Brigham Young 1872-1877.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
                   Sunday Afternoon, April 28th, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
       THE LORD'S SUPPER--PROGRESSION--CO-OPERATION--INDEPENDENCE.

	I am very happy for the privilege of meeting with the Latter-day
Saints, and I have reason to be thankful that I am able to speak a little
to them.  It brings many things to our reflections and causes many
thoughts to arise.  When we look over the human family what a variety we
see and especially upon the subject of religion.  We take Christianity,
for instance, and as nations, as people, we believe in and on the Lord
Jesus Christ.  Most of Christian professors believe in the ordinances, or
some portions of the ordinances of the house of God.  Most of Christians
believe in the breaking of bread, in blessing it and partaking of it in
remembrance of the broken body of our Savior; also in taking the cup,
consecrating it and then partaking of it, in remembrance of his blood that
was shed for the sins of the world.  And then take up the hundreds of
different denominations and what a motley mass we present in our faith,
feelings, sympathies, judgment, passions and conduct; man against man,
priest against priest, people against people.  Now let the Christian
denominations come here:  "Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in taking
the Sacrament, it is true, but what a pity," say they.  "They profess to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Oh dear!  I wish they did!  Yes, they
seem to manifest great confidence in the atonement, in the ordinances and
commandments.  I wish they were a better people!  What a pity it is that
they are such an outlawed, sinful race of beings as they are!  What a
pity!!"  "How we Christians do pity the Latter-day Saints."  Then again,
how we Latter-day Saints do pity the Christians!  What a spectacle!  And
see us, as Christians, warring with each other!  What for?  For our pure
faith, for our holy desires, for our great charity to each other, for the
love of Christ, for the salvation of the souls of the children of men. 

	Now is not this a spectacle to present to angels?  Why if the
Lord Almighty was not beyond the conception of humanity in charity and
love, in mercy and longsuffering, in patience and kindness to his
creatures, where would we have been ere this?  We would have been
weltering in his wrath, we would have been drinking his hot displeasure. 
But he is more merciful than we are.  I have thought a great many times I
was very thankful I was not the Lord Almighty.  I should be consuming my
enemies.  How I should contend against those who hate me.  I am glad I am
not the Lord.  And to see the Latter-day Saints here following the example
of the Savior when he took his disciples into an upper room, and bade some
of them go and prepare to partake supper with him the last time before his
crucifixion.  He took the bread and blessed and brake.  "Take and eat ye
all of this, for this is my body in the New Testament."  He took the cup
and blessed it; "Drink ye all of this, for this is my blood in the New
Testament."  Here we are doing the same to-day.  What more?  Do this until
I come, for I will neither eat nor drink any more with you in this
capacity until I drink anew with you in my father's kingdom on this earth. 
Will he do it?  Certainly he will.  "Do this in remembrance of me until I
come."  We are doing this to-day.  Do not other Christians do the same? 
They do.  How do we Latter-day Saints feel towards them?  Were we to yield
to the carnal passions of the natural man and we had the power of the
Almighty we would spew our enemies out of our mouths, yes, we would hiss
them from the face of human society for their evils, their malice, for the
revenge and wrath they have towards us.  But we are not the Almighty.  I
am glad of it.  I am happy in the reflection that I have not the power,
and I hope and pray I may never possess it until I can use it like a God,
until I can wield it as our Father in heaven wields it, with all that
eternity of majesty, glory, charity, with his judgment, discretion, and
with every faculty of compassion.  I am happy in the reflection that I do
not possess the power.  I am glad you elders do not, I am really glad you
do not.  Will he ever grant power to his Saints on the earth?  Yes, they
will take the kingdom, and possess it for ever and ever; but in the
capacity they are now, in the condition that they now present themselves
before God, before the world and before each other?  Never, never! until
we are sanctified, until we are filled with the wisdom of God, with the
knowledge of God, will he bequeath the power that he has in reserve for
his Saints; never will the Saints possess it until they are prepared to
wield it with all that judgment, discretion, wisdom and forbearance that
the Lord Almighty wields in his own capacity, and uses at his pleasure? 
How do you feel about it, brethren?  Do not you wish sometimes you had
power to pinch their ears?  Do not you wish you had power to stop them in
their mad career?  Let the Lord Almighty do this.  You think his eye is
upon the work of his hands?  It is.  His ears are open to the prayers of
his children, he will hear their prayers, he will answer their desires;
and when we as a people possess the abundance of that patience, that
longsuffering and forbearance that we need, to possess the privileges and
the power that the Lord has in reserve for this people, we will receive to
our utmost satisfaction.  We shall not have it now.  The Lord says, "I can
not give it to you now."  This church has now been traveling over
forty-two years--forty-two years the sixth day of this month since it was
organized with six members.  What have welearned?  We assembled in
Missouri, at the place of gathering on the borders of the Lamanites, and
there we bought our farms and built our houses; but could we stay there? 
Were we prepared then to enter into Zion, to build up the Zion of God and
possess it?  We were not, we must suffer.  "You Latter-day Saints, you, my
children," says the Lord, "are not prepared to receive Zion."  Why, we
have heard detailed by Elder Carrington the conduct of Elders at the
present time, dishonest in the matter of a few shillings or dollars. 
Dishonest, covetous, selfish, grasping for that which is not our own;
borrowing and not paying; taking that which does not belong to us;
dishonest in our deal; oppressing each other.  Are we fit for Zion?  I say
nothing to the Christian world with regard to this.  Let them bite and
devour as much as they please, it does not belong to the Latter-day Saints
at least.  Could we stay in Independence?  No, we could not.  What was the
reason?  Here are some hearing me talk who were there--some who are aged,
some here who were then children and infants, some who were born there. 
But we stayed a very few years--two or three--and we must get up and
march.  Why did we leave?  Why the enemy is upon us, our enemies are
gathered around us, our foes are besetting us on every hand.  There goes a
house burned up; there is a man that is whipped; there is a family turned
out of doors!  What is the matter with all you Latter-day Saints?  Can the
world see?  No.  Can the Saints see?  No, or few of them can; and we can
say that the light of the Spirit upon the hearts and understandings of
some Latter-day Saints is like the peeping of the stars through the broken
shingles of the roof over our heads, when we are watching through the
silent watches of the night and behold the glimmer of a twinkling star. 
"Oh yes, I see, I see, that we are not prepared to receive the kingdom." 
Another one says, "Yes, I can see, we were too selfish."  Another one
says, "I see, the wicked must be prepared for their doom as well as the
Saints for their exaltation, and that the wicked are a rod in the hands of
God to chasten the Saints."  Here are the two classes--the righteous and
the unrighteous, and the righteous must be prepared by suffering and by
rendering strict obedience to the commandments of heaven.  It seems to be
absolutely necessary in the providence of Him who created us, and who
organized and fashioned all things according to his wisdom, that man must
descend below all things.  It is written of the Savior in the Bible that
he descended below all things that he might ascend above all.  Is it not
so with every man?  Certainly it is.  It is fit then that we should
descend below all things and come up gradually, and learn a little now,
and again, receive "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little
and there a little."  But hark, do the people hear it?  Do the people
understand it?  Scarcely!  scarcely!  Do the Latter-day Saints understand
these principles, and are we prepared to receive Zion?  Are we prepared to
receive the Kingdom and are we prepared for the blessings that God has in
reserve for his children?  Stop, think, consider, look around us!  How is
it?  Are not the sordid things of this life before our eyes, and have they
not thrown a mist before them so that we can not see?  Are we not of the
earth, and still earthy?  Certainly we are of the earth and still earthy. 
What do we know of heavenly things?  It is very true we have the Bible;
but when we come to our elders, men of limited education and moderate
reading, they are able to teach the whole Christian world theology.  Take
them from the anvil, from the plow, from the carpenter's bench, or from
any occupation, if they possess good common ability and the spirit of our
holy religion that God has revealed in these latter days, they understand
more of the Bible and the building up of the Kingdom of God than all the
world besides that are destitute of the priesthood of the Son of God.  And
yet what do we know?  Comparatively we have hardly learned the first
lesson.

	Could our brethren stay in Jackson County, Missouri?  No, no.  Why? 
They had no learned "a" concerning Zion; and we have been traveling now
forty-two years, and have we learned our a, b, c?  "Oh," say a good many,
"I think we have."  Have we learned our a b ab?  Have we got as far as b a
k e r, baker?  Have we got through our first speller?  Have we learned
multiplication?  Do we understand anything with regard to the building up
of the kingdom?  I will say, scarcely.  Have we seen it as a people?  How
long shall we travel, how long shall we live, how long shall God wait for
us to sanctify ourselves and become one in the Lord, in our actions and in
our ways for the building up of the kingdom of God, that he can bless us? 
He defends us, it is very true, and fights our battles.  When we were
driven from Missouri and had to leave the State, I recollect very well,
Gov. Boggs said, "You must leave;" Gen. Clark said, "You must leave;" the
mob said, "You must leave," and we had to leave.  And after we had signed
away our property, I'd see a widow send up her little boy to brother
Such-a-one, "Will you let me go to your timber land and get a load of wood
for my mother?"  "Tell your mother that I have got no more timber than I
shall want, I do not think I can spare her a load of wood."  I recollect
very well of telling the Latter-day Saints, there and then, "I hope to God
that we never will have the privilege of stopping and making ourselves
rich while we grind the face of the poor; but let us be driven from State
to State until we can take what we have got and dispose of it according to
the dictation of the spirit of revelation from the Lord.  Said I, "You
will not stay here;"  but long faces would come down, you know, with a
gentle, mild scrowl [sic], "I can't spare you a load of wood."  Excuse me. 
When are the Latter-day Saints going to be prepared to receive the
kingdom?  Are we now?  Not at all!  We are prepared for some things, and
we receive just as fast as we prepare ourselves.  Well, what can we do,
what more can we do?  We can do just what we please to do.  It is in our
power to do just what we please to do with regard to sanctifying ourselves
before the Lord, and preparing ourselves to build up his kingdom:  Have we
not the liberty to build this Temple here?  We have, although earth and
hell are opposed to it, and arrayed against it.  Have we not the privilege
of preaching the Gospel to the nations?  We have.  Have we not the
privilege of uniting our faith and our efforts for the benefit of the
whole community?  Yes, we have.

	Now come down, for example, to our present circumstances and
condition.  Year after year, I labored with our merchants to unite their
efforts together to supply the wants of the people without taking from
them everything they had got; and when I assembled these merchants some
years before we entered into our present co-operative institution in this
mercantile trade, said I, "Will you unite your efforts and your means, and
start a business here that we can put goods into the hands of the people
that we will not take their last sixpence?  Have a calico dress at forty
cents a yard when it should be only eighteen, twenty or twenty-two, and so
on and so forth."  After a long conference one of the gentlemen present
got up, walked the room back and forward, and finally said, "President
Young, if you will furnish the money we will do as you say,"  as much as
to say, "It is none of your business what we do with the means that we
have."  I dropped the conversation and said to myself.  "Well then, gull
the people, take what they have got."

	You recollect a man here in the time of the Buchanan war by the name
of A. B. Miller.  He was a merchant here for Russell and Majors.  Our
people were not merchandising much then.  Well, the merchants met together
and wanted to put up their goods to a certain notch, a dollar a pound for
sugar, for instance.  This A. B. Miller--a gambler, though there were a
great many good things about him, he just turned in and damned them.  Says
he,  "Gentlemen, to turn in and cut the throats of these 'Mormons,' and
take what they have got, we might do, but for being so damned mean as to
ask a dollar a pound for sugar, I will not do it."

	Now then, is this co-operative institution one step towards bringing
the people to a union?  Yes, but it is a very small one, and there is
danger of it growing into a condition that will cease to be one step in
the right direction.  Let men say, "Here is what God has given me, do what
you please with it," and we shall be in the path of progress.  But how is
it now?  "Brother, have you paid any tithing?  You have made fifty
thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, one thousand or five hundred
dollars as the case may be, have you paid any tithing?"  "Well, no I have
not yet, but I think perhaps, I will by and by;" and this is said with
stammering tongue, faltering voice, and covetous heart.  Who gave you your
money and possessions?  Who owns this earth?  Does the Devil?  No, he does
not, he pretended to own it when the Savior was here, and promised it all
to him if he would fall down and worship him; but he did not own a foot of
land, he only had possession of it.  He was an intruder, and is still: 
this earth belongs to him that framed and organized it, and it is
expressly for his glory and the possession of those who love and serve him
and keep his commandments; but the enemy has possession of it.

	Now then, a few other items, brethren and sisters.  Can you do
anything for the poor?  "Well I do not know, but I can give you fifty
cents to gather the poor."  "Brother, can you pay that debt?  You
recollect you borrowed some money of a widow woman in England.  Do you
recollect you borrowed a little money of such a brother?  Can you pay
that?"  "Well yes, I am going to."  You heard what Brother Carrington said
about it, what fellowship does the Lord Almighty have for such men?  I
think not the least.  What fellowship do angels have for such men?  I
should think not much.  What fellowship do I have for them?  Not one
particle.  What ought to be done with them?  I will answer the
question--they ought to be disfellowshipped by the Saints:  they are not
fellowshipped in the heavens, and they ought not to be here.

	"Well, now then, Brother Brigham, what are you at, what do you want?" 
I want you to do just that which will displease the enemies of the kingdom
of God, and that which will please the Lord Almighty and the heavenly host
to perfection.  What is that?  Do as you are counseled to do by the spirit
of revelation from the Lord.  What is the cry against us?  "Brigham Young
has too much influence!  All the people hearken to Brigham Young!  All
these poor deluded Latter-day Saints take his counsel!"  I wish it was so. 
If this were the fact you would see Zion prosper upon the hills and upon
the plains, in the valleys and in the kanyons, and upon the mountains.  Go
to with your might, seek unto the Lord your God until you have the
revelations of the Lord Jesus christ upon you, until your minds are open,
and the visions of heaven are plain to you.  Then follow the dictations of
the spirit, and watch Brother Brigham, and see if he counsels you wrong. 
I hope to see the time when I can say to the Latter-day Saints, if I
preside over them, go and do this or that, and not ask a sixpence of this
man or a dollar from that, or a hundred dollars from another.  "Here is
what I have, it is the Lord's.  He has given me all that I possess, it is
only committed to my charge to see what I will do with it.  The heavens
are his, the earth is his; the gold and silver are his, the wheat and fine
flour are his, the wine and the oil are his; the cattle upon a thousand
hills are his.  I am his, I am his servants, let the Lord say what he
wants.  Here I am, with all thou hast given me."  How displeasing this is
to the devil is it not?  I can not help it, this is the true track and
path for the Latter-day Saints to walk in.  Walk up, O ye Latter-day
Saints, and wake up!  Come to the Lord, forsake your covetousness, your
back-slidings, forsake the spirit of the world, and return to the Lord
with full purpose of heart until you get the spirit of Christ within you,
that you, like others, can cry, "Abba Father, the Lord he is God and I am
his servant."

	Do you think it would be difficult then for us to accomplish anything
we undertook?  No.  Very true the enemy, this potent foe that we have to
contend with, we know but little about him, very little; but he is
watching every avenue of the heart, rapping at every door and every
window, and if there is a crevice between the clapboards, through the
roof, or the brick or adobie wall, he throws a dart into the feelings of
each and every individual.  "Take care, think for yourselves, judge for
yourselves; do not be led astray, do not you wander off after these
deluded people, and their delusion.  Be careful, there is danger in
believing in the Lord, there is danger in being a Saint; there is great
danger in you yielding your judgment in another man."  Oh, what a pity! 
Where do you get your judgment?  Where did it come from?  What is your
judgment?  I tell you that the judgment of the world now is pretty much
for all to do just as they please if they possibly can, to the injury of
their neighbors, for their own aggrandizement.

	Can I not use my judgment in doing well just as much as in doing
evil?
Am I not just as independent in performing a deed of charity as a deed of
cruelty?  I contend that I am, what do you say?  Have I not got my liberty
just as much, and exercise it just as freely, in feeding the poor and
clothing the naked as I have in turning them out of doors, or in lifting
myself up against God and his anointed?  Has a man got to apostatize from
this kingdom, from the faith of Christ, to be independent?  Am I not as
independent in believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as I am in denying him? 
Am I not as independent in believing the Gospel as I am in believing in
the whisperings and mutterings of these spirits that are floating through
the air, rapping at everybody's door, sometimes tearing the clothes off
their beds, rapping, thundering and telling this, that and  the other? 
You hearken to that still small voice that whispers eternal truth, that
opens the visions of eternity to you that you can discern, understand and
follow, and the foul spirits that throng the air, and that fill our houses
if we let them in, will not have power over you.

	Be just as independent as a God to do good.  Love mercy, eschew evil,
be a savior to yourselves and to your families, and to your fellow beings
just as much as you possibly can, and go on with your independence and do
not yield yourselves servants to obey an evil principle or an evil being.

	God bless you.  Amen.


                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
                     Sunday Morning, April 28, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
    HIS IMPRISONMENT--EMIGRATING THE POOR--THE USE OF RICHES--TITHING.

	A word to the Latter-day Saints.  Good morning.  (Congregation
responded, "Good morning.")  How do you do?  (Congregation replied, "Very
well.")  How is your faith this morning? ("Strong in the Lord," was the
response.)  How do you think I look after my long confinement? 
(Congregation replied, "First rate.")  I do not rise expecting to preach a
discourse or sermon, or to lengthen out remarks.  I spoke a few minutes
yesterday in the school, but I found that it exhausted me very soon.  I
will say a few words to you.  The Gospel of the Son of God is most
precious.  My faith is not weakened in the Gospel in the least.  I will
answer a few of the questions that probably many would like to ask of me. 
Many would like to know how I have felt the past winter, and so much of
the spring as is now past.  I have enjoyed myself exceedingly well.  I
have been blessed with an opportunity to rest; and you who are acquainted
with me and my public speaking can discern at once, if you listen closely
to my voice, it is weak to what it used to be, and I required rest.  I
feel well in body and better in mind.  I have no complaint to make, no
fault to find, no reflections to cast, for all that has been done has been
directed and overruled by the wisdom of Him who knows all things.

	As to my treatment through the winter, it has been very agreeable,
very kind.  My associate, my companion in tribulation, I will say, has
acted the gentleman as much as any man could.  I have not one word, one
lisp or beat of the heart to complain of him.  He has been full of
kindness, thoughtful, never intruding, always ready to hearken and, I
think, in the future, will be perfectly willing to take the counsel of his
prisoner. So much for Captain Isaac Evans.  I will say this to you, ladies
and gentlemen, you who profess to understand true etiquette, I have not
seen a gentleman in my acquaintance that possesses more of the real spirit
of gentility, caution and of true etiquette than Captain Evans.  He has
passed the window where I have lodged through the winter every morning to
his breakfast and every afternoon; he has walked in the street in front of
my office and on the opposite side, and he has never yet been seen gazing
and looking at my buildings, or to see who was at the window, or even look
at my window.  He has never looked into the second room in my office
unless invited there--never.  Can you say that for other gentlemen?  They
are very scarce; there are very few of them.

	I have no reflections to cast upon these courts.  How much power,
ability or opportunity would I have to possess, do you think, if all were
combined, to disgrace them as they have disgraced themselves? I have
neither the power nor the ability, consequently I have nothing to say with
regard to their conduct.  It is before the world; it is before the Heavens
continually.  The Lord has known the thoughts of the hearts of the
children of men, and he has overruled all for his glory, and for the
benefit of those who believe and obey the truth in Christ.  I will say
this:  when they started out with a writ for your humble servant, and I
had news of it before it was served, I told my brethren that all their
efforts would avail them nothing, and that they would end in a grand
fizzle.  Do you think we have come to it?  I think we have.

	Have you nothing to say, brother Brigham concerning the Supreme Court
of the United States?  A few words.  I am happy to learn that there are
yet men in our government who are too high-minded, too pure in their
thoughts and feelings to bow down to a sectarian prejudice, and to hearken
to the whinings and complaints of prejudiced priests, or those who are
wrapped up in the nutshell of sectarianism; men of honor, nobility,
judgment and discretion; men who look at things as they are and judge
according to the nature thereof without any discrimination as to parties
or people.  I am thankful that this fact does exist.  Have they decided in
favor of the Latter-day Saints?  Yes.  Why? Because the Latter-day Saints
are  on the track of truth; they are for law, for right, for justice, for
mercy, for judgment and equity, consequently they are for God.  Would I
admire the conduct of a jurist on the bench who would decide for a
Latter-day Saint if he were guilty?  If he would justify a Latter-day
Saint and condemn a Methodist? No, I would despise him in my heart.  I
might look upon him with pity, it is very true, and without malice, anger
or bitterness, and pity him in his ignorance; but if he was a man of
knowledge and understanding I would condemn him as quickly for justifying
a Latter-day Saint, or one called a Latter-day Saint, or one called a
Latter-day Saint, in evil, as I would a Methodist.  And a man who sits as
President of the United States, as a Governor of a State or Territory, or
as a judge upon the bench, or a member of a legislative assembly, who
would reduce himself to the feelings, and narrow contracted views of
partyism, is not fit for the place.  As I said before a gentleman here, I
think it was last summer, who was stump-speeching through the country and
proclaiming his right to the Presidency "he that most desires an office is
the least fit for it."  Perhaps I made a mistake in that declaration, for
though on general principles it is true, it may not be true in every case. 
Some may desire an office for the sake of the good work that they perform,
seeing that others have abused it.  This is as much as I wish to say upon
these subjects.

	As I shall probably desire to speak a little in the afternoon, I
shall soon bring my remarks to a close. I will say a few words with regard
to the Perpetual Emigration Fund.  Perhaps you have had a good deal said
to you in the course of this Conference concerning gathering the poor, but
if you have I have not learned it.  I have not heard of any man coming
forward and putting down his name for a thousand or two thousand dollars. 
At the commencement of the Conference I donated two thousand dollars for
the gathering of the poor, but I have not heard of anybody adding another
figure to mine or placing one under it.  How is it?  It is very true we
gather the Saints, and when they get here and gather around them the
comforts of life, and become the possessors of a little wealth, the spirit
of the world enters into a few of them to that degree that it crowds out
the Spirit of the Gospel.  They forget their God and their covenants, and
turn to the beggarly elements of the world, seek for its riches and
finally leave the faith. But we had better gather nine that are unworthy
than to neglect the tenth if he is worthy.  If they come here, apostatize
and turn our enemies, they are in the hands of God, and what they do will
be to them everlasting life or everlasting condemnation.  For the good,
for the wise, or for the froward and the ungodly, it is our duty to do all
we can.  It is our duty to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth,
to gather up the pure in heart, and to lend a helping hand to the poor and
needy; to instruct, guide and direct them, and when they are gathered
together to teach them how to live, how to serve their God, how to gather
around them the comforts of life, and glorify their Father in heaven in
the enjoyment of the same.

	When I cast my eyes upon the inhabitants of the earth and see the
weakness, inability, the shortsightedness, and I may say, the height of
folly in the hearts of the kings, rulers, and the great, and those who
should be wise and good an noble; when I see them grovelling in the dust;
longing, craving, desiring, contending for the things of this life, I
think, O foolish men, to set your hearts on the things of this life! 
To-day they are seeking after the honors and glories of the world, and by
the time the sun is hidden by the western mountains the breath is gone out
of their nostrils, they sink to their mother earth.  Where are their
riches then?  Gone for ever.  As Job says, "Naked I came into the world." 
Destitute and forlorn, they have to travel a path that is untried and
unknown to them, and wend their way into the spirit world.  They know not
where they are going nor for what.  The designs of the Creator are hidden
from their eyes; darkness, ignorance, mourning and groaning take hold of
them and they pass into eternity. And this is the end of them concerning
this life as far as they know.  A man or a woman who places the wealth of
this world and the things of time in the scales against the things of God
and the wisdom of eternity, has no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no heart
to understand.  What are riches for? For blessings, to do good.  Then let
us dispense that which the Lord gives us to the best possible use for the
building up of his kingdom, for the promotion of the truth on the earth,
that we may see and enjoy the blessings of the Zion of God here upon this
earth.  I look around among the world of mankind and see them grabbing,
scrambling, contending, and every one seeking to aggrandize himself, and
to accomplish his own individual purposes, passing the community by,
walking upon the heads of his neighbors--all are seeking, planning,
contriving in their wakeful hours, and when asleep dreaming, "How can I
get the advantage of my neighbor? How can I spoil him, that I may ascend
the ladder of fame?"  That is entirely a mistaken idea.  You see that
nobleman seeking the benefit of all around him, trying to bring, we will
say, his servants, if you please, his tenants, to his knowledge, to like
blessings that he enjoys, to dispense his wisdom and talents among them
and to make them equal with himself.  As they ascend and increase, so does
he, and he is in the advance.  All eyes are upon that king or that
nobleman, and the feelings of those around him are:  "God bless him! How I
love him!  How I delight in him!  He seeks to bless and to fill me with
joy, to crown my labors with success, to give me comfort, that I may enjoy
the world as well as himself."  But the man who seeks honor and glory at
the expense of his fellow-men is not worthy of the society of the
intelligent.

	Now, a few words to my friends here--my colleagues the lawyers, and
others.  I gave a little counsel here, I think it is a year ago this last
sixth of April, for the people of this Territory and through these
mountains not to go to law, but to arbitrate their cases.  I will ask if
they do not think they would have saved a good deal of money in their
pockets if they had taken this counsel?  And to see our streets lined with
lawyers as they are!  Why they are as thick as grogshop used to be in
California.  What is the business of a lawyer?  It is the case with too
many to keep what they have got, and to gather around them wealth, to heap
it up, but to do as little as possible for it; to give a little counsel
here, and a little counsel there.  What for?  To keep their victims in
bondage.  Say they:  "Let us stick to him as long as he has a dollar in
his pocket."

	I will tell you a story.  A man was going to market, a pretty wicked
swearing man, with his cart full of apples.  He was going up hill, and the
hindboard as the Yankees call it--the Westerners call it the hindgate,
slipped out of his cart, and his apples rolled down the hill.  He stopped
his team and looked at the apples as they rolled down the hill, and said
he, "I would swear if I could do justice to the case, but as I can not I
will not swear a word."  I will not say a word more than to class
dishonorable lawyers with other dishonest men.

	Now what are the facts?  Why this world is before us.  The gold,
silver and precious stones are in the mountains, in the rivers, in the
plains, in the sands and in the waters, they all belong to this world, and
you and I belong to this world.  Is there enough to make each of us a
finger ring?  Certainly there is.  Is there enough to make us a breast
pin?  Certainly there is.  Is there enough to make jewelry for the ladies
to set their diamonds and precious stones in?  Certainly there is.  Is
there enough to make the silver plate, the spoons, platters, plates and
knives and forks?  There is.  Is there enough to make the goblets to drink
out of?  There is.  There is plenty if we want to make the wine casks of
gold, there is plenty of it in the earth for all these purposes.  Then
what on earth are you and I quarrelling about it for?  Go to work
systematically and take it from the mountains, and put it to the use that
we want it, without contending against each other, and filching the
pockets of each other.  The world is full of it.  If it goes from my
pocket it is still in the world, it still belongs to this little ball,
this little speck in God's creation, so small that from the sun I expect
you would have to have a telescope that would magnify millions of times
almost to see it; and from any of the fixed stars I do not expect that it
has ever been seen only by the celestials--mortals could not see this
earth at that distance.  And here people are contending, quarreling,
seeking how to get the advantage of each other, and how to get all the
wealth there is in the world; wanting to rule nations, wanting to be
president, king or ruler.  What would they do if they were?  Most of them
would make everybody around them miserable, that is what they would do. 
There are very few men on the earth who try to make people happy. 
Occasionally there have been emperors and monarchs who have made their
people happy but they have been very rare.  But suppose we go to work to
gather up all that there is in the bosom and upon the surface of our
mother earth and bring it into use, is there any lack?  There is not,
there is enough for all.  Then do look at these things as they are,
Latter-day Saints, and you who are not Latter-day Saints, look at things
as they are.  And I do hope and pray for your sakes, outsiders, and for
the sakes of those who profess to be Latter-day Saints, that we shall have
good peace for a time here, so that we can build our furnaces, open our
mines, make our railroads, till the soil, follow our mercantile business
uninterrupted; that we may attend to the business of beautifying the
earth.  I see around me a few of my neighbors who are beautifying their
gardens.  How beautiful!  There is one here in the Seventh Ward--Mr.
Hussey's, I never drive out but I want to drive by it.  How much better
that looks than it would be for him to quarrel with his neighbors! 
Beautify your gardens, your houses, your farms; beautify the city.  This
will make us happy, and produce plenty.  The earth is a good earth, the
elements are good if we will use them for our own benefit, in truth and
righteousness.  Then let us be content, and go to with our mights to make
ourselves healthy, wealthy, and beautiful, and preserve ourselves in the
best possible manner, and live just as long as we can, and do all the good
we can.

	Now, brethren and sisters and friends, I have said a few words about
lawyers; but I could pick up other classes of men just as bad, and we can
find fault with all.  Let us be honest, let us be upright, full of charity
one toward another; and live as agreeably as we possibly can here on this
earth that the Lord has given to man to cultivate and improve for his own
benefit, and to prepare it for an everlasting inheritance.  There is a
great deal before us, and it is for us to live so that we will be able to
perform our part well in this great work.  And I say to the Latter-day
Saints, it is for you to put forth your hands this season in emigrating
the poor.  We will receive any amount.  If it is not more than a hundred
dollars or so, we will be willing to receive it.  Talk about this people
being poor, why we will get so rich by and by that we will refuse to pay
our taxes; we have got so rich now that we cannot pay our tithing.  The
rich do not pretend to pay any tithing, or but very few of them.  I think
I have mentioned one fact with regard to our merchants.  A few years ago
in the other tabernacle, I said that our merchants who lived on the
business part of East Temple street and professed to be Latter-day Saints,
if they were not very careful, would deny the faith and be damned, and it
would be by the skin of their teeth if they ever got into heaven.  How is
it with the rest of us?  About the same.  No matter about this.  But here
is one of our merchants--William Jennings--about whom a great many have
remarks to make.  Well, it is no matter about his trade.  I want to say to
the rest of the merchants that he has paid a good many thousand dollars
tithing, more than all the rest of them put together.  That is for William
Jennings.  We are paying our tithing in the Co-operative, I would not
consent to go into the business on any other terms only that the tithing
should be paid on all we made.  But the other merchants, if they pay
tithing on what they make it has to come hereafter, for they have never
done it yet; and I think the more they make the less tithing they pay. 
But you are welcome to give something to the poor; if you will help us a
little with regard to the emigration we will be very much obliged to you,
but you will have to trust in God for the future blessings.

	God bless you, Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
        Delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden City, Sunday Afternoon,
                             May 26th, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
           RICHES--HURRY--FASHION--HELPING THE POOR--MYSTERIES.

	I am happy for the privilege of standing before this congregation and
speaking to them.  I am thankful to see the spirit that is manifested by
the people to inquire after the truth, to learn the way of life.  I
rejoice to see the disposition manifested by the Latter-day Saints to
attend places of worship.  But this is a small part of our faith.  I wish
to say to the Latter-day Saints that the Gospel of life and salvation is
the best institution that we, as mortal beings, can invest in.  Go into
the financial circles of the world, and you will find men gather and
project their plans for business, for railroads, for ship companies, for
merchandizing, and various other pursuits.  You will see those engaged in
these companies associate together, confer with each other, lay their
plans before each other, investigate them, scan every branch, and every
part and particle of their business.  We are engaged in a higher-toned
branch of business than any merchants or railroad men, or any institution
of an earthly nature, and it is pleasing to see the Latter-day Saints meet
together to talk over this matter, and to learn the course they should
pursue to gain the object of their pursuit.  If an inquiry arises in any
of your minds with regard to this, I will answer it by saying that we are
in pursuit of all there is before us--life, light, wealth, intelligence,
all that can be possessed on the earth by mortal man, and then in a higher
state, where there will be a more perfect development of the smattering of
knowledge than we received here, and all that can be enjoyed by
intelligent beings in the celestial kingdom of our God.  Is this our
object?  Certainly it is. We are not in the same attitude that the people
were a few thousand years ago--they were depending on the Prophet or
Prophets, or on having immediate revelation for themselves to know the
will of the Lord, without the record of their predecessors, while we have
the records of those who have lived before us, also the testimony of the
Holy Spirit; and, to the satisfaction of all who desire a testimony, we
can turn to this book and read that which we believe, learn the object of
our pursuit, the end that we expect to accomplish--the end of the race as
far as mortality is concerned--and the fullness of the glory that is
beyond this valley of tears; consequently we have the advantage of those
who lived before us. We are in pursuit of knowledge; and when you meet
together, if you have a word of prophecy, a dream, a vision, or a word of
wisdom, impart the same to the people.

	Let me ask you, my brethren and sisters, Do you want wealth?  If you
do, do not be in a hurry.  Do you want the riches pertaining to this
world?  Yes, we acknowledge we do.  Then, be calm, contented, composed;
keep your pulses correct, do not let them get up to a hundred and twenty,
but keep them as nigh as you can, ranging from seventy to seventy-six; and
when there is an appointment for a meeting be sure to attend that meeting. 
If there is to be a two-days' meeting in Ogden, come to it; spend the time
here and learn what is going on.  Watch closely, hear every word that is
spoken, let every heart be lifted to God for wisdom, and know and
understand every word of prophecy, every revelation that may be given,
every counsel that may be presented to the people, that you may be able to
weigh, measure, comprehend and decide between that which is of God and
that which is not of God.  Refuse the evil, learn wisdom, and grow in
grace and in the knowledge of the truth.  If there is a meeting appointed
for the Seventies, let them come together, and let no man say "I am in a
hurry in my work, and have not time to attend."  Every man that belongs to
these quorums should be on hand at the time appointed, and not say, "I
will work to the last minute, before I start fort the meeting."  Take
time, prepare yourselves, be at the place of gathering promptly, to the
minute, that you may hear the first word, then you will hear every word
that is spoken and every counsel that is given.

	If there is a Bishop's meeting, let every Bishop, Priest, Teacher and
Deacon attend and no man among them say, "I must go and water my grain,"
"cut my hay," or "gather my harvest;" but attend the meeting, sit until it
is out and hear every word.  If you have to speak, speak; if you are to
hear only, hear every word that is said.  If there is a prayer meeting
appointed, go to that prayer meeting; go to the ward meetings, attend
every meeting that is appointed.  I am telling you this, so that you can
get rich.

	I will say to the Latter-day Saints, there can not that community be
found on the face of the whole earth that, as a community, is as well off
as we are here in these mountains.  There are more women and children,
with their husbands and fathers, sleep under their own roof in the midst
of the Latter-day Saints than in any other community on the faceof this
earth, in civilization; and less women and children go without food and
clothing than in any other community in Christendom.  Looking around among
the Latter-day Saints I will ask, How many are there who have been taken
from cellars, from pits under ground, or from their little rooms, where
one pound, or five dollars, would buy everything they possessed on the
face of the earth, and brought to this country and taught how to plant
their potatoes, beans, beets, carrots, how to raise their cucumbers and
squashes, their corn and their wheat, how to milk a cow; feed a calf, take
care of the chickens; how to build a pig-pen and put a pig in it; to take
the offals of the house  and give to the pig, and how to raise a calf or a
colt, experience they never had before in their lives?  Yet they have
learned this economy, and some of them, I am sorry to say, lift their heel
against the Almighty and his anointed.  I am happy to say, however, that
the large percentage of those who have been thus rescued from poverty, and
placed in circumstances of comfort and independence, are still in the
faith.  How many are there here today who never owned a chicken or a pig,
and could not keep a cat because they had nothing to feed one on, who now
ride in their wagons, have their carriages, horses, fine harness, fine
stock of cows, and have butter, milk, cheese and wool at their command,
and granaries full of wheat, and their barns, if they have them, full of
hay?  Do not the facts which present themselves before us, prove that this
very desirable change has taken place in the circumstances of many?  Then
come to meeting.  Appoint your meetings, Elders, and call the Saints
together and instruct them in the things of the kingdom of God.  We have
missionaries that are travelling through our settlements, and no people
need preaching more than the Latter-day Saints.  They know the way, but
they are forgetful, and they want somebody or other to come along and
holloa to them, and say, comparatively, "I will warm your ears, my lady;"
"Brother, I will warm your ears."  "Wake up!"  "What are you doing?  Are
you after this mine?  Are you after that job?  Are you after that piece of
work?  Did you pray in your family this morning?"  "No."  "Why?"  "I was
in too much of a hurry."  Stop!  Wait!  When you get up in the morning,
before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of food, call your wives
and children together, bow down before the Lord, ask him to forgive your
sins, and protect you through the day, to preserve you from temptation and
all evil, to guide your steps aright, that you may do something that day
that shall be beneficial to the kingdom of God on the earth.  Have you
time to do this?  Elders, sisters, have you time to pray?  This is the
counsel I have for the Latter-day Saints to-day.  Stop, do not be in a
hurry.  I do not know that I could find a man in our community but what
wishes wealth, would like to have everything in his possession that would
conduce to his comfort and convenience.  Do you know how to get it? 
"Well," replies one, "If I do not, I wish I did; but I do not seem to be
exactly fortunate--fortune is somewhat against me."  I will tell you the
reason of this--you are in too much of a hurry; you do not go to meeting
enough, you do not pray enough, you do not red the Scriptures enough, you
do not meditate enough, you are all the time on the wing, and in such a
hurry that you do not know what to do first.  This is not the way to get
rich.  I merely use the term "rich" to lead the mind along, until we
obtain eternal riches in the celestial kingdom of God.  Here we wish for
riches in a comparative sense, we wish for the comforts of life.  If we
desire them let us take a course to get them.  Let me reduce this to a
simple saying--one of the most simple and homely that can be used--"Keep
your dish right side up," so that when the shower of porridge does come,
you can catch your dish full.

	I am not going into the details, to instruct my brethren particularly
how to get wealth; but in the first place, do not be in a hurry.  I make
that as a general remark.  Do you want your house neat and clean?  Do you
want to keep your children neat and clean?  Do you wish to see every
portion of your dwelling, from the cellar to the garret, from the
wood-house to the parlor, neat and clean?  Certainly, every sister wishes
this; then do not be in a hurry.  I shall tell you a little circumstance
that occurred some eighteen years ago, when we had been on a visit to the
Indians.  We had reached Farmington, on our way home, and stopped at a
certain house.  I think there were twelve of us in company.  Our teams
were taken care of.  When I alighted from my carriage I looked at my watch
and we went in, sat down, and chatted with the master of the house, while
his wife prepared dinner for us.  I noticed this lady.  She whispered to a
little girl to take her baby out of doors and amuse it; then, when her
baby was out of the way, she moved about without the least noise--not a
word was heard from her.  She brought everything she needed from the
buttery and cellar to the kitchen where she spread her table, and she
mixed and baked her bread, cooked her fruit and meat, and from the time we
alighted from the carriage until she came and whispered in the ear of her
husband, "Dinner is ready," it was just fifty-five minutes.  Said I to
myself, "There is a housekeeper."  I could not help but see this; every
time she walked back and forth she accomplished a certain amount of
business.  I saw this and was gratified.  Now, sisters, you may do
likewise, if you are not in too big a hurry.  Instead of shouting, "Sally,
where's the dish-cloth?"  "Susan, where's the broom?"  or, "Nancy, have
you seen the holder?  I want the holder," be calm and composed; you are in
too much of a hurry.  It is just so with men.  I see them through the
world, I have watched their progress for many years, and I see that many
of them are too much in a hurry.  If we are not in too much of a hurry we
can attend these two-days' meetings, and talk to each other.  Are you full
of faith?  You can tell whether I am or not by looking at me.  You can
tell whether the brethren who have been speaking to you are full of faith
in the Gospel by the look of their countenances.  You can see this if
there is not a word spoken; we can tell by our feelings when we look at a
congregation whether they have faith or not.  I see there is a great
amount of faith in the midst of the Latter-day Saints, and I wish there
was a little more patience and obedience. Perhaps I have said enough with
regard to these meetings.  Elders, appoint your meetings, and invite the
people to come to them.  I want now to go to other matters.

	I will tell you, my brethren, my own feelings with regard to the
conduct of the Latter-day Saints. In the first place I will say that we
are governed and controlled too much by the feelings and fashions of the
world.  We lust after the leeks and onions; we yield ourselves to the
spirit of the world too much.  You will excuse me, for I must say a few
words with regard to this.  It is true we are bound, and it seems that
men's bounds are set by each other, more or less.  If I, for instance,
were to have a coat made to suit my own taste, I do not know any of my
family and perhaps my friends, and especially the tailors, merchants and
business men, but what would say, "You are an oddity," and they would
thin, "Your are not fit for society, because you do not fashion and
pattern after others."  I commence here, you know, at myself.  Well, I
will say that I am bound, I can not accomplish my own wishes in these
things altogether.  Perhaps others can not.  I go to a tailor and say, "I
have a piece of cloth, and I want you to make me a coat."  He cuts that
coat to suit himself.  I do not see a fashion that suits me.  What use or
comeliness is there in putting the legs of the pantaloons on my coat?" 
Well, perhaps the tailor will be a little moderate, and will cut it down
considerably; but if I were my own tailor I certainly should leave
off--what shall we call them?  "Bustles," "Grecian Bends," or what shall
we call them?  Though these coat sleeves are not exactly like the sleeves
of the frocks or dresses worn by the ladies forty or fifty years ago,
which they used to call mutton-legged sleeves, shaped just like the ham of
a mutton.  I recollect there used to be considerable said about them. 
Sometimes a paper would come out and tell of the wreck of a ship, on board
of which were a hundred and fifty passengers; but, they would say, "Thanks
be to kind Providence, the ladies took all the male passengers into the
sleeves of their dresses, and went ashore."  Such narrations as these, you
know, were only meant as a satire upon the fashions of the day.  Now I am
coming right to the point, and I wish to say to some of my sisters, not to
all, that if I were my own tailor I should cut my own coat to suit myself. 
"What would be your fashion" says one?  I will tell you.  I have a coat
here which you can see--if I were to take hold of a swill-pail, this part
of the skirt must drop in; and if I took hold of a milk-pail I must take
the coat around by the other end, and hold it, or else it is in the milk. 
I see no convenience or beauty in it.  That which is convenient should be
beautiful; and I want my coat cut so that when I lift a pail of water, or
a milk or swill pail the skirts shall not fail into it; and so with the
pockets, I would have them convenient.  If I were a lady and had a piece
of cloth to make me a dress, I would cut it so as to cover my person
handsomely and neatly; and whether it was cut according to the fashion or
not, custom would soon make it beautiful.  I would not have eighteen or
twenty yards to drag behind me, so that if I had to turn round I would
have to pick up my dress and throw it after me, or, just as a cow does
when she kicks over the milk pail, throw out one foot to kick the dress
out of the way.  That is not becoming, beautiful or convenient--all such
fashions are inconvenient.  Take that cloth and cut you a skirt that will
be modest and neat, that does not drag in the dirt nor show your garters,
but cut it so that it will clear the ground when you walk, when you are
passing over the floor it will not drag everything on the floor, or in the
street as you pass along.  Put enough into the skirt to look well, and if
we are to go into particulars, of course, we would have to say, we must
use enough to cover the person.  I do not expect mother Eve even did this. 
We could relate some little incidents of our past experience, that perhaps
would not entertain the people, and still, perhaps, they might learn
something from them.  For instance, in some circles it has been
fashionable for a lady to wear, perhaps, twelve yards in the skirt of her
dress, but when it came to the waist, I guess three-quarters of a yard
would have been enough.  I will relate a circumstance of which I heard,
that took place in the metropolis of our country.  A gentleman, a
stranger, was invited to a grand dinner party there.  The ladies of course
were dressed in the height of fashion, their trails dragging behind them,
and their--well, I suppose there was a band over the shoulder to the
waist, but I do not recollect whether the gentleman said there was or not;
but one gentleman present, who knew this gentleman was a stranger, said to
him, with all the loveliness and elegance in his heart that one could
imagine--"Is not this beautiful?  Did you ever see the like of this?"  "No
sir," said the party questioned, "never since I was weaned."  Well, all
this, you know, is custom and fashion.

	Now, I wish to say to my sisters, If you will be just a little more
moderate, I should like it very much.  Some of you, and especially the
young sisters, may say, "Why, Brother Brigham, how do your daughters
dress?"  I will say, to my shame, many of them, and many do not.  Then I
must have a great many, for if I have many that do and many that do not,
that will amount to a great many.  But I guess I will let it go.  Some of
them are modest, delicate, neat, and look beautiful, and do not want
twenty-four yards for a dress, nor seventeen.  But this is uncomely,
uncouth and ill-looking.  What shall I call it?  A camel's back? You will
say they go from the lady to the camel, and from the camel to the lady,
and so on and so forth.  They are called, I believe, "Grecian Bends," but
I do not think this term is exactly proper.  Are they comely in
appearance? No, they are not.  Then I should like my daughters and my
sisters to lay them aside.  They should dress neatly and comely, and to
suit themselves, but not to suit anybody else. We have the ability to tell
what looks well, just as well as anybody else.  We need not go to New
York, London, or Paris to tell whether a coat looks well if it has a
collar half an inch wide.  Do you recollect when collars were not more
than that?  I do, and I recollect when they were about six or seven inches
in width.  Now we need not go to Paris to ask them whether a coat looks
just right with a half inch or a five-inch collar; we are the judges, and
can decide that just as well as anybody else on the face of the earth.  I
would not swap my eyes with any living person for beauty and comeliness. 
I would rather trust to my eyes for beauty, excellency  and comeliness in
dress, than any other person's eyes I know of.  We should be our own
judges.  This, I say, to my sisters.  Pause, reflect, look at the facts in
the case as regards the folly and expense of fashion.  Take the people of
this city, and if you can form a correct estimate of the cost of the
useless articles they wear.  (I think I brought this subject up a year ago
this summer, when here.)  Just take these useless articles that do no good
to the body of the persons who use them, and we would find that the means
expended in their purchase would enable us to relieve many poor,
suffering, distressed creatures abroad in the nations of the earth, and
bring them here and put them in a situation in which they would be
healthy, wealthy and happy.  If we make a calculation on this subject we
shall find that the waste of the Latter-day Saints is immense.  There is a
little town, south of here, the ladies of which--the F. R. Society, took
it into their minds, along in the latter part of the winter, when we
commenced calling upon the people to assist the emigration of the poor
this summer, to give the eggs that their hens laid on Sunday.  If they did
not serve the Lord themselves they resolved to make their hens do it
one-seventh of the time; and over a month ago I heard they had raised by
this method about eight hundred dollars.  Would they miss this? No, they
could do without these eggs very well.  Suppose the ladies of Ogden, who,
on account of the many ribbons and needless articles they require, are
unable to give anything else they have, should give one-seventh part of
the services of their fowls to the bringing of the poor here!  If Ogden
had commenced this last January, thousands and thousands of dollars might
have been raised by this time.  Can you think of such a trifling thing as
this?  Suppose that every man who practices the disgusting habit, says to
himself, "I will stop eating tobacco, and the means I spend in buying it I
will give to emigrate the poor;"  or, that, "what I pay out for liquor I
will give to emigrate  the poor;" and each of the ladies says, "What money
I pay out for my tea or coffee" (and tobacco, liquor, tea and coffee are
four very useless articles)  "I will give to emigrate the poor," how much
could be saved, do you think, in this little community?  Go to the stores,
and ask them how much tobacco they have sold for twelve months past.  Take
these little retail stores, and then go into the retail departments of the
wholesale stores, and we should find in this little town, I will ensure,
that within the twelve months past, more than twelve, yes twenty, thousand
dollars have been paid for tobacco; and I will say ten or twelve, and
perhaps twenty, thousand more for liquor; and then I will say twenty-five
or thirty thousand more for tea or coffee, and I guess I could go up to
forty thousand dollars, right here in Ogden.  It is immense, the people
have no idea of it, unless they go and look for themselves.  Get the
statistics, and then you will know with regard to the facts in the case.

	Now suppose we say we will take the means we are spending for tea and
coffee, liquor and tobacco, and useless articles in dressing, and we will
give this to the poor, we would soon have a wealthy purse.  Who has given
anything this season?  How many of you have given the first five dollars
this season to bring the poor to Zion?  If there is a man or woman in this
house that has given anything for this purpose, do me the favor to hold up
your hand?  (One or two hands were held up.)  I have given a very little,
just a trifle. Sometimes I give a thousand, sometimes two thousand, mostly
two thousand, and that is but a trifle.  I suppose many would say, "Why,
that is no more for you than five dollars for me."  Well, perhaps it is
not.  I have nothing but what the Lord gave me, that is certain; and if he
wanted the whole of it, for the gathering of the poor this year, he is
just as welcome to it as I am to eat with you when you invite me to your
houses.  But one thing I can say of a truth, I have not been in a hurry, I
have taken things moderately, kindly, calmly, and have "kept my dish right
side up."

	Well now, you who want to give a little to help the poor, please hand
it over to Bishop Herrick.  Bishop Herrick, will you please get the
bishops together, and request them to ask every ward in this county to
give something for the gathering of the poor, and see who will assist in
this good work?

	If we will not be in a hurry, and will pray in our families, pray in
secret, attend our meetings, be patient and live so that the Spirit of the
Lord will dwell within us, and witness to God every day of our lives, by
faithful obedience to this requirements, that we are his, I will say we
are bound to get the wealth of the world.  We read in this good book (the
Bible) that "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof."  Everything
belongs to him, and he is going to give it to his Saints; and all our
concern and care  should be, to be sure that we are Saints.  Then it is
all right, it is by a deed or warranty--a warranty deed, and he will
warrant and defend it, if we will serve him, and be satisfied with his
providences, turning neither to the right nor to the left, but serving him
with an undivided heart all the days of our lives.  If it pleases him, and
he wishes us to travel and preach, go to the right or to the left, to the
east or to the west, to the north or to the south, to live here or live
there, to do this or to do that, to have little or much and be perfectly
satisfied and contented his blessings will be secured to us by a warranty
deed, and he will warrant and defend it.

	If we are not Saints it is a great pity.  We have the experience of
those who lived before us, we have the testimony of the fathers, we have
the sayings of Jesus and his Apostles, and we can peruse them and can
exercise faith in the name of Jesus, and be guided by the spirit of the
Lord by which these testimonies were given; and we can know whether we are
Saints or whether we are not.  It has been proclaimed that there is a
great difference between us and the Christian world.  There is.  Is the
difference because we believe in another religion?  By no means.  The
difference arises from the fact that we believe this Bible, wide open,
from genesis to Revelations.  They believe it, sealed up, never to be
opened again to the human family.  They believe it shut, we believe it
open; they believe it in silence, we believe it proclaimed on the hose
top; and when we scan the Bible and the feelings of the Christian world,
we find that it is, as has been proclaimed here--there probably never was
a day on the face of the earth when infidelity reigned more completely in
the hearts of the children of men than it does now.  We, as Christians,
believe in God, in Christ and in his atonement, in repentance and
obedience, and in receiving the Spirit; but what are the facts in the
case?  We are persecuted, our names are cast out as evil, we have the
world arrayed against us.  And who are at the head of this?  The
Christians.  You go to a real infidel--one brought up to disbelieve in,
and pay no attention to, this book as the word of God, and we receive
little persecution from him; none whatever in comparison with what we
receive from those who profess to believe it.  Where are their witness and
testimony that they are right and that we are wrong?  We have the
Scriptures to testify to the right and righteousness of the cause we have
espoused.  They shut up the Bible, say they are Christians, and cry,
"False prophets, false teachers, delusion, delusion, heresy, outcasts,
kill them if you can not get rid of them without, they must leave, we
cannot endure them any longer!"

	Where is their proof, where is our proof?  What criterion shall we go
by?  We have the Scriptures, we have the Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles;
we have the revelations of the Spirit of God to ourselves; we have the
truth within our hearts, and all this is proof to us of the validity of
the faith that we have embraced; and if it is correct, and the Bible is
correct; if it is true, and the Lord has spoken through his servants, they
must be wrong, and their own mouths shall judge them in the latter days;
and if they are to be judged by the Saints of by the Almighty you will
find the secret, and that will be out of their own mouths they will be
judged.  We have the testimony of all this for ourselves.

	How are you going to know whether this work is true, whether the
Bible is true, whether Joseph was a Prophet, whether Jesus was the Savior,
and his Apostles were correct in their teachings?  There is no way for you
and me to know these things but by the Spirit of God; and if we live so as
to enjoy the light of that Spirit, the light of revelation, it will be in
us like a well of water springing up to everlasting life.  If we do not
live thus, we are in the dark as well as they.

	All religion is a mystery. Do we know this?  Certainly.  I have an
experience in this, and so have the elder members of this community:  we
have lived with the Christians.  What have been the declaration and the
sayings of the wisest of the wise among them?  Is God a personage of
Tabernacle?  "I know not."  Does God dwell anywhere, is he a local being,
or is he a traveling being?  "I know not."  Does he possess a body, parts
and passions?  "I know not."  What of his Son Jesus?  What of the evil? 
Acknowledge there is evil in the world--that character that fell from
heaven--the Son of the Morning, has he a located place where he dwells? 
"I know not."  That is the answer.  What do you understand by the
Scriptures?  "We do not know what to understand, they are a mystery, and
beyond our comprehension, we can not comprehend them.  We are students of
divinity but the Scriptures are a mystery to us."  I recollect once, in my
early career, well nigh forty years ago, conversing about two hours with a
cousin of mine, who had finished his studies to be a priest.  As I left
him he said to me, "Cousin Brigham, I have learned more divinity from your
mouth to-day than I have learned in my four years' study. You have told me
things that I know are in the Scriptures, and I know they are correct, for
I feel in my heart and can testify to the truth of them; but," said he,
"they are not in the books, neither in the mouths and hearts of our
teachers; our preceptors do not understand them, and I have learned more
divinity from you in two hours than in all my life before."  This is their
experience.  Have they knowledge?  Go after it, and you will find an
aching void, a shadow instead of a substance, words which are wind,
instead of realities.

	We would take the world of mankind by the hand and lead them to life
and salvation, if they would let us.  It was said in my office, a few days
ago, by a party or failroad men, while conversing with me about us as a
people,  "President Young, you are not known, your people are not known;
we shall know you better hereafter, and they need not publish about you as
they have, or, if they do, we shall know better than to believe them.  Why
do they publish such things?  We are glad to become acquainted with you." 
I replied, "For over forty years I have been striving with all my might,
in my weak capacity, and with my limited knowledge, to make the world
acquainted with us and our doctrines.  There are also thousands and
thousand of Elders who have traversed this earth over, without purse or
scrip, trying to get people to learn who the Latter-day Saints are, and
what they believe in, and why have you not known us?  The Bible, Book of
Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, are published to the world
with other works, giving to the whole reading world the principles we are
proclaiming.  Why are we not known? I will tell you why:  the liars are
industrious, and, according to the old saying, a lie will creep through a
keyhole and travel leagues and leagues while truth is getting up, wiping
her eyes and putting her shoes on.  That is the reason, and you believe
lies instead of truth.  And," said I, "from this time henceforth, when you
read an article about the people of Utah, read it candidly and honestly,
and the Spirit will tell you whether it is true or a lie, and believe the
truth about us."

	I will say again, brethren and sisters, do not be in a hurry. 
Brethren, if you want to get rich, live so as to enjoy the Spirit of the
Lord.  You will then know exactly what to do in all matters.  You want the
spirit of wisdom in all your business transactions, and just as much in
faring as anything else.  We want the Spirit of the Lord from the least
chore of labor that we perform, to the highest spiritual duty devolving
upon the highest man in the kingdom of God.  We want the Spirit of the
Lord to guide and direct us through this world, to teach us in spiritual
things and in temporal things, that we may learn how to gain to ourselves
the riches of eternity, and secure to ourselves eternal lives.

	God bless you.  Amen.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
  Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, June 2, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
                         OBSERVE THE SABBATH DAY.

	I have a request to make of the Bishops and Elders, of fathers and
mothers, and of the brethren and sisters in general.  There are a few
points upon which I feel that I should like the people to receive a little
counsel.  One is, I would be very much pleased, and I do not think I would
be any more satisfied than the Spirit of the Lord would, to have the
Latter-day Saints pay a little more attention to the Sabbath day, instead
of riding about, visiting, and going on excursions.  There has been a
great deal said upon this subject.  We are continually teaching the people
how to be saved, but they seem to forget the responsibilities that are
upon them.  I am as liberal in my feelings with regard to using the
Sabbath for anything and everything, where duty demands it, as any person
living, and believe that the Sabbath was made for man, instead of man for
the Sabbath.  But it is a day of rest.  The Lord has directed his people
to rest one-seventh part of the time, and we take the first day of the
week, and call it our Sabbath.  This is according to the order of the
Christians.  We should observe this for our own temporal good and
spiritual welfare.  When we see a farmer in such a hurry, that he has to
attend to his harvest, and to haying, fencemaking, or to gathering his
cattle on the Sabbath day, as far as I am concerned, I count him weak in
the faith.  He has lost the spirit of his religion, more or less.  Six
days are enough for us to work, and if we wish to play, play within the
six days; if we wish to go on excursions, take one of those six days, but
on the seventh day, come to the place of worship, attend to the Sacrament,
confess your faults one to another and to our God, and pay attention to
the ordinances of the house of God.

	How many ears will hear this, and how many hearts will receive it and
treasure it up?  That is the question.  Words go into the ear and are
forgotten; but I say to you, Latter-day Saints, it is your duty and my
duty to pay attention to the Sabbath day.  When my brethren, my friends,
and my family have business on hand, and manage to start it on a Sunday
morning, I head them off if I possibly can, by throwing some obstacle or
other in the way, or by persuasion get them to omit it on that day.  As
far as I can, I also persuade my own family to observe the hours of
meeting.  Not that I can say that my family is as fond of meeting as I am
myself.  I like to meet with the brethren, and I like to go to a place of
worship; I like to hear, and learn and pay attention to the ordinances of
the house of God.  I teach my family in these respects, and I do not know
that I have any more fault to find with my own family than others have
with theirs; perhaps there may be some credit due to them.  But I say to
the brethren and sisters, in the name of the Lord, it is our duty and it
is required of us by our father in heaven, by the spirit of our religion,
by our covenants with God and each other, that we observe the ordinances
of the house of God, and especially on the Sabbath day, to attend to the
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.  Then attend the Ward meetings and the
quorum meetings.

	Another thing:  I do wish that parents would urge upon their children
to cease playing in the streets as much as they do.  There are sufficient
places of resort in various parts of the city without the boys being
compelled to play in the middle of the streets.  Every time I travel
through the streets I see children playing in them.  And will they turn
out of the way for a carriage?  No, they will not, and some of them will
sometimes even dare you to drive over them; and sometimes people have to
stop their carriages to save the lives of children.  We have been more
fortunate, here, I presume than in any other city in Christendom where
they drive as many carriages as we drive in our city, in having so few
accidents; but this I attribute to the kind hand of Providence.  But we
see children in the street, daring teamsters to run over them, and whether
they are in a carriage, wagon, buggy, or cart it is no matter, they will
not give the road for a horse team.  I will say this to all Israel, to
every man that carries himself discreetly--as a gentleman, if one of my
boys  attempts to obstruct the highway, so that you cannot drive along and
attend to your business, leave your carriage, take your whip and give him
a good sound horse-whipping, and tell him you will do it every time you
find him in the street trying to obstruct the highway.  I will not
complain of you, although I can say this, I think, of a truth, that a boy
of mine never did this, never.  I have no knowledge of it at least.  Look
upon a community like ours, see the conduct of the youth in this respect,
it is a disgrace to civilization; it is a disgrace to any people that
profess good morals.  Well, I wish to say this to the Saints, keep your
boys from the streets, and from playing ball there.  There are plenty of
grounds for them to play upon and use at their pleasure, without going
into the streets; and when we are so numerous that we have no place of
resort for our boys to pitch quoits and play ball, there is plenty of
ground on the earth, and we will thin out a little here and go where we
can have a little more room.  But we have plenty here at present.

	Now, remember, my brethren, those who go skating, buggy riding, or on
excursions on the Sabbath day--and there is a great deal of this
practiced--are weak in the faith.  Gradually, little by little, little by
little, the spirit of their religion leaks out of their hearts and their
affections, and by and by they begin to see faults in their brethren,
faults in the doctrines of the Church, faults in the organization, and at
last they leave the kingdom of God and go to destruction.  I really wish
you would remember this, and tell it to your neighbors.

	And furthermore, how many Latter-day Saints, who live in this city,
and are perfectly able to go to meeting, are away to-day?  We have people
enough in this city to fill this small building to overflowing every
Sabbath, if they liked to hear the words of life.  In the morning, it is
true, there are many in the Sunday school, and that we recommend; but in
the afterpart of the day, where are these school children?  Are they
playing in the streets, or are they visiting?  In going to Sunday school
they have done their duty so far; but they ought to be here.  In their
youth they ought to learn the principles and doctrines of their faith, the
arguments for truth, and the advantages of truth, for we can say with one
of old, "Bring up a child in the way it should go, and when it is old it
will not depart from it."  If we are capable of bringing up a child in the
way it should go, I will assure you that it will never depart from that
way.  Many persons think they do bring up their children in the way they
should go, but in my lifetime I have seen very few, if any, parents,
perfectly capable of bringing up a child in the way it should go; still
most of us know better than we do, and if we will bring up our children
according to the best of our knowledge, very few of them will ever forsake
the truth.

	Now, I beseech you, my brethren and sisters, old and young, parents
and children, all of you, try and observe good, wholesome rules!  Be
moral, be upright, be honest in your deal.  I do not wish to find fault
with the Latter-day Saints, but I assure you, my brethren and sisters, we
take too much liberty with each other; we do not observe the strict order
of right and honesty in many instances, as much as we should, and we have
got to improve in these things.  We have been hearing, today, how the
kingdom of God is going to prosper on the earth.  So it is, that is very
true.  Do we think that we will prosper and abide in it, in unholiness and
unrighteousness?  If we do, we are mistaken.  If we do not sanctify the
Lord God in our hearts and live by every word that proceeds out of his
mouth, and shape our lives according to the rules laid down in Holy Writ,
and by what the Lord has revealed in latter days, we will come short of
being members of this kingdom, and we will be cast out and others will
take our place.  We need not flatter ourselves that we are going to
prosper in anything that is evil, and have the Lord still own us.  It is
very true that he is merciful to us and bears with us.  "Wait another
day," he says; "Wait another year, wait a little longer, and see if my
people will not be righteous;" and those who will not, will be gathered to
their own place; but those who will sanctify themselves before the Lord
will inherit everlasting life.  God bless you, Amen.



                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
           Delivered in the Bowery, Brigham City, June 9, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
         CONTINUED TEACHING NECESSARY--IGNORANCE OF PROFESSORS OF
                    MODERN CHRISTIANITY--PRAYER, ETC.

	If I can speak so as to be heard, I will talk to the brethren and
sisters a few minutes. It requires stillness and close attention to hear
those who speak in this bowery.  A great deal has been said with regard to
the salvation of the human family.  I might say that more should be done,
then we could talk less.  Of necessity, through the weakness of human
nature, a great deal has to be said; but if the people could understand
the principles of life and salvation, and would act accordingly, it would
require a great deal less talking.  Words are wind, they go into the ear
and are forgotten; still there is a certain portion that will be retained
by a few, and they will be profited thereby.  The work in which we are
engaged is not magnified in the least by talking about it; it is only in
the weak capacity of man that these principles become exalted through the
hearing of the ear.  The principles we preach are the gospel of life and
salvation; and we have entered into covenant with God to observe the
rules, ordinances and laws pertaining to this life and salvation.  The
question arises, Do we perform this labor, in keeping the sayings of the
Lord as strictly as we should?  No, we do not.

	Suppose that we name a few of the rules and regulations by which we
are to live. If I attempt to classify them, perhaps I shall get them
imperfectly in the science of the law of God.  But first, to me, after
hearing and believing that there is such a character as the Savior of
mankind, who has acted his part well and performed his duty in purchasing
redemption for the human family, and is now pleading for his brethren, I
at once inquired what he requires of me.  This is the inquiry of my
reflections, and I learn that faith is the starting point.  If I believe
sincerely and honestly, I must obey, and the next step in the plan of
salvation, as laid down by Jesus and his disciples, is for me to be
baptized for the remission of my sins.  To the Christian world, to the
heathen world and the infidel world, we can say that all things are
spiritual, all things are temporal, all things are natural; all things are
natural, all things are temporal, all things are spiritual; and there is
not that being on the earth, and never was, that I have any knowledge of,
that can divide them.  But in the act, and in the performance of the duty
of those who believe in this plan of salvation, we can define our faith in
our secret closet by exercising faith in the name of Jesus, and seeking
unto the Father secretly in our hearts.  Here we find a difference and a
distinction between this and the actual performance of rising up from my
seat, going down into the water and being baptized for the remission of my
sins. Still the work is the same, consequently it is spiritual, it is
temporal, it is natural; it is natural, it is temporal, it is spiritual.

	Well, now, this is the work that we have before us; not that I am
going to have time to preach on these points, or delineate them to any
length; but these are the facts.  If we believe, we obey, we are baptized
for the remission of our sins, which is the commencement of the labor, the
outward performance and manifestation of obedience to God, through faith
in the name of his son Jesus Christ.  Then comes the blessing by the
imposition of hands upon the head of the individual who has received
baptism for the remission of sins, and he receives the Holy Ghost.  This
is the blessing and the consolation of believing in the truth; and this
stimulates the individual to still exercise faith and to continue in
obedience to the commandments of the Lord, to pray always, without
ceasing, and in everything to give thanks; his heart uplifted to God, day
by day, from morning until evening, and from evening until morning, for
the blessings of heaven to be with him, for his feet to be guided in the
path of rectitude, and that he may be preserved from speaking, thinking,
and doing in anywise, that which is wrong.  This is simple and plain, and
can be understood by all classes of the children of men who are endowed
with the common sense and ability that are given to man.

	The duty of the Latter-day Saints is to pray without ceasing, and in
everything to give thanks, to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in all
things, and to be subject to his requirements.  We, as Latter-day Saints,
can say that our duty is laid before us. We can read it, not only in the
faith and feelings of the individuals of the community; but it is actually
printed, it lies upon the pages of our history, and we can read at our
pleasure. We meet together for the express purpose of having somebody or
other tell us that which we know and have known all the time.  We have
read it over and over; we have thought of it and meditated upon it, yet we
meet together and hear our brethren speak to force these things into the
affections of the people; and if we can persuade them to hearken to every
requirement of heaven, then we are not under the necessity of talking so
much.  We are freed from this task and toil.

	What is our duty:  To pray.  Pray always?  Yes.  To pray in our
families?  Yes.  Let no man be in a hurry, but what he can get up in a
morning and pray with his family before he permits himself to partake of
refreshment.  Let every man and every woman call upon the name of the
Lord, and that too, from a pure heart, while they are at work as well as
in their closet; while they are in public as well as while they are in
private, asking the Father in the name of Jesus, to bless them, and to
preserve and guide in, and to teach them, the way of life and salvation,
and to enable them so to live that they will obtain this eternal salvation
that we are after.

Now, besides being our duty to pray, it is our duty to live in peace one
with another. it is also our duty to love the Gospel and the spirit of the
Gospel, so that we can become one in the Lord, not out of him, that our
faith, our affections for the truth, the kingdom of heaven, our acts, all
our labor will be concentrated in the salvation of the children of men,
and the establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth.  This is
co-operation on a very large scale.  This is the work of redemption that
is entered into by the Latter-day Saints.  Unitedly we perform these
duties, we stand, we endure, we increase and multiply, awe strengthen and
spread abroad, and shall continue so to do until the kingdoms of this
world are the kingdoms of our God and his Christ.

	We can read that these are our duties in the Bible, Book of Mormon,
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other sayings that we have from
the Elders, which are just as true as any in these three books; and all
combined are a way-mark pointing us to life and salvation, and we can read
for ourselves.

	We might say, if one man has a difficulty with another, let him, in
the first place, go to him privately and talk with him, and see if he will
be reconciled, or take another, and so on.  We can say of a truth, that if
there be hard feelings in the midst of the Saints, they should be
eradicated from our bosoms by taking the proper course to enjoy the Spirit
of the Lord instead of the spirit of animosity and strife.  All these
things you can define and enlarge upon at your leisure.  It is our duty to
observe our sacraments, to observe our fast-days and offerings; it is our
duty to observe our tithing and to pay them.  There is a great deal said
by our enemies with regard to the members of this Church paying tithing. 
We are as free from taxation  as any other church on the earth, right or
wrong, true or untrue, and we pay as little as any other people, and if my
tithing is required let it be paid.  That is the way to get rich.  We have
entered upon a great system of co-operation for the building up of the
kingdom of God, and, when it is built up, it is ours, we own it.  If we
are Saints of God, and sanctify ourselves through his Gospel, then we
shall be worthy to possess all things.  The kingdoms of this world will be
ours, all will be ours, the heavens and the earth, and the fulness thereof
will be ours, and we are the Lord's, we are his servants, and we possess
all things in common with him.  That word "all," perhaps, conveys too much
to the minds of some; but that is no matter.  With regard to the
Latter-day Saints, in the performance of their duties, we could tell them
what to do to be saved.  The path is as clear and plain as this highway is
here for the travel of teams and the people.  But when we inquire about
the character of our Father, there are some things connected therewith
that men do not understand, neither should they understand them.  It is
not in accordance with the mind and will of him we worship as our God,
that the inhabitants of the earth, in their weak and wicked capacity, and
in ignorance, should understand them.  It was mentioned here yesterday,
and is frequently mentioned by myself and others, that those who profess
Christianity are in the dark, and why?  They mystify everything; they read
the Bible as a sealed book, and they believe it when it is closed and laid
upon the shelf.  They do not know how to read it any other way, they do
not know how to believe it any other way, and it is right and reasonable
that they should not; but as for detailing the reasons why this is so, we
have not time.  Suffice it to say, all things are done in the wisdom of
him who knows all things.  It is not right, I will say, for people to know
the truth and live in disobedience to it; it is not right for them to
understand the ways and providences of God as they are dealt out to the
people on the earth, when they live and are determined to live in
violation of every commandment and law of God; and because they do so
live, ignorance covers them as with a mantle, shuts out the light of truth
from them, and keeps them in darkness; and if the light were to shine upon
them, as it does now and as it did in the days of the Apostles, would they
receive it?  No, they would not.  Light has come into the world, but the
wicked choose darkness rather than light?  Why?  It was told in days of
old that their deeds were evil.  That is the fact to-day--"they choose
darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil," and their
hearts are fully set in them to do evil; and here I might venture to say
to all the inhabitants of the earth, high and low, rich and poor, to the
king upon his throne and to the beggar in the street, if they had the
truth and loved it they would rejoice in it.  But they will not receive
it.  Is not this lamentable?  It is; but we can not help it.  We can
declare the truth to the people, but we can not force them to receive it. 
If the inhabitants of the earth were honest, they would receive the truth;
and there is not a man or woman now living on the earth, or ever did live
on it, who would speak, write, think or act against the Gospel of life and
salvation as they do, were they not in darkness; but they are kept in
ignorance through their own wickedness and unbelief, and they nourish and
cherish the spirit of evil, and that prompts them to reject the words of
life.  We can say this to all the human family; but to the Latter-day
Saints, you believe, now obey; and if we obey, all will be right, and we
shall gain the salvation that we are after.

	I am happy, brethren, for the privilege of being in your midst.  I
frequently shake hands with my brethren and sisters, and they rejoice,
they congratulate me on my freedom.  I have been free.  I do not feel, and
have not felt, that I was bound in the least.  The question can be asked,
Were you not a prisoner for some five months through the indiscreet,
unmanly, inhuman, disloyal and rebellious decision and doings of our
officials?  It seemed so; it had the appearance that I was confined, and
had not my liberty, through the ill-treatment, mistaken ideas, selfishness
and prejudice of the ungodly. But I did not feel that I was in prison, or
that I was confined.  I will say to the Latter-day Saints, my heart has
rejoiced for the privilege of resting.  I have rejoiced for the privilege,
as it was observed here, by Elder Hyde, yesterday, of entering into my
closet, that is, I entered into my closet just as he did into his.  He
kept himself where he had a mind to, and I did the same.  He entered his
closet, and I into mine, or into my house, and there I abode, and
continued to abide, for a time, and was thankful for the privilege. Now I
have the privilege of going here and there without having anyone to
accompany me only those I invite.  I was very happy for the privilege of
being quiet, still and retired in my own house last winter.  My companion,
not my sleeping companion, but my companion in tribulation and
confinement, for the gentleman who was with me, I really think was, in his
feelings, confined more than I, a great deal, and felt so, would urge me
to ride, or to go to this party or that, or to the theater.  I kindly
declined and thanked him for his kindness in offering to accompany me; and
I would say, "you go and enjoy yourself, and I will stay here," and I got
him to go occasionally.

	I say this with regard to myself, that you may know my own feelings. 
But I can say still more--the Lord Almighty has guided and directed the
ship of state in our behalf and for the deliverance and protection of the
innocent and the honest.  Victory has perched on Zion's banner.  We have
obtained that that we could not have obtained had it not been for the
persecuting spirit that has followed on the heels of the Latter-day Saints
within the two years that are past.  How could we, without this very
conduct of our enemies, have ever approached the highest tribunal in this
government to have it give its decision with regard to right and wrong,
law, legality, that that is equitable and according to the spirit of our
government, and that which is contrary thereto?  How could we have
approached that body?  How could we have had our cause before it, had it
not been for the acts of our enemies, with which they designed to bring us
to death?  For there is no question that, in their own feelings, the knot
was tied around the neck of your humble servant, and he hung dangling in
the air.  But God designed this for good, for the deliverance of the
humble and the meek.  What have we to say?  We acknowledge his hand in
these things as well as everything else, and say, God be praised!

	I will not occupy more time, I want others to talk.  I will close by
saying a few things to you with regard to your duties.  Attend to your
meetings, attend to your prayers; attend to your daily labor.  Be honest
and upright with one another; be punctual, keep your word, preserve
yourselves inviolate in all things.  Be chaste, preserve your faith before
God, do not demoralize or prostitute yourselves, and all will be right. I
can say that when a man comes along and turns his cattle into his
neighbor's field without liberty, he prostitutes his own feelings--his
virtue, truthfulness, honesty and uprightness before God and angels.  If
we will preserve ourselves in purity, in the integrity of our hearts, it
will be well with us.

	We have quite a number of the people present from the settlements of
this county generally, and from Cache Valley.  I see you have a little
railroad here, and the people are building it.  I am thankful to see this
enterprise.  Go ahead, brethren, build this road and own it, and do what
you please with it.  It will be a fine piece of improvement; it will open
up this northern country, and give you facilities that you could not
otherwise enjoy here.  How beautiful that is!  How comfortable, yes, that
is the word--how comfortable and easy it is for me to get into a coach, or
a good carriage, and run over this railroad, from Salt Lake City to this
place in less than three hours, as we did yesterday morning.  In less than
three hours from the time we left the depot of the Utah Central in Salt
Lake City, we were in this bowery; and, this evening, we expect, in less
than three hours from the time we leave this bowery, to be in Salt Lake
City--a distance of over sixty miles.  It is very comfortable, very
consoling!  And if we can see these things as they are, they open up a
field for the contemplation of the wise to improve upon, that we may shape
our lives for the benefit of ourselves and the human family and to promote
truth and righteousness upon the earth.

	God bless you.  Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
                    Sunday Afternoon, August 11, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
            THE FULNESS OF THE GOSPEL--ITS POWER TO UNITE--ITS
 COMPREHENSIVENESS--DEFINITION OF ITS PRIESTHOOD--CONDITION OF APOSTATES.

	I have an anxiety to bear testimony to the truth, though it is well
known to many of my friends and acquaintances that it is not prudent for
me to exercise myself in this large hall, as I have in days past.  But I
feel very anxious to speak to by brethren and sisters and to their
families, to my friends and neighbors, and the inhabitants of the earth,
concerning the Christian religion.  I feel thus many times when I am not
able to do so, but I desire at this time to bear testimony to the
Gospel--the plan of salvation, to the holy Priesthood, that the Lord has
revealed in the latter days.  I admit at once, without any argument at
all, that the whole human family are possessed more or less of truth; they
have a great many very excellent and pure ideas, beliefs, faiths and
sentiments, the adoption of which in their lives would promote truth and
overcome error, sin and iniquity in their midst, and cause joy and peace
to fill the hearts of individuals, families, neighborhoods, cities and
nations.

	Sometimes we take the liberty of defining the religions of the day,
known under the general name of Christianity.  We have heard something of
this, this afternoon; and with regard to the philosophy of that religion,
we admit the truth of it.  All have truth, all have good desires--that is
to say, as people and as communities.  There may be individuals who do not
possess these principles, but there are many in all communities of the
earth professing Christianity who wish, in reality, to know the truth, and
to embrace it in their creeds, and most of them desire most fervently that
the professors of this Christianity should live according to pure and holy
principles.  This we admit, and a few of this number have received the
Gospel.

	When I speak of the Gospel in this sense, I mean the fullness of the
Gospel of the Son of God as it has been revealed in our day.  I do not
refer to the Gospel as a mere historical knowledge of the Savior and his
Apostles, and their doings upon the earth, but of the power of God unto
salvation.  And when I contemplate the human family in their present
condition, and especially Christendom, I think what a pity it is that we
Christians cannot se far enough and understand enough to be willing that
every truth should take effect on the minds of the people, for every truth
that is taught, believed and practiced, is good for mankind.  It is good
for the living, good for the dying, good for the dead; and if we
Christians would accept and embrace all truth in our lives, instead of
contending so much about what are called "non-essentials," it would be
much more to our advantage, and would vastly increase peace and union in
our midst.

	When we take up the religion that has been revealed--the Gospel in
its fullness, we find that it is simply a code of laws, ordinances, gifts
and graces which are the power of God unto salvation.  The laws and
ordinances which the Lord has revealed in these latter days, are
calculated to save all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve who have not
sinned against the Holy Ghost, for all will be saved in a kingdom of
glory, though it may not be in the celestial kingdom, for there are many
mansions.  These ordinances reach after every one of the children of our
Father in heaven, and not only them, but after all the earth, the fullness
of the earth, all things that dwell upon it, to bring them back into the
presence of God, or into some kingdom or place prepared for them, that
they may be exalted to a higher state of intelligence than they now dwell
in.

	This may seem strange to many, but these are the ordinances and laws
that the Lord has instituted for the salvation of the children of men; and
when we compare the doctrines that we have preached to the Christian
world, with the doctrines of the Christian world, we find that ours
incorporate every truth, no matter what it is.  If it belong to the arts
and sciences of the day, all the same, for every truth in existence is
embraced in that system of laws and ordinances taught by the Later-day
Saints--the Gospel that God has revealed for the salvation of the human
family.

	We want a little proof, a little evidence, a little testimony.  This
is the testimony that we are in possession of this Gospel.  Our witness is
upon the stand, before God and the people, testifying that the Latter-day
Saints have got something that no other people on earth have.  What is it? 
The oneness which we possess, according to the prayer of the Savior.

	We sent an Elder from here to the East Indies; we send one or two to
Africa, and to the Asiatic continent, and distribute them to the different
nations, to Japan, to China, and so on.  They preach the Gospel to the
Pagans, say to the Chinese.  We will suppose that these Elders learn the
Chinese language so far as to be able to make themselves understood by the
people, and they preach to them the same doctrines as are believed in by
the Latter-day Saints, and they are received into the hearts of honest
Chinese--God reveals and manifests to them that these doctrines and
principles, this plan of salvation, is true, and these Chinese would not
differ with us on any point of doctrine.  They would say, "The proper mode
of baptism is by immersion, the Scriptures are plain upon this point." 
Here let me take the liberty of saying, that if the whole Christian world
were to adopt the method of baptism by immersion, you would never hear a
person raise an argument about sprinkling or pouring.  But leaving my
witness, I say these latter ideas are the cisterns which men hew out to
themselves, which will hold no water, for somebody or other is eternally
scuttling their vessels, and they are sinking.  If every Christian
denomination would come to the house of worship on the Sabbath, and break
bread and partake of the bread and wine in testimony of their faith in
Jesus Christ, there would be no differences, contentions or arguments, and
no person could sink their vessel; but now, comparatively speaking, they
are sinking each other's vessels continually.  But again to my testimony,
to my witness.

	When the Chinese receives the Gospel he is one with us.  He does not
want six months' teaching or trial; he does not need to go to an academy
or a seminary five or seven years to learn that this mode of baptism is
correct; but taking the Bible he reads it, and, says he, "The Holy Ghost
bears witness to me that baptism by immersion is the correct mode, and
that it is right to break bread and drink wine in remembrance of, and to
testify our faith in him whose body was broken and whose blood was shed
for the salvation of the human family."  There is no contention, and
though only one Elder may have gone there, and he has baptized but one, or
ten, a hundred, a thousand, or thousands, they are all of one heart and
one mind; and if we were to charge this Elder not to tell these Chinese
that they must gather to America, for that was the land of Zion--and
America is the land of Zion--the first this Elder would know, somebody or
other would be up in a meeting and telling that Zion was in america, and
they had got to emigrate there.  The Elder might inquire why, and he would
be told, "It is revealed to me, and I do know by the manifestations of the
Spirit within me, through your preaching, that we are to assemble on the
continent of America, for that is the land of Zion."  And if they come
here, they will not ask how many methods of baptism we have, or how many
of administering the Sacrament, or of dispensing the ordinances of the
house of God, for the Spirit makes them of one heart and one mind with
those on this continent, and from whatever nation they come, they all see
alike in reference to the ordinances of the house of God.

	From China let us go directly to the Cape of Good Hope, and there an
Elder is preaching and baptizing people into the kingdom of God, and when
they get into this kingdom they begin to read and understand, and to
prophesy, and if they are not checked in the gifts, you will hear them
speak in tongues.  Let me say here, to the Latter-day Saints, it is
frequently asked by our brethren, "Why do not the people speak with
tongues?"  We do, and we speak with tongues that you can understand, and
Paul says he would rather speak five or ten words in a language that can
be understood, than many in a language that can not be.  This is what he
conveyed.  We speak with tongues that can be understood; but the reason
that we do not encourage this little, particular, peculiar gift, which is
for the edifying of some few in the Church, I have not time to explain.
But to my witness again, who is on the stand.

	You take men, women and families from the cape of Good Hope, from the
northern seas, China, the East Indies, or the islands of the sea, and let
them receive the Gospel and come here, and, just as long as they live so
as to enjoy the Spirit of the holy Gospel they have obeyed, there are no
questions asked with regard to doctrine.  We will now go a step further.

	Here is a great bone of contention with regard to political affairs.
The world say "Why do not these Latter-day Saints get up their mass
meetings, and sustain this, that or the other one, and be like other
people in a political point of view?"  Why do we not sustain these
advocates who are now in the field, and join, and be one with, some one or
other of the political parties of the country?  We have no desire to do
so, that is the reason.  If we had the privilege of voting in, independent
of all other people on this land of America, or in the United States, the
man who should serve as president, we should cast about to find the most
suitable man, and he would be the nominee, and when his name came before
the people, every man and woman who had the privilege of putting their
vote in the ballot box would vote for that man, asking no questions.  Our
friends in the political world say, "We do not like this oneness."  The
ministers in the pulpit, the politicians in the bar room, ont he steam
boat, in the rail cars, in the halls of Congress or in the legislatures,
say, "We do not like this oneness," and still the priest and the deacon
are praying continually, according to the Scripture testimony, that the
Saints may be one.  Well, where will you have them one?  Just name those
particular points wherein and how this people who profess to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ shall be one.  How far shall we go?  If we had the
privilege of voting for the presidential nominees to-day, General grant
would solicit the vote of every "Mormon" man and woman, and the cry would
be, "Vote for me.  Be one and vote unitedly.  Do not be divided in your
votes, but vote for me."  Mr. Greeley would preach the same doctrine--"Do
not vote for Grant, vote for me."  And when a governor, member of
Congress, or any other officer was in the field they would all contend for
this oneness, but each one would say, "I want you should be one with me." 
"Well, but your neighbor, your competitor, is perhaps quite as good a man
as you are."  "That is no difference, he is my enemy, my opponent, and I
wish to beat him if I possibly can, I want this place."  But when you come
to the Latter-day Saints, if they can get the right man, the best man they
can find, they unitedly cast their ballots into the ballot-box to make
that man president, governor, representative, or any other officer; and if
we learn that he is not as talented as some other man, perhaps not so
capable of filling the office as his neighbor, better be united on and
with him, and give him your faith and your prayers, and he will answer
every purpose, and will fulfil his mission to your satisfaction, and far
better than if you were to quarrel, contend and argue over the matter, for
where they do this the inhabitants of the earth, if they did but know it,
have an internal influence to contend against.  Take for instance, the
financial circles, the commerce of the world, those business men, where
they have their opponents they have an internal influence to contend
against, whether they know it or not; and that power, with all the secrecy
of the grave, I might say, will seek to carry out their schemes unknown to
their opponents, in order that they may win.  Like the man at the table
with the cards in his hands, unseen by any but himself, he will take the
advantage as far as he can.  So says the politician.  So say the world of
Christendom, so say the world of the heathens, and it is party upon party,
sect after sect, division upon division, and we are all for ourselves, and
each one is willing that we should be one in our faith, feelings and
actions, if we will be one with him.

	Well, this witness that is on the stand can not be set aside or
overcome; it is a witness that the world of mankind can not impeach,
neither the testimony which it imparts.  Take people from China, India,
Africa, Europe, the North Pole or the South Pole, give them the Gospel and
they are one.  It was not Joseph Smith, neither is it Brigham Young that
makes them one; it is neither the high council nor the First Presidency
that makes them one, but it is the power of God unto salvation that makes
the Later-day Saints one in heart, in spirit, in action, in their
religious faith and ordinances, and in their dealings, where they are
honest and live their religion.  That makes them one, no matter who they
are, where they are, or upon what subject, if it be a subject worthy the
attention of the people.  Our religion descends to the whole life of man,
although some, sometimes, say, there is divine law, there is human law,
and there are principles which pertain to our religion and there are
principles which pertain to the philosophy of the world.  But let me here
say to you, that the philosophy of the religion of heaven incorporates
every truth that there is in heaven, on earth, or in hell.

	Now, we wish to be one and to understand the Gospel.  Receive the
Gospel and the spirit of it and we will be one.  All Christendom would
say, 'Come go with us, come go with us and we will do you good."  We can
say the same--"Come go with us, and we will do you good."  We will tell
you how to be saved.  How far does the Christian religion go?  Let every
man look at it, read, pray meditate, call upon the Lord, and judge for
himself.  I say that that which is commonly called the Christian religion
is far from civilizing the world, and far from making the Christian world
one, far from bringing the disciples to be of one heart and one mind. 
They say that there are a great many of these nonessentials that we differ
about.  Very true, they are non-essentials, and they are pretty much all
of them non-essentials.  Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is very
essential; believing in God, his Father, and our Father, is very
essential; having faith in the name of Jesus is very essential.  On these
points they all agree, and we agree with them, and they with us; but it is
very different when we come to the laws and ordinances of the kingdom of
God.

	It has been read to you here what Jesus said to his disciples--"I
will drink no more with you of this wine--the juice of the vine--until I
drink with you anew in my Father's kingdom."  Jesus undertook to establish
the kingdom of God upon the earth.  He introduced the laws and ordinances
of the kingdom.  What was the result?  After killing the Son of God, they
could not even let the Apostles live; they could not let Paul live, who
was not a believer in the days of Jesus, but an opposer, and who, after
the death of the Savior, hunted and sought all who believed on him, for
the purpose of imprisoning and punishing them, and he was the very man who
held the clothes of the young men who stoned Stephen to death.

	What did they do with the rest of them?  Crucified them, stoned them,
mangled them, and so on, with the exception, I suppose, of John.  As long
as any of the disciples of the Savior was on the earth they were hunted
and persecuted, and the cry of their enemies was, "Do not leave their
track until they are exterminated," just as it is now with regard to the
Latter-day Saints--"Do not leave their track, go where they go, introduce
every iniquity you can, and do as they did in ancient days."  How did they
do then?  You canread the account given of our first parents.  Along came
a certain character and said to Eve--you know women are of tender heart,
and he could operate on this tender heart--"The Lord knows that in the day
thou eatest thereof thou shalt not surely die, but if thou wilt take of
this fruit and eat thereof thine eyes will be opened and thou wilt see as
the Gods see;" and he worked upon the tender heart of mother Eve until she
partook of the fruit, and her eyes were opened.  He told the truth.  And
they say now, "Do this that your eyes may be opened, that you may see; do
this that you may know thus and so."  In the days of Jesus and his
Apostles the same power was operating, and, actuated by that, men hunted
them until the last one was banished from human society, and until the
Christian religion was so perverted that the people received it with open
hands, arms, mouth and heart.  It was adulterated until it was congenial
to the wicked heart, and they received the Gospel as they supposed.  But
that was the time they commenced little by little to transgress the laws,
change the ordinances, and break the everlasting covenant, and the Gospel
of the kingdom that Jesus undertook to establish in his day and the
priesthood were taken from the earth.  But the Lord has again set his hand
to gather Israel, to redeem his people and to establish his kingdom on the
earth, and the enemy of all righteousness says, "We have got plenty of
religion, we have got plenty of followers, we have plenty of money, we
have plenty of influence, never leave the track of the Latter-day Saints
until they are used up."  Well, it is God and them for it, as far as that
is concerned; that is not for me to say anything about.  We are here, and
the Gospel we have got makes us of one heart and mind in all the affairs
of life; and the philosophy of our religion embraces all the true
philosophy, every art and every science there is on the face of the whole
earth, and when they step outside the pale of the Christian religion, the
power of God and the priesthood of the Son of God, they step out of the
kingdom of heaven, and they then have cisterns that will hold no water,
systems that will not bear scrutinizing.  I know that a great many of the
scientific men of the world philosophize upon this, that and the other
thing.  Geologists will tell us the earth has stood so many millions of
years.  Why?  Because the Valley of Western Colorado, here, could not have
washed out without taking such a length of time.  What do they know about
it?  Nothing in comparison.  They also reason about the age of the world
by the marvelous specimens of petrification that are sometimes discovered. 
Now we can show them plenty of places where there are trees, perfect
stone, running into the solid rock, and perhaps the rock is forty, fifty,
or a hundred feet above the tree.  Yet it is a perfect tree.  There is the
bark, there is the heart, and there is the outer-coating between the heart
and the bark, all perfect rock.  How long did it take to make this tree
into rock?  We do not know.  I can tell them, simply this--when the Lord
Almighty brings forth the power of his chemistry he can combine the
elements and make a tree into rock in one night or one day, if he chooses,
or he can let it lie until it pulverises and blows to the four winds,
without petrifying, just as he pleases.  He brings together these elements
as he sees proper, for he is the greatest chemist there is.  He knows more
about chemistry and about the formation of the earth and about dividing
the earth, and more about the mountains, valleys, rocks, hills, plains,
and the sands than all the scientific men that we have.  This we can say
of a truth.  Well, if it takes a million years to make a perfect rock of
one kind of a tree, say a cedar tree, how long would it take to make a
perfect rock of a cottonwood tree? Let the chemists tell this, if they
can, but they can not tell it.

	Our religion embraces chemistry; it embraces all the knowledge of the
geologist, and then it goes a little further than their systems of
argument, for the Lord almighty, its author, is the greatest chemist there
is.  Will any of the chemists tell us what the Lord did with the elements
in Wisconsin, and in Chicago, Illinois, last Fall?  They made a flaming
fire of the heavens, the elements were melted with fervent heat.  This was
a chemical process, but can any of our chemists tell how it was brought
about?  I think not.  But there were certain elements which lost their
cohesive properties, and a change occurred, and the result was this
terrible fire.  So it will be when, as the Scriptures foretell, "the
elements shall melt with fervent heat."  The Lord Almighty will send forth
his angeles, who are well instructed in chemistry, and they will separate
the elements and make new combinations thereof, and the whole heavens will
be a sheet of fire.  Well, our religion embraces this; and we know of no
laws, no ordinances, no gifts, no principles, no arts, no sciences that
are true, but what are embraced in the religion of Jesus Christ, in this
Priesthood, which is a perfect system of government.

	If anybody wants to know what the priesthood of the Son of God is, it
is the law by which the worlds are, were, and will continue for ever and
ever.  It is that system which brings worlds into existence and peoples
them, gives them their revolutions--their days, weeks, months, years,
their seasons and times and by which they are rolled up as a scroll, as it
were, and go into a higher state of existence; and they who believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ--the maker, framer, governor, dictator and controller of
this earth--they who live according to his law and priesthood will be
prepared to dwell on this earth when it is brought into the presence of
the Father and the Son.  This is the habitation of the Saints; this is the
earth that will be given to the Saints, when they and it are sanctified
and glorified, and brought back into the presence of the Father and the
Son.  This is our religion, and I bear testimony to it; and this oneness
which the Latter-day Saints possess, which is now so much contended
against and hated by the christian world, in apolitical, financial,
philosophical, and every other respect and capacity, is the power of God
unto salvation, and is not produced by the influence or power of man, and
this witness cannot be impeached--it is impossible to impeach it.  This is
our testimony, and this is one witness, one testimony that the Gospel
which we preach is the Gospel that God has revealed for the salvation of
the children of men, and it will bring all the sons and daughters of Adam
and Eve into a state of glory and happiness that is far beyond their
conception, or any ideas that thy have ever received while in this wicked
world; and this glory the Lord has prepared in his mansion for his
children. "Well," says one, if I am pretty sure to get a state of glory
better than this, I guess I will not take the trouble to inherit anything
more."  Well, run the risk of it, every man on the earth has that
privilege.  The Gospel is preached, sin revives, some die and some contend
against it--some receive it and some do not; but this is the sin of the
people--truth is told them and they reject it.  This is the sin of the
world, "Light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than
light, because their deeds are evil."  So said Jesus in his day.  We say,
Here is the Gospel of life and salvation, and every one that will receive
it, glory, honor, immortality and eternal life are theirs; if they reject
it, they take their chance.  I hope and pray that we may all be wise and
receive the good part, that we may have the benefit thereof.

	I say to the Latter-day Saints, Will you live your religion?  You can
see people apostatizing from the Church, but what is the result?  Ask
every apostate who ever received the spirit of this work, "Can you go and
enjoy any other religion?"  Not one of them.  Have you never known persons
leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and join any other
church? Certainly I have, and pretty good people.  I recollect one old
lady that we left in the States.  She said she was too old to gather up
with the Saints.  Her friends were Baptists, she lived in the midst of
them and joined their church.  Sit down and talk with her--"Sister, how do
you feel?"  "Just as I have always felt."  "Are you satisfied with this
religion you have joined?"  "I believe in the work I embraced years ago. 
'Mormonism' is true, and I believe it just as I always have.  But here are
my home and my friends, and I fellowship them as far as they do right--as
far as they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  They want I should be a
member of their church and I do not know that it hurts me to be so."  "Are
you satisfied to accept their religion and none else?"  Says she, "I care
no more about it than I did while in the midst of the Latter-day Saints;
but here are my friends and home.  By and by I shall sleep in the grave;"
and there she is today, sleeping with those who have laid their bodies
down to rest.  This is one instance.  But you take men and women with
youth and vigor, who apostatize from the truth, and are they satisfied
with anything else?  No, and they are not satisfied with themselves.  They
are not beloved by God nor by Angels, nor by their families.  Are they
beloved by the enemy of all righteousness and his fellow associates?  No. 
They say to the apostate, "You are a hypocrite, a traitor, a deceiver, and
if you are not a false witness we ask who is, for you have testified
hundreds and thousands of times, that, by the power of God and the
revelations of Jesus Christ, you knew Joseph Smith was a Prophet, and that
this latter-day work was true, and now you say it is not true."  "When did
you tell the truth?"  says Mr. Devil, "then or now?" Says he, "I despise
you;" and they hate themselves and everybody else.  They have no
fellowship for their neighbors, for the Latter-day Saints nor for any
Christian denomination, and I do not know where in the world they can be
placed.  This is the condition of an apostate.  But while this is the
condition of those who apostatize from our Church how is it with those who
leave any of the sectarian churches, after having been a Methodist,
Presbyterian, Baptist, or Congregationalist?  Why they go from church to
church, and feel just the same as before?  Is not this true?  Yes, I know
it is; not that I have passed from one to another myself, but I have been
acquainted with those who have.  Did I fellowship them?  I fellowshipped
them no more than I do now.  I fellowship everything that is good and
virtuous, everything that is truthful and good; but sin I do not
fellowship in them, nor in a Latter-day Saint, or one who professes to be
so.  I fellowship all good, and we have it.  It is all right, and if we
have error, it is because we do not live according to the Gospel that we
have embraced.  If we have embraced error in our faith, it is because we
do not understand our own doctrine; if we have error in our lives, it is
because we deviate from the path of rectitude that God has marked out for
us to walk in.

	May the Lord help us to do right.  Amen.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
           Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Sunday Morning,
                             August 18, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
         FAULT FINDING--ADVICE--WHOLESALE CO-OPERATIVE STORE FOR
            LOGAN--DRESS--MARITAL RELATION--ESTABLISHING ZION.

	There is just about time for a ten minutes' sermon.  I have several
little sermons for the people, and I will begin by taking up the case of
brother Samuel Roskelly, Bishop up here in Smithfield.  I have been
hearing for a year or two about brother Roskelly being wonderfully
dishonest, oppressing the people, overbearing with his brethren, treating
them with contempt and abusing them, taking their means and so on.  Last
Friday, about five o'clock, we assembled in this hall, that is, all who
were disposed to come together, to have these matters brought before us. 
We sat and heard them as patiently as we could.  We had not time to hear
all speak and say all they wanted to.  We found, as we generally find
these complaints--they have their origin in selfishness, in greediness, in
a complaining heart, destitute of the Spirit of the Lord, imagining to
themselves that they know just what is right, and they want to get
everybody in the world to feel as they feel.  But we find that almost all
complaints that arise are sown by the enemy; they grow in this soil, they
take root, spring up and bear seed, and when the stalk is shaken then the
seed makes its appearance.  We examined these matters far enough.  I think
there were eight complaints against Bishop Roskelly, and when we had got
through I did not stop to ask the brethren how they felt, for I did not
see anything to talk about.  I did not learn that there was anything of
sufficient importance to spend time about, or to ask my counselor, or to
ask any of the Twelve, any of the Bishops, or any of the brethren present,
to give their opinion on the subject.  I did not see that there was any
opinion to be formed.  I learned nothing, only that these little
roots--this seed of bitterness--had grown up and borne fruit.

	Just about the same complaints came to me year after year against
brother Maughan and brother Benson, and of other Bishops in this valley
very few have been excused.  If we were to hear them all and trace them to
their origin, we would find they all are the fruits of jealousy,
covetousness--which is idolatry, discontent and greediness.  Those with
whom they originate are very anxious to have everybody look through the
glasses they look through, to feel as they feel, and to be dictated by
them.  I want to say this to the brethren and to the sisters, that they
may know how we feel about this matter.  We did not chasten Bishop
Roskelly nor any of the brethren of his ward, but we talked to them a
little, and gave them some good counsel; and we do not feel like
chastening them, but just say to them, Try and live so that the Spirit of
the Lord will live within you, and you will do well enough.

	I gave brother Roskelly some counsel with regard to keeping accounts. 
I learned, years and years ago, the benefit of having my business
transactions well written out in black and white, and when I have any
dealings with a man, put that down.  If I have paid him, say I have paid
him, how much and what for, which makes a proper account and history.  I
learned this by experience, and I got this little item when I first
started in business in my youth.  We were building up a little town.  A
few merchants, a few mechanics, and a few others had come in, and we were
together one evening talking about keeping account books, and bringing up
the different authors.  One gentleman in the company, named David Smith,
said--"Gentlemen, I have studied every author in America on book-keeping,
and some of the European issues, and I have learned that there is no rule
or method so good as to write down facts just as they occur.  That is the
best book-keeping I have learned yet."  This I have observed in my life; I
adopted this principle as soon as I heard it.  I say, then, to brother
Roskelly, instead of keeping his own books, have somebody or other that
will know his accounts and understand his dealings to keep a faithful
record of the same; and I say this to all the Bishops and to men of
business, not only to those in the tithing department, but merchants,
mechanics and farmers.  Most of our farmers that I have been acquainted
with never keep any books at all; they depend on memory, and I have known
some men to do quite a business in this way.  We have a considerable
number of tradesmen in our community, some of whom never keep any books or
accounts.  This class are liable at any time to be imposed upon.  A person
comes up, and, says he, "You owe me, and I want my pay."  The man knows he
has paid him, but he forgets when, where and how, but it is settled in his
feelings that he does not owe him anything.  This brings contention,
discord and strife, even among pretty good Elders; but if we keep a strict
account of everything, we can tell a man then whether we have paid him or
not, or whether we owe him or not.  This is the way for brother Samuel
Roskelly and all the Bishops to do.  I wanted to say this, and also that
there is no particular fault to be found with brother Roskelly, and no
particular fault to be found with the people, only they do not live their
religion quite as they should, and the spirit of contention creeps in
instead of the spirit of prayer.  My counsel, brethren and sisters, is to
pray, keep the law of God, observe the Sabbath day, partake of the
Sacrament, observe your tithes and offerings, and fill up your lives with
doing good.  This accomplishes my ten minutes, and now I leave the ground. 
we will close our meeting until 2 o'clock, then I have a few other
discourses to deliver.

	[When the congregation re-assembled, after singing and prayer,
President Young again took the stand, and spoke as follows:--]

	Now for my second lecture.  This is upon financial affairs entirely. 
It is merely a question I am going to propound to the people, and I desire
an answer from them.  Suppose that the Wholesale Co-operative Store in
Salt Lake City should be pleased to extend its operations to this valley
and establish a wholesale store here, I want to know what the disposition
and action of the people would be with regard to sustaining it?  I see
there is a necessity for it, for there are a good many settlement in this
valley and Bear Lake Valley that now go to Salt Lake City to do their
trading.  We have proposed placing a wholesale store here, and whatever is
kept in Salt Lake City in the wholesale department, duplicate the same for
this place, and keep a perfect assortment here the same as is done in the
city--farming implements wagons, carriages and everything necessary to
supply the wants of the people.  This will be a short lecture.  Suppose
that we undertake this, what will be the action of the people?  I expect
every settlement is represented here to-day, probably by the Bishops and
leading men, who know the feelings of the people and who, more or less,
control the business portions of their settlements.  Perhaps a good many
have not thought of it, then again a good many have, and they have matured
this pretty well in their feelings and understandings.  If we do this, our
plan will be to supply the people with everything they want, and all their
products that can be disposed of to buy them.  We will take the products
of the country that we can sell, ship them off and dispose of them, and in
return supply you with goods.  Will the Bishops, High Priests, Seventies,
Elders, Priests, Teachers, Deacons, and their fathers, mothers, sons,
daughters and the brothers sustain this institution if we place one here? 
We shall give you the goods just about as cheap as we can sell them in
Salt Lake City, very little difference, so little you would not know; for
the additional expense in bringing them from Ogden to this place, over
conveying them from there to Salt Lake City, would be very trifling.  If
this would be the feelings of the different settlements, I would like to
have you manifest it by showing your right hands. (Hands up.)  Now let us
have the opposition vote.  (No opposition.)

	While I am on this subject let me say a few words with regard to
dress, though I have not as much reason to do so here as I have in Salt
Lake City and Ogden.  You know that we are creatures subject to all the
vanities of the world, and very subject to admiring its fashions.  We have
left Babylon, and instead of introducing it here we want it to stay
yonder, and just as much as we can, no, that is the wrong word--just as
much as we will, we want to make our own head dresses here, especially for
the ladies, and for the gentlemen through the summer season.  We would
like to see all through our country what we see here in a measure--a
decent dress on a lady.  Instead of having four, five or six yards of
cloth drawing through the street to raise dust on the people, that she can
go along decently and you would not think there was a six horse team
traveling there, with a dozen dogs under the wagon. This is what we would
like, but when we come to the ornaments, I feel like blackguarding.  I am
going to speak about a little ornament they get up, I believe it is called
a "bender," and I do not know but there is a Grecian or a Greek to it--a
"Grecian bend."  You have seen this ridiculed enough without my doing it. 
I want to say to you, ladies, just take off this ornament.  If my sisters
will take the hint, they will leave off these little articles.  Some of
them, after they have got half a dozen yards on it are not satisfied until
they go and get a dozen yards of ribbon several inches wide to make bows
to put on the top of that.  It is ridiculous!  I do not see much of it in
this place, to what I do in some others.  I would really like to see the
ladies dress decent and comely.  This will do on this subject, for a hint
to the wise is sufficient, and enough has been said if the sisters will
take counsel.

	I will now say a little with regard to our young people--a subject
introduced here yesterday, very modestly and very nicely.  Suppose the
Latter-day Saints and the world at large were to carry out the principles
that are received in the faith of a society called the Shaking quakers,
how long do you suppose it would be before there would not be a human
being left on the earth, unless there was some necromancy or stealthful
conduct going on?  About one hundred and twenty years would take the last
man and woman from the earth.  But this is not what is required of us, it
was not required of Adam and Eve.  They were required to multiply and
replenish the earth, and I will here say a word to the ladies--Do not
marvel, do not wonder at it, do not complain at Providence, do not find
fault with mother Eve because your desire is to your husbands.  Bear this
with patience and fortitude!  Be reconciled to it, meet your afflictions
and these little,--well, we might say, not very trifling, but still they
are wants, for if we desire only that that is necessary, and can govern
and control ourselves to be satisfied with that, it is a great deal better
than to want a thousand things that are unnecessary, and especially to the
female portion of the inhabitants of the earth.  But there is a curse upon
them, and I can not take it off, can you?  No, you can not--it never will
be taken from the human family until the mission is fulfilled, and our
Master and our Lord is perfectly satisfied with our work.  It will then be
taken from this portion of the community, and will afflict them no more;
but for the present it will afflict them.  And almost every lady I ever
saw in my life is just as bad as a certain lady lecturer who, after
lecturing and extolling her sex, and trying to impress upon them the idea
that it would have been much better for the world if there had never been
a man upon the earth, said, "Yet you know our weakness is such that we
turn round and grab the first man we come to."  How natural it is! Well,
ladies, just be reconciled to your condition, and if there is a principle
here or elsewhere that wishes to override the principle of celestial
marriage, take heed to yourselves, for I can promise you one thing--If you
ever had any faith in the Gospel and in celestial marriage, and you
renounce or disbelieve and deny this doctrine, you will be damned.  I
promise you that, no matter who it is.  Now take heed to yourselves!  Look
at the world.  We might show up this mater here, but we do not wish to do
so.  Those who travel through the world can understand these things, and
see the millions of the human family who are trodden under foot.  I will
refer you to the great cities of the world.  Get their statistics and see
how many young females perish in them yearly.  Why?  Because some good men
have taken them and made second wives of them?  No.  It is because wicked
men have seduced and ruined them, and have made them so reckless in their
feelings that rather than see father, mother, brother, sister or friends
again, they would die in a ditch.  Those who are acquainted with the world
know these things are true, and they are trying to introduce this practice
into Salt Lake City.  I will say no more on this subject, but let this
little lecture or sermon suffice.

	I will now ask a question of the Latter-day Saints, and I can ask it
of the aged, middle-aged and the youth, for it is a matter that comes
within the range of the understanding of the entire community, even the
children--How long will it take us to establish Zion, the way we are going
on now?  You can answer this question as the girl did the schoolmaster, I
suppose, and say, "If forty years has brought a large percentage of
Babylon into the midst of this people, how long will it take to get
Babylon out and actually to establish Zion?  The schoolmaster boasted of
his aptness at figures and told the girl that no question in mathematics
could be asked him that he could not readily answer.  Said the girl, "I
think I can ask you a question you cannot answer?"  "Well," said he,
"let's have it."  "Well," said she, "if by eating one apple Mother Eve
ruined the whole human family, what would an orchard full of apples do?" 
You will be as puzzled to answer my question as the schoolmaster was his
pupil's question.  You can say, "I do not know," and it is true, you do
not know; but I can inform you on that subject--Until the father, the
mother, the son and the daughter take the counsel that is given them by
those who lead and direct them in building up the kingdom of God, they
will never establish Zion, no never, worlds without end.  When they learn
to do this, I do not think there will be much complaining or grumbling, or
much of what we have heard about to-day--improper language to man or
beast.  I do not think there will be much pilfering, purloining, bad
dealing, covetousness or anything of the kind; not much of this unruly
spirit that wants everybody to sustain its possessor and let him get rich,
whether anybody else does or not.  I think when we have learned that
lesson, we will be willing to take the counsel of those who are set to
direct us, the officers who are over us; and if they are not just, true,
holy, upright and men of God in every respect, just have faith enough so
that the Lord Almighty will remove them out of the way and do not
undertake to remove them yourselves.  This is the way we should live. 
There should be faith enough in the midst of this people that if your
humble servants were to attempt to guide them in the ways of error, false
doctrine, wickedness or corruption of any kind, he would be stopped in his
career in twenty-four hours so that he would not be able to speak to them,
and if he were not laid in the grave, he would have no power nor influence
whatever.  There ought to faith enough in a Ward, if the Bishop is wicked,
if he is doing wrong and serving himself and the enemy instead of the Lord
and his kingdom, to stop him in his career, so that the Lord would remove
him out of the way.  This has been the case in some few instances, and it
ought to be every time and in every place.

	When shall we establish the principles of Zion?  You can say, "I do
not know."  If we had power to do it, we should do it; but we are just in
the position and condition, and upon precisely the same ground that God
our Father is--He cannot force his children to do this, that or the other
against their will--the eternal laws by which he and all others exist in
the eternities of the Gods, decree that the consent of the creature must
be obtained before the Creator can rule perfectly.  It is just as
impossible for the principles of heaven to rule in the hearts of the
wicked and ungodly as anything you can well imagine; you might as well
throw powder into a flaming fire and say it should not burn, or burst a
cask of water in the air and say it should not fall to the ground.  The
consent of the creature must be had in these things, and until you and I
do consent in our feelings and understand that it is a necessity that we
establish Zion, we shall have Babylon mixed with us.

	I know the faith of the people, in a great measure, is, "We would
like to see Zion," "Would you?" "Yes, but I would like to see it enjoyed
by others.  I do not want to be there myself, I want to see how it looks." 
This is the feeling, these are the ideas that pass through the minds of
many.  "We would just like to see the people live according to the
principles of heaven, to see how they would look and act, to learn their
ways; but we would not be bound to live there until we had seen enough to
be able to judge whether we would like it or not.  Maybe we would like it,
maybe not; it might deprive us of some little privileges we have now.  We
might not be permitted to wear what we wear now, or to act, think and feel
as we do now.  We might be crippled or curtailed in our views or
operations, consequently we do not want to enter into this order
ourselves, but we would like some others to do so that we may see how it
looks."  This is the way they feel about Zion.

	Well, brethren, I have talked all I ought to, and perhaps more.  I
say as I always do, God bless you!  Peace be with you, and love be
multiplied upon the people.  I pray for the good all over the earth.  My
desire is to see the kingdom of God prosper.  We are prospering in many
things, but we are not prospering in the grace of God and in the spirit of
our holy religion as much as we should.  Herein we come short.  But if we
will try and improve our minds, school and train ourselves to overcome
every evil within us, every passion, every unruly thought, I do know by
experience, by a close application of any individual to himself in
schooling and training his mind, he can cease to think evil thoughts and
he will be able to think good, that is, his mind be filled with pleasant
reflections.  This I know by experience.  I heard Brother Taylor preach a
sermon once on the principle of revelation, which contained the most
pleasant ideas.  Still it is in the Bible--all this is taught there--but
he illustrated the principle of living for God perfectly day by day,
showing that we could do so until god lived within us, and until we,
ourselves, became a fountain of revelation; instead of having to ask,
plead and pray the Lord to give us a vision and to open our minds, we
could live for God until a fountain of light and intelligence was within
us, from morning until evening, and from evening until morning, week after
week, month after month and year after year.  This is the fact.  Then let
us live so that the spirit of our religion will live within us, then we
have peace, joy, happiness and contentment, which makes such pleasant
fathers, pleasant mothers, pleasant children, pleasant households,
neighbors, communities and cities.  That is worth living for, and I do
think that the Latter-day Saints ought to strive for this.

	May God help us!

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
       Delivered at Farmington, Saturday Afternoon, Aug. 24, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
      INCREASE OF SAINTS SINCE JOSEPH SMITH'S DEATH--JOSEPH SMITH'S
                 SONS--RESURRECTION AND MILLENNIAL WORK.

	There are a few minutes to spare before we dismiss, and there are
quite a number of items that could be talked about that would be very
interesting to the people, especially in regard to the first experience of
the Church.  When I hear brethren relate their experience of those days it
brings to my mind many things pertaining to the establishment of the
kingdom in the beginning.  Not that I was a member of the Church at it
organization, but I was near by and knew something of the doings of the
Saints.  I recollect very well the night that Joseph found the plates: 
the recollection of that event is as vividly impressed on my mind as
though it were last night.  But, to change my remarks to another subject
referred to, let me ask you, brethren and sisters, How many do you suppose
there are in the Church now who were in twenty-eight years ago?  Some are
disposed to imagine that the people we now call Latter-day Saints have
been brought into the Church through the labors of the Prophet Joseph
Smith.  If we were to ask this congregation how many of them were in the
Church twenty-eight years ago, we should find only a small portion of
them.  I will say that, probably, two-thirds, yes, three-fourths, and even
more than that, have come into the Church through the administration of
what is called the First Presidency at the present time; consequently our
work shows for itself.  We need not ask persons to give their opinion
about the theory that we have placed before them, but what do you think of
the work itself?  What do you think of this great kingdom, this little
empire, we might say, as it now appears to the world?  It is twenty-eight
years since Brother Joseph was killed, and the work has gone forth
steadily and rapidly, and through the providences of God we have
apparently advanced faster since then, than in the fourteen years before,
so far as bringing the people into note, and giving them a name and fame
in the eyes of the world.  The work is still onward and it is upward.

	I simply ask the question about what the people think of these
things, I do not wish to dwell on the principle of parties denying the
faith, or remaining in the faith, they can do just as they please about
that; but while Brother Levi Hancock was talking about sticking to the
Church, and declaring that he meant to hang on to it, I thought, and say
now, what in the name of common sense is there to hang on to, if he does
not hang on to the Church?  I do not know of anything.  You might as well
take a lone straw in the midst of the ocean to save yourselves as to think
of doing so by the knowledge, power, authority, faith and priesthood of
the Christian world, and the heathen world into the bargain.  There is
nothing but the Gospel to hang on to!  Those who leave the Church are like
a feather blown to and fro in the air.  They know not whither they are
going; they do not understand anything about their own existence; their
faith, judgment and the operations of their minds are as unstable as the
movements of the feather floating in the air.  We have not anything to
cling to only faith in the Gospel.

	As for the doctrine that is promulgated by the sons of Joseph, it is
nothing more than any other false religion.  We would be very glad to have
the privilege of saying that the children of Joseph Smith, Junior, the
Prophet of God, were firm in the faith of the Gospel, and following in the
footsteps of their father.  But what are they doing?  Trying to blot out
every vestige of the work their father performed on the earth.  Their
mission is to endeavor to obliterate every particle of his doctrine, his
faith and doings.  These boys are not following Joseph Smith, but Emma
Bideman.  Every person who hearkens to what they say, hearkens to the will
and wishes of Emma Bideman.  The boys, themselves, have no will, no mind,
no judgment independent of their mother.  I do not want to talk about
them.  I am sorry for them, and I have my own faith in regard to them.  I
think the Lord will find them by and by--not Joseph, I have told the
people times enough, they never may depend on Joseph Smith who is now
living; but david, who was born after the death of his father, I still
look for the day to come when the Lord will touch his eyes.  But I do not
look for it while his mother lives.  The Lord would do it now if David
were willing; but he is not, he places his mother first and foremost, and
would take her counsel sooner than be would the counsel of the Almighty,
consequently he can do nothing, he knows nothing, he has no faith, and we
have to let the matter rest in the hands of God for the present.

	Now a few words to the brethren and sisters upon the doctrine and
ordinances of the house of God.  All who have lived on the earth according
to the best light they had, and would have received the fullness of the
Gospel had it been preached to them, are worthy of a glorious
resurrection, and will attain to this by being administered for in the
flesh by those who have the authority.  All others will have a
resurrection, and receive a glory, except those who have sinned against
the Holy Ghost.  It is supposed by this people that we have all the
ordinances in our possession for life and salvation, and exaltation, and
that we are administering in these ordinances.  This is not the case.  We
are in possession of all the ordinances that can be administered in the
flesh; but there are other ordinances and administrations that must be
administered beyond this world.  I know you would ask what they are.  I
will mention one.  We have not, neither can we receive here, the ordinance
and the keys of the resurrection.  They will be given to those who have
passed off this state of action and have received their bodies again, as
many have already done and many more will.  They will be ordained, by
those who hold the keys of the resurrection, to go forth and resurrect the
Saints, just as we receive the ordinance of baptism, then the keys of
authority to baptize others for the remission of their sins.  This is one
of the ordinances we can not receive here, and there are many more.  We
hold the authority to dispose of, alter and change the elements; but we
have not received authority to organize native element to even make a
spear of grass grow.  We have no such ordinance here.  We organize
according to men in the flesh.  By combining the elements and planting the
seed, we cause vegetables, trees, grains, &c., to come forth.  We are
organizing a kingdom here according to the pattern that the Lord has given
for people in the flesh, but not for those who have received the
resurrection, although it is a similitude.  Another item:  We have not the
power in the flesh to create and bring forth or produce  a spirit; but we
have the power to produce a temporal body.  The germ of this, God has
placed within us.  And when our spirits receive our bodies, and through
our faithfulness we are worthy to be crowned, we will then receive
authority to produce both spirit and body.  But these keys we cannot
receive in the flesh.  Herein, brethren, you can perceive that we have not
finished, and cannot finish our work, while we live here, no more than
Jesus did while he was in the flesh.

	We can not receive, while in the flesh, the keys to form and fashion
kingdoms and to organize matter, for they are beyond our capacity and
calling, beyond this world.  In the resurrection, men who have been
faithful and diligent in all things in the flesh, have kept their first
and second estate, and worthy to be crowned Gods, even the sons of God,
will be ordained to organize matter.  How much matter do you suppose there
is between here and some of the fixed stars which we can see?  Enough to
frame many, very many millions of such earths as this, yet it is now so
diffused, clear and pure, that we look through it and behold the stars. 
Yet the matter is there.  Can you form any conception of this?  Can you
form any idea of the minuteness of matter?  Let me give you a comparison,
for instance, with regard to mathematics.  You take a child that is born
to-day, say at twelve o'clock, precisely at high noon.  One year from
to-day there is another child born.  The one born to-day will be just one
year older than the other.  The second one is perhaps not a minute old, it
has just commenced to breathe the vital air.  Now the one born first is a
great many times older than the second, we would have to get some of these
mathematicians to tell how many times.  It would be over 31 millions of
seconds, a great many minutes, many hours, three hundred and sixty-five
days, and one year.  When these two children have lived just one year
longer the elder of the two is two years old, the other one, the former,
being just as old again as the latter.  In one year more the first one
will be only one-third older, the fourth year he will be one-fourth older,
and so on.  Now then, how long must these two children live to be exactly
of an age?  They never will be; never, no never, through all the
eternities there are, and that is for ever and ever.  They will always
differ in age, and when countless millions and myriads of ages have passed
away there is still, do you not see, a difference, these children are not
yet of the same age.  It is just so with matter.  Take, for instance, a
grain of sand.  You can not divide it so small that it can not be divided
again--it is capable of infinite division. We know nothing about how many
times it can be divided, and it is just so with regard to the lives in us,
in animals, in vegetation, in shrubbery.  They are countless.  To
illustrate, you take a perfectly ripe kernel of corn--you will have some
here perhaps in a few days--and if you get a glass, it does not require a
very powerful one, and you take the chit of this corn and open it, you
behold distinctly a stalk of corn, in that chit, a perfectly grown stalk
of corn, with ears and leaves on it, matured, out in blossom,--there is
the tassel, there are the ears and there is the corn!  Well, you get a
stronger glass and divide again, and you can see that this very chit is
the grandfather of corn!  We take the scientific world for this.  Well,
how many lives are there in this grain of corn?  They are innumerable, and
this same infinity is manifest through all the creations of God.

	We will operate here, in all the ordinances of the house of God which
pertain to this side the vail, and those who pass beyond and secure to
themselves a resurrection pertaining to the lives will go on and receive
more and more, more and more, and will receive one after another until
they are crowned Gods, even the sons of God.  This idea is very consoling. 
We are now baptizing for the dead, and we are sealing for the dead, and if
we had a temple prepared we should be giving endowments for the dead--for
our fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, uncles, aunts,
relatives, friends and old associates, the history of whom we are now
getting from our friends in the east.  The Lord is stirring up the hearts
of many there, and there is a perfect mania with some to trace their
genealogies and to get up printed records of their ancestors.  They do not
know what they are doing it for, but the Lord is prompting them; and it
will continue and run on from father to father, father to father, until
they get the genealogy of their forefathers as far as they possibly can.

	I am going to stop my talking by saying that, in the millennium, when
the kingdom of God is established on the earth in power, glory and
perfection, and the reign of wickedness that has so long prevailed is
subdued, the Saints of God will have the privilege of building their
temples, and of entering into them, becoming, as it were, pillars in the
temples of God, and they will officiate for their dead.  Then we will see
our friends come up, and perhaps come that we have been acquainted with
here.  If we ask who will stand at the head of the resurrection in this
last dispensation, the answer is--Joseph Smith, Junior, the Prophet of
God.  He is the man who will be resurrected and receive the keys of the
resurrection, and he will seal this authority upon others, and they will
hunt up their friends and resurrect them when they shall have been
officiated for, and bring them up.  And we will have revelations to know
our forefathers clear back to Father Adam and Mother Eve, and we will
enter into the temples of God and officiate for them.  Then man will be
sealed to man until the chain is made perfect back to Adam, so that there
will be a perfect chain of priesthood from Adam to the winding-up scene.

	This will be the work of the Latter-day Saints in the millennium. 
How much time do you suppose we have to attend to and foster Babylon? I
leave this question for you to answer at your pleasure.  I have no time at
all for that, I say, and stop my sayings.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
      Delivered at the 42nd Semi-Annual Conference, Salt Lake City,
                             October 9, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
  SAINTS SHOULD SUSTAIN THEMSELVES--KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS--ABUSES--POWER
                    OF RIGHTEOUS COMBINATION OF LABOR.

	I want to express my feelings to the Latter-day Saints upon certain
points of business which pertain to our welfare, and I wish to do it
without being obliged to raise my voice so high and so loud as to infringe
upon the organs of speech to that degree that I shall have to stop.  If
the people will be still, they can hear me in my common voice perfectly
easy.  I will not go into all the details with regard to the duties of the
Latter-day Saints, and their desires, as they have manifested them by
gathering out from the world, and assembling themselves together.  They
generally understand them, and they can read for themselves the doctrines
of the Church, and the reasons why we are gathered together.  But I wish
now to impress on the minds of the people the necessity of our taking a
course to be able to exist and to sustain ourselves--to have something to
eat and wear--hats to put on our heads, and coats, mantles, blankets,
vests, shirts, garments and other things suitable to wear and to make our
bodies comfortable, provided that the Lord should knock the underpinning
from under Babylon.  The time will come when Babylon will fall.  If it
should fall now, it would leave us pretty destitute.  We would soon wear
out our head dresses and fine clothing, and what should we do?  Why, we
should be as badly off as the Saints were when they came into this valley,
twenty-five years ago.  They picked up a few buckskins, antelope skins,
sheepskins, buffalo skins, and made leggings and moccasins of them, and
wrapped the buffalo robes around them.  Some had blankets and some had
not; some had shirts, and I guess some had not.  One man told me that he
had not a shirt for himself or family.  If Babylon should happen to tip
over, so that we could not reach out and gather the necessaries of life,
we should be in a bad condition.  I want to put you in mind of these
things, and it is my duty to say to the Latter-day Saints that they should
take measures to sustain themselves--they should lay a foundation for
feeding and clothing themselves.

	You are well aware that there has been a great deal of money spent in
this Territory to get machinery for the purpose of working up the wool and
cotton, and I think you are pretty well aware that there have been a great
many thousand words spoken to the Latter-day Saints in these valleys, upon
the necessity of raising sheep, though we have had a tide of opposition
against this.  Still, wool-raising is now proven to be a success in these
mountains, any and all of the Bishops to the contrary notwithstanding. 
This is a fine wool growing country, no better in the world.  We have
proved this; and we have got a great deal of machinery here to work up the
wool, most of which is now standing still for the want of wool.  Many of
those who have been prevailed upon to raise sheep, have got so covetous
and love money so well that they must sell their wool for money, and send
it out of the country, in consequence of which the factories are now
standing still.  I think there are a few who will recollect that, in the
excitement of purchasing wool here last May, June and July, in many
instances I refused to buy their wool.  If I would have paid a little more
than agents from the east, I could have got it; in some instances I got it
for a little less.  I bought some and let a good deal go, and told the
people with whom I conversed upon the subject, that I would let the buying
of wool alone until fall, then I thought I could send east, buy my wool
and ship it back here, and I believe I could get it cheaper than I could
get it then.  And it is now verily so, for I can send to Philadelphia, New
York, Boston, or anywhere in the eastern country, and buy wool and ship it
back here from 10 to 30 percent. cheaper than I could buy it here last
spring.  I can send west and buy wool and ship it here and save a still
higher per centage.  This is the difference in the price of wool last
spring and the fore part of the summer, and now what our friends and
brethren who own factories will do with regard to purchasing wool, I am
not able to say.  Some of them, probably, are able to buy wool, and quite
a number are not, and they who are not will, in all probability, let their
factories stand still.

	I want the brethren and sisters to take an interest in sustaining
ourselves here in these mountains.  It is the duty of the Bishops to see
that the members of their Wards take a course that will build up the
kingdom of God, not only in providing food and raiment, but see that the
people do their duty with regard to the law of God in preserving
themselves in purity.  My mind is now upon those things which some people
call temporal, and I wish to urge them upon the Latter-day Saints.  I want
them to save their wool and to keep it in this Territory.  If we have not
factories sufficient to work up all the wool that grows in this Territory,
and in these mountains, we will send and get more machinery, and build
more factories, and work up the wool for the people.  It is the duty of
those who grow wool to keep it here.  It is the duty of the wife of the
man who owns sheep to look to it, and see that that wool is not sold and
carried out of the country.  It is the duty of the Bishops to see these
men, and urge upon them the necessity of keeping the wool in the mountains
where it can be worked up; and the Bishops should set the example
themselves.  We expect they do; if they do not, they are not fit for
Bishops.  It is the duty of the Bishops to see the wives of these men and
their children, that they may prevail on their greedy, covetous fathers or
hushands [sic], who would sacrifice the prosperity of the kingdom of God
for a little worldly wealth, and see that they do not run distracted or go
crazy over a little money.  I say the Bishops should see to it, that these
men who have sheep act like rational, reasonable men.  What are you here
for?  What did you come for?  Virtually you all say you left Babylon and
came here to build up the kingdom of God; but our acts speak as loud, and
little louder than our words can.  We witness to one another and to the
Heavens, and to all people, that we believe in building up the kingdom of
God on the earth.  There is an item that ought to be before the Latter-day
Saints with regard to the kingdom as it will be built up.  They ought to
teach themselves--read the Scriptures, the Old and New Testament, the
prophecies, what the Savior and his Apostles have said, and what has been
delivered to us in the latter days, and compare them, and then draw their
own conclusions, and see if they are under the necessity of working
temporally, literally, manually, physically for the building up of the
kingdom of heaven.  I say that we are or it never will be built up.  With
regard to the fundamental facts of our doctrines, we can not show to any
person that we have faith therein, except by our works.  If I were now in
the world, and an Elder was to come along and preach, and I were to go and
hear him, the act of walking to the meeting house or to the private
dwelling house, would be manual labor.  I might believe every word such an
Elder said in preaching the Gospel, but if I never took any steps towards
fulfilling his requirements who would know anything about it?  Nobody on
the face of the earth.  Would there be any manifestation that I had faith? 
Not the least in the world, and if it started to grow in my heart while
listening to the Elder, without works on my part it would soon die out and
cease to exist.  If I do believe, it is a manual labor to get up and say
to the people, "I believe that what this man has said is true."  That is
an exercise of the body, and a temporal labor.  Well, this Elder says, we
should repent of our sins.  I do repent.  He says we should obey the
Gospel, and the first thing after having faith or believing it, is to go
down into the waters of baptism, and to do that is a temporal act,
physical labor; and the act of baptism by him is also a temporal act or
labor.  And so in everything else with regard to the Gospel and the
building up of the kingdom of God on the earth--we must have works or we
can not have faith.  I can not divide between the two.  The Elder is
preaching, I believe, I confess and obey, and I can not, for my soul,
divide the temporal, the manual, the physical labor form the internal
faith and hope and joy which the spirit gives, and which cause obedience
in my acts.

	I wish to make this application right here to the Latter-day Saints. 
If we believe that God is about to establish his kingdom upon the earth,
we believe firmly that we have got to perform a manual, temporal labor to
bring this about.  If the kingdom of this world ever become the kingdoms
of our God and his Christ, it will be by his people conforming to the
plans instituted for the establishment of a kingdom here on the earth. 
You may call it temporal, no matter what it is called, it is territory, it
is dominion.  In the first place we must have territory, then we must have
people; and in order to organize this kingdom, we must have officers and
laws to govern or control the subjects.  To make the organization of a
kingdom perfect, we must have every appendage necessary and proper, so
that the Savior can come and reign king of nations as he does king of
Saints.  We shall be under the necessity of raising breadstuff and then we
shall want to eat it.  We shall have to raise our fruit as well as eat it;
we shall have to raise our vegetables as well as eat them.  We shall be
under the necessity then of making hats or of going without them; we shall
be under the necessity of making clothing--coats, vests, pants, shirts and
so on, or else go without them.  We shall be under the necessity of having
courts organized, unless all are in the Lord and all walk in his way; if
that were the case I do not know that we should want any sheriff,
marshals, constables magistrates, jurors, judges or governors, because the
word of the Lord would govern and control every person; but until that
time arrives we shall want officers, so that we will be prepared to reckon
with the transgressor, and we shall have transgressors in building this
kingdom, for it will be some time yet before all are in the Lord.  The law
is for the transgressor, consequently we must have officers, and we
already have in this kingdom as now organized all the officers necessary,
every quorum, every organization, every court and authority necessary to
rule all the nations that ever were or ever will be upon the earth, if
they serve God, or try to do so.  But if we must have an organization
after the order and wishes of those who are ignorant of the things of God,
we must have political and municipal organizations.  Kingdoms are
organized to suit the conditions of the people, whether the government is
that of the people, in the hands of a few individuals, or centred in one. 
But the kingdom of heaven, when organized upon the earth, will have every
officer, law and ordinance necessary for the managing of those who are
unruly, or who transgress its laws, and to govern those who desire to do
right, but can not quite walk to the line; and all these powers and
authorities are in existence in the midst of this people.

	Now, we have this kingdom organized here upon the earth, and we shall
be under the necessity, by and by, of understanding this, or we will be
left in a very destitute condition.  It is my duty to say to the people
that it is their duty to make their clothing; and permit me to say, still
further, upon the subject of the fashion of cutting cloth and putting it
together again, that it is most useless, unbecoming and ridiculous.  The
present custom of many is such that I would as soon see a squaw go through
the streets with a very little on, as to see clothing piled up until it
reaches, perhaps, the top of the hedge or fence its wearer is passing.  If
I do not say much about such customs and fashions, I shall probably skip
over some naughty words.  In my feelings they are positively ridiculous,
they are so useless and unbecoming.  Do you recollect a fashion there was
a few years ago, that has now nearly ceased when a woman could not walk
through the streets without holding her clothes two feet in front of her
if her arm was long enough?  I shall not say what I thought of those who
followed this fashion.  Now it is on the other side, and I do not know but
they will get two humps on their backs, they have one now, and if they get
to be dromedaries it will be no wonder, not the least in the world.  I
recollect a fashion of cutting up cloth some forty years ago, that was
very peculiar.  A lady would go into a store and say to a merchant, "I
would like to get a dress pattern this morning."  "Very well, what will
you have?"  "Oh, bring down your goods and show them.  This suits pretty
well!  I think I will take this."  "Madame," says the merchant, "If you
will buy the sleeves, I will give you the dress."  This, of course, is
jocosely said.  I refer now to what was called the "mutton-legged" 
sleeve--by comparison it took seven yards for the sleeves, and three for
the dress.  That was the way they dressed then.  How unbecoming!  How
unbecoming it is to see ladies dress as they do in some places at the
present day.  Then another fashion is to wear their dresses short in
front, walking through the streets, and a long train dragging in the dirt
behind.  How unbecoming!  This is not modesty, gentility, or good taste;
it does not belong to a lady at all, but to an ignorant, extravagant, or
vain-minded person, who knows not true principle.  I take the liberty of
saying that these fashions are displeasing in the sight of truth, mercy
and justice.  It is displeasing to the Spirit of the Lord for persons to
array themselves in any way whatever that is disgusting to the eye of the
pure and the prudent.  There is not a Latter-day Saint nor a Former-day
Saint that ever did, or ever will expect to see any such customs or
fashions when they get into heaven.  If they were to see an angel, they
would see a being beautifully but modestly dressed, white, comely and nice
to look upon.

	I would like to advise the Latter-day Saints to avoid these foolish
customs and habits.  Let them pass by and not follow them; they do not
belong to us.  I would like to repeat to the ladies what we have said
hundreds and thousands of times--they should make their own head-dresses
and fashions, independent of all the rest of the inhabitants of the earth. 
Pay no attention to what others do, it is no matter what they do, or how
they dress.  Latter-day Saints should dress in that plain, neat, comely
manner that will be pleasing and prudent, in every sense of the word,
before the Lord, and try and please him that we serve the Being that we
acknowledge as our God.  Not flaunting, flirting and gossiping, as a great
many are, and thinking continually of their dresses, and of this, that and
the other that will minister to and gratify their vanity.  Such women
seldom think of their prayers.

	I am extending my remarks much longer than I intended.  But how is it
about the Word of Wisdom?  Do we observe it?  We should do, and preserve
ourselves in all things holy before the Lord.  How is it about keeping the
Sabbath day?  We have some articles that we would like to read here, but
the people have them to read at their leisure.  We should observe the Ten
Commandments, for instance, that were given to Moses.  If we do that, we
shall be a pretty good people.  But there is nothing in those commandments
about building factories and raising wool, for the children of Israel, at
the time they were given, were in a condition that they did not need
factories, they did not need to raise wool.  If they had goats and sheep
with them, they made mutton, and tanned the skins probably, but I do no
know what they did with them.  It appears that their clothing did now wax
old, and they probably had no need to spin or weave.  But we have need to,
we have got to make our own clothing, or to get it some other way--buy it
or else go without it; and we ought to keep the Word of Wisdom, and keep
the Sabbath day holy, and preserve ourselves in the integrity of our
hearts before God.

	I want to ask if the people pay their tithing?  Bishops, do the
people of your wards pay their tithing?  I will answer the question for
you and say, No, they do not.  Some people in modern times shudder at the
word tithing--it is a term they are not used to.  They are used to
sustaining Priests, to donating for building meeting houses, and
administering to those who wait at the table of the Lord, or that do their
preaching and praying for them.  And this is done by subscription
donation, and passing the plate, hat or basket, but the word "tithing" is
frightful to them.  I like the term, because it is scriptural, and I would
rather use it than any other. The Lord instituted tithing, it was
practiced in the days of Abraham, and Enoch and Adam and his children did
not forget their tithes and offerings.  You can read for yourselves with
regard to what the Lord requires.  Now do the Latter-day Saints pay their
tithing?  They do not.  I want to say this much to those who profess to be
Latter-day Saints--if we neglect our tithes and offerings we will receive
the chastening hand of the Lord.  We may just as well count on this first
as last.  If we neglect to pay our tithes and offerings we will neglect
other things, and this will grow upon us until the Spirit of the Gospel is
entirely gone from us, and we are in the dark, and know not whither we are
going.

	It is the duty of the Bishops to see that their wards pay tithing. 
But we have Bishops who are not reliable--men, for instance, who will take
tithing grain when it brings a good price in cash, and when good beef is
bringing cash they are so kind to their wards, and especially to their
sons, that if a son has got a parcel of wild horses on the prairies that
are not worth a yearling calf a head, they will say to him, "Drive up your
wild horses, my boy, I will trade with you, and let you have neat stock,
yearlings, or two years or three years old, or wheat that is in the
tithing bin, I will take your horses.  I will send down word to the
General Tithing office, that there are so many horses here belonging to
the tithing office."  Such horses are a curse to us, or I can say they
have been to me as an individual.  I have raised stock enough to supply
this whole Territory, if they had been taken care of.  But they were like
the Indian's boy.  The missionary had been telling him that if he brought
up a child in the way he should go, when he was old he would not depart
from it.  But the old chief has got it, just about as it is, and said he,
"Yes, bring up a child, and away he goes;"  and this is the way the horses
go.  And as far the neat stock, if any of it ever gets out of my sight
that I do no know where it is, and can not send and get it, I always
calculate that a thief will have it.  I never trouble myself to look after
it, there are too many men riding on the prairies with their blankets
behind them, and their dinner in their blanket, and their lassoes with
them to hunt up all the stock there is.  This wild stock that is turned in
on tithing is a curse to us.  And where does the wheat go to?  I am not
disposed to, but I could tell names of Bishops who have taken our tithing
wheat out of the bins and it has been sold by them or their families,  And
they have taken our stock that we wanted here for beef to feed the public
lands, and traded it off for wild horses.  This is a pretty hard saying,
but it is true, and I could tell their names if I were obliged to.

	If the people will pay their tithing, we will go and do the work that
is required of us.  It is very true that the poor pay their tithing better
than the rich do.  If the rich would pay their tithing we should have
plenty.  The poor are faithful and prompt in paying their tithing, but the
rich can hardly afford to pay theirs--they have too much.  If a man is
worth enough that he would have a thousand dollars to pay, it pinches him. 
If he has only ten dollars he can pay one; if he has only one dollar he
can pay ten cents; it does not hurt him at all.  If he has a hundred
dollars he can possibly pay ten.  If he has a thousand dollars he looks
over it a little and says,  "I guess I will pay it; it ought to be paid
any how;" and he manages to pay his ten dollars or his hundred dollars. 
But suppose a man is wealthy enough to pay ten thousand, he looks that
over a good many times, and says, "I guess I will wait until I get a
little more, and then I will pay a good deal."  And they wait and wait,
like an old gentleman in the east; he waited and waited and waited to pay
his tithing until he went down, I guess, to hell, I do not know exactly;
but he went to hades, which we call hell.  He went out of the world, and
this is the way with a great many.  They wait and continue waiting, until,
finally, the character comes along who is called Death, and he slips up to
them and takes away their breath, then they are gone and cannot pay their
tithing, they are too late, and so it goes.

	Now this is finding fault with the rich, and I am going to find fault
with the poor by and by.  But if we will pay our tithing we will be
blessed; if we refuse to do so the chastening hand of the Lord will be
upon this people, just as sure as we are here.  You may say I am
threatening you Take it just as you please.  I do not care.  You may
grease it and swallow it, or swallow it without greasing, just as you have
a mind to.  It is true, and we will find it so.

	Will the Latter-day Saints pay their tithing?  Will they keep the
Sabbath day holy?  Will they deal justly with their neighbors?  In my own
feelings I excuse a great many naughty things that are done in our midst. 
I know that men and women brought up in different countries come here with
their prejudices and with the instincts which they have had bred in and
born with them, and which have grown up with them; and many of these
traits of character are obnoxious to others brought up under other
circumstances.  These traditions cling to the people, and cause them to do
many things which they would not do if they had been differently taught. 
Their morals have not been looked after in their youth and as prudently
preserved as they should have been.  Children should be taught honesty,
and they should grow up with the feeling within them that they should
never take a pin that is not their own; never displace anything, but
always put everything in its place.  If they find anything seek for the
owner.  If there is anything of their neighbor's going to waste, put it
where it will not waste, and be perfectly honest one with another.  Take
the world of mankind and they are not overstocked with honesty.  I have
proved that.  In my youth I have seen men, who were considered good,
clever, honest men, who would take the advantage of their neighbors or
workmen if they could.  I have seen deacons, Baptists, Presbyterians,
members of the Methodist church, with long, solid, sturdy faces and a poor
brother would come along and say to one of them, "brother, such-a-one, I
have come to see if I could get a bushel of wheat, rye or corn of you.  I
have no money, but I will come and work for you in harvest," and their
faces would be drawn down so mournful, and they would say, "I have none to
spare.  "Well, deacon, if you can let me have one bushel, I understand you
have considerable, I will come and work for you just as long as you say,
until you are satisfied, in your harvest field, or haying or anything you
want done." After much talk this longfaced character would get it out, "If
you will come and work for me two days in harvest, I do not know but I
will spare you a bushel of rye."

	When the harvest time comes the man could have got two bushels of rye
for one day's work; but the deacon sticks him to his bargain, and makes
him work two days for a bushel of wheat or rye.  I used to think a good
deal, but seldom spoke about any such thing, for I was brought up to treat
everybody with that respect and courtesy that I could hardly allow myself
to think aloud, and consequently very seldom did so.  I thought enough of
such religion, at any rate, that such Christians called me an infidel,
because I could not swallow such things but I could not if they had been
greased over with fresh butter.  I did not read the Bible as they read it;
and as for there being Bible Christians, I knew there were none; and if
their religion was the religion they liked, said I, "Just go your own way,
I want none of it."  I wanted no relgion [sic] that produced such morals.

	If we pay our tithing, and begin to live a little stricter than we
have heretofore, in our faith, cease to break the Sabbath, cease to spend
our time in idleness, cease to he [sic] dishonest and to meddle with that
which is not our own, cease to deceive and to speak evil of one another,
and learn the commandments of the Lord, and do them, we shall be blessed.

	Suppose we should say to a few of the Latter-day Saints, if we could
find those who would answer the purpose, "how would you like to build up a
stake of Zion, a little city of Enoch?  How would you like this?  Would
you like to enter into a covenant, and into bonds, according to the law of
our land, and let us bind ourselves together to go into a systematic
co-operative system, not only in merchandizing, but in farming and in all
mechanical work, and in every trade and business there is; and we will
classify the business throughout, and we will gather together a few
hundred families, and commence and keep the law of God, and preserve
ourselves in purity.  How would the Latter-day Saints like it?  Do you
think there could any be found who would be willing to do this?"  Let me
say to you, my brethren, I have a very fine place to start such a society
as this that would probably sustain from five to ten thousand persons.  I
would like to make a deed of this property to such a society, and enter
into a covenant with men of God and women of God that we would go to and
show the world and show the Latter-day Saints how to build up a city of
Zion, and how to increase intelligence among the people, how to walk
circumspectly before our God and before one another, and classify every
branch of labor, taking advantage of every improvement, and of all the
learning in the world, and direct the labor of men and women, and see what
it would produce; follow it out for ten years, and then look at the
result.  Our friends who visit us here say that we have done a good work,
and we bear testimony that we have been greatly prospered.  It is true
that most of the people in this house came here like myself, comparatively
naked and barefoot.  I left all I had in the States.  I say all--no. I had
some wives and children whom I brought along with me.  Some of them had
shoes to their feet, some had not; some had bonnets, some had none.  Some
of my children had clothing, and some had very little; and we took up our
line of march and left all.  I believe for some four pretty nice brick
houses, and a nice large farm, timber land and so on, I got one span of
little horses and a carriage worth about a hundred dollars, the horses
were worth about sixty dollars apiece, the harness about twenty.  I think
that was everything I got for my property.  We came here and we have been
prospered and blessed.  If I had the privilege of living with a community
that would do as I say for ten years, I would show them that our blessings
now, in a temporal point of view, have been but as a drop to the
bucketful.  But would we bear this?  Would our feelings submit to this? 
Would we not want to go and serve the devil if the Lord were to heap
riches upon us?  We see that what he does now makes men covetous, they can
not even pay their tithing.  Well, do we get all that we want?  No, each
man wants it all, and as long as this is the case with us, I think the
saying common among the boys in my youth will be good--"Every man for
himself, the devil for us all."  Just as long as every man works for
himself we are not the Lord's; we are not Christ's, we are not his
disciples in this point of view, at any rate.  If we had faith to be
baptized, we do not carry out the principles of the salvation that he has
wrought out for us.  He is going to set up his kingdom--a literal,
temporal kingdom.  It will be a kingdom of priests by and by.  If we had
been willing to fully carry out the rules of the kingdom, followed
counsel, and worked together,  for twenty-five years past, the blessings
we have received are not a drop in the bucket to what we would have
received.

	Some twelve or fifteen years I labored faithfully with our merchants
here, before I could get them to break through that everlasting covetous
crust that was over them, and consent to operate together in merchandizing
so as to give the people a chance with us.  And it was the design and the
feeling of men here, belonging to the Church, to aggrandize themselves and
to monopolise to themselves the wealth of the community.  And if another
one sprang up and had good luck they would take him into the corps, into
their fellowship, and he would belong to the order, and that was to make a
few rich, and grind down and make every other man poor.  That was the
design, no question of it.  But I determined with God and the good to help
me that I would break that everlasting covetous crust and I succeeded at
last.  Are we making enough in our mercantile business here now?  Yes, we
are making all we should make.  I suppose a great many would like to know
how we are doing.  It would be no harm for me to tell you perhaps that,
the last six months, the Board of Directors of Zion's Co-operative
Mercantile Institution are able to declare a dividend of ten per cent.,
with five per cent. in reserve, which is added to the capital stock, and
is as good as money.  That is good enough for me, it yields some thirty
per cent per annum.

	If we would work together in our farming, in our mechanism, be
obedient and work as a family for the good of all, it would be almost
impossible for anybody to guess the success we would have.  But we have
got to do it in the Lord.  We must not do it with a covetous heart. 
Always be ready and willing that the Lord should have it all, and do what
he pleases with it.  I have asked a favor of the Lord in this thing, and
that is not to place me in such circumstances that what he has given me
shall go into the hands of our enemies.  God forbid that!  But let it go
for the preaching of the Gospel, to sustain and to gather the poor, to
build factories, make farms, and set the poor to work, as I have hundreds
and thousands that had not anything to do.  I have fed and clothed them
and taken care of them until they have become comparatively independent. 
I have made no man poor, but thousands and thousands rich, that is, the
Lord has, through your humble servant.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
      Delivered at the 42nd Semi-Annual Conference, Salt Lake City,
                             October 9, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
                           THE ORDER OF ENOCH.

	Suppose we should examine a city in a stake of Zion conducted after
the order of Enoch!  We would like to look, for a few moments, upon the
facts as they would exist.  If a people were gathered together, were they
many or few, who would follow out the instructions given them in the Bible
and in the other revelations that we have, they would have to be very
obedient, and probably many would feel to say, "I wish to manage my own
affairs, I wish to dictate myself, I wish to govern and control my labor,
I can not submit to have anybody else dictate me.  This is servitude, and
is nothing more nor less than slavery!"  I suppose there are some who
would feel thus.  When I look at the Latter-day Saints I think how
independent they are.  They have been very independent, there is no
question of it.  When they have heard the Gospel, though, perhaps, in the
flood of persecution, and the finger of scorn pointed towards them, they
have said, "The Gospel is true, and if my friends will not believe it, it
makes no difference to me, I am independent enough to embrace the truth,
and to gather out from the midst of Babylon and to make my home with the
Saints."  There are plenty of such people here in this house--men and
women, old and young.  There are young people here who have left their
parents and every thing they had on the face of the earth for the sake of
the Gospel.  Middle-aged men have left their wives and their children,
saying, "I am going to live according to the plan that has been laid down
in the Scriptures for the salvation of the human family."  This certainly
exhibits as much independence as mortal beings can manifest, and yet we
have said we will yield strict obedience to these requirements,
preparatory to enjoying the glory that the Lord has for the Saints.  I
will ask, Is there liberty in this obedience?  Yes, and the only plan on
the face of the earth for the people to gain real liberty is to yield
obedience to these simple principles.  Not but that we should find a great
many who do not exactly understand how to yield obedience, strictly, to
the requirements of heaven for their own salvation and exaltation; but no
person can be exalted in the kingdom of heaven without first submitting
himself to the rules, regulations, laws and ordinances of that kingdom,
and being perfectly subject to them in every respect.  Is this the fat? 
It is even so.  Consequently, no person is fit to be a ruler until he can
be ruled; no one is fit to be the Lord of all until he has submitted
himself to be servant of all.  Does this give the people liberty?  It is
the only thing in the heavens or on the earth that can do so.  Where is
the liberty in subjecting ourselves strictly to the requirements of heaven
and becoming one in all our operations to build up the kingdom of God upon
the earth?  By strict obedience to these requirements, we prove ourselves
faithful to our God; and when we have passed through all the ordeals
necessary, and have proved perfectly submissive to all the rules and
regulations which give live [sic] eternal, he then sets us free and crowns
us with glory, immortality and eternal lives; and there is no other path
that we can walk in, no other system, no other laws or ordinances by which
we can gain exaltation, only by submitting ourselves perfectly to the
requirements of heaven.

	Now suppose we had a little society organized on the plan I mentioned
at the commencement of my remarks--after the Order of Enoch--would we
build our houses all alike?  No.  How should we live?  I will tell you how
I would arrange for a little family, say about a thousand persons.  I
would build houses expressly for their convenience in cooking, washing and
every department of their domestic arrangements.  Instead of having every
woman getting up in the morning and fussing around a cookstove or over the
fire, cooking a little food for two or three or half a dozen persons, or a
dozen, as the case may be, she would have nothing to do but to go to her
work.  Let me have my arrangement here, a hall in which I can seat five
hundred persons to eat; and I have my cooking apparatus--ranges and
ovens--all prepared.  And suppose we had a hall a hundred feet long with
our cooking room attached to this hall; and there is a person at the
further end of the table and he should telegraph that he wanted a warm
beefsteak; and this is conveyed to him by a little railway, perhaps under
the table, and he or she may take her beefsteak.  "What do you want to
take with it?"  "A cup of tea, a cup of coffee, a cup of milk, piece of
toast," or something or other, no matter what they call for, it is
conveyed to them and they take it, and we can seat five hundred at once,
and serve them all in a very few minutes.  And when they have all eaten,
the dishes are piled together, slipped under the table, and run back to
the ones who wash them.  We could have a few Chinamen to do that if we did
not want to do it ourselves.  Under such a system the women could go to
work making their bonnets, hats, and clothing, or in the factories.  I
have not time to map it out before you as I wish to.  But here is our
dining room, and adjoining this is our prayer room, where we would
assemble perhaps five hundred persons at one time, and have our prayers in
the evening and in the morning.  When we had our prayers and our
breakfast, then each and every one to his business.  But the inquiry is,
in a moment, How are you going to get them together?  Build your houses
just the size you want them, whether a hundred feet, fifty feet or five,
and have them so arranged that you can walk directly from work to dinner. 
"Would you build the houses all alike?"  Oh no, if there is any one person
who has better taste in building than others, and can get up more tasteful
houses, make your plans and we will put them up, and have the greatest
variety we can imagine.

	What will we do through the day?  Each one go to his work.  Here are
the herdsmen--here are those who look after the sheep--here are those who
make the butter and the cheese, all at their work by themselves.  Some for
the kanyon, perhaps, or for the plow or harvest, no difference what, each
and every class is organized, and all labor and perform their part.

	Will we have the cows in the city?  No.  Will we have the pig pens in
the city?  No.  Will we have any of our outhouses in the city?  No.  We
will have our railways to convey the food to the pig pens, and somebody to
take care of them.  Somebody to gather up the scraps at the table, and
take them away.  Somebody to take the feed and feed the cows, and take
care of them out of the city.  Allow any nuisance in the city?  No, not
any, but everything kept as clean and as nice as it is in this tabernacle. 
Gravel our streets, pave our walks, water them, keep them clean and nicely
swept, and everything neat, nice and sweet.  Our houses built high, sleep
up stairs, have large lodging rooms, keep everybody in fresh air, pure and
healthy.  Work through the day, and when it comes evening, instead of
going to a theatre, walking the streets, riding, or reading novels--these
falsehoods got up expressly to excite the minds of youth, repair to our
room, and have our historians, and our different teachers to teach classes
of old and young, to read the Scriptures to them; to teach them history,
arithmetic, reading, writing and painting; and have the best teachers that
can be got to teach our day schools.  Half the labor necessary to make a
people moderately comfortable now, would make them independently rich
under such a system.  Now we toil and work and labor, and some of us are
so  anxious that we are sure to start after a load of wood on Saturday so
as to occupy Sunday in getting home.  This would be stopped in our
community, and when Sunday morning came every child would be required to
go to the school room, and parents to go to meeting or Sunday school; and
not get into their wagons or carriages, or on the railroads, or lounge
around reading novels; they would be required to go to meeting, to read
the Scriptures, to pray and cultivate their minds.  The youth would have a
good education, they would receive all the learning that could be given to
mortal beings; and after they had studied the best books that could be got
hold of, they would still have the advantage of the rest of the world, for
they would be taught in and have a knowledge of the things of God.

	Bring up our children in this way and they would be trained to love
the truth.  Teach them honesty, virtue and prudence, and we should not see
the waste around that now is witnessed.  The Latter-day Saints waste
enough to make a poor people comfortable.  Shall I mention one or two
instances?  I will mention this one thing any way, with regard to our
paper mill.  Can you get the Latter-day Saints to save their rags?  No,
they will make them and throw them out of doors.  Is there a family in
this community but what are too well off in their own estimation to take
care of paper rags?  I think a good many of them would rather steal their
beef and what they want than stoop to pick up paper rags to make paper to
print our paper on.  Not all would do this, but a few; and the majority
are so well off that they have not that prudence which belongs to Saints;
and I feel sometimes a little irritated, and inclined to scold about it,
when I see women who were brought up without a shoe to their foot, or a
second frock to their back perhaps, and who lived until they were young
women in this style, without ever stepping on to an inch of carpet in
their lives, and they know no more how to treat a carpet than pigs do.  Do
they know how to treat fine furniture?  No, they do not; but they will
waste, waste--their clothing, their carpets and their furniture.  I hear
them say sometimes, "Why, I have had this three years, or five years."  If
my grandmother could have got an article such as you wear, she would have
kept it for her daughters from generation to generation, and it would have
been good.  But now, our young women waste, waste.

	This is finding fault, and I wish I could hurt your feelings enough
to make you think of it when you get home.  If I could make you a little
mad, when you get home if you see a pretty good piece of carpet thrown out
of doors you will go, perhaps, and shake it and lay it up, thinking that
it may be serviceable to somebody or other; and if you cannot do anything
else with it, give it to somebody who has not a bed to lie upon, to put
under them to help to make a bed.

	If we could see such a society organized as I have mentioned, you
would see none of this waste.  You would see a people all attending to
their business, having the most improved machinery for making cloth, and
doing every kind of housework, farming, all mechanical operations, in our
factories, dairies, orchards and vineyards; and possessing every comfort
and convenience of life.  A society like this would never have to buy
anything; they would make and raise all they would eat, drink and wear,
and always have something to sell and bring money, to help to increase
their comfort and independence.

	"Well, but," one would say, "I shall never have the privilege of
riding again in a carriage in my life."  Oh what a pity!  Did you ever
ride in one when you had your own way?  No, you never thought of such a
thing.  Thousands and thousands of Latter-day Saints never expect to own a
carriage or to ride in one.  Would we ride in carriages?  Yes, we would;
we would have them suitable for the community, and give them their proper
exercise; and if I were with you, I would be willing to give others just
as much as I have myself.  And if we have sick, would they want a carriage
to ride in?  Yes, and they would have it too, we would have nice ones to
carry out the sick, aged and infirm, and give them exercise, and give them
a good place to sleep in, good food to eat, good company to be with them
and take care of them.

	Would not this be hard?  Yes, I should hope so.  If I had the
privilege and the power, I would not introduce a system for my brethren
and myself to live under unless it would try our faith.  I do not want to
live without having my faith and patience tried.  They are pretty well
tried.  I do not know how many there are who would endure what I endure
with regard to faith and patience, and then be persevering in the midst of
it all.  But I would not form a society, nor ask and individual to go to
heaven by breaking all the bones in his body, and putting him in a silver
basket, and then, hitching him to a kite, send him up there.  I would not
do it if I had the power, for if his bones were not broken he would jump
out of the basket, that is the idea.  I see a great many who profess to be
Latter-day Saints, who would not be contented in heaven unless their
feelings undergo a great change, and if they were there and you wanted to
keep them there, you would have to break their backs, or they would get
out.  But we want to see nothing of this in this little society. If I had
charge of such a society as this to which I refer, I would not allow novel
reading; yet it is in my house, in the houses of my counselors, in the
houses of these Apostles, these Seventies and High Priests, in the houses
of the High Council in this city, and in other cities, and in the houses
of the Bishops, and we permit it; yet it is ten thousand times worse than
it is for men to come here and teach our children the a b c, good morals,
and how to behave themselves, ten thousand times worse!  You let your
children read novels until they run away, until they get so that they do
not care--they are reckless, and their mothers are reckless, and some of
their fathers are reckless, and if you do not break their backs and tie
them up they will go to hell.  That is rough, is it not?  Well, it is a
comparison.  You have got to check them some way or other, or they will go
to destruction.  They are perfectly crazy.  Their actions say, "I want
Babylon stuck on to me; I want to revel in Babylon; I want everything I
can think of or desire."  If I had the power to do so, I would not take
such people to heaven.  God will not take them there, that I am sure of. 
He will try the faith and patience of this people.  I would not like to
get into a society where there were no trials;  but I would like to see a
society organized to show the Latter-day Saints how to build up the
kingdom of God.

	Do you think we shall want any lawyers in our society?  No, I think
not.  Do you not think they will howl around?  Yes, you will hear their
howls going up morning and evening, bewailing one another.  They will
howl, "We can get no lawsuits here; we cannot find anybody that will
quarrel with his neighbor.  What shall we do?"  I feel about them as Peter
of Russia is said to have felt when he was in England.  He saw and heard
the lawyers pleading at a great trial there, and he was asked his opinion
concerning them.  He replied that he had two lawyers in his empire, and
when he got home he intended to hang one of them.  That is about the love
I have for some lawyers who are always stirring up strife.  Not but that
lawyers are good in their place; but where is their place?  I cannot find
it.  It makes me think of what Bissel said to Paine in Kirtland.  In a
lawsuit that had been got up, Bissell was pleading for Joseph, and Paine
was pleading for an apostate.  Paine had blackguarded Bissell a good deal. 
In his plea Bissell stopped all at once, and, turning to Mr. Paine, said
he:  "Mr. Paine, do you believe in a devil?"  "Yes," said Mr. Paine, who
was a keen, smart lawyer.  Said Bissell, "Where do you think he is?"  "I
do not know."  "Do you not think he is in hell?"  said Bissel.  "I suppose
he is."  "Well," said Bissell, "do you not think he is in pain [Paine]?" 
They almost act to me as if they were in pain.  They must excuse me if
there are any of them here to-day.  I cannot see the least use on the face
of the earth for these wicked lawyers who stir up strife.  If they would
turn merchants, cattle breeders, farmers or mechanics, or would build
factories, they would be useful; but to stir up strife and quarrels, to
alienate the feelings of neighbors, and to destroy the peace of
communities, seems to be their only business.  For a man to understand the
law is very excellent, but who is there that understands it?  They that do
and are peacemakers, they are legitimate lawyers.  There are many lawyers
who are very excellent men.  What is the advice of an honorable gentlemen
in the profession of the law?  "Do not go to law with your neighbor; do
not be coaxed into  a lawsuit, for you will not be benefited by it.  If
you do go to law, you will hate your neighbor, and you will finally have
to pick some of your neighbors who hoe potatoes and corn, who work in the
cabinet shop, at the carpenter's bench, or at the blacksmith's forge, to
settle it for you.  You will have to pick ten, twelve, eighteen or
twenty-four of them, as the case may be, to act as a jury, and your case
goes before them to decide.  They are not lawyers, but they understand
truth and justice, and they have got to judge the case at last."  Why not
do this at first, and say we will arbitrate this case, and we will have no
lawsuit, and no difficulty with our neighbor, to alienate our feelings one
from another?  This is the way we should do as a community.

	Would you want doctors?  Yes, to set bones.  We should want a good
surgeon for that, or to cut off a limb.  But do you want doctors?  For not
much of anything else, let me tell you, only the traditions of the people
lead them to think so; and here is a growing evil in our midst.  It will
be so in a little time that not a woman in all Israel will dare to have a
baby unless she can have a doctor by her.  I will tell you what to do, you
ladies, when you find your are going to have an increase, go off into some
country where you cannot call for a doctor, and see if you can keep it.  I
guess you will have it, and I guess it will be all right, too. Now the cry
is, "Send for a doctor."  If you have a pain in the head, "Send for a
doctor;" if your heel aches, "I want a doctor;" "my back aches, and I want
a doctor."  The study and practice of anatomy and surgery are very good;
they are mechanical, and are frequently needed.  Do you not think it is
necessary to give medicine sometimes?  Yes, but I would rather have a wife
of mine that knows what medicine to give me when I am sick, than all the
professional doctors in the world.  Now let me tell you about doctoring,
because I am acquainted with it, and know just exactly what constitutes a
good doctor in physic.  It is that man or woman who, by revelation, or we
may call it intuitive inspiration, is capable of administering medicine to
assist the human system when it is besieged by the enemy called Disease;
but if they have not that manifestation, they had better let the sick
person alone.  I will tell you why:  I can see the faces of this
congregation, but I do not see two alike; and if I could look into your
nervous systems and behold the operations of disease, from the crowns of
your heads to the soles of your feet, I should behold the same difference
that I see in your physiognomy--there would be no two precisely alike. 
Doctors make experiments, and if they find a medicine that will have the
desired effect on one person, they set it down that it is good for
everybody, but it is not so, for upon the second person that medicine is
administered to, seemingly with the same disease, it might produce death. 
If you do not know this, you have not had the experience that I have.  I
say that unless a man or woman who administers medicine to assist the
human system to overcome disease, understands, and has that intuitive
knowledge, by the Spirit, that such an article is good for that individual
at that very time, they had better let him alone.  Let the sick do without
eating, take a little of something to cleanse the stomach, bowels and
blood, and wait patiently, and let Nature have time to gain the advantage
over the disease.  Suppose, for illustration, we draw a line through this
congregation, and place those on this side where they cannot get a doctor,
without it is a surgeon, for thirty or fifty years to come; and put the
other side in a country full of doctors, and they think they ought to have
them, and this side of the house that has no doctor will be able to buy
the inheritance of those who have doctors, and overrun them, outreach
them, and buy them up, and finally obliterate them, and they will be lost
in the masses of those who have no doctors.  I know what some say when
they look at such things, but that is the fact.  Ladies and gentlemen, you
may take any country in the world, I do not care where you go, and if they
do not employ doctors, you will find they will beat communities that
employ them, all the time.  Who is the real doctor?  That man who knows by
the Spirit of revelation what ails an individual, and by the same Spirit
knows what medicine to administer.  That is the real doctor, the others
are quacks.

	But to the text.  We want to see a community organized in which every
person will be industrious, faithful and prudent.  What will you do with
the children?  We will bring them up until they are of legal age, then
say, "Go where you please.  We have given you a splendid education, the
advantage of all the learning of the day, and if you do not wish to stay
with the Saints, go where you please."  What will you do with those who
apostatize after having entered into covenant and agreement with others
that their property shall be one, and be in the hands of trustees, and
shall never be taken out?  If any of these parties apostatize, and say we
wish to withdraw from this community, what will you do with them?  We will
say to them, "Go, and welcome," and if we are disposed to give them
anything, it is all right.  

	Where are we going to find the greatest difficulty and obstruction
with regard to this organization?  In the purse of the rich?  No, not by
any means.  I have got some brethren who are just as close, tight and
penurious as I am myself, but I would rather take any moneyed man in this
community, and undertake to manage him, than some men who are not worth a
dollar in the world.  Some of this class are too independent.  They would
say, "I'll go a fishing," or "I guess I'll go a riding, where I please." 
Well, if I were to give out word, and say to the community, Send in your
names, I want to see who are willing to go into an organization of this
kind, who do you suppose would write to me first?  The biggest thieves in
the community.  Do not be shocked at that, any of you, whether you are
strangers or not, for we have some of the meanest men that ever disgraced
God's footstool right in the midst of the Latter-day Saints.  Do not be
startled at that, because it is true.  I have told the people many a time,
if they want anything done, no matter how mean, they can find men here who
can do it, if they are to be found on the earth.  I can not help this. 
You recollect that Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a net which
gathered all kinds.  If our net has not gathered all kinds, I wonder where
the kinds are that we have not got.  I say that some of the worst men in
the community would be the first ones to proffer their names to go into
such an association.  I do not want them there.  Is this the fact?  Yes it
is.  I understand it exactly.  But if such a community could be organized,
to show the Latter-day Saints how to build up the kingdom of heaven on the
earth, I would be glad to see it--would not you? If this could be done I
want to say to the Latter-day Saints, that I have a splendid place, large
enough for about five hundred or a thousand persons to settle upon, and I
would like to be the one to make a donation of it, with a good deal more,
to start the business, to see if we can actually accomplish the affair,
and show the Latter-day Saints how to build up Zion.  Not to make a mock
of it.  Not go and preach the Gospel without purse and scrip, and gather
up the poor and needy, and have them bring Babylon with them.  Leave
Babylon out of the question.  Make our own clothing, but do not put
seventeen or twenty-one yards in a single dress, neither be attired so as
to look like a camel.  It is not comely, it does not belong to sensible
people, nor to any people who wish to carry themselves justly and
correctly, before the heavens and intelligent men.

		If the ladies want silks, we have the mulberry here of all
kinds; we have the silkworm eggs here, and we have made the silk.  Go to
work now and raise worms, and wind the silk, and weave it and make all the
satin ribbons you wish for.  We have men and women here, who did nothing
all their lives before they came here but weave satin ribbons and satin
cloth.  This is their business, they know how to get it up.  If you will
raise the silk, dress yourselves just as beautifully as you please.

	By and by when this people learn the value of the mulberry and the
silkworm, you will see the women with their few trees in their yards and
around their lots, and for shade trees in the streets; and the children
will be picking the leaves and feeding the worms, and they will get up
silk dresses here like those in the east Indies.  The silk dresses they
make there you can put them on and wear them until you are tired of them,
and almost from generation to generation.  We can make them here just as
good.  And we can have coats and vests and pants made of our home-grown
material, which a man would wear for his best suit, and hand down to his
posterity.  When we have learned the worth of silk we will make it and use
it instead of linen.  We have a splendid country for raising silk, but not
a good country to raise flax in; splendid for raising wool, grain, fruit,
vegetables, cattle, milk, butter and cheese, and here we are importing our
cheese.  We ought to be making cheese by the hundreds of tons.  We ought
to export it in quantities; but instead of that we are sending to the
States for it.

	Where are your cows?  Have you taken care of them?  If you see a
community organized as they should be, they will take care of their
calves; they will have something to feed them on in the winter, and they
will take care of their stock and not let it perish.  What a sin it is to
the Latter-day Saints, if they did but know it, to abuse their
stock--their cattle, milch cows and horses!  Through the summer they will
work and use them, and in the winter turn them out to live or die as they
can, taking no care of that which God has given them.  Were it not for the
ignorance of the people, the Lord would curse them for such things.

	We ought to learn some of these facts, and try to shape our lives so
as to be useful.  Let the  men make their lives useful.  Let the women
make their lives useful.  Mothers, teach your daughters how to keep house,
and not how to spend everything they can get hold of.  I will just say a
few words on this subject.  We have hundreds of young men here who dare
not take girls for wives.  Why?  Because the very first thing, they want a
horse and buggy, anda piano; they want somebody to come every day to give
them lessons on the piano; they want two hired girls and a mansion, so
that they can entertain company, and the boys are afraid to marry them. 
Now mothers, teach your girls better things than these.  What are the
facts in the case?  If you had been brought up to know what property--fine
furniture, carpets, and so on, was worth, you would take care of it, and
be prudent in the use of it, and teach your girls to take care, instead of
wasting it.  Do you believe it?  This does not hit all, but too many.  I
wish you would hearken to these things.  I am taking up the time, and not
giving to others the opportunity to address you.  We have not said what we
want to say to the Latter-day Saints.  We ought to have a house four times
as large as this, and we ought to fill it; and we ought to sit together
not only four days, but a week and perhaps two weeks, and leave home at
home, leave Babylon in Babylon--leave everything and come here to worship
the living God, and learn of his ways, that we may walk in his paths. 
This is our duty, and what we should do.  But there are so many who can
hardly spend time to go to Conference.  They have so much bnsiness [sic]
on hand, so many cattle to take care of; they have money to let out, or
money borrow; they have men to see to, or something or other, and it seems
as if the affections of the people are hankering after the things of this
world too much, too much!  Stop, Latter-day Saints, and reckon with
yourselves, and find whether you are actually in the path of obedience to
the requirements of heaven or not.  Some suppose that they are serving God
and are on the road to eternal life, but many will find they are mistaken
if they are not careful.  We had better reckon with ourselves and look
over our accounts, and see how we stand before the lord.  See if we are
doing good, if we are bestowing our substance on the poor, that they may
have food to eat and habitations to dwell in, and be made comfortable: see 
if we are sending our means for the poor in foreign lands, and aiding to
send the Elders to preach to the nations and gather up the people and make
them happy and comfortable.  Instead of doing this I fear that many are
wandering away from the commandments of the Lord.  "O fools, and slow of
heart to believe!"  We can get rich a great deal quicker by serving God
than by serving ourselves, do a great deal better, and do a great deal
more good.  The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.  He is
anxious, and is waiting with extended arms and hands, comparatively, to
pour the wealth of the world into the laps of the Latter-day Saints, if
they will not give it away to their enemies.  But now, just as soon as
anything is given to the Latter-day Saints they are looking from east to
west, and from north to south, to see where they can strew that that God
gives them among their enemies--those who spurn the things of God, and
would destroy his kingdom from the earth.  I say, let the Lord keep us
poor rather than forsake our religion and turn away from it!  Why can not
a man serve God with his pockets full of greenbacks, and not lust after
them one particle?  If he can not do it, he is lacking in wisdom, faith,
and knowledge, and does not understand God an his ways.  The heavens and
the earth are full of blessings for the people.  To whom do they belong? 
To our Father in heaven, and he wishes to bestow them upon his children
when they can receive and dispose of them to his name's glory.

	We shall have to stop here.  We are going to adjourn our Conference,
though we have not said half what we wish to say to you and to ourselves,
for we want to be co-workers together.  Now let me say to the First
Presidency, to the Apostles, to all the Bishops in Israel, and to every
quorum, and especially to those who are presiding officers, Set that
example before your wives and your children, before your neighbors and
this people, that you can say:  "Follow me, as I follow Christ."  When we
do this, all is right, and our consciences are clear.

	God bless you.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG.
            Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, 
                     Sunday afternoon, April 6, 1873.
                       Reported by David W. Evans.
          FRIENDS AND ENEMIES--OBJECT OF GATHERING--BABYLON TO 
             BE FORSAKEN--PRAYER--PERSONALITY OF THE GODHEAD.

	 In my remarks to you I want your eyes, ears, attention and faith.
This is the Forty-third Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, and we have assembled together for the purpose of being
benefited. We like to see and hear each other, we like to give and receive
counsel, and we like, above all things, to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord.
In singing, praying, speaking and hearing, and in all duties devolving
upon us upon such occasions as this, the Spirit of the Lord is the best of
all.

	I have a great many reflections with regard to the Latter-day Saints
and the work in which they are engaged. I have many reflections in regard
to the world of mankind. We all enjoy the power of sight, but how
differently we look at and comprehend things! And we are very much like
the people who have lived before us. We are a strange and curious
composition--no two alike. Of all the faces before me this afternoon there
are no two alike. We might possibly find those whose judgment would be
pretty much alike on various subjects, still there are no two whose
judgments are precisely the same. Human life is a great stage, and it
contains a very great variety of scenes and scenery, of thought and
action. Some are not very beautiful, others are, and they are painted with
fine colors. We see all this before us, and each and every person has the
privilege of judging for himself, and upon each different impressions are
produced.

	I see a large congregation before me this afternoon of people called
Latter-day Saints. If the world of mankind were to give their opinion
concerning us they would use terms I heard frequently this
morning--"enemy," "enemies," "our enemies." These expressions would be
frequently heard from the inhabitants of the earth about the Latter-day
Saints, for the impression has existed and has been growing stronger for
years past, that this strange people--the Latter-day Saints--are the
enemies of mankind. I do not wish to convey the idea that all the
inhabitants of the earth consider this people their enemies, but there are
those who wish to have this impression or belief prevail. I hear many of
the Elders of Israel refer to the outside world as enemies. I do it myself
at certain times and on certain occasions, for certain deeds wrought by
those who wish to destroy the truth from the earth, for every person who
would uproot the truth of God is mine enemy, he would destroy me if he had
the power. What shall we say of those who desire peace and whose hearts
are filled with good will towards their fellowmen? We say peace to such
persons, and give them ours and God's blessing.

	Who is the enemy of mankind? He who wishes to change truth for error
and light for darkness; he who wishes to take peace from a family, city,
state or nation and give the sword in return. He is my enemy, he is your
enemy and the enemy of mankind. Who is the friend of mankind? He who makes
peace between those who are at enmity, who brings together those who,
perhaps, through some misunderstanding, have been at variance with and
lost friendship and fellowship for each other, and shows them that their
ill-will is without foundation and existed simply because they did not
understand each other. To illustrate we will suppose that two men come in
the same car to this city. One of them is full of deception and carries
false colors. If he speaks a word that would become a gentleman, it is not
because he feels it, for in his heart he is cursing and damning, and his
purpose is to sow discord and enmity among the people in a neighborhood.
He delights to set the members of one family jarring with each other. He
will teach the youth to believe that such or such persons are their
enemies and it is no harm to burn their houses down, to take their horses,
cut their carriages to pieces, to open the gate of their garden or field
and let somebody's cattle in. Such a person is an enemy of mankind. But
the other one is a friend. If he sees his neighbor's gate open, he shots
it; if cattle are in a neighbor's field, he tells him of the mischief that
is being done. If he sees a fence down, and there is none of the family to
come and put it up, he gets out of his carriage, or off his horse, or if
he is afoot, he steps to the fence, turns the cattle out, puts up the
fence or shuts the gate and prevents further mischief on his neighbor's
premises. Who is your enemy and mine? He that teaches language that is
unbecoming, that presents falsehood for truth, that furnishes false
premises to build upon instead of true, or that is full of anger and
mischief to his fellow beings. I call no other enemies, except such
characters as I have names. There is no question that many have done much
mischief while in ignorance of what they were doing. I have no doubt that
the soldiers who were commanded to nail the Savior to the cross did not
realize what they were doing. They treated him as they did the thieves,
whom they knew to be worthy of death; but through prejudice,
over-persuasion and much talk by the priest, Scribes, Pharisees and
people, they perhaps supposed they were doing God's service when they
crucified Jesus. But is was an enemy that did it, it was a bad act, a very
heinous crime, it--but I pause. The question may be asked, What would have
been the consequence suppose the Savior had not been crucified? I can only
answer by saying that he was. The Scriptures say that offences must needs
come, but woe to him by whom they come. But we will resume our subject.
Who is the man that is an enemy to his nation? The one that breeds
mischief, prompts strife, and brings sorrow among the people.

	Now to the Latter-day Saints--What are you here for? Can you answer
this question? Many of you can. One brother says, "Why, I came here to
join the Saints." "Where did you come from?" "I lived in Scotland. I
worked in the mines, or in the factory, or in iron works." "What did you
come here for?" "When I heard the Gospel preached I believed it, and I
received a desire to leave my neighbors. I believed the Bible and the Book
of Mormon; I believed that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. My neighbors said,
`Oh folly, oh fool. There goes a Mormon,' and they pointed the finger of
scorn at me." This is the spirit of the world, but if there had been no
persecution whatever in the feelings of his neighbors he would have had a
desire to leave his home and old associates to join the Saints, for the
Spirit he received prompted him to do this. Ask a sister, "What are you
here for?" "Why, I came here so that I could live my religion a little
better than I could in Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, France,
Scandinavia," or wherever it might be that she came from. Ask another man,
"What did you gather to these mountains for?" "Well, I think I came here
because of my religion. I used to think I wanted to gather up with the
Saints. I like their society, and when I came up here I really delighted
to be with them." "What are you doing now, brother?" "Well, I am trying to
do about the best I possibly can. Here are a few dollars I want to pay on
Tithing." "Have you paid your Tithing this year?" "No." "Did you pay it
last year?" "No." "Have you not paid Tithing lately?" "No." "What is the
reason?" "Why, I am after gold and silver, and the riches in these
mountains, in this trade, I am after the world, I am after Babylon." This
is the conduct. I do not ask for words, I do not ask anybody to get up and
declare that their affections are turned away from the holy Gospel of life
and salvation, and turned to the world. Let me see their daily walk and
know their life, and I know what their thoughts and feelings are. And the
sister that comes here for the Gospel's sake, her mind is so frivolous and
easily wrought upon that she is led by every wind and breeze of fashion
that blows through the streets here. "Oh, don't you see that lady's
dress?" "Here, look here, did you see that lady walking down the street?"
"Yes." "What a beautiful dress she has got on! Oh dear, how I want such a
dress!" Go down the street and you can see it; go up the street and you
can see it; go into the workshops, and even into the kanyons, and you can
see it. What of it? Latter-day Saints, what of it? "Oh, I do love Babylon
so well." "I do want a new dress." "I do want to go into the mines and
dig." "I have a claim, and I am just going into the mountains to dig,"
says a brother. Another one says, "I have served the Lord about long
enough, and I a going to serve myself now." This is the way with one here
and another there, and if they have not got Babylon they want to get it.
And here comes along a man who professes to be a Latter-day Saint, and the
first you know he is using the name of the Deity in vain, and it is
"curse" this, and "curse" that, with the name of our Father in heaven
attached to it. Is that according to the faith that we have embraced?
Mingle with the Latter-day Saints, and see them playing on the stage of
life, and watch how some of them will change their colors and their coats,
and some come out in one fashion and some in another, according to the
circumstances in which they are placed.

	Here we are assembled in the capacity of a general Conference.
Babylon is in the hearts of the people, that is to say, there is too much
of it. What did you come here for? "Why," says one, "I understood they
were getting rich in Utah, and I though I would gather up with the
Latter-day Saints and get rich also." Without making many remarks on this
subject, I want to say to every one of those who come up here, their minds
filled with Babylon, and longing for the fashions and wealth of the world,
you may heap up gold and silver, but it will leave you, or you will leave
it, you cannot take it with you, and you will go down to hell.

	Perhaps I may be considered their enemy by some of those called
Latter-day Saints, and by outsiders, for telling them these things. That
is no matter, it is for their life and salvation that I tell them. If I
should see men and women going blindfolded to an awful precipice, and not
hail them and warn them of their danger, I should be guilty, and perhaps
their blood would be found on my skirts. I will say, at once, not
prolonging my remarks or multiplying words, that if my brethren and
sisters do not walk up to the principles of the holy Gospel of life and
salvation, they will be removed out of their places, and others will be
called to occupy them. Elders of Israel, High Priests, Seventies, High
Councilors, Presidents, brethren and sisters, no matter who, if you have
an idea that you are going to take Babylon--I use this term, because it is
well understood that Babylon means confusion, discord, strife, folly and
all the vanities the world possesses--if you have the idea that you are
going to take Babylon in one hand, and with the other cling to the Savior
and drag yourselves into his presence, you will find yourselves mistaken,
for he will drop you, and you will sink. You may just as well believe this
to-day, and shape your lives accordingly, as to betray yourselves.

	There are a great many who say, "Why, yes, I say my prayers I do not
use the name of the Lord in vain, I do not injure my neighbor." That is
true. How many of the Latter-day Saints live like this? I am pretty well
acquainted with them. I see and understand their feelings by their works,
and I can say that a large majority of the Latter-day Saints are a good,
obedient, faithful, God-fearing, God-loving people, and yet we fellowship
those who are full of iniquity and evil, individuals who are full of the
spirit of anti-Christ. I talk and tell the truth to the good and to the
evil, and I wish to comprehend the whole; and I tell you to-day that if
our minds are not made up to serve God, if we are not for Christ, and for
his kingdom upon the earth; if we are not willing to devote our time,
talents, means, influence and everything that he has given into our
possession, we are not in the way we should walk. I know that it may be
said, and with great propriety, "Why, my brother, we can not be sanctified
in one day, we cannot overcome every evil and every passion in one day."
That is true, but this holy desire can dwell in the heart of every
individual from the time that he or she is convinced that God reigns, that
he is establishing his kingdom on the earth, that Jesus is our Savior,
that the holy Gospel has presented to us the way of life and salvation,
and we believe it and can receive it with our whole hearts--I say we can
have that holy and pure desire from that moment to the end of our lives,
and in possessing this we have faith and favor before the Lord, and his
grace is with us by the power of his Holy Spirit, and by this we can
overcome temptations as we meet them. This is my experience, that is
pretty good proof, is it not? And I have more evidence than this--this is
the experience and testimony of every Latter-day Saint who has lived his
or her religion since obeying the Gospel. Their testimony will corroborate
mine, and strengthen the faith of all.

	I have not preached much to you this winter, and I pause and think. I
was in the stone quarry the other day, and saw the men breaking a large
granite rock. They first drilled the holes so as to break the rock in a
direct line. I saw one man take up his hammer and give a blow. It was too
hard. Said I, "My father taught me in my youth that light knocks would
split great blocks. Tap light next time." The quarryman did this and
pretty soon the rock divided almost as evenly as though it had been
jointed. I wish to make an application of this to this people assembled
here. If I and my brethren had strength, we would meet together here about
one week, to begin with, then go to our work for a few weeks, and then we
would come together again. By continuing this course, I expect that in
about three months we could get the feelings of this people warmed up like
wax before the flame, so that we could get at their judgment and
affections and we could actually mould them over, and make them realize
the work that they are engaged in. But to do it in one day would be like
driving the wedges so fast that you would split the rock where you would
not want it split. Still, many who want to receive the word can, and I say
to all, you and I must be Latter-day Saints or we are not walking in the
path that God has marked out for us. "What do you mean by the path that
God has marked out for us. "What do you mean by that, brother Brigham? I
want to know what you mean by that, I can not understand it." This is the
difficulty, but thank kind heaven, I have found out in my experience, that
learning a, b, c, d, does not hinder me learning e, f, g. I thank my
Creator that the principle is implanted within us, that we can learn, if
it takes a long time, and by a close application of the ability that God
has given us, we can improve and in time become Saints in very deed. Were
it not for this I should have been discouraged long ago. But I know that
we can learn to be Saints if we are disposed to. Practice your religion
to-day, and say your prayers faithfully.

	Says a brother, "I pray in my family sometimes, and sometimes I do
not feel like it, and I do not pray in my family. Sometimes I am in a
hurry, my work is driving me, my cattle are in mischief, and I do not feel
like praying."

	If I do not feel like praying, and asking my Father in heaven to give
me a morning blessing, and to preserve me and my family and the good upon
the earth through the day, I should say, "Brigham, get down here, on your
knees, bow your body down before the throne of Him who rules in the
heavens, and stay there until you can feel to supplicate at that throne of
grace erected for sinners."

	"Well, but I am in a hurry, and my cattle, perhaps, are in mischief
and my work is driving me." I should say, if the cattle are in the corn,
"Eat away;" if they are in the wheat, "Eat away, eat the wheat, we have
more than we can use any how;" and if the children are in mischief and
this wants seeing to, and that wants seeing to, I say, "Kneel down before
the Lord and there stay until this body learns obedience, until my tongue
learns to praise his name, and to ask for the blessing I need."

	"Well, but are you not afraid you will come to want?" Bless me, if I
had all the gold and silver on the earth and no prayers, I should be in
greater want than I should be with the prayers and without the gold and
silver. I will make an application of this with regard to the feelings of
the people. It is true that you and I can not learn every thing at once,
but we can learn one thing at once and the one thing above all others that
we should make it our business to learn it to yield strict obedience to
the requirements of heaven, and we can learn that to-day just as well as
any other time, and just as well as to spend a lifetime in doing it.

	Now, Latter-day Saints, do you know what you are here for? You know
there is a field opens before us in talking about what we are here for,
why the Lord suffers what we now behold, and why he permits this and
permits that. It is all perfectly reasonable and rational, all according
to his providences and his dealings with the children of men. I can say to
all that you have got to learn this one fact--the Lord will have a tried
people, and if my wife or my daughter can not see and pass by, as things
of naught, the follies of fashion, she has not learned here duty, she has
not learned the spirit of her religion, and is not in the full enjoyment
of the Spirit of God. Fashions are nothing to me, one way or the other.
How long is it since ladies wore bonnets into which you would have to look
with a spyglass if you wished to see their faces, and then from their
faces to the crown of the head. From this fashion they got to one in which
one flower or leaf and five yard of ribbon made a complete head dress.
What of these fashions? They are nothing here nor there, and by trying we
can learn to pass by every needless fashion, and to stop the use of every
needless word, and to carry ourselves correctly before the Lord.

	Now let us consider, are we for the kingdom of heaven? "Oh yes," "Oh
yes," everybody says, "certainly we are." Are we for happiness? Yes,
certainly, the whole world is with us there. There is no person but what
would say, Give me power, give me influence, give me wealth, give me gold
and silver, houses and lands, goods and chattels, tenements, horses,
carriages, friends, families, associations, &c. The whole world will join
in saying, Give us heaven and happiness; but talk to them about
"Mormonism," and they will say, "your doctrine is a speculation." The cry
with regard to brother Joseph was, "He is a money digger, he is a
speculator." Well, how long was it before the whole world was on his track
digging money? It is no disgrace just as soon as the world commenced
digging money, but when there were only a few accused of it, it was a
disgrace. How things are changed! How differently we look upon our bonnets
now! If a lady were to enter this building wearing an old-fashioned
head-dress everybody would be looking at her. If a lady were to come into
this assembly with sixteen yards of cloth--I am talking extravagantly now
to illustrate--in her two sleeves, and only four in the waist and skirt of
her dress, how ridiculous it would appear, would it not? And yet something
very much like that was once the fashion.

	I look at this and make the application. The world would say, "Yes,
if you are going to have happiness, we want some; if you are going to have
gold and silver, look here, we shall come in for a share." Very good, all
right. I used to tell the people--bless your heart, you accuse me of being
in a speculation, and so I am. You cry out that the "Mormon" leaders are
for speculation, for money making. We go in for wealth. I used to tell the
people, and I tell them the same now, I do not go in for a few millions, I
go in for the pile, and I calculate to have it. "How are you going to get
it?" By serving God will all my heart and being a Saint indeed, and when
the earth and its fullness are given into the hands of the Saints, I shall
go in for my share--the whole pile. I used to say, "Why, brother Joseph is
the greatest speculator I have heard of in modern times--he is going to
have the whole earth. Jesus is coming to earth to reign King of nations,
and he is going to share the gold and silver with his brethren. That is
not all--all things are yours for time and eternity--the heights and
depths, the lengths and breadths, crowns of glory and immortality and
eternal lives are yours." Well, I go in for the pile.

	I want to ask, Am I an enemy of mankind? Is a Latter-day Saint am
enemy of mankind? No. I say to the intelligent world, if they did but know
it, we in connection with God, Jesus the Mediator, angels, the good that
are on the earth and the good that have been, are the only friends of
mankind upon the face of the earth. That is a great word to say, and some
may think it is extravagant. They say, "See what our benevolent societies,
our ministers, our kings and our rich people are doing for the poor, and
then say that the Latter-day Saints are the only friends of mankind." I
want to say to all the world that no good or benevolent act, no act that
sustains innocence, virtue and truth and does good to the human family
will go unrewarded of the Creator. So not be discouraged. Have they done
any good? Yes, a great deal of it. The christian world have sent forth
their missionaries and they have done a great deal of good, but they could
do a great deal more of they had a mind to. They hedge up the way and try
to destroy the little good they have done by instilling into the hearts of
the people the necessity of dwelling in darkness and remaining in
ignorance, and preventing them from receiving the Gospel. This is their
practice, and in this they are doing injury, but they have done a great
deal of good.

	What are we hated for? What do men lie about us for, and send forth
their lies to the world right from this place? Are they who do this the
friends of mankind? No, they are their enemies. They plant falsehood in
the hearts of thousands of people. One liar is like a bad king. A corrupt
and wicked king can corrupt a whole nation. On liar can deceive thousands.
They are not the friends of mankind. Why are we hate? Is our religion
obnoxious? Why?

	"Because of this one man power, because of the great influence there
is in the midst of the people to unite them together."

	Do you not read in your Bibles that except ye are one ye are not the
Lord's? Do you not read in the Bible, that you have had all your lives,
that you must love God with all your hearts, that you must be united, that
you must receive the Gospel of Christ? Do you not read that there is but
one faith, one Lord one baptism, one God and Father of all, &c.? Certainly
you do. Well, we believe these things, but does that prove that we are the
enemies of mankind? No, it proves that we are their friends. Why do we
differ from them, and why do they differ from us? I can tell it in a few
words--it is simply because we are disposed to believe the truth, and they
are disposed to reject it. They are disposed to live and drink water, if
they can get it, from cisterns that will hold no water. Is there anybody,
do you think who has transgressed the laws of God? Has anybody ever
changed the ordinances of the house of God? Was there ever any such thing
done as to destroy the principles pertaining to the ordinances of the
house of God? Why, yes, in ancient days.

	Well, we know the reason why, we know why they did it--they hewed to
themselves cisterns that would hold no water? Do we, as Christians, teach
the Gospel according to Saint Mark, St. John, St. Luke, Matthew, Paul,
Peter and James and the rest of the apostles and the disciples of the
Lord? Do we teach the same doctrine as the Christian world? No, we do not.
Do we teach the same doctrine as the Christian world? No, we do not. Do we
teach the same doctrine as Jesus and his Apostles? Yes, we preach the same
Gospel. How many modes of baptism have the so-called Christian world? I do
not know how many. One is by immersion, or being buried in the water.
Another it to get down on your knees and have water poured on the head;
another is to stand up and have water poured on the head; another is to
have somebody dip his fingers in water and touch the forehead with it;
another is to plunge face foremost, and how many more modes of baptism
there are I do not know. How many there are who say that all these are
outward ordinances and that they are non-essential? Did God ever say this?
No. Jesus? No. Any of the Apostles ever say anything of the kind? No, they
did not. Has any man in modern times received a revelation from heaven,
doing away with the ordinances of the house of God? No, only false
revelations; and we ask the simple question, If our doctrine is not true,
and if there is no necessity for the ordinances of the house of God, will
you not be pleased to tell us the name of the man who received, and the
place where he received a revelation from God doing away with his own
ordinances, and declaring that all miracles were to cease? &c. It is true
that we differ from the Christian world in our faith in regard to these
things. Does this prove that we are their enemies? No, it proves that we
are their friends. We believe in doctrines that they do not believe in,
and we disbelieve in some fanciful ideas that they profess to hold as
doctrine. For instance they hold that God is an imaginary being. They
cannot tell where nor how he lives, nor anything concerning his character,
whether he is material or immaterial; but, like many of the most eminent
divines, who have spread it through their pages for the people to read,
they have come to the conclusion that the centre of God is everywhere and
his circumference nowhere-one of the most vain ideas that could be
conceived by any intelligent being. Then what is their idea of the soul of
man? That it is an immaterial substance. Who ever heard of such a thing?
Ask any true philosopher if he can explain the meaning of an "immaterial
substance." It is like the centre of a being everywhere and his
circumference nowhere, or like being seated on the top of a topless
throne. These are self-confounding expressions, and there is no meaning to
any of them. We differ from them in our ideas of God. We know that he is a
Being--a man--with all the component parts of an intelligent being--head,
hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, cheek bones, forehead, chin, body, lower
limbs; that he eats, drinks, talks, lives and has a being, and has a
residence, and his presence fills immensity as far as you and I know. We
differ with them, for we know that the Lord has sent forth his laws,
commandments and ordinances to the children of men, and requires them to
be strictly obeyed, and we do not wish to transgress those laws, but to
keep them. We do not wish to change his ordinances, but to observe them;
we do not with to break the everlasting covenant, but to keep that with
our fathers, with Jesus, with our Father in heaven, with holy angels, and
to live according to them. We differ with them in the tenets of religion,
we cannot help it. We would not believe "Mormonism," as it is called, if
it were not for one thing. I never would have believed it if it had not
been for one simple thing. What do you think that is? It is true. I
believed it because of that. What a strange idea! If it had not been true
I would not have believed it, but being true I happened to believe it.

	Now there is quite a difference between me and the man who stands up
to teach the people what he says is the way of life and salvation, and who
has transgressed every law that God ever gave, who has changed every one
of the ordinances of his house, and broken every covenant that he has made
with the children of men. What do you know, Mr. Divine, about glory,
exaltation, happiness and eternal lives? I will answer for him, and say,
nothing at all. What do you know about God? Nothing at all. What do you
know about his dwelling-place? Nothing at all. What about his person?
Nothing at all. Pardon me for making these expressions, but look on this
stage which I brought before the congregation--the human family acting and
bringing out what they have behind the scenes. What a spectacle it
presents!

	Are we the enemies of mankind? No, we are their only friends, and we
calculate to hang on until we save the last son and daughter of Adam and
Eve that can receive salvation. We calculate to be co-workers with Jesus,
our Savior, until the last man and woman that can be saved is placed in
the kingdom or mansion prepared for them, and none will be lost or turned
away except those who sin against the Holy Ghost. What do you think of it?
An enemy of mankind! Shame on the expression! and shame on those who give
utterance to it when speaking of the Latter-day Saints. We have the
oracles, the law and the commandments; we have all the laws or ordinances
necessary to reach and take hold of our fathers, mothers, grandfathers and
those who have lived before us, and to bring them up to eternal life. What
divine teaches this doctrine? If there is no resurrection, says Paul, why
then are ye baptized for the dead? It is the only expression that alludes
to the doctrine of baptism for the dead in the New Testament, but it is
true. We have this law, we have the ordinances. We have a knowledge of the
covenants necessary to reach and pick up the last man and woman that has
lived on the earth, and we calculate to preach the Gospel to the living
until the line is drawn and Jesus comes to reign King of nations as he
does King of Saints, and the separation is made. But until then the wheat
and the tares will grow together. We are together now, the wheat and the
tares are here.

	Now let us see your wheat heads bow down as though you were fully
ripe or preparing to be so, your whole hearts and labors for the kingdom
of God. The wicked may flourish for awhile like a green bay tree, but by
and by they will be cut down, and the righteous will go forth and inherit
the kingdom, which may God grant to be our happy lot for Jesus' sake.
Amen.


                    REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG
             Delivered at the General Conference, in the New 
               Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Morning, 
                              April 7, 1873.
                       Reported by David W. Evans.
          THE ORDER OF ENOCH--STUDY OF LAW--HOW TO BECOME RICH.

	There are a few minutes to spare, and I wish to lay some matters
before you. I will say, first, that the Lord Almighty has not the least
objection in the world to our entering into the Order of Enoch. I will
stand between the people and all harm in this. He has not the least
objection to any man, every man, all mankind on the face of the earth
turning from evil and loving and serving him with all their hearts. With
regard to all those orders that the Lord has revealed, it depends upon the
will and doings of the people, and we are at liberty, from this
Conference, to go and build up a settlement, or we can join ourselves
together in this city, do it legally--according to the laws of the
land--and enter into covenant with each other by a firm agreement that we
will live as a family, that we will put our property into the hands of a
committee of trustees, who shall dictate the affairs of this society. If
any man can bring up anything to prove to the contrary I am willing to
hear it. But no man can do it.

	Brother Pratt has told you, in his explanations this morning, what
the Lord has revealed and how he has been merciful to the people; and when
we have not been willing to be Latter-day Saints altogether, but only in
part, he has said, "Well, you are the best there is, and I will accept of
you. I can not get anybody else who is willing to be part Saints, and I
will lead you, my people, as long as you will let me, and I will forgive
you your sins this time, and I will accept part of your property if you
will not give it all,: etc., all showing the kindness and forbearance of
our Father in heaven; but he has not the least objection in the world to
our being perfect Saints.

	I have a few things to lay before the Conference, one of which
is--and I think my brethren will agree with me that this is wise and
practicable--for from one to five thousand of our young and middle-aged
men to turn their attention to the study of law. I would not speak lightly
in the least of law, we are sustained by it; but what is called the
practice of law is not always the administration of justice, and would not
be so considered in many courts. How many lawyers are there who spend
their time from morning till night in thinking and planning how they can
get up a lawsuit against this or that man, and get his property into their
possession? Men of this class are land sharks, and they are no better than
highway robbers, for their practice is to deceive and take advantage of
all they can. I do not say that this is the law, but this is the practice
of some of its professors. The effort of such lawyers, if they are paid
well, is to clear and turn loose on society the thief, perjurer and
murderer. They say to the dishonest and those who are disposed to do evil,
"Go and lay claim to your neighbor's property, or to that which is not
your own, or commit some other act of injustice, and pay us, and we will
clear you and make your claim appear just in the eye of the law;" and
officers and judges too often join in the unrighteous crusades for the
lawyers to wrong the just. I have been in courts and have heard lawyers
quote laws that had been repealed for years and the judge was so ignorant
that he did not know it, and the lawyer would make him give a decision
according to laws which no longer existed. Now, I request our brethren to
go and study law, so that when they meet any of this kind of lawyers they
will be able to thwart their vile plans. I do not by any means say these
things of all lawyers for we have good and just men who are lawyers, and
we would like to have a great many more. You go to one of the pettifogging
class of lawyers, and get him to write a deed for you, and he will do it
so that it can be picked to pieces by other lawyers. Employ such a man to
write a deed, bond, mortgage or any instrument of writing, and his study
will be to do it so that it will confound itself. This is the way that
such men make business for their class. We want from one to five thousand
of our brethren to go and study law.

	If I could get my own feelings answered I would have law in our
school books, and have our youth study law at school. Then lead their
minds to study the decisions and counsels of the just and the wise, and
not forever be studying how to get the advantage of their neighbor. This
is wisdom.

	My mind is so led upon the subject brother Pratt has been speaking
upon with regard to the orders that God has revealed that I can hardly let
it alone when I am talking to the people. He said there are many rich men
who are willing to do anything that the Lord requires of them. I believe
this, and there is quite a number of poor men, likewise, who would like to
do anything if they could only know that it was the will of the Lord. I am
about to make an application of my remarks with regard to the willingness
of men. But in this I shall except brother Pratt, for the simple reason
that I do not know a man who is more willing to do what he is told than he
is. If he is told to teach mathematics, he is willing to do it; if he is
told to make books, preach the Gospel, work in a garden or tend cattle, he
is willing to do it, and I know of no man more willing to do anything and
everything required of him than he is. But I want to say to our willing,
kind, good brethren that, so far as obeying the orders which God has
revealed, I can bring the rich into line quicker than I can get many poor
men who are not worth a dollar, and who do not know how to raise a
breakfast to-morrow morning. I have tried both, and know. Who is there
among us who came here rich? It was alluded to by brother Pratt. Look over
our rich men, where are they? Who is there among the Latter-day Saints
that is wealthy? When I came to this valley I was a thousand dollars in
debt. I left everything. I think I got about three hundred dollars, a span
of horses, and a little carriage, for all my property I left in Nauvoo.
But I bought cattle, horses and wagons, and traded and borrowed and got
the poor here by scores myself; and I have paid for these teams since I
have been here.

	When I got here I was in debt only about a thousand dollars for
myself and family to a merchant in Winter Quarters, but I was in debt for
others, and I have paid the last dime that I know anything about. When I
reached here I could not pay one-tenth--I could not pay my surplus--I
could not give my all--for I had nothing.

	Here is Horace S. Eldredge, he is one of our wealthy men. What did he
have when he came here? Nothing that I know of, except just enough to get
here with his family. William Jennings has been called a millionaire. What
was he worth when he came here? He had comparatively little. Now he is one
of our wealthy men. William H. Hooper is another of our wealthy men. He is
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. How much had he to pay as surplus
when he came here. He could pay no surplus, for he was worth nothing; but
he is now wealthy. If he had gone to California I believe he would have
been poor to-day.

	There is any amount of property, and gold and silver in the earth and
on the earth, and the Lord gives to this one and that one--the wicked as
well as the righteous--to see what they will do with it, but it all
belongs to him. He has handed over a goodly portion to this people, and,
through our faith, patience and industry, we have made us good,
comfortable homes here, and there are many who are tolerably well off, and
if they were in many parts of the world they would be called wealthy. But
it is not ours, and all we have to do is to try and find out what the Lord
wants us to do with what we have in our possession, and then go and do it.
If we step beyond this, or to the right or to the left, we step into an
illegitimate train of business. Our legitimate business is to do what the
Lord wants us to do with that which he bestows upon us, and dispose of it
just as he dictates, whether it is to give all, one-tenth, or the surplus.
I was present at the time the revelation came for the brethren to give
their surplus property into the hands of the Bishops for the building up
of Zion, but I never knew a man yet who had a dollar of surplus property.
No matter how much one might have he wanted all he had for himself, for
his children, his grand-children, and so forth.

	If we are disposed to enter into covenant one with another, and have
an agreement made according to the laws of our land, and we are disposed
to put our property into the hands of trustees, and work as we are
directed--eat, drink, sleep, ride, walk, talk, study, school our children,
our middle-aged and our aged, and learn the arts and sciences, the laws of
the Priesthood, the laws of life, anatomy, physic and anything and
everything useful upon the earth, the Lord has not the least objection in
the world, and would be perfectly willing for us to do it, and I should
like, right well, for us to try it. I know how to start such a society,
right in this city, and how to make its members rich. I would go to now,
and buy out the poorest ward in this city, and then commence with men and
women who have not a dollar in the world. Bring them here from England, or
any part of the earth, set them down in this ward and put them to work,
and in five years we would begin to enter other wards, and we would buy
this house and that house, and the next house, and we would add ward to
ward until we owned the whole city, every dollar's worth or property there
is in it. We could do this, and let the rich go to California to get gold,
and we would buy their property. Would you like to know how to do this? I
can tell you in a very few words--never want a thing you can not get, live
within your means, manufacture that which you wear, and raise that which
you eat. Raise every calf and lamb; raise the chickens, and have your
eggs, make your butter and cheese, and always have a little to spare. The
first year we raise a crop, and we have more than we want. We buy nothing,
we sell a little. The next year we raise more; we buy nothing, and we sell
more. In this way we could pile up the gold and silver and in twenty years
a hundred families working like this could buy out their neighbors. I see
men who ear four, five, ten or fifteen dollars a day and spend every dime
of it. Such men spend their means foolishly, they waste it instead of
taking care of it. They do not know what to do with it, and they seem to
fear that it will burn their pockets, and they get rid of it. If you get a
dollar, sovereign, half-eagle or eagle, and are afraid it will burn your
pockets, put it into a safe. It will not burn anything there, and you will
not be forced to spend, spend, spend as you do now. See our boys here, why
if my boys, by the time they are twenty, have not a horse and carriage to
drive of their own, they think they are very badly used, and say, "Well, I
do not think father thinks much of me." A great many things might be said
on this subject that I do not want to say.

	Brethren, we want you to turn in and study the laws of the Territory
of Utah, of this city and other cities, and then the statues of the United
States, and the Constitution of the United States. Then read the decisions
of the Supreme Court. I do not meant the self-styled "United States
Supreme Court for the Territory of Utah;" but the United States Supreme
Court that sits at Washington--the seat of government. Read up their
decisions, and the decisions of the English judges and the laws of England
of other countries, and learn what they know, and then if you draw up a
will, deed, mortgage or contract, do not study to deceive the man who pays
you for this, but make out a writing or instrument as strong and firm as
the hills, that no man can tear to pieces, and do your business honestly
and uprightly, in the fear of God and with the love of truth in your
heart. The lawyer that will take this course will live nd swim, while the
poor, miserable, dishonest schemers will sink and go down. We live by law,
and I only condemn those among the lawyers who are eternally seeking to
take advantage of their neighbors.

	Now we will close, and adjourn until 2 o'clock this afternoon.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered at the General Conference, in the New 
              Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Afternoon, 
                              April 7, 1873.
                       Reported by David W. Evans.
            ASSISTANCE OF THE LADIES OF THE RELIEF SOCIETIES 
         REQUIRED IN PROMOTING THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND THE 
           PRINTING OF SCHOOL BOOKS--LIGHT AND EASY LABOR NOW 
PERFORMED BY MEN MORE ADAPTED TO WOMEN--SHOULD BE
          SELF-SUSTAINING--FRIVOLITIES AND FASHIONS OF BABYLON 
        SHOULD BE DISCARDED BY THE SISTERS--POVERTY OF THOSE WHO 
                           FOLLOW AFTER MINING.

	I will make a few remarks to the ladies of the Relief Societies.
First of all I can say of a truth that, in sustaining the poor and
ministering to the sick and afflicted, much credit is due to them for the
good they have done; but I wish to add a little to their labors. If these
societies will take into consideration the further duties and obligations
that we are under to each other, and the importance of becoming
self-sustaining, we wish to enlist their interest to aid us in making
paper, by taking steps to collect the rags. We have an excellent paper
mill here, and can make our own paper, as well as to send abroad and pay
out our money for it, and then bring it here. We should cease importing
paper, for paper-making is a branch of manufacture fur which we have all
the necessary facilities, and if we carry it on it will benefit us. We
want the ladies of the Relief Societies to enlist the sympathies of the
children, in their respective Wards throughout the Territory, to save the
paper rags; we want mothers to do this, and also to show their children
how to do it. When you see them throwing them out of doors, say, "Stop, my
child, put that into the basket," or other place designated. "We will wash
these rags, and when we get enough of them we will sell them and buy some
books for you to read." If we can only enlist the feelings of the sisters
on behalf of this great interest, it will lay the foundation for printing
the books that we need in our own community, and then we can save this
expense also. This is the first step. We want these cart loads of cloth
saved that we now see kicked around the streets and lying around the
yards. Go to the poorest family in this community, and I will venture to
say that they waste rags enough every year to buy the school books that
are needed for their children, and do even more. This is slothfulness and
neglect, and produces wickedness. To be prudent and saving, and to use the
elements in our possession for our benefit and the benefit of our fellow
beings is wise and righteous; but to be slothful, wasteful, lazy and
indolent, to spend our time and means for naught, is unrighteous; and we
might think of this, and contemplate the facts in the case until our
feelings and interest are so far enlisted that we will save our paper
rags, and take them to the paper mill.

	When this is done I want the sisters to so far use the abilities
which God has given them as to learn to set type, and have your printing
office and carry it on. It looks very unbecoming to me to see a great, big
six-footer stand and pick up little type and put it in its place to make a
word or a sentence, a book or a paper; and when he has got his stickfull,
taking the type out of the stick and setting it on the galley. To see a
great six-footer doing this, and measuring off tape, which is about the
same, has always appeared to me, according to that which I understand, as
if men were out of their place. I have thought so all my days. I have
occasionally seen women in the harvest field, ploughing, raking and making
hay, and sometimes, though very seldom, I have seen them pitch and load
hay. I think this is very unbecoming, this hard, laborious work belongs to
men. But when you come to picking up type, and making a book of it, that
belongs to the women. I know that many arguments are used against this,
and we are told that a woman cannot make a coat, vest or a pair of
pantaloons. I dispute this. It is said that a man is stronger and that he
pulls his thread stronger than a woman does. I will take any of these
ladies to a tailor's shop and they will snap every thread a tailor sews
with. Tell me they can not pull a thread tight enough, and that they can
not press hard enough to press a coat, it is all folly and nonsense. The
difficulty is the tailors do not want them to do it, and they try to shame
them out of it or to make them believe they can not sew a seam, press a
collar, wristband, sleeve or body of a coat, and if women do it ever so
nice the tailors will say it is good for nothing, and so the great, big
six-footer sits there cross-legged sewing. This is not the order of
prudence and economy; neither is it according to the nature of the calling
and the ability that God has given us as men and women, to see a man
measuring tape, and such light work, it is far more suitable for women.
"Well, but," say some, "a woman can not do press work." I recollect what
was said to me in my youth by a journeyman printer. We were working off
Ball's Arithmetic together and we boarded together. I did not eat meal at
that time, and he was very fond of it. We went into the office one day
from dinner and he said to the workmen, "Young never eats any meats;" and
said he, "I can just throw any man that don't eat meat." I said to him,
"Mr. Pratt, if you will step here into the middle of the floor I will show
you how to dirty coats." But he dared not try it. They say ladies do not
eat enough to make them strong-why I have seen scores and scores of them
that could pull a hand press, and we do not use them now; they would have
nothing in the world to do only to take the paper and lay it down. "But
don't you let a woman know she can do this, don't say to a woman that she
is capable of setting type, or of setting a stick of type on a galley, and
making up a form and locking it up with a little mallet that weighs eight
or ten ounces. Do not tell a woman she can do this--no, no, it would spoil
our trade."

	Suffice it to say we want to enlist the real understanding and good
sense of these women, and to tell them what their duty is. We want to make
our own school books. We are paying now from thirty thousand to sixty
thousand dollars a year for school books that can be made here just as
well as to send and buy them abroad. This is carrying out the plan and
principles of building up Zion, whether you knot it or not. We may preach
until Doomsday, and tell how Zion will look, how wide her streets will be,
what kind of dwellings her people will have, what king of carriages and
what fine horses they will have, and what a beautiful looking set of
people they will be, but it is all nonsense to talk about that we will
never reach if we so not stop our folly and wickedness. We have the
privilege of building up and enjoying Zion, and I am telling you how to do
it. We want the women, from this time forth, to go to work and save the
paper rags, and we will make the paper for them. And they can learn to
make type. I can pick hundreds and hundreds of women out of this
congregation that could go into a shop and make type just as will as men,
it is a trifling thing. And they can learn to set type, and they can learn
how to write for our school books. We have plenty of men and women that
know how to write books, and how to teach too. We have just as good school
teachers here as any in the world.

	While on this subject I will say that I am ashamed of our Bishops,
who can not have anybody but a stranger for a school teacher. Let a
"Mormon" come along, who can read all around and over and under him, and
who, as far as learning is concerned, is his superior in every way, but
because he, the "Mormon," does not come in the guise of a stranger, the
Bishop will not hear him. Bishops, I wish you would just resign your
offices if you can not learn any better than to get such characters into
your school houses. Not but what there is once in a while a good man comes
along as a school teacher who is not a "Mormon;" but, as a general thing,
what have these men done? They have planted the seeds of in fidelity in
the hearts of the children, decoyed the hearts of their female pupils and
led them to ruin, and they have turned round and cursed us. That is the
character of some of the men our Bishops get into their school houses.
There are many of our Bishops not fit to set type, measure tape or to
teach a scholar. That is saying a good deal for the Bishops, is it not?
but it is a fact. In many instances they have not wisdom enough to guide
themselves one day without getting into error. They do not know truth from
error, they do not know a Saint from a sinner, or righteousness from
unrighteousness.

	Will you, Relief Societies, devote your time and talents and take
hold of this business? We want you to commence forthwith. Say we take
thirty thousand dollars, and that is only a portion of what we will pay
out for school books in 1873, and devote that to making paper and for
paying brethren and sisters for making books, and then distribute them
among our own people. If this work is done by us there is so much saved.
Will my sisters enlist themselves and endeavor to make this movement
successful?

	We have no societies or persons to assist us in our efforts to school
ourselves and our children; we never have had, and the feeling that is now
exhibited, and which has always been shown towards us since the
organization of the kingdom of God upon the earth, is that those who are
our enemies would rather spend ten, yea a hundred dollars to deprive us of
the least privilege in the world, than give us one cent towards schooling
our children. When we were leaving Nauvoo, in our poverty, we sent our
Elders hither and thither to the principal cities of the Unites States, to
ask the people if they should assist the Saints. Our brethren told them
that we were leaving the confines of the United States, having been driven
by the violence of the mobs from our homes, and how much do you think we
got in the cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and a few smaller
towns? Their hearts and hands were closed against us. From the whole
people of the United States, after making an appeal to them in our deep
distress and poverty, we got but a few dollars, and we were then starting
into the wilderness, and how we were going to live God only knew. Well, we
have got to help ourselves, we have to school ourselves. Has Government
given us the privilege of one acre of land to educate our children here?
No. The school land is kept from us, and we get no benefit therefrom.

	I want to say a word or two here with regard to our schools. There
are many of our people who believe that the whole Territory ought to be
taxed for our schools. When we have means, that come in the proper way, we
can make a fund to help the poor to school their children, and I would say
amen to it. But where are our poor? Where is the man or the woman in this
community who has children and wishes to send them to school, that cannot
do it? There is not one. When the poor complain and say, "My children
ought to be schooled and clothed and fed," I say, no sir, not so, you
ought to yield your time and talents to the kind providences of our Father
in the heavens according to the dictation of his servants, and he will
tell each and every one of you what to do to earn your bread, meat,
clothing, schooling, and how to be self-sustaining in the fullest sense of
the word. To give to the idler is as wicked as anything else. Never give
anything to the idler. "The idler in Zion shall not eat the bread of the
laborer." Well, they do eat it; but it is a commandment and a revelation
as much as any other, that the idler shall not eat the bread of the
laborer in Zion. No, let every one spend every hour, day, week and month
in some useful and profitable employment, and then all will have their
meat and clothing, and means to pay teachers, and pay them well. Not that
they should receive more pay than others. If men have learning, and they
have the faculty of imparting it to others, and can teach children to read
and write, and grammar and arithmetic, and all the ordinary branches of a
common school education, what better are they than the man that plows,
hoes, shoves and plane, handles the trowel and the axe, and hews the
stone? Are they any better? I do not know that they are. What better is
the man that can dress himself nicely and labor in a school house six
hours a day, than the man who works ten or twelve hours a day hewing rock?
Is he any better? No, he is not. Are you going to pay him for his good
looks? That is what some of our Bishops want to do. If they can get a man,
no matter what his moral qualities may be, whose shirt front is well
starched and ironed, they will say--"Bless me, you are a delightful little
man! What a smooth shirt you have got, and you have a ring on your
finger--you are going to teach our school for us." And along comes a
stalwart man, axe in hand, going to chop wood, and, if he asks, "Do you
want a school teacher?" though he may know five times more than the dandy,
he is told, "No, no, we have one engaged." I want to cuff you Bishops back
and forth until you get your brains turned right side up.

	Here I am talking to thousands of men and women who know that if we
are ever helped we have to help ourselves, with what God does for us. We
have heard considerable from some parties in this city about what they
call free schools, which they say they have established here. I say, now,
come out, and be as liberal as you say you are, and teach our children for
nothing. If they knew the "Mormons" were willing to accept of their
charity and send their children to these so-called free schools, their
charity would not weight much. Their charity is to decoy away the
innocent. Send your children to their schools and see how far their
charity would extend. We sent to them when we were in the wilderness
without bread, without shoes, without coats, and ploughing our way through
to get away from our murderers, and asked them for help. No, they would
not give us anything to save the lives of women and children in the
wilderness. When we were right in the midst of Indians, who were said to
be hostile, five hundred men were called to go to Mexico to fight the
Mexicans, and said Mr. Benton--"If you do not send them we will cover you
up, and there will be no more of you." I do not want to think of these
things, their authors belong to the class I referred to yesterday--the
enemies of mankind, those who would destroy innocence, truth,
righteousness and the kingdom of God from the earth. We sent these five
hundred men to fight the Mexicans, and those of us who remained behind
labored and raised all that we needed to feed ourselves in the wilderness.
We had to pay our own school teachers, raise our own bread and earn our
own clothing, or go without, there was no other choice. We did it then,
and we are able to do the same to-day. I want to enlist the sympathies of
the ladies among the Latter-day Saints, to see what we can do for
ourselves with regard to schooling our children. Do not say you cannot
school them, for you can. There is not a family in this community but what
we will take and school their children if they are not able to do it
themselves; and we do not do it through begging in the East and telling
what others have told there about this people, and about their own efforts
to establish free schools here. I understand that the other night there
was a school meeting in one of the wards of this city, and a part there--a
poor miserable apostate--said, "We want a free school, and we want to have
the name of establishing the first free school in Utah." To call a person
a poor miserable apostate may seem like a harsh word; but what shall we
call a man who talks about free schools and who would have all the people
taxed to support them, and yet would take his rifle and threaten to shoot
the man who had the collection of the ordinary light taxes levied in this
Territory--taxes which are lighter than any levied in any other portion of
the country? We have no other schools but free schools here--our schools
are all free. Our meetings are free, our teachings are free. We labor for
ourselves and the kingdom of God. But how is it with others? Have they a
meeting without a plate, basket, box or hat passed around? And, "Have you
got a sixpence for us? Put in your sixpences, your half dollars, your
dollars, and your five dollars." No, it is beg, beg, beg from one year's
end to another. Ever see this is a "Mormon" meeting? I don't think you
have in this city, if you ever did anywhere else. Are the "Mormons"
eternally begging and sending around the hat and the plate, and asking
every stranger, "Have you a sixpence for me?" No, we do not want your
money, we have enough of our own, and we earned it and got it honestly, we
have not stolen it nor lied for it either. Now that I am upon free schools
I say, put a community in possession of knowledge by means of which they
can obtain what they need by the labor of their bodies and their brains,
then instead of being paupers they will be free,l independent and happy,
and these distinctions of classes will cease, and there will be but one
class, one grade, one great family.

	Now, sisters, what do you say? Will you give your attention to this?
We want to erect a house for you to do printing in. Some one, perhaps,
will use some little argument against women doing anything of this kind.
But the truth is women can set type, and read and correct proof as well as
any man in the world, if they learn how. Men have to learn it before they
can do it, and when they tell you that that is not a woman's business, you
tell them they do not know what they were born for. They were not born to
wash dishes, to dress the babies, nor to have babies, they were born to go
into the field and do the work that the women cannot do, and should not do
for fear of exposing themselves. Keep the ladies in their proper places,
selling tape and calico, setting type, working the telegraph, keeping
books, &c.

	See a great big six-footer working in the telegraph. One of them will
eat as much as three or four women, and they stuff themselves until they
are almost too lazy to touch the wire. There they sit. What work is there
about that that a woman cannot do? She can write as well as a man, and
spell as well as a man, and better, and I leave it to every man and woman
of learning if the girls are not quicker and more apt at learning in
school than the boys. It is only occasionally that a boy is met with who
will keep up with the girls in learning reading, writing, spelling and
grammar; as a general thing the girls will go ahead of the boys in these
branches, and yet we are told they are not capable of doing these light
kinds of work, such as I have mentioned. Shame on the boys, and shame on
the great big, fat lazy men! Let these women go to work; and let those who
have children teach them to handle the needle and sew, to make lace, to
raise silk-worms and the mulberry tree, to pick the leaves to feed the
worms, and then to wind and weave the silk, that they may make themselves
good, nice silk dresses. I saw a very pretty piece of silk made into a
garment in St. George, that a woman had made from the silk-worms. She
tended them, reeled their silk, wove it and made some beautiful cloth.
This is far better than teazing the husband or father to get you fine
dresses and then drag them after you in the street. Learn some good, solid
sense. Learn how to raise silk, how to make the silk into dresses, and
make it as neat and beautiful as you possibly can. Then another thing--may
I say it?--girls, learn to comb your hair in the morning, and fix up your
head dress. "Well, but, pa will not buy me a chignon." Well, then, fix
your own hair, that is all you ought to have. Wash your face nice and
clean, and your neck, and comb your hair, neat and nice; put on your dress
comely, and make it look neat and nice. I do not mean protruding out
behind like a two-bushel basket. And when you come down stairs look as if
you were wide-awake, and not as if your eyes needed a dish of water to
wash them clear and clean. Young ladies, learn to be neat and nice. Do not
dress after the fashions of Babylon, but after the fashions of the Saints.
Suppose that a female angel were to come into your house and you had the
privilege of seeing her, how would she be dressed? Do you think she would
have a great, big peck measure of flax done up like hair on the back of
the head? Nothing of the kind. Would she have a dress dragging two or
three yards behind? Nothing of the kind. Would she have on a great,
big-what is it you call it? A Grecian or Dutch-Well, no matter what you
call it, you know what I mean. Do you think she would have on anything of
that kind? Not at all. No person in the world would expect to see an angel
dressed in such a giddy, frivolous, nonsensical style. She would be neat
and nice, her countenance full of glory, brilliant, bright, and perfectly
beautiful, and in every act her gracefulness would charm the heart of
every beholder. There is nothing needless about her. None of my sisters
believe that these useless, foolish fashions are followed in heaven. Well,
then, pattern after good and heavenly things, and let the beauty of your
garments be the workmanship of your own hands, that which adorns your
bodies.

	Now, sisters, will you go to work and help us to get up our school
books? Whether you do or do not belong to the Relief Societies, we want
you to join in and help us, and save your rags to make paper, and then go
and set type and make the books. You who feel like doing this, hold up
your hands. (Hands up.) There is a pretty good showing, enough to carry an
influence-the day is ours. If you will only carry this out we will make
our own school books, and keep the money in the Territory that we now send
out for them.

	Elders of Israel, I want to tell you how to save a little. You want
to get rich. Go to the mines and you will be so poor that you never can
pay any tithing. This is proved. I want to tell you now, how you can pay
your tithing. You trade off your horses and mules and harness, just as
quick as circumstances will let you. Raise the calves that will make oxen,
break them and work with them; and let this community take this course,
using oxen instead of horses, and mules for all their farming and teaming,
and in one year they will save one million dollars, and this will increase
year by year, and that will enable you to give a little to emigrate the
poor Saints from the old country. I want you to swell this Perpetual
Emigrating Fund so that we can send for a good many of the poor this year.
What have you to give? Some will say, "I have not anything, brother
Brigham." "What have you been doing?" "Oh, I have been mining, and it
takes all my time and labor to support my family. I have a splendid
claim--I am just going to have a hundred thousand dollars for it." We have
plenty of this class around, and whenever I see a man going along with an
old mule that can hardly stand up, and a frying pan and an old quilt, I
say, There goes a millionaire in prospect! He is after a million, he
calculates to find a mind that he can get a million for next summer. These
millionaires are all over our country; they are in the mountains, on our
highways and in our streets. But ask them, "Can you give me a sixpence to
buy me a morsel of meat?" "No, I have not got it, I am just going to have
plenty of money, but I have not got it now. Cannot you lend me a little to
keep me from need, I have no bread for my family, but I am going to have a
fortune in a little while." There are numbers of the Elders of Israel in
this position. Ask them if they can pay a little tithing? "No, not a
dollar." "Give anything to help the poor?" "No, I have not any, will you
lend me a little to buy some flour for my family?" and so they go on year
after year. Why? Because they will not take the counsel of the wise. When
you hear a man, outside or inside of the kingdom of God, finding fault,
complaining or casting reflections, that President Young has got so much
influence over the people called Latter-day Saints that they (the
grumblers) are afraid of him, you just tell them that he has not a
hundredth part of the influence he ought to have. He ought to have all the
influence imaginable with them, he is deserving of it, he earns it, and he
knows what to do with it, and he directs and guides for the advancement of
the kingdom of God on the earth. Just think of these men, trailing through
these canons, running after shadows--jack-o'lanterns--all over creation
for something in prospect! They are just like some business men I have
seen in my life--they have got their eye on a picayune, away off yonder in
the distance, and they start after that the stub their toe against a
twenty dollar gold piece; but they kick that out of the way, they do not
see it. By and by they start again, and they pass fifty dollars in their
path, and so they keep on, passing right by ten, twenty of fifty dollars.
"Oh that picayune does so dazzle my eye, for God's sake let me get it!"
They are fools, they know nothing about life, nor sustaining themselves,
they are worse than children. Well, now, brother Brigham ought to have
influence enough over these Elders of Israel to keep them from deceiving
themselves as much as they do; and when they run after this shadow and
tire themselves out and fall in the mud, they lose the spirit of their
religion, find out that "Mormonism" is not true and away they go to the
devil.

	I am going to stop talking to the sisters, and will conclude by
asking them, Will you be printers or clerks in stores? The brethren will
keep every one of you out if they can, and I do not know but I shall have
to go and keep store myself independent of every other institution, and
hire ladies to tend it. I want them also to telegraph for us, set our
type, write our books, and save the rags to make the paper.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
          Delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden, Sunday afternoon, 
                              May 18, 1873.
           UNBELIEF--THE SAINTS REQUIRE CONSTANT INSTRUCTION--
         CONTRAST BETWEEN THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST AND THE RELIGIONS 
         OF MEN--EVIL WOULD CEASE AMONG THE SAINTS IF THEY WOULD 
            LIVE THEIR RELIGION--GATHERING THE POOR--TITHING--
          KNOWLEDGE OF GOD--PROGRESS OF THE WORK IS DUE TO THE 
                        OPERATIONS OF THE SPIRIT.

	The teaching of grown people is the same as teaching the children. We
receive impressions when very young, and grow up to further knowledge; it
is the same in receiving the Gospel. When we talk to persons who have not
previously heard the Gospel, we have to reason with the them on the
propriety of receiving the truth. We also have to reason with and persuade
the Latter-day Saints, and it is to them I wish principally to talk this
afternoon. When the Gospel is preached to the honest in heart they receive
it by faith, but when they obey it labor is required. To practice the
Gospel requires time, faith, the heart's affections and a great deal of
labor. Here many stop. They hear and believe, but before they go out to
practice they begin to think that they were mistaken, and unbelief enters
into their hearts. There has been unbelief since the beginning of the
world. Have you not read the saying of Moses in regard to out mother Eve?
She had heard the voice of the Lord and understood it, saying concerning
the fruit of a certain tree, "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die." When her husband was in another part of the garden, a
certain character came along and commenced to reason with her. "That is
very fine fruit: I understand the Lord says you must not partake of it."
"Yes, for in the day we eat of it he says we shall die." "Well," says he,
"that is not so. You must not believe all that is told you, but think for
yourself. Now I will tell you something. If you eat of that fruit your
eyes will be opened, and you will see as the Gods." He hands her a little
of the fruit, just to try,--no matter whether it was an apple, a grape, or
what it was,--she tastes of it, and does not die, and likes it so well
that when Adam come along she says, "Husband, this fruit if delightful; I
have tasted it, and it is desirable to make one wise; take some." "No,"
says he, "I shall not, the Lord has commanded us not to eat of it." But
just as it is with other husbands, she coaxes and persuades, and finally
he gives way and partakes of the forbidden fruit. Now do you see how
unbelief entered into the world in the beginning? We have to reason with
mankind to persuade them to receive the truth of God. A declaratory
statement is sufficient for those who are prepared to receive the spirit
of revelation for themselves, but with the most of the human family we
have to reason and explain. A really pure person is very scarce; but when
the heart is truly pure, the Lord can write upon it, and the truth is
received without argument, or doubt, or disputation. If we talk with the
Latter-day Saints, we have to reason with them, particularly on temporal
matters. Not I could show, by sound argument and logic, the necessity for
the people to live and labor for the good of all. Anybody ought to be able
to see that when one member of a family is pulling away from the others,
and living for self alone, it injures himself or herself as well as the
whole family. The necessity and beauty of union cannot be better
illustrated than by the example of the chief who called his sons together
just previous to his death, and, taking a bundle of arrows, asked them
each to break it. This they were unable to do. "Now," said he, "unloose
the bundle." They did so, and could take the arrows singly, one by one,
and break them with ease. This will give us as good a proof as we can
desire, than when we are bond together as a unit, we are strong and
powerful, but when we are divided we are weak, and our enemies can obtain
power over us. Take our financial affairs, and they will show the same
principle. But we are prone to unbelief, and have to learn by the childish
principle--a little to-day and a little more to-morrow, and after a while
perhaps we will become truly Latter-day Saints. We profess to be so now.
But to be a Saint in the full sense of the word, is to be something very
nearly perfect. If, however, we are striving to the utmost of the ability
God has given us to prove that we are willing to serve him and perform our
duties, we are justified. We have the kingdom of God to build up, Zion to
redeem; we have to sanctify ourselves so that we may be prepared to be
caught up with the Church of the First Born, and if we improve every day
and hour, then if we die we shall be found justified. But if we continue
to live, we must become Saints in very deed, or come short of the fullness
of the glory of God that is to be revealed. To lead the Saints in this
direction we have to reason with them, and show the necessity for their
observing this precept and that law, this doctrine and that principle,
that they may be persuaded to do the will of God.

	When Joseph Smith first learned from God the principle of baptism for
the remission of sins, he undoubtedly thought that he had learned
something great and wonderful; so, also, when he received his ordination
to the Aaronic Priesthood under the hands of John the Baptist. But he did
not fly off at a tangent, and think he had it all, but was willing and
anxious to be taught further. After receiving this authority, he baptized
his friends. When he organized the Church, he received the higher
Priesthood, after the order of Melchisedec, which gave him authority not
only to baptize for the remission of sins, but to confirm by the laying on
of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. The Aaronic Priesthood holds
power to baptize, but not to lay on hands to confer the Holy Ghost. When
Joseph Smith received this higher power, he did not throw away the first,
but received additions to it. He learned of and administered the
Sacrament, then went to preaching a year or two, and received the High
Priesthood, which he imparted to others. There are men here who heard him
say: "We have added to our faith and knowledge, and have received keys and
authority, until I do not know of anything necessary to build up and
establish the kingdom of God on the earth, but what I have received and
bestowed upon you." He received his knowledge of the things of God by
degrees, until he obtained the last blessing needful to bestow on his
brethren.

	The Latter-day Saints need talking to a great deal--they need
continual preaching and instruction upon almost everything. I am happy to
say there is an improvement, still I hear of strife, brother going to law
with brother, contention in families and in the community. This should not
be. Have we not learned yet to be meek and lowly? Are we not willing to
receive and abide the providences of God with patience? How many are
willing to do this as they should? But very few. That disposition that
came from the fall in planted in our hearts, and will occasionally arise
in the bosom. Will we ever get experience enough so that we can overcome
these temptations that arise in the heart, so that we can say good-bye to
the fashions and follies of the world, and instead of them imbibe good and
wholesome principles? Certainly we will; this is what we are after. The
Latter-day Saints must learn to be one in Christ. We are one in the
ordinances and doctrines; one in the ordinances of baptism, the laying on
of hands, the administration of the sacrament, the blessing of children,
the ordinations of the Priesthood, the endowment; also in the baptism for
the dead, though this was a trial for some at the first. When God revealed
to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon that there was a place prepared for all,
according to the light they had received and their rejection of evil and
practice of good, it was a great trial to many, and some apostatized
because God was not going to send to everlasting punishment heathens and
infants, but had a place of salvation, in due time, for all and would
bless the honest and virtuous and truthful, whether they ever belonged to
any church or not. It was a new doctrine to this generation, and many
stumbled at it, but Joseph continued to receive revelation upon
revelation, ordinance upon ordinance, truth upon truth, until heobtained
all that was necessary for the salvation of the human family. All the
inhabitants of the earth are called of God; they are called to repent and
be baptized for the remission of sins. When I first came into the church
it was a subject of considerable thought to me why people whom I knew to
be as good and moral as they could be, should have to repent. But I could
see afterwards that if they had nothing else to repent of they could and
ought to repent of their false religions, of their narrow, contracted
creeds in which they were bound, of the ordinances of men, and get
something better. These narrow, contracted religions have spread
infidelity in the world. They should repent of these and take hold of the
things of God and receive the truths of heaven. "Well," say the ministers,
"we have lived according to the light we have received." We say, are you
willing to receive more? if so, here is more for you. So far as your faith
in Christ goes, and your morality, we say, amen. But here is something
more. "Ah," say they, "we have got enough, we don't want any of your
Mormonism." Well, now they do, if they only knew it. I had a conversation
recently with a prominent minister of a church in the East and he said, I
do not agree with you in your peculiar views. I answered, are you not for
the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? If you are, so am I.
How is it possible to get up an argument? I will make a bargain. I will
compare my religion with yours. We will start out with the Bible alone,
taking it as the standard. All that the Bible teaches for doctrine and
practice we will take for our guide. If I have an error I will part with
it. Will you do the same? If you can find that you have a truth that I
have not, and that I have an error, I will trade ten errors if I have them
for one truth. Take the religion of Christ from the foundation up, and it
is all true and for the benefit of mankind. Take the whole world with
their contentions and strife, the kings and potentates who make war and
murder the people by thousands, those who shoot and kill, who rob the
poor, who set at naught the counsel of God, bring them together, read to
them the precepts of Jesus, the principles of the everlasting Gospel and
see if there is one principle that would injure them or the world of
mankind in the east. Will they injure a person, a family, a neighborhood?
All would join, if they spoke the truth, in saying no, not one; but if we
lived up to them, they would make the best condition of society possible.
Let the whole world take the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and
Covenants and the writing and counsels of this Church, and see if there is
anything calculated in the least degree, in any of their requirements, to
injure one individual on earth. I will say to these few Latter-day Saints,
and if all were here I would say in your hearts, "we will take his
counsel,"--and I can say before God he desires this people would live
their religion,--there would be no contentions, no stealing, no cheating,
no drunkenness, no lying; wrong-doing would cease, the hand of mercy would
be extended to the poor, kindness and love would be spread abroad, and you
would never hear another jar in the land. I can say that I deserve more
obedience to counsel than I get. Can any man, wo man or child bring up on
thing I have counseled that would injure anybody or bring the least stain
upon the kingdom of God upon the earth? No, they cannot. Why can't we be
of one heart and of one mind? Why is it that my brethren allow themselves
to be stirred up to strife with their neighbors? Perhaps some neighbor has
let down your bars, and the cattle have got it, and you are injured in
your feelings and allow anger to enter into your hearts. Perhaps some
neighbor has borrowed your plow and broken it, or done something else in
which you are aggrieved; you set it down that that person is no Saint.
Perhaps if your own faults were portrayed you would show as many as he
has, but you set it down for a fact that he is no Saint, or he would not
do thus and so. Now cease this. When you think your brother has injured
you, go straight and learn the intention of his heart, and judge according
to that, and not according to the outward appearances.

	Do you say your prayers? How many houses of High Priests, if I crept
into them like a mouse, could I find where they do not pray with their
families, do not ask God to bless their labors, to bless their fields and
farms, their brethren and the kingdom of God on the earth? How many
Elders, Seventies and Bishops would I find in the same condition? The
Bishops should be a perfect example to their wards in all things. How many
are there who are strictly honest and fair in their deal? I have
experienced so much on that subject that I had better say little upon it.
But I say to you, deal justly, act mercifully and eschew evil. Do good to
all men. We say sometimes, "I will not do any favor for that man, he is
unworthy of assistance." I will give you a piece of counsel. Do good to
all. It is better to feed nine unworthy persons than to let one worthy
person--the tenth, go hungry. Follow this rule and you will be apt to be
found on the right side of doing good.

	Suppose we look around here? How many of you sisters have donated
fifty cents to help gather the poor this season? Don't say you have no
money. Have you not had fifty cents to buy a ribbon? How about that ten
dollars to buy hair from somebody else's head when you have plenty on your
own? Take the brethren, too, who wear needless clothing, smoke cigars, &c.
Take all the money that is spent for tea and coffee and squandered in
waste and how much could we get? Why enough to send for the poor, who are
begging and pleading to come, by the scores of thousands. We got a purse
of some four thousand dollars at the late Conference. I put in one
thousand dollars, brother Hooper put in one thousand dollars. That makes
about half the amount. I spoke when I was here, about two years ago, about
Elders who had borrowed money of poor Saints in the old country and never
paid them. I said then such men should be cut off from the Church.

	How much tithing do you pay? The professing Christians, apostates and
others have a great deal to say about the Saints paying tithing. Now let
us compare notes. The Elders of this Church travel and preach without
purse of scrip, and labor at home as Bishops, Presidents, High Counselors,
and Ministers, free of charge. Now take the Christians, how many of their
Ministers preach without pay? Go to their meetings, in their churches,
halls, schoolhouses, or any of their public gatherings, and you have a
box, a plate, or a hat put under your face, and it is, `Give me a
sixpence, give me a sixpence, give me a sixpence!" Show me the Elder of
this Church that does this? We preach the Gospel without purse or scrip
and work for our own bread and butter. Yet the Christian world whine about
our paying tithing. The Saints should pay the tenth of their income with
glad and thankful hearts, and help to bring home the poor. We have
supported and help the poor to the amount of millions. We have picked up
those who were poor and brought them here and taught them how to work and
take care of themselves, and some of them ride in their carriages as proud
as the lords of the old world from whence they came.

	In regard to this whining of the world about Brigham's handling the
tithing, I can say that he has put in ten dollars where he has taken one
out of the treasury, and he has paid more tithing than any other man in
the Church. Everybody should pay their tenth. A poor woman ought to pay
her tenth chicken, if she has to draw out ten times its value for her
support. It is all the Lord's and we are only his stewards.

	The Latter-day Saints want persuading. What for? Their own good. Some
people talk of how long they have served the Lord, and now they want to do
something for themselves. The moment they begin to feel and act like this,
they commence to serve the devil. There are two powers on earth, God and
Satan, and we must serve one or the other. God required obedience to his
laws. If I do this I do nothing more than I do to the United States. We
have enlisted to serve the King of Kings; He has laws, rules, regulations,
&c. Why should we not be as willing to pay taxes to Him as to the United
States. We believe in obeying the laws of the land, we should also obey
the laws of God.

	People have found out that we believe in a plurality of wives. The
people of this Government say we shall not have a plurality of wives. Why
not say: "a plurality of women," and we shan't have any objection to it.
Because this would strike at men in high places. Their idea is, "If you
want women, illegally, and then thrust them into the street when you have
done with them, we care nothing about it; but if God has revealed anything
about plurality of wives, to marry and provide for them, as he did in the
days of the Patriarchs, we don't want any of it." If I have wives given to
me of the Lord, I do not break any constitutional law of the land. But
enough of that.

	I want to persuade the Latter-day Saint to be Latter-day Saints. Bro.
Woodruff was talking about the necessity of making our own clothing. I say
if we go on as we have been doing, and calculate to continue to purchase
from abroad most of what we wear, and a great deal of what we eat, we
shall be left without. Do you know that Babylon is going to fall? Her
merchants will cry out, "there is no one to buy our merchandise." And if
you and I do not learn how to take care of ourselves, and raise and
manufacture what we consume, we shall have to go without. I you do not
know how, go to work and learn how to knot, sew, weave, make ribbons,
raise silk and make up and manufacture your own wearing apparel and all
you need.

	Now, on another subject. There is a God who lives, and who framed and
fashioned this earth, and who brought forth that which is on the face
thereof. He has laws, Everything is controlled by law. The actions of men,
however, are left free; they are agents to themselves and must act freely
on that agency, or else how could they be judged for their actions? But
God reserves the right to himself to control the results of their acts,
and this no man can hinder. Who of the Christian divines know anything
about the God we serve? I never say any one, until I met Joseph Smith, who
could tell me anything about the character, personality, and
dwelling-place of God, or anything satisfactory about angels, or the
relationship of man to his Maker. Yet I was as diligent as any man need to
be to try and find out these things. We know more about God and the
heavens than we care to tell. And if we introduce a principle and try to
reduce it to the comprehension of the people, there will be some even
among the Latter-day Saints who would be hard to understand. Where is the
divine who knows the least thing about that Being who is the Father of our
Spirits and the author of our bodies? If we know something about him is
there any harm in it? Not a bit. The world of mankind are infidels. We
should all be infidel to every false principle. I am infidel in regard to
many things, but to the truth, wherever found, I am no infidel. The
Christian world is infidel to the truth in a great degree. Why? Because
they know so little of the mind and will of God. Step outside of this
kingdom, and who can tell us the first process towards covering the earth
with the knowledge of God? Who is there that can tell us anything about
that angel whom John saw coming with the everlasting Gospel as recorded in
John's Revelations? I never found any one who could till I saw Joseph
Smith. He could tell me what I had so much desired to learn. What do the
Christian divines know about it even at the present day? If they do know
anything about it I wish they would tell us. But if they do not know, and
will not receive the things of God from those who do know, does not this
make them infidels to the truth?

	My testimony is the positive. I know that there are such cities as
London, Paris, and New York--from my own experience or from that of
others; I know that the sun shines, I know that I exist and have a being,
and I testify that there is a God, and that Jesus Christ lives, and that
he is the Savior of the World. Have you been to heaven and learned to the
contrary? I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and that he had
many revelations. Who can disprove this testimony? Any one may dispute it,
but there is no one in the world who can disprove it. I have had many
revelations; I have seen and heard for myself, and know these things are
true, and nobody on earth can disprove them. The eye, the ear, the hand,
all the senses may be deceived, but the Spirit of God cannot be deceived;
and when inspired with that Spirit, the whole man is filled with
knowledge, he can see with a spiritual eye, and he knows that which is
beyond the power of man to controvert. What I know concerning God,
concerning the earth, concerning government, I have received from the
heavens, not alone through my natural ability, and I give God the glory
and the praise. Men talk about what has been accomplished under my
direction, and attribute it to my wisdom and ability; but it is all by the
power of God, and by intelligence received from him. I say to the whole
world, receive the truth, no matter who presents it to you.

	Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with
it, and see if it will stand the test.

	We preach the Gospel, gather the people of God from all nations
tongues and people, and build up the kingdom of God on the earth, and this
calls for manual labor, the affections of the heart, and the devotion of
all our powers. God bless you. Amen.



                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
            Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, 
                     Sunday afternoon, May 25, 1873.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
         IGNORANCE OF THE WORLD CONCERNING OUR FAITH--CHARACTER 
          OF CHRIST'S TEACHINGS--ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH OF 
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF
         FORMER-DAYS--BELIEF ALONE INSUFFICIENT--EXHORTATION TO 
          THE SAINTS TO LIVE THEIR RELIGION AND TO ACQUIRE ALL 
                            USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.

	I have a few remarks to make to those who do not understand the
doctrine of the Latter-day Saints. Forty-three years have passed away
since this Church was organized in Fayette, Seneca County, in the State of
New York; and for over one forty years, according to the ability which God
has given me, I have traveled and preached enough to extend this Gospel to
the door of every hamlet on this continent if the people had been willing
to receive it; yea more--I have taught the Gospel of life and salvation to
the human family sufficiently, if all had been honest to receive it and
will to carry it to their neighbors, to evangelize the whole earth, and
there need not have been, to-day, one person, heathen or Christian,
ignorant of its principles. But now, I learn from day to day, from week to
week and from time to time that very many people in our own land do not
understand our doctrines, and I am frequently asked the question, while
conversing with people, "Do you believe the Bible?" "Do you receive the
Bible as the word of the Lord?" "Then, you acknowledge the Bible?" &c.
This astonishes me, and the cause of such questions being asked I leave
every person to judge for himself, just as I do with regard to the course
of the children of men in other matters, such as truth, error, religion,
politics, &c. If we were to inquire of strangers, who have lived twenty,
thirty, forty, fifty, or sixty years on the continent of America, and even
in the United States, how it is that they do not know better than to
suppose that the Latter-day Saints reject and do not believe in the Bible,
they would reply, "We do not know, only we have heard os." If you go to
the professed infidel, of any class, and ask him, "Do the `Mormons'
believe in the Bible?"--"Why yes, I have heard them preach, and they
believe the Bible more than the whole Christian world do." Well, where and
through whom does this influence come, which leads people to believe to
the contrary? I will not spend time to answer this, but I will say, that
the Latter-day Saints believe more of the Bible than any other people that
live on the face of the earth that we have any knowledge of.

	What does the Bible teach us with regard to the Christian religion,
faith in God, and in his Son Jesus Christ, who was sent in the meridian of
time to redeem the earth, and all things pertaining to it? I will not take
up the negative side of the question, or tell what other believe; but let
me tell what we believe. In the first place, I will take up the sayings of
Jesus to his disciples on a certain occasion. Said he, "Go ye therefore
into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature; he that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be
damned." I shall not attempt to go into the meaning of this saying in
every particular--time will not permit--but suffice it to say that he that
believeth and is baptized will be saved, and he that believeth not will be
cast off. What promise did Jesus give to his disciples when he sent them
out two by two, to preach? What inducement was there, when the Savior was
upon the earth, to believe in him and his doctrine? We can all read; it
would take too much time to tell. His disciples went out and preached
without purse and scrip, and when they returned, they testifies to Jesus
that they had lacked for nothing. Jesus promised to those who believed,
powers and advantages which unbelievers could not enjoy. We read of
certain men and women in Samaria, who had been taught the Gospel under the
authority of John the Baptist, but they had not received the Holy Ghost;
and we are told that certain Apostles went down from Jerusalem to lay
their hands on these Samaritan believers. There was a man called Simon, a
sorcerer, who had bewitched the people, and seeing that the power which
the Apostles bestowed upon them, by the laying on of hands, was far above
his power--although he could deceive, betray and frighten the people, and
do many things just as the magicians of Pharoah's court did when Moses
went to deliver the children of Israel; said he, "I will give you money if
you will bestow that power on me." The Apostles said to him, "You and your
money perish together." The Apostles laid their hands upon those persons
who had been baptized to John's baptism, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Believers in those days had the power which Jesus promised. They might
take up serpents, and they would not bite them; if they drank any deadly
thing it would not hurt them; if they laid hands on the sick, the sick
would recover. They spake with tongues, they prophecied, they had the
discernment of spirits, and all the various gifts of the Gospel of Christ;
and all of these were beyond the reach of the sorcerer, yet he was far in
advance of the common people in powers of deception. But Jesus promised
his disciples more than any man could possess by the spirit of divination.
When we consider this and realize, if we can realize, that, through the
restoration of the Gospel in our day, all these gifts can be again
enjoyed, it is worthy the attention of every person on the face of the
earth who is capable of receiving truth for truth, light for light, and
intelligence upon intelligence.

	Let me hasten along, and refer to the organization of the ancient
Church. According to the testimony of the ancient Church. According to the
testimony of the Apostle, God set in the Church, firstly, Apostles,
secondly Prophets, thirdly Teachers, then Pastors, and so forth. You
strangers may ask your divines, when you return home, what they believe
about God setting in the Church Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers,
Helps, gifts, divers kinds of tongues, and so on, for the perfecting of
the Saints, and for the edifying of the body of christ, until all come to
a unity of faith and knowledge in Christ Jesus our Lord; and let them
answer the question, then you can judge who it is that throws dust into
the eyes of the people, and is continually telling them that "the
Latter-day Saints deny the Bible;" "the Latter-day Saints are a bad
people;" "the Latter-day Saints are aliens to the government;" "the
Latter-day Saints are rebellious." Ask the divines, "Do you believe in
prophecying, do you believe in Apostles, in baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins, and in the laying on of hands for the reception of the
Holy Ghost? Do you believe in breaking bread continually, as Jesus
commanded his disciples at the last supper, when he brake the bread and
blessed it, and blessed the wine and gave it to all to eat and drink,
saying, `Do this until I come again, for I will drink no more of the fruit
of the vine until I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom?" What
do the world--Christian, Jew and Pagan--believe about these things?
Inquire for yourselves. We Latter-day Saints believe in Apostles and
Prophets. We believe in the Melchisedec Priesthood and in the Aaronic
Priesthood, which God bestowed upon his servants long ago. Moses had all
these doctrines and both these Priesthoods in his possession, and also the
organization of the Church; and with all his power he strove to bring the
children of Israel to a knowledge of the Gospel, but they would not have
Christ.

	I pause here. I was brought up a Christian, very strictly, and was
taught to read the Bible, consequently it is natural for me to believe
it--it is according to my traditions, and also from the spirit of
revelation from God unto myself. In all my teachings, I have taught the
Gospel from the Old and New Testaments. I found therein every doctrine,
and the proof of every doctrine, the Latter-day Saints believe in, as far
as I know, therefore I do not refer to the Book of Mormon as often as I
otherwise should. There may be some doctrines about which little is said
in the Bible, but they are all couched therein, and I believe the
doctrines because they are true, and I have taught them because they are
calculated to save the children of men.

	It is said by the Christian world, by government, philosophers,
statesmen, politicians and ministers, that there is no harm in believing
anything if we do not practice it. But let me ask how can we believe in
Jesus Christ--taking his own words for it--unless we do the works that he
did? Go and read his words for yourselves--"He that believeth in me will
do the works that I do." Did he not say this? How then can we believe in
him without doing his works? Did he inspire his Apostles? Did he inspire
him whom we call St. Paul? Did he inspire John upon the Isle of Patmos?
The Christian world will not deny that he did. While John was upon Patmos,
he had many visions and revelations. He complied these after he returned
from the island, and left them in the possession of his friends; and the
Council which compiled this book--the Bible--brought his revelations into
the catalogue of sacred books. If you will read the Book of Revelations,
you will find that John predicts many things regarding these latter days.
He saw the conduct and doings of the seven angels; and then he says, "I
saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
Gospel to preach to them that dwell upon the earth, saying, `Fear God and
give glory to him who made the heavens, the earth, the seas and the
fountains of water.'"

	By reading the Bible we find that the Gospel is contained not only in
the New Testament but also in the Old. Moses and the Prophets saw and
predicted the apostacy of the Church. They saw that the Lord would strive
with the children of men from time to time, that he would deliver to them
the truth and the Priesthood; they also saw that through the wickedness of
the people they would change his ordinances, break the covenants, and
transgress his laws, until the Priesthood would be taken from the earth,
and its inhabitants be left in apostacy and darkness.

	But how are we to understand this angel referred to by John, when he
comes along? This is an important question. How, in the language of
Scripture, are we to know the voice of the Good Shepherd from the voice of
a stranger? Can any person answer this question? I can, it is very easy.
To every philosopher upon the earth, I say, "Your eye can be deceived, so
can mine; your ear can be deceived, so can mine; the touch of your hand
can be deceived, so can mine; but the Spirit of God filling the creature
with revelation and the light of eternity, cannot be mistaken--the
revelation which comes from God is never mistaken. It is the spirit of
truth, and it testifies of Jesus, of his Father, of the things which God
has done for the children of men, and that which he is now doing. No man
upon the earth can be mistaken when he sees by the eye of revelation, when
Jesus shines upon his understanding by the light of his Spirit. Now, then,
how are we going to know the voice of the Good Shepherd from the voice of
a stranger? Take the words of Jesus. He says, "My sheep hear my voice and
they follow me, a stranger they will not follow." Why? Because they know
not the voice of a stranger. When an individual, filled with the Spirit of
God, declares the truth of heaven, the sheep hear that, the Spirit of the
Lord pierces their inmost souls and sinks deep into their hearts; by the
testimony of the Holy Ghost light springs up within them, and they see and
understand for themselves. This is the way the Gospel should be preached
by every Elder in Israel, and by this power every hearer should hear; and
if we would know the voice of the Good Shepherd, we must live so that the
Spirit of the Lord can find its way to our hearts. I have said to the
Latter-day Saints, many and many a time, and I say to them now, live your
religion, that the Spirit of God may by within you like a well of water
springing up to everlasting life. Suppose I were to give way to the spirit
of the enemy and leave the spirit of the Gospel, then, if you were not
prepared to judge between the voice of the Good Shepherd and the voice of
the stranger, I could lead you to ruin. Be prepared that you may know the
voice when it comes through the servants of God, then you can declare for
yourselves. "This is the word of the Lord." My caution and counsel to the
Latter-day Saints, and to all the inhabitants of the earth is--"Live so
that you will know truth from error.

	But do all the Latter-day Saints live so? Oh no, they do not. Many
fall into error and finally leave the Church. They are led away far from
the truth. They become subject to the ten thousand spirits that have gone
forth into the world, and they are deceived in this, that and the other
things, and like the rest of the world, they do not know how to govern
themselves. They are deceived in their own organization and with regard to
themselves; and there is no man that can know himself unless he know God,
and he can not know God unless he knows himself. The children of men give
heed to the deceiving spirits that are abroad, and that is the cause of
the ten thousand errors, wrongs, sins, and divisions which are in the
world, and for this reason the multitude are unable to distinguish between
the voice of the Good Shepherd and the voice of the stranger. But I will
say that if the Lord has not sent that angel of which John speaks, he will
send him as surely as we live.

	Let me refer to another saying of John: After telling about the angel
flying through the midst of heaven with the everlasting Gospel to be
restored to the children of men, he tells us in his eighteenth chapter and
4th verse--"And I hear another voice from heaven saying, `Come out of her,
my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not
of her plagues.'" This was a proclamation to God's people. Israel is
dispersed among all the nations of the earth; the blood of Ephraim is
mixed with the blood of Ephraim is mixed with the blood of all the earth.
Abraham's seed is mingled with the rebellious seed through the whole world
of mankind, and John saw that a command would go forth warning the
righteous to flee from Babylon, and that command was, "Come out of her, my
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not other
plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven," and so forth. This is a
stumbling block to the religious world of Christendom. They cannot see the
necessity of the gathering, they claim that believers in Jesus can live
their religion and serve the Lord as well scattered as gathered, and that,
in time, by the preaching of the various sects, the world will be
evangelized. The Latter-day Saints believe that all their efforts in this
direction, in the future, will be as they have been in the past--useless;
and that the so-called Christian religion is a failure, so far as
evangelizing the world is concerned. Let the world of mankind look at
Jerusalem for an illustration of its effects. In that city various
Christian sects have their places of worship, and many make yearly
pilgrimages to the places made sacred by the life, death and burial of the
Redeemer. Do these Christians in Jerusalem manifest that love, meekness
and forbearance toward each other which always characterize the true
servants and followers of the Lord Jesus? No, for if it were not for the
Turkish soldiers they would massacre each other every day. That is the
effect the principles which they profess have upon them. And everywhere,
throughout the Christian world, it amounts to little more. Its leaders and
professors cry, "Come to Jesus, Come to the Lord," and do this and do
that, but where do we find such things taught in the New Testament? They
are not there. Who among the writers of the Scriptures declares that God
has taken Apostles and Prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers,
government and helps from his Church? Not one. Is there any declaration or
revelation in modern times to the effect that God has taken the gifts out
of his Church? No. Men have left them, they have wandered from and
forsaken the fold of Christ, they have transgressed the laws and they have
changed the ordinances of his kingdom for the laws and ordinances of men;
and they have broken the everlasting covenant which God, in early age,
made with his creatures.

	Let me say to my hearers, not that I wish to take up the subject of
Celestial Marriage, that if you will search the Scriptures, you will find
that the first curse which came upon the children of Israel, as recorded
in the writing of Moses, was for marrying out of their own families; and
then the Lord, after seeing the hardness of their hearts in despising his
law and his covenants, gave to them a law of carnal commandments, and told
them whom they might not marry. By reading the Scriptures you will find
that the Lord commanded the children of Israel to live by themselves, and
not to mix their seed with the unholy, ungovernable and rebellious seed of
the world. The Lord used to give wives to the children of men, but the
people say, "We do not know about that now, we hardly think it will
answer."

	How are we going to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. Do you
think it is a manual labor? Do you think it will become a political
kingdom? Ask the kings on their thrones, ask potentates and statesmen if
they believe the Bible. If they do, they must believe that the day will
come in which God will revolutionize the earth, to that degree that the
"kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God and his
Christ." If they ever do, there must be a heavy labor to perform, and that
labor is upon the Saints of God, and they must enter into it with heart
and soul. It will be both a manual and a political labor., for all will be
brought into subjection to the law of Christ, that he may come and reign
on the earth, king of nations, as he does king of Saints.

	These subjects could be taken up one by one, and it could be shown
from the Scriptures, precisely the position that will be taken and the
course that must be pursued. I have labored faithfully over forth years to
convince the children of men that God rules in the heavens and that he
will rule upon the earth. Suppose that he ruled to-day, would society be
the worse for it? What think ye? Is there a heaven? Is there a heaven of
heavens? Is there a dwelling place for the Gods and the angels? Do you
think they have their political quarrels there? Do you think they get up
different ones whom they will run for their king, governor, or president?
Do you think there is an opposition ticket there? What do the political,
financial and Christian world think about these things? Do you think that
a few capitalists lock up all the means there and make hard times, so that
the people cannot get a dollar? Do you think there is any backbiting and
false swearing there? Do you think they have courts with unjust judges and
packed juries there? No, every person who believes in the Old and New
Testaments, will say that it is a place of perfection, a place where all
have their rights; a place where there is perfect peace and happiness, and
all join with one heart and voice in ascribing honor, praise and glory to
him who sits on the throne, and the Lamb. This is the effect of God's rule
and government. Would the inhabitants of the world be in a worse condition
than they are now if the Lord were ruler of all the earth? Oh, no. All
will join in wishing for perfection, and in desiring a state of society in
which there would be no jars, no contentions, no poverty, no poor, but all
prepared to go into the highest and most refined society. This it the
belief and doctrine of the Latter-day Saints. Learn everything that the
children of men know, and be prepared for the most refined society upon
the face of the earth, then improve upon this until we are prepared and
permitted to enter the society of the blessed--the holy angels that dwell
in the presence of God, for our God, because of his purity, is a consuming
fire.

	I have spoken longer than the time allotted to me. I can say God
bless you. I pray the people--Saints and sinners upon the face of the
whole earth--to hearken to the truth. Open you hearts to the conviction of
the Holy Spirit upon you. I pray that you who have received the truth may
live in it and abide by it, that you may enjoy the blessings of it and be
prepared for the fullness of the glory of God, that will yet be revealed.
I exhort those who do not believe, to listen to and receive, little by
little, the instructions which God will give, until all the inhabitants of
the earth are prepared for Jesus to come and reign in their midst. 

	God bless you, Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
               Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Friday 
                        afternoon, June 27, 1973.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
           CONTINUED OBEDIENCE TO THE LAWS OF GOD IS NECESSARY 
            TO INSURE A COMPLETE SALVATION TO THE LATTER-DAY 
           SAINTS--THE DISOBEDIENCE OF ANCIENT ISRAEL IS SHOWN 
          AS A WARNING TO THE PRESENT GENERATION OF HIS PEOPLE--
           THE NATURE AND NECESSITY OF THE LAW OF TITHING--THE 
            FEWNESS OF THOSE WHO FAITHFULLY OBSERVE THAT LAW.

	I am very much gratified for the privilege of coming to this place to
see the faces of the Saints, to speak to them and to greet them as a
brother and a friend. If we could see and understand things as they are,
if we could have the vail withdrawn from our eyes and behold the things of
eternity, and the connection and relationship that we sustain to the
eternal worlds, and to heavenly things, our minds would be very much
inspired to speak, sing, pray, listen attentively, meditate upon and
contemplate the wonderful things of God. A great deal is said to the
Latter-day Saints concerning our religion, which does in reality
incorporate and circumscribe the whole life of man. We need teaching. We
are like children with regard to learning. If we could understand the
effects of the fall or of sin upon intelligence, we would see that its
tendency is downward, that it is retrograde in its nature. The things
pertaining to life are of the opposite character--they are exalting,
increasing, multiplying, gaining, receiving a little here and a little
there--our minds and understandings expanding by that which we learn by
reading, by the seeing of the eye and the hearing of the ear.

	The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the revelations which the Lord has
given to his people in the latter days, contain a great deal about the
kingdom of God on the earth. We have also histories of the kingdoms
established by the children of men. From these we learn that a great many
changes have taken place owing to the revolutions that have occurred in
the past and which are still in progress. From our own conclusions on
these matters there is one fact of which we are sensible, and understand
to a certainty--namely, that purity preserves, sustains and increases,
while sin and ignorance, in all their horrid forms, have just the opposite
effect. We need only look at the nations of the earth for confirmation of
these ideas. We need not go far; we may look at the aborigines of our own
country. Why are they in their present condition? There are reasons for
this. They, just as much as we, belong to the human family-- the highest
class of intelligence there is upon the face of the earth. Why are they in
their present degradation? We see them as they are, we see the nations as
they are. Take the Jewish nation, why are they as they are? Is there a
cause for it? There certainly is. We have had a short account from brother
George A. Smith about the present condition of that land and of the
descendants of the ancient worthies to whom it was given. In the nations
of the earth at the present day we see imbecility, slothfulness, and I
will say ignorance with all its attendant crimes and debauchery,
prevailing among the masses of the people., There is a reason for all
this. The time was when nations, now unknown, which once flourished upon
the eastern continent, were intelligent and full of the spirit of thrift
and industry., Who can tell us why they have passed away and are
forgotten. Brother George A. told us this morning, that the place where
the great city of Babylon stood, or where it is supposed to have stood is
now an inaccessible swamp and a desert. Where is the Babylonish nation? We
know nothing about it. Where are the nations of Israel? We hardly know
anything about the, with the exception of the tribe of Benjamin, which
remain scattered among the nations of the earth, desolate and forlorn.
They have been hunted down with dogs, and the time has been when it was
perfectly lawful in some nations for every Christian child who was
disposed to do so to stone a Jew while passing through the streets; and it
is not long since they were not permitted to own a foot of land in any of
the Gentile nations. This is not so now. But what was the cause of all
this? Their history is not lost, neither are they, and the simple reason
they are not is because they were the chosen of the Lord, they were to be
held in remembrance by our heavenly Father. A remnant of the people of
Israel are to be saved, and they will yet be gathered together. But other
nations that existed before the flood, and many before the days of Jesus,
where are they? Who knows anything about them? They are lost as far as
history is concerned; and many people since the days of the Savior have
been blotted from the remembrance of man.

	Here are a people dwelling in these mountains who profess to be the
Saints of the Most High, the beloved of the Lord. They have received his
Priesthood and its keys, the keys of Government, and the plan of the
government of the heavenly hosts, as far as man in capable of receiving
this divine, celestial and holy law. When we contemplate the course of the
Latter-day Saints, we are almost led to inquire what will be their future
history. It is true that we have hope different from those who have lived
before us, but let this people, called Latter-day Saints, be blessed for
twenty years to come as they have been for twenty years to come as they
have been for twenty years past, and the Lord not take them in hand, but
let them take their own course as they have done, and as they are now
doing, although we consider ourselves quite obedient and willing, and we
like to know the mind and will of the Lord, but let us, I say, go on for
twenty years to come, in the same ratio as for twenty years past, and who
among us would hearken to the counsel of God? Let the old stock--those who
have lived in Babylon and who have had their trials in the wicked world,
pass away, let them be taken out of the midst of the Latter-day Saints,
and the young growth that know nothing of the world be left to themselves,
to follow the promptings of their own wills, and what would be their
condition? Would we not see Babylon to perfection? Would we not have all
that the wicked world could desire in our midst, and we delighting
therein? Think of this, and draw your own conclusions. Still we say,
without boasting a bit, that we are the best people there is. This is my
decision. I say that we are the best people there is upon the earth, and
we have nothing to boast of, not the least in the world. Who is there that
hearkens to the will of God, or heeds his voice? Who is there, on the face
of the whole earth, outside of this people, who know the mind and will of
God, or that seek to do his will? It may be said that the whole Christian
worlds are trying to serve the Lord. It is true that many of them confess
him with their mouths, and draw near to him with their lips, but what is
their true condition? Are their hearts bent on doing the will of the Lord,
or are they far from him? Suppose that Peter, whom the Christian world
think so much of, and whose history is contained in the Bible; or James,
or John, or either one of the eight who have written and testified to the
New Testament, or either one of the twelve Apostles chosen by the Savior,
or Jesus himself, were to come to the Christian world, and were to go into
their synagogues, or into the places of worship they have erected, and
which they call after St. James, St. Mark, St. Paul or St. Peter, do you
think that any of these personages would be permitted to proclaim their
doctrines in those buildings? No, not one, and if there were a priest or
divine whom, after hearing the doctrine of Jesus proclaimed, should say,
"I see no harm in this doctrine, it is Bible doctrine," the majority of
the people would say, "We do not want you for our public servant if you
permit this man to enter the pulpit and proclaim his doctrine." This is
all the proof necessary that they would not receive Jesus and his Apostles
in this day, with all their boasted professions of love for his name and
doctrine. If they would receive Jesus they would receive an Elder of this
Church when sent to preach the Gospel to them; if they had been willing to
receive an apostle of Jesus Christ, they would have received your humble
servant. But his we need not talk about.

	What will be the history of the nations of the earth now existing?
Just as fast as time and circumstances will permit they will be blotted
out of existence, and will be forgotten and known no more on the face of
the earth. This would be the fate of the Latter-day Saints if they were to
persist in following the inclinations of their own hearts, for according
to that which they now make manifest, pride, arrogance and covetousness
are increasing in their midst; and any people or nation that gives way to
these evils curtails the measure of its existence, and will soon be
blotted out, and will be known no more for ever, Can we believe all this?
Read the history of the world and you will find that when God has blessed
a people and placed his name upon them, and they afterwards became
disobedient, the whole catalogue of curses pronounced by him upon his
unworthy children, have come upon them and they have been blotted out.
Those who do not profess to know anything of the Lord are far better off
than we are, unless we live our religion, for we who know the Master's
will and do it not will be beaten with few stripes. This is perfectly
reasonable. We cannot chastise a child for doing that which is contrary to
our wills, if he knows no better; but when our children are taught better
and know what is required of them, if they then rebel, of course, they
expect to be chastised, and it is perfectly right that they should be.

	Brother George A. gave us a little this morning with regard to the
law of Tithing. What was the cause of the first, or one of the first,
curses that came upon Israel? I will tell you. One of the first
transgressions of the family called Israel, was their going to other
families or other nations to select partners. This was one of the great
mistakes made by the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they would
go and marry with other families, although the Lord had forbidden them to
do so, and had given them a very strict and stringent law on the subject.
He commanded them not to marry among the Gentiles, but they did and would
do it. Inasmuch as they would not do what he required of them, then he
gave them what I call a portion of the law of carnal commandments. This
law told them what they might and whom they might not marry. It was
referred to by the Savior and his Apostles, and it was a grievous yoke to
place on the necks of any people; but as the children of this family would
run after Babylon, and after the pride and the vanity and evils of the
world, and seek to introduce them into Israel, the Lord saw fit to place
this burden upon them. And another great neglect and infringment of the
law of God by the children of Israel was in relation to their Tithes and
offerings. The law of Tithing was revealed in very early times to the
people of God; but they failed to observe it, and the Prophets whom God
sent to Israel declared that they had transgressed the laws, changed the
ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant. Covenants were made with
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but their descendants broke with them. They
would not observe but they would transgress the laws which God gave unto
them, and they continued to do so down to the days of Malachi. The Lord,
through this Prophet, declared--"This whole nation have robbed me." I also
declare that this whole people, called the Latter-day Saints, are guilty
of the same sin--they have robbed the Lord in their Tithes and in their
offerings. What would the people like? Do they want to know what is done
with the Tithing. If the Lord requires one-tenth of my ability to be
devoted to building temples, meeting-houses, school-houses, to schooling
our children, gathering the poor form the nations of the earth, bringing
home the aged, lame, halt and blind, and building houses for them to live
in, that they may be comfortable when they reach Zion, and to sustaining
the Priesthood, it is not my prerogative to question the authority of the
Almighty in this, nor of his servants who have charge of it. If I am
required to pay my Tithing, it is my duty to pay it. If the question if
asked--"Brother Brigham, do you pay your Tithing?" I can answer will all
propriety in the negative. I have never paid my Tithing, and if I turn to
the right, left, front and rear, I shall seek in vain for a man in this
Church who has paid his Tithing strictly. There is no man who has paid his
Tithing. I have watched the thing closely, and according to my
understanding of the literal meaning, spirit and intent of the term, I am
compelled to come to the conclusion that there is not a man or woman in
this Church who has paid his or her Tithing; and I do not know of an
individual in this Church who has means enough to pay his back Tithing if
it were required of him. I have not; it would required more means than I
have now in my possession for me to do it. Perhaps I may be asked what is
my excuse. I do not know that I have any. I can say, that in the days of
Joseph, when my circumstances were very straitened, I never had $500,
$100, one dollar, fifty cents or twenty-five cents, but what, if it were
wanted, it went as free as a cup of water from a well--Joseph was welcome
to it. Was I tried in this? Yes, for many and many has been the time in my
poverty, when if I had a dollar or fifty cents in my possession I have
thought, "I can buy a pint or a half pint of molasses for my children to
sop their bread in," but it was called for, and it went as free as the
water of the river here would be to a thirsty person. And as for my time,
from the day that I entered this Church until now, I have paid no
attention to any business except that of building up this kingdom. The
question may be asked, "Do you not attend to your own private affairs and
business?" Yes, when I can, but I do not know that I have ever spent one
minute in attending to business belonging to Brigham Young, when the
business of the Church and kingdom of God on the earth required his
attention. Yet I would not say that this is any excuse for not strictly
paying my Tithing. I have paid a great deal of Tithing, more perhaps than
any other man, or any other ten men who were ever in the Church, and yet
my Tithing is not paid. But I pay Tithing, and when the grain upon my farm
ins ripened, or the cattle upon it are matured, I say to my men, "Be sure
and pay the Tithing on whatever we have raised." But in some instances I
have found that it was neglected.

	Suppose we were to say to this people, "Will you pay a little
Tithing?" "Yes, we will pay a little Tithing," How much would you be
willing to pay? Will you pay one dollar to a thousand that you owe of back
Tithing? If you will, we shall almost have more than we know what to do
with. If you pay up a little of this back Tithing, I am going to make a
proposition. Take the people of this one valley, and they are far better
able to build a Temple than the whole of the Saints were when they lived
in the Eastern States. The Saints did not begin to be as able to build a
Temple then as the people of this single valley are now. My proposition
is, if you will go to work and pay up some of your back Tithing, we will
build a Temple up here on the hill; we can select a beautiful site for one
there. We calculate to build many Temples, and we will have one here if
you agree to my proposition.

	If we had a few score thousands of dollars now, we should like to
send for the poor. I am sent to from this town, Mendon, Hyrum, Wellsville,
and from almost every settlement in these mountains, by parties who have
friends in the old country, saying, "Brother Brigham, can you send for my
friends? I will send a hundred dollars; will you put four hundred to that
and send for my friends, there are only five of them?" This may appear
strange, but people dwelling in almost every town in this Territory, are
beseeching me continually to send for their friends. I tell them I will
send for all I can. My general practice has been to pay two thousand
dollars a year to help the poor. I gave only one thousand this year; but
if the people, eery year will give in proportion to what I give, we can
bring the scattered Saints here by scores of thousands. I do not ask the
Latter-day Saints to do that which I do not do, I never did, and as old as
I am now, I expect that if I should see a wagon in my mud, my shoulder
would be first to the wheel to lift it out. When money, good or time has
been wanted to help to roll forth the work, I have taken the lead all the
time and said, "Come, brethren, do as I do."

	But with regard to Tithing, this people will be cursed unless they
stop their nonsense, unless they cease running after the fashions and
folly of Babylon, and put as Tithing that means which is uselessly spent.
How long would it take the Lord to cause the waters of every stream that
runs into this valley to sink down into the earth, and to make the valley
as dry as the Holy Land is to-day. It would take him but a very short
time. He could open up the veins of the earth--the earth is full of them,
and it would want only a little change to open them, and cause the water
of every stream in this valley to sink deep into the bowels of the earth.
How long would it take him to pass this word, and for his angels to come
here and say to the clouds--"Gather no more moisture to shed forth the
dews and the rains on the face of the earth?" All he would have to do
would be to send an angel to perform a little meteorological and chemical
change, and the clouds would gather no more moisture, and no more rain
would fall on the earth. Where would your trees be then? What would become
of your gardens? What would come of the forage on the mountains that our
cattle and sheep feed upon? It would be dried up, become dust, and be
blown into some other country, and the rocks would be left bare, as they
are in some of the eastern lands. All this could be cone very easily. Now
we are in plenty, in the very heart of the luxuries of the world. There is
no place in the world where they are enjoyed in greater profusion than
they are here. Go into boasted France, with its forty millions of people,
and out of this large number not more than eight millions enjoy the luxury
of eating meat; thirty-two millions out of the forty, it is said, never
taste it form year's end to year's end. Go into Italy, and the proportion
of those who never taste meat is far greater than it is in France. Compare
the condition of the people in some of the German States, and in any
nation of the face of the earth that we know anything about, with that of
the people in this Territory, and I will say that the people of these
mountains wallow and revel in luxury, wealth and independence more than
any other people on the face of the earth, and yet we have not a dollar to
pay Tithing! We have to pay the public hands now a certain proportion of
money, and store pay, which is money, but ask the people to pay us a
little money Tithing, and they tell us, "We haven't got any." The cry from
Cache Valley is, "We have no money." It is not so. I will venture to say
that if a fine circus were to come into this town, and stay four nights,
they would take away from five to ten thousand dollars in cash, and go to
the next town it would be the same. I am no telling the hard side of the
question, painting the evil side of the Latter-day Saints. I recollect, a
few years ago, there was a fine circus came to Salt Lake City. I tool it
into my head, a few days before it arrived, to say to some of the
Bishops--"Can you raise us so much money on Tithing? Can not you pay
something, Bishop?" Said one, " I have not a dollar in the world." I would
meet another, and ask him the same question, and I asked them in a way
that they would not mistrust me, but they could not raise a dollar, and I
suppose that they would have been willing to have laid their hands on the
Bible and sworn that they had not a dollar in the world. On the day when
the circus came to the Eighth Ward square, I took the liberty of going
there, and I watched whom came, and I found that some of these very men
who said that they had not a dollar in the world, paid out ten, fifteen,
twenty, and twenty-five dollars to let their families into that circus.
They lied before God, holy angels and the whole heavens, before the
servants of God, and unless they repent they will have their portion in
hell. You need not wonder to see men apostatizing who  have been in the
habit of lying to God, to angels, to themselves, and to their holy
religion. Ask them for a little Tithing, and their answer is--"No, we have
not anything." What do you suppose the Lord thinks about such men? He
thinks they will have their portion with the disobedient. This is the
unfavorable side of the picture. Not but what there is a great many, and
in fact, the greater portion of this people, if they can know the mind and
will of God, will do it. They are told it from day to day and from time to
time on a great many subjects. Bother here and throughout all the
settlements of the Saints we have preached the Word of Wisdom, and the
necessity of letting the fashions of the world alone. We give you the
truth of heaven on the subject--we give it to you just as it is in heaven,
or as it is written there concerning the Saints on earth. With regard to
Tithing, we give you the truth just as it is written in heaven, and just
as you will find it by and by. What object have I in saying to the
Latter-day Saints, do this, that or the other? It is for my own benefit,
it is for your benefit; it is for my own wealth and happiness, and for
your wealth and happiness that we pay Tithing and render obedience to any
requirement of Heaven. We can not add anything to the Lord by doing these
things. Tell about making sacrifices for the kingdom of heaven. There is
no man who ever made a sacrifice on this earth for the kingdom of heaven,
that I know anything about, except the Savior. He drank the bitter cup to
the dregs, and tasted for every man and for every woman, and redeemed the
earth and all things upon it. But he was God in the flesh, or he could not
have endured it. "But we suffer, we sacrifice, we give something, we have
preached so long." What for? "Why, for the Lord." I would not five the
ashes of a rye straw for the man who feels that he is making sacrifices
for God. We are doing this for our own happiness, welfare and exaltation,
ad for nobody else's. This if the fact, and what we do we do for the
salvation of the inhabitants of the earth, not for the salvation of the
heavens, the angels, or the Gods.

	These are a few of my thoughts, and a few items for the people to
receive and hearken to. We have come here to talk to and instruct you, and
to put our faith and our work with yours. Our united purpose is to labor
to build up the kingdom of heaven on the earth, and to overcome every sin,
all wickedness, and the power of Satan, until the earth is renovated,
purified, sanctified and glorified. Amen.



                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
              Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Saturday 
                        Afternoon, June 28, 1873.
                       Reported by David W. Evans.
          EXTENSION OF THE UTAH NORTHERN RAILROAD--THE BUILDING 
           OF THE MEETING HOUSE AND OTHER PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS 
        URGED ON THE PEOPLE--FAITH MADE MANIFEST BY WORKS--UNITY 
          IN LABOR AND CO-OPERATION IN ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO 
           THE KINGDOM--LABOR BUILDS UP THE KINGDOM--NUMBER OF 
THOSE IN THE CONGREGATION ACQUAINTED WITH THE PROPHET JOSEPH--EARLY
EXPERIENCE IN THE CHURCH--REWARDS WILL 
         FOLLOW OBEDIENCE--OBJECT OF THE LAW OF TITHING--SERVES 
            THE LORD BECAUSE OF THE PURITY OF REVEALED TRUTH.

	I have a little temporal matter which I wish to lay before the
brethren--something pertaining to our work here for the benefit of the
inhabitants of this valley and other places. It is concerning this
railroad. I wish to speak of this to-day. We should pass it over,
probably, if it were left till to-morrow. I wish the brethren to take into
consideration the benefits that are now and which will be derived by the
building of this railroad. Another item I wish to lay before the brethren
is the putting a road through what is called Bear River Kanyon, this side
of Cottonwood, where the railroad will go. If this could be crowded
through, I am told it would be a saving of about fifteen miles of travel
and climbing some very severe points of the mountains. If the brethren
will take hold, under the direction of some one who may be appointed or
who is already appointed, of the grading of the road, it would be quite an
accommodation to the travel from here to Soda Springs. Get the railroad
graded as far and as fast as possible to carry us on. We would like very
much to hold some meetings north, and we would rather get into a car and
go where we wish than to be traveling along through the dust day after
day, consequently we wish to hurry up this matter as speedily as possible.
The arrangements will be entered into by those who have the railroad in
charge, but I thought would ask the brethren, inasmuch as they wish to
travel north, occasionally, to do themselves and the rest of us the
kindness to get a ride upon a pretty good track. We wish to go to Bear
Lake Valley, over into Rich County, but how shall we go? I understand that
this road up the Logan is impassable, and that the dugway road is very
bad. We have some settlements already on the Soda Springs route, and shall
probably have more, and if we could have the accommodation of traveling on
a pretty fair level road we should be very thankful. I shall leave this
and other matters with you, but I would urge the necessity of building the
railroad as far north as the iron can be obtained. I understand there is
enough now coming to go from here to Franklin, and perhaps a few miles
beyond. When this is completed, the traveling and freighting to the north
will probably go over this line, and the business of the people here will
be increased and the value of the property will be enhanced, and you will
advance in proportion to the abundance of your improvement.

	Another item which I wish to urge upon the people is the building of
this meeting house. We have a bowery here, which is very comfortable to
meet in this warm weather, but when it is windy, stormy, cold or wet, the
people should certainly have a house to meet in, instead of being out of
doors. This, of course, will require labor. If we were to go into details
with regard to labor I think we could show very clearly that the time that
is given to us here is not altogether well spent. We might make a great
many improvements to benefit ourselves, and be none the poorer, but it
would increase our wealth. I think this is apparent to every reflecting
mind. Every improvement that we make not only adds to our comfort but to
our wealth. I wish the brethren to consider this. Not that I wish to take
anything from the minds of the people of the good things that we have
heard since we have been together, and especially from brother Taylor, who
has just spoken. I would not like to take a thought or reflections from
the minds of the people concerning those good things pertaining to the
kingdom of God. But recollect that brother Taylor, in his remarks, brought
the spiritual and the temporal together. They always have been and always
will be together, and by our labor we show to the heavens that we are
willing and obedient servants and handmaids. This gives us a claim to the
blessings which our Father in heaven delights to bestow upon the faithful.
By our works our faith is made manifest, and by them shall we be judged,
and justified or condemned. Then let our works be such as will justify us
and tend to the building up of the kingdom of heaven upon the earth. If we
do this, brethren and sisters, we shall prosper and increase.

	We were talking yesterday about the blessings of the people It
appears to me that they have little idea of the blessings which are in
their possession. Still I am sensible that a great many realize and are
very thankful for them, and they wish to improve their time to the best
advantage. But take us as a people and how strange is the course we
pursue! How inconsistent, inconsiderate and vain are the acts of the
Elders of Israel. Is this the fact? Yes, co-operation was referred to by
brother Taylor. The man or woman who is opposed to this is opposed to God.
So said brother Taylor. I say that they who are opposed to co-operation
are opposed to heaven, to their own welfare, to the welfare of their
neighbors, to truth and to everything that is good. The least thought or
act of an individual who is or can be called a Saint, that militates
against a oneness of feeling and action amongst the Saints is opposed to
everything that is heavenly and good. We do not wish to co-operate in
mercantile affairs only, but we wish to bring the minds of the people to
consider the benefit of uniting and laboring together, to make this long
and strong pull all together, of which brother Taylor spoke. This is an
expression that Brother Joseph Smith frequently used concerning the
oneness of the people. If the Latter-day Saints were to take a course to
alienate their fellowship and feelings one from another, each one saying,
"This is my pile, and I am working to increase it," we should then be in
the position, referred to by brother Franklin D. Richards, this morning,
of the man who said that all the world belonged to the Lord, excepting the
little piece of land he had bought and paid for. How inconsiderate,
inconsistent and unwise, in such a course as this! If we are not one, we
are not the Lord's. We can not do his will, nor be his disciples unless we
are one. We must have the same faith and feelings for the building up of
the kingdom of God, and for the salvation of ourselves and others,
jointly, together, or we shall fail in our attempts to accomplish the work
which the Lord has given us to do. We should consider all these matters.
Now take hold with union and bring the rock, lumber, and all other
material that is necessary, and let the mechanics go to work and put up
this meeting house.

	I do not know who has charge of the building of this store here, but
I am very sorry it does not loom up a little faster. I would like to see
this store finished, the meeting house built, the railroad completed
through here, our roads built through the mountains; I would like to see
your farms fenced up, and to see good building in this and other towns.
Improvement belongs to the spirit and plan of the heavens. To improve in
our minds, to increase in wisdom, knowledge and  understanding, to gather
every item of knowledge that we can in mechanism and in science of every
description, respecting the earth, the object of the organization of the
earth, the heavens, the heavenly bodies--all this is of Heaven, it is from
God; but when a person or a people begin to dwindle, to lessen and to take
the downward course, they are going from heaven and heavenly things. You
have seen this illustrated in those who leave this Church. You have known
men who, while in the Church, were active, quick and full of intelligence;
but after they have left the Church, they have become contracted in their
understandings, they have become darkened in their minds, and everything
has become a mystery to them, and in regard to the things of God, they
have become like the rest of the world, who think, hope and pray that such
and such things may be so, but they do not know the least about it. This
is precisely the position of those who leave this church: they go into the
dark, they are not able to judge, conceive or comprehend things as they
are. They are like the drunken man--he thinks that everybody is the worse
for liquor but himself, and he is the only sober man in the neighborhood.
The apostates think that everybody is wrong but themselves.

	Follow the spirit of improvement and labor. All the capital there is
upon the earth is the bone and sinew of working men and women. Were it not
for that, the gold and the silver and the precious stones would remain in
the mountains, upon the plains and in the valleys, and never would be
gathered or brought into use. The timber would continue to grow, but none
of it would be brought into service, and the earth would remain as it is;
but it is the activity and labor of the inhabitants of the earth that
bring forth the wealth. Labor builds our meeting houses, temples, court
houses, fine halls for music and fine school houses; it is labor that
teaches our children, and makes them acquainted with the various branches
of education, that makes them proficient in their own language and in
other languages, and in every branch of knowledge understood by the
children of men; and all this enhances the wealth and the glory and the
comfort of any people on the earth. But take the other course, and they
become like our savages--they soon forget what they have learned, have no
taste for acquiring knowledge, and lose all their ambition and desire for
improvement. For instance, look at the Jewish nation. Here are the tribe
of Judah in our midst. Do you ever recollect any of them building a house?
Think of it, look around now, and try if you can find any of the sons of
Judah so lost to themselves as to be guilty of making any improvements. I
speak ironically. They will bring something to you to sell it to you, and
get your money if they can, for they are every one of them merchants; but
can you find one of them that tills an acre of ground? Search the world
over, and you will find but few Jewish agriculturists, although there are
millions of Jews scattered through the earth, and many of them occupying
important positions in the learned world; but they are not producers, they
are all consumers. The land of Judea has fallen into disrepute, and it has
become a desert, just through the apostacy of those who once inhabited it,
who had the oracles of God among them. This is the fact. Let the
Latter-day Saints neglect their labor, and they will soon find that they
are declining in their feelings, tastes and judgment for improving the
elements of the earth; hence we say, improve, be industrious, prudent,
faithful, make good farms, gardens and orchards, good public and private
buildings, have the best schools, &c. The world give us the credit of
being the most industrious people on the face of the earth; they say that
the Latter-day Saints in Utah have done more than any other people ever
were known to do in the same time. It is the little union that we have in
our midst that has given this impetus to our prosperity. But we have not
enough union, we have not enough of the spirit of improvement amongst us.
You will see men occasionally here who, so far as the spirit of
improvement goes, are like some old "Mormons" who lived in the days of
Joseph. That is, their bodies breathe, and they move and have a being; but
they died when Joseph died. There has been no spirit of progress or
improvement in them since. As far as regards gathering and organizing the
elements, and making the earth beautiful, these old "Mormons" have no
taste for it, and they see nothing, hear nothing, and know nothing, only
they knew Joseph. Say they, "Oh, I was acquainted with Joseph, I knew
brother Joseph." Ask them, "Are you going to build a house?" "Well, I
don't know; I don't know as I care anything about having any better
house." "Well, but your house is full of bed bugs." "I know it is pretty
bad, but still it is as good as I am, and I don't think I shall try to
build." They died when Joseph died.

	I hear it mentioned here, I think this morning, that we all knew the
character of the Latter-day Saints, and the difficulties and persecutions
they have passed through. It came into my mind at that moment to ask this
congregation how many of them knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet, just to show
what "Mormonism " has accomplished in twenty-eight years. I believe I will
do myself the favor, and gratify myself so far as to ask those of my
brethren and sisters now present, who were personally acquainted with
Joseph Smith, to raise their right hands. (A very few hands up.) There is
a few, but very few, not above one to twenty, and perhaps not more than
one to fifty in this congregation who ever saw Joseph Smith. Now if I were
to ask the boys and girls, and all the young folks present, although your
Sunday schools are not here, who were born in these valleys, to raise
their right hands, I will venture to say that we should find that more
than half this congregation have been born in these mountains. What do
they know about what we passed through in Illinois, Missouri, Kirtland, or
New York State? I will give you one item. I lived close by where these
plates were found. I knew that Joseph found them, from outward
circumstances that transpired at the time. I shall not take time to relate
but a little of the delicate, kind, benevolent, Christian-like, I will say
anti-Godlike feelings of the priests and of the people who professed
Christianity at the time that Joseph organized this Church. The very first
thing that was circulated was this--"Did you hear that Joe Smith and his
followers got together last night, blew out the light, stripped themselves
stark naked, and there they had the holy roll?" This was the story started
by the priests in the neighborhood where the plates were found. In the
Branch were I lived, we had not met together three times before our
beloved, kind, anti-Godlike Baptist priests and people declared that we
made a practice of meeting together, stripping stark naked, and there
having the "holy roll." A great many of you do not understand this term.
It came from the shaking Quakers. I shall not attempt to relate here the
conduct attributed to them, but from that sprang the peculiar phrase I
have mentioned in your hearing this after noon. In a very short time we
were all thieves in the estimation of our so-called Christian neighbors.
Said the priest to a beloved sister--"Sister, did you hear of such a man,
he was a member of our church a few days since, but he has joined old Joe
Smith?" Joseph was then twenty-one or twenty-two years of age, but it was
"old Joe Smith." "Sister, did you hear that such a brother stole a lot of
chickens last night?" Says the sister, "No, can it be possible?" "Well,
they say so," says the priest, and he himself had fabricated the entire
story. This sister would tell it to another, and it would go all through
the neighborhood that such a man, who only a few days before had been
considered by them as good a brother as they had in their church, had
become a chicken thief. But you cannot mention any crime that this people
called Latter-day Saints have not been accused of committing by their
so-called Christian neighbors; and these stories would generally commence
by the priests whispering to some sister--"Did you hear of such and such a
thing?" That was enough, all that was wanted, it became a solemn fact by
the time it passed the third mouth. Now what do the great majority of
Saints know of these things? Nothing, for they have been born since our
arrival here. I need not relate much of my experience in this work,
although I have had a pretty large one. But it is not particularly
profitable to me or to anybody else to relate it. Sometimes it is very
well to relate circumstances that have transpired, to show to the rising
generation what we have passed through and what we have had to contend
with.

	Now, if the brethren will take hold and perform the labors devolving
upon them, they shall be blessed in them. They will increase in health and
in wealth. The Lord will bless the people in proportion as they bless
themselves. If they are faithful in following every requirement, they will
be blessed in their families, and no other people on the earth that we
know anything about are blessed in their families and posterity as the
Latter-day Saints are now. Visit town after town in this Territory and let
the Saints turn out their children neat and clean and what can be said of
them? The Lord blesses them in their families. Let them drive up their
flocks, and what will be said of them? The Lord blesses their flocks in
their folds. See them upon the plains, they are blessed there more than
any other people. Then look at their harvests and their gardens and
orchards, and they are blessed therein more than any people we know
anything about. They are blessed in everything they put their hand to. The
climate of these valleys has been modified and mollified for their sakes.
When we first came here, neither an apple nor an ear of wheat could have
been raised in this valley. But is there a finer valley than this now in
these mountains? No. Is there a finer place for people to live in on this
continent? No. There is not.

	If the people take a course to bring the blessings of heaven upon
them, they will increase in everything. If they refuse obedience to the
holy Priesthood, they will dwindle and go into unbelief and apostacy; they
will be contracted in their views and feelings; the fruit trees will begin
to refuse to bear fruit; our flocks will begin to refuse their increase,
and our fields will refuse to bring forth their crops. I will just make
this statement with regard to the country the plates were taken from, from
which the Book of Mormon was translated. I have helped to harvest wheat
there, that yielded fifty bushels to the acre, or from twenty-five to
sixty bushels. For thirty years past, they have not raised twenty bushels
to the acre; for twenty years past they have not raised fifteen bushels to
the acre, and now, in that country, which once was not surpassed by any
portion of the globe for raising fruit and wheat, not an apple is raised
without a worm in the centre. They have been so for twenty or thirty
years. Their apples are good for nothing. Send them to England as they did
forty or fifty years ago, and they are not marketable; they will bear no
price in comparison to good fruit. Five to ten bushels of wheat to an acre
now. Their peaches have gone, their apples have gone, their plums and
their pears have gone, and that land eventually, unless this government
and the people of the government take a different course towards the
Gospel, that the Lord has revealed in the latter days, will become
desolate, forlorn and forsaken. That is the country I was brought up in,
and with regard to its products, I know about as much as any man that
lives.

	Now brethren and sisters, if we wish the blessings of heaven upon us,
let us be faithful to our covenants and callings, faithful in paying
Tithing, in keeping the word of wisdom and in building Temples. The
Tithing is for the building of Temples. Suppose we build this meeting
house here with Tithing. If the people will give us one-tenth part of that
which is due on their Tithing, we shall have all we need to build their
meeting houses, schoolhouses, and Temples. This may seem strange to some,
and perhaps I look at Tithing different from others, and consider the law
of Tithing different from what others would look at and construe the
meaning of the words concerning the Tithing that the Lord requires in the
latter days. I will sum it up and tell you what my views are. Here is a
character--a man--that God has created, organized, fashioned and
made,--every part and particle of my system from the top of my head to the
soles of my feet, has been produced by my Father in heaven; and he
requires one-tenth part of my brain, heart, nerve, muscle, sinew, flesh,
bone, and of my whole system, for the building of Temples, for the
ministry, for sustaining missionaries and missionaries' families, for
feeding the poor, the aged, the halt and blind, and for gathering them
home from the nations and taking care of them after they are gathered. He
has said, "My son, devote one-tenth of yourself to the good and wholesome
work of taking care of your fellow-beings, preaching the Gospel, bringing
people into the kingdom; lay your plans to take care of those who can not
take care of themselves; direct the labors of those who are able to labor;
and one-tenth part is all-sufficient if it is devoted properly, carefully
and judiciously for the advancement of my kingdom on the earth."

	What little wealth I have got, I have obtained since I have been in
this Church. What I had when I came into the Church I gave away to my
friends. I had no family except two children. I can hardly say that
either, for when I came into the Church I had a wife, but in a very few
months after I was baptized I lost her, and she left me two little girls.
I gave away what I had, and I started to preach the Gospel. I was obliged
to do it, for I felt as though my bones would consume within me if I did
not, consequently I devoted my time to preaching. I traveled, toiled,
labored and preached continually. My own brother Joseph, and myself, were
together a good deal of the time, until we went to Kirtland, to see the
Prophet, and the next year moved up. This it the way I commenced, and when
I gathered with the Saints I was about as destitute as any man that ever
gathered to the gathering place; and that summer brother Joseph called the
Elders together and gave them the word of the Lord never to do another
day's work to build up a Gentile city. I have never done a day's work, nor
an hour's work, from that time to this, to build up a Gentile city, but I
have labored continually to build up the cities of Zion. God has blessed
me with means, and he has blessed me with a family. I made a statement
yesterday, which I can make again with all propriety--that in my judgment
it would take more than I have got to pay my back Tithing, and I have got
as much, probably, as any man in the Church. The Lord has blessed me; he
has always blessed me; from the time I commenced to build up Zion, I have
been extremely blessed. I could relate circumstances of so extraordinary a
character in regard to the providences of God to me, that my brethren and
sisters would say in their hearts, "I can hardly give credence to this."
But my heart has been set in me to do the will of God, to build up his
kingdom on the earth, to establish Zion and its laws, and to save the
people; and I can say truly and honestly that the thought never came into
my mind, in all my labors, what my reward will be, or whether my crown
would be large or small, or any crown at all, a small possession, a large
possession, or no possession. I do not know that I shall have a wife or
child in the resurrection. I have never had any thoughts or reflections
upon this, or cared the first thing about it. All that I have had in my
mind has been that it was my duty to do the will of God, and to labor to
establish his kingdom on the earth. I do not love, serve or fear the Lord
for the sake of getting rid of being damned, nor for the sake of getting
some great gift or blessing in eternity, but purely because the principles
which God has revealed for the salvation of the inhabitants of the earth
are pure, holy and exalting in their nature. In them there is honor and
eternal increase, they lead on from light to light, strength to strength,
glory to glory, knowledge to knowledge, and power to power; and the
opposite reduces any individual or any nation on the earth to imbecility,
ignorance, slothfulness, and to the loathsome state of degradation in
which we see some of the inhabitants of the earth now. It is purely for
the love of holy principles, that will exalt the people, that we may
receive and gain more and more, and keep receiving for ever and ever, that
I serve the Lord, and try to build up his kingdom.

	And when we get through this state of being, to the next room, I may
call it, we are not going to stop there. We shall still go on, doing all
the good we can, administering and officiating for all whom we are
permitted to administer and officiate for, and then go on to the next, and
to the next, until the Lord shall crown all who have been faithful on this
earth, and the work pertaining to the earth is finished, and the Savior,
whom we have been helping, has completed his task, and the earth, with all
things pertaining to it, is presented to the Father. Then these faithful
ones will receive their blessings and crowns, and their inheritances will
be set off to them and be given to them, and they will then go on, worlds
upon worlds, increasing for ever and ever.

	Now, brethren, what do you say, will you do as I want you to? Will
you take hold and build this meeting-house, get this road through and make
a little more improvement, and say we will have no idlers in our midst,
but that every day, every week, every month, shall be devoted to something
that is useful to ourselves and to others? If this is our feeling and our
determination we shall be blessed. I feel to bless you. I pray for you
continually. I never cease to pray for the Saints. I pray the Lord to
inspire the hearts of his people, so that the good may not fall away, but
that they may be preserved in the truth, and that they may learn and
understand it more and more, until their affections are so wedded to God
and his kingdom on the earth, that the revelations of Jesus Christ may be
in them like a well of water springing up to everlasting life. 

	Now, I can say, God bless you, and I pray that you may be blessed;
but I pray you to bless yourselves. Brethren and sisters, let us bless
ourselves, by doing the will of God, then we are right.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
           Delivered in the bower, Logan City, Sunday morning, 
                              June 29, 1873.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
                           THE ORDER OF ENOCH.

	I say to the Latter-day Saints, that the only reason why we do not
take up the subject and enter into the organization of Enoch, or a city of
Enoch, is simply because we have not yet been able to find every item of
law bearing upon this matter, so as to organize in a way that apostates
cannot trouble us. This is the only reason. It is a matter that I am
paying particular attention to, with some of my brethren, to see if we
have skill enough to get up an organization and draw up papers to bind
ourselves together under the laws of the United States, so that we can put
our means and labor together and join as one family. As soon as we can
accomplish this, and get an instrument that lawyers cannot pick to pieces
and destroy, and apostates cannot afflict us, we expect to get up this
institution, and enter most firmly into it.

	Yesterday and the day before I had considerable to say to the
Latter-day Saints, reading the dark side of the page. I will say here, I
am not discouraged with regard to this latter-day work, I am not
discouraged with regard to the Latter-day Saints. If we were to pick and
choose to-day, we should find a large majority of the people called
Latter-day Saints, who are ready and willing, with open hands and pure
hearts, to enter into the Order of Enoch, and to live and die in this
Order. This is my faith concerning the people at large, consequently I am
not discouraged. But there are some who need chastening. We cannot call
names, this will not answer. We cannot tell a man that he is going to
apostatize, but we can chasten him as a member of the Church, not as an
individual. In this capacity, while in public, we do not take the liberty
of chastening an individual. But we can say to the brethren and sisters,
we are encouraged. "Mormonism" is onward and upward, the Gospel that the
Lord Jesus has introduced in the latter days is enjoyed by many, and it is
our life, our joy, our peace, our glory, our happiness, our all; and when
we come to the trying scene, as some call it, of sacrificing our property,
and putting it together for the good of the community, I do not expect the
brethren will receive any more trials than they have heretofore, I do know
whether the sisters will.

	Brother George Q. Cannon says the sister have borne a great deal. So
they have, but if they could only stand in the shoes of their husbands who
are good, true and faithful, they would know that they are by no means
free from perplexities. Just fancy a man with two, three, or half a dozen
of his beloved wives catching him on one side, and before he can take
three steps more, catching him on the other, and "I want his," "I want
that," and "this is not right," and "that is not right," and so on; their
minds just pulled to pieces. I say if the hair is spared on their heads
they may consider that they have got blessed good wives. I have as many
wives as many other men, and I keep my hair yet. But as to trials, why
bless your hearts, the man or woman who enjoys the spirit of our religion
has no trials; but the man or woman who tries to live according to the
Gospel of the Son of God, and at the same time clings to the spirit of the
world, has trials and sorrows acute and keen, and that, too, continually.

	This is the deciding point, the dividing line. They who love and
serve God with all their hearts rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing,
and in everything give thanks; but they who try to serve God and still
cling to the spirit of the world, have got on two yokes--the yoke of Jesus
and the yoke of the devil, and they will have plenty to do. They will have
a warfare inside and outside, and the labor will be very galling, for they
are directly in opposition one to the other. Cast of the yoke of the
enemy, and put on the yoke of Christ, and you will say that this yoke is
easy and his burden is light. This I know by experience.

	God bless you.




                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
            Delivered in the Bowery, at Paris, Oneida County, 
                     Idaho, Sunday, August 31, 1873.
                      (Reported by John Q. Cannon.)
        THE GOSPEL INCORPORATES ALL TRUTH--MODE OF ADMINISTERING 
THE SACRAMENT--ABIDING COUNSEL--HEAVENLY BLESSINGS ARE
CONDITIONAL--PROGRESSIVENESS OF THE WORK--PLURAL
         MARRIAGE--TITHING--TARDINESS OF THE SAINTS IN OBSERVING 
                     PRACTICAL DUTIES--CO-OPERATION.

	The Gospel of life and salvation that we have embraced in our faith,
and that we profess to carry out in our lives, incorporates all truth. We
frequently testify to each other that we know that this Gospel is true;
and as I have a great many times said to those that listen to my
conversation, upon the principles of life and salvation, I believe this
work, I believe this Gospel, I believe this doctrine, that is brought to
us through the Prophet Joseph, in these latter days, in this our time, for
the simplest, plainest and most palpable reasons that can be given. "What
is it?" Why, because it is true. The Gospel that I have embraced
comprehends all truth. "How much of it is true?" All of it. "How much does
it embrace?" All the truth that there is in the heavens, on the earth,
under the earth; and if there is any truth in hell, this doctrine claims
it. It is all the truth of heaven, the truth of God, the life of those
that live forever, the law by which worlds were, are, and will be brought
into existence, and pass from one degree or one state of being to another,
pertaining to the exaltation of intelligence from the lowest to the
highest state. This is the doctrine that the Latter-day Saints believe,
whether they realize it or not. Well, now, upon apostacy. What have the
Latter-day Saints got to apostatize from? Everything that there is good,
pure, holy, god-like, exalting, ennobling, extending the ideas the
capacities of the intelligent being that our heavenly Father has brought
forth upon this earth. What will they receive in exchange? I can
comprehend it in a very few words. These would be the words that I should
use: death, hell and the grave. That is what they will get in exchange. We
may go into the particulars of that which they experience. They experience
darkness, ignorance, doubt, pain, sorrow, grief, mourning, unhappiness; no
person to condole with in the hour of trouble, no arm to lean upon in the
day of calamity, no eye to pity when they are forlorn and cast down; and I
comprehend it by saying: death, hell and the grave. This is what they will
get in exchange for their apostacy from the Gospel of the Son of God. This
is their reward, and it is foolishness, not merely nonsense; a person can
have a little nonsense and pass it over; but this is foolishness. There is
not a particle of good sense about it; not light, no intelligence, nothing
that is ennobling, elevating, cheering, comforting, consoling, that
produces friends, or anything of this kind. I call it foolism; I do it
this time, consequently we will not talk anything about apostacy. 

	When people receive this Gospel, what do they sacrifice? Why, death
for life. This is what they give; darkness for light, error for truth,
doubt and unbelief for knowledge and the certainty of the things of God,
consequently I consider it to be the biggest piece of foolism that can be
hatched up, imagined or entertained, or followed out by any human being,
to leave this Gospel for what they will receive in exchange. So much for
apostacy.

	Now a few words my brethren and sisters, with regard to our position.
There are many in this Church who have been with it a long time. This
Church has been traveling for many years. The time that this Church has
been traveling exceeds the time of the children of Israel in the
wilderness.

	[At this point the water for the Sacrament was blessed.]

	I will give you a word of counsel here with regard to consecrating
the bread and the water, which I want the Saints to remember. When you
[addressing the Bishops and Elders] administer the Sacrament, take this
book [the Book of Doctrine and Covenants] and read this prayer. Take the
opportunity to read this prayer until you can remember it. You cannot get
up anything that is better, and not even equal to it; and when you read
it, read it so that the people can hear you. This is what I wish of you;
it is what is right, and that which the Spirit will manifest to you if you
inquire; and if you cannot commit this prayer to memory, the one that is
given by revelation expressly for consecrating the bread and the wine, or
water if the latter be used, take the book and read until you can
remember. If I were to come here next Sabbath, and see you breaking bread,
would this, that I am now mentioning, be thought of? The people have
various ideas with regard to this prayer. They sometimes cannot hear six
feet from the one who is praying, and in whose prayer, perhaps there are
not three words of the prayer that is in this book, that the Lord tells us
that we should use. This is pretty hard on the Elders, is it not? If they
could remember one thousandth part of that which they have heard, it would
have sanctified them years and years ago; but it goes in at one ear and
out at the other--it is like the weaver's shuttle passing through the web.

	Now I am going to tell you some more things, and how long will you
remember them? Until you get home? Perhaps there are a few who will
remember a few words of counsel that I shall give to you. I am here to
give this people, called Latter-day Saints, counsel to direct them in the
path of life. I am here to answer; I shall be on hand to answer when I am
called upon, for all the counsel and for all the instruction that I have
given to this people. If there is an Elder here, or any member of this
Church, called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who can
bring up the first idea, the first sentence that I have delivered to the
people as counsel that that is wrong, I really with they would do it; but
they cannot do it, for the simple reason that I have never given counsel
that is wrong; this it the reason. This people, called Latter-day Saints,
have been laboring now over forty years. Forty-three years last April, the
sixth day, this Church was organized. People have been coming into it,
many have gone out of it, many have died in the faith; but there is quite
a number in it that are now living who have held on to it from the
beginning, and they have been striving to increase in their knowledge, to
enlarge their faith and their comprehension of the principles of eternal
life; but it is slow progress. I wonder if there are any particular
sisters here who have lived humble and faithful, to whom the Spirit has
manifested that their progress and advancement are slow: "That by the
Spirit that I receive from the Lord, the Spirit that is given to me at
times, I an see that we are far in the rear of what we should be, and we
have not come up to that status of perfection and purity that the
Latter-day Saints should reach." Are there any sisters who have
experienced any such thing? Are there any Elders who can bear witness to
these things? I expect there are. I expect there is any number of sisters
in this Church who can bear witness to this, and testify that the people
called Latter-day Saints are very tardy in the practice of the things of
God.

	Now with regard to the blessings. There are blessings that the Lord
proffers to his people. Has he any conditions? This is the question. The
blessings that the Lord wishes to bestow upon his people in the latter
days, as he did upon them in former days, are they proffered to the people
on any conditions whatever, or is it the voluntary act upon the
involuntary people? Are they given to us whether we want them or not?
whether we will enjoy them or not? or whether we will profit by them or
not? How is this, Latter-day Saints? Is this the way the Lord does? You
and I understand this. Every blessing the Lord proffers to his people is
on conditions. These conditions are: "Obey my law, keep my commandments,
walk in my ordinances, observe my statues, love mercy, preserve the law
that I have given to you inviolate, keep yourselves pure in the law, and
then you are entitled to these blessings, and not until then." Now, is
this not the fact? I leave it to you. You have the Old and the New
Testament, from which we can learn doctrine. You have the Book of Mormon
to read, from which we can learn doctrine. You have the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants, which is more especially necessary to this generation. It
does not contain different doctrine to the Book of Mormon and Testaments.
It is explanatory of these three books, corroborates the doctrine that is
taught in them, and points out the path for this people to walk in to-day,
so that we may not err, but know how to order our lives from morning till
evening, from evening till morning, from Sunday morning till Sunday
morning again, from New Year to New Year, and every day of our lives. The
doctrine that the Lord has taught us and given to us through his servant
Joseph, points out the path for us to walk in, and, while walking in this
path, we do not lose sight of one iota of the Gospel, but you must hold it
secure, and always keep it before you by preserving those laws and
ordinances, and continuing to hold them precious. If the Saints will do
this, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, the Spirit of our Father and God will
enlighten their minds and bring to their remembrance things that
transpired in the past, and things to come to pass in the future, and they
may lay a foundation for everlasting life and eternal lives in the
celestial kingdom of our God. You may obtain these blessings by keeping in
mind and observing the principles, doctrine, and the laws and statues that
are delivered to the people of God for their edification, for their
perfection, for their comfort and consolation, to prepare them for
entering into the celestial kingdom. If any profess to live in the
observance of these principles, and do not enjoy the spirit of revelation,
they deceive themselves. No person deceives the Lord. Every individual
that lives according to the laws that the Lord has given to his people,
and has received the blessings that he has in store for the faithful,
should be able to know the things of God from the things which are not of
God, the light from the darkness, that which comes from heaven and that
which comes from somewhere else. This is the satisfaction and the
consolation that the Latter-day Saints enjoy by living their religion;
this is the knowledge which every one who thus lives possesses.

	These are the books, the Old and New Testament, the Book of Mormon
and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and we take all that has been said
to us by the Spirit of Truth, bring it together, live to it, and this
brings us into a condition that we have fellowship with the Father and
with his Son Jesus Christ, and the people of Christ are cleansed from all
sin, walk in the light and no more in darkness. We have received in the
first place the first ordinances pertaining to the Gospel that jesus
introduced, that have been sent to the earth for the salvation of the
children of men. Before the ordinances are performed, however, the people
hear the name of Christ declared; Jesus is preached to the people; faith
springs upon the hearts of the people. We the people believe. The Spirit
of Truth bears witness to our spirits that this is correct. This is the
Christ; he is the Savior of the world; and we begin to have faith in him;
and when we begin to have faith in him, and believe on him, and the Father
who sent him, we begin to look around ourselves and say: "Why is it that
we saw nothing so familiar and perfect years ago? All this is familiar and
plain and simple. How is this? They that declare Christ to us, are they
ready to teach us." "Yes, certainly." "Do you believe?" "Yes." "Do you
wish to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?" "Yes." "Do you wish to
enter into his family?" "Yes." "Do you wish to belong to this quorum of
disciples?" "Yes." "Is there anything for me to do to get there?" says the
candidate. "Yes, certainly," says the Elder. "Well, what is it?" "To go
down into the waters of baptism, this is the first ordinance, and be
baptized by one having authority."

	Well, now, this people have received all this. They have been
convicted of the truth, they have believed the truth, they have repented
of their sins, they have received baptism for the remission of their sins,
and the next ordinance or blessing--the laying on of hands, so that they
may receive the Holy Ghost. What accompanies this Holy Ghost? I have been
telling you: it brings to our remembrance things past, present, and
future, and dwells upon the things of God. Here are the ordinances, and we
have commenced to obey them. We have the promise of receiving blessings if
we hold on to the faith, and not turn away from this principle; and
although temptation may present itself to us, we will resist it, and we
will cling to the things of God, and believe on his promises, and will ask
the Father in the name of Jesus to help us to overcome these temptations,
and we will free ourselves from this darkness, we will break the chain of
doubt and unbelief, and we will emerge into the full faith of the Lord
Jesus. When temptations come to you, be humble and faithful, and
determined that you will overcome, and you will receive a deliverance, and
continue faithful, having the promise of receiving blessings. What are
these blessings? 

	There is a variety of blessings; a different blessing being probably
given to one, two, three or four of this congregation. Thus, one will have
faith to lay hands upon the sick and rebuke disease, and drive it from the
person afflicted. Many may receive this blessing of faith, the gift of
healing. Some may receive faith to the discerning of spirits; they can
discern the spirit of a person, whether it is good or evil. They have such
power, that when a person enters this congregation they can tell the
spirit of such person; then they have received the gift of discerning of
spirits. Some may receive the gift of tongues, that they will get up and
speak in tongues, and speak in many other languages beside their mother
tongue, the language that they were brought up in, that they were first
taught, and be able to proclaim the Gospel of life and salvation that all
men could understand it. These are the blessings; but others might receive
the gift of prophecy, get up and prophecy what is to befall this nation,
what will befall this or that individual, and what will befall the
different nations of the earth, etc. Now, after naming some of the
blessings, I want to come to something else, and draw a line for the
Latter-day Saints to walk up to.

	Suppose that we hear the name of the Savior declared to us, that he
is the Savior of the world, and by his death atoned for the sins of every
man, and we believe that this is the fact; but instead of inquiring, "Is
there anything for me to do? is there any labor for me to perform?" when
we get home we sing and say, "I thank God, and I am satisfied." When the
Elders says, "You must be baptized for the remission of sins," and we say,
"Oh, no, we have received the Spirit of Truth, there is no need of
baptism. We have received all that is necessary. The Spirit of Truth is
given to us; we acknowledge the Savior, and we rejoice in him, and we will
not be baptized for the remission of sins," are we entitled to have hands
laid upon us for the reception of the Holy Ghost? No; every one comes to
this conclusion. Suppose that we make ourselves satisfied with what we
have received, and we can say that Jesus is the Christ--"Yes, I believe
that he is the Christ; but I don't see the use of any of these
ordinances," are we entitled to the Holy Ghost? No. Are we entitled to
faith to heal the sick? No. Are we entitled to receive the spirit of
prophecy? No. Are we entitled to the gift of speaking in, or the gift of
the interpretation of, tongues? No. Are we entitled to the gift of the
discerning of spirits? No. Are we entitled to any power or blessing that
the Lord has promised to his disciples: that if anybody administered
poison to them, it should not harm them, and if their pathway were marked
in the midst of serpents, they could take up serpents and they should not
hurt them? Are we entitled to this protection? What is the answer of the
Latter-day Saints? My brethren and sisters, answer this question in your
own minds. Are we entitled to the blessing of the holy Gospel unless we
obey the ordinances thereof, and all the commandments and laws and
requirements that are laid down for us to obey? Now I know that every
Latter-day Saint will come to the same conclusion that I do--that if we
did not obey, we would not be entitled to any of these blessings from our
Father. There is not a Latter-day Saint but who comes to the same
conclusion as myself--that we would not merit, we would not be entitled
to, we could not claim at the hand of our God those blessings that he has
promised through obedience to his Word. Could we be called the people of
God? We would be in the path of disobedience. We would be in the path that
leads to death. We would be in the broad road that millions are walking in
to death. Now, every one of us comes to this conclusion.

	This people I say are very tardy. I will ask you a question, and I
will let you answer it in your own minds, for you know, and I am satisfied
that the answer I shall give will satisfy the Saints. Can we stand still,
receive so much pertaining to the blessings of the kingdom of God, receive
so much knowledge, just so much wisdom, just so much power, and then stop
and receive no more? How is this, Latter-day Saints? Your answer will be
precisely like mine--I can answer with you all. This people must go
forward or they will be backward. Will all answer this question the same
say? Will the same conclusion be in the mind of every Latter-day Saint,
that this work is a progressive work, this doctrine that is taught the
Latter-day Saints in its nature is exalting, increasing, expanding and
extending broader and broader until we can know as we are known, see as we
are seen? That is the answer of the Latter-day Saints.

	We will say we have received a great deal; very much instruction have
we received. But there are keys to open up other ordinances which I will
mention. Do you recollect that in about the year 1840-41, Joseph had a
revelation concerning the dead? He had been asked the question a good many
time; "What is the condition of the dead, those that lived and died
without the Gospel?" It was a matter of inquiry with him. He considered
this question not only for himself, but for the brethren and the Church.
"What is the condition of the dead? What will be their fate? Is there no
way to-day by which they can receive their blessings as there was in the
days of the Apostles, and when the Gospel was preached upon the earth in
ancient days?" When Joseph received the revelation that we have in our
possession concerning the dead, the subject was opened to him, not in full
but in part, and he kept on receiving. When he had first received the
knowledge by the spirit of revelation how the dead could be officiated
for, there are brethren and sisters here, I can see quite a number here
who were in Nauvoo, and you recollect that when this doctrine was first
revealed, and in hurrying in the administration of baptism for the dead,
that sisters were baptized for their male friends, were baptized for their
fathers, their grandfathers, their mothers and their grandmothers, &c. I
just mention this so that you will come to understanding, that as we knew
nothing about his matter at first, the old Saint recollect, there was
little by little given, and the subject was made plain, but little was
given at once. Consequently, in the first place people were baptized for
their friends and no record was kept. Joseph afterwards kept a record, &c.
Then women were baptized for men and men for women, &c. It would be very
strange, you know, to the eyes of the wise and they that understood the
things pertaining to eternity, if we were called upon to commence the work
that we could not finish. This, therefore, was regulated and all set in
order; for it was revealed that if a woman was baptized for a man, she
could not be ordained for him, neither could she be made an Apostle or a
Patriarch for the man, consequently the sister are to be baptized for
their own sex only.

	This doctrine of baptism for the dead is a great doctrine, one of the
most glorious doctrines that was ever revealed to the human family; and
there are light, power, glory, honor and immortality in it. After this
doctrine was received, Joseph received a revelation on celestial marriage.
You will recollect, brethren and sisters, that it was in July, 1843, that
he received this revelation concerning celestial marriage. This doctrine
was explained and many received it as far as they could understand it.
Some apostatized on account of it; but others did not, and received it in
their faith. This, also, is a great and noble doctrine. I have not time to
give you many items upon the subject, but there are a few hints that I can
throw in here that perhaps may be interesting. As far as this pertains to
our natural lives here, there are some who say it is very hard. They say,
"This is rather a hard business; I don't like my husband to take a
plurality of wives in the flesh." Just a few words upon this. We would
believe this doctrine entirely different from what it is presented to us,
if we could do so. If we could make every man upon the earth get him a
wife, live righteously and serve God, we would not be under the necessity,
perhaps, of taking more than one wife. But they will not do this; the
people of God, therefore, have been commanded to take more wives. The
women are entitled to salvation if they live according to the word that is
given to them; and if their husbands are good men, and they are obedient
to them, they are entitled to certain blessings, and they will have the
privilege of receiving certain blessings that they cannot receive unless
they are sealed to men who will be exalted. Now, where a man in this
Church says, "I don't want but one wife, I will live my religion with
one," he will perhaps be saved in the celestial kingdom; but when he gets
there he will not find himself in possession of any wife at all. He has
had a talent that he has his up. He will come forward and say, "Here is
that which thou gavest me, I have not wasted it, and here is the one
talent," and he will not enjoy it, but it will be taken and given to those
who have improved the talents they received, and he will find himself
without any wife, and he will remain single for ever and ever. But if the
woman is determined not to enter into a plural marriage, that woman when
she comes forth will have the privilege of living in single blessedness
through all eternity. Well, that is very good, a very nice place to be a
minister to the wants of others. I recollect a sister conversing with
Joseph Smith on this subject. She told him:"Now, don't talk to me; when I
get into the celestial kingdom, if I ever do get there, I shall request
the privilege of being a ministering angel; that is the labor that I wish
to perform. I don't want any companion in that world; and if the Lord will
make me a ministering angel, it is all I want." Joseph said, "Sister, you
talk very foolishly, you do not know what you will want." He then said to
me:"Here, brother Brigham, you seal this lady to me." I sealed her to him.
This was my own sister according to the flesh. Now, sisters, do not say,
"I do not want a husband when I get up in the resurrection." You do not
know what you will want. I well this so that you can get the idea. If in
the resurrection you really want to be single and alone, and live so
forever and ever, and be made servants, while others receive the highest
order of intelligence and are bringing worlds into existence, you can have
the privilege. They who will be exalted cannot perform all the labor, they
must have servants and you can be servants to them.

	The female portion of the human family have blessings promised to
them if they are faithful. I do not know what the Lord could have put upon
women worse than he did upon Mother Eve, where he told her: "Thy desire
shall be to thy husband." Continually wanting the husband. "If you go to
work, my eyes follow you; if you go away in the carriage, my eyes follow
you, and I like you and love you; I delight in you, and I desire you
should have nobody else." I do not know that the Lord could have put upon
women anything worse than this, I do not blame them for having these
feelings. I would be glad if it were otherwise. Says a woman of faith and
knowledge, "i will make the best of it; it is a law than man shall rule
over me; his word is my law, and I must obey him; he must rule over me;
this is upon me and I will submit to it," and by so doing she has promises
that others do not have.

	The world of mankind, the world of man, not of woman, if full of
iniquity. What are they doing? They are destroying every truth that they
can; they are destroying all innocence that they can. Priest and people,
governors, magistrates, kings, potentates, presidents, and political world
and the religious world, are on the highroad to eternal misery. There are
exceptions. There are honest persons wherever there is an honest
principle. If the men of the world would be honest and full of good works,
you would not see them living as they do. And the women are entitled to
the kingdom, they are entitled to the glory, they are entitled to
exaltation if they are obedient to the Priesthood, and they will be
crowned with those that are crowned.

	When Father Adam came to assist in organizing the earth out of the
crude material that was found, an earth was made upon which the children
of men could live. After the earth was prepared Father Adam came and
stayed here, and there was a woman brought to him. Now I am telling you
something that many of you know, it has been told to you, and the brethren
and sisters should understand it. There was a certain woman brought to
Father Adam whose name was Eve, because she was the first woman, and she
was given to him to be his wife; I am not disposed to give any farther
knowledge concerning her at present. There is no doubt but that he left
many companions. The great and glorious doctrine that pertains to this I
have not time to dwell upon; neither should I at present if I had time. He
understood this whole machinery or system before he came to this earth;
and I hope my brethren and sisters will profit by what I have told them.

	Now we have been administering the sacrament here to the people, the
bread and the water. It is to refresh our minds and bring to our
understand the death and sufferings of our Savior. Is there any
commandment with regard to this matter? Yes, there are laws concerning it.
You take this Book [the Book of Doctrine and Covenants] and you will read
here that the Saints are to meet together on the Sabbath day. It is what
we call the first day of the week. No matter whether it is the Jewish
Sabbath or not. I do not thing there is anybody who can bring facts to
prove which is the seventh day, or when Adam was put in the garden, or the
day about which the Lord spoke to Moses. This matter is not very well
know, so we call the day on which we rest and worship God, the first day
of the week. This people called Latter-day Saints, are required by the
revelations that the Lord has given, to assemble themselves together on
this day. How many go riding or visiting, or go anywhere but to meeting,
on the Sabbath day. It is probably not so here, but in Salt Lake City, as
a general thing, Sunday is made a holiday for riding and visiting, &c. In
this commandment we are required to come together and repent of our sins
and confess our sins and partake of the bread and of the wine; or water,
in commemoration of the death and sufferings of our Lord and Savior. I
will ask the Latter-day Saints if you are entitled to these blessings
unless you keep the Sabbath day. Now, what do you say? Why, every
Latter-day Saints would answer we are not entitled to the blessing of
partaking of the emblems, or symbols, of the body and the blood of Christ
unless we observe his law. All the Latter-day Saints will answer this
question with me, just as I do, because it is right. There is a great deal
delivered to this people; they have received a great deal--those blessings
pertaining to being baptized for the dead, celestial marriage and many
others, and they should value them, and live so as to enjoy them.

	There has been considerable said here with regard to the law of
Tithing that we received years and years ago. Now, I venture to say, that
if we except some very poor men and very poor women in the Church, who
thing they have paid their mites promptly and punctually, there is not a
man that has paid his Tithing. Now, this may sound strange; for some thing
they have paid pretty well. To draw this matter out and show you how I
feel upon the subject of Tithing, I have not time. But I will say a few
words about some things that have been alluded to by my brethren who have
spoken to you. The Lord requires one-tenth of that which he has given me;
it if for me to pay the one-tenth of the increase of my flocks and of all
that I have, and all the people should do the same. The question may
arise, "What is to be done with the Tithing?" It is for the building of
Temples to God; for the enlarging of the border of Zion; sending Elders on
missions to preach the Gospel and taking care of their families. By and by
we shall have some Temples to go into, and we will receive our blessings,
the blessing of heaven, by obedience to the doctrine of Tithing. We shall
have Temples built throughout these mountains in the valleys of this
Territory and the valleys of the next Territory, and finally, all through
these mountains. We expect to build Temples in a great many valleys. We go
to the endowment house, and before going, we get a re commendation from
our Bishop that we have paid our Tithing. We wish it was so. I do not want
to accuse the brethren; but if your consciences and my conscience does not
accuse us, why, I will not accuse you. When you give a certificate or
letter for a man to have a woman sealed to him, and he full of sin and
iniquity, is not such a certificate false? If we inquire of such, "Do you
want to have another wife sealed to you?" "Yes." "Where is your wife?"
"Why, she has left me." "Why? Because you are so full of the devil that
she cannot live with you, and the Bishop will give a certificate for you
to get another. They also want to be baptized for their dead friends when
they have not paid their Tithing. I do not want to accuse anybody; but I
do not think this to be right. If the Lord will receive the people, if the
Lord will accept of their labors, and will honor and bless them, and say
that their officiated for their dead friends shall be sealed in the
heavens and it shall be recorded by his angel, and in the day of the
resurrection it shall be accounted unto them for righteousness, I am
willing, I have not a word to say against it.

	Now, then, we have received these ordinances, the doctrine the Lord
has revealed for the salvation of the dead; the doctrine that we have
received for the exaltation of men and women, which I could tell you a
great deal about if I had time; but there is only a little time and I want
to say a few things to bring your minds directly to our present condition.
You read in the Doctrine and Covenants with regard to the building up of
the kingdom of God, the order of Enoch, &c. I am anxious in my feelings to
get the Latter-day Saints to begin where the Lord wanted them to begin,
when he commenced to build up his kingdom; that is that we are to submit
ourselves to the direction of our Bishops, or men who shall be appointed,
who shall dictate them in the things pertaining to life, so that they may
be the means in the hands of the Lord of accomplishing the work that he
required at our hands. I had it in my mind to ask if we are not a slow,
tardy people; but I would like to see the order of Enoch introduced. If I
had the privilege that was legal, the legal right, I should have had some
of the brethren and sisters organized together and bound with bonds that
cannot be broken; but I cannot do this at present; for we desire to
commence this on a foundation that cannot be broken up and destroyed.

	Brethren, if you will start here and operate together in farming, in
making cheese, in herding sheep and cattle and every other kind of work,
and get a factory here and a co-operative store--I have been told there is
no co-operative store here--get a good co-operative store, and operate
together in sheep-raising, store-keeping, manufacturing and everything
else, no matter what it is, by and by, when we can plant ourselves upon a
foundation that we cannot be broken up, we shall then proceed to arrange a
family organization for which we are not yet quite prepared. You now,
right here in this place, commence to carry on your business in a
co-operative capacity. In every instance I could show every one of you
what a great advantage would be gained in working together; I could reason
it our here just how much advantage there is in co-operation in you
lumbering and in your herding. You have men here, I suppose, who have had
an arm shot off; they cannot go into the canyons and get out wood.
Another, perhaps, has had a leg cut off; he cannot run here and there like
some of you; but he can do something; he will make a first-rate shopman,
and at keeping books, perhaps, he will be one of the best. He cannot take
the scythe and mow; he cannot attend to a threshing machine; he cannot go
into the woods lumbering; he could not hear well,--but he could go into
the factory, and he can do many things. Well, we can do this and keep up
co-operation, an, by and by, when we can, we will build up a city after
the order of Enoch. And I will tell you, women will not be let into that
city with Babylon upon their backs, nor men either. But we will make our
own clothing, we will make our own fashions, we will do our own work. I
can take fifty men who have not a cent, and if they would do as I would
wish them to do, they would soon be worth their thousands, every one of
them. We desire to go into this order. In it we would not lack means, we
would always have something to sell, but seldom want to buy. This will be
the case if we make our own clothes, &c.

	Another thing I want you to observe in all these settlements, and it
is one of the simplest things in nature; I want you to be united. If we
should build up and organize  community, we would have to do it on the
principle of oneness, and it is one of the simplest things I know of. A
city of one hundred thousand or a million of people could be united into a
perfect family, and they would work together as beautifully as the
different parts of the carding machine work together. Why, we could
organize millions into a family under the order of Enoch. Will you go into
the co-operative system? Will you pay your Tithes? Will you take care of
your hay? Bishops, will you take care of the Tithes? I have scarcely seen
a good stack of Tithing hay until within the last two years. Is it right,
to let hay that is brought in as Tithing go to waste? "Well, but," says
one, "I don't know what to do with it." Got o work, and put it into a
shape that it will last one year, five years, ten years; it will be wanted
by and by. There is about sixteen thousand dollars, I learn from the
trustees, or unpaid Tithing, in this valley. Go to work and build a
meeting-house, and then school-houses. Go to work and start some schools,
and instead of going to parties to dance and indulge in this nonsense, go
to school and study; have the girls go, and teach them chemistry, so that
they can take any of these rocks and analyze them--tell the properties and
what they are. I don't suppose there is a man here who can tell these
properties. The sciences can be learned without much difficulty. Instead
of going "right and left, balance all, promenade," go to work and teach
yourselves something. Instead of having this folly, I want to have schools
and entertain the minds of the people and draw them out to learn the arts
and sciences. Send the old children to school and the young ones also;
there is nothing I would like better than to learn chemistry, botany,
geology, and mineralogy, so that I could tell what I walk on, the
properties of the air I breathe, what I drink, &c.

	I will say to you, my brethren and sisters, I bless you. I bless you
according to the Priesthood that I hold and the keys thereof. I bless you
in the name of Jesus Christ. Now will you live your religion? We had some
talk yesterday about your President; I pray you, Mr. President, under
brother Rich, to live your religion; and I pray the Saints to live their
religion, and I do ask from day to day, in the name of Jesus Christ, and I
direct the Latter-day Saints, to live their religion, and I pray you in
Christ's stead to live your religion so as to enjoy the spirit of
it.--Amen.


                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
              Delivered at Franklin, Cache County, Thursday 
                       evening, September 4, 1873.
                    (Reported by JohnJohn Q. Cannon.)
             ORDINANCES THAT CAN ONLY BE ADMINISTERED IN THE 
                         TEMPLE--ENDOWMENTS, ETC.

	We have taken you a little by surprise, brethren and sisters, in
coming in to your town to-day. This is in consequence of its being so
stormy where we have been, and we though we would not venture to drive
from Soda Springs through to Logan in two days. By taking more time, we
though we would have an opportunity of stopping in the settlements and
having meetings. I will talk to you a few moments, then I will retire to
my rest, and not stay here during the meeting. I fell very wearied; but I
was quite unwell when I left home, and our journey has been quite
fatiguing.

	The remarks that I shall make toyou this evening will be upon the
salvation of the people. There are a few ideas that I will relate to you,
that the brethren and sisters should understand. There are many of the
ordinances of the house of God that must be performed in a Temple that is
erected expressly for the purpose. There are other ordinances that we can
administer without a Temple. You know that there are some which you have
received--baptism, the laying on of hands, the gifts of the Holy Ghost,
such as the speaking in and interpretation of tongues, prophecying,
healing, discerning of spirits, etc., and many blessings bestowed upon the
people, we have the privilege of receiving without a Temple. There are
other blessings that will not be received, and ordinances that will not be
performed according to the law that the Lord has revealed, without their
being done in a Temple prepared for that purpose. We can, at the present
time, go into the Endowment House and be baptized for the dead, receive
our washings and anointing, etc., for there we have a font that has been
erected, dedicated expressly for baptizing people for the remission of
sins, for their health and for their dead friends; in this the Saints have
the privilege of being baptized for their friends. We also have the
privilege of sealing women to men, without a Temple. This we can do in the
Endowment House; but when we come to other sealing ordinances, ordinances
pertaining to the holy Priesthood, to connect the chain of the Priesthood
from father Adam until now, by sealing children to their parents, being
sealed for our forefathers, etc., they cannot be done without a Temple.
But we can seal women to men, but not men to men, without a Temple. When
the ordinances are carried out in the Temples that will be erected, men
will be sealed to their fathers, and those who have slept clear up to
father Adam. This will have to be done, because of the chain of the
Priesthood being broken upon the earth. The Priesthood has left the
people, but in the first place the people left the Priesthood. They
transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broke the everlasting
covenant, and the Priesthood left them; but not until they had left the
Priesthood. This Priesthood has been restored again, and by its authority
we shall be connected with our fathers, by the ordinance of sealing, until
we shall form a perfect chain from father Adam down to the closing up
scene. This ordinance will not be performed anywhere but in ta Temple
neither will children be sealed to their living parents in any other place
than a Temple. For instance, a man and his wife come into the Church, and
they have a family of children. These children have been begotten out of
the covenant, because the marriages of their parents are not recognized by
the Lord as performed by his authority; they have, therefore, to be sealed
to their parents, or else they cannot claim them in eternity; they will be
distributed according to the wisdom of the Lord, who does all things
right. When we had a Temple prepared in Nauvoo, many of the brethren had
their children who were out of the covenant sealed to them, and endowments
were given. Then parents, after receiving their endowments, and being
sealed for time and all eternity, and they have other children, they are
begotten and born under the covenant, and they are the rightful heirs to
the kingdom, they posses the keys of the kingdom. Children born unto
parents before the latter enter into the fullness of the covenants, have
to be sealed to them in a Temple to become legal heirs of the Priesthood.
It is true they can receive the ordinances, they can receive their
endowments and be blessed in common with their parents; but still the
parents cannot claim them legally and lawfully in eternity unless they are
sealed to them. Yet the chain would not be complete without this sealing
ordinance being performed.

	Now, to illustrate this, I will refer to my own father's family. My
father died before the endowments were given. None of his children have
been sealed to him. If you recollect, you that were in Nauvoo, we were
very much hurried in the little time we spent there after the Temple was
built. The mob was there ready to destroy us; they were ready to burn our
houses, they had been doing it for a long time; but we finished the Temple
according to the commandment that was given to Joseph, and then took our
departure. Our time, therefore, was short, and we had no time to attend to
this. My father's children, consequently, have not been sealed to him.
Perhaps all of his sons may go into eternity, into the spirit world,
before this can be attended to; but this will make no difference; the
heirs of the family will attend to his if it is not for a hundred years.

	It will have to be done sometime. If, however, we get a Temple 
prepared before the sons of my father shall all have gone into the spirit
world if there are any of them remaining, they will attend to this, and as
heirs be permitted to receive the ordinances for our father and mother.
This is only one case, and, to illustrate this subject perfectly, I might
have to refer to hundreds of examples for each case.

	With regard to heirship, I can not enter into all the matter
to-night. The subject would require a good deal of explaining to the
people, consequently, I will pass over it at present. I can merely say
this,  however, that we see that the Lord makes his selection according to
his own mind and will with regard to his ministers. Brother Joseph Smith,
instead of being the first born, was the third son of his father's family
who came to maturity, yet he is actually the heir of the family; he is the
heir of his father's house. It seems to us that the oldest son would be
the natural heir; but we see that the Lord makes his own selection. There
are some inquiries now with regard to officiating in ordinances, which I
wish to answer. Some brethren here are anxious to know whether they can
receive endowments for their sons or for their daughters. No, they cannot
until we have a Temple; but they can officiate in the ordinances so far as
baptism and sealing are concerned. A man can be baptized for a son who
died before hearing the Gospel. A woman can be baptized for her daughter,
who died without the Gospel. Suppose that the father of a dead son wishes
to have a wife sealed to his son; if the young woman desired as a wife is
dead and have a mother or other female relative in the Church, such mother
is the heir, and she can act in the sealing ordinances in the stead of her
daughter. But if the young woman desired as a wife have no relative in the
Church, to act on her behalf, then the mother of the young man can be
baptized for her, and act as proxy for her in the sealing ordinances. We
can attend to these ordinances now before the Temple is built here; but no
one can receive endowments for another, another, until a temple is
prepared in which to administer them. We administer just as far as the law
permits us to do. In reality we should have performed all these ordinances
long ago, if we had been obedient; we should have had Temples in which we
could a tend to all these ordinances. Now, the brethren have the privilege
of being baptized for their dead friends--when I say the brethren, I mean
the brethren and sisters--and these friends can be sealed.

	For instance, a man and his wife come into the Church; he says, "My
father and mother were good people; I would like to officiate for them."
"Well, have you any other friends in the Church?" "Nobody but myself and
my wife." Well, now, the wife is not a blood relation, consequently she is
not in reality the proper person, but she can be appointed the heir if
there are no other relatives--if there are no sisters, this wife of his
can officiate for the mother; but if the man has a sister in the Church,
it is the privilege and place of the sister of this man, the daughter of
those parents that are dead, to go and officiate--be baptized, to go and
be sealed with her brother for her father and mother. If this man and
woman have a daughter old enough to officiate for her grandmother, she is
a blood relation, and is the heir, and can act; but if there is no
daughter, the man's wife can be appointed as the heir.

	I want to say a few words with regard to other operations. In the law
that the Lord has revealed he require obedience. I do not know of one
ordinance but what there are laws connected with it, and they cannot be
disregarded by the Saints and they be blessed as though the laws were
observed. We are required to believe in God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ as our Savior; we are required to repent of our sins; then we have
the privilege of entering in through the door of baptism and going into
the house of God. There is another commandment that the Lord has given--it
is that they must have hands laid on them that they may receive the Holy
Ghost and the gifts and graces that the Lord has for his children; but if
we are not baptized, we are not entitled to the other blessings. If we do
not believe in the first ordinance we cannot receive the second. If we do
not go forth and be baptized for the remission of sins, we are not
entitled to the Holy Ghost and its blessing through the law or the
requirements of heaven to the children of our Father. Now, as to the
requirements, we will ask, "Do you know the law? Should you keep the law?"
Yes, certainly you do know by the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which is
for us, and the New and Old Testament; these are a foundation and contain
the first laws that have been given. We have them now in our possession.
Then the Book of Mormon contains the same. The Book of Mormon contains the
same plan of salvation that the Lord requires the world to listen to, and
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants is given for the Latter-day Saints
expressly for their everyday walk and actions. Now, for instance, the
Latter-day Saints are required to go to meeting on Sunday. How many are
there that come to these meetings and repent of their sins, confess their
sins and partake of the Sacrament of our Savior and testify by these acts
that they are actual believers? Do we keep the Sabbath, brethren and
sisters? Do we deal justly one with another? Those things are required of
us. Do we walk humbly before our God? Do we permit ourselves to speak evil
of the anointed of the Lord. Do we permit ourselves, brethren, to take the
name of the Lord in vain? It is certainly written that we should not do
it; that we should not falsify, lie, cheat, etc. Now all these requirement
are made of us. We are required to pay Tithing, we are required to deal
justly one with another and be honest in our dealing; and all these
requirements which I need not repeat over to you, you read and you
understand them. Now are we entitled to the blessings of the house of God
if we keep the commandments he has given to us? Yes. If we observe his
precepts and do them, are we entitled to these blessings? Yes. Are we
entitled to them if we do not keep the commandments? No, we are not.
Brethren go and get their endowments, and they get a recommendation so as
to go into the house of the Lord. Now you go to the Bishop and enquire
strictly as to some of these brethren; "Does such a brother pay his
Tithing? Is he faithful and industrious?" "Well, no." "Is he honest in his
dealings?" "Well,  I guess he means to do right." "Does he always speak
the truth?" "Well, I cannot say that he does exactly." "Does he drink
liquor?" "Well, yes, sometimes he does. Yes, I think he does, although I
never saw him drunk." "Does he take the name of the Lord in vain?" "Well,
I don't know, I have heard that he does swear sometimes." "Does he quarrel
with his wife?" "I don't know; I understand, however, they do not live
very happily together." This man probably wants another wife. Is he
entitled to these blessings." He pays a little Tithing, perhaps, but he
says he is going to pay it in full; and the Bishop says: "He has been
teasing me a long time for a recommendation." "But why did you give it to
him?" I will answer this. " I had to give it to him to get rid of him, so
that he won't tease me any more." This is the answer: Now ask yourselves,
my brethren and sisters, is he entitled to the blessings that the Lord has
for his faithful children?

	Be faithful and obedient to the few words that I have said to you,
with regard to the ordinances, etc., and what we can do and what we cannot
do. I said but a few words, but they are enough.

	I will say to you, may the Lord bless you--peace be to you. I am glad
that I am able to be here; there are others here who will speak to you. I
will tell you honestly I do not feel wee; I do not feel pleased; it is not
gratifying to me when I hear of those who profess to be Latter-day Saints,
living short of their privileges and duties; but when I hear of men and
women living up to the privileges that the Lord has for them, it endears
them to me, and I delight in them; and I can say that I continually pray
for the Latter-day Saints, that the Lord will bless and preserve us, that
we may be saved in the kingdom of God. This is my constant prayer, and I
say God bless you. Amen.


                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
        Delivered in the Meeting-house in Nephi City, Juab County,
                    Saturday Morning, April 18, 1874.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
 CEASE TO BRING IN AND BUILD UP BABYLON--SEPARATE YOURSELVES FROM SINNERS
      AND FROM SIN--HAVE NOT COME WITH ANY NEW DOCTRINE--WE MUST BE
    ONE--WITHOUT WORKS IT CANNOT BE PROVED THAT FAITH EXISTS--THE TIME
   COME TO ORGANIZE THE SAINTS--THE TIME AND ENERGIES OF THE SAINTS ALL
     THAT IS WANTED--GEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES OF PROF. MARSH--SCIENTIFIC
            DEMONSTRATION OF THE TRUTH OF THE BOOK OF MORMON.

	I am thankful that I enjoy the privilege of meeting with the Saints
here this morning.  While I attempt to speak, I pray that I may have the
spirit of the holy Gospel, and have strength to proclaim its teachings to
my own and to your satisfaction.  I also pray that you may give strict
attention.  This prayer is offered to you, my brethren and sisters.  Pray
for the Spirit to open your minds, enlighten your understanding,
strengthen me, and so help me, that I may speak the words of truth to you,
and that your hearts may be prepared to receive them.

	My remarks this morning I design as a text for my brethren and
sisters to speak and act upon.  We have not come to you with any new
doctrine, nor with a new Bible, not by any means.  Yet the doctrine we are
now preaching, in order to bring about a union among the Saints, seems to
be about as new to them as the preaching by the elders when they first
came to their several neighborhoods and called upon them to hear and obey
the first principles of the Gospel of Christ.  I can say, with all
thankfulness and gratitude, that we have never seen the day, from the time
we first became acquainted with Joseph and the Church and kingdom of God
upon the earth, when the hearts of the people were so well prepared to
receive the greater blessings of the kingdom as they are now.  We are
happy in saying this, for it is true; this is encouraging, and fills me
with hope and consolation, that, after laboring and toiling with Joseph,
and since his death, to unite the Latter-day Saints, this is the first
time that we have seen that we can bring their hearts into a union.  This
should be encouraging to each and every Latter-day Saint, and should teach
us that the Lord is merciful to us, that he still remembers us, that he is
sending forth his voice--the voice of his Spirit, into the hearts of his
people, crying unto them--"Stop!  Stop your course!  Cease to bring in and
build up Babylon in your midst."  It is the duty of each and every one of
us to reflect upon the office and calling we possess, and see whether we
are doing the will of the Lord, and if we are not, we should stop and
begin anew to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth.

	I will now read a portion of Scripture from the 14th chapter of the
Revelations of John, beginning at the 6th verse:  "And I saw another angel
fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto
them that dwell on the earth, and to every nations, and kindred, and
tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to
him; for the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made
heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."  I will also
read from the 18th chapter of Revelation, commencing at the 4th verse: 
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my
people, that ye receive not of her plagues.  For her sins have reached
unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."

	I will ask the Latter-day Saints, Do we, as a people, believe that
the angel referred to in the 6th verse of the 14th chapter of John's
revelation, has flown through the midst of heaven, that he has been to
earth, called upon Joseph, delivered the revelation of the Lord, restored
the Priesthood, &c.?  Do we, as Latter-day Saints, believe that this angel
has been to earth, and that he has committed the Gospel unto the children
of men?  We certainly should not be here to-day, if we did not believe
this, and that, too, with all our hearts.  This is the answer given, for
himself and herself, by every Latter-day Saint, "We believe, most firmly,
that the Gospel has been revealed in these last days unto and through
Joseph Smith the Prophet; that the Priesthood and its keys were bestowed
upon him, and through him upon others; and that the proclamation has gone
forth to the nations of the earth--"Come out of her, my people," &c., as
mentioned in that portion of Scripture contained in Revelations, 18th
chap, and 4th verse.

	Has this proclamation been heard by any of the inhabitants of the
earth?  Yes, the Latter-day Saints most assuredly believe that this
Scripture was fulfilled in the rise of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.  By and by the cry will be, as prophesied by John the
Revelator, "Babylon is fallen."  This is in the future; but this people
believe that the voice of the angel has been heard, calling upon the
honest in heart in every nation, to come out from confusion and discord,
and from the transgressions of the children of men.  The cry has come to
them--"Separate yourselves from sinners and from sin."  If we, as a
people, had not believed this, we should not have been here this day.  "Be
not partakers of her sins, lest ye receive of her plagues, for her sins
have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."  This
we believe, consequently I have to say to the people, we have not come
with any new doctrine; we have believed this ever since we were baptized
for the remission of sins.  Have the people come out from the nations? 
Yes.  Have we separated ourselves from the nations?  Yes.  And what else
have we done?  Ask ourselves the question.  Have we not brought Babylon
with us?  Are we not promoting Babylon here in our midst?  Are we not
fostering the spirit of Babylon that is now abroad on the face of the
whole earth?  I ask myself this question, and I answer, Yes, yes, to some
extent, and there is not a Latter-day Saint but what feels that we have
too much of Babylon in our midst.  The spirit of Babylon is too prevalent
here.  What is it?  Confusion, discord, strife, animosity, vexation,
pride, arrogance, selfwill and the spirit of the world.  Are these things
in the midst of those called Latter-day Saints?  Yes, and we feel this.

	I now ask my brethren and sisters who enjoy the Spirit of the Lord,
if we have not traveled as far as we should travel on this road--the high
road to destruction, the great highway, the broad gate through which so
many pass?  The gate is wide, the way is broad, and many there be that go
in thereat; and many calling themselves Latter-day Saints are scrambling
to see how quick they can get in.  The spirit of confusion is in the midst
of this people, and we have traveled this road just as far as we can
travel it and be Saints.  Is this the experience of the Latter-day Saints? 
I can answer that it is; and now, that the Lord is moving upon his
servants to bring the Saints to a oneness, there is a spirit resting upon
them, and if you talk with them, they will say, at once, "Yes, this is
right, we must be one.  This is the doctrine that Joseph taught and the
revelations that were first given through Joseph were for the Church to
gather together.  We were then commanded to come out from the wicked and
to consecrate what we had, lay it at the feet of the Bishops, receive our
inheritance, improve thereupon, and be one--be as the family of heaven
upon earth."  This is the spirit of the people, and they say:  "Thank the
Lord, I have prayed for this for years and years.  I have looked for and
expected it, and I am exceedingly thankful it has come."

	I will now quote another portion of Scripture, which I think you are
pretty well acquainted with, if you read the Bible.  It is one of the last
petitions that the Savior presented to his Father in heaven, while he was
upon the earth--a short prayer which he made on behalf of his disciples. 
He had but very few, for, notwithstanding his many miracles and wonderful
works, very few seemed to cling to and have confidence in him at all times
and under all circumstances; but there were a few who wished to and who
did remain with him until his death, that is they stood a little way off;
they said--"We are going to see what they are going to do with him."  But
before Peter denied him, and before he was taken by the soldiers, he
offered a brief, simple prayer to his Father.  He has been talking with
and exhorting his brethren, and showing them the necessity of living
according to the faith that he had taught them, and he offered up this
petition--"Father, make these my disciples one, as we are one, I in thou,
thou in me, and I in them, that we may all be one; and I pray not for
these only, but for all who believe on me through their testimony."  This
is a simple prayer.  Did he who offered it mean anything, or did he not? 
If he meant anything, what did he mean?  How much did he mean, and how did
he calculate his disciples to construe this short prayer in their lives,
in their walk, faith and practice after he was taken from them?  How far,
how much and wherein did he want them to be one?  Can any of you show to
us exactly what he meant?  If you say he meant that every one who believed
on him should be one in their belief, that is sectarianism.  Take the
mother Church--the "Holy Catholic Church"--and the prayer of its members
is that all may be Catholics:  "Father, I pray thee to make the people all
holy Catholics."  This is the faith and prayer of the Catholics, and the
meaning they give to the petition of Jesus.  The same with the Calvinists;
and when the present themselves before the throne of grace, the burden of
their petition is--"I pray thee, Father, make these people one as we are
one; influence them to leave the Catholic Church, to revolt and come out
from that wicked mother, that wicked harlot, that wicked Church, and
declare themselves believers in that pure and holy doctrine that God has
decreed all things that take place."  Go to those who believe in the
doctrine of freewill, which, you know, comprehends many of the so-called
Christian societies of the world, and they come up with a double and
twisted storm--"God Almighty, make them all Methodists!  Yes, Lets all be
Methodists."  I pray thee, Father, to take away the vail from the minds of
this people, that they may see it is free grace and free will!  God be
praised, lets all be Methodists."  This is how the sectarians explain and
define the meaning of that memorable prayer of the Savior that his
followers might be one; and you will excuse me for my manner of
illustrating it--I did this to illustrate facts just as they are.

	Did Jesus mean this, or did he not?  Had he any allusion whatever to
one hero on the right, and to another on the left, each crying--"Lo! here
is Christ, and lo! there is Christ, He is not yonder?  And another one
point this way, and another that way, and so on to every point of the
compass?  What does all this portray before the mind of the rational
being, the philosopher, one who has the spirit of revelation, and who
understands the words of life and has the keys of life to the people; and
to all who believe in the revelations of the Lord Jesus in the Latter
days?  Confusion upon confusion, discord, strife, animosity, vexation,
perplexity, warring to the knife and slaying each other.  Oh, the number
of Christian wars there have been upon the face of the earth!  We can very
readily and truthfully say that true Christians--the members of the true
Church of Christ on the earth--never take the sword unless to defend
themselves.

	Brethren and sisters, we want to understand what the Savior meant
when he prayed that his disciples might be one.  One in faith?  Yes.  One
in doctrine?  yes.  One in practice? Yes.  One in interests?  Yes.  One in
hope?  Yes, and all concentrated in the kingdom of God on the earth and
the establishment thereof, the fulfillment of the Scriptures, the
gathering of the Saints, and the salvation of the inhabitants of the
earth.  This is the oneness and the union the Savior meant.  Let me here
ask the question, Did the Savior design that we should be one with regard
to Faith in him, repentance of sin, baptism for the remission thereof, the
imposition of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, the gifts and graces
of the Spirit of the Lord, that there might be in the Church first
Apostles, then Prophets, pastors, teachers, helps, governments,
diversities of tongues, the gift of prophecy, the gift of discernment of
spirits; also the gift of Faith, so that if poison be administered it
should not hurt the believer; and if there should be a necessity to take
up serpents, it should be done without danger?  Yes, all this is included
in the oneness prayed for by the Savior; and some of the gifts I have
enumerated have been witnessed by most of us.  I myself have seen
rattlesnakes handled as you would handle a piece of rope.  I remember one
night, when going to Missouri, in the year 1834, I was spreading our
blankets on the tall prairie grass, which was pretty thick and heavy, that
a rattle-snake was under my hands and warned me of his presence by his
rattles.  I called to one of the brethren who was helping, and turning
back the blanket, said to him--"Take this snake and carry it off and tell
it not to come back again; and to say to its neighbors do not come into
our camp tonight, lest some one might kill you."  He took up the snake and
carried it off several rods from the camp, and told it to stay away, and
to tell its neighbors not to come into the camp, for they might get killed
if they did.  Many such circumstances have transpired in the experience of
the Elders of this Church, but we need not stop to relate them, for it is
well known that the gifts of the Gospel are in this Church, such as
healing, faith, speaking with tongues, discerning spirits, prophecy, &c.,
and I need not dwell upon them now.

	I will now ask the question, where is the individual who can draw the
line and show us that, when Jesus prayed that his disciples might be one,
he meant a oneness only in spiritual things, and that it was not to extend
to temporal affairs?  Will any of you draw the line and tell us?  For I am
certain that I have not wisdom enough to define the line between spiritual
and temporal things.  I know nothing about faith in the Lord, without
works corresponding therewith; they must go together, for without works
you can not prove that faith exists.  We might cry out, until the day of
our death, that we love the Savior, but if we neglected to observe his
saying he would not believe us.  We have his own words to prove this. 
There were a great many who pretended to think considerable of him while
he was here in the flesh; but he said to his disciples--"If you love me,
keep my commandments."  This was the proof he demanded, then works and
faith went together.  The same principle holds good with parents and
children.  If any of you have a child which says--"I love you, mamma, Oh,
I love you dearly;" you, to test the sincerity of the child's professions,
say:  "Well, then, my child you will desist from doing that which
displeases me.  Come here, and I will give you a little work to do;" or,
"I wish you to sit down on that chair, and let that crockery alone;" or,
"Do not tear up that cloth, my daughter; if you love me, come and sit down
by my side."  "Oh, I love you dearly," says the little girl, but she keeps
tearing up the cloth, or sticking pins and needles into the flesh of other
children.  "Mamma, I love you most dearly."  "Well, then," says mamma,
"you must not afflict or give pain to your sister, or your brother; you
are naughty to do so, and you must stop this mischief."  But the child
continues her naughtiness, still declaring that she loves her mother,
though she will not do one thing her mother wishes her to do.  Such a
child needs chastisement; if soft words will not answer, severity must. 
Is not this a fact?  You have older children who profess to be very fond
of you; they will say:  "Father, I think everything of you," and yet they
will take a course that is grievous, annoying and disagreeable, and quite
contrary to your feelings and wishes.  Will a father believe the
professions of such children?  Not much, I think.  To use another
comparison:  Suppose a young lady dearly loves a young gentleman, who
states to others that he is equally fond of her, and would be very glad to
express to her his feelings, but he never calls to see her; not though he
may declare to others how much he loves her, the young lady will say--"I
do not believe a word of it, for I know that he would make it known to me,
if he did."  He might declare until doomsday, that he loved her, but,
unless he told her so and proved it by his works, she would say--"That is
all folly, he does not mean what he says."  Neither will you or I believe
that anybody loves us and wishes to promote our joy and comfort, so long
as that person acts contrary thereto; neither will Jesus.  And unless
these Latter-day Saints stop now, and go to work and prove by their acts
that they are the disciples of the Lord Jesus, He will spew them out.

	We have gone just as far as we can be permitted to go in the road on
which we are now traveling.  One man has his eye on a gold mine, another
is for a silver mine, another is for marketing his flour or his wheat,
another for selling his cattle, another to raise cattle, another to get a
farm, or building here and there and trading and trafficking with each
other, just like Babylon, taking advantage wherever we can, and all going
just as the rest of the world.  Babylon is here, and we are following in
the footsteps of the inhabitants of the earth, who are in a perfect sea of
confusion.  Do you know this?  You ought to, for there are none of you but
what see it daily; it is a daily spectacle for your eyes and mine, to see
the Latter-day Saints trying to take advantage of their brethren.  There
are Elders in this Church who would take the widow's last cow, for five
dollars, and then kneel down and thank God for the fine bargain they had
made.

	I have come to this conclusion, which I have preached for years and
years and years, and Joseph preached it up to the time of his death, that
the people must leave Babylon and confusion behind them, and be the
servants and handmaidens of the Lord; they must be His family.  They have
gathered out from Babylon, and they must prepare themselves to stand in
holy places, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man.  I have been
watching and waiting, just as steadily, and as earnestly and faithfully as
ever a mother watched over an infant child, to see when this people would
be ready to receive the doctrine, or the first lessons or revelations
given when the center stake of Zion was first located to consecrate their
property, and be indeed the servants and handmaidens of the Lord, and
labor with all their hearts to do His will and build up His kingdom on the
earth; and I have never seen the time when we could organize one little
society, or one little ward; but, thank God, the time has come, the Spirit
of the Lord is upon the people.

	Is it a new doctrine to us that God's people should and must be one
in everything?  It is an old doctrine; shall I say it is as old as the
hills, as old as the mountains, as old as this world?  Yes, I can say it
is as old as my Father is heaven; it is an eternal doctrine; it is from
eternity to eternity.  Ask yourselves the question, Do you expect to go
the heaven when you depart this life?  "Yes, yes, I am going to the
Paradise of God;" I am going to dwell with the Saints of the Most High in
the presence of the Father and the Son."  How many interests will there be
there?  How many locations, or central places of deposit for the
affections, labors and wealth of all who dwell there?  All in one, all for
God, all for his glory and his kingdom, and the extension of his dominions
through the immensity of space, kingdoms on kingdoms, every heart and
every breath, every voice and every eye, and every feeling for the glory
of God.  Then ask ourselves,--Is the Lord going to have a Church upon the
earth?  Is the Lord going to have a kingdom on the earth?  Certainly,
Daniel saw this in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and gave a description, or
rather a hint, in regard to the establishment of that kingdom, when the
kingdoms of this world would be handed over to the Saints of the Most
High, and they would possess the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom
for ever and ever.

	Are we going to enter into the kingdom?  Are we going to be prepared
for the coming of the Son of Man?  Are we gong to be prepared to enter
into the fullness of the glory of the Father and the Son?  Not so long as
we live according to the principles of Babylon.  Now we are, every man for
himself.  One says:  "This is my property, and I am for increasing it." 
Another says:  "This is mine."  Another:  "I will do as I please; I will
go where I please and when I please; I will do this, that, or the other;
and if I have a mind to raise grain here and take it to market and give it
away, it is none of your business."  It will be said to all such persons,
who profess to be Latter-day Saints:--"I never knew you; you never were
Saints."

	Now I wish to give you a little of our late experience with regard to
the Savior and his doctrines.  We have organized in this United Order,
commencing at St. George.  A thousand thoughts rise in my mind, looking at
the subject generally.  "St. George!  Are you going to sent me down to St.
George?  Why, it is like sending me out of the world!"  But I must not
talk about this:  suffice it to say that St. George is one of the most
beautiful places on this little farm--this world that we occupy--this
little farm of the Lord's, one of the choicest places on the face of the
earth.  I see more wealth in that small place than in any other location,
of its size, in this Territory, or in these mountains; and I always have.

	We have organized a small Branch there, or, rather, I may say a
tolerably large one.  I preached a good deal in St. George.  It seemed to
be the only place we could begin our work; they were the only people we
could organize; but we did organize there.  God designs to make the people
of one heart and one mind from Monday morning to Monday morning again, and
that everything the do on the earth shall promote His cause and kingdom,
and the happiness and salvation of the human family.  "Well," said they,
"we do not understand; we believe we ought to be one, and that we ought to
go into the order of Enoch.  We understand very well that Enoch was so
pure and holy that his city was taken, and the saying went abroad that
Zion is fled.  This we believe as firmly as you can."  Then some others
would say, "There will not be one ward organized after the brethren go
over the rim of the basin."  We organized every ward or town south of the
rim of the basin, and left them in tolerably good working order, so far as
they had advanced.  The only trouble with them was, "they did not
understand."  They would say, "It is right, and the Scriptures tell us
about it; but we do not understand the mode of its operation."  One man
came to me, and old "Mormon," whom I have known over forty-two years, just
as we were organizing and said--"Brother Brigham, I have preached for you
all the time.  I did the same for brother Joseph.  Brother Joseph preached
this doctrine; is it not strange that the people do not see it?"  "Then,"
said I, "you are ready to put down your name?"  His answer was--"I will
think about it."  You do not fully understand your own faith, nor the
doctrines you preach to the people, if you do not understand this
doctrine; and are not as ready to enter it as you would be to lay down
this mortal body and enter heaven if God should call you, or to do any
other duty.  Suffice it to say, God will establish this order on the face
of the earth, and if we do not help Him, others will, and they will enjoy
the benefits of it.

	When we came this side the rim of the basin, we found the people more
willing than south of the rim of the basin to come forward and organize,
for they felt that we have traveled as far as we can on our present road,
without going to destruction.  One Bishop wrote to me--"Please come and
organize us.  I am glad you are coming this way, we want to be organized. 
I know that we have to consecrate to somebody, and I would rather
consecrate to the Lord than to the devil.  We have to consecrate to one or
the other, and very soon too."  He is a very good Bishop; he is full of
the spirit of this work, and can not keep from talking about it.

	We now want to organize the Latter-day Saints, every man, woman and
child among them, who has a desire to be organized, into this holy order. 
You may call it the Order of Enoch, you may call it co-partnership, or
just what you please.  It is the United Order of the Kingdom of God on the
earth; but we say the Order of Enoch on the same principle you find in the
revelation concerning the Priesthood, which, to avoid the too frequent
repetition of the name of the Deity, is called the Priesthood after the
order of Melchisedic.  This order is the order of heaven, the family of
heaven on the earth; it is the children of our Father here upon the earth
organized into one body or one family, to operate together.

	As individuals we do not want your farms, we do not want your houses
and city lots, we do not want your horses and your cattle, we do not want
your gold and your silver, nor anything of the kind.  "Well, then, what do
your want?"  We want the time of this people called Latter-day Saints,
that we can organize this time systematically, and makethis people the
riches people on the face of the earth.  If we are the people of God, we
are to be the richest people on the earth, and these riches are to be held
in God, not in the devil.  God tells us how we may accomplish this, as
plainly and as surely as he told Joshua and the people of Israel how to
cause the downfall of the walls of Jericho.  They were to march around the
walls once a day for seven days, then seven times in one day, and the last
time they went round the walls they blew their horns with all their might,
and down fell the walls of Jericho.  We do not understand all about this,
if we did, we should understand that it was as simple as any of the acts
of the Lord:  as simple as being baptized for the remission of sins.  We
want now to organize the people.  Says one--"Don't you want my money and
my goods?"  We want you to put them into the kingdom of God, into the
vaults that are prepared, into the archives, the safe, the institution to
help to increase means for the kingdom of God on the earth.  And what are
we to have when we enter this order?  What we need to eat, drink and wear,
and strict obedience to the requirements of those whom the Lord sets to
guide and direct; that our sisters, instead of teasing their husbands for
a dollar, five dollars, twenty-five dollars, for a fine dress, bonnet, or
artificials for themselves or their daughters, may go to work and learn
how to make all these things for themselves, being organized into
societies or classes for that purpose.  And the brethren will be organized
to do their farming, herding and raising cattle, sheep, fruit, grain and
vegetables; and when they have raised these products, every particle be
gathered into a storehouse or storehouses, and every one have what is
needed to sustain him.  But the people will stop going here, there, and
yonder, and saying--"I am after the gold,"  "I am after the silver," or
this, that and the other.  They will stop this folly and nonsense, for
they have already impoverished themselves too much by taking so unwise a
course.  Looking at matters in a temporal point of view, and in the light
of strict economy, I am ashamed to see the poverty that exists among the
Latter-day Saints.  They ought to be worth millions and millions, and
millions on millions, where they are not worth a dollar.  Should they
spend their means in folly and nonsense?  No, not a dollar of it, but put
all into the general fund for the benefit of the kingdom.  Organize the
brethren and sisters, and let each and every one have their duties to
perform.  Where they are destitute of houses, and it is convenient, the
most economical plan that can be adopted is to have buildings erected
large enough to accommodate a number of families.  For instance, we will
say there are a hundred families in this place who have not houses fit to
live in.  We will erect a building large enough to accommodate them all
comfortably, with every convenience for cooking, washing, ironing, &c.;
and then, instead of each one of a hundred women getting up in the morning
to cook breakfast for father and the large boys, that they may go to their
labor, while the little children are crying and needing attention,
breakfast for the whole can be prepared by five or ten women, with a man
or two to help.  Some may say--"This would be confusion."  Not at all, it
would do away with it.  Another one says--"It will be a great trial to my
feelings, if I am obliged to go and breakfast with all these men an women. 
I am faint and sick, and do not eat much, and I want my breakfast prepared
in peace."  Then build side rooms by the dozen or score, where you can eat
by yourselves; and if you wish to invite three or four to eat with you,
have your table and everything you call for is sent to you.  "Well, but I
do not like this confusion of children."  Let the children have their
dining room to themselves, and let a certain number of the sisters be
appointed to take charge of the nursery and see that they have proper
food, in proper quantities and at proper times, so as to preserve system
and good order as far as possible, that a love of order may be established
in their youthful minds, and they learn how to conduct themselves.  Then
let there be good teachers in the school rooms; and have beautiful
gardens, and take the little folks out and show them the beautiful
flowers, and teach them in their childhood the names and properties of
every flower and plant, teaching them to understand which are astringent,
which cathartic; this is useful for coloring, that is celebrated for its
combination of beautiful colors, &c.  Teach them lessons of beauty and
usefulness while they are young, instead of letting them play in the dirt,
making mud balls, and drawing the mud in their hats, and soiling their
dresses, and cultivate their mental powers from childhood up.  When they
are old enough, place within their reach the advantages and benefits of a
scientific education.  Let them study the formations of the earth, the
organization of the human system, and other sciences; such a system of
mental culture and discipline in early years is of incalculable benefit to
it possessor in mature years.  Take, for instance, the young ladies now
before me, as well as the young men, and form a class in geology, in
chemistry or mineralogy; and do not confine their studies to theory only,
but let them put in practice what they learn from books, by defining the
nature of the soil, the composition of decomposition of a rock, how the
earth was formed, its probable age, and so forth.  All these are problems
which science attempts to solve, although some of the views of our great
scholars are undoubtedly very speculative.  In the study of the sciences I
have named, our young folks will learn how it is that, in traveling in our
mountains, we frequently see sea shells--shells of the oyster, clam, &c. 
Ask our boys and girls now to explain these things, and they are not able
to do so; but establish classes for the study of the sciences, and they
will become acquainted with the various facts they furnish in regard to
the condition of the earth.  It is the duty of the Latter-day Saints,
according to the revelations, to give their children the best educations
that can be procured, both from the books of the world and the revelations
of the Lord.  If our young men will study the sciences, they will stop
riding fast horses through the streets, and other folly and nonsense which
they are now guilty of, and they will become useful and honorable members
of the community.

	I have been very much interested of late with regard to the studies
and researches of the geologists who have been investigating the
geological character of the Rocky Mountain country.  Professor Marsh, of
Yale College, with a class of his students, has spent, I think, four
summers in succession in the practical study of geology in these mountain
regions.  What is the result of his researches?  There is one result, so
far, that particularly pleases me.  There are some here who know a man by
the name of John Hyde, from London, formerly a member of this Church, who
apostatized and went back; and his great argument against the Book of
Mormon was, that it stated that the old Jaredites and, perhaps, the
Nephites, who formerly lived on this continent, had horses, while it is
well knows that horses were unknown to the aboriginal inhabitants of
America when it was discovered by Columbus, and that there were no horses
here until they were imported for Europe.  Now, since Professor Marsh and
his class began their investigations, they have found among the fossil
remains of the extinct animals of America no less than fourteen different
kinds of horses, varying in height from three to nine feet.  These
discoveries made Professor Marsh's students feel almost as though they
could eat up these mountains, and their enthusiasm for studying the
geology of the regions around Bridger's Fort was raised to the highest
pitch.  In their researches among these mountains they have formed the
opinion that there was once a large inland sea here, and they think they
have discovered the outlet where the water broke forth and formed Green
River.  Here in these valleys and in these ranges of mountains we can
follow the ancient water line.  This discovery of Professor Marsh is
particularly pleasing to us "Mormons," because he has so far
scientifically demonstrated the Book of Mormon to be true.

	Here is the kingdom of God; do you want to enter into it, or not?  do
you want the future blessings of this kingdom, or do you not?  Have your
choice; but whomsoever you list to obey, his servants you will be whether
it is Jesus or the devil; please yourselves, have your choice.  But all
know we can not serve two masters acceptably; if we love one, we shall
hate the other, and if we hold on to one, we shall despise the other.  We
must either be for the kingdom of God, or not.  But we shall organize this
holy order here before we leave.  We give the invitation to all of you to
come and get organized.  Let us be one; let us carry out the order that
God has established for the family of heaven.

	God bless you.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
                      Sunday Afternoon, May 3, 1874.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
 THE THINGS OF GOD KNOWN BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD--THE LIGHT AND INTELLIGENCE
  OF GOD WITHOUT MONEY AND PRICE--NO TRUE RELIGION WITHOUT SCIENCE--ALL
               WILL BE SAVED EXCEPT THE SONS OF PERDITION.

	It is nearly time to close this meeting, but I desire to speak a few
words.  I have very much that I wish to convey to the Latter-day Saints,
but I can only say, in as few words as possible, a little at a time, upon
a few subjects which I wish to lay before the Saints.  First looking upon
the Latter-day Saints, the inquiry within myself is--Do you know whether I
am leading you right or not?  Do you know whether I dictate you right or
not?  Do you know whether the wisdom and the mind of the Lord are
dispensed to you correctly or not?  These are questions which I will
answer by quoting a little Scripture, and saying to the Latter-day Saints
what was said to the Saints in former times, "No man knoweth the things of
God, but by the Spirit of God."  That was said in the days of the Savior
and the Apostles, and it was no more true then than it is now, or than it
was in the days of the Prophets, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, Adam, or in
any and every age of the world.  It requires the same manifestations in
one age as in another, to enable me to understand the things of God.  I
have a request to make of each and every Latter-day Saint, or those who
profess to be, to so live that the Spirit of the Lord will whisper to them
and teach them the truth, and define to their understanding the difference
between truth and error, light and darkness, the things of God and the
things that are not of God.  In this there is safety; without this there
is danger, imminent danger; and my exhortation to the Latter-day Saints
is--Live your religion.

	Among all intelligent beings upon the earth there is a great mistake
in regard to dispensing to others the knowledge they possess.  In the
political world, right here, and through our government and other
governments, there is a great desire in each and every one, who is
prominent and influential, to manage their political affairs by and with
their friends, and to keep their enemies from knowing anything about them,
which creates a party feeling, and parties promote distrust and jealousy,
which lead to discord and strife.  Such is also the case in the financial
world.  In our trading and trafficking we wish to confine the knowledge of
our business in as small a limit as possible, that others may not know
what we are doing, lest we would lose our good bargains and fail in our
schemes.

	It is more or less the same in the religious world.  We wish to know
a great deal, and do not want our neighbors to know as much as we do, but
wish them to believe that we know it all.  This trait of character is very
common, both here and through the whole world.  We all wish to know
something that our neighbors do not know.  With scientific men you will
often find the same trait of character:  "My studies and my researches are
beyond those of my neighbors; I know more than they know; I treasure this
up to myself, and I am looked upon as a superior being, and that delights
me."

	I say to the Latter-day Saints, and to all the world, this is all
wrong.  We are here upon this earth as the children of our heavenly
Father, who is filled with light and intelligence, and he dispenses that
to his children as they can receive and profit by it, without money and
without price.  Is not this a fact?  It is.  Go to every department of
life, to the mechanics, to the manufacturers, to those learned in all the
arts and sciences, throughout the world, and not one of them possesses an
item of knowledge or wisdom but what has come from God, the fountain of
all wisdom and knowledge.  The idea that the religion of Christ is one
thing, and science is another, is a mistaken idea, for there is no true
religion without true science, and consequently there is no true science
without true religion.  The fountain of knowledge dwells with God, and he
dispenses it to his children as he pleases, and as they are prepared to
receive it, consequently it swallows up and circumscribes all.  This is
the great plan of salvation; this is the "bugaboo" that the Christian
world hoot at so much, and which they call "Mormonism"--it is the Gospel
of life and salvation.

	Confidence is lost in the hearts of the nations of the earth. 
Confidence is lost one towards another, among the religious sects of the
day; confidence is lost in the scientific and mechanical world; in the
financial and in the political world, and it must be restored.  I make
this statement, and there is not a scientist or divine on the earth who
can truthfully controvert it.

	There is a great deal being said and rumored about what we are
teaching the people at the present time with regard to being one in our
temporal affairs as we are one in the doctrine that we have embraced for
our salvation.  I will say to you that erroneous traditions at once begin
to present themselves.  Why we have received these traditions, those who
reflect, read and understand can pass their own decision.  You can not
find a sect anywhere that strictly believes in the New Testament.  Read
over the sayings of the Savior to his disciples, those of the disciples
one to another, and of the people, with regard to being one; and then
bring up the fact that they believed in this doctrine, and that they
taught and practiced it so far that the believers sold their possessions
and laid the proceeds at the Apostles' feet.  Now, what is the tradition
on this point?  To sell your houses, your farms, your stores, your
cattle,and bring the means and lay it down at the feet of the Apostles,
and then live, eat, drink and wear until it is all gone, and then what? 
Do without?  Yes, or be beggars.  Our traditions lead us to this point,
and that throws us into a dilemma, out of which we know not how to
extricate ourselves,  To the Latter-day Saints, I say, all this is a
mistake; these are false ideas, false conclusions.  I am here to tell you
how things are, and, as far as necessary, to tell you how they were, and
then to tell you how they will be.  To begin with, we will unitedly labor
to sustain the kingdom of God upon the earth.  Shall we sell our
possessions, have all things in common, live upon the means until it is
gone, and then beg through the country?  No, no.  Sell nothing of our
possessions.  True, the earth is at present in possession of the great
enemy of the Savior, but he does not own a foot of it; he never did, but
he has possession of it, and they say that possession is nine points of
the law, and it seems to be so.  Well, if I have a foot of land that I
have dedicated and devoted to my heavenly Father for his kingdom on the
earth, I never dispose of that.  I have owned a great deal of land, and I
now own a great deal of land in the United States, and I have never yet
sold a foot of it.  I say to the Latter-day Saints, keep your land,
dedicate it to God, preserve it in truth, in purity, in holiness; pray
that the Spirit of the Lord may brood over it, that whoever walks over
that land, may feel the influence of that Spirit; pray that the Spirit of
the Lord may cover our possessions, then gather around us the necessaries
of life.  Dispose of nothing that we should keep, but continue to labor,
praying the Lord to bless the soil, the atmosphere and the water.  Then we
have our crops, our fruit, our flocks and herds to live upon, to improve
upon, and then go on and make our clothing, build houses, improve our
streets, our cities and all our surroundings and make them beautiful;
beautify every place with the workmanship of our own hands.  Keep what is
necessary, dispose of what we may have to dispose of.  To whom?  To those
who are operating in our mines to develop the resources in our mountains,
and to all who have need.  By such a course the wasting of our substance,
as has been too much the case, will be stopped; and when we labor, let our
labor count something for our benefit.  We ask concerning the rich, Do we
want your gold and your silver?  No, we do not.  Do we want your houses
and lands?  We do not.  What do we want?  We want obedience to the
requirements of wisdom, to direct the labors of every man and every woman
in this kingdom to the best possible advantage, that we may feed and
clothe ourselves, build our hoses and gather around us the comforts of
life, without wasting so much time, means, and energy.  And instead of
saying that I shall give up my carriage for the poor to ride in, we will
direct the poor so that every man may have his carriage, if he will be
obedient to the requirements of the Almighty.  Ever family will have all
that they can reasonably desire.  When we learn and practice fair dealing
in all our intercourse and transactions, then confidence now so far lost,
but so much needed, will be restored; and we will be enabled to
effectually carry out our operations for the friendly and profitable
cooperation of money and labor, now so generally and so injuriously
antagonistic.

 	It has been said that, a few evenings ago, in the 20th Ward, I made
use of the expression that the co-operative stores would be used up or
spoiled; if I did use such an expression, it must have been in connection
with others to qualify it.  The question was asked, "What are you going to
do with the co-operative stores?"  "Why, use them up," and some of the
brethren got the idea that the destruction of these stores was intended,
because, to many, the idea of using a thing up, is to destroy it; but this
was not the meaning I wished to convey.  But I say swallow them up, or
circumscribe them, or incorporate them, from time to time, in more
extensive co-operative plans.  By way of comparison, suppose a rope with
seven strands, and some one is suspicious of its strength and we add a
thousand strands to it, who then can suspect its strength?  Now, comparing
our present mercantile and stock-raising institutions, our factories and
every things else we have in co-operation, instead of weakening this cord
of seven strands, we throw around it a thousand other strands, and weave
them in to strengthen it, is not the first cord swallowed up?  Yes, it is,
in one sense, used up, we cannot see anything of it; and so we shall make
our additions of thousands of strands to every co-operative institution we
have established, and instead of having a few of the people sustain this
parent co-operative store, or the ward store, we will have the support of
the whole people.  That is the difference; can you understand it?  How
careful we should be in the use of language, to prevent, so far as
possible, the drawing of false conclusions, and the going abroad of
erroneous impressions.

	This is a comparison with regard to our co-operative stores and every
co-operative institution we have; we expect that the whole people will
support them and give them their influence; that the whole people will
work for the whole, and that all will be for the kingdom of God on the
earth.  All that I have is in that kingdom.  I have nothing, only what the
Lord has put in my possession.  It is his; I am his, and all I ask is for
him to tell me what to do with my time, my talents and the means that he
puts in my possession.  It is to be devoted to his kingdom.  Let every
other man and woman do the same, and all the surplus we make is in one
great amount for accomplishing the purposes of the Lord.  He says, "I will
make you the richest people on the earth."  Now, go to work, Latter-day
Saints, and make yourselves one, and all needed blessings will follow.

	I will now briefly notice a trait in the Christian world in regard to
their continually misrepresenting us, which they most emphatically do. 
Wherever we go they misrepresent us.  They do not stop to reason, or for
the introduction of good sound logic.  They do not stop to know their own
minds, and to ask themselves questions with regard to facts as they exist,
but are wholly uninfluenced by their erroneous traditions.  We Christians
are divided and subdivided, but we all believe that there are good people
among all the sects of the day.  As a "Mormon" or Latter-day Saint, I
believe this just as much as any sectarian believes it, but I do not
believe it as the sectarians believe it.  We all believe that good people
do live and have lived among the Christian sects.  Says one, "My father
was a good man; or, My mother or my sister was a good woman, my brother
was a good man, my neighbor was a good person; they lived and died
believing in their several faiths; some of them holy Catholics, who died
shouting and rejoicing that the time had come for them to be released from
this tenement of clay.  Others were good Protestants, and they rejoiced
and were exceeding glad when the time came for them to lie down and rest
their weary bodies, and they were happy."  Now, I, speaking as one of the
Christian world, when a man says to me, "Unless you are born of the water
and of the spirit you can not enter the kingdom of heaven," reply, "My
dear friend, my father and my mother were just as good Christians as ever
lived on the face of the earth, and they died as happy as they could be,
and their souls were full of glory.  Tell me that they have not gone to
heaven!  It is all nonsense, it is folly; I do not believe a word of it;
you must be one of those deceivers that the Savior taught should come in
the latter days."  This erroneous tradition is planted in the bosoms of
the Christian world, and from this they take the liberty of saying that
the doctrine preached by the Latter-day Saints can not be true, for if it
is their fathers and mothers are not saved.  Would you like to know the
truth on this point, O Christian world?  Yes, yes, the honest ones would;
I can not say so much for the bread and butter Christians; but when you
meet an honest person, he says--"I wish I knew the truth about this.  Our
beloved brother and father in the Gospel, the father of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, John Wesley, was he not a good man?  Tell me that he is
not saved!"  The Christian world can not endure such an idea.  "John Knox
not saved! and thousands of others not saved!"  They can not endure the
thought.  I can say to them of a truth, but it will need explanation,
there is not one of these men who lived according to the light that he
received, and up to ever blessing God bestowed upon him, but what is
happier to-day than he ever expected that he could be.  But the Christian
world imbibe the idea that, if these good men, who have died, have not
gone into the presence of the Father and the Son and are not in the
kingdom of heaven, they must be in the depths of hell.  This is folly in
the extreme; but the Christians do not know how to comprehend this, how to
understand the words of life.  I can say this for all good people, I do
not care where they lived and died, they will be far happier hereafter
than they ever conceived of while here.  Do you think that the good
Chinaman and Hindo will be saved?  Yes, as much as the Methodist.  But
erroneous tradition prevents the Christian world from seeing and
understanding this.  They ought to stop and reflect, and ask the
question--"Do we understand the Scriptures when we read them?"  I say that
they do not, if they did they would see that we have the words of eternal
life, and would receive our teachings with joy.  I have not time to fully
explain this, but I can say that this erroneous tradition palliates, in a
measure, the conduct and views of the Christian world when their
prejudices arise like towering mountains against these poor Latter-day
Saints.

	We shall labor and go forward, as long as we live, to redeem the
world of mankind.  This is the labor the Savior has undertaken.  The earth
was committed to him by the Father, who said, "My son, go and redeem the
world and all things upon it; pay this debt, and your brethren, who
believe on you and who are one, as the Father and the Son are one, will be
co-workers in the great and eternal work, until all the sons and daughters
of Adam and Eve, that can be saved, will be saved in a kingdom of glory,"
and all will be saved, except the sons of perdition.

	Can the Christian world understand this?  No.  There is not a priest
in the pulpit, nor a deacon that sits under the pulpit, but what, if he
knew the facts as they are, would give glory to God in the highest, that
he lived in this day and age of the world, and thank the Father that he
has revealed his will from the heavens.

	I thank you for your attention, brethren and sisters.  I have
detained you a little longer than I intended to do.  God bless you.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
           At the Opening of the Adjourned General conference,
         held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1847.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
        THE UNITED ORDER--A SYSTEM OF ONENESS--ECONOMY AND WISDOM
                       IN BECOMING SELF-SUSTAINING.

	I do not expect to be able to speak much during this Conference, but
I make a request of my brethren who may speak, to give us their
instructions and views for or against this general co-operative system,
which we, with propriety, may call the United Order.  If any choose to
give it any other name that will be applicable to the nature of it, they
can do so.  A system of oneness among any people, whether former-day
Saints, middle-day Saints, eleventh hour of the day Saints, last hour of
the day Saints, or not Saints at all, is beneficial; but I wish the
brethren to give us their views for and against union in a family, whether
that family consists of the parents and ten children, or the parents, ten
children, fifty grandchildren, or a hundred and fifty great-grandchildren,
and so on until you get to a nation.  I ask of my brethren who may address
the congregations, to give us their views for and against union, peace,
good order; laboring for the benefit of ourselves, and in connection with
each other for the welfare and happiness of all, whether in the capacity
of a family, neighborhood, city, state, nation, or the world.

	We see the inhabitants of the earth, as individuals and nations,
struggling, striving, laboring and toiling every one for himself and
nobody else; all are anxious to bless their own dear selves.  If you will
permit me I will quote an anecdote in illustration of this trait of
character among the human family.  A man, in asking a blessing upon his
food, prayed, "O Lord, bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, we
four and no more.  Amen."  If we had generosity of feeling sufficient to
pray for blessings upon a fifth person, or upon a whole family,
neighborhood or community, all the better.

	We are not entering into any new system, order or doctrine.  There
are numbers of organizations of a similar character, as far as they go, in
our own country and in other countries.  Our object is to labor for the
benefit of the whole, to retrench in our expenditures; to be prudent and
economical; to study well the necessities of the community, and to pass by
its many useless wants; to study to secure life, health, wealth, and
union, which is power and influence to any community; and I ask my
brethren, while addressing the people during this Conference, to take up
these items of every-day life.  It seems to be objectionable to some, for
the Latter-day Saints to enter into a self-sustaining system, and the
probability of our doing so causes a great deal of talk.  If we were
infidels, any other sect of Christians, or nether Christians nor infidels,
but mere worldlings, seeking only to amass the wealth of this world,
nothing would be thought or said against it.  But for the Latter-day
Saints to make a move to the right or to the left, to the front or to the
rear, a suspicion arises directly in the minds of the people.  I will say
to the inhabitants of the whole earth, that the Latter-day Saints are
going to work to sustain themselves, to do good to themselves, to their
neighbors and to the whole human family; they are going to labor to
establish peace and good order on the earth, just as far and as fast as
they can, and to prepare them for a happier world than this.

	Talk about it, cry about it, deride it, point the finger of scorn at
it, we care not, we are the servants and handmaids of the Lord, and our
business is to build up his kingdom upon the earth, and let all the world
say what they please, it matters not to us.  It if for us to do our duty.

	Now let me present one little matter.  Here are brethren from all
parts of the Territory, to represent the different branches of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We find our brethren in various
parts of the Territory are in possession of a little land; take a man, for
instance, who has got a five acre lot.  He wants his team, he must have
his horses, harness, wagon, plow, harrow and farming utensils to cultivate
that five acres, just as though he was farming a hundred acres.  And when
harvest comes, he is not accommodated by his neighbors with a reaping
machine, and he says--"Another year, I will buy one," and this to harvest
five acres of grain.  Take the article of wagons among this people, we
have five where we should not have more than two; and the money that is
spent needlessly by our people for wagons would make a small community
rich.  Again, take mowing and reaping machines, and we have probably twice
or three times as many in this territory as the people need.  They stand
in the sun and they dry up and spoil, and this entails a heavy waste of
property.  We may take also the article of harness for horses.  If this
community would be untied, and work cattle instead of horses, they might
save themselves from two to five hundred thousand dollars yearly.  Is this
economy or wisdom?  A few years ago we raised our own sweet; but when the
railroad came it brought sugar to us very cheap, and where is our sorghum
now?  There is hardly any raised in the whole Territory.  The people
say--"The sugar is so cheap."  Suppose sugar was only one penny a pound,
and you had not that penny and could not get it, what good would it do
you?  None at all.  If cotton cloth can be bought for fifteen, ten, or six
cents a yard, what does it profit a people if they have not the money to
buy it?  It does them no good.  When they have the ground to raise the
cotton, and the machinery to work this cotton up and make the fabrics they
need, they can do it, money or no money.  And so we go on from one thing
to another, and we would be glad if our brethren, in their remarks, will
give us their views and instructions on these points, and the bearing they
have had upon the people in the past, and how they will affect them in
connection with the United Order which we are now seeking to introduce.

	If a man, merchant, business man, or anybody else has anything to
bring forward to show, as they think, that the United order will militate
against the interests of the community, we invite them to speak the
question.  We are for the best, we are for the right, for that which will
accomplish the greatest good to the greatest number.  I shall now give
place for others to speak.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
        Delivered in the Third Ward Meeting House, Salt Lake City,
                      Sunday Evening June 23, 1874.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
           SECRET OF HAPPINESS--SELF EXAMINATION--JOSEPH SMITH
        A MAN OF OBEDIENCE TO GOD--BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD--TEMPORAL
         AND SPIRITUAL ONE--A DREAM--ORDER OF ENOCH, THE ORDER OF
                     GOD--A GOOD WORD FOR THE WOMEN.

	I am here in this Ward, especially to talk to you, my brethren and
sisters.  I think I have been here only once before--at the dedication of
this house.  I have a few things to say to you, which I hope and expect
will be received and appreciated according to their merit.

	Perhaps quite a portion of this little congregation have left their
homes, their friends, the lands of their nativity for the Gospel's sake,
for the sake of their own salvation and that of their families and friends
who would go with them.  I will appeal to the experience of my brethren
and sisters who have received the Gospel, and ask them this question--Is
not the Gospel dearer to us than anything else and all else on this earth? 
I think I can answer for all Latter-day Saints, and say, "Surely it is." 
We hope for life, salvation and exaltation; we have the privilege of the
Gospel and the ordinances of the house of God, while the inhabitants of
the earth, with the exception of comparatively a very few, have not as yet
availed themselves of this privilege.  We preach the Gospel to the people,
but they are so erroneously traditionated [sic] and so ignorant with
regard to the facts pertaining to the revelations and will of God to the
children of men, that they turn aside from it and think it no evil in
doing so.  They are so educated that they can neglect the Gospel, and feel
measurably justified.  This is an item of experience that we could bring
before ourselves and others more fully than, perhaps, it would be prudent
for me to spend the time to do this evening.  But the Gospel to us is all
in all.  To know the will of God, and do it, is the happiest life that
intelligent beings, the children of our Father in heaven, can live.  There
is no other condition in life that produces the same amount of good
feeling, peace, happiness, joy, comfort, contentment and intelligence that
the service of the Lord will bring.  If a person is very poor and the love
of God is within him, he feels rich and happy, and can measurably do
without food, that is, longer and better than they can who do not have
this experience of the love of God within them.

	The person who enjoys the experience of the knowledge of the kingdom
of God on the earth, and at the same time has the love of God within him,
is the happiest of any individuals on the earth.  We, who believe in and
have obeyed this Gospel, look forward with the anticipation of obtaining a
great amount of knowledge and wisdom.  When we embraced the Gospel, the
spirit opened up to our minds the fact that the wisdom, the knowledge and
the power of God would increase in the midst of the Saints.  This is our
experience:  I, knowing for myself, what the Spirit of the Lord brings to
the understanding, testify what it reveals to others.  The same spirit
that is given to me, to enlighten my mind, is given to others; the same
that is given to you I have received, consequently I speak for personal
knowledge, for that which I have experienced and understand, and that I
live in; and they; who live in and enjoy the spirit of our holy religion
can testify to this.

	There is a portion of this congregation who are young, and know but
little about the United States, or about the people there; and there is a
large percentage of our community who know nothing by experience of the
outside world.  Ask them if they know anything of California?  No. 
Anything about the States?  No.  Did you not come from England?  No, but
my parents did; consequently they have no experience.  They have lived
here, they have grown up with us.  We have brought them up cheerfully and
kindly, and instructed and taught them, and they have enjoyed the spirit
of life and of wisdom and knowledge.  These children who have been born
there in the New and Everlasting Covenant, do not seem to realize this. 
This is for the want of experience, which they will obtain in future life. 
But those of experiemce [sic], those who have left their homes and their
all for the sake of the Gospel, are capable of judging better about these
matters.

	Now we, as Latter-day Saints, hope for salvation; we are living in
anticipation of eternal salvation.  We have left our homes and everything
for the sake of our religion.  Many women in our community have left their
husbands; many men have left their wives and children; young boys have
left their parents and brothers and sisters, and young girls have come
away, and left all.  They had friends, homes, plenty, parents, bothers and
sisters; yet when the spirit of the Gospel came upon them they were so
enamored with it, and it gave such light, knowledge and intelligence, that
they were willing to forsake all, and follow with the Latter-day Saints
for life eternal.  This is the case with quite a portion of our community. 
We all, then, started for life and salvation, and we still have no other
object.

	Now, my brethren and sisters, I wish to ask--Do we not anticipate
further knowledge, wisdom and blessings, and further communications by the
spirit of the Lord, further demonstrations and further witnesses,
revelations, knowledge, etc., in this kingdom?  We do, every one of us. 
We ask the question again, Do we expect that we have already become
perfect, and that we are prepared to be numbered with the sanctified, and
that we are now prepared to be gathered with God's elect, and that, if we
were to hear the voice to-night--"Behold the bridegroom cometh"--we should
be numbered with the wise?  Do we anticipate this?  If we do we are wrong,
for we are not prepared.  We have passed through a great many scenes, we
may say, of tribulation, though I would have all my brethren understand
that I do not take this to myself, for all that I have passed through has
been joy and joyful to me; but we have seemingly sacrificed a great deal,
and passed through many scenes of trial and temptations, no doubt of this. 
We have had to suffer temptation more or less, and we have taken the
spoiling of our goods joyfully.  I have, myself, five times before I came
to this valley, left everything that the Lord has blessed me with
pertaining to this world's goods, which, for the country where I lived,
was not a very little.

	Well, we have passed these ordeals, and we are still going along. 
Now have we profited by all that we have passed through and experienced,
so that we really do consider that we are sanctified and prepared for the
celestial kingdom of God, or do we believe that there is something more
yet to be done?  Why, all hearts reply--There is still understanding in
this kingdom; every heart echoes--We expect to learn more, we expect to
receive more, we are not yet perfect, we are not complete in our stature
as men and women in Christ Jesus.  Now I will just ask, right here--Shall
we ever be learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth? 
No, I say we shall not, but we shall come to the knowledge of the truth. 
This is my hope and anticipation, and this is my joy.  The Latter-day
Saints, as a people, in many respects are shortsighted, we are but babes
or suckling infants in the Church and kingdom of God, comparatively, and
especially since we have been in these valleys.  We have enjoyed peace and
plenty here; we have been blessed in our families, and in our flocks and
herds, and in our fields and crops, and we have gathered around us the
comforts, and even the luxuries of life, and some, to a small extent,
wealth.  Now, in the enjoyment of all this is the kingdom of God first and
foremost with us?  I can say, taking us a people that our hearts are to
much on the things of this life.  We are, perhaps, too skeptical in our
feelings, with regard to the things of the kingdom.  We gather, as we
anticipate, mental strength, and we think we are capable of judging where
we are not capable of judging, and the riches or the good things of this
life, I can not in reality say the riches, but a little of this world's
goods, sometimes blind the mind and becloud the spirit of a person.  I can
appeal to the experience of my brethren and sisters, aged and middle-aged
and youth, and even to the children.  Go to the child, and what does its
joy consist in?  Toys, we may call them, something that produces, as they
think, pleasure; and so it is with our youth, our young boys and girls;
they are thinking too much of this world; and the middle-aged are striving
and struggling to obtain the good things of this life, and their hearts
are too much upon them.  So it is with the aged.  Is not this the
condition of the Latter-day Saints?  It is.  Well, now,take us as a
people, we anticipate life eternal; we think we are the hest [sic] people
on the earth, and we think we have sacrificed more for our religion than
anybody else, though in my belief and in this respect I probably differ
with the most of the Latter-day Saints, for the simple reason that God,
our Heavenly Father, in his religion, does not require men and women to
suffer as false religions do.  Take the religions of the heathen, and
false systems of religion generally and they require sacrifices that the
Lord does not require.  The Lord has offered his sacrifice in the
character of his Son; but he does not require us to sacrifice our children
or ourselves as the heathens sacrifice to their gods; consequently our
sacrifices and our sufferings are not to be compared with those of the
heathens.  There are professing Christians in our midst, who are so strict
in their religious services; and they are those who are so zealous that
they would measure the soil from here to Old Jerusalen [sic] with their
bodies if they could, to pay penance, as they call it.  God does not
require any such sacrifice as this; neither does he require any of these
sacrifices which involve the shedding of blood or the loss of life.  Such
things do not belong to God's religion, they come through sin and
transgression.  Perhaps they who show such manifestations of their faith
strengthen it and do themselves some good.  All that is required of us is
to sacrifice our feelings and to overcome the adversary by subduing the
lust within us for anything but the kingdom of God on the earth, the glory
of God, and the salvation of our friends and families and of the human
family from first to last; that our whole souls may be devoted to the
building up of the kingdom of God on the earth, and for the salvation of
those who sleep, who died with out the Gospel.  We want to sacrifice
enough to do the will of God in preparing to bring up those who have not
had the privilege of hearing the Gospel while in the flesh, for the simple
reason that, in the spirit world, they cannot officiate in the ordinances
of the House of God.  They have passed the ordeals, and are beyond the
possibility of personally officiating for the remission of their sins and
for their exaltation consequently they are under the necessity of trusting
in their friends, their children and their children's children to
officiate for them, that they may be brought up into the celestial kingdom
of God.  All that the Lord requires of us is a perfect submission in our
hearts to his will.  The Latter-day Saints say at once--"This is correct,
certainly it is right that we should have no other object and aim in our
feelings and affections but to do good and to promote the kingdom of God
on the earth.'  But the weakness of man is such, the humanity with which
our spirits is clothed is so frail that we are liable to be overcome. 
These tabernacles are dull, subject to sin and temptation, and to stray
from the kingdom of God and the ordinances of his house, to lust after
riches, the pride of life and the vanities of the world, and these things
are prone to be uppermost in the minds of all; old and young, even
Latter-day Saints.  The infant wants his toys, the children want nice
dresses, and this is correct; and when we understand how to rightly use
the things of the world, there will be the most beautiful children in Zion
that ever lived on the earth.  But we wish the wealth or things of the
world, we think about them morning, noon and night; they are first in our
minds when we awake in the morning, and the last thing before we go to
sleep at night; and we dream about how we shall do this, and how we shall
obtain that, and our minds are continually lusting after the things of the
world.  Is not this too much the case with the Latter-day Saints.

	I will ask this question of the few who are here--What think ye, my
brethren and sisters of experience, you that have enjoyed the light of the
spirit, you that can see the travail of the Saints, do you think that this
people called Latter-day Saints are traveling on the path that they should
go in?  Do you think that they offer their oblations and sacrifices to the
Lord as they should?  What do you think abut it?  What is the general
expression through our community?  It is that the Latter-day Saints are
drifting as fast as they can into idolatry, drifting into the spirit of
the world and into pride and vanity.

	You read in the revelations given to John on the Isle of Patmos,
concerning the latter days, that a voice was heard crying to the Saints ln
[sic] Babylon--"Come out of her, O my people, be not partakers of her
sins, lest ye receive of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto
heaven," etc.  Has this voice been heard?  Yes, the Latter-day Saints have
heard it.  Has the angel flown through the midst of heaven and delivered
the Gospel to the children of men?  Yes, we believe all this.  Do we
believe that the Lord sent his messengers to Joseph Smith, and commanded
him to refrain from joining any Christian church, and to refrain from the
wickedness he saw in the churches, and finally delivered to him a message
informing him that the Lord was about to establish his kingdom on the
earth, and led him on step by step until he gave him the revelation
concerning the plates?  Yes, this is all correct.  Did Joseph receive
these revelations?  He did.  Did the heavenly messengers come to Joseph,
and commit to him the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood?  Yes, we believe all
this.  Did the Lord speak from the heavens through Joseph, commanding his
people to gather out from the wicked before the scourges--sickness,
pestilence, wars, bloodshed, and the various calamities spoken of by the
Prophets and Apostles, should pass over the nations?  Yes, we believe the
Lord has called upon the people who received the Gospel to come out of
Babylon, to separate themselves from the wicked and to stand in holy
places preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man.  All Latter-day Saints
believe all this; then I say, if we do believe it, let us act up to and be
true to our faith and to the knowledge that we have of God and his
kingdom.  This is what is required of us.

	We have passed from one thing to another, and I may say from one
degree of knowledge to another.  When Joseph first received the knowledge
of the plates that were in the hill Cumorah, he did not then receive the
keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, he merely received the knowledge that the
plates were there, and that the Lord would bring them forth, and that they
contained the history of the aborigines of this country.  He received the
knowledge that they were once in possession of the Gospel, and from that
time he went on, step by step, until he obtained the plates, and the Urim
and Thummim, and had power to translate them. This did not make him an
Apostle, it did not give to him the keys of the kingdom, nor make him an
Elder in Israel.  He was a Prophet, and had the spirit of prophecy, and
had received all this before the Lord ordained him.  And when the Lord, by
revelation, told him to go to Pennsylvania, he did so, and finished the
translation of the Book of Mormon; and when the Lord, in another
revelation, told him to come back, into New York State, and to go to old
Father Whitmer's, who lived in a place opposite Waterloo, and there stop,
he did so, and had meetings, and gathered up the few who believed in his
testimony.  He received the Aaronic Priesthood, and then he received the
keys of the Melchisedik Priesthood, and organized the Church.  He first
received the power to baptise, and still did not know that he was to
receive any more until the Lord told him there was more for him.  Then he
received the keys of the Melchisedek Priesthood, and has power to confirm
after he had baptized, which he had not before.  He would have stood
precisely as John the Baptist stood, had not the Lord sent his other
messengers, Peter, James and John, to ordain Joseph to the Melchisedek
Priesthood.  Then, after some of the brethren had been out preaching, he
had a revelation that they should go up to the Ohio.  I knew of them,
though I was not acquainted with them before they went up there.  They
were seen by some of my family, my father saw and conversed with them. 
Then the way opened for a large gathering in the State of Ohio.  Parley P.
Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Samuel Peterson, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and a
few others, went up there and preached the Gospel, and they came among the
members of the society called Campbellites, formerly members of the Close
Communion Baptists, their leader's name being Alexander Campbell.  This
man preached the doctrine that baptism was for the remission of sins, and
that split the Church; but when the brethren came to these societies and
taught them, not only baptism for the remission of sins, but the laying on
of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, they believed it, and were
baptized for the remission of their sins, and received the laying on of
hands for the Holy Ghost, and then received other ordinances.

	Then the Lord revealed to Joseph to go out to the Ohio, and he went
up; and after he went up he then understood and was taught of the Lord to
send men to the west to hunt out a place for the centre stake of Zion. 
They went according to the revelations that Joseph received, and finally
Joseph went up to meet them, in Independence, Jackson County, Mo., on the
borders of the Lamanites.  You can read all this in the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants.  Then he had not received all at this time, and at the time
that Zion's Camp, as it is called, went up to Missouri, in 1834, so far as
I am aware, Joseph had never received any intimation as to there being a
patriarch in the Church.  On onr [sic] return home from Missouri, by
brother Joseph Young, while conversing with me, asked if it would be right
for our father to give us a blessing.  Said he--"I feel just as though I
want my father to give me a patriarchal blessing."  When we reached
Kirtland we talked with Joseph on the subject, and he said, "Certainly,"
and finally we appointed a day, and brother Joseph, the Prophet, came to
where we met and ordained my father a Patriarch, and he was the first man
ordained to the office of Patriarch in the Church, and he blessed his
children; and soon after this Joseph ordained his father a patriarch and
his father called his children together and blessed them.  Then Joseph had
another revelation, that a record would be kept, and when this was
revealed to him, he then had his father call his house together again, and
blessed them over and a record was kept of it.  This is to show you, and
especially those who have no experience in the Church, how the Lord has
led this people along, led them along, led them along.

	We were driven from Missouri after Joseph went up there, and we came
to Nauvoo, and the Twelve went to England.  While we were in England, I
think, the Lord manifested to me by visions and his spirit, things that I
did not then understand.  I never opened my mouth to any persons
concerning them, until I returned to Nauvoo.  Joseph had never mentioned
this, there had never been a thought of it in the Church that I knew
anything about at that time.  But I had this for myself, and I kept it to
myself, and when I returned home and Joseph revealed these things to me, I
then understood the reflections that were upon my mind while in England. 
But this was not until after I had told him what I understood.  I saw that
he was after something by his conversation, leading my mind along, and
others, to see how we could bear this.  This was in 1841; the revelation
was given in 1843, but the doctrine was revealed before this, and when I
told Joseph what I understood which was right in front of my house in the
street, as he was shaking hands and leaving me, he turned round and looked
me in the eyes, and says he--"Brother Brigham, are you speaking what you
understand,--are you in earnest?"  Says I--"I speak just as the Spirit
manifests to me."  Says he--"God bless you, the Lord has opened your
mind," and he turned and went off.

	About this time came a revelation concerning baptism for the dead.  I
know that in my traveling and preaching, many a time, I have stopped by
beautiful streams of clear, pure water, and have said to myself, "How
delightful it would be to me to go into this, to be baptized for the
remission of my sins."  When I got home Joseph told me it was my
privilege.  At this time came a revelation, that the Saints could be
baptized and re-baptized when they chose, and then that we could be
baptized for our dear friends, but at first it was not revealed that a
record should be kept of those who were baptized; but when he received an
additional revelation to that effect, then a record was kept.  Hundreds
and thousands, I suppose, were baptized before any record was kept at all,
and they were baptized over, and a record kept of the baptisms and the
names of the administrator, those who acted for the dead, and of the dead,
and of the witnesses.  You can read in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants,
the letter that Joseph wrote when he was away trom [sic] home in regard to
having witnesses at these baptisms.  I relate this to show you that the
Lord did not reveal everything at once; but I need not dwell on this any
longer.

	I will now say to my brethren and sisters, the Lord, in the first
place, commenced to bring the people together upon the ground of union and
oneness; but they could not bear this.  You can read, on page 161, of the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, a revelation given to the Colesville
Branch.  Lemon Copley had a tract of land that was to be given to the
Saints, and they were to build up a stake of Zion until there was another
place prepared for the centre stake; but he apostatized and the people
went away.  Before this the Lord revealed to Joseph, that the people would
gather out from Babylon, and establish the kingdom of God upon the
principles of heaven.  They went up to Jackson County, Mo., with this in
their faith, and with the express understanding that when they go there,
everything was to be laid at the feet of the Bishop, not at the feet of
the Apostles, as they did anciently.  Then, you know, they sold all they
had, and brought their substance and laid it at the feet of the Apostles. 
The revelation given through Joseph was to lay all at the feet of the
Bishop, who was to distribute it among the people, according to the
revelation given for that purpose, for their benefit.  But they could not
bear this, consequently they were driven from Jackson County, and
assembled again, some in Caldwell, and some in Davies County, and finally
they were driven from the State.  This was in the fall of 1838.  I
recollect, in Far West, Joseph, talking upon these matters, said--"The
people cannot bear the revelations that the Lord has for them.  There were
a great many revelations if the people could bear them."  I think it was
the eighth day of July, 1831, Joseph had a revelation that the people
should consecrate their surplus property for the building of the Temple
there in Far West, for the support of the Priesthood, for the paying of
the debts of the Presidency, etc., which I could give an account of, for I
was present when it came.  Joseph was doing business in Kirtland, and it
seemed as though all creation was upon him, to hamper him in every way,
and they drove him from his business, and it left him so that some of his
debts had to be settled afterward; and I am thankful to say that they were
settled up; still further, we have sent East to New York, to Ohio, and to
every place where I had any idea that Joseph had ever done business, and
inquired if there was a man left to whom Joseph Smith, Jun., the Prophet,
owed a dollar, or a sixpence.  If there was we would pay it.  But I have
not been able to find one.  I have advertised this through every
neighborhood and place where he formerly lived, consequently I have a
right to conclude that all his debts were settled.

	We will now pass on.  You know the history with regard to our leaving
Nauvoo.  Now I have it in my mind to ask the question of the Latter-day
Saints--Are they in earnest?  Do they mean what they say, when they say
they believe that brother Brigham Young is the legal successor of Joseph
Smith, the Prophet?  We believe in Joseph the Prophet; he sealed his
testimony with his blood, consequently we can, with impunity, believe on
him a little better than if he were living.  When he was living, his
testimony was not in force upon the people as it is now.  But is brother
Brigham the legal successor of brother Joseph?  This people, called
Latter-day Saints, by their acts, by their voting, say they believe he is. 
Well, we will admit the fact.  I have a little to say, then, and shall
come back to former days with regard to the duties of the individual who
leads the kingdom of God on the earth.

	In all ages of the world that we have any knowledge of, when there
was a people on the earth whom God acknowledged as his people,he has
invariably dictated them in spiritual and in temporal things.  This
question was agitated year after year in the days of Joseph.  The first
two Bishops in the Church--Edward Partridge was the first--I was well
acquainted with him, and Newel K. Whitney was the second--questioned the
propriety of Joseph having anything to do with temporal things.  Joseph
would argue the case with them a little, and tell them how things were,
and bring up Scripture to show them that it could not be otherwise--that
it was impossible for the Lord to dictate people unless he dictated them
in temporal affairs.  The very first act after believing is a temporal
act.  After I hear the Gospel preached and believe it, I go down into the
waters of baptism, which is a temporal act:  it is an act that pertains to
my will and by body, I will that my body shall go down into the water and
be immersed for the remission of my sins, consequently I have to go to the
Elder who taught me the Gospel, the spiritual portion of the kingdom, and
apply to him to administer this temporal ordinance, and he has to do it;
having taught the doctrine he officiates in the act, and you will find it
through life, every circumstance, in every case the man that dictates the
spiritual kingdom of God, must dictate the temporal affairs, it can not be
otherwise.  I say this to you, because the idea in the minds of a few of
the people is--"Brigham ought not to meddle with temporal affairs."  They
said so to Joseph and they said so much about it, that I went the Temple
at Kirtland, and challenged the men who were querying on this, to prove or
bring up one instance where God did not manifest his will concerning
temporal things whenever he made known his will to the children of men for
establishing his kingdom on the earth.  They always came to the floor;
they had to do it, there was nothing else for them; it prostrated every
person.  There were William E. McLellin, John F. Boynton, and Lyman
Johnson, who belonged to the Twelve, Frederic G. Williams, second
counselor to Joseph, and two-thirds of the High council all talking about
this, and I went into the Temple and just challenged them to show where in
the Lord ever conferred upon any man in the world the power to dictate in
spiritual affair, that he did not in temporal affairs?  They could not do
it.  I told them they could not draw the line between the spiritual and
the temporal.  All things were created first spiritual, and then temporal. 
Everything in the spirit world was presented as we see it now, and this
temporal earth was presented there.  We were in the spirit world, and we
came here into this time, which is in eternity, nothing in the world only
a change of time and seasons allotted to a change of being that makes it
time to us.  It is in eternity, and we are just as much in eternity now,
as we shall be millions of years hence.  But it is time measured to finite
beings, and it is changeable, and we call it temporal, while the fact is
it is all spiritual in the first place, then temporal, then spiritual, and
made immortal, consequently you can not divide them.  I say this for those
to reflect upon who think that there is a difference between temporal and
spiritu l things.  I do not say, for I do not know, that there any such
here.  Now we come to our present condition.  You know the past.  These
children who were born in this city or Territory, know what they can
remember, and many of them arc [sic] old enough to have many reflections
and can see and understand a great many things; but the older ones know
that this people have drifted just as far as they can without a
reformation.  Every spiritual mind knows this.  I will now say to my
brethren and sisters, that while we were in Winter Quarters, the Lord gave
to me a revelation just as much as he ever gave one to anybody.  He opened
my mind, and showed me the organization of the kingdom of God in a family
capacity.  I talked it to my brethren; I would throw it out a few words
here, and a few words there, to my first counselor, to my second counselor
and the Twelve Apostles, but with the exception of one or two of the
Twelve, it would not touch a man.  They believed it would come, O yes, but
it would be by and by.  Says I, "Why not now?"  If I had been worth
millions when we came into this valley and built what we now call the "Old
Fort,"  I would have given it if the people had been prepared to then
receive the kingdom of God according to the pattern given to Enoch.  But I
could not touch them.  One would say, "I am for California," another one,
"I am for gold, " and I am for this and I am for that; and some used their
influence in trying to persuade others to go to California.  They
said--You can't stay here, you can't raise anything here, it is too cold,
too frosty, these mountains are not fit to live in, this is not the place
for white people, let us go to California and get some gold," etc.

	Now I am going to tell a dream that I had, which I think is as
applicable, to the people to-day--the 21st day of June, 1874, as when I
had it.  There were so many going to California, and going this way and
that way, and they did not know what they wanted, and said I--"stay here,
we can raise our food here, I know it is a good stock country, a good
sheep country, and as good a country for raising silk as there is in the
world, and we shall raise some of the best of wheat.  There stands a
man--Burr Frost, and there is Truman O. Angell, who were present at the
time.  Said I, "We can raise all we want here, do not go away, do not be
discouraged."  That was when the pioneers came; the next year, it was
California, California, California, California.  "No," said I, "stay
here."  After much thought and reflection, and a good deal of praying and
anxiety as to whether the people would be saved after all our trouble in
being driven into the wilderness, I had a dream one night, the second year
after we came in here.  Captain Brown had gone up to the Weber, and bought
a little place belonging to Miles Goodyear.  Miles Goodyear had a few
goats, and I had a few sheep that I had driven into the Valley, and I
wanted to get a few goats to put along with the sheep.  I had seen Captain
Brown and spoken to him about the goats, and he said I could have them. 
Just at that time I had this dream, which I will now relate, I thought I
had started and gone past the Hot Springs, which is about four miles north
of this city.  I was going after my goats.  When I had gone round the
point of the mountain by the Hot Springs, and had got about half a mile on
the rise of ground beyond the Spring, whom should I meet but brother
Joseph Smith.  He had a wagon with no bed on, with bottom boards, and
tents and camp equipage piled on.  Somebody sat on the wagon driving the
team.  Behind the team I saw a great flock of sheep.  I heard their
bleating, and saw some goats among them.  I looked at them and thought
--"This is curious, brother Joseph has been up to Captain Brown's and got
my goats."  There were men driving the sheep, and some of the sheep I
should think were three and a half feet high, with large, fine beautiful
white fleeces, and they looked so lovely and pure; others were of moderate
size, and pure and white; and in fact there were sheep of all sizes, with
fleeces clean, pure and white.  Then I saw some that were dark and
spotted, of all colors and sizes and kinds, and their fleeces were dirty,
and they looked inferior; some of these were a pretty good size, but not
as large as some of the large fine clean sheep, and altogether there was a
multitude of them of all sizes and kinds, and goats of all colors, sizes
and kinds mixed among them.  Joseph stopped the wagon, and the sheep kept
rushing up until there was an immense herd.  I looked in Joseph's eye, and
laughed, just as I had many a time when he was alive, about some trifling
thing or other, and said I--"Joseph, you have got the darndest flock of
sheep I ever saw in my life; what are you going to do with them, what on
earth are they for?"  Joseph looked cunningly out of his eyes, just as he
used to at times, and said he--"They are all good in their places."  When
I awoke in the morning I did not find any fault with those who wanted to
go to California; I said, "If they want to go let them go, and we will do
all we can to save them; I have no more fault to find, the sheep and the
goats will run together, but Joseph says, "They are all good in their
places."

	This will apply precisely to what we are doing at the present time. 
We are trying to unite the people together in the order that the Lord
revealed to Enoch, which will be observed and sustained in the latter days
in redeeming and building up Zion; this is the very order that will do it,
and nothing short of it.  We are trying to organize the Latter-day Saints
into this order; but I want to tell you, my brethren and sisters, that I
have not come here to say that you have got to join this order or we will
cut you off the Church, or you must join this order or we will consider
you apostates; no such thing, oh no, the Saints are not prepared to see
everything at once.  They have got to learn little by little, and to
receive a little here and a little there.  Since we commenced to organize
at St. George, I have not had a feeling in my heart but to say to those
who can not see this order--Try and live your religion; get the Spirit of
the lord and keep it; humble yourselves before the Lord and get his
Spirit; ask the Father in the name of Jesus to open your minds and let you
see things as they are, and you will delight in it.  And I say to all
those who wish to receive the Order, come along and we will organize you,
we will do the very best we can for you.  It is true that some who are in
the Order talk very foolishly to those who do not feel to come into it;
they throw out some very unbecoming expressions.  This is entirely wrong. 
It is not called for, it is not needed, and it will not do the least good
in the world.  We must manifest and show to our brethren a purer life than
we have theretofore.  I will say to you, who want to be organized in this
Order, we will not take one red cent from you, but the Lord will add to
your riches and honor, if you will take counsel.  As we have said from the
beginning, we do not want a man's farm, we do not want his gold and his
silver, and nothing in the world but just his time.  We want to dictate
the time of the Latter-day Saints, to show them that we can come into the
Order of God, and that we will be that people that the Lord has said with
regard to temporal things.  Speaking of the Latter-day Saints, the Lord
has said--"I will make you the richest people on the earth," and he can do
it just as well as not, if we have a mind to let him.  It is the time of
the people we want to dictate.

	I will branch off to another thread of the subject.  Here is a
brother who said, "Why, yes, you may have some of my property, or even
take it all; but I want to be a man for myself; I do not want to be
dictated; I want to preserve my own freedom; I do not want to be a slave." 
What an idea!  It is from the enemy, and because a person has not the
Spirit of the Lord to see how things are.  There is not a man of us but
what is willing to acknowledge at once that God demands strict obedience
to his requirements.  But in rendering that strict obedience, are we made
slaves?  No, it is the only way on the face of the earth for you and me to
become free, and we shall become the slaves of our own passion, and of the
wicked one, and servants to the devil, if we take any other course, and we
shall be eventually cast into hell with the devils.  Now to say that I do
not enjoy the volition of my own will l just as much when I pray as I
would to swear, is a false principle, it is false ground to take.  You
take the man who swears, and he has no more freedom, and acts no more on
his own will than the man who prays; and the man who yields strict
obedience to the requirements of Heaven, acts upon the volition of his own
will and exercises his freedom just as much as when he was a slave to
passion; and I think it is much better and more honorable for us, whether
children or adults, youthful, middle-aged or old, it is better to live by
and better to die by, to have our hearts pure, and to yield strict
obedience to the principles of life which the Lord has revealed, than be a
slave to sin and wickedness.  All that the Lord requires of us is strict
obedience to the laws of life.  All the sacrifice that the Lord asks of
his people is strict obedience to our own covenants that we have made with
our God, and that is to serve him with an undivided heart.

	I say this because I want youo [sic] to understand our position.  I
am the director and counselor to this people for building up the kingdom
of God on the earth.  I am the one who will tell what shall be done, and
how it shall be done, and any man who deviates or says that there is any
design in connection with the United Order other than to put the people in
a condition and situation to be better and freer, and in which they will
enjoy more of the blessings of heaven and earth than they can out of it,
does not tell the truth.  You all know that it takes intelligence to
enjoy.  Persons in good-health enjoy their food.  Why?  Because they have
sensibility and nervous feeling.  Take that away and they would be like
that stovepipe.  Cut a hole in that, and put therein a nice beef steak,
plum pudding, or a sweet cake, and would the stovepipe enjoy it?  No. 
Why?  Because it has no sensibility.  We enjoy because we have
sensibility.  Promote this sensibility, seek to get more and more
knowledge, more wisdom, and more understanding, and to know the things of
God.  He is the author of life and of all joy and comfort, he is the
author of all intelligence and of all good to us; then become satisfied to
obey him, and seek to get more and more of his nature, and learn more and
more of him.  This will give us greater sensibility, and we shall know how
to enjoy, and how to endure.  I say, if you want to enjoy exquisitely,
become a Latter-day Saint, and then live the doctrine of Jesus Christ. 
The man or woman who will do this will enjoy and endure most; and if they
will be humble and faithful they will enjoy the glory and the excellency
of the power of God, and be prepared to live with Gods and with angels.

	We want to build up the kingdom of God on the earth.  I do not know
but I am spending more time than I should, but I must say something more. 
This Third Ward is not organized.  I do not know when it will be.  We
asked your Bishop, and he did not feel exactly prepared to enter into the
Order.  We know the reason why.  Will he be prepared?  Yes.  I want to
prophesy that he and his Ward will be prepared by and by, and I hope my
prophecy will be fulfilled.  He does not see things as quickly as I do.  I
will tell you what my position has always been.  Before I embraced the
Gospel, I understood pretty well what the different sects preached, but I
was called an infidel because I could not embrace their dogmas.  I could
not believe all of Methodism; I could not believe all of the Baptists'
doctrines; there were some things they preached I could believe, and some
I could not.  I could not fully agree with the Presbyterians in their
doctrines, nor with the Quakers, nor the Catholics, although they all have
some truth.  As far as their teachings were in accordance with the Bible,
I could beiieve [sic] them, and no further.  I was acquainted with the
creeds of nearly all the various sects of dissenters in America, for I had
made it my business to inquire into the principles in which they believed. 
I was religiously inclined in my youth, but I could not believe in their
dogmas, for they did not commend themselves to my understanding, though a
child I had attended their camp meetings, and had seen what they called
the power of God.  I had seen men and women fall, and be as speechless and
breathless as that stove before me.  I had seen scientists hold the
lightest feather they could procure at the nostrils and mouths of females
to see if a particle of air passed to or from the lungs, and not a
particle was discernable.  When a child I saw all this, but I could not
believe in their dogmas.  I could not say the people were not sincere in
their faith and acts, but it was all a mystery to me.  I was not old
enough, and did not understand enough to decide.  In the days of Joseph,
when the revelation came to him and Sidney Rigdon, while translating that
portion of the New Testament contained in the 29th verse of the third
chapter of John, in reference to the different degrees of glory, I was not
prepared to say that I believe it, and I had to wait.  What did I do?  I
handed this over to the Lord in my feelings, and said I, "I will wait
until the Spirit of God manifests to me, for or against."  I did not judge
the matter, I did not argue against it, not in the least.  I never argued
the least against anything Joseph proposed, but if I could not see or
understand it, I handed it over to the Lord.  This is my counsel to you,
my brethren and sisters, and if I were sure my prophecy would be
fulfilled, I certainly would prophesy that all here, who profess to be
Latter-day Saints, will come into the holy Order and rejoice in it.  And
if you do not feel to come into the Order, assist those who do, and do not
say anything against them.  You who come unto the Order, do not lisp
anything against those who do not; if you feel right you will not have the
least feeling against them.  Come along, for, as I have said, if I do not
find more than fifty men in the kingdom of God who will go with me to
organize the Church and kingdom of God more perfectly, I shall go ahead. 
What for?  More knowledge, wisdom, and perfection in the management and
control of our temporal affairs.  This is what I calculate to do, and I am
going to do [sic-punc.]  Ask me if I am going into the Order with all that
I have?  Yes, as I told them in a meeting not long ago, I am going in with
hat, coat, vest, pants, shirt, boots, and all I have, [sic-punc.]  And if
the question is asked, If your family do not go into the Order, what are
you going to do with your property?  I am going to seal it up to the
kingdom of God, for I do not mean that the enemies of the kingdom shall
have a penny if I can help it.  I want it to go the kingdom of God, I want
it appropriated for the salvation of the human family, to build Temples,
to sustain the families of the Elders who go abroad to preach; I want it
to be used for the good of the poor and for the establishing of truth and
righteousness on the earth.  That is all it is for; I have no pleasure in
it, I have no delight in it, it is nothing to me; I want everything that
the Lord places in my possession, my time, my talents, every ability I
have, every penny that he has committed to me to be used to his glory, and
for the building up of his kingdom on the earth.  I have nothing but what
he has committed to me.  What do you say to that, Jacob?  Is that right? 
It is exactly.  There is not a man here who has got his sight, hearing,
taste and smell, but he is indebted to the Lord for them.  The Lord gave
us everything we possess, whatever ability or talents we have; our
Tabernacles and all we enjoy, are the gifts of the Lord, and all should be
devoted to the promotion of his kingdom on the earth, and I mean that mine
shall be, the Lord being my helper.

	I do not want to say to this Ward, you must come into the Order, or
we shall not fellowship you, for we shall fellowship you if you do not.  A
short time ago, I said to those of this Ward who intended to be organized,
to go to the Eighth Ward and organize with them, but it was a
misunderstanding, that I had dismissed Bro. Weiler from being Bishop here;
and if anybody else understood so, I think they are mistaken.  He is your
Bishop still, and I charge him now in God's name, not to trifle with the
sacred things of the kingdom of God, or to throw cold water on them; if he
does he will be left dark, and finally apostatize.  I say to you Bishop
and to the brethren and sisters, be faithful, live so that the Spirit of
the Lord will abide within you, then you can judge for yourselves.  I have
often said to the Latter-day Saints--"Live so that you will know whether I
teach you truth or not."  Suppose you are careless and unconcerned, and
give way to the spirit of the world, and I am led, likewise, to preach the
things of this world and to accept things that are not of God, how easy it
would be for me to lead you astray!  But I say to you, live so that you
will know for yourselves whether I tell the truth or not.  That is the way
we want all Saints to live.  Will you do it?  Yes, I hope you will, every
one of you.  I say to the Bishop, here, go along and do not contend
against the things of God.  You and your counselors are disposed to argue
in regard to the United Order.  There should be no argument in this case;
the Spirit of the Lord is the only thing that can enlighten our minds, and
give us a knowledge of the things of God.  No earthly argument, no earthly
reasoning can open the minds of intelligent beings and show them heavenly
things; that can only be done by the spirit of revelation.  I testify this
to the Latter-day Saints, and I feel to say God bless you, peace be with
you.  I have not come here to scold you, or anybody else.  I am sometimes
very rough in my language to the people, and I give them a rough scolding,
but I do not wish any evil to the individual, it is to his wrong acts.  If
a person does wrong I am for exposing that, and chastening the perpetrator
if he persists in it.  I want wrong doers to refrain.  Now, I say, brother
Jacob, teach the things of God.  Do not have a doubt about this any more
than about baptism, nor say a word against it.  How many are there in this
Church who are now wavering and shaking because they have spoken against
the ordinances of heaven, and especially against that ordinance which God
has revealed for the exaltation of the children of men in celestial
marriage?  Hold that as sacred as your own soul:  if you cannot see the
beauty and glory of it, and feel it in your own hearts, say nothing
against it.  This earth was placed in the hands of Adam and his sons, and
he is the Lord of the earth; the male portion of the human family are the
lords of the earth, and they are full of wickedness, evil and destruction,
and especially in their acts towards the female sex.  But God will hold
them accountable.  The fact is, let the pure principles of the kingdom of
God be taught to men and women, and far more of the latter than the former
will receive and obey them.  What shall we do with them?  They want
exaltation, they want to be in the great family of heaven, they do not
want to be cast off, then they must be taken into the families of those
who prove themselves worthy to be exalted with the Gods.  Who it is that
can not see the beauty and the excellency of celestial marriage, and
having our children sealed to us?  What should we do without this?  Were
it not for what is revealed concerning the sealing ordinances, children
born out of the covenant would not be sealed to their parents; children
born in the covenant are entitled to the Spirit of the Lord and all the
blessings of the kingdom.  I know that our children, universally, have the
Spirit of the Lord, and when they get old enough to judge right from
wrong, if they turn from the good and promote evil in their hearts, then
will be the time they sin.

	Now, I say to you, brother Jacob, teach the things of God, and do not
argue about this at all; if you do not see and understand, stand still and
see the salvation of God.  Labor and help those who wish to go forward,
and the Lord will bless you in it.  He will open your minds and give you
light and understanding, and you will be far happier than the wicked.  How
blessed are you when you are for God and none else!  Then you are ready
for whatever he reveals.  How sweet you can sleep!  Your dreams are
pleasant and delightful, and the days, weeks, months and years pass away
easily and joyfully, you are so happy.

	I pray God to bless you, Amen.



                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
Delivered in the Bowery, at Brigham City, Saturday Morning, June 26, 1874.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
 THE CALLING OF THE PRIESTHOOD, TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND PROCEED WITH THE
ORGANIZATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, PREPARATORY TO THE COMING OF THE SON
OF
MAN--ALL GOOD IS OF THE LORD--SALVATION AND LIFE EVERLASTING ARE BEFORE
US.

	A few of us have come to talk to the people in this place upon the
things of the kingdom of God, as our calling is to preach the Gospel,
initiate people into, and proceed with, the organization of the kingdom of
God as far as we can, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man.  We
have commenced to organize, I will say partially, in the Holy Order that
God has established for his people in all ages of the world when he has
had a kingdom upon the earth.  We may call it the Order of Enoch, the
Order of Joseph, the Order of Peter, or Abraham, or Moses, and then go
back to Noah, and then step to our own position here, and say that we will
organize as far as we have the privilege, taking into consideration and
acting under the laws of the land.  Many branches of industry have been
organized here to help to sustain each other, to labor for the good of
all, and to establish cooperation in the midst of the Church in this
place.

	In most of the business transactions of this Church and people, as
far as I have directed, I have waited for business to be presented, and
endeavored to so live that the Lord will dictate according to his own mind
and pleasure, and, at the very time it is necessary, have that knowledge
which will enable us to perform every labor acceptably to God and to the
heavens, and to discharge our duties one to another, and to accomplish in
every particular the work which our Father in heaven has given us to do. 
I am a minute-man.  It is very seldom that I take thought what I shall say
or what I shall do.  When we meet in the capacity of a Conference, the
business matters are presented, and I generally know what to do, and I do
not know but what I understand the workings of the kingdom of God upon the
earth, by the manifestations of the Spirit at the moment, as well as I
should if I had studied them for months; and I can truly say that I have
fulfilled one of the sayings of the Savior tolerably well--too take no
thought what ye shall say, for in the very hour or moment when you need
it, it shall be given to you.

	I hope that, during our meetings here, the people will be edified and
comforted, and that the system of laboring together for each other's good
will be wisely and satisfactorily laid before them, and that each and
every one of us, with ready minds and willing hearts, will proceed to do
the things that are required of us by our Father.

	Much can be said upon the doctrine of life and salvation, but I will
say this to the Saints in this place concerning the workings of the
kingdom of God upon the earth--all good comes from heaven, all good is of
the Lord; whatever promotes the happiness of mankind and the glory of God,
whatever increases peace and righteousness upon the earth, and leads the
people in the way of godliness, comfort, contentment and enjoyment, and
tends to increase health and wealth, and life here and hereafter, is of
God; and, in laboring for each other's welfare and happiness, if we can
not do all that we can, and leave the event with the Lord, and wait the
time when we can fully enter into the organization of the kingdom of God
upon the earth, and fully upon those initiatory steps which will hasten
the perfection of the Saints, and prepare them to enter iuto [sic] the joy
of their Lord.  When we are permitted to do in part, we will step forward
and do in part, go as far as we can, and do as much as we can to perfect
ourselves and prepare for the building up of the Centre Stake of Zion.

	We hope and pray that all who may speak during our meetings here will
be filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and that those who pray, sing and
hear may be filled with the same Spirit, that we may increase in knowledge
and wisdom, and grow in the things of God.  This is what we desire and
what we pray for, and we hope that our meetings will be profitable to all.

	This is a hard place to speak in, and we request the brethren and
sisters to be as still as they conveniently can, so that they can hear
what is said.  Let all be quiet, and every heart be lifted to God, that we
may learn his mind and will concerning us; then ask for power to do his
will, for a disposition to give us victory over every passion and slothful
feeling, that we may be awake to righteousness.

 	Salvation and life everlasting are before us; it is our business to
secure them in the kingdom of our God, and to prepare for the restoration
of the inhabitants of the earth who have slept without the Gospel.  Let us
do what we can to bless ourselves, our posterity and our progenitors, and
to save the human family, and so fulfill the mission which the Lord has
given us.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
 Delivered in the Bowery, Brigham City, Sunday Afternoon, June 28, 1874.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
    THE BELIEF OF THE SAINTS IN THE MISSION OF THE SAVIOR--PERTAINING
    TO INHERITANCES UPON THE EARTH THAT SHALL BE EVERLASTING--IT TAKES
  A HIGHER POWER THAN A BILL OF DIVORCE TO TAKE A WOMAN FROM A GOOD MAN.

	I should like the people to keep as quiet as possible, I have a few
words to say to them concerning the inheritances of the Saints.  I will
talk to them concerning the inheritances of the Saints.  I will talk to
those who are believers in the Old and New Testaments, as this book which
lies before me is called--the Bible, and in the mission of the Savior.  I
will ask the Latter-day Saints if they believe that the man Christ Jesus,
who was crucified at Jerusalem, over eighteen hundred years ago, was the
Savior of the world, and that he paid the debt contracted by our first
parents, and redeemed the children of men from the fall?  Of coure [sic],
they will answer in the affrmative [sic].  You believe, then, in the
mission of the Savior to the earth?  "Of course we do,"  is the answer. 
Do we believe that the Savior is heir to this earth.  I will answer for
all Saints and all believers in the Savior and say we do.  Do we believe
that this man Christ Jesus has received his inheritance; has he finished
the work which he came into the world and was manifested in the flesh to
accomplish?  I will answer for all Christians and say he has not, as yet,
finished his work or received the kingdom.  As for the proof of this you
can go to the Bible and all the other revelations that we have in our
possession, and you will find it there.  Are we co-workers with the Savior
to redeem the children of men and all things pertaining to the earth?  I
will answer for the Saints and say that we most assuredly believe we are. 
All who, while in the flesh, received and were faithful to the Priesthood,
labored with the Savior while they remained here, and when they passed
into the spirit world their labors did not cease, but they passed into the
prison, and, to this day, they are preaching to the spirits there, and
laboring for the salvation of the human family and for the earth and all
things pertaining to it.

	Have these men, who have lived upon the earth and enjoyed the
blessings of the holy Priesthood, received their inheritances?  I take the
liberty of answering for all Saints in the negative.  They have not
received their inheritances, but they have received promises like Abraham
of old when he was shown the land of Canaan, and it was promised to him
that it should be his inheritance, and that of his seed after him forever
and ever.  To this day they have not inherited the land according to the
promises that were made to Abraham.  So it is with all others.  Have any
of us, in the latter-days, received inheritances upon the face of this
earth that shall be everlasting?  No, we are not prepared to receive them,
and they are not prepared for us.  I am telling you these things that you
may know and understand that, when we talk about property, or anything
else that we seem to possess, we have not yet received anything for an
everlasting inheritance.  If ws [sic] are faithful we shall receive after
a long time, that is, it may seem long to us who reckon time by years,
months, weeks, days, minutes and seconds.  I should like to have the
Latter-day Saints understand what their labor is, and to have each one
understand his duty, and then understand the reward of obedience to that
duty.

	We get a great many good gifts here--we enjoy a great deal that the
Lord gives us; gifts that we will say are inherent natural gifts.  What a
beautiful gift the power of the eye is for a man to enjoy!  What a
beautiful gift the power of hearing is to the people, and all our
senses--tasting, smelling, &c., and the passions when they are governed
and controlled, how beautiful they are!  Shall we inherit them for ever
and ever, or shall we take a course that they shall be taken from us?

	We are talking now to the brethren about being one, operating
together, submitting all to the kingdom of God.  What for?  Am I to give
what I have?  "Why, this is my house, this is my farm, these are my
cattle!"  We only seem to have them, they are only in our possession for
the present.  "This is my wife, these are my wives, here are my children!" 
We seem to possess them, but whether we shall possess them forever depends
entirely upon our future course.  How long will this state of things last? 
Until we have passed the ordeals allotted to finite, intelligent beings,
and have passed from one degree and state to another; until the work is
completed by the Savior, pertaining to this earth, and our eternal
salvation is sealed to us.  While we live here in the flesh we are subject
to turn to the right and to the left, and we have the vanities and
allurements of the world to contend with; and we see Latter-day Saints,
after traveling five, ten, twenty, and even forty years, faithful in the
kingdom of God, turn away from the holy commandments.  They will be lost,
and all that they have had, and all that they think they have will be
taken from them and given to those who are faithful; and those who are
faithful will not receive their inheritances, so that they can say they
are their own, until they have passed all these ordeals, and until the
Savior has completed the work of redemption.  He is now trying to get the
people to avail themselves of the advantages of his atonement, and we,
professedly, are enjoying these advantages, but how slow and slothful we
are!  What trifling, frivolous shadows, I may say vain ideas, will turn
the hearts and the affections and judgment and will of man from the
principles of truth!  I want you to understand that you have not your
eternal inheritances, although you may have an inheritance here in this
city.

	By and by the centre stake of Zion may be redeemed.  We may go there,
and Zion may be built up and spread abroad and we receive our
inheritances; and if we are faithful we shall receive all that has been
promised to us.  But suppose that we turn away from our covenants, all
will be taken from us and given to others.

	When shall we receive our inheritances so that we can say they are
our own?  When the Savior has completed the work, when the faithful Saints
have preached the Gospel to the last of the spirits who have lived here
and who are designed to come to this earth; when the thousand years of
rest shall come and thousands and thousands of Temples shall be built, and
the servants and handmaids of the Lord shall have entered therein and
officiated for themselves, and for their dead friends back to the days of
Adam; when the last of the spirits in prison who will receive the Gospel
has received it; when the Savior comes and receives his ready bride, and
all who can be are saved in the various kingdoms of God--celestial,
terrestrial and telestial, according to their several capacities and
opportunities; when sin and iniquity are driven from the earth, and the
spirits that now float in this atmosphere are driven into the place
prepared for them; and when the earth is sanctified from the effects of
the fall, and baptized, cleansed, and purified by fire, and returns to its
paradisiacal state, and has become like a sea of glass, a urim and
thummim; when all this is done, and the Savior has presented the earth to
his Father, and it is placed in the cluster of the celestial kingdom, and
the Son and all his faithful brethren and sisters have received the
welcome plaudit--"Enter ye into the joy of your Lord," and the Savior is
crowned, then and not till then, will the Saints receive their everlasting
inheritances.  I want you to understand this.  We seem to have something
now, but how long shall we keep it?

	The Latter-day Saints are believers in the atonement of the Savior,
and I would like to have the Elders of Israel understand as far as they
can all the points of doctrine in regard to the redemption of the human
family, that they may know how to talk about and explain them.  No one who
believes in the Bible and in the mission of the Savior believes that the
wicked are going to possess this earth; but they believe that when it is
prepared it will be given to the Saints and they will inherit it.  The
Savior has requested us and all of his disciples to remember him as oft as
we meet together, and to break bread in remembrance of his body which was
broken for us, and to drink from the cup in remembrance of the blood that
was shed for us.  We meet, as we are doing to day, and partake of the
bread and the water in compliance with this request of the Redeemer.  We
have a great work before us; and that portion of it we are now trying to
inaugurate is not new.  The doctrine of uniting together in our temporal
labors, and all working for the good of all is from the beginning, from
everlasting, and it will be for ever and ever.  No one supposes for one
moment that in heaven the angels are speculating, that they are building
railroads and factories, taking advantage one of another, gathering up the
substance there is in heaven to aggrandize themselves, and that they live
on the same principle that we are in the habit of doing.  No Christian, no
sectarian Christian, in the world believes this; they believe that the
inhabitants of heaven live as a family, that their faith, interests and
pursuits have one end in view--the glory of God and their own salvation,
and that they may receive more and more,--go on from perfection to
perfection, receiving and then dispensing to others; they are ready to go,
and ready to come, and willing to do whatever is required of them and to
work for the interest of the whole community, for the good of all.  We all
believe this, and suppose we go to work and imitate them as far as we can. 
Would it be anything derogatory to the character of a gentleman or a lady? 
I think not.  As far as I understand true principle the title of gentleman
should not be applied to any man on the earth unless he is a good man.  No
gentleman takes the name of the Deity in vain.  Some who do take his name
in vain may be called gentleman, but it is a mistake, they are not
gentlemen.  A gentleman carries himself respectfully before the
inhabitants of the earth at all times, in all places and under all
circumstances, and his life is worthy of imitation.  She who is worthy of
the title of lady adorns her mind with the rich things of the kingdom of
God; she is modest in her attire and manners; she is prudent, discreet and
faithful, and full of all goodness, charity, love, and kindness, with the
love of God in her heart.  Such a woman has a right to the title of lady,
and I do not consider that any others have, whether they are elect or not.

	We will try to imitate in some small degree, the family that lives in
heaven, and prepare ourselves for the society that will dwell upon the
earth when it is purified and glorified and comes into the presence of the
Father.

	For us to think that we have an inheritance on the earth is folly,
unless God has declared, and sealed it upon us, by revelation, that we
shall never fall, never doubt, never come short of glorifying him or of
doing his will in all things.  No person, unless he is in the possession
of this blessing, has the least right to suppose that he has an
inheritance on the earth.  For the time being we have our wives, children,
farms and other possessions, but unless we prove ourselves worthy, what we
seem to have will be taken from us and given to those who are worthy,
consequently we need not worry with regard to the defects, you need not
have the least concern in the world about meeting a man in the celestial
kingdom that you, if you are worthy and are so happy as to get into the
celestial kingdom, can not fellowship; and if you should happen to be the
one that is in fault and you cannot pass the sentinel, and your neighbor
or brother does, he will not see you there, you need not be concerned in
the least about being joined to any person by the holy sealing power, that
will not do right in the next world.  I say to my sisters in the kingdom,
who are sealed to men, and who say, "We do not want this man in eternity
if he is going to conduct himself there as he does here"--there is not the
least danger in the world of your ever seeing him in eternity or of his
seeing you there if he proves himself unworthy here.  But if he honors his
Priesthood, and you are to blame and come short of doing your duty, and
prove yourself unworthy of celestial glory, it will be left to him to do
what he pleases with you.  You will be very glad to get to him if you find
the fault was in yourself and not in him.  But if you are not at fault, be
not troubled about being joined to him there, for no man will have the
privilege of gathering his wives and children around him there unless he
proves himself worthy of them.

	I have said a number of times, and I will say again, to you ladies
who want to get a bill of divorce from your husbands, because they do not
treat you right, or because you do not exactly like their ways, there is a
principe upon which a woman can leave a man, but if the man honors his
Priesthood, it will be pretty hard work for you to get away from him.  If
he is just and right, serves God and is full of justice, love, mercy and
truth, he will have the power that is sealed upon him, and will do what he
pleases with you.  When you want to get a bill of divorce, you had better
wait and find out whether the Lord is willing to give you one or not, and
not come to me.  I tell the brethren and sisters, when they come to me and
want a bill of divorce, that I am ready to seal people and administer in
the ordinances, and they are welcome to my services, but when they
undertake to break the commandments and tear to pieces the doings of the
Lord, I make them give me something.  I tell a man he has to give me ten
dollars if he wants a divorce.  For what?  My services?  No, for his
foolishness.  If you want a bill of divorce give me ten dollars, so that I
can put it down in the book that such a man and such a woman have
dissolved partnership.  Do you think you have obtained a bill of divorce? 
No, nor ever can if you are faithful to the covenants you have made.  It
takes a higher power than a bill of divorce to take a woman from a man who
is a good man and honors his Priesthood--it must be a man who possesses a
higher power in the Priesthood, or else the woman is bound to her husband,
and will be forever and ever.  You might as well ask me for a piece of
blank paper for a divorce, as to have a little writing on it, saying--"We
mutually agree to dissolve partnership and keep ourselves apart from each
other," &c.  It is all nonsense and folly; there is no such thing in the
ordinances of the house of God; you cannot find any such law.  It is true
Jesus told the people that a man could put away his wife for fornication,
but for nothing short of this.  There is a law for you to be obedient, and
humble and faithful.

	Now, brethren, the man that honors his Priesthood, the woman that
honors her Priesthood, will receive an everlasting inheritance in the
kingdom of God; but it will not be until this earth is purified and
sanctified, and ready to be offered up to the Father.  But we can go to
work now and live as near as we can like the family of heaven, that we may
secure to ourselves the blessings of heaven and of earth, of time and of
eternity, and life everlasting in the presence of the Father and the Son. 
This is what we want to do.  Remember it, brethren and sisters, and try to
live worthy of the vocation of your high calling.  You are called to be
Saints--just think of and realize it, for the greatest honor and privilege
that can be conferred upon a human being is to have the privilege of being
a Saint.  The honor of the kings and queens of the earth fades into
insignificance when compared with the title of Saints.  You may possess
earthly power, and rule with an iron hand, but that power is nothing, it
will soon be broken and pass away; but the power of those who live and
honor the Priesthood will increase forever and ever.

	Now I am going to yield for my brethren to talk to you.  I have said
a few things.  Remember the exhortation I gave you this morning.  Live
according to the faith of our religion.  Let contention, all contention
cease; cease finding fault with and casting reflections upon those who are
not exactly with us.  Let us show by our daily walk and doings that we
have something better than they have.  I will say to you who enter this
Order, with regard to your temporal affairs, cease your extravagance.  The
Lord has said he would make the Latter-day Saints the richest people on
the earth; but all he will do is to give us the ability and place means in
our possession, and we must go to work and organize this means and make
ourselves rich; and the first step is to stop our extravagance, cease this
needless expense, learn to make that which we wear, raise that which we
eat, live within ourselves, accumulate the good things of life, and so
make ourselves wealthy.

	I pray the Lord our God to bless you and to inspire every heart to
faithfulness, that we may be prepared for a better place than this--for
this world when it shall be sanctified and glorified, that we may then
enjoy the society of each other without sin and without these annoyances.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
       Delivered at the Funeral Services of Elder Thomas Williams,
          in the Fourteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City,
                      Sunday Morning, July 19, 1874.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
     NOTHING STRANGE OR NEW TO LIVE AND DIE--MUST DIE IN ORDER TO BE
  QUICKENED--THE WORLD OF MANKIND IGNORANT OF IMMORTALITY--THE RIGHTEOUS
     SHOULD LIVE TO ENJOY THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT--ALL PEOPLE ARE THE
   CHILDREN OF GOD--THEY LEARN BY CONTRAST--WORLDS TO BE ORGANIZED AND
                       PEOPLED IN FUTURE EXISTENCE.

	I do not wish to detain the congregation, for I realize that it very
warm and uncomfortable; but on this occasion I feel to offer a few
reflections, and pray that they may be instructive to the living, and
encourage us in the faith of the holy Gospel, strengthen us in the little
faith that we now possess, and open up to our minds the future prospects
and blessings that the Lord has in reserve for the faithful.

	We call this a solemn occasion, for we have met together to pay our
last respects to one who has lived with us, and with whom we have
associated, and we delight to show our respect to the mortal remains of
those who, in life, have been near and dear to us.  But for me to address
a lifeless lump of clay would be useless, while to address the living, who
have ears to hear and hearts to understand, may be profitable.  I
requested the brethren to speak who have already addressed you, and there
are more here who would like to speak on the present occasion.

	The testimony that has been borne concerning the character of our
beloved brother, whose body is now a lifeless mass of clay before us, is
true, and more we can say than what has been said.

	The scene that we are now called to witness is painful to near and
dear friends--it is a scene calculated to wring the very heart--the inmost
heart.  Such scenes are always painful, still we witness them day by day,
and when we contemplate the vast number of souls that come into existence
and inhabit bodies here on this earth, and the vast number that are
departing, almost every moment, it is nothing strange or new.  Except this
plant die it cannot be quickened; except this mortality is put off it can
not put on immortality; except this body that we have received from the
earth returns to mother earth, it can not be brought forth in the morning
of the resurrection.  This we know and understand; yet how strange it is,
and yet we may say it is not strange, that the living, with all that they
witness concerning the departure of the living to another state of
existence, how few there are who profit by it, how few there are who seek
unto God for wisdom, knowledge and understanding to enable them to acquit
themselves well here preparatory to this change.  There are some who do,
but very few, and though we mourn at the loss of our friends, when our
natural feelings have passed away, and our hearts have ceased to mourn,
cheerfulness takes the place of these mournful feelings, and we think no
more of it.  This is the common condition of the children of men, those
who profess to be Christians, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as
the Savior of the world.  They have made many inquiries with regard to
this passing from one state of existence to another.  It seems to be a
great mystery to them.  A great deal has been said and a great deal has
been written, and there have been many reflections--more than has been
spoken or written, and yet it is one eternal mystery to the world.  Why? 
Because they have not eyes to see, nor ears to hear, and they do not
understand the providences of God; and if they read the word of the
Lord--the revelations that he has given concerning the living and the
dead--they do not understand them, and so the world is left in darkness,
to grope their way like the blind man by the wall.  Thus it is with the
children of men, taking the whole of the Christian world.

	It is true the Latter-day Saints have received a little more--they
have received something beyond the imagination of the heart.  We have
facts before us, we have experience that is satisfactory, and we can
rejoice in the hope that God has given us.  But if we will be prepared, as
this our beloved brother was prepared, to go at a moment's warning; if we
live in this way, we live just as we should live.  No person who believes
on the Lord Jesus Christ has a right to spend a day, an hour, or a minute
of his life or her life in a manner unbecoming the profession of a Saint;
they should be ready to depart this life any moment.  I say that those who
understand the things of God have no right, neither have they any wish, to
live only so that they may enjoy the light of his spirit, enjoy communion
with God, with his son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Ghost, so that they
may be instructed day by day how to walk in the path that lies before
them, the path that leads to life everlasting.  But how easy it is for
those who profess to be Saints, to be of the earth, earthy, and to seek
after and love the world, and fall into the spirit of the world.  How easy
it is for them to receive the spirit of the world, and to forget the
spirit of salvation that has been in their hearts.  If we could keep
constantly in our minds and before us what we really know, what the Lord
has taught us, what we have read and what we have received by the
whisperings of the Spirit, this would be satisfactory; but many do not
retain these things, they pass from them, and when they have passed away
doubt seized their minds, and they are at a loss to determine whether they
ever understood anything or not.

	In the great providences of God, in bringing forth worlds into
existence, as he has this, which worlds are continually coming into
existence and passing from one state to another, inhabitants come forth;
every living creature that we have any knowledge of God sends forth upon
the earth that he frames, there to live and to enjoy, or to endure all
that his providences bring forth upon the earth, that they may have an
experience, that they may be prepared for another change.  These changes
are taking place continually, and have been from the beginning.  In the
vegetable and in the mineral kingdoms, as well as in the animal kingdom,
these changes are continually going on.  Man comes on to this stage of
action, and he is continually undergoing a change until the time of his
departure.  He comes here--he knows not how.  We know we are here; but who
is it understands how we came, and the design and purpose of our Heavenly
Father in sending us here?  Here is the mystery to the Christian and
scientific world; they do not understand it.  "Would that we could" say
the inhabitants of the earth, and especially those who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ.  "How glad I should be to know where Jesus lives!"  "How
glad I should be to know whether I am going to him when I leave this
world?  But it is a mystery."  Why should it be a mystery?  Because the
curtain is shut down before us, and the vision of our minds is closed up
for a trial for us, for us to prove ourselves, and to show whether, while
passing through darkness and affliction, in ignorance and with clouds of
unbelief over us, after being made acquainted with the things of God, we
will persevere and be firm to our faith, and so prove ourselves worthy to
receive a glorious resurrection, a change to a more exalted state of being
than we can possess and enjoy here on this earth.

	We are made expressly to dwell with those who continue to learn, and
who receive knowledge on knowled [sic], wisdom on wisdom; we belong to the
family of heaven.  I am looking now upon a body of divinity.  Every face
that I see sheds forth a certain amount of the divinity I worship--my
Father in heaven.  Here we are, we are God's children, and we are brought
forth to give us an experience, that we may know good from evil, light
from darkness; that we may know how to serve God; that we may know why and
wherefore we should refuse the evil and choose the good.  I ask the
philosophers--and I think it is probable there are some here to-day--how
do you prove facts?  By their contrast.  How do you know this or that?  By
its contrast.  We know and prove things by their opposite; we understand
the evil because the good is present with us, and the Lord sends forth his
intelligent children on the face of the earth to prove whether they are
worthy to dwell with him in eternity.

	How frequently the question arises in the minds of the people--"I
wish I knew where I was going!"  Can you find out?  Well, you will go into
the spirit world, where brother Thomas now is.  He has now entered upon a
higher state of being, that is, his spirit has, than when in his body. 
"Why cannot I see him?  Why cannot I converse with his spirit?  I wish I
could see my husband or my father and converse with him!"  It is not
reasonable that you should, it is not right that you should; perhaps you
would miss the very object of your pursuit if you had this privilege, and
there would be the same trial of faith to exercise you, not so severe a
path of affliction for you to walk in, not so great a battle to fight, nor
so great a victory to win, and you would miss the very object you are in
pursuit of.  It is right just as it is, that this veil should he [sic]
closed down; that we do not see God, that we do not see angels, that we do
not converse with them except through strict obedience to his
requirements, and faith in Jesus Christ.  When we contemplate the
condition of man here upon the earth, and understand that we are brought
forth for the express purpose of preparing ourselves through our
faithfulness to inherit eternal life, we ask ourselves when we are going,
what will be our condition, what will be the nature of our pursuits in a
state of being in which we shall possess more vigor and a higher degree of
intelligence than we possess here?  Shall we have labor?  Shall we have
enjoyment in our labor?  Shall we have any object of pursuit, or shall we
sit and sing ourselves away to everlasting bliss?  These are questions
that arise in the minds of people, and they many times feel anxious to
know something about hereafter.  What a dark valley and a shadow it is
that we call death!  To pass from this state of existence as far as the
mortal body is concerned, into a state of inanition, how strange it is! 
How dark this valley is!  How mysterious is this road, and we have got to
travel it alone.  I would like to say to you, my friends and brethren, if
we could see things as they are, and as we shall see and understand them,
this dark shadow and valley is so trifling that we shall turu [sic] round
and look about upon it and think, when we have crossed it, why this is the
greatest advantage of my whole existence, for I have passed from a state
of sorrow, grief, mourning, woe, misery, pain, anguish and disappointment
into a state of existence, where I can enjoy life to the fullest extent as
far as that can be done without a body.  My spirit is set free, I thirst
no more, I want to sleep no more, I hunger no more, I tire no more, I run,
I walk, I labor, I go, I come, I do this, I do that, whatever is required
of me, nothing like pain or weariness, I am full of life, full of vigor,
and I enjoy the presence of my heavenly Father, by the power of his
Spirit.  I want to say to my friends, if you will live your religion, live
so as to be full of the faith of God, that the light of eternity will
shine upon you, you can see and understand these things for yourselves,
that when you close your eyes upon mortality you wake up right in the
presence of the Father and the Son if they are disposed to withdraw the
vail, they can do as they please with regard to this; but you are in the
spirit world and in a state of bliss and happiness, though we may call it
Hades or hell.  It is the world of spirits, it is where Jesus went, and
where all go, both good and bad.  The spirits of the living that depart
this life go into the world of spirits, and if the Lord withdraws the vail
it is much easier for us then to behold the face of our Father who is in
heaven than when we are clothed upon with this mortality.  I have not time
at present to follow these reflections further.

	Then we should be encouraged, we should strengthen our faith by our
hope, we should seek unto the Lord until our hope is made perfect, that we
may have power to bear like Saints all the afflictions we meet with here
on the earth.  If we do this, when we have crossed the dark valley of the
shadow of death it will be so easy to turn round and behold the path that
we have walked, wherein we have had the privilege, the same as the Gods,
of learning the difference between good and evil.

	You recollect that it was said in ancient days, to her that we call
Mother, "Your eyes will be opened if you will eat of this fruit, and you
will know as the Gods know, good from evil."  This probation is given us
that we may learn this lesson, and if we are faithful in it we shall learn
how to succor those who are tempted and tried as we are, when we have the
power to rescue them from the ravages of the enemy.

	This earth is our home, it was framed expressly for the habitation of
those who are faithful to God, and who prove themselves worthy to inherit
the earth when the Lord shall have sanctified, purified and glorified it
and brought it back into his presence, from which it fell far into space. 
Ask the astronomer how far we are from the nearest of those heavenly
bodies that are called the fixed stars.  Can he count the miles?  It would
be a task for him to tell us the distance.  When the earth was framed and
brought into existence and man was placed upon it, it was near the throne
of our Father in heaven.  And when man fell--though that was designed in
the economy, there was nothing about it mysterious or unknown to the Gods,
they understood it all, it was all planned--but when man fell, the earth
fell into space, and took up its abode in this planetary system, and the
sun became our light.  When the Lord said--"Let there be light," there was
light, for the earth was brought near the sun that it might reflect upon
it so as to give us light by day, and the moon to give us light by night. 
This is the glory the earth came from, and when it is glorified it will
return again unto the presence of the Father, and it will dwell there, and
these intelligent beings that I am looking at, if they live worthy of it,
will dwell upon this earth.

	As for their labor and pursuits in eternity I have not time to take
upon that subject; but we shall have plenty to do.  We shall not be idle. 
We shall go on from one step to another, reaching forth into the
eternities until we become like the Gods, and shall be able to frame for
ourselves, by the behest and command of the Almighty.  All those who are
counted worthy to be exalted and to become Gods, even the sons of God,
will go forth and have earths and worlds like those who framed this and
millions on millions of others.  This is our home, built expressly for us
by the Father of our spirits, who is the Father, maker, framer and
producer of these mortal bodies that we now inherit, and which go back to
mother earth.  When the spirit leaves them they are lifeless; and when the
mother feels life come to her infant it is the spirit entering the body
preparatory to the immortal existence.  But suppose an accident occurs and
the spirit has to leave this body prematurely, what then?  All that the
physician says is--"It is a still birth," and that is all they know about
it: but whether the spirit remains in the body a minute, an hour, a day, a
year, or lives there until the body has reached a good old age, it is
certain that the time will come when they will be spared, and the body
will return to mother earth, there to sleep upon that mother's bosom. 
That is all there is about death.

	Brother Thomas Williams is no more dead than he was a week ago.  His
clay is simply dead; and inasmuch as he honored this tabernacle that lies
before us, it will take a sleep in the dust, to come forth immortal in the
day of the first resurrection.

	This will be the case with us all; if we honor our being here.  This
is our path, and our great object should be to honor our calling here.  We
have bodies which, in infancy, childhood and youth, are just as pure as
the angels, and if we honor these bodies, and preserve them in chastity,
purity and holiness, they are just as good as the bodies of those that
dwell in endless life, and they will be prepared to come forth in the
glorious resurrection, and be crowned with glory, immortality and eternal
lives.  This is the privilege of all, and the work that the Savior has
undertaken is to save all that will come unto him; none will be eternally
lost except the sons of perdition; and the great work that God has brought
forth in the latter-days in restoring the Priesthood is for the living and
for the dead, to bring them up that they may enjoy a glorious
resurrection.

	Brother Thomas has honored his body here, and he now goes into his
glory, that is, as far as he can in the spirit world.  He goes where he
can do more good.  He has gone where he can preach to those who have lived
and died on the earth without the gospel, that they may have the privilege
of receiving and obeying it, that they may be judged according to men in
the flesh, and have the privilege of a glorious resurrection.

	This is the work of the Latter-day Saints, and if we are hated for
anything, it is for trying to save the people; if we are persecuted it is
for trying to do good to those who are living and those who are dead.  I
say, then, to the Saints, pursue your course, live your religion and be
ready at a moment's warning.  Brother Thomas Williams, while he sat at
table eating his dinner, had not the privilege of speaking a word.  A
blood vessel broke, and his mouth and throat were instantly filled with
blood to that degree that he could not speak a word.  He tried to swallow
a little salt and water, and probably he got a little down, but I doubt it
very much.  The blood gushed most probably from both stomach and lungs. 
The vessels were ripe and prepared to break, and the blood within him
gushed out so copiously that he never spoke another word.  How could he
repent of his sins if he had not been prepared?  What kind of a confession
could he have made if he had wished to?  None at all.  He could not ask a
Priest to pray for him if he had wanted to do so; no, he was prepared to
go; he never spoke a word, but committed his soul to God without a
moment's warning.  I try to live that my work is always done; I have done
everything that can be done up to the moment, just as he did it.  I wish
our business men would take pattern by him who lies before us.  He was our
paymaster in the Parent Branch of Z. C. M. I., and attended to this Branch
of the financial business of the Institution, and there was not an order
that was to be paid or filed, but what he had written a description of it
and pinned it on to that order before he went to his dinner.  In all his
business there was not one scratch of the pen wanted to be done by other
clerks, but every iota was done just as much as though he had known that
he was going to breathe his last in twenty minutes.

	Saints, I wish you would take pattern by this man, and live your
lives as he lived his life.  I pray you in Christ's stead live your
religion.  If you want to know whether I live mine judge by my works,
judge from my daily walk and conversation.  You have the right to judge,
but you be sure and live so that you will know whether I do or not.  I
live so that I know whether you do or not, exactly.  Latter-day Saints
live your religion and honor your God.

	I say to this family, the wives and children of brother Williams, God
bless you and comfort your hearts; and I say, will you please live your
religion so that you may be prepared to meet him?  If you do not live so
as to honor your Priesthood you will come short of meeting him in the
resurrection, I assure you.  Now live your religion.  God is not to be
mocked, the laws of God are to be honored, and all of his ordinances and
requirements are to be filled and fulfilled.  He requires strict obedience
of his children, and if we are not obedient we shall come short of that
glory that we anticipate now.

	I hope and pray that the Lord will bless you all.  Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
              Delivered in the Meeting house, at Lehi City,
                    Sunday Afternoon, August 9, 1874.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
  THE UNITED ORDER IS THE ORDER OF THE KINGDOM WHERE GOD AND CHRIST WILL
   DWELL--THE LAW OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN PROTECTS ALL PEOPLE IN THEIR
        RELIGIOUS WORSHIP--IN OBEYING COUNSEL THERE IS SALVATION.

	There are a few ideas and reflections that I wish to give to the
people.  I shall have to make my remarks brief in order to be prepared for
our journey northward.  You hear a good deal from time to time, and you
think a good deal, about the condition of the Latter-day Saints, and what
we are trying to do with them concerning the United Order.  I wish you to
understand that this is no new revelation; it is the order of the kingdom
where God and Christ dwell; it has been from eternity and will be to
eternity, without end, consequently we have nothing particularly new to
offer you, but we have the commandments that have been from the beginning. 
With regard to those who wish to have new revelation they will please to
accommodate themselves and call this a new revelation.  On this occasion I
will not repeat anything particular in respect to the language of
revelation, further than to say--Thus saith the Lord unto my servant
Brigham, Call ye, call ye, upon the inhabitants of Zion, to organize
themselves in the Order of Enoch, in the New and Everlasting Covenant,
according to the Order of Heaven, for the furtherance of my kingdom upon
the earth, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the salvation of the
living and the dead.

	You can accommodate yourselves by calling this a new revelation, if
you choose; it is no new revelation, but it is the express word and will
of God to this people.

	How many do you think would like and have hearts to enter into this
Order?  Let me ask you a question.  You sisters as well as the brethren
who have read the Bible and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, whether
you have read the Book of Mormon and the sermons or not, who is there
among you who does not know and understand that the people called the
Saints of the Most High, or the disciples of the Lord Jesus, must be of
one heart and of one mind?  I do not think there are any of you who do not
know, feel and understand this just as I do, and yet perhaps you do not
realize it.  We can see that it does not sit upon the hearts and take hold
of the affections of the people; it does not break up every particle of
the fallow ground of their hearts so that they can receive this into their
affections and bring forth fruit to the glory of God.  If those now before
me, brethren and sisters, who profess to be Latter-day Saints, were of one
heart and of one mind in the sense of the Scripture that is given to us,
revealed in days of old and in our day, we never should have to say to
them--Pay your Tithing; but the feeling of every heart, and the language
of every one who has come to years of discretion would be if there is a
Temple to be built--"What can I do to forward this Temple?  Do you want my
work?  I have abundance for my family to eat, they are capable of clothing
themselves with a little help from me, I can spend all my time;" and the
sisters would say--"We can make the stockings and the shirts, and we can
make up the cloth, if you will give it to us, for the hands, and we can
make their hats and, if necessary, we can make their shoes."  If this was
in the hearts and affections of the people it would no longer be Tithing
alone, but he inquiry would be--"What do you want?  We have abundance."

	We ask nothing but the labor of the people, and if the Latter-day
Saints felt the importance of the mission that is upon them, and of
fulfilling the requirements of heaven that are resting upon them, you
would see temples rising here like magic; it would be nothing but a
breakfast spell for us to build a Temple.  How do you think those feel who
do understand the mind and will of the Lord, and view the condition of the
Latter-day Saints as it really is?  Unless you see it by the Spirit, you
know nothing about it.

	We can say to the Latter-day Saints, it is the mind and will of God
that we organize according to the best plans and patterns and system that
we can get for the present.  We can do this, and thus far give to the
Latter-day Saints the mind and will of the Lord; but we can not make a man
or a woman yield to the will of God unless they are disposed to.  I can
plant, I can water, but I cannot give the increase; I cannot cause the
wheat and corn to grow.  It is true I can break up and prepare the ground
and cast the seed therein, but I cannot cause it to grow, that can only be
done by the people having willing hearts, ready minds, and a disposition
to go forth with a firm determination and willing hand to build up the
kingdom.  I will do my part--I have done it.  Brother Erastus Snow has
made certain eulogistic remarks about my career in the Church, but I will
say this with regard to Brother Brigham--I do not know anything about what
he has earned, I never inquired about that or about what he deserves.  All
I have to do is to take good care of everything that the Lord gives me,
improve upon every means of grace and every talent he gives me, improve
upon the visions of the Spirit and speak the word of the Lord to the
people.  My mind has been and it is to-day, that there is not an Elder in
all Israel that can do his duty in declaring the things of God to the
nations of the earth unless he declares those truths by the power of
revelation.  He must speak by the power of God or he does not magnify his
calling.  The theory of our religion will not answer the purpose of saving
us.  I can call upon the people, but will they organize themselves?  Some
inquire, "Is this exactly the order that the Lord requires?  It is just
exactly what the Lord requires.

	I will say to you with regard to the kingdom of God on the
earth--Here is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized
with its rules, regulations and degrees, with the quorums of the holy
Priesthood, from the First Presidency to the teachers and deacons; here we
are, an organization.  God called upon Joseph, he called upon Oliver
Cowdery, then others were called through Joseph, the Church was organized,
he with his two counselors comprised the First Presidency.  In a few years
the Quorum of the Twelve was organized, the High Counsel was organized,
the High Priests' quorum was organized, the Seventies' quorums were
organized, and the Priests' quorum, the Teachers' quorum and the Deacons'. 
This is what we are in the habit of calling the kingdom of God.  But there
are further organizations.  The Prophet gave a full and complete
organization to this kingdom the Spring before he was killed.  This
kingdom is the kingdom that Daniel spoke of, which was to be set up in the
last days; it is the kingdom that is not to be given to another people; it
is the kingdom that is to be held by the servants of God, to rule the
nations of the earth, to send forth those laws and ordinances that shall
be suitable and that shall apply themselves to the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints; that will apply themselves to the mother Church,
"the holy Catholic Church," they will commend themselves to every
Protestant Church upon the earth; they will commend themselves to every
class of infidels, and will throw their protecting arms around the whole
human family, protecting them in their rights.  If they wish to worship a
white dog, they will have the privilege; if they wish to worship the sun
they will have the privilege; if they wish to worship a man they will have
the privilege, and if they wish to worship the "unknown God" they will
have the privilege.  This kingdom will circumscribe them all and will
issue laws and ordinances to protect them in their rights--every right
that every people, sect and person can enjoy, and the full liberty that
God has granted to them without molestation.

	Can you understand me?  This Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints is organized for the building up of this Church alone; it is not
for the building up of Catholicism, it is not for promoting any or all of
the dissentients from the Mother Church, it is alone for the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and for no other body of people.  When
we organize according to these laws and ordinances we make this people
one, but we do not bring in the Methodists, Presbyterians or Calvinists,
they are independent of themselves.  But the kingdom of God, when it is
established and bears rule, will defend the Methodists in their rights
just as much as Latter-day Saints, but it will not allow them to infringe
upon the right of their neighbors; this will be prohibited.  These sects
may want to afflict the Saints just as now; they may want to persecute
each other just as they now do; they may want to bring everybody to their
standard just as they do now.  But the kingdom of God, when it is set up
upon the earth, will be after the pattern of heaven, and will compel no
man nor woman to go contrary to his or her conscience.  They would compel
us to go contrary to our consciences, wouldn't they?  I recollect when
there were but few Methodists, when they were poor, and when there was
scarcely a college-bred minister on the continent of America in the
Methodist Chnrch [sic].  I recollect them in their infancy, but what would
they do now?  Then they were persecuted, and thought they bore a great
deal for Christ's sake.  Perhaps they did.

	Now I want to give you these few words--the kingdom of God will
protect every person, every sect and all people upon the face of the whole
earth, in their legal rights.  I shall not tell you the names of the
members of this kingdom, neither shall I read to you its constitution, but
the constitution was given by revelation.  The day will come when it will
be organized in strength and power.  Now, as the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, we work our way along the best we can.  Can you
understand this?

	A few words upon the organization of this United Order.  We regret
that we are not in a capacity to make our own laws pertaining to our
domestic affairs as we choose; if we were in a state capacity we could do
so.  The legislature could then pass laws by which we would have the right
to deed our property to the Church, to the Trustee-in-Trust, if we chose,
or in any other way the people would like to deed their property to God
and his kingdom.  But we can not do this now, we are not a State.  We are
in the capacity of servants now, where we have to bow to the whims and
caprices of the ignorant, and to the prejudice of wilful, ignorant
sectarianism; consequently we are under the necessity of getting up our
constitution or the articles of our association so that they will agree
with existing statutes and be legal, that we can carry on business as we
wish without being infringed upon our molested by anybody.

	Some have complained, and say--"This does not incorporate the whole,
we want articles of agreement under which we can give all that we have
got."  Let me say to you that our articles of confederation, agreement or
association will allow us to deed every particle of property that we have
got to this co-operative institution--our houses, farms, sheep, cattle,
horses, our labor, our railroad stock, bank stock, factories, and
everything that we have we can deed to the trustees of this association. 
Whatever you have here in Lehi that you wish to deed over to those you
have selected to be a board of trustees you can deed to them, to take the
supervision of it, and then you will put it out of the hands perhaps of
unruly froward children and spendthrifts, and do good by so doing.  And if
you can put in every particle of your property, and have this governed and
controlled by the best men you have here, why not do this just as well as
to deed it to George A. Smith the Trustee-in-Trust?  Does not this answer
every purpose?  It does.  Look at the reason of it if you wish to.  If it
is the word and the wish and the will of the organization here to deed
only part of the property, I expect they will take the liberty of doing
so; but this would not suit me.  If I had property here in this place I
should wish to deed every particle of it to this association.  I wish to
deed every particle of my property in Provo, just as quick as there is an
opportunity, and have it done in a way that it will be beneficial to the
people.  I am laboring under a certain embarrassment and so are many
others, with regard to deedingproperty, and that is to find men who know
what to do with property when it is in their hands.  I will relate a
circumstance here, which I related to some of the brethren the other day. 
There was a very excellent good man in this Church who found it very hard
to get along with his large family.  He received a very fine present for
which he was very thankful to the donor; but after it was given to him, he
said he did not know what to do with the elephant now that he had got it. 
He called his present an "elephant" on his hands; he could not plow with
him, he could not ride him to meeting, he could not harness him to a
carriage, and in fact he could not do anything with him, the "elephant"
was too large for him to handle.  When this factory at Provo can go into
the hands of men who know what to do with it, it will go; when my factory
in Salt Lake County can go into the hands of men who know what to do with
it, it will go.  There is my beloved brother James W. Cummings, who has
worked my factory ten or twelve years; he counts himself A No. 1 in all
financial business.  I have offered the factory to him and his workmen on
the co-operative system, in the order that we wish to adopt.  I said to
him--"Take it and manage it, you are welcome."  Said he--"If I only had
plenty of money to furnish it I suppose I could do it."  Have not I
furnished it without money?  Yes, I had not the first sixpence to begin
with.  I furnished my factories, and I have built what I have built
without asking how much they cost, or where I was going to get the money
to do it.  When we find somebody that knows what to do with property,
somebody who knows how to handle the "elephant," we will give them charge
of it.  If I had him I would make the "elephant" get down on his knees to
me and keep him there until I allowed him to get up, and then teach him to
get up with his burden on his back, and carry it where I said.  As quick
as we can find men who know what to do with the "elephants" we will put
the "elephants" into their hands; but here, as elsewhere, you will find in
all these business transactions, that the greatest difficulty will be to
find men who know what to do with money or means when they have it.  Can
you understand this?  I want to say to you who have a little money, a farm
or other property, seek first to know where God wants you to put that
property.  That is the word of the Lord to you.  Hearken and hear it, men
and women, seek to know where God wants you to put it, and if it is into a
factory where you will not get a farthing for ten years, put it there, and
in the end the Lord will bring out more means to you than if you let it
out at twenty four per cent.  You will make by it.  "How do you know,
brother Brigham?"  I know my own experience; my character and my life have
shown that from the first time I had fifty cents after I came into the
Church my first desire was to know what to do with it.  In the days of
Joseph where we lived and worked, it was harder then to get fifty cents
than it is for a poor man to get a hundred dollars now, but if Joseph came
along and said--"Brigham, have you got fifty cents?"  "Yes, I have."  "I
want it."  "You can have it always and forever."  If it was a hundred
dollars, or two hundred dollars, he had it, and had it freely, and I never
asked for it again.  And if ever I could work at home and get fifty cents
in money to by a little molasses for my family to sop they johnny cake in,
if Joseph wanted it he always had it, and I got rich by it, and I can say
so of all who take the same course; while the covetous, those who are
striving continually to build themselves up in the things of this life,
will be poor indeed; they will be poor in spirit and poor in heavenly
things.

	You have heard me say, a great many times, that there is not that man
or woman in this Church, and there never was and never will be, who turn
up their noses at the counsel that is given them from the First
Presidency, but who, unless they repent of and refrain from such conduct
will eventually go out of the Church and go to hell, every one of them;
and I expect one thing will be true that Joseph said when living.  A
gentleman came to see him and asked him a great many questions, and among
the rest he said--"I suppose you calculate that you are just right, and
that you "Mormons" are all going to be saved and everybody else will be
damned."  Said Joseph, "Sir, I will tell you this one thing, all the rest
of the world will be damned, and I expect that most of the "Mormons" will
be unless they do better then they have done."  The man did not stop for
an explanation.  What Joseph meant by being damned was that people will go
into tho [sic] spirit world without the Priesthood, and consequently they
are under the power of Satan, and will have to be redeemed, or else they
will be forever under his power.  That is all there is about that.

	Now Latter-day Saints, I want to say this to you, when a man lifts
his heel against the counsel that we give him, I know that man will
apostatize, just as sure as he is a living being, unless he repents and
refrains from such conduct.  Brother George A. Smith has been reading a
little out of the revelation concerning celestial marriage, and I want to
say to my sisters that if you lift you heels against this revelation, and
say that you would obliterate it, and put it out of existence if you had
the power to nullify and destroy it, I say that if you imbibe that spirit
and feeling, you will go to hell, just as sure as you are living women. 
Emma took that revelation, supposing she had all there was; but Joseph had
wisdom enough to take care of it, and he had handed the revelation to
Bishop Whitney, and he wrote it all off.  After Joseph had been to Bishop
Whitney's he went home, and Emma began teasing for the revelation.  Said
she--"Joseph, you promised me that revelation, and if you are a man of
your word you will give it to me."  Joseph took it from his pocket and
said--"Take it."  She went to the fire-place and put it in, and put the
candle under it and burnt it, and she thought that was the end of it, and
she will be damned as sure as she is a living woman.  Joseph used to say
that he would have her hereafter, if he had to go to hell for her, and he
will have to go to hell for her as sure as he ever gets her.

	You sisters may say that plural marriage is very hard for you to
bear.  It is no such thing.  A man or woman who would not spend his or her
life in building up the kingdom of God on the earth, without a companion,
and travel and preach valise in hand, is not worthy of God or his kingdom,
and they never will be crowned, they cannot be crowned; the sacrifice must
be complete.  If it is the duty of a husband to take a wife, take her. 
But it is not the privilege of a woman to dictate the husband, and tell
who or how many he shall take, or what he shall do with them when he gets
them, but it is the duty of the woman to submit cheerfully.  Says
she--"May [sic] husband does not know how to conduct himself, he lacks
wisdom--he does not know how to treat two wives and be just."  That all
may be true, but it is not her prerogative to correct the evil, she must
bear that; and the woman that bears wrong--and any number of them do in
this order--patiently, will be crowned with a man far above her husband;
and the man that is not worthy, and who does not prove himself worthy
before God, his wife or wives will be taken from him and given to another,
so the woman need not worry.  It is the man who has need to worry and
watch himself, and see that he does right.  Where is the man who has
wives, and all of them think he is doing just right to them?  I do not
know such a man; I know it is not your humble servant.  If I would only be
dictated by women I should make a hell of it; but I cannot be, I can humor
them and treat them kindly, but I tell them I shall do just what I know to
be right, and they may help themselves the best they can.  I do not say
that in so many words, but that is what I mean, and I let them act it out.

	It is time to close this meeting.  I say to the brethren and sisters,
peace be with you, and may God bless you.  If you walk humbly before him
so as to enjoy his Spirit, it will lead into all truth.  I have one little
sermon to the Bishops, Bishop Young and all the rest of them, and to the
Elders.  I want to see a pattern set for this holy order, and I give to
each one of them a mission to go and call together five, ten, twenty or
fifty families, and organize a complete organization, and show the rest of
us how to live.

                    REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG
       Delivered at the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Church
       of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the New Tabernacle,
          Salt Lake City, on Wednesday Afternoon, April 7, 1875.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
           TEMPORAL AFFAIRS--CONSISTENCY NECESSARY IN BUSINESS.

	There is a little matter of some importance to lay before the
Conference, concerning those little insects that have done so much injury
to our fruit the last two years.  I mean what are called the codling
moths.  We had better go to work and see whether we can destroy them and
when we have done all we can, perhaps we may have faith that the Lord will
rebuke the devourer.  We wish to recommend the people who have orchards,
in this county and throughout the valleys of the mountains, to meet
together and enter into some arrangements and adopt such measures as will
enable us to destroy these little pests.  I recommend that brother
Woodruff give out an appointment for a meeting of all who are engaged in
raising fruit.  Brother Woodruff is the President of the Deseret
Agricultural and Manufacturing Society, and I should like for him and all
interested in this subject to confer together and adopt such plans as they
may think necessary and best to kill, not only the millers, but the worms
before they become millers.  They put me in mind of what I heard brother
Kimball say, some years ago, at the time the revelation on celestial
marriage was published.  Brother Kimball got to talking upon celestial
marriage, and he made a comparison; said he--"The cat is out of the bag;
and that is not all--this cat is going to have kittens; and that is not
all, those kittens are going to have cats."  Well, these worms make
millers, and the millers make worms, and if we wish to get rid of them we
must go to work and kill both of them off.  I want to have arrangements
made for destroying these insects before Conference adjourns, while the
brethren are assembled here from the various parts of the Territory.

	There is another item I wish to bring before this Conference, and
especially before the brethren and sisters who have stock in Zion's
Co-operative Mercantile Institution.  There was quite a number of them
together on Monday last, and the desire universally expressed on that
occasion was in favor of continuing the business.  If we do, I have some
propositions to make; and, as I suppose there are as many of the
stockholders here this afternoon as were together on Monday, and perhaps a
good many more, I will make them now.  I propose to the brethren and
sisters that we build a house to do our trading in, and that we own it and
pay no rent.  I also propose that we get clerks who will wait upon the
people and do right; and then I propose that we go to that place and do
our trading; and if we want an cent's worth of candy, get it; if we want a
dollar's worth of maple sugar, and they have it, get it; and if we want
five yards of calico, have clerks who will cut it off for the person who
wants it and will pay for it.

	Our brethren who are engaged in the retail trade may say--"You are
going to make a retail store of this."  Yes, for ourselves and for all who
will patronize it.

	My proposition is that we build this store independent of the capital
stock; we have none to much of that, and would rather add to it than not;
and we will get our business settled up just as quickly as possible, and
as fast as possible do our purchasing abroad upon a ready cash principle,
without asking credit.

	I have said, not only to my brethren here, but to our creditors in
the city of New York, "If you have any dubiety or fears with regard to
crediting this Institution, I am very much obliged to you for having them,
and I hope and pray that you will never trust it any more."  I do not wish
to injure the credit of the Institution, but I wish that we could not get
anybody to trust us, but that we would do our trading altogether upon the
ready money principle.  We are perfectly able to do it, and could have
done it from the beginning, if we had taken the course that we should have
taken, and never asked credit, and never traded beyond our means.  It is
within my knowledge and the knowledge of thousands of this people that
this institution has saved our community from one to three millions
annually in prices.  Our merchants have hearts that are too elastic,
entirely to elastic; they are so elastic that they do not ask what they
can afford do sell an article for, but they ask what they can get the
people to pay; and as much as the people will pay, so much will the
merchants take--a hundred, or a thousand per cent., if they can get it,
and then thank God for their success.  They put me in mind of some men I
have seen who, when they had a chance to buy a widow's cow for ten cents
on the dollar of her real value in cash, would make the purchase, and then
thank the Lord that he has so blessed them.  Such men belong to the class
of Christians referred to on one occasion by Charles Gunn; and, if you
will excuse me, I will tell you what he said about them.  He said that
"hell was full of such Christians."

	Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution has saved an immense
amount of means to this community, and we wish to continue the business,
hence I propose that we put up a building, and then, instead of paying
somebody in New York, St. Louis, Sacramento or San Francisco, three, four,
five, six or eight thousand dollars to insure it, that we insure it
ourselves and save that money.  I will tell you why; if another man can
make money by taking my means and insuring my property, I certainly can
save as much as he can make, consequently I keep my money and do not
insure my property.  I have about as many buildings as anyone in this
Territory, and I never yet paid a dollar to insure one of them, or any of
my property, or myself.  My faith is to build a house so that it will not
take fire; but when I ride round here and see stovepipes running through
the roofs of houses and through wooden partitions, as many of them do, I
do not wonder that we want fire companies.  If I had the dictation of the
building of a city there never would be any use for a fire company, and
never any need to have an insurance company, but we need save all this
clerk hire and expense of keeping large offices.  What a saving that would
be to the people!  Build your houses and your cities so that they will not
take fire unless you purposely set them on fire.  When we see an insurance
sign over a door, and then read a list informing us that hundreds or
thousands have insured, say in this city, then we may look for fires. 
Some will get their buildings insured as high as possible, and then they
will accidentally take fire on purpose.  Some of you recollect a
circumstance which transpired here some years ago.  Certain merchants got
broken up with there pockets full of money, and they had a large amount of
pork on hand, but they could not sell it.  Finally they got it insured and
stowed it away in a cellar belonging to brother Branch, who lived near to
the Seventies' Hall.  The pork got on fire in the cellar and was burned
up, and all the insurance in the world could not put out the fire,  But
the house would not burn, and how they could burn the pork without burning
the house, was a mystery to me.  Whether they got the insurance money I do
not know.  These are facts right before us, and ought to teach us a
lesson.

	If we call for the brethren and sisters who hold stock in the
Institution, we shall expect them to meet together and decide with regard
to building a house in which to do our trading.

	I think we had better hold our Conference during the continuance of
this wintry weather, and wait until it moderates before we adjourn to go
home.


                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
     Delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Aug. 31, 1875.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
           PRESENT REVELATION NECESSARY TO LEAD THE CHURCH--THE
         APOSTLESHIP--PRESENT REVELATION NECESSARY FOR ALL--EVILS
        OF WASTE, INTEMPERANCE, AND EXTRAVAGANCE--TRUE REFORMATION
                       IS TO CEASE FROM DOING EVIL.

	Brethren and sisters, we have met here to talk over the principles of
our faith, and if we say that we are going to be Saints, and that we are
going to live our religion, we do not expect to give ourselves the lie, to
eat our own words and to falsify our characters and our testimonies before
God; but we expect to live our religion as well as we know how.  We want
you who wish to be Saints, to know, that we will do everything in our
power to help you to live so, that you will be entitled to, and enjoy, the
revelations of the Lord Jesus; that every man and every woman may know and
understand their duty before God, pertaining to themselves and what is
required of them, just as much as your humble servant who is talking to
you.

	It is a great privilege to know the mind and will of God, and this
privilege we enjoy, and I wish that all good people of every nation, sect
and party would so live that they might understand the will of the Lord
for themselves; but in bestowing this upon us the Lord requires us to live
accordingly, and he has placed us and all people under this obligation.

	It is my duty to know the mind of the Lord concerning myself and also
concerning this people; and I think I know it just as well as I know the
road home.  I do not know the path from that door to my own home any
better than I know how to dictate this people, if they will only hearken
to me.  This is a great blessing and a great privilege and if I were to
reject it and take a course to deprive myself of the spirit of revelation,
according to what the Lord has given to me, and to magnify the Priesthood
that I received through his servant Joseph, I would be taken forthwith
from this world, I would not remain here at all to darken the minds of, or
to lead astray, any of the members of the kingdom of God.  According to
the revelations that I and others have received, through the Prophet
Joseph and others who have lived upon the earth, if I observe my duty, I
shall have the privilege of living and enjoying the society of my brethren
and sisters, and of instructing them; but let me neglect this and I shall
be removed out of my place forthwith.

	Now it is no more my duty to live so as to know the mind and will of
the Lord than it is the duty of my brethren, the rest of the Twelve.  I
say the rest of the Twelve, because I am the President of the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles on the earth, and the only one that the Lord has ever
acknowledged.  It is true that Thomas B. Marsh was once President, but the
Lord never acknowledged any man by revelation as President of that Quorum
but myself.  At the death of Joseph I stepped out from that position in
the advance, according to the organization of the Church, for the sake of
preserving the flock of God, but not according to my wishes, nor the
desire of my heart, but it was my duty.  When I heard of the Prophet's
death I said--"What will become of the people?  What will the Saints do
now that the Prophet has gone?"  It was my whole desire to preserve the
sheep of the flock of God, and it is so to-day.  Brother Kimball also
stepped into the first Presidency, and we called others and ordained them
to take our place for the time being, that the Church might be fully
organized, and we expect to ordain more when we feel like it; but because
a man is ordained an Apostle it does not prove that he belongs to the
Quorum of the Apostles.  I just mention this that you may understand it.

	Now, in regard to the Twelve Apostles, it is their imperative duty to
live so that they will know the mind and will of the Lord concerning them
in the discharge of their duties as a quorum, and also as individuals; and
they are under just the same obligations to live so as to enjoy the spirit
of revelation that I am.  And so it is with the Seventies, the High
Priests, the Elders and the Bishops.  It is the imperative duty of a
Bishop--called to preside over a ward--to live so that he will know the
mind and will of God concerning his ward just as much as I do concerning
this people.  But when Bishops say they are willing to do as brother
Brigham says, and that is the end of their researches to know the mind and
will of the lord, they will always be making mistakes, always doing
something that they will regret; they will neglect their duty here and
there, and when they make a move it will not be right unless brother
Brigham is there to tell them the words they should say and the acts they
should perform; and hence the necessity of them living day by day so that
they will know the mind and will of the Lord for themselves.

	And so you may follow on through every quorum there is in the Church,
not only Seventies, High Priests, Elders and Bishops, but also the
Priests, Teachers and Deacons, who administer to the people in going from
house to house.  It is their duty to live so that they know and understand
the mind and will of the Lord concerning the people to whom they
administer, as much as it is mine to know the mind and will of the Lord
concerning the entire people.  And it is the duty of every father and
mother to live so that they may have the mind and will of the Lord
concerning their duties to their families.  If they are not called to
exercise the priesthood which they hold, more than to administer to their
children, it is their duty to live so as to know how to teach, lead and
advise their children; and if they are disposed they may have the
privilege, for it is God's mind and will that they should know just what
to do for them when they are sick.  Instead of calling for a doctor you
should administer to them by the laying on of hands and anointing with
oil, and give them mild food, and herbs, and medicines that you
understand; and if you want the mind and will of God at such a time, get
it, it is just as much your privilege as of any other member of the Church
and kingdom of God.  It is our privilege and duty to live so that you know
when the word of the Lord is spoken to you and when the mind of the Lord
is revealed to you.  I say it is your duty to live so as to know and
understand all these things.  Suppose I were to teach you a false
doctrine, how are you to know it if you do not possess the Spirit of God? 
As it is written, "The things of God knoweth no man but by the Spirit of
God."

	Now I want to say a few words to the sisters, though I will say that
I do not feel the least like chastising either my brethren or my sisters
this morning.  I feel kind, and I do not want to say words to them and
they would think harsh or unkind.  But I will say, to both brethren and
sisters, that whenever any of us spend means needlessly, say to the amount
of one cent, dime, or dollar, we consume it upon the lusts of our flesh. 
Here is a man, for instance, who has an appetite for tobacco, and, during
a year, he spends ten or twenty dollars in cigars and tobacco, which do
him no good, but injure him; do you think that such a may [sic] will be
brought to an account hereafter for that waste?  Such means does not go to
build temples, or to help to sustain Elders who have gone abroad to
proclaim the gospel; it is not applied to assist in feeding or clothing
their wives or children, to find them a little fuel in the winter, when it
is cold, or to get them a cow, so that they can have milk and a little
butter to make them more comfortable; but it is spent in the purchase of
tobacco and is utterly wasted; and they who get rid of their means so
foolishly will most surely be brought to account therefor.  The same may
be said of the money spent in the purchase of beer.  It is a mild drink,
and is very pleasant and agreeable to a great many; but when a man pays
his fifty cents, his dollar or his ten dollars for beer it goes into the
hands of the grocery keepers and they send it off, and it does no good to
the community.  The beer itself does no good, it injures the system of
those who habitually indulge in the use of it, and, whether they think of
and realize it, or not, they will be brought to account for the means they
have thus wasted.

	Here in the midst of the Latter-day Saints, where we can know and
understand the mind and will of the Lord concerning us, many of us have
not taken the pains to ask what the Lord wants us to do or what not to do;
and if we are extravagant in the use of tea or coffee, which do us no
good, but which injure our systems, we shall certainly be brought to
account for it.  Parties may say--"We did this thoughtlessly and
ignorantly; we did not think there was any harm in drinking tea, coffee,
beer or a little liquor, or in smoking or chewing tobacco; and having
worked for our wages, we considered that we had a right to spend a portion
of them in these luxuries, if we were disposed to do so."  But Justice
will say, "If you had enquired you might have learned that the use of
these things was not only no good to you, but was absolutely injurious,
and that the means used in purchasing them was utterly wasted, and hence
you who have been guilty of this folly must be brought to an account for
it."

	We might follow this subject through all the varied ramifications of
our practice in life, but it is not necessary on this occasion.  Suffice
it to say that we want to understand and do better than we have done, and
to be governed by the dictates of good, solid, sound sense in the use of
the wealth, privileges and talents that are given to us in our present
life.  Let me ask, what is real wealth?  Do you know?  I say that time is
all the wealth we have; and to illustrate, let us suppose that all the
inhabitants of the earth were, to-day, in the same position that our first
parents were in when they were placed in the Garden.  Here is the naked
earth, without any improvements whatever; and the people, being without
experience, have not the ability to raise anything to eat, to build
dwelling to reside in, or to gather up or utilize the stock that is
running at large.  Would a people in that condition have any wealth?  No;
but you put them in possession of ability to work with their hands and to
raise their food and clothing from the earth, also materials to build
their houses, lay out their streets, make their gardens, farms, etc., and
they will soon accumulate by their labor, and hence, you can easily see
that all the wealth there is on the earth consists of the bone, sinew and
time of the people.  That is the capital stock of every individual and of
every nation, and all the capital stock they have.  If they have
money--seeming wealth--it may go from them, they do not know how quickly. 
Cities may burn up; thieves may steal their gold and silver, and their
greenbacks may be burned up with their banks, and then their wealth is
gone, or rather that which is the representative of wealth; but they still
have the ability and the bone and sinew necessary to go to work to rebuild
their cities and to make new farms, to mine out gold and silver from the
mountains to make vessels for convenience, for table use, or for
ornaments--ear rings, nose jewels, bands for their wrists, ankles, etc. 
But it must all be done by labor.

	The enquiry rises--Who gives the ability to labor?  Who gives us the
physical power to cut down trees, to saw them into lumber, and to shape
the lumber for use, so that we can make improvements in building, fencing,
and everything that labor can be used for?  Is this ability our own
individual property, independent of God and very other being?  Not at all,
we are dependent upon him for strength, health, life and every power and
faculty we possess.  Hence we may say that Time is really all the capital
stock that is possessed by any people or nation, by Saint of [sic] sinner,
good or bad.  Time and the ability to labor are the capital stock of the
whole world of mankind, and we are all indebted to God for the ability to
use time to advantage, and he will require of us a strict account of the
disposition we make of this ability and he will not only require an
account of our acts, but our words and thoughts will also be brought into
judgment.

	Now, returning to the subject of wasting means, suppose that in the
providences of God, I have been able to gather means around me, and I
fancy and am able to pay for a breakfast that would cost a hundred
dollars, and I say to my wife--"Prepare me such and such a breakfast," and
I actually eat a breakfast that has cost a hundred dollars, the question
arises--Am I justified, have I to give an account of this?  I am not
justified, and I certainly shall have to give an account.  A fifteen or
twenty cent breakfast would satisfy the demands of my nature, and would be
just as good for my system as the hundred dollar breakfast, so that by
indulging in such a luxury I waste ninety-nine dollars and eighty cents,
it has gone to the winds, gone to the enemy.  Now what is my duty?  I say
that after eating my fifteen or twenty cent breakfast, if I have a hundred
dollars that I can afford to spend therein, my duty is to give the residue
towards sustaining the poor, building Temples, school-houses, sustaining
the teachers, maintaining the orphan child, so that it may have an
education, sending an Elder to preach the Gospel, and sustaining his
family while he is away, or something or other that will advance the
kingdom of God upon the earth.

	Or again, suppose I say to a tailor--"I have some grey cloth, and I
want you to make me a coat just according to my own notions."  "Very well,
what will you have?"  "I want you to make the coat of this grey cloth, and
I want you to take this piece of blue cloth and cut it into narrow strips
about a third of an inch wide, and strip my coat all around, and ring it
around, and put a puff here and another there, and I want you to put
fifteen or twenty dollars worth of work on this coat," most of which,
after all, is of not the least use in the world.  Am I justified in doing
this, and shall I or shall I not, have to give an account of thus spending
my means and using the time of the tailor for naught?  I think I shall,
and I may say, as far as I am concerned, I know I shall have to give an
account.  But the people do not think of this.

	Now, then, leaving the useless things, which the brethren use--tea,
coffee, tobacco, beer, whiskey, etc., I will allude to some that the
sisters use and wear, such as tea, coffee, snuff, tobacco, opium, and then
the ruffles, bows, puffs, trimmings, and this, that, and the other that
they wear on their dresses that are useless.  What shall we do in regard
to these things?  My senses tell me that the children of Zion should
forsake every needless fashion and custom which they now practice.  My
wives dress very plainly, but I sometimes ask them the utility of some of
the stripes and puffs which I see on their dresses.  I remember asking a
lady this question once and enquired if they kept the bed bugs and flies
away.  Well, if they do that they are very useful; but if they do not,
what use are they?  None whatever.  Now, some ladies will buy a cheap
dress, say a cheap calico, and they will spend from five to fifteen
dollars worth of time in making it up, which is wasting so much of the
substance which God has given them on the lust of the eye, and which
should be devoted to a better purpose.  I have had an observation made to
me which I believe I will relate; I never have done it, but I believe I
will now.  It has been said to me--"Yes, brother Brigham, we have seen
ladies go to parties in plain, home-made cloth dresses, but every man was
after the girls who had on a hundred dollars worth of foll-the-roll, and
they would dance with every woman and girl except the one in the plain
dress, and they would let her stay by the wall the whole evening."  It may
be in some cases, but should not be.  It adds no beauty to a lady, in my
opinion, to adorn her with fine feathers.  When I look at a woman, I look
at her face, which is composed of her forehead, cheeks, nose, mouth and
chin, and I like to see it clean, her hair combed neat and nice, and her
eyes bright and sparkling; and if they are so, what do I care what she has
on her head, or how or of what material her dress is made?  Not the least
in the world.  If a woman is clean in person, and has on a nice clean
dress, she looks a great deal better when washing her dishes, making her
butter or cheese, or sweeping her house, than those who, as I told them in
Provo, walked the streets with their spanker jib flying.  It adds no
beauty to a lady or gentleman to have a great many frills on their dresses
or coat; beauty must be sought in the expression of the countenance,
combined with neatness and cleanliness and graceful manners.  All the
beauty which nature bestows is exhibited, let the dress be ever so plain,
if the wearer of it be only neat and comely.  Do not fine feathers look
well?  Yes, they are very pretty, but they look just as well on these
dolls, these fixed up machines which they have in the stores, as anywhere
else; they certainly add nothing to the beauty of a lady or gentleman, so
far as I ever saw.

	Now, then, labor is our capital, and the source and creator of all
the wealth that we possess; and I feel it a duty to say to the sisters as
well as the brethren, that we must stop the course that has been so
generally pursued among the Latter-day Saints, of spending time and means
for nothing.  I will mention one article to illustrate, and that is the
sewing machine.  A sewing machine that costs twenty-two dollars to
manufacture, we pay one hundred and twenty-five dollars for; for one that
coast fourteen dollars to manufacture, we pay eighty-five dollars; and for
one that costs sixteen dollars, we pay one hundred.  And then, when a man
gets his wife a sewing machine she will spend from five to fifteen dollars
worth of time in making a dress.  This is wasting time; and we want the
brethren and sisters to understand that when they waste time, they are
wasting the capital stock which God has given them to improve upon here
upon the earth.  Says one--"I have nothing to do."  You very easily can
have if you wish for it.

	Now for the men.  I have been into houses which have not had the
least convenience for the women, not so much as a bench to set their water
pails on, and they have to set them on the floor, and yet their husbands
will sit there year after year, and never make so much improvement as a
bench to set the pail on.  Yet they have the ability, but they will not
exercise it.  They ought to make every hour of the day useful, and if they
have nothing else to do, they should spend their time in making
improvements in and around their homes.  They might fix the garden fence,
hoe the garden, set out trees and cultivate and attend to them, fix the
yard and make it look neater, fix up the house and make it more convenient
for the wives and children.  A ceratin portion of the time should also be
spent in storing their minds with useful knowledge, reading the Bible,
Book of Mormon, and other Church works and histories, scientific works and
other useful books.  I have seen people live year after year in a log
house, with never so much as a nail to hang a broom on, and the broom is
first in one corner and then in another, on the floor or out of doors. 
Never had a place to put the discloth [sic] in, or to hang it on, and it
would be--Susan, where is the dishcloth?" or--"Sally," or "Peggy, where is
the broom?"  "I don't know, there is no place for the broom;" and a man
living there year after year, who never seemed to wake up the senses in
him enough to drive a peg into the crack of a log to have a place to hang
a broom or a dishcloth on, or to make a bench for a water or a milk pail. 
I have seen such men, year after year, without a chair in their houses;
and if you ask them why they do not go to work and make come chairs they
will say--"We don't know how."  Then why not go to work and learn?  Do as
I did when I went to learn the carpenter and joiners' trade.  The first
job my boss gave me was to make a bedstead out of an old log that had been
on the beach of the Lake for years, water-logged and watersoaked.  Said
he--"There are tools, you cut that log into right lengths for a bedstead. 
Hew out the side rails, the end rails and the posts; get a board for a
head board, and go to work and make a bedstead."  And I went to work and
cut up the log, split it up to the best of my ability and made a bedstead
that, I suppose, they used for many years.  I would got to work and learn
to make a washboard, and make a bench to put the wash tub on, and to make
a chair.  This is spending time usefully; but when we spend our time for
naught we waste that which God has given us as our capital stock with
which to make ourselves useful in life, and to give to our fellow-beings
that which belongs to them.

	Now, we want the sisters, as well as the brethren, to use their
capital stock to the very best advantage.  And we wish them to make their
own fashions in regard to dress; but if they will not do that, then copy
the fashions of Babylon only so far as they are useful; then stop, go no
further, and sustain and uphold trade with the outside world only so far
as it is really necessary.  If the sisters remain with us they will do as
they are told; and if they do this we say--You are at perfect liberty to
go and renew your covenants by baptism; but if you will not live according
to the instructions that are given, we object to you renewing your
covenants; we do not wish you to say one thing and do another.  We shall
require the sisters to take hold and do something for themselves.  Where
does our knitting come from?  Everybody goes to the store to buy knitted
goods; but this is not right, we ought to knit our own stockings.  If the
sisters want some little hoods or jackets for their children they go to
the store for them, they are very cheap there.  Yet we raise the best of
wool here, and we are spinning it just as nice as in any factory in the
world.  We have knitting machines and all the material necessary, and we
have also the ability to knit or weave all the hoods, jackets, drawers,
undershirts, etc., that we need; and if the sisters will do their duty,
they will do their own knitting and prepare this Fall to raise silk
another year.  I have been at thousands of dollars expense in encouraging
the people here to raise silk, but they do not do it, and in this respect,
as in many others, they have neglected their duty, for it is their duty to
take hold of this industry.  The sisters will say to their husbands--"I
want so an so, and I want you to give me the money to buy it."  Instead of
this, I say, let the sisters go to work and raise some silk, and this will
find them and their children profitable employment.  If you have not got
any mulberry trees, plant out some immediately, they are here by the
hundreds and thousands in nurseries, and as soon as possible raise silk,
and that when raised and thoroughly cured, will bring the money.  Then you
can raise the money, without having to call on your husbands.  Now if a
man buys a sewing machine for his wife, she wants a hired girl to run it;
at least, I will say that some women take this course, and they spend
their time uselessly and waste the capital stock which God has given them. 
This is the course that some pursue instead of doing good.  We want a
turning point to arrive for women of this class, and for all to be guided
in their conduct by the dictates of good, sound sense; and as the sisters
like to be noticed by the brethren, I will say that they who keep
themselves neat and clean, and whose countenances are bright and clear,
are the ones that will be noticed by the good.

	Now, sisters if you will consider these things you will readily see
that time is all the capital stock there is on the earth; and you should
consider your time golden, it is actually wealth, and, if properly used,
it brings that which will add to your comfort, convenience, and
satisfaction.  Let us consider this, and no longer sit with hands folded,
wasting time, for it is the duty of every man and of every woman to do all
that is possible to promote the kingdom of God on the earth.

	Without going further into the details regarding the duties of this
people we can say, in a very few words, that our Father in heaven, Jesus,
our elder brother and the Savior of the world, and the whole heavens, are
calling upon this people to prepare to save the nations of the earth, also
the millions who have slept without the Gospel, and here we are neglecting
our duty, wasting our time, running here and there as though there was
nothing to do only to serve ourselves.  We have glory, immortality and
eternal lives to gain, and it is our duty to take a course to gain them,
that we may enter into the highest state of intelligence and enjoy the
society of the pure and those who dwell with God.

	You have now heard some things that we want of the sisters.  I will
now say a word to the brethren.  If any brother is found drinking with the
drunkard we certainly shall look after him; and my counsel and advice are
for every man and every woman to pause well before they go and renew their
covenants, and know whether they are going to be Saints or not.  A person
may say--"If I have strength I am going to be a Saint."  The drunkard may
say--"I mean to reform;" the swearer may say--"I mean to reform;" the liar
says--"I mean to reform;" and the thief may say--"I mean to reform." 
There is no man or woman on the earth in the habit of stealing, but what
can cease the practice right square if they are disposed.  And so with the
liar, he can stop lying, and lie no more, and tell the truth.  It only
wants the will to do it, and that will brought into exercise to enable the
liar to be truthful, the thief to be honest, and the swearer to stop his
evil speaking.  So with the ladies.  If they only have the will, and will
exercise it, they can cease spending their time in useless fashions, and
they can turn their attentions to storing their minds with all useful
knowledge, then adorn themselves with all that is necessary to make
themselves neat, nice, comely and commendable to the eyes of God and
angels, and of the good everywhere.  Then they will be right.  I pray the
Lord to bless you, preserve you and guide your entire lives that we may be
saved in the Kingdom of our God.  Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
         Delivered at Logan, Cache Valley, Sunday, Aug. 15, 1876.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
       VERY FEW WILL INHERIT CELESTIAL GLORY--LUST AFTER THE THINGS
       OF THE WORLD PRODUCES APOSTACY--NO REAL HAPPINESS OUTSIDE OF
     GODLINESS--THE LORD REQUIRES THE HEARTS OF THE CHILDREN OF MEN.

	I think it is pretty well understood, by my brethren and sisters,
that my labors, as a public speaker, are somewhat limited, compared with
what they used to be.

	The first season the Twelve went on a mission as the Twelve Apostles
I became acquainted with the father of brother William Hyde, who has just
addressed you.  Brother Hyde, deceased, was then a boy.  He was with his
father's family gathered with the Saints; he went to Missouri and returned
to Illinois, and got married.  And this afternoon we have heard one of his
sons speak to us.  It is forty years this summer since I first knew the
father of this young man.  For three years previous to this I had been
engaged preaching the Gospel, and the Spirit of God would rest down upon
me to that degree that, if I did not open my mouth to preach to the people
it seemed as though my bones would consume within me, consequently I used
to preach long and loud.

	For forty-three years I have been more or less engaged preaching to
the people.  My talking organs are now pretty much exhausted, but my
general health is good, even better than when I was a young man.  I never
felt better than I do at present.  I have lungs enough to serve me to
preach a hundred years, providing the talking organs of my stomach were
correspondingly good.

	I came here to rest, to get away from much talking.  Since being
here, I have been waited on by the Indians, who are passing through, and I
have had to do a good deal of talking to them, besides having to converse
with the brethren.

	I sometimes feel that I can hardly desist from telling the Latter-day
Saints how they should live, but my talking organs will not permit me to
say as much as I wish to.  The Celestial Kingdom of God is worth seeking
for, and there are times when I see the importance of the people living
their religion that I almost feel to cry aloud and spare not, if I had the
strength to do it.  When I consider the greatness of the kingdom of God,
and the privilege afforded us of becoming heirs to God our Father, and
joint heirs with Jesus Christ our elder brother, and then sense the
condition of the Latter-day Saints, I do not wonder that the question was
asked of the Savior by his disciples:  "Who, then, can be saved?"  There
are very few of the children of Father Adam and Mother Eve, who will be
prepared to go into the Celestial Kingdom.  Those who prepare themselves
here below, through obedience to the Gospel, receiving through their
faithfulness the keys of the Priesthood, and sanctifying themselves
through the truth, they are preparing themselves to become the sons of
God.  If we become the sons of God, we shall be joint heirs with Jesus
Christ to all the inheritances that the Father hath prepared for the
faithful.  But there are few of all the human family that will ever attain
to this highest state of glory.

	We have a work to do just as important in this sphere as the Savior's
work was in its sphere.  Our fathers cannot be made perfect without us; we
cannot be made perfect without them.  They have done their work and now
sleep.  We are now called upon to do ours; which is to be the greatest
work man ever performed on the earth.  Millions of our fellow creatures
who have lived upon the earth and died without a knowledge of the Gospel
must be officiated for in order that they may inherit eternal life (that
is, all that would have received the Gospel).  And we are called upon to
enter into this work.

	The Latter-day Saints who turn their attention to money-making soon
become cold in their feelings toward the ordinances of the house of God,
[sic-punc.]  They neglect their prayers, become unwilling to pay any
donations; the law of Tithing gets too great a task for them; and they
finally forsake the their God, and the providences of heaven seem to be
shut out from them--all in consequence of this lust after the things of
this world, which will certainly perish in handling and in their use they
will fade away and go from us.  We, as well as the whole world of mankind,
know that our time is short, our days but a span.  And yet we lust after
this filthy lucre, the world's wealth.  It matters not how much of this
world's goods a man may possess, his few days soon expire, and he sleeps
with the fathers.  To him his riches are no more; it was only seeming
wealth.  We cannot expect to receive real wealth until we receive the
riches of eternity, which are eternal.  Those riches will not be committed
to us, until we shall have filled our measures here, having done all the
Lord requires of us, towards perfecting ourselves, and assisting him in
the work of the salvation of the human family.  Not until Jesus shall
present all things to the Father, saying, I have completed the work thou
gavest me to do; here are the results of my labors.  Then, and not until
then, can we possess real riches, true riches, eternal riches.

	How vain it is in man to allow himself to think that he can make
himself happy with the pleasures of this world.  There is no lasting
pleasure here, unless it is in God.  When men leave the kingdom of God,
their lives are filled with bitterness, their thoughts are full of
fearfulness, and they are sorrowful, day by day.  They may tell you they
are happy.  But when you probe them, and find out the inmost recesses of
the heart, it is a cup of gall; they are not happy.  They may seek, to the
uttermost parts of the earth for happiness, but they find it not.  Where
is happiness, real happiness?  Nowhere but in God.  By possessing the
spirit of our holy religion, we are happy, in the morning, we are happy at
noon, we are happy in the evening; for the spirit of love and union is
with us, and we rejoice in the spirit because it is of God, and we rejoice
in God, for he is the giver of every good thing.  Each and every
Latter-day Saint, who has experienced the love of God in his heart, after
having received the remission of his sins, through baptism, and the laying
on of hands, realizes that he is filled with joy, and happiness, and
consolation.  He may be in pain, in error, in poverty, or in prison if
necessity demands, still, he is joyful.  This is our experience, and each
and every Latter-day Saint can bear witness to it.

	There has been much said with regard to our becoming a united people,
living together in what is called the United Order.  One man rises up
here, and another there, saying "There Lord does not want my property; it
is brother Brigham, or it is the Bishop," and don't feel disposed to enter
into this organization.  This, I admit, is partly true; the Lord does not
care anything about his property.  Who made the earth, and the riches
thereof?  To whom does the earth belong?  "The earth is the Lord's, and
the fullness thereof."  Do you suppose that the Lord cares anything about
a man's farm?  Nothing at all, for the whole earth is his?  At his command
it is gone, and the man who claimed possession of any part of it, knoweth
not whither it had gone.  But what does the Lord want of his people?  it
is written in this Bible, and is said to be the words of the Lord, "Son,
give me thine heart."  Without it, you are not worth anything; with it, he
has your gold and sliver, you houses and lands, you wives and children,
your all.

	I have taught from the stand in this place, and in other places for
years, the necessity of our becoming one.  I can say to the Latter-day
Saints, you have never heard brother Brigham make a demand for your
property.  All I want is to see this people devote their means and
interests to the building up of the kingdom of God, erecting temples, and
in them officiate for the living and the dead, and be instruments in the
hands of God of bringing up from their graves those who have slept without
having had the privilege of receiving the Gospel, that they may be crowned
sons and daughters of the Almighty.  We do not want your property, we want
you.  When we all become one in faith and in spirit, we shall be one in
our acts, having the kingdom of God at heart.  And the inquiry will be
from the brethren, "What can I do for my fellow-creatures?  Can I be the
means of saving a soul?  Can I do anything for my friends who have slept
without a knowledge of the truth, or can I do anything for those who are
living in foreign lands?  Yes, I can."  These should be the sentiments of
our hearts, and this is required of us.

	Many of us have spent considerable of our time in preaching the
Gospel at home and abroad, and in otherwise assisting to establish the
kingdom of God upon the earth, and we are still engaged in this work.  We
have donated towards the deliverance of the poor from foreign lands,
bringing them here, where they have the privilege of being taught further
in the plan of salvation, and where they can assist more materially in the
establishment of Zion in the earth.

	Many of the poor, after having been brought here, relieved in many
instances, from the depths of poverty, no sooner do they become the
possessors of a little means, than they lift their heels against the
Gospel.  This is painful to the Latter-day Saints, who rendered them
assistance; it is grieving to God who delivered them.  Still, it is our
duty to send the Gospel to all nations and to continue to donate means to
gather out the poor.  The Lord will save a few, all that will accept
salvation according to the design which the Lord has devised.  He has made
the plan, not us.  It is not the conception of man.  It was the Gods who
sat in council together--they planned it and now offer it to us.  Will we
accept of it?

	There are only two churches on the earth--only two parties.  God
leads the one, the devil the other.  As soon as a man hears the Gospel
preached and becomes convinces of this truthfulness, he is tempted of the
devil, who, whenever there is an opportunity, suggests doubt for his
reflection.  If he entertain these doubting influences, it is not long
before what he believed true becomes a matter of conjecture.  Another may
receive the Gospel, travel and preach it faithfully, feeling in his heart
to exclaim, "Glory to God in the highest!" having no other motive than to
do good to his fellow beings.  By and by he perhaps is left to himself; he
now begins to question himself, saying--"I wonder if I really was right?" 
This single doubt is perhaps the beginning of his apostacy from the
Church.  In the days of Joseph, people were inclined to turn away from the
faith and go into apostacy, as much as they do to in proportion to our
numbers, and I have sometimes thought more so.  You allow the devil to
suggest to you that I am not leading you right, and allow that thought to
abide in your hearts, and I will promise you that it will lead you to
apostacy.  You allow yourselves to doubt anything that God has revealed,
and it will not be a great while before you begin to neglect your prayers,
refuse to pay your Tithing, and find fault with the authorities of the
Church.  You will be repeating what apostates all say, "The Tithing is not
used aright," etc.  There is a feeling that sometimes prompts me to ask,
"Did you every pay any Tithing to me that I kept?  If so, let us be
informed about it."  God has so blessed me with regard to things
pertaining to this world, that if it can be shown that I ever received the
benefit of any man's tithing, I am able to restore it a hundred fold. 
This perhaps is a little levity in me, but I indulge in such things
sometimes.

	When brother Joseph was alive, he appointed to me appraise property
in the Nauvoo Temple.  On one occasion, a saddle was brought in; it was
valued at two dollars, and being in need of a saddle I used it.  Brother
Joseph, too, once sent me the half of a pig which weighed ninety-three
pounds.  And while preaching in Boston, I received two and a half dollars
in Tithing, which I also used and reported to brother Joseph.  Otherwise
not a dime of the Tithing did I ever use in the days of Joseph; and since
his day the right to dictate the use of the Tithing belongs to me, and I
have used what I thought was necessary, but I have no knowledge of using
one dollar of Tithing money for my own purposes.  Though after these
statements I will say that I dictate the Tithing very little.  Neither the
Bishops nor my clerks ever ask me anything about it, they do what they
please with it.  I do not care what is done with it, if it be rightfully
and properly used.  They are perfectly welcome to use my Tithing in common
with yours; the Lord will hold them responsible for its use.  If my
brethren [sic] whom I employ to take care of and raise my stock, do as I
wish them to do, they pay my stock Tithing.  No man in this Church pays
his full Tithing.  I do not pay mine, but I pay as much as anybody; and I
never inquire what is done with it.

	When we neglect any one of these duties, the enemy says "I have made
so much ground."  If the devil can induce an Elder to drink a little he is
not satisfied with this triumph, but says to him, "Your wife and children
know it, don't pray to-night."  The Elder says to his family, "I fell
tired to-night, we won't have prayers."  The enemy says, "I have gained
another point."  You indulge still further, and you will find other
excuses.  You head is not right, you heart it not right, you conscience is
not right, and you retire again without praying.  By and by, you begin to
doubt something the Lord has revealed to us, and it is not long before
such a one is led away captive of the devil.

	You Elders of Israel, do you not see the necessity of an advance?  Do
you not see that we have traveled just as far as we can, without adopting
the revelation the Lord gave at Independence, Jackson County, namely, that
"the property of the Saints should be laid at the feet of the Bishops,
etc., and unless this was done a curse would befall them?"  They refused
to do it, and the consequence was, they were driven from their homes. 
Unless we obey these first revelations, the people will decline in their
faith, and they will leave the faith of the holy Gospel.  Do the Elders
sense this?  Yes, a great many of them do--also a great many of the
sisters.  Were it not for the faith and prayers of the faithful ones, this
Church would have been given into the hands of our enemies.  It is the
faith of the Priesthood, who cling to the commandments of the Lord, that
holds the people where they are.  Supposing you were in a state to say, We
will do what is required of us:  It would be enough for me to say, It is
your duty to finish that house (the Tabernacle) without delay, and it
would be done, every man doing his part cheerfully.  But, instead of that
being the case, we might apply to brother John for his team:  says brother
John, "It is very hard of you to ask for my team.  I have only the one
span, and I don't see that I can let you have it."  Bother John keep his
team; but if he could have had faith sufficient to obey the request, the
Lord would have blessed him with two teams.  But because he keeps it, that
is his all, and very probably, will remain his all.  Again, say the
Priesthood, "I want your house."  "Take it."  "Your garden."  "Take it." 
Says one--"Do you feel so, brother Brigham?'  Precisely so, I want to
entertain no other feeling.  I have nothing but what, if the Lord requires
it must go freely.  He can take nothing more than is already his.  I say,
take it, I will trust in him for more.  This is the only safe ground to
walk upon.  It is the only way by which we can secure eternal life.  Jesus
says, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life e
ernal [sic]," but which the New Translation made, that leads to "the
lives," and few there be who find it.  But wide is the gate and broad is
the way that leads to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat.

	The Lord would like to see us take the course that leads unto the
strait gate, that we might be crowned sons and daughters of God, for such
are the only ones in the heavens who multiply and increase, and who frame
and make and redeem worlds.  The rest take an inferior kingdom, where this
privilege is denied them.  This the Lord has made known unto us through
the Prophet Joseph; it is published and so plainly written, that we can
read and understand for ourselves.  it is for us to choose whether we will
be sons and daughters,  joint heirs with Jesus Christ, or whether we
accept an inferior glory; or whether we sin against the Holy Ghost, which
cannot be pardoned or forgiven in this world, nor in the world to come;
the penalty of which is to suffer the second death.  What is that we call
death compared to the agonies of the second death?  If people could see
it, as Joseph and Sidney saw it, the would pray to that the vision be
closed up, for they could not endure the sight.  Neither could they endure
the sight of the Father and the Son in their glory, for it would consume
them.

	The Lord gives us little by little, and is ever willing to give us
more and more, even the fullness, when our hearts are prepared to receive
all the truths of heaven.  This is what the Lord desires, what he would
delight in doing, for his children.

	These are only a few reflections, when we take into consideration our
Christian religion, for it incorporates every act of a person's life.  We
never should presume to do anything unless we can say, "Father, sanction
this, and crown the same with success."  If the Latter-day Saints live so,
the victory is ours.  There are a great many who want to live so, and I
say God bless all such.  Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
                    Sunday Afternoon, Sept. 17, 1876.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
     PERSONAL REVELATION THE BASIS OF PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE--PHILOSOPHIC
      VIEW OF CREATION--APOSTACY INVOLVES DISORGANIZATION AND RETURN
                   TO PRIMITIVE ELEMENT--ONE MAN POWER.

	I am about to do the very thing I did not intend to do this
afternoon, that is, speak to the people.  I have absented myself from your
meetings now for some time, feeling that if I came here my spirit would be
drawn out to such a degree that I would perhaps be under the necessity of
talking to you; I will venture, however, to use my lungs for a few
minutes, and present a few words of counsel to the Latter-day Saints.

	There is a Scripture which reads, "For what man knoweth that things
of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?  Even so the things of
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."  This is as true a saying as
there is in the Bible.  And on one occasion Jesus said, "If any man will
do my will, he shall know of the doetrine [sic], whether it be of God, or
whether I speak of myself."  Brother Geo. Q. Cannon, who has just spoken
has testified to the word.  I have made these quotations to confirm and
strengthen what he has said.  There are people enough here to publish to
the world that there is a man who testifies that he knows that God lives,
who knows that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world.  I also
testify to the truth of these things.  I have proven to my satisfaction,
according to the best knowledge I can gather, that man can be deceived by
the sight of the natural eye, he can be deceived by the hearing of the
ear, and by the touch of the hand; that the can be deceived in all of what
are called the natural senses.  But there is one thing in which he cannot
be deceived.  What is that?  It is the operations of the Holy Ghost, the
Spirit and power of God upon the creature.  It teaches him of heavenly
things; it directs him in the way of life; it affords him the key by which
he can test the devices of man, and which recommends the things of God. 
The sayings which I have quoted I have proved to be true, and I bear
testimony to them.  The Latter-day Saints have done likewise.  Not only
the Saints who are present, and who gathered to Zion, but those of every
nations, continent, or island who live the religion taught by our Savior
and his Apostles, and also by Joseph Smith; they also bear the same
testimony, their eyes have been quickened by the Spirit of God, and they
see alike, their hearts have been quickened, and they feel and understand
alike, and there are no disputations among them with regard to the
doctrines of the Savior.

	Men begin to apostatize by taking to themselves strength, by
hearkening to the whisperings of the enemy who leads them astray little by
little, until they gather to themselves that which they call the wisdom of
man; then they begin to depart from God, and their minds become confused. 
But all who keep the faith are of one heart and one mind, and this
testimony is so confirmed to all that we cannot be mistaken.  If we ask
the Father, in the name of Jesus, for such and such favor, and it be
granted to us, should we not acknowledge God in this?  If we hearken to
the whisperings of the Spirit of God, we shall feel ourselves under
obligation to do so.  In consequence of our obedience to the will of the
Father, we know for ourselves, and our knowledge is confirmed as we
continue to apply the commandments of God in our everyday life.

	Brother Cannon speaks of Christians.  We are Christians professedly,
according to our religion.  People have gathered to themselves certain
ideas, and laid them down as systems, calling them religion, all
professing to believe and obey the Scriptures.  Their religions are
peculiar to themselves--our religion is peculiar to God, to angels, and to
the righteous of time and eternity.  Why are we persecuted because of our
religion?  Why was Joseph Smith persecuted?  Why was he hunted from
neighborhood to neighborhood, from city to city, and from State to State,
and at last suffered death?  Because he received revelations from the
Father, from the Son, and was ministered to by holy angles, and published
to the world the direct will of the Lord concerning his children on the
earth.  Again, why was he persecuted?  Because he revealed to all mankind
a religion so plain and so easily understood, consistent with he Bible,
and so true.  It is now as it was in the days of the Savior; let people
believe and practice these simple, Godlike truths, and it will be as it
was in the old world, they will say, if this man be let alone he will come
and take away our peace and nations.  Why?  Because--"Shall I quote
Scripture?  If I do not, I will make a little."  Because it takes away
their bread an butter, takes away their salaries, they become no longer
able to impose upon the people, and to lead them blindly along, while they
themselves feast and fatten upon the labor of those whose souls they
profess a watchcare over.  They say, "We shall be broken up, we shall have
to raise our own wheat and potatoes, make our own butter and cheese, and
we cannot bear it, and we will not, we'll drive this religion from the
earth."  This is really all the reason there is.  A man rises up and says,
"I understand the philosophy of a good many sciences, and I cannot believe
as you Latter-day Saints do."  All your philosophy, even every iota of it
which is true, belongs to the religion of the Latter-day Saints; and I say
to all such, if you believe the truth, you believe just as the Latter-day
Saints believe.  It is said in this book (the Bible) that God made the
earth in six days.  This is a mere term, but it matters not whether it
took six days, six months, six years, or six thousand years.  The creation
occupied certain periods of time.  We are not authorized to say what the
duration of these days was, whether Moses penned these words as we have
them, or whether the translators of the Bible have given the words their
intended meaning.  However, God created the world.  If I were a sectarian
I would say, according to their philosophy, as I have heard many of them
say hundreds of times, "God created all things out of nothing; in six days
he created the world out of nothing."  You may be assured the Latter-day
Saints do not believe any such thing.  They believe God brought forth
material out of which he formed this little terra firma upon which we
roam.  How long had this material been in existence?  Forever and forever,
in some shape, in some condition.  We need not refer at all to those who
were with God, and who assisted him in this work.  The elements form and
develop, and continue to do so until they mature, and then they commence
to decay and become disorganized.  The mountains around us were formed in
this way.  By and by, when they shall have reached their maturity, the
work of disintegration and decay will commence.  It has been so from all
eternity, and will continue to be so until they are made celestial.

	Some of our scholars who have acquired a little smattering of
knowledge rise up and say, "I am an infidel, I do not believe in God." 
Well, then, as the Psalmist says, "the fool has said in his heart there is
no God."  I make the application of the Psalmist.  You do not know your
right hand from you left.  How do you happen to know that this (the right
hand) is the right hand, and that this (the left) is the left hand? 
Simply because it has been handed down from parent to child until this
day.  Were it otherwise one might say, This (the left hand) is my right
hand, and this (the right) is my left hand.  Where did Professor Morse
obtain his knowledge of electricity and its application over the telegraph
wire?  He got it from the God of Heaven, who is the source of all
intelligence, from him proceeds the knowledge of mechanism and of
philosophy in all its phases.

	What do men and women who turn away from the faith, as they
occasionally do, turn to?  To an empty sound, from a reality to a shadow. 
They reject a knowledge of the eternal principles by which the heavens
are, where, and will be; they turn to the follies and weakness of man and
yield to the influences of the devil, who, with the third part of the
hosts of heaven, rebelled against the Father and was cast out of heaven. 
What is the ultimate result of this downward course which some are
pursuing?  The beautiful organization they now possess, will decrease in
beauty, and continue to decrease until the elements of which it is formed
dissolve and return to their original state, just like the action of these
mountains, which, in their time decay, and return to mother clay.  They
who turn away from the Gospel of the Son of God, which we preach, turn
away from the origin of all truth, from light to darkness, from wisdom to
folly, nntil [sic] they are known no more forever; this is the end of
apostacy.  What has already become of those who, during our short
existence as a Church, have come ont [sic] against us, politically,
judicially, or otherwise, thore [sic] who have raised their puny arms to
destroy the kingdom of God from the earth!  They have become powerless,
like the dew before the rising sun; they have vanished away, their names
are almost forgotten; and if this is not the case with all, it will be. 
For Zion must be establised [sic] on the earth, and God, in his power and
might, will accomplish it, and none can stay his purposes.  He will gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which
are on earth, and we will assist him.

	I testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the
world; I have obeyed his saying, and realized his promise, and the
knowledge I have of him, the wisdom of this world cannot give, neither can
it take away.

	To you, my brethren and sisters, I wish to give a little counsel. 
And, here, let me say, that after I have revealed to you the mind and will
of God concerning you, I am not held responsible for the performance of
your duties.  Cease your folly and wickedness, cease running after
Babylon, an let your young people cease their Sunday and midnight
excursions, and everything that savors of Babylon; for soon she must fall,
she will pass away, the victim of her own wickedness, and it behooves you
to watch and pray, lest peradventure you should be lost with her.  I also
say, Cease speaking evil one of another, and cease being dishonest. 
Masters, deal honestly and justly with those whom you hire, who are called
servants.  Servants, deal honestly and uprightly with those who employ
you, who are called masters, that confidence and the spirit of brotherhood
may be kindled, where now, in too many instances, the desire to take
advantage exists.

	We are making an effort, by way of petitioning the City Council, to
close the drinking saloons that disgrace our city.  How do the people feel
about it?  Are there any Latter-day Saints, who would not lift up both
hands against this evil and say, "God be thanked if we can stop the
drunkenness in our streets?  No, not one.  Are there any, whether "Mormon"
or non-"Mormon," who claim to have the fear of God in their hearts, but
who ought to lend us their full support in suppressing it?  No, not one. 
A gentleman, well known to you, told me that he had occasion to wait fifty
minutes on one of our streets, near a beer saloon, and during that time he
counted six women come out, three or four of them had either children in
arms, or walking by their sides.  What do you think of that, sisters?  It
is a disgrace to the name of lady.  Is it any more a disgrace in woman
than in man?  Yes, because he is by nature coarser and more prone to such
wickedness than she is.  Woman is altogether of a finer nature, and has
stronger moral inclinations; it is not natural for her to indulge in
wickedness that man takes common delight in.  It is a disgrace and a
burning shame in an Elder in Israel to allow himself to become
intoxicated; and further, it is shameful in an Elder to frequent and help
sustains these saloons, these sinkholes of vice.  How would the Savior,
were he to come among us, regard such men who are supposed to be engaged
in the work of building up Zion?  It would be fair to believe that, as he
disposed of the moneychangers who contaminated the Temple, by as he said,
turning it into a den of thieves, so likewise the Elder, who would lend
his influence to turn Zion into a den of drunkards and gamblers, should be
cast out as one unworthy to be engaged in so important a work.  The devil
has sent his emissaries among us, some of whom come in the form of
lawyers, doctors and ministers, and others as saloon keepers and gamblers,
and as "gentlemen" whose politeness and affability are peculiarly
striking.  Their special mission seems to be directed to the young of both
sexes, to decoy and lead them astray.  To the young man they say, "Come,
take a drink;" or, "Don't be so unwise as to allow yourself to be governed
by this one man power; be free and use your liberty, let everybody know
that you are a free man and that you have a mind of your own."  And
turuing [sic] to your girls--"Won't you take a ride, young lady?"  She
thinks him so nice, he lets her drive.  "O, how lovely, this is, don't I
look pretty?"  "Won't you accept an invitation to a dance, to the Lake, or
to the Gardens, etc?"  Such courtesies, when accepted, are the beginning
of sorrow.  There are but two roads, one in the way of life, glory and
excellency, and crowns, and kingdoms, immortality and eternal lives; the
other is drunkenness, debauchery, beautiful manners in the light, but
shameful conduct in the dark.  "O!" say they, "don't you think we are
wise?  Why, we are very wise, we have studied and been to college."  Yes,
I know the extent of your wisdom.  I now, too, the road you are traveling;
it leads down, down, down, until you become as nothing, returning to
native element, and losing your identity,--you are lost forever and
forever.  These are they who have sinned away the day of grace, and denied
the Lord, who bought them.

	As for supporting the one-man power, as the world term it, I can say
that I never asked a man to vote for me, or to use his influence in many
way to further my individual interest.  All I have ever asked of the
Latter-day Saints is, to do the will of our Father in heaven.  And in
this, as in all other things, you have the perfect liberty to do as you
please.  I can say, as was once said from this stand, God and one man are
a great majority; and God and the Latter-day Saints who are valiant for
the truth, and who live according to the revealed will are an overwhelming
majority, and they will live and reign upon this earth when it shall be
redeemed from its fallen condition while their opponents will sink down to
perdition.

	Some of our young men rise up and say, "I don't believe as my father
believes, I can't see it, and I shall do as I please."  This is your
right, to do as you please, your free agency is given to you for that
purpose.  But while you avail yourselves of this liberty, which is so much
abused and misunderstood, be careful that you do not defeat your own
desires, for these words are as true to-day as they were when the Apostle
Paul uttered them:  "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves
servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto
death, or of obedience unto righteousness."

	I believe in the one-man power.  Who is that man.  Our Father in
heaven, God, the eternal Father, who is in all, knows all, and who made
all that is in heaven, and who brought this world and all its living
creatures into existence.  He is the supreme "man" I serve, believe in and
wish to obey in all things.  It is my right and privilege to thus believe,
and all who choose to differ from me have the privilege to do so.  I want
to continue in the course that will secure to me an exalted salvation. 
What, to be near to the Lord?  I do not know, nor do I upon this point
give myself any trouble.  It is pure and righteous principles I seek and
we must associate them with our every-day life until they become part of
the parcel of our existence; for this brings us happiness, no matter where
we are.  It is a pleasure for a person to drink good cold water when
extremely thirsty; but when he has satisfied himself, the extent of his
enjoyment is realized, and so it is with all our natural blessings or
pleasures.  But how different with regard to the principles of eternal
life?  Of them we drink and drink again, and still we thirst for more. 
These are the principles which alone can make us happy,--without them we
are miserable ln [sic] time and will be through all eternity.  God bless
you.  Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
         Delivered at the Semi-Annual Conference, Salt Lake City,
                     Sunday Afternoon, Oct. 8, 1876.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
       PHILOSOPHY OF MAN UPON THE EARTH--THE GREAT AND GRAND SECRET
        OF SALVATION--ARE WE ONE--NATURE OF STEWARDSHIP--INCREASE
                      OF TEMPLES--HEAR YE, MOTHERS.

	I hope to be able to make myself heard by this large congregation. 
This moving of feet, whispering to each other, the crying of children, and
the noise made by those who are walking, are like the murmuring of many
waters.  When there is perfect quietness, I am satisfied that my voice can
be heard all over this house, and no one who is blessed with good ears for
hearing need miss a word.  I should feel more satisfied if I could prevail
on our brethren, when speaking from this stand, to speak directly in
front, so that they could be heard as far as possible.  Many of our
experienced Elders, in their conversation to the people, turn first to the
right and then to the left, and every time they turn either way, a portion
of the congregation is unable to distinctly understand that which is
spoken; whereas, if they were to speak to the front, the voice would
divide and go equally to each part of the house, and all would hear. 
Whether I shall be able to continue my remarks to any length I do not
know; I shall try, however, to use judgment in speaking, so as not to
injure myself.

	I will give a short text, to both Saint and sinner, and I think if we
were to include ourselves among the latter and say we are all sinners, we
would come nearer the fact than to class ourselves among the former,
although we hope to be Saints, are trying to be Saints, and probably a
great many of those who are called Latter-day Saints will yet become
Saints indeed.

	First, the philosophy of man upon this earth.  This cannot be learned
by studying the sciences of mankind, it is only understood by the
revelations of God to ourselves.  I will give you a part of my own visions
upon the matter.  Mankind is composed of two distinct elements; the first
is a spiritual organization in eternity, the second is a natural
organization on this earth, formed out of the material of which this earth
is composed.  Man is first spiritual, then temporal.  As it is written in
the revelations of God to man, all things were first created spiritual,
and secondly temporal. That is, spirits were begotten, born and educated
in the celestial world, and were brought forth by celestial bodies.  By
tracing this subject a little we might understand how this is brought
about.  The spirits before inhabiting bodies are as pure and holy as the
angels or as the gods, they know no evil.  This, their first estate is the
commencement of their experience.

	These spirits I shall leave for the present, and refer to our first
parents, Adam and Eve, who are found in the Garden of Eden, tempted and
overcome by the power of evil, and consequently subject to evil and sin,
which was the penalty of their transgression.  They were now prepared, as
we are, to form bodies or tabernacles for the reception of pure and holy
spirits.  When the body is prepared, at the proper time, the spirit enters
the tabernacle, and all the world of mankind in their reflections and
researches must come to this conclusion, for the fact is they can come to
no other--that when the mother feels life there is an evidence that the
spirit from heaven has entered the tabernacle.  So far, this is the
philosophy of our being.  As has been said, in consequence of sin, the
body is subject to sin, and it requires all the efforts and power that man
can exert in order to resist temptations that this pure and holy spirit
may bring into subjection the body, so that it may be sanctified by the
Gospel or the law of Christ.  The inquiring mind will ask, Why is this so? 
Simply that we may know good from evil; all the facts which you and I
understand are by contrast, and all glory, all enjoymeut [sic], every
happiness and every bliss are known by its opposite.  This is the decree,
that is the way the heavens are, the way they were, and the way they will
continue to be, forever, and forever.  Never was there a time when evil
was not in existence, but the time will come when this evil will pass away
and be no more, so far as this world is concerned, and nothing will be
able to endure only that which is pure and holy, and Christ will destroy
death and him that hath the power of death.  This applies to this earth,
and the ordeals which it passes through with those that are upon it until
the winding-up scene.

	But to return to this organization.  We find a pure spirit inhabiting
the tabernacle of the creature which is always prompting the individual to
good, to virtue, to truth and holiness, all of which emanate from that
source of purity from which this spirit came.  And here the evil that came
through transgression that is in the tabernacle, is warring with this pure
spirit, it seeks to overcome it, and is striving with all its power to
bring this spirit to subjection, into bondage to the law of sin.  This is
the warfare which Paul refers to when speaking of the "thorn in the
flesh," which is not more or less than the spirit contending against the
flesh, and the flesh against the spirit.  This pure spirit will remain in
a condition to receive the operations of the spirit of God, which has gone
forth into the world, and which lightens every man that comes into the
world, regardless of his condition, birth or education; the spirit of
Christ lightens them all, and instructs their pure spirits, which are
organizations in the germ and in their growth, to become independent
beings, even sons and daughters of the Almighty; and it will continue to
thus operate until this body, this sinful tabernacle, has warred against
the spirit and overcome it to such a degree as to entirely subject it to
the man of sin. And when the flesh attains this victory over the spirit,
then is the time spoken of when man has sinned to that degree that, says
the Apostle, "ye shall not pray for them, for they have sinned a sin unto
death."  Then the spirit of the Lord ceases to strive with them, they no
longer receive light, having passed the day of grace.  Until then every
man and every woman is on saving ground, and they can be redeemed from
sin.

	How is it that the Latter-day Saints feel and understand alike, are
of one heart and one mind, no matter where they may be when they receive
the Gospel, whether in the north or the south, the east or the west, even
to the uttermost parts of the earth?  They receive that which was promised
by the Savior when he was about to leave the earth, namely, the Comforter,
that holy unction from on high which recognized one God, one faith and one
baptism, whose mind is the will of God the Father, and in whom there
dwelleth unity of faith and action, and in whom there cannot be division
or confusion; when they received thus further light, it matters not
whether they have seen each other or not, they at once become brothers and
sisters, having been adopted into the family of Christ through the bonds
of the everlasting covenant, and all can then exclaim in the beautiful
language of Ruth, "Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God!" 
And the fact that we receive this Comforter, the Holy Ghost, is proof that
the spirit in warring with the flesh is overcome, and by continuing in
this state of victory over your sinful bodies we become the sons and
daughters of God, Christ having made us free, and whoever the Son makes
free is free indeed.  Having fought the good fight we then shall be
prepared to lay our bodies down to rest to await the morning of the
resurrection when they will come forth and be reunitsd [sic] with the
spirits, and faithful, as it is said, receiving crowns, glory, immortality
and eternal lives, even a fullness with the Father, when Jesus shall
present his work to the Father, saying, "Father, here is the work thou
gavest me to do."  Then will they become gods, even the sons of God; then
will they become eternal fathers, eternal mothers, eternal sons and
eternal daughters; being eternal in their organization, they go from glory
to glory, from power to power; they will never cease to increase and to
multiply world's without end.  When they receive their crowns, their
dominions, they then will be prepared to frame earth's like unto ours and
to people them in the same manner as we have been brought forth by our
parents, by our Father and God.

	I have often remarked that if the Latter-day Saints and all the world
understood the philosophy of their own being, they would bow in humble
reverence to him who is the Author of our being and the author of all
wisdom and all knowledge known among the children of men.  It is very
little comparatively that we do know, and but very little we can really
comprehend.  It is believed that our scientists and philosophers are very
far advanced, and that wonderful progress has been made in the nineteenth
century, but notwithstanding all the knowledge and power of philosophy
which so distinguishes our age, who among our most learned can create as
simple a thing as a spear of grass or the leaf of a tree?  No one; this
can only be done througn [sic] the natural process; no one can organize
the simplest partial of element independent of the laws of nature.  When
the philosopher of the age reaches that perfection that onc [sic] can waft
himself to the moon or to the north star, or to any other of the fixed
planets, and be there in an instant, in the same manner that Jesus did
when he ascended to the Father in heaven and returned to the earth again,
then we may begin to think we know a little.  When we shall possess the
power and knowledge to cause heavenly planets to take their position,
giving them their laws and boundaries which they must obey, and which they
cannot pass, then we may begin to feel that we possess and little wisdom
and power.

	The great and grand secret of salvation, which we should continually
seek to understand through our faithfulness, is the continuation of the
lives.  Those of the Latter-day Saints who will continue to follow after
the revelations and commandments of God to do them, who are found to be
obedient in all things, continually advancing little by little towards
perfection and the knowledge of God they, when they enter the spirit world
and receive their bodies, will be able to advance faster in the things
pertaining to the knowledge of the Gods, and will continue onward and
upward until they become Gods, even the sons of God.  This I say is the
great secret of the hereafter, to continue in the lives forever, and
forever, which is the gratest of all gifts God has ever bestowed upon his
children.  We all have it within our reach, we can all attain to that
perfected and exalted state if we will embrace its principles and practice
them in our every-day life.  How accommodating, how glorious and divine
are the dealings of God with his fallen children!  We have been called
from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the living God.  By
obeying the whispering of this Holy Spirit, which we have received by
virtue of obedience to the Gospel, which prompts us to purge from within
us all sinful desires, we can say we are no more in the world, but we are
in Christ, our living head.  The philosophy of our coming out from the
world is the putting off the old man sin, and the putting on of the new
man Jesus Christ.  How is this to be done?  After we believed the Gospel
we were baptized for the remission of our sins--and by the laying on the
hands we received the Holy Spirit of Promise and felt that "we shall be
one."  I felt that I should no longer have need to keep a day-book and
ledger in which to keep my accounts, for we were about to consolidate and
become one; that every man and every woman would assist by actually
laboring with their hands in planting, building up and beautifying this
earth to make it like the Garden of Eden.  I should therefore have no
farther occasion to keep accounts, I should certainly accumulate and earn
more than I needed, and had not a single doubt but what my wants would be
supplied.  This was my experience, and this is the feeling of every one
who receives the Gospel in an honest heart and contrite spirit.

	But how are we now?  What is our present condition?

	Are we one temporally?  Just about as much as Babylon is.  One says,
"I am for the mine, I am engaged on my farm or my factory, I am so engaged
in my mercantilebusiness that it absorbs all my time, therefore do not
trouble me, do not infringe on me."  And who are they?  Generally they are
men who, like myself, came here not only poor, but in debt.  I was driven
from my homes and possessions, five times stripped of my earthly
possessions.  When we arrived in this valley, we were in a destitute
condition.  Others came here as destitute as we were, but are not
comparatively wealthy--how do they feel?  They wish to do just as they
please.  Ask them if they believe that the law of God requires us to enter
into a general copartnership in all our business relations, living and
working togther [sic] as one family?  They will tell you, "No, I don't
believe any such thing."  Those of this class who are merchants will say,
"I want to get rich, I will buy where I please, and will sell at a hundred
per cent., five hundred per cent., or a thousand per cent., if I can." 
You may do so if you will, but your end will be lamentable.  You count the
men who have broken up their homes and gone in search of gold, and then
count those who have carried out my advice, and you will readily
acknowledge that the latter class is by far the better off, not only
financially, but morally and spiritually.  You, my brethren and sisters,
who were poor when you came here, but who now, through the blessing of
God, ride in your carriages and live in fine houses, enjoying all the
comforts of life, as well as good health, and the society of friends, how
do you feel?  As for myself, I have not the slightest feeling in my heart
that I own a single thing.  What I am in possession of, the Lord has
merely made me a steward over, to see what I will do with it.  Now, my
brethren and sisters, do you feel the same?  If you do you will each
enquire what is my duty?  One duty is to go to work and build this and
other Temples, and the other ones can be built long before we can finish
this one.  Shall we do so?  I say we will.  If we had reached that perfect
state of unity which we should have long before this, and still hope that
we yet shall, do you suppose we would ask a man to pay Tithing on ten
bushels of wheat, or a hundred or a thousand?  No, all that would be
necessaryunder such circumstances would be to say, brother so-and-so, from
you we want so much, and form another so much.  "Yes," they would say,
"Take it.  I have nothing.  It is all the Lord's, let it be used to do him
service in the building up of his kingdom."  "What would you do, brother
Brigham, if you were required to give up all your substance?"  Just what I
have always been willing to do.  I would continue to do my duty and trust
in God for the results; that is what I have done all my life.  This,
doubtless, seems foolishness in the eyes of the world, they cannot
understand it, neither have they any means of understanding it, for "the
things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God."  Before I embraced
this Gospel I had studied the creeds of the Christian world.  When I
inquired of them with regard to heavenly things, why we came here, and the
nature of the relationship we sustained to God and to heavenly beings,
could I get any information?  No, not the least idea.  I once heard one of
the leading Elders in the Episcopal Methodist Church undertake to explain
to his congregation one of the simplest of things, namely, "What is the
soul of man?"  After he had labored for two long hours, having exhausted
his language, for knowledge he had one, he straightened back in the pulpit
and said, "My brethren and sisters, I must come to the conclusion that the
soul of man is an immaterial substance."  What a pretty thing to look at! 
Excuse me.  As far as the spirit and feeling of many of these people are
concerned with regard to morality, and their endeavors to send the Gospel
to the heathen nations, it is excellent.  And there are, doubtless,
millions of just as honest people among the several religious
denominations as are amongst the professedly Latter-day Saints.  But they
have not the Gospel, they are in darkness with regard to the plan of
salvation and their teachers are blind guides, totally unable to give the
people the living word, the way of life.  If they live up to the best
light and knowledge they have and can get, they are safe, and in a saved
condition.  What is the sin of the ministry and people of the present
Christian denominations?  It is that light has come to them and they
reject it.  The condemnation of the Jewish nations was that light had come
into the world, but they chose darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil; so says the Savior.  The same Gospel that Jesus taught to
those who rejected him, is entrusted to us to preach to the whole world
with the same consequences which must reach them at some time, in some
condition.

	We have been hunted and driven from place to place, and the wicked
have sought for our destruction, simply because we offer to them the
light, the truth, the everlasting Gospel.  Although we have been robbed of
our homes and possessions, they have not succeeded in destroying us yet. 
Will they succeed?  I think not.  The Lord has said he would gather his
people for the last time, which he is doing; he will not suffer that they
shall be overcome, and the kingdom wrested from them as heretofore. 
Neither will he be mocked and derided when he comes this time--not because
the wicked would not repeat the same treatment if they were permitted--but
because he will come in judgment, taking vengeance on the wicked and on
the ungodly, and with the besom of destruction the refuge of lies will be
swept from the earth, and few men will be left.  If the Latter-day Saints
do not desist from running after the things of this world, and begin to
reform and do the work the Father has given them to do, they will be found
wanting, and they, too, will be swept away and counted as unprofitable
servants.

	Latter-day Saints, go and take up a labor with yourselves, urge
yourselves to the belief that the Lord is God, that his eyes are upon the
works of his hands, that even the sparrow does not go unfed, nor a hair of
our heads fall to the ground unnoticed.  Labor with yourselves until you
have confidence in God and in his revelations to us; become one in
temporal things as well as spiritual things as fast as you can.  Enter
into the compact, the association we call the United Order, that we may
commence to do the work we have undertaken to do.

	Now, I will make a proposition, and you may have five years to do the
work I am about to assign you.  To the people of the Sevier Valley,
Millard County, Iron County, Piute County, Beaver county, with Juab, Kane,
Washington, and Sanpete Counties, I will say, Go to work and build a
Temple in Sanpete.  As soon as you are ready to commence, I will provide
the plan.  The ground is already selected.  We do not ask whether you are
able to do this; but ask yourselves if you have faith sufficient to do it,
for we know that you are perfectly able to do it if you are willing, and
do do it inside of three years from next April.  Then to the people of Box
Elder County, the Malad Valley, Cache Valley, Soda Springs, and Bear Lake
Valley, Rich County, and the people on Bear River, I say, unite your labor
and commence as soon as you can to build a Temple in Cache Valley.  Again,
to the people of Weber County, Davis County, Morgan and Summit Counties,
Salt Lake County, Tooele and Utah Counties, with the people east and west,
I will say, Go to work and finish the Temple in this city forthwith.  Can
you accomplish the work, you Latter-day Saints of these several counties? 
Yes, that is a question I can answer readily, you are perfectly able to do
it, the question is, Have you the necessary faith?  Have you sufficient of
the Spirit of God in your hearts to enable you to say, Yes, by the help of
God our Father, we will erect these buildings to his name.  There will be
little money comparatively needed, it is nearly all labor, such as you can
perform.  If the people had paid their Tithing, and paid the hands
employed on the Temple in proportion as I have done, tat building would
have been finished before now.  But I am not obliged to build Temples for
the people; this is our common duty, in order that all may have the
privilege to officiate for themselves and their dead.  How long,
Latter-day Saints, before you will believe the Gospel as it is?  The Lord
has declared it to be his will that his people enter into covenant, even
as Enoch and his people did, which of necessity must be before we shall
have the privilege of building the Centre Stake of Zion, for the power and
glory of God will be there, and none but the pure in heart will be able to
live and enjoy it.  Go to now, with your might and with your means, and
finish this Temple.  Why, for what reason?  The reasons are very obvious,
and you understand them.

	A few words to the sisters--you mothers who are trifling with the
ordinances of the house of God and the blessings that are proffered to
you, I will say that the time will come, if you persist in doing so, when
you will mourn, and will be willing to give worlds, if you possessed them,
for the privilege of living your lives over again.  Some of you are
treating with contempt the oracles of the kingdom of God upon the earth,
and in commission of this sin you trifle with your own salvation, as well
as the salvation of your children.  Repent, and turn unto God, and teach
your children the importance of doing the same, and of the sacredness of
the ordinances and the laws of God.  It is the mother's influence that is
most effective in moulding the mind of the child for good or for evil.  If
she treats lightly the things of God; it is more than likely her children
will be inclined to do the same, and the Lord will not hold her guiltless
when he comes to make up his jewels' he will disown all such when he comes
to claim his own, and will say, Go hence, I never knew you.

	The question may be asked, Are you going to discontinue to give
endowments here?  I think it is very probable that you will have to go
where there is a Temple, or go without.  In consequence of our having been
driven from our homes, and because of our destitute circumstances, the
Lord has permitted us to do what we have done, namely, to use this
Endowment House for Temple purposes.  But since, through the mercies and
blessings of God, we are able to build Temples, it is the will and
commandment of God that we do so.

	I thank you for your attention.  We will adjourn this Conference
until the 6th day of April next, to meet at ten o-clock a.m., in the
Temple at St. George.  We intend to dedicate it then.  We shall dedicate
some parts this fall, and commence to work in it.

	I feel to bless the people, and say, May Heaven be kind to you. 
Amen.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
            Delivered at the Temple, St. George, Jan. 1, 1877.
                             (Deseret News.)
      THE GREAT PRIVILEGE OF HAVING A TEMPLE COMPLETED--PAST EFFORTS
      FOR THIS PURPOSE--REMARKS ON CONDUCT--EARTH, HEAVEN AND HELL,
       LOOKING AT THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS--RUNNING AFTER HOLES IN THE
                   GROUND--ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FUTURE.

	"I cannot consent in my feelings to retire from this house without
exercising my strength, the strength of my lungs, stomach and speaking
organs, in speaking to this people.  Perhaps it would not be prudent, but
I will say a few encouraging things to the Latter-day Saints, that is,
they ought to be encouraging.  We that are here are enjoying a privilege
that we have no knowledge of any other people enjoying since the days of
Adam, that is, to have a Temple completed, wherein all the ordinance of
the house of God can be bestowed upon his people.  Brethren and sisters,
do you understand this?  It seems that a great many of the people know
nothing about it.  It is true that Solomon built a Temple for the purpose
of giving endowments, but from what we can learn of the history of that
time they gave very few if any endowments, and one of the high priests was
murdered by wicked and corrupt men, who had already begun to apostatize,
because he would not reveal those things appertaining to the Priesthood
that were forbidden him to reveal until he came to the proper place.  I
will not say but what Enoch had Temples and officiated therein, but we
have no account of it.  We know that he raised up a people so pure and
holy that they were not permitted to remain with the wicked inhabitants of
the earth, but were taken to another place.  We as Latter-day Saints have
been laboring for over forty years, and the revelations given us in the
first were to establish the kingdom by gathering the Saints, building
Temples, and organizing the people as the family of heaven here on the
earth.  We reared up a Temple in Kirtland, but we had no basement in it,
nor a font, nor preparations to give endowments for the living or the
dead.  It was left by the Saints before it was completed, they going to
Missouri.  Joseph located the site for the Temple Block in Jackson County,
Missouri, and pointed out the south-east corner of the Temple in the year
1831,--also laid the corner stone for a Temple in Far West, Caldwell
County, Mo.  These Temples were not built.  We built one in Nauvoo.  I
could pick outseveral before me now that were there when it was built, and
know just how much was finished and what was done.  It is true we left
brethren there with instructions to finish it, and they got it nearly
completed before it was burned, but the Saints did not enjoy it.  Now we
have a Temple which will all be finished in a few days, and of which there
is enough completed to commence work therein which has not been done since
the days of Adam, that we have any knowledge of.  Now those that can see
the spiritual atmosphere can see that many of the Saints are still glued
to this earth and lusting and longing after the things of this world, in
which there is no profit.  It is true, we should look after the things of
the world and devote all to the building up of the kingdom of God. 
According to the present feelings of many of our brethren, they would
arrogate to themselves this world and all that pertains to it, and cease
not day or night to see that it was devoted to the building up of the
kingdom of the devil, and if they had the power they would build a
railroad to carry it to hell and establish themselves there.  Where are
the eyes and the hearts of this people?  Where is their interest for their
own salvation and that of their forefathers?  We enjoy privileges that are
enjoyed by no one else on the face of the earth.  Suppose we are awake to
this thing, namely, the salvation of the human family, this house would be
crowded, as we hope it will be, from Monday morning until Saturday night. 
This house was built here in this place purposely, where it is warm and
pleasant in the winter time, and comfortable to work, also for the
Lamanites, and also those coming from the south, and other places to
receive their endowments, and other blessings.  What do you suppose the
fathers would say it they could speak from the dead?  Would they not say,
'We have lain here thousands of years, here in this prison house, waiting
for this dispensation to come?  Here we are, bound and fettered, in the
association of those who are filthy?"  What would they whisper in our
ears?  Why, if they had the power the very thunders of heaven would be in
our ears, if we could but realize the importance of the work we are
engaged in.  All the angels in heaven after looking at this little handful
of people, and stimulating them to the salvation of the human family.  So
also are the devils in hell looking at this people, too, and trying to
overthrow us, and the people are still shaking hands with the servants of
the devil, instead of sanctifying themselves and calling upon the Lord and
doing the work which he has commanded us and put into our hands to do. 
When I think upon this subject I want the tongues of seven thunders to
wake up the people.  Can the fathers be saved without us?  No, Can we be
saved without them?  No, and if we do not wake up and cease to long after
the things of this earth, we will find that we as individuals will go down
to hell, although the Lord will preserve a people unto himself.  Now we
are ready to give endowments, do you have any feelings for those who have
died without having the Gospel?  The spirit was awakened in the people in
the north when we gave the word that we should do no more work in the
Endowment House--they came to us crying and pleading to be baptized for
their dead.  What else could they do?  They can come here and do the work
for their dead, and put these poor prisoners on the ground where they will
be free.  Do we realize this?  As long as we tarry here, we are subject to
the world.  But now go to, like men and women, and say, we will embrace
the truth and enter into the covenants of God and carry them out.  Then
the bonds are broken, and the hearts of the people are untied in the
Father.  Perhaps, brethren and sisters, you will not get my meaning, but
now go to work and let these holes in the ground alone, and let the
Gentiles alone, who would destroy us if they had the power.  You are
running after them, and some of our brethren are putting their wives and
daughters into their society, and will go to the devil with them too, if
they do not look out.  I would not have a dollar on the earth if I had to
get it there.  It has been the kingdom of God with me.  What I have, I
have got in this kingdom.  Well, now, some of the Elders are running after
these holes in the ground, and I see men before me, in this house that
have no right to be here.  They are as corrupt in their hearts as they can
be, and we take them by the hand and call them brother.  You will go to
hell, lots of you, unless you repent.  You may think this is plain talk,
it is not as plain as you will find by and by.  If you should ever go to
the gates of heaven, Jesus will say he never knew you.  While you have
been saying you prayers and going to you meetings and are as corrupt in
your hearts as men can be.  Yon [sic] had better stop now and repent of
your sins and sin no more, while there is yet time, and before the doors
are closed against you.  I want to wake you up, and if I had the power to
lift the veil from you eyes and let you see things as they are, you would
be astonished.  Not but what there are a great majority of the people as
good as they know how to be.  Now I will say, bless the people, that they
may do better, but show some of the Elders of Israel according to their
present conduct a dollar on one side and eternal life on the other, and I
fear they would choose the dollar.

	"We are now prepared to attend to baptizing and giving endowments,
and shall appoint Tuesdays and Wednesdays for baptisms, and Thursdays and
Fridays for endowments and sealings, as a standing appointment for the
present.

	"Good bless you.  Ameu [sic].

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
       Delivered at the Semi-Annual Conference, held in the Temple,
              at St. George, Friday Morning, April 6, 1877.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
       THE UNITED ORDER--THE DUTY OF THE PRIESTHOOD--THE GOSPEL NOT
       COMMUNISM--TEACHING THE PEOPLE HOW TO LIVE--INDEPENDENCE OF
      BABYLON--THE SAINTS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD--UNITY OF PURPOSE
             AND ACTION, WILL BRING AGAIN ZION--FREE SCHOOLS
             CRITICIZED--EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF OUR CHILDREN.

	I would like to say a great deal during this conference to the
Latter-day Saints, but I shall be able to talk but little, and therefore
when I do speak I wish you to listen, and this I believe all of you will
do.

	I think that, as a people, we are nearer alike in the sentiments and
feelings of our hearts, than in our words.  From the most excellent
discourse which we have heard this morning from brother Cannon, I believe
that the people might gather the idea that we shall be expected to divide
our property equally one with another, and that this will constitute the
United Order.  I will give you my view, in as few words as possible with
regard to this subject, which I will promise you are correct.

 	The Lord wishes and requires us to develop the ability within us, and
to utilize the ability of these men, women and children called the
Latter-day Saints.

	The most of the inhabitants of the earth are incapable of dictating
and devising for themselves.  In many instances there is reason for this,
for they are opposed to that degree that for the lack of opportunity they
are not able to develop the talents and ability that are within them. 
This is the condition of the people of most of the nations of the earth. 
All those who come out from the world, espousing the Gospel of Jesus,
place themselves in a condition to be taught of him, but instead of
teaching them personally, he has raised up his authorized teachers to do
this work, and what does he expect of us to do?  He requires, absolutely
requires, of us to take these people who have named his name through
baptism, and teach them how to live, and how to become healthy, wealthy
and wise.  This is our duty.

	Supposing that the property of the whole community were divided
to-day equally amongst all, what might we expect?  Why a year from to-day
we should need another division, for some would waste and squander it
away, while others would add to their portion.  The skill of building up
and establishing the Zion of our God on the earth is to take the people
and teach them how to take care of themselves and that which the Lord has
entrusted to their care, and to use all that we command to glorify his
holy name.  This is the work of regenerating, of elevating mankind to the
higher plane of the Gospel; in other words of simply teaching them their
duty.

	With regard to our property, as I have told you many times, the
property which we inherit from our Heavenly Father is our time, and the
power to choose in the disposition of the same.  This is the real capital
that is bequeathed unto us by our Heavenly Father; all the rest is what he
may be pleased to add unto us.  To direct, to counsel and to advise in the
disposition of our time, pertains to our calling as God's servants,
according to the wisdom which he has given and will continue to give unto
us as we seek it.

	Now, if we could take this people, in their present condition, and
teach them how to sustain and maintain themselves and a little more, we
would add to that which we already have; but to take what we have and
divide amongst or give to people, without teaching them how to earn and
produce, would be no more nor less than to introduce the means of reducing
them to a state of poverty.

	I do not wish for one moment to recognize the idea that in order to
establish the United Order our property has to be divided equally among
the people, to let them do what they please with it.  But the idea is to
get the people into the same state of unity in all things temporal, that
we find ourselves in with regard to things spiritual.  Then let those who
possess the ability and wisdom direct the labors of those not so endowed,
until they too develop the talents within them and in time acquire the
same degree of ability.

	What do you say to this doctrine?  Is it right or wrong?  [The
congregation answered, "It is right."]

	We want to get at a correct understanding respecting all these
matters which so materially concern us.  What would be the first lesson
necessary to teach the people, were we to commence to direct their labors
to the great end of becoming of one heart and one mind in the Lord, of
establishing Zion and being filled with the power of God?  It would be to
stop expending and lavishing up our dear selves all needless adornments
and to stop purchasing the importations of Babylon.  We can ourselves
produce every thing necessary for our consumption, our wear, our
convenience and comfort, right here at home.  We can produce and
manufacture the material necessary to beautify our lands, gardens and
orchards; to beautify and furnish our houses, and to adorn the beautiful
bodies which we inhabit without sending our means to France, to England
and other countries for things which can a little better be made at home
among ourselves.  The material of which these cushions were made, which
adorn the pulpits, were produced here.  After it was taken from the sheep,
it was manufactured at our Provo factory into the cloth you now see; and
the material of which the silk trimmings were made, was raised, spun, and
made up by some of our sisters in this Territory.  We might exhibit to you
handkerchiefs, dress patterns, and shawls, all of silk, made by our
sisters out of the raw material produced here through the enterprise and
industry of a few.  These are only simple specimens of what can be done. 
Suppose I were to say, "Ladies, how do you like them?"  Do you not think
they would say "Pretty well?"  We can improve on what has been done, and
we want you to do so.  Plant out the mulberry tree, and raise the silk,
and let you dresses, your shawls, your bonnets, and your ribbons, and
everything you use to clothe and adorn you bodies, be the workmanship of
your own hands.  Let the brethren take hold and carry out in every
department the same prnciple [sic] of home manufacture until we shall be
able to produce the materials, and make up every article necessary to
clothe and adorn the body, from the crown of the head to the soles of the
feet.  Then we shall become a self-sustaining and growing people, and we
shall have to do it.  All this is in the elements in which we live, and we
need the skill to utilize the elements to our growth and wealth, and this
is true financiering.

	We can now see the growth of the Latter-day Saints, and it is
marvelous to us to see the multitude of little towns springing up here and
there, and we are under the necessity of saying, Give us more room, for
the older settlements are thickening up, and the people are spreading out
and filling up new valleys continually.  You can see the shoots putting
forth and taking root; still the old stock is good, is alive and rapidly
increasing.

	It has been asked if we intend to settle more valleys.  Why certainly
we expect to fill the next valley and then the next, and the next, and so
on.  It has been the cry of late, through the columns of the newspapers
that the "Mormons" are going into Mexico!  That is quite right, we
calculate to go there.  Are we going back to Jackson County?  Yes.  When? 
As soon as the way opens up.  Are we all going?  O no! of course not.  The
country is not large enough to hold our present numbers.  When we do
return there, will there be any less remaining in these mountains than we
number to-day?  No, there may be a hundred then for every single one that
there is now.  It is folly in men to suppose that we are going to break up
these our hard earned homes to make others in a new country.  We intend to
hold our own here, and also penetrate the north and south, the east and
the west, there to make others and to raise the ensign of truth.  This is
the work of God, that marvelous work and a wonder referred to by ancient
men of God, who saw it in its incipiency, as a stone cut out of the
mountains without hands, but which rolled and gathered strength and
magnitude until it filled the whole earth.  We will continue to grow, to
increase and spread abroad, and the powers of earth and hell combined
cannot hinder it.  All who are found opposing God and his people will be
swept away and their names be forgotten in the earth.  As the Prophets
Joseph and Hyrum were murdered, and as they massacred our brethren and
sisters in Missouri, so they would have served us years and years ago, if
they had had the power to do so.  But the Lord Almighty has said, Thus far
thou shalt go and no farther, and hence we are spared to carry on his
work.  We are in his hands, the nations of the earth are in his hands; he
rules in the midst of the armies of heaven and executes his pleasure on
the earth.  The hearts of all living are in his hands and he turns them as
the rivers of water are turned.

	We have no business here other than to build up and establish the
Zion of God.  It must be done according to the will and law of God, after
that pattern and order by which Enoch built up and perfected the
former-day Zion, which was taken away to heaven, hence the saying went
abroad that Zion had fled.  By and by it will come back again, and as
Enoch prepared his people to be worthy of translation, so we through our
faithfulness must prepare ourselves to meet Zion from above when it shall
return to earth, and to abide the brightness and glory of its coming.

	My brethren and sisters, I do really delight in hearing our brethren
speak on this holy order of heaven.  Unity of purpose and action, in
carrying out the will of our Father, has been my theme all the day long;
but I have continually plead with the Saints not to waste their substance
upon the lust of the eye and the flesh, for that is contrary to the will
and commandments of God.  I wish to say that whoever have faith enough to
inherit the celestial kingdom will find that their inheritances will be
upon this earth.  This earth is our home; by and by it will be sanctified
and glorified, and become a fit dwelling place for the sanctified, and
they will dwell upon it for ever and ever.  I will further say I labor for
the earth, I never mean to be satisfied until the whole earth is yielded
to Christ and his people.  When brother George. Q. tells us we should not
labor for the earth and the things of this world, he means we should not
labor with sinful motives, and to gratify the lusts of the flesh.  But if
we possessed the treasure of the Gentile world, could we not send our
Elders to the ends of the earth, bearing the precious Gospel to all
living?  Could we not sustain their families during their absence?  Ceuld
[sic] we not build Temple after Temple and otherwise hasten on the work of
redemption?  Yes.  But keep the people in poverty and how are we to
accomplish this great work?  I say, let us gather and accumulate the
things of the earth in the manner indicated by the Lord, and then devote
it to God and the building up of his kingdom.  What do you say to this
doctrine, is it right or wrong?  [The congregation said, "It is right."] 
What little property I have I wish it to be devoted to the building up of
Zion and I suppose I have as much as any other man in the Church.  I am
always ready to receive and take care of the blessings that God showers
upon me, and am always ready and willing to devote the same to the
building up of the kingdom.
	Many of you may have heard what certain journalists have had to say
about Brigham Young being opposed to free schools.  I am opposed to free
education as much as I am apposed to taking away property from one man and
giving it to another who knows not how to take care of it.  But when you
come to the fact, I will venture to say that I school ten children to
every one that those do who complain so much of me.  I now pay the school
fees of a number of children who are either orphans or sons and daughters
of poor people.  But in aiding and blessing the poor I do not believe in
allowing my charities to go through the hands of a set of robbers who
pocket nine-tenths themselves, and give one-tenth to the poor.  Therein is
the difference between us; I am for the real act of doing and not saying. 
Would I encourage free schools by taxation?  No!  That is not in keeping
with the nature of our work; we should be as one family, our hearts and
hands united in the bonds of everlasting covenant; our interests alike,
our children receiving equal opportunities in the school-room and the
college.

	We have to-day, more children between the ages of 5 and 20 years, who
can read and write, then any State or Territory of the Union of a
corresponding number of inhabitants.  This is not exactly sustained by the
statistics published of a few of the States, but from what we know of them
we believe it to be the fact.

	On the whole we have as good school-houses as can be found, and it is
our right to have better ones, and to excel in everything that is good.

	As to my health I feel many times that I could not live an hour
longer, but I mean to live just as long as I can.  I know not how soon the
messenger will call for me, but I calculate to die in the harness.  Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
               Delivered at Richfield, Sevier County, Utah,
                   on Sunday Afternoon, April 22, 1877.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
      LIVING ACCORDING TO THE LIGHT--TEMPLE WORK--GOOD COUNSEL--WHAT
                   SAY THE HIGH PRIESTS AND SEVENTIES.

	I am very much gratified in the opportunity of appearing in this
house again.  I am disposed to say a few words to you.  I have not time to
instruct you in all things, nor to say all I wish to say.  Do just as well
as you know how in all things, never permitting yourself to commit an act
unless the Spirit of God within you justfies [sic] you in doing it.  And
if you live every day of your lives according to the best light and
understanding you possess, glorifying God, our Heavenly Father, just as
far as your knowledge extends, I will promise you eternal life in the
kingdom of God.  This is saying a great deal, it is a very important
discourse embodied in a few words.  The grand difficulty with the people
is they do not do quite as well as they know how; it is that which hinders
us from accomplishing the work given us to do.

	Now let me say to you, my brethren and sisters, if you live according
to the light within you, you will be of one heart and one mind; your
interests and labors will be one, and you will take hold with all the
power God has given you to consummate this great and glorious work
committed to our charge.  When we become one we shall have a heaven here
upon the earth.  Do you think that in the family of heaven dwelling in the
presence of God there is any jarring, bickerings, contentions,
fault-finding, or distrust in the Priesthood?  No.  It is true we are in a
world of darkness, and we have a great many weaknesses, temptations and
annoyances all tending to lead us astray.  But if we do as well as we know
how, we shall accomplish the work.

	I have been spending the winter in St. George.  Our Temple there is
finished, which is the first completed Temple built to the name of the
Most High, in which the ordinances for the living and the dead can be
performed, since the one built by Solomon in the land of Jerusalem, that
we have any knowledge of.  The Nephites may have built Temples, and in all
probability they did, but we have no account of them.  We enjoy privileges
that no other people enjoy, or have enjoyed.  In the days of Solomon, in
the Temple that he built in the land of Jerusalem, there was confusion and
bickering and strife, even to murder, and the very man that they looked to
to give them the keys of life and salvation, they killed because he
refused to administer the ordinances to them when they requested it; and
whether they got any of them or not, this history does not say anything
about.

	We enjoy the privilege of entering into a Temple, built to the name
of God, and receiving the ordinances of his House, with all the keys and
blessings preparatory of entering into the "lives;" we also enjoy the
privilege of administering for our fathers and mothers, our grandfathers
and grandmothers, for those who have slept without the Gospel.

	You can understand why it is that the press of our nation is so ready
to cry out against the "Mormons;" why it is that these poor Latter-day
Saints are not considered fit to live, why they ought not to enjoy the
common blessings of citizenship, and why the wicked would, if they could,
deprive this whole people of their rights and privileges, and destroy
their leaders from off the earth?  It is evidence to all Latter-day
Saints, if they have hearts to understand, that God is with this people,
and that the Evil One is using the same means now, as he always has done,
to oppose Him.  We ought to be thankful that we are worthy to receive
these persecutions.  And I can promise you, that if we exercise patience
and faith, and attend faithfully and diligently to the work given us to do
of the Father, that they will work out for us as more excellent degree of
glory and exaltation.  Consequently it becomes us to be patient, trusting
in God and the promises he has made unto us.

	I was about to say to you, that our labors during the time I have
spent in St. George, are perfectly satisfactory to me; and I believe we
have all the evidence we can ask for, that the Lord is satisfied.  And now
that we have succeeded so well in building one Temple, we feel encouraged
to continue our labors in the same direction until we shall have built and
finished others.  We want to commence another one in your region of
country, at Manti; and we intend to layout the ground when we reach there
on our way to the city.  We have, traveling with us, in our company, Elder
Parry, the man who had charge of the rock-work of the St. George Temple;
he is on his way to Manti, to work on the Temple to be built at that
place.  We expect to say to the Latter-day Sainte [sic], Rear these walls
forthwith, and complete this building, that you may enjoy the blessings
therein promised.

	Brethren and sisters, live your holy religion that the spirit of
truth, of virtue and of holiness may burn within you, that your only
desire may be to do the will of the Father in the literal building up of
this his kingdom on the earth.  Say your prayers, and increase your faith
in the Lord and in his promises made to the faithful.  Bring up your
children in the love and fear of the Lord; study their dispositions and
their temperaments, and deal with them accordingly, never allowing
yourself to correct them in the heat of passion; teach them to love you
rather than to fear you, and let it be your constant care that the
children that God has so kindly given you are taught in their early youth
the importance of the oracles of God, and the beauty of the principles of
our holy religion, that when they grow to the years of man and womanhood
they may always cherish a tender regard for them and never forsake the
truth.  I do not wish you to lay the stress and importance upon outward
ceremonies that many do.  There are those belonging to what is called the
Mother Church who say give them the care and training of children at from
three to seven years old, and they could so ground them in their faith,
that they for ever afterwards, weuld [sic] remain good Catholics.  The
secret of their great success is no doubt in their strict observance of
outward ordinances and ceremonies.  But while they go to one extreme in
the observance of ceremony, making bigots of their children, (for one of
the earliest recollections of the child, who is reared in Catholicism, is
the use of the sign of the cross) many of the Latter-day Saints go to the
other, failing entirely to impress the minds of their children with that
degree of reverence and sacredness that belongs to the ordinances of our
Church.  Parents, teach your children hy [sic] precept and example, the
importance of addressing the throne of grace; teach them how to live, how
to draw from the elements the necessaries of life, and teach them the laws
of life that they may know how to preserve themselves in health and be
able to minister to others.  And when instructing them in the principles
of the Gospel, teach them that they are true, truth sent down from heaven
for our salvation, and that the Gospel incorporates every truth whether in
heaven, in earth, or in hell; and teach them too that we hold the keys of
eternal life, and that they must obey and observe the ordinances and laws
pertaining to this holy Priesthood, which God has revealed and restored
for the exaltation of the children of men.

	If I were to ask the High Priests of this district, Do you pray in
your families before going to work, or before sit around the breakfast
table?  Do you keel down in humility and meekness, with the faith that the
Father requires at your hands to ask him in the name of Jesus, to bless
and preserve and give you grace according to your day; and do you do this
before retiring to bed?  Seventies, do you call upon the Lord morning and
evening?  The Lord says, I will be sought unto by my people for the
blessings that they need.  And instead of our classing prayer among the
duties devolving upon us as Latter-day Saints, we should live so as to
deem it one of the greatest privileges accorded to us; for were it not for
the efficacy of prayer what would have become of us both as a people and
as individuals?

	I do not feel disposed to preach a lengthy sermon to you, but we feel
in our hearts to say, God bless yon [sic], peace be to you.  I do not
expect to come to see you as often as I have done, my health will not
permit of it.  My voice is good, I feel as though I could make myself
heard a mile off, but my system is almost worn out; yet I expect to work
right in the harness until I am called for to go hence.  I am so thankful
we have completed our Temple, it is the greatest blessing that could be
bestowed upon us, I know of nothing that could equal it.  But we are not
satisfied with this one, we must hurry the buildings of another one, and
thus another one and so on, and perform the great work therein that is
required at our hands.  Let us live so that we may be worthy to be owned
of the Lord, and to be received into the fulness with him.  Amen.



                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
                    Sunday Afternoon, April 29, 1877.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
        ENJOYMENT IN THE SOUTH--THE BLESSINGS OF A TEMPLE--NEED OF
      CHASTISEMENT--THE REDEMPTION OF THE EARTH--THE CHRISTIAN WORLD
     CONCERNED IN REGARD TO THE PRIESTHOOD--THOSE WHO PERSECUTE WILL
          BE VISITED--THE TEN VIRGINS--THE WISE WILL UNDERSTAND.

	I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for the privilege of meeting with
you again and am happy to say that I am as well satisfied with my labors
during the last six months as any of the labors of my life.  Here let me
ask, are you, my brethren and sisters, satisfied with the labors you have
performed during the same length of time?  This is a question you will
have to answer for yourselves to your own consciences.  If you have done
well you will be blessed, and you will feel satisfied; if you have
suffered yourselves to do that which is wrong towards yourselves or
towards any other person on the earth, or to the providences of God, or to
our Heavenly Father, your consciences will judge you

	I am aware that you wish to hear something of our labors in the
South.  I will say that we have had a blessed time, such a time as no
other people on the earth have enjoyed for many centuries, that we have
any knowledge of.  We have been permitted to enjoy privileges for the
possession of which we have been striving and laboring for many years. 
For almost half a century we have been exerting ourselves that we might
have the privilege of entering into a Temple of God, there to officiate
and receive the ordinances of his holy house, both for ourselves and for
our friends that have slept without the Gospel.  This privilege and
blessing we have not enjoyed until within a very few months past.  The
feeling experienced by those who have participated in the blessings
administered in the Temple is something which cannot be described to your
understanding.  Those only who have shared with us in the Temple
ordinances know for themselves the satisfaction there is in realizing that
we are indeed co-workers with our Lord and Savior; that we bear a humble
part in the great work of salvation; that we have the privilege of
receiving and obeying the truth, and of securing to ourselves that
happiness which the Gospel alone affords; and not only of performing these
ordinances for ourselves, but of doing the necessary work for our parents
and forefathers who have slept without the Gospel, that they may partake
also of the waters of life, and be judged according to men in the flesh. 
This is a privilege, a blessing, which no one can sense unless he is in
possession of it.  We are happy to know by our faith and feelings through
the spirit of revelation within us that our labors have been accepted of
the Lord.  We have enjoyed ourselves exceedingly in the society of each
other; the aged, the middle-aged and the youth have rejoiced and been made
glad in this glorious work.

	When I look upon the youth, our young brethren and sisters, who are
more or less unacquainted with the great principles of life and salvation,
I wish that they could enjoy what a few of our young people did this past
winter, their minds would be detached from the trifles and follies of this
weak world, and they would be placed upon more sacred things, upon the
principles that are calculated to exalt them and ennoble every feeling and
desire of the heart.

	The Latter-day Saints present a strange spectacle to those that enjoy
the spirit of revelation.  To see them following after the spirit of this
world and gratifying the lust of the eye and of the mind, like the rest of
mankind who have never enjoyed the spirit of the Gospel of life and
salvation; and yet not so very strange when we realize the power of the
enemy and the thousands of snares which he lays for the feet of the unwary
to draw the people astray from the things of God.  Still, when we view the
great object of our life, our being here upon the earth, being brought
here expressly to receive that experience by which we can discover between
right and wrong, between good and evil, between light and darkness, and
obtain that experience that angels have, that the gods have, and that all
exalted beings have, and remember that we are put in possession of those
principles that make us wise unto salvation, that we should stoop to the
sinful deeds and sinful reflections that many do, is marvelous and
strange.  When I think of these things I am impressed with the great
importance of this life and of exercising ourselves in the privileges that
God has granted to us to prepare our hearts through obedience to the
Gospel of the Son of God, for a high station, for a high exaltation in
worlds to come, such as we cannot receive whilst clothed in this mortal
tabernacle.  But still, in this life we can receive little by little, and
more and more, growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, until
our minds are able to comprehend many of the great things of eternity; and
thus prepare our hearts, by overcoming sin and the weaknesses of humanity,
for that exaltation already awaiting the righteous.

	Sometimes I am so exercised that I chastise the people very severely;
but I will say to the Latter-day Saints that I have no chastisement for
any unless they deserve it, and if I myself am found guilty of the same
wrongs, I receive to myself a portion of the rebuke which I give to
others.  But my feelings are very acute; what I see and hear ofttimes
causes me sorrow and wonder, and I feel to exclaim, "O Lord, have mercy
upon us, thy people!"  How easy it is for us to forget the Lord who atoned
for us, and to depart from his ways, giving way to the false influences
that are continually prompting our minds to lust after the things of this
world in their corrupt condition.  All this is strange to the mind opened
to see and understand the things of God and the things of eternity as they
are.  If we possessed that power, that influence over ourselves, a proper
portion of that stability that belongs to the heavens, when we once
embraced the truth there would be no necessity for our being chastened, no
necessity for our being called upon to refrain from this or that wrong;
but the weakness of the flesh is so great that we need continually the
influence of our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to hold
us to the truth, in order that we may not fall away therefrom and finally
wander into the darkness of the world, forsaking God and the faith we have
embraced.

	It is astonishing that men should do so when we consider things as
they are, and  witness the continued love and kindness of our Heavenly
Father, in again speaking from the heavens, revealing himself and his
everlasting Gospel to the children of men, as well as the ordinances,
laws, rules and regulations of his House which effect the salvation of
both the living and the dead.

	How is it with my brethren and sisters here?  Are they awake to the
things of God?  If they are we shall have no need of calling upon them
from day to day, from week to week.  Brethren, will you put forth your
hands and rear these Temples, these buildings wherein we can enter and
officiate for ourselves and our progenitors, preparatory to the coming of
the Son of Man, which coming draws near?  Will be build up the Zion of God
before entering into the millennium of rest, when wickedness will be taken
away from the earth?  Then the Latter-day Saints will be able to go forth
without being persecuted by their enemies, and opposed on every hand by
the alluring spirits that are constantly tempting them away from the
things of God to follow after the things of a fallen world.  Then the
Saints will enjoy the privilege of building their Temples unmolested,
redeem their friends, and make ready for the time when the nations shall
come up to the presence of God the Father, to be judged according to the
deeds done in the flesh.  There are a few of the brethren and sisters who
understand things as they are, and who are ready and willing to devote
their time and their means for the salvation of the human family.  If
there are any hearts or spirits in this city, or elsewhere, that are
fearfully wondering whether or not we are going to be destroyed, or
whether this Church will endure and become the mighty power in the earth,
according to the predictions of the servants of God, I will say to all
such trembling souls, You need entertain no such fears.  You need have
only one fear, and that is with regard to yourselves, lest you should
leave the light that the Lord has imparted to you and wander into
darkness, returning to the beggarly elements of the world, lusting again
after the things of the world in their sinful state.  The earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof; even the very things which we are so
tempted to covet, through lustful desires, in and of themselves are pure
and holy, for they are the Lord's; but we wish to possess them
unrighteously and not according to the will of God.  This is the sin which
is upon man.  Everything which we see and which pertains to this little
earth, belongs to the Lord, and the whole of it will be given to his
Saints and they will enjoy it forever and ever.  But at present the earth
is groaning under sin in consequence of the wickedness of the children of
men, and it is longing to be delivered, as are the Saints that have slept,
whom the Apostle John saw and heard, when he was an exile on the Isle of
Patmos.  When will the earth be redeemed, when will Jesus come to receive
the Church as a bride, when will he come to reign King of nations as he
now reigns King of Saints, when will he banish wickedness from the earth,
and when will the Saints have power to overcome sin?  When we learn to
sanctify the Lord God in our hearts.  As fast as we learn to conform our
individual wills to his will, overcoming sin within ourselves, will we
have power to subdue sin in those that surround us, and in this way the
whole earth will be redeemed from wickedness.  The curse which has been
brought upon the earth through the Fall will be removed through the faith
and virtues of the Saints.  When we become sanctified in the truth, and
our faith, through the Gospel of the Son of God, becomes sufficiently
powerful we will be able to remove the thorns and thistles and obnoxious
weeds that grow immediately around us, and to bless and sanctify our
gardens and farms, so that they will bring forth spontaneously the fruits
and flowers, the cereals and vegetables that sustain life; and upon this
principle as righteousness extends will the whole earth eventually be
redeemed and sanctified, when all things will be as they were in the
beginning, when the Lord finished the earth and pronounced everything to
be "very good."  This is the nature of the great latter-day work in which
we are engaged, and were it not for the confident assurance that we have
of successfully accomplishing it, I would tremble, and fear might enter my
heart.

	Why is the whole Christian world concerned about your humble servant? 
They say Brigham Young is not fit to live, that he ought not to be allowed
to remain upon the earth.  Would they remove him if they had the power to? 
Yes, many who call themselves Christians would join in the act, and many
others would consent to his death!  Not the highminded and honorable of
the earth, and those who serve God and his Christ; but the bigot, the
hypocrite, the wicked and the ungodly would.  Why?  Simply because they
represent their master, the devil, who is carrying on a warfare with the
heavens, and their hearts are opposed to God and to all that represent
him.  This conflict always has been, and will be until the winding up
scene.  If I had to depend upon my own wisdom and power, in connection
with that of my fellow-laborers, I might well tremble and fear.  But I
depend not upon human wisdom or human power.  I occupy the position that
God our Heavenly Father has placed me in, and while I exercise myself in
the duties that he has committed to me, seeking to build up his kingdom
and establish righteousness upon the earth, holding the dominion for him
and for the family of Christ, I tremble not, I fear not, neither do I care
for the insults of the world, for the Lord is my bulwark, my shield and my
deliverer.  But have not some of the wicked succeeded in removing others
from the earth?  Yes, they killed Joseph and Hyrum Smith, while under the
pledged faith of the State of Illinois; and at Haun's Mill, Missouri, they
massacred about eighteen of ourbrethren and sisters, innocent men, women
and children, without the first cause or provocation; and furthermore, the
perpetrators of these and other murders were never brought to justice; in
fact, the press of the nation advocated the destruction of "Mormonism,"
and on the death of the leaders of our Church, all the consolation that
public opinion afforded their bereaved families, as well as the members of
the Church, over which they presided, was that that would put an end to
"Mormonism."  But will the Lord overlook and forget such crimes?  No, for
the blood of the innocent is continually crying unto him for vengeance,
which he will administer in his own due time.  He has already vexed this
nation and given the people time to pause and consider their conduct; and
if they repent not by turning from their corruptions and wickedness, he
has only to say to the innocent, and to the Latter-day Saints, "Wait a
little, wait a little, and their cup will be full to overflowing."  I have
said to my brethren and sisters, and I say it now, Go to Jackson County,
and to Caldwell County, where the lives of Latter-day Saints have been
taken and from where they have been driven; go to the region of Haun's
Mill, where so many were massacred because they had come up to the western
part of Missouri, and it was said they were "Mormons," and you will find
that we, in all our persecutions, have not suffered so much as the
characters who executed judgment upon the innocent.  If I were asked
to-day if we as a people had suffered persecution, I would say, "No,
nothing worthy mentioning."  This has ever been the case with the
righteous, and it ever will be.  For when their lives are taken for the
Gospel's sake, they go to the Father, to the paradise of rest, where they
are free from the influence and power of sinful and wicked men.  But how
different with the wicked and ungodly!  When they die their suffering
which cannot be described, only commence.  But we have received enough to
understand that the wicked are a rod in the hands of God to chasten his
children?  If you do not, it is time that you had learned it, for it is
even so; and if we are chastened, it is for a purpose, probably to bring
us to a sense of our duty that we may know the hand-dealing of the Lord
towards us.  But were we ever destroyed?  No, neither will God permit us
to be, so long as we are desirous of being his servants, and of doing the
work given us to do.  Although it was necessary that Jesus should suffer
on the cross for the sins of the world, still it might be said of those
who took an active part in the deed, as well as those who consented to it
in their hearts, "Woe unto them by whom this offence came."  Many of the
Prophets have sealed their testimony with their blood, that their
testament might go forth with force and to return void.  As in ancient
days, so in modern days.  When Joseph Smith sealed his testimony whit his
blood, his testament from that moment was in force to all the world; and
woe to those who fight against it.  What will we do to them?  Nothing at
all, but preach the Gospel.  They may lie about us as they please.  If we
will faithfully mind our own concerns, live our religion, go good to all
men, preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth, gather up the honest
in heart, build up and establish Zion in the earth, send the Gospel to the
House of Israel, and live and serve God in all things, all will be well
with us, we have no cause for fear in the least.  When the Lord deems it
necessary that his servants should seal their testimony with their
blood,in order that his word may be strengthened and of greater force in
the earth, so let it be; they are received into the arms of Jehovah, they
rejoice in the society of those who are waiting patiently until the trump
shall sound, when the sleeping nations shall awake and their bodies come
forth to be reunited with their spirits, and the faithful enter into a
fullness of his glory.  With them all his [sic] well, all is right.

	But do we live our religion?  The only fear I have is that we are not
as faithful as we should be.  We give way to passion, we yield to
temptation; whereas, we ought to live so that the Lord can strengthen the
position of his people and multiply the righteous, how fast and to what
degree is not for me to say.  But if the Latter-day Saints were as
righteous and as holy as we are capable of being by reducing to practice
the doctrine we have received, I am sure that the Lord could hasten his
work, and he would cut it short in righteousness, it would be consummated
much quicker than he can in our present condition.  The acts and condition
of the people here on the earth must be considered, the same is held in
remembrance before the throne of God, for he requires of his people to act
with him in all things pertaining to the building up of his kingdom upon
the earth.  But his grace is always ready, his Spirit is always waiting,
and the light that Jesus brought into the world is always with the people,
teaching them the right from the wrong.  He is the light of the world that
lighteth every man that cometh into the world, and if the whisperings of
his Spirit and its dictates were hearkened to and obeyed, all men
everywhere would grow in the truth, much faster than we Latter-day Saints
are doing.  It is a source of mortification to know that men and women who
have been in this Church from twenty to forty years should still be so
prone to the weaknesses of the flesh.  What do I see?  If I do not witness
it with my own eyes, I hear of it through those who do--men, ofttimes of
long standing in the Church, drink a little, they swear a little, smoke or
chew a little, and indulge their appetites in those things which the Lord
has warned us against, and which he has said are not good for man.  They,
too, can spend their time wandering about these mountains hunting for gold
and silver, they can mingle and associate with those whose lives are
records of vice and immorality, and who are ready to oppose God and
traduce the character of his servants.  Can Saints of God, Elders in
Israel, who are exercised by the power and spirit of their holy calling,
who have within them the gift of eternal life, can they be guilty of such
things and stand approved before God?  No, they cannot; and I say, shame
upon such men, they are a disgrace to themselves, and their actions are a
disgrace to the name of Saint.  It is a disgrace, too, to the sisters, as
well as the brethren, who thirst after the vain fashions and foolish
practices of the world.  Cease to pattern after those who know not God. 
How would such conduct compare with the conversation and deportment of the
angels whom we expect to meet?  Would they want to adopt the practices and
fashions of the wicked world?  No, they have higher aims and holier
aspirations, they live above vanity; so should the Latter-day Saints.  Our
hearts should be pure, entertaining such things only as are comely,
chaster and praise worthy before him.  This is the curse of life that he
expects of us.

	I have a great many reflections, especially when alone, I converse
with myself upon these eternal things, things which the frivolous, the
vain, and those who are engaged only with the things of this world, never
think of.  With regard to the society of heaven, their conversation and
deportment, consider the magnitude and greatness of the character of holy
beings, contemplate the expanse of eternity and the life that is before
us, and then how insignificant appears this world as it now is!  Still, in
our humanity, in our fallen condition, that divine influence is more or
less with us, and if we would preserve ourselves to dwell with the holy
ones of heaven and have joy in our being, we must faithfully adhere to and
practice the principles of eternal life, and in doing so, he will add for
our comfort and enjoyment all things necessary pertaining to this life.

	Fear not with regard to the success of this Church and kingdom. 
Rather fear you should not be counted worthy to be numbered among the
sanctified when Jesus comes to make up his jewels; rather fear lest you
should be found in the condition of the five foolish virgins whose lamps
had gone out and who were unprepared to meet the bridegroom because they
had no oil.  Remember, Latter-day Saints, there were five wise and five
foolish, and equal division, and yet they were all virgins.  The
application is a just one and has a direct bearing on us, as Latter-day
Saints.  The wise among us will take heed, will hearken to the
instructions and counsels of the servants of God, will pattern after
Christ, and thirst after the things of God, and our lamps will be trimmed
and burning, and we will be prepared to meet the bridegroom when he comes,
and they that are ready will enter in with him to the marriage; and
whether or not the door be shut upon those not so well prepared is a
matter that belongs soley [sic] to him, and he can do just as he pleases
about it.  I want to have oil in my vessel, so that in case I should, in
consequence of the weakness of the flesh, slumber a little, on arising my
lamp would be trimmed ready to burn.  This is doubtless your desire.  Then
live for it; mingle not your voices with the wicked seek not after the
delusive things of this world in their present state.  But is not the Lord
going to give the earth and the riches thereof to his Saints?  Yes, that
is the promise, and he has spoken it by the mouth of many of his Prophets. 
But when will this inheritance pass into the hands of his people?  When we
shall have sanctified the Lord in our hearts, sanctified our bodies and
spirits in the ruth, and we become pure and holy, free from selfishness
and from every sin; and until we shall have reached this state of
perfection, we never need expect these things committed to our care, for
he will not do it.  When the judgment is given to the Saints, it will bo
[sic] because of their righteousness, because they will judge even as the
angels and as the Gods, and not as the wicked do at the present time, who
care not for God nor for justice, who care not for truth nor mercy, love
nor kindness, who judge according to the wickedness of their hearts.  I am
very thankful that it is not our province, in our present condition, to
judge the world; if it were, we would ruin everything.  We have not
sufficient wisdom, our minds are not filled with the knowledge and power
of God; the spirit needs to contend with the flesh a little more until it
shall be successful in subduing its passions, until the whole soul is
brought into perfect harmony with the mind and will of God.  And we must
also acquire the discretion that God exercises in being able to look into
futurity, and to ascertain and know the results of our acts away in the
future, even in eternity, before we will be capable of judging.

	Let us live so that we shall be ready for any dispensation of
providence.  It is said He will come as a thief in the night.  We had
better be on the watch-tower, waiting in readiness for him, than to be
putting off the time, for peradventure we might put it off until it is too
late.

	I have something to say to the Latter-day Saints about their temporal
affairs, how we should live temporally, taking proper care of that which
is committed to our charge, and using it for the benefit of ourselves and
others, which I will tell you on some future occasion.

	On the second Saturday and Sunday in May, the 12th and 13th, we will
hold a two days' meeting here, or, if you choose to call it so, a District
Conference of this Stake of Zion, to which you, and as many as can make it
convenient to attend, are invited.  If you wiill [sic] come with clean
hands and pure hearts, full of faith, so that the Lord can pour out his
spirit upon us, we will have a time of rejoicing.  God bless you.  Amen.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
          Made at the Close of the Foregoing Dedicatory Prayer.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)

	Brethren, if you will give me your attention, I will say a few words
to you.  We have dedicated this spot of ground upon which we expect to
erect a Temple, in which to administer the ordinances of the House of God. 
Into this house, when it is completed, we expect to enter to enjoy the
blessings of the priesthood, and receive our washings, our anointings, our
endowments, and our sealings; and the brethren will be sealed to brethren
to connect the links and make perfect the chain from ourselves to Father
Adam.  This is the object of the Temple which we are about to commence
building at this place.  We require the brethren and the sisters to go to
with their might and erect this Temple; and from the architect to the boy
that carries the drinking water to the men that work on the building, we
wish them to understand that wages are entirely out of the question.  We
are going to build this House for ourselves, and we shall expect the
brethren and sisters, neighborhood after neighborhood, ward after ward, to
turn out their proportion of men to come here and labor as they shall be
notified by the proper authorities.

	This may be called a temporal work, but it pertains to the salvation
of ourselves as well as our friends who have passed behind the vail, and
also to the generations that are to come after us.  We can carry this
Temple forward with our labor, without any burden to ourselves if our
hearts are in the work, and we will be blessed abundantly in doing so.  We
will be better off in our temporal affairs when it is completed than when
we commenced, or than we would be if we did not build it.

	The time we enjoy is the Lord's, but we have the permission to
dictate its use according to our own good pleasure.  When the brethren
come to work on this Temple they may expect to be blessed of the Lord in
proportion to their faith.  We feel to ask the brethren to go to as they
may be called upon by those who shall be placed to take charge of the
work, and complete the building in three years from next fall--I think it
can be done within that time-- that we may come up and commence to give
endowments.  This work can be done with all ease in that time if we are
disposed to.

	We pray for you continually, that you may be blessed.  I feel to
bless you according to the power and keys of the holy priesthood bestowed
upon me, and my brethren with me, heart and hand, and all the Saints feel
to say "Amen," feel to bless each other, feel to do the work of the Lord,
and dismiss the narrow, contracted, covetous feelings that are so
interwoven with the feelings of our natures.  It seems hard to get rid of
them, but we must overcome them and unite ourselves together in the holy
order of God, that we may be Saints of the Most High, with our interests,
our faith and labors, that our hopes and the results of our labors may be
concentrated in the salvation of the human family.

	Brethren and Sisters, try to realize thess [sic] things.  Awake and
lay these things to heart.  Seek to the Lord to know his mind and will,
and when you ascertain it also to have the will to do it.

	God bless you, Amen.



                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
    Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon,
  May 6, 1877, after addresses by Elders Orson Pratt and Geo. Q. Cannon.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
   THE LORD RULES--THE HAND OF GOD IN PERSECUTION--THE GOSPEL EMBRACES
   ALL TRUTH--NO NEED OF WORRY, THE LORD WILL DEAL OUT JUSTICE--JOSEPH
SLAIN FOR THE GOSPEL--THE DISSATISFIED WILL BE SATISFIED--FULL OF
BLESSING.

	I take the liberty of saying a few words on this occasion to both
Saints and sinners.  That expression brings to my mind at once--Where are
the Saints? and who are they?  And who are the sinners?  We are all
sinners; but there is quite a portion of the congregation who are trying
to be Saints.  For those who profess to be Saints I have a few texts of
scripture.  With regard to those who believe the truth and desire to do
it; to all who wish to live and preserve yourselves in the truth, in the
love of God, I wish to say, they whom God loves he chastens.  This is so,
whether we believe it or not.  If we have not received chastisement, we
receive not that witness, that assurance, to testify to us that we love
him.  Another text of Scripture:  The wicked are a rod in the hand of God
to chasten his people.  If the Lord loves us and we love him, we may
expect to be chastened; and it is not joyous at the time of receiving the
chastisement; it is grievous; but if we are exercised by grace and the
spirit of truth, it will yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness.

	I wish to whisper in the ears of the Latter-day Saints, I mean those
who profess to be Saints, Know ye that the Lord reigns, and that the
hearts of all living are in his hands.  He turns the hearts of the
children of men as the rivers of waters are turned.  He rules in the
armies of heaven, and does his pleasure upon the earth.  When he wills, no
man can hinder it; when he is disposed to open the door, it is not in the
power of man to shut it; and when he closes the door it is not in the
power of man to open it.  Remember this, Latter-day Saints, and all the
Christian world, the Pagan, Infidel and Jewish world, and everybody in the
world; and hearken, O ye nations of the earth, and know ye that God lives,
that he has spoken from the heavens, and has sent forth his everlasting
Gospel to the children of men, that through obedience to the same they may
be saved; and if they reject this message they will be damned.  We cannot
help it, it is not our business, it is not our doctrine, it is the
doctrine of him who we serve, of him whom we obey, of him who holds us in
existence, who gives us breath and being and we have a right to believe in
Him, to live and serve him and to build up and establish his kingdom; and
we are doing it.

	If I were to tell you one half of the things that I know in many
particulars it would astonish the half hearted who have but little or no
faith, and who do not understand the workings of the providences of God
among the children of men.  But as to the persecution, it is nothing at
all, neither one way nor another, only to purify the Saints and prepare
the nations for the good or evil, for the Lord Almighty to send forth his
judgments to cleanse the earth, to sanctify it, and to justify the
righteous and condemn the guilty, and to prepare the way for the coming of
the Son of Man.  I wish to say to you, to those who are in the truth, as
well as to those who are out of the truth, if we did not have to bear the
iron hand of persecution, the principles we believe in which attract the
attention of the good and the evil upon the earth and which occupy so many
tongues and circumscribe their philosophy, would be embraced by thousands
who are now indifferent to them.  The evil-doer would crowd upon our
borders; and we have plenty of them now without receiving any more.  They
would crowd into this Church.  And this is the reason why Brother George
Q. Cannon says, he is pleased and rejoiced because of this persecution. 
We should be satisfied with it, we should acknowledge the hand of God in
it, and say:  The will of the Lord be done and not ours.  By closely
watching the Latter-day Saints, and seeing that they are kept in the line
of their duty by using this kind of a rod, it prevents others from coming
that would affect us more than they can who are outside of this Church. 
There is not one man in this city nor in the Territory who hates the trnth
[sic] and the Latter-day Saints, whose influence I dread, no, not even the
hundreth [sic] part, as I do a smooth, slick hypocrite who professes to be
a Latter-day Saint.  The former cannot sow the seeds of infidelity and
unbelief in the hearts of the people; but the latter can.

	I wish to say to all the people, The principles of the Gospel that
God has revealed from the heavens to the children of men upon the earth
are worthy the acceptation of the wise, the pure and the just.  There is
no true philosophy in existence which is not embraced in the Gospel, it
belongs to the Gospel, it is a part of the Gospel.  The philosophy of the
heavens and the earth, of the worlds that are, that were, and that are yet
to come into existence, is all in the Gospel that we have embraced.  Every
true philosopher, so far as he understands the principles of truth, has so
much of the Gospel, and so far he is a Latter-day Saint, whether he knows
it or not.  Our Father, the great God, is the author of the sciences, he
is the great mechanic, he is the systematizer of all things, he plans and
devises all things, and every particle of knowledge which man has in his
possession is the gift of God, whether they consider it divine, or whether
it is the wisdom of man; it belongs to God, and he has bestowed it upon
us, his children dwelling here upon the earth.

	We take up the principles or ordinances of the house of God, and when
we set them before the people, who would like to believe them? Ask the
world of mankind, the heathen world, if there is one doctrine or principle
in all these which is not good for man to receive.  If we could find such
a place as an angelic world, we might ask its inhabitants if we had
embraced in our faith a single principle not good for them.  Even they
would not find an idea, a doctrine or a principle but what every person
would say, respecting it:  "It is just as good as we could ask for."  For
the principles of the Gospel are calculated to purify the heart, the
hands, the mouth, the brain and every act of the children of men, and to
prepare them of live with perfect and holy beings.  These are principles
worth seeking for, they are worth living for, they are worth dying for. 
As to the struggle that is going on between the Latter-day Saints and the
world, have we any struggle with them?  No.  Have we any contention?  No,
not in the least.  Have we any battle to fight?  No, none at all.  Are we
to marshal our armies to contend against them?  No.  Here are the words of
truth; we go forth and declare them to the ends of the earth; it is our
mission and all we have to do.  They may war against us, they may marshal
their forces and their armies.  God rules, I fear them not.  If I preserve
myself in the truth, I am all right.  With the principles that these
Latter-day Saints believe in, if we had our own way, and were not followed
up by these blessed scoundrels, would we have any grog shops?  No!  Would
we permit men to take the name of the Lord in vain?  No.  If we could use
that moral influence we would stop all drinking, swearing, stealing, and
Sabbath breaking, and speaking evil one of another; and we would have no
dishonest men; we would have all men do that which is right before the
Lord.  But no, we must be followed up.  That is all right, perfectly
right.  Every step we take and every move we make must be scanned by the
devil to see if it is right.  You will excuse the expression.  He is
watching closely to see if we live our religion.  And he says:  "Now,
Latter-day Saints, are you not ashamed whenever you do anything that is
naughty?" and tries to discourage them, that they may turn away from the
truth.  What should this do for us?  Should it not cause us to refrain
from all wrong, and teach us to do better, even this the chastisement of
the devil?

	We need not worry about this, that or the other, not in the least; it
is for us to serve the Lord, and see that we do his will.  And so far as
persecution and the killing of the Prophets are concerned, whether of
ancient or of modern times, even Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and others of the
Saints, men, women and children, as they have done, we do not expect that
the perpetrators of these deeds will be brought to justice; not in the
least, until the Lord sits upon the case and deals out justice to them. 
The cry has been against the Prophets of every age, against the Apostles
and against Jesus himself, and against all those who have ever preached
the truth, and why?  Because the systems of the world are errors; while
the Gospel is true, it stands alone, it is as firm as the everlasting
mountains; the storms may beat upon it, and it is there.  But how is it
with those who are jealous of us and who oppose us?  We hear some of them
who profess christianity crying, "Come to Jesus," "Come to Jesus," etc. 
What is there of it?  It is so much nonsense.  If Jesus were in their
midst to-day, they would kick him out; for they did so to his servants. 
Suppose the Apostle Paul, or Peter, in fact any of the Apostles were to
get into their chapels, and were to preach from their pulpits their
doctrine which they preached when upon the earth, what do you think they
would do to to him?  They would take them and lead them out of doors,
saying, "We will not have any such hypocrites and false Prophets as you
are in our midst."

	There is once in a while a good honest man who professes to preach
the truth, and when he does preach it amounts to this:  "My brethren, we
think we are Christians, we are believers in the word of God; but I tell
you if the Apostles were here to-day we would not receive them."  That is
what these good, honest preachers would say, and a few do say it to their
congregations.

	A false principle, a false theory, whether in mechanism or
philosophy, requires much argument and superior talent to sustain it, but
when the truth is presented it commends itself to the understanding of the
people so readily that it requires not great amount of learning to
substantiate it, nor much skill to declare it to the honest who want
truth, and it remains firm and sound.

	Forty-five years ago they were determined to kill the Prophet Joseph. 
I have lain upon the floor scores and scores of nights ready to receive
the mob who sought his life.  This persecution commenced with a little
neighborhood, then a town, then a county, then a State, and then the
people of the United States; and by and by other nations will be just as
bitter towards us, and the doctrines we preach as many of the people of
our own nations now are.  They will struggle and strive, and plan and
devise, saying, let us take this course, and that course; and they will
struggle until they will come to a stop as though they were against a
mountain of solid rock.  They will do all they can to break us up, and
even destroy us; this has been the case now for the last forty-five years. 
Joseph Smith had forty-seven law suits, and I was with him through the
most of them, and never was the first thing proved against him; he was
never guilty of the first violation of the law or of good order.  And when
Governor Ford asked him to go to prison, as the mob were so enraged that
he could not insure his life, that he might be safe until he returned from
Nauvoo, he said:  "I will pledge you the faith of the State of Illinois
for your safety."  But as soon as he was gone, the mob murdered both
Joseph and his brother Hyrum, in the jail.  That was to be so.  I heard
Joseph say many a time, "I shall not live until I am forty years of age." 
The spring before he was killed--his death occurred the 27th of June,
1844--he hurried off the first Elders of the Church.  All right, I thought
then, and I think so now.  It is all in the hands of God.  They killed
Joseph, and what for?  For the Gospel's sake.  It was for no evil, for I
was well acquainted with him.  He testified to the truth, he sealed his
testimony with his blood.  Whether we believe in blood atonement or not,
the Lord so ordered it, that Joseph, as well as others of the Prophets,
sealed their testimony with their blood.

	I said here last Sabbath, that, if the people of this government are
not satisfied with what they have already passed through this side of
twenty years past, "Wait a little longer, and they will be perfectly
satisfied with blood."  They shed the blood of the innocent; if they are
not satisfied with the blood they have shed of each other, wait a little
while and they will shed each other's blood to their full satisfaction. 
The Lord has spoken it, and we have nothing to do with it.  If we could,
we would hide ourselves away from the scenes that will taken place; but
this we cannot do.  But wait a little longer, and the people of this
nations, as well as others, will have blood till they are satisfied with
shedding the blood of each other.  This is the prediction of the ancient
Prophets, and has been confirmed unto us through his servant Joseph.  The
people are in the hands of God, he will rule all things and deal justly
with all mankind; but he will not suffer this wickedness to dwell on the
earth; it must be cleansed.  All that we need to concern ourselves about
is to serve the Lord, to trust in him, so that we may be ready to receive
his dealings upon the just and the unjust, in all his chastisements.  Let
us live up to the principles of the just, and God will continue to bless
us and deliver us with the just.

	If I had power, I certainly would bless the people with everything
their hearts could wish if they wold not sin.  I would do, as I heard the
mothers of some of my children say, that went with me to St. George this
winter, that I indulged them in every thing they wanted.  Why?  Because
they never manifested a desire for anything wrong.  And if it were in my
power I would bless all the inhabitants of the earth, with everything in
which they could glorify God, and purify their own hearts.

	May God bless you.  Amen.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
                         May 18, 1877  (Temple site, Logan)
          Made at the Close of the Foregoing Dedicatory Prayer.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)

	Brethren, if you will give me your attention, I will say a few words
to you.  We have dedicated this spot of ground upon which we expect to
erect a Temple, in which to administer the ordinances of the House of God. 
Into this house, when it is completed, we expect to enter to enjoy the
blessings of the priesthood, and receive our washings, our anointings, our
endowments, and our sealings; and the brethren will be sealed to brethren
to connect the links and make perfect the chain from ourselves to Father
Adam.  This is the object of the Temple which we are about to commence
building at this place.  We require the brethren and the sisters to go to
with their might and erect this Temple; and from the architect to the boy
that carries the drinking water to the men that work on the building, we
wish them to understand that wages are entirely out of the question.  We
are going to build this House for ourselves, and we shall expect the
brethren and sisters, neighborhood after neighborhood, ward after ward, to
turn out their proportion of men to come here and labor as they shall be
notified by the proper authorities.

	This may be called a temporal work, but it pertains to the salvation
of ourselves as well as our friends who have passed behind the vail, and
also to the generations that are to come after us.  We can carry this
Temple forward with our labor, without any burden to ourselves if our
hearts are in the work, and we will be blessed abundantly in doing so.  We
will be better off in our temporal affairs when it is completed than when
we commenced, or than we would be if we did not build it.

	The time we enjoy is the Lord's, but we have the permission to
dictate its use according to our own good pleasure.  When the brethren
come to work on this Temple they may expect to be blessed of the Lord in
proportion to their faith.  We feel to ask the brethren to go to as they
may be called upon by those who shall be placed to take charge of the
work, and complete the building in three years from next fall--I think it
can be done within that time-- that we may come up and commence to give
endowments.  This work can be done with all ease in that time if we are
disposed to.

	We pray for you continually, that you may be blessed.  I feel to
bless you according to the power and keys of the holy priesthood bestowed
upon me, and my brethren with me, heart and hand, and all the Saints feel
to say "Amen," feel to bless each other, feel to do the work of the Lord,
and dismiss the narrow, contracted, covetous feelings that are so
interwoven with the feelings of our natures.  It seems hard to get rid of
them, but we must overcome them and unite ourselves together in the holy
order of God, that we may be Saints of the Most High, with our interests,
our faith and labors, that our hopes and the results of our labors may be
concentrated in the salvation of the human family.

	Brethren and Sisters, try to realize thess [sic] things.  Awake and
lay these things to heart.  Seek to the Lord to know his mind and will,
and when you ascertain it also to have the will to do it.

	God bless you, Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
    Delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden, Sunday Morning, May 27, 1877.
                       (Reported by James Taylor.)
   THE WORK OF THE PRIESTHOOD THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE HUMAN FAMILY--THE
  GOSPEL MORE THAN MORALITY, IT INCLUDES REDEMPTION--DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
   THE IDEAS OF THE SAINTS AND THE WORLD--THE PROPHETS IN REGARD TO THE
             INCREASE OF MINERAL WEALTH--TEACH THE CHILDREN.

	I can offer a few of the reflections of my own mind with regard to
the discourse of brother Geo. Q. Cannon.  I will take his text:  "We have
a great work to perform."  Not that I have time to take up item by item,
and explain and give you correct views, so that you can understand all
things pertaining to this great work; but I will give a few words, hoping
that you are prepared to receive them in good and honest hearts, and
digest them by the spirit of revelation, and understand what I have in my
own heart.

	The improvement that we are undertaking is not a small labor.  It is
not the work of a day, or a week, or a month, but the work of a lifetime;
and when we end our career here, we hope to leave those behind us on the
earth, of our own posterity, who are better calculated to go on with this
work, and who will do so until it is completed.  What is this work?  The
improvement of the condition of the human family.  This work must continue
until the people who live on this earth are prepared to receive our coming
Lord, and dwell with the sanctified, and to associate with angels and with
our Savior, preparatory to entering into the presence of our heavenly
Father.

	Now this is the work; and how are we to perform this work is the
question which I hope you will be able to understand  [sic-punc]  I wish
you had the spirit of revelation.  I would delight in the Latter-day
Saints living so that the Spirit of God would be within them, so that they
could see and understand and judge all these things for themselves.

	I will commence by drawing attention to the philosophy of man here
upon the earth.  We see ourselves here to-day.  Here are old, grey-headed
men, aged ladies, infants in their mother's arms, and persons in the
different conditions and stages of life, with varied looks, feelings,
sympathies and passions.  We see this variety before us today.  But we all
commenced at the foot of the hill.  We see the infant in its mother's
arms.  What is this infant here for?  What is the design in the creation
of this little infant child?  It lies here in its mother's arms; it would
not resist, in the least, if it were dropped into a caldron of boiling
oil; if it were thrown into fire it would not know it until it felt the
flames; it might be laid down here, and the wolf might come and lick its
face, and it would not know but that its mother was soothing it.  You see
this foundation, the starting point, the germ of intelligence embodied in
this infant, calculated to grow and expand into manhood, then to the
capacity of an angel, and so onward to eternal exaltation.  But here is
the foundation.  Sent to school the child learns to read, and continues to
improve as long as it lives.  Is this the end of the knowledge of man? 
No.  It is only the beginning.  It is the first stage of all the
intelligence that the philosopher in his reflections, taking the starry
world before him, and looking into the immensity of the creations of God,
can imagine.  Here is the first place where we learn, this is the foot of
the hill.

	Now the object is to improve the minds of the inhabitants of the
earth, until we learn what we are here for, and become one before the
Lord, that we may rejoice together and be equal.  Not to make all poor. 
No.  The whole world is before us.  The earth is here, and the fullness
thereof is here.  It was made for man; and one man was not made to trample
his fellowman under his feet, and enjoy all his heart desires, while the
thousands suffer.  We will take a moral view, a political view, and we see
the inequality that exists in the human family.  We take the inhabitants
of the civilized world, and how many laboring men are there in proportion
to the inhabitants?  About one to every five that are producers, and the
supposition is that ten hours work by the one to three persons in the
twenty-four hours will support the five.  It is an unequal condition of
mankind.  We see servants that labor early and late, and that have not the
opportunity of measuring their hours ten in twenty-four.  They cannot go
to school, nor hardly get clothing to go to meeting in on the Sabbath.  I
have seen many cases of this kind in Europe, when the young lady would
have to take her clothing on a Saturday night and wash it, in order that
she might go to meeting on the Sunday with a clean dress on.  Who is she
laboring for?  For those who, many of them, are living in luxury.  And, to
serve the classes that are living on them, the poor, laboring men and
women are toiling, working their lives out to earn that which will keep a
little life within them.  Is this equality?  No!  What is going to be
done?  The Latter-day Saints will never accomplish their mission until
this inequality shall cease on the earth.

	We say but very little about politics.  If we have laws, we should
have good laws, and we should get good men to adjudicate those laws.  And
if we are at variance with our neighbor, and are in want of better
judgment than we have to settle our difficulties, let us call three or
twelve men, and leave it to them to decide between us.  Adopt this course,
and it would save an immense amount of time, and set the lawyer to raising
his own potatoes and wheat, instead of gulling the people.  The
non-producer must live on the products of those who labor.  There is no
other way.  If we all labor a few hours a day, we could then spend the
remainder of our time in rest and the improvement of our minds.  This
would give an opportunity to the children to be educated in the learning
of the day, and to possess all the wisdom of man.

	But we are to revolutionize the world.  Do you think these Latter-day
Saints can do it?  I do not know.  It is the work of the Almighty; and if
he sends forth his Spirit to teach the people true principles, we have a
right, a moral right, a religious right, to tell the truth to the people
without interruption; and men have no business to raise their anger
against this people, when we are merely telling the truth to the
inhabitants of the earth, and instructing them how they can better their
condition.

	But we have something more than morality alone to teach the people. 
What is it?  It is how to redeem the human family.  In Adam--that is, if
we believe this book (the Bible), and believe the history that Moses gave
of our first parents, and of the inhabitants of the earth, which indeed we
have to depend upon, for we are not in possession of any other history of
our first parents, and are consequently obliged to refer to this
history--if we believe this, I can say that as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ all are made alive.  If we can believe Moses and the Apostles, we
die in consequence of sin in the conduct of our first parents, in eating
that which they were forbidden to eat; that we are shut out and cannot see
and understand heavenly beings.  We cannot see their faces.  We cannot
hear their voices.  We cannot behold their glory.  We are shut out from
this.  The vail of mortality being dropped between us and the Creator,
something has to be done so that we may return and behold those that are
exalted.

	There is a difference between the Latter-day Saints and the professed
Christian world.  Shall I remark on this difference?  We teach our
children that we are serving a God who has an ear to hear, and eye to see. 
He has a mouth to speak, a hand to handle.  He has a body.  He has the
component parts of man.  He moves in his own sphere.  He dwells at his own
dwelling-place.  His presence and his power fill immensity.  He has filled
the heavens and the earth with his works, and placed man here upon the
earth, and brought forth in the latter days his greatest work.  It is the
greatest work for the salvation of the human family that has been revealed
to man since the fall of Adam.  I hope you teach this in the Sunday
school, that we are serving a God who has a body, parts and passions, and
who has feelings, and a fellow-feeling.  Well, you startle at this.  You
have a fellow-feeling.  If the Christian world were to hear me declare
that our Father in heaven could know and sympathize with this mortality by
experience, and has a fellow-feeling, and deals kindly and sympathetically
and mercifully with those who are forward, they would be startled.  Yet
this is our Father.  We believe in him.  Yes.  Ask the Christian world, Do
you believe in such a God?  No, they say.  What kind of a being do you
believe in?  Such as was described in the inscription which Paul saw
written on the altar at Athens, "To the unknown God."  But the God that
the Latter-day Saints are worshiping, and that we teach our children to
worship, is the God and Father or our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of
our spirits, the author of the existence of our bodies, He who placed them
here upon the earth.  He gave existence to us all.  He gave breath and
being to all.  And yet man has his agency; this truth we must never lose
sight of.  We must teach our children that Christ came in the meridian of
time; that he suffered and died for the original sin Adam committed in the
Garden of Eden, and tasted death for every man.  He suffered for every man
upon the earth.

	This is the character of him whom we receive as our Savior.  

	We want you to believe in Him, my son, my daughter.  Believe in His
Father, and that they have compassion upon us, and we should hearken to
His counsel.  What is required of us as soon as we come to the years of
accountability?  It is required of us, for it is an institution of heaven,
the origin of which you and I cannot tell, for the simple reason that it
has no beginning, it is from eternity to eternity--it is required of us to
go down into the waters of baptism.  Here is a fountain or element typical
of the purity of the eternities.  Go down into the waters, and there be
baptized for the remission of sins, and then have hands laid upon us to
confirm us members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 
Then receive the Spirit of truth, or the Holy Ghost.  Then live according
to every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, through those men
whom he has appointed here npon [sic] the earth, until we are perfect.

	If we go and preach the Gospel, men and women of age, youths and
children believe our testimony, come forward and desire to receive a
remission of their sins by obeying the ordinances of the house of God,
that are placed in that house for the express purpose of remitting sins. 
Then they commence to live moral lives, as becometh those who have
embraced the truth, and continue to live by the truth until they are
prepared to enter into an exaltation.  How long will they live here?  No
matter if they live as long as Methuselah lived, if they commence that
moral reform required in their lives.  Those who have been in the habit of
swearing, swear no more.  Never use the name of the Deity without his
authority.  If we are in the habit of telling that which is not true,
learn to speak the truth.  If we speak evil of our neighbors, cease to
speak evil.  Covet not that which is not our own.  Keep the Ten
Commandments, and then go on until we are perfect, loving our neighbor
more than we love ourselves, imparting to all that kind fellow-feeling,
that we can take those who are in this poor and stricken condition of
life, and raise them, that they may come up and possess the fruits of the
earth, and enjoy all that we can enjoy in raiment, food and possessions. 
Raise our own horses, our own food, and let every one be a producer, and
then we can with a good grace, be consumers.  Infringe upon no one. 
Instead of making any poorer, make all wealthy.

	A few words upon the minerals found in our mountains.  We have had a
great many men examining among the mountains, and through the plateaus and
ranges in the south.  The whole scientific world, a few years ago, would
have pledged their reputation that there was not any mineral in the
sandstone range along the Rio Virgen River.  Now they are finding it in
many places.  A great many have told me that there was no mineral there,
but it is now found in various parts of the southern portion of this
Territory.  What can I say about it?  The Lord, in Isaiah, says, "For
brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood
brass and for stones iron."  I can attribute it to no other agency than
the power of God diffusing it in these mountains.  I will refer it to the
scientific world.  You may as well take a piece of wood and say that it
shall become a piece of sandstone, as to say that you will find silver in
sandstone.  Did you ever know sandstone to become a petrifaction.  It is
hard to say where it will not be found, now that it is found in the barks
of petrified trees.  It is no matter, the Lord is managing all this, and
he does just as he pleases with regard to the treasures of the earth, and
we may look for them, but if we are not to find them, they will be hid. 
When God says to his agents, remove this gold, this silver, this copper,
it will be done.  You do not understand this philosophy, but I do.  And my
philosophy outreaches the philosophy of men that study books.  I have said
enough with regard to the minerals of the earth.

	I see a man grow up from the infant stage to be a scholar, and by and
by he has an empire, and can give laws to the people, that can equalize
them, and bring them to a state of happiness and excellency, and give them
all the advantages that man can possess upon the earth, and make every man
happy and comfortable.  This is the work that we have upon our hands. 
Teach the people the faith of the Gospel.  Teach them what God is, and
what His work is, and that there never was a time such as many of our
philosophers speak of, who drift back and back, and come to this theory
and that theory, and go back, and back to the time when we were all
reptiles.  When was there a time when there was not a God?  But, say they,
there must have been a time.  Then you declare to me, do you, that there
was a time when there was no time.  And this is the philosophy of a great
many of the scientific in this day.  They see the heavens stretched out,
but they comprehend them not.  And why do they not say, if there was a
time when there was no time, there will be a time again when there will be
no time.  What a condition for man to be in!  Can we look onward and
upward through the immensity of space, and behold the worlds on worlds
that we call stars, and imagine that they will be blotted out forever? 
What an idea!  What a philosophy!  Why, it ought to be laughed at by the
ignorant, and those who are children in their reflections.  A time when
there was no God, no eternity!  It cannot be possible, and the philosopher
who tries to establish such a doctrine cannot possess any correct ideas of
his own being.  Will there ever be such a time?  No.  But forever onward
and upward.  So it is with the religion we have embraced.

	Teach the Sunday School children with regard to the heavens, with
regard to their faith, with regard to their mortal lives, and reach out to
that higher life, far above this, that we may, if we will, enjoy upon the
earth.  This is the condition of man.  This is the road for men to walk
in, to be obedient to the principles of eternal truth, those immortal
principles that God has revealed to us.

	With regard to the ordinances of God, we may remark that we yield
obedience to them because He requires it; and every iota of His
requirements has a rational philosophy with it.  We do not get up things
on a hypothesis.  That philosophy reaches to all eternity, and is the
philosophy that the Latter-day Saints believe in.  Every particle of truth
that every person has received is a gift of God.  We receive these truths,
and go on from glory to glory, from eternal lives to eternal lives,
gaining a knowledge of all things, and becoming Gods, even Sons of God. 
These are the celestial ones.  These are they whom the Lord has chosen
through their obedience.  They have not spurned the truth, when they have
heard it.  These are they that have not spurned the Gospel, but have
acknowledged Jesus and God in their true character; that have acknowledged
the angels in their true character.  These are they that work for the
salvation of the human family.

	I say to the Latter-day Saints, all we have to do is to learn of God. 
Let the liars lie on, and let the swearers swear on, and they will go to
perdition.  All we have to do is to go onward and upward, and keep the
commandments of our Father and God; and He will confound our enemies.  It
is for you and me to improve our children, and teach them to bring forth
the elements here, until we possess all things that are on the earth, and
then prepare to possess the things that are in Heaven, and go on from
glory to glory, until we are crowned with God the Father.

	May the Lord bless you, Amen.

                 DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
      Delivered at a Special Conference Held at Farmington, for the
      Purpose of Organizing a Stake of Zion for the County of Davis,
                    on Sunday Afternoon June 17, 1877.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs)
    TRYING TO BE SAINTS--TREASURES OF THE EVERLASTING HILLS--THE HILL
      CUMORAH--OBEDIENCE TO TRUE PRINCIPLE THE KEY TO KNOWLEDGE--ALL
            ENJOYMENT COMES FROM GOD--ORGANIZATION--DUTIES OF
                         OFFICERS--FINAL RESULTS.

	I esteem it a privilege to meet with the Latter-day Saints.  I have
visited Farmington many times, and I can say that, as a general thing in
attending your meetings, I have felt much of the peace and blessings that
flow from heaven to this people.

	I have no doubt that the majority of the people called Latter-day
Saints desire really to be Saints; were it not for this I might feel
partially discouraged.  The people who are honest, who are seeking to know
and to understand the truth, they are the ones who, so far as their faith
and good works, and their influence and ability are concerned, sustain the
kingdom that God has commenced to establish on the earth.  When we
consider the condition of the Latter-day Saints, and see how many there
are who seem to have their eyes fixed upon the things of this world,
things that are not lasting, but that perish in the handling, and how
anxious they are to obtain them, how do you think I feel about it?  We see
many of the Elders of Israel desirous of becoming wealthy, and they adopt
any course that they think will bring them riches, which to me is as
unwise as anything can be--to see men of wisdom, men that seem to have an
understanding of the world and of the things of God, searching after
minerals throughout these mountains; they traverse the hills, and they dig
here and there, and keep digging and picking, and rolling the rocks from
morning till night.  This chain of mountains has been followed from the
north to the south, and its various spurs have been prospected, and what
do they find?  Just enough to allure them, and to finally lead them from
the faith, and at last to make them miserable and poor.  Ask the brethren
why they do this, and the ready reply will be, "Is it not my privilege to
find a gold mine, or a silver mine, as well as others?"  As far as I am
concerned I would say, "Yes, certainly it is your privilege, if you can
find one."  But do you know how to find such a mine?  No, you do not. 
These treasures that are in the earth are carefully watched, they can be
removed from place to place according to the good pleasure of Him who made
them and owns them.  He has his messengers at his service, and it is just
as easy for an angel to remove the minerals from any part of one of these
mountains to another, as it is for you and me to walk up and down this
hall.  This, however, is not understood by the Christian world, nor by us
as a people.  There are certain circumstances that a number of my brethren
and sisters have heard me relate, that will demonstrate this so
positively, that none need doubt the truth of what I say.

	I presume there are some present who have heard me narrate a
circumstance with regard to the discovery of a gold mine in Little
Cottonwood Canon [sic], and I will here say that the specimens taken from
it, which I have in my possession today, are as fine specimens of gold as
ever were found on this continent.  A man whom some of you will well know,
brought to me a most beautiful nugget.  I told him to let the mine alone.

	When General Conner came here, he did considerable prospecting; and
in hunting through the Cottonwoods, he had a inkling that there was gold
there.  Porter, as we generally call him, came to me one day, saying,
"They have struck within four inches of my lode, what shall I do?"  He was
carried away with the idea that he must do something.  I therefore told
him to go with the other brethren interested, and make his claim.  When he
got through talking, I said to him, "Porter, you ought to know better; you
have seen and heard things which I have not, and are a man of long
experience in this Church.  I want to tell you one thing; they may strike
within four inches of that lode as many times as they have a mind to, and
they will not find it."  They hunted and hunted, hundreds of them did; and
I had the pleasure of laughing at him a little, for when he went there
again, he could not find it himself."  (Laughter.)

	Sometimes I take the liberty of talking a little further with regard
to such things.  Orin P. Rockwell is an eye-witness to some powers of
removing the treasures of the earth.  He was with certain parties that
lived near by where the plates were found that contain the records of the
Book of Mormon.  There were a great many treasures hid up by the Nephites. 
Porter was with them one night where there were treasures, and they could
find them easy enough, but they could not obtain them.

	I will tell you a story which will be marvelous to most of you.  It
was told me by Porter, whom I would believe just as quickly as any man
that lives.  When he tells a thing he understands, he will tell it just as
he knows it; he is a man that does not lie.  He said that on this night,
when they were engaged hunting for this old treasure, they dug around the
end of a chest for some twenty inches.  The chest was about three feet
square.  One man who was determined to have the contents of that chest,
took his pick and struck into the lid of it, and split through into the
chest.  The blow took off a piece of the lid, which a certain lady kept in
her possession until she died.  That chest of money went into the bank. 
Porter describes it so [making a rumbling sound]; he says this is just as
true as the heavens are.  I have heard other tell the same story.  I
relate this because it is marvelous to you.  But to those who understand
these things, it is not marvelous.

	You hear a great deal said about finding money.  There is no
difficulty at all in finding money, but there are a great many people who
do not know what to do with it when they do find it.  This is the great
defect with the human family.  I could relate many very singular
circumstances.  I lived right in the country where the plates were found
from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and I know a great many
things pertaining to that country.  I believe I will take the liberty to
tell you of another circumstance that will be as marvelous as anything can
be.  This is an incident in the life of Oliver Cowdery, but he did not
take the liberty of telling such things in meeting as I take.  I tell
these things to you, and I have a motive for doing so.  I want to carry
them to the ears of my brethren and sisters, and to the children also,
that they may grow to an understanding of some things that seem to be
entirely hidden from the human family.  Oliver Cowdery went with the
Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates.  Joseph did not translate
all of the plates; there was a portion of them sealed, which you can learn
from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.  When Joseph got the plates, the
angel instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. 
Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and
they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room.  He
says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun
or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day.  They laid the
plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room.  Under
this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there
were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads;
they were piled up in the corners and along the walls.  The first time
they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went
again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold
plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words:  "This sword
will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the
kingdom of our God and his Christ."  I tell you this as coming not only
from Oliver Cowdery, but others who were familiar with it, and who
understood it just as well as we understand coming to this meeting,
enjoying the day, and by and by we separate and go away, forgetting most
of what is said, but remembering some things.  So is it with other
circumstances in life.  I relate this to you, and I want you to understand
it.  I take this liberty of referring to those things so that they will
not be forgotten and lost.  Carlos Smith was a young man of as much
veracity as any young man we had, and he was a witness to these things. 
Samuel Smith saw some things, Hyrum saw a good many things, but Joseph was
the leader.

	Now, you may think I am unwise in publicly telling these things,
thinking perhaps I should preserve them in my own breast; but such is not
my mind.  I would like the people called Latter-day Saints to understand
some little things with regard to the workings and dealings of the Lord
with his people here upon the earth.  I could relate to you a great many
more, all of which are familiar to many of our brethren and sisters.

	Now, should you go prospecting for gold or silver, you will find just
enough to allure you and to destroy you.  But it might be said, "Are not
the earth and the treasures the property of the Lord who created them, and
will he not, according to the promise, give them to his faithful
disciples?"  O yes, this is strictly correct; but you mark this--the man
who is faithful to his calling and to this holy Priesthood, never goes
hunting for gold or silver, unless he is sent.  Such men are found
following their legitimate pursuits, working in their fields, in their
workshops and gardens, making beautiful their habitations; in other words,
engaged building up and assisting to establish the Zion of God on the
earth, with their minds centered on the true riches and not upon the
things of this world.  People do not know it, but I know there is a seal
set upon the treasures of earth;  men are allowed to go so far and no
farther.  I have known places where there were treasures in abundance; but
could men get them?  No.  You can read in the Book of Mormon of the
ancient Nephites holding their treasures, and of their becoming slippery;
so that after they had privately hid their money, on going to the place
again, lo and behold it was not there, but was somewhere else, but they
knew not where [sic-punc]  The people do not understand this; I wish they
did, for they would then do as I do, pay attention to the legitimate
business that God has given them to perform.  Do I run after mines or
digging holes in the ground?  No, not at all.  It is like the will-o'-the
wisp, a jack o'-lantern.  You ask our business men, or go to California,
and enquire there whether it pays to hunt for gold.  I will venture to say
there never was a dollar taken from the mountains of California, neither
from these mountains west, nor from out of this Territory, but what cost
from ten to one hundred dollars.  Do you believe that?  It is said a great
deal of money has been made here and there  [sic-punc]  Who has made it? 
Considerable lead has been taken from here, and a little silver; but when
you count the time that has been spent, and after putting a fair valuation
upon it, you will find what I say to be a fact, to say nothing of the
lives and property that are lost.  A little town directly west of here,
some fifteen months ago, contained a certain number of men, who followed
mining.  We calculated their time at the rate of what was paid for common
labor; and then we ascertained the amount realized from the treasure taken
out of the earth, which was well known; and it was shown that they spent
in the neighborhood of seven hundred dollars a day, and got in return
about thirty.  What they did get was just sufficient to allure them.

	The Lord has permitted our enemies to come among us, who would
destroy us if they could.  They are only allowed to allure the minds of
the foolish and those who lack judgment and who know not the things of
God.  But when we, as individuals and as a people, learn things as they
are, we will find this fact--all truth is worthy and worth possessing,
while all untruth is not worthy nor worth running after, nor working for,
nor spending our lives for.  The Gospel of life and salvation which God
has revealed to us, incorporates all the systems there are.  Every true
principle and every true science and every truth there is, are
incorporated within the faithof the Latter-day Saints.  This is something
worth possessing, this is worth spending our time for; but the religions
of the day, independent of their moral worth, are nothing but a myth, a
shadow; there is no reality in them.  But when you come to the philosophy
of the religion of heaven, you have facts in your possession that are
worth having, they are worthy the admiration of the wise, the prudent, the
noble, the great and those that seek after the wisdom that comes from God,
and the Latter-day Saints are in possession of this treasure!  What are we
doing?  If we were the people of God, as we profess to be, there would not
be a dissenting voice in all Israel in obeying the Priesthood  [sic-punc] 
It was observed this morning by brother Cannon with regard to yielding
obedience, that we were called upon to yield obedience because it was a
command of God, and our faith demands obedience.  To what?  Why? 
Wherefore?  Obedience to every principle of truth.  What for?  So that we
may become possessors of all truth.  Why should we do it?  Because it
gives us health, it gives us wealth, it gives us knowledge, it gives us
power, it gives us beauty, it gives us excellency, it gives us treasures
on the earth and treasures in heaven, it gives us a knowledge of God and
of the love of God, it gives us fellowship with the Saints that are
sanctified and glorified, and it gives us all things that will promote
happiness and peace.  These are the reasons why we do it.  Should you take
the other road, what do you get?  Nothing.  When persons turn away from
the Gospel of the Son of God, what do they turn to?  Nothing.  And what do
they turn from hereafter?  All things worth possessing, everything that
men and the Gods can possess in time and in eternity.  Take the other
road, and you get a shadow for the time being, and you may think you have
the substance, but sooner or later you are left as a feather floating in
the air, or worse than a ship upon the ocean, without compass or rudder,
deprived of the light of the sun, the moon and the stars, tossed hither
and thither until it sinks to rise no more.  In order to yield obedience
to the truth, you must love the truth and have the fear of god in your
hearts.  All who feel the true spirit of this latter-day work delight in
the truth, they delight to hear the truth, and they delight to obey the
truth; it is their delight to know the mind and will of God, that they may
render obedience to it.  This is the experience of every faithful man and
woman in this Church.  But take the experience of the apostates, and the
experience of those who have risen up in opposition to the Prophet Joseph
Smith and the Gospel brought forth and contained in the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants and in the Book of Mormon, and the revelations that he was
the honored instrument in the hands of God of revealing to the people;
those that rise up in opposition to this, who are they and what is their
end?  You will hear one fact from them:--"Brother-- --, have you enjoyed
yourself since resigning `Mormonism?'  Now speak the truth.  Come, tell us
just as it is.  Have you experienced joy and happiness since leaving the
kingdom of God?  Come, now, don't lie!"  Brother -- -- answers, "I have
not enjoyed one day's peace since I left the Church."  This is the
declaration of the apostates today, when they tell the truth about it. 
Look at their countenances--is there happiness depicted there?  No, it is
sorrow; they choose error instead of truth, they love darkness rather than
light, and the end thereof, to use Scripture language, is death.  The
sorrow thereof they feel every day, for man's spirit is operated upon
continually.  We are as independent in our organization as the Gods are,
but still we are creatures of circumstances, influenced by the spirits and
by the powers of eternity that are here and round about us.  We are here
and are operated upon by them in our organizations.  This is the place
where every man commences to acquire the germ of the independence that is
enjoyed in the heavens.  These influences, in comparison, are like the
cooling breezes from the mountains that are so grateful to us, that revive
and refresh us, that give us life.  But on the other hand, here comes the
miasma from the swamp, bringing disease and death, and without knowing we
inhale the poisonous air, we become conscious of weakness, we feel that we
are taking fever, that we are getting sick--we become a prey to the enemy,
and death ensues.  That is the difference between the two influences that
operate continually on mankind.  It is either enjoyment or suffering.  All
are subject to these elements in which we live.  Here is the good
operating, all the time telling men and women, before passing the ordeals
of redemption, that they must repent, that then the light of Christ will
be upon them from time to time, to operate upon their minds, teaching
them--you are doing wrong, you are saying that which is not right, you
have renounced the Book of Mormon, you have renounced the Doctrine and
Covenants, you have renounced Joseph, your endowments, or Celestial Law. 
When they reveal the truth of their hearts, they will say, as Lyman E.
Johnson said, at one of our Quorum meetings, after he had apostatized and
tried to put Joseph out of the way.  Lyman told the truth, He said,
"Brethren--I will call you brethren--I will tell you the truth.  If I
could believe `Mormonism'--it is no matter whether it is true or not--but
if I could believe `Mormonism' as I did when I traveled with you and
preached, if I possessed the world I would give it.  I would give
anything, I would suffer my right hand to be cut off, if I could believe
it again.  Then I was full of joy and gladness.  My dreams were pleasant. 
When I awoke in the morning my spirit was cheerful.  I was happy by day
and by night, full of peace and joy and thanksgiving.  But now it is
darkness, pain, sorrow, misery iu [sic] the extreme.  I have never since
seen a happy moment.."

	Lyman E. Johnson belonged to the Quorum of the Twelve; he was the
first man called when the Twelve were called; his name was first, Brigham
Young's second, and Heber C. Kimball's third.  The testimony that he gave
of his bitter experience is the testimony that every apostate would give
if they would tell the truth.  But will they acknowledge it?  No, because
they do not want to tell the truth.

	There is no enjoyment, no happiness, no comfort, there is no light to
my path, for me there is no real pleasure or delight only in the
observance of truth as it comes from God, obeying it in every sense of the
world, and marching forward as a good faithful soldier in the discharge of
every duty.  The man or the woman--perhaps you may think it presumptuous
in me, but I will promise you that what I am going to say is the
truth--who has embraced what is called "Mormonism," but which is nothing
more or less than the Everlasting Gospel of the Son of God, who when
counseled by men of God holding the eternal Priesthood to do thus and so,
and who will indulge in a spirit that will prompt him to say, "O yes, I
think I will use my own judgment.  I think I have discretion as well as
you, and I will take my own course.  I can attend to my own business as
well and perhaps a little better than any one else, and therefore I don't
need any one to advise me."  I say the man or the woman that will do so,
thereby taking to himself or to herself strength and wisdom to counsel
themselves, unless they repent, turn round and do better, they will go
into darkness, and sooner or later each person or persons will apostatize
and go to destruction.  Do you believe it?  It is just as true as the sun
that shines.  Is it hard to believe?  No, it is the easiest thing in the
world to believe the truth.  It is a great deal easier to believe truth
than error.  It is easier to defend the truth than to defend error.  It is
necessary that the religions and creeds of the Christian world be defended
by the most able and learned students, in order to make them popular and
to appear as true.  But after these Christian students have been through
academies and colleges, and the most famed seminaries in the world, and
after they have studied and studied, spending a life-time in the
acquisition of a theological education, it takes but one of our boys, with
the aid of the Bible and the little Catechism, to wind them up as you
would an old clock.  This has been the experience of many of our boys, and
when they started out from their homes to preach the Gospel, they did not
know that they could say anything at all about its principles; but when
they have come in contact with those who have professed much and who have
undertaken to disprove the Gospel as taught by the Latter-day Saints,
their minds have become enlightened and passages of Scripture have come to
them, and they have discomfited their opponents, so that they have had
nothing to say.  I have done so many times myself, and that too with a few
words; and the conversation would be turned to something else.  With all
their study and learning, and with all the philosophy and science there is
brought to the aid of false theories, how easy it is to believe the truth! 
It is much easier than to disbelieve it.  Truth commends itself to every
honest person, it matters not how simply it is told, and when it is
received it seems as though we had been acquainted with it all our lives. 
It is the testimony of the majority of the Latter-day Saints that when
they first heard the Gospel preached, as contained in the Bible and
Doctrine and Covenants, although entirely new to them, it seemed as though
they already understood it, and that they must have been "Mormons" from
the beginning.

	Well, before I sit down I will present to the congregation the names
of three of our brethren whom I shall recommend to form the presidency of
this Stake of Zion, which will comprise Davis County, and the name of
which will probably be Farmington Stake of Zion.  (Here Pres. Young
proposed the names of Wm. R. Smith of Centreville as President, and
Christopher Layton of Kaysville as his first and Anson Call of Bountiful
as his second Counselors).  I know some of you wish it otherwise, or that
some one else was chosen for President; but as we cannot suit everybody's
desire in a matter of this kind, we have to centre on one, and I have felt
to suggest the name of brother Smith.  (Each name was put separately, and
each vote was unanimous).

	Before presenting the names of brethren to compose the High Council,
which would be in order to do, I propose for President of the High
Priests' Quorum the name of Thomas S. Smith, who was once Bishop of this
place.  (brother Smith was unanimously sustained; and brothers Thomas
Steele and Job Welling were elected as his Counselors, without a single
dissenting vote.  The names of the brethren to act as members of the High
Council were also presented and sustained in a similar manner).

	The Wards will be organized hereafter; Bishops will be placed over
them, with their two Counselors, all of whom will be ordained High
Priests, if not already so ordained, and then be set apart to act in their
several offices.  They then will form a court; and then all the other
quorums of Priesthood wll [sic] be set in order.  For what?  Paul says,
"For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ."  But whether this will be the result here
I do not know.  All I know is that it should be so, and if every one does
his duty and lives his religion, it will be so.  (The brethren chosen and
elected to fill the several offices herein named, were then set apart to
act therein.  The President then continued--)

	Just a few words to the Presidency of this Stake of Zion.  It is now
their duty to see that the officers within their jurisdiction perform
their several duties, it is sufficient work for them too if they will
attend to it.  The High Council I hope will not have much business to do. 
I am told that there have only been three cases during the last
twenty-three years, that have gone for trial before the High Council from
Farmington.  That is doing very well.  To the now acting Bishops, who will
be ordained Bishops, as well as to brother Hess, who I believe is the only
ordained Bishop in the country, I will say that you will now be required
to look after your several Wards more assiduously than heretofore; see
that Teachers are diligent in the performance of their duties, and that
all difficulties that may arise among the brethren of the Ward be settled,
if possible, by the Teachers; and also see that all who claim membership
in this Church observe the moral law of our religion.  We shall not expect
to hear of people breaking the Sabbath, and a hundred other things all of
which are inconsistent with our holy callings, and opposed to the
accomplishment of the work that the Father has given us to do.  You are
called upon now to make yourselves familiar with the revelations and
commandments that have been given us of the Lord for our perfection, for
our sanctification preparatory to our exaltation, and so live that our
acts and conversations may conform to the same.  We expect to see a
radical change, a reformation, in the midst of this people, so that, when
the proper authorities shall call upon you to do thus and so, every one
may be found willing and ready to respond, placing himself, with all he
commands, for the up-building of the kingdom of God.  This is in
accordance with a revelation given to this Church before the law of
Tithing was revealed; but in consequence of unbelief and imperfection on
the part of the people it was not observed, and hence a law more adapted
to their condition was given, namely, that of Tithing.  You are called
upon now to improve your ways, to seek with all earnestness for an
increase of faith that you may live according to the higher laws, which is
your privilege to do, and which is so necessary for our peace and comfort
and for the good order of society and for the salvation of the Latter-day
Saints.  We shall look for this change, and I do not think we shall be
disappointed; if at all, I believe it will prove a happy disappointment to
all Israel, because of the great reformatiou [sic] that will be effected
among the Latter-day Saints.

	Brethren and sisters, we feel to bless you, we are blessing you all
the time, and God is blessing you.  See how he has tempered the elements;
how he has held our enemies in check, and delivered us out of their grasp
and power; how he has prospered us when we have confined our attention to
our legitimate business; and I can say with all propriety that if we had
strictly followed the counsels that have been given from the commencement
until to-day, instead of being in such poverty, as we are in one sense, we
would be a self-sustaining, independent people, commanding millions just
as easy as we now command thousands.  But how unwise, how foolish some of
our brethren are!  I am ashamed of them, and their condition is
deplorable.  Instead of beautifying their homes and improving their farms,
and helping to reclaim the community and build up the Zion of the
latter-days, they have done--what?  Dug holes in the ground? and, I do not
know how it is with you, but go to Salt Lake City, and you will find men
whose experience and judgment should have taught them better reaping the
results of their folly--their houses and lots mortgaged, their farms, also
many are in this condition, and most of them will lose their property. 
They wanted a little more money, they allowed themselves to be allured and
they lose all.  I myself was the means of making several brethren by
employing them, letting them have business to attend to until they became
wealthy; and now they are in poverty.  Whereas, if they had taken my
counsel they could have added to their wealth and been in good comfortable
circumstances to-day, success and prosperity would have attended them,
peace and blessing would have been their portion, and they in turn would
have been in a position to bless others of their brethren.  This I say,
with all confidence and assurance; but no, selfishness and covetousness
blinded them, they wanted more and they coveted that which was not their
own; and if they have not already sensed it, I can tell them that weeping,
mourning and lamentation will overtake them, and this they bring upon
themselves.

	Let us take the course pointed out and we will avoid trouble; if we
pay attention to our calling we will be blessed abundantly, both
temporally and spiritually; and when it shall be said to the people, Let
us do this or that, it will be done.  We require nothing more of the
people than the Lord requires of us.  And what is that?  It is this, "Son,
give me thine heart."  Let us truly and in reality be servants of God,
holding ourselves with all we have subject to the will of God, to be used,
if necessary, for the building up of his kingdom on the earth.  This is
what the Lord requires, this is what the Priesthood require, and is the
course I endeavor to pursue.

	I say God bless you; I bless you.  I say peace be with you. 
Brethren, one and all, be faithful, be diligent.  We have all plenty to
do; it remains for us to live so that by the light of the Holy Spirit, we
can see the work before us.  Do not let our minds run after gold and
silver, nor upon houses and lands; what the Lord gives us take the very
best care of, putting the same to a wise and proper use, or our hearts
cannot be for the kingdom.

	Never have I seen to so great an extent that willingness to labor for
the cause of righteousness, as was witnessed in the Temple, at St. George,
last winter.  The Spirit of God pervaded the hearts of the brethren and
sisters, and how willing they were to labor!  This work will continue, and
the brethren and sisters will go into the Temples of the Lord, to
officiate for those who have died without the Gospel from the days of
Father Adam to the winding-up scene, until every one is officiated for;
who can or will receive the Gospel so that all may have the opportunity
and privileges of life and salvation.

	Don't you think we have a work to perform?  Yes, and it will take a
thousand years to accomplish it.  In the Temple last winter the brethren
and sisters enjoyed themselves the best that tney [sic] ever did in their
lives.  So they said.  And our children, just old enough to work, how
happy they were!  They would exclaim, "I never knew anything about
`Mormonism' before!"  If you were in the Temples of God working for the
living and the dead, your eyes and hearts would not be after the fashions
of the world, nor the wealth of the world.  Yet the whole of this world's
wealth belongs to the Lord, and he can give to whomsoever he pleases. 
Amen.



                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
      Delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden, at a meeting of the Relief
                Societies of Weber County, July 19, 1877.
                       (Reported by James Taylor.)
    RELIEF SOCIETIES--TALK TO MOTHERS--IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES--DOMESTIC
       MATTERS--TRAINING CHILDREN--HOME PRODUCTION--SILK INTERESTS.

	[The following discourse was delivered by President Brigham Young; it
was not revised by our respected President, but is presented as reported
by brother James Taylor, of Ogden.]

	I expected to attend a meeting of the Relief Societies of this Stake
of Zion to hear reports, and comments from the Presidency, the
Secretaries, and from those that they would call upon to speak.  I learn
from the President that the calculation was to invite the brethren to come
here and talk to them, instead of their talking to us, and to give them
instructions, point out their duties, and direct them with regard to their
future course of life.  This we are willing to do, on conditions.  Were I
to ask you if you are willing to comply with those conditions, I have no
doubt but what you would at once answer me in the affirmative, and believe
that you would carry out the declaration of your own voices, for this
would be your mind.  The question is, will you carry out our instructions? 
We leave each and every one to determine that by their future lives.  We
hope that the people will hearken and by their acts respond to our
requests.

	The people called Latter-day Saints say that they wish to know and
understand how to order their lives before Him when we serve and
acknowledge as our Father and our God.  If I were to give you my own
feelings with regard to instructions, many of you would perhaps consider
it egotism; still, I take the liberty of saying to these my sisters, if
the counsel and instruction that your unworthy servant has given to the
inhabitants of the earth had been obeyed and carried out, I have taught
them enough to have saved the nations of the earth, and to have made every
one of them to be Latter-day Saints.

	We are professedly Saints.  What is the difference between a Saint of
God and an angel of God?  One is clothed upon with mortality, the other
has passed through mortality aud [sic] has received the celestial glory of
our heavenly Father, and is free from the contaminating influences of sin
that we have to contend with.  This is the difference.  We ask the
question, can mortal beings live so that they are worthy of the society of
angels?  I can answer the question for myself--I believe that they can; I
am sure that they can.  But in doing this, they must subdue the sin that
is within themselves, correct every influence that arises within their own
hearts that is opposed to the sanctifying influences of the grace of God,
and purify themselves by their faith and by their conduct, so that they
are worthy.  Then they are prepared for the society of angels.  To be
Saints indeed, requires every wrong influence that is within them, as
individuals, to be subdued, until every evil desire is eradicated, and
every feeling of their hearts is brought into entire subjection to the
will of Christ.  Now you all believe this just as much as I do.

	The first thing I am going to introduce to my sisters is the
condition of this community.  Since I have come into this place I
understand that you have a great deal of sickness here.  "It is very warm
weather," one says.  "A great deal of sickness," says another.  I want to
say to you that warm weather is very healthy weather.  And I can say still
further, with regard to our climate, a dry climate is a healthy climate,
much more so than where a damp miasma arises from swamps and decayed
materials, which is so frequently the case in low lands, especially in the
Mississippi Valley, but not so on this western slope.  Now I want you to
understand what I am talking to you--this weather is beautiful weather to
enjoy health.

	Now I will talk to you mothers.  If I were invited to your houses to
take supper, or breakfast to-morrow morning, if you have it within your
reach you will have a platter of meat cooked, and will put this before
your children.  They are hungry, and require something to satisfy the
demands of nature.  You place this before them, and, if they choose, in
our country, they may gorge themselves to overflowing.  You do not stop to
ask them if they have eaten sufficient, and ask them now to desist, and
eat moderately.  You will let your children eat green apples and berries
of any kind; sit down and eat fat meat, if they choose it and like it; and
fill their systems with swine's flesh which is more susceptible of
diseases than any other flesh that we eat.  It is not like fish or fowl. 
It is susceptible of disease of every kind, and will impregnate the system
with disease far quicker than any other food that we eat.  Now, mothers,
it is well for you to think of these things.  I will tell you how you can
enjoy health.  You let your children have a little milk in the morning.  I
would prefer putting it over the fire and boiling it, and put one-third
water in it, with a little flour and a particle of salt to make it
palatable.  Give them a little bread with it--not soft bread, teach your
children to eat crust--hard baked bread, that the Americans would call
stale, but the English would not.  Teach them to eat this, and go eat
sparingly.  Instead of drinking unhealthy water, boil such water, and let
it stand until it is cool.  If the children are in the least troubled with
summer complaint, and are weak in their bowels, make a weak composition
tea, sweeten it with loaf sugar, and put a little nice cream in it; and
let the children make a practice of drinking composition instead of cold
water.  Mothers, keep the children from eating meat; and let them eat
vegetables that are fully matured, not unripe, and bread that is well
baked, not soft.  Do not put your loaf into the oven with a fire hot
enough to burn it before it is baked through, but with a slow heat, and
let it remain until it is perfectly baked; and I would prefer, for my own
eating, each and every loaf to be no thicker than my two hands--you tell
how thick they are--and I wouuld [sic] want the crust as thick as my hand.

	Now for experience.  You see I am creeping up into years; and I have
heen [sic] from my boyhood a person of observation.  I have many and many
a time said to children when they begged for the soft bread, that was not
baked thoroughly, "Look here; you will not live very long; you will
probably come to a premature grave."  I have noticed invariably the child
that selects the soft bread to be a short-lived person.  The children that
hunt around after the crust and eat it, I have noticed endure, live, and
continue to live on.  Have you ever noticed this?  I have quite aged
sisters here; and I am talking to many that have children, grand-children
and great-grand-children, like myself.  Have you ever observed this?  If
you have not I wish you would commence to reflect upon it.

	You say you are improving.  These societies are for the improvement
of our manners, our dress, our habits, and our methods of living.  Now,
sisters, will you take notice, and instruct those who are not here to-day,
to adopt this rule--stop your children from eating meat, and especially
fat meat; let them have composition to drink, instead of unhealthy water;
let them eat a little milk porridge; let them eat sparingly and not
oppress the stomach so as to create a fever.  No matter whether it is a
child or a middle-aged person, whenever the stomach is over-loaded and
charged with more than is required it creates a fever; this fever creates
sickness, until death relieves the sufferer.  Now the people do not think
of this.  You ought to have thought of it.  I have taught this for years
and years to the people.  When we commence to shape our lives according to
the judgment that is given to us, and we exercise a proper portion of
thought, and study the laws of life, to know what to give, and how to
guide and direct onr [sic] children and ourselves, we shall find that the
longevity of this people will increase.  Although it is a fact that the
longevity of this people is as great perhaps as that of any other people
at the present time; yet we shall find if we will hearken to the wisdom
our Heavenly Father has given us, this will increase; and we shall learn
at once that we are enjoying better health, we shall have a greater amount
of vitality, and a stronger development of ahility [sic], and by
temperance and moderation lay the foundation for the development of the
mind.  Now, here let me throw in a side remark.  I do not mean to go
without food and go to fasting.  This is the other extreme.  A sufficient
amount of food that will agree with the stomach is healthy, and should be
partaken of.  Aged or middle aged, youth or children, uever [sic] should
go without food until their stomachs are faint, demanding something to
sustain their systems, and continue to undergo this; for this lays the
foundation of weakness, and this weakness will tempt disease.  But keep
the stomach in a perfectly healthy condition.  Now I do not mean fasting,
but eating moderately; and if my sisters will go home and commence to
adopt this rule, you will find that you begin to get better, your children
and neighbors will get better.  We do not expect all to be free from
sickness.  I have had a great deal of sickness in my life.  I do not
expect to be free from the ills, the weakness, debility and disease that
prey upon the human family, but we can amend our ways, and amend our life
by being prudent; and I wish the sisters to understand this, and to adopt
these instructions; and if you do not learn before the month of July is
gone that your sickness has departed, I shall be very much disappointed. 
So much for the health of the people.  Will you listen?

	Here are mothers.  Who give the key to the nations of the earth with
regard to their feelings, pride, prejudices; their religion, habits and
customs, and, I may say, who, in a great degree, govern, that lay the
foundation for the ability that is exhibited among the nations of men?  It
is the mothers.  Who have laid the foundations in the hearts of children
to prepare them to be great and good men?  It is not the fathers--it is
the mothers.  It is like the saying of the Savior with regard to the poor. 
Speaking to his disciples, he says:  "For the poor always ye have with
you, but me ye have not always."  Now the children are always with the
mother, and the mother is always with the children, but the father they
have not.  He is in the field, at his work; and the mother is all the time
making impressions upon the minds of the children.  Permit me here to say,
mothers, and my sisters, you who are young, it will do you good if you
will only observe it.  You see, hear and witness a good deal of contention
among children--some of you do, if not all--and I will give you a few
words with regard to your future lives, that you may have children that
are not contentious, not quarrelsome.  Always be good-natured yourselves. 
[sic-punc] is the first step.  Never allow yourselves to become out of
temper and get fretful.  Why, mother says, "this is a very mischievous
little boy or little girl."  What do you see?  That amount of vitality in
those little children that they cannot be still.  If they cannot do
anything else they will tip over the chair, cut up and pull away at
anything to raise a row.  They are so full of life that they cannot
contain themselves; and they are something like ourselves--boys.  They
have so much vitality in them that their bones fairly ache with strength. 
They have such an amount of vitality--life, strength and activity, that
they must dispose of them; and the young ones will contend with each
other.  Do not be out of temper yourselves.  Always sympathize with them
and soothe them.  Be mild and pleasant.  If you see a child with knives
and forks, playing with them, it might put out its eyes.  It will not do
to give it a hammer and a looking glass.  What will you do?  I am a person
of experience, and know to deal with children.  If the child has in its
hand that which it should not have, let the mother or the father, or
whoever has charge of the child or has the right, take such things from
it, and put them away where they belong.  Now, mother, listen to
this--never ask a child to give up that which it should not have.  Step up
kindly and put the article where it belongs.  The child will not say
anything.  A little circumstance took place in Salt Lake City.  I had
business in a house where I had understood there had heen [sic]
considerable trouble occasionally; and the mother would not let the father
speak to the children, to chastise them.  I went into the house and talked
to the man.  The lady came in and sat down.  I pretty soonsaw a little
girl, about two years old, with a tip thimble in her mouth, sucking it.  I
went up to the girl, took the thimble from her and put it on the mantle
shelf.  Says I to the mother--"you must not allow the child to have this
thing; if it should go into the stomach it will decay."  The man looked at
me as if he would faint away.  He was a large man, but I suppose he never
attempted to say such a thing to his wife in his life.  I said it; and the
mother was so confounded that she did not say a word; and it would not
have done her any good if she had. Now, if you will mind this--You bring
up your children correctly, and teach them those principles and habits
that are correct, and you will find that you will improve very materially
in your families.  If you find that the children are cruel, do not contend
with them, soothe them, and invite those who through accident have injured
a little sister to pity her.  "You have accidentally hurt your little
sister, go and kiss her."  By taking this course you will have good
children, and they will not contend with each other.  I am talking to you
of that which I know.  I have had an experience in these matters.

	I will relate a little incident that occurred in my own family.  A
little boy about three and a half years old was very ill.  His mother
would feed him bread and milk, or whatever he wished.  As soon as he ceuld
[sic] stand by her, every day he wanted his bread and milk.  Just as soon
as he had got what he wanted, he would throw up his hand, and away went
the basin to the floor.  His mother did not know what to do.  Said I, "If
you will do just as I tell you, I will tell you what to do.  The next time
you sit down to feed this little boy, when he has got through he will
knoek [sic] the dish out of your hand."  Said I, "Lean him against the
chair, do not say one word to him, go to your work, pay no attention to
him whatever."  She did so.  The little fellow stood there looked at her,
watched her; then he would look at the basin and the spoon, watch his
mother, and look at the basin and spoon again.  By and by he got down and
crept along the floor and climbed up to the chair, and then set the basin
on the table, and crept until he got the spoon and put it on the table. 
He never tried to knock that dish out of her hand again.  Now she might
have whipped him and injured him, as a great many others would have done;
but if they know what to do, they can correct the child without violence.

	One of the nicest things in the world is to let an enemy alone
entirely, and it mortifies him to death.  If your neighbors talk about
you, and you think that they do wrong in speaking evil of you, do not let
them know that you ever heard a word, and conduct yourselves as if they
always did right, and it will mortify them, and they will say,  "We'll not
try this game any longer."  I have seen men, and women also, that are
never happy until they are miserable, and never easy until they are in
pain.

	These are little things; but is not the world made up of little
things?  The wbole [sic] earth is composed of these small atoms of sand. 
Our lives are made up of little, simple circumstances that amount to a
great deal when they are brought together, and sum up the whole life of
the man or woman; and yet in our passing from one to another our little
acts and incidents seem to be very minute or simple, but we find that they
amount to a great deal.

	Now, sisters, will you learn these things.  I want to see the
children of this people grow as they should; and I want to go a little
farther with regard to our children.  Commence, mothers, just as quick as
the child is old enough to understand, which is quite young.  They observe
the acts and doings of the mother, and whoever is present.  From these
acts they imbibe their first impressions.  Now, mothers, do you want your
children to be Saints, when they are grown up?  Do you want your sons and
daughters to be good and great, and their lives filled up with usefulness? 
"Certainly, with all my heart."  Then lay that foundation for their future
life by teaching each little child what it should do.  Teach that child
honesty, uprightness and truthfulness.  Never permit a falsehood to be
told, nor the color of a falsehood without correction.  Train that child
by your own acts and words, from its infancy, so it may imbibe the
principle in its own heart to be perfectly honest.  Teach that child to
believe in God our Heavenly Father.  Teach it to believe, to have
confidence in Him.

	"Why, he is the author of your lives.  Here are your father and
mother with regard to your natural body."  As soon as they can understand
anything at all, teach them--"Yes, my little child, but you have a spirit
within you.  Were it not for this spirit, you would not have life in you. 
Here are the father and mother of your tabernacle; but you have a spirit
in you, and the father of that spirit is our Heavenly Father, whom we
serve as our God.  You must have implicit confidence in this Being.  You
must depend upon Him always.  If you are in danger in the least, you must
believe in God, and ask Him to rescue you, to preserve you; and your faith
must be in the name of Him that He has given, whom He calls His only
begotten son, to die a ransom for our sins."  And as soon as they can
understand, teach them with regard to the original sin.  Teach them to
have implicit confidence in the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ; and
every time they need wisdom, to ask for wisdom, and ask for understanding;
and every time they are in trouble, ask our Heavenly Father to give them
comfort, and they will feel joyous instead of grievous, and will feel a
buoyant feeling, instead of being cast down.  Teach the children to pray,
that when they are large enough to go into the field with their father,
they may have faith that if they are in danger they will be protected. 
Teach them that those good angels that are ministering spirits, and their
angels, to guard and defend the just and pure watch over them continually. 
And teach them--I am sorry to say there are not many mothers who do teach
it--that they may grow up with this understanding, that our Heavenly
Father takes cognizance of all our acts and doings, and of us, as
individuals, and that His eye is over us, and there is not so much as a
hair of our heads falls to the ground without the notice of our Heavenly
Father.  Teach them these things and they will grow up into this habit. 
You may call it tradition, but it is an excellent one.  You can sow the
seeds of infidelity and they will grow there.  Teach the children so that
when they go out from the presence of their father and mother, God is in
all their thoughts.  Can you come to this understanding, mothers?  If I
were talking to the brethren, I should say no man in this Church has the
privilege or right to enter into business, or go at anything without
having God in his thoughts, and asking for guidance and direction in all
his ways.  And I will say to the mothers and sisters, now give your
children this correct tradition in their youth.  As I was talking to one
of my wives, she said, "Who is there that teaches her children these
things?"  I turned to one and said, "There is one of my wives; she has
children full of faith, because she made it her business to teach them the
tradition to believe in God the Father, to call upon Him continually; and
God was in their thoughts from morning until evening, all the time they
were awake.  Says I, "There is the woman; she has taught her children." 
Now I know that mothers can teach their children; and they ought to teach
them, and this is my duty to tell you what to do in this case.  Remember
to traditionate your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 
Teach them as they ought to be taught, that they will have faith from
their youth up, and the Spirit of the Lord to direct them, that they may
never lose sight of this faith in Christ, and our Heavenly Father; and
when they are old they will not depart from the good path.  I am firm in
the faith, and verily believe, that if mothers will bring up their
children aright, and give them that early training that they should have,
their children will grow up and never depart from the path of rectitude
and truth.

	The mothers are the moving instruments in the hands of Providence to
guide the destinies of nations.  Let the mothers of any nations teach
their children not to make war, the children would grow up and never enter
into it.  Let the mothers teach their children.  "War, war upon your
enemies, yes, war to the hilt!"  and they will be filled with this spirit. 
Consequently you see at once what I wish to impress upon your mind is,
that the mothers are the machinery that give zest to the whole man, and
guide the destinies and lives of men upon the earth.  Now, then, I want to
talk upon other matters.  You can do just as you please; you can rule this
Stake of Zion.  Why, here are brother Peery and his two Counselors, they
cannot move one step unless you say so.  You do not understand this, do
you?  Why, all the men in this Stake of Zion can go to some other country,
but when the ladies say thus and so, all the men have to come to the
standard.  "But, we have an independence, you know; and I would not like
to pin my destiny to any woman's apron string."  But you see the force of
this education, which is forced upon them by the teachings received in
early childhood.

	Now I want you to guide and direct to our benefit.  I want these my
sisters to take into consideration what we can do with regard to
sustaining ourselves.  Say you, "let us go to work and lay the foundation
of it."  In a great many places there is a foundation of it laid out,
which is very good.  Now, I want you to go to work and say, we will make
all our head-dresses, we will make all the hats that the men need to wear;
we have plenty of straw and materials, we will do this.  "Now you have an
object, brother Brigham."  Yes, I have, more than one object; and the
great object is to show to our heavenly Father that we have come out from
Babylon, and are capable of taking care of ourselves.  When we come to
finances, I want the people to be rich, instead of poor.  The course we
are now taking is beggaring the people--running into debt for this folly
and that folly, and everything that they can see.  Why, let the merchant
come and bring the follies of Babylon, we want them immediately.  "Why,
yes, we can make all the straw hats, if you will take them."  I will tell
you what else I want, I want the sisters to say to themselves, and then to
their daughters, sisters and friend, "We will wear that which we will
make, or we will wear nothing; we will make what we wear on our heads; we
will make our own hats and bonnets."  Now men, will you patronize this? 
"Yes."  Then get your husbands to say, "we will not buy one of the hats
from these stores, if they bring them by the car load."  Well, there will
be a great deal saved to this Stake of Zion; probably more than twenty
thousand dollars.  Then say to your husband, "now, go and build a tannery,
that the hides that come off our beef cattle, can be made into leather." 
And then, say to your husband, "I want you to understand that I am
perfectly, absolutely opposed to your course of life, unless you make some
leather."  Then, sisters, go to work and make up this leather.  The labor
is in the shade, and a great deal of this work can be done by machinery;
but it can be done by hand.  We have one sister in Salt Lake City, who
started twenty-three years ago boot and shoe making; she has made herself
a little fortune; she has plenty to live on; she has worked with her own
hands until she has accumulated property enough to sustain her.  My young
sisters, instead of sitting continually at the piano and getting the
consumption, take hold and build up Zion.  The first thing is to do
something for yourselves, and learn to labor; and when ene thing is done,
take up another item, and continue until we manufacture every thing that
we need here.

	I will say to those who are raising sheep, do not send your wool
away.  Why, it will be said, "a fool and his money are soon parted."  Save
your wool, and send it to the factory.  If we want a little cotton cloth,
we can raise it in the southern eountry [sic]; and we could raise some
here as well as in some other places.  We can raise about two gatherings. 
In the best of the States they will gather from three to four.  We can
raise our cotton in the south, and save our wool here.  Go to and save
your wheat.  Tell the people of this Stake of Zion not to sell their
grain.  "We are in debt," says one.  What brought you in debt?  "Oh, I
wanted a thresher and a mowing machine."  Where do you live?  How much
grass have you to cut?  "One hundred and fifty acres."  How many mowing
machines have you got?  "Only eight."  Buy another, and another machine,
and clothing from the stores that is nothing in the world but shoddy, with
but enough of wool to hold it together--buy these, and buy more than you
can pay for.  Go into debt, and pauperize the whole community, instead of
building up Zion.  I want you to stop.  When we are in a position to build
up ourselves, we are building up Zion.  Let us sustain ourselves.

	Well, I may say there are a hundred and one things we have to talk
about; and as the sisters will give no reports, we will tell them what
they should do.  Now, recollect what I have said to you.  Go to, from one
thing to another to make for ourselves what we need.  Stop this buying, so
that we can have something on hand.

	Another item.  I will say to the Presidency of this Stake of Zion, if
you could take one-fourth the time of the men who are idle here and put it
on the Temple, and take the other three-fourths and go to the Railroad
Companies and say, "Gentlemen, we will turn you out a hundred hands who
will work for one dollar a day,"  we would have the railroads in our
hands, and have every dollar that they spend for five hundred miles.  We
might bring every dollar in here, and live within fifty cents on the
dollar, and save the other fifty cents.  How long would it take the men to
go down to the bed rock, where we were brought up?  I can see women who,
when they were twenty years old, six yards of calico was all they asked
for for a gown, and that was good enough to wear to meeting or to a party;
good enough anywhere.  If my mother and her grandmother got one silk
dress, and they lived to a hundred years old, it was all that they wanted. 
I think my grandmother's silk dress came down to her children.  She put
her silk dress on when I went to see her.  It was, I think, her wedding
dress, and she had been married some seventy years. 

	Some of the ladies wear a silk dress and say, "Husband, I want
another silk dress, I have had this four years."  Learn to be prudent.  It
is no skill to get money; but, it is a skill to know how to preserve it
and make it increase, and bring to you an abundance to build up Zion, and
purchase what we want.

	I wish to say a few words to my sisters in regard to raising silk.  I
would like to talk just enough to have you do something in this direction. 
This is a matter that I have talked upon for a great many years.  Soon
after I first came to the valley, I sat on a load of hay in Salt Lake
City, and said, "this atmosphere is full of silk and all good things; and
we will prove it to be one of the best places for raising silk."  We have
proven that we can raise it.  There are sisters here who can reel it and
make it tnto [sic] cloth.  There is a sister before ime [sic] with a siik
[sic] dress on; she raised the silk, and made it herself; and I warrant it
will wear four times as long as any you can buy in the stores.  (By
invitation the sister arose that the congregation might see the dress.)  I
want to encourage you in this industry.  If you want a little change you
can very easily get it by raising silk.  Silk that we raise here, when it
is reeled, is worth from $8 to $14 a pound.  It is always a cash article,
and finds a ready market.  There is no day in the week or month in the
year but what you can find a market for silk, and get the money for it.  I
wish the sisters would think of this.  A few pounds of silk gives you a
little money.  It is easily raised; where there is a little care taken you
can preserve the eggs so thut [sic] you can raise two crops of cocoons in
a year.  There is no trouble to preserve them in onr [sic] ice-houses,
until the first are disposed of, and so you can keep the crops growing
along.  You can raise more money than the farmers, and beat them in the
production of wealth.  Take a woman with her children, and they will make
twice the amount of money by raising silk that the man can make with the
farm.  If you will try it you will say it is true.

	If you have not the mulberry trees--I have proffered for years to
give the trees and if you want a thousand you are welcome to them, or a
million, I am ready to give them to you.  Some twenty years ago I sent for
mulberry seed.  I have raised thousands and tens of thousands of trees,
and they are in this Territory.  I have a large cocoonery that I built
twelve or fourteen years ago.  I have given the use of that--a building
about 20 x 110 feet, and I have given the use of the mulberry trees, and
the fruit is good.  A great many people are fond of the fruit; it is
healthy for children.

	When you feel disposed to make a little money, go into the raising of
silk, which is one of the easiest branehes [sic] of business that was ever
followed.  There is no other work the women can do that will yield the
same amount of profit.  This is a matter that I wish you to hearken to. 
Will you bless yourselves, and do good to yourselves?  We have plenty of
weavers who can take the silk and know how to manufacture it; and they
will give you all you could reasonably ask for it.

	Now let the beauty of your adorning be the work of your hands.  Will
you not, Presidents, ask your Societies to enter into this agreement, and
go to work and make what you want to wear.  Then we will appeal to the
brethren and say, "Come, let us wear the head dresses that our wives and
our sisters can make; and it would be very healthy for the men if they
would wear straw hats winter and summer.  We would not see so many bald
heads as we now see around here.  Straw hats are perfectly healthy to
wear.  I have worn them through winter; and the only objection I have to
them is that they are a little too tight and close.  Let the sisters go to
work and make these things.

	Now, sisters, I plead with you to stop these fashions.  They are
nonsense.  Brother Carriugtoh [sic] has given you a a [sic] fine detail of
them, They are miserable looking.  I dare not tell you how they look to
me, and how the vanity looks that is in the minds of the people.  How long
is it since my family said to me of hoops, "They are so nice and comely;
how would we look if we were to take those hoops off?  why we should look
like the town pump.  Would you net [sic] be ashamed of us?"  I am ashamed. 
I am ashamed to see the tight clothes--to see the shape of the ladies. 
How long is it since the sleeves were so loose that you go into a store,
and the gentleman says, "Are you not going to buy a pair of aleeves
[sic]?"  "O, if I buy a pair of sleeves I shall have to have a new dress." 
"O, I will give you a dress."  Eighteen yards in the sleeves, and three
yards in the dress!  These foolish fashions, what good do they do?  I have
asked my sisters what they would think if a lady who lives in heaven
should pay them a visit.  Would she come with these large sleeves on--a
mutton leg sleeve, with dress pulled right out in front of her?  Now, it
is pinned back here.  It is very unwise.  It is nonsense and uncomely.  It
is the best looking of anything in the world when brother Carrington sees
his wife in her new calico dress."  You look just as you did when I
courtedy on."  Now there is another fashion.  You see a girl with her hair
clipped off in the front of her head; she looks as though she had just
come out of a lunatic asylum.  The hair is for an ornament.  You can love
a woman with a comely dress on of her own make, just as well as though she
had on a dress that cost five thousand pounds.

	We do not seem to realize that we have to give an account of the days
we spend in folly, and that we will be found wanting if we spend our time
foolishly.  When you come to the wheat and the fine flour, to the gold and
the silver and the precious stones, the Lord owns them.  But what have we? 
Our time.  Spend it as you will.  Time is given to you; and when this is
spent to the best possible advantage for promoting truth upon the earth,
it is placed to your account, and blessed are you; but when we spend our
time in idleness and folly it will be placed against us.  Here is the
difference.

	Now, sisters, take hold; do this that we ask you to do.  It is for
your own benefit, and health, and life, and for the comfort of the people,
and the building up of Zion.  And let us go to, and establish the Zion of
God upon the earth, that we may be prepared to enjoy it, which I most
earnestly pray for every day, in the name of Jesus,  Amen.



                   ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
     Delivered to the Sunday School Children, in the New Tabernacle,
                      Salt Lake City, July 24, 1877.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
    ITEMS OF HISTORY--THE PIONEERS--TALKING TO THE CHILDREN--PEACE IN
        UTAH--GOD A PERSONAGE OF TABERNACLE--THE FOOLISH FASHIONS.

	If I can have quiet and the strict attention of the congregation I
think all can hear me.  The children, as well as those of older growth and
manhood, will please cease their talking one to another, cease the rubbing
of feet on the floor, cease to make noise.  I have a few words for the
children, [sic-punc] The larger portion of this congregation have been
born in this Territory; they know nothing of the outside world; they know
but little in comparison as to the cause of their birth and education
within the valleys of these mountains.  A short recital of the reasons,
why these children before me were born here instead of being born in the
States, I can give you, and will endeavor to do so in a few words.  

	In 1830, forty-seven years ago last March, the Book of Mormon was
printed and bound.  Joseph Smith had received revelation, and plates on
which were engraved characters from which the book was translated.  Before
the book was printed, before Joseph had the privilege of testifying to the
truth of the latter-day work, persecution was raised against him.  On the
6th day of April of the same year the Church of Jesus Christ was
organized.  Persecution increased and continued to increase.  He left the
State of New York and went to the State of Ohio.  The Gospel was preached
there and many received it.  A settlement was formed, but Joseph had not
the privilege of staying there long before they hunted him sodeterminedly
that he was forced to leave Kirtland and the State of Ohio.  He then went
to Missouri.  In the year 1838, in the month of March, in company with a
number of brethren, myself included, Joseph arrived at Far West, Caldwell
county, Missouri.  We had not the privilege of staying there more than for
a few months before the cry was raised against Joseph Smith, that he was
guilty of high treason.  This aroused the people and the government of the
State; and in October, thirty-five hundred of the militia of the State of
Missouri were marched against a few of us in Far West.  They succeeded in
taking Joseph and Hyrum and sixty-five others and putting them in prison. 
When Joseph had his trial, the great accusation against him was that he
believed in the fulfilment of prophecy--the prophecies that had been made
by Prophets of old and contained in Holy Writ.  When Judge King asked
Joseph if he believed the predictions of Daniel the Prophet, that in the
latter-days the God of heaven would set up a kingdom which should succeed
and finally rule and hold dominion over all other kingdoms, Joseph replied
that he did believe this scripture as well as the rest.  This was
considered treason!  Joseph's lawyer turned to Judge King and said,
"Judge, I think you had better write it down that the Bible is high
treason," and this was all they found against him.  But the mob continued
until they drove the Latter-day Saints out of the State of Missouri.  We
were told if we remained there the people would be upon us.  What we were
guilty of we did not know, only that we believed in the Bible and the
fulfilment of prophecy, or, in other words, in the literal reading of the
word of God.  They succeeded, after killing many of the latter-day
Saints--men, women, and children, cruelly massacring them, in driving us
out of the State to the State of Illinois, where the people received us
with open arms, especially the inhabitants of the city of Quincy; for
which kindness the hearts of our people who passed through these scenes
have ever been lifted to God, petitioning for blessings upon them.  And
they have been blessed.  We lived in the State of Illinois a few years;
and here, as elsewhere, persecution overtook us.  It came from Missouri,
centering itself upon Joseph, and fastened itself upon others.  We lived
in Illinois from 1839 to 1844, by which time they again succeeded in
kindling the spirit of persecution against Joseph and the Latter-day
Saints.  Treason!  treason!  treason!  they cried, calling us murderers,
thieves, liars, adulterers, and the worst people on the earth.  And this
was done by the priests, those pious dispensers of the Christian religion
whose charity was supposed to be extended to all men, Christian and
heathen; they were joined by drunkards, gamblers, thieves, liars, in
crying against the Latter-day Saints.  They took Joseph and Hyrum, and as
a guarantee for their safety, Governor Thomas Ford pledged the faith of
the State of Illinois.  They were imprisoned, on the pretense of safe
keeping, because the mob was so enraged and violent.  The Governor left
them in the hands of the mob, who entered the prison and shot them dead. 
John Taylor, who is present with us to day, was in the prison too, and was
also shot, and was confined to his bed for several months afterwards. 
After the mob had committed these murders they came upon us and burned our
houses and our grain.  When the brethren would go out to put out the fire,
the mob would lie concealed under fences, and in the darkness of the
night, they would shoot them.  At last they succeeded in driving us from
the State of Illinois.

	Three congressmen came in the Fall of 1845, and had a Conference with
the Twelve and others; they were desirous that we should leave the United
States.  We told them we would do so, we had staid long enough with them;
we agreed to leave the State of Illinois in consequence of that religious
prejudice against us that we could not stay in peace any longer.  These
men said the people were prejudiced against us.  Stephen A. Douglass, one
of the three had been acquainted with us.  He said "I know you, I knew
Joseph Smith; he was a good man," and this people was a good people; but
the prejudices of the priests and the ungodly are such that, said he,
"Gentlemen, you cannot stay here and live in peace."  We agreed to leave. 
We completed our Temple far enough to give endowments to many.  We left
Nauvoo in February, 1846,  [sic-punc]  There remained behind a few of the
very poor, the sick and the aged, who suffered again from the violence of
the mob: they were whipped and beaten, and had their houses burned.  We
travelled west, stopping in places, building settlements, where we left
the poor who could not travel any further with the company.  Exactly
thirty years to-day, myself, with others, came out of what we named
Emigration Canon; we crossed the Big and Little mountains, and came down
the valley about three quarters of a mile south of this.  We located, and
we looked about, and finally we came and camped between the two forks of
City Creek, one of which ran south-west and the other west.  Here we
planted our standard on this Temple block and the one above it; here we
pitched our camps and determined that here we would settle and stop. 
Still our brethren who tarried by the way were toiling through poverty and
distress.  At one time, I was told, they would have perished from
starvation, had not the Lord sent quails among them.  These birds flew
against their wagons, and they either killed or stunned themselves, and
the brethren and sisters gathered them up, which furnished them with food
for days, until they made their way in the wilderness.

	Children, we are the pioneers of this country, with one exception,
west of the Mississippi river; we established the first printing press in
every State from here to the Pacific Ocean, and we were the first to
establish libraries, and the first to establish good schools; we were the
first to plant out orehards [sic] and to improve the desert country,
making it like the garden of Eden.

	I will not prolong this recital; but will ask the children if they
can now understand why they were born here in this far off land?  You
might just as well have been born in Missouri or Illinois, if your parents
had been treated as they should have been.  If let alone to enjoy the
rights and liberties in common with our fellowmen, we would have
beautified the land, made it an Eden and adorned it with everything
desirable.  But we were not allowed to stay there to possess the homes we
had made; and consequently we are here and this has been your birth-place. 
And now that we are here, we are followed by a set of men who are ready to
re-enact the scenes that we have already passed through.  But we are now
where we can keep and preserve ourselves in the possession of our homes
and property.  They drove us to the fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains, and
it will be a hard matter to dispossess us again; it will prove a job, if
undertaken, that they would be glad to let out before they get fairly into
it.  But still they are after us; and when you hear of this and that with
regard to myself, being guilty of this and that wrong; I would have you
look at those who make these accusations, look at certain characters we
have and have had in our midst who are called ministers of justice,
ministers of the law; they are bosom companions of thieves, liars and
murderers; but the honorable and upright they hate because their deeds are
evil; and they believe they have a mission, but it is a hard one to
accomplish.

	You can now understand, my children, why you were born in Utah, and
not in either Missouri or Illinois.  If they had let us alone we would
have made those lands an Eden, and we would have molested or hurt no one. 
For there are no people that preserve the laws of our government as well
as the Latter-day Saints.

	Now, permit me to cast one reflection before closing this part of my
address.  You have been reading of the great and alarming "uprising of the
Mormons!" what a terrible time they are experiencing in Utah!  etc.

	Wonderful!  Wonderful!  You have seen your fathers, who are farmers,
go to their farms, and those who are mechanics, to their workshops, and
our merchants to their place of business, without molesting any person,
and what a terrible state of affairs this is.  You have read, too, in our
late papers about the uprising of the railroad strikers, which has really
taken place; does it not seem singular to you why these characters, who
are so afraid of trouble, do not go east and lend their aid and moral
influence to quell the riot?  You can understand that if we had been let
alone we would have done justice and preserved the laws.  Who pay their
taxes as well as do the Latter-day Saints?  No people.  Who honor so well
the laws of our government?  No other people.  This is the speech that
brother George Q. Cannon was expected to have made.  He wanted me to make
it and I have to make the two speeches in one.

	Now, a few words of counsel to the children.  Do you feel, children,
that you can remain patient and endure my talk a little longer?  I think
you can.  A few words of counsel to you, to you that understand what I am
saying, I hope you will observe what I say and remember it, and carry it
out in your lives.  The first is to love the Lord your God with all your
hearts.  And the next is to honor your parents, that your days may be long
in the land which the Lord your God has given us.  Observe, children, and
hearken.  You are taught to worship the Lord, so are the children of the
Christian world.  They have their Sunday schools, and churches and
meeting-houses, and their ministers and teachers who instruct the
children.  You go to them and ask them if they know anything about that
Holy Being whom they worship, and whom they call God.  Not that the
comprehension of children is equal to that of the aged philosopher, but
still you have some understanding.  Children, when you ask the ministers
of Christendom whom they worship, they will tell you, "Oh, we worship
God?"  Who is that God?  Can you tell us where he lives?  The answer is,
"No."  Can you tell us anything about his character?  He is a personage
without any body at all; he has neither body nor parts, he has no head, he
has no ears, he has no eyes to see, he has no nose to smell, no mouth to
speak, no arms to handle anything, nor a body to which these arms can be
attached; he has no legs, he therefore cannot walk; and finally they say,
to sum him up to our entire satisfaction, he is a personage without body,
parts or passions.

	Now, little children, can you conceive what kind of a being this is? 
You say, "It's nothing at all."  That is just what it is; it is a myth; it
is nothing to look at, nothing to adore, nothing to worship, nothing to
admire, nothing to appeal to for help.  He has no arms to either handle us
or our enemies; he has no legs, he can neither walk to them nor to us; he
has no eyes to behold their follies or ours.  And this is the god that the
Christian world worship, and teach their children to worship.

	Now, children, remember this.  We teach you that our Father in heaven
is a personage of tabernacle, just as much as I am who stand before you
to-day, and he has all the parts and passions of a perfect man, and his
body is composed of flesh and bones, but not of blood.  He, therefore, has
eyes to see, and his eyes are upon all the works of his hands; he has
ears, which are open to hear the prayers of little children, and he loves
you, and knows you, for you are all his offspring; and his knowledge of
you is so minute that, to use the language of the ancients, not a hair of
your head falls to the ground unnoticed.  This is the kind of God we
worship.  Children, call upon him in your childhood and youth, for from
such as you he has said he will not turn away.  Ask the Father to protect
you; always ask him, in the name of Jesus, for his spirit.  The youth, the
child, those who are partially grown, as well as the aged, cease not to
call upon God with all your hearts.  Remember this.  Obey your parents,
honor them and seek to do them good.  And parents, seek to honor your
children; bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Teach
them truth and not error; teach them to love and serve God; teach them to
believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God and the Savior of the world, who is
a personage of tabernacle.  He was to all appearance like other men, and
he was the express image of the Father.  If he were here, to-day, as he
appeared at Jerusalem, he would pass through this Congregation, and no one
would suppose but what he was an ordinary stranger visiting us.  

	Children, believe in this character, he is the Savior of the world,
and the Father has appointed him to act in his exalted position.  It is
not my business nor yours to question the Father why he appointed this
Jesus to be the Savior of the world.  If you do not now fully comprehend
this, the time will come when you will.  Remember, too, the great
principle of improvement.  Learn!  learn!  learn!  continue to learn, to
study by observation and from good books!  Listen to the instruction of
your parents, and of your brethren who hold the holy Priesthood, and they
will teach you the ways of happiness and of life eternal.  If any of you
are so unfortunate as to have parents who wander into by and forbidden
paths, and who do things that are wrong, follow not after them, but honor
them and be kind to them, and teach them by example the better way.  Study
the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, read the
sermons that are published in the deseret News, as well as all the
standard works of the Church.  Such reading will afford you instruction
and improvement; but novels allure the mind and are without profit.

	Little girls, permit me to ask you, Wont you be so kind and so good
as to take those pins or the indiarubber cords out of the back of the
skirts of your dresses, so that you will look comely.  They make you look
uncomely, to see your dresses drawn around you, showing your form. 
Mothers ought to be ashamed of teaching their children such things.  Dress
your children and yourselves in that comely, angelic manner that, were an
angel to visit you, you would not feel ashamed.  I am very pleased to say
that there are some of our girls, and numbered among them are some of my
own, whom you could not get to adopt these follies.  Ask your mothers,
then, to make your clothes suitable and becoming; and keep your hair
smooth and nice.  The hair is given to the female for adornment; and
therefore let the ladies, young and old, adorn their heads with their
hair.  Mothers should study and children should study to preserve the skin
of the children from being ruined by dirt, and the heat of a scorching
sun, and to keep themselves clean and pure; but children, now remember,
study those books that teach you the way of life and salvation.

	You see that the infant and the children die.  How many of you
witness the infant lying in its little coffin, and here lie the child and
the youth; they pass away in death.  And again, here are the middle-aged,
many of them pass away into eternity; the old people must die.  And the
world is but a span.

	Are we going to cease to exist?  No, this world is only a preparatory
place to gain a knowledge of God, that we may be prepared to enter into a
higher state of existence and glory, and grow up unto Christ our living
head.  Learn the ways of the Lord in your youth, and continue therein all
the days of your life, that you may be prepared for that higher state of
glory that awaits the faithful children of our God.

	I have said enough to answer my own feelings, for this occasion, and
perhaps to satisfy you.  I say to all, God bless you, my children, my
little ones.  I love you, I am a great lover of children and innocence and
purity, and I am a hater of iniquity, just as much so as the Lord, and
perhaps more than I should be.  I do not know this.  I think very
frequently, in looking upon the actions of men, that I do not have
compassion enough; but when I see the wolf among the lambs I am after
them, to see that they do not destroy the lambs.  And when you are told
that you do not know anything about "Mormonism," you may know it is wrong;
you know something of it every day.  I would have given worlds if I could
have known the truth in my childhood, as I now hear it.  I had a great
desire to know it, and the priests were after me from the time I was eight
years of age.  I was infidel to their creeds, but not to the Bible, not to
God, not to holiness, but to the creeds of the children of men I was
infidel, and am to this day.  I say, God bless you, my children.  I give
all of you an invitation to attend the meetings on the Sabbath day, to
hear the preaching and to worship God, and to spend the Sabbath day
prudently in the love and fear of God.  Try to adopt in your whole lives
that code of morals which our religion teaches, and which we urge upon the
people.  God bless you.  Amen.


                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
    Delivered at a Special Conference Held in Brigham City, Box Elder
      County, for the Purpose of Organizing a State of Zion in Said
              County, on Sunday Afternoon, August 19, 1877.
                       (Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.)
  THE LORD'S SUPPER--A WORD TO MOTHERS--THE SACRAMEENT [SIC] IN SABBATH
SCHOOLS--HISTORY OF SOME THINGS--YOUNG MEN TO PRESIDE--HOME MANUFACTURES.

	Previous to attending to the business to be presented to the
congregation this afternoon, I feel to exhort the Latter-day Saints before
me to try to realize the sacredness of the ordinance that is now being
administered to them, which was introduced by our Savior, that his
disciples might witness to the Father that they were truly his followers. 
On the last time that our Lord met with his disciples, previous to his
being betrayed, he administered to them the sacrament.  Instead of eating
as at other times, he took the bread and blessed and brake it and gave to
his disciples, saying to them that he should require of them to meet
together to break bread in remembrance of his body, that would suffer for
them and for the sins of the world.  So when he had blessed and broken the
bread, he administered the same to them, saying, "take, eat; this is my
body."  When his disciples had eaten, he then took the cup of wine and
gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink ye all of it; for this is
my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins."  He came here to redeem fallen man, he being the heir of the family
that receive bodies on this earth, that they, through obedience to his
requirements and commandments and the ordinances of his house; may be
sanctified and prepared to return unto the presence of the Father and
there sit down with Jesus, where he will administer to them again in
fulfillment of his saying to them, "I will not drink, henceforth of this
fruit of the vine, until the day when I drink it anew, with you, in my
Father's kingdom." 

	I would exhort my brethren and sisters to receive this ordinance
every Sabbath, when they meet together, as is our practice; not following
the customs of others, for with some denominations this is administered
once a month, with others once in three month, with others never, they not
believing in outward ordinances.  This is the way with the Christian
sects; they teach that portion of the Bible which seemeth right unto them
and add such doctrines, views and opinions as suit their own creeds.

	We are in the habit of partaking of the contents of the cup each
Sabbath when we meet together, and I do pray you my brethren and sisters
to contemplate this ordinance thoroughly, and seek unto the Lord with all
your hearts that you may obtain tbe [sic] promised blessings by obedience
to it.  Teach its observance to your children; impress upon them its
necessity.  its observance is as necessary to our salvation as any other
of the ordinances and commandments that have been instituted in order that
the people may be sanctified, that Jesus may bless them and give unto them
his spirit, and guide and direct them that they may secure unto themselves
life eternal.  Impress the sacredness of this important ordinance upon the
minds of your children.  Many of you who are aged, have witnessed the
strength and power of tradition, whether it be correct or false.  The
power of tradition upon the minds of the inhabitants of the earth is most
potent, I might say it is almost almighty.  We know the way of life, we
have the keys of life in our possession; and if we do not take the pains
to train our children, to teach and instruct them concerning these
revealed truths, the condemnation will be upon us, as parents, or at least
in a great measure.  We do not want this sin to rest upon us; we want the
people, each and every one to understand their duty and then discharge
that duty fearlessly, without favor or hope of earthly reward, having in
view the doing of the Father's will alone and the receiving of the
heavenly reward.

	Let me here call the special attention of the mothers to what I am
going to say:  If you mothers will live your religion, then in the love
and fear of God teach your children constantly and thoroughly in the way
of life and salvation, training them up in the way they should go, when
they are old they will not depart from it.  I promise you this, it is as
true as the shining sun, it is an eternal truth.  In this duty we fail; we
do not bring up our children in the way they should go, or there would be
no turning away, wandering here and there from the society of the Saints. 
We let onr [sic] children do too much as they have a mind to; if they want
this or that their wishes must be gratified; if they want to go here or
there, the mother, in very many instances, is too ready to urge upon the
father directly or indirectly, the necessity of accommodating the young
mind to the path of folly.

	By some it is very well understood that in the days of ancient Israel
while in the land of Palestine they were not blessed so profusely as we
are with the crystal streams from the mountains.  They were in the habit
of drinking a great deal of wine, and among the few who have continued to
inhabit that land, this habit I belinve [sic] has been kept up to the
present time.  It is a wine country.  But the Lord has said to us it
mattereth not what we partake of when we administer the cup to the people,
inasmuch as we do it with an eye single to the glory of God; it is then
acceptable to him.  Consequently we use water as though it were wine; for
we are commanded to drink not of wine for this sacred purpose except it be
made by our own hands.

	In some of our wards and settlements the administering of the
sacrament has been introduced in the Sunday schools.  It is very pleasing
and gratifying to the spirit that I possess, for the parents to see that
their children attend Sunday school and receive the proper instruction
with regard to their faith.  After the Sunday school is over, let the
parents take the pains to bring their children to meeting.  This would be
very pleasing to me.  An idea seems to have gone abroad among the parents,
and consequently descends to the children, that when the little ones have
been to Sunday school, the remainder of the day is for them to enjoy
themselves the best way they can.  No more duties, no more obligations to
attend meeting.  They have been to the Sunday school and the mothers and
probably the fathers think this is sufficient.  But if we do our duty,
each and every one of us, and as communiies [sic], and perform the duties
required of us, we will see that our children attended all the preaching
meetings and meetings for instruction, which it is proper for them to
attend, where they, as well as the parents can be taught pertaining to God
and to his religion on the earth, for the salvation of the human family. 
If my brethren and sisters will accept of this exhortation and try to
carry it out in their lives, my heart will say to them, "God bless you,
peace be with you, love be multiplied upon you.

	We will now attend to the business before us pertaining to the
organization of this Stake of Zion in this county of Box Elder.  When the
people are fully organized we shall expect them strictly to attend to the
duties devolving upon them.  Brother Franklin D. Richards, in his remarks
has drawn out the thread of the organization of the Priesthood and the
duties devolving upon the Bishops and upon the Priests, Teachers and
Deacons in advancing the faith of the Gospel and seeing that there is no
iniquity among the people.  We expect this will be carried out.  There are
many things wherein the people will need instructing, they will receive
these instructions from time to time, adding instruction to instruction
with regard to the faith, ordinances and commandments of the house of God;
our faith in the religion we possess or hope to possess, and in the faith
we should possess in the name of our Savior and through him in the Father. 
And we expect to see an exhibition thereof that will be brighter, that
will be more beautiful, more permanent and lasting throughout all the
organizations of the Stakes of Zion, that we have heretofore seen.  We
have a multitude of traditions to overcome, and when this people called
Latter-day Saints will be free from these traditions, so that they can
take hold of the Gospel and build up the kingdom according to the pattern,
I am not able to say; but I hope the time will soon come.  I can say I am
encouraged, I think there is an improvement, I can perceive a growth in
the knowledge of God among the Latter-day Saints.  And yet I see many old
members of the Church, fathers in the Church and kingdom of God, of long
standing, who have been teachers and have been taught, and have exercised
themselves in the different duties of the Priesthood, and also in
municipal affairs among this people, to direct, to counsel; and yet they
seem to have no brightness within them concerning the Priesthood; no
knowledge with regard to the dealings of God with his children.  We see
this; but still on the whole there is an increase of faith, of knowledge,
of wisdom, of understanding.  When we get to understand all knowledge, all
wisdom, that it is necessary for us to understand in the flesh, we will be
like clay in the hands of the potter, willing to be moulded and fashioned
according to the will of him who has called us to this great and glorious
work, of purifying ourselves and our fellow-beings, and of preparing the
nations of the earth for the glory that awaits them through obedience. 
Here is mystery, here are the hidden mysteries that God has reserved for
the latter times, and they are coming forth; the work we have upon us is
an immense one, it is great, powerful and divine; it is an almighty work. 
And with regard to the conduct of this people--if an angel should come
here and speak his feelings as plainly as I do, I think he would say, "O,
Latter-day Saints!  why don't you see, why don't you open your eyes and
behold the great work resting upon you and that you have entered into? 
You are blind, you are stupid, you are in the dark, in the midst and fog,
wandering to and fro like the boat upon the water without sail, rudder or
oar; and you know not whither you are going."  But we run first this way,
and then that way, turning here and turning there, strewing our ways to
strangers and doing that which we should not do.  I will refer to a little
incident.

	I used to travel this road running through here several times during
the season.  I recollect, not many years ago, there was a little gold
found in Montana.  The inhabitants of Utah, called Latter-day Saints, took
everything that the Lord caused the earth to bring forth that they could
pack in their wagons, and carried it away to those who would not even
speak a good word for them.  Brother Staines referred to and relates facts
to us yesterday.  He told us that there were a great many reople [sic] in
these mountains, and a great many had been here, who had become acquainted
with this people, whom they acknowledged to be an industrious and honest
people; that some had said to him they would rather trust themselves with
the people of Utah than any other community, feeling safer with them.  But
when the hue and cry was raised that the "Mormons" were rising against the
law, and against the rules and regulations and all that is good pertaining
to the society of this great republic and were in open rebellion, where
could be found the man to open his mouth or to write a word saying, "This
is false, it is not true."  Did you find or hear of any such men?  But
very few, and they will be blessed for so doing.  Are we at all astonished
at the silence of the great majority under such circumstances?  No.  It
has always been so; it is so now, and will continue to be so; for there is
no union, no affiliation, no fellowship between Christ and Baal.  Baal
will fight the Savior, the enemy will fight against the law of God, and he
will never give up the contest until he is taken and bound and cast into
"the bottomless pit."  And these honorable men, these good men who with
their familiee [sic] have received the blessings from the hands of this
people; those to whom we have given our substance, our flour and
breadstuffs, our money and whatever we had, were there any of them who
opened their mouths in justification of the innocent, the pure and good,
and denounced the falsehoods and the slanders of those that raised the cry
against us?  If there were any I do not know it.  But they say to the
liars, "lie on about those "Mormons,' we like to hear it."  Whilst on the
other hand these Latter-day Saints are giving everything that the Lord
bestows upon them just as fast as they receive it; not resting satisfied
until they hand everything over to the laps and hands of our enemies.  A
great many will say, "But we are not your enemies.  Why then do you not
speak out and tell the truth about us?

	Regarding the brethren carrying their substance north to Montana, I
will say I knew a man who undertook to head off all this, by trying to
organize the Elders of Israel into a society to raise an influence by
which they might control the northern market; but no, they rebelled
against it.  But what I was going to mention, go into the northern
settlements, and you would see the wagons by hundreds and thousands
hauling off the provisions to those who would never speak a word in our
favor.  Yes, we are generous enough to feed them, and clothe them, and
give them money.  And then, when the enemy would raise persecution against
the Latter-day Saints, they can sit and laugh at it.  All the merchants
among us we have made rich.  Do you know of any that brought money here? 
If you do, you know more than I do, and I think I am as well acquainted
with them as any one.  Who brought capital here and spent that capital? 
They came here poor, and made their capital, but they never lifted their
voice in behalf of any one; but they laugh and sheer around the corner and
in their sleeve when they see the storm of trouble coming upon the
Latter-day Saints.  I will not tell their doom, they will find it out
quick enough; a good many have found it already.  Our persecutors too who
die, and they keep dying, their end is sorrow, both priests and people.

	There is a good deal of money spent; I know of one man who spent many
thousands of dollars trying to organize the Elders in such a manner that
they could hold the control of the market.  But no.  Wild as the deer upon
the mountains, running by day and by night, oft-times under the shades of
night, to get away from this and other towns, lugging off the blessings
that God had poured into their laps.  We have counseled the people to save
their grain.  Supposing we had a few million bnshels [sic] of grain on
hand, would it do us any hurt?  To say the least, we certainly might as
well have kept it, for we got nothing for it; we did not even pay for the
transportation of our substance.

	Will famine come?  Yes!  Will plagues come?  Yes!  Will distress come
upon the nations?  Yes, and upon this nation, and that, too, before a
great while.  When they made war upon us some eighteen years ago, how it
pleased and tickled the masses who thought that now destruction was to
overtake the Latter-day Saints.  I told many, and sent word to Congress
saying, that it would prove the opening wedge for the struggle of war
between the North and South.  But some gentlemen took the liberty of
saying, time after time, "No, no, that cannot be."  Said I, "It will be
so, and I tell it to you in the name of Israel's God."  And when the press
delight in publishing such falsehoods about the Latter-day Saints as they
have done, and the people delight to read them, you will see real trouble
crop out in and among themselves.  Is there power enough in the Federal
Government to put down mobocracy.  No!  And it is a truth that they whom
the Lord makes weak are weak indeed; and those whom the Lord makes strong
are strong indeed.  Strength was given to the North in the last struggle,
and the South suffered extremely.  But the time will come when the North
will be weaker than the South was, and they will have no power to muster
their forces against the tide of folly that will come upon them, that they
bring upon themselves, and they themselves must receive the results.

	But say the Latter-day Saints, "How are we living?"  If you were to
hear an angel talk to you, and tell just what he sees and understands, you
would say, that is as sharp preaching as brother Brigham's; his words are
sharper than brother Brigham's.  And they would be.  And still we are
improving a little; but oh!  what improvement we have yet to make in order
to acquire such victory over ourselves as to bring ourselves into perfect
subjection to the law of Christ.  Let us take heed, and teach our children
by precept and example to love and serve the Lord.  What a glorious sight
was presented to us yesterday on our arrival at your depot, to witness the
hosts of children that lined the side walks.  You have here in this little
city the buds, the beginning of a nation.  Be careful my brethren and my
sisters how you conduct yourselves.  See that you bring yourselves in
subjection to the law of Christ, and then teach your children in the
spirit of love and affection the way of life, so that they will not stray
away from you, becoming heady and high-minded, wandering after the foolish
fashions of the world, the pleasures of the world; but let them make their
delight in that which is virtuous and true, for this is more pleasurable
than all the vanities of the world.  Real wisdom is real pleasure; real
wisdom, prudence, and understanding, is real comfort.

	(The Presidency of the Stake were then unanimously elected--namely,
Oliver G. Snow as President, and Elijah A. Box and Isaac Smith as his
counselors, who also received their ordinations.  Elder William Box was
ordained a Patriarch.  The names of the members of the High Council were
presented, and that of the President of the High Priests' Quorum, together
with the names of the Bishops of the several Wards, all of which were
unanimously sustained.  The President then continued:)

	I have a few words to say to the Latter-day Saints concerning these
young men we have called to preside over the people of this Stake of Zion. 
They are young--they have not the experience that older men have; but if
they do not possess more wisdom than a good many of our old experienced
men, I am sorry.  There are a good many that do not profit by the
experience they have got, they do not know how to do so.  I want to tell
you the reason why we have made the selection of brother Oliver G. Snow to
preside here.  He is the son of brother Lorenzo Snow, who has hitherto
presided here.  By appointing brother Oliver to this position, I think he
will be under his father's care, and where he can get the wisdom his
father possesses.  And I will say to the credit of the people here, they
have done well.  And brother Lorenzo Snow, who has had charge of you, has
set the best example for the literal building up of the kingdom of God of
any of our presiding Elders.  There is one man in the South who I think
will come up to this standard, and continue on.  But brother Snow has led
the people and gudided [sic] them and counseled them in the way that they
should go, apparently without their knowing anything about it, until he
got them into the harness; and I like this very much.

	Our motive is to make every man and woman to know just as much as we
do; this is the plan of the Gospel, and this is what I would like to do. 
I would like all the Latter-day Saints to come up to this standard, and
know as much as I do, and then just as much more as they can learn, and if
they can get ahead of me, all right.  I can then have the privilege of
following after them.  If they keep up close to me, so that they will
understand as I do the workings of the Spirit, they will do a good deal
better than they do now.  But the beauty and excellency of the wisdom that
God has revealed to us is to fill everybody with wisdom, bringing them up
to the highest standard of knowledge and wisdom, purifying us and
preparing us to enter into the highest state of glory, knowledge and
power, that we may become fit associates of the Gods and be prepared to
dwell with them.  This I say is the beauty and glory of the great
knowledge that God has revealed unto the Latter-day Saints.  You may ask
in what particular?  In every particular.  For the knowledge men possess
of every science, every art, every study there is, and every branch of
mechanism known to men, they are indebted to the Lord.  True men may have
been taught it by his fellow man and he may have discovered much himself;
but all originated with God our Heavenly Father, through his agents to the
children of men.  The faith and philosophy of our religion comprehends all
things, believes all things, hopes all things, and I wish I was able to
say a little better than I am, endures all things.  But we must endure all
things that we cannot help, enduring patiently until we are counted worthy
to be free.

	I want to say this with regard to brother Oliver G. Snow; virtually
we leave brother Lorenzo to overlook you.  Can you understand this?  If
you cannot you cannot see as I do.  Brother Snow has exhibited splendid
talent in what he has done towards making this people self-sustaining. 
Shall I give you my ideas in brief with regard to business and business
transactions.  Here for instance is a business man, a merchant, comes to
our neighborhood, with a stock of goods; he sells them at from two to ten
hundred per cent.  above what they cost.  As a matter of course he soon
becomes wealthy, and after a time he will be called a millionaire, when
perhaps he was not worth a dollar when he commenced to trade.  You will
hear many say of such a person, what a nice man he is, and what a great
financier he is!  My feeling of such a man is he is a great cheat, a
deceiver, a liar!  He imposes on the people, he takes that which does not
belong to him, and is a living monument of falsehood.  Such a man is not a
financier!  The financier is he that brings the lumber from the Canyons
and shapes it for the use os his fellow man, employing mechanics and
laborers to produce from the elements and the crude material everything
necessary for the sustenance and comfort of man; one who builds tanneries
to work up the hides instead of letting them rot and waste or be sent out
of the country to be made into leather and then brought back in the shape
of boots and shoes; and that can take the wool, the furs and straw and
convert the same into cloth, into hats and bonnets, and that will plant
out mulberry trees and raise the silk, and thus give employment to men,
women and children, as you have commenced to do here, bringing the
elements into successful use for the benefit of man, and reclaiming a
barren wilderness, converting it into a fruitful field, making it to
blossom as the rose; such a man I would call a financier, a benefactor of
his fellow man.  But the great majority of men who have amassed great
wealth have done it at the expense of their fellows, on the principle that
the doctors, the lawyers and the merchants acquire theirs.  Such men are
impositions on the community, and they ought to be taken and put to some
honorable labor such as raising potatoes, raising grain, cattle and sheep,
and performing other useful and necessary labors for the good of mankind. 
Amen.