if we keep the
celestial law when our spirits go to God who gave them, we shall find that
we are acquainted there and distinctly realize that we know all about that
world.

	Tell me that you do not know anything about God!  I will tell you one
thing, it would better become you to lay your hands upon your mouths and
them in the dust, and cry, "unclean, unclean."

	Whether you receive these things or not, I tell you them in
simplicity.  I lay them before you like a child, because they are
perfectly simple.  If you see and understand these things, it will be by
the Spirit of God; you will receive them by no other spirit.  No matter
whether they are told to you like the thunderings of the Almighty, or by
simple conversation; if you enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, it will tell you
whether they are right or not.

	I am acquainted with my Father.  I am as confident that I understand
in part, see in part, and know and am acquainted with Him in part, as I am
that I was acquainted with my earthly father who died in Quincy, Illinois,
after we were driven from Missouri.  My recollection is better with regard
to my earthly father than it is in regard to my heavenly Father; but as to
knowing of what species He is, and how He is organized, and with regard to
His existence, I understand it in part as well as I understand the
organization and existence of my earthly father.  That is my opinion about
it, and my opinion to me is just as good as yours is to you; and if you
are of the same opinion you will be satisfied as I am.

	I know my heavenly Father and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, and this
is eternal life.  And if we will do as we have been told this morning, if
you will enter into the Spirit of your calling, into the principle of
securing to yourselves eternal lives, eternal existence, eternal
exaltation, it will be well with you.  But if, after being put into a
carriage and placed upon the road, after having everything prepared for
the journey that infinite wisdom could devise, this people stroll into the
swamp, get into the woods among the brambles and briars, and wander around
until night overtakes them, I say, shame on such people.

	I am ashamed to talk about a reformation, for if you have entered
into the spirit of your religion, you will know whether these things are
so or not.  If you have the spirit of your religion and have confidence in
you, walk along and continue to do so, and secure to yourselves the life
before you, and never let it be said, from this time henceforth, that you
have wakened out of your sleep, from the fact that you are always awake.

	We talk about the reformation, but recollect that you have only just
commenced to walk in the way of life and salvation.  You have just
commenced in the career to obtain eternal life, which is that which you
desire, therefore you have no time to spend only in that path.  It is
straight and narrow, simple and easy, and is an Almighty path, if you will
keep in it.  But if you wander off into swamps, or into brambles, and get
into darkness, you will find it hard to get back.

	Brother Cummings told you the truth this morning with regard to the
sins of the people.  And I will say that the time will come, and is now
nigh at hand, when those who profess our faith, if they are guilty of what
some of this people are guilty of, will find the axe laid at the root of
the tree, and they will be hewn down.  What has been must be again, for
the Lord is coming to restore all things.  The time has been in Israel
under the law of God, the celestial law, or that which pertains to the
celestial law, for it is one of the laws of that kingdom where our Father
dwells, that if a man was found guilty of adultery, he must have his blood
shed, and that is near at hand.  But now I say, in the name of the Lord,
that if this people will sin no more, but faithfully live their religion,
their sins will be forgiven them without taking life.

	You are aware that when brother Cummings came to the point of loving
our neighbours as ourselves, he could say yes or no as the case might be,
that is true.  But I want to connect it with the doctrine you read in the
Bible.  When will we love our neighbour as ourselves?  In the first place,
Jesus said that no man hateth his own flesh.  It is admitted by all that
every person loves himself.  Now if we do rightly love ourselves, we want
to be saved and continue to exist, we want to go into the kingdom where we
can enjoy eternity and see no more sorrow nor death.  This is the desire
of every person who believes in God.  Now take a person in this
congregation who has knowledge with regard to being saved in the kingdom
of our God and our Father, and being exalted, one who knows and
understands the principles of eternal life, and sees the beauty and
excellency of the eternities before him compared with the vain and foolish
things of the world, and suppose that he is overtaken in a gross fault,
that he has committed a sin that he knows will deprive him of that
exaltation which he desires, and that he cannot attain to it without the
shedding of his blood, and also knows that by having his blood shed he
will atone for that sin, and be saved and exalted with the Gods, is there
a man of woman in this house but what would say, "shed my blood that I may
be saved and exalted with the Gods?"

	All mankind love themselves, and let these principles be known by an
individual, and he would be glad to have his blood shed.  That would be
loving themselves, even unto an eternal exaltation.  Will you love your
brothers or sisters likewise, when they have committed a sin that cannot
be atoned for without the sheding [sic] of their blood?  Will you love
that man or woman well enough to shed their blood? That is what Jesus
Christ meant.  He never told a man or woman to love their enemies in their
wickedness, never.  He never intended any such thing; his language is left
as it is for those to read who have the Spirit to discern between truth
and error; it was so left for those who can discern the things of God. 
Jesus Christ never meant that we should love a wicked man in his
wickedness.

	Now take the wicked, and I can refer to where the Lord had to slay
every soul of the Israelites that went out of Egypt, except Caleb and
Joshua.  He slew them by the hands of their enemies, by the plague, and by
the sword, why?  Because He loved them, and promised Abraham that He would
save them.  And He loved Abraham because he was a friend to his God, and
would stick to Him in the hour of darkness, hence He promised Abraham that
He would save his seed.  And He could save them upon no other principle,
for they had forfeited their right to the land of Canaan by transgressing
the law of God, and they could not have atoned for the sin if they had
lived.  But if they were slain, the Lord could bring them up in the
resurrection, and give them the land of Canaan, and He could not do it on
any other principle.

	I could refer you to plenty of instances where men have been
righteously slain, in order to atone for their sins.  I have seen scores
and hundreds of people for whom there would have been a chance (in the
last resurrection there will be) if their lives had been taken and their
blood spilled on the ground as a smoking incense to the Almighty, but who
are now angels to the devil, until our elder brother Jesus Christ raises
them up--conquers death, hell, and the grave.  I have known a great many
men who have left this Church for whom there is no chance whatever for
exaltation, but if their blood had been spilled, it would have been better
for them.  The wickedness and ignorance of the nations forbid this
principle's being in full force, but the time will come when the law of
God will be in full force.

	This is loving our neighbour as ourselves; if he needs help, help
him; and if he wants salvation and it is necessary to spill his blood on
the earth in order that he may be saved, spill it.  Any of you who
understand the principles of eternity, if you have sinned a sin requiring
the shedding of blood, except the sin unto death, would not be satisfied
nor rest until your blood should be spilled, that you might gain that
salvation you desire.  That is the way to love mankind.

	Christ and Belial have not become friends; they have never shaken
hands; they never have agreed to be brothers and to be on good terms; no,
never; and they never will, because they are diametrically opposed to each
other.  If one conquers, the other is destroyed.  One or the other of them
must triumph and utterly destroy and cast down his opponent.  Light and
darkness cannot dwell together, and so it is with the kingdom of God.

	Now, brethren and sisters, will you live your religion?  How many
hundreds of times have I asked you that question?  Will the Latter-day
Saints live their religion?  I am ashamed to say anything about a
reformation among Saints, but I am happy to think that the people called
Latter-day Saints are striving now to obtain the Spirit of their calling
and religion.  They are just coming into the path, just waking up out of
their sleep.  It seems as though they are nearly all like babies; we are
but children in one sense.  Now let us begin, like children, and walk in
the straight and narrow path, live our religion, and honour our God.

	With these remarks, I pray the God of Israel to bless you forever and
ever, for you are the best people on earth.  I can say that I am happy
that you are doing so well as you are.  Continue to increase in all the
graces of God's Spirit until the day of His coming, which I desire with
all my heart, in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

   NECESSITY FOR REFORMATION A DISGRACE--INTELLIGENCE A GIFT, INCREASED
     BY IMPARTING--SPIRIT OF GOD--VARIETY IN SPIRITUAL AS WELL AS IN
       NATURAL ORGANIZATIONS--GOD THE FATHER OF THE SPIRITS OF ALL
                              MANKIND--ETC.
A Discourse, by President Brigham Young, Delivered in Great Salt Lake
City,
                              March 8, 1857.

	I presume there will not any person object to my talking this
morning, although there may be many who wish to occupy the time.

	There are a few items that I wish to lay before the brethren; the
first is concerning our northern mission.  A good many names of persons
invited to go north have been read here, and I want to say to all those
brethren that we do not desire any of them to go north with us this
spring, unless they would like so to do, and can make it convenient to
take the trip to see the country.  We will excuse all who do not wish to
go, also all whose circumstances rather forbid their going, and whose
other duties of greater importance prevent them.  Again, I would like to
have all who wish to go on that journey consider that they have an
invitation, so far as they can go consistently with their circumstances. 
I invite all to go who wish to and can do so conveniently.  I think that
the brethren understand, both those who live in the country and in this
city, that the invitation to go north is not given in respect of persons,
but any who have not been invited and who wish to go, may have the
privilege; and those who have been invited but cannot go consistently, we
will excuse.

	The brethren who have been called upon foreign missions we expect to
respond to the call cheerfully, where it is a duty; but where we invite
persons to accompany us in visiting different regions of country for our
gratification, health, information, and satisfaction, the case is a little
different.

	Last Sabbath I was here in the forenoon, but I did not feel able to
come in the afternoon.  However, I gave brother Kimball a text with regard
to this people to preach upon in the afternoon, and I expect that he did
so, and presume that it proved satisfactory to the congregation.

	Concerning what has been said by brother Orson Hyde since I came in,
pertaining to light and knowledge, it is worth our serious attention.  I
understand that this people do not all live up to their privileges.  I
have told you that I was really mortified to hear the Elders of Israel
preaching a reformation; this is a source of mortification to me, and the
reasons are these.  When life and salvation are put into the possession of
individuals or of a community, and they have all the means of obtaining
the knowledge of God, and the wisdom of God, to understand the ways of God
and to secure to themselves light, life, and immortality; and when those
means are in them and round about them, and in all their communications
and avocations of life are present with them, then to think that those
individuals, or that community, should neglect such a great opportunity
and prize, a prize beyond all earthly prizes or wealth of this earth,
which can bear no comparison to it, is exceedingly marvellous;  and to see
them neglect this great prize, their conduct is like, speaking after the
manner of the world, that of a miser who should turn from a mountain of
gold which is so valuable, and go to a sand bank to scratch it over, to
pick out shot to make himself wealthy.

	When life and salvation are put in the possession of individuals, or
of a people, to see them neglect those principles for anything pertaining
to this world, or to let sorrow or affliction, or trials, or temptations,
or buffeting, or smiting, or driving with the sword, fire, or anything
else in the shape of persecution that can be poured on them, and to see
them turn away from the things of God and be driven from the path of
righteousness that would lead them to eternal glory, and crown them with
crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives, is mortifying to my
feelings, and I feel mortified when we have to say, "Reformation," yet
such is often the case.  And many times when people have received and
enjoyed great light and intelligence, the things of this world choke the
good word, thorns and thistles spring up, and they seem to have but little
root in themselves.  The sun rises and scorches the tender plants that
seem to be growing in them, and we have to cry to the people, "reform,
REFORM, REFORM," when in reality it is a disgrace that such instruction
should ever be necessary.  It is a great disgrace; it is mortifying to
angels, and I will insure that it is mortifying to our Father Adam.  His
heart is pained with such things; and the Prophets are pained with them,
and so are all who understand and have proved themselves worthy of eternal
life, both those who now live on the earth and those who have gone behind
the vail.

	For us to be repenting and reforming is really a disgrace.  If it is
annoying to borrow light from others, it is a disgrace to take a course in
life to have to repent of the use made of that light.  It is a disgrace to
our organization, to the design of heaven, and to the intelligence God has
given to man for his benefit.  Truly wise persons hate to look upon such
conduct, they look upon it with contempt.  They are more worthy and noble
than to condescend to take a course in life which they have continually to
be repenting of.

	As to light, a subject that brother Hyde has been speaking upon, I
will present a few of my views in somewhat different terms.  In the first
place, to say that we "borrow light from one another."  I do not know that
I precisely understand that idea, for I have no light to lend.  Perhaps I
am not so well endowed with light as some who have lived on the earth, but
I have none to lend.  I will use another term, and I might say, perhaps,
with a good deal of propriety, that the poet conveys my idea pretty
correctly in his lines concerning the wise and foolish virgins:--

		"Go to them that sell and buy,

		And get yourselves a full supply."

Another wrote:--

		"The richest man I ever saw, was him that begged the most;

		His soul was filled with Jesus, and with the Holy Ghost."

I will go to begging instead of borrowing.  But it is no great matter
whether light is borrowed or begged, for it is not so much the way in
which I obtain knowledge, as in the use I make of the knowledge I have
obtained.  The wrong use of our knowledge is what brings default in me or
you.

	I say that I have no light to lend.  If God has given me light, if I
possess the light of the Spirit of revelation, and bestow that knowledge
upon my brethren, that same fountain increases in me; whereas, if I were
to shut it up--to close up the vision--and keep it from the people, it
would be like the candle lighted and put under the bushel, where of course
the want of free air would extinguish it; and if the light in me becomes
darkness, how great is that darkness!  This is my explanation with regard
to the light that is in me.  If I receive from the fountain, the more I
give the more I receive.  The freer I am to hand out that which the Lord
bestows on me, the better my mind is prepared to receive more from the
fountain; that is the experience of every individual.

	Here let me say what I do know and understand; every branch of
knowledge, of wisdom, of light, of understanding, all that I know, all
that is within my organization mentally or physically, spiritually or
temporally, I have received from some source.  So it is with you.  There
is no knowledge, no light, no wisdom that you are in possession of, but
what you have received from some source.  Do you think this is true?

	When will we possess knowledge, and power, and glory, and wisdom
independently?  When Jesus has finished his work.  When we have proved
ourselves worthy to be crowned, when we have passed through all the
ordeals of suffering, trials, and temptations, and proven to our Father
and our God that we are His friends, that we will live and serve Him, and
not forsake our parents--will not forsake our Father's house and His
precepts; when we have proven ourselves faithful in the flesh, and have
gone through the vail into the spirit world--have done all that is
required of us in preaching to those who are in prison, and are faithful
until we receive our bodies again--until these tabernacles which we now
occupy are resurrected and brought again to the spirits, and the spirits
to the tabernacles, and Jesus calls on us to come up and be crowned among
the faithful who will receive crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal
life, then we will receive that power, knowledge, and wisdom, and possess
it as independently as the Gods possess their power.  It will then be
bequeathed to them that they will have light within themselves.  Why? 
Because they have control over the elements, and it will never be until
then.

	We have no light, no power at present, only what is given to us. 
Brother Hyde calls it borrowing, but I call it a free gift, or begging. 
The Lord's giving does not diminish His fountain of spirit that our
philosopher brother Orson Pratt speaks of, that he believes occupies
universal space, or, in other words, that universal space is filled with,
and that every particle of it is a Holy Spirit, and that spirit is all
powerful and all wise, full of intelligence and possessing all the
attributes of all the Gods in eternity.  I hardly dare say what I think
and what I know, but that theory, though apparently very plausible and
beautiful, is not true, for it is, or would be contradicted by the
Prophets, by Jesus and the Apostles, and by all good men who understand
the principles of eternity, both those who have lived and are now living
on the earth.  Brother Hyde was upon this same theory once, and in
conversation with brother Joseph Smith advanced the idea that eternity or
boundless space was filled with the Spirit of God, or the Holy Ghost. 
After portraying his views upon that theory very carefully and minutely,
he asked brother Joseph what he thought of it?  He replied that it
appeared very beautiful, and that he did not know of but one serious
objection to it.  Says brother, Hyde, [sic-punc] "What is that?"  Joseph
replied, "it is not true."

 	With all the knowledge and wisdom that are combined in the person of
brother Orson Pratt, still he does not yet know enough to keep his feet
out of it, but drowns himself in his own philosophy, every time that he
undertakes to treat upon principles that he does not understand.  When he
was about to leave here for his present mission, he made a solemn promise
that he would not meddle with principles which he did not fully
understand, but would confine himself to the first principles of the
doctrine of salvation, such as were preached by brother Joseph Smith and
the Apostles.  But the first that we see in his writings, he is dabbling
with things that he does not understand; his vain philosophy is no
criterion or guide for the Saints in doctrine.  According to his
philosophy, the devils in hell are composed of and filled with the Holy
Spirit, or Holy Ghost, and possess all the knowledge, wisdom, and power of
the Gods.  If he believes his own doctrine pertaining to the celestial and
other kingdoms, viz., that the devils in hell possess the same power as
the Gods, they being opposed to Jesus and his Father, the whole fabric
must fall.  When I read some of the writings of such philosophers, they
make me think, "O dear, granny, what a long tail our puss has got!"  The
influences of the Almighty, by the Holy Spirit, have got to work upon us
to revolutionize us.  We must with our organization, as we are organized
to become independent beings, though not yet independent of the influences
around us, bring into subjection our own wills and efforts, and subject
ourselves to the principle of obedience to the celestial law.  And when we
have overcome the seeds of sin that are in our mortal tabernacles, and
brought our bodies and spirits in subjection to the celestial law of
Christ, and proven ourselves worthy to receive that exaltation promised to
the faithful, then it will be high time for us to receive independent
kingdoms, thrones, principalities, and powers.  We have them not now, and
if we had we would not know what to do with them.

	There are but few men that know how to govern in temporal things;
fewer still who know how to control the feelings of the people, how to
guide the power of any kingdom that was ever organized on the earth. 
Nations and kingdoms of this world rise up and flourish only for a season. 
What is the difficulty?  They contain the seeds of their own destruction,
sown therein by the framers of human governments; those combustive
elements are organized in their construction from the first.  With all the
excellency, and all the carefulness and correctness exhibited in the
formation of constitutions and laws, they have the seeds of destruction
within themselves.  In the laws of every government now on this earth,
there are certain principles in their constitutions that will ere long sap
the foundations of their existence; and so it will be, so long as men
continue to persist in ruling and making laws, in regulating and
controlling by human wisdom alone, and in issuing their mandates and
sending their officers to administer laws, made by the wisdom of man.  I
repeat, that just so long they will continue to throw into their laws,
into the constitutions of their governments, principles that are
calculated to destroy the fabrics.

	Why are they thus lead to sow the seeds of their own destruction? 
Because the kingdoms of this world are not designed to stand.  When men
are placed at the head of government who are actually controlled by the
power of God--by the Holy Ghost--they can lay plans, they can frame
constitutions, they can form governments and laws that have not the seeds
of death within them, and no other men can do it.  Consequently I say that
there are but few who know how to control or govern even in temporal
affairs on this earth.  Then why should we have kingdoms and thrones
committed to our charge, when we are not capacitated to rule over them? 
We are now trying to frame our lives in a way that we may be prepared to
live in a kingdom that is eternal, and it will be just about as much as we
can do to prepare ourselves to enter into that kingdom which will endure
for ever, without our being made Kings and and [sic] Priests in that
kingdom for some time yet.

	Can any man tell the variety of the spirits there are?  No, he cannot
even tell the variety that there is in the portion of his dominions in
which God has placed us, on this earth upon which we live, for we can see
an endless variety on this little spot, which is nothing but a garden spot
in comparison to the rest of the kingdoms of our God.  Again, you may
observe the people, and you will see an endless variety of disposition,
and an endless variety of physiognomy.  Bring the millions of faces before
you, and where can you find two faces precisely alike in every point? 
Where can you find two human beings precisely alike in the organization of
their bodies with the spirits?  Where can you point out two precisely
alike in every particular in their temperaments and dispositions?  Where
can you find two who are so operated upon precisely alike by a superior
power that their lives, their actions, their feelings, and all pertaining
to human life are alike?  I conclude that there is as great a variety in
the spiritual as there is in the temporal world, and I think that I am
just in my conclusion.

	You will see people possessed of different spirits; but I will say to
you what I have heretofore frequently said, and what brother Joseph Smith
has said, and what the Scripture teaches, your spirits when they came to
take tabernacles were pure and holy, and prepared to receive knowledge,
wisdom, and instruction, and to be taught while in the flesh; so that
every son and daughter of Adam, if they would apply their minds to wisdom,
and magnify their callings and improve upon every grace and means given
them, would have tickets for the boxes, to use brother Hyde's figure,
instead of going into the pit.  There is no spirit but what was pure and
holy when it came here from the celestial world.  There is no spirit among
the human family that was begotten in hell; none that were begotten by
angels, or by any inferior being.  They were not produced by any being
less than our Father in heaven.  He is the Father of our spirits; and if
we could know, understand, and do His will, every soul would be prepared
to return back into His presence.  And when they get there, they would see
that they had formerly lived there for ages, that they had previously been
acquainted with every nook and corner, with the palaces, walks, and
gardens; and they would embrace their Father, and He would embrace them
and say, "My son, my daughter, I have you again;" and the child would say,
"O my Father, my Father, I am here again."

	These are the facts in the case, and there are none ticketed for the
pit, unless they fill up that ticket themselves through their own
misconduct.  Are all spirits endowed alike?  No, not by any means.  Will
all be equal in the eelestial [sic] kingdom?  By no means.  Some spirits
are more noble than others; some are capable of receiving more than
others.  There is the same variety in the spirit world that you behold
here, yet they are of the same parentage, of one Father, one God, to say
nothing of who He is.  They are all of one parentage, though their [sic]
is a difference in their capacities and nobility, and each one will be
called to fill the station for which he is organized, and which he can
fill.

	We are placed on this earth to prove whether we are worthy to go into
the celestial world, the terrestrial, or the telestial, or to hell, or to
any other kingdom or place, and we have enough of life given us to do
this.  And as I frequently say, and think more frequently, it is a
disgrace for the Latter-day Saints to say, "Let us lay hold now, and have
a reformation."  We should never cease reforming and seeking to the Lord
our God; and wherein we can better any trait in our lives, let us go to
with our mights and reform ourselves, and not ask an Elder to come and
preach reformation to us, and we will find that every one of us will be
ticketed for the boxes, if we will do what we ought to do.  If we fill out
tickets so as to pass Joseph, Peter, Jesus, the Prophets, Abraham, and the
Patriarchs, our tickets will take us into the celestial kingdom.  And if
we can pass the Prophet Joseph, answer his questions, and bear his
scrutiny, we shall consider ourselves pretty safe.  We may fill out our
tickets for seats in the celestial, terrestrial, telestial, or some other
kingdom, just as we please.  We have got to fill out our own tickets; our
own lives will fill them up, and we will be judged according to the deeds
done in the body, every one of us, and that is the filling up of the
ticket.

	I remarked to brother Kimball last Sabbath, that this people are the
best people that ever lived upon the earth; I am actually a good deal
inclined to think so.  Do not marvel at this remark.  How long did it take
Enoch to purify his people--to become holy and prepared for what we want
this people to be prepared for in a very few years?  It took him 365
years.  How long has this people lived?  It will be 27 years on the sixth
of next month, since this Church was organized.  What do you think about
this people?  I say that the virtuous acts of their lives beat the whole
world.  Were the children of Israel ever so obedient to Moses, as this
people are to me?  No, they never began to be; for obedience they could
not favourably compare with this people.  Moses led his people forty years
in the wilderness in rebellion, fighting, stealing, whoring, and every
manner of iniquity; and their evils where [sic] so great, that God cut
every one of them off in the wilderness, except Caleb and Joshua.  He did
not suffer one of them to go into the land of Canaan, except the two I
have named; they never revolted from Moses, but held up his hands all the
time.  They never turned away, not even when Aaron, his half-brother and
right hand man, made the golden calf.  When Aaron gathered up the
earrings, and finger rings, and jewels, and made a calf, and led the
children of Israel astray to worship an image, and say, "these be thy
Gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, out
of the house of bondage," while Moses was in the mountain talking to the
Lord, Caleb and Joshua did not turn away; and if they were in that
company, their souls shuddered while the people were making that calf.

	Were Enoch's men as obedient and advanced as far as this people in
the same time?  I think not.  Let this people continue to make the
improvement they have made, and it would not be 165 years before they
could take this part of the country and go off, should it be necessary,
until the earth is purified.  Yet Enoch had to live and strive, and toil
during 365 years, in order to bring his people under the principle of
strict obedience.  This contrast is encouraging to this people.

	Now let me tell you that there are hundreds of men and women in this
community that believe they ought to repent, but cannot find out for what,
cannot tell wherein to do differently, from what they do, and do not know
what to do.  Do you do everything you know to be right and pleasing in the
sight of God?  Yes, say hundreds and thousands of the people.  Do you do
anything you know to be wrong?  Hundreds may reply, "We do not know that
we do, but we do not feel as though we enjoyed as much as we should." 
Hold on, do not get away from us.  If you were now in the enjoyment of the
things you have a presentiment of in your own feelings, that in the
anxiety of your own hearts you are longing for, if you could get all that
in your possession, you would not stay here; we should lose you, for you
would be too pure to tarry in our society.  Do not be in a hurry; let us
stay together and fight the devil a little longer.  Some of you think that
by next fall you must obtain all that the Elders preach, if you do, you
will go behind the vail, and we cannot have your society.

	With many, a presentiment arises in their hearts like this, "We want
something wonderful, or we must do something that we have not done.  We
must revolutionize our lives; we must reform," but they do not know
wherein.  Serve God according to the best knowledge you have, and lay down
and sleep quietly; and when the devil comes along and says, "You are not a
very good Saint, you might enjoy greater blessings and more of the power
of God, and have the vision of your mind opened, if you would live up to
your privileges," tell him to leave; that you have long ago forsaken his
ranks and enlisted in the army of Jesus, who is your captain, and that you
want no more of the devil.

	Should a sister, full of faith, happen to lay her hands on the sick,
and they thereby be relieved in the hour of distress, then the devil will
come along and say, "Sister, I tell you that you have more faith than
brother Brigham, brother Heber, or the Twelve."  In such cases just tell
Mr. devil to kiss your foot and leave, that you have no more faith and
knowledge than your Father and God has given you; that you are not any
more or less than His child, and mean to serve Him, and that you have
broken friendship with the devil, and therefore he must leave forthwith. 
Some of you sisters will get to thinking, "O that I knew what to do. 
Brother Kimball pours it out on me and tells me to repent; brother Brigham
pours it on me, and brother Hyde and others, and they tell me that I am
not half so good as I should be."  Hold on, do not get so nervous that you
cannot eat your bread and meat.

	We have Zion in our view in her perfection, as you have.  Do you know
how you looked on Zion when you first embraced the Gospel?  You thought
there would be no more trial, no more sorrow or vexation of spirit; that
everybody would do right, and that there would be no more wrong; that if
you once reached the gathering place, there your souls would be full of
glory, and you expected that you could then sit and "sing yourself away to
everlasting bliss."  You have to go through the smut mill, in order to be
made clean; then you have to be winnowed, then ground, and then go through
the bolt; and in this operation a good many will actually "bolt."  There
are many pretty good men who want to go to California and to the States;
they have felt the effect of the boltings.  You have come here, and many
have undergone a great deal of trouble to do so, in order to serve your
God and live your religion; and when you do not know what to do to make
yourselves better, be contented, and eat your food with a thankful heart
to the glory of God.  And when you lay down, say "All is peace, all is
right; and if the Lord wishes to take me away to night, I am ready to go." 
There are thousands of this people who, if they were to live ten thousand
years in the flesh and according to the chance they have had, would be no
better than they are now.

	It is said to be eternal life, "to know the only wise God, and Jesus
Christ whom He has sent."  I will tell you one thing, as brother Hyde has
said, it would be an excellent plan for us to go to work and find out
ourselves, for as sure as you find out yourselves, you will find out God,
whether you are Saint or sinner.  A man cannot find out himself without
the light of revelation; he has to turn round and seek to the Lord his
God, in order to find out himself.  If you find out who Joseph was, you
will know as much about God as you need to at present; for if He said, "I
am a God to this people," He did not say that He was the only wise God. 
Jesus was a God to the people when he was upon earth, was so before he
came to this earth, and is yet.  Moses was a God to the children of
Israel, and in this manner you may go right back to Father Adam.

	If you look at things spiritually, and then naturally, and see how
they appear together, you will understand that when you have the privilege
of commencing the work that Adam commenced on this earth, you will have
all your children come and report to you of their sayings and acts; and
you will hold every son and daughter of yours responsible when you get the
privilege of being an Adam on earth.

	Suppose that one of us had been Adam, and had peopled and filled the
world with our children, they, although they might be great grandchildren,
&c., still, say I, had I been Adam, they would be my flesh, blood, and
bones, and have the same kind of a spirit put into them that is in me. 
And pertaining to the flesh they would all be my children, and I would
call them to account, and by and bye I would call every one of them home. 
They would have to render up to father an account, that he may know what
their works have been on earth, for man is judged according to his works
on the earth.

	Comparing spiritual with temporal things, it must be that God knows
something about temporal things, and has had a body and been on an earth,
were it not so He would not know how to judge men righteously, according
to the temptations and sin they have had to contend with.  If I can pass
brother Joseph, I shall stand a good chance for passing Peter, Jesus, the
Prophets, Moses, Abraham, and all back to Father Adam, and be pretty sure
of receiving his approbation.  If I can pass all this ordeal, shall I not
be pretty safe?  I think I shall.

	When we get before father Adam and the innumerable company that will
come before him--when we draw near to the Ancient of Days with the rest of
his children, and receive his approbation, shall we not be safe?  If we
can pass the sentinel Joseph the Prophet, we shall go into the celestial
kingdom, and not a man can injure us.  If he says, "God bless you, come
along here;" if we will live so that Joseph will justify us, and say,
"Here am I, brethren," we shall pass every sentinel; there will be no
danger but that we will pass into the celestial kingdom.  Will we all
become Gods, and be crowned kings?  No, my brethren, there will be
millions on millions, even the greater party of the celestial world, who
will not be capable of a fulness of that glory, immortality, eternal lives
and a continuation of them, yet they will go into the celestial kingdom. 
Will this people all go into that kingdom?  I think a good many will have
to be burnt out like an old pipe, before they can go into any decent
kingdom.

	Think how many have come into this church, from the commencement of
it until now, and apostatized.  Will our present population equal them in
number?  No, it would be like a drop in a bucket, compared with them.  Do
you know of any other people's striving to enter in at the strait gate
besides this people?  Yes, many in the sectarian world, and the honest
among the heathen nations are seeking with all their mights to enter in,
and I do not know but what they are the foolish virgins that brother Hyde
has been talking about.  The parable will apply to them, as well as to a
portion of this people.  They live according to the moral law given to
them, and no people can be morally any better than are thousands and
millions of them, for they have spent days and years on their knees to get
the power we have, but could not obtain it.  Why?  Because they had not
the keys of the everlasting Priesthood.  Where will they go?  To heaven,
and they will have all the heaven, bliss, and crowns that they have
anticipated in the flesh, and then you may add a hundred fold more.  Can
they go into the celestial kingdom?  No, not without the keys of that
kingdom.

	Well, brethren and sisters, may the Lord bless you and comfort your
hearts.  Be true to your God and to your religion.  Do not forsake them,
but forsake sin wherever you may see it.  Shun sin, whether it is in me or
in any other person, and cleave to righteousness and to the Lord.  Do not
betray your God nor your covenants, and I say, God bless you and prepare
us all for His celestial kingdom.  Amen.

   OUR RELATIVES, THOSE WHO DO THE WILL OF GOD--THE ELDERS SHOULD BE AS
  FATHERS AND SHEPHERDS IN ISRAEL, AND NOT AS MASTERS--SELF-CONFIDENCE,
           AND THE WAY TO OBTAIN IT--THE PROPHET JOSEPH NOT YET
          RESURRECTED--PREACHING TO THE SPIRITS IN PRISON, ETC.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, March 15, 1857.

	I am not in the habit of taking a text, when I preach to the Saints;
but I will quote a portion of Scripture, and offer a few remarks upon it.

	It is recorded, concerning the Saviour, Matthew xii. 46-50, that
"While he yet talked to the people, behod [sic] his mother and his
brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.  Then one said unto
him, Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak
with thee.  But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my
mother? and who are my brethren?  And he stretched forth his hand towards
his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren.  For whosoever
shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother,
and sister, and mother."

	The Saviour's reply to the questions, "Who is my mother? and who are
my brethren?" is fraught with a principle that is very little noticed by
many.  I frequently hear the brethren, and you may hear both them and the
sisters, in the prayer-meetings, where they have a privilege of speaking,
say, "I have not a father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first nor
second cousin, nor any relative whatever in this Church."  Do you not hear
such expressions made by the Saints?  Yes; and I sometimes here [sic] them
from this stand.

	Whether to the understanding of his hearers at that time, or whether
to ours, those questions were correctly answered by our Saviour in the
observation, "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in
heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."  So far as I am
concerned, I do not claim relationship anywhere else.  And I do not think
that the Saviour will claim any son or daughter of Adam to be his brother,
sister, mother, or kin, or connection of any kind or description,
according to the flesh, except those who do the will of our Father in
heaven--the will of Jesus and his Father.

	We presume that the Saviour perfectly understood his origin, for he
was then over thirty years of age, and had been instructed by his Father
in heaven and by the Holy Ghost, and had had the visions of his mind
repeatedly opened, according to the history given by his disciples;
therefore we have no hesitation in believing that he understood his
origin, who he was, the errand for which he came into the world, the
business he had to attend to here, and understood the end of his mission
in the meridian of time.  He understood that which you and I do not
understand, without the same kind of revelations and teachings as he
enjoyed.

	Let the human family do as they did in the days of Adam, in the days
of Noah, or even as they did in the days of Lot; let parents propagate
children, and let one generation succeed another, and this does not change
the blood, flesh, bones, sinews, &c., pertaining to our organization in
the flesh; this does not change in the least the peculiar characteristics
of the organization of our bodies.  The Apostle merely hinted at this
subject when he said, "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for
to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times
before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation."  (Acts xvii. 26.)

	No matter who they are, nor whether they are upon the islands, or
upon the continents; no matter whether they are the wild Arabs who
traverse the scorching sands of Arabia, the aborigines of our own country,
who roam over its plains and mountains, or the delicately nurtured
dwellers in highly civilized nations; they are all of one flesh and blood.

	Consequently we can readily and safely draw the conclusion that a man
or woman who has sprang from the loins of Father Adam and Mother Eve,
whether upon the islands of the sea, in the west, in the east, or on the
opposite side of this globe, is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone,
as much so as any person now in this house or in this Territory.  But the
relationship that I claim, is to those who do the will of our Father in
heaven; they are my brethren and sisters.

	I know a great man here who have no relatives in this Church, using
that term in its customary acceptation.  Sometimes wives leave their
husbands, to come here; mothers also leave their children, and children
their parents.  Ask them, "Where is your husband?"  "In England," or in
some other country.  "Have you any children?"  "Yes."  "Where are they?" 
"They would not come with me."  "Have you any brothers and sisters, or
parents?"  "Yes, my father and mother are living."  "Did they believe the
Gospel?"  "No."  "Did your brothers and sisters believe it?"  "No, I am a
lone person."

	Such persons are apt to feel a spirit of despondency, to mourn and
complain, "O that I had a Father's house to go to; or if I had one person
whom I could visit and call sister, how happy I should be; but I am a
stranger here, I have no relatives in this kingdom."  Is that feeling
correct or incorrect?  I say that it is incorrect; such conclusions are
not true.  That man or woman that is a child of God, that honours his or
her calling in the kingdom of God on the earth, is just as much your
brother or sister as any person you have been accustomed to claim that
relationship with.  If you see a woman who lives her religion, who is
owned of God, you see a person that is flesh of your flesh, blood of your
blood, and bone of your bone, although she may have been born upon the
opposite side of the earth from where you was born.  Those who actually
live the religion we profess, are as much your brothers and sisters as are
those born of the same earthly parents.  Jesus understood this, as we may
learn from his expression, "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father
which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."

	Let your hearts be at rest, for you have brothers and sisters here to
visit; they are your connections, your relatives, your brethren and
sisters.

	A great many have an experience that has proven to them the truth of
this doctrine.  Ask those individuals, those who at times have desponding
feelings about the absence of their relatives, when they are in the light
of the Spirit, when the joys of salvation fill their bosoms, whether they
would prefer the society of their fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters
whom they have left behind, or whether they would like to associate with
them better than with their neighbours here, and they will tell you, "No." 
Would you visit them, as quick as you would a good Saint?  "No."  Do you
have the same feeling and fellowship for them, as for a Saint?  "No."  Are
they are near and dear to you as those who are Saints?  "No."  And yet,
when the Spirit is gone from them and they are left to themselves, they
are apt to feel lonesome and cast down, to be filled with desponding
feelings, and to cry out, "I wish I could see my father, my mother, my
brothers and sisters; I wish they were here."  And I wish you to
understand that your brethren and sisters are here, even according to the
flesh.  Yes, according to the connection and relationship we bear to each
other to our Father and God, and to our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ.

	It is true that I have not altogether the experience that those have
whose parents would not embrace the Gospel, nor any of their father's
family.  My father and step-mother embraced the plan of salvation as
revealed through Joseph the Prophet; and four of my brothers, five
sisters, and their children and their children's children, almost without
exception, are in this Church; also many of my cousins, uncles, and other
classes of what we call relatives or relations, are in this Church.  But I
had this trial when I embraced this Gospel, "Can you forsake your friends
and your father's house?"  This was in the vision of my mind, and I had
just as much of a trial as though I had actually been called to experience
all that some really have.  I felt, yes, I can leave my father, my
brothers and sisters, and my wife and children, if they will not serve the
Lord and go with me.

	I did not ask my wife whether she believed the Gospel; I did not ask
her whether she would be baptized.  Faith, repentance, and baptism are
free for all.  I did not know, when I was baptized, whether my wife
believed the Gospel or not; I did not know that my father's house would go
with me.  I believed that some of them would, but I was brought to the
test, "Can I forsake all for the Gospel's sake?"  I can, was the reply
within me.  "Would you like to?"  "Yes, if they will not embrace the
Gospel."  "Will not these earthly, natural ties be continually in your
bosom?"  "No; I know no other family but the family of God gathered
together, or about to be, in this my day; I have no other connection on
the face of the earth that I claim."  And from that day to this, if my
father was still living, or my mother, and would not believe the Gospel,
embrace it, and then live it, or if any of my living brothers and sisters
would not, I would rather meet a Saint who was a beggar in the streets and
bid him welcome to my house, than to receive a visit from any of my
unbelieving connections, even though they had the wealth of the Indies.  I
was brought to this test in my own feelings, in the first of my experience
in this Church.

	Here are our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters.  And perhaps it
would be strictly correct to say that we have fathers in the Gospel,
spiritual Fathers, for the Apostle Paul called Timothy, whom he brought
into the Church, his "own son in the faith," and charged him to "be gentle
unto all men, apt to teach, patient;" to be careful, cautious, with regard
to the people that believed in Jesus Christ; to learn the disposition and
the nature of the people, that he might understand himself and those he
taught; and alluded to others that were travelling and preaching; building
up Churches, or presiding over them after they were built up.

	Looking at the conduct of many, yea, very many, as we can see it
exhibited in this our day, they want the mastery, the influence, the
power.  They want to be able to say to the people, "Do this or do that,"
and have no objections raised.  They would have the people obey their
voice, and yet they do not know how to gain the affections of the people;
they do not understand the dispositions of the people.

	Paul observed the same difficulty in his day.  Many Elders were
preaching and presiding, who were ignorant, aspiring, and tyrannical, and
but few of them treated the people as kind and benevolent fathers treat
their children.  There were not many fathers, but there was a disposition
to be "many masters," as we see here.

	The most of our Elders want to be obeyed, as strictly as you are
taught by them from this stand that this people ought to obey brother
Heber, or brother Brigham; as strictly as they preach to you to obey our
counsel.  I do not threaten you much; No.  If I have not wisdom and power
to gain the influence necessary for me to wield in the midst of this
people, without cursing them, without telling them that they and their
substance shall be cursed, and that if they do not do as I say they shall
go to hell--without threatening the people all the time with my judgments
and the judgments of the Almighty--I say, let Brigham sink a little lower,
and get into the field where I can find my true level, where I can be made
more useful.

	You never hear me plead with nor threaten the people much, nor
chastise them often and severely for not obeying my counsel.  Is it right
that others should do so?  Yes, it is all right, if they are so disposed;
I have no fault to find with regard to others urging the people to obey
counsel.  But if I do not give the Saints and others the counsel of the
Almighty, and that too by the Spirit of my mission, they are at liberty to
dictate me, or to correct me in every error I commit; and certainly I
should commit great errors, if I did not enjoy and have the Spirit of my
mission, and counsel according to the will of the Lord.  If all who are
called to responsible stations would look at themselves precisely as they
are, I will venture that we would have many more fathers than we now have,
and fewer masters to drive the people.

	As I have frequently said to the brethren, stop, hold on.  If you
have sheep and have become a shepherd in the fold of Christ, you must bear
in mind that you must know your sheep, and that then they will know you,
that is, if you have got sheep.  Perhaps some of you are nursing a flock
of goats, and do not know the difference.  But if you actually have a
flock of sheep, you should, instead of hallooing, "Shoo, shoo, shoo, get
out of the way," and instead of driving them, take a course that when they
hear your voice they may begin to bleat and run for their shepherd,
because he has a little salt for them.  When the sheep hear the voice of a
good shepherd they expect to hear the words of life; and every one that
has the knowledge of God will know and understand that such a shepherd is
acting in his duty, and they will walk up to his counsels and example.  Do
all the shepherds take a wise course?  No, and the reasons have been told
here times enough.

	Elders of Israel and Bishops, be fathers, and take a course by which
you will win the affections of the people.  How? with your silken lips? 
No, no; but with the fear of the Almighty.  Do you know that men and women
of God love truth?  They do not love sophistry, it is an abomination to
them.  When men are smooth as oil, with a smile always upon their
countenances, as some Elders have, to gain an influence, the love people
have for such men is rotten, is without foundation; and in the day of
trouble, when they need a foundation in their people, they will find that
it will fall to the ground, and that the people will pass by them and say,
"We do not know those men."  Let your influence and your power be gained
by the power of the Lord Almighty, by the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven, and see that you have within you a well of water, springing up to
everlasting life.  Then when your brethren and sisters come around you
they will drink at that fountain, and say, "We are one with you." 

	You hear the Elders teaching the people to try and have confidence in
God, and saying, "Do have confidence in the ordinances of the house of
God; brethren and sisters try and live your religion; try and have
confidence in your religion; have confidence in your God; have confidence
in the Elders of Israel, that lead you; have confidence in your Bishops
and other presiding officers, &c."

	You know that almost every man who becomes a public speaker uses
certain peculiar words to convey particular ideas, selects a vocabulary
and arrangement more or less peculiar to himself, thereby causing that
great variety of style observed in speakers and writers.  I have mine,
which is peculiar to me.  Did you ever see a man who had such a peculiar
vocabulary as brother Heber has?  I never did.  Orson Hyde has a mode of
expression peculiar to himself, and so has every public speaker.  My use
of language is good to me; and though others may use different words to
convey the same ideas, let me give out those ideas in my own style,
according to my understanding.

	Now to return to those teachings by the Elders, in such cases I would
say to my dear brethren, to those who are of the household of faith, try
to get a little confidence in yourselves, and then try to live so as to
have confidence in your God.  Ask even an infidel whether he believes that
the wonder workings of nature, the strange phenomena which he sees and
cannot account for, are produced, and he will answer, "Yes, I know they
are."  Do you know that men, women, and children are healed?  Yes, you
know they are.  You behold those remarkable phenomena, though you cannot
fully account for them.  You believe in a great many things which you do
not understand, but do you believe in yourselves?  No, that is the grand
difficulty with every one of us.

	I will take my own experience.  When men and women bring their sick
to me, if I had the power I would heal all that should be healed.  And if
I had perfect confidence in myself, and the Lord had that confidence in me
which I should then have in Him, no power beneath the heavens could
prevent the power of God from coming on them and healing them through me. 
But I have not yet attained to perfect confidence in myself in all
circumstances, neither has God in me, for were such the case, He would
answer every request I made of Him, every wish of mine would be answered
to the letter.  And this is the difficulty with the people, they have not
attained to perfect confidence in themselves, neither have we as yet
sufficient grounds for that degree of confidence.

	We lay hands on the sick and wish them to be healed, and pray the
Lord to heal them, but we cannot always say that He will.  We do not
always know that He will actually hear our prayers and answer them. 
Sometimes the Elders will get that faith, and the sisters will often lay
hands on their children and have faith and confidence in themselves that
God will answer their prayers, and say to fevers and pains, "Be ye rebuked
and stand far off from this the afflicted," and it is done.  But you have
to attain to this power by your faithfulness and confidence in yourselves,
that God will answer your prayers.  We know that the Lord often heals the
sick; and we believe all the time that He is able to do so, but will He
because we ask Him to?  That is the question, and we are often doubtful
about it.

	Do you think that I would have let my brother die, if I had the power
the Lord has?  Would I have let Jedediah gone behind the veil, had I had
that power?  No; though in that I might have gone contrary to the wishes
of the Almighty.  For want of the knowledge which the Lord has, if I had
power I might bring injury upon myself and this people.

	We must have knowledge pertaining to ourselves, and that knowledge
will give us the key to know how to ask and obtain, and without that
knowledge we cannot have eternal life, which is "to know the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent."  If we have that knowledge we
will know how to ask so as to obtain, and not ask amiss, we will ask and
have our requests granted.  How can we have that knowledge?  By applying
our hearts to wisdom and our lives to rectitude; by living as perfectly
before God as we know how; by doing those things that we know to be right,
those about which we have no doubt or dubiety, and never doing that which
we are suspicious is wrong, and then be satisfied and not crave after that
which is not for us, but let it remain in the hands of God.  If we can
obtain faith and confidence in ourselves, there is no lack in the power of
God; neither is there any lack in His diligence, for He is always on the
alert.

	In our ignorance and darkness we may be led into error, if we follow
our feelings, as I just now observed might have been the case in regard to
retaining brother Jedediah, as also brother Willard, brother Whitney, and
many others.  Had we had the power, would we have parted with Joseph?  No,
notwithstanding his work was finished on the earth.  Many ideas have been
imbibed and advanced concerning the death of Joseph.  It was precisely as
the Lord had decreed, designed, willed and brought about.  No power could
have altered it in the least.  He had finished his work on the earth. 
Still if you and I had had the power without the knowledge, we would have
kept Joseph on this earth, and then he would have failed to perform his
mission in the spirit world.

	I learned during the intermission, that several understood brother
Heber to say, in his remarks in the forenoon, that Joseph was resurrected. 
He did not say any such thing, but left the sentence with a word
understood at each end of it, or a sort af [sic] conjunction disjunctive
at each side of it.  I thought at the time that many would understand
brother Heber as saying that Joseph was resurrected, and I take this
opportunity to correct that misunderstanding.  Joseph is not resurrected;
and if you will visit the graves you will find the bodies of Joseph and
Hyrum yet in their resting place.  Do not be mistaken about that; they
will be resurrected in due time.

	Jesus had a work to do on the earth.  He performed his mission, and
then was slain for his testimony.  So it has been with every man who has
been fore-ordained to perform certain important missions.  Joseph truly
said, "No power can take away my life, until my work is done."  All the
powers of earth and hell could not take his life, until he had completed
the work the Father gave him to do; until that was done, he had to live. 
When he died he had a mission in the spirit world, as much so as Jesus
had.  Jesus was the first man that ever went to preach to the spirits in
prison, holding the keys of the Gospel of salvation to them.  Those keys
were delivered to him in the day and hour that he went into the spirit
world, and with them he opened the door of salvation to the spirits in
prison.

	Compare those inhabitants on the earth who have heard the Gospel in
our day, with the millions who have never heard it, or had the keys of
salvation presented to them, and you will conclude at once as I do, that
there is an almighty work to perform in the spirit world.  Joseph has not
yet got through there.  When he finishes his mission in the spirit world,
he will be resurrected, but he has not yet done there.  Reflect upon the
millions and millions of people that have lived and died without hearing
the Gospel on the earth, without the keys of the kingdom.  They were not
prepared for celestial glory, and there was no power that could prepare
them without the keys of this Priesthood.

	They must go into prison, both Saints and sinners.  The good and bad,
the righteous and the unrighteous must go to the house of prison, or
paradise, and Jesus went and opened the doors of salvation to them.  And
unless they lost the keys of salvation on account of transgression, as has
been the case on this earth, spirits clothed with the Priesthood have
ministered to them from that day to this.  And if they lost the keys by
transgression, some one who had been in the flesh, Joseph, for instance,
had to take those keys to them.  And he is calling one after another to
his aid, as the Lord sees he wants help.

	Jedediah is not asleep, his spirit is not dead, he is not idle;
neither is Willard idle, asleep, or dead.  Joseph needed them there, also
brother Whitney, and all the rest of the faithful who have departed in our
day; and he is now anxious to get a few more of the faithful Elders to
assist him in the great labours in the prison house.  He is there
attending to the business of his mission; and if they did lose the keys of
the Priesthood in the spirit world, as they have formerly done on the
earth, Joseph has restored those keys to the spirits in prison, so that we
who now live on the earth in the day of salvation and redemption for the
house of Israel and the house of Esau, may go forth and officiate for all
who died without the Gospel and the knowledge of God.

	Brother Heber did not say that Joseph was resurrected, though I was
satisfied that many of the hearers would draw such a conclusion.  As quick
as Joseph finishes his mission in the spirit world he will be resurrected.

	I do not know that any news would come to my ears so sad and
discouraging, so calculated to blight my faith and hope as to hear that
Joseph is resurrected and has not made a visit to his brethren.  I should
know that something serious was the matter, far more than I now apprehend
that there is.  When his spirit again quickens his body, he will ascend to
heaven, present his resurrected body to the Father and the Son, receive
his commission as a resurrected being, and visit his brethren on this
earth, as did Jesus after his resurrection.  Mary met the Saviour after
his resurrection, and, "supposing him to be the gardner, saith, Sir, if
thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him."  But when
she learned who he was, and was about to greet him, he said, "Touch me
not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father."  As quick as Joseph ascends
to his Father and God, he will get a commission to this earth again, and I
shall be the first woman that he will manifest himself to.  I was going to
say the first man, but there are so many women who profess to have seen
him, that I thought I would say woman.

	I should feel worse than I now do, if I knew that Joseph was
resurrected and had not paid us a visit, which he most assuredly will do,
when that period arrives.

	When Jesus was resurrected they found the linen, but the body was not
there.  When Joseph is resurrected, you may find the linen that enshrouded
his body, but you will not find his body in the grave, no more than the
disciples found the body of Jesus when they looked where it was lain.

	To return more closely to the subject I have in mind, I will ask, can
we do anything to restore confidence in ourselves?  Yes, we can; and those
principles that will actually give us confidence in ourselves, as what we
ought to have constantly before us.  But those who have been intimately
acquainted with this people can see a difficulty on the other hand.  A man
would get exceeding great faith, if he did not outweigh and outmeasure
himself, for it is but a short time before some are prone to take the
glory to themselves, and say, "I have laid hands on the sick and they have
been healed.  Stand out of the way, everybody, I am the man for you to
look at," and they go to the devil.

	Again, many will pray for the sick and for themselves, for this
blessing and that, without receiving an answer, and think "I am so
unworthy, I have not lived my religion and walked up to my privileges,
though I have thought of everything that I can confess."  Some people will
come and confess to me things as simple as it would be for a woman to take
the last egg from her hen's nest, and then reflect, "what an evil I have
done to rob that poor hen of her last egg," and talk about that which the
Lord cares nothing about, and say within themselves, "I do not receive the
blessings I desire; I have tried to humble myself and do the best I know,
and yet I do not receive that faith and power I want, that I am looking
for and expect."  You cannot receive it, until you are capable of using
it, neither should you.  It would not be wisdom in the Lord to give you
power any faster than you gain knowledge.

	Those who humble themselves before the Lord, and wait upon Him with a
perfect heart and willing mind, will receive little by little, line upon
line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, "Now and
again," as brother John Taylor says, until they receive a certain amount. 
Then they have to nourish and cherish what they receive, and make it their
constant companion, encouraging every good thought, doctrine and principle
and doing every good work they can perform, until by and bye the Lord is
in them a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life.

	Some of you may remember hearing Elder Taylor preach on that subject
some years ago.  He illustrated it most beautifully, I never heard it so
beautifully illustrated, by instancing people's applying their words,
works, and wisdom, in seeking first the kingdom of heaven and its
righteousness, seeking to build up the kingdom of God on the earth, and
exhorted that every other interest should sleep to wake no more; that
every man and woman should have a lively interest for the kindom [sic] of
God, and let narrow, contracted, sectional, individual interests lie
dormant, asleep, severed from us, and taught that our whole lives would
then be occupied in loving God and doing good, until Jesus would form in
us that living fountain from which we may have revelation and gain wisdom.

	Can you learn by what you see?  Yes, if you know how.  No matter what
your circumstances are, whether you are in prosperity or in adversity, you
can learn from every person, transaction, and circumstance around you. 
You can learn from yourselves and your neighbours, and can apply all your
energies to the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth, if your
knowledge, interests, hopes, joys, efforts, and labours are concentrated
therein; and you will be in that almighty big root that brother Heber was
talking about in the forenoon.

	Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and his Father is the
husbandman.  In reality his Father was the root of that vine, and Jesus
was the vine, though he did not tell them that, for they could not
understand anything about it.  His Father was the root, the living
fountain, and the God whom we have to serve.  Let us be branches and cling
to this vine, hang to the true principles, and all that we do, let it be
to nourish, cherish, love, build, increase, and multiply the size, glory,
power, and excellency of this tremendous great vine.  There will be but
one big vine in the vineyard, according to that.  Never mind, we will be
the branches, and the roots will fill the whole soil and the branches the
heavens.

	It may be just as well to have one tree that will bear a million
bushels of peaches, as to have a million trees that will only produce one
bushel each.  All can partake and be filled; all who will can rejoice, and
all can strive to build up this one kingdom, or to nourish this great
tree.

	I now wish to particularize a little, and will commence by asking
whether any persons here are sick, and if so, I will tell you what their
disease is, when I get ready.  Some men and women fairly get sick, so that
they have to go to bed.  What is the matter?  "O I feel that I cannot
stand it any longer."  What is the matter, sister?  "My husband knows
something that he cannot tell me."  Do some of you men know something that
you cannot tell your wives?  "O, I have received something in the
endowment that I dare not tell my wife, and I do not know how to do about
it."  The man who cannot know millions of things that he would not tell
his wife, will never be crowned in the celestial kingdom, never, NEVER,
NEVER.  It cannot be; it is impossible.  And that man who cannot know
things without telling any other living being upon the earth, who cannot
keep his secrets and those that God reveals to him, never can receive the
voice of his Lord to dictate him and the people on this earth.

	Does brother Heber know things that I do not?  Yes, facts that have
slept in his bosom from the time I first knew him.  Did he ever have a
thought, a wish, or desire, to tell them to me?  No.  Do I know anything
that I should keep fast locked in my bosom?  Yes, thousands of things
pertaining to other people, that ought to sleep as in the silent grave. 
Do those things go from me to brother Heber?  No.  To my wife?  No, for I
might as well at once publish them in a paper.  Not that I wish to
undervalue the ability, talent, and integrity of woman, for I have many
women to whom I would rather reveal any secret that ought to be revealed,
than to nine hundred and nine out of a thousand men in this Church.  I
know that many can keep secrets, but that is no reason why I should tell
them my secrets.  When I find a person that is good at keeping a secret,
so am I; you can keep yours, and I mine.

	Now I want to tell you that which, perhaps, many of you do not know. 
Should you receive a vision of revelation from the Almighty, one that the
Lord gave you concerning yourselves, or this people, but which you are not
to reveal on account of your not being the proper person, or because it
ought not to be known by the people at present, you should shut it up and
seal it as close, and lock it as tight as heaven is to you, and make it as
secret as the grave.  The Lord has no confidence in those who reveal
secrets, for He cannot safely reveal Himself to such persons.  It is as
much as He can do to get a particle of sense into some of the best and
most influential men in the Church, in regard to real confidence in
themselves.  They cannot keep things within their own bosoms.

	They are like a great many boys and men that I have seen, who would
cause even a sixpence, when given to them, to become so hot that it would
burn through the pocket of a new vest, or pair of pantaloons, if they
could not spend it.  It could not stay with them; they would feel so tied
up because they were obliged to keep it, that the very fire of discontent
would cause it to burn through the pocket, and they would lose the
sixpence.  This is the case with a great many of the Elders of Israel,
with regard to keeping secrets.  They burn with the idea, "O, I know
things that brother Brigham does not understand."  Bless your souls, I
guess you do.  Don't you think that there are some things that you do not
understand?  "There may be some things which I do not understand."  That
is as much as to say, "I know more than you."  I am glad of it, if you do. 
I wish that you knew a dozen times more.  When you see a person of that
character, he has no soundness within him.

	If a person understands God and godliness, the principles of heaven,
the principle of integrity, and the Lord reveals anything to that
individual, no matter what, unless He gives permission to disclose it, it
is locked up in eternal silence.  And when persons have proven to their
messengers that their bosoms are like the lock-ups of eternity, then the
Lord says, I can reveal anything to them, because they never will disclose
it until I tell them to.  Take persons of any other character, and they
sap the foundation of the confidence they ought to have in themselves and
in their God.

	If you cannot have confidence in God, try and have it in yourselves. 
If you lay on hands for the recovery of the sick, or for the reception of
the Holy Ghost, or to bless or curse, unless you know that God hears you
and will answer you, your administration is liable to fall to the ground. 
When you have confidence in yourselves you will have confidence in your
God.  You know that God is able to do what you desire of Him in
righteousness, but the question is, will He?  No, He will not do for this
people that which we want Him to, until we prove to Him and to the angels
that we are the friends of God, and will never betray Him in any way,
shape, or manner.  If we are His friends, we will keep the secrets of the
Almighty.  We will lock them up, when he reveals them to us, so that no
man on earth can have them, and no being from heaven, unless he brings the
keys wherewith to get them legally.  No person can get the things the Lord
has given to men, unless by legal authority; then I have a right to reveal
them, but not without.  When we can keep our own secrets, when we can keep
the secrets of the Almighty strictly, honestly, truly in our own bosoms,
the Lord will have confidence in us.  Will He before?  No.  Are we going
to become secret keepers in any other way than by applying our lives to
the religion we profess to believe?  No.

	We want confidence in each other.  The Bishops, Presiding Elders, and
men in authority seek for the obedience and confidence of the people.  How
are they going to get it?  By abusing the people?  By scolding them?  Are
they going to get it by flattering them with smooth, deceitful tongues? 
No, they will not get it in any of those ways.  There is only one way to
get it.  This people are a good people.  As I said last Sabbath, they are
willing to do anything to obtain eternal life, to secure to themselves a
seat in the boxes, as brother Orson Hyde termed it.  If you have a blank
ticket for a theatre, you may fill it up for the boxes, or the gallery, or
the pit, just as you please.  Your lives must fill that blank, and if you
would fill it for one of the best seats in the kingdom, you must live
accordingly.

	Do not flatter the man of influence, or the rich man.  I know that
the brethren might turn round and say, "Brother Brigham, do you see any of
this, very lately?"  The brethren have learned, years ago, that if a man
was to give me a gold watch, a suit of clothes, a span of horses, a fine
carriage, or a purse containing a million of dollars to buy my friendship,
that does not buy it, has nothing to do with it, consequently I have not
much opportunity of knowing whether the people have this spirit or not,
for they do not exhibit it to me.  If they feel to give me anything, they
give it because they wish to give brother Brigham something.

	If a man should offer to make me a present of a thousand dollars,
though I knew at the time that he would be kicked out of the Church in the
next minute, I would accept it and try to make good use of it.  On the
other hand, if a man was in beggary, and owing this Church a thousand
dollars and lacking a suit of clothes, but with his heart right, brother
Brigham would say, "Come along here, you are the man I want to see; come
to my table and eat, and I will also give you clothing to put on."  Let a
man have the power of God with him--the Holy Ghost within him--so that
when he talks you can see, feel, and understand that power; so that you
can see and understand that the water of life is in him insomuch that when
he speaks, the sweet words of life flow out; then I am ready to exclaim,
"Come, here, my brother, you are the man for me."

	When every person will cease to hang upon the brittle, rotten threads
upon which the world hang, and turn round and say, in the power of God, "I
will make friends and gain my influence, by that power; I will have all I
do have in the name and power of God, and that which I do not thus get, I
will not have," then you will begin to gain the influence you want, and to
have confidence in yourselves and in each other.  Can the people have
confidence in each other, and continue to conduct themselves as many have? 
No, they have got to be strictly honest.

	I will take myself as an example, with all the influence I have in
the midst of this people and over them, (and I really and honestly think
that I have a great deal more influence here than Moses had among the
children of Israel), and suppose that I lie to that man, and deceive that
woman; pilfer from that neighbour, and have what the Indians call two
tongues, talk this way and that way to gain power; and be very plausible,
very soft and kind to those present, and say that the brother who is not
before me is the devil, and when he is gone, that the other is the same;
while each one is with me all is smooth and fine weather; but of the
absent say, that man who was just here, I am glad I have found out his
iniquity, he is full of it; and be dishonest with this and the other
person, falsifying my words here and there, how long would I have
confidence in the midst of this people?  I would lose it at once, and
ought to, because I would not be deserving of their confidence.

	When a man or woman ought to be chastised, I am able to do it, and I
will do it righteously.  If they need a severe chastisement, I can put it
on severely; if a light one, I can bear on with a light hand.

	When people come to me, I look at them to see them as they are,
though I am not yet perfect in this.  I have not yet the eyes I wish to
have, nor the wisdom.  Do I wish to know how they look with man, or to my
brother?  No, but how they appear before the God of heaven.  If I can gain
that knowledge, if I can know precisely how an individual appears to my
Father in heaven, and be able to look at him with the same kind of eyes as
do the Holy Ghost and holy angels, then I can judge the good or evil in
the person, without further trouble.

	That is the method by which I settle so many difficulties.  I can go
to the High Council, even should they have forty cases of the most
difficult kind, and if I would dictate, I could wind up the forty cases,
while they would wind up one or two.  The reason is this, I bring the
individuals before me, and they cannot deceive.  If there is lying,
wickedness, malice, and deception, I will detect them and judge them from
the words that flow from their own mouths.  I take the parties and hear
them, and I can know at once as much as dozen witnesses could show, so far
as pertains to the truth in the case.  Look at people as the Lord sees
them, and then deal with them accordingly; and be honest with that man,
woman, or neighbour.

	Brethren and sisters, you know that often, when you hear that any one
has spoken against you, your feelings are irritated, disturbed by anger,
and you imagine that that person is your enemy, when, in reality, such is
not the case.  Are you never liable to err?  If your neighbour has spoken
something derogatory to your character, go to that neighbour and say to
him, "I heard that you said so and so, and with such and such reason, and
I connected this and that with it," and you can soon learn the facts in
the case.  It is often all right, when we talk calmly together, like
brethren; and we think alike about each other, about this circumstance and
that.  When we hear a part of a conversation, we may easily make wrong and
false construction, and thereby bring evil.  How many evils do we produce
by this course?

	If we take isolated sentences of Scripture, and pick out words here
and there, and place them together, how inconsistent we can make the
Bible.  It would be as inconsistent as some individuals now say it is,
whereas, if read by the Spirit in which it was given, it is not
inconsistent.

	We often make the consistent acts of our fellow beings inconsistent,
by thinking that some one has done us an injury, when after all the heart
of the person was honest, and no harm was designed.  If a brother has
spoken ten thousand words wrong, if he is full of error, full of weakness,
a man of passions like unto ourselves, but is honest at heart, what then? 
Overlook their follies, and do not watch for iniquity in our brethren.  If
the real sentiments of honesty are in every man and woman, be unsuspicious
of evil intent, and have confidence in their fidelity, and you will have
confidence in yourselves, and will restore confidence in each other, so
that every word will be as the law to each other.

	Then when the Lord sees that we have confidence in each other, that
we are full of integrity, that we never forsake each other, nor violate
our covenants, nor the keys of the kingdom, nor are untrue to our God, He
will say, "There is a people I can reveal myself to and tell what I
please, and they will keep my secrets and their own, and no power can get
them from them."  This is the way you will get confidence in your God and
in yourselves.  We may have confidence in God until doom's day, until we
carry out in our lives all that we now know about God, and it will profit
us little, unless we take a course that He may have confidence in us, and
reveal unto us His secrets, as the Prophets have said, for His secrets are
with the Prophets.

	There are other things that I might speak upon, for my mind is pretty
full and fruitful, but I have spoken about as much as my health will
permit.

	I feel to wish that I could bless you as I want to, but I have not
yet perfect confidence in myself.  If I had, would I not lift the curtain,
that you might see things as they are?  I would rend it, so that you might
see heavenly things; though, perhaps, that would not be prudent.

	May the Lord enable us to increase in that which we have, and to
continually do and say according to the knowledge we gain.  May God bless
us.  Amen.

 HE THAT LOVETH NOT HIS BROTHER LOVETH NOT GOD--IF WE HAVE NOT CONFIDENCE
 IN OUR LEADERS WE SHALL NOT HAVE IT IN A HIGHER POWER--THE CHURCH HOLDS
       THE KEYS OF SALVATION--THE PROVIDENCES OF GOD TO THE SAINTS.
    A Discourse, by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, March 29, 1857.

	I am thankful that the weather has become so mild that we can again
meet in this Bowery, which is large enough to accommodate the
congregation; also that we are here under comfortable
circumstances--happily situated, and trust that for several months to
come, none of the Saints will be under the necessity of coming here an
hour or two before the meeting commences, in order to obtain a seat here,
nor of going away because there is not room.

	There has been a good deal said by the brethren who have just spoken
to you, and I have not heard anything but what pleases me, but what I
consider to be correct; their ideas and doctrines are good.

	I am happy to see brother Joseph L. Heywood here again.  He has had a
very tedious journey, and rather a wearisome sojourn at the Devil's Gate,
during most of the past winter.  Many of the brethren and sisters in this
congregation can testify that the Devil's Gate is a place rather subject
to cold and storms, and that hardships are common from that point to this.

	Many persons are so constituted, that if you put them in a parlour,
keep a good fire for them, furnish them tea, cake, sweetmeats, &c., and
nurse them tenderly, soaking their feet, and putting them to bed, they
will die in a short time; but throw them into snow banks, and they will
live a great many years.  Brother Heywood would have been in his grave
long ago, if he had not led an out-door life, and such is the case with
others; but he is again here, and we have the privilege of seeing him.

	It rejoices me to hear the brethren rise up and tell their feelings,
their faith and views.  I was much gratified with the remarks made by
brothers William H. Hooper and Robert T. Burton, especially upon the
subject of obedience.

	It may at first sight appear strange, and is so to an uninspired
mind, that any people should have a want of confidence and faith in a
righteous man on the earth, a lack which blights their hopes and faith
quicker than it does to lack confidence in their God.  This is the case,
however curious it may appear, though we may hear some men declare that
they wish to have such confidence in their leaders as not to enquire
whether this or that is right, but to perform what they are bid to do.  No
man will have that degree of confidence, unless it is founded in truth. 
Here a question immediately occurs to the mind, will it save the people to
do as they are told by any man upon the earth, if they are in the neglect
of their duty towards their God and do not enjoy the Spirit of the Lord
Jesus Christ?  The answer is obvious; no one can have that implicit
confidence in a righteous man, unless that person is in the line of duty.

	The difficulty with the whole world in their divisions and
subdivisions, is that they have no more confidence in each other than they
have in their God, and that is none at all, no, not one particle.  This
confuses nations, and breaks them up; it weakens them, and they tumble to
pieces.  It disturbs cities and countries, and really the seeds of
destruction are within those kingdoms where the people have not confidence
in each other.

	The Apostle John, treating upon the love of God that should dwell
within us, writes, "For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen,
how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"  It is impossible.  This
subject is not understood by the human family.  Naturally they have no
conception of the character called "brother" by the Apostle.  As just
observed by brother Hooper, they have in their minds and creeds formed
ideas of a great many characters that they call God.  With the majority of
the Christian world there are three Gods in one.  With them that one God
is three persons, and still but one, which actually amounts to His being
no God at all.  Why?  Because He has no body, parts, or passions,
consequently is nothing at all; their idea virtually annihilates the being
they profess to believe to be three in one.

	What effect has this doctrine, wherever the influence of the
Christian world extends?  Wherever they preach their own doctrine they
destroy every idea of God in the minds of every person they have influence
over, consequently they know nothing of Him, and of coarse [sic] we cannot
expect the people to have confidence in Him.  He, knowing the weaknesses
of men, is compassionate; and if they speak against Him, in a manner
derogatory to His character, misrepresenting His person and speaking evil
of His dignity, He attributes that to the delusion and ignorance which His
professedly Christian people have spread so generally in the minds of the
people, and holds them not guilty, in consequence of their ignorance.

	Let us even speak against a fellow-being with whom we are acquainted
and do understand, one whom we can see and comprehend, whose life and
conduct we are familiar with, and, unless faults are made manifest that we
have a privilege of exposing in that individual, it will destroy our faith
and confidence, and weaken us more than it will to speak against a being
that we know nothing of.  This is reasonable, and is according to good
sound logic, sense, and argument.

	It is folly in the extreme for persons to say that they love God,
when they do not love their brethren; and it is of no use for them to say
that they have confidence in God, when they have none in righteous men,
for they do not know anything about God.  It is reasonable for the Elders
of Israel to be very sanguine and strenuous on this point.  And were I to
be asked whether I have any experience in this matter, I can tell the
people that once in my life I felt a want of confidence in brother Joseph
Smith, soon after I became acquainted with him.  It was not concerning
religious matters--it was not about his revelations--but it was in
relation to his financiering--to his managing the temporal affairs which
he undertook.  A feeling came over me that Joseph was not right in his
financial management, though I presume the feeling did not last sixty
seconds, and perhaps not thirty.  But that feeling came on me once and
once only, from the time I first knew him to the day of his death.  It
gave me sorrow of heart, and I clearly saw and understood, by the spirit
of revelation manifested to me, that if I was to harbor a thought in my
heart that Joseph could be wrong in anything, I would begin to lose
confidence in him, and that feeling would grow from step to step, and from
one degree to another, until at last I would have the same lack of
confidence in his being the mouthpiece for the Almighty, and I would be
left, as brother Hooper observed, upon the brink of the precipice, ready
to plunge into what we may call the gulf of infidelity, ready to believe
neither in God nor His servants, and to say that there is no God, or, if
there is, we do not know anything about him; that we are here, and by and
bye shall go from here, and that is all we shall know.  Such persons are
like those whom the Apostle calls "As natural brute beasts, made to be
taken and destroyed."  Though I admitted in my feelings and knew all the
time that Joseph was a human being and subject to err, still it was none
of my business to look after his faults.

	I repented of my unbelief, and that too, very suddenly; I repented
about as quickly as I committed the error.  It was not for me to question
whether Joseph was dictated by the Lord at all times and under all
circumstances or not.  I never had the feeling for one moment, to believe
that any man or set of men or beings upon the face of the whole earth had
anything to do with him, for he was superior to them all, and held the
keys of salvation over them.  Had I not thoroughly understood this and
believed it, I much doubt whether I should ever have embraced what is
called "Mormonism."  He was called of God; God dictated him, and if He had
a mind to leave him to himself and let him commit an error, that was no
business of mine.  And it was not for me to question it, if the Lord was
disposed to let Joseph lead the people astray, for He had called him and
instructed him to gather Israel and restore the Priesthood and kingdom to
them.

	It was not my prerogative to call him in question with regard to any
act of his life.  He was God's servant, and not mine.  He did not belong
to the people but to the Lord, and was doing the work of the Lord, and if
He should suffer him to lead the people astray, it would be because they
ought to be led astray.  If He should suffer them to be chastised, and
some of them destroyed, it would be because they deserved it, or to
accomplish some righteous purpose.  That was my faith, and it is my faith
still.

	If we have any lack of confidence in those whom the Lord has
appointed to lead the people, how can we have confidence in a being whom
we know nothing about?  It is nonsense to talk about it.  It will weaken a
person quicker to lose confidence in those who dictate the affairs of
God's kingdom on the earth, than to say "I do not know whether there is a
God or not, and I care nothing about Him."  A man or woman will not be
prepared to be taken by the enemy, and led captive by the devil so quickly
for disbelieving in a being they do not know about, as for disbelieving in
those whom they do know.

	To say nothing of names, creeds, or titles, brother Joseph taught,
and it is taught to the people now continually, to have implicit
confidence in our leaders to be sure that we live so that Christ is within
us a living fountain, that we may have the Holy Ghost within us to
actuate, dictate, and direct us every hour and moment of our lives.  The
people are urged from year to year, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, to live
very near unto the Lord, to forsake every sin, and cling to the Lord with
all our hearts, minds, and souls, so that we may know by the spirit of
revelation whenever truth comes to us.

	How many hundreds and hundreds of times have you been taught that if
people neglect their prayers and other daily duties, that they quickly
begin to love the world, become vain in their imaginations, and liable to
go astray, loving all the day long to do those things that the Lord hates,
and leaving undone those things that the Lord requires at their hands? 
When people neglect their private duties, should their leaders lead them
astray, they will go blindfolded, will be subject to the devil, and be led
captive at his will.  How useless this would be!  How unnatural,
unreasonable, and unlike the Gospel and those who believe it!

	How are we going to obtain implicit confidence in all the words and
doings of Joseph?  By one principle alone, that is, to live so that the
voice of the the [sic] Spirit will testify to us all the time that he is
the servant of the Most High; so that we can realize as it were the Lord's
declaring that "Joseph is my servant, I lead him day by day whithersoever
I will, and dictate him to do whatever I will; he is my mouth to the
people.  And I say to the nations of the earth, hear ye the servants I
send, or you cannot be saved."  This is comprehended in the remarks just
made by brother Burton, which comprises one of the greatest and fullest
sermons that can be preached to the world.  And I wish we had more Elders
to go and preach just such sermons by the power of God, that is, "I know
that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, that this is the Gospel of
salvation, and if you do not believe it you will be damned, every one of
you."

	That is one of the most important sermons that ever was preached, and
then if they could add anything by the power of the Spirit, it would be
all right.  When a man teaches that doctrine by the power of God in a
congregation of sinners, it is one of the loudest sermons that was ever
preached to them, because the Spirit bears testimony to it.  That is the
preaching which you hear all the time, viz.--to live so that the voice of
God's Spirit will always be with you, and then you know that what you hear
from the heads of the people is right.  When you do not so live, you are
ignorant; and then when you testify, you testify to what you know nothing
of.  Live so that you can know and testify to every principle that is
right, not with mere lip service, but from the heart be able to say truly,
"I know that everything is right."

	As I have frequently said to this people, they are a good people.  We
are striving to make the kingdom of heaven.  Many think that this people
have got to make great sacrifices, but what have we to sacrifice? 
Nothing, for all is the Lord's.  But suppose that we had something to
sacrifice, they would be willing to do it; they would be willing to do
anything for the sake of salvation.  They have already forsaken their
homes and friends, and come here to serve the Lord, and now continue,
shall I say continue to reform?  Yes, continue this reformation that has
been talked about.  Continue to improve yourselves, to live so that your
faith and knowledge will increase in the things of God, that our minds may
be opened to those things that pertain to our peace and eternal salvation,
and live no more in the dark, whereby you are constrained to say, "I do
not understand the things that are taught, these are great and marvellous
things, they are beyond my comprehension; I do not know why it is that I
feel as I do many times; I have feelings come on me that I cannot account
for."

	If you live near to God, and every moment have your minds filled with
fervent desires to keep the law of God, you will understand the Spirit
that comes to you; you will know how to build up the Lord's kingdom, and
increase in every good thing; and it will be one continual scene of
rejoicing instead of mourning.  Those who mourn and feel that they have
really endured sufferings and afflictions, and sacrifices to a great
amount for the kingdom of heaven, do not enjoy the Spirit of their
religion.  They do not enjoy the Spirit of this Holy Gospel, for they do
not live near enough to the Lord so that Christ is in them like a living
fountain, like a well of water springing up to everlasting life.

	The persons who enjoy that Spirit are never sorrowful nor cast down. 
They never endure afflictions and mourn because they suppose that they
have sacrificed for the Gospel, but they are always joyful, always
cheerful, with a happy smile on their faces, and, as brother Robert said,
it does make the devil mad.  That is true, it makes him mad that he cannot
afflict this people so as to make them have a sad countenance.

	When you come across those who have a wonderful sight of trouble,
trouble with their wives and with their neighbours, it is those who do not
live their religion.  Those who have the Spirit of their religion feel
hope bound in their feelings, and have a word of comfort for themselves,
their families, and their neighbours, and all is right with them.  Let us
make the building up of the kingdom of heaven our first and only interest,
and all will be well, sure.

	Have we reason to rejoice?  We have.  There is no other people on
this earth under such deep obligation to their Creator, as are the
Latter-day Saints.  The Gospel has brought to us the holy Priesthood,
which is again restored to the children of men.  The keys of that
Priesthood are here; we have them in our possession; we can unlock, and we
can shut up.  We can obtain salvation, and we can administer it.  We have
the power within our own hands, and this has been my deep mortification,
one that I have frequently spoken of, to think that a people, having in
their possession all the principles, keys, and powers of eternal life,
should neglect so great salvation.  We have these blessings, they are with
us.

 	Have we the visible hand of God with us?  We have.  Many
circumstances transpired last year with regard to the immediate
providences of God.  Can we see the visible hand of the Lord in His
dealings to us this season?  We can.  Any person who could have numbered
Israel in the valleys of the mountains, and the bushels of grain taken
from the earth last fall, would have said there is not enough grain raised
in 1856 to last the people to the first of April, 1857.

	That was so obviously the prospect, that brother Kimball prophesied
that there would be harder times in 1857 than we had seen in 1856.  I told
him that I would bring to bear all my faith, and all the power I had, and
all my ability against that prophecy, when he said the times would be
harder this year than they were last.  Still there were no human
prospects, visible signs, means, or substance to prevent it, according to
the number of bushels of grain taken from the earth, and the number of
people in this Territory to be sustained therewith.  There was a better
prospect for our suffering for want of food this year, than there was in
either 1856 or 1855, but I promised myself that I should exercise my power
against that prophecy.  Brother Heber says, "Amen," to that statement now. 
He said so then, and I know that he would rather have it fail than to have
people suffer.

	Brother Heber says, "The wheat swells."  I believe that.  It
increases in the granaries.  I have believed that principle for many
years.  I know that God has dealt with me and with others in a way that
cannot be accounted for upon common modes of reasoning.  I have heretofore
mentioned what some may think the trifling circumstance of a man's finding
money in his pocket that could not have been there, unless an angel or
some other person had put it there unbeknown to that man.  Flour and wheat
have been found in barrels and bins, after they had been taken out even to
the scraping of the barrels, and that, too, without the owner's knowing
how the stock had been replenished.  Who put it there, is not for me to
say; but I know who did not.  Let the people guess who put it there.

	Have we any visible signs of the providences of God to us?  We have,
if men have their eyes open to see for themselves.  If this people called
Latter-day Saints could see by the visions of the Spirit the hand dealings
of the Lord as visible as some see, there would be nothing but rejoicing
among us from the oldest to the youngest, from the first to the last, from
the one side of this globe to the other.

	We will now turn right round, and ask, are there afflictions?  Yes. 
People are taken sick and die, and we have not the power to keep them
alive; and I do not think I would, if I had power; and I do not think I
will when I have power, because I then shall have more wisdom than I have
now.  Knowledge is power; and as I gain knowledge I gain power.  If we
will consider these things, we will see that the visible hand of the Lord
is with us continually.

	Let the Latter-day Saints in these valleys of the mountains ask
themselves this question, Do we, as a community, as a Church and kingdom
of God on the earth, as individuals, believe that if we had shut up the
bowels of our compassion last fall, and said to our immigration, "Suffer
and perish in the mountains, I have nothing to spare, I cannot relieve
you," we should have as much grain and substance on hand as we now have? 
Would not every man and woman exclaim, "We would have been in poverty and
want?"  What has made us rich in this matter?  One united effort by this
people to bring men, women, and children out of the snow, and off from the
Plains, and keep them from perishing.  "Here are the wheat, the barley,
the corn, the boys, horses, mules, blankets, saddles, &c., go, my
brethren, and bring those persons off the Plains."  They went, and that,
too, cheerfully.

	Brother Kimball says that the movement prevented his prophecy coming
to pass.  If that did it, I wish I could as easily and cheaply turn aside
all prophecies of that kind and nature, for I do not wish this people to
suffer, to go hungry and naked, nor to be sick and afflicted, or in pain. 
I want them to live and increase in every good work.

	Suppose the whole community should ask themselves this question, Do
you not believe that the Lord has favoured and blessed us in consequence
of our doing right?  Yes, we would reply at once, we believe that our
faith to our God and proving ourselves friends to Him and His people, and
being kind to the suffering poor, have caused His blessings to be poured
out upon us, and we are favoured as we are.  If the people continue to be
humble before Him, to keep His commandments, to love and serve the Lord,
and forsake those little trifling concerns which pertain to the world, and
to the spirit of the world, which is the spirit of sorrow, anxiety, and
trouble, and get the Spirit of the Lord and live in it, we shall increase
in the facilities of life; we shall have the comforts of life from our
gardens, farms, orchards, flocks and herds, and we shall have means to
gather up the poor from every land.

	This is the land of Zion.  West of us is a body of water that we call
the Pacific, and to the east there is another large body of water which we
call the Atlantic, and to the north is where they have tried to discover a
northwest passage; these waters surround the land of Zion, and we will
bring the poor home to this land.  These valleys are nothing more than a
temporary hiding place for the Saints, and if they will do right here, no
power can disturb them.  Be kind to all, to our friends, to the household
of faith, and even to our enemies.  Do all you can to save everybody, and
the Lord's hand will be over us for good, and we will be preserved.

	Hitherto there has been too much of a spirit to find fault, but I
expect that this spirit is very near kicked out of doors.  And you may
still hear some saying, "There are hard times coming by and bye; the mob
are coming; the crickets and the grasshoppers will eat us out."  They have
tried that, and I have no more fears about one army than I have about the
other; though the crickets and the grasshoppers are the greatest plague,
for we can hit men, but when you hit one cricket or grasshopper, the air
is at once alive with them, and if you kill one, two come to bury him.

	Dismiss all feelings of fear, and say nothing about them.  Let it be
the whole aim of the Saints to know how to build up the kingdom of God on
the earth.  And if you want to know how to spend your time, inquire from
hour to hour what you can do to do good.  If necessary, take off you hat,
and run through the streets for something to do.  Go into the garden,
plant potatoes, set out fruit trees, sow peas, and put all kinds of useful
seeds into the ground.  And when the devil tells you to do some wonderful
big thing, wait until you become some wonderful big person, and reflect
that you are yet only like one of the people, and must take care of
yourself.

	I am glad that we have the privilege of again assembling in this
Bowery, where there is plenty of pure air and the people can be
comfortable.  The ground under this shade is yet damp, although we have
had fires burning upon it to make it as dry as possible, and it may be
wisdom for those sisters who wear thin shoes, to bring a small piece of
oil cloth or carpet to put their feet upon.  I would rather see the
sisters come to meeting with wooden bottomed shoes, than to come with
their fine morocco shoes and take cold.  If you will accustom yourselves
to wearing wooden bottomed or thick soled shoes, you can sit here with
impunity.

	Take care of yourselves, and live as long as you can, and do all the
good you can.  Let us try to live until we can kick the devils out of this
land, and off from the earth.  I want to live for this, to see Zion
redeemed, and the Church and kingdom of God cover the face of the whole
earth, and have one universal reign of peace.  May the Lord bless us. 
Amen.

     OBJECT OF THE EXPRESS CARRYING COMPANY--WHY SUCCESS ATTENDS THE
   MINISTERIAL LABOURS OF SOME ELDERS, AND NOT THOSE OF OTHERS--COUNSEL
              TO STORE UP GRAIN ENOUGH TO LAST SEVEN YEARS.
   Remarks, by President Brigham Young, Delivered at the opening of the
             Conference, Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1857.

	If you will now give me your attention strictly, I will lay before
you some items of business for the consideration and action of this
Conference.

	I trust that we have come here for the purpose of acceptably
presenting ourselves before the Lord, to transact business for the
building up of His kingdom in this our day, with pure hearts and fervent
desires to magnify the name of our God, that we may be useful and have
power to establish peace and righteousness upon the earth.

	Our religion is first and foremost with us, it is of the greatest
importance of all in this generation, for in it is incorporated the acts
and doings of the Saints in the ordinances of the house of God, to promote
His kingdom upon the earth, to sustain ourselves, gather Israel, redeem
Zion, build up Jerusalem, and prepare for the coming of the Son of Man.

	The items of business before this Conference may be considered texts
for the Elders who may speak here to preach upon, though if they wish to
exhort the brethren, to relate a portion of their experience, or tell a
dream or a vision, they have the privilege.  But our Conferences are more
particularly for other transactions of business, for the furtherance of
the kingdom of God on the earth.

	I will first present the subject of prosecuting our labours and
operations for building the Temple, under our present circumstances and
future prospects.  We have deemed it wise and expedient to prepare for
bringing the rock for that building from quite a distance, in boats, which
will be much cheaper than hauling it in wagons, and thus far facilitate
the erection of the Temple.

	I will next cite your memories to a mass meeting that was held in the
Tabernacle upwards of a year ago, to take into consideration the propriety
and expediency of establishing an Express and Carrying Company to operate
between here and the States to the east, and California to the west.  That
Company has now commenced its business operations.  Three companies have
already left this city, and the particular object in view is to establish
places where our brethren can stop and rest, recruit and refresh
themselves until they can continue their journey and arrive in this
valley.  Our main object is to make settlements and raise grain at
suitable points and convenient distances, where we can prepare resting
places for the Saints.  The last season's immigration I think has prompted
us materially to this action.  If we had had settlements at Deer Creek, La
Bonte, below Laramie, and on the Sweet Water, where people can raise
grain, our last year's belated immigration might have had habitations,
food, and other conveniences for comfortably tarrying through the winter,
and thus saved this community a vast expense.  This Express Company will
be laid before this Conference, so that you will have an understanding of
it, that you may act knowingly, and give your faith, influence, and means
to accomplish the object of its organization.

	We are calling quite a number to go on missions, and are appointing a
portion of them to visit the Canadas.  We have a great many Elders
labouring throughout Europe, but more especially in England, and the
Canadas are mostly settled by the same classes of people.  True there has
formerly been much preaching in that region, and many churches raised up,
especially in Upper or Canada West, but many have emigrated to the States
and are now with us, and I do not know of an Elder in this Church now
labouring in either of the Canadas.  We wish to send a company to labour
there, and gather out the honest in heart.

	I would also propose sending missionaries to the States, if we could
by accident, or by foreknowledge, or by revelation, or by any other means,
select and spare from here the right kind of men; in that case we would
like to send a good many there.  My reasons are these; there are honest
people by thousands, and scores of thousands in the States, those who have
never yet heard the sound of the Gospel.  There are also scores of places
where branches have been raised up, but the inhabitants have so changed
that they now hardly know what you mean when you say "Mormon" or
"Mormonism," and when you talk about the preaching of the everlasting
Gospel, it is almost forgotten by the few that are still remaining in
those places.  Other people occupy the place of those who have left, of
those who had been preached to, and children have grown up and taken the
place of their parents; others have moved away, and strangers have moved
in.  There are honest people there, and if we could get Elders, to use a
western phrase, of "The right stripe," we could gather multitudes from the
United States.  For an example, we sent brother John Taylor to New York
with a number of Elders to preach, labour, and assist him.  Some of them
tarried in New York with brother Taylor, visited their families,
connections, friends, &c. for a time, and returned.  They did not baptize
any; [sic-punc] with them, "There was no call for preaching, no place to
sow the seed, or distribute the good word of God; they could not find any
who wanted to hear them preach or who wished to know anything of the
Gospel," while at the same time others who felt for the interest of the
kingdom and for the people, stepped forth, and laboured like men, and
found plenty of chances for preaching.

 	Brother Jeter Clinton was one of the last named class.  Brother
Taylor sent him to Philadelphia, and when he got there, those who
professed "Mormonism" were dead, dead, dead; they were withered and twice
plucked up by the roots.  Brother Clinton had not been there six months
before the the [sic] Church numbered a great many more than when he went
there.  The old members revived, and they began to baptize and to have
calls from the country, and when he left he could probably have employed
from ten to thirty Elders in his field of labour.

	The secret of the difference is this, he felt for the kingdom, and
when he went into his field of labour he did not say, "O, how lonesome I
am, how I wish I had my family here; I really wish I was back in the
valley; my spirits are cast down; how bad I do feel."  When such persons
endeavor to preach, their preaching is as dry as an old, dead, dried up,
three years old mullen stalk; there is no more juice in them than there is
in that.

	Brother Alexander Robbins is a man of that description, and although
he is naturally a good kind and feeling man, one that I think much of, yet
when he spoke from this stand at the last fall's Conference, he was as
perfectly void of sap or juice as any one of those dry posts, and I
reproved the spirit he seemed to manifest.  He sat quietly down in New
York with brother Taylor, until he became so dried up that he came home
disbelieving in God, heaven, hell, angels, and religion.  He has lost
every particle of the knowledge and spirit that he formerly had.

	When brother Clinton and others return, those who have laid aside
self and laboured, asking, "What can we do to win the souls of the
children of men?" they are full of life, full of the good Spirit, full of
animation; their countenances are bright and lively, and when you talk
with them or hear them preach, you can glean and gather truth, life and
salvation from their lips, while others are as lifeless as leached ashes.

	If we could spare one or two hundred Elders like brother Clinton and
others to go to Canada and the United States, we could gather scores and
hundreds of thousands of good people from those regions.  But reflect for
a moment upon the difference in the conduct of our missionaries and the
treatment they receive.  In Texas some have been mobbed, and some have had
no place to preach in.  Brother Benjamin L. Clapp, who has lately returned
from a mission there, could scarcely find a place to preach in, although
others at the same time travelled and preached there, and many wished to
hear them.

	For another instance I will refer to my own Quorum.  When we had
started the work in England, brothers Heber, George A. and Woodruff went
to London.  It cost much faith, care, money, and diligence to establish
the work in that place, and after they had baptized about thirty persons,
they came to Manchester to attend a Conference.  As soon as the Conference
was over, brothers Woodruff and George A. went to London, and brother
Kimball and I took a tour through the country, and held Conferences; and
when we arrived in London I preached in the first meeting we held after
our arrival, and how many do you think there were present to hear me? 
Thirty had been baptized, but brothers Kimball, Woodruff, and Geo. A., the
man who owned the small room that we had hired, and, I think, two other
persons, comprised the congregation.  I preached as well as I could,
though it was pretty hard work to pump when there was no water in the
well.  Brother Kimball and I staid there eleven days, and when I left the
little meeting-house was crowded to overflowing.  What was the reason of
this?

 	I have spoken against brother Clapp's course in Texas; it sprang from
a want of knowledge.  I have also spoken against the course taken by
brothers Woodruff and George A. in London; it proceeded from a want of
tact and turn in those individuals to know how to win the people.  When we
found them in London, brother Woodruff was busily engaged in writing his
history from morning until evening; and, if a sister called on him, he
would say, "How do you do? take a chair," and keep on writing and
labouring to bring up the history of the Church and his own.

	That was all right and well, in its place; but, if a sister asked a
question, the answer would be "Yes;" and if she asked another, "No;" and
that was the sum of the conversation.  If a brother came in, it would be
the same.  But brother Kimball would say, "Come, my friend, sit down; do
not be in a hurry;" and he would begin and preach the Gospel in a plain,
familiar manner, and make his hearers believe everything he said, and make
them testify to its truth, whether they believed or not, asking them,
"Now, ain't that so?" and they would say "Yes."  And he would make
Scripture as he needed it, out of his own bible, and ask, "Now, ain't that
so?" and the reply would be "Yes."  He would say, "Now, you believe this? 
You see how plain the Gospel is?  Come along now;" and he would lead them
into the waters of baptism.  The people would want to come to see him
early in the morning, and stay with him until noon, and from that until
night; and he would put his arm around their necks, and say, "Come, let us
go down to the water."

	Thousands of Elders go upon missions, and conduct themselves like a
man by the name of Glover.  He was preaching in Herefordshire, and we sent
him to Bristol, about thirty miles distant, telling him to go there and
start the work.  He would get up and preach a splendid discourse.  He went
to Bristol, and cried, "Mormonism," or the Gospel, and no person would
listen to him.  On the next morning he was back at Ledbury, and said, "I
came out of Bristol, washed my feet against them, and sealed them up all
to damnation."  That is the way in which some of our Elders operate.

	I know that when I have travelled with some of the Twelve, and one of
them has asked for breakfast, dinner, supper, or lodging, we have been
refused dozens of times.  Now, you may think that I am going to boast a
little; I will brag a little of my own tact and talent.  When others would
ask, we would often be refused a morsel of something to eat, and so we
would go from house to house; but when I had the privilege of asking, I
never was turned away--no, not a single time.

	Would I go into the house and say to them, "I am a 'Mormon' Elder;
will you feed me?"  It was none of their business who I was.  But when I
asked, "Will you give me something to eat?" the reply was, invariably,
"Yes."  And we would sit, and talk, and sing, and make ourselves familiar
and agreeable; and before our departure, after they had learned who we
were, they would frequently ask, "Will you not stay and preach for us?"
and proffer to gather in the members of their family and their neighbours;
and the feeling would be, "Well, if this is 'Mormonism,' I will feed all
the 'Mormon' Elders that come."  Whereas, if I had said, "I am a 'Mormon'
Elder; will you feed me?" the answer would often have been, "no: out of my
house."

	Now, if we could find the "right stripe" that could be spared from
important duties here, we would send a good many Elders to the States.

	I will relate another circumstance,--one concerning an Elder who went
on a mission from Nauvoo; and, if I remember rightly, he went through
Indiana.  He lives in this place, and his name is James Carroll.  He went
into a neighbourhood where there was a Baptist Society, which had recently
built a meeting house.  They had heard of the "Mormons," but knew nothing
of the doctrine.  They wished him to tarry and preach, and the minister
invited him into his pulpit.  He rose, and began to preach "Mormonism," as
he called it; and about the first item that he presented to the people was
nearly the last event that will take place on the earth concerning the
Church.  Instead of preaching the restoration and first principles of the
Gospel, almost the first remark that he made was, "You have a pretty
meeting-house, and good buildings and farms; but do you know that the
'Mormons' are coming here to possess the whole of them?"

	He never heard Joseph Smith, the Twelve, or any of the Elders that
understood the Gospel, teach any such doctrine, but had probably gathered
the idea from reading the Bible.  By the time he had got through with so
short a sermon, the congregation was ready to kick him out of the
neighbourhood, and he ought to have been kicked out of the pulpit at the
first dash.  This does not particularly militate against the character of
that man; but many of the Elders do not seem to understand how to gain the
attention and feelings of the people, and lead them in the pathway of
truth.

	We have received letters from the East, stating that "There is no
place for preaching there," whereas I really think that there might be
hundreds of Elders selected here, if we could spare them, who could go to
the States and find as good openings for preaching as there are in the
world; at least I would run the risk of it.  Had I the choice whether to
go to the States and gather Saints, or to go where the Gospel was preached
by the ancient Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, among the children of
the people who have formerly had the Gospel preached to them, I would
engage to go to the States and gather one hundred Saints to one that could
be gathered from among the children of those who heard Peter, Paul, and
others of the ancient Apostles preach the Gospel.

	Reports of the business transactions and condition of the Church and
Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company have been prepared, and will be read, so
that you can understand the true situation of our general financial
affairs.  The P. E. Fund is founded upon the principle of everlasting
increase, and if the people do right, or even half right, our means will
increase.

	The means arising from the sale of stray cattle, that some like so
well to claim, all go towards swelling the amounts at the disposal of the
P. E. Fund for gathering the poor.  Still, when strays are driven into the
general stray pound, you can see men come and swear to this ox and that
cow; and they will bring two or three others to testify to an animal they
claim; and another man will step up and say, "That is my animal;" and he
will also bring three or four witnesses to prove it; and pretty soon still
another comes and claims the same animal; and so on until there are,
perhaps, four or five persons in the pound, each one with his witnesses,
claiming the same animal, and all willing to swear on a stack of Bibles,
as they hope for salvation, that such a creature is theirs, when they must
know that they never saw it before.  Such circumstances transpire every
time that stray cattle are driven in.  I want to tell you, so that you
cannot fail to understand it, without you are consummate hypocrites and
scoundrels, let stray cattle alone, unless you actually know them to be
yours.

 	I could name a good many individuals in our own community that would
steal all the cattle that we have, if they knew which were the ones that
we owned.  I thought that the reformation had stopped such proceedings;
but as soon as the stray cattle were driven in, a few miserable sneaks
were ready to own them all.  Those animals are sold, and every cent of the
means thus raised goes into the P. E. Fund, and the only ones benefited
thereby are the poor Saints in foreign lands.  You must stop intruding
upon your neighbours.

	If those who are heads of quorums strictly attended to their duties,
the man that does not live according to his late covenants, who violates
the ordinances and laws of the house of God, would be severed from his
Quorum and cut off from this Church; and if they will not do this, we will
do it from this stand.  Men must quit swearing and taking the name of God
in vain; they must refrain from lying, stealing, cheating, and doing that
which they know they ought not to do, or they must be severed from this
Church and kingdom.

	I will now present a subject which will be a text for the brethren to
preach upon from this stand, viz., the necessity of building store houses
in which to preserve our grain.  If we have a fruitful season this coming
summer, we shall have a large amount of surplus grain which we cannot
carry out of the country to market: it must tarry here.  And if the people
do their duty in this matter, they will continue to lay up grain for
themselves and for this community throughout this Territory, and for fifty
or a hundred times as many more, until they have enough to last them seven
years.  You can figure at that, and learn how much grain you ought to lay
up.  If we have, as I believe we shall, a few seasons fruitful in grain,
the staple article that we can cure and preserve, it is our indispensable
duty to safely store it for a time to come.  This will be a text for some
of the brethren.

	I will say to the missionaries going west to the Sandwich Islands,
California, and Oregon, that we expect to start a herd of cattle from here
as early as they can be driven across the mountains; and if they will
provide their own clothing, bedding, and weapons for defence, we will
furnish them board and transportation to California.

	I will now ask the people whether they will do me the favour of
giving me one hundred and twenty-five dollars in money during this
Conference.  I will let the brethren and sisters throw in their dollars,
or half or quarter dollars, just as they please, and I want to do what I
please with the amount.  And if you will not be satisfied with giving me
$125, you can double the sum, and make it $250; and I wish to do with it
as I please.  If I have a mind to give it away immediately, that is
nobody's business.

	A few of us contemplate going north this spring.  You remember that I
told you at the last fall's Conference that I was going east to help in
our immigration, and you voted I should not go.  I did start, and went
over the Big Mountain into East Kanyon creek, but the devil had ears so
ready to hear the prayers of the people and help them, that he made me so
sick that I could not go any further.  I do not want any such influence
exercised this spring, for I am going with some of my brethren to take a
pleasure ride, see the country, enjoy ourselves, and recruit our health;
and I wish you to pray for us, give us your faith, and be willing that we
should go.  I do not want to be stopped, as I was last fall.

	Now comes another item of business.  It so happens that this year the
election of officers for this city falls upon to day, as does also the
election of the Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion, which has been
ordered by proclamation by the Governor.  Both elections will be held in
the Council House, and we want the brethren to stop there and give in
their votes.  For the Lieutenant-General, those from abroad have as good a
right to vote here as if they were at home in Iron County, Davis, Sanpete,
or any other part of our Territory.  We have nominated Daniel H. Wells for
the office of Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion, the same person who
has held that position since our settlement in Utah.  The polls will be
kept open until sundown.

	I have now briefly presented the items which I have noted down. 
Other matters will come before this Conference, such as preaching,
exhortation, &c., &c.  I will now give way for others.  God bless you. 
Amen.

        THE POWER AND IMPORTANCE OF ECONOMY--DOMESTIC EXTRAVAGANCE
                AND MISMANAGEMENT, WITH THEIR BAD RESULTS.
    A Discourse, by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1857.

	Brother Heber has made a remark which I will take for a text.  He
said, "It is whispered about that some of the brethren labouring on the
Public Works are living on dry bread."  I want to preach a short discourse
upon this subject, and I will endeavour to do so to the understanding of
those present.  I acknowledge that some persons live very poorly, and are
very destitute; but there is not one family out of a thousand in this
Territory of those who live poorly, but what that destitute mode of living
is brought upon them by themselves through their own mismanagement or the
want of economy.  For this reason I wish to confine my remarks to the
principles of economy necessary in obtaining a comfortable living.

	I have been a poor boy and a poor man, and my parents were poor.  I
was poor during my childhood, and grew up to manhood poor and destitute;
and I am acquainted with the various styles of living, and with the
different customs, habits, and practices of people; and I do know, by my
own experience, that there is no necessity for people being so very poor,
if they have judgment, and will rightly use it.

	You may take the mechanics that are employed upon our Public Works. 
I am very well aware that the great majority of them are splendid
workmen--that they can make fine buildings, with all the mason, and
carpenter, and joiner work, and the painting of the very best quality of
finish; and yet many of them are in poverty.  We have some of the very
best workers in brass, iron, wood, &c., that there are in the world; yet
many of them are poor, suffer from hard living, and have to live on bread
and water.

	There is no necessity for any persons living on bread and water.  We
have not a man at work for us but what has had means put into his hands
sufficient to support from five to twenty persons, and many of them could
lay up from five hundred to a thousand dollars a year, if they would use
proper economy.  I comfortably and that, too, in a country where supported
a family when I was poor, [sic-phrase] it was more difficult to do so than
it is here,--where it often was almost impossible to hire to do a day's
work,--where a man would have to run and, perhaps, beg and plead to be
employed to do a day's work; and when the labour was performed, it was
frequently worth twice the amount to get the pay, which would generally be
only three or four bits; though sometimes ordinary mechanics would receive
five or six bits, and good mechanics one dollar or one dollar and a
quarter a day.

	I have laboured for fifteen dollars a month to support a family, and
that, too, in a place that was as hard gain for a person to live in as it
is in this city.  You could not have the free use of so much as a quarter
of an acre of ground thrown out to the public for a cow to graze upon. 
You could not get a stick of wood, although in a well-wooded country,
without paying for it.  You could not get a pint of milk, or even of
buttermilk, unless you paid the money for it.

	I have worked for nearly all the various grades of wages, and
supported a family since I was quite young.  I know how to live and I have
taught my brethren here how to live, and I know how many of them do live. 
But you may take a hard-working man, one earning good wages, and though he
carries an abundance into his house, his wife may sit there and toss it
out again.  You will find that much depends upon the economy of women, in
regard to the living of the poorer class of the people--of the labouring
class.  For instance, let a man buy ten pounds of fresh meat and carry it
home, in the morning the wife will cook up, perhaps, four or five pounds
of that meat for the breakfast of the man, the wife, and a little child. 
To begin with, it is often cooked very badly, not properly seasoned,
smoked up, part of it burnt, and the rest raw, so that they cannot eat
much of it; and there is a great platter-full left that cannot be eaten,
and the uncooked portion has probably been neglected until it is spoiled,
and thus nearly the whole is wasted.

	Sisters, if you do not believe this, many of you go home and remember
what you cooked this morning, and see the platters full, and the plates
full, and the little messes standing here and there.  By-and-by it is not
fit to eat, and it is finally thrown out of door.  Is this true?  It is. 
The reason I say so is because I see it with my own eyes.  You may wish to
know where I see it.  Among some of my neighbours where I visit, among
some of my own family, and in many places where I go.

	If a man is a good husband, and knows how to live, let him teach his
wife how to cook the food he provides, as I have some of my wives, more or
less, notwithstanding I have some excellent cooks; but I do not think that
I have one but what I can teach in the art of cooking some particular
varieties of food, for I have at times been obliged to pay considerable
attention to this matter.  And when I go into a house, I can soon know
whether the woman is an economical housekeeper or not; and if I stay a few
days, I can tell whether a husband can get rich or not.  If she is
determined on her own course, and will waste and spoil the food entrusted
to her, that man will always be poor.

	Some women will set emptyings in the morning, and let them stand
until they sour, and mix up the flour with them, and sweeten it with
saleratus, and then knead it ready for baking; and if sister Somebody
comes in, they will sit down and begin to talk over old times, and the
first they know is, the bread is sour: "Dear me, I forgot all about that
bread," and into the oven she puts it, and builds up a large fire, and
again sits down to visiting with her neighbour, and before she thinks of
the loaf, there is a crust burnt on it from a quarter to half an inch in
thickness.  So much of the bread is spoiled; there goes one quarter of the
flour; it is wasted, and the bread is sour and disagreeable to eat; and
the husband comes home and looks sour, and is sour, as well as the bread. 
He finds fault, and that makes the wife grieve, and there are feelings and
unhappiness and dissatisfaction in the family.  The husband may be a good
man, and the wife may be a good woman, and try to please her husband, and
to do so as much as the old lady did, who said, "It was impossible for her
to please her husband in baking bread; for if it was half dough, he did
not like it; and if it was half burnt up, he scolded about it."

 	You may say that it is hard work to please a man; yes, and woman too. 
But when a man does his duty in providing for a family, there can
reasonably be but little complaint on the part of any sensible woman.

	A man may be good and industrious--may be an excellent mechanic, and
in many things a diligent man, as is the case with a number with whom I am
acquainted; yet go to his house and ask, "Have you a pig in your pen?" 
"No, I have nothing to feed a pig with; I cannot keep one."  Sit down to
his table, and he has not a mouthful of meat from week's end to week's
end, unless he buys a little.  "Have you a cow?"  "No, I have nothing to
feed a cow; I cannot hire a pasture; and were I to hire one driven to
grass as far as the herd boys go, she would not give milk enough to pay
the herd bill."  I have been in worse places than this, and kept a cow.

	I have taught the brethren how to live upon less than five, three, or
even two dollars a day for the support of a small family; and when men
complain that they live here on bread alone, they do not reflect that they
do not know how to provide for themselves.  Years pass away, one after
another, and I see more and more that there are but very few men and women
that are even capable of taking care of themselves temporally.

	You will see women, if their husbands have got fifty cents, who must
buy crackers with it, or something nice.  Johnny, Susan, Betsy, and Billy
come along, and want a cracker, and the first you know is that the
crackers are in the hands of the children who are out-doors playing with
them, breaking them up, wasting and scattering them abroad.  I will leave
it to you, sisters, if some of you do not act in this manner.  When
children crumble up the bread, what do you do with it?  You throw it into
the fire.  I learned my wife in the first place what the swill pail was
made for, and said to her, do not let one crumb or kernel of anything be
wasted, but put it into the swill pail, and when night came, I had
something to feed the pig with.  But often out of door go the pieces of
bread and meat; or if half a gill of corn should be on the floor, it is
swept out of doors, or more frequently into the fire to be wasted.

	A great many men do not know that they can keep a pig; but there is
not a family in this city, where there are two, three, four, or five
persons, but what can save enough from their table, from the waste made by
the children, and what must be swept in the fire and out of door, to make
pork sufficient to last them through the year, or at least all they should
eat.  When you know enough to put a pig in a pen, do so; and when you have
an opportunity to buy a bushel of corn, oats, or bran, get your bins ready
and lay it away.

	I say to the mechanics, especially to those who work for me, make
your bins in the mornings and evenings, and do not spend the time we hire
you to work for us to do your chores in.  And another thing I will caution
you about; do not steal the nails from the Public Works.  Some of you have
stolen our nails and lumber to work into articles for your own use.  Do
not do this.

	We pay our mechanics from two and a half to five dollars a day, and
there is no necessity for many of them using more than fifty cents or one
dollar a day throughout the year.  Why do you not buy a cow?  "I have
nothing to feed her with."  Yes, you have.  In the course of the season,
you will find a time that you can buy a little straw, and stack it up and
take good care of it.  Buy now and then a bushel of bran, or oats, or
corn, and lay it by.  When you have done your day's work, take your axe,
cut up the straw, throw a little meal on it, give it to the cow, and sit
down and milk her yourself, unless your wife is a good hand to milk, and
can attend to it better and more conveniently than you can; in that case,
let her do the milking, but do not set six or eight years' old children to
stripping the cows.

	Purchase cows, for if we have not already supplied you with cows, we
are able and willing to do so.  Most, if not all, have already been
furnished with cows.  What did you do with the calves?  "We sold them for
a trifle."  Why did you not raise them?  Do you not know that they would
very soon be valuable?  No, but you waste your calves, neglect buying
pigs, and live without milk, and many of the easily procured comforts of
life.  Is there any neceesity [sic] for this?  No, there is not, if people
will try to use a little economy.

	Go round this city now, and probably you will not see one garden out
of twenty, even where men have lived here four or five years, that has a
single fruit tree growing in it.  Have they set out anything?  Yes, some
cottonwoods; but they would not set out a peach tree, if you would give it
to them.  In many lots there is not a fruit tree, or currant bush, or
anything to produce the little necessaries to make a family comfortable.

	If I lived as I used to, I would have my cow, and she would give
milk, and would not stray off; for I would always have a little handful of
food to give her when she came up at night; I would also feed her a little
in the morning, and at night she would come for more.  I would keep my pig
in the pen, and have a few fowls to lay eggs.  I would raise my own pork,
and in the spring I would not have to run to the Public Works and say, "I
have not anything to eat."

	It is a shame that men and women do not pay more attention to the
principles of economy in living.  They want to have money to go to market
and buy everything ready made.  They want to have somebody feed them.  I
have thought, many times, that some persons would not be satisfied, unless
we baked plum puddings, and roasted beef for them, and then fed them while
they were lounging in big easy chairs; and still perhaps they would think
that they were ill treated, if we did not chew the meat for them.

	I worked hard when I first gathered with the Saints.  I had to walk
two miles to my labour, and the sun seldom, if ever, shone on my work
before I had my tools in my hands and busily engaged; and I rarely laid
down my tools so long as I could see to use them.  In the morning I would
get up and feed my cow and milk her, and do the other out-door chores
while my wife would be preparing breakfast.  My pig was in the pen, and I
would gather a little here and a little there, and a day would not pass
without its having sufficient food.  Why do you not think of these things? 
Because you will not.

	Sisters, if you cannot properly attend to your bread-making, and
manage to not let any more flour be wasted, tie a string round one of your
fingers so tight that it will hurt you, and every time you think of the
string, think of what brother Brigham tells you.  When the emptyings are
in the flour, think of the string, also when the bread is put in the oven;
and if you are still afraid that you will forget, tie the string a little
tighter.  And after your bread is beautifully baked, do not let a crumb of
it be wasted.

	When your husband brings home meat, exercise sufficient judgment to
enable you to cook such portion as will be eaten, which is far better than
so much placed upon the table that a large part of it will be wasted. 
Then take care of that which remains uncooked, put a little salt upon it,
and put it in a cool place where it will keep a few days, and you will not
be obliged to throw half of it away.

	You may hear some women here saying, "Husband, can you not go to the
store and get me some ribbon?  I want a bonnet and a pair of new shoes. 
Can you not get me some lining for a bonnet?  I wish you would get me a
new dress, I have not had one for a whole month, and I want to go a
visiting; I cannot bear to wear these old dresses so often.  I want a few
aprons and a few pairs of stockings."  The man then has to buy the
bonnets, the linings, the dress patterns, &c., and also to hire them made;
and he has to buy aprons, shoes, and stockings, and even the garters that
are worn on the stockings.  There is not judgment, economy, and force
enough in some women, to knit their own garters.

	Let me tell you one thing, husbands; determine this year that you
will stop buying these things, and say to your wife.  "Here is some wool;
knit your own stockings, or you will not have any; you will have to
prepare the cloth for yourselves and children: I will provide the wool,
the wheels, &c.; and if you will not make the cloth, you may go without." 
Also raise flax, and prepare it for the women to manufacture into summer
clothing.

	I remember going into a friend's house, one afternoon, when I was
quite young: I think I was about fifteen; and pretty soon a couple of
neighbouring women came in to visit.  They had not been in the house more
than twenty minutes before the woman of the house went and brought out a
pillow, and began to rail against her husband, saying, "He is a dirty,
nasty man; he is the filthiest man in the world; that is the pillow he
sleeps on."  I thought, you miserable fool, Why do you not wash that slip? 
Those women see that the blame rests on you, and not on your husband.  And
she continued telling them how nasty, filthy, and lazy he was.  I knew
enough about a family, at that early age, to know where the fault lay.  At
the same time there was plenty of wool and flax lying in her chamber, for
I saw them; and a wheel and the other implements were on hand, all of
which the husband had toiled for.  He had also provided the cows, flour,
and meat in abundance; but because he did not do everything, he was a
"nasty, lazy man."  He must feed the hogs, spin the wool, wash the
pillowcases and sheets, and do everything else, or be bemeaned by his
wife.  I said to myself, I expect I shall be married when I am old enough,
and if I get such an animal as you are, I will put hooks in her nose to
lead her in a way you have not thought of.

	I have seen a great many persons live in the neglect of all the
comforts of life, because they would not take hold and make themselves
comfortable.  Others do not know what to do with the comforts of life,
when they have them.  I have been in places where people had an abundance,
and yet they lived, figuratively speaking, at death's door, with regard to
food.

	I recollect once walking up to a house in Illinois, where a young
woman was sitting just within the door dressed up, I may say, within an
inch of her life, in calico that cost ten or twelve cents a yard in my
country; and she was, according to her ideas, titivated out to the
ninety-nines.  Fourteen milch cows, with calves by their sides, were
feeding on the prairie.  I first asked her, "Can I buy some butter here?" 
"No, Sir."  "Can I buy a little milk?"  "No, sir."  I then asked her
whether her father owned those cows.  "Yes, sir."  "Do you milk them?" 
"No, sir; only a little in the morning to put in the coffee."  I wanted to
laugh in her face, but politeness forbad me.  There stood fourteen new
milch cows, and not a drop of milk in the house, nor a pound of butter,
and everything else was in keeping.  An abundance of good things was
around them, and yet they had nothing comfortable and wholesome.

	It is just so with some people here.  Every facility is in the
possession of this people for living in the very best manner, if they
would only learn how, and practise upon that knowledge.  How much do you
have to pay for your cow's running on the range, or for the use of a lot? 
Nothing.  How much rent do you pay for your land?  Not any.  What hinders
you from raising something to feed a cow?  Nothing.  Who hinders you from
planting your garden with corn, and saving the suckers and the fodder? 
Who hinders you from raising carrots, parsnips, squashes, &c., to feed a
cow with through the winter?  This you can do on a little more than a
quarter of an acre, but will you do it?  No; many of you will not.  Does
any one hinder you?  No; and yet some of you complain that you live
poorly, and lay the blame upon me and brother Kimball, and brother Wells,
and those men who dictate the Public Works.

	We pay the public hands higher wages than they earn, and if they are
obliged to live on bread alone from day to day, it is for want of economy
and proper management.  Am I to blame?  No.  Will I milk your cows for
you?  No.  Will I buy butter for you?  No; we will give you all that is
brought in on tithing, and when we have done that, you may calculate to do
without, or make your own butter.  I know families that milk one cow for
eight or ten in the family, and yet have butter on the table all the time,
and occasionally sell a little.  Others have six or eight cows, and seldom
have any butter in the house; they do not take care of what they have.

	Instead of people being poor, we already have too much, unless we
take better care of it.  I heard a man who is living in this city--one who
has always been well off--state that he used to keep twelve cows when he
first came here, and was often nearly destitute of milk and butter.  After
a few years, the number of his cows was reduced to six, and he said that
the six did him more good than the twelve had done.  In two years more,
they were reduced to two, and the two cows have done him much more good
than the twelve or the six did, for they could be and were more properly
attended to.

	Let me have the privilege of dictating every chore about my house,
and I would soon put everything right.  I do not have that privilege, for
I have so many and so much around me, that I have to depend upon others. 
During the past six years, I have seldom kept in my yard less than
thirteen cows for the use of my family, and there has not been one year of
that time that we have had much more than milk enough the year round to
put in the tea and coffee.  I have directed the men who feed my cows to
take a course to prevent such a variation in the supply of milk.  I have
told them to feed the cows thus and so; to give them so much in the
morning, and so much at night, and to allow them as much water as they
would drink.  And after all, though perhaps I would not go to the barn as
often as once in the week, I have frequently seen from a peck to a bushel
of good wheat meal shovelled into the yard out of one cow's trough.  And
when I have asked what does this mean, "Why, such a brother wanted to go a
visiting, and would not be back for three days, so he put the three days'
feed before the cow at once."  Again, I might remark, "This cow looks
poor; I have thousands of feed to give her; what is the matter?"  "She eat
until she nearly killed herself, and we have just made out to save her,"
and that is all the satisfaction I would get.  It is too often a perfect
waste and destruction under my own nose, because I cannot find time to
look after my private affairs.

	I have asked myself, Shall I go and attend to my own business, or let
it go?  And I have replied, I will let it go to hell backwards rather than
neglect my public duties.  I will not neglect my public duties, if my
property all goes to destruction--if we do not have a drop of milk from
this time henceforth and forever.  During the past winter, my large family
have had three cows, and they have done me six times more good than ever
the thirteen did.  I prevailed upon one or two of my women to do the
milking for the first time, whereas heretofore I have had to hire Jim, and
Jack, and Peter Gimblet to do the milking, and they would often pound a
cow until she would not give down her milk, and would kick her half to
death, and then half milk her, and ruin everything about me.  Three cows
now do us more good than fifty would have done four years ago, under the
old plan.

	I expect that all persons who will not try to help and take care of
themselves the best they can, will see the time when they will wish they
had done so; yet I would like to turn away the evil day from them, if I
can possibly do it, by correct teaching and example.  All persons that
will not try to take care of themselves, will see a day of sorrow, and
will regret the waste of time misspent in this life.

	When I laboured, I did the milking and feeding most of the time, and
fed the pig, and attended to all the outdoor chores; though, at the same
time, if I was absent, I had a wife, after I came into this Church, who
was always ready to feed pigs, milk and feed cows, and work in the garden,
or do anything that should be done, so far as she was able.  Wives, go
into the garden and raise the salad and numerous other articles within
your judgment and strength.  Who hindered you from making a little vinegar
last year?  People are frequently running round and asking, "Where can I
buy some vinegar?"  When I was keeping a house, if my neighbours had a
million hogsheads of vinegar, I had no need to buy a spoonful of it, for I
would make a plenty for my own use, and would have eggs, butter, and pork,
of my own producing, and manage to secure beef, and salt it away nicely,
and we had all the essentials for comfortable diet.

	Will the people continue to live?  Many of them will merely manage to
stay, just as a family did in Illinois.  During a conference held in their
neighbourhood, we would sit down at the table, in the centre of which was
a great big milk-pan piled full of lean beef, and sour bread to eat with
it.  After awhile, a plate of butter would be brought on, quite white, and
full of buttermilk; and those articles comprised our dinner.  When Sunday
morning came, we had the rarity.  In the mean time, I found out who owned
the farm, the sheep, the horses, the cows, the oxen, the turkeys, the
geese, the fowls, and the fine orchards.  They were all owned by Esquire
Walker.  On Sunday morning, we sat down to the meat and bread, as usual,
and clean butter was on the table that time, if I recollect rightly; but
there was one plate with something upon it that I had not deciphered.  I
looked at it carefully, and by and by I concluded that it faintly
resembled a pie.  Sister Walker came along, saying, "Brother Young, there
is some pie; it is peach pie; do eat some."  It was made of dough rolled
out into a thin cake, and put on a plate, with a thin streak of poor,
refuse, fuzzy peaches that had been merely halved, and the pits taken out;
and then another thick tough crust put over them.  I took a piece, and
said to brother Kimball, What is this? at the same time giving him a wink. 
"Why, brother Young," replied Mrs. Walker, "It is peach pie."  I remarked,
Brother Kimball, I never saw the like before in my life; did you?" 
"Never."  I went into the orchard, where they had been making brandy out
of the best peaches for three or four weeks.  Could they be put into a
pie?  No; but they must use the little, nasty, withered up ones.

	I have related that circumstance to show you how much they knew about
living.  That family had plenty of fowls, cattle, and milk; and if they
had known how to manage their abundance, they would have had every comfort
of life served up in the richest and best style.  They could also have
made hundreds of pounds of maple sugar, which is the best of sweetening;
for they had a sugar orchard on the farm.  Yet, when I was there, they had
a house with five or seven beds in one room; and when you walked across
the floor, the planks would go clatter-to-bang.  And when they wanted to
see in the day time, they had to open the door, or draw up to the
fireplace, and benefit by the light that came down the chimney.  I asked
Esquire Walker why he did not put a good floor in his house, and put in
windows.  He replied, "I have been thinking I would, for several years. 
Friend Young, I have a good deal of money and property on hand, and I
think of going to Nauvoo, to invest several thousand dollars."  I state
this to show you that many people do not know what to do with what they
have.

	You may see some little girls around the streets here with their
mothers' skirts on, or their sun bonnets, and with their aprons full of
dirt.  Your husbands buy you calico, but you do not know what to do with
it.  It is to be carefully worn until the last thread is worn out, and
then put into the rag bag to make paper with.

	Some men do not know what to do with their means.  You may take the
poorest mechanic here, and one who has nothing but bread to eat, and you
may see him paying half a dollar or a dollar for a meal of victuals at the
Globe.  You may see the barber shops crowded with our poor mechanics, who
pay from three to five dollars a quarter for being shaved.  I bought a
razor, when I began to shave, that cost thirty-seven and a half cents, and
used it for fifteen years.  Some black their boots, so that they will not
last more than two or three months.  I keep my boots well oiled, wear then
two or three years, and then give them to the poor.

	Nearly all who grumble about their poor scanty fare, would be rich if
they would do as I do.  Take care of your articles of food, of your
clothing, of your boots, and hats, and you will have plenty; and let the
women take care of what is taken into the house.  If you do not go to now
and prepare for the day of trouble, you will be sorry, and will lament and
mourn.

	I now want to tell you the feelings of several in this community: "I
do not want to build a good house, because I shall have to move away by
and bye; our enemies will come and possess it.  I do not want to lay up
corn, because our enemies will come and take it from me."  If this people
will do as they are told, will live their religion, walk humbly before
their God, and deal justly with each other, we will make you one promise,
in the name of Israel's God, that you will never be driven from the
mountains.  And instead of mobs coming here to break open your granaries,
they will come to this people, bringing their gold, and their silver, and
their fine things, and plead with them for something to eat.

	I told you last Sabbath, that if this people had not stepped forward
to help the poor last fall, you would have seen harder times in 1857 than
you did in 1855 and 1856.

 	Let us keep in the favour of the Lord, and be his friends, live to
our covenants, love the Lord, and walk uprightly in all our acts and
dealings, so that we will not be afraid to have them scanned by the Lord
and His angels, and all good men on the earth; and we can stand justified. 
May the Lord bless you.  Amen.

        JOURNEY TO THE NORTH--UNANIMITY AND PEACEFUL ORDER OF THE
      COMPANY--GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY TRAVERSED--GOOD
              CONDITION AND BLESSINGS OF THE SAINTS IN ZION.
         Remarks, by President Brigham Young, Made in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, May 31, 1857.

	We have accomplished our short and speedy journey to the North in
safety and in peace, and again have the privilege of assembling with you
in this Bowery for the purpose of worshipping the Lord our God, for which
we are thankful.  Every heart responds to these sentiments, and we give
glory to our Father and to our God.  His hand is over us for good; He has
preserved us, He has marked out our path.  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, the God of the Patriarchs of old, of the ancient Prophets and
Apostles, of Joseph and of this people, is our God--the only wise and true
God, our Saviour.  It is him that we look to; in him we trust, and from
him we receive all our blessings.

	I believe that every heart is filled with thankfulness, and is also
measurably filled with joy and peace.  I can truly say to you, my brethren
and sisters, that I am thankful to you, as well as to my Father in Heaven;
for I have felt the strong cord of faith in my absence arising from this
people to our Father and our God in our behalf.  And I have no doubt but
that our brethren who have just returned from their missions to the East
can testify to the same.  They have felt that the faith of the Saints has
been in their behalf; they have been sustained and upheld, and brought
through their trials by the arm of Jehovah, by the faith of the Saints.

	The brethren have done me a kindness, and I am thankful to them for
it.  I am also thankful that I live in the midst of a people whose hearts
and faith are measurably one, that what they rightly ask for is granted
unto them; and that when they feel to bless an individual or a people,
that individual or people is blessed; and when they feel it a duty that
the Lord should stay the wicked in their progress, their faith
accomplishes their desire.  I am thankful that I am in the midst of such a
people--that I am numbered with you, my brethren and sisters in the gospel
of salvation.

	I have sustained, I believe, a good character before our Father and
our God.  I believe that your faith has been united with ours to
accomplish that which ought to be performed; and on this occasion I am
thankful that I have had your prayers, and have accomplished the business
proposed.  I requested the people to have faith for us, and to willingly
release us to visit the northern country.  They voted that they would do
so, and their acts have proved that their faith was and is in accordance
with their votes.

	On our journey, I can truly say that we had perfect peace.  In my
travels with the Saints, up to this day, I can truly say that I never had
the pleasure of journeying with so peaceful and orderly a company as the
one with which I travelled to Salmon River.  They were schooled and
instructed, and knew how to contribute to the comfort of each other, and
performed every duty in peace, without noise, without strife, without
contention.  Every man was at his post, performing the duties assigned
him, and that, too, in the faith of the Gospel, with a perfect resignation
to the requirements upon him.  I believe that I have never seen men
together, to anywhere near the same number, who were so united as the
company I have travelled with this spring.

	We took up our line of march on the morning of the 24th of April, and
were gone one month and two days, during which time we travelled 763
miles, and that, too, over a very rough country, 381 1/2 miles out.  Only
one accident occurred worthy of mention, and that happened on the evening
after we drove out of Fort Limhi.  While chopping some fire-wood, brother
Franklin Woolley had the misfortune to cut his foot, but the wound is
already so far healed that he is walking about.

	We did not lose an animal, though we left two at the Fort.  Brother
Woolley's was the only accident that occurred in our camp; and I do not
think that I heard one cross word from man or woman during the journey,
unless it was from myself.  I think if any body was out of humour, or
cross, or irritated, it must have been myself, for I did not see anybody
else so; and I endeavoured to keep my own temper as cool as possible.

	I feel to bless the brethren who accompanied me and those we have
visited, and I feel to bless the brethren, with all that pertains to them,
who have tarried at home.  Strict industry and quietness have marked well
their doings in my absence, so far as I have seen or been informed.  The
improvements in the settlements we have passed through bespeak a
contented, industrious spirit, and this place bespeaks faith and industry
during our absence.

	Our crops look well, and I find that the brethren have attended to
making things comfortable about their houses so far as I have seen, though
as yet I have not been much about the city.  The Temple Block indicates
hard labour; and I feel that the brethren are united in the great work
that is upon us, and I am thankful for it.

	I could give you a detailed account of our journey, and a description
of the country through which we have passed; but perhaps it is unnecessary
to-day, though I will say, that I had not received, from all the northern
travellers with whom I had conversed, hardly one correct idea of that
region of country.  I have asked several who had been there to describe
Salmon River Valley and the intermediate country, the quality of the soil,
the nature of the climate, the positions of the mountains, &c.; but I must
say that, when I came to travel through the country, I might readily
suppose that I had never conversed about it with a man who had been there. 
I have frequently asked with regard to the location of Fort Hall, and the
replies have been, "It is built near Snake River."  Is there anything of a
valley?  "Yes, something."  Is there any timber there?  "I think there is
pretty plenty of timber on the river, such as cottonwood, quaking asp, and
willows."  Is it anything of a country for settling?  "I should think
likely it might be."  Is there any timber in the mountains?  "I should
presume there is."  How are the mountains situated?  "Similar to other
mountains in other countries."  That is about all I have ever been able to
learn of the country, previous to my late journey.

	When we began to approach Fort Hall, we learned that we could see
over it and all around it to a great distance; and, if our eyes had been
good enough, we might have seen the little Fort some 30 miles before we
reached it.  It is located on Shanghi Plains.  From the Rocky Mountains,
at the source of Snake River, this plain extends some 150 miles to 200
miles in a westerly and south-westerly direction; and from the mountains
south of Snake River to those north is a distance of some 90 miles.  I
never had this idea before, nor could I get it from any man I had
conversed with.  It is a vast desert plain, and we called it Shanghi
Plain.  I think it is as desert a country as ever was brought together to
aid in holding the earth from parting asunder.

	Upon the banks of Snake River, when it does not overflow, there is a
lengthy, narrow strip of good soil, varying from a quarter of a mile to
ten rods wide, and in some places not six inches wide.  It is a sterile,
barren, desert country, filled with belts of rock and sand.  As we passed
over some portions of Shanghi Plain, the brethren undertook to remove the
stones, so that we might drive our waggons with a little more ease to
ourselves and less danger to our vehicles.  I begged of them not to take
all the rock out of the road; for, if they did, there would be nothing to
travel on.

	Much of the track in that region was a perfect bed of rock covered
with occasional strips of sand, which much retarded the progress of our
teams.  I wished the sand and the rock to lie there, for I was confident
that, if they were taken away, California and Oregon would be separated
from the States by a vast gulf.

	Malad Valley, north of Bear River, has been considered a pretty
desolate, cold, hard, sterile valley; it was so looked upon by us, as we
passed through it on our way North.  At the same time, we considered it a
tolerably good grazing country, and thought that people could possibly
live there.  But after we had travelled over the Basin rim into Bannack
Valley, descending a mountain, beside which the one we call the Big
Mountain is a mole hill, down through the little Bannack Valley on to
Shanghi Plain; and travelled north-easterly and north-westerly, almost in
a semicircle, to Spring Creek; then up Spring Creek over to Salmon River;
and wended our way down that stream, through swamps and willows, and
climbed over points of bluffs to keep from being mired; and had paid our
brethren a visit, and returned again to Malad Valley [sic-no punc]  It
looked to us like one of the most beautiful valleys that any person had
ever beheld; while, before this experience, we thought that nobody could
live there; and I expect that, if we had gone a few hundred miles north,
it would have looked still better to us; for the further we went north the
further we found ourselves in the northern country.  And if the Malad is a
good valley, we can go further north to those not quite so good; and the
further we go north the less good characteristics are connected with the
valleys, except in the articles of fish, water, and, in some instances,
timber; and when people are obliged to live in the north country, that
will be high time for them to go there, [sic-punc]  That is about the
amount of the geographical part of our journey that we shall now present,
though I think that I am pretty correct in my observations, and could mark
out the road, the mountains, the valleys, and streams, and could sketch a
tolerably good map of the country.

	I have accomplished what I designed to accomplish, and I believe the
brethren will join with me, at least, on one point, viz, that we started
from here to rest the mind and weary the body; and so far as the body is
concerned, I believe all parties will agree with me in saying that we have
done that most effectually.  I see one man that went for his
health,--brother East.  I expect that it will prove a benefit to him. 
Others also went for their health.  It is a hard medicine to take, but the
result will be beneficial.

	I rested my mind.  From the time I left this city until my return, I
do not think that this valley, this Tabernacle, my own house, or any of my
family scarcely ever came before me to reflect upon.  We spent part of the
first Sabbath at Box Elder, and on the next we were camping away up Snake
River, where we held meeting in the forenoon.

	A number of the brethren spoke, and I told them that I would say a
few words, and relate some of my feelings, especially those pertaining to
the journey and myself; but I could not have told, from my sensations,
whether I had been from home a week, a month, or a year; and I could not
fully realize whether I ever had a house or lived in it, or ever had any
family, only those that were with me.  This was a blessing to me.  My mind
was so taken from the cares that surround me here, that it was perfectly
relaxed into an easy state of rest; and I had no anxiety, not in the
least, about one care that had formerly been upon me; or whether I ever
saw this valley, this congregation, or my family again; or ever saw any
other country than the one where I was at the time.  All my home
reflections, desires, and cares were as far from me as the east is from
the west.

	Whether this was the case with others I cannot tell, but I believe
they are all joined in saying that their bodies were most thoroughly
tired.  I feel that I am renewed, though my body has been very tired since
I returned.  But I am becoming rested, and I now feel just about right.  I
feel that I have renewed my strength, renewed the vigour of my body and
mind; and I believe that I am as ready to act in any capacity now as ever
I have been in my life, and a little more so; for I hope, as I grow old,
to grow wise.  As I advance in years, I hope to advance in the true
knowledge of God and godliness.  I hope to increase in the power of the
Almighty, and in influence to establish peace and righteousness upon the
earth, and to bring all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, even all
who will hearken to the principles of righteousness, to a true sense of
the knowledge of God and godliness, of themselves, and the relation they
sustain to heaven and heavenly beings.  I hope to increase and advance, as
I do in days and years, in the wisdom and the knowledge of God, and in the
power of God; and I pray that this may be the case, not only with myself,
but with all the Saints, that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of
the truth, and be made perfect before Him.

	There never has been a day for ages and ages, not since the true
church was destroyed after the days of the Apostles, that required the
faith and the energy of godly men and godly women, and the skill, wisdom,
and power of the Almighty to be with them, so much as this people require
it at the present time.  There never was that necessity; there never has
been a time on the face of the earth, from the time that the church went
to destruction, and the Priesthood was taken from the earth, that the
powers of darkness and the powers of earth and hell were so embittered,
and enraged, and incensed against God and godliness on the earth, as they
are at the present.  And when the spirit of persecution, the spirit of
hatred, or wrath, and malice ceases in the world against this people, it
will be the time that this people have apostatized and joined hands with
the wicked, and never until then; which I pray may never come.

	I feel thankful for the privilege of lifting up my voice before you
this day, my brethren; I feel that it is a great privilege.  There is no
other people on the earth that are blessed like this people, though some
of them say they are not blessed, because they have trials,--that they are
not blessed as they wish to be, because they have cares upon them, because
they are persecuted and hated.  But I say that in all this you are
blessed, if the words of the Saviour are correct, which you and I believe. 
He said to his disciples formerly, which will also correctly apply to the
Saints in our day, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and
persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for
my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in
heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."  If
this is not now done to perfection by the world, wait a little while, and
it will be.  The world will hate us to perfection; and if they have not
spoken all manner of evil against us, falsely, it is because they have not
knowledge enough to do it.  At this time there is no falsehood which they
can invent, but what they are active in their service to their father the
devil against the Saints; consequently, according to the words of the
Saviour, "Blessed are ye."

	We know that we are blessed, and God knows it, if we love the Lord
our God; and our works prove that we do.  Blessed are the Latter-day
Saints, if they love God and keep His commandments.  And, let the world
revile them, and do what they will, we are blessed, because we have the
words of eternal life, and know how to perform, and are actually
performing the works, to secure to ourselves an eternal salvation and an
existence in the presence of our Father and God, while they will be wasted
away, and be destroyed from the earth, and from every kingdom where there
is peace and righteousness.

	We are blessed, and we may never expect our happiness and heaven
until we gain a perfect victory over the devil, hell, and the grave; and
that we cannot do in this mortality; but we can conquer to a certain
degree, and gain admission into the favour of our Father and God, and
receive His promise to be received into His celestial kingdom, when we
shall have a perfect victory and power over everything that is evil.  I
will give way for others.  May God bless you.  Amen.

    PRACATICAL RELIGION--SIMPLICITY--TEMPORAL SALVATION--ADVANTAGES OF
         UTAH AS A SETTLEMENT FOR THE SAINTS--FALSE REPORTS, ETC.
         Remarks, by President Brigham Young, Made in the Bowery,
               Great Salt Lake City, a.m. of June 7, 1857.

	I am thankful for the privilege of assembling with the congregation
of the Saints on another day that is set apart to worship God.  I delight
in hearing the servants of the Lord speak of those things that pertain to
life and salvation.  Practical religion is what we all need, to prepare us
to enjoy that which we have in our anticipations--that which we hold in
our faith.  Merely the theory of any religion does people but little good. 
This is the great failing of Bible Christians, as they are called.  They
have the theory of the religion of which the Bible testifies, but the
practical part they spurn from them.  This is why the Latter-day Saints
have become so obnoxious to the Christian world.  They believe in the
practical part of the religion of which the Scriptures are a history.  You
may take the plan and details of former Christianity; but, unless it is
reduced to practice, it will not benefit the people.

	I delight extremely in plain simplicity.  Brother Kimball desires to
be plain and simple, even like a child.  I delight in this.  I believe,
according to my feelings, that if I had all the mastery of language that
has ever been obtained by the learned, my spirit would delight more in
childlike conversation, and that, too, in a simple language, than in the
most learned literary style that is used.  A plain clear method of
expressing ideas is the most pleasing to me.  I always delight to hear
brother Kimball speak, and I will take the liberty of saying to this
congregation that brother Heber C. Kimball, in his spirit and in his
faith, I do believe, is as true, as faithful, and correct, as any man that
ever lived; but he has not that peculiar mastery of language that some
have.  He does not tell the people all that is in his mind: that would be
impossible.  He conveys a great deal in a few words.

	There is no person that ever heard me complain of or disapprobate in
the least anything that brother Kimball says.  The reason is simply this:
I do know his spirit, and what is in his mind.  Whether he tells one
fourth of it, or speaks it to the right or to the left, or whether he hits
a particle of it, I know what he means, and know that his meaning is just
right.  If he was blessed with the talent to clearly convey and explain
the ideas that are in his mind, I will venture to say that he would be one
of the greatest speakers that ever spoke on this earth, for true
knowledge, sentiment, and principle.  We need the spirit by which he
speaks and lives in order to understand all that he means by his
expressions.  I say this, not having any fear in my mind that brother
Kimball will, in his feelings, cast any reflections upon me for thus
expressing myself.

	I know that I am a great many times placed under difficulty to bring
before the people the truth in a manner plain and simple enough to reach
their understandings; and I know that this is the case with others.

	I have seen Joseph when it was impossible for him to give the people
his views upon a subject that he designed to speak upon.

	Such is the case with myself; such is the case with every man that I
ever heard speak.  It is so with brother Kimball and many others who arise
to address you here.  When some rise here to present a dish of mental food
to the congregation, they will be two hours, perhaps, in bringing out a
dozen kernels of corn; but brother Kimball produces a full dish of both
corn and beans in one quarter of the time, or less; and we have a fine
soup and sweetmeats mixed with it--a taste here and a taste there.  If it
could be comprehended by the people, they would generally find as much in
one of his sermons as there is in forty or two hundred sermons delivered
by those flowery speakers that sometimes address you.

	Brother Kimball was afraid of tiring us.  I said that I should never
be afraid of being tired with eating sucketash so long as I had room for a
single spoonful.  I generally deal out the sucketash, and I do not care
whether there are two beans to one grain of corn, or one bean to two
grains of corn; for those who like the beans best can pick them out, and
those who prefer the corn can select it out.  I really like the sucketash
that brother Kimball has just laid before you, for it contains ingredients
that pertain to our salvation.

	I told you last Sabbath, and I can tell you again to-day, what
brother Heber has just told you, that the enemy of all righteousness never
was more formidably arrayed against the Saints than at this very present
time.  There never was a greater hatred against pure, undefiled, practical
religion; and it seem as though every person was our enemy.  But if your
eyes were opened, as were those of Elijah's servant, you would see more
that are for us than all that are against us.

	When people falter in their path, and stumble, and fall, if they had
eyes to see--if they would cling to the Lord, and sustain His cause here
upon the earth, in preference to turning their backs upon it, they would
see that there are infinitely more for His cause than there are against
it.

	 Men and women must have eyes to see, or they cannot understand these
things: they must be revealed by the Spirit of God; for that is the only
way in which people can understand the things of God.  This makes it our
imperative duty to study and know the will of God, and then do it with all
our might.  It brings us under the deepest obligations, for our own safety
and security, to live so that we can have the mind of Christ within us,
and understand the mind of the Lord day by day.  If we do this, we are a
happy people.  As brother Heber observed, we are the happiest people upon
the face of the whole earth.

	You cannot go into any other community on the earth, and find that
peace and union and those principles of honour, of justice, and of right
between man and man, that you find in this community.  You cannot find the
same amount of good works, faith, virtue, kindness, gentleness, and peace
that you find here: there is hardly enough of these good qualities among
the world to enable me to establish a comparison.  The whole world is in a
turmoil, in a terror, and every man's hand seems to be against his
neighbour, nation against nation, party against party, people against
people.  The world is in confusion, but this people are dwelling in peace.

	As I told you last Sabbath, I have an experience with regard to the
feelings of over one hundred brethren during our late travels.  Perfect
peace and union reigned.  If there was a cross word, I did not hear it; if
there was a cross look, I did not see it; if there was a cross feeling, I
did not perceive it.  Can any other community produce such a set of men
and women?  Is any other people blessed like this people?  No.  We have
the privilege now of living in peace, of securing to ourselves our
temporal salvation; we enjoy this right.  And we will find those words of
brother Kimball to be true with regard to the suffering of the children of
men around us; and if we do not hearken to the counsel given us, we will
see the day in which we will wish that we had.  We will lament, if we do
not go to and secure to ourselves means for our temporal existence.

	It is true that the Saviour says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness;" but now we have the kingdom of heaven with us.  We
have sought it, and we have it in our possession.  We enjoy the blessings
of that kingdom; consequently, if we neglect everything else, we would be
foolish, we would become extinct.  But inasmuch as we have the kingdom of
God within us, inasmuch as we have it here among us, inasmuch as we have
the keys of it, the glory of it, the comfort of it, the power of it, and
the laws of it, let us now go to and sustain our bodies, that we may live
long on the earth to do good.  And let us sustain our families--our wives
and children--inasmuch as we have the necessary means and blessings
preparatory to having all things added unto us.

	Be wise: be as wise as the generations of this world.  In the days of
Jesus, those who received the kingdom and the spirit of the kingdom seemed
to lose all sight of a temporal salvation; and Jesus said to his
disciples, "The children of this world are wiser in their generations than
the children of light."  The children of light did not know how to sustain
themselves; they did not understand how to preserve themselves and the
kingdom with them.

	There is danger on the other hand with this people.  We have
witnessed it; we have an abundant proof of it, that when the people
actually turn to the world and seek after the things of this world, in
order to secure to themselves the comforts of life, their affections
appear to be weaned from the kingdom of God, and they become attached to
the things of the world.  It would be better if you and I never should
have anything pertaining to this world, than to lose the spirit of the
Gospel and love the world.

	But have we not learned enough?  Do we not now understand enough to
know that strict economy is required at our hands, in order to sustain
ourselves and prepare for our friends, and also for our foes, and to be
able to deal out the staff of life, not only to our friends, but also to
our foes, and prove to them, what we have preached all the day long, that
we are the friends of mankind?  We are actually their friends, not only
spiritually, but temporally.  Let us go to, then, and lay up in our
store-houses, and prepare for the day of famine, of sorrow, and of
trouble; for all those things written in the prophecies, in ancient days
and in this our day, will surely come upon the inhabitants of the earth.

	I bless you and your substance, with all that pertains to you; and if
I could, I would so bring the Spirit of God upon your that you might have
eyes to see, and be able to know the mind and will of God for yourselves.

	We are in the happiest situation of any people in the world.  We
inhabit the very land in which we can live in peace; and there is no other
place on this earth that the Saints can now live in without being
molested.  Suppose, for instance, you should go to California.  Brothers
Amasa Lyman and Charles C. Rich went and made a settlement in South
California, and many of the brethren were anxious that the whole Church
should go there.

	If we had gone there, this would have been about the last year in
which any of the Saints could stay there.  They would have been driven
from their homes.  It is about the last year that brother Amasa can stay
there.  Were he to tell you the true situation of that place, he would
tell you that hell reigns there, and that it is just as much as any
"Mormon" can do to live there, and that it is about time for him and every
true Saint to leave that land.

	Suppose that we should go south.  A great many wanted to go to the
Gila River: that was proposed when we first came to this Valley.  It was
said to be a lively country, and that men could live there almost without
labour.  What if we had gone there?  You see what has followed us here;
but what would have been the result, if we had gone there?  Long before
this time we would have been outnumbered by our enemies: there would have
been more against us than for us in our community.  Suppose we had gone to
Texas, where Lyman Wight went?  He tried to make all the Saints believe
that Joseph wanted to take the whole Church there.  Long before this, we
would have been killed, or compelled to leave that country.  We could not
have lived there; and it is as much as ever they can do to let us alone
here.

	As I have often said, I am thankful to a fulness that the Lord has
brought us to these barren valleys, to these sterile mountains, to this
desolate waste, where only Saints can or would live, to a region that is
not desired by another class of people on the earth.  When they come and
have succeeded in getting our money, they will not stay any longer.  When
they have made all they can out of the Latter-day Saints, they wish to
leave.  And when you see a person who becomes tired of "Mormonism," and
falters in his path, backslides in his feelings, at once his eye is to the
States, to California, or to some other place besides this.  Though,
previous to their departure, such persons will write to their friends, and
to newspapers abroad, every conceivable misrepresentation; and even the
majority of the officers that have been sent here are trying to make the
Government believe that we are taking the country; that we are actually
usurping power to ourselves with regard to the soil; that we are
transgressing the laws of the United States; that we are treasoners in our
feelings, alienated from our Government, and so on and so forth.  They
also declare that the "Mormons" are getting out what little timber there
is in the kanyons, and that if the timber is used up this land is not
worth one penny an acre.

	In playing the game that they do, they give us nine out of ten.  A
gentleman by the name of Morrill wished to deliver a speech in the House
of Representatives, on the "Mormon" question; but his friends managed to
prevent it; for they saw the light surface on which he rode while he was
writing his speech.  They saw that the delivery of his speech would do the
"Mormons" more good than harm, and they managed to head off its delivery
by a motion to adjourn, which prevailed.  He felt chagrined at losing the
opportunity to make his speech, which he thought was full of thunder, and
which occupies six-and-a-half columns in a large newspaper, and much of it
in nonpareil type.  They did not want to hear it.  Every man of sense
said, "Mr. Morrill, this will destroy your influence with your
constituents, and do the 'Mormons' more good than hurt, and ruin our
cause."  No doubt his friend wished to seal it from him and let it have a
still-birth; but Mr. Morrill feels himself imposed upon, runs straightway
to the Globe Office, and gets it stuck into the paper, much to our credit
and advantage.  That is the way all our enemies do; they overshoot the
mark they are aiming at.

	Another man has written and got published a long article; and I have
really thought that I would like to have the speech, which was never
delivered, the long article, and some other articles of like character
read before the public congregation.  William Smith, brother to the
Prophet, is the one suspected of having dictated the writing of the long
article mentioned.  He defies the United States to send a Governor here
that can do anything with the "Mormons," except himself.  He declares that
no man can go to Utah but a man who is well acquainted with the "Mormons,"
and one who has as much influence among them as Brigham Young; and
presents himself as the man.  He also tells about the Danites, and asserts
that they are in every town and city throughout the whole of the United
States, and that their object is not known by the people; that they are
all over the world; that there are thousands of them; and that the life of
every officer that comes here is in the hands of the Danites; that even
the President of the United States is not safe; for, at one wink from
Brigham, the Danites will be upon him and kill him.  After all this, he
says that no man can go there; and when he gets through with this story,
sufficiently so to expose who he is, he says, in purport, "I can go there;
and if you do not believe me, try me; and if you think I cannot, give me
the right to go there with a good large army.

	Judge Drummond comes out with death and thunder on the "Mormons," and
that no other an ought to govern the "Mormons" but Judge Drummond, the
HORSE DEALER; and so it goes.  And they publish that we have thousands and
tens of thousands of men scattered over the world, full of fervour,
integrity, and courage, and ready at a moment's warning.  Just one word
from Brigham, and they are ready to slay all before them; and then they
turn round and proclaim that the "Mormons" ought to be used up, and that
you can do this and that with them.  It is all a pack of nonsense, the
whole of it.

	"The devil is mad, and I am glad;

	And what can we do to please him?"

	I know what I think, but I will not tell it now.  It would please me
better to have him kicked out of doors than anything else, and especially
from this community.

	If we would not say one word about people's living their religion,
and let this Temple alone, and the spirit of improvement in regard to our
religion, and everything pertaining to the world, and bid the world
welcome to our houses and firesides, and strike hands with them, and call
them our friends, we should have no difficulty with them.  They have
nothing against us, only they cannot do as they please when they come
here, but have to observe the laws of the United States and this
territory, and a certain degree of moral decorum.  They cannot do as they
please in their corruptions, and they raise a hue and cry against the
"Mormons."

	If we would not say to the brethren and sisters, Try and live your
religion according to the Spirit of the Gospel, grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of the truth, and in all the graces and gifts of God's Spirit,
all would be peace between us and the wicked.  If we were to say nothing
about building a Temple to the name of Israel's God, the Devil would not
be mad, and the case would be like that of a priest.  In his vision in the
night, he came along to a pretty good-sized town, walled in fine and nice;
and he thought that he came to one corner where there stood a post, and
that the Devil sat asleep and nodding on the top of it.  But he opened his
eyes--and noticed the priest, and asked him, "Which way are you going?--to
the city?"  "Yes," replied the priest, "but what are you doing here?"  "O
I am just overlooking the city."  "How many devils does it take, besides
you, to take care of this people?"  "There is no other here besides
myself; the whole people are under my control, and I have trained them so
well that I have nothing to do; and they are so well learned in the
doctrine of the devils, that they can almost get along without me.  I am
merely here to see whether they continue to do as they have been doing.  I
was thinking that I should have to go to another city; but, as you have
come, I shall have more work."  If we live so that the devil has need to
look after us carefully, all is right.

	The world would like to have us their friends, and to have us to do
service to their father the Devil.  We profess to be Saints of the Most
High, and the people prove it by their actions.  They are full of
integrity and good works, and yet there are a few that ought to mend their
ways; though I am happy to see that there are not many in this community,
and that that number is growing less.  And it is my constant prayer, all
the day long, that God would multiply the righteous and righteous
principles throughout the world, while he decreases the ungodly; and also
that we may so live as to enjoy all the brethren have spoken of this
morning, root out the devils, and bid all foul spirits to depart from our
houses and community, that we may enjoy the peace of the Gospel in its
fulness.

	I pray both for my friends and for my enemies, that, if they will not
repent, the earth may be speedily emptied of the ungodly.  I have often
told you how I love my enemies.  I would do something for their salvation,
if the Lord would permit me.  And if the time was come, I would take a
step to give them, not a superlative heaven, but a comparative place of
peace.  If it was in my power, I should perhaps be for doing this before
the time.

	Pray that our enemies may have no power over us; pray for the Spirit
of the Gospel, that the Lord may strengthen the Elders, and keep them in
the spirit of humility, while they are out preaching the Gospel; pray for
the anointed of the Lord, for the house of Israel, those poor degraded
Lamanites, that light and truth may spring up among them more and more. 
They begin to improve greatly; pray that it may continue, that they they
[sic] may come to acknowledge of the truth, and help to build up Zion, and
they will be a shield to us in the day of trouble.  All this, and a great
deal more, I feel to say; but, for the present, I will give way.  May God
bless us all.  Amen.

   THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES GUARANTEES ALL WE ASK--HOLLOW
     GENTILITY--POWER OF THE "MORMON" LEADERS--GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION.
         Remarks, by President Brigham Young, Made in the Bowery,
               Great Salt Lake City, p.m. of June 7, 1857.

	I can bear witness to the truth of what brother Hyde has said with
regard to the principle of government; and I wish to add my testimony in
these words.  There is no people on this earth, in a national capacity,
but what have been operated upon to return to what they themselves, in
their own government, have prepared the way to accomplish.  That is the
overruling hand of God in the midst of the people, when they know it not.

	Pertaining to the officers that brother Hyde has alluded to, there is
no statute law in the United States, in neither the constitution nor the
statutes at large, but what allows the Latter-day Saints every prerogative
they could ask for.  There is no right or privilege that we could ask to
enjoy--none that any other people could reasonably ask to enjoy, but what
is guaranteed unto us by the constitution and laws of the United States. 
Officials who feel to traduce the name and character of the Latter-day
Saints, whether they be judges, marshals, Indian agents, or holding any
other office under the United States' Government in this Territory, have
to violate and trample under their feet their oaths to be loyal to the
Government and laws by which they profess to be governed, in order to
intrude in the least on the rights of this or any other peaceful,
law-abiding community.  To the honour of a few of those officials that
have come here, we can say that they have honoured the law under which
they came, while others have trampled it under their feet.  And for
officers to infringe upon any of our rights, they have got to transgress
the law that they are sworn to maintain.  These are facts.  If men will
only observe the laws of the United States--will only honour the laws they
are sworn to honour, we are safe.

	It would please me much if the congregation that assembles here from
Sabbath to Sabbath could hear the details of the foul slanders of men that
have been here, that they might know what they will spew out.  The great
majority of this people have no idea what rottenness those characters
carry within them; and they did not find it here: they brought it from the
places from whence they came.  They come here as full of foul matter as
any shell or skin can be stuffed; and yet I have heard some of the Saints
say that such and such a one of the lot was a perfect gentleman.  Speaking
as the world view men and things, in the eyes of the vast majority of
mankind, the Devil is the greatest gentleman that ever made his appearance
on this earth.  In accordance with their estimate, you cannot begin to
produce a person who is so much of a gentleman as the Devil himself.

	There are but few here that actually know the face of a Saint from
that of a devil; and that is one reason why we are exhorting the people
all the time to obtain the spirit of revelation, that they may know
whether they are right themselves or not, and whether their neighbours are
right or not; and that when truth is presented to them they can partake of
it and receive it with a keen appetite, as food which their spirits
rejoice in; and that when evil is presented they can detect it.  But there
are so many who profess to be Saints that live beneath their privileges,
that it becomes a constant task on me and others to plead with the people
to repent, to forsake their heart wanderings, and return to the Lord their
God, and seek His face and favour, and never stop until they get the
spirit of revelation within them, that they may know for themselves who
are gentlemen and ladies, who are angels or devils; and know and
understand the truth from error, light from darkness, and be able to
detect every deception and every deceptive character.  How long shall we
labour?  We will labour on until we are worn out.

	I am exceedingly thankful that the excessive labours that have been
upon me are not on me now as they have been.  The spirit of reformation
has taken hold on the people; it has kindled the fire of the Almighty in
Mount Zion to burn out many of the ungodly that could not stand it, and
they have fled.  I feel happy; it is a rest to me.  I feel as though I
should endure yet for many years.  But the labour that has been upon me in
observing the grovelling backwardness of many of the Latter-day Saints, to
see where they were going, was indeed hard to be endured.  It is not long
since many of our Bishops and other leading men in this community could
not tell a Saint from a devil.  Do you not suppose that that danger is
before me all the time?  But within the last six months, comparatively a
hundred tons of care and anxiety have been removed from my shoulders; and
I hope that this fire will continue to burn among this people until those
poor, miserable curses--those poor, miserable gentlemen, shall all leave
us.  I pray that the fire of God may burn them out.  I pray for this
continually.

	There are few men who, like myself, feel the burden of this; but take
the mass of the community, and it is, "How do you do, Mr. Devil?"  And for
a pound of tea, or a pint of whiskey, it seems that many might be bought. 
And when a "Mormon" undertakes to sell goods here, many of the people
think that he ought to give them away, or sell to them upon credit, which
they never try to cancel.  And if the "Mormon" merchant deals upon a
business principle, the people will flock to the gentile stores, where
they will trust them.  Why will they trust them?  Because they know that
they will get their pay.  I know of men bearing the character of
Latter-day Saints, who, because a "Mormon" dealer would not let his goods
go out of the store without pay, or a good prospect of pay, would go to
the gentile stores and get trusted, and then say, "O what a good man that
gentile is!" while, at the same time, he is as full of hell as an egg is
full of meat, and all he wants is a chance to spew it out.  They will meet
you with bland expressions, with soft silky hands, and velvet lips, and
will blarney around you; but let a mob come, and they are ready to point
out their victims here and there, and be glad to see us destroyed.

	Those whom the Government sends here are a most miserable set; and,
as a general thing, they do know enough to tell a decent lie.  But this is
not altogether to be wondered at, for they are under the same difficulty
as we are sometimes: it is hard for them to tell a man who has got brains
in his head from one who is filled with pudding.  The President and his
Cabinet know nothing about the characters whom they send here: if they
did, many who have come here never would have been sent.  If we cannot
always discern the children of men, it is no wonder that they are blind,
and cannot send men here capable of making a decent lie.  If they have not
already told every falsehood about us that they can invent, they will be
mighty sorry when they think of it; for, if they could have told any more,
they would have done so.  They have made and told every lie that they knew
how to; and if there is any blame on them for not lying more, it must be
attributed to their ignorance.

	I would like to come here next Sunday morning, at about eight
o'clock, and read to you those beautiful stories they have invented and
published, (Oh, they are lovely!) and let you understand how little sense
they contain.  They have us eaten up by crickets, then by grasshoppers (I
suppose that the grasshoppers must have beaten the crickets); and when
they found that the grasshoppers and crickets had not eaten us up, then
the drouth came and destroyed us; and after all that, the cry from one end
of the nation to the other now is to destroy the "Mormons."  They will
have quite a job, for there is more than one that can work at that game.

	What do you suppose the Government thinks about those furiosos and
their lies?  The Government feels about that matter somewhat as a friend
felt towards Morrill, who was going to deliver that GREAT--(but I cannot
hollow loud enough)--that GREAT speech, that he thought was so full of
thunder; but behold, when the shell cracked, it made no noise.  I have no
doubt but what his friends were determined to have the speech hushed up;
they saw its shallowness, and were satisfied that it would not accomplish
one thing that he designed it should.  Men who think, know that all such
persons are devoid of the principal item, viz., good sense to discern that
they do not rightly understand things themselves.  They are like the chap
who thought he knew it all, and a doctor said to him, "Between you and me,
we know everything."  The young man thought it was first rate, and
calculated to find out what the doctor knew.  Says the doctor, "I cannot
think of but one thing that you do not know."  "O doctor, will you reveal
that to me?"  "If I thought it would do much good, or if you would profit
by it, I would reveal it to you.  Perhaps I may as well tell you; for
there is one thing you do not know, though I believe that you know
everything else, and that is, that you are a fool; which I have learned
since I began to converse with you.  And now, between you and me, we do
know the whole of it."

	Government knows full well the miserable nonsense and the tirade of
abuse that is heaped upon us; but what do they care about it?  If they had
the power of putting such characters on chips, as we do, and carrying them
out, perhaps they would never give them office; but they have not that
faculty as we have.  We can look men out of our community, and they will
run and howl, thinking that their lives are in danger.

	I presume that there are still hundreds and thousands of
communications daily sent to the President of the United States by
applicants for office, whom, if he could take up on chips, as we can, and
set them out at Washington, he would most gladly so dispose of.  But what
is to be done?  Why, give the poor, miserable dog a crumb, or an old bone,
and say, "Get out, now!" and that is the way they get here.  To the praise
of a few who have been here, be it said, they kept the law; but almost
universally the Government officers that have come here have trampled the
laws under their feet, and have spurned them to derision.

	If officers of the law will keep the law, it is all we ask of them
while they are here; but if they do not keep the law, we will make them
suffer the penalty.  They are afraid of "Mormonism," like the Irishman who
was arraigned before a court of justice for a misdemeanor.  He lamented
bitterly, and the judge told him not to mourn, for he would see that he
had justice done to him.  "And sure that is what I am afraid of," replied
Paddy.  So it is with them; they are all the time afraid of justice.  When
they come here they are afraid that justice is going to overtake them,
instead of the "Mormons" doing them harm; and they do not like justice.

	I will now say a few words in regard to the brethren's helping us on
the Public Works.  I think that scores of men have come to me and said,
"Brother Brigham, don't you want a team to work on the Public Works?  I
really want to let a team go on to the Public Works."  We have not needed
them until now.  We are going to sell our oxen to pay our debts, and we
will now let the brethren work with their teams, as they have desired.  We
shall now prove them by their works.  James said, "Show me your faith
without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."  We will
apply that Scripture to you; if you will show your faith without your
works, we will show you our faith by our works, and see how many will
follow the example.

	There are horse teams and mule teams in abundance, and the spring
work is pretty nigh done.  Horse teams and mule teams will haul rock as
well as oxen, though it is generally supposed that they cannot.  We will
sell our cattle to pay our debts; for, if some poor, miserable people tell
the truth, and we have to leave here, I do not want to go away in debt to
our enemies; for the Lord has told us not to go in debt to our enemies. 
If I can get the brethren to do as we want them to do, in a short time we
will not owe a Gentile one half-dollar.  We never would have been in debt
to our enemies, if I could have had my plans carried out.  Some others
have had their way; and I, with a few others, have had to stand and lift
the load.  If I could be permitted to have my way, I would always have the
dollar on hand to buy my enemy, instead of owing him a dollar and having
to be sold for it.  I would always have a purse ready to buy those who are
for sale, instead of being out of means at the sale.  I would make every
thousand dollars return two, whereas I cannot do that while letting others
have their way.

	We want you to report yourselves forthwith, brethren.  You can tell
your neighbours, and the word will go through the city and county.  But we
do not want men to come here and say, "Here is a horse," or "I will turn
out an ox," or, "Brother Wells, I will send a team, if you will support it
and hire a man to drive it."  We do not want any such proffered blessings,
but we want them proffered upon the principle that you hire your own board
or bring it with you, and bring your horse-feed and maintain yourselves,
just as you do at home about your own work, and come and do the labour
necessary to be done.  We do not wish any man to say, "Here I am; I want
you to board me, and I want some horse feed, stable room, reins,
whipletrees and everything else."  We want men to stay at home, unless
they come to do the clean work and provide for themselves and animals.

	We have wagons rigged for transporting heavy blocks of stone, and we
are going to try hauling them with horses.  If you do not believe that
horses and mules can haul heavy stones as well as oxen, come and see my
horses and mules do it; they will do it better than oxen.

	Would you like to assemble here next Sunday morning and hear those
pretty stories read?  They are delightful.  If that is your wish, you will
all signify it by being here by eight o'clock next Sunday morning, when
you shall hear those beautiful stories, and learn how delightful you
appear in the eyes of the world, according to their representations.  In
the absence of important news, I think the reading of those stories will
cheer you so much!

	There is but one fact that makes our enemies mad at us, and it is a
principle visible and tangible to the natural senses, though I would not
say that it is the internal working of the natural senses to the natural
man.  But one fact can be produced, that makes our enemies angry at us,
and that is this--we actually will sustain our leaders; we will be of one
heart and mind, which is the same thing.  I do have that power and
influence here that no other man on this earth has in the midst of his
community, with the exception, perhaps, of some whom we call heathen, and
the members of the Church of Rome.  And I do not suppose that there can be
a bishop or priest in the whole Roman Catholic kingdom who has a people
around him that have that implicit confidence in him which this people
have in their leaders.

	If the President of the United States could have the influence that I
have in the midst of this people--even over as many people in the United
States as there are Latter-day Saints that I preside over, he would in a
moment give $100,000, which is his salary for four years.  They spend
their scores of thousands and hundreds of thousands to get the name of
having an influence--of being a man who can wield a certain amount of
power.  This is also the feeling with Cabinet officers, Senators,
Representatives, and Governors of States; and even the clerks in the
different departments at Washington will, if they have the money, give a
large portion of their salary just to get a clerkship.  Office-hunters
will throw a hundred dollars here, and fifty dollars there, to secure
their election or appointment.  Candidates for Congress will deal out a
thousand dollars to a certain set of men to go to one district and
electioneer, and five hundred to another, and two hundred to another,
according to the influence of the people in the district.  They buy their
positions with money, and know that they have not the influence that they
would like to have, and which they see that I have; and that mortifies
them.  And I presume that not many Presidents of the United States have
been elected without its costing them a quarter or half of their salary.

	What do you suppose that Fremont expended during the last
presidential campaign?  Probably not less than two million dollars.  His
California property was rated at eight million, and a company in England
proffered five million for one half of that property which the Government
had ceded to him.  It is presumable that he expended twice ten hundred
thousand dollars, and perhaps five hundred thousand on the top of that;
but he did not succeed in being elected President.  Had he succeeded, he
would have been the most influential man in the Government, simply because
he had become the President.

	It has been the practice for years, in the United States, for each
party to have what they call a Corruption Fund, to which the members
contribute their fifty cents, five dollars, or fifty dollars.  What for? 
To carry on an election.  There is not an election for a President of the
United States that probably costs less than one-half of the worth of the
State of New York or Pennsylvania.  Hundreds of millions are expended in
the presidential election at each four years.

	What do they do in Congress?  Before the last presidential election,
there was not as much business done by that army of men as would rightly
occupy the time of any legislative body for a very few days.  What were
they doing?  Log rolling.  They also get fine ladies to electioneer with
different influential gentlemen, and they exert their influence in the
various States where they reside.  The female portion of the community
have elected the President for years and years.  And the Corruption Fund
is made use of by the different parties, one man throwing out five hundred
dollars for one place, another a thousand, another two or three thousand. 
But I will now stop speaking on that subject, for there is no end to those
matters.

	Commotion and war are abroad among the nations, and they will
continue to be troubled; and sore vexations, and mourning, and weeping,
and desolation await the inhabitants of the earth.

	While we enjoy the privilege of the holy gospel, does it not become
us, as men and women of God, to be sober, full of faith and good works,
and to administer salvation to one another, and to every person that will
receive the truth at our hands?  It becomes us to be Saints indeed.  We
know that the world is angry at us, and that we cannot help.  We mean to
pursue our course, build up the kingdom of God on earth, and establish
Zion.  We have also got to assist in rebuilding Jerusalem; for, as brother
Kimball has said, if it is built up, we have got to assist in doing it.

	The house of Israel is scattered upon every island and among every
nation; they have to be gathered by the Gospel's being preached to them;
and we expect to have the Devil to fight.  Joseph said, years ago, that he
had all hell on his back, and all the world.  All the evil influences that
knew anything about him were combined to crush him; but, said he, "I will
rise above them all, and bear off the kingdom;" and so he did, until he
was slain.  God suffered him to be slain for His testimony, that it might
become a law through being sealed by his blood, which was the case the
moment his blood was spilled, the same as with the law of Jesus Christ
when he spilled his blood.  Then the testimony became in force.  It must
be so; God suffered it.

	It now remains with us to bear off this kingdom, build up Zion, and
establish the law thereof, until Christ shall reign King of nations as he
now reigns King of Saints, which is nearer at hand than you and I may
believe.  May the Lord help us to be faithful in this, that we may rejoice
in the perfect law of liberty, in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

        COMPREHENSIVENESS OF THE TRUE RELIGION--SACRIFICE FOR THE
        KINGDOM OF GOD--THE SAINTS SHOULD BE SUPERIOR TO THE WORLD
                    IN ALL THINGS--TRUST IN GOD, ETC.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, June 14, 1857.

	I cannot express my feelings; I can imagine, but cannot give vent to
my imaginations, when I realize the situation of the Saints in the valleys
of these mountains.  I expect, if I should give way to my feelings mingled
with the weekness [sic] pertaining to mankind, that you would call me more
foolish than a Methodist, or even more foolish than a right down shouting
Ranter.

	I think that I know how to prize the blessings I enjoy; and I also
really think that there are a great many here who know how to prize
theirs.  My soul is full of gratitude.  We are far from our oppressors,
far from those who seek to destroy us solely on account of our faith, and
are secured in the midst of these sterile, inhospitable mountains and
valleys.  They are so to every person, upon natural principles; but the
Saints live here.

	When I go abroad, when I visit a neighbour, when I meet a man or a
woman in the street, when I assemble with the community in which I live, I
am in the midst of Saints, or at least of those who profess to be Saints;
and if they are not Saints, I think they are trying to become so with all
their might.  I know how to prize these blessings; and, if I was a right
good old fashioned shouting Methodist, I should get up here and begin to
talk, and it would not be long before I should be shouting "Glory!"
"Hallelujah!" "Praise the Lord!" and you would hear the response, all over
the meeting, "Amen!" "Glory!" and in a short time we should get into a
real shout.

	I am full all the time; and there are many here who know how to enjoy
the society of the Saints.  I am not obliged to mingle my voice with the
wicked and the ungodly; I am not obliged to associate with them.  Brother
Rich knows what it is to be with the wicked, for he has been living in the
nethermost corner of sin and iniquity for a long time; and he knows how to
appreciate the society of the Saints here--how to mingle with them with a
heart of gratitude.

	I wish to say a few words to the Saints upon what we call our holy
religion.  If you and I are in the line of our duty when we talk, when we
sing, when we preach, when we pray, when we rise up and when we lie down,
when we go out and when we come in, in all the varied scenes and duties of
this busy life, every iota that we perform is embraced in our holy
religion.  The one is inseparably connected with the other through the the
[sic] whole march of life, from the day that persons know the truth until
they have completed their work on the earth preparatory to entering into a
higher state of bliss.  The religion that we have embraced is designed to
correct people, to give them a true system, true laws, true ordinances,
true customs, and to correct them in every point in all the social duties
and enjoyments of life.  It teaches us every principle that is necessary
to prepare people here on the earth to become a perfect Zion--the pure in
heart--a perfect heaven on earth.

	When the law is revealed to us and the ordinances committed to our
charge, if we exercise ourselves therein according to the best knowledge
and wisdom that we have, and continue so to do, God will add to us, until
we shall know how to establish Zion in perfection, and have the kingdom of
God, in the fulness thereof, in our midst and within us, and enjoy the
society of holy beings.  All the real business we have on hand is to
promote our religion.

	When the brethren rise up here to exhort you, as brother Hyde has, to
attend to a little temporal business, that is a portion of our religion. 
I told you, I think, last Sabbath, while speaking on that subject, to seek
now to sustain this community--to seek to sustain ourselves.  As brother
Hyde has remarked, the first thing now to attend to is to prepare for a
day of want and sorrow.

	I told you, you will recollect, that we have the kingdom of God with
us: we sought that first.  There may be here and there, in this
congregation, a person who has not done this; but almost every man and
woman before me have sought the kingdom of God with all their hearts. 
Some may have done so in Missouri, in Illinois, in other parts of the
United States, in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, France, England, and
in many other foreign lands.  They have sought the kingdom of God with all
their hearts, and have found it, and enjoy the principles, and spirit, and
power of it.  It is that which gives me the privilege of looking at you in
these distant valleys.

	We have got the kingdom: we sought it with all our hearts; though
many of us have been robbed of our substance not less than five times. 
Yes, we have been robbed many times of all we possessed on earth, because
we sought the kingdom of God and its principles.  We have been driven from
our homes time and time again.  We have many times suffered the loss of
all temporal possessions.  I say we; though there are brethren and sisters
here who have not been in the Church over a year, and some two, others
three years; but you are numbered with the Saints, and the Saints have
suffered the loss of all things, time and time again.  What for?  For the
kingdom of heaven's sake and its righteousness.

 	It is our privilege to be as wise in our generation as the children
of this world; and not only so, but it is our duty to be as wise in our
generation as the children of this world.  We have the true light and
knowledge, and we ought to know as much as the philosophical world, or as
any other people on the earth.  We ought at least to know as much about
politics as do the political world, or as do any other people.  I expect
that we do; and if we only apply our minds in the proper time and channel,
we know as much about the Christian world as do any other people, and we
ought to know as much about the whole world as do any other people.  In
fact, we ought to know more upon all those matters than any other people;
for we are privileged with far superior advantages through faith and
obedience to the Gospel.

	There is one principle which we will acknowledge to be infallible;
and I feel like illustrating it by a few circumstances pertaining to this
people.  We are under obligation to trust in our God and this is the
groundwork of all we can do ourselves.  You know that we cannot actually
make one hair white or black by exercising the power that we have.  We
cannot, as it is written, add to our stature one cubit.  That proves that
in and of ourselves alone we can do nothing.  We have been trusting in
God, you know, all the time, in order to accomplish what we have.  We have
trusted in the Lord, or we never would have received this gospel.  We have
had confidence in him, and in His revealed will to the children of men. 
If we should lose this confidence, our faith, and our hope, we are then
left without any strength; consequently we know better than to leave our
God.  In performing everything we can for our temporal salvation, do you
not naturally understand that it is through a more or less implicit
confidence in our God?

	It is not by our works alone, but we are co-workers with the God of
heaven--with our Father: we are helpers.  We expect to be saved, and we
have the work to perform to save ourselves.  That is necessary to give us
experience to know what to do with our salvation when we have obtained it. 
We do not intend to forsake our God, nor to say that we have done this or
that; for we have not done it alone, and do not expect to.  We must learn,
and I may say that very many have learned in a great degree, that it is by
implicit confidence in our God that we perform all that we do here
pertaining to His kingdom on the earth.

	We have heard much said, during six months past, to this congregation
with regard to our acts--with regard to our conduct one towards the other. 
There has been much said in regard to the spirit of reform.  That spirit
manifested itself in the case of our immigration last season.  We did
prove to God, angels, and good men and good women, also to wicked men and
women, and to the devils in hell, that we had confidence in our God and in
our religion.

	Perhaps many of the congregation are ignorant with regard to the true
situation of this community, in a temporal point of view, at the time
assistance was sent to our late immigration and for the year past.  You
may take men that are keen observers, close calculators, and they can
prove to themselves and to you this one fact, that last September--and I
do not know but in August--this community had eaten up the small amount of
produce that grew the previous year, so that there was not a bushel of
grain to start upon, or that had been kept over.  When the harvest came,
and the grain and vegetables were all gathered, the declaration of close
observers was that you could not find enough provisions raised throughout
the Territory to sustain this community nine months.  It was not in the
country; it did not grow here.  It was not in the fields of wheat when the
grain was threshed; the potatoes and the buckwheat were not gathered; the
pease and the beans did not grow; and the amount necessary to sustain life
was not on hand to sustain this community nine months, if a close
calculation had been made.

	I couple this with the faith and acts of the people in assisting the
immigration last fall.  We said to the brethren, Get the wheat ground,
take the flour, and go and bring in the immigration.  And I bear my
testimony in the name of the Lord God of Israel, that if this community
had not have done as they were requested pertaining to the immigration, we
this day would not have had a bushel of wheat in the market in this
Territory.

	But this community took their teams, loaded up provisions and
clothing, and went to the immigrants on the Plains; and some of them went
almost naked and barefooted.  I know of men who were in the City on
business when the call was made, and they started off to assist those who
were in the snow, and were gone two months without shoes to their feet or
comfortable clothing to keep them warm; for they had not brought those
articles from home with them, on account of expecting to return.  They did
not go back to get a new pair of shoes and clothing sufficient to keep
them from freezing among the snows of these mountains, and then stay at
home; but they promptly obeyed the call, saying, If I can borrow flour, I
will take it to the brethren, and will pay it back when I come in.

	Did the people prove that they had implicit confidence in their God? 
They did.  They left their families without wood, and their grain lying in
the field; their wheat not threshed, their potatoes not dug; no forage
gathered for their cattle, and no preparations for sowing the fall wheat;
and trusted in the Lord to provide for them, or to have an opportunity to
sow in the winter, or the next spring, or never.  What was the result of
that highly praiseworthy conduct?  Hundreds of lives were saved, and we
have plenty.

	Some go against the people selling wheat to anybody but those who
build up the kingdom of God.  Have I ever objected to it?  I say, let the
Saints have it, if you have got it.  But what did we see here a year ago
last winter?  A merchant bought up a large amount of wheat at from a
dollar to a dollar-and-a-half a bushel, and flour at from four to five
dollars a hundred.  What was the result?  He could not take it to the
States nor to California; and I bought it at a much less price than he
paid for it in cash and goods, and paid him in cattle.  I am now buying
wheat for seventy-five cents a bushel that the merchants here have bought
in at from $1.25 to $1.75 a bushel.

	If this community had not hearkened to the wants of their brethren
and sisters who came in last fall, this would not have been; but we would
now have been in want.  Who believes this?  I reasonably know it; and it
would almost be impossible for me to view the matter in any different
light.  I was careful to look, for the welfare and salvation of this
people.

	I have always looked for their salvation, both spiritually and
temporally.  I looked well to it last year, and the year before that.

	A year ago this spring was about as hard a time as has been in this
Territory.  There was not flour nor wheat for sale.  I had not much, and I
was feeding a great many.  I told you then what I intended to do; I can
tell you now what I did.  When the pinching time came on, my knowledge
with regard to the dealings of God with His people taught me to labour in
accordance with my faith and His promises, and I said, "I will part with
that which I have to sustain life, until the last four ounces are gone;
for, if I undertake to keep enough to sustain my family and workmen, and
deprive the destitute, I shall come to want with the community, and we
shall not sustain ourselves.  If I will not turn away any that are in
need, I can induce the next brother to do the same, and this community
will not suffer for the staff of life."  Still, I suppose that some did
suffer; and what was the reason?  If all persons had felt in their hearts
to hand out just as long as they had anything to deal out, and not have
been pinched up in their feelings, and bound up in their hearts and in
their affections in the love of the things of this world, and one man on
this side, and another on the other side had not have said in his heart,
"True, I can spare five hundred pounds of flour; but now is my time to get
fifty dollars a hundred for it, and now is my time to make the spoil,"
there need not one have suffered.  There was just enough such men in the
community to affect the faith of the Saints, and to cause a few to suffer.

	If there had been as many to act as they should, as there were to act
as they should not, our bins would have been as full of flour as they are
this year.  All that saved us this year was renewing our covenants,
keeping the commandments of God, and walking humbly before Him.  That is
what causes the wheat to be here, whether you believe it or not.

	It is the liberal heart, the liberal feelings of men and women--of
those who are full of faith in God that they will not suffer, because He
will provide for His people in the last days.  He has done so; but He will
not provide for you and me, except we live our religion.  If we will live
our religion, walk in the light of the Lord's countenance, day by day, so
as to have fellowship with our Father and His Son Jesus Christ, by the
power of the Holy Ghost, and with every good being in heaven and on earth,
let me tell you that hell may spew and bellow, and the devils may howl,
and they cannot scathe you and me any more than can a few crickets.  But,
to enjoy the protection of the Almighty, we have got to live our
religion--to live so that we have the mind of Christ within us.

	We have obtained the kingdom of heaven and the keys of it long ago,
and now we have got to live so that they will not be taken from us, but
that we will continue to increase in all the graces of His Spirit.  Then,
instead of backsliding, we shall become rich in heavenly things, and grow
up into Christ our living head, until the things of this world are as
plentiful with us in our days as they are with the children of the world.

	We ought to have a little more wisdom; and I mean to have it, and
mean that this people shall have it.  They shall have more knowledge and
understanding pertaining to heaven and heavenly beings, and to earth and
everything pertaining to it, than any other people.  I am determined that
I will so lead this people, according to the best of my ability and skill,
that they shall obtain it, with the help of God and the prayers of faith. 
If the people had been as liberal last year as they have been this, there
would have been no crying for bread.  This year our hearts are soft--they
are a little more elastic, and our blessings are more.  Another
circumstance I will mention is this:--

	We were owing a debt of $12,000 to one of the merchants in this city,
and have been disappointed in the East with regard to drafts and money
matters.  As I have frequently told you, and tell you now, when the
business of this Church that belongs here to be conducted is conducted in
other lands, we have as yet no men but what get in a muss and entangle our
feet.  They undertake to do that which should be done here, and God is not
with them to dictate their doings as they should be dictated, and they
fail in their calculations.  Such transactions had somewhat straitened our
financial condition.  We were not ready to discharge this one debt.  We
had expected to pay the debt in cash, but had the opportunity of paying it
with the cattle, when upon examination we had but a few scattering here
and there--a few cows, and a few two year olds and yearlings.  Last spring
we raked the herd ground, and gathered up all the cattle that would answer
any purpose for working, for sale, or for beef.

	Said I, "Every cow that I own shall go to pay this debt; and if the
brethren will come and buy my mules and horses, they shall go also."  The
next man said the same--"We will turn out our whole stock, and pay this
debt, and trust in God for the result."

	We stopped the teams which were hauling stone, expecting that we
should have to go to drawing stone with our horses and mules.  By that
method we had one hundred head of cattle to turn into good feed, to rest a
few days, and be fit for travelling.  We had sent north and south to the
Bishops of the various wards, and also hunted the ranges for our own
cattle; and, said I, "I know that God has provided for me, and I am not
afraid to trust Him;" and so said the next, and the next.  We wanted to
turn out four hundred head of cattle, in order to accomplish what was
desired.

	Yesterday we turned out the last of the cattle that we needed to pay
that debt.  We went to the herd ground, where brother Stringham had said
there were none, and we got about one hundred and seventy head there.  And
the brethren began to bring in and bring in, and the cattle that we had
drawn stone with are all still in the good feed, and the debt is paid, and
we have now almost two hundred head of cattle on hand more than we had
when we commenced.  We are now better supplied with cattle for teams and
beef, and with milch cows, and everything of the kind, than when we
commenced; and we have not touched one of those animals that we needed to
work on the Public Works.

	But if I had puckered up to begin with, and if brother Kimball, and
brother Wells, and Bishops Hunter, Hardy, and Little, and the rest of the
brethren had done the same, and then sent out to see whether the brethren
abroad would turn out stock to meet the liability, we never would have got
those cattle into our hands.  We would not even have seen them in the
Territory; our eyes would have been so darkened that we could not so much
as have seen them.  I will venture that we can find more cattle now than
we could six weeks ago, notwithstanding we have just turned out so many. 
These are stubborn facts; there is no dodging them.  They cannot be
philosophised away with me, for I know they are truths.

	If this people will continue in well doing, I warrant them that they
will multiply.  You know the figure that brother Kimball presents once in
a while; but I am not for stripping the old cow to death.  And I say to
the brethren, If any of you have turned out a cow or cattle to your
injury, come, and we will return them again.  If you do not wish for them
back, feel as I do and let them go.  I have given them, and I will not go
and take them back again.  A good many have turned out cattle on
donations.  When we wrote to the Bishops on the subject, we prepared the
way so that we might receive them; for I felt then, by the Spirit, that a
good many men and women would say, "Would you take anything as donations,
for our tithing, &c., is paid?  I have a cow or an ox, or a little money,
that I can spare as well as not, and I will turn it out, if you will take
it as a donation."  The brethren were not instructed upon that point, so I
informed them by letter that, if they were disposed to donate, they might;
but we would take cattle on tithing or on the P. E. Fund debts; for there
is a great amount owing us.  If these debts were paid, we should have an
abundance; for there is nearly $200,000 dollars due to the Perpetual
Emigrating Fund alone.  We cannot now collect these debts, for the
brethren are poor; hence we have to operate without those means.

	If any have suffered by their donations, I will say to them, We have
more cattle than we had in the commencement, and we are better able to
give than we were before we paid those debts.  Do you not see the hand of
the Lord in this?  I know it, and I want every man to live so that he may
see the hand of the Lord in all things, like the sun shining before him,
that he may see the dealings of the Lord among the people, as plain as to
see the path home to-day.  If we live so, all is right; we are safe; we
know how to save ourselves spiritually and temporally.  What do you think
of such a people?  Are they not blessed of the Lord?  They are a
God-blessed people; and I do bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, even so.  Amen.

 EXCHANGE OF FEELING AND SENTIMENT PRODUCES MUTUAL CONFIDENCE--NECESSITY
  OF CULTIVATING A CHILD-LIKE SPIRIT--DEVOTEDNESS OF THE SAINTS IN UTAH
    TOWARDS THE WORK OF GOD--GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF HIS OWN WORK, ETC.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, June 28, 1857.

	I arise to express some of my feelings in relation to the brethren
who may address the Saints from this stand from time to time.  I wish you
to understand that when you are called upon to speak to us here, we wish
you to speak upon the same principle that brother Chislett has.  Out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.  Brother Chislett has
spoken upon that principle.  We do not expect the brethren to rise up here
to instruct the people with regard to the special duties devolving upon
them, or to give the revelations of Jesus Christ to lead the people.

	Let me ask this congregation, what does strengthen your minds, your
faith, and your confidence in your religion?  Is it not the Spirit of the
Lord?  It is.  Is not that what you require day by day?  Do you not
receive as much of the spirit of intelligence, of the spirit of knowledge,
and the consoling influences of the Holy Ghost, to have people rise and
testify of the things of God which they do know, of those things which
they have experienced themselves?  Does not that vividly bring to your
minds the goodness of the Lord in revealing to you the truths of the
Gospel?  Does not that strengthen your faith, give you an increase of
confidence, and witness to you that you are a child of God?  Most
assuredly it does.  Therefore, when any testify of the things of God, it
strengthens their brethren precisely as it did in days of old when they
observed the counsel to "speak often one to another," "strengthen the
brethren," and so on.

	A mutual interchange of feelings one with the other, increases
confidence in our own hearts, as well as in the hearts of our friends.  We
are made sensible by our own experience that in changing and interchanging
our views, we reveal our hearts, feelings, sentiments, and confidence that
we have in each other; consequently, it is a natural result that we
increase confidence in each other by our mutual conversation.  This is
proved to us day by day.  Perhaps all have no the opportunity to prove
this in so public a manner; but some few have.

	In my experience I have learned that the greatest difficulty that
exists in the little bickerings and strifes of man with man, woman with
woman, children with children, paredts [sic] with children, brothers with
sisters, and sisters with brothers arises from the want of rightly
understanding each other.  It is not that this man or that woman wishes to
do wrong; but if they do wrong with their connections or with their
neighbours, it is in consequence of a misunderstanding.  Let us learn then
to give each other our true sentiments.

	It is a great fault in the Elders of Israel, when they talk to a
congregation, that they speak a great while about something, but you
cannot always easily tell what.  It may be more or less natural for some
to do this, but it is a habit which can be overcome.  Persons can learn to
express their feelings by their words.  Do not hesitate to tell your
feelings.

	Many have a foreboding in their hearts; a fearfulness, a tremor comes
over them, when they arise to address a congregation. They think that is
will not do to tell the people just what they understand, but talk about
it and talk about it.  In this way they darken counsel.  Do not darken
counsel by your words.

	I do not now refer in the least to what has been said this morning;
for I really believe that the feelings of brother Chislett were portrayed
frankly, honestly, and child-like.  That is the way I like to have the
Elders talk; and I wish to have them testify to what they know.  That will
help and encourage others to get the same Spirit; for, in the midst of all
that we hear from this stand with regard to counsel and implicit obedience
to counsel, you and I must have the testimony of Jesus within us, or it is
of but little use for us to pretend to be servants of God.  We must have
that living witness within us.  We need the light of the Holy Spirit
continually, day by day, as you have been told hundreds of times.  How
easy it would be for your leaders to lead you to destruction, unless you
actually know the mind and will of the Spirit yourselves.  That is your
privilege.  And when you testify in this public congregation, or in your
prayer meetings, testifying of the things of God that you know and
understand, you are at liberty to speak freely upon those things which you
believe.  Instead of getting up to instruct, to lead, guide, and direct
the kingdom of God, we want the brethren to tell what they know, what they
understand, the joy that they feel, and their experience day by day.

	We do not expect the brethren to rise here to instruct pertaining to
the leading of the Church.  But do they instruct, when taking the course I
have suggested?  Yes; they instruct me; they cheer and comfort my heart;
they increase confidence in me towards them.  When they rise to speak
here, they cannot hide their feelings, the sentiments of their hearts. 
And when they exhibit an honest, child-like spirit, it increases my
confidence in them, and so it does the confidence of the people, and we
are all encouraged and strengthened; we are edified and benefitted, and we
increase in our religion.

	Allusions were made to our situation and the situation of the world. 
No tongue can fully portray that subject to you.  It is impossible for any
man to rise here and exhibit the true state of this people--of the
blessings of the favour of God towards them.  That is not to be known or
realized, except by the revelations of the Spirit of the Lord.

	This is the kingdom of God; and no man can understand it, except by
the Spirit of God.  We are enjoying the blessings of our Father in heaven. 
No person can understand these blessings; except by the Spirit of
revelation.  When that Spirit has gone from the hearts of individuals,
these valleys cease to be the valleys of peace to them, cease to be the
valleys of comfort and joy to them, and they seek for other climes.  They
first wander from the Saints and from their religion in their feelings,
and finally they wander in person.

	This people are blessed, and are a blessed people.  When I meditate
upon our present circumstances, and view the situation of the people, I
can feel nothing in my heart only to say, "God bless them."  They are a
God-blessed people.  They do manifest to God, angels, and men, that they
are willing to sacrifice, if we may use the expression, all that they
have, or expect to have in this world, in its present situation, that they
may be the children of light, and walk in the favour of God, and secure
their inheritance in the celestial kingdom of our God.  All else is in the
shade to them.  They prove by their works that they are a blessed people,
and you will be blessed.  You need have no fear but the fear to offend
God.  If you have any tremblings in your hearts, or timid feelings with
regard to our present situation, let me tell you one thing, which is as
true as that the sun now shines, that whatever transpires with us, with
our enemies, with the world here or there, will still more promote the
kingdom of God on the earth, and bring to a final end the kingdoms of this
world.

	But the people of the Most High God must be tried.  It is written
that they will be tried in all things, even as Abraham was tried.  If we
are called to go upon mount Moriah to sacrifice a few of our Isaacs, it is
no matter; we may just as well do that as anything else.  I think there is
a prospect for the Saints to have all the trials they wish for, or can
desire.  Do not be discouraged when you hear of wars, and rumours of wars,
and tumults, and contentions, and fighting, and bloodshed; for behold they
are at the thresholds of our doors.  Now, do not let your hearts faint;
for all this will promote the kingdom of God, and it will increase upon
the earth.  Why?  Because the world will decrease.  We will be
strengthened, while they will be weakened.  Righteous principles will be
multiplied and spread abroad, while wickedness will diminish and become
limited in its power.  The Saints of the Most High will increase.  God's
kingdom will increase upon the earth.  And all we have to do, in order to
increase, is to be sure that we are the children of God, inheritors of the
blessings, promises, and faith of Abraham of old: then, whatever
transpires, it is no matter.

	The world are determined to destroy the kingdom of God upon the
earth: they wish to obliterate it.  The kingdoms of darkness are
determined to destroy this kingdom.  In their feelings they are fighting
you and me, and do not know that they are contending against Jehovah. 
They have not the least idea of that, but think they are contending
against the "Mormons."  They are not contending against you and me--they
are contending against the God of heaven.  Do you think he can manage his
own affairs?  "Yes, if he only will," you say.  Do you think He can lead
this people to victory and glory?  "O yes," every heart responds, "if He
has a mind to."  Do you think we are safe in trusting in God?  "Yes, if
the Lord will actually preserve us."

	How are you going to be assured of all this, and a great many more
things?  There is but one way--live so that you have the abiding witness
within you that, if all the rest go to the devil, I am a servant of God,
and will go into His presence.  Let every man and woman take that course,
and then the Lord will take care of the whole of them.

	There is a great deal said by our enemies with regard to destroying
us.  I will tell you how I feel about that.  I have heretofore used a
comparison, and it is a very plain one.  When I see a number of little
boys by the Tithing Office, where we shell the corn, building a cob-house
in order to pluck the sun from the heavens and bring it down to the earth,
I believe that they will accomplish their design just as readily as I
believe that the devil and all his imps will accomplish the destruction of
this people.

	There are very many here who have been brought into tight
places--into what we used to call running the gauntlet; and I want to know
whether there is a faithful heart in this congregation--one who has been
in this church for twenty five years, but what the Spirit of the Lord has
witnessed to him in every difficulty that He enlarged His kingdom more and
more, and weakened our enemies.  Has not that been the testimony of every
heart?  [Many voices, "Yes."]  It has been so.

	When the brethren were driven from Jackson county, Joseph gathered up
205 men, and went to Missouri to see whether he could not bring about a
reconciliation, that the Saints might live then in peace.  At that time
hosts of Missourians were gathered in different places.  True, there were
a few in the camp who apostatised, because they could not have the
privilege of fighting.  So far as I was concerned, I did not wish to
fight.  Perhaps you will think that I was very enthusiastic, should I tell
you the feelings that I had at that time; but they were true, and have
remained so with me to this day.  Inasmuch as we were called to go there
by the prophet of the Lord, though I knew and had a witness of this fact,
we were in the midst of our enemies, and surrounded by them on every side;
yet my faith then was, and it has continued with me, that they might array
their sharpshooters with their best rifles and cannon, and shoot at me,
and every other man that felt as I did and do, and they would see me a
little to one side, and could never make a ball take effect on me.  That
is the way I feel now.  Unless the Lord wishes to deliver this people into
the hands of their enemies, they may shoot at me or any other man--they
may fight, and howl, and bark, until they wear out their lungs and exhaust
all their means, and will sink down and rot in their own corruption, and
we will live and spread abroad.  That is my faith.

	Brethren and sisters, my heart is all the time, God bless you, God
bless you.  You are blessed.  No tongue can tell the blessings that his
people enjoy, if they have the spirit to understand their blessings. 
Where is there peace, besides in the valleys of these mountains?  Where is
the place that people can serve God, but in the valleys of these
mountains?  Brother Chislett just told you, "No where."  Where is the
continent, the people, nation, or kingdom, in which and among whom the
Book of Mormon could have been translated, angels have visited the
servants of God to restore the priesthood and establish the kingdom of
God, and that have risen, grown, and spread abroad, but in the government
of the United States?  Nowhere else, as you were told here a few Sundays
ago.  How is it now, with the present feelings of the people?  Could that
work now be done in the United States?  It could not.  The very duties
performed by Joseph, Oliver, David, Hyrum, and others, could not now be
done in the United States; for the people would rise en masse and put them
to death, or drive them from their borders.

	The kingdom rises, increases, and spreads out to the right and
left--it goes to the east, to the west, to the north, and to the south;
and when the Gentiles are faithfully warned by the words of life freely
given to them, and they utterly reject them, you will then find that the
blood of Abraham that is scattered upon the islands of the sea and on this
continent, will come like doves to the windows, and like clouds before a
mighty torrent of wind.  They will come and acknowledge the truth, though
not at once, and they will greatly increase in the knowledge of their
fathers.  We can say to the praise of God's name, and to the praise of the
industry of the Saints, that this will commence, and hundreds and
thousands of them begin to turn from their wickedness, forsake their folly
and their loathsome degradation, wash themselves, and begin to live more
as men and women should, and to learn at the hands of the servants of God. 
They will go into the waters of baptism, confessing their sins, and taking
upon them the new and everlasting covenant, by thousands; and it will
increase; and many generations will not pass away before they become a
white and delightsome people.

	The nation that gave me and many of you birth is very nigh to the
hours of sorrow.  Their cup is very nigh filled to the brim.  They reject
the servants of God; they reject the Gospel of salvation; they turn away
from the principles of truth and righteousness; and they are sinking in
their own sins and corruptions.  I would that they would have mercy on
themselves.  I will pray the Lord to have mercy on them, but I pray them
to have mercy on themselves to return to the Lord, forsake their
wickedness and learn righteousness, and then God would have mercy on them,
and bestow His blessing upon them, if they would receive them.  But they
harden their hearts, shut their ears, stop them up tight, close their
eyes, and are determined to hear nothing that is true concerning this
people, or the doctrines we preach.  But every lie they can hear, imagine,
or hatch up, they publish to the world, and it is drank down; they roll it
under their tongue as a sweet morsel.  They reject the truth and receive
lies, until their cup is nearly full to the brim.

	The Lord's time is not for me to know but He is kind, long-suffering,
and patient, and His wrath endureth silently, and will until mercy is
completely exhausted, and then judgment will take the reins.  I do not
know how, neither do I at present wish to know.  It is enough for us to
know how to serve our God and live our religion, and thus we will increase
in the favour of God.

	You often hear people desiring more of the knowledge of God, more of
the wisdom of God, more of the power of God.  They want more revelation,
to know more about the kingdom of heaven, in heaven and on the earth, and
they wish to learn and increase.

	There is one principle that I wish the people would understand and
lay to heart.  Just as fast as you will prove before your God that you are
worthy to receive the mysteries, if you please to call them so, of the
kingdom of heaven--that you are full of confidence in God--that you will
never betray a thing that God tells you--that you will never reveal to
your neighbour that which ought not to be revealed, as quick as you
prepare to be entrusted with the things of God, there is an eternity of
them to bestow upon you.  Instead of pleading with the Lord to bestow more
upon you, plead with yourselves to have confidence in yourselves, to have
integrity in yourselves, and know when to speak and what to speak, what to
reveal, and how to carry yourselves and walk before the Lord.  And just as
fast as you prove to Him that you will preserve everything secret that
ought to be--that you will deal out to your neighbours all which you
ought, and no more, and learn how to dispense your knowledge to your
families, friends, neighbours, and brethren, the Lord will bestow upon
you, and give to you, and bestow upon you, until finally he will say to
you, "You shall never fall; your salvation is sealed unto you; you are
sealed up unto eternal life and salvation, through your integrity."

	Let every person be the friend of God, that whatever He reveals to
you, you can wisely handle without asking Him whether you shall tell your
wife of it or not.  You can recollect the backhanded blow I gave to some
of the brethren last winter.  They were in pain, because they knew
something which they could not tell to their wives.  I would not trust
such men out of sight of my dinner.  God will not trust the least thing to
such persons.  Sisters, if you are in pain, because you cannot tell your
husbands everything, you had better take a little catnip tea, and get over
it, if you can.  What will God reveal to such persons?  Just enough to
keep them from the gulf of despair, and lead them along until they get a
little sense.  I say this that you may learn to reveal that which you
ought, and to keep the rest to yourselves.  By so doing you prove to God
that you are His friends, and will keep His secrets.

	The world may howl around you and plead for the secrets of the Lord
which he has given you, but they will not get them.  When the Lord has
proved His children true to what He has given into their charge, and that
they will do His bidding, He will tell such persons anything that they
should know.  A great many desire just enough of knowledge to damn them
and it does damn a great many.

	Giving endowments to a great many proves their overthrow, through
revealing things to them which they cannot keep.  They are not worthy to
receive them.  Brother Heber takes the lead in giving endowments, and you
may ask, "Why do you give such folks their endowments?"  To qualify them
to be devils, if they wish to be.  The plan of salvation is calculated to
make devils as well as Saints; for by and by we shall need some to serve
as devils; and it takes almost as much knowledge to make a complete devil
as it does to fit a man to go into the celestial kingdom of God, and
become an heir to His kingdom.  We want to complete the education of a
number of such fellows; they are running to the States, to California, and
elsewhere, and are trying to reveal this, that, and the other; but I defy
any one of them to give any idea of what is taught them in their
endowments, except a garbled mass of trash.  God takes that knowledge from
their minds.  We have to make devils, and we are preparing them. 
Everybody must have the same chance of accepting or rejecting the
blessings of the Gospel, you know.

	Suppose that we should meet a man at the judgment, and he should say,
"Here is my friend Brigham: I was in great Salt Lake Valley, or in Nauvoo,
and I did everything that he told me; but he would not let me go in and
obtain my endowment; and it offended me so that I actually did forsake the
faith, when I verily believe that if I had have had the privilege, I would
now have been numbered with the Saints; but, instead of that, I am found
on the left hand."  Shall I give them occasion to make such an accusation? 
No.  I wish to give every one as good a chance for salvation as I have
myself: then out of their own mouths they will be judged.  If the Lord did
not take this plan, we would not.

	I wish to tell you a truth; it is God's truth; it is eternal truth:
neither you nor I would ever be prepared to be crowned in the celestial
kingdom of our Father and our God, without devils in this world.  Do you
know that the Saints never could be prepared to receive the glory that is
in reserve for them, without devils to help them to get it?  Men and women
never could be prepared to be judged and condemned out of their own
mouths, and to be set upon the left hand, or to have it said to them, "Go
away into everlasting darkness," without the power both of God and the
devil.  We are obliged to know and understand them, one as well as the
other, in order to prepare us for the day that is coming, and for our
exaltation.  Some of you may think that this is a curious principle, but
it is true.  Refer to the Book of Mormon, and you will find that Nephi and
others taught that we actually need evil, in order to make this a state of
probation.  We must know the evil in order to know the good.  There must
needs be an opposition in all things.  All facts are demonstrated by their
opposites.  You will learn this in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and in
the revelations given through Joseph.  We must know and understand the
opposition that is in all things, in order to discern, choose, and receive
that which we do know will exalt us to the presence of God.  You cannot
know the one without knowing the other.  This is a true principle.

	Brethren and sisters, my heart rejoices exceedingly.  I cannot talk
all my feelings, I cannot tell you what I feel and what I see in the
Spirit; for, as I lately told you, if I should undertake to manifest my
feelings before the people, I might display a style and manner which many
would deem that of a perfect ranting Methodist, and halloo, and shout
Glory! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! and this, that, and the other.  The
tongue of man cannot express the feelings I have in seeing this people
returning unto the Lord, in seeing them faithful to their covenants, in
seeing that there is no contention among them, in seeing the willingness
and obedience of their feelings.  They are willing at the call to go and
do whatever is required of them.  I contemplate these things; they are
before me.

	I will cite one instance of the freedom from contention.  Brothers
Lamb and Jolly came to me the other day with a difficulty that existed
between them.  Brother Lamb has seen the day in this Church when there
would have to have been a High Council over such a case as he and brother
Jolly came to me about; but in five minutes it was settled, and both
parties felt perfectly satisfied.  How did it used to be?  They would
argue and argue, and aggravate feelings in themselves and in others.  Now
brethren will come and settle a difficulty in two or three minutes, and
say, "It is right; all is right; all I want is to know what right is, and
I am ready to do it.  I have no will of my own: give me the good Spirit,
and I feel right; I bow down to it, and feel the power and blessing of my
God."

	When I see the people willing and obedient, my heart is all the time
full to overflowing.  I almost sit up nights to say, God bless you.  And I
say further, let every man on the face of this earth that curses this
people be cursed.  [Many voices, "Amen."]  And every man that blesses them
shall be blessed.  [Many voices, "Amen."]  And those who oppose this
religion, and feel to destroy it from the earth, shall go down to hell. 
[Many voices, "Amen."]  And their time is very short: they will find it
plenty short enough.

	Suppose that the wicked kill us, who cares?  They never will kill
any, but what it will swell the kingdom a little faster.  And if my blood
is required to enlarge this kingdom, and build it up, and increase the
speed of it on the earth, I do not ask but one thing, and that is, that
the grace of God may be sufficient for me at the moment and every moment. 
I do not care what I do, if God only be with me, and I be led in the path
of honour and glory; for we all want to secure to ourselves eternal
salvation.

	I did not expect to speak more than a few minutes.  I will return to
the subject and say, brethren, do not get up here with a feeling to give a
very interesting discourse--to lead out upon the mysteries of the kingdom
of God, thinking thereby to tell something that will edify the people; for
that will not edify them.  What will?  Come down to the simple, child-like
spirit of the Gospel, and give us the testimony of Jesus, and all will be
edified, and we will grow together.  May God bless you.  Amen.

    TRUE HAPPINESS--FRUITS OF NOT FOLLOWING COUNSEL--POPULAR PREJUDICE
      AGAINST THE MORMONS--THE COMING ARMY--PUNISHMENT OF EVILDOERS.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, 
                   Great Salt Lake City, July 5, 1857.

	It rejoices my heart to hear the brethren testify of their faith and
good feelings, and of their confidence in God and in their religion.  It
is a matter of rejoicing to me to see those who profess to love and serve
the Lord live up to their professions.

	Brother Park very correctly observed that if this people will
actually do the will of those who are placed to lead them, they will be
owned, honoured, and blest of their God who dwells in the heavens.  I can
say, for one, that I cannot be pleased, I cannot be satisfied, I cannot
feel to fellowship this people as I wish to do, unless they live their
religion and serve their God every day, every hour, and every minute of
their lives.  There is no time allotted to us to use outside of the limits
of duty.  But in doing our duty, in serving our God, in living our
religion, in using every possible means to send forth the Gospel of
salvation to the inhabitants of the earth, to gather Israel, and establish
Zion, and build up the kingdom of heaven upon the earth are incorporated
all blessings, all comforts that men can desire.

	It is a mistaken idea in the inhabitants of the earth to conclude
that it will not do for them to yield obedience to the commandments of
heaven, lest it should abridge them in their comforts and in their
enjoyments; for there is no real peace, there is no real happiness in
anything in heaven or on the earth, except to those who serve the Lord. 
In His service there is joy, there is happiness; but they are not to be
found anywhere else.  In it there are peace and comfort; but when the soul
is filled with joy, with peace, and with glory, and is perfectly satisfied
therewith a person even then has but little idea of that which is in store
for all the faithful.

	Thrust a man into prison and bind him with chains, and then let him
be filled with the comfort and with the glory of eternity, and that prison
is a palace to him.  Again, let a man be seated upon a throne with power
and dominion in this world, ruling his millions and millions, and without
that peace which flows from the Lord of Hosts--without that contentment
and joy that comes from heaven, his palace is a prison; his life is a
burden to him; he lives in fear, in dread, and in sorrow.  But when a
person is filled with the peace and power of God, all is right with him.

	I cannot be satisfied with myself, neither can I be satisfied with
this people, unless they live in the enjoyment of the Spirit of the Lord
Jesus christ, having the testimony of Jesus within them.  When they live
in that manner, they are prepared to judge of all matters that come before
them; they are then capable of discerning between truth and error, light
and darkness.  They can then readily discover the things that are not of
God, and distinguish them from those that are.  This is the only way for
you to know that your leaders are leading you in the path that leads to
heaven.  Without taking this course, a people or nation is liable to be
led astray by their leaders, and thereby be prepared to be destroyed; but
when the people understand for themselves--when they know and understand
the things of God by the Spirit of revelation, they are not only satisfied
but safe.  If this people will do as they are told--will please those who
preside over them, they will do well for themselves.  And if they will do
this from morning to evening and from evening to morning, all will be
right, and their acts will tend to promote the kingdom of God upon the
earth.

	As brother Wells lately observed here, it is very little difference
what comes or goes.  If the world are angry at us, that only fits and
prepares them for their destruction.  If they afflict the Saints of God,
it prepares them for their reward; it prepares the righteous for bliss and
immortality, and the wicked are the sooner ripened for their doom.  It is
very little difference whether men come here as soldiers or as civilians,
all will promote the interest of the kingdom of God.  It will promote the
interests of the Saints, inasmuch as they are united; and though the
wicked, in their eagerness to destroy the Saints of God, do not see this,
yet God will make it all turn for the good of His people.

	True, this people might have done better; but, considering all
circumstances, they have done as well as could be expected.  It might be
shown to them, and perhaps this congregation will acknowledge it, that if
this people had invariably been careful to observe counsel, they would
have promoted the kingdom of heaven a great deal faster than they have.  I
will bring up a circumstance to illustrate this idea--one relating to us
in these Valleys of the Mountains.  It was just now observed by brother
Feramorz Little that his feelings would be perfectly satisfied if he
should never see another train of goods come in here for sale among this
people.  I would have been satisfied, if that could have been the case
from the beginning.

	At a time here when a person could go with a sackful of gold and say
to a man, "Can I hire you to do some work for me?  I have a sack full of
gold;"  and the man would say, "No; I cannot do it;" and every man would
say, "No; I am too busy; I cannot do it;" and the person still saying, "I
have hats full of gold;" but it was so plentiful, that men had such
quantities of money that they were lugging it about until their backs
ached;--suppose that that money had been put into the hands of the Trustee
in Trust, and used for the benefit of the kingdom of God, would it not
have been much better than to pay it to the merchants to carry out of the
Territory?  One merchant, in a day-and-a-half, received for sales a large
kettle-full of money, and in two days he took a great deal more.  Suppose
that that money had been put into the hands of the Trustee in Trust and
those associated with him, they would have laid goods down at your doors
for from thirty to forty per cent cheaper than you got them.  But could
the people see that?  No; their eyes were dim, and they could not see
their own interest.

	If the people had concentrated their means during the nine years
past, they would now have been worth millions where they have only
thousands.  I know that now as well as I should have known it if the
experiment had been tried, and that result proven.  But no; the people
would pay their money to others to carry out of the country.

	I will tell an anecdote relating to the feelings of some in those
days.  I stepped into a store at the time when money was so plentiful, and
the store was crowded.  Every man, woman and child, had their pockets full
of gold.  A woman stepped up and said,  "Mr. So and So, have you any
soap?"  He replied, "I do not think there is any."  She then asked, "Have
you any sugar, or coffee?"  He answered, "I do not know whether there is
or not:  there was some this morning; but I think it has been sold."  It
was not long before a woman reached over and touched the one enquiring,
and said, "President Young has bought everything of that kind that has
been brought in."  I reached over and tapped her on the shoulder and said, 
"What do you tell that infernal lie for?  President Young has not bought a
pound of tea, a pound of sugar, or a pound of coffee, since these goods
came in."  The people were then in such a state of mind that they would
rather have given all they had to the Gentiles than for me to have had a
pound of tea or the handling of their money.

	They were not all possessed of that feeling; but there were enough to
influence the channel of trade and give it an unwise direction; and if
there are not now too many of that class, I shall feel thankful, and we
shall be able to hold the wheat and the cattle so that those who are
passing through and temporarily sojourning in our midst will have to pay a
fair price for those articles.  But I presume, if the Gentiles come, some
of you will run and sell your wheat and your cattle to them for a much
less price than we would give you, and be perfectly satisfied with it.  If
there is not an influence and practice of that kind, I shall be glad of
it; for it will prove to me that the people believe what they say.

	I am careful about touching anything that is the object of people's
worship--the gold, the goods, and the things of this world, which please
the eyes and entice the affections of the people.  You who know me know
that I have not been under the necessity of asking you to help me much. 
Instead of the Presidency's living upon the people, it is well known that
they have sustained the people.  Suppose that I had not launched forth in
business, and that brother Kimball and others had not, what would have
been the result?  This community would have been living in their log huts,
whereas they now have good houses and comfortable homes.

	I am decidedly in favour of practical religion--of every-day useful
life.  And if I to-day attend to what devolves upon me to do, and then do
that which presents itself to-morrow, and so on, when eternity comes I
will be prepared to enter on the things of eternity.  But I would not be
prepared for that sphere of action, unless I could manage the things that
are now within my reach.  You must all learn to do this.

	If the people take a wise course and let a few have the handling of
the wheat and other commodities that are for sale, and let those who wish
to buy come to them to purchase, it would be much better for this people. 
By pursuing that course, our enemies would either be under the necessity
of giving us a fair price, or have to purchase their supplies in the
States, and haul them across the plains, through the hills, and over the
mountains.  How do you think they would prosper in that operation?  I
think they would soon become discouraged and want to leave these regions.

	It is an ignorant excitement which causes some people in the States
to feel and act as they do.  Who is there, of all who are really
acquainted with our proceedings and will let good reason and good sense
operate, that has  one word to say against us?  No one.  But the priests
have hallooed so much about these Latter-day Saints--the "Mormons" as they
term us, that they have become excited; and what is the reason of their
outcry?  It is simply this--we have the words of eternal life, and they
have not; we serve the God of heaven and they serve somebody, they know
not whom.  We have the true religion that the Bible gives an account of,
and they seem to be entirely ignorant of it and of the God of heaven. 
Only let us leave God out of our religion, and all would be right.

	A great many have said to you and me, "Just leave out Joe Smith, the
Book of Mormon, and modern revelations, and you will become popular." 
Brother Clements said, last Sunday, that he told a priest that he could
materially abridge that leaving out by saying, "Just leave God out of the
question, and you will be 'Hail fellows well met.'"  We are not going to
leave out Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, nor the gathering, nor the
building up of Zion.

	You hear brethren talk of coming to Zion to enjoy the blessings of
this land; but do you not see that it is the short-sightedness of men
which causes their disappointment when they arrive here?  They read in the
Bible, in the Book of Mormon, and Book of Doctrine and Covenants, about
Zion, and what it is to be; but brother Park and others could not realize,
before they came here, that they were the ones to help to build up Zion. 
They gather here with the spirit of Zion resting upon them, and expecting
to find Zion in its glory, whereas their own doctrine should teach them
that they are coming here to make Zion.

	We can make Zion, or we can make Babylon, just as we please.  We can
make just what we please of this place.  The people can make Zion:  they
can make a heaven within themselves.  When people gather here, they should
come with a determination to make Zion within themselves, with the
resolution that "I will carry myself full of the Spirit of Zion wherever I
go; and this is the way in which I will control evil spirits; for I mean
that my spirit shall have control over evil:" and do you not see that such
a course will make Zion?

	This American continent will be Zion; for it is so spoken of by the
prophets.  Jerusalem will be rebuilt and will be the place of gathering,
and the tribe of Judah will gather there; but this continent of America is
the land of Zion.

	The priests are angry because they are afraid that their religion is
nothing but a sandy foundationed fabric; and whenever they meditate upon
the subject and humble themselves, and the Spirit of the Lord finds its
way to their hearts and convicts them, the truth then is made manifest
before them, and they begin to learn the falsity of their systems; and
when that spirit leaves them, they become angry.  "Mormonism" is declared
to be true by hosts of witnesses, and this makes the priests angry; for
this Gospel bears its own weight and testimony, and they know not how to
gainsay it.  True, I have aimed to point out their errors; but it is not
your or me that they are opposed to, although they throw their darts at
us; but it is the spirit of conviction that goes with the report of this
work; for wherever it goes it strikes conviction to the heart, and that is
what disturbs the priests and the people.

	The foolish, and those who are controlled by the hissings of the
priests, rage against the work of God, and corrupt politicians urge them
on.  There is not an honest man in the United States or in the world but
what, if he could hear this doctrine taught without knowing that it was a
"Mormon" who was teaching it, would drink down these principles.  They
would swallow every word and say, "That is true; you have more light than
I have."  But if you say "Mormon," that sends the fat into the fire, and
arrays their prejudices against you.  Do you know this, you Elders? 
[Voices, "Yes."]

	As I have said before, I have often gone incog., and taught persons
the Gospel, and they would drink down its principles as eagerly as a
thirsty ox would drink water; but an ignorant prejudice causes all the
trouble.  The excitement among the priests, and directed by politicians,
raises this erroneous prejudice and hue-and-cry.

	You know that I have said that, if it was now my calling to go and
preach the Gospel, I could make as many converts as I ever did; for I
would go in such a manner that the bitterly prejudiced would have to
labour hard to find out that I was a "Mormon," until I had induced them to
love the truth.  Then they would say, "If that is 'Mormonism,' I want it."

	Persons who are as ignorant as jackasses pass through this city, and
they are so prejudiced that they cannot see and hear well enough to report
things straight.  But let persons of good understanding come here, and
hear the Elders testify, and stop to investigate, and every honest heart
among them will receive the Gospel.  Do you not know that they would?

	The "Mormons" are trying to take care of themselves.  Our enemies may
come to kill us, but we know that there is a God in the heavens.  I care
no more about the threats that are made than I do about the floating of a
board on the waters.  They have kicked us and cuffed us about so much that
I have got used to it.  I have been driven, and had to leave my home five
times on account of my faith in the Gospel of our Saviour; but I have
never until now been a conspicuous character; and I say to my enemies and
to the enemies of righteousness, you have now got to fire long shots,
unless you come much nearer to us than you are.

	I will say to all parties, If [sic] you come here and do not observe
wholesome laws, we will introduce you to them.  In regard to troops coming
here, as has been rumoured, should 1,500 or 2,000 come, what will you see? 
You will see that they will ask us to make their soldiers behave
themselves, until they can get out of this place, which they will do as
soon as possible.  They are not coming here to fight us; though, if they
were to, I should pray that the Lord would bring those here that mobbed us
in days gone by, and just let us look at them.  But no; the priests, and
some editors and politicians wish to have innocent soldiers sent here to
fight us.  Let them bring those priests, editors, and politicians who have
howled so long about us, and we will attend to their cases.  But I pray
that I may never witness such scenes as I have in the midst of this
people.  If they will let us alone, we will preach the Gospel; and if they
do not, we will do it, and we will build up Zion, if all the devils in
hell howl.  Let us know that we have to build up Zion until the Spirit of
peace shall overrule our country.

	Do you ever reflect upon the matter?  Look at St. Louis.  More
murders have been committed there in almost any few days than have been
committed in this Territory since it was organized.  It is customary there
to have murders committed almost daily; but we, above all other people,
ought never to have such a crime committed in our midst; and we never have
had, so far as the Latter-day Saints are concerned.

	I will now tell you something.  It is a secret; and I wish you to
keep it to yourselves.  There have been men here who have had their plans
arranged for robbing; and I will take the liberty to say that, when we
find them, "judgment will be laid to the line and righteousness to the
plummet."  Those are my feelings, and I express them plainly, that the
good and honest may be able to pass from the Eastern States to California,
and back and forth, in peace.  And when a "Mormon" unlawfully disturbs
anybody, I say, let him be overtaken by a "Vigilance Committee."  And when
mobocrats come here, they will find a "Vigilance Committee."  Now,
listeners, send that to the States, if you wish.  I want the people in the
States to know that there are a few poor curses here, and also to know
that we do not want a gang of highwaymen here.  And I say to all such
characters, if you come here and practice your iniquity, we will send you
home quick, whenever we can catch and convict you.  I wish such characters
would let the boys have a chance to lay their hands on them.

	If men come here and do not behave themselves, they will not only
find the Danites, whom they talk so much about, biting the horses' heels,
but the scoundrels will find something biting their heels.  In my plain
remarks, I merely call things by their right names.  Brother Kimball is
noted in the States for calling things by their right names, and you will
excuse me if I do the same.

	We will build up Zion and establish the kingdom of God upon the
earth, and the wicked cannot help themselves.  I have not built up this
kingdom, neither did Joseph Smith.  What the Lord told brother Joseph to
do, that he did.  And what the Lord tells you and me to do we will do, by
the help of God.  May God bless us all.  Amen.

          TRUE LIBERTY--ORGANIZATION AND DISORGANIZATION--FALLEN
        SPIRITS--SATANIC OPPOSITION--FUTILE EFFORTS OF THE ENEMY.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, 
                   Great Salt Lake City, July 19, 1857.

	I am heartily delighted with what has been said here this morning, so
far as I have heard--for I did not come in time to hear all the remarks.

	It is my greatest joy to see this people engaged in their religion,
faithful to their calling, true to their trust, and fervent in spirit. 
And when I see the brethren and sisters striving to add faith to faith,
and good works to good works, and feeling to renew their obligations, and
covenants, and labours day by day, it is satisfying to me,--it is joy and
peace.

	This is a marvellous work and a wonder.  Do not the people think it
is?  What a stir this people make in the world!  The sound thereof has
gone forth almost, if not entirely, to the uttermost parts of the earth. 
Our Elders have been round the world and round the world again.  They have
been to the most noted nations, and to a great many isolated tribes and
islands.  I do not know but what the sound of "Mormonism" has gone forth
into all the earth, and it makes a great stir wherever it goes.

	Brother Truman O. Angel said that it appeared as though this people
and the work we are engaged in are of the greatest importance.  I can say
that this work is of the greatest importance to you, and me, and the
people of the earth; for no person can get salvation without it.  And the
remark of brother Carrington, that the unbridled passions of people forge
their fetters, is true.  There is no freedom any where outside the Gospel
of salvation.  The Inhabitants of the earth imagine that they are enjoying
great freedom.  It is not so.  If they would stop and reflect, they would
find that they only place each other in bondage.  This is the case with
all the nations of the earth.  Do you see that equality among them that
you see here?  Where is there a people or nation that does not oppress
each other?  When our Elders go forth and preach the Gospel, if it was in
their power to cast from the people the yoke of bondage, instead of our
gathering into the Church, from the British Isles, for instance, two or
three thousand or ten thousand a year, we would gain our million a year.

	That is a free nation:  in the common acceptation of the term they
are a free people:  they are very liberal.  But how many can embrace the
work there with impunity?  But a few; for people have not moral courage
enough to break through their iron fetters.  The people are bound down and
cannot embrace this work.  Thousands and millions have heard this Gospel
preached who would have been glad to receive the blessings of it, if they
could have done so without endangering their own existence on the earth. 
Life is sweet, and the majority of men will do anything to preserve it. 
Jesus said that a man would give all that he had for his life; and in our
day there are a great many who will do almost anything to preserve their
natural lives.  To accomplish this, they will bow down to the whims and
sayings of designing men, of the priests of the day, and to the laws and
customs of individuals.  Were it not for this, you would find that there
would be millions embracing this work where there are now but hundreds;
for there is no freedom only in the Gospel of salvation.

	There is not an individual upon the earth but what has within himself
ability to save or to destroy himself; and such is the case with nations. 
Is there liberty or freedom in destruction?  No.  When you look at things
naturally, which is as far as the natural man sees, a person who takes a
course to destroy himself temporally would be considered very unwise.  And
to the natural man we are taking an unwise, and unnatural course, wherein
our religion is obnoxious to the Christian world.  Did not your friends
say to many of you, before you left your homes, that you were
foolish--that the world would despise you and hate you?  Did they not ask
you if you could not see that troubles were coming upon the Saints, and
say that you were very unwise in going with them--that you had better stay
where there was safety?  They can see nothing more than natural things;
they do not understand the ways of God; they are unacquainted with His
doings, with His kingdom, and with the principles of eternity.

	So far as the natural man is concerned, it appears that the
Latter-day Saints are very unwise to embrace in their faith those
obnoxious principles that render them so odious in the eyes of the
political and Christian world--the popular world.  The Latter-day Saints
see further; they understand more than what pertains to this world.  The
Gospel of life and salvation reveals to each individual who receives it
that this world is only a place of temporary duration, existence, trials,
&c.  Its present fashion and uses are but for a few days, while we were
created to exist eternally.  The wicked can see no further than this world
is concerned.  We understand that when we are unclothed in this present
state, then we are prepared to be clothed upon with immortality--that when
we put off these bodies we put on immortality.  These bodies will return
to dust, but our hope and faith are that we will receive these bodies
again from the elements--that we will receive the very organization that
we have here, and that, if we are faithful to the principles of freedom,
we shall then be prepared to endure eternally.

	Can the wicked be brought forth to endure?  No; they will be
destroyed.  Which, then, are the wise, and which are the foolish?  We all
naturally know--we can naturally understand that man cannot stay here
always.  The inhabitants of the earth are continually coming and going. 
This is not our abiding place.  All can see naturally, if they would but
observe the facts before them, that this world is but of short duration to
them.  They appear here infants, pass through childhood and youth to
middle age, and if they live to a good old age, it is but a short time,
and then they must go.  But where do they go to, and what will become of
them?  Will this intelligence cease to be?  There are but very few, if
any, who really believe this.  And the thought of being annihilated--of
being blotted out of existence--is most horrid, even to that class called
infidels.

	The intelligence that is in me to cease to exist is a horrid thought;
it is past enduring.  This intelligence must exist; it must dwell
somewhere.  If I take the right course and preserve it in its
organization, I will preserve to myself eternal life.  This is the
greatest gift that ever was bestowed on mankind, to know how to preserve
their identity.  Shall we forge our own fetters through our ignorance? 
Shall we lay the foundation to build the bulwarks for our own destruction
through our wickedness?  No; the Latter-day Saints know better.  We will
lay the foundation to dwell eternally, and that, too, in the heavens, with
beings superior to those with whom we associate in our present situation
and circumstances.

	We have the principle within us, and so has every being on this
earth, to increase and to continue to increase, to enlarge, and receive
and treasure up truth, until we become perfect.  It is wisdom for us to be
the friends of God; and unless we are filled with integrity and preserve
ourselves in our integrity before our God, we actually lay the foundation
for our destruction.  The world think that we are going to be temporally
destroyed.  That is nonsense.  All things are temporal, and all things are
spiritual with the Lord; there is no difference with Him, neither is there
with any person who has eyes to see things as they exist.  To those who
have their minds open to eternal things, spiritual and temporal things are
all one.

	This is only our place of temporary existence.  We cannot live here
always with our bodies full of pain and subject to decay.  Deprive us of
food and we die; deprive us of water, and after a short time we die;
deprive us of air, and we live but a few moments.  We all know that this
is not the state for us to live in and endure to eternity.  Our eyes are
looking beyond this sphere of action, and I trust that we are laying the
foundation to endure eternally.  If we do, we must be the friends of
God--the friends of the principles of life and salvation; and we must
adhere to those principles and shape our lives according to them, or else
we lay the foundation for our own destruction.

	Talk about liberty anywhere else!  What liberty is there in anything
that will be dissolved and return to its native element?  What liberty can
any intelligence enjoy that is calculated to be destroyed?  There is no
liberty, no freedom there.

	The principles of life and salvation are the only principles of
freedom; for every principle that is opposed to God--that is opposed to
the principles of eternal life, whether it is in heaven, on the earth, or
in hell, the time will be when it will cease to exist, cease to preserve,
manifest, and exhibit its identity; for it will be returned to its native
element.  I say, let us live our religion, serve our God, trust in Him;
and when we are called to contend against the enemy within ourselves,
contend against him manfully, just as we would against an open
enemy,--contend against those passions that rise in the heart, and
overcome every one of them.

	You will hear some of the brethren say, as brother Carrington as just
said, that there are times when the blood courses like lightning, upon
seeing men who are opposed to us--who are striving with all their powers
to destroy this people.  Can they destroy us?  No, they cannot.  There are
a great many in this congregation who are witnesses that the Devil has
been warring, with all his imps arrayed against this work, ever since the
organization of this Church, and trying to obliterate it from the earth. 
Have they gained any ground? No; they have lost ground all the time.  This
people, with brother Joseph at their head, and with all the powers of
Satan, earth, and hell for him to contend against, have built up the
kingdom of God and spread the principles of the Gospel to the uttermost
parts of the earth.

	In regard to the battle in heaven, that brother Truman O. Angel
referred to, how much of a battle it was I have forgotten.  I cannot
relate the principal circumstances, it is so long since it happened: but I
do not think it lasted very long; for when Lucifer, the Son of the
Morning, claimed the privilege of having the control of this earth and
redeeming it, a contention rose; but I do not think it took long to cast
down one-third of the hosts of heaven, as it is written in the Bible.  But
let me tell you that it was one-third part of the spirits who were
prepared to take tabernacles upon this earth, and who rebelled against the
other two thirds of the heavenly host; and they were cast down to this
world.  It is written that they were cast down to the earth.  They were
cast down to this globe--to this terra firma that you and I walk upon, and
whose atmosphere we breathe.  One-third part of the spirits that were
prepared for this earth rebelled against Jesus Christ, and were cast down
to the earth, and they have been opposed to him from that day to this,
with Lucifer at their head.  He is their great General--Lucifer, the Son
of the Morning.  He was once a brilliant and influential character in
heaven, and we will know more about him hereafter.

	Do you not think that those spirits knew when Joseph Smith got the
plates?  Yes, just as well as you know that I am talking to you now.  They
were there at the time, and millions and millions of them opposed Joseph
in getting the plates; and not only they opposed him, but also men in the
flesh.  I never heard such oaths fall from the lips of any man as I heard
uttered by a man who was called a fortune-teller, and who knew where those
plates were hid.  He went three times in one summer to get them,--the same
summer in which Joseph did get them.  Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist
priests and deacons sent for him to tell where those plates were, and to
get them out of the hill where they were deposited; and he had not
returned to his home from the last trip he made for them more than a week
or ten days before Joseph got them.  Joseph was what we call an ignorant
boy; but this fortune-teller, whose name I do not remember, was a man of
profound learning.

	He had put himself in possession of all the learning in the
States,--had been to France, germany, Italy, and through the world,--had
been educated for a priest, and turned out to be a devil.  I do not know
but that he would have been a devil if he had followed the profession of a
priest among what are termed the Christian denominations.  He could preach
as well as the best of them, and I never heard a man swear as he did.  He
could tell that those plates were there, and that they were a treasure
whose value to the people could not be told; for that I myself heard him
say.  Those spirits driven from heaven were with him and with others who
tried to prevent Joseph's getting the plates; but he did get and secrete
them, though he had to knock down two or three men, as he was going home,
who were waylaying him to kill him.  From that day to this, a part of the
hosts of heaven made mention of in the Bible, with the cursed corrupt
priests and the cursed scoundrelly Gentiles with them, have been trying to
put down this work.  But what have they gained?  I should suppose that
they would have stopped their operations long ere this, after uniformly
meeting with such bad success.

	When I commenced preaching, I told the people that if they would let
us alone, and not raise any persecution, we would go peaceably along among
the people and preach to them; but that just as sure as they fought us and
opposed this work we would actually revolutionize the world a great deal
quicker than if they let us alone.  I have stuck to that faith ever since;
for every time that there has been an opposition raised against this work,
God has caused it to swell like seed in the ground; He has caused the seed
to sprout and bring forth the little mustard-trees, as brother Kimball has
said.

	The Gospel is certainly bringing forth a multitude of Saints.  Has it
not been so all the time?  Yes, it has.  A great deal could be said on
this subject, but I have not time to say it now; for there are some other
matters I wish to speak about.

	We have issued almost 2,000 tickets inviting our brethren and sisters
to pass the 24th of July at the Lake in Big Cottonwood Kanyon; and no
doubt a great many more would also like to receive tickets.  Hence, I want
to tell you my feelings on the subject.  If I call upon my friends to join
me in a short excursion, to form a social party at my residence, or to
unite upon any festive or memorable occasion, I never know where to stop
in my feelings until every Latter-day Saint is invited.  I wish those who
do not receive invitations to go into the kanyon to understand that it is
not because we have any feelings against your going there, nor is it
because we wish you to tarry at home, nor because we not desire your
society.  But is it consistent for all the people to go?  It is not.  We
will therefore gather up some that ought to go--some who can conveniently
go, and leave the rest, with precisely the same good feelings towards
those who tarry at home as those who go into the kanyon.

	Last season it was observed, "I would like to have gone into the
mountains to celebrate the 24th; but I did not want to go without an
invitation."  I did not want you to, and I will tell you why.  If we had
permitted such a course, a great many would have gone that were not wanted
there, as there are persons who would like to put fire into the kanyon and
destroy the timber, or create a disturbance, if they could get a chance. 
We expect those who go to observe the instructions on the tickets they
receive, and to go, tarry, and return in harmony and peace.  Let all who
go observe good order and try to make themselves happy.  If I were to
satisfy my feelings, I would invite the whole of you.  I will do so
by-and-by, and we will have a party right here in this Bowery on some
Sabbath-day, where we can all be together and enjoy each other's society.

	There is another item that I will touch upon.  Two weeks ago to-day,
I mentioned the course of some individuals in this place who are writing
slanders concerning us, stating that a man cannot live here unless he is a
"Mormon," when at the same time they come here to meeting with perfect
impunity.  Some of them are in the meeting to-day, and are now preparing
lies for their letters.  A parcel of them clan together and fix up
letters, and they write to the East how desperately wicked the "Mormons"
are--how they are killing each other, killing the gentiles, stealing and
robbing, and what wicked, miserable creatures the "Mormons" are.  And when
any of them go from here, they report, "We have barely escaped with our
lives: Oh!  it was a very narrow escape that we made; but we did manage to
get out of the place with our lives; yes, we did get away without being
killed."  They all safely escape to tell their lies.

	They say that it is with great difficulty that they can live with the
Saints, when at the same time no one has molested them during all the time
they have been writing lies to stir up the wicked to destroy us.  They
pass and repass in our streets with the same privileges that other
citizens enjoy; and there are professedly of our faith those who
sympathise for them.  May God Almighty let His curse rest on all such
sympathizers.  [Many voices, "Amen."]

	Will troops come here and inquire into my just rebukes of such
characters and conduct? "Oh!" says one, "I am afraid they will come; and
what shall I do?"  They have been with us many a time.  We have been
accustomed to seeing a hundred to our one, with their guns to shoot us,
and their knives to cut our throats.  Do people imagine that they can kill
"Mormonism?"  I may die for my religion, and who cares for that?  Brother
Carrington has told you that God can carry on his own work, and the spirit
of Joseph which fell upon me is ready to fall upon somebody else when I am
removed.

	There are a few apostates here, and I have understood the whining and
sympathy they manifested for our enemies.  It makes me think of what I
heard from a High Priest's house, that he did not know a Saint's face from
the Devil's.  It is just so with a great many.  They would not know the
angel Gabriel, if he were to stand here to preach to them, from Lucifer,
the Son of the Morning.  If Lucifer were to hand out a dollar--"You are a
gentleman; won't you call at my house?"  "Here is another dollar."  "Call
over at my house; I have some daughters: perhaps you would like to be
introduced to them.  I have a fine family; call in, and get acquainted
with my family."

	Do you know that there is no fellowship between Christ and Baal?  Do
you think that a union has taken place between them?  Can you fellowship
those who will serve the Devil?  If you do, you are like them, and we wish
you to go with them; for we do not want you.  We wish that all such men
and women would apostatize and come out boldly and say, "We are going to
hell upon our own road;" and I will say, "Go ahead, and may the Devil
speed you on your journey.  Here is sixpence for you."  But do not be
snooping round, pretending to be Saints, at the same time be receiving
such men into your houses and such spirits into your hearts, as many do. 
Well, all that is necessary, and it will be so; but the time will come
when "judgment will be laid to the line, and righteousness to the
plummet;" and if it is not hailstones, it will be some other kind that
will sweep away those who make lies and love them.  

	Brother Truman said that we are here, are we not?  We are in the tops
of the mountains, and all hell cannot remove us.  What do you suppose
Joseph and Hyrum would have said, if they could have been here with only
one hundred such boys as they could have chosen?  Their enemies might have
hunted them to this day, and they would have wasted them away as fast as
they could have come.

	Brother Truman said that there are as many for us as against us. 
Yes; there are ten to one for us more than those against us; but the
difficulty is that all have not eyes to see.  The soldiers of the Lord are
in the mountains, in the kanyons, upon the plains, on the hills, along the
mighty streams, and by the rivulets.  Thousands and thousands more are for
us than those who are against us, and you need not have any fears.  They
may be permitted to kill our bodies, but that is yet to be determined. 
They try to fire a pistol; the cap snaps, and they are in the lurch; for
some would have a dagger into them before they would know it.  Or, if they
tried to shoot with a rifle, perhaps the person aimed at would be standing
a little one side of the range of the bullet.

	Brother Carrington's testimony proves to you that men's eyes are
liable to be deceived.  It may appear strange to some that he could not
tell me from Joseph Smith, when I was speaking in the stand in Nauvoo
during the October Conference of 1844.  Somebody came along and passed a
finger over his eyes and he could not see any one but Joseph speaking,
until I got through addressing the congregation.

	They may shoot, and they will see Brigham a little to one side, and
Heber in another place, and fire away--at what?  At shadows.  We shall
live as long as the Lord wants us to.  They may lie and write lies, and
they may stay here, if they behave themselves; but if they do not stop
their devilish conduct they will be overtaken; for we will make their
words true in regard to their being in danger, if they persist in their
efforts to bring destruction upon us.  We do not ask any odds of them, nor
of hell, nor of the world.  We only ask favours of our God; and He is the
Being we serve: to Him we go; and we do not pray to a God without body,
parts, passions, or principles; for we do not serve such a personage.  We
serve the living and true God, who has body, and parts, and passions, and
feelings for His children; and the wicked may help themselves the best
they can.  Amen.

       NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM--OPPOSITION OF MEN AND DEVILS TO THE
    LATTER-DAY KINGDOM--GOVERNMENTAL BREACH OF THE UTAH MAIL CONTRACT.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, 
                   Great Salt Lake City, July 26, 1857.

	I will read a portion of the writings of the prophet Daniel,
commencing at the 27th verse of the 2nd chapter of the book of Daniel.
[The speaker read the verses alluded to, from verse 27 to verse 49
inclusive.]

	These verses are of themselves a text and texts, a sermon and
sermons.

	We have a great deal of talking, preaching, exhorting, counselling,
giving advice, &c., from this stand and in many other places where the
Saints assemble; but perhaps it may be the case with many, as it is
somewhat with me, that they in a measure neglect to read the Bible, and
forget many things which are written therein.  Perhaps there are many who
have not read much in the Bible since they came into this Church, not
having had much time to do so.

	I was a Bible reader before I came into this Church; and, so far as
the letter of the book was concerned, I understood it.  I professed to be
a believer in the Bible so far as I knew how; but as for understanding by
the Spirit of the Lord, I never did until I became a Latter-day Saint.  I
had many a time read Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream,
but it was always a dark subject to me.  I was well acquainted with many
of the priests of the day, and I would frequently think to myself that I
would get some knowledge from them.  And as I became acquainted with
smart, intelligent, literary priests  and professors of religion, I
thought, Now I can obtain some intelligence from this or from that man;
and I would begin to ask questions on certain texts of Scripture; but they
would always leave me as they found me, in the dark.  They were there
themselves; and I knew of a surety, before I heard the Gospel, that the
priests were blind guides leading the blind, and that there was nothing
left for them only to stumble here and there, and perhaps fall into a
ditch.  That much knowledge I had previous to my becoming acquainted with
what is called "Mormonism."

	It would be very profitable to the inhabitants of the earth to learn
one fact, which a very few in the world have learned, that they are
ignorant--that they have not the wisdom, the knowledge, and the
intelligence outside the circle of what is called the wisdom of man.  For
persons to know and understand their own talent, their own strength, their
own ability, their own influence, would be very profitable to the
inhabitants of the earth, though but very few learn it.

	I do not know that I feel particularly thankful that I learned what I
did with regard to the lack of intelligence and knowledge professed by
Christians to be in their possession; but I have been thankful that my lot
and fortune were such that my God gave me good, sound sense.  I am
thankful for that.  When the Gospel came to me, surely within me and all
around me I could see very plainly what the Apostle meant in the words,
"When the commandment came, sin revived, and I died."

	I could see clearly where the inhabitants of the earth were, in their
position before their God.  The whole world--everything upon this
globe--was vailed in darkness.  There was a mist, a fog, a vail, or
covering over the minds of the whole of the people on this earth; and what
they understood was nothing more than a faint glimmering of light that
would dazzle before their eyes for a minute, and they would see it no
more.  They were like a ship befogged on the ocean and depending for
guidance upon a lighthouse whose glimmering rays could only be discerned a
long intervals, when the ship could again be put upon a safe course.  But
the wind has shifted; and, without light or compass, they do not know
whether it is blowing east, west, north, or south; and then how could they
tell whether they were directing their course aright?  The Christian
world, I discovered, was like the captain and crew of a vessel on the
ocean without a compass, and tossed to and fro whithersoever the wind
listed to blow them.  When the light came to me, I saw that all the
so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness.

	We profess to have the light, intelligence, and knowledge with which
to understand the things of God.  The dream of King Nebuchadnezzar and its
interpretation by David are as plain to the man and woman filled with the
power of the Holy Ghost, as are the most common lessons to the
school-children:  they most clearly understand the interpretation.  Daniel
saw that in the latter days the God of heaven was going to set up his
kingdom upon this his earth.  He has set that kingdom up, as you who are
here this day are witnesses.

	What brought you from the States and other regions to these
mountains?  What caused the men and women before me to leave their good
farms, their good houses, their merchandize, and all the luxuries and
comforts of life so dear to the natural man?  What caused many women to
leave their husbands, their children, their parents?  What caused all
this?  What is the reason of such conduct?  Can any man tell?  The world
are trying to; but they are even more ignorant about it than they are of
the present movements and designs of the President of the United States. 
They know not the reason why the people are assembled here; for they
cannot and will not see and understand anything only as they discern it by
the powers of the natural man.

	I have told them many times, and I can now tell them again, if the
whole world could hear my voice, they are to be pitied; and I pray for
them.  We have traversed the earth to preach the Gospel to them.  We have
often started upon our missions almost destitute, without hats, nearly
without shoes and any of the comforts of life, to travel thousands and
thousands of miles to preach the Gospel to the people.  If they will not
be benefited, our skirts are clear of their blood, and they must bear the
blame.

	Can they tell the cause of this people's being here to-day?  Can they
give the cause for the influence I have over the Latter-day Saints?  They
cannot.  If this was not the kingdom of God upon the earth, do you suppose
that the world would be arrayed against it?  No.  There is not a sound,
well-informed mind in the world but what would decide at once that there
is no cause of enmity against this people, and that all hostility towards
us arises from the fact that we have the eternal Priesthood and the
influence thereof.  The kingdom of heaven is here, and we are in it, and
they are angry at us solely for that.

	There is not a king, governor, or ruler, but what desires, and is
endeavouring to obtain the influence that I and my brethren possess and
are lawfully striving to obtain.  Do you suppose that there was ever a
President of the United States but what desired the confidence of his
constituents?  No, never.  Was there ever a senator, a representative, a
governor of a state, a politician, or a priest, but what desired the same
power in his sphere that I have in mine?  They cannot get it, because they
do not know how.  What is the reason?  They have not got the kingdom of
God, which binds the people together.  They are ignorant of it, though we
have travelled, barefooted and almost naked, to preach it to them; and I
say that they are to be pitied. 

	How many times I have gone to preach to them, and, with all the
kindness and calmness I was capable of, told them that I had something to
cheer and comfort them, if they would hear it with good honest hearts. 
How often I have asked, "Can I have your meeting-house or your
school-house to preach in?  Can I have the privilege of preaching to the
people?"  "No, you cannot, if I can prevent it."  That is the spirit of
the priests.

	It is the priests and elders of Christendom who have the power of
hell in them which causes the trouble that you see, and that you have seen
and borne for many years.  They are like that unruly member, the tongue,
which sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire of hell.

	The priests have this fire, and who fans the flame?  Brother Smoot
has told you who blows the bellows.  It is the politician, the drunkard,
and the filth and offscouring of the earth, who run at the beck and call
of those who have a dollar or sixpence for them,--of those who will treat
them and give them an oyster supper and a good lodging.

	There is another class, the speculators, who endeavour to get up some
plan or other by which to make money.  Brother Smoot has given you a few
items concerning their present movements in the east.  Through their
whining, bickering, howling, grovelling, squalling, and scratching, and in
a political and speculative point of view, many are striving to most
egregiously befool our Government and squander its revenue.  And the
priests are also at the bottom of this movement; for they have the power
that is of hell, and others blow the flame and furnish the fuel to
persecute the Latter-day Saints, because they are in the kingdom that the
God of heaven has set up in the last days, and that shall never be
destroyed.

	It is a little more than twenty-seven years since I commenced reading
the Book of Mormon and defending the cause we are engaged in.  My mind was
open to conviction, and I knew that the Christian world had not the
religion that Jesus and his Apostles taught.  I knew that there was not a
Bible Christian on the earth within my knowledge.  A few years previous to
that time Joseph had obtained the plates and began translating the Book of
Mormon; and from the time he found those plates in the hill Cumorah, there
has been just that tirade of abuse, lying, slandering, defaming the name
and character of the Prophet and his associates, that there is at this
day.  It is no hotter a time now than it was then; there is no more
persecution now than there was then.

	God has commenced to set up his kingdom on the earth, and all hell
and its devils are moving against it.  Hell is yawning and sending forth
its devils and their imps.  What for?  To destroy the kingdom of God from
the earth.  But they cannot do it.

	The God of heaven showed Nebuchadnezzar that this kingdom would never
be destroyed; and that is my testimony.  This is the kingdom of
heaven--the kingdom of God which Daniel saw--the kingdom that was revealed
to King Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted to him by the Prophet Daniel.  This
is the kingdom that was revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted to
him by the Prophet Daniel.  This is the kingdom that was to be set up in
the last days.  It is like a stone taken from the mountain without hands,
with all its roughness, with all its disfigured appearance--uncomely--even
a stumbling-block and a stone of offence to the nations of the earth. 
This is the kingdom that is set up; and the history of the kingdoms of
this world all understand, or can read and understand it.

	Some may cry out, "Your saying that this is the kingdom of God does
that make it so?"  No, not by any means.  "Your testimony," Mr. Young,
"is, that this is the kingdom of God on the earth--that which was shown to
Daniel the Prophet centuries ago."  Yes, that is my testimony.  "Does this
make it so?"  No it does not; but let me tell you that it is true;
consequently, I bear my testimony of its truth, though my testimony does
not alter that truth in the least, one way or the other; neither does any
other man's.  That is my testimony, and has been all the time.

	Why I testify of these things is because they are revealed to me, and
not to another for me.  They were not revealed to Joseph Smith for me.  He
had the keys to get visions and revelations, dreams and manifestations,
and the Holy Ghost for the people.  Those keys were committed to him; and
through that administration, blessed be the name of God, I have received
the spirit of Christ Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy.  Our
testimony does not make this true, and the testimony of our enemies that
it is not the kingdom of God does not make that true or false.  The fact
stands upon its own basis, and will continue so to stand, without any of
the efforts of the children of men.

	I have told you the cause of all the bustle and stir against us.  The
blind are leading the blind; and if their hearts were honest--if they
would throw off the mask of prejudice and erroneous parental education,
they could receive the truth as well as you and I.  Once in a while one
says good bye to the traditions of the fathers.  A few will cast off those
prejudices that surround the people, and say, "We will read, pray, think,
and meditate, and we will ask God for ourselves.  That is the reason why
you and I are here to-day.  We asked God for a testimony, and he witnesses
to us from the heavens that this is the kingdom which Daniel saw, and we
have embraced it, and it is dearer than everything else upon the face of
this earth.

	Do we expect that the devils will howl?  Yes.  When has this Church
had the peace that we have had since we have been in the mountains? 
Never.  Where is there peace now upon the face of the earth like the peace
we enjoy here?  Nowhere.  Brother Smoot said that he had been in the lower
regions.  He could say that with propriety; for, in fact, we are all in
the lower regions.  Where do you think the devils live?

	Do you suppose that there is any such thing as a devil?  Yes, a great
many believe that there is.  Where does he live?  The answer comes very
readily.  He lives in hell, of course.  Then, if there are devils here, we
must also be in hell.  Do you not think that the devil is in pain?  I
should think he was, by the groanings that are uttered from the east.  You
see that with propriety brother Smoot could say that he has been to the
lower regions; but when he arrives here, although the altitude is much
greater, he still is in the same world.  We are all here, and we are
surrounded by the devils.

	Men rage and boil with wrath and indignation, and they do not know
the cause of it.  If they think, "What injury have the 'Mormons' done to
me?"  the response from their own minds will be, "Not any."  What can the
men truthfully say, who have civilly passed through here to the west to
make their fortunes?  That here is a place of peace and contentment; and,
though a thousand miles from civilization and from all the luxuries and
many of the comforts of life, yet here is a people satisfied, contented,
and happy.  Did they injure you?  "No."  Did they treat you kindly? 
"Yes."  Ask the people in the east what is the matter?  "We cannot tell
you,--only somebody has said something."  What have they said?  "We do not
know; we only heard a rumour,--that is all."

	The people abroad are just as foolish, unwise, and short-sighted as
they can possibly be represented by the best learned men in the world. 
What are they doing?  What they have done all the time.  Have they been
trying to destroy "Mormonism?"  Yes.  Did they destroy it when they took
the life of Joseph?  No.  "Mormonism" is here, the priesthood is here, the
keys of the kingdom are here on the earth; and when Joseph went, they did
not go.  And if the wicked should succeed in taking my life, the keys of
the kingdom will remain with the Church.  But my faith is that they will
not succeed in taking my life just yet.  They have not as good a man to
deal with as they had when they had Joseph Smith.  I do not profess to be
very good.  I will try to take care of number one, and if it is wicked for
me to try to preserve myself, I shall persist in it; for I am intending to
take care of myself.

	When they killed Joseph, they were talking about killing a great many
others.  Would you believe that the apostates say that I was the
instigator of the death of Joseph and Hyrum?  And William Smith has
asserted that I was the cause of the death of his brother Samuel, when
brother Woodruff, who is here to-day, knows that we were waiting at the
depot in Boston to take passage east at the very time when Joseph and
Hyrum were killed.  Brother Taylor was nearly killed at the time, and
Doctor Richards had his whiskers nearly singed off by the blaze from the
guns.  In a few weeks after, Samuel Smith died, and I am blamed as the
cause of his death.  We did not hear of the death of Joseph until some
three or four weeks after he was basely martyred.

	What is now the news circulated throughout the United States?  That
Captain Gunnison was killed by Brigham young, and that Babbitt was killed
on the Plains by Brigham Young and his Danite band.  What more?  That
Brigham Young has killed all the men who have died between the Missouri
river and California.  I do not say that President Buchanan has any such
idea, or the officers of the troops who are reported to be on their way
here; but such are the newspaper stories.  Such reports are in the
bellows, and editors and politicians are blowing them out.

	According to their version, I am guilty of the death of every man,
woman, and child that has died between the Missouri river and the
California gold mines; and they are coming here to chastise me.  The idea
makes me laugh; and when do you think they will get a chance?  Catching is
always before hanging.  They understand, you know, that I had gone north
and intended to leave this place with such as would follow me; and they
are coming to declare a jubilee.  It is their desire to say to the people,
"You are free; you are not under the bondage of Brigham Young; you need
wear his yoke no longer; now let us get drunk, fight, play at cards, and
race horses; and every one of you women turn to be whores and become
associated with the civilization of Christendom."  That is the freedom
they are endeavouring to declare here.

	I will make this proposition to Uncle Sam.  I will furnish carriages,
horses, the best of drivers, and the best food I have, to transport to the
States every man, woman, and child that wishes to leave this place, if he
will send on at his own expense all those who want to come to Utah; and we
will gain a thousand to their one, as all who understand the matter very
well know.  It would have been much better to have loaded the waggons
reported to be on the way here, with men, women, and children, than with
provisions to sustain soldiers; for they will never get here without we
help them; neither do I think that it is the design of President Buchanan
that they should come here.

	I am not going to interpret dreams; for I don't profess to be such a
Prophet as were Joseph Smith and Daniel; but I am a Yankee guesser; and I
guess that James Buchanan has ordered this Expedition to appease the wrath
of the angry hounds who are howling around him.  He did not design to
start men on the 15th of July to cross these Plains to this point on foot. 
Russell and Co. will probably make from eight to ten hundred thousand
dollars by freighting the baggage of the Expedition.  What would induce
the Government to expend that amount of money for this Territory?  Three
years ago they appropriated $45,000 for the purpose of making treaties
with the Utah Indians.  Has even that diminutively small sum ever been
sent here?  It is in the coffers of the Government to this day, unless
they have stolen it out, or improperly paid it out for some other purpose.

	Have they ever paid their debts due to Utah?  No.  And now they have
capped their meanness by taking the mail out of the hands of Hiram
Kimball, simply because they knew that he was a member of this Church.  If
he had only have apostatized in season and written lies about us, it is
not probable that his mail contract would have been taken from him without
the least shadow of right, as has now been done.  He was to have $23,000
for carrying the mail from Independence to this city once a month which
was the lowest bid; but because he is a "Mormon," the contract must be
disannulled, and that, too, after he had put by far the most faithful and
and [sic] efficient service on the route that there ever has been, as is
most well known at Washington.  If I thought that my prayer might be
answered, I would pray that not another United States' mail may come to
this city; for until Mr. Kimball began his service it has been a constant
source of annoyance, disappointment, and to us loss.  We can carry our own
mails, raise our own dust, and sustain ourselves.

	But woe, woe to that man who comes here to unlawfully interfere with
my affairs.  Woe, woe to those men who come here to unlawfully meddle with
me and this people.  I swore in Nauvoo, when my enemies were looking me in
the face, that I would send them to hell across lots, if they meddled with
me; and I ask no more odds of all hell to-day.  If they kill me, it is all
right; but they will not until the time comes; and I think that I shall
die a natural death; at least I expect to.

	Would it not make any man or community angry to endure and reflect
upon the abuse our enemies have heaped upon us, and are still striving to
pour out upon God's people?  Brother Bernhisel says that McGraw's mail
contract was out in August last; but they demanded at his hands and would
pay him to carry it two or three months longer.  The Post Office
Department knew, or should have known, that it had forwarded the
acceptance of Mr. Kimball's bid for the new contract in that mail which
McGraw was not carrying; and then it took advantage of the failure of that
mail and trumped up a false allegation of the unsettled state of Utah, and
on those grounds disannulled the contract with Mr. Kimball.  Our mail
rights and other rights and privileges are most unjustly trampled under
foot; but they can spend millions to raise a hubbub and make out that
something wrong is being done in Utah.

	Let me be the President of the United States a little while, and I
would say to the Senators, Representatives, and other officers of
Government, Gentlemen, you must act the part of men and statesmen, or I
will reprove you.  What are they angry at me for?  Because I will reprove
men for their iniquity, and because I have such influence here,--the very
thing they are all after,  They think that they are going to obtain it
with money; but they cannot do it.

	There is no influence, truth, or righteousness in the world only what
flows from God our Father in the heavens.  We have that power, that
influence; we also have such love and submission that we submit ourselves
to our Father and God, as a child does to a kind parent.

	May God bless you, brethren and sisters.  Amen.

        JOSEPH SMITH'S FAMILY--BASHFULNESS IN PUBLIC SPEAKING--THE
                         COMING CRISIS--COUNSEL.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, August 2, 1857.

	I rejoice in the privilege of hearing the servants of the Lord speak
to the Saints.  It is a feast to me, and to hear men speak by the Holy
Ghost.  I very much rejoice in seeing brother Elias Smith upon the stand
this morning.  I have been acquainted with him for many years, and yet I
have never until now heard him address an assembly, except in the capacity
of a Judge.  I am thankful to hear his voice in public.  He is a cousin of
the Prophet Joseph and of George A. Smith.

	I have reflected much concerning the family of the grandfather and
father of Joseph the Prophet.  Their family connections were very
extensive; and it has been a subject of deep regret to me that there were
so few in that large circle who have been valiant for the truth since the
death of the Prophet.  Still I do not know but that Joseph had quite as
many of his connections valiant for the truth, in proportion to their
number, as Jesus had; for Jesus had many brothers and sisters, and the
most of them were opposed to him, and continued so during the greater part
of their lives.  I used to think, while Joseph was living, that his life
compared well with the history of the Saviour; though the most of father
Joseph Smith's family have believed and obeyed the Gospel, and have lived
their religion in a good degree.  Many of them are not here.  Some of them
I have known in the Eastern States that never have gathered with us.  But
the old stock are pretty much dead, and I do not know but what all of them
are.  Father John Smith was the last one, in this Church, of the brothers
of father Joseph Smith; and he died, and is buried here.  Grandmother
Smith lived in Kirtland a short time after she gathered.

	I trust in the good feelings and in the confidence that brother Elias
has gained this morning in speaking as he has from this stand; for many
times I have thought of it, and regretted that he was not on the stand a
preacher with the rest.  Some men rise here to tell about their feelings,
and are so diffident, so bashful, and it is so hard for them to
speak,--men, too, who have had such privileges in their former lives as
brother Elias has had, who is well schooled, and has had an opportunity of
becoming acquainted with the best of society--with men of influence.  When
he arrived to years of discretion, as he has told you, he marked out his
own path.  His advantages in his youth were far greater than were those of
most of our public speakers.

	And there is brother Carrington, when he rises here to address a
congregation--though it is seldom that we can get him on this stand--will
tell how he shrinks from speaking to the people, how bashful and delicate
his feelings are in this matter.  Men who understand language, who were
taught it in their youth, who have had the privilege of schools and good
education, to get up and tell how they shrink from addressing this people.

	When I think of myself, I think just this--I have the grit in me, and
I will do my duty any how.  When I began to speak in public, I was about
as destitute of language as a man could well be.  But tell about being
bashful, when a man has all the learning and words he can ask for!  With
scores and hundreds of thousands of words with which to convey one's
ideas, and then tell about being bashful before a people!  How I have had
the headache, when I had ideas to lay before the people, and not words to
express them; but I was so gritty that I always tried my best.

	I do not like to hear men make excuses, although it is natural, and I
put up with it.  I wish they could see and understand that they have had
advantages above many of their brethren--that they have been greatly
blessed, and should never complain, but should stand up here and exercise
themselves according to the best of their ability, and do all the good
possible for them to do.

	Brother Elias Smith, I can say, is a man possessed of as much
judgment and discretion in his feelings as any man I know.  He is filled
with wisdom.  He is filled with judgment and with counsel, if he would
dare to let it out.  I would like to hear his voice and the voices of
others, and I would like to have them not complain much about getting up
to speak before the public.

	Often, when I stand up here, I have the feelings of a person that is
unable to convey his ideas, because I have not the advantage of language. 
However, I do not very frequently complain of that, but I rise to do the
best I can and to give the people the best I have for them at the time;
and if it don't suit them they can go without it, for I am not responsible
whether it suits them or not.

	I rejoice in the words of brother Heber this day.  He has spoken by
the power of the Holy Ghost, and you are his witnesses.  You may all
witness to this; and his ideas are as rich, I may say, as the flowers of
eternity, and his ideas and his words are congenial to my feelings and
spirit.  He told you here to-day that we never differ--that I say, "Go
ahead, say what you please."

	I look at the spirits and the principles of men, and try to behold
what is in them; and if I can discover that they are right, I do not care
one particle how they express their ideas, so that I can but understand
them.  I can say furthermore that you cannot, the best of you, beat
brother Kimball's language.  You may call up the college-bred man, and he
cannot beat it.

	Brother Heber and I never went to school until we got into
"Mormonism:"  that was the first of our schooling.  We never had the
opportunity of letters in our youth, but we had the privilege of picking
up brush, chopping down trees, rolling logs, and working amongst the
roots, and of getting our shins, feet, and toes bruised.  The uncle of
brother Merrell, who now sits in the congregation, made me the first hat
that my father ever bought for me; and I was then about eleven years of
age.  I did not go bareheaded previous to that time, neither did I call on
my father to buy me a five-dollar hat every few months, as some of my boys
do.  My sisters would make me what was called a Jo. Johnson cap for
winter, and in summer I wore a straw hat which I frequently braided for
myself.  I learned to make bread, wash the dishes, milk the cows, and make
butter; and can make butter, and can beat the most of the women in this
community at housekeeping.  Those are about all the advantages I gained in
my youth.  I know how to economise, for my father had to do it.

 	There are a great many little items pertaining to life that I do not
very often speak about.  Still they have to be borne with.  They arise
from traits in our characters, and we have to meet with them right in this
community.  The imported goods that we purchase are brought over a
thousand miles in waggons, and yet probably I have not a young child that
is three years old but what has cost me more to furnish with shoes than I
ever cost my father to furnish me with shoes in my whole life.  Brother
Heber as been teaching you a little economy.  I tell you that you have
been warned and forewarned again, that the time would come when, if you
had hats, you would have to make them; and if the ladies had bonnets, they
would have to make them here.

	Whether it is to your sorrow or joy, I will tell you what I discover;
and I have been much surprised, and sometimes I have been overjoyed with
the discovery.  Sometimes my heart quakes a little, my nerves tremble in
consequence of the great things that God is bringing forth.  Do we realize
that they are coming on us, I may say, faster than we are preparing
ourselves to meet them?  There is one sign after another, revelation after
revelation.  The Lord is hastening his work.  He is bringing to pass the
sayings of the Prophets faster than the people are prepared to receive
them.  You know that we have often exhorted you to be wide awake to your
duties, to be watchful and prayerful, and to be full of the Holy Spirit,
lest the Lord should roll on his work faster than you could understand it.

	It would be hard for the people to explain away the idea that the
Government of the United States is shutting down the gate upon us, for it
is too visible; and this is what hastens the work of the Lord, which you
are praying for every day.  I do not believe that there is a man or woman
here, who prays at all, but what prays every day for the Lord to hasten
his work.  Now take care, for if he does, may be you will not be prepared
to meet it.

	The time must come when there will be a separation between this
kingdom and the kingdoms of this world, even in every point of view.  The
time must come when this kingdom must be free and independent from all
other kingdoms.  Are you prepared to have the thread cut to-day?

	I know the feelings of a great many, and I need not go out of my own
family to hear, "O dear, are there no ribbons coming?  I want that
artificial quick; I want you to go and buy me that nice bonnet, for I am
afraid there never will another one be brought here."  If I am tried in
any point in this world, it is with regard to the bearings of my own
conduct to my own family.  I have told them, and tell them, and talk to
them, and talk about it, and ask them, Am I in the line of my duty while I
can feed women and children who do nothing but sit and fold their hands,
and wear out their clothing, and dress them in finery, and pamper them,
and they get so that good beef, pork, bread, butter, cheese, tea, coffee,
and sugar, with fruit, and all kinds of garden sauce, are no rarity to
them at all, and their appetites are poor and they cannot eat?  This is
the case with me in my family.  If there is any trial upon me, it is to
know whether I am in the line of my duty in this matter.

	Should not I take my tea and coffee, my beef and pork, and every
other good thing, and put it into the hands of the men who sweat over the
rock for the Temple, instead of feeding men, women, and children, who do
not strive to do all they are capable of doing?  I am tried on that point,
and I must say that if there is anything in the world that bothers me, it
is the whining of women and children to prevent me from doing that which I
know that I ought to do.

	I will acknowledge with brother Kimball, and I know it is the case
with him, that I am a great lover of women.  In what particular?  I love
to see them happy, to see them well fed and well clothed, and I love to
see them cheerful.  I love to see their faces and talk with them, when
they talk in righteousness; but as for anything more, I do not care. 
There are probably but few men in the world who care about the private
society of women less than I do.  I also love children, and I delight to
make them happy.

	I accumulate a large amount of means, but I would just as soon feed
my neighbour as myself.  And every one who knows me knows whether or not a
piece of johnnycake and butter and a potatoe satisfies Brigham.  I can
live on as cheap and as plain food as can any man in Israel.  I have said
to my family, a great many times, I want you to make me home-made
clothing; but I would meet such a whizzing about my ears, if I were to
have even a pair of home-made pantaloons made.  I do not know that I have
a wife in the world but what would say, "You are not going to wear them;
you ought to wear something more respectable, for you deserve to as much
as any man does."

	It is the man who works hard, who sweats over the rock, and goes to
the kanyons for lumber, that I count more worthy of good food and dress
than I am.  But do not I labour?  Yes, with my mind.  Can any man tell
what labour there is upon me?  No, not a man can begin to tell what I feel
for the Later-day Saints in this Territory, throughout the mountains and
the world,--what I feel for their salvation and preservation.  They have
to be looked after and cared for; and all this more particularly rests
upon me.  My brethren love to share with me all that the Lord puts upon
them; but in the day of trouble they look to me to secure them and pint
out a way for their escape.

	Now, let me tell you one thing--I shall take it as a witness that God
designs to cut the thread between us and the world, when an army
undertakes to make their appearance in this Territory to chastise me or to
destroy my life from the earth.  I lay it down that right is or at least
should be might with Heaven, with its servants, and with all its people on
the earth.  As for the rest, we will wait a little while to see; but I
shall take a hostile movement by our enemies as an evidence that it is
time for the thread to be cut.  I think we will find three hundred who
will lap water, and we can whip out the Midianites.  Brother Heber said
that he could turn out his women, and they would whip them.  I ask no odds
of the wicked, the best way they can fix it.

	Brother Heber says that the music is taken out of his sermons when
brother Carrington clips out words here and there; and I have taken out
the music from mine, for I know the traditions and false notions of the
people.  Our sermons are read by tens of thousands outside of Utah. 
Members of the British Parliament have those Journals of Discourses,
published by brother Watt; they have them locked up, they secrete them,
and go to their rooms to study them, and they know all about us.  They
may, perhaps, keep them from the Queen, for fear that she would believe
and be converted.

	I know that I have seen the day when, let men use language like
brother Heber has to-day, and many would apostatize from the true faith. 
In printing my remarks, I often omit the sharp words, though they are
perfectly understood and applicable here; for I do not wish to spoil the
good I desire to do.  Let my remarks go to the world in a way the
prejudices of the people can bear, that they may read them, and ponder
them, and ask God whether they are true.

	I am thankful to hear the servants of God speak; and, as I have
frequently said, I do not care what you say when you rise to speak here;
for I want to know whether a man seeks with all his heart to know the mind
of God concerning him.  If he does, all is right with him.

	Brother Heber alluded to counseling men and women who come to him
after they had been to me, and said that they always received the same
counsel I had given them.  I never have known it to fail, that if they
come to me and then go to brother Heber, they will get the same counsel
all the time.  And so they would from every one of the Twelve, from the
High Council, from the Seventies, and High Priests, and every officer in
the Church, if every officer in the Church would take the course that
brother Heber, and I, and a few others do.  What is that?  Never to give
counsel, unless you have it to give.  If you have counsel, give it,
because you can have no correct counsel except  by the Spirit of
revelation:  that is my standard.  I have no counsel for a man, unless I
have the testimony of Jesus on the subject.  Then, when the same man asks
counsel of me, and goes to brother Heber, do you not see that if he acts
on the same principle and gives counsel, it must be by the Spirit of
revelation; or he has no counsel to give, if it is not by that Spirit. 
Then let the same man go to brother Wells and ask his counsel on the same
subject, without letting him know that he has been to Brigham or to Heber,
and brother Daniel will give the same counsel by the same Spirit.

	The difficulty with regard to giving counsel that conflicts consists
in men's giving counsel from their own judgment, without the Spirit of
God.  Every man in the kingdom of God would give the same counsel upon
each subject, if he would wait until he had the mind of Christ upon it. 
Then all would have one word and mind, and each man would see eye to eye.

	But there is a weakness in the brethren, and it is in mankind in
general.  You ask almost any person in the world a question, and he thinks
it a disgrace to be unable to answer it.  He feels chagrined, his mind
flags, when he finds that he is not quite as knowing as his neighbours
think him to be; and, to avoid this, he will often venture an answer
without knowing the facts in the case, or the effects of his answer.

	If you would always pause and say, I have no counsel for you.  I have
no answer for you on this subject, because I have no manifestation of the
Spirit, and be willing to let everybody in the world know that you are
ignorant when you are, you would become wise a great deal quicker than to
give counsel on your own judgment, without the Spirit of revelation.  If
the Elders of Israel would observe this rule, never to give counsel unless
they give it by the testimony of the truth, by the Spirit of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and, if they cannot give counsel in that manner, not to give
any, there would be no conflicting counsel in the kingdom.  All would be
one; counsel would be one:  we would soon come to understanding and be of
one heart and mind, and our blessings would be increased upon us faster
than in taking any other course.

	May God bless you and preserve us in the truth.  Amen.

             APPROVAL OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE DELEGATION TO
           CONGRESS--CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, ETC.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at the Bowery, 
                  Great Salt Lake City, August 9, 1857.

	So far as I am concerned, with regard to the performance of duties by
the Elders of Israel--the duties which have been placed upon them and
required at their hands upon their missions--for the gratification of the
brethren just referred to by Elder Taylor, I will say, If there has been
nothing hitherto expressed here manifesting the feelings of the First
Presidency of the Church and the members in general on-this point, I can
answer for the people, by asking and answering a question.

	Brother Taylor, brother George A. Smith, and brother Bernhisel, did
you do your duty in Congress in reference to presenting our petition for a
State?  I think that I can answer for this Committee, as well as for the
people, and say that they discharged their duty manfully and
satisfactorily to their God and to their brethren.  I can answer for the
people, and say that they are most perfectly satisfied with the labours of
our Committee.  When a man can say of a truth, "I have done the very best
that I could in my mission,"  the heart of every Saint on earth acquainted
with the circumstances, the angels in heaven, and our heavenly Father are
all satisfied.  There is no more required of us than we are capable of
performing.  The First Presidency are satisfied, and I can say that the
people are satisfied.

	With regard to the labours of brother Taylor in editing the paper
called The Mormon, published in the city of New York, I have heard many
remarks concerning the editorials in that paper, not only from Saints, but
from those who do not profess to believe the religion we have embraced;
and it is probably one of the strongest edited papers that is now
published.  I can say, as to its editorials, that it is one of the
strongest papers ever published, so far as my information extends; and I
have never read one sentence in them but what my heart could bid success
to it and beat a happy response to every sentence that I have read or
heard read.  Brother Taylor, that is for you; and I believe that these are
the feelings and the sentiments of all in this community who have perused
that paper.

	We are satisfied with the labours of the Elders generally.  True, it
is not every one that knows and understands all things; it is also true
that men are liable to falter and fail in their judgment; but that is
nothing against the real character of the man, if he is doing the best he
knows how.  It is true that at times Elders need correcting, and they
receive correlation in this place.  It is also true that, when you correct
an individual in his errors and try to place him in better circumstances
pertaining to judgment and discretion, it is annoying, it is grievous, it
is painful to the sensation of that individual.  It is very true that
chastisements are grievous when they are received; but if they are
received in patience, they will work out salvation for those who
cheerfully submit to them.

	If the time was that the Elders of Israel could not be chastened and
corrected for their wrongs, and be set right, you may know that they have
proved recreant to the faith.  And if those who are appointed to lead this
people dare not rise up and tell them of their iniquity and chastise them
therefor, and teach them the way of life and salvation, you may know that
your leaders have fallen from their station.

	The Lord has bestowed the everlasting Priesthood upon the children of
men for their salvation.  It is not believed for a moment, by any person
who believes in the Bible, that a man or woman can be saved in their sins. 
They have to be separated from their sins and iniquity; they have to put
off the old man, with all his deeds, and put on the new man Christ Jesus. 
If ever we see the time that we dare not tell men of their evils, and
correct them when in fault, you may despair of salvation in this kingdom.

	One grand cause of the enmity entertained towards us by officials
sent here by the General Government has simply been, that I take the
liberty of telling men where they do wrong and wherein they do
wrong,--both those who are in the Church and those who are out of it; and
my brethren take the same liberty.  If men do evil, we tell them of their
meanness; whereas, in the other portion of our Government, men dare not
speak their minds.  They are tied up, bound up; they are in fetters and
chains in every particular--as much so as brother Taylor has told you, and
a great deal more.  He said that if a man was found in Congress who dare
speak in favour of innocence, justice, truth, and mercy, he dare not
speak.  If there were any there, when our petition was expected to be
presented, who felt in their hearts to favour it, they dared not open
their mouths in favour of its being granted; for if they spoke at all,
they must speak according to the popular notions of the people; they must
go with the tide of popularity.

	This is the case with the whole world; but we are chosen out of the
world.  And if we accept salvation on the terms it is offered to us, we
have got to be honest in every thought, in our reflections, in our
meditations, in our private circles, in our deal, in our declarations, and
in every act of our lives, fearless and regardless of every principle of
error, of every principle of falsehood that may be presented.  We have no
difficulties with our Government:  we never have had any difficulties with
any government under which we have lived.  But there has been a
difficulty, and what is it?  The "Mormons" have got something that the
rest, of course, have not, "and we will kill them out of the way; we will
not have them."

	As brother Taylor has said, speaking of the wisdom and power
exhibited by the people of the world, there are men of talent, of thought,
of reflection, and knowledge in all cunning mechanism:  they are expert in
that, though they do not know from whence they receive their intelligence. 
The Spirit of the Lord has not yet entirely done striving with the people,
offering them knowledge and intelligence; consequently it reveals unto
them, instructs them, teaches them, and guides them even in the way they
like to travel.  Men know how to construct railroads and all manner of
machinery; they understand cunning workmanship, &c.; but that is all
revealed to them by the Spirit of the Lord, though they know it not.

	You can find in the minds of the people most admirable intelligence
in things pertaining to the world; but when you touch the intelligence
that pertains to other worlds, to the kingdom of heaven and heavenly
things, they are dark as midnight darkness--so dark as this, that, let
ever so good a thing be revealed to them, no matter how good for a nation,
a people, a community, or an individual--let a man have it revealed to him
how he can benefit the whole nation, they turn around and deny God in it. 
They are so dark as that, when they never received a particle of
intelligence but what came from God.  They are filled with darkness.

	Instead of wishing injuries to come on them, my heart is pained for
them when I behold their situation.  They are drunk, not with strong
drink, but with their own anger, and rage, and the spirit of the enemy
which they have received.  They are as wild as California horses.  When a
lasso is thrown on them, they will run madly against a fence, or a stone
wall, or over a person, or anything; they are frantic, and would break
their own necks.  It is just so with the inhabitants of the earth, and
especially so with our Government; and they are hastening with all
possible speed, with the larriet [sic] around their necks, to jump the
precipice and destroy themselves. 

	I can tell you one thing that I know concerning the inhabitants of
the United States.  It has come to this, that the honest among them--men,
women, and children, have dreams foreboding evil.  The visions of their
minds are troubled; they are in sorrow; they feel melancholy, and have a
presentiment that something evil is going to befall the people.  And if
you could discern the thoughts of their hearts this day, you would
probably find millions of such persons in our Government.  When they
reflect upon the maddened zeal of the leaders, they know that they can
endure but a little while, and query, "What will come?"  What will the
Lord bring on the people--upon this happy government?  What evil
catastrophe is about to befall us?  Will there be war?  Will we fight the
"Mormons," and will the Lord give the "Mormons" power to fight against us? 
Will the North make war upon the South?  Will they take the sword one
against the other?  What will become of us?  These forebodings are upon
the people.  They have dreams in the night which frighten them, and
reflections in the day-time which give them sorrow; and they are harassed
from day to day.  They are to be pitied; for sorrow, woe, destruction,
shame, and misery await them.  I am sorry for them:  they are to be
pitied--to be prayed for.

	Almost every man that has come from the East of late is telling you
the political feelings and desires of the Government towards this people. 
Brother Taylor has just related that a gentleman he met on the road
remarked, "What! can you 'Mormons' fight the United States?  Can you
contend with them?  You had better take a more specific policy than you
have.  Do not speak about the President, nor about any of the officials." 
We shall talk as we please about them; for this is the right and privilege
granted to us by the Constitution of the United States:  and, as ministers
of salvation, we shall take the liberty of telling men of their sins.

	I shall take the liberty of talking as I please about the President
of the United States, and I expect that I know his character better than
he knows it himself.  I will tell you in a few words a little of it. 
James Buchanan, who is now sitting in the chair of state, and presiding
over this great Republic, is naturally a passive, docile, kind,
benevolent, and good man,--that is his natural disposition, I will
venture.  Arouse him, and he has been a man who could make flaming
speeches.  He is now bound up; they have the fetters upon his feet; he is
handcuffed; his elbows are pinioned; he is bound on every side, and they
make him do as they please.  Is he obliged to do so?  No.

	Is a man fit to be President of the United States, who will bow and
succumb to the whims of the people?  No.  A president should learn the
true situation of his constituents, and deal out even-handed justice to
all, utterly regardless of the clamour of party.  Suppose the President to
be under the clamour and dictation of several parties, he would order out
a company to-day, and to-morrow call them back; he would make a decree
to-day, and next week revoke it and make another to suit another party. 
He ought not to pay attention to any party, but consider the nation as a
family, and deal out justice and mercy to them equally and independently.

	I wish that Hickory Jackson was now our President; for he would kick
some of those rotten-hearted sneaks out, or rather order his negroes to do
it.  If we had a man in the chair who really was a man, and capable of
magnifying his office, he would call upon his servants, and order him to
kick those mean, miserable sneaks out of the presidential mansion, off
from its grounds, and into the streets.  But the President hearkens to the
clamour around him; and, as did Pontious Pilate, in the case of Jesus
Christ, has washed his hands, saying, "I am clear of the blood of those
Latter-day Saints.  Gentlemen, you have dictated, and I will order a
soldiery and officials to Utah."  It is said in the Bible, that whosoever
ye yield yourselves to obey, his servants ye are.  The President has
yielded himself a servant to cliques and parties, and their servants he
shall be.  And all that has been spoken of him by brother Kimball, in the
name of Jesus Christ, shall come upon him.

	Do you think that we shall be called treasoners, for rebuking him in
his sinful course?  Yes.  Talk of loyalty to Government!  Hardly a man
among them cares for the Government of the United States, any more than he
does for the useless card that lies on the table while he is playing out
his hand.  They disregard the Constitution as they would any old fable in
any old school book.  Scarcely a member on the floor of Congress cares
anything about it.

	While brother Taylor was referring to the conduct of officers of the
Government, to the pistols, bowie-knives, the oyster suppers, the pleasant
little knick-knacks, and this, that, and the other, I was reminded of a
circumstance that transpired in the region of the Salt Works in the State
of New York.  In that section there was a place called Salt Point, one of
the roughest in the world for drunkenness, gaming, fighting, and cursing;
and within a few miles from Salt Point was a place called Onadaga Hollow,
and the people in those places used to be in a constant strife to see
which should act the worst.  As a man named Thaddeus Woods, who had become
considerably wealthy by making and selling salt, was going from Onadaga
Hollow to Salt Point, he stopped at a tavern, half way between the two
places; and when he and his travelling companions had rested themselves
and fed their horses, Woods told one of his teamsters, who was one of the
wickedest men to be found in those two places, that he would treat him if
he would say three of the wickedest words that he could think of.  The man
agreed that he would; and when he had the attention and eyes of the
company fixed upon him, he shouted out "Onadaga Hollow, Thad.  Woods, and
Salt Point,"  remarking that those were three of the worst words that he
could think of.

	Brother Taylor says that language cannot express the conduct, the
feelings, and the spirit that are upon the people in the States.  Well,
suppose you take up a labour and swear about them, what are the worst
words that can be spoken?  'Nigger stealing,' Mobs or Vigilance
Committees, and Rotten-hearted Administrators of a Government are three of
the meanest and wickedest words that can be spoken.  I expect that
somebody will write that back to the States, as being treasonable, because
spoken by a Latter-day Saint.

	With regard to the present contention and strife, and to our position
and situation, there are few things to be considered, and there is much
labour to be performed.  Let the Saints live their religion; let them have
faith in God, do all the good they can to the household of faith and to
everybody else, and trust in god for the result; for the world will not
believe one truth about us.  I tell you that the Government of the United
States, and other governments that are acquainted with us, will not
believe a single truth about us.  What will they believe?  Every lie that
every poor, miserable, rotten-hearted curse can tell.  What are we to do,
under these circumstances?  Live our religion.  Are you going to contend
against the United States?  No.  But when they come here to take our lives
solely for our religion, be ye also ready.

	Do I expect to stand still, sit still, or lie still, and tamely let
them take away my life?  I have told you a great many times what I have to
say about that.  I do not profess to be so good a man as Joseph Smith was. 
I do not walk under their protection nor into their prisons, as he did. 
And though officers should pledge me their protection, as Governor Ford
pledged protection to Joseph, I would not trust them any sooner than I
would a wolf with my dinner; neither do I trust in a wicked judge, nor in
any evil person.  I trust in my God, and in honest men and women who have
the power of the Almighty upon them.  What will we do?  Keep the wicked
off as long as we can, preach righteousness to them, and teach them the
way of salvation.

	Some speak of the nations now on the earth forgetting God, they have
not forgotten Him, for they have never remembered Him.  They have not
departed from His ways, for they never found them; they have not lost
faith in Him, for they never had any.  There are men sitting here who were
brought up Christians, who were trained to believe in the sacred words of
truth contained in the Old and New Testament.  What were you taught by
your priests, your fathers, mothers, and associates, with regard to God? 
How many anxious hours I have experienced in my youth, to know, see, and
understand things as they were and as they are.  Did I ever see a man who
could instruct me in those matters, until I saw Joseph Smith?  I never
did.  And after I had made a profession of religion, I would ask the most
powerful preachers whether they knew anything about God--where He is
located, where Heaven is, and where Hell is, who is the Father, who the
Son, and what the distinction is between them, who is Michael the
archangel, who is Gabriel, and so on. Could they tell a thing about it? 
No:  and I am a witness that no man in Christendom knew anything about it,
unless it was revealed by the Spirit to him.

	I may say that many had revelations from God, but they had not the
keys, and rights, and knowledge, and system of the religion of God.  John
Wesley was a good man, and so were thousands of others.  Will they be
saved?  They are saved.  You know what my doctrine is with regard to this
matter.  Every man will be judged according to the deeds done in the body. 
Did they know anything about heaven, or God?  No, they did not.  Could
they even explain one of the first simple lessons in the religion we
believe, with regard to mortal man?  Could any of them explain what the
soul of man is, when it is written in the Bible, and they have read it
thousands of times?  No.

	I have heard men preach hours upon the soul of man; and one of the
smartest men that I ever heard preach, would up a long discource [sic] by
saying, "Finally, brethren, I must come to the conclusion that the soul of
man is an immaterial substance."  I have sat days and weeks, and months,
and years to hear men explain the things of God; and what did they know
about them?  Nothing.

	We have the keys of the priesthood and the words of eternal life, and
understand them, and what manner of persons ought we to be?  We ought to
live our religion, believe in our God, love and serve Him, be faithful to
Him, to one another, to all our covenants, and keep the devils from
killing us as long as we can, and that is just as long as we have a mind
to.

	I recollect saying to a certain official here--one who wanted a few
Indians for killing Gunnison, If you want them, I will put them into your
hands.' They were presented to him, but he dared not take them.  I told
him at the time of the conversation, that there might be some thirty of
those Indians; but, if the United States should send 50,000 of their
troops here they could not get one of them, if they had a mind to keep out
of the way; and he believed it.  I suppose you would like to know upon
what principle?  Like some of brother Taylor's honest men that he thought
he had found in the States, who, when he thought that he had found them,
and went to put his hand upon them, were like the Paddy's flea--they were
not there, they were somewhere else.  That is the reason why they could
not get the Indians.  There is the same reason why they cannot get us,
until we have a mind to go them.

	Do you wonder that the world is angry at us?  No; for the time must
come when your faith must be tried.  Can the Lord take this kingdom and
separate if [sic] from the kingdom of darkness?  Can He bring it forth to
establish His work upon the earth as extensively as the Prophets have
prophesied, without separating us from the kingdoms of this word?  You
say, No.  How is he going to do it?  You have seen how, so far.  In the
days of Joseph, a string of guards was set around him on every side, lest
he should have communion with the remnants of Israel who are wandering on
the plains and in the kanyons of this country.  Those guards fought us,
whipped us, killed our Prophets, and abused our community, until we are
now driven by them into the very midst of the Lamanites.  Oh, what a pity
they could not foresee the evil they were bringing upon themselves, by
driving this people into the midst of the savages of the plains.  And here
am I, yet, Governor of Utah.

	Do you wonder that they are angry?  Five years ago I told them that I
should be Governor as long as the Lord wanted me to be, and that all hell
could not remove me.  They have tried during those five years to remove
me, and I have had to appoint a secretary for this Territory three times
in that period; for the ones appointed by the President absconded from the
Territory.  And the prospect now is, that I shall still have to be the
Governor--that I shall again have to preside over the Legislature, and
that Captain Hooper, whom I appointed Secretary, will have to continue in
that office.

	God bless you.  Amen.

       TRADITION--DUTY OF THE SAINTS TO LIVE THEIR RELIGION--SAFETY
                OF ZION--PREPARATION FOR THE FUTURE, ETC.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, August 30, 1857.

	I can truly say that I am happy for the privilege of meeting with the
Saints.

	When I am alone, and look by the vision of the Spirit upon this
people, my heart says within me, God bless the people, God bless the
people; and I bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus.  I feel to bless
the people continually, from day to day.  Their interest is my interest;
their welfare is my welfare; their hope is mine.  We are of one faith; and
to see the people drawing near unto the Lord and becoming more of one
heart and of one mind is the most cheering thought and reflection that can
pass upon my mind:  there is nothing else that compares with it.  As for
the riches of the world or the good things of the world--as far gold or
silver, houses and lands, they are nothing in comparison to the purity of
the faith of the people.

	This people are increasing in their faith, they are increasing in
their good works, and they are really becoming the Saints of the Most
High.  Any person possessing the Spirit of the holy Gospel, and who has
been acquainted with this people during years that are past, can readily
discover that they are merging to the period when they will become the
disciples of the Lord Jesus.  Perhaps we think that we are perfectly so
now; but it is not the case--we are engaged in a preparatory work.

	When the Gospel came to us, it found us in the depths of ignorance;
it found us in darkness; it found us possessed of all the prejudices,
feelings, and views that now exist in the world.  There is no man--there
is no woman, but what was more or less clothed upon with the traditions of
their fathers.  There cannot a person be found at the present day--one who
has arrived at the years to think, to act, and to judge for himself, but
what is more or less clothed and enveloped in the traditions of their
fathers.

	On the other hand, there is no person possessing the Spirit of
revelation but what can very readily discern that the ways of the Lord are
not like the ways of man, and that the children of men have gone out of
the way.  Take all nations--all people--by communities, by societies, by
families, and by individuals,--take the whole mass of the inhabitants of
the earth, and they have each taken to their own way, as any person
possessing the Spirit of revelation can discern to be the case in the
whole world.  At the same time, they imagine that they are right--that
they have light--that they have intelligence--that they are possessed of
true knowledge pertaining to God and the things of eternity.

	Take the inhabitants of Japan--islands situated between here and
China,--and if you are acquainted with the people, with their feelings and
true sentiments, you know that they actually believe that they are the
only people that are enlightened, and that all the rest of mankind are
heathen.  Go to China, which is called by its inhabitants the celestial
empire because of their supposed purity, and they actually believe that
they are the only nation under heaven that has the true knowledge of
eternity.

	Turn to the Christian nations on the eastern and western
continents--take enlightened Christendom as the whole--and they believe
that they are the only people who have the knowledge of God.  It is true
that they far exceed all other nations in many of the arts and sciences,
and they also believe that they are the only people who understand the
true religion of heaven.

	They are sending their missionaries to the east and to the west, to
the north and to the south, and they are penetrating every nook and
corner, to enlighten what they call the heathen nations.  Is not that the
case?  That arises from the traditions of their fathers which are handed
down to the children, and they are enveloped in them.

	When we look at this people, could we expect them to become prepared
to be the disciples of the Lord Jesus in one, in five, in ten, in twenty,
or in thirty years?  No.  And it will be just as much as we can do to be
worthy to be the brothers and sisters of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
when he makes his appearance.  Let us strive with all our might, be as
watchful as it is possible for us to be, apply ourselves by faith and
diligence to the keeping of his commandments, and continue so doing until
Jesus sets his feet upon this continent, and we will then find that we are
only just prepared to receive him.  This is the preparatory work, and it
will prepare the people, if they will live for it.

	How can we live our religion, except we do as we are told?  I will
reverse the question and enquire, How can this people do as they are told,
except they live their religion?  They cannot.  Every family--every
neighborhood is taught to glorify God.  They are instructed from day to
day, they are taught the way of life and salvation, they are counselled
continually to seek unto the Lord their God, to obtain the faith of the
ancients, to obtain the light of the heavens, to walk in the light of His
countenance day by day; but how can you do these things, except you do as
you are told?  You cannot.  Neither can you live your religion, except you
do as you are told; for the people are taught to live their
religion,--they are taught to cease from every evil thought and every evil
action, to cease having a murmuring spirit, to cease having a doubtful
feeling; and they are taught to cease being neglectful in regard to any
known duty  We are taught to double our diligence where we have been
slack, to seek unto the Lord day by day, that we may have the light of his
countenance upon us.

	Brother Heber has been prophesying.  You know that I call him my
Prophet, and he prophesies for me.  And now I prophesy that, if this
people will live their religion, the God of heaven will fight their
battles, bring them off victorious over all their enemies, and give to
them the kingdom.  That is my prophecy.  I said amen to all that brother
Heber prophesied, for it is true; and he may say amen to all that I
prophesy, for it is also true.

	I have no fears in regard to the kingdom of God upon the earth; but I
have fears lest this people be not prepared to receive glory, immortality,
and eternal lives, when those principles are presented to them.  This is
all the fear that I have--that we will not walk up to our privileges and
be prepared for them.

	I thank my Father in heaven,--yes, my soul says, Glory, hallelujah,
praise the name of Israel's God, for the blessings I enjoy at the present
time! One year ago this very day, and previous to that time, my soul was
pained within me.  No tongue could tell--it could not be portrayed before
the people, the feelings that I had:  I could not tell them; and I did not
know but that, if I should come out in the presence of the people and try
to speak my feelings, they would call me crazy.  However, I tried to make
the people understand my feelings, but no tongue could tell them; and I
actually believe that I would have lived but a little time in this
existence, had not God waked up the people.  I wanted to take up my valise
and go throughout the Territory crying, Is there a man in this Territory
for God?

	If you want to know how I felt, I cannot tell you better than by
describing my feelings in the way that I am now doing.  One day, I told a
number of the brethren how I felt, as well as I could; and brother
Jedediah M. Grant partook of the Spirit that was in me and walked out like
a man, like a giant, and like an angel, and he scattered the fire of the
Almighty among the people.  But what was the result so far as he was
concerned?  He went beyond his strength, and it cost him his life.

	There is now scarcely a man but wants to do as God would have him do
among those who claim to be Latter-day Saints, except those four or five
that brother Heber speaks of; hence we hold a very large majority of that
class of men and women who desire to do precisely as God would have them,
and my heart says, God bless the people.  God bless you, brethren and
sisters.  I bless you all the time.  You are near my heart, and it is all
my business to look after the welfare of the Saints.  Remember that it
will be just as much as you and I can do to prepare to meet the Saviour
when he comes, no matter whether we previously go into the grave or not.

	There has been a great deal said in the lower world about this little
handful of people; for you terrify the whole world!  Not alone in the
United States, but in England, in France, in Italy, in Germany, and in
every State upon the eastern continent, the people are looking to see the
result of the present movements of our Government towards this people. 
They are looking at the Gospel we preach, the course that we take, the
influence we are gaining, and the numbers we are gathering to us; and they
look at the subject not only in a religious point of view, but also in a
national capacity.

	Brother Heber said to you, if the time has come, designed by the Lord
Almighty, for the thread to be cut between this people and the residue of
the world, then the Lord will suffer our enemies to clip the thread; and I
am with him in that sentiment  But if the time is not come, the Lord will
not suffer them to come.  If He designs that traffic should continue
between us and them, that we shall have the privilege of bringing our
immigration, of preaching the Gospel and saving the people, let me tell
you that they will not come; God will stop them.

	As for myself, I would just as soon this was the time as any other. 
If it is the time for the thread, in a national capacity, to be severed,
let it be severed.  Amen to it.  But I will tell you what I have
concluded: when we talk of gold, of silver, of riches, of the comforts of
this world, with me it is the kingdom of God, or nothing; with us it must
be the kingdom of God, or nothing.  I shall not go in for anything
half-way.  We must have the kingdom of God, or nothing.  We are not to be
overthrown.

	Cannot this kingdom be overthrown?  No.  They might as well try to
obliterate the sun.  And I should suppose that an experience of twenty-six
years would have proven to the wicked that it could not be overthrown; but
it only wakes them up to anger and stirs them up to be more diligent in
their opposition to the righteous.  They have been trying to break up this
people and destroy their organization, ever since we became a church; and
every time they try, their oppression forces us into greater note; they
increase our numbers and strengthen us in faith and in the knowledge and
power of God.  And how long must they live before they can learn that such
has been and invariably will be the result?  They will learn it when they
get into hell, and never before,--never till they get into the spirit
world; and then they will see that they have all the time been fighting
against God; and never till then will they learn it.  You cannot teach
them anything.

	Here are men who have been with us for six or seven years, and if
they had any good, common philosophical power, they would know that ours
is something different from any other authority and organization in the
world.  The union and peace that are here are in no other place on the
face of the earth.  Here are power and influence that are nowhere else on
earth.  Among this people there is an intelligence that is nowhere else to
be found.  Can darkness discover light?  No; and even when it reflects
itself, they turn it away as a trifling affair, and that light which was
in them becomes darkness; and then greater is their darkness in the second
instance than in the first.

	Some of this people apostatize.  But do you think that any would
apostatize from the kingdom of God, if they knew that it was the kingdom
of God?  No.  Why do they apostatize?  Because, through disobedience, that
little light they were in possession of is taken away, and they are left
to believe a lie that they may be damned.  That is the reason why they go
away.  

	I say to this people, Do as you are told; and if you live by every
righteous principle that you can learn and forsake every evil principle
and act through your whole lives as becometh Saints of the Most High, all
will be well.  Can men live so that they can have the serene, blessed,
calm, soft, soothing Spirit of the Lord always to abide with them?  Yes,
they can.  And if they are tempted, they can resist temptation.  Can
women?  They can.  If they have temptation they can resist it, and it will
flee from them, and they will gain a victory.

	So live, day by day, that your lives will be like an even spun
thread.  Let there be no lying, no backbiting, no evil; but let the whole
life of every man and woman tend to good.  Then, when they have their
failings, they will forgive each other, and will find the words of the
Saviour to be true, that his Spirit will be in them as a well of living
water springing up into everlasting life.  Will they become prophets? 
Yes, and prophetesses.  Let them honour their religion until they pass the
ordeal, and they will reach the time when the Lord will never suffer them
to fall.  There will be a time when the fountain of life is within them;
then they are prophets and prophetesses, and tell the truth all the time. 
They walk no more in darkness, but in the light; and that is the privilege
of every man and woman.

	Thank heaven that bickerings and contentions are lessening every year
among this people.  Suppose that we all most strictly lived our religion,
would there be a hard word in this community?  There would not.  Do you
understand that?  Never accuse a man or a woman of evil, until you find
out the cause.  Never judge by the outward appearance, but judge righteous
judgment.  And if persons who are striving to do good should happen to
commit an overt act, and are ready to restore to the uttermost, then that
would be the occasion of a feeling of kindness and affection towards them. 
There is no reason for the people to do wrong, but there is everything to
encourage them to do right. 

	The brethren have had a good deal said to them this morning, but I
feel to bless the people; and I wish you to live nearer and nearer to the
Lord.  Seek unto the Lord our God continually; seek to possess more of his
Spirit; throw off the power of erroneous traditions and of the evil
influences that were around us in our youthful days and before we came to
a knowledge of the truth.  Learn the things of God, and you will find that
they are very different from the things of the world; you will find all
the plans and schemes of the world to be so different that you would
hardly suppose that they ever knew anything about the plan of salvation.

	Also remember to lay up your grain.  Brother Heber has been preaching
to you about that; therefore remember to lay up sufficient for your
families.  Sow your grain early this fall.  Many wish to know whether I
think we shall reap.  I do not care whether we do or not.  I intend to sow
early this fall, so that it will ripen next season.  How bad we should
feel, if we did not sow, and all should be peace and safety next season,
to know that we could have harvested if we had sown.  I reckon that I
should feel bad, if I were placed in such a condition; but I will prepare
for the people to live so long as they dwell upon the earth.

	What more will I prepare for?  I will prepare for a fight, I will
prepare for peace, and I will also prepare for everything that comes
along; then I am ready for anything.  Build?  Yes, build, and make your
homes as comfortable as you can.

	If I knew that I was going to burn all my buildings next season, it
would not hinder me for one hour from making improvements.  The more I do,
the more I shall be prepared to do.  And I am determined to prepare to lay
up the walls of Zion and to learn all I can, so that, if I should happen
to be one of the men to engage in that work, I shall know how to commence
and dictate the foundation of the walls of Zion and those of the Temple.

	A great many think that we have been extravagant in laying so broad
and deep a foundation for this Temple; but I would rather have that
foundation, though it should lay as it is till the Millennium, than to
have the most splendid superstructure built upon a sandy foundation.  What
do you say, you men and women of judgment?  [Voices, "You are correct."] 
Is there not more honour in that foundation, though it lay there till we
go back to Jackson County, than there would be in such a building as I
have named?

	About two weeks ago, Elder Hyde began to say, "There is no knowing
where;" and I took the words from his mouth and continued, "The Latter-day
Saints will land in Jackson County, Missouri."

	The Lord has suffered the wicked to drive us about, that we might
accomplish his designs the sooner.  Some of you sisters are afraid of
cousin Lemuel; and some say that our enemies are bringing presents to
bribe cousin Lemuel.  Let them bring and let them bribe, and then, if the
time has come, when they have got through bribing, cousin Lemuel will turn
round and take the rest.

	God is at the helm.  This is the mighty ship Zion.  You stick to the
ship, and honour it, and see that you are in favour with the ship Zion,
and you need not worry about anything else.  God has the hearts of the
children of men in his hands; he puts hooks in their jaws and turns them
about at His pleasure.  God is here;  the Holy Ghost is here and rests
upon this people, and I am a witness to it.  I know that the Holy Ghost
dwells in the hearts of this people; and the world are afraid of the union
that exists upon this people.  They were afraid of that in the days of
Joseph, and it has been their fear all the time.  You might take a
democrat, a Republican, a ranting Methodist, and old, stiff-necked,
ranting Presbyterian; and when they came to consider Joseph Smith and the
Saints, they saw that they were one in faith, and it scared them all. 
They would say, "We are Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians, but we
are of different politics; in our churches may be found all kinds of
politics, but you, Joseph Smith, alter men's politics; you change them and
make them all one.

	Brethren and sisters, do not be angry with them, for they are in the
hands of God.  Instead of feeling a spirit to punish them, or anything
like wrath, you live your religion; and you will see the day when you will
pray God to turn away from your eyes the sight of their afflictions.

	There are thousands and millions in the United States, and in the
world, whose hearts are like an aspen leaf because of this little handful
of people in Utah.  Pity them; for they know not whom they are fighting
against; they know not their destiny.

	This army that is reported to be coming to this place know no more
about you and me than you know about the interior of China: they go
because they are sent.  If they knew our real character, the soldiers
themselves would turn round and tell their officers to go to hell; they
would take a stampede, and if their officers urged them to come and fight
this people, they would turn round upon them or tell them to do it
themselves.

	Now, do not feel angry.  Are not they to be pitied?  Yes.  Are you to
be pitied?  Yes, if you forsake God, or your religion.  The Saints need to
be pitied for nothing but for forsaking their religion.  Be careful that
you do not get darkness into your minds.

	May God bless you.  Amen.


                 RETURN OF THOMAS B. MARSH TO THE CHURCH.
    Remarks by President Brigham Young, introducing Brother Thomas B.
          Marsh, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City,
                     on Sunday, September 6th, 1857.

	Brother Thomas B. Marsh, formerly the President of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles, has now come to us, after an absence of nearly nineteen
years.  He is on the stand to-day, and wishes to make a few remarks to the
congregation.

	You will comprehend the purport of the remarks he wishes to make, by
my relating a part of his conversation with me yesterday.  He came into my
office and wished to know whether I could be reconciled to him, and
whether there could be a reconciliation between himself and the Church of
the living God.  He reflected for a moment and said, I am reconciled to
the Church, but I want to know whether the Church can be reconciled to me.

	He is here, and I want him to say what he may wish to.  [Brother
Marsh then arose, and the President continued.]  Brethren and sisters, I
now introduce to you brother Thomas B. Marsh.  When the Quorum of the
Twelve was first organized, he was appointed to be their President.

                       FURTHER REMARKS BY PRESIDENT
                              BRIGHAM YOUNG.

	A portion of the congregation have heard what brother Marsh has said;
but he spoke so low that you could not all hear.  He wants to know whether
this people are willing to receive him into full fellowship.  When he came
to Florence, he applied to brother Cunningham, who was then presiding
there, for baptism.  Brother Cunningham at first refused to baptise him,
probably thinking that it would be better for him to wait till he came to
this place; but he afterwards gave his consent to brother Marsh's being
baptised.  Brother Marsh now wishes to be received into full fellowship,
and to be again baptised here.

	There are many here who have formerly been acquainted with him--with
his moral character, and they can judge as well as myself.  Those who are
not acquainted with him will be willing to coincide with the judgment of
those who once knew him.

	I shall call a vote, to ascertain whether the people are willing that
he should be baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, and be acknowledged a member in full fellowship.  I wish those who
are willing to receive brother Marsh into full fellowship as a member in
this Church and kingdom to manifest it by the uplifted hand.  [All hands
appeared to be raised.]  If there are any who are not willing, they now
have the privilege of manifesting it by the uplifted hand. [Not a hand was
raised.]

	Brother Marsh, I think that will be satisfactory to you.

	[T. B. Marsh:  "It is, and I thank God for it."]

	I presume that brother Marsh will take no offence if I talk a little
about him.  We have manifested our feelings towards him, and we know his
situation.  With regard to this Church's being reconciled to him, I can
say that this Church and people were never dissatisfied with him; for when
men and women apostatize and go from us, we have nothing to do with them. 
If they do that which is evil, they will suffer for it.  Brother Marsh has
suffered.  He told me, yesterday, that the Christians might hang up their
fiddle in regard to there being no Catholic Tophet or Purgatory.

	You are aware that the children of the Mother Church have dissented
from the idea of there being such a place as Purgatory; but brother Marsh
says that there is such a place, and that he has been in it during the
past eighteen years and upwards.  I asked him whether he did not have to
pray himself out.  He answered, "Yes."  I then remarked--If you prayed
yourself out, I suppose you saved the priests' fees.  "Yes," he said; "It
did not cost me a cent of money."  However, it cost him a great deal of
labour, trouble, and pain.

	In conversing with brother Marsh, I find that he is about the same
Thomas that he always was--full of anecdotes and chit-chat.  He could
hardly converse for ten minutes without telling an anecdote.  His voice
and style of conversation are familiar to me.

	He has told you that he is an old man.  Do you think that I am an old
man?  I could prove to this congretion [sic] that I am young; for I could
find more girls who would choose me for a husband than can any of the
young men.

	Brother Thomas considers himself very aged and infirm, and you can
see that he is, brethren and sisters.  What is the cause of it?  He left
the Gospel of salvation.  What do you think the difference is between his
age and mine?  One year and seven months to a day; and he is one year,
seven months, and fourteen days older than brother Heber C. Kimball.

	"Mormonism" keeps men and women young and handsome; and when they are
full of the Spirit of God, there are none of them but what will have a
glow upon their countenances; and that is what makes you and me young; for
the Spirit of God is with us and within us.

	When brother Thomas thought of returning to the Church, the plurality
of wives troubled him a good deal.  Look at him.  Do you think it need to? 
I do not; for I doubt whether he could get one wife.  Why it should have
troubled an infirm old man like him is not for me to say.  He read brother
Orson Pratt's work upon that subject, and discovered that the doctrine was
beautiful, consistent, and exalting, and that the kingdom could not be
perfect without it.  Neither can it be perfect without a great many things
that the people do not yet understand, though they will come in the own
due time of the Lord.  

	As I have but a few minutes for speaking, I will relate a little of
the current news of the day.

	On Friday evening, the 11th inst., two of the brethren who
accompanied brothers Samuel W. Richards and George Snider from Deer Creek
to 118 miles below Laramie, came in, and reported that soldiers and a
heavy freight train were there encamped opposite to them and on the south
side of the Platte.  They could tell that they were soldiers, from the
appearance of their carriages, waggons, tents, and mode of encampment.  We
did not learn anything very definite from these two brethren lately
arrived.

	Messrs. Russel and Waddle are freighting for Government, and some of
their trains were scattered along to the Sweetwater.  They have twenty-six
waggons in each train, with a teamster and six yoke of oxen to a waggon. 
Some of those trains were on the Sweetwater when brother Samuel passed
down, and quite a number of them are in advance of the soldiers.  The
brethren learned that Captain Van Vliet, Assistant Quartermaster, was
coming on to purchase lumber and such things as might be needed for the
army.

	Last evening, brother John R. Murdock arrived direct from St. Louis. 
He left here with the mail on the 2nd day of July, and reached
Independence in sixteen days, making by far the shortest trip on record,
and in eighteen days-and-a-half from here landed in St. Louis.  He tarried
there till brother Horace S. Eldredge and brother Groesbeck had transacted
some business, and then started up the river with a small train.  On the
9th of August, brother Murdock left Atchison, K. T. Troubles were daily
expected to break out in Kansas between the Republican, or Free State, and
the pro-slavery parties; for which reason General Harney, with the
cavalry, a portion of the infantry, and, I think, one or two companies of
the Artillery, were detained there by orders from Washington, and Colonel
Johnson ordered to assume the command of the army for Utah.

	Some fifteen or sixteen hundred infantry started from Leavenworth;
and when brother Murdock passed them, one hundred miles below Laramie,
about five hundred had deserted, leaving, as he was told, about one
thousand men on their way to this place.  He passed a few freight trains,
which were entirely deserted by the teamsters, and Russel and Waddle were
not able to hire teamsters to bring those trains forward.

	Brother Murdock did not think that they could get here this fall,
unless we helped them in.  Their teams are pretty good, but they are very
much jaded.  Their mule teams are in better condition, because they
regularly feed them on grain.

	From the time that I heard that the President of the United States
had issued orders for soldiers to come here, they have had my best faith
that the Lord would not let them get here.  I have seen this people, when
palsied with agues, fevers, and with various other diseases, hurled out of
doors, driven away from their cellars full of potatoes, from their meal
chests, from their cows, houses, barns, orchards, fields, and finally from
their happy homes and all the comforts of life.  I have seen that a good
many times, and I pray that I may never see it again, unless it is
absolutely necessary for the welfare and advancement of God's purposes on
the earth.  I want to see no more suffering.  I will not use the word
suffering, for I call it joy instead of sorrow, affliction, and suffering. 
If we live our religion and exercise faith, it is our firm belief that it
is our right to so exercise our united faith that our enemies never can
come here, unless the Lord in his providence sees that it will be for our
good.

	It is my faith and feelings that, if we live as we should live, they
cannot come here;  but I am decided in my opinion that, if worse comes to
worst, and the Lord permits them to come upon us, I will desolate this
whole Territory before I will again submit to the hellish corruption and
bondage the wicked are striving to thrust upon us solely for our
exercising our right of freedom of conscience.

	I will say, in reference to President Buchanan, that, for his
outrageous wickedness in this movement, he shall wear the yoke as long as
he lives; he shall be led about by his party with the yoke on his neck,
until they have accomplished their ends, and he can do no more for them;
and his name shall be forgotten; and "Old Bright," as brother Kimball
calls him, shall be free.  I am persuaded that for their horrible, wicked
treatment to this people--the only loyal people in the United States--the
only people who know the worth of the Constitution--they will be sorely
punished.

	After doing what they already have done to this people--after sending
among us the filth and scum of all creation (as some of the officers were)
as officers of the Government, contrary to the genius of our institutions,
I want to tell them that, though they continue to send poor pusillanimous
curses here to be Government officers, we will not submit to it, troops or
no troops.  I shall tell them this in plainness and simplicity; and they
shall find that in my simplicity I will try to sustain so righteous a
position.  And I believe that the point is yielded, both in Europe and
America; and I believe they acknowledge that Brigham is a man of his word;
and I have come to the conclusion that we will not again have officers
thrust upon us contrary to our consent, the Lord helping us.

	When brother Murdock left St. Louis, Mr. Cummings, the person who had
received the appointment of Governor of Utah, was going to Washington, and
he could not learn that there was one of the Territorial officers with the
soldiers:  hence I do not see but that I shall have to again preside over
our Legislative Assembly this winter.  I do not see that it can be
otherwise; and William H. Hooper will be Secretary, just as he was last
winter.  They have refused to pay the expenses of the last Assembly and
other just debts due to this Territory; but God will overrule those things
for our good and the advancement of his kingdom, if we live our religion.

	Our enemies will yet be glad to come to us for safety and salvation;
and we will do as brother Kimball has said--we will save the old veteran
fathers; and the time will come when we will be baptised for them, while
those who trample upon the rights of their fellow men will be weltering in
hell.  Yes, we will bring up those old revolutionary sires and save them;
for God loves men who are true to each other and are true to him.

	If any want to apostatize, I want them to look at brother Marsh.  I
wish you could all see and understand what he has suffered.  He has
suffered a little; and I could tell you a good deal of the suffering
induced by the weaknesses of men.

	When the Quorum of the Twelve was first chosen, Lyman Johnson's name
was called first, Brigham Young's second, Heber C. Kimball's third, and so
on.  I had seen brother Marsh and others who were nominated for the Quorum
of the Twelve, and I looked upon them as men of great powers of mind--as
men of ability--men who understood the things of heaven.  I looked upon
them as angels, and I looked up to them just as my children look up to me.

	I considered brother Marsh a great man; but as soon as I became
acquainted with him, I saw that the weakness of the flesh was visibly
manifest in him.  I saw that he was ignorant and shattered in his
understanding, if ever he had good understanding.  He manifests the same
weakness to-day.  Has he the stability of a sound mind?  No, and never
had.  And if he had good sense and judgment, he would not have spoken as
he has.  He has just said, "I will be faithful, and I will be true to
you."  He has not wisdom enough to see that he has betrayed us once, and
don't know but what he will again.  He has told me that he would be
faithful, and that he would do this and the other; but he don't know what
he will do next week or next year.

	I do not know what I shall do next year; I always speak for the
present.  But a man that will be once fooled by the Devil--a man that has
not sense to discern between steel grey mixed and iron grey mixed, when
one is dyed with logwood and the other with indigo, may be deceived again. 
You never heard me say that I was going to be true to my God; for I know
too much of human weakness:  but I pray God to preserve me from falling
away--to preserve me in the truth.  I depend not upon myself; for I know
too much of human weakness and of myself, to indulge in such remarks.

	I derive strength from a superior source.  I have been drinking from
that source for many years; and, as I told you last sabbath, I have been
trying to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  And, if we are faithful, we will
all be counted worthy to be his disciples.  God bless you!  Amen.

             THE UNITED STATES' ADMINISTRATION AND UTAH ARMY.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
        Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, September 13, 1857.

	Before the meeting closes, I want to make a few remarks.  My feelings
are so complicated that I want to say a few words, and I do not want to; I
want to talk, and I do not want to talk.  You recollect hearing one of the
Elders state upon the stand, not long since, that he came into the Church
mad, and had been mad ever since.  And I am too angry this morning to
preach.

	I have been in this kingdom a good while--twenty-five years and
upwards, and I have been driven from place to place; my brethren have been
driven, my sisters have been driven; we have been scattered and peeled,
and every time without any provocation upon our part, only that we were
united, obedient to the laws of the land, and striving to worship God. 
Mobs repeatedly gathered against this people, but they never had any power
to prevail until Governors issued their orders and called out a force
under the letter of the law, but breaking the spirit, to hold the
"Mormons" still while infernal scamps cut their throats.  I have had all
that before me through the night past, and it makes me too angry to
preach.  Also to see that we are in a Government whose administrators are
always trying to injure us, while we are constantly at the defiance of all
hell to prove any just grounds for their hostility against us; and yet
they are organizing their forces to come here, and protect infernal scamps
who are anxious to come and kill whom they please, destroy whom they
please, and finally exterminate the "Mormons."

	I did not arrive till late; and brother Taylor was then preaching
upon this subject, and I was glad of it.  He has taught you good
principles.  This people are free; they are not in bondage to any
government on God's footstool.  We have transgressed no law, and we have
no occasion to do so, neither do we intend to; but as for any nation's
coming to destroy this people, God Almighty being my helper, they cannot
come here.  [The congregation responded by a loud Amen.]  That is my
feeling upon that point.

	On the 24th of July last, a number of us went to Big Cottonwood
Kanyon, to pass the anniversary of our arrival into this Valley.  Ten
years ago the 24th of July last, a few of the Elders arrived here, and
began to plough and to pant seeds, to raise food to sustain themselves. 
Whist speaking to the brethren on that day, I said, inadvertently, If the
people of the United States will let us alone for ten years, we will ask
no odds of them; and ten years from that very day, we had a message by
brothers Smoot, Stoddard, and Rockwell, that the Government had stopped
the mail, and that they had ordered 2,500 troops to come here and hold the
"Mormons" still, while priests, politicians, speculators, whoremongers,
and every mean, filthy character that could be raked up should come here
and kill off the "Mormons," I did not think about what I had said ten
years ago, till I heard that the President of the United States had so
unjustly ordered troops here; and then I said, when my former expression
came to my mind, In the name of Israel's God, we ask no odds of them.

	I do not often get angry; but when I do, I am righteously angry; and
the bosom of the Almighty burns with anger towards those scoundrels; and
they shall be consumed, in the name of Israel's God.  We have borne enough
of their oppression and hellish abuse, and we will not bear any more of
it; for there is no just law requiring further forbearance on our part. 
And I am not going to have troops here to protect the priests and a
hellish rabble in efforts to drive us from the land we possess; for the
Lord does not want us to be driven, and has said, "if you will assert your
rights, and keep my commandments, you shall never again be brought into
bondage by your enemies."


	The officer in command of the United States' army, on its way to
Utah, detailed one of his staff, Captain Van Vliet, who is now on the
stand, to come here and earn whether he could procure the necessary
supplies for the army.  Many of you are already aware of this, and some of
you have been previously acquainted with the Captain.  Captain Van Vliet
visited us in Winter Quarters (now Florence); and, if I remember
correctly, he was then officiating as Assistant-Quartermaster.  He is
again in our midst in the capacity of Assistant-Quartermaster.  From the
day of his visit to Winter Quarters, many of this people have become
personally acquainted with him, both through casual intercourse with and
working for him.  He has invariably treated them kindly, as he would a
Baptist, a Methodist, or any other person; for that is his character.  He
has always been found to be free and frank, and to be a man that wishes to
do right; and no doubt he would deal out justice to all, if he had the
power.  Many of you have laboured for him, and found him to be a kind,
good man; and I understand that he has much influence in the army, through
his kind treatment to the soldiers.  He treats them as human beings, while
there are those who treat them worse than brute beasts.

	Well, the enquiry is, "What is the news?  What is the conclusion?" 
It is this--We have to trust in God.  I am not in the least concerned as
to the result, if we put our trust in God.  The administrators of our
Government have issued orders for marching troops and expending much
treasure, and all predicated upon falsehoods, while every honourable man
would have first made an economical and peaceful enquiry into the
circumstances.  And even now, every honourable man would use all his
influence to avert the present unjust and entirely groundless movement
against us; but Captains, Majors, Colonels, and other subordinate officers
have not the power.  Wicked persons, solely for the accomplishment of
their unhallowed schemes, have had the power to array the Government
against us, through their lying and misrepresentation; but citizens,
unorganized into cliques and parties, no matter how good their intentions
and wishes, have not the power to avert the bow when the Administration of
our Government is arrayed against us, unless they will also unite against
the few well-organized scoundrels who are plundering our treasury and fast
urging our country to dissolution.  We have got to protect ourselves by
the strength of our God.  Do not be concerned in the least with regard to
all the affairs that are before you; for we shall live and grow finely, as
said a certain woman, who weighed but two pounds when an infant, and was
put in a quart cup.  Upon being asked whether she lived, "O yes," she
said, "I lived and grew finely."  It will also be said of the Latter-day
Saints, "They lived and grew finely."

	You are taught from Sabbath to Sabbath what to do; and if you do
that, all will be well.  There is only one thing to fear, and that is,
that you will not be faithful to the kingdom of God.  We have that
kingdom; and it will spread its balmy wings over thousands and millions
who have not yet heard the Gospel, and they will find Israel to be "the
head, and not the tail."

	What is the cause of the hostile feeling against this people? 
Brother Taylor has been telling you.  God has restored the Gospel of
salvation to earth again.  That unites the hearts of the people, brings
together those of different nations, notwithstanding their various
traditions and their different manners and customs, and makes them of one
heart and of one mind.  And what follows?  All hell is moved against them,
because the kingdoms of this world--the kingdoms of darkness--are in
danger.  A hell is moved against this people, because we are of one heart
and of one mind.

	The faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is calculated to unite the
people in one, and to bring them back to the unity and faith of those who
obeyed the Gospel anciently, and finally to bring them back to glory. 
Then do you wonder that all the sects of the day are enraged against us? 
I have told you that I do not wonder; neither do I wonder that governors
and rulers are enraged at our success.  Are there any Democrats, any
Whigs, any Methodists, any Baptists, or anything like the parties and
sects of the day among us?  No.  What is there?  Those who want to do the
will of their Father in heaven; and when they can know his will, their
faith is one, their hope is one, and they are one in all things.  

	It is not alone the United States that is in fear because of the
union that exists with this people, but all Europe trembles this day in
consequence of the faith there is here.  Some may think that it is not so;
but I know more about the United States than men do who come here direct
from Washington.  I red their history and their feelings every day.  You
need not think that the world are not opposed to us--you need not think
that politicians are not opposed to us, for they are.

	We have sent a delegate to Congress during the past six years, and
has there ever been an opposing vote in his election?  No.  The people
only want to know who the right man is, and then they will support him. 
Dr. Bernhisel is our delegate; and has it cost him thousands of dollars to
gain his election?  No; it has not cost him a singe dollar; no, not so
much as a red cent.  We think that he is the most suitable man for us to
send to Washington, and we say, "Let us send him," and he is unanimously
elected.  And if we had a thousand officers to elect--if we had to elect
the President of the United States, you would never see a dissenting vote.

	Parties in our Government have no better idea than to think the
republic stands all the firmer upon opposition; but I say that it is not
so.  A republican Government consists in letting the people rule by their
united voice, without a dissension,--in learning what is for the best, and
unitedly doing it.  That is true republicanism.

	Do not be angry.  I will permit you to be as angry as I am.  Do not
get so angry that you cannot pray:  do not allow yourselves to become so
angry that you cannot feed an enemy--even your worst enemy, if an
opportunity should present itself.  There is a wicked anger, and there is
a righteous anger.  The Lord does not suffer wicked anger to be in his
heart; but there is anger in his bosom, and he will hold a controversy
with the nations, and will sift them, and no power can stay his hand.

	The Government of our country will go by the board through its own
corruptions, and no power can save it.  If we can avert the bow for
another season, it is probable that our enemies will have enough to attend
to at home, without worrying the Latter-day Saints.  Have faith, and all
will be well with us.  I would like this people to have faith enough to
turn away their enemies.  I have prayed fervently about this matter; for
it has been said that the troops would come: but I have said that, if my
faith will prevent it, they shall not come.  If God will turn them
whithersoever he will, so that they do not come here, I shall be perfectly
satisfied.  But another man steps up, and says to the one that prays for
our enemies to be turned away, "Brother, you are a coward; damn them, let
them come, for I want fight to them."  Herein you perceive a conflict in
our faith; and that should not be.  If there was a perfect union of our
faith, our enemies could never cross the Rocky Mountains; or, if they
undertook to come some other way, they never could cross the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, nor the Basin Rim, on our north, nor the deserts at the south. 
But, says one, "I want to fight."  Do all such persons know that they are
not right?  If they will examine their hearts, they will find a wicked
anger and a malice there; and they cannot get into the kingdom of God with
those feelings.

	Learn to control yourselves; earn to be in the hands of God as clay
in the hands of the potter; and if he will turn our enemies away, praised
be his name.  But if it should become a duty to take the sword, let us do
it, manfully and in the strength of Israel's God.  Then one will chase a
thousand, and two will put ten thousand to flight."  The day will be in
which a man will go out and say to an army of a hundred thousand men, "Do
thus, and so, or we are upon you;" and they will hear the rumbling of
chariots and the rushing of troops, as in the days of Elijah.

	You recollect of a Prophet's telling what bread and meal should be
sold for in a straitened city the following day.  The enemy thought that
there were millions of the Israelites after them, for they heard the
rolling of chariot-wheels, the clashing of armour, and the trampling of
horses, and they fled.  The Prophet had told the king that he would be
trodden to death in the gate, and he was; and a measure of meal was sold
in the city for a penny, in fulfilment of the word of the Lord.  The
doctrines of salvation are the same now as they were in the days of Adam,
or Elijah, or Jesus, when he was upon the earth.

	While brother Taylor was speaking of the sectarian world, it occurred
to my mind that the wicked do not know any more than the dumb brutes,
comparatively speaking; but it is our business to hunt up and gather out
all the honest portion of the nations of the earth, and give them
salvation.  We may very properly say that the sectarian world do not know
anything correctly, so far as pertains to salvation.  Ask them where
heaven is?--where they are going to when they die?--where Paradise
is?--and there is not a priest in the world that can answer your
questions.  Ask them what kind of a being our Heavenly Father is, and they
cannot tell you so much as Balaam's ass told him.  They are more ignorant
than children.

	We have the knowledge of those things; and we have the greatest
reason to be thankful of any people upon the face of the earth.  If others
ought to do right, we more.  Be full of love and compassion to your
fellowbeings, full of kindness, such as human beings can possess, for that
is our business.  The only business that we have on hand is to build up
the kingdom of God and prepare the way of the Son of Man.

	If you do your duty in this respect, you need not be afraid of mobs,
nor of forces sent out in violation of the very genius of our free
institutions, holding you till mobs kill you.  Mobs?  Yes; for where is
there the least particle of authority, either in our Constitution or laws,
for sending troops here, or even for appointing civil officers contrary to
the voluntary consent of the governed?  We came here without any help from
our enemies, and we intend to stay as long as we please.

	They say that their army is legal, and I say that such a statement is
as false as hell, and that they are as rotten as an old pumpkin that has
been frozen seven times and then melted in a harvest sun.  Come on with
your thousands of illegally-ordered troops, and I will promise you, in the
name of Israel's God, that you shall melt away as the snow before a July
sun.

	There is one thing that I want, for the satisfaction of Captain Van
Vliet.  One of our old senators, Stephen A. Douglas, recently said before
his constituents in Illinois, that nine-tenths of our people were aliens. 
We have a larger proportion of foreigners in this city than in any other
part of the Territory, and there are a good many here to-day who have just
come in from the Plains.  I want those who are native born and naturalized
American citizens to raise their right hands.  [Over two-thirds of the
congregation raised their hands.]  You who have not yet received your
naturalization papers will please manifest it in the same way.  [Less than
a third of the congregation raised their hands.]  Now, Captain, you can
see for yourself that over two-thirds of this congregation are either
native born or naturalized American citizens.

	I have called this vote that Captain Van Vliet may be able to do as
he always does--speak the truth boldly, and tell them of it next winter in
Washington; and that he can, if he sees Senator Douglas in Washington,
tell him that his statement was false, for he has seen for himself.

	If it were any use, I would ask whether there is ONE person in this
congregation who wants to go to the United States; but I know that I
should not find any.  But I will pledge myself that if there is a man,
woman, or child that wants to go back to the States, if they will pay
their debts, and not steal anything, they can go; and if they are poor and
honest, we will help them to go.  That has been my well-known position all
the time.

	Brother Taylor has said that he bantered the United States for a
trade, and promised them that if they would send all to Utah that wanted
to come, we would send all to the States that wanted to go.  We would get
our thousands to their one, if they would make that trade.  But no--they
must keep on lying, howling, and trying to oppress and kill the innocent.

	When some want away last spring, I told them to go in peace, and they
did so.  What are they doing now?  Many of them are struggling to get
back, and the rest are wishing that they had never left here.  It is a
kind of dear business to apostatize every year.  I would rather stick to
the old ship Zion.

	When I was written to in Nauvoo by the President of the United
States, through another person, enquiring, "Where are you going, Mr.
Young?"  I replied that I did not know where we should land.  We had men
in England trying to negotiate for Vancouver's Island, and we sent a
shipload of Saints round Cape Horn to California.  Men in authority asked,
"Where are you going to?"  "We may go to California, or to Vancouver's
Island."  When the Pioneer company reached Green River, we met Samuel
Brannan and a few others from California, and they wanted us to go there. 
I remarked, "Let us go to California, and we cannot stay there over five
years; but let us stay in the mountains, and we can raise our own
potatoes, and eat them; and I calculate to stay here."  We are still on
the backbone of the animal, where the bone and the sinew are, and we
intend to stay here, and all hell cannot help themselves.

	We are not to be persecuted as we have been.  We can say, "Come as a
mob, and we can sweeten you up right suddenly."  They never did anything
against Joseph till they had ostensibly legalized a mob; and I shall treat
every army and every armed company that attempts to come here as a mob. 
[The congregation responded, "Amen."]  You might as well tell me that you
can make hell into a powder-house as to tell me that you could let an army
in here and have peace; and I intend to tell them and show them this, if
they do not keep away.  By taking this course, you will find that every
man and woman feels happy, and they say, "All is right, all is well;" and
I say that our enemies shall not slip the bow on "Old Bright's neck"
again.

	God bless you.  Amen.


	              MOVEMENTS OF THE SAINTS' ENEMIES.--THE CRISIS.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, 
       Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, September 13, 1857.

	A would like very well to hear some of the rest of the brethren
speak, if I had entirely got over being angry and had patience to sit and
hear.  I think, however, that I shall be able to calm and control my
feelings, though I do not expect to become entirely settled until the
affairs around me are settled.

	It is a pretty bold stand for this people to take, to say that they
will not be controlled by the corrupt administrators of our General
Government.  We will be controlled by them, if they will be controlled by
the Constitution and laws; but they will not.  Many of them do not care
any more about the Constitution and the laws that they make than they do
about the laws of another nation.  That class trample the rights of the
people under their feet, while there are also many who would like to
honour them.  All we have ever asked for is our constitutional rights.  We
wish the laws of our Government honoured, and we have ever honoured them;
but they are trampled under foot by administrators.

	There cannot be a more damnable, dastardly order issued than was
issued by the Administration to this people while they were in an Indian
country, in 1846.  Before we left Nauvoo, not less than two United States'
senators came to receive a pledge from us that we would leave the United
States; and then, while we were doing our best to leave their borders, the
poor, low, degraded curses sent a requisition for five hundred of our men
to go and fight their battles!  That was President Polk; and he is now
weltering in hell with old Zachary Taylor, where the present
administrators will soon be, if they do not repent.

	Liars have reported that this people have committed treason; and upon
their lies, the President has ordered out troops to aid in officering this
Territory:  and if those officers are like many who have previously been
sent here, (and we have reason to believe that they are, or they would not
come when they know they are not wanted,)  they are poor, miserable
blacklegs, brokendown political hacks, robbers, and whoremongers--men that
are not fit for civilized society; so they must dragoon them upon us for
officers.  I feel that I won't bear such cursed treatment, and that is
enough to say; for we are just as free as the mountain air.

	I do not lift my voice against the great and glorious Government
guaranteed to every citizen by our Constitution, but against those corrupt
administrators who trample the Constitution and just laws under their
feet.  They care no more about them than they do about the Government of
France; but they walk them under their feet with impunity.  And the most
of the characters they have sent here as officers cared no more about the
laws of our country and of this Territory than they did about the laws of
China, but walked them under their feet with all the recklessness of
despots.

	I do not want to be angry, nor to have my feelings wrought up; but I
cannot keep quiet under the continued outrageous tyranny of the wicked. 

	I have said that if the brethren will have faith, the Lord will fight
our battles, and we will have the privilege of living here in peace.  I
have counted the cost to this people of a collision with our enemies; but
I cannot begin to count the cost it will be to them.

	I have told you that if this people will live their religion, all
will be well; and I have told you that if there is any man or woman that
is not willing to destroy anything and everything of their property that
would be of use to an enemy, if left, I wanted them to go out of the
Territory; and I again say so to-day; for when the time comes to burn and
lay waste our improvements, if any man undertakes to shield his, he will
be sheared down; for "judgment will be laid to the line and righteousness
to the plummet."  Now the fait-hearted can go in peace; but should that
time come, they must not interfere.  Before I will suffer what I have in
times gone by, there shall not be one building, nor one foot of lumber,
nor a stick, nor a tree, nor a particle of grass and hay, that will burn,
left in reach of our enemies.  I am sworn, if driven to extremity, to
utterly lay waste, in the name of Israel's God.

	I know that the Saints, both the brethren and sisters, pay that our
enemies may not come here; for their entrance is designed by our
Government to be the prelude to the introduction of abominations and
death.  And you cannot talk to a brother, or even to a sister, but that
she will tell you that, if she consents in her feelings to have our
enemies come here, she feels uncomfortable, and her heart sinks within
her.  If I consent in my feelings to have them come here, my heart sinks
within me, my buoyant spirits are gone, and I have no comfort; for I know
the hellish designs concealed under the present movement.  But we are
free, and every man says, "Stand by the kingdom."  When this is the case,
every man is like a troop; they are like lions. 

	Admit of corrupt administrators sending troops here, and what would
be the result?  All hell would follow after.  I naturally dislike to have
any trouble, and would not, were I not obliged to; but we are obliged to
defend ourselves against the persecution of our oppressors, or have our
constitutional rights rent from us, and have ourselves destroyed.  We must
either suffer that, or stand up and maintain the kingdom of God on the
earth.

	We have known all the time that the kingdoms of darkness were opposed
to the kingdom of God--that the powers of earth and hell were combined
against it.  Christ and Baal cannot make friends with each other:  you
cannot mix oil and water, righteousness and wickedness.  This is the
kingdom of God; all others are of Devil.  They never can be united in this
world, nor in any other:  there is no possibility of the two kingdoms
becoming one.  Those who believe and obey the Gospel of the Son of God,
and forsake all for its interests, belong to the kingdom of God, and all
the rest belong to the other kingdom.  There is a distinction, and the
line must be drawn; and you and I have to stand up to it, even though it
may take from us our right eyes and right hands.  We must stand up to the
line and maintain the kingdom of God, or we will all go to destruction
together.

	I am perfectly willing that the brethren should stop all
improvements, if they choose, and spend a few years in seeing what our
enemies will do; though their efforts against us will only tend to use
them up the faster.  If the people prefer it, they may stop their
improvements and take care of their wheat, and cache a supply of grain,
flour, &c., where no other persons can find it; though we can raise train
here all the time,--yes, all the time.

	Suppose that our enemies send 50,000 troops here, they will have to
transport all that will be requisite to sustain them over one winter; for
I will promise them, before they come, that there shall not be one
particle of forage, nor one mouthful of food for them, should they come. 
They will have to bring all their provisions and forage; and though they
start their teams with as heavy loads as they can draw, there is no team
that can bring enough to sustain itself, to say nothing of the men.  If
there were no more men here than there are in the Seminole nation, our
enemies never could use us up; but they could use up themselves, which
they will do.  The Seminoles--a little tribe of a few hundred in
Florida--have cost our government, I suppose, in the neighbourhood of
100,000,000 dollars; and they are no nearer being conquered than when the
war commenced.  And what few have removed have been induced to do so by
compromise; and it would be far cheapest for the Government to pay the
debts they honestly owe us, and leave us unmolested in the peaceful
enjoyment of our rights.

	Would not our enemies feel well in going to the kanyons for wood the
first night to cook their suppers with?  The idea puts me in mind of an
anecdote told by one Brown about the man who took the first barrel of
whisky up the Missouri river on a log-raft.

	They might stay amid blackened desolation till they had ate up what
they had brought, and then they would have to go back.

	It has been asked, "Have you counted the cost?"  Yes, for ourselves;
but I cannot begin to count it for our enemies.  It will cost them all
they have in this world, and will land them in hell in the world to come,
while the only trouble with us is that we have two or three times more men
than we need for using up all who can come here to deprive us of our
rights.

	As I said this morning, ten years ago on this ground I stated that we
would not ask any odds of our enemies in ten years from that date; and the
next time that I thought of it was ten years afterwards to a day. "They
are now sending their troops" was the news; and it directly occurred to
me, "Will you ask any odds of them?"  No; in the name of Israel's God we
will not; for as soon as we ask odds, we get ends--of bayonets.  When we
have asked them for bread, they have given us stones; and when we have
asked them for meat, they have given us scorpions; and what is the use in
asking any more?  I do not ask any odds of those who are striving to
deprive us of every vestige of freedom and to destroy us from the earth.

	Suppose that we should now bow down, and they should order their
troops back, and then send a Governor and other officers here, how long
would it be before some miserable scamp would get into a fuss with the
Indians in Utah County, or in some other county, and get killed?  Then the
Governor would order out the Militia--probably two or three hundred
men--to kill off those Indians.  Well, the brethren, knowing that the
aggressor is a white man, do not want to turn out and, like Gen. Harney,
kill the squaws; and they say, "We shall not go."  Then the Governor would
say, "They have committed treason;" and it would be, "Send an army here,
and shoot and hang them."  Our enemies are determined to bring us into
collision with the Government, so that they can kill us; but they shall
not come here.

	If the troops are now this side of Laramie, remember that the
Sweetwater is this side of that place.  They must have some place to
winter, for they cannot come through here this season.  We could go out
and use them up, and it would not require fifty men to do it.  But
probably we shall not have occasion to take that course, for we do not
want to kill men.  They may winter in peace at some place east of us; but
when spring comes, they must go back to the States, or, at any rate, they
must leave the mountains.

	We have no desire to kill men, but we wish to keep the devils from
killing us.  If you hear that they are near the upper crossing of the
Platte, they will probably stay there till they can collect 50.000 troops. 
We will say that 9 and 3 equal 17; and if that is so, how long will it
take to get those troops here?  Let an arithmetician figure out how long
it will be before 9 and 3 will make 17; for that will just be as soon as
our enemies will get 50,000 troops here.

	We have got to be called treasoners by our enemies.  Joseph was taken
up six times, if I remember rightly, on the charge of treason.  Once he
was brought into court by some enemies who thought they could prove that
he had committed adultery, and that they termed treason.  At another time
our brethren wanted to vote in Davies County, Missouri, and said they
would cast their votes and have their rights with other citizens;
whereupon Joseph was taken up for treason.  Another time, he was taken up
on a charge of high treason; and when he came before the grand jury, his
enemies wanted to prove that he had more than one wife, asserting that
that was high treason.

	Our enemies are constantly yelling "Rebellion! treason!" no matter
how peaceful, orderly, and loyal we may be.  And now to come out in open
opposition to their cursed, corrupt practices, will of course be counted
treason.  But let me tell you that the real, actual treason is committed
in Washington, by the administrators of our Government sending an army to
take the lives of innocent citizens.  Every man is allowed by the
Constitution to have what religion he pleases and to profess what religion
he pleases.  That liberty is guaranteed by the Constitution; "but you,
'Mormons,' an army must be sent against you, because you are Latter-day
Saints."  Yes, an army must be sent to drive us from the earth.

	There is high treason in Washington; and if the law was carried out,
it would hang up many of them.  And the very act of James K. Polk in
taking five hundred of our men, while we were making our way out of the
country under an agreement forced upon us, would have hung him between the
heavens and the earth, if the laws had been faithfully executed.  And now,
if they can send a force against this people, we have every constitutional
and legal right to send them to hell, and we calculate to send them there.

	When I get over being angry, I may preach something else; but the
past travels and sufferings of this people through mobocracy are before
me.

	I am not speaking of the Government, but of the corrupt
administrators of the Government.  They make me think of a sign in New
York, upon which was lettered, "All manner of twisting and turning done
here."  It is just so in Washington city; they can twist and turn in any
and every way, to suit their hellish appetites.

	Were I an officer sent to Utah for the purpose of aiding the
unhallowed oppression of the innocent, (and in this connection I disclaim
all personalities,)  I would know the facts in the case before I would
make any hostile move; and sooner than side with tyranny and murder, I
would resign my commission, and say, "Take it and stick it in your boot,
and go to hell, and I will go my way."  And I would rather go and raise my
own potatoes for my wives and children than to hold office under such a
set of administrators and bow down to their wicked designs; though, if I
were of the world, I should probably do as the rest do.

	I have already told you that the main cause of an army being now sent
here is a political scheme for the purpose of getting money out of the
United States treasury. Politicians and traders combine to lay plans, no
matter how devilish, for getting their hands into the treasury of the
United States, that they may have money with which to sow corruption and
gratify their debauched natures.

	Some men do not realize what they are doing.  I said, a few weeks
ago, that the deeds of some men are out of sight.  Our merchants here have
fanned the flame, and what for?  To peddle off my blood and yours for gold
and silver.  Although that design may have been out of their sight, yet
such is the case; but they will not make money by the operation.  Should
the crisis come, they will find themselves in poor pasture, with nothing
but greasewood and sage to feed upon.  It will not do for them to sell us
for money; for we are worth more than the Methodist society was sold for
in Canada, where they were sold at three cents a head.

	I am aware that you will want to know what will be the result of the
present movement against us.  "Mormonism" will take an almighty stride
into influence and power, while our enemies will sink and become weaker
and weaker, and be no more; and I know it just as well now as I shall five
years hence.  The Lord Almighty wants a name and a character; and he will
show our enemies that he is God, and that he has set to his hand again to
gather Israel, and to try our faith and integrity.  And he is saying,
"Now, you, my children, dare you take a step to promote righteousness, in
direct and open opposition to the popular feelings of all the wicked in
your Government?  If you do, I will fight your battles."

	Our enemies had better count the cost; for if they continue to job,
they will want to let it out to sub-contractors, before they get half
through with it.  If they persist in sending troops here, I want the
people in the west and in the east to understand that it will not be safe
for them to cross the Plains.

	It has cost the Government hundreds of thousands of dollars more for
the Indians in other territories than it has in this; and I have saved the
Government hundreds of thousands of dollars, by keeping the Indians
peaceable in Utah.  Hundreds of miles have the Indians travelled to see
me, to know whether they might use up the emigrants, saying--"they have
killed many of us; and they damn you and damn us, and shall we stand it?" 
I have always told them to hold on, to stop shedding blood, and to live in
peace.  But I have been told that the first company of packers that went
through here this season, on their way from california to the States, shot
at every Indian they saw between Carson Valley and Box Elder; and what has
been the result?  Probably scores of persons have been killed; animals
have been taken from nearly all the emigrants that have passed on that
road; and the Indians in that region have now more stock than they know
how to take care of; and they come into settlements with their pockets
full of gold.  The whites first commenced on the Indians; and now, if they
do not quit such conduct, they must stop travelling through this country;
for it is more than I can do to keep the Indians still under such
outrageous treatment.

	The people do not realize what they have done by driving us into the
midst of the Lamanites.  They prevented Joseph from associating with the
Indians; but they, through their ignorance, thought that we were going to
Vancouver's Island, or on the borders of the Pacific; but lo!  they have
driven us into the midst of the Lamanites.  These Lamanites begin to have
a knowledge of their forefathers, and they are cultivating the earth. 
Here were the most degraded classes of Indians to be found; but now there
is not a tribe so enlightened, nor one that has so good a knowledge of its
real position and standing before the Lord as have some of these Utah
Indians.  It is now very different with them to what it was when we first
came here.  It is now becoming a universal practice with them to punish
the guilty, and not the innocent:  they have been taught that from the
time we first came here.  Talk with them, and you will learn that they
have a good deal of knowledge.  They must be saved, for they are the
children of Abraham.

	The Lord in his mercy has suffered our enemies to do that which we
could not have accomplished for many years; and, let a war commence, and
there is no knowing where we shall next land in Jackson County, Missouri. 
They will learn that "Mormonism" is a living creature.

	All the world have to learn that the Lord is God, and that he is the
God of his children.  He will protect his anointed; he will defend his own
family; and all we have to do is to do his will; and every man, woman, and
child ought to seek to learn the will of God and do it.  When that is the
case, we need not fear all earth and hell.  Do not offend God by not doing
as he wants you to.

	May the Lord God bless you, brethren and sisters.  Amen.

          SUPERIORITY OF PURE MOTIVES--ASCENDANCY OF THE KINGDOM
                      OF GOD--OBEDIENCE TO COUNSEL.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                Great Salt Lake City, September 20, 1857.

	Brother Heber wants to know whether he has said anything wrong.  So
far as I am concerned, and so far as the truth is concerned, he has not. 
He is very careless in the use of language; but I do not so much care how
he or any of the brethren express their ideas, when their hearts are right
before God.

	When we have only the one desire to promote the kingdom of God on the
earth, the people will be right.

	Brother Heber is very full of comparisons; and I will liken brother
Heber's language to the conduct of some of this people.  He talks just as
ideas happen to come into his mind; and some of the people act just as it
happens at the moment, not thinking what they do.  And yet their desire is
to do right; and the greatest faults that most of them see in each other
arise through weakness and ignorance, and not through an evil design. 
They desire to do right, just as brother Heber desires to talk as straight
as a line; but he has so long been in the habit of making his own
dictionary and using his words out of it, that it would be difficult for
him to change his style now.

	No matter what the outward appearance is--if I can know of a truth
that the hearts of the people are fully set to do the will of their Father
in heaven, though they may falter and do a great many things through the
weaknesses of human nature, yet, they will be saved.  You will hear among
such persons observations that appear very much out of the way; but, at
the same time, they will say that "it does seem that when I would try to
do good, and to do my best, evil will come before me."

	If there is an outward appearance of mistakes or evils, we ought to
have the Spirit of the Lord to look at the designs of the actors, and know
whether they act from impure or sinister motives.  If their motives are
pure--no matter whether their outward appearance is particularly precise,
their acts will be discerned by the Spirit of the Lord, and will be
appreciated for what they were intended.  If people act from pure motives,
though their outward movements may not always be so pleasant as our
traditions would prefer, yet God will make those acts result in the best
good to the people.

	I wish the people to know that they have to come to the position
that, in their feelings and affections, the kingdom of God must be all in
all to us.  If we are not in that position, you will find that we will be
scourged and afflicted until we are.  With us it must be the kingdom of
God all the time: it must be that or nothing.  The time has come in which
that must be the common feeling with the Saints.

	As to the world's being in fellowship with us, it never was and it
never can be.  We cut off the Gentiles just before we left Nauvoo; and
they have cut us off from their fellowship.  The thread is cut that has
hitherto connected us; and now we have to act for ourselves and build up
the kingdom of God on the earth, which we will do, by the help of the
Lord; for he has decreed that his kingdom shall take the ascendancy over
all other kingdoms under heaven.

	It was observed by brother Spencer that the time had come for this
work to be making far more rapid strides than it has hitherto done.  You
will find that it has not been by any act of our own that this thread has
been cut; but we will now have to sustain ourselves, or we will go under. 
We have not desired it--we have not naturally wished for this crisis to
come; but inasmuch as it has come, if the people, in the strength of
Israel's God, sustain themselves, they will be be [sic] sustained.

	If we are united, we are independent of the powers of hell and of the
world, which terms are synonymous with me.  We are now free and easy; and
if we succumb to the wicked, our hearts sink within us and we sicken and
die; but when my feelings are decided that we will defend ourselves
against all who come here to destroy us or to oppose the establishment of
truth on the earth, I feel perfectly free and light as the air.  Does
brother Spencer feel so?  I presume that he does, and also that every
Saint feels as free as the mountain breezes.

	I am free and easy, and I am not concerned about having too much
rest; though, when my feelings are at rest, and I have not an hundred tons
weight upon my shoulders, a feeling comes over me like this--"Are you not
becoming slothful?  [sic-no quote]  As soon as I have a good sound
reflection upon the matter, I feel to thank God that he will let me rest
at times, and not always require me to bear a burden like carrying a
hundred tons.

	Be faithful; and if you are attentive to your duties, God will take
care of the rest.

	We talk of enjoying, multiplying, and increasing in the things of
God.  All that we can do is to prepare to receive anything that God may
see fit to give.  I do not know but that I am just as well prepared to
receive revelations this morning as I shall be millions of years hence.  I
do not know but that I shall be prepared to do the will of God, according
to my capacity, as well to-day or to-morrow as I shall be when I have
spent millions of years in his presence.

	You hear people in the sectarian world talk about preparing to die;
but the religion that we have embraced teaches us to prepare to live.  If
we were now going to exchange this world for another, I do not know but
that we are as well prepared as we shall be in years to come.  I have felt
that I never should be better prepared to receive the glory of the
spirit-world than I am now, according to my present capacity.  While
brother Heber was talking about our travels in 1834, I remember that
brother Joseph said the camp should be cursed.  We had some wicked men in
the company, and Joseph discerned the spirits of those men, and said that
the camp should be cursed and that they should feel the heavy hand of the
Lord.  Brother Heber came to me and said, "I do not know that I could have
done any better, even though it had been to save my natural life;" and he
did do well and continued to do so.  And I will say that I do not know
that I can do any better than I am doing.

	You and I may be ready to fight:  we may be ready to plant seed, and,
if called upon, to cache grain in the mountains, and to do whatever the
Lord may require at our hands.  Let us do whatever may be required.  If we
are called upon to take our women and children into the mountains, let us
do that; if to burn, let us be on hand to burn; if to build more, let us
be on hand to burn; if to build more, let us do that; and whatever we are
required to do, let us do.

	We called up a Bishop, the other night, to go on an express; and when
he came to my office, I said to him, "Brother Thomas, are you ready?"  He
replied, "Yes."  Though he did not know what was wanted of him, yet he was
ready.  He asked, "When do you want me?"  I replied, "Early to-morrow
morning" (now, yesterday morning); and he was there at the time--which is
the way that men should feel and act.

	The main object of my present remarks has been to have the people
know whether they are taught right--to have them know whether they are
receiving the word of the Lord from this stand--to have them know whether
they are led right.

	As to being afflicted, never fear that:  only fear that you are not
living as well as you might, and then there is no danger.  You know how
you have been led, and I can say that you try to walk in the path that
leads to improvement and purity and to never do a known evil.  When you
know that an evil is before you, pass it by, and do that which tends to
good, and all will be right.

	If you are not led right, or if you are afraid that you are not going
to be led right, just find out a better way; for that is your privilege,
if you are not already led right.  And if you will live so as to know God
better than any other man, of find some one that knows God better, and of
whom you can learn more of God--a man that knows better how to dictate the
affairs of the Church, all will be right.

	I wish that every man would live so that he could have communion with
angels--so that Jesus would come to visit him.  I wish I could see this
people in such a position; but there is yet too much sin in our midst: 
our traditions cling to us so strongly, that we cannot yet break through
into that liberty; but we will see the day, if faithful, in which we can
converse with angels.  There are persons in this congregation that will
converse with angels just as freely as we converse with each other.

	Be faithful, and God will not only fight for us, but he will also
lead us to victory.  What has been said today is true.  You know that
brother Heber almost always testifies to the truth of what he says; but I
do not care whether you think that what I say is true or not, for that
does not concern me.  You may judge of the truth you hear to-day and of
that which you will hear in times to come; for we shall be judges of
ourselves as well as of our enemies, and we shall also judge angels.  God
bless you!  Amen.

                     ULTIMATE VICTORY OF THE SAINTS.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, 
              Great Salt Lake City, Sunday, October 4, 1857.

	I will say a few words before the congregation is dismissed.

	As but few can be in our offices to learn the news that is brought
in, I will say that on the 2nd, Friday last, a messenger arrived with
intelligence that the soldiers were going up Ham's Fork.

	Previous to that I had sent by Lieutenant-General Wells a copy of the
Proclamation proclaiming martial law, and ordering the troops not to come
here.  They treated it as I presumed they would.  They say that they are
sent by the President, are subject to superior officers, and intend to
abide their instructions; and I expect that they will, until some other
power checks their progress.

	The brethren are well, and the spirit of peace and contentment rests
upon them.  They are doing their duties--living to and serving their God.

	Keep the "'Mormon' creed," and especially just now in regard to the
remarks made by brother Spencer.  Some may think they will have to deviate
in attending to digging their neighbours' potatoes; but this is now the
very business for the brethren to do.  This is now their duty, and what
the brethren ought to do.

 	I do not know that anybody's heart burns, except it is to get a
little nearer to our enemies and for the troops to undertake to come in
here.  Well, we are in the hands of the Lord our God, and he will overrule
things just as he pleases.

	Many want to know what the result will be; and they want the Lord to
give them revelation.  Get revelation, if you can.  I have told you
before, and I can tell you now, that the result will be that "Mormonism"
will be higher and greater in power and influence than ever it was before. 
Our enemies will sink, while we will increase in power and strength, and
enjoy an influence that we never enjoyed before; and the Lord will have
his own way in bringing about these things.  I know that all will be made
right; and an allwise, overruling Providence will bring us off victorious. 
He has led us to victory and peace, and has given us power and influence
that we can sustain ourselves; and I believe that it is the calculation of
all to sustain themselves against all that can come to annoy, destroy,
desolate, and drive the Saints of God.  God will fight our battles; and he
will do it just as he pleases.

	You know that it is one peculiarity of our faith and religion never
to ask the Lord to do a thing without being willing to help him all that
we are able; and then the Lord will do the rest.

	The main object I had in coming to meeting this morning was to let
you know that my health is better.  Last Sabbath I did not think it
prudent to come out; but I am at my post, and God is at the helm.

	Let us walk in the precepts of our Saviour--those that he has marked
out for us, and God will bless us; and I bless you, my brethren and
sisters, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

	I mean to save my brethren and sisters, God being my helper.  God
bless you!  Amen.

    ADVANTAGES OF TRIALS AND EXPERIENCE--REFORMATION OF CONDUCT, ETC.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at the Bowery,
         Great Salt Lake City, Tuesday Morning, October 6, 1857.

	Quite a goodly number have assembled to our Conference to transact
business in a Church capacity.  We shall first present and attend to the
business, and then to such instructions, teachings, exhortations, &c., as
may come before the Conference.

	I think there are quite a number of brethren present who have lately
returned from their fields of labour.  We would like to have them come to
the stand, and we will give them the privilege of occupying a portion of
the time.  I think brother Jacob Hoffheins has not been on the stand since
his return; and I see several others who have not.

	We shall first present the authorities of the Church to the
Conference this morning, though such has not been our general practice.  I
believe the brethren are pretty much in readiness, and have all got their
guns ready for shooting.  We will first attend to the business, so that if
it is necessary to repair to the kanyons we can do so.

	I do not know how long we shall hold this Conference, and therefore
no one needs to ask me.  There is a time for all things; and I never saw a
better time than now to secure potatoes and other crops, and thus do our
preaching in the season thereof and digging potatoes in the season
thereof.  And I could almost wish that our Conference would be dismissed
this morning, and all hands go and secure the potatoes, squashes, corn,
&c.

	We have heretofore spent a great deal of time in Conferences
unmolested, and we shall again have a great deal of time to spend in this
capacity undisturbed.  We must have what is good for us--that which puts
us in mind and brings to us principles that are free.  Should we live in
peace, year after year, how long would it be before we were glued to the
world?  Our affections would be so fastened to the things of the world
that it would be hard for us to spend little time in Conference; it would
be hard to go on missions; it would be contrary to our feelings to attend
to anything but our own individual concerns to make ourselves rich.

	It seems to be necessary for the Lord to bring this people into
circumstances to show them that the things of this world are mere
nothingness in their present state--are but a shadow. They are to-day, and
to-morrow they are not.  This shows to us that all things pertaining to
this world are subject to change, and such changes as we cannot control. 
We find that kings are raised up and emperors placed in power, and then
they are hurled down.  We see men who are popular, wealthy, and rich
become poor.  History and our own experience prove all this, and that
riches take the wings of the morning and fly away.  To-day we are
rich--to-morrow we are poor.  Next week we may be rich, and the week after
poor again.  It is the Lord that gives and the Lord that takes away; and
it is a blessing that we have the privilege of this experience in our
present condition.

	Look at ourselves--run over our own experience, and we shall discover
that ourselves, our neighbours, our friends, our acquaintances, and all
people do not always know when they are happy.  In other words, if you
could crowd an individual or a community into heaven without experience,
it would be no enjoyment to them.  They must know the opposite:  they must
know how to contrast, in order to prize and appreciate the comfort and
happiness, the joy and the bliss they are actually in possession of.  Can
you realize this?  How many there are who will exclaim, "If I had but
known it, I was happy in such a situation!  How happy I might have been,
if I had only known that I was happy,"

	You will see individuals who are easy and comfortable, that would
like to change their situations; and when they change, they find that they
have changed for the worse.  They then turn round and say, "How happy I
could have been, if I had known how to appreciate my own happiness!  I had
nothing to annoy me; I was in comfortable circumstances; I enjoyed good
health, and had all that I could ask for to make life desirable; but I did
not know at the time that I enjoyed one of the comforts of life."

	Is that the experience of any of you?  I know that it is of a great
many of you.  Then learn to be happy when you have the privilege.  For
many years we have had the privilege of living in peace and making
ourselves comfortable in these valleys of the mountains; and do you
recollect that but a short time ago it seemed as though almost every one
had wandered his own way?  The people had almost forgotten and lost sight
of the principles of truth and righteousness, of the religion that we have
embraced, and the whole plan of salvation.  They had almost lost sight of
the redemption of the nations of the earth, and each one had turned to his
own way.  Can you recollect that situation of the people?

	We have reason to be thankful that we have forsaken backslidings and
returned to the Lord in a great measure; but we are still far from being
as we should be, taking every individual, though the great majority of the
people are doing the best, or about as well as they know how.  This I
believe with all my heart; and they feel very anxious to live so that they
can enjoy more and more of the knowledge of God:  they are very anxious to
know how to obtain more of the revelations of Jesus Christ; and some are
fearful that the people are not doing right, and that they do not live up
to their privileges.

	Some of the brethren were conversing in my office the other day, and
I discovered that a part of them had a great anxiety for us to know more
of godliness, and had a feeling that this people must do better--must more
strictly refrain from evil and walk more humbly before their God.  I said
to them, "Brethren, I will take you for an example, with myself; and I
tell you, for one, that I do not know how to do any better than I do; and
if the Lord wants me to do any better, he must let me now it; for I cannot
do any better of myself.  Can you say the same?"  They said they could. 
So it is with the people:  the most of them are doing the best they know
how.  There are a few who sin, and a few who will do wrong--to things that
they ought to be ashamed of.  They are scarce:  but there is once in a
while one of that class in this community; and we expect that there will
be, just so long as the wheat and the tares grow together.  There is once
in a while one that we would like to be rid of--would love to have leave
us and this community.

	It is astonishing that any should prefer to act wickedly, and yet
there is a reason for all this.  We expect it--at least I do:  I look for
it.  I do not look for anything else but that there will be tares in the
field until the time of burning.  I will just say, for your consolation
and mine, that I think the field is now pretty well weeded out, though the
roots are here, and they will spring up occasionally, and once in a while
things are done that are disgraceful.  Some will do things that the Devil
would be ashamed of and would not think of doing.  But I am thankful that
there are but few of that class here; and I pray that the evils may be
lessened and that the people may be purified before the Lord.

	It is truth--it is God's truth--it is eternal truth, if people did
but know it, that it is much better to be honest, to live here uprightly,
and forsake and shun evil, than it is to be dishonest.  It is the easiest
path in the world to be honest,--to be upright before God; and when people
learn this, they will practise it.  If they could only believe this, it
does appear to me that they will forsake every evil practice, every evil
thought, and banish them from their minds, and try to practise virtue and
truth, and to live in that way that they will overcome every evil
disposition, and live so that they can control their reflections, and that
their reflections will tend to virtue, truth, and holiness; for this is
our privilege, until we became pure in our hearts, and find that the
principles of righteousness dwell within us.  Then, as it was said by the
Saviour to his disciples, He will be in us a fountain of living water,
springing up into everlasting life.

	That is the principle--the fountain that Jesus our elder brother
dwells in; and we can have the same privilege of overcoming sin in
ourselves until we have no desire to do anything but right--no desire only
to build up His kingdom upon the earth, and have the Spirit of the Lord
Jesus to be in us a fountain of living water.  Let us do so, and thereby
be prepared for every emergency that shall come upon us.

	Let us secure our crops.  I feel to exhort the brethren to secure
their crops so as to be ready, if our enemies come upon us, to defend
ourselves.  Let us obey our officers, not loving the world nor the things
of the world above our duties.  The Lord will prepare the way and provide
all things necessary for us; and if we suffer a little, it is good for us. 
If we suffer for food, for raiment, it gives us an experience that we will
know how to appreciate the comforts of life when we have them in our
possession.

	We will attend to the business of the Conference first, and then
dismiss until afternoon.

	[After putting the motion for himself to be sustained as "Prophet,
Seer, and Revelator," the President remarked:--]

	I will say that I never dictated the latter part of that sentence.  I
make this remark, because those words in that connection always made me
feel as though I am called more than I am deserving of.  I am Brigham
Young, an Apostle of Joseph Smith, and also of Jesus Christ.  If I have
been profitable to this people, I am glad of it.  The brethren call me so;
and if it be so, I am glad.

          TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT--REVELATION GIVEN ACCORDING TO
            REQUIREMENTS--SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND CONQUEST, ETC.
       Observations by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                  Wednesday Afternoon, October 7, 1857.

	I rise to bear my testimony with the rest of the brethren who have
spoken.  Several who have lately returned from foreign missions have
addressed you during this Conference.  As has been observed here, we are
all missionaries; and when our mission will be ended I am not able to say. 
I expect that in all probability our bodies will have to rest for a time,
by-and-by:  when they fall back to their mother earth, they will have a
rest.  But as for the mission being at an end with a faithful person, I do
not know anything about its closing merely because the body has been laid
in the grave.  In this Church I have always felt myself to be a
missionary, and I always desire to be ready and willing to bear my
testimony to the truth.  That has been about the mount of my preaching for
the last twenty-six years.  As for sermonizing, I have but seldom
attempted it, but I have borne my testimony of the truth to the people.

	I had only travelled a short time to testify to the people, before I
learned this one fact, that you might prove doctrine from the Bible till
doomsday, and it would merely convince a people, but would not convert
them.  You might read the Bible from Genesis to Revelations, and prove
every iota that you advance, and that alone would have no converting
influence upon the people.  Nothing short of a testimony by the power of
the Holy Ghost would bring light and knowledge to them--bring them in
their hearts to repentance.  Nothing short of that would ever do.  You
have frequently heard me say that I would rather hear an Elder, either
here or in the world, speak only five words accompanied by the power of
God, and they would do more good than to hear long sermons without the
Spirit.  That is true, and we know it.

	My testimony is that this is the kingdom of God on the earth.  The
people that sit before me, in connexion with the many thousands that are
upon the earth, are the people of God.  If we have become so taught that
the Lord sees that we shall be capable of managing, governing, and
controlling the kingdom of God upon the earth in a more perfect manner
that it has been heretofore, you may rest assured that this people are
bound to victory.  Just as fast as we are capable of rightly dispensing
the principles of power, of light, of knowledge, of intelligence, of
wealth, of heaven, and of earth, just so fast will they be bestowed upon
this people.  Could we in wisdom ask to have things bestowed upon us, if
they would be to our injury?  Every honest heart would at once say, "No." 
One of the Elders observed that he prayed the Lord not to reveal too much
to him, lest it should prove a stumbling-block and cause him to deny the
faith.  Pray that the Lord will reveal nothing to this people for their
injury, and that he will only reveal that which will be for their good.

	Brother Lorenzo Snow, while he was speaking in the forenoon upon the
principle of self-government--victory over every besetting sin, spoke of
the inward work required to be done, as every person in his experience
knows that the spirit wars against the flesh, and the flesh against the
spirit.  So far as our spirits by the power of God, by the Holy Ghost--by
the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, are assisted to overcome every seed of
iniquity and sin within us, we may expect to gain the victory over our
evil passions; and in that proportion this people will gain victory in a
national capacity.  That is as true logic as ever was introduced in this
world.  This people might have been independent--might have been a
kingdom, had they been capable of receiving, disposing, and controlling
that kingdom to the Divine acceptance of our Father in heaven.  As brother
Amasa said, the Lord has a school upon the earth, and we are his scholars;
and the Devil also has a school attended by a great number of scholars. 
While we have been learning how to sustain the kingdom of God upon the
earth, the Devil and his pupils have been learning how to sustain the
kingdom of darkness.  From the very nature of the two kingdoms upon one
planet, the crisis must come when there will be a literal open warfare,
just as much as there now is a warfare within us against evil; and if we,
as individuals and as a community, have gained the victory over our
passions to such a degree that our Father knows that we are capable of
actually sustaining the kingdom of God upon the earth, just so true we
shall be a kingdom by ourselves.  If we are not yet capable of maintaining
and rightly managing that kingdom, it will not at present be given to us
in the fulness thereof; but the time will come when it will be given and
established in its perfect organization on the earth.

	A great many--yes, the most of this people have kept up a spiritual
warfare until they have become almost masters of their passions; yet we
still see some of them who do sin.  Brother Rich has said that they sin
ignorantly; but I say that some sin knowingly, and others sin that would
know better if they had stopped to reflect.  And you will see men and
women commit acts which make them appear as though every particle of
thought of the honour and true dignity of humanity had left them.  Keep
your spirits in subjection to the principles of truth and life, and do not
let evil spirits control you.

	How often you hear men and women confess their sins and say, "I
committed this, that, and the other wrong."  Why do they want the evil
within and around them?  Why do they suffer their spirits to be subject to
evil influences, and their tabernacles thereby be disgraced by the
commission of wicked acts?  What would you give to have such acts
obliterated, if there was a price set upon them and you could pay it with
property?  Can you keep your spirits in subjection to righteous principles
all the time?  Yes; but many do not?

	Keep your spirits under the sole control of good spirits, and they
will make your tabernacles honourable in the presence of God, angels, and
men.  If you will always keep your spirits in right subjection, you will
be watching all the time, and never suffer yourselves to commit an act
that you will be sorry for, and you can see that in all your life you are
clear.  Do not do anything that you will be sorry for.

	You may take the Quorums in this Church--the First Presidency, the
Twelve, the Presidents of the High Priests, the High Councillors, and the
Presidents of the Seventies; and a person may go to each of those Quorums
for counsel upon any subject, and he will invariably receive the same
counsel.  Why is this the case?  Because they are all actuated by the same
Spirit.  Do you know why some men give counsel different one from another? 
Because they undertake to give counsel without the Spirit of the Lord to
dictate them.  But when the Spirit dictates, then each one knows what to
do, and their counsel will be the same.  Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, all the
Patriarchs and Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles, and every man that has
ever written the word of the Lord, have written the same doctrine upon the
same subject; and you never can find that Prophets and Apostles clashed in
their doctrines in ancient days:  neither will they now, if all would at
all times be led by the Spirit of salvation.  If men will so act as to
order their lives aright and continually keep the commandments of God,
they will be able to administer the blessings of the kingdom of God.

	There is no clash in the principles revealed in the Bible, the Book
of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants; and there would be no clash
between any of the doctrines taught by Joseph the Prophet and by the
brethren now, if all would live in a way to be governed by the Spirit of
the Lord.  All do not live so as to have the Spirit of the Lord with them
all the time, and the result is that some get out of the way.

	We want a people that will be pure and holy; and I wish that the
principle that brother Lorenzo Snow spoke of this morning could be
understood and practised by all, you would then gain your spiritual
conquest.  If we have not gained that, we must labour until we do.  And
although we cannot tell the result of all the affairs that are in motion,
yet we know that the kingdom of god will prosper, that his name will be
revered, that the spirits of darkness will have to give way to the kingdom
of God, and that "Mormonism" will triumph, and that no power can hinder
it.

	But there are still many things for us to learn pertaining to our
salvation.

	The great stumblingblock in the midst of the people is, that their
minds are not yet wholly weaned from the evil habits and practices of the
world.  With some, the end of strife and covetousness has not yet come. 
You can yet see one brother take another by the throat, figuratively
speaking, and say, "Pay me what thou owest."  You may see another come up
and say, "I owe you, but you need not ask me for the pay, for I will not
pay you."  Which is the worst?  If there is any difference, the one who
refuses to pay is the meanest.

	If a man is so mean as to say to you, "I owe you, but I shall not pay
you," it is best to say to him, "All right--I can live without it."

	The Lord will rule; and if we continue steadfast to the kingdom of
God, it will save us; but if we do not, we shall be left off, and the old
ship Zion will sail right a-head and safely carry her passengers into
port.  If the people could understand, they would be able to discern that
we must gain that spiritual victory I have already spoken about, before we
can have the privilege of proclaiming the building up of the people of God
in the mountains.

	We have a nation here in the mountains that will be a kingdom
by-and-by, and be governed by pure laws and principles.  What do you call
yourselves? some may ask.  Here are the people that constitute the kingdom
of God.  It may be some time before that kingdom is fully developed, but
the time will come when the kingdom of God will reign free and
independent.

	There will be a kingdom on the earth that will be controlled upon the
same basis, in part, as that of the Government of the United States; and
it will govern and protect in their rights the various classes of men,
irrespective of their different modes of worship; for the law must go
forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and the Lord
Jesus will govern every nation and kingdom upon the earth.

	A great many have thought that every person will then be in the
Church, but that will not be the case.  There will then be as great a
variety in religious belief as there is now; one will believe one thing,
and another will believe something different, while the Devil rules among
men.

	Will the kingdom of Jesus triumph?  It will; and the legislators of
that kingdom are in this congregation and will remain, and the laws of
that kingdom will be made in accordance with the revelations from Jesus
Christ.

	Many have thought that all will believe in the revelations of the
Lord Jesus Christ when the kingdom of God is fully established; but they
will not; and if those characters were in heaven, they might believe, but
would not obey the revelations of Jesus Christ.  There are multitudes in
this Church who have not yet learned these truths; and there are
multitudes in the world who would not know Jesus, were he to pass before
their eyes, and would not understand what he meant, if he were to speak to
them.  Such will be the case in the millennium.

	The kingdom of God will grow out of this Church, and the time appears
to have been hastened faster than we anticipated.  This is the best time
we ever saw.  We are happy, and we make a heaven of every place to which
we go, which is the reason we are happy.  How long it will be before the
kingdom of God sends forth its laws, I do not know.  Brother Erastus Snow
remarked that no one can foretell all the events that may arise from our
present difficulties; but I can tell you a part.  God will reign and will
bring forth victory to the humble and faithful; that I know, and so do
you.

	I have never found any fault with the Lord for not bringing victory
sooner; for I know that if our enemies intend to try to come here by way
of Emigration Kanyon, we shall be ready to met them; and if they intend to
come round by the Malad, we shall be ready to meet them; and if they
undertake to come by Fort Hall, we shall also be ready to meet them.  If
they thought that we were or would be asleep, they might undertake to come
here.

	I recollect a dream that my father had.  He dreamed that he was
travelling, and that during his journey he came to a tremendous mountain
of snow and saw that his pathway was hedged up.  But some one said, "Take
one more step."  My father replied, "But that will be the last."  However,
he took that step, and then his guide said, "Do you not see that there is
room for you to take another?"  When he had taken another, his guide told
him to take still another in advance; and there was a passage all the way
through.  So it will be with us.  The Lord will not reveal all that we at
times wish him to.  If a schoolmaster were to undertake to teach a little
child algebra, you would call him foolish, would you not?  Just so with
our Father:  he reveals to us as we are prepared to receive, and I hope to
continue to learn.  There is no cessation, in time nor in eternity, to the
progress and increase of the righteous.  If we will but put away every
selfish feeling, we can come in possession of all the blessings that are
in store for us.

	Some of the speakers have been exhorting you to let your prayers
ascend in behalf of the brethren who are in the mountains; but your
prayers cannot prevail if there is disunion among you.

	The teachings given us from Sabbath to Sabbath must be learned and
lived before we can enjoy the kingdom of God in its fulness.

	I am thankful that I do not hear, of late, since the Spirit has been
generally diffused among the people, "O Lord, give revelation through
brother Brigham."  I wish to fulfil what we have received before I ask for
more.  I said to brother Joseph, the spring before he was killed, "you are
laying out work for twenty years."  He replied, "You have as yet scarcely
began to work; but I will set you enough to last you during your lives,
for I am going to rest."  All I can do or ask now is to do the work, so
that it will be right and acceptable to him when he comes here again.  And
that is not all; for you have or should have the candle of the Lord
continually burning within you.  Then I ask you if you still need
revelation?  You will say, "Yes, just as much as we need a candle to
enable us to see to walk in our streets at noonday."  A person that is
filled with the Spirit knows just as much as he has occasion to know; for
the Spirit of our God is a Spirit of revelation.

	The time has arrived when we have either to be trodden under foot by
our enemies and die, or to defend ourselves and our rights; and which will
it be?  Every man and woman feel their hearts fail them when they think of
submitting to the oppression and unlawful abominations practised by our
enemies, and sought by them to be introduced into our society; and we will
not submit to such wicked and unlawful treatment, whether it comes from
United States or united hell, for the terms are synonymous as the
Government is now conducted.  I tell you and I tell our enemies that we
are here, and we intend to stay here. [The congregation responded, Amen."] 
They have a job on hand, if they persist in their efforts to deprive
American citizens of their rights.  I told Captain Van Vliet that I did
not care how many troops they sent.  "Why," said he, "The United States,
with an overflowing treasury, can send out ten, twenty, or fifty thousand
troops."  I replied, "I do not care anything about that."  The Captain
then asked whether I had counted the cost; and I said, "Yes, for this
people I have; but I cannot estimate it for the United States; for if they
actually persist in their present tyrannical course, before they get
through they will want to let the job to sub-contractors."  They do not
know the Captain of the armies of Israel; and although they profess to
believe in him, they do not realize that he is about to hold a controversy
with them for their iniquity.

	Their belief reminds me that brother Joseph B. Nobles once told a
Methodist priest, after hearing him describe his god, that the god they
worshipped was the "Mormons'" devil--a being without a body, whereas our
God has a body, parts, and passions.  The Devil was cursed and sent down
from heaven.  He has no body of his own; therefore he is constantly
endeavouring to obtain possession of the tabernacles belonging to others. 
Some have grumbled because I believe our God to be so near to us as Father
Adam.  There are many who know that doctrine to be true.  Where was
Michael in the creation of this earth?  Did he have a mission to the
earth?  He did.  Where was he?  In the Grand Council, and performed the
mission assigned him there.  Now, if it should happen that we have to pay
tribute to Father Adam, what a humiliating circumstance it would be!  Just
wait till you pass Joseph Smith; and after Joseph lets you pass him, you
will find Peter; and after you pass the Apostles and many of the Prophets,
you will find Abraham, and he will say, "I have the keys, and except you
do thus and so, you cannot pass;" and after a while you come to Jesus; and
when you at length meet Father Adam, how strange it will appear to your
present notions.  If we can pass Joseph and have him say, "Here; you have
been faithful, good boys; I hold the keys of this dispensation; I will let
you pass;" then we shall be very glad to see the white locks of Father
Adam.  But those are ideas which do not concern us at present, although it
is written in the Bible--"This is eternal life, to know thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."

	What is the nature and beauty of Joseph's mission?  You know that I
am one of his Apostles.  When I first heard him preach, he brought heaven
and earth together; and all the priests of the day could not tell me
anything correct about heaven, hell, God, angels, or devils:  they were as
blind as Egyptian darkness.  When I saw Joseph Smith, he took heaven,
figuratively speaking, and brought it down to earth; and he took the
earth, brought it up, and opened up, in plainness and simplicity, the
things of God; and that is the beauty of his mission.  I had a testimony,
long before that, that he was a Prophet of the Lord, and that was
consoling.  Did not Joseph do the same to your understandings?  Would he
not take the Scriptures and make them so plain and simple that everybody
could understand?  Every person says, "Yes, it is admirable; it unites the
heavens and the earth together;" and as for time, it is nothing, only to
learn us how to live in eternity.

	I will prophesy a little, and I will say that my word shall be as
true as any word ever spoken from the heavens.  If this people, called
Latter-day Saints, will live to the truth, the thread of oppression which
is cut will never be united again, and we shall have the privilege of
saying, "here is the kingdom of God, and here are the people that God owns
and blesses," and we shall reign triumphantly for ever and ever.  But if
you do not live your religion, that period may be postponed a little
longer.  You know that cases sometimes rest in court for want of witnesses
and documents.  But if we live our religion, from this afternoon, this is
the kingdom of God, and we are free and will live in it; at any rate, the
kingdom will prosper.

	I feel to bless this people, and they are a God-blessed people.  Look
at them, and see the difference from their condition a few years ago! 
Brethren who have been on missions, can you see any difference in this
people from the time you went away until your return?  [Voices:  "Yes." 
You can see men and women who are sixty or seventy years of age looking
young and handsome; but let them apostatize, and they will become
gray-haired, wrinkled, and black, just like the Devil.

	If we will stand up as men and women of God, the yoke shall never be
placed upon our necks again; and all hell cannot overthrow us, even with
the United States to help them.  It is not pleasant to the natural
feelings to be obliged to talk in this manner about fellow-citizens with
whom we have been reared; but when they act like the Devil, it is
impossible for us to bow to their unjust and illegal mandates without
becoming as corrupt as they are.  It is an honour to resist the wicked;
and my name will be had in honour, and so will Joseph Smith's, and so will
your names, for not bowing to their iniquitous doings.

	We are the happiest people when we have what are called trials; for
then the Spirit of God is more abundantly bestowed upon the faithful.  If
the Lord requires it, I would as soon consume all I have and go into the
mountains with my family as to do a good many other things.  The women and
children might suffer a little; but, as I told you the other day, we are
upon the backbone of the continent, and we intend to enjoy that freedom
which is our right.  If our enemies will behave themselves, all right; and
if they do not, they may take what follows.  We could have used up those
now in our borders, and have taken their trains; but we do not wish to
hurt one of them:  but let them undertake to come in here, and they must
abide the consequences.  And in reality, instead of their speaking against
my character, they ought to send in presents for having lived till now.

	The question now is, Shall we close Conference to-day?  I know that
many of you have much work to do.  I do not know how soon you will be
needed in the mountains.  I deem it most prudent for all to go to their
work and to be always prepared with five days' rations; and then, when the
word comes, you are ready for the mountains, and the women and children
will be safe here.

	If you now wish to close this Conference, all right; and if you want
to continue it another day, you are at liberty to do so; and I am willing
to do as I have a mind.  The last missionary who spoke said that a captain
could not please everybody; but I have tried to first to please my Father
in heaven, and have not cared so particularly about the will of the
people.  I have said, "Father, let me know your will, and I will do it." 
And there is not a person in this congregation but will do my will, if he
will do the will of his Father in heaven.  If all would do so, they would
be free from those little nasty sins that some are occasionally guilty of
and that I am ashamed of.

	If you say, "Adjourn this conference now," all right.  Amen.

           PRESENT AND FORMER PERSECUTIONS OF THE SAINTS, ETC.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, 
         Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 18, 1857.

	I purpose to have read to you this morning some of the communications
that have passed between our enemies and ourselves, for the people are
anxious to know the feeling of the two parties; they are very anxious to
learn the news.  I am perfectly willing that they should know all, for my
feelings and yours are very different from those of the world.  You are
aware that among the nations the soldiers are never permitted to know
anything about the plans of the officers:  statesmen withhold from their
constituents every policy they possibly can, and the statement of one of
them is verily true pertaining to their use of the English language--that
is, to secrete [sic] ideas instead of revealing them.  Men study to talk a
great deal, when at the same time they know but very little, and often
even strive to conceal the little they do know.  Among its other
capabilities, the English language is better adapted than any other in
existence to the using of thousands of words without conveying an idea.

	If the Government of the United States have sent soldiers to this
Territory, I do not know it; for I have had no official notice of such a
circumstance, and you will perceive that I treat them accordingly.  If
they are sent by Government, they are sent expressly to destroy this
people; and if they are not sent by the Government, they have come
expressly to destroy this people; therefore I shall treat them, as I have
informed the officer in command, the same as though they were an avowed
mob,--not as I would those who have heretofore mobbed us, but as parties
who have come to mob us now.

	I have informed Colonel Alexander that had his command been the men
who have heretofore mobbed us, and the lying scribblers, and the wicked
rabble, who have all the day long been trying to incite mobs against us,
they never would have seen the South Pass.

	You will perceive from the communications which brother John T. Caine
will read, the feelings of the two parties,--myself representing the
Latter-day Saints and Colonel Alexander representing the officers of what
he states to be a portion of the United States army.  Whether it is or
not, I have no business to know, and shall not know, until I am officially
notified.

	Brother Caine will now read the principal letters in the order best
adapted to your comprehending their purport.

	[Brother Caine read an unofficial letter from President Brigham Young
to Colonel Alexander, dated Oct. 14; one from Lieu. General Wells to
President Young, dated Oct. 15; one from Colonel Alexander to Governor
Young, dated Oct. 12; and one from Governor Young to Colonel Alexander,
dated Oct. 16.]

	There are a good many here who have not witnessed the scenes of
persecution that some of us have.  I was asking father Morley, this
morning, whether he thought the enemy could now ride into our corn-fields
and through our gardens and shoot down our cattle, and plunder and burn
our houses, as they did in Missouri.

	When the mob in Missouri commenced burning our habitations, we
frequently sent to the Governor, petitioning him to stop mobbings; but,
instead of doing that, he rendered them assistance, by ordering about
3,500 men to go and lay waste the city of Far West, and destroy men,
women, and children.  Those orders General Clark had, though at their
close the Governor said to him, "I shall leave it discretionary with you
whether you kill all the Mormons or not."  We saw them coming, and some
thought they were sent to disperse the mob, in answer to our petition; but
the mob were expecting them and seemed to understand the movement.

	The first act that I saw General Clark's army perform was to throw
down about half a mile of fence that opened into a six hundred acre field
of corn.  The mob mingled with the army, and they rode and drove their
animals into and through that corn-field.  At night, they took the rails
and burned them for firewood, and let their horses run loose in the field. 
That I saw and knew; hence I was just asking father Morley whether he
thought our enemies could now ride into the corn-fields of the "Mormons." 
He said that he thought they could not.  His blessing makes me say,
Hallelujah to God.

	It is pretty hard for us to come here with nothing; and we have come
as near coming here with nothing as the Lord did to creating the heavens
and the earth out of nothing; and I have frequently thought a little
nigher.  I do not think that he was under the necessity of borrowing; but
I was.  I believe that the Lord has material enough to build all he wants;
but I had almost nothing.  Some of us worked in the Temple in Nauvoo until
about five days before we left, which gave us but little opportunity for
outfitting, though many were crossing the river before that time.

	If I remembered rightly, I then owned one span of horses and a buggy
that brother Daniel Spencer gave me.  I traded for waggons, other things
that I needed, and for an old horse.  I then had three horses and three
waggons.  I bought, and borrowed, and traded, and got the brethren to help
me out; and a good many others borrowed on my credit.  Suffice it to say
we left our houses and lands and thousands and thousands of bushels of
grain.

	This year has made me think of the season that we were obliged to
leave Nauvoo.  That was one of the most productive seasons ever know in
the State of Illinois.  It has been asked me by some of the brethren, "Do
you think we shall have to leave our fine crops?  The earth seems to be
loaded as well as it was in Nauvoo."  We have not got to leave; we shall
not be obliged to leave our crops and our houses to our enemies:  we can
sustain ourselves.  It makes me rejoice that we are now in a situation
that, if this people will live as they should live, they will no more have
to be driven as we have been hitherto.  Should we ever be obliged to leave
our houses, the decree of my heart is that there shall naught be left for
our enemies but the ashes of all that will burn.  [The congregation
responded, "Amen."]  They shall not have my house nor my furniture, as
they have had hitherto.

	That privilege gives me joy and comfort; and I will now say to those
who are not acquainted with such scenes, (for many of you are not,) that
if you see the time that you are obliged to lay waste and leave your
homes, you will say, right in the time, and afterwards, that you never
felt so well in your lives; for the Spirit and power of God will rest upon
you in proportion to the necessity of the case.  I know that those who
have been in our past troubles--those who have been in the midst of death
and destitution can bear testimony that they never enjoyed so much of the
Spirit of the Lord at any other time in their lives.  I do not know that
anybody complained in Nauvoo, except brother Kimball; and he was only
sorry that the war closed so soon, for we had our eyes upon a good many of
those infernal scoundrels, and we wanted to sod them.

	We have sought for peace all the day long; and I have sough for peace
with the army now on our borders, and have warned them that we all most
firmly believe that they are sent here solely with a view to destroy this
people, though they may be ignorant of that fact.  And though we may
believe that they are sent by the Government of the United States, yet I,
as Governor of this Territory, have no business to know any such thing
until I am notified by proper authority as Washington.  I have a right to
treat them as a mob, just as though they had been raised and officered in
Missouri and sent here expressly to destroy this people.  We have been
very merciful and very lenient to them.  As I informed them in my
unofficial letter, had they been those mobocrats who mobbed us in
Missouri, they never would have seen the South Pass.  We had plenty of
boys on hand, and the mode of warfare they would have met with they are
not acquainted with.

	I would just as soon tell them as to tell you my mode of warfare.  As
the Lord God lives, we will waste our enemies by millions if they send
them here to destroy us, and not a man of us be hurt.  That is the method
I intend to pursue.  Do you want to know what is going to be done with the
enemies now on our borders?  If they come here, I will tell you what will
be done.  As soon as they start to come into our settlements, let sleep
depart from their eyes and slumber from their eyelids until they sleep in
death, for they have been warned and forewarned that we will not tamely
submit to being destroyed.  Men shall be secreted here and there and shall
waste away our enemies, in the name of Israel's God.

	I have thought that perhaps the Lord designs to furnish us a little
clothing and ammunition; and if he does, he will permit our enemies to try
to come in here; but if he sees that that would be an injury to us, he
will turn them another way.

	I intend to publish the communications between the army and myself;
for I wish the whole United States to understand it.

	Colonel Alexander complains of our mode of warfare.  They have two or
more field-batteries of artillery with them, and they want us to form a
line of battle in an open plain and give them a fair chance to shoot us. 
I did not tell the Colonel what I thought; but if he had a spark of sense,
he must be a fool to think that we will ever do any such thing.  I am
going to observe the old maxim--

		"He that fights and runs away

		Lives to fight another day."

	Should our enemies venture upon violent measures, I design to so
manage affairs that none of our boys will be killed; and in my answer to
the Colonel, I have told him pretty plainly what we shall do under certain
contingencies.

	Did he not granny it off admirably about the prisoners, when he
wrote, "I need not assure you that not a hair of their heads will be
hurt?"  He dare not hurt them, neither has he the first particle of reason
for hurting them.  He has released and sent in the younger brother with an
express, under the alleged consideration of his having a wife and three
children entirely dependent upon him.  I wonder that the Colonel had not a
young officer to send with him.

	The boys report their order of march to be the 10th Infantry in
front, the baggage in the centre, the 5th Infantry in the rear, and
several flanking companies travelling through the brush as best they can. 
Don't you think they would look well coming from the United States in that
way?  That is the way in which they were travelling at our last advices,
and it was said that their picket-guard declared they would not watch.

	If the soldiers knew the facts in the case as do their officers, they
would probably nearly all leave the army; but the officers keep the
soldiers in the dark.  The last report is that the officers had been
telling the men that I had written a very favourable letter to Colonel
Alexander, and that they were intending to come in.

	When I think, Are they in your houses?  Are they in your fields?  I
can answer, No:  they are in the mountains; they are in the cold and snow;
and if they continue, as those officers appear to intend to, upon the side
of despotism and mobocracy, they justly ought to be served as we would
serve all mobocrats.  But we are here and we are free, as brother Kimball
has said--just as free, in one sense, as we ever shall be.  We need not 
think that we are always going to be unmolested by the efforts of mobs,
until wickedness is swept from this earth.  If we live, we shall see the
nations of the earth arrayed against this people; for that time must come,
in fulfillment of prophecy.  Tell about war commencing!  Bitter and
relentless war was waged against Joseph Smith before he had received the
plates of the Book of Mormon; and from that time till now the wicked have
only fallen back at times to gain strength and learn how to attack the
kingdom of God.

	Colonel Alexander preached to me a little, stating in his letter, "I
warn you that the bloodshed in this contest will be upon your head."  But
that warning gave me no thought.  But if the blood of those soldiers is
shed, it will be upon the heads of their officers.

	What they will do I neither know nor care; for it will be just as the
Lord God wills it.  If he sees that we need their substance, he will turn
things to that end; and if he designs them to be wiped out, he will either
cause them to undertake to come here or will overrule some other plan to
accomplish that end.

	Another year I am going to prepare for the worst, and I want you to
prepare to cache our grain and lay waste this Territory; for I am
determined, if driven to that extremity, that our enemies shall find
nothing but heaps of ashes and ruins.  We will be so prepared that in a
few days all can be consumed.  I shall request the Bishops to see that the
people in their wards are provided with two or three years' provisions. 
There is already enough raised in many places this season to supply the
people from two to three years, and I wish them to take care of it; though
I expect that in all probability we will raise a great many crops before
our enemies again attempt to come here to disturb us; and I expect that we
are fully able to defend ourselves, and that our enemies will not be able
to come within a hundred miles of us.  I know that ten men, such as I
could name and select, could stop them before they got to Laramie.  And if
we had seen fit to have sent such men this season, they alone could very
easily have so stopped our enemies that they never would have got through
the Black Hills.  I count five such men equal to twenty-five thousand, and
believe that two of them could put ten thousand to flight.  I believe we
are now where that could be done.  I will take five or ten such as I can
name; and if two can put ten thousand to flight, I am sure that ten are
perfectly able to do it.

	Who has sought for war?  Have we?  No.  We have preached the Gospel
to Saints and strangers, when strangers would come and tarry long enough
to hear it.  We do not want to stand here and talk about war.  There is
nothing so repugnant to my feelings as to injure or destroy.  But what is
upon us?  Nothing, only another manifestation of the opposition of the
Devil to the kingdom of God.  War has been declared against the Saints
over twenty-seven years, and our enemies have only fallen back so as to
gain strength and pretexts for making another attack.  Will that spirit
increase?  If it does, and we love our religion, let me tell you that we
will increase faster than our enemies will.  This Territory and people are
perfectly able to set apart men of the right stripe and maintain a
standing army that can keep off the armies of our enemies.  And if the
world combine against us, so we are but one, then all will go on well and
work together for our good.

	Our enemies, in the last treaty they made with us, should have
stipulated that we should have gone only a short distance, so that we
would not be out of their reach.  They had better have made that
stipulation; but they did not have wisdom, or they would have stopped us
from going so far away.  They drove us away from their society and allowed
us to travel so far over the sage plains, that it is impossible for an
army to bring provisions enough to last them here. 

	I have been told that the first artillery company, upon its arrival
at Laramie, loaded up all the grain they could haul to feed their mule
teams; and when they reached the Devil's Gate they sent forward after
their grain from their freight trains, and then they had not enough to
last them to Ham's Fork.  It is impossible for them to load up teams with
sufficient forage to last them to Green River; and the more men they send
the more there are to eat up what the mule and ox-trains haul; and the
consequence is that the more men they send the worse it is all the time.

	If they undertake to send fifty thousand men to Utah, I will venture
to say that they cannot raise so large a company in the United States but
what would cut each other's throats before they travelled a thousand miles
across the Plains, to say nothing about any other persons molesting them. 
They would be cursing, damning, and howling all the way.  I know that the
comparatively few scattered here and there over the country and in the
mountains can spoil their march before they could get here.

	If the Lord sees that we need to be afflicted, he can apply the rod. 
I do not say this to urge you to your duty; for if you will not live your
religion for the blessings that God bestows upon it, you will not live it
anyhow; and the man who will not live his religion ought to be damned. 
Never serve God because you are afraid of hell; but live your religion,
because it is calculated to give you eternal life.  It points to that
existence that never ends, while the other course leads to destruction, to
dissolution, where they will be destroyed from the earth and from the
eternities, and return back to the native elements.

	What blessing can be bestowed upon man equal to that of eternal life? 
The greatest blessing that can be bestowed is that of eternal
existence--to place mortal beings where they can endure for ever--where
they are free from sorrow and pain, and possessed of keys, thrones, and
dominions--where they can be perfectly swallowed up in happiness and
bliss.  What greater gift can be bestowed upon beings?  None.  Therefore,
if we will not live up to our religion, according to our ability, we ought
to be damned.

	We have the privilege of honouring the stations we are in; we have
the privilege, in the Lord's hands, of preparing for exaltation.  We are
compared to the making of pottery upon the wheel; but the Lord never
intended to show in that comparison that we were helpless beings and had
no agency.  Clay has so little intelligence that it is often so full of
lumps that it will mar; but it is not to blame for that:  but the Lord
says, "You, intelligent Israel, are to blame, if you do not obey my voice;
and if you are disobedient, I will serve you as the potter serves the clay
that has very little intelligence.  You, Israel, are capable of choosing,
you are capable of refusing, you are capable of performing, you are
capable of hearing counsel from my mouth and of carrying out those
principles that I tell you; but the clay upon the wheel has no such
intelligence; and if you do not obey my voice, it will prove that you are
not worthy of intelligence, any more than the clay upon the potter's
wheel:  consequently, the intelligence that you are endowed with will be
taken from you, and you will have to go into the mill and be ground over
again."

	I wish the people to hasten and gather together and secure all that
they have raised in the fields; and when this little skirmish is over, I
am going to instruct the people to begin to prepare for going into the
mountains, also to raise their grain another year, and to secure that
which we now have by putting it where our enemies cannot find it.

	You want to know where you can go.  I know of places enough where I
can hide this people and a thousand times more, and our enemies may hunt
till doomsday and not be able to find us.

	I do not know but we shall call upon the sisters to go into the
fields and raise potatoes while their husbands go out to war; and if they
can do that, then perhaps we will see whether they can go into the fields
and raise wheat while their husbands are defending Zion.  In such an
operation we shall call for volunteers; we shall have no compulsion about
it.  So soon as I learn that a woman would sooner go to the enemy's camp,
just so soon I will send her; and you may mark it.  I shall not warrant
such a one safe, only until she reaches the enemy's camp.  I told a man
yesterday--one that I understood wanted to go away, "If that is your
feeling and faith, I want you immediately conveyed to those troops."  I
want to forth with send to our enemies every man and every woman that does
not wish to do right, but wishes to join them in their crusade against
this people.  You may enquire why I take that course.  I answer, So as to
send them to hell as quickly as possible.

	That reminds me of a circumstance that transpired here some years
ago.  A man from Boston, on his way to the gold diggings, stopped a few
days in this city and heard me preach.  Soon afterwards I met him in the
street, and he asked me if I knew where hell was.  I told him I thought
that he was on the road to that very place; and when he crossed over the
Sierra Nevada mountains into the gold diggings in California, if he
discovered that he had not found hell, to come back and let me know.  As I
have not since heard from him, I presume he found it, which I now think a
person will who goes East as as [sic] well as West.

 	The President of the United States, his Cabinet, the Senate, the
House of Representatives, the priests of the various religious sects and
their followers have joined in a crusade to waste away the last vestige of
truth and righteousness from this earth, and especially from this part of
it.  yes, they have joined together; and we have to maintain truth and
righteousness, virtue and holiness, or they will be driven from the earth. 
With us, it is the kingdom of God, or nothing; and we will maintain it, or
die in trying,--though we shall not die in trying.  It is comforting to
many to be assured that we shall not die in trying, but we shall live in
trying.  We will maintain the kingdom of God, living; and if we do not
maintain it, we shall be found dying not only a temporal, but also an
eternal death.  Then take a course to live.

	Read the history of the world from the time that Cain killed Abel to
this day, and see whether you can find an instance when, in a mountain
country, fifty resolute, united men have been overcome by five hundred. 
If brother Joseph Smith had taken a company and come to this country, as
he intended to do, he could have been living here now, in spite of earth
and hell.  Yes, he could have done this, if he could have brought only
fifty men with him; for, with them, he could have defied the whole world;
and you know that he would have had thousands of the upright gathered with
him before now; though, if he had been here with only fifty good men, he
could have bid defiance to all his enemies.

	Did their enemies ever overcome the small band of Waldenses in the
mountains in Piedmont?  No.  They slaughtered army after army sent against
them and maintained their position, notwithstanding to reach them was only
like sending an army here from San Pete, or from here to San Pete.  They
were within easy reach of their enemies.

	Would Scotland ever have been so far overcome by England as to unite
with that power, if her chiefs had not indulged in petty feuds with each
other?  No, it never would.  But the chiefs were like our Indians:  some
were in favour of this one, and others of that one being crowned chief;
and by contending with each other they lost the advantage of their
position, or to this day Scotland might have been an independent nation,
even though surrounded by water on all sides except the one joining
England.

	I instance those examples to show you that, if you will give me the
right kind of men, I will take a few hundred of them and be at the
defiance of the armies of the world; and that, too, upon natural
principles.  If God is for us, that of course makes us still stronger; but
if he is against us, let us not strive to do anything in opposition to his
will: let righteousness triumph.  But I know that we are right.

	When I used to be preaching in the world, priests would come to me
and enquire about my doctrine.  I would tell them my principles--every
principle that I could get plainly before them that would be for their
good; and after giving them my doctrine, I would ask, What do you
Methodists believe?  They would tell me.  I would reply, I know all about
that.  Next would come the baptists, and I knew all about them.  Then came
along the Presbyterians, and I would say, I know all about your doctrine. 
And I would have the Quakers and the Shakers; and when I talked to them, I
knew all they believed.  I understood the whole concern, and my religion
embraced all the truth they all had and a great deal more.  I could put on
paper all the knowledge of salvation that all the religious sects possess,
and put that paper into a snuff-box, and never miss the room it occupied. 
I would say, I know how much truth you have embraced; you have bounds to
your religion, but I have no bounds to mine: the faith I have embraced is
broad as eternity.

	I would say, Brother Methodist, have you a truth?  If you have, let
us hear it:  that is the Bible; that is my doctrine:  I believe it. "I
read in the Bible that the Savior was crucified," say the Methodists.  I
reply, I have embraced that in my faith:  that is true; and every particle
of truth that you believe I have incorporated in my faith; therefore you
perceive that you must take the stand that you will defend error and
falsehood, or there is no chance for a discussion or contention; for I
believe all the truth that you believe.  Now, all the truth I have I want
you to embrace, and then go ahead; and then there is no chance for an
argument.

	We wish for all the truth and all the righteousness we can get hold
of; and every heart that loves this religion, called "Mormonism,"
exclaims, from the centre and circumference of his soul and feelings, "Let
the Lord be God."  Without that, all will be worthless; with that is
everything.  Without that we are nothing; we cannot endure; and all our
prospects are blasted and scattered to the four winds.  In reality, we are
nothing only what the Lord makes us.  In a short time, if the Lord is for
us, all will be right.

	Take things upon natural principles, and I will organize this
community so as to be prepared for any and every emergency.  And the truth
compels me to say, about our enemies, that all hell are crying to come
here; and I must either say, Come in here and practise your principles of
death and destruction, or I must say, I will contend against you, though I
have prayed most fervently for the Lord to keep that event off.  But the
Lord says, "Will you be for me, or will you take upon you their cause?"  I
will say, "We will be for the Lord; for he is the God we serve."

	We are free.  There is no yoke upon us now, and we will never put it
on again.  [The congregation responde, "Amen."]  That is the way for every
man and woman to feel.  When it is necessary, and the Lord calls me to do
so, I would just as soon preach about war as anything else, or go and
fight a battle as to do anything else.

	You hear a great many people talk about a virtuous life.  If you
could know what an honourable, manly, upright, virtuous life is, you might
reduce it to this--Learn the will of the Lord and do it; for he has the
keys of life and death, and his mandates should be obeyed, and that is
eternal life.

	I pray God to bless you all the time; and I bless you in the name of
Jesus Christ!  Let us be of one heart and mind; and do you not see that
the Lord is going to make us of one heart and mind, or we will be suffered
to be scourged?

	In Missouri most of the brethren signed what they called a "a deed of
trust."  The brethren were forced to sign away their houses, lands, and
property; for they were going to make us bear the expense of the war. 
When the brethren had done this, they would kick up their heels; and old
Judge Camron saw it, and swore, and ripped out an oath and said, "They are
whipped, but they are not conquered."  One fellow said, "I will swear we
can make them consecrate:  old Joe has been trying, but he could not do
it."  I suppose a few have urged it upon the brethren to consecrate.  But
do you not see that we are coming to where the Lord will make us
consecrate?

God bless you!  Amen.

    EXTENT OF THE LATTER-DAY WORK--THE FREEDOM OF THE SAINTS DEPENDENT
             ON THEIR DOING RIGHT--SATAN'S REVELATIONS, ETC.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, October 25, 1857.

	We have heard considerable preaching this morning; and to me, what we
have heard is full of pith and marrow.

	This people are to the world an object of derision and hatred; to
God, of care and pity.  There are but few of us, when we compare ourselves
with the rest of the inhabitants of the earth.  We now have a day of
trial.  It has been observed that the Saints feel well:  they never felt
better.

	Some present may not know that my oldest and my youngest brothers
have been preaching to-day.  There are but three boys between those two,
and we are all here on hand.

	As has been observed by brother John, my eldest brother, this is the
first time that we have ever had the privilege of doing anything, only
submitting to our enemies.  Now, for the first time since this Church was
organized, we are in a position for defending those rights common to all
American citizens; and our true and lawful course to abide by the
Constitution of the United States in the defence of those rights will
probably give the wicked a pretext for complaint; so that in measuring out
oppression to us, our enemies will have a new set of pretexts, instead of
feasting on infernal lies so much as they have hitherto done.

	Colonel Alexander accuses us of what he terms a very uncivilized
method of warfare.  If we are to do as they do, we shall have to get
drunk, to swear, to quarrel, to lie, and believe in lies, and indulge in
many other like traits of civilization, in order to be prepared to act as
they do.  I do not know anything about those men that are now in the
mountains, only in the capacity of a mob.  I have no business to know them
as anything else, neither shall I, until I have been officially notified
that the Government of the United States wishes to send troops here and
build stations.

	I suppose that the boys have annoyed them a good deal; but at the
same time, I would much rather clothe them and feed them, if they would
agree to go back in the spring and leave us in peace, as they found us. 
We are obliged to maintain our rights; for every blackleg, horse thief,
counterfeiter, and abominable character are united with the hireling
priests and lying editors and wicked leaders of our Government to falsely
accuse the "Mormons," with a view to our destruction.  Can they now truly
accuse them of anything?  Yes--of burning up a little grass, as brother
Attwood told them, when they asked him why we burnt the grass--"That we
may have a better crop next year," which you are aware is customary in
prairie regions.  We have done that; therefore our enemies can now
concentrate their power to shoot at the target they have compelled us to
raise in self-defence, whereas heretofore they have shot without an object
to fire at.

	There is one thing in particular with regard to this people--they
prove their faith by their work; and there is no other way for us to prove
it.  While brother John was speaking of the labour of this people to
preach and send the Gospel to the nations of the earth, I thought that,
take us as a people in this day, in the situation we have been in, and
then look over the history of the Church of the living God on the earth
from the days of Adam until now, and I will ensure that you cannot find
the equal to the excessive labour of the Elders of Israel in our day in
spreading the truth through the world to save mankind.  I have no idea
that it was done in the days of Enoch; for the human family had then
spread over the earth but little, and the Elders did not have to travel
scores of thousands of miles without purse or scrip among the wicked.  So
also in the days of Noah:  they had but a short distance to travel.  In
the days of the Israelites, of the Prophets, of Jesus Christ, and the
Apostles, what was their labour in the extent of its field, compared with
that of this people?  Very small.  You may trace the course of their
travel, and you will find that it was far less than that of the Elders of
Israel in our day.

	We have laboured diligently, and suffered everything but death to
preach the Gospel to our fellow beings; and thousands of our fathers,
mothers, brothers, sisters, children, and connections have gone into their
graves through their sufferings, from being robbed of everything we had,
and scattered, to find shelter where we best could.  Are we going to
suffer it any more?  No, God being our helper.  We are perfectly free, on
condition that we do right; and upon that condition we never will be in
bondage again.

	You will recollect that this is the first time that this Church can
say, "We are free."  Do we wish to be free from the United States
Constitution?  No.  There is not a word in it but what we can subscribe to
with all our hearts.  Do we wish to be free from the laws of the United
States.  No.  They are as good laws as we can ask for.  Neither do we wish
for any better laws than are the most of those enacted in Missouri and
Illinois.  What, then, was the difficulty with this people?  Magistrates,
sheriffs, constables, military officers, &c., walked those laws under
their feet, and trampled upon them as a thing of naught, in order to get
at this people and drive them from their hard-earned homes.  I have said,
and say it again, if those laws had been executed, they would have hung
Governor Boggs and Governor Ford, with many others, between the heavens
and the earth, or shot them as traitors to the Government.  It is not the
laws and the Constitution of our country that we wish to be free from, but
it is from the power of those who profess to be law-makers and
law-executors, but who trample every wholesome law under their feet.

	We are now as free from them as is the mountain air we breathe; and
we could wipe the few enemies now in our borders out of existence in a
very short time, if I would give the word to do so.  But they will judge
themselves out of their own mouths and receive their just reward at the
hands of him whom they have listed to obey.  I believe the Lord has wisdom
enough to make them destroy themselves,--though, if it were left to me
solely, under the guidance of the spirit pertaining to man, probably I
should have had them in eternity before now.  But the Lord dictates,
governs, and controls:  I do not, neither do I wish to.

	It is said that if we do right we shall overcome.  I will tell you
one mark you have got to come to, in order to do right.  If you can bring
yourselves, in your affections, your feelings, your passions, your
desires, and all that you have in your organization, to submit to the hand
of the Lord, to his providences, and acknowledge his hand in all things,
and always be willing that he should dictate, though it should take your
houses, your property, your wives and children, your parents, your lives
or anything else you have upon the earth;, then you will be exactly right;
and until you come to that point, you cannot be entirely right.  That is
what we have to come to; we have to learn to submit ourselves to the Lord
with all our hearts, with all our affections, wishes, desires, passions,
and let him reign and rule over us and within us, the God of every motion: 
then he will lead us to victory and glory; otherwise he will not.

	Brother John referred to some persons receiving revelations.  I say
to such persons, Go ahead, and get all the revelations you can.  If
brother Joseph visits you every night, go ahead, and tell him to bring
brother Hyrum, father Smith, Don Carlos Smith, St. Paul, Peter, James, and
John, and Jesus Christ, if you can induce him to do so.  But I could
almost lay my hand on that Bible and swear that the man or woman who gets
such revelations has been guilty of adultery, or of theft, or has been
rebellious and apostatized in feelings, but has come back again, and now
professes to have such revelations.  Hell is full of such revelations; and
I could almost testify that a man or woman who receives them has been
guilty of some outrageous crime.  I have had men come to me and tell the
wonderful great dreams and visions which they have, when those very
persons have apostatized heretofore, have denied their God and their
religion; and I knew it.  Many come to me and tell me what wonderful
visions they have--that their minds are open to eternal things--that they
can see visions of eternity open before them and understand all about this
kingdom,--many of whom have at some time been guilty of betraying their
brethren, or committing some atrocious crime.  I never notice them much. 
I sit and hear them talk about their wonderful knowledge, but it passes in
and out of my ears like the sound of the wind.  It is for me to see to
this kingdom, that it is built up, and to preserve the Saints from the
grasp of the enemy.  The visions of the class I have mentioned are nothing
to me.  They may exhibit their great knowledge before me; but when they
have done, it is all gone from me.

	Some are very anxious that I should have visions.  I have all that
the Lord gives to me; and all that he keeps back he may; for that is no
concern of mine.  We are on the old ship Zion; and if God is not at the
helm, the old ship will wreck and go to the Devil.  As for my taking
charge of the kingdom of God on the earth, exclusively and independently
of direction from heaven, I Shall not do any such thing.  If the Lord does
not direct the old ship and act as captain and pilot, it will go to
destruction, and I care not how quick.

	He is at the helm, and will stay there.  If you and I will bring our
feelings to the point I have just spoken of, he will continue to guide the
welfare of Zion and all its rights.

	All is right.  Sing hallelujah; for the Lord is here.  He dictates,
guides, and directs.  If the people will have implicit confidence in their
God, never forsake their covenants nor their God, he will guide us right,
and we are free as the air of these mountains.  The yoke of the wicked is
off, and I am determined it shall stay off.

	If any man or woman in Utah wants to leave this community, come to
me, and I will treat you kindly, as I always have, and will assist you to
leave; but after you have left our settlements, you must not then depend
upon me any longer, nor upon the God I serve; you must meet the doom you
have laboured for.  If any wish to go away, come to me and I will assist
you to go in peace and safety to the army or anywhere else; but if you
come again with bitter feelings to this Territory, we shall meet you as we
would a mob.

	After this season, when this ignorant army has passed off, I shall
never again say to a man, "Stay your rifle-ball," when our enemies assail
us; but shall say, "Slay them where you find them."  But the army that are
now upon our borders are in ignorance, and know not what they are doing,
nor the spirit that prompts them, or they would ere now have been visited
with swift destruction.  On account of their ignorance and their being
sent by rotten demagogues and corrupt speculators, I feel like letting
them alone, unless they turn to me here; which if they do, sleep will
depart from their eyes and slumber from their eyelids until they sleep the
sleep of death or beg quarters at our hands--God being our helper.

	I do not altogether know why I should not feel it right to slay them
where they are.  But I do not; consequently, I withhold; and if that
course should be right, I believe it will be manifested to me; and if it
is not so manifested to me, and anybody else can know of a surety and will
take the responsibility, go ahead.

	I have joy and comfort in seeing this people trying to lie up to the
spirit of their religion--to the spirit of the Gospel; and I should be
glad to see the spirit of reformation continue among them.  I would be
pleased to have it within myself, and do better than I now do, or do more,
or do something I do not do.  But unless the Lord will reveal to me
something more than he has, I cannot do any better than I am doing; for I
do not know how.  I have done as well as I could since I have been in this
kingdom.  I can hardly refer to the time when I have not done the best I
knew how, and I can hardly refer to the time when I put my hand to do a
thing unless I knew it to be right.

	I am not a visionary character nor subject to excitement in my
feelings.  My life, you know, is an even continuation; and I hope it will
be until I lay down this tabernacle.  If we take this course and trust in
the Lord, he may send armies here or not, call upon us to fight, or let us
raise grain, build houses, &c., or send us to the nations; it matters not. 
If we bring our feelings to this, we shall never be brought into bondage
to the wicked again; but we will be free.

	Do you not know, brethren, that the day will come of which the Lord
says, "For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and
for wood brass, and for stones iron;" and yet if those things were now
delivered into our hands, there would be selfishness.  I have seen that
spirit manifested, and I am afraid of it.  I am more afraid of
covetousness in our Elders than I am of the hordes of hell.  Have we men
out now of that class?  I believe so.  I am afraid of such spirits; for
they are more powerful and injurious to this people than all hell outside
of our borders.  All our enemies in the United States or in the world, and
all hell with them marshalled against us, could not do us the injury that
covetousness in the hearts of this people could do us; for it is idolatry.

	As brother John observed, one devil can keep all Babylon in confusion
continually, because they are already so wicked; but it takes armies of
devils to take care of the Saints, lest they overcome the kingdoms of
darkness.  The Devil's forces are particularly marshalled against us.  If
I can contend against the powers of darkness and get this people to
control themselves so as to have no principle or feeling about them only
to do the will of our Father in heaven, I do not fear all hell.  Were all
the United States arrayed against us in these mountains, I would rather
have ten men who are Saints, and will do more with them to overcome all
our outside enemies than this whole people, with their affections not
sanctified to the Lord.  Do you understand that, ye Saints?  Or is it to
you like some visions that are told to me--going in at one ear and out at
the other?  We, as a people, will be chastened until we can wholly submit
ourselves to the Lord and be Saints indeed.  May God bless you!  Amen.

                  SOURCE OF TRUE HAPPINESS--PRAYER, ETC.
    A Sermon by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, November 15, 1857.
                          Reported by G. D. Watt

	I am happy for the privilege of standing before the Saints.  It is a
great pleasure to me to associate with those whose feelings  are
concentrated in the establishment of peace and righteousness upon the
earth.

	Before I heard the Gospel as again revealed in its purity through
Joseph the Prophet, I was tolerably well acquainted with the spirit,
disposition, tact, and talents possessed by the children of men; and
though I was then but about thirty years of age, I had seen and heard
enough to make me well acquainted with the people in their acts and
dealings one towards another, the result of which was to make me sick,
tired, and disgusted with the world; and had it been possible, I would
have withdrawn from all people, except a few, who, like myself, would
leave the vain, foolish, wicked, and unsatisfying customs and practices of
the world.  Sorrow, wretchedness, death, misery, disappointment, anguish,
pain of heart, and crushed spirits prevail over the earth; and apparently,
the whole of the intelligence of mankind is directed in a way to produce
cruel and unnatural results. 

	Since I have been in this Church and kingdom, I have endeavoured to
learn and treasure up wisdom and good understanding, and then not to
forget them.  I have endeavoured to gather to myself every principle that
would promote righteousness in me and those who would hearken to my
counsel. 

	Read the history of any kingdom or nation, and trace through all the
channels from the history of nations and kingdoms to that of families and
individuals who have not known God nor observed his commandments, and you
will find that sorrow and disappointment have been intimately mingled in
all the gaiety, luxuries, and pretended enjoyments of their mortal lives. 
They have found a bitter sting in their happiest moments and a deadly
poison in their cups.  There is no man or woman on the earth who can enjoy
solid satisfaction--unalloyed peace and comfort, but in the holy spirit of
our religion--in the Gospel of salvation: that is the only source of true
happiness.  Read the history of those who can command the wealth of the
world to minister to their happiness, and they find it not in authority,
station, nor wealth.  From the monarch upon his throne to the most
degraded beggar upon the streets, all who enjoy not the Gospel are
destitute of the source of true happiness.  It is not to be found among
them. 

	When the portals of heaven are opened and the Priesthood of God is
given, he so blesses the people that they can truly understand the
principles that tend to peace, to glory, immortality, and eternal lives. 
That and that alone can give true satisfaction to our spirits, which are
organized to receive and continue to increase in principles of light,
intelligence, power, and glory,--organized to be preserved to eternally
associate together--to have the privilege of beholding each other's
faces--of enjoying each other's society and the society of holy beings who
have been tried as we have and have to be, and to enjoy, love, converse
with, and look upon the faces of those beings who have been glorified
throughout all ages that are countless to us.  Their identity has been
preserved, and they enjoy the smiles of their friends and associate with
their companions who have in a mortal state passed through the same
ordeals they endured while in this existence.  Fathers and mothers
associate with their children, children with their parents, brothers with
sisters, and sisters with their brothers--all in their family circles
dwelling in the midst of the glorified.  What else can satisfy a truly
intelligent human being--the immortal spirit that is tabernacled in a
mortal tenement?  Nothing.

	What would induce an intelligent individual to suffer his eyes to be
put out and to live without seeing objects around him--the faces of his
family, friends, and connections?  Would money?  What would hire an
intelligent person to be deprived of the sense of hearing?  Could money
buy his hearing?  What would hire you to suffer the destruction of the
organ of speech, or to be deprived of any of the more important members of
your organization?  The things of this world could not induce you to
suffer the destruction of any of the vital powers of your organization;
yet the world are seeking after the paltry, perishable things of time and
sense.  They are their glory--their pretended comfort--their god, and
their daily study and pursuit.  But the members which God has placed in
our tabernacles are worth all the world to us.  We have the power of
seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling, enabling us to converse
and associate with each other; and money cannot buy these blessings from
us. 

	Stop then, and consider what use you will make of these powers.  Will
you go wild after the things of this world, as do the majority of the
inhabitants of the earth, with whose ways you are well acquainted?  How
long will they endure?  Their breath is in their nostrils; to-day they
are--to-morrow they are not.  What prospects have they for futurity?  Have
they any promise?  Yes.  What is it?  Death.  Have they the promise of
life eternal?  They have, upon certain conditions; but they are no more
about those conditions that did certain characters that Paul wrote about:
they are even like the dumb beasts that are entirely ignorant of futurity. 
Fatten an ox and lead him to the slaughter, and he knows nothing of what
awaits him.  So it is with the great majority of the inhabitants of the
earth: they have no knowledge of their future condition; they merely know
that death will terminate their present career.  We are blessed with the
words of eternal life, with the everlasting Priesthood, and the keys
thereof, with principles that, if rightly acted upon, will secure to us
those blessings we now enjoy, and which you hear the brethren often speak
about. 

	I am happy; I am fully of joy, comfort, and peace: all within me is
light, for I desire nothing but to do the will of my Father in Heaven.  I
delight not in unrighteousness, but in righteousness and truth.  I seek to
promote the good and happiness of myself and those with whom I am
associated.  We have the privilege of securing to ourselves that eternal
bliss that can never fade away, and of preserving our identity, that, when
millions of ages have rolled away, we can then behold each other as we do
today, and can converse together.  One thousand years hence, probably many
of this congregation will talk over difficulties we are now passing
through.

	You hear some of the brethren surmise that we are going to have
trouble.  You need not expect any trouble, except you take a course to
bring it upon you.  You need never expect to see sorrow, unless your own
conduct, conversation, and acts bring it to your hearts.  Do you not know
that sorrow to you can exist only in your own hearts?  Though men or women
were in the mountains perishing--though they be in overwhelming depths of
snow, freezing to death, or be on a desolate island starving to death for
want of food,--though they perish by the sword or in any other way, yet,
if the heart is cheerful, all is light and glory within: there is no
sorrow within them.  You never saw a true Saint in the world that had
sorrow, neither can you find one.  If persons are destitute of the
fountain of living water, or the principles of eternal life, then they are
sorrowful.  If the words of life dwell within us, and we have the hope of
eternal life and glory, and let that spark within us kindle to a flame, to
the consuming of the least and last remains of selfishness, we never can
walk in darkness and are strangers to doubt and fear.  Yet we see people
among us who are still selfish, and that principle we must abandon: we
must strip off selfishness, and put covetousness far from us.  We must
become of one heart and mind, in order to fully enjoy the blessings we
anticipate. 

	Brother Phineas correctly observed, in his remarks, that if ten men
are united in these mountains, they are not to be overcome by their
enemies.  Are this whole people perfectly united?  I fear not.  When I
undertake to present before this people the true principles of the
Priesthood, I almost shudder, because so many do not yet understand them
and cannot receive them.  I go into my room where we have our
prayer-circle, and among twelve men there will perhaps be twelve different
prayers offered up--one praying for one thing and another for another
thing.  You may reduce the number to three, and let them be clothed for
secret prayer; and while one is praying aloud, each of the others will be
praying for that which the one that is mouth is not praying for, unless
they are better taught in regard to prayer than is the Christian world. 
Ask the people if they understand the principle of prayer, and many reply,
"We do not know: we pray with all our might;" and at the same time it is a
scene of confusion and distraction of mind.

	We are in a land of liberty; and our fathers have taught
us--especially those born in America, that every man and woman and every
child old enough to speak, argue, read, reflect, &c., must have minds of
their own, and not listen to anybody else.  They are taught to shape their
own opinions, and not depend upon others to direct their thoughts, words,
or actions.  That system of teaching reminds me of the old saying, "Every
man for himself, and the Devil for them all."  Such views, though
entertained by the human family at large, must be checked in this people. 
Yet when I undertake to strip off the garb of erroneous tradition, and to
teach the people true principles of faith, prayer, and obedience, there
are many who cannot receive those principles in their understanding and
hearts.  I have told you, and will now tell you again, that you have to
bring your minds right to the authority of the Gospel--to the true Gospel
line.  Let an Elder pray here, and then ask a brother in the congregation
what has been prayed for, and he cannot tell you.  Ask a sister what has
been prayed for and she cannot tell you.  She may say, "I was so fervent
in prayer myself that I did not hear what was prayed for."  And so it is
with hundreds of people who congregate here.  And I think that I may
venture to say that you will scarcely find an individual in the whole
congregation that can tell what the person who prays has prayed for.  Do
you not know that to be a fact?  I will appeal to your own minds.

	When a man opens or closes a meeting with prayer, every man, woman,
and child in the congregation who professes to be a Saint should have no
desire or words in their hearts and mouths but what are being offered by
the man who is mouth for all the congregation.  If all would follow out
that principle, where would it lead the people?  They would act with one
heart and mind in all their acts through life, and promote the kingdom of
God on the earth. 

	How many times I have attended prayer-meetings among the Methodists,
in my youthful days, when perhaps one hundred men and women would all be
praying aloud at once?  I did not then know but that it was all right.  I
neither said nor cared anything about it.  It often used to be father
Joseph Smith's custom, when he took the lead of a fast-meeting, to request
all present to pray aloud at the same time, and there would be as many
different prayers as there were persons.  Where was the concentration on a
single and united thread of faith?  It is like the cable that holds the
ship.  Unwind a cable, and you will find several hundred small cords;
unwind the small cords, and you will find fourteen strands in each cord;
unwind each strand, and there are thousands of fibres; and you have parted
the cable of a ship fasted to a sure anchor, and the ship is free and
wafting unmanageable before the furious tempest.  So it is with prayer. 
You say you want to be united and want the blessings of heaven. 

	How many times have I said here, within the last three months, I pray
that God would so lead us and our enemies that there will be no blood
shed?  And how many have come to meeting and prayed in their hearts that
"our enemies would come on, for we want to slay them, for we have been
mobbed and hunted enough;" and another would pray the same prayer, with a
disposition to desire the spoil.  One of the brethren prayed in camp that
the snow might fall 40 feet deep on our enemies.  I am satisfied if it
falls only four or five feet deep. 

	I will tell you my faith in regard to the brethren now in the
mountains.  General Wells takes the charge; and when I write to him, I
counsel him to do as the Holy Ghost shall dictate him, and inform him that
whatever he may order and perform, he has my faith and influence to
sustain him. 

	I pray God to turn away our enemies, to put hooks in their jaws and
turn them wherever he will, with their gold, their horses, and all they
possess.  They do not know the "Mormons;" they are strangers to this
people, and are full of wrath and malice towards us; but they know not
why.  They know not that they are stirred to anger against us by the enemy
of all righteousness.  Should those who instigated the sending of this
army undertake to come here, there will be another scenery, for they are
more or less acquainted with us and know that we are the most upright
people on the earth; and they will not be able to shield themselves in the
garb if ignorance.  I will not talk about them, for you know their
history, and you know and have seen much of the squalid wretchedness of
the wicked inhabitants of the earth.  Is there honour or virtue among
them?  Where is the man or woman among them that is to be trusted?  If
there is here and there any semblance of goodness or virtue, it is at once
overcome by every fiendish art in their power.  Women are overcome by
sycophants, by those who rule the nation, and those who have power and
influence in the various States, parties, and religious sects.  Man is
overcome by man; they cuddle, and wink, and gamble, and run to-and-fro in
abominations of every grade, and lift their voices for and against each
other, as did the Paddy in his petition to the king for an office, wherein
he stated that he would vote for or against him, fight for him or fight
him, just as he wished it.

	Colonel Alexander--probably one of the best men in the army now near
Bridger ruins, told one of our messengers, when replying to a piece of
advice I had given him to resign his commission rather than be found
operating against an innocent people, that he was compelled to remain in
the army; for, if he resigned, he knew not how to manage to sustain his
family.  He said, "I have no other means of support:  I cannot throw up my
commission, for then I should have no means to support my wife and
children."  As an American, shame and confusion would overwhelm me, were I
to even think of trying to sustain my family by siding with tyranny and
oppression.  That is the only circumstance I wish to name.  They are sent
ostensibly to civilize this people.  But I do not wish to talk much about
such nonsense.  The whole world are wrapt up in the garment of corruption,
confusion, and destruction; and they are fast making their way down to
hell, while we have the words of eternal life.

	How ought we to live?  Look at yourselves and see whether your faith
is concentrated with those who are appointed of the Lord to lead you and
have rule over you.  See whether all your desires are one with theirs.  If
not, it must come to that point.  Let every Saint, when he prays, ask God
for the things he needs to enable him to promote righteousness on the
earth.  If you do not know what to ask for, let me tell you how to pray. 
When you pray in secret or with your families, if you do not know anything
to ask for, submit yourselves to your Father in heaven and beseech him to
guide you by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and to guide this people,
and dictate the affairs of his kingdom on the earth, and there leave it. 
Ask him to put you just where he wants you, and to tell you what he wants
you to do, and feel that you are on hand to do it.  These are a few of my
reflections upon that point, and only a very few of them.

	Let this people be brought to the straightforward thread of the
Gospel; and what more have we than what has been taught us from the
beginning of this work?  Nothing.  And the only difficulty there has been
is, that we were not prepared to receive it.  Do you know how to direct
your own minds?  Where is there an honest man or woman on the face of this
earth--one who has any knowledge of the Supreme Being, any feeling of the
operation of an invisible agency, but what pleads with that God, whether
they know him or not, to dictate their minds, affections, and conduct? 
Where is there and honest man or woman on the earth, but what that is
their desire?

	Many do not know what to pray for.  They need some one to dictate
them.  Will the Lord come and personally dictate them?  You know that he
will not.  Will he send his holy angels to talk with you?  You could not
endure their presence:  you are in a sinful world.  What do you need? 
That invisible agency, called the spirit, to dictate your minds.

 	The whole world are sadly in want of what they call a master-spirit. 
That is what the Government of the United States are deprived of.  There
is not one to be found among them, neither in the Cabinet of the President
nor in the Senate of the United States.  They are all gone, and there is
no one in their midst competent to lead and dictate in the affairs of our
General Government; but, as they say, it is with them a period of
mediocrity.  It has been acknowledged by Great Britain that the
master-spirits are fled:  there are none in the British Parliament, and
they know not what to do.  Let this people come to that condition, and say
that they have no person capable of dictating and leading them, and you
will be in the whirlpool of delusion.  It will be every man for himself,
and you would not know to do:  you would not know how to dictate your own
affairs.  It is this which overwhelms the world in confusion and makes it
Babylon, while the Priesthood elevates mankind and dictates the husband,
the wife, and the children, and all they have.

	A feeling exists in the minds of many of this people that they would
be glad to submit to their presiding Elder or Bishop, but they do no think
that he has knowledge sufficient to lead them.  Says a wife, "I would be
glad to submit to my husband; but I wish I had a husband that I could look
upon as my superior--that I could look up to and receive his words and
counsel:  that would be my highest delight.  O that I had a husband
capable of dictating me; but, alas!  I have not."  Go among some of the
children, and they say, "I would be glad to mind my parents in all things,
but I believe that I know more than they do."

	Go into one of our cities, and you find somebody on the whiz, whiz,
like the wind passing through a broken window in December; and so it goes
throughout the settlement.  Somebody has imagined that the President does
not understand his duty and is not capable of dictating, and that is all
the Devil wants to begin with.  If he succeeds in getting one toe into the
stocking, he will work until he get his whole foot in, and confusion and
discord will reign predominant.  How many times have you observed such
instances?  You have not lived in the Church one year without seeing them.

	In such cases a presiding Elder may not always know but what he has
done something wrong, and may be suspicious that this or that is not
right.  My maxim is, and it is a rule I have established in the
Legislature of this Territory, never to oppose anything unless the one
making the objection can present something better.  Do not oppose when you
cannot improve.  If you are not capable of dictating your brethren, do not
say that you will dictate them until you have found out a better path than
the one in which they are walking.  Before you oppose your Bishop as a man
unworthy of your best feelings, first point out a better path to him; and
then you shall have the right of going to the higher authorities to show
that you know more than your Bishop.

	Is there a fault in some of the presiding Elders?  Yes.  What is it? 
Some of them are subject to a feminine, pusillanimous feeling.  A man
rises up and says, "I will dictate and oppose my Bishop," and some of the
Bishops will dodge, and say, "I do not know but that I am wrong:  wife, am
I right or wrong?"--and say to every brother they meet, "What do you think
about it?" and run round and get the opinion of everybody, to know whether
they will sustain him or not.  When men learn their duty and calling, and
walk up to the best light they have, then, if they do not know precisely
how to guide to the best advantage, they are right, if they do the best
they can, and can tell all who find fault, "I ask no odds of you:  I have
done as I have, and have done the will of God, according to the best of my
knowledge."  And let every man treat his wives and children in the same
way; and when a wife says, "O no, my dear, I think I understand this
matter as well as you do, and perhaps a little better; I am conversant
with all the whys and wherefores, and am acquainted with this little
circumstance better than you are, and I think in this case, me dear, that
I know better than you;" reply, "Get out of my path, for I am going
yonder, and you may whistle at my coat-tail until you are tired of it." 
That is the way I would talk to my wives and children, if they
intermeddled with my duties.  And I say to them, If you cannot reverence
me, tell me where the man is you can reverence, and I would speedily make
a bee-line with my carriage and servants and place you under his care.

	I told the people in Nauvoo, before they wished me to stand as their
President, that if there were any Latter-day Saints that did not wish to
take the counsel of the Twelve, they could go to hell their own road:  we
asked no odds of them, for the Twelve were capable of building up the
kingdom of God on the earth.  You know whether I here ask much odds or
not.  I also told them that if they were not Saints at that critical
juncture, they ought to repent of their sins, and get the Holy Ghost, and
not live another twenty-four hours without the Spirit of revelation within
themselves, for who knows but what you are the elect; and you know that
false prophets were to arise in the last days, and, if possible, deceive
the very elect, and that many false shepherds would come and pretend to be
the true shepherds.  Now, be sure to get the spirit of revelation, so that
you can tell when you hear the true Shepherd's voice, and know him from a
false one; for if you are the elect, it would be a great pity to have you
led astray to destruction.  But if you are not the elect of God through
the sanctification of the Spirit of truth upon your hearts, then you can
go as quickly as you please, for we do not want you.

	We feel just the same now.  Every man and woman that will not strive
to sanctify themselves before the Lord God, and to possess within
themselves the spirit of revelation to know the voice of the true Shepherd
from a false one, the quicker they go out of the Territory the better it
will be.  Take ten men whose hearts, when they pray, are upon one sentence
and upon one idea at a time, when they ask God for anything, or to bring
this or that to pass, do you think that the powers of hell can hinder what
they ask for?  No.  It is as true as the heavens--as firm as the mountains
that rest upon these valleys--as sure as eternity, that nothing can fail
which they agree upon; for God will grant it. 

	What is our difficulty?  When I go to my prayer-room, among men who
have been with me for years, there is too great a diversity of feeling and
desires to be in accordance with the Gospel.  There is too much of Babylon
in that.  When that is the case, and when I am praying for one thing and
others for another, our faith comes in contact and we do not receive what
we ask for.  How many times have I said that I would rather have one
hundred true Saints in the mountains than five millions that are not
Saints, if I had to contend against the whole world?  What, with the
sword?  Yes.  Let me have the Gideonites that can kneel down and lap the
water, and one will chase a thousand to flight.  Whether the Lord will
require this people to use the sword, or not, I do not know, neither do I
care; but I believe that if the faith of this people were united, all hell
cannot get armies in here to disturb our settlements.

	How gladly I would tell the people what to pray for.  But if I tell
them, in ten minutes afterwards they pray for something else.  It is too
much so in the Quorum of the Twelve and among my Counsellors.  Go into
meetings, and you may hear thirty different prayers, if there are so many
offered up, for everything but what I tell them to pray for.  You may
think I undervalue you.  I do not.  I tell you that if we strive with all
our powers. by-and-by the time will come that we will be Saints indeed.  I
have not said that we are Saints.  We are trying to be, and we profess to
have the keys that will lead us in the path of eternal life.  When we
become so advanced that we are no more in darkness and doubt, nor in any
way under the power of the Devil, then we have a certain victory over
ourselves and over every foul spirit; the Lord God is sanctified in our
hearts, and we are his servants and handmaids--his children, that can
never be destroyed.

	Take the congregation now before me, and they pray a thousand
different prayers.  To-night, mothers, wives, and little children, observe
how the head of the family prays, and see if he does not pray for nearly
everything but what he should pray for.  Perhaps I am wrong, but I think
that he will be sure not to pray for the things he ought to.  He will pray
that himself and family may have plenty to eat and live in peace, and
probably stop at that.  His prayer will be something like a certain old
man's blessing at his meals: "O Lord, bless me and my wife, my son John
and his wife,--us four and no more:  Amen."  You will hear the brethren
pray, "O Lord, bless me, and my wife, and children; but the rest I care
nothing about."  When you pray, pray for the things that the kingdom
needs, and be not so very careful about yourselves.  Your selfish notions
out to be out of sight.  Pray God to promote his kingdom and preserve you
in it, and not as I have known a tolerably good man to pray.  He was so
ignorant that he would cheat a widow woman out of her last cow, and then
go down on his knees and thank God for his peculiar blessings to him!  Do
not be so abominably ignorant.  Instead of thanking God that you have been
able to wrong one man out of a horse, another out of a yoke of cattle,
&c., pray that he will give you the disposition to make the most righteous
use of the property he has entrusted to your care.  Pray that this people
may be preserved--that the kingdom of God may roll on--that our Elders on
the islands in the Pacific, in the United States, and in foreign lands may
be so blessed as to come safely home.  Pray for the honest in heart, and
that the ungodly may be so filled with fear and trembling that they may
leave us, that we may live here as Saints, and build up the kingdom of our
God, and prepare for the return of this people to the centre stake of
Zion, where we can lay the foundations for a New Jerusalem.  Pray for the
promotion of this cause and kingdom, instead of praying that you may be
able to wrong somebody out of something.

	All eternity is before you, and everything you can ask for will be
given to you in due time; for the heavens and the earth are the Lord's,
and the fulness thereof.  If I have horses, oxen, and possessions, they
are the Lord's and not mine; and all I ask is for him to tell me what to
do with them.  A great many say that the Lord takes and gives as he
pleases, and I think that if I act as the Lord does I shall do pretty
well.  Again, some say that the Lord is going to fight our battles, and
enquire, "What is the use of our brethren being out in the mountains?"  He
will use his people as he pleases; and in the sequel you will find that
God fought the battle, and not we.

	It has also been observed that God will provide for you.  Still many
want to shade a little, rather than to work hard for an honest living. 
Such practices must be put away, and this people must become sanctified in
their affections to God, and learn to deal honestly, truly, and uprightly
with one another in every respect, with all the integrity that fills the
heart of an angel.  They must learn to feel that they can trust all they
possess with their brethren and sisters, saying, "All I have I entrust to
you:  keep it until I call for it."  The world have no confidence in each
other; but that principle must prevail in the midst of this people:  you
must preserve your integrity to each other.

	Live your religion.  How much you are exhorted--how much have we
pleaded with you to live your religion--to live in the light of God's
countenance--to live with the Holy Spirit so reigning in you as never to
be led astray, that you may know how to promote the kingdom of God on the
earth.  Let selfishness be out of sight, and ask the Lord to preserve you
in the truth, and do with you as he pleases, and dispose of you to his
glory.

	May God bless you.  Amen.

             NEGLECT OF SUNDAY MEETINGS--THE SAINTS GATHERED
           FROM THE COMMON CLASSES OF SOCIETY--DISHONESTY, ETC.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, November 22, 1857.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Much has been said here to-day with regard to that class who are
unruly and forward--who are subject to do evil.  I presume that great
majority of this congregation have concluded to place all those remarks
upon those who do not come to meeting.  Doubtless the few--yes, the very
few characters that have been referred to by the brethren to-day are at
home studying mischief.  It is very seldom that you will find a thief in
this house--a person that plunders his neighbours.  But if you will go
into the streets, you will find certain persons in the different Wards who
have an excuse for not attending meeting.  Some are so very industrious
that they cannot attend meeting.  I would not doubt much but what we could
not go to several houses and find women at work; they are so very
industrious.  And it is often the case that some men are so industrious
that they cannot find time to get a load of wood without going for it or
returning with it on Sunday.  That is really the case with those who do
not love "Mormonism:"  they have embraced it because they know it is true
and think it will shield them in their iniquity.  It is seldom that such
persons come to meeting.  I conclude that the remarks which have been made
to-day are designed for those persons who are disposed to do evil; but
there is probably only a very few or none of that class present, and we
shall have to depend upon you to tell them what has been said about them. 
I am thankful that it is my honest conviction that there are but a very
few of that class in our community.

	There are a great many people who do wrong because they have not the
standard of right and wrong within them, but permit themselves to be
governed by the prejudices and education they have received among the
different nations and neighbourhoods where they have been trained.  You
may find some persons who have within them the standard of right and
wrong:  they can tell when they do right--what is right, and judge
themselves as easily as they can others; but of this class there are but a
very few.  And were I to say that there are none who are entirely free
from the prejudices and prepossessed ideas gathered in their youthful days
from their parents, teachers, and friends, I should say what is strictly
true.  Still we are studying and trying to learn how to discern between
the evil and the good, the right and the wrong,--between that which is of
God and that which is not of him.

	This people are mostly gathered from what are termed the labouring
and middle classes.  We have not gathered into this Church men that are by
the world esteemed profound  in their principles, ideas, and judgment.  We
have none in this Church that are called by them expert statesmen.  How
frequently it is cast at the Elders, when they are abroad preaching, that
Joseph Smith, the founder of their Church and religion, was only a poor
illiterate boy.  That used to be advanced as one of the strongest
arguments that could be produced against the doctrine of salvation by the
wise and learned of this world, though it is no argument at all.  The Lord
should have revealed himself to some of the learned priests or talented
men of the age, say they, who could have done some good and borne off the
Gospel by their influence and learning, and not to a poor, ignorant,
unlettered youth.  Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble,
speaking after the manner of men, are called; but God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise, the weak things of the
world to confound the things that are mighty; and base things of the
world--things which are despised by the world, hath God in his wisdom
chosen; yea, and things which are not to bring to naught things that are,
that no flesh should glory in his presence.

	Men were too wise in the days of the Saviour to receive the Gospel,
and we see the same disposition exhibited in our day.  The world spurn the
idea of receiving truth from a person they look upon as inferior to them
in the talent, learning, and cunning of the present generation.  Perhaps
they might bow to the requirements of Heaven were an angel to personally
visit them individually, and exalt them to high places, and give them the
influence, power, and glory that are of this world.  We have none of those
men here:  we are all of the labouring and middle classes.  There are but
few in this Church who are not of the labouring class, and they have not
had an opportunity to cultivate their minds, to search into the history of
the nations of the earth, to learn the prejudices that are upon the
people, their education, feelings, and customs.  We have mostly come from
the plough and the furrow, from the mechanic shops and the loom, from the
spinning-jenny, the kitchen, and wash-room. This people have not been
educated in the devilry and craft of the learned classes of mankind, and
consequently possessed honesty enough to embrace the truth.  That is the
character of the class of people before me to-day.

	Who is capable of judging?  We do not look for that talent and great
judgment from the common people that we would naturally expect from those
who are called the refined and educated.  There must be an opportunity
given them for improvement before we can expect the same refinement and
classical attainments which the higher classes, so called, boast of.  The
higher classes have nothing to do only to study the nature of man, their
own dispositions, and those of their fellow-beings.  We can look upon them
as they really are, and truly we are compelled to conclude that the
devilry, mischief, dishonesty, craft, corruption, &c., that are taught and
practiced among the higher classes, have prevented them from receiving the
Gospel.  But the poor, half-starved labourers, those who feel as though
they want a friend, who look around for some source of happiness, for some
arm to lean on, for some eye to pity them, are the ones who have honesty
enough to receive the truth.

	What should we expect from such a class of people?  I have my reasons
for justifying and my reasons for condemning; I have my reasons for liking
this people and my reasons for disliking the conduct of some; and I
believe that I look upon them very much as the Lord does.  He pities the
human family; they are objects of his mercy and commiseration.  There are
men in this community who, through the force of the education they have
received from their parents and friends, would cheat a poor widow out of
her last cow and then go down upon their knees and thank God for the good
fortune he had sent them and for his kind providences that enabled them to
obtain a cow without becoming amenable to any law of the land, though the
poor widow had been actually cheated.  We see that trait of character in
mankind.  Are such persons capable in all things of rightly discerning
between truth and error?  No.  But they, through their traditions, can
judge every person but themselves:  they can weigh every person in their
scale of justice; but they never think of trying themselves.  That
proceeds from the force of education and false tradition upon their minds,
and some still remain ignorant of many of the true principles of right and
wrong, although they have embraced the Gospel.

	Brother Kimball told the truth this morning with regard to many of
our mechanics.  I have not built a house since I have been in this place
but what I have furnished many more pounds of nails than I would have to
do for the same piece of work in the States.  I knew that some of the
workmen took them, and I told them so.  They need not undertake to deceive
me, for I know precisely what they do.  Since the days of reformation, I
have had many a one come to me--honest me to all appearance--men that you
would almost have sworn were as holy as an angel, and confess that they
had stolen nails from me, or a waggon, &c.  But they have not yet become
honest enough to bring the stolen articles back.  In what condition are
they, after such a confession, without making restitution, compensation,
or some kind of satisfaction?  Just as they were before.  To me, taking
and keeping another's property, without leave, is stealing; but to many,
they consider it a godsend to have another's nails to carry home in their
pockets.  That often is the consequence of tradition, rather than an
innate disposition to steal.  I will relate a circumstance to corroborate
that statement. I once knew a man in this Church who told me that, when he
was in the old country, he would, if possible, spoil his work, in order to
be employed to do it again.  He was a plumber and glazier.  As soon as he
had finished a fine window or a large sash for a hot-house in a
gentleman's garden, he would place it in a situation where it would be
sure to be broken to pieces, that he might thereby secure employment; and
when he received the second job, he would thank God for his kind
providences toward him.  To him, in his tradition, and amid the oppression
of the labouring classes, that was just as honest as anything could be. 
But here they are not so oppressed.

	To this day, if you employ masons to do a valuable piece of work,
many will so do it that the wall or building will last only a few years,
and then believe that to be honesty, whereas I believe it to be
dishonesty.  And joiners, with few exceptions, will so hang doors, put up
mantlepieces, put on roofs, and lay floors, that in a short time all their
work is out of repair or good for nothing.  Very many, through the power
of erroneous education, do not know what honesty and dishonesty are, and
are not capable of judging.  Observe the artisans in any branch of
mechanism, and you will learn that what I have stated is true.  Then you
may take the class called merchants, also the doctors, the priests in the
various sects, the lawyers, and every person engaged in any branch of
business throughout the world, and, as a general thing, they are all
taught from their childhood to be more or less dishonest.

	Those who have their eyes opened to see and understand where honesty
and uprightness are, what righteousness is, and to discern between that
which is right and that which is wrong, often rise here and talk about it. 
I do so myself; and when I speak of dishonesty among the people I look at
them as they are, whether I tell it or not.  This is the most honest
people on the earth.  There is more honesty in this community than in any
other community on the earth--that is, that we have any knowledge of.  The
great majority of this community are as honest as they know how to be.  I
have stated that I had not found a man honest enough to bring back what he
had taken from me; but those persons are poor and can make a reasonable
excuse.  One of the best men I ever hired to labour for me--one whom I
paid well for all he did for me, took some of my tools; that is to say, he
borrowed them and never brought them back.  Well, he is poor.  Will I
forgive Him?  Yes.  They may steal from me as much as they please, and I
will forgive them as far as they ought to be forgiven.  They may say, "You
have plenty, brother Brigham."  That is true; and, so far as I can
remember, I have never stolen a pin's worth in any way, shape, or manner,
except the taking a few melons or a little fruit, once in a while, when I
was a boy.  Have I cheated any of you, or wronged any of you in any way? 
If I have, I would be glad to have you tell me wherein.  Have I oppressed
the labourer in his wages?  If I have, let the man come and tell me of it.

	Some think that I am very close and economical.  I am; and I will
tell you wherein.  When a man comes to labour for me--one who will only
leisurely do two or three hours' work in a day, and wants as much pay as a
man who will do six time as much, I am not willing to pay him for idling
away his time.  If I have a man labour for me who can do six days' work in
one, did I ever refuse to pay him for the amount of labour he performed? 
Ask Isaac Hunter if I ever refused to pay him wages to the full amount of
labour he could perform in a day.  In this valley we have estimated laying
rock in a wall to be worth one dollar a perch.  Ask any mason, when he
laid ten perches in a day, if I ever refused to pay him ten dollars.  But
if a man wanted three dollars and a half for laying one perch, I am not
willing to pay him at that rate.  I will suppress dishonesty, but I never
oppress honesty.

	I have tried to suppress dishonesty in individuals, and have tried
thereby to make them honest.  If I hire a carpenter and pay him three
dollars a day, and he is three days in making a six panel door that a good
workman can make in one, or even a door and a half, I do not want to pay
him three dollars a day for that labour.  Yet some who are here have no
more judgment, discretion, or idea of right or wrong, than to want to be
paid for labour they do not perform; and that they consider to be honesty: 
but it is just as dishonest as anything in the world.

	I am willing to pay men for what they do.  I am anxious that all
should have that which belongs to them, and wish them to let that which
belongs to be alone.  If I furnish nails to build a house, the workmen
have no right to carry them off.  When using nails, the mechanic often has
more or less in his pocket.  At quitting-time he forgets to take them out,
and carries them home.  He goes out to chop a little wood and says, "Dear
me, these nails"--some twenty or thirty, or perhaps more--"are quite a
burden to me," and he puts them out of his way.  By-and-by he wants to
build a pig-pen, or to build a little addition to his house, and 'feels
quite thankful that he has the nails to do it with, and will praise the
name of the Lord for the manner in which he has blessed him.  I do not
want blessings on such grounds, and I never expect them in that way,
because I have the natural sense to know better.  Others also will have
it, if they will continue to try to find out how to judge between right
and wrong in themselves as they do in another individual.

	You may go to High Councils, though we do not have many in these
days, and to Bishops' Courts, and hear a trial between parties that have
quarrelled with each other, and you will readily perceive that if those
individuals could judge themselves as they judge each other, there would
have been no difficulty between them; they would have settled their
affairs between themselves, and the best of feelings would have been
established for each other.  But people cannot judge themselves as they
can others nor look upon their own conduct as they do upon the conduct of
others.  We must learn to look at ourselves, to judge ourselves, and know
how to deal with ourselves, and that will enable us to bring ourselves
into perfect subjection to the law of Christ.

	Are the people striving to do right?  Yes, they are.  It has been
observed that we are pretty clear from those unruly spirits that have been
in our midst.  So we are; but you need not flatter yourselves for a moment
that the Devil has left us.  You will find that he marshals his forces
more particularly against this people; and if we are now clear from those
unhallowed spirits and the tabernacles they occupied, you may expect that
he will, if possible, find somebody here in whom he can have a
resting-place.  You will learn that the wicked disembodied spirits have
not left this people, though the most of those wicked persons who sought
to destroy the Saints have left us.  There are myriads of disembodied evil
spirits--those who have long ago laid down their bodies here and in the
regions round about, among and around us; and they are trying to make us
and our children sick, and are trying to destroy us and to tempt us to
evil. They will try every possible means they are masters of to draw us
aside from the path of righteousness.

	Do you not think that we need to watch and pray continually--that we
need all the time to keep a guard over ourselves, that we may preserve
ourselves in the love of the truth?  We do.  It should be our constant
study to guard ourselves on every side against every attack of the enemy
of all righteousness.

	Cease looking at others.  Cease to judge each other.  Go into a
family where there are two women belonging to one man, and from that to as
as many as you can find, and you will soon learn that almost every woman
can judge all the family but herself; and that she thinks that whatever
she does is just right:  she would not do a wrong for the world.  Then go
to the next woman that was said to be so out of the way, and with her it
is, "I am exactly right, and the other is wrong."  They do not rightly
look at their own failings, views, and passions.  If they were all capable
of straightening themselves, they would not come in collision with each
other, but would all conclude to walk together in the straight and narrow
path, whereas now they are at times almost diametrically opposed to each
other.  Is that the case?  Judge ye for yourselves.  That is not the case
with every family, to my certain knowledge; but it is so with too many. 
It is just so with the brethren.  You find more or less of the same
difficulty everywhere you go.  It is, "I am right, and your are wrong."

	You have been taught the standard of right.  Now subdue your
rebellious passions, dismiss everything that you know or consider to be
wrong, and embrace that which is better.  Get wisdom and all the light you
possible can, and never live another twenty-four hours without the Holy
Spirit of the Lord, and that will give you joy, peace, comfort, light and
intelligence, by which you can grow in grace and in the knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ.  I cannot reach these attainments, neither can you,
only by the light and intelligence which flow from heaven, you may say,
"Brother Brigham, you are like the rest of us:  we see our faults, but we
do not like to acknowledge them; we like to have them covered up and kept
out the sight of our neighbours."  If you find a secret fault, dismiss it
secretly.  Let your faults go behind you; turn them overboard, and for
ever disown them.  If no person but yourselves has seen your faults, you
are blessed.  You may then get rid of them without their being made
manifest to others.

	If men and women, and more especially women, for they love chit-chat,
when they feel in any way bad or a little cross, or feel as though
somebody is out of the way, and feel like finding fault with their
neighbour and exposing this one's fault and the other one's fault, would
only be as secret on the faults of others as they are on their own, it
would be beneficial to their welfare and of their neighbours.  When a
person opens his mouth, no matter what he talks about, to a person of
quick discernment, he will disclose more or less of his true sentiments. 
You cannot hide the heart, when your mouth is open.  If your want to keep
your heart secret, keep your mouth shut.

	Some say, "I feel as though I must boil over, and I must talk to
relieve myself."  All hell is boiling over; but does that make it any
better?  No.  If you let your tongue run, and it scatters the poison that
is in you, it sets the whole being on fire.  The Apostle James says, "And
the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our
members that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of
nature, and it is set on fire of hell."  And again, "But the tongue can no
man tame:  it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."  Are you aware of
this, sisters and brethren?  If you keep silent, you can master your
feelings, can subdue your passions, and ultimately become masters of them
and banish them from you.  If you give way to your unbridled tongues, you
increase anger within you, and the first you know your blood is boiling
with wrath.  That is what the Apostle meant when he wrote, "It setteth on
fire the whole course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell."  It is
hell that sets it going.  If you find that you cannot keep your tongue
still, get some India-rubber and chew it with all your might.  Do as
brother Joseph Sharp did when he assisted in conveying Mrs. Mogo to the
soldier's camp.  He considered that the soldiers rather imposed upon him
and his brother Adam, and he was for fight; but Adam, who is not so
impetuous, coaxed him to the waggon, where he laid down on his face, and
in two hours chewed up almost the whole plug of tobacco.  In such cases a
good piece of India-rubber is better, cheaper, and will last longer;
though it would be better for your to chew up a whole plug of tobacco than
to have a real quarrel with your tongues.  You would not in a long time
get over the effects of a quarrel:  it would be like a cankerworm to your
souls.

	There is not a person on the earth, that has sense enough to know
what experience is, but what, if they would bridle their tongues and
subdue their passions, could say, "I have not injured anybody--no, not
even myself."  It is not matter how you are tempted, if you do not give
way to temptation; but if you give way to temptation, it carries you to
destruction.  If you give way to your angry feelings, it sets on fire the
whole course of nature, and is set on fire of hell; and you are then apt
to set those on fire who are contending with you.  When you feel as though
you would burst, tell the old boiler to burst, and just laugh at the
temptation to speak evil.  If you will continue to do that, you will soon
be so masters of yourselves as to be able, if not to tame, to control your
tongues,--able to speak when you ought, and to be silent when you ought.

	Let the mechanics and all others try to improve as you have.  There
has a great improvement taken place in the midst of this people, and we
will still continue to improve.  Let us seek unto the Lord for wisdom,
until we can rightly judge all matters that come before us--until we can
judge ourselves and our neighbours with equal justice, and so continue to
improve, until we come up to the standard of truth in all our acts and
words; so that when I employ a mason to lay me up a wall, he will do it
honestly, and so on with every other workman.  Then if a man does not earn
his wages, he will not ask them or take them.  Now it is--"I want all I
can get."  Honesty never comes into the hearts of such persons; their rule
is to keep what they have got, and to get all they can, whether honestly
or not, and pray for more.

	When the eyes of your understandings are opened to deal righteously
with each other, then my axes, shovels, &c., will all be safe, if they are
left in the barn.  But it has been so that my harness was taken, my picks
and shovels, my waggon, wheels, and tire, and everything else that could
be was carried off.  When we have attained the improvement I anticipate, I
can lie down in peace at night and enquire, "Wife, have you brought in
those clothes that were hung out?"  "No."  "All right--no person will
meddle with them."  I would rather persons who are destitute would come to
me and say, "We need a pair of pantaloons, a hat," &c., and give me a
chance to assist them.  But when they steal, I cannot trust them.

	I would rather give a woman a dollar than have her come to my house
saying, "Do you want to buy a pound of butter?" "Yes.  What do you want
for it?"  "Twenty-five or thirty cents," as the case may be, and then stop
with my family and eat a great deal more butter than she sold to me.  If
they would come to me and say, "Brother Brigham, I want to sell this
butter, for I have no way of living only by my labour," it would be
another thing.  If a poor woman should come to me and say, "I want fifty
cents to purchase dye stuffs," here it is; you are welcome to the money,
but do not undertake to sponge on me.

	Let my nails, tools, and other property remain where they belong. 
Work honestly and deal honestly one with another.  Evil practices in a
great degree spring from the traditions of the people; they are so
educated.  They have been taught, in different parts of the world, that if
they found a thing, though not many yards from the door of the owner, it
belonged to them.  "This belongs to me now, for I have found it."  Did you
earn it?  "No; I found it."  That and a thousand other traits of human
life tend to lead the people astray.  They seldom stop to think whether
they are right or wrong.

	We need to learn, practise, study, know, and understand how angels
live with each other.  When this community comes to the point to be
perfectly honest and upright, you will never find a poor person:  none
will lack; all will have sufficient.  Every man, woman, and child will
have all they need just as soon as they all become honest.  When the
majority of a community are dishonest, it maketh the honest portion poor,
for the dishonest serve and enrich themselves at their expense.  You know
that I think that this people are the best people that there are; yet we
need to train ourselves, to study ourselves, and study the principles of
truth and righteousness, until we can discern that which is right from
that which is wrong in the least particular within ourselves; and you will
find that to answer every purpose, without judging our neighbours as much
as many do.

	As to this people being a good people, I say, God bless you all the
the [sic] time!  Who else will do as this people do?  Nobody else.  All
you have is on the altar, ready to be offered up for the kingdom of God. 
You could hardly find a man or woman in this congregation but what would
take the clothing from their backs to promote this kingdom.

	We are telling you all the time to do as you are told; but do you do
it to that extent which you will in a few years to come?  No.  Why? 
Because you do not know how.  I know that this people are doing a great
deal better than they did years ago.  Could Joseph do with this people as
I and my brethren now can?  No.  Were this people in the situation they
now are when Joseph was alive?  No.  Joseph was running the gauntlet among
his wicked enemies all the time.  He hardly knew a man in the kingdom that
he could put confidence  enough in to call for a dollar to help him out of
a difficulty.  He did not know how many would stand by him when a mob
gathered against him.  He had a few faithful, tried friends; but he had
many around him who would betray him into the hands of his enemies.

	I am not afflicted with such persons in the midst of this people; but
there is confidence and a concentration of faith; and we will so improve
that, when a man rises here to pray, there will not be a desire from the
heart of a man or woman but what is uttered by the one who is mouth.  When
we come to understanding, there will not be as many desires and prayers as
there are people, while one is officiating as mouth for the whole; but
when he who is mouth prays, every heart will wait until he utters a
sentence, and that embodies what they also desire.  When the sisters meet
together and appoint one of their number to pray, they will never let a
desire escape from the heart until they know what the mouth is praying
for.  Then they all will desire the same and pray for the same.  This
people are hastening to that degree of perfection.

	I thank the Lord all the time, and I bless the name of Israel's God
that I live in this day and age of the world, and that I am associated
with such a people.  Is there any misery, sorrow, and affliction here?  I
do not know what trouble or sorrow is.  Do I feel for others?  Yes, all I
ought to feel.

	I know what the sorrow of the world is.  It works death, and I have
long ago bid good-bye to it.  If I am sorry for anything, I try to have a
godly sorrow to benefit me.  My heart is cheerful; I am happy and thankful
all the day long; and I believe that I am in the light.  I have not asked
for a lantern, only from the Almighty; and I know that the whole people
are daily progressing, ascending, and increasing in good works and in
faith and knowledge, even the knowledge of God; and we are doing the works
he desires at our hands.

	It would do you good to look out yonder in the mountains and see our
brethren warmly clad and well provided for.  The brethren and sisters here
in the neighbourhoods round about have liberally answered to our calls,
and every time have supplies more than was called for.  Will they part
with everything, if it is called for?  Yes.  I have heard but of one man,
since the brethren went out to watch the enemy--a man up north, who really
wished the brethren to spare his ox; but they butchered him before his
eyes.  I said amen to it.  If his god can be slain as easily as that, it
is an excellent thing for him.  If any of you have gods in horses, or in
oxen, make an offering of them forthwith, and tell the boys who are going
out that they are welcome to them.  They are welcome to all mine.  If you
don't believe it, try it.

	We are a blessed people, and we shall be preserved from our enemies,
if we continue to do right, and the Lord will sustain us.  And I can tell
you that this people will do right and God will sustain us.  Ere long Zion
will triumph and the glory and knowledge of God will cover the earth, and
we will still be in the old ship Zion and ride all wicked opposition down
to destruction.  May God help us so to do.  Amen.

           ATTENTION AND REFLECTION NECESSARY TO AN INCREASE OF
 KNOWLEDGE--SELF-CONTROL--UNITY OF THE GODHEAD AND OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
    Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, November 29, 1857.

                          Reported by G. D. Watt

	I have the same diffidence in my feelings that most public speakers
have, and am apt to think that others can speak better and more edifying
that I can.  There are but few public speakers but what feel more or less
timidity.  That is probably not so much a man-fearing spirit as it is a
natural delicacy or timidity.  All of you have doubtless to some extent
realized the same feeling, either in large or small assemblies, and also
in social conversation.  People generally are more or less disturbed and
thrown off their balance by the sound of their own voices, especially when
speaking to an audience, even after being much used to addressing
assemblies.  Some of our most eloquent and interesting speakers would
rather do almost anything than speak to the congregations that assemble
here.  That diffidence or timidity we must dispense with.  When it becomes
our duty to talk, we ought to be willing to talk.  if we never exhibit the
knowledge within us, the people will not know really whether we have any. 
Interchanging our ideas and exhibiting that which we believe and
understand affords an opportunity for detecting and correcting errors and
increasing our stock of valuable information.  I have frequently thought
that I should be very happy if I could hear the Elders of Israel speak
their feelings and impart their knowledge pertaining to their
fellow-beings, to earthly things, to heavenly things, to godliness, and
God.

	I am sensible that people are not gifted and capacitated alike. 
There is not that depth of understanding and intensity of thought in some
that there is in others, neither is there the same scope of perception. 
Some are quick to apprehend, while others are slow.  Also while a speaker
is communicating his opinions, views, and feelings, a portion of so large
a congregation as this will perhaps be giving the most strict attention,
while the minds of the other portion are wandering at the moment he may be
advancing rich ideas, clothed in language choice and eloquent.  That
inattention by some leads to a difference of understanding among the
people, through a misapprehension of the speaker's meaning.  True, some
persons may use language that a portion of the congregation are
unacquainted with; consequently, they could not be expected to readily
apprehend the idea designed to be communicated, though that is by no means
a common incident in teachings from this stand.

	If a congregation wish to be instructed so as to understand alike and
alike receive an increase of wisdom and knowledge, their minds must be
intent on the subject before them. They must not suffer their thoughts to
be roaming over the earth; they must not permit their minds to be scanning
and traversing their every-day duties and avocations.  If they do, they
are not blessed with that store of knowledge they otherwise might obtain
through paying that attention necessary to enable them to clearly
understand.  I acknowledge that it is a masterwork to school our minds so
as at all times to exercise complete power over them.  If the people would
so educate themselves as to control their thinking powers, they would
derive a great advantage from it.  They could improve much faster than
they now do.

	Many years ago, the Prophet Joseph observed that if the people would
have received the revelations he had in his possession, and wisely acted
upon them, as the Lord would dictate, they might, in their power to do and
understand, have been many years ahead of what they then were.  Experience
has taught us that is requires time to acquire certain branches of
mechanism, also all principles and ideas that we wish to become masters
of.  The closer people apply their minds to any correct purpose the faster
they can grow and increase in the knowledge of the truth.  When they learn
to master their feelings they can soon learn to master their reflections
and thoughts in the degree requisite for attaining the objects they are
seeking.  But while they yield to a feeling or spirit that distracts their
minds from a subject they wish to study and learn, so long they will never
gain the mastery of their minds.  So it is with persons who yield to
temptation and wickedness.

	There are individuals who yield to that unruly member, the tongue;
and after yielding once, they have not the same strength to resist as at
first.  They become more and more weakened every time they yield to
temptation, until they are unable to control themselves, when they are
tempted either to speak unadvisedly or to run into any species of
wickedness.  So every faculty bestowed upon man is subject to
contamination--subject to be diverted from the purpose the Creator
designed it to fill.  If a man permits himself to make use of language
calculated to wound his spirit and infringe upon his better judgement, and
does not try to resist that practice, when he is again tempted upon the
point he is more likely to give way and to have less compunction of
conscience than before.  If he continues day after day to yield himself a
servant to the uncontrolled whims of his own nature and the evil
influences that may be exercised upon him from without, in a few years he
will be so steeped in sin as to be entirely given over to the error of his
ways.  The sooner an individual resists temptation to do, say, or think
wrong, while he has light to correct his judgement, the quicker he will
gain strength and power to overcome every temptation to evil.

	Let the people study to bring their thinking or reflecting faculties
into subjection.  We are preaching principles that belong to this subject
every day of our lives.  Last Sabbath I spoke upon the concentration of
faith, of action, of feeling, of reflection.  That is a matter I often
reflect upon, because I am called into circumstances that bring it before
me every time I hear a man pray.  Am I as yet so master of my thoughts and
reflections that no thought or desire of my heart is trying to forestall
the speaker in uttering his sentiments and wishes?  Have I the power to
hold my mind directly upon his words and desires, asking continually that
he may be directed by the Holy Ghost?  I acknowledge that I am not yet
perfect in this point.  I have not yet that power over myself; but, to the
praise of the name of the God I serve, I do actually gain upon it.  When
my mind has betrayed me, and I detect a desire different from that which
is uttered by my speaker, I feel to retract and offer my desire to the
throne of grace that I may have power to hold my faith with the man that
is appointed to pray.  Those who think and reflect upon this matter can
realize that I wish of myself and what I wish of the people.  Unthinking
persons may not fully realize the importance of these remarks; but every
person who has a realizing sense of the duties devolving upon him--of the
way of life and salvation--of what we are called to in the holy Gospel,
must be aware of the importance of this subject to all who are determined
to live their religion.

	You are all acquainted, or profess to be, with the Gospel of
salvation.  You have entered into covenant with God--have received the
ordinances of the Gospel; and if you have not received the Holy Ghost, you
should have received it.  You have the history of the administration of
the Holy Ghost as given by the Apostles in the days of Jesus, and it is
referred to in all sacred writings.  This people profess to be more or
less acquainted with the principles developed by the administration of the
Holy Ghost.  We will admit that you understand it.  Now, ask yourselves
whether you believe that the Holy Ghost ever commenced to produce a work
or an effect before it was in the heart and mind of that Being we call our
heavenly Father.  Do you think that the Holy Ghost ever thought of
dictating that Being we call our God?  This whole people have learned
enough upon this subject to answer at once, that we do not believe that
the Holy Ghost ever dictated, suggested, moved, or pretended to offer a
plan, except that which the Eternal Father dictated.

	With regard to this particular point, I will say that you shall judge
the matter and be my witnesses.  Have we not learned enough with regard to
the character of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to at once believe,
admit, and affirm that the Holy Ghost always has and always will operate
precisely according to the suggestion of the Father?  Not a desire, act,
wish, or thought does the Holy Ghost indulge in contrary to that which is
dictated by the Father.  We all sense this in a degree, because it has
always been taught to us.  It is taught in the Bible, in the revelations
given through Joseph, and in the preaching by the Elders of Israel.  It is
our tradition, education, and experience in the kingdom of God.  The Holy
Ghost, we believe, is one of the characters that form the Trinity, or the
Godhead.  Not one person in three, nor three persons in one; but the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one in essence, as the hearts of three men
who are united in all things.  He is one of the three characters we
believe in, whose office it is to administer to those of the human family
who love the truth.  I have stated that they are one, as the hearts of
three men might be one.  Lest you should mistake me, I will say that I do
not wish you to understand that the Holy Ghost is a personage having a
tabernacle, like the Father and the Son; but he is God's messenger that
diffuses his influence through all the works of the Almighty.

	We believe that we have a correct idea of the character of the Son
from the writings of the Apostles, so far as they learned it.  But while
he was tabernacling in the flesh, he was more or less contaminated with
fallen nature.  While he was here, in a body that his mother Mary bore
him, he was more or less connected with and influenced by this nature that
we have received.  According to the flesh, he was of the seed of Adam and
Eve, and suffered the weaknesses and temptations of his fellow-mortals. 
He was hungry and thirsty, weary and faint, and had to eat, drink, and
sleep.  In him were developed all the traits pertaining to mortal man. 
According to the scanty history that we have of the Saviour, as near
nothing at all as well can be from the time of his birth to the time of
his entering on his ministry at the age of thirty years, he administered
his Gospel for about three years and a half among the people, and raised
up his Church, ordained his Apostles, and established his kingdom; and of
that limited time we have but a scanty history.  According to that
history--according to all you have learned, and to all the Holy Ghost has
ever borne testimony of to you concerning him, let me ask you the same
question in regard to him as I did concerning the Holy Ghost; and what
would you say?  That he did nothing of himself.  he wrought miracles and
performed a good work on the earth; but of himself he did nothing.  He
said, "As I have seen my Father do, so do I."  "I came not to do my will,
but the will of Him that sent me."  We must come to the conclusion that
the Son of God did not suggest, dictate, act, or produce any manifestation
of his power, of his glory, or of his errand upon the earth, only as it
came from the mind and will of his Father.  Do you not all firmly believe
that the whole soul, heart, reflections, thoughts, and all the being of
the Son of God were operated upon and did show forth that all he did
manifest and bring forth pertaining to his mission was according to the
word and will of his Father?  Certainly you do.

	Jesus offered up one of the most essential prayers that could
possibly be offered up by a human or heavenly being--no matter who,
pertaining to the salvation of the people, and embodying a principle
without which none can be saved, when he prayed the father to make his
disciples one, as he and his Father were one.  He knew that  if they did
not become one, they could not be saved in the celestial kingdom of God. 
If persons do not see as he did while in the flesh, hear as he heard,
understand as he understood, and become precisely as he was, according to
their several capacities and callings, they can never dwell with him and
his Father.  That same principle stands out as the most prominent item of
teaching in all the teachings and revelations that have ever been given
from heaven to men on the earth.  That thread of faith, of feeling, of
hope, of joy, and of action may be found through all the instructions that
have ever come from heaven to earth, in order to bring the children of
God--that is, the whole of the human family--the children of our Father,
and we as brethren and sisters, parents and children, all emanating from
one parentage, back again into the presence of the Father and the Son, to
bring up the whole posterity of father Adam and mother Eve to enjoy the
light, glory, intelligence, power, kingdoms, thrones, and dominions that
are prepared for exalted beings, which could not be exalted unless they
were prepared for an exaltation; and upon no other principle could they be
prepared, without taking tabernacles of flesh and being made subject to
vanity.  The whole of the Divine teachings, from the days of Adam until
now, have been to teach the human family to yield to the teachings,
dictations, influence, and power of the holy Gospel to make them one. 
Without that oneness, there is no salvation for us in the celestial
kingdom of God.

	Were we to particularize in regard to different organizations of the
human family, we would learn that some are not capable of the same
exaltation as are others, arising from the difference in the conduct and
capacities of people.  There is also a difference in the spirit world.  It
is the design, the wish, the will, and mind of the Lord that the
inhabitants of the earth should be exalted to thrones, kingdoms,
principalities, and powers, according to their capacities.  In their
exaltation, one may be capable of presiding over ten cities, while another
may not be capable of presiding over more than five, another over only
two, and another over but one.  They must all first be subjected to sin
and to the calamities of mortal flesh, in order to prove themselves
worthy; then the Gospel is ready to take hold of them and bring them up,
unite them, enlighten their understandings, and make them one in the Lord
Jesus, that their faith, prayers, hopes, affections, and all their desires
may ever be concentrated in one.  That is the design and the wish of the
Father.

	You may ask, "Did he foreknow that they would be saved?"  I have seen
many in the world that never have been able to discern the difference
between foreknowledge and foreordination.  I thought that I could always
discern the difference.  If I know that an act will transpire tomorrow, it
by not means follows that I had decreed it.  It is the design, wish,
desire of our Heavenly Father that every soul in this congregation should
be crowned in the celestial kingdom.  Will they be?  No.  I know that some
will not.  But does it follow that some are ordained to go to hell?  No. 
It is the design of the Gospel to save this congregation, all the
Latter-day Saints, and all the world besides that well believe the
testimony of Jesus and become obedient to the Gospel of salvation.  And
none need to turn round and say, "If it is the design of the Lord, I shall
be saved;" for its being the will and design of the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, and of every Saint that ever was or ever will be, that you should
be a Saint, will not make you one, contrary to your own choice.  All
rational beings have an agency of their own; and according to their own
choice they will be saved or damned.

	Inasmuch as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one, the desire of
the Saviour, as manifested in his sayings and teachings, is, that his
people should also be one, even as he and his Father are one.  If we had
the heart, feeling, and faith within us that Jesus had while here in the
flesh, should we be scattering in our faith?--should we be divided in our
interests?  No:  we should become one.  I have not time to tell you why
this people are not identically one; but to the discerning mind the Holy
Spirit will manifest the reason in a moment--will lay it before you like
an open vision, and you will at once be able to discern thousands of
reasons for it.  Are they capable of being one?  Yes, if they will in all
things bring their wills into subjection to the will of the Father.

	If any are in the habit of taking the name of God in vain, cease
doing so to-day, to-morrow, and throughout the coming week, and so
continue, and you will soon gain strength to entirely overcome the habit;
you will gain power over your words.  Some are in the habit of talking
about their neighbours, of vending stories they know nothing about, only
that Aunt Sally said that Cousin Fanny told Aunt Betsy that old Aunt Ruth
said something or other, or somebody had had a dream; and by the time the
story or dream reaches you, it has assumed the semblance of a fact, and
you are very foolishly spending your time in talking about things that
amount to nothing, or that you have no concern with.  A report is started
that such a one has done wrong, and by the time it has gone its round, has
become anointed with the salve of the backbiter and talebearer--become
endowed with their spirit.  One and another falls in with it and says,
"That is true--your cause is just, you are exactly right, and the other is
surely wrong," when they know nothing about the matter, thereby
engendering entirely groundless ill feelings against each other.  Before
we condemn, we should wait until the Heavens clearly indicate a fault in a
father, brother, sister, wife, husband, or neighbour.  And if Heaven
declares a fault, wait until the Holy Ghost manifests to you that such is
a fault.  Let the Father reveal to you that the person you are thinking or
talking about is actually wrong.  Traduce no person.  When you know what
right is, and are capable of correcting a person that is wrong, then it is
time enough for you to judge.

	I have but recently told you that some people think they are capable
of judging everybody but themselves.  Let us judge ourselves.  And if any
are disposed to let that unruly member, the tongue, do that which will
wound the heart, darken the spirit, and bring us into subjection to an
evil practice, resist such a disposition--throw it from you.  If you will
do that, you will find that the wicked will forsake their wickedness, and
those who are inclined to think evil will cease doing so, and those who
are inclined to utter evil words about their neighbours will cease that
habit, and it will not be long before the people have perfect control over
themselves.  If you first gain power to check your words, you will then
begin to have power to check your judgment, and at length actually gain
power to check your thoughts and reflections.

	By close application and study with regard to ourselves and the
requirements of Heaven upon us, we shall be able to school ourselves,
until, when we call upon an elder to open our meetings, there will not be
a desire, word sentence, feeling, or impulse of spirit one hair's breadth
in advance of the one selected to be mouth.  Do you believe that we can do
that?  We can.  I have already told you that I am yet imperfect in that
point; but I am trying to make myself perfect in that particular, so as to
become fully master of my thoughts.

	I will now ask a question.  Do you think that a man can pray wrong,
when the hearts of perhaps over two thousand persons are ascending to God,
in the name of Jesus Christ, to dictate the man who is praying, and
desiring the Lord to let them know his will, and they will strive to do
it?  Could a man pray here for things he ought not, when the faith of two
thousand is concentrated in the sincere desire that God will dictate in
all things pertaining to his kingdom?  He cannot ask amiss, for the faith
of this people is concentrated through him to the throne of grace.  That
is a true principle--as true as the heavens.

	Our faith is concentrated in the Son of God, and through him to the
Father; and the Holy Ghost is their minister to bring truths to us, and
teach, guide, and direct the course of every mind, until we become
perfected and prepared to go home, where we can see and converse with our
Father in heaven.  That is what we want to attain--that we can all the
time have the word of the Lord of ourselves.

	You have often heard me and my brethren say that if the people in the
capacity of a Ward, for instance, would let their faith be perfectly
united, and their whole desires rise to the Father, through the name of
Jesus Christ, and hold their Bishop in his calling between God and them,
it would hardly be possible for that Bishop to do wrong, for he would be
filled with wisdom.  Some of the brethren, in conversation, this morning,
were likening the ministrations of the Holy Ghost to the mode of
distributing gas throughout a city.  The gas is led through a main pipe
from the gasometer or reservoir, and thence through side-pipes and lesser
and lesser branches, until it is so distributed as to furnish light to all
who require it.  I will liken the Bishops to some of those side-pipes laid
down to conduct the gas.  Take a joint of one of those pipes up, which in
the comparison we will call a Bishop, and how are the inhabitants of that
Ward to receive the light?  Place him on one side--despise his counsels,
and how are you to be taught?  Will you teach each other?  You are not
called to do it in that capacity.  Your Bishop is laid down by the master
workman as the conductor of the Holy Ghost to you.  If you put that
conductor out of its place, the connection is broken between you and the
fountain of light.  If you see a Bishop and his Ward in contention and
confusion, you may understand that the pipe or conductor which conveys the
light of that people is out of its place.  Instead of the Bishop's being
wrong, and the people right, or the people wrong, and the Bishop right,
they are all wrong:  there is little or no right there.

	Take any man in this kingdom, and if the people say that they will
make him a President or a Bishop, or elect him to fill any other office,
and the faith of the people is concentrated to receive light through that
officer or pipe laid by the power of the Priesthood from the throne of
God, you might as well try to move the heavens as to receive anything
wrong through that conductor.  No matter whom you elect for an officer, if
your faith is concentrated in him through whom to receive the things which
he is appointed to administer in, light will come to you.  Let a presiding
officer or a Bishop turn away from righteousness, and the Lord Almighty
would give him the lock-jaw, if he could not stop his mouth in any other
way, or send a fit of numb palsy on him, so that he could not act, as sure
as the people over whom he presided were right, that they might not be led
astray.

	If we wish to be taught, to receive, and understand, we must train
ourselves.  We are looking forward to the period when we shall be in the
presence of the Father and the Son--when we shall realize that we are
indeed the sons of God, and be crowned with glory, immortality, and
eternal lives.  "Then," you say, "we shall be perfect."  You will be no
more perfect in your sphere, when you are exalted to thrones,
principalities, and powers, than you are required to be and are capable of
being in your sphere to-day.  The man that may be called a perfect man is
perfect in every calling and sphere, as the Father, the Son, and Holy
Ghost are in theirs, and as the angels are in theirs, which makes a
perfect order from first to last--from beginning to end.

	In this probation, we have evil to contend with, and we must overcome
it in ourselves, or we never shall overcome it anywhere else.  Were you to
let your minds stretch out, you would learn that the whole kingdom, with
its principles, powers, authority, glory, and everything pertaining to it,
is combined in the organization of man ready to be developed.  We must
commence and school ourselves, and so bring our reflections into
subjection, that we can make our minds one in faith.  Then, let me ask
you, when you pray God to so hedge up the way of our enemies that they
never shall be able to come to this Territory, will not your prayers be
very likely to be answered?  If the faith of this people, called
Latter-day Saints, had been united in one, as it should have been four
months ago, when they asked the Father, in the name of Jesus, to stop our
enemies on the other side of the South Pass, I can assure you, as the Lord
God lives, they never could have seen this side of it.  But they are in
the Territory.  When we are united and ask God to let the wicked slay the
wicked as they ripen in iniquity, it will be done, and they will not have
power to overcome this handful of people in the mountains.  He will place
between them and us a barrier which they cannot surmount.  He will build a
wall between us such as they have never thought of, and they will fall
upon each other and slay each other.

	I know where the difficulties are, but I have not time now to explain
them.  If we are one and are concentrated in the Father, through the Lord
Jesus Christ, and through the chain and thread drawn out for us to follow
up, we will find the fountain head; and then, if I should ask this people
to pray for a certain thing, they would pray for it.  But do they now? 
No:  they pray for everything else.  I have made that request until I am
tired for making it.  Many will pray for this, that, and the other,
different from what I had advised them only twenty minutes before.  Their
faith is not concentrated, as I have frequently told you, though they are
improving and will come to a knowledge of the truth.

	The First Presidency have of right a great influence over this
people; and if we should get out of the way and lead this people to
destruction, what a pity it would be!  How can you know whether we lead
you correctly or not?  Can you know by any other power than that of the
Holy Ghost?  If have uniformly exhorted the people to obtain this living
witness each for themselves; then no man on earth can lead them astray. 
It is my calling and office to dictate in the affairs of the Church and
kingdom of God on earth.  That is what you have chosen me to do for many
years, with brother Heber and others for my Counsellors, two of whom have
passed behind the vail; and I now have a third--brother Daniel H. Wells,
who is as good a man as ever lived.  You have asked me to tell the people
what to do to be saved--to be the mouth of God to this people.  Does your
faith agree with your profession?  Let me continue to exhort you, until
you can train your hearts, your feelings, and your affections to such a
degree, that when I ask you to pray for a certain object, you can think of
it when you go home.

	Brethren and sisters, may God bless you!  I bless you all the time. 
Hallelujah!  Praise the name of Israel's God; for my soul exults in his
name.  We are happy and free from the yoke of bondage.  The breath of the
Almighty can scatter our enemies to the four winds and blow them into
oblivion, if we have the faith.  You can read how the kings, prophets, and
mighty men in Israel used to slay their fellow-beings--required so to do,
because of the wickedness of those very men who stood at the head of
Israel.  If they had been sanctified and holy, the children of Israel
would not have travelled one year with Moses before they would have
received their endowments and the Melchisedec [sec] Priesthood.  But they
could not receive them, and never did.  Moses left them, and they did not
receive the fulness of that Priesthood.  After they came to the land of
Canaan, they never would have desired a king, had they been holy.  The
Lord told Moses that he would show himself to the people; but they begged
Moses to plead with the Lord not to do so.  Moses was angry at the sins of
the people and did wrong, insomuch that when the Lord showed himself to
him, he hid him in a cleft in a rock, and only let him see his hinder
parts.

	Through the conduct of the people, Moses sometimes felt like
fighting.  After he had been with the Lord forty days in the mountain, he
came down and saw the idolatry of the people, and smashed to pieces the
tables that were written by the finger of God, and ground up the golden
image they were worshipping, and scattered it to the four winds; and the
Lord slew many of the idolators.

	I want to see this people so full of the power of God that they can
ask and receive.  God help us so to do!  Amen.

 PROVIDENCE--IGNORANCE OF SECTARIAN PRIESTS--FREE AGENCY--RECREATION, ETC.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, December 27, 1857.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	It is a great privilege to know the way of life and salvation, and to
know how to walk therein; yet we are still, more or less, under the
traditions of our fathers:  they are woven around us as a garment in which
we are clothed.

	It would be a great blessing for a people to be brought to actually
realize that all they can comprehend--all they can see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, or understand with their hearts, is the creation of
God, from the mighty globes that roll in the immensity of space to the
smallest mote that helps to compose this world.  It would also be a great
blessing for a people to really understand that the eye of the Lord is
upon all his works--that nothing escapes his notice, and that all is
composed, organized, and brought forth for the glory, benefit, and use of
intelligent beings.  There is no true enjoyment in life--nothing that can
be a blessing to an individual or to a community, but what is ordained of
God to bless his people.  If we could at all times strictly realize this,
do you not think that God would be continually in all our thoughts?  Could
we but behold and realize the handiwork of the Lord in all his doings, and
that he has created and ordained everything for the benefit of his
creatures, would not that bring us to sense, realize, and understand the
hand of the Lord in all things?  In consequence of the darkness and
traditions that have been over us, many look upon things, acts, and
blessings, not knowing whether they flow from the Lord or proceed from
some other power.

	Who would be deprived of the blessing of sight or of hearing?  What
amount of money would hire an individual to part with those senses?  The
light of the sun to cheer the face of nature--to light up the path that we
may walk safely therein without stumbling, who would be deprived of?  Who
gave it to us?  Who gave us affection?  Who has ordained the passions of
the mind and the body, which constitute the soul?  Who should control
them?  To whom should they be devoted?  If the vail of the covering that
is over us and the nations of the earth were so removed that we could
behold the glory, the excellency, the beauty of the attributes that are
dispensed by the children of men--for they are appointed by the Lord who
has ordained all these things--would not God be in all our thoughts?

	We are now blessed with the privilege of coming to the understanding
of being taught and of teaching ourselves to come into subjection to the
celestial law of Christ, so that every passion, every sensation, and
faculty that God has bestowed upon us may be devoted to his glory, to our
advancement in knowledge, to our perfection in this probation, and to a
preparation for perfection in his celestial kingdom.  This is a blessing
indeed!  In the course of life there are many of our thoughts, words, and
acts that appear to be of minor consequence,--so much so, that we would
hardly consider that the Lord would notice them, and are apt to forget
that he watches every movement of his creatures, to know whether they
appreciate their gifts and blessings which flow from him, or whether they
treat them as a thing of naught.

	We have the privilege, while the majority of the inhabitants of the
earth are deprived of it, of learning the ways of God.  He is in the acts,
and directs and guides all the affairs of this world, and we have the
privilege of understanding his ways in so doing.  We have the privilege of
learning the principles that pertain to God and godliness.  We have the
privilege of learning the weakness, ignorance, blindness, and all the
evils that sin has brought upon the children of men--of so understanding
correct principles that we can discern the things that are of God and the
things that are not of him, and of learning the great wisdom displayed by
the Almighty in causing intelligent beings to dwell in a sinful world.

	Brother Woodruff, in his remarks, alluded to the priests of the
so-called Christian world.  Were you to summon the priests of the day, not
only those that consider themselves full of wisdom, bud also those from
the heathen nations, (and there are hundreds of thousands, and, probably,
millions that are performing the labour of officiating as messengers from
a superior or supreme Being to enlighten the minds of the children of men
and instruct them in things pertaining to eternity, to lead their minds,
as they say, from sin and the power of darkness,) you would at once learn
that there is not knowledge enough among them all to give you the correct
reason why God suffered sin and blindness to enter into this world.  That
knowledge has not been upon the earth for centuries, until the Lord
revealed it through the Prophet Joseph Smith,--at least not to our
knowledge, and we have a pretty good understanding of this world and its
inhabitants.  There are but a very few places in the north, south, east,
or west, on the islands or on the continents, that are inhabited by
intelligent beings, but what have been penetrated.  Missionaries have
visited them and men of learning and scientific research; and they have
not only learned the geography, but have actually sounded the intelligence
of the inhabitants of the whole globe, so far as we yet know, going from
west to east, and in the south and north as far as man can penetrate; and
among them all, aside from the revelations in our day, there is not
knowledge enough to tell you why God suffered sin to come into the world. 
You have been told the reason why--that all intelligence must prove facts
by their opposite.

	No organized beings are prepared to become associated with or crowned
heirs in the celestial kingdom, until they have passed through these
ordeals and have drank of the bitter cup to the dregs, so that they know
and understand good from evil.  There was not knowledge enough in the
whole world to tell even that, until it was again revealed through Joseph
the Prophet.  The very best of them would marvel why God suffered Lucifer
or the serpent to tempt mother Eve.  That always has been a great mystery
to the world, and is to this day, with the exception of the knowledge that
has gone forth from the Lord through his prophet Joseph, and then through
the Elders of Israel, who have plainly taught many doctrines that were
previously a perfect mystery to the people, though they have now adopted
many of them into their faith; but they will not give us credit for them.

	Before the Gospel revealed the introduction of sin to this planet, it
was a great marvel even to the most learned, and they would ask, "Why was
it so?--is it not strange?" and would the rest with the expression, "It
was suffered to be so."  While reasoning or familiarly conversing with one
another, let the question be asked, "Why was Eve suffered to partake of
the forbidden fruit?" and the invariable reply was, "I cannot answer that
question:  It seems that it was so, and it appears a great pity."  That is
all the knowledge there is in the world on that point.  The starting-point
they have not learned, that no intelligent being could be exalted with the
Gods without being subjected to the temptation of sin, that he might know
and understand the power of the adversary, the opposite to goodness; for
it is written that "There must needs be an opposition in all things."  The
world have not yet learned that simple truth.

	I remember hearing a debate between brother Alfred Cordon, one of our
Elders, and a sectarian priest, when I was in England; and I presume there
were a score or two of priests ready to put questions and answers into the
mouth of their speaker.  They expected to be able to use up the Book of
Mormon upon the point of Adam's partaking of the forbidden fruit from the
hand of Eve; but the answer that the woman was found in the transgression,
and not the man, came so quickly that it hushed them up at once, so that
they could not argue further.  Brother Orson Pratt whispered to brother
Cordon the answer.  Many of even these my sisters who are before me to-day
have seen the wisdom that is in the Christian world, while they have been
conversing with their former priests, and have answered some little
question that was a perfect mystery to a priest--a little question which
they understood, and the priest did not, and have seen the priests thrown
completely off their guard, become dizzy in their heads, and unable to
continue with the conversation.  It is written in this Bible that the
woman was found in the transgression, and not the man; and that plain
doctrine has baffled all the learning of the priests.

	We have the privilege of coming to understanding--of knowing that
everything in heaven, on earth, and in hell is ordained for the benefit,
advantage, and exaltation of intelligent beings; therefore there is
nothing that is out of the pale of our faith.  There is nothing, I may
say, good or bad, light or darkness, truth or error, but what is to be
controlled by intelligent beings; and we should learn how to take into our
possession every blessing and every privilege that God has put within our
reach, and know how to use our time, our talents, and all our acts for the
advancement of his kingdom upon the earth.  These principles are hid from
all other people in the world; but we have the privilege of learning them. 
We should apply our hearts to wisdom and learn the things of God.

	The Lord asks a question, through the Prophet Amos, "Shall there be
evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?"  Is there anything that
passes with the children of men that the Lord does not control to his
glory?  That is what the Lord wants every man and woman to understand.  If
there is good, the Lord is there to dictate it.  If there is power, has he
not power over all the power there is upon the face of the earth?  If
there is evil, if there is sorrow, if there is trouble, if there are
trials for his people, is he not there to dictate those sorrows and
troubles?  All that passes upon the earth is under his eye; he dictates in
the affairs of nations.  If a mighty king and kingdom are raised up upon
any portion of the earth, the Lord has done it.  And when a mighty nation
crumbles in its power, the Lord has touched their pride and strength.  He
raises and casts down; he dictates in the light and in the darkness, at
his pleasure; he makes the thick darkness his chariot and rides upon the
clouds; and he is also the brightness of the sun.  We have the privilege
of learning that God dictates, controls, and manages all to his own glory.

	With many, even in this Church, the questions arises, "If God
dictates all these affairs, to whom shall sin be attributed?  Am I to
blame, if God always dictates and controls?"  You should keep before you,
as Latter-day Saints, other principles besides those you may be able to
hear or read at any one time.  No man can tell you everything in one short
discourse.  You understand that you have organizations endowed with a
certain portion of divine intelligence, which is supreme, absolute, and
independent in its sphere.  You are organized expressly for the purpose of
being exalted, of preserving your identity before the Lord, and being
prepared to enter into celestial glory, to be crowned, to receive
kingdoms, thrones, and dominions,--to design and act as do the Gods. 
These principles you are well acquainted with, and they should be
continually before you.  All intelligent beings are also endowed with
certain inalienable rights, privileges, and powers inherent in them.  When
God organized intelligent beings, he organized them as independent beings
to a certain extent, as he is himself.  And whether we see an evil act or
a good one performed by an intelligent being, that being has performed the
act by his will, by his own independent organization, which is capable of
doing good or evil, of choosing light or darkness, of performing that
which will promote life, or that which will promote death, or a
dissolution of his organization.  Then, without the evils being placed
before us, we should not be capable of refusing it; without darkness had
come into the earth, we should never have learned how to appreciate the
light.  Then all the family of Adam and Eve would have been mere machines,
as a portion of the inhabitants of the earth profess to believe that God
has foreordained all the acts of the children of men from all eternity,
and that they are obliged to act as they do.  But we have learned that in
our organization we are as independent as the angels are in theirs, or as
any heavenly being that dwells in eternity.

	If a nation transgresses wholesome laws and oppresses any of its
citizens or another nation, until the cup of its iniquity is full, through
acts that are perfectly under its own control, God will hurl those who are
in authority from their power, and they will be forgotten, and he will
take another people, though poor and dispised, a hiss and a by-word among
the popular nations, and instil into them power and wisdom; and they will
increase and prosper, until they in turn become a great nation on the
earth.  God does that; and all within our power, that we have any
understanding of, is ordained for the use, benefit, and control of his
intelligent creatures.

	You remember that a year ago this people were in the height of what
they called a reformation.  You also well recollect my teachings and my
feelings upon the subject, and that to my mind the necessity of a
reformation among Latter-day Saints was a disgrace, and beneath our
calling; for it belongs to sinners and the ungodly, and not to Saints, to
be getting up a reformation, though continually improving belongs to the
calling of every Saint.  Suffice to say, there has been a great
improvement in the midst of this people.  A great many have confessed
their sins; but much fewer have forsaken them.  I would that all had
forsaken their sins, their transgressions, their wickedness in every
particular, and followed their iniquitous ways no longer; but such is not
the fact:  there has been more confessing than forsaking.  This winter
brings a new scene before us.  Many of the brethren have been deprived of
the privilege of labouring at home during the past fall:  They have been
in the cold and storms, and have but lately returned.  For about two weeks
past it has been, "Brother Brigham may we have a dance in our Ward? 
Brother Brigham, may I get up a party for my Quorum?"  Bishop Hunter will
come and say, "Several Bishops have written to me to ask you wether their
Wards may have a dance, or a few parties?"  But I do not believe that
there is a single Bishop, or President of a Stake, or President of any of
the Seventies or of the High Priests, or any officer of this Church and
Kingdom, who has, during that time, asked me whether they could have the
privilege of serving God with all their hearts.

	In a word, here is the difficulty:  Many of my brethren and sisters
who are now before me believe, to this day, if they were to go into a room
prepared for music and dancing, they have stepped aside from serving God,
and are serving somebody else.  I have answered all Bishops and all
Presidents and all this people, with regard to their dancing, that I am
willing that those who live their religion every day, hour, and minute of
their lives to the glory of God shall dance all they wish to; but I have
not yet given my consent for any other class to do so, and I want you all
to understand it.  If your minds have been wrought up by too much
anxiety--if you have had wakeful hours when you ought to have been asleep,
in consequence of the threatened danger and troubles,--if you have been
afflicted in spirit, and your minds are worn down, which they can be, so
long as they are connected with the body, which is apt to wear out,
reasonable recreation may be beneficial.  The mind, being inseparably
connected with this body, becomes tired:  I acknowledge that mine does.  I
sometimes feel that I have not a pound of strength left, just from sitting
and thinking.  You may judge whether there has been a labour upon me, when
you reflect that I realize that God holds me responsible for the salvation
and safety of this people.  You hold me responsible, every one of you, as
standing between you and God, to guide you safely--to dictate and direct
the affairs of this Church and kingdom; and then you may judge whether my
mind labours or not.  My mind becomes tired, and so do your minds, if you
are Saints.

	The mind of a man who is wholly devoted to the Church and kingdom of
God on the earth is powerfully exercised, and he feels all that I can, in
proportion to his standing and calling.  The minds of such men are
exercised from morning until morning again, and they labour more
unhealthily than a person does at mowing or chopping wood, and their minds
become weary.  What do they need?  A little relaxation.  If you want to
dance and rest your minds, dance.  But a man or woman that intends, when
they go into a room prepared for music and dancing, to serve the Devil a
little while, I would to God that they would go to California, where they
may serve the Devil all they desire to.

	I would rather have a hundred righteous men with whom to face all
hell, and the world at its back, than to have all this great community,
unless they serve the Lord.

 	Those who cannot serve God with a pure heart in the dance should not
dance; though dancing is not an ordinance, except we say it is an
ordinance of folly and weakness.  I have not the privilege of going to the
kanyon to chop and load wood and logs.  I do not go to the joiner's bench,
as I used to, and toil until my body is nearly wearied to death.  But my
mind is from eternity to eternity--from the beginning of the creation to
the end thereof:  it is not confined to the length of a twelve-foot board.

	My mind becomes tires, and perhaps some of yours do.  If so, go and
exercise your bodies, and thank God, and say that it is a blessing and a
privilege that he has given you for his name's glory and for your benefit
and the advancement of the righteous, and holy, and the godly, those who
have kept their covenant with their God and with one another.

	If you wish to dance, dance; and you are just as much prepared for a
prayer meeting after dancing as ever you were, if your are Saints.  If you
desire to ask God for anything, you are as well prepared to do so in the
dance as in any other place, of you are Saints.  Are your eyes open to
know that everything in the earth, in hell, or in heaven, is ordained for
the use of intelligent beings?

	It is like words in the wind to talk about the sweetness of the
honeycomb to those who have not tasted the opposite.  You may talk about
the glory and comfort of the light to those who never knew darkness, and
what do they know about it?  Nothing.  You might as well preach to those
lamps.  If we can realize that everything in all the eternities that ever
were and ever will be is ordained of God for the benefit and glory of
intelligent beings, we can understand why he said to Joseph, "Against none
is my anger kindled, only those who do not acknowledge my had in all
things."  Do I acknowledge his hand?  Yes.  I told you in your
afflictions, drivings, persecutions, and all that has been grievous to be
borne, that the hand of God was in that as much as it was in bringing
forth his revelations and the Priesthood through Joseph.  I will
acknowledge the hand of God, not only when our Government is arrayed
against this little handful of people, but also when the whole world take
the same stand.  I am going to acknowledge the hand of God every time.

	The wicked kick at "Mormonism," but they will find it somewhat like
the old man's stone wall that he built five feet high and six feet thick,
to prevent the boys from stealing his apples; and when the boys in their
anger tipped it over, behold it was higher then it was before.  So with
"Mormonism:"  every time they give it a kick, it rises in the scale of
power and influence in the world.  I am also going to acknowledge the hand
of the lord when I see the day, and I pray that I may, when I can say, Let
our Elders pass and repass peaceably, or I will attend to you:  let them
preach the Gospel, as you do others; and if you can put them down by the
Scriptures--by good, sound philosophy and argument, then give not heed to
their teachings; but do not mob them, or I will attend to your injustice. 
I want to see that day.  [Many voices, Amen!]  And I will acknowledge the
hand of God the same as I do in the way he has handled the crowd that has
lately come into our Territory.

	We here enjoy a goodly share of the common blessings of life; and you
see a body of men and women filled with intelligence, and yet you see and
hear of some persons who cannot control themselves.  God has so ordained
that you may learn to control yourselves and work righteousness.  It is
ordained that you may prove yourselves worthy of every principle and power
that are in the Gods to control in eternity.

	The principle of pure affection in the Gift of God, and it is for us
to learn to control it and exercise proper dominion over it; and if we are
faithful, we shall see the time when we can say, as our Father in heaven
says, I am angry with the wicked; I hate their works, and my anger is
kindled against them.  Is there any malice or wrath there?  No, for it is
written that the Lord is angry, but sins not.  And one of his servants,
learning something about this principle, writes to his brethren, "Be ye
angry and sin not;" but it would be a sin to take  a course to destroy
that which is calculated for good.  If you sin not, it is in destroying
the evil works, and saving that portion that is ordained for exaltation: 
that is being angry and sinning not.

	We ought to control our passions.  God has given us judgment and
discretion.  Every qualification of man is ordained of God, as well as
good and evil.  Light and darkness are here; the power of the enemy are
here.  It is for us to bring into right subjection every act of our lives
and all around us.  It is for us to see the hand of God and acknowledge it
in all things.

	If you want to dance, run a foot-race, pitch quoits, or play at ball,
do it, and exercise your bodies, and let your minds rest.

	The blessing of food, sleep, and social enjoyment are ordained of God
for his glory and our benefit, and it is for us to learn to use them and
not abuse them, that his kingdom may advance on the earth, and we advance
in it.  That is our errand in the world, and we have no business but to
build up the kingdom of God, and preserve it and ourselves in it.  Whether
it is ploughing, sowing, harvesting, building, going into the kanyons, or
whatever it is we do, it is all within the pale of the kingdom of God, to
forward his cause on the earth, to redeem and build up his Zion, and
prepare ourselves, that when the Lord shall usher in the morning of rest
we may enter into our labours to officiate for our dead friends back to
Adam.

	All that have lived or will live on this earth will have the
privilege of receiving the Gospel.  They will have Apostles, Prophets, and
ministers there, as we have here, to guide them in the ways of truth and
righteousness, and lead them back to God.  All will have a chance for
salvation and eternal life.  What do you think of that Gospel?  No one
will be denied that privilege of having it.  Where is there a sectarian
that can tell you anything about the power of the Gospel?

	Brethren and sisters, if you have understood my mind with regard to
your recreations, I am happy.  But understand that there is not a man or
woman professing to be in this Church and kingdom that has any liberty to
drink to excess, to lie, deceive, cheat, steal, or do anything that is
wrong; and those who do such things have not my sanction to join the
others in the dance.  There are some who practise stealing to this
day--who are dishonest, and will lie; and such persons have not my consent
to participate in dancing.

	Those that have kept their covenants and served their God, if they
wish to exercise themselves in any way, to rest their minds and tire their
bodies, go and enjoy yourselves in the dance, and let God be in all your
thoughts in this as in all other things, and he will bless you; and I
bless you all, in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

          JUDGMENT ACCORDING TO WORKS--TEMPORAL NATURE OF DIVINE
      REVELATIONS--TEMPORAL RESOURCES AND DUTIES OF THE SAINTS, ETC.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, January 17, 1858.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	We have heard much in regard to knowledge and understanding of this
people,--also of the nations of the earth; and it is very true that the
best of us have only commenced to learn true principles.  We are but
children in the kingdom of God.  We understand, in a great measure, the
knowledge that is in the world:  we have been brought up in the wisdom the
world professes, and that we understand.  But the things of God are so
directly in opposition to the vain imaginations of the inhabitants of the
earth, that it is hard for people to learn them.  They remove our
erroneous traditions from us.  At the same time, all the morality, and
good works, and good thoughts and words that tend to good, that are in the
world, are of the Lord.  Honest hearts, the world over, desire to know the
right way.  They have sought for it, and still seek it.  There have been
people upon the earth all the time who sought diligently with all their
hearts to know the ways of the Lord.  Those individuals have produced
good, inasmuch as they had the ability.  And to believe that there has
been no virtue, no truth, no good upon the earth for centuries, until the
Lord revealed the Priesthood through Joseph the Prophet, I should say is
wrong.  There has been more or less virtue and righteousness upon the
earth at all times, from the days of Adam until now.  That we all believe. 
Men who have lived without the Priesthood will be judged according to
their works, as well as those who have had the privilege of it.  That is
our doctrine.  That is what the Lord has told us, through his servants,
from the beginning.  No matter where they have lived, or to what nation
they have belonged, all people will be judged according to the works or
deeds done in the body.

	Honest hearts produce honest actions--holy desires produce
corresponding outward works.  That is what we understand and believe; yet
the traditions of the fathers are so diverse from the holy Priesthood,
that it is hard for people to learn even the smaller things pertaining to
the kingdom of God--one of the smallest items pertaining to life.  If we
should have ability to sustain our selves here on the earth, we certainly
should have to live; for if we have not the ability to live, we certainly
should pass behind the vail.  In that case, we could not be capable of
doing good in our present organization.  As you have often been told, and
as we believe, good men and good women ought to live the longest on the
earth and set good examples, teach good doctrines, and produce
righteousness.

	Individuals or a community that have not the ability to preserve
themselves in this life have no power to perform works to be judged by;
consequently, there is no judgment passed upon them for deeds done in this
probation.  The duty of a good people is to know how to preserve
themselves in this life.  The first revelation given to Adam was of a
temporal nature.  Most of the revelations he received pertained to his
life here.  That was also the case in the revelations to Noah.  We have
but very few of the instructions the Lord gave to Enoch concerning his
city; but, doubtless, most of the revelations he received pertained to a
temporal nature and condition.  And certainly the revelation Noah
received, so far as in our possession, almost exclusively pertained to
this life.  The same principle was carried out in the days of Moses, and
in the days of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  We may say that
eight or nine-tenths of the doctrines and principles set forth in the
revelations given to those men were of a temporal nature.

	As soon as Moses was called upon to go and deliver Israel, the
revelations the Lord gave to him were of a temporal nature, pertaining to
the temporal life of the children of Israel--instructing Moses how to
deliver them from bondage and lead them from the servile state in which
they then were.  He taught them in the same manner while they were
travelling through the wilderness; and so it continued down to the days of
the judges, and then to Saul, whom the Lord permitted them to make a king,
and then through the teachings of the Prophets.  The greatest recorded
digression from that course was when the Saviour came.  He repeatedly
alluded to a spiritual kingdom, in his sayings to his brethren.  The
people had become so corrupt that it was all useless to then endeavour to
establish a literal kingdom of God on the earth.  The children of Abraham
had wandered so far from the true doctrine, the Priesthood, the
principles, and ordinances that the Lord had revealed, that the Saviour
had not opportunity to more than drop a hint, as it were, about a temporal
kingdom.  Yet the idea of a temporal kingdom was so indelibly riveted upon
the minds of his disciples, that they supposed he alluded to it, and that
when the Saviour should make his appearance, he would actually establish a
literal kingdom on this earth and reign over it.  The institutions and
traditions which had been handed down pertained to a temporal kingdom, and
they could not see that the corruptions and wickedness of the people were
so great that he could not teach or suggest anything that they could
understand pertaining to a temporal kingdom; therefore he alluded to a
spiritual kingdom--the kingdom of God that should be set up in the heart. 
And those principles taught to the people and received by them would
gather them together in the latter days, when he could prepare and
organize a literal kingdom on the earth.

	The first revelations given to Joseph were of a temporal character,
pertaining to a literal kingdom on the earth.  And most of the revelations
he received in the early part of his ministry pertained to what the few
around him should do in this or in that case--when and how they should
perform their duties; at the same time calling upon them to preach the
Gospel and diffuse the Spirit and principles of the kingdom of God, that
their eyes might be open to see and gather the people together--that they
might begin and organize a literal, temporal organization of the earth. 
All that has been done, and has been done by the wisdom of God.  The
wisdom revealed through Joseph was the wisdom of our Father in heaven,--it
was not of himself.

	The revelations to us teach us to first cleanse our hearts--to purify
ourselves, in order to have our eyes sufficiently opened to see that
kingdom of God; for, without the spiritual birth referred to in the New
Testament, we cannot see the kingdom of God.  The revelations to Joseph
were--Go forth, my servants, preach the Gospel by the power of the Holy
Ghost, and open the eyes of the people, that they may see the kingdom of
God, and not look into eternity to see the Father seated upon his throne
and the angels around him, nor seek to know what he is doing there.  The
people need teaching by the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
that their eyes may be open to see that the Lord is commencing a literal
kingdom upon the earth.  When they can discern that, then they have the
opportunity to be born of water, to enter into this kingdom.  Nearly all
the teachings to us pertain to this life; and if we have not ability to
preserve our lives in our present existence, what can we do here to
promote the kingdom of God on the earth; or to prepare the earth or the
people for the coming of the Son of Man?  Nothing.  Consequently our
labour is chiefly a temporal labour.

	Brother Taylor has enquired how we are to be clothed another year? 
We have either to obtain new clothes or to wear those we have now.  Some
one may say, "My clothes will not last another year."  Perhaps they will,
if you will take good care of them.

	When we first came here, the people were told, and many saw and
believed it as much then as they can now, that the Lord in his providence
led the people to these mountains to separate them from the Gentile world,
in order that he might establish his kingdom--his laws, and commence his
Zion in the mountains, where his people could have but little connection
with the world.  They were taught that when they first came here; and now
the prospect is very fair for separating us from the rest of the world,
and most of the people can see it.  They were taught then as much as they
are taught now, that it was necessary to go to and provide for ourselves. 
Do any of the brethren who came here ten years ago last July remember that
you were instructed that every facility that we could need was here in the
elements?--that the gold, the silver, and the iron were in these
mountains?--that the wool, the flax, the silk, the cotton, and everything
necessary to sustain man were in the elements around us?  "What, is silk
here?"  Yes, in as great abundance as in any part of the earth; and the
finest broadcloth is here, and everything to make life desirable is here.

	It is for the people to go to and develop the resources surrounding
us.  Sugar, starch, and glue are the chief ingredients in the sustenance
of man.  The saccharine matter is in everything that grows here:  it is in
the vegetables and in the animals.  We have as good beef as there is in
the world, furnishing gluten--a substance that acts its part in sustaining
man.  We can raise as good potatoes and wheat as can be raised in any
other part of the earth; also other products affording starch, and all the
necessary variety and quality of articles of food.  We can make sugar from
the beet; but we are now cultivating the Chinese sugar-cane, which
produces as good a sweet as any we have imported.  We have the materials
for feeding the body.  And as to clothing, we can produce as good wool
here as they can in any part of the world; but we must have the sheep to
enable us to do so.  And we must sow flax and plant cotton for the
manufacture of linen and cotton cloth; but the elements are here from
which they all will grow.

	Import silkworms and mulberry trees, and you will find that this is
as good a country and climate in which to raise silk as any in the face of
the earth.  Do some understand this?  Yes, there are persons here from the
Eastern States who have raised silkworms and manufactured silk; and here
are scores and hundreds of silk manufacturers from the old country.  Why,
then, do we not have silk?  Because no man takes steps to organize certain
elements into the silk.  All this was told you in the beginning, and why
did not men understand?

	You may take the Latter-day Saints, as a whole and they have but very
little good, sound, worldly sense.  Look over this congregation, and then
find thousands that, during the first four years of our settlement here,
flooded these valleys with waggons and cattle, and every facility for
raising what we needed.  We drove in the sheep, brought the flax-seed, and
this, that, and the other useful articles.  But what did we see?  Men,
women, and children run to California to get gold.  They were then told
what I can now prove.  "Go to California if you will; we will not curse
you--we will not injure nor destroy you, but we will pity you.  If you
must go for gold, and that is you god, go, and I will promise you one
thing:  Every man that stays here and pays attention to his business will
be able, within ten years, to buy out four of those who leave for the
gold-mines."  Since then some of those persons have come cringing back,
and thinking, "O dear, I declare I wish the brethren could not know that I
had been away!  I want to appear as though I had not gone to California,
and to be full of good works and faith."  Poor, ignorant pusillanimous
creatures!  They come whining back and want to be considered in full
fellowship, after leaving this place to which our God has led us, and
after having used their means to feast and build up the Gentiles.

	Brother Heber and I told the company that went to San Bernardino with
Amasa Lyman, that they would never reach here again without help from this
people, and we are now sending all the teams we can raise from the
southern settlements to bring them back.  Why?  Because they cannot stay
there, and they are not able to remove.  They were told at the start that
they would have to renounce their religion, or else come whining back to
these valleys.  You may take all who have unadvisedly gone from this
Territory, [and hundreds and thousands have so gone,] and I believe that I
alone am able to buy the whole of them, though when I came here I had but
very little property, except what I owed for.  I also believe that brother
Kimball and many others who have listened to what is taught now own more
property than the whole of those characters.  They could not believe that
I knew enough to instruct them in temporal affairs.  Do they now believe
that I do?  They are obliged to admit it, though some think, "Really, I do
not know whether it is so or not."  What are those persons good for now?

	Obedience is one of the plainest, most every-day and home principles
that you ever thought or knew anything about.  In the first place, learn
that you have a father, and then learn strict obedience to that parent. 
Is not that a plain, domestic, home principle?  How long will it take the
men and women here to learn it?  You have learned, from year to year,
scores, if not hundreds of principles of the Gospel taught; and one of the
first principles to be learned by the Saints is to be of one heart and
mind, to obey your leaders, to obey the Lord.  If you have leaders who do
not teach you the words of life and salvation--who do not give you the
words of the Lord, why not have faith sufficient to remove them out of the
way and have better men?  If this people are righteous and have any
leaders that are not capable of dictating you, why not stretch you faith
in the heavens for God to remove them and give you men that are capable of
leading you?

	Could I make a brother in the Church believe, after passing through
the troubles in Missouri, after again being driven from our homes in
Nauvoo, Illinois, and after being led to this secret retreat and sustained
all the time by the matchless power of our God, that the love of riches
would have so blunted the minds of many as to cause them to run to
California after gold?  Why not have stayed here, where we could have
improved this Territory three times as much as we have?  We could have
extended our settlements still farther on the right and on the left.  But
no; they must run and leave us.  And many of those that have tarried have
but a little more confidence, when they have improved upon and learned the
lesson taught by those who have left.

	The great majority of men and women do not know how to take care of
themselves.  Let me refer the whole of you to a circumstance in winter
quarters.  We left Nauvoo in February, 1846, made our own roads through
Iowa, except some 40 or 50 miles, built bridges, cut down timber, turned
out 500 men to go to Mexico, came this side of the Missouri river, and
there wintered.  How did you live there?  Do you know how you got anything
to eat?  Brethren came to me, saying, "We must go to Missouri.  Can we not
take our families and go to Missouri and get work?"  Do you know, to this
day, how you lived?  I will tell you, and then you will remember it.  I
had not five dollars in money to start with; but I went to work and built
a mill, which I knew we should want only for a few months, that cost 3,600
dollars.  I gave notice that I would employ every man and pay him for his
labour.  If I had a sixpence, I turned it into 25 cents; and a half-bushel
of wheat.  How did I do that?  By faith.  I went to brother Neff, who had
just come in the place and asked him for and received 2,600 dollars,
though he did not know where the money was going.  He kept the mill
another year, and it died on his hands.  I say, God bless him for ever!
for it was the money he brought from Pennsylvania that preserved thousands
of men, women, and children from starving.  I handled and dictated it, and
everything went off smoothly and prosperously.

	Can you sustain yourselves?  Yes.  How can you clothe and feed
yourselves?  Keep Gentiles out of here, and not permit any more supplies
to come from them; and then you will raise sheep and take care of them and
their wool; then you will raise cotton and flax, and dress the lint.  We
have women who know how to manufacture flax into thread and the finest
cloth in this house.  Why do you not make linen?  "Because we can turn a
calf on to the range, and after awhile sell it for 20 or 30 dollars and
buy store goods."  That course is temporal ruination to this people.  It
is a far greater injury than benefit for us to purchase imported goods. 
Shut down the gate and make your own hats, bonnets, and every other
article of wearing apparel.  We have the furs and all necessary facilities
for making every article we need.  We can also make our dye stuffs, so
soon as we can get a greater variety of seed.  For ten years we have
advertised the brethren to bring indigo seed; and I have not obtained any,
only a little that brother William Willes brought from the East Indies.  I
have also wished them to bring madder seed, for you can raise it where you
can raise corn.  Do we know enough to raise indigo and cotton?  Yes, when
the gate is shut down.

	I told the brethren, yesterday, that I was not afraid of men's
apostatizing when war and trouble are on hand, for then they will stick
together.  It is in calm weather, when the old ship of Zion is sailing
with a gentle breeze, and when all is quiet on deck, that some of the
brethren want to go out in the whaling-boats to have a scrape and a swim;
and some get drowned, others drifted away, and others again get back to
the ship.  Let us stick to the old ship, and she will carry us safely into
the harbour.  You need not be concerned.  I want the brethren to raise
flax.

	I want some man, who has got the requisite spirit and nerve, to
prepare a quarter-of-an-acre as they prepare ground for flax in Ireland,
and then sow about a bushel-and-a-half or two bushels of seed, and let it
grow as thick as a horse's mane; if necessary, brace it up while growing;
pull it at the period when the lint will be the silkiest, and prepare it
for the women to exercise their skill in making fine thread.  A bushel of
flax-seed to the acre produces a course lint, suitable for making ropes
and coarse cloth.

	Brother Taylor remarked that about 60 out of every 75 lambs had died
in this territory.  Yes, you may say that, out of every 75 lambs, about 90
have died.  Where were our sheep in 1848-49?  I then had 100 sheep, and I
would now have 40,000 if they had been taken care of as they ought; but
instead of that, I have bought about 550 since; and now I have 400 or 500.

	Sheep are driven into the Territory, and then they decrease.  What is
the difficulty?  It is, "Hurrah for the gold! hurrah for the stores!
hurrah for the merchants! hurrah for hell!--let us have a portion of hell
here."

	Elders who have been to St. Louis and had credit for a cent should
not have brought a thousand or two thousand dollars' worth of good here
and fooled them away, having fooled them out of merchants who still remain
fools.

	Shut down the gate, and stop bringing ribbons and foolery here.  I
wish the ribbons and like articles were all sunk in the bottom of the sea,
rather than have them brought here.  Do you know enough to clothe
yourselves?  Yes, when you are driven to it.  It makes me think of what we
passed through in Missouri, when Joseph was preaching the Consecration law
for surplus property.  Would any man listen to that law?  No, not a man. 
"Will you pay Tithing?"  "I cannot any way in the world, for I have not as
much property as I want."

	When the army came and took away the guns, killed our cattle, fired
our houses, took possession of our fields, and compelled the brethren, at
the point of bayonet, to sign away their property to pay the expenses of
the war, one fellow said, "By ----, see these men, how keen and fine they
look!  Old Joe has been trying for years to make them consecrate their
property, but he could not persuade them to do it.  We can make them
consecrate."

	The brethren felt well:  but suppose they had been required to sign a
deed of trust to the kingdom of God on the earth, would they have done it? 
No; they would have suffered themselves to be damned before they would
have done it.  Can you not see the ignorance of the people in those
things?  And to this day you can see men come here penniless, and hear
them say, "We had plenty of money where we came from."  Then why did you
not gather when you had money?  "We wanted to make more, to bring a great
amount into the kingdom."  Thus men come here penniless, and feel well
about it.  Enquire into the matter, and you will often learn that last
year they had several thousand dollars, but it has gone into the hands of
the Gentiles.

	Suppose a poor Elder, while on a mission, should borrow ten dollars
of such a person, that person will come here and be ready to apostatize,
unless that money is paid; but if the devils get it, "Oh, it is all
right."  Such feelings are in the hearts of some men and women now before
me.  With them it is, If my enemies get my property, all well; but I don't
want the kingdom of God to have it."  Ask them whether they want the
kingdom of God to have their property, and they will reply, "O yes;
ourselves and all we have re in the kingdom of God:"  but touch a dollar
of theirs, and they will squirm.

	We are trying to become Saints, and by-and-by we will actually become
Saints.  When men are Saints, they will bring their thousands and lay them
at the feet of the Bishops, Apostles, and Prophets, saying, "Here is my
money; it is now where it should be."  But now what do you see?  If an
Elder has borrowed a little money, or been helped in any manner, he must
be chased home and made to pay the uttermost farthing, or there is
dissatisfaction.  Fortunately that is not the case with all.  A portion of
the principle of darkness is in the hearts of the people; but it is fast
going out, and they are coming to a knowledge of the truth.

	One of the first and plainest principles to be believed and practised
is to put ourselves and all we have into the kingdom of God, and then be
dictated by the Lord and his servants.  Is there any danger?  Some are
ready to say, "Yes, we are afraid to trust ourselves and our means here
and there."

	Brother Taylor has just said that the religions of the day were
hatched in hell.  The eggs were laid in hell, hatched on its borders, and
then kicked on to the earth.  They may be called cockatrices, for they
sting wherever they go.  Go to their meetings in the Christian world, and
you will hear them remark, "Our ministers dictate our souls' salvation;"
and they are perfectly composed and resigned to trust their whole future
destiny to their priests, though they durst not trust them with one single
dollar beyond their salaries and a few presents.  They can trust their
eternal welfare in the hands of their priests, but hardly dare trust them
with so much as a bushel of potatoes.  Is that principle here?  Yes, more
or less.

	Can we feed and clothe ourselves?  Yes, we can, as well as any people
on the earth.  We have a goodly share of the genius, talent, and ability
of the world; it is combined in the Elders of this Church and in their
families.  And if the Gentile wish to see a few tricks, we have "Mormons"
that can perform them.  We have the meanest devils on the earth in our
midst, and we intend to keep them, for we have use for them; and if the
Devil does ont look sharp, we will cheat him out of them at the last, for
they will reform and go to heaven with us.

	We have already showed the invading army a few tricks; and I told
Captain Van Vliet that if they persisted in making war upon us, I should
share in their supplies.  The boys would ride among the enemy's tents, and
one of their captains ran into Colonel Alexander's tent one night, saying,
"Why, Colonel, I'll be damned if the Mormons won't be riding into your
tent, if you don't look out."

	We have the smartest women in the world, the best cooks, and the best
mothers; and they know how to dress themselves the neatest of any others. 
We are the smartest people in the world.  But look out, pertaining to
taking care of and sustaining ourselves, that the children of this world
are not smarter than the children of light.  I say that they shall not be;
for we will beat them in every good thing, the Lord and the brethren being
our helpers.  The Lord bless you!  Amen.

                              IDOLATRY, &C.
   A Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, February 7, 1858.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Through the remarks of brothers Edward Partridge and Silas Smith, who
have lately returned from their mission to the Sandwich Islands, we are
made acquainted with a new variety of customs; and I must confess that,
hearing a relation of the customs and traditions of the natives of those
islands, I am almost lead to believe that they are a people very much like
ourselves--that they are entitled to the appellation of human beings. 
They are prone to wander--prone to weaknesses; and if they have any
knowledge of God, they are prone to forget him to turn to their idols. 
They are prone to be froward in all their ways, very much like ourselves.

	We believe that we have been better taught, and that we are quite an
enlightened people.  Christian Europe and America deem themselves the most
enlightened people upon the earth; and an equal self-confidence among
those islanders is all that is wanting to make them believe that they know
more than the Europeans and Americans.  I have an idea that the
Anglo-Saxon race possess more confidence in themselves and more worldly
wisdom than any other nation upon the earth; yet take the people on the
Sandwich and Society Islands, and the natives of these mountains and of
the North and South America, or of any country where there are natives in
their idolatry--those whom we call ignorant, dark, benighted, lost,
possessed of little or no knowledge, and let a person understanding the
Priesthood visit them, and I will venture to say that we would find more
and better traits of the Priesthood of God among them than can be found
among the Christians.  And though it may appear surprising and a matter
hardly credible, yet even we are more or less under the power of
traditions similar to those of the heathen.

	There is a cause for their traditions, customs, and present
practices.  They have grown into their present idolatry through a neglect
of the truth, through a proneness to wander and forget their God and true
religion.  Let this people backslide--lose their present faith and
knowledge, and in after generations, perhaps, a few would cling to the
Priesthood with all the vigour that we do, and would understand that the
people were going into darkness, and would urge them to have some custom,
some form, some representation or figure of their former faith and
religion.  What is commonly termed idolatry has arisen from a few sincere
men, full of faith and having a little knowledge, urging upon a
backsliding people to preserve some customs--to cling to some fashions or
figures, to put them in mind of that God with whom their fathers were
acquainted, without designing or wishing the people to worship an idol--to
worship stocks, stones, beasts, and birds.  Idols have been introduced,
which are now worshipped, and have been for centuries and thousands of
years; but they were not introduced at once.  They were introduced to
preserve among the people the idea of the true God.

	I have frequently said, and say again, that there are and always have
been a great many in this Church that are not Saints.  There are more
"Mormons" that Saints; and there are different degrees and grades of
"Mormons" and of Saints.  There are many that are "Mormons" that are not
Saints; and so it will be until Jesus comes to separate the sheep from the
goats; or, in other language, until the Husbandman shall bid his servants
gather the wheat into the barn, and the tares into bundles to be burned. 
This must be; this we all believe and understand.

	If we are not all Saints, the most of this people are trying to be. 
If we are not as perfect in our sphere as are the angels, we are trying to
prepare ourselves to become so.  We have not yet received our
inheritances; but we are trying to prepare ourselves to be worthy to
receive them.  Yet it can readily be understood that if this people should
backslide, they would, as others have, introduce an idolatrous worship. 
All Protestants accuse the Roman Catholic Church of worshipping idols.  It
is the practice of its members to carry a cross with them to worship the
Virgin Mary.  They have paintings and images in their chapels and other
places of worship; and they are accused of worshipping these paintings and
images, and that they are idolatrous worshippers.  But those
representations were introduced in the same way that a father would show
his children that Jesus Christ is actually a man like their father, by
showing them a figure representing Jesus as extended upon the cross, and
saying, "This gives you, my children, an idea that he was a man."  Now,
let those children, when saying their prayers, have that representation
before them, and how long would it be before some of the neighbours'
children would tell their mothers that those children were worshipping a
picture or image?  This is the way that idolatry has sprung up in the
world, through a method established to keep the people in remembrance of
the God they once worshipped and were acquainted with.

	Do the Christian world know whether God has eyes to see, ears to
hear, or hands, or a body?  They are as ignorant of the true God as are
those islanders, and all whom we call heathen.  And our traditions are
such that we are yet more or less in the dark, and are under the necessity
of assembling here from Sabbath to Sabbath, and in ward meetings, and
besides, have to call our solemn assemblies, to teach, talk pray, sing,
and exhort.  What for?  to keep us in remembrance of our God and our holy
religion.  Is this custom necessary?  Yes; because we are so liable to
forget--so prone to wander, that we need to have the Gospel sounded in our
ears as much as once, twice, or thrice a week, or, behold, we will turn
again to our idols.  It is immaterial what the idol is, whether it is what
the Californians call a slug, or whether it is a twenty-dollar gold piece,
or an eagle, or half-eagle, or whether our affections and attention fasten
upon our farms, horses, and other worldly goods,--if we are not constantly
exhorting the people and setting before them the necessity of living their
religion, calling back their minds that have been wandering, and preaching
and praying with them, behold, they would turn to their idols.

	Were the Lord to give us peace for a few years, so that we should
have no sorrow or trouble from without, and the land producing abundantly,
with the fine weather and the healthy climate, how long would it be before
many of you would again want to go to California to get gold, and turn
away from you holy religion to worship an idol?  Rather than neglect your
holy religion entirely, you had better keep your images right before you
eyes and say your prayers to an idol, whether it be cut out of wood or is
a dog's skull, so that you believe there is something behind that which
will actually point your affections to look beyond that which you see with
your natural eyes, and cause you to believe in a Supreme Being, in a
Overruling Hand, in a All-wise Providence, or to worship even a god
without body or parts.  Are we under traditions to the same  extent that
some others are?  Perhaps not.  We do not think we are; and yet we have
our traditions upon us; and if we are not careful, we are liable to become
as great idolaters as there are in the world.

	Brother Silas Smith has just told you that he had not been at home
four days when he heard his name called for another mission; and he says
the he is ready and willing, of which I have not doubt; for I never knew
him when he was not willing to do anything that he was told to do.  We say
that we are willing to do anything required to sustain us in our religious
rights--to sacrifice our all for our religion and the hope that is before
us.  Brother Clapp has just taught us that we are not worthy of eternal
life, unless we are willing to sacrifice all.  Brother Clapp, what have
you to give?  ["Everything I have."]  But you have not got anything. 
John, what are you willing to give for eternal life?  You say,
"Everything."  What have you got?  Consider well what you have.  Says he,
"I live here, I have my life."  No, you have not; for it is in the hand of
your Creator.  "I have a wife."  She is only committed to you to enable
you to prove whether you will treat her in a righteous manner:  she is not
yet yours.  "I have children that are the offspring of my loins."  They
are not yours; for you cannot produce them of yourself.  "I have a farm." 
No; that farm belongs to another.  The devil says that it is his; but we
expect Jesus will have the whole earth.  "I have horses and possessions." 
Reflect well, and consider whether you really own anything.  Upon
reflection, you discern at once that your wife may be taken from you; your
farm and your other possessions may be taken; and your gold and silver may
take the wings of the morning and fly from you.  If God withdraws his
sustaining hand, you sink.  You have no wife, children, horses, houses,
nor land.

	When men and women talk about giving everything for the salvation
which they anticipate and live for.  Behold, they have nothing to give;
nor have they anything to do, only to do their duty.  And what is that? 
To improve upon that which is committed to their possession--to prove
themselves worthy to their Father and God, that ere long they may be
worthy to receive crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal life.  Then we
shall be beyond the power of Satan.  We shall be where we can control
death and him that has the power of death; and we shall reign triumphantly
as the Gods and as the sons of God.  We must inherit that power and glory
before we can say that we really own anything, even the least thing in
this world or in eternity.

	Some persons talk about sacrificing; but we have nothing to
sacrifice.  All we have to do is to live and serve our God, and do
everything we can to bring knowledge to ourselves and to the
people--everything we can to make them happy, wealthy, strong, and
numerous, so that we may overcome the powers of darkness and reign
triumphantly on the earth, Jesus Christ being our head and king.  That is
all we have to do.  Tell about houses, lands, and other property being
ours, and that we have not traditions and idols?  I would as soon see a
man worshipping a little god made of brass or of wood as see him worship
his property.  I have a number of such gods brought to me from the East
Indies and from the islands; and I would as soon see one of my brethren
worship one of those brass idols as to see him worship his property; and
he would be as much justified in the sight of God.  Does this congregation
understand what idolatry is?  The New testament says that covetousness is
idolatry; therefore, a covetous people is an idolatrous people.

	Some of you are just as much idolaters as are the heathen, but you do
not know it; neither do they realize their idolatry.  Were I on the
islands and seeing the natives bow before their images to be healed, I
would say, "Have faith."  And instead of disfellowshipping a man for
worshiping an idol, I would exhort him to exceeding great faith in his
idols, upon the same principle that I exhort the brethren here to have
faith in our God.  "And if your idol will not heal you, look beyond to
that Being who can."  I am not for cutting people off from the Church that
worship their property instead of their God, but for bearing with them
until they shall gain light and knowledge so as to see their errors and
turn to the God of truth.  I would say to idolaters, "If you have faith in
an idol, have a little more; and if you have faith enough the Lord may
work upon your minds so that you can understand the blessings he has in
store for his people.  And I say to the men and women who profess to be
Latter-day Saints, "God giveth and he withholdeth; at his pleasure he
raises up and puts down kings, emperors, thrones, and dominions; and the
power and wisdom and glory of the Almighty, who fills immensity and
operates upon all things, will prevail."

	What good can our wealth do, were it not to promote the cause of God
upon the earth, overcome the power of Satan, and be used to bring forth
righteousness and overcome darkness?  That is dedicating ourselves and all
we are made stewards over to the building up of the cause of God on earth. 
In so doing we can be justified.  We cannot receive the glory, the
kingdoms, the thrones, the wisdom, and the power that are designed for us,
without a close application in our studies and our efforts in our whole
lives to build up the kingdom of God on the earth.  We need to apply our
minds to wisdom as strongly and closely as brother Silas Smith had to
apply his mind to learn the language of the natives, that he might be able
to teach them his ideas without trusting to their passing through the
mouth of another.  No matter how much of the Spirit a teacher has, if his
words have to be interpreted by one who has not the Spirit; the people are
not benefitted; "For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."  No
matter how much a man preaches, nor how much of the Holy Ghost he
has,--the spirit may be edified, but he understanding will remain
unfruitful.  And if we trust to some other person to bring forth the
hidden things of the kingdom, we are all the time dependent on an
interpreter who has not the Holy Ghost, we cannot grow rapidly in the
knowledge of the truth.

	We must live so that our knowledge and faith shall reach beyond the
ideal, no matter what that is; and we must have knowledge of the living
God for ourselves.  The people wish to know whether they cannot find out
the living God.  Yes, just as quickly as you are prepared; but you much
cease worshipping idols.  Then, when persons say they are willing to
sacrifice their all for the kingdom of God, they will do it without
whining.  Then, if a Ward is required to perform a certain work, they will
not complain about it.  Then they will be apt to cast their idols behind
them, and will not so worship and covet a beautiful span of horses that
they will not let them go to save the whole house of Israel.  But in the
first place, they have nothing to sacrifice; in the second place, God has
given them enough with which to benefit his kingdom; and thirdly, if it is
not on hand when required, by-and-by it will be said, "Take from those
persons what they seem to have and give it to those who are worthy--who
can dispose of their property to build up the kingdom of God."  It will be
said of us all, unless we improve upon what we have, "Take that which they
seem to have, and give it to those who improve upon their talents and will
gain more."

	Whether you can see it or not, I know that this people are more or
less prone to idolatry; for I see that spirit manifested every day, and
hear of it from nearly every quarter.  We must stop worshipping idols.  We
are in the possession of the keys of the kingdom; the eternal Priesthood
is committed to this people, and we are blessed as are no other people of
which we have any knowledge.  This people have the words of life--the way
of life and salvation:  they know how to save themselves and all that will
cleave to them.  Now, what is demanded at our hands?  Is it to pray that
we may be faithful?  It seems to be a burlesque.  It is most disgraceful
to be under the necessity of saying, "Brethren and sisters, let us be
faithful."  Rather so obtain a particle of wisdom before God that we can
see our own standing, what we are called to do, and understand what is
bestowed upon us.  You might as well pray for the angels to be faithful as
for this people.  If you could see and understand things as they are, your
whole souls, minds affections, lives, and everything at your control would
be sealed up in God and his work.  Then would it be, "You cannot take my
horses, for I cannot spare them?"  No.  Who cares for all the horses in
the world?  The Devil says that he has claim on them, and he means to
devote them to his use.  I will see that all the horses, mules, gold,
silver, clothing, and people belonging to this Church are devoted to the
kingdom of Christ, God being my helper; and I will out-general the Devil,
and baffle him in every turn, and head him in every nook and corner; and
he shall be turned hither and thither as the Lord will.  I am determined,
in the name of Israel's God, to see the Devil whipped from the earth, and
out-generaled and fooled in all his schemes, and whirled about by this
Church until he is glad to leave the earth and go to his own place; and
then we will see whether or not the Lord God has all things that belong to
him.
	Compare our position and situation with that of the rest of the
world; look at the inhabitants of the earth, and try to understand the
object of our being on this earth, the object of the forming and peopling
this earth, and designing and decreeing that things should be thus and so. 
Try to understand why our first parents partook of the forbidden fruit,
and why Jesus came to the earth to redeem fallen man.  I always try to
learn why things are suffered to proceed on the earth as they do.

	If you get an understanding to know the purposes and designs of our
Creator in framing and peopling this earth, do you think that I should be
under the necessity of exhorting you to say that you will sacrifice your
all for eternal life?  The idea is nonsensical.  Should I be under the
necessity of exhorting you to live your religion and cling to your God? 
If we should not come to meeting during the next sixteen years, and if we
had never met since the brethren were driven from Jackson County, every
one would live his religion.  If this people had understood what they
ought, the early Elders might have lived in foreign nations and preached
the Gospel until this day, and they would then have been better prepared
to worship God acceptably than many are now; and this people would have
been more cautious, better prepared, and more contented to practise what
they know, instead of searching after things that do not concern them.

	We know enough to damn us; and when we know enough for that, we know
enough to save us, if that knowledge is improved upon.  We are a happy
people.  We are the only people on earth that acknowledge God and truly
believe in him.  The Christian and heathen world profess to believe in
him; and the jews say that they believe in him:  but they do not believe
in Jesus Christ.  The Christians profess to believe in Jesus Christ; but,
if he told the truth, not one of them really believes in him.  I do not
doubt their honesty; but I doubt the manifestation of any knowledge they
have of him; for if they were his disciples, they would do the works which
he did.  That alone is positive proof to me that they neither believe in
him nor have any idea what he designs concerning them.  They may be honest
and sincere; but they are very ignorant.  This people have the true
knowledge; they have it not.  We have the Priesthood; they have it not. 
We have the way of life and salvation; they have it not.  We know how to
be Saints--how to save ourselves and all who will hearken to our counsel;
they do not.

	Now, ask yourselves, is there any necessity of preaching, praying,
teaching, and exhorting, to learn us our duty and make us Saints?  It is
almost labour lost.  You heard brother Silas say that if the Elders should
leave those islands, in a few years the natives who have embraced the
Gospel would be as bad as they ever were.  If there is nothing more of
them than that--if they have no desire to do good--no power in themselves
to keep them from giving way to the Devil, unless there is an Elder from
Great Salt Lake to watch them, the quicker they are damned the better.  I
would not, in such a case, walk five rods for the whole of them.  If they
do not know enough, after what they have been taught, to save themselves,
they will be damned, and I will not ask another Elder to wear out his
strength and waste his energies in so useless a work.

	Those islanders and the natives of this country are of the house if
Israel--of the seed of Abraham, and to them pertain the promises; and
every soul of the, sooner or later, will be saved in the kingdom of God,or
be destroyed root and branch.  If they do not choose in this probation to
take the path that leads to life, let them go their own road.  The honest
in heart in all nations and generations whoa re worthy to receive any
salvation will receive, sooner or later and I do not care how quick the
Lord Almighty cleans the floor; for then we will build up Zion and redeem
the honest in heart.  But it is not for me to know the times and the
seasons:  it is for me to be contented in the discharge of my duty to-day,
and let to-morrow bring forth what it will.

	May the Lord bless you, brethren and sisters.  Amen.

          WISDOM MANIFEST IN ALL GOD'S DEALINGS WITH THE SAINTS.
  A Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, 
                  Great Salt Lake City, March 28, 1858.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	One thing is very true concerning the Gospel of salvation--the
revelations of Jesus Christ--the kingdom of God upon the earth:  Let any
people enjoy peace and quietness, unmolested, undisturbed,--never be
persecuted for their religion, and they are very likely to neglect their
duty, to become cold and indifferent, and lose their faith.  That is the
experience of every person, more or less; and I wish to offer a few
reflections on the propriety of the Lord's leading this people in the way
that he does.  We believe, for it is so written in the Bible, that the
Lord wishes a people of his own--a kingdom of his own upon this earth,
which is his.

	June 27, 1844, a little over fourteen years after the organization of
this Church, Joseph Smith was slain.  In his day there were but very few
years of rest for the Saints.  They occupied Nauvoo longer than any other
one place:  they lived there about seven years.  We left Nauvoo in 1846,
and from that time until now this Church has not been compelled to abandon
their property and homes.  We came here in the best and quickest way in
our power, and have been building, fencing, planting, sowing, and making
ourselves comfortable.  It is now more than ten years since we first
located here, unmolested and undisturbed.

	If we reflect upon our own experience, and what has passed before us
during that time, and notice the facts now transpiring, we cannot avoid
knowing that much of the conduct of this people has been directly in
opposition to our becoming the kingdom of God in its purity on the earth. 
Let the people consider for themselves whether we have, so far as we could
have done, been taking a course to become that kingdom that we anticipate,
or whether we have not been more or less dependent upon our enemies for
many things that we could have produced, or done without.  When persons
can understand the ways of the Lord, and what he designs concerning his
people, they will know that it was absolutely necessary for the Lord to
take the course he has with this people, in order to bring forth that
which he designs to produce in the latter times.  Were we to live
unmolested, uninterrupted, without persecution and hatred from our
enemies, as I have told you, and it has been sounded in your years all the
day long, we might expect that we had apostatized from the truth. 
Persecution and hatred by those who love not the truth are a legacy
bequeathed by the Saviour to all his followers; for he said they should be
hated of all men for his name's sake.  If we had ceased to be persecuted
and hated, we might fear; but the prospect is encouraging.

 	For a few weeks past, so far as I have knowledge from the reports
made to me, the people have never felt so well since they have been in
these Valleys.  The prospect of ancient "Mormonism," of again leaving our
homes, probably gives a spring to our feelings, especially since we, for
the first time, have the privilege of laying waste our improvements, and
are not obliged to leave our inheritances to strangers to enjoy and revel
in the fruits of our labours.  It is a consolation to me that I have the
privilege of laying in ashes and in the dust the improvements I have made,
rather than those who would cut my throat, solely for my faith, shall
inhabit my buildings and enjoy my fields and fruits.  Heretofore I have
often left my home and the fruits of my labours for others to enjoy.

	Persecution is learning us to adopt a course for self-preservation,
as you will readily understand from a few circumstances I will mention. 
Within a few weeks, for the first time to my knowledge since we have been
settled in these valleys, a sister, wife, or family in this community has
taken the pains to pick up a few potatoes, that would otherwise be wasted,
and make them into starch.  A woman can, in an hour or two, make a pound
or a pound and a half of starch from potatoes that would lie and rot.  Has
this been done heretofore?  Not to my knowledge.  And so long as brooms
were brought from the States, people would not raise broom corn.  And so
long as traders brought in starch, would our women make it?  No; though a
woman can, in a short time, make a dollar and a half or two dollar's worth
from potatoes that would otherwise go to waste.  Would this community
condescend to make starch, so long as it was imported and they could buy
it?  They would not.  I say it, because they did not.  And if there were
tons of starch here, they would find market for the whole of it, while the
hard-earned fruits of the husbandman's labour would lie and rot.

	Who has controlled circumstances to learn us to sustain ourselves? 
Have you and I?  No, not in the least; but it has been accomplished by the
Providence that leads us.  We have been urging the people for years and
years to do those things they are now compelled to.  From the time we came
here, you have been told to take bran or potatoes and make starch, and not
buy it in the stores.  Who would have been at the trouble of making cloth,
if it could be bought of Gentile traders?  Do you think many in this
community would?  No, no more than the women would have made starch.  The
women had not time, though they had time to visit from one end of the city
to the other.  They could take time to run to the stores--to walk a mile
or two shopping every day but they never had time to make a little starch,
or spin a little stocking yarn for themselves, if those articles could be
bought in the stores.

	I am satisfied that the people now begin to learn that they can make
their own clothing, and that those who do not learn will run the risk of
being uncomfortably clad.  But would this people, by their wisdom, ever
have brought themselves to that independence that God will, by his
providence, in a seeming chastisement?  I say seeming, for it is no
chastisement:  it is a blessing to this people, and one of the greatest
that can be bestowed upon us, to cut the thread between us and our
enemies, and oblige us to sustain ourselves in everything that we can
produce with our labour, skill, and economy.  The Lord can bring this
about, or cause the Devil to do it, just as he pleases.

	If we would only forsake our religion, our enemies would spare us and
hail us as friends; but if we will not yield that point, they will
endeavour to destroy us.  But the Lord Almighty rules in the heavens, and
controls our enemies to a certain extent, and overrules their acts.  He
has his own purposes to accomplish as much now as he ever has had upon the
face of the earth--as much as he had in the crucifixion of the Saviour. 
Could he have found a righteous man on the earth who would have betrayed
his only Son?  He could not.  Would a man with his eyes open to see, and
filled with the revelations of the Lord, have betrayed Jesus into the
hands of Pilate?  No.  God overruled and selected a hypocrite--an ungodly,
base, vile wretch, and placed him among the Apostles to accomplish that
purpose, as much as he raised up Pharaoh.

	God never hardened the heart of Pharaoh; he never ordained that
wickedness should possess any man.  Judas loved wickedness from his youth. 
Pharaoh was raised up to do what he did, because he was wicked from his
youth:  wickedness and hatred to every holy principle took possession of
him, and God set him on the throne of Egypt to accomplish his purposes.

	So it is with the men who are at the helm of our Government:  God has
selected them to rule, because the people are wicked, and will not hearken
to his voice.  They have killed his Prophets and many of his people, and
he has placed corrupt, wicked men in office to rule and bear sway--what
for?  To show forth his wisdom.  The hand of God is in all this, and he
lets loose those wicked creatures, in order to drive us to do that which
his mercies fail to induce us to perform.

	Let him pour gold and silver into our laps, and cause the earth to
yield that abundance we desire, and would we know how to appreciate and
use such great blessings?

	If we constantly have plenty, pleasure, ease, and comfort, will the
women make starch?  No.  Will they braid straw for hats and bonnets?  No.
How many bonnets are manufactured in this Territory?  Can you see a woman
here to-day wearing a beautiful straw bonnet, the work of her own hands? 
There are a few coarse ones, when you can make them either fine or coarse.

	I have prevailed upon a few men to commence hat-making, and they have
done something towards supplying the market; and a few are engaged in
tanning leather:  but if we had plenty of gold and silver and stores full
of goods, would the people engage in and encourage home manufacture?  No,
as past experience has proved.  They would be riding around in their
carriages, and talking about going to California, where they can get gold
and make themselves rich.

	The Lord cannot save us in riches, because we do not yet know what to
do with them.  And when we are blessed and favoured, like the children of
Israel in olden times, we wax fat and kick.

	It is purely in order to save the greatest possible number of this
people, that circumstances have transpired as they have; and it is a
marvel that the Lord has let us have so long a time of peace.

	Now the sisters begin to learn that such an article as flax used to
be raised and manufactured in their young days; and I hear a number
saying, "If I had flax, I could work it up."  You may now hear men say,
"We used to make oil from flax seed."  But if you had plenty of money, and
traders brought oil here, you would never raise a seed.

	Flax cultivated only for oil will pay as well as any other crop that
is raised, to say nothing of the lint, which is in great demand.

 	Have I been able to procure a single gallon of home-made flax seed
oil?  No.  Some of our mechanics, who were used to making oil mills, heard
that I was determined to make one, and proffered their plans and services. 
When the new-fangled press was completed, at a cost of about a thousand
dollars, it was reported, for the first time to me, that some haircloth of
a peculiar kind must be procured for making sacks in which to press the
seed; and we sent to New York and many other cities in the States, without
success, for cloth to suit the "wedge press."  They made an expensive
press; but, as yet, what is it good for?  A cheap old-fashioned press
could have been readily put up, and long ago we might have been using oil
of our own make.  I would commend a man who would begin to make linseed
oil here.  Had I have followed my own judgment in the matter, I would have
had a press and plenty of oil, without paying eight dollars a gallon for
it.

	For the first time since we came to this country, sheep are being
regarded and cared for as they should be.  I brought sheep into this
valley and have bought many here, and ought at this day to have forty
thousand head, if I could have had men that would take care of my flocks.
I have a few hundred left, which, no doubt, have cost me from twenty-five
to fifty dollars each; but I persevere, and my women make cloth:  you see
my children dressed in home-made.  And now some women begin to recollect
that flax was raised in England, Scotland, Ireland, and the United States;
and they have a faint remembrance of certain articles what their mothers
called spinning-wheels; and they really begin to think that they can spin,
and many of the younger ones would like to learn to spin.

	Let the calicos lie on the shelves and rot.  I would rather build
buildings every day, and burn them down at night, than have traders here
communing with our enemies outside, and keeping up a hell all the time,
and raising devils to keep it going.  They brought their hell with them. 
We can have enough of our own, without their help.

	This is the deliverance of our Father in heaven, placing us in the
circumstances we now are in; and it is for the benefit, growth, welfare,
and up-building of the kingdom of God, with us in it.  Nothing else would
do it.

	We can raise cotton, flax, and wool for manufacturing all the cloth
we need.  We can make our own leather, hats, &c.  And that is not all: 
the Lord intends we shall do it.  I am thankful.  How do you feel? 
Better, I presume, than you ever have.

	There is a great deal of inquiry as to whether we shall be under the
necessity of burning.  We are now under the necessity of preparing for it,
and that is enough for the present.

	I wish union:  it is stronger than buildings, and will accomplish
much more for us.  And I hope the Lord will suffer us to pass through
enough to cleanse sin and selfishness from us.  When I reflect upon it, it
is almost discouraging that many who have been in this Church a score of
years, and have been in drivings, mobbings, death, and affliction, are
filled with covetousness, which is idolatry, and do not know what to do
with blessings when they have them, nor know where they come from.  I am
not discouraged, but intend to persevere as long as I possess life.

	The Lord is leading this people as he designs for the building up of
his kingdom, and we need not worry ourselves about it.  You were told,
last season, when we heard that an army was on its way here, that we would
rather lay waste this Territory than yield our rights to men who have no
regard for, neither understand the Constitutional rights of the people;
and the people said amen to that purpose.  We were able, last fall, to
keep them from us, and we are well able to defend this city;--how long, I
do not know.

	If we love our improvements and property better than we love the
lives of our brethren, the Lord will lead us in a way to waste us instead
of our property.  Can you understand that it is better to lose property
than the lives of men, women, and children?  But if we are so wedded to
our property that we would rather fight for it than sacrifice it, if
required, for our religion, then we are in a condition to be wasted, and
our property would go into the hands of our enemies.

	We are able to defend the city and keep out our enemies; but if we
prove to our Father in heaven and to one another that we are willing to
hand back to him that which he has given us, (which is not a sacrifice,)
and that we love not the world nor the things of the world, he will
preserve the people until they can become righteous.

	You never heard me say that we would stick to this city; but we will
defend ourselves against the floods of iniquity which our enemies wish to
overwhelm us with by the introduction of a licentious and corrupted
soldiery.

	If we vacate the ground that may satisfy them; but if they undertake
to come in before we are ready, we will send them to their long home.

	Some may marvel why the Lord says, "Rather than fight your enemies,
go away."  It is because many of the people are so grossly wicked, that,
were we to go out to fight, thousands of the Elders would go into
eternity, and women and children would perish.

	Is every man and woman wicked?  No:  the majority of this people are
doing the best they can; but the ignorance of the people is astonishing. 
Be patient.  The Lord is full of mercy and great kindness, and bears with
our weaknesses; and he wishes to bear with us until we come to
understanding--until we know how to be righteous before him.  I do not
want men to go into eternity clothed with unrighteousness.

	We have talked about redeeming Zion, but the people are not yet
righteous enough to receive and build up Zion in its purity though they
are growing to it.

	I have a certain knowledge within me that the Elders of Israel will
never be permitted to lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the
plummet, with regard to the wicked and ungodly, until they understand
righteous principles, and live to them.  I do not care if we live until
doomsday, and are hunted as long as we live, and go into the grave, and
our sons and daughters come up after us, if they cannot arrive to the
knowledge of the truth, they also will have to live in sorrow and
affliction until they are worn out, and another generation shall come up
after them.  God is not willing that unholy hands shall carry out his
judgments in the latter days.

	When men go out to fight, I want them to go so full of the power of
God that balls cannot hit them, and that the judgments and mercy of the
Almighty may rest in their hearts:  then they will know what to do.

	Let this people go together, and be together, and let the women say
there is such a thing as flax, and such a thing as a wheel with which to
spin it.  That makes me think of a young Boston lady on a visit to the
country.  She did not wish it known that she was at all countryfied, but
wanted to appear quite delicate, and upon seeing a flock of geese, "O dear
me," said she, "what are those geese?"  Some of our women are inclined to
say, "What do you mean by a spinning wheel?  What do you mean by a loom?" 
Such are female loafers, who bring up their children in idleness and buy
starch in the stores instead of making it.  But now, thank God, there are
no stores in which to buy; and I hope there will not be any more here, for
it is the conduct of traders who have fattened in our midst that has
brought an army into our Territory.  I would rather see every building and
fence laid in ashes than to see a trader come in here with his goods.  I
want you to understand that we are in favour of home manufacture in good
earnest.  Raise sheep and flax, and make cloth, and raise cotton, as fast
as you can, and we will try to improve.

	I am willing to leave this place, if I am called upon, and to take
joyfully the spoiling of my goods.  It is all right.  It is a trouble for
us to take care of the property we have; and if I knew that it was just as
pleasing to the Lord, I would rather reduce it to ashes.  We can move
chairs, bureaus, &c.  "Shall we take out such articles first?"  Charge
your minds with this counsel, Bishops and all Elders of Israel:  The
articles of food are first to be moved to safe places.  Take care of the
eatables, and see that they are well secured.  Take care of our grain,
&c., first; and see that the Indians cannot get our oxen and cows.  Then
we will take care of the people; and then, if we have time, we can move
more or less of the valuable furniture, and cache our doors, lumber, &c. 
Perhaps we may come back here, and perhaps not.  I would as soon be here
as anywhere, and anywhere as here, wherever the Lord may require me.

	With regard to doctrinal points, that which we do not understand
should not be talked about in this stand; and the Elders of Israel should
never contend about any point of doctrine that does not pertain to the
present day's salvation.  Brother Hyde has been speaking of our Father and
God.  The remarks are very good; but what does the point involved in his
remarks concern us?  It is neither here nor there; and there are many
ideas that may be advanced without enlightening our minds.  When I go to
where Joseph is, he will be the President of this dispensation.  If he is
the God that stands there, and I do not see any other, it will be right;
or if Peter is God, all right, for he never will become a God, unless he
is duly exalted to that station.  Joseph will not be God to this people,
unless he is crowned a God; and if he is, he will be like the rest of the
Gods, and what will be the difference?  Suppose that Enoch, Abraham, or
Moses be our God, or the Prophet Isaiah, what is the difference?  Who
cares?  There are many things the brethren talk about that are neither
here nor there to us.  They had better be looking after a few potatoes
from which to make starch, or straw for making bonnets.

	Eight years ago I told you to gather up and save your waggon-covers
and tents, for you would want them; and since then I have seen thousands
of good cloth needlessly exposed to the elements, and rotting in our
streets.  Now people need the cloth they walked underfoot years ago.  Who
will pity them?  Not I.  There has been more cloth wasted, during the ten
years past, than would clothe this community,.  The calicos, starch,
sugar, candle-wicking, &c., are now gone.  Are there many in this
congregation who can make candle-wicking out of cotton?  "Do they make it
of cotton?  Really I am surprised!"  Do not be so ignorant, but say you
can make it.  A few years ago, a widow came here with five children.  She
was poor, and at first engaged in binding shoes, next in closing them,
then in putting on the soles, and finally in making light shoes; and last
fall she had apprentices, and made thirty pairs of the boots that were
furnished to the Quartermaster's Department.  She has a house, a cow, and
a garden--the fruits of her labour and economy, and would outstrip many of
our mechanics in earning a living.  She knew what leather was; and when
she saw a flock of geese, she did not ask, "What are those geese?"  but
said, "Those are geese, and I wish I had them to pick."

	Remember the counsel you have hear to-day, and prepare for burning.

	May the Lord bless you!  You have my prayers, good feelings, and
faith all the time; and I trust that the kindness and mercies of our
Father in heaven are such that he will bear with us in our weaknesses
until we can learn truth and righteousness, and practise it; which may God
grant.  Amen.

         APOSTACY THE RESULT OF IGNORANCE--TRUE GOVERNMENT, ETC.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Bowery,
                           Provo, June 6, 1858.
                        Reported by J. B. Milner.

	I wish to say a few words before the close of the meeting.

	You have heard me say, a great many times, and it is the experience
of all men who understand wisdom, that the greatest difficulty we have to
meet is what may be termed ignorance, or want of understanding in the
people.  If people would readily understand and practise what they are
taught, they would do very well without so much teaching as now seems to
be necessary; but when they have not that intelligence which leads and
guides to victory in the acts of life, they should be taught to know how
to overcome every difficulty and enemy they have to meet.  And if people
could understand things as they are, there never would be any
apostacy--none would fall through lack of faith and good works.  In regard
to this people's sustaining the First Presidency, they believe that they
do; but still there is something beyond which many do not as yet
understand:  there are instances in which they do not fully sustain the
Presidency.  It may be asked, "Have not this people voted to sustain the
Presidency?"  Yes; but do they sustain them in every particular?  The
great majority sustain them, as far as they understand.  The main
difficulty is that many do not know how the Presidency should be
sustained, through lack of intelligence to rightly discern and classify
their acts and reflections.  They will sustain, with their prayers, every
department of the Priesthood as being teachers of the plan of salvation,
but do not understand that there is not an act in the lives of
intelligencies but what has a tendency to either sustain or oppose--a
tendency either for good or evil.

	The Government of the United States is Republican in form, and should
be in its administration, and requires a man for President who is capable
of communicating to the understanding of the people, according to their
capacity, information upon all points pertaining to the just
administration of the Government.  He should understand what
administrative policy would be most beneficial to the nation.  He should
also have the knowledge and disposition to wisely exercise the appointing
power, so far as it is constitutionally within his control, and select
only good and capable men for office.  He should not only carry out the
legal and just wishes of his constituents, but should be able to enlighten
their understanding and correct their judgment.  And all good officers in
a truly Republican administration will constantly labour for the security
of the rights of all, irrespective of sect or party.

	This people would do many things that would tend to death, if they
did not listen to correct instructions; for, as yet, they have not wisdom
enough to guide them under all circumstances. And although you think that
you sustain your Presidency yet many conduct themselves in some things
precisely as do the people in the world.  They take a course to destroy
themselves politically and religiously, and they will destroy themselves;
and so would many of you, if you were destitute of counsellors dictated by
the Spirit of the Lord to direct in all things, whether relating to
religious or political government.  We stand upon this platform; still we
are in a measure yet like the world.  There are some contentions and
discords, and some are taking a course which will bring evil upon us.  Do
they know it?  No, they do not: but their ignorance will not prevent the
effects.  They do not know the consequences of unwise acts; but they will
produce evil, whether they understand them or not.

	There are those who, it would seem, can never come to understanding: 
they are apparently stereotyped, never to improve any more, while others
have their minds open and constantly learning and increasing in wisdom and
understanding.  When the people learn to partake of the Spirit which
governs this kingdom, and become fully imbued with that Spirit, they will
understand the objects, examples, and designs of those who are placed to
counsel and direct them.  Do you understand that, brethren and sisters? 
You must enjoy that Spirit, or you cannot walk in the same path with those
who are appointed to be your counsellors and teachers.  But if you possess
that Spirit, instead of taking various by-paths, you will be able to walk
in the path that leadeth to life.  Who are your leaders?  The First
Presidency.  Who was the master-spirit?  Joseph.  Who were his leaders? 
Those who immediately presided over him.  If we will live upon the
principles which our Government professes to be built upon, we shall
follow him, and not make devious paths.

	All the acts we perform should be governed by the guidance of the
Priesthood. Were that done, you would see blessings result from all the
acts of a nation, just as we wish to see in our Republic, and as we would
see, if the people of our nation would learn and practise the principles
of the Priesthood.  The Priesthood does not wait for ignorance:  it
instructs those who have not wisdom, and are desirous of learning correct
principles.  But our Government is controlled by ignorance; and thousands
who are ignorant of the true principles of correct government are placed
in important positions, and every department is more or less governed by
ignorance, folly, and weakness.  More imbecility has been manifested in
the management of public affairs, of late, than ought to be manifested by
any government.

	Let those called Latter-day Saints so learn wisdom as to carry out
the true principles of government, that they may be able to wisely govern
and control all things.  Do any suppose that we shall ever war against the
principles or form of our National Government?  We shall not; for we love
and cherish them and always have and ever expect to, because they are good
and just.  It is published from east to west, and from north to south,
that the "Mormons" are opposed to the Government of the United States. 
That is not true, and never was.  But many of the officers and people of
the United States are too much opposed to their own institutions, and are
taking a course to destroy the best form of government instituted by man. 
They lay the axe at the root of the tree, and it will fall and be as
though it had not been.  They do not understand the principles which will
build them up.  Each one strikes out and follows his own way. Do the
members thereof know how to sustain their own party?  No:  they sap the
foundation of their own party.

	Such is measurably the case with a portion of this people.  They wish
to be saved--they desire to gain celestial glory; but their own acts sap
the foundation of all their desires.  This people desire to do right, and
the reason why all of them do not is because all do not strive to know
how.  True principles will abide, while all false principles will fall
with those who choose and cleave to them.

	The government of this Church is based upon true principles, and the
reason people fall out by the way is because of their ignorance--because
they do not thoroughly canvass their acts, and wisely ponder the probable
results.

	Brother Wells has been speaking about many of the brethren's being
careless about going north to look after their property.  I have reflected
upon that, and I conclude that the brethren feel to say, "We have left our
property, because the Lord in his wisdom is leading us in a way that
requires us to leave our buildings and other improvements; we have
cheerfully left them in the line of duty, and we do not particularly
desire to go back and guard them.  They have passed from our affections,
and shall we turn round and cling to them?  We do not feel to care how
soon the Lord sees fit, in his wisdom, to require us to lay them utterly
waste."  That feeling proves to me that the affections of this poople
[sic] are not placed upon earthly things; still there is a lack of
understanding with some in regard to using them aright.  If we have made
the sacrifice complete in our feelings, we have been driven far enough;
and I can tell the world that all earth and hell will never gain power to
drive us out of these mountains, unless it is the will of the Lord, though
we may be required to move from place to place.  We have to learn that all
the elements are eternal, though their varied earthly forms are organized
to be dissolved.  We must not place our affections upon these things until
they are organized for eternity.  If we will take that course, we shall be
laying up treasures in heaven.  Earthly things will be decomposed, and
their reorganization will be by the power of the resurrection: then we
shall begin to understand the proper use of element.

	I hear some say, "Why should we wish to go to Box Elder to guard our
property there?"  The Lord gave us the ability to obtain what we have; and
if our affections are so chastened that we can measurably realize that he
gave us the power to accumulate our possessions--that he organized the
elements and gave us bodies and life upon the earth--that all blessings
are the gift of the Lord, then we have profited by the experience now
offered; and now it is our duty to preserve that which the Lord has
blessed us with, so far as circumstances will permit, and patiently await
the development of future events and requirements.

	Some do not understand duties which do not coincide with their
natural feelings and affections.  Do you comprehend that statement?  I
have tried to tell you; but I am sometimes at a loss to convey a correct
understanding with words.  I should have the language of angels to enable
me to exactly convey my ideas, and that would require an audience who
understand that language.  There are duties which are above affection. 
Our enemies have driven this people from their homes until their
affections are no longer placed upon the things of this world, which is
more than all other communities can say in truth.  No other people can
truthfully say that they can handle the things of this world without
having their affections placed upon them, even though many of them will
endure more or less affliction for their religion.  Some will throw
themselves under the massive wheels of the car of Juggernaut, and be
crushed to pieces, and others will endure all that is possible for their
religion, no matter whether it is true or false.  There is not so much
difficulty in leading persons to death for the religion we profess, as
there is in inducing them to live to its pure principles.  There is but
little trouble in inducing people to sacrifice and suffer for their
religion:  but who lives for it?  If this people do not, no people upon
this earth do.  And I am happy in being able to say that they have proved
that they place less value upon their farms, houses, and other comforts of
life than they do upon their religion, and that so many of them try to
live their religion day by day.

	If you have superior wisdom in your midst for your guidance, why do
you not learn that fact, and permit yourselves to be guided by that wisdom
in your business transactions as well as in doctrine?--for there is no
dividing between matters spiritual and temporal.  There is no act of a
Latter-day Saint--no duty required--no time given, exclusive and
independent of the Priesthood.  Everything is subject to it, whether
preaching, business, or any other act pertaining to the proper conduct of
this life. It takes the whole man to make a Saint:  there are no
exceptions in "Mormonism."  Learn so to think and direct your acts in
every transaction of life, that we may overcome the evil that is sown
within us.  Overcome the inward enemy; then we can overcome the Devil's
kingdom.  And while others choose evil principles and build upon a
foundation which leads to destruction, let us build upon the principles of
eternal salvation, as we have striven to do all the day long.

	We are a mystery and a stumbling-block to this generation.  One man
will say, "What a numbhead that Brigham Young is!"  and another that "this
people are dupes and fanatics;"  and yet no man can controvert, with sound
argument, the principles we advance.  No society, political or religious,
can cope with us in correct principles.  In the opinion of some we are the
most foolish people in the world, and in that of others we are the wisest. 
If this people live to the principles they have embraced, they will be
capable of counselling the nations; for we build upon a just foundation,
and our principles are truth, righteousness, and holiness.  Let us stand
by those principles  until they crush out folly from these valleys, and we
become teachers of wisdom to the nations.  It would not require a great
stretch of mind to teach them now, did duty require it.  A man who has
wisdom to control one wife and five children can control ten wives and one
hundred children; then he can control a town, a city, a state, a nation, a
kingdom, or the whole world.

	Understand and practise those holy and just principles that reach to
the comprehending of all wisdom, until the nations of the earth look to
Zion for wise counsel.  Whether it be in these mountains or elsewhere, and
whether it be within ten years, or fifty years, or in one day, I will do
all I can to prepare for the glory of Zion.  I would build a good house
here, had the opportunity, though I knew I should not enjoy it five
minutes.  We intend to build a Temple in these mountains, and not act upon
the principle of some who have been here ten years without a comfortable
dwelling.  I want the Elders of Israel to know how to lay the foundation
of Zion.

 	I will now say a few words on business affairs.  A road up Provo
kanyon is much needed, and we want ten or twenty companies of labourers to
go to work upon it forthwith, in order to finish it in about fifteen days,
so that you can go into the valleys of the Weber, where there is plenty of
timber.

	I understand that a company has been chartered by the Legislative
Assembly to make that road; and if those men will come forward, we will
take the responsibility of making it.  We shall need about five hundred
labourers.  I also want a mill-race dug some three-quarters-of-a-mile in
length, and an excavation made for the foundation of a grist-mill.  When
that is done, we will plan something else; for we want every one to have
the privilege of being actively engaged in some useful occupation.  We
want men to labour in every mechanical pursuit that they can; for I
believe that the time will come when we shall have to depend upon our own
resources; and I pray the Lord to so hedge up the way and shut down the
gate, that we may be compelled to depend upon our own manufacturing for
the comforts of life.

	Last spring I wanted to detect some spirits that I could not make
manifest to the people, only in the course I then took.  There are those
who, when they know that they have liberty to act in a certain manner, do
not care about moving in that direction; but if you say that they cannot
or shall not, they are then very anxious to do so.  That class reminds me
of the Frenchman who loaned his money, and upon learning that the borrower
was likely to fail, asked him when he could pay him.  The answer was,
"To-day, if you wish it."  "Why, have you got it?"  "Yes."  "Oh, if you
have got it, I do not want it; but if you have not got it, I want it very
bad."  With the exception of a short time during the late difficulties,
all persons have always had the privilege of going away from here when
they pleased, and have been repeatedly invited to do so, if they wished
to; and a certain class did not avail themselves of the privilege:  but
when I said that they should not go until I gave them permission, we
learned those spirits, and they have gone.

	I want the clay well ground and well worked over.  I want the pure in
heart to receive their blessings, and to be free from the oppressions of
the wicked.

	God bless you, brethren and sisters!  Amen.



          PECULIARITY OF "MORMONS"--OBEDIENCE TO THE DICTATES OF
                 THE SPIRIT--KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH, ETC.
   Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Bowery, Provo,
                              June 27, 1858.

	Previous to the arrival of our brethren, the lately returned
missionaries, I had requested brother Harvey Whitlock to address the
congregation to-day, for my own satisfaction; and I will give you the
reason.  In 1834 I went to Missouri.  After the brethren had been driven
from Jackson County, I saw brother Harvey Whitlock, and heard him converse
only a very few minutes; and from that time I have not had the privilege
of hearing him preach until to-day, although I have greatly desired it,
from the short conversation we had twenty-four years ago.

	I shall give way for the missionaries when I have said enough to
satisfy my own mind.

	I am very well satisfied with brother Whitlock's discourse; but I
wish to make a little addition.

	The people called "Mormons" by the world have a peculiarity about
them that is understood by very few.  In a great degree it is not
comprehended even by the Church, and yet they acknowledge it.  The nature
of that peculiarity is simply this:  The the [sic] Gospel of
salvation--the Priesthood of the Son of God--is so ordered and organized
in the very nature of it, being a portion of that law of heaven by which
worlds are organized, that it is calculated to enlighten the children of
men and give them power to save themselves.  It is of the same nature as
the further principles of eternal existence by which the worlds are and
were, and by which they will endure; and these principles are pure in
their nature, from the fact that they are of God, who is pure:  but,
without the revelation of the SPIRIT OF GOD, NO MAN can understand them. 
That is the peculiarity there is about this mysterious work, and the whole
world are astonished at the unity of this people.

	"How is it that this great people can be controlled by one man?"  is
the question.  To a certain extent they can be controlled and form a unit,
though not as much so as they will when they rightly learn and practise
the true principles of union.  You may theorize and prove by
philosophy--in fact, convince the world, theoretically, of the blessings
of unity; and yet there is no union among them.  What is the reason? 
Because they will not be governed by the Spirit of God.  We may correctly
say that there is no difficulty in convincing people of the truth of the
work in which we are engaged.  We send our Elders into the world, in the
midst of all the religion and philosophy of the day, and "Mormonism" takes
them up and weighs them "in the balances," as the Prophet says of the
Lord's measuring the seas in the hollow of his hand, and taking up the
mountains as a very little thing.  A person who understands the truth of
the principles and doctrines we preach and believe in can handle the
religions and philosophy of the day as a small matter; consequently, it is
not difficult to convince the world.  There is but very little difficulty
in convincing every person who will hearken to reason.  You can convince
them; but what is the difficulty brother Whitlock was speaking of?  The
majority of the human family do not love the truth, and many forsake it
after they have embraced it.

	To me it is evident that many who understand the truth do not govern
themselves by it; consequently, no matter how true and beautiful truth is,
you have to take the passions of the people and mould them to the low of
God, and nothing less will accomplish that union and salvation which we
are striving for.  There is no other principle, spirit, or power that will
cause people to adhere to the truth.  Take this whole people:  they know
that "Mormonism" is true as well as they know that the sun now shines;
their judgments, their feelings, and their hearts convince them that it is
true.  There is no saving faith merely upon the principle of believing or
acknowledging a fact.  Take a course to let the Spirit of God leave your
hearts, and every soul of you would apostatize.

	Do you think that people will obey the truth because it is true,
unless they love it?  No, they will not.  Truth is obeyed when it is
loved.  Strict obedience to the truth will alone enable people to dwell in
the presence of the Almighty. Do people know this?

	We see men and women leaving this people--this community.  Are their
judgments convinced that "Mormonism" is not true?  No; for they know that
it is true.  What did Oliver Cowdery (one of three witnesses to the Book
of Mormon) say, after he had been away from the Church years and years? 
He saw and conversed with the angel, who showed him the plates, and he
handled them.  He left the Church because he lost the love of the truth;
and after he had travelled alone for years, a gentleman walked into his
law office and said to him, "Mr. Cowdery, what do you think of the Book of
Mormon now?  Do you believe that it is true?"  He replied, "No, sir I do
not."  "Well,"  said the gentleman, "I thought as much; for I concluded
that you had seen the folly of your ways and had resolved to renounce what
you once declared to be true."  "Sir, you mistake me:  I do not believe 
that the Book of Mormon is true; I am past belief on that point, for I
KNOW that it is true, as well as I know that you now sit before me."  "Do
you still testify that you saw an angel?"  "Yes, as much as I see you now;
and I know the Book of Mormon to be true."  Yet he forsook it.  Every
honest person who has fairly heard it knows that "Mormonism" is true, if
they have had the testimony of it: but to practise it in our lives is
another thing.

	When the people cleave to the Lord almighty, receive of his Spirit,
and purify themselves continually, and walk in the light of the Lord, they
will never forsake their religion; they will be "mormons" by day and by
night, and for ever: in other words, they will be Latter-day Saints. 
Every one of you know that these things are true.  When men come into this
Church merely through having their judgments convinced, they still must
have the Spirit of God bearing witness to their spirits, or they will
leave the Church, as sure as they are living beings.  The Saints must
become one, as Jesus said his disciples should be one.  They must have the
Spirit testifying to them of the truth, or the light that is in them will
become darkness, and they will forsake this kingdom and their religion.  I
wished to bear this testimony and make this addition to what has been said
by brother Whitlock.

	Many of this congregation have left their homes, and, no doubt, are
anxious to learn the current news. It is needless for me to rehearse the
past.  That we have all experienced.  It is best to speak of that which is
before us, for our present acts prepare us to meet the future.  And, for
their encouragement, I will ask the Latter-day Saints, When and where has
the Lord our God deceived us?  You would all answer, Never, and in no
place.  I would ask another question, with all due deference to the God we
serve, When have our leaders--those whom God has placed to guide the
affairs of his Church and kingdom upon the earth--deceived us?  Let any
person, if he can, rise up and point out the time and place when and where
this people have been deceived by their leaders.  We have not been
deceived by them; for which, God be thanked. He is on Israel's side.  His
arm is almighty to save, and we have a refuge that the world have not.
Whether in peace or war, in poverty or wealth, the Saints have a refuge
that the ungodly have not.  We have the wisdom that the Almighty has
incorporated in our organization.

	When people are dictated by the power of the Holy Ghost there is but
little danger of that people or that community being led wrong:  the
danger consists in your own neglect of your duty.

	With some the question arises, Are we in danger from our enemies? 
No; there  is no danger, only in our neglecting the duties of a Saint. 
Are we in danger now?  No.  Have we been?  No.  Shall we be?  No, we shall
not.

	It has been written that many should be slain for the testimony of
Jesus; and, in my humble opinion, there have already been enough slain to
fulfil that prophecy.  If I can live until I am one hundred and
thirty-five years old, I shall be perfectly satisfied to die a natural
death, and to believe the revelation fulfilled, without being slain by my
enemies.  I strive to live to do good on this earth; and I have all the
time asked my Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus, to let me depart,
when I cease to do good; for I do not want to live any longer than while I
continue to do good.  I want to live to oppose wicked men and devils,
until the last one of them are righteously disposed of, though at times it
is pretty hard work to get faith enough to desire to live to stem such
floods of ignorance and sin.

	We are not in opposition to anything in earth or hell, except the
principle of death.  God has introduced life, and it is the principle of
life that we are after.  The power of the enemy is all the time trying to
destroy this life, and I am opposed to that power.  I am at war with it,
and expect to be. I do not expect to cease my exertions in a million of
years hence, no more than I do to-day; but the world is seeking that which
will cause them to perish.

	We are striving for eternal life, and are opposed to those who love
and have the power of death.  We have the influence and the power of life
and that necessarily brings us in opposition to those who prefer the
principles of death.

	I do not wish to say anything in regard to the life and conduct of
this people:  those things are before the world.  And, as we have often
published, we challenge them to prove that we are not loyal subjects of
this Government and the kingdom of heaven.  We have everything that
produces peace and comfort, and will advance all men in life and
happiness, so far as they will permit us.

	Let this suffice, and I will give you the news.  What is the present
situation of affairs?  For us the clouds seem to be breaking.  Probably
many of you have already learned that General Johnston passed through
Great Salt Lake City with his command under the strictest discipline. Not
a house, fence, or side-walk has been infringed upon by any of his
command.  Of course, the camp-followers are not under his control; but so
far as his command is concerned while passing through the city, he has
carried out his promises to the letter.

	We told Commissioners Powell and McCulloch, in Conference and in
answer to questions, that we most assuredly believed all they said and all
that President Buchanan dictated them to say, so far as their interest was
concerned.  We said that we believed that President Buchanan would fulfil
his words, when his own interests prompted him so to do.  We did not say
whether he would, or not, in opposition to his interest.

	We have reason to believe that Colonel Kane, on his arrival at the
frontiers, telegraphed to Washington, and that orders were immediately
sent to stop the march of the army for ten days.  That savours of an
anxiety for peace.  I expect to see, if the late advices [sic] of the
Government are carried out, that portion of the United States' army now
here have the privilege of going when the interest of the country demand
them, and the portion that was to start for this place ordered in other
directions.  And when we hear certainly that there are no more troops
coming here, we will believe that the Government means peace, just as
their Commissioners have told us.

	I can say, so far as the moves have been made since the President
sent his messengers of peace, that everything bids fair for the fulfilment
[sic] of so desirable a result, and that the President is doing all he can
to correct past bad management.

	We have no shirt-collar dignity to sustain, for we have no character,
only such as our friends and enemies give us.  It is only a shadow, and we
are willing that they should have the shadow, and make the name of our
President honourable, if we can.  They are welcome to traduce our
character, if they choose; but they must not undertake to walk us under
foot, contrary to every principle of the Constitution, right, and law. 
The character of those who are such sticklers for it will perish, for they
are taking the downward road to destruction.  They will be decomposed,
both soul and body, and return to their native element.  I do not say that
they will be annihilated; but they will be disorganized, and will be as
though they never had been, while we will live and retain our identity,
and contend against those principle which tend to death or dissolution.  I
am after life; I want to preserve my identity, so that you can see Brigham
in the eternal worlds just as you see him now.  I want to see that eternal
principle of life dwelling within us which will exalt us eternally in the
presence of our Father and God.  If you wish to retain your present
identity in the morn of the resurrection, you must so live that the
principle of life will be within you as a well of water springing up unto
eternal life.

	I frequently think, when our enemies try to destroy us, and are
afraid that "Mormonism" is going to overrun the country what a pity it is
that that [sic] they cannot see that "Mormonism" is the very principle
that preserves them.  They cannot understand that.  If they could see
things as they are, they would change their present course and be the
disciples of the Saviour.  They would say, "We will be one with you, for
we wish to dwell in all eternity and enjoy our rights and happiness
without molestation."  All beings in the world might have that privilege,
for it is offered to all without money and without price.  We can prove by
our Elders that we have offered them salvation.  They can accept and
follow good or evil, just as they please, and we desire the same
privilege.

	So soon as General Johnston finds a place to locate his command--when
we get news what he is going to do with his troops--we will go home. 
Women, do not induce your husbands to go home just yet, but wait until the
proper time.  It will not be long first.  How would it have been if this
community had been at their homes at the present time?  It is just as much
as can be done, day by day, to bear the reflection that gamblers and
corrupt men of every kind are coming into these valleys.  Do you not know
that you are much better here than you would be if you were nearer to
them?  The Government has been prejudiced against the Saints, because we
would not submit to such corruption; and for that alone we have been cast
out and driven to these mountains.  I am happy in being able to say that
gamblers and robbers have never dared to establish themselves here.  We
can dwell in safety and in peace in these mountains, if the people, who
should be our friends, and who nourish and cherish such characters, would
let us alone.  We will never permit any such practices in these mountains,
God being our helper.

	There has been much prejudice raised against us on account of Indian
depredations, notwithstanding the great trouble and expense to which we
have been subjected in preventing them, and without which no person could
have travelled across these mountains and plains.  What is the reason the
Indians have acted so badly?  Because of the practice, with many
emigrants, of killing the Indians wherever they could find them.  I can
say to the nations of the earth, that they may take these Indians, with
all their ignorance, and their not being brought up to labour, and their
being taught from their infancy to steal, and there are as noble spirits
among them as there are upon the earth.  In this there is one man in the
Senate of the United States who, I think, agrees with me, if there is
nobody else; and that one is General Samuel Houston.  He has had
experience, and has good sense.  You will find as fine natural talent
among these Indians as among any people; and often, when one of them, who
has as kind a heart and good appearance as need be, walks up to an
emigrant camp with kindly feelings, he is shot down; and because they are
ignorant, they commit the error, in wreaking vengeance, of confounding the
innocent with the guilty.

	Brethren, tarry where you are for a short time, and make yourselves
comfortable.  If any of the sisters say they have not a house to live in,
they can go a short distance from their waggon, and get bushes, and make a
comfortable shade.  What!--sisters go and get bushes?  Yes.  The women can
get bushes and make shades, and look as well, in my estimation, in doing
that, as in going round to gossip with their neighbours.  We came to these
mountains about ten years ago; and have you not as good kitchens,
parlours, and bedrooms as there were then?  I can offer to you what I
offered to Judge Snow, when he came into G. S. L. City.  He came to me and
said--"Governor, I would like to rent a house to comfortably shelter my
family."  I replied--"I will offer you the same kitchen and parlour that I
came into when I first came here.  I had a large room, canopied by the sky
and walled by these mountains; and if you can find any place that the
people do not occupy, you are welcome to it; but as for my hunting a house
for you, I have not time to do it.  You can take the same liberty I did,
and have the same privilege I had when we first came here.

	Brethren and sisters, God bless you all!  Amen.

                            GOVERMENT OF GOD.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, 
           Great Salt Lake Ciy, Sunday afternoon, May 22, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I am very happy for the privilege of bearing my testimony to the
principles of the Gospel of salvation.  It is the only doctrine by which
people can be saved in the celestial kingdom of our God, and should
concern all people, as it is the government of God on earth.  People have
reson to fear a bogus or spurious theocracy.  There are but few upon the
earth who do not in their hearts acknowledge a Supreme Being, and also
believe that Being to be holy; and if they could be dictated by that
Being, and be sure that they were directed by the influence from him there
are but few who would object to that influence and that government.

 	The wickedness of the children of men is what influences them to
fear.  They are not afraid of their own laws, beacause they originated
from themselves:  they can manage them and blot them out of existence
whenever they wish.  But when that which is said to be the kingdom of God,
or the theocracy of heaven, is upon the earth, many of the inhabitants
thereof tremble, and fear that it is not correct.

	What is the proof of the exstence of the Priesthood of God upon the
earth?  How would you find the positive proof that the Lord Jesus has his
Church upon the earth?  As I observed to you in the forenoon, it is not
exhibited by the learning or the implicit faith of its followers.  I have
never believed for a moment taht the proof of the Christian religion was
established by a close adherence to it by any sect or any person.  We, as
Christians, are divided and subdivided into many systems varying in
doctrinal points.  This one says, "I am right;" and that one says, "I am
right;" anoather rises up and varies, more or less, from the doctrines of
the Church he has left, and says he is right.

	What proof have you, and wehat proof is there now upon the earth that
this is the kingdom of God?  If we had miracles to establish it, would
they be positive proof?  No, they would not.  They will not satisfy me,
nor have I ever seen the day when they would. Were I to see the sick
healed, the eyes of the blind opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped,
that would not satisfy me.  For me, the plan of salvation must be a system
that is pure and holy in all its points; it must reveal things that no
other Church or kingdom can reveal; it must cicrcumscribe the knowledge
that is upon the face of the earth, or it is not from God.  Such a plan
incorporates every system of true doctrine on the earth, whether it be
ecclesiastical, moral, philosophical, or civil:  it incorporates all good
laws that have been made from the days of Adam until now; it swallows up
the laws of nations, for it exceeds them all in knowledge and purity; it
circumscribes the doctrines of the day, and takes from the right and the
left, and brings all truth together in one system, and leaves the chaff to
be scattered hither and thither.  That is the proof to me, and has been
from the beginning, athat the principles are pure and holy; and every
person living to them will attain through them sancctification.

	Truth will endure for ever and for ever, and every man that preaches
the Gospel of salvation may take the old text that some of us took in the
commencement of the building up of the kingdom of God upon the earth in
the last days.  I took truth for my text, salvation for my subject, and
the whole world for my circuit, to go as far as I could and talk all I
could about it. It takes every truth from every sect and party.  What!  in
a civil capacity also?  Yes.  All law, all powers, all kingdoms, and all
thrones,--in fine, all things are under the control of God.

	There is no nation or kingdom that has not received its power from
him, whether it be much or little--whether for a day, and age, or a
century.  Whether they make good or bad use of it, all power is ordained
of God and is in his hand.  He sets up a kingdom here, and pulls down
another there at his pleasure.  He braks the nations like a potter's
vessel; he forms a nucleus, and around it builds up a kingdom or nation,
permitting the people to act upon their own agency, that tahey may do
right, or corrupt themselves, as did the children of Israel; and after
they have become ripe for destruction, they will be scattered to the four
winds.  If the people of God in ancieant days had continued holy, they
would have continued in power and authority to this day.

	There is not a despot upon the earth whose power has not originally
sprung from the Priesthood, and there is not a law in the Priesthood but
what is founded on the revelations of Jesus Christ.  These are the laws
upon which all governments were originally based.  Truth wil endure for
ever, and every person that cannot abide truth will fail in obtaining
eternal life.  Truth is what we have.  Let us live to it, and we shall
abidea for evver, and no power can prevent it.

	Be faithful, brethren and sisters.  If you havea light, acknowledge
the hand of God in it, and improve upon it, and acknowledge his hand in
all things; for his providence overrules al things, and he will
triumphantly bring forth his kingdom, organize his people, and prepare the
earth for his angels to dwell upon, and it will be given into the hands of
his Saints when they are made pure and holy.

	I told you in the forenoon that it has ever been my prayer never to
have influence to lead men wrong, but that I would to God I had power to
make them refrain from evil and do that which is right, that athey may
live for ever and ever.  You are organized independent beings, framed to
become Gods, even the sons of God; and yet it is astonishing to see the
use many make of their ability:  they corrupt themselves and continue to
do wickedly until they are prepared to go down to perdition.  Why not rurn
away from their sins and love righteousness, that they may endure for
ever, and that all things may be given into their hands?

	May the Lord help us to take that path that will lead us to victory
and glory.  Amen.


NECESSITY OF TRIALS--GLORY OF THE SAINTS' RELIGION--GOVERNMENT OF GOD,
ETC.
    A Sermon by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, 
                   Great Salt Lake City, May 22, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I wish to inform you that I am here and doing what many years ago I
resolved to do--the best I can.  Watch for the signs of the times.  All is
right, and the Devil is not dead; for which we have great reason to be
thankful.  If you do not know whether "Mormonism" is true or untrue, I am
perfectly willing that the Devil should assail you until you learn for
yourselves.

	As brother Orson Pratt has just observed, the Elders of Israel have
laboured long and arduously to preserve this people in the faith and in
purity.  Notwithstanding all this, some men and women, when they have an
opportunity to join heart and hand with the thoroughly corrupt, make it
their meat and their drink to turn their backs upon every upright
principle and practice.  We wish that such persons would leave our
society, for we do not feel willing to fellowship them.

	I will say, for your consolation, that as soon as the time arrives
when this people have been proven sufficiently to satisfy justice, mercy
will interpose, peace be fully restored, and the valleys of the mountains
resound with the joyful voices of the Saints.  Until then I am perfectly
willing that the people do without preaching.  I will pray with them and
for them: what for?  To keep the devils, the corrupt, the hypocritical,
the ungodly, and those that love and work iniquity in the kingdom of God? 
I say, God forbid.

	I am accused by our enemies and by the enemies of the Lord Jesus
Christ of possessing great influence over the people of this Territory;
and I would to God that I had sufficient influence to make every man and
woman work righteousness and cease iniquity, and so live that angels and
the Spirit of the God of peace would dwell with them day by day.  But that
influence I have not.  I have an influence; but I have only what the Lord
has given me.  No man will gain influence in this kingdom, save what he
gains by the influence and power of the Holy One that has called him to
truth, holiness, and virtue.  That is all the influence I have, and I pray
God that I may never have any different influence.

	If I should lose my faith, forsake my God and my religion, I hope,
and it has always been my prayer, that I may never have influence over a
wife, child, friend, or neighbour to drag them down to hell.  If I go
there, let me go alone.  It has ever been my prayer that if I have
influence over the people, it shall be exercised to induce them to forsake
their sins and cleave to righteousness.  I seek for an increase of that
influence, and seek to the proper source.  It is my constant prayer that I
may have influence over the spirits of the children of men to lead them
from the power of Satan to the living God.  But we must be tried in our
faith and in our patience.  The whole man must be tried to know whether he
is for God or for the powers of darkness--whether he will cling to that
which is a hater of righteousness, or to his Father and Saviour.

	There are thousands in this kingdom who are willing to die for their
religion, but are not willing to live it.  This is a great difficulty. The
most ignorant, blind, and superstitious pagan upon the earth will die for
what we call their nonsense, though to them it is as true and sacred as
our religion and God are to us.  What a man will suffer for his religion
is no proof whether it is true or false.  Brother Pratt, in his remarks,
said that we should not be governed by tradition.  Yet we are, and so are
the whole world, more or less; and those who are traditioned in a false
religion are as willing to die for it as men and women are for a true
religion and Priesthood.  That a man is willing to die for his religion is
no proof of its being true; neither is it proof that a religion is false
when one of its votaries apostatizes from it.  Our religion teaches us
truth, virtue, holiness, faith in God and in his Son Jesus Christ.  It
reveals mysteries, it brings to mind things past and present--unfolding
clearly things to come.  It is the foundation of mechanism; it is the
Spirit that gives intelligence to every living being upon the earth.  All
true philosophy originates from that Fountain from which we draw wisdom,
knowledge, truth, and power.  What does it teach us? To love God and our
fellow creatures--to be compassionate, full of mercy, long-suffering, and
patient to the froward and to those who are ignorant.  There is a glory in
our religion that no other religion that has ever been established upon
the earth, in the absence of the true Priesthood, ever possessed.  It is
the fountain of all intelligence; it is to bring heaven to earth and exalt
earth to heaven, to prepare all intelligence that God has placed in the
hearts of the children of men--to mingle with that intelligence which
dwells in eternity, and to elevate the mind above the trifling and
frivolous objects of time, which tend downward to destruction.  It frees
the mind of man from darkness and ignorance, given him that intelligence
that flows from heaven, and qualifies him to comprehend all things.  This
is the character of the religion we believe in.

	Our ecclesiastical government is the government of heaven, and
incorporates all governments in earth and hell.  It is the fountain, the
mainspring, the source of all light, power, and government that ever did
or ever will exist.  It circumscribes the governments of this world; and
when men and women are filled with the power of god, they can comprehend
what the Prophet means when he speaks of the Lord's weighing the earth as
in a balance, and measuring the waters of the great deep as in the hollow
of his hand: that is, He comprehends all things; and so can men who are
filled with the Holy Ghost comprehend all things needful for their
salvation and exaltation.  All human governments and policies are weighed
by them as gold is weighed in the balance:  they are comprehended by them
with the same facility and clearness that a farmer or mechanic comprehends
his particular pursuit.  And no being possesses intelligence, in any
degree, that he has not received from the God of heaven, or, in other
words, from the Fountain of all intelligence, whether he acknowledges his
God in it or not.  No man, independent of the Great Ruler of the universe,
is capable of devising that which we see and are well acquainted with. 
All mechanism, good government, wholesome principle, and true philosophy,
of whatever name or nature, flows from God to finite man.  What for?  To
determine what he will do with it.  It is for his improvement and
advancement in the arts of civilized life, morality, and true religion. 
This has been taught you from the beginning as the unmistakeable [sic]
features of our holy religion. 

	"Mormonism" is said to be different in Utah from what it is in other
countries.  It should be very different.  Let me explain.  When the Elders
go forth to teach the people that Jesus is the Christ, and to bear
testimony to the truth of the Bible, though precious portions have been
taken from it, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that the revelations
given through Joseph Smith, the servant of God, are true, and to call upon
the inhabitants of the earth everywhere to repent of their sins and be
baptized for the remission thereof, and receive the imposition of hands
for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and to confer the holy Priesthood,
that believers may magnify their calling until they are gathered, what
then?  They should find "Mormonism" more than it was taught them in
foreign lands.  How should they gather?  With the same spirit they
received when they received the Gospel.  Then, when they are gathered to
the fountain head, they are prepared to receive the further things of the
kingdom.  Is this the true spirit of gathering?  It is, and is preserved
by those who come prepared to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the
truth.  But the long journeys, the perplexities, perils, and temptations
darken the understanding and becloud the minds of many, insomuch that when
they are gathered they are not so well prepared to receive the further
things of the kingdom as they were before they started.  This is a pity: 
it is very lamentable.  But such is the fact.

	To some "Mormonism" appears very different here to what it did in the
countries of their nativity.  Why?  Because their eyes have become dim and
their hearts cold, so that they do not behold things by the Spirit of God
as they did when they first embraced the Gospel. In comparison, they
become as other Christians.  The Christians of the 19th century tell you
how much light they received--how they were exalted on high:  "Glory!
hallelujah!--how happy I felt when I first got religion!"  How do you feel
now?  "Not so well."  That is the experience of the Christian world; and,
unfortunately, it is the experience of many who are called Latter-day
Saints.  Some exclaim, "O that we could feel as we did when we first
received the Gospel!"  If you have not known and understood more than you
did when you first embraced the Gospel--if you have not grown in grace and
in the knowledge of the truth it proves that you are not yet worthy to
receive further blessings.  How can you expect to receive blessings that
you will not improve upon?  Let every man and woman that believes in the
redemption of Zion, the gathering of Israel, the calling of Prophets and
Apostles in the last days and the building up of the kingdom of God, no
more to be thrown down, come here prepared to receive the mysteries of the
kingdom and to learn the further things of eternity to bring heaven to
earth, and in their understandings be exalted to heaven; and would you see
men and women going back to the States and to California and joining hands
with the most corrupt spirits that hell can spue out?

	I am still here, and intend to remain; but whether I shall continue
to have faith enough to carry out my desires is not for me to say though I
am one of the best hands in the world to fight dogs in flocks of sheep;
and I desire to stay until the last one is kicked from off the earth, and
a place prepared for the habitation of Saints, and they prepared to
receive the Saviour when he comes.

	Jesus has been upon the earth a great many more times than you are
aware of.  When Jesus makes his next appearance upon the earth, but few of
this Church and kingdom will be prepared to receive him and see him face
to face and converse with him; but he will come to his temple.  Will he
remain and dwell upon the earth a thousand years, without returning?  He
will come here, and return to his mansion where he dwells with his Father,
and come again to the earth, and again return to his Father, according to
my understanding.  Then angels will come and begin to resurrect the dead,
and the Saviour will also raise the dead, and they will receive the keys
of the resurrection, and will begin to assist in that work.  Will the
wicked know of it?  They will know just as much about that as they now
know about "Mormonism," and no more.

	When all nations are so subdued to Jesus that every knee shall bow
and every tongue shall confess, there will still be millions on the earth
who will not believe in him; but they will be obliged to acknowledge his
kingly government.  You may call that government ecclesiastical, or by
whatever therm you please; yet there is no true government on earth but
the government of God, or the holy Priesthood.  Shall I tell you what that
is?  In short, it is a perfect system of government--a kingdom of Gods and
angels and all beings who will submit themselves to that government. 
There is no other true government in heaven or upon the earth.  Do not
blame me for believing in a pure and holy government.

	Is man prepared to receive that government?  He is not.  I can say to
these Latter-day Saints, You are not prepared to receive that government. 
You hear men and women talk about living and abiding a celestial law, when
they do not so much as know what it is, and are not prepared to receive
it.  We have a little here and a little there given to us, to prove
whether we will abide that portion of law that will enable us to enjoy a
resurrection with the just.

	While I was in England I heard much said about the revelation
touching the privilege of the living being baptized for the dead.  A High
Priest, who had just come from America, thinking that he could enlighten
the Twelve upon the subject, said, "Brother Brigham, I heard Joseph say
that baptism for the dead was one of the first principles of the Gospel,
and that even the Twelve did not understand it."  His feeling was, "I am a
High Priest, and the Twelve do not understand the matter."  I said to him,
"My dear sir, do you understand all of the first principles of the
Gospel?"  When I hear such expressions from men, I know that they are very
limited in their understandings about the Priesthood.

	A man who has had his mind opened to the operation of the Priesthood
of the Son of God--who understands anything of the government of heaven,
must understand that finite beings are not capable of receiving and
abiding the celestial law in its fulness.  When can you abide a celestial
law?  When you become a celestial being, and never until then.  When you
hear men and women talk about living a celestial law, you may know that
they are ignorant of the fact that no finite being is living in its
fulness, or can.  As it is written, we have line upon line, precept upon
precept, here a little and there a little, and it is something that
accords with the capacity of finite beings, and you improve upon this, and
the Lord will open your minds to receive more, and let you see the order
of the eternal Priesthood; but if you do not live your religion, you
cannot receive more.

	Are the Latter-day Saints ready to receive Zion from above?  Have
they wisdom and knowledge to receive and conduct themselves properly in
the society of angels?  I think not.  While I was in Far West, and the mob
began to gather there, determined to kill Joseph, he preached to the
people and said, "If you had faith and would live your religion, you would
prove the revelation to be true where the Lord says, 'I will fight your
battles, and, if necessary, send down angels to save you from the wicked
grasp of your enemies.'"  There was an armed mob of some 3,500 arrayed
against some 300 of us.  They sent in a deputation, saying they wanted
about three persons out of the town, for they were calculating to destroy
the people and the place.  Some of those self-glorious stars of
"Mormonism"--stars that fell in that crisis, looked round for the angels. 
They did not see them, and straightway turned their backs upon their God
and their religion, and joined the enemy.

	I was glad that they went.  I felt then as I feel now.  I felt and
still feel that I would rather have ten righteous men with whom to contend
with the wicked of the whole earth, than to have at my command the corrupt
of all creation.  When I am brought to the test to fight for my religion,
which I trust I never will be, I will call men who are full of the power
of God for such an emergency.

	Brother Pratt wishes that the miserable, dissatisfied spirits would
leave; but they will not all go.  The question might be asked, "Why do you
wish them to go from this Territory?"  We do not particularly care whether
they go or stay: they are at perfect liberty to please themselves in that
matter, because it is their constitutional right to stay here, if they do
not infringe upon the rights of others, and observe the laws of the land
as strictly as we do.  The principal reason why I do not wish them to go
is because they will be constantly troubling me to assist them back again. 
I had rather help somebody else, for we have not means to spare for
bringing those who will apostatize to this country a second and third
time.  After they have came back once and twice, they stay awhile and want
to go away again; and after they have been away awhile, they begin to
learn that this is the kingdom of God, and some of them want help to come
back.

	My faith reaches far beyond the faith of many touching the final
destiny of such persons, understanding that the Lord is more merciful than
human beings; and the faith of this kingdom goes far beyond the faith of
the Christian world upon this matter.  There will not so many people go
into that awful place that burns with fire and brimstone, where they sink
down, down, down to the bottom of the bottomless pit, as the Christians
say,--not near so many as the Christian world would have go there.  That
gives me great joy, notwithstanding all the perils and persecution we have
suffered through the wickedness of the wicked.  Liars, sorcerers,
whoremongers, adulterers, and those that love and make a lie will be found
on the outside of the walls of the city; but they will never get into the
bottom of the bottomless pit.  Who will go there and become angels of
perdition and suffer the wrath of an offended God?  Those who sin against
the Holy Ghost.

	This kingdom progresses.  Who has eyes to behold the handiwork of the
Lord?  The trials we have been passing through in this Territory, from our
enemies, we think are terrible; but these trials are only like a drop to a
bucketful, compared with what many of this people have heretofore passed
through.  Contrasted with Missouri, our present and late trials are very
trifling, very light, and very easy upon us.  You may let your hearts be
comforted, those of you who can see the hand of the Lord in leading this
people and restraining the wrath of our enemies.  Can any of you see? 
Yes, a great many.  If your eyes were opened, you would see his hand in
the midst of the nations of the earth in the setting up of governments and
in the downfall of kingdoms--in the revolutions, wars, famine, distress,
and wretchedness among the inhabitants of the earth.  In these
manifestations you would discern the footsteps of the Almighty just as
plainly as you may see the footsteps of your children upon the soft earth.

	The wonderful developments of his providence are oft-times mysterious
to us, and we exclaim, "Really, I did not expect to hear such news, nor to
see such astonishing and unexpected results in the actions of the
righteous and the wicked."  The Lord takes care of the whole of that, and
dictates their conduct for his own purpose and glory.  He makes the wrath
of man to praise him, and that which he cannot bring about to promote his
kingdom and his purposes he restrains.  The wicked he permits to go far
enough to produce a result that will serve his purpose.  "For my kingdom
must be established upon the earth in the latter days,"  saith the Father,
"and I have given it to my Son Jesus Christ.  He has died to redeem it,
and he is the lawful heir pertaining to this earth."  Jesus will continue
to reign with his Father, and is dictated by his Father in all his acts
and ruling and governing in the building up and overthrow of nations, to
make the wrath of man praise him, until he brings all into subjection to
his will and government.  And when he has subdued all his enemies,
destroyed death and him that hath the power of death, and perfected his
work, he will deliver up the kingdom spotless to his Father.  You may
preach upon that text.  It is a source of great consolation to me, for it
will be fully accomplished, and all that transpires will be overruled to
redound to the glory of God.

	A gentleman said to me, not long ago, "You 'Mormons' scare us.  You
are here in the mountains, and this expedition would not have been sent
against you, but you frighten us by taking such big strides.  'Mormonism'
is but a few years old, and it has circumscribed the globe; it has
penetrated into almost every nation under heaven, and bears down, in a
remarkable manner, all opposition wherever your people go.  It seems to
swallow up our religion, political policies, and philosophy; and, if we do
not stop you, it would appear that you will finally swallow up the world." 
I replied, "If the people will let us alone, we will preach the Gospel in
peace, civilly, kindly, mildly; and we will teach the people how to obtain
that eternal life that is proffered to all.  But will they let us alone? 
No.  And you think we take large strides."  He rose from his chair,
saying, "You take ten or twelve strides at once.  While we go creeping
along, you are away yonder."  "Well, you kicked us there, and we cannot
help going.  Every time you kick 'Mormonism,' you kick it up stairs:  you
never kick it down stairs. The Lord Almighty so orders it.  And let me
tell you that what our Christian friends are now doing for us makes more
for the kingdom of heaven than the Elders could in many years preaching."

	The Lord Almighty will exalt "Mormonism" and sustain his Priesthood. 
Will he sustain wickedness? No.  If we are wicked, we are wrong.  We
should abstain from everything that is unholy--that is unrighteous; that
is the character of a true Latter-day Saint.  Have we persons among us who
are degraded? Yes.  As I have before told you, "Mormonism" can beat the
world as to the knowledge of God.  The Saints know more of God and
godliness than all the world:  they also know more of earth and earthly
things.  Many are living so as to be saved in the celestial kingdom, while
all who do not embrace the doctrine of full redemption will come short of
attaining that glory.  On the contrary, if you want to see the principle
of devilism to perfection, hunt among those who have once enjoyed the
faith of the holy Gospel and then forsaken their religion.  We have the
best and the worst.  Why the worst?  Because the Devil prompts men and
women of the meanest and lowest grade to embrace the Gospel and get a
foothold in the kingdom of God to destroy it.

	Will he destroy it?  He will not:  that is beyond his power.  Can you
destroy a true religion by persecuting it?  No.  What destroyed the
Priesthood of the Son of God from the earth in ancient days?  Was it
persecution?  No.  The Emperor Constantine embraced it and sent out a
decree for all his people to embrace it.  Let this people be prospered and
all persecutions cease, and then every description of characters would
hasten to join this Church.  The Lord so orders and overrules as to cop
out a share of them, though he suffers some to enter the temporal fold. 
We understand the root and trunk of the tree of wickedness and we have
many of its branches--more than we want.  The Lord desires a pure
people--a people that he can own and exalt--that he can bring into his
presence; and that is what the Priesthood of God is designed to
accomplish. I would to God that the people would live so as to receive the
blessings of the Priesthood, increase in all godliness, have their eyes
open to see, their ears to hear, and their hearts to understand, instead
of falling away.

	At times, seemingly good men falter in their feelings, and turn away
from their God and their religion to take the road that leads to
destruction. This makes my heart mourn.  But those who are faithful will
come out triumphantly, for God has established his kingdom on the earth,
no more to be thrown down.  It was thought by our enemies, in the days of
Joseph Smith, that if they could kill him, that would be the end of this
fanaticism, as they called it, and of this fanatical race.  But did that
murder in the least shake this great Latter-day Work?  No, brethren and
sisters,--no.  What did it effect?  The Church and kingdom of our God has
risen from an individual family to a great people, and we have been looked
upon as a nation by our neighbours, independent of all other people on the
face of this earth; and in their dealings they have dealt with us as such. 
Not that we desire it, but it is so in the providence of our God.  They
are determined, though they know it not, that they will make the kingdom
of God triumphant on the earth; and all the powers of earth and hell
cannot prevent it.

	If we wish to be blessed, let us live our religion.  If we promote
the kingdom of God, it will bear us off triumphantly.  If we falter in our
feelings, and say that we cannot abide this tirade of persecution, but
must leave this place and people, we shall be left in darkness and sink in
iniquity, and shall be left by the kingdom far behind in our sins.  The
person that forsakes the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ will find himself
ruined for time and eternity.  How are they looked upon who have received
the spirit of the Gospel and forsaken it?  Heaven, with all its shining
hosts, despises and pities them:  they will not have them, and hell is
ready to spew them out.  With a few exceptions, they are despised by the
good and wise among men, by the noble and ignoble:  all despise them, and
they are in a most miserable condition.

	I wish to have the blessed principles of civilization--of this
Christian nineteenth century--spread over Utah.  I desire to see the
effect they will have on this ignorant people in the Territory of Utah. 
The world say, "Poor people, how sorry we are for you!  It is a pity to
have such intelligent men and women go to Utah to join those fanatics. 
Let us send our Christian brethren there to civilize them."  And here,
sure enough, they have their gambling-tables of civilization, and
grog-shops of civilization, and various other helps and aids pertaining
thereto; and they are working hard to spread the principles of modern
civilization.  What would they do with their civilization?  "Oh this
polygamy!--it is a dreadful evil," when, at the same time, they would say
to me, if they dare, "Look here, brother Brigham, can I have the use of
one of your wives to-night? It is not so much polygamy that they are
opposed to, but they hate this people because they strive to be pure, and
will not believe in whoredom and adultery, but declare death to the man
who is found guilty of those crimes.  This is the awful, unchristianlike
conduct of brother Brigham!  It appears, by our late news, that among our
Christian brethren it is death to adulterers; and so say I, and I ask no
odds of such characters.  I am able to take care of myself, with the help
of God and my good brethren.

	Our faith and patience must be tried in everything, and it is not for
us to take judgment into our own hands.  We must be tried, to prove
whether we can endure to be imposed upon and have our religion derided,
and not feel as some do when their names are called in question.  To
illustrate, I Will tell an anecdote concerning Captain James Brown.  When
the emigrants were passing through here and were asked by Captain Brown as
to whither they were going, the answer would be--"To the gold mines, G--d
d--n you;" and with them it was "G--d d--n Joe Smith,"  and "G--d d--n
Brigham Young."  But when it came to "G--d d--n you, James Brown," the
captain was then ready to fight.  I wish to know how much you can bear. 
You can hear the name of Deity, of the Saviour, and the names of all holy
things abused; but when it is "d--n you, Joe, Tom, or Dick," there is a
fight on hand.  You have to learn to suffer abuse, and to be patient under
it as the Saviour was, if they spit in your face or abuse you in any way. 
You have to learn to hear your own names abused as you can bear to hear
the name of the deity abused.  A few years ago a person in our streets was
abusing the name of Deity, and another stepped up and boxed his ears,
saying to him that he should not use that name in such a disrespectful
manner.  But some of these good Elders can hear the name of their Saviour
abused with seeming satisfaction.

	We are here, and we shall live and grow, and no power can hinder it. 
I shall stick to the kingdom, God being my helper, and shall not let go
until this earth is revolutionized and all nations bow to the Saviour, and
I be his priest and servant.

	Cease bringing the names of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ
into disrespect, and learn to reverence those names.

	I have detained you long enough.  May God bless you, brethren and
sisters, that you may have power to guide yourselves, by the aid of the
Spirit, into all righteousness, independent of any power of man on earth. 
I do not want any power over my brethren, only to lead them in the way of
truth, and to run parallel with them in the ways of truth and
righteousness.

	God bless you!  Amen.

          DEPENDENCE ON GOD AS THE FOUNTAIN OF ALL WISDOM, ETC.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
           Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, May 29, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I have been very much interested in the remarks by brother Z. Snow,
and wish to impress upon the minds of all that in our capacity and
organization, without the aid of a superior influence upon the mind, and
that directly from the Fountain of wisdom, mankind are very liable to what
the Apostle calls "vain philosophy."  Depending solely upon human
reasoning leads many into vain and serious errors; and self-imbibed and
self-argued notions are often so tenaciously riveted upon the mind that it
is almost impossible for another to convince his fellow-man of their
erroneousness.  To be correct in our reasonings, in our doctrines, in
faith towards God, and clear in our understandings of his plan of
salvation, nothing short of Divine revelation can convince of and fasten
upon the understanding the truth that God has revealed from heaven for the
salvation of his children.

	I repeat that I have been highly interested with the remarks by Judge
Snow.  We have formerly heard him speak many times in this building, and
those of you who have been acquainted with him can judge of the effect of
his late mission to Australia, to which he referred.  I will judge, for
one, that it has been worth worlds to him; and all present who enjoy the
spirit of revelation can readily discern that the philosophy and doctrine
just advanced by him are excellent.

	When men are in the habit of philosophising upon every point, only
relying upon what we call human reason, they are constantly liable to
error.  But place a man in a situation where he is obliged or compelled,
in order to sustain himself, to have faith in the name of Jesus Christ,
and it brings him to a point where he will know for himself; and happy are
those who pass through trials, if they maintain their integrity and their
faith to their calling.

	As was observed here last Sabbath, all intelligence is the gift of
God, whatever use is made of it.  All valuable inventions and works of
mechanism are produced by a Spirit that flows from the Fountain of
intelligence, and no excellent and magnanimous work can be produced
without that Spirit.

	Men are apt to stray from truth--are apt to imbibe false notions,
principles, and ideas, if they do not cling closely to that Fountain of
intelligence and acknowledge the hand of God in all things.  This
principle every person should watch closely, and be very careful that they
never imbibe any notion, doctrine, or idea that causes selfishness in
their hearts; but let their hearts be open to conviction, to receive light
and intelligence through every manifestation from above, that they may
rightly discern between things that are of God and those that are not of
him.

	Many, in their acts, seem closely to agree with the expression in
holy writ, that "God is not in all their thoughts."  We might readily
conclude that many, though they use the name of the Supreme Being more
frequently than any other name on earth or in heaven, never carefully
reflect upon the character of that Being.  He is the fountain of all
intelligence; and without the power of the Holy Ghost shed forth in the
hearts of the people, they are liable to be led astray.

	As has been told you frequently with regard to the proof of the truth
of a man's religion, it is not his faithfulness to it--it is not his close
observance of it, nor the sacrifices he makes for it, but it is that
intelligence which leads men from earth to heaven, which opens the gates
of heaven and reveals to the children of men heavenly things, to lift
their minds and affections above the things of this earth, and cause them
to view it and its inhabitants in their proper light.

	The children of men are in ignorance and darkness, with their
superstitions, prepossessed notions, feelings, education, and traditions. 
Look at them as they are--placed here for the express purpose of proving
themselves before their God.  Darkness and sin were permitted to come on
this earth.  Man partook of the forbidden fruit in accordance with a plan
devised from eternity, that mankind might be brought in contact with the
principles and powers of darkness, that they might know the bitter and the
sweet, the good and the evil, and be able to discern between light and
darkness, to enable them to receive light continually.  Christ is the
light of the world, and lighteth every man that cometh into it.  No son or
daughter of Adam ever lived on the earth, or ever will, but has had or
will have the light of Christ within them.

	What do many parents virtually say to their children?  That to
believe in revealed religion is nonsense. How frequently we have heard
prayers offered in public that God would make one in their midst--that the
Holy Ghost would rest upon them while they endeavoured to worship the Lord
Almighty; and, as soon as the prayers were over, endeavour to prove that
the Holy Ghost is not given in our days as anciently--that the Spirit of
revelation is not on the earth--is not among the children men!  What
inconsistency!  God is here; his influence fills immensity. He has his
messengers throughout all the works of his hands.  He watches every one of
his creatures:  their acts, their affections, and thoughts are all known
to him; for his intelligence and power fill immensity.  Not that his
person does, but his Spirit does; and he is here teaching, guiding, and
directing the nations of the earth, notwithstanding their darkness,
ignorance, and weakness; and he will make the wrath of man praise him. 
Why, then, should we not acknowledge his hand in all things?  Why not
believe in revelation?  Why not acknowledge that God whom we profess to
serve?  Why not seek unto him for counsel?  It should be in the hearts of
all to seek unto the Lord with all their might and affections, and so live
as to have him guide them, that they may never fall--that they may attain
the goal they are anticipating.

	All people desire to be happy.  You cannot find an individual that
does not wish comfort and ease.  You can obtain happiness in no other way
than by unreservedly submitting yourselves to your God.  Let him lead us
through paths of affliction and cause suffering and trouble to come upon
us, still there is that consolation and comfort within that the world
cannot give nor take away.  That is the only solid comfort there is in
this life.  Men cannot enjoy comfort and satisfaction in the accumulation
of wealth.  Wealth never was the source of happiness to any person.  It
cannot be:  it is not in the nature of things; for contentment exists only
in the mind.  In the mind there is happiness--in the mind there is glory. 
Place a man in extreme poverty, and let him possess the sweet, benign
influences of the Spirit of the Lord, and you will find a happy man and a
cheerful countenance; while the man who does not possess the Spirit of
heaven, though he may possess all this world can afford beside, is almost
constantly in sorrow and trouble.

	Brethren and sisters, it is your privilege to enjoy the spirit of
revelation as much as any person or people that ever lived on the face of
this earth.  As it was observed here last Sabbath, you see men and women
falter and depart from their God and religion:  but does God first forsake
them?  No; they forsake their God:  they take such a course that the
spirit of the Lord cannot dwell with them; consequently they are left in
darkness and uncertainty, and do not know what truth is.  How can you know
what truth is?  You can only know by the spirit of revelation.  This
knowledge is not obtained in any other way.

	How can you know the Latter-day Work to be true?  You can know it
only by the spirit of revelation direct from heaven.  How can people prove
that it is not true in any other way than by the revelations of Jesus? 
Can you hear of any person's railing about its being untrue, and
convincing a congregation that it is untrue by the spirit of revelation? 
No.  All arguments, conversations, sermons, discourses, and lectures
delivered against it are delivered in darkness--are not delivered in the
Spirit of the great God who organized the Latter-day Work.  What proved
this work true to you in England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, France, the
United States, &c.?  Was it not the spirit of revelation that rested upon
you?  Then why should you lose the spirit?  You should add to it day by
day; you should add as the Lord gives--a little here and a little there,
and treasure up truth in your faith and understanding, until you become
perfect before the Lord and are prepared to receive the further things of
the kingdom of God.

	You must have the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to the
knowledge of the truth and teach you things as they are.  Let every man
and woman, without exception, obtain that Spirit through an exemplary
life; and if they do not adhere to the spirit of revelation that is felt
by all who are partakers of this work, they will fear and fall; for the
Prophet has said that the Lord would work a great work and a wonder in the
last days,--that the report thereof would make all nations tremble and
fill them with fear.

	Is it darkness?  No.  Is it ignorance?  No.  Is it weakness?  No. 
What is it?  It is light, intelligence, the power of God that makes the
wicked tremble and wish "Mormonism" out of the way.  If it were a false
doctrine or a false theory, the Devil would not endeavour to disturb it,
wicked men would not fear it, Heaven would not smile upon it, nor give a
revelation to any man or woman to believe it, and we should have poor
success; and Heaven forbid that we should have success or gain influence
upon any other principle than the revelations of Jesus Christ.

	May God open your eyes and the eyes of every honest person, that we
may see things as they are and secure for ourselves that eternal rest we
are looking for.  Amen.

         WANT OF GOVERNING CAPACITIES AMONG MEN--ELEMENTS OF THE
                        SACRAMENT--APOSTACY, ETC.
    A Sermon by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, 
                   Great Salt Lake City, June 5, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Some of the questions propounded by brother Clements, in his remarks,
produced in me rather a humoursome feeling,--especially the inquiry of the
lady as to why she was not a man; and I perceive that it had the same
effect upon the congregation. In the first place, permit me to answer that
inquiry according to the spirit that passed over the congregation.  It
brought to my mind a conversation concerning a certain gentleman who has
been in high office in the United States.  The person I was conversing
with placed much stress upon the circumstance that both those gentlemen
and myself were Yankees.  I thought that I was tolerably well acquainted
with his character.  I deemed him to be a good, kind, affable, and
honourable man.  After much conversation, I told the person that I had but
one fault to find with that gentleman, and that was not really a
fault--only a slight mistake.  He ought to have come into the world a
woman.  And, perhaps, the lady brother Clements has referred to should
have been the officer, and the officer should have been that lady.

	Pardon my humoursome remarks, for I feel a little, perhaps, as I
should not, after hearing so serious and good a discourse as we have this
morning.  At times there is a spirit in me to treat things according to
their nature, and then my style must of necessity be somewhat in
accordance with the subject.  I will treat the question in a more serious
manner.

	Who the lady is I know not, and I have seen a great many like her,
and I think there would be much more sound judgment and true, sound
philosophy exhibited, if persons would inquire why about three-fourths or
seven-eights of the men are not women.  Why so?  Because of the imbecility
in the brains of men.  Look through Utah and over the world, and how many
who have beards are men in their capacities in the common avocations of
life, to say nothing about kings, rulers, statesmen, presidents, and
governors? How many men are there capable of sustaining themselves, a
wife, and two or three children?  Men who from their youth have been
taught the strictest economy are incapable of sustaining themselves and a
small family, aside from ability to govern and control a people, a nation,
or a kingdom.  Hundreds of thousands--yes, millions of men, do not exhibit
the mental ability that one might suppose women should possess and
exhibit.  In our own community there are plenty of ladies who, give them
the entire control of their own domestic affairs, will make a better
living, live in better style, and rear their families better than at
present.

	Search among the various nations, and you can find men of very
respectable talent--men learned upon various subjects, skilled in
mechanism, philosophers of various grades, and historians; but can you
find a man that is capable of rightly dictating a nation?  You may ask the
wisest men in a nation if there are great statesmen now living among them,
and they will tell you that their real statesmen have all gone to the
silent tomb.  Have we any?  Where can you now find statesmen in the United
States possessing the ability that Daniel Webster and many others had--men
who can foresee the results of the acts of individuals, of legislators,
and of Congress fifty years hence?  Where is there a nation that has been
able to preserve its organization from the early ages of the world until
now?  As you have been often told, the providences of God are with them,
though they know it not.  He sets up a kingdom here, and casts down
another there, and overrules the acts of the people to produce the results
he desires.  In regard to ourselves, there is not a man or woman in this
kingdom, if they possessed the true principle  of knowledge and wisdom,
but what would know at once that they are not yet capable of magnifying
any higher station than they now occupy.  There is not a man or woman here
but occupies a position in which they have full liberty, freedom, and
opportunity to dispense their skill and knowlege [sic] to benefit
themselves and the community:  they are not coerced to lose one particle
of time and ability.

	If I find a man, as I do once in a while, who thinks that he ought to
be sustained in a higher position than he occupies, that proves to me that
he does not understand his true position, and is not capable of magnifying
it. Has he not already the privilege of exhibiting all the talents he
has--of doing all the good he is capable of in this kingdom?  Is he
curtailed in the least, in anywise or place, in bringing forth his wisdom
and powers, and exhibiting them before the community, and leading out? No,
not in the least.  Are any of you infringed upon or abridged in the least? 
Is there a sister who has not the privilege of exhibiting all the talent
and power she will, or is capable of, for the benefit of her sisters and
her children?  Are the sisters deprived of any liberty in displaying their
taste and talent to improve the community?

	When I hear persons say that they ought to occupy a station more
exalted than they do, and hide the talents they are in possession of, they
have not the true wisdom they ought to have.  There is a lack in them, or
they would improve upon the talents given.

	I can say to the sisters, if you have superior talents, arise and let
your light shine.  Prove to your neighbours and the community that you are
capable of teaching those sisters whom you deem to be ignorant or
neglectful.  I have placed a low estimate upon the standing and capacity
of men; and now let me take the privilege to say a few words to you--to
the ladies who have reached the age of thirty years.  According to my view
of the subject, there is not one in a hundred that knows how to keep a
house as it should be kept. I should judge, from what I have seen, that
there are many who do not know the swill-pail from the milk-pail.  Others
do not know how to make butter and cheese, nor how to keep their children
clean.  Others, again, do not know how to teach their children as they
should be taught.

	I will not say, as do many, that the more I learn the more I am
satisfied that I know nothing; for the more I learn the more I discern and
eternity of knowledge to improve upon.  There is an eternity of knowledge;
and the little I have gained, through the blessings of the Lord, I wish to
improve upon.  I can teach you how to become wealthy in gold and silver,
in silks and satins, and in all worldly possessions,--also in the riches
of eternal life.  All I ask of you is to believe that I tell you the
truth, and then carry it out.

	Let me throw the lash at the "Mormon" Elders a little.  Many of you
will exchange your last bushel of wheat with the stores for ribbons and
gewgaws when you really need it for bread.  And, with shamefacedness I say
it, some will take the last peck of their grain to the distillery to buy
whisky, and then beg their bread.

	I will now answer another question propounded by brother Clements,
when he said he could not answer all questions, stating that baptism was
instituted, but he could not tell why.  You remember reading, in the last
book of the New Testament, that in the beginning God cursed the earth; but
did he curse all things pertaining to it?  No, he did not curse the water,
but he blessed it.  Pure water is cleansing--it serves to purify; and you
are aware that the ancient Saints were very tenacious with regard to their
purification by water.  From the beginning the Lord instituted water for
that purpose among others. I do not mean from the beginning of this earth
alone; and although we have no immediate concern in inquiring into the
organization of other earths that do not come within reach of our
investigation, yet I will say that water has been the means of
purification in every world that has been organized out of the immensity
of matter.

	The Lord has instituted laws and ordinances, and all have their
peculiar design and meaning.  And though we may not know the origin of the
necessity of being baptized for the remission of sins, it answers that
portion of the law we are now under to teach the people in their ignorance
that water is designed for purification, and to instruct them to be
baptized therein for the remission of their sins.  If the people could
fully understand this matter, they would perceive that it is perfectly
reasonable and has been the law to all worlds.  And this world so
benighted at present, and so lightly esteemed by infidels, as observed by
brother Clements when it becomes celestialized, it will be like the sun,
and be prepared for the habitation of the Saints, and be brought back into
the presence of the Father and the Son.  It will not then be an opaque
body as it now is, but it will be like the stars of the firmament, full of
light and glory:  it will be a body of light.  John compared it, in its
celestialized state, to a sea of glass.

	Brother Clements inquired why we used bread and wine in the ordinance
of the Lord's supper.  I will not teach a doctrine not found in the Old
and New Testaments.  Bread is the staff of life:  it answers to the
nourishment necessary to sustain the body of man and preserve its
organization.  When Jesus took the bread and blessed it, he gave it to his
disciples and said, "This is my body."  You eat the sacramental
bread--what for?  What good does it do?  What is it?  Nothing but bread. 
You bless it and partake of it as the staff of life that Jesus Christ has
given you, and emblematical of his broken body.  He is the organizer of
your bodies; he is the author of this earth--the heir of it from his
Father, and has purchased it with his blood, which the juice of the grape
was instituted by him to represent.  He poured out his blood freely to
redeem a fallen world--the wine answering to the blood which Jesus
spilled, if you partake of it in faith; for it is the faith that brings
the blessing of life to you.  It is through obedience to the ordinance
that God bestows renewed life upon you.  By this means the children of God
have life within them to live and not die.

	The wine answers to the blood of Christ, and the bread to his body. 
His blood was poured out as we pour out wine, and his body was broken as
we break bread, to redeem a fallen world and all things pertaining to it,
so far as the curse had fallen.

	The blood he spilled upon mount Calvary he did not receive again into
his veins.  That was poured out, and when he was resurrected, another
element took the place of the blood.  It will be so with every person who
receives a resurrection:  the blood will not be resurrected with the body,
being designed only to sustain the life of the present organization.  When
this is dissolved, and we again obtain our bodies by the power of the
resurrection, that which we now call the life of the body, and which is
formed from the food we eat and the water we drink, will be supplanted by
another element; for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

	In his remarks, brother Clements reasoned, touching persons forsaking
the faith, and urged the necessity of man studying himself. If we could
comprehend ourselves--could fully comprehend what our organization is, and
understand the power, wisdom, and magnitude of intelligence it is capable
of attaining, we should entertain many ideas very different from what we
now do.  To make a nice distinction, there is but a hair's breadth between
the vulgar and sublime.  There is but a hair's breadth between the depths
of infidelity and the heights of the faith of the Gods.  Man is here like
a feather trembling between the two, liable continually to be operated
upon by the power of the enemy; and it is through that power that the
children of men are made to doubt the evidences of their own senses, when,
at the same time, if they would reflect for a moment and listen to the
intelligence which God has placed within them, they would know, when they
saw what is termed a miracle, the power by which it is wrought:  they
would know when they have seen with their eyes and felt with their hands,
or when they have had a heavenly vision.

	Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates
and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt and to
disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel.  One of the Quorum of
twelve--a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision
of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates
before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel, and conversed
with him as he would with one of his friends; but after all this, he was
left to doubt, and plunged into apostacy, and has continue to contend
against this work.  There are hundreds in a similar condition.

	In comparison, there is but a hair's breadth between the depths of
infidelity and the heights of the faith of the Saints; and the
organization of man is perfectly independent in its sphere.  Life and
death, truth and falsehood, light and darkness, good and evil, the power
of the Devil and the influence of God, the things of God and the things of
the devil, all these inducements and powers are interspersed among the
children of men; and they of necessity must undergo this ordeal to prove
themselves; and in the absence of the Spirit of revelation, let their
sound judgments arise and declare, "Though he slay me, I will not forsake
him."

	Some of the brethren come to me and say, "Brother Brigham, is it my
duty to pray when I have not one particle of the spirit of prayer in me?" 
True, at times men are perplexed and full of care and trouble, their
ploughs and other implements are out of order, their animals have strayed,
and a thousand things perplex them; yet our judgment teaches us that it is
our duty to pray, whether we are particularly in the spirit of praying or
not.  My doctrine is, it is duty to pray; and when the time for prayer
comes, John should say, "This is the place and this is the time to pray: 
knees bend down upon that floor, and do so at once."  But John says, "I do
not want to pray; I do not feel like it."  Knees, get down, I say; and
down bend the knees, and he begins to think and reflect.  Can you say
anything?  Can you not say, God have mercy on me a sinner?  Yes he can do
this, if he can rise up and curse his neighbour for some ill deeds.  Now,
John, open your mouth and say, Lord, have mercy upon me.  "But I do not
feel the spirit of prayer."  That does not excuse you, for you know what
your duty is. You have a passion, a will, a temper to overcome.  You are
subject to temptation as other men; and when you are tempted, let the
judgment which God has placed within you and the intelligence he has given
you by the light of the Spirit be the master in this case.

	If I could not master my mouth, I would my knees, and make them bend
until my mouth would speak.  "But the cattle are in the corn."  Let them
eat; you can attend to them when you have finished praying.  Let the will
of the man be brought into subjection to the law of Christ--to all the
ordinances of the house of God.  What, in his darkness and depression? 
Yes; for that is the time to prove whether one is a friend of God, that
the confidence of the Almighty may increase in his son.  We should so live
that our confidence and faith may increase in Him.  We must even go
further than that.  Let us so live that the faith and confidence of our
heavenly Father may increase towards us, until he shall know that we will
be true to him under any and all circumstances and at all times.  When in
our darkness and temptation we are found faithful to our duty, that
increases the confidence of our God in us.  He sees that we will be his
servants.  To use a comparison, the sandbars are numerous over which the
people of God have to pass, and I have not time now to notice them.  You
have heard an excellent, heavenly discourse:  remember it, brethren and
sisters; treasure it up in your hearts:  treasure up every good and
forsake every evil, and learn to work the works of righteousness
continually, regardless of what wicked men and devils may say.

	But many think and others say that it is very hard to submit to
everything, and retaliation is begotten in every bosom. I often find it so
in my own.  When we are lied about--when every kind of falsehood is
uttered and printed against us that can be invented by the millions of
devils that prompt the children of men to lie, it is sometimes difficult
for me to repress the spirit of retaliation.  But I have experienced that
retaliation is seldom of any benefit.  Then let them lie:  they cannot
escape suffering the consequences.  If they tell nothing but the truth,
all is right, and they will discover the kingdom of God still to
prosper--still to increase and grow, until Jesus, whose right it is to
reign, will rule King of nations, as he now reigns King of Saints.

	How does he rule?  If we believe in the providences of our God--in
the supremacy of his dealings, is he not merciful?  Yes.  Does he cut down
the children of men because they do not look at things and believe as I
do?  No.  Will the Priesthood, when it bears rule upon the earth, ever
interrupt an individual or community for not embracing the religion of
that Priesthood?  Never--no, never.  What is the difficulty at present? 
It is as much as we can do to keep the Christians of the nineteenth
century from cutting our throats because we differ from them in our
religious belief.  That is, in fact, all the difficulty.  Not that the
Latter-day Saints ever endeavoured to interrupt any person in their faith
and worship; and on this point I will call to witness all men who have
been acquainted with us.  True some Elders in this Church have been
foolish; but brother Clements has just told you that he never crammed
"Mormonism" down any man's throat, nor strove to do so, neither has any
Elder while faithful to his calling.  Has your humble servant ever
attempted such a thing?

	Here is truth--here are life and salvation.  Will you have them?  If
you say, "Nay," all right; for you have the privilege of making your own
choice.  It has never altered my feelings towards individuals, as men or
as women, whether they believe as I do or not.  Can you live as neighbours
with me?  I can with you; and it is no particular concern of mine whether
you believe with me or not.  But my Christian brother says, "You must lay
down your religion and embrace mine?  or I will persecute you."  Have I
ever offered to persecute a person, or have this people?  No.  But others
say, "You 'Mormons' must forsake your religion."

	All I ask is for the grace of god to enable us to endure to the end
and be saved, and others are at liberty to make their choice.  No matter
whether a person is killed or not, be faithful to your lives' end, and
obtain a glorious resurrection.  But a few days only will pass before our
mortal career will be ended, whether we are "Mormons" or not.  Those only
have the promise of salvation who endure to the end; and all I ask is that
we may have faith to endure.  Many have lifted the sword to cut down
"Mormonism" in the bud, and for more than thirty years past they have
striven to overthrow it, and have not accomplished their purpose; but it
has grown and increased, and will continue to grow and increase until it
reigns triumphantly on the earth, and it will deal justice to all.  Even
the rights of devils will be respected,--also the rights of all men
occupying every grade and of every capacity.  And those who have striven
during so many years, and so faithfully, to kill this people, they will be
judged according to the deeds done in their bodies.  If they never had the
Holy Ghost, they can never be angels to the devil to suffer the wrath of
God to all eternity.  And those of them who have lived according to the
best light they had, (and this will apply to all sects and parties of
professing Christians and to pagans and barbarians in all kingdoms,
nations, and countries,)  will enjoy a glory hereafter that will be
commensurate to their lives and the way in which they have improved upon
their advantages; and by-and-by they will be freed entirely from the power
of the Devil.  They will be shut out from the presence of the Lord, which
the ancients compared to hell; but no person can enter into the presence
of the Father and of the Son to dwell, unless he be sanctified.

	To enter into the presence of God, we must be qualified.  What
confidence could we have that he is the Father, only through our
qualifications?  As brother Clements has said, were he to appear to an
unqualified person, he would have to appear as a man, and that person
would want the evidence and testimony of a third person to convince him
that he was not labouring under a grand deception; and then he might, with
the same propriety, call for the evidence of a fourth, a fifth, etc., and
never be satisfied.  God is a spiritual being, and no mortal being can
behold him in his glory and live, though his mind may be caught away in
vision, as was Paul's.  But man has a capacity given him to have the
vision of his mind open to discern heavenly things, and to treasure up
wisdom and knowledge by that means, until he is prepared to receive the
kingdom of heaven.  May God bless you!  Amen.

             RESURRECTION OF THE BODY--THE SPIRIT WORLD, ETC.
     An Address by President Brigham Young, delivered at the Funeral
                of his Sister, Fanny Young, June 12, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Were we to conform to the traditions of our fathers, the brothers of
sister Fanny would not be permitted to speak on this occasion.  But is it
wrong for a father to preach the funeral sermon of his child?  or for a
husband to preach the funeral sermon of his wife?  or for a brother to
officiate in like manner for a sister?  If so, wherein is it wrong or
sinful?  Four of sister Fanny's five brothers are here to-day, and I wish
them to do all the preaching to be done on this occasion.

	Our father long since departed to the spirit world:  he is not here
to give counsel to his children.  Brother Phineas resides in this city,
but he is not here; and we, the four brothers who are present, have
designed to say what is to be said, and to perform the funeral ceremonies
of our sister, in this respect.

	It would gratify me to spend an hour or two to express in part the
numerous principles, ideas, inductions, and connections between the spirit
world and our present condition, that frequently fill my mind on such
occasions as this.  Many of you know that I especially delight to dwell
upon such subjects;  but I do not wish to occupy so much time now.  We
will make our exercises short and to the point, while we perform the last
act of kindness that can be bestowed upon mortals.

	It is customary to pay great respect to the dead.  This I do; but how
do I pay it?  It is very fashionable and customary to mourn deeply for the
dead; and it is customary in some countries to hire mourners, and observe
much ceremony upon the death and interment of relatives and friends.  I
wish to pay, in a strictly fitting and decent manner, the respect due to
the remains of my sister Fanny--due in reference to the resurrection of
the very dust that will moulder in the coffin before us.

	If I am faithful to my religion, I shall see the component parts that
organized the body together.  When those parts are gathered together from
the elements, they will appear as sister Fanny, not in mortal flesh, but
in an immortal state.  When I meet her in the morning of the resurrection,
she will hail me as one who has acted the part of a brother, son, and
protector; she will hail me as her benefactor; and I now wish to pay
respect to her departure from this sphere of action.  We have made her as
comfortable as we could through life; we will honour her in death, and
hope to be present when she is resurrected.  Now her body is subject to
decomposition, and will return to its mother earth, to remain until it
shall be called forth again.

	The organization of the human tabernacle is a great mystery;  but it
would not be, if we could see and understand.  Could the vail between us
and the spiritual existence be rent, we should behold a greater mystery in
the organization of the spirit.

	As has been observed here touching the ideas that men have of the
principles of eternal life, mankind have been veiled in utter darkness, in
which the great majority remain at this day.  The wicked world inquire for
the man who can inform them how and by what means the mortal body and the
immortal spirit are so intimately united.  To say nothing of their
organization, the wisest and greatest physiologists have failed to supply
the information so earnestly sought upon this subject.  We see life spring
into existence all around us.  Where is its fountain?  and how is it
originated?  it exists for a day, a night, a year, or an age, and it is
gone; and who can say where?  Who can tell what has become of the life
that dwelt in that tabernacle, causing it to think,--that lit up the eye
with living fire, and caused the mouth to utter forth wisdom?  Can mortal
man tell?  Not unless he is inspired by the Almighty, and understands
eternal things.  The origin of all things is in eternity.  Like a cloud
passing across a clear sky--like a bird that suddenly flits across our
path--like a pure gushing stream from a hidden fountain, that soon sinks
in some mountain chasm,--so, apparently, life flashes into this mortal
existence, and passes away.

	I do not mourn for sister Fanny: I rejoice.  She has lived upwards of
threescore years and ten, and exhibited the retention of sound sense to
her last days with us here.  She said to her sister Nancy, a short time
ago, "If you hear of my being dead before you come to see me again, let
the first thing you say be 'Hallelujah!'"  that remark, to me, evidences
the retention of sound judgment.  I  also appears to me that very many of
the Latter-day Saints are as far from good wholesome ideas and principles,
touching their heavenly privileges, as the east is from the west.  They
covet the riches of this world, craving to serve themselves--to satisfy
the sordid disposition within them.  Had they the sense of an angel, and
were they in possession of mountains of gold, heaped up higher and deeper,
broader and longer, than these mountains on the east and west of us, they
would say, "That vast amount of gold is as nothing when compared with the
privilege of even living in this day and age of the world, when the Gospel
is preached."

	And when the Lord has committed his holy Priesthood to men on earth,
without which no mortal being can be prepared to enter into the celestial
kingdom of God, how do many of the Elders treat it? That question I do not
wish to answer; but I really wish that such persons would learn a little
good sense.  Generations have come and gone without the privilege of
hearing the sound of the Gospel, which has come to you through Joseph
Smith--that was revealed to him from heaven by angels and visions.  We
have the Gospel and the keys of the holy Priesthood.

	Sister Fanny has been faithful:  her spirit is now in the spirit
world.  Where do you suppose that world is?  We used to think and talk a
great deal about this subject, inquiring where heaven is, and where is the
heaven of heavens.  Let me tell you that sister Fanny cannot dwell there
until she obtains her resurrection; neither can any other being.  The
spirit world I now refer to pertains to this earth, so far as spirits who
have tabernacled or may hereafter tabernacle here are concerned.

	Sister Fanny was baptized for the remission of sins, and received the
laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost.  She lived
according to the precepts and ordinances that God has revealed through his
servant the Prophet, by which men can be saved and brought back into his
presence.  But is her spirit in the third heavens?  No.  Will it go there? 
Not until she again possesses her body.  Can she see the Lord?  Yes, if he
unveils himself.  Can she converse with angels?  Yes if they are sent to
converse with her.  Is she in paradise? Yes. Where do the spirits of the
wicked go?  To the same place or kingdom pertaining to this earth.  They
do not go to the depths of hell, neither can they until they become angels
of devils.

	Is a Saint subject to the power of the Devil in the spirit world? 
No, because he has gained the victory through faith, and can command
Satan, and he must obey.  How is it with the wicked?  The Devil has power
over them to distress and afflict them:  they are in hell.  Can the angels
of heaven administer to them?  Yes, if they are sent to do so.  What can
be done for them?  The spirit of sister Fanny and the spirit of every man
and woman who has died in the faith of the Gospel, since it has been
restored, will have the power to teach those wicked spirits and all who
have gone to the spirit world without having heard the Gospel in the
flesh, and say to them, If you will now repent and believe, the Lord will
even now provide the means that you may be officiated for on the earth in
those ordinances that must be attended to here.  Sister Fanny can do good
in her capacity and calling as well as Joseph the Prophet can in his.  He
will hold the keys: he will rule, govern, and control all things in the
spiritual world pertaining to this dispensation, until he has finished his
work.

	I do not wish to occupy much of the time; but when I am led to speak
on these points I am much interested.  How few there are who understand
how hard it is for a man's eyes to be opened!  How few of the Elders of
this church prefer the interests of the kingdom of God to their worldly
interests!  With far too many it is, "My family!--my farm is going to
wreck!--my store is neglected!--my business must be attended to!"  and let
the kingdom of God take care of itself.  Such men will remain in darkness.

	To possess and retain the spirit of the Gospel, gather Israel, redeem
Zion, and save the world must be attended to first and foremost, and
should be the prevailing desire in the hearts of the First Presidency of
the Elders of Israel, and of every officer in the Church and kingdom of
God.

	The Lord commands, controls, and governs.  A little more faith in the
name of Jesus Christ, and I can say to my enemies, Be thou rebuked and
stay thou there. I then can say to the power of the Devil, Be thou
rebuked; and to evil spirits, Come not within these walls, and they could
not enter.  A little more faith, and, by way of comparison, I can say to
my wheat and corn, Grow, and command the heavens to shed forth rain.

	Suppose that the whole people could see things as they are, they
would soon be able to control the elements by the power of their faith. 
This people, since we believe that they are in the kingdom of God, must so
live as to gain power and faith to control all things of a perishable
nature, and thus prepare themselves to endure for ever and ever; while
every other creature will, ere long, return to its native element.

	I am very much obliged to my friends for calling to pay their
respects to the living and the dead.  We did not expect many here, for I
have not a house large enough to hold all the relations of our sister
Fanny.  To convene them in a building, we should have to go to the
Tabernacle.  She has many relatives, and I am increasing the number of
mine every day, through inducing people to increase in faith.  The spirit
of the holy Gospel is going to the east, the west, the north, and the
south, and no power can hinder it; and the feelings of many are taking
hold of the principles of eternal life, and there is no power that can
hinder it.  And all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all
their hearts, and believe that Joseph Smith was sent of God, repent of
their sins, are baptized for the remission of sins, and then live their
religion, the same are "my father, my mother, my sister, my brother."  In
reality I have no other connections on the face of this earth.  If my
blood kin would not believe the Gospel, I should be as much alienated from
them in my feelings as I am from the people of the Chinese nation.  There
are thousands in the Church now, and we are brethren and sisters.

	I say, Bless the people!  God bless my brethren and sisters!  I ask
my Father, in the name of Jesus christ, to bless you every day.  I am
looking for the time when I shall say, Be thou blessed, and we shall be
blessed, and the powers of earth and hell will stand afar off and be
rebuked at the command of the Priesthood.

	How far we are beneath our privileges!  What!  rejoice when a Saint
dies?  Yes.  Mourn when a saint dies?  No.  There is no feeling of
mourning within me, though every living friend, wife, child, brother,
sister, cousin, aunt, and uncle of mine were lying before us, as sister
Fanny does now.  I would shout, Hallelujah!  "Would you not mourn?"  No. 
The world is before me, and I can gather all the fathers and mothers,
brothers and sisters, wives, children, and friends that I wish around me. 
That is the way I feel. Glory!  Hallelujah!

	Sister Vilate Kimball knows that I felt so when I buried Miriam, my
first wife.  Heber C. and Vilate Kimball were as kind to me at that time,
when I was a stranger and penniless, as I have been to sister Fanny.  My
heart said, "Hallelujah!"  because the Priesthood is here, and the way
opened up from earth to heaven; and my wife was going there.

	God bless you!  When I have the power, I will bless you so
effectually that you will not be afflicted by the Devil as you now are. 
Amen.

         LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT--MORALITY--INDEPENDENCE OF THE HUMAN
                  WILL--INCARNATION OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, 
                   Great Salt Lake City, June 19, 1859.
                          Reported by G. D. Watt

	It is recorded in the New Testament, and said to be the words of the
Saviour while speaking of his doctrine and the things he taught, "He that
heareth and doeth my sayings shall know of my doctrine whether it is of
God or men."  "Whosoever keepeth my sayings shall know of my doctrine."  I
labour faithfully to instruct the people in the way of life; and the most
important point of all my preaching and sayings is that they rest upon the
words of the Saviour.  Whosoever readeth the doctrine of the Son of God
and obeys it does know whether it is true or false.

	Christ is the light of the world, and lighteth every man that cometh
into it.  No human being has ever been born upon this earth without more
or less enlightenment by that Spirit and influence that flows from the
fountain of intelligence.  All people have been more or less taught by the
Spirit of revelation; and let me say further, there never was a child born
upon this earth that was not naturally endowed with that Spirit; and when
we try to make ourselves believe differently, we are mistaken.

	It is extensively taught that nature must be subdued, and grace made
to take its place. I wish to inform you that it is nature for the child to
be influenced by the Spirit of God:  it is nature for all people to be
influenced by a good spirit; and the evil that is spoken of is the power
the Devil has gained upon this earth through the fall.  He gained power to
tempt the children of men, and wickedness is produced through their
yielding to his temptations; but it is not nature in them.  They are not
"conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity" pertaining to their
spirits:  it is the flesh that is alluded in that passage.  Then why not
follow the dictates of the Good Spirit?  We talk about it, read of it,
believe in it--that Spirit which gives joy and peace to the children of
men, and wishes and does no evil to any person; and that is the Spirit of
the Gospel. 

	If people would listen to the whisperings of that Spirit, they would
be led into the paths of truth and righteousness.  If they would overcome
temptations to evil--cause their spirits to overcome the flesh, they would
bring themselves into subjection to the law of Christ, and become Saints
of God.

	You discern evils in your neighbourhoods, in your families, and in
yourselves.  The disposition to produce evil, to annoy, to disturb the
peace of families, neighbours, and society, is produced by the power of
the enemy over the flesh, through the fall.  Every person who will examine
his own experience--who will watch closely the leading of his own desires,
will learn that the very great majority prefer to do good rather than to
do evil, and would pursue a correct course, were it not for the evil power
that subjects them to its sway. In wrong-doing their own consciences
condemn them.  They are taught what is right, they read what is right, and
at times the Spirit of the Lord is upon them teaching them what is right,
and would be upon them from their youth, were it not that they give way to
temptation and let the flesh overcome the spirits that God has placed
within us.  I feel to continually urge upon those who profess to be Saints
never to grieve that Spirit that enlightens their minds, teaches them
righteousness, to love God and their fellow-creatures, and to do good to
themselves and to all around them, to promote righteousness upon the
earth, and overcome iniquity in themselves and those around them as fast
as possible.

	Some may imagine and really believe that I am opposed to the great
majority of the inhabitants of the earth--to the religious and political
parties of the day; but it is not so.  To individuals, as such, I am not
opposed.  The doctrine I preach is not opposed to an individual upon the
earth.  If I am opposed to anything, it is to sin--to that which produces
evil in the world.  I believe that I may say with perfect safety that I am
as clear as the stars that shine in the heavens with regard to opposing
any mortal being on the earth, though many construe the opposing of their
sins into an opposition to themselves.  I do not feel opposed to an
individual on the earth.  I have not any enmity in my heart, or at least I
should not have. If I have, I am thus far wrong.  If we harbour
vindictiveness, hatred, malice, and a spirit that produces evil within us,
we are so far given up to the power of evil.  But when I say that I am
opposed to evil principles and their consequent practices, I use an
expression that I think you can understand.

	I am much opposed to men and women who say that they believe in God
the Father and in Jesus Christ his Son, and treat their names with
lightness.  I am very much opposed to a dishonest spirit, and that, too,
in this community as well as in the world.  I am very much opposed to
deception.  I am very much opposed to evil speaking.  Now, understand me
precisely as I mean.  If I should hear a man advocate the erroneous
principles he had imbibed through education, and oppose those principles,
some might imagine that I was opposed to that man, when in fact I am only
opposed to every evil and erroneous principle he advances.  His morality,
so far as it goes, is good.

	In the Christian world, thousands and millions of them are as close
to the truth as any man that ever lived upon the face of the earth, so far
as moral, Christian deportment is concerned.  I can find a great many of
this community who live as moral lives as men and women can.  Is here
anything else necessary and important?  Yes--to so live as to have the
light of the Spirit of truth abiding within you day by day, that when you
hear the truth you know it as well as you do the faces of your father's
family, and also understand every manifestation produced by erroneous
principles.

	I plead with the Elders of Israel day by day, when I have an
opportunity, to live their religion--to so live that the Holy Ghost will
be their constant companion; and then they will be qualified to be judges
in Israel--to preside as Bishops, presiding Elders, and High Counsellors,
and as men of God to take their families and friends by the hand and lead
them in the path of truth and virtue, and eventually into the kingdom of
God.  Let me now tell you, Latter-day Saints, that you do not live to your
privileges--you do not enjoy that which it is your privilege to enjoy; and
when I see and hear of contentions, broils, misrule, bad feelings, ill
conduct, wrong in my neighbour or myself, I know that we do not live
according to our profession.  Why not live above all suspicion and above
the power of Satan?  This is our privilege.

	So far as morality is concerned, millions of the inhabitants of the
earth live according to the best light they have--according to the best
knowledge they possess.  I have told you frequently that they will receive
according to their works; and all who live according to the best
principles in their possession, or that they can understand, will reactive
peace, glory, comfort, joy, and a crown that will be far beyond what they
are anticipating.  They will not be lost.

	I was highly gratified by a remark made by the Reverend Mr. Vaux, the
gentleman who has just addressed you, that the terror of the Lord never
can, neither should, in the nature of things, bring men to repentance. 
Those of you who are acquainted with the history of the world reflect upon
the conduct of the inhabitants of the earth, and when did tyranny ever
cause repentance of evil?  Never.  It produces crime.  When men are
infringed upon in their rights and tyrannized over, they are prone to rise
in their might and declare, "We will do as we please, and will let you
know that we will have the ruling of our own rights and dispositions. 
Tyrannical power may possess the ability to behead them, hang them, or
sentence them to prison; but resolute men will have their will.

	Unless a ruler has the power of the Priesthood, he cannot rule the
minds of the people and win their unbounded confidence and love.  To
illustrate my idea, I will relate an anecdote.  A young man entered the
ministry, but soon learned that he could not rule the minds of the people. 
He then turned his attention to the study and practice of medicine, and
directly discovered that the power of evil had induced the people to care
more for their bodies than for their souls.  But that profession did not
give him the influence he desired, for he found the will of the people
first and foremost with them.  He then studied law, and could command all
the influence he desired; for their wills they would gratify in preference
to either soul or body.  You cannot break down the indomitable will of the
human family.  I have known children to be so abused and whipped as to
render them almost or entirely worthless, and still the indomitable will
remained.  How came it there?  God organized us to become absolutely
independent; and the will I am speaking about is implanted within us by
him; and the spirit of every intelligent being is organized to become
independent according to its capacity.

 	You cannot break nor destroy the will.  It is influenced and
controlled more or less by the evil that is sown in the flesh, but not in
the spirit, until the body has grown to years of accountability.  Then
evil, when listened to, begins to rule and overrule the spirit God has
placed within man.

	The Apostles and Prophets, when speaking of our relationship to God,
say that we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone.  God is our
Father, and Jesus Christ is our elder brother, and both are our
everlasting friends.  This is Bible doctrine.  Do you know the
relationship you sustain to them?  Christ has overcome, and now it is for
us to overcome, that we may be crowned with him heirs of God--joint heirs
with Christ.

	I feel to urge upon the people continually to depart from every evil. 
We wish to see the kingdom of God in all its fulness on the earth; and
whoso beholds it will see a kingdom of purity, a kingdom of holiness, a
people filled with the power of the upper world--with the power of God;
and sin will be overcome, and this independent organization will be
brought into subjection to that law.  We call it the law of Christ:  it is
the law of eternal life.  When we speak of the law of Christ, we speak of
it as the power to keep matter in its organization.

	You read of the first and second death.  We witness, day by day, the
dissolution of the body, and there is also a second death.  Let a person
observe the law of Christ as set forth in the Bible, the Book of Mormon,
and in all revelations God has given from the days of Adam until now, and
his conduct tends to eternal life.  It will not save their bodies from
death, for it is the decree of the Almighty that the flesh shall die. 
They will be made pure and holy, and be brought into a celestial kingdom
through the body's being made pure by falling back into the dust.  Sin has
entered into the world, and death by sin; so death has passed upon all
mankind, and there is no excuse:  they must meet this change.

	It may be said that Enoch and his holy city went to heaven, that
Elijah was caught up, and that it is generally believed that Moses did not
die; still the sentence that is passed upon all mankind will come upon
them at some time or other.  They must meet this change, to be prepared to
enter into the celestial kingdom of our Father and God.

	It has also been decreed by the Almighty that spirits, upon taking
bodies, shall forget all they had known previously, or they could not have
a day of trial--could not have an opportunity for proving themselves in
darkness and temptation, in unbelief and wickedness, to prove themselves
worthy of eternal existence.  The greatest gift that God can bestow upon
the children of men is the gift of eternal life--that is, to give mankind
power to preserve their identity--to preserve themselves before the Lord.

	The disposition, the will, the spirit, when it comes from heaven and
enters the tabernacle, is as pure as an angel.

	The spirit from the eternal worlds enters the tabernacle at the time
of what is termed quickening, and forgets all it formerly knew.  It
descends below all things, as Jesus did.  All beings, to be crowned with
crowns of glory and eternal lives, must in their infantile weakness begin,
with regard to their trials, the day of their probation.  They must
descend below all things, in order to ascend above all things.  There
could not be a more helpless child born of a woman than was Jesus Christ;
yet he so grew and increased in wisdom and might, that in childhood he
could confound the doctors and lawyers in his questions and answers.  He
increased rapidly in his mental capacity, for he was the Son of the Father
who dwells in eternity, and was capacitated to receive the wisdom of
eternity faster than we can.  But we are capacitated to shun every evil,
if we listen to the still small voice and to those holy principles that
flow from the fountain of all intelligence.

	Cleave to light and intelligence with all your hearts, my brethren,
that you may be prepared to preserve your identity, which is the greatest
gift of God.  God bless you!  Amen.



               LIGHT AND INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT--POWER OF
                    EVIL--CHARACTER OF THE WILL, ETC.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, June 19, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	It is recorded in the New Testament and said to be the words of the
Saviour, while speaking of his doctrine and the things he taught, "He that
heareth and doeth my sayings shall know of my doctrine whether it is of
God or men."  "Whosoever keepeth my sayings shall know of my doctrine."  I
labour faithfully to instruct the people in the way of life; and the most
important point of all my preaching and sayings is that they rest upon the
words of the Saviour.  Whosoever readeth the doctrine of the Son of God,
and obeys it, does know whether it is true or false.

	Christ is the light of the world and lighteth every man that cometh
into it.  No human being has ever been born upon this earth without more
or less enlightenment by that Spirit and influence that flows from the
Fountain of intelligence.  All people have been more or less taught by the
Spirit of revelation; and let me say further, there never was a child born
upon this earth that was not naturally endowed with that Spirit; and when
we try to make ourselves believe differently, we are mistaken.

	It is extensively taught that nature must be subdued, and grace made
to take its place.  I wish to inform you that it is nature for the child
to be influenced by the Spirit of God.  It is nature for all people to be
influenced by a good spirit:  and the evil that is spoken of is the power
the Devil has gained upon this hearth through the fall.  He gained power
to tempt the children of men, and wickedness is produced through their
yielding to his temptations; but it is not nature in them.  They are not
"conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity," pertaining to their
spirits.  It is the flesh that is alluded to in that passage.  Then why
not follow the dictates of the good Spirit?  We talk about it, read of it,
believe in it--that Spirit which gives joy and peace to the children of
men, and wishes and does no evil to any person; and that is the Spirit of
the Gospel.

	If people would listen to the whisperings of that Spirit, they would
be led into the paths of truth and righteousness.  If they would overcome
temptations to evil--cause their spirits to overcome the flesh, they would
bring themselves into subjection to the law of Christ and become Saints of
God.

	You design evils in your neighbourhoods, in your families, and in
yourselves,  The disposition to produce evil, to annoy, to disturb the
peace of families, neighbours, and society, is produced by the power of
the enemy over the flesh, through the fall.  Every person who will examine
his own experience--who will watch closely the leading of his own
desires,--will learn that the very great majority prefer to do good rather
than to do evil, and would pursue a correct course, were it not for the
evil power that subjects them to its sway.  In wrong doing, their own
consciences condemn them.  They are taught what is right, they read what
is right, and at times the Spirit of the Lord is upon them, teaching them
what is right, and would be upon them from their youth, were it not that
they give way to temptation and let the flesh overcome the spirits that
God has placed within us.  I feel to continually urge upon those who
profess to be Saints never to grieve that Spirit that enlightens their
minds, teaches them righteousness, to love God and their fellow-creatures,
and to do good to themselves and to all around them, to promote
righteousness upon the earth, and overcome iniquity in themselves and
those around them as fast as possible.

	Some may imagine and really believe that I am opposed to the great
majority of the inhabitants of the earth--to the religious and political
parties of the day; but it is not so.  To individuals, as such, I am not
opposed.  The doctrine I preach is not opposed to an individual upon the
earth.  If I am opposed to anything, it is sin--to that which produces
evil in the world.  I believe that I may say with perfect safety that I am
as clear as the stars that shine in the heavens with regard to opposing
any mortal being on the earth, though many construe the opposing of their
sins into an opposition to themselves.  I do not feel opposed to an
individual on the earth.  I have not any enmity in my heart, or at least I
should not have.  If I have, I am thus far wrong.  If we harbour
vindictiveness, hatred, malice, and a spirit that produces evil within us,
we are so far giving up to the power of evil.  But when I say that I am
opposed to evil principles and their consequent practices, I use an
expression that I think you can understand.

	I am much opposed to men and women who say that they believe in God
the Father and in Jesus Christ his Son, and treat their names with
lightness.  I am very much opposed to a dishonest spirit, and that too in
this community as well as in the world.  I am very much opposed to
deception.  I am very much opposed to evil speaking.  Now understand me
completely as I mean.  If I should hear a man advocate the erroneous
principles he had imbibed through education, and oppose those principles,
some might imagine that I was opposed to that man, when, in fact, I am
only opposed to every evil and erroneous principle he advances.  His
morality, so far as it goes, is good.

	In the Christian world, thousands and millions of them are as close
to the truth as any man that ever lived upon the face of the earth, so far
as moral, Christian deportment is concerned.  I can find a great many of
this community who live as moral lives as men and women can.  Is there
anything else necessary and important?  Yes--to so live as to have the
light of the Spirit of truth abiding within you day by day, that when you
hear the truth, you know it as well as you know the faces of your father's
family, and also understand every manifestation produced by erroneous
principles.

	I plead with the Elders of Israel day by day, when I have an
opportunity, to live their religion--to so live that the Holy Ghost will
be their constant companion; and then they will be qualified to be judges
in Israel, to preside as Bishops, presiding Elders, and High Counsellors,
and as men of God, to take their families and friends by the hand and lead
them in the path of truth and virtue, and eventually into the kingdom of
God.  Let me now tell you, Latter-day Saints, that you do not live to your
privilege; you do not enjoy that which is your privilege to enjoy; and
when I see and hear of contentions, broils, misrule, bad feelings, ill
conduct, wrong in my neighbour or myself, I know that we do not live
according to our profession.  Why not live above all suspicion and above
the power of Satan?  This is our privilege.

	So far as morality is concerned, millions of the inhabitants of the
earth live according to the best light they have--according to the best
knowledge they possess.  I have told you frequently that they will receive
according to their works; and all who live according to the best
principles in their possession, or that they can understand, will receive
peace, glory, comfort, joy, and a crown that will be far beyond what they
are anticipating.  They will not be lost.

	I was highly gratified by a remark made by the Reverend Mr. Vaux, the
gentleman who has just addressed you, that the terror of the Lord never
can, neither should, in the nature of things, bring men to repentance. 
Those of you who are acquainted with the history of the world reflect upon
the conduct of the inhabitants of the earth; and when did tyranny ever
cause repentance of evil?  Never.  It produces crime.  When men are
infringed upon in their rights and tyrannized over, they are prone to rise
in their might an declare, "We will do as we please, and will let you know
that we will have the ruling of our own rights and dispositions." 
Tyrannical power may possess the ability to behead them, hang them, or
sentence them to prison; but resolute men will have their will.

	Unless a ruler has the power of the Priesthood, he cannot rule the
minds of the people and win their unbounded confidence and love.  To
illustrate my idea, I will relate an anecdote.  A young man entered the
ministry, but soon learned that he could not rule the minds of the peeple
[sic].  He then turned his attention to the study and practice of
medicine, and directly discovered that the power of evil had induced the
people to care more for their bodies than for their souls; but that
profession did not give him the influence he desired, for he found the
will of the people first and foremost with them.  He then studied law, and
could command all the influence he desired, and for their wills they would
gratify in preference to either soul or body.  You cannot break down the
indomitable will of the human family.  I have known children to be so
abused and whipped as to render the almost or entirely worthless, and
still the indomitable will remained.  How came it there?  God organized us
to become absolutely independent, and the will I am speaking about is
implanted in us by him; and the spirit of every intelligent being is
organized to become independent according to its capacity.

	You cannot break nor destroy the will.  It is influenced and
controlled, more or less, by the evil that is sown in the flesh, but not
in the spirit, until the body has grown to years of accountability; then
evil, when listened to, begins to rule and overrule the spirit God has
placed within man.

	The Apostles and Prophets, when speaking of our relationship to God,
say that we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone.  God is our
Father, and Jesus Christ is our Elder Brother, and both are our
everlasting friends.  This is Bible doctrine.  Do you know the
relationship you sustain to them?  Christ has overcome; and now it is for
us to overcome, that we may be crowned with him heirs of God--joint heirs
with Christ.

	I feel to urge upon the people continually to depart from every evil. 
We wish to see the kingdom of God in all its fulness on the earth; and
whoso beholds it will see a kingdom of purity, a kingdom of holiness, a
people filled with the power of the upper world--with the power of God;
and sin will be overcome, and this independent organization will be
brought into subjection to that law.  We call it the law of Christ:  it is
the law of eternal life.  When we speak of the law of Christ, we speak of
it as the power to keep matter in its organization.

	You read of the first and second death.  We witness, day by day, the
dissolution of the body; and there is also a second death.  Let a person
observe the law of Christ as set forth in the Bible, and Book of Mormon,
and in all revelations God has given from the days of Adam until now, and
his conduct tends to eternal life.  It will not save their bodies from
death, for it is the decree of the Almighty that the flesh shall die. 
They will be made pure and holy and be brought into the celestial kingdom,
through the body's being made pure by falling back into the dust.  Sin has
entered into the world, and death by sin; so death has passed upon all
mankind, and there is no excuse:  they must meet this change.

	It may be said that Enoch and his holy city went to heaven, that
Elijah was caught up, and that it is generally believed that Moses did not
die; still the sentence that is passed upon all mankind will come upon
them at some time or other.  They must meet this change, to be prepared to
enter into the celestial kingdom of our Father and God.

	It has also been decreed by the Almighty that spirits, upon taking
bodies, shall forget all they had known previously, or they could not have
a day of trial--could not have an opportunity for proving themselves in
darkness and temptation, in unbelief and wickedness, to prove themselves
worthy of eternal existence.  The greatest gift that God can bestow upon
the children of men is the gift of eternal life; that is, to give mankind
power to preserve their identity--to preserve themselves before the Lord.

	The disposition, the will, the spirit, when it comes form heaven and
enters the tabernacle, is as pure as an angel.  The spirit from the
eternal worlds enters the tabernacle at the time of what is termed
quickening, and forgets all it formerly knew.  It descends below all
things, as Jesus did.  All beings, to be crowned with crowns of glory and
eternal lives, must in their infantile weakness begin, with regard to
their trials, the day of the probation:  they must descend below all
things, in order to ascend above all things.  There could not be more
helpless child born of a woman than was Jesus Christ; yet he so grew and
increased in wisdom and might, that in childhood he could confound the
doctors and lawyers in his questions and answers.  He increased rapidly in
his mental capacity, for he was the son of the father who dwells in
eternity, and was capacitated to receive the wisdom of eternity faster
than we can.  But we are capacitated to shun every evil, if we listen to
the still small voice and to those holy principles that flow from the
Fountains of all intelligence.

	Cleave to light and intelligence with all your hearts, my brethren,
that you may be prepared to preserve your identity, which is the greatest
gift of God.  God bless you!  Amen.

  NATURE OF MAN--HAPPINESS--INFLUENCE OF GOD'S SPIRIT UPON MANKIND, ETC.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, July 3, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	It is good for those who profess to be believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and to practise his doctrines, to keep his principles before them. 
It is good to speak often one to another concerning the things of the
kingdom of God.

	Man is a mystery to himself, and but few of the inhabitants of the
earth inquire into their own organization--their being, their capacity, or
even into principle.  The nations of the earth come and go, and every
person of reflection discerns a deep mystery in man.  There is a spirit in
man, and that spirit is more or less enlightened and instructed by a
superior spirit; yet the hearts of men are absorbed in the things of time,
and they wear out their lives in their efforts to preserve them.  This is
the reason why so many pass like a cloud.  They are here; they take no
thought only to subsist as long as they can, and they are gone for ever.

	Of those who have leisure and means to improve their minds and make
themselves very useful, there are but few who do not squander their time
and means.  They do not improve upon their talents; or, as brother Heywood
observed, they do not improve upon the capital they possess.  There is a
great amount of ignorance in the world; and most people are lacking in
researches concerning their own origin.  Some have not the opportunity,
others have not the time, and with the majority their education is such
that they have not the disposition for those researches.  But above all,
they waste the knowledge that is naturally within them--their natural
endowments.  All men should study to learn the nature of mankind, and to
discern that divinity inherent in them.  A spirit and power of research is
planted within, yet they remain undeveloped.

	There is one very predominant trait in the human family--the seeking
for power.  The great majority constantly study to gain influence--they
traverse the world over to attain it.  This trait is, in a great measure,
derived from their traditions.  As the master acts, does, says, and
believes, so does the servant.  As the parent marks his steps through
life, so the steps of the children are measured, and the millions of
consequent peculiarities have to be taken into account in dealing with the
human family.  Tradition seizes upon the scholar when he first commences
his education, and, more or less, clings to the human family through life;
and we have to deal with people according to their understanding.  They
are only capable of receiving a certain portion at a time.

	What will satisfy the mind?  Will gold?  Will silver?  Will houses,
lands, and possessions?  Search the world over, and you will at once
discover that they will not.  Will power and influence over their
fellow-beings satisfy?  They will not.  They may give a momentary
satisfaction; but it soon passes away like a morning cloud, and the
possessors are still labouring and striving to attain more.  This was
exhibited in the career of Alexander the Great, who conquered almost the
whole of the then known world, and was still so dissatisfied with himself
and with his life--with his power and possessions--that he died in
debauchery at an early age.  He obtained power, wealth, fame, and renown,
and was still so dissatisfied that he mourned, and wept, and threw away
his life ere arriving at middle age.

	What would satisfy the children of men, if they had it in their
possession?  Only truth and the true principles and conduct flowing from
its observance.  True, certain classes of the inhabitants of the earth are
pretty well satisfied with themselves, through their researches in the
philosophies of the day, and especially in the science of astronomy, which
gives the greatest scope to the mind; and yet they are not fully
satisfied.  What will satisfy us?  If we understood all principles and
powers that are, that have been, and that are to come, and had wisdom
sufficient to control powers and elements with which we are associated,
perhaps we would then be satisfied.  If this will not satisfy the human
mind, there is nothing that will.

	Is there any such thing as happiness upon the earth?  There is; and
could people understand its beginning--its germ, they would strive to
obtain truth and to increase in true knowledge: then the person calculated
to receive much would have enjoyment in proportion, and one capacitated to
receive but little would be satisfied therewith.  Is there such knowledge
upon the earth?  There is.  Are there true principles?  There are, and we
heard a portion of them this morning in the doctrine of salvation.

	If people understood true philosophy--eternal philosophy, they would
understand that there is an eternity of matter.  Astronomers estimate that
there is between us and the nearest fixed star matter enough from which to
organize millions of earths like this.  There is an eternity of matter,
and it is all acted upon and filled with a portion of divinity.  Matter is
to exist; it cannot be annihilated.  Eternity is without bounds, and is
filled with matter; and there is no such place as empty space.  And matter
is capacitated to receive intelligence.

	If we could so understand true philosophy as to understand our own
creation, and what it is for--what design and intent the Supreme Ruler had
in organizing matter and bringing it forth in the capacity that I behold
you here to-day, we could comprehend that matter cannot be destroyed--that
it is subject to organization and disorganization; and could understand
that matter can be organized and brought forth into intelligence, and to
possess more intelligence, and to continue to increase in that
intelligence; and could learn those principles that organized matter into
animals, vegetables, and into intelligent beings; and could discern the
Divinity acting, operating, and diffusing principles into matter to
produce intelligent beings, and to exalt them--to what?  Happiness.  Will
nothing short of that fully satisfy the spirits implanted within us?  No.

	You can daily observe the operations of the spirits of men in the
streets of this city.  There you can now see the world exhibited as it is. 
You can see people hurrying from the east to the west, from the west to
the east, from the north to the south, and from the south to the north. 
Have they an object in view?  Ask the traveller whether he has; ask the
bystander whether there is an object in his mind.  Whether I stand or
walk, whether I labour or rest, lie down or rise up, in all my acts in
life there is an object.  I have something in view, you have something in
view, and so has the whole human family, as also all intelligence of every
grade.

	What principal object have human beings in view?  Happiness. Give me
glory, give me power, give me wealth, give me a good name, give me
influence with my fellow-men, give me all these, and it does not follow
that I am thereby made happy; that depends altogether upon what principle
those acquisitions were gained.  Absolute tyranny never can produce
happiness, neither can an influence unjustly gained and used; but give me
influence with the children of men, and can that alone produce happiness? 
It cannot.  What will give a man joy?  That which will give him peace. 
What will produce joy and peace?  If a man gains influence from the
confidence he enjoys through his integrity, his honesty, goodness,
uprightness, virtue, and truth, that influence will satisfy his mind; and
influence gained in other courses cannot.

	Many have been hated, despised, and hunted, on account of their
influence with their fellow-beings. Has any one in our generation?  Yes. 
Are there not scores of men and women here who are familiar with the death
of our Prophet?  Why did people hate him?  Because of his influence.  Did
he gain or exercise an unrighteous influence?  By no means.  He possessed
a righteous influence over the spirits, feelings, passions, and
dispositions of all who delighted in truth and goodness, so far as he
associated, and could guide them at his pleasure.

	Am I hated for the same cause?  I am.  I am hated for teaching people
the way of life and salvation--for teaching them principles that pertain
to eternity, by which the Gods were and are,  and by which they gain
influence and power.  Obtain that influence, and you will be hated,
despised, and hunted like the roe upon the mountains.  The way to obtain
that influence is pointed out--by whom?  By him through whom the worlds
were created, and who has redeemed this earth and all things upon it.

	He gave his life a ransom to atone for the sins of the world, and he
has pointed out the way.  His law is sacred, omnipotent, eternal; and that
is the law to obey.  Let the Lord speak, and let the people obey.  That is
the way to gain that happiness which all mankind are seeking, and no other
course can satisfy the noble, Godlike spirit placed in man, who is formed
for the express purpose of preserving his identity to all eternity. 
Without strict observance to the laws by which worlds were and are
created-- to the words of the Eternal, no being can inherit eternal lives.

	These are the principles that this people, who are by many deemed to
be the most ignorant, outlandish, corrupt, base, vile, and wicked people
on the globe, have imbibed, and are striving to practise, and through so
doing are hated all the day long.  Ignorant?  Yes, we are ignorant; but we
are on the high road to that eternal knowledge that fills the bosoms of
the Gods in eternity.  If we are faithful to the end, we have the promise
that we shall obtain that crown of glory and eternal life that will give
us the satisfaction we are seeking.  These principles are true; and let me
observe to all, Saints and sinners, young and old, wise and ignorant, Do
not mistake any points of doctrine you hear preached.  The spirit in man
is always enlightened, more or less, by the Spirit of the Holy One of
Israel--that Being who gave the law.

	When he pleases to bless the children of men, he is able to
accomplish his purpose.  If he is disposed to permit a Nebuchadnezzar to
see a finger writing on a wall, it is his privilege to do so.  If he is
disposed to talk with an Enoch, or to show himself to the brother of
Jared, it is his privilege.  And if he is disposed to pour out the Holy
Ghost upon the house of Cornelius before he embraced the Gospel in the
usual way by baptism for the remission of sins, it is his privilege.  The
principle is, God must be obeyed.  And even after Cornelius and his house
had received the Holy Ghost, they did not, like some in our day, rise up
and say, "We have no need to be baptized."  Why did not Cornelius tell
Peter that he had received the Holy Ghost, and was as good a Christian as
he?  But, no; he must send to Joppa for one Simon Peter,  who would tell
him words whereby he and his household could be saved.  What words?  To be
baptized in water.  Peter did not tell them to receive the Holy Ghost, for
they had received it.

	They had already been endowed with the Holy Ghost, and it was the
right and privilege of him who laid down his life to redeem the children
of men to bestow that Holy Ghost where and when he pleased.  If Cornelius
had refused to have been baptized, he never would have received the
influence of the Holy Ghost afterwards.  He must obey the outward
ordinances to secure to himself eternal lives--to attain the blessings
consequent upon obedience.

	Jesus of Nazareth, who appeared to Saul of Tarsus in the way, opened
the vision of his mind, and conversed with him, and told him what to do. 
Did he tell him that he was a Christian, that his sins were forgiven, and
that there was nothing more to be done?  He did not.  Did he intimate to
him, in the least, that he was prepared to go and preach the Gospel?  Not
in the least.  It could be said to him, "I am Jesus, whom thou
persecutest;" and Paul could cry out, "Lord, what shall I do?"  Go to
Damascus, and you will there find a man, named Ananias, who will tell you
what to do.  Paul was led into the city, and immediately sent for Ananias. 
After the Lord told Ananias to go, he refused, for he had heard of the
persecutions by Saul--of his dragging men and women to prison; but the
Lord informed him that he had appeared to Saul on the way; and told him to
go and converse with him, and fear not.  What did Ananias tell Saul to do? 
To go and be baptized; for the same Jesus who appeared to you on the way
told me to come and tell you what to do.

	It is the Lord's privilege to give the Holy Ghost to whom he will,
and it is not for us to question him in his right, power, and
privilege--in the extent of his doings.  He blesses the human family; he
raises up nations, kingdoms, and governments, and controls in the armies
of the world.  He rules in the heavens, and makes the wrath of man praise
him, and gives his Spirit when and to whom he pleases.  Shall I say that
he has given it to his Saints all the day long?  Yes; for I know that he
has.  Have they enjoyed the light of the Spirit of revelation?  Yes; and
so, more or less, has every being that has been born upon this earth.  I
never passed John Wesley's church in London without stopping to look at
it.  Was he a good man?  Yes; I suppose him to have been, by all accounts,
as good as ever walked on this earth, according to his knowledge.  Has he
obtained a rest?  Yes, and greater than ever entered his mind to expect;
and so have thousands of others of the various religious denominations. 
Why could he not build up the kingdom of God on the earth:  He had not the
Priesthood; that was all the difficulty he laboured under.  Had the
Priesthood been conferred upon him, he would have built up the kingdom of
God in his day as it is now being built up.  He would have introduced the
ordinances, powers, grades, and quorums of the Priesthood; but, not
holding the Priesthood, he could not do it.  Did the Spirit of God rest
upon him?  Yes, and does, more or less, at times, upon all people.

	Christ is the light of the world, and lighteth every man that cometh
into it.  Were it not for the light that is in the people, they would not
hate us; they would not exclaim as they do--"We came here to cut your
throats, but we cannot quite accomplish our purpose."  That is what they
came for: they had no other intent, except, in addition, to plunder and
destroy our property, and pollute our wives and daughters.  What causes
them to hate us?  The light that is in them--the Spirit of the Almighty
that rests on the nations; which proves the old Scriptures to be true,
where they state that the report of the work that the Lord would bring
forth in the last days should make the people tremble and quake.  The
light that is in them convicts them and teaches them that the doctrine the
Elders of Israel preach among them is the Gospel of salvation; and say
they, "We will not have it."  Have you not heard many of them say that
they would rather go to hell than believe it?  "I will not believe what
you preach, though I go to hell for disobeying it."

	That Spirit that is in them--the inspiration of the Almighty which
giveth understanding--convinces them that the doctrine is true.  Were it
false doctrine, it would be thought no more of than any other of the
numerous isms in the world.  They would pass by it as kindly and as easily
as they do Socialism, or any other doctrine.  But it convicts the people. 
Am I sorry for them?  I am.  My soul aches for them, because they cannot
resolve and act in accordance with the dictates of that Spirit which ever
prompts the human heart aright.  But rise up and declare, "We will not
believe this doctrine."  What then?  You must suffer.  Thousands are
suffering now; ministers are groaning in pulpits, and deacons and lay
members are groaning in congregations; there are groans in secret places,
in public places, in highways and by-ways: everywhere people are in pain,
in sorrow, in misery; and, in short, are in hell.  What is the matter? 
"'Mormonism' is yet in existence--it is not destroyed."  Why can they not
muster courage enough to say, "Our independent organizations we will use,
and will not suffer the Devil, nor fathers, mothers, priests, neighbours,
worldly reputation, riches, or anything else, to deter us from embracing
and practising the principles of eternal life?"  That course would at once
start them on the road to happiness.  "But," says the Devil, "If I let you
go, you will get out of my power and reach, and I cannot get you again." 
Suppose the world should turn round and say, "Mr. Devil, we have been
co-partners long enough!"

	I remember that when I made a profession of religion, after being
called an infidel by the Christians, I often used to get a little puzzled. 
The Evil One would whisper to me that I had done this, that, or some other
thing wrong, and inquire whether that looked like a Christian act, and
remark, "You have missed it; you have not done right, and you know it; you
did not do as well in such a thing as you might; and are you not ashamed
of yourself in saying that you are a Christian?  You profess the religion
of Jesus Christ, and now manifest such weakness!"  Said I, "Mr. Devil, it
is none of your business.  You may go behind, or before, or in any other
direction; but you and I have dissolved partnership; and what I do, I am
accountable for to a more glorious Being than you are.  So long as we were
in partnership, I had to give an account of my doings to you; but now it
is not for you to fret yourself about my doings, for you have no interest
whatever in the matter."  And thus I have acted with him from that time
until now.

	I have experienced and learned much since I embraced the Gospel, and
have become thoroughly convinced that the world lieth in ignorance, and
are wandering after a shadow--that is, false principles.  There is no
solid peace and joy, no permanent comfort and consolation to be found
between--shall I go to the extremes?  Yes, the sectarian extremes--the top
of the topless throne, and the bottom of the bottomless pit.  There is not
a particle of permanent happiness between these two extremes to the noble
spirits within us.  It is only to be found in the principles of eternal
life that open the gates of heaven to all believers.  The mans that places
his affections upon the gold, the silver, the goods, chattels, and
precious things of this earth, and seeks for power over his fellow-man
upon false principles, will never realize the happiness that the noble
spirit within him is designed to enjoy.

	Then cling to the principles of life that open eternity and reveal to
us what we are, making known to us our relationship to God, which to the
world is a great mystery.

	In the year 1850 I entertained one of my Baptist friends some two or
three weeks.  I could not persuade him to preach, but asked him a great
many questions; and I found him just where I had left them years ago.  I
asked him questions with regard to the doctrines taught in the Bible. 
Could he answer them?  No:  he was as ignorant as a child of the great
plan of salvation.  During his stay, I preached in the old Bowery; and
when I came to the point that I knew he was looking for--to tell who God
the Father and God the Son are--I dropped the subject.  When we arrived
home, he said, "Brother Young, why did you not go on a little further? 
You drew my whole soul out to learn something that I never had learned." 
I said to him that I did not proceed further because he was there.  He
then remarked--"I have been preaching thirty years, and I was very anxious
to learn the true doctrine upon the very point you spoke of today.  I have
heard much about your people, and I tarried here to learn.  Why could you
not have told us more?"  I replied--"I wish you to teach."  "But I do not
know anything about the subject."  "I will so couch my questions that you
soon will.  Do you believe the Old and New Testament?"  "Yes."  I then
asked him a few questions with regard to the coming forth of the Son of
Man, as he is called in a few places.  "Do you believe that he was born of
the virgin Mary?--that he was the son of Mary?"  "Yes."  "Do you believe
that the Apostle told the truth when he said that he was begotten by the
Father?"  "Yes."  "Why do you dispute it, then, or throw a doubt upon it? 
Was he not flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone, if the history given
of him is true?"  "O yes."  "Whom did he look and act like?  and whose
errand did he come to do?"  I then turned and read--"Whoso hath seen me
hath seen the Father," and inquired, "Do you believe that?"  "Yes but I
never before viewed the matter in the lig

	In a short time he answered my questions; and I took him back to
Adam, and gave him to understand clearly who the Bible taught that he was. 
I learned from my Baptist friend that his sect were just where I left them
twenty-five years ago.

	As brother Heywood has just remarked in your hearing, the people do
not improve on their capital.  Every man and woman that has talent and
hides it will be called a slothful servant.  Improve day by day upon the
capital you have.  In proportion as we are capacitated to receive, so it
is our duty to do.  Some learn more and faster than others--more readily
see and comprehend the bearings of their lessons and the relationship they
sustain to their fellow-beings.  Then will every one who secures an
exaltation be happy?  Yes.  Will all be of one mind there?  Yes.  Should
we not be one here?  Yes.  Should every man be a President?  Should every
man be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve?  Should every man be the
President of our Government, or a King?  No; but each should possess the
Spirit of the Lord; and through observing its teachings, every one will be
rewarded and enjoy according to his capacity.  Each vessel will be filled
to overflowing, and hence all will be equal, in that they are full.

	Every man and woman will receive to a fulness, though the quantity
will vary according to the extent of their capacity, and each will be
crowned with glory and eternal life, if faithful.  He that endures to the
end the same shall be saved.  Not to run for a season and then turn away;
but those who endure to the end will receive a fulness of joy which will
give them satisfaction.

	But, as Jesus said, these things are spiritually discerned.  And
though he was diligent in teaching his disciples, their traditions were
such that, after he had been with them a long time, there were many points
that they did not fully understand.  When the question was asked Peter,
"Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" he replied, "Some say thou
art John come to life again, and some that thou art one of the old
prophets risen from the dead; some say one thing, and some say another." 
"But whom say ye that I am?"  "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living
God."  "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father
who is in heaven."  Why cannot you at once understand that you must imbibe
in your faith and hold to that principle of revelation?  Men cannot reveal
the principles of eternal life to you; flesh and blood cannot; scientific
books cannot; history cannot; another man's experience cannot; no, nor the
whole world, with their wisdom and power; for they must be revealed from
our Father which is in heaven.

 	Peter was blessed, because he had eyes to see; and when he saw with
his spiritual eyes, he acknowledged it.  He was not so proud and
highminded as to turn round and deny.  If the conviction of their own
minds had free course, and were not trammelled through their erroneous
traditions, millions and millions would hail this day with thanksgiving. 
They would rather see it than to be assured that the whole Rocky Mountain
range was solid gold.  If all Cherry Creek bottoms, and Pike's Peak, and
the mountains around were a mass of pure gold, they would walk over it and
say, "We will go to Utah and learn for ourselves, though we have to go on
our hands and knees.  Let us find the fountain of eternal
intelligence--the way of life: let us find that which will satisfy the
noble spirits God has placed in our tabernacles.

	What is their condemnation?  Light--truth--the true Priesthood--has
come among them.  And will they receive it?  No.  "They choose darkness
rather than light, because their deeds are evil," and their sins remain
upon them.  They are the ones who must suffer the loss, and not those who
will be faithful.

	There is not a man or woman on this earth that I hate; but I do most
cordially hate their wicked acts.  I am at war with false principles--with
wickedness, sin, and abomination; and I expect to continue my warfare
until I overcome.

	Let this people continue to strive, to toil, and hold fast to the
cause of their God, and they will conquer.  I am for never forsaking the
ship, and for never ceasing to watch the sails and the compass--for never
ceasing my operations, until God shall reign King of nations, as he now
reigns King of Saints.

	People say, "If we only knew that this work was of the Lord, we would
be satisfied."  How can you know?  Yield to that Spirit that influences
the heart--that Spirit of the Almighty that gives your spirits
understanding and teaches you truth from error, and God will take you by
the hand and lead you by the right hand of his influence and power to
victory and glory.  The whole world might be saved.  Will they be?  No.

	I am at war with evil principles, and I shall contend against them,
and continue to do so until I see the kingdoms of this world bow to the
sceptre of King Immanuel.  Will any man be deprived of his rights when
that is the case?  No; but they will find it a Republican Democratic
Government.  "But we thought that the government you are talking about was
a theocratic government."  It is; and it is the only true form of
government on the earth--the only one that possesses all the true
principles of republicanism.  It puts every man and woman right, puts
everything in its place, and gives to each one his due according to his
works; for so will they be judged in that day.

	May the Lord bless those who are inclined to do right and follow out
their religion.  And I pray continually that they may elude the grasp of
hypocrites and ungodly men--of those who are determined to hate God and
his righteousness.  I intend to persevere in the path of righteousness
until I overcome; and, with the help of God and the Saints, I will
out-general the wicked.  And I declare to-day that every person
endeavouring to do right shall have his rights in due time, and rejoice in
the God of freedom; which may God grant.  Amen.


         HUMAN AND DIVINE GOVERNMENT--THE LATTER-DAY KINGDOM, &C.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
            Great Salt Lake City, Sunday p.m., July 31, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Brother Kimball has borne his testimony to the truth of the work in
which we are engaged:  he has exhorted you to faithfulness, and presented
practical morality.  For your satisfaction, I will present some of my
views concerning the kingdom of God, and leave the subject for others to
elaborate.

	Erroneous traditions and the powers of darkness have such sway over
mankind, that, when we speak of a theocracy on the earth, the people are
frightened.  The government of the "Holy Catholic Church," from which all
the Protestant churches are offshoots, is professedly theocratic, though
it is directly opposed to the theocracy described in the Bible.

	But few, if any, understand what a theocratic government is.  In
every sense of the word, it is a republican government, and differs but
little in form from our National, State, and Territorial Governments; but
its subjects will recognize the will and dictation of the Almighty.  The
kingdom of God circumscribes and comprehends the municipal laws for the
people in their outward government, to which pertain the Gospel covenants,
by which the people can be saved; and those covenants pertain to
fellowship and faithfulness.

	The Gospel covenants are for those who believe and obey; municipal
laws are for both Saint and sinner.

	The Constitution and laws of the United States resemble a theocracy
more closely than any government now on the earth, or that ever has been,
so far as we know, except the government of the children of Israel to the
time when they elected a king.

	All governments are more or less under the control of the Almighty,
and, in their forms, have sprung from the laws that he has from time to
time given to man.  Those laws, in passing from generation to generation,
have been more or less adulterated, and the result has been the various
forms of government now in force among the nations; for, as the Prophet
says of Israel, "They have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances,
and broken the everlasting covenant."

	Whoever lives to see the kingdom of God fully established upon the
earth will see a government that will protect every person in his rights. 
If that government was now reigning upon this land of Joseph, you would
see the Roman Catholic, the Greek Catholic, the Episcopalian, the
Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Quaker, the Shaker, the
Hindoo, the Mahometan, and every class of worshippers most strictly
protected in all their municipal rights and in the privilege of
worshipping who, what, and when they pleased, not infringing upon the
rights of others.  Does any candid person in his sound judgment desire any
greater liberty?

	The Lord has thus far protected and preserved the human family under
their various forms and administrations of government, notwithstanding
their wickedness, and is still preserving them; but if the kingdom of God,
or a theocratic government, was established on the earth, many practices
now prevalent would be abolished.

	One community would not be permitted to array itself in opposition to
another to coerce them to their standard; one denomination would not be
suffered to persecute another because they differed in religious belief
and mode of worship.  Every one would be fully protected in the enjoyment
of all religious and social rights, and no state, no government, no
community, no person would have the privilege of infringing on the rights
of another:  one Christian community would not rise up and persecute
another.

	I will here remark that we are generally looked upon as a dangerous
people, and for the reason that there are thousands and millions of people
who are afraid that justice will be meted out to them; and they say, to
use Scripture language, that "if the Saints are let alone, they will take
away our place and nation, and will measure to us what we have measured to
them."  They conclude thus because they estimate others by themselves,
realizing that if they had the power to deprive us of our rights, they
would exercise it.  "We will judge you Latter-day Saints by ourselves.  If
we had the power to destroy you, we would do it; and we are afraid that if
you are let alone, you will have the power to destroy us and will do as we
would under like circumstances."  If this people had that power to-day,
they would not infringe in the least upon the rights of any person;
neither could they, without ceasing to be Saints.

	When the Saints of the Most High are established upon the earth, and
are prepared to receive the kingdom of God in its fulness, as foretold by
the Prophet Daniel, they will have power to protect themselves and all the
sons and daughters of Adam in their rights.  Then, when a person or
community says, "I do not want to believe your religion," they will enjoy
liberty to believe as they please, as fully as we shall.

	The Creator has given agency to every son and daughter of Adam, and
he does not infringe upon our agency.  We are at liberty to believe in him
and in his son Jesus Christ, or to let it alone.

	When the kingdom of God is established, we can believe in the
principles of the eternal Priesthood or in something else, and be equally
protected in our outward rights.  My law, says Jehovah, is pure:  it is
the law by which the worlds are made, and by which all things are.  Those
laws tend to exaltation and power; but the world is observing rules that
tend to death.  You have the privilege of believing and practising a law
that will bring to an end, if you wish, not only to the first death, but
also to the second.

	Jesus has taught us not to fear those wicked persons that are seeking
our lives.  Do not fear those who only have power to destroy the body, and
after that can harm you no more; but fear God and observe the laws he has
given and will give, that evil spirits may have not power over you after
the body is left to rest.

 	This body must die: it is so decreed by the Almighty.  "For dust thou
art, and unto dust thou shalt return;" and it matters little whether you
die to-day or to-morrow.  Do not fear the wicked, but fear him who has
power to destroy both soul and body.  The man that pursues principles that
tend to death resigns himself unto death, and no power can hinder it.

	People are afraid of "Mormonism," as they call it.  They are afraid
of the Gospel of salvation, and say that we have something that others
have not--that we have an almighty influence, and that influence is a
mystery.  Certainly that influence is a mystery to all men:  it is a
mystery to us.  I have not time now to explain to you the reasons why it
is a mystery.

	When the doctrine of salvation was first preached to me, and the
vision of my mind was opened, I undertook to fathom the depth of the
Gospel plan; but I could not.  I was familiar with the doctrines taught by
the various Christian denominations, and could easily comprehend them; but
I soon learned that I could not fathom the full extent of the doctrine of
salvation as revealed in our day through the Prophet Joseph; for I
discerned that it was incomprehensible in its extent.  It was soon
suggested to me--Which of all the doctrines do you now say is the most
Godlike--that which you can comprehend and fathom--that which you can
measure, or that which you cannot?  That which I cannot.

	To finite capacity there is much which appears mysterious in the plan
of salvation, and there is an eternity of mystery to be unfolded to us;
and when we have lived millions of years in the presence of God and
angels, and have associated with heavenly beings, shall we then cease
learning?  No, or eternity ceases.  There is no end.  We go from grace to
grace, from light to light, from truth to truth.  But I do not want to
follow that thread any further at present.

	It is recorded in the Bible that in the Last days the God of heaven
will set up a kingdom.  Will that kingdom destroy the human family?  No: 
it will save every person that will and can be saved.  The doctrines of
the Saviour reveal and place the believers in possession of principles
whereby saviours will come upon Mount Zion to save the house of Esau,
which is the Gentile nations, from sin and death,--all except those who
have sinned against the Holy Ghost.  Men and women will enter into the
temples of God, and be, in comparison, pillars there, and officiate year
after year for those who have slept thousands of years.  The doctrine of
the Christian world, which I have already said I was familiar with, sends
them to hell irretrievably, which to me is the height of folly.  They do
not understand what the Lord is doing, nor what he purposes to do.

	It is alleged and reiterated that we do not love the institutions of
our country.  I say, and have so said for many years, that the
Constitution and laws of the United States combine the best form of
Government in force upon the earth.  But does it follow that each officer
of the Government administers with justice?  No; for it is well known
throughout our nations that very many of our public officers are as
degraded, debased, corrupt, and regardless as men well can be.

	I repeat that the Constitution, laws, and institutions of our
Government are as good as can be, with the intelligence now possessed by
the people.  But they, as also the laws of other nations, are too often
administered in unrighteousness; and we do not and cannot love and respect
the acts of the administrators of our laws, unless they act justly in
their officers.

	Jehovah has decreed and plainly foretold the establishment of his
kingdom upon this earth; and it will prove to me a shield to the
ordinances of his house, in the endowments, and in all the gifts and
graces of the Spirit of God with which the Priesthood, so to speak, is
clothed.  The municipal laws of that kingdom are designed for the
protection of all classes of people in their legitimate rights; and were
it now in its fulness upon the earth, and the New Jerusalem built upon
this continent, which is the land of Zion, and Latter-day Saints would not
alone enjoy its blessings, but all denominations and communities would be
alike protected in their rights, whether they worshipped the Supreme
Author of our existence, or the sun, or the moon, or, as do some of our
aborigines, a white dog; and none will be permitted to infringe upon their
neighbours, though every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that
Jesus is the Christ.  The Hindoos would have the privilege of erecting
their temples and of worshipping as they pleased; but they would not be
permitted to compel other worshippers to conform to their mode of worship,
nor to burn their companions upon the funeral pyre; for that would
interfere with individual rights.

	The kingdom of God will be extended over the earth; and it is
written, "I will make thine officers peace, and thine exactors
righteousness."  Is that day ever coming?  It is; and the doctrine we
preach leads to that point.  Even now the form of the Government of the
United States differs but little from that of the kingdom of God.

	In our Government a President is elected for four years, and can be
re-elected but once, thus limiting the time of any one person to but eight
years at most.  Would it not be better to extend that period during life
or good behavior; and when the people have elected the best man to that
office continue him in it as long as he will serve them?

	Would it not be better for the States to elect their Governors upon
the same principle; and if they officiate unjustly, hurl them from office? 
If a good man is thus elected and continues to do his duty, he will keep
in advance of the people; and if he does not, he does not magnify his
office.  Such is the kingdom of God, in comparison.

	When the best man is elected President, let him select the best men
he can find for his counsellors or cabinet; and let all the officers
within the province of the Chief Magistrate to appoint be selected upon
the same principle to officiate wisely in different parts of the nation. 
Our Father in heaven does not visit every place in person to guide and
administer the law to the people, and to do this, that, and the other:  he
never did and never will; but he has officers, whom he sends when and
where he pleases, giving to them their credentials and missions, as does
our Government to our fellow-men here.

	Some would have us believe that God is present everywhere.  It is not
so.  he is no more everywhere present in person than the Father and Son
are one in person.  The Bible teaches that doctrine precisely as it is.

	The kingdom that the Almighty will set up in the latter days will
have its officers, and those officers will be peace.  Every man that
officiates in a public capacity will be filled with the Spirit of God,
with the light of God, with the Power of God, and will understand right
form wrong, truth from error, light from darkness, that with tends to
death.  They will say, "We offer you life; will you receive it?"  "No,"
some will say. "Then you are at perfect liberty to choose death:  the Lord
does not, neither will we control you in the least in the exercise of your
agency.  We place the principles of life before you.  Do as you please,
and we will protect you in your rights, though you will learn that the
system you have chosen to follow brings you to dissolution--to being
resolved to native element."

	When the government of God is in force upon the earth, there will be
many officers and branches to that government, as there now are to that of
the United States.  There will be such helps, governments, &c., as the
people require in their several capacities and circumstances; for the Lord
will not administer everywhere in person.

	The world seem to be afraid of the power of God, or rather, as I
observed not long since, afraid that we are not in possession of it.  They
need not borrow trouble upon that point; for if we are not what we profess
to be, we shall certainly fail, and they will no longer be disturbed about
"Mormonism."  Brother Kimball said that his friends at first limited the
existence of this work to one year; and when the year passed, they
extended the time to two years:  they then put it off five years; and I do
not know what time they have now fixed upon.

	I know that the kingdom of God is in its youth upon this earth, and
that the principles of life and salvation are freely proffered to the
people all over the world.

	Our Elders go from east to west, from north to south; and they almost
invariably go without purse or scrip.

	When Mr. Greeley was here, he was anxious to learn what salaries our
missionaries received, and what salary this and that officer in the Church
received.

	I told him that our missionaries received what the people gave them
after they went from here with money to pay their passage across the sea,
that they might not be delayed in reaching their point of destination.

	He then asked me whether I did not receive a salary.

	I replied, "No, my friend; I can truly say to you that I do not have
the value of a cabbage-head from the Tithing Office, unless I pay for it."

	"What!" said he, "do you not have pay for your services?  You devote
all your time."

	I remarked that I should count myself a poor hand to dictate this
people and hold the position I occupy in the providence of God, unless I
was capable of maintaining myself and family without assistance from the
Church, though I have had a great deal given to me by the members of the
Church.  The Lord has blessed me with ability to provide for my wants, and
those of my family; and if he has not blessed all the Elders with like
ability to sustain themselves, we will assist them when necessary; but we
pay no salaries to our Elders and Bishops.  My salary consists of the
providence of God while I live, and eternal life when I faithfully finish
this probation.

	When the kingdom of God is established upon the earth, people will
find it to be very different from what they now imagine.  Will it be in
the least degree tyrannical and oppressive towards any human being?  No,
it will not; for such is not the kingdom of God.

	I believe in the true republican theocracy, and also in the true
democratic theocracy, as the term democratic is now used; for they are to
me, in their present use, convertible terms.

	What do I understand by a theocratic government?  One in which all
laws are enacted and executed in righteousness, and whose officers possess
that power which proceedeth from the Almighty.  That is the kind of
government I allude to when I speak of a theocratic government, or the
kingdom of God upon the earth.  It is, in short, the eternal powers of the
Gods.

	What do the world understand theocracy to be?  A poor, rotten
government of man, that would say, without the shadow of provocation or
just cause, "Cut that man's head off; put that one on the rack; arrest
another, and retain him in unlawful and unjust duress while you plunder
his property and pollute his wife and daughters; massacre here and there." 
The Lord Almighty does nothing of that kind, neither does any man who is
controlled by his Spirit.

	Again, the theocracy I speak of is the power of the Holy Ghost within
you--that living and eternal principle that we do not possess in the
fulness that we are seeking.  When we talk about heavenly things, and see
the world groveling in their sin and misery, and loving iniquity and
corruption, the heavens weep over the people, and still they will not
infringe upon their rights.  God has created them so far perfectly
independent as to be able to choose death or life; and he will not
infringe upon this right.

	And then to see people running after this and that which is
calculated to destroy them spiritually and temporally--to bring upon them
the first death, and then the second, so that they will be as though they
had not been--is enough to make the heavens weep.

	When his kingdom is established upon the earth, and Zion built up,
the Lord will send his servants as saviours upon mount Zion.  The servants
of God who have lived on the earth in ages past will reveal where
different persons have lived who have died without the Gospel, give their
names, and say, "Now go forth, ye servants of God, and exercise your
rights and privileges; go and perform the ordinances of the house of God
for those who have passed their probation without the law, and for all who
will receive any kind of salvation:  bring them up to inherit the
celestial, terrestrial, and telestial kingdoms," and probably many other
kingdoms not mentioned in the Scriptures; for every person will receive
according to his capacity and according to the deeds done in the body,
whether good or bad, much or little.

	What will become of the rest?  Jesus will reign until he puts all
enemies under his feet, and will destroy the death that we are afflicted
with, and will also destroy him that hath the power of death; and one
eternal life will spread over the earth.  Then it will be exalted and
become as a sea of glass, as seen by John the Revelator, and become the
eternal habitation of those who are so happy as to gain eternal life and
live in the presence of our Father and Saviour.

	There are millions and millions of kingdom that the people have no
conception of.  The Christians of the day have no knowledge of God, of
godliness, of eternity, of the worlds that are, that have been and that
are coming forth.  There are myriads of people pertaining to this earth
who will come up and receive a glory according to their capacity.

	A man apostatizes and come back, and there is a place prepared for
him; and so there is for all persons, to suit their several capacities and
answer to the lives they have lived in the flesh.

	There are many who swear occasionally; other get drunk, &c.  Do you
not know it?  O fools and slow of heart to understand you own existence! 
But many indulge in such practices, and some will stumble here and there;
and we must keep pulling them out of the mire and washing them all the
time.

	Will they be consigned to eternal damnation for such conduct?  No;
for those who drink too much will make good servants, if you can get them
where whisky will not cloud their brains, or where there is none.  Make
servants of such characters and set them to work in their different
departments, and they can do something:  they are not useless.  They are
the workmanship of God's hands--brothers to Jesus, flesh of his flesh and
bone of his bone.  The same Father that begat the tabernacle of Jesus on
the earth brought forth the world of mankind; and we are all his children
whether we do wickedly or not.  We are the offspring of one common Father.

	Brother Kimball says that it is a pity there is such a quarrel in the
family.  In the flesh we are the sons and daughters of Father Adam and
Mother Eve:  we are all one family; and yet we are contending and
quarrelling, and have arrived at such a pass that many do not know whether
they belong to one kingdom and family, or not.

	There is a place for all; but those who have sinned against the Holy
Ghost will become angels of the Devil, and must suffer the wrath of God.

	Then I might say, O ye wicked nations of the earth, why do you
quarrel with us all the time for doing you good?  We want to build up Zion
and bring up your fathers and mothers to enjoy a glory, and you are trying
to prevent us.  They are contending against their own lives--quarrelling
against their own salvation and being.  But I can truly say to all that I
am thankful that I live to see this day and what we call the Gospel of
Salvation, but called by our enemies "Mormonism," because we believe in
the Book of Mormon.

	We are in possession of the principles of life, and I exhort you to
cleave to them, under all circumstances.  Do not fear those who only have
power to shorten your mortal existence; but fear God, our Father in
heaven.  Love him and keep his commandments.  Love righteousness all the
days of your lives.  "Mormonism" is true.  It is life and salvation that
we proffer to all mankind, and we are now struggling against the power of
death, and by faithfulness shall overcome.  And still you know that our
enemies are thirsting for our destruction; and why do they seek to destroy
us?  Because we are striving to be righteous.  We have the word of life
for them, to do them good, to save them and their fathers who died without
the law.

	With you, my brethren, I have the principles of eternal salvation;
and for this cause they quarrel with us.  The world say that we have
principles that really lay the axe at the roots of the trees of all false
creeds; and if we are let alone, their creeds will cease having followers. 
If they let us alone, and we are wrong and corrupt as they say we are, we
shall come to an end.

	Why do they prefer to be corrupt?  They do not understand true
principles, otherwise they would say, "Praise God! I am thankful that you
are here.  Do right, prosper, and bring salvation to all the house of
Israel, and to the Gentile world so far as you can."

	Let us alone, and we will build up the kingdom of God.  We are
striving for what all Christendom professes to be, and we will bring it
forth.  If they persecute us, we will bring it forth the sooner.  Could
all the Elders of Israel have given "Mormonism" the same impetus that the
last quarrel has done?  No.  The Lord will bring more out of that than all
the Elders could have done by any performance of theirs.

	If the Devil and his servants are permitted to persecute us, why
should we complain?  Has not the Prophet said that the servants of the
Devil would make lies their refuge, and hide themselves under falsehood? 
Poor, miserable, lying curses here can write lies and publish them and
send them forth in every direction.  Traders take our money for goods, and
all the time stir up every destructive element in their power to sell our
blood, destroy our lives, and pollute our society.

	Should the Lord reveal to me that my work on this earth is finished,
I am ready to depart this life at any moment he may require.  But the time
has not yet come, and I expect to live until the Lord is willing that I
should die.

	I expect to live until I finish my work; and what is that?  To
promote the welfare of mankind, and save as many of the sons and daughters
of Adam as I can prevail upon to be saved.  How many I shall prevail upon
to be saved is not for me to say.

	When I get through my work here, my body will have the privilege to
rest; and I understand where my spirit will go, and who will be my
associates in the spirit world.

	We have more friends behind the vail than on this side, and they will
hail us more joyfully than you were ever welcomed by your parents and
friends in this world; and you will rejoice more when you meet them than
you ever rejoiced to see a friend in this life; and then we shall go on
from step to step, from rejoicing to rejoicing, and from one intelligence
and power to another, our happiness becoming more and more exquisite and
sensible as we proceed to the words and powers of life.

	God bless you!  Amen.

	                       PRIESTHOOD AND ETERNAL LIFE.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, July 31, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I rejoice in the privilege of making a few remarks this morning, by
way of explanation and exhortation.

	If the Latter-day Saints assemble to worship merely because our
fathers did, or because we have been so taught by our schoolmasters, we
have not a correct view of the subject.  The Being who organized us did so
upon principles which pleased him, and can please us only through
obedience to his laws.  That Being placed within us a principle that has
been among all the nations of men from the beginning--the principle of
reverence, of worship, of seeking after something superior to what we
possess.  Every person possesses more or less of this principle; we all
acknowledge it more or less, and all are seeking something not in our
possession.

	We are on this earth for an express purpose.  The body is organized,
the spirit takes possession of it, and here we are as finite beings in a
world of sin, of darkness, and of the thraldrom [sic] of iniquity; and
that, too, for an ex press purpose that cannot be accomplished upon any
other principle or plan.

	Eternal existence depends solely upon adopting and carrying out in
our lives the principles couched in the term "holy Priesthood," which
alone tend to life and eternal duration and exaltation.  We are seeking
for something that we are not now in possession of; and every individual
wishes to understand those true principles which will put him in
possession of the right plan by which to obtain what we are seeking.

	Mankind are prone to seeking after perishable things, though we in
reality, if we did but realize it, are by no means doing so exclusively.
The spirit and intelligence that God has placed within us prompt us to
seek more or less after imperishable things.  Had we worlds to command and
dictate in our finite state, with the authority and power we now possess,
it would not satisfy the mind.

	The holy Priesthood is a system of laws and government that is pure
and holy; and if it is adhered to by intelligent man, whom God has created
a little lower than angels, it is calculated to preserve our tabernacles
in eternal being; otherwise they will be resolved into native element. 
Nothing is calculated to satisfy the mind of an intelligent being, only to
obtain principles that will preserve him in his identity, to enable him to
increase in wisdom, power, knowledge, and perfection.  And when we meet to
worship, we do or should meet to speak of those principles and to
strengthen our faith.  But should it please the Almighty to place us in
circumstances that would preclude our assembling to worship, if we
understand these principles, they are as dear to us in our closets, in our
homes, and when we are labouring in our fields, our shops, or in the
kanyons, as when we are in this Tabernacle.

	We are searching for these principles, and we are labouring
continually to obtain--What? You see mankind running to and fro, like ants
upon an ant-hill,--now forward, now wheeling and taking the back track;
then to the right and to the left, seemingly in a perfect state of
excitement and confusion.  They are seeking they know not what.  They
possess the foundation for eternal intelligence, and they do not know how
to obtain that which will satisfy their minds.  Nothing can satisfy,
except being perfectly subject to the law that will preserve them in their
identity to all eternity, and that is the holy Priesthood.

	And yet, so long as we have lived, and as much as the wisest of us
have seen and learned, we are still comparatively as infants. It is by the
law of the Priesthood that men are, and by that law they may maintain
their eternal identity.  A strict observance of those laws will secure an
inheritance in that kingdom where death never enters, and all else will
sooner or later pass away as a night vision.

	When we undertake to worship the Lord, it is eternal principles that
we desire to learn.  They are taught here from Sabbath to Sabbath, a
little here and a little there, pertaining to the doctrines of salvation,
like explaining the civil laws of the land.  Lawyers are called upon to
explain the civil law, and we must be lawyers in the law of the
Priesthood, to read, comprehend, and correctly teach the writings of
Moses, of the Psalmist, of the Prophets and Apostles, or to tell the truth
as it comes fresh from heaven, independent of reading from any book

	No one can correctly dispute that mankind are possessed of
intelligence.  Reflect upon the intelligence they possess in mechanism, in
astronomy, &c.  Did they produce that?  No.  I obtained the principles of
intelligence that I am in possession of from the same source that they
obtained theirs, and which I attribute to the Author of our existence. 
But they cannot tell from whence those principles came.  They are
searching and researching with an inherent principle that never can be
satisfied without true knowledge; and that true knowledge flows through
the Priesthood, to enable us to know how to order our lives, to overcome
every principle that tends to the death, and to embrace every principle
that tends to the life, that we may preserve our identity to all eternity,
which is the greatest blessing bestowed upon man, and which we now have
the privilege to place ourselves in the way to secure.

	The laws given by the Almighty to the children of men, by which we
can preserve our spirits and our bodies to all eternity, are what the
world call "Mormonism."  Those laws are what this people believe and are
in possession of.  And are we obliged to faulter here and faulter there? 
If I am presented with unwholesome food, or with poison that would destroy
my life, am I obliged to eat it?  No, though I may be obliged to have it
presented to me.  If a man hands you a dose of arsenic, saying that you
need it and that it will do you good, are you obliged to swallow it?  or
if those who prefer sin, and roll it under their tongues as a sweet
morsel, present to you principles that tend to the death, are you obliged
to receive them--to join in and commit sin?  Some who profess to be
Latter-day Saints do so, and continue to do so.

	What a pity it is!  How strange it is that mankind do not better
understand and conduct themselves!  True, as is written, sin was
introduced to the human family by the transgression of our first parents,
and thereby the Adversary of all righteousness gained great power over our
bodies, as we can daily see exhibited,--the flesh, as the Apostle has
written, warring against the spirit.  So in a garden, the weeds spring up
spontaneously; and if you wish to produce certain fruits and vegetables,
you must carefully till the soil, because the ground is cursed to produce
thorns and thistles and obnoxious weeds.  The original transgression
subjected the flesh to weakness and infirmities, but not the spirit; which
explains how much easier it is for a person to sin than to work
righteousness, by the power sin has obtained over earthly tabernacles,
notwithstanding the promptings to do right, and that a person feels better
in doing right than wrong.

	We must have our day of trial--an opportunity to become acquainted
with the bitter and the sweet. We are so organized as to be able to choose
or to refuse.  We can take the downward road that leads to destruction, or
the road that leads to life. We can constantly act upon the principles
that tend to death, or refuse them and act upon the principles that
pertain to life and salvation. This is a day of trial; or faith and
patience can now be tried:  now is the time for your fortitude and
integrity to be tried. Let the trials come; for if we should be so
unspeakably happy as to obtain a crown of eternal life, we shall be like
gold tried seven times in the fire.  Let the fiery furnace burn, and the
afflictions come, and the temptations be presented;--if we wish to be
crowned with crowns of glory and exalted to dwell with our elder brother
Jesus Christ, we must choose the good and refuse the evil.

	According to our faith, we must strive to live our religion when in
the kanyons getting wood and lumber, when labouring in our fields, and
wherever we may be.  We have to learn and practise eternal principles, to
obtain eternal life; and they are the principles of the holy Priesthood. 
God has given man an agency, and it behoves us to understand and practise
the principles of life--to live our religion and walk humbly with our God,
living according to the laws and regulations of the holy Priesthood so far
as it is revealed.

	The principles of eternal life that are set before us are calculated
to exalt us to power and preserve us from decay.  If we choose to take the
opposite course and to imbibe and practise the principles that tend to
death, the fault is with ourselves.  If we fail to obtain the salvation we
are seeking for, we shall acknowledge that we have secured to ourselves
every reward that is due to us by our acts, and that we have acted in
accordance with the independent agency given us, and we shall be judged
out of our own mouths whether we are justified or condemned.

	When meditating upon matters as they are passing, I am happy and
rejoice that things are as they are.  You do not often see me in this
building, neither do I often address you, neither do I wish at present;
but I want everything to be shaken that can be shaken, that those who
remain will be steadfastly determined to serve their God.  As I have often
said, I would rather be associated with a dozen men who would live their
religion than to have the whole world for my companions to bear off the
kingdom to all nations.  I would rather see the people leave, until there
are not ten men left in the mountains, than to see what I see and hear
what mine ears have to hear--the blasphemy, corruption, wickedness,
dishonesty one with another, and running after the Devil, and ready to
strike hands wherever they meet him.  I want to see those who will not
live their religion sifted out.  Let them float off, and let the few who
will live their religion--who will live for God, remain until they are
like the gold that is tried in the furnace seven times.

	I understand that some of the people are remiss in coming to meeting.
Do they stay at home to weigh themselves in the balance, to know whether
they are actually in possession of the religion that we profess?  or are
their eyes, like the fool's, in the ends of the earth, looking for a good
job here, and a bargain there, and a speculation yonder?  You will know,
by-and-by, whether you possess the religion you profess.  The Lord will
sift the people, and the time is not far distant when he will sift the
nations with a sieve of vanity, and the time is at your doors when he will
hold a controversy with the nations and will plead with all flesh, and it
will be known who is for God, and who is not.

	I often ask the Father to hasten his work--do you?--to hasten his
Zion upon the earth, and his work upon all nations.  Have you any idea
what that work is?  I am at times checked in my feelings, and make the
inquiry, Am I prepared, with this people, to receive what will come?

	Every time that my mind stretches forth to discern what the Lord is
doing, to contemplate upon his goings forth among the nations, and what he
is bringing about, according to all the sayings of the Prophets and the
designs of his Son Jesus Christ, and to reflect upon the nations of the
earth as they now are and will be, I I [sic] ask myself, Am I prepared for
all this?  Are the people called Latter-day Saints prepared for all this? 
I am checked in my feelings in a moment.  Are you?  or do you think that
you are ready?  Suppose that the Lord should make his appearance in his
glory, how many in this Tabernacle could abide the day of his coming?  Is
there an individual in the valleys of the mountains, or upon the face of
the earth, that could abide the appearance of the Son of Man in his
glory--that could look upon him?

	Are you prepared for the distress that is coming upon the nations? 
Many of you frequently think that your lot is very hard--that your trials
are numerous and severe, and imagine this and that; and there is a great
disposition with many of you, as well as with the rest of the world, to
pity yourselves.  You had better continue to pity yourselves, each and
every one, lest we should not be right in all the things of God as fast as
he is rolling them along.  I have been driven from my home five times; I
have left my houses and lands and everything I had.  Do I wish evil to
come upon my enemies?  Every time I think of it, and when my mind is
opened by the visions of the Lord to see the weeping, the wailing, and
distress of the nations, that many who now live will see, there is not a
person in this room that could bear it.  There are no eyes looking upon me
that could bear to see the awful distress that the nations are bringing
upon themselves--to look upon the judgments of the Almighty that they are
bringing upon themselves.

	You think that you see distress.  I have seen poverty; I have seen
the gray headed father and mother bowed to their graves with starvation; I
have seen the middle-aged, the youth, and young children going to their
graves through starvation:  but I have seen nothing to compare with what I
shall yet see, if I live.  I shall see the distress that will be upon the
nations.  Look a little further and reflect upon what the Lord will do
when he has revolutionized the nations and cleansed and purged this earth
with fire.  Are we prepared to sit down with Jesus when he comes?  We had
better be careful to know whether we are prepared.

	We think that we have great occasion for sorrow; but how should we
feel, after all our preparations, faith, labours, and looking forth for
the coming of the Son of Man, to be consumed by the brightness of his
appearance?  We had better be purifying our hearts:  that is the best
occupation I can recommend to the Saints.  I would recommend such a
course, far beyond taking their neighbour's cattle, breaking down their
neighbour's fences, spending their Sabbaths in the kanyons getting wood,
or doing anything that they should not do.  Ask such persons whether they
pray.  "No."  A man in the Eleventh Ward said, "I prayed daily over my
crops last year, and my harvest was very light:  this year I have not
prayed, and my crops look first-rate."  Those who think that they can
succeed without praying, try it, and I will promise them eternal
destruction, if they persist in that course.  Some think that they can
prosper by lying a little, breaking the Sabbath, and doing almost
everything that they ought not to do.  In the end they will learn that
they have trod the path that leads to the first and second death, which
will have power over them; and the time will come when they will be as
though they had not been.

	It is recorded that Job clung to the Lord and proved his integrity to
his Father and God.  The Lord, to try him, suffered his crops to be laid
waste, his property to be plundered, his sons to be destroyed, and sorely
afflicted him in divers ways; and so it has been and will be with
thousands of other persons.  And though their property, families, and
friends be taken from them, yet they should trust in their God, even
though he should slay them.  And you will learn, by-and-by, what reward he
has prepared for them.

	I am striving for the crown that awaits the end of the faithful
race--not alone for the potatoes and corn.  Many come to me and say,
"Brother Brigham, are we going to have any potatoes this year?"  "I
neither know nor care."  "Have you planted any?"  "Yes, a great many." 
"Have you looked to see whether there are any sets upon them?"  "No:  but
it is my business to keep out the weeds, to water and till, and wait until
the harvest.  I have not power to make potatoes set.  If I should plant
and hoe, and raise nothing, it is the same to me as though I obtained a
good crop.  God gives or withholds the increase.

	We are all organized to seek after something that will be
durable--that will not pass away like a dream.  Then do not seek too much
after that which will perish.  Such things belong to the world.  They are
to be changed, and are not be relied upon.  Seek for the principles that
pertain to eternal life--the principles of the holy Priesthood.  Let us
prove ourselves to be friends of God, whether we raise potatoes or not,
whether our pigs and calves live or not, whether we are blessed with much
or little, or have nothing;--trust in god and be his friends, and
by-and-by he will put us in possession of that which will be perfectly
satisfactory.  Our spirits and bodies will be preserved before the Lord,
and we shall be prepared to see him in his glory--to live with him in his
kingdom--to associate with him.  That is what we are seeking, if we did
but know it.

	If any wish to apostatise, they have and always have had perfect
liberty to do so.  Life and death are before you.  You have had the words
of life sounded in your ears, year after year, in these valleys, and we
have been blessed with days of peace and pleasantness--days of joy and
days of comfort.  Have all the people served God?  No.  Some have been and
are wicked, sinful, dishonest, and unfaithful; and the Lord wants to prove
us--to prepare the righteous for his glory, and the wicked for their doom.

	I exhort you all to reflect whether you are ready for what is coming,
and are prepared to receive what you anticipate.  Amen.

                DUTY OF THE SAINTS TO LIVE THEIR RELIGION.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, August 4, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	On Sunday last I took the liberty to invite the different Wards of
this city to hold their fast-meeting here to-day, and I now wish those who
possess the Spirit of God to occupy the time.  By the utterance of the
mouth, the feeling and impulses of the heart are made known; and I wish to
know how the brethren feel.  Let those who enjoy the power of the holy
Gospel build up their brethren and inspire them with a spark of that
inward and eternal influence that will kindle into a flame of true
devotion.

	When the eternal living principles of the Gospel of the Son of God
are implanted in the heart of a genuine intelligent being, they do not
leave him when the wicked present their blandishments and the ungodly
their enticements to swerve the godly and the righteous from the paths of
rectitude.  I put it down for a fact that those who will give way to
wickedness do not belong to the elect.  With me it is a fact that persons
of sound sense, and possessing correct principles, and striving for
eternal life, will not exchange those principles for a gill of whisky or a
pinch of snuff, nor cast them aside for every stranger who meets them and
says,  "How I love you!"  Such persons, when convinced that the sun
shines, that it was dark last night, that it stormed yesterday, that the
river Jordan runs from Utah Lake and empties into great Salt Lake, that
there are mountains on our right and left, do not, after sleeping for five
minutes, wake up and dispute those facts, and declare it nonsense to
believe that we are here, and that we might as well at once cease all
efforts to do right.

	We must meet periods of trial, or how can we prove that we have
faith, and do actually permit the power of the sensibility placed within
us by our Creator to have its free, untrammelled course?  And those who
can be led away by the enticements of the servants of the Evil One do not
belong to the number of the elect.

	It is a pity that the Latter-day Saints who live here, who say that
they have embraced the Gospel of eternal life, and are willing to
sacrifice all for their salvation, or to give up all for Christ, should be
bought over by a gill of whisky.  After they have travelled thousands of
miles for their religion--for their faith, it is pitiable to see some
enticed from their integrity through the proffering, by the wicked, of a
fancied good job--of a little speculation.  The Lord intends to know
whether we will be led away in this manner and destroy ourselves with such
trifles; and for this reason temptations are permitted.

	You remember my expressions of my feelings a year ago, both in public
and in private.  I wanted to travel from one end of this Territory to the
other, and cry aloud to the people, and ask them whether there was one
left in Utah who had not forgotten his God.  That work commenced, and you
then understood and now understand there was a reformation.  Some of the
results are plain to us--the results of that reformation in which
excessive care and labour and much exposure caused the death of brother
Jedediah M. Grant.  I wished to go through the Territory and ask whether
there was one left for God, or whether all had gone astray.  I ask that
question now, and can answer it.  A great many--the majority of those who
profess to be Saints are trying to live their religion.  Blow upon the
spark of the Holy Ghost within you, and without which we need not
anticipate building up the kingdom of God, that the wicked may be foiled
in their efforts to corrupt and destroy.  They say that it is dangerous
for people to believe in the Lord God and possess his Spirit.  "O dear, it
will trouble the magnanimity of the law, and the supremacy of the law!" 
What do they know about the Almighty and his purposes and work in the
latter days?  Nothing.  Live your religion, keep the commandments of God,
and you will have no occasion for breaking the laws of the land.

	If you can be enticed away, it proves that you are not worthy of the
salvation which Jesus purchased for you by his blood.  Live your religion,
or else come out and say, "I am not willing to live my religion--I will
renounce it,"  fearless of big men or little men.  You must be for God,
and know that you are his friends, or he will disown you.  Fear not him
that can only kill the body, and then has no more than he can do; but fear
Him who has power to cast both soul and body into hell, which is the first
and second death.  Fear no man, but fear the Lord God and keep his
commandments.  Walk righteously before God and before each other; and
though the enemies of Jesus howl--though temptations come and the floods
of persecution overflow, trust in him and strive to stand fast in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

	When I learn that some can be overthrown--can be enticed to run here
and there and forfeit every principle of right, of truth, virtue, honour,
and honesty, it is soul-sickening to me and discouraging to angels and all
good men.  It is discouraging to see persons receive the principles of
eternal life, practise them for a season, and then forsake them and follow
the principles of death and destruction.  If you live your religion, you
will be a Saint to day, to-morrow, the next day, and all the time.  You
will walk humbly before God, and deal justly one with another, and
disregard the condemnation and aspersions of those who are ignorant of the
principles of the eternal law of Jehovah, and of the intent of the laws of
the nations of the earth.

	Blow upon the spark that is within you; blow it to a flame, and see
whether the fire of God's eternal love and the principles of the holy
Gospel cannot be kindled within you.  Some may think that I am
discouraged.  I am not.  I have views of the nations of the earth and of
the situation of the people; and when I reflect upon the faith, the
feelings, and the conduct of those who try to live their religion, and
contrast that with the condition and conduct of the mass of the children
of men, I can plainly discern the great difference.  This is the best
people upon the earth.  True, some complain because comparatively a few
are going astray; but I do not feel nearly so discouraged as did an
ancient Prophet, when he said, "Lord, they have digged down thine altars,
and I alone am left,"  while at the same time the Lord informed him that
he had preserved seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal.

	Compare this people with the mass of mankind, and what other class
will sacrifice for, their faith what we have--will sell their buildings,
farms, and other property, subject themselves to poverty and want, and
travel thousands of miles?  Not many who profess the Christian religion,
though some of the pagans might.  The Latter-day Saints sacrifice
everything for their religion.  Do not be discouraged, for the Lord is on
Israel's side, and it behoves us to prove to him that we are on his side.

	Some are fearful that the Lord will forsake them.  A child may begin
to cry right here and be distressed with the fear that this house is going
to leave it, and its conduct would be as consistent as to fear that God
will forsake any person who is walking in the path of truth.  Who does he
forsake?  None save those who first forsake him and begin to walk in
by-and-forbidden paths, where neither he nor his angels walk; and then
such persons say the Lord has forsaken them.  They have forsaken the path
of rectitude and are upon the grounds of the Devil, being led captive by
his will, and do not enjoy the benign influence that flows from the
Fountain of all intelligence as they did when they were in the path of
truth.  Never be fearful that the Lord will first forsake you; for you
have first to leave him, since he never forsaketh those who are striving
to do right.  Abide in the truth, and you are sure to enjoy, more or less,
the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost; and if you do not, you have
strayed from the paths of rectitude and truth--of love and mercy.  You
must forsake the ways of the Lord in order to get out of the way, and then
the Lord will forsake you.  Otherwise he is with you, more or less, by his
influence--with you by his angels and his protecting care.  I want you to
thoroughly understand that you are not to fear any being in heaven, on
earth, or in hell, superior to fearing that Being who has created the
heavens and the earth, by whom we and all things are.

	Now, brethren, I wish to hear you express your feelings, and want you
to occupy the time.  We have all the time allotted to us in a state of
probation, and then for ever and ever, worlds without end.  And if we do
not live to enjoy truth, it is because we take the road that leads to
dissolution.  We must live to be prepared for better or for worse for all
time to come; so we will not hurry the exercises of our meeting.

	God bless you and fire your hearts to speak and to exercise
yourselves in the faith of the holy Gospel, that we may know and
understand for ourselves.  Amen.

    PROVIDENCES OF GOD--PRIVILEGES AND DUTIES OF THE SAINTS--SPIRITUAL
           OPERATIONS AND MANIFESTATIONS--THE SPIRIT WORLD, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, September 1, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I wish you to understand and practise the lessons you have already
received, or you cannot consistently look for more.  And do not become
tired or discouraged if you cannot learn your lessons all at once, for
with diligent and close application you can learn how to live to all
eternity, which is the object of our being here.  Be patient; do not
murmur at the dealings of Providence.  The Lord rules in the heavens and
works his pleasure upon the earth.  Can you comprehend the meaning of the
Prophet Amos in the question, "Shall there be evil in the city, and the
Lord hath not done it?"  His providences are constantly ruling and
overruling, to a greater or less degree, in the affairs of the children of
men.  Do all people discern and understand that his providences are over
the workmanship of his hands, and that he controls all things?  No, they
do not.  The lessons you have been taught tend to instruct you upon these
points.

	Can this people understand that the Lord--that Being we call our
Father, as also the Gods and all heavenly beings, lives upon the
principles that pertain to eternity?  Can the people comprehend that there
is not, has not been, and never can be any method, scheme, or plan devised
by any being in this world for intelligence to eternally exist and obtain
an exaltation, without knowing the good and the evil--without tasting the
bitter and the sweet?  Can the people understand that it is actually
necessary for opposite principles to be placed before them, or this state
of being would be no probation, and we should have no opportunity for
exercising the agency given us?  Can they understand that we cannot obtain
eternal life unless we actually know and comprehend by our experience the
principle of good and the principle of evil, the light and the darkness,
truth, virtue, and holiness,--also vice, wickedness, and corruption?  We
must discern and acknowledge that the providences of the Lord are over all
the works of his hands--that when he produces intelligent beings he
watches over them for their good. He has given human beings an
intelligence designed to become eternal, self-existent, independent, and
as Godlike as any being in the heavens.

	To answer such design, we are given our agency--the control of our
belief, and must know the darkness from the light and the light from the
darkness, and must taste the bitter as well as the sweet.

	You need exhorting rather than teaching.  You have been taught
doctrine in abundance, and I have sometimes thought it a pity the Lord has
revealed quite as much as he has.  And I can truly say that I believe, if
I am guilty in any one point in my walk before this people, it is in
telling them things they are not worthy of--that I have given unto them
things that they could not receive.  For this reason I deem it mainly
needful to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.

	Brother Spencer referred to the carelessness and forgetfulness of the
people, and to how prone we are to get out of the way, to depart from the
love, enjoyment, peace, and light that the Spirit of the Lord and of our
religion gives unto us.  We should live so as to possess that Spirit
daily, hourly, and every moment.  That is a blessing to us, which makes
the path of life easy.  For a man to undertake to live a Saint and walk in
darkness is one of the hardest tasks that he can undertake.  You cannot
imagine a position that will sink a person more deeply in perplexity and
trouble than to try to be a Saint without living as a Saint
should--without enjoying the spirit of his religion.  It is our privilege
to so live as to enjoy the spirit of our religion.  That is designed to
restore us to the presence of the Gods.  Gods exist, and we had better
strive to be prepared to be one with them.  

	The people wish to know what to do to do right.  When those who live
their religion meet to speak to each other--to mutually strengthen their
faith and encourage one another in good principles, in good, wholesome,
loving lives--in morality, tradition causes some to say that they mean to
do better--to alter their lives and live better than they have, when, if
it was to save the world, they could not live any better unless they knew
more. Have we not made mistakes?  Yes, a great many.  If we had known
better, we could have done that which would have resulted in greater good. 
But, considering their knowledge, those who are striving to do right
cannot conduct themselves any better than they do.  I know a great many
that I have that opinion about. Do they err?  Yes.  Do they knowingly do
wickedly?  They do not; but they do as well as people can.  And I do not
believe that brother Spencer, the President of this Stake, could, with the
same knowledge, better this life in past years; and I have the same
feeling in regard to many with whom I am acquainted.  I know this by my
own experience, which is a most excellent schoolmaster when we do the best
we can.

	We will seek unto the Lord for more knowledge; we will get wisdom and
forget it not, but treasure it up in our hearts, and treasure up every
holy principle as fast as our ability will permit us to do so.  And if our
minds are strong enough, and we are so constituted as to comprehend and
retain, let us strive to receive every principle that pertains to life and
salvation, and treasure them up in our hearts against the time of need. 
Walk humbly before our God, and learn correct principles as fast as you
can; and then, when you discover you have missed it here and there, where
you imagine that you could have done better, never find fault with the
knowledge God has given you, nor with your own faith, virtue, and works;
for you have done the best you could.

	This people are familiar with very many principles pertaining to
eternal life; and I will ask you what principle that will endure--what
that is valuable in life is there, so far as you have learned, and what is
there in life which you know, have known, can learn, or that exists, that
"Mormonism" has not given to you?  "Mormonism," or, in other words, the
Gospel of salvation, embraces the whole. It incorporates every true
principle there is in heaven and on earth.  If a person learns a truth, he
learns so much of the Gospel of salvation.  And when he learns that, he
wants to understand the bearings of the great plan.  He wants to
understand--I will not say the extent of it, because he cannot do so, but
as much thereof as his ability can comprehend, and to discern that the
Gospel of salvation, the eternal Priesthood of the Son of God, is the life
that is, that was, and that is to come,--eternal life.  Those principles
are given to the children of men to practise upon, that in so doing they
may come up and inherit eternal life.  This is for us to learn, treasure
up in our hearts, and practise.  Do not seek for that which you cannot
magnify, but practise upon that which you have in your possession.

	I know very well that, whether we are active or not, the invisible
spirits are active.  And every person who desires and strives to be a
Saint is closely watched by fallen spirits that came here when Lucifur
[sic] fell, and by the spirits of wicked persons who have been here in
tabernacles and departed from them, but who are still under the control of
the prince of the power of the air.  Those spirits are never idle; they
are watching every person who wishes to do right, and are continually
prompting them to do wrong.  This makes it necessary for us to be
continually on our guard--makes this probation a continual warfare.  We do
not expect to be idle.  The individual that obtains a celestial kingdom
will never be idle in the flesh.  It is a spiritual warfare.  He contends
against the spirits of darkness and against the workers of iniquity, and
wars all the day long against his own passions that pertain to fallen man.
It is therefore necessary that the people speak often one with another,
encourage each other in every good word and work, sustain every one in
every good act, operate against every evil act, and continue so to do
through life.

	Some, who understand more or less of the principles of the Gospel,
appear to be a trifle discouraged.  Such do not think more of the life to
come than they do of the present life.  When the breath leaves the body,
your life has not become extinct; your life is still in existence.  And
when you are in the spirit world, everything there will appear as natural
as things now do.  Spirits will be familiar with spirits in the spirit
world--will converse, behold, and exercise every variety of communication
one with another as familiarly and naturally as while here in tabernacles. 
There, as here, all things will be natural, and you will understand them
as you now understand natural things.  You will there see that those
spirits we are speaking of are active:  they sleep not.  And you will
learn that they are striving with all their might--labouring and toiling
diligently as any individual would to accomplish an act in this world--to
destroy the children of men.

	Pertaining to the present state of the world, you know what evil
spirits are doing. They are visiting the human family with various
manifestations. I told the people, years and years ago, that the Lord
wished them to believe in revelation; and that if they did not believe
what he had revealed, he would let the Devil make them believe in
revelation.  Do you not think that the Devil is making them believe in
revelation?  What is called spirit-rapping, spirit-knocking, and so forth,
is produced by the spirits that the Lord has suffered to communicate to
people on the earth, and make them believe in revelation.  There are many
who do not believe this; but I believe it, and have from the beginning.

	If true principles are revealed from heaven to men, and if there are
angels, and there is a possibility of their communicating to the human
family, always look for an opposite power, and evil power, to give
manifestations also:  look out for the counterfeit.

	There is evil in the world, and there is also good.  Was there ever a
counterfeit without a true coin?  No.  Is there communication from God?
Yes.  From holy angels?  Yes; and we have been proclaiming these facts
during nearly thirty years.  Are there any communications from evil
spirits? Yes; and the Devil is making the people believe very strongly in
revelations from the spirit world.  This is called spiritualism, and it is
said that thousands of spirits declare that "Mormonism" is true; but what
do that class of spirits know more than mortals? Perhaps a little more in
some particulars than is known here, but it is only a little more.  They
are subject in the spirit world to the same powers they were subject to
here.

	If we live faithful to the doctrine and faith of the holy Gospel we
have embraced, we shall understand the real benefit and advantage that we
will have over those who are not in possession of the true principles of
salvation or the Priesthood.  If we are faithful to our religion, when we
go into the spirit world, the fallen spirits--Lucifer and the third part
of the heavenly hosts that came with him, and the spirits of wicked men
who have dwelt upon this earth, the whole of them combined will have no
influence over our spirits.  Is not that an advantage?  Yes.  All the rest
of the children of men are more or less subject to them, and they are
subject to them as they were while here in the flesh.

	If we conquer here and overcome in the Gospel, in the spirit world
our spirits will be above the power of evil spirits.  Not that we can so
overcome, while here, as to be free from death; for though Jesus overcame,
yet his body was slain.

	Every person possessing the principle of eternal life should look
upon his body as of the earth earthy.  Our bodies must return to their
mother earth.  True, to most people it is a wretched thought that our
spirits must, for a longer or shorter period, be separated from our
bodies, and thousands and millions have been subject to this affliction
throughout their lives.  If they understood the design of this probation
and the true principles of eternal life, it is but a small matter for the
body to suffer and die.

	When death is past, the power of Satan has no more influence over a
faithful individual:  that spirit is free, and can command the power of
Satan.  The penalty demanded by the fall has been fully paid; all is
accomplished pertaining to it, when the tabernacle of a faithful person is
returned to the earth.  All that was lost is passed away, and that person
will again receive his body.  When he is in the spirit world, he is free
from those contaminating and condemning influences of Satan that we are
now subject to.  Here our bodies are subject to being killed by our
enemies--our names to being cast out as evil.  We are persecuted, hated,
not beloved; though I presume that we are as much beloved here as the
spirits of the Saints are in the spirit world by those spirits who hate
righteousness. It is the same warfare, but we will have power over them. 
Those who have passed through the vail have power over the evil spirits to
command, and they must obey.

	You require to be stirred up to reflection, to examine your
religion--the faith of the holy Gospel--the Priesthood; for it is worthy
of your notice, lest perhaps a little gold becomes too precious in your
thoughts.  The individual who builds all his hopes upon property, upon
gold and silver, and the possessions of this world, making these treasures
his idol, has never yet seen, by vision, the glory of the celestial
world,--has not had a foretaste of it.  He has little or none of that
knowledge which God designs to give to the faithful.  When that is
possessed, what is the world to Saints?  It is subject to them, and it is
not in the power of Satan to blot out or destroy that heavenly knowledge.

	You see men eagerly striving for gold, riches, wealth, and mourning
and fretting--"We wish we had done so-and-so, for then we should have made
a few more dimes.  And now we wish to go and obtain piles of gold, and to
do this and that--to heap up wealth and gain power."  As Lorin W. Babbitt
said, who used to belong to this Church, but went to California, "I am
going to sell my house and go away.  I have laboured eighteen years for
the Lord, and now I am going to work for Lorin W. Babbitt."  What an
expression!--as though he could control the elements.  If he possessed a
mountain of gold and gambled it away in one night, it would still be in
the world, whether in his possession or out of it.  Suppose that I,
through covetousness and dishonesty, had accumulated millions of dollars,
and then should lose it all in an hour, in neither case is it out of the
world, and there is as much property in the one case as in the other:  it
has merely changed hands.  Solomon, when speaking of these things, says,
The race is not to the swift, nor riches to men of wisdom.  Do not fret,
nor be so anxious about property, nor think that when you have gathered
treasures, they alone will produce joy and comfort; for it is not so. 

	The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor
riches to men of wisdom.  The Lord gives the increase:  he makes rich whom
he pleases.  You may inquire, "Why not make us rich?"  Perhaps, because we
would not know what to do with riches.  You remember that a while past,
nine waggons went through this city on their way to California,
accompanied by some soldiers as an escort and guard.  One of our
missionaries, returning home, met them on the northern route, and asked
one of them what caused him to apostatize?  The man replied--"To tell you
the truth, I was used so well at Great Salt Lake City that I could not
endure it.  I came there with a hand-cart company, and had not a mouthful
of anything to eat, no clothing, nor anything to make me comfortable.  As
soon as I arrived in the city, Heber C. Kimball, having learned my name,
met me and said, 'Brother, there is a house; there are flour, meal, and
fuel:  you have had a hard time; go there with your family, and make
yourselves comfortable, and eat and drink, and get rested;  and when you
wish to go to work, I will give you employment and pay you for your
labour.'  From that day my heart was in me to do evil.  I have been trying
to apostatize ever since and have finally made out to do so; and I cannot
attribute it to anything in the world, only that I was used so well."

	This exhibits the spirit that is in many.  They are faithful while
they are extremely poor; but give them wealth, and they are thrown off
their guard, forget their sacred vows and solemn covenants, and the
property they have around them occupies their whole attention and
affections; their minds become wholly engrossed in their possessions. 
Doubtless there are some instances opposite to this; but probably, in
nineteen cases out of twenty, poverty and hardship will tend to make
people humble and faithful.

	Oppression, persecution, afflictions, and other trials and privations
are necessary as a test to all professing to be Saints, that they may have
an opportunity to witness the workings of the power which is opposed to
truth and holiness.  Go into East Temple-street (now commonly called
"Whisky-street"), and you will see all the wickedness you can reasonably
wish to.  You can there see it, smell it, taste it, and learn enough about
it, without going anywhere else.  It is all necessary, that we may have
the privilege of proving whether we prefer good or evil.  There are
robbery, theft, drunkenness, lying, deceiving, gambling, whoring, and
murder; and what evil is there lacking?  Scan the civilized world and ask
what evil they have that we have not; and if there is one lacking, it will
come, for every variety is necessary to prove whether we will preserve our
integrity before God.

	You will know that the evil done here is laid to me.  Let them pursue
that course until they are tired of it.  I defy them, from the gate of the
celestial kingdom to the bottom of the bottomless pit, to truthfully
substantiate a single accusation against me.  They may continue to lie,
and hire others to lie, and trump up false accusations against me; for I
am accustomed to that kind of treatment from the wicked, and I am fully
able, God being my helper, to endure it:  it does not hurt me one
particle.  If the Devil and his servants loved me, and wrote and spoke
well of me, I should be jealous of myself.  But if I keep the fellowship
of the Holy Ghost, I shall also have the fellowship of Saints and angels. 
Then let the wicked howl and foam; it is all right.

	I wish to know whether I can stand the power of temptation and
preserve my integrity.  I know not but what I may be thrown into
circumstances that will be pretty hard, but feel tolerably well assured
that I shall not apostatize.

	Evil temptations and abuse are necessary to prove our faith, to
determine whether we will sacrifice our carnal appetites and desires, or
forsake the knowledge of God and godliness.  If we are not willing to make
sacrifices for the truth and the Gospel's sake, we are not worthy
celestial glory.  What is there of an earthly nature, even though dear to
us, that we cannot live without, so we have that which will sustain nature
and enable us to perform the duties and labours resting upon us?  With the
exception named, I do not know of anything.

	I can let you all go, so far as I may be required.  I do not know
that I ever thought enough of tobacco, tea, snuff, or anything else of
that description, to alter the natural traits of my character.  My
passions must be in subjection to my spirit.  Perhaps I am not possessed
of such ungovernable passions as many are.  But let our passions be as
they may, the whole man must be the servant of that Being who gives us
life.  We need to talk with each other, pray with each other, and
encourage each other, until our spirits have overcome all propensities to
evil.  Do you understand, what I have often taught you as plainly as my
language will permit me, the warfare pertaining to the spirits of the
children of men while in the flesh?  The spirit is pure and holy upon its
entrance into the tabernacle, and God, by the power of his Spirit,
operates upon it; but the flesh, and no more, is unholy; and here are the
holy and the unholy united.  Which shall be the master?  Let the spirit
that comes from the eternal world, which at the outset is pure and holy,
with the influence God gives to it, master all the passions of the body,
and bring it under subjection to he will of Christ.  That course makes us
Saints.

	I have flattered myself, if I am as faithful as I know how to be to
my God, and my brethren, and to all my covenants, and faithful in the
discharge of my duty, when I have lived to be as old as was Moses when the
Lord appeared to him, that perhaps I then may hold communion with the
Lord, as did Moses.  I am not now in that position, though I know much
more than I did twenty, ten, or five years ago. But have I yet lived to
the state of perfection that I can commune in person with the Father and
the Son at my will and pleasure?  No,--though I hold myself in readiness
that he can wield me at his will and pleasure.  If I am faithful until I
am eighty years of age, perhaps the Lord will appear to me and personally
dictate me in the management of his Church and people.  A little over
twenty years, and if I am faithful, perhaps I will obtain that favour with
my Father and God.

	I am not to obtain this privilege at once or in a moment.  True,
Joseph Smith in his youth had revelations from God.  He saw and understood
for himself.  Are you acquainted with his life?  You can read the history
of it.  I was acquainted with him during many years.  He had heavenly
visions; angels administered to him.  The vision of his mind was opened to
see and understand heavenly things.  He revealed the will of the Lord to
the people, and yet but few were really acquainted with brother Joseph. 
He had all the weaknesses a man could have when the vision was not upon
him, when he was left to himself.  He was constituted like other men, and
would have required years and years longer in the flesh to become a Moses
in all things.  For the length of time he lived, he was as good a man as
ever lived in the flesh, Jesus excepted.  It was so ordered that a man has
to live and gain by his experience that knowledge and wisdom, and that
degree of stability in his character that will present him favourably to
the heavenly hosts at all times and under all circumstances.  Let us,
then, resolve and act upon the principle of constant improvement.

	As to doing any better than I have done, I have to know more, and so
have you.  You have done as well as you knew how.  This is a matter of
rejoicing to me.  And though we are still far from being perfect, the
Latter-day Saints are not far from a deep desire to be perfect.  They are
far from being what they should be; but they are not far from an abiding
desire to be what they should be.  But have you so trained yourselves as
to be able to say, for instance, that if the potatoes you have planted
yield, abundantly well; and if they do not, that is just as well?  Can you
feel to say that in all sincerity?  Can you say, after you have prepared
the ground, cast in the wheat, watered it, and taken good care of it, and
then found the crop destroyed by blight or smut, Well, all right?  Can you
honestly say so?  If you cannot, you have not schooled your hearts to what
you should have done--to learn that it is God alone who gives the
increase.  We can plough, we can plant, sow, water, and tend, because we
are ordained to do these things; but no man on the earth is ordained to
give the increase.

	It is for us to frame our acts.  We shape our lives--we do this,
that, and the other agreeably with the best knowledge we have; but do we
produce the results of our acts?  We do not.  The Lord controls the
results of the acts of all nations under heaven.  He casts down a throne
here, and sets up another yonder,--brings forth a nation out of obscurity,
and causes the most powerful nations to crumble to dust.  We have this to
learn, and to study and learn ourselves, and to control our own
dispositions and passions, so that when we see others out of the way, we
can have compassion on them, and say--"Thank the Lord, we have not been
suffered to go astray and give way to our passions."  The merciful man
shall find mercy.  When a man designedly does wrong, he ought to be
chastised for that wrong, receiving according to his works. If a man does
wrong through ignorance, and manifests sincere sorrow for the wrong, he is
the one whom we should forgive seventy times in a day, if necessary, and
not the one who has designedly done wrong and repents not.

	It is for us to so live that our lives will become sweet and more
precious than gold or silver.  And our communion one with another, may it
increase in all the sublimity and heights and depths of consolation known
only to those who are truly united on the earth by interests and bonds
that are eternal.

	May the Lord bless you for evermore!  Amen.

          BLESSINGS OF ASSOCIATION--ORIGINAL PURITY OF THE HUMAN
                   SPIRIT--TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS, &C.
    Instructions by President Brigham Young, given in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	We have assembed [sic] this morning in the capacity of a Conference;
and as it is also our fast-day, we will conduct the forenoon services as
we generally do in our fast-day meetings, when the Saints meet to express
their feelings and to strengthen each other in their faith of the holy
Gospel.  We will, so far as the time will permit, give all the Saints who
may wish the privilege to freely express their views and reflections to
this congregation; and I hope we shall be enabled to appreciate the
privilege we enjoy.  I am aware that the Saints like to speak often one to
another, if the candle of the Lord is lit up within them; and it is their
delight to walk in the light thereof, and diffuse that delight to others,
that they also may enjoy its blessings.

	You are well aware, by your own experience, that mankind in their
feelings and spirits are more or less subject to be operated upon by
surrounding influences.  You, no doubt, discover that you are very much
inclined to mingle with and participate in the feelings and exercises of
the society in which you are.  Mankind are naturally inclined to associate
one with another.  Deprive an individual of the society of his
fellow-beings, and life becomes wearisome and a burden to him; his hours
and days become monotonous and tedious.

	This people, as a religious people, are more blessed with the spirit
of association than are the generality of those called Christians.  A
gathering and social spirit seems to be the order of heaven--of the spirit
that is in the Gospel we have embraced.  Though it may be esteemed as a
fault--as an unwarrantable act to separate ourselves from those who do not
believe as we believe, yet such is the nature of a portion of our religion
pertaining to the performance of outward duties.  If the Latter-day Saints
can associate together, free from the contaminating influences that are in
the world, it is a blessing and a great privilege.  What would induce a
child to grow up in the wickedness of the wicked world, if it never saw or
heard any of it?  Would you see the fruit you now see produced?  You would
not.  If children never heard language unbecoming intelligent beings, in
their most heated passions, they would not know what to say; they would
have no words to express their wicked feelings, until reflection would
take the place of anger, and they would refrain from it.

	It is very true that, through the fall, we are all prone to evil.  It
is also true that the spirit in man is also pure and holy upon its
entrance into a tabernacle, and perfectly prepared to be influenced and
receive instruction.  Being united with the body, which was brought under
condemnation through the fall, they are inseparably connected in a
probation. And while they remain together, the spirit of evil, through the
fall, has great power with the body; and the body, through its intimate
connection, has great power with the spirit; and for this reason both are
prone to evil.  Still it would be difficult to find a person upon the
earth so vile--so wicked--so overcome by the grossness of earth, that the
holy principles and acts in the lives of the righteous are not more
beautiful to them than are the wickedness and corruption in the lives of
the froward and disobedient.  The human family naturally admire a life of
virtue and truth, and abhor falsehood and every kind of wickedness.  The
spirits that the Almighty has put into their tabernacles will more or less
admire goodness, inwardly if not outwardly, though they are often overcome
by the evil propensities that pertain to the flesh.

	Since we are permitted by our Father and our God to do good, let us
never suffer ourselves to be tempted, to be drawn aside, to be overcome,
or thwarted in the pure and holy purpose that the pure spirit of
intelligence (the spirit that is in us) reveals to the understanding.  Not
but that it is necessary in the very nature of things, in the economy of
heaven, that we should be tried and tempted in all things, in order to
prove ourselves and prepare ourselves to enjoy that eternal life that is
prepared for the just.  The time will be when people will not be tempted
as they now are--when there will be no Tempter upon the earth.  The
knowledge and intelligence that will be diffused among the people will
enable them to live a time and a season without the Tempter.  But we live
in a day when the power and rule of that evil principle is more excessive
upon the earth that it ever has been.  As the Prophet said, "For every
one, from the least even unto the greatest, is given to covetousness; from
the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely."  Mankind, in
the present day, are further from the intelligence, the light, the glory,
and the power of the Invisible than ever they were before, from the days
of Adam until now.  There never was a day of such heathen darkness and
unbelief as now prevails.  We have had the privilege of receiving those
holy principles calculated to give us power to secure to ourselves eternal
life and happiness, if we follow out those principles.  It is a constant
warfare.  As the apostle expresses it, "The flesh lusteth against the
spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one
to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."  The spirit
that is put into man is pure and holy; but through the power of evil with
the flesh, it is more or less contaminated, influenced, seduced, and
brought into bondage by the evil that exists upon the earth.  Let the
spirit overcome and come off conqueror.

	While we have the privilege of speaking to each other, let us speak
words of comfort and consolation.  When you are influenced by the Spirit
of holiness and purity, let your light shine; but if you are tried and
tempted and buffeted by Satan, keep your thoughts to yourselves--keep your
mouths closed; for speaking produces fruit, either of a good or evil
character.

	If persons think they have greater sorrow and affliction than any
others, when they reveal that sorrow and affliction, it produces fruit. 
You frequently hear brethren and sisters say that they feel so tried and
tempted, and have so many cares, and are so buffeted, that they must give
vent to their feelings; and they yield to the temptation, and deal out
their unpleasant sensations to their families and neighbours.  Make up
your minds thoroughly, once for all, that if we have trials, the Lord has
suffered them to be brought upon us, and he will give us grace to bear
them; and that they do not concern our families, friends, and neighbours,
we can bear them off alone.  But if we have light or intelligence--that
which will do good, we will impart it; but our bad feelings, our
desponding feelings, our dark hours, and disagreeable sensations we will
keep to ourselves.  Let that be the determination of every individual, for
spirit begets spirit--likeness, likeness; feelings beget their likeness;
and custom, custom.  You know very well, by your own experience, that you
are naturally inclined to more or less adopt the customs, feelings, and
manners of the people you associate with.  If, then, we give vent to all
our bad feelings and disagreeable sensations, how quickly we beget the
same in others, and load each other down with our troubles, and become
sunk in darkness and despair!  If you have anything good to say, speak it
and comfort the hearts of the Saints.  If you have that which tends to
death, keep it to yourselves:  we do not want it, for we already have
plenty of it.

	Frame your lives according to the precepts of the Gospel.  Let your
deal, walk, and conversation be that upon which an angel can look with
pleasure.  And in all your social communications, or whatever your
associations are, let all the dark, discontented, murmuring, unhappy,
miserable feelings--all the evil fruit of the mind, fall from the tree in
silence and unnoticed; and so let it perish, without taking it up to
present to your neighbours.  But when you have joy and happiness, light
and intelligence, truth and virtue, offer that fruit abundantly to your
neighbours, and it will do them good, and so strengthen the hands of your
fellow-beings, even though you may be looked upon as an outcast, vile
people, not worthy of the society of what are commonly deemed the
intelligent portion of the world.  This reminds me of what a man in
Connecticut said when he was preparing to emigrate to Utah.  His aunt was
deeply regretting that he was going away off to Utah to live with that
dark and outcast people.  "Why, my dear boy, you are going entirely away
from the Christians!"  He replied--"Aunt, I have prayed for years to be
delivered from these Christians."  I am happy, brethren and sisters, that
we are measurably delivered from the so-called Christians. 

	Do you wish to know why I am happy for this deliverance?  Because we
have the privilege of associating together and pouring out the
intelligence God has given us and is revealing from time to time, that we
may grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, and are not much
trammelled by the fashions, customs, and contaminating influences of the
world.  Are there good men and women among them?  Yes, a great many who
are just as good, so far as they know, as we are.  We have the benefit of
further knowledge and further commands in this generation, being actually
the disciples of the Lord Jesus, understanding our Master and his business
and mission upon the earth.  We have the privilege of diffusing this
knowledge to the nations, and calling out those who wish to join hand and
heart in building up the kingdom of God in the last days--in bringing
forth the Zion of God, and bringing about one universal reign of peace and
righteousness upon the earth.  It is our business, and is all the business
we have on our hands, to redeem the nations of the earth, and produce
righteousness and the knowledge of God, until it shall go forth like the
light of the morning sun.  And let me say to you Latter-day Saints, Wake
out of your slumber, and prepare yourselves for days that are fast
approaching; for times are approaching of which you are little aware. 
Forsake the spirit of the world, bid farewell to your love and affections
for the things of the world, and cleave unto God and unto those things
that are calculated to prepare you to dwell in his presence.  The earth is
the Lord's and the fulness thereof, and he deals with the children of men
according to their agency--according to their knowledge and power, to let
each and every one have an opportunity of proving themselves worthy to be
crowned with crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives; and if they
forfeit them, they must abide the consequences.  But if they live the
principles of the holy religion that Jesus Christ has produced on the
earth, they will be prepared to dwell eternally in his presence.

	Brethren and sisters, I will make one request of you.  When you
speak, speak so that we can hear and understand you, whether it be much or
little, good or bad.  If you have nothing to say, take my counsel, and
keep your seat.  If you have anything to say, say it; and when you get
through, stop.  Let your feelings be governed and controlled by the
principles of eternal life, as should the children of God, delighting in
truth and righteousness.  Let the wicked say what they please, for their
breath is in their nostrils, and all their glory is like the grass and the
flower of the grass that passeth away.  They are here but for a moment,
and soon those who know them now will know them no more for ever.  They
will soon be as though they had not been upon the earth.

	Let not your feelings be afflicted or in anywise troubled by the
sayings and doings of the wicked, for they are in the hands of the
Almighty, and he will dispose of individuals and nations as seemeth him
good.  He must give them an opportunity to receive the truth and prepare
themselves to dwell eternally with him, or to reject it and prepare
themselves to be cut down as cumberers of the ground, suffer the wrath of
the Almighty, and perish and be wasted away until they will be known no
more.  Seek for that which will endure.  Set your hearts upon those things
that will abide not only to-day, to-morrow, this year, and throughout your
lifetime, but also the coming of the Lord Jesus christ and the presence of
the Almighty who dwells in eternal burnings.

	May God bless you!  Amen.

                      POSSESSION OF THE SPIRIT, &c.
    Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, 
                   Great Salt Lake City, Oct. 6, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Brethren and sisters, I rejoice exceedingly for the manifestation of
the Spirit of God I have witnessed here to-day.  We have heard good
testimonies and good counsel, and the Spirit of the Lord is upon the
people; and I trust that I shall see an increase of this Spirit, which I
have felt in a signal manner to-day, and which I also feel day by day.

	The world could not hire me to be a "Mormon," unless I enjoyed the
spirit of my religion.  I need that spirit in my business, as well as in
my worship; and I surely would need it, if I had to go to the kanyons and
drive cattle:  I would need a double portion of it.  Whatever we do should
be in accordance with the mind of the Holy Spirit.  We are not at all
under the necessity of falling into the mistake that the Christian world
falls into.  They think, when they are handling or dealing in the things
of this world, that those things have nothing to do with their religion. 
Our religion takes within its wide embrace not only things of heaven, but
also things of earth.  It circumscribes all art, science, and literature
pertaining to heaven, earth, and hell.  Is there any good?  It belongs to
you and me. Is their virtue? It is ours.  Is there truth?  It is ours.  Is
there knowledge?  It is for us.

	All eternity is before us.  Let us deal with ourselves like men and
women of God.  Let us deal with one another like intelligent beings.  Our
religion drinks up all truth, and the Lord Almighty will gather unto Zion
all the intelligence and wisdom that has ever been exhibited among men.

	When I see men craving for and lusting after the things of this
world, it looks very childish to me.  These things belong to the Lord, and
we are his. The gold and the silver, the fine flour, the wine and the oil,
and all the treasures of the earth are his, and he disposes of them as he
will.  When we are prepared, we shall have gold sufficient to pave the
streets, and we will tread it under our feet.  Shame on men and women,
professing to be Saints, who worship and love the perishing things of
earth.  Love God and his work, and all is ours in time and in eternity.

	May the Lord help us so to do!  Amen.

            ETERNAL LIFE--BLESSINGS AND PRIVILEGES OF SAINTS.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I am pleased with the privilege of standing before the Saints to bear
my testimony to the truth and to express some of my thoughts pertaining to
eternal life.  The knowledge of the truth should be prized by all Saints. 
There are no people blessed to the same degree as those who are blessed
with the words of eternal life.  Men may be blessed with the things of
this life--may possess all the blessings this world can furnish--may have
the honour and glory of man; but all this bears no comparison to the
blessings that are bestowed upon those who understand the ways of life and
salvation.

	One generation passes away, and another succeeds.  Mankind are
continually changing.  Kingdoms and thrones arise, and are gone like a
vapour that passeth away.  The glory of man is but for a moment.  Are the
nations that have arisen, flourished, and passed away prepared to dwell in
eternal life in another state of existence?  We are blessed with the words
and way of life, through the Gospel, by One who has deigned to call us
brethren--not by adoption, in the strict sense of the world, but is flesh
of our flesh and bone of our bone,--One who has redeemed us.

	The generality of mankind are ignorant of the real relationship that
exists between them and Heaven.  They do not understand that God is our
Father.  By adoption?  No; but we are his children by a legal inheritance. 
He gave his only begotten Son, pertaining to the flesh, to redeem the
whole family of man.

	Who can define the divinity of man?  Only those who understand the
true principles of eternity--the principles that pertain to life and
salvation.  Man, by being exalted, does not lose the power and ability
naturally given to him; but, on the contrary, by taking the road that
leads to life, he gains more power, more influence and ability during
every step he progresses therein.  Mankind have power given them to
propagate their speeies [sic].  An exaltation to thc [sic] celestial
kingdom of God by no means lessens that power.  On these points the
children of men are shrouded in mystery and uncertainty.

	When we say that we are blessed above many of our fellows, we may
also say that we have the greatest reason to rejoice in and love our
religion, to walk humbly before our God, do good to each other, and
forsake all evil and the appearance of it. Is this too much to say and do? 
Does it rob the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us of any of their
rich enjoyments?  The greater our privileges and the greater the blessings
bestowed upon us, the more faithfulness and diligence are required in our
callings to save the children of men.

	When you approach the throne of grace and petition the Father, in the
name of that Saviour who has redeemed the world, do you use that name as
the name of a stranger?  If you understand your own religion, you petition
that Personage as you would one of your brethren in the flesh.  Is this
strange to you?  It should bring near to you things that pertain to
eternity, give your reflections and views a more exalted cast, stamp your
daily actions with truth and honesty, and cause you to be filled with the
Spirit and power of God.

	I have reflected much upon the subject of religion, the world of
mankind, their relations one to another and to the Author of their being,
and the object of their existence.  We are now endowed with that
knowledge, a proper improvement upon which will enable us to secure an
inheritance in the celestial kingdom of our God. Millions of the
inhabitants of this earth have striven to their uttermost--stretched their
minds to the greatest extent to become acquainted with what the Lord has
seen fit to bestow upon us, without any outlay of labour or energy on our
part.  He has seen fit to call his servant Joseph Smith, jun., and submit
to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven,--to reveal to him the mysteries
of salvation, and bring to light things that have been hid for many
ages--things that the world have been seeking for--wrestling with the
powers of heaven to obtain, that they might know how to make their escape
from this wicked world, and secure to themselves a sure abiding-place--an
inheritance that passeth not away.  Thousands have spent their lives--the
best part of their days, to search out what has been revealed to us
without the least exertion of ours.

	When we say that we believe the Gospel and rejoice in it, let us not
forget that it is to us a free gift.  How far did you travel to obtain it? 
How much money did you pay for it?  What penance did you perform to prove
yourselves worthy  of it?  The blessings we enjoy came to us without money
and without price.  Have we not great reason to be thankful that the
Spirit of the Lord has touched the eyes of our understandings that we may
see, and that he has given us his Spirit to bend our dispositions to his
requirements?  

	We talk about our trials and troubles here in this life:  but suppose
that you could see yourselves thousands and millions of years after you
have proved faithful to your religion during the few short years in this
time, and have obtained eternal salvation and a crown of glory in the
presence of God; then look back upon your lives here, and see the losses,
crosses, and disappointments, the sorrows arising from disobedient
children--from wicked parents who have opposed their children who wished
to embrace the truth, the persecutions from city to city, from state to
state, being hunted and driven, you would be constrained to exclaim, "But
what of all that?  Those things were but for a moment, and we are now
here.  We have been faithful during a few moments in our mortality, and
now we enjoy eternal life and glory, with power to progress in all the
boundless knowledge and through the countless stages of progression,
enjoying the smiles and approbation of our Father and God, and of Jesus
Christ our elder brother."

	The child who has his father's razor, or any other article dangerous
for him to handle, and about the use of which he has no knowledge, when
deprived of it, his trials are equal to ours, according to his capacity. 
We seldom think of the trials of our little ones when we say to them, You
must not have this or that; you must do so and so to receive my smiles and
approbation; you must not think for a moment that your judgment, wisdom,
experience, and wishes are to be compared with mine. Does not the Father
of all living conduct himself in this wise towards his children?  He has
revealed to us that he will prepare us for glory, for life eternal,--will
preserve our identity for ever, if we will be guided by him.  But we must
be obedient to him, for he understands more than we do.  We should destroy
ourselves if we were suffered to take our own way; hence we are taught to
suffer the Father to point out our path to an eternal duration hereafter,
where our present afflictions will appear as flimsy as the shadows of the
morning that flee upon the approach of day.  God bless you!  Amen.

                               UNION, ETC.
     Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 7, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Jesus Christ, in his teachings, made plain the difference between the
powers calculated to destroy, annihilate, dissolve, reduce to native
element, and those which will eternally endure.  In view of this, he
prayed to his Father for his disciples, and wished them to pay particular
attention to this one principle in their faith.  The words he is recorded
to have made use of are--"Sanctify them through the truth:  thy word is
truth.  As thou has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them
into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also
might be sanctified through the truth.  Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they
all may be one, as thou Father art in me and I in thee, that they also may
be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  And the
glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one even as
we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one." 

	The Saviour sought continually to impress upon the minds of his
disciples that a perfect oneness reigned among all celestial beings--that
the Father and the Son and their minister, the Holy Ghost, were one in
their administration in heaven and among the people pertaining to this
earth.  Between them and all the heavenly hosts there can be no disunion,
no discord, no wavering on a suggestion, on a thought or reflection, on a
feeling or manifestation; for such a principle would differ widely from
the character of Him who dictates them, who makes his throne the
habitation of justice, mercy, equity, and truth.  If the heavenly hosts
were not one, they would be entirely unfit to dwell in eternal burnings
with the Father and Ruler of the universe.

 	A perfect oneness will save a people, because intelligent beings
cannot become perfectly one only by acting upon principles that pertain to
eternal life.  Wicked men may be partially united in evil; but, in the
very nature of things, such a union is of short duration.  The very
principle upon which they are partially united will itself breed
contention and disunion to destroy the temporary compact.  Only the line
of truth and righteousness can secure to any kingdom or people, either of
earthly or heavenly existence, an eternal continuation of perfect union;
for only truth and those who are sanctified by it can dwell in celestial
glory.  This truth we have, and we offer it, without money or price, to
the world who are beguiled, benighted, and deceived by the artful mass of
superstition, bigotry, tradition, fashions, customs, cliques, and plans
that have been growing and ripening from the days of Adam until now,
introducing discord, strife, animosity, anarchy, and crime of every grade,
suffering of every kind, and premature death to millions.  They are
embracing shadows and trying to retain that which will perish in their
grasp and leave them desolate.  All organized matter must dissolve and
return to its native element, unless it is made pure and holy--capable of
enduring eternal burnings.  All principles, principalities, powers,
thrones, kingdoms, dominions, communities, neighbourhoods, and
individuals, with their actions public and private, their feelings and
aspirations, that are not concentrated in the oneness taught by our
Saviour, will come to dissolution into native element.  Says Jesus, "I and
my Father are one."  They are one in their faith, purposes, and actions,
the Saviour being subject to the Father in all things.  Again, he
says--"For I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of
him that sent me."  Again--"I come to do thy will, O God."  Many more of
the sayings of Christ might be quoted, which set forth this principle of
oneness, that I have upon my mind and wish to impress upon the minds of
the people.

	I do not hesitate in saying that, if the people will concentrate
their faith and works to accomplish the great object of their existence,
their troubles, sorrows, anxieties, difficulties, contentions,
animosities, and strife would be at end.  This idea I wish to apply more
particularly to those who are called to act in the capacity of Presidents,
Bishops, Counsellors, High Counsellors, and to every man holding office in
this Church; but I also wish it to apply to every member, both male and
female.  I will say to my brethren and sisters, Were your faith
concentrated upon the proper object, your confidence unshaken, your lives
pure and holy, every one fulfilling the duties of his or her calling
according to the Priesthood and capacity bestowed upon you, you would be
filled with the Holy Ghost, and it would be as impossible for any man to
deceive and lead you to destruction as for a feather to remain unconsumed
in the midst of intense heat.  I may not be able to convince you of this
fact, but I can tell you that it is true.  I can reveal principles that
pertain to this oneness--to this holiness of life; but to make the people
believe and practise them is another thing.  I can preach the Gospel, but
I cannot make people obey its mandates when they are not so disposed: 
that is a matter left entirely to themselves.  I can tell you how to avoid
your difficulties, jars, contentions, and sorrows.  I can tell you how to
establish peace, prosperity, plenty, and happiness in your midst, and how
to maintain them; but I cannot make you follow my directions, if you are
not so disposed.  This is also a matter that is left entirely with
yourselves; and you must reap the reward of your own doings, whether they
be good or evil.

	In some instances, the people lose confidence in their Bishops, and
the Bishops lose confidence in themselves and in the people.  Were it in
my power to bring the people to understanding and obedience, I would place
them in such a degree of advancement that their Bishop could not live in
their midst, unless he administered in his office with holy hands and with
pure heart.  Then, if he lacked the wisdom and discretion to judge
righteously between man and man, he would be filled with the revelations
of eternity, to enable him to judge like an angel, to discriminate between
right and wrong, to point out the path of duty to every one, and to
designate what is required of each person in his respective calling.  But
this advancement is for the people and Bishops to obtain for themselves,
through the means the Gospel supplies.

	I have lived in the days of Prophets and Revelators.  I have been
subject to rule--to the powers that have been and now are.  This is not
new to me.  My own experience has led me, step by step, from day to day,
and from night to night.  When fear comes upon the people that a Bishop or
President is leading them astray and introducing evil among them, it
proves to me that the people are wrong and are destitute of the power of
their holy calling.  They are willingly deceived.  It is folly to say that
a community of Saints who are living up to their callings can be led
astray by their Bishop or President.  There is no such principle in all
the kingdoms God has made.

	It may be that some pray that their Bishop may be led wrong, that
they may get rid of him.  If so, is that taking a course to save the
children of men?  Take a man of the weakest intellect of any in a Ward and
ordain him a Bishop, and then let every other man in that Ward be filled
with the power of his holy calling; are they not ready and willing to give
a word of counsel to their Bishop when they meet him?  Their faith is
concentrated upon him; they pray for him early and late, that the Lord
will fill him with wisdom, enlarge his understanding, open the visions of
his mind, and show him things as they are in time and in eternity.  You
all know that even such a man would become mighty in the house of Israel,
if he had the faith of his Ward.  The capacities of all sane persons are
capable of enlargement.  You may take the weakest man in the Church, if he
is faithful, and ordain him a Bishop, and he will grow into wisdom,
knowledge, strength, power, light, intelligence, and the spirit of his
calling.  If he does not thus advance, it is because he more or less
forsakes his calling and sets his heart upon something besides the holy
Priesthood that is placed upon him.  There is not a faithful man in this
Church but what will increase in his understanding of the ways and duties
of life.  His mind will expand, the visions of heaven will be opened to
him, and truth pertaining to all subjects of art and science will increase
within him.

	Does not the weakest intellect of a properly organized person know
more at ten years of age than it did at five--more at twenty than at
ten--more at forty than at twenty, and so continue?  Yes.  This proves
that he has grown, increased, and expanded in his capacity from his
infancy.  Now I will apply this to an officer in the Church.  He once knew
but little; he now knows considerable.  Any Bishop, under the influence of
the prayers and confidence of his brethren and sisters, with a faithful
and holy life on his part, will increase in faith and good works, and the
rich fruits of his mind will manifest from day to day increased wisdom and
intelligence.

 	You hear the remark that such and such a man is not fit to be a
Bishop?  I acknowledge that many who are called to be Bishops are not fit
for the office, for it is one of the most important offices in the Church
to rightly administer in temporal things.  A Bishop also ministers in
spiritual things, and is required to devote time to the wellbeing and
prosperity of his ward, like a father to a family.  It is an office that
keenly tries the patience, faith, and feelings of a man.  If the brethren
and sisters prayed for that man continually, and lived their religion, he
would know how to settle certain business transactions without running to
me about this, that, and the other.  Brethren would not run to me about
things, that, and the other.  Brethren would not run to me about things as
simple as, "So-and-so has been building a fence on the line between us,
and has put his polls wrong end foremost.  Will you not counsel him to
turn them?"  And sisters are running to me about things as simple as,
"Sister So-and-so's hens have laid on my premises, and they do not lay
with their heads in the right direction."  Does such conduct proceed from
true knowledge among the Latter-day Saints?  No.  I do not wish to talk
about such folly, neither to have my time wasted by visits upon such
unimportant subjects.  I do not wonder that the Lord suffers us to be more
or less abused by our enemies.  I do not wonder that the devils laugh at
our folly.

	Let men and women who profess to be Latter-day Saints live their
religion, and they will be filled with wisdom, and all these little
trifling traits of life will vanish.  If my brother or sister commits an
overt act, all I wish to know is whether the wrong was intended. If so, I
cannot fellowship you; but I will bear with the inconvenience you have put
me to.  If no wrong was intended, all is right--we have nothing to say. 
How is it?  Do you seek not the Lord early and late, constantly, from
morning until evening?  Are your secret devotions and the impulse of every
moment filled with the desire to have the Lord Almighty lead you, direct
you, and prepare you for the discharge of every duty in building up his
kingdom on the earth and the promotion of righteousness?

	I do not wonder that some say that this or that Bishop is not fit for
his calling.  It is true; for there are Bishops who condescend to notice
childish trifles, unworthy the notice of a child five years old.  They
love the world--are covetous.  Their minds are upon this, that, and the
other, instead of upon the duties of their office, which are to them a
secondary consideration.  Such men are not fit for this office.

	I will here offer advice that may apply to every officer and member
in this Church, from myself down.  I will say to wives, whose husbands are
unruly and will not walk in the paths of rectitude and truth, Live your
religion faithfully; and if you have sons and daughters, let them do the
same and be one with you, and you will burn the wicked man out of the
house, for he will not be able to resist the power of God that is within
you.  Let the people in Wards live their religion; let every man and woman
be filled with the power of the Holy Ghost, and you will burn out an
unfaithful Bishop, without being obliged to complain of him and quarrel
him out of the Ward.  If you are not one, you cannot be Saints.  How can
we be one?  Shall we seek to establish a perfect oneness by means of the
order God has instituted upon the earth?  or shall we set up our
individual judgments against that order?

	If my individual judgment must be the standard, then farewell to
union--farewell to oneness.  God can never save us upon any such
principle.  He is the Author or our existence--the Giver of every good and
perfect gift, and he must be obeyed, If he has restored the holy
Priesthood  to the children of men and organized his Church upon the
earth, it is time that we knew it.  If we do not know it, let us, in the
first place, find out whether his Church is here or not; and wherever we
find it, with its keys and powers, let us bow to its mandates and observe
religiously its order.

	I will here make a few remarks which I think will check some of the
complaints from women about their husbands.  I acknowledge that many women
know much more than their husbands, and for this reason the faith and
confidence in them droop; they do not seek to uphold them in the dignity
of their position and calling.  And again, maybe the husband does not
magnify his priesthood, follow diligently the duties of his calling, and
increase in the faith of the Gospel, as it is his privilege to do.  He
should be the head of the wife all the day long.  I will venture to say a
little more upon this point.  I like to see people consistent with the
wisdom they profess to have.  Were I a woman possessed of great powers of
mind, filled with wisdom, and, upon the whole, a magnanimous woman, and
had been privileged with my choice, and had married a man, and found
myself deceived, he not answering my expectations, and I being sorry that
I had made such a choice, let me show my wisdom by not complaining about
it.  A woman's wisdom and judgment has failed her once in the choice of a
husband, and it may again, if she is not very careful.  By seeking to cast
off her husband--by withdrawing her confidence and goodwill from him, she
casts a dark shade upon his path, when, by pursuing a proper course of
love, obedience, and encouragement, he might attain to that perfection she
had anticipated in him.  When the enemy once gets advantage over you, he
is very apt to improve upon it, and to gain a greater when he has another
opportunity.

	If wives have wicked and unfaithful husbands, if children have wicked
and unfaithful parents, if Wards have unfaithful Bishops, and if there are
Presidents who are not capable of magnifying their Priesthood and calling,
let wives, children, and people seek unto the Lord to be filled with that
power of the Holy Ghost that will remove those unfaithful persons to other
quarters.  Let them remove them by the power of faith in such a way as not
in the least to infringe upon the rights of a single person, giving them
no just ground for complaint.  Let all the Saints fulfil every duty, and
manifest in their lives true and full obedience to the commandments and
requirements of the Gospel, then our Bishops and presiding officers can
say, 'God bless you, brother!"  or "God bless you, sister!--you  are
following your calling and mission, and magnifying your being on the
earth."  If all the people would so live, there would be no High Council
or Bishops' Court necessary to adjudicate upon matters of contention and
strife.  If a man did not lay his polls on his fence to please me, I would
go and turn them, and he would be quite willing that I should be
accommodated.

	I will give you a text:  Except I am one with my good brethren, do
not say that I am a Latter-day Saint.  We must be one.  Our faith must be
concentrated in one great work--the building up of the kingdom of God on
the earth, and our works must aim to the accomplishment of that great
purpose.  This people, I am happy to say, are fast improving.  In our
testimony meeting yesterday, I could not refrain from weeping for joy. 
What a peaceful, joyous, happy, heavenly spirit rested upon the
congregation. Live so, my brethren and sisters, that you can enjoy that
Spirit all the time.

	The brethren, in testifying yesterday, used the common expression,
"The Lord is here."  If he was not here in person, he was by his
ministers, by his angels, by his Spirit.  It is well for us that he did
not raise the vail; for if he had, we should have been consumed by the
brightness of his glory and the majesty of his power.  The Lord was here
by his Spirit, and he is here in like manner to-day.  The Spirit of the
Lord is in the midst of the people.  Then why not yield perfect obedience
to his Priesthood?  If we have it, we are in duty bound to live to it and
be guided continually by its sacred order.

	Let every man stand in his lot and calling as long as he can, and not
complain that this Bishop and that President cannot perform his duty.  Why
can he not?  Because you are exercising your faith against him, which, in
many instances, is the reason why he is trammelled.  If the faith, spirit,
and life of the people are right, they would not be troubled with bad
Bishops and bad Presidents, and I would not be so troubled with bad
Bishops and bad Presidents, and I would not be so troubled with affairs
which should be attended to by others.  Live so that you can discern the
things of God--so that you can at once discern between the things of God,
the things of man, and the things of the Devil.

	I would beseech and pray the people to so live that if I do not
magnify my office and calling, you you [sic] will burn me by your faith
and good works, and I shall be removed.  Salvation is what I am seeking
and striving for, and it is also your aim and object.  The Lord has
restored the Priesthood in our day for the salvation of Israel.  Does he
design to save anybody else?  Yes; he will save the house of Esau, and I
hope to live until I see Mount Zion established, and saviours come up to
save those poor, miserable beings who are continually persecuting us--all
who have not sinned against the Holy Ghost.  Our labour is to save
ourselves, to save the house of Israel, to save the house of Esau, and all
the Gentile nations,--every one that can be saved.

	The salvation offered in the Gospel is one of the most consoling, one
of the most merciful, one of the most magnanimous principles that can be
advanced in all the revelations of God to man.  All the sons and daughters
of men will be saved, except the sons of perdition.

	Brethren and sisters, I feel as calm and serene as the autumn sun of
our mountain home.  All is right.  I have minded my own business, and I
intend so to do.  I have known many to become rich by minding their own
business.  I have seldom seen enough affliction to prevent my dropping to
sleep in a minute after I had lain down to rest and my business for the
day was done, and sleeping as soundly as a healthy child in the lap of its
mother.  God is at the helm.  He guides the ship, and will bring us safely
to port.  All we have to care about is to take care of ourselves and see
that we do right.  Let us man the ship manfully, every one standing
faithfully and firmly to his post, and she will outride every storm and
safely bear us to the harbour of celestial bliss.

	I have said but a small part of what I wish to say, but I will give
way for others.  God bless you!  Amen.

           RE-ORGANIZATION OF THE HIGH COUNCIL--APPOINTMENT OF
               YOUNG MEN TO OFFICES IN THE PRIESTHOOD, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 8, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	With regard to the High Council, I wish to make a suggestion which
has just occurred to me.  It seems to me best, in voting for the
authorities, to pass over their names for the present. I do not think
there is much fault to be found with the High Councillors now in office. 
We are willing to give them credit for all the good they have done, and we
do not wish to know anything against them, although some of them have
injured themselves more than they have others.  Solomon declared, "Better
is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be
admonished."  This is a true saying; and I wish to apply it, in some
respects, in the present instance.  In the remarks I shall now make, some
may think that I am quite plain-spoken and frank with my brethren.  Grant
it:  so also I am with myself.

	When I was baptized into this Church, it was in its infancy, although
a considerable number had been baptized before me, and many of them were
older when they were baptized than I was.  They improved, their minds
expanded, they received truth and intelligence, increased in the knowledge
of the things of God, and bid fair to become full-grown men in Christ
Jesus.  But some of them, when they had gained a little spiritual strength
and knowledge, apparently stopped in their growth.  This was in the
eastern country, and but a few years passed before the fruit-trees began
to cease bearing fruit.  The cherry and plum-trees where this work
commenced began to fail in fruit-bearing, and the black bunches began to
increase on their trunks and branches, caused by the depredations of
insects which destroy the sap and life of the trees.  The apple-tree also
has nearly ceased bearing in that and the adjacent regions.  One of our
old neighbours, whose name is Allen, says that good apples have for years
been very scarce in that country, where, to my certain knowledge, they
used to be excellent and abundant.  And in the few that mature, a worm is
generally found at the core.  So it has been with many who embraced the
Gospel in that country:  like the fruit-trees, they have ceased to grow
and increase and bear the fruits of the Spirit.

	It is a common adage, "Old men for counsel, and young men for war." 
Until men born in the Priesthood grow old therein in faithfulness, I would
say, with comparatively few exceptions, "Young men for counsel, and young
men for war."  For knowledge and understanding, I would rather, as a
general thing, select young men for eighteen years of age--the son of men
who have been in this Church from the beginning, than to select their
fathers.  Their minds have been but little, if any, trammelled with
erroneous traditions and teachings.  Let the yoke of the Gospel be put
upon those young men brother Joseph referred to in his remarks, who have
been sowing their wild oats for years, and generally better and more
correct in the offices of the Priesthood than many of the gray-haired
fathers. They understand more about God, about Jesus Christ, and the
government of God on the earth, than do many of the fathers and
grand-fathers.

	It never hurts my feelings to see young exuberant life and animation
manifest themselves; but I do not like to hear swearing:  to that I
strongly object.  I also strongly object to their getting drunk, to their
pilfering their neighbours' property, and to their doing anything else
that is wrong.  I love to see our young men wide awake, ready for anything
in the line of right, having their minds bent in the channel of truth. 
They learn the truth from their childhood, and know but little else, if
their parents have done their duty in properly directing the growth of the
young branches.  Their wild, foolish, childish, boyish caprices will
occasionally be exhibited; but when those pass off, you find in them a
solid basis of truth and good principle.  Some few of those who give rein
to their wild and foolish notions, and seemingly give themselves up to
destruction, will meet hard times: suffering and trouble will arrest them
in their wild career, and then they will begin to inquire after their
friends.  They will seek those whose bosoms are filled with compassion and
goodwill towards them, will cease their follies, and their friends will
rejoice over them in their efforts to become good and wise.  Do not be
discouraged about the follies of the young.

	I know that parents are often much troubled about their children.  I
have heard many relate their troubles and sorrows in this respect, though
they are comparatively trifling, unless your children disregard all your
tender solicitude and wise counsels and examples, and, when arrived at
maturity, forsake you and go headlong to destruction, when you will think
that you never had any trouble until then.  The want of bread for them in
their infancy was no sorrow, when compared with such a trial. 
Parents--you who continue to live the life of true Christians, and are
filled with faith, virtue, and good works, I promise you, in the name of
Israel's God, that you will have your children, and no power can rob you
of them; for all will be saved, except the sons of perdition.  If they go
to hell, you will have the privilege of dragging them from there, if you
are faithful.  That is the promise made to Abraham.  You are aware that
the children of Israel acted as badly as the Devil could make them, and
the Lord afflicted them in this life, because of the promise he made to
their father Abraham that he would save his seed.

	You may inquire of the intelligent of the world whether they can tell
why the aborigines of this country are dark, loathsome, ignorant, and
sunken into the depths of degradation; and they cannot tell.  I can tell
you in a few words:  They are the seed of Joseph, and belong to the
household of God; and he will afflict them in this world, and save every
one of them hereafter, even though they previously go into hell.  When the
Lord has a people, he makes covenants with them and gives unto them
promises:  then, if they transgress his law, change his ordinances, and
break the covenants he has made with them, he will put a mark upon them,
as in the case of the Lamanites and other portions of the house of Israel;
but by-and-by they will become a white and delightsome people.

 	Brethren, I wish you to understand things precisely as they are.  We
shall dissolve the present High Council of this Stake.  Many of them are
far advanced in years, and some of them live at considerable distances
from this city.  They have laboured according to the best of their
ability; but I would like to see men who never become so old that they
cannot learn.  I desire to see everybody on the track of improvement,
gaining all the knowledge, power, and advancement possible for them to
gain and possess.  But so it is:  many of the first members in this Church
appear as though they never could keep pace with the times, increasing in
the knowledge of the truth and improving thereupon.

	I will tell you how to expand and increase as far as I know.  Let
your whole soul--affections, actions, wishes, desires, every effort and
motive, and every hour's labour you perform be with a single eye to the
building up the Zion of God on the earth.  If you will pursue this course,
you will learn every day and make advancements every hour.  But when you
so love your property as to quarrel and contend about this, that, or the
other trifling affair, as though all your affections were placed upon the
changing, fading things of earth, it is impossible to increase in the
knowledge of truth.  The thrones and kingdoms of earth are frequently
changing hands.  Adventurers rise up or go forth and establish new
governments, and in a few short years they are cast down to give place to
more successful powers.  All earthly things are changing hands.  The gold,
the silver, and other property pass from my hands to yours, and from yours
to the hands of others.  Shame on a people that place their affections
upon this changing matter!  Love God and the things that change not

	I have a little more counsel that I wish to give during this
Conference, and you may tell it to your Presidents, Bishops, High
Councillors, High Priests, Seventies, &c.  My counsel to the Elders of
Israel is to let whisky, brandy, and other strong drinks alone.  I will
tell you how drunkards appear to me.  Although I have been a man of the
world, yet I have never seen a moment, since I thought I had a character
or had to establish one, when, with very few exceptions, I would count
them worthy, in regard to moral character, to wipe my shoes upon,
figuratively speaking. I would not abuse them, but I would give them
something to kill the life of the liquor, and, when they were sufficiently
sober, ask them if they did not think they were extremely foolish. 
Probably scores, who are not here, are drunk now; and it is my positive
counsel and command that drinking liquor be stopped.  If I had the
influence the world gives me credit for, I would not have a single
drunkard, thief, or liar in this society.  I do not profess to have that
influence, but I can raise my voice against those evils.

	In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command the Elders of
Israel--those who have been in the habit of getting drunk--to cease
drinking strong drink from this time henceforth, until you really need it. 
But some may think they need it as soon as they go out of this house.  Let
me be your physician in this matter.  So long as you are able to walk and
attend to your business, it is folly to say that you need ardent spirits
to keep you alive.  The constitution that a person has should be nourished
and cherished; and whenever we take anything into the system to force and
stimulate it beyond its nataral [sic] capacity, it shortens life.  I am
physician enough to know that.  When you are tired and think you need a
little spirituous liquor, take some bread-and-butter, or bread-and-milk,
and lie down and rest.  Do not labour so hard as to deem it requisite to
get half-drunk in order to keep up your spirits.  If you will follow this
counsel, you will be full of life and health, and will increase your
intelligence, your joy, and comfort.

	As I have already requested, I now again request the authorities of
this Church in their various localities to sever from this society those
who will not cease getting drunk.  If you know a man to be guilty of
pilfering, or any species of dishonesty, disfellowship that man in his
Quorum, and let his Bishop cut him off from the Church.  I have no
fellowship with thieves, liars, murderers, robbers, whoremongers, or any
such characters. I never have had, and I hope I never shall have.  [The
congregation exclaimed, "Amen."]  If I had the influence that the wicked
accuse me of, I would straighten up the perverse among this people, and
bring that Zion we see in vision.  They would either repent and do right,
or go where society is more congenial to their evil habits and practices.

	Brethren, I desire to so live that I can remain with you until my
work on the earth is finished.  But were I as good as you wish me to be, I
could not.  Brother Greeley says that Brigham appears to be in no hurry to
get to heaven.  No:  I wish to stay here and fight the Devil until he is
bound, and all wickedness is cleansed from the earth, and it is made ready
for Christ to come and receive his right.  And it is for us to be ready to
abide the day of his coming.

	May God bless you!  Amen.


                        PROGRESS IN KNOWLEDGE, &c.
     Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 8, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

		In the remarks I am about to offer, I do not design to cast the
least reflection upon the honesty, integrity, truthfulness, and
faithfulness of this people; but I really feel to praise them.  And I
repeat what I have frequently said, that, in my opinion, Enoch and his
people, during the first twenty-nine-and-a-half years of their history,
did not make greater progress in the knowledge of the Father and Son than
this people have.  This thought gives me great comfort, encouragement, and
consolation.

	Our traditions and education, from our birth until we embraced this
Gospel, were in many instances contrary to the plan of salvation,
antagonistic to the word of God, and opposed to his character,--not
designedly; but we and our fathers grovelled in the deepest shades of
mental darkness and ignorance touching God, his character, and the Gospel
plan.  Our teachers were no better than ourselves, for thick darkness
covered all.  The blind were leading the blind.  They are still doing so,
and both will fall into the ditch.

	Under these considerations, I think that we, as a people, are doing
as well as we know how.  We are advancing from year to year in the
knowledge of God.  Before we came into this Church, we knew,
comparatively, but little in regard to the true religion of Christ.  Is
there now a man in all the world, outside of this Church, that can tell
the first thing about it?  Although they have the Old and New Testament,
and day by day scrutinize every letter, word, and sentence of those books,
yet they cannot rightly tell one thing in regard to the kingdom of God.

	Brother Taylor said that, before he heard this Gospel, he did not
even know that it was necessary to be baptized for the remission of sins. 
He had read the Bible many times and really did not believe it, though he
supposed that he believed every word in it.  Had a person said to him,
"Mr. Taylor, here is the New Testament, which gives a true history of the
Saviour of the world and of the religion he produced for the salvation of
the children of men, but you do not believe it,"  Mr. Taylor would have
considered himself persecuted for righteousness' sake, and perhaps would
have put the person out of his house.

	There is not one of us who professed to be Christians before we
embraced this Gospel could have borne to be told that we did not believe
all that is written in the Old and New Testaments.  We should have deemed
such a statement very unwarranted and past enduring; yet such was the
fact.

	We had read, over and over again, that baptism was for the remission
of sins; yet none of us knew that it was true and requisite.  We had often
read the commission of the Saviour to the disciples, that the believer in
their words should be baptized to be saved; yet who of us fully believed
that he spoke the truth?  We read the Bible with the idea that it gave a
history of something that was, but is not now, and never will be.

	In this state of ignorance and blindness the Gospel found us; yet we
have learned many great and glorious truths during the short experience we
have had in this Church.  We now see the consistency of the vital truths
that the ancient Apostles left recorded for the world to read.  We might
say that the Bible is a guide-board to the world, as it points out the
path for them to walk in: it draws a line to guide their conduct.

	We have learned much from the Bible.  We have also learned much from
the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants; but all the
salvation you can obtain by means of those books alone is comparatively of
little value.  They contain a history of what other men have done, show
the path they walked in, and the way in which they obtained the words of
eternal life for themselves; but all the Scriptures from the days of Adam
until now cannot, alone, save one individual.  Were they all committed to
memory so perfectly that they could be recited with the greatest ease,
that alone would not save one of the smallest of God's creatures, nor
bring any person nearer the gate of the celestial kingdom.  In visiting a
foreign nation, an understanding of their language, geography, manners,
customs, and laws is very agreeable and beneficial.  So the reading of the
Bible gives comfort and happiness to the traveller to eternity, and points
out to him in part the character and attributes of the Being whom to know
is life eternal.  We have not yet attained to that knowledge, and the mere
reading of the Scriptures can never put us in possession of it.

	When the vision of your mind is opened by the Eternal Spirit, you
measurably see Zion in its beauty and perfection, and are filled with
ecstacies of joy; but when the vision closes, you still find yourselves in
this dark and benighted world.  In a vision of Zion in its glory, you do
not see your own and your brethren's foibles, while you are struggling
from day to day to prepare yourselves to participate in the glory you gaze
upon while you are in the spirit.

	We are still warring against the darkness and imperfections,
temptations and vicissitudes inherent to the flesh in this dark and
benighted world; and it is by a steady, unwavering course of daily
progression that we can be prepared to enjoy the glories of the celestial
kingdom with God our Father.

	If a person is baptized for the remission of sins, and dies in a
short time thereafter, he is not prepared at once to enjoy a fulness of
the glory promised to the faithful in the Gospel; for he must be schooled,
while in the spirit, in the other departments of the house of God, passing
on from truth to truth, from intelligence to intelligence, until he is
prepared to again receive his body and to enter into the presence of the
Father and the Son.  We cannot enter into celestial glory in our present
state of ignorance and mental darkness.

	I know that we have been taught from our infancy, and it is now a
popular doctrine with all the denominations of the Christians of the
nineteenth century, that, when the mortal tenement is committed to the
grave, there is an end of all further progress in intelligence and
learning with regard to this probation.  In support of this idea, they
advance the scripture, "If the tree fall toward the south, or toward the
north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be."  Again,
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no
work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou
goest."

	The worms have work to do in the grave until the body is reduced to
mother earth.  But the active, intelligent, divine organization that
inhabited the body does not descend with it into the grave to work with
the worms; but it goes to the spirit-world, and is much more busily
engaged there than when it was a tenant in a mortal tabernacle.

	Suppose, then, that a man is evil in his heart--wholly given up to
wickedness, and in that condition dies, his spirit will enter the
spirit-world intent upon evil.  On the other hand, if we are striving with
all the powers and faculties God has given us to improve upon our talents,
to prepare ourselves to dwell in eternal life, and the grave receives our
bodies while we are thus engaged, with what disposition will our spirits
enter their next state? They will be still striving to do the things of
God, only in a much greater degree--learning, increasing, growing in grace
and in the knowledge of the truth.

	The people called Christians are shrouded in ignorance, and read the
Scriptures with darkened understandings.

	Do you read the Scriptures, my brethren and sisters, as though you
were writing them a thousand, two thousand, or five thousand years ago? 
Do you read them as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote
them?  If you do not feel thus, it is your privilege to do so, that you
may be as familiar with the spirit and meaning of the written word of God
as you are with your daily walk and conversation, or as you are with your
workmen or with your households.  You may understand what the Prophets
understood and thought--what they designed and planned to bring forth to
their brethren for their good.

	When you can thus feel, then you may begin to think that you can find
out something about God, and begin to learn who he is.  He is our
Father--the Father of our spirits, and was once a man in mortal flesh as
we are, and is now an exalted Being.

	How many Gods there are, I do not know.  But there never was a time
when there were not Gods and worlds, and when men were not passing through
the same ordeals that we are now passing through.  That course has been
from all eternity, and it is and will be to all eternity.  You cannot
comprehend this; but when you can, it will be to you a matter of great
consolation.

	It appears ridiculous to the world, under their darkened and
erroneous traditions, that God has once been a finite being; and yet we
are not in such close communion with him as many have supposed.  He has
passed on, and is exalted far beyond what we can now comprehend.  Eye hath
not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of
man to conceive all the things of God. We are not capacitated to receive
them all at once; but God, by his Spirit, reveals to our spirits as we
grow and become able and capacitated to comprehend, through improving upon
every means of grace placed within our power, until we shall be counted
worthy to receive all things. 

	"All is yours," says the Apostle.  Do not become disheartened, give
up your labours, and conclude that you are not to be saved.  All is yours,
if you will but live according to what you know, and increase in knowledge
and godliness; and if you increase in these, you will also increase in all
things pertaining to the earth; and by-and-by, you will be satisfied that
all is the Lord's, and that we are Christ's, and that Christ is God's. 
All centres in the Father; wherefore let us all be satisfied that he gives
to us as we are capacitated to receive.

	We need not be discouraged; but, as I have exhorted on another
occasion, Let the Elders of Israel manfully man the old ship Zion--let
every man faithfully stand to his post, and they will ultimately be worthy
to enter into celestial glory.  This is all the business we have on hand
at present.

	Doubtless you understood and bear in mind what brother Taylor said
with regard to voting for the authorities of the Church.  I wish all the
brethren and sisters to vote by raising their right hands, the meaning of
which many of you understand.  If there are any who do not feel like
voting in the affirmative, when the name of one of the authorities in the
Church is presented, and they suppose that they have sufficient cause for
withholding their support, they may have the privilege of entering their
complaints or objections before the Conference.  If you present good and
sufficient reasons for not voting for an individual, we will give the
subject a candid investigation.

	We will now present the authorities.



                            INTELLIGENCE, ETC.
    Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, 
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 9, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I shall address you this morning upon a subject that is more
interesting to me than any other pertaining to the life of man.  It is a
subject of deep study and research, and has been from age to age among the
reflecting and philosophical portions of the human family.  The
intelligence given to the children of men is the subject to which I
allude, and upon which has been expended more intellectual labour and
profound thought than upon any other that has ever attracted the attention
of man.

	The Psalmist has written, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? 
and the son of man, that thou visitest him?  For thou hast made him a
little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour." 
This passage is but one of many which refer to the organization of man as
though it were a great mystery--something that could not be fully
comprehended by the greatest minds while dwelling in earthly tabernacles. 
It is a matter of vital interest to each of us, and yet it is often
farthest from the thoughts of the greater portion of mankind.  Instead of
reflecting upon and searching for hidden things of the greatest value to
them, they rather wish to learn how to secure their way through this world
as easily and as comfortably as possible.  The reflections what they are
here for, who produced them, and where they are from, far too seldom enter
their minds.

	Many have written upon this great subject, and there exists a great
variety of reflections, views, and opinions which I have not time to dwell
upon in detail.  I will merely give you a few texts, or what you may term
a text-book. Nor shall I now take time to minutely elaborate any
particular point, but will present such views as shall come into my mind,
trusting that I shall have your faith and prayers to be able to edify both
Saint and sinner, believer and unbeliever.

	If the inhabitants of the earth thoroughly understood their own
being, their views, feelings, faith, and affections would be very
different from what they now are.  Many believe in predestination, while
others of the Christian world oppose that doctrine and exclusively
advocate free grace, free will, free offering, etc.; and each party of
Christians has its pet theory or doctrine, upon which it builds its hopes
of eternal salvation.  Such a course is like five or six hundred men each
selecting and running off with a piece of the machinery of a cotton mill,
and declaring that he had the cotton mill entire.  This comparison may be
truly applied to the Christian world as it now is with regard to the holy
and divine principles which have been revealed pertaining to eternal life
and salvation.

 	Many of you, no doubt, have concluded that the doctrine of election
and reprobation is true, and you do so with propriety, for it is true; it
is a scriptural doctrine.  Others do not believe this doctrine, affirming
with all their faith, might, and skill that free grace and freewill are or
ought to be the foundation of man's faith in his Creator.  Very well.  I
can also say to them that free grace and freewill are scripturally true. 
The first-named doctrine is as true as the second, and the second as the
first.  Others, again, declare that mankind have no will, neither free nor
restrained, in their actions; for instance, the Rationalists or
Freethinkers, who deny the existence and divinity of the Gods that we
believe in.  Butt so far from their believing their own theory, Mr. Neil,
of Boston, while in prison for having no religion, wrote an essay, in
which he declared that "All is God."

	I might enumerate many more instances, and say that they are all
right so far as they go in truth.  The doctrine of freewill and
conditional salvation, the doctrine of free grace and unconditional
salvation, the doctrine of foreordination and reprobation, and many more
that I have not time to enumerate, can all be fully and satisfactorily
proved by the Scriptures, and are true.

	On the other hand, many untrue doctrines are taught and believed,
such as there being infants, not a span long, weltering in the flames of
hell, there to remain throughout the countless ages of eternity, and the
doctrine of total depravity.  Some have gone so far as to say that a man
or woman who wishes to be saved in the kingdom of God--who wishes to be a
servant or handmaid of the Almighty, must feel that deep contrition of
heart, that sound repentance, and such a sense of his or her unworthiness
and nothingness, and of the supremacy, glory, and exaltation of that Deity
they believe in, as to exclaim before God and their brethren and sisters
that they are willing to be damned.  To me that is one of the heights of
nonsense; for if a person is willing to be damned, he cares not to make
the efforts necessary to secure salvation.  All this confusion is in the
world--party against party--communities against communities--individuals
against individuals.  One sets out with five truths and fifteen errors,
making the articles of his faith twenty; another dissents from him,
rejects those five truths, selects perhaps five more, and adds as many
errors as did the former one, and then he comes out a flaming reformer. 
Men, in dissenting from one another, have too often exercised no better
judgment than to deny and dissent from many truths because their ancestors
cherished and believed them, which has produced numerous parties, sects,
and articles of faith, when, in fact, taking them in mass, they have an
immense amount of true principles.

	It was the occupation of Jesus christ and his Apostles to propagate
the Gospel of salvation and the principles of eternal life to the world,
and it is our duty and calling, as ministers of the same salvation and
Gospel, to gather every item of truth and reject every error.  Whether a
truth be found with professed infidels, or with the Universalists, or the
Church of Rome, or the Methodists, the Church of England, the
Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Quakers, the Shakers, or any other of the
various and numerous different sects and parties, all of whom have more or
less truth, it is the business of the Elders of this Church (Jesus, their
elder brother, being at their head,) to gather up all the truths in the
world pertaining to life and salvation, to the Gospel we preach, to
mechanism of every kind, to the sciences, and to philosophy, wherever it
may be found in every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, and bring it to
Zion.

	The people upon this earth have a great many errors, and they have
also a great many truths.  This statement is not only true of the nations
termed civilized--those who profess to worship the true God, but is
equally applicable to pagans of all countries, for in their religious
rights and ceremonies may be found a great many truths which we will also
gather home to Zion.  All truth is for the salvation of the children of
men--for their benefit and learning--for their furtherance in the
principles of divine knowledge; and divine knowledge is any matter of
fact--truth; and all truth pertains to divinity.

	When we view mankind collectively, or as nations, communities,
neighbourhoods, and families, we are led to inquire into the object of our
being here and situated as we find ourselves to be.  Did we produce
ourselves, and endow ourselves with that knowledge and intelligence we now
possess?  All are ready to acknowledge that we had nothing to do with the
origin of our being--that we were produced by a superior Power, without
either the knowledge or the exercise of the agency we now possess.  We
know that we are here.  We know that we live, breathe, and walk upon the
earth.  We know this naturally, as the brute creation knows.  We know that
our food and drink come from the elements around us: by them we are
nourished, cherished, refreshed, and sustained, with the addition of
sleep.  We live and breathe, and breathe and live. Who can define and
point out the particularities of the wonderful organization of man?

	It enters into the minds of but few that the air we inhale is the
greatest source of our life.  We derive more real nourishment to our
mortal tabernacles from this element than from the solid food we receive
into our stomachs.  Our lungs expand and contract to sustain the life
which God has given us.  Of the component parts of this great fountain of
vitality I have not time to treat; but this interesting information you
may gather in part from numerous works on natural philosophy.  I will,
however, say that the air is full of life and vitality, and its volume
fills immensity.  The relative terms height, depth, length, and breadth do
not apply to it.  Could you pass with the velocity of the electric fluid
over telegraphic wires, during the continuation of more years than you can
comprehend, you would still be surrounded by it and in the bosom of
eternity as much as you now are; and it is filled with the spirit of life
which emanates from God.

	Many have tried to penetrate to the First Cause of all things; but it
would be as easy for an ant to number the grains of sand on the earth.  It
is not for man, with his limited intelligence, to grasp eternity in his
comprehension.  There is an eternity of life, from which we were composed
by the wisdom and skill of superior Beings.  It would be as easy for a
gnat to trace the history of man back to his origin as for man to fathom
the First Cause of all things, lift the veil of eternity, and reveal the
mysteries that have been sought after by philosophers from the beginning. 
What, then, should be the calling and duty of the children of men? 
Instead of inquiring after the origin of the Gods--instead of trying to
explore the depths of eternities that have been, that are, and that will
be,--instead of endeavouring to discover the boundaries of boundless
space, let them seek to know the object of their present existence, and
how to apply, in the most profitable manner for their mutual good and
salvation, the intelligence they possess.  Let them seek to know and
thoroughly understand things within their reach, and to make themselves
well acquainted with the object of their being here, by diligently seeking
unto a superior Power for information, and by the careful study of the
best books.

	The life that is within us is a part of an eternity of life, and is
organized spirit, which is clothed upon by tabernacles, thereby
constituting our present being, which is designed for the attainment of
further intelligence.  The matter composing our bodies and spirits has
been organized from the eternity of matter that fills immensity.

	Were I to fully speak what I know and understand concerning myself
and others, you might think me to be infringing.  I shall therefore omit
some things that I would otherwise say to you if the people were prepared
to receive them.

	Jesus Christ says, "And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent."  We are not
now in a capacity to know him in his fulness of glory.  We know a few
things that he has revealed concerning himself, but there are a great many
which we do not know.  When people have secured to themselves eternal
life, they are where they can understand the true character of their
Father and God, and the object of the creation, fall, and redemption of
man after the creation of this world.  These points have ever been
subjects for speculation with all classes of believers, and are subjects
of much interest to those who entertain a deep anxiety to know how to
secure to themselves eternal life.  Our bodies are organized from the
eternity of matter, from such matter as we breathe, and from such matter
as is found in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms.  This matter is
organized into a world, with all its appendages, by whom?  By the
Almighty; and we see it peopled by men and women who are made in the image
of God.

	All this vast creation as produced from element in its unorganized
state; the mountains, rivers, seas, valleys, plains, and the animal,
vegetable, and mineral kingdoms beneath and around us, all speaking forth
the wonderful works of the Great God.  Shall I say that the seeds of
vegetables were planted here by the Characters that framed and built this
world--that the seeds of every plant composing the vegetable kingdom were
brought from another world?  This would be news to many of you.  Who
brought them here?  It matters little to us whether it was John, James,
William, Adam, or Bartholomew who brought them; but it was some Being who
had power to frame this earth with its seas, valleys, mountains, and
rivers, and cause it to teem with vegetable and animal life.

	Here let me state to all philosophers of every class upon the earth, 
When you tell me that father Adam was made as we make adobies from the
earth, you tell me what I deem an idle tale.  When you tell me that the
beasts of the field were produced in that manner, you are speaking idle
worlds devoid of meaning.  There is no such thing in all the eternities
where the Gods dwell.  Mankind are here because they are the offspring of
parents who were first brought here from another planet, and power was
given them to propagate their species, and they were commanded to multiply
and replenish the earth.  The offspring of Adam and Eve are commanded to
take the rude elements, and, by the knowledge God has given, to convert
them into everything required for their life, health, adornment, wealth,
comfort, and consolation.  Have we the knowledge to do this?  We have. Who
gave us this knowledge?  Our Father who made us; for he is the only wise
God, and to him we owe allegiance; to him we owe our lives.  He has
brought us forth and taught us all we know.  We are not indebted to any
other power or God for all our great blessings.

	We see man upon the earth, and discern that he is endowed with great
intelligence, which displays its scope and power in various ways to meet
and provide for the exigencies and wants of the human race.  Wise
statesmen know how to devise and plan for a kingdom, and can closely
calculate the results of the policies they adopt.  They understand the
course to be pursued to induce the people to submit to a wholesome
government or to a despotic rule as may please the will of the rulers. 
There are historians of various grades, philosophers wise and simple, and
an exceedingly great variety of capacities and tastes.  In our Republican
government we see some who are acute politicians, but that seems to be the
extent of their knowledge.  You may find others who are good statesmen,
but poor politicians.  Some are excellent mathematicians, and understand
and care for but little outside that science.  Still, if a man is capable
of learning the geography of the earth, he is also capable of learning the
laws of the nations that inhabit it, if you will give him time according
to his capacity.  One scholar in a school may far outstrip the rest; but
give them sufficient time, and they can learn what the quick, bright
scholar has learned so easily and quickly.  If we are capacitated to learn
one thing to-day, we can learn another to-morrow.  It is the height of
folly to say that a man can only learn so much and no more.  The further
literary men advance in their studies, the more they discern there is to
learn, and the more anxious they are to learn.  This is made manifest
before us day by day, and is observed upon the face of the whole earth. 

	The principle of intelligence is within us.  Who planted it there? 
He who made us.  That which you see developed in the children of men (you
may call it disposition, or whatever else you please,)  is the force of
the mind or the spirit, and the body is a tabernacle organized for its
temporary habitation.

	It is written of the Saviour that he descended below all things.  If
he did he descended in capacity. I will merely tell you what I believe on
this point.  I believe that there never was a child born on this earth
with any less capacity than dwelt in the child that was born in a manger
of his mother Mary.  I believe, according to the natural ability which he
received from his mother and from his supposed father Joseph, that there
never was a child that descended lower in capacity, or that knew less. 
Yet, according to the history given of him, his power of mind developed
with such wonderful rapidity that when he was but a few years old he
propounded questions to the learned doctors of his day which they could
not answer, and answered questions propounded to him which the querists
could not answer.  He increased in wisdom and knowledge, and came into
communication with his Father.  The Being whom we call Father was the
Father of the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was also his Father
pertaining to the flesh.  Infidels and Christians, make all you can of
this statement.  The Bible, which all Christians profess to believe,
reveals that fact, and it reveals the truth upon that point, and I am a
witness of its truth.  The Apostles who were personally acquainted with
Jesus Christ did know and understand what they wrote, and they wrote the
truth.

	He was endowed with capacity to receive intelligence.  We, his
brethren, are also endowed with capacity to receive intelligence.  And
what some would call the volition of the creature--the will of the
creature--the disposition, the power of willing or determining, is
bequeathed to us in like manner as it is to the Son of God; and it is as
independent as it is inherited by the angels or Gods--that is, the will to
dispose of this intelligence at our pleasure in doing good or evil. It is
held by the followers of Robert Owen that men are more or less influenced
entirely in their actions by the force of circumstances:  but is there a
man or woman in this house that could not walk out, if you wanted to--if
your will was set in you to do it?  or sit here until meeting is out, if
you are disposed?  The volition of the creature is made independent by the
unalterable decree of the Almighty.  I can rise up or sit still--speak or
be silent.  Were this not so, I would at once request parents never to
correct a child for another disobedient act.

	We are organized to be so independent in this capacity as to
determine and act for ourselves as to whether we will serve God and obey
him in preference to serving ourselves.  If we serve ourselves and evil
principles, we do not subserve the object of our creation.  This element
of which our tabernacles are organized is calculated to decompose and
return to its mother earth, or to its native element.  This intelligence,
which might be called divine intelligence, is implanted in mortal or human
beings; and if we take a course to promote the principles of life--seek
unto our Father and God, and obtain his will and perform it, the spirit
will become purified, sanctified, cleansed, and made holy in the body, and
the grave will cleanse the flesh.  When the spirit overcomes the evil
consequences of the fall, which are in the mortal tabernacle, it will
reign predominant in the flesh, and is then prepared to be exalted, and
will, in the resurrection, be reunited with those particles that formed
the mortal body, which will be called together as with the sound of a
trumpet and become immortal.  Why?  Because the particles composing these
bodies have been made subject and obedient, by the law of the everlasting
Priesthood, and the will and commandment of the Supreme Ruler of the
universe, who holds the keys of life and death.  Every principle, act, and
portion of the lives of the children of men that does not tend to this
will lead to an eternal dissolution of the identity of the person.

	"Why," some say, "we thought that the wicked were to be sent to hell
to dwell with eternal burnings for evermore."  They go to hell and will
stay there until the anger of the Almighty consumes them and they become
disorganized, as the elements of the fuel we burn are disorganized by the
action of fire and thrown back again to their native element.  The wicked
will endure the wrath of God and be "turned into hell, with all the
nations that forget God."  What will be done with them there?  Those who
did not persecute the Son of God in the flesh while acting for themselves
and following the direction of their own will--those who did not persecute
the holy Priesthood of the Son of God--those who did not consent to the
shedding of innocent blood--those who did not seek to obliterate the
kingdom of God from the earth, will, by-and-by, be sought after.

	You read about a first resurrection.  If there is a first, there is a
second.  And if a second, may there not be a third, and a fourth, and so
on?  Yes; and happy are they who have a part in the first resurrection. 
Yes, more blessed are they than any others.  But blessed also are they
that will have part in the second resurrection, for they will be brought
forth to enjoy a kingdom that is more glorious than the sectarian world
ever dreamed of.

 	The "Mormon" Elders will tell you that all people must receive this
Gospel--the Gospel of Jesus christ, and be baptized for the remission of
sins, or they cannot be saved.  Let me explain this to you.  They cannot
go where God and Christ dwell, for that is a kingdom of itself--the
celestial kingdom.  Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions,"
or kingdoms.  They will come forth in the first, second, or some other
resurrection, if they have not been guilty of the particular sins I have
just mentioned; and they will enjoy a kingdom and a glory greater than
they had ever anticipated.  When we talk about people's being damned, I
would like to have all understand that we do not use the term  "damnation"
in the sense that it is used by the sectarian world.  Universal salvation
or redemption is the doctrine of the Bible; but the people do not know how
or where to discriminate between truth and error.  All those who have done
according to the best of their knowledge, whether they are Christians,
Pagans, Jews, Mohammedans, or any other class of men that have ever lived
upon the earth, that have dealt honestly and justly with their
fellow-beings, walked uprightly before each other, loved mercy, tried to
put down iniquity, and done as far right as they knew how, according to
the laws they lived under, no matter what the laws were, will share in a
resurrection that will be glorious far beyond the conception of mortals.

	How many times have I been asked, "Do you believe that such a man as
John Wesley will be damned?"  I could answer the question either way, for
they do not know what it is to be saved or damned.  John Wesley is in the
spirit-world.  He did not receive the ordinances of the everlasting Gospel
in the flesh, and consequently is not prepared to hold the keys of the
kingdom and be a minister of the great work of God in the last
dispensation, but is dependent upon others to attain a celestial glory. 
Has he gone to hell?  No.  When the spirit leaves the body, it goes into
the spirit-world, where the spirits of men are classified according to
their own wills or pleasure, as men are here, only they are in a more pure
and refined state of existence.  Do you suppose that John Wesley is
lifting up his eyes in hell, being in torment?  No; he is talking to those
who heard and would not believe him when he was on the earth.  He may be
asking them whether they do not now see the justice of a reformation from
the Church of England mode of religion--whether they do not now see that
that Church had gone astray from the true religion, and that he was right. 
Yes; and they, no doubt, see it as John Wesley does, and are willing to
worship God according to the best knowledge they have.  As death left him,
so judgment will find him, trying to worship God in the best manner he was
acquainted with.  John Wesley and his true followers will receive a glory
far surpassing what they ever thought or dreamed of while under the
influence of their greatest inspirations, and they will be saved.  Are
they also damned?  Yes, because they have not attained the victory over
the enemy of all righteousness.  It is the holy Priesthood of God that
gives man the victory in this world, and he begins to reign over the power
of the enemy here.  The keys of the kingdom of the Son of God outreach and
circumscribe the power of the Enemy.

	Much has been said about the power of the Latter-day Saints.  Is it
the people called Latter-day Saints that have this power, or is it the
Priesthood?  It is the Priesthood; and if they live according to that
Priesthood, they can commence their work here and gain many victories, and
be prepared to receive glory, immortality, and eternal life, that when
they go into the spirit-world, their work will far surpass that of any
other man or being that has not been blessed with the keys of the
Priesthood here.

	Joseph Smith holds the keys of this last dispensation, and is now
engaged behind the vail in the great work of the last days.  I can tell
our beloved brother Christians  who have slain the Prophets and butchered
and otherwise caused the death of thousands of Latter-day Saints, the
priests who have thanked God in their prayers and thanksgiving from the
pulpit that we have been plundered, driven, and slain, and the deacons
under the pulpit, and their brethren and sisters in their closets, who
have thanked God, thinking that the Latter-day Saints were wasted away,
something that no doubt will mortify them--something that, to say the
least, is a matter of deep regret to them--namely, that no man or woman in
this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God
without the consent of Joseph Smith.  From the day that the Priesthood was
taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and
woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to
their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are--I with you and
you with me.  I cannot go there without his consent.  He holds the keys of
that kingdom for the last dispensation--the keys to rule in the
spirit-world; and he rules there triumphantly, for he gained full power
and a glorious victory over the power of Satan while he was yet in the
flesh, and was a martyr to his religion and to the name of Christ, which
gives him a most perfect victory in the spirit-world.  He reigns there as
supreme a being in his sphere, capacity, and calling, as God does in
heaven.  Many will exclaim--"Oh, that is very disagreeable!  It is
preposterous!  We cannot bear the thought!"  But it is true.

	I will now tell you something that ought to comfort every man and
woman on the face of the earth.  Joseph Smith, junior, will again be on
this earth dictating plans and calling forth his brethren to be baptized
for the very characters who wish this was not so, in order to bring them
into a kingdom to enjoy, perhaps, the presence of angels or the spirits of
good men, if they cannot endure the presence of the Father and the son;
and he will never cease his operations, under the directions of the Son of
God, until the last ones of the children of men are saved that can be,
from Adam till now.

	Should not this thought comfort all people?  They will, by-and-by, be
a thousand times more thankful for such a man as Joseph Smith, junior,
than it is possible for them to be for any earthly good whatever.  It is
his mission to see that all the children of men in this last dispensation
are saved, that can be, through the redemption.  You will be thankful,
every one of you, that Joseph Smith, junior, was ordained to this great
calling before the worlds were.  I told you that the doctrine of election
and reprobation is a true doctrine. It was decreed in the counsels of
eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that he
should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth
the word of God to the people, and receive the fulness of the keys and
power of the Priesthood of the Son of God.  The Lord had his eye upon him,
and upon his father, and upon his father's father, and upon their
progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, from the
flood to Enoch, and from Enoch to Adam.  He has watched that family and
that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that
man.  He was foreordained in eternity to preside over this last
dispensation, as much so as Pharaoh was fore-ordained to be a wicked man,
or as was Jesus to be the Saviour of the world because he was the oldest
son in the family.

	Abraham was ordained to be the father of the faithful,--that is, he
was ordained to come forth at a certain period; and when he had proved
himself faithful to his God, and would resist the worship of idols, and
trample them under his feet in the presence of their king, and set up the
worship of the true God, he obtained the appellation of "father of the
faithful."  "For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son."  He knew, millions of years before
this world was framed, that Pharaoh would be a wicked man.  He saw--he
understood; his work was before him, and he could see it from the
beginning to the end.  And so scrutinizing, penetrating, and expanded are
his visions and knowledge, that not even a hair of our head can fall to
the ground unnoticed by him.  He foreknew what Joseph, who was sold into
Egypt, would do.  Joseph was foreordained to be the temporal saviour of
his father's house, and the seed of Joseph are ordained to be the
spiritual and temporal saviours of all the house of Israel in the latter
days.  Joseph's seed has mixed itself with all the seed of man upon the
face of the whole earth.  The great majority of those who are now before
me are the descendants of that Joseph who was sold.  Joseph Smith, junior,
was foreordained to come through the loins of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph, and so on down through the Prophets and Apostles; and thus he came
forth in the last days to be a minister of salvation, and to hold the keys
of the last dispensation of the fulness of times.

	The whole object of the creation of this world is to exalt the
intelligencies that are placed upon it, that they may live, endure, and
increase for ever and ever.  We are not here to quarrel and contend about
the things of this world, but we are here to subdue and beautify it. Let
every man and woman worship their God with all their heart.  Let them pay
their devotions and sacrifices to him, the Supreme, and the Author of
their existence.  Do all the good you can to your fellow-creatures.  You
are flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone.  God has created of one blood
all the nations and kingdoms of men that dwell upon all the face of the
earth:  black, white, copper-coloured, or whatever their colour, customs,
or religion, they have all sprung from the same origin; the blood of all
is from the same element.  Adam and Eve are the parents of all pertaining
to the flesh, and I would not say that they are not also the parents of
our spirits.

	You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth,
uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly
deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally
bestowed upon mankind.  The first man that committed the odious crime of
killing one of his brethren will be cursed the longest of any one of the
children of Adam.  Cain slew his brother.  Cain might have been killed,
and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings.  This
was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose
and black skin.  Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another
curse is pronounced upon the same race--that they should be the "servant
of servants;"  and they will be, until that curse is removed; and the
Abolitionists cannot help it, nor in the least alter that decree.  How
long is that race to endure the dreadful curse that is upon them?  That
curse will remain upon them, and they never can hold the Priesthood or
share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the
promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof. 
Until the last ones of the residue of Adam's children are brought up to
that favourable position, the children of Cain cannot receive the first
ordinances of the Priesthood.  They were the first that were cursed, and
they will be the last from whom the curse will be removed.  When the
residue of the family of Adam come up and receive their blessings, then
the curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will receive
blessings in like proportion.

	I have but just commenced my remarks, and have presented you a few
texts; and it is now time to adjourn.  The exertion required to speak to
you somewhat at length seems to injure me.  I will therefore stop.

	I bless you all, inasmuch as you have desired and striven to do
right, to revere the name of Deity, and to exalt the character of his Son
on the earth.  I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ!  Amen.



    DILIGENCE IN PREACHING TO THE WORLD--PROVIDENCES OF GOD AROUND THE
 SAINTS--CHARITY--GOD'S SPIRIT DISTRIBUTED AMONG ALL MANKIND--TRIALS, &c.
    Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                 Great Salt Lake City, December 18, 1859.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	My greatest desire to my Father and God is that I may so speak that
my remarks will be acceptable to him and beneficial to those who hear me.

	I do not know that I have the first desire to please myself or any
earthly being in the remarks I may make.  I do not know that I have any
other purpose in view but the salvation of the people; and I wish the
people to have only one ruling desire--namely, to do the will of their
God.

	If my mind is led this morning in a channel to instruct the
Saints--to encourage them--to give them new life and vigour--to so
strengthen them in their faith as to better prepare them to pursue the
journey of life, God be thanked.

	I sometimes think that perhaps I have not that fervent desire to
preach to unbelievers that I ought to have.  But one thing I can say--My
garments are clear and pure from the blood of all men.  I will briefly
state why this is.  For nearly thirty years I have sought to know the
truth, and to properly understand the principles of the holy Priesthood
revealed from heaven through the Prophet Joseph; and I have ceased not,
when I have had an opportunity, at the proper time and in the proper
place, to present those principles to my fellow-men.  And if those who
have heard me had been as faithful and diligent as I have been since I
embraced the truth, in distributing the truth to their neighbours, long
before this time every family upon the face of the earth would have heard
the Gospel of the Son of God and the warning voice of his servants, and
have had the opportunity of believing or rejecting it, solely through my
preaching and its results.  This frees me from all blame on the score of
preaching to the world.  Blame upon that point cannot be attached to me by
any man upon the face of the earth.  If people of other nations rise up in
the judgment and say, "If you, Brigham, had been faithful in preaching to
us, we also could have been prepared for the day we now see,"  my answer
will be--"There is no such sin resting upon me."  That sin will fall, if
anywhere, upon those who have heard me and have witnessed that I have told
them the truth, but have not themselves been faithful in disseminating it
to their neighbours.  You may call this an apology, if you please, for not
feeling that anxiety to preach to unbelievers that some may suppose I
ought to feel; but I trust this matter with my God.  I feel anxious for
those who are disposed to believe the truth:  I feel after the Saints. 
The facts I have related touching myself will also apply to hundreds of
the Elders of Israel--to men who are now sitting in this stand and in this
congregation.  My desires daily and hourly are that those who profess to
be Saints actually be Saints in truth and verity; and my constant prayer
is for their welfare.

	I remember the poor and the needy; though I can say (and the remark
may astonish many of my brethren,)  I never pray for the people to be
rich.  I do not pray for gold and silver.  I have never done so.  I have
never had so much as a desire for this people to become wealthy in gold
and silver, in houses and lands, in goods and chattles [sic].  I do not
know that I ever offered a petition to a being superior to myself to give
me worldly riches and worldly honour and fame; but I have prayed, O Lord,
give me the power, the knowledge, the wisdom and the understanding to
secure to myself eternal life.

	We have the promise, if we seek first the kingdom of God and its
righteousness, that all necessary things will be added to us.  We should
not be distrustful, but seek first to know how to please our Father and
God--seek to know how to save ourselves from the errors that are in the
world, from darkness and unbelief, from the vain and delusive spirits that
go abroad among the children of men to deceive, and learn how to save and
preserve ourselves upon the earth to preach the Gospel, build up the
kingdom, and establish the Zion of our God.  Then there is not the least
danger, and there should not be the least doubt but what everything
necessary for the comfort, convenience, happiness, and salvation of the
people will be added to them.

	True, we see many of this people that are poor.  We have seen them in
their persecutions and sore privations.  We have seen them flee from city
to city, from county to county, and from state to state.  We have seen
them naked and barefooted on the way to these valleys.  In the companies
that came here in 1847-8 and 9, probably not one in ten had good shoes or
clothes to keep them comfortable in moderate weather; and but few had
breadstuff sufficient to last them over four months.  They came here, and
here they stayed and laboured; and what they brought with them had to
answer until they raised enough to supply their wants.  We can still see
many who are not so comfortable as they desire to be.

	Who among this people can discern the hand of God in all these
circumstances, and that it is necessary that afflictions should come upon
them to prove whether they will be Saints or not--whether they will be the
friends of God, or turn away from the holy commandments, forsake their God
and their religion, return to the beggarly elements of the world--to the
vain fashions and foolish spirits that are abroad deceiving the children
of men?  My desire is that the Saints should understand--that they should
be wise, having eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that understand
as God understands us, that they may not be ignorant of the providences
that attend them.  At present my fervent desire is for the Saints. 
Doubtless, if, in the providences of God, I am again called to preach the
Gospel to the world, I shall have as fervent a desire for them as I have
ever had for the Saints.  But I now feel to strengthen and comfort the
Saints, inasmuch as I have the ability, and the Spirit bearing witness
with yours that we should live our religion and be Saints indeed, and feel
that affinity one to another that becomes the Saints of the living God.

	I have no desire, at this time, to address you upon any particular
point of doctrine, or to select a text upon which to expound or explain. 
I merely wish to inquire whether the Latter-day Saints understand the
eventful day in which they live--whether they appreciate and understand
the peculiar providences of God that are cast around them--whether they
partially comprehend the nature of their own being, and the great object
of their existence and place upon the earth.  If they understand and
rightly practise upon all this, every soul of them will keep the faith. 
After the existence of the Deity, his supremacy, his right to rule, his
knowledge, his power, and his great plan of salvation for the children of
men have been proved beyond the power of truthful contradiction; and after
tens of thousands have bowed to the truths of the Gospel, been baptized
for the remission of sins, and received the ordinances of the holy
Priesthood, and run well for a season, it is lamentable to see so many
turn away, forsake their covenants, and lose sight of all holiness and
purity of life, becoming like a ship upon the great waste of waters
without a compass, sail, rudder, or any means for guiding their course,
and being wafted hither and thither with every wind that blows, not
seeming to have the least idea of directing their own course.  This is a
matter of deep regret.

	I ask intelligent men--those in whose bosoms the spirit of revelation
continually abides, whether their souls do not mourn to see the neglect,
the weakness, the blindness, and stupidity of those who have received the
words of eternal life--who have received the promises and covenants of
God, and have had the rights and privileges of receiving the revelations
of Jesus Christ to guide and direct them in the path of truth and
holiness, so that they could make sure to themselves salvation and eternal
lives in the celestial kingdom of our Father and God.  Is it not painful? 
Are you not astonished to see people who have received the Holy Spirit of
promise, the Holy Ghost,--who have received visions--who have been endowed
with faith and with the knowledge of God--who have had power to lay hands
upon the sick, and diseases have departed at their command, and foul
spirits at their word, turn away and forsake their covenants and their
God?

	If there should not be another meeting of the Latter-day Saints until
the winding-up scene, it would be astonishing that any man or woman of
good sound sense and judgment should ever forsake their faith.  I do not
know that a comparison strong enough can possibly be framed to exhibit the
folly of such a proceeding.  Were I to say to a son, The whole earth is in
my hands to dispose of as I will:  I can make you the sovereign of the
universe--the possessor of the gold, the silver, the mountains, the
valleys, the rivers, the lakes, the seas, and all that float upon them and
that live upon the face of the whole earth; for it is mine to give to you,
my son, if you will serve me one month faithfully.  I require nothing of
you that will give you the least pain:  all I require is strict obedience
to my law.  My son faithfully serves me during twenty-nine days, and on
the thirtieth day, for the value of a straw, or for a mess of pottage, he
sells his right and title to all I had promised him.  This comparison
falls very far short of showing the loss a Saint sustains when he turns
away from his god and his religion.

	There is one virtue, attribute, or principle, which, if cherished and
practised by the Saints, would prove salvation to thousands upon
thousands.  I allude to charity, or love, from which proceed forgiveness,
long-suffering, kindness, and patience.  But the short-sightedness and
weakness in some are marvellous.  To make this a little plainer, I will
ask, Do any of your neighbours do anything wrong?  They do.  People come
here from different parts of the earth to make this their adopted country,
and the old residents expect them to at once conform to and adopt their
manners, customs, and traditions, or they think the new comers are not
worthy of their fellowship.  In other words, "If every man, woman, and
child does not act, think, and see as I do, they are sinners."  It is very
necessary that we have charity that will cover a multitude of what we may
suppose to be sins.  It is written in the Scriptures, "For charity shall
cover the multitude of sins."  In its wording this is not literally
correct, for charity does not cover up, hide, or justify actual iniquity. 
It covers up a multitude of improprieties and weaknesses that some are
inclined to suppose to be sins.

	In a community, and even in a family of children that have sprung
from the same parents, you can find a great difference in the dispositions
and temperaments of individuals.  You observe an endless variety in the
dispositions of mankind.  I will give you an example.

	Some Christian nations lately went to war with each other.  What for? 
Pride--to please a selfish, worldly, carnal, wicked heart.  And the
priests, the majority of them being of the same faith, on both sides the
line of battle prayed to the same God for success in slaying the opposing
army.  If they can have the Spirit of the Lord thus to pray, they can have
it there and then as well as anywhere else.  They could have it as well as
the English and Americans in the revolutionary war.  When they went to
battle, they prayed fervently, each side praying, "Lord, save my
country-men, preserve our armies, direct every ball that is discharged
from our guns directly to the hearts of our enemies, until they are
completely used up."

	God distributes his Spirit to all, both Christian and Pagan.  This to
some may appear very strange, but it is true; for there is not a Christian
or Pagan nation, family, or individual upon the whole earth, to whom the
Lord has not more or less at times dispensed his Spirit.  The Pagan is as
fervent in his desires to his god for a good and holy influence to attend
him in the worship of his idols, as we are to the God of heaven--the
Father of us all--the Being who has brought all mankind into existence and
sustains them by his providence and fatherly care.  He bestows blessings
upon all his children, and enlightens them more or less by his Spirit, and
guides the affairs of all nations, states, countries, and peoples.  His
kind benevolence and influence, by the power of his Spirit, are over them
all.  In this Territory are people gathered from almost all nations, where
they have been differently educated, differently traditioned, and
differently ruled.  How, then, can we expect them to look, to act, and to
have sentiments, faith, and customs precisely alike?  I do not expect to
see any such thing, but I endeavour to look upon them as an angel would,
having compassion, long-suffering, and forbearance towards them.  How many
times can I forgive a brother?  I do not know, for I have never been
particularly tried upon this point; but I think I could forgive a brother
seventy times seven in one day, if I had not learned that he had a design
to commit evil.  He might commit overt acts every half minute in the day;
and if he felt to sincerely repent, I could forgive him. Everybody should
do so, and especially the Saints. 

	How many of us charge evil upon our neighbours, or upon members of
our families, when they have desired, according to the best of their
ability, and striven, according to the best of their knowledge, and as
fervently as they could, to do right!  Where, then, is our charity, our
benevolence, long-suffering, and patience?  We should overcome all
unfriendly desires to overthrow each other, and strive to inculcate those
principles that pertain to eternal life.  Men are greedy for the vain
things of this world.  In their hearts they are covetous.  It is true that
the things of this world are designed to make us comfortable, and they
make some people as happy as they can be here; but riches can never make
the Latter-day Saints happy.  Riches of themselves cannot produce
permanent happiness:  only the Spirit that comes from above can do that. 
If we are compelled to eat our morsel under a rock in the wilderness, or
in a log cabin, we are happy, so that we possess that Spirit.  If a man
drinks at the fountain of eternal life, he is as happy under the broad
canopy of heaven, without a home, as in a palace.  This I know by
experience.  I know that the things of this world, from beginning to end,
from the possession of mountains of gold down to a crust of johnnycake,
makes little or no difference in the happiness of an individual.  The
things of this world add to our national comfort, and are necessary to
sustain mortal life.  We need these comforts to preserve our earthly
existence; and many suppose, when they have them in great abundance, that
they have all that is needed to make them happy.  They are striving
continually, and with all their might, for that which does not add one
particle to their happiness, though it may add to their comfort, and
perhaps to the length of their lives, if they do not kill themselves in
their eagerness to grasp the gilded butterfly.  But those things have
nothing to do with the spirit, feeling, consolation, light, glory, peace,
and joy that pertain to heaven and heavenly things, which are the food of
the ever-living spirit within us.

	Hundreds and thousands of the Latter-day Saints, while passing
through persecutions, have gone to their graves for want of a little
medicine, or that kind of nourishment most proper in their condition. 
They could not obtain such things, their strength gradually gave way to
the diseases that preyed upon them, and they sunk into death for want of
the comforts of life.  But did they go to their graves mourning, and
bewailing their situation?  I will venture to state that they felt better
than many who die on downy beds with all things around them that earthly
riches can command, or heart desire.  In those times of severe trial we
laid our hands upon the sick, and tried to encourage them all we could;
but we had no earthly comforts in the shape of food, clothing, medicine,
&c., to impart, nor any physical comfort designed to sustain life.  We
laid our hands upon hundreds, and saw fathers, mothers, and children
sinking and dying.  Was there nothing that could help them?  Yes; if we
could have made them some chicken broth, or given them a little wine, it
probably would have turned the disease, and they might have lived; but we
did not have such articles to give.  How did they die?  Rejoicing that
their pilgrimage was over, saying, "I am happy within."  If the question
had been asked, "Do you not think that if you had this or that, it would
make you happy?"  their answer would have been, "No:  I am happy without
them.  They might increase by bodily health, but they have nothing to do
with my happiness."  Yet how over-anxious the great majority of mankind
are for the vain and foolish things of this life!

	Are the people mourning for anything now?  and do they think this to
be a day of trial and darkness?  In the spring of 1857 we moved from our
homes at a time when it was pleasant for living out of doors and lying
upon the ground; but hundreds now present have had to leave their homes in
the dead of winter, with no habitation to shelter them.  The revelations
declare that this people shall be tried in all things.  If we were not
tried in the things that now try us, we should not be tried in all things. 
We have had the trial of burying our friends:  we have been driven from
our homes, leaving our possessions, our goods, our farms, our houses,
orchards, gardens, and furniture standing in our houses.  We gathered up
teams, a little food and clothing, and left.  We have been tried in losing
our fathers, our mothers, our children our sisters, and brethren.  We have
been tried in having a mob butcher our brethren before our eyes, shooting
them down as deliberately as a mountaineer would shoot a wolf.

	It is necessary that we should be tried, in order to prove whether we
can be still in prayer time.  You know that it is sometimes necessary to
correct our children for making a noise in prayer time.  It is now prayer
time with us.  Can we keep still, or shall we be found making a
disturbance in the family?  Let us, as children, keep still, or our Father
may use the rod of correction.  What a trial, to keep still in prayer
time!  Oh, how this people are tried!!  Those who turn away from the holy
commandments will meet trials that are trials indeed.  They will feel the
wrath of the Almighty upon them.  Those who are still and are good
children will receive the rich blessing of their Father and God.  Be
still, and let your faith rest on the Lord Almighty.  He is at the helm;
he is in the midst of this people, and guides the ship Zion.  Be good
children until our Father has taught us our present lesson, and be ready
to answer every call, to render obedience to every requirement, and have
compassion upon each other.  But if you should happen to see John or Lucy
climb up into a chair in prayer time, and yet have no evil design in so
doing, let charity cover that impropriety.  Do not tell Father that John
was a naughty boy.  Do not be so full of religion as to look upon every
little overt act that others may commit as being the unpardonable sin that
will place them beyond the reach of redemption and the favours of our God.

	Some come to me saying, "Oh, brother Brigham, it does seem that all
the people are going to the Devil!"  I can foretell a few things.  Those
who are good children, and behave themselves until prayer time is over,
will by-and-by sit down to supper and have a joyful season.  Some may say,
"I fear there will be but few left to eat supper, there are so many going
astray."  Be patient:  there are more than seven thousand in this city who
have not bowed the knee to Baal, without numbering those of other cities
who are ready and anxious to do right, and none of them will be lost. 
"But some are stealing."  Can you at present prevent it?  "No.  But do you
not think that it ought to be stopped?"  Yes, if we had the power; but we
have not now the power.  If I had the power, I would send every thief to
his long home.  I will promise thieves, drunkards, and other offenders
against good order, morality, and the wellbeing of society, that if I can
learn of their committing such sins, I will cut them off from the Church. 
I will not knowingly fellowship thieves, liars, and drunkards, nor any
abominable character.  But can I prevent men from committing those crimes? 
No:  neither can you.  Could the Lord?  Yes, if he wished to.  He could
lead them to some of our large streams, cause them to think that they
could cross over dryshod, and them drown them as he did the Egyptians; but
he does not feel to do so.

	I do know that some people are wanting in understanding when they
charge others with sin, which they do not suppose to be sin.  They have
been differently educated, and consequently each party feels justified in
doing that which the other party would feel condemned in; and hence they
condemn each other.  You may inquire how far a person can go and be
justified, and pray and receive a portion of the Spirit of the Lord.  Can
he go so far as to steal?  Yes; because, through his traditions and
customs, he would not deem that he had stolen, though I might think he
had.  I presume there are those who would take your axe or mine, if they
found it in a road or kanyon, even though the owner's name was upon it,
and take it home and keep it.  Will they pray to God, while they do such
things?  Yes, as fervently as those who do not.  Will they have the Spirit
of the Lord?  Yes, a portion of it.  Could I do so?  No.  But there are
those who have been thus traditionated, and the Spirit of the Lord will
find its way to their hearts as it would to the heart of an Indian.

	The very Indians who massacre men, women, and children on the plains,
have their religious ceremonies and pray to their God for success in
killing men, women, and children.  The French and Austrians meet and slay
one another by hundreds and thousands; and thousands of women and children
who were not engaged in battle are also sacrificed by the folly of those
Christian wars.  The instigators of those wars are just as guilty of
murder, before god, as the Indians are for killing the men, women, and
children who are passing through their country.  What is the difference in
the eyes of our Father and God?  It is just as much murder to kill
unjustly a million at a blow as it is to kill one, though Dr. Young has
stated that "One murder makes a villain; millions makes a hero."  Were I
to make war upon an innocent people, because I had the power, to possess
myself of their Territory, their silver, gold, and other property, and be
the cause of slaying, say fifty thousand strong, hale, hearty men, and
devolving consequent suffering upon one hundred thousand women and
children, who would suffer through privation and want, I am very much more
guilty of murder than is the man who kills only one person to obtain his
pocket-book.

	Our traditions have been such that we are not apt to look upon war
between two nations as murder; but suppose that one family should rise up
against another and begin to slay them, would they not be taken up and
tried for murder?  Then why not nations that arise up and slay each other
in a scientific way be equally guilty of murder?  "But observe the martial
array, how splendid!  See the furious war horses, with their glittering
trappings!  Then the honour and glory and pride of the reigning king must
be sustained, and the strength and power and wealth of the nation must be
displayed in some way; and what better way than to make war upon
neighbouring nations, under some slight pretext?"  Does it justify the
slaying of men, women, and children that otherwise would have remained at
home in peace, because a great army is doing the work?  No:  the guilty
will be damned for it.

 	Let this people called Latter-day Saints examine themselves and be
sure that they are right before God, and do as they should in all things,
and hurt not the oil and the wine.  Never pray for riches; do not
entertain such a foolish thought.  In my deep poverty, when I knew not
where I could procure the next morsel of food for myself and family, I
have prayed God to open the way that I might get something to keep myself
and family from dying.  Those who do more than this are off more or less
from the track that leads to life eternal.  When you obtain eternal
riches, and the true and living faith within you, and the visions of your
mind are opened to understand and see things as they are, you will then be
made aware that the riches of this world are disposed of by a Supreme
Power, and that all that is necessary will be added to you.  If it is to
die while you are hunting out an asylum for the poor persecuted Saints,
die.  If, while a missionary to the nations of the earth, you should be
shipwrecked on a desolate island and starve to death, die like a man.

	Let the providence of God take its course.  Ask for that which will
make you happy and prepare you for life or death.  What is that?  Food for
the mind, to feed the intelligent part of the creature.  The Lord has
planted within us a divinity; and that divine, immortal spirit requires to
be fed.  Will earthly food answer for that purpose?  No; it will only keep
this body alive as long as the spirit stays with it, which gives us an
opportunity of doing good.  That divinity within us needs food from the
Fountain from which it emanated.  It is not of the earth, earthy, but is
from heaven.  Principles of eternal life, of God and godliness, will alone
feed the immortal capacity of man and give true satisfaction.  But it is
very lamentable to observe how so many grovel in darkness, seeming not to
understand anything beyond what they can feel with their hands, see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears.  They seem to feel, "Let me eat and
drink today, for to-morrow I am not."  Where are you to-morrow?  "Gone
into nonentity--passed away like a vapour, for aught I know.  My life,
existence, intelligence, my organism, the whole man has passed into the
great chaos of nature, never to be again reorganized to reflect, see,
think, understand, enjoy, or endure:  it is all gone for ever."  Like
brutes they live, and like brutes they die.  Like the unconscious bullock
that is led to the slaughter-house, they know nothing until the knife
drinks the life-blood and they sink into death.

	My feelings are--O that men would understand the purpose of their
existence!  Our organism makes us capable of exquisite enjoyment.  Do I
not love my wife, my son, my daughter, my brother, my sister, my father,
and my mother? and do I not love to associate with my friends?  I do, and
love to reflect and talk on eternal principles.  Our salvation consists in
knowing them, and they are designed in their nature to cheer and comfort
us.  Is that eternal existence in me that feeds upon eternal truth
organized to be destroyed?  Is that organism ever to come to an end, so
long as it lives upon eternal truth?  No.  Let me eternally enjoy the
society of those I love.  Let our associations in time and in eternity
never be destroyed.
	In this life we are full of pain, disappointment, and worldly
trouble.  This gives us a chance to prove to God that we are his friends. 
Seek unto the Lord for his Spirit, without any cessation in your efforts,
until his Spirit dwells within you like eternal burnings.  Let the candle
of the Lord be lighted up within you, and all is right.  Until prayer time
is over, be still, keep quiet, and all is right.  For the present, let the
world go, for they have been repeatedly preached to.  It is necessary that
all have the privilege of receiving or rejecting eternal truth, that they
may be prepared to be saved, or be prepared to be damned.

	I pray that what I have said this morning may do you good, and do no
person any harm, and that your hearts may be comforted and made steadfast
in the truth.  If you wish to know what you shall do, to do right, I
answer--Do all that you know to be good.  Pray to the Father to guide you
in righteousness, and never permit yourselves to do that which you know is
evil.  And if you do evil ignorantly and in good faith, I promise you it
shall result in good.

	By-and-by, when prayer time is over, many of those whom you think are
nearly gone to the Devil will feel and express their sorrow for their
foolishness, and promise henceforth to be good children.  But you may as
well try to stop with sand the gushing streams that flow down our kanyon
gorges as to stop a man from committing sin who is determined to sin.  We
can cut such persons off from our fellowship, which I am determined to do. 
We will not fellowship the old, dead, dry limbs.

	May the Lord bless you, brethren!  Amen.

         SUFFERINGS OF THE SAINTS--OVERCOMING EVIL WITH GOOD, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, January 5, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Referring to the ideas advanced by our brother who has just sat down,
in regard to the suffering of the children of men upon the earth, I will
say it is a subject worthy of reflection.  Have the enemies of the kingdom
of God on the earth the power to bring suffering upon the people who love
and serve him, that they have to bring suffering upon themselves?  I
answer, They have not.  We cannot find, in all the history extant, that
mankind have ever exerted themselves more to destroy the kingdom of God
from the earth than they have to destroy themselves.  All their endeavours
to overthrow the holy Priesthood of heaven and its righteous rule among
men have always tended a hundredfold more to their own overthrow and utter
destruction.  Like the leaves of autumn, they have fallen to the ground
and are forgotten.  It was prophesied by Joseph the Prophet that the bones
of those who drove the Church from Missouri, and killed men, women, and
children, should bleach upon the Plains.  This has been fulfilled.  Did
they suffer more than the people of God whom they drove from their
homes--from their firesides in winter--from their fathers and mothers and
friends, and the land of their nativity?  Yes, there is scarcely a
comparison.  Their sufferings in crossing the Plains to the gold regions
of California have been greater by far than ever the sufferings of the
Saints have been in crossing the Plains to Utah.  These are facts that are
present with us.  The bones of those who drove the Saints from
Independence, from Jackson County, then from Clay and Davis Counties, and
last of all from Caldwell County, from whence they fled into Illinois,
have been scattered over the Plains--gnawed and broken by wild beasts, and
are there bleaching to this day, while the Saints who have died on the
Plains have, without an exception, had a decent burial where they have
died,--have had friends to condole with and comfort them in their dying
moments, and to mourn for a season with their bereaved relatives.  These
comforts and blessings were denied the murderers of Joseph and Hyrum Smith
and of scores of the Saints, and they were left in the bitterness of death
without a friend and without mercy.  They suffered immensely more than did
the Saints whom they persecuted; they received that which they sought to
bring upon the Saints, and that too in good measure, pressed down, and
running over.

	I have said and will say that there never was a colony settled on
this continent, since its discovery by Columbus, with so little suffering
as have had the Latter-day Saints who settled these valleys.

	I will now leave these ideas, and turn my attention on to the remarks
made by brother Lorenzo Snow in the the [sic] forenoon.  The principles
and doctrine  couched in those remarks are of great interest to the human
family.  I will take the liberty to treat upon the same principles, but
shall carry the ideas still further, though in my own language and style
of delivery.  I will use a few words of Scripture concerning the evil that
now exists and has existed upon the earth, referring to certain characters
who have always been upon the earth and are still upon it, who are
actually, to a great extent, "lording over God's heritage."  I would plant
my remarks here; and then for the context, I will use another saying--"For
it is God which worketh in you both to will and and [sic] to do of his
good pleasure."  I have but little time to expound and explain minutely,
but will start at the beginning.  God has created man in his own image,
upright.  Man in his creation is but a very little lower than the angels. 
In what degree and capacity is he lower than the angels?  Angels are those
beings who have been on an earth like this, and have passed through the
same ordeals that we are now passing through.  They have kept their first
estate far enough to preserve themselves in the Priesthood.  They did not
so violate the law of the Priesthood and condemn themselves to the sin
against the Holy Ghost as to be finally lost.  They are not crowned with
the celestial ones.  They are persons who have lived upon an earth, but
did not magnify the Priesthood in that high degree that many others have
done who have become Gods, even the sons of God.  Human beings that
pertain to this world, who do not magnify or are not capable of magnifying
their high calling in the Priesthood and receive crowns of glory,
immortality, and eternal lives, will also, when they again receive their
bodies, become angels and will receive a glory.  They are single, without
families or kingdoms to reign over.  All the difference between men and
angels is, men are passing through the day of trial that angels have
already passed through.  They belong to the same family that we do; but
they have proven themselves worthy only of an exaltation to the state of
angels, whereas we have the privilege of obtaining not only the same
exaltation they enjoy, but of going further until we become Gods, even the
sons of God.

	My next reflections are upon the state of mankind, their position
before God in their creation and being upon the earth in the connection of
the spirit and tabernacle, and the influences that surround them.  There
are certain influences that we have no control over:  man is controlled by
surrounding influences in a greater of less degree.  For instance, we
cannot avert the consequences of the fall as it is called, of Adam, which
came through his transgressing certain words or laws given to him by his
Father and God.  In consequence of this, sin came into the world, and
death by sin.  We are more or less controlled by the influences that have
been introduced into the world by the power of Satan upon the children of
men, and will be so long as we live in the flesh.

	Permit me to diverge a moment from the legitimate chain of the
subject before us.  I do not myself wish, nor do I ask any man in the
world to create a spirit of reformation to sing and shout ourselves "away
to everlasting bliss."  There never was any such reformation desired by
me.  All I have ever asked for or contended for is a reformation in the
life of this people; that the thief should stop his stealing, the swearer
his swearing, the liar his lying, the deceiver his deceiving, and the man
who loves the world more than his God and his religion wean his affections
from those objects and place them where they of right belong.  I do not
wish anybody to cherish a wild enthusiasm, so common in the world, which
is produced by the excitement of animal passions, and makes people weep
and cry out in an insane manner.  I wish the people to make themselves
acquainted with facts pertaining to God, to heaven, to mankind upon the
earth, their errand here, for what they are created, the nature of their
organization, who has power over them, who controls them, how much they
can control themselves, &c., &c.; and then let us see whether we can be
men and conduct ourselves like Saints, or live and act like the wicked.

	My reflections led me to inquire who it is that has influence over
us.  Can you inform me why people do wrong when they know the path of
right and can walk in it as easily as we can walk home in broad daylight? 
Is the cause of this to be found in the heavens?  No.  Is it to be found
in the spirit God has placed in our tabernacles?  No.  Where is it to be
found?  In the power of the Enemy of all righteousness, who holds dominion
over our flesh, which flesh is intimately connected with the spirit God
has placed within it.  Herein is a warfare.

	Brother Lorenzo was striving to lay before the people the necessity
of their letting good overcome evil, instead of letting evil overcome
good.  His remarks supplied to me a number of texts, showing the precise
situation of mankind before the Father and his angels, and before all the
heavens.  Men try to lord it over God's heritage.  I understand that
saying in this wise:  The spirits that are in men are as pure as the Gods
are:  then why do they consent to do evil?  Because of the influences of
evil that are in the flesh.  Over it the Enemy of all righteousness has
held dominion, has exercised a right, and has apparently triumphed.  When
mankind give way to evil and suffer the flesh to rule and contaminate the
pure spirit tabernacled within it, they lord it over God's heritage.  When
men consent to evil, the spirit within them does not answer approvingly. 
Though the inhabitants of the earth are in darkness and blindness, yet
they are not so ignorant as they represent themselves to be.  There is a
spirit in them that reproves them continually when they do wrong, until
they have sinned away the day of grace, and a mantle of darkness is thrown
around them to shut out for ever the light of God.  Until then, they are
checked continually, are taught, and chastened or justified as the case
may be.

	When people do right, they rest upon their beds, sleep sweetly, and
rejoice in righteousness in their secret moments.  When they do evil, it
brings sorrow and deep pain to them in their private reflections.  "But
there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them
understanding."  In every man there is a candle of the Lord which burns
with a clear light; and if by the wickedness of a man it is extinguished,
then farewell for ever to that individual.  The people say they do as well
as they know how.  This may be true.  It is also true that there is a
great amount of ignorance.  But who among this people does an evil without
knowing it?  Is there a man in this kingdom who betrays his God and his
brethren, without being perfectly conscious that he does an evil?  I think
not.  Is there one who treats the name of the Deity with lightness, using
his name in vain, thut believes himself justified?  I think not.  Is there
one who takes advantage of his neighbour or a fellow-being, deceiving and
wronging him, that believes he does right?  I think not.  When men do
wrong, they know that they do wrong.  Is there a person in this community
that can lie, and feel justified in the belief that he is telling the
truth?  Does the thief feel justified in doing right when he steals his
neighbour's goods?  No.  The blackest vagabond and renegade that walks the
streets of this city or Territory is conscious when he does right and when
he does wrong.  Notwithstanding all this, there is a great deal of
ignorance.  

	Just as long as we live within the purview of the reconciliation of
the Spirit of God, that visits us from time to time, revealing the truth
and and [sic] the righteousness of our God, and yield to that and never
cast it from us, whether we live or die, there is a salvation for us. 
There is a salvation for all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, no
matter where they have lived or when, nor whether Christian, Mussulman,
Jew, barbarian, or Gentile, that do not deny the power of God and sin
against the Holy Ghost.  You may discover that I am a Universalist.  I am;
and I am also a Calvinist, for the Almighty decreed all this before the
worlds were.  As I progress in my remarks you can see plainly that a
widely-extended field opens to our minds.

	Is every man and woman capable of receiving the highest glory of God? 
No.  We are surrounded with circumstances that control us to a certain
degree.  My father and mother moved into the State of Vermont, and it
happened that I was born there.  I cannot help that.  They might have
stayed in Massachusetts, close to Boston.  If they had, I should have been
born there, and I could not have helped that.  My father's name was John
Young, and my mother's maiden name was Nabby How.  I cannot help that.  My
father was a poor, honest, hard-working man; and his mind seemingly
stretched from east to west, from north to south; and to the day of his
death he wanted to command worlds; but the Lord would never permit him to
get rich.  He wanted to command all, and that too in righteousness.  I
cannot help all this; I have no power to control such circumstances.  When
I was about twenty months old, my father moved from Vermont into the State
of New York, where I lived with him until I became a man.  I cannot help
that.  There are a thousand circumstances I cannot help or control that
are thrown around me without any action of my choice.

	I cannot help being here.  We might have gone to Vancouver's Island;
and if we had, we should probably have been driven away or used up before
this time.  But here we are in the valleys of the mountains, where the
Lord directed me to lead the people.  The brethren who are in foreign
countries desire to gather to the gathering-place of the Saints, and they
have for the present to come to Great Salt Lake City.  They cannot help
that.  Why did we not go to San Francisco?  Because the Lord told me not: 
"For there are lions in the way, and they will devour the lambs, if you
take them there."  What now can we do?  Why, instead of being merchants,
instead of going to St. Louis to buy goods, we can go down to our Dixie
land, the southern part of our Territory, and raise cotton and manufacture
goods for ourselves.  These are circumstances we are creating with which
to surround our children, and to form the foundation of the future
prosperity of this community.  They will be more or less governed by the
circumstances we created for them.  They will make their own bonnets,
ribbons, hats, coats, and dresses of every kind.  While we are governed
and controlled by circumstances over which we have no power, still we
possess ability and power in our different spheres of action to call into
existence circumstances to surround ourselves and our children, which will
more or less control them; and, if they are planned in righteousness, will
tend to lead us and our children to heaven.  I have power to call upon the
brethren to go south and raise cotton and indigo, the olive, and the
grape.  I have done it.  In doing this, it throws them under the influence
of new surroundings and new circumstances.  They in their turn can, by
perseverance and faithfulness, under the dictations of the Spirit of
truth, bring forth a train of happy circumstances to bless them, to bless
their wives, to bless their children, and to bless the kingdom of God.

	I have power to send brethren to the east or to the west to buy our
goods.  I have power to say, John, William, or Thomas, Go and find a gold
mine; but I am not disposed to exercise this power in that way.  God has
given this power to me.  Let the brethren who have been called to go south
go willingly, with their heads up and glory, hallelujah! in their hearts;
for they are pioneers of future greatness, power, and independence to
Israel.  They possess power to do this.  When the husbandman goes into his
field, he has power to plough up the soil.  When it is ready, he has power
to plant corn in rows or otherwise; he has power to sow wheat or oats in
drills or broadcast, and harrow in or cover the seeds, that they may grow. 
What we sow we shall also reap.  We have great power committed unto us,
and yet we are confined by certain laws that we cannot avert or control.

	The power of choice all intelligent beings inherit from the Gods of
eternity; it is innate.  This statement might even be applied to the brute
creation; but it is not my purpose to extend my remarks in that channel
to-day.  The Latter-day Saints can take the road that leads to life
everlasting, if they choose; or, if they choose, they can take the road
that leads to apostacy.  As individuals, we must guard our affections from
becoming contaminated with the love of earthly riches, or anything that is
of earth, whether animate or inanimate.  Uncertainty is strewed around us,
and disappointment is the constant companion of those who worship at the
shrine of the god of this world.  If we centre our affections upon any
earthly object, whether within our reach or out of our reach, should we be
bereaved of that object, we are left to mourn, and lament in darkness
because of our ignorance and folly.  Let our love be for God and truth,
righteousness and peace, being contented and happy with present
endowments; and as the way opens to further progression, greater
possessions, walk forward in the light of God and hold what we obtain for
him and his cause, coveting not what we possess, and not with an
avaricious desire reaching after what we cannot possess.  If we do
opposite to this, our whole existence will be craped with disappointment
and mourning.  Then let us keep the world and its allurements aloof from
our affections.  We may have the ability to build for ourselves beautiful
houses, to plant choice orchards and vineyards, to adorn our grounds with
flowers and sweet-scented shrubs, and have lovely families, and possess
horses and chariots, silver and gold, this, that, and the other, in
abundance.  But if our affections are placed upon these things, we shall
either go out of the kingdom of Christ and miss being exalted sons of God,
or will see our error, repent of our folly, learn to control our
affections, desires, and passions, and willingly let "God rule within us
to will and to do of his good pleasure," having no mind only that which is
of heaven.

	Have we a will?  Yes.  It is an endowment, a trait of the character
of the Gods, with which all intelligence is endowed, in heaven and on
earth,--the power to accept or reject.  

	Then, wherever the wisdom of God directs, let our affections and the
labour of our lives be centred to that point, and not set our hearts on
going east or west, north or south, on living here or there, on possessing
this or that; but let our will be swallowed up in the will of God,
allowing him to rule supremely within us until the spirit overcomes the
flesh, and the world, Satan, and the flesh are vanquished and lie under
our feet.  Then and not till then will the righteousness of God reign
triumphantly.  It may be asked whether I have any idols?  Yes, I have most
darling idols--my God and my religion, and they are all the idols I wish
to have.  "Have you no wife that you idolize?"  If I have, let the Lord
take her and give her to somebody else.  "Have you no children that you
idolize?"  If I have, let the Lord have them.  I possess that which is
apparently mine; but why should I call them mine, until I have passed
ordeals mortals must pass, and they are sealed to me by the authorities of
the Gods in a way that they cannot be taken from me?  They are now in my
possession, and I hold them by the undisputed right of that possession. 
Anything we have upon this earth we only seem to have, for in reality we
own nothing.  No person on the earth can truly call anything his own, and
never will until he has passed the ordeals we are all now passing, and has
received his body again in a glorious resurrection, to be crowned by him
who will be ordained and set apart to set a crown upon our heads.  Then
will be given to us that which we now only seem to own, and we will be
forever one with the Father and the Son, and not until then.

	There is a great difference in the individual capacity of people. 
Some can receive much more than others can:  hence we read of different
degrees of glory.  How many kingdoms glory of [sic] there are, I know not;
and how many degrees of glory there are in these kingdoms, I know not; but
there are multitudes of them.  Paul speaks of three, Joseph Smith and
Sidney Rigdon saw three, and multitudes more have we seen by the Spirit of
revelation, according to the capacity of our understandings.  Can we so
live and direct ourselves as to receive glory, immortality, and eternal
lives?  We can.  Then love not the world, nor the things of the world. 
Desire not that which is not for us, but desire only that which God has
ordained for our benefit and advancement in the science of eternal life;
then can we advance with accelerated speed in the things of God.

	But is it not visibly manifest that the great majority want to lord
it over God's heritage.  Wicked kings lord it over the consciences of
their subjects, priests over their people, and masters over their
servants; and wicked dispositions tell us to do this and to desire that
which pertains to folly:  they prompt almost constantly to lord it over
God's heritage.  Where is God's heritage?  It is in our affections, our
love, delight, glory, and happiness.  Let us honour God's heritage,
sanctify it, and bring all into subjection that surrounds it and is
connected with it, sanctifying the Lord in our affections.  We see all the
world trying to lord it over God's heritage.  It is in the spirit that the
evil principle and power is trying to overcome and rule over the divine
principle planted there.  This constantly leads the children of men
astray.

	What power is legally ours?  That which was given to Adam and the
human family in former days.  Power?  Yes.  Dominion?  Yes.  Glory?  Yes. 
Honour?  Yes.  That which pertains to this world?  Yes.  That which
pertains to the next?  Yes.  Let us understand this power and this
privilege that God has guaranteed to the human family. He has first
imparted power to mankind to control the elements; and when this is
employed faithfully to magnify righteousness, then excellence,
magnificence, splendour, beauty, honour, glory, and Godlike power will
follow as the results.  This power must be guided by the Almighty.  Let
the people be led by the revelations of Jesus Christ, and the finger of
God will be made manifest before them day by day in their progress to
eternal happiness; for this is the privilege of the faithful.

	Shall we not choose for ourselves?  Yes.  Have we not rights?  Yes. 
Have we not power?  Yes.  Have we not authority bequeathed to us from the
heavens--a legacy from God to hold dominion over the elements?  Yes.  Then
go to like men, like angels, like Him we read of, whom we love and serve
and worship, who in his former capacity organized the elements as we are
taught to do for our own benefit, beauty, comfort, excellency, and glory,
and beautify the earth and make it like the garden of Eden, so that the
angels will delight to come and dwell here, and Jesus Christ will delight
to dwell with his brethren on the earth.  This is our right.  We are not
destitute of rights and privileges.  We have the right of choice. We have
the right to dictate, to plough, plant, sow, reap, gather, mow, clothe
ourselves and families, and gather around us in abundance all the comforts
and blessings of life.  Have we a right to inflict evil upon our
neighbour, upon the divinity within him, or upon the divinity within
ourselves?  No.  God should rule in the way and manner he pleases by the
revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will lead the Saints to
victory and glory.  By-and-by we will possess more rights than we now
possess, but not until they are given to us.  God has decreed from all
eternity that we should have rights, power, and authority over the
elements to organize and bring them into use and make them beneficial and
subserve the wants of the human family.

	I wish to see this people manufacture their own clothing, and make as
good cloth as is in the coat I now have on, and as good silk as is in the
handkerchief around my neck, and as good linen as is in the bosom and
wristbands of my shirt.  When we administer the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper, I wish as good wine as can be made in any country, and that too
made by ourselves from grapes grown in our own mountain valleys.  I want
to see the people wear hats, boots, coats, etc., made by ourselves, as
good as ever was made in any country.

	If you will obey my counsel, you will constantly increase in the
riches and the comforts of life; though every time I speak upon this
subject I wish to keep in view that if we cannot handle the things of this
world without unduly placing our affections upon them, I pray God to keep
them out of our possession.  I would rather have this people clad with
sheep-skins and goat-skins than to have them possess the wealth of this
world without feeling that they could trample it all under their feet at
any moment.  Earthly wealth and greatness should only be used to subserve
the purposes of God upon the earth.  This is what brother Snow was
speaking upon this morning.  I have briefly noticed the same subject,
using my own style and language.  Let the divinity within the people
overcome that wicked, corrupt hellish influence the Devil has power to
introduce.

	Do not imagine that I am in the least finding fault with the Devil. 
I would not bring a railing accusation against him, for he is fulfilling
his office and calling manfully; he is more faithful in his calling that
are many of the people.  God is not yet going to destroy wickedness from
the earth.  How frequently we hear it reiterated from the pulpit that he
is going to destroy all wickedness.  No such thing.  He will destroy the
power of sin.  When we have lived to see millions of worlds created--yea,
more in number than the particles of matter that compose this earth and
millions of earths like this, if so many could be numerated by man, and
people live on them to pass through the ordeals we are passing through,
you will never see one of them without a devil.  The work the Saviour has
on hand is to reduce the power of the Devil to perfect subjection; and
when he has destroyed death and him that has the power of it, pertaining
to this world, then he will deliver up the kingdom spotless to the Father.

	I have not told the Saints my feelings, but I will here say that it
is my daily prayer that God will change the power and authority of our
political Government into the hands of the just.  Amen.



                            TRUE CIVILIZATION.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, March 4, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	In detailing the different grades of people, of which we have known
but little, and in discoursing upon their character and habits, I think
that Captain Gibson, in his lecture, has been both amusing, instructive,
and interesting.

	When Captain Gibson first came to this city, he proposed addressing
the people, and wished to know whether the subject possessed sufficient
interest to warrant an audience.  I think he is now well satisfied that he
can have all the hearers he wishes.

	The religion embraced by the Latter-day Saints, if only slightly
understood, prompts them to search diligently after knowledge.  There is
no other people in existence more eager to see, hear, learn, and
understand truth.

	In a quotation read by Captain Gibson I noticed the word
civilization; and I wish to know whether there is a person present who
understands the term as i do.  What is meant by "civilization?"  We
readily answer, "The state of being civilized,"--refinement of manners, in
contradistinction to the grossness of savage life.  According to my
definition of the word, there is not a strictly and fully civilized
community now upon the earth.  Is there murder by wholesale to be found in
a strictly civilized community?  Will a community of civilized nations
rise up one against another, nation against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom, using against each other every destructive invention that can be
brought to bear in their wars?

	When will they be civilized?  When the Lord shall judge among the
nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords
into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; when nation shall
not lift up sword against nation, neither learn war any more.  When the
world is in a state of true civilization, man will have ceased to contend
against his fellow-man, either as individuals, parties, communities,
sects, or nations.  This state of civilization will be brought about by
the holy Priesthood of the Son of God; and men, with full purpose of
heart, will seek unto Him who is pure and holy, even our Great
Creator--our Father and God; and he will give them a law that is pure--a
government and plan of society possessed by holy beings in heaven.  Then
there will be no more war, no more bloodshed, no more evil speaking and
evil doing; but all will be contented to follow in the path of truth,
which alone is calculated to exalt and dignify the whole man, mentally and
physically, in all his operations, labours, and purposes.  Short of this,
mankind cannot be said to be truly civilized.

	God forbid that modern civilization should make that simple,
unsophisticated people, whom Captain Gibson has portrayed to-night, as are
the Christian nations of Europe and America!  God forbid that such a
civilization should ever be introduced among them!  But bestow upon them
the principles of eternal truth; teach them how to live so as to do honour
to their existence; teach them how to preserve themselves--how to preserve
their companions, their associates, friends, and relatives; teach them how
to preserve themselves as communities and nations, and how to secure and
preserve to every person his equal and legal rights, seeking to preserve
them in the truth, in light, in intelligence, in honour, and in every
principle and act calculated to make a happy, Godlike, heavenly, social
community.  These are my views of civilization.

	I shall be very happy when I can know that the people of the East
Indian Archipelago, and the people on every island continent, both the
high and the low, the ignorant and the intelligent, have received the
words of eternal life, and have had bestowed upon them the power of the
eternal Priesthood of the Son of God, by which they may become truly
civilized.

	I am trying to civilize myself.  Are you trying to do the same.  If
we have succeeded in this, then we have control over our words and over
our actions, and also, so far as our influence goes, over our associates. 
If we are civilized ourselves, we shall be partially prepared to receive
the things that our Father and God has in store for all such as prepare
themselves to become recipients of his choice gifts--for enlightenment,
for intelligence, for glory, for power, and for every qualification he
wishes to bestow upon his children here upon the earth, to prepare them to
dwell in mansions of eternal light.

	It is written that the greatest gift God can bestow upon man is the
gift of eternal life.  The greatest attainment that we can reach is to
preserve our identity to an eternal duration in the midst of the heavenly
hosts.  We have the words of eternal life given to us through the Gospel,
which, if we obey, will secure unto us that precious gift.  The greatest
blessing that can be bestowed on the children of men is power to civilize
themselves after the order of the civilization of the heavens--to prepare
themselves to dwell with heavenly beings who are capable of enduring the
presence of the Gods.

	It has been supposed by many writers that there is a regular
gradation from the vegetable kingdom to the highest intelligence that has
been bestowed upon man, gradually rising from one degree of intelligence
to another.  We learn that great intelligence has been bestowed upon
certain persons among the children of men.  We discern degrees of
intelligence in our own society.  There are also degrees of intelligence
in a national capacity.  There are degrees of intelligence in one family: 
you see its variations in communities, and you may mark its gradations
from the highest and most refined intelligence of man down to the brute
creation.

	God has given this great variety of intelligence.  He has also given
this great variety of forms--that eternal variety which we see upon this
earth, not only among human beings, but in every class of all the
creations of God; and they are all designed to be preserved to all
eternity.  None of them were made to be destroyed, except those that do
not abide the law given them.

	The earth will abide its creation, and will be counted worthy of
receiving the blessings designed for it, and will ultimately roll back
into the presence of God who formed it and established its mineral,
vegetable, and animal kingdoms.  These will all be retained upon the
earth, come forth in the resurrection, and abide for ever and for ever.

	Who will be destroyed?  Those who have the words of eternal life
offered to them and reject those words.  They will remain uncivilized and
in their heathenish darkness.  There are others who will become civilized,
purified, and prepared to dwell to all eternity in the kingdoms God has
prepared for them.

	The last time I spoke to you here I told you that I found my religion
just as sweet to me in my private capacity, in my secret meditations upon
my bed, and in my closet, in my office, or with my family, as it is when I
am in this stand.  I love it as well--esteem it as highly; it is as
precious to my understanding, and it invigorates, buoys up, strengthens,
and fills every power of my capacity with unspeakable joy, just as much at
home as it does here.  I hope this is the case with you all.  If you live
your religion, it is as dear to you when you are out of this Tabernacle as
when you are here.  Live your religion, walk humbly before your God, and
secure to yourselves eternal life.  That it what I desire; it is what I
pray for.

	The kingdom of God will roll, and no power can stop the work that the
Almighty has commenced.  Kings, rulers, governors, presidents, peoples,
and all the armies of hell joined with them will never be able to impede
the steady, onward, accelerated progress of this glorious latter-day work. 
If we should deny the faith of the holy Gospel, and go out of this Church,
still it will roll on the same.  This kingdom will stand for ever.  This
religion will abide the day of the coming of the Lord Jesus, and will
prepare us to meet him in peace.

	Live your religion, walk uprightly, deal justly, love mercy, eschew
evil of every kind, and sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and purify
and sanctify your affections with the principle of eternal life, that
Jesus may fulfil his own words--that he, by his Spirit, may be in you a
well of water springing up to everlasting life.

	The world is before us, eternity is before us, and an inexhaustible
foundation of intelligence for us to obtain.  Every man, and more
particularly immediate associates who are with me daily, know how I regret
the ignorance of this people--how it floods my heart with sorrow to see so
many Elders of Israel who wish everybody to come to their standard and be
measured by their measure.  Every man must be just so long, to fit their
iron bedstead, or be cut off to the right length:  if too short, he must
be stretched, to fill the requirement.

	If they see an erring brother or sister, whose course does not
comport with their particular ideas of things, they conclude at once that
he or she cannot be a Saint, and withdraw their fellowship, concluding
that, if they are in the path of truth, others must have precisely their
weight and dimensions.

	The ignorance I see, in this particular, among this great people is
lamentable.  Let us not narrow ourselves up; for the world, with all its
variety of useful information and its rich hoard of hidden treasure, is
before us; and eternity, with all its sparkling intelligence, lofty
aspirations, and unspeakable glories, is before us, and ready to aid us in
the scale of advancement and every useful improvement.

	See that your children are properly educated in the rudiments of
their mother tongue, and then let them proceed to higher branches of
learning; let them become more informed in every department of true and
useful learning than their fathers are.  When they have become well
acquainted with their language, let them study other languages, and make
themselves fully acquainted with the manners, customs, laws, governments,
and literature of other nations, peoples, and tongues.  Let them also
learn all the truth pertaining to the arts and sciences, and how to apply
the same to their temporal wants.  Let them study things that are upon the
earth, that are in the earth, and that are in the heavens.

	There are hundreds in this community who are more eager to become
rich in the perishable things of this world than to adorn their minds with
the power of self-government, and with a knowledge of things as they were,
as they are, and as they are to come.  I will say to such, Get rich in
gold and silver, in houses and lands, in goods and chattels, in flocks and
herds, until you possess all you can possibly gain; but let me caution you
not to get one cent, unless you get it honestly.  And when you have
amassed your millions, never allow yourselves to possess one dollar with
the belief that you are capable of disposing of it judiciously without
wisdom from our God.  In all things inquire of the Lord, that you may
wisely direct your earthly substance, as well as the energies of your
minds, to the building up of his kingdom and the consummation of his
purposes pertaining to this world and our salvation.

	We are not yet half civilized, though we are more civilized than any
nation upon the earth.  Our neighbours say we are barbarians, sunk in
heathenish ignorance.  I will acknowledge my lack of memory to retain
scientific phrases, and the names of places, and of men who have figured
in the history of the world.  With these exceptions, I am not a whit
behind them as to a knowledge of things as they are, though I confess that
my knowledge is limited.  If they understand the Hebrew language, I
understand its roots, and how it originated.  If they understand the Greek
tongue, I know whence it came, and how it was introduced among men.

	I know the cause of the various languages and customs among the
people, and the reason of the variation in our appearance, and the
difference in the intelligence given to the children of men; and after
all, I feel very ignorant, when I scan the wide field there is for
improvement; and I know that this community are ignorant, and are not what
they should be.  I also know that if the enemies of truth will let us
alone, as barbarous as we are, we will soon show them the most peaceable,
right-loving, and law-abiding community in the wide world.  We will show
them the most civil community--a community farther advanced in the arts of
refinement than any other upon the earth.  We will show them men and women
are the most profound in learning, and mechanics the most expert and
ingenious.  We will show them men endowed with the most brilliant natural
talent and the most wisdom that can be found in the world.  We will do
this, if they will cease driving us from our homes, and robbing up of our
homesteads to the music of the rifle and cannon, and the horrible oaths
and fiendish hilarity of civilized mobs who mock at our sufferings, and
laugh to scorn our sorrows.  If they will not let us alone, we will take
the musket and the sword in one hand, the trowel and the hammer in the
other, and build up the Zion of our God; and they cannot prevent it.

	I am very thankful for the knowledge I received from Captain Gibson's
book, from the little I have conversed with him, and from the lectures I
have heard him deliver.  I shall not cease learning while I live, nor when
I arrive in the spirit-world; but shall there learn with greater facility;
and when I again receive my body, I shall learn a thousand times more in a
thousand times less time; and then I do not mean to cease learning, but
shall still continue my researches.

	Let us be patient with one another.  I do not altogether look at
things as you do.  My judgment is not in all things like yours, nor yours
like mine.  When you judge a man or woman, judge the intentions of the
heart.  It is not by words, particularly, nor by actions, that men will be
judged in the great day of the Lord; but, in connection with words and
actions, the sentiments and intentions of the heart will be taken, and by
these will men be judged.

	There are men in this community who make blunders; but they would not
do an intentional wrong.  They are weak; they do not fully understand
themselves, and are sometimes overtaken in fault.  Am I to condemn them? 
No; but to take them by the hand, and lift them up, and instruct
them,--give them a little intelligence as they can receive it.  If they
can receive but a little, give them only a little, exercising patience
with them.

	Ye mighty men of God, make sure the path for your own feet to walk to
eternal life, and take as many with you as you can.  Take them as they
are, understand them as they are, and deal with them as they are; look at
them as God looks at them, and then you can judge them as he would judge
them.

	May the Lord bless you!  Amen.

                        HINTS TO FAULTFINDERS, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, March 5, 1860.
                          Reported by G. D. Watt

	I rejoice in the privilege of speaking to you this morning, and hope
I shall have your prayers and faith, in connection with my own, that my
remarks may be beneficial to those who hear.

	Brother Spencer, in his remarks, indicated that there are some
fault-finders here--some who take exceptions to the acts and doings of the
Saints, especially to those of their leaders.  Some of these persons
profess to be Saints, some have been cut off from the Church, and some
have never been in the Church.

	I have no part with such men, neither have I any contention or
argument with them.  I am sent to preach the Gospel of life and salvation. 
If men are not pleased with my ways, they have as good a right to dislike
them as I have to dislike theirs.  If they do not believe in my advice,
teachings, and counsel, they are at perfect liberty to disbelieve them and
I will not find one word of fault with them for so doing.  They have full
liberty to think and say what they please with regard to my acts; but, as
I have often said, they must keep their "hands off."  The slander and
lying of tongues set in motion by wicked hearts I have always met, and
they do not affect my character before my God, nor in the eyes of just
men.

	Take the evildoers in this community, those who have once tasted of
the good word of God, who have received the Spirit of truth, and then
turned again to the allurements of the enemy, have forsaken their God in
their feelings, and connected themselves with those who are not in the
Church; they know my character, and have much more confidence in me than I
have in them.  They believe  what I say to be the truth; but they deceive,
and I know it.  I tell the truth; and, so far as I have power, I always
act the truth; but they are disposed to refuse and neglect the truth, and
to prefer error and falsehood instead.

	I have very little to say to men who are dissatisfied with my course,
or with the course of my brethren.  Some have wished me to explain why we
built an adobie wall around city.  Are there any Saints who stumble at
such things?  Oh, slow of heart to understand and believe.  I build walls,
dig ditches, make bridges, and do a great amount and variety of labour
that is of but little consequence only to provide ways and means for
sustaining and preserving the destitute.  I annually expend hundreds and
thousands of dollars almost solely to furnish employment to those in want
of labour.  Why?  I have potatoes, flour, beef, and other articles of
food, which I wish my brethren to have; and it is better for them to
labour for those articles, so far as they are able and have opportunity,
than to have them given to them.  They work, and I deal out provisions,
often when the work does not profit me.

	I say to all grunters, grumblers, whiners, hypocrites, and
sycophants, who snivel, crouch, and crawl around the most contemptible of
all creatures for a slight favour, Should it enter my mind to dig down the
Twin Peaks, and I set men to work to do so, it is none of your business,
neither is it the business of all earth and hell, provided I pay the
labourers their wages.  I am not to be called in question as to what I do
with my funds, whether I build high walls, garden walls or city walls; and
if I please, it is my right to pull down my walls tomorrow.  If any one
wishes to apostatize upon such grounds, the quicker he does so the better;
and if he wishes to leave the Territory, but is too poor to do so, I will
assist him to go.  We are much better off without such characters.

	I preach to the people and reason with them with regard to the
dealings of God with the children of men.  Many have apostatized because
we were driven by our enemies from Missouri, notwithstanding they were
taught that we never should be driven, if the people would sanctify
themselves, and all the subsequent schooling was necessary to prepare the
Latter-day Saints to receive the blessings of the Almighty.  We are not
prepared to receive his choicest gifts, unless we also have experience to
know what to do with them.  How many years have the Saints been taught
upon these principles, to give them an understanding of the dealings of
the Lord with the children of men?

	When a man begins to find fault, inquiring in regard to this, that,
and the other, saying, "Does this or that look as though the Lord dictated
it?"  you may know that that person has more or less of the spirit of
apostasy.  Every man in this kingdom, or upon the face of the earth, who
is seeking with all his heart to save himself, has as much to do as he can
conveniently attend to, without calling in question that which does not
belong to him.  If he succeeds in saving himself, it has well occupied his
time and attention.  See to it that you are right yourselves; see that
sins and folly do not manifest themselves with the rising sun.  I repeat
that it is as much as any one can well do to take care of himself by
performing every duty that pertains to his temporal and eternal welfare.

	Suppose that in this community there are ten beggars who beg from
door to door for something to eat, and that nine of them are impostors who
beg to escape work, and with an evil heart practise imposition upon the
generous and sympathetic, and that only one of the ten who visit your
doors is worthy of your bounty; which is best, to give food to the ten, to
make sure of helping the truly needy one, or to repulse the ten because
you do not know which is the worthy one?  You will all say, Administer
charitable gifts to the ten, rather than turn away the only truly worthy
and truly needy person among them.  If you do this, it will make no
difference in your blessings, whether you administer to worthy or unworthy
persons, inasmuch as you give alms with a single eye to assist the truly
needy.

	Again:  Suppose that you are required to do ten pieces of work, but
of the ten only one is necessary for the promotion of the kingdom of God;
which had you better do--perform the ten pieces of labour, to be sure of
doing the right piece, or neglect the whole ten because you do not know
which the right one is?  Had you not better do the whole ten pieces, that
you may be sure of performing that which the Lord does really require at
your hands?

	First, believe in the Lord God Almighty, in his Son Jesus Christ, and
in his Prophets that he sent in days of old; then believe in Joseph Smith,
and do the works of the Father, before you question what I dictate to this
people.

	The Lord says, by one of the ancient prophets, "Wherefore the Lord
said, Forasmuch as this people draw near with their mouth, and with their
lips do honour me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their
fear toward me is taught by the precepts of men; therefore, behold, I will
proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work
and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the
understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.  From the time that it
goeth forth it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass over,
by day and by night; and it shall be a vexation only to understand the
report."

	The sound of the Gospel of life and salvation, to gather the house of
Israel and redeem the children of men, is a terror to all nations.  The
fulfilment of this prophecy is plainly manifest, as is also that of
revelations given in our day in connection with the great latter-day work;
and yet all modern Christian communities disbelieve in new revelation. 
Are they hunted and cast out?  No:  they are received in the first society
of the land as gentlemen.  They are associates for Presidents and
governors--for the chief rulers of the nation, who receive them with all
the courtesy and generous kindness of which they are capable.  But let men
come, as Peter, James, and John, with words of eternal truth in their
mouths, and they are despised and looked upon with withering scorn, as I
and others of my brethren have been, and as Joseph Smith was, who was
slain by the hands of wicked men.

	Why do men hate me?  Why do they hate you?  Why did they have Joseph
Smith, Jesus Christ, and his ancient Apostles?  Jesus they nailed to a
cross, and Peter they crucified with his head downwards.  John the
Evangelist they banished to one of the islands of the Mediterranean, to be
a slave in the lead mines, and tried to destroy him by putting him into a
cauldron of boiling oil.  Had he declared that Jesus and Moses were
impostors, and that revelations from heaven were a humbug, would they have
treated him as they did?  They would not, but would have hailed him as one
of their bosom friends.  Hatred and persecution have been the lot of every
man that ever lived upon the earth holding the oracles of the kingdom of
heaven to deliver to the children of men.  Wicked men, Satan, and all the
powers of hell hate and are at war with every holy principle that God
wishes to place in the possession of his children.  That is the true
reason of the hatred and persecution meted out to us.

	If people will believe the Gospel, and live by the principles
thereof, they will be saved.  They will not be fault-finders, they will
not be discontented, they will not be workers of iniquity, they will not
seek to falsify and change the truth into a lie, nor a lie into the truth;
they will not seek to make white black, and black white.  The Spirit of
God has no place in persons who do such things.  What have I to do with
them?  I am willing to preach the Gospel to all, and to seek the eternal
good of all people.  I have examined myself very closely; I have been
trying to learn myself, to govern myself, and purify my own heart.  The
worst evil I can imagine or wish to come upon the enemies of truth is,
that they be obliged to live by holy principles, and to deal by their
fellow-creatures as they would wish to be dealt by.  This is the worst
wish I can possibly wish upon my worst enemies who thirst for my life. 
There is no question but what this would be a great punishment to them.  I
would not wish them to be punished any more, nor to suffer any more.  But
I also could wish them to forsake the evil influence within them which
they constantly yield to, and partake of good and holy influences, that
they may rejoice in the truth.

	I shall see the day when every son and daughter of Adam will bow the
knee, and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
that Saviour of the world,--that to him we owe our lives, and through him
to the Father, for every blessing we enjoy.  They will acknowledge his
right to rule and govern, King of nations, as he does King of Saints. 
This they must do, notwithstanding all their hatred.  Can people receive
this?  Yes, every son and daughter of Adam can; though I once in a while
meet with an individual who says that he cannot believe in religion of any
kind.  I will venture to say that there are men in this Church who would
tell you so, were you to converse with them privately.  They will tell you
that they cannot in the least degree comprehend angels, spirits, God, and
the kingdoms and thrones of the eternal worlds, nor anything of that
character.

	What do I say to such persons?  Live that moral religion you believe
in; for they believe in the same moral religion that you and I do.  Let
them deal justly with their fellow-men, be truthful, honest, and
charitable, full of good works to the day of their death, and I will
insure them that the kingdom of God is theirs.  And when their spirits
leave their bodies, their eyes will be opened to see those heavenly and
eternal realities which they could not comprehend while in the flesh. 
Now, I do not admit that good, active, bright, intelligent hearts and
brains, or, in other words, good spirits put in mortal tabernacles are
quite so ignorant as some imagine, although they may feel that they are,
and may think that they cannot conceive of anything but what they hear
with their ears, see with their eyes, &c.  This is a mistake:  they can
see and understand more, but they do not know how to classify it.  Let
this be who will correctly live an external religion are entitled to a
degree of salvation.

	Man is a mystery to himself.  You see some who at once believe the
truth when they hear the Gospel of salvation declared by the servants of
God.  Truth fastens upon their understandings, they yield to it at once
and openly acknowledge it, and yet they live for years and years without
receiving a love of that truth.  Is not this a great mystery?  It
partially is.  In their outward faith and lives they believe the Gospel
was true.  How many are there of this class, year by year, who will say,
"We never knew the truth of `Mormonism?'"  I will relate an incident by
way of illustration.  A brother now here and working for us had a brother
in Nauvoo, in the days of Joseph, who was sent to England on a mission. 
He went and preached to his brother that is now here, and bore testimony
to him that he knew Joseph Smith to be a Prophet of God, that the New
Testament is true, that the Book of Mormon is true, that the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants contains true revelations from God, that God has
sent an angel from heaven revealing the everlasting Priesthood, and had
bestowed the Holy Ghost upon his servants, which he would give to all who
believed in their words.  Thus he preached to his brother and to the
people, and returned to his house in Nauvoo.  In a few years his brother
came to Nauvoo, and the brother previously there began to tell him that
"Mormonism" was not true, and that if Joseph Smith was ever a Prophet, he
must have been a fallen Prophet.  His brother than asked about the Book of
Mormon.  "Why," said he, "I do not think it is true, though I do not
really know."  "How about the Bible?"  "I do not know much about it; but I
think you had better stop here:  here are houses and lands unoccupied, for
the Mormons have gone west, and left their gardens, farms, and the
furniture in their houses, and you can make money here."  "But is not
`Mormonism' true?"  "I do not think it is, for the Mormons are now
clearing out to go into the wilderness."  "But," said his brother, "That
has nothing to do with it.  It is no matter where they go.  Is the
doctrine you preached to me in England true?"  "Well, I do not hardly
think it is."  Finally he said, "It is not true."  "Well," said the young
man, "I will ask you a single question:  Did you tell the truth when you
came to England to preach the Gospel?  or did you lie then, and now tell
the truth?  You either lied then or now, and I want you to tell me which
time you lied."  He did not reply.  "Now brother, I have a few words to
say to you:  You came to England and preached the Gospel, and told me not
to trust in man, but to seek unto the Lord my God, in the name of Jesus
Christ, and receive a witness for myself and know for myself that Joseph
Smith is a Prophet of God, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that God
has set to his hand to gather the house of Israel and build up Zion.  You
said, Do not rely upon my word; for if you believe and embrace the Gospel,
you have the promise of receiving the Holy Ghost.  Now, I have to say to
you that I did not merely take your word, for I did not consider I was
under any obligation to believe and embrace what you called the Gospel,
unless the Lord revealed it to me.  You were to me a fingerboard to point
the right way:  I walked in it, and received a testimony that Joseph Smith
is a true Prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that this work is
the work of the Almighty.  You have apostatized.  I am going to the camp
of the Saints, and you may go where you please."  He left his brother, and
is here in good standing with us.  That illustrates a principle I wished
to have you understand.

	I recollect that while on my way to Ohio, to see brother Joseph the
first time, I took dinner with a Mr. Gillmore--I think a Methodist priest. 
He began to tell me the character of Joseph Smith, what he had been guilty
of, how long he had been a money-digger, how long a horse-jockey, and how
many horses he had stolen; and his statement made Joseph to be some
seventy or eighty years of age.  I said to him, "Joseph Smith I never saw. 
He says that he has received revelations from God, and declared that an
angel visited him.  He has declared that he found plates, and other
witnesses have seen and handled them, from which the Book of Mormon was
translated.  I know nothing about these witnesses, neither do I care.  I
went to my Father in heaven and asked him with regard to the truth of the
doctrines taught by Joseph Smith, and I know they will save all that will
hearken to them, and that those who do not will miss salvation in the
celestial kingdom of God; and though Joseph Smith should steal horses
every day, or gamble every night, or deny his Saviour from the crowing of
the cock in the morning until sunset in the evening, I know that the
doctrine he preaches is the power of God to my salvation, if I live it.  I
did not make him a revelator; I have no business to dictate him.  I never
called him in question, even in my feelings, for an act of his, except
once.  I did not like his policy in a matter, and a feeling came into my
heart that would have led to complain; but it was much shorter lived than
Jonah's gourd, for it did not last half a minute.

	Much of Joseph's policy in temporal things was different from my
ideas of the way to manage them.  He did the best he could, and I do the
best I can.  Joseph's hands were continually tied.  Who dared to trust him
with their money?  Very few.  He had to defend lawsuit upon lawsuit.  He
passed through forty-seven lawsuits, and in the most of them I was with
him.  He was obliged to employ lawyers, and devise ways and means to
shield himself from oppression.  He had to struggle through poverty and
distress, being driven from pillar to post.  I wondered many a time that
he could endure what he did.  The Lord gave him strength in all these
afflictions.

	The worst wish I have for such characters is that they had been
obliged to tell Joseph Smith the truth when they came to him.  Then they
would have said, "Joseph, we have been laying our plans to get you into a
lawsuit, and we want you to employ us, that we may receive a fat fee from
you for defending your case."  Or, "there is an election coming off, and
we take this course to turn your vote."  Bennett told the truth once when
he said, "There is not much to be made in political traffic with the
`Mormons.'"  It never did any of them any good.  We are not to be bought
or sold.

	I will now make a few more remarks upon belief and disbelief,
understanding and not understanding.  I am satisfied that persons are
sometimes not so ignorant as they think they are.  Faith is an eternal
principle; belief is an admission of the fact.  Faith, to us, if the gift
of God; belief is inherent in the children of men, and is the foundation
for the reception of faith.  The principle of love within us is an
attribute of the Deity, and it is placed within us to be dispensed
independently according to our own will.  Hatred is another attribute
inherent in our organization.  These and other inherent principles were
planted in man when he was organized in the spirit, and when the spirit
took the body they were not destroyed.  Belief and unbelief are
independent in man, the same as other attributes.  Men can acknowledge or
reject, turn to the right or to the left, rise up or remain seated:  you
can say that the Lord and his Gospel are not worthy of your notice, or you
can bow to them.  When the Elders went into your neighbourhoods to preach
the Gospel, you had the privilege of believing or disbelieving.  You
believed it; your neighbours disbelieve it.  It is free and at your own
option to dipose [sic] of at your pleasure.  Could not your neighbours
have believed the truth as well as you?  Yes.

	Now, follow out this idea to the last days in which we live, the time
spoken of by the Prophets, and by the Saviour, and his ancient Apostles,
when the unbelief and hardness of the hearts of the children of men would
cause them to be overcome by the power of Satan, to yield themselves to be
servants to that wicked one.  God has borne and foreborne with them, until
he has begun to send them strong delusions, as he long foretold that he
would, that they might believe a lie and be damned, for they have pleasure
in unrighteousness, and have pleasure in truthfulness, nor in the
salvation of the Lord Jesus.  They have pleasure in rioting, fighting,
warring, killing, contentions, and every crime that can be enumerated. 
What will become of their belief?  Will it not perish?  Yes.  When you
believe the principles of the Gospel and attain unto faith, which is a
gift of God, he adds more faith, adding faith to faith.  He bestows faith
upon his creatures as a gift; but his creatures inherently possess the
privilege of believing the Gospel to be true or false.  Is the belief they
possess, to believe a lie expressly that they may be damned, faith?  No. 
You may say it is a portion of faith.  It is immaterial to me what you
call it.  It is the belief, the ability, the power of God has organized in
the organization of man, and which he can od with as he pleases. If he
uses it to believe a lie that he may be damned, both himself and his
belief will perish and fall, to rise no more, while God will bestow faith
on those who believe the truth.

	Forsake the Spirit of the Lord--the Holy Ghost--the influence that
comes from above, and partake of an earthly, dark, unbelieving influence
or spirit, and your faith is gone; you have no faith.  Is there a person
who can possess faith without belief?  No.  Can men possess belief without
faith?  Yes, every son and daughter of Adam.  Belief is an inherent
principle in the organism of man to lay the foundation for faith.

	I will sum it up again:  Faith is an eternal principle--one of the
attributes of the Deity by which the worlds are and were created.  Belief
is the admission of either truth or falsehood.

	It has been stated that I teach the doctrine that the Gods continue
to increase in all their attributes to all eternity.  Have you ever heard
me teach such a doctrine?  I have taught doctrine; but have I called in
question any of the Gods?  It has been stated that God our Father
comprehends eternity, from eternity to eternity, all there is, all there
was, all there ever can be about eternity, in and through it.  When a
person undertakes to establish such a doctrine, what does he do?  He gives
bounds to that eternity which he at the same time admits to be boundless. 
Admit such doctrine, and eternity flees away like the shadow of morning;
and that is as much as I ever teach about it.  Do I say that heavenly
beings improve?  I am not yet there; I do not know.

	Understand eternity?  There is not and never was a man in finite
flesh who understands it.  Enoch has been referred to in this matter.  How
many of the Gods and kingdoms he saw when the vision of his mind was
opened, matters not.  If he had seen more than he could have enumerated
throughout his long life, and more than all the men on earth could
multiply from the time his vision opened until now, he would not have
attained to the comprehension of eternity.  How much Enoch saw, how many
worlds he saw, has nothing to do with the case.  This is a matter that
wise men know nothing about.  I do not know, though I know as much about
it as any man in this house or in this generation.  I can comprehend, by
the words of eternal life, that there is an eternity before me.  Has it
bounds?  Whether it has or not, neither we nor any other finite beings can
comprehend it.

	I will leave this subject, because I am not capable of understanding
it.  You leave it, and do not contend about things that are beyond our
reach--that are too great for you to know at present.  And when you go
into the spirit world you will not understand it; and when you have lived
in the spirit world until you again receive your bodies, you still cannot
understand it; but you can continue to learn more and more about it, in
the same manner as we learn here.  I can teach many things about the
future existence of man; but it is more directly our business to pay
attention to those duties that more immediately concern us while we are
here.

	Brother Spencer says that we can tell a little about God the Father
by his handiwork.  It is very little.  What does the world know?  A wicked
man may pray from this time to all eternity, and he will not be able to
discern the print of his footsteps.  It takes a spiritually-minded wise
man to discern the hand of God in all things, and to be ready to
acknowledge it, to discern that he rules among the armies of heaven, and
that he is dictating, ruling, managing, and turning the hearts of the
people on the earth to the right and to the left.  He grants this and
takes away that at his pleasure, but the people do not know it; they
cannot discern it.  One may here say, "What am I to do?  If God dictates
and guides the hearts of the people, they cease then to be responsible?" 
He gives to all men their agency to act, reserving to himself the right to
control the results of their acts.  The Lord does not dictate to do wrong;
but when men are disposed to do wrong, he brings out the results in
accordance with his own pleasure.  You may plant and water, but can you
make a kernel of grain or a spear of grass?  This is not in the power of
man to do; but God in his providences produces this.  Let the Lord send an
angel through this valley to cause certain properties in the air and water
to depart, and your grain-crops fall, or your fruit is cut off.  He says
to you, "Go and do a piece of work."  You do it, and by means of this he
cause your enemies to stumble.  Say that you are tilling the soil, and the
Lord says to an angel, Do thus and so.  What do you receive for your
labour?  Perhaps fifty, sixty, or a hundred bushels of wheat to an acre,
when another year, perhaps, in the same place with like labour, you do not
receive more than five, ten or fifteen bushels.  Do you know the cause of
this?  No.  No man can know, unless he enjoys the revelations of the
Almighty.  I make these remarks that you may understand that our Father
controls the results of our acts at his own pleasure, and we cannot
prevent it.  Man can produce and control his own acts, but he has no
control over their results.  God causes even the wrath of man to praise
him, to resound to his glory and the salvation of his children.

	Israel were slaves in Egypt four hundred years; they were treated
harshly and cruelly, and their children were slain.  Then the Lord took
them out from Egypt to wander in the wilderness forty years, travelling
about as far as from here to Nauvoo--a distance that we can travel and
back again in a season.  This was to produce a result.  They could not
understand why they wandered thus in the wilderness; but God knew.  They
could not understand why he said to Jacob that they should wander in a
strange land four hundred years; but the result was for the salvation of
the children of men.  God had promised to save that seed; but their wicked
ness would not let him save them without giving them the punishment they
received.  God took them into the spirit-world and raised up their
children to do a better work.  If the Lord has promised to save a son of a
man or woman that is full of faith--has promised that he shall come into
his kingdom, though that son be froward and disposed to be wicked, yet he
will receive his punishment in the flesh.  Now, on the other hand, do not
become Universalists and say that every man and woman receives punishment
only in this world, for that is not true.

	There are a number of things that I might speak about; but I have
spoken long enough.

	God bless you!  Amen.

                        CONFESSION OF FAULTS, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, March 10, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I wish to bring before your minds what brother Hyde began to state in
a portion of his remarks, that he was sorry to see certain conduct, and
yet he does see it; that if a person is overtaken in a fault, he is very
much inclined to hide it, if he can.  I think this trait to be very
natural.  Brother Hyde is sorry for the same things that I am.  If I have
injured any person, I ought to confess to that person and make right what
I did wrong.  But suppose that I have sinned against God, and no being on
earth but myself knows anything about it, should I conceal that sin, or
reveal it to the public?

	It is just as natural for us to dissemble as it is for us to breathe. 
This is what brother Hyde had on his mind.  Where brethren, though they be
in high standing or low, are in fault and have injured their brethren,
they should make full restitution.  There are a few who will frankly
acknowledge their faults, though only a few will do so.  Is not this our
experience?  It is mine.  If I am faulty towards my God, I will keep my
faults from the people as long as I can.  Is there any good reason for
this?  There is.  Were I to relate here to you my private faults from day
to day, it would not only do you no good, but it would injure you. If you
were to relate your private faults to one another, it would tend to injure
you; it would weaken and not strengthen either the speaker or the hearer,
and would give the enemy more power.  Thus far, I would say, we are
justified in what some call dissembling.  I will also say, so far as I am
concerned, that I pray the Lord Almighty to so preserve me that you cannot
find fault with me righteously.  Do you not desire the same?

	I have my weakness, and you have yours; but if I am inclined to do
that which is wrong, I will not make my wrong a means of leading others
astray.  Many of the brethren chew tobacco, and I have advised them to be
modest about it.  Do not take out a whole plug of tobacco in meeting
before the eyes of the congregation, and cut off a long slice and put it
in your mouth, to the annoyance of everybody around.  Do not glory in this
disgraceful practice.  If you must use tobacco, put a small portion in
your mouth when no person sees you, and be careful that no one sees you
chew it.  I do not charge you with sin.  You have the "Word of Wisdom." 
Read it.  Some say, "Oh, as I do in private, so I do in public, and I am
not ashamed of it."  It is, at least, disgraceful to you to expose your
absurdities.  Some men will go into a clean and beautifully-furnished
parlour with tobacco in their mouths, and feel, "I ask no odds."  I would
advise such men to be more modest, and not spit upon the carpets and
furniture, but step to the door, and be careful not to let any person see
you spit; or, what is better, omit chewing until you have an opportunity
to do so without offending.

	But if you have stolen your neighbour's cattle, own it, and restore
the property, with fourfold if it is requested.  If you have taken your
neighbour's spade, own it, and return it, with fourfold if he requires it. 
I believe in coming out and being plain and honest with that which should
be made public, and in keeping to yourselves that which should be kept. 
If you have your weaknesses, keep them hid from your brethren as much as
you can.  You never hear me ask the people to tell their follies.  But
when we ask the brethren, as we frequently do, to speak in sacrament
meetings, we wish them, if they have injured their neighbours, to confess
their wrongs; but do not tell about your nonsensical conduct that nobody
knows of but yourselves.  Tell to the public that which belongs to the
public.  If you have sinned against the people, confess to them.  If you
have sinned against a family or a neighbourhood, go to them and confess. 
If you have sinned against your Ward, confess to your Ward.  If you have
sinned against one individual, take that person by yourselves and make
your confession to him.  And if you have sinned against your God, or
against yourselves, confess to God, and keep the matter to yourselves, for
I do not want to know anything about it.

	It has been the doctrine of some Elders in this Church (whence they
got it I do not know, without they got it from the Devil,) that all the
sin you can hide from your brethren and sisters, no matter what its nature
and magnitude, will not be brought against you in the day of judgment. 
Such person are greatly mistaken.  For the sins you commit against
yourselves and your God, unless repented of and forgiven, the Lord will
hold his private council and judge you according to the degree of guilt
that is upon you; and if you sin against others; he will make that public,
and you will have to hear it.  You need not think that you can hide your
sins.  Confess your secret sins to your God, and forsake them, and he will
forgive them; confess to your brethren your sins against them, and make
all right, and they will forgive, and all will be right.  The doctrine of
hiding sin is a false doctrine.  If such doctrine be true, how will any be
brought into judgment?  and how is it that their secret words and thoughts
and idle words will be brought into judgment?  The Scripture saith--"But I
say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give
account thereof in the day of judgment.  For by thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."  Be careful not to
have evil words and evil thoughts, "For the word of God is quick and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

	Keep your follies that do not concern others to yourselves, and keep
your private wickedness as still as possible; hide it from the eyes of the
public gaze as far as you can, and make the people believe that you are
filled with the wisdom of God.  I wish to say this upon this particular
point in regard to people's confessing.  We wish to see people honestly
confess as they should and what they should.

	I can say, as far as my knowledge extends, that there is a decided
improvement among this people.  When the Elders go forth and preach to the
world, they see the weaknesses of the people and the improvement that is
required at their hands.  Though we see many weaknesses in this people,
yet we can see that the kingdom of God is rolling and increasing; and it
is no matter what becomes of the world, if they will not repent of their
wickedness.

	Brother Hyde has remarked that State after State is leaving the
Union, but there is no Union to leave; it is all disunion.  Our Government
is shivered to pieces--it is in fragments, as will still more be made
manifest.  But the kingdom of God will increase.  Then let every person
that desires truth and righteousness increase in all the wisdom and
knowledge they can gather from every source in the heavens and on the
earth, from one another, from the angels, and also from the wicked. 
Gather the wisdom they have, and treasure it up in good and honest hearts,
and increase continually.  And let us righteously guide our own minds and
feelings, and guide the people in the ways of all righteousness.  Take
people in every capacity of life, and their wills are first and foremost. 
You can gain and lead the affections of the people, but you cannot scare
them, nor whip them, nor burn them to do right against their wills.  The
human family will die to gratify their wills.  Then learn to rightly
direct those wills, and you can direct the influence and power of the
people.

	I have frequently thought, looking at the inhabitants of the earth,
matters would be different, were it not fashionable to be sinful--were it,
as it was in the beginning, a disgrace for a man to be sinful, and a
credit to do good.  I expect to see the time when the inhabitants of the
earth will pride themselves in doing good.  But not goodness, truth, and
virtue are publicly frowned upon.  The time will come when we shall be
proud to have it said of us that we are good persons.  Even now the wicked
world, in their sober reflective moments, honour a just, righteous, and
truthful person a great deal more than they do a person who falsifies his
word; but they generally keep that secret.  The time will come when the
people will be proud to be Saints; it will be an honour to them.  Will
that be their feeling in regard to this Church?  Yes.  But the Lord will
suffer this people to be afflicted until they are made pure and holy, so
that when people feel a pride in being virtuous, truthful, and Godlike, it
will be a holy pride, an angelic pride, a delightful, heavenly pride, to
exalt and praise the name of our God and acknowledge him wherever they
are.

	Suppose the eyes of the inhabitants of the earth were opened to see
the heavenly things and the earthly--to understand the evil that is
attached to the earth and to the children of men--which do you think they
would choose?  Do you not think the whole world would choose the good? 
Yes, as readily as a hungry person would choose to go into a dining-room
and eat a good dinner.  Would he not rather do this than go naked on the
ice in the dark and wander hungry all night?  Every person would delight
in doing good, if his eyes were opened to see.  This people are increasing
in knowledge and heavenly wisdom; they are willing to do whatever we
require of them.  Only let them know what is required of them, and they
will perform it with alacrity.

	May the Lord bless you!  Amen.



                         DEATH--RESURRECTION, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, March 25, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I will make a few remarks upon the portion of Scripture quoted by
brother Hyde in the discourse he has just delivered as follows:--"Jesus
said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.  He that believeth in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die."

	In all such sayings, and in every part and portion of the revelations
of God as given to the children of men, or to any individual in heaven or
on earth, to properly understand them, a man needs the Spirit by which
they were given--the Spirit that reveals such matters to the
understanding, and makes them familiar to the mind.

	In the Scripture above quoted, the death spoken of is a death that
the intelligent being undergoes, and never recovers from:  it is an
eternal death.  For the body to decay, like a kernel of wheat that is cast
into the ground, is not considered a death.  Brother Hyde observed--"If
the germ of corn is not good, it all dies."  That is true:  but if it is
good, the corn does not die; it is placed in the ground to yield an
increase.  It is commonly termed death to have the spirit and body
separated; but literally that is not death only to those who are sons of
perdition.

	This earth is brought together and organized from native elements as
we now behold it, our tabernacles included.  The matter of which all
animate and inanimate existence is formed is from all eternity, and it
must remain to all eternity, without beginning and without end.  There are
certain portions of this native element that will be refined and prepared
to enter into the celestial kingdom--into the celestial family of the
celestial world.  If the spirit honours the body and the body honours the
spirit while they are here united, the particles of matter that compose
the mortal tabernacle will be resurrected and brought forth to immortality
and eternal life; but it cannot be brought forth and made immortal, except
it undergoes a change, for "dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt
return."  What for?  to prepare the body to be made immortal and fitted to
dwell in the presence of the Gods.

	The death that Jesus referred to had no reference to these bodies
going into the grave.  He is the life and the light.  He is the
resurrection; he is the power; and "if you believe in me," says Jesus,
"you shall live for ever--you shall be prepared to dwell with me in my
Father's kingdom."  If the question had then been asked him, "Will not
this body be placed in the grave and return to its mother earth?"  his
answer would have been, "Yes, for otherwise you cannot be prepared for
that eternal life of which I have been speaking--to live for ever." Had
the question been asked the Saviour, when he uttered those words, "Do you
say that the decree that the Lord gave to Adam is now removed?"  he would
have told them, "No;" for they could not be quickened, made immortal, and
prepared for life everlasting, without going through these ordeals.

	What can you know, except by its opposite?  Who could number the
days, if there were no nights to divide the day from the night?  Angels
could not enjoy the blessings of light eternal, were there no darkness. 
All that are exalted and all that will be exalted upon this principle.  If
I do not taste the pangs of death in my mortal body, I never shall know
the enjoyment of eternal life.  If I do not know pain, I cannot enjoy
ease.  If I am not acquainted with the dark, the gloomy, the sorrowful, I
cannot enjoy the light, the joyous, the felicitous that are ordained for
man.  No person, either in heaven or upon earth, can enjoy and understand
these things upon any other principle.

	"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection:  on
such the second death hath no power."  The death that is spoken of here is
the death that is opposite to the eternal life the Saviour spoke of.  If
you dishonour that body--transgress the natural laws pertaining to it, you
are not worthy, in your sphere, to possess this body in the immortal
state.  What will become of it?  It will return to its native element. 
That is the death that never dies.  That is endless death.  In this Jesus
had no allusion to the changing or putting off this mortality.

	The very particles that compose our bodies will be brought forth in
the morning of the resurrection, and our spirits will then have
tabernacles to be clothed with, as they have now, only they will be
immortal tabernacles--spiritual tabernacles.

	When death is spoken of as in the words quoted, it is spoken of as
death in reality.  In many places in the Scriptures, the separation of the
body and spirit is called death; but that is not death in the strict sense
of the term; that is only a change.  We are naturally inclined to cling to
our mother earth; our bodies love to live here, to see, to hear, to
breathe, and to enjoy themselves, because we are of the earth, earthy. 
But probably, in most cases, the change from mortal to immortality is no
greater, comparatively speaking, than when a child emerges into this
world.  We shall suffer no more in putting off this flesh and leaving the
spirit houseless than the child, in its capacity, does in its first
efforts to breathe the breath of this mortal life.

	After the spirit leaves the body, it remains without a tabernacle in
the spirit-world until the Lord, by his law that he has ordained, brings
to pass the resurrection of the dead.  When the angel who holds the keys
of the resurrection shall sound his trumpet, then the peculiar fundamental
particles that organized our bodies here, if we do honour to them, though
they be deposited in the depths of the sea, and though one particle in the
north, another in the south, another in the east, and another in the west,
will be brought together again in the twinkling of an eye, and our spirits
will take possession of them.  We shall then be prepared to dwell with the
Father and the Son, and we never can be prepared to dwell with them until
then.  Spirits, when they leave their bodies, do not dwell with the Father
and the Son, but live in the spirit-world, where there are places prepared
for them.  Those who do honour to their tabernacles, who love and believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, must put off this mortality, or they cannot put
on immortality.  This body must be changed, else it cannot be prepared to
dwell in the glory of the Father.  To me all these things are plain and
easy.  All we want is to understand the very subject Jesus was talking
about, the nature of our organizations, the world we occupy, the laws by
which we are, and by which we continue to exist.

	Brother Hyde says, "Take the world, and what do they know pertaining
to the things of God?"  Do they know their right hands from their left,
figuratively speaking?  No.  All that brother Hyde has said concerning our
important position is true.  It is beyond the power of man to fully unfold
it, though a portion has been beautifully portrayed, and it seems that the
people should see things that are so plain.  Were it possible for the
nations to gain power to destroy this kingdom on the earth, by so doing
they would seal their eternal damnation.  That is as true as it is that
Jesus died for the sins of the world; as true as it is that there is a
heaven, a God, and that the world exists, and the children of men dwell
upon it.

	When the wicked seek to destroy this kingdom, I can endure it
tolerably well; but when I see those who profess to be Latter-day Saints
taking a course to destroy themselves, and to prove themselves children of
folly, children of darkness, it is a great source of grief and regret to
me.

	All mankind have the principles of eternal life implanted within
them.  Much has been taught in regard to this and to the agency of the
children of men.  God has organized the spirit and placed it in a
tabernacle--has given it certain capacity and certain laws, and it is as
independent in its sphere of action as are the angels and the Gods in the
heavenly worlds.  It is for us to act upon that intelligence that is ours
in every sense of the word; and if we do honour to our tabernacles and to
the spirits God has given us, we have the promise of eternal life, which
is the gift of God.  This promise is made to every son and daughter of
Adam, if they obey the conditions laid down; and their names have been
written in the Lamb's book of life from the beginning, before we came into
the world, and they will remain there to all eternity, unless we blot them
out through a wicked course.

	Try to understand the position you occupy, and then you will
understand the sayings of the Apostles and Prophets.  Thanks be to the
Lord our God for the understanding he has already give us, for the spirit
of revelation he has bestowed upon us, and for the holy Priesthood and the
keys thereof, by which the heavens are opened, and by which men are
enabled to understand things as they are.  God be thanked for the
intelligence there is with this people.

	A week from next Friday it will be thirty years since this Church was
organized with six members.  The kingdom of God has thirty years growth on
the earth, and does it not seem that we should be far advanced in the
things of God?  It does.  At a glance we should know and understand many
things that some are still in more or less dubiety about.  One Elder will
say that he knows nothing about God.  "I believe in the Father and the
Son, and in the revelations given through Joseph Smith; but to really say
that I positively know anything of the true character of God, our Father
in heaven, I do not know that I can."  A few moments' reflection and the
Spirit upon the vision of the mind, and that same Elder would say that he
does know.  Such statements arise from a want of the vision of the mind
being opened to see things as they are for a few minutes.

	The whole Scriptures plainly teach us that we are the children of
that God who framed the world.  Let us look round and see whether we can
find a father and son in this congregation.  Do we see one an elephant,
and the other a hen?  No.  Does a father that looks like a human being
have a son like an ape, going on all fours?  No; the son looks like his
father.  There is an endless variety of distinction in the few features
that compose the human face, yet children have in their countenances and
general expression of figure and temperament a greater or less likeness of
their parents.  You do not see brutes spring from human beings.  Every
species is true to its kind.  The children of men are featured alike and
walk erect.

	The Bible clearly teaches us that we are the children of the very
Being who framed this earth and peopled it.  Such teachings may be found
in hundreds of places in the Scriptures, and yet we do not know anything
about our Father!  Is it not astonishing?  I frequently think that truly
the things of God are spiritually discerned, when man, in his reflections,
thought, words, and acts, as a finite being, knows nothing of God.  But
when he meditates and acts from the intelligences of the spirit God has
placed within him, the visions of eternity are opened to him; heaven and
eternity are before him.

	Brother Hyde compared the departure of the spirit from the body to
going into another room, and referred to a statement made by Andrew
Jackson Davis.  He placed himself in a clairvoyant state beside the bed of
a sick person and observed the spirit of the lady leave her body.  He saw
the spirit ascend from the head of the mortal tenement--saw it walk out
into the open air in company with another spirit that came to escort her
away.  They appeared to him to ascend an inclined plane, and continued to
walk away until they were out of his sight.  Do you not believe that your
spirit will be in existence after it leaves the body?  I care not whether
it goes out from the head or from some other portion.  Mr. Davis says
that, after the spirit was fully out of the body, he saw as it were an
umbilical cord that yet retained the spirit to the body; and that when
that was separated, the spirit was free, and the body was consigned to
dissolution.  Whether this be true or not, it is as certain that the
spirit leaves the body, it dwells in the spirit-world until the body is
raised up by the power of God; and when it is raised up, do you not think
that we shall look like our Father?  If any of us could now see the God we
are striving to serve--if we could see our Father who dwells in the
heavens, we should learn that we are as well acquainted with him as we are
with our earthly father; and he would be as familiar to us in the
expression of his countenance, and we should be ready to embrace him and
fall upon his neck and kiss him, if we had the privilege.  And still we,
unless the vision of the Spirit is opened to us, know nothing about God. 
You know much about him, if you did but realize it.  And there is no other
one item that will so much astound you, when your eyes are opened in
eternity, as to think that you were so stupid in the body.

	Be very careful that you do not so conduct yourselves that when your
bodies die, you will not receive them in an immortal state.  Be careful
that your lives are such that you be not deprived entirely to these bodies
which have borne so much affliction and pain.  There is a great design in
the formation of the body.

	The people cannot comprehend the deep mystery of the design of the
Almighty in bringing so many people into this human world, shall I say? 
This is a world of pain, of darkness, sorrow, affliction, and death.  The
Almighty has his objects and plans all laid, and we are to pass through
all these afflictions and to endure all that he calls us to endure, to
give us knowledge, wisdom, and experience; for we cannot receive them upon
any other principle.  His design is to exalt the human family, and to
bring them back to the presence of the Father and the Son.  The heir of
the family died to take away our sins.  He has suffered, that we may live. 
He has offered himself up for the sins of the world.  Why?  Because he is
the heir of the family.  The Father and the Son are now doing all they can
to save his children, and all the heavenly hosts are exerting their powers
to accomplish the same great end.  "But, says the Father, "do not infringe
on the agency of mankind; for my children, to be brought into my presence
to enjoy with me the fulness of my glory, must pass through the same
ordeals I have passed through.  They cannot inherit eternal life upon any
other principle."

	How far does our agency extend?  There are certain bounds to it. 
What we have witnessed in thirty years' experience teaches us that man can
appoint, but God can disappoint.  Man can load his gun to shoot his
neighbour, but he cannot make the ball hit him, if the Lord Almighty sees
fit to turn it away.  He can draw the sword to hew down his fellow-man;
but, instead of that, he may fall upon it himself.  Paul says, "I have
planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.  So, then, neither is
he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth
the increase."  You may plead with the people and beseech them to embrace
the truth; but, unless God touches the heart, your labours are vain.  The
Lord will bring about the results, and mankind cannot prevent it.  The
wicked may design an evil against the righteous, and he cause it to result
in good.  That is making the wrath of man praise him.  He has not granted
to man to bring out the result of his works, but he has given him the
ability to work as he pleases--to go here or there--to do this or that--to
obey the Gospel or disobey it.  He has not committed the keys of the
results of the acts of the nations of the earth to any man of the earth;
but that power he retains to himself.

	I can discern the hand of the Lord in preserving and leading this
people.  A great many do not discern this, because they have not eyes to
see, nor ears to hear; for, if they had, they would discern the footprints
of the Almighty and hear his voice, and would understand that he leads
this people by the right hand of his wisdom and power, and that no power
can prevent it.  Anoint your eyes and pour oil in your ears, and pray that
your hearts may be softened and your minds quickened to understand.

	God will overrule the acts of the children of men in this kingdom as
well as among the nations.  After the children of Israel had travelled
thirty years in the wilderness, they thought that they had prospered
tolerably well, though they were still travelling.  In their travels they
crossed their tracks many times, whereas we, in our travels, have done so
but a few times.  How many times we may have to do so, I do not know.

	Strive to prepare your hearts as fully as possible to enjoy a great
portion of the Spirit of the Lord at our Conference; strive to enjoy that
Spirit above all things.  Let us prepare our hearts to receive the Holy
Ghost to be our constant companion.

	May the Lord God of Israel bless you!  Amen.

                          FAITH AND BELIEF, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, April 1, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	The Elders who have addressed you have imparted much excellent
instruction, many great and glorious principles have been advanced, the
audience have been put in possession of them, and there are a great many
more in store for us.

	We constantly behold an endless variety in the appearance of the
human family, and in their dispositions.  No two persons are exactly alike
in form, appearance, expression, disposition, and quality of character. 
We have seen a talent exercised before us to-day that is new to many of
us.  I have been acquainted with brother Mace more than twenty years, and
never heard him speak in a meeting until to-day.  I am pleased with his
discourse; his ideas are bright and active:  yet he will learn more; and
we shall learn many things that have not yet entered into our hearts to
conceive, and know better how to correct one thing with another, and more
clerly [sic] understand these seeming discrepancies in doctrine, &c., that
so often cause persons to differ.

	The subject presented to you this morning I explained two weeks ago
in a manner to be satisfactory to persons of good understanding:  it is
the subject of faith and belief.  Perfection in conveying ideas is not yet
given to the children of men.  Our language is altogether inadequate for
always conveying our ideas with unmistakeable precision, and the same
ideas are generally advanced in different words by different persons. 
This peculiarity has been observable to-day.  It has often been told you
that all people, sects, and denominations have more or less truth.  None
of the religious sects have a perfect system of salvation, though all of
them have a portion of true doctrine, and suppose they have a perfect
plan.  Elders in this Church--men who have been members for years--often
speak of principles in the abstract, when they would be better understood
if they spoke of them in connection with other kindred principles.  Faith
and belief, for instance, should not be separated.

	Belief is inherent in the creature--implanted within him for his use
and benefit--to believe or disbelieve.  Your own experience may satisfy
you that faith is not brought into requisition by the presentation of
either facts or falsehoods to the external senses, or to the inward
perceptions of the mind.  If we speak of faith in the abstract, it is the
power of God by which the worlds are and were made, and is a gift of God
to those who believe and obey his commandments.  On the other hand, no
living, intelligent being, whether serving God or not, acts without
belief.  He might as well undertake to live without breathing as to live
without the principle of belief.  But he must believe the truth, obey the
truth, and practise the truth, to obtain the power of God called faith. 
Belief and faith continue in the person who is in possession of faith.  It
is thought by some that the time will come when we shall no longer
believe.  So far as I now know, I shall have to live as few hundred
thousand years before I come to that conclusion.  I am satisfied that
belief will eternally exist with me, whether it will with others or not. 
When I am in full possession of faith and the power of God, if I should
say to that mountain, "Be plucked up and placed in the sea," it would be
done; or to a tree, "Be rooted up," it would be done.  I expect that
objects will come within the scope of my belief to act upon before I have
faith to act upon them; but I never expect to see the time when there will
not be room and opportunity for belief, and to advance.

	I am pleased with the remarks made by brother Mace and brother Pratt. 
Brother Mace is right and wrong in his ideas upon the birth of the water
and the spirit, as he is with regard to faith in the abstract.  There is
such a thing as the birth of the spirit while we live in the flesh.  And
when we understand more perfectly our own independent organization which
God has given us, and the spirit-world, and the principles and powers that
act on this organism, we shall learn that a person can be so fully and
solely devoted to the spirit of truth and to God, and be so wrapped up in
that spirit, that it may be called, with propriety, a new birth.  I read
in the Scripture that a man must be born of the spirit before he can see
the kingdom of God.  And yet I have seen hundreds of people, in my
experience and travels, who, after hearing the Elders preach, and the
spirit of truth has found way to their hearts, have yielded to it and
testified that this is the kingdom of God, and, after all, have never come
into it.  The love of the truth was so far lacking in them, or they were
so far wanting in moral courage, that they did not embrace the truth.  The
writers of the New Testament were disposed to call it a birth, and I have
no objection to their use of the term.

	Jesus is the first begotten from the dead, as you will understand. 
Neither Enoch, Elijah, Moses, nor any other man that ever lived on earth,
no matter how strictly he lived, ever obtained a resurrection until after
Jesus Christ's body was called from the tomb by the angel.  He was the
first begotten from the dead.  He is the Master of the resurrection--the
first flesh that lived here after receiving the glory of the resurrection. 
The resurrection from the dead may also, with propriety, be called a
birth.  All we can do in these matters is to exclaim, O the poverty of our
language!--the poverty of our ideas!--of the power of our conception!  But
we shall learn more, and come to a better understanding.

	It is for brother Mace and all others to understand that, because we
believe in the ordinance of baptism, the ordinance of the sacrament is not
to be done away.  To learn that, if you believe in the laying on of hands
for the reception of the Holy Ghost, you are not to deny the laying on of
hands for the healing of the sick.  It is not for people to take only part
of the religion of Christ, and say  "It is all we require;" but take the
whole truth wherever you find it.  It is good; claim it, take it to
yourself, and cleave to it, for it will do you good.  Cease to separate
truth from truth.  Heaven is full of truth; earth is full of truth and
falsehood.  The power of God, the power of angels, and the power of the
Devil are all more or less exhibited before the children of men.  Let us
yield ourselves to the Lord our Saviour, that we may truly be his
servants, and it will be well with us, and there will be no danger but
that we shall be right.  Let us learn to see the harmony of truth, and
love and practise it, until we are made perfect and fully prepared to be
received into the kingdom of our Father and God. May the Lord God Almighty
bless the Saints, and every one who will permit his blessings to come upon
them.  I am under the same obligations to bless sinners as I am to bless
Saints, if they will receive my blessings.  I pray for the blessings of
Heaven upon the work of his hands, for we are all his children--the sons
and daughters of our Parent who dwells in the heavens.  Let us do honour
to his character and to our own being, and so live that we may have
knowledge of the light of eternity, that we may be prepared to dwell
eternally with him.  This is the greatest gift that can be conferred on
intelligent beings, to live forever and never be destroyed.  May the Lord
help us in so living as to enjoy his society, through the merits of his
Son Jesus Christ.  Amen.



                      ADVANCEMENT IN KNOWLEDGE, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, April 5, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I have been happy in hearing the brethren bear their testimonies
to-day, and I have a word of consolation and comfort for you.

	I hope to live to see the day when the Lord will bring again Zion in
its fulness, when the watchmen will see eye to eye.  This period of time
is very desirable to every good and faithful person, and I hope to see it
before I lay down this tabernacle to rest.

	I can say to the brethren, I do not think that I have ever heard a
more satisfactory testimony from them than I have to-day.  An observation
made by brother George Halliday is true--that if a person suffers his
feelings to rise above the natural level of capacity, they will sink in
the same ratio.  He wished us not to consider him an enthusiast.  I do not
know that I have heard a person to-day that I thought to be enthusiastic. 
A firm, unchangeable course of righteousness through life is what secures
to a person true intelligence.  The brethren to-day have advanced a great
many ideas which are true, manifesting an interesting  and instructive
variety.  I am highly gratified with the remarks I have heard.

	We have very scanty ideas concerning the great plan called the plan
of salvation--the system of doctrine, ideas, and practices that pertain to
all the intelligence that exists in eternity.  Very small, minute, and
abstract ideas and principles are given to the children of men in relation
to it, because they can bear but little--a little here and a little there,
as it is written by the Prophet, "line upon line, and precept upon
precept."  If you can receive one line to-day, it may prepare you to
receive another to-morrow pertaining to the things of God.  I am very
happy and rejoice much, because I believe that I am now looking upon men
and women who are steadily increasing in knowledge, firm in their
integrity, truthful, and lovers of virtue in their hearts; though some, as
has been observed, give way to temptation, are overcome by the enemy, and
are led away.  This we expect.  As many as will be faithful to their
calling, and manifest their faith by their good works, will find that they
belong to the elect; and every one that forsakes his covenants and his
God, and turns away from the holy commandments delivered to him, will find
that he belongs to that class who are reprobates.  God has given us
ability to do good or evil.  According to certain principles inherent in
the organization of the people, they can believe the truth, or disbelieve
it and believe a lie.  They can falsify, or cling to the truth.  They can
continue to do good, or forsake it and commence to do evil.  Every man is
capable of doing either good or evil:  he has his own choice, and will be
judged by his works. We will see the time when it will be said to us, as
written in the New Testament, "Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee." 
I partly judged a man who spoke here to-day from his own mouth.  I have
not much to say about him. Let God be his judge, and yours, and mine.  If
you wish to receive and enjoy the favour of our heavenly Father, do his
will.  If you wish the fellowship of his Saints, hurt not the wine and the
oil, nor seek to destroy them, as many do.  The man I have alluded to has
sought diligently to destroy the oil and the wine--to destroy the virtue,
truth, and holiness of this Gospel.  He who lifts his heel against the
Lord and against his anointed will find himself a poor pusillanimous, weak
instrument in the hands of the Devil to accomplish his designs.

	It is thirty years to-morrow since Joseph Smith organized this Church
with six members.  What is it now?  Almost every nation, kindred, tongue,
and people that would receive the Gospel have had the privilege; it has
been proffered to them, and thousands and hundreds of thousands have been
baptized into the Church; and the Lord will call his own out of this
people, and will prepare the Zion that is spoken of for them to dwell in. 
If we wish to enjoy the Spirit of Zion, we must live for it.  Our religion
is not merely theory; it is a practical religion, to bring present
enjoyment to every heart.

	A brother on my right told you his experience, that there is no
necessity for taking any man's word for the truth of your religion; for it
is the privilege of all to have the testimony of Jesus--to have the Spirit
of prophecy.  I have no greater privilege to enjoy the Spirit of prophecy
than you have.  I have no better right to the Holy Ghost than you.  If you
will live as you are taught, you will walk in darkness no more, but walk
in the light of life.  I pray that we may constantly do this:  it is my
continual prayer.  I pray for all whom I ought to pray for, and as I ought
to pray for them.  Captain Gibson says that he would pray for everybody in
heaven, earth, and hell.  I love to see men manifest that good feeling;
but I will insure that, if I was in heaven when Satan rebelled, I prayed
that Satan might be cast out.  Cast out the dogs and wolves that will feed
on the sheep.  Cast all bitterness out of your own hearts--all anger,
wrath, strife, covetousness, and lust, and sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts, that you may enjoy the Holy Ghost, and have that Spirit to be your
constant companion day by day, to lead you into all truth, and then you
will have good doctrine, good feelings, good wives, good children, a good
community; and, finally, you will be Saints in the fullest sense of the
word, but not yet.  I believe we shall be Saints, through the grace of
God.

	I feel to bless you, to praise you, my brethren, although we are
continually afflicted with more or less foul, mean, low, grovelling,
contemptible spirits in our midst.  I do not mention names; but I know
where some are now sitting in this house.  The Latter-day Saints are
improving.  To-morrow the Church is thirty years old.  We have enjoyed
ourselves to-day; to-morrow let us have much more enjoyment than we have
had to-day.  The constitution of man is such as to be liable to be driven
to extremes.  He may be compared to a bark on the ocean, tossed to-and-fro
by the influences around.  Keep your eye on the compass and steer
straight-forward, and you cannot sail too fast; but if you get among the
breakers and rocks, your bark may upset.  Keep your bark straight for the
port, and there is no danger of your having too much of the Holy Ghost.

	I have hardly heard an incorrect idea advanced to-day, and I consider
myself a judge in these things.  I judge Israel in their doctrines and
conduct, and know whether they are right or wrong.  I can say, to my joy
and satisfaction, we are improving.  I know that I am, when I compare my
present power of mind to scope in truth and my power of discrimination
with what I possessed twenty, ten, or five years ago.  I am almost
astonished at myself, and to see the improvement there is in the people. 
But we are yet children, although we are almost as old as was Jesus when
he began to preach.  It is our privilege to continue to grow, and the Lord
will protect his people and save Israel, and all hell cannot help it.

	May the Lord God of Israel bless every one of you and his humble
servant who is speaking to you.  Amen.


	                           UNIVERSAL SALVATION
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1860.
                          Reported by G. D. Watt

	Yesterday we had the pleasure of attending a meeting here, which, to
me, was filled with riches--with treasures of good.  To-day we have met in
the capacity of a General Conference--the Thirty-first Annual Conference
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Thirty years ago
to-day, the Church was organized with six members.  And we will occupy
this day in serving the Lord by instructing and encouraging each other,
and by testifying of the things the Lord has revealed to us.

	Some may suppose that I have the business of the Conference
prearranged, but such is not the case.  I seldom take thought for
to-morrow upon such subjects. When morning comes, I try and be prepared
for the business the Lord manifests should be done.  I came here in that
mind this morning, and knew no more about the manner in which this
Conference will be conducted, with regard to its details, than you do,
until I came here.  Since I came into the house, my feelings and the
circumstances have prompted me to say that we will hear further testimony
from the brethren.  Yesterday, several in the body of the house had the
privilege of speaking; and this forenoon I wish to have the Twelve, the
Seventies, and the High Priests give us five or ten minutes' sermons from
the stand.

	I can testify to you, as I have to many congregations of Saints and
sinners, that the Lord has revealed his will from the heavens, bestowed
the holy Priesthood upon the children of men, and made us the happy
partakers thereof.  Most, if not all, assembled here this morning have
felt the Divine influence of the Holy Ghost shed forth in their hearts; it
has awakened them out of their sleep and out of their ignorance, and begun
to teach them eternal things.  This work is true.  The Lord has bestowed
the holy Priesthood upon the children of men, by which alone they can be
prepared to enter into the celestial kingdom of our God.

	How many Gods there are, and how many places there are in their
kingdoms, is not for me to say; but I can say this, which is a source of
much comfort, consolation, and gratification to me:  Behold the goodness,
the long-suffering, the kindness, and the strong parental feeling of our
Father and God in preparing the way and providing the means to save the
children of men,--not alone the Latter-day Saints--not those alone who
have the privilege of the first principles of the celestial law, but to
save all.  It is a universal salvation--a universal redemption.  Do not
conclude that I am a Universalist, as the term is generally understood,
although that doctrine is true in part, like the doctrines or professions
of all professing Christians.  As was stated yesterday, by one of those
who spoke, when he was a Methodist, he enjoyed a portion of the Spirit of
the Lord.  Hundreds of those now present have had a like experience in a
greater or less degree, before they joined this Church.  Then, when we
inquire who will be saved, I answer, All will be saved, as Jesus said,
when speaking to the Apostles, except the sons of perdition.  They will be
saved through the atonement and their own good works, according to the law
that is given to them.  Will the heathen be saved?  Yes, so far as they
have lived according to the best light and intelligence they had; but not
in the celestial kingdom.  Who will not be saved?  Those who have received
the truth, or had the privilege of receiving it, and then rejected it. 
They are the only ones who will become the sons of perdition, go into
everlasting punishment, and become angels to the Devil.

	The Priesthood of the Lord has again bestowed upon those who will
receive it, is for the express purpose of preparing them to become
proficient in the principles pertaining to the law of the celestial
kingdom.  If we obey this law, preserve it inviolate, live according to
it, we shall be prepared to enjoy the blessings of a celestial kingdom. 
Will any others?  Yes, thousands and millions of the inhabitants of the
earth who would have received and obeyed the law that we preach, if they
had had the privilege.  When the Lord shall bring again Zion, and the
watchmen shall see eye to eye, and Zion shall be established, saviours
will come upon Mount Zion and save all the sons and daughters of Adam that
are capable of being saved, by administering for them.  Is not this
pleasing?  Is it not gratifying?  Is it not a consoling feeling and
influence upon the mind of every intelligent being?  Our former views were
that the majority of the inhabitants of the earth would not be saved in
any kind of kingdom of glory, but would inherit a kingdom of damnation. 
Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions.  If it were no so, I
would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am ye
may be also."  In other words, "I go to prepare a place for you who have
received and obeyed the celestial law, which I have committed to you." 
The celestial is the highest of all.  The telestial and terrestrial are
also spoken of; and how many more kingdoms of glory there are is not for
me to say.  I do not know that they are not innumerable.  This is source
of great joy to me.

	One of the brethren, yesterday, felt so rejected, under like
reflections, that he said he could pray for the devils in hell, if it
would do any good.  It is not for us to pray for them, because they have
become the sons of perdition.  You may pray for your persecutors--for
those who hate you, and revile you, and speak all manner of evil of you,
if they do it ignorantly; but if they do it understandingly, justice must
take its course in regard to them; and except they repent, they will
become the sons of perdition.  This is my testimony.

	The vision given to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon is the greatest
vision I ever knew given to the children of men, incorporating more in a
few pages than any other revelation I have any knowledge of.  "This is the
Gospel--the glad tidings which the voice out of the heavens bore record
unto us," state Joseph and Sidney, "that he came into the world, and to be
crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to
sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that
through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and
made by him, who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his
hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father
has revealed him; wherefore he saves all except them:  they shall go away
into everlasting punishment."

	Will the Methodists be saved?  Yes.  Will other sects?  Yes.  I think
you could not now find an Elder in this Church who would rise up in a
congregation and tell you that John Wesley is weltering in hell.  Have the
Elders ever preached such a doctrine?  Yes, some of them have preached
that all the Reformers, from the days of Christ and the Apostles until
Joseph Smith received the Priesthood, must be damned.  I do not think that
you could now hear such doctrine from any of them.

	There is a chance for those who have lived and for those who now
live.  The Gospel has come.  Truth and light and righteousness are sent
forth into the world, and those who receive them will be saved in the
celestial kingdom of God.  And many of those who, through ignorance,
through tradition, superstition, and the erroneous precepts of the
fathers, do not receive them, will yet inherit a good and glorious
kingdom, and will enjoy more and receive more than ever entered into the
heart of man to conceive, unless he has had a revelation.

	My heart is comforted.  I behold the people of God, that they have
been hunted, cast out, driven from the face of men.  The powers of earth
and hell have striven to destroy this kingdom from the earth.  The wicked
have succeeded in doing so in former ages; but this kingdom they cannot
destroy, because it is the last dispensation--because it is the fulness of
times.  It is the dispensation of all dispensations, and will excel in
magnificence and glory every dispensation that has ever been committed to
the children of men upon this earth.  The Lord will bring again Zion,
redeem his Israel, plant his standard upon the earth, and establish the
laws of his kingdom, and those laws of his kingdom, and those laws will
prevail.  No law can issue from man or from any body of men to govern and
control in eternal things; consequently, those laws must come from heaven
to govern and control both Saint and sinner, believer and unbeliever, and
every character upon the earth; and they will be issued according to the
capacity, knowledge, and mode of life of the people to whom they are
promulgated.

	I will now call upon the brethren in the stand to speak, and let you
have our testimony, strength, and faith, as we have received yours
yesterday.

	God bless you!  Amen.

                       PERSONAL REMINISCENCES, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I feel very well satisfied with our thirty-first anniversary.  The
brethren testify to the goodness of our God, and we have had much
excellent instruction.

	There is one principle I wish to urge upon the Saints in a way that
it may remain with them--that is, to understand men and women as they are,
and not understand them as you are.  You see the variety of mind,
disposition, judgment, and talent, and variety in explaining and
communicating thought.  There is an endless variety, and I wish you to
understand men and women as they are, and not to judge your brother, your
sister, your family, or any one, only from the intention.  When you know
the intention of the act performed, you will then know how to judge the
act.

	Some may wish to know whether my religion is as good to me now as it
was twenty-eight years ago.  It is far better.  Twenty-eight years ago
last February I went to Canada after my brother Joseph.  He was a very
spiritual minded man.  You have heard him say to-day that he did not laugh
for a period of two years.  I did not know of his smiling during some four
or five years.  I well remember him calling upon me, after he had been
away preaching more than two years.  Would he sit and chat with me?  No,
because of his serious reflections.  I knew that he was solemn and praying
all the time.  I had more confidence in his judgment and discretion, and
in the manifestations of God to him, that I had in myself, though I then
believed the Book of Mormon to be true.  Previous to this I had thoroughly
examined the Book of Mormon.  In about eight days it will be twenty-eight
years since I was baptized.  I brought brother Joseph home from Canada,
and told him what I had experienced of the power of God, and what I had
observed of the folly and nonsense so prevalent in the Christian world.

	You have heard the brethren state their experience before they
received this Gospel.  I was not disposed to attach myself to any Church,
nor to make a profession of religion, though brought up from my youth amid
those flaming, fiery revivals so customary with the Methodists, until I
was twenty-three years of age, when I joined the Methodists.  Priests had
urged me to pray before I was eight years old.  On this subject I had but
one prevailing feeling in my mind--Lord, preserve me until I am old enough
to have sound judgment, and a discreet mind ripened upon a good solid
foundation of common sense.  I patiently waited until I was twenty-three
years old.  I do not know that I had ever committed any crime, except it
were in giving way to anger, and that I had not done more than two or
three times.  I never stole, lied, gambled, got drunk, or disobeyed my
parents.  I used to go to meetings--as well acquainted with the
Episcopalians, Presbyterians, New Lights, Baptists, Freewill Baptists,
Wesleyan and Reformed Methodists,--lived from my youth where I was
acquainted with the  Quakers as well as the other denominations, and was
more or less acquainted with almost every other religious ism.

	Upon the first opportunity I read the Book of Mormon, and then sought
to become acquainted with the people who professed to believe it.  Brother
Pulsipher said that he watched to see if he could find fault with the
Elder who preached the Gospel to him.  I did not take that course, but I
watched to see whether good common sense was manifest; and if they had
that, I wanted them to present it in accordance with the Scriptures.

	When "Mormonism" came, I was not under the necessity of hunting
Scripture arguments to contradict them, for I had all my life been more or
less familiar with the Scriptures.  And I do not remember that I ever saw
a day when I attacked a sectarian priest with the Bible, for I was well
satisfied that they were in water too deep for them to fathom.  I
understood the Scriptures tolerably well, and my whole mind and
reflections were to seek for every particle or truth with regard to
doctrine.

	I always admired morality, and never saw a day in which I did not
respect a good, moral, sensible man far more than I could respect a wicked
man.  I embrace the Gospel.  I then had not the Priesthood, but my mind
was susceptible of the Spirit of Truth, and that truth I imparted to my
brother Joseph.  He caught its influence, came home with me, and was
baptized.  I was not baptized on hearing the first sermon, nor the second,
nor during the first year of my acquaintance with this work.  I waited two
years and a few days after this Church was organized before I embraced the
Gospel by baptism.

	Up to that time that "Mormonism" came to me, I did earnestly pray, if
there was a God, (and I believed there was,) "Lord God, thou who gavest
the Scriptures, who spake to Abraham, and revealed thyself to Moses and
the ancients, keep my feet that they may not be entangled in the snares of
folly."  So far as the spirit went, its application and enjoyment were all
right with me; but with regard to doctrine, I did not then see any that
altogether suited me.  I said, Let me pray about this matter, the Gospel,
and feel right about it, before I embrace it.  I could not more honestly
and earnestly have prepared myself to go into eternity than I did to come
into this Church; and when I had ripened everything in my mind, I drank it
in, and not till then.  From that day to this, it is all right with me.  I
am more and more encouraged, because I can see that hand of the Lord more
clearly and distinctly than I did no longer than two years ago.

	As I frequently tell you, we can rise up, sit down, go here or there,
act in this or that way, trade here or there; but we cannot bring out the
results of our acts.  God does that.  I can see the results which he
brings to pass by his handiwork.  I can discern his footsteps among the
people, and his going forth among the nations.  His footprints are clearly
discovered by his faithful Saints.

	Brother John Young says there are some complainers.  Who cares for
that?  I have nothing to do with them at present.  Some are afraid there
will be a good many apostates.  That we expect, for many receive the truth
who do not receive the love of it.  Do not be afraid, but take fresh
courage and persevere. Some inquire, "Is this community going to be
destroyed by thieves?  No.  But they have their agency, and their course
affords us an excellent opportunity to see the operation of the benign
influences of so-called "civilization."  Do you suppose that I am now
looking upon thieves?  No:  they do not come to meeting.

	Those who are right are more than those who are against us.  More
will prove faithful than will apostatize.  A certain class of this people
will go into the celestial kingdom, while others cannot enter there,
because they cannot abide a celestial law; but they will attain to as good
a kingdom as they desire and live for.

	Do not worry.  All is right, for God reigns.  Trust in him, keep your
hearts clean, and faithfully observe your prayers, that, should the angel
Gabriel appear in this stand, you could calmly meet his gaze, and say "All
is right me, Gabriel."  That you may be able to look an angel in the eye
and say, "All is right," you require a clean heart.  How many of this
congregation could do this?  How many could look at an angel and say,
"What is wanting?  I am ready."  If you can do this, you can enjoy the
spirit of the Gospel and be Saints.  This is the bread of eternal life.

	I bless you all in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.




       VOTING TO SUSTAIN THE AUTHORITIES OF THE CHURCH--APPOINTMENT
       OF ELDER CANNON TO FILL UP THE QUORUM OF THE TWELVE--REMARKS
                        TO DEPARTING MISSIONARIES.
     Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I have not inquired whether there are any cases of difficulty between
brethren or differences in doctrine that should be presented before the
Conference.  I have heard of none; consequently I have not given an
opportunity to present any.  I do not expect there is any such business
requiring our attention.

	We will first present the authorities of the Church; and I sincerely
request the members to act freely and independently in voting,--also in
speaking, if it be necessary.  There has been no instance in this Church
of a person's being in the least curtailed in the privilege of speaking
his honest sentiments.  It cannot be shown in the history of this people
that a man has ever been injured, either in person, property, or
character, for openly expressing, in the proper time and place, his
objections to any man holding authority in this Church, or for assigning
his reasons for such objections. Persons have frequently ruined their own
characters by making false accusations.  Some say they dare not tell their
feelings, and feel obliged to remain silent.  They, no doubt, tell the
truth.  Why do they feel so?  This, probably, arises from some vindictive
feelings against a certain man or men whom they would injure if they
could; and they conclude that their brethren are like them and would seek
their injury, if they should avail themselves of the privilege of speaking
or acting according to their wicked sentiments and thoughts: therefore
they dare not develop the evil that is within them, lest judgment should
be meted out to them.  They know that they have evil designs; they know
that they would bring evil on their brethren, if they had the power; and
fear seizes them:  they skulk off, and in the midst of the enemies of this
people they say they are conscience bound--that they are tied by the
influence, power, or authorities of this people.  What is it which thus
binds them?  It is the power of evil which is in their own breasts:  that
is all that in the least abridges them in their privileges.

	When I present the authorities of this Church for the Conference to
vote upon, if there is a member here who honestly and sincerely thinks
that any person whose name is presented should not hold the office he is
appointed to fill, let him speak.  I will give full liberty, not to preach
sermons, nor to degrade character, but to briefly state objections; and at
the proper time I will hear the reasons for any objections that may be
advanced.  I do not know that I can make a fairer proffer.  I certainly
would, if it were reasonable to do so.  I would not permit contention; I
would not permit long argument here:  I would appoint another time, and
have a day set apart for such things.  But I am perfectly willing to hear
a person's objections briefly stated.

	The first name I shall present to you is that of Brigham Young,
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  If any
person can say that he should not be sustained in this office, say so. If
there is no objection, as it is usual in the marriage ceremony of the
Church of England, "Let them for ever afterwards hold their peace,"  and
not go snivelling around, saying that you would like to have a better man,
and one who is more capable of leading the Church.

	[The names of the authorities and the votes thereon were printed in
the Conference minutes.]

	The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve have made choice of
George Q. Cannon to fill the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve.  He is
pretty generally known by the people.  He has been raised in the Church,
and was one of our prominent Elders in the Sandwich Islands.  He went upon
that mission when he was quite young. He is also known by many as the
Editor of a paper which he published in California, called The Western
Standard.  He is now East, assisting in the transaction of business and
taking charge of this year's emigration.  I will present his name to the
congregation to become a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, to fill the
vacancy occasioned by the death of Parley P. Pratt.  If this is pleasing
to you, you will be so kind as to vote accordingly.

	[The vote was unanimous.]

	As to evil-speaking, I will say that if men will do the will of God
and keep his commandments and do good, they may say what they please about
me.

	[The names of persons selected to go on missions were read, and the
President continued his remarks.]

	We have at times sent men on missions to get rid of them; but they
have generally come back.  Some think it is an imposition upon the world
to send such men among them.  But which is best--to keep them here to
pollute others, or to send them where pollution is more prevalent?  Ten
filthy sheep in a flock of a thousand will so besmear the whole, that, to
the eye of a stranger, they all appear to be worthless, when nine hundred
and ninety of them are as good as can be, but for the outside smearing by
the ten filthy ones.  We have tried to turn the filthy ones out of the
flock, but they will not always stay out.  A few such defile, to outward
appearance, the whole flock; and we have it to bear.

	I wish the Elders to go and preach the Gospel, instead of begging
from the poor their last picayune.  I could say a good many things with
regard to this subject, but I dislike doing so.  My feelings are keen upon
this matter.  I wish the Elders to go and preach the Gospel, to bind up
the broken-hearted, to hunt up the lame, the halt, the blind, and the poor
among men, and bring them home to Zion.  Do they do this?  Not always.  My
feelings have been sufficiently hurt by a different course; and if the
Elders do not stop it, I do not intend to bear it much longer.  Perhaps
some of them may say--"Brother Brigham, I think our lives and preaching
and general deportment will compare very well with yours."  Yes, about as
well as white will compare with black, blue, or red. I ask the people of
this Church, Who of you have helped me in the days of my poverty?
Sometimes a brother or a sister has given me a shilling or a few coppers. 
The second time I went to Canada, which was after I was baptized, myself
and my brother Joseph travelled two hundred and fifty miles in snow a foot
and a half deep, with a foot of mud under it.  We travelled, preached, and
baptized forty-five in the dead of winter.  When we left there, the Saints
gave us five York shillings with which to bear our expenses two hundred
and fifty miles on foot, and one sister gave me a pair of woolen mittens,
two-thirds worn out.  I worked with my own hands and supported myself.

	I have borrowed money, but where is the man I have refused to pay
what I borrowed of him?  If such a man can be found, let him come forward. 
I have supported myself and my family, by the help of the Lord and my good
brethren.  Some of the brethren have helped me very liberally, for which I
thank them.  After I was ordained into the Quorum of the Twelve, no summer
passed in which I did not travel during the summer: I also travelled
during much of each winter.  Who supported my family?  God and I.  Who
found me clothing?  The Lord and myself.  I had a large family, and in the
States have paid as high as eleven dollars a barrel for flour.

	My business is to save the people, not to oppress, plunder, and
destroy them.  It is also the duty of all the Elders to labour to save the
people.  Who supported me when I was in England?  I was sick and destitute
when I started for England, with not a member of my family able to bring
me a drink of water.  When I was able to walk ten or fifteen yards to a
boat, I started.  For an overcoat I had a little bed-quilt my wife used to
put on a trundle-bed.  When I landed in England, I had six shillings. Who
administered to me?  The Lord, through good men.  The brethren were good
and kind to me; but they did not gather me five pounds in this, and a
hundred pounds in that Conference, and twenty pounds in another Branch. 
Have our Elders gathered money in this way?  Yes, too often, if not all
the time; and I am sick and tired of it; and if they do not stop it, I
will expose them.

	My practice in England, when I went from my office, was to put a
handful of coppers in my pocket to give to the poor.  Did I feed anybody
there?  Yes, scores.  Did I help anybody to America?  Yes, to the last
farthing I possessed.  By keeping the office and doing business myself, I
had money enough to come home; but brother Heber and brother Willard
borrowed money and helped others.  When we arrived home, were we flush
with means?  No; we were nearly destitute.  I had a little clothing, and
the most of that I gave away to poor brethren. I also had one sovereign,
and, by obtaining fifteen cents more, was able to buy a barrel of flour. 
Brother Joseph asked me what I was going to do.  I told him that I did not
know, but intended to rest with my family and friends until we ate it up,
and then I would be ready to walk in the way the Lord should open before
me.  Joseph would often ask me how I lived.  I told him I did not
know--that I did my best, and the Lord did the rest.

	Do men get rich by this everlasting begging?  No.  Those who do it
will be poor in spirit and in purse.  If you desire to be rich, go and
preach the Gospel with a liberal heart, and trust in God to sustain you. 
If you cannot by such a course come home with shoes, come with moccassins
[sic]; and if you are obliged to come barefooted, tar the bottoms of your
feet:  the sand sticking in the tar will form a sole; and thank God that
you have arrived here in that way rather than in carriages.  But no; many
of our Elders must come in carriages:  they must have gold, and silver,
and fine clothing to enable them to flirt around with their wives.

	Let my wives take care of themselves.  "But," says one, "I have
gratified and pampered my wives so long, were I go to away, what would
become of them?"  Leave them to plan and provide for themselves.

	Will those Elders I am talking to to-day take the hint?  or will they
follow the practice of too many, and beg, and make that their chief joy
and occupation?  If you take the hint, go from here without purse or
scrip, unless the brethren give you something:  leave all you can with
your families, and do not beg creation dry.  Preach the Gospel, gather the
poor, and bring them home to Zion.  Return naked and barefoot rather than
come in carriages procured with money obtained from the poor and
destitute. If the rich give to you, receive it thankfully.  Return with a
wheelbarrow or handcart, and bring some of the honest poor with you.  If
you do not pursue this course, I shall conclude that we have made a
selection of grovelling, worldly-minded men, whose brains, at least in my
estimation, are not as they should be.

	               EDUCATION--TESTIMONY--MIRACULOUS SIGNS, &c.

       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, April 8, 1860.
                          Reported by G. D. Watt

	Pertaining to the school that brother Hyde has been mentioning, we
shall devote the large building on the east side of Union Square to school
purposes.  Tuition will be free, and the school will begin to-morrow
morning, with Orson Pratt, jun., and James Cobb, teachers, under the
supervision of Orson Pratt, sen.  The Union Academy is designed
exclusively for boys and young men.  So soon as we have a suitable
building, we intend to open an Academy for females, in which they will be
taught the common branches of English education, music, and probably some
of the modern languages.

	We wish those who attend the Union Academy to qualify themselves to
be useful to themselves and this community as speedily as possible.  We
shall urge the study of mathematics, and more particularly their practical
application, that as many as have a taste and aptness may become familiar
with surveying, which they can fit themselves for in a very short time. 
There are but few here who are practical surveyors, and we wish that
number increased.

	One of the teachers will probably attend to rudiments of education,
though we prefer to have scholars tolerably well advanced in arithmetic,
writing, reading, and grammar.  Still it may be requisite at the start to
admit some in the elementary branches.

	I give it as my opinion that you may go to any part of the United
States or the world, where parents are not obliged by law to send their
children to school, and you will find more schools in the midst of this
people, notwithstanding their poverty, their drivings, sufferings, and
persecutions, and more persons that can read and write, in proportion to
our population, than in any other place on this earth.  You may select any
community of the same number, and in this particular we will favourably
compare with the best of them, and I think we are ahead of them.  But this
furnishes us no reason for keeping children from school.

	There are many who are anxious to teach school, if the people will
encourage them.  The people have the privilege of sending their children
to school, for there are plenty of teachers and plenty of rooms in every
town and neighbourhood.  However, it is often the case that, when they
have sent their children one or two quarters, they neglect paying the
teacher.

	Some say they are not able to send their children to school.  In such
a case, I think I would rise in the morning, wash myself, take a little
composition, and try, if possible, to muster strength enough to send my
children to school, and pay their tuition like a man.  When you have done
this, if you are still unable, apply to some of your neighbours to assist
you.

	Men able to ride in their carriages, and not able or unwilling to pay
their children's tuition, ought, I think, to have a little composition, or
catnip tea; and then perhaps, they will be able to send their children to
school!  I know such persons are weak and feeble; but the disease is in
the brain and heart--not in the bones, flesh, and blood.  Send your
children to school.

	As I have before remarked, there will be no charge for tuition in the
Union Academy, and we shall learn whether the young men will go to school
and qualify themselves for doing business and becoming useful in this
world.  Compare those who had their education before they came here with
the boy who were born and brought up in this Church in the midst of our
being driven, and I will furnish you ten grey-headed men who cannot reckon
up the simplest account in figures, where you can find one of our boys
fifteen years that cannot.  That is the difference between this people,
with all the ignorance alleged against them pertaining to the learning of
the day, and the professed learned world.  I want them still to advance
and increase.

	We should be a people of profound learning pertaining to the things
of the world.  We should be familiar with the various languages, for we
wish to send to the different nations and to the islands of the sea.  We
wish Missionaries who may go to France to be able to speak the French
language fluently, and those who may go to Germany, Italy, Spain, and so
on to all nations, to be familiar with the languages of those nations.

	We also wish them to understand the geography, habits, customs, and
laws of nations and kingdoms, whether they be barbarians or civilized. 
This is recommended in the revelations given to us.  In them we are taught
to study the best books, that we may become as well acquainted with the
geography of the world as we are with our gardens, and as familiar with
the people--so far at least as they are portrayed in print--as we are with
our families and neighbours. I will now make a few remarks upon testimony. 
I have heard a great many Elders in this Church, and people who were
professing Christians before this work was revealed, testifying of the
things of God.  Men rise up here and say they do know that this is the
work of God, that Joseph was a Prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true,
that the revelations through Joseph Smith are true, that this is the last
dispensation and the fulness of times, wherein God has set to his hand to
gather Israel for the last time, and redeem and build up Zion on this
land.  How do they know this?  Persons know and will continue to know and
understand many things by the manifestations of the Spirit, that through
the organization of the tabernacle it is impossible otherwise to convey. 
Much of the most important information is alone derived through the power
and testimony of the Holy Ghost in the speaker, revealing itself to the
understanding and spirit of the hearer.  This is the only way you can
convey a knowledge of the invisible things of God.  By way of
illustration, though a meagre one, suppose that a man may discern in his
mind how the principle of perpetual motion can made to operate, but cannot
explain it to his neighbors.

	Reflect for a moment upon the sensitive faculty implanted within us. 
We know when we touch anything with our hands.  When we discern an object
with our eyes, we know that we see.  How do we know?  By a principle
common to all intelligent beings--by the sensations God has placed within
us.  Were it not for this, the eye could not see, nor sensation be
communicated by touch.  Were it not for the intelligent principle God has
placed within us, we could neither feel, see, hear, taste, nor smell.

	It is recorded that some have eyes to see, and see not; ears to hear,
and hear not; hearts have they, but they understand not.  You who are
spiritually--minded, who have the visions of your minds opened--have
studied yourselves, your organizations, the power by which you have been
organized, and the influences that act upon you, can understand that the
power that has given you physical sensation is the power of the same God
that gives you understanding of the truth.  The latter power is inward. 
My inward eyes see, my inward hands handle, my inward taste tastes of the
word of God.  The Apostle used this language.  He spoke of tasting the
good word of God and the powers of the world to come.  Do you taste?  Yes,
by the sensations God has planted within you.  Thousands and thousands
know, by their inward and invisible sensations, things that have been,
things that are, and things that are in the future, as well s they know
the colour of a piece of cloth by means of their outward or physical
vision.  When this inner light is taken from them, they become darker than
they were before, they cannot understand, and turn away from the things of
God.

	With regard to evidence, testimony, the acquirements of the children
of men pertaining to the invisible things of God, who is it that requires
a miracle done?  Brother Hyde says that when he has been out preaching,
this Priest and that Deacon would say, "If you are the servant of God,
work a miracle."  I have had the same required of me a great many times;
but if I had the power of the Gods, I would not work for them a miracle. 
Why?  Because it would only be to gratify a hellish, worldly, corrupt,
devilish disposition on the part of the one requiring it.  Have we not an
example?  Yes,--one expressly for the benefit of the Saints who were to
follow in the footsteps of the Redeemer and pursue the path he walked in. 
The Devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him
all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith unto him,
"All things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." 
Then the Devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a
pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, "If thou be the Son of God,
cast thyself down; for it written, He shall give his angels charge
concerning thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest at any
time thou dash thy foot against a stone."  In other words, If you are the
Son of God, work a miracle.  All this world is under my control, and I
will give it to you, if you will obey me and cast yourself down, that I
may go and be a preacher and testify that you are the Son of God.  Jesus
would not do anything of the kind.

	"Then," said the Devil, "make bread of these stones, that we may have
a testimony that you are the Christ; and I will go and tell the people of
it."  The Saviour said unto him, "Get thee hence, Satan; for it is
written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve."  Then the Devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and
ministered unto him.  He would not accommodate the feelings of the person
that wished to tempt the Lord his God.

	At another time Jesus exclaimed--"An evil and an adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall be no sign given to it,
but the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth."

	In all my preachings and teachings, my faith to-day is the same as
ever, according to the light I have had from time to time.  If I had the
power to turn the Mississippi directly to the opposite course it is now
running, and make it empty into the Hudson's Bay, instead of in the Gulf
of Mexico, I would not do it with a view to convince the people of the
truth of the work of God.

	The Gospel plan is so devised, that a miracle to make people believe
would only be a condemnation to them.  When you hear people tell what they
have seen--that they have seen great and powerful miracles wrought, and
they could not help believing, remember that "devils believe and tremble,"
because they cannot help it.  When the voice of the Good Shepherd is
heard, the honest in heart believe and receive it.  It is good to taste
with the inward taste, to see with the inward eyes, and to enjoy with the
sensations of the ever-living spirit.  No person, unless he is an
adulterer, a fornicator, covetous, or an idolator, will ever require a
miracle; in other words, no good, honest person ever will.

	If this is the work of God, let us understand its beauty and glory. 
I do not say that all are like myself; but from the day I commenced
preaching the Gospel to this present moment, I never had a feeling in my
heart to occupy much time in preaching hell to the people, or in telling
them much about being damned.  There are the kingdoms and worlds which God
has prepared, and which are waiting for the just.  There are more beauty,
glory, excellency, knowledge, power, and heavenly things that I have time
to talk about, without spending my time in talking about the hells
prepared for the damned I have not time to talk much about them.

	We have heaven, eternal life, eternal existence before us.  Behold
the sea of faces before me this morning, every one of whom God has
organized to dwell eternally in his presence.  Is not this a theme that is
worth the attention all the human family?  We are alive.  When shall we
die?  Never.  Says our Saviour, "Whosoever believeth in me shall never
die."  Shall we put on this mortality?  Yes, we will lay down these bodies
in the grave.  What for?  That the dust, our mother earth, that composes
the house of the spirit, may be purified by passing through this ordeal,
and be prepared to be called up and united with the intelligent heavenly
body that God has prepared.  This is nothing but a change.  It is not the
dissolution of the creature; it is merely putting off the flesh that
pertains to this world.

	The particles of this earth that now compose this body will be
re-arranged, and the spirit will be clothed with an immortal tabernacle. 
Let the spirit reign predominant over the flesh, and bring into subjection
the whole man, every feeling and every desire of his heart, and let him be
devoted wholly, body and spirit, to the end for which he has been created. 
When the flesh is brought into subjection, it is made worthy through that
means.

	So live every morning, noon, and evening, every moment, as to enjoy
the Holy Ghost continually.  Do no deprive yourselves of this privilege,
brethren and sisters; then you can see, hear, and understand, and know
things that are of God, the visible and invisible, in heaven and on
earth,--things past, present, and to come.  No power can deprive you of
this privilege, and God will bless you, and we will bask in his presence
with our Elder Brother, and with all the sons and daughters of Adam who
have been redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, to live for ever.

	What a pleasing thought!--what an entrancing idea it would be, if we
had the privilege of making a selection of one of the most beautiful
locations on this earth, where we could have our grounds, gardens, and
walks laid out after the most enchanting and beautiful order, with every
variety of trees, with fountains of water, and everything to make us happy
and confortable, with our carriages to ride in, &c., &c., and then live
ten thousand millions of years upon that beautiful possession!  Still that
period of time would ultimately come to an end; and when the last moment
had come, the possession ceases to be worth a groat, for it is not
eternal.  Boundless wealth and the most beautiful possessions cannot give
pleasure and happiness of that exquisite and heavenly nature that is not
in itself eternal.

	I expect to see the streets paved with gold, and our common utensils
made of the precious metals that the wicked now worship.  There is no
ornament, no beauty, no excellency, nothing that you can imagine that is
great, grand, and useful on earth, but what is typical of the immortal and
eternal riches that are in store for all those who overcome.

	Excuse me if I speak loud.  Were I to speak as I feel, I should speak
like a Methodist for a little while, and cry, "Hallelujah!--praise ye the
Lord."  Let his praise ring aloud through the heavens, and swell in
anthems throughout the earth.  Praise the name of our God, who, in the
fulness of his mercy, hath provided a great salvation and eternal life for
all the Saints, without money and without price.

	I do not hate any man on earth or in hell.  The worst wish I have for
the wicked is that they may be obliged to live according to good and
wholesome laws.

	May God bless you!  Amen.

     RELIGION OF THE SAINTS--PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL--CONTENTION, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, 
                  Great Salt Lake City, April 22, 1860.
                         Reported by J. V. Long.

	I delight, as brother E. D. Woolley has just observed, in my
religion, and had rather talk about it than upon any other subject.  I
esteem it the only true system of religion, and its practice the only
correct course of life.  In it are the only true principles of philosophy: 
it comprehends all true science known by man, angels, and the Gods.  There
is one true system and science of life; all else tends to death.  That
system emanates from the Foundation of life.

	But to say that we love our religion, and delight to live it and talk
about it, is, in comparison, like a person's telling those who are fond of
it how sweet and delicious honey is--how much better they like it than
they do mud!  Or, to use another comparison, it is like a person's telling
how much pleasanter it is to prosecute a long journey over mountains,
deserts, and streams, with his eyes open, than it is to grope his way
blind-folded!  That is about the comparison, when we speak concerning the
principles of eternal life and those principles that tend to death.  

	You hear men speak about going to transact temporal business. 
Suppose you cease the temporal, where is your spiritual business?  Does it
not end?  Yes; and if you wish to live, prepare to live to-day.  My
religion comprehends all the mental and physical powers; and a man who
realizes this never allows himself to go about any work without wishing
and striving to enjoy the principles of eternal life.

	I will say a few words in reference to those who are about to start
on missions to preach the Gospel, and those who are going on business.  If
those who are going to preach do not go with that faith that pertains to
eternal life, and that spirit that is like a well of water, springing up
into everlasting life, their labours will be vain.  They may be the best
theoretical theologians in the world--may be able to preach a Bible and a
half in a sermon, to read history without a book, and understand all the
dealings with men from the days of Adam till now; and, without the Spirit
of the living God to guide them, they will not be able to accomplish
anything to their credit towards building up his kingdom.  They must
realize that success in preaching the gospel springs not from the wisdom
of this world.  They must so live as to enjoy the power of God: 
otherwise, they may bring home their converts; but what are they good for? 
They are not worth bringing across the Plains; for, after their arrival,
they annoy and disturb the peace of others.  Do such come here to build up
Zion?  Did such persons love the Gospel?  No; or, if they did, they lost
that love while coming here.

	If persons receive the power of God through the Gospel, and turn
away, they very soon manifest the spirit they are of.  Some do not receive
the power of God, but they obey the first principles of the Gospel, live
it to all outward appearance, and by-and-by manifest that they do not love
it.  Though you can scarcely discern the difference by their outward acts,
time will disclose who are Saints and who are not.

	The day will come when the cry will be--"Lo, the bridegroom cometh;
go ye out to meet him."  Till that time, the Elders who go to preach
should go clothed upon with the power of God--filled with the Holy Ghost,
that they may be enabled to perform a work that will be acceptable in the
sight of High Heaven.  Do I say, Love your enemies?  Yes, upon certain
principles.  But you are not required to love their wickedness:  you are
only required to love them so far as concerns a desire and effort to turn
them from their evil ways, that they may be saved through obedience to the
Gospel.

	I have observed in this Church from the beginning, that when Elders
follow others in the work of the ministry, they wish congregations,
Conferences, societies, and all people to respect them a little more than
anybody else; and this feeling will more or less beset the Elders now
about to go forth.  You would like to have the people think that you know
a little more than any other persons--particularly more than your
predecessors, and that all you teach is just right.  I wish you to build
up every man who is in the faith of the Gospel--who is in the faith of
God, angels, and good men; and if you strive to pull down good men who are
around you, you are sure to fall yourselves.  Tell the people what we have
in Utah--that we have the light of the Gospel, that we hold the keys of
the kingdom, and that here is the place to be cleansed, purified, and
sanctified by the furnace of affliction.  Do not tell them that gold grows
on our trees, and that their troubles will all be over when they arrive
here.  The Saints are not tried in the world as they are here.  True, they
have trials among their friends and relations, but those trials are not
such as they meet here.  Tell them that, in gathering, they are going to
the thrashing-machine,--that they will then be run through the smutter,
afterwards through the mill; and if they prove to be fine flour, they will
be saved:  if not, all their previous righteousness will be counted as
nothing.

	When people receive the Gospel, their minds are opened; they see Zion
in its glory; but they do not see the troubles on the Plains, or the
troubles with false brethren.  They are young, weak, and unprepared to
receive those things which the Lord will suffer to come upon them.  They
are not prepared for those trials that will purify and prepare them for
exaltation; their minds are only prepared for the riches and fulness of
the glory of God that has been shown to them when the vision of their
minds was opened by the Spirit of the living God; and but little do they
know what they have to pass through.

	You need not teach that this place is Zion, or that Nauvoo or
Missouri is Zion; but tell the people that North and South America are the
land of Zion, and that our God will finish his work where he commenced it,
where the centre Stake of Zion is, and where the garden of Eden was.  Say
to them--"If you want to become as gold seven times purified, go up to
Utah."  Gather the Saints, but do not flatter; invite, but do not urge,
and by no means compel any one.  Gather the Saints here as quickly as
possible.  Why?  Because among the nations their dreams and reflections
are all joy and glory, and they know but little else until after they
arrive here.  Some must come here in order to apostatize.  We have thought
that we could try to stop that class in the States, and let them
apostatize there; but we cannot.  They think all things should be here now
as they are in heaven.  This is the very place for them also, and we want
them here as soon as possible.

	Brethren and sisters, I like to meet with and speak to you; I also
like to reason with myself, to instruct myself, and to consider whether I
can detect in myself anything that should not be.  I strive to know
myself, and would be pleased to have you all strive to know yourselves. 
Put away all unkind feelings, and let all your meditations be
correct--precisely as they should be.  I like to ascertain whether my
feelings and meditations are correct, and whether in other circumstances I
should feel as I now do.  But leave that in the hands of the Lord; for my
labours and reflections to purify this people and prepare them for the
things that are to come, to instruct them, and urge them to look at
themselves as they look at their neighbours, seem to bear upon my mind
with greater weight.

	Contentions frequently arise to so alienating a degree that brethren
have no faith in each other's honesty and integrity, when, perhaps, both
parties have stumbled over a little, selfish, ignorant, personal
misunderstanding, and are carrying it to the extent of wishing to cut each
other off from the Church.  Very frequently such cases are presented
before me.  Unravel the difficulty, and it is found to have started in a
trifling misunderstanding in relation to some small matter; all the
trouble has arisen from a most frivolous cause.  Avoid nursing
misunderstandings into difficulties.  Some talk with a heavy, deep stress
upon their words, without intending anything harsh or unkind.  Sometimes a
little misunderstanding in dealing causes a contention, and the parties
become alienated.  An offended person will ask himself, "Does that man
want to cheat me?"  Or, "Does that neighbour mean to wrong me?"  Before
you decide, learn, if you can, the design in the heart of the actor.

	A few Sabbaths ago, I compared the mind of man to machinery.  The
human family frame certain ideas or notions in their minds; and when they
get them arranged to suit themselves, it seems impossible to induce them
to give them up.  When the idea of inventing perpetual motion possesses
the mind of an individual, he will waste all his time and substance,
rather than give it up.  A person will get an idea that he must be a
merchant, and handle a few calicos and cloths, and deal them out by the
yard.  I would not condescend to such business; but some cannot see
anything else.  Why?  Because they do not like any other business.  We
should divest ourselves of all feelings of selfishness, become like clay
in the hands of the potter, and say, "I have no mind of my own; it must be
passive, and suffer God to direct.  He has given me good powers of mind,
and he shall have the privilege of directing them."  Then you can enjoy
this, that, or the other, and all will be right.

	We, as other people, have our minds formed according to the liberty
we enjoy and the education and intelligence we have received.  We frame,
fashion, compose, and arrange things in our mind--form this, that, and the
other plan, and say, "I am going to such a city;" "I will trade;" "I will
make me a farm;" "I will go to the east, west, north, or south, and will
do thus and so."  Do you not know that the whole human family are more or
less working upon this principle?  Many do not seem to realize that they
cannot go to any city and buy and sell, or make a farm, or go to the
kanyons, to California, to the States, or do this and that, without God
permits.  The result of the doings of the children of men are all in the
hands of God; then shall I say that I will do thus and so?  I will stop,
unless the Lord requires at my hands such a performance of mental or
physical labour.  I will wait, for I wish to spend my strength and life
upon sure ground.  My acts, principles, and powers must be directed by the
Almighty, that the results may be according to my desires; and they
cannot, unless I am so directed.

	The nations and kingdoms of this world are striving for something
make them happy; but if they will pause and consider that though they may
go to a city on the right, to another on the left, to the east, west,
north, and south, and do as they choose, unless the Almighty directs, they
may expect the result will be darkness and death.

	The Lord has placed mankind here, and offered them salvation without
money and without price.  All who take a course opposite to that which is
marked out will come to an end.  Which is the best--life or death?  bitter
or sweet?  Let your lives be so directed that the results may be according
that the results may be according to your wishes.  No man will attain the
results he desires without striving for them while he who will act his
part will receive the honour and glory of God as a reward for his labours.

	I will urge upon the Elders who are going abroad, and who are judges
in Israel, to remember that "there are many masters, but few fathers;" and
I wish you to be fathers.  Do not oppress the poor, but trust in God, and
you will go neither hungry, naked, nor thirsty.  If you oppress the poor,
the day will come when you will be naked, thirsty, and hungry, and will
not be able to get anything to supply your wants.  Go trusting in God, and
continue to trust in him, and he will open your way and multiply blessings
upon you, and your souls  will be satisfied with his goodness.  I cannot
promise you any good in taking an unrighteous course; your lives must be
examples of good works.  You know that some men have said, "We have worked
long enough for the Lord; we are now going to work for ourselves."  They
never worked at all for the Lord.  The ignorance of such men is
deplorable; they do not know so much as the brutes, for they know enough
to come to the crib whence they procure their food; but these characters
do not know enough to come and be fed.

	We are made intelligent, and are heirs of the everlasting kingdom. 
Unless we forfeit that heirship, we are heirs to the glory and power of
worlds to come; but we must take a course to maintain the position that we
occupy.  We are the children of our Father in heaven; and unless we do
that which will cause our names to be blotted out, and our right to the
blessings of the kingdom cut of, all will be well.  Let us take a course
to save all who will hearken to our counsel; let us be kind and charitable
to all people, doing unto others as we would they should do unto us in
like circumstances, and the blessings of our Father will be multiplied
unto us.

	I will relate a little of my course and experience in my family.  I
have a large family of children, many of them small, and yet I do not
think that you ever saw even four children in one family live together
with so little contention.  Watch them, and their conduct will prove that
there is a good spirit influencing them.  I never knew one of them to be
accidentally hurt, without more sympathy's being extended to that one than
the whole of them needed.  You may ask how I manage to bring about this
result.  I seldom give a child a cross word; I seldom give a wife a cross
word; and I tell my wives never to give a child cause to doubt their word. 
A child loves the smiles of its mother, but hates her frowns.  I tell the
mothers not to allow the children to indulge in evils, but at the same
time to treat them with mildness.  If a child is required to step in a
certain direction, and it does not seem willing to do so, gently put it in
the desired way, and say, There, my little dear, you must step when I
speak to you.  Children need directing and teaching what is right in a
kind, affectionate manner.

	The Elders who are going abroad should deal out kindness to those
they are sent to watch over, and your smiles will be far better than your
cursings could be.

	A child at five years old would disobey me much oftener than one at
fifteen.  Do you not think that is a good sign?  Some may ask whether I
may not lose some of my children; I cannot tell.  God gave them to me; and
if one of them is lost, I want to be able to say, Have I failed to bring
them up in right and acceptable manner?  I have done all that I could. 
Have I done right?  It is in thy hands.

	Brethren and sisters, we are improving and increasing in the truth,
though slowly.  I can realize improvement in myself; my sensitive powers
are quickened, and I can discern a growth in others that pleases me.

	Instead of divisions and excitements, we are preparing for the
kingdom of heaven.  Walk up to the line of right, for the kingdom is
powerful, and is becoming more powerful every year.  Your patience and
integrity are on the increase; keep faithful until we can return and begin
to build up the centre Stake of Zion, and be ready for whatever may be
required of us.

	I desire to live upon this earth till I see righteousness
established.  Is there a Saint who wishes to see disorder and confusion
here?  No:  all wish to see the peace of God constantly resting upon the
people.  Ask sister Cook, who has for years taught my children music,
whether she ever saw or heard me scold.  She never did; but my children
must mind father.  Is this feeling increasing among the Saints?  It is;
and the Lord will increase it as fast as the people are prepared; and the
Saints will have oil in their lamps, and will be received at the wedding
as the bride of the Lamb.

	Be patient.  Judge not your brethren in their frivolous faults, nor
for faults that are not designed for injury.

	God bless you!  Amen.



                      INSTRUCTIONS TO MISSIONARIES.
     Delivered by President Brigham Young, in the Historian's Office,
                  Great Salt Lake City, April 25, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I believe that you already understand all that is necessary for your
safe guidance through the perils and temptations that await the Elders and
Saints of the last days, [sic-punc]  None of you can be said to have heard
the Gospel last Sabbath, been baptized on Monday last, ordained Tuesday,
and on Wednesday sent forth to preach, were many of the first Elders.  On
the contrary, I think you have been pretty well schooled.

	But the inquiry arises in my mind, Do the Elders realize the
importance of their missions?  Do they realize that in their
administration they carry with them the keys of life and death, not
pertaining to this life alone, but to this in connection with all the life
there is?  It is necessary that you should fully realize this in your
calling as Elders in the Church of Jesus Christ.  The thousands and tens
of thousands of incidents that make up the sum of human lives, whether for
good or evil, depend on a momentary watchfulness and care.

	If an Elder, in preaching the Gospel, does not feel that he has the
power to preach life and salvation, and to legally administer the
ordinances, and that, too, by the power of God, he will not fill his
mission to his own credit, nor to the good of the people, and the
advancement and honour of the kingdom of God.  From all I can read, from
all I can gather from the revelations from God to man, and from the
revelations of the Spirit to me, no man can successfully preach the Gospel
and be owned, blessed, and acknowledged by the heavens, unless he preaches
by the power of God through direct revelation.  Not but that, in a great
many instances, a man may not be manifestly under the immediate and
powerful influences and direction of revelation to dictate him all the
time in his meditations and reasonings, and yet can advance many good
ideas that he has gathered by means of his natural reasoning.  But to
magnify and make honourable the calling of an Elder in this Church, I
cannot conceive, in my understanding, any other true principle by which it
can be done, only when perfectly controlled by the Spirit of the Lord.

	When men enjoy the spirit of their missions and realize their calling
and standing before the Lord and the people, it constitutes the happiest
portions of their lives.  If our minds can reach forth to eternal things,
can conceive the glory, honour, and benefit arising from the plan of
salvation Jesus has purchased, and can grasp the gifts, blessings, powers,
privileges, light, intelligence, and fulness of the eternities that are to
come, these God has bestowed upon us to offer to the people.  If they will
receive it, they can have all the Lord has purchased for them.  If they
reject you, they also reject the Son; and if they reject the Son, they
reject the Father and heaven and heavenly things, and seal their own
condemnation.  If the brethren can reach forth unto these things, so as to
see and properly understand them, they can magnify their calling; and this
is the only way in which they can.

	Many of you have been in the world and met with opposition; and when
the Scriptures have been honestly adhered to as the standard, you have
successfully met all that can be brought against the plan of salvation. 
That is all very well, and is pleasing to such as have a philosophical
turn of mind.  Their modes of thinking and reasoning call for solutions of
what appears to them mysterious and problematic; and those solutions to be
satisfactory to them, must accord with certain theories.  But let one go
forth who is careful to logically prove all he says by numerous quotations
from the revelations, and let another travel with him who can say, by the
power of the Holy Ghost, Thus saith the Lord, and tell what the people
should believe--what they should do--how they should live, and teach them
to yield to the principles of salvation,--though he may not be capable of
producing a single logical argument--though he may tremble under a sense
of his weakness, cleaving to the Lord for strength, as such men generally
do, you will invariably find that the man who testifies by the power of
the Holy Ghost will convince and gather many more of the honest and
upright than will the merely logical reasoner.

	Debate and argument have not that saving effect that has testifying
to the truth as the Lord reveals it to the Elder by the Spirit.  I think
you will all agree with me in this; at least, such is my experience.  I do
not wish to be understood as throwing a straw in the way of the Elders'
storing their minds with all the arguments they can gather to urge in
defence of their religion, no do I wish to hinder them in the least from
learning all they can with regard to religions and governments.  The more
knowledge the Elders have the better.

	It is well to perfectly understand the religious and governmental
theories of the world; it is satisfactory:  yet, in preaching the Gospel,
an Elder who prides himself in using good sound arguments and logic is not
so apt to lean upon the Lord for his Spirit as are those who are not so
particularly gifted in reasoning.  It is our duty, so far as we can, to
gain knowledge and information pertaining to human life and the
organization of the kingdoms, thrones, empires, and republics of the
earth,--to become well acquainted with their religions, laws, manners of
administration, pursuits of life, manufacturers, agriculture, arts,
manners and customs, &c.:  but when we are possessed of all this
knowledge, we need the power of God to teach the truths of the holy
Gospel.  I wish you to bear this truth in your memories and put it in
practice.

	By your own experience you know that "Mormonism," if not true, is
worse than nothing; and if true, its value is beyond our computation.  In
your travelling and preaching, you will meet with many who will oppose the
Gospel, and by them your names will be cast out as evil.  Pertaining to
this, I will make but one requirement of you--that, when you are spoken
everywhere against, as were Jesus and his disciples, for the sake of the
kingdom, for the sake of the people, for the sake of our Redeemer, for the
sake of our heavenly Father, and the heavenly hosts, and for your own
sakes, you so live that there never can truthfully be an evil word spoken
against you.  Never, through committing evil, lay the foundation for a
person to truthfully speak evil of you.  If you pursue this course, you
will be justified before God, Jesus, angels, and your brethren.  You can
then testify to the truth, and teach it in all plainness, simplicity, and
honesty, and be able to bid defiance to the world.

	In your travelling you will have to trust in the Lord.  I do not know
whether you have means sufficient to enable you to go directly to your
fields of labour.  Probably some of you have, and some have not.  Strive
to be full of the Holy Ghost, and the necessary means will come to you,
often in a way you cannot comprehend, and you will be expedited in your
journeyings and perform your missions.  And furthermore, if you will not
drop one thread in the garments of your characters, from the time you
leave here, I am not in the least doubtful in my mind--I have not a shade
of hesitancy in my feelings in promising that each of you will accomplish
a mission that will please our Father in heaven and every good person on
the earth and in heaven, and live to return to this place.  Have faith to
live, and do just as you should do; and do not imagine that you can go to
the right or to the left, or do this, that, or the other wrong with
impunity, thinking that it will be well enough in the end.  Do that alone
which you know to be right and which you ought to do.  When you come to
that which you do not know to be right, let it alone and trust in the
Lord, and you will live.

	Some of our Elders have died while on missions.  I have nothing to
say against them, for all must die sooner or later.  But there is no
necessity for laying down our bodies until we are full of years.  If you
only have faith, and every moment live according to the faith of the
Gospel, and keep your gaze, thoughts, and acts heavenward, I have no
hesitancy in saying that you will live to perform your missions.

	You have received your blessings, and I say amen to them, and to much
more.  In this my faith resembles Father Smith's, when he was asked by
myself and one or two others for a patriarchal blessing.  He said to us,
"Sit down, and write every good thing you can think of in heaven and on
earth, and I will sign my name to them, and they will be your patriarchal
blessings.  If you only live for them, they shall all come upon you, and
more."  Live for the blessings you desire, and you will obtain them, if
you do not suffer selfishness, pride, or the least alienation from the
path of true virtue and holiness to creep into your hearts.

	When you reach your fields of labour, do the best you can; and when
the enemy comes along and tells you that you are somebody, say, "Mr.
Devil, it is none of your business.  What I have spoken is what the Lord
gave to me.  I have presented it to the people, and that is all I have to
do with it."  If you cannot preach as nicely and smoothly as you wish, and
a feeling rises that you cannot preach at all--that you had better return
home, tell Satan to get behind you--that he has no power to dictate
whether you preach a word or not, for you are in the Lord's service.  So
live that the Spirit of the Lord can instruct your minds at all times, and
you can then defy the Devil and all his emissaries.  If you have nothing
from the Lord to present to the people, be as willing to be silent as you
would to preach what might be termed a splendid discourse.

	A short time ago I made a few remarks concerning the Elders who have
been on missions, and I will now say to you, Do not come from your
missions leaving behind you people whom you have oppressed, from whom you
have begged their money.  I would work my way there and back again, or beg
from strangers, before I would take one dime from the Saints, unless they
of their own freewill and accord wished to make me presents, and were able
to do so without distressing themselves.  True, I have seen the time, and
go have many of my brethren, when my heart has ached to see men and women
go without food day after day for the sake of feeding me, when I could
feed myself; but any other course would not satisfy them.  Under such
circumstances you must humour the people and yield to their feelings.  But
do not go to preach this Gospel for the purpose of becoming rich.  If the
Lord has anything for you, he will give it to you; and he has not, tell
them that you can provide your own living when you reach home, if the Lord
will bless you.  You may say, "We may bless the people until doomsday, and
still they will find fault with us."  Can they justly do so?  If they
cannot, their fault-finding cannot harm you.

	Some of our Missionaries, after an absence of two or three years,
return with their eyes cast down:  their countenances are fallen.  I wish
you to take such a course that you can come home with your heads up.  Keep
yourselves clean, from the crowns of your heads to the soles of your feet;
be pure in heart,--otherwise you will return bowed down in spirit and with
a fallen countenance, and will feel as though you never could rise again. 
When the Quorum of the Twelve was first organized, Joseph said that the
Elders of Israel, and particularly the Twelve Apostles, would receive more
temptations, be more buffetted, and have greater difficulty to escape the
evil thrown in their way by females than by any other means.  This is one
of Satan's most powerful auxiliaries with which to weaken the influence of
the ministers of Christ, and bring them down from their high position and
calling into darkness, shame, and disgrace.  You will have to guard more
strictly against that than against any other evil that may beset you. 
Make up your minds not to yield, for one moment, to the subtle
insinuations of the animal propensities of your natures while you are
absent of the Lord's errands.  Rather, suffer your heads to be taken from
your shoulders than to sacrifice your honour, violate your covenants, and
forfeit the sacred trust reposed in you.

	When you arrive in Liverpool, you will find brothers Amasa Lyman and
Charles C. Rich, two of the Twelve, and you will be under their direction
and supervision.  Some of you will again visit your parents and friends in
your native lands.  This, no doubt, will be very agreeable; but do not sit
down in your ancestral homes with a purpose to stay there, but let your
missions be first and foremost to preach the Gospel of life and salvation
to the people, and gather them to the place appointed.  I do not think
there was worse said about the Saviour and his disciples in ancient days
than has been said about the people of Utah in modern times.  Take no
notice of this, but attend to the business about which you have been sent. 
Tell this generation the truth, and pass along.  Many will tell you that
your religion is all error.  Reply that you will make an exchange with
them of ten errors for one truth.  Do no contend or argue much, but pass
along peaceably and preach the first principles of the Gospel--faith in
God and in his Son Jesus Christ, and teach the people to repent of their
sins and be baptised for the remission of them, and they shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of the hands of the Elders. 
It is often the case that some wish to preach about things of which they
have little or no knowledge.  Let alone that which you do not know or most
assuredly believe to be true--doctrines which you do not perfectly
understand, and strive to be honest.  If you do not understand a doctrine
or a portion of Scripture, when information is asked of you, say that the
Lord has not revealed that to you, or that he has not opened your
understanding to grasp it, and that you do not feel safe in giving an
interpretation until he does.

	May God bless you!  Amen.

              PRIVILEGES OF THE SABBATH--DUTY OF LIVING OUR
                      RELIGION--HUMAN LONGEVITY, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, May 20, 1860.
                          Reported by G. D. Watt

	I am happy for the privilege of meeting with the Saints.  I delight
in seeing their faces, and am very fond of their society.

	I have much experience in the various habits, feelings, customs,
manners, and conditions of mankind; and I have felt, for many years, as
though I would be perfectly satisfied to associate with those who live in
peace--with those who believe in God the Father and in his Son Jesus--to
live with those who believe in the Holy Ghost which the Lord has bestowed
upon the children of men--with those who adhere to all the principles in
the Gospel, and live according to it day by day.  Such society would be
perfectly satisfactory to me.  It would satisfy every feeling, every
desire,--in fact, my whole soul, without ever associating with another
wicked person on the earth.

	I have not the least desire, nor have I had for years, to mingle with
a person who takes the name of God in vain, who in the least betrays his
covenants, who wavers or falters in his integrity with his God or with his
fellow-man; but I am most perfectly satisfied to associate with those
whose hearts are filled with peace, with praise and adoration to our God,
and whose lives are full of good works.  Their voices to me are like sweet
music.  I have not the least desire to mingle with or look upon the faces
of those who hate God and his cause.

	I rejoice in the privilege of meeting with the Saints, in hearing
them speak, and in enjoying the influence that is within and around them. 
That influence opens to my understanding the true position of those who
are endeavouring to serve their God.  I do not require to hear them speak
to enable me to know their feelings.  Is it not also your experience that,
when you meet persons in the streets, in your houses, in your offices, or
in your workshops, more or less of an influence attends them which conveys
more than words can?  By this the Father knows his children, Jesus knows
his brethren, and the angels are acquainted with those who delight to
associate with them and with those who hate them.  This knowledge is
obtained through that invisible influence which attends intelligent
beings, and betrays the atmosphere in which they delight to live.  Can you
comprehend that I understand their condition when I meet with Saints?  I
am satisfied all is right:  my soul is comforted.

	You do not see me here every Sabbath.  Perhaps some of you wonder
why.  I will tell you in a very few words.  If I had my own choice, and
could have my own dictation with regard to physical and mental labour, I
would set apart, for the express benefit of man, at least one-seventh part
of the time for rest.  There are but very few Sabbaths that I have ever
kept in strictly resting from my labours--permitting both body and mind to
rest.  Perhaps assembling here on the Sabbath is a rest to many, though it
is not very much of a rest.  To those who have been labouring all the week
to the utmost extent of their strength, it may be somewhat of a rest to
sit on these hard benches; but when I come here I have a constant labour
on my mind.  This congregation, the Saints throughout the world, and the
world of mankind in general are before me.  I think for them all.  I would
like to take one-seventh part of the time to rest; but I do not often have
this privilege.  If I had my own mind, I would devote the time for
meetings like this within the measure of the six days, and on the seventh,
rest from all my labours, for the express purpose of renewing the mental
and physical powers of man.  They require it, as the Lord well knew; hence
he established a day of rest.  The natural tendency of the physical powers
of man is to decay; and to preserve them as long as possible, they need
this retirement from labour--this rest--this ease.  I very seldom enjoy
this privilege.

	Our customs are more or less like the customs of our fathers, and
their influence is often stronger upon us than any law.  There is not a
law of God, nor a law of any nation that exercises so strong an influence
upon us as do our traditions at times, to bind us to certain customs,
habits, and ceremonies:  consequently, to carry out the old traditions, we
observe this day of rest as we now do.  Father went to meeting on the
seventh day, and the priests and all good people go to meeting on that
day.  It has been the custom from time immemorial.  Some men and women
walk miles to attend meetings; some men walk as many as ten miles, hold
two or three meetings, walk back, and are in their workshops by five
o'clock on Monday morning.  Custom binds us to this, and here we are
to-day in compliance with its force.

	Brother Hyde spoke of a revelation which he tried to find in the Book
of Doctrine and Covenants.  That revelation was reserved at that time the
compilation for that book was made by Oliver Cowdery and others, in
Kirtland.  It was not wisdom to publish it to the world, and it remained
in the private escritoire.  Brother Joseph had that revelation concerning
this nation at a time when the brethren were reflecting and reasoning with
regard to African slavery on this continent, and the slavery of the
children of men throughout the world.  There are other revelations,
besides this one, not yet published to the world.  In the due time of the
Lord, the Saints and the world will be privileged with the revelations
that are due to them.  They now have many more than they are worthy of,
for they do not observe them.  The Gentile nations have had more of the
revelations of God than is their just due.  And I will say, as I have
before said, if guilt before my God and my brethren rests upon me in the
least, it is in this one thing--that I have revealed too much concerning
God and his kingdom, and the designs of our Father in heaven.  Of ,u
skirts are stained in the least with wrong, it is because I have been too
free in telling what God is, how he lives, the nature of his providences
and designs in creating the world, in bringing forth the human family on
the earth, his designs concerning them, &c.  If I had, like Paul,
said--"But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant," perhaps it would
have been better for the people.

	You may ask whether this is reasonable. I can prove it to be so in a
few sentences.  There are men upon whom God has bestowed gifts and graces,
and women who are endowed with strong mental ability, and yet they cannot
receive the truth; and then the truth condemns them:  it leaves them in
darkness.  When they cannot receive every truth, let it be ever so
important or unimportant to them, their neglect to grasp in their faith
the truth God reveals for their benefit weakens them, comparatively, from
the crowns of their heads to the soles of their feet, and the enemy may
have the advantage over them in an hour when they think not.  To please
our Father in heaven, and do his will in all things, to walk up faithfully
in the discharge of every duty preparatory to being crowned in his
kingdom, when a truth is presented to an intelligent person he ought to
grasp it and receive it in his faith.  There are revelations, wisdom,
knowledge, and understanding yet to be proclaimed, and whether they will
please the world, or not, is immaterial to me.  I shall not pledge myself
upon a single point.

	I wish to impress upon the minds of the Saints the importance of so
living that they will always know the voice of the Good Shepherd.  When
they hear the voice of the Spirit of inspiration--the power of God,
through any person, let the feelings and sensibilities of every one who
professes to know anything of the things of God, be in a state to know and
discern between that which is of God and that which is not.  I have
exhorted the brethren, all the day long, in this way.  My whole study is
employed and my whole soul is drawn out to induce this people to live
their religion.  How often has it been taught that if you depend entirely
upon the voice, judgment, and sagacity of those appointed to lead you, and
neglect to enjoy the Spirit for yourselves, how easily you may be led into
error, and finally be cast off to the left hand?  Is it desirable to lead
you astray?  No; it would not be momentary satisfaction to a Saint of
God--to a servant of God--to one who sees things as they are, to be the
means of betraying and deceiving the whole human family and leading them
astray where he pleased.  For any man who understands the things of God to
have power to lead the human family astray at his will and pleasure is
calculated to destroy:  it is ruin, it is waste, and will finally lead to
disorganization.  But a true servant of God takes more pleasure in saving
the meanest capacity organized in human form upon the face of the earth
than a wicked person can in leading hosts astray.  Let a Prophet of God,
an Apostle, or any servant of the Lord Jesus have the privilege of
bringing the very smallest degree of organized intelligence up higher and
higher until it is capable of receiving the intelligence of angels, and it
will give more consolation and happiness than to lead all the posterity of
Adam into a wrong path.

	Brethren and sisters, I have a few words to say to you with regard to
our present position as connected with future events, future prospects,
future kingdoms, glories, and existence, and the rise, spread, glory,and
power of the kingdom of God upon the face of the earth.  You know that I
am a to-day person in my preaching and exhortations.  They are for the
time we now live in--not particularly for the millennium, for the
resurrection, for the eternities yet to come; for if we can live this day
as we ought to live, we shall be prepared for to-morrow, and so on for the
next day; and when the eternities come, we shall be prepared to enjoy
them.  You are constantly taught to live your religion for today.  Can you
not live it for one hour?  Begin at a small point: can you not live to the
Lord for one minute?  Yes.  Then can we not multiply that by sixty and
make an hour, and live that hour to the Lord?  Yes; and then for a day, a
week, a month, and a year?  Then, when the year is past, it has been spent
most satisfactorily.

	We may so live our religion every moment, and so watch our own
conduct as to not suffer ourselves in the least to do anything that would
infringe upon a good conscience that is formed and regulated by the
Priesthood of God, and in all our acts to not permit ourselves to do one
act that next year or a few years hence will wound the heart and bring
shame and confusion over the countenance; but let every day be filled with
acts that will be in our reflections a source of joy and consolation. 
This we can do.  You are taught, both by ancient and modern prophecies,
that the Lord is going to bring again Zion--is going to build up his
kingdom on the earth, and reign King of nations as he does King of Saints. 
With all this so plainly portrayed in both ancient and modern revelations,
we learn, when we look over the history of the children of men, how they
have apostatized, have deserted their colours, (the flag God gave them for
their standard), and have hewn to themselves cisterns that can hold no
water.  They  have wandered after strange gods, and the world has faltered
and failed from generation to generation, not only in their mental
faculties and pertaining to the things of God, but also in their physical
existence.

	How far back shall we have to search before we find a people that
attained to the longevity for which the body of man is framed?  If we
could meet here Sabbath after Sabbath for a hundred years to come, would
it not be a glorious privilege?  What parent would not rejoice in seeing
his children and his children's children grow up to manhood, while he
still lived on the earth to direct their minds and mark out the path for
them to walk in, and lead out before them in righteousness and holiness,
inspiring them to continually pursue the way of obedience to the will of
their God?  Would not this be more pleasing than laying down the body in
an early grave?  Would it not be consoling to a good man to live long on
the earth in the full enjoyment of all his mental and physical faculties,
filled with experience and judgment to direct the steps of youth, and to
see his children, his grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and still
continue from year to year and from generation to generation, until he is
six, seven, eight, or nine hundred years old?  "But no," says a father or
mother; "I probably shall not live until I see my children grown up.  I
will direct them as well as I can while I live."  It is seldom that men in
our day can count more than three generations of our offspring, and be all
the time guiding them in the path which leads back to our heavenly
Father--to our heavenly home, guiding our rising generations by our
examples, good judgment, and the superior counsel and experience we have
gained in the things of God--of heaven and earth; would not this be
consoling to every good person?

	You read in the Bible, "There shall be no more thence an infant of
days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall
die an hundred years old; but the sinner, being an hundred years old,
shall be accursed.  And they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they
shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.  They shall not build
and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days
of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the
work of their hands.  They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for
trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their
offspring with them."

	The human family has again to return to this state--not you and I as
individuals.  Mankind have degenerated; they have lost the physical and
mental power they once possessed.  In many points pertaining to mechanism,
men have in modern times been instructed by revelation to them, and this
mechanical knowledge causes them to almost boast against their Creator,
and to set themselves up as competitors with the Lord Almighty,
notwithstanding they have produced nothing but what  has been revealed to
them.  In the knowledge of astronomical and other philosophical truths,
which our modern great men are searching after and pride themselves in,
they are but babes, compared with the ancient fathers.  Do the wise men of
modern ages understand the laws which govern the worlds that are, that
were, and that are to come?  They cannot fathom this matter.  They have
grown weaker when they ought to have grown stronger and wiser.  We look
forward to a day when we must begin to approximate towards the life that
is eternal--the life that will endure.  You may ask, "Do we wish to live
in the flesh always?"  No; only so long as we can endure the sufferings,
hardships, toils, labours, pains, and afflictions that are in this world,
and make every day benefit ourselves and our posterity, and our acts
redound to our own exaltation and to the increase of the kingdom of our
Father who placed us here.

	Some of our old traditions teach us that a man guilty of atrocious
and murderous acts may savingly repent when on the scaffold; and upon his
execution will hear the expression--"Bless God!  he has gone to heaven, to
be crowned in glory, through the all--redeeming merits of Christ the
Lord."  This is all nonsense.  Such a character never will see heaven. 
Some will pray, "O that I had passed through the vail on the night of my
conversion!"  This proves the false ideas and vain notions entertained by
the Christian world.  They have no good sense pertaining to God and
godliness.

	This is a world in which we are to prove ourselves.  The lifetime of
man is a day of trial, wherein we may prove to God, in our darkness, in
our weakness, and where the enemy reigns, that we are our Father's
friends, and that we receive light from him and are worthy to be leaders
of our children--to become lords of lords, and kings of kings,--to have
perfect dominion over that portion of our families that will be crowned in
the celestial kingdom with glory, immortality, land eternal lives.  If we
are crowned to become lords of lords and king of kings, it will be to rule
and reign over our own posterity pertaining to this flesh--these
tabernacles--this commencement in our finite state or being.  When I reign
king of kings and lord of lords over my children, it will be when my
first, second, third, fourth, and so on, son rises up and counts thousands
and millions of his posterity, and is king over them; then I am a king of
these kings.  Our Father, who is Lord of all, will reign a King of kings
and Lord of lords over all his children.

	Mothers really and verily have very great influence, from the
commencement, in forming the leading temperaments and feelings of their
offspring.  I have not time, neither do I here wish to fully explain this
subject.  When a father is abusive in any way--is a drunkard, a swearer,
&c., if the mother is humble and looks to her God, beyond her earthly
lord, as it is her right under such circumstances, the influence that
would otherwise operate upon her has little or no power to affect her
offspring.  If she secretly prays and lifts her desires to her Father in
heaven, beyond her miserable, drinking, swearing husband, the sacred,
peaceful, trusting, happifying influence she enjoys, when thus living near
to her God, produces its impression upon the earthly tabernacle--upon the
course in life of her prospective offspring.

	The father should be full of kindness, and endeavour to happify and
cheer the mother, that her heart may be comforted and her affections
unimpaired in her earthly protector, that her love for God and
righteousness may vibrate throughout her whole being, that she may bear
and bring forth offspring impressed and endowed with all the qualities
necessary to a being designed to reign king of kings and lord of lords.

	But few women have a realizing sense of the immortal, invisible, and
powerful influence they exert in their sphere.  A mother may inquire,
"What is to be done?"  Break off, by faith, and in the name of Jesus
Christ, from every false principle, from every hurtful practice, and
overcome every appetite that tends to injure and destroy the tabernacle
you bear.  Take a course that will produce life, that children may be born
full of life and vigour.

	And during the period of nursing, let the mother be faithful and
prayerful, that her infant may enjoy a powerful, Godlike, and happy
influence.  Do mothers so act?  or do they prefer to run here and there,
and to desire this and fret for that, to gratify their appetites?

	Look to it, mothers, that you desire only that which will most
promote the health and life of your offspring; and ask the Father, in the
name of Jesus Christ, to enable you to resist every depraved appetite; and
let fathers be full of the power of God, to lead, guide, direct, and
influence mothers, that they may have no desires but those which are
prompted by the influence of the Almighty.  I make these few remarks upon
life, that you may know how we ought to begin to conduct ourselves
relative to the rising generation, that the days of the children of men
may begin to return to them.

	It is the business, duty, and power of the eternal Priesthood to
commence laying the foundation to bring back the days, years, and
intelligence that have been lost through transgression.  I intend to
pursue this course as long as I possibly can.  I have a desire to live on
this earth until I am one hundred and thirty-five years old; and I may
conclude to ask the privilege to live until I am one hundred and fifty.  I
intend to live as long as I can; and, through the grace of God, I trust
that I shall not commit an act that will annoy my feelings when I meet my
Saviour.  I pray for this every day and every moment.

	At times I may to many of the brethren appear to be severe.  I
sometimes chasten them; but it is because I wish them to so live that the
power of God, like a flame of fire, will dwell within them and be round
about them.  These are my feelings and desires.  I wish to see this people
take a course to bring back the days, years, and intelligence that have
been lost through transgression.  This cannot be performed in a day.  Zion
will not be redeemed and built up in a day.  Israel will not be brought
back to the fold of Christ and redeemed in a day.

	If you fully knew things as they are, you would understand that the
"peculiar institution," as it is called,--that doctrine which is so
obnoxious to our beloved Christian brethren--for a man to have more than
one wife--is one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon man.  If the
Elders of Israel, who enjoy this privilege, understood it as it is in the
bosom of eternity, they would not trifle with and abuse it, and treat the
blessings of the Lord lightly, as is too often the case.  How often am I
called upon to hear tales of sorrow which are like bitterness to my
soul--like drinking a cup of wormwood.  I hate this.  God hates it.  He
does not hate to have us multiply, increase, and replenish ;the earth; but
he hates for us to live in sin and wickedness, after all the privilege
bestowed up on us,--to live in the neglect of the great duties which
devolve upon us, notwithstanding the state of weakness and darkness in
which the human family lives.  Burst that vail of darkness from your eyes,
that you may see things as they are.

	Many professing to be Saints seem to have no knowledge, no light, to
see anything beyond a dollar, or a pleasant time, a comfortable house, a
fine farm, &c., &c.  O fools, and slow of heart to understand the purposes
of God and his handiwork among the people.  Let me present a few ideas in
regard to the things you enjoy.  Suppose we say that the time is coming
when you will possess this house, that garden, the other farm, and own
such and such possessions, and have no more headache, tooth-ache ,
inflammation of the eyes, back-ache, rheumatism, pain, sorrow, and death,
would you not consider that you were greatly blessed--that you enjoyed a
blessing worthy of the eternal world?  Suppose it possible that you have
the privilege of securing to yourselves eternal life--to live and enjoy
these blessings for ever; you will say this is the greatest blessing that
can be bestowed upon you, to live for ever and enjoy the society of wives,
children, and children's children, to a thousand generations, and for
ever; also the society of brethren, sisters, neighbours, and associates,
and to possess all you can ask for to make you happy and comfortable. 
What blessing is equal to this?  What blessing is equal to the
continuation of life--to the continuation of our organizations?

	The Lord has blessed us with the ability to enjoy an eternal life
with the Gods, and this is pronounced the greatest gift of God.  The gift
of eternal life, without a posterity, to become an angel, is one of the
greatest gifts bestowed; yet the Lord has bestowed on us the privilege of
becoming fathers of lives.  What is a father of lives, as mentioned in the
Scriptures?  A man who has a posterity to an eternal continuance.  That is
the blessing Abraham received, and it perfectly satisfied his soul.  He
obtained the promise that he should be the father of lives.  In comparison
with this, what did Abraham care about machinery, railroads, and other
great mechanical productions?  We have the privilege of becoming fathers
of lives to all eternity, and of existing in the presence of God.  Is not
this worthy of our living in righteousness and complete obedience to the
commandments of God?  Then away with all little meannesses, and deal out
kindness to all.  Chasten, where chastening will answer best; but try
persuation sic before you try the rod.

	If the days of man are to begin to return, we must cease all
extravagant living.  When men live to the age of a tree, their food will
be fruit.  Mothers, to produce offspring full of life and days, must cease
drinking liquor, tea, and coffee, that their systems may be free from bad
effects. If every woman in this Church will now cease drinking tea,
coffee, liquor, and all other powerful stimulants, and live upon
vegetables, &c., not many generations will pass away before the days of
man will again return.  But it will take generations to entirely eradicate
the influences of deleterious substances.  This must be done before we can
attain our paradisiacal state, for the Lord will bring again Zion to its
paradisiacal state.

	May God grant that we may see and enjoy it.  Amen.

          CONFIDENCE AND INFLUENCE OF THE SAINTS--KNOWLEDGE, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                Great Salt Lake City, a.m., June 3, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I am thankful for the privilege of standing before you, and feel
desirous to enjoy the Spirit of intelligence, that when I speak to the
Saints I may be a comfort to them, and strengthen them, and so dictate and
guide their minds that they may receive strength and consolation in the
faith of the Gospel, and in the hope of eternal life.

	One reason why I have not of late addressed you oftener is because I
wish other brethren to have an equal opportunity to speak to the people. 
I often regret when we call upon the Elders to speak in this Tabernacle,
to hear them say that they have been in the Church ten, fifteen, twenty,
twenty-five, or more years, and have not before had the privilege of
speaking to the Saints, in their large assemblies, apparently casting a
reflection upon me or upon my brethren because we have not invited them to
preach.  We would be glad to have all such persons preach.  Let us know
who you are, for it creates a feeling of regret for any of the brethren to
intimate that they have been neglected.

	Some who have lost the confidence and influence of the Saints, may
expect that confidence and influence to be restored to them by me and my
brethren.  I have always told the brethren, in our private conversations,
that that is impossible:  it is a work we cannot accomplish.  I might call
upon a person who had stolen your cattle or your horses, and taken them to
the camp and sold them, or who had stolen your fencing or other property,
to address you from this stand; but would that restore confidence?  No. 
We might call a man into this stand who has been in the habit of getting
drunk and appearing intoxicated in the streets; but would that cause the
people to have confidence in him?  No.  If I and my Counsellors should
strive with our might to support and recommend him, that would not give
him the influence he wishes, but would disgrace the man of God who
undertook it. If the Elders wish to exhibit their talents before the
Saints and the world, let them make themselves acquainted with all the
principles they desire to represent in speaking and administering to the
Saints.  And if those who have lost their influence, through disreputable
proceedings, wish to regain it, instead of expecting to regain it at once
by being called into this stand, go to the private prayer-meeting and
there humbly pray God to bless you and your brethren.  When you imagine
that you are neglected and do not have the privilege of exhibiting your
talent--I speak of those who have been in the habit of doing wrong, and
thereby have lost confidence--pursue a course that will convince your
brethren that you have reformed.  Go to your neighbours' houses and tell
them you have appointed a meeting in your house. Call the brethren
together, and pray with them and for them; and let them see, by the power
of the spirit of the holy Gospel, that you have repented of all your
evils--that you will refrain from sinning--that you will not again be
caught, as heretofore, transgressing the law of God, the grace of God
assisting you.

	If you can make as good a beginning as did an old lady, you will do
well.  She went to a school-house, and, on her return, called at a
neighbour's who inquired where she had been.  She replied, "I have been to
meeting."  "Has there been a meeting?"  "Oh, yes, and a glorious one,
too."  "Dear me, we did not hear of it.  Were there many there?"  "No,
there were not many."  "Who was there?"  "Why, the Lord was there, and I
was there, and had a blessed good meeting."  If you cannot get any person
to meet with you, be sure and have the Lord meet with you, and you will
soon gain confidence in yourselves and have influence with your brethren.  

	No man can gain influence in this kingdom, and maintain himself in
it, or magnify his calling, without the power of God being with him. 
Persons must so live that they can enjoy the light of the Holy Spirit, or
they will have no confidence in themselves, in their religion, or in their
God, and will sooner or later turn from the faith.  They are in sorrow,
and leave in search of something that will satisfy their minds.  Hundreds
have been to Camp Floyd, to the States, and to their native foreign lands,
to find that comfort and consolation they have lost.  They need not go out
of their own houses to accomplish this, for the Lord is near them--the
Gospel is at their doors--life and salvation are with them, if they will
only repent of their sins, return to the Lord with all their sins, return
to the Lord with all their hearts, and humble themselves until they get
the Spirit:  they will then learn that they have the treasure hunted for
in California, in Carson Valley, and the world over,--the riches of
eternal life.

	You who feel that you are in the least slighted, begin to have your
meetings; and if there is no person to pray with you in your own houses,
pray by yourselves until the Lord meets with you and you enjoy the light
of the Holy Spirit.  Then, if you wish to, call in your neighbours and
pray with them and for them.  There is no law against doing good.  You
have all the privilege you can ask for, to perform all the good you have
any talent to perform.  When a man complains that his talent is not
appreciated by his brethren, he is lacking one important piece of
information more important to him than to any other--a knowledge of
himself.  This would do him more good than all his great talents without
it.  When he knows his own ability--can understand himself, he can
properly employ every talent he has.  Without that, he cannot do so. Those
who seek for wisdom, for knowledge, and eternal life, understand the
exhortation just delivered by brother George Halliday.  So far as I heard,
it was very sweet--very good.  Without the light of the Spirit of Christ,
no person can truly enjoy life.  I thought brother Halliday very correctly
portrayed the feelings of some, when alluding to certain wives becoming as
skilful sic and noted, and a little more so in their own estimation, than
were their husbands.  I am not in the least fearful that any one will gain
too much knowledge of God, and through that knowledge undertake to dictate
me.  If you know the Spirit of God, have the power of revelation, and know
the mind of the Lord from day to day, I am not afraid of your disagreeing
with me.  Do not have any fears of knowing too much, lest you should feel
to rise up and dictate me, as wives, in many cases, do their husbands.

	You examine from the beginning to this day, and continue to watch in
the future, and where you find a man who wishes to steady the ark of God,
without being called to do so, you will find a dark spot in him.  The man
full of light and intelligence discerns that God steadies his own ark,
dictates his own affairs, guides his people, controls his kingdom, governs
nations, and holds the hearts of all living in his hands, and turns them
hither and thither at his pleasure, not infringing upon their agency. 
There is not the least danger of disagreeing with persons enjoying the
Holy Spirit.

	With regard to those who leave us, brother Kimball's comparing it to
removing disease from the body is true.  Every individual, every family,
and every portion of the community that desire to leave this kingdom, the
quicker they go the better for us.  The sooner such branches are severed,
the healthier will be the tree; its roots and stock will become more
powerful, and it will spread its branches to the nethermost parts of the
earth.  Dead branches tend to make the tree sickly, if they are permitted
to remain.  Let them be cut off, that the healthy branches may drink more
strength and vigour from the roots of the tree, and the foliage of the
whole tree be beautiful.

	Do not have the least fears in regard to this Church and kingdom. 
Some Elders, and perhaps some presiding Elders, entertain a fearful
looking for the time when they shall be driven again.  Brother Kimball has
told you that we shall not be.  We shall not, unless we are disposed to. 
The Lord has led this people from the beginning.  From the day that Joseph
obtained the plates, and previous to that time, the Lord dictated him.  He
directed him day by day and hour by hour.  He led this people in different
parts of the United States, and the finger os scorn has been pointed at
them.  Officers of the Government of the United States have lifted their
heel against them, and this people have been driven from town to town,
from county to county, and from State to State.  The Lord has his design
in this.  You may ask what his design is.  You all know that the Saints
must be made pure, to enter into the celestial kingdom.  It is recorded
that Jesus was made perfect through suffering.  If he was made perfect
through suffering, why should we imagine for one moment that we can be
prepared to enter into the kingdom of rest with him and the Father,
without passing through similar ordeals?

	The iniquity of the evil-doer must be made manifest, and those who
hate the kingdom of God on the earth must have the privilege of filling up
the cup of their iniquity.  The Lord has led the people through scenes of
sorrow and affliction; but what have we passed through here during the two
last years?  Nothing, comparatively speaking.  I can say that I do not
consider that I have ever suffered anything for this kingdom--nothing in
the least.  I have never sacrificed anything, without it be the evil
propensities that are sown in our nature, springing from the seed that was
sown at the fall.  May that be termed a sacrifice?  I will not call it so. 
What do we possess on this earth?  Do we even own our bodies?  Had we the
power to produce them?  Is the intelligence in these bodies our own?  Did
we organize and implant it?  No human being has had power to organize his
own existence.  Then there is a greater than we.  Are we our own in our
bodies?  Are we our own in our spirits?  We are not our own.  We belong to
our progenitors--to our Father and our God.

	We say that we have lost an ox, a cow, or a horse; or, "I left my
farm, my house, and have sacrificed a great deal for this work."  This is
a mistake.  You had nothing to lose.  Not one particle of all that
comprises this vast creation of God is our own.  Everything we have has
been bestowed upon us for our action, to see what we would do with
it--whether we would use it for eternal death and degradation, until we
cease operating in this existence.  We have nothing to sacrifice:  then
let us not talk about sacrificing.

	The Lord has led the people carefully along, and dictate according to
his pleasure.  Brother Heber says we have been going from place to place,
until, finally, we have come into these valleys in the mountains.  Why? 
Because we were obliged to.  The Lord has had his eye on this spot from
the beginning--upon this  part of the land of Joseph.  Read the history
contained in the Book of Mormon, and ask yourselves whether God has ever
suffered a king to reign on this land.  Will he ever?  No.  This is the
land that was given to Joseph--the son so well beloved by his father
Jacob; and no king will ever reign upon it but the King, the Lord.  Could
that book have been brought forth and published to the world under any
other government but the Government of the United States?  No.  He has
governed and controlled the settling of this continent.  He led our
fathers from Europe to this land, and prepared the way to break the yoke
that bound them, and inspired the guaranteed freedom in our Government,
though that guarantee is too often disregarded.  He could bring forth his
work, and has prepared a people to receive and commence his kingdom. 
Could this be done anywhere else?  No.  He has known, from the beginning
of creation, that this is the land whereon to build this Zion.  He knows
how to commence his work and how to finish it, and he will finish it where
he commenced it.

	How our faith would stretch out and grasp the heavenly land where our
father Adam dwelt in his paradisiacal state!  That land is on this
continent.  Here is where Adam lived.  Do you not think the Lord has had
his eye upon it?  Yes.  He is the King of all the earth, and has reigned
supreme according to his own goodwill and pleasure, and makes the wrath of
man praise him.  He has had his eye upon his work, and has led this people
from place to place, until he has led them into the chambers of the
mountains--into the holy hill of God; and they will reign upon Mount Zion.

	Many have looked upon our trip south as a great stumblingblock,
because we left our houses and possessions.  I am willing to see my houses
in ashes, and be stripped of every description of property, if it is
necessary to the advancement of the kingdom of God.  That move was made
for an express purpose:  it had and will have the desired effect, and will
accomplish all the lord designed.  We have prayed that the wicked may be
confused, broken, and scattered.  Are they not broken and scattered?  And
are we not here?  We are, and we will stay until we go away.  And should
the Lord require it, we will make this region as clean and desolate as it
was when we found it.  Do not murmur or complain about this, that, or the
other.

	I now wish to ask the strong-minded men--the talented men (we say
nothing about strong-minded women,) sic How many of you have had wisdom
enough to procure and lay up for yourselves produce enough to last until
harvest?  You may call this a small matter.  How many of you have wheat or
flour to last you a year?  If you are without bread, how much wisdom can
you boast, and of what real utility are your talents, if you cannot
procure for yourselves and save against a day of scarcity those substances
designed to sustain your natural lives?  You wish to come here and preach
to the people, when you have not knowledge to sustain yourselves
temporally, to say nothing of a spiritual salvation.  You cannot save
yourselves, a wife, and a child from starvation, unless some one takes you
by the hand and leads you; and yet you want to make us believe that you
are almighty big men.  I exhort the brethren to seek unto the Lord for
wisdom.  If you cannot provide for your natural lives, how can you expect
to have wisdom to obtain eternal lives?  God has give you your
existence--your body and spirit, and has blest you with ability, and
thereby laid the foundation of all knowledge, wisdom, and understanding,
and all glory and eternal lives.  If you have not attained ability to
provide for your natural wants, and for a wife and a few children, what
have you to do with heavenly things? 

	You know how to raise wheat and corn, how to build a house or a barn,
how to raise a horse, a cow, or a sheep, and how to manufacture wool,
because you have had practice in those labours from your youth up; but you
do not all know how to preserve such things to yourselves and make
yourselves comfortable.  Instead of trying to find out how God is made, or
how angels are made, I wish you would try to learn how to sustain
yourselves in your present existence, and at the same time learn the
things of God--the things that await you, that you may begin to prepare to
dwell to all eternity,--not merely to dwell to-day, to-morrow, this week,
next week, and next year but how to secure salvation in your present
organization.  If you cannot do this, you must be perfectly submissive in
the hands of the Lord, and learn wisdom.  This is the first thing for you
to learn.

	We are to build up and establish Zion, gather the house of Israel,
and redeem the nations of the earth.  This people have this work to do,
whether we live to see it or not.  This is all in our hands.  I hope to
live to see Zion redeemed and built up.  I desire to see the time when
Jerusalem shall be established, and the Jews gathered,--when the law shall
go forth from Zion to govern the people, that all may rejoice in the
truth--that the poor may rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.  If we do not
know how to preserve ourselves in our present organization and existence,
how can we prepare for an eternity?  We must learn this first:  it is an
every-day experience.  Ye men of Israel, go to with all your might, and
seek to know how to sustain yourselves, that you may live long on the
earth, to glorify our Father in heaven, and build up his kingdom on the
earth.

	We are legal heirs to all the kingdoms there are in the heavens for
the faithful, if we but prove ourselves faithful, if we but prove
ourselves faithful.  We are all the elect, if we will only keep the
commandments of God and work righteousness.  If we turn away from the holy
commandments of the Lord, we shall be accounted as reprobates.  What of
Joseph Smith's family?  What of his boys?  I have prayed from the
beginning for sister Emma for the whole family.  There is not a man in
this Church that has entertained better feelings towards them.  Joseph
said to me, "God will take care of my children when I am taken."  They are
in the hands of God, and when they make their appearance before this
people, full of his power, there are none but what will say--"Amen!  we
are ready to receive you."

	The brethren testify that brother Brigham is brother Joseph's legal
successor.  You never heard me say so.  I say that I am a good hand to
keep the dogs and wolves out of the flock.  I do not care a groat who
rises up.  I do not think anything about being Joseph's successor.  That
is nothing that concerns me.  I never asked yet, or had a feeling as to
what kind of a great man, O Lord, are you going to make me?  But, Father,
what do you require of me, and what can I do to promote your kingdom on
the earth, and save myself as to whose successor I am.  I do not know but
that I am one of those great men that brother Parley preached about in
Nauvoo, after Sidney Rigdon preached his great sermon in which he strove
to make it appear that he was one of those great men of whom the Prophet
wrote.  Parley rose up and said, "I am one of those great men the Apostles
never wrote about."  I may be one of those men the Prophets never knew or
wrote about--one that is hardly worthy the notice of the Lord.  He has
placed intelligence within us, and it is for us to know what we can do to
promote righteousness and peace on the earth, and establish his kingdom. 
If I can have the privilege to gain faith and grace, and secure to myself
an eternal existence in the kingdom of God, I am not concerned but that I
shall be as great as I ought to be, and have all I ought to have.

	All is right.  God an carry on his own work.  This kingdom will stand
for ever.  You have heard brother Kimball testify that this kingdom will
stand for ever.  It will begin to roll to and mash the toes of the great
image, and then the feet, the legs, and the body; and by-and-by it will
fill the whole earth, and no power of earth or hell can hinder it.  The
Lord Almighty will reign until he puts all enemies under his feet.  That
is the promise--that is the decree of the Father, that Jesus shall begin
to reign on this earth in the latter days; and his kingdom will increase
upon the right and upon the left, until, by-and-by, it becomes a great
kingdom and fills the whole earth, when he will begin to reign King of
nations, as he now reigns King of Saints.  It is and has been a warfare
with Satan, and the war will continue until Jesus puts all enemies under
his feet, disposing of death and him who has the power of it, who is the
Devil.  I hope and pray to be always ready to do anything the Lord wishes
to be done.  We are the men who will strive to live by every word that
proceeds from his mouth.

	I feel perfectly satisfied.  I am rejoiced.  My soul magnifies the
name of God that there is a people on the earth as good as we are, and yet
there is room for us to be better.  This people are improving; they are
growing in grace.  If it had not been for the mighty power of faith here,
and the many righteous ones, you would not have had the privilege of
living here.  The faith of the Saints bound the enemy and sustained our
feet on this ground; and my prayer is for the Lord to make fast our feet
in the mountains, until we go forth to redeem the centre Stake of Zion. 
What do you say?  [Amen!  amen!"]

	God bless you!  Amen.

              PRIVILEGES OF THE SAINTS--BUILDUP OF ZION, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                   Great Salt Lake City, June 3, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I delight to meet with my brethren; it is my chief joy--it affords me
great consolation and comfort.  But whether I am alone or in the midst of
the Saints, the spirit of my religion is continually a sacred consolation
to me; I hardly ever see the time when I do so have a flow of it.

	One of the greatest blessings I enjoy is the privilege of meeting
with the assembled Saints.  Do you realize that there is not another
denomination, professing Christianity, that enjoys this privilege in so
great a degree as do the Latter-day Saints?  There is not another society
or community professing to believe the Bible, embracing it in their faith,
would consent, for one moment, to sell or give away all they have and
travel half-way over the earth for the sake of assembling together.  The
position of all other professing Christians causes them to mingle more or
less with the ungodly--with those who take the name of God in vain--with
those who delight in unrighteousness.  Were they called to make the
sacrifices required of this people, they would refuse and abandon their
religion rather than comply.

	The Latter-day Saints are called to separate themselves from the
wicked--to assemble together and associate with each other; and this is
one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon me--that I may not be obliged
to mingle with the ungodly.  My business, my course of life, does not call
me where I am under the necessity of hearing the name of that Deity whom I
worship blasphemed--where his character, name, place, and attributes are
held in the deepest derision, as they are in the world.  I am not under
the necessity of mingling with such characters.  Is not this a blessing? 
It is.  True, in travelling and preaching, I have mingled either more or
less with the ungodly since I have been in this Church; though, when I
have fallen into such society, I have passed along as speedily as
possible.

	In Kirtland, in 1833, the Prophet Joseph told the Elders that if they
would do right--would promote the kingdom of God upon the earth, as they
professed they desired to do, they would take his counsel to never put
forth their hands to do another day's work to build up a Gentile city. 
From that day to this, I do not know that I have done one hour's work
contrary to that counsel.  You have frequently heard me refer to my
poverty when I moved to Kirtland in the fall of 1833.  Not a man ever
gathered with the Saints, so far as I have known, but had more property
than I had.  When I came into the Church I distributed my substance and
went to preaching, and when I gathered with the Saints I had nothing. I
then said I would not work to build up a Gentile city.  Other mechanics
went from Kirtland to different cities to get employment.  I said to them,
I will work here, if I do not receive one farthing for my labour and have
to beg my bread, and I will assist in building up this place, and will
make many dollars to your one by so doing.  I did; for when I started to
the West, on the 5th of the following May, I could have bought what almost
the whole of them had made during the winter.  They told me that it often
cost them more to get twenty dollars they had earned than it did to earn
it.  I went to work for brother Cahoon, one of the Kirtland Temple
Committee.  He had little or no means, and only a shell of a house.  I
helped him, and the Lord threw things in his path, and he paid me for my
labour.  I worked day by day, and when spring came I had more in my
possession for my labour than any who had gone out in search of work
during the winter.

	If they had waited for me to have lifted up my hands to build a city
at Fairfield and its neighbourhood, they would have waited until the
judgment day.  I said, when they came here, and I now say, if they had
loaded every one of their waggons with gold and offered it to me, they
could not have bought me, and I would not have worked for them.  You may
ask, "Have you not helped them?"  I have sold them a considerable amount
of lumber.  But in that operation, which received the most help--they or
me?  They paid my price, and I do good with it, and intend to continue
doing good.

	Were I residing in a gathering-place where I knew I could remain for
two years, and had fifty thousand dollars to spare, I would expend it in
the best improvements I could, and labour to improve until the last day of
my remaining.  The Lord is gathering his people, and this is a city for
the Saints.  A great many here are satisfied with a log hut.  Some act as
though they expected to be driven, and others say--"We will soon go back
to the centre Stake of Zion, and this house will answer my purpose till
then."  Let every mechanic and every scientific man of all classes and
occupations, and every woman, improve to the best of their ability,
faithfully living their religion, and we shall be none too well qualified
to build up Zion when that time arrives.  I never saw a stone-mason who
thoroughly understood his trade.  We have not a quarryman who fully
understands getting out rock for the Temple walls.  Then how, amid such
ignorance, are you going to properly lay the foundation of the New
Jerusalem--the Zion of our God?  What do you know about building the great
Temple that is yet to be built, upon which the glory of God will rest by
day and by night?  Where is the man that knows how to lay the first rock
in that Temple, or to get out the first stick of timber for it?  Where is
the woman that knows how to make a single part of its interior
decorations?  That knowledge is not now here; and unless you wisely
improve upon your privileges day by day, you will not be prepared, when
called upon, to engage to the best advantage in building up Zion.

	No nation possesses any wisdom but what it has received from the same
God that we worship.  He is the best mechanic and the most scientific
personage that we have any knowledge of.  There is not a principle in
astronomy, known by men of science, but what has been revealed from
heaven.  All true knowledge among men, in relation to agriculture, the
arts, science, commerce, and every avocation in life, has been given from
our Father in heaven to his children, whether they acknowledge and obey
him or not.

	Brother Wells was just speaking about the Lord's having a foothold on
this earth.  He holds dominion over the winged tribes of heaven:  they
obey his law.  He holds dominion in the depths of the sea, where man
cannot pollute it.  But there is not a mountain, valley, continent,
island, or other portion of earth where mankind dwell, but what thereon
they more or less pervert the ways of the Lord, and have done so nearly
all the time, though his providences are over them all, and he will cause
the wrath of man to praise him.  Enoch was the only man that could build a
city to God; and as soon as he had it completed, he and his city, with its
walls, houses, land, rivers, and everything pertaining to it, were taken
away.

	God does not violate the agency he has given to man; wherefore let
this be in the mouth of every Saint, "The Lord shall have perfect dominion
in my heart and affections;" then he will begin to reign in the midst of
the people; but he cannot do so now.  When we have faith to understand
that he must dictate, and that we must be perfectly submissive to him,
then we shall begin to rapidly collect the intelligence that is bestowed
upon the nations, for all this intelligence belongs to Zion.  All the
knowledge, wisdom, power, and glory that have been bestowed upon the
nations of the earth, from the days of Adam till now, must be gathered
home to Zion.

	The wicked will become more and more weak and ignorant as they
increase in wickedness.  See the trifling, childish foolishness now among
the nations of the earth.  Brother George Halliday said this
morning--"Mormonism has made me what I am."  That is true.  "Mormonism"
embraces all truth in heaven, earth, and hell; consequently, all we have
received that is calculated to make us of any worth is from the principles
taught by it.  Look at the world!  Where is the wisdom of the emperors,
kings, and rulers of the nations?  Imbecility and weakness are fast
creeping into high places and spreading among the people.  They love lies,
and choose darkness rather than light, and the Lord will grant them their
desires until they dwindle into degradation and utter destruction, when
the government will rest upon those who are faithful to God and their
country.

	This is my country.  I am a native-born American citizen.  My father
fought for the liberty we ought to have enjoyed in the States, and we
shall yet see the day when we shall enjoy it.  Had we the power, would we
hold the wicked down and whip them?  No; for, except in self-defence, it
is our duty to plead with them and offer them the terms of life and
salvation--to give them all the opportunity God has designed them to have. 
But what would they do, if they could get the advantage of this people? 
According to brother Kimball's comparison, they would hug us close and
tight--they would oppress, corrupt, afflict, and destroy us.  If they
could but realize the generosity there is in the Gospel of salvation, they
would not hate us as they do now.  But in their ignorance they would
destroy a Saint, because they imagine that a Saint would take no unjust
advantage, but the Devil will.  That is what he tried to do in heaven.

	Brother Kimball asked whether there were liars and thieves in heaven. 
It is recorded that the Devil is somewhere there, accusing the brethren
and finding fault with them.  Men in the flesh are clothed with the
Priesthood with its blessings, the apostatizing from which and turning
away from the Lord prepares them to become sons of perdition.  There was a
Devil in heaven, and he strove to possess the birthright of the Saviour. 
He was a liar from the beginning, and loves those who love and make lies,
as do his imps and followers here on the earth.  How many devils there are
in heaven, or where it is, is not for me to say.  Does the Accuser of the
brethren dwell with the Father and the Son?  No:  but he is somewhere; and
when we go through the vail we shall know much more about these matters
than we now do, for we shall possess all the sensibilities we now possess,
brightened and increased in intensity by the visions and power of the
spirit-world, to an extent of which you now have no idea.  

	I will now say  a few words upon matters that immediately concern us. 
I believe it to be the duty of all sisters who profess to be Saints to
make apparel, and, if they want ornaments, make them.  It is the duty of
the brethren to know how to build a house, how to make a garden, and how
to do everything that can be accomplished by the ingenuity given to man. 
Why?  That we may know how to build and beautify Zion.  Let us improve and
gather all the knowledge and faith we possibly can, both from heaven and
earth, being diligent and fervent in all our duties, private and public,
and striving to gather the wisdom of God, as bestowed on the nations, home
to Zion.

	I feel much encouraged with regard to our academy:  it is well
attended, and the scholars are interested and energetic in their studies. 
Schools are becoming numerous and well attended, and the spirit of
improvement is among the people.  

	Let all, in the coming harvest, which promises abundance, strive to
secure their breadstuff; and especially do not part with it to feed your
enemies.

	Much depends upon mothers in regard to improving the rising
generation.  Let us all try to improve from the many and rich blessings we
enjoy.  The Priesthood is here.  God is beginning to reign on the earth. 
Open your hearts and let him reign therein predominant.  God bless you,
every one!  Amen.


	I delight to meet with my brethren; it is my chief joy--it affords me
great consolation and comfort.  But whether I am alone or in the midst of
the Saints, the spirit of my religion is continually a sacred consolation
to me; I hardly ever see the time when I do so have a flow of it.

	One of the greatest blessings I enjoy is the privilege of meeting
with the assembled Saints.  Do you realize that there is not another
denomination, professing Christianity, that enjoys this privilege in so
great a degree as do the Latter-day Saints?  There is not another society
or community professing to believe the Bible, embracing it in their faith,
would consent, for one moment, to sell or give away all they have and
travel half-way over the earth for the sake of assembling together.  The
position of all other professing Christians causes them to mingle more or
less with the ungodly--with those who take the name of God in vain--with
those who delight in unrighteousness.  Were they called to make the
sacrifices required of this people, they would refuse and abandon their
religion rather than comply.

	The Latter-day Saints are called to separate themselves from the
wicked--to assemble together and associate with each other; and this is
one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon me--that I may not be obliged
to mingle with the ungodly.  My business, my course of life, does not call
me where I am under the necessity of hearing the name of that Deity whom I
worship blasphemed--where his character, name, place, and attributes are
held in the deepest derision, as they are in the world.  I am not under
the necessity of mingling with such characters.  Is not this a blessing? 
It is.  True, in travelling and preaching, I have mingled either more or
less with the ungodly since I have been in this Church; though, when I
have fallen into such society, I have passed along as speedily as
possible.

	In Kirtland, in 1833, the Prophet Joseph told the Elders that if they
would do right--would promote the kingdom of God upon the earth, as they
professed they desired to do, they would take his counsel to never put
forth their hands to do another day's work to build up a Gentile city. 
From that day to this, I do not know that I have done one hour's work
contrary to that counsel.  You have frequently heard me refer to my
poverty when I moved to Kirtland in the fall of 1833.  Not a man ever
gathered with the Saints, so far as I have known, but had more property
than I had.  When I came into the Church I distributed my substance and
went to preaching, and when I gathered with the Saints I had nothing. I
then said I would not work to build up a Gentile city.  Other mechanics
went from Kirtland to different cities to get employment.  I said to them,
I will work here, if I do not receive one farthing for my labour and have
to beg my bread, and I will assist in building up this place, and will
make many dollars to your one by so doing.  I did; for when I started to
the West, on the 5th of the following May, I could have bought what almost
the whole of them had made during the winter.  They told me that it often
cost them more to get twenty dollars they had earned than it did to earn
it.  I went to work for brother Cahoon, one of the Kirtland Temple
Committee.  He had little or no means, and only a shell of a house.  I
helped him, and the Lord threw things in his path, and he paid me for my
labour.  I worked day by day, and when spring came I had more in my
possession for my labour than any who had gone out in search of work
during the winter.

	If they had waited for me to have lifted up my hands to build a city
at Fairfield and its neighbourhood, they would have waited until the
judgment day.  I said, when they came here, and I now say, if they had
loaded every one of their waggons with gold and offered it to me, they
could not have bought me, and I would not have worked for them.  You may
ask, "Have you not helped them?"  I have sold them a considerable amount
of lumber.  But in that operation, which received the most help--they or
me?  They paid my price, and I do good with it, and intend to continue
doing good.

	Were I residing in a gathering-place where I knew I could remain for
two years, and had fifty thousand dollars to spare, I would expend it in
the best improvements I could, and labour to improve until the last day of
my remaining.  The Lord is gathering his people, and this is a city for
the Saints.  A great many here are satisfied with a log hut.  Some act as
though they expected to be driven, and others say--"We will soon go back
to the centre Stake of Zion, and this house will answer my purpose till
then."  Let every mechanic and every scientific man of all classes and
occupations, and every woman, improve to the best of their ability,
faithfully living their religion, and we shall be none too well qualified
to build up Zion when that time arrives.  I never saw a stone-mason who
thoroughly understood his trade.  We have not a quarryman who fully
understands getting out rock for the Temple walls.  Then how, amid such
ignorance, are you going to properly lay the foundation of the New
Jerusalem--the Zion of our God?  What do you know about building the great
Temple that is yet to be built, upon which the glory of God will rest by
day and by night?  Where is the man that knows how to lay the first rock
in that Temple, or to get out the first stick of timber for it?  Where is
the woman that knows how to make a single part of its interior
decorations?  That knowledge is not now here; and unless you wisely
improve upon your privileges day by day, you will not be prepared, when
called upon, to engage to the best advantage in building up Zion.

	No nation possesses any wisdom but what it has received from the same
God that we worship.  He is the best mechanic and the most scientific
personage that we have any knowledge of.  There is not a principle in
astronomy, known by men of science, but what has been revealed from
heaven.  All true knowledge among men, in relation to agriculture, the
arts, science, commerce, and every avocation in life, has been given from
our Father in heaven to his children, whether they acknowledge and obey
him or not.

	Brother Wells was just speaking about the Lord's having a foothold on
this earth.  He holds dominion over the winged tribes of heaven:  they
obey his law.  He holds dominion in the depths of the sea, where man
cannot pollute it.  But there is not a mountain, valley, continent,
island, or other portion of earth where mankind dwell, but what thereon
they more or less pervert the ways of the Lord, and have done so nearly
all the time, though his providences are over them all, and he will cause
the wrath of man to praise him.  Enoch was the only man that could build a
city to God; and as soon as he had it completed, he and his city, with its
walls, houses, land, rivers, and everything pertaining to it, were taken
away.

	God does not violate the agency he has given to man; wherefore let
this be in the mouth of every Saint, "The Lord shall have perfect dominion
in my heart and affections;" then he will begin to reign in the midst of
the people; but he cannot do so now.  When we have faith to understand
that he must dictate, and that we must be perfectly submissive to him,
then we shall begin to rapidly collect the intelligence that is bestowed
upon the nations, for all this intelligence belongs to Zion.  All the
knowledge, wisdom, power, and glory that have been bestowed upon the
nations of the earth, from the days of Adam till now, must be gathered
home to Zion.

	The wicked will become more and more weak and ignorant as they
increase in wickedness.  See the trifling, childish foolishness now among
the nations of the earth.  Brother George Halliday said this
morning--"Mormonism has made me what I am."  That is true.  "Mormonism"
embraces all truth in heaven, earth, and hell; consequently, all we have
received that is calculated to make us of any worth is from the principles
taught by it.  Look at the world!  Where is the wisdom of the emperors,
kings, and rulers of the nations?  Imbecility and weakness are fast
creeping into high places and spreading among the people.  They love lies,
and choose darkness rather than light, and the Lord will grant them their
desires until they dwindle into degradation and utter destruction, when
the government will rest upon those who are faithful to God and their
country.

	This is my country.  I am a native-born American citizen.  My father
fought for the liberty we ought to have enjoyed in the States, and we
shall yet see the day when we shall enjoy it.  Had we the power, would we
hold the wicked down and whip them?  No; for, except in self-defence, it
is our duty to plead with them and offer them the terms of life and
salvation--to give them all the opportunity God has designed them to have. 
But what would they do, if they could get the advantage of this people? 
According to brother Kimball's comparison, they would hug us close and
tight--they would oppress, corrupt, afflict, and destroy us.  If they
could but realize the generosity there is in the Gospel of salvation, they
would not hate us as they do now.  But in their ignorance they would
destroy a Saint, because they imagine that a Saint would take no unjust
advantage, but the Devil will.  That is what he tried to do in heaven.

	Brother Kimball asked whether there were liars and thieves in heaven. 
It is recorded that the Devil is somewhere there, accusing the brethren
and finding fault with them.  Men in the flesh are clothed with the
Priesthood with its blessings, the apostatizing from which and turning
away from the Lord prepares them to become sons of perdition.  There was a
Devil in heaven, and he strove to possess the birthright of the Saviour. 
He was a liar from the beginning, and loves those who love and make lies,
as do his imps and followers here on the earth.  How many devils there are
in heaven, or where it is, is not for me to say.  Does the Accuser of the
brethren dwell with the Father and the Son?  No:  but he is somewhere; and
when we go through the vail we shall know much more about these matters
than we now do, for we shall possess all the sensibilities we now possess,
brightened and increased in intensity by the visions and power of the
spirit-world, to an extent of which you now have no idea.  

	I will now say  a few words upon matters that immediately concern us. 
I believe it to be the duty of all sisters who profess to be Saints to
make apparel, and, if they want ornaments, make them.  It is the duty of
the brethren to know how to build a house, how to make a garden, and how
to do everything that can be accomplished by the ingenuity given to man. 
Why?  That we may know how to build and beautify Zion.  Let us improve and
gather all the knowledge and faith we possibly can, both from heaven and
earth, being diligent and fervent in all our duties, private and public,
and striving to gather the wisdom of God, as bestowed on the nations, home
to Zion.

	I feel much encouraged with regard to our academy:  it is well
attended, and the scholars are interested and energetic in their studies. 
Schools are becoming numerous and well attended, and the spirit of
improvement is among the people.  

	Let all, in the coming harvest, which promises abundance, strive to
secure their breadstuff; and especially do not part with it to feed your
enemies.

	Much depends upon mothers in regard to improving the rising
generation.  Let us all try to improve from the many and rich blessings we
enjoy.  The Priesthood is here.  God is beginning to reign on the earth. 
Open your hearts and let him reign therein predominant.  God bless you,
every one!  Amen.

          KNOWLEDGE--OBJECT OF MAN'S EXISTENCE ON THE EARTH, &c.
          Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at Box Elder,
                              June 7, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I am happy, brethren and sisters, for the privilege of again meeting
with you here, and speaking to you.  I hope the Spirit of truth dwells
with you, and that you have received an increase of that Spirit since I
last saw you.

	The mind that is stretched out in searching after the things of
God--that is searching after wisdom--is quick and active, and a great many
reflections pass and repass; and it queries how things are, and would like
to know much that it does not now know.  Probably we know quite as much as
we should at present.  Were I to ask the question--"Do each of you live up
to all you know?--do you magnify every principle of God and
godliness--every principle of the holy Priesthood, as well you know how,
day by day, hour by hour, and from moment to moment?"--what would be your
answer?  Do you think that you improve every moment of your time to the
best advantage?  Or would you rather be ready to acknowledge that in many
instances you come short of the blessings of the knowledge we are in
possession of?  I believe that you would say at once--"Until we can live
nearer to the light, and better improve upon the blessings of the
knowledge that God has bestowed upon us, it would probably be better for
us not to know any more of heavenly things than is already taught."

	Do you know this work which you have embraced, commonly called
"Mormonism," to be the Gospel of life and salvation?  If you do, you know
a great deal that pertains to principles of life eternal.  If you do not
know this work to be true, it is your privilege to know it; and at all
times you have the privilege to know it; and at all times you have the
privilege of doing as much good as your hearts can desire.  If you are
satisfied that there is such a place as Ireland or England, without going
there, that is all the knowledge you at present wish on that subject.  If
you are satisfied, in your sensitive powers and faculties, that God has
revealed the holy Priesthood, established his kingdom upon the earth,
restored the fulness of the Gospel, and set to his hand to gather the
house of Israel, this will answer your purpose just as well as though you
went into heaven to see for yourselves.  If you believe with all your
hearts, you are entitled to the blessings of the things of the kingdom.

	It is for yourselves to know and judge with regard to enjoying the
fruits of the Spirit.  You are pretty well conversant with them; you know
pretty well when you see those fruits.  They are enumerated in the
Scripture, and more has been revealed by the manifestation of the Spirit
than has yet been written.  If you are satisfied that "Mormonism" is true,
and that you have the enjoyment of the spirit that accompanies the
Priesthood, you can rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in
everything give thanks.  You will overcome every evil passion that tends
to bring darkness instead of light, hatred instead of love, which should
reign predominant in your bosoms.  Instead of walking in the dark, not
knowing where you are going, or what your lives are for, you will walk in
the light and rejoice in your present existence; and instead of spreading
sin and iniquity, you will do good and spread intelligence among your
families and neighbours and throughout your cities, and continue to
increase in the wisdom that promotes the happiness of the children of men
and causes them to rejoice in and profit by their present existence.

	It is not enough for us to have the good Spirit sufficiently to
satisfy us that we are prepared to enter into the kingdom of heaven,
though this is all that some people desire; but that will not answer the
purpose of a Latter-day Saint.  You have the privilege to receive the
Spirit of the kingdom, and to rejoice in that Spirit.  Then you have the
privilege to exercise your faith to live.  The first principle that
pertains to the intelligence God has bestowed  upon is to know how to
preserve the present organization with which we are endowed.  It is man's
first duty to his existence, a knowledge of which would cause him to use
all prudent efforts for the preservation of his life on the earth until
his work here is completed.  We have formerly been accustomed to hear such
expressions as--"I feel great concern about my eternal salvation.  I feel
very much troubled to-day--very lonely, dark, and gloomy.  I have fearful
dreams.  I want to hear something about my salvation."  "Come to the
anxious seat.  Come and give all to Christ; give your soul to Christ." 
"What shall I do to be saved?"  "Come forward, and we will pray for you. 
Give yourselves to Christ.  Come and be prayed for, and give yourselves
wholly, unreservedly, to the Supreme Being,"--when they do not know where
he is, what he is, nor what he is doing, nor whether he created us, or
not.  Yet at times, under that system, the cloud of gloom, of darkness,
and terror that has rested on their understandings is removed in a greater
or less degree, and they are filled with joy and peace, and exclaim, "I
know that my Redeemer lives."  They do not know where they are from, nor
what they came to this world to do, only as they have been taught by their
parents.  "My soul rejoices, and I am ready to die," seems to be the
ultimatum of their religion.

	We are here to live to spread intelligence and knowledge among the
people.  I am here to school my brethren, to teach my family the way of
life, to propagate my species, and to live, if in my power, until sin,
iniquity, corruption, hell, the Devil, and all classes and grades of
abominations are driven from the earth.  That is my religion and the
object of my existence.  We are not here merely to prepare to die, and
then die; but we are here to live and build up the kingdom of God on the
earth--to promote the Priesthood overcome the powers of Satan, and teach
the children of men what they are created for--that in them is concealed
the germ of all intelligence.  Here is the starting-point--the foundation
that is laid in the organization of man for receiving a fulness of eternal
knowledge and glory.  Are we to go yonder to obtain it?  No; we are to
promote it on this earth.

	Our neighbours, who have driven us from them, wish to civilize us. 
You have had a little experience in the lessons of their civilization--in
the drunkenness, quarrelling, debauchery, fighting, and tumbling into
ditches.  They wish to civilize us!  But I do not want to talk about it. 
They are to be pitied, for they are ripening for destruction.

	The Latter-day Saints throughout the valleys in these mountains and
throughout the world ought to be learning what they are on this earth for. 
They are here to increase and multiply, to enlarge, to gather the house of
Israel, redeem Zion, build up the Zion of our God, and to promote that
eternal intelligence that dwells with the Gods, and to promote that
eternal intelligence that dwells with the Gods, and to promote that
eternal intelligence that dwells with the Gods, and begin to plant it in
this earth, and make it take root downward and bring forth fruit upward to
the glory of God, until every obnoxious principle in the hearts of men is
destroyed, and the earth returns to its paradisiacal state, and the Lord
comes and dwells with this people, and walks and talks with them as he did
with Father Adam.  That is our business, and not to suffer all our
energies to be expended in merely preparing to die.  Jesus says, "He that
liveth and believeth in me shall never die."  His body may be laid away to
rest for a short time, but he shall not taste of death.  When his spirit
is released from this mortal tabernacle, the body drops back to mother
earth; but the spirit departs with an assurance that the body will not
always remain the dust.  The body has merely fallen asleep for a while, to
be again quickened and united with the spirit to live forever.

	It is recorded, you are aware, that in former days mankind lived to a
great age--to over nine hundred years.  It is written the Methuselah lived
to the greatest age--969 years; and perhaps many others lived to a like
age.  And would not you like to live long upon the earth, with power to
overcome diseases, to overcome your enemies, to enjoy life, to plant
gardens, build cities, and adorn and make them beautiful, set out shade
trees, orchards, and vineyards, make walks, parks, and ornamental grounds,
and have schools, academies, and universities, living six, seven, or eight
hundred years and more to enjoy these blessings?

	A few thousand years ago mankind outlived many of the present
generations.  Could you live to see twenty, thirty, or more generations
come and go, see kings rise and fall or pass away, for many hundred years
observe the rise and fall of governments, and enjoy all the pleasure and
comfort of making a portion of this earth bloom as the garden of Eden,
would you not like it?  You would; for even now you cling to the earth,
insomuch that if you thought you were going to die before to-morrow
morning, it would be, "Send for the Elders!--run for a doctor and some
medicine!"

	It is written that in the latter days the age of man shall be as the
age of a tree, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.  The Prophet
understood that what had been would be again; also that mankind would
become blinder in the understandings, and make their days shorter and
shorter, until they would become almost extinct; and that then the Lord
would begin to revive his Spirit and power and Priesthood among his
children; and when he could get a people that would hearken to his voice,
he would begin to add to their days, to their intellect, to their
intellect, to their stature, and to every power and virtue of life, as at
first bestowed upon the human family.  How are we to magnify the
Priesthood, unless we begin to perform our part towards bringing to pass
this restoration?  This is a work in which the female portion of the
Latter-day Saints can be efficient co-labourers.  The sisters may inquire,
"What can we do?"  Rule your own passions, and exercise faith until you
can govern and control your appetites, instead of drinking tea, coffee,
and hot drinks.  That is one of the smallest duties I can think of. 
Permit your bodies to have natural forms; also take pains to have the
bodies of your daughters grow naturally, and teach them what they are made
for, and that they, through faith, must overcome every besetting sin and
every unholy passion and appetite.

	Sisters, have faith, and begin so far as lies in your power to assist
in raising a posterity that the Lord will delight to own and bless, that
their days may begin to be lengthened; and teach them good, wholesome, and
holy principles.  Much can be said in reference to the duties of parents
in regard to their posterity.  It is our duty to approximate in all things
towards the day of perfection, and to constantly reflect and act upon the
best course to pursue for the attainment of that blessing.

	You probably wish to know what I think about the Latter-day Saints in
this northern country.  I think of you as well as ever, and a little
better.  I care but little as to the outward appearance, if I can know
that there is at heart a true feeling to do the will of God--to be honest
before God and with one another.  And in addressing a congregation, though
the speaker be unable to say more than half-a-dozen sentences, and those
awkwardly constructed, if his heart is pure before God, those few broken
sentences are of more value than the greatest eloquence without the Spirit
of the Lord, and of more real worth in the sight of God, angels, and all
good men.  In praying, though a person's words be few and awkwardly
expressed, if the heart is pure before the God, that prayer will avail
more than the eloquence of a Cicero.  What does the Lord, the Father of us
all, care about our mode of expression?  Mankind have fallen into the deep
vortex of darkness.  They know not from whence they came.  They have
sprung from their Father, God, and Saviour, and have all gone out of the
way.  The simple, honest heart is of more avail with the Lord than all the
pomp, pride, splendour, and eloquence produced by man.  When He looks upon
a heart full of sincerity, integrity, and child-like simplicity, he sees a
principle that will endure forever--"That is the spirit of my own
kingdom--the spirit I have given to my children."

	Be honest.  I love the Latter-day Saints, and think as much of them
as I ever did.  It is three years since I was here, and I will tell you
what I think of some things that have happened in that time.  I think that
those who undertook to civilize us have learned that the undertaking did
not answer their expectations.  I also think that some of the brethren
have been wild, crazy, bewildered, apparently not knowing their right
hands from their left.  Waggons have passed through Great Salt Lake City
with the inscription, "To Cache Valley, or Carson, we don't care a d--n
which."  What does that prove?  That some are reckless, and would just as
soon go to hell as to heaven.  What do they know?  Have they seen Jesus? 
Do they know that this is the Gospel of salvation, and know their Father
and God who dwells in eternity?  Do they know that they are his offspring? 
No, no more than Israel did, when the Prophet said the ox knows its owner,
and the ass its master's crib, but Israel does not know their God.  Such
is the case with some who call themselves Latter-day Saints.  Their
feelings are--"I don't know whether Carson or Cache Valley is the best
place--whether I should go to California or to the States to trade;" and
they are as ignorant of heavenly things as are our mules that we hitch to
our waggons.  This is the case with only a very few of the Saints; but
there are a few who have sunk into darkness.

	"What do you think, brother Brigham, of our conduct during the move,
and under the circumstances since that time?"  I think that the very great
majority of you have done extremely well.  And I do not think that many
moved from here but what were perfectly willing to do so.  A very few say
they have been broken up, and they do not know what they shall do.  The
great majority say, "All is right."  Those few do not understand the true
principle of increase.  You may plough, sow, plant, irrigate, &c., and you
have not power, and will not have for a long time, to produce one kernel
of wheat.  Some do not seem to realize that the Lord gives or takes away,
increases or diminishes at his pleasure.  After the Devil, by permission,
had stripped Job of his possessions, in a short time the Lord blessed him
with a greatly-increased abundance.  The Lord suffered the Devil to strip
him of what he had blest him with, and then increased those blessings. 
Thus it is with his people in all ages.

	The people here are rich.  Look at those who were in Missouri, in
Nauvoo, and in Winter Quarters, and there are only a very few but what are
now worth more than they ever expected to be.  The Lord has increased our
flocks and herds until some are sorry they have so many for the Indians
and thieves to drive away.  Look at the fields, the settlements, the good
houses, and the numerous comforts and conveniences calculated to make home
happy.  Throughout the Territory you see a people more industrious than
any other people in the world, and one that produces more than any other
we are acquainted with.

	I used to be rather scrupulous with regard to the Nephites doing so
much in so short a time, as stated in the Book of Mormon.  After being
plundered and driven by their enemies, they would soon increase again and
become wealthy.  This puzzled me a little, though I did not feel to say it
was not true; but now it has opened to my understanding upon natural
principles.  You may search the history of the world, and see whether you
can find the equal of this people's progress; it exceeds all that is
written in the Book of Mormon concerning the prosperity of the Nephites
under like circumstances.  The facts are now before us, but for a time it
was difficult for me to understand the record of so great prosperity's
following so quickly upon adversity.

	You may inquire--"Do you think we are doing right?"  Yes, as well as
you know how.  If you do not fully live up to the knowledge you have, I
can say that you have done about as well as you could.  We have a warfare
on our hands.  Evil is here; the Devil reigns on the earth, and has held
dominion on it for thousands of years.  That reign we have to break and
cast him out, with the help of God; but we cannot do it at once. 
Thousands of temptations assail, and you make a miss here and a slip
there, and say that you have not lived up to all the knowledge you have. 
True; but often it is a marvel to me that you have lived up to so much as
you have, considering the power of the enemy upon the earth.  Few that
have ever lived have fully understood that power.  I do not fully
comprehend the awful power and influence Satan has upon the earth, but I
understand enough to know that it is a marvel that the Latter-day Saints
are so good as they are.  They are improving in the southern settlements,
between here and there, and in other places.

	Those who live their religion will enjoy the Spirit, and that
enjoyment will increase; and if we will be faithful, the Lord will make
our feet as firm in these valleys as are the everlasting riches in these
mountains, and no power can remove us.  He will give us a sure place in
these mountains until we go forth and redeem Zion.  Do right, be faithful,
and make no calculations about removing before the time comes.

	From the States' newspapers, one might imagine that "hell was out for
noon" there--that hell is boiling over.  They are nigh unto destruction,
and it is for us to so live that we can gain the goodness, glory, and
mercy of our God.  It is our right to claim his mercy, and our duty to
labour to gather all the honest home to Zion.

	I bless you with everything that is good,in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, if you live for it.  Amen.

            JOURNEYINGS OF THE SAINTS--TEMPORAL SALVATION, &c.
  Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at Wellsville, Cache Valley,
                              June 7, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	What to say in a short time, when so many ideas present themselves,
is somewhat difficult to decide.

	The Gospel of salvation, which is an astonishment and a
stumbling-block to the world, is true.  The journeyings of the Latter-day
Saints and their communications one with another and with the world are
astonishing to the people.  They wonder what causes us to gather into
these valleys in the mountains, what causes us to become one, to hearken
to the voice of one man, to be controlled, dictated, and governed by one
individual.  This is marvellous in the eyes of the world; but is it
marvelous in your eyes, brethren?  Were there no other proof than the
oneness exhibited in the midst of this people, that alone is enough to
condemn the world.  That oneness cannot be found anywhere else; it is
produced only in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints, and is not
manifested in any other community.  No other people will pick up such
portions of their substance as they can, and travel thousands and
thousands of miles--fathers and mothers leaving their children, husbands
leaving their children, husbands leaving their wives, wives leaving their
husbands, children leaving their parents, brothers and sisters leaving
each other--after this "strange delusion," as it is called, and, when they
are gathered, hearken to one man.

	This circumstance created the deepest regret in the hearts of our
enemies, more, seemingly, than all other acts of the Latter-day Saints.

	When I was in England did I, apart from the Priesthood, exercise an
influence over any of your minds cause you to come here and locate in
Cache Valley?  Was I the instrument that caused you to forsake your
friends in your native country, and gather with the Latter-day Saints? 
Your enemies will tell you that it was the influence that I held over you
which prompted your movements; but that is not true.  I have no more
influence over the Latter-day Saints, aside from the Priesthood, than you
have over each other.  If the Spirit of truth does not speak through me
and dictate my words, they are no better than the words of another man. 
If the Holy Ghost manifests to you, one thousand or ten thousand miles
from here, that this is the time the Lord has fixed for building up his
Zion--that this is the time spoken of by the Prophets in which the Saints
are commanded to gather out from the wicked, then it is the Spirit of the
Most High that has influenced and controlled you, and not me nor any other
man.

	Are you satisfied with your location?  Are you satisfied with
yourselves?  Are you satisfied with the brethren?  Are you satisfied when
your minds revert to your native lands, your former friends, and the old
homesteads where you spent your childhood?  Are you satisfied to make
these sterile plains your adopted home, to live here in the mountains,
forming new associations with those who are entire strangers to
you--those, perhaps, of other countries and other tongues?  Are you
satisfied with all this?  If you are, it is evidence to you, so far as it
goes, that you are accepted of the Lord.  It is evidence to you that you
have chosen the good part.  It should be satisfactory evidence that you
are in the path of life, if you love God and your brethren with all your
hearts.  You may see, or think you see, a thousand faults in your
brethren; yet they are organized as you are; they are flesh of your flesh,
bone of your bone; they are of your Father who is in heaven:  we are all
his children, and should be satisfied with each other as far as possible. 
The main difficulty in the hearts of those who are dissatisfied is, they
are not satisfied with themselves.

	How many have moved here this spring, I know not.  Some have gone to
Carson Valley, and a great many have come here.  And, as I told the
brethren last night, a part did not seem to care much, if at all, which
way they went, and had written on their waggons, "To Carson or Cache
Valley, we don't care a d--n which."  Are such satisfied with themselves? 
No, nor with anything nor anybody around them.

	I will say to you, my brethren, those of you who are from the Eastern
States, and from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, or any other part
of the north of Europe, that you have a far better country here than you
had in your native land.  You have a beautiful valley, though some of you,
perhaps, are discouraged.  Perhaps some will not live here because they
have to irrigate the ground, or because they have to go into the mountains
after wood.  There are many throughout the valleys who were raised where
it was much more difficult to get wood in winter than it is here.  I have
know farmers obliged to cut down their orchards for fuel, because they
could not haul wood a mile, on account of deep snow.  The house in which I
was born was so covered with snow, one winter, before I was two years old,
that there was no way to get out only by cutting steps and beating a path
to the surface.  Almost every year the snow would cover the ground from
four to six feet deep; and often, when a crust formed on the snow, stone
walls and high fences were no impediment to sleighing in any direction.

	Some may feel a little discouraged because their cattle will not live
here without being fed more or less during winters.  How many are there in
the mountains of Europe that would be thankful for a privilege to go out
to the sides of these mountains and make little gardens by packing soil
from the bottoms?  Thousands in the old country obtain their living that
way.  My brethren and sisters from Italy, for instance, are my witnesses
that many in that country would be glad to get a few square rods of rock
on which to pack soil from the low lands and make gardens, and to gather
feed from the bottoms to keep a cow through the winter.

	Though many have moved here this spring with but limited supplies of
provision, how many do you think I could count in this congregation who go
hungry day by day?  Do you think there is even one person who has not as
much as he can eat, at least as often as once a day?  These are temporal
things, but over which the Devil causes many to stumble.  Go to your
native lands in foreign countries, many of you, and ask men there who are
thirty years old, and probably women too, "How often in your lives have
you had all you wanted to eat?"  "Never."  You may find thousands who
could tell you that they never saw a day in which they had all they wanted
to eat.  Are there such times in Cache Valley? No.  Is there anything
connected with this locality that should discourage you?  No.  Reflect,
and ask yourselves whether you have the least cause for complaint in the
exchange of your countries.

	You may inquire why this land has been so long held in reserve--the
design in this country's not being settled by white people until recently. 
Until the Latter-day Saints came here, not a person among all the
mountaineers and those who had travelled here, so far as we could learn,
believed that an ear of corn would ripen in these valleys.  We know that
corn and wheat produce abundantly here, and we know that we have an
excellent region wherein to raise cattle, horses, and every other kind of
domestic animal that we need.  We also knew this when we came here
thirteen years ago this summer. Bridger said to me, "Mr. Young, I would
give a thousand dollars, if I knew that an ear of corn could be ripened in
these mountains.  I have been here twenty years, and have tried it in
vain, over and over again."  I told him if he would wait a year or two we
would show him what could be done.  A man named Wells, living with Miles
Goodyear, where now is Ogden city, had a few beans growing, and carried
water from the river in a pail to irrigate them.

	Reflect upon these matters, read the writings of the Prophets, search
the world over, and can you learn of any location to which the words of
the Prophets can so justly apply, where the people of the Lord were to be
hid up, in the latter days, in the chambers of the mountains?  You cannot. 
No man here has any good reason to be discouraged--no good reason to
complain.  And those who will so live that they are satisfied with
themselves will be satisfied with the country and with the brethren.  This
is a splendid valley, and is better adapted to raising Saints than any
other article that can be raised here.  Compare the tombstones with the
number of those living in any other city, district, place, or country, for
the same length of time, and you will find here less grave of persons from
one day to ten, fifteen, or twenty years old, than in any other country
you were ever acquainted with.  It is the best country in the world for
raising Saints.

	Many may inquire, "How long shall we stay here?"  We shall stay here
just as long as we ought to.  "Shall we be driven, when we go?"  If we
will so live as to be satisfied with ourselves, and will not drive
ourselves from our homes, we shall never be driven from them.  Seek for
the best wisdom you can obtain, learn how to apply your labour, build good
houses, make fine farms, set out apple, pear, and other fruit trees that
will flourish here, also the mountain currant and raspberry bushes, plant
strawberry beds, and build up and adorn a beautiful city.  The question
now rises--"Do you think it best for us to live in cities?"  Lay out your
cities, but not so large that you cannot readily raise the whole city,
should an enemy come upon you.

	Your houses are now scattered, and you have not closed up your fort. 
When they are exposed to the Indians, settle so that they cannot get the
advantage of you.  This has always been my counsel.  The settlements in
this valley have been exposed to Indian depredations; but now there are so
many here that, if they build in a prudent form, they are able to defend
themselves.  First secure your lives, and then your property, against
Indian depredations.  We do not wish to hear of any of you being killed. 
When the Indians become cross, and you see in them a wish to stir up
difficulty, the brethren should immediately be on their guard; and in
going into the kanyons, be careful that enough go to be able to defend
themselves, and have each one take his fire-arms with him.

	There is peace now, and probably will be for some time; though we do
not know but that next week the marauding Indians about you may kill a few
men in the kanyons, be careful that enough go to be able to defend
themselves, and have each one take his fire-arms with him.

	There is peace now, and probably will be for some time; though we do
not know but that next week the marauding Indians about you may kill a few
men in the kanyons.  Take care of yourselves, and build up a safe and
beautiful city.  Make good houses; learn how to build; become good
mechanics and business men, that you may know how to build a house, a
barn, or a store-house, how to make a farm, and how to raise stock, and
take every care of it by providing proper shelter and every suitable
convenience for keeping it through the winter; and prove yourselves worthy
of the greater riches that will be committed to you than this valley and
what it can produce.  Those who are slothful of the things committed unto
them in a temporal point of view--the blessings pertaining to the
world--how can they expect eternal riches to be committed to their charge? 
On the other hand, the neighbourhood or community that adorns its city,
farms, gardens, and supremely loves and sets its affections upon these
things, had better never have seen or had anything to enjoy.

	Learn to improve the earth, and to sustain and preserve yourselves
upon your inheritances, and then pray and exercise faith that the Lord
will make our feet fast here--that they shall never be removed until we
have the privilege of going to build up the centre Stake of Zion.  Let
your faith bear a holy life.  Enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, and you have
satisfactory enjoyment and solid consolation, and are ready to go here or
there, to do this or that, as the Lord shall require at your hands.  His
Spirit is what has called you here.  Live and enjoy it; continue to enjoy
it and its increase, and your hearts will be comforted, and you will grow
in grace and enjoy the truth.

	We have come to pay you a visit, for we wanted again to see Cache
Valley and other places.  We wished to see you, and to have you look at
us.  Do you think we are "Mormons?"  "Yes."  Some of you saw me and others
of the brethren in England.  What do [sic] think of us to day?  Do we talk
to you as we did in other countries?  "Is `Mormonism' as good to me as it
was then?"  Yes; and every year I am in in it is better, because I learn
and understand more of the dealings of the Lord with his children on the
earth--more of the design in the organization of the earth, in its being
peopled, and what the Lord intends concerning its future.  All these
things are before us.

	I will not detain you, for I purpose speaking but a short time, to
tell you that I feel as well as I ever have.  My spirit is full of joy and
comfort, and I feel to bless you all the time, and to pray for you
continually, and day by day to bear you in my faith before my Father in
heaven.  I long to see a people pure and holy, and to be so myself,--to
see the day when sin and vile corruption will cease on the earth--when man
will cease to hunt his fellow-man--when every man shall try to assist his
fellow, and add joy and comfort to his friends, neighbours, and all around
him.  This is what I live for and intend to live for, the Lord being my
helper, and to pray and persevere.

	Shall we, like the Presbyterians, Methodists, and others, simply
prepare to die, and then depart?  No:  I intend to persevere in fighting
the Devil until he is driven from the face of the earth, and it is turned
into a paradise, and so prepared that angels and Jesus will come and dwell
here.  May the Lord bless you.  Amen.

      APPOINTMENT OF BISHOP FOR CACHE VALLEY--COUNSEL TO THE PEOPLE.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, Franklin, Cache Valley,
                              June 9, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I understand that no Bishop has yet been appointed for this place.  I
would like to learn the feelings of the brethren here in regard to this
matter, and will be pleased to have you inform us.

	[Bishop Maughan moved "that President Brigham Young nominate the man
to be Bishop, and we will say Amen."

	This unanimously met the feelings of the brethren.--Reporter.]

	The instructions to the people of this settlement will be committed
to paper, that they may be constantly before them.

	I propose that brother Preston Thomas be ordained Bishop of this
settlement.  He is residing in Lehi, but came with us intending to visit
Bear River Lake and Soda Springs, but has since concluded to settle here. 
I propose that he settles here, and that we make him your Bishop and
presiding officer.

	It is understood that brother Peter Maughan is Presiding Bishop for
this valley; and Elder Ezra T. Benson, one of the Twelve, has been
appointed to be one of his Counsellors, and probably he will choose me for
the other.

	If it meets your minds to have brother Preston Thomas settle here,
and you feel that you can hearken to his counsel, raise your right hands.
[The vote was unanimous.--Rep.]

	Brother Preston Thomas will select his own Counsellors.  I have no
question but that there are excellent, good men here, and they will be
willing to hearken to his counsel.

	I propose to the brethren here, and wish them to take my counsel, to
build a good strong fort.  If you have not material for building a wall,
you can make a strong stockade by putting pickets into the ground, which
will answer a good purpose against Indian attacks.  The stockade can be
easily repaired by replacing decayed pickets.  I wish you to build a
stockade large enough for corraling your cattle outside the town.  Let
your grain also be stacked away from your buildings, and so arranged that
if one stack takes fire all the stacks will not necessarily be destroyed.

	You are very much exposed here.  The settlements in this valley are,
as it were, a shield to other settlements:  you must therefore prepare as
speedily as possible to make yourselves secure.  You have a beautiful
location and a plenty of excellent water. This valley is capable of
sustaining a multitude of people:  it is the best valley we have.

	Strive to stop the thieving that is carried on by some renegadoes
[sic] who have been in this valley, and do not in the least suffer
stealing to be practised in any of your settlements.  There is probably
not a man here but that, if he saw an Indian taking his horse, and had a
loaded rifle, would kill the Indian.  That Indian has been taught, form
his youth, to steal.  His fathers before him taught their children to
steal:  it is in their blood, bone, and flesh.  But there is not a white
man or woman here but what has been taught that it is wrong to steal, and
I want an end put to stealing.  The boys who are brought up in our
community know better than to steal.  They have been taught the principles
of life and salvation; and the people from the Christian world have been
taught better than to steal.

	Do right, be just, love mercy, hearken to the Spirit of that Gospel
that you have embraced, keep the Spirit of the Lord with you, and you will
be very apt to be led right and do right.

	We have come to see you:  we will leave our blessing with you, and
will pray for you constantly.  I heard the prayer just now offered in your
behalf.  It is the constant prayer of the Saints that they may be
preserved.

	Serve the Lord, and try not to find fault with each other.  Live so
that you will not have any fault to find with themselves, and never mind
the faults of your brethren, for each person has enough of his own to
attend to.

	I bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

             COUNSEL TO THE SAINTS SETTLING IN CACHE VALLEY.
   Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at Richmond, Cache Valley,
                              June 9, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I will speak to you a short time, and then we will proceed on our
journey.

	So far as I know, no other valley in this Territory is equal to this. 
This has been my opinion ever since I first saw this valley, and I greatly
desire that it may be filled with Saints, and not with rowdies--not with
horse-thieves, murderers, and rioters, who roam over the country
regardless of right.  Can I have my desire gratified?  If the Saints here
will be faithful, will not contend one with another, and will sanctify the
Lord God in their hearts, the Spirit of the Lord will reign here, and make
your settlements too strait for the ungodly.  But if you are slack and
neglectful of your duties--if you forsake your covenants and wander into
darkness, the power of Satan can reign here.

	Fill this valley with those who love and serve God--make your
settlements as it were a Zion, and earthly paradise, and you will in the
highest degree gratify my feelings and desires.  It all depends upon us,
brethren, whether Satan shall gain dominion over us in this kingdom God
has set up, or whether he shall not.  My faith is, and my prayers day by
day are, that the Lord will reign in the midst of his Saints.  The inquiry
may rise, "Does the Lord reign upon the earth?"  We could answer, "Yes;
for it is his earth, and he controlleth according to his pleasure, and it
will yet be devoted to those who serve him.  But, in consequence of the
agency that is given to the intelligent children of our Father and God, it
is contrary to his laws, government, and character for him to dictate us
in our actions any further than we prefer.  If we cleave to him and enjoy
the light of his Spirit, he will lead us day by day; but it is left to our
agency--is in our option, whether we seek the counsel that comes from
heaven, or take the counsel suggested to us by our common foe.  This is an
act of our own responsibility, independent of God or the Devil.

	The Lord will rule the acts of the children of men, and bring out the
results of those acts, but will not dictate them in their acts contrary to
their own wishes.  This he has already done, of which we are witnesses for
him.  Survey the travels of this people, and you will see that the acts of
the wicked have been to destroy this kingdom, and yet God has ruled the
result to promote and extend the kingdom, to exalt it, and bring it into
note.  If the wicked had had their desire, they would have obliterated
this kingdom years ago; it would have been blotted out of existence.  They
acted on their own will--from their own choice, but God has produced the
result; and wherein they have tried to destroy us, they have built us up. 
Of this we are witnesses.

	A few words with regard to your situation here.  I discover that this
is a new settlement:  you have come here this spring to make a
commencement, and you are rather scattered.  What would you do, provided
the Indians become angry and suddenly attack you?  Suppose a few of them
should come down here at a time when the men are scattered at their
labours, what could they do to these women and children, when there is a
man here, another there, and another yonder?  An Indian comes to the door
of a house, and, before the man can arrive from a distance, his wife and
children are laid low by the rifle, tomahawk, or knife.  Should a small
band of hostile Indians come suddenly upon your settlement, every woman
and child might be destroyed during the absence of their protectors.  Ten
Indians could kill every woman and child here, and break you up.  Is this
good policy?  No.  I will give you my counsel:  build good stockades. 
Move your families and waggons close together; then, if you are disturbed,
you are like a hive of bees, and every one is ready, and knows at once
what to do.

	The Indians are wicked and ignorant; they are taught to steal, and to
kill each other and the whites, and it is nonsense for you to expose
yourselves--it is a weakness and error.  You say that you wish to be on
your lots.  Then unite and build some kind of common defence, that your
women and children may be safe.  So arrange your stacks of hay and grain
that, if one is burned, the rest need not be set on fire by it.  This is
my counsel to you, and you can do with it as you please.

	As you get able, put good fences around your city lots, and build
houses that any person may be justly proud of.  When you have done this,
you have exhibited your talents in providing some of the comforts of life.
But do not set your hearts on your buildings; for I would rather have you
remain in your waggons and dug-outs than do that.  We have to learn how to
build up Zion, and to realize, when it is built, that it is not ours,
until it is given to us by our Father as our eternal habitation.  We own
nothing but the talents God has given to us to improve upon, to show him
what we will do with them.

	When you have built splendid habitations, be as willing to leave them
as you would to leave a dug-out.  Say, "The Lord gave me ability to
complete this building.  It is not mine.  He can dispose of it; and if
wishes me to burn it, all right--I am willing."  These are the feelings
every Saint should have.

	Improve this valley.  Perhaps many hundred more persons will move
here this season, and many more settlements be made.  Do not be anxious to
have large farms, more than you can till; but divide your lands with your
brethren; and make yourselves humble and happy.  This is temporal advice,
so to speak; but, above all, so live that the light of the Spirit of the
Lord will dwell in you day by day.  If you do not do this, it is hard to
live "Mormonism;" but take this course, and it is the easiest path to walk
in.  There are many here to-day who can say, in all truth and sincerity,
that the words of Jesus, as the disciples have written them, are true--"My
yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Many of you can say that the yoke
of the Gospel is the easiest a person can bear, and its burden the
lightest.

	I feel to bless you, and pray that you may dwell here and have wisdom
to preserve yourselves and raise your children to be Saints, and sanctify
yourselves, that you may be prepared for the things that are to come; for
great events await us.

	I have not time to say more.  God bless you!  Amen.


                FILIALTY OF THE SAINTS--APPOINTMENTS, &c.
     Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at Logan, Cache Valley,
                              June 10, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I contemplate the scenes before me with great satisfaction, and feel
gratified with the privilege of seeing so many in this far off land
assembled to worship the King of kings and Lord of hosts.

	Some of us first heard the Gospel in England, Wales, Scotland,
Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, &c., &c.; and it is very interesting to
see people gathered from so many of the nations of the earth, with their
different customs and traditions, associating with a kind, filial feeling,
nowhere else to be found.  This is a people that begins to bring forth the
fruits the Lord designed in the creation of man.  This mixed people dwell
together on the most friendly terms and with brotherly feelings; still we
need and expect to have more of this brotherly feeling.  The seed is sown,
and the plant is growing.  The kingdom the Lord has commenced will
continue to increase, and no power on the earth can hinder it.

	It is highly interesting to see people from so many nations joining
hearts and hands to build cities, gather the poor, preach the Gospel,
cultivate the earth, and do whatsoever is necessary to be done to
accomplish what the Lord designed in the beginning of this creation.  What
is the cause of this?  Is it because brother Joseph Smith, the Prophet,
had influence superior to any other man to call the people together in his
day, and unite their feelings and affections?  He had no more power than
any other man, only as it was given to him.  Is there a man now living who
has power over the feelings and affections of the nations of the earth, to
call any portion of them together and make them of one heart and mind? 
No, only as he receives power from the same source from which the Prophet
received it.

	Into whatever neighbourhood you go throughout these valleys in the
mountains, amid the great variety of nationalities, with all their
different habits and traditions, you find the warmest affection pervading
the people to be found upon the earth.  With all our weaknesses and
imperfections, there is more brotherly kindness here than in any other
country.  What power produces this result?  It is the work of the
invisible hand of that Being we call our Father and God, who frames the
worlds, holds them in existence, and places his intelligent beings upon
them, giving those beings their agency, and placing good and evil, light
and darkness, bitter and sweet, righteousness and sin before them, that
they may have an opportunity to exhibit the intelligence he has bestowed
upon them.  He preserved them in existence, and governs and controls the
planetary systems.  His power fills the immensity of space, without
bounds, without beginning, and without end.  The principle of eternal life
brought us here.

	Many ideas are presented to my mind; among them, What are the wants
of the people in this place?  As yet you have no houses, no fences, and no
saw and grist mills; for which reason I will take the liberty of giving
you a little information and instruction in regard to your temporal
affairs.  While at Franklin, we ordained brother Preston Thomas, agreeable
to the wish of the people, Bishop of that place; and I think that each
settlement in this valley now has a Bishop.  You have brother Benson, one
of the Twelve, residing here to encourage, dictate, counsel, and instruct
you.  You also have brother Peter Maughan, who is an experienced man for
your presiding Bishop.  We have been acquainted with Brother Maughan for
many years, and I will say a few words about him.  If he has enough vanity
to cause my remarks to make any difference in his feelings or actions, I
shall learn something about him that I have not yet learned.  In 1840 we
commenced our systematic emigration from England, in which brother Maughan
assisted:  that was my first acquaintance with him.  He visited us in
Liverpool for instructions, and from my first acquaintance with him till
now I have found him as straight and correct in his business transactions
as any man that I have ever known to assist in any branch of business in
this Church.  He is a man that I think much of in regard to his integrity,
honesty, and judgment in counselling.  He has always been as willing to
receive counsel as any man I have ever known in this Church, and to obey
that counsel with as few words.  We wish to have him take the supervision
of all the Bishops in this valley.  Let them be under his dictation, and
we will settle with him at the General Tithing Office.

	Brother Maughan has brother Benson for one of his Counsellors, and
probably he will choose me for the other; and if we all do right, I think
the brethren will be pretty well satisfied with their presiding officers.

	I have not discovered in this valley any soil fit for making adobies. 
What are you going to build with?  Log buildings do not make a sightly
city.  We should like to see buildings that are ornamental and pleasing to
the eye, as well as convenient and commodious.  We wish to see cities that
are an ornament to the country.  In Great Salt Lake City nearly all the
buildings are made of adobies, and I do not fancy their appearance, unless
they are neatly finished.  They are the dryest and healthiest houses that
can be built, unless it is a frame house.  I have an objection to frame
houses in this country, and always have had, on account of our very dry
weather's rendering wood so very inflammable (I consider them dangerous),
whereas an adobie, stone, or brick house may have a room or part of a room
burnt, with far less danger of setting the whole house on fire.

	I remember, when I was quite young, painting a commodious frame house
built for a tavern.  It was nearly completed when it took fire from a
little oil a workman was boiling in the cellar kitchen to use in finishing
the inside work.  Two or three women rescued their bonnets and shawls, and
an old clock was removed, which were all the articles that were saved. 
Had that been a properly-built adobie house, it would not have been
burned.  Still I am going to recommend that you use timber in building in
this valley,  It costs as much in Great Salt Lake City to make the
foundation for a good adobie house as it would to build a comfortable
house, of the same size, of lumber.

	I recommend the brethren in this Valley to erect saw-mills and
prepare to build with lumber.  They are the cheapest and best houses I can
think of, under your circumstances.  I do not wish the brethren to cut all
the timber to put it into log-houses.  Erect saw-mills and make lumber,
which will be far better than building log-houses.  We have no timber to
waste.  We should save our timber, and make buildings that will look
better than log-houses, and at the same time be easier and quicker built.

	You will be obliged to make polefences for the present, which can be
made to answer until you can make post and board fences.  And, as soon as
possible, if you can find good rock, build stone fences.  When we get to
making iron, we can have wire fences which are very durable and cheap.

	As this is the county seat, complete, as soon as you can, a house
that will answer, for the present, for a meeting-house, school-house, and
for the transaction of county business.

	We know that you labour diligently; and we only regret, in the
working department, that you cannot make loafers and horse thieves work as
hard as you do.  Have you neighbours who harbour horse thieves--whose sons
are horse thieves?  You are here commencing anew?  The soil, the air, the
water are all pure and healthy.  Do not suffer them to become polluted
with wickedness.  Strive to preserve the elements from being contaminated
by the filthy, wicked conduct and sayings of those who pervert the
intelligence God has bestowed upon the human family.

	Does the Lord rule and reign on the earth?  He controls the results
of the acts of all the nations of earth; but does he rule supreme in the
hearts of all people?  He does not.  Where can he reign on the earth?  If
you can find a place where wicked men are not, there is a place where the
Lord can reign.  Man was appointed to rule and have dominion over the
earth under his Creator; but where the wickedness of man is, the Lord does
not reign by the power of his Spirit.  He partially reigns in the hearts
of his Saints.  He brings forth the results of the acts of all nations,
but does not dictate them in their acts. 

	Keep your valley pure, keep your towns as pure as you possibly can,
keep your hearts pure, and labour what you can consistently, but not so as
to injure yourselves.  Be faithful in your religion.  Be full of love and
kindness towards each other.

	Secure yourselves against depredations and attacks by Indians.  Raise
stock and take care of it, and keep it from being stolen either by Indians
or whites, that you may do good with it.  be at all times prepared to
successfully resist Indian hostility.  Keep minute-men ready, that they
can be in the saddle and off on short notice, enough to protect your
settlement.

	Hearken continually to the whispering of the Spirit of the Lord, and
you will hearken to those who are appointed to guide and direct you in all
your duties.

	May God bless the Saints here and everywhere!  Peace be with you! 
Amen.


               SALVATION AND CONDEMNATION--IMPROVEMENT, &c.
        Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at Willow Creek,
                              June 12, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Brethren and sisters, I will occupy a short time, and then give way
for others who may wish to address you.

	We are trying to be Saints, and intend to keep trying.  We are for
the kingdom of God, and are not going to the moon, nor to any other planet
pertaining to this solar system; but are determined to have a heaven here,
and are going to make it ourselves, by the help of God and his angels.  We
have been traditionated that when we were prepared to be saved, we ought
them to pass from this stage of existence, and that then we never would
have anything more to do with this earth; for all our connections and
associations with it, as pertaining to this life, also passed away, and we
should see and know nothing about it in the future.  This is not according
to the design, as we believe, of God and his providences and works.  It is
not the work of the Lord to organize an earth and destroy it.  That is not
the system he has devised.  His plan is to organize an earth, people it
with intelligent beings, present to them the principles of eternal life,
and bestow upon them the keys thereof, that they may be able to prepare
themselves to dwell to all eternity, and to bring forth their increase to
dwell with them.  This [sic] our belief.

	When the light of the Gospel came, truth sprang out of the ground,
and the heavens were opened.  The plan by which God works is rational, and
meets the capacity of his children.  This earth is the home he has
prepared for us, and we are to prepare ourselves and our habitations for
the celestial glory in store for the faithful.  None will be destroyed
except those who receive the oracles of truth and reject them.  None are
condemned except those who have the privilege of receiving the words of
eternal life and refuse to receive them.

	From Adam to the least and last of his posterity, none will be
condemned and suffer as we were taught in our youth.  The Christian world
teach that the heathen and everybody else, except a few belonging to the
Catholic church, the Church of England, or some of the orthodox sects of
the day, are to be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone.  The Bible
teaches that the wicked will be turned into hell, with all the nations
that forget God.  That is true.  How many nations do you think have
forgotten him?  The Lord will save all, except those who have the
privilege of life everlasting and reject it.

	What is our duty?  To promote the kingdom of God on the earth.  Every
person that confines his thoughts and labours to happifying his own family
and immediate friends will come far short of performing the duties
devolving upon him.  Every sentiment and feeling should be to cleanse the
earth from wickedness, to purify the people, sanctify the nations, gather
the nations of Israel home, redeem and build up Zion, redeem Jerusalem and
gather the Jews there, and establish the reign and kingdom of God on the
earth.  Let that be the heart's desire and labour of every individual
every moment.

	I am extremely happy, and my joy increases according to my
understanding and the sensibility God has given me, that this people,
called Latter-day Saints, are improving,--that they improve every year,
and increase in the knowledge and understanding of the dealings and
providences of God, and understand themselves more and better. You may
ask, "How do you know this?"  Because it is before me, and plain to be
seen.  True, there are some rude persons within our borders, and too much
stealing is carried on.  How is it with you?  Are you in the stockdriving
business?  Do any of you belong to the class of marauders, pilferers,
drunkards, or swearers?  The very great majority of this people are
striving to improve themselves before their God and their brethren.  The
wicked seek to destroy the kingdom of God, and it is for us to build it
up, and promote righteousness upon the earth.  When we do this, we shall
promote honesty in all our conduct and transactions.

	As we increase in understanding we shall increase our efforts to
adorn our minds, our families, our possessions, and our neighbourhoods,
and seek to promote every pure, holy, graceful, and delightful principle,
custom, habit, or whatever else pertaineth to correct human conduct.  This
will increase the Spirit of life in the people, and will make the aged
beautiful as well as the young.  Without the Spirit of truth, without the
Spirit of Christ, people will become hateful and disagreeable, or what the
English term ugly, and the Yankees, homely; or, as others express it,
ordinary-looking.  The Spirit of truth beautifies and lights with
intelligence an otherwise forbidding countenance.  We need it to beautify
both the body and mind.

	I do not see much, if any, improvement in this settlement during the
past three years.  True, you lost time and labour in moving south; but if
you labour all your lives, and God does not bless your labours, they are
in vain.  He can give you possessions and great wealth, as he gave Job. 
In a short time he added to Job much more than he had even previously
possessed.  If your hearts are pure and holy, the Lord can in a short time
restore to your settlement fourfold.

	How many times have I asked the Latter-day Saints what they could do
with regard to building the New Jerusalem?  Suppose the word were to come
to us that Jesus had appointed a certain time in which he would again
visit this earth, and that he wanted a place prepared for him; or the
command, "Go forth, ye Latter-day Saints, and begin to build the New
Jerusalem, and prepare to receive the city of Enoch that will come down
out of the heaven;" where is the man competent to go and collect stone fit
to lay in the first tier of the foundation of the walls of that city?  To
judge from their improvements, there is hardly a man capable of
judiciously directing the labour of even two men--hardly a man that can
properly erect a grist-mill or a building for carding machines.  Where are
your useful machinery, your beautiful habitations, your fertile gardens,
your lovely walks, and magnificent palaces?  You may reply, "We are not
going to stop here, but are going to the centre Stake of Zion," and so you
pass on in comparative inactivity, and attempt only to build log houses or
mud shanties.  If you had the spirit of your calling, you would be anxious
to build the best gardens, fields, and vineyards, though you knew that you
would not enjoy them one day after they were completed.

	I will here quote the words of the Saviour--"And I say unto you, Make
to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when ye fail,
they may receive you into everlasting habitations.  He that is faithful in
that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the
least is unjust also in much.  If, therefore, ye have not been faithful in
the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 
And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall
give you that which is your own?"  Now, he that is unfaithful in building
a house, or in making a garden, an orchard, a farm, or in beautifying what
is in his possession, who will commit to that man or people the great
things of the kingdom of God that are to be attained on this earth?

	I cannot preach upon the words quoted more effectually than I do in
building, improving, and occupying upon the talent God has given to me. 
If it is ability to dictate the making of a road, dictate it, or make it
as others dictate.  Where is the man that made a road in a kanyon as it
should be made, until I dictated it?  Men go into kanyons and drive up and
down hills where it requires six horses to haul up or hold back an empty
waggon, and break their animals' legs, and kill men and boys.  Who has
broken waggons on roads that I have dictated?  No one.  In such kanyons
persons soon save more in cattle, waggons, time, and labour, than the
roads cost.  Why do not the rest of the brethren learn this? I know how to
build a meeting-house--how to place the first and last stone and piece of
board, and how to put on the first and last touch of paint.  I know how to
build a mill and put the machinery in it, and I intend to keep improving
as long as I live.  There are mechanical branches that I do not
understand, but I am constantly trying to learn.  Should I live--and I
would not then be a very old man--to hear the command, "Return and build
the centre Stake of Zion," I intend to know how to build it.

	You may say, "If you know all about it, there is no necessity for our
learning anything concerning it."  We cannot be in every place; and though
we could, every man, woman, and child should improve as rapidly as
possible.  Parents should know how to teach their children, women should
learn to make the most beautiful cloth, and men should become skilled in
raising sheep, and in the improvement of all kinds of stock, and in making
all kinds of useful machinery.  It is said we are yet young.  True; but we
ought to, at least, make a beginning. Not one woman in ten, that I ever
saw, thoroughly understands keeping a house.

	Why do not women learn to be housekeepers?  They may reply--"Brother
Brigham, if you will teach us, we will keep your houses according to your
instructions."  I could into your houses and tell you item by item.  Your
husbands may furnish fine furniture and glass and chinaware, and some of
you suffer your children to mar and break it.  Give children such
playthings as they cannot break, and with which they cannot hurt
themselves.  Were I now to go into one of your houses, perhaps I should
hear the mistress inquiring for the dishcloth; but Sal does not know where
it is:  the last she saw of it little Abraham or Joe was playing with it
out-doors.  Where is the milk-pail?  Turned bottom-side up on the hog-pen.

	What I say of housewives will fully apply to farmers and mechanics. 
I laboured many years as a mechanic, and in the darkest night I could put
my hand upon any tool I used.  You may call this boasting, but it is not. 
It is merely mentioning the order in which I kept my shop.  When a farmer
has done with his plough, he should put them under shelter until they are
again wanted.  When harness is taken off, it should be so hung up that you
can go at any time of night and find it, or a saddle, bridle,
saddle-blanket, or any other trapping, and be ready at once, without a
hostile Indian's being able to see you, or being made aware of your
preparations, through your being obliged to take a light to hunt scattered
articles.

	We have been toiling and delving at home, and now you see us enjoying
ourselves, without one word of discord.  A week ago to-day we passed this
settlement, with several men, women, children, horses, mules, and
vehicles; and I ask the company whether a single person has been found out
of his place?  We have travelled in order and peace, notwithstanding our
dispensing with a formal organization.  "Where is the captain of the
company?"  I do not know, unless I am he.  We have travelled in the order
in which persons joined us, and I do not think a rash word has been spoken
by any man, woman, or child since we left Great Salt Lake City.  What does
this prove?  That when the law of God is written on the hearts of a
people, every person will know his place.  It proves that we are
improving.

	Law is for the disobedient and lawless.  When a people are made free
in Christ, and come to understanding, they will know that there is a place
for everybody, and every one will seek to fill his own place, and every
hand will be reached forth to promote the kingdom of God on the earth. 
Our business is not merely to prepare to go to another planet.  This is
our home.  We are to purify our hearts, our habitations, our families,
associations, settlements, states, and country, until improvement
circumscribes the whole earth, and sanctifies it, and prepares it to be
brought back into the presence of our Father and God.  

	When your eyes are open, you will see that this earth has fallen from
the glory and presence of the Father, to pass through certain ordeals,
together with the people upon it.  And by and by, when Jesus reigns and
rules King of nations, he will say to his Father--"Here is my work!  Here
are my brethren!  Here is my redemption--the fruit of my labour!  I have
ceased not to contend with the Enemy until I have put him under my feet. 
I have destroyed death, and him that has the power of death."

	You work hard.  Study to apply your labour to advantage, and you will
accomplish much more, without wearing yourselves out so fast.  If you have
to roll a log, cut down a tree, etc., study how to take advantage of the
work. Contrive to accomplish your work with the least expenditure of
strength.

	You have rich land, good water, a pure atmosphere, and one of the
pleasantest locations in the Territory.  Adorn your houses and your city. 
I marvel to see you contented to live as you do.  I have passed much of my
life in a log-house, but do I like bed-bugs and darkness?  No.  I love
light.  Were I obliged to live in a log-house, I would have it plastered
and whitewashed, that it might be neat and pleasant.

	Study order and cleanliness in your various occupations.  Adorn your
city and neighbourhood.  Make your homes lovely, and adorn your hearts
with the grace of God.

	May the Lord bless you.  Amen.



          RELIGION, PROGRESS, AND PRIVILEGES OF THE SAINTS, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at Ogden City,
                              June 12, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I am very thankful for the privilege of meeting with you this
afternoon.  There may be many present who never saw me until now, and many
who are acquainted with me, but, probably, have not for years had an
opportunity to speak to me.  As I now have the privilege of speaking to
you, please accept of my good feelings towards you, and of my good desires
in your behalf.  Peace be to you and to your habitations!  and may God
bless you!

	I will not occupy much time; for I understand that, through some
mistake in the appointment, many of you have been here a good part of the
day.  I am aware that both yourselves and your children are weary, and I
think it would be a relief to the children if the teachers would supply
them with water.

	For many years I have been trying to promulgate the principles of
eternal life, and I am thankful that we are in possession of that religion
which gives food to the mind and exercise to the body.  I am thankful for
such a religion.  It is different from the religions of the day:  it is
not only a Sabbath-day religion and a Monday religion, but it is an
every-day religion--a religion that will feast a person all the time.  It
draws forth the mind, and expands the understanding of every intelligent
being who will open his mind to understand and see by vision the creations
of God--the worlds that are and the worlds that have been,--who can grasp
in the vision of his mind the truth that there never has been a time when
there have not been worlds like this, and that there will be a time when
there will not be worlds organized and prepared for intelligent beings to
dwell upon.

	Those beings bear the image of Him who is invisible--of our Father
and God.  Were your eyes opened to see the heavenly hosts, you would see
beings similar to us.  We are in our weakness and imperfection--we are in
darkness; they are in light--they are in glory.  We are in a mortal flesh,
subject to sickness, disease, pain, deformity, and death.  The heavenly
hosts are beings like these my brethren, only in greater perfection,
having passed through the same ordeals we are now passing through.  They
have been made subject to vanity, as we now are; they have had to taste of
the bitter cup as we have; they have had the privilege of the light and of
the darkness, of the truth and of the error, which privilege we now enjoy. 
Life eternal has been offered to them, and they have chosen it.  It is
offered to us who are here assembled, and we have chosen to follow in the
path in which it is to be obtained.  Had we chosen, we might to-day have
been in our native lands, as are those whom we have there left.

	It is to us a matter of joy and rejoicing, a solid satisfaction, to
know that there are a few among all the inhabitants of the earth who are
willing to receive the words of life to prepare themselves to dwell
eternally in the presence of our Father and our God.  We enjoy a great
privilege in being gathered out from the wicked.  We now have the
privilege of associating together, not only as individuals, families,
neighbourhoods, and cities, but God has provided the place where we can
assemble as it were, in a national capacity.  We are now in the
relationship, so to speak, of a limb or branch pertaining to the Federal
Government, which must grow, increase, spread, and prosper exceedingly.

	You have built a commodious Tabernacle, where but a few years ago was
a swamp.  But a few years ago, there were no inhabitants here.  When we
first visited this place, after the people began to move here, there was
hardly a settlement between here and Great Salt Lake City.  There were a
few families at Willow Creek, but none north of that, and only a few
between here and Great Salt Lake City.  You may now ride until you are
weary, and pass through settlement after settlement, neighbourhood after
neighbourhood.

	You have manifested a spirit of advancement and improvement, which is
according to the Gospel of life we possess.  The intelligence we possess
was given to us a for a purpose.  We are the children of the Supreme Being
of the universe.  The inhabitants of the whole earth are the offspring of
the Father of Lord Jesus Christ.  Intelligence is given unto us to improve
upon.  Who will choose life?  These my brethren and sisters.  The Valleys
in the Mountains are becoming filled with those who have chosen the way of
life, and thousands more are in Europe and on the islands of the sea.  The
Gospel we preach has been proclaimed to most of the nations of the earth. 
God will gather his children from all nations, and bring them home to
Zion.  This is the land of Zion--this is the continent whereon the Lord
has commenced his work for the last time, and whereon Jesus will make his
appearance the second time, when he comes to gather and save the house of
Israel.  It is our duty to prepare for his coming.

	Each person possesses an intelligence, each one has an agency, and
each has his own salvation to work out, for the spirit and body to be
crowned with crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives.  Let not
your hearts sink, nor your faith waver; let not your fervency slacken in
the least, for the kingdom is ours.  God has prospered his work on the
earth.  Towns and counties have risen up against it, and States have
united and organized to destroy this kingdom and the government of God
from the earth.  You have seen your neighbours arise up and persecute
you--you have known those who should have been your friends and assisted
you forsake and persecute you, for the Gospel's sake.  You have all, more
or less, experienced such treatment.  Is it at an end?  No.

	You see persons gather here, and assist to gather hundreds and
thousands, and yet some will turn away.  Does this discourage you?  How
frequently it has been said to me--"A great many are going to 
California."  My reply is, Let them go; there will be plenty left.  This
work is on the increase, and the power of God is becoming more and more
manifest before all flesh.  The faith of the Gospel is increasing among
the children of men, and the Saints are increasing.  Compare this place
with what it has here ten years ago.  Has there been an increase?  Yes,
and a very great increase.  Ten years ago, how many were there in the
States and in foreign lands who wanted to come here?  Not one to where
there are now ten.  The spirit of the Gospel is going forth among the
nations, and the people are gathering out.  The kingdoms of this world
must become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ.  To aid in
accomplishing this work, we must overcome sin and every evil propensity of
the natural man--every selfish and unhallowed desire.  Let no man covet
the things of this world, nor lust after the vain and foolish things that
pertain to it.

	It is the privilege of the Saints to enjoy every good thing, for the
earth and its fulness belong to the Lord, and he has promised all to his
faithful Saints; but it must be enjoyed without spirit of covetousness and
selfishness--without the spirit of lust, and in the spirit of the Gospel: 
then the sun will shine sweetly upon us; each day will be filled with
delight, and all things will be filled with beauty, giving joy, pleasure,
and rest to the Saints.  The vegetable kingdom is made for man, to gratify
the taste and add health to the body and gratification to every sense. 
The gold and silver will be given to the Saints; the riches of the world
will be put in their possession, and they will be legal heirs.  We are now
passing through a day of trial, to determine whether we will prove worthy
of all we may enjoy and possess, for it must be enjoyed and possessed
without the spirit of covetousness.  Without the pure Spirit of the Lord
Jesus Christ, we cannot enjoy the good things of life.

	The fulness of the heavens and the earth--the mountains, the gold,
and precious things in them--will all be devoted to those who are devoted
to their God and their religion.  The wheat, the fine flour, the oil, and
the wine, the cattle upon a thousand hills, and every blessing the Lord
has in store for every creature he has organized and placed upon this
earth, are to fall into the hands of the legal heirs, who are the Saints. 
This is an unpleasant idea to unbelievers.  Then why do they not believe? 
If there are any here who do not believe the Gospel, and think that the
Saints are selfish, all they have to do is to become Saints; then they
will be heirs with the rest of the Saints.  There is no selfishness about
it that I know of, for they have the same privilege that we have, and that
any man or woman upon the earth has.

	The kingdom of God is set up, the ordinances of the Gospel are
dispensed to the people, life and salvation are offered to all, and who
would miss entering into the kingdom of our Father and God?  All who
believe, have honest hearts, and bring forth fruits or righteousness, are
the elect of God and heirs to all things.  All who refuse to obey the holy
commandments of the Lord and the ordinances of his house will be judged
out of their own mouths, will condemn themselves as they do now, will be
accounted unworthy, and will have no part or lot with the righteous.  But
the heathen nations that now exist and that have existed on the earth will
all be blessed, will see the time when they will have the privilege of
receiving the blessings of the covenant established on the earth by the
Son of God, and through it will be brought into glory and rest.

	Brethren and sisters, I wish you to continue in your ways of
welldoing; I desire that your minds may be opened more and more to see and
understand things as they are.  This earth, in its present condition and
situation, is not a fit habitation for the sanctified; but it abides the
law of its creation, has been baptized with water, will be baptized by
fire and the Holy Ghost, and by-and-by will be prepared for the faithful
to dwell upon.

	Shall we not strive to prepare ourselves as much as possible for the
coming of the Son of Man?  The Saviour will dictate his kingdom, through
his Apostles and Prophets, until all the heathen nations are virtually
redeemed by the ordinances that effect redemption, that they may inherit
the kingdom that is prepared for them.  This work must progress.  This
earth must become a paradise--must be purged of the sin that has been upon
it for many generations, for all sin and iniquity must be swept from it,
and a people be prepared for the coming of the Son of Man.  He will
prepare a people long before the earth is celestialized and prepared for
the presence of God.  The Saints will increase, the spirit of wisdom and
knowledge will increase, and every grace of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus
Christ must increase upon the earth, until a people and place are so
prepared that the Saviour can come and finish the work given him to do,
when he will present the kingdom to the Father.

	There is a great work for the Saints to do.  Progress, and improve
upon, and make beautiful everything around you.  Cultivate the earth and
cultivate your minds.  Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens,
orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you
look upon your labours you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may
delight to come and visit your beautiful locations.  In the meantime,
continually seek to adorn your minds with all the graces of the Spirit of
Christ.

	Sin must be overcome and righteousness exalted, until Jesus reigns
King of nations as he reigns King of Saints.  This is not unkind to the
wicked, for they have the privilege of embracing the overtures of mercy,
if they choose.  No one will be compelled to do so.  All  may freely eat,
drink, and satisfy themselves, or they may turn away and feed upon husks. 
Let every one who wishes to go to California, go, for we do not want them
here.  This country is most excellent for sifting out those are not here
for the love of their religion.  The mountains, the deserts, the barren
plains, hard labour, and hard fare are all so calculated that those who do
not love the truth will leave for California and elsewhere, and we love to
have them go.  Some who are now here ought to leave, unless they will
repent and become good men.

	Be faithful, humble, prayerful, and watchful, and be sure to live
your religion.  Store up your surplus grain; and when you have done that,
do (to speak ironically,) as some have done--take every pound of butter,
every dozen of eggs, every bushel of grain, and every good thing you can
lay hold of to those who would cut our throats, if they had the power. 
Had they the power, they would slay every soul that would not renounce
this work.  They have not the power, and never will have.  Israel will be
gathered, the poor will be gathered, and this land of Joseph will be freed
from oppressors.  Their power is broken, and they will go down to the pit,
while Zion will arise, and wicked men and devils cannot prevent it.  God
has decreed this, and we are going to help him to perform it and bring
righteousness upon the land; and the righteous will see the day when they
can say their prayers and lie down in peace, for murderers will not be
around them.

	Will you let every act of your lives promote the kingdom of God?  If
you do, you may be sure that every person who is opposed to righteousness
will be our enemy.  But those who are here to steal our cattle and horses,
instead of striving honestly for an honest living, had better forsake
their evil habits, or go where they are more popular.  The Lord Almighty
will have a pure people--a people that will serve him; and we shall yet
see the day when we shall be free from murderers, thieves, robbers, liars,
whoremongers, drunkards, and every other description of persons who
pollute the earth.

	My constant prayer is that the anger which is in the hearts of the
disobedient will turn upon each other, and the wicked slay the wicked,
until no place can be found on the earth for those who will not observe
good laws, that the righteous may live in peace.  The wicked are doing so;
and in the midst of their rage which has been around us, it is astonishing
how the preserving and invisible hand of God has been over his people.  I
do not now remember that any in our Territory, during the time alluded to
who desired to live their religion, fell by the hands of the wicked,
except brother William Cook.  They credit this wonderful preservation to
me; but they are mistaken.  The Lord Almighty can control the acts, and
bring forth the results far beyond the wisdom and calculation of man.  He
has brought to pass these purposes, and the wicked have been and are
helping him.  "The wrath of man shall praise him."  May the Lord God of
Israel bless you and the whole house of Israel, is my prayer in the name
of Jesus.  Amen.

                         BLESSINGS OF THE SAINTS.
          Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at Kaysville,
                              June 13, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I have time to say but a few words.  It is three years and a few days
since I was last here, and you are acquainted with the scenes we have
passed through since that short time.

	I am rejoiced to meet and associate with the Saints.  It is one of
the greatest privileges and blessings I can enjoy on the face of this
earth, to gather out from the wicked world with the Saints, and be far
away from the contaminating influence of the breath of the ungodly.

	It is a great comfort to enjoy the privilege of passing day after
day, week after week, and month after month, without hearing the name of
God blasphemed.  Here we have the privilege of sending the Gospel to the
utmost parts of the earth, of teaching our children righteousness, of
setting a righteous example before our neighbours, of associating
together, of praying with and for each other, and mingling our voices in
praising our God.  Is not this a blessing?  True, we are not entirely free
from wickedness; we are in a world of sin and iniquity.  All the
inhabitants of the earth have wandered from the path of truth, and it is
our duty to lead our children and friends towards our Father and God, to
forsake the wickedness that is in the world, and promote righteousness and
the principles of life--the life of the body and of the mind--the
existence of the spirit and the body here and to all eternity--to dwell
with our Father and our God.  Life is before us.

	Here are the Saints, and the words of the Saviour will apply to
them--"He that liveth and believeth in me shall never die."  He does not
say that this body shall not crumble to dust.  It will go back to its
mother earth, to be raised immortal--to be brought forth to enjoy the
light, glory, and presence of our Father and God, whcih we cannot endure
while we are in this mortal tabernacle.  This body must be purified and
prepared to dwell in eternal burnings, for it is there where our Father
and God dwells in the perfection of glory, light, and power.

	Is it not a blessing to have schools in our community, where our
teachers can teach our children correct principles, and impart to them
education that will be useful?  Is it not a blessing to associate with
each other and build up the kingdom of God?  Is it not a blessing to you,
mothers, to raise up Prophets and Apostles--men filled with the glory fo
God, to go forth and extend the work of our God?

	Do I realize, day and night, that I have the good feelings, prayers,
and faith of the Saints on the earth?  I do.  Let me enjoy the fellowship
of angels, of God, and of his Saints, and I am right.

	You have my prayers continually for the welfare of the kingdom of God
on the earth.

	May God bless you!  I know that his blessings will rest upon you, if
you live for them.  Amen.

               CHARACTER OF GOD AND CHRIST--PROVIDENCES OF
                        GOD--SELF-GOVERNMENT, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, July 8, 1860.
                         Reported by J. V. Long.

	Our minds are capable of receiving and digesting a certain number of
ideas; but we are not able to comprehend a great many at one time.  We can
hear all that a speaker is disposed to say; but whether we can comprehend
it, be it much, or, as in many instances, little, is another and very
important consideration.  Some minds can comprehend but very little at a
time.

	What we have just heard is very good.  True, we have been taught
those principles from our youth.  There are but very few in Christendom
who have not been taught those principles in childhood by their parents,
and in maturer years by their school-teachers and priests.  The character
of the Saviour has been exalted as much as our language will permit.

	Brother Joseph Young, in his remarks, frequently quoted the words of
the Saviour, as recorded by his Apostle, "And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent."  I would be pleased to see the divine who can thoroughly acquaint
us with that Being whom we call God--the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
From our youth, we have heard much in regard to the Father and the Son,
but in a mystified manner, so far as treated upon by the divines and
theologians of the so-called "orthodox" churches.  How many of you can
give as sound, sensible ideas relative to the character of our Father in
heaven?  If the Elders of Israel, who speak to us from Sabbath to Sabbath,
and who go forth into the world to preach the Gospel of life, cannot, no
man on the earth can.  How much have we learned in regard to it?  How far
have our understandings expanded to comprehend the character of that Being
we call God?  or even to comprehend the character of his Son Jesus Christ,
whom we call our Saviour?

	The character of the Father is plainly portrayed in the Bible, so far
as it is necessary for it to be revealed; but who can tell anything about
him?  All that we hear from this one, that one, and the other, is but very
little.  We have formerly been in the habit of hearing--"Great is the
mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh," and there having the
subject left.  With the world things pertaining to eternity are such a
mystery that all is left in the dark--left with the mantle of ignorance
cast around it.  But, God be praised, the vail begins to be thinner, and
will be withdrawn for us, if we are faithful.  The work that God has
commenced in this our day is calculated to remove the vail of the covering
from all the face of the earth, that all flesh may see his glory together. 
And if the principles of the holy Priesthood that we have received
continue to be carried out by the people at large, the vail will be taken
away, so that we can comprehend that Being who is such a mystery to the
great portion of the human family.

	Jesus was appointed, from the beginning, to die for our redemption,
and he suffered an excruciating death on the cross.  A person possessing
the power of the Gods has that power to sustain him in all his trials and
sufferings.  He has power and faith to endure unto sweating blood, to
bearing thorns, and to being nailed upon a cross, as patiently as did our
Saviour.  Is this speaking disparagingly of his character?  Not in the
least.  Many of our people have suffered unto death.  Could a God do more? 
He could not.  Could he suffer more?  Only in proportion to his
intelligence, faith, and power, which also proportionally sustain him in
his sufferings.  Many of the Saints have been pierced with bayonets,
riddled with bullets, beaten to death, and slain in various other ways,
for their testimony of Jesus.  They paid the debt.  Jesus fulfilled the
obligations he had entered into as the heir of all things pertaining to
this earth.  He is the King--the Ruler, and the results of the acts of the
people he brings forth, and will continue to do so, till he reigns King of
nations as he now reigns King of Saints.  When he again visits this earth,
he will come to thoroughly purge his kingdom from wickedness, and, as
ruler of the nations, to dictate and administer to them as the heir to the
kingdom; and the Gentiles will be as much mistaken in regard to his second
advent as the Jews were in relation to the first.

	The eyes of the Gentiles are like the eyes of the fool, wandering to
the ends of the earth.  They are deceived, blinded, and far from
understanding the things of God.  All who would understand the things of
God must understand them by the Spirit of God.  In reflecting upon his
providences, it often seems singular that every person cannot understand
the things of God; but when you understand the Gospel plan, you will
comprehend that it is the most reasonable way of dealing with the human
family.  You will discern that purity, holiness, justice, perfection, and
all that adorns the character of the Deity are contributing to the
salvation of man.

	Those who acknowledge the hand of God in all things, and abide in his
commandments, are the only ones who will sustain the principles of truth
and purity.  If their influence upon the character is not good and pure,
how will they produce that pure feeling, pure faith, and pure godliness
which prepare a person to dwell in eternal burnings?  Should we not abide
in and be influenced by the commandments of God?  We should; for, without
the spirit of revelation, no man can understand the things of God, nor his
dealings and designs in relation to the inhabitants of the earth.

	While brother Joseph was referring to the providences of God, I was
led to reflect that there is no act, no principle, no power belonging to
the Deity that is not purely philosophical.  The birth of the Saviour was
as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural
action.  He partook of flesh and blood--was begotten of his Father, as we
were of our fathers.

	Do you understand yourselves, brethren and sisters?  Only to a small
degree; and there are as yet but few who can strictly govern themselves. 
The foundation for all intelligence is placed in man to be developed to
produce great and more powerful results than he has ever thought of.  You
may place all the world's wisdom in one man, and ask him whence he
received his intelligence, and he cannot tell.  Ask him, "Do you believe
man has a soul?  Do you believe his soul lives when he dies?"  He will
answer, "Yes; but I cannot tell where."  Or inquire of him, "Do you
believe that the soul had an existence previous to its coming here?"  He
will reply, "I do not know."  Can you answer such questions?  Yes; for you
have been taught concerning these things.  Have you been taught the
character of the Father?  Yes.

	Will you improve upon the gifts bestowed upon you?  Let me ask you,
as a favour, to bless yourselves and friends by conquering and controlling
yourselves--a principle that you should cultivate; then you may control
others.  But unless you control the passions that pertain to fallen
nature--make all your faculties subservient to the principles God has
revealed, you will never arrive at that state of happiness, glory, joy,
peace, and eternal felicity that you are anticipating.  Then learn to
govern yourselves.

	Were any professed Saints present, and there may be, who indulge in
paltry pilfering, thieving, carousing, tipling, cursing, &c., I would
advise them to contemplate their conduct with shamefacedness.  Shame,
also, to those women who run after the Gentiles!  Such women are so
corrupt that they are a distress to their sex.  Are there any here of that
class?  I expect there are a few who will say, "Brother Brigham, how are
you?"  and shake hands, and then go and lie with a Gentile.  I don't want
such persons so [sic] shake hands with me. 

	Brother Joseph has exhorted you to revere the character of our
Saviour.  He who does not will sooner or later suffer.  The Lord will
bring us to an account for all we do, before that tribunal that will
punish for all disgraceful conduct.  Shame to those men and women who call
themselves Latter-day Saints, and act disgracefully!  You ought to be as
pure and holy as angels.  We are commanded to be pure as Christ is pure,
and holy as he is holy.  He passed through the trials, became sanctified,
and prepared himself to dwell with the Gods; and he dwells in the midst of
eternal burnings, where the principles and all that pertains to the
celestial kingdom are a consuming fire to all that is impure.  He has been
exalted, crowned, and has received thrones, principalities, and powers;
and he commands us to walk in his footsteps, in reference to every
principle that pertains to eternal lives.  Let us do this, that the whole
body, from the crown of the head to the sole of the feet, may be
sanctified.  Those who come short of this will be judged accordingly.

	As to the persecution, the slander, and malicious acts aimed at us,
who can expect anything else from wicked and ignorant?  Christ and Baal
are not reconciled; the Lord will hold no fellowship with the Devil.  But
Satan will contend until he is driven from the earth.  He is the
adversary, the opposer, and accuser of the brethren.  He opposes the Son
of God in the great struggle between truth and error.  This victory must
be gained in our houses, neighbourhoods, towns, counties, and states; and
this common enemy of all Saints will continue to offer his opposition
until driven from the earth, and will contend for every inch of ground.

	Let us walk in the footsteps of our Father and of our Saviour, cling
to the principles of life, and live by every word that proceeds from the
mouth of God.  Live to purify yourselves, and you will be able to overcome
every power of the enemy.  Children are now born who will live until every
son of Adam will have the privilege of receiving the principles of eternal
life.

	God bless the Elders who preach to the nations, the sisters who pray
for the kingdom, the men who labour in the fields and elsewhere, and all
who ask Him to bless and build up his Zion, and bring in the reign of
righteousness and peace, that all who desire may rejoice in the blessings
of the government of God among men.  God bless them, and the children of
the Saints, in the name of Jesus.

	Parents, have you ever noticed that your children have exercised
faith for you when you have been sick?  The little daughter, seeing you
sick, will lift her heart with a pure, angeliclike prayer to heaven; and
disease is rebuked when that kind of faith is exercised.  God bless the
children!  I pray that they may live and be reared up in righteousness,
that God may have a people that will spread and establish one universal
reign of peace, and possess the powers of the world to come.  This is my
prayer constantly.

	God bless you!  Amen.

           PERSONAL SACRIFICES--EVIL INFLUENCES AND POWERS, AND
                    THE NECESSITY OF OVERCOMING THEM.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, July 8, 1860.
                         Reported by J. V. Long.

	I will say a few words before we dismiss, and I wish to say that
which will be comforting and consoling to those who delight in the
truth--that which will be pleasing to our Father in Heaven, and be
sanctioned by his Holy Spirit, by angels, and by the Saints who live upon
the earth.

	You hear much said by some about their sacrifices.  As they use the
term, it is without meaning to me.  Divines exclaim--"Come, and give all
for Christ."  I would like to know what the children of men have to
give--what they have to sacrifice.  To my understanding, the term is used
improperly.  We are but stewards over what our Father puts in our
possession.  We possess houses, farms, gardens, orchards, vineyards, and
pleasant locations; but are they actually ours?  No.  Is there a foot or
an inch of this earth that rightly belongs to us?  No.  God has put it in
our possession, and has given us ability to take from the elements to make
habitations to shelter ourselves; but are the elements ours?

	Suppose the Lord should cause a tornado to pass through here, as he
has lately done in some places in the States, and destroy all we possess,
can we say to the winds, Cease blowing?  Or suppose he should cause
lightning to destroy our buildings, can we stop it?  No.  We have power to
plough, sow, till, and irrigate; but can we, of ourselves, produce one
spear of grass, or one kernel of grain?  No.  With me, it is folly to say
that we own anything; and to speak of giving or sacrificing, as many do,
is a misapplication of terms.

	The spirits of the human family are pure and holy at the time they
enter tabernacles; but the Lord has so ordered that the enemy has great
power over our tabernacles, whose organization pertains to the earth. 
Through this plan arises our probationary warfare.  Our tabernacles are
conceived in sin, and sin conceives in them; and our spirits are striving
to bring our bodies into subjection, and to overcome the Devil and the
evils in the world.  This war and striving to overcome that evil power
must continue until we triumph.  To accomplish this, we must so yield
obedience to the Divine influence as to learn the principles of eternal
life--to learn to bring the whole man--all the passions, sympathies, and
feelings in subjection to the spirit.  Our spirits are warring against the
flesh, and the flesh against our spirits; and all we have to do is to let
the spirits that have come from our Father in heaven reign triumphant, and
bring into subjection everything that tends to evil:  then we are
Christ's.

	The Saviour has not finished his work, and cannot receive the fulness
of his glory until the influence and power of the wicked are overcome and
brought into subjection.  When the wicked inhabitants of the earth, the
beasts of the field, fowls of the air, fish of the sea, all mineral
substances, and all else pertaining to this earth, are overcome, then he
will take the kingdom, present it to the Father, and say, "Here is the
work you gave me to do--you made the appointment--I have wrought
faithfully, and here are my brethren and sisters who have wrought with me. 
We have wrought faithfully together; we have overcome the flesh, hell, and
the Devil.  I have overcome, they have followed in my footsteps, and here
are all thou hast given me; I have lost none, except the son of
perdition."  

	Jesus suffered himself to be crowned with thorns and crucified; but
suppose he had said, "I will not make this great sacrifice; I am the
Almighty; I will dash my enemies to pieces, and I will not die for the
world," what would have been the result?  Jesus would have become a son of
perdition; he would have lost every power and right to the kingdom he was
about to redeem--would have become no better than the son of the morning
who contended against him, and would have contended against righteousness
from that time, and against whoever the Lord would then appoint to destroy
sin and death, and him that had the power of it.

	We can follow darkness and death, if we choose; but let us cling to
light instead of darkness, malice, hatred, wrath, and bitterness; for
Jesus will make an end of all evil.  Himself is all that man has to give
for wisdom.  When you do this, it is not giving facts, but it is
exchanging falsehood for facts, and folly for truth.  What have you to
give for life everlasting?  You are your Father's.  We cannot own
anything, in the strict sense of the word, until we have power to bring
into existence and hold in existence, independent of all other powers. 
One will say, "I have given a thousand dollars towards building up the
kingdom of God," when strictly he did not own a dollar.  You take the
money you have in your possession and put it in another place, or to
another use; and though you thus use millions of gold and other property,
unless you do so with that spirit of charity in which the widow cast in
her mite, it will avail you nothing.

	We have received this and that, but it is not ours; it is committed
to us as agents.  We have nothing of our own, and will not have until we
have power to sustain our own lives.  You have not power to sustain your
own lives, and yet you have done much.  You can own nothing until you have
filled your missions on earth, and gained power with the Almighty, when
you will be clothed with glory,power, and dominion.  When the Lord says,
"This is yours, my son; I give you power to control all under your
jurisdiction;" then you can consider that your own.

	Our religion has been a continual feast to me.  With me it is Glory! 
Hallelujah!  Praise God!  instead of sorrow and grief.  Give me the
knowledge, power, and blessings that I have the capacity of receiving, and
I do not care how the Devil originated, nor anything about him.  I want
the wisdom, knowledge, and power of God.  Give me the religion that lifts
me higher in the scale of intelligence--that gives me the power to
endure--that when I attain the state of peace and rest prepared for the
righteous, I may enjoy to all eternity the society of the sanctified.

	We have been keeping the commandments of the Lord, and should
continue to do so more diligently; for he has commanded us to do so--to
strive to overcome the evils and put away the follies and sins which have
been sown in our nature by the fall of our first parents, and let every
feeling and affection be centred upon him and the things of his kingdom,
that when we awake in the morning of the resurrection we may be crowned
with honour and glory in our Father's kingdom.  When the wicked appear,
they will learn that God is a consuming fire, while that which is for him
is eternal in its nature.  The principles of our religion are good.  If we
will obey them, we shall reign eternally with the Father and the Son. 
There are kingdoms also prepared somewhere for those who obey not the
celestial law.

	May the Lord bless you!  Amen.

                ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS--SELF-IMPROVEMENT.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, July 15, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Often in the Tabernacle the congregations were crowded, but there is
room under this bowery for more than are here to-day.  If the brethren and
sisters do not wish to come to meeting, knowing what they know, they have
privilege of staying at home.  While Bishop Hunter was relating his
feelings with regard to the people, and speaking of his great interest for
their welfare, an anecdote occurred to me--one which many of you, perhaps,
have heard.  Many of you have heard of Lorenzo Dow and his oddities.  He
would go into the woods, get on to a stump, and preach without a soul
being near to him, and probably leave an appointment to preach in the same
place a year from that day.  I have seen him.  He was as odd-looking as
were his acts.  When travelling in the State of New York to fill an
appointment, as he neared the foot of a bad hill, he overheard a man
cursing and whipping his team, and rode on carefully until he overtook the
swearing man, and said to him--"If you will swear as wickedly as you can
until you reach the summit of the hill, I will give you a dollar."  The
man agreed, and added to his own condemnation by striving to earn the
dollar, which Dow handed to him, and rode on his way.

	How many of you will stay away from meeting for a dollar?  This
people delight in attending meetings.  

	If any Elder dislikes to hear others preach, come to the stand
yourself, full of the Holy Ghost, and preach the everlasting Gospel to the
people, and they will come to hear you again.  But when you spend your
time foolishly, and your hearts and affections are, like the fool's eye,
to the ends of the earth, after speculation, if you come here and speak to
the people, you are like "sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal."  Though a
man should say but a few words, and his sentences and words be ever so
ungrammatical, if he speaks by the power of the Holy Ghost, he will do
good.  The people want the shepherd to feed the sheep, though it is not
prudent to feed them too much at a time.  Brother Kimball says that he
holds the salt tight, and lets the sheep lick it through his fingers, and
they run after him; but if you throw down a large quantity at once, they
will eat until they are cloyed, and will not follow you.  Improve upon
even a small portion of what has been taught, and you may grow day by day,
which you cannot so well do when surfeited with good things.

	Unless you improve upon it, every correct principle advanced through
the authority of the holy Priesthood becomes to you a dead letter.  But if
you have the life within you, you will grow, whether you stay at home or
come to meeting; and every true principle, power, and manifestation that
God gives you, you will improve upon and treasure up in your hearts.  Ask
the Father, in the name of Jesus, to help you to treasure every true
principle in good and honest hearts, that it may produce to your own
advantage and that of others.  Then your capacity and ability will
increase, your faith in Christ will increase, and the light of Christ will
increase within you.

	As I have before mentioned, I heard brother John Taylor preach in the
Tabernacle one of the most heavenly discourses ever spoken, upon the
principle of Jesus Christ being in man a well of living water.  If people
will live to the light they have, and to every manifestation from God,
they will arrive a [sic] such a state of perfection that God will dwell in
them a well of everlasting life--a fountain of living water that will
dispense life wherever they go.  Whatever they do, every act, thought, and
word will be full of life, and they will grow into eternal lives in the
kingdoms of our God.  It is your privilege to so live that you are
constantly filled with the light of revelation, that Jesus Christ may be
within you as a fountain of living water continually springing forth and
yielding life eternal.

	God bless you!  Amen.

            LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT--COMING TRIBULATIONS--PRESENT
                                SALVATION.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                   Great Salt Lake City, July 15, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	The words of eternal life, the holy Priesthood of the Son of God,
with its keys, powers, and blessings, are committed to us.  If they and
the God who gave them are honoured by this people, great peace and joy are
ours, through the Holy Spirit of this Gospel.  Great peace have they who
love the law of the Lord and abide in his commandments.

	It has been said this morning that those who turn away from the Lord
are dark--very dark and benighted.  Every principle of true philosophy
convinces a person who understands the spirit of the Gospel and has
received the good word of life, that the darkness is in proportion to the
light that has been forsaken. Rear a child in a cell which only admits a
small glimmer of light, and the child will pass its time with some degree
of satisfaction, when a person accustomed to the bright light of day could
not at first see anything.  And the greater the light bestowed upon an
individual or upon a people, the greater the darkness when the light is
forsaken.

	The light of the Spirit reflects upon the understandings of those who
have not passed the day of God's favour, and teaches them whether they are
walking in the truth or violating the commandments they have received of
the Lord.  If persons reach a period when the Spirit of truth ceases to
reflect upon their understandings, then they know nothing of the
commandments of the Lord, but follow the lusts of the flesh and of the
mind, and are bound to perdition.  So long as persons are in a position
that it is possible for them to return to the Lord, after having once
received the love of Christ--after having once been enlightened by his
Spirit, there will be times when they will be taught whether they are
walking in the truth or not.

	Truth is the opposite of error--it is a matter-of-fact--no matter
where it is found.  A man, though he has not received authority from
heaven, but is convinced by the light he has received that the nations
have wandered far from God, and that his associates--members of the same
professions or community--are not walking according to the revelations
given in the New Testament, rises up and declares that he feels bound in
his faith and conscience to go forth and raise up a pure church unto
Christ.  He goes forth and preaches to the people, calling upon them to be
Saints of the Most High.  He calls upon the people to return to the Lord
with all their hearts--to become truly the children of God by
faith--teaches many good and wholesome principles, many of the
commandments of the Lord, and the revelations given in the New Testament,
knowing nothing further.  Revival after revival and seceder after seceder
follow in the footsteps of the reformer.  He professes to teach purer and
holier doctrine than has been taught; and the question arises, Who is
under obligation to obey that man's mandate?  The Lord has not called him;
Jesus has not appeared to him; Peter, James, and John have not met with
him and conferred upon him the keys of the holy Priesthood; he has no
communication with the heavens, only through the spirit of conviction.

	Such is the situation of the Christian world.  They are convinced by
the traditions of their fathers, and by that portion of the light of
Christ that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, that they are
under obligation to a Supreme Being, and him they are naturally inclined
to adore, reverence, honour, and worship.  Under that impression they
build up churches, professedly unto Christ, on their own responsibility. 
Who is under obligation to obey their words?  When truth is presented, it
matters not whether by a deist, atheist, professor of religion, or a
person of no such profession, it belongs to the people of God.  Were
Lucifer to present a truth to this people, they have a right to take it,
for it is theirs.  But if he demands obedience to the truth, are people
under obligation to hearken and obey through his word?  Not in the least.

	When a man merely from a spirit of conviction goes forth to build up
the kingdom of God--to reform the nations of the earth, he can go so far
as morality operates upon and enlightens him; but he is without authority
from heaven.  Let such a person come here and teach one truth, or ten or a
hundred truths, he is only handling that which does not legally belong to
him unless he obeys the commandments of the Lord.  That property is ours. 
It is for us to receive all truth.  But we are under no obligation to obey
any man or being in matters pertaining to salvation, unless his words have
the authority and sanction of the holy Priesthood.

	All truth belongs to the Saints of the Most High.  They inherit it
through obedience to his commands.  It does not belong to the
hypocrite--to those who disobey the commandments of the Lord or turn away
from them; it belongs to the faithful Saints--to those who love and revere
the name of God and keep his commandments.  All truth, every good and holy
principle, the fulness of the heavens and of the earth, and all time and
all eternities that ever were, or are, or are to come, belong to the
Saints of the Most High.  Do those blessings belong to others, if they
take an opposite path--if they disobey the commandments of the Lord?  No;
but they, as well as the faithful, will reap the reward of their doings. 
If they take the road that leads to destruction, they may expect to be
destroyed.  If they take the road that leads to dissolution, they may
expect to be dissolved.  If they take the road that leads to ruin, they
may expect to be ruined.  The words given to us in the Bible and Book of
Mormon, and the words of the Saviour, through his servant Joseph Smith,
will all be verified and fulfilled.  How do the Saints feel in regard to
this matter?  Is there faith and power among them?  Do they feel grounded
upon the Rock of ages?  Do they feel that the words of Prophets will be
fulfilled?  There are times, perhaps, when men are measurably left to
themselves, and when they are somewhat in doubt.  But when they are active
in the faith of their calling, are they sure and stedfast, and do they
feel built upon the rock of eternal truth, the rock of ages, the rock of
revelation?  Do they realize that all the words of the Lord will be
fulfilled?  Those who read and hear, and do so understandingly, can
comprehend for themselves.  But how can people understand?  They may read
and hear the words of truth--the words of life, and yet the natural man in
his natural state cannot understand them.  Mankind must have revelation,
either through a preacher or some other source, and must enjoy the Spirit
that should always attend the preaching of the Gospel, to enable them to
understand what they hear.

	"Do you think there is calamity abroad now among the people?"  Not
much.  All we have yet heard and all we have experienced is scarcely a
preface to the sermon that is going to be preached.  When the testimony of
the Elders ceases to be given, and the Lord says to them, "Come home; I
will now preach my own sermons to the nations of the earth," all you now
know can scarcely be called a preface to the sermon that will be preached
with fire and sword, tempests, earthquakes, hail, rain, thunders and
lightnings, and fearful destruction.  What matters the destruction of a
few railway cars?  You will hear of magnificent cities, now idolized by
the people, sinking in the earth, entombing the inhabitants.  The sea will
heave itself beyond its bounds, engulphing mighty cities.  Famine will
spread over the nations, and nation will rise up against nation, kingdom
against kingdom, and states against states, in our own country and in
foreign lands; and they will destroy each other, caring not for the blood
and lives of their neighbours, of their families, or for their own lives. 
They will be like the Jaredites who preceded the Nephites upon this
continent, and will destroy each other to the last man, through the anger
that the Devil will place in their hearts, because they have rejected the
words of life and are given over to Satan to do whatever he listeth to do
with them.  You may think that the little you hear of now is grievous; yet
the faithful of God's people will see days that will cause them to close
their eyes because of the sorrow that will come upon the wicked nations. 
The hearts of the faithful will be filled with pain and anguish for them.

	How do you feel, Elders of Israel?  Do you feel as though this
tribulation would come soon?  Would you like to have the scene commence
this season, and have the vials of God's wrath placed at your disposal? 
Would you like to unstop those vials and pour their contents upon the
heads of those who have afflicted you and driven you from town to town,
from place to place, and from city to city, until you found a home in the
mountains, and have even followed us here, believing that they yet have
power to destroy the last Saint?  Would you like to empty these vials upon
the heads of the nations, and take vengeance upon those who have so
cruelly persecuted you?  Do you delight in the sufferings of your
fellow-beings?  Jesus died for those very beings.  Have you ever realized
that the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, was voluntarily shed for those
very characters as well as for us?

	Do you think that he has feeling for them?  Yes, his mercy yearns
over the nation that has striven for a score of years to rid the earth of
the Priesthood of the Son of God and to destroy the last Saints.  He has
mercy upon them, he bears with them, he pleads with them by his Spirit,
and occasionally sends his angels to administer to them.  Marvel not,
then, that I pray for every soul that can be saved. Are they yet upon
saving ground?  Many of them can yet be saved, if they will turn to the
Lord.

	If a person with an honest heart, a broken, contrite, and pure
spirit, in in [sic] all fervency and honesty of soul, presents himself and
says that he wishes to be baptized for the remission of his sins, and the
ordinance is administered by one having authority, is that man saved? 
Yes, to that period of time.  Should the Lord see proper to take him then
from the earth, the man has believed and been baptized, and is a fit
subject for heaven--a candidate for the kingdom of God in the celestial
world, because he has repented and done all that was required of him to
that hour.  But, after he is baptized and hands have been laid upon him
for the reception of the Holy Ghost, suppose that on the next day he is
commanded to go forth and preach the Gospel, or to teach his family, or to
assist in building up the kingdom of God, or to take all his substance and
give it for the sustenance of the poor, and he says, "I will not do it,"
his baptism and confirmation would depart from him, and he would be left
as a son of perdition.  But if he says, with a willing heart and mind,
"Here is my substance; I will not only pay the tenth of it, but the whole
of it is at your feet; do with it as you please,"  does he not continue to
be saved?  Yes.

	It is present salvation and the present influence of the Holy Ghost
that we need every day to keep us on saving ground.  When an individual
refuses to comply with the further requirements of Heaven, then the sins
he had formerly committed return upon his head;  his former righteousness
departs from him, and is not accounted to him for righteousness:  but if
he had continued in righteousness and obedience to the requirements of
heaven, he is saved all the time, through baptism, the laying on of hands,
and obeying the commandments of the Lord and all that is required of him
by the heavens--the living oracles.  He is saved now, next week, next
year, and continually, and is prepared for the celestial kingdom of God
whenever the time comes for him to inherit it.

	I want present salvation.  I preach, comparatively, but little about
the eternities and Gods, and their wonderful works in eternity; and do not
tell who first made them, nor how they were made; for I know nothing about
that.  Life is for us, and it is for us to receive it to-day, and not wait
for the millenium.  Let us take a course to be saved to-day, and, when
evening comes, review the acts of the day, repent of our sins, if we have
any to repent of, and say our prayers; then we can lie down and sleep in
peace until the morning, arise with gratitude to God, commence the labours
of another day, and strive to live the whole day to God and nobody else.

	Whomsoever you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye
are.  Do not obey the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the
grovelling grasping after property.  There are those in this congregation
who are so short-sighted, and so destitute of eternal wisdom and
knowledge, that they believe that brother Brigham is after property--after
the things of this world.  That is a false feeling, a false view, and a
false faith in such persons.  I am obliged to take care of what God puts
in my possession, and to make the best possible use of it.  I seek not for
the world, nor for the things of the world; but God heaps property upon
me, and I am in duty bound to take care of it.  Do you think that I love
the world?  I do not.  Where is the man who would more willingly give up
his property than I would?

	Do not gather to yourselves false notions.  When you imbibe that
which is not true, it tends to darken your understandings.  I wish you to
feel right and do right.  Love not the world--seek not the things of the
world, but seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all things
necessary will be added to us.  Perhaps some of you think there is more
added to me than is necessary.  I do not think a single individual in this
congregation knows how to take care of the things of life any better than
I do.

	You have been asked, to-day, whether you know how to save yourselves
temporally.  I have seen persons who were devoted, spirit and body, to
their religion, and yet did not know how to hoe through a row of potatoes: 
they would be all over the field hoeing--a little first in one row, and
then in another.  One of the brethren that brought the Gospel to brother
Kimball, myself, and others, happened to be by when we were raising a
loghouse.  We then, as now, believed in men's making themselves useful in
all places, and asked the minister to help us to roll up a log.  He took
the handspike and undertook to lift the log on to us, instead of on to the
building.  There are many just as ignorant as this man.

	Though some persons do not know how to obtain the necessaries of
life, they may know how to gain the kingdom of heaven.  If the knowing
ones are not faithful with the mammon of this world, who will commit unto
them the true riches?

	God bless you and all who love the truth!  Amen.

            PRIVILEGES OF THE SAINTS--PROVIDENCES OF GOD, &c.
          Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery
                   Great Salt Lake City, July 22, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	It is a great privilege to enjoy the society of the Saints.  We are
in possession of great blessings and privileges, if we can but realize it. 
No person can realize the blessings, or understand the providences of God,
unless he has the light of the Spirit of God.  Without that Spirit, a
person is dissatisfied, though he be constantly privileged with the
society of the Saints, and all his transactions and associations are with
them.  With that Spirit, a person placed in the society of the wicked,
unless duty requires it, is sorrowful, uneasy, and unhappy:  he is not
filled with the joy and peace he delights in.  He desires to see the face
of a Saint, to hear the voice of a Saint, and to be associated with those
who love God.

	How many are there here who do not like to pass by a camp of
emigrants, but much prefer, if they could do so with impunity in regard to
the feelings of their brethren, to go into the camp, sit down and chat,
apparently with a filial feeling towards those who regard not the things
of God--who treat lightly everything that is sacred?  The name and
character of the Being we worship they hold in derision; and yet how many
of this community delight in such society?  They do not realize the
blessings conferred upon them.  How many desire to mingle with the
ungodly?

	It may be asked, and with propriety, "Is it not reasonable, right,
and our duty to associate with the wicked?"  Yes, when duty requires it. 
I presume that Jesus had no hesitancy in his feelings or in his faith,
when the time came, to fill his mission to the dark and benighted spirits
in prison.  But do you think that he visited those spirits because he
delighted in their society?  Every person will at once answer, "No."  He
did not visit those spirits, nor have a desire to preach to them until his
body lay in the grave.  That was the appointed time, and he refused not,
but said, "Not my will, but thine, O God, be done: now is the time for me
to preach to the spirits in prison."

	But you can see persons who call themselves Latter-day Saints
composedly listening, and that, too, with apparent delight, to those who
are blaspheming the name of God.  How do you feel about such conduct? 
Take this community, as they are, and place them in heaven, and do you
think they would be satisfied to stay there?  They would be in complete
misery; and yet we are called Saints.  It is easy to see that this people
are not yet prepared to enter into the fulness of the glory, power,
exaltation, and excellency of the knowledge, wisdom, light, and
intelligence of heavenly things that they expect to enjoy when Jesus will
be revealed from heaven.  A father says, "I cannot part with my son," when
the son is a miserable, drunken, swearing thief; and a son, who has a
beastly, low, and debauched father, says, "I must have my father with me." 
Do you not see, at a glance, that if the Saviour was now here, those
persons would prefer to walk hand-in-hand, and then must join hands with
some others of like character, and they must join with a crowd worse
still, and they with another still worse, until they muster-in the hosts
of hell, and march with them; they will not part from each other.  Do you
not, then, see the situation of many in this community?

	Who among you realizes the blessings we are privileged with?  Glory,
immortality, eternal wisdom, and eternal wisdom, and eternal existence are
on one hand; darkness, night, death, pain, damnation, and hell are on the
other; and some would like to join those opposing principles, and are
striving to do so.

	The Elders exhort you to refrain from every evil, to be careful,
prudent, faithful, and wise, and to learn how to sustain your mortal
career--how to preserve your bodies.  Will you give heed?  Not all of you. 
The Elders of Israel may preach themselves to death, and still fools will
sell their last kernel of grain for whisky, or for a song, and, so far as
they are concerned, let their families die of want.  I greatly desire to
see you all so live that you can understand the blessings God bestows on
us, the organization of the spirit and the body, and the germ of eternal
intelligence that is planted within us to increase.  I would like to have
all understand that the Lord has sent forth the plan of salvation
expressly to enable mankind to overcome the sin sown in the flesh, and
exalt themselves with the faithful who have gone before to dwell with
angels and Gods.

	We cannot alter our position, only as we live for such change as we
desire, and prevail upon our friends to follow our example.  Here are
thousands of the brethren who are anxious to preach the Gospel to the
world, declare what they understand pertaining to eternal life, and gather
their scores and thousands, with what result?  The saving of a portion of
the whole number, while the rest will be prepared for eternal destruction. 
Is it not grievous?  How many there are who have been taken like infants,
as it were, from foreign countries and from the States, and been helped,
fed, clothed, and nourished, and yet have turned round and become our
greatest enemies!  Is not such folly sickening to the soul, and an
abhorrence to every feeling?  Mankind have the privilege of eternal
life--the privilege to prepare themselves to dwell in the presence of the
Father and Son--to dwell in eternal burnings, where all is pure and holy. 
No sin--no corruption can dwell there.  Sin came through the fall, and
death by sin; and they are warring against our spirits now in tabernacles,
which warfare continues from childhood to death; and who will overcome?

	A propensity to evil seems to be sown more strongly in the natures of
some than it is in others.  One seems to love strong drink better than he
loves his life; it is sweeter to him than is the cooling stream, and he is
overcome through the weakness of the flesh.  Who has the greatest reason
to be thankful to his God--the man that has no strong passion or evil
appetite to overcome, or the one that tries day by day to overcome, and
yet is overtaken in a fault?  The power of his strength, faith, and
judgment is overcome, and he is found in fault through his evil
propensities, though he is striving, day after day, and night after night,
to overcome.  Who has reason to be the most thankful?  The being that has
comparatively no strong passion to overcome ought constantly to walk in
the vale of humility, rather than boast of his righteousness over his
brother.  We are under obligation, through the filial feeling and ties of
humanity, to more or less fellowship those who do evil.  We must endure
this until the Lord shall see fit to separate the wheat from the
chaff--until the righteous are gathered out, and the wicked are bound in
bundles prepared for the burning,--until the sheep are separated from the
goats.  Those who have not strong passions to contend with, day by day,
and year by year, should walk in the vale of humiliation; and if brethren
and sisters are overtaken in fault, your hearts should be filled with
kindness--with brotherly, angelic feeling--to overlook their faults as far
as possible.

	Where persons wish to go to the States, to California, or elsewhere,
to gather riches and return, they still have a desire to drink of the
bitter cup and mingle with the ungodly that will give them sorrow.  If
understood, to associate with the Saints is one of the greatest blessings
we can enjoy upon the earth.  I should be much pleased, and so would you,
were we to never again hear the name of God taken in vain.  And I have
thought, for years and years, that if the Lord had plenty of labour for me
to do in the midst of the Saints, I would be well satisfied to never again
place my eyes upon a human being who hates God and righteousness.  Why not
live perfectly satisfied to look only upon the Saints--upon our brethren
and sisters--the old, the young, the middle-aged, and the children, whose
faces smile and glow with that heavenly expression through which the
Spirit of the Lord is beaming?  I would be well satisfied not to be
required to ever again see the face of a devil.  Why not so live in time,
and through eternity?  A certain class would refrain from mingling with
the wicked, while others delight to mingle with them:  they long to know
what is in the world, and present plausible arguments for their desire. 
Our children plausibly state, "We know nothing of the world; we know
nobody but 'Mormons.'"  It is sufficient to mingle with the wicked when
duty requires.

	The providences of God are over all the works of his hands, and it is
our privilege to so live that we can understand those providences, and
understand his design in the creation of all things.  His watchcare is
over all his work, and he turns, overturns, and changes at his pleasure. 
It is our privilege to understand this; and if we do, and practice in
accordance therewith, we are the best people upon the face of the earth. 
We enjoy privileges that no other people on the earth enjoy; and the
greatest of all is to enjoy communion with our Father and his Son Jesus
Christ.  There is no blessing equal to that, whether it is enjoyed in
palaces or in prisons, in wandering in the mountains, or passing our time
pleasurably in great cities.  Whoever the Lord Almighty enlightens and
fills with the joy of the upper world is happy:  the Spirit, the joy, the
peace, and the comfort are within them.

	We are to learn how to enjoy the things of life--how to pass our
mortal existence here.  There is no enjoyment, no comfort, no pleasure,
nothing that the human heart can imagine, with all the spirit of
revelation we can get, that tends to beautify, happify, make comfortable
and peaceful, and exalt the feelings of mortals, but what the Lord has in
store for his people.  He never objected to their taking comfort.  He
never revealed any doctrine, that I have any knowledge of, but what in its
nature is calculated to fill with peace and glory, and lift every
sentiment and impulse of the heart above every low, sad, deathly, false,
and groveling feeling.  The Lord wishes us to live that we may enjoy the
fulness of the glory that pertains to the upper world, and bid farewell to
all that gloomy, dark, deathly feeling that is spread over the inhabitants
of the earth.

	My brother Joseph, before "Mormonism" came to us, was a man of sad
heart, seeking to find in the bible the principles of eternal life.  He
once said to me, "Brother Brigham, there are no Bible Christians upon the
face of the earth, and I do not see any possible escape for the human
family.  According to the writings of the Old and New Testaments, all must
go to perdition."  I do not suppose that he had a smile on his countenance
for years.  I said to him, "You and I believe in God and in the Bible.  We
suppose the Bible to be true, or at least the most of it.  I admit it to
be true, and admit that there is a God.  We have always been taught so,
and that we have a just God, if we have any.  I believe in a just, holy,
equitable Being; and if the Gospel is not on the earth, my feelings are to
do about the best I can; and when I am through, I shall be in the hands of
the same God in whose hands I have been all the time, and I will risk it. 
I did not produce myself--I did not cause my existence.  A being superior
to me has done this; and if I do as well as I know how, I will then risk
all in his hands, and be perfectly contented and satisfied.  I shall go
with a cheerful countenance, and shall pass through the world as
cheerfully as I can, making the best of it."  But there was more or less
of a gloom over my feelings from the earliest days of my childhood that I
have in any recollection, until I heard the everlasting Gospel declared by
the servants of God--until I heard men testify, by the power of the Holy
Ghost, that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a true
Prophet of the Lord, who had revealed the holy Priesthood from heaven, had
established his Church, was going to gather Israel, and was coming to
judgment.  Under that preaching the gloom vanished, and has not since
troubled me for a moment.

	The dark shade of the valley of death is over that nations of the
earth; the vail of the covering is over them; they are hid from the
presence of the Lord.  They do not behold his glory--they do not
understand his providences; the fear of death is over them, and it is a
dark shadow.  That was over me, and I made the best of it.  But
"Mormonism" has opened up light.  Removing the curtain from the broad
sunshine, it has lighted up the souls of hundreds of thousands, and they
have been made to rejoice in the light of truth.  Continue to be faithful
to your calling.  It is your privilege and duty to so live as to be able
to understand the things of God.  There are the Old and New Testaments,
the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which Joseph
has given us, and they are of great worth to a person wandering in
darkness.  They are like a lighthouse in the ocean, or a finger-post which
points out the road we should travel.  Where do they point?  To the
fountain of light.  Joseph has gone to the spirit-world:  he is on his way
to his glory and exaltation, and all his sayings, from first to last, lead
us to the fountain of light, where we can understand for ourselves and
walk in the light.  That is what these books are for.  They are of God;
they are valuable and necessary:  by them we can establish the doctrine of
Christ.  I never asked for any book when I was preaching to the world, but
the Old and New Testaments to establish everything I preached, and to
prove all that was then necessary--that it was the duty of the people to
throw off their sins, cast evil from them, return to the Lord their God,
embrace the fulness of the Gospel, be baptized for the remission of sins,
receive the Holy Ghost, and then go forward in all the commandments and
requirements of heaven, walking in the light of eternal truth.

	Our duty is to make the best of our present position.  We have the
Gospel of life and salvation, to make bad men good and good men better. 
We are to preach, exhort, expound, continue in our duty, be fervent in
spirit, bearing and forbearing with our brethren, being filled with love
and kindness; and we will yet, perhaps, get some of our froward [sic]
connexions into heaven.  Jesus said, when the woman caught in adultery was
brought to him, "He that is without sin among you,let him first cast a
stone at her."  We are all sinners, and it is our duty to cast sin from us
when we learn what it is.  If we are a little good, become a little
better; if we have a little light, get a little more; if we have a little
faith, add to it; and by-and-by we shall be prepared to build up and
beautify Zion, and to be exalted to reign in immortality and be crowned
with the Gods. 

	God bless you!  Amen.

                    GOSPEL OF LIFE AND SALVATION, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, July 29th, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Here is the congregation of Saints who have forsaken all they
formerly esteemed near and dear, for the sake of the knowledge of the holy
Gospel of salvation; and when an Elder of Israel rises to speak to you,
how many are paying attention to what he says?  People are, in comparison,
like little children who have to be frequently cautioned not to throw
articles into the fire--not to cut or mar the furniture, and requiring
almost constant watchcare and instruction.  In like manner, the young,
middle-aged, and old require to be taught every Sabbath, every day, and
all the time, as it is written--"Then they that feared the Lord spake
often one to another."

	We are but babes in the Gospel of life and salvation, take this
people as a whole.  What poet, who understands things as they are, would
write--"Bear the cross and despise the shame"?  It is a cross to the
feelings of many to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ.  "Take up your
cross, brother, and bear it, and you shall wear the crown."  What cross? 
If the eyes of a person were opened to see the eternal principles that
pertain to the worlds that are, that were, and that will be, and the Gods
that dwell upon those planets we behold, would he talk about a
cross--about despising the shame?  What is the shame?  Where is it? 
Miserable, filthy individuals, full of the principles of death, point the
finger of scorn at those who confess that Jesus is the Christ.  Will you
regard their scorn?  No.  Pity the ignorant creatures who are bound to
ruin.  To a man devoted to God, and endowed with the fine feelings and
principles of life everlasting, the pointing, by the wicked, of the finger
of scorn at one who acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ--at one who
believes in God the Father and in Jesus the Mediator, is not worthy of the
least regard.  Do you despise those who scorn and ridicule the righteous? 
No; for in comparison they are no more than the dust, or the smallest
insect you can behold with your best microscopes.

	True, the human family are endowed with the germ of life; but who is
capable of preserving that life--of preserving his identity? When we talk
about sinners, Saints, the world, Christ, men of God, men of the world,
men of science, men of talent, and kings on their thrones, every person
that understands the Gospel of salvation realizes that more glory and
honour are attached to his character and calling than to all the man-made
kings ever crowned upon the earth.

	When I reflect upon these things and realize them, it is impossible
for me to answer my feelings before the people.  You frequently hear me
express a wish that I had a voice to penetrate the heart of every being
upon the earth.  But if I had the power to speak to them, and the ability
to convey my ideas in language so plain that children could not
misunderstand, speaking to all in their own language, I should still come
far short and be obliged to say, "My soul is burdened, because I have no
place to pour it out."  That is the situation of angels and Prophets who
have gone behind the vail.  Here are persons who have been in this Church
from the beginning.  Do they so live that the heavens are open to them? 
or are they still of the earth, earthy?  Are they grovelling in the
darkness that covers the nations of the earth?  This inquiry you may
answer for yourselves.  Perhaps some will say they have a reason to be
discouraged.  This people have not received, improved, grown, and enlarge
in their capacities as fast as they should have done.  I am not accusing
any individual; but, as a community, we have not improved and increased in
the knowledge of God and godliness according to our privileges.  Am I
discouraged?  I am not.  Does my heart fail me?  Am I ready to say that
the kingdom of God is broken, and there is  no salvation for the people? 
By no means.  If I live as long as Enoch lived, who walked with the Lord
three hundred and sixty-five years, can I then see a people prepared to
enter at once in the celestial world?  No.  Many may think that Enoch and
his whole city were taken from the earth directly into the presence of
God.  That is a mistaken idea.  If, within three hundred and sixty-five
years, I can see a people capable of surmounting every sin, of overcoming
every evil and effect of sin to such a degree as to be separated in the
flesh from the sinful portion of the world and from all the effects of the
fall--a great people as pure and holy as were the people of Enoch, I
should not complain, and, perhaps, have no cause to. Yet, in the latter
days, God will cut short his work in righteousness.

	Do you understand that what the Lord will perform in the latter days
will be done quicker than in the former days?  He suffered Noah to occupy
one hundred and twenty years in building the ark.  Were he to command us
to build an ark, he would not allow so long a time for completing it.  On
account of the work's being hastened in our time, I have good reason to
urge upon the people the necessity of their living their religion every
moment--of their increasing in faith, in wisdom, in knowledge, and in
power to forsake all bad habits,--to say to all who are in the habit of
doing wrong, of getting angry, of contending with their neighbours, and
abusing them with their tongues, and abusing themselves, Refrain from your
evil ways.  "We will," say they; but in a very short time time [sic] many
are engaged in their former evil practices, like the child's whittling the
furniture.  It appears as though such persons were glued to the world, and
will love and worship it.  When they learn the truth, they will learn that
it is a folly for a man to love gold and silver, goods and chattels, or
any other kind of property and possessions.  One that places his
affections upon such things does not understand that they are made for the
comfort of the creature, and not for his adoration. They are made to
sustain and preserve the body while procuring the knowledge and wisdom
that pertain to God and his kingdom, in order that we may preserve
ourselves, and live for ever in his presence.

	When the Elders address you from this stand, how many of those who
seem to be listening hear and understand?  Are most of the congregation
thinking about what they design to do to-morrow?  Are the sisters planning
their weaving and spinning for to-morrow?  Are the brethren planning to go
to the kanyons to-morrow?  Do you know that it is your privilege to so
live that your minds may all the time be perfectly within your
control?--that you may be so well schooled in the knowledge of your
religion, that your minds are as perfectly under your control as are your
bodies, except when they are nervous?  Persons taking too strong tea or
coffee, or too much whisky, have not that control over themselves that
they should have, because they become too weak.  Study to preserve your
bodies in life and health, and you will be able to control your minds. 
And when you come to meeting, bring you [sic] minds with you.  After all
our experience and the knowledge the Lord has given us, but few can take
their minds here before them; their affections and feelings are at the
assembly of the Saints, and they want their bodies there also, to enjoy
themselves.  That class come here to pay attention, and to understand all
that is said to them.  Others come here with their bodies, but where are
their affections?  Upon the labours of the coming week.  "I do not know
how I shall get my adobies to-morrow, or how I shall get my timer out of
the kanyon."  Or, "I have a fence to build, to secure my field before the
crop is destroyed," &c., &c., and the mind is not in the meeting.

	Can you understand that we are behind our privileges?  I know the
argument that arises in the minds of the people--"I am bound to provide
for myself."  I wish that obligation rested stronger on some than it does. 
"But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own
house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."  That is
the argument, and yet some will sell their last bushel of wheat, and then
come to me, or to others of the brethren, and beg.  They will peddle off
every particle of substance God has given them for their sustenance.  It
is our duty to be economical, to go to meetings, to the kanyons, and to
build, plant, and do everything required of us to build up the kingdom of
God on the earth; but the first duty is to learn how to sustain ourselves. 
The people have not yet learned that, though they are learning it.  One
may plough, plant, water, and till, but have no increase.  Another person
sows a field with wheat, but cannot get water for it, and goes to this
neighbourhood and that to attend to a little Church business; and when
harvest time arrives, he reaps an abundant harvest.  The man who took the
water has no wheat, and the one who laboured, as his Bishop called upon
him, for the benefit of the people, has a good crop.  This is a lesson the
people are learning, that God gives the increase.

	How the world hate us!  How they despise the kingdom of God!  How
they have sought to destroy it!  How they exclaim--"What ignorant,
degraded beings the Mormons are!"  The insignificant, low, degraded,
contemptible opinion they have of the Latter-day Saints does not reach the
depth of the low, miserable degradation that they themselves are in.  But
do we despise them?  No; we pity them.  "Pity them?"  Yes, pity them. 
They are flesh of your flesh, bone of your bone.  God "hath made of one
blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth;"
consequently, they are flesh of our flesh and bone of bone.  They profess
to despise us, but they are not able to think as meanly of us as we know
them to be, and we pity them.  We seek to do them good.  They are endowed
with capacity to learn and practise principles that will preserve them on
the earth, in the world of spirits, and after the resurrection; but they
are abusing their talent, and they are to be pitied.

	All who understand the principles of eternal life look upon their
fellowbeings with a watchful eye, and their hearts are filled with deep
anxiety for their welfare.  They anxiously desire that people would see
and understand what pertains to eternal life.  It is highly gratifying to
the Lord, to angels, and to all good men, to see intelligent beings
organized to receive a great amount of intelligence--seeking to possess
eternal life.  On the other hand, how sad it is to see them wasting their
time with trifles, and directing their steps to eternal death!  How
delightful it would be to see them pursuing the way of life--to preserve
both the body and spirit, and in the resurrection to see their noble
spirits reunited with their bodies and coming into the presence of God to
live for ever!  There are men here who look upon us as being of an
organization inferior to that of the generality of the people of the
world. If I did not pity them, I should be chagrined at myself.

	Contrast the course this people are pursuing with that of the world. 
All ye inhabitants of the earth, hearken and hear!  God has, in our day,
spoken from the heavens; he has bestowed his holy Priesthood on the
children of men; he has called upon all people to repent; and here are the
few who have left all for the sake of the eternal life proffered to them,
and their course is upward an downward to eternal increase.  Do this
people know more than they did a few years ago?  Yes; every day's
experience adds to your amount of knowledge: you are treasuring up
knowledge and wisdom.  The children raised in this Church are more than a
match, in spiritual matters, for the kings, princes, governors, senators,
representatives, and all the reputed wise men of Egypt.  And the boys of
from twenty to twenty-five years of age, who have been raised in this
community, who have enjoyed the teachings of the Prophet Joseph, will
outweigh, in intelligence in relation to national policy, the Congress of
the United States, with the President at their head.

	Your course is onward and upward, although you do not improve as
rapidly as you should.  You should walk continually in the light of God's
countenance, and no more walk in darkness.  Were such the case, would you
hear of any contention--of those those [sic] little, frivolous, trifling
difficulties that now too frequently occur?  Would you hear, "The world is
something to me!"  "My farm is something to me!"  "My goods are something
to me!"  "My heart is upon the things of this world!"  "I must provide for
my family," &c.?  There are but few of this people, in comparison, who yet
know how to provide for a wife and two children.  What of the world.  Are
they any more capable of providing for themselves than are this people? 
In the world you will find many more, in proportion, who know less, and
are less capable of taking care of themselves.

	I wish you to thoroughly under stand economy, and how to preserve
your bodies.  I wish you to fully understand the principles of natural
life.  How necessary it is that you should know them for your own benefit,
and that you may be able to teach them to your children, which you should
do all the time.  Be careful of your bodies; be prudent in laying our your
energies, for when you are old you will need the strength and power you
are now wasting.  Preserve your lives.  Until you know and practise this,
you are not thoroughly good soldiers nor wise stewards. Learn how to do
good--how to do right. work righteousness, and build yourselves up in the
faith of the Gospel.

	In the ordinance we here attend to in the afternoon, we show to the
Father that we remember Jesus Christ, our elder brother:  we testify to
him that we are willing to take upon us his name.  When we are doing this,
I want the minds here as well as the bodies.  I want the whole man here
when you come to meeting.  "Is that the way you come?"  Yes, it is the way
I go everywhere, when I go from home.  When I leave home, I dismiss it
from my thoughts.  "Is not your mind upon your family?"  When I pray, I
ask God to bless and preserve them; and then, whether he does or not, it
is all the same to me.  I do not trouble my mind about anything but the
business before me.  That is the way for us to conquer this weakness in
us, and take our minds with us.  Then, when you come to meeting, you know
what is said, and what this ordinance is for.  Then, when you are
baptized, you know what it is for.  Whatever duty you are called to
perform, take your minds with you, and apply them to what is to be done. 
You may leave your selfishness when you start to meeting, but take
yourselves.  And if your minds are reaching after this, that, or the
other, tell those ideas to stay away.  You may feel anxious about your
fields, about your crops, or about going to the kanyons; but bid those
thought depart, for you want to go to meeting to worship the Lord, and
wish to drop all care while at meeting.  Then, when the time comes, go to
the kanyons and to your other avocations, and do not let anything else
interrupt you.  That is the way to live.

	May God bless you!  Amen.

               LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT--LAWS OF HEALTH--JOY IN
                             THE GOSPEL, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, August 5, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	In instructing the people, I desire and seek to obtain the light of
the Spirit of truth, and the power and assistance of God to give me words
to so convey my ideas that the hearers can understand me.  I have ideas
that I deem very valuable, and I wish to so impart them to my fellowbeings
that they can comprehend them as I do, and, if they will, esteem them as I
do, really feeling their worth.  It is all I ask.  Preachers are in the
habit of reading a portion of Scripture for a text, and preaching from it,
but seldom upon it.  Such discourses as brother Bywater and brother
Kimball gave us this forenoon, and such as you generally hear from this
stand, would serve those preachers a long time, for they are all texts. 
We have not time to show wherein an Apostle or Prophet meant thus and so,
but we pour out the words of life to the people, as did the Apostles and
Prophets anciently.

	No man ever preached a Gospel sermon, except by the gift and power of
the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.  Without this power, there is no
light in the preaching.  Brother Bywater remarked that he did not desire a
man of God, when he arose to speak to the people, to say, "Thus saith the
Lord God Almighty," or "Thus saith Jesus Christ."  People who require
this, or who constantly require written revelation, have not a correct
conception of revelation and its Spirit.  What do the present professing
Christian world know about the words of the Lord that came to Jeremiah,
Isaiah, and other ancient Prophets?  They read and hear without
understanding much; they have not a true conception of the truth or
principle of what they are reading.  Is this the case with those who are
continually desiring to have "Thus saith the Lord," and more written
revelations.  Those who possess the Spirit of revelation know the voice of
the Good Shepherd when they hear it, and a stranger they will not follow. 
They discern the difference between the spirit and power of the Gospel and
the precepts of men.  When they hear truth poured upon the people, in
comparison like the cataract of Niagara, they do not want "Thus saith the
Lord," for it carries with it its own evidence, and is revelation to the
believer.  They understand, and the fountain within them springs up to
everlasting life; they are happy partakers of the grace of God through the
administration of his servants, and of the truths the Lord dispenses; and
they receive truth upon truth, light upon light, which cheers and comforts
their hearts day by day.  If you wish to understand the true principles of
revelation, live for it:  there is no other way of obtaining eternal life.

	Our spirits were pure and holy when they entered our tabernacles; and
if they have been defiled, it has been by the influence of Satan, through
the weakness of the flesh.  There is a constant warfare, and in the great
majority of cases the flesh overcomes the spirit.  In the few cases where
the spirit overcomes the flesh, it yields obedience to the whisperings of
the eternal Spirit of truth, which elevates it above the power of all
unholy desires and passions.

	Is there anything on this earth you could not dispense with, for the
sake of the Gospel?  There should not be.

	Our bodies are organized to derive enjoyment from their proper use. 
There is enjoyment in eating when you are hungry, and in resting when you
are fatigued, to the extent the body rightly requires; but if appetite is
so gratified that your body, when you wake, is tormented with a raging
fever, where is the pleasure of eating so much of this or that delicious
food?  Satisfying the appetite brings to an end the pleasure of eating;
and where food is partaken chiefly to gratify the pleasurable sensation
derived from eating, disease is gendered, and true misery springs out of
this unwise gratification.  Some healthy, strong-constituted persons can
eat large quantities of food with apparent impunity; but, in so doing, the
tax they place upon their systems will ultimately bring disease and death. 
Those who have suffered excessive thirst while passing over plains and
deserts realize that there is no blessing that is greater than cold water. 
When the system is thus parched for want of the proper supply of moisture
to sustain the continual perspiration it is subject to, is there any
luxury on the earth that can excel pure, cold water?  Though, in case of
excessive thirst and consequent exhaustion, care is required not to drink
too freely, until the system is cooled, and becomes gradually imbued with
this life-restoring element.  But through the use of water, by-and-by your
thirst comes to an end, and you feel as though you had not been thirsty in
your lives:  the enjoyment has passed away.

	Now, compare the greatest of earthly joys with the joys you receive
in believing in Jesus Christ and obeying the Gospel he has delivered to
the children of men.  It is sweeter than the honeycomb; and to those who
live according to it, it gives constant joy--a lasting feast, not merely
for an hour or a day, but for a whole life and throughout eternity.  The
appetite is always keen, and there is always plenty for it to feast upon. 
This is my experience.  The revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ are
sweeter than honey or the honeycomb.  We can eat, and continue to eat;
drink, and continue to drink.  Is there durable satisfaction?  Yes.  I am
in the height of my enjoyment.  All the pleasure and all the joy that can
be bestowed upon a finite being is in the Gospel of salvation, through the
Spirit of revelation upon the creature--upon the Saint of God--old or
young, male or female.  Not that this comparison fully conveys the idea;
for the language of mortals fails to fully portray the joys of the Gospel
of life everlasting.

	Cease not to do good, but let the Saints cease to do evil and live
for God and God alone, and their fleshly appetites and passions will not
be in their way.  Learn to overcome and control self.  It is impossible
for me to preach the sermon contained in this text; but let all live the
life of a Saint, and they will understand it by-and-by.  Let each person
be determined, in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, to overcome every
besetment--to be the master of himself, that the spirit God has put in
your tabernacles shall rule; then you can converse, live, labour, go here
or there, do this or that, and converse and deal with your brethren as you
ought.  If you have a chastisement for any, you can deliver it in the
spirit of meekness.  If you are abused, trampled upon, or in any way
imposed upon,--if men take a course to injure you or your property or
feelings, you can treat such conduct as you should, for you live above the
channel of selfishness, pride, and every worldly vanity that some men walk
in.  This is the privilege of all the Saints.

	Law is made for the lawless.  Let the Saints live their religion, and
there is not a law that can justly infringe upon them.  They are subject
to the powers that be, by living so pure that no law can touch them.  Let
them live their religion, and they keep the celestial law, so far as it is
revealed.  There is no law against doing good.  There is no law against
love.  There is no law against serving God.  There is no law against
charity and benevolence.  There is no law against the principles of
eternal life.  Live them, and no righteous law of man can reach you.  The
wicked and ungodly can injure the Saints, as they have done all through
the history of this world; they can persecute and kill Saints.  The wicked
said there was no law that would condemn Joseph Smith, for he never
transgressed the law; but, said they, Powder and ball will reach him; and
they assassinated him.  It is the privilege of all Saints to live as he
did, that no law in heaven or upon earth can condemn them.  It is our
privilege to say, every day in our lives, "That is the best day I ever
lived."  Never let a day so pass that you will have cause to say, "I will
promise you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, that your lives will be as a
well of water springing up to everlasting life.  You will have his Spirit
to dwell in you continually, and your eyes will be open to see, your ears
to hear, and your understandings to comprehend.

	I will take a text, and I want the people to preach upon it.  The The
[sic] brethren cast the seed into the ground, and, so far as we have
knowledge, the Lord has given them a bountiful increase.

	Brethren and sisters, old and young, here and throughout the world
wherever there is a Saint, when righteousness and peace are sown in your
hearts, I ask you, for yourselves, for the inhabitants of the earth, for
the good of the prosperity of the kingdom of God, and in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, to water the good seed sown, that the Lord may give you
an increase.  Let wisdom be sown in your hearts, and let it bring forth a
bountiful harvest.  It is more profitable to you than all the gold and
silver and other riches of earth.  Let wisdom spring up in your hearts,
and cultivate it.  Ask God to help you to live to his glory every day, and
when night comes you cannot say you could have bettered it.  There are
thousands of this community that so live every day that when night comes,
they could not have bettered it.  That is a consolation.  Let us induce
all to live so, and we shall have power over Satan, over the powers of the
earth, and over all the influences that hell wishes to pour upon us.

	Shall we try to cultivate our minds, our feelings, the talent God has
given us, so that we may improve continually and grow in grace and in the
knowledge of the truth, and cultivate wisdom in ourselves, and so live
that we can truthfully say, to-day, that we are masters over every
appetite?  The person that wants the whisky, cannot you do without it? 
Which would you part with first--your tobacco, your whiskey, or your
religion?  Your tea, or your religion?  Which would you shake hands with
and bid good-bye for ever--your coffee, or your religion?  I should think
I had disgrace the man that stands before you this day, if I loved any
object on the earth better than I love my religion and my God.  If we are
not willing to live up to every requirement of the Gospel, we more or less
disgrace our profession and being.

	The woman that says, "I will follow my husband to hell," will have
the privilege.  The man that says, "I will follow a woman to hell, but
what I will have her," will have the privilege of following her there.  It
is a disgrace to a Saint to love anything that he would not drop or
forsake for his religion.  Love your religion better than anything else. 
Love your God.  Life everlasting is all in all to us.  Indulgence of
appetite is not worthy the notice of men and women, though the body must
be sustained, for that is a duty God has placed upon us.

	Let us honour God, and prepare to embrace our Father and the family
connection we were associated with at the time we left the spirit-world to
come here, and to be more familiar with them when we leave this world than
we now are with one another.  Live so as to enjoy each other's society
hereafter in the light of eternal day; which may God grant.  Amen.



                         GOSPEL OF SALVATION, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,

                  Great Salt Lake City, August 5, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I rejoice in the Gospel of salvation.  It is the first of all things
upon this earth to me and to every one who has received its fulness and
the light and glory of the Spirit that accompanies it.

	I have been highly gratified with the remarks just made by brother
Bywater:  they were truthful and to the point.  Also, to what brother
Kimball has just said, my heart responds, Amen.

	In teaching the ways of life and salvation, a teacher seldom fully
explains all the ideas he advances, and the light of the Spirit is
necessary for their comprehension.  I frequently throw out a part of an
idea, or an idea without explanation; and some will understand, while
others do not.  The Spirit of the Gospel is the fountain of salvation; the
Spirit of revelation attends the Gospel, and without that Spirit no man
can understand it.  Brother Bywater alluded to the consistency of the
system adopted by this people; yet it is a great mystery to that portion
of the inhabitants of the earth who do not fall in love with the truth and
embrace it in their faith.

	False ideas and false principles are as tenaciously adhered to by
those who inbibe [sic] them in their faith as is the truth by those who
love it.  I presume that the worshippers of idols in China, Japan,
Hindostan, &c., were we to enter their congregations and tell them that
our religion differs from theirs, would be as astonished as we are that
they see and understand things as they do.  They are as tenacious of and
as sanguine in their belief--as enthusiastic in their religion, as ever a
true Saint was or can be in his.  When I contemplate the endless variety
in the dispositions, understandings, temperaments, countenances, and
organizations of people, I am not surprised that there are those who do
not understand things as I do.  I expect people to have their own peculiar
views, forms, principles, and notions.  In consequence of this great
variety, we should not be astonished if all do not believe the Gospel--do
not love the truth.

	When Jesus was on the earth, he reproved sin, taught righteousness,
strove to save the Jews, and deliver the Gospel to the nations of the
earth; but the Jews could or would not understand things as they were.  He
came to save, not to destroy; but the Jews took a course through which
they were afflicted and scattered among the nations of the earth, and
brought upon themselves that which they said--"Let this man's blood be
upon us and our children," though he was not disposed to destroy, but to
save them.  Stephen prayed that those who stoned him might be forgiven, as
they knew not what they did.  Jesus so prayed for those who assisted in
and consented to his death, when he was crucified for the sins of the
world.  He was not astonished that all people did not believe.  They would
not come unto him that they might be saved; they would not come to the
light that their deeds might be reproved.

	It may be asked, Can people come to the light?  Yes, all can, that
their evil deeds may be reproved--that they may forsake their iniquities
and receive the truth.  But will all do so?  No.  Will all people believe
the truth?  They will not.  Cannot the inhabitants of the earth submit to
the Gospel?  They can.  Will they?  No, they will not.  Is there a
conviction upon the minds of the people when they have heard the Gospel
preached, and where they have heard of it?  Is there a conviction conveyed
by the Holy Spirit that this is the Gospel of salvation?  There is; and it
cannot be denied without falsifying the truth.  This has caused the
persecution we have received.  We are chastised for our sins, and by this
means we are brought to understanding.  We have been persecuted because
there is a conviction, so far as they have heard the Gospel preached, that
we have the truth.  This is the cause of the opposition against us.

	Would a priest of any denomination oppose "Mormonism," if he was not
convinced that it is true?  No.  Were a man to come into this congregation
and relate something that every man, woman, and child present knew to be
false, who would take the trouble to disprove it?  We all know the
statement to be false; consequently, will not take pains to oppose it? 
One the other hand, were there no conviction in the sound of the Gospel to
the minds of the people--that it is true--that it is of and from God, who
would take pains to oppose it?  Let a person go into a congregation of
Methodists and try to prove that Jesus was an impostor, that every system
of religion is false, and that the Bible is a matter of speculation got up
by selfish divines expressly for their own benefit; and who in that
congregation would deem it worth while to oppose views so erroneous to the
minds of those who have heard, from Sabbath the Sabbath, the doctrines of
the Gospel preached, so far as they understand them?  No one, because to
them the speaker's views would be so obviously false. No man can disprove
a truth.  This is why people are angry, and why they contend against
facts.  They are fearful, and say at once, "If this system is true, all
others must fail."  Why not rather every man rise up and say, "Let God be
true, let the truth remain, and let me know the truth; that is what I
want,--I will submit to it; and let every false theory and principle fall,
to rise no more?"  Will they do this?  No, they will not.

	With regard to people's being confined--cramped--contracted, in their
liberties in the midst of these people, all that is required of anyone is
to cease to do evil and learn to do well.  Brother Bywater observed that
he had never been in the least contracted, controlled, or in any way
infringed upon, with regard to doing good; neither has any man or woman in
this community.  But there is a certain class here that say, 'We want
so-and-so, such a piece of ground, or such other kind of property;' and
because they are not always gratified, right or wrong, they say that they
are curtailed in their liberty, and allege that they are abused.  Permit
them to have their way, and what do they do, or want to?  Some of them
wish to open grog-shops, and have the people patronize them, and get
drunk.  They wish to put the cup to your lips and pour the strong drink
down your throats, caring only for what is in your pockets.  They remind
me of a Methodist priest in Iowa, after a good collection.  The money was
on the table, and he wished the people to sing; so he struck up, "This is
the God we adore."

	Others, of the class alluded to, which to establish brothels in our
settlements; and because we will not permit it, they assert that they are
curtailed in their liberties and privileges.  That class wish to
scandalize the name of every Saint on the earth, and ridicule the name and
character of the God we adore and serve; but we will not permit them to do
it here.  They wish to ride through our streets blaspheming, and damning
everything and everybody that does not bow to their corrupt practices; and
because we will not permit it, they say that they are oppressed and
curtailed in their privileges.  Oh, how they are oppressed!  They have not
the privilege of serving the Devil quite as much as they want to .  They
do not enjoy quite as much privilege to steal our property, our horses,
&c, as they wish to.

	Do our enemies love the truth?  No; they love lies, and make them. 
It is acknowledged all the time that there are evildoers here; but are
they Saints?  No.  I am not going to give up the ship, or forsake my
religion, because there are those who do evil.  I will stick to the old
ship Zion until every passenger, the crew, and every officer on board are
holy and live to God; and, God and good men being my helpers, we will
conquer, and we will run the ship into harbour--the haven of rest.  Be
encouraged, all good men and women, and all you grumblers and complainers,
who think that you are curtailed and oppressed, and do not enjoy liberty
here, go elsewhere and get all the liberty you can.  We do not want you
here; but if you stay, do not take the name of God in vain, nor endeavour
to corrupt and abuse everybody within your reach.

	We have some drunkards who halloo in the streets, and we bear with
them, and intend to as long as we can; and when we can bear no longer, we
will disfellowship them.  We have men who are dishonest, and are as yet
obliged to have them; for the net gathers in the good and the bad.  We
have the meanest and the best mixed together. The Gospel we preach is the
Gospel of salvation.  It is the power of God sent down from heaven.  The
Spirit of life, intelligence, and revelation is in it, and all who do not
possess that Spirit do not enjoy our holy religion.

	May God bless you!  Amen.

          INFLUENCE OF THE ELDERS IN PREACHING THE GOSPEL--DUTY
                 OF THE SAINTS LIVING THEIR RELIGION, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, 
                  Great Salt Lake City, August 12, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I fully understand that all Saints constantly, so to speak, pray for
each other.  And when I find a person who does not pray for the welfare of
the kingdom of God on the earth, and for the honest in heart, I am
sceptical in regard to believing that person's religion to be genuine, and
his faith I should consider not the faith of Jesus.  Those who have the
mind Christ are anxious that it should spread extensively among the
people, to bring them to a correct understanding of things as they are,
that they may be able to prepare themselves to dwell eternally in the
heavens.  This is your desire, and is what we continually pray for.

	Brother J. V. Long's discourse this morning was sweet to my taste;
and the remarks of brother T. B. H. Stenhouse were very congenial to my
feelings and understanding.  Brother Long has good command of language,
and can readily choose such words as best suit him to convey his ideas.

	Brother Stenhouse remarked that the Gospel of salvation is the great
foundation of this kingdom--that we have not built up this kingdom, nor
established this organization--we have merely embraced it in our faith;
that God has established this kingdom, and has bestowed the Priesthood
upon the children of men, and has called upon the inhabitants of the earth
to receive it, to repent of their sins, and return to him with all their
hearts.  This portion of his remarks I wish you particularly to treasure
up.

	If the angel Gabriel were to descend and stand before you, though he
said not a word, the influence and power that would proceed from him, were
he to look upon you in the power he possesses, would melt this
congregation.  His eyes would be like flaming fire, and his countenance
would be like the sun at mid-day.  The countenance of a holy angel would
tell more than all the language in the world.  If men who are called to
speak before a congregation rise full of the Holy Spirit and power of God,
their countenance are sermons to the people.  But if their affections,
feelings, and desires are like the fool's eyes, to the ends of the earth,
looking for this, that, and the other, and the kingdom of God is far from
them, and not in all their affections, they may rise here and talk what
they please, and it is but like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal--mere
empty, unmeaning sound to the ears of the people.  I cannot say this of
what I have heard to-day.

	Those faithful Elders who have testified of this work to thousands of
people on the continents and islands of the seas will see the fruits of
their labours, whether they have said five words or thousands.  They may
not see these fruits immediately, and perhaps, in many cases, not until
the millennium; but the savour of their testimony will pass down from
father to son.  Children will say, "The words of life were spoken to my
grandfather and grandmother:  they told me of them, and I wish to become a
member of the Church.  I also wish to be baptized for my father and mother
and grandparents;" and they will come and keep coming--the living and the
dead; and you will be satisfied with your labours, whether they have been
much or little, if you continue faithful.

	Brother Long remarked that before he gathered to Zion he had imbibed
an idea that the people were all pure here.  This is a day of trial for
you.  If there is anything that should give us sorrow and pain, it is that
any of the brethren and sisters come here and neglect to live their
religion.  Some are greedy, covetous, and selfish, and give way to
temptation; they are wicked and dishonest in their dealings one with
another, and look at and magnify the faults of everybody, on the right and
on the left.  "Such a sister is guilty of pilfering; such a brother is
guilty of swearing," &c., "And we have come a long distance to be joined
with such a set:  we do not care a dime for 'Mormonism,' nor for anything
else."  The enemy takes the advantage of such persons, and leads them to
do that for which they are afterwards sorry.  This is a matter of great
regret to those who wish to be faithful.  But no matter how many give
themselves up to merchandizing, and love it better than their God, how
many go to the gold mines, how many go back on the road to trade with the
wicked, or how many take their neighbours' wood after it is cut and piled
up in the kanyons, or steal their neighbours' axes, or anything that is
their neighbours'.  You live your religion, and we shall see the day when
we shall tread iniquity under foot.  But if you listen to those who
practise iniquity, you will be carried away by it, as it has carried away
thousands.  Let every one get a knowledge for himself that this work is
true.  We do not want you to say that it is true until you know that it
is; and if you know it, that knowledge is as good to you as though the
Lord came down and told you.  Then let every person say, "I will live my
religion, though every other person goes to hell.  I will walk humbly
before God, and deal honestly with my fellow-beings." There are now scores
of thousands in this Territory who will do this, and who feel as I do  on
this subject, and we will overcome the wicked.  Ten filthy, dirty sheep in
a thousand cause the whole flock to appear defiled, and a stranger would
pronounce them all filthy; but wash them, and you will find nine hundred
and ninety pure and clean.  It is so with this people:  half-a-dozen horse
thieves tend to cause the whole community to appear corrupt in the eyes of
a casual observer.

	Brother Long said that the Lord will deal out correction to the
evil-doer, but that he would have nothing to do with it.  I do not know
whether I shall or not; but I shall not ask the Lord to do what I am not
willing to do; and I do not thing that brother Long is any more or less
ready to do so than I am.  Ask any earthly king to do a work that you
would not do, and he would be insulted.  Were I to ask the Lord to free us
from ungodly wretches, and not lend my influence and assistance, he would
look upon me differently to what he now does.

	You have read that I have had an agent in China to mix poison in the
tea, to kill all the nation; that I was at the head of the Vigilance
Committee in California; that I managed the troubles in Kansas from the
beginning to the end; that there is not a liquor-shop or distillery but
what Brigham Young dictates it:  so state the newspapers.  In these and
all other accusations of evil-doing, I defy them to produce the first show
of evidence against me.  It is also asserted that President Buchanan and
myself concocted the plan for the army to come here, with a view to make
money.  By-and-by the poor wretches will come bending, and say, "I wish I
was a 'Mormon.'"  All the army, with its teamsters, hangers-on, and
followers, with the judges, and nearly all the rest of the civil officers,
amounting to some seventeen thousand men, have been searching diligently
for three years to bring one act to light that would criminate me; but
they have not been able to trace out one thread or one particle of
evidence that would criminate me.  Do you know why?  Because I walk humbly
with my God and do right, so far as I know how.  I do no evil to anyone;
and as long as I can have faith in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to
hinder the wolves from tearing the sheep and devouring them, without
putting forth my hand, I shall do so.

	I can say honestly and truly, before God, and the holy angels, and
all men, that not one act of murder or disorder has occurred in this city
or territory that I had any knowledge of, any more than a babe a week old,
until after the event has transpired.  That is the reason they cannot
trace any crime to me.  If I have faith enough to cause the devils to eat
up the devils, like the Kilkenny cats, I shall certainly exercise it. 
Joseph Smith said that they would eat each other up, as did those cats. 
They will do so here, and throughout the world.  The nations will consume
each other, and the Lord will suffer them to bring it about.  It does not
require much talent or tact to get up opposition in these days.  you see
it rife in communities, in meetings, in neighbourhoods, and in cities. 
That is the knife that will cut down this Government.  The axe is laid at
the root of the tree, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
will be hewn down.

	Out of this Church will grow the kingdom which Daniel saw.  This is
the very people that Daniel saw would continue to grow and spread and
prosper; and if we are not faithful, others will take our places; for this
is the Church and people that will possess the kingdom for ever and ever. 
Shall we do this in our present condition as a people?  No; for we must be
pure and holy, and be prepared for the presence of our Saviour and God, in
order to possess the kingdom.  Selfishness, wickedness, bickering,
tattling, lying, and dishonesty must depart from the people before they
are prepared for the Saviour.  We must sanctify ourselves before our God.

	I wanted to ask brother Long a question this morning--what he had
learned in regard to the original sin.  Let the Elders who like
speculation, find out what it is, if they can, and inform us next Sabbath. 
Or is you have anything else that is good, bring it along.  I wish to
impress upon your minds to live your religion, and, when you come to this
stand to speak,--not to care whether you say five words or five thousand,
but to come with the power of God upon you, and you will comfort the
hearts of the Saints.  All the sophistry in the world will do no good.  If
you live your religion, you will live with the spirit of Zion within you,
and will try by every lawful means to induce your neighbours to live their
religion.  In this way we will redeem Zion, and cleanse it from sin.

	God bless you!  Amen.

              EFFECTIVE PREACHING--SUPPORT OF THE POOR, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, August 19, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	When the preaching is very dry, the bowery is generally thinly
attended; but when the preaching is full of marrow and good things, the
Bowery will be full of people.  This reminds me of an anecdote.  A
Presbyterian priest invited an Indian preacher to occupy his pulpit; and
when the Indian was through preaching, the priest asked him why the people
kept awake during his preaching, remarking that they invariably fell
asleep while he was preaching.  "I will tell you," said the Indian:  "You
feed them with a silver dish and silver spoon; you rap the dish with the
spoon, and the ringing sounds put the people to sleep.  But the Indian
takes his wooden bowl and ladle, and lades out the rich, nourishing
succotash to the people, which makes them wide awake, and they want a
little more."

	Brother George Q. Cannon has been in the States during two years
past, and has done all he could to do good to the people of Utah.  He has
been faithful, has travelled from place to place, and has accomplished all
he possibly could; and what he has not accomplished others have.

	You know the history of "Mormonism;" and is this is not the Lord's
work, we had better quit it, for we should derive no benefit from
remaining in it.  If this is the Church of Christ, God will take care of
his people and carry on this work.  Brother Cannon stated that one
gentleman he conversed with said that there is a power in this work beyond
the power of Brigham Young.  If we did not know this, we should quickly
scatter.  All that any man can do is to do his duty.  No one possesses
power in himself to bear off the work of God and build up the Lord's
kingdom.  It is his work, and the Lord will accomplish it by the means he
will employ.  Brother Cannon has been successful, in the hands of God, in
doing good; and so have others.  Brothers Hooper and Eldredge have done
good.

	Brother Eldredge stated that he was not sent on a mission this time. 
He was not, but I was thankful that he took it in his head to go.  We did
not know whom to call upon to go and transact business for us in the
States.  He had crossed the Plains for us so often that I would not call
upon him to go, but I was pleased and thankful when he concluded to go and
proffered to attend to our business.  He has always transacted our
business to our satisfaction.  I do  not know that he has ever dropped a
stitch in the net he has woven for us in his business transactions, and
that is almost more than I can say of any other man.  He has had my faith
and prayers, the same as though he had been called.  I was determined, if
he did go, that he should make the first step towards it.  He went, has
done good, and all is well; and so have others done good:  they have made
themselves useful.

	While brother Cannon was speaking of the trouble the Gentiles have in
providing for their poor, I though if they would take my counsel, that I
could tell them a better way than they practise.  They raise large amounts
of means for supporting their poor.  It is given to them; they use it up,
and are where they were at first.  Had they wisdom, they would appoint a
man to take charge of the poor and take them into Kansas or Nebraska, or
some other locality where land is cheap, and teach them to support
themselves.  Set the men to ploughing and the women to planting, with a
good farmer to show them how, and in a little while they will be able to
sustain themselves.  Let each Ward of a city do this, until all the able
poor are provided with farms and know how to raise their bread; then let
them get a few sheep, and manufacture the wool into good, warm, and
comfortable clothing, and then raise flax and manufacture it.  By pursuing
this course, in a few years there would be but few poor in the United
States.

	The reason we have no poor who are able to work is because we plan to
set every person to work at some profitable employment, and teach them to
maintain themselves.  If a person is not able to take care of himself, we
will take care of him.  How?  Ever since I left my father I have had some
of his family to provide for.  Ever since I have been in this Church I
have never suffered a relative to be maintained by the church.  But some
men and women cast their children and other relatives upon the Church.  If
one has an aged sister who cannot maintain herself, he passes her over to
the Church; or if an aged father or mother, why, "let the Church or
brother Brigham take care of them and provide for them."  It is a disgrace
to every man and woman that has sense enough to live, not to take care of
their own relatives, their own poor, and plan for them to do something
they are able to do.  There are some blind people here who more than
maintain themselves.  Some old ladies cannot do hard work, but they can
darn stockings and do other light work. There is yet much to be done by
the Bishops in these matters, though I have not so much occasion to preach
to the Bishops on this subject as I used to have.  We have been removing
and appointing others who do better.  We intend to do this until we have
fathers for the people. If a Bishop will act to the extent of his calling
and office, and magnify it, there will not be an individual in his Ward
that is not employed to the best advantage.  He would see that all lived
as they should, walking humbly with their God, attending to their prayers,
observing the Sabbath-day to keep it holy, and ceasing to swear and steal. 
There would not be a person in his Ward that he does not know, and he
would be acquainted with their circumstances, conduct, and feelings. That
will be the case by-and-by.  We are improving; and by-and-by we shall be
quite a well-behaved family, and can hail each other with delight as
brethren and sisters, and the Lord will own and bless us as his children.

	We are all, both Jew and Gentile, of one common Parent, though now we
are divided into various tongues and people having a great diversity of
sectional feelings.  I am pleased to see national feelings passing away in
this community.  The spirit of wisdom is so increasing that I think a
national feeling is constantly growing less and less in the midst of this
Church, though we can still see it in some.  If you have the Spirit of God
to a fulness, and your eyes are open to see things as they are, you will
find that we are but one nation and family--but one people--but one
flesh--but one blood, no matter where born.

	Put forth your ability to learn as fast as you can, and gather all
the strength of mind and principle of faith you possibly can, and then
distribute your knowledge to the people.  Give them virtue, knowledge,
principle, truth, godliness.  The Lord is gathering those principles home
to Zion from among the wicked nations, and is leaving them in darkness. 
What a pity it would be for the Lord to gather out all the good, and we be
found unworthy of it.  We shall be worthy of it, if we live for it; and
may the Lord help us so to do!

	God bless you!  Amen.

                 TRIUMPH OF 'MORMONISM," [sic-quotes] &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, August 19, 1860.
                         Reported by J. V. Long.

	I will bear my testimony to the truths that we have heard this
morning.  To my understanding, to my feelings, and to the spirit within
me, we had a good, sound discourse, about three minutes and a half long,
from brother Andrew Moffat.  It was right to the point, and every word was
a text.  We have also had an excellent discourse from brother Hooper:  his
remarks were sweet to the taste of those who love the truth.

	It is a matter of rejoicing to me to have the privilege of bearing my
testimony to what we have heard this morning.  Brother Andrew Moffat
started from here for the States, last fall, on business; and he has
laboured most admirably in buying cattle and in assisting brother Cannon
and others who were engaged in getting up trains, and in so doing has made
himself very useful.  And I think that he has not neglected, in his
business transactions and in his travelling, to let people know that he
was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and to
bear his testimony of the truth of the Gospel, and at the same time asked
no odds of anyone who did not want to hear.  This is the feeling of the
Elders who are full of the Spirit of God, and what are the wicked going to
do about it?  The Elders have this assurance within them.

	Father Smith, who spoke first this morning, has been in the Church
almost from the beginning, but has not gathered with the Saints till this
season.  In conversation with him the other day, he told me that leading
men in New York said that "Mormonism" would be used up at the time the
President issued his orders to the troops.  Some of them asked what he
thought of it?  He replied that he did not know what would be done, but
the result would be that "Mormonism" would triumph over all its enemies,
and in that affray would come out of the top of the heap.  This assurance
is in every man who lives his religion; but when any begin to doubt, then
they begin to think that this is rather a hard religion to live.

	All that has been said by brother Hooper about temporal affairs is
good, I have lived nearly sixty years, and am acquainted with many
portions of the United States, somewhat acquainted with Europe, and
historically acquainted with many parts of the world; but, so far as I
have travelled and read, this is the best country we were ever in, or can
now find, for raising Saints.

	The Spirit of the Almighty is being withdrawn from the people; and is
it not your prayer that he will gather not your prayer that he will gather
to Zion all the wisdom, strength, intelligence, and integrity of the
earth?  This is the prayer of everyone that understands "Mormonism."  What
will be their condition when the Spirit of the Lord is withdrawn?  They
will whet the knife to cut each other's throats, and, as brother Hooper
remarked, try to make Mason and Dickson's the dividing line; but that will
not remain, for they will cross it to destroy each other, and the sword
and fire will be prevalent in the land.  Says one, "But you are a
'Mormon,' and we do not believe anything in 'Mormonism,' though we believe
that calamities await the people, and that great events are at the
threshold," [sic]  The world, and particularly the United States, have
been told these things during thirty years past; and though no one but
myself had warned them, there would not now be a man upon the face of the
earth but could have heard the Gospel, if he had been disposed to listen
to it.  They would have been prepared for what is coming; for any one of
these my brethren has said enough to warn the whole world.  This frees our
garments, for we are bound to do our duty; and then, if they neglect, the
blood of their garments will be found in their skirts, not in ours.

	Brother Hooper remarked that he had learned that "Mormonism" is true. 
It is both the duty and privilege of the Latter-day Saints to know that
their religion is true.  If brother Hooper had yielded to his own natural
feelings, he would not have represented us in Congress.  Here is a great
people, and they wish a man in Congress to represent them in their proper
light.  Now, who would say that he is capable of doing this?  Brother
Hooper submitted to the people's choice, as every man should.  Had the
choice fallen upon any other, as it did upon brother H. S. Eldredge, who
was our first choice previous to the last election for Delegate, (but it
was thought best to change it,) he also would have been able to have done
this duty in Congress--to have done whatever the Lord wished to have done. 
Brother Bernhisel was our Delegate for several years, and are we satisfied
with his official course?  Yes:  he did his duty.  

	How shall we know what to do?  By being obedient to every requirement
of the Gospel.  Brother Hooper has stated that I promised him the
assistance of the Almighty.  I did.  I laid my hands upon him and blessed
him, and told him that he should have dreams and visions, and power with
God to know what to do, if he lived his religion; but if he did not, I
promised him nothing.  He prepared himself to pray; and when a man with a
disposition to listen to a truth called upon him, he felt as well as with
his friends, and could express his feelings; but if visitors had no place
for the truth, the sooner they left the better.  Joy filled his bosom, and
each time the brethren called to see him was the best time he had.  When a
man approached him with the Spirit of God, he felt--"This is the man for
me:  here is the Spirit; here are joy and peace in having fellowship with
the Lord Jesus Christ and with the Father."  This is the way brother
Hooper felt; and just as much confidence as he had in what I told him, so
much he received.

	Revelation is here poured out every Sabbath.  Thank God for it.  Am I
not happy?  Yes, all the time.  There is no darkness; and there is any
necessity of having sorrow?  No.  Our religion is peace, happiness,
wealth, and a fulness of good things to walk in the light of truth.  These
blessings are with and for the Latter-day Saints, and we have nothing to
do but to live for them.

	God has given us our tabernacles and planted in them the germs of
eternity; and it is for us, in this present existence, to let the spirit
overcome every passion of the flesh, and never to suffer the spirit to
submit to the temptations of the flesh.  Labour to bring everything into
subjection to Christ, for this is his earth.  It came from God in the
beginning, and that, too, not by any chances of creation; for all that you
see and can comprehend and understand, that is good, is produced by the
Almighty Creator of the worlds.

	Respect one another; do not speak lightly of each other.  Some, if
they get a little pique against an individual, are disposed to cast him
down to hell, as not worthy of a place upon earth.  O fools!  not to
understand that those you condemn are the workmanship of God, as well as
yourselves!  God overlooks their weaknesses; and so far as they do good,
they are as acceptable as we are.  Thank God that you know better, and be
full of mercy and kindness.  I speak evil of no man; but I hate, with a
most cordial hatred, the evil actions of some men.  Their organization
came from God, but their conduct does not.  It is not the persons, but it
is their wicked conduct that I despise and hate.

	Live your religion.  "Mormonism" will triumph, and all hell cannot
prevent it; and those that live faithful will be exalted.  When people get
into the dark, they want to leave; and I do not know but that it is one of
God's fore-ordinations that as soon as they lose the Spirit they should
want to leave.  That is just what I want; and I pray that there may be no
barrier in their way--that no man may ever stay here, unless he loves God
with all his heart.

	May the Lord bless you!  Amen.

                  DEALINGS OF THE LORD WITH HIS PEOPLE.
                 Remarks made by President Brigham Young,
                         Provo, August 26, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I am happy in the privilege of again meeting with you.  I am well in
spirit and in body.  I never was better in my spirit than I am this
afternoon.  The day I now enjoy is the best day of my life; these days are
the best days I ever lived, and I expect them to grow better.  The many
reasons I might give for this I will omit.

	It is some time since we met with you here.  Next Sabbath, I think,
it will be twenty-six months since I was upon this stand.  Our
circumstances then were very different from what they are to-day.  Since
then, some of our relative and friends have been consigned to the silent
tomb; but there is a goodly number of us still living, and the favourable
circumstances under which we are to-day should influence every heart to
rejoice.  If we could but understand and see things as they
are--comprehend the dealings of the Lord--the workings of his kingdom, it
would be a matter of great joy and rejoicing to us; but as yet we only see
and understand in part, though it is our privilege to so live that we may
know things pertaining to our conduct here as they are understood by more
intelligent beings.  Let us faithfully improve upon what we do understand.

	Can you discern and understand the dealings of the Lord with this
people from the beginning?  If we can understand this, it is indeed a
matter of great rejoicing to us.  All intelligent beings who are crowned
with crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives must pass through
every ordeal appointed for intelligent beings to pass through, to gain
their glory and exaltation.  Every calamity that can come upon mortal
beings will be suffered to come upon the few, to prepare them to enjoy the
presence of the Lord.  If we obtain the glory that Abraham obtained, we
must do so by the same means that he did.  If we are ever prepared to
enjoy the society of Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
or of their faithful children, and of the faithful Prophets and Apostles,
we must pass through the same experience, and gain the knowledge,
intelligence, and endowments that will prepare us to enter into the
celestial kingdom of our Father and God.  How many of the Latter-day
Saints will endure all these things, and be prepared to enjoy the presence
of the Father and the Son?  You can answer that question at your leisure. 
Every trial and experience you have passed through is necessary for your
salvation.

	The greatest trial this people are under the necessity of bearing is
to hold fellowship with false brethren.  Which would you choose--to leave
your homes, as this people have done in many instances, and suffer
yourselves to be driven, and seek new homes, and make new acquaintances in
a strange country, or to live in your houses and upon your possessions,
and be surrounded with false brethren?  That question can be readily
answered by every Saint.  I can see those in this congregation who were in
Missouri when thousands were ready and anxious to kill the few Saints then
there; but the Saints would rather suffer all that was suffered there and
in other States, than be obliged to live with thieves--with those who
would swear falsely against them, and deceive, and be guilty of every kind
of abomination.  They would rather leave their homes, seek new locations,
and make new possessions, than be under the necessity of mingling with, of
eating bread and drinking water in the name of Israel's God, and
fellowshipping the ungodly--the wretches who would destroy them from the
earth.

	Some may think that they have passed through severe trials during the
few years past; but, so far as my own experience and knowledge go, I have
passed through no scenes of trial or sorrow.  I have never felt better in
my life than I have during two or three years past.  I do not know that I
have had wicked, unrighteousness, or ungodly feelings pertaining to the
whole matter, though I may have felt desirous at times to lay
righteousness to the line and judgment to the plummet, and sweep away the
refuge of lies; but that would have only gratified that which pertains to
the natural man.  I am confident it would not have satisfied that immortal
part within us that is pure and holy, but partakes more or less of the
weaknesses incident to the fallen portion.  I have sometimes had feelings
of this kind--"Draw your swords, ye Elders of Israel, and never sheathe
them so long as you have an enemy upon the earth."  I sometimes felt,
before the move, like taking the sword and slaying my enemies, until they
were wasted away.  But the Lord did not design this, and we have remained
in peace and quietness.

	Do you see persons who have been in this Church for years, drinking
the deathly draught put to their mouths by the wicked?  Yes.  Have you not
seen them forfeit their right and title to the kingdom of God upon the
earth, and yield to a paltry, foolish, fallen disposition to do evil? 
Yes; wives have been called to weep and mourn for their children and
husbands, husbands for their wives and children, and children for their
parents.  The parable of the Saviour still holds good--the net still
gathers good and bad.  There are families here whose husbands and fathers
are now preaching the Gospel.  They will return by-and-by, and will bring
their sheaves with them.  Those who have been converted through their
labours will follow them, and there will be a few who will be stedfast and
live their religion, but not all who are gathered from the nations; for
the Gospel net will gather good and bad, and will continue so to do as
long as the fishermen cast their net into the sea.  Still, a righteous
person will never be discouraged, but will constantly contend against his
evil passions, and against evil in his family and neighbourhood; and the
Lord will utterly cleanse his thrashingfloor as with the besom of
destruction.

	Be not discouraged, for it is a joyful time.  Do you have peace and
plenty?  Yes.  We have all the time enjoyed peace and plenty in Great Salt
Lake City.  Great peace have those who love the law of the Gospel, and
nothing shall offend them.  Great joy have they who love our Lord Jesus
Christ; and great peace do those enjoy who delight in working the works of
righteousness.  Let the blessings of heaven attend you, is my prayer
continually.  Be faithful, ye Saints.  Contend against evil, and cease not
to take every measure to do away with all the evil that is in your midst,
until God shall sanctify a people and prepare them to dwell in his
presence.

	Marvel not that we have what are called troubles:  marvel not that
our enemies seek to destroy us and the kingdom of God from the earth. 
These persecutions are to prepare the humble and faithful to dwell in the
presence of God the Father and his Son, while the vast multitudes of the
earth must dwell in the kingdoms prepared for them, but cannot dwell in
his presence.  If you expect to gain the glory you anticipate, never
grieve, nor sorrow, nor mourn at the providences of God when they cause
you to suffer, or to part with every earthly object you have.  If they
cause fathers and mothers to separate from their children, and husbands
from their wives, it matters not:  God is our Father, and the offspring of
Adam are our brothers and sisters.  Who is my father, mother, sister, and
brother?  Those who do the will of the my Father in heaven.

	God bless you!  Amen.

                            THE THREE GLORIES.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, August 26, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I will read a portion of the vision Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon
had concerning various kingdoms that God has prepared for his subjects:--

	"And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun
is one.  And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the
moon is one.  And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of
the stars is one; for as one star differs from another star in glory, even
so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world; for these are
they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas.  These are they who
say they are some of one, and some of another--some of Christ, and some of
John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some
of Isaiah, and some of Enoch; but received not the Gospel, neither the
testimony of Jesus, neither the Prophets, neither the everlasting
covenant.  Last of all, these are all they who will not be gathered with
the Saints, to be caught up unto the Church of the Firstborn, and received
into the cloud.  These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and
adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.  These
are they who suffer the wrath of God on the earth.  These are they who
suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.  These are they who are cast down to
hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fulness of times when
Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have
perfected his work, when he shall deliver up the kingdom, and present it
unto the Father spotless, saying, I have overcome and have trodden the
winepress alone, even the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of
Almighty God.  Then shall he be crowned with the crown of his glory, to
sit on the throne of his power, to reign for ever and ever.  But behold,
and lo!  we saw the glory and inhabitants of the telestial world, that
they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as
the sand upon the sea-shore; and heard the voice of the Lord, saying,
These all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to Him who
sits upon the throne for ever and ever; for they shall be judged according
to their works; and every man shall receive, according to his own works,
his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared; and they shall be
servants of the Most High:  but where God and Christ dwell they cannot
come, worlds without end.  This is the end of the vision which we saw,
which we were commanded to write while we were yet in the spirit."  (Doc.
and Cov., sec.xcii., par.7)

	I do not know that I have any particular desire to dwell upon this
any more than any other subject of the Gospel, although this subject, in
the abstract, occupies more of my affection, adoration, and heartfelt
gratitude to our Father and God than any other that has ever been revealed
to my knowledge, from the days of Adam to the present.

	Looking at the human family--the millions of intelligent beings who
have come upon this earth from the days of Adam until now, and those that
must still come in the course of events--the question naturally arises,
What are they created for?  what is the object of their being?  None of
them have power to produce themselves.  Jesus Christ is the heir of this
vast family.  He said that he had power to lay down his life and and [sic]
take it up again; but he had no more power to produce his life, in the
beginning of his existence, than we have.  Every human being is endowed,
more or less, with eternal intelligence, with the germ of life
everlasting, of glory immortal; and then, when I view the human family as
they are, with the traditions of the fathers, what the Bible has taught,
what the priest has taught, and what kings and rulers have introduced and
fastened upon their people, through traditions and customs, and
contemplate the variety now existing and that has existed upon the earth,
the marks of these finites, and what is their end, I can truly say that,
in my estimation, no other revelation so glorious was ever given.  You may
read the character of the Deity as portrayed in all that has ever been
revealed, until you come to this vision, in relation to his justice, his
judgment, his power, his life, his glory, his excellence, his goodness,
his mercy, and the fulness of every gift, of every trait, of every
principle inherent in the character of the Supreme Being, and it is not
equal in magnitude, in my reflections, to that which God revealed to
Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in the vision from which I have read.

	We are far advanced in the things of the kingdom of God.  To say
nothing about any other principle or doctrine that has ever been revealed,
the transcending glory, excellency, wisdom, goodness, virtue, and power
that God has revealed in this vision far outweigh all the Christian
tenets, doctrines, and systems they have drawn from the Bible.  No
cistern, to use a figure, hewn by man, can hold water; and every human
doctrine and principle, professing to point the way of salvation, fades
away.  The doctrine God has revealed here is more precious to me, and is
worth more than all the doctrines of Christendom.

	We may read that the Lord will turn the wicked into hell, and all the
nations that forget God; but, so far as the Bible and priests are
concerned, the world are left in the dark upon what this vision reveals. 
Fatality is sealed on the world by the priests as an everlasting
inheritance and legacy, from which they never can be delivered.  Their
doom is to dwell in a lake of fire and brimstone.  God has created this
intelligence to preserve it.  If the world, with its present feelings,
believed this vision, they would say--"Our condition will be so far better
than we had anticipated, that we will continue our course; for we love the
world and the things of the world, and we will roll sin as a sweet morsel
under our tongues, and delight in all the iniquity we have indulged in
from youth, and continue to imbibe the erroneous principles taught by the
fathers and others, and will pass on from day to day; for our condition is
to be so far better than our priests have taught us."  It would have been
better for them had they never been born, were it not so.

	Were the wicked, in their sins, under the necessity of walking into
the presence of the Father and the Son, hand-in-hand with those who
believe that all will be saved--that Jesus will leave none, their
condition would be more excruciating and unendurable than to dwell in the
lake that burns with fire and brimstone.  The fatalist's doctrine consigns
to hell the infant not a span long, while the adulterer, whoremonger,
thief, liar, false swearer, murderer, and every other abominable
character, if they but repent on the gallows or their death-beds, are, by
the same doctrine, forced into the presence of the Father and the Son,
which, could they enter there, would be a hell to them.

	The kingdoms that God has prepared are innumerable.  Each and every
intelligent being will be judged according to the deeds done in the body,
according to his works, faith, desires, and honesty or dishonesty before
God; every trait of his character will receive its just merit or demerit,
and he will be judged according to the law of heaven as revealed; and God
has prepared places suited to every class.  The Saviour said to this
disciples--"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I
would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and
prepared a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also."  How many kingdoms there are has
not been told to us:  they are innumerable.  The disciples of Jesus were
to dwell with him.  Where will the rest go?  Into kingdoms prepared for
them, where they will live and endure.  Jesus will bring forth, by his own
redemption, every son and daughter of Adam, except the sons of perdition,
who will be cast into hell.  Others will suffer the wrath of God--will
suffer all the Lord can demand at their hands, or justice can require of
them; and when they have suffered the wrath of God till the utmost
farthing is paid, they will be brought out of prison.  Is this dangerous
doctrine to preach?  Some consider it dangerous; but is it true that every
person who does not sin away the day of grace, and become an angel to the
Devil, will be brought forth to inherit a kingdom of glory.

	The sectarian world, as we call them, is a professed church of God,
without the Priesthood.  Sectarians have not the Priesthood; but all of
them who live according to the best light and intelligence they can obtain
through faithfulness to what they believe, as taught unto them, will
receive a kingdom and glory that will far transcend all their
expectations, imaginations, or visions in their most excited moments.
[sic-punc] whether in their falling-down power, jumping power, or
squawling power.  All they have ever desired or anticipated they will
receive, and far more; but they cannot dwell with the Father and Son,
unless they go through those ordeals that are ordained for the Church of
the Firstborn.  The ordinances of the house of God are expressly for the
Church of the Firstborn.

	"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not
shall be damned; and these signs shall follow them that believe.  In my
name," &c.  This is the law of the celestial kingdom, and those who
hearken to this law, and embrace its truths in their faith, and live them
in their lives, will be brought to enjoy the presence of the Son, and will
dwell with him and the Father.  And all the residue, who do not sin
against the Holy Ghost, will be punished according to their deeds, and
will receive according to their works, whether it be little or much, good
or bad.  Jesus will redeem the last and least of the sons of Adam, except
the sons of perdition, who will be held in reserve for another time.  They
will become angels of the Devil. What say you, ye Latter-day Saints?  Is
not this the most glorious thought that ever was revealed to mortal man? 
Let the Elders of this Church go forth and preach that every person who
does not become as they are will have to suffer the wrath of God, and go
down to hell to dwell in a lake that burns with brimstone and fire, "where
the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched," and I would not give the
ashes of a rye-straw for all they will do.  It is good for nothing: there
is no life in it--there is no soul in it.

	This intelligence must endure.  We must preserve our identity before
the Lord, who has sent his Son and angels, and is sending the Holy Ghost,
and his ministers, and revelations, to comfort, cheer, guide, and direct
the affairs of his kingdom on the earth.  Shall we dwindle out in our
faith, and in those blessing God bestows on us at this time?  No.  Let us
live to increase them.  Let us so live, that when we receive our bodies in
the resurrection, we will be received in the presence of the Father and
the Son.  This kingdom is designed expressly to prepare the people to
dwell with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, and all the world
beside will receive according to their works upon the earth.  This is a
joy that is unspeakable:  it is a glory beyond the capacity of our minds
at the present time to appreciate.  It is a great joy to me.

	Sometimes I feel as though I would like to dwell upon these
principles, they are so delightful; but I do not feel like preaching or
talking much this morning.  The glory and intelligence that God has
prepared for the faithful, and for every other being that is worthy to
receive, expand, extend, and comprehend, no man knoweth.  Should not this
fill every heart with peace and joy--that there is no end to the progress
of knowledge?  Let us continue to prepare ourselves to dwell with Him in
eternal burnings.

	May the Lord bless the people!  Amen.

                  PRIVILEGES OF THE GATHERED SAINTS, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                 Great Salt Lake City, August 26th, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	We enjoy great blessings and privileges, and ought to appreciate
them.  No people on the earth enjoy that peace and tranquility that we do
in these mountains; and no people have so much reason to be truly thankful
and grateful, and to acknowledge the hand of God in all things, as we
have.  We have the words of life:  the law of life is committed unto
us--the Priesthood of the Son of God, which is after the power of an
endless life.  We are in the happy and peaceable possession of it.

	We have great reason to be truly thankful that we are in these
mountains.  I have said so from the time we first came here.  When our
enemies learned that we were going to locate in these mountains, they said
that we never could be driven from them, and they told the truth.  If we
ever go from them, we shall go voluntarily.  They said that they would
drive us from Ohio, from Missouri, and from Illinois, and they did so; but
they cannot drive us from these mountains we now inhabit.  All we have to
do is to do right, walk humbly before God, deal justly one with another
and with the whole human family, and let our worst wish toward our worst
enemies be that we may see the time when they will be obliged to do right. 
I never did wish anything worse upon them than they should do right, pay
their debts, deal justly, and walk humbly one with another.  This is the
worst wish I have towards those who are now here and have tried to shed
our blood for money, and that when they leave the Territory they do not
steal anything.  I despair of inducing them not to lie about us.

	All the nations are fast approaching the brink of ruin.  Search the
most enlightened nations now dwelling on the earth, and you will learn
that they live upon fiction, delight in shadow, run after error, greedily
drink down falsehood, and hate truth.  This is particularly the case with
the nation in which we live, as every one knows, who is acquainted with
its religious, political, and moral classes.  There are individual
exceptions; but, taking the nations of the world as nations, they do not
believe the truth; they are after falsehood and lies, and say to
themselves--"The world goes on--the morning comes as usual, and is
followed by the evening.  We live day after day, and all things are about
as they were yesterday."  How long will they continue so?  They think that
all things are going to remain as they were since the fathers fell asleep,
that Christ is not coming, and that the prophecies will not be fulfilled,
except it may be spiritually.

	Search history, from the days of Enoch, when he built a city which
was taken from the earth; pass on to Noah who built an ark and floated on
the water over a drowning world, and to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; read
the writings of Moses, and of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the lesser
Prophets, down to the time of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the
Messiah, or until Mary and Elizabeth rejoiced together that the Messiah
was to be born; then read the writings of the disciples of the Lord Jesus,
and search history from that day when the nations have for years turned
much of their attention to manufacturing instruments of death, they have
sooner or later used those instruments.

	Our nation, England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, and other
nations have for years exercised their inventive skill, and expended much
means in inventing and fabricating instruments of death.  Upon his return,
brother Hooper presented to me a rifle, for which it is almost claimed
that it will kill people while it is hanging up, and without powder and
ball; and brother George Q. Cannon brought a brace of pistols, each of
which can be fired twelve times instead of six.  From the authority of all
history, the deadly weapons now stored up and being manufactured will be
used until the people are wasted away, and there is no help for it.  The
spirit of revolution goes on through the nations:  it never goes back.

	We are in these mountains, and in the enjoyment of peace and plenty. 
Are there any who have not enough bread?  Some complain of living poorly;
but what hinders such persons from living well?  Have you not plenty of
breadstuff?  Yes, you have the best of flour, and can have plenty of good
corn-meal.  You also have rye, barley, and oats.  Who prevents your
keeping a cow and having butter and milk?  Can you not raise potatoes,
squashes, turnips, onions, cabbages, and every other kind of produce that
you can use?  What hinders your keeping a pig and having a little pork? 
Nobody hinders you:  you can have all these things, if you are so
disposed, and live well.  Who can disturb you?  Nobody but yourselves. 
You can quarrel with each other, rail against each other, and make life
disagreeable, if you are so disposed; otherwise you may have an agreeable
life here, and the peace of God will rest upon you.

	We are the best people in the world, and have the greatest reason to
be thankful because of our location and situation.  Let us love one
another, and love God supremely.  It is written, "Love your enemies." 
Brother Erastus Snow was going to correct Paul for trying to excuse
himself.  I do not think the term was any more misapplied than when the
Apostles wrote, "Love your enemies;" for I do not believe a word of that. 
"Love your enemies!"  What, love hell?  When people do that, they get
where devils are.  If it had been written, "Love the spirits God has
placed in tabernacles, and try to reclaim them and do them good, and pray
for those who despitefully use you," I would feed and clothe them, take
peculiar care of them, and place them where they would not hurt anybody. 
You may think that I am disputing the Bible.  If you understood what the
Lord means when he talks about loving his children, you would understand
that he does not love them as they are now; for he hates and is angry with
the wicked.  He dislikes their wicked acts, but he loves his children,
because he has organized them, and he wishes to see them obedient.

	Many of you are acquainted with brother John Smith, the Patriarch,
who went to the States last year after his friends.  He has just come into
the Bowery.  The companies are all well.  They want some flour, and we can
send it to them.  Brother Kimball will send his team this time, and there
is no necessity for calling upon the Bishops.  We have heard from the last
company.  On the fourth of August they were on Wood River:  their cattle
looked well, and the company was making good progress.  They had been
eleven days out from Florence, and had travelled 170 miles.  A few cattle
have died in some of the companies; and if any of the brethren, who have
relatives or friends in the companies still out, wish to assist them, they
can do so by sending out their teams and helping them in.

	God bless you!  Amen.

    DIVERSITY AMONG MEN AS TO THEIR CAPACITY FOR RECEIVING TRUTH, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                 Great Salt Lake City, September 2, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Are our minds framed to receive and profit by those communications
which the Lord would give through his servants?  We are so constituted
that we can receive but little at a time, though there is quite a
diversity in men as to their capacity for learning, and also in regard to
retaining what they learn.  Some comprehend their lessons quickly, while
others are not so gifted.  I have also noticed that some children commit
their lessons quickly and well; but ask them the meaning and intent of
what they have committed, and they cannot answer you; while others pay
more attention to the intent and meaning of what they learn.  Such is the
case with all persons, no matter what their age; and some are capacitated
to receive more and faster than others.

	When the Latter-day Saints and those who believed in the coming of
the Messiah, and those who believed in him when he came, and those who
have believed in him since he came, see eternal things by the vision of
their minds being opened.  They will consider it a great mystery why all
people did not understand the things of God, they are so easy to be
understood and so congenial to our capacities and situation on the
earth--so admirably adapted to our nature.  That mankind do not understand
the things of God is marvellous to an enlightened person, and that what
truth they do learn they wish to have it understood that it is by their
own wisdom:  the wisdom that comes from God they do not desire.

	We observe in some of the Latter-day Saints a dull stupidity in
regard to learning the things that pertain to life.  For persons to
understand themselves, their own organization, they must understand the
character of that Being who has organized them, or they never can
understand their own organization.  This mankind are unwilling to admit. 
No person can follow the thread of his own existence, without inseparably
connecting it with the Father--the Supreme Being who dwells in eternity. 
We are inseparably connected, and must be, to that eternal Being who
produced us.  You will therefore readily understand that without the
principle and Spirit of revelation, it will be impossible to communicate
these principles to the people.

	The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the opening avenue--the open gate in
the road or way from earth to heaven, through which direct revelation
comes to the children of men in their various capacities, according to
their callings and standing in the society in which they live.  The Gospel
of salvation is a portion of the law that pertains to the kingdom where
God resides; and the ordinances pertaining to the holy Priesthood are the
means by which the children of men find access to the way of life, wherein
they can extend their travels until they return to the presence of their
Father and God.  This no person will dispute, who has faith in the
character of the Deity.  They will acknowledge that God is true, that his
system of salvation is correct, that his law is just, that he is equal in
all his ways, and that the ordinances of his house are true and faithful;
but when you speak of the Gospel as preached by the Elders of this Church,
the query arises in a moment, "Is this true?"  Yes, as you have often
heard stated, it is a fact that earth and hell cannot deny.  The sound of
this Gospel carries conviction to every heart that has heard it; it
carries an influence and power that no other sound has.  But, though they
are thus convicted, yet they will query, "Is it true?"  If it were not
that the conviction of the Almighty pervades even the sound of
"Mormonism," you would not see armies arrayed against this people.

	This is the most moral people upon the face of all the earth, with
all the rascality there is in a few.  The Gospel net gathers both good and
bad.  We have both here.  But this people, as a people, are the most
circumspect and moral people that now live.  It has been said that we are
a low, groveling, lawless people.  There is not a man in our Government,
who has a good sound heart and brain, but what will say that we are the
most law-abiding people in the United States.

	All, so far as they have heard, are convicted that the work in which
we are engaged is true--that it is the Gospel of salvation--the voice of
God from the heavens to all people.  Hear it, O ye inhabitants of the
earth!  The the [sic] Lord has again spoken from the heavens, and revealed
the holy Priesthood, to save the children of men from impending ruin. 
Though this is true, they fancy that they can devise systems by which they
can save themselves, enter into the gate of rest, and secure to themselves
that eternal repose the heart aches for all through life.  There may be
some exceptions to this general truth, but the existence of a Supreme
Being is universally acknowledged by man.  This is to be found in the
lowest of the heathen nations, and they worship according to the best
knowledge they have.  The inhabitants of Hindostan, Japan, &c., are
devotional people, though they worship before images, not knowing better. 
The aborigines of this country also worship according to their traditions,
as do all the heathen nations.  They make their graven images of brass,
wood, silver, and gold to represent the Deity they seek to please.  The
Roman Catholic Church uses paintings and images of Jesus Christ and the
Virgin Mary; but ask them if they worship these pictures and images, and
they will tell you, "No:  the picture or image only represents to the eye
the Being we worship."  So it is with the worship of the heathen nations: 
they will tell you they "do not worship the inanimate image, but that the
God they worship is in eternity.  We do not see him, but our fathers have
taught us many things which we wish to retain in memory."  You present to
your children the image or picture of the Saviour, or any good being, and
teach them to imitate his example, and by this means strive to create the
best possible impression upon their young minds.  And which is best--to do
this, or to present them a pack of cards and teach them the use of them? 
Then do not depreciate the heathen worship, nor the brethren of our former
Christian faith; for the majority of them worship according to the best
knowledge they have.  Intelligent beings are organized to become Gods,
even the sons of God, to dwell in the presence of the Gods, and become
associated with the highest intelligencies that dwell in eternity.  We are
now in the school, and must practise upon what we receive.  Wickedness now
dwells upon the earth; but as we are exhorted from time to time by words,
deeds, and examples, and by the faith of the good, let us continue in this
labour of love until we overcome the evil that is within ourselves.  With
all the rest of the good that you can commit to memory, be sure to
recollect that the Gospel of salvation is expressly designed to make
Saints of sinners, to overcome evil with good, to make holy, good men of
wicked, bad men, and to make better men of good.  Wherein we are wicked,
wherein we have evil passions, the gospel will aid us in overcoming evil. 
It gives us the influence, the power, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the
understanding to overcome our weaknesses and to purify ourselves before
the Lord our God.  How often we have heard it said that "a Saint will be a
Saint, a devil will be a devil, and the wicked will be wicked!"  People
should understand that there is no man born upon the face of the earth but
what can be saved in the kingdom of God, if he is disposed to be.  There
is not a word to contradict this in all the sacred writings.  When the
wicked man forsakes his wickedness, though he has rolled it under his
tongue as a sweet morsel, he can be saved.  If God has foreordained
certain men to certain ends, it is because he knew all things from
eternity, as in the case of Pharaoh, who he knew would do wickedly;
consequently, selected him to be put upon the throne. "You are determined
to be wicked and to carry out the schemes of the Devil; therefore I will
use you to promote my kingdom on the earth and to exalt me among men, for
I know that you will do all you can against my children, against my work,
and against my grace to save the children of men."  God raised him to the
throne of Egypt, because he foresaw that in this position he could use him
to the greatest advantage to His cause,--not because he was foreordained
to that position.

	There are no persons without evil passions to embitter their lives. 
Mankind are revengeful, passionate, hateful, and devilish in their
dispositions.  This we inherit through the fall, and the grace of God is
designed to enable us to overcome it.  The grace of God is bestowed upon
all, and the kingdom of God is planted on the earth expressly to enable
mankind to overcome the evil that is in them, and to save all.  If the
Latter-day Saints live their religion, they will forsake iniquity and
overcome the evil that the enemy of all righteousness causes to rise
within them, until every passion and appetite is as perfectly under their
own control as a patient animal they hold by the bit.

	Ye wise men, ye great philosophers, do you comprehend and know what
is the origin of the intelligence we behold?  Where did it spring from? 
Who is the author of our existence?  Who has brought us forth upon the
earth and given us this intelligence, creating us erect, given us ability
to learn and to continue to learn to all eternity, and to reach forth for
the hidden things that are in the future?  Can the wise men of the day
define this intelligence?  Can the chemist analyze it?  No; it cannot be
searched out by human wisdom.  We must admit that God is true, that his
law is just, that his kingdom is just and pure, and that it is now set up
upon the earth, or there can be no being saved in his presence.  We are
his children.  This is obvious, and is easy to be understood by those who
can only understand simple facts.  We are his offspring, and to him we
shall return.  This being so, we should so live as to be counted worthy to
be again received into the family of heaven, to be participants of all the
glory, excellency, and power that pertain to the family of God in
eternity, and to be joined with those who sing hallelujah to his name in
mansions of bliss.  Let the wicked world pass on and the inhabitants of
the earth rail, and let the wicked imagine a vain thing and the heathen
rage and run to-and-fro; yet knowledge will increase, and they cannot
prevent it.  The kingdom of God and the ordinances of his house are again
restored, and we are made happy participants thereof.  Praise his holy
name, then, brethren and sisters, and acknowledge his hand in all things,
improving your talents, and making yourselves worthy to receive more.  The
kings, queens, nobles, and great men of the earth will yet bow to the
Gospel, though not until they are obliged to.

	We have not much history of the wise men of the east, after they saw
the star and found the child Jesus.  He had not lived two years before an
edict was sent forth to slay all the children in certain regions, under
such an age, thinking that the child Jesus would be caught among them and
slain.  But Joseph was warned in a dream to escape with the young child. 
Where then were the wise men who came to worship him?  They had gone their
way, and were still.  There are many wise men of this day who feel so
influenced; they would worship with the Saints, but will not endure the
opposition they must receive, if they should do so.  Never was the kingdom
of God so privileged as it is now.  The children of Israel had the Gospel
and the kingdom in their possession, but they were so wicked and ungodly
that only Joshua and Caleb, of all the adult males who went out of Egypt,
were left to go over and possess the promised land.  They were prospered
and slew their enemies; but after a while they went into bondage, were
again made free, and again went into bondage.  Did they enjoy the
privileges that we do?  No.  We can travel and preach from island to
island, and from nation to nation, and can travel and preach in our own
nation, for God has prepared the way.  We are blessed more than all the
people on the face of the earth, and are therefore under the deepest
obligations to praise and serve God.  It matters little, though we have
many times left our houses and other possessions, having been driven from
them by our enemies; for the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof;
the gold and the silver they are taking from the earth are all in his
hands to dispose of at his pleasure.  He sets up kingdoms and casts them
down at his pleasure.  The fulness of the earth is in his hands, but it
cannot be enjoyed, in the full sense of the term, without enjoying it in
connection with his kingdom.  When put to its proper use, gold,instead of
being made a god of, will be made into dishes, and all things will be
prepared for Jesus to reign and rule and live here, for he is the heir of
this earth.  The gold will also be used for paving streets for us to walk
upon:  all the faithful will have the privilege of walking the golden
streets of the New Jerusalem.

	I feel that this is the best day I ever saw; and were I to give vent
to my feelings, I should jump and shout, like a Methodist, Hallelujah! 
God reigns; his kingdom is upon the earth, and he will save the remnant in
the latter days.  I feel happy.  "Mormonism" has made me all I am, and the
grace, the power, and the wisdom of God will make me all that I ever will
be, either in time or in eternity.  Do you think that I suffer affliction? 
No; for I am happy when in a house, or in the mountains, or wherever I
chance to be.  Our religion measures, weighs, and circumscribes all the
wisdom in the world--all that God has ever revealed to man.  God has
revealed all the truth that is now in the possession of the world, whether
it be scientific or religious.  The whole world are under obligation to
him for what they know and enjoy; they are indebted to him for it all, and
I acknowledge him in all things,  Is it not reasonable and highly
commendable to worship Him, unto whom every knee shall bow, with a pure
heart and conscience uncontaminated by the sins of the world?

	The greatest weakness, ignorance, and foolishness of the human family
are exhibited in their denying the Saviour, denying the hand of God, and
not submitting to his supremacy on the earth.  O fools, and slow of heart
to believe.  Let the few who have received the truth live to it strictly,
daily, hourly, and momentarily, so that they can receive more and more,
and  grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.  That is my prayer
for you constantly to my Father and God, in the name of Jesus.

	That we may be blessed, let us do our duty, gather the house of
Israel, redeem and build up Zion, see Jerusalem established, and Jesus
reign triumphantly upon the earth; which is my desire, in the name of
Jesus Christ.  Amen.

                     TRIALS AND DUTIES OF THE SAINTS.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                 Great Salt Lake City, September 2, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I will say a few words to those who have lately arrived.

	The Spirit of the Gospel which they received in their native
countries caused them to rejoice, lighted the lamp of devotion within
them, and created in their hearts a love of truth.  When people receive
the Holy Ghost, or the Gospel evidenced by the Spirit of truth, they in a
degree feel and realize the glory of Zion.  The commandment has gone forth
for the Saints to gather and build up Zion.  They very readily receive the
impression that the gathering-place is Zion, that the gathered are
actually living in Zion, that the evil influences abroad in the world and
which afflicted them there will cease to afflict them here, that they will
enjoy the sweet communion of the holy ones upon the earth, and that their
sorrows and all that afflicts them will have passed away.

	I wish to inform you, brethren and sisters, who have just arrived in
these valleys, that all your trials hitherto are but trifling in
comparison to the trials you will now be called to meet and pass through. 
How many of you will continue faithful--preserve yourselves in your
integrity and in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ?  You have come here
expressly to be assembled with the Saints; your object in gathering was to
forsake the wickedness that is in the world and to mingle with those who
serve God with an undivided heart, and you expect to be faithful; but let
me inform you that you will not all prove faithful; some of you will
apostatize.  Can you tell who?  You reply, "No:"  but the first you are
aware, some of you will be off to California, perhaps, with the words--"To
Cache or Carson, we don't care a d---- which," on your waggon-covers, as
they were on the waggon-covers of some who started for Carson last spring. 
Some of you will be tempted above what you will bear--will tamely submit
to darkness and its powers--to the evil influences of wicked spirits--will
forsake the faith, and the Devil will get the advantage of you.

	Your troubles have just commenced; you are on the threshold of the
department wherein you will have fiery trials, such as you have never had. 
Some who have been here for years will come around you and say--"Well,
brother, or sister, how do you do?  Do you like the country and people?" 
"I don't know.  I guess I shall; I should like to have some things a
little different; but this is a good people."  "Well," says an old brother
who has been labouring in the Church for years to save the people, "I
don't know about it; I understand that A. says thus and so.  I don't know
about it;  a few days ago, I saw a brother, who seems to be a good
brother, talking with the President; he seems to be in close communion
with the heads of the Church, and is all the time stealing horses.  I
really do not know about this."  Very likely the Lord has suffered this
old "Mormon" to stay in the Church thus long to get some of you to
apostatize; and when he succeeds, you will go to hell together.  Thus you
will be led step by step to deny the faith, and to reduce the light that
was in you to total darkness.

	One will reflect--"I do not know about brother John; there are some
things in his character that look dark to me, and, according to the
religion I have embraced, I do not understand them; and there is James, if
his conduct corresponds with the Gospel as I have heard it preached in my
native country, I do not know about it; I will look more narrowly into
this;" and the first you know you will retire to rest without praying in
your family.  And when you rise in the morning you are meditating upon
what John and James are doing--that you just saw one of them taking a pole
from his neighbour's fence, and you say, "I don't know about this; this is
rather a dark affair among the Latter-day Saints who have assembled here
from among all nations to serve God!  Well, wife, have you got your
breakfast ready?  Come on,family; breakfast is ready; gather round the
table."  The wife's heart sinks, for she had been accustomed to hear this
man pray; but there is no prayer this morning.  A short blessing is asked,
the breakfast is eaten, and the man looks off to John, James, Dick, Harry,
the Devil, and hell; and by-and-by away he goes, another apostate.

	God gathers his people to school them.  While you were in England,
France, and other foreign countries, were you prepared to receive the
oracles from heaven?  No.  Are you prepared now?  No.  Are those who have
been in the Church twenty, twenty-five, or thirty years prepared to have
the visions of eternity opened to them?  No.  To hear the voice of the
angel Gabriel?  No.  How can you be prepared, if you let little,
frivolous, trifling afflictions and temptations overcome you and turn you
away?  The Lord has brought you here to try every fibre of your hearts,
even as Abraham was tried in all things, to prove whether you are friends
of God.  And when you see anyone do wrong, you should say, "That is
nothing to me; he is in the hands of God, and will have to answer to Him,
and I for myself."  And when you see persons about to give way to
temptation, you should say to your families, "Let us pray to the Lord to
give them strength and power to overcome the temptations of the evil ones,
that they may remain here, instead of apostatizing."

	Some of you will do as I have stated; but if you will be faithful to
your covenants, you will not only be saviours to yourselves and to your
wives and children, but also to your neighbours.  When you see a neighbour
begin to slip, pray for him that he may have the Spirit of the Gospel as
he once had.  And if you feel this Spirit within yourselves, pray for an
increase of that light you received when you first received the Gospel,
and you will save yourself and house.

	Yet, after all the labour that will be performed by the Elders of
Israel in travelling to the utmost parts of the earth, in gathering out
the people from all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, and gathering
them home to Zion and Jerusalem, and perhaps other places the Lord will
appoint for the gathering of the people in the latter-days; and after all
the preaching, faith, and toil that will be wrought by the servants of
God, when Christ comes, there will be five foolish virgins and five wise.

	My exhortation to every man, woman, and child that has name the name
of Christ--my positive command to you, which I urge upon you, and which it
is your imperative duty to hearken to and obey, is to so live every moment
that there will not be a dark spot upon your lives--that you can say every
night, "The last is the best day I have ever lived.  God be praised that I
have been enabled to so live this day that I can go to sleep with a clear
conscience."  In short, so live that when you wake in the spirit-world you
can truthfully say, "I could not better my mortal life, were I to live it
over again."  I exhort you, for the sake of the house of Israel, for the
sake of Zion which we are to build up, to so live, from this time,
henceforth, and for ever, that your characters may with pleasure be
scrutinized by holy beings.  Live godly lives, which you cannot do without
living moral lives.

	A man can commit sin, and return to the Lord and receive forgiveness;
but who has the assurance that he will have power to repent?  Who has the
right and privilege granted unto him to swear, or to take that which is
not his own and make use of it for himself?  I know of no such right.  Who
has a right to commit adultery?  If any one has such a permit from the
Almighty, bring it forth and let us read it to the congregation, that we
may know it.  Who has a right to bear false witness?  Who has a right to
defile himself by getting drunk?  If you have this right, let us see it. 
If you have a right to disgrace your wives and children in the eyes of the
people, and God says it is just and true, bring out your authority and let
us see it.  I know of no person who has a right to sin. "Brother Brigham,
don't you sometimes sin?"  If I do, it is none of your business; and the
whole of you are not smart enough to catch me in a wrong.  Look back at my
life since I have been preaching the Gospel, and point out,if you can, the
iniquity I have committed.  "Have you not taken the name of God in vain?" 
Not the first time have I ever used the name of my Saviour, or the name of
a holy angel, or the name of the mother of Jesus, or the name of our
Father in heaven with trifling feelings.  "Have you not taken that which
was not your own?"  No; and I have not been able to get half of what is my
own.  I am going to have much more than I now have,--not twice or thrice,
but a hundred-fold more.  I never yet felt that I had license to commit a
sin; and if I have not, who has?

	Some may imagine that I am boasting:  you may call it what you
please.  God has preserved my feet and tongue, and I am here to-day,
though not so good as I ought to be; and you are not so good as you ought
to be:  there is a chance for us all to be much better.  Where is there a
boy in this community who has the right to disgrace her mother by defiling
herself?  Have you such a license, young women?  Have you such a license,
young men?  If you cannot show your license to commit sin, we shall
consider you impostors, and that you have no right and do not belong to
our society.  We will disfellowship all such men and women, whether old or
young:  they are already disfellowshipped in my feelings.

	You new comers are here expressly to mingle your faith with the
faithful, and your acts with those who perform the acts of
righteousness,--to bring together to Zion, from every nation, kingdom,
tongue, and people, the good, and the strength, power, and wisdom of God
that has been dispensed to the nations,--to take hold with us who have
been trying to purify ourselves and the people.  It is your duty to take
hold with us with your might to exalt righteousness.  Look to God for
grace to purify yourselves, instead of looking at your brethren.  You who
wish to be numbered with the wise virgins, keep your vessels full of oil;
do not let it burn out, and lie down and sleep, thinking that you can get
a supply of oil when you wake.  Be careful that you are not caught with
your vessels empty:  keep them full, and your hearts full of the Holy
Spirit.  Cease not to do good.  By so doing you will be numbered with the
wise virgins.

	This is the best country in the world for raising Saints, though many
things will cause it to appear strange to you for a time.  People here
procure livelihoods differently, in many respects, from what you have been
accustomed to in your native lands.  Many of you have been used to
receiving your wages at the end of the week,--then only barely sufficient
to provide for your wants during the coming week.  How did you manage in
cases of sickness, when you could not work?  I presume some of you nearly
starved.  Here there as yet has been no starving.  Some do not know what
they will do here:  you cannot starve to death, as many do in countries
you have come from.

	Find shelter for your families, and do not be in a panic, nor fret;
and when a person meets you and says, "Brother, I want to hire a little
help," perhaps you are a collier and never worked above ground, or a
silk-weaver and never worked at anything else, and you ask what he wants
done.  When he tells you, you may not know how to do it, but you can
learn.  If a person wants the silk- weaver to take the spade and dig a
ditch, let the weaver say, "I don't know how, but I can learn; fetch on
your spade."  Take the first job of work offered, and earn a bushel of
wheat or a bushel of potatoes; and when that job is done, another will be
ready.  Do not be anxious to get great wages.  Go to work and say nothing
about wages, but feel that "this is Zion; and what can I do to build it
up, without asking any man to pay me one dollar?"  Let that be your chief
joy and delight, and you will never lack for work, food, or raiment.  The
Lord has all these things for those willing characters.

	"But," says one, "some are very poor."  That is because they are not
liberal enough in their feelings.  I remember a question being asked of
Aaron Lake, in Canada.  He went into a house, and by way of introduction
was asked, "Can a man rise by falling, or gain by losing?"  He though a
moment, and replied, "Yes."  You say, "There are some here who are poor
and destitute."  That is because they refuse to fall that they may rise,
to become poor that they may become rich, or to humble themselves that
they may receive the righteousness of God in their hearts to dictate them
day by day.  Do you think that the Lord will suffer his people to be
hungry and starve to death, to go naked and freeze to death, or to go
houseless, if they serve him with an undivided heart?  He never
will--never, no, never.

	This people have been driven from place to place, to give them
expanded hearts to receive the blessings of the Lord, and that the wicked
might fill the cup of their iniquity and receive their reward, and the
right was theirs.  So soon as we are prepared to receive his blessings,
the warfare is over; but that will not be just yet.  We yet have to
contend for every inch of ground, for the Devil has power and possession
on the earth, and he does not mean to give it up.  But, God, angels, and
good men being my helpers, I will never cease to contend, inch by inch,
until we gain the ground and possess the kingdom.  That is my feeling and
faith, and we will accomplish it.  I will prophesy, in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that we will possess the kingdom of God upon the whole
earth, and possess the earth.  Do you believe it?  [Many voices:  "Yes."]
That is as true as it is that the sun now shines.

	God bless you!  Amen.

             THE SPIRIT OF THE WORLD AND THE SPIRIT OF ZION.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                 Great Salt Lake City, September 9, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	The instructions, faith, revelations, and Scriptures that have been
given from the earliest ages to the present--all the past that has come
within my notice--all that is now transpiring among the nations of the
earth, so far as we can see and understand--all the privileges that men
can enjoy, that are allotted to the intelligent beings now before me, with
the rest of mankind, and much more than all this, continually occupy my
mind, feelings, sympathies, and judgment.  We enjoy the greatest blessings
and privileges of any people we are acquainted with.

	What causes this people to do as they do?  It is written, "But there
is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them
understanding."  It is a spirit that causes this people to do what they
do--to leave their native countries, to leave their fathers and mothers,
brethren and sisters, and take up their line of march and travel thousands
of miles to this distant country; and then, when selected for missions, to
again leave their fathers, mothers, and friends, and travel back to their
native lands, or to some other place, wherever they are appointed to go. 
We cannot behold that spirit and influence with out natural eyes.  The
results alone are known.

	What causes the inhabitants of the earth to do as they do--those who
do not believe in the Christian religion?  You remember that a few years
ago Mr. Suter, in California, hired some of our brethren, who had been in
the Mormon Battalion, to dig a mill--race, in which they found gold.  The
news spread rapidly; and now, in the States, how many paces you can find
forsaken?  Good farms, mechanic shops, stores, and other good situations
for men to live in and make themselves comfortable, are deserted, having
been sold or mortgaged for a few hundred dollars with which to go and get
gold.  Then try to number the widows and orphans who have been left in a
state of destitution; then count the bones that are bleaching on the
prairies between the frontiers of the Eastern States and California, and
is not this conduct as great a mystery as it is to see our Elders do as
they do?  There is also a spirit that prompts this craving for gold.

	There is also a spirit that prompts the nations to prepare for war,
desolation, and bloodshed--to waste each other away.  Do they realize it? 
No--no more than a wicked man realizes the propriety of an Elder's taking
his line of march to Europe to preach the Gospel.  The Spirit of the
Gospel that is in the hearts of believers prompts them to do as they do,
and the spirit of the enemy that is in the wicked prompts them to do; as
they do and is it not a mystery?  Verily we can say that man is a mystery
to himself--that he does not understand himself.  When he understands
himself, he will understand much about his Creator--his Father and God.

	The greatest desire in the bosom of our Father Adam, or in his
faithful children who are co-workers with God our Father in heaven, is to
save the inhabitants of the earth.  Many spirits have gone forth into the
world--very many, as also the Holy Spirit of the Gospel to lead this
people and all the human family, who will receive it, back into the
presence of our Father and God.  It has been the greatest desire of the
faithful to see their relatives and friends follow that good Spirit, that
they may return to the presence of their Father and God.

	Brother Hooper has stated that he has charity.  Every good man has;
but there are only a few men of the earth who understand the charity that
fills the bosom of our Saviour.  We should have charity; we should do all
we can to reclaim the lost sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, and bring
them back to be saved in the presence of our Father and God.  If we do
this, our charity will extend to the utmost extent that it is designed for
the charity of God to extend in the midst of this people.  But I have no
love or charity for a wicked and corrupt scoundrel, who commits iniquity
with his eyes wide open, though I pity and regret the condition of the
human family in their ignorance.  They would come to the light, but for
one thing--their deeds are evil, and they do not mean to have them
reproved.  They would be rebuked, and they will not bear it; and so they
pass on, and will, until they are punished.

	May God bless the righteous and sustain his cause.  He will do so. 
The wicked cannot do anything against the truth.  Every move they make to
crush the kingdom of God will be attended with the signal blessings of the
Almighty for its further extension and ultimate triumph.  All their
efforts will result in the overthrow of sin and iniquity, and the increase
of righteousness and the kingdom of God upon the earth, until "the
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ."  "Shall we see this in the
flesh?"  Yes.  "Before we receive new bodies?"  I do not know, though I
expect to  see all this in the flesh.  Whether in this or in a new body,
God being my helper, I shall contend for the righteousness of God and the
rights of his Saints, and contend manfully, until we gain possession of
our relatives, friends, neighbours, country, the nations of the earth, and
the earth, to purify it and prepare it for the habitation of angels.  That
is our business.  May the Lord help us to accomplish this purpose!  Amen.

               LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT--COURSE OF MISSIONARIES.
       Instructions by President Brigham Young made in the Bowery,
 and in the Historian's Office, Great Salt Lake City, September 9, 1860.
                  Reported by G. D. Watt and J. V. Long.

	If I have the Spirit of the Lord sufficiently, I may have a word for
each and all classes present; though in a few remarks I by no means expect
to comprehend all the duties that devolve upon the Saints.  Here are new
comers who, for the first time, have the privilege of assembling with the
Saints at the gathering-place; some of them perhaps have been here one
Sabbath, and others two.  You have travelled thousands of miles to be
assembled with the Saints.  Here is another class of persons who have been
living here for years, and who also need teaching.  And here is still
another class that needs teaching, perhaps, more than unbelievers.  I
refer to the Elders who are about to start on their missions.

	We say to them, Go forth and preach the Gospel, gain an experience,
learn wisdom, and walk humbly before your God, that you may receive the
Holy Ghost to guide and direct you, and teach all things past, present,
and to come.  I cannot say that this is sufficient to say to them, for it
is not.

	We say to the citizens of these valleys who have lived here and are
going to stay here, Seek unto the Lord your God with all your hearts, ye
Latter-day Saints, and so live, that the Holy Ghost will be your constant
companion.  It will teach you all things; it will bring to your
remembrance past things that you have forgotten, things that are now
present, and show you the providences of God, the dealings of the Lord
with his people, his designs in organizing the world and in peopling it,
&c.  You Latter-day Saints, live humbly and live your religion faithfully,
that you may enjoy the spirit of revelation to a fulness.

	We say to the new comers, If you will live your religion--live to the
light that was given to you when you embraced the truth, you will enjoy
the same Spirit you then received, and there is not the least danger but
what in so doing you will be Saints at home and abroad, in the morning and
in the evening, enjoying the light of the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Ghost
will be your constant companion, teaching you all things, which will
constantly suffice for you.

	For unbelievers we will quote from the Scriptures--"Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God."  Again--"Hereby know
ye the Spirit of God:  Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh, is of God."  I will now give my scripture--"Whosoever
confesseth that Joseph Smith was sent of God to reveal the holy Gospel to
the children of men, and lay the foundation for gathering Israel, and
building up the kingdom of God on the earth, that spirit of God; and every
spirit that does not confess that God has sent Joseph Smith, and revealed
the everlasting Gospel to and through him, is of Antichrist, no matter
whether it is found in a pulpit or on a throne, nor how much divinity it
may profess, nor what it professes with regard to revealed religion and
the account that is given of the Saviour and his Father in the Bible. 
They may say that they acknowledge Him until doomsday, and he will never
own them, nor bestow the Holy Spirit upon them, and they will never have
visions of eternity opened to them, unless they acknowledge that Joseph
Smith is sent of God.  Such people I call unbelievers.  They tell about
believing in Jesus Christ, but they might as well talk about birds
understanding the Hebrew language.  This statement is no more positive
than true.

	The spirit that confesses that this is the kingdom of God and his
Church has the kingdom of God and his Church has the Spirit that fills the
heavenly worlds, and every other spirit is of Antichrist.  All whom I call
unbelievers, if they will repent of their sins, obey the requirements in
the New Testament, be baptized for the remission of sins by a man who
holds the key and authority to lead them into the waters of baptism, and
receive the laying on of hands for the Holy Ghost, shall receive a witness
that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and that he was sent of God to
build up his kingdom in this last dispensation.  You will receive a Spirit
that will bring all things to your remembrance, past, present, and to
come, teaching you all things necessary for you to understand.  There are
but a few in this generation who will do this.  "Will one to a thousand?" 
Doubtful.  "One to ten thousand, or a hundred thousand?"  I hope so.  Of
the Latter-day Satins there will be many who will not so live their
religion as to fully enjoy the Holy Ghost.  The Latter-day Saints are like
children who have to be taught continually, and still, like children, they
handle, figuratively speaking, razors, glasses, cups, saucers, &c.,
contrary to the teachings that are given them.

	Those Elders about to start on their missions will declare before
this congregation and before the whole world that they do know, by the
power of God, that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of God, and that this is
the work of God; that God has set to his hand to gather Israel:  but let
them neglect their duty and get into darkness, and they will lose this
Spirit and testimony.  They do not see this with their natural eyes, for
it is spiritually discerned, as all things of God are.  Let them do wrong
and lose the spirit, and by-and-by they apostatize and declare that they
do not know "Mormonism" to be true, and think that they never did.  How
many are there of this class?  Brethren, live your religion.  As a
mischievous child needs constant watching to keep it from falling into the
fire, or otherwise injuring itself, so you need watching, warning,
teaching, and admonishing all the time; you need to be continually teazed
to your duty.

	A spirit prompts both the good and the evil:  an invisible influence
seems to be shed abroad upon all nations.  Let us seek unto the Lord, that
we may be prompted by a good spirit.  It matters not what your neighbours
do, look to your God with all your heart, instead of watching your
neighbours, and there will be no danger of your leaving the true path.  If
they will only live up to it, there has already been enough taught the
brethren who have lived here for years to prepare them to enter into the
strait gate and into the New Jerusalem, and be prepared to enjoy the
society of the holy angels.

	No other people are under the obligations to God that we are, who
have been privileged to meet here Sabbath after Sabbath.  We have the
privilege of being gathered--the privilege of the law of the celestial
kingdom, of receiving revelation, of enjoying the keys and power of the
blessings of the Priesthood as sons of God.  What other people have these
privileges?  No other that we have any knowledge of.  This brings us under
deep obligation to one another, to angels, to Jesus, and to God our
Father.  We have to live close to the Lord, in order to have his Spirit to
learn and understand what he requires of us.  You hear some say--"I wish I
had influence and power, and were in a situation to do good!"  Is there a
man in this community deprived of the privilege of doing all the good his
heart can desire?  You can every day live to promote the cause of our God,
and your whole lives can be filled with doing good.

	The travels and labours of the Elders about to go on missions will
throw them into positions which will cause them to seek unto the Lord. 
They need to live their religion, to go forth with pure hearts and clean
hands, and then preach the Gospel by the power of God sent down from
heaven.  They should touch not and taste not of sin, and when they return
they should come pure and clean, ready to meet the Saints with open
countenances.  To all appearance, the Elders ou [sic] missions have been
in the habit of making their pockets a matter of more consideration than
the souls of men.  I am not going to suffer this any longer.

	I want every Elder to make his calculations to get rich here, and not
go abroad to get riches from the Saints there.  Plan and operate here to
make as much property as you please; and if you can put it in a shape to
gather the Saints, do so; and when you are abroad use every sovereign to
emigrate the poor.  You may have one shirt on and one at the
washerwoman's, and decent and comfortable clothing; but what you obtain
over this must be used to gather the poor.  "May I obtain money enough to
come home?"  Yes.  "How many coats and pantaloons may we bring, and how
many trunks packed with clothing of the most expensive kinds, for our
wives and children?"  I utterly forbid this practice.  I forbid your
bringing home silk dresses and the like.  Send and bring home in your
carriages; I forbid your going out preachers and coming home merchants,
but come home bringing your sheaves with you--the souls of the children of
men--spirits clothed in tabernacles.  I forbid the Elders of Israel coming
home as they have; but men, women, and children must be all the property,
means, wealth, glory, and power that they bring home.

	O ye gentiles, let me tell you that every Elder will do as I have
told him, when he learns that the opposite course is wrong.  And let me
tell you that you will see the day when you will wish that you were
"Mormon" Elders.  By-and-by the Elders of Israel will have gold and silver
for plates, cups, saucers, &c.; and when we have adorned and furnished our
houses we will have gold and silver to pave our streets, and their enemies
will be in hell, unable to raise a decent fiddler there, or any liquor,
for it will all burn up, and every decent fiddler will go into a decent
kingdom:  we will have them.  We are going to have the kingdom of God and
the fulness thereof, and all the heights and depths of glory, power, and
knowledge; and we shall have fathers and mothers, and wives and children.

	Brother Cannon remarked that people wondered how many wives and
children I had.  He may inform them that I shall have wives and children
by the million, and glory, and riches, and power, and dominion, and
kingdom after kingdom, and reign triumphantly.  "What will you do with all
those who have sought to kill you?"  Make them soap-boilers and kitchen
flunkeys.  We are not going to send them into hell fire, for it takes a
good Latter-day Saint apostatized to get down into that deep (did I say
bottomless?) pit.  A person, to become an angel of the Devil, has first to
be a good Saint, and then deny the Lord who bought him.

	Do you query why we give en- [sic] endowments to A., B., and C?  It
is to make devils of those who will deny the faith, for that is also
necessary, as a host of devils will be needed.  We also want Saints,
angels, holy ones, and those that are exalted to the highest glory--we
want them to inherit kingdoms that number millions on millions.

	Brother Hooper stated that he had charity.  My charity is that God
has provided for his children, the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve,
where all who have lived according to the best light they had will have
better kingdoms than ever entered into their hearts to conceive.  That is
the charity of God in his plans to save his people.  Will the Latter-day
Saints so live that they can enjoy the fulness of the heights, depths,
glory, and intelligence in which the Father and the Son dwell?  If they do
not, they must go into another kingdom.  He has designed that we should
become Gods--the sons of God--fathers of eternal lives, like Abraham. 
This is the promise he received--to be the father of endless lives, that
his posterity and generation should never cease, in time nor eternity.

	Some may think that the restrictions upon our Missionaries are
greater than they should be; but if they learn to be practical men, they
will learn that my system is the best.  Send Elders forth to attend to the
business of the churches--to the spiritual and the financial departments,
and to preside over them, and the care and toil are very laborious.  But
if, at the same time, their minds are upon speculation, and they lay awake
at night to calculate how they are going to speculate--how many teams they
need to bring a lot of goods across the Plains, &c., the labour becomes so
severe as to nearly drive them crazy:  it at least causes them to have but
little spiritual strength when they return; and I really think it best to
relieve them from this extra burden.  To study, plan, and labour to be
merchants, and to bring home silks, satins, velvet, &c., for their wives
and children, is a great burden; and we wish to relieve them from that,
and let them come home, bringing the poor with them.

	If Elders go and fill their missions, they have enough to do; and if
they at the same time study to be merchants and to speculate, it will
crush them into weakness and poverty.  Those who have mixed speculation
with preaching, and have thereby oppressed and hedge up the emigration of
the poor, upon their return seem to have no spirit left for anything
except speculation.  Your best plan, if you wish to make money, is to make
it here at the gathering-place.  This is the place for you to accumulate
property--to make your families comfortable, that when you go on your
missions you can go stript for the race and harnessed for the battle, for
the work before you, and have nothing else in your hearts.

	If the Lord ever revealed anything to me, he has shown me that the
Elders of Israel must let speculation alone and attend to the duties of
their calling, otherwise they will have little or no power in their
missions or upon their return.  It commenced long ago in England, and
those who have practised it are in poverty; and it is high time that it
was put a stop to, which I am going to do, God and good brethren being my
helpers.

	I am in earnest in this matter, and God will sustain me in it.  Quit
sending or bringing silks, satins, and furbelows for your wives to flaunt
in.  I am strongly opposed to it.

	Some may inquire whether I did not make money when on missions.  If I
did, it has been expended to gather the poor.  When I returned from
England, I had but one sovereign left when I reached home.  Brother Joseph
asked me what I was going to do for a living.  I told him that I was going
to borrow fifteen cents to put with my sovereign to buy a barrel of flour,
visit my friends, and when that flour was eaten I should be ready to do
what the Lord required.  I went on my mission to England, performed its
duties, and returned with clean hands and a pure heart; and all who desire
to honour God and their holy calling to the Priesthood must pursue this
course.

	From this time forth every man that goes on a mission with a view to
speculation will be overtaken by poverty, for speculation is no part of
the duties devolving upon the Elders.  They should practise the strictest
economy, especially while on their missions.  I have not sought for
riches, nor placed my affections upon the things of this world.  I do not
at home any more than I did abroad.  When I obtain money and other
property, I study to dispose of it to the best advantage for promoting the
cause in which we are engaged.  Aud [sic] I tell you, in the name of
Israel's God, that it is my counsel and imperative command that our
Missionaries let speculation alone, and preach the Gospel, and so live
that when you blow the Gospel trump your words will be like melted lead in
the hearts of the people, and not return unto you void, that you may glory
and do good in the labour to which God has called you.  Do not operate as
some have, but let your minds and energies be devoted to the business on
which you are sent.

	Publications have been issued from the Liverpool Office and crowded
upon the people, seemingly regardless of the wants or ability of the
brethren, and creating what is known as the "Book Debt," the very sound of
which is disagreeable; lithographed and engrave likenesses of Elders have
been force upon Conferences; and in some instances the money on hand in
London and liverpool has been taken and used by the Elders to the
estimated amount of the publications and likenesses, a large portion of
which remain lumbering storerooms as dead stock, except where sold out of
the way as waste paper.  Brethren have been obliged to take more or less
copies of publications, whether they could use them, or afford to pay for
them, or not; and this very system of forcing publications upon the
brethren and Conferences has prevented hundreds and thousands of the
Saints from emigrating, turned a great deal of money from its legitimate
channel, and left us useless articles instead of the money the Church or
the people should have had.  Put thousands of pounds into the hands of an
Elder in this manner, and it will go from him without his being able to
tell where or how it has gone:  it seems impossible for him to keep it or
its value; it slips away.

	There are thousands of pounds' worth of books, &c., now lying useless
in the Liverpool Office, that have been paid for with Tithing money, which
ought to have been used for emigrating the poor, paying debts, and
otherwise carrying on the work, in accordance with counsel from here:  but
instead of this, the books lie useless in the Office.  And a few have
tried to get rich, but all their riches seem to have had the wings of the
morning and have flown far from them.

	How many in Utah pay Tithing on their money?  Comparatively few. 
Probably we do not get one dollar to a thousand on cash Tithing.  And if
horses, oxen, or cows could be sold for money, probably but few of them
would be turned in on Tithing; and if wheat could be sold for money, we
should get no wheat, except from a very few.  But we get along and are not
dead yet; and we shall live and do well, while others will be dead in
their grave.  The humble will live, their spirits will be buoyant, and
they will live to a great age.

	You Elders who are selected to go on missions, be virtuous and holy
before the Lord your God, that you may be filled with his Spirit.  and
when you reach your respective fields of labour in the States, in England,
or elsewhere, do not begin to pull down your predecessors.  So far as
their conduct will permit, speak of them as your brethren, and as men who
have done the best they knew how.  Testify that you know them to be good
men, when you know that they have been doing according to their best
judgment and understanding; and do not say hard words about your
predecessors in the vineyard.  Not one who does this will gain anything by
it.  Do not discourage, deride, or bring anything against any of your
predecessors to lessen the character of any one who has done the best he
knew how.  You have not heard me say that I disfellowship them, for I
believe that they have not intended to do a wrong thing in all that is
past.  All that I blame them for is because I believe that they could or
should have known better.  I consider that having lived till now, they
should so live as to have the Holy Ghost within them continually, to guide
them in the way of life.

	We are so organized that we need preaching to all the time.  This is
because of our weaknesses, and we shall have to bear with one another
until we become stronger and wiser.  Until then, we will travel and preach
and do all the good we can.  And those that put their shoulders to the
wheel, with a desire and determination to preach the Gospel, save souls,
and aid in whatever they are called upon to do for the rolling forth of
this great work, will live the longest, have the most gold and silver, and
enjoy more eternities of happiness and exaltation than those who do
nothing but grumble and find fault with what others do and say.

	It is not necessary, in crossing the Plains, for our Missionaries to
travel on foot and carry their valises; and we wish you to be provided to
cross the Plains comfortably, and to take prudent care of your bodies
while absent, and to come home as comfortably as you can:  but do not get
money from the poor Saints to buy a carriage with.  I have travelled and
preached a great deal, and had to live, and I have always had a large
family to support.  I have had to borrow money to come home with, and I do
not remember that I ever brought any money home, but what it has gone
directly to relieve the Prophet of his burdens.  He used to ask me how I
managed to support myself and family.  I told him that I made a sixpence
go, perhaps, as far as some would make a quarter of a dollar go,--that I
had done what I could, and the Lord had done the rest, and that was all I
knew about it.  Of course there are some things I know, and many that I do
not; but I do know that Heber C. Kimball and myself used 86 dollars in
board and other expenses when travelling on a mission, and that when we
started we had but 13 dollars, 50 cents.  And I do know that I once took a
five-dollar bill out of my pocket, when we were raising money for brother
Joseph, and threw it in, and that the next day I had just as much as I had
before I gave away the five dollars.  I do know that when I went to pay
some money that I owed, after giving some away to the poor, I had just as
much when I came to pay my debts as I had before I gave any to the poor. 
I do know that I handed out a half-eagle to a poor man in my office, and
then found two half-eagles in my pocket that I never put there.  And I
also do know that I never hungered or thirsted for property.

	Some may say--"Brother Brigham, you are boasting, and you may be
tried."  I may be tried; but if I am, I pray God to give me strength to
bear the trial. I feel under the most positive and strict obligation to
make every penny go as far as I can towards preaching the Gospel,
gathering Israel, and doing good. I do not lust after property; and I wish
my brethren could see my heart as I see theirs.  I know the hearts of my
brethren who are around me, whether I chasten them or not.  You act out
what is naturally in you, and I can tell, by the acts, by the faces, and
by the doings of men, what is in their hearts.  We are here, and we have
the kingdom of God to build up as the Lord directs, and carry out his
requirements in all things.

	The Saints abroad are required to pay their Tithing, but they have
been made to donate and pay so much that they have felt that the cords
were drawn pretty tight.  Of late we have let the strings loose, and the
people in the European Missions have become slack in regard to paying even
their Tithing.  This is a natural result, and I expected it.  The brethren
will now exhort them to renew their good works in again paying Tithing,
and we must have a correct account of it, and must have the privilege of
directing its expenditure for gathering the Saints and building up the
kingdom.  We wish to hurry and gather the brethren, that they may receive
their endowments, and either remain Saints or apostatize; and those who
continue faithful may be taught to more and more honour their faith and
co-operate in building up the kingdom of God on the earth.

	I have detained you long enough.  God bless you!  Amen.


                            COVETOUSNESS, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                Great Salt Lake City, September 16, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I can say amen to what brother Pratt has just said.  I think I can
with propriety say to him and a great many of the Elders of Israel that
they may dismiss those little doubts that brother Pratt has spoken of in
regard to proving faithful.  You who are in the Church and have been a
long time faithful,m the Lord will never suffer to so fall away that you
cannot be saved.  I hardly know of a man who has been in the Church
fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five years and longer, but what had better be
thankful that time is past, and not wish to live it over again, for fear
he would not do as well.  True, some of the brethren have taken
mis-steps--have dealt amiss in some instances, and have not done so well
as they could, had they lived so as to have known more; but I am satisfied
with them, if they will continue to learn and improve upon their gifts and
become perfect; otherwise, I shall not be satisfied, either with myself or
with my brethren, the Elders of Israel.  The knowledge we now have in our
possession is sufficient to guide and direct us step by step, day by day,
until we are made perfect before the Lord our Father.  If we do not take a
course to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, and attain to perfection, I
do not intend to be satisfied with either myself or anyone who comes short
of this.

	When I came into the meeting, brother Pratt was speaking upon the
principle of covetousness, which is idolatry.  This is a matter that ought
to be understood, though it is as impossible to make those understand who
are not seeking to know, as it is to make blind people understand the
difference between colours.  It is a hard matter to so bring some to their
understanding that they will comprehend, recollect, and practise correct
principles.  Preaching the word to Saint or sinner is of but little
moment, unless there is a place in the hearts of the hearers to receive
it; otherwise it is to them like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.  To
enjoy the light and power of the Holy Ghost day by day is prayed for by
brother Pratt; but the preacher does not need it any more than the
hearers.  The preacher needs the power of the Holy Ghost to deal out to
each heart a word in due season, and the hearers need the Holy Ghost to
bring forth the fruits of the preached word of God to his glory.

	We need not refer to the traditions of the fathers with regard to the
manifestations of the covetousness we see so much of.  Observe the customs
and habits, not of the fathers, but of the children--our brethren and
sisters here.  We see men, from twenty years up to old age, who are
entirely overcome by their desire to obtain gold.  It is asserted that
there are 75,000 people at Pike's Peak.  What business have they there? 
Simply to worship the god of this world.  He was said to be there, and
they flocked there to worship him. A little gold dust was found near
Pike's Peak; the golden god--the god of this world--was hoisted, and what
is the result?  Priests and people, the old and young, rich and poor, wise
and foolish, noble and ignoble, are all running after this god.

	Are all who profess to be Latter-day Saints entirely free from this
Mammon worship?  No.  You have heard "Oppression!"  sounded from Maine to
Texas, from Texas to California, then to Washington Territory, in the
British Provinces in America, in England, and all over the world,--"Great
oppression in Utah!" because we exhort the people not to be such fools as
to run after the gold image; and sometimes we tell them that we will cut
them off from the Church, if they do.  This has caused this great outcry. 
Some who have come here this season expressly to enjoy the privilege of
their religion are not satisfied, but want to go where there is more
money.  Money is their god.  Go--go after it and worship it as much as you
please, and trouble us not.  Go your way rejoicing as much as you can; but
you will have sorrow in that course.  Instead of bettering your condition,
you will make it a great deal worse.  Your spirits will sink into darkness
and wretchedness, and you will go your way mourning instead of rejoicing.

	It is reported that thousands of persons will soon be on Strawberry
Creek, a little east of the South Pass.  What are they after?  Some one,
they say, has found sand with a little gold dust in it.  There is their
god again, and hosts are coming running after it.  The world is after
riches; riches is the god they worship.  It is a marvel that they do not
discover the emptiness of earthly riches, when hundreds are going out like
a candle burnt down in the socket.  We know that we are here, and how soon
we shall go hence we know not.  Perhaps some of us may be called from this
life before to-morrow morning, and some, perhaps, before sunset will pass
into the spirit-world.  But that does not lessen the appetite for gold.  I
do not know that a miser's appetite for gold would be lessened in the
least degree, if he knew that he would be required to leave it to-morrow.

	Such riches can give no real enjoyment.  There is no happiness in
gold, not the least.  It is very convenient as an article of exchange, in
purchasing what we need; and instead of finding comfort and happiness in
gold, you exchange it to obtain happiness, or that which may conduce to
it.  There is no real wealth in gold.  People talk about being
wealthy--about being rich; but place the richest banking company in the
world upon a barren rock, with their gold piled around them, with no
possible chance of exchanging it, and destitute of the creature comforts;
and they would be poor indeed.  Where then is their joy, their comfort,
their great wealth?  They have none.

	What constitutes health, wealth, joy, and peace?  In the first place,
good pure air is the great sustainer of animal life. Other elements of
life we can dispense with for a time, but this seems to be essential of
well ventilated dwelling-houses, especially the rooms occupied for
sleeping.  You can live without water and food longer that you can without
air, and water is of more importance that meat and bread.  In what, then,
consists your riches?  In being comfortably clad, comfortably sheltered,
and suitably provided with food.  God, where those comforts could not be
obtained, would avail nothing.  But the greatest of all comforts are the
words of eternal life:  they also comprise the greatest of all riches. 
The greatest riches that can be bestowed upon man i eternal life--the
power to sustain ourselves and preserve our identity before our God,
though this is not esteemed riches by the world.  You may assemble such
men as Dick Turpin of England, Joaquin of California, and Joseph C. Hare
of the United States, and let them hoist the golden flag, and you will see
priest and people running after them, and they will call them fine
gentlemen, give them of their substance, and their daughters to wives.

	We have the real wealth here.  We have not much gold and silver here,
but we have the good, fine flour, good wheat, horses, cattle, beef, pork,
vegetables, fruit, sheep, and wool, and good wives to manufacture the wool
into clothing.  This is real wealth.  This people is a rich people.  We
are the wealthiest people, in what constitutes true wealth, and in
proportion to our number, that there are in any other part of our country: 
we have the comforts of life.

	I will now inform the Latter-day Saints in this Territory that I wish
them to fit out our Missionaries, who are going into the world to preach,
with means to go to their fields of labour, and then sustain their
families when they are gone.  That is the text I wish to lay before the
people.  If I do not preach upon it this morning, I may this afternoon.  I
was with the Bishops last Thursday evening, and I requested them to notify
the brethren to come here prepared to donate their half-eagles, eagles,
fifty dollar pieces, horses, mules, waggons, wheat by the twenty and
hundred bushels, and other available means, that we may send these
brethren away rejoicing; and then we will give them a promise that we will
provide for their families after they are gone, so far as they are unable
to provide for themselves.

	You may inquire, "What has happened?  Is there anything new under the
sun?  Are the Church and kingdom of God becoming different from what they
were?"  All this can be explained to you--only give us time.  I think that
the brethren were required to go and preach "without purse and scrip," and
that is what I am now trying to get them to do--to go "without purse and
scrip," and not beg the poor Saints to death.  Let us support the Elders,
instead of making the poor do it.  We are able to send these men out to
preach the Gospel, and they may go "without purse or scrip."  It may be
asked, "What do you say to the following words of Paul?--'Yea, ye
yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and
to them that were with me.  I have showed you all things, how that so
labouring ye ought to support the weak, and so remember the words of the
Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" 
When the Elders are on Missions, I want them to let speculation alone.  I
call trading, begging, and borrowing, and laying plans to come home
wealthy, speculation.  The Elders of Israel have not magnified their
callings as they should have done.  Had they known things as they really
are, and seen them as they are in the bosom of eternity, they would rather
have suffered their right hands to be cut off, or their heads to be
severed from their bodies, than do as some have done.

	"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof."  All the gold and
silver are in the hands of the Lord.  When he is so disposed, gold cannot
be found; and when he is disposed, the surface of the earth is full of it. 
There may be gold here; but, to find it, the persons will have to ride
over my faith.  No doubt many of the Elders are hunting to find gold.  I
was going to say that I would rather they would find hell; for they would,
if they found gold.  Every man that prays to find it here virtually prays
that the Devil may have power over the kingdom of God to destroy it from
the earth.  Perhaps some of these very men will give a sixpence, shilling,
or a dollar to the Elders who are going out to preach.  Such men know no
more than those Elders who go out on missions to gather gold to administer
to their nonsensical appetites; but it goes from them, and they know not
where it goes.  Every Saints should understand that the Lord will bring
forth to us the gold when we need it.  We now want shoes, boots, hats,
bonnets, dresses, coats, food, and comfortable houses, to enable us to
live long on the earth, with wisdom to know how to use all creature
comforts.

	The means which you donate for supporting our Missions shall be
entered in the book of the law of the Lord, that the record thereof may go
down to your posterity.  It will not be put into our pockets, nor used for
other purposes,--at least, not with my knowledge or consent.  I shall
throw this business into the hands of the Bishops.  The good Bishop will
get a liberal donation, while the others will not get much.  "As is the
priests, so are the people;" and as is the Bishop, so is his Ward.  Let
the Bishops commence at the intermission to receive donations, and
continue so to do until a week from to-night.  With these means we expect
to send the Elders directly to their fields of labour.

	It is my business to control the disbursements of the Tithing paid by
the Saints, and not the business of every Elder in the kingdom who thinks
the Tithing belongs to him. In the English Mission, where comparatively
but little was done, fifty-four thousand dollars of the Tithing money has
been expended by the Elders during the last two years.  This has been kept
from my knowledge until recently; but I have now got hold of the rope, and
I will search out every secret act pertaining to this matter. The money
that has been spent on those Elders ought to have been used to gather the
poor and pay the debts previously contracted in their emigration. Elders
have expended hundreds of thousands of dollars of Church funds, and have
left me hundreds of thousands of dollars to to [sic] pay.  The motto of
many seems to have been--"Not one cent will we let the Trustee-in-Trust
have, if we can keep it out of his hands."  I am going to search into this
course until it is stopped.  It is the business of the Elders to preach
the Gospel and gather the poor.  If they do not do this, they will come
home shorn of their strength.  You may wonder why I have not sooner spoken
of this.  I could not get it in shape to do so until now, and have had to
groan under it.  My Counsellors and immediate associates know how I have
felt, ever since I have been in this Valley, with regard to the way in
which the work is carried on abroad.

	The Lord takes one man, whom he knows to be just and righteous, and
places in his path an abundance of possessions--houses and lands, cattle,
and every good thing that can be bestowed upon an individual, while many
of his brethren and neighbours around him imagine that he has obtained his
possessions by deceiving, by oppressing the poor, and keeping back the
wages of the hireling, and they undertake to get rich by dishonesty.  This
is the case with many of the Elders of Israel, and herein they make a
great mistake.  "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong, nor riches to men of wisdom," but to those whom God favours.  You
may ask me for proof of this.  It is ready, were it wise to produce it. 
May the Lord bless you!  Amen.

                  CIVILIZATION--MISSIONARY LABOURS, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                Great Salt Lake City, September 16, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	In the forenoon, brother Hooper asked--"What will not people do for
gold?"  I will answer the question.  They will not serve God with a pure
heart; you cannot hire them to do this.  If they serve God, it will be by
their own freewill and choice.  Persons can be hired to preach for money,
but it does not follow that such preaching is doing God service.

	As I mentioned this morning, when the god of this world is hoisted,
the priest from the pulpit and the pious deacon and the people worship at
its shrine.  All the churches and all the world run after gold.

	The arts and sciences are somewhat advanced among the Christian
nations; but as to a true knowledge of things as they are in eternity,
there never were nations more ignorant.  According to my definition of the
word, a people are heathenish that do not know things as they ought.  The
Christian world, so called, are heathens as to their knowledge of the
salvation of God.  If those nations that we call heathen were civilized as
we are, intelligent as we are, we would not call them heathen.  The
civilized world term those heathen who do not follow their customs, who
are not educated as they are, and who do not worship according to the
modern Christian from of worship.  Without doubt, much of the display and
pretended knowledge and wisdom that were presented to the Japanese
visitors by the senators, representatives, and great men of our nation,
were offensive to them; and perhaps they looked upon the inhabitants of of
[sic] the United States as a poor, miserable, degraded, abominable people,
not fit to live upon the earth.  Pass from Japan to China, then to India,
then westerly across Asia, and probably those people view our nation in
much the same light.  And when you arrive in the Christian nations, they
esteem themselves wiser and far in advance of those they call heathen.

	The women in Christendom cannot successfully compete, in spinning and
weaving, with those in the East Indies and some other heathen nations. 
And arts and sciences, in the so-called heathen nations, in many respects
excel the attainments of the Christian nations.  Then pass in review the
ancient heathen nations--examine their architecture and their other
productions in the mechanical departments, as to this day exhibited in
their works and ruins, and all the boasted knowledge of Christendom in
those branches fades in comparison.  The civilized world have a tolerably
good understanding of the art of navigation, but father Noah knew more
about it than do all the mariners now upon the earth.  Abraham knew more
about astronomy and true philosophy than does all Christendom.  The
civilized nations know how to make machinery, put up telegraph wires, &c.,
&c.; and in nearly all branches, they are trying to cheat each other; and
finally they will learn that they have been cheating themselves for the
golden god--the Mammon of this world.

	The world is drunk; but not with wine or strong drink; and our
country is the most drunken of all.  They are deluding themselves; they
are drunk with party fanaticism; they are high-minded, heady, and
senseless, and are fast going to destruction.  As brother Heber has
stated, the Lord Almighty will empty the earth of the wickedness that has
dwelt upon it for so many hundreds of years:  it will not be suffered to
dwell upon it much longer.  The wicked will go to their place, and the
Almighty will gather his Saints and raise up a people who know their right
hands from their left, which Christendom does not know, so far as pertains
to the plan of salvation.

	Serve your God, but not for gold.  Strive to be righteous, not for
any speculation, but because righteousness is lovely, pure, holy,
beautiful, and exalting:  it is designed to make the soul happy and full
of joy, to the extent of the whole capacity of man, filling him with
light, glory, and intelligence.  If you cannot love it for that, do not
undertake to be righteous.  A man cannot be a Saint at the same time that
he loves sin and rolls it under his tongue as a sweet morsel, any more
than an Elder can do good on a mission while his heart is set upon riches,
planning to bring home merchandize.  The Elders cannot accomplish both
these things at once; and in trying to do so they have missed their aim,
for they have neither got rich nor magnified their calling and priesthood.

	I can say amen to what brother Heber has said.  Those who now go
forth upon missions will feel more of the power of God than they ever had,
and will speak as men having authority, asking no odds of the wicked.  I
said, in Nauvoo, that we were going to leave our possessions.  We did so,
and God has been and is our helper, and is on our right and left, and
round about us like a wall of fire to defend this people, if they serve
him with an undivided heart.  Will our enemies be saved?  No.  They have
had the Gospel preached to them year after year, and have rejected it. 
What are they?  Comparatively nothing. Where are they?  Nowhere.  Who are
they?  Nobody; and as they ripen in iniquity they will depart to the place
prepared for them, and be as though they had never been.  Can you so much
as hire them to serve God?  No:  but go into the East Indies and you can
hire hundreds to profess to serve God, by paying them so much a day. 
Christian ministers are said to build up their churches there by hiring
the natives to be sprinkled and have their names written in the church
records.  There is a gentleman now in our city who has been blamed by
missionaries, both in Europe and America, for writing the truth about
their operations in Africa.  They had not made as many converts as they
had lost missionaries on the African soil.

	We want the Elders of Israel to preach the Gospel without purse or
scrip, and to trust in God for their food, raiment, and lodging.  If you
have not a second shirt with you, do not be fretting about it, but trust
in God for some person to give you another; for you will not have anything
without the Lord pleases, neither food nor raiment; and what he wants you
to have he will bring about.  Then trust in the Lord, going forth in his
name.  I will leave the matter of gathering means to the Bishops.

	"How much, brother Brigham, do you want gathered to enable the
Missionaries to reach their fields of labour and assist their families
during their absence?  Will five dollars do?  for we are very poor in our
Ward: we cannot give much."  You are a poor Bishop.  We want your hundreds
and thousands; and what is not needed now, we will save for the Elders
next spring; and when we bind burdens for you, you shall not be able to
truthfully say that we will not reach out our little fingers to lift them. 
You may bring two or three of your best men, and I will give more than
they all; I will put forth my whole hand.  If any man in this kingdom will
give me two-thirds of what my property is worth, I will sell it to him and
give every dime of the money towards gathering the poor, and in ten years
from now I will be far richer than I am now.  I would like to devote every
dollar I am worth to preaching the Gospel and gathering the poor, to show
the people what God is willing to do for his servants, though he be
possessed of weaknesses.  Bring the man or woman, who has laboured for me,
that can say in truth that I have oppressed the hireling in his wages.  No
living being can in truth say that I have; but I have fed and clothed
hundreds and thousands who have not laboured for me.

	I shall keep the plan of assisting our Missionaries from here before
the people until we learn that it is the best policy.  I do not, on this
account, wish the people abroad to omit paying their Tithing and doing all
they can; but I wish to dictate the Church means in a way that will
benefit the kingdom of God; for I will gather the poor and build up Zion,
while the course of others wastes and destroys.  Doubtless many of the
Elders think that they are smarter than I am. As brother Kimball has said,
some of the knowing ones marvelled when we were called to the Apostleship. 
It was indeed a mystery to me; but when I considered what consummate
blockheads they were, I did not deem it so great a wonder.  When they
would meet brother Kimball and myself, their looks expressed, "What a
pity!"  Then I would think, You may, perhaps, make tolerably good men
after a while; but I guess that you will  tumble out by-and-by, just as
they did:  they could not stay in the Gospel net, they were so big and
grew so fast; they became larger than the ship and slid overboard.

	I ask no odds of the enemies of truth, neither have we from the
beginning.  Let us so live that God and angels are with us, and all is
right; and if we do not, it matters not what becomes of us, nor how
quickly we are overthrown as a people.  Let all hearts be fervent in their
covenants, and glorify their Father who is in heaven, with their spirits
and bodies, which are his.  Let our most earnest desire be to bring forth
and build up the kingdom of God upon the earth, save the house of Israel
and all the honest among the Gentiles, and fill the whole earth with the
light, glory, power, and knowledge of God, and be prepared to enjoy it;
which may Jesus grant.  Amen.

               REMARKS PERTAINING TO FOREIGN MISSIONS, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                Great Salt Lake City, September 23, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I am happy in discerning from brother Calkin's remarks that he is
really expanding and improving.  He could not have talked to this people
before he went on his mission as he can to-day.  I now know that he has
been prompt and fervent in the discharge of his duty, and has enjoyed the
Spirit of the Lord.  And so far as I have learned concerning his labours,
I do not know but that I am perfectly satisfied with his course during his
absence.  He reported himself immediately upon his arrival, before he went
home, saying, "I am here, and all I have is here; now what is wanted of
me?"  Go home, rest, and make yourself happy and comfortable, and
by-and-by we will have a long talk.  I am pleased with his remarks to-day. 
He is ready to leave again to-morrow, to go here or there, east or west,
north or south.  This is a satisfaction to me.  He feels to bless the
people, and to pray for them.  He has had no doubt in regard to the
results of the afflictions or seeming trials that our enemies strove to
bring upon us.  Every heart that believes in the fulness of the Gospel of
life and salvation, as it is revealed in this our day, has never had a
doubt as to the good results: there is no doubt in the case.  We may fail,
if we are not faithful; but God will not fail in accomplishing his work,
whether we abide in it or not.

	I will now express a wish in relation to all who may rise here to ask
a blessing on the bread and water of the sacrament, or to speak to such
large congregations as assemble here.  When a blessing is asked upon the
bread and water by some person, you cannot hear them ten feet from the
stand, and only a few persons in this vast congregation can hear one word. 
I want brother Hunter to let his voice partially correspond with his body;
and when brother Hardy opens his mouth, or any of the rest of the Bishops,
I want their voices that all may hear, that all may say "Amen."  When the
Elders rise here to speak, I want them to so raise their voices that the
people can hear them, that the audience may be able to say "Amen" to all
the good; and if there is evil, refuse it.  Naturally, I speak low, and
use but few words; but here I see thousands of people who wish to hear
what is said; and how can they hear, unless the speaker uses sufficient
voice?  I am often obliged to so raise my voice beyond my natural strength
that it hurts my lungs and my whole frame; but I do this for the
satisfaction of the people. I want my brethren to do the same, that the
hearts and faith of the congregation my have an opportunity to join in the
worship of God.  When any one rises to preach, pray, sing, exhort, or
bless the sacramental emblems, let him do so with voice sufficient for all
to hear.

	I am highly gratified with brother Calkin's report in relation to the
Foreign Missions.  We understand the situation of the brethren in those
Missions, and one fact we wish the Saints at the gathering-place to
understand.  How many hearts are now ready to receive what I am going to
say?  How many of you can receive the sentiments I will now advance, and
treasure them up--make them more choice in your feelings than the pure
gold?  They are worth everything to us and to the people abroad.  Do you
know that here is the standard, the nucleus, the fountain, the head for
all the exercises of the kingdom of God upon the face of the whole earth? 
Now, let the Saints in this congregation droop in their faith, and that
spirit will spread before to-morrow morning throughout the vast domain of
this creation.  Every Elder that goes abroad is a witness of this fact. 
This spirit spreads through a telegraphic influence or force that is
independent of wires.  Let this people at the gathering-place wake out of
their slumbers, gird on their armour, and go forth like men of war against
wickedness, and every Branch throughout the Church feels the influence in
a very short time--it is speedily imparted to all creation.  The wires, as
it were, are set, the lightnings flash over them, and all feel the
influence, when we are doing our duty here.  It all depends upon us here. 
"Are we not obliged to send forth Elders?"  Yes, for helps and
governments, which are all necessary to God's work.

	Here is the kingdom, the Priesthood, and the power.  Here are the
eyes, and here is the sense; the head and the body are here, and every
component part that comprises the kingdom of God upon the earth.  The
small Branches abroad feel the impulse of the spirit here, whether it is
for good or for bad, whether it is for information, for forgiveness, for
life, for faith, for light, or for power, or apostacy; the whole Church
throughout the world feels the spirit that predominates here.  Hear it, O
ye Saints, and profit by it.  We are sending forth our Elders, and do you
think it is in our power to tie their hands?  If the head that has sent
them forth into the world to preach the everlasting Gospel goes to sleep
in its armour, wallows in wealth, or in anything that is this side of the
power of God, our Elders are at once tied; they feel the oppression, are
trammelled and weakened, and will totter and fall, unless the head is wide
awake for them.

	Brother W. C. Staines, in his remarks, wished the Saints here to
remember him in their prayers.  Thousands here will hold him up in their
faith and prayers.  I wanted to add to his life on the earth, which going
on his mission will do, even many years, if he does his duty.  Such will
be the case with brother John Needham.  They are merchants, and have heard
that they are sent on this mission because they are speculators.  I do not
know anything about that, but I feel that it is time that William C.
Staines went on a mission:  his life is worth more than the gold which he
gathers from the sale of the goods he deals in.  He is going on a mission,
and is going just right.  Brother Needham has been a merchant from his
youth, and brother Staines has been a tiller of the soil.  I have not the
least fault to find with either of them; but brother Needham would
probably die in a short time, were he to stay here.  If he goes on this
mission, he will probably live many years to do good, and be richer than
if he staid here and followed merchandizing.  We have called them because
we want them to go, and we wish them to go their way rejoicing.

	We have promised the Missionaries, if they will live according to the
manifestations of the Spirit, and preach the Gospel by the power of God
sent down from heaven, that they will feel more of the Spirit and power of
their calling than they have ever felt before.  Do you think that we are
always going to remain the same size?  I am not a stereotyped Latter-day
Saint, and do not believe in the doctrine.  Every year the Elders of
Israel are improving and learning, and have more power, more influence
with the Heavens, more power over the elements, and over diseases, and
over the power of Satan, who has ruled this earth from the days of the
fall until now.  We have to gain power until we break the chain of the
Enemy.  Are we going to stand still?  Away with stereotyped "Mormons."  I
have more power than I had last year.  I feel much stronger than ever
before, and that too in the power of God; and I feel as though I could
take the people and bring them into the presence of God, if they only
hearken to counsel.  Do you think that I am improving?  "Yes."  Keep u,
then; keep your places, and follow in the track.

	The kingdom of God is all that is of real worth.  All else is not
worth possessing, either here or hereafter.  Without it, all else would be
like a dry tree prepared for the burning--it is all consumed, and the
ashes are driven to the four winds.  Let the brethren who go upon missions
go with the power of God upon them, and shun every appearance of evil. 
Love the Gospel and cling to the Lord.  Seek unto him by day and by night,
that you may have his Holy Spirit to be with you to guide your feet and
your affections, and give you wisdom to ask and answer questions; then you
will not be apt to fall into temptation and be caught away in the snares
of the Devil.

	So far as I have learned, the brethren and sisters have most
liberally responded to the call made on them last Sunday for sending forth
the Elders.  I have not a full list of the contributions, or I would
report it to you to-day.  A few of the Bishops have reported to me what
their Wards have done, but I have not learned the full amount that has
been collected.  So far as I can learn, the Saints have felt the
responsibility that is upon them.  It belongs to us to send the Gospel to
the uttermost parts of the earth, and it belongs to the Elders to preach
it.  Some may say that the Elders ought to start from here without
anything, and go into the world and get their support.  You who have never
given anything, since you have been in the Church, for the spread of the
Gospel, have an opportunity to begin now; and those who have always been
on hand to help will help more; and between the two classes, we will
receive enough to send the Elders abroad, and sustain their families
during their absence, so far as their families need assistance.

	I wish the Elders to go forth as I have taught them.  If you have a
clean shirt and one to be washed, then be satisfied.  If you are clothed
so as to be comfortable, be satisfied, and do not let your minds reach out
after anything only to preach the Gospel and gather the souls of men. 
That is all the business you have upon your hands--it is your whole
mission; and trust in God to get home--trust in the Lord to go from place
to place, and the way will be opened for you.  And when you start to come
home, if you have more than you need to bring you home, without bringing a
dress-pattern for your wife or children, and though, when you reach home,
your own clothes will be worn to strings and tatters, if you have five
dollars more than you need to defray your expenses on your return, help
the poor Saints with it, and I will warrant you more food to eat, more
clothing to wear, and more friends in heaven and on earth, more houses,
lands, and possessions, than you would have, were you to bring home rich
dresses for your wives and expensive clothes for yourselves, with your
minds shrunk with covetousness and love of the world.

	I have been striving with my brethren, all that day long, to build up
the kingdom of God.  As long as Joseph lived, I laboured with all my might
with my brethren.  In the days of the Prophet it was proven to a
demonstration that he could not bear off this kingdom without temporal
means.  If this was absolutely necessary in his day, why not now?  Elders
of Israel have taken a course--those who have been to Australia, to the
East Indies, to California, San Bernadino, the State of New York,
Philadelphia, and other places in the United States, and those who have
had charge of the European Missions, to keep every dime out of my hands. 
I will not suffer this any longer.  They require of me to bear off the
kingdom of God, and they would keep every dollar from me, if they could. 
I am satisfied with the brethren, for they seem to have supposed that this
kingdom was a kingdom of merchandize.  I do not say that the brethren have
done as they have with their eyes open, for they are as good men as ever
walked on this footstool; but they have been mistaken.  This is the
kingdom of God, to gather the poor, for the poor are the people of God,
and they shall inherit the earth; and if you make merchandize of anything,
buy the souls of the children of men, and bring them into the kingdom of
God, and lay them at the feet of Jesus.

	Every person who knows anything about life must know that it requires
means to carry on this work; and that means I shall require, from this day
forth, to be at my control, and not at the beck and call of every Elder;
and at the same time they make me gather the poor and pay all the debts of
the Church.  We want to build the Temple walls on this block.  We now
support thousands of people, and wish to support thousands more.  They
want hats, coats, shirts, dresses, tea, coffee, and sugar.  The wife wants
the comforts of life to give to her husband while he is labouring hard,
and for herself while she is knitting stockings, etc., for the hands.  The
Elders abroad are wallowing in their riches, and there are women here
before me in their silks and satins that have been bought with money that
belongs to my purse.  They shall not do this any longer.  I wrote to
brother Calkin to give me a history of matters abroad:  he has done so. 
In the emigration operations of one season Church funds were kept out of
my hands by Elders, and they rolled seventy-six thousand dollars of Church
indebtedness on me to pay, and that too without the least notification,
until it was all transacted and done.  While the Elders were buying the
best silks and satins for their wives, and the most expensive clothes for
themselves, with the money that I ought to have controlled, (going out
preachers and coming home merchants, with their pockets full of money and
drafts,) I have had to take the old worn-out horses, and the old toothless
cows, and the potatoes, and wheat, when they would not bring money, and
make a shift of a shirt, and a shirt of a shift, and a pair of breeches of
a shirt, and then make another shift to get hold of money to keep the work
in motion.  If I were not one of the best financiers on the earth, we
should have been in trouble to-day; and all I know, God has taught me.  I
have been obliged to ask brother Wells to work like a slave, to deal for
me here and there, and change property, and to keep him running until he
was almost run out; and now the people are teasing him all the time, for
they want dresses, shirts, boots, pantaloons, etc.; and he has nothing to
give them, while some are rolling in wealth.

	I am going to make the Elders of Israel help to bear off this
kingdom, or I will scourge them until they do.  "How is it with yourself,
brother Brigham?"  I would rather wear gray homespun than your fine
broadcloth.  I have it made up; but, to please my family and the people, I
wear such as I do.  I would as soon wear a good home-made coat as a coat
of the finest cloth in the world.  As to food, my greatest luxury is
roasted potatoes and a little good, clean, sour buttermilk.  Such fare is
good enough for Brigham.

	Now, let me say to you all, and hear it, O Israel, you have either to
give me the control of the Church funds, and pay your Tithing promptly, or
take the responsibility of bearing off this kingdom.  If the Twelve
Apostles and the Presidents of Seventies and the High Priests will take
the responsibility of bearing off this kingdom and sending the Gospel to
the uttermost parts of the earth, of gathering the poor, building up Zion,
and doing all that is necessary preparatory to the coming of the Son of
Man, Brigham is with you to labour with you all his days, and support
himself.  I have fed and clothed myself from the beginning, and I am
willing to do it now, and to spend all my time in the work of God, no
matter in what department.  If you take the responsibility, you shall have
the means; but if you roll the responsibility upon me, I must have the
means.  If you wish me to bear off the kingdom, will you give me the means
to do it with?  If you will, raise your right hands. [All hands were
raised.  To the contrary vote, not a hand was raised.]

	We all should follow our leader; and when we are perfectly united in
one, we produce the best results for Israel.

	God bless you!  Amen.

                BLESSINGS OF THE SAINTS--COVETOUSNESS, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                Great Salt Lake City, September 30, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I feel the force of the ancient saying--"Behold how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the
precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even
Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments; as the dew of
Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion; for
there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life evermore."

	I realize all that has just been said in regard to the blessings of
heaven being ready to be poured out upon this people, if they were
prepared to receive them, and that too in a far greater degree than has
ever entered into the heart of man to conceive; for the heart of man is
incapable of fully comprehending the blessings that God has in store for
the faithful, unless he has revealed those blessings to them by the
revelations of his Spirit.  The natural man is contracted in his feelings,
in his views, faith, and desires, and so are the Saints, unless they live
their religion.  If they live their religion, all that has been said this
morning they will fully realize to be true.

	It may be asked, "Shall we go to the world for wisdom?"  They have
none, so far as pertains to the plan of salvation.  To be sure, they have
considerable knowledge of the arts of sciences; but in those do they
understand all that has formerly been understood?  I have no idea that
they do.  Do they know anything of the things of God?  No.  Brother Taylor
observed, "Go to the priests of the day, and they cannot inform you." 
There is a good reason why--because they know nothing directly in regard
to the things of the kingdom, and they are equally ignorant with regard to
the design of their present existence, to say nothing of either their
prior or future existence.  They are a mystery to themselves, and do not
even understand the things which they see; still they are searching and
researching, and studying and striving with all their powers to understand
the things they see every day, and come short of doing that.  How, then,
can they understand the invisible things that pertain to eternity?  There
is no knowledge of these things in the so-called Christian world, in
comparison with what they should possess, in consideration of the
advantages which have been granted to them, neither is that knowledge
among those denominated heathen.  There are only a few dark traditions--a
few incorrect and garbled ceremonies and ordinances remaining of the true
system that was once possessed by mankind.

	We are in the kingdom of God,and must yield obedience to it.  We say
that we do--we feel that we do, but when will this people fully see and
understand things as they are?  I may answer in the future, and all I can
now say is that they are learning- -growing in grace and in the knowledge
of the truth; but to say we are perfect, we cannot.  When brother Taylor
referred, in his remarks, to our leader and dictator, with regard to his
perfections and imperfections, I felt that I could almost say that I did
not want him to be perfect yet.  I remember Joseph Smith's saying, "If I
were as pure and holy as you wish me to be, I could not stay with you; I
should not be here to guide and direct you, for the Lord would take me
from you."  He did take him; the people were not worthy of him.  The
people required him to be as holy as the Almighty himself, and to never
make a mistake.  Wherein the First Presidency and the Twelve do wrong, it
is not in the ability of the people to detect them in those wrongs.  They
are far advanced, and they know enough more to lead out; and if they
commit an error, it is passed over, and the people cannot tell wherein or
when, nor how to correct it.

	The Christian world are all looking for a day of perfection, and are
donating their money and sending out Missionaries,--they have also a great
many Tract and Bible Societies, &c., &c., expressly to convert the world
and bring forth the day the ancient Prophets have written about--a day of
rest, the millennium, or any other term you please to apply to it, but it
is a day when the Saints who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ shall see
eye to eye, when all shall come to the knowledge of the truth, and the law
of the Lord shall be written in the hearts of all, and none shall need to
say to his neighbour, "Know ye the Lord," for all shall know him, &c.  All
Christendom is looking for that day.  I will inform this congregation and
the whole world that they will never come to perfection--never can
commence the great work of reformation in themselves and with each other,
until the superior knowledge can take the inferior and direct it, and, if
need be, chasten it, and remove its errors, and give it the truth.

	During a few weeks past much has been said in relation to the folly,
feelings, and doings of Elders of Israel.  Joseph Smith was a rod in the
hands of the Lord to scourge the Elders of Israel; he was the mouthpiece
of the Almighty, and was always ready to rebuke them when requisite.  You
who were acquainted with him know his course and life.  He had a word of
comfort and consolation to the humble and faithful, and a word of rebuke
to the froward and disobedient.  But for a few years past, in the midst of
the Elders of Israel, they have treated each other with what may be called
silken words spoken with velvet lips; and what you have lately been
hearing about has produced this course of life and feeling among the
Elders not to chasten or rebuke each other.  If they wished to correct,
they would preach a long sermon, and tell how miserable they themselves
were, how wicked they had been, how many times they had transgressed and
been out of the way; and after they had painted their own characters as
black as darkness, they would say, "Brethren, do you not think that you
have done wrong in what you have done?  I am afraid you have; but my own
evil works are so much greater than yours, that I dare not mention it." 
This conduct is connected with other things; in fact, the whole experience
of man and the whole plan of salvation are so interwoven that it is hard
to draw out and divide one subject from another, though it may be done in
some instances.  Men become darkened in their minds; they say that the
Elders of Israel, they believe, have fallen from grace and have received
the spirit of the world.  Those Elders are not willing to acknowledge
this, but almost every track they make proves it; almost every deed they
perform proves that they have become lukewarm, and they preach with silken
lips, and do not pour the truth of God upon the people as the Lord wishes
them to, nor cause the overt acts of the ungodly to feel the wrath of
justice and the weight of truth.  This is what I see, and what I have seen
for a long time.

	People become covetous.  The whole world is more or less covetous;
and when the questions are asked, "Where shall we go for wisdom--for
strength?  To whom shall we apply for knowledge?  Where shall we seek for
life?" --there is but one source, and that is the God who organized us. 
When will we become entirely independent?  Never, though we are as
independent in our spheres as the Gods of eternity are in theirs.  When
will we lead out and act for ourselves?  When we have overcome, and that
is not yet.  Jesus has not yet overcome; he has not received his kingdom
from the Father.  He has to contend against the enemy--against the power
of the Devil, until he overcomes death and him that has the power of it. 
If he is successful, and we believe that he will be, when he overcomes and
subdues all enemies and puts them under his feet, he will present the
kingdom to the Father; and then he will be crowned, and not until then. 
When will we be crowned?  Not until we pass through ordeals preparatory to
receiving those crowns.  We are not our own.  We have our existence, but
it is not our own.

	That which we seem to possess is not our own, but is owned and
controlled by a superior power.  Even the power of the Devil can take
money from one man's pocket and place it in another man's pocket, to say
nothing of what the power of God can do.  Some men seemingly possess much
riches, as did Job, and how long may it be before they have not a
farthing's worth of property, or a wife, or child?  In a few weeks the
Lord took almost all from Job; he spared to him a wife, who, as recorded
in the Bible, seemed to taunt Job's trust in his God--his fidelity to his
Maker.  "Now," says she, "you had better curse God at once and die.  I
told you that he would not stand by you."  I presume Job felt like saying,
"Go to the Devil your own road."

	Who does have true power?  Those who have overcome and sat down with
the Gods in eternity, and who have committed to them the keys that are
prepared for them.  Then they can reign triumphantly, for they have
perfect control over death and him that has the power of death, and over
all evil:  then they control life.

	I frequently reflect upon how much power we need.  You hear the
Elders of Israel praying for power we need.  You hear the Elders of Israel
praying for power to overcome their enemies:  they want power to strike
them blind and to strike them dead.  We have seen times, within a few
years back, when we would have been glad to have had power to destroy our
enemies.  Have you power, independently, to make a kernel of wheat grow,
or any vegetable with which to feed yourselves?  No; you have not power to
control those lesser powers that pertain to the elements.

	What does the Lord want of us?  To build temples, raise potatoes,
wheat, &c., and preach the Gospel to and gather the poor.  The Elders of
Israel do not thoroughly know how to do this; yet they want to rise here
and tell how the Gods are made.  They had better learn how to raise
potatoes, and how to take care of them after they are raised.  Some do not
know even this, but would let the potatoes rot before they are half used
up.  If they had an abundance of gold and silver, they would not know what
to do with it.  Are not the people reaching after that which does not
belong to them?  That is the reason why the whole world do not receive the
Gospel; it is too low and humble for them.  They are looking after
something in the future; they are like the fool, whose eyes are wandering
to the ends of the earth; like some of the Elders who rise here to preach
and want to tell what is going to be in the millennium, and what has been
long before the creation of the world, but never think of inquiring as to
their duty to-day.  Learn first to obtain power over the smaller objects
and principles around you.  Learn to control yourselves and that which is
immediately around you, and always keep in view that the animal,
vegetable, and mineral kingdoms--the earth and its fulness--will all,
except the children of men, abide their creation--the law by which they
were made, and will receive their exaltation.

	Who will possess the earth and the fulness thereof?  Will those who
love money, and who barter their lives and their hopes of salvation for a
little gold?  Those who love it in its present existence will perish. 
Gold is one of the most refined metals, and mankind have to be tried like
gold that has passed seven times through the crucible, making it a little
hotter each time, until the metal is as pure as it can be.  Who will
possess it?  Who will possess the earth and all its fulness?  Will it not
be those whom the Lord has reserved to this honour?  And they will come
upon Mount Zion as saviours, to labour through the millennium to save
others.

	Are the Elders able to correct a person when he is wrong, without
having personal feelings?  You are not as you should be, unless you can
correct every person you know to be wrong, without having personal
ill--feelings against them?  If you cannot possess gold and silver without
having one particle of love for it, you are not as you must learn to be. 
All that a man should have in his heart with regard to goods, and
chattels, and possessions on the earth, is to know of the Lord what to do
with them.  If I do a wrong, let me correct that wrong, and become right;
if I see a wrong in my neighbour, correct that, and remove the fault from
him, and give him something better.  The object of the Elders of Israel
ought to be to glorify God and sanctify their feelings and affections
before him.  If we have anything else in our hearts, it is wrong: 
contending one with another is wrong. 

	May God bless you, brethren!  Amen.

                       HELPING IN THE IMMIGRATION.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	Last spring we called upon some of the Bishops to furnish a few teams
to go to the Missouri river and back this season, to prove to the people a
fact that several of us were convinced did exist.  We obtained twenty
teams from the Wards; I also sent a few, and they have successfully
performed the journey to Florence, N.T., and back, under the charge of
Elder Joseph W. Young.  Bishop Woolley also went down with some mule and
ox teams, and returned with the ox train.  I want to hear them both speak
this afternoon on the subject of freighting with teams sent from here.

	The handcart system has been pretty well tried; and if a hand cart
company start in proper season, and manage properly, I will venture to say
the most of them can come in that way more pleasantly than they generally
come with waggons.  But drawing their provisions, &c., is a hard task, and
it would be more satisfactory, if we could manage it, to bring in waggons
the freight and those who are unable to walk.

	In 1834, a company of us were called upon to go to Missouri, and in
that trip the labour of walking, so far as we averaged in a day, was very
fatiguing.  A great many of that company walked, and we cooked by the way
as much as do those who travel across the Plains, and we carried a greater
weight than is generally carried by those who walk from the Missouri river
to this city.  This I know, for I was one of those who walked the whole
distance.  In less than three months I walked two thousand miles, as far
as to Florence and back; and others of the company did the same.  And
instead of having a healthy climate to walk in, we passed through one of
the most deathly and sickly climates in the United States, which proved to
me that most people can walk, if they will try.

	We now contemplate trying another plan.  If we can go with our teams
to the Missouri river and back in one season, and bring the poor, their
provisions, &c., it will save about half of the cash we now expend in
bringing the Saints to this point from Europe.  It now costs in cash
nearly as much for their teams, waggons, handcarts, cooking utensils,
provisions, &c., for their journey across the Plains, as it does to
transport them to the frontiers.  We can raise cattle without an outlay of
money, and use them in transporting the Saints from the frontiers, and
such freight as we may require.  Brethren and sisters, save your fives,
tens, fifties, a hundred dollars, or as much as you can, until next
spring, (considering yourselves, as it were, a thousand miles from a
store,) and send your money, your cattle, and waggons to the States, and
buy your goods and freight them.  Twenty dollars expended in this way will
do you as much good as several times that amount paid to the stores here.
If we can convince the brethren that it is a successful operation, we
shall endeavour to engage in it largely next year.  We wish to send two or
three hundred waggons, with two or three yokes of cattle to a light
Chicago wagon.  If you have not the wagons, you can send the money and buy
them.  in this way, where we could emigrate a hundred from Liverpool to
this place by the old method, we can emigrate some two hundred by going to
the frontiers and bringing them.  This will facilitate, by almost half,
the gathering of the Saints, and at the same time enable us to procure, at
cheap rates, such articles as we do not produce.  I wish the brethren to
grasp in their faith the facts that will be presented, and believe that we
can do all that we can, and then be ready to do it.  We have plenty of
cattle and can send them, and they will perform the journey as well as
horses or mules, with far less risk of their being stolen on the Plains.

	I wish the Bishops to improve upon the counsel I gave them this
morning, receiving it as kindly as it was given; for we only desire to
turn the current of our business transactions into the channel that will
most conduce to the welfare of the Saints.  I also want them to present to
their Wards the plan of sending teams to the frontier; and I want the men
who think and write to send to the Editor of the Deseret News articles
about sending teams to the States to bring our poor brethren and our
freight, and to take out and bring back our Missionaries.

	Last spring our Elders went down with the trains at a saving of some
two thousands dollars in cash, and on reaching the frontier were prepared
to go on their way rejoicing.  And when they return, I anticipate the
honour of our teams bringing them back as poor as they went--that they
will not return as merchants; for if they do, from this time forth, the
curse of God will rest upon them, and they will lose the spirit of their
religion and apostatize.  I want them to respect their missions,
themselves, their brethren, their religion, and our God, as to return poor
in regard to gold, silver, &c., but rich in gathering the souls of the
children of men to this place, where we can chasten them and prove whether
they are Saints or not, and where the Lord will have the privilege of
proving them either to be Saints or unworthy of the kingdom.

	I will now call upon brother E. D. Woolley to preach a sermon about
ox-trains going to the States.

	God bless you!  Amen.

                            JOYS OF ETERNITY.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1860.
                                     

	I wish the people could realize that they walk, live, and abide in
the presence of the Almighty.  The faithful shall have eyes to see as they
are seen, and you shall behold that you are in the midst of eternity and
in the presence of holy beings, and be enabled ere long to enjoy their
society and presence.  You are greatly blessed.  How many there are who
say--"God bless you!"  How many times it is said to the Saints--"I bless
you, and may the Lord bless you!"  You shall be blessed all the time. 
Good is poured out on the people, and we say Amen.

	The brethren have done nobly in their contributions to the Missionary
Fund, and we expect to continue to do nobly.  How much do we expect to do
for the kingdom of God?  The talent, ability, and everything placed in the
hands of this people shall be devoted to his cause and kingdom on the
earth, in the name of the God of Israel.  These are my feelings.  As far
as I have control, and as far as I have influence in this kingdom, all
within its pales shall be devoted to its upbuilding.  When Elders are
called to go and preach, they go; and when we want means we shall have it.

	To morrow morning we expect to meet you here again.  When shall we
meet to part no more?  Never, never; no, never.  That is a curious idea,
and I have not time to give full explanations.  We shall go and come; and
when we are in the eternity, we shall be on this earth, which will be
brought into the immediate presence of the Father and the Son.  We shall
inhabit different mansions, and worlds will continue to be made, formed,
and organized, and messengers from this earth will be sent to others. 
This earth will become a celestial body--be like a sea of glass, or like a
urim and thummim; and when you wish to know anything, you can look in this
earth and see all the eternities of God.  We shall make our home here, and
go on our missions as we do now, but at greater than railroad speed.

	It is time to close our meeting; and, by the power of right I have in
the Priesthood of the Son of God, I bless the Saints of latter days. 
Amen.


           TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT--COUNSEL TO THE BISHOPS, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I feel quite thankful for the comfortable circumstances we enjoy--for
our blessings, spiritually and temporally, which I realize to be the free
gift of our Father and God.  All the wisdom, ability, and talent displayed
among the children of men are the gift of God to them.  He has given us
ability to make ourselves comfortable and happy, for which I am extremely
thankful.

	I am happy in hearing the voices of the brethren, and would be very
much gratified if we had time, and it would meet the minds of the
brethren, to give them an opportunity to speak as the Spirit might
dictate, and bear their testimony.  It has been a source of comfort to me
to hear the speeches of my brethren, and to observe the variety of
capacity, of reflection, and manner of communication displayed by them.  I
should be very glad if we could have the privilege of hearing many of them
speak during this Conference.  Whether we shall or not, I am not now able
to say.  Our Conference commences to-day.  To-morrow is the Sabbath, and
probably many who have come from the country will wish to return home on
Monday.  Whether we shall continue our Conference longer than to-morrow, I
do not know.  We shall continue it until we finish the business to be
transacted and fully answer our feelings, and then we will close.  I wish
to present several ideas; but I have been more edified in hearing the
music in brother Kimball's remarks this morning than I would have been in
speaking myself.

	When the authorities of the Church are present, if we are possessed
of the true spirit, we are ready to sustain the faithful, and to wish them
to continue in the faithful, and to wish them to continue in the faithful
discharge of their duties.  And the brethren who rise to testify of the
things of God, if they enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, know that "Mormonism"
is true.  No person can receive a knowledge of this work, except by the
power of revelation.

	All the world are ready to tell you that this work is not of God. 
Kings, princes, dukes, lords, and other great men of the earth are all
combined in this testimony.  Why do they fear this work, if it is the work
of men?  The very sound of it carries conviction to all the inhabitants of
the earth--a conviction that it is ordained of God.  Were this not so, you
would not see it contended against by the priests in the pulpit, who are
bitter against it, and are most vigilant in circulating all manner of
falsehood concerning it, picking up the sayings of corrupt, debased,
abandoned characters to swell their catalogue of lies against it, which
they publish throughout the world.  All this would sleep, if this work was
not of God.  They would never think enough of it to say one word about it. 
But they are pricked by the conviction of its truth when they hear the
sound of it.  When false reports go out against Joseph Smith and his
brethren, against the Book of Mormon, and the kingdom of God, a conviction
goes with them to the hearts of the people that this is the work of the
Almighty. Were this not so, we should not have been persecuted--we should
not have been driven as we have been.  But we have been driven for the
last time, thank God my heavenly Father.  But our persecutions are a
subject that I do not wish to speak about.  We have the power in our
hands, if we live with our lives hid with Christ in God.  We are here
where the Lord wants us to be; and if we will be as he wants us to be, the
kingdom is ours--the greatness, the glory, power, excellency, light,
intelligence, and eternity of the kingdom of God are ours, and no power
can hinder it.

	When men lose the spirit of the work in which we are engaged, they
become infidel in their feelings.  They say that they do not know whether
the Bible is true, whether the Book of Mormon is true, nor about new
revelations,nor whether there is a God or not.  When they lose the spirit
of this work, they lose the knowledge of the things of God in time and in
eternity; all are lost to them.  Contemplate the things of God and his
present condition, and you may clearly comprehend that we are now in the
midst of eternity.  When we preach, or pray, or exhort each other to good
works, if we could realize it, we are in the midst of the kingdom of God,
and his all-searching eye is here.  You may readily comprehend this; for,
when I look at you as you are now assembled, I can see several hundred
faces at once.  Now, suppose that I had power to see as the Spirit sees, I
could then look through the earth and see our antipodes as well as I can
look through what some term empty space.  My eyes would be eternal, and I
could see the vast eternities of God as I can now see your faces.  God
sees us; and if we had eyes like his, we could behold him as we sit here
as easily as we can now see each other's faces,--no matter where he
dwells, whether in Kolob or anywhere else; for his glory and light fill
the sun, and we could behold it as we now behold each other's faces.  God
has the power to look at his vast works; and if we had power and eyes like
his, we could behold him as he does us.  He is in the midst of eternity. 
His kingdom is here, a portion of his glory is here, eternity is here, and
we are in the midst of them.  Let us live worthy of them, and not
dishonour our being upon the earth.

	There are many of the Bishops here to-day, and my advice to them is
for them to be honest with me, to be honest with their God, to keep their
covenants sacred, and to make a clean breast of all their business
transactions, that their consciences may be void of offence towards God
and man.  I am not searching only the course of the Twelve, or that of the
High Priests and Seventies, but I am searching after all the authorities
whose conduct is not in accordance with the best interests of the Church;
and from this time forth, if they do not do different from what many have
done, they shall do wrong knowingly, with their eyes open.  I want the
Bishops to remember the counsel I have given them.  I shall learn whether
they are strictly honest or not; and if they are not honest, I will expose
them.  If they come out and own things as they are, and honestly prove
that their pst errors have proceeded from the head, and not from the
heart, they can be placed upon the right track and magnify their calling. 
Some may not understand the cause of these remarks concerning the Bishops,
and I will explain.  For instance, when tithing-chickens, butter, &c., are
brought in, a Bishop says to his clerk--"You need not trouble to take an
account of these chickens; my wife will keep an account of them;" and the
Bishop's wife takes the chickens, the ham, the butter, the cheese, &c.,
and puts them away; and when the clerk wants to know what has been brought
in by such a brother, "O never mind," says the Bishop; "my wife will give
an account of it;" and the wife forgets it. "Are such things done?"  Yes,
more or less, all the time.  This example was set long ago, and some of
the Bishops have followed it.

	At the death of Joseph, when the Twelve returned to Nauvoo, to use a
comparison, the horses were all harnessed and the people were in the big
carriage, and where were they going?  They did not know.  Who would gather
up the lines and guide the team?  No man would step forward, until I did. 
There was not one of the Twelve with me when I went to meet Sidney Rigdon
on the meeting-ground.  I went alone, and was ready alone to face and
drive the dogs from the flock.  When I got hold of the lines, and began to
direct the team, I found tithing-butter spoiled, potatoes rotted in the
cellars, and pork spoiled in the barrels, while the brethren at work on
the Temple would come to their labour without breakfast, and pork, butter,
beef, &c., rotting under the feet of the Temple Committee.  Said I, "Empty
these barrels, or I will walk into your cellars and empty them for you: 
let these workmen have something to eat."  "Oh," said the committee, "we
are afraid there will not be enough to last a year."  Then, if we starve,
we starve together; and if we live, we live together.  I ordered the
wheat, the pork, the butter, &c., to be issued to the workmen.  Too many
of the Bishops here have taken pattern from those who have gone before.  I
have been to Bishop' houses when they had hams and eggs during months in
they ear, while our hands on the works were not able to get one; for the
Bishops had eaten all the hams, every egg and chicken, and all the butter. 
I will trace out those who conduct in this manner and expose them, unless
they honestly report their transactions and strive to do right.  Brethren,
you may think that I am a little extravagant in my talk; but time will
prove.

	When a good, handsome cow has been turned in on tithing, she has been
smuggled, and an old three titted cow--one that would kick the tobacco out
of the mouth of a man who went to milk her--would be turned into the
General Tithing Office, instead of the good cow.  If one hundred dollars
in cash are paid into the hands of a Bishop,in many instances he will
smuggle it, and turn into the General Tithing-Office old, ring-boned,
spavined horses, instead of the money.  I am inquiring after such conduct,
and will continue until I cleanse the inside of the platter.

	Brother Heber has been speaking about discipline.  Elders in Israel,
I am as willing and ready to be closely examined and scanned as I am to
examine and scan you.  Walk into my office, examine my books, and scan
every act of my life.  I am as ready to have it done as I am to search
into your practices.  you may say that you have not been dishonest, or, if
you have been,that you were ignorantly so.  I am glad, if such statements
will prove to be correct.  I never saw the day in this Church that I could
consider it honest to take one cent of tithing and turn it out of its
legitimate channel; but some of our smart men do not know as much as that,
though they would seem to know more of the great things of the kingdom
than I do.  I want to instruct you in the little things.  It is the little
foxes that spoil the vine; it is the little acts of men that make up the
sum of their lives and form their characters for eternity.

	Some may think that I am rather too severe; but if you had the
Prophet Joseph to deal with, you would think that I am quite mild.  There
are many here that are acquainted with brother Joseph's manner.  He would
not bear the usage I have borne, and would appear as though he would tear
down all the houses in the city, and tear up trees by the roots, if men
conducted to him in the way they have to me.

	I am required by those who sit here to-day and by the whole Church to
bear off this kingdom, to see that it is preserved inviolate, and that the
Priesthood is honoured; but it seems, on the right hand and on the left,
as though there is a concerted plan among nearly all the Elders and High
Priests to keep every dime of money out of my hands, make me pay the debts
of the Church, do the work, and they keep the means and use it for their
own purposes.  The ancient Apostles and ministers of Christ could not live
without eating.  They had to eat, drink, and wear,--to have sustenance
while on earth.  So do I, though I do not require the rich luxuries of
life.  I am not so fond as many are of high living, but I have to eat and
rest.  And when a Church debt comes from England, New York, Missouri, St.
Louis, or elsewhere, the money has to be paid.  I cannot chew paper and
spit out bank-bills that will pass in payment of those debts, neither
shall I undertake to do it.  I want the gold and silver that are paid on
tithing, and the identical horses, cows, and young stock that are brought
in on tithing; or, if stock and other products are retained, give us
better than what you keep, and not keep the good and give us the bad. 
Neither do I wish a person owing tithing to offer an old hipped horse at
forty dollars, and ask me to pay him twenty dollars in cash and let the
balance go to pay tithing, when the old animal is not worth ten dollars.

	Pour means into the storehouse of the Lord, and prove him, and see
whether he will not pour out greater blessings than you can contain.  You
have not room enough this year in which to store the abundance of grain
the Lord has given you:  you have to store it in waggon-boxes, &c., and
much of it goes to waste, and the people are not blessed for it.  You
ought to carefully save every kernel.  As for prophesying that a famine
will come upon you, I shall not do so. Should it come, we will do the best
we can.  We have had a light famine here, and dealt out provisions to the
brethren as long as we could, and got along very well.

	May God bless you!  Amen.



                   PERSECUTION--THE KINGDOM OF GOD, &c.
       Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 7, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	You have heard the testimony of brother Hyde:  it is full of spirit,
full of matter, full of marrow.  He has spoken words of truth--the words
of the Lord.

	There are hundreds and thousands of Elders who would be glad to bear
their testimony to the truth.  Be faithful, walk uprightly before God,
deal justly with all, love mercy, shun every appearance of evil, and
magnify your Priesthood, and you shall have the opportunity of speaking,
bearing rule, dictating, guiding, and directing, to your full
satisfaction, the things that pertain to the kingdom of God.  This promise
is to all who are faithful.  They shall receive a fulness of kingdoms,
thrones, principalities, powers, dominions, and all the fulness pertaining
to the Godhead, to their full satisfaction and capability.  This should be
a satisfaction to all.

	At the first impression, the testimony of one man is equally valid
with that of another; but when people are filled with understanding to
discern and comprehend the principles by which the worlds were made, and
by which they are governed and controlled, they realize that there is vast
difference between the man who assumes his authority and the one who is
appointed by his master to go and transact business.  Suppose that a
number of individuals having no appointment, credentials, or authority,
should come from any foreign country to the capital of our nation, and
pretend to be ministers of the government from whence they came, what
attention would be paid to them by our Government?  None, officially;
though they would probably be treated kindly, and as gentlemen, if they
behaved themselves.  But when a minister from the English or any other
European court comes with his appointment, credentials, recommends, &c.,
the President of the United States, the Congress, and officers of state
are ready to receive him with the respect due to his position.  So it is
in the kingdom of God, and in regard to this people.

	Our persecutors have supposed that they persecuted us upon the the
[sic] same principle that the Reformers were persecuted in the days of
Martin Luther and others; but in this they are mistaken.  Tell the
world--sound it in the ears of kings and rulers, that they are persecuting
a people to whose God they will have to pay every debt they contract: 
they will be brought into judgment for every act against this kingdom. 
This is the kingdom of God; these are the people of God, as are all who
receive the truth and follow its principles.  As to parentage, we are no
more the children of God than are the rest of the inhabitants of the
earth.  Originally, as to our parents, as to our organization and that
which pertains to our life, we are all the children of one Father, whether
we be Jew or Gentile, bond or free, black or white, noble or ignoble.  The
difference we see arises in consequence of the different use made of the
agency given to man.  Be careful, all the world, and touch not the
anointed of the Lord.  Afflict not the people who have the oracles of
salvation for all the human family.  Will the world believe this
statement?  They can if they choose; but the great majority of the
inhabitants of the earth will reject life and salvation when it is
presented to them, and in the end it will be like the gleaning of grapes
when the vintage is done.  A few here and a few there will receive the
truth, and the Lord will empty the earth of the wickedness that now dwells
upon it.

	As brother Hyde has stated, the "harmonious democracy" that undertook
to destroy this people, broke pieces in the State where the Lord,
twenty-eight years ago, on the 25th of next December, revealed to the
Prophet Joseph that the nation would begin to break.  But I do not wish to
make a political speech, nor to have anything to do with the politics and
parties in our Government.  They love sin, and roll it as a sweet morsel
under their tongues.  Had they the power, they would dethrone Jehovah; had
they the power, they would to-day crucify every Saint there is upon the
earth; they would not leave upon the earth one alive in whose veins runs
the blood of the Priesthood.  Yet they are our brethren and sisters--bone
of our bone, flesh of our flesh--sprung from one parentage.  God is our
Father--Jesus Christ is our Elder Brother.  If the world would understand
this, and take warning, and be cautious, it would be far better for them. 
Will they?  No:  they do not and will not realize facts as they exist, and
we cannot help it.  All we can do is to plead with them, preach to them
the words of eternal life, and offer it to them as it has been offered to
us.  If they receive it, blessed are they.  If they reject it, it is their
privilege.  The powers and faculties of their organizations are for
themselves to use as they elect; for they, as well as we, are agents
before God, and can choose or refuse according to their own pleasure.  But
they are broken in pieces.  Do I wish to predict this?  No, for it was
predicted long ago.  The nation that has lifted itself against the kingdom
of God is already shivered to pieces.  Touch it, and it will crumble under
your touch.  The cohesiveness of its particles is gone--they cannot cling
together, and they will be sifted as with a sieve of vanity.  God's
controversy with them has commenced; he has commenced with this nation,
and in its turn he will sift every nation there is upon the face of the
earth.

	In the beginning, after this earth was prepared for man, the Lord
commenced his work upon what is now called the American continent, where
the Garden of Eden was mad.  In the days of Noah, in the days of the
floating of the ark, he took the people to another part of the earth:  the
earth was divided, and there he set up his kingdom.  Did they receive  his
kingdom?  No; they rejected it.  Afterwards he called a man, and ordained
him, and showed to him the inhabitants of the whole earth, and gave to him
a promise that his offspring should be the people of God.  He spoke to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their children, as his covenant people. 
The Jews rejected Jesus Christ, who came to redeem the world.  They
cried--"Crucify him, crucify him!  Let his blood be upon us and upon our
children!"  God has removed the kingdom from Jerusalem again to Zion, and
here he will wind up the scene.  Righteousness will go forth, and the
wickedness upon the earth will be swept from it.  Will I prophesy evil? 
No; let us prophesy good.  But the justice and mercy of God must have
their demands.  Let everything have its place and its just due, both the
good and the evil; and we will not curse the wicked, for they are already
cursed; the wrath of the Almighty does not slumber upon their track; their
condition is lamentable.  They flourish like a green bay tree, and may so
flourish for a few days; but they will become withered and dried and
prepared to be cast into the fire, while the kingdom of God will stand;
and if we do not remain faithful, others will take our places.

	This is the kingdom of God, set up for the last time; and whosoever
persecutes it persecutes the son of God and the Father who sent him.  Here
is the Priesthood (the keys of power and wisdom) that unlocks the
storehouse of knowledge.  These keys and this power the world know nothing
of.  It is marvellous to the world that the things that are known
here--the very things that God reveals here--are often at once known by
portions of this kingdom in other nations.  To many it is marvellous that
intelligence can be so rapidly communicated by means of the
electro-magnetic telegraph, but our method of communication is from
heaven.

	We know and understand the nations of the earth, the power by which
they exist, and their rise and downfall:  the facts are before us. 
Reflect upon those powerful nations that have existed but are now
nationally as though they had never been:  so it will be with the nations
that now exist--they will pass away, others will come, and God will reign
King of nations as he now does King of Saints.  It is a glorious thought,
my brethren,--a thought that should touch the heart of every being on the
face of this earth, that God is going to reign Lord of lords and King of
kings--that he is coming to the earth again.  His kingdom is growing, and
his grace is bestowed upon his children, and they are coming to
understanding and growing in grace.

	It is not pleasing to a potter, after he has a batch of clay mixed,
ground, and made smooth and pliable for working into vessels, to have an
apprentice throw rough, unbroken, unground stuff into the prepared clay;
but, comparatively speaking, we have to bear this.  When we are getting
the clay into fine condition,  a mass of unprepared material is mixed up
with it, and it is our business to continue to grind, to prepare the whole
of the mass together.  I suppose the Lord wants to prepare all the good
clay that can be found upon the face of the earth, that when he comes he
can make up his jewels.  Then you who have oil in your vessels will go and
meet the Bridegroom.  Are we going to be prepared?  Let every soul of us
strive to be found among those who will be counted wise at his coming, for
we can go into the highways and hedges and find plenty of the foolish. 
Let us try to be wise--to obey the servants and commandments of the
Almighty, doing his will continually, that we may be prepared to enter at
the marriage supper.

	The scripture concerning the five wise and five foolish virgins will
be fulfilled, as will also the revelation that was given to Joseph about
the nations breaking to shivers.  I wish some of the world's learned
theologians would tell us what became of the foolish virgins.  Call up the
wisdom and knowledge there is in Christendom, and learn whether they can
tell anything about those foolish virgins.  I have not time now to tell
what became of them, but I think they did not go to the bottom of the
bottomless pit.  Is it not a glorious thought that there are kingdoms,
mansions of glory, and comfortable habitations prepared for all the sons
and daughters of Adam, except the sons of perdition?  All will not have
part in the first resurrection, and perhaps many will not appear in the
second; but all will be resurrected, and, except the sons of perdition,
enter kingdoms, the least of which I presume is more glorious than ever
John Wesley saw in vision.  All the inhabitants of the earth will enter a
glory, except the sons of perdition, or angels to the Devil.  But where
will they dwell?--what shall be their fate before they are prepared for a
kingdom of glory?  They will be cast into prison, and there remain until
they have paid the debt they have contracted; wherefore it is better to
make peace with the officer while in the way with him, as Jesus has said. 
After they have been thrust into prison and paid the uttermost farthing,
then perhaps they will receive a life, a glory, a kingdom that will be in
accordance with their feelings, desires, and doings while they were on the
earth.

	The kingdom that this people are in pertains to the celestial
kingdom; it is a kingdom in which we can prepare to go into the presence
of the Father and the Son.  Then let us live to inherit that glory.  God
has promised you, Jesus has promised you, and the Apostles and Prophets of
old and of our day have promised you that you shall be rewarded according
to all you can desire in righteousness before the Lord, if you live for
that reward.  As Patriarch Joseph Smith, the father of Joseph the Prophet,
said--"If I have not promised blessings enough on your head, and stated
enough in the blessing I have given you, sit down and write every good
thing you can think of, and every good thing your neighbour can think of,
and put all into your blessing, and I will sign it and promise the whole
to you, if you will only live for it."  But suppose a person does not live
for the promised blessings, will he receive them?  No. And we say to the
Elders of Israel, Be faithful, and you shall see the day when you will
have all the power you can wield and manage to advantage.  I can tell
Thos. B. Marsh, who is now in the congregation, to witness: he was once
the President of the  Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  Soon after the
selection of that Quorum, brother Marsh felt to complain.  I said to him,
brother Thomas, if we are faithful, we will see the day, in the midst of
this people, that we will have all the power that we shall know how to
wield before God.  I call him to witness if I have not already seen that
day.  Look at the rest of my brethren, and have they not all the power
they can wield?

	Brother Hyde, in his remarks, spoke about the voice of God at a
certain time.  I could tell many incidents relating to that circumstance,
which he did not take time to relate.  We were in his house, which was
some ten or twelve feet square.  The houses in the neighbourhood shook,
or, if they did not, the people thought they did, for they ran together
and inquired whether there had been an earthquake.  We told them that the
voice of God had reached the earth--that they need not be afraid; it was
the power of God.  This and other events have transpired to satisfy the
people--you, and all who belong to the Church and kingdom of God upon the
earth.

	When I met Sidney Rigdon, east of the temple in Nauvoo, I knew then
what I now know concerning the organization of the Church, though I had
told no man of it.  I revealed it to no living being, until the pioneers
to this valley were returning to Winter Quarters.  Brother Wilford
Woodruff was the first man I ever spoke to about it.  Said he--"It is
right; I believe it, and think a great deal of it, for it is from the
Lord; the Church must be organized."  It then went to others, and from
them to others; but it was no news to me, for I understood it then as I
understand it now.

	The policy of God is not the policy of man:  his wisdom and power are
above the wisdom and power of man.  Be faithful to your calling and
magnify it.  The kingdom and the greatness thereof under the whole heaven
are ours.  The yoke is broken, the fetters are burst, and the Lord
Almighty will assert his right; and his will be done by the Saints on this
the land of Zion, to purify and cleanse it.  And those who are expecting
to receive the benefit and blessings of Zion never will, but will receive
the judgments of Zion, unless their hearts are as pure as the angels.  The
man that is acting according to his ability, as are the angels, must be
pure and holy in heart, must not have an evil wish or desire reigning in
his mortal body, but must be sanctified through the truth to the God of
heaven.  What do you think, Elders,--will any of you receive blessings
upon any other grounds?  No, not one of you.

	There are a great many who profess to be still in the faith,
neglecting to gather, and waiting for the time when Zion will be redeemed. 
George W. Harris, whom many of you remember, was going to wait in
Kanesville until we returned.  Brother George A. Smith told him that the
nearest way to the centre Stake of Zion was through Great Salt Lake City. 
Harris has gone to the spirit-world, and where his circuit will be I
neither know nor care, though I am well convinced that brother George A.
Smith was right.

	Where is the centre Stake of Zion?  In Jackson County, Missouri. 
Were I to try to prevent you from going there, I could not do it.  Can the
wicked?  No.  Can the devils in hell?  No, they cannot.  Zion will be
redeemed and built up, and the Saints will rejoice.  This is the land of
Zion; and who are Zion?  The pure in heart are Zion; they have Zion within
them.  Purify yourselves, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and have
the Zion of God within you, and then you will rejoice more and more.  Pray
without ceasing, and in everything give thanks.  Is it not a hard task to
live this religion without enjoying the spirit of it?  Such a course
worries the feelings, fills a person with sorrow and affliction, and makes
him miserable.  The easiest life to live, by nay mortal being on the
earth, is to live in the light of God's countenance, and have fellowship
with his Son Jesus Christ.  I know this by my own experience.  In this
course there is no darkness, no sorrow, no grief.  The power of the Spirit
of God has preserved me in the vigour of youth, and I am as active as a
boy.  How is it with you who do not enjoy the spirit of your religion?  It
is a hard life for you to live; and you had better, from this day, take a
course to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord; then you will be numbered with the
wise.  Let us all so live as to have oil in our vessels, our lamps trimmed
for lighting, and be ready to go in with the Bridegroom to the marriage
supper.  I could tell you the meaning of that portion of Scripture, but I
have not time now.

	The most ignorant of our Elders, with the Spirit and power of God
upon them, can, in knowledge of Scripture, lead the smartest of the
Gentile priests into deep water, and dip them under, and draw them back
again at their pleasure, and confound the Scripture knowledge of the
priestcraft that is on the earth.  During our return from England, brother
Heber C. Kimball was beset by a number of Baptist priests who had been
attending a conference.  He read them all down out of the New Testament. 
Brother George A. Smith sat beside them with a pocket Bible, and brother
Heber would say--"Brother George, turn to that."  "Oh," said the priests,
"you need not turn to it, for we recollect it," when there was  no such
passage in the Bible.  He sat for two hours and advanced much Scripture
that never was in the Bible, as did Benjamin Franklin, when he was
conversing with a man who opposed him upon the subject of charity, and was
particularly in favour of justice.  "You remember the Scripture," said
Franklin, "where it reads like this:--Once on a time an old man came at
eventide to Abram's tent.  Abram bid him welcome, but as he entered the
tent he gave not God thanks.  He said to Abram, Canst thou give me meat? 
And Abram said, Thou art not a servant of God, and thou shalt not have
meat.  The old man said, Let me have meat, that I may live and not die. 
And the voice of the Lord came to Abram in this wise:  Abram, Abram,
beholdest thou this aged servant of mine, with whom I have borne
ninety-nine years, and canst thou not bear with him one night?"  When
Franklin got through, the man had yielded the point, and asked him where
he read that; to which Franklin replied, "You will find it in the 51st
chapter of Genesis!"  and there are only fifty-one chapters in Genesis,
and but few of them, if any, will know that there are only fifty.  With
regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the
present so-called Christian world.

	Saints, live your religion faithfully, and you will enjoy life; and
when you are as old as I am, your hair will be as bright as mine is.  If I
live to the first day of next June, I shall be sixty years old, though I
do not look or feel as though I had reached that age.  What preserves me? 
The spirit of my religion--the power of God that is upon me and through
me.  I love it; it is better to me than meat and drink--than my temporal
life.  Many a man will lay down his life for his religion, but will not
live it one day.  Live your religion, and have no desire but to build up
the kingdom of God on the earth.  The love of God is bestowed upon this
people, and what is its effect?  Persons in foreign lands, for the Gospel,
for the sake of Jesus and the kingdom of God, have left fathers, mothers,
children, wives, husbands, and every other relative they had, and come to
this distant region.  The Gospel will take two of a city, and once in a
while, one of a family; it will take one here and another there.  Fathers,
mothers, brothers, and sisters are no more to me than are any other
persons, unless they embrace this work.  Here are my fathers, my mothers,
my sisters, and my brethren in the kingdom, and I have none outside of it,
neither in any part of the earth, nor in all the eternity of the Gods.  In
this kingdom are my acquaintances, relatives, and friends,--my soul, my
affections, my all.

	I will carry this idea a little further, for the sake of those who
are unmarried.  Since I was baptized into this Church and kingdom, if all
the female beauty had been simmered down into one woman not in this
kingdom, she would not have appeared handsome to me; but if a person's
heart is open to receive the truth, the excellency of love and beauty is
there.  How is it with you, sisters?  Do you distinguish between a man of
God and a man of the world?  It is one of the strongest things that
happens in my existence, to think that any man or woman can love a being
that will not receive the truth of heaven.  The love this Gospel produces
is far above the love of women:  it is the love of God--the love of
eternity--of eternal lives.

	May God bless you!  Amen.


                           FUNDS OF THE CHURCH.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                  Great Salt Lake City, October 8, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	By the cash manifest just read by brother John T. Caine, you perceive
that there has been expended, during the years 1857, 1858, 1859, and to
Oct. 4, 1860, $70,204 in excess of what has been received in money and
Tithing.  This excess has been derived from cash received for lumber sold
to the army to the amount of some 16,000 dollars or 18,000 dollars, and
from the sale of sheep, horses, mules, cows, waggons, harness, &c., to
various persons for cash.  It has been rather difficult to raise the large
amount of cash we have expended over the amount received on money-Tithing;
but when it comes time to sleep, I do not stay awake contriving how we are
to financier.  I can understand in a very few minutes all that is
necessary and possible to be done, without taking very great thought in
the matter.

	At times it seems as though all hell and earth are combined to keep
money out of my hands.  A great many of the people would give me millions,
if they had it; but most of those who have it will not part with it. 
Those who are liberal have nothing, and they would give me all they have. 
Scarcely a man comes into this Church, having much of an amount of money,
but what spends his money before he gathers with the Saints.  Persons
would conceal from Joseph that they had any money, and, after they had
spent or lost it all, would come to him and say--"Oh, how I love, brother
Joseph!"  If you think you can keep the money from me, you will be
mistaken, for I shall have what is necessary to carry on this work; and
those who take a course to hedge up my way in business transactions,
pertaining to carrying on this work, will go to the Devil.  They shall
have that promise, with my blessing.  I do not curse people, but I bless
that class with a plenty of devils.

	For four years past we have not had much money pass through our
hands.  In previous years merchants here have received as much money from
me yearly as you have heard read here to-day.  During the past few years
we have had to manage and plan pretty closely in our business
transactions.  Those who bring coal to sell want money, and the brethren
who labour on the Public Works need a little money now and then.  Some
think that brother Wells, who is our Superintendent of Public Works, is
hard and close in his public dealings; but he is not.  I have explained
all that is necessary in regard to this matter.  We traffic and trade, we
drive cattle to California, and trade here and there, and do everything we
can to carry on this work.  You know, and my wives and children know, that
it is my mind that those who do nothing but sit in rocking-chairs can live
on potatoes and buttermilk, while those who do the labour should have both
the substantial food and the luxuries.  My friends know that this is my
mind all the time.

	Some may think that my individual business is so mixed and combined
with the public business that I cannot keep them separate.  This is not
the case, as you can learn by asking brother David O. Calder, or brother
John T. Caine, who has been reading a manifest to you.  Hiram B. Clawson,
John T. Caine, and Thomas Ellerbeck are the clerks who keep the books of
my private business; and the Trustee-in-Trust has his clerks, of whom
David O. Calder is the chief.  Horace Whitney, Joseph Simmons, and Amos M.
Musser are his associate clerks, and they keep the books pertaining to the
public business.  If brother Calder wishes one hundred or a thousand
dollars, if I have it, he borrows it of Hiram B. Clawson and pays it back;
and so also brother Clawson borrows of him and returns it.  The teasers
who come all the time after women, and soon get tired of them and want to
divorce them, I make pay ten dollars for each divorce, and that is my
individual bank.  If I want five dollars or fifty cents from Hiram B.
Clawson, it is charged to me; and if he receives money from me, it is
credited to me; and not a dollar (except what I hand out or give away out
of my private purse,) goes out of my office, either in private or public
capacity, without passing through its appropriate set of books.  I tell
you this, that all my know that my private affairs are not amalgamated
with the public affairs.  Brigham Young and the Trustee-in-Trust are two
persons in business.  When you speak of Brigham Young as Trustee-in-Trust,
he is one man; and when as Brigham Young, he is another; and the business
between these two names is kept as strictly separate as is the business of
any two firms in the world.  If you want to know anything about the money,
item by item, how it has been obtained and how expended, our books are
open.

	We do not ask anybody to pay Tithing, unless they are disposed to do
so; but if you pretend to pay Tithing, pay it like honest men.  And
Bishops who have it in their power to gather money-Tithing, it is their
duty to do it; and if they do not, they do not magnify their calling.  And
brethren that have money, pay your Tithing on it while you have it; and
when you turn your property, upon which Tithing is due, into money, pay
your Tithing in money.  Here are thousands of men wearing good hats,
coats, pantaloons, &c., &c., that I have paid the money for.  And women
with costly ribbons on their bonnets, I pay the money for these ribbons;
and I pay the money for the slippers on their feet, for their stockings,
their garments, &c.  I have paid the money for these articles, year after
year.  Is it not your duty to see that I have a little money?  Were the
Lord to reveal to me where the ancient Jaredites hid their hundred of
millions of dollars' worth of treasure, I should not take it and hand it
out to the people, unless the Lord directed me to do so; otherwise, it
would perhaps seal the damnation of many; for at present you are better
off without those treasures than you would be with them.

	If I am under obligation to see this Gospel carried to all the
nations of the earth, so also is every Elder of Israel.  If it is my duty
to see the poor gathered, so it is the duty of every Elder.  There is no
excuse for any man:  every one ought to put forth his hands and means, and
do according to his ability.

	We have often told you that we want to build a Temple, but not for
convening promiscuous congregations.  I inform you, long before you see
the walls reared and the building completed, that it will be for the
purposes of the Priesthood, and not for meetings of the people:  we shall
not hold public meetings in it.  I should like to see the Temple built, in
which you will see the Priesthood in its order and true organization, each
Quorum in its place.  If we want a larger building than this Tabernacle
for public exercises, here is the ground already planned, and has been for
years.  We can, if we choose, build a Tabernacle that will accommodate
fifteen thousand people.  The Temple will be for the endowments--for the
organization and instruction of the Priesthood.  If you want to build a
Temple on these conditions, you can have the privilege.  But I never again
want to see one built to go into the hands of the wicked.  I have asked my
Father to give me power to build a Temple on this block, but not until I
can for ever maintain my rights in it.  I would rather see it burnt than
to see it go into the hands of devils.  I was thankful to see the Temple
in Nauvoo on fire.  Previous to crossing the Mississippi river, we had met
in that Temple and handed it over to the Lord God of Israel; and when I
saw the flames, I said "Good, Father, if you want it to be burned up."  I
hoped to see it burned before I left, but I did not.  I was glad when I
heard of its being destroyed by fire, and of the walls having fallen in,
and said, "Hell, you cannot now occupy it."  When the Temple is built
here, I want to maintain it for the use of the Priesthood:  if this cannot
be, I would rather not see it built, but go into the mountains and
administer there in the ordinances of the holy Priesthood, which is our
right and privilege.  I would rather do this than to build a Temple for
the wicked to trample under their feet.

	There are great and glorious things yet to be revealed.  We are but
babes and sucklings in the knowledge of God and godliness.  With all we
know and understand by the Priesthood here in the midst of this people, we
are mere infants before the angels in heaven.  We want to instruct the
people and prepare them to enter into the presence of the Father and the
Son.  We want to gather the poor, send the Gospel to the uttermost parts
of the earth, and do a great many other good things; and we will do so. 
We will turn the world right side up, for it is now wrong side up, and we
want to turn it over, prepare it, and present it to Him who owns it, in a
more goodly form and attitude than it has been for many centuries.

	[Here Elder John T. Caine read a list of the subscriptions to the
Missionary Fund.]

	We will send our Elders forth to preach, and will furnish, as we have
now, waggons, mules, harness, &c., to those who are not able to provide
those things for themselves.  When our Missionaries reach the frontiers,
they will place a fair valuation upon their animals, &c., the money will
be paid to them, and they can at once proceed to their different fields of
labour.  I pay them the money for the property they have at the frontiers,
and when they return I want them to come home as poor as they go away.  If
any one wishes to get rich, let him stay here and get rich, and not enrich
himself from the labours and means of the poor Saints abroad.  You may
think that I am severe on that course.  I am, and I mean to be, until I
stop it.  It has been growing and growing, becoming tall--almost
ungovernable and out of my reach; but my foot is set upon it, and I will
walk it under and the influence of any one who promotes such a principle. 
If I want to become wealthy, I will stay here and accumulate property.  If
brother Heber C. Kimball, Daniel H. Wells, or the Twelve Apostles want to
accumulate wealth, stay here and do it, and not go into the world to
become rich. When you go into the world, go to preach the Gospel; and if
you have a sixpence, give it to the people.  Give your time and talent to
the people; and if the Lord puts money into your pockets, it is not yours,
only for you to use to save the people spiritually and temporally.

	We are going to fit out our Elders from here, asking no odds of the
world:  we have proved them enough.  The gold and the silver belong to the
Lord Almighty, and he will hand it over to us as fast as we know how to
use it to his name's glory.  Some say, "If we had a gold mine, we would do
well."  If I knew where there was a gold mine, I would not tell you.  I do
not want you to find one, and I do not mean that you shall; or, if you do,
it shall be over my faith.  We have gold enough in the world, and it is
all the Lord's, and we do not deserve more than we get.  Let us make good
use of that, and send out the Elders.

	Brother Woolley stated, yesterday, that he wished to see men and
women who are too laze to cook their victuals come with handcarts.  They
are the ones that will not come with handcarts; they have to be conveyed
in waggons; and when they arrive here they will apostatize.  It seems
impossible to have them to do so anywhere else; and we want them here as
soon as possible, that they may apostatize and leave--get out of our
way--that we may go on with our labours; and in this we are making a few
devils for future use, to carry on our kingdoms.

	Let the brethren who pretend to be Bishops be so indeed, and gather
Tithing.  And if the people pretend to pay Tithing, pay it properly and
fairly, so far as you do pay, or let it alone entirely.  Keep your dollars
and cents, your horses and mules, your grain, &c., if you choose; but if
you pretend to pay Tithing, pay it like men:  act like men and Saints.  We
want to build a Temple on this block.  Don't you think that hell will
howl?  What did we tell you when we laid those foundation walls?  We told
you that all hell would be on the move.  That has transpired, and still
they say, "We have not persecuted you;" but they are liars.  Who among
them have stepped forward and said, "Let those men alone?"  Only a few. 
Our friend who came here in the dead of winter, having left his wife sick
nigh unto death, is one of those who will yet have a celestial crown; he
is on the road to it.  When Judge Kinney was in  Washington, he spoke well
of this people.  So far as I know, he has never spoken evil of this
people, but every time he met an Elder in Washington he received him as a
friend, spoke to him kindly, and was not ashamed to walk arm-in-arm with
him in the streets of that city.  There is a kingdom for him--a kingdom of
glory.  When they wanted him to come here as a Governor, I am told that he
said, "Yes, if you send no soldiers there."  He has a heart; and I say,
God bless him and every other good, honest man, whether he is a "Mormon"
or not.  Who ever walked more correctly in his sphere of business than
Judge Shaver?  No man.  He was as upright as a man could be.  He came here
as a Judge, and he honoured the people, he honoured his office, he
honoured the President in his appointment, and he honoured the laws of the
Territory and the laws of the Government.  There is a kingdom for him; he
will have his reward.

	There is a great difference between persecuting this people and the
people of other sects.  God will make persecutors pay every debt they
contract with this people.  This is the Priesthood of the Almighty.  God
has set his hand the second time to gather the people.  It will not do to
trifle with this people.  "Touch not mine anointed," saith the Lord.  O ye
inhabitants of the earth, be careful how you infringe upon the Latter-day
Saints.  They are the anointed of the Lord, and are like the apple of his
eye, and he will bring you into judgment for every act and move you make
against them.  This nation will be shivered to pieces.  There is no
cohesion in the particles that compose it.  If you touch it, it will fall
to pieces, for it is shattered from its centre to its circumference.  They
think it so strange that the "harmonious democracy" can divide.  You might
as well try to put out the sun as to make them united.  God is working
with them; he is taking his Spirit from them.  They are like water spilled
upon the ground; there is no soundness nor stability left in them; they
are devoid of good sense.  God has called away the intelligence he
bestowed upon them, and every move they make will sink them deeper and
deeper in the mire, until they are lost and gone for ever.  We wish them
no evil; we heap no coals of fire on their heads, only be doing them good
and exhorting them to refrain from meddling with this people.  The time is
nigh when every man that will not take up his sword against his neighbour
must needs flee to Zion.  Where is Zion?  Where the organization of the
Church of God is.  And may it dwell spiritually in every heart; and may we
so live as to always enjoy the Spirit of Zion!  Amen.

             SOURCE OF INTELLIGENCE--LAWS OF THE GOSPEL, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                 Great Salt Lake City, October 14, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	We have enjoyed interesting and intelligent remarks by brother Taylor
this morning; and perhaps we may all say, with propriety, that what has
been said is sufficient for the present--that we are now full and need no
more.  What has been presented is very true and very satisfactory.  I
delight in hearing my brethren speak of things that pertain to God and
godliness.  Brother Taylor says there is no intelligence only that which
come from God.  We might ask, Is there any valuable fact known by any
person, except by the revelations that flow from the Lord Jehovah?  God is
the source, the fountain of all intelligence, no matter who possesses it,
whether man upon the earth, the spirits in the spirit-world, the angels
that dwell in the eternities of the Gods, or the most inferior
intelligence among the devils in hell.  All have derived what
intelligence, light, power, and existence they have from God--from the
same source from which we have received ours.

	My delight, my joy, my life consist of the very things that brother
Taylor has been laying before this congregation.  Those principles pertain
to eternal life.  It is my delight to hear the things of God brought to
the understanding of the children of men.  This is the beauty of the
Gospel we have received.  The excellency of the glory of the character of
brother Joseph Smith was that he could reduce heavenly things to the
understanding of the finite.  When he preached to the people--revealed the
things of God, the will of God, the plan of salvation, the purposes of
Jehovah, the relation in which we stand to him and all the heavenly
beings, he reduced his teachings to the capacity of every man, woman, and
child, making them as plain as well-defined pathway.  This should have
convinced every person that ever heard of him of his divine authority and
power, for no other man was able to teach as he could, and no person can
reveal the things of God, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.  When we
hear a man that can speak of heavenly things, and present them to the
people in a way that they can be understood, you may know that to that man
the avenue is open, and that he, by some power, has communication with
heavenly beings; and when the highest intelligence is exhibited, he,
perhaps, has communication with the highest intelligence that exists.

	This Gospel is my glory.  Jesus said to his disciples, "Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall
find rest unto your souls; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 
Why is it so?  as brother Taylor has said, it is through the love that the
people should have for the Gospel, which ought to be more than their love
for fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, wives, children, houses, lands,
goods and chattels, or anything that pertains to this earth.  The Spirit
of revelation, even the Spirit of eternal life, is within that person who
lives so as to bear properly the yoke of Jesus.  The heavens are open to
such persons, and they see and understand things that pertain to eternity,
and also the things that pertain to this earth, which will pass away with
it; and those who love the things of earth will pass away with it.  When
death takes them, all is gone.

	But the person that wears the yoke of Jesus and bears his burden--who
loves the cause of truth and righteousness more than all else--"Why," says
he, "Eternity if full of fathers and mothers.  There is my Father
enthroned in glory.  He is the Father of my spirit."  God our Father, who
dwells in eternity, is the Father of our spirits and the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ.  The man or woman that lives in the revelations of
Jesus Christ can see and understand this.  Here are our earthly fathers,
the begetters of our mortal bodies; but there is the foundation of all the
life that I or any other person can possess on the face of the earth, even
God my Father who dwells in the heavens.  There also is my mother.

	I am not confined to love my father and mother here, if they do not
love God, the fountain of all truth.  In the heavens are fathers, mothers,
sisters, brothers.  Unless my father, mother, brother, sister, wife, and
child, pertaining to the flesh, love God supremely, embrace the truth, and
follow out the dictates of the Holy Ghost, they are not my kindred--I do
not own them--I have nothing to do with them; they will perish, die, sink
into forgetfulness, and be as though they had never been; they will pass
away and return to native element.  In heaven dwells my Father.  There are
the heavenly hosts--my sisters, my brethren, my kindred, and my friends;
they are my bosom acquaintances.  We behold each other with the natural
eye, and that is short-sighted.  But had we eyes to see as God sees, we
could see our antipodes as well as we can see each other's faces.  We
could see the uttermost parts of the earth and behold all creation as well
at midnight as at noonday.  Darkness would be no obstruction, incorporated
matter, this Tabernacle, the houses, the earth, and even matter that fills
space and prevents our seeing objects at great distances, would be no
obstruction to our visions.  Then we should behold that God is here, that
our Father dwells here.  We are in his presence, just as much as those who
sit at the farthest side of this congregation are in my presence.  There
is much in my presence besides those who sit here, if we had eyes to see
the heavenly beings that are in our presence.

	The person that wears the yoke of Jesus, that has communication with
the heavens, finds his yoke easy and his burden light; he is master of it. 
Wear the yoke of Jesus, bear his burden, and the revelations of the Lord
Jesus Christ will show to every individual that you are not servants of
anything, but that the principles of eternal life give you the
mastery--the supremacy over all things in heaven and on earth.  As the
Apostles has said--"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors,
through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord."  "Therefore let no man glory in men; for all things are yours,
whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or
things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and
Christ is God's."  All this, and all that men can imagine and a million
time more, God has in store for us.  If we are faithful, all is ours.  If
we trample sin and iniquity under our feet, then we are the masters, which
makes the yoke easy and the burden light.

	As has been observed, it is hard for a person to give up his
appetites, and yield his passions and will to the will of God.  The son
and the father, the child and the mother, the servant and the master, are
all amenable to the laws of the land in which they live.  They are all
under law:  if not, they are a law unto themselves.  They know right from
wrong, and are restricted from doing wrong.  The Gods are under the same
restriction.  If people do not observe the principles by which they should
be guided, they sink under condemnation.  If they follow correct laws,
they preserve the identity of their character to all eternity, and will
dwell with the Gods, angels, and those that inherit eternity.  If we yield
ourselves servants to obey the principles that hold us in existence, it
gives to us our exaltation, and glorifies us with the Gods, and puts all
things under our feet.  What a glorious law that is!  There is nothing
here, except the sin within us, that repels this law.  Trample every
feeling that is opposed to this law under your feet.

	The majority of the world of mankind would rather be damned than
oppose their appetites.  They feel like following them at the expense of
their salvation.  They do not like to be under the restriction of truth
and right.  They want to be where they can do what they please.  They obey
the law of death, and will have their reward and reap the extent of their
wages; for they will have death, and nobody can have life but those that
inherit it from God.  All that refuse the truth--the Gospel of salvation,
and yield themselves obedient to the law of sin and death, will reap in
full the reward of their doings.  It is hard for a child to obey its
parents, for a servant to obey his master, and for people to obey the laws
of the land.  You frequently hear some persons grumbling about the laws of
this city, and about the laws of this Territory, which are wholesome and
good.  Why don't such persons live as some others do?  I live above the
laws.  They do not in the least infringe upon me.  The City Council never
passed an ordinance that infringed upon me or upon my rights.  Our
Legislature has never passed a law that infringed upon me, because I live
above the law through honouring every particle of it.  In this course the
law is beneath my feet and is my servant, not my master,  Thousands live
in this way.

	The laws of the Gospel are neither more nor less than a few of the
principles of eternity revealed to the people, by which they return to
heaven from whence they came.  A few of the laws of the Gospel have been
revealed to us in the last days, by which we can begin and walk the path
back into the presence of the Father and the Son, having the communication
opened between the heavens and the earth to reveal the will of God to the
children of men.  We delight in the heavenly law--in that law that will
preserve us to all eternity.  We delight more in this than in everything
else.  Here are my fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, wives, children. 
"What, are there wives and children for me in the eternal worlds?"  Yes.

	Let me here say a word to console the feelings and hearts of all who
belong to this Church.  Many of the sisters grieve because they are not
blessed with offspring.  You will see the time when you will have millions
of children around you.  If you are faithful to your covenants, you will
be mothers of nations.  You will become Eves to earths like this; and when
you have assisted in peopling one earth, there are millions of earths
still in the course of creation.  And when they have endured a thousand
million times longer than this earth, it is only as it were the beginning
of your creations.  Be faithful, and if you are not blest with children in
this time, you will be hereafter.  But I would not dare tell you all I
know about these matters, though I know but little:  still I am not a fool
in the things of God, neither is brother Taylor, though he saw so much to
learn that he did not realize that he had learned anything.  We have
learned a great deal, although we are still but babes and sucklings in the
things of God; yet the truth and knowledge we possess pertaining to the
plan of salvation outweigh all possessed by others on the earth.  Be
faithful, and you will delight in the things of God, and bear the
yoke--carry the burden God has placed on you to bear.

	Brother Taylor lifted his arm, and asked by what power he did it.  It
is by that inherent divinity you call will; God has placed it in every
being.  When you go into the dramshops in Whiskey-street, (Elders go
there!)  the salutation is, "How do you do, brother?  Won't you take a
glass with me?"  I have power to lift a glass and hand it to my brother,
and say, "No; I do not drink any strong drink."  "Oh, come, take a little
for friendship's sake."  I have power to hand it to my neighbour's lips,
and my neighbour has power to dash it out of my hands.  Who has given me
that power?  It is inherent in me.  What do you do, when these are
presented to you--when the cup is handed to your lips?  Will you partake
of it, or say, (taking a glass of water in his hand,) Here are my best
wishes for you to do right, but you may go to the Devil with your whiskey
(dashing the water upon the floor).  Have I the power to do this?  You
call it will.  It is the divinity God has placed in his intelligent
creatures.  It is for us to overcome every evil passion we have, in
consequence of the fall.

	The Devil has the mastery of the earth:  he has corrupted it, and has
corrupted the children of men.  He has led them in evil until they are
almost entirely ruined, and are so far from God that they neither know Him
nor his influence, and have almost lost sight of everything that pertains
to eternity.  This darkness is more prevalent, more dense, among the
people of Christendom, than it is among the heathen.  They have lost sight
of all that is great and glorious--of all principles that pertain to life
eternal.

	Will you overcome evil?  You have power to do so, for God has given
you this power.  You can toss the proffered glass to the ground, dash it
out of your neighbour's hand, or drink its contents, be a fool, wallow in
the gutter, and die the death of a fool.  Do as you please.  I do not know
of anything but what I am master of, with regard to appetite, as I have
often told you.  If I were not, I would at once have a war with myself.

	What is there that I cannot do without?  Can I do without seeing my
father and mother pertaining to the earth?  I can.  I have not seen them
for many years.  My mother died when I was fourteen years of age, and my
father died a few weeks after I left the States for England, in 1839. 
After the driving from Missouri, he said that he did not want to live any
longer.  I have not seen him for a long time.  Can I do without seeing
him?  Yes, and pass my time comfortably.  Suppose my wives and children
should say, "Husband, father, we are going to leave you, unless you do
thus and so."  I would say, Leave as quickly as you please, every one of
you.  My children, if they are froward and will not believe and obey the
Gospel,  are no more to me than the children now sitting here.  Here are
my children, that I can take to my bosom, that will love and serve God;
and they are dearer to me than those I have, unless they love the Lord
Jesus Christ.

	I do not believe it possible, since I have been baptized into this
Church, for a woman to be presented to me that I could love, were she not
in the Church of Jesus Christ and did not love the Gospel.  That is my
feeling to-day, and I expect it to remain from henceforth and for ever.

	The discourse we have heard this morning is excellent.  It seemed to
me as though the heavens were here and I could talk about them with a very
good feeling, and induce the people to see and understand correct
principles.  How quickly they would shun evil and forsake that which would
drag them down to everlasting ruin, if they could but see it.

	Brethren and sisters, let us treasure up in our hearts all the good
we can learn, and forsake all the evil we meet with--walk it under our
feet.  Evil is not worthy the notice and attention of these
intelligencies.  Heavenly things and eternal principles will exalt those
intelligencies in the eternities of the Gods:  these principles alone are
worthy of your attention.

	May the Lord help us to choose the way of life and salvation, and to
be prepared to enjoy his society hereafter!  Amen.

                      RESTORATION--RESURRECTION, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                 Great Salt Lake City, October 21, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	We wish the Saints to distinctly understand that the remarks just
made by brother Hyde do not pertain to doctrine, are not commandments, and
have nothing to do with the ordinances of the house of God.  He has given
us some of his views and reflections.  Suppose them to be true, and what
of them?  Suppose they are not true, and what of it?  They have nothing to
do with the doctrines and faith of this people.  Whether they are true of
not is about as immaterial as to know whether it is going to rain
to-morrow or next week.  If it rains, all we can do is to say, Let it
rain; if it does not rain, all we have to do is to prepare to do the best
we can with the dust:  that is all there is of it.  It is no matter
whether those views and reflections are true or false.

	According to the Scriptures, as they have come to us, we most
assuredly believe that the measure we receive at the hands of our enemies
will be measured to them again.  But whether the wicked seek to corrupt
the Church of God or not, the Saints will inherit every good thing.  This
is not saying that we are Saints.  I have not yet come to that, though I
firmly believe that we are trying to be Saints.  Those that overcome and
sit down with Jesus in his Father's kingdom will possess all things:  no
good thing will be withheld from them.

	Man is the lord of this earth, not woman. It is frequently told you
that all the creatures of God, except man, will abide and honour the law
under which they are placed.  The vegetable, mineral, and animal kingdoms,
except man, will abide the law by which they were made, and will be
prepared to dwell on the new earth, in the midst of the new heavens that
will be re-organised--the earth that we now inhabit.  Man is the
transgressor.  Eve was the first to partake of the forbidden fruit, and
the man was disposed to follow her, and did follow her; consequently, sin
is in the world, and when redemption comes it must come by man.  When we
speak of law and the transgression of law, we refer to the law of God to
man.

	I doubt whether it can be found, from the revelations that are given
and the facts as they exist, that there is a female in all the regions of
hell.  We are complained of for having more wives than one.  I don't begin
to have as many as I shall have by and by, nor you either, if you are
faithful.  I am no the one that will dispose of them, but the Almighty to
whom they belong; and it is His right to dispose of us and of all his
creatures and creations.

	I assuredly believe that all brother Hyde has said in regard to the
restoration f the Saints to their inheritances, &c., will come to pass. 
And I believe, furthermore, if the men who have driven us--the counties,
States, and the General Government of the United States, proffer to take
me back to the land of my inheritance, I shall refuse to go by their
hands.  I think I shall say, You can go to hell:  I came here without any
of your assistance, and I shall return again on the bounty of God, asking
no assistance from you.  That is my belief.  I also believe that the gold
and the silver belong to the faithful, and not to those who oppose the
work of God.  The horses and the chariots belong to the faithful, and not
to the wicked.  I believe they will be hungry, naked, and barefooted,
while we are well fed, well clad, and ride in our carriages.  I do not
intend to be brought under obligations to or any alliances with the
wicked, nor to have any affinity with them in heaven or on earth,nor to go
to hell to have any with them there.  I expect to individually own enough
horses, waggons, carriages, oxen, cows, sheep, and everything this people
will need in going back to Jackson County, Missouri, and ask no assistance
of those who have driven and persecuted us.  They may think that I have a
poor opinion of them; but I cannot be as contemptible in their opinion as
they are in mine, for the reason that they do not know enough.  They, like
us, were formed in the image of Him who has created us sons and daughters
of the Almighty; but they have disgraced their being and violated every
blessing that pertains to their organization.  They remain for the wrath
of God to rest upon them, and it will rest upon them.  I have no
particular allusions to those who have been here, though you may stir them
up together (those who have been here and those who have not), and with
few exceptions, they will all appear of the same colour.  With few
exceptions, they are all alike, for those who are not for us are against
us.

	Every intelligent person under the heavens that does not, when
informed, acknowledge that Joseph Smith, jun., is a Prophet of God, is in
darkness, and is opposed to us and to Jesus and his kingdom on the earth. 
What do you suppose I think of them?  They cannot conceive their own
degradation.  If they could, they would turn away from their wickedness. 
I know them, but they do not know me.  We live in an atmosphere they do
not approach; they have not ability to see the path we walk in.  Would I
treat them as badly as they would treat us?  No.  They would murder us in
a moment, if they had the power, unless we would renounce our religion. 
But they are trifling with their own existence, when they measure arms
with the Almighty.  All the day long we have extended to our enemies the
hand of mercy and charity.  We would offer to them life and salvation. 
What would they offer to us?  Death and damnation, if they had the power;
but they have not the power, and never will have.

	From the day that Joseph brought forth the records of the Book of
Mormon, which he translated by the power of God, until the day of his
death, they said that he was seeking to bring down the wrath of the
Lamanites upon the whites.  They have driven us among the Lamanites, whom
they were continually trying to keep us from mingling with.  Why did they
do this?  God had decreed that they should, and they could not help it;
and they will keep teasing and worrying and contending and fighting with
one another, until the prophecy be fulfilled concerning the sons of Jacob,
who will rise up and go through among the Gentiles like a lion through the
forest.  And who can stand before them?  No one.  Jew and Gentile, hear
it; you are bringing upon your heads the very things you are trying to
avoid, like the Government of the United States, which is striving with
all its might, and calling to its aid the best wisdom of the nation to
preserve its existence.  Everything they do divides them until they will
be split asunder and shivered to pieces.  So they would do with this work.

	They succeeded in killing Joseph, but he had finished his work.  He
was a servant of God, and gave us the Book of Mormon.  He said the Bible
was right in the main, but, through the translators and others, many
precious portions were suppressed, and several other portions were wrongly
translated; and now his testimony is in force, for he has sealed it with
his blood.  As I have frequently told them, no man in this dispensation
will enter the courts of heaven, without the approbation of the Prophet
Joseph Smith, jun.  Who has made this so?  Have I?  Have this people? 
Have the world?  No; but the Lord Jehovah has decreed it.  If I ever pass
into the heavenly courts, it will be by the consent of the Prophet Joseph. 
If you ever pass through the gates into the Holy City, you will do so upon
his certificate that you are worthy to pass.  Can you pass without his
inspection?  No; neither can any person in this dispensation, which is the
dispensation of the fulness of times.  In this generation, and in all the
generations that are to come, every one will have to undergo the scrutiny
of this Prophet.  They say that they killed Joseph, and they will yet come
with their hats under their arms and bend to him; but what good will it do
them, unless they repent?  They can come in a certain way and find favour,
but will they?  No.  We paid for lands in Missouri that the wicked now
possess.  The United States could rise up and say, "You Mormons, come
back, and we will defend you in your rights."  But will they do this?  No,
but they will spend their millions to deprive us of our just rights.  They
might do a great many good things: they might forsake their meanness, if
they had a mind to.

	If this people will do right and keep the law of the Lord, he will
bring them back to the lands of their inheritances.  The question might be
asked, "Have you lands to return to?"  Yes, I have lands in
Missouri--lands in a number of places--farms that I am the rightful owner
of.  I am the rightful owner of lands in Illinois.  Did I occupy them? 
No.  Why?  Did I observe the laws?  Yes:  I lived so entirely above them,
that to me they were comparatively beneath my feet.  "Why could you not
live in Missouri or Illinois?"  I believed that Joseph Smith, jun., was
and is a Prophet, and that Jesus Christ is coming to cleanse the earth
from pollution and gather the Saints from the four quarters of the world. 
Because I believed in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ as the Saviour
of the world, and in the doctrine he taught, and because I practised that
doctrine; and if you say that you believe this doctrine and do not
practise it, you can be a good Christian.

	The administrators of the Government of the United States violated
every principle of the Constitution in the very act of making a war upon
their own subjects; and if the laws of Congress were carried out, they
would be treated as traitors to the Government.  I was in Missouri through
the troubles.  Did this people transgress the law of that State or of the
United States?  Did they do anything to justly bring the wrath of that
State or of the Government upon them?  No. This people observed the laws
of Missouri and the law of God more strictly than any other class, and yet
the State authorities could issue their orders to exterminate the
"Mormons"--to drive or destroy them--every man, woman, and child of them. 
Suppose the Constitution of that State had been carried out to the letter,
every man that had anything to do with that mobbing--at least those in
authority, with the Governor at their head, would have been hung.

	Every man that used his influence to send an army here, if the
Constitution is carried out, (and the day will come, as the Lord lives,
when we shall be able to carry it out,) will be at the disposal of the
hemp, if we say so.  The day will come, as sure as the sun now shines and
the Lord Almighty leads us through, as he has spoken from the heavens,
when this people will return to the land of their inheritance.  Perhaps
these parents will not return, but their children will return and inherit
the land promised to their fathers, and all the powers of hell and earth
cannot prevent it.  If we live our religion, we will enjoy this blessing,
either in this life or in the next.  That is the consolation the Saints
have.  If we lay down these tabernacles to rest in the grave, by-and-by we
will take them up again, purified from all inbred corruption and made
whole from every power of Satan in our flesh.

	Our bodies are now mortal.  In the resurrection there will be a
reunion of the spirits and bodies, and they will walk, talk, eat, drink,
and enjoy.  Those who have passed these ordeals are society for
angels--for the Gods, and are the ones who will come into the Temple of
the Lord that is to be built in the latter days, when saviours shall come
up upon Mount Zion, and will say, "Here, my children, I want this and this
done.  Here are the names of such and such ones, of our fathers, and
mothers--our ancestors; we will bring them up.  Go forth, you who have not
passed the ordeals of death and the resurrection--you who live in the
flesh, and attend to the ordinances for those who have died without the
law."  Those who are resurrected will thus dictate in the Temple.  When
the Saints pass through death, they cannot officiate in this sinful world,
but they will dictate those who would have received the law of God and the
true religion, if they had lived; be baptized for the heathen--for all who
were honest; officiate for them, and save them, and bring them up.  Be
baptized for them, anointed for them, washed and sealed for them, and
fulfil all the ordinances which cannot be dispensed with."  They will all
be performed for the living and the dead upon Mount Zion.

	We can receive the truth, live in it, and enjoy its benefits, or we
can reject it:  that we have power to do.  This generation have power to
reject the Gospel, and they are very fervent in so doing.  They are as
perfectly enthusiastic in that course as any people that ever lived. 
Nation after nation has had the Gospel offered to them, the fulness of the
Gospel has been preached to them, and they have studiously rejected it. 
This was the first nation blessed with the Gospel in our day, and have
they not been fervent to reject it by towns, cities, counties, states, and
the nation?  They are as determined to reject the Gospel as they are to
live and overcome the kingdom of God.  Will they overcome that kingdom? 
No.  Every time they persecute and try to overcome this people, they
elevate us, weaken their own hands, and strengthen the hands and the arms
of this people.  And every time they undertake to lessen our number, they
increase it.  And when they try to destroy the faith and virtue of this
people, the Lord strengthens the feeble knees, and confirms the wavering
in faith and power in God, in light, and intelligence.  Righteousness and
power with God increase in this people in proportion as the Devil
struggles to destroy it.

	We cannot help being Saints; we cannot prevent the rolling forth of
the work of God:  in and of ourselves we have no power to control our own
minds and passions; but the grace of God is sufficient to give us perfect
victory.  The power of the Lord our God helps us, and the Devil and his
emissaries help us,--the one of the one hand, the other on the other hand. 
We have power to receive the truth or reject it, and we have power to
reject the evil or receive it.

	This is kingdom of God, and the people have not been preserved by my
wisdom, but by the wisdom and power and knowledge of God.  He knows how to
weaken the armies of the Philistines.  They may come here by tens of
thousands, and multiply that number by ten and make it hundreds of
thousands, and He can also strengthen this people or weaken them at his
pleasure.  And if they are faithful to the covenants they have entered
into with their God, they will multiply and wax strong, until not a dog in
all the mountains of Ephraim, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and from
Hudson's Bay to Cape Horn, dare open his mouth or raise his voice against
the anointed of the Lord.  Don't you pity our nation?  I do.  They have
not enough knowledge to act according to their own laws.  The officers
they send here do not know enough to act according to the laws they were
sent to magnify.  The nation is becoming imbecile and weak; they are
unstable as water; they do not seem to have the wisdom of a child; and
every move they make they manifest their weakness before the world, and
put themselves to shame before each other.  I have said enough about this
matter, though I have said enough about this matter, though I have only
dropt a few hints.

	I began with brother Hyde's remarks, and I will end with them.  He
has not been teaching you doctrine.  Whether those things he has been
speaking about are true or not, who cares?  Who cares who takes us back to
the land of our inheritance?  I have told you my feelings on the subject. 
If they want to take us back to-day, I say, No; I came here without their
aid, and I ask no assistance from them.  All I ask of them, or ever have,
is, when any of them leave this Territory,to pay their honest debts and
not steal.  Some few come to me, when they are about to leave, and say--"I
am going to this or that place; anything I can do for you, Governor Young,
I am at your service."  My reply is, I have one thing to ask of you and of
all creation--namely, When you speak of this people, speak the truth, and
do not lie about them.  Will they do that?  Some will, and some will not;
some will publish a lie from east to west, from north to south.  If you
would give a dollar a line for publishing the truth, as a general thing
you cannot get editors to publish it.  Now, lie and be d----d, the whole
of you; I ask no favours of you.

	God bless the humble in heart, and those who promote truth and
righteousness upon the earth; and let the wrath of the Almighty be upon
the wicked and ungodly.  Amen.

         TEACHINGS OF THE PRIESTHOOD--RELIGION OF THE SAINTS, &c.
         Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
                 Great Salt Lake City, October 21, 1860.
                         Reported by G. D. Watt.

	I do not wish to be over zealous, to say the time is mine, or that I
have the privilege, above others of my brethren, of speaking.  I like to
hear my brethren speak quite as well as to speak myself; but as there is
time, I feel it my privilege to stand before the Saints and instruct,
guide, and encourage them, and build them up in the faith of the holy
Gospel.

	The same principles and the same feelings that I imbibed when I
embraced the Gospel of salvation are still within me, but in a greater
degree.  As you have frequently heard me say, there is nothing, except the
Gospel of life and salvation--the power of God--that would ever induce me
to become a public speaker.  But the principles of eternal life are so
engaging, so endearing, so lovely, so worthy of all acceptation, so sweet,
so great, that I could not refuse; consequently, I have been striving for
many years to perfect myself, with others, in the history, plan,
knowledge, and ways of the Lord upon the earth, and in the holy Priesthood
that is calculated to save the children of men.  I delight in hearing my
brethren speak.  I do not know that I was ever more gratified in hearing a
servant of God bring forth out of his storehouse the riches of eternity
than I was, a week ago this morning, in hearing brother Hyde set forth the
beautiful things pertaining to the kingdom of our God.  I have been
equally edified to-day, if I do not exactly agree with him in regard to
the means for the further promotion of the kingdom of God, and bearing off
his people.  In the remarks I have heard from brother J. D. Ross, this
afternoon, I am delighted.  I drink, and I drink again, and am I still
dry?  I am at least still prepared for more; and the more I receive in my
understanding, and the more my mind expands for the things of God, the
better, seemingly, I am prepared to receive more and more.

	I do not always entirely agree with some in their sayings; but my
brethren, like myself, sometimes do not use the language best adapted to
convey their ideas.  For instance, I am not ready to confess as do some
that I know nothing, and that I am a fool.  I know a great many things,
and I know them right. Brother Ross says that people are more willing to
believe the testimony of men who have been dead many centuries than the
testimony of living men.  This, however, does not apply to me; for I
delighted more in the voice of Joseph Smith than in all the voices of the
dead Prophets I never heard.  He was the living oracle of God with me; he
was the medium through which the Lord spoke to me.  Do you not think that
his voice was delightful to me?  Yes.  When I read his letters, his
sermons, his revelations, unless I am in the spirit by which they are
dictate, they are lean to me to what they used to be when he was with us. 
They were rich, they were full of interest, full of good things, when I
could see his face shine like an angel's:  they were then sweet as a
honeycomb.

	Before I had made a profession of religion, I was though to be an
infidel by the Christians, because I could not believe their nonsense. 
The secret feeling of my heart was that I would be willing to crawl around
the earth on my hands and knees, to see such a man as was Peter, Jeremiah,
Moses, or any man that could tell me anything about God and heaven.  But
to talk with the priests was more unsatisfactory to me then than it now is
to talk with lawyers.  If possible, the priests were then even more
ignorant upon certain points than men are now.  Did they know the first
thing pertaining to salvation?  No:  they could not even tell that it was
necessary to be baptized for the remission of sins.  No man could tell me
that, until I saw Joseph Smith.  No man could say that the ordinances,
[sic-punc] of God should be obeyed, that the same doctrine taught by Jesus
and his Apostles is the only doctrine to save the people.  They were
divided and subdivided--split into small fragments, and every man was for
himself.

	I am delighted when I feel and enjoy the presence and power of that
instruction given by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost:  our hearts are
made glad.  You believed the Gospel in your native countries and took up
your line of march to this desolate wilderness.  If I might so speak, you
have sacrificed all you have on earth that is near and dear to you for the
sake of the Gospel.  What made you do this?  The spirit of revelation, the
Spirit of God, the power of God.  Is it not lovely?  I am proud of, I am
delighted in my religion--in my God.  And when I speak of those who have
persecuted this people and sought diligently to destroy us, using every
endeavour and means they were master of to obliterate this people and
kingdom from the earth, what do you suppose I think of them?  I cannot
speak it:  language is too full of poverty, too obscure, too unmeaning for
me to talk about it.  Suppose you see two men in conversation, and one of
them rises up to his Father and God with all deference, and, vailing his
face, comes before him in all humility, while the other rises up and says,
"Damn him, I am not afraid of him!"  which of the two would you love?  and
which of them would you hate?  Both of them are his offspring; both of
them live on his mercy, and are nourished and cherished by his bounty; and
one says, "I am not afraid of him, but I will abuse his name and
character, and deride his goodness!"  and the other comes with his face
vailed, saying, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for thy
mercy is over me continually, to preserve me; and through thy goodness I
am permitted to come into thy presence!"--which would you love the most? 
Language cannot express it.

	When you contrast the religion that we believe with the religion that
the world believes,with all their pomp, grandeur, wealth, and gaudy show,
I look upon them with more disgust than I do upon the gates of
hell--language cannot tell it.  I am proud to say that I honour my
God--that I love him--that I worship him; I am proud to call him my
Father, while many are proud to deride and despise him.  They are proud
when they get together and curse and swear, damning and calling the name
of Jehovah in vain, calling upon God to damn each other:  they are proud
that they have this audacity.  They will sink into hell.  I defy all the
enemies of this work to think as diminutively of me as I do of them. There
is just as much difference between their knowledge and mine as there is
between light and darkness.  Here we have the words of life, and do I not
glory in them?

	Paul gloried in the cross of Christ.  Previous to that he was a poor,
miserable, vain, wicked, abominable, corrupt creature, brought up as a
servant in Gamaliel's house, where they despised God and every God-like
principle.  He held the clothes of the men that stoned Stephen to death,
and consented to his death.  The Lord appeared to him when he was on a
mission to persecute his followers, and told him that he was a chosen
vessel for the Lord to show forth, through him, his power. Paul gloried in
the cross of Christ.  He might have said that he gloried in having the
privilege of paying the debt that he had contracted by his previous mean
and evil treatment toward the Saints and Jesus Christ when he was upon the
earth.  He derided them, stoned them, laughed them to scorn, threw sticks
after them in the streets, spat upon them, and was ready to raise a mob
and do anything that was mean to afflict the Saints and servants of God. 
The Lord says--"I will show you that I have had my eye upon you, from
before the foundation of the world, to make you a chosen vessel to bear my
name where I would not send a man who had never persecuted my Saints." 
Were I to meet brother Paul, he would say--"Brother Brigham, I have not
received at the hands of my enemies more than I deserved.  And when you
were talking about me on the stand, on such and such a day, your eye was
opened to see the path I had walked in."

	Do you not think that the Lord has his eye upon a great many?  There
is a passage of Scripture that reads thus:--"For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brethren," &c.  Whom did he not
foreknow?  I do not think there is anybody now on the earth, or that has
lived before us, or that will come after us, but what he knew.  He knew
who would be his anointed; he has had his eye upon them all the time, as
he had upon Moses, Pharaoh, Abraham, Melchisedec, and Noah, who was a
chosen vessel to build the ark and save a remnant from the flood.

	Did you ever hear the story of an old man that came to Noah when he
was building the ark?  "What, Mr. Noah, are you still at the ark?  You are
a veritable old fool, building an ark far away from any water!  How are
you going to float it?"  "Wait a little while, and I will show you: 
by-and-by you will learn that I am right."  They waited year after year,
and by-and-by the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the rain
began to descend.  The old man came along, and Noah said to him, "What do
you think now, neighbour?"  "Oh, this is only a shower; it looks like
clearing up; it will soon be over."  In a short time the old man came
again, wading in water to his knees, when Noah said, "Well, what do you
think now?"  "Oh, it will soon clear away."  He came again,and that time
he was paddling along in water up to his neck, and said, "Won't you take
me in, Noah?"  "I have got my load; all who have received tickets are
aboard, and those who have not tickets cannot come aboard.  What do you
think of it now, old man, is it only a little shower?" Then it was not,
"Damn old Noah!"  but they were crying, "Oh, Mr. Noah, take us in." 
By-and-by it will be, "Mr. Smith, won't you have a little compassion on
us?"  "No," Joseph will say; "you would not take a ticket when I offered
it to you by my brethren; you refused my tickets, and said it was `nothing
but a shower, we guess it will pass off.'"  According to the words of the
Saviour, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the
coming of the Son of Man."

	"Brother Brigham, I think you talk pretty hard; for we feel very
important, and we do not like to hear you speak against our charity and
against our doings."  They assassinated Joseph Smith, and they drove us
into the mountains, where, as they said, "the land is sterile and good for
nothing," and where the Indians would kill us, as they believed with all
their hearts.  They said and believed this, and prophesied day and night
that the `Mormons' were going, and would be starved to death or killed by
Indians.  We came here naked and barefoot:  do you think that I shall ask
any aid from them, when we are ready to go back?  No.  We brought our
provisions, when we came here, to last us until we raised more.  We
brought our few farming implements, our seed grain, wives, and children,
with comparative nakedness and poverty as to this world's goods.  My wives
took skins and made moccasins to wear.

	We have sustained ourselves, so far, in this far-off, barren region,
and we shall live here.  Do they want us to live here?  No, nor anywhere
else.  Bark away, bark away; follow up the Saints; persecute the Saints. 
Can't you buy them out, think you?  "Oh dear, the `Mormons' are getting
Uncle Sam's timber in the kanyons."  Who is Uncle Sam?  All of us.  Get
the timber out of the kanyons, build houses, burn lime, cultivate the
soil, and raise animals on the range, for we have a right so to do.  But
our enemies hunt, persecute, and make war upon us, and have done this to
their sorrow.  They have made war upon the Saints from the beginning, and
now they will have war to the hilt, until they are used up, root and
branch.  In the name of Israel's God, there will not be one of them left
upon the earth.  Will I hurt them?  No.  The Lord Almighty will lead them
in a path wherein they will use themselves up.  Don't lay it to me;
though, if you do, I don't care.

	It is quite interesting, is it not, for a man to rise up and make war
upon one of his own children?  Think how it would appear for a father to
kick, cuff, and otherwise abuse the youngest and best son of twelve, never
give a dime to encourage him, and then say to the eleven--"Now, boys, rise
up and kill him outright."  Is not that treason of the blackest kind?  It
has been as much committed as it will be; and if they do not stop, they
will be rubbed out.  Have this people committed treason or transgressed
the laws of their country?  If any man says they have, he is a liar, and
will go to hell, for he lies like hell.  Those who say they have are of
the Devil, and are his servants; they lie, and there is no truth in them;
and they shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and
brimstone.

	They made war with us, and they have committed treason.  We have
received enough abuse at their hands.  Would we trouble them?  No.  If
they would only let us alone, we would only preach the Gospel, and that we
will do.  The Lord has called me to this work, and I feel as though I will
do it.  We will send the Gospel to the nations; and when one nation turns
us away, we will go to another and gather up the honest in heart, and the
rest we care not for until we come on Mount Zion as saviours, to attend to
the ordinances of the house of God for them.  The Lord will let the people
know that he will rule.  The Devil has had possession of the earth a great
while.

	It would be very tyrannical, would it not, for a king to make laws
that would make people do right?  Oh what an overbearing government, that
would be, would it not?  "Now, let that man alone; earn and eat your own
food, and do not steal that man's."  What oppression there is in Utah,
when one man rises up and hinders another from oppressing his neighbour! 
"Oh, what oppression!  I will write to Washington about it."  Write where
you please:  all such will meet their doom.

	Stop swearing and taking the name of God in vain.  Are any in the
habit of lying?  Stop it.  Are any in the habit of bearing false witness
against your neighbour?"  Stop it.  A man rises up--"Wife, I am going to
break your head!"  You can't do this in Utah.  A man rises up--"I want to
steal that man's waggon,or my neighbour's axe!"  You can't do it with
impunity in this community.  Those who are in the habit of getting drunk,
stop it:  you must not get drunk in this community.  Are you in the habit
of spending your time for naught, and wasting the talents God has given
you, and running about the streets tattling and making mischief?  Stop it;
this is not allowed in Utah.  Stop your evil and all your sinning, and
love righteousness, for that is applauded in Utah.  I glory in it; I love
it:  it is sweet to me, sweeter than the honey or the honeycomb.  I am
with it, and it is with me; I live in it, delight in it, and expect to die
in it, and live to all eternity in it.  The spirit and power of justice,
mercy, long-suffering, patience, kindness, and good acts to all around,
filling up the measure of my life here and to all eternity in doing good,
is what I delight in.  That is the kingdom I love--the kingdom I am in;
and I pray that God may roll on his work, and that iniquity may be swept
from our midst, until we overcome, gather the honest in heart from all the
earth, and fill it with righteousness.  That we may enjoy that day of
rest--that day of peace and perfect triumph over sin and iniquity, is my
prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.