Remarks by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 14th, 1867.

I feel very much interested, as indeed all must do, in hearing the remarks of our young brethren who are going out into the world to proclaim the gospel. There is a very great difference between our mode of promulgating the gospel and that pursued by the world. Many of these men who have been expressing themselves before you would be very unlikely instruments for preaching the gospel according to popular notions; but the grand difference between us and them is that we go forth in the name of Israel’s God, sustained by His power, wisdom, and intelligence, to proclaim the principles of eternal truth communicated to us by Him, while they go forth to proclaim what they have learned in colleges.

Our Elders go forth in weakness, while others, generally, are largest when they are first born. Having learned what they call the Science of Divinity, they consider themselves qualified to teach it anywhere and under all circumstances; they have nothing more to learn and nothing more to teach. When our elders go forth they have no preparation beyond the common rudiments of education that all are supposed to learn; but it is not words they go to teach, it is principles. And although before an audience learned in the laws of God, they may feel a good deal of tremor and bashfulness in trying to express themselves, yet, when they go forth and stand before congregations in the world, the Spirit of the Lord God will go with them, the Lord will sustain them, and will give unto them wisdom, “that all their adversaries will not be able to gainsay nor resist.” That is the promise made to the servants of the Lord who go forth trusting in Him.

I have a great deal more confidence in men who rise here feeling their weakness and inability than I have in those who feel that they are well informed and capable of teaching anything and everything. Why? Because when men trust to themselves they trust in a broken reed, and when they trust in the Lord they will never fail. I have been out when I was as young as many of these, before my head was gray, and I had to learn to trust in God. When we go forth into the world we do not go among friends, for sometimes they do not treat us very friendly. I would say to these brethren, they will meet with enemies on every hand who will oppose and persecute them, malign their characters, and say all manner of evil about them, and who will try to overturn the principles they advocate, unless there is a very great change in the world since the time that I used to preach among them. At the same time they will find many very good people, who will bless them, feed and clothe them, and take care of them. And the Lord is over all, He watches over His people, and if these brethren will continue to trust in God, as they now evince a desire to do, His Spirit will rest upon them, enlighten their minds, enlarge their capacities, and give to them wisdom and intelligence in time of need. They need not be under any apprehension with regard to the wisdom of the world, for there is no wisdom in the world equal to that which the Lord gives to His Saints; and as long as these brethren keep from evil, live their religion, and cleave to the Lord by keeping His commandments, there is no fear as to the results; and this will apply to all the Saints as well as to these brethren.

I would say, however, to those going on missions, that they should study the Bible, Book of Mormon, Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and all our works, that they may become acquainted with the principles of our faith. I would also say to other young men who are not now going on missions, but who will probably have to go at some time in the future, that these things are of more importance to them than they realize at the present time. We ought to be built up and fortified by the truth, we ought to become acquainted with the principles, doctrines, and ordinances pertaining to the Church and Kingdom of God. We are told, in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, to search after wisdom as we would for hidden treasures, both by study and by faith, to become acquainted with the history and laws of the nation we live in, and of the nations of the earth. I know that when young men are working around here, going to the canyon, working on the farm, going to the theater, and so on, their minds are not much occupied with these things, but when they are called upon to take a part in the drama themselves many of them will wish they had paid more attention to the instructions they have received, and had made themselves more familiar with the Bible, Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.

These missionaries are now going to school to teach others, and in teaching others they themselves will be instructed, and when they rise to speak in the name of Israel’s God, if they live in purity and holiness and before Him, He will give them words and ideas of which they never dreamed before. I have traveled hundreds and thousands of miles to preach this gospel among all grades and conditions of men, and there is one thing that always gave me satisfaction—I never yet found a man in any part of the world who could overturn one principle that has been communicated to us; they will attempt it, but error is a very singular weapon with which to combat truth; it never can vanquish it. When men go forth in the name of Israel’s God there is no power on earth that can overturn the truths they advocate. Men may misrepresent and calumniate them, they may circulate false reports, for as a general thing men love lies better than truth, but when men go forth possessing the truths of the everlasting gospel which God has revealed, they have a treasure within them that the world knows nothing about; they have the light of revelation, the fire of the Holy Ghost, and the power of the priesthood within them—a power that they know very little about even themselves, which, like a wellspring of life, is rising, bursting, bubbling, and spreading its exhilarating streams around. Why, says the Lord, with you I will confound the nations of the earth, with you I will overturn their kingdoms.

Who are these young men, these very weak instruments? They are men who hold the holy Priesthood of the Son of God after the order of Melchizedek. From whom did they receive it? They received it through the medium of the Holy Priesthood, which has been revealed to Joseph Smith and others in these last days. They say they are weak. Let us ask who is strong? Who can boast of anything? Who among you, ye Elders of Israel, can boast of any knowledge or intelligence? Why we know nothing about the principles of truth, only what God has revealed. How do I know anything about baptism for the remission of sins even, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost? Why, the Lord revealed it; if He had not I should have known nothing about it, neither would Joseph Smith, President Young, br. Kimball, nor anybody else—all our knowledge comes from God. If we know anything about who we are and where we came from, or about our relationship to our Heavenly Father, how do we know it? It would be no use arguing on the point, for all would be obliged to come to the conclusion that He had revealed it. If He had not we should still have been in ignorance. Who knows anything about endowments, anointings, blessings, or promises pertaining to the future, unless revealed from God? The schools of the world know no– thing about these things, and for all we know we are indebted to God, and if He had not revealed them to us we should have been as ignorant as they are.

These young men are just like the rest of us—they have received the spirit of life, light, and intelligence—the gift of the Holy Ghost—and they are the messengers of the Great Jehovah, whom He has selected, set apart, and ordained to go and proclaim His will to the nations of the earth. They go not in their own name or strength, but in the name, strength, and power of Israel’s God. That is their position, and if they cleave to God and magnify their callings, adhere to the principles of truth, and shun temptation and corruption of every kind, the power of God will be with them, and God shall open their mouths, and enable them to confound the wisdom of the wise, and they will say things that will astonish themselves and those who listen to them.

I would say to these brethren—let it be your study to fulfil your mission. Never mind the world, never mind the dollars and cents, the pounds, shillings, and pence. You cleave to God, live your religion, magnify your callings, humble yourselves before God, call upon Him in secret, and He will open your path before you, and you shall have food and clothing, and your every want will be supplied, and you will be able to accomplish a good work and return to Zion in peace and safety. These are my feelings.

We talk sometimes about going without purse and scrip. I have traveled hundreds and thousands of miles that way, and if I were going on a mission I would rather go trusting in God than in the President of the United States, the Queen of England, the Emperor of France, Austria, or Russia, or any king or potentate on earth. If they were to say to me, “You may go and preach your gospel in our dominions, and we will see you provided for,” I would rather trust in God than in any of them. These are my feelings and that is my experience. Why? Because I might be in situations where their munificence could not reach me, but I could not be in a place where the Lord God could not see me, for His eyes are over all the earth, and His angels will guard and His Spirit will comfort and sustain His servant. That is why I say cleave to Him and magnify your callings. When you do not the Spirit will be withdrawn from you, and you will be weak indeed. In all my travels I never wanted anything, and this is the experience of my brethren all around, who have been engaged in the same work. The Lord has always provided for us while we were engaged in his work and doing His will. And if the whole people will cleave to Him, and be humble, faithful, and united in keeping His commandments, the Spirit and power of God will rest upon them, and their blessings will be a thousand fold greater than they are today.

Our strength is in God, and not in our ourselves. Our wisdom and power come from Him; they are not of ourselves. We are the servants of God, and to Him we have to look for guidance, direction, and sustenance in all things, and if we will only do that which He requires of us as a people, there is no promise that has been made, not a blessing over pronounced, not a privilege ever conferred upon any people under the face of the whole heavens in our age of the world but will be conferred upon us.

We are living in the dispensation of the fulness of times, when God has commenced to gather together all things in one. He has revealed to us His law, and He is continuing to do so. It is for us to learn to subject ourselves to that law, to obey His commands, submit to His authority, and pursue that course that we can always have the approbation of the Most High. Let us eschew evil, cleave to that which is good, honor our God and our religion, and the blessings of heaven will rest upon and abide with us from this time henceforth and forever. Zion will arise and shine, the power of God will be made manifest in our midst, and no hand, nor any power that shall rise against us, shall be able to injure or destroy us.

In relation, again, to these elders, I will tell you the first thing I used to do when I went preaching, particularly when I went to a fresh place—and that was to go aside to some place, anywhere I could get, into a field, a barn, into the woods, or my closet, and ask God to bless me and give me wisdom to meet all the circumstances with which I might have to contend; and the Lord gave me the wisdom I needed and sustained me. If you pursue a course of this kind He will bless you also. Do not trust in yourselves, but study the best books—the Bible and Book of Mormon—and get all the information you can, and then cleave to God and keep yourselves free from corruption and pollution of every kind, and the blessings of the Most High will be with you; and if you go forth trembling and in weakness, bearing precious seed, you shall return rejoicing and bringing your sheaves with you.

May God bless you, and all Israel, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 14th, 1867.

Inasmuch as I am a missionary, and have been called of God to proclaim the gospel, I rise here to bear my testimony in connection with my brethren whom you have heard speak this day. We hear the testimony of brethren brought up in the Church, as well as the testimony of those who receive the gospel in other lands and gather with the Church. They all agree that this is the truth—the gospel of life and salvation. These brethren are going to preach, because they have got the truth and the world are destitute of it. One of the brethren said he was going after truth. I would correct him, and say he has got truth, and is going to carry to others who have it not. You are not going to England, Scotland, or to the Continent for truth, but to carry truth to people who sit in darkness and in the regions of the shadow of death. I am a missionary called to preach the gospel, and I am going on a mission; not that I have been lately converted, but I feel to go and strengthen my brethren, and I am going on a preaching tour for that purpose. There is no place on this earth where greater good can be done than here, preaching the gospel to this people and getting them to be Saints indeed. I would say to my young friends and to the middle-aged brethren, though I believe all who are going may be called young men, that if you go on a mission to preach the gospel with lightness and frivolity in your hearts, looking for this and that, and to learn what is in the world, and not having your minds riveted—yes, I may say riveted—on the cross of Christ, you will go and return in vain. Go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, full of the power of God, and full of faith to heal the sick even by the touch of your hand, rebuking and casting out foul spirits, and causing the poor among men to rejoice, and you will return bringing your sheaves with you. If you do not go in this way your mission will not be very profitable to yourselves nor to the people. I wish you to bear this in mind. We do not send these elders forth for political purposes; we have nothing to do with the political world. Neither do we wish them to go for two or three years to learn what is transpiring in the scientific world. If they wish to study the sciences, they can do that at home. We have an abundance of scientific men among us. If you wish to know what is going on in theaters, do not go to theaters to learn, but wait until you come back to our own. I am simply giving you a word of counsel. This is as good a time to do it as when you assemble together to receive your parting blessing. We do not send you for any of these purposes, but to preach the gospel. Let your minds be centered on your missions, and labor earnestly to bring souls to Christ.

I would like to impress upon the minds of the brethren, that he who goes forth in the name of the Lord, trusting in Him with all his heart will never want for wisdom to answer any question that is asked him, or to give any counsel that may be required to lead the people in the way of life and salvation, and he will never be confounded worlds without end; while he who trusts in the wisdom of man, or leans on the arm of flesh, is weak and blind, and destitute of the principles that will lead the Elders of Israel to victory and glory. Go in the name of the Lord, trust in the name of the Lord, lean upon the Lord, and call upon the Lord fervently and without ceasing, and pay no attention to the world. You will see plenty of the world—it will be before you all the time—but if you live so as to possess the Holy Ghost you will be able to understand more in relation to it in one day than you could in a dozen days without it, and you will at once see the difference between the wisdom of men and the wisdom of God, and you can weigh things in the balance and estimate them at their true worth. I can say also to the brethren and sisters, no matter what you are doing—working in the garden, plowing, sowing, going to the canyon, building houses, laying rock or adobies, attending to your household affairs in the kitchen, the washroom, in the parlor, or in your bedchambers, live continually so that you may have the Spirit of the Lord with you and the counsel of God within you, that you may be able to give a word of counsel, instruction, and comfort to the disconsolate, to strengthen the weak, and to confirm the wavering, and spend every day of your lives in doing good. Unless we take this course it is useless to talk about being Latter-day Saints, the redemption of Zion, or the establishment of the Kingdom of God, for nothing short of the wisdom and power of God and the Holy Ghost will ever enable any people on the face of the earth to redeem Zion, and to establish the kingdom of God in these latter days.

A great many things were said while we were assembled in a Conference capacity. We are composed of such material, and our organization and education are of such a nature, that a great many things have to be said to us continually. Like children, there is no day but we need instruction, and if we do not live so that we may have the Holy Ghost within us continually we need to be taught by our friends around us how to build up the Kingdom of God, to sanctify ourselves, to prepare for the coming of the Son of man, and for the accomplishment of the great work of the latter days. The work in which we are engaged should be interesting to every soul that has named the name of Christ; it should be first and foremost, morning, noon, and night, with us every day of our lives. Our religion should be first with us all the time. Coming to this tabernacle to worship and do the will of God for one day in the week, and following our own inclinations and doing our own will at all other times, is a folly; it is useless, and a perfect burlesque on the service of God. We should do the will of God, and spend all our time for the accomplishment of His purposes, whether we are in this tabernacle or elsewhere. We are often told that, so far as the principles of our religion are concerned, we are one. Our brethren here are going on missions to Scandinavia, Germany, and perhaps to places where the gospel has never been preached before, and some, per– haps, to the antipodes of others, yet in the proclamation of the principles of the gospel I do not expect there will be any variation. They will go north, south, east, and west, and they will all take up the scriptures of truth contained in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and each one will corroborate the testimony of the other in establishing the truth of the gospel of the Son of God, and all will exactly agree. Yet, when we are gathered together, there are as many minds as there are persons in regard to the affairs of everyday life and the managing of financial affairs. Now, the people of God are being gathered together expressly to become one with regard to the things of this world.

I would like to be understood, if I could explain myself. We never shall become one to that extent that we shall look alike or possess precisely the same mental power and ability; this is not the design of Heaven. But we expect to become one in all our operations to bring forth the fullness of the Kingdom of God on the earth that Jesus may come and reign King of nations as He does King of Saints. Shall we call this a union for political purposes? I say it is good policy for people to be of one heart and mind in all their operations. I have frequently looked at the inhabitants of the earth and seen how their feelings, dispositions, and pursuits differ; no two, scarcely, can agree. If two men enter into partnership, say in the banking business, or in mercantile business or manufacturing, it is very seldom that they agree a great while. Their minds will run in different channels with regard to business matters, and one will not be trammeled with the ideas of the other, so each resolves to take his own course. If you wish for a per– fect example of this, I can tell you where to find it: just as quick as warm weather comes you see these little red and black ants on the hills. You will see them running in every direction, but it is seldom that two of them take the same course; they will run against each other, tumble over each other, and, finally, rob each other. This is a perfect example of the course pursued by the inhabitants of the earth.

I would say that it is good policy if we can be agreed in all matters. To illustrate, suppose we want to go and quarry rock out of the granite mountain here; we are building a huge fabric and we want some columns, say sixty feet high, five, six, seven, or eight feet through at the base, and perhaps four or five feet through at the top. Let one man undertake such a work, and how long would it take him? But let us be united in the undertaking, and we can soon have our columns quarried, hauled, and erected. Suppose there was a union of effort in every political and financial matter undertaken for the benefit of the whole people, who cannot see the good that would result? We have tried this to some extent in relation to our markets here; but suppose we were fully agreed on the point, we could demand a fair price for our products, and we need not be imposed upon by traders and traffickers. If we were agreed, we could supply ourselves from distant markets, say with our clothing, at a far less cost than now. Suppose, as was said at Conference, that we dispense with the luxuries of tobacco, tea, coffee, and whiskey, how much could we save? If we had the money on hand that we have spent on these needless articles during the year that is past, we should have abundance to donate to the missionaries to land them in their fields of labor.

The people, perhaps, will turn round and say—“We pay our tithing, and that is all we feel to do.” If you do, you do more than the people did some years ago. At that time we found that in the staple article of wheat, of which there is more paid on tithing than anything else in the Territory, that we did not receive one bushel in a hundred of that which was raised, to say nothing one in ten. The people are not compelled to pay their tithing, they do as they please about it, it is urged upon them only as a matter of duty between them and their God. This little moiety that is now paid on tithing is used to bring the poor here, to find them houses to live in, bread to eat, and wood to burn, when we can get the brethren to bring it in on tithing, but that is an article pretty hard to get. Now, suppose we had a little more of this surplus on hand, could we not help the brethren on their way to preach the gospel to the nations? Yes, we could. Some of them will leave families that will probably be destitute, and if we had means on hand we could donate to help them, and to prevent them from running continually to the Bishops. The Bishops have nothing in their hands, the tithing is used up, it has gone to sustain the poor, the Priesthood, and the Public Works. Yet when they go to a Bishop he has to look round to procure them a house, some wood, or some wheat or flour on tithing. But suppose we had the money on hand that we have spent on these useless articles which have been referred to the case would be different. When I begin to talk about these things I see so much that I can tell but very little. To see the slackness, slothfulness, and neglect of duty in taking care of the things which God gives to us. We may say we have abundance—more than we need—but will we give it to those who need it? No, but it is wasted in buying articles for which there is no real need. The people here seem to be perfectly lost, and cannot imagine what they do want. They are not clogged with every luxury, to be sure; they are not over surfeited with riches, for they are not rich; but they are comfortable, and they spend their substance for naught, for that which neither enriches the soul nor builds up the Kingdom of God.

How is it with you, my brethren and sisters? Can you call to mind any circumstances that have transpired in the midst of this people that could have been avoided, and that should put you on your guard? Yes, plenty of them, if you will only reflect. I asked one man, for instance, how he lived. “Oh,” said he, “I hardly know how; I can hardly sustain my family.” “How many have you in family?” “Eight of us.” “And what do you have a day?” “Three dollars.” Perhaps here is another man who gets five dollar a day, and he is poor; and another one who has a hundred cattle running on the prairie, and he is living on a dirt floor; he is not able to buy a few boards to make a floor. Go through the country and you will see numbers living, year after year, on dirt floors, and unable to procure a little sand and lime to plaster the walls of their dwellings, and at the same time, perhaps, they have hundreds and hundreds of animals running on the prairie. What economy!

You recollect that I asked a few questions at Conference as to the amount paid out last year for those needless articles—tea, coffee, &c. Will one hundred thousand dollars pay for the tobacco that the Elders of Israel chewed and spit out? It will not and the tea that was drunk will perhaps cost a hundred thousand more, and the coffee will amount to pretty near the same sum. As for the sugar, I should say, continue to purchase that, and let the children have it, not to live on it alone, but in connection with other nutriment, for you should understand that our food is composed of three staple articles—sugar, starch, and glue, consequently sugar is good. But to train your children to drink tea and coffee at two, three, or four years old is very pernicious and injurious. You mothers and daughters in Israel who are taking this course, how do you expect to live to accomplish the work the Lord has assigned you? Why you will not live half your days; you will come short of it, as much as the wicked. Is this true? It is verily true. You get up in the morning and have your cup of tea, your fried ham, your cold beef and mince pies, and everything you can possibly cram into the stomach, until you surfeit the system and lay the foundation for disease and early death. Says the mother—“Do eat, my little daughter, you are sick; take a piece of pie, toast, or meat, or drink a little tea or coffee; you must take something or other.” Mothers in Israel, such a course engenders disease, and you are laying a foundation that will cut off one-half or two-thirds of the lives of your children; and yet a more healthy country than ours cannot be found upon the face of the earth, if the people would learn to live prudently.

In foreign lands you may find districts where many of the people do not have, probably, more than two-thirds of what they need to eat—and they live thus from year to year—yet you will find them much more healthy than they who gorge themselves continually. Take the Americans, say in the old Granite State where I have traveled, and to look at their surroundings out of doors you would not think they had more than one bean to a pint of water, but go into their houses and you will find beef, pork, apple pie, custard pie, pumpkin pie, mince pie, and every luxury, and they live so as to shorten their days and the days of their children. You may think that these things are not of much importance; no more they are, unless they are observed, but let the people observe them and they lay the foundation for longevity, and they will begin to live out their days, not only a hundred years, but, by and by, hundreds of years on the earth. Do you think they will stuff themselves then with tea and coffee, and perhaps with a little brandy sling before breakfast and a little before going to bed, and then beef, pork, mutton, sweetmeats, and pastry, morning, noon, and night? No; you will find they will live as our first parents did, on fruits and on a little simple food, and they will never overload the stomach.

Let the people be temperate in their food, then go to work and clothe themselves. Ladies, why can you not make your own bonnets as well as buy them? Will you go to work and do it? I know not. You can do as you please. Will you dispense with your frills, ruffles, bows, and nonsense? To correspond with the ladies the gentlemen ought to have one half of their hats covered with feathers and the other half with a cockade, and frills up and down the sleeves of their coats and the legs of their pantaloons. Still, we see some who wear homemade. I noticed one young man, who is going on a mission, and who spoke here today, with a suit of homemade cloth on. We can make our own cloth and then wear it. We can learn how to raise and improve our stock, how to raise our grain, fruit, and vegetables, we can raise our own wool and flax and make it into cloth, and in fact we can learn to raise and make all that we need, and this is one of the great objects to be attained to in the gathering of the Saints together. As for your surplus means, you can lay it away, and when a call is made you can donate to assist the elders who are sent on missions to the nations of the earth, and help to sustain their families while they are away.

To the elders who are going to preach I will give another word of counsel—try and maintain yourselves as much as you can. You are going where thousands of the people die annually of starvation. Do not go and beg of them, but rather give to them. I have told everyone of my boys not to depend on the people, but when they get a dinner from the poor, instead of taking the last crumb or morsel they have, leave something with them to enable them to supply their wants. I have known many sisters, and perhaps there are some of them here today, who, when times were far better than they are now, would pinch themselves for a whole week in order to provide a comfortable dinner or supper for an elder who would visit them, at the same time they, probably, did not have more than one-half, or at most two-thirds, of what was necessary to sustain themselves. The Elders of Israel should go forth calculating to help the people both temporally and spiritually, but some of them have done nothing but beg from the time they left here until their return. For brethren to leave a country like this, where labor is plentiful and means so easily acquired, and go and ask alms of the poor in other countries is a shame and disgrace. I want the missionaries to remember this and lay it to heart, if they will. Go and preach the gospel, and help the honest-in-heart to gather, that they may aid in building up Zion, for that was the design of the Lord when He said, through the Revelator John, “Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

Take the people in the east, west, north, and south who have obeyed the gospel, and, so far as the spiritual gifts are concerned, they are all of one heart and one mind, but not one soul knows how to build up Zion. Not a man in all the realms and kingdoms that exist knows how to commence the foundation of the Zion of God in the latter days without revelation. If the people in the world could sanctify themselves and prepare themselves to build up Zion they might remain scattered, but they cannot, they must be gathered together to be taught, that they may sanctify themselves before the Lord and become of one heart and of one mind. By and by the Jews will be gathered to the land of their fathers, and the ten tribes, who wandered into the north, will be gathered home, and the blood of Ephraim, the second son of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, which is to be found in every kingdom and nation under heaven, will be gathered from among the Gentiles, and the Gentiles who will receive and adhere to the principles of the gospel will be adopted and initiated into the family of Father Abraham, and Jesus will reign over His own and Satan will reign over his own. This will be the result.

Now, Latter-day Saints, only think how far short we come of being what we ought to be. Some will indulge in a little falsehood here and there, evil, folly, nonsense, wickedness, lies, deception, arrogating to themselves that which does not belong to them. We are gathered together expressly to expose the wickedness that is in our hearts. How often, in looking over the congregations of the Saints, I can pick out a man here and a woman there guilty of these things. Here, probably, is a brother who has been a deacon in the Baptist or Presbyterian church for thirty or forty years, and was just as good a man as there was in the world, but gather him home with the Saints, and though his whole judgment is convinced that the gospel is true, and he believes it with all his heart, yet he will deceive and lie a little and take that which is not his own. “Did you ever know those who have been deacons in the sectarian churches guilty of such things?” Yes, many of them, who have been considered flaming lights there, yet, when they gathered with the Saints, according to the words of the prophets, they have spued out the iniquity that was in them, and revealed the secrets of their hearts to their neighbors. If John should drop his axe in the canyon, and Benjamin should come along, although he had been a preacher, he would pick up that axe and keep it. I have seen many such things. Such practices, if not repented of and forsaken, will canker the very souls of those who are guilty, and will deprive them of the glory that will be enjoyed by honest and virtuous men and women.

When Jesus was preaching on these principles, and showing how strict and pure in their lives they must be who are counted worthy to be brought into the presence of the Father and the Son, be crowned with crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal life, and become Gods, even the Sons of God, I do not wonder that His disciples cried out, “Who, then, can be saved?” Said Jesus, “Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to the lives to come and few there be that find it.” This is the rendering in the new translation. As Jesus said to the disciples so I say to the Latter-day Saints—“Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to the lives to come and few there be that find it.” I know you might turn round and say: “Brother Brigham, do you expect to find it?” I expect to try; and when I get through I expect the Lord to do what He pleases with me. I have not asked where He is going to place me, nor what He will do with me, nor anything about my crown or mansion. I only ask God, my Father, in the name of Jesus, to help me to live my religion, and to give me ability to save my fellow beings from the corruptions of the world, to fill them with the peace of God, and to prepare them for a better kingdom than this. That is all I have inquired about. What the Lord will do with me, or where He will place me, I do not know, neither do I care. I serve, and have implicit confidence in Him, and I am perfectly satisfied that we will all receive all we are worthy of. May the Lord help us to live so that we may be worthy of a place in His presence. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Charles C. Rich, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 8th, 1867.

I am glad to enjoy the opportunity of meeting with the brethren and sisters at this Conference. I am also glad that we have heard the instructions which have been imparted to us. The principle of the Saints being united is one that we have labored to establish from the commencement up to the present time. Every Saint who has any knowledge of the gospel as it has been revealed to us in these last days, knows that this principle has been impressed on their minds from the time they first heard the gospel. Still, with all our labors and exertions in the past, we have not yet reached this point, and we must continue our labors for the accomplishment of this object.

When we are united in all things, the Lord will be able to use us in very deed for the building up of His Kingdom; until then, He can use us only as we are willing to be used. We say we are the people of God, and that we are laboring to build up His Kingdom, but when we come to think of it, we only do that which we can persuade ourselves to do.

We should be willing to do everything that the Lord requires us to do, and even if we are, there is still great need for us to improve and progress. This has been incumbent upon us from the time we embraced the gospel, but more especially at this Conference, and when we make up our minds individually and collectively to do all things that the Lord requires of us, it will be a comparatively easy matter for us to do so. We do not expect to learn everything at this Conference, but we can make ourselves willing to learn righteous principles, and we can, if we choose, adopt them as fast as we learn them.

We are placed under circumstances where we can apply our labors for the accomplishment of the designs of the Almighty here on the earth, and we ought to esteem this as a very great privilege.

There are a great many notions and opinions with regard to the work of God and the building up of His Kingdom on the earth. We have received the everlasting gospel from the heavens. It found us in the various nations of the earth, and it has gathered us to this place for the purpose of establishing the principles of righteousness and of building up the Kingdom of God on the earth. As we have heard this afternoon, and on many other occasions, the gospel we have obeyed embraces all truth on earth and in heaven. We have not to emigrate to some other world to find truth. We find it where we are; it is taught to us faster than we are willing to receive and practice it; and I can bear testimony that it has ever been so. We have never had to wait to know what was the right course for us to pursue. “Labor for the building of the Kingdom of God,” has been the counsel given to us continually, and when we have been called upon to perform any labor, no matter in what direction, it has been with that object in view.

I have been reflecting a little in relation to the state of society which would soon be in existence if the counsel given from this stand this Conference were to be observed. We would soon find a great deal more peace, love, and oneness among the Saints than have existed in times past; and, if we ever expect to be one, we, as a people, must adopt in our lives those principles that have been and are continually taught us by the servants of the Lord. If we ever expect to have heaven, we must adopt those principles that will make heaven for us. We have had the gospel revealed to us from the heavens, for the purpose of bringing about that state of things here that exists in heaven. And it will most assuredly result in this if we will faithfully observe its principles. A faithful adherence to the principles of the gospel will cure all the evils we now endure. Where difficulties exist with individuals or communities, we would find, if they were traced to their source, that they exist simply because the principles of the gospel have not been adopted and applied.

It is this labor that lies before us to learn the principles of the gospel of salvation, and to apply them in our lives. This will remove the evils we have to encounter, and will bring about union and happiness; and, no matter where our lot may be cast, will make for us a heaven upon earth. This is a joyous labor, and one in which all should unite with an unwavering determination. By so doing we will sustain those who preside over us, and our efforts will most effectually tend to build up the Kingdom of God on the earth.

How can this Kingdom be built up unless God dictates? And how can we labor to serve Him unless He dictates us? And how will He do this? He will do it, as He ever has done, by and through His servants whom He has placed at our head. In this way we can be united in building up God’s Kingdom and in moving forward His work on the earth. This is a very great privilege, the possession of which confers upon us great honor and blessings. When the whole people are united in, and live continually according to, the principles of the gospel in all things, evils and difficulties will vanish from their midst like snow before the rays of the sun, and soon the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the deep.

We have yet much to learn, but I often think that we can do more for the spread of truth and the work we are engaged in than we imagine. We can read of individuals among the ancients who performed wonders on the principle of faith. They subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, and performed many wonderful works. Can we not do something on the principle of faith? Can we not have power with God as well as the ancients, if we labor continually to carry out His designs? I am satisfied that if we all go home and carry out the principles which have been taught to us during this Conference we shall soon see happy results flowing therefrom. There is a responsibility resting upon us all to do so, and we should discharge that responsibility honorably before God and each other. By following the counsel given us during this Conference, our union, peace, and best interests will be greatly advanced and forwarded.

Severe indisposition prevented me from being present at last fall Conference, but I am thankful that I am present now. I always rejoice to be at Conference, or at any meeting with the Saints. I love to see and talk to them, and I love to hear others talk, and I love to use my influence to move forward and build up the cause of Zion, and to establish righteousness on the earth. We all ought to cultivate this kind of feeling and principle. We never need be afraid if we are doing right, but fear only to do wrong. Individuals are apt to think sometimes that if they do a wrong no person in the world knows it but themselves, but it is known also to God, and if a wrong is known to God and to the one who commits it, his influence with God is destroyed, and it lowers him in his own estimation. Suppose, for instance, that a person wants a favor of President Young, but he has done some wrong that is known to the President, he cannot ask that favor with any confidence, but his head is cast down, and he feels condemned because of the wrong he has done. How much more is this the case when seeking blessings from the Lord. We should think of this in our course through life. We should also remember that the Lord has said, that “inasmuch as ye do it to one of the least of these my servants, ye do it unto me.”

When we apply this principle to our conduct, strictly and properly, we shall feel that we do not want to injure anybody or do anything wrong, and injuries and wrongs will fast disappear and will be soon blotted out of existence. This is what we are laboring for, and this course of conduct will move forward the cause of Zion, and enable us to do all things the Lord requires of us.

That we may labor to accomplish this work faithfully is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 8th, 1867.

A few words to the Latter-day Saints, and especially to our young men. We have a great deal of time to spare over and above going to the canyon, and working in the fields and in our shops. It is true this is not exactly the time of year to establish evening schools and lyceums, but we wish our young men to make preparation this summer, and send east to procure the necessary articles for the formation of societies in this and other cities throughout the Territory for the purpose of studying the arts and sciences. Now, if a man in the North, say sixty-eight or a hundred miles away, should have a limb broken, he has to send to this city for a surgeon. It is all folly; there is no more real necessity for it, if men would devote their time to the study of such things, than there is to send for a man to put a rafter or joint on his house, or a panel into his door.

As the subject of education is open, and has been from time to time during this Conference, I will now urge it upon the people—the young men and the middle-aged—to get up schools and study. If they are disposed to study physic or surgery, all right; they will know then what to do if a person is sickly, or has his elbow, wrist, or shoulder put out of joint, or his arm or any other bone broken. It is just as easy to learn such things as it is to learn to plant potatoes. I would like to urge these matters upon our young men, and I am convinced this meets the feelings of all the brethren. I do hope, and pray you, my brethren and sisters, to be careful to observe what br. Wells has said in regard to introducing into our schools the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Standard works of the Church, and all the works pertaining to our faith, that our children may become acquainted with its principles, and that our young men, when they go out to preach, may not be so ignorant as they have been hitherto. I would like very much to urge upon our young people, the sisters as well as the brethren, to pay more attention to arithmetic and other things that are useful, instead of acquiring a little French and German and other fanciful studies that are not of so much practical importance. I do not know how long it will be before we call upon the brethren and sisters to enter upon business in an entirely different way from what they have done. I have been an advocate for our printing to be done by females, and as for men being in stores, you might as well set them to knitting stockings as to sell tape. Such business ought to be done by the sisters. It would enable them to sustain themselves, and would be far better than for them to spend their time in the parlor or in walking the streets. Hardy men have no business behind the counter; they who are not able to hoe potatoes, go to the canyon, cut down the trees, saw the lumber, &c., can attend to that business. Our young men in the stores ought to be turned out and the sisters take their place; and they should study arithmetic and bookkeeping necessary to qualify them for such positions. I would also like our school teachers to introduce phonography into every school; it is an excellent thing to learn. By its means we can commit our thoughts and reflections to paper with ease and rapidity, and thus preserve that which will be of benefit to ourselves and others, and which would otherwise be forever lost. This is a delightful study! In these and all other branches of science and education we should know as much as any people in the world. We have them within our reach, for we have as good teachers as can be found on the face of the earth, if our Bishops would only employ and pay them, but they will not. Let a miserable little, smooth-faced, beardless, good-for-nothing Gentile come along, without regard for either truth or honesty, and they will pay him when they will not pay a Latter-day Saint. Think of these things. Introduce every kind of useful studies into our schools. I have been urging upon our young men for years to get up classes for the study of law. The laws of this Territory, of the United States, of the different States, of England, and foreign lands. Do this instead of riding over the prairies hunting and wasting your time, which is property that belongs to the Lord our God, and if we do not make good use of it we shall be held accountable.

Now, my brethren and sisters, I feel to bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I pray my Father in heaven to continue His mercies to us, and I pray you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God in all things. We will now bring our conference to a close.

Remarks by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 7th, 1867.

There have been a great many excellent remarks made to us since we assembled ourselves together to celebrate the anniversary of the organization of the Church, remarks which, if treasured up in our hearts and practiced in our lives, cannot fail to make us a much better people than we are today. It should be clear to the mind of every Latter-day Saint that there is an extreme necessity for us to be united. It is to our union alone, imperfect though it may have been, that we may attribute our suc– cess in the past, under the blessing of God. If we have any name or prestige in the earth, if there is anything attached to the name of Latter-day Saint or “Mormonism” that conveys the idea of power to the minds of the people, it has its origin in our union, obedience, concentration of effort, and our oneness of action, and the more this oneness increases the more marked and distinct we will be among the nations of the earth. What is it that has made us the people we are today? It is obedience to the counsels which God has revealed through His servants. If there is anything on the earth that will continue to add distinction and power to us, and elevate us and make us strong and mighty, it is an increase of this obedience which has already given us this distinction.

I have thought considerably since we have been together of the counsels which have been given to us, and of the action of the people in the past. There was a time when every Latter-day Saint who had the spirit of his religion felt as though he wished to devote himself and all that he had to the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God. This feeling doubtless predominates today, but it has been partially buried up and covered by other feelings—the love of gain, the desire to acquire property, and feelings akin to these. There was a law revealed to us—the law of consecration—through obedience to which every man expected to hold all that he possessed subject to the dictation of the servants of God. It is right that we should recollect this law, and continually seek to carry it out. We should feel that we are placed as stewards over the property God has placed in our hands, and that all we have is subject primarily to the counsels of God’s servant, and that before we take any step of importance it is our duty to seek counsel from him who has the right to counsel. Imagine the power there would be in this Territory, and it would be felt throughout the nations of the earth, if this entire people, from Bear Lake Valley in the north to the settlements on the Muddy in the south, were thus united, holding themselves and all the wealth that God has so bountifully bestowed upon them, subject to the counsel that God has placed in His Church. What would be the effect of this? If you will allow your minds to expand you may be able to contemplate to some small extent the great results that would follow such a concentration of action on the part of this people. Is it the will of God that it should be so? It is.

The Lord has placed a man at our head upon whom He has bestowed great wisdom. There has never been a time when he has lacked the wisdom necessary to guide all the affairs of the Kingdom of God. Joseph of old had wisdom given to him by which he was enabled to save Egypt. God has given to us a leader who has wisdom equal to any emergency, and if we will be obedient to his counsels we shall realize as great salvation as was wrought out by Joseph for those with whom he was associated. Herein we possess advantages not possessed by other people; we have revelation to guide us, we have the word of the Lord in our midst; we are not dependent upon man’s wisdom, nor upon human plans, but we have the wisdom of eternity manifested through the servants of God to guide us. We have the opportunity of building up the Kingdom of God and of carrying out the designs of heaven according to His plan; and if we will do so we shall fulfil the word of the Lord given anciently, when speaking of and comparing his people with the people of the world. Said he, “My servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed; my servants shall sing with gladness of heart, but you shall sorrow with sadness of heart and howl with vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name as a curse to my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call His servants by another name.”

It seems as though the day had come when God will slay the wicked, and when He will call His people by another name. How will these words of the ancient prophets be fulfilled? By our listening to the counsel of him whom he has placed to preside over us, and being guided in wisdom in all things. When we do this we will be a mighty and a powerful people, and President Young will be what he ought to be today, the head of this people, the mouthpiece of God in our midst; and when his counsel is given it will be listened to by all Israel; no one will disobey from one end of the land to the other. How much good could be accomplished if this were the case! What mighty labors could be achieved if this people were in this condition today. What hinders it being so? Nothing but the disposition within us to be careless and indifferent to the principles taught us.

This condition of things will be brought about, and it might be more rapidly than it is if the people would be obedient and diligent in carrying out the counsels given to them. All within the sound of my voice, probably, have heard that Israel, in the days of Moses, were commanded to sprinkle their doorposts with the blood of a lamb, that they might escape destruction; now if we had been told that Israel were destroyed because they paid no regard to this instruction, who among us would not have said, How foolish Israel must have been to have suffered destruction rather than do such a simple thing as this! Yet what has God said to us in these days with regard to the Word of Wisdom? He has said that “all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, and walk in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health to their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And they shall run and not be weary, and walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them.” Here is a promise that the Lord has given to us on condition that we obey this requirement, or rather this counsel. It is wise counsel; we have proved its wisdom. What has disobedience to this counsel done for this people? It has made us in many respects, to a certain extent, subject to our enemies. How many called Latter-day Saints, through disobedience to the Word of Wisdom, have been led away to California and other places where they could obtain these things which they thought so necessary to their comfort, but which God had counseled them to forsake? A great many have been led away through this; and every time we disobey this counsel we bring ourselves more completely under bondage to our own appetites and to the enemies of the Kingdom of God.

As a people we should arise, and with one effort say we will follow the example, in this respect, of him who leads us. Does President Young drink tea, or coffee, or liquor, or chew tobacco? No; his life is exemplary, and we should copy after it. There is no man among us more exemplary in these things than he is; and it is a shame to us, as a people, if we do not follow his wise example. The Lord is bearing testimony to us through His Spirit, that we should carry these things into effect; and I trust that the people from one end of the Territory to the other, will manifest by their future course that they will observe the counsel that has been given at this Conference, and thus seek to be one with the President. There is no need to disguise the fact that he is anxious to have us subject to him in these matters. He is anxious that his power should be felt through the length and breadth of this Territory sufficiently to control and govern the people for good. Why? Because he knows that God has revealed principles by which they can be led back into His presence if they will only be obedient to His counsel.

Short sermons are the order, and I will not lengthen out my remarks. My prayer is, my brethren and sisters, that God will enable everyone of us to see these things aright, and to understand the obligations resting upon us; and that union may pervade the bosoms of the Saints from the lowest to the highest, from the least in the land to the Presidency of the Church, which may God grant for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 7th, 1867.

I confess before the Latter-day Saints that like others who live in the religious and political world, or the world of history, or any other world you have a mind to name, I really want power and influence. I confess to the Latter-day Saints and to the world that I want power to prevail on all the inhabitants of the earth to embrace the gospel of the Son of God that they may be saved in the Kingdom of Heaven. I want influence in the midst of the Latter-day Saints, sufficient to get all men and women to sanctify themselves before the Lord and to sanctify the Lord God in their hearts, and that they may be of one heart and one mind in all things, that they may be the disciples of the Lord Jesus. This comprehends a great deal.

I will now take the liberty of telling you what I do not want. I do not want influence or power over any nation, people, family, or individual on the face of the earth to do them an injury or lead them astray, to promote strife or corruption in their hearts, or direct them in the way that leads to death. But I would like to have power with the people to induce them to accept those principles which would put them in possession of life, liberty, peace, joy, and all the blessings that can be enjoyed by the children of men, and that are promised in the gospel of life and salvation. I wish you ever to remember this when you think of yourselves, your brethren, or of any man that wants influence in the world. Always learn what an individual wants influence for. If he wants it for good, to promote peace and righteousness, never hinder his efforts, but promote them if you can. But when men try to gain influence for evil, to lead their fellow creatures in the way to death, exercise all the power you possess to abridge such influence; destroy it if you can. I calculate to take this course myself.

There are a few of the Latter-day Saints here today; only just a few, scarcely any from the country. You know we are estimated variously, some say 80,000, some 100,000, some 150,000; but, to tell you the secret, I do not want anybody to know our number. I do not want to number Israel yet. I am very frequently asked the question by political men, “How many do the Latter-day Saints number in the mountains?” My invariable reply is that we have enough to make a Territory. I wish the Latter-day Saints to increase and multiply. It has been said to me—“Why do you not call men to go on missions to preach the gospel in order to swell the ranks of the Saints?” I will tell you what my feelings are with regard to the Latter-day Saints increasing. One of these young men or girls around me here today, born and brought up in the Church, is worth, as a general thing, far more than those who come into the Church with all their traditions when we go preaching. I recollect the stand I took when I was in England or whenever I was out preaching. Whenever a man would transgress we would talk with and persuade him to forsake evil, and he would confess and say, “I will do so no more,” but by and by we would have occasion to call him up again, and I felt and said that “I would rather convert two men or women who never heard the gospel than attempt to make righteous men or women of those who know the way but will not walk in it.”

We wish the brethren to understand the facts just as they are; that is, there is neither man nor woman in this Church who is not on a mission. That mission will last as long as they live, and it is to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of truth, and to prevail upon themselves and everybody around them to live those principles that they may obtain eternal life. This is the mission of every Latter-day Saint. I talked to the sisters yesterday; I can talk to the brethren today on the same principle—there is not a man in this Church but what is capable of doing good if he has a mind to do so. Here are Elders who say, “I want a mission; I want to go and preach; I want to be ordained a Seventy, or a High Priest,” or something or other. I will tell you what you really need. You need eyes to see things as they are and to know your standing before God and the people. This is what the elders need. To go and preach, or to be ordained into the quorums of the Seventies, does not make good men of them, if they are not so before. The ordination of a man to the High Priest’s quorum does not make him a good man. Let every elder, priest, teacher, and deacon set that example before his family, his brethren, and the world, that the nations of the earth will hear of the good works of the Latter-day Saints, that the honest in heart may be constrained to say—“We are going up to Zion to join this people, of whom we hear nothing but that they are honest, upright, industrious, frugal, and intelligent. Let us go up and join this people against whom so much has heretofore been said.”

Will you do this, priests, teachers, and deacons? Will you do this, Elders of Israel, Seventies, High Priests, and Apostles? Will you live so that the report may go out from this time from Utah Territory that the Latter-day Saints are perfect examples for the nations of the earth? This will be the loudest preaching we can do. We have a good deal to say yet to this Conference, if we have the time, and the people attend. We will bring our meeting to a close now.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 7th, 1867.

I will take the liberty of suggesting to my brethren who address the congregation that our sermons should be short, and if they are not filled with life and spirit let them be shorter, for we have not time at this Conference to let all the Elders who speak preach a long sermon, but we have time to say a few words in bearing testimony, to give a few words of counsel to encourage the Saints, to strengthen the weak, to endeavor to confirm those who are wavering, and so forward the Kingdom of God. I have a few words to say to the Bishops and others who are leading men in the House of Israel, including your humble servant now addressing you. There are certain rights and privileges belonging to the Elders in Israel, and there are certain things that it is not their privilege to indulge in. You go through the wards in the city, and then through the wards in the country, and ask the Bishops—“Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?” The reply will be “Yes; no, not exactly.” “Do you drink tea?” “No.” “Coffee?” “No.” “Do you drink whiskey?” “No.” “Well, then, why do you not observe the Word of Wisdom?” “Well, this tobacco, I cannot give it up.” And in this he sets an example to every man, and to every boy over ten years of age, in his ward, to nibble at and chew tobacco. You go to another ward, and perhaps the Bishop does not chew tobacco, nor drink tea nor coffee, but once in a while he takes a little spirits, and keeps whiskey in his house, in which he will occasionally indulge. Go to another ward, and perhaps the Bishop does not drink whiskey nor chew tobacco, but he “cannot give up his tea and coffee.” And so it goes through the whole church. Not that every Bishop indulges in one or more of these habits, but most of them do. I recollect being at a trial not long since where quite a number of Bishops had been called in as witnesses, but I could not learn that there was one who did not drink whiskey, and I think that most of them drank tea and coffee. I think that we have some Bishops in this city who do not chew tobacco, nor drink liquor nor tea nor coffee to excess.

The Word of Wisdom is one thing, and ignorance, superstition, or bigotry is another. I wish people to come to an understanding with regard to the Word of Wisdom. For illustration, I will refer to a certain brother who was in the church once, and President of the Elder’s Quorum in Nauvoo. While living at that place there was a great deal of sickness among the people, and he was sometimes called in to lay hands on the sick, but if he had the least doubt about their drinking tea, if he even saw a teapot, he would refuse. I recollect he went into a house where a woman was sick, who wanted him to lay hands on her; he saw a teapot in the corner containing catnip tea, but without stopping to enquire he left the house, exclaiming against her and her practices.

Now, there is no harm in a teapot, even if it contains tea, if it is let alone; and I say of a truth that where a person is diseased, say, for instance, with canker, there is no better medicine than green tea, and where it is thus used it should be drank sparingly. Instead of drinking thirteen or fourteen cups every morning, noon, and night, there should not be any used. You may think I am speaking extravagantly, but I remember a tea drinking match once in which fourteen cups apiece were drank, so you see it can be done. But to drink half a dozen or even three or four cups of strong tea is hurtful. It injures and impairs the system, benumbs the faculties of the stomach, and affects the blood, and is deleterious in its nature. If a person is weary, worn out, cast down, fainting, or dying, a brandy sling, a little wine, or a cup of tea is good to revive them. Do not throw these things away, and say they must never be used; they are good to be used with judgment, prudence, and discretion. Ask our Bishops if they drink tea every day, and in most cases they will tell you they do if they can get it. They take it when they do not need it and when it injures them. I want to say to the Elders in Israel, this is not our privilege. We have a great many privileges, but to indulge in liquor or other things to our own injury is not one of them. We have the right to live, labor, build our houses, make our farms, raise our cattle and horses, buy our carriages, marry our wives, raise and school our children, and then we have the right to set before them an example worthy of imitation, but we have not the right to throw sin in their path or to lead them to destruction.

I recollect telling the people here, not long ago, something in regard to the rights of the Elders. Our rights are numerous. If we are so disposed, we have the right to dictate the House of Israel in their daily avocations. We have the right to counsel them to go to the gold mines if it is wisdom and God requires it, and we have the right to counsel them away from the gold mines when it is not wisdom to go there. We have the right to ask them to go and buy goods, and to sell those goods without fraud or deception. I am sorry to say we cannot say this of many of our merchants. We have merchants that say they are of us and with us, and that they wish to be Saints, but they are not honest in their dealings; they will trade fraudulently, and they will take all the advantage they possibly can. I said here a year or two ago that unless such merchants repent they will go down to hell; I say so today. They never can enter the celestial kingdom of our God unless they refrain from their dishonest course and become Saints indeed.

To the Bishops and the Elders in Israel I wish to say that we have the right to do right, but not to sin. The right to obtain large families, although obnoxious to the refined Christians, all classes of whom preach against it—the priest in the pulpit, the judge on the bench, the senators and representatives in Congress, as well as the bar-keeper and the drunkard wallowing in his filth—they are all against it except God and the Saints; yet this is a right that the Saints have, and which no others legally possess. Others will presumptuously arrogate to themselves certain rights and privileges, but the result will be their overthrow, their condemnation, and their damnation.

We urge the people continually to be one in their temporal affairs. We do not offer prayers to dead Saints—to Peter, Paul, Mary, and others—but we frequently pray the living Saints, in Christ’s stead, to be reconciled to God. If we urge the people to this until we get them to be really of one heart and one mind, what will be the result? We shall then possess Zion, it will then be developed in our midst, and we will be as independent as ever the children of Zion can be in our capacity. Will wrath, anger, strife, and selfishness then reign within us? No, they will not. It is our right and privilege to live so that we may attain to this, so that we may sanctify our hearts before the Lord, and sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, but it is not my privilege to drink liquor, neither is it my privilege to eat tobacco. Well, bro. Brigham, have you not done it? Yes, for many years, but I ceased its habitual practice. I used it for toothache; now I am free from that pain, and my mouth is never stained with tobacco. It is not my privilege to drink liquor nor strong tea and coffee although I am naturally a great lover of tea. Brethren and sisters, it is not our privilege to indulge in these things, but it is our right and privilege to set an example worthy of imitation.

When we come to homemade cloth, I must say it would make clothes good enough for me to wear. “Then why do you not wear it, bro. Brigham?” Shall I tell you? I have hardly worn a suit of clothes for years that has not been presented to me. If I knew that doing this would be a hindrance to the work of God, I would say to the next friend who wished to present me with a suit of clothes—“I thank you, but I will not wear them; you will please take them back to the store, or take them home and put them in the trunk.” I know the thoughts of many are— “I wish they would serve me so.” I wish they would; and if they will I will never say wear homemade again as long as friends will give you that which is imported, and you can lay by the money you save to send the Elders abroad to preach the gospel, to gather the poor, to help to build the temple of the Lord, or to finish the canal that we may get the rock here for the temple.

You men owning saw mills bring on the lumber to finish the tabernacle, and you carpenters and joiners come and help to use it up. We are going to plaster the main body of this building here immediately; take down the scaffold at the west end from the body of the building while the east end is being put up. And we are going to lay a platform for the organ, and then make a plan for the seats. And we calculate by next October, when the brethren and sisters come together, to have room for all; and if there is not room under the roof, the doors are placed in such a way that the people can stand in the openings and hear just as well as inside. I expect, however, that by the time our building is finished we shall find that we shall want a little more room. “Mormonism” is growing, spreading abroad, swelling and increasing, and I expect it is likely that our building will not be quite large enough, but we have it so arranged, standing on piers, that we can open all the doors and preach to people outside.

Now I want you should recollect—Bishops, Elders of Israel, High Priests, Seventies, the Twelve Apostles, the First Presidency, and all the House of Israel, hearken ye, O, my people! Keep the word of the Lord, observe the Word of Wisdom, sustain one another, sustain the household of faith, and let our enemies alone. As for those in our midst who love and work iniquity, the Lord will gather them from among us in His own due time. They will grow fewer and fewer until we will be free from them. The Lord chasteneth His people for their good, but see the sufferings of the wicked! God has always favored the righteous more than the wicked. Still, we have those among us who are afraid. “Well, this time we are going to see trouble,” or “we are going to be afflicted,” or “I think the Mormons will have to leave,” is their cry. I want to tell you we are not going to leave these mountains unless the Lord says so. The devil may say so until his throat splits, but we shall not do it; and woe to the men or people who drive us into the mountains, and compel us to hide ourselves in the dens and caves of the earth! Woe to the people who do this; they will find something they never learned yet; but they will never do it. I am looking for something entirely different. The wicked will waste away and destroy each other.

We are blamed for praying that sin and wickedness may cease on the earth, but the only way to effect that is for the perpetration of crime to cease. Will the people turn from evil, refrain from sin and iniquity, and serve the Lord? I would to God they would, but they will not do it. Sin must cease on the earth before iniquity and the workers thereof are unknown, there is no other way. We should not be blamed for praying that righteousness may reign, and that peace may come to the people. Is there war in our religion? No; neither war nor bloodshed. Yet our enemies cry out “bloodshed,” and “oh, what dreadful men these Mormons are, and those Danites! how they slay and kill!” Such is all nonsense and folly in the extreme. The wicked slay the wicked, and they will lay it on the Saints. But I say again that if the people called Latter-day Saints will live their religion they will never be driven from their homes in the mountains, but if they do sin to that extent that the Lord God of heaven will let them be driven, woe to them that come after us, for they will find greater desolation than we found when we came. If we will do right we are safe in the hands of God. We wish evil to no man or woman on this earth, but we wish to do good to all. Our Elders have circumscribed this little globe again and again without purse and scrip, offering the gospel to the nations of the earth. Will they have it? No; they prefer death, carnage, and destruction, and in the end they will receive the reward of the unjust. Let us take a course in which we shall be justified. We wish all people to do right, and if the Latter-day Saints will do so, and will sustain themselves and live within their own means, and never let their wants swell beyond them, all is right, we shall reign, and triumph over sin and iniquity. It is no more than reasonable, right, just, and equitable for us to ask those who wish to supplant us here to go to other places and build cities, plant orchards, raise grain, and make themselves comfortable, as we have done. They are perfectly welcome to eat, live, rule, and reign over one another, but let us alone to serve our God, build up His Kingdom on the earth, and live righteously and godly as we should.

Now, Elders of Israel, if you have the right to chew tobacco, you have a privilege I have not; if you have a right to drink whiskey, you have a right that I have not; if you have a right to transgress the Word of Wisdom, you have a right that I have not. If you have the right to buy and sell and get gain, to go here and there, to do this and that, to build up the wicked and the ungodly, or their cities, you have rights that I have not got. I have the right to build up Zion, but I have no right to build up a city in wickedness. It is the to close our morning’s meeting.

Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Nov. 15th, 1863.

The occasion of administering the Sacrament, the emblems of the death and sufferings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is a suitable time for every Latter-day Saint to make the inquiry, why are we Latter-day Saints; and for making an examination of some of the reasons which have moved upon us to receive the doctrines of this Latter-day dispensation, thereby subjecting ourselves to the jeers, scoffs and ridicule of our former friends and acquaintances.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized on the 6th of April, 1830, with six members, who had received baptism through the administration of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, the first elders of the Church. The cause of that organization is something we should consider when we inquire, why we are Latter-day Saints. At that time, as at present, there existed in the world a great variety of religious denominations, which were divided under general heads, and sub– divided into smaller divisions. Those who worship idols comprise probably more than one-half of the inhabitants of the earth; the followers of Mahomet, a very large portion of the remainder, perhaps one hundred and fifty millions of people. They receive the doctrines of the Arabian prophet. They discard idols, and follow the rules, precepts and ceremonies laid down in the Koran. They are subdivided into numerous sects. The portion of the world who acknowledge the Christian religion probably embraces a population of two hundred and fifty millions, the three main divisions of which are the Holy Catholic Church, or Church of Rome, the Greek Church, and the Protestant Churches. There are a great many subdivisions of the Protestant Churches, such as the Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, and others. I will not undertake to enumerate them. I have heard it said that the number corresponds with the number of the beast spoken of by John in Revelation, who declares the number of the name of the beast to be 666.

In a debate, some years ago, between Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Disciples or Reform Baptists, and Bishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, on the Catholic religion, Mr. Campbell undertook to prove that the numeral letters that composed the name of the beast would answer to the name of the Catholic Church. Bishop Purcell made a very facetious reply, saying that he could find the same numeral letters in the name of Alexander Campbell, and could find in these numerals, he thought, the beast with a hump on his back.

Now, though all these sects professing Christianity differ on various points, there is one peculiarity belonging to the whole of them—they all unite in declaring that God has ceased to give revelation and that He has ceased to inspire men with the spirit of prophecy. While they are all united on this point, they are divided on other points, such, for instance, as the doctrine of Transubstantiation, or the belief entertained by the Catholics, that the bread and wine consecrated for the Sacrament become the actual body and blood of Christ. I suppose that tens of thousands of men have died on the field of battle endeavoring to settle this question by the sword. Another point of difference is in relation to the form of baptism, some contending that to dip the finger into a cup of water and sprinkle an infant will answer as well as for an adult to go down into the water and be immersed as the Savior was. Thousands of learned men have exhausted their ingenuity trying to determine whether a certain Greek word, from which the word baptism is derived, means to immerse, to sprinkle or to pour.

In consequence of these differences of opinion societies and churches have been organized, not one of them having knowledge enough to inquire of the Lord and get a revelation to decide the matter. And if anyone tried to think of it and proposed such a thing he would subject himself to the ridicule of the whole, for they say, “all these things are done away with.”

When Joseph Smith was about fourteen or fifteen years old, living in the Western part of the State of New York, there was a revival of religion, and the different sects in that portion of the State—principally Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists—preached the necessity of belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, and repentance in order to be saved, declaring that unless men and women did this, and obtained what they termed, “a hope for the future,” they would be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, and there remain forever. I have heard men spend hours in endeavoring to explain how long this hell would last. It was frequently illustrated in this manner, “Suppose a bird could carry a drop of water from this planet to another, and be gone a year on the journey, and continue this until every drop of water on the earth was carried away, and then should take a particle of sand and go to another planet and be gone a thousand years, and carry one article of sand at a time until every particle of matter of which this globe is composed was carried away, that then this eternal punishment would have just commenced, and that the torture and pain there inflicted were so great that no mortal could conceive anything about it.” The general effort in their preaching was to scare men into the road to heaven by such descriptions of eternal punishment. When eloquent men deliver such discourses they produce, especially upon ignorant people, more or less agitation, and when this is pretty general it is called a revival of religion. But when the excitement subsides and the converts have obtained what is termed “a hope,” then the sects who may have united in bringing about such results begin to scramble to secure the converts. It was so at the time to which I have referred in western New York. The Baptists wanted their share, and the Methodists and Presbyterians theirs; and the scramble ended in a very unpleasant and unchristian state of feeling.

Joseph Smith had attended these meetings, and when this result was reached he saw clearly that something was wrong. He had read the Bible and had found that passage in James which says, “If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not,” and taking this literally, he went humbly before the Lord and inquired of Him, and the Lord answered his prayer, and revealed to Joseph, by the ministration of angels, the true condition of the religious world. When the holy angel appeared, Joseph inquired which of all these denominations was right and which he should join, and was told they were all wrong—they had all gone astray, transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances and broken the everlasting covenant, and that the Lord was about to restore the priesthood and establish His Church, which would be the only true and living Church on the face of the whole earth.

Joseph, feeling that to make known such a vision would be to subject himself to the ridicule of all around him, knew not what to do. But the vision was repeated several times, and in these repetitions he was instructed to communicate that which he had seen to his father. His father was not a member of any church, but was a man of exemplary life. His mother and bro. Hyrum were members of the Presbyterian church. Joseph communicated what he had seen to his father, who believed his testimony, and told him to observe the instructions that had been given him.

These visits led, in a short time, to the bringing forth of the record known as the Book of Mormon, which contained the fullness of the Gospel as it had been preached by the Savior and his apostles to the inhabitants of this land; also a history of the falling away of the people who dwelt on this continent and the dealings of God with them.

A great many of us can recollect that when we read the Bible in our young days it was like a sealed book; and we were taught, and the sentiment had been impressed upon us, that its contents had a two or threefold spiritual meaning, and that it required a man who had studied divinity to explain these hidden meanings. Yet we found in the New Testament that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” When we read the Book of Mormon it was a key to unlock the scriptures to our understandings; while perusing its pages, light burst upon our minds, and in this way the Book of Mormon revealed to us the light of the Gospel which before had seemed obscure.

The Gospel has connected with it certain ordinances, such for instance as the ordinance of baptism. Who has authority to administer this ordinance?

If we make the inquiry among the sects, the Baptists will say, “We have.” Where did you get it? “One Peter Waldo, a merchant, translated the four gospels and he established a church.” Where did he get his authority? “Why, some say he hired a monk to translate the gospels.” Where did the monk get his priesthood and authority to administer? “I think it must have come down through the church of Rome, if the church of Rome had authority.” When these reformers came out from it they were cut off and denounced as apostates, and if the priesthood they received came from the church of Rome, of course a stream cannot rise higher than its fountain, hence if the Romish church had the authority of the priesthood to give them she had the power to take it away. The question therefore answers itself. If there were any authority at all it was in the Romish church, yet these apostates from her united in denouncing her as the mother of harlots. It is clear enough, therefore, that they were all in darkness, and that none of them had revelations from God but were depending upon forms of godliness without the power for the support of their several religions, however holy they might call them. The result of this universal darkness and apostasy was that God had to reveal the priesthood anew, and through the administration of holy angels he gave authority to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, to baptize each other and to baptize, confirm and ordain others and to preach and administer the Gospel to this generation. This authority was not derived from the church of Rome or any other organization, but was given by special and direct revelation from Heaven.

It was no sooner noised abroad that Joseph Smith was preaching the Gospel in its purity and administering its ordinances than a howl went up from all the world that he was an impostor, an ignorant fellow, a man without education, and the Book of Mormon was denounced as ungrammatical. An argument was raised that if it had been translated by the gift and power of God it would have been strictly grammatical. Now so far as grammar is concerned we have King James’ Bible before us which was translated two hundred and fifty years ago, by a large number of the most learned men that could be found in Great Britain, and it was put into the best language of that time; but since that day the English language has undergone so many changes and improvements that societies have been formed in various countries for the express purpose of retranslating the Bible so as to make it in accordance with the modern usages of our language. When the Lord reveals anything to men He reveals it in language that accords with their own. If any or you were to converse with an angel, and you used strictly grammatical language he would do the same. But if you used two negatives in a sentence the heavenly messenger would use language to correspond with your understanding, and this very objection to the Book of Mormon is an evidence in its favor.

It has been claimed that a Presbyterian minister, named Solomon Spaulding, wrote the Book of Mormon; but the very language and style of the book are abundant evidence that it never was written by a learned man and that it never was written by a man who designed to make a romance or novel. It is very well known to hundreds and thousands that this statement in relation to Solomon Spaulding is entirely false, and that no such man ever had any acquaintance with Joseph Smith. It is also known to hundreds that the Book of Mormon was written by Oliver Cowdery, word for word as dictated by Joseph Smith, and that the original copy of that work was in Cowdery’s handwriting.

When Joseph Smith commenced to bear testimony to the things of the kingdom and to tell the people to repent of their sins and put away their hypocrisy and corruption, and to be baptized for the remission of their sins and receive the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost fell on them who obeyed, and bore testimony to them that they had received the truth. And thousands of the Elders have testified throughout the earth that they knew this was the work of God, for God had revealed it unto them; and they have declared that all who would humble themselves before the Lord and obey the principles of the Gospel, though they might subject themselves to the jeers and scoffs of those around them, and suffer persecution at the hands of mobs, would receive a testimony from God that this was His work.

The Elders, in bearing this testimony, have received anything but encouraging treatment. They have been mobbed, stoned, daubed with tar and feathers, driven from place to place and persecuted in every way. The pulpit and the press have teemed with abuse against them, and the whole Christian world has appeared to be anxious to destroy the “Mormons” as they are called. Elder Parley P. Pratt, before receiving the Gospel, was a minister of the Reformed Baptist, or Campbellite, Church in Ohio. This sect had a brick meetinghouse in Mentor, Geauga, now Lake Co. The people who owned this house had prided themselves on their great liberality, they would give everybody a chance to preach. Bro. Pratt, wishing to preach to them went there but found the door shut against him, and the congregation assembled outside. He preached on the door step. Quite a number of his former Christian brethren had gone to a neighboring grocery and qualified the inner man with something stimulating, and having supplied themselves with eggs, and procured a drum and fife they marched backwards and forwards in front of the speaker, throwing their eggs at him until their supply—five dozen—was exhausted. Elder Pratt kept on preaching and bearing testimony of the truth of the Gospel. Among those present who seemed to enjoy the scene was a Campbellite, a grave looking deacon, to whom a young man, a stranger, who happened to be present said, “Is this the way you worship God in this country?” “Oh, no Sir!” answered the deacon, “that man is a ‘Mormon.’” The stranger then remarked, “his talk is very reasonable.” “Yes,” said the old gentleman, “but he is a ‘Mormon,’ and we do not intend that he shall preach here.” “He appears very cool,” remarked the stranger. “Yes,” said the deacon, “he is used to it, he has been in such scrapes before.”

This circumstance illustrates the manner in which the Elders were received when they went forth to preach the Gospel, and it required the testimony of the Holy Spirit, a strong sense of duty and revelation from the Almighty to stir them up to go forth under such circumstances. Not only did this persecution extend to those who preached the Gospel, but to all believers, for, although the Saints were industrious, peaceable and virtuous, every kind of falsehood was told against them, their houses were torn down, their property destroyed and every species of injustice and cruelty was heaped upon them.

Our labors in these valleys will prove that we are an industrious people. When we came here we had to make the roads into the country and to bring all our supplies for 1200 or 1400 miles. We labored in this desert country, from which the Heavens withheld rain, and yet we had to cultivate the earth. Now, visitors exclaim, “what an industrious people you are!” We were always so. When we settled in the state of Missouri we made the prairie blossom like the rose. But our enemies lied about us and published scandal concerning us, although we were law-abiding. There was not a solitary man in the county of Jackson, who held office, who was a “Mormon,” yet there was never a lawsuit or complaint against the Latter-day Saints up to the time the mobs in Jackson County broke loose upon us and drove us away and robbed us of our homes; and when the mob published their manifesto, to which the whole of them placed their names, they declared that the civil law gave them no hold of “this people, who profess to heal their sick with holy oil.” The Apostle James says, “if any are sick, let them send for the Elders, who shall anoint them with oil, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick.” The Latter-day Saints believed and practiced this, and this was urged as a reason for driving us from our homes, tearing down our houses, tarring and feathering the bishops and leading men, whipping the Elders, destroying their property, and sending them forth, outcasts, into the world. This puts me in mind of the old Quaker, who was very particular about taking life. He was very much annoyed at a dog that came into his store, but not wishing to kill him, he said, “I’ll not kill thee, but I’ll give thee a bad name,” so he turned him out, at the same time crying, “bad dog, bad dog!” Somebody hearing this, thought the Quaker said, “mad dog,” and shot him. After they had turned us out they gave us a bad name.

These circumstances have a tendency to impress deeply upon the minds of the Latter-day Saints a determination to know why they are such. The God of heaven has revealed to us that this is His work. He has implanted in the hearts of the faithful a living, burning, eternal testimony that this is the only way of salvation, and that all things else are comparatively worthless.

Why have we penetrated these mountains? To establish ourselves here that we might enjoy religious liberty. We have sacrificed more for religious liberty than any set of men in this generation and we are here for this purpose. And in every act of our lives we should do our best to preserve unchanged, and unalloyed the pure faith of the everlasting Gospel which God has revealed to us for our salvation.

I bear testimony that these things are true, and that God did inspire His servant Joseph Smith and the Elders of Israel to lay the foundation of the only true Church upon the face of the earth, and did inspire His servant Brigham Young to lead forth the Saints to build up Zion in the chambers of the mountains in these last days—and this is the path to celestial glory. Oh, but, says one, “Are you going to send everybody who does not believe in ‘Mormonism’ to that burning lake you were talking about?” No, we are not, we expect that God will deal with every man according to his works, whether good or evil; but we testify that no man can ever attain to the fullness of the blessings of celestial glory without obeying the ordinances which God has revealed to the Latter-day Saints. But there is a glory of the sun, and of the moon and of the stars, and one star differeth from another star in glory; so it is in the eternal worlds; in the great diversity of glories there is a place for all in accordance with their works, knowledge and understanding. But when we have come to a knowledge of the truth, if we fall therefrom our position is worse than if we had never obeyed it, hence the necessity of continued zeal on our part to fulfil the great duties required of us that we may be prepared for exaltation in the kingdom of God, which may God grant us in the name of Jesus. Amen.