Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, October 7, 1872.

God has said that Zion shall be as a city set upon a hill, whose light cannot be hid. We are called to be the children of Zion. The Lord has declared that Zion consists of the pure in heart. He has said, further, that the nations of the earth have corrupted their way before him, and, referring to Babylon, his command to his Saints is—“Come out of her, O my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not of her plagues.” The Bible is full of prophecies delivered by the Prophets and Patriarchs, and by the Savior and his Apostles, concerning the day and age in which we live. The end draweth nigh and the time approacheth speedily when the Lord will make a full end of all nations who fight against Zion, who reject his law and harden their hearts against him, his precepts and his government. It is our high privilege to bear this testimony, and the testimony we have to bear unto the people of the 19th century is but a renewal of that which was borne by Prophets and Saints in days past and gone. They spoke of the time in which we live by the spirit of prophecy and revelation, which was like one looking through a glass darkly, yet it is our privilege to behold with our eyes and to hear with our ears those things which Prophets and Patriarchs long desired to see, but died without the sight. The duty especially enjoined upon us today is to awake to righteousness, and consider the calling wherewith God has called us. We should consider that God has separated us by the preaching of his word and by the testimony of Jesus; and has called us to be a distinct people, distinct in this particular, that we separate ourselves from sin and wickedness, and, as far as possible, from the company of sinners and from all those customs and habits that tend to darken, degrade and abase the human mind, and cultivate those which will sanctify the affections, purify the heart and ennoble the whole being of man, and fit us, as far as in us lies, to regenerate ourselves and our race. In short, God desires, and has put forth his hand, to exalt his people from their low degree, and to lift them up and make of them a peculiar people, a holy nation, a kingdom of Priests unto the Most High God and the Lamb.

In all this, is there anything that can hurt, destroy or injure, in any wise, any portion of our fellow men who do not feel disposed to join us in this glorious work, or engage with us in this noble enterprise? Not at all. The salvation of God is revealed for the good of all men who will receive it. The Gospel is offered without money and without price to all flesh, and the testimony that we bear to the world is that Jesus died for all, and that through the shedding of his blood, salvation may come unto all men who will believe and yield obedience unto the requirements of his Gospel. The government which is inaugurated and established among men by the preaching of the Gospel, and the administration of its holy ordinances, is a government of peace, love and goodwill to men, prompting those who receive it to do good unto all, but especially unto the household of faith.

The duties which are enjoined upon us are, first, to our own household—the household of God, those who have been baptized into Christ by being born again of the water and of the Spirit, and become the children of God by adoption. Next, to all men who have not thus been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son; and that love which is wrought in the Saints of God by the fire of the Holy Ghost through faith in and obedience to the Gospel, prompts all who are brought under its influence to yield obedience to its requirements and to labor for the well-being of every creature that bears the form of God.

There is nothing in the constitution of the Gospel, or the organization of the Church of Christ and the kingdom of God among men, and the precepts that are taught of God and his servants, that would in the least degree inflict injury or withhold blessings from any member of the family of man, inasmuch as they place themselves in a condition to receive them, and are willing to accept them. But God has ordained certain everlasting principles of truth by which his people may be exalted, and without which they cannot be exalted into his presence and to the enjoyment of his glory. All things are governed by law, and all good and wholesome laws, which are ordained and enacted by men, designed for the peace, prosperity and well-being of their fellow creatures, should be respected, maintained and honored by all people, and this is one of the duties enjoined upon all Saints in all the commandments and revelations of God to his people.

It is, further, the duty of all who are entrusted with the administration of law, in any department whatever, to act in good faith, in all purity and integrity, and in good conscience for the well-being and happiness of their fellow creatures in the administration of justice, truth and judgment; and it should be the aim of all lawmakers to consult the best interests of the people from whom they derive authority, or in whose behalf they are called to act. It is the duty of Latter-day Saints, and of all good people to honor all laws and regulations that are ordered for the freedom of all flesh. And if there are people who do not feel disposed to, or who cannot receive the testimony of the Lord Jesus, they are left with as much freedom to enjoy the rights and privileges which are accorded to them, as the children of God on the earth, as though they did believe, taking and suffering the consequences of their own unbelief, which consequence will be a failure to attain to the blessings which are revealed, and which God deigns to bestow upon the obedient and faithful.

The word of the Lord unto all flesh is, “Come unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” If any doubt the yoke of Christ being easy and his burden being light, let them try the experiment, and demonstrate for themselves. If there are any either, within or without the Church of Christ, who feel his yoke to be heavy and galling, and his burden not to be easy, I can inform them that they have not taken upon themselves the yoke of Christ, they are not bearing his burden, for they are not meek and lowly of heart, they have not learned their lessons correctly—how to govern and control their own spirits by the principles and spirit of the everlasting Gospel. There is nothing in its nature that is oppressive, galling or hard to bear. In saying this I give the experience of my life, for it has been devoted from my childhood to the contempla– tion of these glorious truths, with an earnest endeavor to apply them practically unto myself, and I have demonstrated them, and I speak that which I know and have experienced, and most assuredly believe and testify of them. And many there are who believe this testimony and are able to corroborate it; and those who are not, and have not experienced it in their lives have the privilege of doing so.

It is our duty to sanctify the Lord in this land that he has given us for an inheritance, by observing, not only the law of tithing, which is one means which he has given us for that purpose, but by observing every precept that emanates from him, and living by every word that proceeds from his mouth, not forgetting the words of wisdom, which are designed to improve us in a physical point of view, to add strength to our bodies, lengthen our lives, to increase our powers of endurance, and to increase the strength, efficiency and power of the rising generation. Every institution which God has established in our midst—social, political and religious—is designed for our improvement, individually and collectively, as a people and as families, to prolong our lives and to increase our usefulness and our ability for good in the earth; and if we observe these principles and apply them diligently in our lives, praying earnestly with our families and in secret to the Lord for wisdom in doing so, our light will continue to shine, our strength to increase and our influence both at home and abroad, on the earth and in the heavens, before God, angels and good men, and the strength, union, faith, light and purity of the lives of the Latter-day Saints will be a terror to evildoers.

What can men do against the Lord, and against the people who fear him and are united in good works? What can the arm of flesh accomplish but its own discomfiture. The weapons of the people of God are not carnal, but they are mighty through faith. We war not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places, and against corruption wherever it is found, reproving sin, folly, deception, dishonesty and wickedness of every kind. And if there are those who profess to be Saints, and who do not live the life of Saints, whose light is not shining, whose lamps are not trimmed and burning, whose lives and characters, precepts and examples do not correspond with the principles of the Gospel, this only testifies to the weakness of men and is nothing against the truth, the testimony of Jesus, or against the testimony of those who do live their religion and magnify their calling as Saints, and whose precepts and examples correspond. If some do not believe, will that make the truth of God of none effect or less valuable? And what if some do not make their lives correspond with their doctrines and precepts, it will but show more vividly and clearly the character of those who are clean and pure, and who do love the truth and delight to honor it.

I am a witness of the truth which God has revealed unto man pertaining to the fullness of the Gospel: that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of those who will receive him, and that he has laid the foundation for a more glorious and extended salvation than the majority of us are capable of conceiving and properly comprehending; and his work is onward in the earth, and it will continue onward and upward, until the nations of the earth shall be warned, and all people who will hear may hear and receive the Gospel, be numbered with his children, be gathered into his fold, become the children of Zion, and prepared for his coming, for at the appointed time, which he has foretold, and which time is in the bosom of the Father, the Son will surely come in the clouds of heaven and the holy Angels with him, to assume the reins of government on the earth, and to reign King of kings and Lord of lords. Then, all those who will not bow to his scepter, yield obedience to his rule, and accept of his government and of his dominion will be cut off. Then comes the time spoken of when every knee that remains shall bow, and every tongue confess, to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus is the Christ.

It is to lay the foundation of this work, and to prepare a people for this era that the Lord called his servant Joseph Smith, and revealed unto him the fullness of the Gospel in this, the 19th century. Elder Rich testified that he knew, by the revelations of God to himself, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. The question will arise in the minds of the unbelieving, How can this be? They marvel, like Nicodemus marveled when Jesus told him he must be born again. He wondered within himself how a man could be born again—how, when he was old, he could enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born. The marvel rises in the minds of many, How can a man know for himself that Joseph Smith was truly called to be a Prophet, seer and revelator to this generation? That God did reveal to him the fullness of the Gospel? That the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the Gospel—the same that was taught and revealed by the Savior and his disciples, as recorded in the New Testament? How can a man know that Angels administered to him? That God opened the visions of heaven to the Prophet Joseph Smith? I answer, They may know it precisely as the Apostle Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. It is in this manner that Elder Rich knows that Joseph Smith was a Prophet; it is in this manner that I know he was a Prophet and a servant of God raised up to commence this work in the earth, and to lay the foundation of the Church and kingdom of God on the earth. When Jesus asked Peter and the rest of the Apostles, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man am?” They answered, “Some think thou art Elias; others that thou art John the Baptist risen from the dead; others that thou art Jeremiah or one of the Prophets.” “But whom say ye that I am?” Peter answered—“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “Blessed art thou Simon Barjonah, flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven; and verily I say unto thee, upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Not upon Peter, not his person, for he was flesh, and must pass away like the flower of the field. It was not on Peter, or his successors in office, as is taught by the Romish church. Then who and what was this rock Christ referred to? It was the rock of revelation, revelation from the living God. “On this rock,” said the Savior, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” And I repeat that I know the truth of the Gospel, as Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ, by revelation unto me from the Father who is in heaven, and I bear this testimony unto you.

I know that there are many, very many, whose testimony has been proclaimed in the ears of this generation, and is recorded in heaven. Their words are like the precious things that John saw in the vials that were before the throne of God, and their testimony will remain, and blessed are all those who receive it. Blessed be the Lord God who revealed these things unto Peter and unto his servant Joseph, and who has revealed it unto many more who have sought him with an earnest desire to know his ways! Blessed are those who fear him and keep his commandments!

May God help us to live as Saints, and let our light shine! May God seal the testimony of the Twelve upon the hearts of those who desire it, that they may come unto and walk in the light, be saved through the truth, and inherit exaltation with the sanctified, is my prayer, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered at the 42nd Semi-Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, October 7, 1872.

I am happy to have the privilege of meeting with and speaking to the Saints on the present occasion. If I were inclined to take a text I would repeat a passage made use of by Jesus, which is something like this—“Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart and you shall find rest to your souls.” Perhaps I may not have got it verbatim, however the principle is there, and you can correct it from the written word. The ideas contained in the saying of the Redeemer are rather peculiar. The yoke that is there referred to would seem to imply a degree of servitude of some kind or other, and men generally look upon such expressions in that point of view. The nations of the earth, generally, are under some kind of rule and government. The religious portion of mankind are also under a species of government and rule, and no matter where you go, you find an influence of this kind more or less prevailing among men. We stand here in rather an anomalous position. We have a church with its government or laws, and we have also a government and laws according to the organization of the United States. Hence our obligations are twofold, one as subjects of the United States, the other as subjects of the Church of God. And then, were we to go a little further, we might also add, of the kingdom of God. Now, in every government of men that exists anywhere on the face of the earth, there is a species of rule associated with and founded on authority voluntarily given by the people or usurped by the rulers, according to circumstances; but all mankind, everywhere, are under some form of dominion, government or rule. The same thing applies also to churches and the worship of God. There are various systems in existence on the earth, including Judaism, Mahomedanism, Pantheism, and heathenism of many kinds, as it has existed for generations in many parts of the earth; and there is Christianity with the multifarious ideas, rule, and authority of the Christian churches as they exist, scattered abroad in the earth, principally in Europe and America as well as in some parts of Africa and Asia. But whether we refer to the Pagan, Jewish, Christian, or any other form of religion, its followers are expected to submit to some kind of authority; to subscribe to certain articles of faith, and to submit to certain forms, laws and ordinances, according to their several theories.

The same thing precisely, exists among the nations; they have their various forms of rule, government and dominion, and they exact certain conditions from their subjects. No matter what kind of government, it requires a species of obedience from all persons living under it; for government, of course, necessarily implies rule, authority, dominion, governors and governed, or law and the execution of that law. All these principles exist in one form or another over all the face of the wide earth whereon we live. We cannot separate ourselves from that, go where we will. In a despotic government the power to dictate and control all its affairs is vested in the emperor, according to his own will and pleasure, sometimes, perhaps, modified by counsel, which he can receive or reject at pleasure. In other kinds of government, such as are called limited monarchies, the people hold a certain part of the power or authority in their own hands, and give a certain part to the government. The government of England belongs to this class. There they have a king or queen, as the case may be, at the head of the government, and two houses called the Lords and Commons, the latter are elected by and represent the people. It is what is called a popular government, the people having a voice, but at the same time they concede a certain amount of their power to their legislators, who manage their affairs according to their ideas of what would be most beneficial for the nation.

The government of the United States is what is called a republic. In a form of government of this kind the foundation of all law, power and authority is the voice or will of the people; that is the genius of the government. It is based upon a written constitution granting unto the legislature power to do thus and so, and to go no further; and while they who make and administer the laws confine themselves within the limits of that constitution, their acts are what is called constitutional. When they go beyond that, their acts are called unconstitutional, that is, they deprive the people of certain rights guaranteed to them by the written compact that they have entered into. I speak of these things simply to elucidate certain ideas that I wish to communicate.

But to proceed further. If we—the people in this Territory, or in other Territories or in the States, confer certain powers on the General Government, we no longer retain them, they are ceded away by us to others. If we give to our legislators certain authority, they hold that authority, and it is for us to submit to the laws which may be enacted by them. This is what is called republicanism, and it is also in agreement with the theory of a limited monarchy. Whenever a people give up certain rights they ought to honor the parties into whose hands they place them. The President of the United States ought to be sustained; so ought the ministers of the government of England, by the people over whom they preside, because they are acting for and on their behalf and according to their dictates. If you go to some other governments they ask no odds of the people. Say they, “We will be sustained, if we have to sustain ourselves by the sword.”

We come now to religious matters, and here in our own country are Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and a host of others. I need not go to foreign countries and examine their religions. I wish to arrive at certain conclusions, and to do so I have no need to go beyond the confines of the United States. Here we have the Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Quakers, Shakers and so forth. Very well, all these sects have their own peculiar ideas of church government. The Methodist has his Discipline—a system got up by the ministers of that church that all its members have to be governed by. They must come within the purview and be under the influence thereof. If you ask a Methodist to become a Latter-day Saint, he might say, and truly, “I have not the privilege of being Methodist and Latter-day Saint at the same time.” A man cannot be a Baptist and a Methodist at the same time, neither can he be a Methodist and a shaking Quaker. Why? Because he is bound by the articles of the Discipline of his church, and he must submit to that. So it is in regard to the Catholics. Many of you have no doubt read recently of Pere Hyacinthe, who, a short time ago, was very popular among the Roman Catholics. But he dissented from their views; and among other things he took to himself a wife, which was contrary to their ideas and creed, and probably his own views. The result was that they excommunicated him and they treated him as if he had been dead, and had a funeral, following him to his grave while he was yet living. This is according to their ideas, and he, being a Catholic, had no right to expect anything else. A Catholic priest must submit to the laws of the priesthood, and they have excommunicated him for departing therefrom, and he had no cause to complain. We may have our own peculiar ideas about the propriety of this, that and the other religious faith, ceremonies and forms of worship, but I am now speaking of law, and of governments, and of the arrangements that peoples, nations, churches, and the members of churches bind themselves to be governed by.

The same thing applies to any of the various sects that exist in Christendom. The Baptist commences a church, and he believes in baptism by immersion, but he could not be a Latter-day Saint. Why? Because he can be baptized by anybody not having authority from God, and he does not believe that baptism is for the remission of sins. According to his ideas he must have his sins forgiven first, and then be baptized after a while. He could not be a Latter-day Saint, because his ideas and ours are at variance. If a man is a Baptist, as long as he remains so, he must submit to their law. If he is a Methodist, and remains so, he must submit to their discipline, be it right or wrong, the question of their laws being Scriptural or not has to be decided in and of itself. It is the same way with a nation. If I were in Russia, and did not like the government, I might, if they would allow me, go to England, come to the United States, or go to one of the Southern republics, and become a citizen thereof, but I could not be a republican in Russia. If I went to England, I should have to be subject to the laws of England, and the same if I came to the United States, hence the principle that I mentioned before is applicable all the way through, no matter which way you look at it. I am not saying at present which of these governments, whether religious or political, is right, I am merely trying to elucidate a principle that exists among and is acknowledged by men. If I go to live in any country on the face of the earth, I have to be subject to its laws, and if I am a reasonable, intelligent man, I acknowledge the propriety of my being so. If I join the Methodist church, I have a right to be a good Methodist, and to submit to their discipline. If I join the Baptist church I have a right to be a good Baptist, and to submit to their discipline, creed, laws and so on, for I join them knowing that I ought to submit to them, and as an honorable man I do so or leave it.

Well, we stand here in a peculiar position, as before stated. We are here in a religious capacity, and we are here in a political capacity. As religionists our faith is that God has spoken, and that angels have ministered to men; that the everlasting Gospel has been restored in its fullness, simplicity and purity, as it existed in Jesus’s day. We believe in Apostles and Prophets, and in the principle of revelation—in God communicating with the human family. These things were taught to us before we became members of this Church, and we received them as part and parcel of our faith, and having faith in this system we obeyed it. We believed in being baptized for the remission of sins, and having hands laid upon us for the reception of the Holy Ghost. That is our faith, it has been communicated to us by revelation, by the opening heavens, by the voice of God, by the ministering of holy angels, and by the testimony of God’s servants, as they have gone forth through the world.

We also believe in having a Priesthood—a ruling power to regulate and dictate, under the guidance of the Almighty, the affairs of his Church and kingdom upon the earth. That is our faith, and it was taught to us when we first listened to “Mormonism.” Before we were baptized into this Church we believed the men whom we heard proclaim its principles were inspired by the Almighty, and we pray to God for them daily now, that the revelations of Heaven may be unfolded to their view, and that the purposes of God may be made plain to their understanding, that they may be able to instruct the people and lead them in the way of life. This is our faith, and when we talk about these things we do so understandingly, there is no halfway business about it.

We meet here today in Conference, believing in these principles. When we talk about paying our tithing, we believe that it is the duty of all who ever obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ to contribute one-tenth of their increase to the Lord. As Latter-day Saints we subscribe to this, and we believe it is right to be honest, and to show integrity in this as in everything else. We believe in being truthful, virtuous, pure and holy, and we believe in keeping the commandments of God in all things. This is part and parcel of our religious faith and belief, and we have, from time to time, of our own free will, subscribed to these very principles of which I have spoken; and we have held up our hands time and time again to sustain the authorities of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. Having said so much in regard to these things, I desire, very briefly, to compare the position that we occupy with that which others occupy.

I have already told you that there exists a variety of governments on the earth, and that all men are expected to be in subjection to the laws and usages of the governments under which they live. I have told you that in England they have a limited monarchy. At the present time a queen presides over their destinies. How did she come to that office? She was born of royalty, and inherited it by lineal descent. The people had no choice in the matter. She has been, I believe, a very good, virtuous, exemplary woman, and has ruled with mildness, generosity and kindness among her people; but if she had done otherwise, she was still their queen. Now I want to talk about what people call equal rights, and to examine a certain principle in relation to these things. What say had the people of England in regard to their queen? None at all. The President of the United States is elected by the people, therefore he is what may be termed the people’s candidate. How often do they elect a President of the United States? Once every four years, and consequently there is great excitement now on account of the coming Presidential election. The people are ranging themselves into parties, and each party using all the influence they possess to elect their own special and peculiar favorites. Besides the President, there are Legislators and Governors. Governors generally hold their office for four years; Senators of the United States from four to six years, according to circumstances; members of the House of Representatives for two years. In many of the States and Territories the Legislators are elected for two years, and hence, during the time for which they are elected, they have a perfect right to use their own judgment in enacting laws for the benefit of the people, being sworn not to transcend certain bounds laid down as their guide. If they should be ever so bad during their term of office, and should enact oppressive laws, the people have no right to change them until their time expires, unless, from some flagrant violation of their trust, they should be impeached.

How is it in the churches? With the Catholics it is once a priest always a priest, except in such cases as that of Pere Hyacinthe, and then they bury them. In some churches the bishops and other authorities hold office during good behavior, or for lifetime; in some churches they are voted for by a certain conclave according to circumstances and their own peculiar notions and dogmas, and in very many instances these officers hold their offices for life without any counteraction whatever, unless they violate their own constitutions, laws or discipline, when they are liable to be dealt with according to the laws and regulations of their several churches. Now nobody thinks they are very badly oppressed in all this. They enter these churches voluntarily, they are not bound to stay in them, and they leave them when they like.

Now let us contrast our position with that of other people in these respects. We hear a good deal about one man power. I want to examine that power a little, and see how it exists, and how far it extends. We believe in two principles—one is the voice of God, the other is the voice of the people. For instance, we believe that nobody but God could set the religious world right, we believe that none but God could have given any man correct information in regard to doctrine and ordinances. We believe that God did instruct Joseph Smith in relation to both, and also pertaining to the government of his people here on the earth. How are this people selected and set apart? Joseph Smith was selected by the Lord, and set apart, and ordained by holy angels. How with the others? By the authority which God conferred on Joseph he selected, set apart, and ordained others to the various orders and organizations of the Priesthood. We know that the Lord, in former times, called some men who did not magnify their call– ing, and who were set aside as unfit for the Master’s use. Jesus, for instance, called Judas to be one of the Twelve, and Judas betrayed him, and he was cut off from the Twelve. We have had many instances in our Church of a similar nature, men have been found unfaithful, and they have been cut off. By whom? By the authority of that Priesthood of which they formed a part. That Priesthood has the same power now that it had formerly—to bind on earth and it is bound in heaven, to loose on earth and it is loosed in heaven. How does this Priesthood stand in relation to the people? It is not thrust upon them as the queens of England, the kings of France, the emperor of Austria, or as the former king, but now emperor of Prussia, are; no, it is not thrust upon the people in any such way. It is precisely in the same way that the Israelites were organized in former times—God gave them certain laws, and all the people said “Amen,” then the laws became binding upon Israel. The position we occupy is this: the Holy Ghost, which has been given to all who have obeyed the Gospel, and have lived faithful to its precepts, takes of the things of God, and shows them forth through a living Priesthood to a people enlightened and instructed by the Spirit of revelation from God, and the people thus enlightened, instructed and blessed by the spirit of light, voluntarily and gladly sustain the Priesthood who minister unto them. When Joseph Smith was upon the earth, he did not force himself upon the people as these kings and emperors do, but he presented himself before them every six months, at the Annual or Semi-Annual Conference, and the people had a chance to lift up their hands to receive or reject him. That was the position occupied by Joseph Smith, and those associated with him, in guiding the affairs of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth, and it is precisely so with President Young. He stands here as the representative of God to the people, as the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is, or ought to be, full of light, life, revelation and the power of God, and he is, and bears testimony to it. He ought to be able to lead the people in the paths of life, and he is. He is the choice of God, and what more? He is the choice of the people of God. Has he a right to say, “I am chosen, I am elected, I am President, and I will do as I darned please, and help yourselves?” No, he presents himself before you, and if there is any man who has aught against him, he has the privilege of holding up his hand to signify the same. That is the position of our President—he is brought to a test every six months, as it rolls around, before the assembled Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the same with the Twelve, the President of the Stake, the High Council, the Presidents of Seventies, and with all the leading officers of the Church—they are all put to this test twice a year, and the people have the privilege of voting for or against them, just as they please.

Here then, on the one hand, there is the voice of God. Shall we object to it? Who made us? Who organized us, and the elements with which we are surrounded and that we inhale? Who organized the planetary system that we see around us? Who provides breakfast, dinner and supper for the millions that dwell on the face of the earth? Who clothes them, as he does the lilies of the field? Who imparts unto man his breath, life, health, his powers of locomotion, thought, and all the godlike attributes with which he is endowed? Where did they come from? Who has controlled and managed the affairs of the world from its creation until the present time? The Great I Am, the Great Eloheim, the Great God who is our Father. We bow before him. Is it a hardship to reverence the Lord our God? Is it a hardship to have him for our instructor? And shall we follow the notions, theories, ideas and folly of men, who seek to supersede the wisdom, light and paternal care of God our heavenly Father? No, we will not. God is our God, “the Lord is our God, the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our King, and he shall rule over us.” We do not object to bow the knee to God and say, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven:” and we pray that it may be hastened. We acknowledge, we bow before, we reverence the name of our heavenly Father. That is one thing that we do for God, who causes seedtime and harvest, summer and winter, day and night, the God who has watched over us and all the myriads of the inhabitants of the earth from the time of creation until the present time; the God in whose hands are the destinies of the human family pertaining to this world and the worlds to come. If God will deign to teach, lead and dictate us, we bow with reverence before him, and say, “It is the Lord, let him do as seems him good.” We ask the guidance of the Almighty, we reverentially present ourselves before him and we submit to his authority; for his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

What next? Then comes the freedom of man. On the one hand the guidance of God, on the other the freedom of man. We ask God to dictate us and he does. He has given us a President, Apostles, Prophets, Bishops; he has organized his Church in the most perfect and harmonious manner. We see these things before us. I need not talk about the country that we inhabit, nor about the blessings that have been shed abroad among us, rich in comparison with those enjoyed by others by whom we are surrounded. These things are patent to all intelligent men, and surprise is frequently expressed at our improvements and at the wisdom and intelligence that have governed, managed and controlled our affairs; they do not know where they came from. We do—they come from God through the medium of his servants.

What next? God having given us a President inspired by his Holy Spirit, we are required to vote for him—will we have him or will we reject him? We lift up our hands and say, “Yes, we will receive him.” The world say this is despotism, being governed by one man. Is it despotism for every man and every woman to have a voice in the selection of those who rule over them? Is that despotism, tyranny or oppression? If it is I do not know what the terms mean. There are no people on the face of the earth today who have to undergo so severe a criticism as the President and Priesthood of this Church before the people, and why is it that the people vote unanimously for them? “Well,” say the world, “there is a kind of influence, we hardly know what, we wish it did not exist, for we do not like this one man power.” I know you do not, for it is one thousand men, ten thousand men power, it is the power of the kingdom of God on the earth, and the power of God united with it, that is what it is. As I have already said, it is not only the President of the Church who has to undergo this test, but the Twelve, the Seventies, and all the presiding officers of the Church have to go through the same ordeal.

I will now go back to my text. I have been a long way from it, but you know it is usual to preach from the text. I have been from mine awhile, now I am coming back to it. Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.” What was the yoke placed upon the followers of Jesus? Precisely the same as that placed upon you. What did he tell his disciples to do? To go forth and baptize the people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and it was promised that certain signs should follow them that believed. In his name they should cast out devils, speak with new tongues, if they drank any deadly thing it should not hurt them, and if they laid hands on the sick they should recover. The word was—“Go forth in my name and with my authority, and my Spirit shall accompany you.” And it did, and the people became one in faith, doctrine and principle, just as the Scriptures say. “Take my yoke upon you.” What was it? Said he, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth; blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God; blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” This was the kind of yoke Jesus put upon them, and this is the kind that is put upon you—to love righteousness, keep the commands of God, live your religion and obey the principles of truth, is this a hard yoke? This is what is required of Latter-day Saints. “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me!” And how did he do it? He obeyed the will of his Father, and then he expected his disciples to obey his will. Said he, “Father, I pray for them, that they may be one”—a good deal of this one-man power there, was there not? “I pray for them, that they may be one, even as the Father and I are one, that they may be one in us;” and in his mind, looking to the universal expansion of this heavenly principle, said he, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for all them that shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, even as I and the Father are one, that the world may know that thou hast sent me.” This was the kind of principle the Savior taught to his followers, and this is the kind that is taught to us.

Now let me ask is it right for a Methodist to obey the Methodist discipline? Yes, or else leave them, he has the privilege to do which he pleases. Is it right for a Presbyterian to obey the Presbyterian doctrine and principles? Yes, or leave them. Is it right for a Roman Catholic to obey their principles? Yes, or leave them. Is it right for a Latter-day Saint to obey their principles? Yes, or leave them, one of the two. Do not try to drag in something else, do not make Methodists of us for instance, nor Presbyterians. Do not try to make Catholics of us, if you do not like “Mormonism” leave it. That is honest, straightforward and upright, and good doctrine, and according to the principles which are acknowledged to be correct everywhere. “Well,” says one, “I think that things could be improved a little.” Well then, go out somewhere and make your improvements, here is a big continent, go north or south, or where you please. Get as many to follow you as you can, and teach them what principles you please, and if you can build up a better system than ours all right, but do not start it here. This is the kind of faith that Paul spoke of when he said, “If thou hast faith have it to thyself.” If you do not have it to yourselves take as many with you as you can get. That is right, the world is open, plenty of room in every direction, go and try your hand and see how you will succeed.

The same principle is true in relation to other things as well as to religion. I might apply it to things political. Some people say, “You folks always vote together,” we would be poor coots if we did not, and just as bad as the rest of you. Some folks here, a short time ago, got up a little political operation, and tried how it would answer to run one against another; but it did not work well and they had to quit. We believe in oneness, and our outside friends say, “We do not.” Yes you do, y-e-s y-o-u d-o. Now all you gentlemen who go in for General Grant would you not like to elect him? Yes you would, and you will use all the influence that you have to do so, and if he is not elected it will be because you cannot do it, because you have not influence enough to elect him. On the other hand, you who are in favor of Horace Greeley, how you would like to have him elected, would you not? Yes, you would. And will you not get all to vote for him that you possibly can? Yes, and if all do not vote for him it will not be your fault. Well, if the people do not vote as we want them it will not be our fault, and the only difference, in this respect, between you and President Young is, that he has a little more influence than you, therefore do not grunt about it, these things are fair and straightforward. When men talk about oppression they talk about what they do not understand, and the same when they talk about the one-man power and the bondage of the people. Is it not horrible bondage for the whole people to have the privilege of voting for whom they please? Terrible, let us get out of it, shall we not, and go somewhere where they will not let us do as we please, and have some of that liberty that would put shackles upon us, and bind us down? But we Latter-day Saints do not want that, we want to be delivered from that, and to walk according to the light of truth. Well, let us take the yoke of Christ upon us, and learn of him, and keep the commandments of God. And if we vote for a Bishop somewhere over yonder, let us sustain him as long as he is in office, and if he does not do what is right we will vote him out. And if we have Presidents or Apostles or anybody that we do not like, let us vote them out, and be free men, and cultivate and cherish in our bosoms the principles of liberty. But let us be careful that we do not grieve the Spirit of the Lord, and while we are looking at these things let us look at our own eternal interests, and lean upon God for wisdom and instruction, that his Spirit may lead us in the paths of life, that we may comprehend true principles, and be one as Jesus was and is one with the Father.

May God help us to be faithful, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Sept. 22, 1872.

Having been requested to address the congregation this afternoon, I do so with the greatest cheerfulness. There is one passage of Scripture I would like very much to take as a text, if I knew where to find it. It is somewhere in the book of Jeremiah or Ezekiel. I have not time now to look it up, and perhaps it would be better to take some other text having a bearing on the same subject. The text to which I would like to direct the attention of the people has reference to the colonization of this country by one of the descendants of Zedekiah, king of Judah. It reads something like this: “Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: in the mountain of the height of Israel, will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.”

We read of the fulfillment of this prophecy in the Book of Mormon; but because I cannot direct your attention to the passage, I will read another text, which will be found in the 11th verse of the 85th Psalm: “Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.”

Forty-five years ago this morning this prophecy, so far as it relates to “truth springing out of the earth,” was fulfilled. Forty-five years ago, early this morning, plates resembling gold were taken from the earth, the morning, if I recollect right, of the 22nd of September, 1827. Owing to that great event the Territory of Utah is now settled by the people called Latter-day Saints. Owing to the fulfillment of this prophecy this Tabernacle has been built here in these mountains; and had it not been for that event, it is probable that Utah Territory would still have been a desert, a barren, solitary, uninhabited district of country. Sometimes great things are accomplished and grow out of things that appear very small in their nature. It has been so in relation to this prophecy—“Truth shall spring out of the earth.”

In order that the meaning of these words may be more fully understood, it may not be amiss to read the context or the passages preceding. The Psalmist commences—

Lord, thou hast been favorable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.

Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.

Wilt thou be angry with us forever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?

Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.

I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

Thus reads the 85th Psalm. It is very evident that the Psalmist David, being filled with the spirit of prophecy, saw the condition of the people of Israel, saw also that they would be under the displeasure of the Almighty for many generations, and he prays that the Lord would look upon them in compassion, and turn himself from the fierceness of his anger, that it might not be drawn out towards them to all generations, and he utters this prayer: “Turn us, O God of our salvation, and show unto us thy mercy,” etc. The Lord, in answer to this prayer, promised to speak peace to his people, but said he, “Let them not turn again unto folly.” And then he informs them how he would speak peace unto them, and how he would turn himself from the fierceness of his anger, that his anger might not be drawn out unto them to all generations. He informs them that he would commence this great work, that should result in peace and salvation to Israel, by causing truth to spring out of the earth, at which time righteousness should look down from heaven. Righteousness and truth and peace should kiss one another, and the Lord should cause the land of Israel again to yield its increase. We know how barren, sterile and uninhabitable is the land that was once promised to that chosen people. The Lord has not only cursed the people and made them a hiss and a byword among all the nations whither they have been driven, but his anger has also been upon their land. He has withheld the rains of heaven, and has cursed it with barrenness and sterility; and the cities which once covered its face and reared their lofty spires to heaven, now lie in ruins, and scarcely a vestige of some of them can be found. But when the Lord should cause truth to spring forth out of the earth, he would speak peace to his people and to their land, and it should yield its increase; and truth should go before him and should set them in the way of his steps.

We have been proclaiming for forty-two years this Book of Mormon, which we have declared has sprung forth from the earth by the power of the Almighty, for the benefit, first of the Gentile nations. The proclamation, according to the words of the book, must go forth to all people, nations and tongues under the whole heavens, called the Gentile nations, after which the Lord has promised in numerous places in this record that it should go to the remnants of the house of Israel. But that which the Lord intends to accomplish first by the bringing forth of this book, is the redemption of as many as will hearken to its words in all the Gentile nations of the earth, and to gather them together in one; for not only are the house of Israel and the house of Judah to be gathered back to their own lands, but all Christians throughout the whole earth are to be gathered in one in the latter days, according to a prophecy which you will find in the 43rd chapter of Isaiah: “I will bring them from the east, and gather them from the west. I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; even every one that is called by my name.” This has reference to the sons and daughters of the living God, to the people called Saints; not particularly to the literal seed of the house of Israel, but to all those who believe in him, and who are called by his name. All must be gathered; all must come from the ends of the earth. No Christians will be left, scattered abroad over the nations, as many suppose will be the case so long as time lasts. A complete and full gathering together of the people of God must take place in the latter days, called, by Paul, the dispensation of the fullness of times. You will find this prediction in the first chapter of his epistle to the Ephesians. Paul there declares that a new dispensation must come in, and he denominates it the dispensation of the fullness of times. He tells us that in that dispensation the Lord will gather together in one all things in Christ. Every person that believes in, and has put on Christ by baptism and by repentance of sin, must be gathered in one in that dispensation; not only those on earth, but those in heaven—all the congregations who are in Christ, who have dwelt on the earth in former ages, are to be united with those who are in the flesh on the earth. One great, vast, general assembly of all that are in Christ—the dead as well as the living—from the days of Adam down until the work is completed.

In order to commence this great work the Lord has brought forth truth out of the earth. He will speak peace to his people, and they are requested by the Psalmist, when the Lord undertakes to do this work, never to turn again unto folly.

Now I will attempt to give a brief account to my hearers of how Joseph Smith obtained the plates of the Book of Mormon from the earth. He was but a lad, a farmer’s boy, when the Lord began to speak to him and send his angels to him, being not quite fifteen years of age. He was almost too young to be a brazen-faced impostor, was he not? Cast your eyes around on this congregation for the youth of fifteen, and see if you think it would be possible for one of that early age to become one of the most barefaced impostors that the world ever heard of, for Joseph Smith was thus regarded by the world at large with few exceptions; and he must have been so, at a very early age, if this work be not true, for he could not be deceived, himself, in relation to it. There was no possible chance for any deception, so far as he himself was concerned. Why? Because the circumstances were of such a nature that he could not be deceived. God revealed to him that there were certain plates deposited about three miles from his father’s house. He saw, in vision, the place of their deposit. He heard the holy angel declare to him in relation to these records. But first, about four years prior to this, the first vision that he had was in answer to prayer. Being but a youth, and anxious for the salvation of his soul, he secretly prayed, in the wilderness, that the Lord would show unto him what he should do, what church he should join. The Lord heard and answered this prayer. Do not be astonished, good Christians, because the Lord hears prayer in the 19th century. I know it is very popular to pray to the Lord in Christendom; but, when you talk about the Lord answering prayers, by giving revelations, visions, or sending angels, it is very unpopular. But unpopular as it was, this youth ventured to go and ask the Lord for wisdom, having, in the first place, read a passage in the New Testament, which says, “If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given unto him.” Joseph Smith was not so full of tradition that he could not lay hold of this promise. I do not know that he had been taught long enough, the idea that the Lord would not hear prayer. At any rate, having read this passage, he prayed, really believing in his heart that the Lord would answer him, for he wanted wisdom, he wanted to know which was the true Christian Church, that he might be united with it; and while pleading with and praying to the Lord for this information, which was a matter of great concern to him, the heavens were opened, and two personages clothed in light or fire descended and stood before him. As soon as this light surrounded him, and he was enclosed or enveloped in it, his mind was caught away from earthly objects and things, and he saw these two glorious personages, their countenances shining with exceeding great brilliancy. One of them, while pointing to the other, addressed him in this language, “Behold my beloved son, hear ye him.” All fear was taken from this boy during the progress of this wonderful event, and he felt happy, but anxious to know concerning the things about which he had been praying, and he repeated his request, that he might be told which was the true Christian church. He was informed that there was no true Christian church on the earth, that there was no people established or organized according to the Apostolic order; that all had gone out of the way and had departed from the ancient order of things; that they had denied the power of Godliness, the gifts, miracles, the spirit of revelation and prophecy, visions, that all these things had been done away with by the unbelief of the children of men, and that there were no prophets or inspired men on the earth, as there always had been when there was a true Church upon the earth. He was strictly commanded to join none of them. The Lord also informed him that, at some future period of time, if he would be faithful in giving heed to the instructions which were then imparted to him, and in his prayers to the Lord, he would impart to him his own doctrine in plainness and simplicity.

Some four years passed away from this time, making this boy not quite nineteen years of age, and on one Sunday evening he returned to his bedroom, pondering upon the promise that had been given to him, and he began praying earnestly again that the Lord would show him the true Gospel of his son, according to the promise; and while he was thus praying in his father’s house in his chamber, a light burst into the room, becoming brighter by degrees, shining and then partially withdrawing, so that fear did not take possession of his bosom to any great degree. As he continued praying the light became brighter and brighter, and finally a personage clothed in a white robe stood before him. This personage was a little above the size of common men at the present day, and his arms and feet were partially bare. His feet did not stand on the floor of the room, but a certain distance above, and his countenance shone like lightning. This Angel appeared so pleasant, beautiful and glorious, and his countenance radiated such happiness on the mind of this young lad that all fear was taken from him as on the former occasion. This personage told him that he was an Angel of God, and that he had been sent, in answer to his prayer, with a very important message to deliver to him; that God designed to accomplish a great work on the earth, and that he was to be a chosen instrument in laying the foundation of, and establishing this work. He commenced telling him about the ancient inhabitants of this continent. He told him that the present American Indians were the descendants of Israel; that their forefathers were brought here from Jerusalem about six centuries before Christ; that when they came they were a righteous people and had Prophets among them; that when they landed on this continent they commenced, by the commandment of the Lord, keeping a record of their history, their prophecies and sacred doings upon metallic plates; that that nation, after having dwelt here about a thousand years, fell into great wickedness; that they divided themselves into two great nations; that the portion that had these plates, the Nephites, had so far apostatized from the Lord, that he threatened their overthrow, and to destroy them if they did not repent; that the Prophets went forth among them prophesying that if they did not repent, the other nation, called Lamanites, would destroy them from the face of the land. But they would not repent, and Mormon, a Prophet who lived at that time, was commanded of the Lord to take all the plates that were kept of the records of his fathers, and make an abridgment of them upon a new set of plates. So he commenced and abridged their history, from the time they left Jerusalem until that period, incorporating therein many of the prophesies and revelations given during that thousand years. After having made this abridgment he committed it into the hands of his son Moroni, knowing that his nation would be destroyed, and that Moroni, according to the revelations God had given him, would be spared to keep the records, and to behold the downfall of his nation. Mormon hid the records from which he made this abridgment in a hill, called the hill Cumorah, that being its ancient name, and this hill was about three miles from where this young man resided, in the town of Manchester, Ontario County, State of New York. There all the records were deposited, and according to the Book of Mormon they must have been very numerous indeed. The history of the ancient inhabitants of this land was kept by their kings, and the records became very voluminous; and they were all deposited by the Prophet Mormon in that hill; but the abridgment from which the Book of Mormon was taken was given into the hands of his son Moroni, to finish out the record. The last date given on these records was 420 years after Christ.

You may inquire how the people on this land knew about the birth of Christ. I will say that they understood Christianity on this western hemisphere as well as on the eastern hemisphere. They were not left in darkness here concerning the Savior of the world and his atonement. They knew all about it. How? Jesus, who is the God of the whole earth, appeared to them after his crucifixion, and resurrection from the dead. He showed them the wounds in his hands, feet and side, and delivered to them his Gospel in its plainness and fullness, and they were commanded to write it on plates. They knew also, of his birth, in the land of their forefathers, by the signs which God gave to them on this land. They were told that at the time of the birth of Jesus there should be two days and one night without any darkness at all; they should see the sun go down at night and rise in the morning, and that during the whole of that time it should be light as day. They commenced the reckoning of their time from that period. Previous to that time they had reckoned their time from the date of their leaving Jerusalem, precisely six hundred years before the birth of Christ. Four hundred and twenty years after that great event the Prophet Moroni informs us that he also was commanded to hide up this abridgment in the same hill, but in another part of it, in which his father Mormon hid up the sacred records. And the Lord made a promise to Moroni, also to Mormon, and to many other Prophets who dwelt on this land in previous generations, that these plates should never be destroyed, but that they should be preserved by his hand, and that they should be brought forth out of the earth in the latter days, for the purpose of bringing about the gathering of his people from the ends of the earth, and the bringing in of the fullness of the Gentiles and fulfilling their times, after which the translation of these records should go to all the remnants of the house of Israel, scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth; and that these records should be instrumental in the hands of God in gathering Israel from the four quarters of the earth.

These were the promises of God to the ancient Prophets of this continent, and the angel told Joseph Smith concerning these plates, and where they were deposited. At the same time, the vision of the Almighty was open to the mind of Joseph, and he saw the very spot. After the angel had conversed with him sometime on this subject, and had opened up to him the prophecies of the holy Prophets concerning the great work that was to be accomplished in the latter days, he withdrew, and Joseph continued praying. Some, perhaps, might think that this was a dream; but it was not, he was wide awake. As he continued praying, the angel came again the second time, and gave him still further information concerning the rise of the latter-day kingdom of God upon the earth, and the great work the Almighty intended to accomplish preparatory to the coming of his Son from the heavens with all his Saints. The angel then again withdrew, but in answer to Joseph’s prayers he came the third time, and imparted to him still more information. After his withdrawal the third time Joseph arose, and it was early in the morning, he having been awake all night receiving instruction from the angel of God. In the morning he went out into the field to work with his father. He had not yet told his father of the remarkable things that he had seen during the night; but his father noticed that he looked weak and feeble, and advised him to go to the house. He started to do so, and while on the way, the angel again appeared to him, and commanded him to return to his father and tell him all about it. He did so, and his father, on hearing it, burst into tears, and said, “My son, be not disobedient to this heavenly vision!” The angel, when he appeared to him in daylight, told him not only to tell his father, but also to go to the place shown him in vision the night previous, and see the plates. His father told him by all means to be obedient and faithful. He went according to the instruction of the angel and visited this hill. The hill runs north and south some three quarters of a mile, and on one end of it, or near the end of it, was where he saw the plates. The surface of the stone which covered the plates was bare; around its edges was a thick greensward of grass or turf. He knew the place as soon as he saw it, and procuring a lever he lifted off this principal or crowning stone, and found that it was cemented on the top of four stones that sat on edge, forming a stone box. After having lifted off the stone he saw the plates, just as he had seen them in vision the night before. These plates rested upon three little cement pillars that ran up from the bottom, and the stones that formed the sides of the box were cemented together at the corners.

With the plates was an instrument, called the Urim and Thummim, used by Seers in ancient times, and which enabled them to understand the things of God. The great High Priest used such an instrument in the midst of Israel on the other continent, and inquired of the Lord to receive sentence of judgment in difficult cases that were brought before him to be judged. Aaron had a Urim and Thummim in the center of his breastplate; and when the cases were brought before him, the breastplate of judgment, containing the Urim and Thummim, was consulted, and whatever sentence the Lord gave, Aaron gave to the people of Israel. The Prophets who deposited those plates in the hill Cumorah were commanded of the Lord to deposit the Urim and Thummim with them, so that when the time came for them to be brought forth, the individual who was entrusted with them might be able to translate them by the gift and power of God. Joseph put forth his hands to take the plates, but upon doing so the angel immediately appeared to him and said, “Joseph, the time has not yet come for you to take the plates; you must be taught and instructed, and you must give heed to my commandments and to the commandments of the Lord until you are fully prepared to be entrusted with them, for the Lord promised his ancient servants on this land that no one should have them for the purpose of speculation, and that they should be brought forth with an eye single to the glory of God; and now, if you will keep the commandments of God in all things, and prepare yourself, you will in due time be permitted to take these plates from their place of deposit.” He would not suffer him to take them at that time. Four years from that day—on the morning of the 22nd of September, 1827—having been commanded of the Lord to come to that place at that special time, he went and was met by the angel. I will state, however, that during these four years he was often ministered to by the angels of God, and received instruction concerning the work that was to be performed in the latter days. But when the time had fully arrived he went to the hill Cumorah, according to appointment, and took the plates, and the Urim and Thummim with them, and took them to his father’s house in a wagon, which he had brought near to the hill for that purpose. He was then nearly twenty-two years old—twenty-two the following December.

Soon after this a certain portion of the characters on these plates were copied off by the Prophet, and the manuscript sent, by the hands of Martin Harris, a farmer who lived in that neighborhood, to the city of New York, to show them to the learned, to see if they could translate them. Among those to whom they were presented was Professor Anthon—a man noted for his learning in languages—but he could not translate them.

You may here inquire, What was the particular character in which these plates were written? They inform us that they wrote in two separate characters. Some of their plates were written in Hebrew and some in the Egyptian; but both the Hebrew and the Egyptian, after they came from Jerusalem, were reformed by them. I mean the alphabets were altered or changed. If they had not done this by design, we know that in the course of a thousand years languages will greatly change, and sometimes new characters will be added to alphabets. We know that none of them, at the present time, are precisely as they were anciently; they have been added to from time to time. The Hebrew, on the eastern continent, had the points representing the vowels added to it after the Nephites left Jerusalem; and no doubt the Egyptian, understood when they left, has been greatly changed since. They wrote, therefore, in the reformed Egyptian—a language that the learned Professor Anthon did not understand. He requested Martin Harris, however, to bring the plates to him, telling him, if he would, that he could perhaps assist him in the translation. Joseph translated the few characters that were sent to Professor Anthon, and when the translation and the original were shown to him, and he had compared them, he expressed the opinion that the translation was correct, and he gave a paper to that effect to Martin Harris. As Mr. Harris was leaving the room, Mr. Anthon said, “How did this young lad obtain the plates?” Said Martin Harris, “He obtained them by the ministration of an holy angel.” Professor Anthon immediately requested him to return the paper that he had given him, and as soon as Mr. Harris had done so, he tore it to pieces, saying, “Angels do not appear in our day.”

I do not know that Joseph Smith, at the time that he sent these words to the learned, knew anything about the prophecy that is contained in the 29th chapter of Isaiah, a few words of which I will read; but at any rate, whether he knew it or not, it was a literal fulfillment of it. Isaiah speaks of a time when deep sleep should be poured out upon the nations of the earth, and they should be drunken, but not with wine; they should stagger, but not with strong drink; and the Prophets and the Seers, &c., should be covered; in other words, they would not have any Prophets or Seers. Every one will bear me witness that that was the case at the time these plates were brought forth. Where was there a people who received revelation? Where were their Prophets and Seers? Gone, covered, “and the vision of all has become to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, ‘Read this I pray you;’ and he saith, ‘I cannot, for the book is sealed.’ And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, ‘Read this I pray thee,’ and he saith, ‘I am not learned.’ Wherefore the Lord says, ‘Inasmuch as this people’—the people to whom these words should be delivered—’draw near to me with their mouths and with their lips do honor me, but remove their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men, therefore I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.’”

This prophecy was fulfilled in the transaction I have already related. The words of the book, Isaiah says, are to be delivered to the learned, not the book itself. I have had people rise up and say, “Why did not Joseph Smith send the plates to the learned?” Because that would have been a violation of this prophecy. The words of the book, not the book itself, were to be delivered to the learned, requesting him to read them—“Read this I pray thee.” But he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Martin Harris told him a portion of these plates were sealed and were not to be translated during the present generation; but the portion that were unsealed were to be translated. He replied, “I cannot read a sealed book,” thus fulfilling the words of Isaiah.

The book itself, we are informed in the next verse, is to be delivered to him that is not learned. Now in regard to Joseph Smith’s qualifications or attainments in learning, they were very ordinary. He had received a little education in the common country schools in the vicinity in which he had lived. He could read a little, and could write, but it was in such an ordinary hand that he did not venture to act as his own scribe, but had to employ sometimes one and sometimes another to write as he translated. This unlearned man did not make the same reply that the learned man did. For when the book was delivered to this unlearned youth and he was requested to read it, he replied, “I am not learned.” I suppose he felt his weakness when the Lord told him to read this book; for he thought it was a great work. But the Lord replied to Joseph in the very language of this prophecy—“Inasmuch as this people”—meaning the present generation—“draw near to me with their lips, &c., therefore I will proceed to do a marvelous work, even a marvelous work and a wonder.”

Now, did the unlearned man read the book? Some might suppose, if they were to read no further, that the book was not read at all. Let us read what is prophesied in the 18th verse: “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book.” Indeed! Then it seems that the book must have been read, or they could not have heard its words. “And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.” Does this mean those who are spiritually deaf, and those who are spiritually blind? Or does it mean literally, those who are blind and cannot see and those who are deaf and cannot hear? It may mean either way, for it is well known by thousands and tens of thousands now on the earth that the eyes of the blind—those who have been born blind—have been opened, and that the ears of the deaf have been opened by the power of God, through the preaching of this book, so that the prophecy has had a literal fulfillment, for those who were physically and spiritually blind and deaf have been made to see and hear by the power of God, and they have gathered themselves from the nations.

Now let us read a little further in this prophecy, and see whether this corresponds with the words of our text. You recollect it refers particularly to the ingathering of the house of Israel, and when the Lord would cause the land of Palestine to yield its increase, that he would cause truth to spring out of the earth,” and so on. Does this prophecy of Isaiah correspond with David; so far as the events predicted to transpire in the days when the book comes forth? We will see. “Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob; Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.” Why should they no longer be ashamed? Why should not their faces still wax pale? The reply is, “But when he seeth his children, the work of my hands in the midst of him, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel.”

Do you not see how these two Prophets harmonize in their prophecies? One says, “Wilt thou not turn to us again, O Lord, and bring back again the captivity of thy people, Jacob, that we may rejoice in thee? How long, O Lord, will the fierceness of thy wrath continue? Will it continue to all generations?” And the answer is that he will bring truth out of the earth, that it should set them in the way of his steps; and the land of Israel or Jacob should again yield its increase. While the other says Jacob shall not be ashamed, neither shall his face wax pale. It seems then, that both these Prophets beheld that truth out of the earth, or a certain book, would bring about the gathering of that long-dispersed people.

We find also, other events described, of a very remarkable character. One is that the meek should increase their joy in the Lord. There have been a great many meek people among all the religious denominations, who have no doubt lived, with all the desire of faithfulness that we Latter-day Saints have, and some perhaps have been more faithful than some of us. “The meek, also, shall increase their joy in the Lord.” When will they do this? In the day that the deaf should hear the words of the book. For what reason? Because of the instructions, counsel, perfect doctrine, and prophecies contained therein; because of the knowledge it gives to the children of men concerning the great work which is to be accomplished before the coming of the Son of Man. All this knowledge would cause the meek of the earth to have their joy increased.

“The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” This is a very important item. When we wander over the nations of the earth, at the present day, what do we behold? Millions on millions groaning in worse than African slavery. Our American slavery here, never compared with the slavery of those millions in the old countries. They were very pointed there, against what they termed African slavery, but they did not look at the slaves at home—the millions of people who were obliged to work fourteen or sixteen hours a day for a sixpence, their bones sticking out of their skin, as it were, and they having the appearance as if famine had been gnawing at their vitals. This is the condition of millions now. But here is a book, the coming forth of which should make the poor among men rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

I would call upon this congregation, and upon the inhabitants of Utah Territory, I mean that portion called Latter-day Saints, and ask of them, Have you experienced the fulfillment of this prophecy, in the deliverance of yourselves and children from the oppressions that you endured in the mother country? If a response were given to this it would be a united affirmative from scores of thousands that this prophecy has been fulfilled to the very letter in their deliverance from the bondage which they and their fathers before them had been compelled to endure by the cruel hand of the oppressor.

Another event is spoken of in connection with the bringing forth of this book—“For the terrible one is brought to naught, the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off.” Has that ever been fulfilled? No, but it will be in its time and in its season; but not until they have heard the words of the book, and have been thoroughly warned by the coming forth of truth out of the earth. When that has been sounded in their ears, if they hardened their hearts against it the decree of the Almighty is that all that watch for iniquity shall be cut off. All who persecute the Saints of the living God, all who would make a man an offender for a word, that will lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, that will turn aside the just for a thing of naught, are to be consumed.

Another very pleasing thing is mentioned, which you can bear me witness has been fulfilled. “They also who erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” Oh, how my heart has been pained within me when I have seen the blindness of the Christian world, and I knew that many of them were sincere! I knew they desired to know the truth, but they scarcely knew whether to turn to the right or to the left, so great were the errors that were taught in their midst, and so strong the traditions which they had imbibed, the fear of the Lord being taught them by the precepts of men instead of by inspiration and the power of the Holy Ghost. “They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding” when this book comes forth, and “they that murmur shall learn doctrine.”

It would seem, then, that there is something connected with doctrine in the contents of this book, or the people could not learn doctrine therefrom and have their errors done away. But those who have read this book will bear me record that their minds have been forever set at rest in regard to doctrine, so far as the ordinances of the kingdom of God are concerned. Those who erred, and did not know whether sprinkling, pouring or immersion was the true method of baptism, now know? Why? Because the Book of Mormon reveals the mode as it was given to the ancient Nephites on this continent. So in regard to every other principle of the doctrine of Christ—it is set forth in such great plainness that it is impossible for any two persons to form different ideas in relation to it, after reading the Book of Mormon.

You may ask, Why this plainness? Because it was translated by the power and gift of God; because it came from a proper source—from him who is truth itself. God has brought it forth from the earth, and as the Psalmist David says, “It will set us in the way of his steps.” If we have murmured because we did not understand doctrine, we now have a revelation that will show us the true Gospel, with all its ordinances, principles, gifts and blessings, and we may enjoy them inasmuch as we will seek them according to the promises of the Almighty.

I know that I am sometimes lengthy in my teachings, and may be tedious to some, but bear with me a few moments longer, for there are some other prophecies connected with the coming forth of this book that it seems to me should be understood by the people. I will refer you to one now, which will be found in the 37th chapter of the prophecies of Ezekiel. We there have a declaration of the means that God will use to gather the house of Israel from the four quarters of the earth. I have not time to turn to it, but I will repeat it. Speaking to the Prophet, the Lord says—“Therefore, son of man, take one stick and write upon it for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim; and then take another stick and write upon it for Judah, and join these two sticks together in thine hand, and hold them up before the Children of Israel in thine hands.” Now here were two sticks. I have no doubt that they were literal sticks in Ezekiel’s hands. The question is what did they mean? Two sticks written upon, one for Judah, and the other for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim. And after they were written upon, Ezekiel was to take the two sticks and join them into one, and then hold them up before the children of Israel as one stick. Then the Lord proceeds, “And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, What doest thou mean by this?” Now, notice the interpretation—“What dost thou mean by these two sticks that are written upon for Judah and for Joseph?” “Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, behold I will take the stick of Joseph, written upon for Joseph, and I will put it with the stick of Judah, written upon for Judah, and they shall be one in mine hand.” The two sticks in Ezekiel’s hands were a representation of what the Lord was going to do, when he would do it and what events should follow the joining of these two sticks together. In reading the next verse we see how it harmonizes with what David and Isaiah have said on the subject. “The sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes; and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen whither they be gone. I will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land upon the mountains of Israel. They shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. But they shall dwell in the land which I have given to Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children and their children’s children forever, saith the Lord.”

Has that been fulfilled? No. When will the work commence that will bring it about? When the Lord takes the stick of Joseph, written upon for Joseph, and puts it with the Jewish record, written upon for Judah, and makes them one in his own hand, and not until then. You might raise millions of dollars, and form missionary societies for the amelioration of the condition of the Jews; you might form Christian societies and raise funds until they are ever so great, and go to the nations of the earth and try to convert Israel, but you cannot do it. Why? Because God Almighty has decreed that that work shall be brought about after the union of the two records, and not till then. When he brings forth the record of the tribe of Joseph—his sacred writing and puts it with the record of the Jews—the Bible then and not till then may we look for the restitution of the house of Israel; and not even then, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Now let me say a few words about the times of the Gentiles. You know that Jesus predicted, in the 21st chapter of Luke, that Jerusalem should be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled, and from the day of the dispersion of the Jew, seventy years after Christ, until the present year—1872—that land has been trodden down by the Gentiles, and the house of Israel have not enjoyed their former location, their beautiful city nor their land of promise, and they cannot enjoy it—God will not permit them until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The question is, How will he bring about the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles? I answer, by sending forth to them the stick of Joseph, written upon for Joseph, in connection with the Bible, by his servants who go forth to the nations of the earth. They will proclaim to all people, nations and tongues, to the Gentiles first, the fullness of the Gospel of the Son of God, contained in these two records. The testimony of two nations running together and growing into one is stronger than the testimony of one nation; and when the Lord makes the ancient continent of America bear record to the same great truths; when he unites the Bible of the Western hemisphere, with the Bible of the East, and sends it forth to the nations of the earth, it will be a witness, an evidence and a testimony sufficient to bring about what is termed the fullness of the Gentiles, or to fulfill their times.

This is the reason why, during forty-two years, God has restricted us to the Gentile nations, and would not suffer us to go with the Book of Mormon to the house of Israel until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled. How much longer the Lord will bear with the Gentile nations I know not; but I do know that when they count themselves unworthy of eternal life, when the servants of God have thoroughly warned them by preaching to them the fullness of the Gospel of his Son, then the commandment will go forth from the Almighty to his servants—“Turn from the Gentile nations and go to the dispersed of Israel. Go, ye fishers and ye hunters, and fulfill that which I spake by the mouth of mine ancient Prophets, that Jacob may no longer be made ashamed, that his face may no longer wax pale. Go and say to the house of Israel in the four quarters of the earth that the God of Jacob has again spoken. Go and tell them that that which he spake by the mouths of their ancient Prophets is being fulfilled.” And they will go, and their proclamation will be to Israel the same as to the Gentiles, with the exception of gathering the Jews to old Jerusalem, instead of to the land of Zion.

I might quote many other passages that have a bearing on this subject, but let this suffice. The work is before the nations, and they can examine it. It has received its foundation and start, and there is no power beneath the heavens that can stay the hand of the Almighty. His work will roll forth, whatever the conduct of the unfaithful may be. The work of the Almighty is onward, and will progress in its majesty and power until every prophecy is fulfilled that has been spoken by the mouth of his ancient servants. It will come to pass, and the people will be gathered, for the powers of the earth cannot stay the hand of the Almighty. Amen.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Sept. 8, 1872.

“Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord.

“And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.

“And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps.

“In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.

“And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel.

“Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.

“And Azariah, the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed His people; and that which is left is this great store.”

I have read this portion of Scripture, it having suggested itself to my mind in view of our condition, and the circumstances which surround us as a people. The law of tithing is of very ancient origin. How early it was observed by the people of God is not clearly set forth in the Scriptures, but we have an account of its observance as early as the days of Abraham and Melchizedek. We have also, anterior to that, an account given us in the Scriptures of the bringing forward of offerings by Cain and Abel, one bringing the firstfruits of the earth, and the other the firstfruits of his flocks, as offerings unto the Lord their God. From the days of Abraham down to the days of Jesus the law of tithing was observed by the people of God. It was made a perpetual ordinance; in fact, the Lord promised unto Aaron and his children that it should be an ordinance forever. And there is this remarkable fact connected with this law—whenever it was strictly observed, the blessings of God rested upon the people, and when it was neglected the anger of God was kindled against them; and a careful perusal of the Bible reveals to us that neglect on the part of the children of Israel to pay tithing was one of the most fruitful causes of unbelief, darkness of mind, departure from the ways of God, and falling into idolatrous practices.

I may be asked, why was this the case? Had the Lord need of the fruits of the earth? Had he need of the cattle? Had he need of the firstborn children? Had he need of a tenth of their gold and silver? Was there any necessity for these things to be devoted to him because of any want on his part? Of course not. The fruits of the earth are his, the cattle on a thousand hills are his and the gold and silver are his, he created them, and he can cover or uncover them at his will. The heaven of heavens is his dwelling place, and he has no need of a temple built with hands; yet in the economy of heaven, in the dealings of God with his children, he reveals unto them laws, ordinances and institutions which he requires them to observe, and which, when observed, bring blessings, but a disregard of which brings down his anger and indignation upon them. There is nothing plainer in Scripture than this.

God commands his children to believe in him, and to render obedience to his laws; he commands them to call upon his Son Jesus Christ, or rather, to call upon him in the name of his Son Jesus Christ. He commands them to pray unto him; he commands them to repent of their sins and to be baptized for their remission, to have hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and to observe other ordinances that he has revealed. What for? Does prayer to him advance him? Does belief in him contribute particularly to his happiness? Does repentance of sin on the part of the creature add anything particularly to God’s glory? Does baptism for the remission of sins have any saving effect upon him? Does the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost have the effect to increase his light, knowledge, wisdom or power? We all recognize the fact that these commandments are given for man’s benefit, to increase his happiness, and to prepare him for salvation and exaltation in God’s kingdom. So also with the law of tithing: it does not, when obeyed by man, add to God’s comfort, contribute to his wealth, increase his happiness, or furnish him with that of which he would be destitute if it were not obeyed; but it is given to man and he is required to obey it that he may receive the reward, and that be may acknowledge by this act—by this payment of the tenth of his increase—that all he obtains is the gift, and comes from the beneficent hand of God, and that he is dependent upon God. Hence Abraham, after returning from the conquest of the kings, when he was met by Melchizedek, paid to him the tithes of all, acknowledging by this act the divinity of the law, and the necessity of obedience thereunto. So strict was the Lord upon this point in his dealings with the children of Israel in the wilderness, that he gave very strict commandment unto Moses and Aaron, and to those who presided over and officiated among the people that they were to be very careful to collect, and the people were to be very careful to pay their tithing.

One object of enforcing this law among Israel in ancient days was to sustain the service of the house of God. The tribe of Levi was selected from amongst all the other tribes—as the Lord’s peculiar inheritance. In the division of the land of Canaan among the different tribes, the tribe of Levi was left without an inheritance. The eleven tribes had their portions of Canaan set apart to them under the direction of the servant of God, but the tribe of Levi had no inheritance given unto them. They were told by the Lord that they were his inheritance, and that which they should have as an inheritance should be the tenth of the product of all Israel: the tenth of the labor, the tenth of the cattle, the tenth of the gold and silver, the tenth of the fruits of the earth, and of everything that was produced in the land. And so strict was this law, that when an animal passed under the rod, to use the expression of Scripture, and thereby became a proper animal to be devoted to the service of God, though it were a choice animal, and one which the owner of it desired to retain, the law provided that it could not be retained: it was devoted to the Lord, and was holy on that account. And if the owner of it were to substitute another animal instead of it, they both became holy unto the Lord, and both became tithing animals and had to be dedicated unto him, so strict was the Lord in enforcing this law of tithing upon Israel. I often think of the practice which prevails among us in this respect, how differently we act to what ancient Israel did, and how it would pinch some of us if the law of tithing were enforced among us as strictly as it was among them. Not only was this the law of tithing, as I have rehearsed it, with regard to substitution; but if a man wanted to redeem that which was devoted for tithing, a certain valuation was put upon it, and in addition to this valuation a certain sum of money had to be paid before it could be redeemed. In other words tithing had to be paid in kind, and if a man wanted to redeem his tithing he had to pay not only the money valuation of it, but an additional sum besides, before the redemption could be effected.

You can readily see, with a little reflection, the object the Lord had in being thus strict with his people: it was to prevent violations of that law, and to enforce the strictness in observing it which was necessary to secure the promised blessings.

I have said that a tenth of all the produce of Israel went to the tribe of Levi; the Levites also had to pay a tenth of that which they received, and that tenth was given to the priests, those who ministered in the priesthood in the midst of the people, so that there was in Israel a standing ministry—a tribe chosen from all the tribes of Israel, whose office it was to minister in the things of God, having been called specially by God to this service.

You doubtless recollect that the Lord also required his children—the people of Israel—to set apart the firstborn male in every family to be his. They had been redeemed in Egypt, or rather they had been saved from the scourge which fell upon all the families of Egypt. When God plead with Pharaoh, through Moses, to let the people go, destruction fell on all the households of Egypt, the firstborn in every one being slain. But among the children of Israel the firstborn were spared, and the Lord claimed them as his; but it was inconvenient for them to be used in the service of the Lord and he, therefore, after Israel had left Egypt, commanded that all their firstborn should be numbered; and after all of a cer– tain age had been numbered, he commanded that the tribe of Levi should be numbered, and upon numbering them it was found that the firstborn of Israel outnumbered the Levites by two hundred and seventy-three, if I remember aright. The Lord had already stated that it was his intention to take the tribe of Levi instead of the firstborn of Israel, and when it was found that the firstborn outnumbered the Levites by two hundred and seventy-three he commanded that they should be redeemed, and that the redemption money should be handed over to the tribe of Levi.

These were very singular laws and ordinances, but God had a design in view in enforcing them. Everything he does is dictated by infinite wisdom, and when the people strictly complied with these laws and ordinances I have mentioned the Lord blessed them in all things, so much so that it became a proverb in the midst of Israel—“Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of thy increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses burst forth with new wine.” When the people honored the Lord with their substance his blessings rested upon them and they were prospered. The palmer worm, blight, grasshopper and other evils which afflicted the land under some circumstances, were removed far from them. Their trees did not cast their fruit untimely, and they produced in abundance, and Israel prospered and waxed fat in the land. They spread abroad on the right hand and on the left, and the land teemed with fertility. There were times when Israel neglected this law, when they fell into idolatry, became careless and indifferent concerning the requirements of the Lord; when the tribe of Levi forsook the service of God and became idolaters; when the priests quit the service of Jehovah, and the temples became desecrated and filled with rubbish. It was during one of these periods that Hezekiah came to the throne of his father Ahaz, who had allowed the ordinances of God to fall into disuse. He put aside the service of God and instituted in its stead idolatrous service. Tithing had been neglected, and when Hezekiah came to the throne, his heart being set in him to do right, he commenced to cleanse the temple, and to restore the ordinances of the house of God, and the ministers who had been set apart to this service he called back to its performance, and the people brought in their cattle, wine, oil, honey, and in fact a tithe of all their substance as well as freewill offerings unto the Lord; and when the king looked upon it, we are told, in the words which I have read, that he blessed the Lord and his people Israel, and upon inquiry of the chief priest he was told that, “since the people began to bring in the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty, for the Lord hath blessed his people.” The Lord blessed them because they had complied with his requirements, and they were prospered. The land prospered under their cultivation, and it yielded its strength in abundance.

In connection with this I would like to read to you, my brethren and sisters, the remarks of Malachi. You are doubtless familiar with them, but they are words which can be read and pondered on time and time again, without any loss of interest in the subject. Says Malachi—

“Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

“Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be room enough to receive them.

“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

“And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.”

We see here portrayed, in the most graphic and striking language, the blessings that God promised unto his people Israel when they observed this law, which he had given them in the beginning; and we can also understand from the statements of Malachi, the curses that would descend upon Israel if they did not observe this law. “Ye are cursed with a curse,” says he, “for ye have robbed me, even this whole people.” Strange language for God to use to his people, it may be thought, that they should be accused of robbery, that he should look upon them as thieves, as appropriating that which was not theirs, because they did not render unto him that which he had commanded them. They had refused their tithes, they had withheld their offerings, and consequently they were cursed. “But,” says he, “bring in your tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now, herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it,” etc. What great promises are herein conveyed to God’s people!

I have drawn your attention to this law, my brethren and sisters, to show you what it was in the days of Israel, when God communicated his mind and will unto His people. I wish to impress upon you this fact, which you can all realize and understand for yourselves if you will read, that when Israel served God, and were strict in observing this law, he blessed and prospered them, and his favor was shown towards them; but when they neglected this law, his anger and indignation were kindled against them, and one of the most fruitful causes of disaster to Israel was their neglect in this particular. There were two things connected with Israel’s disasters: one was neglecting to observe the laws of God, prominent among which was the law of tithing; and the other was their intermarriages with the heathen nations—those who were idolaters. This proved the destruction of the wisest king that ever reigned in Israel. It proved the destruction of the nation itself, for it brought disaster and ruin upon it.

There is something connected with the law of tithing that, when men do not have faith in God, appeals to their selfishness; and for a people to be wholehearted in its observance, they need faith in God. When Israel began to decline in faith in God, their selfishness increased, and their determination became stronger and stronger to grasp everything within their reach and to retain everything they gained possession of; and as this feeling grew, tithing and freewill offerings were withheld from the house of God, and in consequence of this the blessing of God was also withheld. There is a passage in the book of Amos on this subject, which shows the Lord pleading with Israel, to bring them back to the consideration of this law, as well as others that he had given them. The Lord says through the Prophet Amos—

“And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

“So two or three cities wandered into one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.

“I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.”

These are the calamities which God sent upon Israel with the intention to have them return to him; but notwithstanding they were poured out and pestilence visited the land, the people hardened their hearts against him, broke his laws and violated his ordinances, and his anger was enkindled against them, and they were driven out from the face of the land.

This law of tithing has been revealed to the Latter-day Saints. If I remember aright, the last revelation in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, given as a revelation, is one in which this people are commanded to observe this law of tithing forever. With the restoration of the Gospel in its fullness and purity there has also been restored this law, and I am thankful to God for its revelation. I am thankful for the restoration of every principle of truth, of every law that pertains unto salvation, for they are all for the benefit of the human family; and as long as the Latter-day Saints have observed this law they have been blessed; and we know by our own experience with grasshoppers—the Lord’s great army—how easily he could collect his dues from ancient Israel if they robbed him by neglecting or refusing to pay their tithes.

When men have come to this desert land and have seen the changes that have been wrought in such a brief space of time, they have wondered what has been the reason of it. The promise of God has been given to this people as it was to ancient Israel upon this point, and when the Latter-day Saints have observed the law of tithing they have been favored of God, and his Spirit has rested upon them, and not only upon them but also upon the land, and where it was once so barren, unfruitful and forbidding that it looked as though no human being could live by cultivating it, it has been converted into a fruitful field. Men say, “What wonderful results water has produced!” “What a great system this irrigation is which you practice!” True, it is a wonderful system, it is productive of wonderful results; but to my way of thinking, or according to my views, these results are due to the blessing of God on the labors of the Latter-day Saints, because they have honored him by observing the law of tithing. We have looked upon this land as the Lord’s, and have viewed ourselves as his tenants. He could not come down here in person and receive from us the firstfruits of the soil, or take our cattle, our gold and silver, or any of our manufactures. Hence there must be somebody to do it for him. In ancient days the children of Levi acted in this capacity: they received the tithes and offerings, but in these last days, there being none of the descendents of Aaron that we know of in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to act in this capacity, we have been under the necessity of choosing other men to hold the authority which his seed would hold if they were here in our midst, and they have been set apart for the purpose of looking after temporal things, and to take or collect the tithing, and see that it is properly managed and appropriated to the uses for which it is designed.

I know how quickly men, in looking at “Mormonism,” come to the conclusion that it is a system by which a certain class will be benefited and built up. I have heard men say that the “Mormon” Elders had a pretty good thing of it; that Brigham Young, as President of the Church, had a very nice arrangement, and that those who were leaders in the Church had every reason for desiring to retain their position, imagining, of course—though I do not know why such an imagination should be prompted unless it was because they judged us as they judged one another—that all the means that is devoted by the people for the payment of tithing is appropriated by President Young and those associated with him in conducting the affairs of the Church.

Now I would not, as a speculation, endure for one month, that which President Young has to pass through—the care, responsibility, obloquy, and the weight that rests upon him continually, for the sake of the tithing alone, if I could have it all. He would not, no other man who is connected with this people would. Why do they endure that which they pass through? Because, by the revelations of God, they know that God has established his Church once more in its fullness upon the earth, because they know that angels have come from heaven to earth, because they know that the holy priesthood has been again bestowed upon man, with the authority to administer in the ordinances of God’s house, as in ancient days; and because this work is established by the commandment of God, and they are called by his command to labor in it. But there is one advantage which this unbelieving generation have over those which have preceded us, and I think, in view of the selfishness which prevails today in the midst of mankind, it is a wise provision. If there had been a tribe set apart in this generation to receive the tithing, I do not know but what the people, universally almost, would have rebelled against it. If there had been a privileged class to receive the tithing, the unbelief and selfishness of man would have prompted them to find great fault with it. But there is this peculiarity about the work in these days—not only do the people pay their tithing, but the ministers of life and salvation pay theirs—if they do not they should do, and I believe they do—as punctually as the humblest member of the Church, from President Young down—his Counselors, the Quorum of the Twelve, the Bishops of the Church, every faithful man pays his tithing, the highest in the Church as well as he whose name is scarcely known beyond the narrow circle in which he moves; and, instead of the tithing going to sustain a class, as it did in ancient days the tribe of Levi, or the priests, it goes to build up the work of God—to erect temples and in various other ways. Thousands and thousands of dollars have been spent in sustaining the poor, and there is no class of men sustained in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by the tithing. There is this difference between ministers in this Church and ministers in other churches; ministers in this church have to labor for their own support; but in other churches they are supported wholly by the people. On this account—in Massachusetts, if I remember aright—ministers are not allowed to be elected to the legislature; they are regarded as men unfit for the practical duties of life. Men who devote themselves exclusively to the service of their churches go into their studies, read and fix up their sermons, and, on the Sabbath day, they deliver their written, prepared discourses to their congregations, and they are the most impractical men connected with their churches. The ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in direct and striking contrast with this. The leaders of this Church are the most practical men in it. The President of this Church is the most practical man connected with the body. His Counselors, the Twelve Apostles and the leading Elders and Bishops are all distinguished for being practical men—men perfectly capable of doing everything connected with a life in these mountains—men who are able to sustain themselves and to help to sustain others. Our theory is that a man who cannot sustain himself and also teach others how to sustain themselves is unfit for a leading position, and he becomes a drone in the great hive. On that account we compel or require every minister in this Church to sustain himself. Jesus said that he who is greatest among you let him be the servant of all, and we have carried this into effect—the servant of the whole people is the President of the Church. The man who is the greatest servant in a settlement is the President of the settlement, or the Bishop of a ward. He lives for the people, his time is devoted to their service, looking after their interests, that is, if he does right and magnifies his calling. Is there a helpless man in a ward? He becomes the object of the Bishop’s solicitude and care. Is there a family in indigence? Then they are the wards of the Bishop, and he looks after them, and visits them or sees that his teachers do, and that their wants are supplied. By this means the ministry in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an active one, carrying the blessings of spiritual and temporal salvation into the midst of the people.

It has been by the labors of such men that this community has been founded, and this once barren desert changed into a fruitful field and made to blossom as the rose. Through the labors of the Apostles, Elders and Bishops of this Church, settlements have been extended to the remotest bounds of the Territory, north, south, east and west. They have been the pioneers in all great labors, not saying to the people, “Give us of your wealth and substance, we want to be sustained in idleness, that we may rule over you;” but on the contrary they have said, “Come, brethren, let us go and accomplish this labor that God has laid upon us.” They have been the pioneers in all these labors—these Apostles, Presidents, Bishops, Dignitaries, these men who are supposed to fatten on the labors of the people. Instead of doing that, they have been the creators of the wealth that the people now enjoy; they have been the fathers of the people, the people have been the objects of their paternal care from the beginning until today. I would not give a fig for a leading man who would not act in this capacity; he is worth nothing, and deserves no place in the midst of the people of God. Men to save their fellow men and to be ministers of Jesus Christ must have the spirit of Jesus. His spirit was one of self sacrifice, one that prompted him to go forth and save the people, not to be a burden upon them, not to crush them. That is priestcraft; and wherever that system prevails a system of despicable priestcraft prevails, and God is angry with it and with those who practice it.

I have said that I thank God for the revelation of this principle. I do, for this reason—it appeals directly to man’s selfishness. It makes men sacrifice their selfish feelings, and causes them to show faith in God. If a man has not faith in God he is not very likely to pay tithing, or make many offerings. To use a common expression, he looks after “number one,” and self-interest rules him. Such a man is an unworthy member of the Church of Christ. But when every man pays his tithing and witnesses unto God that that law is honorable in his sight, what is the result? Is anybody impoverished by it? No. Are we as Latter-day Saints any poorer because of the tithing we have paid? Not one cent. When that tithing is properly appropriated it is expended in works which add to the wealth of the entire community. It contributes to the erection of public edifices; it adorns those edifices, and creates a fund that is exclusively devoted to the work of God, and that helps to build up and to make the community prosperous and respectable in the earth. It is a mighty engine, or would be if properly wielded, in establishing righteousness and truth in the earth, for let me say, brethren and sisters, that a warfare has been commenced in the earth, and it has been waged for a long series of years, speaking according to the length of a man’s life; and that warfare or contest is for this earth, and it is between God and Satan.

Men wonder why it is that the “Mormon” community, with their good qualities, their love of temperance and good order, and whose members conduct themselves with such propriety, are so hated. It has been frequently remarked to our Elders—“You are a pretty good man, I would not take you to be a ‘Mormon,’ I would think you are a man of too much intelligence to be a Latter-day Saint,” as though, to be a member of this Church a man must be an ignoramus, stupid blockhead, knave or fool in the estimation of those not of our faith. God has not chosen that kind of a people, he has chosen intelligent people, and he will give them greater intelligence. But, the reason we are hated is this—and it is the same reason that Jesus and his Apostles were hated—we have the truth, because we have received the revelations of God, and because, in singleness of purpose, we are endeavoring to build up the kingdom of God. Let any other people do what we have done and they would be lauded to the skies. Let any other man do what our leader has done and his fame, as a benefactor of his race, would be worldwide. But our labors are only an additional reason for hating us and for warring against us. It is, as I have said, because there is a warfare in the world, and it will not end until God is victorious and the earth is redeemed from sin.

I will revert now to the contrast there is between our desert land and the lands from which we came. Our people were organized in the State of New York—a most fruitful State. From New York they moved to Ohio, another most fruitful State. From Ohio they moved to Missouri, the garden, it might be said, of the United States; and from Missouri to Illinois—all rich and productive States. What is the result of our removals? We came to a land that was a barren, uninviting desert, and what are the remarks of visitors who come here now from the lands we formerly lived in? They wonder how it is that our fruit trees are so healthy, and that our land is so inviting. I honestly believe, if the people of the United States would observe this law of tithing, devoting a tenth of their substance to the service of the Most High, that instead of this land being in many respects so superior, the fertility which formerly prevailed there would be restored. And when the day shall come, as come it will, when we shall go back—and we expect to go back to Jackson County, Missouri, and to lay the foundation of a temple, and to build a great city to be called the center stake of Zion, as much as we expect to see the sun rise tomorrow; I say when that day shall come it will be found that that country will have its old fertility restored, and that all the lands that the people of God will occupy will be healthy and fruitful; and the land of any people who will honor God by obeying this law of tithing will be made fruitful to them, God will bless their industry, and they will rejoice and prosper therein.

There are many things connected with this subject that might be touched upon. One thing I will mention before I sit down, and that is the growing tendency among this people to look after their own interests and to neglect the interests of the work of God. This remark has often been made to us: “When you Latter-day Saints increase in wealth, are surrounded by the fashions of the world, and the waves of civilization surge against your walls of barbarism, all your peculiarities will recede and melt away, and you will become like other people. Your plural system will disappear, for no man can sustain half a dozen wives if they are fashionable women, and no more than one.” I have heard this time and time again; and it is true that young men in the east will not marry because of the expense, they do not want to take a wife because they cannot sustain her according to the requirements of modern society. Now, there is a good deal of truth in this statement. If I thought we would become subject to the follies that now prevail I would have fears concerning the work of God and its perpetuity on the earth. If I thought that this people would lust after wealth, and that they would allow their feelings and their hearts to become set on the accumulation of money, and that they would think more of that than they do of God and his work, I would fear for its perpetuity. But God has said this work shall stand forever, and that it shall not be given into the hands of another people, and on that account I do not entertain any fears as to the result. But there are individuals in this community who have given way to these feelings about tithing. When men are poor, it is noticed that they are punctual in paying it, but when they increase in wealth it is less so. For instance, when a man has ten thousand dollars it looks a big pile to give one thousand as tithing. If a man’s tithing amounted to no more than five, ten, twenty, or even a hundred dollars, says he, “I can give that, but a thousand is a great amount,” and when called upon to give a thousand, no, I will not say “called upon,” the difficulty is we are not called upon enough, there has been neglect in calling upon us; but when it comes to this, why a thousand dollars looks like a very large sum, and the party whose duty it is to pay it is apt to hesitate and feel reluctance, and he perhaps says, “I can invest this thousand dollars in such and such a way, and it will produce so much interest, and I will pay it then;” and he allows himself to be satisfied with this course.

There is this remarkable fact connected with tithing in our midst. You are all familiar with the apostasy of some of our leading merchants—men who dealt in merchandise and who, for years, by their exorbitant prices literally fleeced the people of their means. This was before the construction of the railroads. Well, it was predicted years before, that sooner or later they would deny the faith and leave the Church. It was easily understood that no man could remain in the Church, if it was a pure Church, and practice a system of extortion on his brethren, and the prediction was made, and strange as it may seem—though it is not strange to those who understand the working of these things—it was fulfilled to the very letter, and those men did deny the faith, and they are now opponents of that work which they once testified they knew to be true; and an examination of the tithing records would show this remarkable fact—that some of them did not pay their tithing as they should have done. Those who have prospered most are they who paid their tithing honestly. And I have noticed it, as an individual, that when men close up their hearts in this direction, and neglect their tithing, and their offerings on fast days for the benefit of the poor, they lose their faith. This is one evidence of the loss of faith and confidence in the work.

I will tell you how I feel now, if I were to be tempted in this direction, I would say, “Mr. Devil, I have no lot or part with you. I will pay my tithing, and if you say anything I will double it.” I know that there is a blessing attending this. I know God prospers those who are strict and punctual in attending to this. I know he blesses those who feed the poor, clothe the naked and attend to the wants of their indigent brethren and sisters. I should deplore the increase of wealth in our midst if it created class distinctions, if it should create a feeling that, “I am better than thou, because I wear a finer coat, dwell in a better house, ride in a finer carriage and have finer horses, or because my children are better schooled and better dressed than yours.” I should deplore the increase of wealth among us if such results were witnessed. I should expect the anger of God would be kindled against us, and that we should be scourged as a people until we repented in deep humility before him.

God has bestowed upon us the earth and the elements in and around it, and he has given us them for our good. There is no sin in taking the wool from the sheep’s back and spinning and manufacturing it into fine broadcloth. There is no sin in planting mulberry trees and feeding silkworms and making fine dresses and ribbons with the silk which they produce. There is no sin in spinning the flax and making fine linen of it. There is no sin in taking the dyes that abound in nature and dying these silks and other fabrics in the most beautiful manner. There is no sin in digging gold and ornamenting our service with it, and in covering our tables in the Lord’s house therewith. There is no sin in taking silver and making furniture for the Lord’s house. There is no sin in making fine carriages, and in paint– ing and fitting them up in the most exquisite manner. There is no sin in having a noble race of horses, or a fine breed of cattle. There is no sin in building houses and decorating them, having fine furniture, carpets, mirrors, baths, heating apparatus and every appliance and convenience of modern civilization therein. There is no sin in all this, or in any blessing God has given us, but there is sin in abusing these things. There is sin in being lifted up in pride because God has bestowed them upon us. There is sin in thinking, “I am better than another man who is created out of the dust of the earth, as I am; who is a child of God, as I am; who came from God, as I did, and who will go to God as I hope to do.” Brethren and sisters, there is no sin in having what I have named. We may have fine houses, fine gardens or orchards, glorious temples, a fine land, and we may make our homes heavenly places, and fit for angels to visit, and there is nothing wrong in all this, neither in adorning the bodies God has given unto us, if our hearts are humble before him, and we glorify him in our lives. But this is the great difficulty and has been from the beginning. When wealth multiplies the people get lifted up in the pride of their hearts, and they look down on their poor brethren and despise them, because they are better educated, have better manners, and speak better language—in a word, because they have advantages which their poor brethren and sisters have not. There is sin in this, and God is angry with a people who take this course. He wants us to be equal in earthly things, as we are in heavenly. He wants no poor among his people; he does not want the cry of the oppressed to ascend from the midst of the Latter-day Saints, and God forbid that it ever should! God forbid that the cry of any should ever ascend from the midst of the Latter-day Saints because of oppression or because of the lack of any blessing necessary for comfort! God wants us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and impart our substance for their support. But he does not want the poor to envy the rich. That is just as great a sin on their part as for the rich to oppress them. They must not envy the rich; they must not look on their brethren and sisters and envy them that which they have. That is sinful, that is wrong, and the man or woman who indulges in it, indulges in a wrong spirit. God wants us to build each other up in righteousness. He wants us to love one another and to seek one another’s benefit. This is the spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has revealed it unto us, and we must cultivate it.

I look upon this law of tithing as an equitable law: it comes alike upon the rich and the poor. The poor person who pays his ten dollars tithing gives as much in proportion as the richest man in the community. The rich gives no more than a tenth, and the poorest gives no less. We are all alike, then, in this respect when we observe this law of tithing; and it should be strictly observed by us, if we want the blessings of God to rest upon us.

I have thought, I do not know how truly, that of late there has been a disposition among the Latter-day Saints to be penurious in this respect. It has seemed to me that with the increase of God’s blessings around us, a disposition has been manifest to be stingy, to withhold our substance, and to tie up the hands of those who have the great work to perform. We want to build this temple, and other temples in other parts of our land. We want to fill the land with temples—houses that shall be dedicated to the Most High God. At the present time people in St. George and other settlements in that region—from 350 to 400 miles from this city who wish to be married according to the order and ordinances that we believe in and view as necessary, have to make this long journey one way, and the same the other, making 700 or 800 miles travel, to have the ordinances of God’s house solemnized as we believe they ought to be. What a labor this is! This has to be obviated.

We are building a temple in Salt Lake City; but this is only one. There will be doubtless a temple built in St. George, and probably others in the north, east, west, and throughout the land. Do you think the tithing is all going to be spent in Salt Lake City? Do you think that the remote settlements are all going to contribute of their strength and their increase to build up this city alone? No, this would not be right: this would be filling the heart and letting the extremities suffer. The extremities must be sustained. Tithing must be devoted to the building of temples and places of worship, so that the Latter-day Saints in every section of the Territory may go and attend to the ordinances for the living and the dead. We have a mighty work to do in this connection. God has revealed this law, and, as I have said, it is a law that works alike upon all. It is not oppressive on any class, but it is distributed equally upon all classes. Let us observe it, and all the laws of God, that we may become a blessed people; that we may increase in wealth, and use that wealth to the glory of God; that there may be neither pauperism, want, nor ignorance throughout our entire land, and that the grateful prayers of a blessed and happy people may ascend from every habitation throughout all these valleys unto the Lord of hosts, praising his holy name for the numerous blessings which he has bestowed upon us, for the peace, good order, union and every other blessing we have received from him.

That this may be the case is my prayer in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Remarks by Brigham Young, Jun., delivered at Farmington, Sunday Morning, August 25th, 1872.

I have a testimony, brethren and sisters, as to the truth of the work of God, that it is a pleasure to me to bear to you, and to strangers when opportunity offers. I have no particular text to speak upon at the present time, save the one that should be at all times in the mind of every Latter-day Saint, and that is, the kingdom of God, and its growth and development upon the earth. This is a subject that should be ever present with us; and when an individual whose interests are professedly identified with that kingdom, forgets the duties devolving upon him in connection with it, we may infer that he has ceased to be useful therein.

We know, brethren, that it is impossible to please the Lord by following the counsels of our own minds, unless they are enlightened by the Spirit of the Almighty. The wisdom of man is not the wisdom of God, and to be successful in extending and strengthening the cause of God on the earth, we must have his Spirit to guide us. If our ways were as God’s ways, we would do as he would have us do; but it is evident to all who are acquainted with the actions of the human family, not excluding the Latter-day Saints, that the mind of man is not as God’s mind. A verse of Scripture, which now occurs to my mind, will illustrate this. It will be found in the 11th verse of the 2nd chapter of the 1st epistle to the Corinthians—“For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”

The experience that the Latter-day Saints have had has taught them that this is true, and we know that when a man deems himself capable of acting solely on his own intelligence, and neglects to seek for the wisdom of Heaven to guide him, he is very apt to go astray. This feeling of independence of the Almighty has caused the apostasy of some, whom we, perhaps, have thought it would be almost impossible to blind to the truths they once advocated so well; but it is the case. Men do not look at things as God looks at them, therefore it is indispensably necessary for each individual Latter-day Saint to have the Spirit of God within him, that he may do His will and not carry out his own views.

Look over the nations of the earth, and where is there a government established on correct principles, that is, in accordance with the commandments of God? There is not one, for they are all established by the wisdom of men, and men’s ways are so different from the ways of God that it is impossible, with all their intelligence and knowledge—and we know they possess a great deal—for men to establish a government after the order of God. In some minor particulars such a government might not be far out of the way, but in all the essentials it would be dissimilar. It is the same with us, the Latter-day Saints, without the inspiration and wisdom of Heaven to guide us, we cannot hope to carry out and accomplish God’s purposes. Many of us have not had the educational advan– tages enjoyed by the wealthy in the outside world, having belonged to the laboring classes—to what is termed the downtrodden portions of the population of Europe and America, and I say thank God for it, for as a general thing the educated classes are fast becoming unbelievers in the Old and New Testament. We, having been taken from the lowly walks of life, have not, according to the ideas of the world, the intelligence necessary to establish a form of government equal to that which other men have established who have been more learned, better educated than we are, and who have had more wisdom than we seem to have, in a temporal point of view. But God, in his infinite mercy, has inspired our leaders, he has endowed them with wisdom and understanding to take the course and perform the work that he desired. I have heard men of the world point out to President Young and other leading men in this Church the course they should pursue under certain circumstances, to ensure the approval and friendship of, and to give satisfaction to, the leading men of our nation and the nations abroad; and to my certain knowledge their counsel was diametrically opposed to the course taken under those circumstances. I have noticed these things, and I know it is true that God’s ways are not as men’s ways; and for a man to undertake to be a Latter-day Saint while groping in the dark by trusting wholly to the intelligence of his own mind, is the hardest work imaginable; it is the most laborious task that can be, for any individual on the earth to try to be what he ought to be before his God without the Holy Spirit to assist and guide him. We know that naturally our hearts are far removed from God; and, speaking to the ancient Saints, one of the Apostles told them they were blinded in part, and saw through a glass darkly. This is our condition, then how necessary it is for us to seek continually for that Spirit which will enable us to live as Saints of the Most High should live, and to labor so that we may establish a kingdom on the earth which God will delight in, and which, when the great men of the earth see, they will be willing to acknowledge the wisdom manifested therein, and to glorify God for the same. Today, if a stranger were to come into this congregation, for instance, he would be very likely to think, “These are the Latter-day Saints—the people who have gathered out from the nations of the earth to worship God! Well, I do not see a great amount of intellect manifested, there is no great intellectual ability, not so much as among the people of other congregations where I have been.” That may be true, and hence the proof is more striking that the work we have done has been directed and dictated by the wisdom of the Almighty, and in its accomplishment the very spirit, energy and determination which our leaders have exhibited were required. You might have ransacked the world from one end to the other, and you could not have found educated men—men brought up in colleges—who would have come out and taken the axe and the plow, driven the teams, made the roads, led the people and located them as our leaders have done. They might have done these things if they had been willing to bow in obedience to God; but they are too highly educated, they are too full of the wisdom of the world to seek unto God, in lowliness of heart, for his Spirit to guide them, as our leaders have done. Such men as those I am referring to, could not have trusted implicitly in the arm of Jehovah, when on the plains, to protect them from the savages, the storms, and all the dangers incident to such a journey; they could not understand and comprehend the necessity of faith in God under such circumstances, their education and worldly wisdom would have rendered it next to impossible, and it required the very men who have been our leaders to do the work that has been done, and it needs them still. They are perfectly willing that God should guide this great ship Zion, they are willing to act under his direction; and no matter who the man is, nor where he comes from, if he identifies himself with this people, he must be willing that God should lead and guide him, and to obey every word that proceeds from His mouth, or he is not the man to help to carry on this work.

To say that we are a perfect people, I cannot do it, neither can I say that I am a perfect man. I am just as full of weaknesses as any other man, and so are my brethren with whom I associate; but the Elder of Israel, no matter how great his weaknesses, who humbly trusts in God and continually strives to overcome evil and to do only that which is right, will be enabled to triumph and be faithful to the end. What matters it if a man likes whiskey, if he does not drink it? I do not care how much a man in this Church likes it, if he does not drink it, it makes no difference. I do not care how much he loves tobacco, or this, that or the other, that is not good, if he brings his actions and feelings into subjection to the dictates of the Spirit of God. I do not care how much a man loves property, it will not harm him if he does not set his heart upon it so that he could not sacrifice it, if required to do so, to promote the interests of God’s kingdom upon the earth. I remember once, when a boy, Jedediah M. Grant saw me chewing tobacco, and said he, “You chew tobacco, do you?” “Yes, sir.” “Well, I never had any taste for it; it is no virtue in me that I do not use it, I tried hard enough, but it made me sick.” The virtue, brethren, is in putting away or overcoming habits which you know would impede your progress in the kingdom of God. It was not a virtue in Bro. Grant that he did not chew tobacco, he tried to learn how, but could not do it. I tried, and succeeded. But, brethren and sisters, the idea is, to bring our actions, thoughts and feelings into complete subjection to the dictates of the Holy Spirit, and to be on hand at all times to labor as we are directed for the building up of the kingdom of God upon the earth; that should be the object with us. It is no use for a man to say, “I am a Latter-day Saint, and they have not cut me off yet. I have almost feared it sometimes, because I did not do that which I knew to be right; but I am still within the pale of the kingdom, and I hope to slip along with the balance.” This is just as great folly as for a man to claim the right to go a journey by railway when he has no ticket and no means to pay his fare. He may hang around, and declare that he is one of the crowd, and that he is going along with them on that train; but, ignorant of the time it starts, and destitute of the means to pay his way, he strays off for a short time, and in the meanwhile the train starts and leaves him behind. It is just so with an unfaithful Elder in this kingdom—he is not prepared for events as they transpire, and, lacking the spirit of the Gospel, is liable to be left behind.

I am talking to people who understand me, to people who have the word of God. The Elders testify that God has spoken from the heavens, and, that he revealed principles to the Prophet Joseph Smith and others, for the salvation of the human family; they declare that the principles revealed to them will save the people if they will practice them in their lives. I am talking to people who have received a testimony of these things for themselves, who have stood before, and lifted up their voices to, the nations of the earth, and declared that they knew Jesus was the Christ, that he had established his kingdom on the earth, that he had revealed principles which would save us and return us back into the presence of God, if we would practice them. These are the men and women I am talking to; you know as well as I do that the Gospel is true, and my talk is to inspire your hearts and my heart to be more faithful to that which we know to be true. It is not anything new to you and to me to be told that the kingdom of God is on the earth, or to hear the principles of salvation proclaimed by the Elders; but it is good to have our hearts warmed and inspired, and our desires to be diligent and faithful, renewed and strengthened. I do not want the train to start without me, I want to be on board the good ship Zion, with my brethren. So does every soul present, I have no doubt of it. I believe that the atheist—the man who has no belief in God, or faith in any religion, would like the best berth to be had, either on a sailing vessel or steamer, if he saw any chance to obtain it. The Latter-day Saints have good berths in view. You can testify with me that the Spirit of God has enlightened our minds; you can testify with me that the power of God led us to these valleys; that prophecies have been uttered in our hearing, and we have seen them fulfilled, and we know that God has spoken in our day.

Brethren and sisters, let us be faithful, let us be true to the covenants we have made, for if we are, we insure to ourselves life and salvation; but, on the other hand, if we are recreant, we shall go to destruction. This is the testimony of modern as well as ancient revelation; and we need not take our own works to convince the people of the error of their ways; there is principle enough bound within the lids of this book—the Bible—to convince all mankind of the error of their ways, and to lead them from darkness to the Lord Almighty, if they felt as humble before God as I suppose my brethren and sisters do today. But it seems that, in the providence of God, things have been ordered as they are, that is, he has suffered the wickedness of men to transpire in the nations of the earth, and he has suffered priests to be raised up to blind the minds of men. Why? Because men have their agency to do as their hearts prompt them, and there is no power that can prevent them doing this, that or the other; but their acts will be overruled by a superior power. We have our free agency, to think and act just as men think and act, independent of the promptings of the Spirit of God; but that is not our object, our aim is to do the will of God; and brethren, if we could only see the labor and toil that we have to perform before we accomplish our salvation, we would bow in humility before God and pray him to give us strength as our day.

Look at the immense number of people who have lived on the earth since its creation! In what relationship do we stand to them? Who are they? Our progenitors, and millions of them have died without the Gospel. What an immense labor opens up before us when we think of these things! Millions and hundreds of millions of men and women, just as good as we are, according to the knowledge they had, must be administered for by us, and we have to build temples in which the work for their redemption may be performed. We have not only to build temples, but cities; we have to redeem the earth, and we have a vast amount of physical labor to do, that our progenitors did not have the privilege of doing, it was never offered to them, but it has been laid before us in plainness and simplicity. We can understand the principle of baptism for the dead, it has been made plain to us, and administering it, and performing the various duties that will arise in building up the kingdom of God, will give us labor for centuries. Can we, in view of these duties and responsibilities, be idle? Can we fail to seek after the Spirit of God to guide us, that we may accomplish these labors? If we do, we shall not only deprive ourselves of a great privilege and of great glory, but we shall deprive others, perhaps, to some extent, of receiving that which is theirs by right; they have lived for it, and they are entitled to it at our hands.

What can injure the Latter-day Saints? I will ask Brother Hulse here. Does it injure a man to be tarred and feathered? I understand that while he was east he was tarred and feathered, or ducked, or something of that kind, and I have no doubt he feels glad of the persecution. Still, I would not like it just now. Our Elders have been tarred and feathered, and they have suffered a good deal in their efforts to spread the Gospel of the kingdom; but what have they suffered in comparison with the blessings they have received? What is there that would induce a man to sacrifice that feeling of joy which he experiences when preaching the Gospel in the nations? I have heard Elders testify, and it is their general experience, that when abroad preaching, depending for their food upon strangers, unsustained and unsupported, save as the providences of God opened the way before them that they have had a feeling of peace and joy such as they never experienced before in their lives, and which they would not lose for all the wealth on the face of the earth. What is that feeling and where does it come from? It is the peace of God, and when a man possesses it, his thoughts are not as man’s thoughts, and, inspired from on high, he goes forth freely, ready to endure any trial and to make any sacrifice to declare the principles of life and salvation to the people. This is the way that all Latter-day Saints should always feel, and they who take this course are continually in possession of the spirit of peace; they are worthy the name of Saints, and the Scriptures inform us, that from such no good thing will be withheld, and if a man wants anything that is bad he is not a Saint, he does not belong to that catalogue.

My exhortation to you is to be faithful. You know the truth, honor it by walking uprightly; serve God and you will be the most independent men and women on the face of the earth. People come amongst us sometimes and declare that there is no independence of character amongst the Latter-day Saints, because they do the bidding of one man—do just as one man says; but I heard a remark made last night, that the Latter-day Saints are the most independent people on earth, and I believe it. If it does not manifest independence of character for men and women, who have been honest and upright all their days, to leave their relatives, neighbors, friends and associates, by whom they have always been respected, to join the Latter-day Saints and be called everything that is mean, where will you find it on the face of the earth. Such men have joined the Church in the States, and Bishop Hunter is an instance. He was respected and honored by his neighbors, and was known to have been an honest, upright, Godfearing man all his days; and when such men have joined the Church they have been talked of in the most scandalous manner. Vituperation has been heaped upon them, the papers have slandered them, their neighbors have turned against them, and called them thieves, robbers, murderers, and everything mean, contemptible and bad. But this treatment never changed the character of Bishop Hunter. He came to Nauvoo, and was a good Latter-day Saint, a good, honest man, faithful and true to his covenants, and he has proved so up to the present day. This has been the treatment and the course of very many of the members of this Church, and in enduring and pursuing it, they have shown an independence of character that is rarely equaled. They have also shown themselves possessed of inspiration from the Almighty, and when men enjoy this, their ways are not as men’s ways, but as God’s ways and they are willing to come out and acknowledge God, and to enter into covenant to do his will as he makes it known to them. This is the position of the Latter-day Saints—when God’s will is made known to them, the spirit within them testifies to the truth thereof, and they know it is their business to perform their part of the contract. Who can blame them for doing it?

As far as independence is concerned, we are a little too indepen– dent of God, sometimes. I know that this is the feeling I have to contend with. Brethren, let our hearts be uplifted to the Almighty! Remember the covenants you have made; they are pure. Keep them so. They are holy; keep them so! Do not disgrace them! Brethren and sisters, if we value our salvation, temporal and spiritual, let us be true to our covenants, and to the God we have engaged to serve.

May God bless you. Amen.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered at Farmington, Saturday Afternoon, Aug. 24, 1872.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Sunday Morning, August 18, 1872.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May God help us!

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, August 11, 1872.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If anybody wants to know what the priesthood of the Son of God is, it is the law by which the worlds are, were, and will continue forever and ever. It is that system which brings worlds into existence and peoples them, gives them their revolutions—their days, weeks, months, years, their seasons and times and by which they are rolled up as a scroll, as it were, and go into a higher state of existence; and they who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—the maker, framer, governor, dictator and controller of this earth—they who live according to his law and priesthood will be prepared to dwell on this earth when it is brought into the presence of the Father and the Son. This is the habitation of the Saints; this is the earth that will be given to the Saints, when they and it are sanctified and glorified, and brought back into the presence of the Father and the Son. This is our religion, and I bear testimony to it; and this oneness which the Latter-day Saints possess, which is now so much contended against and hated by the Christian world, in a political, financial, philosophical, and every other respect and capacity, is the power of God unto salvation, and is not produced by the influence or power of man, and this witness cannot be impeached—it is impossible to impeach it. This is our testimony, and this is one witness, one testimony that the Gospel which we preach is the Gospel that God has revealed for the salvation of the children of men, and it will bring all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve into a state of glory and happiness that is far beyond their conception, or any ideas that they have ever received while in this wicked world; and this glory the Lord has prepared in his mansion for his children.

“Well,” says one, if I am pretty sure to get a state of glory better than this, I guess I will not take the trouble to inherit anything more.” Well, run the risk of it, every man on the earth has that privilege. The Gospel is preached, sin revives, some die and some contend against it—some receive it and some do not; but this is the sin of the people—truth is told them and they reject it. This is the sin of the world, “Light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” So said Jesus in his day. We say, Here is the Gospel of life and salvation, and everyone that will receive it, glory, honor, immortality and eternal life are theirs; if they reject it, they take their chance. I hope and pray that we may all be wise and receive the good part, that we may have the benefit thereof.

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

May the Lord help us to do right. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Orson Pratt, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, August 4, 1872.

Sometimes I am in the habit of taking a text, but at present there is no passage of Scripture which presents itself to my mind; I therefore, commence speaking and, through your faith and prayers before the Lord, I trust that something may be given to me that will edify, and benefit the congregation. The subjects pertaining to the kingdom of God are so numerous that, sometimes the great difficulty in the mind of a servant of God who attempts to address the people is to know the mind and will of the Spirit in regard to what shall be said. If I know my own heart, I have no desire to speak my own words or to impart unto you my own natural wisdom; but it is the earnest desire of my heart that I may impart instruction according to the mind and the will of the living God. This I cannot do unless God shall grant unto me the inspiration of his Spirit at the very moment, and this will depend in a great measure upon the hearers as well as upon the speaker. If the people have faith in God, and pray unto him, exercising that faith, he may give them something that will be instructive to their minds; but if they have not faith the Lord may not see proper thus to impart.

We are permitted, Latter-day Saints, to live in a very peculiar age of the world. It is called by us, the dispensation of the fulness of times. Many dispensations have been revealed to the inhabitants of the earth in past ages, and God has given, from time to time, since the creation, much instruction to the people. What I mean by a dispensation, is power, authority and revelation given from Heaven to direct and counsel men here on the earth. This has been given at different ages of the world, and the instruction which God has given has been in accordance with the circumstances of the people, the revelations and instructions which he has given being different at one period from those given at another. When I say different, do not misunderstand me. Many of the revelations of God are unchangeable in their nature, and are adapted to all dispensations; but many commandments have been given that were adapted only to the dispensations in which they were revealed. I will name some of these.

For instance, when some sixteen hundred or two thousand years had passed away, from the creation, the world had become very much corrupted in the sight of God, so much so that what little history we have on the subject informs us that all flesh had corrupted its way upon the face of the earth. God gave a new commandment in that period, differing entirely from all former commandments. It was not adapted to any dispensation that had preceded it, neither would it be suitable for any future dispensation: it was intended for that particular period only. The Lord commanded his servant Noah to build an ark, according to certain rules and dimensions that he gave unto him, for, said the Lord, “I intend to destroy all flesh with a flood, except those who shall gather together into the ark which you shall build.”

This was a new commandment. If there had been any sectarian preachers who then lived, and perhaps there were—for preachers who have not been sent of God seem to have been numerous in all dispensations—they would perhaps have reasoned with Noah in relation to this new revelation and commandment, and said to him, “What is the use now, of getting new revelation from God? You will not dispute, Noah, but what Enoch was saved and translated to heaven. He had enough revelation to save him, and cannot we be saved in the same manner that he was, without having any new revelation communicated to us?” I mention this, because such arguments are used at the present day in reference to the new revelations which the Latter-day Saints carry forth to the world. The people say, “You believe in the Book of Mormon as a new revelation, and that God has given new commandments. Have we not enough? Were not the people who lived in the days of Enoch, Abraham, Moses and the Prophets, in the days of Jesus and the Apostles, saved? And if they had enough to save them, if we follow the instructions which they received, what is the use of obtaining another book, called the Book of Mormon, or new commandments and revelations?” This has been brought forth as an argument ever since my youth to my certain knowledge, in all countries where I have traveled and attempted to communicate to the world our ideas about new revelation. The same arguments might have been used in the days of the flood—“Enough has been given; Enoch has been saved and translated, and if we follow the revelations given to him, why may we not be saved without having any thing new?” But Noah would have answered, and very properly too, “God designs to accomplish something now that he did not accomplish in the days of Enoch, nor in the days of Abel and Seth, nor in the days of any of those ancient worthies—he intends to bring destruction on all flesh that will not repent, by overwhelming this world of ours in a flood of water. He intends to pour out his indignation and just wrath upon those who corrupt themselves in his sight; and he has provided a particular way of escape therefrom, by which you may, if you will, be saved from this judgment, and that way has to be made known by new revelation.” We will pass on, however.

Soon after the days of Noah, we find that certain men lived upon the earth, whose names are recorded in this sacred history (the Bible), who were called to be the chosen servants of God, and whom the Lord blessed in a peculiar manner. I refer now to the Patriarchs, and more especially to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, three very worthy men, so worthy that the Lord chose them as repre– sentatives of the faithful in all future ages, and declared that all who should be saved in future ages should became their seed, either springing directly from their loins, or being adopted, through the Gospel, into the family of Abraham, who was to be called the father of the faithful: that is the father not only of the faithful who lived from his day until the coming of Christ, but of all who should live after Christ who followed in the footsteps of this ancient Patriarch and embraced the same Gospel that he taught, and they should have a claim on the promises that were made to him.

Now, did the Patriarch Abraham receive anything new from God, or was there enough already given? Perhaps many may cry, “Enough to save Noah, Enoch, Abel, and all persons who would walk before the Lord according to ancient revelation, without anything new.” But there was not enough adapted to the circumstances by which Abraham was surrounded. Why? Because the Lord designed to call Abraham out from his father’s house, from his friends and country, and to lead him into a strange land. Abraham might have searched all former records and revelations, but here was a duty he never could have learned therefrom—“Depart from thy father’s house!” It could not be found written in former revelations, hence the circumstances required new revelation, and God gave it by commanding this great man—the father of the faithful—to leave the land of Chaldea and to go forth into a country where he never had been. Abraham was obedient, he went forth and traveled to the country that we call Palestine—a small territory east of the Mediterranean Sea. And having arrived in that land, he might have searched all former revelations in vain to have learned what his duty was then, for there were certain duties required of him then in regard to which the revelation given to him in his native land did not enlighten him. One of these duties was to go forth upon a certain eminence or mountain in Canaan. He did as he was taught. It was a peculiar commandment. I have never been commanded to do so, neither has any other person in this congregation; neither was any person who lived before Abraham but he, and he alone needed new revelation to find out that he was to go to the top of a certain mountain. When he got there another new revelation was given to him, commanding him to look to the east then to the west; and then to cast his eyes to the north, and to the south, and then, behold, a great promise was made to him by new revelation, namely, “All the land which thou seest shall be given to thee and thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.” No such promise could he have found in any former revelation: this promise was adapted to that peculiar individual, and to the circumstances in which he was placed.

We would imagine that Isaac, having his father’s revelations right before his eyes, and knowing all about them, would say in his heart, “I need not trouble myself about inquiring from God and receiving anything new from the heavens. My father was a good man; he was saved, and I shall content myself by giving heed to the old revelations.” But Isaac did not reason in this way; and the Lord had some new revelations to communicate to the son of Abraham, and one of them was to confirm the promise that had been made to his father. One might naturally suppose that the revelation made to his father was broad enough and covered the case without being confirmed, for it declared that the land promised to Abraham should be given to him and to his seed after him, and we might suppose that that included Isaac, and that there was no need of a new revelation to him on the subject; but if it did include him, Isaac was not fully satisfied, he would not place his dependence on something that had been said to some other man, but wanted to know for himself whether God intended him to possess that land, and there was no way for him to obtain this knowledge except by direct communication with the heavens. He obtained it, God renewing the promise to him that he had made to his father Abraham.

By and by comes along the grandson of Abraham—Jacob, who, not satisfied with the promises made to his grandfather and his father—Abraham and Isaac, and not considering himself safe to depend on promises made to somebody else, came before the Lord and plead with him, and the angels of God came and visited this lad, and he saw a ladder reaching from the ground on which he slept to the very heavens, upon which the angels were ascending and descending; and he, on that occasion, obtained a confirmation of the promise made to his father and grandfather.

It is unnecessary for me to trace the history of these patriarchs, or to mention the various times when God thought fit to communicate a new revelation unto them, according to the circumstances in which they were placed. We might relate the revelations given to Jacob after he went down into the country of Laban, where he married his four wives. We might relate to you the various revelations God gave to him during his sojourn in that land. We might also relate to you the revelations he received after he left that country with his four wives and his children. When he came to the brook Jabbok, sending over all his family before him, he stopped back, and the Lord condescended to give him a new revelation. An angel came down, and Jacob and this person laid hold of each other, the same as men do occasionally now, to try each other’s strength, in what is termed wrestling. These two persons wrestled together all night long. The angel did not see proper to take any advantage of Jacob by miracle, but he wrestled with him as one man would another; and it seems that neither of them overcame the other. The angel did not succeed in throwing Jacob to the ground, neither did Jacob succeed in throwing the angel to the ground; but after contending together all night, the angel at last put forth his finger and touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh and lamed him a little, and by this means was enabled to overcome him. After being thus lamed, Jacob found that he had been wrestling with an angel of God, and, said he, “I will not let thee go unless thou bless me;” and God, through the mouth of that angel, gave to him the same great and glorious promises than he had given to his father, and also blessed him as a prince, because he had power to wrestle with an angel all night and prevailed with him.

Some suppose that this was the first conversion of Jacob; but, be this as it may, Jacob, prior to this time, had many great revelations from God. After wrestling in this manner on one side of the brook Jabbok, he started the next day to overtake his family, and he placed his four wives and their children in a certain order, preparatory to meeting his brother Esau. By and by Esau comes along with quite an army of men, and he meets the forward company, consisting of Bilhah and Zilpah and their children—two of Jacob’s wives and their polygamous offspring. He continues on until he meets Jacob’s third wife, and finally he comes to the fourth and her children, with whom Jacob was, and turning to Jacob he says, “Who are all these women and children?” Jacob answered, “These are they whom God hath given thy servant.” What! God give to Jacob more than one wife, and a number of polygamous children! Is that so? Well, Jacob says so, and we are informed that he was then converted, that this meeting between Jacob and Esau took place, and this declaration of Jacob was made after his conversion at the brook Jabbok. Now, would you suppose that a converted man would make such a declaration, about his wives and children as Jacob made to Esau, if it had not been true? If a man now-a-days declares that God has given him more wives than one, and a host of polygamous children, he is accused of blasphemy, yet Jacob, after wrestling with an angel, declared that such was the case with him: he knew it was so and he acknowledged the hand of God. After he reached the land of Canaan we find that God continued to give to this man revelation after revelation, suited to the circumstances; and thus we may trace the history of the dispensations of God to man.

I will now touch, in short, upon the history of Moses, who lived several hundred years after Jacob—at a period when circumstances called for commandments and revelations different to any that had ever been given before. After having slain the Egyptian, Moses fled from the house of Pharaoh, and went down into the land of Midian, and dwelt there forty years. At a certain time, when he was herding the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro, he saw a bush burning with a very brilliant flame. This excited his curiosity, and he drew near, and saw the bush apparently burning, and yet not consumed. As he drew nearer God spoke to him out of the burning bush, and told him to take the shoes from his feet for the place on which he stood was holy ground. He never could have found out by former revelation that the ground whereon he stood was holy. This God, who appeared in the burning bush, or the angel, as the case may be, had something for Moses to do that he could not possibly learn from former revelation, and that something was to arise and go down into Egypt and deliver God’s people—the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—from the hands of their enemies. Do you not see that it required new revelation to inform him of this fact? He was obedient to the commandment, for taking Aaron with him, he went down into Egypt and stood before the king, and then commenced a series of new revelations that were wonderful and marvelous in their nature. The revelations of today, however, would not suit tomorrow, and those of tomorrow would not suit the next day. Why? Because God had something new to perform every day, and that which was given yesterday would not be adapted to the work God saw fit to perform today or tomorrow, hence, as often as the day rolled round new revelation had to be given to Moses to make known to him what the Lord required at his hand, what his mission was, what he was to do in the house of Pharaoh and before all the Egyptians. Having accomplished these wonders, by new revelation, Moses and the whole house of Israel, some twenty-five hundred thousand in number, left the land of Egypt and came forth to the eastern border of the Red Sea.

If there had been sectarians in that large company, they would doubtless have reasoned with Moses on this wise: “Moses, what an abundance of revelation God has given in former times, and have we not enough for our guidance now?” I say if there had been Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, members of the Church of England, or of any of the several hundred different sects into which Christendom is now separated, this would have been their argument, for their argument now is—“We have enough, and do not need any more.” But Moses and the children of Israel were not influenced by such considerations, for they were placed in circumstances that required something new. The Red Sea was before them, and there were mountains on the south and on the north, and on the west the Egyptians were pursuing them, and the inquiry with them was, “What shall we do?” God gave them revelation. He did not tell them to search previous revelations for that was all that was necessary, but he gave them revelation telling them what to do, and that revelation was, “Stand still, and see the salvation of God?” If they had not got this new revelation they might have been so confused that, instead of standing still, some would have run for one mountain, and some for another, some this way and some that; but a new revelation made them understand that their duty, instead of fleeing, was to stand still and see the salvation that God would work out for them. Moses was commanded to smite the waters of the Red Sea, and he did so, and they were parted asunder by the power of the Almighty and, as we are informed in another place, they stood up like walls on either side of the path on which the children of Israel traveled through the midst of the sea. We would naturally suppose that water would not do this, but it was a miracle wrought by the power of the Almighty. He placed the waters, like solid walls on each side of his people, and they walked through dry shod, while the Egyptian army, in trying to pursue them, were overthrown in the midst of the sea.

Then comes another new revelation—given by inspiration—to sing how the Lord had overthrown the enemies of his people, how the Lord had magnified his great power and preserved his people from the Egyptian nation, and delivered them from bondage. The hosts of Israel traveled along from the shores of the Red Sea until they came to the foot of Mount Sinai, where, by new revelation, they camped; and at a certain time, the Lord, by new revelation, called Moses up into the mount; and when he got there the Lord saw fit to write a certain code of laws on tables of stone, and, after keeping Moses in the mount forty days and forty nights, he sent him down, and when he got down he found that the children of Israel had corrupted themselves in the sight of the Most High, for they had made unto themselves gods, certain golden calves, and they were worshipping them. Aaron had caused the people to strip themselves naked, and they were dancing around the calves. Moses was very angry, not with that kind of anger which fills the bosoms of foolish men and women; but that principle of justice which burns in the bosom of the Almighty, burned in the bosom of Moses, and he threw down the tables of the covenant which he had brought from Mount Sinai, and they were smashed to pieces. He called for those on the Lord’s side to come out from the midst of that company and stand with him, at the same time commanding them to gird on their swords and put to death those who were not for the Lord. That was a new revelation, and a curious one, was it not? After all this had taken place, the Lord called Moses a second time up into the mount by new revelation, and again gave him tables of stone and laws written thereon. He kept him there the second time forty days and forty nights, without eating or drinking anything. One would suppose that he could not have stood so long a period of fasting—eighty days and eighty nights, forty each time. When he had obtained the tables the second time he came down and stood before the children of Israel, and his countenance shone with such brightness that they were filled with fear, and fled from before the presence of Moses. They could not endure the glory of his countenance, and they besought Moses that the presence of the Lord might not be made manifest in their midst. “Do you, Moses, go and talk with the Lord. You can converse with him, and let us know what the Lord says, but do not let the Lord come and converse with us, lest we be destroyed.” We find that they had so corrupted themselves in the sight of God that he, who would have delighted to converse with all the people, as one man talks with another, was obliged to hide his presence from them, and to send Moses to teach them. Moreover their corruptions had become so great that the Lord, in his wrath, swore that they should not enter into his rest. This was made known to them by new revelation while in the wilderness, or they never could have learned it. The Lord also informed them that he would not go up in the midst of their camps. Said he, “I will not go up in the midst of this people, because they have corrupted themselves in my sight, lest I break forth and consume them in a moment;” “but,” said he, “I will send an angel before you, and you must hearken to his voice, but my presence shall not go with you, you are too corrupt.” By and by we find that an angel was left with them, and a cloud by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, guided all their camps. The voice and presence of the Lord were made manifest to Moses, and Moses conversed with the Lord as one man talks with another, and during forty years in the wilderness he from time to time received revelations and communications to guide the people. Do you not see that under these circumstances, during the whole of that forty years, there was not one year—probably not one month, and it may be, not one day but what new revelation was necessary? The code of laws given on Mount Sinai was not sufficient without new revelation.

We might trace the history of the people of God, if we had time, but I see we have not, from the days of Moses to the days of Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, Barak and various other ancient worthies, all of whom received revelation. If we come to the days of Gideon we find that he was a man who had seventy sons, and how many daughters, I do not know. The Lord conversed with Gideon and sent an angel to him to tell him that he would raise him up as a mighty man of valor, to go forth in his might and in his strength to deliver his people Israel from bondage. We might relate all these things to show forth that the bondage of the children of Israel called forth new revelation from heaven, and that because of it the Lord spoke to and commanded his servants what to do for the deliverance of that people; and if he called upon a man who had so many wives and children, he did not consider that that man was a criminal and unworthy of receiving communication from him, but on the contrary, it is clear that the Lord considered him the most worthy man in all Israel, and on that account he sent his angel to him. And this noted polygamist, of all the thousands of Israel was entrusted with the mission of delivering that people from their enemies. God wrought special miracles by his hand in order to accomplish this great work, though he was a polygamist.

But we will pass on, and come down for some two thousand years to the days of our Savior. One would naturally suppose that when the Son of God himself came from his father’s glory to dwell here on the earth in the flesh, and began to teach by the power of the Holy Ghost, the things of his Father, that during the three and a half years of his ministry among the people, they, of course, could say, “Now we do not need any more revelation, we have enough; the Son of God, of whom our law, its ordinances and sacrifices were typical, has at last come and has offered himself on the cross, and having finished the work given him to do, is there any more need for new revelation?” The conduct of the Apostles is the best answer that can be given to this, for we find them, like all their predecessors, from the days of Adam until their day, seeking from time to time for guidance by new revelation. We read of Philip going to the city of Samaria, preaching there awhile and baptizing men and women; but not having the authority to administer in the higher ordinance of the laying on of hands, the Christians at Jeru– salem, hearing that Samaria had received the Word of God, sent Peter and John to administer the ordinance of the laying on of hands for the higher baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. When Peter and John reached Samaria they found there was great joy among the people, for many of them had been converted; but their joy was not because of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, for the next verse says, “For as yet he was fallen on none of them,” only they had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, but neither man nor woman had received the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. But the Apostles laid their hands on them and the Holy Ghost fell on them.

Now, here was Philip in the city of Samaria. He had preached the Gospel there, where should he go next? He had probably fulfilled all the duties required of him there. He was not hired to preach in that city for so much a year, and to stay there to the end of his days. No, he needed a new revelation. All the revelations that Jesus had given were not sufficient to guide Philip in regard to his next duty, the Lord, therefore sent an angel to him to tell him to go down into the south country. He never would have learned this fact by any former revelation. While Philip was on his way to the south he saw a chariot before him and here again a new revelation was given to him—“Draw thyself near to that chariot.” He did so, and having taught the Gospel to its occupant, as they rode along, they came to some water and, the man having believed what Philip had said, wanted to be baptized. The chariot stood still, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and the eunuch was baptized, and they came forth out of the water. Now then, how could Philip know but what it was his duty on that occasion to still speak with the eunuch, get into the carriage and ride along with him and give him further instructions? But no, the Lord had something else for him to do, and the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and he found himself at Azotus. I do not know whether or not this Spirit actually caught up Philip, body and spirit, and wafted him quickly from the place where the eunuch was baptized to the city of Azotus. I should not be surprised, however, if this was the case, for we have something very similar in the Old Testament Scriptures, and the promise is that they who wait on the Lord shall mount as it were on eagle’s wings, and they shall run and not be weary, and walk and not faint. I do not know but this was the case with Philip. At any rate, the Spirit of the Lord carries people, by new revelation, whithersoever he will.

On another occasion we find that Barnabas and Saul, not having inquired of the Lord concerning their duties, but they probably had been reading the Old Scriptures, which were sufficient for instruction for righteousness, and to make the man of God thoroughly perfect to every good work. I say that probably Barnabas and Saul had been reading these, and having failed to inquire of the Lord, and to get new revelation, they started out with the design of going to a certain city, but the Lord checked them. Said he, “Do not go there!” How important it was to get new revelation! “Do not you go to that city, I have another work for you to perform;” and they were then told where to go. Talk to the Christian ministers today, or to any that have lived for centuries past, and if they had made up their minds to go to any place, they would never think of the Lord checking them, or forbidding them to go, by new revelation, for they all say that the canon of Scripture is full, and that no more new revelation is needed.

Many other instances of a similar character might be named, but time will not permit. We find, however, that, after all that God revealed through Jesus, and to the Apostles, for ninety-six years in the first century of the Christian era, they had not enough, and the Lord then gave the book of John’s prophecy on the Isle of Patmos. John was commanded to write it on parchment, and in this book a great many new revelations were promised to be given in the latter times. One of these was that an angel should come from heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach to all people, nations, kindreds and tongues, declaring that the hour of God’s judgment had come. Here was a promise or prediction that a new revelation should be given by an angel from heaven, and so important should it be that it should be proclaimed to every creature under heaven. A great many people say, “We have the everlasting Gospel in this book—the Bible—called the canon of Scripture, collected together by the monks, cardinals, bishops and great men of the Roman Catholic Church, some four centuries after Christ. They bound together in this volume all the books they had that they did not condemn, and they declared that this was enough, and there was no need of the Lord saying anything more. But these very Scriptures themselves contradict their compilers—those wicked men who sat in judgment on the word of God, setting aside this book and that book, this manuscript and that manuscript, and binding the remainder together. I say that they put some things into this very book, which prove that God would again make known his will to the children of men in latter times; that he would again give new revelation, not for the benefit of one or two individuals, but for the benefit of his creatures universally.

Notwithstanding we have the Gospel written here in this book, yet that Gospel, without the power and authority to administer its ordinances, is a dead letter. We might believe the Gospel, we might believe that Jesus is the Christ by reading this book, we could repent of our sins by reading the proclamation of repentance here recorded; but we could not be baptized for the remission of our sins, neither could we have hands laid upon us for the baptism of the Holy Ghost by reading, and that is part and portion of the Gospel of the Son of God, just as much as the written word that proclaims these things to the children of men. Take away the power and authority to administer that word, and you at once leave the dead letter of the Gospel, and it would benefit none of the children of men, so far as obeying it is concerned. They might be benefited by repenting and believing, and so on, but they could not embrace the Gospel, they could not get into the kingdom of God, for “except a man is born of the water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” You could not be born of the water unless there was a man authorized by new revelation to administer the baptism of water, neither could you receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost only by the ordinance God has instituted; hence the necessity of the restoration of the authority to administer the ordinances of the Gospel, and this is why God has restored it after the earth has been without it for seventeen hundred years. No man among all the nations, kindreds and tongues of the earth, during that time, has had this authority, neither the authority to administer the Lord’s supper, which is a part of the Gospel, neither in any other ordinance.

God having foreseen this long period of darkness, foretold by the mouth of the Revelator, St. John, that he would send an angel from heaven with the everlasting Gospel, and when that angel came and committed that Gospel to man on the earth, it should be proclaimed to all people under heaven, the same as the Elders of this Church are now doing it. The Book of Mormon, containing the everlasting Gospel as it was published to the ancient inhabitants of America, has been brought forth by the power of God, and his servants have been sent forth to preach it, and, not only to preach it, but, having authority to administer its ordinances; yet the world tell us we need no more revelation, we have enough if we only follow the Scriptures, which Paul said to Timothy were sufficient to save him. But in the Christian world you cannot be saved by following the Scriptures, from the fact that you cannot follow them without authority from God to administer the ordinances. You be baptized by a man having no authority by new revelation from heaven, and your baptism is illegal, and your pretended adoption into the kingdom of God is not acknowledged in heaven, for God has not authorized the administrator, and what he has done in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, cannot be sealed and recorded in heaven for your benefit. No wonder, then, that the world has dwelt in darkness for so many centuries, for the earth has become so corrupt, and the heavens have apparently become as brass over the heads of the nations. No Pro– phet, no angel, no inspiration, no Revelator, no man of God to say, “Thus saith the Lord God” unto the people. No wonder, then, that the Lord, before the great day of the coming of his beloved Son from the heavens, should send an angel to prepare the way before his face! This he has done, and the proclamation is going forth, saying to all people, nations and tongues, “God has sent an angel, and he has sent him to prepare you and us for the great day of the coming of the Son of Man, wherein there will be more revelations given than have ever been given in all former dispensations.”

Tell about the canon of Scripture being complete, what nonsense! What absurdity! Where is there any proof of any such thing? God has yet to give revelation enough to fill the earth with his knowledge as the waters cover the great deep. He has yet to pour out his spirit upon all flesh that dwells on the face of the earth, and make a revelator, prophet, or prophetess of every man and woman living, and if all their revelations are written, this book, the Bible, will be like a primer compared with them. “In the last days,” saith God, by the mouth of the Prophet Joel, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and upon my servants and my hand maidens in those days will I pour out of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions.” Supposing they write their dreams as Daniel wrote his, and suppose they write their visions as Isaiah wrote his, and suppose they write their prophecies as all the Prophets have written theirs, would they not be just as sacred as this canon of Scripture? I say they would. I would be bound just as much to receive the revelations of each man and woman among all flesh as I would those of a person who lived two or three thousand years ago. A revelation given to a living man in my day is just as sacred as one given to a man who has been dead some three thousand years. God is a consistent being, and he reveals himself according to his own mind and will, and in the last dispensation, he will continue to reveal line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, bringing forth a record here, unfolding the history of another people there, bringing to light the bible of the ten tribes who have been absent from the land of Canaan for almost three thousand years. Their bible has got to be brought to light, and when they return they will bring their written revelations, prophecies, visions and dreams with them, and we shall have the bible of the ten tribes, as well as the bible of the ancient Israelites who lived on this continent, and the bible of the Jews on the eastern continent, and these bibles will be united in one, and even then the people will not have enough revelation. No, every man and every woman will have to be a revelator and prophet, and the knowledge and glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the bosom of the great deep. And by and by, as a kind of climax to all this, the revelation of the Lord Jesus himself will take place from heaven in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel. That will be a revelation that the wicked cannot abide, a revelation too great for them, and that will pierce them to their inmost soul. That will be a revelation that will consume them in their wickedness, as stubble is consumed before the devouring flame, and he will reign here, king of kings and lord of lords for a thousand years.

Do you suppose that he will give no new revelation during that time, but that he will sit on his throne like the idols in some of the heathen nations? Do you suppose that the Lord Jesus, that intelligent being, by whom the Father made the worlds, is coming here to reign king of kings, and to sit down on his throne in the temple at Jerusalem, and upon his throne in his temple in Zion, and abide there as a statue from generation to generation, for a thousand years, and when the people come up to ask him a question that he will not say a word, only to tell them they have enough? Do you suppose this will be the case? Oh no, my friends, the Lord Jesus will converse the whole thousand years with his people, and give them instruction. He will reign over the house of David, over the children of Israel, over the twelve tribes, over Zion and over all the inhabitants of the earth, that is over all who are spared in that day, giving counsel here, instructions yonder, revealing something there, and so on, and the amount of revelation that will be given during the thousand years will no doubt be ten thousand times more than is contained in this Bible, and yet say the world, “No more revelation!”

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon July 14, 1872.

I will read a portion of the 3rd chapter of St. John—

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?”

In listening this morning to the remarks of Elder Schonfeldt, on the everlasting Gospel as preached by the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he stated in substance that none could receive salvation outside this Church, and outside the Priesthood which God had restored to the Church. He did not explain—had not time, probably, or his mind was carried away on some other points, how, or why it is that salvation can only be obtained in the way that God, our heavenly Father, has prescribed. Many, doubtless, who listen to the Elders of this Church, when speaking upon the principles of life and salvation, have come to the conclusion, when they have not thoroughly understood the principles and the system as they are set forth, that we are an exceedingly exclusive and uncharitable people for believing that only a very few out of the large mass of human beings who have peopled the earth will be saved, while the great majority—those who are outside the pale of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—will go down to an endless hell.

The reason, probably, that these ideas are entertained by many who have heard our Elders preach, is because they have drawn deductions from the preaching they have heard, imagining that our views of the sayings of the Scriptures corresponded with theirs, and that it necessarily followed that all who failed to render obedience to the ordinances of the Gospel, as we preach them, would go down to that endless hell in which so many of the sects believe. But any person entertaining such ideas does us, or rather the Gospel that we preach, great injustice. We believe that God, our heavenly Father, is a God of perfect justice, a God of mercy, a God filled with long-suffering and tender compassion towards all the works of his hands. We could not, with our views respecting the character of God, believe as our friends imagine with regard to the destiny of those who die outside of this Church, for that would be incompatible with and contrary to all that we understand concerning the character of our God—the God who is revealed in the Bible, and the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We believe, as Jesus said, that “this is condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.” This is the condemnation under which mankind will suffer—the condemnation will follow the rejection of light by those to whom it may be sent in every nation and age of the world; in other words, we believe that where there is no law, there is no transgression—where men and women have not had the Gospel, or the principles of salvation, communicated unto them, they cannot be held accountable for disobeying the same. It is a truth that has been enforced by all who have understood the Gospel, that those to whom the Gospel is revealed, must obey it, or condemnation follows. Condemnation did not fall upon the inhabitants of the antediluvian world until Noah had taught unto them the will of God. Noah, commanded of God, went forth as a preacher, of right– eousness, declaring to the people the judgments that were about to come upon them; and God so inspired, directed and strengthened him that he was enabled to warn the people to such an extent that they were left without excuse, so much so that God felt justified in sending the flood upon the earth.

This has been the course the Almighty has pursued in every age when his judgments have been poured out upon the people—he has sent Prophets to warn them and to tell them how they might escape the calamities threatened. This was so with the Jews, unto whom the Son of God came. He proclaimed the Gospel unto them, and warned them of coming judgments, and he sent his disciples through all Jewry, doing the same. You all remember the Savior’s pathetic lament over Jerusalem, when he said he would have gathered her people as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing, but they would not receive him as a messenger of salvation, as the heir and Son of God, empowered to impart unto them principles, obedience to which would have secured them life here and hereafter. He also pronounced a woe upon many cities of that land, and said that if the mighty works which had been done in them had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, their people would have repented. But the Jews hardened their hearts, and not only rejected his testimony, but they shed his blood, and invoked condemnation on their own heads for doing so. History tells us that the judgments which Christ and his Apostles had declared did descend upon the Jewish nation. Jerusalem was taken, the temple thrown down, and the people carried into captivity, and the desolation and dreadful woes that had been predicted by the Son of God were all fulfilled upon that generation of Jews.

In these instances we see that God sent messengers to warn the people before his judgments were poured out upon them; and we also learn that when the Gospel is proclaimed by those having authority, if the people reject it they are held to a strict accountability therefore, and condemnation inevitably follows—there is no escape from it, but it falls in all its severity upon those who reject the message of life and salvation when proclaimed by those having authority to proclaim it. A perusal of this book (the Bible) will convince all who believe in it, that it is a most dangerous thing, and attended with the most terrible consequences, to reject the message that God gives to his authorized servants to proclaim to their fellow creatures. There is no instance of which we read, from the beginning of the book to the close thereof, where judgments did not fall upon a people if they did not repent of their sins and obey the message sent unto them by God. When I say repent, I mean a complete forsaking of sin, and turning from it truly and sincerely; in no other way can mankind escape the judgments and calamities threatened, and of which they are warned.

In the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ there were certain conditions revealed. Mankind were required to obey a certain form of doctrine declared unto them, and when they did obey they received the blessings. But I have often thought when traveling abroad in the nations, how different it is in our day from what it was anciently. In our day we see countless numbers of elegant spires pointing to heaven, and legions of men preaching what they call the Gospel, but the wickedness of the people is unchecked. Anciently, when God sent his authorized servants to proclaim his Gospel to the people, salvation, on the one hand, followed obedience, or, on the other, condemnation followed rejection. And these effects did not linger, they were not deferred for centuries, but if the people did not repent after hearing the message of the servants of God, great calamities quickly followed. They could not listen to the authorized servants of God for any length of time, and harden their hearts against their testimony and warnings, without speedy judgment following. This was the case from the days of Noah to the days of John the Revelator, and it will be the case in every generation when the Gospel of the Son of God, in its purity and fullness, is proclaimed to the people, and when God has a Church and Priesthood upon the earth which he recognizes. He is the King of the earth, he is the Creator of all its inhabitants, and when he calls upon the people, and requires them to do anything, they must promptly comply, or suffer the terrible consequences of their disobedience.

In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as I have already remarked, there are certain conditions with which the people are expected to comply; if they do they receive the blessings, if they do not they receive condemnation. Jesus and his Apostles taught that it was essential that mankind should believe in him as the Son of God—as the only name given under heaven by which men could be saved. All mankind were therefore required to believe and to have faith in him, and to approach the Father in his name. That was the first condition of the Gospel as taught by Jesus and his Apostles.

The next condition was repentance. All who had committed sin and were guilty of wrong of any kind, were required to repent of that wrong and to live pure and holy lives. They were not only required to be sorry—to have compunctions of conscience for the commission of evil, but they were required to forsake it entirely and to become new creatures. If they had been dishonest, untruthful, unvirtuous, profane; if they had taken advantage of their neighbor, borne false witness against him, or encroached upon his rights; if, in fact, they had done anything contrary to the dictates of the Holy Spirit, or of their consciences when enlightened by that Spirit, they were required to repent of and forsake the same.

The third condition of the Gospel was, that parties who had believed in Jesus, and had repented of their sins, should take some step for the remission of them. Now the penalty of the sin that our father Adam committed was death—“In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” was the proclamation of the Creator; and when Adam sinned he paid the penalty and died, and entailed death upon every generation of his posterity, and that sleep of death would have been eternal had it not been for the death of the Son of God. He came as the Redeemer of the world, he died for the sin that had been committed by Adam, he atoned for it, and thus ensured to all the family of man redemption from the grave or a resurrection of their mortal bodies. But he gave unto his disciples a commandment that they should preach remission of sins, and that they should administer an ordinance by which all obedient believers could obtain remission of sins, and that ordinance was baptism. “Not the putting away,” as the Apostle Paul says, “of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God.” They were required to submit to this ordinance. Jesus taught it, and he, himself, although admittedly a pure being, set the example of obedience to it. When John was baptizing in the river Jordan, Jesus went to him and requested baptism at his hand. John remonstrated with him, saying, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” But Jesus said, “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness,” and he went down into the water and was baptized by John, and the first evidence that we have in the Scriptures of his recognition by the Father was on that occasion, for after he had been baptized the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and a voice was heard bearing testimony to the assembled multitude that Jesus was the beloved Son of the Father. He therefore set the example himself, so that it could not be said, though sinless, that he had not complied with the ordinance which he required all the inhabitants of the earth to submit to, and which the disciples administered to all repentant believers.

This prepared them for another ordinance which, we find in the Scriptures, was administered to all who had complied with the conditions of the Gospel which I have named—namely, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I have been told repeatedly that this ordinance was to be administered only to those who were intended for the ministry—it was not designed for the members of the Church called laymen. A careful perusal of the Scriptures, however, does not sustain this idea; but on the contrary, it very clearly sustains the idea that this ordinance had to be administered to every one who joined the Church, and that without it the Holy Ghost was not bestowed as a gift. To prove that this is correct, you have only to read the 8th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, where you will find an account of the labors of Philip in the city of Samaria. It seems that Philip had power and authority to preach the Gospel and to baptize men and women, but not to administer all the ordinances. I have the idea that he had the same authority as John the Baptist—the authority to baptize, but not to confer the Holy Ghost. We find that when John was preaching, he said that there would one come after him, whose shoes he was not worthy to bear, who would baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire. John baptized with water, but he did not confer any further gift or blessing—he had not the authority so to do. Philip seemed to have the same authority, for the sacred writer says that when the Apostles of Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Gospel at the hands of Philip, they sent unto them two Apostles, for as yet, although the Samaritans had been baptized with water, the Holy Ghost had not descended upon any of them; and we are told that when the Apostles came unto them, they prayed with them, and laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost. Nothing is said about the hands of the Apostles being laid upon those only who were intended for the ministry, but the ordinance was administered to all who had received baptism at the hands of Philip, without distinction of sex or station.

Another instance in support of this view we find in the 19th of the Acts. We read there that when Paul was passing through the upper coasts he came to Ephesus and he found there certain disciples who said they had been baptized unto John’s baptism, but when he asked them if they had received the Holy Ghost they said they had not so much as heard of it. Then, we are informed, they were baptized in the name of the Lord, and when Paul, who had the necessary authority, had laid his hands upon them they received the Holy Ghost, and spake with tongues and prophesied. Many other proofs on this point might be adduced, but these are sufficient. From what has been said we learn that the first principle of the Gospel is belief in Jesus Christ; the second principle is repentance of sin, and the third, baptism for the remission of sins.

“Ah!” says one, “Cannot I come to the foot of the cross and, through the atoning blood of Jesus, have my sins washed away without baptism?” I doubt not that hundreds, in various nations and generations, who have been in ignorance of the true Gospel, and far removed from those who had authority to administer its ordinances, have had their sins blotted out. God has looked in mercy upon them, and on account of their sincerity has witnessed unto them that he accepted the broken spirits and contrite hearts which they offered unto him. I cannot doubt this; but wherever the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached in its fullness, none can obtain the remission of sins only in the way that God has pointed out, and that is by baptism by one having the authority from God to administer that ordinance.

Supposing that I, with the views which I have of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, were today outside of the church of God, and I were to say, “I will not be baptized for the remissions of sins. My father or my grandfather was a good Methodist, or a good Presbyterian or Baptist, or a good sectarian of some other denomination, and he told me that he had experienced a change of heart and I believe that he had his sins washed away through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, and on this account I will not submit to the ordinance of baptism which is preached to me as necessary to salvation, but I will seek for the remission of my sins the way my father or grandfather did,” how do you think it would be with me? Should I obtain the remission of my sins at the hands of God? There would be no remission of sins for such an individual in this life. Light has come into the world, God has revealed to men the true principle by which remission of sins can be obtained, namely, baptism, and when that is taught to them and they refuse to obey it, condemnation follows, and the blessings will be withheld which were granted in days when, in ignorance, men taught the Lord in faith and humility and with broken and contrite spirits.

We now come to the fourth and last initiatory principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. “Is it not possible,” says one, “for a man to receive the Holy Ghost without being baptized for the remission of sins, and having hands laid upon him?” Says the reader of Scripture, “I recollect that Cornelius, the history of whose conversion is contained in the 10th chapter of the Acts, received the Holy Ghost, and yet he was not baptized; and if he did, is it not possible for others to do the same?” Let those who think so read the history very carefully, and they will find that in bestowing the Holy Ghost upon Cornelius without baptism, God had a purpose in view. Cornelius was the first Gentile unto whom the Gospel was preached. The prevalent belief among the disciples, and one which they, being Jews, had inherited through the traditions of their fathers, was that the Gentiles were not to have the privilege of enjoying the blessings of the Gospel, they were not for them, and the disciples were not disposed to administer its ordinances to them. You recollect what Peter said when the Holy Ghost descended upon Cornelius—this uncircumcised man—and his house, whom they had supposed were without the pale of the Gospel—“Who can forbid water, seeing that they have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” Peter cited this bestowal of the Holy Ghost upon Cornelius and his house, as a proof that the ordinance of baptism should be administered to them, and to all believing repentant Gentiles as well as to the house of Israel. This, in connection with the vision which Peter had, you recollect it, wherein he saw a sheet let down from heaven, containing all manner of beasts, clean and unclean, he being commanded to arise, kill and eat thereof, had dispossessed his mind of the prejudice which he had entertained, in common with his fellow believers, that the Gospel was for the Jews only. And when he saw Cornelius and his house thus blessed, he inquired of his brethren what there was to prevent the ordinance of baptism being administered to them, and they were baptized by Peter.

Cornelius did not say, as many, doubtless, would say today, “We have received the Holy Ghost, and having obtained this evidence of our acceptance with God, what is the use of our being baptized? Is it likely that God would have given us the Holy Ghost if he had not forgiven our sins?” These inquiries, I think, would be made by hundreds in our day under such circumstances. But not so with Cornelius: he had heard the Gospel preached to him by Peter, and though he had received the Holy Ghost, he believed it was still neces– sary for him to be baptized in water for the remission of his sins, and he complied with that ordinance, and then doubtless the hands of the servants of God were laid upon him to confirm him a member of the Church and to seal upon him the blessing of the Holy Ghost, that he might be led and guided by it into all truth.

This, my brethren and sisters, is the only plan of salvation taught in the Scriptures. There is no other way given by which men can be saved. It is the way that Jesus trod, the way that his Apostles walked in, it is the doctrine they taught, and when it is taught by those having authority from God to teach it, the Holy Ghost will follow the administration of these ordinances. The ancient gifts and blessings will be bestowed, and men will be led into all truth, the power of God will be with them, and they will know God for themselves, for he is the same God now that he was yesterday, the same in the year 1872 that he was in the year 33, or fifteen or eighteen hundred years before the birth of Christ, and if we obey the same form of doctrine obeyed by those who lived anciently, and it is administered by those who hold authority from God, the gifts and powers will most assuredly follow, for God loves his children now as much as he loved them in any past age of the world.

Says Jesus, when speaking to Nicodemus, in the words I have quoted, “Except a man he born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This puzzled Nicodemus, he could not understand it, and he asked the Savior another question, to which Jesus answered, “Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Now, my brethren and sisters, how can a man be born of water? We know a birth to be a passage from one element into another; hence if he be born of the water he must be completely immersed therein, and pass from that element into another. The same with the birth of the Spirit—he or she who is born of it must be completely enveloped in it. Jesus says a man cannot see the kingdom of God unless he is born again, and he further says, a man cannot enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of the water and of the Spirit, not only of the Spirit, but also of the water.

What does this birth of the water and of the Spirit consist of? Of that which I have been endeavoring to describe to you—baptism for the remission of sins, being buried with Christ by baptism, whereby we are resurrected, as it were, from the dead, in the likeness of his burial and resurrection, entombed in the water, and being born of, or coming forth from the bosom of the water; and then receiving the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, which is the birth of the Spirit. And let me say unto you, as Brother Schonfeldt said this morning, that unless a man does obey this form of doctrine he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

This is strong language, and men may say it is uncharitable. I cannot help that. These words are the words of the Savior—the Son of God. They are the words of truth and righteousness, they cannot fail. I have not the right to say that a man can enter into the kingdom of God by any other means than this; on the contrary, I must affirm and reaffirm, and I must bear testimony to the words of Jesus, when he says, “Except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

The inquiry then arises in the mind, What is to become of the millions who have died without ever hearing the name of Christ? Says one, “What is to become of my ancestors and ancestresses who have not been born of the water and of the Spirit?” I know how this inquiry enters the hearts of men and women, and when they become acquainted with this Gospel, how strongly it appeals to their affections. They think, then, of beloved relatives and friends who have died without a knowledge of the Gospel, and they would do a great deal for their salvation; in fact it would embitter all their lives to think that they could not be saved. Could we be happy, my brethren and sisters, in thinking that we had received a form of doctrine which would exalt us into the presence of God and the Lamb, there to bask forever in happiness and bliss so great that the Apostle says, “Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive?” Do you think we could be happy in the contemplation and assurance of such a future, if no means were provided whereby our parents and relatives, who had died in ignorance of the Gospel, could be made partakers of the same blessing and glory, but because they had not had the privilege of being born of the water and of the Spirit they must be consigned to endless perdition? I could not be happy under such circumstances. I would rather, it seems to me, have much less happiness and have them share it with me, than to be eternally separated, and them condemned to that never-ending hell about which the sectarian world preach so much. But we are happy in the knowledge that this is no part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That teaches that all will be judged according to the law that has been taught unto them. As I have already said, I again repeat, “This is condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light.” “Where there is no law,” the Apostle says, “there is no transgression.” Men cannot be held accountable for that which they never knew. God will never consign his creatures to a never-ending misery for not obeying the Gospel of his Son, when they never had it taught unto them, and it is as great a fallacy, and as great a libel on our God, as ever was propagated about any being to make such an assertion. To say that these heathen, who roamed over these mountains and through these valleys, before we came here, who never heard the name of Jesus Christ, and countless myriads of heathen in other lands who have died in ignorance of the Gospel, will be consigned to eternal damnation, to a never-ending hell, there to welter in and to suffer unspeakable and indescribable misery throughout the countless ages of eternity, because they did not obey the Gospel they never heard, is one of the greatest libels on the character of our God that ever was enunciated by man. I do not believe in such a God; he is not the God of the Bible; he is not the God I worship. I worship a God of mercy and of love, whose heart is full of compassion. The Bible teaches that God is love, and I cannot conceive that a God would be possessed of the attributes of love and mercy who would take such a course with his own ignorant offspring. No, there is something different from this taught in the Gospel. We are taught there that God’s salvation is not confined to this brief space which we call time, but that, as he is eternal, so are his mercy, love and compassion eternal towards his creatures. I have not time this afternoon to explain our views on this point. Suffice it to say that, in the Scriptures is found, plainly written, the plan of salvation which God has devised.

Who are they who are under condemnation, and who need fear at the prospect of the same? Men and women who, living in the day when the Gospel is preached in its fullness and purity, hear it and reject it. Against such the anger of God is enkindled, and they are in a far worse condition than those who die and never hear it. Says Jesus, “It would be better for a man to have a millstone tied to his neck, and for him to be thrown into the depths of the sea,” than to do such and such things; and in another place he says, “It would be better for a man never to be born.” Why? Because light having been presented to him, and truth proclaimed in his hearing, he rejects the same.

The Latter-day Saints, I hold, will be held to stricter accountability than any other people on the face of the earth. Men wonder why we have suffered and been persecuted so much in the past. I think it was partly because of our hardness of heart. Not that the men who persecuted us were justified in so doing. They were tested and tried, the Lord left them their agency and they brought themselves under condemnation because of their conduct. But we never had anything descend upon us as a persecution or scourge that has not been intended for our good; and we are held to a stricter accountability than any other people because we have the Gospel taught unto us. The thousands who live throughout these valleys testify that they have received the Holy Ghost; they testify that they received it in the lands where they embraced the Gospel; they say that this love which they have for one another, and the disposition they have to dwell together in peace and unity are the fruits of this Holy Spirit that they have received. They testify that the Lord has revealed unto them that this is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I do not know but there are thousands here today who, if they had time and opportunity, would arise and testify that this is the truth, and that God has taught it unto them, and they know it by the power of the Holy Ghost. When a people reach this condition they are held to stricter accountability than they are who have not this knowledge. On this account we must walk circumspectly, with the fear of God before our eyes. We must be a pure people or we will be scourged; we must be a holy people, or God’s anger will be kindled against us. We must not be guilty of dishonesty or take advantage one of another; we must not bear false witness; we must not neglect our duties one to another or towards God, for we cannot do these things with impunity, for God’s anger will be kindled against us; and in proportion to the light which men have will they be judged, and God will reward them according to the deeds done in the body. An enlightened American will be held to stricter accountability than an ignorant Indian; and the man who has heard the sound of the everlasting Gospel and the testimony of the servants of God is held to stricter accountability than he who has never heard them.

I said that time would not permit me to dwell on points connected with the salvation of the ignorant dead; but there is a way provided in the Gospel of the Son of God by which even they can have its ordinances administered unto them. I will just refer to one passage, which you can read at your leisure. In the 15th chapter of the first of Corinthians, Paul, in reasoning upon the resurrection of the dead, says, among other things, “Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why then are they baptized for the dead?” This is a little key given to a very important principle. Paul evidently understood a principle by which vicarious baptism could be performed, that is, one person could be baptized for another, the same as Jesus made a vicarious offering for us. He died on the cross for us—he was our Savior. Paul, substantiating the idea that there is a resurrection, referred to this ordinance, which seemed to exist in the Church and to be understood by the Saints in ancient days. There would have been no need to be baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all. This is the gist of his argument; and there are other passages which go to prove that the Gospel of Jesus is all sufficient to reach and save those who have died without hearing and obeying it. Peter says, referring to Jesus, “He went to preach to the spirits in prison who were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah.” I will give you another passage to show that he did not go direct to his Father after his death on the cross. You Latter-day Saints understand, or ought to understand, that he did not go immediately to his Father, as many suppose, because, after his resurrection, when Mary had been seeking for the body of her Lord, and supposed that somebody had stolen it, she saw a personage in the garden who she imagined was the gardener. She went to him and asked who had taken away the body of her Lord. This personage spoke to her, calling her by name. She immediately recognized the Lord Jesus, and in her eagerness, anxiety and love she rushed forward as if to grasp him. But he forbade her, told her not to do so, saying, “Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.” This was on the Sunday, after his body had lain in the tomb from the preceding Friday—the third day, and he said he had not yet ascended to his Father. This is explained by Peter, in the passage I have already quoted, wherein the Apostle says, “By which also he went to preach to the spirits in prison, who were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah.” There is another passage in Peter, which goes to prove the same thing, but I will not touch upon it. I have said sufficient to relieve, or it ought to relieve, us Latter-day Saints from any fears for those who have died in ignorance of the Gospel. But we can say, truly, that salvation can only be obtained in the way God has prescribed—by obeying the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; and this is the way that he marked and the way we must walk in to obtain it.

That God may help us to be faithful and to cleave to the truth all our days, regardless of all consequences, and eventually save us in his kingdom, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.