Discourse by Elder Charles C. Rich, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Saturday Afternoon, May 12, 1877.

I am glad to enjoy the opportunity of meeting with the Latter-day Saints in this Tabernacle in Con– ference, under circumstances so favorable. I have been much interested in listening to the instructions we have heard this day. They are words of encouragement to the faithful, they strengthen the weak, they enkindle within us all the fire that burns yet not consumes; and we are stimulated to continue in the good fight of faith despite every opposing power.

We embraced the principles of the everlasting Gospel in various lands, and we gathered here for the express purpose of learning further of his ways that we might walk in his paths. It therefore is plain and easy to understand the great obligation that we have placed ourselves under, an obligation that becomes the more serious and important as we count the years of our membership in this Church, and as we have had opportunity. To become efficient laborers in the kingdom, is that we learn the mind and will of God concerning us, and then go forth and do it to the very best of our ability and power. Unless we seek the Lord with our whole heart, willing to sacrifice all for him and his cause, we cannot be wholly accepted of him.

We are told by revelation that all blessings are to be enjoyed upon the principles by which his kingdom can be built up, and upon no other. It would be in vain for us to imagine that we are going to enjoy the blessing of the celestial world by adopting any principles we may choose, or that may be suitable to our own peculiar ideas and feelings. Then the first lesson for us to learn is how we can best become acquainted with the wishes of our Father, how we can best use our time and our talents to subserve the interests of his cause here upon the earth. We have entered the door of the kingdom, and that is about all. The actual work we have only commenced, and who cannot see that it is of the greatest importance that we organize ourselves that we may the better prosecute our labors! We pray that the will of God may be done on earth as in heaven. What does it avail us if we do not seek first the kingdom of God and all its righteousness? And how can we obey this divine injunction unless we seek in the right and proper way to establish its principles in our hearts and lives, giving that kingdom and its government a foundation, a chance to develop itself into the proportions it eventually will do.

The tendency of mankind generally is to gratify a craving for this world’s goods, adopting such ways as will best secure to them their heart’s desire; this really is their aim and object of life. When we reflect that we live in this important age, when God our heavenly Father has again spoken to the children of men, revealing to them his designs and purposes and the only way to be saved, it is time for us to awake to a sense of duty and prepare ourselves in all readiness, for he does not speak in vain; all must be fulfilled even as it is written, whether we individually take part in it or not.

The Lord will have a people trained in the school of experience until they shall be prepared to receive him when he shall come to dwell upon the earth for the space of a thousand years. This we understand; we have been taught it by divine instruction, and it is for us to be willing to be taught and to be used in accomplishing the preparatory work. He has also declared by the voice of his servants whom he has raised up, and by his own voice, that the wicked and those who delight in abominations he will overthrow as individuals and as nations; and in the place thereof he will have a righteous people who will fear and obey him in all things. This has been preached to the world now for nearly half a century, and we are still declaring it. We know not how many will hearken to this warning voice, but we do know that history informs us that Noah preached one hundred and twenty years, warning the people of threatened judgments, preaching to them the way of life, with but very little success. The word of the Lord through Noah was verified and fulfilled even as he had declared it.

The words of the Lord were lamentably fulfilled on the heads of his chosen seed, because they rejected the same Gospel message which was sent unto them. And the Lord has said that in the last days his word should be verified as in former times. True, the message might be lightly esteemed, and they that bear it, as well as those that receive it, may be set at nought, just in the manner that his word and people always have been treated by the world of mankind generally.

This Latter-day work has been commenced by an illiterate, unlearned boy; but like the leaven that was put into the measures of meal, it has worked until already it attracts not only the attention of men of high and low birth, but of nations. And although its advocates have, as a general thing, been persons of humble birth and of limited education, where has appeared the man that has succeeded in gainsaying them, and proving false the principles they teach? That individual is yet to be found; he cannot be found nor never will be, for it is the truth, we bear the new and the everlasting Gospel which is incontrovertible. And still, with all this before the world, how few comparatively hearken to and obey the message! And how many imperfections we find existing among us! We need careful and gradual training, to be taught a little now and again; and many times we find ourselves almost ready to relinquish our hold on eternal life, having need to be converted again to the truth; and yet we call ourselves Latter-day Saints.

The question that ofttimes arrests my attention is, if we receive not the truth as it is presented to us here, will we be willing to hereafter? Some people imagine that when we pass from this stage of our being we shall all be in a condition to receive truth whether we received or rejected it while upon this earth. It is by reason of our agency that we reject truth and accept evil; and we will find when we go hence that we shall still be possessed of the same agency; and if we were not willing to receive the truth in this world, what assurance have we that our agency will not lead us to reject truth hereafter. If Latter-day Saints cannot endure to the end, if they cannot in their hearts receive as well as practice all of the principles of the Gospel as they are made known to them by his servants, it is folly in the extreme for us to allow ourselves to believe that by rejecting certain principles here we will be able to practice them in the world to come.

We will also find that there are certain things that can be preformed in this world, that peradventure cannot be attended to anywhere else. Baptism by immersion is an ordinance essential to salvation; it is the door to the kingdom and none can be saved without it; and it is an ordinance that strictly belongs to this life. There are also certain ordinances essential to our exaltation in our Father’s kingdom that can be performed only in Temples, except in certain peculiar circumstances; and in order that we should derive their benefit we are called upon to erect these sacred edifices. These are ordinances all-important in their nature that belong to this life, they must be attended to here, that we might be prepared to enter upon the duties of the life to come.

There is one matter that has received a great part of my attention particularly of late, that is the conforming of my will to the will of God, not only pertaining to things spiritual but also to things temporal associated with my everyday life. And it appears to me that we as a people have now reached that stage of the latter-day work when this same question is brought right home to the minds of all who claim membership in the Church and kingdom of God. There is one thing he will require of us, that is to prove by example as well as precept that we love him beyond any and everything else; he will require that we establish beyond a doubt that our affections and hearts are his, and that to do his bidding and further the interests of his cause is our greatest and fondest desire.

There seems to be throughout the world a great love for wealth. It is true that riches ofttimes secure ease, comfort and enjoyment. But then these are indulgences that belong only to this life; as no man brought anything into the world, so none will take anything away. What then may we expect to enjoy in the hereafter? Such blessings only as are secured unto us through the sealing ordinances of the holy Priesthood which reach behind the veil. While reflecting on this, would it not be well for us, as Latter-day Saints, to also imagine, if we can, our feelings if through unworthiness on our part we should find ourselves in the next world disappointed. I think that when we consider these things, that compared with our eternal happiness everything else is small and of little moment.

There is much required at our hands, we have not only to labor for ourselves, but for our dead friends, whom we shall meet sooner or later. If when we renew our acquaintance with them we can tell them that we officiated in the Temple ordinances for them, it will afford us joy as well as them; but if when we shall meet them we are not the bearers of such welcome intelligence, feelings of remorse will overtake us in not having done our duty, when opportunity was afforded us to do so. These are some of my reflections relative to some of our present and immediate duties.

I am pleased to say that wherever I go I perceive a willingness on the part of the people to build Temples, and also to become united in establishing ourselves upon such a basis as will make us independent of the surrounding world, producing and manufacturing everything we need for use and wear, and thus become self-sustaining; so that when Babylon shall fall we may sustain no loss.

There has never been a generation of time so important as the one in which we live. Our prospects too are peculiarly and unusually encouraging, for the Gospel we preach will never be taken away from the earth, and as long as we prove faithful we will maintain our rights which God has given us. There is a prospect too of our posterity living when peace for the space of a thousand years shall be on this earth, when the Savior and holy beings will visit with men in the flesh, and then his glory will surround the habitation of the Saints. I know of no previous dispensation that had such encouraging and glorious prospects.

Then let me say to the Latter-day Saints, let us practice the principles of our holy religion, be willing to be directed and used for the good of our Father’s cause, in whatever capacity we may be placed, and be servants and Saints of God in very deed. And that this may be our happy lot is my prayer in the name of Jesus. 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.

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 whom 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 love 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 halfhearted 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 evildoer 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 truth and the Latter-day Saints, whose influence I dread, no, not even the hundredth 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 to 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 today, 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 them? 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 today 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 no 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 nation 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 should 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 take place; but this we cannot do. But wait a little longer, and the people of this nation, 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 would 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 everything 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.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, April 29, 1877.

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 en– joyed 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 sal– vation; 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 affect 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 we 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 our brethren 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 today if we as a people had suffered persecution, I would say, “No, nothing worth 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 sufferings which cannot be described, only commence. But have we 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 offense came.” Many of the Prophets have sealed their testimony with their blood, that their testament might go forth with force and not return void. As in ancient days, so in modern days. When Joseph Smith sealed his testimony with 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, do 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 is 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, chaste and praiseworthy before him. This is the course 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, an 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 solely 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 truth, 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 be 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 watchtower, 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 will 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.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered at Richfield, Sevier County, Utah, on Sunday Afternoon, April 22, 1877.

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 justifies 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 com– mitted 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, faultfinding, 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 be 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 a 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 lay out 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 rockwork 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 Saints, 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 forever afterwards, would 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 by 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 you sit around the breakfast table? Do you kneel 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 you, 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 building 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.

By President Daniel H. Wells, delivered at the Temple of the Lord at St. George, on the Sixth Day of April, 1877, at 10 o’clock a.m.

Almighty and Everlasting God, our heavenly Father, thou who art the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Moses, of David, of Solomon; the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; the God of Joseph and of Brigham, even the God of Israel; thou who art the Father of our spirits; it is to thee we approach this morning to worship and to offer up our dedicatory prayer in thanksgiving and praise for this offering, even a Temple which thou hast enabled thy people to rear unto thy most holy name.

We realize, our Father, that we are dependent upon thee, and that although we are shut out from thy presence, inheriting many weaknesses, and made subject to many temptations and sins, we are thy children, and as such we come before thee in the depths of humility, with broken hearts and contrite spirits, praying that thine indulgence, thy tender mercy and compassion may be extended toward us, and that thou wilt forgive everything that thine all-seeing and searching eye hath beheld amiss in us.

We thank thee, O Lord, that thy people, whom thou hast led to this distant land and whom thou hast preserved by thine own right arm, have been permitted to establish themselves in the homes which thou hast given them, and that, through thy continued blessings, they have been enabled to gather together the materials of which this building is composed, to put together and erect the same, even a Temple, which we dedicate and now consecrate to thee, that it may be holy unto thee, the Lord our God, for sacred and holy purposes, and that “the blessing, even life forevermore,” may be commanded here, from heaven, even from thy presence, and may flow through the ordinance which appertain unto thy holy place, unto us thy children. We pray that the blessings pertaining to our eternal salvation and to the establishing of thy kingdom upon this thine earth may be poured out upon thy holy Priesthood and thy people, who shall worship and officiate in this thy holy House.

We dedicate and consecrate the foundation of this building upon which it stands. Cause, O Lord, that it may not give way nor yield in consequence of any destructive elements that may be in the soil, or may the nature of those elements be changed so as to become strengthening instead of weakening, that the same may always remain firm and sound.

We dedicate and consecrate the lower and upper walls of the building and the buttresses which support the same, and all the material—the stone, the lime and the sand, which compose the mortar, and all that pertains thereunto, together with the flagging, the timbers, the joists, the floors, and the foundations upon which they rest, that the same may be protected and preserved, that none of the elements, either through storms, fire or earthquakes, may have power to destroy, disturb or injure this thy holy House. We also dedicate and consecrate unto thee all the openings, entrances, doors and windows, and their fastenings, of the basement story. We also present to thee the Baptismal Font, in which is performed the ordinance of baptism for the living and the dead; with the steps, the railing around, and the oxen upon which it rests, the foundations, together with the connections and apparatus for furnishing, conveying, holding and heating the water, with all that pertains to it, dedicating and consecrating all unto thee, the Lord, our Father and God, that they may be holy unto thy name. We pray that thy blessing may attend those of thy servants who administer and who may officiate in the ordinances that may be performed therein, in behalf of thy people, and in behalf of those, our progenitors, our relatives and friends, who have gone before us to the spirit world, so far as we may be enabled and permitted to officiate for them.

We dedicate to thee also the rooms of this building in the first, second and third stories, with the pillars and supports thereof, including the side rooms, with the partition walls, for the purposes for which they may be used by the Priesthood, for prayer, for worship, for councils or meetings, or for administering the holy ordinances of thy House, that they may be holy unto thee, the Lord our God. We also dedicate the roof and the tower, with its dome, its covering and walls, and the walls and the battlements around and above the roof, with the timbers and frames and supports upon which the roof and tower rest, and are made permanent, and the fastenings and all that appertains thereunto, and the materials of which they are composed. We dedicate also the entrances, the steps and the circular stairs, with the railings and banisters thereunto attached. Grant, O Lord, that the roof which covers all may shield and protect this building from the storms which may come upon it. We dedicate the pipes which convey the water from the roof, with their fastenings and the materials of which they are composed. We also dedicate the chimneys, flues, conduits, and sewers, and openings for ventilation; also all the doors, windows, and glass, the hinges and nails and screws, the door locks and handles, the window weights and cords and fastenings of every kind; and all the paint, putty, plaster, whitewash and all the ornamental work within and without, everything used in the construction and completion of the entire building, from the foundation unto the top thereof, that all may be holy unto the Lord our God.

Holy Father, we dedicate unto thee the furniture and utensils used in the holy washings, anointings and ceremonies of this thy holy House; also the curtains and frames for partitions; together with the altars and their cushions, and the tables and the chairs, stools and desks, that all may be sanctified for the use and purposes intended. We dedicate also the tower on the outside, containing the fountain, also the aqueduct and pipes conveying the water thereunto. We dedicate the block of land upon which this Temple is situated, and the fence which encloses it, with its openings and gates, the hinges, hangings and fastenings, and the materials of which they are composed; also the roads and walks leading thereto and through the same.

We dedicate and consecrate the pulpits, with the cushions thereon and the ornamental fringe around, together with the steps, railing and banisters, and the seats, with the cushions on them; and the floors and the foundations upon which they stand. May nothing unholy or impure ever enter here, but may the same be holy unto the Lord our God. Especially do we pray that thy power may rest upon thy servants who may occupy these pulpits when they shall minister by virtue of their holy calling, either in preaching, in counseling, or in transacting business pertaining to the welfare of thy Church and kingdom here upon the earth.

We implore thy blessings upon the various congregations of thy people who may assemble in this House from time to time, both in their incomings and outgoings, and may thy blessing and thy spirit dwell herein and rest upon them, for their comfort and edification, and abide richly in their hearts, that they may learn further of thy ways and walk in thy paths.

We desire also to commend these thy servants and people to thy kind care and keeping, that they may be preserved unto thee from the powers of the wicked and ungodly, and from the powers of all evil and opposing influences, from whose grasp thou hast heretofore delivered us in bringing us here to these valleys and the fastnesses of these mountains. We acknowledge thee and the great deliverance thou hast wrought out for us, and we pray thee, O God, in the name of Jesus, to accept of these thy servants and people, and preserve and keep us in thy most holy keeping. Let the ministering angels from thy presence attend us, and let thy grace and power be upon us, that we may walk in the paths of purity and holiness, and be enabled to bring forth thy purposes and establish thy kingdom in all its fullness, administering in all the ordinances pertaining to thy House, and also send forth salvation to all the children of men, scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth, for their redemption from sin and bondage, even from gross darkness.

We now ask, our Father, that we thy servants and people may be acceptable unto thee, praying thee to grant that thy Holy Spirit may pervade each heart before thee, that our worship may be such as thou delightest to behold, and that the revelations of thy mind and will may continue to be made manifest through thy servant Brigham and all of thy servants upon whom thou hast conferred the authority of the holy Priesthood.

We feel not to multiply words before thee, for language is inadequate to express the fullness of the feelings and emotions of our souls in being thus privileged to meet before thee in this sacred, this holy place.

Accept, O God, of this tribute of our hearts, and let thy peace and blessing dwell and abide here in this holy Temple, which we now with uplifted hearts and hands present and consecrate and dedicate entirely as a sacred offering unto thee, for thy divine acceptance. May it stand as a monument of purity and holiness as long as the earth shall remain, commemorative of thy great goodness towards us thy people, and thy name shall have the honor, the praise and glory, for we ask all in Jesus’ name. And unto thee and our blessed Lord and Savior and to the Holy Spirit be all power, might and dominion, worlds without end. Amen.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered at the Semi-Annual Conference, Held in the Temple, at St. George, Friday Morning, April 6, 1877.

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 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 today equally amongst all, what might we expect? Why a year from today 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 pro– perty 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 upon our dear selves all needless adornments and to stop purchasing the importations of Babylon. We can ourselves produce everything 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 your dresses, your shawls, your bonnets and your ribbons, and everything you use to clothe and adorn your bodies, be the workmanship of your own hands. Let the brethren take hold and carry out in every department the same principle 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 today? 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 the 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 forever 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? Could 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 his 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 opposed 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 the everlasting covenant; our interests alike, our children receiving equal opportunities in the schoolroom and the college.

We have today, more children between the ages of 5 and 20 years, who can read and write, than 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 schoolhouses 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 Elder Lorenzo Snow, delivered at a Two Days’ Meeting Held By the St. George Stake of Zion, in the Temple, at St. George, Thursday Morning, April 5, 1877.

In occupying the time this morning, I wish in the first place to call your attention to the fact that we are Latter-day Saints, or at least ought to be, and that as such we are dependent upon the Lord for our instruction; this is in accordance with our faith that we have to look to him for assistance under all circumstances, in all places, in all our affairs of life, and in all matters pertaining to furthering us on in the principles of godliness.

Assembled together as we are this morning, it is very necessary that we ask the Lord for his spirit, the spirit of inspiration, to rest upon us as speakers and as hearers, that we may be enabled to comprehend things that may be spoken, and that they may be adapted to our individual needs.

It is impossible to advance in the principles of truth, to increase in heavenly knowledge, except we exercise our reasoning faculties and exert ourselves in a proper manner. We have an instance recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants of a misunderstanding on the part of Oliver Cowdery, touching this principle. The Lord promised him the gift to translate ancient records. Like many of us today, he had misconceptions in regard to the exercise of the gift. He thought all that was necessary for him to do, inasmuch as this gift had been pro– mised him of God, was to allow his mind to wait in idleness without effort, until it should operate spontaneously. But when those records were placed before him, there was no knowledge communicated, they still remained sealed, as it were, for no power to translate came upon him.

Although the gift to translate had been conferred, he could not prosecute the work, simply because he failed to exert himself before God with the view of developing the gift within him; and he became greatly disappointed, and the Lord, in his goodness and mercy, informed him of his mistake, using the following language—

“Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you when you took no thought, save it was to ask me; but, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you,” etc.

So in regard to us, respecting the things which we are undertaking. If we expect to improve, to advance in the work immediately before us, and finally to obtain possession of those gifts and glories, coming up to that condition of exaltation we anticipate, we must take thought and reflect, we must exert ourselves, and that too to the utmost of our ability.

The text given us by President Young yesterday, and to which we, in our prayer this morning, asked God to direct our remarks, was the work with which we are now immediately concerned, pertaining to our present wants and necessities. The question here arises, How shall we regulate our temporal affairs so as to qualify us to perform the duties and obligations devolving upon us today, and secure to ourselves the blessings of eternal life?

To this subject, so far as the Lord will give me his Holy Spirit, through the exercise of your faith, I wish to speak this morning. I desire, however, to confine myself more particularly to the subject relating to our financial union, uniting ourselves together as brethren who have entered into the everlasting covenant of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, expecting to dwell together in the presence of God in the celestial world.

We have been told, through the revelations of God, and to which our attention has often been called, that unless we became one in temporal as well as spiritual things, it was useless anticipating the fullness of celestial glory, or a state of oneness in the spiritual things of God. But what course we are to take in order to arrive at this most desirable condition seems to remain a difficult, unsolved problem. Doubtless many have asked themselves, what can we do, and how shall we do it?

Well, let our minds revert for a few minutes to the time when we received the fullness of the everlasting Gospel, in the countries where it first reached us. As soon as we became convinced of the truth and that the Elders who preached the Gospel were the servants of God, we offered ourselves as candidates for baptism for the remission of sins, receiving the Holy Ghost through the laying on of their hands, and then felt determined to do whatever the Lord should require through his servants and continue to follow their counsels in all things, even to the sacrifice of all we possessed, if necessary, whether pertaining to the world’s wealth or that which we held in higher and dearer esteem.

We learned an important and significant fact, that we were his offspring, inheriting, though only in infantile form, the same attributes he himself possessed, and that, through probationary experience, by passing the ordeals of earth, rejecting the evil and accepting the good, these attributes could be developed until eventually we might receive a fullness of the godhead, and dwell in the presence of the Father. We became acquainted with this fact, and were convinced in our hearts that the object which now appeared before us, was well worthy of all that we could bestow upon it. Hence we resolved that we would accomplish the undertaking, though at the sacrifice of our all. We well understood that in order to attain to that position that would entitle us to this exaltation, it would be necessary to submit ourselves wholly to the mind and will of God. We felt in our hearts to consecrate our wives, our children and our property, if we had any, and our time and abilities, to the service of God. Had this law of consecration been presented at that time it no doubt would have been hailed with joy, as it was in exact accordance with the spirit of our covenants.

According to the order of the celestial world, as revealed to the Latter-day Saints, respecting the property we might possess, we were required to consecrate all to the Lord, and then to be made stewards, as pointed out by revelation in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and were to continue to devote that which might be entrusted to us to the service of God; and so far as we increased the property of our stewardship we were to devote the same to the benefit of the king– dom of God, which would be used for the building of Temples, emigrating and sustaining the poor, and for carrying on the great work of redeeming Israel. This feeling, which we entertained at the beginning, was to continue to burn in our bosoms, and we were to be faithful and honest in our professions.

I know that many of us when we came to the valleys, conformed to this law of consecration, which is now published in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. We deeded our property, and many were willing, perhaps not all, that, if necessary, every part and portion of it should have been used as the servants of God should have directed. This was the kind of feeling that we then entertained, and just as long as we maintained this condition of mind, of willing obedience, it was all that was required. But I fear that this feeling, which gave us so much joy, which tended to increase our faith and confidence in God and in one another, has not continued to grow correspondingly with our general prosperity, experience and knowledge of the Gospel. My testimony to you is that, so far as this is the case, we stand this day not wholly approved of God, although we have the privilege of worshipping in this Temple, reared to his holy name. But just so far as this willingness exists in our hearts to appropriate our means that we have accumulated for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God on the earth, and that too without grudging, even as the former-day Saints laid down theirs at the feet of the Apostles, so far are we approved and accepted of God. Who, among the Latter-day Saints within the hearing of my voice this day, could fail to comprehend this?

In much of our business relations one with another, there does not exist that spirit of union and brotherly interest that should be maintained. We need to take such a course as will enable us to acquire it, and this spirit should prevail throughout all our settlements.

Who cannot perceive the hand of God in bringing us away from the turmoil and strife of the business world to these mountain vales, where we have the opportunity and the privilege of building up villages and cities upon the principle of unity which has been revealed to us, thus affording that necessary discipline which we could not have obtained among the cities of the Gentiles? This training cannot be acquired in one year, nor in five years, but its acquisition is enhanced in proportion to our willingness to make sacrifices in order to obtain it. By and by the Lord will have prepared the way for some to return to Jackson County, there to build up the Center Stake of Zion. How easy this work can be accomplished, after we have learned to build up cities and Temples here to his divine acceptance! Our present experience is a very needful one. Without it, we should be totally unfitted for the performance of such a work. We read that the Temple which Solomon built was erected without the sound of a hammer being heard. There had been a previous preparation and an experience gained in some distant locality, and a proper training. The materials were accurately prepared elsewhere, and when brought together were ready for setting, each piece to its proper place. As knowledge and efficiency are obtained gradually, we may expect that the experience that we are getting now in learning how to build up cities in our present condition, conforming as near as possible to the holy order of God, is, in order to prepare us by and by to return to Missouri, whence we were driven, and there build up cities and Temples to the name of the Most High, upon which his glory will descend. A condition of willingness to conform our will to the divine will is what we need. It might not be deemed policy to enter into covenants by deed, in our property matters, though it may be hereafter. But so long as the emotions of our souls prompt us to exclaim, in the language of Joshua, that “I and my household will serve the Lord,” so long as this willingness dwells in our hearts, to give ourselves up entirely to the service of God, we are then in the condition to ask the Father to hasten the day when his will shall be done on earth as in heaven; and further, when the proper time comes to require the use of our property in the interests of the great work we are engaged in, the bare mention of it will be sufficient. But, we ask, should not the Bishop who operates in our temporal matters be a very wise and good man? Certainly he should, and a man of honor and integrity, full of the Holy Ghost, loving his neighbor as himself, and loving the Lord our God with all his might, mind and strength. On this, we are told, “hang the law and the Prophets.” Blessed is he in whom these two principles are developed, for such a one is without condemnation; he stands the peer of him referred to in the Scriptures by the Savior as one “without guile.” The people will soon learn to confide in such a man, as he can establish unmistakable proof before God and before his brethren that he obeys these commandments in which are involved all that the Prophets ever lived for.

We will suppose, further, that such an individual as I have described, who really had obeyed these commandments, were placed to preside over a city of a thousand people, all of whom too were living in the advanced condition referred to. He must bear in mind his important position, high responsibilities, and who appointed him to this position, he or they in whom God had vested the authority. Why is such a man called to act as president over a people? Is it in order to acquire an influence and then to use that influence directly for his own aggrandizement? No, but on the contrary, he is called to act in such a position on the same principle as the Priesthood was given to the Son of God, that he should make sacrifice. For himself? No, but in the interests of the people over whom he presides. Would he be required to offer himself up on the cross as did the Savior? No, but to become the servant of his brethren, not their master, and to work in their interest and welfare. Not to exercise the influence thus obtained to benefit himself, his family and relatives and personal friends, but esteeming all as his brethren, having rights in common with himself and, therefore, seeking to bless and benefit all equally according to the talents and worthiness they may possess, and thus by so doing develop in himself that fatherly feeling which always exists in the bosom of the Father.

At the present time it is too often the case that the men who are called to act in such positions, instead of thus acting according to their holy calling, use their influence, their Priesthood, the sacred powers referred upon them, for their own benefit and that of their children and personal friends. This is highly improper, it is wrong and displeasing in the sight of God; and of this sin we are called upon to repent, by putting it away from us, and beginning to live the lives of Latter-day Saints, according to the sacred covenants we have entered into.

When you find a man who takes the same interest in those over whom he presides as he does in himself and family, you will naturally begin to have confidence in that individual. But as soon as you find that his feelings, by day and by night, and the course of his conduct are such as to tend directly to benefit himself and his family, you will say, “What interest has he for us. We must look out for ourselves.” But where a man works for the interest of the community, he becomes truly a father to that people, working for them with the same feeling, desire and interest as he would for himself. It might be said of him, as it should be said of all men, that he loves his brethren, or in other words, “his neighbor,” as himself. Now let the man who acts as the presiding Elder of his ward, manifest by word and action these fatherly feelings towards those he presides over, and how soon we would begin to perceive perfect confidence restored!

Possibly such a man might not always possess financiering abilities, and possibly the people themselves might not have confidence in his abilities to manage or direct temporal affairs. This is quite supposable, for good sound principled men are not always endowed with great financiering abilities. Yet from the fact of his having established himself in the hearts of the people, and his being known by them for his integrity and honesty, and his disposition to work for the interests of God and the people, willing to make any sacrifice that might be required of him, he possesses their confidence, and when once in possession of so sacred a trust, what then might he do in order to satisfy the minds of the people, which are, more or less, inclined to be progressive? Let such a man call to his aid those of his brethren who are the most capable, letting them share his responsibilities. Because you will find, as a general thing, that talent is diffused through the many and rarely combined in single individuals; and it only needs opportunity in order to be developed. He might say to one, “Here Brother So and so, you are better adapted to fill this or that position than I am;” or, to another, “You are the man best fitted for this department;” and so on until he gets the talents of all brought out, and instead of diminishing the public confidence in himself, such a course would add to it. Further, he would be doing for his brethren that which the United Order designs to do for all, namely to afford opportunity to develop the gift that Nature has endowed us with. Therefore, I say that all these matters can be got along with, provided we have the sure and safe foundation, which should be based on honesty and integrity to God and the true interests of his kingdom and people. With a people of one heart and mind, possessed of the same feelings and aspirations as we were when we first embraced the Gospel, in connection with our present know– ledge and experience in the practical workings of building up the kingdom, how easy it would be to establish our home industries or mercantile institutions and carry them on successfully! Everyone would be on hand, like Israel when, in the desert, and journeying to the land of Canaan, they were required to build a movable tabernacle for certain sacred purposes, and the people brought their offerings etc., even more than were sufficient, and Moses had to cry out to the people to stop. So it would be with us, as far as willingness on the part of the people was concerned to take an active part in any general movement that might be projected. Whatever means or property or time might be devoted by the community for the establishing of any certain enterprise, would be done in good faith, for every heart would be inspired with confidence, everyone considering his interest identified with that of the whole.

But it takes time to get the people into this condition. Here, in this southern country, we understand that the people have been endeavoring to work together in the United Order, meeting with more or less disappointment. Because of reverses or failures in our attempts to successfully operate our temporal affairs, we should not allow such disappointment to detract from the principle itself; but rather let us attribute our misfortunes to human weaknesses, regarding the principle as divine, revealed for our special benefit and blessing, and in every instance of apparent failure let us ever be resolved to “try again.” The principles of Plural Marriage were revealed for the benefit and exaltation of the children of men, but how much unhappiness has arisen through failure, on the part of some who have contracted this order of marriage, to conform to the laws that govern it! But does it arise through any defect in the order of the marriage system? O no; but from ignorance and the folly and wickedness of those individuals who enter into it, who abuse, rather than righteously obey, it. So in regard to the principles of the United Order. Its principles too are sacred, and I assure you we will never go back to Jackson County, Missouri, there to build up the new Jerusalem of the latter days, until there is a perfect willingness on our part to conform to its rules and principles. Many years have transpired since we received the revelation of the United Order, and in one sense that long period of time bespeaks negligence on our part in not more fully obeying it. The very principles of that order, in my estimation, were given for our temporal and spiritual salvation. In order to derive the benefit that God designed should flow from them, they must be established and systematized on the principle of righteousness, each per– son learning to love his neighbor as himself. For us to undertake to deal with them on any other principle would virtually open the way to bitter disappointment.

Then allow me to repeat, let me find a community that is willing to conform to this, bringing to mind the covenants made in the beginning when we received the fullness of the Gospel, willing to bring to mind when they dedicated all they possessed—their property, their talents, their mental and physical powers, to the building up of his kingdom; remembering the time when we did this, the blessings of God were upon us, and his Spirit burned within us. Then let those who preach in the midst of that community of Saints, realize what the Priesthood was placed upon them for; let them know and fully sense why they were appointed to fill such and such an office, viz., that they should act in the spirit of our Master, a servant of all, that they learn to consider and esteem in the same affectionate interest, the welfare of all, as they do that of themselves, and be in very deed fathers to the people. Then will they enter into the spirit of the two great commands upon which, said the Savior, “hang the law and the Prophets,” namely, loving the Lord with all our might, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. This, in my opinion, is the foundation of our future success, temporally and spiritually, in this United Order. Until we come down to the bedrock of honesty and sincerity in this matter, dealing with temporal as with spiritual things, wholeheartedly, holding all and ourselves sacred to the service of God, we may expect more or less failure.

Let me say to the brethren who are and who contemplate connecting themselves actively and entirely with this holy Order, that the Priesthood was bestowed upon you, as upon the Son of God himself, for no other purpose than that, through sacrifice, you might be proven, that, peradventure, at the last day, you might stand approved before God, and before perfect and holy beings and that, in order to merit this divine approval, it may be necessary to forget self and individual aggrandizement and seek the interest of your brethren. If you are ready and willing to do this, and if your everyday life and conduct, and the spirit within you testify the fact, you will establish confidence in the hearts of those who know you and with whom you are more immediately associated in temporal matters.

Confidence is ofttimes referred to by our brethren, especially when speaking on the subject of the United Order. It is spoken of and written on by the religious, the political, and the financial world; and the present condition of the whole is such as to force itself upon our serious attention. We may confidently apprehend that, as history shall chronicle the developments of this our progressive world, we shall witness more and more the necessity of it. For as palpable and, what may be termed, legitimate fraud increases, and the whole world ripens in iniquity generally, confidence will lessen and become more priceless and precious. This is quite obvious to all men in whose hearts dwell a spark of that Spirit by which the Prophets foretold the destiny of the nations. Confidence can be acquired only on the principle of righteousness, whether it be applied to the monarch or the peasant, the religionist or the non-religionist; merit alone commands it.

Then let us live the lives of Latter-day Saints, that we may first beget confidence in ourselves; then we shall begin to have confidence in each other, in God, and in his promises. A people in this condition of progress would know no failures, everything would prosper that they put their hands to, they would grow in faith and in good works. I tell you, in the name of the Lord God, that the time is coming when there will be no safety only in the principles of union, for therein lies the secret of our temporal and spiritual salvation. We have been enabled to establish settlements, towns, and villages, and we have been abundantly blessed with the necessaries and conveniences of life, notwithstanding we have been slow to hearken to and obey the commands of Jehovah. I would to God that every Bishop and presiding officer would this day, in this holy Temple, covenant and swear before him, the Lord our God, that they would turn and serve him with all their might, mind and strength, and work in the interest of the people as they would for themselves. For my greatest desire is to see Zion established according to the revelations of God, to see her inhabitants industrious and self-sustaining, filled with wisdom and the power of God, that around us may be built a wall of defense, a protection against the mighty powers of Babylon; and while the disobedient of our Father’s family are contending, and filling up their cup of iniquity, even to the brim, and thus preparing themselves for the burning, we, who are the acknowledged children of the kingdom, being filled with the righteousness and knowledge of God, may be like the wise virgins, clothed in our wedding garments, and properly prepared for the coming of our Lord and Savior.

Discourse by Elder Orson Hyde, delivered in the Temple, St. George, April 5, 1877.

I have not language, my brethren and sisters, to express the feelings and emotions of my heart on coming into this Temple yesterday morning; I could not describe them if I were to undertake to do so, and consequently I will sum up in short by saying, that the sentiments of my heart were, Thank God for such a place in which to worship and to reverence his high and holy name.

We have been listening this morning to some very interesting and truthful remarks, and I have felt edified, instructed, and comforted in my feelings. And I think, if we all remember our prayers in the season thereof, in sincerity and truth, that our light would shine before us according to our needs and wants. It is too often the case that this important duty is neglected. I look at the rivers of water, I trace them to their source, and I find that many times the places where they originate are small and ofttimes hidden from the popular gaze. But, notwithstanding, they flow down and the waters increase, until by tributaries the main channel becomes a mighty river. So our prayers in private and family circle are secret and retired from the public, but they keep the fire burning upon the altar of our hearts. And it is not often that persons who faithfully attend to this duty walk in darkness, it is seldom that they apostatize and turn away from the faith, especially when we couple our solemn prayers with a short sermon or lecture of comfort and of peace to our wives and children, sanctifying our prayers by words of consolation, and then we have a little heaven on earth. And I have noticed that those who do this can generally give a reason for the hope that is in them. Where these things are neglected, however small they may appear in the estimation of some, there is a want of the vital principle that feeds the soul, that keeps the leaves and branches green, that imparts beauty and loveliness to all nature.

I have thought that if we were a little more punctual in the discharge of our obligations one with another and to all men, it would be the means of opening wider the door of light and truth to all pursuing that course. It is too often the case that we sometimes contract duties and make promises to discharge them, when our present condition and future prospects are altogether too slim to justify our doing so. Yet we feel we must go in debt to supply our immediate wants. And when the time comes for payment to be made, it is not at all an infrequent chapter in our lives, that at that particular time we were not so well prepared to meet the obligation as we were the day we made the contract. This I apprehend is a barrier to our success and our prosperity. And I feel that if there was more punctuality manifested by us in paying our obligations than now exists, we would have more confidence in one another than we already have. I do not recommend any person to take his neighbor in hand and say, “Pay me that which thou owest me.” So far as my memory serves me, in such cases as when persons owed me who failed to pay me according to promise, and I believed them honest and upright in their feelings, seeking not to take advantage, I do not recollect ever having crowded such persons, or putting them to the least inconvenience. I think it is good and honorable on the part of the creditor to establish his name and character by showing mercy and easing the burden of those who may be indebted to him. For there should be a disposition on one part to avoid contracting debts, and a disposition on the other to be as lenient as circumstances permit, to move away all the obstruction we can from the path of each other’s prosperity. However small these matters may seem, they are important.

At the time our Prophet and Patriarch were killed, or at least soon afterwards, when the Twelve returned to Nauvoo, their immediate circumstances were not altogether agreeable and pleasant or profitable. But suffice it to say we had a meeting, a Conference, at which President Young was the center of attraction. On his rising to speak, and as soon as he opened his mouth, I heard the voice of Joseph through him, and it was as familiar to me as the voice of my wife, the voice of my child, or the voice of my father. And not only the voice of Joseph did I distinctly and unmistakably hear, but I saw the very gestures of his person, the very features of his countenance, and if I mistake not, the very size of his person appeared on the stand. And it went through me with the thrill of conviction that Brigham was the man to lead this people. And from that day to the present there has not been a query or a doubt upon my mind with regard to the divinity of his appointment; I know that he was the man selected of God to fill the position he now holds.

I have found in my experience that there is a good deal in a man’s having confidence in himself. A person having little confidence in God and more in himself is not good; the capital stock should be in the Lord our God, and the smaller portion in the creature operating.

When the Lord created man, I believe he placed in him a portion of himself, that is a portion of every qualification that he himself possessed. And in our sphere we are to act independently; but under and by the power of those principles of natural inspiration. There is a good deal of natural inspiration in man; and when that is touched by the finger of the Almighty, it makes the cup a delicious one, it makes the mind truly enlightened.

Brethren and sisters, I have all confidence in the Lord our God—I say all confidence, perhaps that calls for a little qualification. At any rate I believe in him, and that he is just, wise and merciful. If I did not believe he was merciful, I could not believe my own eyes while looking upon this vast congregation of his people, assembled in this isolated place, here in the southern portion of our Territory.

I tell you how I feel in relation to the matters that have been spoken of here today. If I had more confidence in myself, and in my own ability, limited though it may be, I could venture farther and do more, and perhaps overcome my natural timidity and become a more efficient agent in the hands of our Father of doing good. This I desire with all my heart. I can say that what little I possess of this world’s goods are subject to the orders of my superiors in the Priesthood, myself and all that I command are at their dictation to be used in the service of our God for the advancement of his kingdom. I labored with my hands until I reached my seventieth year, when I had to cease working; and for the last two years I have not been able to do anything, not even to cut a stick of wood or fetch a bucketful of water. But I feel thankful that my health is as good as it is, and that I have lived to see this day, and to behold this elegant structure reared to the honor of our God, and to have the privilege of meeting and joining with so many of my brethren and sisters to worship within its walls.

Brethren, I rejoice in the service of God, and I want to continue in it; and if our religion had no more consolation than it now affords, it would be ample to inspire us to honor it, and to live it. I look around me and see a great many heads as white and many whiter than my own. I ofttimes wish, Oh, that I were again active and able to work manfully and energetically in the cause of truth! But no; like many others of my age, I am subject to rheumatism and pains in my limbs, which at times disable me; I have commenced to feel the infirmities of increasing age and years; and so many of us now, after these many years of toil, have to struggle with the going down sun of our earthly existence. But we have the consolation of knowing that our mortal body will not always impede our progress, we shall not forever suffer its inconveniences; we are gladdened in the hope of either laying down this mortal tabernacle or undergoing that welcome change which will free us from all afflictions and annoyances. And we hail the day when we shall be free from sorrow and death, to forever rejoice in the joys of everlasting lives. But while we remain let us struggle on, and continue the good fight of faith until we are called home. I calculate, the Lord being my helper, to do the very best I can. How long I may live I know not, neither do I feel much anxiety, feeling as I do that I am in the hands of my Heavenly Father, who will do with me as seemeth him good. But yet if I could be spared in health, I would like to see the adversary bound, to trouble and harass no more the children of our God. I would like to live to see myself entirely redeemed from the tradition of our forefathers, which we have inherited through entailment, and completely baptized in the element of life everlasting. These are my heart’s desires. I pray that God may continue to bless us and help us to walk day by day in obedience to the requirements of heaven. Amen.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered in the Temple, at St. George, on Wednesday Morning, April 4, 1877, at the First of the Two Days’ Meetings held by the St. George Stake of Zion.

It is with peculiar feelings I arise to speak to you, my brethren and sisters, for the short time remaining, in this holy Temple. If I were to describe my feelings on entering and worshiping in this house, I would occupy more time than remains to be used, and I do not know if I were to attempt to do so I could succeed. Each one present can the better estimate the feelings of his brother from those entertained by himself.

I was here last fall, and then my emotions upon entering this room were of the most peculiar character. I felt overpowered, and I have felt so each time I have entered the building. It is a holy place, and all those who come here should be holy; they should examine themselves, and finding themselves guilty of wrong, they should make up their minds in the strength and power of God to put it away. I do not think that any person who has any of the love of the truth, the love of righteousness, or the fear of God abiding in his heart, can enter this building without being impressed with the sacredness of the spirit which reigns here, and that seems to pervade even the atmosphere we breathe. My fervent prayer to God is that this building will be kept clean and pure, free from every act and spirit antagonistic to the holy influences that God has promised to bestow upon the pure in heart who enter herein; and that this building will stand as long as it shall be necessary to fulfil the purposes of God.

The remarks we have heard from President Wells are very true, and are so in keeping with the Scriptures, that every Latter-day Saint who has heard them, must be satisfied of their truth. It is always a cause of joy to me that, in the providences of God our heavenly Father, the sacred records we have, which have come down through so many ages, and which are recognized by Christendom to be the words of God (at least acknowledged by all Christians to be so, whether they believe it or not); I say that in the providence of God these records have come down to us in as pure condition as we find them. Because it is a comfort to a people like we are, whose names are cast out as evil, and who are derided and visited with every kind of contumely, accused of every conceivable crime, to know that the doctrine and ordinances that we believe in have a similarity to, and are in strict accordance with, those of the recognized word of God. We need not go to the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants alone, for the proofs of the truth of the work we are engaged in; for in appealing to those books we only appeal to a corroborative testimony showing that God’s words and dealings with the children of men are the same in all ages of the world. While he gave his revealed word to the ancients on the Eastern Continent, he also gave to the inhabitants of the Western Continent his word, and they both agree. He has also given to us, his people in the last days, his word. By these three witnesses, or these three divine records, his word is corroborated and maintained. Having received the word of God from these various sources, we can rejoice this day in the great truth that the doctrines we teach, the ordinances we have submitted to, and that have been and are being administered to us, and that our lives when we live as we should, are in strict accordance with these three records, which we know to be the word of God, but particularly in accordance with the Bible, which the Christian world acknowledge to be true. This has always been a great cause of joy to me, and I have been greatly strengthened in knowing that no reference could be made to any part, or to any doctrine or principle of the Bible, which was not believed in and practiced by the Latter-day Saints to the extent of their ability, that is, so far as the doctrine or requirement was applicable to them. Of course, where distinct revelations were given to people under peculiar conditions and of a peculiar character, as for in– stance, Noah or Abraham, or the disciples when they were commanded to flee from Jerusalem, the common sense of all men would suggest that such requirements were not applicable to us. It is not necessary for us to build an ark, or to do any of these things, especially commanded to others; but where general revelations, doctrines, ordinances, or commandments are revealed or communicated to the people of God, we as a people have received all such, and they form part of our faith and belief, and we, to some extent at least, are engaged in carrying them out. In conjunction with these glorious facts, precisely the same consequences or results flow from the teachings of the servants of God in these days as in the days of old. God confirmed the word by signs following. The adversary in the same spirit of hatred that characterized his attacks upon the work of God in all ages, is in these last days as bitter and as determined to cause the same results to follow the preaching of the servants of God, and the administration of the ordinances of life and salvation, as at any previous time in the world’s history, thus showing that the old antagonism that existed between God and Belial, the old animosity that actuated the mind of those whom he inflamed to crucify the Son of Man, and to destroy his Apostles, had not died out, but was as determined in this our day to effect the ruin of those who believe in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who have submitted to its ordinances, as at any previous time in the history of the world.

If we had believed all that is taught in the Scriptures, and had not received the promised blessings; or if we had believed in all that is written in the Scriptures, and had received the promised blessings, and had not received the hatred and animosity of the wicked, there might have been cause for doubt as to our having obeyed the Gospel. We might have been assailed with a fear that something was lacking in the system, and that, therefore, we could not be the people of God after all. But when, in addition to the doctrine that God has revealed, and the ordinances of life and salvation that he has restored and commanded us to obey, that is, to believe in Jesus Christ, to repent truly and sincerely of all our sins, to be baptized for remission of them, by one holding the authority, and then receive the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands, and its gifts and blessings and its powers, for our names to be cast out as evil, to have our names heralded through the earth as the most ungodly and wicked and abominable people that live upon the earth, to have men think that in destroying us they would be doing God’s service; I say that when these characteristics attend the administration and ordinances of the House of God, we can rejoice even as the ancients did in the knowledge that there is no peculiarity of feature pertaining to the ancient Gospel from the days of Adam to John the Revelator, or from the days of Jared and his brother to Moroni, or from the days of Joseph and Hyrum to this our day, that does not attend the Gospel now. Not only is there no feature, characteristic or peculiarity absent, but there is no sign or evidence lacking of its being the same work of God. Precisely the same signs follow now, and precisely the same external evidences follow the preaching of the Gospel now, as anciently. Having these signs and evidences and blessings, should we not, as a people, rejoice exceedingly? Should not our hearts be full of thanksgiving to Almighty God, that, however humble and obscure and illiterate, however contemptible in the minds of the children of men, our doctrines, lives and characters may be, our names are numbered with the holiest, the best and the greatest that have ever trod the footstool of God, that our names are numbered with Jesus the firstborn, the Son of God, and with Enoch, Abraham, the friend of God (distinguished above all the sons of men by that glorious evidence of God’s nearness to him, being called his friend), and with all the holy Prophets whose lives are living testimonies to the divinity of their calling? If we would enjoy the society and glory of such personages we must be willing to suffer as they did; and if not so, we cannot reasonably expect to be numbered among the happy throng who are to live and reign with Jesus. When we shall have done all they have done, passed through and experienced the same blessings that they have, drunk the same cup, and been baptized with the same baptism, and, when necessary, laid down our lives as they have in testimony of the truth, then we can reign with them.

It is easy to die in the heat of battle, or when men are selected for some heroic duty, and the eyes of the world are upon them; but this is not the manner in which the servants and people of God have lost their lives. Jesus was crucified between two thieves, the most ignominious death to which anyone could be subjected, and those who crucified him believed him to be worthy of such a fate. They disseminated among the people such slanders and misrepresentations of his works and actions that many felt justified in taking the responsibility of shedding his blood upon themselves and their posterity.

Thus it always has been with the servants and Saints of God. They do not die when their lives are taken by violence in a manner which the world calls heroic or glorious; but as malefactors, the ignominious death administered to those who are slain for the testimony of Jesus, and thus it always has been with God’s children, the brightest, the best and noblest, that ever lived. They have had to lay down their lives as Joseph did, slain in the prison where he was confined. The same self-sacrifice, the same godlike self-sacrifice is required at the hands of the servants and Saints of God in this our day, as was required of those in ancient days, when they were cast into dens of wild beasts, into the fiery furnace, or when sawn asunder and subjected to every kind of violent death because of their supposed wickedness.

I thank God this day for the restoration of this truth. I thank God that I was ever counted worthy to live in the day when the revelations of Jesus are restored. I thank God, with all my heart, that I am a member of this Church; I think it the most glorious honor and dignity that could be conferred upon me, and more so in the goodness of God in permitting me to officiate in the holy Priesthood. I thank him too that he has inspired his servants to lead forth his people and bring us here, and that through the kind providences of God and the wise counsels and administrations of his servants, we are blessed with those glorious privileges in being permitted to rear a habitation to the name of the Most High in which we worship this day; this chaste, this grand, this magnificent house of God.

When I reflect upon what God has done for us, in addition to that which I have alluded to, it gives me deeper gratitude still in knowing that in all the revelations given us concerning ourselves and our future glory, there has been no concealment concerning the destiny of our dead who have passed away without a knowledge of the Gospel. There would have been something lacking in our joy had this revelation not been made, for we could not have contemplated our own happiness in the eternal worlds with any degree of satisfaction, if we had been disturbed by the thought that our ancestors could not partake of the same blessings we had received. But God in his mercy has revealed his purposes to us, so that there are none that understand the Gospel who cannot enter into this house and glorify God in his heart because of the fullness of these blessings; and because we know the Lord possesses all the glorious attributes we have ascribed to him.

You enquire of the enlightened men of Christendom respecting their dead, and they readily acknowledge it to be a subject they know nothing about. A great many think that the heathen nations who have died in ignorance are consigned to the miseries of a never-ending hell. Who with such feelings and belief can glorify God in their hearts and ascribe to him the glorious attributes of mercy and justice, and recognize him as a just and merciful being?

But when we received the Gospel, there came with it a distinct message of mercy, a message of glad tidings of great joy, that not only the living should receive the testimony of Jesus, not only should the living rejoice in the glorious principles of life and salvation, but the dead themselves should hear the voice of the servants of God, and the glad tidings of salvation should be proclaimed in their hearing, and through the exercising of their agency in receiving these truths, their prison doors could be unlocked and they come forth and receive, as though in the flesh, the same blessings, exaltation and glory, according to their good wishes and good deeds. Thus has been swept from our minds every cause of doubt respecting our dead, and our hearts warmed towards them with joy unspeakable, and consequently we combine our efforts to erect such a building, such a holy house as this is. Thus we, in our hearts, witness to God the Eternal Father, that we have received indeed of a truth the testimony that he has given to us, that we believe the same to be true, and that we will, with the aid and power which he bestows upon us, devote our entire lives to the interests of his kingdom, bequeathing the same spirit and energy to our children after us, that they too may labor, with all their might, mind and strength and the ability with which God shall endow them, to carry on and extend the great work of redemption and salvation until every son and daughter of Adam shall receive the glad tidings of salvation, and shall be administered for in the holy temples which shall be prepared for that express purpose.

That God may help us to do this with all our might and strength is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Joseph F. Smith, delivered in the Tabernacle, at St. George, Sunday, April 2, 1877.

During the time I may occupy, I desire to express my feelings with regard to my faith in the Gospel, and the great latter-day work in which we are all more or less engaged, that you as well as my brethren may know how I stand before God and man.

I was born in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but not under the sealing covenant; that principle was revealed to this Church subsequent to my birth. I have been reared in the midst of the people called Latter-day Saints, receiving most of my limited education in their society, and that during my childhood under the guidance of my mother. Since the age of 15 years, I have been engaged more or less in the ministry, and have received instruction through having the counsels and teachings of the servants of God, as you all have; but some, perhaps, have not enjoyed this privilege to so great an extent as others who have been less abroad. In my childhood I learned to believe the Gospel, and in the divine mission and calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith, in the visitation of the angel Moroni, in the establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth, and also in the gathering together of the people of the Lord, and many important things connected with this great latter-day work.

On my first mission I began to learn something for myself; I had hitherto believed the testimonies of the servants of God whom I had heard converse and preach, as well as the instructions I received from a most kind and affectionate mother, as also what I could comprehend through reading the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Bible. But in the ministry, where I labored earnestly, I began to comprehend more fully, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what I had read and been taught, and so they became in my mind established facts, of which I was as absolutely certain as I was of my own existence; and from the beginning of my experience as an Elder in the Church until the present, if there has been a moment in my life when I have doubted the divinity and truthfulness of these things, it has escaped my notice, and it is today as much a matter of fact with me, as it is that I live.

I long ago learned to prize the principles of the Gospel, as of far greater importance than all earthly things; they are of more value than this present life, for without the Gospel it is valueless, the grand ob– ject and purpose of life being attainable only through being obedient unto the Gospel.

A saying of the Savior is here forced upon my mind, “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Again, “I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,” but only upon this plan can he be saved.

By the principles of the Gospel, as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith, we are privileged to secure unto ourselves the gift of eternal life, which is the greatest gift of God. Without these principles we are as the dumb animal, so far as relates to the knowledge of God, for our fathers were unable to teach us, they knew no more of the ways of God, or the plans of salvation, than the children, notwithstanding their boasted enlightenment and their possession of the holy Scriptures. They were not acquainted with the principles of life, they knew not the law of the Lord, and neither did we until we received and obeyed the Gospel, thereby obtaining heavenly light through the channel of the Priesthood. Before this we were as they were, clinging to dead forms, puzzled to divine the meaning of many things which under the light of inspiration have become plain and easy to be understood. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

It behooves the Latter-day Saints, and all men, to make themselves acquainted with “the only true God, and Jesus whom he hath sent.” But can we through our own wisdom find out God? Can we by our unaided ingenuity and learning fathom his purposes and comprehend his will? We have, I think, witnessed examples enough of such efforts on the part of the intelligent world, to convince us that it is impossible. The ways and wisdom of God are not as the ways and wisdom of man. How then can we know “the only true and living God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent?” for to obtain this knowledge would be to obtain the secret or key to eternal life. It must be through the Holy Ghost, whose office is to reveal the things of the Father to man, and to bear witness in our hearts of Christ, and him crucified and risen from the dead. There is no other way or means of attaining to this knowledge. How shall we obtain the Holy Ghost? The method or manner is clearly marked out. We are told to have faith in God, to believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of all who diligently seek him; to repent of our sins, subdue our passions, follies, and improprieties; to be virtuous, honest, and upright in all our dealings one with another, and enter into covenant with God that we will from thenceforth abide in the principles of truth, and observe the commandments which he has given us, then to be baptized for the remission of our sins, by one having authority; and when this ordinance of the Gospel is complied with, we may receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands of those clothed with the authority of the Priesthood. Thus the Spirit and power of God—the Comforter, may be in us as a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. He will bear record of the Father, testify of Jesus, and “take of the things of the Father and reveal them unto us,” confirming our faith, establishing us in the truth, that we shall be no longer tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine; but shall “know of the doctrine” whether it be of God or of man. This is the course—it is simple, reasonable, and consistent. Who is there with common abilities that can fail to see, or comprehend it? Indeed, in the language of the Scriptures, it is so plain, that “the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein.”

Having entered into this covenant, being cleansed from sin, and endowed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, why should we not abide in the truth, continuing steadfast before God and firm in the great work he has established on the earth? We should never cease to serve Him, nor thwart his mercy and goodness towards us; but ever live so that the Holy Spirit may be within us as a living spring, calculated to lead us to perfection in righteousness, virtue, and integrity before God, until we accomplish our earthly mission, performing every duty that may be required at our hands.

In this way I have learned the Gospel which I was first taught to believe, which belief is now superseded by knowledge. For now I know that God lives, and that Jesus Christ was sent into the world to atone for the original sin, and also for the actual transgressions of mankind, inasmuch as they themselves will repent of their sins and humble themselves before Him in their pursuit of the gift and blessing of eternal life. We should not be satisfied with the testimony alone of our brethren. It is well and good, it is indeed encouraging and cheering to the heart to hear the testimonies of the servants of God—to believe that God has raised up men in this dispensation and made them witnesses of Him and his Son Jesus, and who have been shown the mysteries of heavenly things, and commanded to bear record of what they saw and heard; yes, it is a joy to the soul to have men among us who are in– spired by the Holy Spirit and full of the light of truth and of the power of God, bearing their testimony unto us that this is the work of God, that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ—the Savior of the world, and that he has spoken to the inhabitants of the earth in the day in which we live, but is this sufficient to satisfy me? No. It will not suffice me to believe that you know the true and living God, etc. I must receive this knowledge for myself as you have received it. Is not the way open to me to comprehend the purposes and the will of God concerning my salvation, as to you? Certainly it is. It is for all, yea, every son and daughter of Adam to learn the will of God, to receive the testimony of the Spirit for him and herself, and not to depend alone upon the testimonies of these good men that God has raised up to fill the positions they occupy. And if we should pin our faith to them, although we might realize consolation and even joy and satisfaction in hearing their testimonies, yet, unless we receive the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the time will undoubtedly come when the winds will blow and the storms beat upon the house we thus may build and it will fall. What a deplorable condition we would then find ourselves in!

Is it not necessary for all to be capable of judging as to whether the testimonies of these men are of God or man? How can we know that what they testify of, is true? How can we know that they bear witness of the Almighty, or that they possess the holy Priesthood authorizing them to minister in the ordinances of the Gospel? I answer, only by and through the inspiration of that Holy Spirit which is given to all who diligently seek and obtain it according to the promise.

Then if we would know the Lord Jesus Christ, and his servants, who are in our midst, and that their testimonies are true, we must enjoy the light of the Spirit of the living God individually. The possession of this heavenly knowledge is absolutely necessary to keep us in the paths of life and truth, for without it we cannot distinguish the voice of the true shepherd, which is spiritually discerned; and although we may be in fellowship with the Church, fully believing the counsels of our brethren to be dictated by wisdom, yet without something more than mere belief or supposition we cannot stand; and furthermore under such circumstances we cannot consistently claim that we have part or lot in the kingdom of God. For as it is written, “An actual knowledge to any person, that the course of life which he pursues is according to the will of God, is essentially necessary to enable him to have that confidence in God without which no person can obtain eternal life.” For unless a person does know that he is walking according to the will of God, it would be an insult to the dignity of the Creator were he to say that he would be a partaker of his glory when he should be done with the things of this life. But when he has this knowledge, and most assuredly knows that he is doing the will of God, his confidence can be equally strong that he will be a partaker of the glory of God. Then let us search after truth—for the light of the Spirit which leadeth into all truth, that we may comprehend the Gospel, be able to sustain the hands of the servants of God in their efforts to build up Zion, and work out our own salvation. Though all the world should be saved but ourselves, we being excluded from the kingdom, what will it profit us? To see our fellow crea– tures enter into salvation and be exalted into the presence of God, and the door closed against us, would indeed be poor consolation or comfort. But if we would enter in, we must do the will of the Father, keep his commandments, possess the gift of the Holy Ghost, enjoy the testimony of Jesus, and become witnesses of the truth for ourselves; we then may build upon a foundation more lasting than the solid rock. That when trials come and temptations surge against us, as they will do, we may stand and endure to the end. For not every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom, but he that doeth the will of the Father, etc.; or, as the wise man once said, “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill.” Nevertheless, “he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” I cannot believe for a moment that any of us will attain to the gift of eternal life, unless we shall qualify ourselves through the truth, in the manner God has prescribed, and in that way become worthy of it. We must obtain this light by revelation, we cannot do it by our own wisdom. God will give us knowledge and understanding, he will lead us in the path of truth if we put our whole trust in him and not in man. He then can and will preserve us, and all the powers of the earth combined cannot destroy us, for we are in His hands. Here are our fathers and leaders that have passed through the school of experience; they have seen what the enemies of this kingdom have tried to do, and know full well what they would do if they had it in their power. It has ever been the desire of the wicked to destroy the people of God. They have never slackened their efforts, nor failed to use all the means in their power, nor hesitated to resort to the most cruel, foul and fiendish acts to accomplish their nefarious purpose. This same cruel enmity, although for the time being, to some extent subdued or held in check by the Almighty, still smolders and rankles in their hearts, awaiting a favorable opportunity to burst forth as fiercely as at any time during the life of the Prophet Joseph. This is one of the strongest evidences we can have of the divine mission of President Brigham Young. Because of the inspiration of the Almighty and power of God which has rested upon him and accompanied his administrations, he has been the very center of the target at which all the deadly weapons of the enemy has been aimed ever since the death of the Prophet Joseph. I say this is one of the strongest evidences we can have of this fact, aside from the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which bringeth knowledge. It is unmistakable. The hatred of the wicked always has and always will follow the Priesthood and the Saints. The devil will not lose sight of the power of God vested in man—the Holy Priesthood. He fears it, he hates it, and will never cease to stir up the hearts of the debased and corrupt in anger and malice towards those who hold this power, and to persecute the Saints, until he is bound. He delights in apostasy and in apostates, and uses them for his purpose, but what does he or his emissaries care for their organizations? Do they hate them? Is the world moved with anger or malice against them? No. They become a part of the world, fraternize with the people of the world and lose their distinction or identity, as the people of God notwithstanding their claims and pretentions to being believers in the Prophet Joseph Smith, and the Gospel which he was instrumental in restoring to the earth.

What a host of apostasies there have been since the organization of this Church! There have been Rigdonites, Strangites, Benemites, Wightites, Gladdenites, Cutlerites, Morrisites, Josephites, and the duce knows what ites? But what does the world care about these? Nothing. Why? Because they have forfeited the Priesthood, they have not the power, nor the principles of salvation only in part; they have deserted the cause, have struck hands alike with the infidel and the bigot, and formed an alliance with the maligners and persecutors of the Saints, and therefore they are harmless in the eyes of the world and of their master whom they have blindly listed to serve. While these men who hold the keys of the Priesthood of the Son of God, who have led forth the Saints out of bondage and oppression, such as could not be endured in the States, who have gathered the people from afar, and planted them in happy homes and peaceful dwellings, who have reared cities, towns and villages well organized, well governed and prosperous, and in short wrought miracles in the deserts, and who still counsel and direct the Saints in the paths of life, are held up to the ridicule and contempt of the world. Their peace, good names, honor, possessions and lives are eagerly and persistently sought after, but with less effect, by the bloodthirsty hearts and crimson hands of relentless persecutors as during the lifetime of Joseph Smith the martyr, when the Saints were driven from Ohio, expelled from Missouri, or banished from their homes in Illinois. Such has always been and such is today the spirit of the world towards us. This alone is sufficient evidence to demonstrate the loyalty of this people to the kingdom of God, and their possession of the Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. Do you want any stronger proof of this, when you contemplate the sayings of the Scriptures, “If ye were of the world the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John xv, 19.) “And ye shall be hated of all men for my names sake.” (Matt. x, 22. “If they have persecuted me they will also persecute you.” (John xv, 20.) “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” John xvi, 33.) “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.” (Matt. v, 11.) “Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Tim., 3, 12.) Therefore, “Marvel not my brethren if the world hate you.” (I John iii, 13.) “Yea the time cometh that whoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” (John xvi, 2.) This was the nature of the legacy the Savior left his disciples and followers. Is it strange that we should inherit the same? Certainly not, if we are the disciples and followers of Christ, for the same warfare continues between him and Belial, and will until Satan is bound and righteousness triumphs upon the earth.

It is a consolation therefore to know, that, notwithstanding our many shortcomings, frailties, and imperfections, the Evil one, with the world at his back, considers us of sufficient importance to oppose and persecute us with such bitter hatred as he does. Yes, I say it is encouraging to know, that, as a people we are sufficiently faithful and worthy before the Lord, notwithstanding our opportunities for improvement, to arouse the indignation and hatred of the wicked, and to entitle us to the chastisement of God, through his servants, for our improprieties, for “whomsoever the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” But we should not provoke the displeasure or incur the chastisement of the Almighty—presuming upon his forbearance and mercy by neglecting to perform those duties and responsibilities so justly required of us—but we should be most diligent, putting forth every energy in our power to correct our ways, and thus increase our faith that we may become more worthy of the blessings and protection of God, than hitherto. He is more willing to bestow blessings upon us than we are to use them properly when we obtain them, thus by our unworthiness we may prevent ourselves often from receiving the very blessings we desire, and that he is not only abundantly able, but willing and ready to shower upon us if we were worthy, for he cannot consistently bestow “pearls upon swine.” No blessing or good will be withheld from those who are prepared and worthy to receive and make a wise use of it. The kingdom of God is to be enjoyed by the Saints—those who are righteous, not those who are wicked. If we prove unworthy, Zion will have to be redeemed by our children, who may be more worthy, while we may be kept, like the ancient children of Israel, wandering in the wilderness, enduring hardships, persecution and trials, until we shall have suffered the penalty of neglected, not to say broken and unfulfilled covenants.

May the Lord bless us all that we may prove ourselves faithful and efficient servants unto him, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.