Remarks by Elder Lorenzo Snow, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, October 9th, 1867.

Knowing our religion to be true, we ought to be the most devoted people on the face of the earth to the cause we have embraced. Knowing as we do, or should know, that the gospel we have received promises all our hearts can wish or desire, if we are faithful, we ought to be very faithful, devoted, energetic, and ambitious in carrying out the designs and wishes of the Lord, as He reveals them from time to time through His servants. We ought not to be lukewarm or negligent in attending to our duties, but with all our might, strength and souls we should try to understand the spirit of our calling and nature of the work in which we are engaged. When Jesus was upon the earth he commanded his disciples to go forth and preach the gospel without purse or scrip, taking no thought beforehand as to what they should eat or drink, or wherewithal they should be clothed, but simply go forth and to testify of those things which had been revealed to them. In doing this they secured to themselves the blessings of the Almighty, and success attended all their exertions. They were bound to succeed; no power could cross their path and prevent them reaping the most sanguine success, because they went forth in the strength of the Almighty to perform His will, and it was His business to sustain and support them and to furnish them all the means of success. Through obedience to the commands of the Lord they secured to themselves the blessings of life with the privilege of coming forth in the morning of the first resurrection, and they had the assurance that in their labors no power on earth could successfully oppose them. These were the kind of prospects I should have liked had I been in their position, or in any other position, for to the thoughtful mind the idea of ultimate success in any pursuit is very pleasing. Now, had the Apostles, instead of doing as they were commanded, imagined that by doing something else they could have answered the same purpose, they would not have succeeded so well in their operations, neither would they have possessed that assurance of success which, under all the trials and persecutions to which they were exposed, was, doubtless, to them a source of constant pleasure and satisfaction.

Quite a number of young men have been called to go to the southern portion of our Territory for the purpose of developing the resources thereof and building up Zion. Now, should they imagine that they could be as successful by taking upon themselves a mission similar to that given by Jesus to his disciples, they would find themselves very much mistaken. Had the Apostles or Seventies in the days of Jesus imagined that they could have fulfilled the missions given them by building an ark as Noah did, or building granaries and storing grain as Joseph did, they would have been grandly mistaken.

Joseph, in the land of Egypt, was called upon to perform a certain class of duties, which were made incumbent upon him. He was not called to preach the gospel without purse or scrip, but to build granaries, and to use all his influence with the king, nobles, and people of Egypt to store their grain against a day of famine. I have often thought, in reflecting upon this subject, how little proof they had of the importance of doing what Joseph required of them, when compared with the abundance of proof we possess in relation to the importance of the duties required of us. There was Pharaoh—a Gentile, making no profession of religion—he had a dream which none could interpret save Joseph, a stranger in the land, whom no one knew, who had been bought for money, and who was taken from prison into the presence of the king. No doubt the nobles and the people who heard of the interpretation of the dream believed that Joseph made that for his own benefit, glory, and exaltation, and that the king might think well of him; and when they saw him riding round in pomp and splendor, trying to establish granaries all through the country, they, no doubt, thought he was an impostor, and placed no credence in his predictions. In fact, I think I could hardly have believed it myself had I lived in those days. Many of the people placed such little faith in his words that, failing to lay up their food, when the famine overtook them, to save themselves from starvation they had to sell themselves for slaves to the King. Now, supposing that Joseph had gone to work and built an ark, he would not have been accepted of the Lord, neither could he have saved the people of Egypt nor his father’s house. When Noah was commanded to build an ark, supposing he had established granaries, he and his house could not have been saved. So in regard to ourselves, when duties are required at our hands, whether it is to go to the southern part of our Territory, to Europe, to contribute to the Perpetual Emigration Fund, or to build temples, or whatever we may be required to do within the pale of the kingdom of the Almighty, we have to walk in the spirit of these requirements, and perform them, if we would gain power and influence with our God.

I am pleased, indeed, to see the prosperity of Zion. I feel a spirit of solemnity upon me while standing here gazing upon this multitude of Saints. Seeing the difficulties through which we have passed, our present prosperity is astonishing to ourselves and equally so to the world. I feel to thank God for the prosperity of Zion as it presents itself at this time. And when we contemplate our individual position, and see the blessings God has conferred upon us in gathering us from the nations of the earth to the valleys of the mountains, where we are under the guidance of the Priesthood, we should be a contented, joyous, and happy people.

I feel to say a word or two in reference to education. There are very few people who have arrived at the age of fifty and upwards who feel like studying mathematics; they do not feel like attending school and applying their minds to the acquisition of the sciences, but there is a kind of education worthy the best attention of all, and in which all ought to engage—that is the education of the Spirit. As we advance in life we one and all ought to be less passionate, more spiritually minded. The men ought to be more fatherly at home, possessing finer feelings in reference to their wives and children, neighbors and friends, more kindly and godlike. When I go into a family I do admire to see the head of that family administering to it as a man of God, kind and gentle, filled with the Holy Ghost and with the wisdom and understanding of Heaven. Men and women can increase their spiritual knowledge; they can grow better as years multiply upon them. It was so, in a measure, with the old prophets. When they stood on the verge of the grave, ready to give up the ghost and to pass from this life to another, they were full of the power of the Almighty, and could lay their hands on the heads of their children and tell them what would befall them down to the latest ages. The High Priests and Elders of Israel should cultivate this spirit, and live continually that they can have the revelations of the Almighty to guide them, that they may grow wiser and better as age advances.

Nothing can be more foolish than the idea of a man laying off his religion like a cloak or garment. There is no such thing as a man laying off his religion unless he lays off himself. Our religion should be incorporated within ourselves, a part of our being that cannot be laid off. If there can be such a thing as a man laying off his religion, the moment he does so he gets on to ground he knows nothing about, he gives himself over to the powers of darkness; he is not on his own ground; he has no business there. The idea of Elders in Israel swearing, lying, and giving way to intoxication is far beneath them; they ought to be above such things. Let us put from us every evil, and live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Let us lay hold of every duty assigned to us with ambition and energy, that we may have the spirit of our God, the light of truth, and the revelations of Jesus Christ within us continually. God bless the Latter-day Saints. God bless the President, the Priesthood, and all Israel, and may we be successful in winning our way onward in the path of eternal truth and glory; and that, as we advance in life, we may not only have the privilege of gazing upon this beautiful scenery within these walls, but of meeting together in a temple built by the power of the Almighty and the united efforts of His Saints; of building the Center Stake of Zion; and above all, when we have finished our course on the earth, that we may have the privilege of coming forth in the morning of the first resurrection with our bodies glorified and singing the new song. Amen.

Remarks by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, October 9th, 1867.

We are composed of persons from various nationalities. We speak a number of languages. The languages and dialects of the British empire, the Scandinavian, the French, Dutch, German, Swiss, and Italian are all represented here. It appears that God in His divine wisdom revealed the gospel in the English language, which is the native tongue of the majority of the Saints, probably more than half of them having acquired it in America, and a large portion of the remainder in the old world. It is very desirable that all of our brethren who are not ac– quainted with the English language should learn it. We do not wish to blot out the original languages that they may have spoken, but we want them all—men and woman, old and young—to learn the English language so perfectly that they will be able to thoroughly understand for themselves the teachings and instructions and the published works of the Church, as well as the laws of the country. And while we preach to all classes—all the boys and girls under ninety—to go to school and educate themselves in the various useful branches, we do not want our bre– thren who do not speak the English language to think that they are neglected or without the pale of this call. We hope the bishops and teachers will make every reasonable exertion to stir up the minds of the brethren and sisters who do not thoroughly understand English to the importance of this particular item of counsel. We, of course, wish them to stir up everybody on the subject of education, and to encourage, in every possible manner, our day and Sunday schools, for the cause of education should be popular in Israel now, as it was in the days of Joseph; and old and young should go to school together. I recollect a school that I attended in Kirtland under the direction of the prophet Joseph; the oldest scholar in my class was sixty-three years old. We shall have long winter evenings directly, and a good deal of time to spend in self-improvement, and it is our duty to become a cultivated people in all the useful branches of education known among mankind. There is a spirit among some of our young men in different settlements to appear rough and reckless; they indulge in rowdyism and cultivate the savage side of human nature. We ought to use all the influence and power we possess to suppress this, and to stir up in the minds of our young and old the necessity of cultivating simple, plain, innocent, and genteel manners. There is an idea out that a man who has to go to the canyon cannot do it without swearing, or that when he gets to the mouth of the canyon he must throw off his religion and swear all the way up and back again. Any man who entertains such a sentiment should dispense with it at once, for he needs his religion more there than anywhere else. The roads are rough, and there is danger of him being tipped over and breaking his neck, or mashing up his wagon or his team, and he needs the influence of his religion as much under such circumstances as under any others. The Elders of Israel should avoid indulging in rough language under all circumstances. Most men, if they thought there was a probability of them dying by some sudden accident, would begin to think about praying. When a man is more exposed to danger than at any other time I am sure he needs his religion, for if he should have a log roll over him, and be sent into eternity with a big oath in his mouth, he might not be recognized as a Saint on the other side of the veil. Hence I would like our brethren, and would recommend them to dispense with the idea, that on some occasions they can lay their religion to one side. It is said that an old Quaker, on a certain occasion when his family were grossly insulted and abused, felt very much like chastising the offender, but his religion forbade him fighting. He bore it tolerably well for a time, but at last his patience was exhausted, and, pulling off his broad-brimmed hat and his broad-tailed coat, said he—“Lie there religion until I lick this man.” He might just as well have kept his religion on while doing the flogging. He might have felt as an uncle of Joseph Smith—Rev. Mr. Mack—did on a certain occasion. He was a Baptist minister, and was celebrated for his great physical strength. A professional pugilist went to see him once, and told him that hearing he was one of the strongest men in the state he had come to test his strength. The old man was too pious to wrestle or scuffle. The stranger said he would fight him, but Mr. Mack was too religious to fight. The stranger told him he had no ill will towards him, but said he—“I must and will know which is the strongest.” Mr. Mack did his best to put him off, telling him that he was a minister and so forth, but the stranger would not be disappointed, and, as Mr. Mack turned round, he kicked him. The reverend gentleman’s religion could not stand this, and he set to and gave the stranger a good thrashing. He went before his congregation and made a confession, which was something like unto this—“I bore all this patiently, notwithstanding my own nature was to try the man’s strength, but after he kicked me I took off my coat and flogged him most properly.” I think that kind of a rule might work under some circumstances; but at the same time a man should never lay down his religion, and should never believe that it is necessary to swear, not even in the canyon. I tell you that every vile word we utter and every vile sentiment we entertain is a wrong for which we, someday, will have to atone. When I hear men—young or old—talking intemperately or improperly, I realize that they have that folly to overcome and repent of.

In speaking of the education of our children, I wish to draw the attention of the Saints particularly to the system of phonetics, or the Deseret alphabet, which has been referred to by President Young and some of the brethren. This is calculated to considerably abridge the labor of our foreign brethren in learning to read English. I think that in all our schools phonetics should form one branch of study, and as fast as works of phonotopy can be obtained they should be introduced, for there is no doubt that a general reformation will be effected in our English orthography. It is said that the Lord will restore to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon Him with one consent. While we urge our brethren to acquire the English lan– guage, and to make themselves proficient in the useful branches of education, we wish them to remember that the orthography which the English nation has adopted is by no means perfect, for our present mode of spelling might be materially improved. According to the present system, it is a very long and difficult job for a man to learn to spell. I commenced as soon as I was old enough to put three letters together, and I have been at it ever since, and I hardly dare write a letter now without consulting the dictionary to see how some word or other should be spelled. The spelling of the English language is very arbitrary. For several generations it has been undergoing improvements and modifications, and it will, no doubt, go on until English orthography will become so perfect that every letter will have but a single sound, instead of having, as now, in some cases, four or five sounds to the same letter. Now, when a child learns to spell, he learns first to give to the vowel a its long sound, as heard in the word male, supposing that to be its only sound. In another position he gives it the Italian or grave sound—as in the word father, and so on, until he finds it has four or five distinct sounds, and then he has to continually exercise his judgment, or has to depend upon the judgment of some other man, to know which of these sounds to use.

I wish our brethren to give this subject their serious and candid consideration, and do their best to introduce into our schools a system that will greatly abridge the time required to gain the various branches of a good education. No greater or more blessed mission can be given to an Elder in Israel than to teach the true principles of education to the rising generation of this Territory. I would advise our brethren, aside from the ordinary schools, to get up evening reading classes in all our settlements for the instruction of those who cannot attend at other times. The instruction of our wives and daughters is of the utmost importance. The disposition of some to neglect the education of girls is the extreme of folly. If we take pains to have the English language taught correctly to our wives and daughters, they will teach it to their children, and this will lay the foundation for the permanent improvement of the language of the state, of which we form the nucleus. Some of the ablest men in the Territory received the most of their education from their mothers, and it is said that the President of the United States was educated by his wife. I wish to call the attention of the Conference to the text of President Young in relation to storing our wheat. This is a question of vast importance. A few years ago President Young gave counsel to the people of the Territory—most of whom agreed to it—to lay by seven years provisions. We were to have commenced three years ago, and were to have laid up one year’s bread over and above the year’s supply. The following year we were to add another year’s supply, and so have continued until we had our seven years’ supply laid up. How faithful the people have been in keeping this counsel I am not prepared to say, but I am afraid that few men in Israel, even among those who have raised breadstuffs and have had the power to control considerable quantities of it, had three years’ bread laid aside when the grasshoppers made their descent this season and swept off half the grains, vegetables, and fruit raised in the Territory, and were prepared, if the whole had been swept off, to live for the next three years without laying in more bread. I am aware that some of our brethren thought this counsel extravagant; they considered that it could not be necessary to lay up such a quantity of bread; and some of them, instead of getting out lumber and making good substantial bins for the preservation of their wheat, turned out their means for teams, and freighted their bread to the north, to the east, and to the west; and not only so, but in many instances they gave it away, if they could only get half price for hauling it. Hundreds and thousands of sacks of flour have been hauled away, when it should have been stored up here against a day of want. I feel just as keenly on this matter now as when this counsel was given, and a little more so, for the army of the Lord—the grasshoppers—may have awakened my mind to the importance of the subject.

All nations have to take more or less precaution for their general preservation, and, as they are occasionally visited with years of scarcity, if they failed to do so the consequences might be disastrous. We are situated in the heart of a great desert, surrounded a portion of the year by impassable mountains. We have no railroads, no seaports, no great navigable rivers and canals by which we can bring provisions from abroad; and if there had been ten grasshoppers this year where there was but one every particle of food raised in the Territory would have been consumed; then where would our bread have been? Where could we have gained our subsistence?

In the empire of China provision is made for the general preservation, and one-fifth of the produce of the country is stored in the public granaries against a day of famine. A famine occurred not long since in one of the provinces of China containing thirty-three millions of people—a little more than the whole population of the United States—and they lost their entire crop. China, however, is favored with large navigable rivers, some capable of navigation for over two thousand miles. There are also many canals and seaport towns that are used in the coasting trade; the result is that when this famine came on this province the storehouses were opened, and the grain or rice was carried to its inhabitants, and they were kept from starvation. We are differently situated. We have no public storehouses, neither can we bring sufficient provisions from abroad without it costing more than we are able to pay. A good many of us claim our descent from Joseph, who was sold into Egypt. He was the instrument of the Almighty in saving the Egyptians, through the interpretation of the King’s dream of the seven fat and the seven lean kine, and the seven full and the seven blighted ears of corn. He prescribed the means by which the storehouses of Egypt were filled with corn, and when the seven years of famine came the whole people were actually saved from death through the wisdom of Joseph in laying up bread. We expect to be saviors on Mount Zion in the last days. We all exercise faith that God may give to our President wisdom and understanding to foresee the evils with which we may be threatened, and to take measures to avert them. Suppose that he comes forward and tells us how to prepare, and we neglect his counsel, then the watchman is clear, and we are liable to the dangers and difficulties resulting from disobedience. If the King of Egypt had not observed the counsels of Joseph almost the whole people would have been destroyed. As it was, those who did not obey Joseph’s counsel were under the ne– cessity of selling all their property, and ultimately themselves, for slaves to the king, in order to obtain that bread which they could have laid up during the seven years of plenty, if they had obeyed Joseph’s counsel.

Now, brethren, let us not treat this subject lightly. If we have been neglectful in times past, let us remember that we live in a high altitude, in a country subject to frost and to extreme drouth, that we have several times lost our crops, and that we have twice been reduced to famine or half rations through the crickets or grasshoppers. Let us heed the counsel given about storing up provisions, and, instead of freighting our food away to feed strangers, let us go to work and build good substantial granaries, and fill them with breadstuff, until every man and woman has enough on hand to last for seven years. Terrible destruction awaits the wicked. They will come to us by thousands by-and-by, saying—“Can you not feed us? Can you not do something for us?” It is said by the prophets they shall come bending, and shall say you are the priests of the Lord. What priest could administer greater earthly blessings than food to the hungry, who have fled from a country where the sword, famine, and pestilence were sweeping away their thousands? I look upon the subject of storing grain and other kinds of food as a very religious matter. How could a man who was half starved enjoy his religion? How on the face of the earth could a man enjoy his religion when he had been told by the Lord how to prepare for a day of famine, when, instead of doing so, he had fooled away that which would have sustained him and his family. I wish our brethren to lay this matter to heart, and not rest until they have obeyed this particular item of counsel.

I also advise them to live within their means, and avoid getting into debt. I suppose our nation at the present time owes about three thousand millions of dollars, and the several states owe one thousand five hundred million dollars more, and that the counties, cities, towns, and villages owe as much more, making a total of about six thousand million dollars. All this is the result of folly, corruption, and wickedness of men in authority. I do advise my brethren to avoid getting into debt. “Well,” say you, “how are we going to do it?” A few years ago, during the war, while money was plentiful and almost everybody had greenbacks, the President devised a plan. Said he—“You bishops, go to work and sow rye, and set our sisters and their children to work to make straw hats and bonnets and ornaments for the whole Territory.” What does a nice straw hat cost now? I have bought so few of such things that I am not very well posted as to the prices, but I suppose five or six dollars. What would have been the result if this counsel had been faithfully kept for the last few years? The result would have been a saving of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars that have been paid out of the Territory for straw hats and bonnets and trimmings. “But,” say some, “if we had not bought these things we should not have been in the fashion.” Why bless you, sisters, in my young days, in northern New York, I wore hats made in the neighborhood of lambs’ wool. Why not produce them here? Why not manufacture and wear the beaver and other furs collected in our mountains rather than send them to the States to be manufactured, and brought back to be sold to us at exorbitant profits. If ninety-nine out of every hundred of you present were wearing these home made articles at this Conference, she who was not wearing one would have been the only one out of the fashion. Why she would be as odd as Dick’s hat band, which was said to go half way round and tuck under. And if the brethren had all worn home made hats, the man wearing any other kind would have been an oddfellow among us. Why not make our own fashions, and keep the money in our pockets to do good with? It is a very simple matter to do, and the hats we can manufacture here are just as pretty and just as comfortable as the imported articles, most of which are made abroad out of materials that can be raised in abundance here! When any of the brethren start in the hat business here we cannot wear them, they are too heavy; we must buy hats that will not last more than a month. Why not go to work and manufacture our own, and have them suitable for either winter or summer? Why not plant the mulberry? President Young imported the seed, and he has on hand a half million of trees for sale. The silkworms are here, and our sisters and children have nimble fingers to handle them, and this is naturally as good a silk producing country as Italy or France. There is nothing on the face of the earth to hinder us, as a people, from making our own ribbons, silk handkerchiefs, and dresses; and it is believed, by those who are acquainted with the business, that we can actually produce silk here at a lower figure than other material for clothing, taking into account the time it will last.

I advise all the brethren to cultivate the mulberry, and raise silk, as well as flax and wool, and let us extend our efforts to the cotton region. There is no mission more important to the welfare and development of Israel than a mission to the cotton region. We have entered into the Church to build up the kingdom of God, and to labor where the master builder says we can labor to the best advantage. In that region we have a climate and a little land suitable for the production of cotton. What could we have done without what has been already raised there? When cotton rose to a dollar and a half a pound in the States, and it would actually pay to raise it in Santa Clara and send it to San Francisco and St. Louis for sale, what could we have done here but for our home grown article? Look at the thousands of pounds that have been grown and manufactured in this Territory. Where could we have got our clothing without the efforts that have been made in this direction by our brethren in Dixie? God bless them for their exertions. Every man who has done what has been required of him on the southern mission is entitled to the eternal gratitude of the Saints and will have the blessing of the Almighty.

In relation to the Word of Wisdom, I wish to impress upon the minds of the brethren the fact referred to by President Young yesterday—that it is perpetual.

When I was in the States I had a conversation with a professor of some pretensions to learning, who declared that, if we carried out the institutions we had commenced here in the mountains, including the Word of Wisdom and our system of marriage, in about seventy years we should produce a race of men who would be able to walk the rest of the human race under foot. This is just what we expect. Do not let us be negligent or careless on these subjects, but pay strict attention and be diligent. And let us inaugurate a system of fashions of our own. I do not care about the shape of our hats and bonnets so long as they are of our own manufacture. I would just as soon a man should wear a bellows hat or a stove pipe as anything else, if it please him; but I say, encourage home manufactures instead of paying ten dollars for a hat made in Paris, or in the United States, with the word “Paris” put in the inside. I do not care whether the ladies wear a bunch of flowers, a cabbage leaf, a squash, or a scoop, or a saucer on their heads, if it pleases them; but let it be made at home. I would recommend the brethren and sisters to establish societies for the promotion of home manufactures. With the money that has been spent and sent off for hats, bonnets, and trimmings since the President counseled the Bishops to raise rye to manufacture them, we could have built woollen and cotton factories in nearly every county in the Territory, with which we could have manufactured our own clothing, besides establishing other branches of business. These things are a great part of our holy religion. I tell you that the judgments of the Almighty are coming upon the earth, and the Saints will barely escape. God has gathered us here to these mountains to prepare for the storm. We were told in a revelation, given more than thirty years ago, to let the beauty of our garments be the workmanship of our own hands, and a great many have tried to carry it out. The old fashioned spinning wheel, hand loom, and cards have been brought into requisition; but the majority prefer to buy everything that is imported. Our young men are afraid to get married because they cannot afford to buy all these trimmings. Say they—“We cannot do it, it is impossible with our limited means.” Young men, when you get married take wives who will be a help to you. You do not want women who can only waste your means. Choose women who can spin, card, and make a mattress or comforter, if necessary, and, if she cannot do it, let her be willing to learn, and be zealous to make herself useful, for the woman who is really ornamental in society is the one who is useful as well. You go to New England, that is where a great many of us came from, regular old down east Yankeedom, and you will find many of the farms occupied by our grandfathers owned by Irishmen, and the girls who descended from that old Puritanic stock are above work now-a-days, and Irish girls are hired to do it. While the American ladies are living on the proceeds of their fathers’ estates, and making a great display in following the fashions—they deem it not fashionable to work or even to have children—the boys are marrying Irish girls. If asked why they do this, they will say they are compelled to do it, for they cannot afford to marry a woman and hire another to wait upon her. Our girls ought to adopt a different policy. Every man and woman in the world ought to be useful. No man is too rich to labor. All men and women, according to their health, strength, and ability, ought to labor to sustain themselves, and for the welfare of the community. “The idler shall not eat the bread of the laborer.” This is the law of Heaven. In connection with labor we should also take into consideration our manner of living. It is really probable that in many houses in this Territory full one-third of the provisions brought in for the support of the family is wasted, and what is cooked is not as palatable and healthful as it might be. Every female should study and become acquainted with the best modes of cooking, and introduce it into their families and wards. A great many of our sisters have come from districts of country in Europe where they have had to work in factories, and to follow other branches of business, and consequently have had but little opportunity to learn cookery and other household work; but I have known many of them, after arriving here, become very proficient housekeepers, and all may if they will try.

I feel to impress these sentiments on your minds that we may become a practical people, and learn to provide within ourselves the necessaries of life, that in all things we may be pleasing to the Lord. Let us live in accordance with the laws of life, avoiding excess, all vulgarity and unnecessary levity, and endeavor to conduct ourselves wisely, properly, and genteelly, and use our influence to promote that class of manners that will command respect everywhere. We shall thus lay the foundation of a great, polished, and highly civilized people, setting an example worthy of imitation in all things to all nations.

May God bless us, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, October 8th, 1867.

I am persuaded that the subject last referred to by President Young—the prolongation of life and the preservation of health cannot be overrated. This is one of the subjects relating to our temporal welfare that received the early attention of the Prophet Joseph, and the revelation commonly called the Word of Wisdom has been before the people for over thirty years. I feel assured that a word on this subject kindly spoken by our President is a prompting from on high, and I believe that every true Elder in Israel will bear witness that this is the word of the Lord to us at this time. I exhort every Bishop and presiding Elder in this city as well as throughout the country to lay this matter to heart as one subject requiring their special attention. Not to make it a hobby to the exclusion of everything else, so as to disgust the people, but in the true spirit of the Gospel seek to bring this matter home to the hearts and understandings of the people of their respective wards and settlements. Feel after those who may be stupid and ignorant, who do not come to meeting, and do not receive the spirit of this Conference. Let the Bishops and others in authority endeavor through their teachers and otherwise to search out such individuals, and dig round about them, and prune them that they may perchance bring forth fruit.

Remarks by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, October 8th, 1867.

In relation to matrimony—one of the texts before the Conference—perhaps there is not so much a lack of disposition on the part of the ladies as there is on the part of the gentlemen. The latter sometimes feel themselves unworthy or unprepared, and in many instances, perhaps, they are so. And if you ask why they are unprepared to assume these responsibilities as husbands and heads of families, it is mostly because they have neglected the word of the Lord which they have heard from this stand. They have not given their hearts to prayer sufficiently; they have not read the scriptures and educated their spirits; they have not drunk in the spirit of the Gospel. Every young man who has been taught by his parents to pray in secret, to mingle with the family in devotion, to attend meeting and receive the counsels of the servants of Lord, has grown in the spirit of the Gospel, and this has given them a disposition which has impelled them, as soon as they arrive at a suitable age, to move forward in the duties and responsibilities that they have been called upon, during this Conference, to assume. And they will meet with a like response everywhere from the opposite sex who are living their religion. If there is any lack of disposition on the part of the ladies it is because they are not living their religion, for the neglect of one duty leads to the neglect of another, and if our young men and women fail to make themselves acquainted with the law of God they are liable to be led away. Young men or women seeking the society of the wicked are soon befogged and led to destruction. If the young men of Israel are not alive to their duties, the young ladies may be left to wander in the society of the ungodly. This happens many times through the neglect of parents to impress on the minds of their daughters the value of the kingdom of heaven and the value and importance of salvation, exaltation and glory. Through the neglect of parents in properly educating their children many of them are now, perhaps, unable to discern between saint and sinner, and they would as soon associate with the wicked and unbelieving as with the righteous. It is a grievous sight to those who have labored twenty-five or thirty years traveling over the world to preach the gospel and to gather the people to see the rising generation without that culture they so much need to develop within them a love of righteousness, truth, and every holy principle. There is as great a field for missionary labor in Utah, as in any part of the world. There is as great a necessity for preaching here at home in our settlements, even in some parts of Great Salt Lake City, as there is in any part of the world. There are those here who neglect the opportunities offered them and they need to be felt after personally.

The subject of education is another of the texts given by our President for the elders of Israel to preach upon. I have already touched on it in a few words. I will say that our school teachers should not only be men qualified to teach the various branches of education, but they should be men possessing the spirit of the gospel, and who, in every look and word, and in all their discipline and intercourse with their pupils are influenced by that spirit. They should govern and control, not by brute force, but by superior intellect, sound judgment and the wisdom that the Gospel teaches that they may win the hearts of their pupils, and so be able to impress their minds with those principles they present before them.

I cannot speak too highly in favor of those good books that have been recommended to our schools—the Bible, Book of Mormon, Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and all other good books; but especially those that contain the history of the dealings of God with his people from the beginning of the world to the present time, as well as the teachings of the prophets and apostles; for the foundation of all true education is the wisdom and knowledge of God. In the absence of these, though we obtain a knowledge of every art and science and acquire what is termed by the world a first class education, we but obtain the froth and lack the foundation on which to rear a proper education.

In relation to the missionaries south, I will say that I have heard some say when referring to this subject, “What is the use of the southern mission? What good can result from our going or sending there?” I will say to all such querying, grumbling, faultfinding, growling spirits, just wait a few years, and we will show you the good of the southern mission. I do not know but time would fail me to bring argument in favor of it, but I will say just wait and by the help of God we will show you.

The subject of home production and becoming a self-sustaining people is another text, and this will probably guide me right back to “Dixie.” I will ask the question, How are we going to become self-sustaining unless we avail ourselves of the elements around us and provide ourselves and families with what we need to eat, drink and wear, and our implements of husbandry and other things of like nature? We need ironware and machine shops. Our sons need teaching in the various mechanical arts. Instead of raising them all to be farmers or mule drivers, we want a goodly portion of machinists, painters, artists, smiths, school teachers, and all other useful professions. We shall also need lawyers. I do not mean dishonest contemptible pettifoggers; but statesmen-lawyers in the true sense of the word who understand the principles of justice and equity, and who make themselves acquainted with those general principles of jurisprudence, that wise statesmen have recognized throughout the civilized world, that they may not only be competent judges in the land, but be able to thwart the wicked efforts of this ungodly set of pettifoggers. The southern country affords us facilities for raising many things that cannot be successfully raised in the north. We have had one four years of internecine war that has almost entirely prevented the raising of cotton—perhaps the most essential of all productions for articles of clothing. Will we as a people be blind to this fact, and now, that the first woe is past, lull ourselves to sleep and forget that there is another coming. Saint George, though the center of our present operation in cotton raising is only on the borders of the cotton district. From three hundred to five hundred acres is the most that we can water from one dam and canal in that district of country, while lower down, the same labor would encircle a field of six or eight thousand acres of better land; but a little handful of people cannot grapple with so great a labor. We have commenced some small settlements on the Muddy. The settlers there were mostly substitutes—Bro. Henry Miller calls them destitutes. Most of them got discouraged and came back, the rest stick and hang like a dog to a root—but they scarcely know what to do. The question is shall we allow this little handful to be worn out, or shall we strengthen their hands, and so keep moving and progressing, and hold what we have and get more.

I like the idea of sending young men down there. It struck me as a decided hit when I heard the names read out yesterday. We can do with a number of young men who have small families or who are about to get them, and I say God bless them, and speed them and their wives on their way and by the help of God we will help them.

Remarks by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, October 7th, 1867.

There are, at the present time, in Great Britain ten or twelve thousand Saints, some of whom have been members of the Church for twenty or twenty-five years. They have contributed of their scanty means to feed the Elders and to help to emigrate their brethren and sisters, and in many cases many of them have gone without their meals and beds to make the Elders comfortable, and now they are without the means to gather with the Saints here in the mountains.

There are a great many brethren, probably some are here today, who, in years past, have been assisted to this country by the Perpetual Emigration Fund, to which fund there is now due from individuals assisted about nine hundred thousand dollars. I wish to call the attention of this class of individuals to the condition of the poor Saints abroad. There are many Saints here who, before gathering home, have said to their brethren and sisters in the old world—“When we get to Zion, if God blesses us, we will remember you and do the best we can to aid you to emigrate.” A great many persons have failed to keep their promise, and their friends back feel that they are forgotten and neglected. In many instances, no doubt, Elders while on missions have promised to assist those who have treated them with kindness and divided their mor– sel with them. I want to bring these things to the consideration of all our brethren. They should remember that our brethren and sisters in the old countries labor under the disadvantage of the prejudice against Mormonism. Employers and business men, who are under the influence of the priests of the day, are unwilling to extend the same kindness and facilities for labor to the Latter-day Saints that they do to other persons. Besides these disadvantages, many of our brethren there have to work for a shilling, eighteen pence, or two shillings a day, as the case may be, and out of this have to pay house rent, buy fuel, clothing, and every necessary of life for their families, and in some cases, perhaps, they have a sick father or mother to sustain out of their mere pittance, which is barely enough to keep life in their bodies. Our brethren, who have had the benefit of the emigration fund, should remember that their first duty, to God and themselves, is to liquidate these liabilities with the very first means they acquire after their arrival here; and that if they go on accumulating cattle, horses, houses, and lands, and these debts remain unpaid, they are robbing the poor and the needy. This is a matter about which the brethren should not feel neglectful or careless. Those who will come forward and honorably discharge their liabilities to the Perpetual Emigration Fund will be blessed in their substance and in their efforts. And you must remember that while you are doing this you are acquiring experience and gaining information that will make you more successful hereafter.

My desire is that, when the Elders go from this Conference, that they should light a fire in the breast of every person who has liabilities of this kind. Let every man in Israel, whom God has blessed, be alive and awake to this matter, and respond to the call the President has made for contributions to the Perpetual Emigration Fund.

I understand that over there, there are hundreds of sisters who are determined to remain single until they reach Zion, and there are men in our midst, and some of them in debt to the Perpetual Emigration Fund, who are able to send for a dozen or two of these sisters; they ought to bring them to this country and place them where they can marry according to their wishes. May the blessings of heaven be upon us that we may be able to gather all our brethren and sisters from the old world.

I appeal to the sons and daughters of Zion to be awake to this subject. 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.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in Tooele City, August 17th, 1867.

I desire to say much to the people, but I fear I shall have to deny myself the satisfaction, unless I am strengthened of the Lord. I will present before you a few things with which I am more particularly impressed. I desire you to hearken to that which has been said during the session of this Conference, and to that which may yet be said during the continuation of our meeting.

We can enjoy the blessings of heaven, or we can deprive ourselves of that enjoyment. Intelligent beings have the power to exercise their free will and choice in doing good, equally as much as in doing evil. All have the privilege of doing evil if they are disposed so to do, but they will always find that the wages of sin is death. The Latter-day Saints, by their righteousness, can enjoy all the blessings which the Lord has promised to bestow upon His people, and they can, by their unrighteousness, deprive themselves of the enjoyment of those blessings. We, for instance exhort the Saints to observe the Word of Wisdom, that they may, through its observance, enjoy the promised blessing. Many try to excuse themselves because tea and coffee are not mentioned, arguing that it refers to hot drinks only. What did we drink hot when that Word of Wisdom was given? Tea and coffee. It definitely refers to that which we drink with our food. I said to the Saints at our last annual Conference, the Spirit whispers to me to call upon the Latter-day Saints to observe the Word of Wisdom, to let tea, coffee, and tobacco alone, and to abstain from drinking spirituous drinks. This is what the Spirit signifies through me. If the Spirit of God whispers this to His people through their leader, and they will not listen nor obey, what will be the consequence of their disobedience? Darkness and blindness of mind with regard to the things of God will be their lot; they will cease to have the spirit of prayer, and the spirit of the world will increase in them in proportion to their disobedience until they apostatize entirely from God and His ways.

This is no new or strange thing that you are required to do. Thirty-five years ago we were called upon to reform in our lives, by giving heed to the same Words of Wisdom; and if any man comes to you and tells you that you must have a little tea and a little coffee, by the same rule he may urge you to take a little tobacco and a little intoxicating liquor, or a little of any other substance which is hurtful to man. This destroys their claim and right to the spirit of revelation, and they go into darkness. There is not a single Saint deprived of the privilege of asking the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, if it is true that the Spirit of the Almighty whispers through His servant Brigham to urge upon the Latter-day Saints to observe the Word of Wisdom. All have this privilege from the apostle to the lay member. Ask for yourselves.

We are called to be Saints, to be the chosen people of the Lord Almighty, to be the saviors of the children of men, to gather the house of Israel, and save the house of Esau. Are we trifling with our high and holy calling before the Lord? Are we trifling away our precious time? If we are, we are trifling with our salvation. Then hearken, O ye Latter-day Saints, and hear the Words of Wisdom which the Lord has given unto you. It is written: “For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” There is a just reason for this saying. But the Latter-day Saints who hearken to the words of the Lord, given to them touching their political, social, and financial concerns, I say, and say it boldly, that they will have wisdom which is altogether superior to the wisdom of the children of darkness, or the children of this world. I know this by the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the results of my own actions. They who have hearkened to the counsels given to them in temporal matters, have invariably bettered their condition temporally and spiritually. The day has gone by in which the people of God are to be trodden under foot by their enemies, in which they are to be poor outcasts to wander in sheepskins and goatskins, etc., but they had better continue to do that, and dwell in the caves of these mountains, and dress as the Indians do, than to forsake their God and their religion. Who is there among this people who cannot handle the things of this world without loving them in preference to the things of God? If there is such a person, I pray God to make him or her poor. Some among us are so foolish as to lift up their heels against the Almighty as soon as He blesses them sufficiently to make them a little comfortable and independent. This is lamentable. It is a disgrace to humanity to suffer the paltry things of this mortality to decoy away our affections from God and turn them to the beggarly elements of this world.

If you observe faithfully the Word of Wisdom, you will have your dollar, your five dollars, your hundred dollars, yea, you will have your hundreds of dollars to spend for that which will be useful and profitable to you. Why should we continue to practice in our lives those pernicious habits that have already sapped the foundation of the human constitution, and shortened the life of man to that degree that a generation passes away in the brief period of from twenty-seven to twenty-nine years? The strength, power, beauty, and glory that once adorned the form and constitution of man have vanished away before the blighting influences of inordinate appetite and love of this world. Doubtless we are about the best looking people today upon this footstool, and about the healthiest; but where is the iron constitution, the marrow in the bone, the power in the loins, and the strength in the sinew and muscle of which the ancient fathers could boast? These have, in a great measure, passed away; they have decayed from generation to generation, until constitutional weakness and effeminacy are bequeathed to us through the irregularities and sins of our fathers. The health and power and beauty that once adorned the noble form of man must again be restored to our race; and God designs that we shall engage in this great work of restoration. Then let us not trifle with our mission, by indulging in the use of injurious substances. These lay the foundation of disease and death in the systems of men, and the same are committed to their children, and another generation of feeble human beings is introduced into the world. Such children have insufficient bone, sinew, muscle, and constitution, and are of little use to themselves, or to their fellow creatures; they are not prepared for life, but for the grave; not to live five, six, eight, and nine hundred years, but to appear for a moment, as it were, and pass away. Now, when a person is fifty years of age he or she is considered an old man or an old woman; they begin to feel decrepit, and think they must feel old, appear old, and begin to die. Premature death is in the marrow of their bones, the seeds of early dissolution are sown in their bodies, they feel old at fifty, sixty, and seventy years, when they should feel like boys of fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen. Instead of feeling decrepit at those years they should feel full of strength, vigor, and life, having attained to early maturity, prepared now to enter upon the duties of a long future life, and when two hundred years have been attained, they should then feel more vigorous than the healthiest of men do in this age at forty and fifty years.

Let me assure you, my friends, that there does not exist another people in all the world who will take good counsel as readily as the Latter-day Saints do. All men are free to do right or to do wrong, to take good advice or reject it, to pursue the path that leads to eternal life, or to go down to death their own way. I am as independent in praying, and living a righteous life, as I would be if I were to violate the laws of God and man. This is my philosophy with regard to the human mind. We have cried to the nation of the United States, and to other nations for over a third of a century, saying, the wages of sin is death. Every man and woman who wishes to forfeit their right to the tree of life have the privilege of doing so. The nation that kills the prophets of God in any age must expect to reap cursings instead of blessings, unless it speedily repent. Judgment must begin at the house of God first, and we are perfectly willing it should. In 1857 they sent an army to Utah to annihilate “Mormonism,” but the scourge with which they intended to overwhelm this people has come upon their own heads, and the end is not yet. I told General Thomas L. Kane, that friend to humanity, when he visited us in 1857, that the coming of that army was the entering wedge to split the Government of the United States in pieces, and that soon. He, of course, could not see how this could ever be. They then were in great prosperity, and were going to annex the whole continent and neighboring islands, and so continue to annex until the whole world should take shelter under our national banner. He only saw this from a political standpoint, basing his expectations of such grand results upon the goodness of the Constitution and laws. I acknowledged to him that we have the best system of government in existence, but queried if the people of this nation were righteous enough to sustain its institutions. I say they are not, but will trample them under their feet. I told General Kane that the Government of the United States would be shivered to pieces. Will this Government ever be restored to its former peace and tranquility, and the institutions thereof ever be main– tained and honored? If they are, it will be by this people. Everything they are doing at present in Congress is only calculated to widen the breach, and alienate and destroy every vestige of love and affection that may yet be existing; and this they will continue to do until they have severed the last tie and worked out the entire destruction of the Government. They think they are doing the best that can be done. Many of them are honorable men, and would do good to the nation if they knew how. The results of their acts will be dissolution, strife, war, and bloodshed, until they are wasted away. The Lord will waste away the wicked as He said He would. A curse will come upon them to the third and fourth generation, saith the Lord Almighty, if they repent not, and refrain not from their sins. There is no likelihood of their doing this.

The destruction of property and life during the war has been enormous; but I am satisfied that the destruction of the love of virtue—the love of every exalted principle of honor, and of political and social government—has been greater, comparatively, than the destruction of property and life. Religious societies abound in the nation. Although it never was more wicked than at the present time, it is strange to say that it never was more religious in profession. Religion is the ruling power. The conscience of the masses in regard to religion, to politics, and social life is molded from the pulpit. In my early life I was acquainted with ministers of the sects of the day, and am satisfied that many of them lived honorably in their families, praying, and desiring, and seeking for guidance from on high. While on the other hand, to my certain knowledge, many of them encouraged a practice which today exists to an alarming extent, and which is openly and shamelessly acknowledged as a necessity of the age. To check the increase of our race has its advocates among the influential and powerful circles of society in our nation and in other nations. The same practice existed forty-five years ago, and various devices were used by married persons to prevent the expenses and responsibilities of a family of children, which they must have incurred had they suffered nature’s laws to rule pre-eminent. That which was practiced then in fear and against a reproving conscience, is now boldly trumpeted abroad as one of the best means of ameliorating the miseries and sorrows of humanity. Infanticide is very prevalent in our nation. It is a crime that comes within the purview of the law, and is therefore not so boldly practiced as is the other equally great crime, which no doubt, to a great extent, prevents the necessity of infanticide. The unnatural style of living, the extensive use of narcotics, the attempts to destroy and dry up the fountains of life, are fast destroying the American element of the nation; it is passing away before the increase of the more healthy, robust, honest, and less sinful class of the people which are pouring into the country daily from the Old World. The wife of the servant man is the mother of eight or ten healthy children, while the wife of his master is the mother of one or two poor, sickly children, devoid of vitality and constitution, and if daughters, unfit, in their turn, to be mothers, and the health and vitality which nature has denied them through the irregularities of their parents are not repaired in the least by their education. A great proportion of the leading men of our nation have sprung from wealthy and influential families, have been reared and educated in the midst of circles where the vices of the age flourish the most vigorously, destroying moral force and the love of truth and virtue, making education and refinement mere cloaks to cover sins of the blackest dye. The great majority of that class of persons appear in society as polished gentlemen, whose suavity of manners would deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. They have been educated in our seminaries of learning, and this class of men are now seeking to denude the Constitution of the United States of all its protective and saving powers.

Why all this? They killed the Prophet. The mob that collected at Carthage, Illinois, to commit that deed of blood contained a delegation representing every State in the Union. Each has received its blood stain. In the perpetration of this great national sin, they acted upon their own free volition which God implanted within them, as much so as if they had been willing to hearken to the advice of the Prophet and his friends when they showed them how to preserve the nation from destruction, how to do good to all, and how to introduce every holy principle that is calculated to bless and exalt a people. But, said they, “we will not hearken to the counsels of this man;” for, like the Jews of old, they were afraid if they let him live he would take away their place and nation. They not only feared the principles which he taught, but they feared the increasing numbers which followed him; they feared that if they let him alone he would incorporate in his religion all the religion there is that is good for anything, or that is according to the Bible, and all the honest, truthful, and virtuous of the nation, they feared, would follow him; and they feared that thereby they would be deprived of their rich emoluments and livings, so they concluded to get rid of him by slaying him. In killing the Prophet Joseph Smith, they did not kill “Mormonism,” and they cannot kill it unless they kill all the “Mormons,” for if they leave a single Latter-day Saint living he will cry to the people to repent of their sins and return to the Lord, and the Lord will work with him to gather the righteous, build up His kingdom, build up Zion, and establish Jerusalem no more to be thrown down. Well, they will go on their way, and we will go on ours. If they had hearkened to the counsel of Joseph Smith, this nation would have had no wars; there would have been no division in the Government, but it would have gone on in harmony and prosperity. So this people if they will take the counsels which the Lord gives to them through His servants with regard to their grain, and prepare for all contingencies to which they are subject in this mountainous country, we shall never see a famine; but if we neglect this counsel, refusing to hearken to good advice, we shall, by taking this course, bring distress upon ourselves and upon all who depend upon us for a subsistence. Let us pursue a course to preserve ourselves and avert every calamity. This we can do. It is not necessary for calamity to come upon us, if we will only take a course to prevent it. According to present appearances, next year we may expect grasshoppers to eat up nearly all our crops. But if we have provisions enough to last us another year, we can say to the grasshoppers—these creatures of God—you are welcome. I have never yet had a feeling to drive them from one plant in my garden; but I look upon them as the armies of the Lord, and with them it is easy for Him to consume a great nation. We had better lay up bread instead of selling it to strangers, and thus avoid a great calamity that otherwise might overtake us. If the people refuse to hearken to this timely counsel they will commit a great error. Good actions always result in blessings. The history of the people of God in all ages testifies that whenever they have listened to the counsel of heaven they have always been blessed. All this people are satisfied that they will be more blessed to hearken to good counsel than not to do so.

Instead of doing two days’ work in one day, wisdom would dictate to our sisters, and to every other person, that if they desire long life and good health, they must, after sufficient exertion, allow the body to rest before it is entirely exhausted. When exhausted, some argue that they need stimulants in the shape of tea, coffee, spirituous liquors, tobacco, or some of those narcotic substances which are often taken to goad on the lagging powers to greater exertions, but instead of these kind of stimulants they should recruit by rest. Our artificial wants, and not our real wants, and the following of senseless customs subject our sisters to an excess of labor. To supply these wants—to get a ribbon, an artificial flower, this, that, and the other gewgaw, rather than substantial necessaries—our farmers sell their wheat. Work less, wear less, eat less, and we shall be a great deal wiser, healthier, and wealthier people than by taking the course we now do. This whole Yankee nation eat so much, and so many good things, that they are always poor in their bodily habit; now and then only you will see a fleshy person among them; it is also the case with the people of the southern portion of the nation. It is difficult to find anything more healthy to drink than good cold water, such as flows down to us from springs and snows of our mountains. This is the beverage we should drink. It should be our drink at all times. If we constantly drink even malt liquor made from our barley and wheat, our health would be injured more or less thereby. It may be remarked that some men who use spirituous liquors and tobacco are healthy, but I argue that they would be much more healthy if they did not use it, and then they are entitled to the blessings promised to those who observe the advice given in the “Word of Wisdom.” Some few persons who have been addicted to the use of hot drinks, &c., have reached the age of eighty, eighty-three, and eighty-four years, but had they not been addicted to such habits of living they might have reached the age of a hundred or a hundred and five years.

We profess to be Saints of the Most High. We are the children of that Being who lives in the heavens, who is filled with all intelligence, and possesses all power. We cannot be prepared to dwell with Him unless we instruct our minds and sanctify ourselves in all things. I am happy to see our children engaged in the study and practice of music. Let them be educated in every useful branch of learning, for we, as a people, have in the future to excel the nations of the earth in religion, science, and philosophy. Great advancement has been made in knowledge by the learned of this world, still there is yet much to learn. The hidden powers of nature which give life, growth, and existence to all things, have not yet been approached by the wisdom of this world. There exists around us, in the works of God, an everlasting variety—no two leaves, no two blades of grass are alike. Natural philosophy, so far as known, marks these phenomena of nature, and reveals her wonders, but is incapable of revealing the modus operandi of the production. All this is veiled in impenetrable mystery to mortals. It is information which cannot be approached by science and philosophy known to man; it can only be reached through the revelations of the Almighty, the Great Author of Nature’s work. Great perfection has been attained in the application of important discoveries to the wants and necessities of mankind. I can, in a moment, transmit my wishes to the east, and in a few minutes to the city of London. Great perfection has been attained in the art of telegraphy, yet there is much more to be learned, and the same may be said of the power of steam, and its application to the wants of mankind. While the wonders of art and science in the present age astonish us, yet there was much useful knowledge possessed by the an– cients which is lost to us. One little simple art that they understood was that of tempering copper and making it equal to our finest tempered steel.

Let the children in our schools be taught everything that is necessary with regard to doctrine and principle, and then how to live; and let mothers teach their daughters regarding themselves, and how they should live in their sphere of existence, that they may be good wives and good mothers. Let the sisters study economy in the labor and management of their homes. I am satisfied that more than one-half of the labor that is done in our houses can be saved by a judicious exercise of thought and good judgment. Then be wise in these things, and we shall not need tea and coffee, or any other stimulant stronger than our natural food. I say, God bless you, and I bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday, August 11th, 1867.

I have long looked forward with joyful anticipations to the time, when I should again meet with the people of God in these mountains, and have the privilege of standing before them. I feel very thankful to my Father in heaven for this great privilege. I have been absent from this city and place over three years, and have performed one of the longest missions of my life. I feel thankful to God that you gave me this privilege, and that I have had the opportunity of adding one more lengthy mission to the long catalogue of missions which I have taken abroad among the nations. It is a great satisfaction to me to have the privilege of being numbered with this people, and to have my name enrolled among those who profess to be Latter-day Saints. With them is safety; with them are joy, peace, and satisfaction. And I feel to say, as one said in old times—that with this people I desire to live, and, if it is necessary to die, I desire to have the privilege of dying with them. But I do not know whether it will be necessary for all of us to die, perhaps there may be some who will escape this curse in some measure, and who may meet with a change equivalent to that of death.

I have been abroad for the purpose of doing good, that was the only object I had in view in leaving this Territory three years ago last spring. Whether I have done much good or not remains for the day of judgment to reveal; it is not altogether for me to judge in relation to this matter. We are well assured that our Father, who reigns in yonder heavens, keeps a journal, or, in other words, a record—a great record in which He records the doings of the children of men. We know, from a certain declaration of Jesus in the Book of Mormon, concerning the records of heaven, that the acts and doings of all men are recorded by the Father in that book, and the time is fast hastening when I, as an individual, and all others, must be brought before the Judge of all the earth, and our acts and doings here, in this short space of time appointed to us as a probation, will be read before us, or if not read they will be perfectly remembered by us and by those who sit in judgment, so that a righteous judgment will be rendered on our heads, and we will receive the reward of our doings, whether they be good or evil. I have enjoyed myself remarkably well on this mission. I hope that some good has been done, and that the Lord will remember the good that I have intended to do, even though it may not have been fully accomplished. He knows the desire of my heart has been to fulfil the numerous missions which I have taken during the last thirty-seven years of my life.

Since I came home, I have contrasted the present condition of myself and this people with what existed when I first became acquainted with this gospel. Then we were a little handful of people—there were, perhaps, not a hundred persons in all the States who had received the truth. I received it about five months after the organization of this Church, and, although but a boy, was immediately called to the ministry. In my inexperience I went forth, with gladness of heart, to bear my humble testimony to what I knew to be true. You may ask me if I had a knowledge before I commenced preaching this gospel. I answer, yes. I went forth from a farming occupation in the eastern part of the State of New York, and traveled alone between two hundred and three hundred miles, for the purpose of beholding the Prophet Joseph Smith. I found him in Fayette, Seneca County, New York, at the house of father Whitmer, where this Church was organized with only six members. In that house I found not only Joseph, the Prophet, but David Whitmer, John Whitmer, Christian Whitmer, and many of those witnesses whose names are recorded in the Book of Mormon. Those were happy days to me. To see a prophet of the living God, to look on a man whom the Lord had raised up to bring forth one of the most glorious records that ever saluted the ears of mortal man, was to me almost equal to beholding the face of an holy angel! Yet, when I took that journey, and first beheld his countenance, I did not certainly know that he was a prophet. I believed him to be such because of the purity of the doctrine that I had heard preached which he had brought forth. I knew it was a scriptural doctrine, agreeing in every respect with the ancient gospel. For although but a boy, I had already become acquainted, in some measure, with the doctrines of the various religious sects of the day, but none of them satisfied me, none of them seemed to coincide with the word of God. I stood aloof from all, until I heard this, when my mind became fully satisfied that God had raised up a people to proclaim the gospel in all its ancient beauty and simplicity, with power to administer in its ordinances. That was a great satisfaction, so far as faith was concerned, but still I sought for a knowledge. I felt as though I was not qualified to stand before the people, and tell them that the Book of Mormon was a divine revelation, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, unless I had a stronger testimony than that afforded by ancient prophets. However great my assurance might be, it seemed to me, that to know for myself, it required a witness independent of the testimony of others. I sought for this witness. I did not receive it immediately, but when the Lord saw the integrity of my heart and the anxiety of my mind—when He saw that I was willing to travel hundreds of miles for the sake of learning the principles of the truth, He gave me a testimony for myself, which conferred upon me the most perfect knowledge that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and that this book, called the Book of Mormon, was in reality a Divine revelation, and that God had once more, in reality, spoken to the human family. What joy this knowledge gave me! No language that I am acquainted with could describe the sensations I experienced when I received a knowledge from Heaven of the truth of this work.

In that early day the prophet Joseph said to me that the Lord had revealed that twelve men were to be chosen as Apostles. A manuscript revelation to this effect, given in 1829—before the rise of this Church—was laid before me, and I read it. Joseph said to me, although I was young, weak, inexperienced, especially in public speaking, and ignorant of many important things which we now all understand, that I should be one of this Twelve. It seemed to me a very great saying. I looked upon the Twelve Apostles who lived in ancient days with a great deal of reverence—as being almost superhuman. They were, indeed, great men—not by virtue of the flesh, nor their own natural capacities, but they were great because God called them. When Joseph told me that I would be one of the Twelve, I knew all things were possible with God, but it seemed to me that I would have to be altogether changed to occupy such a great position in the Church and Kingdom of our God.

But I will pass over the first years of the organization of the Church and come down to the time when the Twelve were chosen. It was in the year 1835. In the preceding year a few of us, by commandment and revelation from God, went up to the State of Missouri in company with the Prophet Joseph Smith. By the direction of Joseph I was requested to stay in Clay County for a few months, to visit the Saints scattered through those regions, to preach to and comfort them, and to lay before them the manuscript revelations, for they were not then fully acquainted with all the revelations which had been given. After having accomplished this work, and proclaimed the gospel to many branches of the Church in the western part of Missouri, I returned again a thousand miles to the State of Ohio, preaching by the way, suffering much from the chills, and the fever and ague, while passing through those low sickly countries, wading swamps and sloughs, lying down on the prairies in the hot sun, fifteen or twenty miles from any habitation, and having a hearty shake of the ague, then a violent fever, thus wandering along for months before getting back to Kirtland, Ohio, where the Prophet lived. In the meantime, however, I built up some few branches of the Church, and then started for the capital of the State of Ohio—the city of Columbus. I entered the city, a stranger, on foot, and alone, not knowing that there was a Latter-day Saint within many miles, but, while passing along the crowded streets, I caught a glimpse of the countenance of a man who passed, and whirling around instantly, I went after him, and inquired of him if he knew whether there were any people called “Mormons” in the city of Columbus. Said he: “I am one of that people, and the only one that resides in the city.” I looked upon this as a great marvel. “How is it,” said I, “that here in this great and populous city, where hundreds are passing to and fro, that I should be influenced to turn and accost the only Latter-day Saint residing here.” I look upon it as a revelation, as a manifestation of the power of God in my behalf. He took me to his house, and, when there, presented me with a paper published by our people in Kirtland. In that paper I saw an advertisement, in which br. Pratt was requested to be at Kirtland on such a day and at such an hour, to attend meeting in the Temple, that he might be ready in take his departure with the Twelve who had been chosen. The day and hour designated were right at hand; the Twelve were chosen, and were soon to start on their first mission as a Council. I had been traveling among strangers for months, and had not seen the paper.

I saw that I had not time to reach Kirtland on foot, as I had been accustomed to travel, and consequently could not thus comply with the request; but, with a little assistance, I got into the very first stage that went out, and started post-haste for Kirtland, and landed at Willoughby, or what was then called Chagim, three miles from Kirtland, to which I traveled on foot, reaching there on Sunday morning at the very hour appointed for the meeting, which I entered, valise in hand, not having had time to deposit it by the way. There I met with Joseph, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris, and others of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon, besides several of the Twelve who had been chosen and ordained a short time previous. They were meeting on that day in order to be fully organized and qualified for their first mission as a council. And, strange to relate, it had been prophesied in that meeting, and in prior meetings, I would be there on that day. They had predicted this, although they had not heard of me for some time, and did not know where I was. They knew I had been in Missouri, and that I had started from there, several months before, but the Lord poured out the spirit of prophecy upon them, and they predicted I would be there at that meeting. When they saw me walk into the meeting, many of the Saints could scarcely believe their own eyes, the prediction was fulfilled before them so perfectly. I look at these things as miraculous manifestations of the Spirit of God.

I was ordained, and went forth with the Council of the Twelve. We performed an extended mission through the eastern States, built up churches, and returned again to Kirtland.

It is not my intention to give many items of our history. I merely touch upon these points, as they present themselves to my mind. I have continued, from that day until the present, to bear testimony to that which I know to be true. I do not speak enthusiastically when I say I KNOW. It is not a spirit of excitement which prompts me to declare these things, but I testify now, to that which I know by revelation to me from heaven, as I have testified to hundreds and thousands of people, both in America, in England, and on the Continent in Europe. I know this great work which you, Latter-day Saints, have received, to be the work of Almighty God. I have the same certainty that I have that you are now sitting on these seats. This religion is not a whim; it is not a wild enthusiastic creed, invented by human wisdom, but the origin of this Church is divine. This book, called the Book of Mormon, God gave, by the inspiration of His holy Spirit, to Joseph Smith, whom you and I believe, and not only believe, but know to be, a prophet. This book I consider the choicest book communicated to the children of men for many centuries. The choicest! Why do I say the choicest? Are there not many useful and interesting books of great value, containing much information and many things of importance, that have been sought out by the judgment, skill, and learning of men? Yes; but among all those which have appeared since the first century of the Christian era, there is one common characteristic—viz., they were written by the wisdom of man. No doubt, in many respects, though unknown to their authors, they were measurably dictated by the inspiration of the Spirit of the living God. But God Himself is the author of the Book of Mormon. He inspired the ideas it contains, and gave them by the Urim and Thummim. He sent forth His angel from heaven, clothed in brightness and glory, to chosen witnesses, commanding them to declare to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that this precious book was a divine revelation. How great, then, is the importance of this work!

It was a very interesting period of my life, when but nineteen years of age, to visit the place where this Church was organized—the room of old father Whitmer—where the Lord spoke to His servant Joseph and others, as printed in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. In that same room a revelation, through the prophet Joseph, was given to me, November 4th, 1830, which is also printed. That house will, no doubt, be celebrated for ages to come, as the one chosen by the Lord in which to make known the first elements of the organization of His Kingdom in the latter days.

But there are many wonderful things connected with this dispensation—not only in the manifestations of the Spirit of God to His servants in the many revelations that were given to individuals, in healing the sick, in casting out devils, in restoring the blind to their sight, in making the deaf to hear, and in causing the lame man to leap as a hart—but what is still more wonderful, the gathering of the people from distant nations. It is a wonder to me to look upon the great sea of faces now before me in this bowery. Twenty years ago on the twenty-first day of July, I stood solitary and alone on this great city plot, near the place where now stands bishop Hunter’s house, being the first man of the Latter-day Saints that ever stood on this ground: this was in the afternoon of the twenty-first day of July, 1847. Brother Erastus Snow entered the valley with me in the afternoon. We traveled down to the southeast of the city. Br. Erastus lost his coat off his horse, and went back to hunt it up, and told me if I wanted to look over the country he would wait for me at the mouth of what we now call Emigration Canyon. I started from where we parted, and came up and stood on the bank of City Creek. I gazed on the surrounding scenery with peculiar feelings in my heart. I felt as though it was the place for which we had so long sought. Brother Brigham had requested me to proceed on and search out the road. Several of the brethren had been taken sick at Yellow Creek, and they appointed me and a small company to go on and see if we could find anything of Salt Lake Valley or a country suitable for a location. What did I see when I came into this valley? I saw some few green bushes on yonder bench, but saw but little life throughout the valley, except a certain insect that was afterwards called a cricket. I saw them cropping the few isolated bushes, and gnawing everything green around them. The land on yonder bench was all parched up, and the soil, as we went down still further, also dry and baked; but as we neared the waters we could see there was a little moisture round the banks. It was really a solitary place, and is well described by the prophet David in the 107th Psalm. He exclaims in this beautiful language: “O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hands of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north, and from the south.” But David describes the country to which this people were to be gathered. He calls it a dreary desolate land. “They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.” Are there not many sitting on these seats who can reflect back to the time when they wandered over the solitary plains, the arid deserts, and rugged mountains? Are there not here some of the pioneers who were numbered among the one hundred and forty-three who traveled fifteen hundred miles from Nauvoo and a thousand from our Winter Quarters on the Missouri River, who can bear testimony that we did “wander in the wilderness in a solitary way?” Oh, how solitary it was except for the red men, buffalo, a few antelope, some elk, deer, and howling wolves! It was indeed solitary; no road broken for us, no bridges across the streams; we were unable to tell what latitude or longitude we were in only by taking astronomical observations—getting the altitude of the sun, moon, or stars, and determining our latitude and longitude to find out where we were, as sea captains do on the great deep. And thus we continued, month after month, to wander in this solitary way, in this wilderness, as it were, and when we entered these valleys we found no city already built for us. David said that the people who should be gathered from all lands would “find no city to dwell in”—no city already prepared for them.

Did we have any suffering, affliction, hunger, thirst, and fatigue? I can bear testimony that the pioneers, and many others who followed in their track that season, can look back to that period of their lives as to a time when they experienced the fulfillment of David’s words—“Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainteth in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.” This was literally fulfilled, for we were faithful in calling on the Lord; we bowed before Him in the morning, we humbled ourselves before Him in the evening, and we prostrated ourselves before Him in our secret places. Some of us went out upon the hills by ourselves, and called upon the Lord, according to the order of the Holy Priesthood, which order many of you who have received your endowments understand. Many times we were thirsty, and our souls were ready to faint within us, but we came forth by the direction of the Almighty. His hand was with us, He heard our cries, our prayers came up before Him, and He delivered us from all our afflictions. Yet we found no city to dwell in, no splendid houses, mansions, and palaces, and everything conducive to happiness and comfort, as our emigration from foreign countries find in these times.

Finding no city to dwell in, the Lord permitted us to prepare a city for habitation. I have stated that the Lord had accomplished wonders—great wonders—besides healing the sick and doing those things already named, and one of those great wonders is the city of Great Salt Lake. It is a miracle to my eyes, it is a miracle to the Latter-day Saints who dwell within it, it is a miracle to all the inhabitants of the Territory, it is a miracle to all our enemies scattered abroad, and a wonder to all the nations of the earth who have read its description. Let me tell a secret that some of you, perhaps, have not fully understood. Do you know, Latter-day Saints, that this city is already celebrated in distant nations, across the sea, as one of the most beautiful cities upon the American Continent? It is even so. What renders it beautiful? It is not because all the houses have been joined house to house, and story piled on story. No; that does not add to the beauty of a city. That is after the fashion of old Babylon, or like the cities of the nations. They, it is true, build some very superb buildings, of the most beautiful and costly materials—granite and marble stone, magnificent in style, and adorned with all the beauties of modern architecture. We see this in the cities of the eastern states, in old England, on the Continent of Europe, and wherever modern civilization extends; but what is all this when compared to the beauty of our habitations? When emerging from Parley’s Canyon in the stage, I put my head out of the window to look for the city of Great Salt Lake, but it was so completely shrouded in trees that I could scarcely get a glimpse of it. Now and then I caught sight of a chimney peeping out above the stately shade trees and smiling orchards; I could also see this great tabernacle that you are now building, towering up, like a little mountain; but it was impossible to get a full view of the city generally, it was so completely covered with orchards and ornamental shade trees. I thought to myself that I never saw a grander sight. Where did these trees come from? You brought them down from the mountains, then little saplings; many of you brought them on your shoulders, others piled them on their wagons, and then you set them out on land that had the appearance of being a parched desert, and in soil that to all human appearance was unproductive. And during the twenty years that have rolled over your heads, you have beautified this city, and made it a paradise. It surpasses all the cities of the east in beauty, and your industry is spoken of abroad as something wonderful and marvelous. For a people without capital driven from their former homes, having nothing, as it were, but bone and sinew, to bring to pass the marvels we now behold, is considered without a parallel.

But David says, that this people, gathered from all nations, who would find no city to dwell in, should finally prepare a city for habitation. Thank you, brethren, for having fulfilled the prophecy. Many other things, in this same Psalm, are now being fulfilled. The inspired psalmist predicts that the Lord would cause waters to break out in the wilderness, and in the desert springs of water, and that the thirsty ground should become pools of water. Has this been fulfilled? What aspect is presented over the country, for miles and miles around, when you irrigate your farming lands? Do you cast your eyes over them sometimes, and see standing pools of water? If you do you behold the fulfillment of the psalm. In the twenty-ninth chapter of Isaiah—the very place where this book (the Book of Mormon) is spoken of, and the marvelous work that should be accomplished by its means, we also read that a forest “shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest.” David also says, that you were not only to make a city for habitation, but you were to plant vineyards, sow fields, and eat the increase thereof, and he would not suffer your cattle to decrease.

I have been gone about three years, and I would like to inquire of those who keep cattle, whether they are on the increase in this Territory? I think if they were to answer they would say they are. Brother Kimball says the Territory is perfectly alive with them, and I have no doubt that the hills, mountains, and valleys are sprinkled over with them, and that they are on the increase. This is what David says—“He suffers not their cattle to decrease;” and he also informs us that that barren, thirsty land, that solitary place, that wilderness through which His people should be led, should become, as it were, a fruitful field—this you know has been literally fulfilled. We are further informed that “blessed are they who sow beside all waters and send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.” How do you farm in this land? You answer, by the side of the water streams. They do not farm in this way in the old countries, but wherever they find a beautiful piece of soil, whether on mountain or plain, they convert it into a farm, it is no matter if it be many miles from the water. But Isaiah saw that this people would be put in possession of a land where it would be necessary to “sow beside all waters,” and in passing up and down this Territory it is universally the case that all our farming lands are located alongside the water streams which come out of the mountains.

Do you want a blessing, brethren? If you do, Isaiah has given you one, for he exclaims, “Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.” David also declares, in the Psalm already referred to, that “He setteth the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.” What does the Psalmist mean? Does he mean to say that the families of a poor man who has been gathered should increase like a flock? This is what he predicts; why do the world find fault with it? Are there not some faultfinders? I hope not. Br. Kimball says they are all dead; if so, it is to be hoped that we will be troubled with them no more.

We should rejoice to think that God has brought us into this desert country, and made it so fruitful, like the Garden of Eden, where the poor man, who in the old countries could scarcely live, has, in the course of the twenty years, not only got flocks and herds, but “families” (for David actually puts in the plural) “like a flock.” To go around these valleys, and occasionally count the families of a poor man, is like counting a flock of sheep. Gentiles (we merely repeat the name they have given themselves) feel like finding fault with us in regard to this matter, but if we are satisfied, why should they find fault? If the poor man has been lifted up on high, just as David said he should be, and if the Lord has made him to have families like a flock, why should you find fault with this poor man? Is he not better off here than in the old countries, where for twelve or sixteen hours daily labor he received only eight shillings per week, for himself and family—and was scarcely able to keep body and soul together—living and dying in the most squalid poverty?

I cannot see any harm in the people coming to this distant land, and gathering around them flocks, and herds, and fields, and each multiplying his own families, till they resemble a flock. All seem to feel tolerably well about it. The wives of these poor men have smiling faces, and seem happy. I do not know but some of them quarrel, but that does not prove that the principle is not good and true. Monogamist families also quarrel sometimes, but you would not do away with marriage, and say that a man ought not to have one wife, because they pull hair occasionally. Why find fault, then, with the poor man David speaks about, whose families should be like a flock, because now and then one gets up a quarrel? The system is good; the quarrel is no part of the system, but is a violation of it, and is the introduction of discord into that which the Lord intended to harmonize. Plurality of wives is something a little different from what our fathers have taught us, and it will take us a little while to learn this ancient scriptural order. You would not find fault with a little child because it did not learn the alphabet, spelling lessons, and get into reading in one day. Let all have a chance to learn by experience, and by that which God has revealed in ancient and modern times, to rule, govern, and control these great flocks and families so that they may be worthy to rule in the Kingdom of God.

There are many curious things written in the ancient prophecies and in the writings of the Psalmist. The people abroad in the world generally think a great deal of what David said. There are some churches so pious that they would not have a hymn, composed in modern times, sung by their congregations. They would think their chapels were polluted by singing a hymn composed by any poet or poetess in these days. You may think I am misrepresenting them, but I am not. You go to Scotland if you wish to see the truth of these words. Will the Scotch Presbyterians permit hymns of their own composition to be sung in their sanctuaries? No; what do they substitute? The Psalms of David—the man after God’s own heart, who was so righteous when but a boy that God was with him, and who, long before he was raised to the throne of Israel, and while yet a youth, as it were, had eight wives, and into whose bosom God afterwards gave all the wives of his master Saul. This man knew how to make psalms, for he made them by inspiration for the Scotch Church to sing; he under– stood it, and when he looked upon and realized what a flock of wives and children he had, he no doubt felt a glow of pleasure in anticipation of the time when the same order should be established among that people who were to be gathered from all lands. When have any people ever fulfilled these ancient prophecies if this people are not doing it now.

Go back, now, historians, and tell us what people have ever fulfilled these sayings, except the Latter-day Saints. Did the ancient church ever fulfil these prophecies? No; why not? Because the dispensation of gathering had not then come. They were commanded to build up churches in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, and various parts of the earth, and when they had built up these churches they were permitted to stay at home. David says the people of God are to be gathered from all lands, and we see that it was not done by the ancient church. Now come down from the days of the introduction of Christianity into Palestine to the present period and place your finger, if you can, on a people who have fulfilled these prophecies. You can find nothing that has had the appearance of it until the appearance of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Since his day you can see what the Lord has done in sending abroad His missionaries, as swift messengers, to preach the gospel to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, baptizing all who would repent, and building up churches to His holy name, then proclaiming in the ears of all the Saints, “Go from all these nations to the great western hemisphere, locate yourselves on the high portions of the North American Continent in the midst of the mountains, and be gathered in one, that you may fulfil the prophecies that have been uttered concerning you.” When we see this, we see God fulfilling that which He spake many long centuries ago. And the work is still rolling on, just as fast as the wheels of time can roll it. The Prophet Isaiah, in the 35th chapter, says “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.”

Latter-day Saints lift up your hearts and rejoice with joy unspeakable, for you are the very ones who have the privilege of fulfilling this, you see it directly before you. Has this prophecy been fulfilled here? Was there a wilderness here? Was there a desert here, and does it blossom as the rose? I was not here this spring, but I will venture to say that if I had been within three miles of this city, in April or May, I should have seen, for five or six square miles, peach, pear, plum, and apple trees all in bloom, literally making the wilderness to blossom as the rose. What a miracle compared with twenty years ago, when I stood, solitary and alone, by the side of City Creek, near this temple block, and surveyed the scene! The prophecy of Isaiah has been fulfilled, thanks be to Him who rules, controls, and guides all these things.

If there ever was a people that needed blessings, it seems to me that the Latter-day Saints are the ones. How much you have suffered in years past and gone! How great have been your trials for the truth’s sake! How great your exertions to gather out from among the nations of the earth! How great has been your toil in this desert country to fulfil these prophecies! God bless you, and your generations for evermore, and give you a hundred fold, besides these valleys, to make you and your posterity rejoice, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, July 21st, 1867.

I have been very much interested in the remarks made by br. Bywater this afternoon, and in fact I was very much interested in listening to the remarks made this morning. It is difficult for anybody to rise here and place themselves under the influence and dictation of the Spirit of God, and not advance ideas and principles that are calculated to enlighten the mind, expand the capacity, enlarge the understanding, and enable us to appreciate more fully the blessings of that life, light, truth, and intelligence which God has been pleased to manifest to us, in these last days, for our salvation and exaltation. It was said in former days, and may with equal propriety be said today, “Happy is that people whose God is the Lord,” and if we fall short of obtaining truth, light, and intelligence from Him, whatever our situation may otherwise be, it is very deplorable for us as rational, intelligent, eternal beings. The principles that are made known by the Lord and enunciated by His servants are eternal, and they are not only calculated to promote our happiness on the earth, but also our happiness hereafter; they go back to far distant times and show our associations with and relationship to God. They have a bearing on our present existence and happiness, and they look forward to something in the future that is really certain and tangible. When we talk about the world and the confusion, folly, and evil of its inhabitants, we look at them as they are, we value them at their present worth. We do not expect to compare ourselves and our hopes with them and their hopes. We have come out from among the world, guided by the light of revelation, by the Spirit of eternal truth, by the everlasting gospel which God has sent among us. He has gathered us from the world, we are no longer of them, and we do not expect to compare ourselves with them; and what their ideas, views, and notions with regard to us may be, we care but very little, it is to us a matter of very little importance. We feel desirous to know what the will of our heavenly Father is, we feel desirous to comprehend what are the duties and responsibilities that devolve upon us, and we feel an emulation in our own bosoms to overcome the ignorance, evil, folly, and vanity with which we are surrounded; that, as the servants of God who have dedicated themselves to, and made a profession of faith in Him, we may participate in the Spirit that dwells in and with God; that we, as individuals, as cities, and as communities, in this land of Saints, may act as becomes the Saints of the Most High, walking in the paths of truth, virtue, holiness, and purity.

A remark was made by br. Bywater to the effect that perhaps one of the weakest arguments that could be adduced in support of any movement amongst us as a people, was one that touched our temporal affairs, or our pockets. If we were all perfect this would be a very weak argument, but we are not, we are very imperfect, we are surrounded by all the infirmities of human nature, and we exhibit them in the varied actions of life, and men have to be dealt with as they are, and not as if they were angels or the spirits of the just made perfect. We are surrounded with all our infirmities, weaknesses, and follies, and, until they are overcome, we have to be governed, more or less, on the principle that I have heard the President express. Says he, “I would like to lead this people a little faster, but, if they will not come up to my speed, I must make mine correspond with theirs.” If he did not do this he would soon be beyond the reach of the people, but he has got to be one with us, and we have got to be one with each other, and we must all seek to be one with the Lord.

We have been brought up in error, we have been born in sin and cradled in iniquity, we have sucked in superstition, folly, and vanity with our mother’s milk. We have scarcely imbibed one principle that is true and that will stand the test or scrutiny of eternal truth, and bear to be compared with the laws of life, as they emanate from God. The Lord has to deal with us as He best can, just as He does with the world. We talk sometimes about the world. What could any ruler do with a depraved, corrupt world, with men lost to every sense of propriety, honor, integrity, and truthfulness, men wallowing in vice, licentiousness, fraud, and corruption of every kind? What ruler could govern such a people? No one, unless he listened to correct principles. The Lord understood this very well when He commenced gathering people from among the nations of the earth by the preaching of the gospel. Says He, “My sheep hear my voice, and know me, and follow me, and a stranger will they not follow, because they know not the voice of a stranger.” God sent forth His servants to the world to declare the principles of truth. His sheep heard the voice of mercy and obeyed the gospel, and the same spirit and influence that operated upon them there, operates upon them here; hence it is that, under the auspices of the Spirit of God, we were gathered together; not in a political capacity, but in a religious capacity. Our moral sense was appealed to, our love of honesty, truth, and integrity was appealed to, the light of the gospel, as it existed in former days, was made manifest to us, we admired it, believed in, and obeyed it, and through obedience, we received a portion of the Spirit of God, and felt a disposition to listen to His laws and to be governed by the principles of truth. And yet how weak that feeling is still within us! How frequently those evil propensities and powers that operated upon us in former days still operate upon us, and our minds become befogged, beclouded, and dimmed by the darkness with which the enemy of truth seeks to inspire us! How little we appreciate our relationship to, and standing before God, and the destiny that is before us! It is very difficult for us to comprehend correct principles, and it is more difficult still to bring ourselves into subjection to, and to be governed by them. Hence we have to be treated not like men but like children. Yet, notwithstanding the weaknesses and infirmities of His creatures, neither God nor His servants feel like destroying them, cutting them off, and sending them to perdition. The Lord has never dealt with His people in that way; He is full of magnanimity, kindness, love, and regard for the human family. We read that the Savior, while upon the earth, “Was tempted in all points like unto us, yet without sin; therefore he is a faithful high priest, and knows how to deliver those who are tempted.” We have our weaknesses, our infirmities, follies, and foibles. It is the intention of the gospel to deliver us from these; it operates upon the mind and intelligence of man, that we may be led from strength to strength, from intelligence to intelligence, from knowledge to knowledge, from one degree of faith to another, victory over one evil and then over another, until we shall see as we are seen and know as we are known. If we make any little stumbles the Savior acts not as a foolish, vindictive man, to knock another man down. He is full of kindness, long-suffering, and forbearance, and treats everybody with kindness and courtesy. These are the feelings we wish to indulge in and be governed by; these are the principles, and this is the spirit that ought to actuate every elder in Israel, and by which he ought to govern his life and actions. Having gathered us together in the position we now occupy, we are prepared, more or less, to be governed in regard to other things; we know that the goal before us is one of the brightest that has ever attracted the attention of the human mind, one in which God calculates to elevate and exalt us, not only on the earth but in the heavens. God has commenced to establish His kingdom on the earth, and He will accomplish His own purposes in His own time, and bring to pass His designs with regard to a world lying in wickedness.

We sometimes reflect on the situation of the world, and feel as though we would be glad to see them destroyed. Now no right feeling man has a wish of this kind in his heart. We should be glad to see iniquity destroyed, but unfortunately the workers of iniquity would have to share in that catastrophe. We should be glad to see evil rooted out of the earth, and we know that if men will not submit to the law of God, by and by, however painful it may be, their destruction will be consummated, and we know, as has been referred to, that all governments and kingdoms having the elements of destruction within themselves, must necessarily dissolve, and we know that if we could have just laws, a just administration—if we could have the revelations of the great God for our guide, and men inspired by God for our rulers, if we could have what the Israelites prayed for and what the prophets have prophesied about, the Lord for our king, the Lord for our judge and lawgiver, and have Him to reign over us—there is no right thinking man on the earth, no matter what his principles may be, but what would appreciate such a system of things as that. But they despair of accomplishing it, and they may well despair, for with the materials that they have it would be impossible to bring about such a result. You may take a graft from any poor tree there is in existence, and graft it once, or ten thousand times, and it will still bear its like. But if you can get a better graft, and have that implanted there, then you may have a chance of having better fruit.

The Lord has commenced on this principle. He has revealed himself from the heavens, and has restored correct principles which are calculated to elevate, ennoble, and exalt the human mind, and having com– menced this, it will be like the little leaven Jesus speaks of—it will work and work until the whole lump is leavened, and has become indoctrinated or inducted into the family of God, and become heirs of Him and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, having a relationship to our Heavenly Father that will live and exist “while life and thought and being last or immortality endures.” It is upon this principle, and upon no other, that the knowledge of God will ever cover the earth as the waters cover the deep.

This is the work that lies before the Saints of God, but it will not be done all at once, it will be the work of time and progress, and will require a continual warfare with evil, corruption, error, and vice, in all their varied forms. It is the greatest blessing that can be possessed by this or any other people on the face of the earth, to have the word of God among them, and then it is a great blessing when men can appreciate that word, and honor God and His servants, and obey His laws. This is what we are seeking to attain—to bring our passions, thoughts, reflections, and feelings, and everything pertaining to us, in subjection to the law of God, that as wise children, under the guidance of our Heavenly Father, we may be able to fulfil our destiny on the earth, whatever that may be, and prepare ourselves for an everlasting inheritance in the celestial kingdom of our God.

The fact is, God has commenced to regenerate the world, but the world does not know it, and we, sometimes, hardly understand it. We become captivated and carried away by every little foible and folly that we see around us. We can only understand these things as we live our religion, and as the Spirit of God reveals them to us, and if we want to know more we must seek for more of the Spirit of God, which gives wisdom, light, and intelligence, and enables us to see things as they are and as they ought to be. If men are living in the enjoyment of that Spirit there is no difficulty about false doctrines or errors of any kind, or evil passions, for it will lead them into truth, and will enable them to overcome all that is evil, and if we enjoy that Spirit we shall feel better and happier, and we shall not see so many faults in our neighbors, or in the Priesthood, or anything associated with the Kingdom of God, for as the light of God, the revelations of the Most High, inspires the hearts of the Saints, they will be one with each other, with the servants of God, with God our Heavenly Father, and with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Jesus prayed most devoutly for this when about leaving the earth. Said he, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one.” This is the kind of feeling we should cherish.

With regard to the world. I know there is a feeling that President Young is illiberal in his remarks sometimes, and that we ought to feel more like catering to their prejudices and feelings. I do not think so. I think it is one of the greatest blessings we can have to have somebody to tell us when we are wrong; and does President Young, or do any men of intelligence in this Church and Kingdom, have feelings of enmity towards the world? I do not think they have. I have seen President Young travel thousands and thousands of miles, without purse or scrip, to preach the gospel of salvation to the world. Does that show that he is an enemy to the world? There is no man of reflection and good judgment but what would say to the re– verse. We have come out from among the world, for the express purpose of serving God and keeping His commandments, building up Zion, and establishing His Kingdom upon the earth. Are there not men in the world who seek to do right and try to be just and equitable in their acts? Yes, and there are a great many who seek to do wrong, who are full of lasciviousness, corruption, and evil; a great many who would seek to lead us down the paths of death and destruction. And shall not the shepherd who stands on the walls of Zion lift up his warning voice? What is the good of a shepherd if he does not do that? Who does not know that combinations have been entered into, from time to time, right here in our midst, for the purpose of undermining the virtue of this people? Who does not know that the public prints in the east have been very profuse in their recommendations to send out fine fast young men to Utah? What for? To corrupt our virtue and to bring us down to their own level. Who does not know that we have had organizations in our midst, plotting night after night, to effect the political and social destruction of this people, and seeking to undermine their virtue? Are we—the servants of God—to sit still and not lift a warning voice in relation to these things? Are we to go hand and glove with the world? No, we are not of the world; God has chosen us out of the world to be His people, that we may be subject to His laws and bow to His authority. Do we plot against the virtue of any man? God forbid! Is there any man on the face of the earth who can bring a charge of this kind against the elders of Israel? I defy them. We sustain all virtuous principles here and everywhere in the world where our lot may be cast. Did we ever go, as elders, or as messengers of any kind among the nations of the earth, and interfere with the rights and privileges of the people, or seek to overturn the government of any nation? Never. We were always subject to the law, authority, rule, and dominion prevailing in the nations in which we have sojourned. What right have others, then, to interfere with us? None. Shall we allow them to do it? No, in the name of Israel’s God we will not. [The congregation said, amen.] We will root out the workers of iniquity, and maintain purity and virtue. When men come among us who are honorable and virtuous we will treat them accordingly; but when men come among us and seek to destroy our virtue, supplant our institutions, and try to put a sword to the neck of the good, honest, and virtuous, in the name of Israel’s God we will oppose them with all the might God shall give to us. [The congregation said, amen.] These are our principles. What good honorable man in the world would not sanction them? There are none but what would. Every virtuous man and woman would submit to principles of this kind, and say it is right.

There is another point to which I would refer here: that all men are not depraved, as it is said by some, but the natural instinct of man, as President Young has remarked, is to do good.

May God help us to do right and keep His commandments, that we may be saved in His kingdom, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, June 30th, 1867.

We have heard good instruction and good news from our brethren in the south and in the east, and we hear good news concerning Zion. But this is not good to the world, for Zion and the spirit of Zion are not loved by the wicked. There is good news, and it may be summed up by saying that God is carrying on His work most admirably. He has commenced His work in the last days, for the last time; and into this work He will gather all things. We are here in these mountains. Accidentally? Perhaps so. If we had Brother George A. Smith to tell the story, he would say we came here because we were obliged to come, and we stay here because there is no other place to which we can go. We have built cities in this mountainous region, because there was no other place where we could do so. We have not got through with our work here yet. The people have hardly commenced to realize the beauty, excellence, and glory that will yet crown this city. I do not know that I will live in the flesh to see what I saw in vision when I came here. I see some things, but a great deal more has yet to be accomplished. We go abroad and preach to the people and gather them home to Zion, and it appears to be the feelings of a great many that when they get here they have done all that the Lord requires of them—their mission is out, and they are then ready to go and work for themselves. I heard of one man who came here twenty years ago, who stayed a few years and got more property than he ever had before, then sold it, and went to California, feeling and believing that he had worked long enough for the Lord, and that henceforth he would work for himself. The last I heard of him he was in poverty, distress, and disgrace. Loved of the Lord? No; if the Lord did not hate him, he did not love him. Angels did not love him, Saints did not love him, and the devil despised him, as he does all apostates.

On this particular point I said a little a Sunday or two ago. I will now take the liberty of saying a little more. If there is a despicable character on the face of the earth, it is an apostate from this Church. He is a traitor who has deceived his best friends, betrayed his trust, and forfeited every principle of honor that God placed within him. They may think they are respected, but they are not. They are disgraced in their own eyes. There is not much honesty within them; they have forfeited their heaven, sold their birth– right, and betrayed their friends. What will the devil do with such characters? Will he have them in his kingdom? Yes, he will be obliged to, because he is an apostate himself. He apostatized from the Celestial Kingdom, and was thrust down to hell. Yet, when apostates get to his kingdom, he will say—“I do not like you, for you are just as mean as I am. I was a traitor and a liar, and I am yet. I despise myself and every character that betrays his trust.” That is all I wish to say on that point. Let apostates go.

A word now to the Elders of Israel, especially to the young elders. There are a great many young men born and brought up in this Church, and if they do not go to the nations of the earth to preach they are not, therefore, obliged to make shipwreck of their good education and the faith they have received. Brother Pitkin was talking about young men being ruined through acquiring bad habits and forming bad associations here. If we had sent such young men to preach they would, in all probability, have disgraced themselves and the cause; for I am satisfied that if any man or woman, old or young, wished to be honest, upright, truthful, and virtuous, there is no community on the face of the earth that honors and seeks to promote every holy principle to such an extent as this does. Do you know it? If you do not, just go into the world and mingle with the people, and you will soon find it out.

If there are any ladies and gentlemen present who have not joined the Church, I wish to say a few words to them. Are men or women honest with themselves and their God when they refuse or neglect to search diligently to know the truth of the latter-day work? I could not be, with the sensibility God has blessed me with. A man or woman desirous of knowing the truth, upon hearing the gospel of the Son of God proclaimed in truth and simplicity, should ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, if this is true. If they do not take this course, they may try and argue themselves into the belief that they are as honest as any man or woman can be on the face of the earth; but they are not, they are careless as to their own best interests. Before I heard the gospel I searched diligently to know and understand whatever could be learned among the sectarians respecting God and the plan of salvation. It was so with the majority of the Latter-day Saints. But very little can be learned among Christian professors; they are ignorant about God and His kingdom, and the design He had in view in the formation of the earth and peopling it with His creatures. The Christian world are deficient in these matters; and many among them who believed the Bible was true have felt this, and Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and other great Reformers and revivalists have felt this, and have had the spirit of conviction upon them that God was going to reveal something or other to His creatures. My brother Joseph once said to me (and we were both Methodists at the time), “Brother Brigham, there is not a Bible Christian in the world; what will become of the people?” For many years no person saw a smile on his countenance, in consequence of the burden of the Lord being upon him, and realizing that the inhabitants of the earth had all gone out of the way and had turned every man to his own views. I am not speaking now of the world morally, but of their ignorance of the gospel of the Son of God and of the way to be saved in the celestial kingdom of our Father. There was not a Bible Christian on the face of the earth who was known to us. I cannot say what is to be found in the frozen regions of the north, or a little beyond; if any nook or corner among the icebergs contains an Apostle, I do not know it, but I suppose none have been able to find one. No people on this earth had the Priesthood of the Son of God at their command or within their grasp, and there was no delegation from God to the children of men.

Now, we come proclaiming that the Lord has spoken from Heaven, and has sent His angels to administer to the children of men. If you ask “where is my proof?” my reply is, I am a witness. Have we any more witnesses? Yes, here is this whole people. What else has brought them together? Do you think they have been gathered for the sake of making money, or for raising a political kingdom? Try it, you statesmen and philosophers, and see if you can gather a people together as we came here. How did we come here? We came comparatively naked and barefoot, driven from our homes into these mountains, robbed of our horses and cattle, and our houses rifled by mobs. Were we sustained by any government? Did England put forth her hand to sustain us, or did France donate anything for the assistance of this poor people? No, not anything. Did the Government of the United States? No, but I will tell you what they did do—they imposed a trifling tax upon us. When they were at war with Mexico they said, “Now, you Mormons are going into the wilderness, but we will prove whether you are loyal or not—we want five hundred of your men.” Did we give them? Yes, we took the men from their wagons, from their aged fathers and mothers, their wives and children, and they went to fight the battles of the United States. Who helped us here? The Lord Almighty, and He has fed and clothed and sustained us, and given us the ability to gather around us the comforts of life. And now we declare that the principles we preach are the principles of the gospel of the Son of God, and no man nor nation beneath the Heavens can contradict or confute what I say. And here are my witnesses—some few thousands in this congregation, who would rise and testify by the power of the Holy Ghost that this is the gospel of life and salvation. Can men and women be honest who let this pass by as a thing of nought, and say—“These poor despised ‘Mormons’ and their religion are not worthy of our notice, they are beneath our dignity and refinement.” Stop! Pause and think! Do you know what refinement is? Do you know what belongs to honor and greatness? If you do, you will never make use of such expressions. Those who are honorable will honor their being, and prepare according to the best of their ability and knowledge, and the revelations God has given, to preserve their existence and identity, and to dwell forever in the presence of the Father and the Son. Every person who is honorable and loves truth will do this. I do not want men to come to me or my brethren for testimony as to the truth of this work; but let them take the Scriptures of divine truth, and there the path is pointed out to them as plainly as ever a guideboard indicated the right path to the weary traveler. There they are directed to go, not to Brothers Brigham, Heber, or Daniel, to any apostle or elder in Israel, but to the Father in the name of Jesus, and ask for the information they need. Can they who take this course in honesty and sincerity receive information? Will the Lord turn away from the honest heart seeking for truth? No, He will not; He will prove to them, by the revelations of His Spirit, the facts in the case. And when the mind is open to the revelations of the Lord it comprehends them quicker and keener than anything that is seen by the natural eye. It is not what we see with our eyes—they may be deceived—but what is revealed by the Lord from Heaven is sure and steadfast, and abides forever. We do not want the people to rely on human testimony, although that cannot be confuted and destroyed; still, there is a more sure word of prophecy that all may gain if they will seek it earnestly before the Lord. This is to my friends or my enemies who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the gospel which He has revealed in these days. Now, mark my words, if you are honest to yourselves you will inquire as to its truth. You are invited to inquire, and it is your duty to do so, of the Father in the name of Jesus, if these things are so. “Well,” say a great many, “when Jesus was on the earth he wrought miracles.” Very true, and have we not done so? You read all the history of the world, laying aside the Book of Mormon containing the history of the people who once inhabited this continent, and you cannot produce anything that will compare with the labors of this people in these mountains. Everything is thrown into the shade when compared with it. Have we any witnesses with regard to the healing of the sick by the power of God? Plenty of them. “O,” say you, “we do not know anything about that.” We do not want you to know anything about it until you learn for your– selves. Miracles, or these extraordinary manifestations of the power of God, are not for the unbeliever; they are to console the Saints, and to strengthen and confirm the faith of those who love, fear, and serve God, and not for outsiders. When Jesus was spoken to with regard to miracles, he said, “An evil and an adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the Prophet Jonas,” and this principle is as true with regard to individuals as to generations. Here is the truth—God has spoken from the heavens, calling upon the inhabitants of the earth to repent, and we call upon them to repent. Is there anything immoral or in the least unchristianlike in this? Not in the least. We also call upon all men to be baptized for the remission of their sins. Is this a heresy, is it immoral or unchristianlike? No, everybody will agree that it is not in the least. Then we say to all, if you have been in the habit of lying, stealing, or committing any sin whatever, do it no more, but live righteously and godly as long as you stay on the earth. Who can complain of this?

Now, the sermon which I design preaching to the ladies comes right before me. It is said—“If it were not for your obnoxious doctrine of plurality of wives we could believe in the rest very well.” It is not that. That is not the touchstone at all, but it is because our wives and daughters cannot be seduced; it is because this people are strictly moral, virtuous, and truthful. Now, taking the history of creation as given by Moses, let me ask the question—“Mother Eve, did you not partake of the forbidden fruit, as also did Adam, and thus bring sin and iniquity into the world?” “O, yes,” says mother Eve. Then, why cannot you bear the affliction of it? Why not say—“If I was the cause of bringing evil into the world, I will firmly bear all that God puts upon me, and maintain His word and His law, and so work out my salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God working within me?” I ask this question of you, mother Eves, everyone of you. If you are not sanctified and prepared, you ought to be sanctifying and preparing yourselves for the blessings in store for you when it will be said of you, this is Eve. Why? Because you are the mother of all living. You might as well prepare first as last. If you wish to be Eves and mothers of human families you ought to bear the burden. But you say this is cruel. No, it is not cruel at all. Is there a passion in man that he cannot subdue for the sake of the gospel of salvation, that he may be crowned with glory, immortality, and eternal lives? Shame on the elder who, if duty calls, cannot go and preach the gospel until he winds up his earthly career and never permit a female to kiss him. I do not wish to say much upon this subject, but I say, woe to you Eves if you proclaim or entertain feelings against this doctrine! Woe to every female in this Church who says, “I will not submit to the doctrine that God has revealed.” You will wake up by and by and say, “I have lost the crown and exaltation I might have gained had I only been faithful to my covenants and the revelations which God gave. I might have been crowned as well as you, but now I must go to another kingdom.” Be careful, O, ye mothers in Israel, and do not teach your daughters in future, as many of them have been taught, to marry out of Israel. Woe to you who do it; you will lose your crowns as sure as God lives. Be careful! “Well,” but say you, “these men, these elders of Israel, have it all their own way.” That is not so, and we are not going to have it all our own way, unless our way is to do just right. And the man and woman who set up their will against the providence of God, will be found wanting when accounts are squared. They will have to say, “the summer is past, the harvest is ended, and we have not received our crowns.” Will you think of this, sisters, you who are not married as well as you who are? I have a good many daughters, but it would be better for every one of my daughters, and for every female in this Church, to marry men who have proved themselves to be men of God, no matter how many wives they have, than to take these miserable characters who are running around here. For myself, I desire to please God, whether it is ever to see another wife or child while I live or not. Have I proved it? Yes, God, the heavens, and the Saints know it. When Joseph called upon me and my brethren here, we were always ready. We made it a point ever to be ready to leave fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, wives and children to go and preach the gospel to a perishing world, and save as many as would hearken to our counsel. We have proved this years ago. We have been willing to leave all for the sake of the gospel, and therein the Lord has made us rich. But who is going to complain about it?

I want the daughters of Israel, both old and young, to remember that part of my sermon intended especially for them; and I want our friends who come here, who are not of us, to hear what the Latter-day Saints have to say. If we have the words of eternal life for you, and you will not receive them at our hands, we want you to be left without excuse. The Lord has spoken from the heavens; He has sent His delegation to the earth, and He has commissioned men on the earth to preach this gospel and to bring people into the Church. If they disobey they must take the consequence; it is they and the Lord for it. As we have always told them, the gospel of Jesus which we believe and preach, which they call “Mormonism,” is the doctrine of life and salvation, and if they do not believe it, they can pray to the Lord and ask Him for knowledge. All this they can do if they please. We do our duty in telling them what they should do, and the result is with them and their God. May God bless you. Amen.