Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered at the Funeral Services of Elder Wm. Pitt, in the 14th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, February 23, 1873.

I have been associated with brother Pitt a good many years. He taught music in my family as early, I think, as 1842, and I have been very intimately associated with him in the public works, in the Legion, and in the band that he has led, and I have never seen that man when he was not cheerful and full of life, indeed I have thought he had more music in him than any man I have ever known. If there was a musical instrument he could not play, I do not know what it is. He was al– ways faithful and cheerful under the most trying circumstances, and no matter what blast blew of difficulty or persecution, brother Pitt was there on hand at a moment’s notice full of life and music, ready to cheer the hearts of the people. He was a beautiful painter, and followed that trade for his subsistence. He was always industrious, and ready to do a job of work whether he could get anything for it or not. It made no difference, it was for the kingdom, and it was all right. He was one of the best of men in my opinion, and as has been said, it is all well with him.

I suppose there are a great many here who would like to bear testimony and speak a good word for brother Pitt; but, brethren, he does not need it—his whole life has spoken for itself, and will speak eternally. That mission that brother Woodruff has mentioned was just as remarkable in my estimation, if not more so, than the account contained in the New Testament, of the way in which Cornelius received the Gospel. He was told where to go to make inquiry about what he should do; and if the circumstance brother Woodruff mentioned had been put in the same language and had the antiquity that the baptism of Cornelius has, we would consider it one of the most remarkable manifestations of God’s power ever given to the children of men. In the Herefordshire mission there was not only one man and his house ready to receive the Gospel, but six hundred received it and were baptized, and it was by the same power and influence—the power of God and the Holy Ghost resting upon them, a revelation being also given to the servant of God to carry the Gospel to them; and he was sent of God just as much as Peter was ever authorized to go and tell Cornelius, just exactly. And this is only one instance of the kind among many thousands that are occurring and have occurred almost daily ever since this work commenced in these last days; and it is as remarkable as any we read of in the Bible; but because we live in them and they are common things with us, we do not esteem them. The healing of sister Mary Pitt, after having been unable to walk for fourteen years, was a remarkable manifestation of the power of God. And such things have been transpiring many years right before the face and eyes of the children of men throughout the nations of the earth, but what heed do they give to them? They read over in the Bible about the great blessings that were poured out on the people in the days of the Apostles, and yet see things equally remarkable transpiring right under their eyes and in their midst continually, and take no notice of it. The work of God is growing and increasing, and the God of heaven will not go back upon it; his work will spread and increase until his purposes are all fulfilled.

It has been said of brother Pitt that he did not preach much, but his whole life has been a continual sermon to this generation since he received the Gospel, and before for aught I know. I think that he has performed two or three missions, and I do know that he bore a faithful testimony to the truth of this work, not only by his words but by his acts. He was on a mission all the time. He did not hold himself to himself at any time, but he was continually on the altar, ready to go and to come as he was directed by the servants of God. A man is as much on a mission at home, building up Zion, as he is when abroad preaching the Gospel, and he should esteem his labors under the direction and dictation of the servants of God just the same. Here is where a good many make mistakes. They think that unless they are called to go on a mission to preach the Gospel they are not on a mission at all, but their only business is to look after their own individual interests. Why, a Latter-day Saint has no individual interest separate and apart from the kingdom of God, anywhere, at any time and in any place, and all he does should be with an eye to advance the interests of that kingdom upon the earth.

We have the blessed privilege of being co-workers with the Almighty in building up his kingdom, bringing to pass his purposes and in sustaining and spreading abroad the institutions of high heaven and the principles of the everlasting Gospel in the earth if we will only let him work with us. But in order to do so we must be submissive and work in accordance with his plan. We have come here from the nations of the earth to be taught in his ways, not that we may make a path for ourselves, and that we maybe instructed in the things of eternal life, and learn to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, for this is eternal life.

This is Scripture, and we have often heard it drop upon our ears with little effect, and it is unnoticed by the world. But if to know the only true and wise God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent is eternal life, unless we have that knowledge we have not eternal life. What do the world know of the relationship between God and his children here on the earth. Nothing at all. The world is without the knowledge of God, hence they are without eternal life. He has revealed himself in these last days, and is begging and beseeching his children here on the earth to turn from their evil ways. He has said through his Prophets long ago, “Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Take upon you my yoke, for it is easy, and my burden, for it is light. Come and partake of the waters of life freely, without money and without price.” This is the invitation from God to his children, but they are a good deal like the inhabitants of Jerusalem when Jesus mourned over them and said, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered you as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but ye would not. Now your house is left unto you desolate.” Let this generation look to it, or their house will be left desolate, and they will be without hope of reaching to that within the veil unless they receive the invitation which has been renewed in our day and generation to the children of men, to repent and be baptized, and to turn to God and live. It seems as if mankind have ears and hear not, eyes and see not, hearts and do not comprehend the things of God. It is true, as was observed by brother Taylor, the life of the Christian—the true Latter-day Saint, is hid in God, and the world cannot see it. This work is transpiring and these remarkable events are taking place right before their eyes in the building up of this kingdom, and nothing pertaining thereto is hidden, but it is like a city set on a hill for everybody to look at, still it seems as though they cannot see it.

There are a great many Latter-day Saints who do not see more than half of it. They cannot see the kingdom of God in this thing and in that thing and in the other thing that is presented before them. This is for the want of a little faithfulness, a little more of the Spirit of the Lord. There is some obstacle in the way which prevents a free flow of the Spirit to enlighten their minds and be to them as a well of water springing up to eternal life.

Meet brother Pitt when you might, you would find that feeling in his heart, welling up continually to eternal life. That was the kind of man he was. I know it, because I was well acquainted with him, and associated with him frequently, and I never saw him without it. I saw him almost every day for years, and I hope it will be as well with us as it is with him when we pass the ordeal of death. We all have to pass it. In and of itself it is nothing to him who is prepared. Brother Pitt might have done a great many things perhaps that some people thought curious, for he was a cheerful man, not one of those long-drawn-down, pious souls who never smiled. A person unacquainted with him might have supposed that he never had a serious thought, still his heart was full of love to God. If a man goes about with a handkerchief tied over his head, and his head bowed down with sorrow for the sins of the world, that is no evidence to me of love to God shed abroad in his heart, not a particle. I would sooner risk a man like brother Pitt, who was always cheerful and on hand, ready to go and come and to do his duty, whether in the paint shop, in the dance hall or anywhere else among the Saints of God. His delight was to be with them and cheer and encourage them in the faith; and he never swerved to the right or to the left. He was full of integrity. Did he ever have a doubt concerning the work? He never showed the least symptom of it to me, and I do not think it ever occurred to him; I do not believe a shadow of a doubt concerning its truth ever crossed his mind. He was ready, on hand, and full of fun, and that is the kind of a man I like to see. I should like for him to have lived a hundred years, because good men are scarce, and they are needed to build up the kingdom. Not that it would have been any better for him to live, he is all right, but for the sake of the kingdom, and for my sake and your sake, and for the sake of his family, and for the sake of all with whom he was associated in this stake of Zion it is a loss to lose such a man, but it is no loss to himself. He has laid a foun– dation that will eternally endure. No person can rob him of his crown. He is safe, and can do nothing himself that will bar the same. It is not so with you and me. We may live to do things that will clip our glory. It would be better that we should be taken away than to live and do anything of that kind. Not that I think there would have been any danger of any such thing with him. But he has gone, and we will soon follow. As it has been expressed today, death is passed upon all men, and we only wait our turn to pay the debt of nature. Brother Pitt, has paid that debt, and that very selfsame body will come forth again, and when we grasp his hand we shall know that it is brother Pitt, for he will maintain his identity in the eternal worlds. Do you not think that is glorious? When the spirit and body are reunited in immortality they will never be separated again. We need not fear death, that is if we are numbered among those who will have the privilege of coming forth in the morning of the first resurrection, for upon all such the second death will have no power. It is the second death that people may be afraid of. Fear him who has power to destroy both soul and body in hell. This is the second death, but this will have no power upon those who have part in the first resurrection. All manner of sin will be forgiven to men except the sin against the Holy Ghost; that will never be forgiven neither in this world nor the world to come. If men will only be obedient to the Gospel, and avail themselves of the plan of salvation devised by our Father and God in heaven before the world was, they may obtain forgiveness of their sins by being obedient to the Gospel. The plan of salvation is ample to save to the uttermost. God, in his mercy, designed it to save his children, because he delights to give good gifts to his children far more than an earthly parent does. The Almighty has sent forth his servants to plead with the children of men, to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, and to call upon them to repent lest the end come when no man can work. Some few will listen and be prepared, because some are honest enough to receive the Gospel, others are not.

I pray God the Eternal Father to bless us all, that we may cleave to that which is good, reject evil, fill the measure of our creation in our probation as our brother has done, that we way lay up a crown and an inheritance in everlasting habitations, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Discourse by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered in the Bowery, Brigham City, Saturday, June 8, 1872.

I feel glad of the opportunity of bearing my testimony once again to the principles of salvation that have been revealed in the day in which we live, to the children of men. There is an impression resting upon the people of every nation on the face of the earth, that some great events in human history are about to take place. In the Christian world there is a general belief that the time is approaching when the God of heaven will assume the reins of power. They talk about the reign of Christ, the great millennial day, when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ.

It is hardly possible for any person to live to the years of maturity without having some impression, some anxiety concerning his future state; all persons, at some period of their existence, have such impressions. They come from the Lord, and their effect on the mind is as plain as the mark of the type on the paper; and the reason we experience them is because we are the children of God. There is a link existing between God and his children here on the earth, and that draws them towards him, and enables all who listen to the promptings of his good Spirit to increase in good, and to overcome that which is evil. This is natural, and exists to a greater or less extent in the hearts of all the children of men.

There is evil in the world—evil influences that strive against and destroy that which is good. Men’s names are written in the Book of Life, and will forever remain written there unless they do something to cut the thread and to blot them out. Men are naturally religious in their feelings, and it is a perversion of their nature to go into wicked and by and forbidden paths. The practice of evil brings with it no peace or true happiness. It destroys the vital thread of life that reaches into the eternal bowers of peace and salvation. The Lord our God has never given a commandment to the children of men but that would, if observed, be for their happiness and well-being here on the earth, and it is for ourselves that we serve God and keep his commandments. All that he has done, all the commandments he has given, are for our benefit, not for his. It would be well for us, as the President has just observed, if we would walk in the channels of truth and virtue, and in strict obedience to the commands of God, for thereby we promote our own welfare and secure to ourselves an eternal inheritance in the realms of joy and happiness. The kingdom is ours if we will live for it. We may come to an inheritance of all that is worth desiring or possessing, of all that will be of any benefit to us either here or hereafter, if we will live for it.

God, our heavenly Father, has restored the authority of the Holy Priesthood, through the channel of which a communication has been opened up between the heavens and the earth; and through that channel we can learn to know God, whom to know is life eternal. The way to this is opened to all the children of men, and the invitation has gone forth unto all people to repent of their sins, and return to God and receive the blessings. There is no true enjoyment but what can be obtained through this channel, and it is within the purview of the kingdom of God here upon the earth. The people should not be afraid of the government of God; it is only calculated for their benefit, and it will be a blessed day when it can take the place of the wicked governments that now exist on the face of the earth, and its establishment should be hailed as the grandest and best event that could take place among the children of men. In the kingdom and government of God is every blessing that is enduring, and it will confer upon those who abide its laws all the peace, joy and happiness they can conceive of. Outside of it there is nothing worth having; all real true happiness, all that can serve our best interests comes within its purview.

Are we obliged, in order to secure present happiness and enjoyment, to go outside the kingdom of God? By no manner of means, although it is so esteemed in the religious world. A great many so-called religious people feel that they are restrained of their liberty and enjoyment by being members of their churches. This is a wrong view. Our Father in heaven does not wish to restrain his children in anything that is right, and it is right for people to enjoy themselves, and the very acme of happiness is to be obtained by obeying the behests and commands of our Father in heaven. Men may indulge in things they call happiness, but there is often no real happiness in them, for they bring punishment along in the sting they leave behind. It is not so with proper enjoyments—enjoyments within the scope of reason and right, where there is no infringement upon each other. The great law of demarcation between that which is wrong and that which is right is not to infringe upon the rights of another. No man has a right to infringe upon another. We serve ourselves, then, by serving God and keeping his commandments, and the way is so plain that no person can err therein. Our boys who have been properly raised and tutored in the Church and kingdom of God, who have attended Sunday school, learned the catechism and become conversant with the principles set forth in the Scriptures, in the Book of Mormon, and in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, and have been endowed with the authority of the Holy Priesthood, can teach men the way of life and salvation; and if they will follow their teachings they will bring them back into the celestial kingdom of God, they are so simple and so easy to be comprehended.

There are a good many ways pointed out by the children of men, which they call the ways of life and salvation, but the end thereof is death. The Lord is not the author of the confusion that exists in the religious world. Satan stands there, ready, and has religion at his fingers’ ends, already manufactured, to suit the notions of men. Men get notions and ideas foreign to the truth, and they find religion manufactured to their order, and can get any kind that they have a mind to order, just as one who goes to a huckster’s shop can purchase anything he has a mind to pay for. They have their manufactured religion to pay for, for Satan does not work for nothing.

There is but one way, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and man; he has made it manifest unto the children of men in the day and age in which we live. It has been told to us here, today, and is frequently reiterated in our hearing, that God is full of mercy, and would rather that all men should turn from evil and live. He begs people to turn from their evil ways. He says “Take upon you my yoke, for it is easy, and my burden, for it is light; and come, partake of the waters of life freely, without money and without price.” These words, are sounded in our ears continually, for the Lord would rather that all men would turn and live and come to him. Why so? He is merciful, and the invitation is as widespread as the vast domains of the world: it reaches every human being, every son and daughter of Adam upon the face of the whole earth. Holy messengers of salvation are sent forth by the direction of the God of heaven, through the channel of the holy priesthood that he has revealed and instituted again among men, warning the people to turn from their evil ways, and to become partakers of this great happiness and glory and to sustain his government upon the earth. It is true the impression has gone forth in the midst of the nations, and it is a true impression, that he will establish his government upon the earth. This earth belongs to God, he has a right to rule and govern it, and it is his intention to do so. Prophets, in ages gone by, have disclosed this, and modern prophets have done the same in our day through the channel of the Holy Priesthood. That Priesthood has been organized according to the ancient pattern, for God set in his Church, first Apostles, second Prophets, and so on. It has been reorganized according to this pattern, and the proclamation has gone forth—“Repent and give glory to God.” The Gospel has been restored by the angel which John saw flying through the midst of heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, saying, “Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.” This message has been sounded in the midst of the nations, and the greater portion of the people who have gathered to these valleys have listened to this proclamation. It reached their ears and made an impression upon them, and they gathered up from the midst of the nations of the earth to these valleys of the mountains to be taught in the ways of the Lord, that they might walk in his paths, instead of walking in the vain imaginations of their own hearts and in ways of error, because, as the ancient prophet says, “They have inherited error and lies from their fathers.” Behold, this has been fulfilled in the day in which the angel has brought forth and revealed the Gospel. Now we can see wherein we and our fathers have been in error. We have been taught the precepts of men instead of the commandments of God; but in our day we have been touched with the light of truth and with the Spirit of the living God, through obedience to the principles of the Gospel. The Saints of the Most High, having heard these principles proclaimed in their ears, had faith in them and in God, and they repented of their sins and went forth into the waters of baptism, according to the words of our Savior—“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Having been obedient to these principles and having had hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, it has been given unto us, and we know, ourselves, concerning these things, and bear testimony this day that they are true. It has come from God, it is not any “guess so;” it is not a hope within a hope, that we have a hope, but we bear testimony that we verily do know that God has spoken, and we warn all people to repent and turn to God, and partake of the waters of life freely, without money and without price.

This is what has brought this people together in the valleys of the mountains; and they are laboring now to bring forth and establish the Zion of God upon the earth, according to the words of his Holy Prophets, whose prophecies have been and are being fulfilled in the history of this people. The kingdom of God is actually transpiring right before our face and eyes, but the world cannot see it, because they are not born again. They cannot enter this kingdom, because they are not born of the water and of the Spirit, and because they do not comply with the requirements of the Gospel and render obedience to the great plan of salvation devised in the heavens before the foundation of the world. This plan was understood and was in the program before the morning stars together sang for joy, and who can better it? Puny men undertake to do so, but their efforts are vain, and they only betray their own folly and presumption. Our Father in heaven knew better than any of us what was for our best interests, and he has condescended to make it manifest to his children here, and if they would walk in accordance therewith they would lay the foundation for eternal power, dominion and glory.

It is the duty of the Latter-day Saints to live by every word proceeding from the mouth of God.

He has told us to keep the words of wisdom, and has said that they are adapted to the capacity of all who can be called Saints, even the weakest. But, see the frailty of humanity! We think we know and understand better than the Lord, what is best for us. We say this by our acts a great many times; but we might as well learn, first as last, that the Lord knows best, and that his way is better than ours, as much so as the heavens are higher than the earth. He has trodden the path, and has had the experience that we have not had, and has kindly condescended to make known a little of his experience in regard to these things. He has told us that it is not good for us to take spirituous liquors; but a great many of us think a little will do us no harm, and it is better for us to have it than not to have it. He has told us not to swear, not to take the name of the Lord in vain, not to give way to our evil passions. Our passions are good, and planted within us for a good and wise purpose, to give us strength and energy of character; but they should be governed and controlled by that heaven-inspired intellect and reason with which every person is endowed; in other words, our passions should be our servants and not our masters.

If we are thus governed and influenced, kindness, love and charity will fill every heart; but depart from that, let passion bear sway, then the evil influences that attend us take possession and cause us to go astray into by and forbidden paths. When passion rules it dethrones reason and intellect, and makes a beast of a man; and he who has no more command of himself than to be governed by passion has fallen far beneath the dignity of true manhood, and the end of such a course is death.

These are some of the things that we have to be told of so often, because we are so forgetful, and we oftentimes let the cares of the world choke the word of life. The latter is sown in the hearts of the children of men, and sometimes it takes root and grows fairly for a little while, and then withers and dries up. Some– times it falls into good ground, takes root downward and bears fruit upward; and where it does not do this it is owing to the frailties of human nature, and to its proneness to wander from the way of life and to disregard the truths of heaven.

One of the greatest boons that could be conferred upon the children of men would be to have the government of God established on the earth. Can they see it? No, they stand in fear of it. What makes men fear it? What makes them afraid of the Lord, or of his government being established on the earth? Is it not because their deeds are evil, and because they are afraid of receiving the punishment due for the same? The word has gone forth, and most men believe it, that every man will be judged according to the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or evil. And when men are conscious of evil deeds, and know they do not pay allegiance to the kingdom and government of God, they have reason to fear and dread the future; and let me say here, the time will come when they will call upon the rocks and mountains to fall upon them to hide them from his presence. But it should not be so. We need not be afraid of the rule and government of God, it is only calculated to benefit the children of men, and it will be a glorious happy day when it shall be established on the earth in its fulness. Men should fear to do wrong, to commit iniquity; they should do themselves the kindness to honor the principles that pertain to their well-being, and to eternal life and exaltation. Such principles should be hailed with joy, gladness and delight by all the children of men. The time will come when the government of God will prevail over the whole face of the earth, notwithstanding all that mankind, and all that the powers of evil can do against it. The principles which underlie the kingdom and government of God are those of truth and virtue, and they will endure; while sin, iniquity, disobedience and unbelief will be swept away, and the man who builds his house or castle on such a foundation will find that it will not stand in the day of the Lord Almighty. When the storms come and the winds beat upon that house it will be swept away; in that day too, men will be stripped of all their hypocrisy and iniquity, and they will stand forth in all their naked deformity, then they will call upon the rocks to fall upon and hide them from the presence of the Lord. Men should live so that they can bear the scrutinizing eye of the Almighty. Persons may think they can commit this or that evil, and no one will know it; they may be very secretive in doing wrong, and think they will never be found out. But if I commit evil I know it, and when I know it, one too many knows it; and the Lord knows it as well as I know it. We cannot hide it from him, and we had better not commit ourselves in any such a way, for in the great day of the Lord these things will be revealed; man will stand forth in his naked deformity, and the wickedness of wicked men will be made to appear, and it will be written where it can be read by all people when the veil shall be taken from before the eyes. Then let us repent and turn to God with full purpose of heart, and the promise to everyone who will do this in sincerity is that their sins shall be forgiven, and that they shall receive the testimony which we bear this day—namely that the Gospel we preach, is the Gospel of the Son of God and has been revealed for the salvation of the human family.

This promise is certain and sure, there need be no doubt about it; it will be fulfilled to all whom the Lord our God shall call—to everyone who repents of his evil ways and renders obedience to its mandates. The minister in the pulpit needs it as much as anybody else. Why? Because he has taught error; he has assumed to himself the authority of high heaven, which has never been given to him. He has run before he was sent, and has taught the traditions of the fathers instead of the commandments of God. He needs to repent of his evil ways, and not only to repent of but to turn from them.

No man can get a greater testimony of the forgiveness of his sins by the Lord, than a knowledge within himself that he has turned away from his evil deeds. He knows it then, for God has promised to forgive everyone who will comply with the requirements of the Gospel and turn from evil; and the man who forsakes evil knows it, and if he has no other testimony of his forgiveness, this is as great a one as he can possess.

I know that this is different kind of preaching from what people get in the world, but that makes no difference. We are a different people from any other, God has made us so by the instructions that he has imparted unto us through his servants. He has taught us another and a better way—the true way, the way that leads back to him, the way of life, truth and salvation. The Scriptures—the history of God’s dealings with his children in past ages when the authority of the Holy Priesthood was on the earth, also bear testimony that this is the work of God, and that all who receive it, and remain true and faithful, may become coworkers with our heavenly Father in bringing to pass his purposes and establishing his kingdom upon the earth, if we will only let him work with us; but we must do this. He will establish his work anyhow, independent of us, if we do not see proper to aid him in this great enterprise. If we do not do it, he will find somebody who will, for the day of redemption, the set time has come for the commencement of this great work. An impression has gone forth among all the children of men that the time is rapidly approaching to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord, and the establishment of his kingdom on the earth. No matter whether it be Gentile, Jew, bond or free, heathen or Christian, this impression has been made on the minds of all classes of the children of men in all the nations of the earth, and it is true. The set time has come when God will put forth his hand to establish his kingdom, and everybody knows it. We proclaim in the ears of the people that the angel has come and brought again the everlasting Gospel to preach to all the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. Let those, then, who have not received it, make some inquiry concerning this work. It is not a thing done up in a corner, but it is like a city set on a hill, that cannot be hid. The kingdom of God is transpiring before the eyes of the children of men. Let them take heed and not raise their heel against it, because if they do, it will only redound to their own discomfiture. Then they had better not do it, they had better receive it, or at least investigate, and then, if they do not receive it, they had better withhold their hands instead of seeking to destroy and overthrow the work and kingdom of God. All efforts to do so will be futile, they will do the kingdom no harm, for nothing can prevent its increase and triumph in the earth. God will not be thwarted in his purposes and designs. The set time has come for him to favor his people, and to establish his kingdom, and the puny arm of man will be powerless to prevent it. Have they not been trying for forty years? Are the lessons of the past of no benefit to the world? It would seem so, indeed. They are slow to learn this lesson, peradventure they may learn it after awhile, but not so long as evil predominates as it does at present in the hearts of the great majority of the children of men. We may be scattered and driven and have many afflictions to endure, but will that stay the work of God? No. How has it been? Let our past experience teach us and the world at the same time. It has only increased and given greater velocity to the work of God. Phoenix like, it has risen from its ashes and, if there is anything about it formidable, it has presented a more formidable face than ever before, notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions of its adversaries. My testimony is that the experience of the past will be renewed in the future, if the enemies of Zion work for its overthrow. They may succeed in taking the lives of some of the servants of God; they have done that in the past, but it never obstructed the work, and all their efforts in the future will be as powerless as in the past.

It is for the Saints to ponder these things in their hearts, and with renewed confidence and greater faith to press forward in their high calling. Their past observation and experience have proved to them the necessity of continual diligence. Many who have borne faithful testimonies to the truth of this work have apostatized and forsaken the truth because they have neglected some duty and have gradually given way to evil, and the counsels of their mind have become darkened to the principles of truth, and they have finally forgotten that they ever knew them to be true.

Then let us take heed to our steps. “Let him who standeth take heed lest he fall,” is a very good exhortation. We are none of us independent, and none have got so far along but we find it necessary to live humbly before the Lord. We should pray without ceasing, and let our hearts be drawn towards the Lord continually, never forgetting him, or the principles that he has revealed unto us; but we should be actuated by them in all we say and all we do. If we do this, the Spirit of the Lord will be within us like a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. It is necessary that everyone should live thus humbly before the Lord, in order to have full possession of this Spirit. This will bring peace, joy and comfort under all difficulties that may assail us and seek to prevent our progress in the kingdom of God.

What is a man good for who flies the track the very moment obstruction or difficulty presents itself before him? Nothing. He has not proven his integrity, and he cannot prove it in this way. We have undertaken to follow the Lord through evil as well as good report; and the Lord, and his ways, his teachings and government are in evil report in the world; and he who has independence and courage enough to strip himself of his surroundings in the world, and seeks to establish the kingdom of God, has to meet these difficulties which present themselves before him. He has to stem his ear to the popular stream. It is easy to float with the stream; but it requires more courage, and independence of character and greater nerve to stem the tide of corruption in the world than to go down with the current; and the man who takes this course is far more in– dependent than he who has not the courage to do so.

Then let us take courage and press onward if we have received the truth, as we know we have; if we have received the testimony of Jesus—the spirit of prophecy, as we know we have, let us take heed to our steps and continue faithful, never swerving to the right hand or to the left, for of all people in the world, the Latter-day Saints are the people who cannot afford to lay off the armor of righteousness for a moment. The tempter, the evil one, is at our elbow, ready to enter in and take possession and blind our understandings and cause us to make shipwreck of our faith if possible.

The Saints should live humble, be courteous, be civil and live for God and his kingdom. That is the only job we have on hand. Let us work on that job as long as we live on the earth. Our religion is not a matter of enthusiasm, to last a day or a week, and then evaporate into thin air, like the religions of the world; but every hour, every day, every week, every year, as long as we live on the earth, it should be first with us, for it is only he who endures faithful and true to the end that will be saved, and will inherit everlasting habitations. We need not lay to our souls the flattering unction that we can go hand in hand with the devil all our lives and inherit celestial glory. That is not in the program. We can do as we please about receiving or rejecting the principles of life and salvation as they have been revealed. We have this power, because we are free agents, to act as we please in this matter; but we cannot go back into celestial abodes and inherit celestial glory unless we keep the law pertaining to that kingdom. And so with every other kingdom, even a telestial kingdom; we must abide a telestial law or we cannot participate in the glory appertaining to it.

I do not wish to continue. I feel thankful for the privilege of bearing my testimony, although I do yet count myself a preacher. But the principles of the Gospel make preachers of us all, for they make us bear testimony of the same to the children of men. They impel every heart to say something, to bear testimony, if nothing more, to the truth of the principles we have received. This lifegiving power, the Holy Ghost, I say, impels every person who has received it to bear this testimony according to the sphere and position he fills, and the duties he is called upon to perform. A person may be called to plough, sow, reap, build a railroad, work in the canyon or to go and preach to the nations of the earth, and one calling is as legitimate as another, inasmuch as he who is filling it is working in the legitimate channel, and aiding to build up the kingdom of God.

Every person who has obeyed the Gospel has a share of responsibility to bring forth and establish this work upon the earth. None can shirk this responsibility, but it is shared by all according to their spheres and positions. Those engaged in raising families are doing their part to establish the Zion of God, just as much as in the performance of any other labor.

Let us ponder these things in our hearts, receive the impressions made from the heavens above. This will exalt us above the groveling things of earth and cause us to attain those which are before us with cheerful hearts and willing minds.

May God preserve us in the purity of our most holy faith, and enable us to endure to the end, that we may inherit everlasting habitations prepared for the righteous, is my prayer for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 5, 1870.

It has pleased God in the day and generation in which we live to reveal His holy Gospel. I expect that He knew the time to bring it forth; that He understood the proper time to introduce its principles, and chose that period in the world’s history in which it would be received by, at least, a portion of His children. I apprehend that He made no mistake; that the angel which John prophesied should come forth, bearing the everlasting Gospel to the children of men, came to the right person, to the true Joseph—to the one who would receive it, and bear testimony that he had seen an angel, though all the world should deride and point the finger of scorn, call him a dreamer, and treat him with every kind of contumely and reproach; and though they eventually persecuted him unto the death, they could not prevail upon him to deny that he had seen an angel, and that he received from the Lord those principles which he taught.

We believe, then, that it was the right time, and that he, the angel, came to the right person; that the Gospel has gone forth unto the world, that the minds of the children of men have been touched with the light of truth, and that it has had the effect to inspire some to seek after the Lord, to observe and keep His laws, learn His ways and walk in His paths. The object and purpose of our gathering together, brethren and sisters, is to learn of His ways, and walk in His paths.

It is one of the greatest conceivable blessings which can be conferred upon the children of men to live in the day and generation in which the Lord has sent forth His Gospel; in an age in which He has conferred upon men the authority of the holy Priesthood to administer in sacred and holy things. It is one of the greatest blessings that could be conferred upon His children to become the happy recipients of that knowledge which leads to eternal life and exaltation in His kingdom. All people have this privilege so far as the knowledge of the Gospel has come to their ears. In this the children of men are independent; they have their volition and agency to receive or to reject these principles when they shall hear them; but when they are sent forth with the authority of the holy Priesthood, which is the authority of God, and are sounded in the ears of God’s creatures here on the earth, and they reject them, they incur a fearful responsibility. Still they have the power to act as they please in this matter; but the consequences rest upon themselves—the Lord has left them without excuse. It is a matter for you and me and for all persons to canvas in their own minds, and we can then act upon our own volition in receiving or rejecting the truth.

All who have not heard the prin– ciples of life and salvation proclaimed will have the privilege of doing so; if not here, then in some other sphere or state of existence. The plan of salvation is ample, full and complete, and will save all the children of men who let it, and the Lord will be left without excuse in the final winding up, so far as the probation of man on the earth is concerned.

We read in the Scriptures that to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, is life eternal. To enable His creatures to obtain this knowledge the Lord has kindly sent forth His revelations from time to time; but we do honestly believe that the Latter-day Saints are the only people on the face of the earth at the present time that have any true knowledge of God, of the relationship that does exist between Him and the inhabitants of the earth and of the design and object of the Almighty in bringing them into existence, and the purpose to be accomplished thereby in their future state. I say we believe that the Latter-day Saints are the only people who possess this knowledge. The world have no just conceptions of the Deity; even the Christian world are without the knowledge of God as much as the heathen nations. This may be deemed a sweeping declaration, but it is susceptible of proof, if we take the Scriptures for our guide and as the foundation of our argument; that is, if the Christian world believe as they profess to do. I do not care to illustrate at this present time, or to bring evidence to bear to sustain my position, to a people who understand these arguments and principles, and who have learned better things, as is the case with this congregation. We know in whom we have trusted; we know who has led us forth to the valleys of the mountains; who has blessed the land and caused it to bring forth its strength for our sustenance; who has shielded and protected us from the power of the adversary—those who have sought our overthrow and destruction. We have learned to know Him as our Father, the Father of our spirits, and the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has exercised a parental care over us, and has delivered us at all times from the power of our enemies, brought us an inheritance in a goodly land, blessed the land and caused it to bring forth in its strength for our sustenance. We know that we are dependent upon Him for our very existence, and that by Him only are we preserved, just as well as we know that the children of men, impelled by the great adversary, Satan, are seeking to overthrow us, to break in pieces the kingdom of God, and to destroy from the face of the earth the rule and authority of the Priesthood of God.

Are we prepared to take upon ourselves the labor, the self-denial, the self-abnegation, I might say the persecution, if it should be permitted to come upon us, that continually besets the pathway of the Saint of God? If we are, we are all right; if we are not, we had better repent and seek unto the Lord for strength, retrace our steps, and get the Spirit of God in our hearts that we may become more confirmed in our most holy faith. When we received the Gospel we felt as though it would be a great privilege to devote our whole lives and all our interests in this existence to the extension of this great and glorious cause. Have we grown lukewarm in our feelings and love? If so it is time to retrace our steps, lest we become darkened in the counsel of our minds and turn away to the beggarly elements of the world.

I will say, this morning, that the Gospel that I received is as sweet to me today as it ever was during my existence on the earth, yea, more so, for as I advance, greater and more glorious truths and beauties develop themselves and come home to my understanding. If the first principles of the Gospel were true in the days of Joseph, they are true today. If the principles that have been developed as we have passed along were true when they first struck our minds with their convincing proofs, they are also true today. If what we believed were the whisperings of the Spirit of God confirming these truths on our minds, were really so, and we received them from Heaven, we should live faithful to what we have received, that we may progress and improve as we pass along. We have received an item of truth here and another there, as we could receive and maintain it; but the revelations declare that there are things yet to be revealed which have been kept hid from the foundations of the world. I, for one, expect that the volume of revelation will remain open, and that the servants of God will, in the future as they have in the past, read to us from the Book of Life. The reflection that we shall not be confined to what has already been given, but that we shall continue to grow and increase in the knowledge of God, and in every good, is one of the most highly-prized principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

How true it is that, when any new principle, or any new idea concerning an old principle is promulgated, the human heart seems to rise up in rebellion against it, and the Saints are no exception in this respect, for when the Lord condescends to reveal any new principle pertaining to their welfare and the building up of His kingdom on the earth, many are ready, both in feelings and practices, to rise up and rebel against it. What is the matter? Are we pent up in a nutshell and confined in our feelings to such an extent that we cannot receive new revelations and instructions from time to time when they come from the proper source? No. I think that, for the great majority of the Latter-day Saints, I can answer it is not so. It may be so with individuals; but as a general thing the Saints are glad to receive instruction, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, as they can receive and endure it. I heard President Young say that he told the Prophet Joseph never to reveal a new principle to him if he thought that he could not receive it, that it would be detrimental to his faith or cause him to turn from that which he had received. He said he would rather remain in ignorance than to have it prove a stumblingblock to him. I have seen a great many people anxious for revelation, and for the development of some great mystery concerning the kingdom of God. I have never felt so; I have been satisfied with what the Lord should condescend to reveal, and more than glad if, when it did come, I was able to receive and practice it.

How many are there within the hearing of my voice who have felt infringed upon in their feelings when they were told to sustain Zion and not to trade with their enemies. This was a new feature, but it touched things of a temporal nature. Why a great many felt as though they could not submit to be dictated to, though it was by the servant of God, in regard to temporal affairs. Is not this true, and we, too, right in the midst of Israel? O, yes, we can’t deny it, there has been considerable howling made concerning this item. But yet this is the kingdom of God, and the kingdom and the greatness thereof are to be given to the Saints of the Most High. Can we expect anything else than that His servant will dictate us concerning our temporal matters? I do not understand it in any other way. When, I would ask, can the kingdom of God be established on the earth, or in other words when can the kingdom and the greatness thereof be given to the Saints of the Most High? Never until a people is found possessing sufficient good, hard, sound sense to use the blessings of that kingdom to build it up and not to give it to the devil just as fast as the Lord hands them over to them. We have come up to Zion that we may be taught in the ways of the Lord and that we may learn to walk in His paths. And you know I have told you how independent we are—we can either receive the Gospel, or reject it and take the consequences. But let no man lay the flattering unction to his soul that he can do just as he pleases and obtain celestial glory. We can never do this except we make our ways, notions and ideas correspond with the Lord’s. If we expect to attain to celestial glory, and be prepared and qualified to receive the kingdom of God in its greatness upon the earth, we shall have to make our ways correspond with the Lord’s, so much so at least as to be found faithful in making good use of the blessings which He has entrusted to us. It is those who are found faithful over a few things unto whom the promise is made that they shall become rulers over many things. It is not those who fly the track at the moment of peril and difficulty who will obtain the blessings of high heaven; no, the Lord tests and tries us, to prove if we have integrity, and the man who flies the track, when tested, proves that he is lacking in integrity and is not worthy to receive the blessings of those who are faithful and true. Blessings are no doubt withheld in kindness for a time, for many who receive them grow fat and kick, thus proving to the Lord that they are not worthy; and peradventure He withholds blessings from many very good people, who will finally triumph over their own peculiar notions and ideas, and make their ways so far correspond with the Lord’s as to be worthy.

We are in a school of experience, brethren and sisters, and it will be well for us if we will wisely use and apply the blessings we receive and the experience that we are passing through, and so govern and control ourselves in the future that the experience of the past may be a light to our feet in time to come.

It is most desirable to us all that we should be preserved in the purity of our most holy faith, and never depart therefrom or swerve either to the right hand or to the left. The fate of others who have departed from the path of rectitude ought to be a warning to as all to be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit, lest we fall into the same pit. It is a very easy thing for a man to get into the dark, and small things often lead to it. He sees, peradventure, something in his Bishop or Teacher, or in some of the authorities, which he does not like, and instead of going to the proper place to ascertain the truth in the case, and informing his mind correctly concerning the matter, he lets it corrode in his heart until disaffection is produced and he begins to lose confidence. In a short time, if he indulges in this spirit, he mouths it to some confidant or friend, and after doing it once he mouths it again, and if you follow that man a little longer you will find that he neglects his prayers and the duties of his calling, and very soon the counsel of his mind becomes darkened, and soon he is on the highway to apostasy, and, in fact, he has been there from the beginning, if he had only known it; and if no good friend should tell him his error, in a short time such a man goes over the dam and makes shipwreck of his faith, and that is the greatest calamity that can befall any person.

What matters it to the Saints what path they are led into if the Lord leads? If they are submissive and yield to His dictation, no matter whether it brings weal or woe, it will work out good; it may bring poverty, so far as the things of the world are concerned, but it will never bring poverty to the soul. And it will be a happy reflection when we have passed through this mortal existence, that we were able to stand the test, enduring the ordeals and remaining steadfast and faithful to the end.

I do not know that we are promised anything here but the hatred and persecution of the world; and this has been the portion of the Saints of God in every age of the world. I do believe, however, that the table is going to change; I believe that when the people are sufficiently pure and worthy, and capable of wisely using the blessings of which I have spoken, the blessings of earth and heaven will be poured upon them in rich abundance. We have a little foretaste of this in the blessings that we have received and enjoy today. Although the power of the Adversary is very great, and he still seeks the overthrow and destruction of the cause and kingdom of God on the earth; yet it is a different age of the world, it is a different dispensation; it is the dispensation of the fulness of times, in which, no matter how much we may be overturned, no matter how much individuals may suffer, or how much they may be called to endure, the final result will be triumph to the kingdom, and it will not be given to another people; but we shall have power to redeem Zion and to build that great and glorious temple in which the Saints will receive the blessings of eternity, and on which the glory of God will rest as a cloud by day and as a pillar of fire by night. This people are that people; these Saints are the Saints of the Most High, to whom the kingdom and the greatness thereof will be given, and another people shall never possess it.

This should be a great satisfaction to us, and should encourage us in our pathway through all the difficulties we may have to encounter. We would not be worth much if we could not pass through ordeals. The Savior of the world had to pass through them, and we should not complain if we have to tread in his footsteps in order to obtain great blessings at the end of the race. Let us reflect on these things and go on our way rejoicing, filling the full measure of our creation with credit to ourselves, and with honor to God, our Father, who brought us to this state of existence, which is my prayer for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 7, 1869.

After our usual custom we have met in a general council of the church to receive instruction in those things which are necessary for the government and well-being of the people, and to be instructed in that which is calculated to promote our best interests. At our Conferences a general interchange of thought and feeling in the midst of Israel takes place. At these meetings we receive great blessings; rich treasures of knowledge and understanding are opened up, and made known to the people throughout the valleys of the mountains. We come here to be instructed; we gather from the nations of the earth that we may be taught in the ways of the Lord and that we may learn to walk in His paths.

We can see a glorious future before us; we can dwell upon the words of the holy prophets and picture to ourselves great things in time to come concerning the beauty and glory of Zion, when she shall be built up. We can talk of exaltations in the Kingdom of God, of thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, but how are we going to attain to these things? It seems as though, when we receive the Gospel and our hearts are lit up with the spirit of truth, we expect, without any particular effort on our part, at some time in the future, to attain to these great excellencies and glories. We are a good deal like children. We tell them of reading and writing, but they will never be able to do either, unless they take the trouble to learn. We often hear it said that if we wish to have a heaven we shall have to create it for ourselves. There is considerable truth in this. In the days of Joseph could he have accomplished with this people what can now be accomplished in the days of Brigham? No; it would have been impossible. I remember hearing him talk, and seeing his endeavors to establish merchandising on a similar footing to that which has been recently introduced among the Saints; but there were difficulties in the way.

In those days there was a tendency of feeling that each should share alike in everything, so much so that it was impossible for any man to do business in the mercantile line. A good brother who was needy would think it was selfish if he could not go to a store and get what he wanted without paying the money for it. It was a good deal so when we first came here. Let a brother commence the mercantile business, and the first thing he knew his whole capital stock was credited out to the brethren. He could not refuse to credit a brother. O, no! If he did it was said at once that he was selfish and was no friend to the poor. I have never seen the time when cooperation could have been established in the midst of the people until the present. Some will doubtless find fault with it now; but we do not expect to be clear of faultfinders. We have to be instructed; and the Lord has been merciful and kind. He has sought all the day long to train us in the way we should go. We never can learn the principles pertaining to the building up of the Kingdom of God while scattered abroad; hence, the necessity of gathering together that we may be instructed in the ways of the Lord.

There is a great tendency among the people to go into the business of trading, and to shun the more laborious pursuits and avocations of life. A great many seem to think that trading or merchandising is more genteel, and that it is more gentlemanly not to learn some profitable trade or business. A considerable number who have been engaged in mercantile pursuits, owing to this change in our system of business, will no doubt be thrown out of employment; they will have to seek other avocations. Some persons who possess capital will have to seek other avenues in which to invest that capital. In a new country like this there is a variety of ways open to them for its safe and profitable investment.

A man may invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in goods and put them on his shelves, and in his warehouses, and dispose of them again to other parties; but what does such a man produce or create with his means that is beneficial to his fellow creatures? Nothing; it is merely an interchange. It is useful and necessary in its way and place, and it is all well enough; but sufficient should be done and no more than sufficient. Trading is overdone; there are too many employed in this kind of business; they should seek employment in some other way, and find other channels for investing their capital that are better calculated to produce something from the earth, and bring forth from the elements that which is necessary for the comfort and well-being of man and beast. Just think how many things could be raised and manufactured here, that, if we had them today, would fetch very remunerative prices. Butter, for instance, that at the present time is selling for a dollar and a quarter a pound, in a country like this should not bring more than twenty-five cents. Cheese the same. These two articles are imported twelve or fifteen hundred miles, and then the Territory is not near supplied. Wool and flax, too, might be raised profitably; not near enough of these is raised; and in these articles our surplus means might be safely and profitably invested. There is not near enough grain raised in the Territory. Wheat is selling today at four dollars a bushel, when it should not be more than half that price, and even then would well remunerate the producer. It is so with every other article of our own consumption and that is required for the sustenance of our animals; and the same may be said of the animals themselves. Stock raising offers a profitable avenue for the investment of means. Here are many avenues in which they, who have been overturned in their mercantile pursuits, can invest their means, which will pay larger profits, and which are far less liable to fluctuation, because mercantile pursuits are often subject to great depression through being overdone, or through scarcity of money and other causes. If a person has a farm his produce will keep until he can obtain remunerative prices, and he is more free and independent than the merchant; for the earth being his banker, he is not called upon to meet his bills and obligations by any particular and specified time, as the merchant is. By turning our attention in these directions our capital may be safely and profitably invested, and many who are now but little better than idlers in Israel might be remuneratively employed.

I should say let every young man, and woman too, learn some way to procure their own subsistence, and to promote their own independence; this is incumbent upon all. No person should be above learning some useful occupation, trade, or business that is calculated to produce something for his own and the general benefit. Hundreds and thousands of articles are imported here that might just as well be made in our midst, and if they were made here it would render us, as a people, a great deal more independent and comfortable than we are now. That man only is truly rich who knows how to provide for himself and his household. I do not care how much means he has in his possession, he only is independent who has the means of subsistence within himself, who has the capability of going forth, and, by his own industry, drawing from the elements those things which are necessary for his own subsistence.

I remember reading an anecdote of Stephen Girard and of a young man he had had in his employment a long time, who had received some encouragement, and had large expectations from him, that when he had attained his majority he would set him up in business. When that time arrived, instead of giving the young man a draft for a certain amount of money, he told him to go and serve an apprenticeship to some useful trade, by which, in case of a reverse of fortune, he would be enabled to earn his own subsistence. The young man went and bound himself to a cooper and learned that trade. In a year’s time he went back to his patron with a barrel of his own make. The old gentleman examined the barrel, and asked the price he could afford them at, and was told “a dollar each.” Mr. Girard said it was a good article, and worth the money, and if he could make as good barrels as that for that price, he had insured to himself a living in any event that might happen. For his obedience in going and learning a trade as the old gentleman had directed him, he was rewarded with a check for twenty-five thousand dollars to set him up in business.

In case of any reverse of fortune this man had something to fall back upon. I have always thought this was a very good principle to act upon. I would like to see all of our young men learn some useful trade or occupation which would produce for them an honorable living by their own industry; and if they acquire this in early life, habits of industry and order become natural.

By industry we thrive; industry, in the mechanical and agricultural pursuits, is the foundation of our independence, and they who obtain a livelihood by habits of industry are far more honorable members of society than they who live by their wits.

I heard recently of a city that the outsiders are endeavoring to start, called Corinne, which it is said is to be the great city of the interior West. Who are going there to expend their labor? Can cities be built without labor? I think not. I have no idea that a great city will be built in the location designated, unless a different class of people go there than is to be found in such places generally. I have no doubt that the soil is rich, and that by industry the elements necessary for the building up of a great city could be developed. But any person who expects that a large city is going to be reared without industry and hard labor reckons without his host. There may be a rush there, for a short time, of speculators, loafers, and rowdies; but if these are the only classes of people who go there—as there is good reason to believe—this great city that is to be, like others of the same class, will soon die out, and the people be scattered to some other places.

Can men be industrious and follow the various avocations and pursuits of life and still be servants of God? Yes, such things are conducive to good morals. It is said that an idle brain is the workshop of the devil, and it is far more likely to be so than the brain of a person who is occupied with some useful employment. Can a person work on the railroad, for instance, and be associated with the wicked without being contaminated by them? O yes, if he is so disposed. An elder of Israel should wrap himself as with a mantle, from sin, whether he goes to preach the Gospel to a wicked world, or whether he goes to labor among the wicked. Such a man will lose nothing, but he will gain the esteem even of the wicked themselves, by being faithful and true to his calling, keeping the commandments of God, and observing the Word of Wisdom; and no matter what society he may be in he will be respected, and will be far more likely to be so for the strict observance of the principles of the religion he professes than he will be if he does not observe them. I do not know that it is any excuse for a man to smoke, chew, drink whiskey, take the name of God in vain, swear, or drink tea or coffee because he mingles with those who do such things. Do you think your associates would respect you the more for it? No, not a whit; but they would re– spect you more for not doing such things. They would have greater confidence in you, and if they had money they wished to entrust to the care of anyone, they would sooner entrust it to the care of a man who was faithful to the principles of his religion than to their associates who get drunk, gamble, swear, and commit every abomination.

This people have been awakened to a sense of their duty in keeping the Word of Wisdom, yet many of them think it a sufficient excuse for them to use hot drinks, if they happen to be where others use them; in this way they are falling back to the use of tobacco, and are smoking their pipes or cigars, and are drinking tea and coffee or a little whiskey now and again, and are letting those old habits grow on them again. This is wrong; they should not do it. I mention this in order to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. We should not forget that we have entered into covenant not to do so. Latter-day Saints should remember that there is not a day, hour, or moment in which they can afford to lay aside the armor of righteousness; there is no time but what the adversary is at their elbows ready to enter in, take hold, and lead them into forbidden paths. It is and ever has been a struggle with this people to trample the wickedness of the world under their feet. It rises before us continually and we are never without it. We do not expect to be without it in our midst if this is the kingdom of God. I suppose Jesus had as good an idea of what constituted the kingdom of God as any of us, and he said it was like a net cast into the sea which brought forth all kinds both good and bad; therefore let no one say this cannot be the kingdom of God because there are some who are not righteous in our midst. Be– cause the wicked and unrighteous are in the world, must we be partakers of their wickedness? By no means; it is not at all necessary that it should be so. Let us endeavor to eradicate from our own bosoms all sin. It is not a matter of enthusiasm, to last for an hour, a day or a week and then die out; it is in this way that people forget God and do wickedly. You know that the Scriptures inform us that they who do wickedly, and all the nations who forget God, shall be turned into hell. The paths of virtue and truth are the paths of peace. The paths of union, that the leaders of this people are striving incessantly to introduce among us, are calculated to create excellence, greatness and power in our midst. By pursuing these paths we shall grow in every virtue and excellence until we shall attain to those great glories that are for the faithful, about which we sing and pray, and the contemplation of which always lights up our minds with so much joy and bliss. By faithfully observing the counsels given to us we shall actually come into possession of these things as naturally as a child, by constant instruction, comes to attainments in learning. It will be done by gaining item by item, by living our holy religion day by day, hour by hour, and all the time.

Blessed is that person, man and woman, who can retain, from youth up, a good, holy and righteous influence; who have never committed an overt act, preserving themselves righteously before the Lord in all good faith and conscience all the days of their lives. I say blessed are such persons. Persons are liable to be overtaken in liquor; but in Zion we should be free from these practices to a far greater extent than in the world. It is to overcome the evils that exist in the world that the Lord is gathering His Saints together. Why, if every man and woman who gathers to Zion were determined to follow their own ways, the state of things that exists in the world would soon be established here, and the object of the Lord, in gathering His people together, would be frustrated. Yet there are many people here who cannot see this; and they feel themselves infringed upon. Why, such persons are greater than the Savior of the world in their own estimation! He came here to do his Father’s will, and in his greatest agony he prayed that the cup might be taken from him, if it were possible, “Nevertheless,” he said, “not my will, but Thine be done.” His own will was swallowed up in the will of his Father; and yet we, poor, miserable mortals can stick up our noses and say, “We will do as we please,” if anything is brought forth by the inspiration of the Almighty that seems to cut our corners. Are we a band of brethren, standing shoulder to shoulder under the banner of Emanuel –him who said, “Let not my will, but, Thine be done?” If we are, we shall walk in the path marked out for us by the Captain of our salvation. “Oh!” says one, “I think I understand, comprehend, and know better than anyone else; I am not going to do as such a one tells me–my Bishop, President, or someone else in authority over me; he does not know as much as I do.” Perhaps not, the sequel will show who know most.

If we have a proper conception of the counsels given to us, we shall never utter such sentiments, or let them have place in our hearts. It is difficult sometimes to get into our ears and hearts what is required of us, hence the amount of instruction that has to be given to the people. It was years and years before we got the people to take hold of the Word of Wisdom. There have been such things as reformations in the midst of the people of God, I suppose because of the proneness of the people to relapse into the ways of the world. Hence, it becomes necessary every once in a while to arouse Israel to a sense of their duties, that they may sustain the Kingdom of God.

There are a great many people who cannot see the Kingdom of God, although the events, long since foretold, which should transpire in connection with that Kingdom are actually transpiring before their eyes. The people of the world are blind, they cannot see the Kingdom; and a great many Saints, and pretty good at that, who should see the Kingdom of Heaven in the introduction of a new principle, oftentimes fail to do so. Is the Word of Wisdom of the Kingdom of Heaven? Yes. Is cooperation of the Kingdom of Heaven? Yes. Is union in the midst of this people of the Kingdom of Heaven? Yes. Is the one-man power, with which the world find so much fault, and talk about so much, of the Kingdom of Heaven? Yes, if God is our Father and is at the head of it, it is. Then why should there be so much dread and fear of the Lord establishing His government in the world? Did it ever do anybody any harm? O, no. Did it ever do anybody any good, or is it calculated in its nature to do anybody any good? Yes, the greatest good. Then why so much dread and fear of it? Because the people cannot see the Kingdom of God in it. But is it not very far from them; God is not very far from them, nor from any of us, and His work is established and is transpiring right before our face and eyes. The government of God is being established on the earth, and the world does not know it; yet it is like a city set on a hill for everybody to gaze upon and investigate. Yet they treat it as if it were of no moment to them. Time will show that it is of the utmost importance to them. Let no person pass it by as an idle tale, for time will disclose that it is of the utmost importance to every son and daughter of Adam. They had better, at least, give it a passing notice and investigate it with honesty of purpose. Our hopes for the present and future, our happiness and prosperity, and even existence itself, are bound up in the Kingdom and government of God. What else is there now upon the face of the earth but what has a tendency to destruction? Look at the stream of vice and corruption that is flowing on, bearing its votaries to the gulf of despair. Who can stem the torrent? People can see it, but can they stop it? No, it bears them along on its surface, and they are lost forever. Is it not time that some standard should be erected on the earth, around which those who are disposed to do right, may rally, where they will be safe from this great gulf-stream of destruction? I think it is time, because the Lord has thought so, and He has commenced His work; He has erected His standard, and is calling to the people and pointing the way to safety. Not that He or anyone else expects this stream to be checked or stopped in its mad career; it will bear its onward course until, finally, it finds its depths. But we may save one here and another there, and so the Lord may get to Himself a people. It is like being snatched as brands from the burning. He will bring them to a place where they can be instructed. This has been the case with us. The Lord has brought us together and He is seeking to instruct us, that we and our children after us may escape those great evils which are so prevalent in the world. I need not mention them, they are patent to the eyes of all. The people have forgotten God; they do not know His ways, although there are many well-intentioned people who are seeking to do their duty and are living in the hope of a blessed reward hereafter. They will obtain it. They are trying to stem the torrent of evil as far as it is in their power; but they do not know “the only true and wise God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent,” “whom to know is eternal life;” and another evil is, they do not try to know Him, or they would investigate and try to find out God and His Kingdom.

The Lord is not responsible for all the evil of which I have been speaking, neither for all the diversities of religion in the world. He created man upright, but man has sought out many inventions. If the people would seek after the Lord and be content to walk in His ways, do you think the diversities in regard to religion that now exist would be known? By no means; we should all come, then, to a unity of the faith.

The Latter-day Saints have great cause to rejoice, because they are blessed above all other people. They are learning the ways of the Lord; and more blessed are they still, if they follow in them. They are laying a foundation that will stand forever. There is no principle of virtue, truth, holiness and righteousness but what is calculated to exalt man in time and forever and ever. Those who build not on these principles are building on sand, and their superstructure will be washed away when the tempest comes; while they who build on the rock of truth will be able to withstand all opposition, and they will eventually obtain that glory and exaltation that the Saints now talk about.

These principles are true and can be depended upon. God is their author; He is at the helm. He is our Father and we may come to exaltation in His presence if we will live for it; and in this earthly probation we can be co-workers with Him in the establishment of His kingdom on the earth if we will serve Him and keep His commandments. We may come to Him on His own platform, on His own terms, but not on our own. That is the trouble with Christendom, and the world at large. They are trying to make the Lord’s ways correspond with theirs. Why, they would tear Him to pieces if they could have their wishes carried out; they would dethrone Jehovah and overturn His power and kingdom. Could He exist if the world could have their own way? A great many called Latter-day Saints feel a little the same way; perhaps they do not know it, but it amounts to no less. I have known people come for counsel when they had their own minds made up about the course they intended to pursue. All they wanted was to receive counsel that corresponded with their notions. If they received that, all right; otherwise it would not do. All the world is after is to try to make the Lord come to their terms; He cannot do it.

It would be well for us, sometimes, if we could see a few of our own inconsistencies, and what we require of the Lord. The plan of salvation is amply sufficient to save to the uttermost. How? In our own way? No, in the way that the Lord has devised. If we are saved in His Kingdom we shall have to bow to His laws; we cannot be saved without. He has a right to dictate; He has done so, and it is for us to do His bidding.

We are blessed in having the living oracles in our midst, and in having a standard erected around which we can rally. The Bible is good, and we believe in it more than any other people. The Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants are the word of God, and they contain many precious gems; every line is full of knowledge, intelligence, and truth, and is calculated to be a benefit to us; but yet, above and far beyond all, we have the living oracles in our midst to tell us what to do today. A great portion of the Scripture we have was the living oracles to the people in the day in which it was given, and it has become Scripture because it was given by the inspiration of the Almighty. It was applicable to the day in which it was given. We have the living oracles in our midst to give us that which is applicable to our day. Let us make our ways correspond to the Lord’s, for we read that “as high as the heavens are above the earth so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts.” We are blessed in having His ways made known to us, because He knows best. He has more knowledge and understanding and greater ability, and can perform and accomplish more than any other power that exists; and that people only may be said to be blessed who walk in His ways and do His bidding.

I feel sometimes as though I had never lived, in reality, until I became acquainted with the principles of the Gospel; I feel as though my whole existence had been a waste. In one sense it has. I did not know how to serve God acceptably in His sight. I did not comprehend righteousness, neither did I know how to sanctify myself before Him. We are taught that obedience is better than sacrifice, therefore let us go to, brethren and sisters, with our mights to serve God and keep His commandments, so shall we come, finally, to inherit those blessings which are promised to the faithful, which I pray we may ultimately attain for Christ’s sake, Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, 22nd March, 1868.

We learn, as we progress in our experience in the Church and Kingdom of God, the necessity of living near to the Lord in order to enjoy His Holy Spirit and to reach the standard to which it is our privilege to attain. We can all remember when we received the gospel, how elated we were, and how glorious everything looked to our vision. We saw no difficulties but what we were willing to attempt to surmount. There appeared nothing in our way but what we thought we could overcome, and we felt, that, so far as in our power lay, we would remain faithful so long as we lived on the earth; that we could not stumble at anything that might come before us, and that we were competent to encounter the evils of life and every difficulty and affliction, counting it more honorable to be a doorkeeper in the House of the Lord than to feast with the rich and ungodly.

This is the experience, I might say, of all who have received the gospel in sincerity. I suppose that the Apostles and disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ also felt elated with the idea that they were associated with the Savior of the world—the Son of God; but we find that they shortly afterwards deserted him. And even in the days of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, they doubtless were elated with the mission of Moses, and went forth nothing doubting; but we see in a short time that their minds again reverted to the things of the world, and the place they had left, and they transgressed so deeply that the Lord would not permit them to enter the promised land; yet, not to be frustrated or thwarted in His purposes, He declared that their children should inherit it. So it is with the Latter-day Saints. A good many feel, I think, as though their religion has become an old story. They received the word gladly in the first place, and were perhaps a good deal elated with the idea of being members of the Kingdom of God on the earth; but when they begin to live in that Kingdom and find that those ideas are not realized as fast as they imagined they would be, they get dull, and fancy the work does not progress. Perhaps they neglect their prayers; they think it is of little use to pray; they become cold, slothful and dull, and, their minds become darkened. Instead of living so as to enjoy a full measure and flow of the Spirit of God, they become discontented and dissatisfied with the Kingdom of God and the principles of our holy religion.

If we only reflect, when we enlisted in this cause it was for a lifetime—for eternity; not for a few days, or a year or two, and then to fall away and return again to the beggarly elements of the world. We did not receive these principles with any such idea; but we enlisted for time and for all eternity under King Emanuel’s banner. We covenanted that we would keep the law of God, walk humbly before Him, and do all in our power to build up Zion, and hold on to those principles made known in His kingdom, that we might attain to the blessings which were in the future. They who get weary and discontented think, perhaps, that they are not called and chosen. Why, we are called or chosen to be righteous, holy beings; and let us remember that the time for being chosen because we have been righteous will come after a while, and happy will be that individual who has so lived up to his privileges as to be among the chosen ones. If we wish to attain to this great blessing we must live for it, and not be neglectful in regard to the things of God. We must apply our religion to our daily lives. We can meet and sing and pray and soar away in the spirit, for we have as much in our spiritual exercises as any people on the earth to raise our drooping spirits and fill our souls with joy; but, on the other hand, our religion does not consist of that alone; it is practical.

We read that when the Kingdom of God shall be set up, the kingdoms of this world shall be broken in pieces; and that the power shall pass into the hands of the righteous and the just preparatory to that day when Jesus shall reign “King of nations as he now reigns King of Saints.” We are engaged in this preparatory work—the dispensation of the fullness of times in which this great temporal kingdom, which shall stand forever, is being established, and you and I, brethren and sisters, if we are united and earnest in our efforts for the promotion of the principles of truth may become happy instruments in the hands of the Lord in assisting in this great work. This is the dispensation of the fullness of times, and it comprises the keys, powers and authorities of all the dispensations since the world began; and we should live so as to enjoy a full flow of the Spirit of God so that we may progress and commune with Jehovah and holy beings, for the heavens are ready to drop with fatness if we will make good use of the blessings already conferred upon us. When we do this with clean hands and a pure heart before the Lord, blessings will flow to Israel in greater abundance than ever before. Look where you will upon the face of the earth and you can find no people blessed as we are even now. Why is it? Because we have a better country, and have better opportunities for bringing forth the blessings of the earth in a temporal point of view? No; we labor under many disadvantages that are un– known in most other places; and yet we are more comfortable and happy than any other people. It is because the blessings of the Almighty are with us, and we shall have them in greater abundance inasmuch as we will cleave to the Lord and prove to Him our integrity.

But I fear there is a great neglect of prayer in the midst of this people. It is our privilege, nay, more, it is our duty to seek to the Lord frequently, that we may enjoy the full measure of His Spirit. Peradventure there may be something between us and our brother or sister—we may have spoken evil of them, or they may have spoken evil of us. We may have neglected our secret prayers, or to pray in our families; and if so we shall decrease in that good spirit which ought to pervade every breast, and we are more liable to yield to the evil influences that are around us and to become more captious in our remarks with our brethren, and less courteous, civil and circumspect in our intercourse one with another, and more apt to say things that are calculated to injure the feelings of our brethren. Perhaps we neglect our fences and let our stock trespass on our neighbors’ fields, gardens or orchards, and give them occasion to say hard things about us; and then we go and retaliate and speak hasty words. To carry this idea a little further, perhaps we take that which is not our own, or borrow and do not return, or perhaps we go and take down our neighbor’s fence on purpose to let our stock go and get his hay or grain. Or, perhaps, some amongst us go hunting stock on Sunday, or to the canyons with our teams when we should be keeping the Sabbath day holy. It may be possible that a great many of this people practice some of these things and thus prevent a free flow of the Spirit of God unto themselves, and get darkened in the counsels of their minds. This should not be. If any of us find ourselves in this dilemma let us seek at once to remove the obstacles from our path, just as we would raise the gate if necessary to let down the stream to irrigate our gardens. Many a soul may be drooping for the want of spiritual moisture, and they do not know what the difficulty is. There are obstacles in the way that need removing, that our minds may be enlightened by the light of the Spirit of the living God.

It is moreover necessary that we should take this course that we may be united, that when the word shall come from our bishop, or a call is made upon us by any in authority who has a right to dictate, we may be ready to respond and be glad of the opportunity of so doing. A man should never fail of improving the opportunities that are given him for doing good, or he will be the loser if he dies. A man may perhaps feel a little elated if he escape the call of a bishop or get excused, thinking that it militated a little in his favor; but who is there who has ever felt so, but what he has had seasons of regret for not going forth manfully and freely performing the duty required of him? How much better such persons would feel if they had done so. On the other hand how well they feel who have always responded to every call made upon them! I do not think there is a person that lives who feels different. If he does, he feels very different to what I do. How often have I witnessed the pride and joy the brethren have felt in relation to this in their reunions at the parties of the “Mormon Battalion,” the “Pioneers” and “Zion’s Camp!” and other associations. How many have said to me, “I was with you at such a place, and such a place; and I was with the Saints in their troubles in Illinois and Missouri.” And they speak of it as though they were proud to have been there. And even in the times of trouble we had in our early settlement here, when clothing and provisions were scarce, the same feeling is manifested. “I was here,” says one, “and I,” says another, and they feel glad that they were counted worthy to endure these trials and stand firm. It is a matter of satisfaction to everyone who has proven himself worthy thus far; and when we shall have passed a little further along, and have got through this state of mortal existence, will we not, in that great reunion beyond the grave, feel still more to congratulate ourselves and each other that we have passed safely through, and that we have had virtue, strength and integrity sufficient for our day? And we shall be glad and rejoice that the difficulties we encountered were thrown in our way, and that we had the opportunity of proving ourselves before the Heavens.

Do not let us be discouraged at difficulties and trials, for we are sent to this state of existence for the express purpose of descending below all things, that we may pass the ordeals and trials of this life and thereby prove our integrity and be prepared to rise above all things. And after all, we have not been called upon to endure to that extent that the Savior of the world was. But he was not subjected to the afflictions he had to endure without hope, neither are we; but we are called to pass through them that we may prove whether we have power and strength to stand in that day when all things shall be shaken, and nothing doubting, cleave to the Lord our God with full purpose of heart, no matter how much things are against us, apparently. If we can pass these tests and trials we shall prove to God and angels that we are worthy to receive the welcome plaudit, “well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of the Lord.”

These great principles are known to the Latter-day Saints, and they know also that there again exists communication between the heavens and the earth, and that the way has been opened through the ordinances of the House of God, for the full flow of His Spirit; and yet some of them begin to falter in their feelings and slacken in their duties and to go into darkness. Let it not be said in Israel, or in all the borders and coasts thereof, but let the Saints, as with the heart and voice of one person, continually strive to promote those principles and that unity which are necessary to wield an influence with the Heavens for the Kingdom of God on the earth. It was once said facetiously by one of the founders of American Independence, that it was necessary for them to hang together, because if they did not they would most likely hang separately; meaning that if they did not succeed in gaining their Independence they would be convicted of treason, and put to death. It is so comparatively with the Latter-day Saints; unless we act unitedly and in concert in temporal as well as in spiritual things, we shall suffer loss. A Latter-day Saint in the world may live his religion as circumspectly as we do in the valleys of the mountains, but what power or influence can he wield for the kingdom, standing alone? All the surroundings of the world are against him. But if we are united in this great work, we shall in the due time of the Lord, become a great and mighty people on the earth, that can never be uprooted nor overcome by the floods of sin and corruption, that have so long deluged the world. The Latter-day Saints have no rights that the world consider themselves bound to respect, and if we expect them to do so we shall be deceived, especially if we live near to God. I have seen this tested over and over again in my own experience. What rights had the Latter-day Saints in the State of Missouri? Why, every right that man could ask for. Were they respected by the people or the authorities of the State? No, but the rights of this people were trampled under foot and they were expelled from the State. It was the same in Illinois, and in every place where they gathered together. In view of this it was a great blessing conferred upon us when the Lord brought us out here where the wicked could not have such control over us as they formerly had. Since that time we have become a great and mighty people in comparison to what we were then, and we are exerting an influence in the earth.

Shall we, who have enjoyed the Spirit of the Lord, and, I might say, have a knowledge of the powers of the world to come, suffer bickering, strife and division to enter into our midst? Let it not be said in the midst of Israel, but let us be more careful hereafter in our intercourse one with another than we have been in times past. Let us not trespass upon what is our neighbors’, either in feelings, property or possessions. Let us be courteous, and, instead of engendering strife and destroying each other as they do in the world, let us build each other up. We have to prepare to cooperate with the Lord in the establishment of His Kingdom, and it should be our special business to first perform the duties devolving upon us, and let our individual matters, if we have any, be secondary. This kingdom is made up of individuals as much as any other kingdom, and is prospered and built up by our individual efforts, but if we can have our labors wisely directed, then he who acts as he is counseled, is not only attending to and securing his own interests, but he is working for the good of the kingdom generally. For instance, the farmer, who is engaged in raising the various kinds of grain, and is industrious, frugal and economical, is a good citizen and is doing as much for the kingdom as he who is preaching the gospel; but if he be counseled to direct his energies especially to the raising of flax, hemp, or the mulberry, it is his duty to heed that counsel, and so work unitedly with the Saints of God under the direction of those who are appointed to direct the labor of this people and thus bring about the greatest good to the whole. So with the mechanic, and in fact with every individual in Israel.

There is one thing I particularly wish to speak upon. There is much knowledge which we need that would benefit us if we would take the trouble to search for it in useful books and apply it. Who amongst us knows how to analyze the soil, and so be able to tell what kind of produce it is best adapted for? This knowledge we can acquire from books, and by experiments in agricultural chemistry. We do not raise sufficient grain and other produce in this Territory to make ourselves comfortable. Why is this? Some of us have a very poor way of farming. I remember when I was south last year—though I need not go out of this county to find such farming—of seeing land that had not been harrowed above once in three or four years, and neither plowed nor sowed in that time, and watered only once or twice in a season; still they reaped a crop every year, and the people complained that they had not seed enough for their land, and they were, I think, the poorest people I have yet found in this Territory. I told them they were criminally poor, that there was no reason for their being so, but that it was the result of their indolence and bad management. I said to them, “Suppose you rented this land, and the owner should come and see you, and find what a condition his land was in—overrun with cockle and black seed and the weeds so numerous that they choke out the grain, would he not upbraid you and take a portion of that land from you and let it to others who would cultivate it properly?” Said I, “you complain of poverty, but you have more land than you can handle properly, and that is the great cause of your poverty. Then, again, you had more cattle than you could take care of, and the Indians got them. Now if you had had fewer cattle, and had taken better care of them, the Indians would not have taken them and you would have been better off.” I told them they had better dispose of a portion of their land, and keep no more than they could cultivate properly, and they would get twice the amount of grain they ever got before and with less labor. This was for the want of intelligent farming. How many of us here do not reap half such crops as we might reap for the same reason? It has been said by somebody that “he who makes two spears of grass grow where but one grew before is a benefactor to his race;” but how much more so is he who, by his superior intelligence, helps to increase the necessaries and comforts of life! Let us learn to analyze the soil and know its component parts, then we will understand whether it is best adapted to the growth of vegetables, or wheat or other kinds of grain; and know where to put trees, strawberries, and other things, that they may have the kind of soil best adapted to their growth.

The recuperation of the soil, too, is a matter of great importance. Some people think if they put manure on the land, that is all it requires. There is some land that would be better with sand mixed with the soil; some would be benefited by having clay mixed with it. If we would pursue this course we might cultivate less land and receive a greater reward for our labor.

We might also cultivate lucerne, carrots, beets and cabbages to keep a cow. Now the custom is in most cases to send them to the range, making them travel from eight to twelve miles daily. This causes their feet to become tender, and they have to be sent to the blacksmith’s to be shod; and when they get to the range there is little but bitter weeds for them to eat. This is no way to keep a cow. If we wish them to be of any service they should be well fed with lucerne or other suitable food, and kept up in the city and attended to properly; then a cow would do some good, give good milk and butter, which go a great way towards making a family comfortable. Then, again, almost anybody can keep a few chickens, and, with them and a cow properly attended to, very little additional expense is necessary to make a family comfortable. In this country a great many neglect these things and complain about poor living, just for the want of a little attention. They have girls and boys too, who could attend to these matters.

I wish to speak in relation to imparting the necessaries of life to the poor and the needy. We do not furnish labor enough in the winter season to those who depend upon it for their daily bread. It seems to me that the men who have the means do not make the improvements they might make in the winter, and so employ those who are destitute. In the summer there is plenty of labor for every body, all through the Territory; and it frequently happens that hands are scarce and wages high; but as soon as the storms begin to come in the Fall, laborers are thrown out of employment and have nothing to do through the long winter. I think the Bishops should turn their attention to this matter and contrive more useful and profitable employment for the winter season. The first Thursday in every month, let us remember, is a day set apart for fasting, prayer and donations to the poor. It will soon come around again. Notwithstanding there may be a little scarcity felt in the midst of the peo– ple, do not let us neglect those things. Do not forget them, and let us live up to those things necessary in the midst of the Saints of the Most High God, so as to keep a full flow of the Spirit in each and every one of us, and seek to make a better use of the blessings with which the Lord has surrounded us. The elements are rich and laden with everything that is good for man, and it is for us to exercise our discrimination and understanding to draw our support therefrom, that we may become a great, free and independent people, able to bear off His kingdom against every opposing obstacle.

May God help us to do so, and to be faithful, is my prayer in the name of Jesus: Amen.

Remarks by President D. H. Wells, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, August 18th, 1867.

I feel it a privilege to mingle my voice with my brethren in testifying to the truth of the work of the last days, although, if it were left to my own choice, I suppose I should very seldom speak to the congregation of the people, and I expect that if the Lord were to call upon me as He did upon Moses, I should do as Moses did—plead with him for a mouthpiece. Nevertheless, if I can say anything to comfort or encourage the Saints, or to strengthen their faith, it is my duty to do so, for I conceive that none have the right to conceal in their own bosoms the light and truth with which the Lord has blessed them, but that it is the duty of the Latter-day Saints, and of all people on the earth, to make known the good they possess that all may be benefited and blessed thereby.

Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” He also said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Eternal life is what we are all anxious to obtain. All the children of men on the face of the whole earth are anxious to secure to themselves an eternal existence in the great hereafter. Even those who have but a limited idea of the principles of the gospel look and hope for a beatitude or heaven hereafter, where they may dwell eternally in peace and happiness, free from the power of Satan, sin, and death. All the people of Christendom, and perhaps all the generations of men, have at some time in their lives felt the spirit of the living God convicting them of sin, and they have felt a desire to learn how they might secure to themselves eternal lives in the presence of God.

We read that God created man upright, but that he has sought out many inventions. This is especially true in regard to religious matters. Instead of walking according to the precepts and commandments of God as taught by His servants holding the Holy Priesthood, they have done as the Prophet foretold—taught for the commandments of God the precepts of men. More particularly is this the case in our day and generation, when the Lord has again revealed Himself and has opened up the dispensation of the fullness of times. We find a great many religious views, notions, and opinions upon the face of the earth at the present time; but in the absence of truth there is little difference among them, for they are all wrong. But when the truth is revealed it is necessary that mankind should pause, listen, and investigate, that they may learn whether that which is proclaimed as truth be so or not, and if it be, embrace it, and walk continually according to its precepts, that they may obtain that exaltation in the presence of the Father and Son which all so earnestly desire. What does it matter to me how eloquent the preacher may be, how beautiful the theory, or how nice the principles that are laid before me, if they are not true? Why should I attach any importance to, or circumscribe my faith and feelings by that which is not true, because it is beautiful or plausible, or because my fathers for hundreds of years before me have considered it sacred? When the word of God, the truth from high Heaven, has come, why not repudiate that which is false although contravening my early prejudices and the traditions of my fathers before me? I know of no reason why we should cling to the traditions of the fathers, more especially when we are told by the oracles of God that we have inherited lies from them. We find this to be true when we investigate, even with regard to the scriptures; for by the aid of the principles now made manifest through the revelations of the Lord Jesus, we can understand them as we never understood them before. Why? Because we have the light of truth, and we see from the standpoint possessed by the prophets and Jesus and his apostles; hence the scriptures open up to our minds a new and entirely different field to that we possessed while under the guidance of teachers who have not come from God, neither hold the power of the Holy Priesthood.

This is a great wonder to some. They cannot understand the difference between the Latter-day Saints and the Christian world. Say they: “There are a great many sectarian churches in the world, and you Mormons are only one added to the list.” But this is not so; the principles of truth are not sectarian in their character. Are not the Mormons a sect? No. They are the church of the living God—the Church of the Firstborn; they are they who have come out from the world, as Jesus and his followers did in their generation. This people have been touched with the light of truth; they have received the testimony of Jesus, and know for themselves the truth of the holy gospel they have embraced. Having been made participants in the knowledge of God, through the power and gift of the Holy Ghost, they speak with assurance of these things, and not as they speak who only believe and hope.

“But,” say they who have not embraced the truth, “we do not know whether that which you say is true or not.” Suppose you do not, that does not make the truth false, and I can tell you how you may find it out. Repent of your sins, go forth into the waters of baptism, eschew evil, learn to do well, seek after the Lord your God with full purpose of heart, and you can obtain a testimony as we have done—you may learn to know God and Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal. This is the only principle upon which you can obtain that knowledge which you so much desire. Many a person will say—“If I only knew these things were so, I would be with you heart and hand.” I have told you how you can find out. You cannot be healed of your leprosy of sin unless you comply with the requirements of the gospel. When Naaman came to the prophet Elisha to learn what he should do to be healed of his leprosy, he went away in a rage because he was simply told to wash himself in the river Jordan. But his servants came near and said unto him—“My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much rather, then, when he saith to thee, wash and be clean?” Then the Syrian went and did as he was commanded, and he was made whole. So it is with us all, we must comply with the requirements of heaven before we can receive its blessings. We need not expect to be cleansed from sin and made meet receptacles for the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, unless we yield obedience to the gospel, because this is the way appointed of God, our heavenly Father, for bringing us to a knowledge of the truth. Be honest, then, before God, and when you are pricked to the heart, and feel that what is called “Mormonism” may be true, follow up that feeling until you come to understanding, and then obey the gospel, and receive the Holy Ghost, which will give you a full knowledge of those things necessary for your salvation and exaltation hereafter. If the Lord had commanded you to do some great thing—to go to the ends of the earth or some other different undertaking—would you not have done it? How much more willing should you be to comply with these small things when they are for your own good? Eschew evil, repent of your sins, and walk in the ways of truth and righteousness, for they are the ways of peace and wisdom.

It is wisdom in us to pursue a course in this, our earthly probation, that will secure to us eternal life in the world to come. It is our privilege to do so; we are here for this express purpose. The God who reigns in heaven is the father of our spirits and the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and we may become heirs of Him and joint heirs with Jesus Christ by complying with the requirements of the gospel that He has revealed. How plain and simple is the way of life if we will but open our ears to hear, our eyes to see, and our hearts to understand. God has revealed it; He has opened up the dispensation of the fulness of times, which will embrace within its purview all other dispensations since the world began. In this dispensation will be revealed the keys of the resurrection, which will enable men to go forth clothed with power to raise and bring forth the dead. The Lord has commenced this great work; we are engaged in it; and it will go forth until it covers the whole earth. The foundation of that kingdom which shall endure forever and ever is laid. The principles of the kingdom have gone forth, and have touched the hearts of many of the children of men—one of a city and two of a family—and they have been brought together from the nations of the earth to the valleys of the mountains, as was foretold by the prophets thousands of years ago.

Jesus told the Jews that Abraham saw his day and rejoiced in it. They queried with Him as to how he—not fifty years old—could know anything about Abraham, who had been dead so long. Jesus said—“Before Abraham was I am.” This seemed to puzzle the Jews; they did not understand the principle of pre-existence and that Jesus, who was then clothed with flesh, had possessed an existence in the spirit world, that he was the firstborn of many sons, and had been born before Abraham in the spirit. Jesus understood it, and once in a while, as in that case, he spoke upon the principle. The Jews prided themselves on serving the God of their father Abraham, but Jesus told them that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not the God of the dead but of the living, thus teaching them plainly the principles of the resurrection.

I will now say a few words with regard to partaking of the sacrament. This ordinance was instituted by our Savior, and his followers were commanded to partake of it in remembrance of Him. But how many of us partake of it regardless of Him in commemoration of whose death it is administered! I have seen some of the Saints take the cup very irreverently—blessed and consecrated as it is—and drink to quench their thirst. I do not suppose that such persons think any more about our Lord and Savior than they do when drinking on ordinary occasions. To say the least of such conduct, it is highly improper and irreverent. I have seen brethren and sisters partake of the sacrament with their gloves on, and in a very careless attitude, stretching out the left hand. You should always put forth the right hand when taking either the bread or the cup; and you should take off your hats if you have them on, and partake of the consecrated emblems with reverence, and remember that you do it in commemoration of the death, sufferings, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who will yet rule and reign on this earth, King of kings and Lord of lords. Would I partake of the sacrament with my hat or gloves on? No; I would take them off, and let my soul ascend in prayer and thanksgiving to my heavenly Father that I had been permitted to partake of the ordinance of the House of God.

I am happy in believing that I am associated with a people in the majority of whose minds such feelings and desires predominate, and to whom the few hints I have dropped will be sufficient in regard to the carelessness to which I have referred. We have the principles of eternal life in our midst, and we practice them in our lives, and when the world witness the good actions of this people, it should be a testimony that they are of God. I say it is a testimony to the world of the truths of High Heaven revealed through this people, and it will bring this generation to judgment unless they listen to and obey the principles we teach. Do I know that? I do. The world may scout at it, and say things that are calculated to hurt our feelings, but that will not alter the truth. We offer the words of eternal life to the people, and if they will receive them they are welcome, but if they will not our testimony will prove unto them a savor of death unto death, instead of life unto life.

That which is good tends to exalt us and to increase in us knowledge, power, understanding, and everything worth possessing, while that which is evil tends to destruction, and if its practice be persisted in it will lead to dissolution and even the loss of our own identity. This is the reward of the wicked; as the prophet has said, “The wicked will come to a full stop,” but the blessing of the righteous is the same as that pronounced upon Abraham—to their increase there will be no end. This is the blessing conferred upon the Saints in their ordinations and endowments under the authority of the Holy Priesthood of the Son of God—the Melchizedek Priesthood, which is without beginning of years or end of days, without father, without mother, without descent, eternal, in the Heavens. That authority and priesthood have been again restored to the earth, and men are once more empowered to administer in the ordinances of the holy gospel. There is no authority of the kind upon the face of the earth except through that channel. None of the sects and denominations of the world possess that authority. It has not existed upon the earth for many hundreds of years. Do I know that this is true? I do, and you may obtain that knowledge upon the same principle that I obtained it—by working righteousness and obeying the ordinances of the gospel as appointed by Jehovah. Has not the Lord a right to prescribe the method by which we may approach Him; and, when He has done it, shall we scout at the idea and say some other way will do as well? Verily, no other way will answer as well. Let us, therefore, take heed how we prescribe a path for the Lord to walk in, or subvert the ways of truth which the Lord has revealed for the guidance of the children of men. We have no right to do it. It is for us who have received this knowledge to walk therein with fearfulness and trembling, and yet with joyful hearts, seeking to the Lord to guide and direct our steps, that we may always have His spirit to be with us to enable us to endure to the end, that we may make sure of our salvation in the world to come, and inherit thrones, dominions, and exaltations in the presence of the Father and the Son.

How few there are of all who have been on the face of the earth that will find eternal lives?—for strait is the gate and narrow the way that leads thereto. It is the privilege of the children of men to attain to this if they will be obedient to the require– ments of the gospel. But in this they can exercise their volition. They have been clothed upon with a tabernacle taken from the dust of the earth, and have become subject to the power of sin and death. They have come to pass through an earthly probation in order to be tempted and to prove whether they would be carried away by the wiles of Satan, and enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, or whether, faithful to their trust, their integrity, and their God, they would endure the trials of this life, and come forth in the resurrection clothed upon with immortality and eternal lives.

The world say we are exclusive because we do not hold communion or fellowship with the Sectarians. How can we do so when they scorn us and say we are a poor, ignorant, deluded set of people, without knowledge or intelligence? How can we, when we know that they and their leaders are blind, and that they will all fall into the ditch unless they repent of their evil deeds? We send forth our Elders to the nations of the earth to proclaim the principles of the gospel to the people, and to plead with them to turn from their evil ways, that they may be redeemed from the sin and iniquity which, like a flood, are overwhelming the nations. Yet, they call us uncharitable because we will not fellowship them. Far from being uncharitable, we exercise more charity than all the Christian world put together, for whilst they consign to perdition all who have not obeyed the gospel as they preach it, we believe that the great majority of all people who have ever lived on the face of the earth will be saved, and will enjoy a far greater glory than they ever anticipated. In this we are sustained by the testimony of the Scriptures, for the Apostle tells us that Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison who were disobedient in the days of Noah, that they might live according to God in the spirit and be judged according to men in the flesh. If they who died disobedient to the gospel, having heard and rejected its principles, could be administered to by the Savior of the world, how much more reasonable is it to suppose that they who have lived according to the light they possessed, but yet died without a knowledge of the gospel, can enjoy the same privilege? How much more consistent it is to suppose this; and the dispensation of the fullness of times has opened up these great principles to the understandings of the Latter-day Saints. Do not say, then, that we are uncharitable. We believe not only that they who have died without the gospel may be saved, but we believe that they who rejected the gospel, who were disobedient in the days of Noah may be saved also.

We have become the happy recipients of this knowledge, the knowledge that leads to life and exaltation in the presence of our Father, through yielding obedience to the gospel He has revealed in our day. Herein we differ with the Sectarian world. We differ also in our Church organization. In the Sectarian churches they place bishops at the head. I do not know that it matters, when they are altogether wrong; but I mention this to show that it is not the order of God. In His Church there is—firstly, Apostles, and afterwards helps of various kinds, the Bishops being those who administer in temporal things, and belonging to the lesser Priesthood. The Sectarians, however, do not understand the two orders of Priesthood—the Melchizedek and Aaronic. They substitute one thing for another—such, for instance, as sprinkling and pouring for baptism. They have perverted the principles of truth, and changed the ordinances of the gospel, and if the Lord does not hold them in derision now He will by and by, for He is not the author of such confusion. He has established His kingdom and has set His house in order, and has conferred His authority upon His servants, and told them to go forth and administer in the ordinances of salvation for the edification of the true and living Church. Then let us have respect to these things and live our religion, shun all associations with the wicked and ungodly, and walk faithfully before the Lord our God all our days, that we may be entitled to dwell in that holy city whose streets will be paved with gold and whose maker and founder is God.

This is especially applicable to our young people, for Satan uses the wicked and ungodly to allure them into forbidden paths, and to captivate their hearts by fine dresses, nice deportment, smooth speeches, lively manners, and so on. I would say to my young sisters, that one of these boys or Elders, who is ready to stand forth for the defense of Israel, to go and preach to the nations, work in the canyon, or do anything he may be required to do, though he may be dressed in homespun and appear rather uncouth, is worth more than a thousand smooth-tongued, hypocritical deceivers, who seek your society only to lead you astray. Be careful, my young sisters, of the associations you form, and do not let your minds be captivated by the giddy and worthless, or the first thing you know you will wake up in darkness, having made shipwreck of your faith through forsaking the ordinances of the House of God. How can you who have received these ordinances go and fellowship such persons and their practices? If you associate with the wicked and ungodly you will cut yourselves off from eternal lives and exaltation in the presence of our Father, for the wicked can never lead you there—no, never. As far as they lead you it will be in the ways of misery, death, and destruction. Parents should be careful to preserve their children in the ways of truth and righteousness, and in the purity of our most holy faith, that they may be faithful in their day and generation.

If I were in the place of a great many of our young men, I would not go out on the road to different places, as many of them do, just for the sake of earning a little money. They too often fall into vile company, and learn to profane the name of the Deity. There is too much of it here in the midst of the Saints. I am sorry to say that some who profess to be Latter-day Saints so far forget themselves as to use the name of the Lord in vain, thus breaking the commandment, which says, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.” Instead of the brethren being so heedless, thoughtless, and reckless as to profane the name of the Lord, they should hold it in the highest reverence. I would say to all, never speak irreverently of baptism or of any of the ordinances of the House of God. I have heard people, if they happened to fall into the water, say that they were baptized, and they would laugh over it and speak very irreverently. All such things tend to evil. Do not indulge in such levity. I remember once, before I was in the Church, being at a party given by one of my neighbors. One of the guests was a Latter-day Saint Elder. He said he was anxious to dance off some of his superstition and sectarianism. It chanced that they had a very poor fiddler and a very poor fiddle, and the strings kept breaking. This Elder, thinking, I suppose, to tickle our ears, who were not in the Church, proposed that we should lay hands on the fiddle. How do you suppose it struck upon my mind? Said I to myself—“You are a poor, miserable hypocrite; you do not believe your religion, and you blaspheme against God by professing to do so.” That man’s name was William Smith, and although a brother of the Prophet Joseph, and one of the Twelve Apostles, he has gone into darkness. Yet I have heard him speak when he had the spirit of the Lord with him, and I have been much pleased with his remarks. But by persisting in such an irreverent course a man’s mind is gradually darkened, and, if not forsaken, it will finally lead to his overthrow and destruction.

I speak these things by way of exhortation to my young brethren and sisters that they may not depart nor go astray from light and knowledge, but seek after that which is good continually, and so order their course as to be blameless before the Lord their God. I would not wish to make men offenders for a word. God is merciful, and we can forgive our brethren and sisters as long as they manifest a desire to do good. Let us try to be a pattern worthy the imitation of all, through our lives, be more perfect in our intercourse one with another, and do nothing offensive in the sight of God, but live so that we may ever have the guidance of His holy Spirit, which is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, June 30th, 1867.

I have been pleased whilst listening to the remarks of br. Eldredge. The recital of his reasons for receiving the principles of the gospel forcibly reminded me of the days of Joseph, and of the effect which those principles had on my mind as I heard them proclaimed by the servant of the Lord. Many of the principles which he taught were in the world—they were not new, yet it seemed as though they had never been thought of, comprehended, or understood by the children of men; at least, they had not been by me. I did not know anything about God my heavenly Father, nor the connection which existed between Him and the children of men, nor the object He had in view in sending them through this earthly probation, until I learned it from the prophet; and I apprehend that this is, to a very great extent, the case with the world today. I had no more confidence in Joseph Smith being a prophet, or in his knowing anything about religion, than I have now in a juggler or a wandering mountebank. I knew nothing at all about Joseph, except what I had heard from his enemies or read in the papers.

It was not very far—only two or three counties—from where I was born, in the State of New York, that this work took its rise. I had frequently heard through the religious papers of the miracles that had been performed by the “Mormons,” and I supposed the whole affair was a great humbug, that the “Mormons” were fanatics and very bad people. The days of my youth were days of religious excitement—the days of revivals, which so pervaded that section of country at that time—and I can well apprehend the effect these things must have had on the mind of Joseph; he was a young man, I was but a boy, and I know how those revivals affected young minds in the neighborhood in which I lived. Some of those preachers would hold their protracted meetings for days and weeks, and sometimes for a month, one meeting after another, every day and every evening, getting around the young with their influences, and concentrating their prayers, perhaps, on a single individual, and praying for no other, until he would say he had got religion and was converted. Suffice it to say, that I was disgusted with it, and did not believe in any of it, and rested my chance, so far as religion was concerned, on trying to do that which was right as near as I could, and running the risk.

In this frame of mind I was introduced to Joseph Smith, by Sidney Rigdon, who remarked, at the time, that he was the man who was talked about so much. He was a fine looking man; he did not say much to me nor I to him. Time passed along, and for years after I was occasionally thrown into his society, and frequently heard him speak; and, though I did not at first believe that he was inspired or that he was more than a man of great natural ability, I soon learned that he knew more about religion and the things of God and eternity than any man I had ever heard talk. I read the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants without their having any particular effect on my mind. I did not get the principles from either of these sources, but I obtained them from Joseph, and it seemed to me that he advanced principles that neither he nor any other man could have obtained except from the Source of all wisdom—the Lord himself. I soon discovered that he was not what the world termed a well-read or an educated man; then where could he have got this knowledge and understanding, that so far surpassed all I had ever witnessed, unless it had come from Heaven? It commended itself to my understanding and my sober judgment, and although I admitted nothing, and did not embrace the gospel, but stood aloof, yet the words and principles which I heard from him had their effect on my mind.

I had been a reader of the Scriptures, and had learned a great deal by heart in my youth in the Sunday school. I had read a great many religious publications, and had a tolerable idea of what the sects of the day believed with regard to the principles of salvation. I had investigated and had been raised according to orthodox notions, and in my early youth I believed in the “Trinity.” I investigated the principles of the Unitarians, who did not believe in the “Trinity,” and also the doctrines of the Universalists, and I believed about as much in Universalism at the time I was introduced to Joseph as in any of the religions of the day, if not a little more, but had not united myself with any church organization, because I was not fully satisfied. I heard Joseph Smith state at one time in Nauvoo that whether “Mormonism” was right or wrong, the people were just as well without as with the ordinances taught and administered by the sectarians of the day. That was exactly what I thought, though I did not comprehend so much then in relation to the ordinances of the gospel, and those authorized to administer in them, as I afterwards learned. And although my understanding of these things may have been of slow growth, yet I can say and feel that it is grounded in the truth of heaven; for with the few keys I received from the servants of God I obtained corroborating testimony from the Scriptures, which I have read from that time until now with an understanding that I never had before; and even now, whenever I search the Scriptures, I find things that are new to me, that I never understood nor comprehended before, although I have been familiar with them from my youth.

When I first heard Joseph Smith enunciate the principle of baptism for the dead, and the method of administering it, I was astonished that no person had ever thought of that before, it was so plainly laid down in the Scriptures. The principle of acting by proxy was just as plain to me as the noonday sun the moment it was explained to me, but I never thought of it until that time. When I heard these principles my heart leaped for joy, and although I was not a praying man I prayed inwardly that whatever else I might do, I might never be left to deny the principles of truth which the prophet was revealing. That was the inward conviction of my soul. Still I did not join the Church, and I did not know that I ever would; I was not fully satisfied. Some things were made very manifest to me, others I could not comprehend. He preached a funeral sermon once, in which the doctrine of eternal judgment was dwelt upon considerably; this I received, and many a time in Council have I heard him develop the principle so plainly that it would have been a sin against light and knowledge for me to have rejected it, therefore I treasured it up in my own heart. Many and many a time he would go right along developing principle without ever alluding to the Scriptures, while my own knowledge of them would bring passage after passage to my mind in corroboration of that which he was advancing.

When he said it was the privilege of the Latter-day Saints to be baptized for their dead, I remembered the words of Paul, “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?” And when he spoke upon the principle of preaching to the spirits in prison, it flashed across my mind, as quick as lightning, that the Savior did that between the time of His crucifixion and resurrection. The analogy of the thing struck me with such force that I could not get it out of my mind. And so scripture after scripture and testimony after testimony come to my mind, proving that the principles he advanced were true. But had I ever thought of them, or had the Christian world for ages? No, not until Joseph revealed them. The Catholics, even for praying for the deliverance of the dead from purgatory, were scouted and ridiculed, yet this principle of administering for the spirits in prison was unfolded to my mind, and in and of itself was great and glorious. Said I, if they who were disobedient could be administered to by the Savior of the world, how much more reasonable is it to suppose that they can be administered for, who have not been disobedient, but who have died without a knowledge of the gospel? This seemed reasonable and consistent to me, and the principle was sustained by the Scriptures of divine truth which I had been taught to believe from my youth up. When the apostle used the expression—“If the dead rise not, then why are ye baptized for the dead,” he was instructing the Church at Corinth on the principle of the resurrection, some of them apparently having been imbued with the doctrine of the Sadducees who denied the resurrection of the dead. I saw the reason and propriety of the expression. I never had comprehended it before; I did not know God, nor His Son Jesus Christ, nor the relationship that we, His children, bear to Him. That is the condition of the Christian world at the present day. They do not comprehend God, themselves, their past, nor their future.

These principles have come to us by revelation through the Prophet Joseph. There may be those here who have not received these principles; it will do no harm to talk upon that awhile, and it may not harm those who have. They are incontrovertible. Arguments to sustain them can be adduced if necessary, but I do not think they need it. Still it has a tendency to open up the mind and prepare it to receive those principles which have been made manifest in this our day for the salvation and exaltation of mankind. It showed to me that there was a work to be done, and that the time, so long talked of for its accomplishment, was hastening on. I saw that there was a necessity for it, for truly all people seemed to me to be blinded concerning the things of God. Like the Jews at the appearance of the Savior, they multiplied words, made long prayers, made great pretensions in religious matters, but their hearts were far from God. The fact of some of the Jews denying the resurrection, after hearing the Savior and his Apostles elucidate it so clearly, proves to me that they were nearly if not quite as ignorant with regard to the things of God as the Christian world at the present day. They read the Scriptures without understanding, they administered in the ordinances without power, and they changed the ordinances, substituting one thing for another, thinking the change would, doubtless, answer the same purpose and suit their convenience a little better.

It was thus that schisms crept into the church, and men began to reason themselves out of the principles of their most holy faith, as was touched upon here a short time ago by the President. I can see how this parity of reasoning would carry men off. To illustrate for a moment. We say that Jesus died for all mankind, that his blood was shed for everybody, but will this save them unless they comply with the requirements of the gospel? Why, no. Some say that the doctrine of one being born to be saved and of another being born to be damned would set that aside. That is the extreme view. Others come along and say, “If men’s salvation depends upon their actions, where is the need of the atonement, for with all the efficacy of the atonement men cannot be saved without repenting of evil, and if they do this they will be saved anyhow.”

This is fallacious reasoning. Jesus died that all might live. As we read in the Scriptures, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Every son and daughter of Adam may be saved if they will live according to the principles of the gospel. Salvation is within the reach of every human being, because the restitution is as good as the fall. Here is the platform, and if men are not saved it is their own fault. The plan of salvation devised by our Father in heaven is amply sufficient to reach the whole of the human family. He will be justified and we condemned, if we do not receive the principles of the gospel. We can receive the principles of the gospel with its virtues and the attributes of God, or we can go on in the practice of evil until we go down to death and destruction, if we choose.

Here comes another man, however, who reasons that the virtues and attributes of God are what make God, and that without these attributes He would not be God, hence that the attributes alone are God. Do you not see how fallacious this reasoning is? What is a principle without being acted upon? It is no more than the iron in the ore, it is inert and dead. Of what benefit are principles in the abstract, however good they may be? They are of no benefit to humanity unless manifested through organized intelligence. Food when appropriated to its natural use imparts vigor to the system, but unappropriated it is comparatively worthless. The same is true of water and other beverages—they are good to quench thirst if rightly used, otherwise they are of little value. By partaking of the Spirit of God, our thirst for knowledge will be satisfied, and it will be within us as a well of water springing up to eternal lives. But if we partake not of that Spirit we will sink, and our course will be continually downward. Hence we see, that in and of itself, the attribute is no more than the iron in the ore, to be beneficial it must be developed by use. If there is a disposition in me to live according to good and true principles, they are bound to elevate and exalt me, just the same as the growth of a child is promoted by proper supplies of nutritious food, whereas if it did not partake of this food it would starve and die. It is just so in spiritual matters. It is not in those matters themselves, but in the individual, and the capacity of the individual who receives and applies them to his own use, and practices upon them, that they are calculated in their nature to elevate and exalt him.

Such views as I have referred to, do away with God entirely; they do away with the Savior and the virtue of the atonement. They are worse than infidelity. They turn things completely around. Men advancing them say if such things had been so and so, other things would have been so and so. For instance, “What would have been the condition of the world of mankind if the Savior had not died?” I do not know anything at all about it. It was in the plan devised in the councils of the Gods before man was brought forth to inherit the earth. One came with, and as a consequence of, the other. I do not know what the condition of man would have been if the Savior had not died. I do not suppose man would have been here if that had not been part of the arrangement. It is not a supposable case with me. I take things as they are. The Lord has arranged it, and if I do not like His arrangement it will not make any difference to Him, though with mankind generally it might. It is for me to submit to the arrangement as I find it, having faith and confidence that it is the best and the only way for us, as the children of God, to walk in, that we may obtain salvation and exaltation in His kingdom.

Do you suppose that our heavenly Father would have sent us through this probation of sin, trial, misery, and death, if it would have been as well for us to have stayed in our spiritual state in the eternal world? I do not suppose any such thing, but I believe there is a wise purpose in sending us to pass through this mortal state, and that was so well understood by our spirits that they were willing to come and run all risks, and descend below all things, that they might have the privilege of rising above all things. The principle of the thing is plain, beautiful, and correct to my mind. I begin to understand my origin and the pur– pose of God my Father in sending me to this state of existence, and the relationship in which I stand to Him.

To those called to mourn the departed who have died in the faith, these principles are a source of great consolation; their contemplation causes the heart to bound with joy and exultation, and to rejoice in God and the holy gospel which He has revealed. You can bear testimony to this as well as I can. You had no knowledge pertaining to the principles of salvation, the knowledge of God and things pertaining to eternal life, until you received it through the gospel. The sectarians of the Christian world, although they are professedly engaged in the promulgation of these things, are as ignorant in relation to them as the beasts that perish. They do not know anything about the principles of salvation, and they are so prejudiced that they will not be taught; they ignore the only source whence they can be obtained in these days, because it is unpopular, and they will be damned, because great is the sin of unbelief. As it was with the Jews in the days of the Savior, so it is now with the Christian world. Light is offered them, and they reject it, and this will be their condemnation. It was said anciently that no good thing could come out of Nazareth, and today the Christians say that no good thing can come from the “Mormons” or from Joseph Smith. By and by they will find that a great many good things can come from just such a source.

That is the way the Lord works. He takes the poor weak things of the earth to confound those who are wise and mighty in their own estimation. God will have the glory, it is His right. He will accomplish His work and His purposes in His own due time. It is His right to do so, and to have the glory and the honor of it. If the Lord were to choose those who are great and wise, according to the notions of the world, they would want to dispute with Him because of their great attainments, and they would claim the honor for this and for that, and would say that such a man should be canonized because of his holy and righteous life, and great honor should be paid to another because of his learning, and because he has divulged so many things. If the Lord were to reveal principles of truth to such men they would claim the honor, and would make merchandise of the gospel. Some may inquire how I know this? I know it by what they have done and are doing. They are selling men’s souls and their own for filthy lucre’s sake. There is a scramble among the clergy for the loaves and fishes. They will take children and make ministers of the gospel of them without any authorized ordination, and whether the Lord wants them or not, no matter whether their minds are touched with the principles of truth or not, provided they become learned in the law and have Rev. or D.D. appended to their names. Such things are abominable in the sight of Heaven! It is not likely that the Lord would avail Himself of such people to make known His law to the children of men. There is no room in such hearts for Him to make an impression upon. It is a great deal more likely that He would select such a one as Joseph Smith, who was free from tradition, and on whose mind He could make an impression as easily as He could with a pen on a piece of white paper—an honest, sincere soul, seeking the way of eternal life. It is far more reasonable to me to suppose that the Lord could make an impression on such natures, than that He could on learned doctors of the law.

The prophet has said that when this thing came forth, the poor and the meek of the earth should rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. They do, they have rejoiced in Him. This gospel commends itself to their understanding, whether it does to the understanding of the rich and learned or not. They whose understandings have been touched with the principles of salvation have enjoyed a great privilege, and our elders who go forth can teach the whole world the way of life and salvation. It is that which makes them bold to stand up in any place, for they know that if the people will heed their teachings they can lead them into the celestial Kingdom of God. I was bold to declare this to the elders while abroad in the nations, in order to strengthen and encourage them, for they know more than any other set of men on the face of the earth, pertaining to the things of God and eternal life. Therefore I encourage them to stand up in all confidence, trusting in God, and declare the things they had received, and I assured congregation after congregation, when attending conference where the elders were, that if they would listen to the teachings and principles which the elders would unfold to them, they would lead them into the celestial Kingdom of God.

It becomes the Latter-day Saints, then, to live so that they may show by their good works that they do believe in these glorious principles, and that they will cleave to them with full purpose of heart. This course will increase faith, which is the source and root of power; it will give confidence in God and in the principles of the gospel. When a man has gone before the Lord and prayed for the recovery of the sick, and his prayer has been answered, can he not go a second time with more confidence? Most assuredly; and if he continues to live a pure and virtuous life, keeping himself from the contaminations of the wicked and ungodly, he will go on step by step, continually increasing in faith in God and the things of eternal life. The world is full of sin, iniquity, contamination, and everything that is calculated to destroy man’s existence here on the earth. And what does Christianity, in its present phase, accomplish for the redemption of the human family? Has not wickedness continued to increase, until now it pervades all classes of society, and it is impossible to stem the torrent? Look at those who are numbered with the Christian world, they are but a small portion of the people on the face of the earth, and then, again, how few of them believe, or even profess to believe in the principles of Christianity. There are a few sects, but a great number of people do not join themselves to any of them, though, as I have already said, they are just as well without. Then, how uncharitable in those few sectarians to believe that they are the only ones in the way of eternal life! The “Mormons” are sometimes accused of being uncharitable, but the fact is, “Mormonism” will save all who can be saved.

Then a large portion of the sectarian world do not believe in many of the principles I have referred to pertaining to the plan of salvation. For instance, they do not believe that anything can be done for a man after death, although he may have died without a knowledge of the gospel. Look what myriads would be debarred from salvation through this alone, according to popular religious notions. There are the Baptist and Presbyterian churches, that number but a few thousands on the earth, and yet according to their theories nearly everybody but themselves must be damned and go to hell. It is the same with the Catholics. Take them all combined, and there are but a few millions on the earth who call themselves Christians, and yet, in their midst and numbered with them, except in Catholic countries, are the old and the young, and, in fact, a majority of all classes, who never attach themselves to any church, and these latter, according to the doctrine of their orthodox brethren, will be damned. In Catholic countries the majority of the women belong to the church, and the children, too, until they reach maturity, when they become infidel, and when, instead of attending church on a Sunday morning, they spend their time in restaurants. In the afternoon, males and females all spend their time in enjoyment, going to balls, races, restaurants, &c. In countries where the Protestants and Dissenters prevail they make more profession in relation to the observance of the Sabbath. A great many faithfully attend church, while others stay at home or go out riding, or on excursions, or otherwise enjoy themselves.

I have heard men standing at the corners of streets praying for their sinful brethren—for one who had been on an excursion, perhaps, spending his time on the Sabbath in pleasure; and for mercy on another man who had been beating his wife; pleading for the Lord to have mercy on this and on that class of what they termed sinners, and saying that all these would be consigned to eternal torments unless He did have mercy on them, though they are denominated Christians, in the general classifications, and that all but the few who believed as they did, whether such ever heard the contracted creeds taught by them or not, would be doomed to hell to suffer through all eternity; and this they say because of their illiberal ideas and uncharitable notions. But the gospel of Jesus teaches us, that while those sinners whom they prayed for must repent of their sins and do right, as well as those who, like the Pharisees, prayed for them at the street corners, all the human family who ever did, do now, or will yet live upon the earth, may be saved if they will obey the principles of the gospel, except such as have been “once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,” for “if they shall fall away” it is impossible “to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” But to all will the gospel be preached, if they are in the flesh that they may act for themselves, and if they are in the spirit world, that they may be administered for in this world, “that they may be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” This shows that, after all, the principles which the “Mormons” have embraced are calculated to save more of the human family than any other known to men on the earth. Then how can they call us uncharitable? They cannot without injustice.

May God bless us and help us to be faithful, and to pass along from knowledge to knowledge, and from virtue to virtue, practicing those things through our lives which are calculated to exalt us eventually in the presence of our heavenly Father, which is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 8th, 1867.

This is one of the greatest days that Israel has ever seen in this dispensation, and one of the largest congregations that ever assembled in the capacity of a Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The cause which we have espoused possesses, probably, today, a greater degree of prosperity than it has ever done from its commencement. Thus may it ever be from this time henceforth and forever! From the commencement of this work until the present time we have continually increased in power and numbers, and in blessings from the Lord our God; and I believe that, today, a greater degree of unity dwells in the hearts of the people called Latter-day Saints than ever before.

When we look back on the past history of this people, and see the difficulties they have had to encounter and have overcome, our hearts should swell with joy and gratitude to the benign Providence which has brought us to the position that we now enjoy. As we have been blessed and preserved in the past, so it will ever be with us, if we will only be true to ourselves and walk in the ways of truth and righteousness. Has not our experience been sufficient in the past to give us confidence in the future? Has not our faith been increased by the multiplicity of blessings and favors which we have received at the hands of our heavenly Father? Inasmuch as we have asked in faith for blessings, and have had our prayers answered upon our heads, have we not faith and confidence to approach our heavenly Father again and again to supplicate for blessings? Most assuredly this is the experience of every faithful Saint. Then let us continue to improve, and endeavor to weed from our hearts every evil influence and strive to overcome every besetting sin. Let this be among our labors in the future, beginning with ourselves and then with our families.

Upon this latter point, especially, let me say a word. Let us provide schools, competent teachers, and good books for our children, and let us pay our teachers. I would have no objection to seeing the standard works of the Church introduced into our schools, that our children may be taught more pertaining to the principles of the gospel in the future than they are at present. And let one test of fitness on the part of those who teach be a thorough acquaintance with and love for the principles of the gospel which we have received, that our children may be taught the principles of truth and righteousness, and be trained from their youth in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Let this course be taken in our schools, and let us pay our teachers. We have those among us who are well qualified for teachers if we will only pay them; but the great cry now is—“We cannot afford to teach school, for the wages is too low, and low as it is we cannot get it when it is earned.” This is the great difficulty among us in this matter, and it has always been a crying evil. It has no need to be so; we should pay our school bills among the first things we pay.

If we wish to have teachers for our children let us sustain them. And we should sustain our own publications, which inculcate the principles of truth and righteousness, in preference to any others which may be brought into our midst. There are other works that are good, against which I do not wish to say anything; but let us first sustain our own works, which are exclusively devoted to the spread of the principles of truth. The Lord has undertaken to raise the standard of truth in the earth through the instrumentality of His servants, and it is the duty of the Saints to sustain those works which have the dissemination of truth for their only object. We send forth Elders to the nations of the earth, as messengers of salvation to the people; and while we sustain those who go to proclaim the gospel, let us also sustain the printed word.

Enough has been said on this subject, and I do not wish to recapitulate. Let us pay our tithing, and do all we can to sustain the servants of God. And in paying our tithing we should not forget our money tithing. We hear considerable about hard times, so far as money is concerned; they who are endeavoring to sustain the work of God feel the pressure as much as anybody else. Let us contribute our mites to assist; if we have not much let us give a portion for that purpose—be free and liberal. What have we to do but to accomplish our mission in building up the Kingdom of God? I know of nothing else that is worth the attention of the Latter-day Saints. Then let us do this with all our faith, might, and means, and be united as the heart of one man in sustaining whatever is brought before us by those who are placed over us to lead, guide, and direct our labors.

Has not the Lord the right to dictate the earth and its inhabitants? Most assuredly, He has; and it would be a great blessing for the people if they would allow Him to do so. We who have come here have said we are willing to be dictated by the Lord through His servants; then let us make it our business to be so as long as we dwell in the flesh, the more especially as we expect to reap the rewards and benefits that will result from such a course. If we expect the blessings of heaven we should take a course that will draw them down upon us, for they will most assuredly be ours as fast as we can make good use of them. If we are only true to ourselves, and are faithful to the end, our reward will be such that we will have no need to complain of it. And even while we pass along through life, the course of the Latter-day Saint is more conducive to happiness and peace than that of any other individual on the face of the earth.

Let us not be disheartened nor discouraged, but press onward in the good work which we have espoused. Our minds have been lit up with the principles of life and salvation and the truths of heaven; then let us cleave to those principles with full purpose of heart, keeping God’s commands, and walking blamelessly before him in all things every day of our lives. We shall thus accomplish our mission in the Kingdom of God, and eventually be welcomed into the presence of our Redeemer, which, I hope, will be the lot of every Latter– day Saint, and of every honest soul in the world.

These are some of my feelings. I hope and pray that we will all attend to the teachings which we receive from time to time, for it is God in His mercy who deals them out to us, and it is for us to treasure them up in good and honest hearts, to carry them out in our lives, and to shun all things that are offensive in His sight. This is the mission of the Saints. Every man can be useful in his day and generation in promoting these principles; and if we will be united in so doing, truth will triumph in the hearts of the Saints, and a power for good, such as we have never yet seen, will soon be developed, and will increase until finally the earth will be redeemed from the thralldom of sin, and the power of the wicked be forever broken.

That our labors may speedily bring about this desirable consummation is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, General Conference, Oct. 8, 1865.

It is with joy and satisfaction indescribable to myself that I enjoy the privilege, brethren and sisters, of standing before you at this Conference this afternoon.

It is known to a great majority of you that I have been to Europe on a mission. I am glad that I have been to that country, and that I have been permitted to return to these valleys again. Whether I go away or return is all one to me, inasmuch as I am called to act in the Church and kingdom of God; and where the Lord appoints me to act is where I wish to be; that is my place and position, and it is my delight to be subservient unto the call, and unto the counsel of those who hold the authority to dictate in the Church and kingdom of God. If I know myself, that is the place I wish to occupy at all times and on all occasions, and it gives me great satisfaction if I can fill that place, and perform the mission and duties required of me to perform, in that way that shall be pleasing to them and unto my Father in heaven; for if I please them I shall please Him, and if I please Him I shall please them.

I feel grateful for the privilege of being a member of the Church and kingdom of God, and of being willing to do his bidding and abide the counsels of his servants. I feel happy in this calling, and to be associated with a people whose bosoms beat responsive with mine in regard to the great principles of the Gospel of salvation which has been revealed in these days for the guidance of the children of men upon the earth, that all people may avail themselves of these privileges and principles the same as we have done, if they choose it. They have this option within themselves, to obey and walk in the ways of life and salvation or to reject them; they can do as they please when the principles of salvation are made known unto them; they have their agency, and inasmuch as they will adopt them, they can enjoy the privileges which we now enjoy, and they cannot obtain them upon any other principle. As we have heard this morning, everything that is worth having we can obtain through the principles of the Gospel, and they are for the people of God.

The whole world, we may say, have gone a whoreing after other gods, and they worship not the God of Israel, the true God. They do not know Him, nor do they take the pains to know Him, whom to know is life eternal, as we read in the Scriptures. What can the world tell you about Him? Nothing; they do not know Him. How are we to learn God whom to know is eternal life? We learn to know Him through the principles of the Gospel. He is revealed to man through the authority of the Holy Priesthood, which has been established among the children of men through the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ to His servants. What did we know about Him who is our Father, previous to receiving this latter-day Work? Could we tell anything about the relationship that existed between God and his children? Anything about the object of God in bringing man upon the earth? We knew nothing about this nor about the laws which should govern and control him to bring him to exaltation in the presence of God. In ignorance of these great principles, mankind come upon the earth, they live and they die. They do not know how to subserve the purposes of the Almighty in their own being, how to accomplish the object of their creation and the end of their being on the earth. They cannot learn the things of God without the Spirit of God. I have in my own feeble way tried to teach the people concerning the things of God, to teach them who God our Heavenly Father is, or in other words, the ways of eternal life, and the relationship which exists between God and man; to teach them those principles which will subserve their being on the earth while they tarry here, and the laws which the Almighty has revealed for them to obey. I have borne a faithful testimony to the children of men, so far as I have had the power, while I have been on my mission, and have endeavored to do what good I could whenever an opportunity presented itself. But I have often times felt as though the people did not wish to know the things I had to teach them, and that they might as well be left with their idols. I have felt that my testimony has rebounded back upon me, for they cared not to know the things of God. The world treat the revelations of God to Joseph Smith in the last days as an idle dream. They do not care to investigate it because they think it is a humbug and beneath their notice; they treat it with contumely and disrespect; they are united almost universally in rejecting it, in passing it by, while the kingdom of God is actually transpiring upon the earth, and before the face and eyes of the whole world, and they mark it not; they have eyes and cannot see, ears and cannot hear, hearts and cannot comprehend nor understand, or if they do understand, will not obey the truth, but they will reject it. But does this conduct make it any less true? No, my good friends, No.

We read in the good book that “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leads to eternal life, and few there be which find it.” If the world wish to be saved in the kingdom of God, let them take heed to the words of his servants that are abroad in the earth, for they have the authority of the Holy Priesthood, the authority of heaven; the angel of God has come and restored the Gospel to the earth in these last days, and we know it, and feel able to bear this testimony to all the world, and it has already gone as it were upon the wings of the morning to all the world. Let the people reject it if they can afford to do so; we know they cannot afford to reject it; it is the most expensive thing they ever rejected; they had better receive it if they knew what would be for their best good. The authority of the Holy Priesthood is here upon the earth, and all people can avail themselves of it if they think proper to do so. Why do not the world do it? That, however, is their own affair: if we are faithful and acquit ourselves as men of God, we thereby clear ourselves of the blood of this generation. The communication has been opened up between the heavens and the earth. Do you know it, Latter-day Saints? You do. Do the world know it? They may if they will take the proper course to put themselves in possession of this knowledge, but they do not care to know it; they are like the blind that are led by those who are blind, and they will all fall into the ditch together.

I have felt a pride in speaking to the people in different nations and countries, of telling them that there is a place where good men may gather together, where men and women of integrity dwell, where the rights of all men are protected; that there is a place upon the footstool of God where the rights of mankind can be enjoyed and respected, where all can have the liberty of worshipping God according to the dictates of their conscience; that there dwells a people who are for God: there the earth has been reclaimed and is being brought in subjection to the rule of the God of Heaven, and the predominating feeling is for God. I have felt proud in bearing this testimony, and pointing my finger to Utah, where good men and women may dwell in peace, and where good order and good government prevail, and the people are in subjection to Heaven’s rule. Who is doing this? You, Latter-day Saints. Where else can such a thing be found? Nowhere. Abroad in the world evil influences predominate everywhere, but here it is not so. Not but that there is evil here, more or less: I expect to find it. If it were not mingled up with the people of God, then the wheat and the tares would not grow together until harvest, as the parable of the Savior plainly intimates would be the case, and this would supply grave reasons against it being the Church and kingdom of God. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net cast into the sea which gathers both good and bad. I expect this is the characteristic of the Church of God here; but still, the predominating influences are for God, the great majority of the people are submitting themselves to high Heaven’s rule, and seeking with all their might to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth, and it is extending abroad, lengthening its cords and strengthening its stakes. It is a great blessing to live in such a place as this; a great blessing to be a citizen of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth, and to hail from Zion. The world may treat you with contempt, but let them laugh who wins; and who will win if the Latter-day Saints do not?

The world are in ignorance with regard to the principles that will save mankind; they do not know of any principles that will save any portion of mankind either here or hereafter—they do not know how to save themselves. They have a pretty good government in England, and I like that country pretty well for a great many things. You can go there and bear your testimony, and tell the truth, and be protected by the laws of the country; you can do that without being exposed to much danger of being mobbed, as the Latter-day Saints have been in this country, although there is some opposition; but the people stand in fear of the administrators of the law, because they will administer it even in protection of the Latter-day Saints. It is a nice little island, the island of Great Britain; and there dwell upon it a great many good, warm-hearted people, and I love them. There are a great many people there who are trying to know the ways of eternal life, and they will treat the ministers of salvation with more respect than in many other countries. I am glad to be associated with such a people.

There are many persons who belong to the Church in foreign countries who would be glad to be gathered with the people here, and there are many who, although they do not belong to the Church and kingdom of God, still fail to realize and know that there is something necessary to be done. They have no confidence in the organized systems of religion of the present day. They can see no consistency in them, and suppose that everything in the shape of religion is a humbug. “Mormonism” has sprung up in the same age, and they condemn it without examination as being, like all the rest, nothing more than an idle dream. Talk to them about revelation; yes, they have false revelations, and if they have false revelations and false spirits, does it prove that there are no true ones? The very reverse is the fact, and they would find true revelation and true spirits if they would only seek for them in the right way.

We, as Latter-day Saints, have cause to be thankful that we have found out the way of eternal life, because we have had the blessed privilege of living in this day and age of the world in which the Gospel of salvation has been revealed for the guidance of the children of men; that we have been recipients of that knowledge which leads to eternal life and salvation in the presence of God; that we have been gathered out from the world that we may not partake of her abominations and of the plagues which are to come upon her; that this land has been consecrated and dedicated to God; that it has been held for the Latter-day Saints to occupy, to plant, and build, and inhabit, and that in consequence of this, the land has been made to bring forth for the sustenance of His people who have been gathered out from where the wicked rule and the people mourn.

Those who have embraced the Gospel in foreign lands sigh for deliverance, and the hope of this deliverance is the only ray of light that burns in their souls, and that gives them joy; although they live with their whole lives oppressed, this beam of gladness has found its way into their souls through the principles of the Gospel, and hence they are less oppressed in their feelings than many others. A hope springs up in their bosoms that the time will come for their deliverance from the oppression under which they groan. Many of you have been delivered from those bonds, and from that oppression. You may have suffered poverty and sickness, and been afflicted in many ways, and perhaps have found things different than what you anticipated in many respects in this your newly adopted country, yet you have been delivered from a land where oppression reigns, and have been placed in a land of liberty—in a country where you can expand and grow, where you can plant your children with a hope that they may rise to importance in the kingdom of God, to something beyond what you and your forefathers have been enabled to do in the land where you have formerly lived, that you and your offspring may dwell where virtue, peace, and industry may meet with their reward.

How is it in many of those old countries with the poor? And it is with this class that we have the most to do; for some cause, known perhaps best to Him that rules on high, it is the poor who embrace the Gospel, who receive the Gospel, who receive the message of good tidings, it is to them a theme of gladness and joy more than to any other class of men. Hundreds and thousands of them are out of employment, their stores gone, and they have no resources but what arise from their daily labor, and they are on the borders of starvation. The dearth in cotton has thrown thousands of people out of employment upon the cold charities of the world. How is it here, saying nothing about religion? Here a man can get a little land, and in a short time gather around him the necessaries of life upon which he can subsist and let the world wag as it will; his condition is improved, and he may hope to rise to wealth and influence. How is it there? Why he may tread in the path in which his fathers trod, but can go no further—can advance no higher in the scale of existence; if times are good he may subsist, and that comfortably—I am speaking of the poor classes, those that the Gospel most generally find, to them such a deliverance as the Gospel offers is glad tidings of great joy, for they can plant themselves where their children can rise above what their fathers have been. This is what many thousands of the Latter-day Saints have accomplished by emigrating from that country to this, and many more thousands will be benefited in the same way.

This is only one of the benefits which the Gospel confers upon those who obey it; it benefits man whenever it touches him, temporally and spiritually, religiously, morally, and politically; it gives him an understanding of life; it teaches him how to live and how to exalt his being to the standard of heavenly intelligence; how to bring up his children and educate them in a proper manner, and how to avail himself of the facilities and advantages which the sciences and arts present to advance the purposes of the Almighty in the redemption of the human race; teaching him not only how to live in time, but in all eternity; giving him knowledge how to stand forth like a man of God in the world to subserve His purposes.

The Latter-day Saints have the most cause of any people on earth to rejoice continually in Him who has bestowed upon them the proud position which they occupy; for the authority of Heaven is here, and the wisdom of Heaven is here, and you can find it nowhere else. I had the privilege of telling the people in those old countries that the sanctuary of the Lord was not with them; but in order to get the blessings necessary to qualify them to enter into the presence of God, they would have to go to that place where the people of God are abiding, where they shall be strengthened and become even a great and mighty nation; and I thank God that there is a people on the earth that can no longer be ignored by the great and mighty of the earth, for they have attained a standing and a position that must be respected. They may ignore this people if they think they can afford to do it, and we can afford to wait and see the purposes of the Almighty roll forth on the earth better than any other people can, because we are on the safe side; we have more time to wait. If the wicked knew when it is well with them, they would hasten to make their peace with the Almighty, for his judgments are abroad upon the earth, and who can stay his hand. They are upon the wicked, and they know and feel it.

The great mass of mankind are ready to ridicule the people of God, they are ready to ridicule his servants because they stand forth and declare that an angel of the Almighty has come to restore the Gospel in its full– ness, and that Joseph Smith was called of God to be his Prophet; all this they say is nonsense, and they reject it without inquiring into the reason why they reject it. If they can afford to do this, we can afford to live our holy religion and bear their contumely and reproaches better than they can afford to give them. Such abuse hardly ruffles my feelings, if they will only keep their hands off; and if there is any danger of violence of that sort, we shall be apprised of it; there is not much danger in them, that is, unless they can take you by surprise. If the Latter-day Saint is on his guard, panoplied with the armor of righteousness, he may walk through the earth without being molested, because the Spirit of the Almighty will show him where the danger lies, and he can ward it off; and wisdom will be given him to absent himself from those places where danger is and turn away in another direction. Wisdom will be given him also what to say and what to do under every circumstance. The great evil that besets the path of the Saints is when they depart from the principles of eternal truth and rectitude, and betray their trust; for this they place themselves in the power of the enemy; and this they do when they are asleep, not when they are wide awake, and they are led little by little until they make shipwreck of their faith and go headlong to the devil, which they would not do while walking in the ways of righteousness. Have I felt that I have been in deadly peril? Yes, many times, if the enemy could have had his way. Sometimes I have felt like buckling on pistols, and at other times I would feel perfectly safe without them. In my travels no man has had the temerity to come up to my face and insult me; but I have heard the grinding of their teeth; I have heard what they would say to me addressed to somebody else.

As I have already said, I cannot express to you the feelings of joy and gladness which pervade my whole soul upon my return home, and to meet with so friendly a people; you cannot imagine what big feelings it gives me to have the privilege of meeting with the Saints in this and in other countries. Wherever I meet the Saints I feel that I always have known and been with them. Why is this? Because they have partaken of the same Spirit that I possess, and it runs from soul to soul like oil, or like water, or electricity, pervading each and every Saint wherever I have met them in any country. It is good when you are far distant from Zion to meet a people who will receive you with such a spirit and feeling. It is different now to what it has been with some of the Elders who have gone forth to preach the Gospel in the early days of the Church, when they found none to receive them possessed of a kindred spirit. After they had made known the message of heaven and found a people willing and glad to receive it, they soon found friends, and they found the same friends I found, namely, an honest-hearted people in ignorance with regard to the principles of life and salvation; they have been made acquainted with those principles, and there are many others who have not yet been made acquainted with them, although the Gospel has reached the ears of many of the inhabitants of the earth, and we have established ourselves in the earth as Latter-day Saints—the sons of God—in other words the Almighty has established his Church and kingdom on the earth with the authority thereof, and it is no longer to be ignored by the people of the world; it is a fixed fact.

I do not know what they will do next, but I expect they will be found trying to do their utmost against it. I do not look for anything else. The Latter-day Saints expect to do a great work when they seek to dig down the hill of error which has accumulated for six thousand years on the earth; this they expect to do with the Gospel and by the blessings of God and his power assisting them, and so continue their labor until the earth is redeemed and brought back again to its pristine glory and perfection, and the kingdom of God rules and predominates all over its face, and the power of the wicked be essentially broken, and law and good order prevail everywhere, and men learn war no more. These may appear high-swelling words, and they may appear absurd to the millions of the earth. It does not matter to me how absurd they look, the facts in the case remain the same; all these things will be fulfilled in the own due time of the Lord; this Work has already commenced and is now transpiring before the face and eyes of all men. It is not done in a corner, but before the whole world in the tops of the mountains; our light is not hid under a bushel, but it is set upon a hill, that all the world may see it. The truth of the Almighty is being made known in these last days, and it is a mighty testimony to the people, and they will be sorry if they do not take heed to it. There cannot be a greater testimony to the world than the living existence of this people in the tops of the Rocky Mountains, and all people can see it.

I rejoice in this work; let it roll forth and my heart is glad. I feel proud to be associated with such a people; I feel proud that such a people exist; I feel glad and rejoice exceedingly in my soul, that I have lived in this day and age of the world, and have the privilege of bearing this testimony to the nations, and of becoming a citizen of the kingdom of God; of aiding to lay a foundation to build upon for time as well as for eternity, that we may come forth in the great hereafter and become associated with the Gods of eternity. What do the world know about all this? Simply nothing.

I have been absent from home about eighteen months; during that time I have attended meetings in England among the different Conferences; I have been to Scandinavia on a short visit, and have been engaged in the Office at Liverpool in the publishing department a portion of my time. I felt exceedingly to rejoice in my labors, and had pretty good health, for me, as a general thing; although I have felt as though I could have done more if my health had been better. I felt to regret that I could not do half as much as I wanted to do; this was the only feeling of regret which accompanied me on my return. I have not accomplished half as much as I would liked to have done. It seems a long way to travel, considerable time spent in coming and going, for so short a mission, but with me it is all right to go or to stay; so long as I am useful in the Church and kingdom of God, it does not matter to me where my time is spent as long as I live.

The joy and gladness which I feel in meeting with my brethren again in this place is inexpressible. Some of them have told me that they intended to give an expression of their gladness at my return, and were disappointed at my entering the city sooner than they expected I would. I will take the will for the deed; the good feelings which prompted the wish to do that I think more of than any manifestation or demonstration that might have occurred. I know there exists in the bosoms of my brethren towards me a good and genial feeling that mingles with the feelings in my own breast. I realize that I have the faith and prayers of my brethren, and have realized their effi– cacy in many dangers, both by sea and by land, while I have been traveling to preach the Gospel, while I have been writing, while I have been afflicted in sickness, and while I have had difficulties to overcome. In all these circumstances I have felt buoyed up by that feeling which beats responsive in your hearts and my own. I have had the benefit of your prayers and appreciate them; they have bean answered upon my head, and this is a living testimony to me, also, that your prayers are heard, and that you have learned how to approach God in an acceptable manner to find favor in his eyes, and have your prayers answered. My health is much better; the journey to Europe has done me good, and God has done it. This is His work, and we are His people.

We talk about having done this and that; but it is the Lord who has done it, and we are merely instruments in his hands of accomplishing His purposes in the earth. It is a great honor to be an instrument in the hands of God of establishing His kingdom, and of bringing forth His purposes in the last days. The Saints are based upon the eternal rock of truth and they will stand when the refuge of lies is swept away; they are those who will be found wise in their generation, and with oil in their lamps, and they will be the ruling and governing class of mankind; they will possess the earth, and the kingdom under the whole heavens will be given unto them.

If we read the Bible we find that God has placed in His Church Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, gifts, and blessings for the edifying of the Saints and the work of the ministry, etc.; but the religious world in the 19th century say that these are all done away; they are satisfied to read about what the ancients enjoyed, and go hungry and naked themselves. When you go into an hotel for dinner you read the bill of fare, and actually partake of the good things therein noted. We should think a man either crazy or a fool who would read the bill of fare and exclaim against eating the savory food it describes. The Bible cannot ordain a person with authority to stand forth and obey himself and administer the ordinances of the house of God to others. “No man taketh this honor upon himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron;” and how can a man be called of God as was Aaron without immediate revelation from Him? If Jesus had to be baptized unto the baptism of repentance to fulfill all righteousness, who else should be exempt? He went down into the waters and was baptized, and the voice of God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him.” He said to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” This is recorded in the Bible which the Christian world acknowledge to be their rule of faith. I exhort them to live to it. There is nothing said in the Bible about sprinkling, and the word baptize means immersion, and the world may quibble about it as much as they please. It is through these principles and this administration from under the hands of the servants of God that we receive the Holy Ghost, which will lead into all truth, and to an increase of knowledge in the things of God; through this channel we learn to know God, whom to know is eternal life. That Spirit which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, causeth mankind to seek after the truth and to become anxious after their eternal welfare, and to know about their hereafter. You may travel in every country and you will find this feeling pervading mankind; for everybody, except the infidel, worships at some shrine, and the infidel says there is no God, and does not worship anything. The Scripture says, to know God is eternal life. How can we know Him and learn Him? This is an important question for Latter-day Saints as well as for others. How shall we learn to know the only wise and true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent and know the relationship that exists between Him and His children, and the purpose He had in bringing us into this existence?

Let us keep this our second estate, for having kept our first estate we have been reserved to come upon this earth and obtain a tabernacle of flesh, pass through this mortality and have the privilege of accomplishing the object and the purpose of the Almighty in the organization of this earth. Let us be wise in our day, and secure unto ourselves those blessings that are for us. Let us be true and faithful, and full of that integrity which can look Heaven in the face without a blush, clinging to the truth, and never swerving from it for a single moment; and may God bless us and help us to do so is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, May 31, 1863.

I feel grateful for the privilege of bearing my testimony to the truths of our holy religion, in which I hope to live all the days of my life. It has taught me things that are of importance to my soul’s welfare here and hereafter. It has placed me upon a basis of improvement and knowledge that leads to understanding, wisdom and power in the counsels of heaven.

What true conception had we of God until our minds were lit up with the truths which the Almighty has revealed in these last days? We did not know in what capacity he was our Father; we had no rightful conception or knowledge of God or of his Son Jesus Christ, of whom it is said, to know is life eternal. The learned divines of the day could not inform us anything about him, or give us any information in regard to our own origin. All this we have learned by embracing “Mormonism,” or the truths which the Almighty has revealed in these latter times. Now we know he did reveal himself in former days. We can now see and understand what these things mean that have been written by former Prophets and servants of God who were inspired by the revelations of Jesus Christ; but these things we could not understand until he revealed himself again and we have received this knowledge through his servants in our own day.

The orthodox churches have taught us that those who are of the orthodox may possibly be saved, but for the heterodox there is no chance of salvation at all—they must go down to, and be damned in an endless hell, must be doomed to the bottomless pit. They, however, had no just conception of the design of the Almighty with regard to our being and could give us no knowledge with regard to our origin or destiny. Another class of religionists would save all in the kingdom of God—bring all into his presence indiscriminately, no matter whether they are in their sins or not; the plan of salvation, they say, is sufficient to save them all.

There is a plan whereby all who have not sinned the sin unto death may attain to a certain glory and salvation. There is a principle revealed in the great economy of Heaven by which we can act for another; whereby the generations which have died in ignorance of the Gospel may be administered for by the living, that they may be judged according to men in the flesh. This principle has been revealed in these last days, and it is a great and glorious prin– ciple; one that gives great joy and satisfaction to the believer. It throws a mantle of charity over the whole human family; our heavenly Father does not consign to an endless misery his children who have not been informed in the plan of life and salvation and who have not lifted up their hands knowingly against him; it provides a way in which they may participate in the blessings of our common Father which he dispenses to his faithful children. Our holy religion teaches us to extend charity, knowledge and power to all mankind. Are they not our brethren and sisters? Have we not a common origin? Have we not a common Father who is the Father of our spirits? Then are we not of one family, brethren and sisters indeed, and should we not so act towards each other?

How great should be our satisfaction, joy and thankfulness to our Father in heaven that we have become the recipients of this knowledge, that we can place our feet upon the rock of salvation and become messengers of salvation to all people; to take them from their low and degraded condition and elevate them to the knowledge of God. Is there no reward in this? Is there no glory, no blessing in this? Time will disclose whether there is a blessing or not in reaching forth the helping hand to the honest poor and needy among the nations to deliver them from the thralldom of sin and from the poverty that presses heavily upon them; by these have they been chained down hand and foot and could not help themselves. We break their chains asunder and bring them into the liberty of the Gospel; we not only unbind their spirits but their hands and their feet, and we place them in a condition to take care of themselves. This is true charity. You may give a piece of bread to a hungry person, and when the cravings of hunger return some one else must administer to his wants again; to put that person in a position to earn his own subsistence is true charity; in this way you direct his feet in the path of true independence, he is then only dependent on his own exertions and on the blessings of his God.

When people are taken from the pernicious influences that are too prevalent in the world and directed in the paths of sobriety, truth and heavenly intelligence, what is there to hinder them in the midst of the Saints from walking in those paths? The effort to do right continually under such circumstances is nothing in comparison to what it is when they are continually surrounded with evil influences and evil examples. In this they are benefited and blessed, and here again is the mantle of charity and love thrown over the poor and destitute who hunger and thirst after righteousness as well as for those means necessary for their temporal subsistence.

These are a few of the opportunities and privileges which are conferred upon this people of doing good. They have the greatest opportunity of doing real substantial good to themselves and their fellow creatures of any people on the face of the earth. Those who come up here and assist in the great Work will also participate in the great blessings which will be their reward. Let these precious opportunities which are thrown in our way be eagerly improved, for it is a great and glorious Work in which we are engaged, and one which is full of benefit to the human race at large.

Why then should the world seek to subvert, overthrow, persecute, destroy, and make waste those who are engaged in so great and beneficial an undertaking. There is no reason why men should tread upon the oil and the wine. There is no reason why men should not sustain holy and righteous principles that will elevate and exalt mankind if they will let them. There is no reason whatever why people should oppose the Latter-day Saints or seek their destruction and overthrow; when they do it they do it without reason—they do it because they hate righteous principles, to satisfy their own wicked intentions and desires; they love to lie rather than to speak the truth, and they do it at the instigation of the Devil without any rational feeling or reason whatever. They will be condemned because they love darkness rather than light. They have the power to do evil, and inasmuch as they list to obey the powers of evil they will be damned. They have the same privilege that we have of obeying the truth and of receiving light, knowledge, and intelligence from heaven, and may participate in the same blessings we enjoy. When they choose the path of evil they do it on their own responsibility. A great portion of the world will reject the good and cleave to the evil; this has been so from the beginning. As astonishing as it may appear, a vast majority of mankind will not receive the truth, but they will reject it and trample under their feet the oil and the wine, crucify the Redeemer afresh, slay the Prophets, and overthrow truth and righteousness as long as they have power to do so.

But the day has now come when those principles will be sustained on the earth. They have already obtained a foothold in these valleys; the Almighty has set his hand to work to establish his kingdom on the earth never again to be thrown down or to be prevailed against.

We are here in the mountains, thank God for that; and we hold the principles of life and salvation for all the world; we send forth the heralds of life to proclaim them, and they are taking deep root in the earth. The power to bind and to loose is here, even the power of Heaven, and it cannot be eradicated again and overcome. That day is past. We live in a day fruitful of big events. The Lord Almighty is walking about and we have heard his footsteps. He is at work in the midst of the nations; this is very manifest to us who dwell here four thousand feet above the level of the sea; from this elevation we can see clearly and have a better understanding of the movements of God among the nations beneath us. The Lord has anointed our eyes and we see through a purer atmosphere.

I believe we appreciate as well as we can these great mercies and blessings. There is one of them which we certainly can appreciate very sensibly, and that is the blessing of peace and quiet in these sequestered vales. The Lord has greatly blessed this land and caused it to bring forth in its strength nourishment for our sustenance; he has planted our feet by the still waters and given to us health, wealth, peace, and quietude. We can appreciate these blessings now if we never could before, when we see the desolation and misery which have been foretold coming upon the wicked and ungodly nations. A river of light and intelligence flows to this people from the heavens through the holy Priesthood. The fountains of life eternal are opened for all to go to and drink. Can we think of this without being melted in thankfulness to our Father and our God? Should we not put forth our best endeavors in the channel of our duty? Should we not be honest, faithful and true with that which is committed to our trust, and diligent in the performance of every duty?

Can we pursue unerringly the course marked out for us by him who is the choice of Israel to lead and guide Israel in the great interests of life. He instructs us to draw from the elements that which we consume and become independent and self-sustaining. We have enlisted to walk in this channel—a great many have done so. Can we continue to improve still more and produce still greater results by a still greater perseverance?

I was pleased and gratified beyond utterance at the report brought back from the south by the President, when he said there was a decided improvement in this people; thank God for that; but it is a great thing to improve. Let us continue to improve, inasmuch as we have fallen short heretofore, and let us seek to remove every obstacle out of our path and bring about the temporal improvements we are told to perform with greater celerity. I allude to these things because they give us comfort, pointing, as they do, to greater freedom and greater independence; at the same time, we will not forget to improve our minds and progress in the knowledge of God and in the things which pertain to eternal life and glory hereafter. We will not forget to instill into the young minds of our children principles of honor, of truth and of righteousness towards God, and obedience to him, to his servants and to his laws, for it is this that will make them honorable and great in his eyes and will exalt them in his presence.

If any of us have been guilty of dishonest practices, let us eschew evil and seek to do good instead, let us eradicate the poison of sin from our own bosoms, and let the Spirit and power of the Almighty reign there and have free course to run and be glorified in us, and let this in– fluence spread abroad through every ramification of society. These are my desires and most sincere wishes. Let us be united in our love for God and truth, for in unity there is strength, and in unity of this kind is made manifest the almighty power of God. If we do this everything is for us; nothing shall be withheld from those who love God and keep his commandments; all things that are worth having will he give to them. These are blessings and mercies which are enjoyed by no people besides this people.

The self-styled orthodoxy of the day will do no person any good, so far as giving them a title to an inheritance in the presence of God is concerned; there is no balm of Gilead in all they can do, say, or bestow on mankind, for the fountain of life and intelligence is not with them. So far as they inculcate morality, it has a salutary influence in restraining mankind from sinking back into the worst phases of barbarism, but it receives no impetus, no progression from their teachings, for those who make no profession of religion at all are generally more strictly moral, more strenuously honest and more faithful in the duties of life than those who profess the religions of Christendom.

The religion we profess is the fountain of intelligence; it inculcates morality, truth, virtue and every principle of true knowledge, and this leads to true power and true excellence; it has with it the vigor of life and leads to exaltation and to the presence of our Father and God. Let us appreciate our blessings and be careful not to hurt the oil and the wine; let us be careful that we do not trample upon the principles which our Father has revealed for our guidance, but let us be constantly actuated by the influence of the Spirit of the Almighty which is within us and let us never grieve it away; if we do this, we shall not wander into forbidden paths, into darkness nor into error, nor be left to believe a lie that we may be damned. If we will follow out the principles of our holy religion, we will become the greatest and the mightiest people upon the earth, and we shall have power given to us to go forth in the mighty power of Israel’s God and redeem the earth from the thralldom of sin and its consequences and raise high the banner of freedom, the banner of salvation to the human race. There is a nucleus formed where all the honest-in-heart may rally—where they will find safety for themselves and their means; here their rights will be respected and their means protected. All people can rally to this standard because it is firm and steadfast, and the individual rights of all will be respected; and it is the only place on the face of the earth where this assurance can be given, all else will crumble and go to pieces and be wasted away. This kingdom embraces all that is permanent and lasting; it will endure throughout time and throughout all eternity, and we with it. We do know that the Lord has commenced his great and marvelous Work and he will continue it and break in pieces the wicked and ungodly nations until they shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and his kingdom which is now being set up will continue forever and ever. This is our testimony to all men; our cry is, Come out of her, my people, lest you partake of her abominations and of her plagues which have been decreed upon her.

May the Lord help us to take a course that shall lead us onward and upward, that we may receive and hold the dominion for God, and that it may continue to increase and spread until the earth is redeemed and Christ shall possess the kingdoms under the whole heavens, which is my prayer, in the name of Jesus: Amen.