Journal of Discourses Volume 5
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5
Journal of Discourses,
Volume 5
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, July 5, 1857
Brigham Young, July 5, 1857
TRUE HAPPINESS--FRUITS OF NOT FOLLOWING COUNSEL--POPULAR
PREJUDICE
AGAINST THE MORMONS--THE COMING ARMY--PUNISHMENT OF EVILDOERS.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, July 5, 1857.
1
It rejoices my heart to hear the brethren testify of their faith
and good feelings, and of their confidence in God and in their
religion. It is a matter of rejoicing to me to see those who
profess to love and serve the Lord live up to their professions.
1
Brother Park very correctly observed that if this people will
actually do the will of those who are placed to lead them, they
will be owned, honoured, and blest of their God who dwells in the
heavens. I can say, for one, that I cannot be pleased, I cannot
be satisfied, I cannot feel to fellowship this people as I wish
to do, unless they live their religion and serve their God every
day, every hour, and every minute of their lives. There is no
time allotted to us to use outside of the limits of duty. But in
doing our duty, in serving our God, in living our religion, in
using every possible means to send forth the Gospel of salvation
to the inhabitants of the earth, to gather Israel, and establish
Zion, and build up the kingdom of heaven upon the earth are
incorporated all blessings, all comforts that men can desire.
1
It is a mistaken idea in the inhabitants of the earth to conclude
that it will not do for them to yield obedience to the
commandments of heaven, lest it should abridge them in their
comforts and in their enjoyments; for there is no real peace,
there is no real happiness in anything in heaven or on the earth,
except to those who serve the Lord. In His service there is joy,
there is happiness; but they are not to be found anywhere else.
In it there are peace and comfort; but when the soul is filled
with joy, with peace, and with glory, and is perfectly satisfied
therewith a person even then has but little idea of that which is
in store for all the faithful.
2
Thrust a man into prison and bind him with chains, and then let
him be filled with the comfort and with the glory of eternity,
and that prison is a palace to him. Again, let a man be seated
upon a throne with power and dominion in this world, ruling his
millions and millions, and without that peace which flows from
the Lord of Hosts--without that contentment and joy that comes
from heaven, his palace is a prison; his life is a burden to him;
he lives in fear, in dread, and in sorrow. But when a person is
filled with the peace and power of God, all is right with him.
2
I cannot be satisfied with myself, neither can I be satisfied
with this people, unless they live in the enjoyment of the Spirit
of the Lord Jesus christ, having the testimony of Jesus within
them. When they live in that manner, they are prepared to judge
of all matters that come before them; they are then capable of
discerning between truth and error, light and darkness. They can
then readily discover the things that are not of God, and
distinguish them from those that are. This is the only way for
you to know that your leaders are leading you in the path that
leads to heaven. Without taking this course, a people or nation
is liable to be led astray by their leaders, and thereby be
prepared to be destroyed; but when the people understand for
themselves--when they know and understand the things of God by
the Spirit of revelation, they are not only satisfied but safe.
If this people will do as they are told--will please those who
preside over them, they will do well for themselves. And if they
will do this from morning to evening and from evening to morning,
all will be right, and their acts will tend to promote the
kingdom of God upon the earth.
2
As brother Wells lately observed here, it is very little
difference what comes or goes. If the world are angry at us, that
only fits and prepares them for their destruction. If they
afflict the Saints of God, it prepares them for their reward; it
prepares the righteous for bliss and immortality, and the wicked
are the sooner ripened for their doom. It is very little
difference whether men come here as soldiers or as civilians, all
will promote the interest of the kingdom of God. It will promote
the interests of the Saints, inasmuch as they are united; and
though the wicked, in their eagerness to destroy the Saints of
God, do not see this, yet God will make it all turn for the good
of His people.
2
True, this people might have done better; but, considering all
circumstances, they have done as well as could be expected. It
might be shown to them, and perhaps this congregation will
acknowledge it, that if this people had invariably been careful
to observe counsel, they would have promoted the kingdom of
heaven a great deal faster than they have. I will bring up a
circumstance to illustrate this idea--one relating to us in these
Valleys of the Mountains. It was just now observed by brother
Feramorz Little that his feelings would be perfectly satisfied if
he should never see another train of goods come in here for sale
among this people. I would have been satisfied, if that could
have been the case from the beginning.
3
At a time here when a person could go with a sackful of gold and
say to a man, "Can I hire you to do some work for me? I have a
sack full of gold;" and the man would say, "No; I cannot do it;"
and every man would say, "No; I am too busy; I cannot do it;" and
the person still saying, "I have hats full of gold;" but it was
so plentiful, that men had such quantities of money that they
were lugging it about until their backs ached;--suppose that that
money had been put into the hands of the Trustee in Trust, and
used for the benefit of the kingdom of God, would it not have
been much better than to pay it to the merchants to carry out of
the Territory? One merchant, in a day-and-a-half, received for
sales a large kettle-full of money, and in two days he took a
great deal more. Suppose that that money had been put into the
hands of the Trustee in Trust and those associated with him, they
would have laid goods down at your doors for from thirty to forty
percent cheaper than you got them. But could the people see that?
No; their eyes were dim, and they could not see their own
interest.
3
If the people had concentrated their means during the nine years
past, they would now have been worth millions where they have
only thousands. I know that now as well as I should have known it
if the experiment had been tried, and that result proven. But no;
the people would pay their money to others to carry out of the
country.
3
I will tell an anecdote relating to the feelings of some in those
days. I stepped into a store at the time when money was so
plentiful, and the store was crowded. Every man, woman and child,
had their pockets full of gold. A woman stepped up and said, "Mr.
So and So, have you any soap?" He replied, "I do not think there
is any." She then asked, "Have you any sugar, or coffee?" He
answered, "I do not know whether there is or not: there was some
this morning; but I think it has been sold." It was not long
before a woman reached over and touched the one enquiring, and
said, "President Young has bought everything of that kind that
has been brought in." I reached over and tapped her on the
shoulder and said, "What do you tell that infernal lie for?
President Young has not bought a pound of tea, a pound of sugar,
or a pound of coffee, since these goods came in." The people were
then in such a state of mind that they would rather have given
all they had to the Gentiles than for me to have had a pound of
tea or the handling of their money.
3
They were not all possessed of that feeling; but there were
enough to influence the channel of trade and give it an unwise
direction; and if there are not now too many of that class, I
shall feel thankful, and we shall be able to hold the wheat and
the cattle so that those who are passing through and temporarily
sojourning in our midst will have to pay a fair price for those
articles. But I presume, if the Gentiles come, some of you will
run and sell your wheat and your cattle to them for a much less
price than we would give you, and be perfectly satisfied with it.
If there is not an influence and practice of that kind, I shall
be glad of it; for it will prove to me that the people believe
what they say.
3
I am careful about touching anything that is the object of
people's worship--the gold, the goods, and the things of this
world, which please the eyes and entice the affections of the
people. You who know me know that I have not been under the
necessity of asking you to help me much. Instead of the
Presidency's living upon the people, it is well known that they
have sustained the people. Suppose that I had not launched forth
in business, and that brother Kimball and others had not, what
would have been the result? This community would have been living
in their log huts, whereas they now have good houses and
comfortable homes.
4
I am decidedly in favour of practical religion--of every-day
useful life. And if I to-day attend to what devolves upon me to
do, and then do that which presents itself to-morrow, and so on,
when eternity comes I will be prepared to enter on the things of
eternity. But I would not be prepared for that sphere of action,
unless I could manage the things that are now within my reach.
You must all learn to do this.
4
If the people take a wise course and let a few have the handling
of the wheat and other commodities that are for sale, and let
those who wish to buy come to them to purchase, it would be much
better for this people. By pursuing that course, our enemies
would either be under the necessity of giving us a fair price, or
have to purchase their supplies in the States, and haul them
across the plains, through the hills, and over the mountains. How
do you think they would prosper in that operation? I think they
would soon become discouraged and want to leave these regions.
4
It is an ignorant excitement which causes some people in the
States to feel and act as they do. Who is there, of all who are
really acquainted with our proceedings and will let good reason
and good sense operate, that has one word to say against us? No
one. But the priests have hallooed so much about these Latter-day
Saints--the "Mormons" as they term us, that they have become
excited; and what is the reason of their outcry? It is simply
this--we have the words of eternal life, and they have not; we
serve the God of heaven and they serve somebody, they know not
whom. We have the true religion that the Bible gives an account
of, and they seem to be entirely ignorant of it and of the God of
heaven. Only let us leave God out of our religion, and all would
be right.
4
A great many have said to you and me, "Just leave out Joe Smith,
the Book of Mormon, and modern revelations, and you will become
popular." Brother Clements said, last Sunday, that he told a
priest that he could materially abridge that leaving out by
saying, "Just leave God out of the question, and you will be
'Hail fellows well met.'" We are not going to leave out Joseph
Smith, the Book of Mormon, nor the gathering, nor the building up
of Zion.
4
You hear brethren talk of coming to Zion to enjoy the blessings
of this land; but do you not see that it is the short-sightedness
of men which causes their disappointment when they arrive here?
They read in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon, and Book of
Doctrine and Covenants, about Zion, and what it is to be; but
brother Park and others could not realize, before they came here,
that they were the ones to help to build up Zion. They gather
here with the spirit of Zion resting upon them, and expecting to
find Zion in its glory, whereas their own doctrine should teach
them that they are coming here to make Zion.
4
We can make Zion, or we can make Babylon, just as we please. We
can make just what we please of this place. The people can make
Zion: they can make a heaven within themselves. When people
gather here, they should come with a determination to make Zion
within themselves, with the resolution that "I will carry myself
full of the Spirit of Zion wherever I go; and this is the way in
which I will control evil spirits; for I mean that my spirit
shall have control over evil:" and do you not see that such a
course will make Zion?
4
This American continent will be Zion; for it is so spoken of by
the prophets. Jerusalem will be rebuilt and will be the place of
gathering, and the tribe of Judah will gather there; but this
continent of America is the land of Zion.
5
The priests are angry because they are afraid that their religion
is nothing but a sandy foundationed fabric; and whenever they
meditate upon the subject and humble themselves, and the Spirit
of the Lord finds its way to their hearts and convicts them, the
truth then is made manifest before them, and they begin to learn
the falsity of their systems; and when that spirit leaves them,
they become angry. "Mormonism" is declared to be true by hosts of
witnesses, and this makes the priests angry; for this Gospel
bears its own weight and testimony, and they know not how to
gainsay it. True, I have aimed to point out their errors; but it
is not your or me that they are opposed to, although they throw
their darts at us; but it is the spirit of conviction that goes
with the report of this work; for wherever it goes it strikes
conviction to the heart, and that is what disturbs the priests
and the people.
5
The foolish, and those who are controlled by the hissings of the
priests, rage against the work of God, and corrupt politicians
urge them on. There is not an honest man in the United States or
in the world but what, if he could hear this doctrine taught
without knowing that it was a "Mormon" who was teaching it, would
drink down these principles. They would swallow every word and
say, "That is true; you have more light than I have." But if you
say "Mormon," that sends the fat into the fire, and arrays their
prejudices against you. Do you know this, you Elders? [Voices,
"Yes."]
5
As I have said before, I have often gone incog., and taught
persons the Gospel, and they would drink down its principles as
eagerly as a thirsty ox would drink water; but an ignorant
prejudice causes all the trouble. The excitement among the
priests, and directed by politicians, raises this erroneous
prejudice and hue-and-cry.
5
You know that I have said that, if it was now my calling to go
and preach the Gospel, I could make as many converts as I ever
did; for I would go in such a manner that the bitterly prejudiced
would have to labour hard to find out that I was a "Mormon,"
until I had induced them to love the truth. Then they would say,
"If that is 'Mormonism,' I want it."
5
Persons who are as ignorant as jackasses pass through this city,
and they are so prejudiced that they cannot see and hear well
enough to report things straight. But let persons of good
understanding come here, and hear the Elders testify, and stop to
investigate, and every honest heart among them will receive the
Gospel. Do you not know that they would?
5
The "Mormons" are trying to take care of themselves. Our enemies
may come to kill us, but we know that there is a God in the
heavens. I care no more about the threats that are made than I do
about the floating of a board on the waters. They have kicked us
and cuffed us about so much that I have got used to it. I have
been driven, and had to leave my home five times on account of my
faith in the Gospel of our Saviour; but I have never until now
been a conspicuous character; and I say to my enemies and to the
enemies of righteousness, you have now got to fire long shots,
unless you come much nearer to us than you are.
6
I will say to all parties, If you come here and do not observe
wholesome laws, we will introduce you to them. In regard to
troops coming here, as has been rumoured, should 1,500 or 2,000
come, what will you see? You will see that they will ask us to
make their soldiers behave themselves, until they can get out of
this place, which they will do as soon as possible. They are not
coming here to fight us; though, if they were to, I should pray
that the Lord would bring those here that mobbed us in days gone
by, and just let us look at them. But no; the priests, and some
editors and politicians wish to have innocent soldiers sent here
to fight us. Let them bring those priests, editors, and
politicians who have howled so long about us, and we will attend
to their cases. But I pray that I may never witness such scenes
as I have in the midst of this people. If they will let us alone,
we will preach the Gospel; and if they do not, we will do it, and
we will build up Zion, if all the devils in hell howl. Let us
know that we have to build up Zion until the Spirit of peace
shall overrule our country.
6
Do you ever reflect upon the matter? Look at St. Louis. More
murders have been committed there in almost any few days than
have been committed in this Territory since it was organized. It
is customary there to have murders committed almost daily; but
we, above all other people, ought never to have such a crime
committed in our midst; and we never have had, so far as the
Latter-day Saints are concerned.
6
I will now tell you something. It is a secret; and I wish you to
keep it to yourselves. There have been men here who have had
their plans arranged for robbing; and I will take the liberty to
say that, when we find them, "judgment will be laid to the line
and righteousness to the plummet." Those are my feelings, and I
express them plainly, that the good and honest may be able to
pass from the Eastern States to California, and back and forth,
in peace. And when a "Mormon" unlawfully disturbs anybody, I say,
let him be overtaken by a "Vigilance Committee." And when
mobocrats come here, they will find a "Vigilance Committee." Now,
listeners, send that to the States, if you wish. I want the
people in the States to know that there are a few poor curses
here, and also to know that we do not want a gang of highwaymen
here. And I say to all such characters, if you come here and
practice your iniquity, we will send you home quick, whenever we
can catch and convict you. I wish such characters would let the
boys have a chance to lay their hands on them.
6
If men come here and do not behave themselves, they will not only
find the Danites, whom they talk so much about, biting the
horses' heels, but the scoundrels will find something biting
their heels. In my plain remarks, I merely call things by their
right names. Brother Kimball is noted in the States for calling
things by their right names, and you will excuse me if I do the
same.
6
We will build up Zion and establish the kingdom of God upon the
earth, and the wicked cannot help themselves. I have not built up
this kingdom, neither did Joseph Smith. What the Lord told
brother Joseph to do, that he did. And what the Lord tells you
and me to do we will do, by the help of God. May God bless us
all. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, July 5, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, July 5, 1857
DIVINE MISSION OF JOSEPH SMITH--STABILITY OF MORMONISM--THE
SAINTS' ENEMIES YET TO COME TO THEM FOR SUCCOUR--HOME
MANUFACTURE--DISTRESS OF NATIONS.
Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Afternoon, July 5, 1857.
7
I can say one thing in regard to preaching before this
congregation. It is a great deal harder to speak to the people in
the afternoon than it is in the forenoon, because they generally
come together after partaking of a hearty dinner; and that, in
connection with the word they receive in the forenoon, fills them
up, and they are somewhat like a barn that is nearly full of hay;
for you know it is a great deal harder to put in the last load of
hay than it is the first. I speak of these things because the
circumstances that surround us call them forth.
7
I relation to the things we have heard to-day from brother
Brigham, and brother Feramorz, and others, I will say that I
appreciate them, and I not only believe them, but I know them to
be true. This is the work of God, and all the world cannot stay
its progress. They have given me the character in the world of
calling things by their right names. It is a good deal with them
as it was with the old Dutchman, who said, "It is not the thing
itself, but it is the name of the damned thing!" That is it
exactly. They can talk and hint about every thing, but never call
them by their names. I call that hypocrisy; and there never was a
nation that lived upon the earth that was fuller of it than this
nation.
7
As to what they call "Mormonism"--properly speaking, the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I say it is true; and
Joseph Smith the Prophet, who was killed in Illinois, in Carthage
Jail, is the author of it; or, in other words, he was the
instrument in the hands of God of bringing it forth. Peter,
James, and John, three of the ancient Apostles, came and ordained
him and set him apart for the work of the ministry of this last
dispensation.
7
I am bearing testimony of those things that are true--things that
I know and understand. And I also testify that Hyrum Smith was a
Patriarch of God, and just as much so as Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob
ever were. Joseph Smith the Prophet ordained his father a
Patriarch, and he ordained Hyrum. The same Gospel which was
preached by Jesus and by His Apostles has been delivered unto us
through Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the living God; and the keys
and powers pertaining to that Gospel and priesthood are now
resting upon brother Brigham Young; for he is Joseph's legal
successor. All the prophets from the days of Adam and from the
creation of the world have conferred their priesthood and keys of
this dispensation, and brother Brigham holds them in connection
with the old Prophets and Apostles, and in connection with our
Father and God pertaining to this earth.
8
I am telling you the truth, and testifying to that which God has
made manifest unto me. Well, the world want that we should lay
aside that which God has revealed, and not speak of Joseph Smith,
or of the revelations which he gave.
8
When I was abroad preaching, some said to me, we would be popular
if we would say nothing about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith,
baptism for the remission of sins, or the laying on of hands for
the gift of the Holy Ghost; they said if we would let these
things alone we would be popular. Good heavens! We are now more
popular than any other religious community upon the earth. We
extend, as some would call it, from Dan to Beersheba; we extend
to every nation, continent, and country, and almost to every
island of the sea. The Gospel has been carried to almost every
people. We have offered them the principles of life and
salvation, and we shall continue to do so while there is any hope
for them.
8
I expect, like us, the inhabitants of the earth will have their
ups and downs, their troubles and afflictions. There has been a
great chill among them: they had one when we had one; and now the
fever has begun to increase with us it has begun to increase upon
them; and by-and-by there will be another chill; and it will keep
doubling and redoubling till the whole world is in motion. Will
it overthrow this work? No, never.
8
I want the gentlemen that are here to-day, and who are going
East, to tell the people of the United States that they need not
trouble themselves; for "Mormonism" will increase and triumph
until every king will be cast down from his throne, and the
President of the United States, unless he and the people repent;
and what they call "Mormonism" will continue to increase
henceforth and for ever.
8
When they killed Joseph Smith, and Hyrum, David Patten, and many
others, they supposed that that was the end of "Mormonism"--that
it was annihilated. Bless your souls, instead of its being
annihilated, it has increased a hundredfold; and we have now more
Elders preaching the Gospel--yes, about ten times more than there
are people in this vast congregation this afternoon; and I
presume there are some seven or eight thousand here to-day.
8
You may think this rather extravagant, but there are more Elders
in England than there are people here to-day; and England is not
as big as the State of New York, where I lived. They will spread
and increase from this time on, and this work is bound to
increase and spread abroad, and all hell cannot pull it down.
8
Suppose the Gentiles were to try to put it down, and to kill
brother Brigham, and me, and brother Daniel, and the Twelve
Apostles, still there are some fifty or sixty Quorums of
Seventies that are capable of spreading abroad this kingdom. Why,
bless you, it is like the mustard seed: you know it is most
troublesome to get out of the garden. You get vexed with it and
go and kick it about, and by that means you make ten thousand
more little mustard trees.
8
Well, you know they drove us far away into these mountains; and
now see the multitude of little mustard trees that are growing
up! (Laughter.)
8
We want you to tell this, gentlemen, when you get down to the
States; for we don't have a mail very often, and therefore we
drop a word here and there, and we want every-body to carry the
tidings. It is not only me, but the Prophet Brigham talks just
so. I suppose you will think, "What a monstrous fellow he is!"
9
I have been afflicted with colds ever since I came from the
north; but I, all the time, grow fat. I do not drink ale, whisky,
rum, or any kind of spirituous liquor, but I seek to drink
largely of the peaceable Spirit of God, that I may be
strengthening to my brethren and sisters. For the world and the
United States, and their opposition, which they call outside
pressure, we care very, very little. We have some big mountains
between us and them, and they cannot remove them because they
have not faith.
9
Such a row as there is in the States at the present time I never
before heard of. It is "Mormonism!" Down with "Mormonism!!" Mr.
President, send up the troops and set those "Mormons" in order.
9
Gentlemen, [to the strangers] did you ever see any body out of
order here? Have you seen any body drunk? You have not, unless it
was yourselves. I have not seen any body drunk,--no, not on the
fourth of July. I have not seen a drunken man in the streets,
much less a woman. One reason is, perhaps, that we have not got
any liquor; and God grant that we may not have much.
9
You do not see many people about our streets idling away their
time. To morrow morning you may see a few persons who have come
from the country to get a little counsel; but after that you
won't see a man in the street, excepting those who are going to
or coming from their work; for they are all hard at work, hoeing
their corn, watering their wheat, and getting their wood from the
kanyons.
9
God Almighty bless this people, I say, and increase their faith
and their strength, that they may increase and multiply. And may
God increase the "mustard seed," and cause it soon to fill the
earth. May the Lord our God bless the bees in the hive of
Deseret, and root out the drones; for they only eat out the
honey, while the bees go out and gather it in.
9
Well, gentlemen, we are calculating that we have got the best
crops that we have ever had, and the best that are in the world;
and the Lord our God has blest the land for our sake. We had a
famine least year, but we lived through it; and we are now going
to work to lay up our grain, and we are building storehouses to
store it away in; and we shall not only store away grain but
other things that will keep; and the day will come that you
(strangers) will have to come to us for bread to eat; and we will
be your saviours here upon Mount Zion. You don't believe it now;
but wait a little while, and you will see that it will come to
pass.
9
Many of the people of the United States exulted over us when we
were brought to a morsel of bread, and had to deal out one to
another in order to subsist. I put my family on short rations, in
order to have some to deal out to others, and so did brother
Brigham and many others; and at the same time our enemies and the
priests in their pulpits were praising God that we had hard
times, with trouble and perplexity. We never were more happy in
our lives than we were at that time, and we did not have the
belly ache through eating too much; but we were lively and
diligent in serving God; and that is the reason we are becoming
so corpulent this year. Last year we had not enough, but this
year we have plenty, and we are going to lay it up in
store--wheat and every thing that will keep. I am telling these
gentlemen what we are going to do, so that they can carry the
news to the States.
9
Ladies, we do not want you to tease your husbands for silks, and
satins, and fine bonnets, but go to work and manufacture your own
clothing; and if you will do that, you will do the best thing
that you ever did in your lives. This is as true as that the Lord
ever spoke by His prophets. The time has come for us to lay up
our stores.
10
Will the world follow our example? No, they will not; and if we
do our duty, who cares whether they do or not. They will come
with their bonnets, their fine clothing, and their jewellery, and
be glad to work for us to get their bread. You tell that in the
States, gentlemen, won't you? Whether you do or not, they will
learn of it. They publish nearly everything that we say, and this
will be published.
10
We are a people, here in the valleys of the mountains, who are
hated and have been broken up and driven for our religion till we
have got used to it. Brother Brigham told you he had been driven
five times, and so have I; and I have had everything taken from
me that I had; but yet I have got enough to eat and drink, and
enough of everything, and so have you; and my prayer is, all the
while, God bless you.
10
Lay up your stores, and take your silks and fine things, and
exchange them for grain and such things as you need, and the time
will come when we will be obliged to depend upon our own
resources; for the time is not far distant when the curtain will
be dropped between us and the United States. When that time
comes, brethren and sisters, you will wish you had commenced
sooner to make your own clothing. I tell you, God requires us to
go into home manufacture; and, prolong it as much as you like,
you have got to do it.
10
You will also see the day that you will wish you had laid up your
grain, if you do not do it now; for you will see the day, if you
do not take care of the blessings God has given to you, that you
will become servants, the same as the world will.
10
We have told you this before. You have been exhorted, year after
year, to prepare for hard times: you have been told of this often
enough. We have told you that when hard times come again you
won't have the privilege that you had last time of having food
dealt out to you gratuitously, but you will have to pay for all
you get. This will come to pass. I suppose there are many who
don't believe it. To such it is like a tune that strikes upon the
drum of the ear, passes off, and is forgotten.
10
I will prove to you that I will put my faith with my works and
lay up stores for my family and for my friends that are in the
United States, and I will be to them as Joseph was to the people
in the land of Egypt. Every man and woman will be a saviour if
they will do as I say. You may write this down and send it to the
States; for it will be published.
10
Let repentance take place amongst you where it is necessary, and
let confidence, diligence in the performance of duty, and
humility be manifest in your lives; keep the commandments of God;
be subject to God's authority, and save yourselves all the time;
and the Lord our God will have pleasure in making you like Joseph
of old. Now, if persons were coming from the old country, from
far distant lands, would you not feel comfortable if you had
plenty to feed them with when they come?
11
These things bear heavily upon my mind, and they have done so for
some time. There are very few who have got any surplus grain on
hand. There is considerable in the Tithing Store, and there are a
few individuals who have some on hand; but there is not a great
deal in the county, excepting our present crop. It behooves us to
be saving and to prepare for the time to come. The day will come
when the people of the United States will come lugging their
bundles under their arms, coming to us for bread to eat. Every
Prophet has spoken of this from the early ages of the world.
Already we begin to see sickness, trouble, death, famine, and
pestilence; and more yet awaits the nations of the wicked. Jesus
said, When you hear of these things in foreign
nations--destruction and desolation, you may then look forth for
my coming, and know that it is nigh at hand. In relation to the
world, our enemies, their soldiery, and their governors, I do not
fear them, and I never did.
11
If you will do right--keep the commandments of God, I can say
with all the propriety that any man, prophet, or apostle ever
did, you shall never want for food, or raiment, or houses, or
lands; and no power on the earth can injure you. There is no
power that shall prevent our prosperity; for we shall increase,
while every other power upon the earth that is opposed to this
work and our God will go down. I just know it. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / George
Albert Smith, May 31, 1857
George Albert Smith, May 31, 1857
THE SACRAMENT--SLANDERERS AND LYING SPIRITS--MONOGAMY AND
POLYGAMY, ETC.
Remarks by Elder George A. Smith, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, May 31, 1857.
11
It appears on the present occasion that we enjoy the privilege of
partaking of the sacrament in commemoration of the death and
suffering of our Lord and Saviour, to witness to each other that
we are willing to keep his commandments, and to observe the
requirements of the fulness of the Gospel until he shall come.
Under these circumstances we assemble and call together our
wandering thoughts and minds. We review our conduct, our feelings
to our Heavenly Father, our actions and doings in relation to His
laws, and also our faith towards our brethren, and make a kind of
settlement with ourselves, a balance of accounts in our minds,
repenting of our sins and follies, and we lay the foundation in
our own minds to renew our diligence and exertions in future,
that wherein we have failed to walk up to the line of our duty we
may improve, and that we may partake of those emblems under an
express influence, and with a perfect understanding of a covenant
that we will remember Him in all things until he come. Marvel
not, says the Saviour, if the world hate you; for remember that
it hated me before it hated you.
11
One of the first principles that we are brought to feel, perhaps,
on receiving the Gospel, is, that the world hates us. You may
ascend or descend into every department of its society, and you
find that hatred more or less manifests itself; and this causes a
great many people who receive the truth to have misgivings, and
they will ask why is it that we are under the necessity of
receiving a religion that is hated of all men? The Saviour said
to his disciples, "Ye shall be hated of all men, for my name's
sake; and blessed are ye when all men shall persecute you, and
speak all manner of evil of you falsely for my name's sake." But
this is a kind of blessing that we hardly appreciate; but at the
present time I am a witness that no people upon the face of the
earth have so much reason to be thankful, neither have Latter-day
Saints seen any time when they have had greater reason to
consider themselves blessed under this promise of our Saviour,
than at the present time.
12
Much is said of the powerful engine of the press, the
powerful medium by which truth or falsehood are so quietly
circulated. And for the last year, or the last six or eight
months, those engines have been universally turned with vengeance
upon the devoted heads of this people.
12
There is nothing that excites more interest in the minds of the
reading public, nothing that creates greater anxiety, nothing
that is so readily received as statements, or information, as it
is termed, concerning the "Mormons;" and nothing that is true can
be printed, but to a very limited extent; whereas anything that
is false, it matters not how false or exaggerated, it is
circulated and represented to the uttermost extreme. It is as an
old gentleman told me in Virginia: said he, "There is nothing
published that is so extravagant concerning your people but what
we believe it readily."
12
The spirit of lies has taken hold of the people; it has got
possession of their hearts. They love lies; they like to read
them; they like to print them, and they really relish them; but
truth is another thing. "Truth," says the Prophet, "has fallen in
the streets; yea, truth faileth; he that departeth from iniquity
maketh himself a prey." Such is the case in the present
generation. There are lies from responsible sources, lies over
fictitious names, lies certified by responsible editors; and lies
certified and clothed with judicial authority are current, and
are the most important information that is or has been current in
the United States for the last season.
12
What does it all amount to? Men will have what they like; for the
spirit that is in men loves lies; they will read them and believe
them. At the same time, there is no man or woman upon the face of
the earth but what is more or less responsible for what they read
and receive; for there is an innate spirit in the man who desires
to know the truth that will generally dictate to him which is
truth and which is falsehood.
13
A terrible people these "Mormons!" a dreadful set of fellows! an
awful state of society! Oh, tremendous bad people! I was
conversing with a gentleman from Vermont on the subject of
"Mormonism," and he expressed himself tremendously shocked at the
immorality of the "Mormons," and was particularly anxious to
regulate their morals. He was strongly in favour of having them
corrected by the power of the Federal Government. He said it must
be done, for he considered them a disgrace to the nation. I told
him that we regarded the Vermont people as a very immoral
community. Said I, "We consider their laws of a very immoral
character; and we believe that the people would be better, but
that their laws and institutions are of a character that tends to
prevent it--that their laws are calculated to encourage
licentiousness, and to cause them to live in open violation of
the first commandment, to multiply and replenish the earth." "Why
how so? Vermont is the most moral State in the Union." I replied,
"It may be so, sir; but your laws provide that no man shall have
but one wife; and there is a great proportion of females over
that of males, and there is a great proportion of males that are
too wicked and corrupt to marry and raise up families; and the
consequence is that a great proportion of your females are
compelled to live single, and hence many of them become
prostitutes. We deprecate such a corrupt order of things; but as
it is in your State, it is your business and not ours; therefore
we shall not interfere with it." I never saw a man more
astonished, to think that I should question the moral tendency of
the institutions of Vermont. "But, in our country," I said, "we
are determined that every man shall acknowledge and sanction his
own blood. We shall not interfere with Vermont, Massachusetts, or
Maryland about their immorality; it is their own business, and
they must attend to it themselves; but we do not wish to submit
to such immoral regulations in Utah."
13
I was talking with a member of Congress, who was very pious, (he
was a minister, by the bye,) and he intimated that the doctrine
of plurality of wives was so at variance--so grossly at variance
with all the civilized world, that it was intolerable to all
Christians. I told him that I was surprised at that; "for," said
I, "all our Christian friends expect to sit down in the kingdom
of God with father Abraham; and he practised Polygamy." "Father
Abraham," said he, "was guilty of a great many eccentric tricks."
I replied, "Eccentric as he might be, it is in his bosom that all
Christians expect to rest."
13
Strange as it may appear, yet it is true that these
things are not understood or appreciated; but the corrupt, the
licentious of the world are the people who are respected, while
the sayings of the honest and truthful are not allowed to spread.
Such is the corruption of the world. They lay down, in the first
place, the position that "Mormonism" is not true. If you ask why
it is not true, they begin to bring their reasons, and they are a
good deal like this--The Mormons are deceived; and the reason why
they are deceived is, because they are deceived, sir." The people
actually take such logic as this for argument; they take it for
granted and for certain, and they lay it down as a matter of
fact, that "Mormonism" is false, and so it follows. Oh, they say
it will all come to an end and fall to pieces in a few days; and
they have been saying this for the last twenty years; they have
kept crying "Mormonism" will go down; it is bound to fall in
pieces. Still the bubble rolls ahead and does not burst up; it
does not fly to pieces as they have predicted.
13
I consider that it is necessary that every man should mind his
own business and suffer his neighbours to do likewise. I do not
know how careful they may be in relation to us. So far as our
being admitted into the Union is concerned, we are on just as
good and fair a footing as Oregon, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska,
and Washington. To be sure, they have prejudices against us
because we are "Mormons;" but they also hate each other, and they
calculate to use each other up, and then to use up the "Mormons."
13
I came up the Missouri River with some Free State men, who said,
"If ever a fuss breaks out again, we are ready for it; we have
got the "Volcanic Rifles," and we calculate to wipe the border
ruffians out of existence; and they showed that they had the
tools which do up the business. Whenever I conversed with any of
the pro-slavery men on this subject, they generally told me that
if the other party should begin again, they were prepared to wipe
them out all at once, and leave them much in the same position
that Dr. Kane's ship "Advance" was, when it came between two
immense masses of ice, and they found themselves liable to be
crushed up in what the Arctic men call a "nip." After they use
each other up, we will stand a little better chance. They need
not be alarmed if they see some of the "Mormons" in the Congress
of the nations. No, they need not be surprised if they yet see
some of our Elders in the halls of Congress--men who understand
national affairs equal to any in the nation standing forth to
save that Constitution which we are now accused of opposing.
14
I thank the Lord that I am once more in your midst, and for
the privilege of striking hands with my brethren and sisters. But
when I think that the enemies of all righteousness are raging, I
feel to thank the Lord for the fulfilment of the words of His
servants. I realize and know that the keys of exaltation rest in
the midst of Israel; and when the heathen rage, and the people
imagine a vain thing, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against His anointed, then "he that sitteth
in the Heavens shall laugh at their calamity: the Lord shall have
them in derision." Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Orson
Hyde, June 14, 1857
Orson Hyde, June 14, 1857
STORING UP GRAIN--LESSONS OF THE PAST--TEMPTATION--THE
COMING DISTRESS, ETC.
Remarks by Elder Orson Hyde, made in the Bowery,
Sunday Afternoon, June 14, 1857.
14
Brethren and sisters,--I arise to call your attention to a
subject that has been presented to you, time after time, from
this stand. I may, perhaps, refresh your minds, and present some
things to you that you may not have fully comprehended or
understood.
14
We have been told to store up our grain and to take care of it.
The history of the past forms ample ground for advice of this
kind. We have not only seen, but felt the folly of placing too
low an estimate upon the productions of the earth. When they were
plentiful, they have been thought of little value. We have found
ourselves comparatively destitute at times, in consequence, and,
in the time of this scarcity, have suffered in our feelings--have
been pinched with hunger; and it does seem that the subject of
laying up our grain has been presented under circumstances that
cannot fail to impress every heart with its importance.
14
I will tell you how things look to me. They look as though the
Lord had said--I have tried my people; I have withheld the
bounties of the earth, and in this day of want I have given them
advice to store up their grain; and if ever they could be brought
into circumstances to make them appreciate these words, it is
now.
14
It is now a pretty scarce time for clothing: it is hard to get
many of the comforts of life in the shape of wearing apparel. We
have no money: many of us have no surplus of the products of the
earth to exchange; and if we had, our market is comparatively
bare of many of the articles we need.
15
Some consider that great trials await us; but I will call your
attention to one. It is a very great trial to be short of
clothing, boots, shoes, &c., (to say nothing of the silks,
ribbons, laces, and other gewgaws,) to answer our desires, and
perhaps not our real wants and comforts. But the Lord may pour
out an abundant harvest of grain; and, while we are destitute of
those things, our granaries may be groaning with the weight of
the grain that is in them. But by-and-by the market is richly
supplied with goods, such as we need. It is supplied with every
material or fabric, and perhaps silver and gold, and a liberal
price is offered for our grain; and with this grain we can buy
those articles of clothing that we need. Now here comes the
trial. (But keep in mind "home manufacture.") We know these
circumstances pinch. We want the clothing, and we have an
abundance around us, and means in our hands to obtain those
articles in exchange for our produce and wheat. This will try us,
whether we will abide the counsel that has been given, or whether
we will not. I presume to say that just such circumstances will
appear before this people: I have not the least hesitancy upon my
mind in saying that such will be the case. Here you have grain to
any amount; and here is your silver, your gold, your goods, your
groceries, and your wares of every kind, and every thing that you
can desire to make yourselves comfortable. Now, all this is in
the midst of this counsel to store up your grain, and to hold on
to it. It is the counterpart, or tempter to beguile. How many
will there be who will go and exchange one for the other? Say one
and another, I must have a little of this, a little of that, and
a little of the other; and thus, little by little, goes the grain
that we were commencing to store up, until it has leaked away and
our granaries are empty.
15
It is strange that we should do this, when we really desire
bread, and have so keenly felt its need! We had none at one
time--that is, comparatively none. Starvation, ghastly and
appalling, threw its hideous forms and frightful shadows in our
face; and what was the counsel of God then? Was it not to remain
faithful over the little that we had, and to divide out the
limited supplies that we had, and to relieve the necessities of
the poor and needy? And did not the people, in a goodly degree,
comply with this counsel? Yes they did. Well, has not our
heavenly Father, by multiplying our grain in our store-houses,
like the widow's meal and oil, thwarted off impending calamities?
He certainly has.
15
Now there is a prospect of a bountiful harvest. We cannot tell
what may be; but if we are true and faithful, like the needle to
the pole, we shall have an abundance to supply not only our
present wants, but some to lay by for the future. This is the
result of abiding in the counsel of God, and the Lord says, I
will give them liberally; for they have said that they will not
let it go to waste; for they design now to keep it for the
children of the kingdom and for the time of great want, when
strangers shall come to them also for bread. And now, therefore,
I will pour out a bountiful harvest, to prove their integrity.
15
I have told them to prove me, and now I will prove them. You
bring along your tithes and offerings into my storehouse, and see
if I will not pour out a blessing--see if I will not open the
windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that you will not have
room to receive. I will prove you now, and see if you will be as
faithful to me as I have been to you.
16
If this grain be stored up and properly taken care of, we may go
destitute of many comforts that we desire; but, after the Lord
has proven us, in this respect, to see if we will resist the
temptations of the adversary--to see if we will resist the
shining gold and the fine apparel, and to see if we will abide
the law, and lock up and preserve our grain, is it not as easy
for Him to provide us with those things that we really need for
clothing as it was to increase our limited stores, or to give us
now a plentiful harvest? Is it not said, "Surely, thou shalt
clothe thyself with them all, and in their glory shall ye boast
yourselves." And is it not said that the kings of the earth shall
bring their glory and riches to Zion? What shall hinder them from
bringing the treasures by which we can all be clothed? What will
induce them to come here at all with their riches, their gold,
and their silver, and fine apparel? Let the Almighty shut down
the gate of prosperity, as He will do, and a general dearth
ensue, and they know that in Zion it is fruitful, and that the
good things of the earth are produced there--let them know that
there is bread, and you will see them coming here to pour out
their treasures for a bit of bread; but if you shall not have it
stored up for them, you will not do your duty. The Lord can do
this. He can bring these things about; and, brethren, the test is
right before us. It is not an imaginary thing, but it is actually
coming to test us, to see whether we will, under these
circumstances, abide the counsel that has been given to us.
16
There is hardly ever a commandment given to any person or persons
before whom a temptation is not placed to decoy them, if
possible, from an obedience to that commandment. Our parents in
the garden of Eden had had but little experience in this world;
and it seemed that they must have a trial corresponding with the
experience and knowledge they had of things as they were. The
instruction of Father Adam was, "of all the trees in the garden
thou mayest eat, excepting one; and in the day thou eatest of
that, thou shalt surely die." The Lord said, Adam and Eve, you
may enjoy yourselves; but there is one tree I command you that ye
shall not eat of; for in the day that ye do, ye shall surely
die."
16
It seems that they were well provided for. There was an abundance
of other kinds of fruits; but there was a kind of itching desire
for that which they were forbidden to eat of; and they were led
on by temptation until they did partake of that fruit, and thus
the devil got power over them.
16
Well, if counsel has been given unto us to store up our grain, I
should not wonder if there were temptations placed before us, to
induce us to non-compliance. High prices in silver and gold may
be offered as an inducement. Men may come and say, I will give
you a high price for your wheat: here are goods of every kind we
will give for your grain." There, you perceive, is the temptation
and the counsel before us. We should like the comforts of life,
and would no doubt like to purchase them; but the counsel of the
servants of the Lord would lead us to do differently.
16
Such scenes as these, brethren and sisters, we may see, and they
may not be far ahead of us. They may be very near; for things
change very suddenly sometimes. It is for us to abide in the
counsel of God, and never turn aside nor cast a longing look upon
the riches and comforts of this life, when we have to violate a
holy precept to gain them. Remember it, brethren and sisters; for
I want to impress it upon your minds. Keep your grain for
yourselves and for strangers who, in times of famine abroad, seek
at your hands bread from heaven and earth. When the servants of
God set good counsel before you, and these temptations follow,
they will not command, perhaps, when the temptation is present;
and these things will be trying to you: they will be so, to see
if you will stand by your integrity, or fall by your instability.
17
I want to tell a little anecdote which came to my ears. I do not
know that I shall be right; but, if I am wrong, there are those
present who can correct me. It is said that there is a man in
this city, a natural miner, who has a peculiar gift to discover
metals of value, though hidden in the earth at any depth. He can
point out the very place where they are. He happened in a
gentleman's house in this town one day, and they were discussing
his powers to discern any metal in the earth. The lady, doubting
his ability, took a piece of lead, and slyly stepped out and
buried it, being careful to leave no visible marks by which any
other than herself could find it. She returned and told him that
in the garden was a piece of lead buried, and wished him to find
it if he could. He made the attempt; and, after a little
rambling, pointed to the very spot where it was; but the lady,
thinking to bluff him off and discourage him, made perfect
ridicule of him, and asked what had led him to think it was
there. She pretended to regard him as insane, and the poor man
came to the conclusion that he might be mistaken, as the lady
appeared so sanguine in her ridicule. He gave it up as a mistake,
doubting his own gift. Since the time that he was bluffed off
from the faith in the natural gift that God had given him--(Pres.
H. C. Kimball: And that by a woman!)--yes, and since that, it has
been taken away altogether. Before this, he was never mistaken in
such matters; but since, has no more powers of discovering than
any other.
17
Now, we have the gift of God, and that is the gift of wise
counsel--of good counsel given unto us for the purpose of
self-preservation. Will we, by any reason, by any craft, by any
device, by any machinations, by any swerving from our purpose,
lose that gift? Remember that if we are upon the enemies' ground,
the gift that is given to us may be destroyed or taken from us
for ever; and probably the time may be that you and I may not
have the counsel of the servants of God from day to day. If it is
necessary, however, we may have it; and if it is not, remember
it, ye Latter-day Saints, and everybody that fears God and serves
Him with full purpose of heart! Remember the counsel that is
given, "STORE UP ALL YOUR GRAIN," and take care of it! Prize it
above gold and silver, above rich clothing and fine apparel, and
above everything else except the bread of life! And I tell you it
is almost as necessary to have bread to sustain the body as it is
to have food for the spirit; for the one is as necessary as the
other to enable us to carry on the work of God upon the earth.
17
Brethren and sisters, may God bless you, and bless your fields,
and flocks, and all that you possess. Take care of your fields,
your flocks, and your herds; take care of and preserve every
thing that God has given us to take care of upon the earth. May
God bless you, and bless us all, and give us the gift of eternal
life; and may the angel of life preserve us; and may we feel to
lay shoulder to shoulder, and prove to God and our brethren that
we are ready and determined to roll forth this great work-
"While life, or thought, or being lasts,
Or immortality endures."
--Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, April 6, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, April 6, 1857
TEMPLE AND ENDOWMENTS--RAISING GRAIN AND BUILDING
STOREHOUSES--DEDICATION.
A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the
Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1857.
18
I do not know that I can speak so that all of you can hear
distinctly. You will have to be very still, or it will be
impossible for me to speak to your edification. You have heard
what brother Wells has said in reference to the Temple, the
canal, &c. The Temple is designed for many purposes, and there
are many things that God will reveal and many blessings that he
will confer upon this people in that building, if they will use
due diligence in forwarding its completion.
18
Some may think that the erection of the Temple more particularly
devolves upon brother Brigham, brother Heber, brother Daniel, the
Twelve, and a few of the Seventies, High Priests, and Bishops;
and when it is finished they may imagine that they will receive
their blessings therein; but that work is designed to be general.
There must needs be a universal exertion, not only by the leading
official members of this Church, but by every member, male and
female; for the Temple is not for us alone; it is also for our
sons, and daughters, and succeeding generations. They will
receive blessings in it, and therefore it concerns them as well
as us.
18
If I obtain all the blessings of the Priesthood, all the
endowments, all the blessings that God has to confer upon us in
this probation, and keep those things sacred while I live, I am
then as pure and holy as it is possible for a man to be while in
the flesh. Then, if my wives are one with me, my children and
their posterity will partake of those blessings which have been
placed upon me. Every blessing conferred upon me tends to benefit
my posterity. Those blessings are for every righteous man; and
the blessings that are conferred upon faithful men and women in
their holy anointings and sealings will rest upon their posterity
after them for ever and for ever, through their faithfulness; and
there is no end to it.
18
It is a strong additional inducement for you to live your
religion, in view of the benefits that will be continued to your
posterity. If you can only bear this in mind, I think it will
serve to keep you steadfast in the line of your duties. Will our
posterity partake of the blessings we will receive in the Temple
which we are building? They will, for ever and for ever. Our
blessings are to continue always. If we live so as to attain to
the principles and fulness of perfection and to secure the
promises of eternal lives, then those blessings will rest upon us
and our children.
19
How long will it take this people to build the Temple on this
Block, supposing that every man and woman, and every child that
has arrived at the years of accountability, will unitedly strive
for its completion? Not very many years. Were I labouring on that
Temple, I would constantly endeavour to work upon it with an eye
single to pushing it forward, and to the blessings I expected to
receive therein. But supposing that you do not all live, will you
not be benefited by it? Yes, you will.
19
We are now attending to matters that will answer every purpose,
until that Temple is completed. Those who go through their
endowments now and are sealed up unto eternal lives, those
blessings will stick to them, if they will stick to the blessings
and promises that are made over unto them, and step forward with
one heart and one mind to do the will of God as made known to
them from time to time from this stand.
19
Is it requisite that every member of my family should feel the
same interest that I do in my welfare and posterity? Yes, every
woman and child, from the oldest to the youngest. They should be
just like a tree that has many branches to it. The extremity of
the longest limb is dependent upon the tree from which it grows.
We should become one tree, and be like the "tree of life, which
bare twelve manner of fruits," all connected with one stalk. I
presume that those fruits came from grafts, else the tree
probably would not have borne so many kinds.
19
We must be grafted into the true vine, and continue to partake of
its fatness, and then we shall go back to our Father and God, who
is connected with one who is still farther back; and this Father
is connected with one still further back, and so on; and just so
far as we respect our superiors and try to save our children, so
shall we receive blessings from this time forth and for ever, and
shall become as numerous as the sands upon the sea shore. What is
there to hinder us from obtaining these blessings? Nothing,
except it be our own want of faithfulness; for, by diligence,
integrity, and perseverance, we can accomplish all we desire, and
help to move forward the great work of God.
19
I have heard a whispering that some who work on the Temple at
dressing rock, and in the machine and blacksmiths' shops, have
nothing but bread to eat. It seems as though this could not be
so; for I have seen the public hands packing home carrots,
parsnips, potatoes, &c.; and it is not so very bad while there is
plenty of them; and every man gets a pound of flour a day; and I
think there should not be any grunting. It will not be a month
before we shall have lettuce, radishes, &c.; and there now is
plenty of greens; and onions are plentiful in the Tithing Office;
and we shall be very glad to have you come and get them at your
leisure.
19
I have just touched upon these things in connection with brother
Wells' remarks concerning the Public Works; for I am one with
him, and he is one with me, and we are one with brother Brigham.
We have not set our feet to the race for any other purpose than
to follow him and run through; for he is our leader and will be
our leader, temporally and spiritually, from this time forth.
When Joseph comes again, will brother Brigham be removed? No,
never. Brother Joseph is ahead; brother Brigham is after him; I
am after brother Brigham; and you are after me, are you not? And
we will not flinch; and God will bless and prosper every man that
will help himself; and He will bless, prosper, and sustain this
people; and they will never fall, as a people, though we expect
that many will apostatize, pitch over the dam, and go to wreck.
20
If we sin, and do not repent, God will chastise us until we do
repent of and forsake all sin; but He never will scourge us so
long as we do right. I have said a hundred times that we never
shall want for bread, meat, and the comforts of life, worlds
without end, if we will only do right. That is my prophecy, and
always was; and it is true. I agree with Daniel, with Joseph,
with Brigham, with Jesus, and the Apostles, and all the holy
Prophets; and I have spoken as I have to arouse your feelings, to
waken you up, and comfort your hearts, and cheer your minds; for
I have no other feeling than to do you good.
20
When the Big Cottonwood Canal is finished, aside from its being
of material benefit in our operations for building the Temple, it
will be of great worth for irrigating lots in this city,
especially in the east part of it; and you will soon be able to
raise enough more than heretofore to pay you for your labour upon
that work--yes, tenfold more. You may think that extravagant, but
I say it is not. Reckon it up yourselves, and see how much more
you could raise if you had plenty of water. You could raise as
much corn fodder as would keep your cows through the winter, and
I believe more than you have cows to eat it, besides the large
extra amount of vegetables you could raise.
20
I will now make a few remarks in relation to building
storehouses,--not particularly in regard to building tithing
storehouses here; for there are enough at present to hold all the
grain we have; though I believe that by another year this people
will fill our tithing houses until they overflow; for a great
many of them are going to continue to do right and live their
religion; and if they do that, you will see the wheat, the corn,
the oats, the barley, and all our stock and possessions increase.
If we increase, it will increase; our wealth will grow and
increase with us, and there will be no end to it. But in order to
lay up grain, you must prepare storehouses. Every man who has a
farm needs a storehouse--one made of rock and lime, that will
guard your grain against the mice, rats, and all other
four-legged vermin; also against the two-legged ones. I have more
fears of the two-legged ones than I have of the four-legged ones.
20
Plan to build a good storehouse, every man who has a farm, and
never cease until you have accomplished it. And do not forget to
pay your tithing before you put the grain into the storehouse.
Lay up enough for seven years, at a calculation for from five to
ten in each family; and then calculate that there will be in your
families from five to ten persons to where you now have one,
because you are on the increase.
20
It now takes about one thousand bushels of wheat to bread my
family one year, and I want to lay up six thousand for each year
of the seven for which I calculate to store it up. Reflect upon
the probable increase of my family within seven years; they alone
will be almost numerous enough to people a small city. Where a
family now requires only a hundred bushels a year, let the head
of that family lay up a hundred bushels the first year, two
hundred the next, and increase the amount every year in
proportion to their probable requirements.
20
When we have stored away our grain we are safe, independent of
the world, in case of famine, are we not? Yes, we are; for, in
that case we will have the means for subsistence in our own
hands. When the famines begin upon the earth, we shall be very
apt to feel them first.
21
If judgments must need begin at the house of God, and if the
righteous scarcely are saved, how will it be with the wicked? Am
I looking for famines? Yes, the most terrible and severe that
have ever come upon the nations of the earth. These things are
right before us, and some of this people are not thinking
anything about them; they do not enter their hearts. Still there
is not an Elder here who has read the revelation which says, Go
forth and warn the inhabitants of this land of the sickness, the
death, and disasters that are coming upon this nation, but what
must be satisfied of the truth of what I am saying. You have done
according to the instruction given in that revelation; and now
reflect upon the things that I am declaring in your hearing, and
lift up your voices unitedly as a people to the God of Heaven
that He will be merciful unto us and favour Zion.
21
Be wise, listen to counsel, and obey the voice of the head, and
you will prosper and never want for bread; but, as the Lord
liveth, you will feel it, if you do not continue in the line of
duty. [President Brigham Young: That is true.] Yes, it is as true
as it is that God ever spake to this generation. I consider that
carefully storing our surplus grain against a time of need is of
the greatest importance to this people, in connection with
building the Temple. You may build that Temple, and at the same
time neglect those things that I am speaking of, and you will
perish temporally.
21
Now, go to, and raise grain; for I feel satisfied that the Lord
will give us two, three, or four years of good times, and will
hold the enemies of the upright by the bit, if we will do right.
I will have that "if" in every time; for, in such case, I tell
you that God will hold our enemies, and they cannot have any
power until He has a mind to permit them; and then He will only
permit them for a time, in order to manifest His Almighty power
and to qualify and prepare them for a time to come. I mean just
what I say.
21
I have talked here year after year, and told you that I was going
to work to build a good storehouse; and I now have a good one,
though it is not yet quite finished. I have five or six hundred
bushels of wheat in it, and I am going to make a tight floor of
rock by grouting it with lime and sand, and plaster the walls on
both sides, so that it will be proof against mice and all other
kinds of vermin.
21
As I have said, I know that we will see those things of which I
have spoken--such famines as this world never beheld. Yes, we
have got to see those scenes; but if we will keep our vows and
covenants, the Lord will hold them off until we can prepare
ourselves; and if you will wake up and do as you are told, you
will escape.
21
I will advise every man in every settlement to build a
storehouse; and if one cannot do so alone, let two or three build
one between them. Store up and preserve your grain, and then you
will be safe. But if the famine should come upon us in our
present condition, what could we do? If we do not do as we are
told in this thing, the displeasure of the Lord will be upon us,
and He will not continue to bless us as He is now doing.
21
I know that He is able to suffer famines to come upon us, and
then to rain manna down from heaven to sustain us. I also know
that He could increase our grain in the granaries and our flour
in the bins, and make one small loaf of bread suffice for many
persons, by exerting His creative power. I do not know how He
does that, but I know that He can do it just as easily as He
could bring me into existence upon this earth.
22
There are a great many things that we can save and take care of,
as well as we can wheat, barley, and oats. We can dry pumpkins,
squashes, currants, apples, peaches, &c., and save them; we can
also save beans, peas, and like articles, and keep them for seven
years. And if you will take the right care of your wheat, you can
save it just as long as you may wish to; but, in the usual mode
of storing it, you have got to stir it, move it, remove it, and
turn it over, or it will spoil. It is just so with this people;
they have had to be moved and removed from place to place, to
prevent them from getting into dotage.
22
I would not be afraid to promise a man who is sixty years of age,
if he will take the counsel of brother Brigham and his brethren,
that he will renew his age. I have noticed that a man who has but
one wife, and is inclined to that doctrine, soon begins to wither
and dry up, while a man who goes into plurality looks fresh,
young, and sprightly. Why is this? Because God loves that man,
and because he honours His work and word. Some of you may not
believe this; but I not only believe it--I also know it. For a
man of God to be confined to one woman is small business; for it
is as much as we can do now to keep up under the burdens we have
to carry; and I do not know what we should do if we had only one
wife apiece.
22
Let us go to work and cultivate the earth, and go into the
fields, and bless the land, and dedicate and consecrate it to
God; and then dedicate the seed, the implements, and the horses,
and oxen. Do you suppose that that will have any effect? I know
that it will. Nearly twenty years ago, I was in a place in
England in which I felt very curious; but I did not know at the
time what it meant. I went through a town called Chadburn, beyond
Clithero. Before I went there, some persons told me that there
was no use in my going, and asked me what I wanted to go to
Chadburn for, saying it was the worst place in the country; for
the sectarian priests had preached there faithfully thirty years
without making any impression. Notwithstanding that, I went, and
preached once, and baptized twenty-five persons, where the
priests had not been able to do a thing.
22
I went through the streets of that town feeling as I never before
felt in my life. My hair would rise on my head as I walked
through the streets, and I did not then know what was the matter
with me. I pulled off my hat, and felt that I wanted to pull off
my shoes, and I did not know what to think of it.
22
When I returned, I mentioned the circumstance to brother Joseph,
who said, "Did you not understand it? That is a place where some
of the old Prophets travelled and dedicated that land, and their
blessing fell upon you." Then try it, and see if it will not
leave a blessing for us to dedicate our lands. If you think that
it will not, never bring another bottle of oil and ask us to
dedicate and consecrate it for the benefit of the sick. I know
that we can bless the land, and that through our blessing it will
be filled with the Spirit and power of God, and that, too, in
great profusion, especially if we are filled with that Spirit
ourselves. Some may call me enthusiastic; but I am no more so
than the old Prophets were when they had the Spirit of God upon
them.
22
Let us bless the land we cultivate and the fountains of water,
and they will be blessed, and then men may drink of those waters,
and they will fill them with the Spirit and power of God. Let us
bless and dedicate the fountains of life that are in us, in our
wives and children, and in everything else around us. Can the
Spirit of God enter a stone, or one of those posts? Yes; and it
can fill every pore as well as it can every pore in my body. Can
it enter into my pores? Yes, even into my hair; and it can also
enter my bones and quicken every limb, joint, and fibre.
23
Let us not dispose of any grain, only what is actually necessary.
When it is actually necessary to part with any grain, let us put
it into the right hands. If I have any to part with, I will put
it into the hands of those that will make good use of it. We have
got to become one in our financial matters in the Church and
Kingdom of God. How can you become one tree, with limbs and
branches all pertaining to the selfsame tree, when there is
disunion among you?
23
Then go to work and build up this kingdom, establish
righteousness, and prepare yourselves for the famines that are
coming upon the earth; for I tell you that they are coming.
23
Do you suppose that God would give revelations and tell us to
warn the inhabitants of the earth of things which were coming
speedily upon them, if He did not intend that those things should
come? He said that they should feel them, and I know that they
are bound to feel them; for they will not repent. Let us go to
work and prepare for the thousands upon thousands who will come
unto us.
23
Our Carrying Company is only in its infancy, but it will prepare
the way; and the day will come when people will gather here by
hundreds and by thousands,--yea, fifty thousand in a year; and
very many will come trudging along with their bundles under their
arms. I have heard brother Joseph, brother Brigham, and several
other men say that it will be so; and I know it will, because
they have said it. Many of you will venture to say that you
believe it; but I know that it is true, and it will surely come
to pass.
23
Brethren and sisters, these are some of my feelings; and I hope
and pray that those whom we have warned will go home and warn
their neighbours, and tell them to be up and doing; and then we
shall not have to tell you these things again. It is no time for
grunting; it is no time for having the blues; it is no time for
sugar-tits, for dancing, and amusing ourselves. Amusements are
stopped for the present; but when brother Brigham says dance,
then dance; but when he says stop, then stop; and when he says
prophesy, then prophesy, but be sure to prophesy right.
23
I have said nothing but what the Spirit has dictated; and all the
principles that I have touched upon are contained in the Bible.
If you don't believe it, take that book and look for yourselves;
and then take the Book of Mormon, and see what the Lord said to
the Nephites. He said, "The nation or people that will not serve
me on this land I will cut off from the face of the earth;" and I
know that He will do it. And brother Brigham, the Twelve
Apostles, and Patriarchs John Young and Isaac Morley will all
declare that it is true. May God bless you. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / John
Young, July 12, 1857
John Young, July 12, 1857
BLESSINGS OF ZION--PROPHETS OF GOD TO BE RELIED
ON--ENEMIES OF THE SAINTS.
Remarks by Patriarch John Young, made at the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, July 12, 1857.
24
I feel very happy, my brethren and sisters, for the opportunity I
enjoy this day in this place. I feel that the Lord is merciful
unto me and unto us all as a people, and I feel much pleasure in
rising before you to bear my testimony to the truths of the
everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ, which have been laid before
us this day by his servant brother Kimball.
24
I am thankful to my heavenly Father not only this day, and at
this time in particular, but at all times. I am thankful that I
live in the day that I do, and that I am associated with the
greatest and best men that ever lived upon the earth, and that I
have the opportunity of sitting under the sound of their voices,
even the oracles of the Almighty, before whom the visions of
eternity are passing continually, and who are competent to
administer unto the people the words of eternal life.
24
I thank the Lord for the blessings that we as a community enjoy,
and for the good admonitions, for the truth of heaven, for the
principles of salvation that are from time to time made known
unto us by the Prophets of the Lord. I am thankful to my God that
He has gathered us from the nations of the earth where we were
scattered into these chambers of the mountains, where the
Prophets of the Most High can speak, as they are dictated by His
Holy Spirit, the things that are necessary for them to know and
understand.
24
I can well remember the day when the Prophets of the Lord stood
up to address the people, that they did not feel that liberty
which they feel and enjoy here. This was at a time when they were
surrounded by enemies upon the right hand and upon the left, and
when those enemies were laying plans to catch and to destroy
them; and when I reflect upon this, I thank God that He has
brought us to a place where we can administer the words of
eternal life without fear or dismay; for we are here secluded and
far away from our enemies.
24
I am thankful for the great and glorious principles that I have
heard from brother Kimball this morning; and I can bear my
testimony before angels and before my heavenly Father that every
word he spoke has been by the inspiration and power of the Holy
Ghost. I would like to have you tell of a time, if you can, when
brother Brigham and brother Heber did not speak by the power of
the Holy Ghost. I know you cannot do it; and yet there are men
who are continually whining because the First Presidency are so
severe upon the workers of iniquity; but I don't feel to take off
the curses, but, by the authority and power that I have and the
priesthood that has been sealed upon me, I seal those curses
brother Kimball has pronounced, upon the heads of the guilty.
24
[The congregation responded, Amen.]
25
I just know there are men here right amongst us who thirst for
the blood of the Prophets of God; and there are those professing
to be Saints who are fostering them in their hellish designs; but
I pray my heavenly Father to purge out these cursed characters
from among us. The time has come when the ungodly and the
hypocrites are to be searched out. This is undoubtedly the time
the Prophet spoke of when he said, "The sinner in Zion shall be
afraid, and fearfulness shall surprise the hypocrite." The people
are better prepared for this now than ever they were; for there
never was a time when light was reflected upon this people as at
the present; no, there never was such a time as there is now; and
I know it, if no other man does.
25
I have heard brother Brigham say that it should be better and
more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment,
than for this people who hear the truth and do not obey it. Day
after day, and Sabbath after Sabbath, the servants of God are
administering the words of eternal life; and if the people do not
walk in the light, it would be better for them to have a
millstone tied to their necks, and they drowned in the depths of
the sea, than for them to remain here and live in sin, and add to
their guilt and crimes every day of their life.
25
Brethren, we are blest; yes, we are greatly blest: our fields are
clothed with grain; they are greatly burdened with the crops that
are upon them. Everything that I behold, as I travel abroad,
exhibits abundantly the blessings of our heavenly Father. He is
pouring out liberally of His blessings upon us; and, if we are
faithful, they will be multiplied more and more upon our heads.
25
I am thankful to find such a good spirit among the Saints in the
various parts of the Territory where I have visited. Last week I
visited Utah and Cedar Valleys, and the brethren were willing to
drop their scythes and come to meeting, notwithstanding it was a
very busy time with them. I held meetings at both settlements in
cedar Valley, and I can say there is a good spirit prevailing
there; and I feel that there never was more of the power of the
Lord, nor a greater witness of His Spirit resting upon the people
than at the present time. It seems as if they were willing to
give their very life's blood to sustain the Prophets of God that
are amongst us. It is a matter of consolation to us all to learn
that the people are becoming so united.
25
Now, my brethren, let us be faithful and work righteousness in
this the day of our visitation; for we shall not always enjoy the
blessings that we now do. Though our land is blest, and though we
have peace and plenty, I do not know that this will always be the
case with us; we may yet have to pass through severe trials. I
know that there will always be peace to those who have the peace
of our heavenly Father in their own souls. When a man has the
approbation of those who are at the head of the kingdom, he also
has the approbation of our heavenly Father; for He sanctions
their doings upon the earth.
25
It is not my desire or intention to take up much time this
morning; but I was desirous to bear my testimony to the truth set
forth by President Kimball, a man filled with the Holy Ghost.
25
I wonder if some one won't go away and say that brother Kimball
and the authorities were misinformed. I can tell you they are
not; for those men who stand at the head of affairs have the
light of heaven with them all the time; they have the power of
the Spirit and the visions of the heavens with them always, and
they can read men and women from head to foot.
26
After this, I don't want anybody to go away from the meeting and
say, "I guess they were mistaken." Don't let us hear any more of
it, brethren; never let such a thing be spoken, that a Prophet of
God is mistaken. I ask this congregation, and I adjure you in the
name of the Lord to speak, if ever you heard brother Brigham,
brother Kimball, brother Jedediah, or brother Wells say anything
that was not strictly true. I answer, you never did.
26
[President H. C. Kimball: If it were so, a man might be a Prophet
one minute and a devil another.]
26
I know there is an under-current working all the time; but I tell
you, my brethren, we have to stand up to the work in which we are
engaged, and live humbly before our heavenly Father, and keep His
Spirit with us always. This is what we have got to do, and, as
brother Kimball says, save ourselves and those that are with us,
and know that we are born of God and that we are heirs of
salvation. It is our privilege, as well as that of the Prophets
of God, to have this Spirit and this light in us; for we are the
children of the light, and not of the darkness; therefore the day
of the Lord Jesus will not overtake us as a thief in the night.
26
I feel comfortable and happy in being associated with the Saints
of the living God; and I never felt more grateful for my position
among this people than I do at the present time; for I realize
that the hand of the Lord is with us all the day long.
26
When I heard brother Kimball talking about brother Thomas Marsh,
it caused me to think of bygone days; for I was well acquainted
with him; and when I heard what I did, I felt to thank my God
that He had preserved me and my brethren from the power of the
Devil; and I know that it is the Lord's doing, and not our
strength that has saved us. I feel humble, and I wish to feel so
all the time. I cannot express to you my feelings in full; but
this much I can say, that I have never had such an experience in
my lie as I have had for the year past. It seems as though the
vail of darkness was rolled back; and it is so to a great extent,
and we begin to know and realize that the day of our redemption
draws near.
26
Talk about fear! We have nothing to fear from our enemies. If we
have anything to fear at all, it is those of our own
household--those corrupt villains in our midst, who profess to be
Saints. Our enemies are entirely powerless. They used to think
that Missouri could whip out the "Mormons," and then they thought
that a few counties in Illinois could do it; but of late they
have come to the conclusion that it will take all the United
States to whip us out; and it is true too, and then they can't.
26
I knew last fall that the reformation would commence in the
States about the time that it did here, and I told brother
Brigham so; and I now pray that it may continue, and that they
may be clothed with darkness, and that all their schemes and
plans may be frustrated, and that they may be caught in their own
snares, and fall into their own pits. There has never been such a
fuss in the United States as there is at the present time; and I
may also add, that there never has been a time when we have
commenced to build a Temple but the Devil has called upon his
servants to prevent us from doing the work, if possible. It was
so in Kirtland; it was so in Far West and in Illinois; and I
expect it will be so here; but it will all tend to roll on the
work of God.
27
I feel to bless you--all you that are honest in heart; and I say
the time has come when fearfulness will surprise the hypocrite;
and I pray that we may be able more perfectly to discern betwixt
him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. This is what
the Prophet said should be with the people in the last days; and
he said there should be a book of remembrance kept, that those
who are faithful might be his in the day when he shall come to
make up his jewels. My prayer is that we may be among those
jewels, which I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, July 12, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, July 12, 1857
THE LATTER-DAY KINGDOM--MEN NOT TO BE GOVERNED BY THEIR
WIVES-LOVE TO GOD MANIFESTED BY LOVE TO HIS SERVANTS.
Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made at the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, July 12, 1857.
27
I feel very much to appreciate the remarks of brothers Thomas S.
Smith and Edmund Ellsworth. Brother Edmund's remarks were very
good, and will be salvation to every man and woman that will
receive and treasure them up in their hearts.
27
Here in Great Salt Lake City is the seat of government for the
Church and Kingdom of God, pertaining to every person that has
ever come into a probation on this earth, whether they are now in
tabernacles upon this earth, or whether they are in the spirit
world, or in hell. This is the place of deposit of all those keys
pertaining to the salvation of the human family; and there never
will one soul of those spirits now in prison come out of that
place, except the keys of the kingdom of God that are now held in
Great Salt Lake City open the door and let them out. They may
peep and mutter, and may have revelations until doomsday, and may
declare to all eternity that Joseph Smith is a false prophet, and
that brother Brigham is a false prophet, and that this Church is
false, and they will still remain in hell until we let them out.
27
Brother Brigham Young holds those keys; and brother Heber C.
Kimball, and Daniel H. Wells, and others, hold those keys in
connection with brother Brigham; and not one soul of you has any
keys or power of salvation only what is in us; and that is one
thing for you to learn. Those keys and powers were on Joseph
Smith when he was in the flesh; and before he departed, he laid
his hands on brother Brigham, and brother Heber, and others, and
conferred the keys of salvation upon them; and we are here, in
the last dispensation of the kingdom of God that pertains to
every man and woman on earth, in hell, and in the spirit world;
and the redemption of not one individual soul will be obtained
upon any other principle.
28
You may call that pretty snug doctrine and pretty rough; but I
would not give a dime for anything that is not rough. What do you
think of the stone to be cut out of the mountain without hands?
If there are to be no hands, how do you suppose it will ever be
polished? Can you polish a stone without hands and chisel? It is
to be taken out of the mountain without hands, and it will smash
every nation and kingdom except God's. It will never be polished
until it has done that rough work. It will knock the bark from
the trees, and will break everything before it.
28
Let the spirit world peep, and rap, and rap, and rap again. We
know you not. Depart, ye workers of iniquity, and get out of the
way, and stop your peeping and rapping.
28
This is the kingdom of God. You talk about building up the
kingdom of God; but how can you build up the kingdom of God,
except you build up the king and his officers? We are to become
kings and priests unto our God, in accordance with the
revelations given to the Apostle John. Our lives are a
preparatory work to fit us to receive that authority and power;
and when we have got that, we will raise up a kingdom. You cannot
raise up a kingdom any greater than yourselves. And is you have
not attended to these things, you cannot raise up a kingdom that
will bring about the purposes of the Almighty.
28
How can I take a course to save the children of men any further
than I am saved myself? If I have saved myself to-day, I can save
you to-day; and if I continue on and save myself to-morrow, I can
save you to-morrow, and so on from day to day, until finally we
are saved in the celestial kingdom of God.
28
Are the keys here? Yes, the very keys that our Father placed upon
His Son Jesus; and He placed that authority upon Peter and his
associates; and they have been restored again to this earth
through the ministration of the Prophet Joseph.
28
It is written that the first shall be last, and the last first.
This is the last kingdom, and the Lord will make it first; for it
has got to raise up, and establish, and confer power upon every
one of those kingdoms that have been. That is what we have got to
do. Why do you not realize this? You could, if you lived your
religion and called upon god by day and by night.
28
What good do your prayers do, when your works do not correspond?
Men may talk about praying, and exhort the people to pray; and if
you do not live in a manner to fulfil your prayers, what do they
avail you? Faith is dead without works, just as much as my body
is dead without my spirit. When my spirit leaves my body, my body
is dead; but put them together, and they make a soul--a spirit in
a tabernacle. What is the use of our professing to be Saints,
unless we live our religion? By our faithfulness and by our good
works we shall obtain knowledge.
28
How can you find out whether brother Brigham is called of God,
except you have a revelation from God? And then some are not
fully satisfied, but will doubt the revelation that God has given
them.
28
You think you would not. I have known many who have. Oliver
Cowdery received revelations and wrote them; so did David
Whitmer, and so did Thomas B. Marsh. About the time he was
preparing to leave this Church, he received a revelation in the
Printing Office. He retired to himself, and prayed, and was
humble, and God gave him a revelation, and he wrote it. There
were from three to five pages of it. There were from three to
five pages of it; and when he came out, he read it to brother
Brigham and me. In it God told him what to do, and that was to
sustain brother Joseph and to believe that what brother Joseph
had said was true. But no; he took a course to sustain his wife
and oppose the Prophet of God, and she led him away.
29
What!--sustain a woman, a wife, in preference to sustaining the
Prophet Joseph, brother Brigham, and his brethren! Your religion
is vain when you take that course. Well, my wife may say, "If you
will sustain Brigham in preference to me, I will leave you." I
should reply, "Leave, and be damned!" and that very quickly. That
is a part of my religion--"Leave quickly, you poor snoop."
29
That was the trouble with Emma Smith. Joseph stood for the truth
and maintained it; she struck against it: and where is she? She
is where she is, and she will not escape until Joseph Smith opens
the door and lets her out. She declared that she would leave him,
if he would not sustain her instead of sustaining brother
Brigham, and Heber, and the rest of the Twelve Apostles of God.
That is as true as that the sun shines. She had her choice, but
Joseph would not follow her.
29
Thomas B. Marsh was once the President over the Quorum of the
Twelve--over brother Brigham, me, and others; and God saw fit to
give him a revelation to forewarn him of the course he would
take; and still he took that course. We told him that if he would
listen to that revelation he had received, he would be saved; but
he listened to his wife, and away he went. His wife is now dead
and damned. She led him some eighteen years; and as soon as she
died he came to Winter Quarters--now Florence, and has written to
us, pleading for mercy. We have extended it to him, and he will
probably be here this season or the next. He says that he has
sinned before God and his brethren, and is pleading for mercy;
for he feels as though our Father and God would have a little
bread for him after all the rest have eaten all they need.
29
I speak of these things to show men their standing. Women were
never placed to lead. Did you ever see a ship rigged for sailing
to England, or to any other port in the world, without a helm,
and rudder, and a man who knew the points of the compass and how
to receive instructions for guiding that ship. And then you will
sometimes see a number of boats lashed with cables to a large
ship, and they are all led by that ship, and that is guided by
the power and intelligence on board of it. Women are made to be
led, and counselled, and directed. If they are not led, and do
not make their cables fast to the power and authority they are
connected with, they will be damned. Instead of cutting those
little fibres that pertain to those cables which connect them
with the ship, they ought to be adding other strands to the
cables, that they may stand when the sea becomes boisterous.
29
And it is for the Twelve to be connected, and make the cable
which binds them to the First Presidency stronger and stronger;
and for the First Presidency to make theirs stronger in relation
to God and those who are connected with Him. All the time keep
adding to that big cable. And it is for the Seventies to fasten
their cable to the Twelve, and to keep increasing its strength;
and so on down to Priests, Teachers, and Deacons. Then let every
man's wife strengthen the cable that connects her with her
husband; for, if she does not do so, she will go to hell, and you
cannot help it.
29
Women are to be led. If I should undertake to drive a woman, I
should have to drive her before me; and then she becomes my
leader the moment I do that. I should lead her; and she should be
led by me, if I am a good man; and if I am not a good man, I have
no just right in this Church to a wife or wives, or to the power
to propagate my species. What, then, should be done with me? Make
a eunuch of me, and stop my propagation.
30
I am telling you solemn truths; and I do not know of anything
that bears on my mind more to this people than for us to live our
religion and be subject to those to whom we should be subject. As
brother Brigham said, last Sunday, it is for every man to make
peace with his neighbour and with the man who leads him, and for
a man's wives to take a course to please their husband, and for
us all to make peace at home and abroad, when we go out and when
we come in. That is the course for you to take,--that is your
duty; and when you take a contrary course you are wrong.
30
Some of the sisters say that their husbands are contrary and
stubborn, and that they will do this and that, and they cannot
control them. Ladies, there is not one of you that has common
good sense but what would leave the man that would suffer you to
lead him: you would rightly consider that he was not following
his calling, if he would bow to your mandates. No man in this
Church has a right to a wife, except he is a good man--a man of
truth. And when a man violates his calling and priesthood, he
forfeits his wife and every thing that pertains to that calling
and priesthood, or to that limb, when the limb is severed from
the tree. Many have been severed from this Church and left their
wives and children; for they clung to Gospel faith and
priesthood. Now, except those men make restitution, can they hold
one of the wives they have taken? No, not one of them. Can they
retain, and keep, and preserve their children--their posterity?
No, they cannot. Why? Because those limbs have been cut off and
have never been restored, and the fruit was taken by the
Husbandman of the vineyard and laid up in store. Then they cannot
get it, can they? No, they never can, unless they prove
themselves worthy and make restitution to satisfy the demands of
justice, and that fourfold. They may then receive it back, but
not without that restitution. That is justice and righteousness,
and I am telling you of it in the name of the Lord; and I know it
to be true.
30
There are thousands of men and women among the nations of the
earth that it will be more tolerable for, in the day of judgment,
than it will for you, if you violate your calling and do not
honour your priesthood. You know that it was declared that it
would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for the
children of God who had received the priesthood, and heard the
voice of a prophet, and disobeyed it. Sodom was so wicked that
they could not hear the word, because they would not admit a man
of God to come into their midst. And they would have killed Lot,
if the angels had not got him out with the few that believed on
his words.
30
If you cannot believe brother Brigham, and brother Heber, and
brother Daniel, and the Twelve, whom have you to go to hearken
to? Who is there to lead you? Lay aside the men who lead you, and
where is your salvation? Have you not great reason to love these
men? They are your servants, and they serve your faithfully. They
watch over you by night and by day, and over the Saints
throughout the whole world.
30
If you cannot love the leading members pertaining to this Church,
how under the heavens can you love a man you never saw? You
cannot, and never did. Tell about loving God! You do not love Him
a particle when you do not love your benefactors and the man that
feeds you and clothes you. You do not have a drawing of tea, a
pound of coffee, or anything else, but what he serves you with
it. You say you love him; but some of you lie like hell, and you
deceive yourselves. Now, do not tell me that you love my God, and
at the same time not love brother Brigham and me, whom you have
seen.
31
Uncle John, (referring to Patriarch John Young,) did you ever see
anything bad in me? I never got drunk but a few times in my life,
and then I was right straightforward. I never got so drunk, but
once, but what I could whip any man I ever saw, except brother
Brigham. I know that I am a poor, weak, frail man, and dependent
upon my God as much as you are. Do I expect salvation upon any
other principle than that upon which you expect to obtain it? No,
not in the least. I cannot get salvation and disobey the man that
leads me. But whether he feeds me or not, or gets me a hat or a
pair of boots or not, what has that to do with my integrity? I am
to be true to him--as true as the sun is to this earth, even
though I should be barefooted and bareheaded, as I used to be
when I was a boy; for I never thought of having anything to wear
in the summer seasons but a tow frock and a pair of tow breeches,
and go bareheaded; though my hair was not burnt off by the sun;
it came out by the roots, through studying and labouring in the
great Latter-day Work. That is the course for me, and brother
Daniel, and the Twelve, and all the faithful to take.
31
Tell about loving God and His people! If you do not love the man
that leads you, you do not love that Being who confers all the
blessings and privileges we enjoy. Tell about loving God, and not
love the men that lead you! Get out with your nonsense. Will that
apply to the Elders? Yes, and to the Seventies, the High Priests,
Bishops, Teachers, and all men. Any further? Yes, it applies to
you ladies, in your family capacity. You have not any priesthood,
only in connection with your husbands. You suppose that you
receive the priesthood when you receive your endowments; but the
priesthood is on your husbands. Can you honour God and the
Priesthood, and abuse your husbands like the Devil? How can you
honour the Priesthood, except you honour the man you are
connected with? I am talking about good men: I will not in this
connection say anything about bad men. How can you honour the
Priesthood, except you honour the one you are connected with?
31
The Father is the root, Jesus is the vine, and we are the
branches. The First Presidency is a quorum pertaining to this
branch of the house of Israel, and the Twelve are connected with
us; they make part of a branch. And then the Seventies, another
large branch on the same vine, and the High Priests, and Bishops,
and so on, all belong to the vine. Now, from whence did you come,
sisters? From whence spring you and your children? You spring
from these main limbs and from that Priesthood. If you did not
spring out of the Priesthood, where did you come from? Not many
of you have legally sprung out of the Priesthood anywhere in the
world in the latter-days; but if you have a legal man, who has a
legal Priesthood, you can raise heirs to the kingdom of God, and
they become connected with it, without any of your washings,
anointings, and sealings. Go and read the Scriptures, and they
will teach you a great many things, and it will strengthen your
faith in what you hear from brother Brigham, brother Heber, and
many others.
31
Do not tell me that you love God and Jesus Christ, and that
angels are around your habitation, conversing with you by night
and day, and treat the Priesthood as though it was a thing of
naught. Angels who would thus visit you are swamp angels--they
are filthy. Would God honour one of them? No; nor would one of
His servants--no quicker than they would honour the Devil in
hell.
32
I am talking of things pertaining to your salvation,--not to that
of my family alone, but to that of all the families of the house
of Israel. You have got to take a course to strengthen the cable.
Many cables are chains composed of links; and is there not room
to put on more links, to extend the chain, so as to reach to the
bottom of the deepest waters? Yes. You must become a link on that
chain and strengthen it, or you will be lost.
32
If you prefer the figure of a cable made of flax, sea-grass, or
hemp, go to work and increase the strength of it, and tie
yourselves to the Priesthood and to the man that you are
connected with, or let there be a final conclusion to dissolve
the partnership, and go somewhere else. I do not want
half-hearted characters to labour with me. Poor miserable
creatures, they are not fit for anything. Some of them have been
in the house of Israel from fifteen to twenty years, and are
following the Devil. Are there any such characters in this
congregation? Yes, several, both men and women. There are men and
women ready to oppose brother Brigham in what he said last
Sunday. He told the truth of God in every word he spoke. Do you
suppose that he is so unwise to say a thing which he does not
know to be true? He understands what he speaks, and he looks
before he jumps, and God Almighty will lead him straight, and he
will never stumble--no, never, from this time forth; nor will
you, brother Hyde, if you will follow him; neither will any other
man.
32
There are poor, miserable curses in our midst; and there is not a
thing spoken of but what there are men and women who will go and
tell them every thing that is said, (thank God for that!) and
tell more than what is true. There are men and women in this
congregation of that stamp. I wish I had some stones; I want to
pelt your cursed heads, for you lie like hell. Are you valiant to
stand by the work of God, and by your brethren? If you are not,
you had better put out, you poor curses.
32
There is a poor curse who has written the bigger part of those
lies which have been printed in the states; and I curse him, in
the name of Israel's God, and by the Priesthood and authority of
Jesus Christ; and the disease that is in him shall sap and dry up
the fountain of life and eat him up. Some of you may think that
he has not the disease I allude to; but he is full of pox from
the crown of his head to the point of its beginning. That is the
curse of that man; it shall be so, and all Israel shall say,
Amen. [The vast congregation of Saints said, "Amen."] He is
laying plans to destroy us, and is striving with his might to
stir up the Government of the United States and the President to
send troops here to bring us into collision and destroy this pure
people--man, woman, and child. May God Almighty curse such men,
[Voices all through the congregation: "Amen!"] and women, and
every damned thing there is upon the earth that opposes this
people. I tell you I feel to curse them to-day. [Voice: "And they
shall be cursed."] Yes, they will be; and the Devil shall have
full possession of every man and woman that raises the tongue to
sympathise with those poor curses. I ask no odds of them, no more
than I do of the dirt I walk on; for if is was not there I could
not walk upon it. Now, go home and sympathise, all of you who
wish to.
32
I tell you that the most of this people are a God-blessed people,
as Amasa says; and you shall ever be blessed, with your wives and
children after you, for ever. And I bless you in the name of
Israel's God, and you shall be blessed.
33
Are there any poor, miserable devils in our midst? I cannot step
into the street but what some poor, miserable curse is ready to
pounce on me if he dare. Tell about your religion! Shame on you!
Go home and put on sack-cloth and ashes, and repent of your
meannesses. Are such kind of characters here? Yes, in this
congregation. Could I pelt them with stones? Yes, if I had the
stones here, I could throw them straighter than any rifle that
ever was fired.
33
Let us live our religion by day and by night, when we are at home
and when we are abroad, and let us go to and gather up our grain
and save it. Save your grain, brethren; save everything that can
be saved; for we shall have need of it. The day is now on hand
for this people to lay up in store, and to leave off a few
ribbons, and jewellery, and fine satins. And where you have from
seven to fifteen dresses too good to wear every day, dispose of
some of them, and do not trouble your husbands so much. Are you
serving God and keeping His commandments, and at the same time
seeking to destroy your husbands?
33
In the house of Israel there is now clothing enough to last us
ten years and make us comfortable, if it could be put into the
storehouse of God and properly distributed, to clothe men, and
their wives, and children, who may be worthy and needy. That is
the Apostle's doctrine, you know. Am I in earnest, brethren? I am
telling you the truth; I am telling you God's truth, and what the
Spirit says to me. Stop, stop this extravagance, and in the name
of Israel's God go to work, accumulate, and build up the kingdom.
33
Tell about building up the kingdom of God, while you take a
course to make slaves of your husbands through your love of
finery!! Your husbands must be observed and listened to. If you
want to offend your God, offend His servants. And how can you
love God whom you have not seen, and hate your brethren whom you
have seen? Do not talk to me such nonsense any more.
33
I am in earnest; I am anxious for your salvation--for you to put
the best foot forward and lay out your present means for the best
purpose, and in a way that they will temporally save this people
universally. Save your wheat, corn, barley, buckwheat, oats, and
everything that can be saved. You can dry potatoes for keeping as
well as you can pumpkins. What is there that you cannot dry? I
could even take a great many men and hang them up on a pole, and
they will dry in a week, because there is little or no juice in
them; and the less juice there is in them the less time it takes
them to dry up, upon natural principles. If a cow gives only a
gill of milk, do you not know that you can dry her quicker than
when she gives a pailful?
33
Sisters, how can you fulfil your callings and appointments,
according to the blessings of the Patriarch and Prophet, except
you lay up stores and become saviours, like unto Joseph? Have not
some of you received the blessings and promise that you should be
instrumental in teaching the Lamanites habits of cleanliness, and
how to cook make clothing, &c.? You have those blessings upon
you; and most of you have not taken the first step to fulfil
them.
33
God Almighty bless the righteous, [Voices, "Amen,"] the meek, and
humble of the earth, and those who will do right. Your strength
shall increase, if you will step forward and do as you are told.
It shall increase twentyfold, while that of those who do not do
so shall decrease twenty-fold, because that branch or limb that
does not bring forth fruit will lose its strength, and it will go
into those who do. It will be so.
34
Is brother Brigham a Prophet? Yes, he is a Prophet and an
Apostle, and then he is more than that. He is a man foreordained
from before the world was to come along and follow Joseph; and so
are you, every man. Do you know brother Joseph? You could think
that the Spirit of Jesus could dome in the meridian of time,--
that is, when the time was half out,--the first child that was
born to his Father on this earth, and take a body. That all seems
rational, through your traditions. But, perhaps, many of you have
never thought that Joseph was with Jesus in the spirit world ere
the organization of this earth, and came forth in this last
dispensation.
34
If you all live your religion and are faithful to the end of your
days, that proves that you were chosen as were Jesus and John,
who were prophesied of many hundred years before they came, as
were many others. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was raised up to
bear the Saviour. Elizabeth was ordained and set apart to come
along near the meridian of time, and so we were ordained to come
along near the end of time.
34
You will find out that I am telling you the truth, and that is
why I want you to live your religion and serve your God, keep His
commandments, and listen to your brethren.
34
I bless you, and I wish I could make the blessings of God cleave
to you like a plaster, that they would never leave you until you
become righteous men and women. I bless the earth that we occupy,
and the hills and mountains; and I bless every good thing there
is; and I curse the ungodly and everything that is attached to
them and that will stick to them. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Amasa
M. Lyman, July 12, 1857
Amasa M. Lyman, July 12, 1857
MORMONISM AND ITS RESULTS--INTERNAL LIGHT AND
DEVELOPMENT--DECREASE
OF EVIL--THE FOUNTAIN OF LIGHT.
A Discourse by Elder Amasa Lyman, delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, July 12, 1857.
34
It is a matter of gratification to me, my brethren and sisters,
to be here with you, because the religion that we have embraced
is true.
34
Views are sometimes expressed by those who address the assembly
as to whether what they might say will be edifying and pleasing
to the people who may hear. I have no reason for believing that
what I may say will be unpleasing to those who hear. Why?
Because, if it pleases myself, it will edify those who hear, from
the simple fact that what I would delight to talk about the most
is that that has edified me the most, and continually edifies me,
when I am edified, whether from what I learn from my own study or
from what I hear from those around me who speak.
34
I feel myself as though that I was a Saint. If the Saints are
called "Mormons," then I am a "Mormon;" and I do not feel that I
live any life or have any existence but that of a Saint. Not that
I suppose that I know everything or act perfectly; but these are
the feelings that I cultivate; and the reason that I rejoice
continually is, that "Mormonism" is true--that the doctrine I
have embraced and the religion that cheers me is not a phantom.
35
My religion has become convenient to me, from the fact that I
have found it adapted to every day use. The happiness that it
imparts--I do not care what part of man's existence or being you
may talk about, or apply it to--the happiness it imparts it can
impart every day. The bliss that can happify one hour of a man's
being as a Saint, from a knowledge of the truth, and from the
influence that truth will exert over him, will, upon the same
principle, happify every hour of his life. That light of truth
that will enable him at one time to testify of the truth of the
work of God, of the manifestation of His hand and His power in
the establishment of His kingdom, and the revelation of the
Gospel to man in the last days, will shine upon his path
unceasingly, if he is constantly and unceasingly faithful.
35
This leads me to be happy continually; for it does away with a
great many of the probabilities of a man's doing wrong, or being
decoyed from the path of rectitude and virtue, and after having
preached salvation to others, himself becoming a castaway,
because the light that would save them once will save them all
the time. They have only to be diligent, faithful, true, and
obedient to the requisitions of the truth, to secure its presence
with them continually.
35
This has led me to entertain vastly different notions and ideas
of salvation from those I once entertained, whether of my own or
that of the Saints universally. It has resolved itself in my mind
into very simple truth, and yet a very extended and important
one. I find that all the notions I used to entertain, years ago,
about salvation and its greatness are comprised in knowing the
right and then doing it,--not in matters that are foreign from
ourselves and from what we have to do, but in the every day
occurrences that fill up the history of our lives here.
35
There is no way that I know of or have ever heard of, believed,
or entertained any conception of, that will enable you any better
to love God than to love man who is made in the image and
likeness of God. Do you want to honour Him? Then honour man that
is made in the likeness of God. "But," says one, "some men are
not good:" then honour those that are good, who are his
ministers, in whom he is represented on the earth. We cannot go
away to his far off dwelling place to pay our respects and
obeisance to him there--to present our offerings before Him, or
to tell how much we love Him. What can we do? We can find here,
in close proximity with ourselves, the individual in whom we can
learn His will, receive the declaration of His truth, the order
of His institutions and requirements. They are in our midst. This
led one in ancient times to say, "This is the love of God, that
we keep His commandments; and He has commanded us that we should
love one another."
36
This makes our religion wholly a practical matter. Let people who
can live by theorizing, theorize away until doomsday; and, if we
will be saved, we want practical virtue--practical truth
exemplified in our actions, in our words, and thoughts; we want
to live together as a holy people--as a people who fear and
honour God. How? By getting down on our knees and saying our
prayers, by singing graciously and putting on a long face, by
going to meeting on the Sabbath, or by wearing an amiable smile,
that when contemplating it you would not think we ever frowned in
the world? Is this the way we are to honour God and live right?
No; it is something else besides this. To pray is good, to smile
is good, to be pleasant is good; but to be holy and acceptable in
the sight of God is to be good all the time, in all places, under
all circumstances, and with all people.
36
We want to learn to get along comfortably with the little duties
of life that we meet with every day--that make up the labor of
every day. We want to learn to do those things right. You want to
learn to be as holy at home by your firesides as you are when you
go to church. You want to feel well, to enjoy the Spirit of God
in every condition and relation of life.
36
To love the truth supremely, above everything else is salvation.
Do not sacrifice it, therefore, or throw it away, for the sake of
indulging in a little petty quarrel at home or abroad.
36
How shall we honour God? We cannot administer to His wants
directly, if He has any; but His children are here, and we can
feed the hungry and clothe the naked. We can do that here.
Whether there are any up yonder to be found in those destitute
circumstances, or not, I do not know. I have not been there to
see. I can see them here without going there; and one thing which
makes me think that "Mormonism" is true, and that this view of it
is true, is, because it is what I have experienced.
36
Now, if it is not the truth, then I am frank to say I do not know
anything about it; but this is what I have learned. If I should
find myself in a time or place that the Spirit of truth is not in
me, and where I could not feel its sacred impulse to give shape
and form to my actions, and regulate them according to the
revealed will of heaven made known to me, I should be fearful and
should have torment; for fear hath torment; I should be afraid I
was going to apostatize--that some dark cloud was hanging around
me, fatal to my happiness. But I have confidence in the truth,
because it is that which abides with me all the time. In the
darkest spot I ever have been called to labour or travel in, or
have had an existence in, since I embraced the truth, I have
always had it present, and enjoyed its light.
36
If I knew there was any part or portion of myself that was not
under the influence of "Mormonism," or the Spirit of truth, I
would want to get out that piece and parcel, and have it repent
and be baptized for the remission of that sin, that the whole
body might finally become perfectly holy and completely imbued
with the influence of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, and
the love of truth, which would preserve me today, to-morrow, and
in all time from falling away.
36
Is it necessary we should all feel so? I suppose it is just as
necessary for you as for me. I do not suppose because I, thorough
the favour or mercy of God and the kind dispensations of His will
and providence, have been called to minister as one of the Twelve
Apostles to bear off the Gospel to the nations of the earth, that
it is any less needful for me, so far as my own soul is
concerned, to enjoy the Spirit of God always than it is that you
should. I shall be nothing more than saved when I have got all
the way through, or as far along as it may be my lot to progress.
37
"But," says one, "Won't it be good for us if we do as we are
told?" Yes. What will be the result? You will not always be under
the necessity of being so miserably poor that you have to go out
in the night to your neighbours to borrow a candle. Do people
live this way? Yes. I have lived on borrowed light. How long?
Until I got a candle of my own. Until the principles of truth
became established in me, I lived on the strength of the
instructions and light of heaven that dwelt in others, reflected
by them on my path,--I followed along by the light of a borrowed
candle. How long? Until the Saviour's words were fulfilled, and
the promise verified in myself, and the light of inspiration was
planted in my own soul; then the blessings of light and truth
came rolling upon me like a river.
37
Would to God that all the Saints enjoyed this light. What would
be the result? There would be more practical purity, more
righteous actions, and less evil in the community,--more of the
Spirit of God, as a natural consequence, because every Saint
would be possessed of a living fountain of light and truth--that
inspiration which inspires the Apostle, enlightens the mind of
the Prophet, tears away the vail from the future, and enables man
to look upon and contemplate the excellencies of our Father's
kingdom.
37
It was in view of this that on a certain time, when report was
made to one of the ministers of truth that some of the
congregation of Israel were prophesying, the reply was, "Would to
God that all the people were prophets." Why? Then they would all
have the light of truth in them, and the knowledge of truth that
would save them.
37
If this was the case, what would be among the results? Sinners in
Zion would be afraid, and fearfulness would surprise the
hypocrite. Why? Because they would feel uneasy, for this simple
reason--they would know they are not honest, and they would be
afraid lest they should be overtaken in their guilt.
37
This, my brethren and sisters, is the "Mormonism" I feel; it is
the "Mormonism" I preach--that I have when I pray--that I have
about me every day. It is the "Mormonism" I have when I wake up
at night, and that I keep with me all night, if I do not go to
sleep. Is it good to me? It is. Is it salvation to me? It is.
Why? Because it frees me from evil and enables me to live without
committing the amount of sin that I would commit if it were not
for its presence.
37
The best reason that I can give you for its being good is that it
has been good to me; it has done me good. I might tell you that
the Gospel is true, because the ministers of truth say so, have
testified so, lived for it, and died for it, in ages gone by; but
I do not know so well how they have felt; I do not understand so
perfectly; I cannot comprehend with the same clearness how it was
that they felt, as I can understand how I have felt myself.
37
When people tall me they have felt as I have, or, in describing
their feelings, I find they have experienced what I have, though
I know what I have experienced better than I know what anybody
else has experienced: yet, if they have the truth, I also have
the truth; and if they are saved by it, then I may hope to be
saved by it. This is what I would like to see the Saints enjoy--a
knowledge of the truth, and that knowledge to have such an
influence over them that they would cease to do any wrong
whatever.
37
When there is no wrong done, how much sin would there be
committed in the length and breadth of the land of Zion among the
Saints? If there was no individual to do a wrong, I am under the
impression it would take a good or a bad mathematician to
calculate the amount of sin that would be committed.
38
Says one, "We expect to see that day." You do? When there will be
no sin? When? "Why, it is that better day that is coming by and
by." What is going to bring it about? Upon what principle do you
ever expect to see the time when there will be no sinners in the
land? Will it be when the grace of God is manifested in some
strange or different way from what it has been to you? "We
suppose so, as a matter of course, because we see sins committed
now every day." Do you know of any good that has been done? "Yes,
a good deal." What does it consist of? "Good has been done in the
condition of the people as the result of reformation. They have
spoken more truth and less falsehood than they did; there is less
hypocrisy, less tattling and evil speaking; the people do not
think of quite so many evil things to do, and consequently, they
do not do much evil: that is the way this change has been brought
about."
38
And did you ever think for a moment that this was the principle,
and the only one upon which sin would be driven away and its
power effectually broken upon the face of all the earth? Says
one, "The Devil has got to be bound." And do you know what kind
of a chain he will be bound with? What will deprive him of power?
When there is no person upon the face of the earth that will
listen to his insinuations or yield to the impulses of his
influence to perpetrate evil, how much power will the Devil have
on earth?
38
I want you to look at this; I want you to remember that whenever
there is a diminution of evil in the community, it is because the
people do less wrong than they did; they are more faithful, more
truthful, more righteous, more holy, and are making greater
progression and advancement towards the consummation of the work
of God. It is by the development in them of the principles of
righteousness and the establishment of those principles in them
to the exclusion of every other principle and feeling. When this
is effected, our salvation and redemption are secure. When we do
right exclusively, and no wrong, we have nothing to fear. When
this becomes the case with the people, will the kingdom of God be
built up? Yes, in the hearts of the Saints.
38
Says one, "Won't it be built up externally too? Yes; but it is a
simple matter to build up the kingdom so far as houses, palaces,
and thrones are concerned, only get the principles of the kingdom
of God built up and established within yourselves. Then you will
simply have arrived at the point that you will live your
religion; that is, the light that is in you will be the spirit of
your religion operating upon you, and in you, and through you,
and over you, and round about you, that your whole being and
everything pertaining to your existence will be under its sacred
and hallowed influences. Do not settle down and think you are
living your religion because you have done a few good things,
because you are a little more faithful than you were last year,
and because the Lord is blessing us this year with plenty.
Remember, and keep it constantly in view, that there is much
improvement to make, much to gain, and much to learn.
38
You want to have your religion established within you--a living
fountain from which the principles of eternal life and truth will
flow out and pervade your active being, regulating your actions
and conduct in such a way that everything connected with your
life shall be in perfect harmony with the truth; then you will
live your religion, then you wont need to be waked up in the
night, and somebody come along with borrowed light to place it in
your habitation; you would have one there all the time, so far as
the light of truth and of your religion is concerned: it would be
in you all the time, always trimmed, always burning.
39
If an evil spirit comes to us to tempt us to do evil--if we
resist that spirit, what will be the result? The Devil will go
away. When he comes again, and only meets with the same
treatment, with the same success, and finds that he cannot get us
to say an evil thing or do an evil deed, how long will he tempt
us? He would soon come to the rational conclusion not to go there
again; he would find it a speculation that would be of no profit
to him, while his defeat is our victory.
39
Whenever evil things, evil thoughts have possession of our
bosoms, and we have not spoken a word--not given the thought
shape, form, and signification to those around us, who knows of
it? Nobody. Who is injured? Nobody. There is no harm done, no
stealing, no murder committed, no slander perpetrated, no
falsehood told. What has been done? The spirit that would
instigate evil has been subdued within us, and we have died a
death unto sin, and have individually become alive unto
righteousness. One of the best things I ever heard in my life was
a simple thing that President Young taught here some time past,
which was, that it is not always right to speak the things we
think. It is just as necessary that you should be able to think
and not speak as to think and speak; the one is just as necessary
as the other to your salvation. "But," says one, "is it not just
as bad to think it as to speak it?" Why, thinking never killed
anybody. Suppose a man had a thought in his mind that he would
kill me, if he did not do it, you know, as far as I am concerned,
I would live. But suppose, acting on the old adage, that it is no
worse to do it than to think it, and he had laid wait for me by
the road side and taken away my life, what would have been the
consequence? Then the sin of murder would have been on his soul.
39
It is the same with every wrong thought and evil suggestion that
may occur to your minds. What will be done if you act on this
principle? The Father at home, if he thinks a wrong thing, won't
say it. The wife and mother will do the same; and what will be
the result? Harmony in the domestic circle will never be
destroyed by evil speaking. What then? If harmony be there, the
Spirit of God will be there. Why? Because it delights to dwell in
a quiet place; it does not love contention; it is no friend to
strife; it is not fond of bickering or saying hard things. The
Spirit of God will come and take his abode with us, if we prepare
our minds for its reception, and make it welcome, and study to
cultivate a feeling that is congenial with its own nature.
39
It is with the Holy Spirit as it is with us. When we seek to
gratify ourselves in the associations around us, for whom do we
seek in such a time? We seek individuals whose tastes and
feelings are congenial to our own, whose "Mormonism" is like
ours, whose regard for truth is like our own. Then what do we
enjoy? A free, frank, unrestrained feeling and sentiment: we pour
out the feelings of our souls; there is a principle of
reciprocity existing between the parties.
40
So it is with the Holy Spirit of truth. Where it finds a mind so
regulated that there is an affinity and congeniality between that
mind and itself, there is the place where it will dwell; and when
that mind becomes so trained in the truth as to be completely and
perfectly subject to its influence, it will remain there
constantly and unceasingly; it will not pay a casual visit, but
take up its constant abode with that individual, and then its
light is there, revelation is there, inspiration is there; it is
there to increase in intensity, extent, and in power; it is there
to continually pour out upon that soul the unceasing, unbroken
tide of life. Then the fountain of life becomes established in
the soul; that fountain is flowing continually and unceasingly.
Even as the blood passes through the heart to the extremities of
our physical system at every pulsation, so also the Spirit of
truth pervades our being.
40
Do I believe "Mormonism" to be true? Do I know it to be true?
Yes, I do? Why? Because it has saved me. It has saved me in the
first place from ignorance, and then it has saved me from its
consequences--that is, to the extent to which it has imparted to
me knowledge; and it has imparted to me knowledge according to my
faith and devotion to the truth, and the extent to which I have
laboured to subject myself to the influence of its sacred
principles.
40
People suppose, perhaps, that myself and those similarly situated
in this work have a great deal to do for others; but my work is
for myself. It is for myself that I preach, that I go abroad,
that I come home again; it is for myself that I do all I do.
40
You may say I am selfish. Why? Because I promised my Father, when
I went into the waters of baptism, that I would obey His
commandments as they were made known to me. I made Him that brief
promise, and it has cost me all that "Mormonism" has cost me. It
has cost me all the toil and labour that has been crowded into my
history during the past twenty-five years of my life, to keep
that little covenant.
40
My father promised me, if I would keep His commandments, I should
be saved. Then whom am I working for? For brother Amasa. My
interest, my life, money, if I have any, my honour, my salvation,
my all is in the kingdom of God. I have not any thing anywhere
else; and, as I said, before, if I knew there was a shred of my
whole being that was not baptized into the spirit of "Mormonism,"
and into this universal love and devotion to it, I would want to
hunt it out before I slept, and have it baptized with the same
feeling.
40
I imagine to myself I have the spirit of a Saint--the spirit of
"Mormonism." Why? Because I have laboured to be obedient,
faithful, and true, to maintain my integrity; and the result is
manifested in the spirit I have felt and still feel. If this is
not "Mormonism," I am in a good place to be told wherein it falls
short; and when I learn what "Mormonism" is, if I have not
learned it, I shall begin to learn it: I have made up my mind for
that.
40
I feel the Spirit of God just as pure a source of comfort to me
when I am away as when I am here. "Do you feel as well when you
are away?" No; for I lack the comfort and the genial influence
that hovers here like a deathless flame over the congregations of
the Saints.
40
This is my testimony of "Mormonism," as I have felt it, realized
it, experienced it, and lived in it,--not as I lived in it last
year, but to-day. To-day is the best day I ever saw; to-day is
the most blessed of any day I ever passed since I lived on the
earth, because to-day shows me the greatest increase of those
things that constitute the greatness, glory, happiness, and
blessedness of the Saints; and to-morrow will be the same, in
respect to these matters, and more abundantly.
40
That this may be the case with us is my humble prayer, in the
name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Daniel
H. Wells, March 22, 1857
Daniel H. Wells, March 22, 1857
LIFE-GIVING INFLUENCE OF MORMONISM--THE BINDING OF SATAN--THE
BASIS OF HIS CLAIMS--CLEANLINESS--PREPARATION.
Remarks by President D. H. Wells, made at the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, March 22, 1857.
41
Brethren and sisters,--I feel it a privilege to have a part in
the work of the latter days, and I feel thankful that I have been
brought upon the stage of existence in this period of time. It is
a privilege which you all enjoy as well as myself, and one which
we should appreciate more than we do. When we reflect upon the
misery and degradation that prevail in the world, we ought to
highly prize the privilege we enjoy.
41
I heard one remark in the forenoon that he looked younger than he
did twenty years ago. This brought to my mind what I had
heretofore observed among what we term the world's people. Men
and women plod along in the "even tenour of their way" for
fifteen, twenty, or more years, and become perfectly rusty--as
rusty as iron that has been long exposed to the action of the
elements. But let the Spirit of truth come upon persons and their
minds expand, and you at once see a difference in their
countenances. Who among us has not noticed this? I know that the
Spirit of the Lord gives life, and that men grow younger when
they come into this kingdom and live their religion. This is
true, although unbelievers may make sport of it. I know that the
feelings of the righteous are enlivened, their flesh and blood
are quickened, and they become a glorious people; they receive
and enjoy the Spirit of the Lord.
41
Look at the nations of the earth, and see them plodding along
without improvement in the knowledge of the things of
God--without being touched in their spirits with the life giving
power, and they rust out; they do not enjoy themselves near so
much as do the "Mormons," who enjoy themselves a great deal
better than any people within my knowledge; for it is a
peculiarity of "Mormonism" that its followers enjoy themselves.
Upon the Plains you can see them dancing and kicking up their
heels. There is not much formal sanctity about them; and in this
particular they are also right; for the Lord loves a cheerful
heart and a buoyant spirit; and those who receive the Spirit of
the Lord are full of life and animation. They are not apt to have
the "blues;" or if at times they do, they do not go into their
graves with that complaint. They are ready to do anything that
will subserve the interests of the kingdom of God and their
religion, even though it may be contrary to their natural
feelings. This is one principle that makes us so different from
the world; the "Mormons" know that all is right, if they carry
out the instructions given them.
42
It is a fact, whether you believe it or not, that this people
were getting into their old sectarian traditions: they were
getting so that they had not time to do scarcely anything to the
cause of God, and they had begun to be very dull and sleepy. It
has been with them as the Lord said in the parable, when the men
slept the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat.
42
Now we are livened up again, we feel the lively emotions of the
Spirit of God, and we are ready to do anything that may be
counselled by whoever has the right to counsel. We are ready to
walk in the path of strict obedience. Let us keep right from this
time forth, and not go to sleep again, nor let the enemy sow
tares as he did before.
42
We have no need of being roused from a state of lethargy, if we
will let the Spirit lead us; and the Lord will prosper us; for
the man and the woman that keeps His Spirit is right: with it the
people can bring as much again to pass as they can otherwise.
They are stronger in their minds and in their judgments, and are
more capable of gathering around them the comforts of life for
their subsistence. Instead of "Mormonism" disqualifying us, it
qualifies us for all things that ought to be done. Let us be
careful not to allow the enemy to come and sow tares, but keep
alive to the duties enjoined upon us.
42
I have a few words to say to the Bishops. Much has been said to
them, and I attribute a large share of the improved condition of
the people to their faithful instructions. They have done much;
but still there is one thing more to which I wish to direct their
attention. There are many people who do not know how to set
themselves advantageously to work. We call the Bishops the
Fathers of the Wards; and, by the exercise of a little care and
judgment, they can do much towards putting many of the people in
a better way for obtaining a living, and thereby strengthen their
feeble knees. A man lately came to me from the north who had land
and team, but no seed, and wanted to be put in the way to get a
living. I gave him a note to his Bishop. What should be the duty
of that Bishop? He should say, I will find you seed this spring,
and you can pay it back after harvest. In this manner such
individuals may easily be placed in the way for obtaining their
own support.
42
This Gospel brings the silk weavers, potters, and many other
tradesmen from the old country; and many could form a vessel who
have only learned a single branch of a trade. It often happens,
in the manufacture of earthenware, that one turns the clay,
another bakes it, and another burns it; but neither can operate
in the department of another. Until there are openings here for
such mechanics, they labour under many disadvantages. There are
hundreds of such persons in your Wards; and what does it become
you to do in such cases? To take pains and plan to make their
services of some use and profit. The Bishops and their
counsellors and assistants should have a wise oversight of such
persons, and devise ways and means for them to raise vegetables
and grain. They should plan some kind of employment that will
make them and their families useful. Put them in a position that
will enable them to procure a subsistence and do good for
themselves and the great cause in which we are engaged. It is a
duty that we owe society to use our influence to build each other
up, that we may be united and become strong and able, and by
assisting the poor and strengthening the feeble, become a people
in whom the Lord will have delight, and assist in bringing to
pass His purposes.
43
Do we realize what these purposes are? Saints who have received
the Gospel and live their religion know, by the vibrations of the
heart and the operations of the Spirit, what they are. The Lord's
people will become exceedingly numerous; they are rising fast;
and the responsibilities of this kingdom will rest upon the sons
of Zion, and He will hasten His work in its time. The day will
come in which the earth will tremble and the nations quake with
fear because of the wickedness of her inhabitants.
43
We read that Satan shall be bound a thousand years. How is this
to be accomplished? By our becoming so impregnated with the
principles of the Gospel--with the Holy Ghost--that the enemy
will have no place in us or in our families, and shedding forth
that influence in our neighbourhoods. The adversary is first to
be driven from ourselves, then from our families, then from our
neighbours, next from our Territory, and eventually from the
nations, until he shall find no place upon the face of the whole
earth: then will he not be bound? Yes, so far as this earth is
concerned; and that is the way in which it is to be done, in my
humble opinion. He will be chained to all intents and purposes
when he can have no influence--no power--no tabernacles into
which he can enter: he will then have no place of entertainment.
When he finds that he is cornered that close, will he not
consider himself bound? I think he will, whether he thinks so or
not.
43
This is a work at which we can all labour; for it is by our
united efforts that Zion will be produced in our own bosoms, in
this city, in our Territory, or anywhere else. If we will do
this, and be united as the heart of one man, we shall banish
Satan from our presence, and eventually from this earth; and this
we have to do. If we resist him, he will flee from us; and you
know that the Lord is quick to answer, if we rightly call upon
Him for assistance. We shall be made exceedingly numerous and
strong, and shall be able to build up a temple to the name of our
God.
43
We are a good people; the Lord loves us, and it will be His
delight to bless us more and more. And the more we are capable of
receiving, the more He will give; for the heavens are ready to
drop with blessings: but we also have a work to perform. We can
preach and do much, but we must do still more than we have done.
43
If we can banish Satan from our presence, we shall do a good
work; for he it is who steps in and causes bickerings and strife.
But if we will be wide awake, and not let the enemy come in,
there will be no bickerings or strife, and we will be able to
move the heavens and the earth if necessary; we will be able to
drive Satan from our midst, with all the kindred spirits that are
seeking our destruction.
43
Shall we take this course? Or shall we be like the sectarian
world, and suffer ourselves to wither and dry up, and have no
strength? Before us are light and joy, and an entrance into the
celestial kingdom of our God; on the other hand are degradation,
poverty, and misery, such as we know nothing about. Let us be
alive to our business; for it is our business and interest to
look to the upbuilding of the kingdom of God, not only in
spiritual, but in temporal matters.
44
We are constituted to need food and the necessary facilities and
appliances for operating successfully, such as the cattle,
horses, and the various conveniences for carrying on business.
They are all the Lord's, and He will bless us with those things
that are for our good and comfort. If we are faithful we shall
increase in the things of God. The devil can claim no right to
the blessings of the Lord; for those things belong to the Saints:
therefore let us do all we can for the building up of the kingdom
of God, and He will furnish us all we need; for all belongs to
Him. No part of the human family belongs to the Devil, unless
they sell themselves to him. But the Lord cannot consistently
bless us, unless He knows that we will serve Him and make a good
use of what He bestows.
44
Let us be faithful, alive to our duties, and perform our mission
upon the earth we inhabit, no matter what it is that we have been
sent to do. Let us seek not the Lord Almighty, and ask for His
Spirit to be with us; and if we are faithful He will give it, for
He regardeth those who are faithful. We read that He giveth
liberally to those who ask of Him, and upbraideth not. Let us not
be lazy, but let us ever be alive to the interests of the kingdom
of God, and expend our time and strength for the interest and
benefit of that kingdom; for the Devil has had the use and
benefit of this world nearly long enough.
44
I feel as though we were all going to do better in future. I feel
that this is the intention of this people; for I see them feel
alive to each other's interests. I saw this manifested last fall;
and every call that is made upon them they feel anxious to comply
with to the utmost. And they feel richer with half the means than
they did before, and they will have means doubled and trebled
upon them. I am not guessing at this, for I know that it is, if
we will only use those means and blessings in the service of our
God. If we will entirely cease serving the Devil, we will be
still more obviously better and richer than any people upon the
face of the earth.
44
Treasure up the words of wisdom that we hear from time to time,
and be cleanly in our persons and in our habitations; for the
Holy Ghost will not dwell in unholy temples. It is an insult to
the Holy Spirit for us to be filthy, and it may be grieved away
if we do not observe cleanliness. Be careful to treasure these
things up in your minds. Keep the commandments of God; do not
take His name in vain; do not be seen loafing about at the
corners of the streets, and spending your time in idleness. When
you go to plough and plant, ask God to bless the ground and the
seed, and let us have His blessing on all that we do, and have
our faith centred upon the things that we are called upon to
perform, and we shall be blessed and prospered, and will see the
work of the Almighty roll forth with might and power, even until
we shall redeem Zion and build a temple upon the consecrated
spot, where it is said that the glory of God shall rest upon it
as a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night.
44
Are we now prepared for the coming of the Son of Man and for the
resurrection? Do we ever think of this? Brethren and sisters, let
us be faithful, keep our covenants, and press onward until that
time shall come. Important events and duties transpire quite as
fast as we are prepared for them; therefore let us round up our
shoulders--gird up our loins; and if we can bear greater burdens,
there is more coming, and we shall have all that we can do.
44
If we will not do this, the Lord can raise up a people that will.
The hearts of all men are in His hands; and if we do not
appreciate the blessings given, He will give them to somebody
else. Ancient Israel transgressed, and would not keep the
covenants and obey the Lord; consequently, they could not enter
into the promised land. But was it much trouble to raise up a
people that would? No.
44
May the Lord bless us, and enable us to keep our covenants and be
faithful continually, is my prayer, through Christ our Redeemer.
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 /
Franklin D. Richards, March 22, 1857
Franklin D. Richards, March 22, 1857
ISRAEL TO BE EXALTED BY RIGHTEOUSNESS--THE ELDERS SHOULD
AT ALL TIMES REBUKE INIQUITY.
Remarks by Elder F. D. Richards, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, March 22, 1857.
45
In these times, when Israel as a people in these mountains are
reviewing their past lives, and are taking into consideration so
carefully as they now are doing the course of life which they
shall hereafter pursue, it should be the diligent study of the
Elders, when they rise up to speak to the people, to address them
by the dictation of the Holy Ghost upon such subjects and such
matters as shall strengthen them in their faith, increase the
energy and power of the people, and lead them to do good and that
which is well-pleasing in the sight of God. For it is with the
people of Israel in the later days, as it was in former days,
that righteousness has got to exalt this nation,--I mean the
nation of Israel; therefore the more diligent and faithful we are
in sustaining the Priesthood and practising righteousness, the
more rapidly shall we acquire strength from God, become
sanctified from our sins and weaknesses, and become a pure and
strong people in the earth, such as the Lord wishes us to be,
that by us His will may be done on the earth as in heaven.
45
This people that were not a people have become a people, even the
people of God. They must have the bread of life continually as
well as those who administer unto them in the word of life. We
not only need it who rise up to preach, but every man and woman
needs it; they need it in their families; they need fresh
supplies from heaven by the ministrations of the Holy Ghost
daily, hourly, and every moment, to qualify them for their
duties.
45
Now, in what way can we best promote the favour of God, so that
he will give us the bread of life, so that he will give us
strength and energy, and so that he will empower us, that we may
adopt and live by every word which we hear from our beloved
Prophet, and thereby increase confidence in each other, as he
taught us last Sunday. This should be the design of every man and
woman,--at least, so it appears to me.
45
We have had a most blessed winter in which to acquire knowledge
of ourselves. Indeed, I think that this people can say they never
had such a winter before. The Prophet and Apostles had taught us
the things of the kingdom so fully that we could not seek for
more revelation; but we have been reviewing ourselves and our
conduct to discover wherein we have not lived up to what has been
revealed; and so great have been the apparent deficiencies, that
the people have nearly all realized, when they examined
themselves, that there was a great cause for lack of confidence
in themselves and in each other. This has been a general feeling;
and it becomes us to bestir ourselves and obtain strength by the
power of the Holy Ghost, so that we may overcome every evil
propensity, resist the adversary of our souls in whatever shape
he may present himself, and live our religion.
46
This is not a work that belongs only to the First
Presidency, or to the Twelve, or to any of the Presidents of the
Quorums only, but it belongs to every man and to every woman. If
we could feel this and realize it individually, we certainly
should prevail against and escape from those influences that do
tend to impair our confidence in God and each other: there is no
doubt of it. It had become so that iniquity could be found
dwelling among us, passing in our streets, and stalking forth
rampant in our midst, almost without a frown, and unrebuked. So
extensive had this become, that those who had not committed sins
had become partakers of the influence and of the spirit of those
who had, and this because they had not been swift to rebuke and
disfellowship sin and sinners. The righteous had become partakers
of other men's crimes; hence this sleepy, deadening, and damning
influence among us, because we have not put sin away from us as
diligently and faithfully as we should have done.
46
This winter the people have been looking at this, and they have
got to see themselves in a different light to what they ever have
before. Shall it be so in the future? Let the Saints determine it
shall not; and when men and women see in themselves or in their
neighbours the workings of sin and iniquity, let them rebuke it
at once, and thereby put an end to transgression.
46
We have got to purge out all ungodliness from our own souls, and
we have to help others to do it also; and especially, if I may be
allowed to make any distinction, it should be the business of the
Bishops, because they have the oversight of the people in a Ward
capacity, and they can have an eye through the Church which many
of the Presidents of Quorums cannot have. When a man rises in the
morning and calls upon God to qualify and strengthen him for the
duties and warfare of the day, he should go out with a
determination to carry that feeling of hostility to sin with him,
and not only war the good warfare himself, but be able to help
his neighbour to do battle also.
46
Some people deal honestly because they are watched and are
obliged to; but a truly honest man will do right because he loves
righteousness and honesty the best. These things indicate greater
things. It is said a straw will show the way the wind blows. If a
man is willing to be dishonest, or to do anything or permit
anything that will bring mischief upon you in your absence, your
interests would not be safe in his hands. That spirit will lead
him to persuade your wives and children away from you, when you
are dead, if he can, or to let some one else do it unrebuked; and
upon the same principle the spread of good and great things are
made to depend and to bring their consequences.
46
We do see and hear occasionally instances of the kind where men
take measures and endeavour to rob the dead. This awful
dishonesty in eternal things is the fruit of dishonesty in
smaller matters. If men will do honestly in small things, and
perform their duties as servants of God to each other, they will
by-and-by be honoured for their acts, and vast responsibilities
will be laid upon them with safety; but if men in this Church
will be dishonest in the smaller matters of every day life, they
will soon be overthrown thereby; and so it is with every species
of unrighteousness. Then let all be diligent to cleanse
themselves of all that is evil upon its first appearance.
47
When men go to the kanyon for wood or lumber, those that have
this difficult labour to perform should take with them a rich
portion of the Holy Spirit; and they should realize that they
have it to enable them to live their religion there,--that God
protects them in the kanyons as well as any other place: and let
them take all their religion with them that they carry to or from
this Tabernacle. If they find that the elements are changed from
what they are in the city or in this Tabernacle, let them know
that they require more of the Gospel. Do not leave your religion
at the mouth of the kanyon, or with the gatekeeper; do not leave
it with your waggon; but take your religion and the Spirit of
your God with you clear up to where you get your wood. It will
help you to keep your axe sharp: you will not be so likely to get
hurt yourself, or to lose your bowpins, chains, or axe. Your
cattle will be more kindly; for you will not beat them so much,
and they will do more work for you. You will not be so likely to
break down your waggon; but you will be able to do a better day's
work, bring home a better load, and to feel more thankful for it.
47
If you find a man there that is swearing and profaning the name
of the Lord, remember that you are an Elder in Israel, and that
you are authorized to call him to an account. If you find a man
that will blaspheme the name of the Lord, do not forget to remind
him that the Lord whose name he blasphemes gave him strength to
go there, and that He caused the trees to grow, and has permitted
him to go and help himself to the timber; and inform him that he
should do it decently and without blaspheming the name of the
Giver. If you cannot influence him with these importunities, and
if you cannot prevail upon him to do right, as an Elder in Israel
lay hands upon him, and do it as one having authority; and if you
will do this, you will cause the name of God to be honoured in
the kanyons. I mean that you should lay hands on as ministers of
God--as those who have authority to talk to men in the kanyon,
and thereby give them to understand that they shall not blaspheme
the name of God in your presence. If you will do this, I tell you
the Holy Ghost will rest upon you and enable you to ferret out
iniquity--to honour the truth and the priesthood which you hold.
47
I talk to you Elders who want to perfect holiness in the fear of
the Lord. If you will do this you will soon have more confidence
in yourselves; your neighbours will have confidence in you, and
will find out that you are preachers of righteousness. The man
whom you rebuke will also learn that he must stop blaspheming and
swearing in your presence. This is one of the subjects that the
Elders of Israel should feel themselves called upon to act in. It
is not only so in relation to the brethren who hold the
Priesthood, but it so with every right, good-meaning man; and it
is that man whom the Lord will love; for while you are doing this
you are honouring God. If you will talk to and labour with them
in this manner, you will bring about much salvation; and should
you have to administer the whole ordinance, they will bless you
for it, and God will bless you.
48
We have to rebuke iniquity whenever it is presented before us;
and if we have not already commenced, we should begin, one and
all, to sanctify the name of the Lord our God in these valleys.
How are we going to do this while we allow blaspheming, and
swearing, and all manner of wickedness to go on in our midst? Let
no man of God suppose that he has not authority to oppose sin.
Suppose Phinehas had said "I am not Moses, nor Aaron, nor Caleb,
nor Joshua, and I am not called to rebuke sin in israel," he
would not have secured to himself the "covenant of peace;" but
because he rose up and slew the adulterer, God sealed the
priesthood upon him and his seed for ever. The Lord will seal
blessings upon you if you are jealous for the honour of His name
and are valiant for righteousness and truth. His Spirit will
strengthen you in body and in spirit. This is life.
48
I tell you, brethren, we have been too careless in these matters,
and because of this we have been partakers of other men's sins.
All are called upon to divest themselves of sin, and then to aid
their neighbours, if need be.
48
It is not only in going to the kanyons, in going to the fields to
plow and to sow, that the Lord desires this people to rise up and
put iniquity away from them, but in everything with which we have
to do.
48
It is by works of righteousness that we shall become a holy and
happy people whose God is the Lord, while sinners will find our
society too uncomfortable to dwell in. If we thus live our
religion, we shall have confidence in ourselves, in each other,
and in our God.
48
I do not wish to talk much or long; but I feel like calling upon
the men in the Priesthood, and upon men that have not received
any ordination, and also the women, and requesting them not to
hear the name of God, or of his servants, or the doctrines of the
Gospel blasphemed with impunity, but to sanctify the name of the
Lord in this city, in this Territory, and in all Israel; for this
is the way that this people will become sanctified.
48
Brethren, may the Lord enlighten our minds, that we may see our
duty and do it, and that we may also assist others to walk in the
way of life, become ministers of righteousness and saviours in
his kingdom. This is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Wilford
Woodruff, March 22, 1857
Wilford Woodruff, March 22, 1857
INSPIRATION AND TEACHINGS OF THE SPIRIT.
Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, March 22, 1857.
49
When any of the Presidency of this Church, or of the Quorum of
the Twelve, or any of the Elders rise in this stand to speak,
this people look unto them, and expect they will enjoy the Holy
Spirit sufficiently to say something that will edify them. The
people almost unanimously look for this. I will say, on the other
hand, that the Presidency, the Twelve, and the Elders who preach
in this house expect that the people will have the Spirit of the
Lord, that they may come to understanding; and this is just as
much required that they may comprehend what is said unto them, as
it is required of the brethren who speak, to teach doctrine,
principle, truth, and the revelations of Jesus Christ. When the
minds of the people are quickened and enlightened by the power of
God and the gift of the Holy Ghost, that they can appreciate and
prize the principles of eternal truth and the revelations which
God has given through his servant Joseph, or the things which he
has revealed during the past winter through the mouth of his
servants unto the inhabitants of this city, or those which he has
revealed unto the inhabitants of the earth, then they are
prepared to be benefitted by those blessings which are poured out
upon them. Any of you that have experienced this blessing--and I
presume that all have at times--have been astonished at certain
periods of their lives that there has been such a difference in
their minds. I know this is the case with myself, and I presume
it is with others. There have been times that the vision of my
mind has been opened to comprehend the word of God and the
teachings of his servants. The vision of my mind has been opened
and quickened by the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost,
so that when I have sat here and heard the Presidency and the
servants of God teach the principle of righteousness and the word
of God unto us, I have felt the force, the power, and the
importance of these eternal truths which they have presented unto
our minds, while at other times the same truths may have been
taught, but they have passed off without making the same
impression upon my mind.
49
We have, as brother Franklin says, spent an interesting time the
past winter. Much truth has been spoken: men have been inspired
by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost to teach us the things of
God; and this I consider to be a matter of great importance to
the people. I consider it important that we labour to obtain that
Spirit, to have it increased upon us, and carry it with us, that
when we hear teaching our minds may be prepared to receive it.
Why is it that this Gospel of the kingdom has been preached to
the world for twenty-five years, and that there are but so small
a number of the children of men who have received those truths,
been governed by them, and suffered them to govern one single act
of their lives? It is because their minds have been darkened and
have not valued the Gospel, or considered the consequences of
rejecting it. It is true we have a large congregation here
to-day, and that there are a few thousands in these valleys and
throughout this Territory. Yet compare them with the masses of
mankind, and how few they are. I am not capable of making a
calculation to say whether there is one to five or ten thousand
who have embraced the Gospel. One of the old Prophets said that
there would be one of a city and two of a family. This has been
fulfilled in many instances. When the Elders proclaimed the
Gospel unto you, those of you who are here received that word,
meditated upon it, so much so that you have been willing to
forsake all that you possessed and come to Zion. The seed has
produced good fruit; it has caused you to come to Zion; but there
are millions of the masses who heard the Gospel, but they have
hardened their hearts and darkness has taken hold of their minds,
and hence they have rejected the Spirit of God which has striven
with them: they, in acting upon their agency, have given way to
seducing spirits and rejected the Gospel of Christ, and
consequently the Spirit of God has been withdrawn from them; and
because of this the Lord has been taking his Spirit from the
nations of the earth. We see the fruits of it. It needs no
argument to prove a truth so visible.
50
I will now say that inasmuch as many of us have received the
Gospel and gathered with the Saints of God, it is important that
we labour to-day--that we live under the influence of that
Spirit, that it may continue to increase and to govern us in our
acts among the children of men. Now, when a man has the Holy
Spirit and hears the plain, simple truths of salvation, they
appear more valuable than all else besides, and he is ready to
sacrifice everything of a temporal nature to secure himself
salvation; but when people's minds become darkened, they lose the
Holy Spirit and the value of that Gospel, and they do not realize
the privilege and the honour of being associated with the Saints
of God in these valleys of the mountains, neither do they
maintain their allegiance to their Heavenly Father, and honour
his name upon the earth, or prize their association with those
that bear the holy Priesthood, and therefore they go into
darkness. Why has the word reformation ever been named in Zion?
It has been because we did not labour to keep within us that holy
principle of life, that our minds might be quickened day by day,
and receive and prize those truths delivered unto us. Now we
marvel and wonder when we are enlightened by the Spirit of God
and the revelations which he has given unto us; and when we are
aroused to a sense of the importance of these things, we then see
the effect and the bearing they will have upon us,--not only the
fitting of our minds to go into the world of spirits, but to
prepare us to meet with our Father in heaven. Now, we should live
in that way and manner that the Holy Spirit will dwell with us,
and so that we may be prepared to receive those truths which are
daily delivered unto us by Presidents Young, Kimball, Wells, or
any other man who rises up here to speak unto us the words of
life. We should give attention to what is said. As brother
Kimball says, the man who speaks to you from this stand is the
centre, and we should give him our attention, prayers, and faith;
and if we do this we shall receive out of the abundance of his
heart those things which will benefit us. It should be our chief
study to treasure up the words of life, that we may grow in
grace, and advance in the knowledge of God, and become perfected
in Christ Jesus, that we may receive a fulness, and become heirs
of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
51
The revelations of Jesus Christ teach us that the Saviour was
born in the flesh; and the Father said that He did not give him a
fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace until he had
received a fulness, and was called the Son of God because he did
not receive a fulness at first. We in like manner should seek
with all our souls to grow in grace, light, and truth, that in
due time we may receive a fulness. The Lord has a great many
principles in store for us; and the greatest principles which he
has for us are the most simple and plain. The first principles of
the Gospel which lead us unto eternal life are the simplest, and
yet none are more glorious or important unto us. Men may labour
to make a great display of talent, learning, and knowledge,
either in printing or preaching. They may try to preach the
mysteries and to present something strange, great, and wonderful,
and they may labour for this with all their might, in the spirit
and strength of man without the aid of the Holy Spirit of God,
and yet the people are not edified, and their preaching will not
give much satisfaction. It is the plainest and the most simple
things that edify us the most, if taught by the Spirit of God;
and there is nothing more important or beneficial unto us. If we
have that Spirit dwelling with us--if it abides with us
continually, enlightening our minds by day and by night, we are
in the safe path; and when we have finished the work of the day,
we reflect upon it and are satisfied with it, feeling that it is
approbated of the Lord. It is our privilege to live in this way,
that all our time may be spent so that we have a conscience void
of offence towards both God and man. When we reflect on the day
that is past and see wherein we have done evil, we should labour
to improve and to advance in the things of the kingdom of God. I
feel that in order for us to prize the gifts of God, the
blessings of the Gospel, the privilege that we have of building
tabernacles, and of living here in peace, and kneeling down in
our family circles in peace, having in our society the Prophets
of God, men filled with wisdom, who are capable of leading us to
salvation, and of leading us into the paths of life, who do teach
us the principles of truth, which will lead us back to our Father
and our God,--I say, when we consider these things we ought to
prize our privileges as Saints of the Most High. Brethren, we
must invariably have the Spirit of God with us, that we may ever
be kept in the line of our duty.
51
I feel to exhort you in regard to these things, that we may prize
those blessings which God has given unto us, and pursue a course
wherein we may be justified of the Lord. Now, if we attempt to do
anything that is not right, the Spirit of the Lord will not
approbate us, but we shall feel condemned. The Lord has blessed
us during the past winter; He has poured out upon us a great
amount of knowledge, wisdom, and treasures, that we ought to
prize. Now, as the spring is coming upon us, and as we turn our
attention to the plough and to cultivating the earth, if we
forget our prayers, the Devil will take double the advantage of
us. We have renewed our covenants by baptism, and we have
received great blessings from the Lord, and much of the Holy
Spirit has been shed abroad among this people. And, as brother
Richards has said--and I consider the counsel right--we should
not only reprove ourselves when wrong, but we should reprove sin
wherever we see it, whether in ourselves, in our streets, or in
our quorums. We should always show our disapprobation of those
that are wrong--that are sinful and wicked.
51
I do not feel, this morning, like occupying a great portion of
your time, but I do feel that the Lord is gracious unto us, and
that we should prize above all things upon the earth the words of
eternal life that are given unto us. As long as we are governed
by the Holy Spirit, our minds are strengthened, and our faith is
and will be increased, and we shall labour for the building up of
the kingdom of God. And I pray that our hearts may be inspired to
magnify our calling and the holy Priesthood, and honour God, keep
his commandments, and live our religion, which I ask in the name
of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, July 19, 1857
Brigham Young, July 19, 1857
TRUE LIBERTY--ORGANIZATION AND DISORGANIZATION--FALLEN
SPIRITS--SATANIC OPPOSITION--FUTILE EFFORTS OF THE ENEMY.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, July 19, 1857.
52
I am heartily delighted with what has been said here this
morning, so far as I have heard--for I did not come in time to
hear all the remarks.
52
It is my greatest joy to see this people engaged in their
religion, faithful to their calling, true to their trust, and
fervent in spirit. And when I see the brethren and sisters
striving to add faith to faith, and good works to good works, and
feeling to renew their obligations, and covenants, and labours
day by day, it is satisfying to me,--it is joy and peace.
52
This is a marvellous work and a wonder. Do not the people think
it is? What a stir this people make in the world! The sound
thereof has gone forth almost, if not entirely, to the uttermost
parts of the earth. Our Elders have been round the world and
round the world again. They have been to the most noted nations,
and to a great many isolated tribes and islands. I do not know
but what the sound of "Mormonism" has gone forth into all the
earth, and it makes a great stir wherever it goes.
52
Brother Truman O. Angel said that it appeared as though this
people and the work we are engaged in are of the greatest
importance. I can say that this work is of the greatest
importance to you, and me, and the people of the earth; for no
person can get salvation without it. And the remark of brother
Carrington, that the unbridled passions of people forge their
fetters, is true. There is no freedom any where outside the
Gospel of salvation. The Inhabitants of the earth imagine that
they are enjoying great freedom. It is not so. If they would stop
and reflect, they would find that they only place each other in
bondage. This is the case with all the nations of the earth. Do
you see that equality among them that you see here? Where is
there a people or nation that does not oppress each other? When
our Elders go forth and preach the Gospel, if it was in their
power to cast from the people the yoke of bondage, instead of our
gathering into the Church, from the British Isles, for instance,
two or three thousand or ten thousand a year, we would gain our
million a year.
53
That is a free nation: in the common acceptation of the term they
are a free people: they are very liberal. But how many can
embrace the work there with impunity? But a few; for people have
not moral courage enough to break through their iron fetters. The
people are bound down and cannot embrace this work. Thousands and
millions have heard this Gospel preached who would have been glad
to receive the blessings of it, if they could have done so
without endangering their own existence on the earth. Life is
sweet, and the majority of men will do anything to preserve it.
Jesus said that a man would give all that he had for his life;
and in our day there are a great many who will do almost anything
to preserve their natural lives. To accomplish this, they will
bow down to the whims and sayings of designing men, of the
priests of the day, and to the laws and customs of individuals.
Were it not for this, you would find that there would be millions
embracing this work where there are now but hundreds; for there
is no freedom only in the Gospel of salvation.
53
There is not an individual upon the earth but what has within
himself ability to save or to destroy himself; and such is the
case with nations. Is there liberty or freedom in destruction?
No. When you look at things naturally, which is as far as the
natural man sees, a person who takes a course to destroy himself
temporally would be considered very unwise. And to the natural
man we are taking an unwise, and unnatural course, wherein our
religion is obnoxious to the Christian world. Did not your
friends say to many of you, before you left your homes, that you
were foolish--that the world would despise you and hate you? Did
they not ask you if you could not see that troubles were coming
upon the Saints, and say that you were very unwise in going with
them--that you had better stay where there was safety? They can
see nothing more than natural things; they do not understand the
ways of God; they are unacquainted with His doings, with His
kingdom, and with the principles of eternity.
53
So far as the natural man is concerned, it appears that the
Latter-day Saints are very unwise to embrace in their faith those
obnoxious principles that render them so odious in the eyes of
the political and Christian world--the popular world. The
Latter-day Saints see further; they understand more than what
pertains to this world. The Gospel of life and salvation reveals
to each individual who receives it that this world is only a
place of temporary duration, existence, trials, &c. Its present
fashion and uses are but for a few days, while we were created to
exist eternally. The wicked can see no further than this world is
concerned. We understand that when we are unclothed in this
present state, then we are prepared to be clothed upon with
immortality--that when we put off these bodies we put on
immortality. These bodies will return to dust, but our hope and
faith are that we will receive these bodies again from the
elements--that we will receive the very organization that we have
here, and that, if we are faithful to the principles of freedom,
we shall then be prepared to endure eternally.
53
Can the wicked be brought forth to endure? No; they will be
destroyed. Which, then, are the wise, and which are the foolish?
We all naturally know--we can naturally understand that man
cannot stay here always. The inhabitants of the earth are
continually coming and going. This is not our abiding place. All
can see naturally, if they would but observe the facts before
them, that this world is but of short duration to them. They
appear here infants, pass through childhood and youth to middle
age, and if they live to a good old age, it is but a short time,
and then they must go. But where do they go to, and what will
become of them? Will this intelligence cease to be? There are but
very few, if any, who really believe this. And the thought of
being annihilated--of being blotted out of existence--is most
horrid, even to that class called infidels.
54
The intelligence that is in me to cease to exist is a horrid
thought; it is past enduring. This intelligence must exist; it
must dwell somewhere. If I take the right course and preserve it
in its organization, I will preserve to myself eternal life. This
is the greatest gift that ever was bestowed on mankind, to know
how to preserve their identity. Shall we forge our own fetters
through our ignorance? Shall we lay the foundation to build the
bulwarks for our own destruction through our wickedness? No; the
Latter-day Saints know better. We will lay the foundation to
dwell eternally, and that, too, in the heavens, with beings
superior to those with whom we associate in our present situation
and circumstances.
54
We have the principle within us, and so has every being on this
earth, to increase and to continue to increase, to enlarge, and
receive and treasure up truth, until we become perfect. It is
wisdom for us to be the friends of God; and unless we are filled
with integrity and preserve ourselves in our integrity before our
God, we actually lay the foundation for our destruction. The
world think that we are going to be temporally destroyed. That is
nonsense. All things are temporal, and all things are spiritual
with the Lord; there is no difference with Him, neither is there
with any person who has eyes to see things as they exist. To
those who have their minds open to eternal things, spiritual and
temporal things are all one.
54
This is only our place of temporary existence. We cannot live
here always with our bodies full of pain and subject to decay.
Deprive us of food and we die; deprive us of water, and after a
short time we die; deprive us of air, and we live but a few
moments. We all know that this is not the state for us to live in
and endure to eternity. Our eyes are looking beyond this sphere
of action, and I trust that we are laying the foundation to
endure eternally. If we do, we must be the friends of God--the
friends of the principles of life and salvation; and we must
adhere to those principles and shape our lives according to them,
or else we lay the foundation for our own destruction.
54
Talk about liberty anywhere else! What liberty is there in
anything that will be dissolved and return to its native element?
What liberty can any intelligence enjoy that is calculated to be
destroyed? There is no liberty, no freedom there.
54
The principles of life and salvation are the only principles of
freedom; for every principle that is opposed to God--that is
opposed to the principles of eternal life, whether it is in
heaven, on the earth, or in hell, the time will be when it will
cease to exist, cease to preserve, manifest, and exhibit its
identity; for it will be returned to its native element. I say,
let us live our religion, serve our God, trust in Him; and when
we are called to contend against the enemy within ourselves,
contend against him manfully, just as we would against an open
enemy,--contend against those passions that rise in the heart,
and overcome every one of them.
54
You will hear some of the brethren say, as brother Carrington as
just said, that there are times when the blood courses like
lightning, upon seeing men who are opposed to us--who are
striving with all their powers to destroy this people. Can they
destroy us? No, they cannot. There are a great many in this
congregation who are witnesses that the Devil has been warring,
with all his imps arrayed against this work, ever since the
organization of this Church, and trying to obliterate it from the
earth. Have they gained any ground? No; they have lost ground all
the time. This people, with brother Joseph at their head, and
with all the powers of Satan, earth, and hell for him to contend
against, have built up the kingdom of God and spread the
principles of the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.
55
In regard to the battle in heaven, that brother Truman O. Angel
referred to, how much of a battle it was I have forgotten. I
cannot relate the principal circumstances, it is so long since it
happened: but I do not think it lasted very long; for when
Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, claimed the privilege of having
the control of this earth and redeeming it, a contention rose;
but I do not think it took long to cast down one-third of the
hosts of heaven, as it is written in the Bible. But let me tell
you that it was one-third part of the spirits who were prepared
to take tabernacles upon this earth, and who rebelled against the
other two thirds of the heavenly host; and they were cast down to
this world. It is written that they were cast down to the earth.
They were cast down to this globe--to this terra firma that you
and I walk upon, and whose atmosphere we breathe. One-third part
of the spirits that were prepared for this earth rebelled against
Jesus Christ, and were cast down to the earth, and they have been
opposed to him from that day to this, with Lucifer at their head.
He is their great General--Lucifer, the Son of the Morning. He
was once a brilliant and influential character in heaven, and we
will know more about him hereafter.
55
Do you not think that those spirits knew when Joseph Smith got
the plates? Yes, just as well as you know that I am talking to
you now. They were there at the time, and millions and millions
of them opposed Joseph in getting the plates; and not only they
opposed him, but also men in the flesh. I never heard such oaths
fall from the lips of any man as I heard uttered by a man who was
called a fortune-teller, and who knew where those plates were
hid. He went three times in one summer to get them,--the same
summer in which Joseph did get them. Baptist, Presbyterian, and
Methodist priests and deacons sent for him to tell where those
plates were, and to get them out of the hill where they were
deposited; and he had not returned to his home from the last trip
he made for them more than a week or ten days before Joseph got
them. Joseph was what we call an ignorant boy; but this
fortune-teller, whose name I do not remember, was a man of
profound learning.
55
He had put himself in possession of all the learning in the
States,--had been to France, germany, Italy, and through the
world,--had been educated for a priest, and turned out to be a
devil. I do not know but that he would have been a devil if he
had followed the profession of a priest among what are termed the
Christian denominations. He could preach as well as the best of
them, and I never heard a man swear as he did. He could tell that
those plates were there, and that they were a treasure whose
value to the people could not be told; for that I myself heard
him say. Those spirits driven from heaven were with him and with
others who tried to prevent Joseph's getting the plates; but he
did get and secrete them, though he had to knock down two or
three men, as he was going home, who were waylaying him to kill
him. From that day to this, a part of the hosts of heaven made
mention of in the Bible, with the cursed corrupt priests and the
cursed scoundrelly Gentiles with them, have been trying to put
down this work. But what have they gained? I should suppose that
they would have stopped their operations long ere this, after
uniformly meeting with such bad success.
56
When I commenced preaching, I told the people that if they would
let us alone, and not raise any persecution, we would go
peaceably along among the people and preach to them; but that
just as sure as they fought us and opposed this work we would
actually revolutionize the world a great deal quicker than if
they let us alone. I have stuck to that faith ever since; for
every time that there has been an opposition raised against this
work, God has caused it to swell like seed in the ground; He has
caused the seed to sprout and bring forth the little
mustard-trees, as brother Kimball has said.
56
The Gospel is certainly bringing forth a multitude of Saints. Has
it not been so all the time? Yes, it has. A great deal could be
said on this subject, but I have not time to say it now; for
there are some other matters I wish to speak about.
56
We have issued almost 2,000 tickets inviting our brethren and
sisters to pass the 24th of July at the Lake in Big Cottonwood
Kanyon; and no doubt a great many more would also like to receive
tickets. Hence, I want to tell you my feelings on the subject. If
I call upon my friends to join me in a short excursion, to form a
social party at my residence, or to unite upon any festive or
memorable occasion, I never know where to stop in my feelings
until every Latter-day Saint is invited. I wish those who do not
receive invitations to go into the kanyon to understand that it
is not because we have any feelings against your going there, nor
is it because we wish you to tarry at home, nor because we not
desire your society. But is it consistent for all the people to
go? It is not. We will therefore gather up some that ought to
go--some who can conveniently go, and leave the rest, with
precisely the same good feelings towards those who tarry at home
as those who go into the kanyon.
56
Last season it was observed, "I would like to have gone into the
mountains to celebrate the 24th; but I did not want to go without
an invitation." I did not want you to, and I will tell you why.
If we had permitted such a course, a great many would have gone
that were not wanted there, as there are persons who would like
to put fire into the kanyon and destroy the timber, or create a
disturbance, if they could get a chance. We expect those who go
to observe the instructions on the tickets they receive, and to
go, tarry, and return in harmony and peace. Let all who go
observe good order and try to make themselves happy. If I were to
satisfy my feelings, I would invite the whole of you. I will do
so by-and-by, and we will have a party right here in this Bowery
on some Sabbath-day, where we can all be together and enjoy each
other's society.
56
There is another item that I will touch upon. Two weeks ago
to-day, I mentioned the course of some individuals in this place
who are writing slanders concerning us, stating that a man cannot
live here unless he is a "Mormon," when at the same time they
come here to meeting with perfect impunity. Some of them are in
the meeting to-day, and are now preparing lies for their letters.
A parcel of them clan together and fix up letters, and they write
to the East how desperately wicked the "Mormons" are--how they
are killing each other, killing the gentiles, stealing and
robbing, and what wicked, miserable creatures the "Mormons" are.
And when any of them go from here, they report, "We have barely
escaped with our lives: Oh! it was a very narrow escape that we
made; but we did manage to get out of the place with our lives;
yes, we did get away without being killed." They all safely
escape to tell their lies.
57
They say that it is with great difficulty that they can live with
the Saints, when at the same time no one has molested them during
all the time they have been writing lies to stir up the wicked to
destroy us. They pass and repass in our streets with the same
privileges that other citizens enjoy; and there are professedly
of our faith those who sympathise for them. May God Almighty let
His curse rest on all such sympathizers. [Many voices, "Amen."]
57
Will troops come here and inquire into my just rebukes of such
characters and conduct? "Oh!" says one, "I am afraid they will
come; and what shall I do?" They have been with us many a time.
We have been accustomed to seeing a hundred to our one, with
their guns to shoot us, and their knives to cut our throats. Do
people imagine that they can kill "Mormonism?" I may die for my
religion, and who cares for that? Brother Carrington has told you
that God can carry on his own work, and the spirit of Joseph
which fell upon me is ready to fall upon somebody else when I am
removed.
57
There are a few apostates here, and I have understood the whining
and sympathy they manifested for our enemies. It makes me think
of what I heard from a High Priest's house, that he did not know
a Saint's face from the Devil's. It is just so with a great many.
They would not know the angel Gabriel, if he were to stand here
to preach to them, from Lucifer, the Son of the Morning. If
Lucifer were to hand out a dollar--"You are a gentleman; won't
you call at my house?" "Here is another dollar." "Call over at my
house; I have some daughters: perhaps you would like to be
introduced to them. I have a fine family; call in, and get
acquainted with my family."
57
Do you know that there is no fellowship between Christ and Baal?
Do you think that a union has taken place between them? Can you
fellowship those who will serve the Devil? If you do, you are
like them, and we wish you to go with them; for we do not want
you. We wish that all such men and women would apostatize and
come out boldly and say, "We are going to hell upon our own
road;" and I will say, "Go ahead, and may the Devil speed you on
your journey. Here is sixpence for you." But do not be snooping
round, pretending to be Saints, at the same time be receiving
such men into your houses and such spirits into your hearts, as
many do. Well, all that is necessary, and it will be so; but the
time will come when "judgment will be laid to the line, and
righteousness to the plummet;" and if it is not hailstones, it
will be some other kind that will sweep away those who make lies
and love them.
57
Brother Truman said that we are here, are we not? We are in the
tops of the mountains, and all hell cannot remove us. What do you
suppose Joseph and Hyrum would have said, if they could have been
here with only one hundred such boys as they could have chosen?
Their enemies might have hunted them to this day, and they would
have wasted them away as fast as they could have come.
57
Brother Truman said that there are as many for us as against us.
Yes; there are ten to one for us more than those against us; but
the difficulty is that all have not eyes to see. The soldiers of
the Lord are in the mountains, in the kanyons, upon the plains,
on the hills, along the mighty streams, and by the rivulets.
Thousands and thousands more are for us than those who are
against us, and you need not have any fears. They may be
permitted to kill our bodies, but that is yet to be determined.
They try to fire a pistol; the cap snaps, and they are in the
lurch; for some would have a dagger into them before they would
know it. Or, if they tried to shoot with a rifle, perhaps the
person aimed at would be standing a little one side of the range
of the bullet.
58
Brother Carrington's testimony proves to you that men's eyes are
liable to be deceived. It may appear strange to some that he
could not tell me from Joseph Smith, when I was speaking in the
stand in Nauvoo during the October Conference of 1844. Somebody
came along and passed a finger over his eyes and he could not see
any one but Joseph speaking, until I got through addressing the
congregation.
58
They may shoot, and they will see Brigham a little to one side,
and Heber in another place, and fire away--at what? At shadows.
We shall live as long as the Lord wants us to. They may lie and
write lies, and they may stay here, if they behave themselves;
but if they do not stop their devilish conduct they will be
overtaken; for we will make their words true in regard to their
being in danger, if they persist in their efforts to bring
destruction upon us. We do not ask any odds of them, nor of hell,
nor of the world. We only ask favours of our God; and He is the
Being we serve: to Him we go; and we do not pray to a God without
body, parts, passions, or principles; for we do not serve such a
personage. We serve the living and true God, who has body, and
parts, and passions, and feelings for His children; and the
wicked may help themselves the best they can. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Amasa
M. Lyman, July 19, 1857
Amasa M. Lyman, July 19, 1857
A VISION.
Related by Elder Amasa Lyman, in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, July 19, 1857.
59
I have not got up to preach a long sermon; but, as President
Young said, if anybody wanted to talk, to talk away, I have a
matter in my mind, and I have felt disposed to mention it to the
brethren and sisters. I was reminded of it by an expression that
was dropped by the President in his remarks this morning, where
he said, if we could have our eyes opened, as were those of the
servant of Elijah, to see the innumerable hosts that are in our
favour, we would not have to wait and to wonder when the help of
Israel will be sufficiently numerous; for we should know there
are more for us now than can be against us.
59
When we were in Nauvoo, at the beginning of the last winter we
spent in Illinois, about the time the clouds were gathering so
thick, and the last storm began to break upon us, we heard the
thunders and threatenings of our enemies wherein they stated that
we were to be driven away.
59
At that time I was confined to my bed with sickness, but I heard
the report of the proceedings day after day; but I could not come
out to see the face of the heavens, to judge what the issues
would be. To get away was impossible with me at that time, and we
knew that the longer we stayed the more we should be oppressed by
our enemies.
60
After I had commenced to recover my health, one morning, while
lying in my bed in open day, as wakeful as I am at this moment,
the surrounding objects which I could see when in my natural
condition all in an instant disappeared, and, instead of
appearing to keep my bed, I found myself standing in a place
where those acquainted with Nauvoo and the location of the
Printing Office, subsequent to the death of the Prophets, will
remember. There was a vacant lot in front of the Printing Office;
I stood there, and I heard a rumbling noise something like that
which attends the moving of a mass of people. I turned round to
look in the direction of Main street, and behold! the whole
country was filled with one moving mass of people that seemed to
be travelling directly to the point where I stood. As they
approached somewhat nearer, they seemed not to be travelling on
the ground, but somewhat near the altitude of the tops of the
buildings.
60
At the head of the company were three personages clothed with
robes of white, something like those which many of us are
acquainted with. Around their waist was a girdle of gold, and
from this was suspended the scabbard of a sword,--the sword being
in the hand of the wearer.
60
They took their places with their faces directly west; and as
they stopped, the individual in advance turned and looked over
his shoulder to me with a smile of recognition. It was Joseph;
and the others were his two brothers, Hyrum and Carlos.
60
I contemplated them for a few moments; but to tell my feelings
would be impossible. I leave you to guess them; for it would be
futile to attempt a description.
60
After contemplating the scene a few moments, I was again in my
bed as before, and the vision had disappeared. This was my
assurance, in the commencement of our troubles there, that I
received of the guardianship that was around us and the
protection that we were receiving from the hosts of heaven.
60
The sequel of our history proves that it was no idle tale. Our
safety was pledged and guaranteed; but what does our history
prove? That the heavens have laboured for us--that those who have
gone behind the vail laboured for us; and they still labour for
us. If it were only ourselves that guaranteed the success of
"Mormonism" on the earth, it would be but a poor guarantee; but
that help that has sustained us will not be taken or withdrawn
from us.
60
While we seek to sustain the truth we shall be sustained. As the
President observed, we shall be preserved just so long as our
Father in heaven requires us. All the interests which we have
upon the earth ought to be pledged to sustain the truth; and when
our interests require us to go from here, why should we dread it,
any more than we dread to go to England or to any other place.
60
We serve our interests when we serve our God; and it is all that
we have to do. It is so with me, and it has been so, and it
should be so with all of us. It is not choice with me whether I
stay or go. I have friends there, and I have friends here; and if
I were to calculate which I love best, I could not tell.
60
Well, brethren and sisters, may the Lord Almighty bless you is my
prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / George
Albert Smith, July 26, 1857
George Albert Smith, July 26, 1857
A VISIT TO THE HOUSE OF CONGRESS--CORRUPTION OF THE UNITED
STATES, ETC.
Remarks by Elder George A. Smith, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1857.
61
I arise this morning, my brethren and sisters, feeling
considerable dependence upon your faith to give me ability to
address you. The prayer of faith of the righteous, availeth much;
and if the Saints desire to be instructed by me this morning to
any considerable extent, I am certainly satisfied that faith must
be exercised in my behalf, as my lungs are not in a suitable
condition to enable me to say much.
61
In entering into a congregation of the Saints, a man who feels
the Spirit of the Lord, and has this ruling principle in him,
must, under all circumstances of the kind, rejoice with exceeding
great joy for the privilege of beholding the faces and of
addressing the Saints of the Most High, and of bearing testimony
of the truths of the everlasting Gospel in their presence.
61
Last year at this time I was in the city of Washington,
surrounded by those who are struggling by any and every process
that can be imagined to get their hands into Uncle Sam's pockets.
It was the principle and almost the only business of every man
there to invent some scheme, or find some means or contrivance to
make a draw on the Treasury. It was necessary that all their
motives and their policy be guarded, and that they be careful of
their acquaintances and cautious in their conversation, lest
something they might say might endanger the object they were
endeavouring to obtain. Praying, thanksgiving to God, and
acknowledging His hand in all things was the last thing thought
of, if thought of at all; but that is exceedingly doubtful. I
looked upon the confusion, the struggling for power and place,
the thirst for gold, the contention and strife that were
attracting together so many thousands from the different parts of
the United States, and all by the glittering of the United
States' Treasury; and I wondered. I cannot say that it produced
in my mind the first pleasant feeling. The spirit of
wrangling--the spirit of contention seemed to be determined to
rend in pieces and utterly destroy the Union. There is a
trampling under foot of the principles upon which the Union was
founded, and this caused me to be sorrowful.
61
I frequently went into the Capitol to take a look at the boiling
foam of political strife that was amongst them; and I saw a
spirit that seemed to be determined to demolish the fabric reared
by our fathers, or to disable it by anarchy and misrule.
62
Brother Heywood and I roomed together, we prayed together, we
conversed together, and we visited brother Bernhisel, and talked
to him, counselled with him, and comforted him all we could. I
believe that we three were the only men in the city of Washington
that had any idea that it was of any use asking God for anything,
except they did it as a form. To be sure there are meeting-houses
and temples of worship for the Catholics, for the Presbyterians,
for the Methodists, for the Episcopalians, and for the various
sects of Protestants; and there were chaplains who prayed a few
minutes in the Senate Chamber and in the Hall of Representatives.
62
I heard the old gentleman pray several times who was the Chaplain
in the House of Representatives. I used to go into the
Representatives' Hall with brother Bernhisel in the morning, and
he would introduce me to the members and to the chaplain; and I
could stay there until the praying was over: then all had to
leave but members and officers.
62
They had a very fine man for Chaplain in the House. He was
ninety-six years old. He had served in the revolutionary war. He
was a sober, fine man; but his mind was set down to what he had
learned forty-five years ago. I conversed with him, and told him
what an excellent man Governor Young was--how kind he was to the
Indians; and he replied that he was glad to hear it. The last
session we discovered that his step began to falter, and that
from one session to another he was considerably altered; but he
made out to continue his duties through the session. The old man
made it his business to preach in the Capitol on Sundays: he
exhorted the people to do right. What they were to do to be saved
had never, I suppose, entered into his brain. I must to the last
of my days have respect for the old Chaplain; for I considered
him a fair specimen of the old school soldiery.
62
As I became acquainted with the gentlemen of the House, the
subject of "Mormonism" was soon introduced; and most generally
the first question would indicate prejudice and the want of
knowledge of our feelings and views here in the mountains.
62
It was said by some of the old Prophets that "The people had made
lies their refuge, and under falsehood hid themselves." It is an
old adage that falsehood will go round the world while truth is
getting on its boots. In talking with strangers, I found very few
who, from all they had heard and read, had formed any correct
notions of this people, and of this Territory, and the
circumstances which surround us: but tales of falsehood, tales of
folly, tales of wickedness, and stories imaginary of various
kinds,--these could be found anywhere; but very little of the
truth seems to have rested in anybody's brain.
62
The Old Book talks about a city called the New Jerusalem. The
passage I refer to is in the Revelations of John, 21st chapter,
and from the 8th to the 11th verses:--"But the fearful and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their
part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is
the second death." [President H. C. Kimball: "They have got to
die a second time."] "And there came unto me one of the seven
angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues,
and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the
bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a
great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of
God; and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like
a jasper stone, clear as crystal." John goes on and describes the
city to a great length, and then in the following chapter and
15th verse, speaking of the same city, he says--"For without are
dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and
idolators, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."
63
Just let me tell the truth--the naked facts as they exist in open
day, to any person I would visit or meet, and they would look at
me with distrust; and it would be plainly manifest in their
countenances that the truth had no resting-place there. No matter
if I conversed with the great and wise men of the nation, they
seemed not inclined to receive the truth; but let them read a
falsehood or an exaggerated statement, and it would strike their
attention in a moment. They loved lies, they loved falsehood,
they loved corruption, they loved whoremongers, they loved
wickedness.
63
I used to suppose that all that was necessary was to convince the
children of men that anything that was presented was right, and I
thought that all men naturally had a disposition to receive
anything, and to accede to anything that was right; but I learned
from the observations I made that the right of the case was about
the last thing to be considered, and that justice, truth, or the
righteousness of a subject is the last thing to be brought under
consideration.
63
The question to be considered is, Is there any money in it, or is
there a chance to make any? Is there a chance to get any
political influence? Is there a chance to elevate ourselves in
the eyes of our constituents? It makes no difference whether it
murders an innocent person or not, if it is only popular, and
money can be made at it. This appears to be the ruling power with
the children of men in their present wicked and degenerate state.
63
We are here in the Valleys of the Mountains, and we profess a
religion that has a form; and we are very technical in regard to
the form, and in regard to our prayers, in regard to our baptism,
in regard to our confirmation, in regard to our administrations
to the sick, and in regard to all those things that pertain to
our religious faith. We are very particular, the most of us, in
our feelings, and quite strenuous to observe strictly those
outside ordinances,--but no more so than we should be.
63
But the question arises, and we all ask ourselves the question,
Is it the form only, or are we suffering ourselves to carry out
the form without the inward work and the power of the Holy
Spirit? Notwithstanding all this, we should realize that the Lord
looks on the heart.
63
My desires and my feelings are that, if I can observe the forms
of religion, I must also use my utmost exertions not to suffer
the spirit to be lacking; for all these things must be done
heartily and as unto the Lord. Now, I have some knowledge in
relation to this work; I have been in the Church from my boyhood,
and I have grown grey and bald in the midst of Israel. I have
been in the Church when there were but few comparatively,--when
one such city as we now count by numbers in these valleys would
have embraced all that were in the Church.
63
I was baptized in the year 1832, and I have grown and seen its
windings and changings, and I can now bear testimony that every
evil and distress that has come upon the Saints has been in
consequence of not listening to the counsel of their Prophet and
President; and this has been by misunderstanding, and in adhering
to our old prejudices, and by not listening to the testimony and
warning of the Prophet Joseph. For these causes our enemies have
fallen upon our leading men, and operated among us like a mighty
sieve to separate the chaff from the wheat.
64
The supposition is that the smut machine is ahead, and that
by-and-by every man and every woman who feel disposed to serve
the Lord with all their hearts will have a chance to be tried
whether they love the Lord or the things of this world the
best,-- whether they love the things of the Most High God, or
whether their religion is a mere form carried out to please their
Bishop, to satisfy their Teachers, or whether they do give their
hearts to the Lord, and all their might, mind, and strength.
64
Now, I feel, my brethren, to thank my Heavenly Father for the
spirit of reformation that I have witnessed since I returned; and
I feel to pray that it may continue, and feel to exhort the
people to fear God, who can destroy both the soul and body in
hell; and also for them not to suffer doubt to trouble them, to
make them wayward in their hearts or thoughts; for I have seen
the effect of this to a great extent in times past.
64
I do know that the world is full of wickedness, and that it is
bound in bundles, and is fast preparing for the day of burning;
and I do know there is no chance of deliverance or of safety but
in being tried, that they may be screened and sifted, and that
all unrighteousness may be cleansed from their midst.
64
This is my testimony of these truths, brethren and sisters; and I
pray that we may live up to them, and be prepared to inherit the
glory of God in the worlds to come, through Christ our Redeemer.
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Lorenzo
Snow, April 9, 1857
Lorenzo Snow, April 9, 1857
FILIAL DUTY--CONSECRATION, ETC.
Remarks by Elder Lorenzo Snow, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Thursday Morning, April 9, 1857.
64
While those young boys have been speaking, a few thoughts
occurred to my mind, which I thought I would speak for their
comfort; for I desire to do them good.
64
If a father, for instance, had a large, extensive family, his
object would be to do them good, to promote their interest and
happiness, to put into their hands power, knowing that they could
not accomplish much alone, and that they would have to take or
obtain assistance from that family. The son that would take the
deepest interest--that would devote himself the most faithfully
to promote the designs of the father and head of that family, for
the happiness and prosperity of the whole, would increase in
power and influence faster than any other one; for the father
would be disposed to put as much power and influence into his
hands as it would be possible for him to receive, and as would be
for the benefit of the family.
64
That would be the principle upon which all the members of that
family would increase in knowledge, influence, and power above
others. It would be by having the faculty, the feeling, and the
disposition and desire to carry out the mind of the father, and
that, too, for the benefit and exaltation of the whole family.
65
In order to do this, every particle of power, influence, and
ability that a son holds, he should hold in subjection to the
will of his father, be ever ready to carry out his commands; and
his object and aim should be to obtain influence with his father;
and then he would feel like holding everything that he obtained
subject to the control of the father. No matter if he had
obtained great temporal influence,--no matter whether his
influence be of an intellectual or spiritual character,--no
matter whether he obtained his influence by his knowledge of
books, the study of science,--whether he had obtained farms, or
lands, or riches, or whether he had his influence by obedience to
his father's will, he would hold all at the control of his
father, for the general good of the family. Just so far as he had
this in him would he gain influence with his father and get the
power upon him which it is absolutely necessary for him to
possess.
65
If men would search deep into their own hearts, they would
discover that their desires and feelings, and in fact many things
which they do and say, are not in accordance with the mind and
will of the Lord.
65
These boys do not profess to have received much--not a great deal
of knowledge; but yet they are willing to do that which they are
set to do: they place all upon the altar to be used as the master
pleases; and herein lies their strength to carry out those great
and glorious designs for the salvation of this people and the
rolling forth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It matters not how
little they are, or how little they have received, inasmuch as
they keep faithful and discharge the duties devolving upon them,
the Lord will make them powerful for the rebuking of iniquity,
and for the establishment of the kingdom of God, and to minister
to those that dwell upon all the face of the land.
65
Now, when a person receives intelligence from the Lord, and is
willing to communicate that for the benefit of the people, he
will receive continual additions to that intelligence; and there
is no end to his increase so long as he will hold fast to the
faith of the Lord Jesus Christ; and so long as he will hold
himself in readiness to operate here, go there, and work for the
Lord, travel abroad to the nations of the earth, or to travel
among the mountains of Israel, that individual is bound to become
strong and mighty in the power of God and in the intelligence of
eternity.
65
You, brethren, that are here in these valleys have a certain
privilege which you ought to appreciate,--namely, that of
consecrating your property to the Lord. If you want to know the
secret and principle upon which you may become rich, it lies in
contributing your means and in putting your property into the
hands of the leaders of this Church. When a man has much
property, he is very apt fix his heart upon it. Some have one
thousand dollars' worth of property, some five thousand dollars,
and some more; and I fear that many are using their means in a
way that will prove a curse instead of a blessing; and when the
Lord says, Give me your property, we are not unanimously ready to
answer the call.
65
In this respect, however, we are beginning to learn, and in some
degree answering the call. We are beginning to learn that it all
belongs to the Lord, and that he has given us a little power by
which we have acquired some knowledge of his will and his designs
concerning us. Take the man who has a large share of this world's
goods, and examine what kind of man he is,--try his spirit, and
you will generally find that it is often one of the greatest
trials that can come upon him, to be called upon to part with any
of his property.
66
If you please, you may contrast such a person with these boys who
have been addressing you, and you will find them ready and on
hand to do anything that may be required at their hands. Those
youths are more willing and pliable in the hands of the servants
of God than many men who have been in the Church from the
beginning.
66
Latterly, however, you have learned the principle to some extent,
and the power of God has been manifested, so that you are now
ready to give a little of your means for the building up of the
kingdom of God; and by-and-by I presume you will progress like
some others have done, and be ready to put all upon the altar.
66
Take this people at the present time,--consider what they
possess,--then inquire how many of them have consecrated their
property, and you will find that the amount consecrated is a mere
nothing compared with that which the people actually possess.
66
I tell you, brethren, that although this may seem a small matter,
yet, if we cling to the property that we possess as the wicked do
to theirs, we shall never obtain that which we are trying for. We
must learn to obey the word of the Lord. Why is it that we do not
talk more about consecration? It is because brother Brigham does
not care anything about it, only that he wishes the people to
take a course to secure themselves against the powers of the Evil
One, that he may not gain any control over them or their
families.
66
If this people who live in these valleys of the mountains are
willing to put their property into the hands of the
Trustee-in-Trust, that it may be preserved for the benefit of the
kingdom, and will continue to live their religion as they have
done the past few months, they and their property will become
sanctified to the Lord; and thus we will show to all nations and
people that we have learned a principle that they know nothing of
and that they have nothing to do with,--show them that when we
can get a little property, we put it where the Lord can use it
just as He pleases.
66
This is a practice and a principle the world knows nothing of;
but when this people deed over their property, they understand
what they are about; they know that they will eventually be
exalted to possess all that is desirable--the land, the houses,
the vineyards, the cattle, the gold, the silver, and all the
riches of the heavens and of the earth. The Lord says, All these
things are mine; and because of the willingness of my people, all
will be restored back to me; and then I will put them in
possession of all the riches of eternity.
66
This is the only principle upon which we can secure the promised
blessings. "Then," says one, "why is it not talked about more
than it is?" If the people do not see it now, and cannot act upon
it with the light and knowledge they have already received, if
they cannot see the principle by which they can be established,
it follows, as a matter of course, that they cannot be
established in our Father's kingdom.
66
It is the design of the Almighty to work into the hearts of the
people the principles to operate upon, in order to obtain an
eternal exaltation and glory; and if we do not see them now, with
the instruction already given unto us, we shall have to learn
them by experience more severe.
67
We have not the power to do anything without the assistance of
the Spirit of the Lord; but do we all know that the Gospel we
preach is true? Do we know as well as those little boys know, who
have been speaking to you? They do actually know that this is the
work of God; but some of them do not really comprehend that they
understand as much truth as they do. But the truths of the Gospel
of Christ are in them, and through them; for they were born in
the Gospel, and hence they are born Later-day Saints. The root of
the matter is in them, and they are preserved by the good hand of
the Lord; for He has His eye upon them, and designs to use them
in a future day. What they possess of influence, means, or
knowledge, they are ready to put to their Father's use.
67
Let these boys go into a High Council, and, by the Spirit that is
in them, they will give better judgment than those old men do;
and I can safely say this, and that, too, on brother Brigham's
responsibility; for I have heard him say it a number of times.
67
Do I feel sure of this? Yes, I do; for the fact of the matter is,
they do not know anything about error: they know nothing but
truth, while we old fogies, who are so filled up with tradition
ought to think twice before we dare to speak once.
67
In this way I look upon the movements of those young men in
contrast with the actions of the old fogies. They are lively,
energetic, always on hand, by night or by day, to carry expresses
or to do anything required of them.
67
Brethren, I feel first-rate to-day, and I know that you do, by
the light that beams forth from your countenances. There is one
thing upon my mind, which I will speak upon before I conclude. I
want my brethren to understand it, because that and the things we
have heard pertain to our exaltation and glory. They lie deep,
but still they are important.
67
Let us go forth and do precisely as we are told; and just as fast
as we increase, so will we have to use that spiritual knowledge
which is given unto us in a way that will aid in building up the
kingdom of God: and it is just so with what little property and
means you have got; it must all be upon the altar. You must get
rid of this little, mean, nasty spirit, and walk in the light of
God. Let your minds expand, and be on hand for every duty that is
placed upon you.
67
There are men right before me who have done but little for the
kingdom of God, and who, if they knew what would be for their
good, would go within twenty-four hours and say to President
Young, There is a thousand, or five or ten thousand dollars,
which I will donate for the benefit of the kingdom.
67
But, then, I realize that we are children yet, and we have not
learned our duties fully. It is true that once in a great while
there is a man who can break out from the common track of doing
things, and such a man will increase in influence, in the
knowledge of God, and in the riches of eternity. There are men
who will do this at the present time; but by and by all the
Saints of God will more generally learn the principle and obey
it.
67
May the Lord bless you, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Orson
Hyde, March 8, 1857
Orson Hyde, March 8, 1857
THE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE--PRACTICAL RELIGION--ALL ARE NOT
SAINTS WHO PROFESS TO BE--PRISON-HOUSE OF DISOBEDIENT SPIRITS.
A Discourse by Elder Orson Hyde, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, March 8, 1857.
68
Brethren and sisters,--I arise this morning to make a few remarks
to you; and I crave your prayerful and watchful attention. I must
necessarily be careful and guarded in my speech and
communication, in order to preserve my lungs, having used them
pretty freely of late--often in the open air, and sometimes in
the storm, in the midst of large assemblies of the Saints; and,
consequently, I feel the effects of constant labour and exposure;
but if I now begin on a low key, and guard and restrain my voice,
I may be able to make you all hear and understand me, at least
before I shall come to a close.
68
While sitting here and reflecting upon our condition, this
morning, the words of our Saviour came to my mind with peculiar
force, which say, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for I
say unto you, that many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be
able." These words, in and of themselves, cannot fail to awaken
and alarm every reflecting mind--that many will seek to enter in
and not be able? Is this thy state and condition? Let each one
answer the question. It is like the awakening peals of Mount
Sinai's thunders. It is a summon of itself
--a volume. It should serve to us all as the warning cry to be up
and doing, and to seek in the right way to enter in. If we were
to seek for a lost treasure in places where it was not, we might
seek as diligently, and even more so than the person who sought
where it was and found it. How necessary, then, that truth and
wisdom guide our steps! To this point I wish to call your
attention to-day.
68
We have had a good season during the past winter, and a precious
opportunity to improve our minds and to gain knowledge and
information preparatory to our assuming those responsibilities,
and to act that part in the great drama of God's eternal kingdom,
which our profession, office, and calling imperatively demand at
our hand. But if the season had been open and mild, as it
sometimes is in this country, we might, perhaps, through a great
desire to accumulate comforts around us, have been led away by
our worldly interests to the great neglect of the "one thing
needful." If, therefore, an overruling Providence has mercifully
laid an embargo upon our temporal pursuits by the pitiless storms
of a long and dreary winter, and poured out His Holy Spirit upon
us to awaken us to reformation, we have double reason to
acknowledge His hand and to praise Him for ever for the good and
benevolent designs He has manifested towards us.
69
It now behooves us, in this time of prosperity, when Zion shines
under smiling face of her God, to lay by in store a good
foundation against the time to come. To the faithful Saints, it
matters not whether the seasons are mild and pacific, or
boisterous and severe. If we do right, we shall all have abundant
reason to say, "True and righteous are Thy ways, Thou King of
Saints."
69
You were taught, brethren and sisters, before my arrival from
Carson, (which was on the 9th of December last,) to awake from
your sleep--to repent of your sins, and then to restore to the
injured according to the wrongs you may have done them. Next, you
were taught in doctrine and in principle--reproved, admonished,
comforted, and guided in the path wherein you might seek, and
seek not in vain.
69
Truths of almost every character and kind have been declared and
dealt out to you with a profuse and a liberal hand. Day after
day, and night after night, the voice of inspiration has been
heard in your midst. Truths adapted to every character, every
state, and every condition in life, have been faithfully
portrayed unto you in letters of living light, and in words of
most burning and soul-stirring eloquence,--even such as the Holy
Ghost inspired,--from the simple to the sublime, and from the
tone of the harp to the voice of thunder.
69
Have you performed the tasks given you? Have you done the work
and kept abreast with your instructions? Or have you indulged a
wish to get some new thing--something farfetched, which can have
no effect other than to allure your minds from the truths that
worthily demand your sincere attention and observance? It
sometimes happens that a scholar at school, anxious to advance,
takes a lesson to-day in one branch of science, and to-morrow in
another, and the third day in another, and so on, until, in his
own estimation, he comes out a polished and refined student, a
professor and a sage,--when, in fact, he understands nothing that
he has read, and is only cherishing a deception that he has
practised upon himself.
69
Is this the case with us? Have we thoroughly learned the lessons
that have been given us, and reduced them to practice? There is
nothing better calculated to imprint upon the mind any science or
theory than to reduce it to practice and really act upon it. Then
we see its force and bearing; and while engaged in the practical
part, it stamps indelibly upon our minds, never to be forgotten,
the principles we have imbibed.
69
If we have practised upon the lessons and teachings we have
received, we know that they will stand by us; but if we have
merely heard them, and not entered into the practical duties
thereof, they will die in our memory, never having been
incorporated in our organization, and we become like the man
beholding his natural face in the glass, and straightway goeth
away and forgetteth what manner of man he is.
69
I might explain to you all about the art of printing; yet, with
all the knowledge that my explanation could give you respecting
this important art, who of you that is not a compositor can take
my sermon and go into an office and set it up? "Practice makes
perfect." If we learn righteous principles and practise them,
they have power to change our natures in conformity with
themselves. They become a part and parcel of ourselves, bringing
us into an alliance with them that knows no separation. Hence we
become a righteous people; and, if we continue, we not only
strive, but shall be able to enter in.
70
Each of you can recollect acting upon certain things taught you
in the days of your childhood. They are as fresh in your
recollection now as they were in the day you acted upon them.
Therefore, let us ever act upon true and righteous principles,
and they will remain with us, and we shall become righteous in
our natures; and if we never act upon an evil principle, we shall
forget all the evil we ever knew, and God will forget it also;
and our natures will never be evil inclined.
70
If we have reduced to practice all the teachings and instructions
given us from this stand and from other places, we are a blessed
and happy people. If we have not, we have not done justice to
ourselves. Let us honour the teachings we have received, and we
shall find ample ground to occupy without anything far-fetched
and dear bought.
70
We are a congregation of Latter-day Saints (so called), assembled
here this morning to hear the words of life or edification
concerning the kingdom of God. This question arises in my
mind--Are we all Saints of the Most High God? Or, are we composed
of individuals bearing that name, when, indeed, we all may not
merit it?
70
I will present to you a figure to illustrate my idea; for I wish
to make plain to your understanding the thoughts of my own heart;
and if I can transmit them to you as they exist in my bosom, they
may operate on your minds as they do upon mine. It is now the
time of seeding. Our farmers are sowing at the north and in the
south--a matter of great satisfaction to me. And here allow me to
express a wish, that while they sow in faith, they may reap with
joy! By-and-by, when this wheat grows up, you may see it waving
in the wind, and you will say, Here is a beautiful field of
wheat. It is fine, healthy, and presages a bountiful harvest. It
gradually matures in the sun's scorching rays; and you see the
field white already to harvest. You call it all wheat. Now, the
question is, is it all wheat? Is not the greater portion of it
straw? Though you call it all wheat, even as you call this
congregation all Saints, may not a portion of the products of
that field be chaff likewise? Certainly. Then, again, is there
not often considerable smut in that which you call wheat? Yes,
and a great many shrunken kernels that will yield no flour, but
will be blown away. In bulk you call it all wheat; yet, come to
analyse and separate its different properties and qualities, you
find from the bulk of the growth of that field which you called
all wheat but a small portion that is really genuine wheat. Then,
after the plump berry is separated from the straw, chaff, smut,
&c., there remains yet a finer quality of chaff, which you call
bran. Then there are different qualities of flour--No. 1, or
superfine, No. 2 and 3, or shorts. But a small portion of the
produce of that field, we discover, is really fit for the
Master's table?
70
Now, then, here is a thing which I wish you to consider, which is
this: The chaff, straw, &c., produced in that field draw their
nourishment from the very same source that the berry does from
the moisture and fatness of the soil! They all feed upon the very
same food! Not only so, but we perceive that, by ligaments and
fibres, the chaff, the straw, and the berry are all connected
together; and in view of a similar principle, our Saviour said,
"Root not up the tares until the time of harvest, least, by
rooting up the tares, ye root up the wheat also."
71
It is necessary that the straw exist to sustain the wheat, the
chaff to protect the berry, by serving as an overcoat and shield
form the various and varied influences of the weather, from
insects, and to keep it warm. The same nourishment that supports
the berry and keeps it alive also sustains and keep alive the
chaff as its cloak or mantle. There is not a sparrow that flies
in the air that partakes not of the goodness of our God. He
maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and on the unjust. All the tribes of men, the
swarms of insects, the herds of animals, the flocks of the
feathered millions that fly over our heads, are all sustained by
the same liberal hand of our Heavenly Father. His providence
provides for all, even for the wolf and the poisonous
rattlesnake.
71
Now, in the midst of all this, who among us are prepared to say
whether we are straw, chaff, smut, or wheat--bran, shorts, or
flour? "Many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able."
71
Perhaps I shall be able, ere I close my remarks, to give you some
key to this matter, which, if it shall enable you fully to
determine, may at least materially aid you in your inferences in
relation to yourselves. But of this one thing rest perfectly
assured, that the way to life is straight and very narrow. The
straw and the chaff are growing up and striving to enter the
granary; but they will be hardly able.
71
As I look about upon this congregation, and as I mingle with the
Saints at large, I discover that there are different spirits.
Every organization has a spirit peculiar to itself. I do not say
that there is any fatality in this. Do not understand me to
convey that idea. But I do say this, that every spirit connected
with an earthly organization may be tempered by the Spirit of God
according to its fidelity, intelligence, and faith, so that there
is no excuse. If I point you to the horse, you find a peculiar
spirit attending the organization of that animal. When he is fine
and in good condition, there is something stately and grand about
him.
71
When we see the beautiful dove flying through the air, a pleasing
sensation is produced in us by its graceful movements, because
the Holy Spirit was once sent in that form. Again, we look at the
serpent, and another feeling is produced--a fear--a chill--a
horror. So every creature, beast and bird, man and woman, has a
spirit peculiar to its own organization; and no organization is
entirely independent of the Spirit of God; for all have some
intelligence. Were the spirits and temperaments all alike, the
same instructions would serve for all. But as it is, every man
must receive his portion of meat in due season. And the word must
be rightly divided--giving to every man his portion that is
adapted to his organization and temperament, that he may thereby
be saved.
71
Man is composed of matter and spirit; and the Spirit of God
operates upon and tempers man's organization according to his
faith and good works. Some are tempered very highly. Such not
only carry a keen edge, but are susceptible of a high polish.
Others are of low temper, because of a low, dull, and sluggish
disposition and character, which they have indulged, and
consequently formed. They are not a very smooth or sweet cutting
tool. They have not sought to cultivate their temperament by
seeking and courting the Spirit of God as they should.
71
Yet these may be guilty of no outbreaking sin. They keep within
the pale of the law, pay their tithing, and keep along, and are
considered good, peaceable, and honourable citizens. They despise
to steal, are willing to labour, and pursue an even,
straightforward course. Still, we cannot look upon them as being
tempered by the Holy Spirit to the extent of their privilege. Yet
they work righteousness as far as they work at all. These persons
are fond of going to meeting, and are often heard to say, "What a
good sermon we have had!"
72
This is all right, if you did have a good sermon. They will ask
you a thousand and one questions in order to draw out something
to satisfy their eager desire for knowledge and understanding,
not hardly recollecting their privilege to ask of God and receive
for themselves. But there is no crime in this. Still, one can
hardly refrain from thinking, when he sees his neighbour begging
and borrowing bread, how much more commendable it would be in him
to apply himself to labour and produce thereby bread from the
soil by his own exertion.
72
And inasmuch as our Heavenly Father is accessible to all, it is
far better to store our minds with the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge, by our own spiritual labours and toil, direct from the
great Fountain of celestial light and love, than to trust wholly
to the testimony and teachings of others. Obtain the testimony of
Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. Startle not at the idea
of prophecy and prophets; for I would to God that all the Lord's
people were prophets. There is no professing Christian in the
world, who does not possess the spirit of prophecy, that can tell
whether he is wheat, straw, chaff, smut, or tares. And no person
can have the spirit of prophecy who declares that the days of the
prophets are gone by and are not needed now, unless that spirit
should be given to seal condemnation upon the narrow-minded bigot
who will not confess it and give God the glory, after it may have
fallen upon him; for he loves the praise of men more than the
praise of God.
72
The sun, moon, and stars are the representatives of the final
homes of the departed dead, if not their real homes. The sun is
said to shine by its own light inherent in itself. I might not
admit this under some circumstances; but the popular thing will
here answer my purpose. The moon and stars shine by borrowed
light. These stars or planets vary in their size, motion,
distance from the earth, and intensity of heat, cold, &c. Some of
them may revolve in eternal day, while others roll in endless
night; and still others, like our earth, may have alternate day
and night.
72
Here are homes for all grades of spirits, from the faithful
martyr to Christ's kingdom and Gospel, whose glory is represented
by the sun in the firmament, to the wicked tare, who will be sent
away into outer darkness, upon some planet destined to roll in
endless night. "In my Father's house are many mansions." There is
one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another
glory of the stars. One star differs from another star in glory;
so also is the resurrection of the dead.
72
The children of this world who love darkness rather than light,
will find themselves, finally, to be inhabitants of those planets
that move in outer darkness; having a home adapted to their
disposition and character.
72
The inspired Apostles and Prophets, together with the martyrs of
Jesus, and all the pure and sanctified ones, will inherit a glory
like the sun; while the hypocritical professor, the liar, the
adulterer, the profane swearer, with all who hold to a religion
without Prophets and Apostles, without inspiration and miracles,
without revelation, prophecy, keys, and powers to bind on earth
and in heaven, after the call is made upon them by the messengers
of the true religion, will be damned and sent away into outer
darkness, even into prison, where they will gnaw their tongues
for pain.
72
In this prison they must remain until they have paid the utmost
farthing. The antediluvians were in this prison for a long time,
until at length Christ preached the Gospel to their spirits, that
they might be judged according to men in the flesh. He opened the
prison-doors to them that were bound, and proclaimed a release to
the captive sons and daughters of earth, enslaved by sin in the
days of Noah.
73
While the Saviour's body lay entombed in the sepulchre, his
spirit was not inactive. He was preaching the Gospel to the
spirits in prison. But after they have suffered in prison and are
finally released, after many a thousand years' servitude in pain
and darkness, their glory cannot be like that of the sun, neither
like that of the moon, nor yet like the stars of the first
magnitude; but, perhaps, like the faint glimmer of a distant
star--so distant from the sun, that a ray from that brilliant orb
can hardly reach it.
73
The foolish virgins, not having the means of light in themselves,
could never enter a mansion or world that shines by its own
light; but as they had no oil in their vessels, they were
compelled to borrow; and hence, they must go to a world or
mansion that shines by borrowed light. Have light in yourselves!
You may borrow all you can of me, and I will cheerfully lend all
in my power; but have, at least, some light in yourselves, and
salt likewise.
73
Oh that the testimony of Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy,
were freely shed upon all this people! It would be, if we were
all pure and worthy. Then one need no longer say to another, Know
ye the Lord; for they would all know Him, from the least unto the
greatest. Then we should know that we were neither straw, chaff,
smut, bran, nor tares, but pure and genuine, superfine No. 1, and
labelled for the celestial kingdom--"Right side up, with care."
73
With the light and knowledge which we, through the grace of God,
have obtained, let us press forward with boldness and a laudable
ambition to secure the prize bought by a Saviour's blood, and
freely offered unto us in the full blaze of inspiration, which
light is despised by the world, scoffed at by the religionists,
and hated of all nations. God grant to establish this light in
the earth, and us in this light, and this light in us, and the
love thereof, for ever and ever. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, July 26, 1857
Brigham Young, July 26, 1857
NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM--OPPOSITION OF MEN AND DEVILS TO THE
LATTER-DAY KINGDOM--GOVERNMENTAL BREACH OF THE UTAH MAIL
CONTRACT.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, July 26, 1857.
73
I will read a portion of the writings of the prophet Daniel,
commencing at the 27th verse of the 2nd chapter of the book of
Daniel. [The speaker read the verses alluded to, from verse 27 to
verse 49 inclusive.]
73
These verses are of themselves a text and texts, a sermon and
sermons.
73
We have a great deal of talking, preaching, exhorting,
counselling, giving advice, &c., from this stand and in many
other places where the Saints assemble; but perhaps it may be the
case with many, as it is somewhat with me, that they in a measure
neglect to read the Bible, and forget many things which are
written therein. Perhaps there are many who have not read much in
the Bible since they came into this Church, not having had much
time to do so.
74
I was a Bible reader before I came into this Church; and, so far
as the letter of the book was concerned, I understood it. I
professed to be a believer in the Bible so far as I knew how; but
as for understanding by the Spirit of the Lord, I never did until
I became a Latter-day Saint. I had many a time read Daniel's
interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, but it was always a
dark subject to me. I was well acquainted with many of the
priests of the day, and I would frequently think to myself that I
would get some knowledge from them. And as I became acquainted
with smart, intelligent, literary priests and professors of
religion, I thought, Now I can obtain some intelligence from this
or from that man; and I would begin to ask questions on certain
texts of Scripture; but they would always leave me as they found
me, in the dark. They were there themselves; and I knew of a
surety, before I heard the Gospel, that the priests were blind
guides leading the blind, and that there was nothing left for
them only to stumble here and there, and perhaps fall into a
ditch. That much knowledge I had previous to my becoming
acquainted with what is called "Mormonism."
74
It would be very profitable to the inhabitants of the earth to
learn one fact, which a very few in the world have learned, that
they are ignorant--that they have not the wisdom, the knowledge,
and the intelligence outside the circle of what is called the
wisdom of man. For persons to know and understand their own
talent, their own strength, their own ability, their own
influence, would be very profitable to the inhabitants of the
earth, though but very few learn it.
74
I do not know that I feel particularly thankful that I learned
what I did with regard to the lack of intelligence and knowledge
professed by Christians to be in their possession; but I have
been thankful that my lot and fortune were such that my God gave
me good, sound sense. I am thankful for that. When the Gospel
came to me, surely within me and all around me I could see very
plainly what the Apostle meant in the words, "When the
commandment came, sin revived, and I died."
74
I could see clearly where the inhabitants of the earth were, in
their position before their God. The whole world--everything upon
this globe--was vailed in darkness. There was a mist, a fog, a
vail, or covering over the minds of the whole of the people on
this earth; and what they understood was nothing more than a
faint glimmering of light that would dazzle before their eyes for
a minute, and they would see it no more. They were like a ship
befogged on the ocean and depending for guidance upon a
lighthouse whose glimmering rays could only be discerned a long
intervals, when the ship could again be put upon a safe course.
But the wind has shifted; and, without light or compass, they do
not know whether it is blowing east, west, north, or south; and
then how could they tell whether they were directing their course
aright? The Christian world, I discovered, was like the captain
and crew of a vessel on the ocean without a compass, and tossed
to and fro whithersoever the wind listed to blow them. When the
light came to me, I saw that all the so-called Christian world
was grovelling in darkness.
75
We profess to have the light, intelligence, and knowledge with
which to understand the things of God. The dream of King
Nebuchadnezzar and its interpretation by David are as plain to
the man and woman filled with the power of the Holy Ghost, as are
the most common lessons to the school-children: they most clearly
understand the interpretation. Daniel saw that in the latter days
the God of heaven was going to set up his kingdom upon this his
earth. He has set that kingdom up, as you who are here this day
are witnesses.
75
What brought you from the States and other regions to these
mountains? What caused the men and women before me to leave their
good farms, their good houses, their merchandize, and all the
luxuries and comforts of life so dear to the natural man? What
caused many women to leave their husbands, their children, their
parents? What caused all this? What is the reason of such
conduct? Can any man tell? The world are trying to; but they are
even more ignorant about it than they are of the present
movements and designs of the President of the United States. They
know not the reason why the people are assembled here; for they
cannot and will not see and understand anything only as they
discern it by the powers of the natural man.
75
I have told them many times, and I can now tell them again, if
the whole world could hear my voice, they are to be pitied; and I
pray for them. We have traversed the earth to preach the Gospel
to them. We have often started upon our missions almost
destitute, without hats, nearly without shoes and any of the
comforts of life, to travel thousands and thousands of miles to
preach the Gospel to the people. If they will not be benefited,
our skirts are clear of their blood, and they must bear the
blame.
75
Can they tell the cause of this people's being here to-day? Can
they give the cause for the influence I have over the Latter-day
Saints? They cannot. If this was not the kingdom of God upon the
earth, do you suppose that the world would be arrayed against it?
No. There is not a sound, well-informed mind in the world but
what would decide at once that there is no cause of enmity
against this people, and that all hostility towards us arises
from the fact that we have the eternal Priesthood and the
influence thereof. The kingdom of heaven is here, and we are in
it, and they are angry at us solely for that.
75
There is not a king, governor, or ruler, but what desires, and is
endeavouring to obtain the influence that I and my brethren
possess and are lawfully striving to obtain. Do you suppose that
there was ever a President of the United States but what desired
the confidence of his constituents? No, never. Was there ever a
senator, a representative, a governor of a state, a politician,
or a priest, but what desired the same power in his sphere that I
have in mine? They cannot get it, because they do not know how.
What is the reason? They have not got the kingdom of God, which
binds the people together. They are ignorant of it, though we
have travelled, barefooted and almost naked, to preach it to
them; and I say that they are to be pitied.
75
How many times I have gone to preach to them, and, with all the
kindness and calmness I was capable of, told them that I had
something to cheer and comfort them, if they would hear it with
good honest hearts. How often I have asked, "Can I have your
meeting-house or your school-house to preach in? Can I have the
privilege of preaching to the people?" "No, you cannot, if I can
prevent it." That is the spirit of the priests.
75
It is the priests and elders of Christendom who have the power of
hell in them which causes the trouble that you see, and that you
have seen and borne for many years. They are like that unruly
member, the tongue, which sets on fire the course of nature, and
is set on fire of hell.
76
The priests have this fire, and who fans the flame? Brother Smoot
has told you who blows the bellows. It is the politician, the
drunkard, and the filth and offscouring of the earth, who run at
the beck and call of those who have a dollar or sixpence for
them,--of those who will treat them and give them an oyster
supper and a good lodging.
76
There is another class, the speculators, who endeavour to get up
some plan or other by which to make money. Brother Smoot has
given you a few items concerning their present movements in the
east. Through their whining, bickering, howling, grovelling,
squalling, and scratching, and in a political and speculative
point of view, many are striving to most egregiously befool our
Government and squander its revenue. And the priests are also at
the bottom of this movement; for they have the power that is of
hell, and others blow the flame and furnish the fuel to persecute
the Latter-day Saints, because they are in the kingdom that the
God of heaven has set up in the last days, and that shall never
be destroyed.
76
It is a little more than twenty-seven years since I commenced
reading the Book of Mormon and defending the cause we are engaged
in. My mind was open to conviction, and I knew that the Christian
world had not the religion that Jesus and his Apostles taught. I
knew that there was not a Bible Christian on the earth within my
knowledge. A few years previous to that time Joseph had obtained
the plates and began translating the Book of Mormon; and from the
time he found those plates in the hill Cumorah, there has been
just that tirade of abuse, lying, slandering, defaming the name
and character of the Prophet and his associates, that there is at
this day. It is no hotter a time now than it was then; there is
no more persecution now than there was then.
76
God has commenced to set up his kingdom on the earth, and all
hell and its devils are moving against it. Hell is yawning and
sending forth its devils and their imps. What for? To destroy the
kingdom of God from the earth. But they cannot do it.
76
The God of heaven showed Nebuchadnezzar that this kingdom would
never be destroyed; and that is my testimony. This is the kingdom
of heaven--the kingdom of God which Daniel saw--the kingdom that
was revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted to him by the
Prophet Daniel. This is the kingdom that was revealed to King
Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted to him by the Prophet Daniel. This
is the kingdom that was to be set up in the last days. It is like
a stone taken from the mountain without hands, with all its
roughness, with all its disfigured appearance--uncomely--even a
stumbling-block and a stone of offence to the nations of the
earth. This is the kingdom that is set up; and the history of the
kingdoms of this world all understand, or can read and understand
it.
76
Some may cry out, "Your saying that this is the kingdom of God
does that make it so?" No, not by any means. "Your testimony,"
Mr. Young, "is, that this is the kingdom of God on the
earth--that which was shown to Daniel the Prophet centuries ago."
Yes, that is my testimony. "Does this make it so?" No it does
not; but let me tell you that it is true; consequently, I bear my
testimony of its truth, though my testimony does not alter that
truth in the least, one way or the other; neither does any other
man's. That is my testimony, and has been all the time.
77
Why I testify of these things is because they are revealed to me,
and not to another for me. They were not revealed to Joseph Smith
for me. He had the keys to get visions and revelations, dreams
and manifestations, and the Holy Ghost for the people. Those keys
were committed to him; and through that administration, blessed
be the name of God, I have received the spirit of Christ Jesus,
which is the spirit of prophecy. Our testimony does not make this
true, and the testimony of our enemies that it is not the kingdom
of God does not make that true or false. The fact stands upon its
own basis, and will continue so to stand, without any of the
efforts of the children of men.
77
I have told you the cause of all the bustle and stir against us.
The blind are leading the blind; and if their hearts were
honest--if they would throw off the mask of prejudice and
erroneous parental education, they could receive the truth as
well as you and I. Once in a while one says good bye to the
traditions of the fathers. A few will cast off those prejudices
that surround the people, and say, "We will read, pray, think,
and meditate, and we will ask God for ourselves. That is the
reason why you and I are here to-day. We asked God for a
testimony, and he witnesses to us from the heavens that this is
the kingdom which Daniel saw, and we have embraced it, and it is
dearer than everything else upon the face of this earth.
77
Do we expect that the devils will howl? Yes. When has this Church
had the peace that we have had since we have been in the
mountains? Never. Where is there peace now upon the face of the
earth like the peace we enjoy here? Nowhere. Brother Smoot said
that he had been in the lower regions. He could say that with
propriety; for, in fact, we are all in the lower regions. Where
do you think the devils live?
77
Do you suppose that there is any such thing as a devil? Yes, a
great many believe that there is. Where does he live? The answer
comes very readily. He lives in hell, of course. Then, if there
are devils here, we must also be in hell. Do you not think that
the devil is in pain? I should think he was, by the groanings
that are uttered from the east. You see that with propriety
brother Smoot could say that he has been to the lower regions;
but when he arrives here, although the altitude is much greater,
he still is in the same world. We are all here, and we are
surrounded by the devils.
77
Men rage and boil with wrath and indignation, and they do not
know the cause of it. If they think, "What injury have the
'Mormons' done to me?" the response from their own minds will be,
"Not any." What can the men truthfully say, who have civilly
passed through here to the west to make their fortunes? That here
is a place of peace and contentment; and, though a thousand miles
from civilization and from all the luxuries and many of the
comforts of life, yet here is a people satisfied, contented, and
happy. Did they injure you? "No." Did they treat you kindly?
"Yes." Ask the people in the east what is the matter? "We cannot
tell you,--only somebody has said something." What have they
said? "We do not know; we only heard a rumour,--that is all."
78
The people abroad are just as foolish, unwise, and short-sighted
as they can possibly be represented by the best learned men in
the world. What are they doing? What they have done all the time.
Have they been trying to destroy "Mormonism?" Yes. Did they
destroy it when they took the life of Joseph? No. "Mormonism" is
here, the priesthood is here, the keys of the kingdom are here on
the earth; and when Joseph went, they did not go. And if the
wicked should succeed in taking my life, the keys of the kingdom
will remain with the Church. But my faith is that they will not
succeed in taking my life just yet. They have not as good a man
to deal with as they had when they had Joseph Smith. I do not
profess to be very good. I will try to take care of number one,
and if it is wicked for me to try to preserve myself, I shall
persist in it; for I am intending to take care of myself.
78
When they killed Joseph, they were talking about killing a great
many others. Would you believe that the apostates say that I was
the instigator of the death of Joseph and Hyrum? And William
Smith has asserted that I was the cause of the death of his
brother Samuel, when brother Woodruff, who is here to-day, knows
that we were waiting at the depot in Boston to take passage east
at the very time when Joseph and Hyrum were killed. Brother
Taylor was nearly killed at the time, and Doctor Richards had his
whiskers nearly singed off by the blaze from the guns. In a few
weeks after, Samuel Smith died, and I am blamed as the cause of
his death. We did not hear of the death of Joseph until some
three or four weeks after he was basely martyred.
78
What is now the news circulated throughout the United States?
That Captain Gunnison was killed by Brigham Young, and that
Babbitt was killed on the Plains by Brigham Young and his Danite
band. What more? That Brigham Young has killed all the men who
have died between the Missouri river and California. I do not say
that President Buchanan has any such idea, or the officers of the
troops who are reported to be on their way here; but such are the
newspaper stories. Such reports are in the bellows, and editors
and politicians are blowing them out.
78
According to their version, I am guilty of the death of every
man, woman, and child that has died between the Missouri river
and the California gold mines; and they are coming here to
chastise me. The idea makes me laugh; and when do you think they
will get a chance? Catching is always before hanging. They
understand, you know, that I had gone north and intended to leave
this place with such as would follow me; and they are coming to
declare a jubilee. It is their desire to say to the people, "You
are free; you are not under the bondage of Brigham Young; you
need wear his yoke no longer; now let us get drunk, fight, play
at cards, and race horses; and every one of you women turn to be
whores and become associated with the civilization of
Christendom." That is the freedom they are endeavouring to
declare here.
78
I will make this proposition to Uncle Sam. I will furnish
carriages, horses, the best of drivers, and the best food I have,
to transport to the States every man, woman, and child that
wishes to leave this place, if he will send on at his own expense
all those who want to come to Utah; and we will gain a thousand
to their one, as all who understand the matter very well know. It
would have been much better to have loaded the waggons reported
to be on the way here, with men, women, and children, than with
provisions to sustain soldiers; for they will never get here
without we help them; neither do I think that it is the design of
President Buchanan that they should come here.
79
I am not going to interpret dreams; for I don't profess to be
such a Prophet as were Joseph Smith and Daniel; but I am a Yankee
guesser; and I guess that James Buchanan has ordered this
Expedition to appease the wrath of the angry hounds who are
howling around him. He did not design to start men on the 15th of
July to cross these Plains to this point on foot. Russell and Co.
will probably make from eight to ten hundred thousand dollars by
freighting the baggage of the Expedition. What would induce the
Government to expend that amount of money for this Territory?
Three years ago they appropriated $45,000 for the purpose of
making treaties with the Utah Indians. Has even that diminutively
small sum ever been sent here? It is in the coffers of the
Government to this day, unless they have stolen it out, or
improperly paid it out for some other purpose.
79
Have they ever paid their debts due to Utah? No. And now they
have capped their meanness by taking the mail out of the hands of
Hiram Kimball, simply because they knew that he was a member of
this Church. If he had only have apostatized in season and
written lies about us, it is not probable that his mail contract
would have been taken from him without the least shadow of right,
as has now been done. He was to have $23,000 for carrying the
mail from Independence to this city once a month which was the
lowest bid; but because he is a "Mormon," the contract must be
disannulled, and that, too, after he had put by far the most
faithful and efficient service on the route that there ever has
been, as is most well known at Washington. If I thought that my
prayer might be answered, I would pray that not another United
States' mail may come to this city; for until Mr. Kimball began
his service it has been a constant source of annoyance,
disappointment, and to us loss. We can carry our own mails, raise
our own dust, and sustain ourselves.
79
But woe, woe to that man who comes here to unlawfully interfere
with my affairs. Woe, woe to those men who come here to
unlawfully meddle with me and this people. I swore in Nauvoo,
when my enemies were looking me in the face, that I would send
them to hell across lots, if they meddled with me; and I ask no
more odds of all hell to-day. If they kill me, it is all right;
but they will not until the time comes; and I think that I shall
die a natural death; at least I expect to.
79
Would it not make any man or community angry to endure and
reflect upon the abuse our enemies have heaped upon us, and are
still striving to pour out upon God's people? Brother Bernhisel
says that McGraw's mail contract was out in August last; but they
demanded at his hands and would pay him to carry it two or three
months longer. The Post Office Department knew, or should have
known, that it had forwarded the acceptance of Mr. Kimball's bid
for the new contract in that mail which McGraw was not carrying;
and then it took advantage of the failure of that mail and
trumped up a false allegation of the unsettled state of Utah, and
on those grounds disannulled the contract with Mr. Kimball. Our
mail rights and other rights and privileges are most unjustly
trampled under foot; but they can spend millions to raise a
hubbub and make out that something wrong is being done in Utah.
79
Let me be the President of the United States a little while, and
I would say to the Senators, Representatives, and other officers
of Government, Gentlemen, you must act the part of men and
statesmen, or I will reprove you. What are they angry at me for?
Because I will reprove men for their iniquity, and because I have
such influence here,--the very thing they are all after, They
think that they are going to obtain it with money; but they
cannot do it.
79
There is no influence, truth, or righteousness in the world only
what flows from God our Father in the heavens. We have that
power, that influence; we also have such love and submission that
we submit ourselves to our Father and God, as a child does to a
kind parent.
79
May God bless you, brethren and sisters. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Amasa
M. Lyman, June 7, 1857
Amasa M. Lyman, June 7, 1857
REPORT OF JOURNEY FROM SAN BERNARDINO TO GREAT SALT LAKE CITY.
Remarks by Elder Amasa Lyman, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, June 7, 1857.
80
Brethren and sisters,--I am happy, this morning, to enjoy the
opportunity of meeting with you again. The reasons why can be
appreciated by most of you. I do not feel, this morning, much
disposed to preach; but I have been told that the people would
like to hear me. Well, I am glad to see you, brethren and
sisters, as I have already said I am happy to be here. I am happy
to see you, and also to see the continuance of unmistakable
evidences around me of the progress of the work of God.
80
I do not know that there is much that I might say in relation to
my coming here that would be interesting, though there were some
things connected with my visit to the settlements south of
here--some of the most recent that have been made, that might be
interesting to many who are before me this morning.
80
From the commencement of our journey, which was on the 18th of
April that we left San Bernardino, we encountered nothing but
those vicissitudes that are common in journeying. When we came
within twelve miles of where the road that we travel leaves the
Rio Virgin, I there left the company that I was travelling with;
and, in company with Elder David Savage and an Indian guide, I
crossed over the mountain between the California road and Santa
Clara; and in this we found a great deal of labour. We were
assured by our guide that there was a good road, and that we
could take our mules along To be sure, they told us that we could
not take our waggons. We were desirous to visit those brethren;
for the Presidency had expressed their wish for us to do so as we
came long. Brother Rich was confined to the train with his
family, which accounts for my going with but one man and a guide.
When we had performed a part of the day's journey, and had passed
over a ridge which we had to cross, we concluded that we were
getting along finely, and that the worlds of our Indian friend
were true in relation to its being a very good way to travel. But
when we came to enquire the course we had next to take, we
learned that, instead of passing up a "gravel wash," our road, as
indicated by our guide, wound into the face of the most
forbidding of the hills that were in the way. Our guide indicated
by his stick that we commenced at the wash, and then wound up the
mountain until his stick rested against the highest points on the
mountain in front of us! I did not think much of backing out; but
I was well satisfied that, if I had seen the mountains before I
had started, I should not have undertaken the trip.
81
We went along, and, by hard labour, succeeded in climbing up the
mountain. My mule helped herself along, and I got up the best way
I could. I would climb 50 or 60 yards on my hands and feet, and
then I would have to stop and rest. We made the toilsome trip
over the high mountain which I before alluded to, and then we
were gratified by the assurance that there was nothing to do but
to climb over another about as bad as the one we had just
succeeded in surmounting; and night was upon us. This surmounted,
we found ourselves travelling down the gentle wash leading, as we
subsequently learned, to Santa Clara. And after feeding to our
guide some bread and water--the last we had, we asked which was
the way to Jacob's "Wickyup." Our guide pointed to the left, and
our attention was called to a huge frill of rocks extending
upwards as far as the eye could reach in the doubtful light of
the evening. There was a moon, but it was hid from us by the
clouds; and hence we had to have torch-light, which our guide
provided. He then commenced winding his way up amongst the rocks,
and we followed along until brother Savage's mule refused to go
up any further; and she would have fallen to the bottom, had not
brother Savage prevented it by his timely exertion.
81
We went to the foot of the hill and concluded that we would wait
there for daylight; and we lay down; but we had no blankets--no
food; but the accommodations of the place were very good. We lay
down and slept, from our excessive weariness, until morning.
81
The next morning we succeeded in climbing the hill; and you may
judge of our gratification when, as we reached the summit, we
could see that, had we travelled a few rods down the wash, we
could have reached the summit by a gentle ascent; and that, had
we travelled down the wash, we should have come to the Santa
Clara below brother Hamlin's Fort one mile. I do not allude to
this because it is particularly interesting; but still there was
a truth in it that was not without its profit to me,--and that
was, that a guide without understanding was almost worse than no
guide at all.
81
But, after all, when we reached brother Hamlin's, where we
arrived just as they were getting up, we were kindly received and
well treated, and made to feel happy. We refreshed ourselves and
rested through the day. We found an excellent feeling existing
among the Indians, and brother Hamlin has great influence amongst
them. The brethren have built themselves a small stone fort, in
which they are pretty safe, much more so than in one made of
adobies. Their homes are rough, excepting their fort, which is a
good one.
81
We found a marked difference between the Indians at this point
and those we had encountered before reaching there. The first we
met were in the region of Las Vegas; they were all hungry and
nearly starved; but this was not the case with those at the Santa
Clara. They were all fed and clothed, and consequently felt well.
81
The field crops planted there look well. Brother Hamlin had
planted some cotton, which was not looking very well,--perhaps in
consequence of the rude manner which they had adopted in their
planting; for they had adopted the Indian manner of planting,
which the cotton-growers told me was not a good one.
82
From the Fort on Santa Clara we passed over then miles to the Rio
Virgin. We found the company of cotton-growers in good health and
excellent spirits. They were engaged in getting out the water and
making ditches for the cotton. They succeeded, about the same
time we arrived, in finding a good pasture, plenty of water, and
an inexhaustible amount of cedar. The men with whom I conversed
about the soil expressed their opinion that from the appearance
and resemblance of the soil to that in Texas, it will produce
good cotton. I gave them what good advice was suggested to my
mind, told them as many good things as I could think of, bade
them farewell, and came away.
82
I will here mention one thing that brother Knight told me. He
said that he had made an exploration from there to the point on
the old California Road called the Beaver Dam, to find a way for
a road, and had found a good chance for one. To make a road in
the direction explored would only require the labour of ten men
with teams for two days, and then this road will pass the Cotton
Farm and intersect the present California Road at Coal Creek, by
way of Harmony from Cotton Creek.
82
I came to Harmony and preached there, and then came on to Coal
Creek and preached there, as has been my custom whenever I have
travelled that way for several years past. At the last named
place we waited on our train, which came in some two or three
days subsequent to our arrival. I found the brethren there
labouring to make iron. They were putting up the engine, and they
confidently asserted that there would be iron made there, and
that, too, of a quality that will meet the wants of the people.
82
From Coal Creek I passed over to Parowan and preached to the
people there, and found the good Spirit among and with them.
82
We had no particular bad luck, that I know of, on the way, except
that brother Rich's family were afflicted, and one of his
children died. This was all the ill luck that befell us up to the
time I left camp a week ago yesterday. When the mail overtook us,
I got into the waggon and rode with the mail, which I supposed
would be a slight relief from the mode of travelling which I had
practised while with the train. I travelled with the mail until I
arrived in this city, which was on last Wednesday evening; since
which time I have been resting.
82
As I said when I arose, I do not feel like preaching; but I would
simply ask you, as a part of Father's family, Does our courage
increase? Does our valour increase, so that we can live for the
truth--for our religion? It is a common thing with the world for
them to be complimented for their bravery. And this matter of
dying for the truth--dying for a man's opinions--is a common
thing. Men have died for their opinions when those opinions were
erroneous; but if it is truth that men die for, it is all the
better. But it occurs to me that it is better for us to live our
religion, and let the dying take care of itself; for I find that
it is a very easy matter for an individual to die. Men can with
much less faith and less trouble of life place themselves in a
position to get killed than to so purify themselves, their
actions, and by regulating themselves by the truth and actually
to live their religion in the legitimate spirit of the Gospel.
82
This is what I consider to be the greatest, the noblest thing for
the Saints to do, It is this that has brought all the joy to my
mind--that has fixed the principles of the Gospel upon my mind;
it is this that has brought all the blessings that I have
realized since I embraced the Gospel; and it is this that enables
me to enjoy the Spirit as I get along through the world: and I
feel that it is good for me to continue to enjoy this Spirit. And
that we may all be so happy and so blest as to keep this
constantly and unceasingly in view, that we may be saved
eternally in our Father's kingdom, is my prayer. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Wilford
Woodruff, April 9, 1857
Wilford Woodruff, April 9, 1857
NECESSITY OF ADHERING TO THE PRIESTHOOD IN PREFERENCE TO SCIENCE
AND ART.
Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 9, 1857.
83
It is a pleasure to me, and I presume it is to all the brethren
who have lived in the midst of this people during the rise and
progress of this Church and kingdom, to see the sons of the
Prophets stand before the people as they have this day and hear
their words while bearing testimony of the work of God.
83
I well remember the time that our young brethren who have
addressed us were called on their missions, and they, in
connection with brother Grant, brother Ellsworth, and others, met
at my house one evening to receive their blessings under the
hands of the Twelve Apostles. When they had received their
blessings, they were called upon to speak their feelings,--most
of them, I suppose, for the first time in their lives. True, they
had sat under the teachings of the servants of God from their
infancy. When most of them had expressed their feelings relative
to going on a mission to England, brother Joseph A. Young said,
"Brethren, I will tell you my feelings when I come home." We have
heard from him since he came home. His feelings have been
expressed much to our edification. That remark sounded well to
me, and truly it has been very edifying and interesting to me to
hear the speeches which have been made by all the young brethren
since they have returned. The spirit they manifest shows to me
that the blessing and spirit of their fathers are with them; and
I realize that the Spirit of the Most High is in them, and that
ere long they will become mighty men in Israel, and will have to
bear off this kingdom and shoulder the care and responsibility of
it, when their fathers are resting in the grave or leaning on
their staffs for very age.
83
There is Parley Pratt, jun., who has just spoken. I remember the
day of his birth very well; for his mother died the day he was
born, and I attended her funeral. Now he has grown to be a man,
and I rejoice to hear him bear testimony of the work of God in
connection with the other young brethren. It does my soul good to
see them coming on to the stage of action. I realize that the
kingdom of our God, of which we are members, is only in its
infancy, although we look upon it as being great, compared with
what it has been.
83
It commenced like a small mustard seed, but it has gradually
increased until the birds begin to lodge in its branches; and yet
it is but small, compared with what it is to be. We have had many
symbols and figures presented to our minds to illustrate the
growth and increase of the kingdom of God; and I will here say,
in respect to its being like the comparison made by Daniel, it
answers the figure very well,--only, instead of its rolling down
hill, it has come up hill into the tops of the mountains; and I
do hope and pray that it may continue to grow and increase in
strength and in power, that when it rolls down hill it may go
with mighty power and accelerated speed, that it may not require
so much toil, labour, and fatigue to carry the kingdom from the
mountains as it did to bring it up.
84
I have no fears in regard to the increase of this kingdom,
and I may also add that I never had any, only so far as concerned
the weaknesses and frailties of mortality. I hope we may all
pursue the course laid down for us by the servants of the Lord;
for, if we do this, I know that we shall be safe in this world,
and secure happiness and exaltation in the world to come.
84
There are a few thoughts that I wish to present to the
congregation touching one principle that has been alluded to by
the brethren,--namely, in regard to following the instructions
and counsels of those who lead us. I have reflected much upon
this subject, and I contend that there is one principle by which
the Lord leads his servants, and if we are faithful, they will
lead us in the way of life; and inasmuch as we have faith to
believe in their instructions--in the teachings of the Holy
Spirit through them, we are always in the safe path, and shall be
sure of our reward.
84
You take a shepherd, for instance; and, according to the ancient
practice, we learn that they always went forward and prepared the
way, so that there could be no danger in advance but what the
shepherd would learn of in time to save the sheep. If they are
allowed to run by the shepherd, the wolves are apt to catch them
and destroy them; and the very moment that men in this kingdom
attempt to run a head or cross the path of their leaders, no
matter in what respect, the moment they do this they are in
danger of being injured by the wolves.
84
This is a subject upon which I have thought a great deal; and I
have gained a little useful knowledge, during my experience, by
watching the conduct of men; and I have never in my life known it
to fail, that when men went contrary to the counsel of their
leaders, either in the days of Joseph or brother Brigham, they
always became entangled and suffered a loss by so doing.
84
Now, whatever I might have obtained in the shape of learning, by
searching and study respecting the arts and sciences of
men,--whatever principles I may have imbibed during my scientific
researches, yet, if the Prophet of God should tell me that a
certain principle or theory which I might have learned was not
true, I do not care what my ideas might have been, I should
consider it my duty, at the suggestion of my file leader, to
abandon that principle or theory. Supposing he were to say the
principles by which you are governed are not right--that they
were incorrect, what would be my duty? I answer that it would be
my duty to lay those principles aside, and to take up those that
might be laid down by the servants of God.
85
I have seen men in the days of Joseph bring up principles, and
read, and teach, and advocate theories, when the Prophet would
say, "It is not right to do so: they are not true." Those men
would still argue, maintain their position, and they would write
in defence of their theories when the Prophet condemned them, and
they would say, "We have no faith in your theory, nor in the
system you present." The very moment a man does that, he crosses
the path of the servant of God who is set to lead the way to life
and salvation. This is one thing that the Elders should carefully
avoid. The fact is, there are a great many things taught in the
building up of this kingdom which seem strange to us, being
contrary to our traditions, and are calculated to try men.
Brother Joseph used a great many methods of testing the integrity
of men; and he taught a great many things which, in consequence
of tradition, required prayer, faith, and a testimony from the
Lord, before they could be believed by many of the Saints. His
mind was opened by the visions of the Almighty, and the Lord
taught him many things by vision and revelation that were never
taught publicly in his days; for the people could not bear the
flood of intelligence which God poured into his mind.
85
How was it in that day in reference to many things that were
taught and practised? All was not revealed at once, but the Lord
showed the Prophet a principle, and the people acted upon it
according to the light which they had. All the perfection and
glory of it was not revealed at first; but, as fast as it was
revealed, the people endeavoured to obey.
85
I will bring up one thing which will show that the position I
take is correct,--viz., baptism for the dead. When that was first
revealed, we rejoiced in it; and, as soon as we had an
opportunity, we began to be baptized for our dead. A man would be
baptized for both male and female. The moment I heard of it, my
soul leaped with joy; for it was a subject in which I felt deeply
interested. I went forward and was baptized for all my dead
relatives I could think of, both male and female, as did others;
but, afterwards, we obtained more light upon the subject, and
President Young taught the people that men should attend to those
ordinances for the male portion of their dead friends, and
females for females. This showed the order in which those
ordinances should be administered, which ordinances had before
been revealed, and shows us that we are in a school where we
shall be constantly learning.
85
This revelation, in connection with the revelation and vision
concerning the three glories, gave me more joy and consolation
than any revelation I ever read, and I had a great desire to obey
it.
85
I was taught from my childhood that there was one heaven and one
hell, and was told that the wicked all had one punishment, and
the righteous one glory,--that the grey-headed sinner, who had
spent his days in wickedness, debauchery, and murder, would go to
hell to suffer everlasting torments, and that the youth but
sixteen years of age, who had not been religious, would go to the
same hell, suffer the same kind of torment and for the same
length of time, and that Jesus, and the Apostles, and all men who
had suffered death for the testimony which they bore for the
kingdom of God and the works of righteousness would have the same
glory and no more than the Presbyterian deacon in Kentucky with
his hundred negroes, who had never made a sacrifice in his life,
but had been full of this world's goods, but he was a professor
of religion.
85
I never did believe a word of this doctrine a day since I was
born, and I am sure that I never did before; and when I read the
vision and was taught the principle of the baptism for the dead,
it enlightened my mind and gave me great joy. It appeared to me
that the God who revealed that principle unto man was wise, just,
and true--possessed both the best of attributes, and good sense,
and knowledge. I felt He was consistent with both love, mercy,
justice, and judgment; and I felt to love the Lord more than ever
before in my life. I never was satisfied with the doctrine taught
by the sectarian world upon this subject in my life, and hence I
felt to say hallelujah when the revelation came forth revealing
to us baptism for the dead. I felt that we had a right to rejoice
in the blessings of Heaven. I felt, when I first learned of the
justice of God in relation to his rewarding all men according to
their deeds, that such a God was reasonable; and I felt I could
worship such a God; and I was just so when I heard of baptism for
the dead.
86
There are thousands and millions who never had the privilege of
being baptized for themselves, and hence never ought to be
punished for not obeying a law which they never heard. How did we
feel when we first heard the living could be baptized for the
dead? We all went to work at it as fast as we had an opportunity,
and were baptized for every body we could think of, without
respect to sex. I went and was baptized for all my friends,
grandmothers, and aunts, as those of the male sex; but how was
it? Why, by-and-by, it was revealed, through the servants of the
Lord, that females should be baptised for females, and males for
males; but the full particulars of this order was not revealed
till after the days of Joseph: therefore this shows an advance in
the building up of the kingdom, the gathering up of the kingdom
the gathering of Israel, and the warming of the nations of the
earth.
86
You will see an advance in a great many things; for the Lord will
open the mind of brother Brigham and lead him into many
principles that pertain to the salvation of this people; and we
cannot close up our minds and say that we will go so far and no
farther. This we cannot do without jeopardising our standing
before God.
86
With regard to crossing the path of any man who may be appointed
to lead us, I will say we never should do it; and I do not care
what our feelings and views may be upon the subject as far as our
traditions and education are concerned. If God has anything to
reveal, he will reveal it to that man who stands at the head.
Now, here is the quorum of the Twelve Apostles: we cannot bring
forth a new revelation for the guidance of this people while the
First Presidency are here; for there is no other plan, no other
system by which to guide and govern men in this kingdom, only
that which has been established by the revelations of God in the
order of His church and kingdom; and that is, for the head to
lead, counsel, and govern in all dispensations in which the will
of God is revealed to man.
86
I wish to say a few words to the missionaries--to those who are
going abroad to preach the Gospel of Christ. I want to give you a
word of exhortation and counsel, brethren: that is, whenever you
are in doubt about any duty or work which you have to perform,
never proceed to do anything until you go and labour in prayer
and get the Holy Spirit. Wherever the Spirit dictates you to go
or to do, that will be right; and, by following its dictates, you
will come out right.
86
We shall be brought to many places during our career in the
ministry among the nations of the earth, where we may consider a
certain course of procedure to be right; but, if we do not know,
it will be better for us to go before the Lord, and ask in faith
that we may be instructed in the way of life.
86
I will take the liberty of saying that it is your privilege,
brethren, to get the mind and will of the Lord in relation to
your duties while abroad among the people; and it is also the
privilege of the whole people who are called Israel to obtain the
revelations of the Holy Spirit to guide them in every duty in
life. Whatever position a man may stand in, it is his privilege,
as a Saint of God, to enjoy this blessing; and a man who
understands himself will not move without the operations of that
Spirit to lead him.
87
Brethren, as the order of the day is short sermons, I will not
detain you longer; but I will say that I am happy to be with you,
and my soul does rejoice in the things of God; for I feel that I
have been fed in my mind, not only to-day, but yesterday, and all
through the Conference; and I do feel that we of all men have the
greatest reason to rejoice; for the Lord has committed into our
hands the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the way of life and salvation.
We can walk into this Tabernacle and our places of worship, and
sing, and pray, and preach, and praise the Lord, with none to
molest us. We can plant, and build, and eat, and inherit those
things which God has given us, in peace and quietness. For these
things we should feel thankful, and feel in our hearts to
acknowledge the hand of God therein.
87
The truths and revelations which have been made known unto this
people, for their salvation, and exaltation, and glory, and for
the salvation of all men, both the living and the dead, are of
great value and worth unto us,--and unto all men, if they would
receive them. We are the only people to whom this holy Gospel,
Priesthood, and covenants have been committed in our day; and we
shall be held responsible for the use we make of them. Then we
should be diligent and faithful in offering this great salvation
unto the children of men, and in building up Zion and the kingdom
of our God. We should also be careful to strictly obey the voice
of our Heavenly Father and the voice and counsel of His servants
who are set to lead us; which may the Lord enable us to
do,--which I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, July 26, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, July 26, 1857
ONENESS OF THE PRIESTHOOD--IMPOSSIBILITY OF OBLITERATING
MORMONISM--GOSPEL
ORDINANCES--DEPOPULATION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES--THE COMING FAMINE,
ETC.
Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Bowery
Great Salt Lake City, July 26, 1857.
87
If the brethren and sisters would like to hear me talk a little
in my rough way, I will try.
87
My feelings are like this, that I may have no will but that which
is extract from the will of God, that my will may be the will of
God, just as much as there are three drops of water, the first,
the second, and the third drop, and the second and the third
drops run into the first, and they are combined in one. Now,
inasmuch as they are combined and have become one with the Father
and the Son, it is a pretty hard thing for any person on earth to
extract those three drops; they cannot be extracted or divided,
for they are one, and they are one with the Father and the Son.
87
We receive the Spirit of Jesus as he receives it from the Father,
and we receive it from the Son, or down, through the channel of
the Holy Priesthood from the Father; then we are like one vine or
one tree, the Father being the root, and the Son of God the tree
or vine that sprung from the Father, and we are the branches,
sprung out of that vine. Then, inasmuch as we abide in Joseph or
in Brigham, and then Brigham abides in Joseph, and Joseph in
Peter, and Peter in Jesus, and then Jesus in the Father, don't
you see we are one? And then we will extend it to the Twelve in
these last days; they are one with the First Presidency, and then
the Seventies with the Twelve, and then the High Priests and
other officers. Ain't we one?
88
That is the way we have got to be one; we have got to come to
that; and when we do, the Spirit of God will rest upon us, and
the Spirit of Jesus, and of all the Prophets, and Apostles, and
holy men of God that ever did live or ever will. Then the same
Spirit and power will rest upon our sisters as it did upon Mary,
and Elizabeth, and Anna, and thousands of others.
88
I wonder if the brethren understand me? If you do not, I shall
have to get some more simple figure; for a tree in its nature is
like a grape vine, or a cucumber vine, or a watermelon vine. You
plant a cucumber seed, and it brings forth a cucumber vine. You
may take this vine, and there is a main vine, and then there are
other vines that break out of that main vine; you take away one
of these vines from the main true vine, and it would cease to
exist, because it is disconnected from the vine to which it was
connected; therefore it cannot bring forth fruit. Don't you
understand this, you men and women that are farmers?
88
Brother Brigham was speaking this forenoon, showing what an
influence he has over this people. I want to know if he has any
over a man or woman that is not in this vine, he being the head
now? When Joseph was here, he was the head of the vine in the
flesh; but since he stepped away, brother Brigham is head of the
vine, and we are connected to it; all you men and women, and then
all the Saints throughout the world are connected to that vine to
which he is connected; and he has power and influence over them,
because they partake of his nature and his element, and he
partakes of the element that came through Joseph, and Joseph from
Peter, and Peter from Jesus, and Jesus from the Father, and then
it extends through all the Quorums that pertain to the house of
Israel.
88
I was speaking the other day how you should make your connections
very strong; and, instead of breaking these fibres pertaining to
that cable, you should keep adding strength to strength. If you
do that, there never will be a separation between us and those
that hold the Priesthood before us,--no, never.
88
What an almighty influence our Father and our God will have when
He has gathered all His children! Will they control the remaining
portion of the human family? They will. As I said that day, and
as brother Joseph has said to-day, we hold the keys--that is,
brother Brigham and his brethren--they hold the keys of the
living and the dead.
88
What! of those that do not belong to this Church? Yes, just as
much as those that do; and they cannot get salvation upon any
other principle. Well, now, you need not think that is a tight
jacket; for I will tell you it is a jacket you have all to wear.
You may grunt, and you may take a course to kill this people and
destroy the Prophet. Good God! there will a hundred come up where
you kill one. Bless your souls, if a man is a Prophet, and that
Prophet has a posterity, his whole posterity are prophets. Tell
about raising up kings, and priests, and prophets unto the Most
High God! You may kill brother Brigham: kill him, if you can; but
I tell you, you will never do it nor his brother Heber, until the
times comes.
89
I never killed anybody, and I have a pretty good assurance to
live a good while. You may kill brother Brigham, if you can, and
what will be the effect of it? There will be a thousand Brighams
that will rise through him, just as much as it would if you went
into your field and you found an almighty big mustard stalk, and
it was ripe, and you had no more sense but hit it a crack and
break it down; there will be a thousand, and perhaps a million of
mustards come from the old stalk. It will be just so if you kill
brother Brigham or Heber, and it was so when they killed brother
Joseph; there is a thousand now living where there was but one
when he was killed.
89
Prophets! There is not a man or woman in this congregation, if
they live their religion and have the Holy Ghost upon them, but
what are prophets, every one of them. I feel as Moses said to a
certain class that had the sweeny; they were superstitious, and
could not bear to hear any men and women prophecy but themselves:
they complained to Moses of a certain person prophesying; and
said he, "I wish to God they were all prophets." I wish to God
you, brethren and sisters, were all prophets and prophetesses;
you may be, if you live your religion; you cannot help
yourselves. We shall be like so many drops of water all run into
the first drop; then the first drop and all the drops become
amalgamated together, and they are like one drop. Bless your
souls, our little children will prophesy, that come out of us,
because we are one.
89
It is living in the vine of the last dispensation that makes us
one, and we should be one, for Jesus says, "Except ye are one, ye
are not mine." As brother Brigham, brother Smoot and others have
said, can the world do anything against this work? No. Jesus says
that they can do nothing against the truth, but for it; and it
will increase it, just the same as it would to destroy the old
mustard stalk that has got ten thousand little seeds; you only
increase it ten thousand times.
89
Can the world obliterate "Mormonism"--this Church and kingdom of
God? Gentlemen, you might just as well go into the heavens and
undertake to obliterate the worlds and the stars that you see on
some of these beautiful nights when it is so clear. You can see
the stars; they are as thick as the hairs on my head. What are
they? They are worlds like this, and redeemed worlds, as this
will be some time; and we are the boys that will help to redeem
it. We look a good deal like other folks.
89
I speak of these things, brethren, by way of encouragement. They
may just as well try to obliterate those worlds that are
redeemed, and perhaps ten times larger than this world, as to
undertake to obliterate "Mormonism."
89
You call us fools: but the day will be, gentlemen and ladies,
whether you belong to this Church or not, when you will prize
brother Joseph Smith as the Prophet of the Living God, and look
upon him as a God, and also upon Brigham Young, our Governor in
the Territory of Deseret.
89
Well, I will say there is no other man, except it is his
successor in the Priesthood, that will ever rule over me as a
Governor. [Voices, all over the congregation: "Amen."] A man not
holding the Priesthood may come here in the capacity of a
Governor, if he pleases, and will act properly in the line of his
office; but if he does not magnify wholesome laws, we will teach
him his duty.
90
Sending a man here with 2,500 troops! They have no design in God
Almighty's world only to raise a rookery with this people and
bring us into collision with the United States; and when they
come here, the first dab will be to take brother Brigham Young,
and Heber C. Kimball, and others, and they will slay us. That is
their design; and if we will not yield to their meanness, they
will say we have mutinized against the President of the United
States, and then they will put us under martial law and massacre
this people. That has been the design of the men that have been
here. [Voice in the stand: "They can't come it."] "No, they can't
come it."
90
Drummond, and those miserable scoundrels, and some that are now
in our midst--how do I feel towards them? Pray for them? Yes, I
pray that God Almighty would send them to hell. Some say across
lots; but I would like to have them take a round about road, and
he as long as they can be in going there. How do you suppose I
feel?
90
I have been driven five times--been broken up and my goods robbed
from me, and I have been afflicted almost to death. I am here
with wives and children, and as good women as can be found in the
United States. You may search the States through, and you cannot
find as good ones. Have others here got as good? I do not know
that I will talk about others; but I will say what I have a mind
to about my own. I have got women that were brought up decently
and respectably; and they are virtuous women; and you may send
all the men from hell, and they cannot come around my women and
brother Brigham's, notwithstanding some have told in Carson
Valley that our women are all prostitutes, and that they could
use any one of them they pleased, as I have been informed.
90
That is the story they have told about you, sisters, as I have
heard. How do you like that statement? Still there are some here
who sustain such characters in their wickedness, as they did
Drummond and others. I think just as much of the persons who
sustain those miserable characters as I do of them, and no more.
And I think just as much of those who sympathize with them.
Whether they are men or women, I do not care one whit. I know the
virtue of my women, and the virtue of brother Brigham's women,
and of those of our brethren who are connected with us.
90
The world say that we have things in common stock. There is no
such thing. We throw our interest together, but my wives are
wives that are given to me by the Almighty God through the proper
source; and it is so with every other man. There is no man in
this Valley that is a Saint that meddles with my wives, nor I
with his. Those things are not carried on here. Every man has his
house by himself and his concerns; but, if we have a mind to
throw in our property into the general reservoir and hold it in
common, then every man has a stewardship; I want to know what
business it is to anybody? I have a right to throw in my property
in connection with brother Brigham's, and he with me, and then
occupy it for ever, and let the avails thereof increase our
riches; and if every other man would take the same course, it
would be far better for us. If we cannot be one in temporal
things, how can we be one in spiritual things?
90
We do not believe in whoredoms here; we do not admit of any such
thing as women to whore it, or of men to come here to do any such
thing. We have none of this. [Voice: "That is civilization."]
90
Yes, such as they have in New York at the Five Points there. Some
of you have, perhaps, been there, and in Philadelphia, and in
every other city in the United States. There is the city of
Rochester, about as small a city as there is in the United
States. I have been there when there was but two little log
cabins, when there was not such a thing known as a prostitute;
and now, at this day, there are thousands of persons of ill fame,
and the authorities license such things.
91
Christians--those poor, miserable priests brother Brigham was
speaking about--some of them are the biggest whoremasters there
are on the earth, and at the same time preaching righteousness to
the children of men. The poor devils, they could not get up here
and preach an oral discourse, to save themselves from hell; they
are preaching their fathers' sermons--preaching sermons that were
written a hundred years before they were born.
91
We are very tenacious, as brother George A. said, pertaining to
the law of God and the institutions of heaven. We know there is
no other way for men to be saved--there is no person on the earth
can be saved upon any other principle than the one that saves me.
Says one, "What is that?" The first step is to believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God; and when you have,
and laid your sins aside, and think you will quit sinning, then
be baptized in water, that your sins may be washed away, or
blotted out, that you may receive the remission of them; and have
a man that has got authority to do it lay hands upon you, that
you may receive the Holy Ghost.
91
Can you change these ordinances? No. They are eternal; they
always were and always will be; and no man or woman upon earth
can be saved without them. You may get a Methodist priest to pour
water on you, or sprinkle it on you, and baptize you face
foremost, or lay you down the other way, and whatever mode you
please, and you will be damned with your priest. There is but one
way, and that is to be buried in water, buried with Christ by
baptizing in water, that your sins may be blotted out by one
having authority, or else it will do you no good.
91
Every man that is alive can act for himself under the hands of a
man having authority. How will you manage for the dead? You will
have to do it by proxy. For instance, I have got a father who
died before "Mormonism" came; I go to brother Brigham when we
have a place for it: says I, "brother Brigham, I want to be
baptized for my father;" he takes me and baptizes me for my
father, I acting as proxy, or for and in behalf of my father, and
it is done upon the same principle that we do it for ourselves;
and that is recorded.
91
Can I go and be baptized for my mother? Yes, I can be, though
that is not the strict order of the law of the kingdom; but let a
man act for a man, and a woman for a woman, that each may bear
their share. I will let my wife go and attend to that, she acting
as proxy for my mother, and I for my father. Well now, I have got
to attend to all the ordinances faithfully that I attend to for
myself, and then, when the time comes, I can take my father and
mother, and act for my father, and my wife act for my mother; and
then they can be connected in marriage, and then their father and
their mother, and so keep going on until we get back where we
came from, and connect the Priesthood together, and have the
chain perfect from these days to the days of Jesus, and then back
to Adam.
91
Perhaps my father may not receive the Gospel. If he don't, my
baptism will not do him any good. He is in the spirit-world; he
has to believe and embrace the Gospel in his heart and
affections, and then I receive knowledge from him through a
proper authority, and I am administered to for him. You might as
well go and be baptized for a devil as for a man who will not
receive the Gospel in the spirit-world.
92
I expect I shall have to go and preach to the spirits in prison
where they live, in London, in Germany, and other places. What!
after I am dead? Yes. You. You may call us wild for believing
such things. Go and read the Bible--the book your mother taught
to you when you were sitting on her knees and nursing at her
breast. This good old Bible, you think we do not believe it: we
believe every word of it, and practice it. If we do not, we are
determined we will, by the help of God, that portion of it that
alludes to us.
92
Plurality of wives! I have a good many wives. How much would you
give to know how many? If I were to tell you, you would not
believe it. I suppose many of you have not believed a word we
have said to-day. We do not care whether you do or not. I am
speaking to the unbelievers, and not to the Saints. If I spoke
lies, you would believe quicker. Suffice it to say I have a good
many wives and lots of young mustards that are growing, and they
are a kind of fruitful seed.
92
You know my comparison was, when Dr. Bernhisel was at Washington,
we did not know what the Dr. would think when we let the old cat
out of the bag. I told him that the old cat would have kittens,
and the kittens would have cats. It is so with "Mormonism;" it
will flourish and increase, and it will multiply in young
"Mormons." "To be plain about it, Mr. Kimball, what did you get
these wives for?" The Lord told me to get them. "What for?" To
raise up young "Mormons,"--not to have women to commit whoredoms
with, to gratify the lusts of the flesh, but to raise up
children.
92
The priests of the day in the whole world keep women, just the
same as the gentlemen of the Legislatures do. The great men of
the earth keep from two to three, and perhaps half-a-dozen
private women. They are not acknowledged openly, but are kept
merely to gratify their lusts; and if they get in the family way,
they call for the doctors, and also upon females who practise
under the garb of midwives, to kill the children, and thus they
are depopulating their own species. {Voice: "And their names
shall come to an end."] Yes, because they shed innocent blood.
92
I knew that before I received "Mormonism." I have known of lots
of women calling for a doctor to destroy their children; and
there are many of the women in this enlightened age and in the
most popular towns and cities in the Union that take a course to
get rid of their children. The whole nation is guilty of it. I am
telling the truth. I won't call it infanticide. You know I am
famous for calling things by their names.
92
I have been taught it, and my wife was taught it in our young
days, when she got into the family way, to send for a doctor and
get rid of the child, so as to live with me to gratify lust. It
is God's truth, and I know the person that did it. This is
depopulating the human species; and the curse of God will come
upon that man, and upon that woman, and upon those cursed
doctors. There is scarcely one of them that is free from the sin.
It is just as common as it is for wheat to grow.
93
Do we take that course here? No. I have buried several children;
I have buried them in York State, too, in Monroe county, where I
lived all my young days, and where I became acquainted with
brother Brigham, which is rising of thirty years that we have
been together, about twelve miles from where Joseph Smith lived
and found the Book of Mormon. I buried two children there, lawful
children, born to me by my first wife; and then I have buried
some ten children here, born to me by my lawful wives; and I have
had altogether about fifty children; and one hundred years won't
pass away before my posterity will out-number the present
inhabitants of the State of New York, because I do not destroy my
offspring, I am doing the works of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and
if I live and be a good man, and my wives are as good as they
should be, I will raise up men yet, that will come through my
loins, that will be as great men as ever came to this earth; and
so will you.
93
I will tell you that some of the most noble spirits are waiting
with the Father to this day to come forth through the right
channel and the right kind of men and women. That is what has to
be yet; for there are thousands and millions of spirits waiting
to obtain bodies upon this earth.
93
I thought a good deal about one verse of brother Poulter's song
that he sang here to-day,--one verse in particular, speaking of
the ladies. A man is a man, if he is connected with the
Priesthood and is a good man of God--a holy man. That man can
produce wonders, although he may be inferior in stature.
93
A great many women are more nice than wise. If they can get a man
with a pretty face, they think it is all there is about it. Some
men think if they can get a woman that has a handsome face, that
is all there is of it. But it is that woman that has a head and
sensibility,--I do not care if her head is three feet long,--it
has nothing to do with the character that lives in the body. It
is the character that is in the man's house, the spirit that is
in the man; it is the spirit that is in the woman and in the
house that makes the woman and that makes the man.
93
Talk about going into the spirit-world. The whole nation will go
there. Are they going to know Jesus Christ? Are they going to
know Joseph, and Brigham, and Heber? No, they won't know us
there, because other men will go and preach to them; and then
they have got to believe on those men, or else they cannot pass
them and go by those authorities.
93
Then let us live to be men and women of God, and cultivate that
Spirit that dwells in us; for I have told you many a time that if
you receive a bad spirit in you here to-day in this Bowery, you
may get up and go out of door; but will you not have the same
spirit as you had received when you started to go out? If you
retain that wicked spirit, going out of door will not make you
better.
93
When a man becomes a devil, and has killed the Prophets and
Apostles, while he is in this house, or tabernacle of his spirit,
will it change his feelings to go out of door, or to lay down
that tabernacle? There will then be the same spirit and
disposition that is in the spirit while it is in the body. When
it leaves the body, does that change the spirit?
93
It is the spirit in man which affects the conduct; it ain't the
body. I can stand here and let you go to work and defile this
house. I have to answer for that sin. If my spirit is guilty in
letting my body do a thing that is contrary to the will of God,
it is my spirit that has got to pay the debt. It is my spirit
that is to be judged in the day of eternity and is answerable for
the sins that I suffer my body to do.
93
I want you to think of these things, live your religion, keep the
commandments of God, do as you are told, lay up your grain.
94
Brother Joseph made me think of one thing this morning when he
was talking, that we are the very characters that will have to
save the poor curses that are trying to kill us. They are trying
to destroy that Priesthood that pertains to them as much as it
does to me. We have got to save them and they have got to come to
us. It is degrading to their feelings; but, as degrading as it
is, they will come bending to us. What! to brother H. C. Kimball?
Yes, as true as the sun shines, if I live my religion; and you
will have to bow to me, brother Brigham, and Joseph Smith, and
the Twelve Apostles, and thousands and millions of others; for I
will tell you, if you make war while you are in the flesh with
the servants of God, you never can be redeemed until you make an
atonement to satisfy us, and then Joseph, and Peter, and Jesus,
and to satisfy the Father: you have offended the whole of them.
94
The day will be, and it will not be many years either: it will be
about the time the United States want to send a sufficient force
here. About the time they will get unto the hottest times will be
about that time. They will persecute us all the time the same as
Joseph's brethren did Joseph in Egypt. They whipped him and threw
him into a pit, and then they thought of killing him; but Judah
prevailed and saved him, and then they took him and sold him as a
slave, and he obtained favour in the eyes of the King, and
finally held dominion over that whole kingdom, and reared the
kingdom, and raised grain previous to the famine, and saved and
redeemed his whole father's house and millions of others; and
everything had to bow down to the power of Joseph.
94
As true as that thing is true, so true it will be that our
enemies will have to bow down to us; and we may do the best we
can to store up stores; and it is all we can do before they will
come bending unto us. And the President of the United States will
bow to us and come to consult the authorities of this Church to
know what he had best to do for his people.
94
You don't believe this. Wait and see; and just about the time
they think they have got us, the Lord has got them fast. Now mark
it, George; you may write every word of it.
94
I will tell you that brother Brigham and his brethren can tell
the difference between the wheat and the chaff. [Voice: "The Lord
gives wheat and the Devil gives chaff.] Retain all the wheat; and
if there is any chaff there, give it to the Devils and the wheat,
and the oat, and the barley you shall have; and the day is at
hand for you to go to work to raise sheep and raise flax, and
there shall be a coat on it four times thicker than any flax you
ever saw, and everything else shall increase.
94
Why do you ask God to give you these things until you go to work
and raise them? I sowed wheat three years before I got a bit. The
Devil or somebody tried to prove me; but I would have stuck to it
until this day. I would not give a dime for a man or woman that
is not of that character.
94
Am I going to be a Joseph? I will be a Heber, and Brigham will be
a Brigham, and he will lay up stores for the inhabitants of the
earth, and we will redeem the earth and the inhabitants
thereof,--I care not whether they are dead or alive; and I would
rather have a lot of dead creatures than many that profess to be
Saints here. If they were dead and out of the way, their absence
would be a help to us; for they try to hinder the progress of the
work of God: but we will be the saviours of the children of men
in the last days.
94
Mark my words, and see if these things do not come to pass
quicker than you can prepare yourselves for them.
94
Will this land be a land of milk and honey? Yes. Missouri is
cracked up to be the greatest honey country that there is on the
earth; but it will not be many years before they cannot raise a
spoonful in that land, nor in Illinois, nor in any other land
where they fight against God. Mildew shall come upon their honey,
their bees, and their crops; and famine and desolation shall come
upon the nation like a whirlwind.
95
Go and read the Prophets: they all say so. You never saw a
Prophet in your life but what would say so. Don't be frightened:
I tell you it will come. I am willing that my friends that have
come through here from California should tell them of it; and it
would be better for you to believe it yourselves, and go and make
calculations accordingly.
95
Shall we ever be brought to want? I tell you, if we live our
religion, we never shall. Cannot God Almighty send manna here,
honey, and everything else, just as well as he could in the days
of Moses? This is the last dispensation, and it has got all the
power, the interest, the miracles that were in all of them, and
tenfold more.
95
Last year or the year before they made some thousands of pounds
of sugar at Provo and other places from the honey-dew. Where did
they find it? On the leaves of the cottonwood, the quaking asp,
and the milk-weed. They are now making honey from milk-weed.
95
What does all this mean? And then don't you believe God can rain
sweetening as well as running water? This I can prove by
thousands of witnesses--good sugar, as handsome as I ever made in
the United States; and I have made hundreds of tons of it. The
maple-trees in the States will be blasted; yes, and they might as
well try to make sugar from an oak tree: and everything else will
be mildewed and go to destruction, when we shall have thousands.
95
Have not we felt the rod? Yes; and God says judgment shall come,
and it shall commence at the house of God first, and then it will
come upon those that have rebelled in the house of God; and of
all the suffering that ever fell upon men and women will fall
upon the apostates. They have got to pay all the debt of the
trouble that they have brought upon the innocent from the days of
Joseph to this day, and they cannot get rid of it.
95
Will we have manna? Yes. The United States have 700 waggons
loaded with about 2 tons to each waggon with all kinds of things,
and then 7,000 head of cattle; and there are said to be 2,500
troops, with this, and that, and the other. That is all right.
Suppose the troops don't get here, but all these goods and cattle
come. Well, that would be mighty help to us; that would clothe up
the boys and the girls, and make them comfortable; and then,
remember, there are 15 months' provisions besides. I am only
talking about this. Suppose it extends on for four or five years,
and they send 100,000 troops, and provisions, and goods in
proportion, and everything else got here, and they did not.
95
I am talking by comparison to the Saints, and you that are
without do not understand it. I am a kind of funny fellow; I
always was. I will tell you what kind of a chap I am, and brother
Brigham, and brother Joseph, and Hyrum, and David, and Charles,
and all those boys. I will tell you now, as true as you live, I
am one of the sons of the old veterans that won the liberties of
this land, and so is brother Brigham, because he knew his father,
and I knew my own father; and it is not every man that does.
96
You may write that--there is one man on the earth that knows his
daddy. We are boys, with thousands of others that their fathers,
their grandfathers, and great grandfathers redeemed this land;
and God Almighty inspired those men. They were naturally heirs to
the Holy Priesthood, every one of them, pretty much; and we are
their sons, and we will redeem this land, and we will save the
children of this land, and the Constitution of the United States;
and we will bring about the restitution of the house of Israel.
96
I do not care if we die in twenty minutes,--as true as there is a
resurrection, or ever was, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and
Joseph, and thousands of others will be redeemed and get their
resurrection; and I will see you as I see you to-day, and we will
save all that we can, and the rest will have to go to hell.
96
I believe in annihilation in one degree. Men will sin so that
they will be damned spiritually and temporally. There will be a
dissolution of the natural body and of the spirit, and they will
go back into their native element, the same as the chemist can go
to work and dissolve a five-dollar gold piece, and throw it into
a liquid. Does not that show there can be a dissolution of the
natural body and of the spirit? This is what is called the second
death.
96
May the Almighty bless you! May the peace of God be with you, and
upon your children, and your children's children, for ever and
ever! And may God Almighty curse our enemies. [Voices: "Amen."] I
feel to curse my enemies: and when God won't bless them, I do not
think he will ask me to bless them. If I did, it would be to put
the poor curses to death who have brought death and destruction
on me and my brethren--upon my wives and my children that I
buried on the road between the States and this place.
96
Did I ever wrong them, a man or woman of them, out of a dime? No;
but I have fed thousands where I never received a dime. Poor
rotten curses! And the President of the United States, inasmuch
as he has turned against us and will take a course to persist in
pleasing the ungodly curses that are howling around him for the
destruction of this people, he shall be cursed, in the name of
Israel's God, and he shall not rule over this nation, because
they are my brethren; but they have cast me out and cast you out;
and I curse him and all his coadjutors in his cursed deeds, in
the name of Jesus Christ and by the authority of the Holy
Priesthood; and all Israel shall say amen.
96
Send 2,500 troops here, our brethren, to make a desolation of
this people! God Almighty helping me, I will fight until there is
not a drop of blood in my veins. Good God! I have wives enough to
whip out the United States; for they will whip themselves. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, August 2, 1857
Brigham Young, August 2, 1857
JOSEPH SMITH'S FAMILY--BASHFULNESS IN PUBLIC SPEAKING--THE
COMING CRISIS--COUNSEL.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, August 2, 1857.
97
I rejoice in the privilege of hearing the servants of the Lord
speak to the Saints. It is a feast to me, and to hear men speak
by the Holy Ghost. I very much rejoice in seeing brother Elias
Smith upon the stand this morning. I have been acquainted with
him for many years, and yet I have never until now heard him
address an assembly, except in the capacity of a Judge. I am
thankful to hear his voice in public. He is a cousin of the
Prophet Joseph and of George A. Smith.
97
I have reflected much concerning the family of the grandfather
and father of Joseph the Prophet. Their family connections were
very extensive; and it has been a subject of deep regret to me
that there were so few in that large circle who have been valiant
for the truth since the death of the Prophet. Still I do not know
but that Joseph had quite as many of his connections valiant for
the truth, in proportion to their number, as Jesus had; for Jesus
had many brothers and sisters, and the most of them were opposed
to him, and continued so during the greater part of their lives.
I used to think, while Joseph was living, that his life compared
well with the history of the Saviour; though the most of father
Joseph Smith's family have believed and obeyed the Gospel, and
have lived their religion in a good degree. Many of them are not
here. Some of them I have known in the Eastern States that never
have gathered with us. But the old stock are pretty much dead,
and I do not know but what all of them are. Father John Smith was
the last one, in this Church, of the brothers of father Joseph
Smith; and he died, and is buried here. Grandmother Smith lived
in Kirtland a short time after she gathered.
97
I trust in the good feelings and in the confidence that brother
Elias has gained this morning in speaking as he has from this
stand; for many times I have thought of it, and regretted that he
was not on the stand a preacher with the rest. Some men rise here
to tell about their feelings, and are so diffident, so bashful,
and it is so hard for them to speak,--men, too, who have had such
privileges in their former lives as brother Elias has had, who is
well schooled, and has had an opportunity of becoming acquainted
with the best of society--with men of influence. When he arrived
to years of discretion, as he has told you, he marked out his own
path. His advantages in his youth were far greater than were
those of most of our public speakers.
98
And there is brother Carrington, when he rises here to address a
congregation--though it is seldom that we can get him on this
stand--will tell how he shrinks from speaking to the people, how
bashful and delicate his feelings are in this matter. Men who
understand language, who were taught it in their youth, who have
had the privilege of schools and good education, to get up and
tell how they shrink from addressing this people.
98
When I think of myself, I think just this--I have the grit in me,
and I will do my duty any how. When I began to speak in public, I
was about as destitute of language as a man could well be. But
tell about being bashful, when a man has all the learning and
words he can ask for! With scores and hundreds of thousands of
words with which to convey one's ideas, and then tell about being
bashful before a people! How I have had the headache, when I had
ideas to lay before the people, and not words to express them;
but I was so gritty that I always tried my best.
98
I do not like to hear men make excuses, although it is natural,
and I put up with it. I wish they could see and understand that
they have had advantages above many of their brethren--that they
have been greatly blessed, and should never complain, but should
stand up here and exercise themselves according to the best of
their ability, and do all the good possible for them to do.
98
Brother Elias Smith, I can say, is a man possessed of as much
judgment and discretion in his feelings as any man I know. He is
filled with wisdom. He is filled with judgment and with counsel,
if he would dare to let it out. I would like to hear his voice
and the voices of others, and I would like to have them not
complain much about getting up to speak before the public.
98
Often, when I stand up here, I have the feelings of a person that
is unable to convey his ideas, because I have not the advantage
of language. However, I do not very frequently complain of that,
but I rise to do the best I can and to give the people the best I
have for them at the time; and if it don't suit them they can go
without it, for I am not responsible whether it suits them or
not.
98
I rejoice in the words of brother Heber this day. He has spoken
by the power of the Holy Ghost, and you are his witnesses. You
may all witness to this; and his ideas are as rich, I may say, as
the flowers of eternity, and his ideas and his words are
congenial to my feelings and spirit. He told you here to-day that
we never differ--that I say, "Go ahead, say what you please."
98
I look at the spirits and the principles of men, and try to
behold what is in them; and if I can discover that they are
right, I do not care one particle how they express their ideas,
so that I can but understand them. I can say furthermore that you
cannot, the best of you, beat brother Kimball's language. You may
call up the college-bred man, and he cannot beat it.
98
Brother Heber and I never went to school until we got into
"Mormonism:" that was the first of our schooling. We never had
the opportunity of letters in our youth, but we had the privilege
of picking up brush, chopping down trees, rolling logs, and
working amongst the roots, and of getting our shins, feet, and
toes bruised. The uncle of brother Merrell, who now sits in the
congregation, made me the first hat that my father ever bought
for me; and I was then about eleven years of age. I did not go
bareheaded previous to that time, neither did I call on my father
to buy me a five-dollar hat every few months, as some of my boys
do. My sisters would make me what was called a Jo. Johnson cap
for winter, and in summer I wore a straw hat which I frequently
braided for myself. I learned to make bread, wash the dishes,
milk the cows, and make butter; and can make butter, and can beat
the most of the women in this community at housekeeping. Those
are about all the advantages I gained in my youth. I know how to
economise, for my father had to do it.
99
There are a great many little items pertaining to life that
I do not very often speak about. Still they have to be borne
with. They arise from traits in our characters, and we have to
meet with them right in this community. The imported goods that
we purchase are brought over a thousand miles in waggons, and yet
probably I have not a young child that is three years old but
what has cost me more to furnish with shoes than I ever cost my
father to furnish me with shoes in my whole life. Brother Heber
as been teaching you a little economy. I tell you that you have
been warned and forewarned again, that the time would come when,
if you had hats, you would have to make them; and if the ladies
had bonnets, they would have to make them here.
99
Whether it is to your sorrow or joy, I will tell you what I
discover; and I have been much surprised, and sometimes I have
been overjoyed with the discovery. Sometimes my heart quakes a
little, my nerves tremble in consequence of the great things that
God is bringing forth. Do we realize that they are coming on us,
I may say, faster than we are preparing ourselves to meet them?
There is one sign after another, revelation after revelation. The
Lord is hastening his work. He is bringing to pass the sayings of
the Prophets faster than the people are prepared to receive them.
You know that we have often exhorted you to be wide awake to your
duties, to be watchful and prayerful, and to be full of the Holy
Spirit, lest the Lord should roll on his work faster than you
could understand it.
99
It would be hard for the people to explain away the idea that the
Government of the United States is shutting down the gate upon
us, for it is too visible; and this is what hastens the work of
the Lord, which you are praying for every day. I do not believe
that there is a man or woman here, who prays at all, but what
prays every day for the Lord to hasten his work. Now take care,
for if he does, may be you will not be prepared to meet it.
99
The time must come when there will be a separation between this
kingdom and the kingdoms of this world, even in every point of
view. The time must come when this kingdom must be free and
independent from all other kingdoms. Are you prepared to have the
thread cut to-day?
99
I know the feelings of a great many, and I need not go out of my
own family to hear, "O dear, are there no ribbons coming? I want
that artificial quick; I want you to go and buy me that nice
bonnet, for I am afraid there never will another one be brought
here." If I am tried in any point in this world, it is with
regard to the bearings of my own conduct to my own family. I have
told them, and tell them, and talk to them, and talk about it,
and ask them, Am I in the line of my duty while I can feed women
and children who do nothing but sit and fold their hands, and
wear out their clothing, and dress them in finery, and pamper
them, and they get so that good beef, pork, bread, butter,
cheese, tea, coffee, and sugar, with fruit, and all kinds of
garden sauce, are no rarity to them at all, and their appetites
are poor and they cannot eat? This is the case with me in my
family. If there is any trial upon me, it is to know whether I am
in the line of my duty in this matter.
100
Should not I take my tea and coffee, my beef and pork, and every
other good thing, and put it into the hands of the men who sweat
over the rock for the Temple, instead of feeding men, women, and
children, who do not strive to do all they are capable of doing?
I am tried on that point, and I must say that if there is
anything in the world that bothers me, it is the whining of women
and children to prevent me from doing that which I know that I
ought to do.
100
I will acknowledge with brother Kimball, and I know it is the
case with him, that I am a great lover of women. In what
particular? I love to see them happy, to see them well fed and
well clothed, and I love to see them cheerful. I love to see
their faces and talk with them, when they talk in righteousness;
but as for anything more, I do not care. There are probably but
few men in the world who care about the private society of women
less than I do. I also love children, and I delight to make them
happy.
100
I accumulate a large amount of means, but I would just as soon
feed my neighbour as myself. And every one who knows me knows
whether or not a piece of johnnycake and butter and a potatoe
satisfies Brigham. I can live on as cheap and as plain food as
can any man in Israel. I have said to my family, a great many
times, I want you to make me home-made clothing; but I would meet
such a whizzing about my ears, if I were to have even a pair of
home-made pantaloons made. I do not know that I have a wife in
the world but what would say, "You are not going to wear them;
you ought to wear something more respectable, for you deserve to
as much as any man does."
100
It is the man who works hard, who sweats over the rock, and goes
to the kanyons for lumber, that I count more worthy of good food
and dress than I am. But do not I labour? Yes, with my mind. Can
any man tell what labour there is upon me? No, not a man can
begin to tell what I feel for the Later-day Saints in this
Territory, throughout the mountains and the world,--what I feel
for their salvation and preservation. They have to be looked
after and cared for; and all this more particularly rests upon
me. My brethren love to share with me all that the Lord puts upon
them; but in the day of trouble they look to me to secure them
and pint out a way for their escape.
100
Now, let me tell you one thing--I shall take it as a witness that
God designs to cut the thread between us and the world, when an
army undertakes to make their appearance in this Territory to
chastise me or to destroy my life from the earth. I lay it down
that right is or at least should be might with Heaven, with its
servants, and with all its people on the earth. As for the rest,
we will wait a little while to see; but I shall take a hostile
movement by our enemies as an evidence that it is time for the
thread to be cut. I think we will find three hundred who will lap
water, and we can whip out the Midianites. Brother Heber said
that he could turn out his women, and they would whip them. I ask
no odds of the wicked, the best way they can fix it.
100
Brother Heber says that the music is taken out of his sermons
when brother Carrington clips out words here and there; and I
have taken out the music from mine, for I know the traditions and
false notions of the people. Our sermons are read by tens of
thousands outside of Utah. Members of the British Parliament have
those Journals of Discourses, published by brother Watt; they
have them locked up, they secrete them, and go to their rooms to
study them, and they know all about us. They may, perhaps, keep
them from the Queen, for fear that she would believe and be
converted.
101
I know that I have seen the day when, let men use language like
brother Heber has to-day, and many would apostatize from the true
faith. In printing my remarks, I often omit the sharp words,
though they are perfectly understood and applicable here; for I
do not wish to spoil the good I desire to do. Let my remarks go
to the world in a way the prejudices of the people can bear, that
they may read them, and ponder them, and ask God whether they are
true.
101
I am thankful to hear the servants of God speak; and, as I have
frequently said, I do not care what you say when you rise to
speak here; for I want to know whether a man seeks with all his
heart to know the mind of God concerning him. If he does, all is
right with him.
101
Brother Heber alluded to counseling men and women who come to him
after they had been to me, and said that they always received the
same counsel I had given them. I never have known it to fail,
that if they come to me and then go to brother Heber, they will
get the same counsel all the time. And so they would from every
one of the Twelve, from the High Council, from the Seventies, and
High Priests, and every officer in the Church, if every officer
in the Church would take the course that brother Heber, and I,
and a few others do. What is that? Never to give counsel, unless
you have it to give. If you have counsel, give it, because you
can have no correct counsel except by the Spirit of revelation:
that is my standard. I have no counsel for a man, unless I have
the testimony of Jesus on the subject. Then, when the same man
asks counsel of me, and goes to brother Heber, do you not see
that if he acts on the same principle and gives counsel, it must
be by the Spirit of revelation; or he has no counsel to give, if
it is not by that Spirit. Then let the same man go to brother
Wells and ask his counsel on the same subject, without letting
him know that he has been to Brigham or to Heber, and brother
Daniel will give the same counsel by the same Spirit.
101
The difficulty with regard to giving counsel that conflicts
consists in men's giving counsel from their own judgment, without
the Spirit of God. Every man in the kingdom of God would give the
same counsel upon each subject, if he would wait until he had the
mind of Christ upon it. Then all would have one word and mind,
and each man would see eye to eye.
101
But there is a weakness in the brethren, and it is in mankind in
general. You ask almost any person in the world a question, and
he thinks it a disgrace to be unable to answer it. He feels
chagrined, his mind flags, when he finds that he is not quite as
knowing as his neighbours think him to be; and, to avoid this, he
will often venture an answer without knowing the facts in the
case, or the effects of his answer.
101
If you would always pause and say, I have no counsel for you. I
have no answer for you on this subject, because I have no
manifestation of the Spirit, and be willing to let everybody in
the world know that you are ignorant when you are, you would
become wise a great deal quicker than to give counsel on your own
judgment, without the Spirit of revelation. If the Elders of
Israel would observe this rule, never to give counsel unless they
give it by the testimony of the truth, by the Spirit of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and, if they cannot give counsel in that manner,
not to give any, there would be no conflicting counsel in the
kingdom. All would be one; counsel would be one: we would soon
come to understanding and be of one heart and mind, and our
blessings would be increased upon us faster than in taking any
other course.
101
May God bless you and preserve us in the truth. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / George
Albert Smith, August 2, 1857
George Albert Smith, August 2, 1857
JOSEPH SMITH'S FAMILY--DETAILS OF GEORGE A. SMITH'S OWN
EXPERIENCE, ETC.
A Discourse by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, August 2, 1857.
102
I suppose that my brethren and sisters are acquainted with George
A.; and whenever he presents himself in the presence of the
Saints, and attempts to entertain them or amuse them with his
chin-music, they expect that he will say something funny.
102
I have been interested to-day very much in listening to the
instructions of brother Elias, and brother Kimball, and the
President. I have been interested, amused, and instructed, and I
may say chastened and reproved, perhaps all at the same time; and
I hope that the instructions of the forenoon will be of lasting
benefit to me. In every part of the Territory, and in every other
place where I have been, I have taken a good deal of pleasure in
endeavouring to talk to the people, to preach to them; but
whenever I have been in Great Salt Lake City, I have felt
disposed to listen and to take counsel from my brethren; and I
have felt that there were many others whose appearance in
addressing the Saints would be much more acceptable; and hence I
have felt to hold my tongue.
102
My father, late Patriarch John Smith, was the sixth son of Asahel
Smith, and was born in New Hampshire. Joseph Smith, the father of
the Prophet, and second son of Asahel, was born in Topsfield,
Massachusetts. The second Asahel Smith, the father of Elias who
addressed you this forenoon, was the third son of my grandfather.
102
I merely name this fact because, as brother Kimball and brother
Young remarked, so very few of that family have been valiant for
the truth. There are but few comparatively of their numerous
posterity that have been valiant for the truth.
102
After the family of Joseph Smith, senior, was destroyed, there
were but few left to stand up for the truth of the Gospel, of all
that numerous family. My father's elder brother was the father of
a numerous posterity, and was a bitter enemy to the truth, and
his descendants remain so to the present time. The only remaining
brother of the Prophet, William, has done all that he could
do--all that was in his power, I may say, from the time of the
Prophet's death, to annihilate and destroy the principles which
the Prophet taught to the nations of the earth.
102
My uncle Silas Smith, the fourth son of Asahel, died on his way
to Missouri, or rather on his return from there, being driven
from that State in 1829, in Pike County, Illinois. He had been in
the Church some years, and had been faithful.
103
Asahel Smith, the father of Elias, was a man of an extraordinary
retentive memory, and possessed a great knowledge of the Bible,
so much so that he could read it as well without the book as with
it; and after he embraced "Mormonism," nobody could oppose him
successfully, for all their objections were answered from the
Bible immediately, giving chapter and verse. He died on his way
to the Valley, in the state of Iowa, in 1848. He was a Patriarch
in the Church, and bore a faithful testimony to the truth.
103
Of my grandfather's family there is but one living--an old lady
by the name of Waller, residing in the city of New York, and she
is 90 years of age, and remembers all that has transpired during
the last eighty years just as well as if it had all just
occurred. I visited her when I was last back there, and in
talking with me she would talk of things that had transpired many
years back, as though they had occurred within a year. She is
sanguine in relation to the truth of "Mormonism," although she
has never embraced it; and, to use the language of her son, she
preaches it all the time.
103
My grandfather, Asahel Smith, heard of the coming forth of the
Book of Mormon, and he said it was true, for he knew that
something would turn up in his family that would revolutionize
the world. The news came to us in 1828: we then lived in New
York. The four brothers were there, Asahel, Silas, Jesse, and
John; the old man, my grandfather, living with them.
103
We received the news that some place had been discovered
containing plates of gold. The old man, as I remarked, said that
it was true, although his oldest son felt disposed to ridicule
it. He lived till the Book of Mormon was brought to him, and died
when he had read it about half through, being 87 years of age.
103
The congregation will excuse me for naming this; but I was so
disgusted with the conduct of William, that, when I was in the
Eastern States, I almost took pains to obliterate the fact from
the earth that my name was Smith; for I considered it was the
worst thing a man could do to endeavour to build himself up on
the merits of others, and I feel so yet; and for cousin William
to go and endeavour to pull down the work of his brother, I feel
that he has disgraced the family and the name.
103
I have never suffered one single exertion to be omitted on my
part that would in any way tend to sustain the principles and
doctrines of the Holy Gospel, and aid in the development of the
Holy Priesthood which God has revealed. I have endeavoured all
the time to preserve as perfect a history of the Prophet and
those connected with him, from the organization of the Church to
the present time, as I possibly could.
103
The Saints could have carried William upon their shoulders; they
could have carried him in their arms, and have done anything for
him, if he would have laid aside his follies and wickedness, and
would have done right. It is like the Latin figure--but I beg
your pardon, I never studied Latin; but suffice it to say, the
husbandman found a rattlesnake cold and frozen, and he took it,
and he put it in his bosom, and kept it there till it was warm;
and then the snake coiled about the husbandman and destroyed his
life.
103
This was the conduct of William Smith in the days of Joseph and
afterwards, up to the present time. The principle that a man
should stand upon in this world is simply this--He should do
right himself, and thereby set an example to others. But for a
man to have good blood in his veins, and then to go and disgrace
that blood, is perhaps a double responsibility.
103
If we descended from Abraham, or from Joseph, or from any other
virtuous, good, upright man, and we do not emulate his deeds and
follow his example, the greater will be our shame.
104
When I was about eleven years old, my grandfather received
letters containing the news that Joseph, the son of uncle Joseph,
had discovered, by the revelations of the Almighty, some gold
plates, and that these gold plates contained a record of great
worth.
104
It was generally ridiculed and laughed at. A short time after
this, another letter came, written by Joseph himself, and this
letter bore testimony of the wickedness and the fallen condition
of the Christian world. My father read the letter, and I well
remember the remark he made about it. "Why," said he, "he writes
like a prophet."
104
Some time in August 1830, my uncle Joseph Smith and Don Carlos
Smith came some two hundred and fifty miles from where the
Prophet was residing in Ontario County, New York, and they
brought a Book of Mormon with them. I had never seen them before,
and I felt astonished at their sayings.
104
Uncle Joseph and Don Carlos were anxious to get to Stockholm to
see grandfather. Accordingly they started, and my father went to
carry them. I and my mother spent the whole of Saturday, all day
Sunday, and Sunday night in reading the Book of Mormon; and I
believe I read and studied it more then than I have done ever
since. I studied it attentively and penned down what I considered
to be serious objections. Although I was but thirteen years of
age, yet I considered the objections I had discovered to be
sufficient to overthrow it.
104
About five o'clock in the evening the neighbours came in and
wanted to see the book. They took hold of the book, and some of
them were professors of religion, and they began to raise their
objections, to find fault with and ridicule the book, and there
was no one to defend it; so I thought I would try. I commenced to
argue in favour of the book, and answered one objection after
another, until I came off victoriously and got the compliment of
being a very smart boy. No one brought the objections to the book
that I had: mine were geographical objections. I had studied
geography a few weeks, but that few weeks' study made me think
that I knew a good deal about it.
104
It is like a man that studies the Hebrew language; he has to
drink deep before he can do much with it, and I thought I could
confound them. In a few days I saw my uncle and talked with him,
and in about half-an-hour all my learned objections to the Book
of Mormon were dispensed with, and I found myself in the same
position as my neighbours; and from that day to this I have been
an advocate of the Book of Mormon, and have never suffered it to
be slandered nor spoken against without saying something in its
favour, with one exception, and then I said something.
104
I had been the favourite of my uncle Jesse, and he was a
religious man--a "Covenanter;" and I thought what he did not know
was not worth knowing. He came out with all his strength against
it, and exerted the most cruel tyranny over his family,
prohibited my uncle Joseph from talking in his house, and
threatened to hew down with his broad axe any who dared to preach
such nonsense in his presence.
104
I went to visit him, and he abused me because I had become
favourable, and because uncle Joseph had a private conversation
with me. I had always treated him with the greatest respect, and
entertained a very high opinion of him. He was a man of good
education, and had considerable display; and, being the elder of
the family, he naturally elicited from us more or less respect.
105
Finally, in conversation upon various subjects, he turned and
talked about that private conversation, and he said, "Joe dare
not talk in my presence." Then says he, "the devil never shut my
mouth." I replied, "Perhaps he opened it, uncle." I thought I
should have lost my identity: he gave me to the Devil instanter.
I went and told uncle Asahel what had transpired, and the old
gentleman laughed; and I then went to see uncle Silas and told
him; and he said, "If old men begin to talk with boys, they must
take boys' play." And from that day to the present, if I have
said anything, I have said what I have thought.
105
During the fall of 1830, a gentleman who lived in our
neighbourhood went to Western New York and saw the Prophet, got
baptized and ordained an Elder; and that was Elder Solomon
Humphrey. Very few knew the old gentleman: he died in Missouri in
1835. He was a very faithful man. Previous to joining the Church
he was a Baptist exhorter. He came back to our place of residence
in company with a man named Wakefield, who is named in the Book
of Doctrine and Covenants. They came and preached and baptized
for the remission of sins.
105
I had been raised a Presbyterian, and my mother was a very pious
woman. The Reverend Elijah Lyman, her uncle, who lived in
Brookfield, Vermont, was the standard of religion in that
country, and he had bestowed upon her the greatest care, that her
religion might be of the best kind; and of course I had a great
deal of this religion in me, which I had learned from her.
105
I wanted to know what I should do to be saved; so I went to a
Presbyterian revival meeting to get religion, that I might be
prepared to join the Latter-day Saints, or "Mormons," as they are
termed.
105
At the time, my father was sick with the consumption and given up
to die. I had a heard of cattle to take care of; but,
notwithstanding my numerous duties, I went to the protracted
meeting, and took a load of persons with me; I carried them there
and brought them back every day. They had a fashion of religion
that I had never heard of, and it was one that was not known in
the days of the Apostles; and even John Wesley, nor any of the
old reformers had got such a thing into their heads,--that of
converting souls by machinery.
105
The process was like this: All who desired to be prayed for were
to take certain seats, and then one of the ministers preached to
them and depicted the miseries of hell and the duration of
eternity. Then those people were taken to a praying
establishment, where praying was carried on night and day. Then,
after a certain time, they were brought back and preached to
again, the ministers keeping before their eyes the untold
miseries of hell and the duration of eternity. When the ministers
got them to feel anxious, they would sing with them, and then
pray again. When a man by this process was declared to be
converted, then he was required to get up and formally renounce
the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and to tell his experience.
This was about the process as near as I can recollect. I did not
go to the anxious seat myself, for I was not yet under
conviction.
105
During this time of going to the protracted meeting, I had
firewood to cut, my sick father to attend to, and to take care of
our stock; but still I endeavoured to attend meetings, partly to
accommodate my friends, and partly because I desired to be
present myself. Subject to these circumstances I was under the
necessity of returning home every evening, and hence I could not
stay as late as many of them.
105
While at the protracted meeting, however, I had the satisfaction
of hearing some of my own comrades who had got converted formally
renounce the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and promise
henceforth to be Christians.
106
In the midst of all this, you may depend upon it that, if ever a
poor soul asked God to show him the way of life, I did,--and
that, too, with all my might, mind, and strength. I could not be
a hypocrite; and to say I was afraid of damnation, when I had no
fear of it at all, that was what I could not do.
106
I always had the credit of being the greatest coward in the
family, and hence the others used to take pleasure in ridiculing
what they termed my cowardice. It is also well known that
whenever there has been anything the matter in the shape of
Indian difficulties, I have had the character of being the
greatest coward in the country, especially in the southern part
of this Territory; and yet I was not afraid of hell, when all its
miseries were painted before my eyes, neither would I say that I
was under conviction when I was not.
106
This meeting was a great one, and the progress made in converting
souls was also great; and they made hell look so terrible to
nearly all present, that they burnt out and frightened about all
the sinners in the place, except myself. At one time they had two
hundred sinners under conviction; and such crying, groaning,
sighing, and lamentation for sins I never heard either before or
since: they were so forcible and terrific, that they are
indelibly written on my memory.
106
I soon found myself alone; not a soul except myself but was
either converted or awfully on the way. Mr. Cannon, our minister,
pointed his finger at me as I sat alone; for there was not a
sinner in the gallery except myself; and he said, "O sinner, I
seal you up to eternal damnation, in the name of Jesus Christ."
He repeated it three times over, and concluded by saying, "O
sinner, may your blood be upon your own head."
106
I went home that evening and scattered my friends about, leaving
the girls at their respective homes; for I, like my brethren, am
very fond of the ladies; therefore I carried a goodly proportion
of them to meeting every day. I thought a good deal upon what I
had heard, and scarcely knew whether to go again or not, but
finally concluded that I would go; therefore the next morning I
gathered up my load of passengers, and carried them to meeting
again.
106
When on the way to meeting, a young man by the name of Cary asked
me where I was going to sit that day. I told him, I was not very
particular. "Well," said he, "suppose you sit with me." I said,
"Agreed." I had heard this same young man in a previous meeting
formally renounce this world, the flesh, and the Devil.
106
When we arrived at the place of meeting, according to agreement,
I followed him with the intention of sitting with him. I had a
decided objection against being driven to heaven, but I found he
was actually leading me to the anxious bench; and I considered
that if the priest the day before, who had sealed me up to
eternal damnation, had any authority, it was very little use in
my going to the anxious bench.
106
I did not discover where friend Cary was leading me to, till I
got near by the minister. He looked at me, when I turned away
from the anxious bench, and he again walked into the pulpit, and
pronounced the solemn sealing of eternal damnation upon me, and
again appended to it that my blood was to be upon my own head.
107
On that day, the Reverend Mr. Williams delivered an address on
the untold miseries of hell and the duration of eternity. Whether
my mind was then agitated in consequence of the solemn woes
pronounced upon me by the other minister, or whether the address
was such a very eloquent one, I cannot now say; but, of all the
discourses describing hell, eternal damnation, and the
complication of miseries to which damned souls were subjected, it
seemed to me that his address was the most terrific. I admired it
for its sublimity and the beautiful descriptive powers that were
exhibited throughout the whole discourse; and where he got it
from I did not know, and of course could not tell.
107
At the conclusion of the meeting, I gathered up my passengers
took them home, and distributed them about, and told them that I
had no idea of going any more to the protracted meeting; for,
said I, I have been sealed up nine times to eternal damnation,
and hence, if the priest had any authority, it is no use in my
going any more; but, said I, if he indeed had any, he would not
act the infernal fool.
107
[Elder O. Hyde blessed the sacramental cup.]
107
I have, no doubt, wearied you with so minute a detail of my
experience; but it is at least a gratification to me to relate
it; and hence, I trust, you will excuse my being so minute in
detail.
107
A short time after this, the Elders of Israel preached in our
neighbourhood the doctrines of repentance and baptism for the
remission of sins, precisely as preached by the Apostle Peter and
by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. These doctrines I was
pleased to hear. I believed them and received them in my heart.
107
Now, you are all aware how I was formerly sealed up to eternal
damnation. Notwithstanding this, I was waited upon by the agent
of the "Presbyterian Young Man's Society," and told that if I
would abandon my father, and pledge myself never to become a
"Mormon," they would give me seven years' education; and then, at
the expiration of that time, I might study divinity, and become a
minister of the Presbyterian order.
107
But, said I, Mr. Cannon sealed me up to eternal damnation, and
hence it would not do for me to become a minister. He replied,
"Oh, that don't make any difference." Well, then, said I, if that
is all the force your religion and your ministers have, I will
not have anything to do with them. Then he concluded they would
not require me to preach, but he said they would give me seven
years' education, and then I might choose what profession I
liked.
107
I told him I was required to honour my father, and as he was
sick, I should attend to him at present, however much I might
desire an education.
107
As soon as I had got baptised, all the folks in the neighbourhood
commenced imposing upon me. The idea that they had of a religious
man was this--If he would stand still to be spit upon, to be
mocked, and abused, then he was religious; but if he resented any
of these insults, then they considered that he had no religion.
107
I was very large of my age, but I had not strength in proportion
to my size, and I was always very clumsy; but finally I told the
boys who were imposing upon me, that it was part of my religion
to fight, and I pulled off my coat and flogged the whole school,
and from that day I was respected so long as I stayed in the
neighbourhood.
107
It was with a good deal of reluctance, however, that many of the
boys who had previously been able to handle me would yield; for
some of them were four or five years older than I was: but in two
days it was all finished up, and I had peace.
107
That winter I commenced to study arithmetic. I had previously
studied geography, as you have already learned and during that
winter I worked at arithmetic until I got to "Vulgar Fractions,"
but I could not find out what vulgar fractions were, and I don't
know yet, and hence I do not think I am entitled to much credit
for the proficiency attained in my education.
108
I always took great pleasure in reading history, both
religious and profane; but as to getting an education such as is
requisite for a professional man in the world, I did not have the
chance, excepting the one before alluded to, and that I did not
choose to accept of.
108
In 1833 I moved to Kirtland with my father, and went to work on
the Temple, doing whatever I was able to do.
108
I will here digress from the subject of my experience, and remark
that I have asked a great many if they could tell who those
twenty-four Elders were who laid the foundation of that Temple;
but I have never yet got the information: and if there are any
who can give it, they are smarter than me, and I was there and
looked on. If there are any of the brethren who have this
information, they should hand it in to the Historian's Office,
where it can be preserved in the archives of the Church.
108
It is proper here to say that I went to work at the first
principles, and that you know is necessary for every one to do. I
went to work at quarrying rock, then hauling rock, tending mason,
and performing such other work as I was considered capable of
doing in my bungling way.
108
We were a pious people in those days; but, notwithstanding our
piety, our neighbours soon talked of mobbing us. They had already
tarred and feathered the Prophet Joseph and Sidney Rigdon, and
they threatened us with mobbing and expulsion. As I remarked, we
were then very pious, and we prayed the Lord to kill the mob.
108
It was but a little time before the Saints were driven out of
Jackson county, Missouri, the printing press destroyed, men
tarred and feathered, women ravished, and men, women, and
children scattered to the four winds of heaven, all in
consequence of our religion.
108
Now, I am never afraid when I do not think anything is going to
hurt me. When I am certain that there is no danger, then I am not
the least afraid. The reason I have been called a coward has been
from the fact that, whenever I believed there was any danger, I
have always gone in for providing for it, and used my ingenuity
to thwart that danger; and hence I have been called a coward by
some.
108
With my brethren who have addressed you, I have lain by the side
of the Prophet, in Kirtland, to guard him half of each night for
a whole winter, so that, if anything occurred, I could give
notice to all the brethren in a very short time.
108
I have been by those cross roads that some of the brethren
remember, and have seen our enemies pass by so near that I could
have knocked them down with a stick. Things were so arranged
that, if a considerable number came along, I was prepared to
communicate it to the brethren. I have had considerable
experience, and I have learned that, curious as it may appear,
whenever a man becomes a Latter-day Saint, the Devil wants to
kill him.
108
As I have told you, I was raised in the northern part of New
York, a rough country, where, instead of going to get poles to
fence with, we used to cut down hemlock trees, and split them up
into rails.
108
East is said to be the quarter for light: hence it may be
admitted that I have acquired a little. I once strayed as far as
Massachusetts, and in a town where there were several Baptist
priests. I endeavoured to preach the Gospel; but they sent their
sons into the meeting-house, who smoked out the congregation with
brimstone; and that is a specimen of what would be poured out
upon the Saints by the whole Christian world, if they had the
opportunity.
109
In an address delivered some years ago, I spoke of Maryland
as a State of liberty; but our reporters made me say
Massachusetts,--though they are not to blame, for they are raw
Englishmen, and therefore the fault must have been with the
Editor.
109
I said that Massachusetts was the hotbed of superstition and
religious intolerance, and that Maryland was the first State that
by her laws and institutions allowed men to worship God as they
pleased. Whether this mistake was accidental or not, I cannot
say, but I wish now to correct it; for I do believe Massachusetts
to be the very hotbed of superstition and religious intolerance.
109
In the progress of this Church, mobs gathered around us, and
continued to grow thicker till our history brought us to Far
West, where the Governor ordered out seventeen thousand troops to
exterminate the "Mormons," and a great many were marched on to
the ground preparatory to being shot by the order of Major Clark.
109
There are a great many men alive that were there, and lived
through the operation, and who were finally driven from Missouri,
not to say anything of the hundreds, and thousands, and tens of
thousands who are dead, whose deaths were more or less caused by
the sufferings and distress that were brought upon them by their
extermination.
109
It was a free State; it was a free country: it had a Constitution
that guaranteed liberty, at least to every white man. All
religions were tolerated by their laws; but we must be
exterminated from the State, because we were that kingdom which
had been spoken of.
109
The result was that Prophets and High Priests were arrested and
put in prison, numbers of them were murdered, women were
ravished, goods and property stolen, houses burnt, and children
butchered, and every possible cruelty was invented to cure men of
their religion.
109
I told Mr. Morril, of Vermont, last winter, that it was utterly
impossible by law to change men's opinions. If a man believes a
thing, you may whip him, and he will believe it still.
109
Men and women are as apt to be tenacious as the old lady was down
in the country, where men have but one wife. She got quarrelling
with her husband, and called him "cracklouse." He told her that
if she called him that any more, he would drown her. She repeated
it again, and he took and put her in the river, then took her
out, and she said, "Cracklouse!" So he put her in again, and held
her down awhile, till she was almost gone. Then he took her out
again, and she could hardly speak, but finally she made out to
say, "C-r-a-c-k-l-o-u-s-e!" He was determined to use her up; so
he put her down, and held her under till she was dead; but she
came up with her finger nails clenched, or rather in the position
required for cracking a louse. So, you see, she stuck to it to
the last moment.
109
So it is with our Uncle Sam--our dear, infirm, old uncle;
although he has got very rich, and has got several millions of
money in the Treasury that he scarcely knows what to do with, he
wants to expend some of it in bringing us to the standard of
virtue and righteousness according to their notions. To this end
he is sending out 2,500 troops, with ministers and schoolmasters
to regulate things in Utah. Notwithstanding all this, he may
possibly find some instances where people may be as determined
and stern in their notions as the old lady was of whom I have
been speaking.
110
Now, a religion that is not worth living for is not worth having.
If religion is not worth living for, I am sure it is not worth
dying for; and of course, if we are not willing to stand the
test, our religion is of very little use. Our enemies judge us by
themselves, for they know that the best of them will renounce
their religion for the sake of self interest. They treat it as a
mere work of time.
110
A gentleman once asked another why he turned from the reformed
Methodists to the Episcopalians; and he said, in reply, "A good
fat living will change any of us." If we can be changed in our
religious views by a few soldiers or a few threats, we certainly
made a great blunder in coming out here, that we may have the
privilege of turning a little, and of giving a little change into
the bargain. Our dear old Uncle has had a desire to give us a
little of the change from the time we came here. Soon after we
arrived, we began to turn this desert into a garden. There came a
captain with troops into this city: they were a specimen of the
virtue and morality of the United States. They came here and
began to insult the people, and then tried to cover up their
wickedness by the dignity of Uncle Samdom. Passing along, they
came to a lone house, and there undertook to ravish a woman in
open daylight; and the brother who interfered to prevent this
villainous outrage was most shamefully maltreated by them, and
got some of his bones broken. After this outrage, the officers of
the company were soon told that if they did not take their troops
out of the city, the "Mormons" would cut all their damned
throats; and that was the last we had of them here.
110
I may be a little mistaken as to the precise language made use
of; but this subject follows up so close to what I had in my
mind, that I wanted to ask myself what I was now going to do in
case the soldiers come here.
110
From year to year we have had companies of these gentry visiting
us, and remaining for a season, and then going away. The
Government have tried, year after year, to establish garrisons,
and get troops into these valleys. They have had troops at
Laramie, at Fort Hall, and several other points; but
circumstances so turned that they soon marched into Oregon.
110
The talk now is that they are going to bring 2,500 soldiers into
this Territory. That is not a peace establishment; for
twenty-five hundred men are not enough to obtain peace in an
Indian country. These troops, we are informed, are to be
furnished with fifteen months provisions, to be delivered in this
city this fall, and twelve months' provisions to be lodged on the
other side of the mountain. They are to have four hundred mule
teams for hauling their extra baggage, and they are to be
provided with judges and a full corps of territorial officers;
and these soldiers are sent along to enforce their rule. This is
what we understand from those channels which have been opened to
us.
110
Whether it is done with the intention of making a disturbance
here and taking the lives of our leaders, the facts in the case
being known to the Government of the United States, is not for me
at present to say. The mail is stopped, and no more permitted to
run, because, they say, of the unsettled state of affairs in
Utah.
111
Now, I am a "Mormon," and a descendant of the old Puritanical
stock that descended from the old Anglo-Saxon reformers, and
hence I feel all the sentiments of resentment that any man could
feel during the rise against the mother country, when our
forefathers were determined to break off the yoke of bondage and
be free. When I see men, the descendants of those worthy sires
who were the first to stand forth and create the resolution of
the colonies, and to break loose from the King of Great
Britain,--I say, when I realize that my own country and nation
are disposed to hold the sword over my head and to threaten me
with extermination, I feel to say, Let them sent who they please.
They are determined to send who they please for Governor, who
they please for Judges, and who they please for our Territorial
Officers, and to permit those men whom they send to place their
interpretation upon the acts of our Territorial Legislature, and
upon the condition of things as they surround us; and I care but
little what comes next.
111
They will send men here who are ignorant of the circumstances
that surround us,--men who are totally ignorant of the irrigation
of the land by mountain streams; they will permit them to
interfere with the rights of the people of this Territory, with
fifteen hundred or two thousand bayonets to back them up.
111
Under these circumstances, as big a coward as I am, I would say
what I pleased; and for one thing I would say that every man that
had anything to do with such a filthy, unconstitutional affair
was a damned scoundrel. There is not a man, from the President of
the United States to the Editors of their sanctorums, clear down
to the low-bred letter-writers in this Territory, but would rob
the coppers from a dead nigger's eyes, if they had a good
opportunity. If I had the command of thunder and lightning, I
would never let one of the damned scoundrels get here alive.
111
I have heretofore said but very little about the Gentiles; but I
have heard all that Drummond has said, and I have read all his
lying, infamous letters; and although I have said but little, I
think a heap. You must know that I love my friends, and God
Almighty knows that I do hate my enemies. There have been men,
and women, and children enough who have died through the
oppression and tyranny of our enemies to damn any nation under
heaven; and now a nation of 25,000,000 of people must exercise
its wealth in violation of its own principles and the rights
guaranteed by the blood of their fathers--blood that is more
sacred than their own heart springs; and this they are doing to
crush down a little handful who dwell in the midst of these
mountains, and who dare to worship God as they please, and who
dare to sing, pray, preach, think, and act as they please.
111
All I have to say is, Just go ahead and burst your boiler.
[Voice: They will.] This is the way the thing shapes itself in my
mind; and if I were not afraid to die, I would fight as long as
there was a finger left. Yes, if I were not afraid to die, I
would fight till there was not as much left of me as there was of
the Kilkenny cats. Just look at him--view his conduct towards
this people: besides his being my uncle, he has acted most
shamefully mean. When I told my uncle I was afraid, he only
laughed at me; but I now tell you that if I were not such a
well-known coward, I would die like a man of war. The very idea
that a man has been awed down by the bayonet is something that I
cannot stand. It will do very well for the Emperor of France, and
it may do for the Autocrat of Russia, but it don't do for
freeborn men; and if asked which we will prefer--slavery or
death, we should be very apt to answer in the language of a Roman
senator, if we had any voice in this matter, who, when this
question was once put in the days of Julius Caesar and Pompey,
promptly answered, We prefer death to slavery. But you know we
are Latter-day Saints--we are "Mormons," and hence we cannot be
treated as free men.
112
Report says that the plan is deep, and it is laid with the
intention of murdering every man that will stand up for
"Mormonism." But the evil which they design towards us will fall
upon their own heads, and it will grind them to powder. The men
that have been living in these valleys, living their religion,
and serving their God, they will laugh at their calamities, and
mock when their fear cometh.
112
We must die like the Irishman, and then we shall do well enough.
An old parson was riding along one day, and met with an Irishman,
and said, "Sir, have you made your peace with God?" Pat replied,
"Faith, an I've never had a falling out." The parson seemed very
much surprised at the answer, and very piously said, "You are
lost, you are lost!" The Irishman very quaintly answered, "Faith,
and how can I be lost right in the middle of a great big
turnpike?" The moral which I wish to deduce from this is, that,
if we have not had a falling out with our God, we are in the
middle of the great turnpike. They may cut off our supplies of
tobacco and tea. [Voice: What a pity!] Why, bless you, there are
young men in Israel who would suffer far more, if deprived of
their tobacco, than the ladies would if their ribbons had to be
stripped off right in the public meeting; and therefore I advise
them to go to work and plant tobacco, for if they were deprived
of it, it would take away their peace and happiness, and they
could not nasty and besmear everything within a mile of them; and
when they wanted to come and get counsel, they would not be able
to let out of their mouths a stench that would drive away a
skunk.
112
I feel great pity for those young men, and I would like to
discipline them as a certain lieutenant did the cabin boy on a
steam packet. He said, "Boy, there is something the matter with
your mouth," whereupon he ordered one of the sailors to bring him
a pair of tongs, and ordered the boy to open his mouth, and with
the tongs took out a large quid of tobacco. He then called for
some canvass and sand and scoured the boy's mouth out, and told
him that when he got sick and needed that again, he was to call
on him and he would give him another dose.
112
I consider it a disgrace to any young man under thirty-five years
of age to use tobacco. [Voice: Forty is the age.] That is my age:
I was thinking I was thirty-five.
112
Brethren and sisters, I am a Latter-day Saint, and I know that
this is the people of God; I know that this people have the
Priesthood, and that Brigham Young is as much an inspired man as
was Moses or any other man that ever lived upon the earth.
112
This is my testimony, and I believe that if I were cut in pieces,
though I never was killed, and of course don't know how it feels;
but I do not believe that it would alter my testimony.
112
I am a good deal like the man in the old world, where they have
but one wife. He was shaving, and at the same time having some
unpleasant words with his wife: finally, he said he would cut his
throat if she did not hold her noise. She replied, "Cut away; I
am young and handsome." "I would, if I did not think it would
hurt so damned bad." And I don't know but it would feel so very
bad to be killed, that I am really afraid where there is any
danger. But just so long as I think there is no danger, I shall
go ahead.
112
Brethren and sisters, pardon me for detaining you so long; and
may the Lord God of Israel bless you, and may He curse and damn
every scoundrel that would bring misery and injury upon this
innocent people. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / John
Taylor, August 9, 1857
John Taylor, August 9, 1857
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SPIRIT OF ZION AND THE SPIRIT OF
THE WORLD--DOINGS IN THE STATES, ETC.
Remarks by Elder John Taylor, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, August 9, 1857.
113
Beloved brethren and friends,--Being called upon this morning to
address you in a few words, I do so with very great pleasure. The
sea of upturned faces that present themselves to my view at the
present time is indeed something new, although I have been in
what may be called the metropolis of the United States for some
length of time.
113
Gazing round upon my brethren and sisters with smiling
countenances and happy, contented feelings, imparts peculiar
sensations to my mind; and it is difficult for me at the present
time to concentrate my thoughts so as to express the feelings
that are in my bosom, if in fact I could express them. Suffice it
to say that I am glad to be here; I am happy to meet with my
brethren of the Priesthood, and my sisters, and all those who are
friends to the cause of God; I rejoice to see you, and am glad of
the opportunity of standing before you once more to speak of the
things pertaining to the interests of Zion, and the guiding up of
the kingdom of God upon the earth.
113
There are many here who, like me have been absent from home for
some time, who, when they come to meet with former associations
and friends, particularly those with whom they have battled for
years in the cause and kingdom of God, feel as I feel on the
present occasion. Those alone, and there are many of them, can
enter into the sympathies and emotions which I experience at the
present time.
113
There is a very material difference between associating with
those that have the fear of God before their eyes, whose first
object is their own salvation, the salvation of their progenitors
and posterity, and the building up of the kingdom of God, and
associating with those who "have not God in all their thoughts,"
who regard him not in all their transactions, but who are living
"without God and without hope in the world," whose hearts--and I
am sorry to say it, but yet it is true--whose hearts are "full of
cursing and bitterness," who roll sin under their tongues as a
sweet morsel, "whose feet are swift to shed blood," and "the way
of peace," as the Prophet hath said, "they have not known."
113
There is a very material difference between associating with men
and women who are the sons and daughters of Zion, and characters
such as I have last named. The contrast is so striking, the
spirit is so different, the atmosphere varies so much, that any
man possessing one spark or particle of the Spirit of the Most
High must experience it the moment he breathes the atmosphere and
comes in contact with the two contending parties. The one is
engaged in the acquisition of wealth: gold is their god, and,
associated with that, lust, pollution, and corruption of every
kind.
114
While we are aiming to fulfil our destiny on the earth, to
accomplish the object for which we were created, to magnify our
calling, to honour our God, to build up His kingdom, to redeem
the earth from the curse under which it groans, to roll back the
tide of corruption that seems to have overspread the universe,
our opponents are engaged in pursuits directly tending to
dissolution and destruction. Their lives, their views, their
objects are short, transient, and evanescent. Ours are wide as
the universe, extended as eternity, deep as the foundations of
the earth, and elevated as the throne of God; receiving and
imparting blessings that are rich, glorious, and
eternal,--blessings which effect us and our posterity through
endless ages that are yet to come.
114
The contrast so striking, so vivid, so manifest, is it to be
wondered at, when a person reflects upon these matters, that ten
thousand thoughts should crowd upon the mind and produce
sensations that is impossible to fully express with human
language. Such, then, are my sentiments, and such my feelings.
114
I have been for some length of time past associated with the
Gentiles. I have been engaged in battling corruption, iniquity,
and the foul spirits that seem to fill the atmosphere of what you
may term the lower regions, if you please; and the Lord has been
with me, His Spirit has dwelt in my bosom, and I have felt to
shout, Hallelujah! and to praise the name of the God of Israel,
that he has been pleased to make me a messenger of salvation to
the nations of the earth, to communicate the rich blessings
flowing from the throne of God, and put me in possession of truth
that no power on this or on the other side of hell can controvert
successfully.
114
In regard to the world, the Elders who have been out, as I have,
and as others have around me, know something of its nature and
spirit, and the feelings by which the people are governed and
actuated. Our young men and women, who have not come in contact
with it, can scarcely conceive of the amount of iniquity,
depravity corruption, lying, deception, and abomination of every
kind that prevails in the gentile world.
114
Talk of honesty! It is a thing in theory; and they will preach
about it as loud and as long as anybody. As a matter of theory,
it is honourable to be honest--to be men of truth theoretically;
but when you come to put your finger upon it, you cannot find it,
it is like a shadow--it vanishes from your grasp.
114
Where are the men of truth--nationally, socially, religiously,
morally, politically, or in any other way? Where are the
patriots? Where are the men of God? I declare before you and high
heaven, I have not found them. Sometimes I have thought I had got
my hand upon them, but they slipped out of my fingers.
114
I bless the God of Israel that I am permitted to mingle with the
Saints of the Most High--to associate with men who, when I meet
them and ask them concerning anything, I may expect to have an
honest and truthful answer--men in whom there is some truth, some
integrity, something to catch hold of, something you can rely
upon.
114
To speak of men whom I have seen dissatisfied, and who have gone
back to Babylon, I must say that I do not very much admire their
taste. If people understood things as I do, and as I have seen
and experienced them, they would thank God from the bottom of
their hearts that they are permitted to have a name and a place
among the people of God in these valleys of the mountains.
115
We have been engaged in publishing a paper, which is generally
known, because it has been circulated here. About my proceedings
and acts, I have got very little to say, only that I have done as
well as I could, the Lord being my helper; and I believe my
brethren here have prayed for me, and that I have been sustained
by their prayers and faith.
115
I have not been in that place, because it was my desire to be
there; for I have had a hard struggle and a good deal to pass
through: but that is common with us all; and if there were no
struggle, there would be no honour in a victory.
115
I have conversed with some of the Twelve since I came home, and
they all feel about the same; and when I have read about your
affairs here, and the position in which you have been placed, I
have said, "My brethren have had to struggle."
115
There is one thing that I have noticed: wherever I have come
across a Saint, they differ very materially from others. I have
met with those in different places who have been sent out on
missions to the various stations, and missionaries going off to
preach in Canada and other places; and I found, wherever I came
in contact with one of them, I came in contact with a man; and
wherever I came in contact with those who had not been up here, I
came in contact with children--babies, if you please, hardly
knowing their right hand from their left, I mean in the practical
sense of the word.
115
There are a great many theorists in the world. They can talk and
splutter, and make a noise, and have a great many theories; but
they cannot reduce them to practice. There is no energy,
vitality, or power. But come in contact with our own brethren,
and they are all quick, full of animation, life, and energy; and
there is a spirit infused into them that I do not see anywhere
else. This is my experience.
115
You may pick up men from any part of the world you please, and
bring them to this place, and what are they fit for? They are
poor, miserable croaking old grannies. But there is something in
the atmosphere of the place--something in the scenery we have
passed through. There is something in the difficulties we have
spoken about, and something in our joys and prospects, that has a
tendency to strengthen the mind and brace up the nerves. There is
something, too, in the hope that is implanted in the bosom, that
is different from that in the possession of other men.
115
Every true man among us feels he is a Saint of the living God,
and that he has an interest in the kingdom of God; every man
feels that he is a king and a priest of the Most High God. He is
a saviour, and he stands forth and acts with energy and power,
with influence, and he is full of the Spirit of the Lord. Hence
the difference between them and others, and hence the necessity
of the experience we are passing through, the various trials we
have to combat with, and the difficulties we have to overcome.
115
All these things seem to me to be so many lessons, which it is
absolutely necessary for the young, the middle-aged, and the aged
to learn, to prepare them and their posterity for more active
scenes in the rolling forth of the great work of God in the last
days. Consequently, if we have to pass through a few trials, a
few difficulties, a few afflictions, and to meet with a few
privations, they have a tendency to purify the metal, purge it
from the dross, and prepare it for the Master's use.
116
So far as I am concerned, I say, let everything come as God has
ordained it. I do not desire trials; I do not desire affliction:
I would pray to God to "leave me not in temptation, and deliver
me from evil; for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the
glory." but if the earthquake bellows, the lightnings flash, the
thunders roll, and the powers of darkness are let loose, and the
spirit of evil is permitted to rage, and an evil influence is
brought to bear on the Saints, and my life, with theirs, is put
to the test; let it come, for we are the Saints of the most High
God, and all is well, all is peace, all is right, and will be,
both in time and in eternity.
116
But I do not want trials; I do not want to put a straw in
anybody's way; and, if I know my own feelings, I do not want to
hurt any man under the heavens, nor injure the hair of any
person's head. I would like to do every man good. These are the
feelings, the spirit which the Gospel has implanted in my bosom,
and that the Spirit of God implants in the bosoms of my brethren.
And if men will pursue an improper course, the evil, of course,
must be on their own heads.
116
I used to think, if I were the Lord, I would not suffer people to
be tried as they are; but I have changed my mind on that subject.
Now I think I would, if I were the Lord, because it purges out
the meanness and corruption that stick around the Saints, like
flies around molasses.
116
We have met on the road a great many apostates. I do not want to
say much about them. If they can be happy, all right; but they do
not exhibit it. When a man deserts from the Gospel, from the
ordinances, from the Priesthood and its authority, from the
revelations of the Spirit of God, from the spirit of prophecy,
from that sweet, calm influence that broods over the upright man
in all his acts, he loses the blessing of God, and falls back
into error; and, as the Scripture says, "The evil spirit that
went out of him, returns again, bringing with him seven spirits
more wicked than himself; and the last state of that man is worse
than the first."
116
It has become proverbial, where apostate "Mormons" live, to say,
"Oh, he is only an apostate Mormon." They look upon them as ten
times meaner than a "Mormon."
116
I happened to go into a barber's shop, one day, to get shaved. A
man came in, and when he went out again, the enquiry was made,
"Who is that man?" "Oh, he is only an apostate Mormon." Their
mouths are full of cursing; and you will find them chewing
tobacco and getting drunk, thinking that, by so doing, they will
recommend themselves to the people; but they have not learned the
art very well; they can't swear and degrade themselves so
naturally as others, and the people find them out and repudiate
them.
116
You that don't know him, have heard of Thomas B. Marsh, who was
formerly the President of the Twelve Apostles, but who
apostatized some years ago, in Missouri. He is on his way here, a
poor, decrepid, broken down, old man. He has had a paralytic
stroke--one of his arms hangs down. He is coming out here as an
object of charity, destitute, without wife, child, or anything
else. He has been an apostate some eighteen years. Most of you
know his history. He has been all the time since then afraid of
his life--afraid the "Mormons" would kill him; and he durst not
let them know where he was.
116
In meeting with some of the apostates, he said to them, "You
don't know what you are about; if you want to see the fruits of
apostacy, look on me." I thought they could not look on a better
example.
116
In relation to some of those other folks that left here--the
Gladdenites and others--where are they? Some of them that
contended most strenuously for Gladden have cast him off, and now
have nothing to tie to. Where is their hope of salvation?
117
In regard to the spirit of the times, I do not know but that I
have published my feelings. I would observe, however, that there
is a material difference between the people of the East and the
people of the west. A great majority of the people of the West,
on the borders, may be emphatically termed "Border ruffians." The
Eastern people call them by that name, and by that name they are
known. There is a species of ruffianism among them, of rowdyism,
groggeryism, of bantering, bullying, fighting, and killing, that
is a disgrace to humanity.
117
The most of you who have read the news must be familiar with the
scenes that have transpired in Kansas between the two parties
that have existed there--one party in favour of slavery, and the
other opposed to it. There has been a great struggle between
them, and mobocracy has abounded to a great extent. Who are the
best and who are the worst, would be very difficult for me to
tell.
117
The Eastern people, of whom I have been speaking, as quick as
they go to the borders, partake of the spirit that reigns there,
and turn "border ruffians" too. It is not difficult for them to
enter into it; for the spirit of deep seated hatred which
prevails among many in the east towards the South soon breaks
out, and their feelings are manifested in acts of violence, and
they generally maintain their points by the bowie knife and
pistol, by mob violence, vigilance committees, &c.
117
This disorder of things extends all along the frontiers. If a man
does not do right, they get up a vigilance committee, and it
takes up a man, judges him, whips him, banishes him, or puts him
to death, as they please; and it has become popular to act in
this way in all those border places.
117
They are called "border ruffians," and I think the name is as
appropriate as anything you could give them. I do not know that I
could pick out a better title. In the East, they do it with their
tongues; they do not use the bowie knives, pistols, and rifles so
much as in the West and in the South; but a spirit of rancour,
animosity, and hatred seems to be engendered in the bosoms of the
people, one against another. They have their most deadly enemies
in their very midst. Every man's hand is against his neighbour.
117
The feelings of the North and South have run very high, each
party seeking to support their own peculiar views alone, and
truth is out of the question. If they tell the truth, it is by
accident. The object is not to tell the truth, but to sustain
parties and party interests; for to tell the truth is not
generally considered very politic.
117
True, there is a great profession of truth, and a great deal of
apparent abhorrence of lies and falsehood, because falsehood is
not popular, although it is practiced all the time.
117
The ministers say it is right to tell the truth, and then go to
work and lie. One politician banters another, on account of the
hypocritical course he has taken: and as quick as he has done
that, he goes to work and lies, and deceives as much as he
possibly can to sustain his party; and it is not whether a thing
is true or not, but whether it is policy or not; and if a thing
becomes policy, every influence, every kind of chicanery,
falsehood, and deception is brought to bear upon it; and when a
little truth will tell better, they mix that up along with it,
but it is generally the least ingredient in the whole mass.
118
Talk to them about the Gospel and the Scriptures! They seem to
think, even the ministers among them, that it is old fogyism.
Talk about Abraham and his institutions! Say they, "You are
taking us back to the dark ages. Such things would do eighteen
hundred years ago; but we are more enlightened now; we have got
more philosophy, more intelligence, and comprehend the nature of
human existence better; we are men of greater renown than they.
Those things might do for our grandfathers and
great-grandfathers, but they will not do for us."
118
If a little Scripture will suit them, they put it in; but if it
won't, they keep it out, and talk about expediency. Expediency is
the great principle by which men are governed.
118
Talk about politics! What is it? It is this or that man's policy.
"If it is policy to tell the truth, we will tell it; if not, we
will tell a lie." A man cannot obtain a cause because it is just,
but because it is policy, and because he can bring certain
influences to bear on that thing. This is about the position of
things as I find them, so far as my experience goes.
118
But, as is the case in Congress, bullyism seems to be one of the
most prominent arguments in the west, where they seem to imitate
their honourable example. These are the two prominent places
--Kansas and Congress. Brother Bernhisel here has been among them
there; he knows something about it and something about their
proceedings. If a man dare get up there and speak his sentiments,
another stands over with a cane, and goes to work at caning him,
and lays him in a sick bed for several months, so that he cannot
speak; and for this dignified act, he is presented with numerous
canes by his constituents, to show how they appreciate this
Congressional argument, and to prove to others that if they speak
the truth, they may look out for a caning. These things take
place in this land of liberty and in the Congress of the United
States. We have had a good deal of trouble sometimes in getting
our appropriations; in fact, not sometimes, but always. And I
will tell you how they do in the West and in California. A fellow
goes up and seizes another by the collar, and says, "Damn you, if
you stand in my way, I will put this into you,"--showing him a
deadly weapon. The official says, "I am afraid that fellow will
kill me; I will give him what he wants. But if an honest man goes
and asks for his rights, he cannot get them, simply because he is
honest,--particularly if he happens to be a "Mormon."
118
I have vowed in my own mind, over and over again, if I was in
Utah, the United States might stand over me until doomsday,
before I would do anything for them, unless I was paid for it
beforehand. Excuse me, Governor Young, if I am not very
patriotic. No men need call upon me to do anything in Utah for
the United States, unless they pay me the money down. I won't
trust them.
118
I speak from experience--from things I have seen and known--from
circumstances that have come under my own notice. I have seen the
difficulties my brethren have laboured under, when they have had
to do with Congress or the Departments at Washington.
119
Any unprincipled scoundrel, no matter how mean, if he comes with
a bowie knife or revolver in his hand, can get what he wants.
People back East used to blame me for speaking and writing plain.
I talk the same now. I feel that I can be sustained by the truth;
and if I cannot live by truth, I will die by it and I am not
afraid of telling it before any people. I met a gentleman on the
road, on his way to the States from California. I asked him how
things were getting on in Utah. He said, "Very well; all is peace
there; they seem to do very well. Are you going there?" "Yes,
sir, I am going to Utah." "Did you live there?" "Yes." "I think
it is not prudent, the policy upon which they act. I would
recommend your people to pursue a quiet policy. I saw everything
peaceable and quiet there as could possibly be in any community;
but I heard Governor Young talk about General Harney. He said he
was the squaw-killing General. I did not think that was courteous
to be said of a United States officer." I replied, Are we the
only people that must not talk about the United States' officers?
What do you do in California, in the East, and everywhere we go?
Are we going to be imposed on from time to time, and not have the
privilege of saying our souls are our own? "Oh, I merely
recommend it as the best policy to be peaceable and quiet until
you get to be a State, and for the present put up with these
things." I said, We have been outrageously imposed upon by United
States' officials. They send out every rag-tag and bobtail, and
every mean nincompoop they can scrape up from the filth and scum
of society, and dub him a United States' officer; and are we
expected to receive all manner of insults from such men without
one word of complaint? They will assuredly find themselves
mistaken. "What! you don't mean to say you will fight against the
United States?" We don't want to; but we feel that we have as
much right to talk as anybody. We have rights, as American
citizens, and we cannot be eternally trampled on; but we shall
assuredly maintain our constitutional rights, speak fearlessly
our opinions, and take just the course that we think proper. That
is our policy, and we shall pursue a course of that kind. He
replied, "My idea is, that quietness and peace is better." I told
him, it is, sometimes; but a little bristle sometimes does good
in keeping off the dogs. That is about how I feel.
119
In relation to the general condition of things in the East at
this time, there has been a great hue-and-cry, and almost every
editor, priest, and dog that could howl, has been yelping. They
joined heartily with Drummond, one of our amiable, pure, virtuous
United States' officers. You know him. I never saw him; but I
have heard about him as one of those spotless, immaculate, holy
kind of men that they sent from the United States to teach us
good morals, correct procedure, virtue, &c., &c.
119
This pure man commenced a tirade against us, then other dogs
began to bark. We soon told the truth about it; then, by-and-bye,
somebody else would tell it; and he now stinks so bad, that they
actually repudiate him. He is too mean even for them, and they
had to cast him off. They supported him as long as they could,
and finally had to let him drop.
119
The people are raging, and they do not know what for. The editor
of the New York Herald, after summing up the whole matter, the
only thing he could bring against us, after trying and trying for
several weeks, was that we have burned some nine hundred volumes
of United States' law books. Of course I do not know anything
about it; but if you did so, it is true, and if you did not, why
it is a lie, and it all fizzles out. And, finally, he says, "The
'Mormons' have got the advantage of us, and they know it."
[Voices: That is true.] That was one truth, but it was told
accidentally; one of those accidental things that slip out once
in a while,--"they have the advantage of us, and they know it."
119
The majority of the people think you are a most corrupt people,
following a doctrine something like those Free Love societies in
the east. Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune, was
associated with one of those societies, and was its principal
supporter.
120
That is what is called a virtuous kind of an abomination, used
under a cloak of philosophy, a species of philosophy imported
from France. Hence they call Greeley a philosopher; and, in
writing about him, I have called him the same. I believe him to
be as dishonest a man as is in existence.
120
These are my sentiments and feelings. I have examined his
articles, watched his course, read his paper daily, and have
formerly conversed with him a little; but latterly I would not be
seen in his company. I was thrown in his society in travelling
from Boston, and occasionally met him afterwards; but I would not
talk to him: I felt myself superior to such a mean, contemptible
cur. I knew he was not after truth, but falsehood.
120
This Greeley is one of their popular characters in the East, and
one that supports the stealing of niggers and the underground
railroad. I do not know that the editor of the Herald is any more
honest; but, as a journalist, he tells more truth. He publishes
many things as they are, because it is creditable to do so. But
Greeley will not; he will tell what suits his clandestine plans,
and leave the rest untold. I speak of him, because he is one of
the prominent newspaper editors in the Eastern country, and he is
a poor, miserable curse.
120
I do not consider that many of them are much better. They are in
a state of vassalage; they cannot tell the truth if they felt so
disposed. People talk very loudly about liberty; but there are
very few who comprehend its true principles. There is a species
of bondage that is associated with every grade of society. It is
with the mercantile community, the editorial fraternity, the
political world, and with every body of men you can associate
with, up to members of Congress and the President of the United
States. There are yokes made for men of every grade to put their
necks into; and every one bows down to them willingly, and they
are driven in their turn according to circumstances.
120
In the mercantile world there is what is called the credit
system, which I consider one of the greatest curses that was ever
introduced among men. Some will set up a small groggery or
grocery; they go into debt to those who have a bigger groggery,
or to a man who can, perhaps, buy a barrel of whisky at a time,
or a few pieces of calico. These little merchants are in debt to
some larger ones in St. Louis; those to merchants in Cincinnati,
New York, and New Orleans; and they are in debt to large houses
in England, France, Germany, and other places.
120
They all bow the neck: they are all trammeled and bowed down with
the same chain. People talk about our credit not being good
lately. I hope to God nobody will credit a "Mormon." We don't
want anything on credit. I want us to live as we can live; and if
we cannot live without going into debt to our enemies, let us
die--never put our heads under the yoke.
120
The same thing exists in other branches. You may take a
constable; he has got to pledge his honour to support such a man,
no matter whether he keeps a doggery, a groggery, or whether he
is an honest man or a rogue. Then a number of those support some
other man that is more elevated, if there is any elevation in
such doings. Then those other "elevated" ones from combinations
and clubs, and sustain others; and so on, until you get up to the
President of the United States. All are pinioned, and their
tongues are tied.
121
There is Fremont, that great man, who could not lead a few men
over these mountains without starving them to death. A few men,
understanding his position, got him cooped up in New York, so
that he could not be seen without coming at him through
committees and checks, bras and bolts, lest he should speak and
people find him out; and after all their great care, he came out
at the little end of the horn: he was not elected.
121
When a President is elected, a crowd of men press around him,
like so many hungry dogs, for a division of the spoils, saying,
"Mr. President, what are you going to do for our town? Remember,
here is Mr. So-and-so, who took a prominent position. We want
such a one in such an office. And, finally, after worryings and
teasings, and whining and begging, some of those little men,
mean, contemptible pups, doggery men, broken-down lawyers, or
common, dirty, political hacks, bring up the rear, swelled up
like swill barrels; they come to the table for the fragments,
and, with a hungry maw and not very delicate stomach, whine out,
"Won't you give me a place, if it is only in Utah?" In order to
stop the howling, the President says, "Throw a bone to that dog,
and let him go out;" and he comes out a great big "United States'
officer," dressed in a lion's garb, it is true, but with the bray
of an ass. He comes here, carrying out his groggery and whoring
operations, and seeking to introduce among us eastern
civilization.
121
The people here, however, feel a little astonished, some of them,
although they are not very much astonished at anything that
transpires; and when they look at him, they say in their
simplicity, "Why, that man is acting like a beast." His majesty,
however, swells up, struts and puffs, and blows, and says, "You
must not insult me: I am a United States' officer; you are
disloyal. I am a United States' officer; don't speak to me." Of
course you are, and a glorious representative you are.
121
I did start once to write a history of the judges sent to Utah;
but I did not get through with it. You know we have the history
of the judges in former days. If I had only had time, I would
have liked to have written a history of the judges of Israel that
came out from the Ammonites and Moabites down yonder.
121
There was one man here whom you considered one of the most
honourable men among your judges. I refer to Judge Shaver. I do
not know much about the man; he was spoken highly of, and a great
deal of ceremony made at his funeral. I was on board of a steamer
coming up to Florence, when some gentlemen got to talking about
the "Mormons." One man said, "I was there a year and a half, and
I know them to be as good, peaceable, and quiet a society as I
ever was among; but there is a pack of infernal scoundrels sent
among them by the Government, that are not fit to go anywhere. A
man, by the name of Shaver, was sent there, and he lay drunk
around our town six months before he went there!" Thinks I, if
that is one of the best, then the Lord have mercy on the rest.
121
With regard to office-hunters, they are in bondage to each other;
and even the President of the United States is trammelled, bound
down, and no man has the manliness to say, I dare do as I please.
122
These things are so in a monetary point of view, in a religious
point of view, and they are so in a political point of view, and
in every way you can view it. Every man bows down his neck to his
fellow, and they have their parties of every kind in the United
States; and every man must be true to his party, no matter what
it is. Politicians are bound by their parties, editors by their
employers, ministers by their congregations, merchants by their
creditors and Governors and President by political cliques.
Divisions, strife, contention, and evil are everywhere
increasing, and there is a little room for truth in the hearts of
the people.
122
I believe, notwithstanding, there are thousands of honest people
in the United States; but so much evil prevails, and so much
corruption, that it is next to impossible for them to discover
the difference between truth and error.
122
Our preaching does not seem to have any value or effect on the
minds of men at all, scarcely. You can revise, renovate,
regenerate the Saints; but come to take hold of the world, and
preach to them, it is like idle tales to them. As I have said,
talk to them about the Bible, and they will tell you it is an
old-fashioned, old fogy affair, with very little exception.
122
I have laboured myself, as the rest of the Elders have, and the
general result, wherever we have preached the Gospel, has been
the same. I remember, in old Connecticut, the land of steady
habits, some few embraced the Gospel, and one or two we had to
cut off from the Church in a week or two after. There was one old
lady, a farmer's wife; she believed, and her husband treated us
kindly, and they got a place for us to preach in, &c., and after
listening for some time, said she would give anybody five hundred
dollars to prove "Mormonism" untrue. I said I would do it for
half of that sum: if she wanted a lie, she should have it.
122
In the neighbourhood of Tom's River, a number came into the
Church; some have stood, and some have not: they are doing pretty
well there. There was as good a Church when I first went there as
I found in the East. There was also another in Philadelphia. In
new York, when we went there, we found a people that called
themselves "Mormons." I called a meeting, and there was only two
that I would acknowledge as such. I told the rest to go their own
way; told them what I acknowledged to be "Mormonism," and if they
would not walk up to that, they might take their own course.
122
Since then, a great many emigrants have come from the old
countries--from England, France, Germany, Denmark, and other
places. They form quite a body: there are now five or six
hundred. At Philadelphia and around there, there have been some
few brought in; but most of the Saints there are those who have
come in from England and other places.
122
It is almost impossible to produce any effect on the feelings of
the people. In New Jersey, I held several days' meeting, to see
if something could be done. They turned out in great numbers:
"Mormonism" was popular; as many as 200 carriages were present.
We were treated well, and preached faithfully. Somebody came and
set up a little groggery, and it was removed forthwith. Was
anybody converted? No. They turned their ears like a deaf adder
to the cause, and that is the general feeling, so far as I have
discovered.
122
They do not love the truth. In most of these places they have
rejected the Gospel, and they listen not to the voice of the
charmer, charm he never so wisely. Many asked about their
friends, and if their was any speculation on foot. I could get
thousands to immigrate to this Territory for speculative
purposes; and committees waited on me to learn what inducements
are held out to settlers. I could get thousands to come here, if
we would give them good farms, and furnish them cattle, and work
their farms for them until they got started, and let them carouse
around, and have all the lager beer they could drink.
123
Those who love the truth are scarce. There are, however, a great
many scattered all over the United States, who believe
"Mormonism" is truth, and have not moral courage to embrace it;
but if it is policy, they dare once in awhile say a few words,
but in a kind of milk-and-water way: they dare not say much,
because it is unpopular; and many dare not read a "Mormon" paper;
it is unpopular.
123
I have met men in the world as much my friends, apparently, as
those that are in the Church; and they have handed out means to
me when I was in need. One man wrote to me that he would be glad
to see me; but if I would not let the people know who I was, he
would be obliged to me. I told him I did not go to such places,
for I was a "Mormon," outside and in, and I could get along in
the world by holding my head up, and I despise men who will go
crawling and cringing around.
123
In relation to things that are now transpiring in the United
States, I suppose you have later news than I have. The mail team
passed me on the road, but it had no mail. In relation to any
policy that may be pursued here, I feel it is just right. I know
that President Young and his brethren associated with him are
full of the spirit of revelation, and they know what they are
doing. I feel to acquiesce and put my shoulder to the work,
whatever it is. If it is for peace, let it be peace; if it is for
war, let it be to the hilt. It has got to come some time, and I
would just as lief jump into it to-day as any other time.
123
We are engaged in the work of God in rolling on His purposes; and
if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to Him.
The Lord has put His hand to the work, and all the potentates of
the earth and their power cannot hinder its progress. The work is
onward, and in the name of Israel's God it will roll on, until
the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God
and His Christ.
123
We are gathering a nucleus for a kingdom here that is bound to
stand for ever--
123
"While time and thought, and being last,
123
and immortality endures."
123
All is peace,--and I feel like shouting, Hallelujah, hallelujah;
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and all nations shall be
subject to His sway.
123
I have talked longer than I thought I should.
123
There is one thing further I would like to say a few words upon.
Brother George A. Smith, Dr. Bernhisel, and myself were appointed
as delegates to go to Washington. I have never yet inquired what
the First Presidency thought about our proceedings there. I was
in Washington several times, and counselled with my brethren on
the subject of our admission. We counselled with some of the most
prominent men in the United States in relation to this matter;
and those that dare say anything at all, dare not, if you can
understand that.
123
That was about the feeling. We need not say much on this matter;
but I believe that brother George A. Smith and brother Bernhisel
laboured with indefatigable zeal to the best of their knowledge
and intelligence to accomplish the thing they set about; and I
did, while I was with them. But it was not necessary for me to
remain there; and I told the brethren, if I was wanted, by
sending me a telegraphic despatch, I would be there in a little
time. I believe these brethren did all that lay in their power.
123
While speaking of the acts of the Elders, I remember remarking to
brother Bernhisel that a set of men could not be found on the
face of the earth that would go with the same talent and ability,
and act with the same disinterestedness and zeal in the
performance of whatever is required of them.
124
I have counselled with them, and that is the feeling and
testimony I have to bear concerning them. When they get together,
their feeling is, How can we best promote the cause in which we
are engaged? Can a cause sustained by such men sink? Can the
cause sustained by the power that sustains them sink? No. The
truth will triumph, and shall roll forth until all nations shall
bow to its sceptre.
124
I pray God, in the name of Jesus, to bless you and guide you,
that we may be saved in His kingdom. Even so. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, August 9, 1857
Brigham Young, August 9, 1857
APPROVAL OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE DELEGATION TO
CONGRESS--CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, ETC.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, August 9, 1857.
124
So far as I am concerned, with regard to the performance of
duties by the Elders of Israel--the duties which have been placed
upon them and required at their hands upon their missions--for
the gratification of the brethren just referred to by Elder
Taylor, I will say, If there has been nothing hitherto expressed
here manifesting the feelings of the First Presidency of the
Church and the members in general on-this point, I can answer for
the people, by asking and answering a question.
124
Brother Taylor, brother George A. Smith, and brother Bernhisel,
did you do your duty in Congress in reference to presenting our
petition for a State? I think that I can answer for this
Committee, as well as for the people, and say that they
discharged their duty manfully and satisfactorily to their God
and to their brethren. I can answer for the people, and say that
they are most perfectly satisfied with the labours of our
Committee. When a man can say of a truth, "I have done the very
best that I could in my mission," the heart of every Saint on
earth acquainted with the circumstances, the angels in heaven,
and our heavenly Father are all satisfied. There is no more
required of us than we are capable of performing. The First
Presidency are satisfied, and I can say that the people are
satisfied.
124
With regard to the labours of brother Taylor in editing the paper
called The Mormon, published in the city of New York, I have
heard many remarks concerning the editorials in that paper, not
only from Saints, but from those who do not profess to believe
the religion we have embraced; and it is probably one of the
strongest edited papers that is now published. I can say, as to
its editorials, that it is one of the strongest papers ever
published, so far as my information extends; and I have never
read one sentence in them but what my heart could bid success to
it and beat a happy response to every sentence that I have read
or heard read. Brother Taylor, that is for you; and I believe
that these are the feelings and the sentiments of all in this
community who have perused that paper.
125
We are satisfied with the labours of the Elders generally. True,
it is not every one that knows and understands all things; it is
also true that men are liable to falter and fail in their
judgment; but that is nothing against the real character of the
man, if he is doing the best he knows how. It is true that at
times Elders need correcting, and they receive correlation in
this place. It is also true that, when you correct an individual
in his errors and try to place him in better circumstances
pertaining to judgment and discretion, it is annoying, it is
grievous, it is painful to the sensation of that individual. It
is very true that chastisements are grievous when they are
received; but if they are received in patience, they will work
out salvation for those who cheerfully submit to them.
125
If the time was that the Elders of Israel could not be chastened
and corrected for their wrongs, and be set right, you may know
that they have proved recreant to the faith. And if those who are
appointed to lead this people dare not rise up and tell them of
their iniquity and chastise them therefor, and teach them the way
of life and salvation, you may know that your leaders have fallen
from their station.
125
The Lord has bestowed the everlasting Priesthood upon the
children of men for their salvation. It is not believed for a
moment, by any person who believes in the Bible, that a man or
woman can be saved in their sins. They have to be separated from
their sins and iniquity; they have to put off the old man, with
all his deeds, and put on the new man Christ Jesus. If ever we
see the time that we dare not tell men of their evils, and
correct them when in fault, you may despair of salvation in this
kingdom.
125
One grand cause of the enmity entertained towards us by officials
sent here by the General Government has simply been, that I take
the liberty of telling men where they do wrong and wherein they
do wrong,--both those who are in the Church and those who are out
of it; and my brethren take the same liberty. If men do evil, we
tell them of their meanness; whereas, in the other portion of our
Government, men dare not speak their minds. They are tied up,
bound up; they are in fetters and chains in every particular--as
much so as brother Taylor has told you, and a great deal more. He
said that if a man was found in Congress who dare speak in favour
of innocence, justice, truth, and mercy, he dare not speak. If
there were any there, when our petition was expected to be
presented, who felt in their hearts to favour it, they dared not
open their mouths in favour of its being granted; for if they
spoke at all, they must speak according to the popular notions of
the people; they must go with the tide of popularity.
125
This is the case with the whole world; but we are chosen out of
the world. And if we accept salvation on the terms it is offered
to us, we have got to be honest in every thought, in our
reflections, in our meditations, in our private circles, in our
deal, in our declarations, and in every act of our lives,
fearless and regardless of every principle of error, of every
principle of falsehood that may be presented. We have no
difficulties with our Government: we never have had any
difficulties with any government under which we have lived. But
there has been a difficulty, and what is it? The "Mormons" have
got something that the rest, of course, have not, "and we will
kill them out of the way; we will not have them."
126
As brother Taylor has said, speaking of the wisdom and power
exhibited by the people of the world, there are men of talent, of
thought, of reflection, and knowledge in all cunning mechanism:
they are expert in that, though they do not know from whence they
receive their intelligence. The Spirit of the Lord has not yet
entirely done striving with the people, offering them knowledge
and intelligence; consequently it reveals unto them, instructs
them, teaches them, and guides them even in the way they like to
travel. Men know how to construct railroads and all manner of
machinery; they understand cunning workmanship, &c.; but that is
all revealed to them by the Spirit of the Lord, though they know
it not.
126
You can find in the minds of the people most admirable
intelligence in things pertaining to the world; but when you
touch the intelligence that pertains to other worlds, to the
kingdom of heaven and heavenly things, they are dark as midnight
darkness--so dark as this, that, let ever so good a thing be
revealed to them, no matter how good for a nation, a people, a
community, or an individual--let a man have it revealed to him
how he can benefit the whole nation, they turn around and deny
God in it. They are so dark as that, when they never received a
particle of intelligence but what came from God. They are filled
with darkness.
126
Instead of wishing injuries to come on them, my heart is pained
for them when I behold their situation. They are drunk, not with
strong drink, but with their own anger, and rage, and the spirit
of the enemy which they have received. They are as wild as
California horses. When a lasso is thrown on them, they will run
madly against a fence, or a stone wall, or over a person, or
anything; they are frantic, and would break their own necks. It
is just so with the inhabitants of the earth, and especially so
with our Government; and they are hastening with all possible
speed, with the lariat around their necks, to jump the precipice
and destroy themselves.
126
I can tell you one thing that I know concerning the inhabitants
of the United States. It has come to this, that the honest among
them--men, women, and children, have dreams foreboding evil. The
visions of their minds are troubled; they are in sorrow; they
feel melancholy, and have a presentiment that something evil is
going to befall the people. And if you could discern the thoughts
of their hearts this day, you would probably find millions of
such persons in our Government. When they reflect upon the
maddened zeal of the leaders, they know that they can endure but
a little while, and query, "What will come?" What will the Lord
bring on the people--upon this happy government? What evil
catastrophe is about to befall us? Will there be war? Will we
fight the "Mormons," and will the Lord give the "Mormons" power
to fight against us? Will the North make war upon the South? Will
they take the sword one against the other? What will become of
us? These forebodings are upon the people. They have dreams in
the night which frighten them, and reflections in the day-time
which give them sorrow; and they are harassed from day to day.
They are to be pitied; for sorrow, woe, destruction, shame, and
misery await them. I am sorry for them: they are to be pitied--to
be prayed for.
127
Almost every man that has come from the East of late is telling
you the political feelings and desires of the Government towards
this people. Brother Taylor has just related that a gentleman he
met on the road remarked, "What! can you 'Mormons' fight the
United States? Can you contend with them? You had better take a
more specific policy than you have. Do not speak about the
President, nor about any of the officials." We shall talk as we
please about them; for this is the right and privilege granted to
us by the Constitution of the United States: and, as ministers of
salvation, we shall take the liberty of telling men of their
sins.
127
I shall take the liberty of talking as I please about the
President of the United States, and I expect that I know his
character better than he knows it himself. I will tell you in a
few words a little of it. James Buchanan, who is now sitting in
the chair of state, and presiding over this great Republic, is
naturally a passive, docile, kind, benevolent, and good
man,--that is his natural disposition, I will venture. Arouse
him, and he has been a man who could make flaming speeches. He is
now bound up; they have the fetters upon his feet; he is
handcuffed; his elbows are pinioned; he is bound on every side,
and they make him do as they please. Is he obliged to do so? No.
127
Is a man fit to be President of the United States, who will bow
and succumb to the whims of the people? No. A president should
learn the true situation of his constituents, and deal out
even-handed justice to all, utterly regardless of the clamour of
party. Suppose the President to be under the clamour and
dictation of several parties, he would order out a company
to-day, and to-morrow call them back; he would make a decree
to-day, and next week revoke it and make another to suit another
party. He ought not to pay attention to any party, but consider
the nation as a family, and deal out justice and mercy to them
equally and independently.
127
I wish that Hickory Jackson was now our President; for he would
kick some of those rotten-hearted sneaks out, or rather order his
negroes to do it. If we had a man in the chair who really was a
man, and capable of magnifying his office, he would call upon his
servants, and order him to kick those mean, miserable sneaks out
of the presidential mansion, off from its grounds, and into the
streets. But the President hearkens to the clamour around him;
and, as did Pontious Pilate, in the case of Jesus Christ, has
washed his hands, saying, "I am clear of the blood of those
Latter-day Saints. Gentlemen, you have dictated, and I will order
a soldiery and officials to Utah." It is said in the Bible, that
whosoever ye yield yourselves to obey, his servants ye are. The
President has yielded himself a servant to cliques and parties,
and their servants he shall be. And all that has been spoken of
him by brother Kimball, in the name of Jesus Christ, shall come
upon him.
127
Do you think that we shall be called treasoners, for rebuking him
in his sinful course? Yes. Talk of loyalty to Government! Hardly
a man among them cares for the Government of the United States,
any more than he does for the useless card that lies on the table
while he is playing out his hand. They disregard the Constitution
as they would any old fable in any old school book. Scarcely a
member on the floor of Congress cares anything about it.
128
While brother Taylor was referring to the conduct of officers of
the Government, to the pistols, bowie-knives, the oyster suppers,
the pleasant little knick-knacks, and this, that, and the other,
I was reminded of a circumstance that transpired in the region of
the Salt Works in the State of New York. In that section there
was a place called Salt Point, one of the roughest in the world
for drunkenness, gaming, fighting, and cursing; and within a few
miles from Salt Point was a place called Onadaga Hollow, and the
people in those places used to be in a constant strife to see
which should act the worst. As a man named Thaddeus Woods, who
had become considerably wealthy by making and selling salt, was
going from Onadaga Hollow to Salt Point, he stopped at a tavern,
half way between the two places; and when he and his travelling
companions had rested themselves and fed their horses, Woods told
one of his teamsters, who was one of the wickedest men to be
found in those two places, that he would treat him if he would
say three of the wickedest words that he could think of. The man
agreed that he would; and when he had the attention and eyes of
the company fixed upon him, he shouted out "Onadaga Hollow, Thad.
Woods, and Salt Point," remarking that those were three of the
worst words that he could think of.
128
Brother Taylor says that language cannot express the conduct, the
feelings, and the spirit that are upon the people in the States.
Well, suppose you take up a labour and swear about them, what are
the worst words that can be spoken? 'Nigger stealing,' Mobs or
Vigilance Committees, and Rotten-hearted Administrators of a
Government are three of the meanest and wickedest words that can
be spoken. I expect that somebody will write that back to the
States, as being treasonable, because spoken by a Latter-day
Saint.
128
With regard to the present contention and strife, and to our
position and situation, there are few things to be considered,
and there is much labour to be performed. Let the Saints live
their religion; let them have faith in God, do all the good they
can to the household of faith and to everybody else, and trust in
god for the result; for the world will not believe one truth
about us. I tell you that the Government of the United States,
and other governments that are acquainted with us, will not
believe a single truth about us. What will they believe? Every
lie that every poor, miserable, rotten-hearted curse can tell.
What are we to do, under these circumstances? Live our religion.
Are you going to contend against the United States? No. But when
they come here to take our lives solely for our religion, be ye
also ready.
128
Do I expect to stand still, sit still, or lie still, and tamely
let them take away my life? I have told you a great many times
what I have to say about that. I do not profess to be so good a
man as Joseph Smith was. I do not walk under their protection nor
into their prisons, as he did. And though officers should pledge
me their protection, as Governor Ford pledged protection to
Joseph, I would not trust them any sooner than I would a wolf
with my dinner; neither do I trust in a wicked judge, nor in any
evil person. I trust in my God, and in honest men and women who
have the power of the Almighty upon them. What will we do? Keep
the wicked off as long as we can, preach righteousness to them,
and teach them the way of salvation.
129
Some speak of the nations now on the earth forgetting God, they
have not forgotten Him, for they have never remembered Him. They
have not departed from His ways, for they never found them; they
have not lost faith in Him, for they never had any. There are men
sitting here who were brought up Christians, who were trained to
believe in the sacred words of truth contained in the Old and New
Testament. What were you taught by your priests, your fathers,
mothers, and associates, with regard to God? How many anxious
hours I have experienced in my youth, to know, see, and
understand things as they were and as they are. Did I ever see a
man who could instruct me in those matters, until I saw Joseph
Smith? I never did. And after I had made a profession of
religion, I would ask the most powerful preachers whether they
knew anything about God--where He is located, where Heaven is,
and where Hell is, who is the Father, who the Son, and what the
distinction is between them, who is Michael the archangel, who is
Gabriel, and so on. Could they tell a thing about it? No: and I
am a witness that no man in Christendom knew anything about it,
unless it was revealed by the Spirit to him.
129
I may say that many had revelations from God, but they had not
the keys, and rights, and knowledge, and system of the religion
of God. John Wesley was a good man, and so were thousands of
others. Will they be saved? They are saved. You know what my
doctrine is with regard to this matter. Every man will be judged
according to the deeds done in the body. Did they know anything
about heaven, or God? No, they did not. Could they even explain
one of the first simple lessons in the religion we believe, with
regard to mortal man? Could any of them explain what the soul of
man is, when it is written in the Bible, and they have read it
thousands of times? No.
129
I have heard men preach hours upon the soul of man; and one of
the smartest men that I ever heard preach, would up a long
discourse by saying, "Finally, brethren, I must come to the
conclusion that the soul of man is an immaterial substance." I
have sat days and weeks, and months, and years to hear men
explain the things of God; and what did they know about them?
Nothing.
129
We have the keys of the priesthood and the words of eternal life,
and understand them, and what manner of persons ought we to be?
We ought to live our religion, believe in our God, love and serve
Him, be faithful to Him, to one another, to all our covenants,
and keep the devils from killing us as long as we can, and that
is just as long as we have a mind to.
129
I recollect saying to a certain official here--one who wanted a
few Indians for killing Gunnison, If you want them, I will put
them into your hands.' They were presented to him, but he dared
not take them. I told him at the time of the conversation, that
there might be some thirty of those Indians; but, if the United
States should send 50,000 of their troops here they could not get
one of them, if they had a mind to keep out of the way; and he
believed it. I suppose you would like to know upon what
principle? Like some of brother Taylor's honest men that he
thought he had found in the States, who, when he thought that he
had found them, and went to put his hand upon them, were like the
Paddy's flea--they were not there, they were somewhere else. That
is the reason why they could not get the Indians. There is the
same reason why they cannot get us, until we have a mind to go
them.
129
Do you wonder that the world is angry at us? No; for the time
must come when your faith must be tried. Can the Lord take this
kingdom and separate it from the kingdom of darkness? Can He
bring it forth to establish His work upon the earth as
extensively as the Prophets have prophesied, without separating
us from the kingdoms of this word? You say, No. How is he going
to do it? You have seen how, so far. In the days of Joseph, a
string of guards was set around him on every side, lest he should
have communion with the remnants of Israel who are wandering on
the plains and in the kanyons of this country. Those guards
fought us, whipped us, killed our Prophets, and abused our
community, until we are now driven by them into the very midst of
the Lamanites. Oh, what a pity they could not foresee the evil
they were bringing upon themselves, by driving this people into
the midst of the savages of the plains. And here am I, yet,
Governor of Utah.
130
Do you wonder that they are angry? Five years ago I told them
that I should be Governor as long as the Lord wanted me to be,
and that all hell could not remove me. They have tried during
those five years to remove me, and I have had to appoint a
secretary for this Territory three times in that period; for the
ones appointed by the President absconded from the Territory. And
the prospect now is, that I shall still have to be the
Governor--that I shall again have to preside over the
Legislature, and that Captain Hooper, whom I appointed Secretary,
will have to continue in that office.
130
God bless you. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, August 2, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, August 2, 1857
ORGANIZATION--DESTRUCTION OF ZION'S ENEMIES--ONENESS
OF SPIRIT IN THE PRIESTHOOD, ETC.
A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the
Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, August 2, 1857.
130
I have appreciated brother Elias Smith's remarks. He has stated
things as they are, according to my knowledge. I have been
acquainted with him some twenty-three or twenty-four years. He is
our Judge in this county, and I can say to his praise that he is
one of the best Judges we have in the Territory; and my prayer
and wish to God is that we may not have a swore Judge from this
time henceforth and for ever, and that we may never have any
Judges in this Territory but men of our own choice, and that we
may never have any person to preside over us in the capacity of a
Governor of this Territory but the man of our own choice.
[Voices: "Amen."] And I can say further, we never will. [Voices:
"Amen."] I have my reasons for this.
130
This people here are the people of God. Here, in the Territory of
Deseret, is the kingdom of God, and here are all the officers
pertaining to that kingdom; and here is an organization that is
organized after the order of God, and it is organized after the
order of the Church of the First Born.
130
Let me explain what the Church of the First Born is. It is the
first Church that ever was raised up upon this earth; that is,
the first born Church. That is what I mean; and when God our
Father organized that Church, He organized it just as His Father
organized the Church on the earth where He dwelt; and that same
order is organized here in the City of Great Salt Lake; and it is
that order that Joseph Smith the Prophet of God organized in the
beginning in Kirtland, Ohio. Brother Brigham Young, myself, and
others were present when that was done; and when those officers
received their endowments, they were together in one place. They
were organized, and received their endowments and blessings, and
those keys were placed upon them, and that kingdom will stand for
ever.
131
Now mark it--that kingdom will never be overthrown; although they
may kill, that is, if they can, brother Brigham and me, and
brother Daniel H. Wells, and they may kill the Apostles, if they
can, and so they may keep on from this time to all eternity, and
they never can obliterate this work. I know it. They may kill,
and destroy, and waste a great many limbs that are upon this
Church; but let me tell you, they never can kill the tree nor
destroy the root from whence we have sprung; for our Father and
our God is that root, and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the
tree or vine, and we spring out of that vine; and if we keep His
commandments and receive the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, it is
that nourishment that comes down directly from the Father, from
Jesus Christ, the true vine.
131
And as President Buchanan, the President of the United States of
America, holds the keys of the government of this whole nation,
so Brigham Young holds the keys pertaining to this Church and
people.
131
Well, do I suppose, when I reflect, that troops are being sent
here without President Buchanan's permission? No, not for a
moment: he has permitted it. We are a poor, isolated people,
driven over one thousand miles from our native land, and many of
us have been driven and broken up five times; and he and his
coadjutors have acknowledged it and have said pointedly there
could nothing be done for us as a community: and here we are,
after sending forth our men, the Elders of Israel, and redeeming
this land from Mexico. They are now designing to come with troops
to break us up and to kill our Prophets, and our Apostles, and
our Elders.
131
Brethren, I will tell you one thing, and you may be sure of it,
as the Lord God lives, and as my soul lives, that nations that
raise the weapons of war against this people shall perish by
those weapons. [Voices: "Amen."] Every nation, every tongue, and
every people shall perish, and every man and woman that gives
consent to it. [Voices: "Amen."] You may "Amen" to the whole of
it, for it is true. Go and read the Book of Mormon, the Prophets,
and the revelations given to Joseph the Prophet; and you will
learn that God has said that every nation and every people on
this earth that will not serve Him shall be destroyed.
131
This is the kingdom of God. When they fight us, they fight God,
and Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, and they fight all the
Prophets that have been from the creation down to the present
time. Why? Because Joseph was the last Prophet; God spoke to him,
placed the keys upon him, by Peter, James, and John. Do you
suppose they did it without having authority from Jesus? No;
Jesus told them when to do it, and told them who the man was; and
Joseph, the Prophet of the living God, placed those keys on
brother Brigham.
131
The Father told Jesus when to go and again commit these keys to
men on the earth; Jesus told the Twelve when to do it; Joseph
told Brigham when to do it. Now, look at it naturally, and you
will see that every man and woman that raise their hands against
this people will be destroyed, and that without remedy.
131
Set your heart at rest, then: you need not be troubled, nor
frightened at all; for as the Lord liveth, and we live, we will
prosper, and we will come off victorious. [Voices: "Amen."] You
know we have to stick in an if --if you live your religion, and
will do as you are told, and become like the clay in the hands of
the potter.
132
Who are you to be subject to? You say you are willing to be
subject to God--to Jesus Christ. You are willing, if Peter came
along, to listen to him. Well, Peter is here, John is here, Elias
is here, Elijah is here, Jesus is here, and the Father is here.
What! in person? If not in person, their authority is here, with
all the power that ever was or ever will be to seal men and women
up to everlasting have seal them on earth and in heaven, by the
power of Elijah, which is upon brother Brigham; and it is on
every man he authorizes.
132
Joseph had those keys and powers directly from those men, and we
received them from Joseph; so you see we are legal heirs to the
kingdom of heaven. You have got to be subject to these powers
that be; for there is no power only that which is ordained of
God. You have to listen to that.
132
Can we be Saints by having our own will, our own way? Brother
Elias has been talking about that this morning, how he has felt
that will that was in him. Gentlemen, he has not been easy to
handle and place upon the wheel; if he had been, he would have
been filled with almighty power, even the power that was upon
Joseph and Brigham, and upon every other good man in this Church;
but he is going to walk up henceforth; he ain't going to stand
back anymore. He is akin to brother Joseph, and Joseph is ashamed
of his own kindred that will not step forth and be valiant, and
god is ashamed of them.
132
Be passive in the hands of God, in the hands of His servants, as
clay in the hands of the potter. How is that? How can the
servants of god mould you, fashion you, and prepare you to become
moulded, and fashioned after the likeness of God, unless you are
passive?
132
If you go into the adobie yard, you may see men engaged in the
business of adobie making, and you can see them moulding adobies
out of the elements. Suppose that clay would not be passive, but
would have its own will, and not be subject to the moulder of the
adobies, he could not mould them, because the adobie would not
let him mould it.
132
When I carried on the pottery business, I used to take a good
deal of pains to get good clay, and hauled it a long distance,
and then I always immersed it before I put it into the mill to
grind it. Why? To make it passive; and I mould, grind, and grind
it again, until it becomes passive; then I took it out of the
mill, and carried it into the shop, where it was kneaded as you
would a cake, and then put on to the wheel and turned into a
vessel unto honour. Did I ever design to turn a vessel unto
dishonor? No. If I did, I did not get any reward for it: I only
got reward for those I moulded and fashioned according to the
dictation of my master; and I presented them to him that he might
receive them, as Jesus says--"Father, I have lost none of those
thou gavest me, except the son of perdition."
132
Go into the blacksmith's shop, on this block, and you will find
brother Jonathan Pugmire, the foreman. I go to him and say,
"Brother Jonathan, make me an axe." He goes to work with a piece
of iron that, the moment he tries to shape it, flies into a
thousand pieces. "I can do nothing with that," says he; "I must
get a piece of iron that will be passive, and then I will make
you an axe that will be as keen as a razor." He gets another
piece, and that begins to fly. It is not the fault of the
blacksmith. "But," says the iron, "don't you handle me in this
manner." He throws that aside: that has got to go back to the
furnace again, to be melted and made into a loop, and that turned
out into iron again, because it was not passive; and then it
becomes passive by getting the snappish stuff out of it: it runs
out with the dross. The dross, you know, is very brittle and
snappish.
132
When you find a man or woman snappish and fretful, and not
willing to be subject, you may know there is a good deal of dross
in that character, because dross is brittle. That dross has got
to come out.
133
Talking about trials, brother Elias says he did not come here
with the pioneers. It was pretty hard and laborious, I admit; but
it was one of the pleasantest journeys I ever performed. Still
there was a great deal of care and anxiety, especially on brother
Brigham and those that helped him. Did we persevere? We did. We
came here to the Valleys of the Mountains, and you have followed
us.
133
Let me tell you, gentlemen, you have got to learn to be passive
and be like clay in the hands of the potter, or be like a
tallowed rag or wick before a hot fire: it becomes limber and
passive, and you can tie it into a thousand knots, and it will
not break.
133
Are you of that nature that you will not break and fly as though
there were a hundred convulsions in you? You have got to come to
that standard, as true as you ever become the true subjects and
heirs of the kingdom of God. And let brother Brigham take a
hundred men of that character, and I would give more for them
than ten thousand people who are stiff in their own way; and he
would take that hundred men and go into the mountains and whip
out the world.
133
We read that one shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten
thousand to flight. We read that in the Bible. You have always
heard it from the days of your youth to the present time. Do you
appreciate it?
133
We will refer to Gideon, the Prophet of God, when his host was so
numerous that he went and made a selection of three hundred men
to put all his enemies to flight. That is in the Bible. For
heaven's sake, believe that, if you won't believe me.
133
There was Daniel, a servant of God, one who kept His
commandments; he was valiant, and his friends said to him,
"Daniel, put down the window, or they will see you praying." "I
will pray with it open," he replied; and he opened his window and
prayed, and told them all that he asked no odds of them. "I will
pray to my Father and God, who can preserve me in a den of lions,
or in boiling hot oil, or in anything else, and He will sustain
me while He will send you to hell, you poor devils." He had such
confidence in his God.
133
Should not you have as much confidence in God as brother Brigham,
Heber, or the Twelve Apostles have?--as much confidence in this
vine as any branch that pertains to it? You should.
133
To gratify some who cry, "Oh, don't say anything, brother
Heber,--don't say anything, brother Brigham, to bring down the
United States upon us," we have at times omitted printing some of
the remarks that might offend the weak-stomached world, and we
have made buttermilk and catnip tea to accommodate the tastes of
our enemies; but the poor devils are not pleased after all. Would
they come any quicker if we told them that they were poor,
miserable, priest-ridden curses, who want a President in the
chair that dare not speak for fear those hell-hounds be on him?
133
God knew that Zachary Taylor would strike against us, and He sent
him to hell. President Fillmore was the next man who came on the
platform, and he did us good. God bless him! Then came President
Pierce, and he did not strive to injure us. We hoped that the
next after him would do us justice; but he has issued orders to
send troops to kill brother Brigham and me, and to take the young
women to the States.
133
The woman will be damned that will go: she shall dry up in the
fountain of life, and be as though she never was. But there ain't
any a-going--[Voices: "There are none that want to go!"]--unless
they are whores. If the soldiers come here, those creatures will
have the privilege of showing themselves and of becoming
debauched.
134
I tell you there is not a purer set of women on God's earth
than there is here; and they shall live and bear the souls of
men, and bear tabernacles for those righteous spirits that are
kept back for the last time, for the winding-up scenery.
134
Will the President that sits in the chair of state be tipped from
his seat? Yes, he will die an untimely death, and God Almighty
will curse him; and He will also curse his successor, if he takes
the same stand; and he will curse all those that are his
coadjutors, and all who sustain him. What for? For coming here to
destroy the kingdom of God, and the Prophets, and Apostles, and
inspired men and women; and God Almighty will curse them, and I
curse them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to my
calling; and if there is any virtue in my calling, they shall be
cursed, every man that lifts his heel against us from this day
forth. [Voices: "Amen."]
134
Am I afraid? No; but I am afraid to do wrong. I feel joy in my
heart to be valiant and tell you the truth; and I pray that God
my Father and his Son Jesus Christ may bring the evil upon them
that they desire for this people.
134
Our enemies are crying out that we are confused, that we have
rebelled, and that the Devil is to pay. I pray that God Almighty
may bring that thing upon them that they have imagined upon us.
But we are at peace and in harmony; we are worshipping and
serving God. Will they overcome us? Never; no, never; no, never,
while the earth stands, if we will stand up and be valiant.
134
I know that you never heard brother Brigham rebuke me for being
valiant before this people. He says, "Let her go, Heber; let her
slide." You never saw any other spirit in him in your life; and
every other good man there is will say so and has said so; and
they are the elect of God, and they will be saved.
134
But be wise, be wise, be still, as I told a man this morning.
Said I, You are always talking, you talk to every-body, and think
everybody our friends; but they are not. I have lots and scores
of friends here, and so has brother Brigham, who, by their
ignorance would destroy us from the earth.
134
You have received your endowments. What is it for? To learn you
to hold your tongues, and keep what you get, and increase upon
it. If you do not keep the word of life you receive--that which
proceeds from God, your minds never will expand, and you will
always be barren, like unto a barren woman.
134
Now, receive the seed, as Jesus says; and if that seed takes
root, it will grow, and swell, and sprout, and bring forth. What
will it bring forth? Something like the character that produced
the seed. If you plant corn in the field, and that corn is rooted
out of the ground, it perishes, and don't produce anything.
Receive the word and treasure it up in your hearts, and then you
shall continue to receive the word of life, here a little and
there a little; and you shall grow, and increase, and multiply,
and no good thing shall be withheld from you.
134
Learn, above all things, brethren and sisters, to have a passive
spirit, and be subject where you should be subject. I hear a
great many say, "I am willing to be subject to brother Brigham,
but I don't want to be subject to his one and to that one." Let
me tell you, gentlemen and ladies, if you won't be subject to my
words, and listen to them, and receive them, you will not be
subject to and receive brother Brigham's words. How can it be
possible for you to receive his words and reject mine?
135
Now, we will say brother Brigham is the head of this vine that
has sprung out in the latter days,--that is, the head of the vine
that is upon the earth, that you naturally see; but Joseph was
the head of the vine when he was here, and he is now, only you
cannot see him: then I am connected to that vine, as one of
brother Brigham's Counsellors; and then the Twelve, the
Seventies, High Priests, and other officers. Now, just look at
it. Why should you not listen to one man as much as to another
connected to that vine; in case he produces the fruit of that
vine? And they should know whether that branch is connected to
the vine: they should know whether the fruit is the same as that
produced by the head of the vine.
135
When I speak the truth, is it not the same as though brother
Brigham spoke it? When I tell it as it is in the Lord Jesus
christ, what is the difference? I can go into my garden and show
you apple-trees there with perhaps a hundred limbs which have
apples on them. You may taste an apple from the first or head
limb, then of the second, and the third, and the hundredth; and
the fruit tastes just alike, because it all came from one tree,
and the tree came from the root, and it is all one thing.
135
This is the principle; we should be connected one with the other,
every quorum in its place, and keep organized, and keep in our
places, according to the order of the Church of the First Born.
135
Are we going to be preserved? Bless your souls! I have no more
fears, if this people will live their religion, and learn to be
passive like clay in the hands of the potter, than as though I
was in heaven; for if I was there and rebelled, as Lucifer did, I
should expect to be chastised and cast out with all those
connected with me.
135
A great many suppose that when they get there they will be
perfectly safe. You will, if you keep the commandments of God;
but if you cannot learn to keep the commandments of God in Great
Salt Lake City, how can you learn to keep them when you have to
flee to the mountains? And if you cannot keep them here, how do
you expect to keep them in Jackson County?--for we are as sure to
go back there as we exist.
135
This Church and kingdom will reign triumphant; and when the
United States take a course to bring us into collision, they will
strive to take away everything from us that they have given us.
What of it? We will make them the aggressors: they shall be the
first men that shall rebel against God and against this people;
and if we are not the aggressors, and we stand on the defensive,
and they come upon us, and they fall into our hands, the Lord
says, if they repent and we forgive them, our blessings shall be
doubled unto us; so also for the second time: but if he comes
upon you the third time, thine enemy is in thine hands; thou
mayest do with him as seemeth thee good: but if he repent, and
you forgive him the third time, then I will reward unto you a
hundred-fold. But don't you forgive, unless brother Brigham does.
If he says, Give them justice and righteousness, then it will be
right.
135
Now, you need not sit here as judges, and judge brother Brigham.
Good heaven! how does any one without any priesthood look when
judging him and his brethren? He is capable of judging all things
pertaining to this kingdom; for he has the keys of light and
revelation, and God is with him. I cannot comprehend him, only in
proportion to the measure of the Spirit bestowed upon me. Can
brother Wells comprehend me? No, he cannot, nor never can, only
as he has the same measure of the Spirit; and no man can
comprehend his file-leader, except he has the same measure of the
Spirit.
136
But let me walk in my place, and the sap that is in brother
Brigham is in me; and the sap that is in me is in him: but can I
measure any further than my capacity? No. Then what do you judge
me for? God will lead brother Brigham; don't you be scared. He
will give him revelation upon revelation; and when he says, Do
this or that, God will sanction it, and he will bless all men and
women that walk up to it, and curse every one that backs out.
136
Suppose I am partaking of the same spirit and nourishment that
brother Brigham partakes of, and he is resting himself while
brother Heber speaks, don't you see he speaks the mind of brother
Brigham? You may see it has been so all the time, and it will be
so for ever.
136
You have come to me, and I have given you counsel, and then you
have gone to brother Brigham, and he has given you the same
counsel; and when you have asked counsel of him, and then come to
me, you say, "That is just as brother Brigham said to me." Do you
suppose I could give any counsel contrary to his mind?
136
Well, then, let that Spirit and power be in our families, and I
want to know what difference there will be? Brother Hyde, don't
you never give counsel from this time henceforth but what would
be the counsel of brother Brigham. Just so with the Seventies.
136
There is brother Pratt, in England, and the brethren that preside
there: let those men do as the Spirit of God dictates them
without being carried off by some other spirit, and they will
never go astray--no, never, although they are nine thousand miles
from here. By taking this course, would you ever see a wife
trying to pervert the way of her husband? I am talking about good
men and good women. Would she do it? No: she would be one with
him, even as I am one with brother Brigham.
136
Listen to the counsel of God and those men that are placed here;
and if you will do that, I can promise you, in the name of
Israel's God, and by virtue of my calling, that you never shall
be swerved aside, and our enemies shall be overcome every time
before they cross that Big Mountain, if we have to do it
ourselves.
136
If I did not say that, you would be calculating that we were
going to make a perfect servant and drudge of our God, just as a
great many of you wish to make of us. If you want a pound of
coffee, or tea, or a pair of shoes, it is, "Come, brother Heber,
go quick and get me what I want; if you don't, I will go and tell
brother Brigham." Go, and be damned.
136
I wish that all such characters were in hell, where they belong.
[Voice: "They are there."] I know it; and it is that which makes
them wiggle so--the poor, miserable devils. They would make our
Father and God a drudge--make him do the dirty work, kill those
poor devils, and every poor, rotten-hearted curse in our midst.
With them it is, "O Lord, kill them, kill them, damn them, kill
them, Lord." It is just like that, and their course has just as
much nonsense in it. We intend to kill the poor curses ourselves,
before they get to the Big Mountain. And we are going to dig a
cache, or take some natural one, and put all the whining men and
women into it, and let them whine. We want to be released from
such poor hellions, and we will be; we won't have a murmurer or
complainer in the House of Israel. If we go out to war, let them
stay here, and let the Devil handle them.
137
How long is it, brother Brigham, since we first went to Kirtland?
[Brother Brigham: Twenty-four years, this fall.] In September,
1833, we went to Kirtland and gathered with Joseph and the
Saints. We had to go and buy guns, and stand in his defence, in
that early day; and we did it for months and months, to keep the
hellyons from him in Kirtland, twenty-four years ago; and so it
continued from that day to the day of his death; and it is just
so now. They are trying to take the lives of brother Brigham and
your leaders. It is their design, and the design of the President
of the United States, with his cabinet, and of Congress; and all
the priests there are in the world back them up. That is the
truth.
137
Get the Spirit of the Lord, and stop your whining, every one of
you. "Oh," says one, "I will leave you, if you don't wait on me
as you have hitherto, and get me all the things I ask for." I
wish you would: you could not please me better. Does that show
such whiners have got integrity in them? A man or woman that has
got integrity should have it, if there is nothing but a potatoe
to eat. And if you have not a stocking to your feet, nor a gown,
nor a petticoat, nor a short gown, you should be as true as the
sun to the servants of the living God; and if you are not so
under such circumstances, you would not be if you were loaded
down with treasures.
137
It is true, I will tell you, the day of your being petted is
past; and you have got to come to the crisis when the gate will
be shut down between us and the United States, and that very
soon, ladies and gentlemen; and if you don't get your test, you
may say I am false. [President Young, in a crying tone, said,
"There are no more ribbons coming here: what shall I do?"]
137
O dear, I want to know if we ain't going to have any more
ribbons? A great many of your hearts are on nothing else but
ribbons, and fine dresses, and bustles, and fineries: you don't
think of anything else. What is your religion good for, or your
integrity? Did brother Brigham and Heber turn away from Joseph,
because the Kirtland Bank broke, and the stores all run out,
until there was nothing but an old dried-up johnnycake?
137
Did we forsake him? No, never; and we never had anything except
we worked for it and go it by the hardest licks; and our wives
would think that they were very extravagant to get a piece of
calico of six yards for a dress pattern; and they thought that
there were too many puckers then: and now you have got to have
six or eight breadths puckered up. Why don't you take some of
those breadths out and make aprons, and not call on your husbands
for new calico, &c., every week.
137
No man on the earth loves women better than I do. I love a good
woman, one that has a good spirit; I love that woman that will
strive to make me happy, and I love that son that seeks to please
his father and mother; for he will make a good husband. I love
that daughter that seeks to please her father and mother, because
she will make a good wife.
137
You cannot help yourselves; the gate will be shut down directly,
ladies. I am talking to you because it is customary in the States
to address the ladies first; so, if you get it first, you must
not be jealous of me. I respect our ladies; and there should not
be a lady in the house of Israel but what should be like and
angel to administer to her husband, and to pray for him, and to
nourish him by night and by day, and watch his house and his
pillow, and see that he is preserved in the last days.
137
We have got to go to work and manufacture our own clothing, our
shoes, our stockings, our bonnets, our dresses, and everything we
need.
138
I will refer you to brother Brigham's words. How many times has
he said to you, Ladies, make your own bonnets at home, out of the
elements that grow in the valley of Great Salt Lake and in the
regions round about. Why do you not do it? Tell about listening
to brother Brigham! You look to-day as though you were listening
to his counsel.
138
Many of the sisters presume to judge us. Say they, There is
brother Kimball; his women have all got store bonnets, and
ribbons, and laces, and this, that, and the other thing,
brooches, jewellery, and feather beds sowed under their arms.
Ain't we just as good as they? Yes, if you do as well as they do.
138
I won't say anything about anybody else's family, only my own.
Are you listening to brother Brigham's counsel? Some of you say,
I am willing to listen to him. Well, listen to him, and listen to
him for ever. I am under the necessity of laying out of my
substance, and every dime I have got, and that I can get, that I
would lay up for a little sugar, a little of this, and a little
of that, that we actually need, a little butter and lard, that we
grow in our midst; but instead of that, I have to pay every dime
I can get for morocco shoes, for my women to wear to meeting; and
they will wear out a pair while once going to meeting. [Voice:
"Don't you wish they earned them themselves?"] Yes, I pray that
you may have to earn them with your own fingers, or go without
them. I pray that prayer, and I know it will come to pass.
138
I am defending brother Brigham here, and that by the Holy Ghost
and the dictation of the counsel he received from the Father, and
the Son, and the old Patriarchs, and Prophets. You may go home,
and say, Brother Kimball is hard. Go and say it as quick as you
please. I ask no odds of any such people. I am independent of
you; I know his feelings, I will preach his word, and the word of
God that came through him; and that is all that will save you.
138
Do you want such things to cease? I just know it ain't right. We
ought to make our own leather, and we can make as good as can be
made in the States; but no, we must have some States leather. We
can make as good things here as can be made by any other people;
but you want foreign fixings.
138
We have our Spanish fixings--a pair of spurs that will weigh
seven pounds, ringing and jingling as though all hell was coming.
Why don't you put them away? I want you to make an ox goad with a
spike in the end of it, and ram that into your horse, and get
this instead of spurs, and destroy a horse at once. I cannot keep
a decent horse, neither can brother Brigham, or any other man;
for the boys will kill them. Let them rest: they are as good as
we are in their sphere of action; they honour their calling, and
we do not, when we abuse them: they have the same life in them
that you have, and we should not hurt them. It hurts them to whip
them, as bad as it does you; and when they are drawing as though
their daylights would fly out of them, you must whip, whip, whip.
Is there religion in that? No; it is an abuse of God's creation
that he has created for us.
138
I do not think that many ever suppose that animals are going to
be resurrected. When God touched Elijah's eyes, and he looked on
the mountain, he saw chariots and horses, and men by thousands
and millions. Where did they came from? There is nothing on this
earth but what came from heaven, and it grew and was created
before it grew on this earth: the Bible says so.
138
We grow peaches here, and they are created, and we send them to
Sanpete. Don't they grow before they are sent? Yes, and
everything that is upon this earth grew before it came here; it
was transported from heaven to earth.
139
Let us be merciful to the brute creation.
139
God bless you, brethren and sisters, and multiply you. Peace be
with you, and upon this people, and upon your children, and upon
every being on the Lord's footstool that wishes peace to Israel.
[Voices: "Amen."]
139
The world is going to seek to destroy us from the earth. [Voice:
"They will destroy themselves."] They will destroy themselves, as
the Lord liveth, and the day of their destruction has come.
[Voices: "Amen.] The Lord God will bring mildew on the nation
that has afflicted us; for that nation shall take it first, and
thence it shall go forth to every nation, kingdom, government,
and state, and upon every town that shall lift their heels
against God and this people. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Orson
Hyde
Orson Hyde
PERSECUTION OF THE SAINTS--REDEMPTION OF ZION, AND THE
DOWNFALL OF HER ENEMIES--A VISION, ETC.
Discourse by Orson Hyde.
139
It is with much pleasure that I arise, this morning, to address
you, my brethren and sisters; and I hope to have your undivided
attention, and to share liberally the benefits of your prayers.
139
My object is to enlighten your understandings, and to strengthen
your faith, so far as I may be able. The responsibility of a
public speaker in this Church is truly great, especially when his
official standing and character are of such a nature as to give
to his words a weight and an importance commensurate with the
high position which he may be called to occupy.
139
The husbandman is ever desirous to procure the very best
qualities and kinds of seeds to plant and sow in the earth. One
principal reason is, he must himself eat of the products of the
seeds that he plants and sows. So, also, the speaker that plants
certain principles in the hearts of his audience must himself eat
the fruits thereof sooner or later; and it should be our aim to
avoid planting my principle in the hearts of our hearers, the
fruits of which would set our teeth on edge, or shed upon us an
inglorious reputation. Therefore, the fruits of any principle,
true or false, inculcated by me, will as naturally and as
necessarily fall to my lot, as the seeds of any grain or plant,
when ripe, will fall back into the earth, from whence it sprung.
139
Truth, therefore, is my delight; and if I know and understand
myself, I have no delight in anything else. Truth came from God
as a precious magnet. It is a part of himself, and he who
possesses it possesses a property that may be attracted, with its
possessor, to the great source and fountain of truth--even to God
himself.
140
True it is that we are here in the valleys of the mountains for
the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ; and it is
also true that, after being robbed and plundered of our worldly
fortunes because of the hatred of an unbelieving world, excited
against us because of our religion, we are exiles here to-day,
having been denied citizenship in the States from which we came.
Our Prophets have been cruelly martyred in cold blood, under the
plighted faith of a great State for their protection from all
unlawful molestation. We have seen how much such promised
protection was worth in the days of Joseph and Hyrum; and would
it be worth any more now? Rather trust in the God of Heaven, in
these mountains, than in any such rotten promises that may be
made only to beguile us and deliver us up to ignominious death.
140
The woman spoken of by John the Revelator as being driven or
fleeing into the wilderness, after having brought forth the
man-child, is said to be the Church by our wise orthodox
commentators upon holy writ. Be it so. The Latter-Day Saints fled
from the face of the serpent monster into this vast wilderness
and desert, and it appears the serpent cast out a flood of water
from his mouth to destroy the woman. This is highly figurative
language; yet is there any one present who can favour us with a
better solution of the matter than the waters or troops which the
United States are now sending here to destroy us? God grant that
the earth and the heavens also may help the woman!
140
Plausible may be the pretences of these troops; yet if their real
object is not to persecute every man and woman that will stand by
the Prophets and servants of God, and uphold them, then I do not
read correctly the manifestations to me. How far they may be able
to carry out their plans, time will determine.
140
Once, however, a man put forth his hand to steady the ark of God.
It reeled to and fro. It was in a cart, drawn by oxen. Probably
it might have pleased Uzzah better if it had been put into a
stately carriage, drawn by two or four fine steeds; but he
ventured to put forth his hand to steady the ark of God, and was
smitten of God at once for his presumptuous interference with the
affairs of the great I AM. I suppose there are seeming
irregularities in the affairs of Utah that Uncle Sam does not
like, and he puts forth his hand in the shape of an army to right
up and steady the ark of God.
140
As the Book of Mormon has been brought to the notice of Congress,
by a quotation from its pages, respecting a man having but one
wife, unless commanded of God to have more; and though such
command has been given to the Latter-day Saints, yet I omit
comment thereon at this time, and proceed to give another
quotation from the same book, which appears to have a bearing
upon the present aspect of affairs. (Third European edition, page
28.) The Prophet Nephi, in vision, saw the vast multitudes of men
upon the face of this land, America, and said that there were
saved two churches only. The one is the Church of the Lamb of
God, and the other is the church of the Devil; and whose
belongeth not to the Church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that
great church which is the mother of abominations and the whore of
all the earth.
140
"And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all
the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion
over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and
people.
141
"And it came to pass that I beheld the Church of the Lamb of God;
and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and
abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters: nevertheless
I beheld that the Church of the Lamb, who were the Saints of God,
were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions
upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness
of the great whore whom I saw.
141
"And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of
abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all
the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight
against the Lamb of God.
141
"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb
of God, that it descended upon the Saints of the Church of the
Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were
scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed
with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.
141
"And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was
poured out upon the great and abominable church, insomuch as
there were wars and rumours of wars among all the nations and
kindreds of the earth; and as there began to be wars and rumours
of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of
abominations, the angel spoke unto me, saying, Behold the wrath
of God is upon the mother of harlots; and behold thou seest all
these things; and when the day cometh that the wrath of God is
poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and
abominable church of all the earth, whose foundation is the
Devil, then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence
in preparing the way for the fulfilling of this covenants which
he hath made to his people, who are of the house of Israel."
141
In view of the sentiment contained in the foregoing quotation, I
am led to believe that whatever branch of the great and
abominable church shall lead the way to fight against the Lamb of
God, will have a greater task to perform that they are aware of.
It is not merely a little handful of Latter-day Saints that they
have to contend with; but, it is with all the celestial powers.
This, however, they do not believe; and, consequently, like the
unthinking horse, they rush to the onset.
141
What a direct bearing the foregoing quotation has upon the
present signs of the times! It is as correct as though he was
writing the history of the past. Is not this an evidence of its
truth? The scenes are rolling on in the very track of the
prophecy; and while our eyes see, let us fear God, and be
grateful to his name; while our enemies, having eyes, see not,
but boldly rush on to destruction.
141
I feel disposed to bring to your notice other sayings of ancient
and also of modern times, touching the events of these days.
141
The Book of Mormon, in a dozen places, tells the fate of the
Gentile nation, if they shall harden their hearts against this
work when it shall be brought to their knowledge; and also the
fate of every one that shall fight against it or its followers:
so I will not detain you with quotations upon this subject. You
all know them, or ought to. Read the Book of Mormon.
141
In the month of December, 1833, soon after the Saints' troubles
began, in Jackson County, Missouri, the Prophet Joseph had a
revelation from the Lord respecting the Saints there, in which he
says:--"Let them importune at the feet of the Judge (for
protection and redress); and if he heed them not, let them
importune at the feet of the Governor; and if the Governor heed
them not, let them importune at the feet of the President; and if
the President heed them not, then will the Lord arise and come
forth out of his hiding-place, and in his fury vex the nation,
and in his hot displeasure and his fierce anger, in his time,
will cut off those wicked, unfaithful, and unjust stewards, and
appoint them their portion among hypocrites and unbelievers--even
in outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and
gnashing of teeth.
142
"Pray ye, therefore, that their ears may be open to your
cries, that I may be merciful unto them, that these things may
not come upon them. What I have said unto you must needs be, that
all men may be left without excuse; that wise men and rulers may
hear and know that which they have never considered; that I may
proceed to bring to pass my act--my strange act, and perform my
work--my strange work; that men may discern between the righteous
and the wicked, saith your God."
142
Did the Saints importune at the feet of the Judge and of the
Governor? Yes, they did, in all humility and sincerity. What was
the result? About the same as if you were to importune with the
thief and robber to protect you from abuse and restore to you the
stolen treasure. They heeded not the petition. Then importunity
was made at the feet of the President, not only in writing, but
also by the Prophet Joseph in person; and what did this avail? It
elicited this answer:--"Your cause is just, but we can do nothing
for you." Sovereignties must manage their own affairs. Congress
nor the Executive can interfere. So the President heeded them
not.
142
Now, when will the Lord's time come to vex the nations, &c.? It
is not for me to say; yet it would be a time very opportune, when
the nation shall begin to dictate to an organized State or
Territory in matters of their own internal policy and municipal
regulations. When we were in distress and trouble, the nation had
no power to help us; but when we attempt to help ourselves and to
rid our community of lying and corrupt men, then the nation can
send her armies against us. Well, be it so. It is all right, and
will hasten the downfall of the mighty image of Nebuchadnezzar;
and the power that falls upon "this stone" will be broken, and
the stone rejected by the builders will become the head of the
corner.
142
As Joseph Smith has sealed his testimony with his blood, his
testament is now of force; and I will quote again from a
revelation given through him, on Fishing River, Missouri, June
22, 1834:--"Therefore it is expedient in me that mine Elders
should wait for a little season for the redemption of Zion; for I
do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion; for,
as I said in a former commandment, even so will I fulfil--I will
fight your battles."
142
Although, here is a great and precious promise; yet do not
suppose that we are to sit down in idleness or indifference and
share this promise; but remember this common--sense, home-made
scripture, "God helps those who help themselves." Therefore, let
us neglect no duty on our part, but be ready, not only for the
powers of this world and the powers of darkness, but for the day
of judgment and eternal glory in the mansions of our God.
142
If armies from the East and from the West are approaching our
Territory, to offer protection and removal to all who wish it,
and to deal out death and ruin to all the balance, the hand of
the Lord is in it. He will send forth his angels, and gather out
of his kingdom all things that offend and that do iniquity. He
may use any beings that he has made, or that he pleases, and call
them his angels or messengers. The Devil himself is an angel of
God, but a fallen one.
143
Again, the presence of an armed force will prove to ourselves, to
God, and angels, which we possess the most of--the fear of God or
the fear of man. We are commanded to fear not them that can kill
the body, and after that have no more that they can do; but we
are required to fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and
body in hell. But there is one Scripture which says--"When the
enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall
lift upon a standard against him." He will make the wrath of man
to praise him, and the remainder of wrath he will restrain. We
have all got to die at some time, and why should we object to the
time or the manner? If we are right before the Lord, and in the
discharge of our duty, it matters not when or how we go hence.
143
I will venture here to relate an open vision had by brother
Stephen M. Farnsworth, of Pleasant Grove, Utah County, while he
was residing in Nauvoo, previous to the death of the Prophets
Joseph and Hyrum. Some may possibly think and say, it was
manufactured for this occasion. But there are many here under the
sound of my voice who heard brother Farnsworth relate the vision
years ago. I will tell it as correctly as my memory will allow
me.
143
In the spring of 1844, brother Farnsworth started out after
dinner, to go to work on the Temple as usual. The sun shone
brightly as he walked down Parley-street towards the place of his
labour, when suddenly the sky became overcast, and a drizzling
rain set in. He stood amazed, and saw a tumult and excitement
among the people about the Temple, and a great excitement in the
lower part of the town. He wondered what it could mean. Presently
he was told that the Saints had to leave Nauvoo and take a great
journey to the west. So great was the journey that it seemed
almost impossible for him to perform it. Now he could see
numerous trains of covered waggons and teams crossing the
Mississippi river, and bending their course westward as far as
the eye could reach. He also hitched up and joined the trains,
and the journey did not seem so arduous as he first anticipated.
He saw the Twelve Apostles in the crowd; but saw neither Joseph
nor Hyrum.
143
They journeyed westward a great distance, and finally came to a
place where they intended to locate. They stopped, and began to
make improvements: but distress and starvation stared them in the
face, and it really seemed to him that they must perish; but soon
there began to be plenty of everything to eat, &c. This lasted
quite a time: then there began to be scarcity again, and famine
seemed to prevail; yet he saw none die of starvation, yet great
distress among the people. Then there began to be plenty
again--enough to eat of everything desirable. The people all
appeared in one place, with large, strong hoops around them in a
body. The Twelve followed brother Brigham with mallets and fierce
countenances, and vigorously drove those hoops upon the people
until it did seem that they would be pinched or squeezed to
death. Still they resolutely continued to drive the hoops. Dark
clouds now began to arise, and a general gloom prevailed. The
hoops were all the time being driven tighter and tighter.
143
About this time, an army or force of the enemy came into the
neighbourhood and offered protection to all who wished it. The
darkness of the clouds, and their awfully-threatening aspect are
now past description. The people burst those hoops and sallied
out like a flock of sheep, and more than one-half of them went to
the enemy for protection. The scene was so awfully frightful that
he was just on the eve of flying himself; but a thought occurred
to him to hold on a little longer. He did so. Dark, angry, and
frightful were the clouds, indeed! Now is your hour and the power
of darkness! Presently the cloud over the Saints burst, and light
beamed upon them.
144
This cloud rolled off upon the enemy and those who had fled to
them for protection; and oh! the scenes of death, lamentation,
and mourning that occurred in the enemies' camp beggar all
description. The burning wrath of earth, heaven, and hell, in
fiery streams of molten lava seemed to leave not one alive to
tell the tale. It did not stop here, but rolled throughout the
United States, carrying the same desolation in its track. The
faithful band of brethren left, then followed brother Brigham up
into a large open cave, where there was everything good to eat
and drink that heart could desire. The shouts of hosannahs!--the
songs of praise and thanksgiving to God for the deliverance
wrought for them rent the air and made the mountains echo the
praises of our God. From this cave they journeyed, I need not say
where; but, suffice it to say, no opposition had any effect upon
them. The power of God was with them, and His voice was in their
camp.
144
There is much more to this vision which I deem unnecessary to
write. But after it was all over, brother Farnsworth came to
himself, standing in Parley-street on a beautiful sunshiny day.
No covered waggons or excitement in town or about the temple.
When he came to himself, he concluded that his exercises were of
the Devil, from the fact that he saw neither Joseph nor Hyrum in
all the scenes; but it was Brigham, brother Kimball, and the
Twelve. Before these scenes began to really take place, Joseph
and Hyrum were killed at Carthage, and consequently were not seen
by brother Farnsworth.
144
I relate this from memory, being some months since I heard
brother Farnsworth tell it at his residence in Pleasant Grove;
but, in the main, it is as he told me, so far as I have related
it. There are those here to whom brother Farnsworth told it more
than twelve years ago, and they know whether I tell it as he did.
144
I have considerable confidence in this vision, for two reasons.
First, brother Farnsworth is a correct man: his character is
without spot or blemish. Secondly, this vision corresponds with a
hundred and one other sacred things written in ancient and modern
times. And I may add a third reason,--it has all been fulfilled
to the very letter, so far as time would allow.
144
I am fully inclined to believe that all these sayings, both
ancient and modern, must mean something; and God will defend a
people who trust in him--a people whose prayers are ascending up
into His ears day and night for protection and redress. He will
steady His own ark without the aid of voluntary service, and will
signify the fact in unmistakable terms to such as volunteer a
crusade against him or his cause. Did not God create the heavens
and the earth? Has he no rights? Must he have no voice in the
affairs of this world, without being indicted, arraigned, and
tried for treason?
144
If we cannot live by trusting in God, do we wish to live at all?
What enlightened Latter-day Saint can see any charm in this world
to chain or bind him here, when his hope and his trust are in
Christ his Saviour? To talk about a religion to a Latter-day
Saint that has no living Prophet or Apostle in it--that has no
living God in it, who can and will speak to his creature, man, in
this day, is to talk to him of an egg without meat, a body
without spirit, and eye without sight, or an ear without hearing.
To make a Latter-day Saint, or even a Mormon, if his heart were
ever touched with the fire of truth, into any kind of orthodox
Christian, would require as much faith and skill as it ever did
to turn water into wine, or to feed five thousand men, women, and
children with five loaves and two fishes.
145
After apostatizing from this Church, some may join some of the
sects for popularity's sake, or for the sake of making money or a
living, and profess to believe all about the God without body,
parts, or passions: but secretly they say, You are fools--you are
in the dark--you worship, you know not what. Scores of apostates,
that have left this Church and returned to it again, have
confessed these very things. While they outwardly affect to
believe the dogmas of the religious world, they secretly pity and
despise. I mean such as are not past feeling.
145
Do our enemies object to some being frightened away from here by
the glass of truth being held before them to enable them to see
themselves as God sees them, and have become frightened at their
own moral deformities and left? Will the time not come when none
of the uncircumcised in heart or the unclean can enter the abodes
of the Saints? If the old Prophets have told us the truth, such
times must come; and if they now begin to be foreshadowed, think
it not strange! "Zion will be redeemed with judgment, and her
converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the
transgressors and of the sinners shall be together; and they that
forsake the Lord shall be consumed." (Isaiah.)
145
I feel and know that I am a poor, weak, unprofitable servant, at
best. My life is of no great value, when compared with the value
and importance of this kingdom; and I have lately thought that it
would be about the height of my ambition to lose my life to save
that of some better man. I know not what I will do; but I pray
God my heavenly Father that I may do my duty and honour His name
and cause with my every and latest breath. I have tried to do
right and to live my religion. I have sought the Lord day and
night, and still seek Him, and by His grace shall continue to
seek Him until I can fall upon His neck and embrace Him, and say,
"Thou art my Father;" and He will say to me, "Thou art my son!" I
have no righteousness to boast of. I have no oil to spare.
145
But if sore trials must come, even to the laying down of our
lives, I do not know that I can ask for the time to be prolonged
with any hope of being much better. I mean to be about as good as
the light and knowledge I have will allow me. Full of
imperfections as I am, my heart, soul, and spirit feel to bless
the Saints with all who wish them well; and the enemies that
would persecute the Saints--that would try to overthrow the
kingdom of God on the earth, and ensnare the feet and shed the
blood of the Prophets of God, let their blessings be turned into
cursings, their prayers become sin, and the stain of innocent
blood blast their hopes for ever, if they repent not.
145
Mormonism is true. The Priesthood of God is on the earth, and is
destined to bear rule not only in heaven, but in the earth also;
and likewise in every part of God's dominions. This makes the
Devil and all his subjects angry at the Saints, and they wish to
kill us off. Kill just as many and just as soon as God will let
you. In this respect, I ask no favours of any man in this lower
world. I ask God to be my friend, and to give me grace and
strength to be His friend so long as I live in this world.
145
Ye Saints of latter day be humble, meek, and child-like. Be
fearless and resolute. God grant unto you and me hearts of iron
and nerves of steel, abounding with faith, hope, and charity,
full of every good work, and no evil work. Pray in faith that God
may guide our leaders aright, and that wise and profitable
counsels may be given them for us, and we possess hearts to
appreciate and obey. The Lord dictate the policy of his kingdom,
and shield his faithful, ministers from the snares of this world,
and of death, until we shall have completed our earthly mission;
and then may our exit shed a lustre upon the cause which our
lives have been devoted to sustain.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / John
Taylor, August 23, 1857
John Taylor, August 23, 1857
IGNORANCE AND LOW CONDITION OF THE WORLD.--PAST EXPERIENCE,
PRESENT POSITION, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THE SAINTS.
A Discourse by Elder John Taylor delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, August 23, 1857.
146
In listening to the remarks made by President Kimball this
morning, I felt myself very much edified, very much instructed,
and very much blessed. In fact, where the Spirit of the Lord is,
and the oracles of God dwell, there must of necessity be truth,
intelligence, and certainty. Many of those things, as he justly
remarked, that seem light and trivial, and of little importance
to many, are pregnant with meaning, are full of interest, and are
of the utmost importance to the Saints that dwell in these
valleys, and to the world of mankind, if they would only pay
attention to and be governed by them.
146
Mankind are, more or less, fond of paraphernalia, show, pomp, and
parade; but the kingdom of God does not always come with
"observation," as the Scripture says. The great and precious
principles of eternal truth, like pearls and precious gems, are
often hid from the view of the human family.
146
What is the reason that the world of mankind do not appreciate
the principles that are so plain and so manifest to us? How is it
that all of our friends, relatives, and associations, and the
neighbourhoods where we have resided have not fallen in with the
Gospel of Jesus Christ? Why is it that all these things have not
been received and appreciated by the millions of the human family
who have had precisely the same opportunities that we have had?
It is because they do not appreciate them--because they cannot
see and understand. The light shone in darkness and it
comprehended it not; but to those who received it, it was life
and salvation.
146
Why is it that a swine cannot discern the value of pearls, and
tramples them under its feet? Because it does not understand,--it
has not the intelligence, and does not comprehend the difference
between the filth that surrounds it and precious gems. You might
cast a precious jewel at a hog, and it would turn and rend you;
but throw that to a man of understanding and intelligence, and he
would ask for more. That is the difference. God has so ordained
that strait shall be the gate, and narrow the way that leads to
life; and but few there are that find it."
147
If the men of the world, if the princes and potentates of the
earth, if the statesmen and great men among the nations could
comprehend things as we comprehend them, could understand the
Gospel as it has been revealed to us,--if they could know
anything of our high calling's glorious hope, and of the
principles that animate our bosoms, they would, many of them, lay
down their honors and their thrones, and come down and ask for
admission into this kingdom. But they have got to receive the
kingdom of God like a little child, just the same as you and I,
or they cannot enter it; they have got to enter by the door into
the sheepfold; and hence there is a test for every man to try him
by; and hence the difference between us and them, and therefore a
difference in regard to our views and position, which necessarily
produce a difference in our feelings. They think differently,
they speak differently, they look upon things in a different
point of view to what we do. They look upon us as being
enthusiastic, foolish, wild, and visionary, and among the rest as
being polluted; and they would, forsooth, sympathize with us,
some of them, and think we are in the most dreadful position of
any people under the face of the heavens--that we are degraded
and fallen. But they know not the spirit that animates our
bosoms; they know not the hope that God has inspired in our
hearts; they know not the things pertaining to the kingdom of
God; they are as ignorant of them and of their own destiny as the
brute beast which is "made to be taken and destroyed."
147
It was a very correct figure that the Apostle made use of
formerly, when he spoke of men being as ignorant as brute beasts,
which were made to be taken and destroyed. Man, holding a
relationship with things that have been, with things that are,
and with things that are to come, being an eternal being, having
existed before, existing now, and destined to exist while endless
ages shall endure,--when he understands his relationship to God,
how he is associated with his progenitors, the position in which
he stands to the Church and kingdom of God on the earth, the
blessing he is able to seal on his posterity, worlds without end,
and the great things he is destined to enjoy if faithful,--there
is as much difference between his views and the world of mankind
in general as there is between midnight darkness and the light of
the sun in its meridian glory.
147
Men that are in darkness do not understand why it is that we
think as we do, that we act as we do, that we endure as we do,
that men can be united as we are, that people will leave their
homes and traverse seas, oceans, deserts, mountains, plains, and
sterile wastes, in order to meet with a people so much despised
by a great majority of mankind. They do not know why it is,
because they do not understand the counsels of God. How is it in
relation to them? They have no revelation, no knowledge of God;
and hence they are like the brute beasts, and know nothing but
what they know naturally, as beasts obtain their knowledge, &c.
They know nothing of their own position, or of their relationship
to God; they know nothing about their progenitors, of their own
destiny in the future, of what is within their reach while here
on the earth, or how to secure blessings on their posterity; in
fact, they are ignorant of all the great and vital principles
which have a tendency to animate, enliven, and give vitality and
power to all the acts of the sons of God; and hence they are like
the brute beasts.
147
You can take an ox, or a hog, and put it into a stable, and feed
it, and it will get fat there. What for? For the knife. If you
could only give it a little revelation--if you could only make
that ox or hog understand that it was being prepared to be killed
and eaten, I wonder how fat you could make it? It is just so with
the world; they are ignorant of their position, and they glory in
their own shame, just as much as a hog does in wallowing in the
mire; and they are just as ignorant of their destiny. This is the
position of the world, and that is the reason why you see things
as they are--why there is so much darkness; and I only wonder
there is so much light among them as there is.
148
You wonder why men act so much like fools. I wonder they have as
much intelligence as they have; and the only reason why they have
so much is, that the Spirit of God is not entirely withdrawn from
them.
148
In regard to principles of science, mechanism, &c., they possess
a great deal of information; but they do not know that "every
good and perfect gift' proceeds from God, and they won't
acknowledge it or him; and hence the little light they enjoy
relative to religious matters, in relation to eternity, to their
present real position and destiny, and to the things which God
has communicated to us.
148
Is it to be wondered at, then, that men acting in that way should
feel strange and act strangely? You cannot expect the conduct of
a gentleman to proceed from a brute beast; you cannot expect
anything but a grunt from a hog: it is their nature; and it is
the nature of the wicked to act as they have done and as they are
doing; and if you see animosity, hatred, evil, strife, vicious
feelings, bad practices, lasciviousness, corruption of every
grade, and every kind of abomination prevailing, it is because of
their nature. One of those little hymns composed by Watts for
children describes it right:--
148
"Let dogs delight to bark and bite, for God hath made them so:
Let bears and lions growl and fight; it is their nature too."
148
Not desirous to retain God in their knowledge, they have given
themselves up to every kind of evil, and are led captive by the
Devil; and the Scriptures say, "His servants ye are whom ye list
to obey."
148
Now, what is it that enlightens our minds? We were like them
precisely. Is there any man here who knew anything about God
until it was revealed to him? Is there a man or woman here who
understood even the first principles of the Gospel of Christ
until they were revealed to them?
148
I have travelled a great deal, and been in different nations, and
I have never yet met with a man that did. To what are we indebted
for that knowledge? To the administration of an angel, which made
manifest the order of God to Joseph Smith, and he revealed it
unto others to that we are indebted for the first principles of
the Gospel.
148
Can you find anybody, anywhere, in any part of the earth, who
professes to teach religion, that will tell the people to repent
of their sins, be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of them, and receive the imposition of hands for the
gift of the Holy Ghost? And who dare promise them that they shall
receive it in its power, as the Apostles did formerly? I cannot.
I have not met with such a people, nor have you.
148
I was well versed in the Scriptures myself when this Gospel came
along, but I was as ignorant as a brute about these things, and
so is everybody else. I have not come in contact with a man who
understood correct principles in relation to the principles of
the Gospel, or who knew the way to enter into the kingdom of God.
Who could know it without God revealing it? And it is to that
revelation that we are indebted for the intelligence we have
received concerning these matters, and to the spirit of prophecy
and revelation that has been communicated with it.
148
Brother Kimball said he did not profess to be a Prophet of God. I
bear testimony that he is a Prophet of God; and why do I do that?
Because I have known many things that I could relate here, that I
heard him prophesy years ago, that have been fulfilled to the
very letter. And I bear testimony of it on another ground: any
man that has the testimony of Jesus has the spirit of prophecy;
for "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy? so says
the old Bible; and consequently, such a man is a prophet.
149
Concerning the first principles of the Gospel, at first they
came by revelation; they were communicated to a young man who did
not possess what is termed worldly wisdom, education, or
intelligence; but he came and told it out just as God told it to
him.
149
Was there anybody that could controvert it? No. It was not
because it was in the Bible that he taught it, but because God
had communicated it to him; and he went and told the things which
he had received. Did you ever meet with a man anywhere that could
controvert the principles Joseph Smith taught? Did you ever find
a theologian, or priest, of any description, that could
contradict these things successfully? Did I? I never did. I have
never met with a man under the heavens that could successfully
contradict one principle of it--never; NO, NEVER; and I do not
expect ever to be able to.
149
Why is it that people cannot contradict it? Because it is the
eternal truth of heaven, and emanated from the great Eloheim, and
is one of those eternal principles of truth which God has
communicated to the human family; and truth, like God, is
unchangeable, and cannot be controverted. Darkness flees before
it, and error hides its head wherever it appears.
149
It was so in regard to the first principles of the Gospel, and it
has been so in regard to principles that have been revealed and
communicated from time to time, both by Joseph Smith, by
President Young, by brother Kimball, and by all the authorities
of this Church who have been inspired by the Holy Ghost.
149
In relation to the position we now occupy, the things that were
spoken this morning are as correct, as true, and as
incontrovertible as anything that could be adduced by any man--I
do not care where he comes from, nor what may be his
intelligence,--I do not care whether he is king, president,
potentate, or statesman, of any description, or what his
intellectual qualifications: it matters not.
149
The principles that were spoken here are, in and of themselves,
correct; and I want to speak a little in relation to some of
these things, in order that men who have not examined them may
understand them more minutely. You believe the principles because
you heard them, of course; and so do I; so do we all; and every
truth recommends itself to the minds of the human family; yet, at
the same time, we are not all of us at all times prepared to
judge of the correctness of all these matters.
149
The things we have heard this morning might sound to some
croakers and ignoramuses, who have never examined the subject,
and do not understand principle, like treason, as though we were
in open rebellion against the United States and opposed to the
Government we are associated with--as though we were going to
trample down all law, rule, and order. No such thing. We are the
only people in these United States, at the present time, who are
sustaining them. I can prove this, and that it is others who are
trampling them under foot, and not us. Whilst they are committing
acts, themselves, that are treasonable in their nature, and
pursuing a course opposed to the Constitution and the very genius
of the institutions of the United States, they want to lay the
sin at our doors that they themselves are guilty of.
149
Would I, as a citizen of the United States, come out in rebellion
against the United States, and act contrary to my conscience?
Verily no. Would brother Young? Verily no. Would brother Kimball,
or brother Wells? Verily no.
150
Are they not true patriots--true Americans? Do they not feel the
fire of '76 burning in their bosoms? Assuredly they do. Would
they do a thing that is wrong? No; and they will also see that
others do not do it. That is the feeling, the spirit, and
principle that actuate them.
150
There are thousands of you who are Americans, who have been born
in this land, whose fathers fought for the liberties we used to
enjoy, but have not enjoyed for some years past. There are
thousands of such men here who feel the same spirit that used to
burn in their fathers' bosoms--the spirit of liberty and equal
rights--the spirit of according to every man that which belongs
to him, and of robbing no man of his rights.
150
Your fathers and grandfathers have met the tyrant when he sought
to put a yoke on your necks; as men and true patriots, they came
forward and fought for their rights and in defence of that
liberty which we, their children, ought to enjoy. You feel the
same spirit that inspired them; the same blood that coursed in
their veins flows in yours; you feel true patriotism and a strong
attachment to the Constitution and institutions bought by the
blood of your fathers, and bequeathed to you by them as your
richest patrimony.
150
There are others of you that have taken the oath of allegiance to
the United States; and some of you, not understanding correct
principles, may, perhaps, feel qualms of conscience, and think,
probably, that if we undertake to resist the powers that are
seeking to make aggression upon us, we are doing wrong. No such
thing. You let your conscience sleep at ease; let it be quiet: it
is not us who are doing wrong; it is others who are committing a
wrong upon us.
150
What was the case in Missouri? Let me draw your attention briefly
to some of the circumstances that have transpired in our history
as a people. Whom did we interfere with in the State of Missouri?
Did we rebel against the United States, or against the State in
which we lived? Verily no; and I am at the defiance of that State
and Congress, with all the world at their backs, to prove that we
did rebel in one iota. Did they give unto us the protection of
American citizens? They did not; and they perjured themselves in
not doing it. They perjured themselves before God and all honest
men.
150
Whom did we rebel against in Illinois?
150
Let me mention one circumstance in the State of Missouri. How
much land did we purchase there from the United States, and pay
for, which they promised to warrant and defend us in the
possession of? Did they protect us in the right they guaranteed
unto us? No; they allowed us to be robbed and plundered with
impunity. And how many suffered death in consequence of their
recklessness, carelessness, and barefaced iniquity? Thousands. I
have seen their condition when many thousands were driven from
their lands and homes, were persecuted harassed, and driven like
felons without redress, robbed, plundered, imprisoned, and put to
death; and thousands of men, women, and children wandered
houseless and homeless exiles in their own land, and fugitives
flying from the rage of a lawless rabble, infuriated banditti,
and bloodthirsty miscreants and murderers. I saw then a whole
people robbed and disfranchised, and this too in the middle of
winter. Did the State authorities yield us any redress? No. They
were foremost in the mob. Did the United States? No.
151
Many of my brethren around me also witnessed these things, and
know the misery, destitution, and death caused by those
bloodhounds, when they first fled to Nauvoo, resting where the
mud was knee deep--the only position they could get--with three
or four little sticks put up, and a counterpane thrown over them,
and there left to die.
151
Brother Wells was in Nauvoo at the time. After the excitement was
over, there was not enough of well folks to wait on the sick.
151
I was off on a mission to England at this time, and all my family
were sick; and my son George, who has been away and returned with
me, being quite a little boy, not able to draw water, and nobody
in the house able to get it, had to go and wait at the well, with
a little bucket, for somebody to come and draw him a little water
to carry home to the sick, to quench the parching tongue and
allay the raging fever occasioned by these Missouri demons.
151
Brother Brigham, brother Kimball, George A. Smith, and the Twelve
here, and everybody, almost, was down sick; and in this
condition, feeble, faint, and half dead, they started off on a
mission, because we were commanded to go. We went to fulfil the
word of the Lord. Did the United States step forward and yield us
any redress? No; but they stood there, and were willing to see us
imposed upon and robbed of our property and rights; and we have
obtained no redress for it to the present day.
151
Who are the transgressors? Are we? Martin Van Buren, the then
President of the United States, acknowledged the injustice done
to us when he said, "Your cause is just, but we can do nothing
for you." And we endured it.
151
We staid in Illinois, lived there as peaceable citizens, and had
a city charter, and under its protection improved our city, and
had in a short time, by our energy, industry, and enterprize,
built one of the best cities in the western country, and had one
of the most peaceable societies that existed anywhere, without
exception.
151
The first thing they did to aggravate us was to rob us of our
city charter; and this very Judge Douglas, of whom we have heard
so much as being our friend, was one of the first movers for its
repeal. The first time I ever met with him was in an hotel in
Springfield, Illinois, the time they were trying Joseph Smith
before Judge Pope. He told me then that they had a right to do
it, and that the Judges had decided so. I said, I did not know
anything about the Judges.
151
I did not know who he was at the time, and it would not have made
much difference if I had. I told him, It is no matter to me what
the judges decided about charters; the Legislature had given us
our charter for perpetual succession; and for them to take away a
charter with these provisions proved them either to be knaves or
fools.
151
They were knaves if they did it knowingly, to give what they knew
they had not power to do; and if they did not know it, they were
fools for giving us a thing they had not power to give. Did they
do it? Yes. And that State robbed us of the rights of freemen;
and the only chance we had then, when they sent their scamps and
rogues among us, was to have a whittling society and whittle them
out. We could not get them out according to law, and we had to do
it according to justice; and there was no law against
whittling,--so we whittled the scoundrels out.
151
I remember that one of the legislators who had annulled our
charter, named Dr. Charles, went to President Young, and says he,
"Mr. Young, I am very much imposed upon by the people around
here; there are a lot of boys following me with long knives, and
they are whittling after me wherever I go; my life is in danger."
152
Brother Young replied, "I am very sorry you are imposed upon by
the people: we used to have laws here, but you have taken them
away from us: we have no law to protect you. "YOUR CAUSE IS JUST,
BUT WE CAN DO NOTHING FOR YOU." Boys, don't frighten him, don't."
152
They deprived us of the rights of law to protect ourselves, and
in doing it, they deprived us of the power of protecting them;
and we could not help them when they wanted help.
152
[Voice: "We still have whittling societies."]
152
Yes, we still have whittling societies, as brother Kimball says.
152
Why did we leave Nauvoo? Had we killed anybody? Had we broken any
law? Had we trampled upon the rights of any people? Had we done
anything that the laws of the United States or of that State
could interfere with us for? If we had, they would pretty soon
have dragged us up.
152
The people wanted us to leave; and because the people were
dissatisfied--because there were a lot of religious enthusiasts,
political aspirants, blacklegs, and scoundrels, who wanted to
possess our property, all bound together to rob us of our rights,
we must go away, of course.
152
Judge Douglas, General Harding, Major Warren, and some of the
prominent men from Springfield met together in my house in
Nauvoo, and these men could go to work and talk deliberately (and
there was no less than two United States' Senators among them at
the time,) about removing thousands of people, and letting them
be disfranchised and despoiled, as coolly as they would cut up a
leg of mutton.
152
[Voice: "And you told them of it."]
152
Yes, I did.
152
Now, then, whom did we injure? What law did we break? Whose
rights did we trample upon? Did we dispossess anybody of his
land, rob anybody, interfere with anybody's rights? Did we
transgress any estate's law, national law, or any other law? We
did not; and they never have been able to prove one item against
us, and we stand clear. We maintained the law and tried to make
it honourable.
152
What must we go away for? Why, they had murdered our Prophet and
Patriarch under the sacred pledge of the Governor of the State
and of his officers, all combined, and we could obtain no
redress; and because they had done one injury, they must heap a
thousand on the back of it.
152
That is the only reason I know of. They were murderers, and
sanctioned the practice, and those men have got to atone for
these wrongs yet. [Voices: "Amen."] The debt has got to be paid.
152
[Voice: "Douglas is not a bit better than the rest of them."]
152
Not a particle.
152
What is our position at the present time? Why are we here,
gentlemen and ladies? Answer me, ye sons of the ancient
patriots--ye sons of those fathers who fought for the rights and
liberties this nation boasts so much of. Answer me--Why are you
here? Because you could not go anywhere else--because you could
not be protected in those rights that your fathers bled and died
for. That is the reason you are here, gentlemen.
152
We are here, because we are exiled and disfranchised, because we
are robbed of our rights, because we could not possess equal
rights with other American citizens--rights that the Constitution
guaranteed to every citizen of the Union.
152
We had to fly from the face of civilization, and found a refuge
among the red men of the forest; we had to seek that mercy from
the hands of the savage that Christian civilization denied us.
153
We are talking now about rights, laying aside religion. If we
come to talk about the kingdom of God, that is another matter. We
are talking now about our rights as American citizens, or rather
our wrongs,--the rights we have been robbed of.
153
We are here, then, under these circumstances. Have we broken any
law here? No. I defied the whole Eastern country, when I was
there, to prove that we have broken any law, and have not found a
man that dare take up the gauntlet--not one, because they could
not do it. Why could they not? Because we have done no wrong.
153
What did we do on the road here? Right in the midst of
difficulties, in the midst of exile, when we were journeying to
this place, this Government called upon us for 500 soldiers to go
and fight their battles, when they were literally allowing us to
be driven from our homes and to be robbed of millions of property
without redress.
153
Did we send the soldiers? We did. Was it our duty to comply with
such a requisition at such a time, and under such circumstances?
I don't know. I think it was one of those works of supererogation
which the Roman Catholics talk about. I do not think any law of
God or man would have required it at our hands; but we did it;
and I suppose it was wisdom and prudent, under the circumstances,
that we should take that course, because our enemies were seeking
to entangle and destroy us from the earth. They laid that as a
trap, thinking to catch us in it; but it did not stick.
153
What did we do when we came here? We framed a Constitution and a
Provisional Government, and reported our doings to the United
States again, right on the back of all the insults, robbery, and
fraud which we had endured. We still went constitutionally to
work.
153
Afterwards, we petitioned for a Territorial Government. Did they
give it to us? They did. Is there any step that we have taken
that is contrary to law? There is not? They have appointed our
Governor, our Secretaries, our Judges, our Marshals; they have
done to us the same in this matter as they have done with other
Territories.
153
I do not believe in their right constitutionally to appoint our
officers. Still they have done it, and we have submitted to it.
And they have sent some of the most cursed scoundrels here that
ever existed on the earth. Instead of being fathers, they have
tried every influence they could bring to bear in order to
destroy us.
153
Such have been our protectors. These have been the men who have
been sworn to fulfil their public duties; but they have foresworn
themselves in the face of high heaven.
153
What law have we transgressed? None. They trump up every kind of
story that it is possible to conceive of, but have always been
and are now unable to substantiate any of their barefaced
assertions; and I declare it before you and the world, that this
people are the most peaceable, law-abiding, and patriotic people
that can be found in the United States.
153
What have they been doing in Kansas, in California, in Oregon?
What in Cuba, in Nicaragua, and at present in New York, if you
please? They have been filibustering in Cuba and in Nicaragua;
and officers of every grade and condition, both civil and
military, have winked at it and suffered those things to go on,
right under their noses.
153
The position of affairs in Kansas has been anything but
flattering; it has been North against South, and South against
North, and Kansas has been the battle-ground.
154
The people there are not, perhaps, much worse than the rest of
the people; they are principally emigrants from the North and
South, who are arrayed against each other, whilst Kansas is the
greatest Sebastopol, where the battle is fought. The inhabitants
there are the representatives of Eastern, Western, Southern, and
Northern civilization and Christianity, all combined.
154
Are they traitors? O, no! They are only a little excited. We must
try and get a Governor who will try and compromise matters
between the parties, and we will get things straightened out
by-and-by. They send one Governor--he fails; and another, and he
fails; and they have sent another; but whether he will fail or
not, time must determine.
154
What are they doing in New York? The Legislature of New York
passed laws interfering with the city of New York, and the city
is in rebellion against the State of New York, and it was raging
at the time I left. The State says, "I won't submit," and the
city says, "I won't submit." And they had two different classes
of officers there to regulate matters in the emporium of the
United States: it is the mercantile emporium at least.
154
They are very peaceable; they are good citizens; there is no harm
in that; it is only a little family trouble that we have to
settle; and in doing so, we must use any pacific measure we can.
154
What is the matter with us? Have we broken any law? James Gordon
Bennett, a man who is quarrelling with everybody, comes out at
last, and says, "The Mormons" have the advantage of us, and they
know it." And out of all he could hatch up and scrape together
against the "Mormons," there is only one thing that seems even in
his eyes to supply any pretext for hostilities against them, and
that is, the charge of burning some 900 volumes of United States'
laws; and this charge is also false. Bennett is one of the most
rabid "Mormon" eaters you can find, with the exception of
Greeley.
154
What are they sending an army here for? I had thought things were
a little different until I got here; but I have found, in
conversing with President Young, that he knows more about things
as they exist in the Eastern country than I did, who had just
come from there. I had read all the newspapers, examined the
spirit of the times, and tried to get at all the information I
could; and I find, from the information I have received since
them, that he understood things more correctly than I did.
154
I thought it was a kind of a pacific course which the
Administration was taking, in order to pacify the Republicans,
that they might have a reasonable pretext to have fulfilled their
duties; for I do know that they were apprised of the unreliable
character of some of their informants. When I heard that the
troops now on their way here had sealed orders, were coming with
cannon, and had stopped the mail, it argued that there was the
Devil behind somewhere.
154
I will give you my opinion about their present course. The
Republicans were determined to make the "Mormon" question tell in
their favour. At the time they were trying to elect Fremont, they
put two questions into their platform--viz., opposition to the
domestic institutions of the South and to polygamy. The Democrats
have professed to be our friends, and they go to work to sustain
the domestic institutions of the South and the rights of the
people; but when they do that, the Republicans throw polygamy at
them, and are determined to make them swallow that with the
other. This makes the Democrats gag, and they have felt a strong
desire to get rid of the "Mormon" question.
155
Some of them, I know, for some time past, have been concocting
plans to divide up Utah among the several Territories around; and
I believe a bill, having this object in view, was prepared once
or twice, and came pretty near being presented to Congress; but
that was not done.
155
Now, they go to work and send out an army with sealed orders,
and, if necessary, are prepared to commit anything that the Devil
may suggest to them; for they are under his influence. They wish
now to steal the Republicans' thunder, to take the wind out of
their sails, and to out-Herod Herod.
155
Say they, "We, who profess to be the friends of the Mormons,' and
support free institutions, squatter sovereignty, and equal
rights, will do more to the 'Mormons than you dare do; and we
will procure offices by that means, and save our parties;" and,
as Pilate and Herod could be made friends over the death of
Jesus, so they go to work and plan our sacrifice and destruction,
and make up friends on the back of it. They would crucify Jesus
Christ, if he were here, as quick as the Scribes and Pharisees
did in his day, and the priests would help them.
155
President Young says they shall not come here and destroy us; and
I say, Amen. [The congregation shouted, "Amen."]
155
I have not quoted a great deal of Scripture to-day, but I will
quote some. It says there was the opening of the "first seal;" so
we will open this seal for them. We will declare their orders--a
thing they have not manhood to do. they are too sneaking and
underhanded, and have not manliness enough to declare their mind
to a handful of people--the poor, pusillanimous curses. We dare
do it; and, I thank God, that I live among a people that dare;
for I do despise this sneaking, miserable, cowardly tribe, that
are obliged to act under-handed in all their ways. Why? For fear
of something to come. We dare declare our intentions, and risk
the consequences.
155
Now, I want to touch upon a principle which I spoke about awhile
ago. We have submitted to their sending officers here; that is
all right enough, if we have a mind to. We are citizens of the
United States, and profess to support the Constitution of the
United States; and wherein that binds us, we are bound; wherein
it does not, we are not bound.
155
They have sent Judge after Judge, and many times we have been
without them: their loss, however, was not felt. They have sent
their officers, and we have treated them well; and for the good
treatment we have received curses, bitterness, wrath, lying, and
destruction in return. They have sought to destroy our
reputation--to rob us of our rights. They have sought to injure
us in every possible way that men could be injured, as patriots,
Christians, and moral men. They have lied about us in every
conceivable way.
155
We have borne it and borne it over and over again. Are we bound
to bear it for ever? That is the question that necessarily
arises. Are we bound to suffer their abuse and oppression
continually? And if we are, upon what principle? If there is any
man in this congregation, or anywhere else, that will show me one
principle or one piece of instruction or authority in the
Constitution of the United States that authorizes the President
of the United States to send out Governors and Judges to this
Territory, I would like to see it.
156
I cannot find such authority. I will admit that a usage of that
kind has obtained--that it is quite customary for the President
of the United States, by and with the consent of the Senate, to
appoint Governors, Judges, Marshals, Secretaries of State, and
all of those officers that you have had here. But it is a thing
that is not authorized by the Constitution,--much less to force
them upon us by an armed soldiery. There is no such authority
existing.
156
I wish to quote to you one little thing. If I had the
Constitution here, I would read it to you. It is to the effect,
"That the powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to
the States respectively, or to the people."
156
No matter, therefore, whether the people live in States or
Territories, they possess constitutional privileges alike. The
most that is said in regard to Territories and the authority of
the President and Congress is, that "The Congress shall have
power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations
respecting the territory or other property of the United States."
That is speaking of it as land; and some of the most prominent
statesmen of the United States have so construed it. It is
property as land--territory as land they have a right to
interfere with, not territory as regards the people.
156
I published this in the "Mormon" long ago, and said the Missouri
compromise was unconstitutional. By-and-by, the United States'
Judges gave the same decision. I gave mine, however, before they
gave theirs.
156
It is a true principle, they have not the authority. If they have
it at all, it is in the people ceding it to them, and not what
they possess by the Constitution of the United States. They have
sent scoundrels amongst us from time to time. If they had sent
decent men, would we have opposed them? No: we would have
respected them. But will we submit to such infernal scoundrels?
Never; no, never!!
156
So far as right is concerned, then, they have no right to appoint
officers for this or any other Territory; and I will defy any man
to prove that there is any such right in the Constitution.
156
I conversed with a Judge Black, who was coming up to Nebraska
Territory on a steam-boat,--an intelligent man, a Democrat, of
course. When talking about these principles to him, which he
acceded to, I put my hand on his shoulder, and said, "Judge, what
are you doing here?" "I am here," said he, "according to the
usage that has obtained; but if the people do not want me, all
they have to do is to express it, and I will go away again." I
wish we had only half such decent men as that sent here.
156
He tried to take another tack, which is this: He pointed out in
the Constitution where the Supreme Court of the United States was
made one of the branches of the Government, and the President has
the appointment of its Judges. That is true--he possesses the
power to appoint the greater, but not the less. How do you make
that appear? Simply because one is mentioned in the Constitution,
and the other is not. The United States' Supreme Court is a
co-ordinate branch of the Government, and there is provision made
by the Constitution for the election and appointment of its
officers.
156
This is not the case in regard to the officers of a Territory.
Out of courtesy we, as citizens of the United States, may say,
"Mr. President, if you have a mind to appoint discreet persons to
fill those offices, all well and good; but if you don't, you had
better take them back; for we won't have them: we stand on our
reserved rights as citizens of the United States."
156
We are not lacking for men in the United States, at the present
time, who want to make it appear that the United States have a
right to lord it over the Territories, the same as the British
Government used to do over their colonies.
157
Thousands of you before me were citizens of the United States,
where you came from. You had the right of franchise--had a right
to say who should be your Governor, and who should be your
Municipal and State officers. You came out here by thousands or
by tens of thousands. By what right or upon what principle are
you disfranchised? Can anybody tell me? Say some, "You need not
have come out here unless you had a mind to." Of course not. But
we had a mind to; we were American citizens before we came out,
and we have transgressed no law in coming; and by what rule are
we deprived of our citizenship? If we had a right then to vote
for anything, we have a right now; and nobody has a right to cram
this or that man upon us without our consent,--much less have
they a right to dragoon us into servility to their
unconstitutional exactions.
157
What was the great cause of complaint at the time the
Constitution was framed? In the declaration of Independence, it
was stated that the people had rulers placed over them, and they
had no voice in their election. Read that instrument. It
describes our wrongs as plainly as it did the wrongs the people
then laboured under and discarded.
157
Our Government are doing the very things against us that our
fathers complained of. "They send armed mercenaries among us, to
subjugate us," &c. What is our Government doing? The same thing.
157
As American citizens and patriots, and as sons of those venerable
sires, can we, without disgracing ourselves, our fathers, and our
nation, submit to these insults, and tamely bow to such tyranny?
We cannot do it, and we will not do it. We will rally round the
Constitution, and declare our rights as American citizens; and we
will sustain them in the face of High Heaven and the world.
157
No man need have any qualms of conscience that he is doing wrong.
You are patriots, standing by your rights and opposing the wrong
which affects all lovers of freedom as well as you; for those
acts of aggression have a withering, deadly effect, and are
gnawing, like a canker-worm, at the very vitals of religious and
civil liberty. You are standing by the Declaration of
Independence, and sustaining the Constitution which was given by
the inspiration of God; and you are the only people in the United
States this time that are doing it--that have the manhood to do
it. You dare do it, and you feel right about the matter as the
vox populi.
157
According to the genius and spirit of the Constitution of the
United States, we are pursuing the course that would be approved
of by all high-minded, honourable men; and no man but a poor,
miserable sneak would have any other feeling.
157
I lay these things before you for your information, that you may
feel and act understandingly. I have carefully criticized these
matters, and examined the views of many of those who are said to
be our greatest statesmen on this subject; for I have desired to
comprehend the powers of the Government and the rights of the
people; and I have watched with no little anxiety the
encroachments of Government and the manifest desire to trample
upon your rights. It is for you, however, to maintain them; and
if those men that are traitors to the spirit and genius of the
Constitution of the United States have a mind to trample
underfoot those principles that ought to guarantee protection to
every American citizen, we will rally around the standard, and
bid them defiance in the name of the Lord God of Israel.
157
In doing this, we neither forget our duties as citizens of the
United States, nor as subjects of the kingdom and cause of God;
but, as the Lord has said, if we will keep His commandments, we
need not transgress the laws of the land. We have no done it; we
have maintained them all the time.
158
When we talk about the Constitution of the United States, we
are sometimes apt to quote--"Vox populi, vox Dei;" that is, The
voice of the people is the voice of God. But in some places they
ought to say, VOX POPULI, VOX DIABOLI; that is, the voice of the
people is the voice of the devil.
158
We are moved by a higher law. They talk sometimes about a higher
law in the States. Greeley is a great man to talk about a higher
law, which means, with him, stealing niggers. We do not care
anything about that. We want to do something better--something
higher and more noble. That is rather too low for us;
consequently they need not be afraid of our stealing their
niggers: we will let them have all the benefits of them as one of
the grand institutions of Christians, together with the
amalgamating process as another of the institutions of
Christianity. And another grand institution they have among them
is prostitution.
158
Well, thank God, we do not know anything about such things. A
very respectable gentleman in Philadelphia said to me a while
ago, in talking over some of these matters--"Suppose a Mahommedan
should come into the city of Philadelphia"--that is one of the
puritanical cities, where they profess to be so good, the city of
brotherly love--and walk through our streets in the evening, and
see a number of ladies walking alone, being informed that it was
usual for respectable ladies to be protected, he would
necessarily enquire what was the meaning of this. Being informed
that these were prostitutes, he would necessarily enquire what
was the meaning of this. Being informed that these were
prostitutes, he would very naturally say, "Then I suppose this is
one of the institutions of Christianity?" This is the conclusion
he would come to at once. Well, so it is; and this niggerism in
the South is about the same kind of thing, only a change of
colour.
158
These are all moral, all legal, all truly Christian. Men east may
have one or a dozen misses, keep part of their children;, and
turn the other out as paupers. In the South, they buy them body
and soul, prostitute them at pleasure, and sell their own
children. Yet these men talk of our morals, and send out armies
to chastise us for our corruptions, when God knows, and they
know, that they are a thousand times more corrupt than we are.
158
We are not taking any steps contrary to the laws and the
Constitution of the United States, but in every thing we are
upholding and sustaining them. Gentlemen, hands off: we are free
men; we possess equal rights with other men; and if you send your
sealed orders here, we may break the seal, and it shall be the
opening of the first seal.
158
In relation to the kingdom of God, that is another matter. You
before me understand about it--its laws, priesthood, principles,
and influences, and the things that are about to transpire. God
has set his hand to accomplish His purposes, to roll on His great
designs, and bring to pass the things spoken of by all the holy
Prophets since the world began, that should take place in the
latter days, to establish His kingdom on the earth, that shall
become mighty and prevail over all other kingdoms. You know all
about this.
158
We are established here, and have the oracles of God in our
midst, and the principles of truth revealed. This is the kingdom
of God. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands has got
to roll forth and become a great mountain, and fill the whole
earth.
159
Satan has held dominion, and rule, and power, over the human
family, for generations and generations; and God is gathering
together a little nucleus here--a band of brethren clothed upon
with the Holy Priesthood and the Spirit of God, by which they
will be able to roll back the cloud of darkness that has
overwhelmed the inhabitants of the earth, and plant the
principles of truth, and establish the kingdom of God. That is
what we are engaged in, and what we mean to accomplish by the
help of the Lord; and in regard to any little thing that may be
transpiring around us, in regard to their little armies they are
sending here, great conscience! It is comparatively nothing;
there will be thunder and lightning and the bellowing of
earthquakes, in comparison with that, before we get through.
Thrones will be cast down, and desolation, war, and bloodshed
will spread abroad in the earth, and desolate nations and
empires, and God will turn and overturn until the kingdoms of
this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ,
and he will reign for ever; and we are going to have part in it,
and our children and our children's children.
159
It is for us to act as the sons of the living God, magnify our
calling, honour our God and His Priesthood, and live as men and
as God's true children on the earth, accomplish His purposes
here, and then join with the redeemed that have gone before to
help to roll on weightier matters in the upper world.
159
I do not know but I have been talking long enough. I feel well. I
am happy. All is right; and if it thunders, let it thunder; let
the lightnings flash and the earthquakes bellow; let them rage:
there is a God in heaven that can hold the children of men, and
He will do it, and His work will spread, His kingdom increase,
and His power be made manifest among us and among all nations,
and Zion will spread and go forth, and every creature in the
heavens, and on the earth, and under the earth will be heard to
say, "Blessing and power, might and majesty be ascribed to Him
that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever."
159
Brethren, God bless you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, August 30, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, August 30, 1857
CORRECTION--APPOINTMENT OF GOVERNOR--"OUR OWN NAME"--THE COMING
TEST, ETC.
Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, August 30, 1857.
159
You must expect, when you see brother Heber stand before you to
speak, that you will hear what is called the rough etchel to this
generation. I am pretty well satisfied, brethren, that there are
only four or five persons in this congregation that dislike to
hear me talk; and when you take out those four or five, I know
that this people would rather hear me speak than any other man
who speaks from this stand, except brother Brigham. It is not
that those four or five have anything particular against me, but
it is because I do at many times give vent to my feelings, and,
by so doing, I hit them a crack where they deserve it. Well, this
is all right.
160
I wonder if there is a manor woman here that really wants to
be a Saint--I mean those that want to live their religion--but
what desire in their hearts and seek in their prayers to the
Father that they may be corrected when they are wrong--that they
may be admonished? Is there a person in this congregation but
what has that desire and that feeling? If there is, I am greatly
mistaken; for I hear them when I go into meetings and when I go
into family circles; they will say, if I have a wrong thing about
me, I want to be corrected. Have you not heard it so this
morning? Every man that speaks before this community has those
feelings. Have not I those feelings? Brethren, if I have a fault,
or have anything about me which is not right, I want to get rid
of that; and so do you, if you are Saints.
160
Well, there is not a mother in this congregation but feels in
that way; else, when they see one of their children in fault, why
do they correct those children? Why do you correct them, when you
are not willing to be corrected yourselves? Neither a father nor
a mother, from this time forth, should correct a child, except
they are willing to be corrected in their faults.
160
Do you see it? You will see mothers who will correct their
children when they get angry, and that is almost the only time
they will correct a child. Am I angry to-day? Just look at me,
and see if you think I am angry. I tell you I am just as
good-nature as I can be, according to the nature of the case that
I am now dwelling upon. Well, this is for you to reflect upon.
160
Is this a good people? You may take the Elders of Israel
throughout these valleys, and those at the stations, between here
and the United States, and those that we have sent to the nations
of the earth, and then thousands, who never were here, and there
never was a more amenable set of men upon the earth, with the
experience that we have got; and there never was that day that
this people were one as they are one to-day; no, never.
160
Well, I feel to praise the Elders of Israel for their
faithfulness. Is there a chance for improvement, brethren, ye
Elders of Israel? If you think there is a chance for improvement,
notwithstanding all of my praising you, just raise your right
hands. [A forest of hands was raised.] Those that think there
cannot be any improvement, but that you are stereotyped, raise
your hands. I cannot see any hands raised upon that side.
160
When I went to chop, I was always taught to pull off my coat, and
spit on my hands. I pull off my coat because I am too warm. If I
don't talk here more than twenty minutes, I want my coat off.
160
May I tell you some of my feelings, and not have any of you angry
with me? [Voices: "Yes."] I hate to have the ladies angry with
me, above all things; and I will tell you one thing, and that is,
all you that are ladies will not find fault; but the woman that
finds fault with me, I can analyze her, and show you she is not a
lady. I am a physician. Well, you can hardly mention a thing that
is good but what I am.
161
I want to tell some of my feelings here to-day, in a few words,
relative to brother Brigham. I call him brother, because he says
if I call him President, he shall call me President; and just as
sure as he does, I am as flat as a pancake. I shall only call him
President before the Saints, in his calling--I was going to say
before our enemies; but, damn them, they shall never come here.
Excuse me, I never use rough words, only when I come in contact
with rough things; and I use smooth words when I talk upon smooth
subjects, and so on, according to the nature of the case that
comes before me.
161
You all acknowledge brother Brigham as the President of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints; then you acknowledge
him as our Leader, Prophet, Seer, and Revelator; and then you
acknowledge him in every capacity that pertains to his calling,
both in Church and State, do you not? [Voices: "Yes."] Well, he
is our Governor. What is Governor? One who presides or governs.
Well, now, we have declared, in a legislative capacity, that we
will not have poor, rotten-hearted curses come and rule over us,
such as some they have been accustomed to send. We drafted a
memorial, and the Council and the House of Representatives signed
it, and we sent to them the names of men of our own choice--as
many as from five to eight men for each office--men from our own
midst, out of whom to appoint officers for this Territory. We
sent that number for the President of the United States to make a
selection from, and asked him to give us men of our own choice,
in accordance with the rights constitutionally guaranteed to all
American citizens. We just told them right up and down, that if
they sent any more such miserable curses as some they had sent
were, we would send them home; and that is one reason why an
army, or rather a mob, is on the way here, as reported. You did
not know the reason before, did you?
161
Well, we did that in a legislative capacity; we did it as members
of the Legislature--as your representatives; and now you have got
to back us up. You sent us, just as we sent brother Bernhisel to
seek for our rights and to stand in our defence at Washington.
161
Well, here is brother Brigham: he is the man of our own choice;
he is our Governor, in the capacity of a Territory, and also as
Saints of the Most High.
161
Well, it is reported that they have another Governor on the way
now, three Judges, a District Attorney, Marshal, a Postmaster,
and Secretary, and that they are coming here with twenty-five
hundred men. The United States design to force those officers
upon us by the point of the bayonet.
161
Is not that a funny thing? You may think that I am cross, but I
am laughing at their calamity, and I will "mock when their fear
cometh."
161
Now, gentlemen and ladies, you look at these things, and then
right in this book, the Bible. It says, our nobles shall be of
ourselves; that is, our Lords, our Judges, our Governors, our
Marshals, and our everything shall be of ourselves. Won't you
read the 30th chapter of Jeremiah?
161
18. Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring again the captivity
of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the
city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall
remain after the manner thereof.
161
19. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of
them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall
not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be
small.
161
20. Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their
congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish
all them that oppress them.
161
21. And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their Governor
shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to
draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that
engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord.
161
22. And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
162
23. Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a
continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of
the wicked.
162
24. The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have
done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in
the latter days ye shall consider it.
162
Well, the day has come when our Governor has come out of our
midst, and he is in the tops of the mountains, just where the
Prophets said these things should come to pass; and now the
United States are reported to be trying to force a Governor upon
us, when the Lord has raised one up right out of our midst.
162
Now, I am going to talk about these things, and I feel as though
I had a perfect right to do so, because I am one of the people.
162
It this people should consent to dispossess brother Brigham Young
as our Governor, they are just as sure to go to hell as they
live, and I know it; for God would forsake them and leave them to
themselves, and they would be in worse bondage than the children
of Israel ever were.
162
Supposing this thing all blows over, and they don't come up here,
but they begin to flatter us and be friendly, what will be the
result? They may flatter as long as the earth stands, but I never
will be subject to one of their damned pusillanimous curses. They
may court and flatter as much as they please, but I never will be
subject to them again,--no, never. Do you hear it? [Voices:
"Yes."] Do you think we will submit to them? No, never. They have
cut the thread themselves.
162
You are the people who have the privilege to acknowledge brother
Brigham as our Governor and continue him in his office; and you
also have the privilege, through your agency, to reject him if
you please; but it will be to your condemnation if you do,
because he has got the keys of the kingdom; and the very moment
you reject him, you cut yourselves off from the right of the
Priesthood.
162
I will now bring up a comparison. I live in the City of Great
Salt Lake. I am a father, a husband, a benefactor to between
sixty and seventy subjects: I feed them; I clothe them; and they
do not have a pin, a drink of tea, nor anything but what I
provide: I provide them houses to live in and beds to sleep on.
But suppose that, by-and-by, some stranger comes along, and my
family say to him, "We will have you to preside over us," and
they reject me, when at the same time they say, "Brother Heber is
a good man," but the other man comes with a smiling face, and my
family take him and reject me--what have they done? If they
reject me, they reject their head; and, by so doing, they destroy
their heirship to the head or limb to which they are lawfully
connected. Is not that so?
162
Suppose you acknowledge the man reported to be coming, what do
you do? You reject your head, and if so, where is the body, and
what will become of it? I will compare it to my body. Supposing
the head is cast away, the body will die, won't it? Yes; and you
will die just as quick as that, if you reject brother Brigham,
your head.
162
We are the people of Deseret. She shall be Deseret; she shall be
no more Utah: we will have our own name. Do you hear it?
162
Brethren and sisters, these ideas are comforting to all of you:
they are most gloriously comforting to me. I tell you, the
feelings within me are glorious.
163
We are the people of Deseret, and it is for us to say whether we
will have brother Brigham for our Governor, or those poor,
miserable devils they are reported to be trying to bring here.
You must know they are miserable devils to have to come here
under arms; but they shall not rule over us nor come into this
Territory. What do you say about it? Are you willing, as a
people, that they should come in here? You that say they shall
not, raise your right hands. [All hands raised.]
163
Mr. Gentile, won't you tell of this to your co-workers for the
Devil's kingdom?
163
The reason that I talk as I do is because I don't hold any office
in the United States; but this people, some time ago, appointed
me Chief-Justice of the State of Deseret, and brother John Taylor
and Bishop N. K. Whitney as my associates. You also appointed me
Lieutenant-Governor; I always told you I was going to be
Lieutenant-Governor. This is a stump speech!
163
We are going to have our own Governor from henceforth. Brigham
Young was then our Governor, Heber C. Kimball was Chief-Justice
and Lieutenant-Governor. I was a big man then; I felt as big as
brother Morley does in the Legislature. The fact is, he does not
understand their babble: if he does, he understands more than I
do.
163
It is for us to say, according to our rights under the
Constitution, whether we will have those cursed Gentiles to rule
over us, or not.
163
I want you to publish this, Mr. Editor.
163
I am giving you a little of my feelings; for I want you to know
that you are under no more obligation to receive those men than
brother Brigham's family is to receive another man and to reject
him as their husband, their father, their friend, and benefactor.
163
I know that what I have said has informed many of your minds, and
I choose to present my ideas by comparison. I have a right to say
the Gentiles shall never rule over me, although this people might
admit of their coming here. I have a right to say, also, that we
shall never be ruled over by them from this day forth, while
grass grows or water runs; never, no, never.
163
[Voices: "Amen."]
163
Well, we have got to sustain these amens, and we have got to
sustain these vows. You ladies, too, will certainly have to do
your part, or back out. I told you last Sunday to arm yourselves;
and if you cannot do it any other way, sell some of your fine
bonnets, fine dresses, and buy yourselves a good dirk, a pistol,
or some other instrument of war. Arm your boys and arm yourselves
universally, and that, too, with the weapons of war; for we may
be brought to the test, to see if we will stand up to the line. I
never knew it to fail, when men made covenants, but they were
brought to the test, to see if they would live up to them.
163
This people have made covenants, they have made vows, and they
have been instructed by brother Brigham; and he has told them
that those covenants and penalties are true and faithful; and I
say they are as true as the Lord God liveth; and the day will
come that you will have to fulfil those vows and covenants that
you have made; and not one word shall fail.
163
I have told you of it, and I have backed it up when others have
said it. Now, mark it; for God will drive us to it. These
instructions, given to us from time to time, will have to be
carried out and fulfilled; for I just know that you have got to
reap that which is sown. If you sow to the spirit, you will reap
life everlasting; but if you sow to the flesh, we shall reap
corruption; and the bed that we make, we have got to lie in. Now,
I will tell you another thing that bears heavily on my mind, as
much so as any other thing, and that is, for this people to live
their religion, and do as they are told.
164
I will ask you this question, gentlemen and ladies--Can you live
your religion, except you do as you are told? I have said, again
and again, that if we live our religion, and do as we are told,
those men will never come over those mountains; for we shall slay
the poor devils before they get there.
164
I do not know of any religion, except doing as I am told; and if
you do, you have learned something that I have never learned. You
have a Governor here to dictate you and to tell you what to do;
and if we will live our religion, we are always safe, are we not?
164
There are a great many that will not live their religion, for
they think they belong to the aristocracy; but understand,
gentlemen and ladies, that I withdraw from that society. I told
you last Sunday, that of all the corrupt beings upon the face of
the earth, the present aristocracy are the worst.
164
I am a pretty rugged fellow, and valiant for the truth; and may
the Lord make everybody like me, that we may stand against our
enemies; for the corruptest devils on the earth are the present
aristocracy.
164
Let us go to work and lay up our grain, lay up wheat, and
everything that will and can be preserved; and in so doing, we
will save ourselves from sorrow, pain, and anguish; and the Lord
will give us a law and a word for us to abide, and he will cut
off our enemies; and if every man and woman will go to work, lay
up their grain, and do as they are told, the Lord will hold off
our enemies from us, until we can lay up sufficient store for
ourselves. This is a part of our religion--to lay up stores and
provide for ourselves and for the surrounding country; for the
day is near when they will come by thousands and by millions,
with their fineries, to get a little bread. That time is right by
our door.
164
Brother Stewart says he has discovered that this work is five
years a-head of what he had supposed. Let me tell you that this
people are more than ten years a-head of what they supposed. They
were all asleep; but the Lord has waked them up, to prepare them
for a time of trial and famine. If you do not see it, and feel
it, and taste it, and smell it, it will be because God will have
mercy upon you; and he will, if you will do as you are told from
this time forth.
164
Do I feel comfortable? Gentlemen and ladies, I never saw the day
that I felt any better. I become weary with toil, but I feel well
in regard to this work. But there is a spirit of calmness, of
peace, that I am jealous of.
164
I never have seen the day for twenty-five years, but before there
was a storm there was always a calm. In Kirtland, before the
trouble commenced, there was this calm. Joseph and Hyrum were men
that would stand the test, but finally they had to flee from
Kirtland to Missouri. Well, previous to that, we had received our
endowments, and a more calm, heavenly, and prosperous time I
never saw.
164
Was it so in Missouri? Yes, it was: after they became settled,
they became composed; and the year of the trouble we never had
such crops in the world as we had then.
164
Was it not so in Nauvoo? Yes; and the spirit of composure rested
upon the people; and it is more or less so now; and such crops as
we have this year never were produced.
164
What does this mean? And the spirit of composure seems to be upon
the people more than ever. And what does this mean? I am rather
inclined to be jealous of it. Say I, wake up, ye Saints of Zion,
while it is called to-day, lest trouble and sorrow come upon you,
as a thief in the night.
165
Suppose it is not coming, will it hurt you to lay up the products
of the earth for seven years? Will it hurt you, if you have your
guns, swords, and spears in good condition, according to the law
of the United States? Some of the States give a man his clearance
at forty years of age; others, at forty-five: they call men to
train when they are eighteen years of age; but we call upon all
from six to six hundred years old: we do not except any; and I
want the world to know that we are ready for anything that comes
along. If it is good, we are ready for that; and if it is evil,
we are ready to stand against it.
165
We are calculating to sow our wheat early this fall, in case of
emergency. I throw out these things for you to think upon; and if
they are not right, they will not hurt anybody.
165
But wake up, ye Saints of the Most High, and prepare for any
emergency that the Lord our God may have pleasure in bringing
forth. We never shall leave these valleys--till we get ready: no,
never; no, never. We will live here till we go back to Jackson
County Missouri. I prophesy that, in the name of Israel's God.
165
[The congregation shouted "Amen," and President B. Young said,
"It is true."]
165
If our enemies force us to destroy our orchards and our property,
to destroy and lay waste our houses, fields, and everything else,
we shall never build and plant again, till we do it in Jackson
County. But our enemies are not here yet, and we have not yet
thrown down our houses. Let me tell you, if God designs that
Israel should now become free, they will come and strike the
blow; and if he does not, they will not come. That is as true as
that book (pointing to the Bible).
165
Go to work, and lay up your grain, and do not lay it out for fine
clothes, nor any other kind of fine thing, but make homespun
trowsers and petticoats. What would please me more than for my
family, instead of wanting me to go to the store for petticoats
and short gowns, to see them go to work and make some good
homespun? What would be prettier that some of the English striped
linsey, and a bonnet made of our own straw? Those are the women I
would choose for wives. If you want virtue, go into the farming
country, for there it is homespun. Farming districts contain the
essence and the virtue of old England.
165
I do not know that you know what homespun is; but it is that
which is spun at home; and it is for your welfare, both men,
women, and children, to make your own clothing. It is also for
your salvation to equip yourselves according to law.
165
Now, I will tell you, I have about a hundred shots on hand all
the time,--three or four fifteen-shooters, and three or four
revolvers, right in the room where I sleep; and the Devil does
not like to sleep there, for he is afraid they will go off
half-cocked.
165
If you will lay a bowie knife or a loaded revolver under your
pillow every night, you will not have many unpleasant dreams, nor
be troubled with the nightmare; for there is nothing that the
Devil is so much afraid of as a weapon of death.
165
You may take this as some of Heber's wild visions, if you please.
I have acknowledged myself as one of the people; and now I say,
we will take our own name, and we will not be false-named any
more. We are the Kingdom of God; we are STATE OF DESERET; and we
will have you, brother Brigham, as our Governor just so long as
you live. We will not have any other Governor.
166
I mean just what I say, and this people say they will not have
any other Governor, and especially any one that has to come here
under arms; for we consider that any man is a poor, damned curse
that has to come here under arms to rule over us. These are my
feelings; and if anybody votes against it, they are not of us:
but there are but four or five but what vote for us; and they are
apostates, and will go overboard. There is not a child but what
goes with us in these things.
166
When we reject brother Brigham Young, we reject the head; but we
will not do it, for the body shall dwell together, and we are
members of that body, and he shall be our Governor just as long
as God Almighty will have him to be. Those who are in favour of
it, raise your hands.
166
[The vote was unanimous.]
166
You may try it just as long as you like, and it will be just so
every time, except those four or five, and they never will vote.
Can I point them out? Yes, I can. I have had my eye on them ever
since they came into the congregation.
166
Let us do our duty, be humble, prayerful, honest, virtuous, and
punctual in all our engagements. Let us have no lying, no
deception; but let us be honest, and let the labouring men that
labour on the public works be honest, and let them be punctual to
their work.
166
Why do I speak to the public hands? Because they are on the most
important work there is in the world. And how would a man feel to
go into that house (pointing to the endowment house), that had
stolen the nails out of the carpenter's shop or out of the
machine shop, or the boards out of the lumber yard?
166
Let us be faithful, and the Lord will be on our side, and I doubt
whether we shall be under the necessity of shedding much blood
ourselves; but let us be ready, guns cocked; none of your
half-cocked.
166
This is my exhortation to Israel; and may the Lord God bless the
righteous, the humble, those that tell the truth, and those that
are honest and punctual.
166
Can I bless any that are not humble and amenable to their
superiors? Can I bless those that are always finding fault? I
wish to God I could; but blessings would not stick to them; but
if you will do as you are told, you shall be blessed in
everything that you put your hands to, from this time forth and
for ever. You shall have health and strength, and you shall
multiply and increase in everything you undertake to do: and that
is not all: you will have faith, that, when a man or a woman that
is sick sends for you to bless them, you will say, "Be thou made
whole;" and that will be the case from this time henceforth and
for ever.
166
There is one man whom we saw up north when we went to eat
watermelons, who had thought of having an artesian well bored. He
said, "If I knew that we were going to stop here three years, I
would have one very soon." Says I to that gentleman--You put out
peach trees, apple trees, apricots, and currants; and if we have
to go into the mountains, we shall cut off the trees, and the
roots will be there still; but we shall not go into the
mountains.
166
We were told that we were going into the woods before we came
here; and then, when we got here, there were no woods. But you
need not be afraid; you go and graft and inoculate your trees,
and build houses, that you may know how to build when you get to
Jackson County.
166
All that we built in Kirtland, in Far West, in Missouri, in
Nauvoo, and in Winter Quarters--for every one of those places,
gentlemen, we are to have our pay. Who are to pay us? Those that
took our property away from us, we will make servants of them:
the day will come that we will have them for our vine-dressers,
and we will set them to digging holes to put the rest of the
damned scoundrels in who have rebelled against God and His
servants. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, August 30, 1857
Brigham Young, August 30, 1857
TRADITION--DUTY OF THE SAINTS TO LIVE THEIR RELIGION--SAFETY
OF ZION--PREPARATION FOR THE FUTURE, ETC.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, August 30, 1857.
167
I can truly say that I am happy for the privilege of meeting with
the Saints.
167
When I am alone, and look by the vision of the Spirit upon this
people, my heart says within me, God bless the people, God bless
the people; and I bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus. I feel
to bless the people continually, from day to day. Their interest
is my interest; their welfare is my welfare; their hope is mine.
We are of one faith; and to see the people drawing near unto the
Lord and becoming more of one heart and of one mind is the most
cheering thought and reflection that can pass upon my mind: there
is nothing else that compares with it. As for the riches of the
world or the good things of the world--as far gold or silver,
houses and lands, they are nothing in comparison to the purity of
the faith of the people.
167
This people are increasing in their faith, they are increasing in
their good works, and they are really becoming the Saints of the
Most High. Any person possessing the Spirit of the holy Gospel,
and who has been acquainted with this people during years that
are past, can readily discover that they are merging to the
period when they will become the disciples of the Lord Jesus.
Perhaps we think that we are perfectly so now; but it is not the
case--we are engaged in a preparatory work.
167
When the Gospel came to us, it found us in the depths of
ignorance; it found us in darkness; it found us possessed of all
the prejudices, feelings, and views that now exist in the world.
There is no man--there is no woman, but what was more or less
clothed upon with the traditions of their fathers. There cannot a
person be found at the present day--one who has arrived at the
years to think, to act, and to judge for himself, but what is
more or less clothed and enveloped in the traditions of their
fathers.
167
On the other hand, there is no person possessing the Spirit of
revelation but what can very readily discern that the ways of the
Lord are not like the ways of man, and that the children of men
have gone out of the way. Take all nations--all people--by
communities, by societies, by families, and by individuals,--take
the whole mass of the inhabitants of the earth, and they have
each taken to their own way, as any person possessing the Spirit
of revelation can discern to be the case in the whole world. At
the same time, they imagine that they are right--that they have
light--that they have intelligence--that they are possessed of
true knowledge pertaining to God and the things of eternity.
168
Take the inhabitants of Japan--islands situated between here and
China,--and if you are acquainted with the people, with their
feelings and true sentiments, you know that they actually believe
that they are the only people that are enlightened, and that all
the rest of mankind are heathen. Go to China, which is called by
its inhabitants the celestial empire because of their supposed
purity, and they actually believe that they are the only nation
under heaven that has the true knowledge of eternity.
168
Turn to the Christian nations on the eastern and western
continents--take enlightened Christendom as the whole--and they
believe that they are the only people who have the knowledge of
God. It is true that they far exceed all other nations in many of
the arts and sciences, and they also believe that they are the
only people who understand the true religion of heaven.
168
They are sending their missionaries to the east and to the west,
to the north and to the south, and they are penetrating every
nook and corner, to enlighten what they call the heathen nations.
Is not that the case? That arises from the traditions of their
fathers which are handed down to the children, and they are
enveloped in them.
168
When we look at this people, could we expect them to become
prepared to be the disciples of the Lord Jesus in one, in five,
in ten, in twenty, or in thirty years? No. And it will be just as
much as we can do to be worthy to be the brothers and sisters of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ when he makes his appearance.
Let us strive with all our might, be as watchful as it is
possible for us to be, apply ourselves by faith and diligence to
the keeping of his commandments, and continue so doing until
Jesus sets his feet upon this continent, and we will then find
that we are only just prepared to receive him. This is the
preparatory work, and it will prepare the people, if they will
live for it.
168
How can we live our religion, except we do as we are told? I will
reverse the question and enquire, How can this people do as they
are told, except they live their religion? They cannot. Every
family--every neighborhood is taught to glorify God. They are
instructed from day to day, they are taught the way of life and
salvation, they are counselled continually to seek unto the Lord
their God, to obtain the faith of the ancients, to obtain the
light of the heavens, to walk in the light of His countenance day
by day; but how can you do these things, except you do as you are
told? You cannot. Neither can you live your religion, except you
do as you are told; for the people are taught to live their
religion,--they are taught to cease from every evil thought and
every evil action, to cease having a murmuring spirit, to cease
having a doubtful feeling; and they are taught to cease being
neglectful in regard to any known duty We are taught to double
our diligence where we have been slack, to seek unto the Lord day
by day, that we may have the light of his countenance upon us.
168
Brother Heber has been prophesying. You know that I call him my
Prophet, and he prophesies for me. And now I prophesy that, if
this people will live their religion, the God of heaven will
fight their battles, bring them off victorious over all their
enemies, and give to them the kingdom. That is my prophecy. I
said amen to all that brother Heber prophesied, for it is true;
and he may say amen to all that I prophesy, for it is also true.
168
I have no fears in regard to the kingdom of God upon the earth;
but I have fears lest this people be not prepared to receive
glory, immortality, and eternal lives, when those principles are
presented to them. This is all the fear that I have--that we will
not walk up to our privileges and be prepared for them.
169
I thank my Father in heaven,--yes, my soul says, Glory,
hallelujah, praise the name of Israel's God, for the blessings I
enjoy at the present time! One year ago this very day, and
previous to that time, my soul was pained within me. No tongue
could tell--it could not be portrayed before the people, the
feelings that I had: I could not tell them; and I did not know
but that, if I should come out in the presence of the people and
try to speak my feelings, they would call me crazy. However, I
tried to make the people understand my feelings, but no tongue
could tell them; and I actually believe that I would have lived
but a little time in this existence, had not God waked up the
people. I wanted to take up my valise and go throughout the
Territory crying, Is there a man in this Territory for God?
169
If you want to know how I felt, I cannot tell you better than by
describing my feelings in the way that I am now doing. One day, I
told a number of the brethren how I felt, as well as I could; and
brother Jedediah M. Grant partook of the Spirit that was in me
and walked out like a man, like a giant, and like an angel, and
he scattered the fire of the Almighty among the people. But what
was the result so far as he was concerned? He went beyond his
strength, and it cost him his life.
169
There is now scarcely a man but wants to do as God would have him
do among those who claim to be Latter-day Saints, except those
four or five that brother Heber speaks of; hence we hold a very
large majority of that class of men and women who desire to do
precisely as God would have them, and my heart says, God bless
the people. God bless you, brethren and sisters. I bless you all
the time. You are near my heart, and it is all my business to
look after the welfare of the Saints. Remember that it will be
just as much as you and I can do to prepare to meet the Saviour
when he comes, no matter whether we previously go into the grave
or not.
169
There has been a great deal said in the lower world about this
little handful of people; for you terrify the whole world! Not
alone in the United States, but in England, in France, in Italy,
in Germany, and in every State upon the eastern continent, the
people are looking to see the result of the present movements of
our Government towards this people. They are looking at the
Gospel we preach, the course that we take, the influence we are
gaining, and the numbers we are gathering to us; and they look at
the subject not only in a religious point of view, but also in a
national capacity.
169
Brother Heber said to you, if the time has come, designed by the
Lord Almighty, for the thread to be cut between this people and
the residue of the world, then the Lord will suffer our enemies
to clip the thread; and I am with him in that sentiment But if
the time is not come, the Lord will not suffer them to come. If
He designs that traffic should continue between us and them, that
we shall have the privilege of bringing our immigration, of
preaching the Gospel and saving the people, let me tell you that
they will not come; God will stop them.
169
As for myself, I would just as soon this was the time as any
other. If it is the time for the thread, in a national capacity,
to be severed, let it be severed. Amen to it. But I will tell you
what I have concluded: when we talk of gold, of silver, of
riches, of the comforts of this world, with me it is the kingdom
of God, or nothing; with us it must be the kingdom of God, or
nothing. I shall not go in for anything half-way. We must have
the kingdom of God, or nothing. We are not to be overthrown.
170
Cannot this kingdom be overthrown? No. They might as well try to
obliterate the sun. And I should suppose that an experience of
twenty-six years would have proven to the wicked that it could
not be overthrown; but it only wakes them up to anger and stirs
them up to be more diligent in their opposition to the righteous.
They have been trying to break up this people and destroy their
organization, ever since we became a church; and every time they
try, their oppression forces us into greater note; they increase
our numbers and strengthen us in faith and in the knowledge and
power of God. And how long must they live before they can learn
that such has been and invariably will be the result? They will
learn it when they get into hell, and never before,--never till
they get into the spirit world; and then they will see that they
have all the time been fighting against God; and never till then
will they learn it. You cannot teach them anything.
170
Here are men who have been with us for six or seven years, and if
they had any good, common philosophical power, they would know
that ours is something different from any other authority and
organization in the world. The union and peace that are here are
in no other place on the face of the earth. Here are power and
influence that are nowhere else on earth. Among this people there
is an intelligence that is nowhere else to be found. Can darkness
discover light? No; and even when it reflects itself, they turn
it away as a trifling affair, and that light which was in them
becomes darkness; and then greater is their darkness in the
second instance than in the first.
170
Some of this people apostatize. But do you think that any would
apostatize from the kingdom of God, if they knew that it was the
kingdom of God? No. Why do they apostatize? Because, through
disobedience, that little light they were in possession of is
taken away, and they are left to believe a lie that they may be
damned. That is the reason why they go away.
170
I say to this people, Do as you are told; and if you live by
every righteous principle that you can learn and forsake every
evil principle and act through your whole lives as becometh
Saints of the Most High, all will be well. Can men live so that
they can have the serene, blessed, calm, soft, soothing Spirit of
the Lord always to abide with them? Yes, they can. And if they
are tempted, they can resist temptation. Can women? They can. If
they have temptation they can resist it, and it will flee from
them, and they will gain a victory.
170
So live, day by day, that your lives will be like an even spun
thread. Let there be no lying, no backbiting, no evil; but let
the whole life of every man and woman tend to good. Then, when
they have their failings, they will forgive each other, and will
find the words of the Saviour to be true, that his Spirit will be
in them as a well of living water springing up into everlasting
life. Will they become prophets? Yes, and prophetesses. Let them
honour their religion until they pass the ordeal, and they will
reach the time when the Lord will never suffer them to fall.
There will be a time when the fountain of life is within them;
then they are prophets and prophetesses, and tell the truth all
the time. They walk no more in darkness, but in the light; and
that is the privilege of every man and woman.
171
Thank heaven that bickerings and contentions are lessening every
year among this people. Suppose that we all most strictly lived
our religion, would there be a hard word in this community? There
would not. Do you understand that? Never accuse a man or a woman
of evil, until you find out the cause. Never judge by the outward
appearance, but judge righteous judgment. And if persons who are
striving to do good should happen to commit an overt act, and are
ready to restore to the uttermost, then that would be the
occasion of a feeling of kindness and affection towards them.
There is no reason for the people to do wrong, but there is
everything to encourage them to do right.
171
The brethren have had a good deal said to them this morning, but
I feel to bless the people; and I wish you to live nearer and
nearer to the Lord. Seek unto the Lord our God continually; seek
to possess more of his Spirit; throw off the power of erroneous
traditions and of the evil influences that were around us in our
youthful days and before we came to a knowledge of the truth.
Learn the things of God, and you will find that they are very
different from the things of the world; you will find all the
plans and schemes of the world to be so different that you would
hardly suppose that they ever knew anything about the plan of
salvation.
171
Also remember to lay up your grain. Brother Heber has been
preaching to you about that; therefore remember to lay up
sufficient for your families. Sow your grain early this fall.
Many wish to know whether I think we shall reap. I do not care
whether we do or not. I intend to sow early this fall, so that it
will ripen next season. How bad we should feel, if we did not
sow, and all should be peace and safety next season, to know that
we could have harvested if we had sown. I reckon that I should
feel bad, if I were placed in such a condition; but I will
prepare for the people to live so long as they dwell upon the
earth.
171
What more will I prepare for? I will prepare for a fight, I will
prepare for peace, and I will also prepare for everything that
comes along; then I am ready for anything. Build? Yes, build, and
make your homes as comfortable as you can.
171
If I knew that I was going to burn all my buildings next season,
it would not hinder me for one hour from making improvements. The
more I do, the more I shall be prepared to do. And I am
determined to prepare to lay up the walls of Zion and to learn
all I can, so that, if I should happen to be one of the men to
engage in that work, I shall know how to commence and dictate the
foundation of the walls of Zion and those of the Temple.
171
A great many think that we have been extravagant in laying so
broad and deep a foundation for this Temple; but I would rather
have that foundation, though it should lay as it is till the
Millennium, than to have the most splendid superstructure built
upon a sandy foundation. What do you say, you men and women of
judgment? [Voices, "You are correct."] Is there not more honour
in that foundation, though it lay there till we go back to
Jackson County, than there would be in such a building as I have
named?
171
About two weeks ago, Elder Hyde began to say, "There is no
knowing where;" and I took the words from his mouth and
continued, "The Latter-day Saints will land in Jackson County,
Missouri."
171
The Lord has suffered the wicked to drive us about, that we might
accomplish his designs the sooner. Some of you sisters are afraid
of cousin Lemuel; and some say that our enemies are bringing
presents to bribe cousin Lemuel. Let them bring and let them
bribe, and then, if the time has come, when they have got through
bribing, cousin Lemuel will turn round and take the rest.
172
God is at the helm. This is the mighty ship Zion. You stick to
the ship, and honour it, and see that you are in favour with the
ship Zion, and you need not worry about anything else. God has
the hearts of the children of men in his hands; he puts hooks in
their jaws and turns them about at His pleasure. God is here; the
Holy Ghost is here and rests upon this people, and I am a witness
to it. I know that the Holy Ghost dwells in the hearts of this
people; and the world are afraid of the union that exists upon
this people. They were afraid of that in the days of Joseph, and
it has been their fear all the time. You might take a democrat, a
Republican, a ranting Methodist, and old, stiff-necked, ranting
Presbyterian; and when they came to consider Joseph Smith and the
Saints, they saw that they were one in faith, and it scared them
all. They would say, "We are Methodists, Baptists, and
Presbyterians, but we are of different politics; in our churches
may be found all kinds of politics, but you, Joseph Smith, alter
men's politics; you change them and make them all one.
172
Brethren and sisters, do not be angry with them, for they are in
the hands of God. Instead of feeling a spirit to punish them, or
anything like wrath, you live your religion; and you will see the
day when you will pray God to turn away from your eyes the sight
of their afflictions.
172
There are thousands and millions in the United States, and in the
world, whose hearts are like an aspen leaf because of this little
handful of people in Utah. Pity them; for they know not whom they
are fighting against; they know not their destiny.
172
This army that is reported to be coming to this place know no
more about you and me than you know about the interior of China:
they go because they are sent. If they knew our real character,
the soldiers themselves would turn round and tell their officers
to go to hell; they would take a stampede, and if their officers
urged them to come and fight this people, they would turn round
upon them or tell them to do it themselves.
172
Now, do not feel angry. Are not they to be pitied? Yes. Are you
to be pitied? Yes, if you forsake God, or your religion. The
Saints need to be pitied for nothing but for forsaking their
religion. Be careful that you do not get darkness into your
minds.
172
May God bless you. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, August 23, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, August 23, 1857
FAITH IN THE PRIESTHOOD--FRUITS OF FAITH--LAYING UP
GRAIN--GLEANING--THE HOLY GHOST--TREE OF LIFE, ETC.
A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the
Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, August 23, 1857.
172
I feel very much pleased at the arrival of our brethren that take
missions. I know how to sympathise with them. There are a great
many young Elders that are taking missions now. Twenty years ago,
I was labouring in England; I baptized brother G. D. Watt, twenty
years ago last month, (July,) in 1837. That was the first foreign
mission that was taken by the Elders of this Church.
173
At that time it was almost impossible to realize what we now see
and understand. I went over to England at the time the Church was
broken up in Kirtland. There were very few persons then who could
stand by "Mormonism" faithfully and uphold our Prophet Joseph
Smith: where one would stand valiantly and uphold him, there were
twenty who did not.
173
That day was a day wherein the Saints were tested; their
integrity was proved; they were put to the test whether they
would stand by "Mormonism" and by the Prophet, or not.
173
Many people now pretend that they stand by what they call ancient
"Mormonism," or "Mormonism" in their own way, but in brother
Brigham they do not believe particularly.
173
No man can believe in "Mormonism," except he believes in the man
that leads the Church of God--in the man that holds the keys of
life and salvation pertaining to this people.
173
How is it possible for a limb to be attached to a tree, and at
the same time manifest its disapprobation of the tree? That limb
will die and wither away, except it manifests its approbation,
faith, and favour to the tree to which it is connected.
173
So it is impossible that a man or a woman who disbelieves that
brother Brigham is a Prophet--that he is God's representative and
holds the keys of his kingdom pertaining to this people, can
retain the Holy Ghost and partake of the life and sap of the true
vine. Such persons have no faith of the genuine bearing kind, and
consequently there are no works to correspond.
173
Will good works produce faith? Yes; there is very little faith
without works; and then again, there never was but very little
works without faith.
173
How can my body exist when my spirit leaves it? It cannot. Can my
spirit exist without this tabernacle? It can; but the body cannot
exist without the spirit, because the spirit that dwells in my
body is the life of my body, and there is no life without it.
173
Some say the earth exists without spirit; I do not believe any
such thing; it has a spirit as much as any body has a spirit. How
can anything live, except it has a living spirit? How can the
earth produce vegetation, fruits, trees, and every kind of
production, if there is no life in it? It could not, any more
than a woman could produce children when she is dead: she must be
alive to produce life, to manifest it, and show it to the world.
It is so with "Mormonism." We must manifest our faith by our
works.
173
I speak these things because they come to my mind. When I arise
to speak, I have never a premeditated subject; I let God, by the
Holy Ghost, dictate me and control me, just as a musician would
his violin. It is the player on the instrument that plays the
tune; the instrument does not dictate the player. So I should be
in the hands of God, to be dictated by him; for we are told that
the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, will teach us all things past,
present, and to come.
173
The Holy Ghost knows the minds of this people, and what is
necessary to deal out to every man and every woman in due
season--their portion. If I am not dictated by the Holy Ghost, I
cannot communicate to you that which is necessary.
173
Supposing you are all pure, except a very few,--say there are
twenty or thirty men in the assembly that are impure, and then
there are a dozen or fifty women that do not keep the
commandments of God,--when I am speaking to the disobedient, the
Spirit in me alludes to those persons only.
174
Why do men or women condemn me when the Word of God is sharp, and
say I am harsh and hard? It is because they are not right; and
that is the way I prove them. You never would complain of the
sharpness of the word of God, if you were not under
transgression.
174
You say I allude to you: so I do; or, it is the Spirit of God
alludes to you through me. You are the persons who are under
censure--you are the birds that flutter, because it hits you. Why
should a person find fault who is not under condemnation? That
proves they are.
174
How shall we manifest our faith by our works? I will speak of
that a little further; and I cannot speak the truth as it is in
Christ Jesus, without I censure many of you. I will ask those who
have been here for four, seven, and eight years past, and from
the day that we came into these valleys, if they have proved by
their works their faith in the words of the Prophet Brigham?
174
Here are brother Amasa Lyman, brother Woodruff, and other
brethren, who recollect Brigham testifying most strenuously in
the Bowery--then occupied by the pioneers, when we first entered
the Valley--of the propriety of this people laying up grain and
other stores for seven years,--because, said he, "The time has
come when the words of the Prophets should be fulfilled, that the
earth should rest every seventh year."
174
He said it was our duty to lay up grain for seven years, because
he foresaw what would be; he foresaw what we came here
for,--viz., to be the saviours of men. I have spoken also of
these things constantly. How oft have you heard these things
proclaimed for four years past? And, after all we have said, who
is there that has laid up grain to last them one year, much less
two, previous to, the late scarcity we have passed through?
174
Those that did lay up a little had to feed that out, or be called
scoundrels constantly. Some of the people considered a man a
scoundrel that would not hand out the last kernel he had, or the
last load of wood he had at his door.
174
Brother Brigham, myself, and Jedediah have blazed away on this
matter for the last four years; and how many have manifested
their faith by their works? Have one of you got wheat laid up to
last you seven years? No; not one of you have got enough laid up
to last three years.
174
Uncle Sam--I won't call him uncle--he is likely man, but his
children have degenerated most awfully; and one of his sons who
sits in the chair of state, Mr. Buchanan, is most awfully
adulterated and sunk in degradation, that he would permit an army
of 2,500 or 3,000 men to come here to enforce officers upon us
contrary to the Constitution, and to enforce a Governor upon us,
when we have got one of our own choosing.
174
The Prophet said that our Governor should rise up among
ourselves. That you will find in the 30th chapter of
Jeremiah:--"And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their
Governor shall proceed from the midst of them, and I will cause
him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me, for who this
that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord."
174
Now that day has come, as true as you live; our nobles will
proceed from ourselves, and our Governor, and our judges, and all
of our officials shall come out of ourselves, from this day
forth. [Voices: "Amen."]
175
Now mark it, gentlemen and ladies; the day has come for this
people to take care of themselves. The President of the United
States has taken a course,--that is, the Lord has let him do it,
knowing that no man can do anything against the truth, but for
it; He has organized His work in that way. The Lord has permitted
him to pursue a course that has brought you to your senses, to
know whether or not it is necessary that you should lay up wheat,
because you did not believe what brother Brigham said; and if you
had believed what he said, you would believe what brothers Heber,
Jedediah, and Daniel said, and the Twelve.
175
You have never believed me, nor brother Brigham, nor one of the
Prophets, ancient or modern. You say you did believe it, but you
did not think it was so near to us. You should always be the
judges, should you not?
175
Have I any fears about them coming here? No. If the day has come
for there to be a collision between us and the United States and
the world, they will come, you may depend upon it, because God
will stir them up; but if the time has not come, they do not come
here; so you may set your hearts at rest.
175
You now see there is a time coming for every man to go to with
his might, and lay up his wheat and his oats, his barley, his
peas, and his beans, and dry your fruit, and lay it up; and then,
when you have done it this year, do it next year, and then prize
it as the most precious thing upon the earth.
175
The Bible says a man will give all he has got for his life. If
you had a million of dollars in gold or in silver, you would give
the whole of it for food to save your life. Well, then, why do
you not take a course to lay up that very thing that will save
your lives and the lives of others, as Joseph did the lives of
the people of Egypt and his father's house?
175
Joseph warned the people of a famine that was coming on the land,
and laid up corn; so Brigham and Heber have taught you that we
are going to see a day similar to that, but more terrible--more
awful.
175
How strange it is, brethren, that you are so dilatory in these
things that pertain to your salvation and the salvation of
millions besides us? Am I taking that course? I am. And before I
built my store-house, I saw these things, and I went to work and
set an example that was worthy of imitation, although it was
small; and the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society
gave me a diploma, but did not give me any money, although I had
done the best, in their thoughts, of the kind. And I am going to
continue.
175
I have got somewhere between eleven and twelve hundred bushels of
old wheat now in my store-house, and it will stay there until
Brigham says, "I want it." And I have room for another twelve
hundred--yes, for twelve times twelve; and when that is filled, I
will fill another one, and so I will keep it going. The Lord will
put means in my hands that I will continue to do so, and he will
bless every man and woman that will take that course and continue
it; they will increase in their stores, while those who take the
opposite course will decrease and they will wither away.
175
Do you not see that the man who will store up knowledge, virtue,
wisdom, and understanding, will increase in those principles? It
will be just so with the fruits of the earth.
175
I shall continue to teach you these things and arouse your minds.
175
I have referred to you ladies. I told you, a week or two ago, to
take some of your fine clothes and buy wheat. Let me bring up a
circumstance of a certain woman that came to me and wanted an
every-day dress. She said she had seven dresses too good for
every day. I said, "Why do you not make an every-day dress of
some of them; for one of them will out-wear three dresses made of
twenty-five cent calico?
176
I would advise you to take everything that is unnecessary, and
buy wheat and barley, and such things as you need with it, and
lay up your stores for the time that is to come, that you can
feed your own kindred and friends, who will actually come to you.
Lots of my kindred will come to me, and brother Brigham's will
come to him, as Joseph's father, and mother, and brethren came to
him in Egypt. As that is true, this is, as the Lord liveth.
176
The Lord says that saviours shall come upon Mount Zion in the
latter days. Mount Zion is here in the tops of the mountains; and
has not our Governor come out of us? He has come out of this
Church--out of a branch of the house of Israel; yes, our Governor
and our Lieutenant-Governor, and our Judges and Marshals, &c.
176
Now, sisters, I am going to bring before you a circumstance of
one man: he is our barber down here--brother Squires. Although he
is shaving to good advantage, if he had subjects enough, he could
make ten dollars a day,--that is, if he could get enough for it.
He went down here close to a piece of land I am keeping, and he
worked four or five days; he took his wife and two children with
him, and he averaged two-and-a-half bushels every day at gleaning
the heads of wheat that were scattered.
176
Now, supposing those that have got no wheat would take the same
course. Is the wheat there? I presume there could be fifty
bushels gleaned from ten acres with all the ease in the world. Go
to brother Brigham's ten acres, and fifty bushels could be
gleaned there; a man would make his bushel a day. I am telling
you how to get your wheat.
176
Would it not be better for you to leave your mechanic shops,
every one of you, and spend a week in the wheat-field, and see
what you could do? Will we discharge you? Yes; go in peace, and
God Almighty bless you, and make you glean double all the time.
Do we want that wheat saved? We do.
176
Hundreds of this people have not raised a kernel, and brother
Squires can go with his wife and two children and glean
two-and-a-half bushels a day. It is a pretty good example,
ladies. How much better are you than they,--that is, if they do
right and keep the commandments of God? I want to know why one
person is better than another, without they surpass another by
their good works?
176
Says one, "I used to belong to the aristocracy in the States, and
I belonged to that class in the old country." But, gentlemen and
ladies, I belong to the aristocracy, and that is all the
difference there is between you and me.
176
Supposing you have been brought up in "high life," what made you
well off? Because, in the providence of God, you had a rich
father or a rich uncle, and they made you comfortable; but I had
the misfortune to be a poor boy, and had to go from house to
house to beg my bread.
176
I want to know if I am any the worse for that? Joseph of old was
a shepherd, and was considered one of the most inferior boys in
his father's house; but God made him a king and a Prophet, and a
saviour of his father's house and millions of the human family;
and so He will you, and so He will me, so sure as I am faithful,
honour my calling, and be obedient to my superiors, and honour
the Priesthood, and God will honour me; but He will not honour me
except I honour myself.
176
If I had time, I would go into the wheat-field myself, and esteem
it a privilege, in preference of doing what I have to do here.
177
Need you take the straw and stubble and bring it to your homes?
No. Be like the honey bee; she carries away the honey and leaves
the rest; she goes and gathers the bee bread, and leaves the
flowers behind her, and of this she makes pots or bins to store
away the honey: that is all the bee bread is for. We use it for
many purposes. Brother Squires, instead of taking the straw,
broke off the heads of wheat, and put them in a bag; he took the
wheat and left the straw.
177
Are these things interesting to you? There is not one of you has
got an article of clothing on your back, but what has been
obtained through the industry of men and women.
177
We talk about smart women: we have the smartest women on the
earth, and the smartest men and smartest boys; and we have also
got some of the meanest men and women there is on God Almighty's
footstool; they are the taglocks, and will be sheared off.
177
The farmer never takes a sheep into the water to wash him until
the taglocks are first cut off, because they have taglocks so
quickly again, they besmear the wool. They did that where I
lived; still there were a great many things done where I lived
that was not done where you lived.
177
I merely speak of brother Squires to show you what advantages
there are to be gained by gleaning. Then I will go the field
where men and women have been and gathered up a few scattering
straws, and make a better sweep of it than they, and then another
will follow me up, and gather a good pile. What is the cause of
this? They cannot see much--only now and then a few stalks.
177
I will be bound to say, in this county of Salt Lake, that if
people will go to work, they may gather four thousand bushels of
wheat from the gleaning; and I am not straining it one particle;
and it is the best of the wheat that falls to the ground.
177
Just so with the Saints: the best Saints lay at the fee of Jesus,
serving him and doing the will of God. These things are not only
for you who are present to-day, but they will go to every city
and place throughout the mountains, to arouse the people, and
they will think more of them than you do that are continually
under the droppings of the sanctuary.
177
The world and many of the Saints abroad and at home are asleep,
and that day will overtake them as a thief in the night, and it
will come upon them like a whirlwind; and so it will you, if you
do not wake up and listen to our words.
177
How many times I have heard it--"We believe what brother Brigham
says, and we believe this, and we believe that; but here is
brother Heber,--he is a kind of wild, kind of enthusiastic; he is
full of visions and wild notions." Tell me one notion I have had
that is not correct. Say you, "Some things you have prophesied
have come to pass, but we do not know whether the rest will or
not."
177
I do not profess to be a Prophet. I never called myself so; but I
actually believe I am, because people are all the time telling me
that I am. I do not boast of that. I say that every man and woman
who will live their religion, be humble, and be dictated by the
Holy Ghost, the spirit of prophecy will be upon them.
177
Some of you, ladies, that go abroad from house to house, blessing
the sick, having your little circles of women come together, why
are you troubling yourselves to bless and lay your hands on
women, and prophesy on them, if you do not believe the principle?
You make yourselves fools to say that that same power should not
be on the man that has got the Priesthood, and with sisters that
have not got any, only what they hold in connection with their
husbands.
178
We can tell what will come to pass; and one of you can talk in
tongues and pour out your souls to God, and then one interpret;
that is the course you take, and it is all right: go ahead, and
God bless you and multiply blessings on you; but do not go round
tattling about your husbands and talking against the Priesthood
you are connected to. I do not say many of you do it; but you
that do it are poor, miserable skunks.
178
Brethren and sisters, let us go to work now, every man and woman,
where you have it in your power, and lay up our grain--lay up our
oats, barley, and everything else that will keep, and go to work
and raise flax, and make clothing.
178
Now, you said you did not believe a word I said here a few
Sundays ago, that if we would go to work and raise flax, and
cultivate it, and pray for it, and keep the commandments of God,
it should have a coat on it fourfold more. I said that, ladies
and gentlemen. You go to, and do as I told you, and see if it
does not come to pass.
178
Did not the Lord rain down the honey-dew upon the trees and upon
the vegetation in Utah? Yes. I can go down on Cottonwood here,
and show it to you, lots of it. If he can do that here, what will
he not do, if we keep the commandments of God? And, gentlemen and
ladies, if you will do just as you are told, without any
deviation, you need never trouble yourselves about mobs--never,
no, never.
178
The Lord said to Joseph, If you will do my will, and listen to my
counsel and the counsel of my servants, it is my business in the
last days to fight your battles and provide for my Saints.
178
I have no more fears, nor never shall have, if you will do just
as you are told, every one of you, and stop your contentions,
your lying, your deceptions, and your dishonesty; and let every
man do right--let him do justice, and we will never be troubled
with troops, and we will have one, two, three just as good years
of peace as we ever had since we were born, beginning now; and I
know it. Gentlemen, it depends on your doing right.
178
Could the Lord stir you up, through the testimony of brother
Brigham or his brethren, to believe it was necessary to lay up
your stores, until the Devil kicked up a fuss to show you that
death and destruction would come on this people? That is true. Do
not tell me that you listen to his counsel, when you do not
practise his words.
178
And, ladies, do not tell me that you take his counsel, when I do
not see you here with bonnets manufactured out of the elements of
this valley. It is a lie before God when you say you listen to
his counsel, and come here before him and sit under his eyes in
open disobedience to it.
Where did you get your bonnets? Were they made here? No; they
were made in the States; they came by succoring those poor curses
who would send us all to destruction, by nourishing these Gentile
merchants here. The best of them would sell this whole people for
ten dollars, and permit my life and Brigham's life to be taken in
a minute. I know this.
178
What do they care for us? There is not one of them that is in any
degree friendly towards us, and feels to believe and sustain
"Mormonism." There is not one of them but what would be perfectly
willing that the troops should come here and massacre this whole
people, for the sake of a few dollars.
178
Have we any confidence in them? Yes, as far as deal is concerned;
but when it comes to "Mormonism," I have not a particle. I never
saw that man that had not an inclination in his heart to embrace
"Mormonism" that I ever had one particle of confidence in.
179
Many of you have sustained Judge Douglas as being a true
friend to this people; and he is just as big a damned rascal as
ever walked, and always has been. He has taken a course to get
into the chair of State, and that is what he is after: he will
try to accomplish that, if he goes to hell the next day; but he
will not go into the chair of State, he will go to hell.
179
Now, do not be scared; I am going to talk what I feel, and I ask
no odds of anybody, except my leader: I will be subject to him. I
will be amenable to any branch belonging to the true vine of
Jesus Christ, and I will nourish it, and cherish it; but those
poor curses, I have not one particle of confidence in them.
179
I never knew an instance in the days of Joseph, when he confided
in those poor devils, but what they turned traitor to him, and
were the very men that took his life, aided by the apostates that
left this Church; and I know it, and so do you.
179
How many times have I been through the mill? Lots of times; and I
expect to go through it again, and then through the bolt, and the
screen, &c.
179
Joseph never trusted in one of them but what they betrayed him;
and I wish to God I had taken some of their lives when I had a
chance: they were blacklegs, whoremongers, murderers, liars,
sorcerers, and rascals; and you may take many of the leading men
of the United States Government, and they are not one whit
better.
179
These merchants here have collected their millions of dollars
from us. Are they your friends, ladies? There are not many of
them, if they dared do it, but what would seduce you in a minute,
if you would yield to them.
179
In Kirtland, when we were broken up, which was a serious time,
and in Far West, in Missouri, and Illinois, the priests of the
day, the bigger portion of them, and those they call the best
men, were combined against us.
179
But let me tell you that the best men in the United States are
not among the rulers; they do not scramble and gamble for office.
They have got the meanest curses for politicians, and the poorest
curses for priests.
179
What did they say in Missouri, in Kirtland, in Illinois,--the
Methodist priest, the Baptist priest, the lawyer, the judge, and
the governor, with all their religion? They positively considered
it no crime to seduce a "Mormon" sister, nor do they now; and
that is what they are after.
179
Sisters, let us take a course that you may not be brought into
these straits--that you may not have to take your children, and
your budgets under your arms, and flee to the mountains. But if
you do not listen to counsel, and begin to-day, you will have to
do that; but if you obey counsel, you never will have to go into
these mountains--no, never, while the earth stands.
179
We will stand on our own dunghill and crow, and the hens will
crow, and the chickens will crow, and they will all crow long and
loud, and you will not be able to tell the difference between a
hen and a rooster, nor between a rooster and a hen, for they will
all crow the same tune. We will stand on our own dunghill and
crow, and say what we please from this day, and they never will
prevail against us--no, never; and I will prophecy it in the name
of Israel's God. [Voices: "Amen."]
179
Do as you are told, and Brigham Young never will leave the
Governorship of this Territory from this time henceforth and for
ever--no, never; and there shall no wicked judge with his whore
ever sit in our courts again; for all who are against Israel are
an abomination to me and to our God.
180
When you look upon it, you shall know that Heber told the truth,
as wild as he is; but there is no wildness in this boy.
180
Will we go into these mountains? Will these troops come here? No,
no, no, not yet. We do not want them to come till we are brought
to the test and have not anything to help ourselves with: then we
want them to come and bring the honey and the good things; then
we will show them how it is done. We do not want armies of men to
go out of here; we have got boys here, ten thousand of them,
enough to take everything they have got.
180
The Lord said there should be no time in the last days; the time
is only measured to the ungodly, but to the Saints there shall be
no more time; it is all time. Go ahead, and we do not care if you
let your beard grow sixteen feet long.
180
You need not ever trouble yourselves, gentlemen and ladies, about
the army coming here to this land, whether you have your
endowments or not: those that have not got their endowments are
just as safe as those who have, and they will live just as long.
Do not trouble yourselves at all; let these things sleep and you
be awake, and watch, and pray, and be humble, and serve your God,
and go and glean wheat.
180
Bless your soul!--if the daughters of Israel go and glean wheat,
they may be like the woman anciently, increase all around: she
had been a barren woman formerly, but gleaning wheat put her in
the notion of getting--I can't say it.
180
The Spirit that is on me this morning is the Spirit of the Lord;
it is the Holy Ghost, although some of you may not think that the
Holy Ghost is ever cheerful. Well, let me tell you, the Holy
Ghost is a man; he is one of the sons of our Father and our God;
and he is that man that stood next to Jesus Christ, just as I
stand by brother Brigham. If brother Brigham goes ahead, and I
stand by him, and Daniel stands by me, and the Twelve by us, we
never shall be separated--never, no, never.
180
Men that are engaged in this work and kingdom, if they are one,
they will be tied together, that they never will be separated, no
more than two drops of water.
180
There is a great curiosity here. Some say they are of Judah, some
say they are of Jacob, some of John, and some of Peter. When we
are restored back to our Father, we shall find that every one of
us is in the tree of life: and what is the difference, as long as
we are all in one tree.
180
You say there are twelve limbs in the tree of life, and we have
all got to be connected to those twelve limbs or branches. Go and
read the Bible, and see what is said about the tree of life, and
those that partake of the fruit of it. It is all on natural
principles. We are all one family: God the Father is the tree of
life; he is the root of it, and we spring out of it, or else we
spring into it by grafting, by inoculating, and by doing the
things of the kingdom of heaven.
180
Now, there have several left since we proclaimed last Sunday:
they have put right out; some went that very day. Am I not glad?
If they had been here, and waited till to-day, and heard what I
have said, they would not have gone. We wanted them to go; so
they could not hear what has been said to-day. They think troops
are coming here, and that we are going to fight. What the devil
can we fight, when there is nothing to fight?
181
I want you to go and get your butcher-knives, your bowie-knives,
and jack-knives, and sharpen them. There is nothing to fight, and
there will not be this year; we shall have a year of peace. They
may try to come here, and then they will not come here. If they
do not undertake to come here, then there will not be any
trouble; but they never will force a Governor on us again--no,
never,--nor their poor, rotten-hearted judges and marshals, &c.,
if you will do right.
181
If these words fail, it is on your backs. I am pretty careful
there, and not careful either. I am going to let it out, and let
God speak and tell you words of consolation, if you will receive
them.
181
Let me tell you, gentlemen and ladies, Brigham's words, and
Heber's words, and Jedediah's words, and Daniel's words have been
to many of you like the sound of a bell: it is a pretty sound in
your ears, but as soon as the sound is gone, it has lost its
charms.
181
You have come here and heard the sound, and you know no more
about the sound when you have gone away, than though you had
never heard it, as good as the people are.
181
If you would have listened, there would have been this day
millions and millions of bushels of wheat in store. Instead of
that, we have not any, with a very few exceptions, except that
which has come in this year.
181
We are more choice of it than we would be of gold or of silver. I
would part with money quickly for it. I mean to part with every
rag of clothes that I have to spare for wheat; and if you have
got it, I will sell everything I have got, except a change, and
you shall have it forthwith. I will set you and example.
181
Will the United States send troops here? Yes. And when they have
done, the other inhabitants of the earth will send them. But,
remember, the Prophets have said that the riches of the Gentile
world shall be consecrated to God and to his people. I think we
will have a little of it along occasionally.
181
Do not be sad; our God rules in the heavens and in the earth
beneath, and he has almighty power.
181
Will you go to work now, and lay up your grain? There are a great
many boxes making at the Public Works that will hold from fifteen
to twenty bushels each; but the boxes cost more than the wheat.
That I do not like; still we are willing to make them for you.
Some of our Bishops have been to me, and wanted to know if the
design is to cache the wheat now. No, sir, not till we get it; I
am not going to cache anything I have not got.
181
Go and build your store-houses, and get your wheat together, and
when the time to cache the wheat comes, we will cache it.
181
Bless your souls, Uncle Sam is not coming here yet awhile; we
shall not let them. And when they do come, we shall take their
cabbage, stock, and all.
181
I have told you the truth, every word I have spoken. You think
our Father and our God is not a lively, sociable, and cheerful
man. He is one of the most lively men that ever lived; and when
we have that sociability and cheerfulness, it is the Spirit of
the Lord.
181
God delights in a glad heart and cheerful countenance. Some
people carry faces as long as my leg, and that is about three
feet long; and they are just the biggest hypocrites we have got
in this city.
181
Confidence in them? Yes, I have confidence to believe they are
the meanest hypocrites that ever walked. You may go to their
houses, or wherever they are, and speak about Brigham, Heber, and
Daniel, and they are ready to give them a dab and hoe them down.
How do you suppose I feel about them? Such persons feel about me
as they do about my brethren, all the time. I will not speak a
blessing for them, for they are damned.
182
What!--speak against the man who holds the keys of life and
salvation for you, and the Priesthood of God that has been handed
down directly from him? You poor, miserable creatures--you are
not fit to live. There are not many such characters; but they are
those poor, miserable, sanctimonious ones you find around.
182
"Oh, Brigham, don't! Don't, Heber! don't, for God's sake! All the
world will be on us!" Damn the world. Now, that is just as they
feel. I wish there was a magazine in you, and we could touch you
off. You are not fit to live in hell, nor anywhere else; and you
ought to be touched off before you get anywhere.
182
Now, I do not mean any of you good folks.
182
Brethren, be honest; and when you are to work for the Public
Works, work; and when you are to work for me, work; when you are
to work for brother Hyde, work, and earn your wages, and not
carry it all off when you go home at night, in your bags, as some
do at the Public Works. You have quit it now yourselves; but some
of you have set your children at it. Stop it! You have no
business to touch a nail, nor a pin, nor a block two inches long,
for they are not your property. What is it but stealing?
182
When people come to visit the works, you sit down and spend your
time with an acquaintance. That time is not yours. If I was
brother Mabin, I would not let a man go about those works without
he had permission, and then not to hinder the men from their
labours.
182
I have no fault to find with good men.
182
You men that come from England, were you idle there? You never
were permitted to be idle in your own land. They have to go to
work at such a time, and work until the time to stop, and go to
dinner, and so on. This is the way the people work in the old
country, except those who belong to the aristocracy. There are
not many of them here.
182
I belong to the humble and meek, and they will inherit the earth.
I am an heir to it with them. God help me to be faithful, good,
kind, and benevolent; that is my prayer.
182
Let us remember that we will not be rewarded for that we do not
do; but you will be rewarded for that you do, and nothing more.
182
There are a great many things I might talk about. God bless you,
brethren and sisters. I bless the pure and good; and I bless that
man and woman that will go to and do as they are told; and you
shall be blessed, with your children after you, for ever; and
those that do not do it shall go the other way. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / John
Taylor, August 30, 1857
John Taylor, August 30, 1857
THE RIGHTS OF MORMONISM.
A Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, August 30, 1857.
183
I did not expect to be called upon to address you this afternoon;
but I always feel ready to speak of the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God, whenever I am called upon.
183
Brother Kimball said he would like to hear me say something about
the RIGHTS of "Mormonism." The rights of "Mormonism" are so
varied and extensive, that it would be very difficult to speak of
them all in one discourse. We have the right to live. That is
"Mormonism." We have the right to eat and drink, and to pursue
that course that we may think proper, so long as we do not
interfere with other persons' rights. We have a right to live
free and unmolested; and there is no law, human or divine, that
rightfully has a right, if you please, to interfere with us. We
have a right to think, and we have a right, after we have
thought, to express our thoughts, and to write them, and to
publish them. We possess as many rights and as much liberty in
relation to this as any other persons; and there is no law, human
or divine, that can rightfully rob us of those liberties or
trample upon our rights. We have a right to worship God according
to the dictates of our own conscience; and no man, legally, in
this land, has a right to interfere with us for so doing. We have
a right to believe in and practise as we please in relation to
matrimony. We have a right to choose whether we will have one
wife or twenty; and there is no law of the land that can legally
interfere with us; neither is there a man that I have met with,
that professed to be a man at all, that can say that we are
acting illegally. We have a right to secure the favour of God,
and we have rights as the citizens of the kingdom of God. We have
rights upon earth, and we have rights in heaven; we have rights
that affect us and our posterity and progenitors, worlds without
end; and they are rights that no man can interfere with. We have
a right to our own Governor, as brother Kimball says; we have a
right to our own Judges; we have a right to make our own laws and
to regulate our own affairs.
183
These are some of the rights that belong to us; but when you come
to talk about rights, they are so various, complicated, and
extensive, that it is difficult, without reflection, to enumerate
them. They exist with us here and all around us, and they are
rights that affect us, our progenitors, and posterity, worlds
without end. But in regard to some of the things with which we
are more intimately connected, we have our individual, our
social, and political rights, so far as existing here as a people
is concerned. I do not know but that you will think that I am for
sticking to my text pretty well: however, I will try, as well as
I can, to do justice to it.
184
If we look at the very foundation of government, we may enquire,
How were governments formed? Who organized them? and whence did
they obtain their power? It is a subject for deep thought and
reflection, and one that very few have understood; nor is it very
easy to define, definitely, the rights of man politically,
socially, and nationally.
184
Now, I will suppose there was no government in the world, but
that we were thrown right back into the primitive state, and that
we had to form a government to regulate ourselves; what would be
the position? Why, the strong man would intrude upon the weak,
even as a strong animal intrudes upon a weaker, taking from it
its rights; for that is a natural animal propensity that exists
in all the creatures, as well as in man.
184
How was society organized? Upon natural principles. I am not now
speaking about God and his government, but upon the rights of
man. If there were a few bullies in the land, and we had to
organize the government anew, the people would combine to protect
themselves against them--to protect themselves against those who
had injured them, that would rob them of their labour, of their
cattle, of their grain, or of anything they might have.
184
What would be the result of this course? It would be that a
combination would exist that would organize to protect
themselves, that the weak might be protected in his rights, that
the feeble might not be trampled under foot. This would be the
natural construction and organization of society.
184
Very well; when society became large and extensive, and could not
convene in a general assembly to represent themselves, they would
send their representatives, who would combine to represent their
interests by delegation, or proxy.
184
Who would those individuals represent? They would represent the
parties of that neighbourhood, of that state, of that country or
district of country that sent them, would they not? And what
would you think of those men that were sent, if they attempted to
rule over those who sent them? Why, you would say, "Come back
here, you rascals, and we will send others; we sent you to
represent us, and now you are combining to put your feet upon our
necks.
184
This has been the case ever since governments were organized; and
hence have arisen governors, kings, and emperors. They have
generally contrived to get the reins of power into their own
hands; and, through the cunning of priestcraft and kingcraft,
they have generally managed to bring the people under their feet
and to trample upon their rights. Such has been the case in the
nations of Europe and Asia. It is, in fact, the history of the
world.
184
By what right have any kings obtained their dominions? Has it
been from God? No. Has it been from the people? No. How did they
get in possession of their kingdoms? How was France organized?
How England? How Germany? And how were other states and nations
organized? They have been organized because men usurped power,
brought into subjection other men, trampled under foot their
rights, and made slaves of them, and made them carry out their
laws, and do their pleasure without any peculiar interest in the
things that were done. And those men, instead of governing the
people according to the principles of righteousness and truth,
have generally made yokes and put them on their necks, and
trampled them in the dust--so much so, that in many of the
countries of Europe you cannot travel but you must have a
passport; and every little upstart has a right to examine it and
to stop you, if he likes.
185
You have to ask a right to stop in cities, and they will prevent
you when they please, and not only strangers, but their own
citizens; and there are many European cities now, where, if a
father was to receive his own son into his house, if he had been
absent without the permission of the police, he would be subject
to a heavy fine.
185
It is the governors of the people that bring them into subjection
in this manner, until the people think that kings and priests
have rights--and they have no rights--until they think that
presidents, governors, and kings are the persons who possess
certain inalienable rights, and that no one has a right to
interfere with them.
185
Kings, presidents, and priests combined govern men, body and
soul. The first fetter them in their bodies and liberties, and
the latter in their minds and consciences; and the human family,
instead of being free, are literally and almost universally in a
state of vassalage.
185
At the time of the Reformation, men began to break off their
political fetters and to claim their rights, both politically and
religiously. Many people talk of that event as a church concern
alone: it was as much a political matter as anything else. The
causes that prompted them to take the steps they did were both
religious and political, the benefits accruing only very limited
and partial; still it was a resistance to tyranny and oppression.
The kings that sustained the Reformers did so merely upon
political grounds, and not that they cared for their religion.
185
What made people come from the old countries to this land? It was
because they were oppressed in England, in Germany, and in other
states, and they fled from that power which sought to bind chains
upon their necks. And why were they determined to flee from that
government into this country? Because the mother country tried to
make them subject to institutions and laws that they were
unwilling to submit to, and because we wanted to put yokes upon
their necks. Then the mother country sent armed men over here,
and sought to enforce their armed minions upon the people; but
they would not submit to it; for it was on that very account that
they had fled from their mother country.
185
Such were the feelings of your fathers, and these were the things
they talked about, a few years ago; and on account of the
encroachments of the parent government, they took up the sword,
and declared that they would live or die free men.
185
What was that freedom for which they contended? Just what I said
a few minutes ago; it was the right to think, the right to speak,
the right to act, the right to legislate, and the right to
worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences,
and the right to do their own business without being interfered
with.
185
We have come here to this land as citizens of the United States;
and why have we come? Because there were men who sought to rob of
us our rights, and because there was not sufficient purity and
justice in the Government to protect us in our rights--because
magistrates, constables, judges, governors, presidents, and
officers of state, either directly or indirectly drove us, or
suffered us to be driven--suffered us to be dispossessed of that
which legally belonged to us.
185
Who are we? We are men made in the image of God, possessing the
rights of other men. We have turned this desert into a
flourishing field, and the desert has blossomed as the rose, and
God has blessed our labours. And whom have we interfered with?
Have we gone over to the Sates and interfered with them? Have we
gone over to California and interfered with them? Have we gone to
Oregon? Have we gone to New Mexico? Have we gone to any State and
interfered with their rights, their laws, their immunities, or
their privileges? I say we have not.
186
Well, then, what right has anybody to interfere with us? Oh,
because they have got the power! That is, there is no right to
it; there is no legal authority to it; there is no more right to
it than there is in a bully and a blackguard insulting a little,
weak man, because he has the power to do so. They have just the
same authority that a large ox has to goad a small one, because
he has the power.
186
They dare not interfere with some nations as they are doing with
us: they dare not interfere with England or France, for fear of
the consequences; and it is nothing but a principle of nasty
little meanness that would try to interfere with us, and try to
make you believe that they are the lords of creation. Great God!
who are they? Poor, pusillanimous curses, that have not manhood
nor gentility enough about them to be gentlemen. They have just
the same right that the highwayman has to put his hands into your
pockets and take out your money.
186
Who led us here? Not the Christians of the United States, nor
their governors, legislators, nor presidents. Who provided for
us? Did the Government of the United Sates? Verily, no. Who built
the houses in this city? Who made the improvements around it and
through this Territory? Did the inhabitants of the United States?
No. But they have done all that lay in their power to discourage
us in every possible way. Who have fed you and clothed you? Your
own right hands--your own energy and industry, by the blessing of
the Almighty.
186
Then by what right, and by what authority, in the name of God,
and in the name of Every principle of right, honour, and
integrity have they a right to interfere with us?
186
"Oh," say they, "the land belongs to us." Ah! indeed; and I
wonder where you got it from? "Oh, we got it by right of treaty
with Mexico." And whence did the Mexicans obtain it? Who treated
with those Indians? Did they pay them for it? No: but they are
good Christians, and the Indians are poor savages; and what right
have savages to land?" Where are their deeds and their right of
possession? Will anybody tell me? "Oh, we took it because we had
the power, and the United States took it from Mexico, because
they had power."
186
It is just like a lot of boys playing together, and one of them
steals the other's marbles because he has the power; and then
another steals them, and calls them his, because he is a little
more powerful than the other: or, when one man meets another and
robs him of what he has, then two more go and take from him what
he has stolen from the first one.
186
The simple fact in the case is, they say, "You are left upon our
land, and therefore you must be in subjection to us, and we must
rule over you. But even on this principle they are at fault; for
we, if there is any glory in the conquest, sent five hundred men,
and possess equal rights with them as American citizens.
186
In speaking upon this subject once before, I showed you that, by
the Constitution and the very genius of our Government, they had
no right to interfere with us.
187
Again, on the common principle of justice, where did they get
their rights to interfere with us? They did not bring us here,
nor cultivate our farms; they did not send us either
schoolmasters or priests to teach us; and we are not indebted to
them for anything else. I would like to know what right they had
to interfere with us? They have not a right upon religious
grounds; for they kicked us out because of our religion; and,
consequently, they have nothing to do with that. It is not
because we have learned any morals of them; for we got our morals
from a superior source. We have not learned either our religion
or morality from them. We have not had them to cultivate our
farms nor to build our houses. They have not done anything for
us.
187
In relation to the land, I will suppose they did steal it, which
they did. They obtained it because they had the power, and Mexico
obtained it upon the same principle: the United States made a
quarrel with the latter nation, because they knew they could
bring them into subjection, and they intended to capitulate for
California before they began the quarrel, and they took it upon
those grounds. But that is righteousness--that is purity, truth
and holiness, in the eyes of a corrupt and mighty nation.
187
We have got a little place that nobody else would live upon; and
I will warrant that if any other people had been here, half of
them would have died, the last two years, of starvation. But they
cannot let us alone. This is their greatness--this their
magnanimity, and this is the compassion manifested by the fathers
of our great country. Of course we must feel patriotic; we cannot
but feel strongly attached to such a kind, such a benevolent,
such a merciful Government as we have got! How can we feel
otherwise? They would take from us the right to live, and then it
would be in their hearts to sweep us from the face of the earth;
but they cannot do it.
187
There is no right associated with this matter; there is no
justice about it. There are old rights and privileges the people
used to have, and we have our rights. In the first place, we have
a God that lives, and He will help us to take care of them, to
maintain and preserve them. Then look at this in whichever light
you please, you cannot change it: we are citizens of the United
States, and have a right to the soil, if they did steal it.
187
I am ashamed of being associated with such things, but we cannot
help ourselves; we are a part of the people, and we had to
partake of their evil deeds.
187
When we came here, we came as American citizens; and we had just
as much right to be here as any other American citizens in the
United States.
187
They have made a religious pretext to rob us of the right of
pre-emption,--that is because we have more wives than one. This
is the course they have pursued towards us.
187
Have they a right to force upon us judges and send officers under
a military escort? The very act says they are afraid of
something. Have they a right to send those men to rule over us,
without our having a voice in the matter? I say they have not,
according to the laws which exist among men; they have not
according to the principles of justice and truth; they have not
according to the principles upon which this Government is
established: but they want to rule over us contrary to the
principles of the Government; and, as you have expressed it, you
have a right to withstand it.
187
God be thanked, there are not as many sneaks here as there are in
the old country: men here dare think and speak.
187
Well, these are our feelings and some of our rights; but I will
speak to you of other rights; for we have greater rights, that I
have not yet touched upon.
187
[Blessed the sacramental cup.]
187
I speak of those other things because they are inalienable rights
that belong to men--to us as American citizens--to us as citizens
of the world; but there are other rights, other grounds upon
which we claim these rights.
188
The Lord God has spoken in these last days; he has revealed the
fulness of the everlasting Gospel; he has restored that Gospel in
all its fulness, blessings, richness, power, and glory; he has
put us in possession of the principles of eternal life; and he
has established his kingdom upon the earth, and we are the
legitimate heirs and inheritors of this kingdom. He has
established his Priesthood, revealed his authority, his
government, and his laws; and the grand reason why there is union
and power here, and nowhere else, is because it emanated from
God.
188
When we talk over those other things, we are under a lesser law,
that we can any of us keep and that we have kept. We are not
rebelling against the United States, neither are we resisting the
Constitution of the United States; but it is wicked and corrupt
usurpers that are oppressing us and that would take our rights
from us.
188
To speak of our rights as citizens of the kingdom of God, we then
speak of another law, we then move in a more exalted sphere; and
it is of these things we have a right to speak.
188
God has established his kingdom; he has rolled back that cloud
that has overspread the moral horizon of the world; he has opened
the heavens, revealed the fulness of the Everlasting Gospel,
organized his kingdom according to the pattern that exists in the
heavens; and he has placed certain keys powers, and oracles in
our midst; and we are the people of God; we are his government.
The Priesthood upon the earth is the legitimate government of
God, whether in the heavens or on the earth.
188
Some people ask, "What is Priesthood?" I answer, "It is the
legitimate rule of God, whether in the heavens or on the earth;"
and it is the only legitimate power that has a right to rule upon
the earth; and when the will of God is done on earth as it is in
the heavens, no other power will bear rule.
188
Then, if we look at it in this point of view, we are standing in
a peculiar position; we are standing here as the representatives
of God, and the only true representatives he has upon the earth;
for there is not another power or government upon the earth that
acknowledges God for their ruler, or head, but this: there is not
another.
188
Why did we come here? We came here because the people drove us,
and because the Lord would have us come here; for it was
necessary we should come into our secret places, and hide
ourselves till the indignation of the Lord be overpast--until the
Lord has shaken our enemies by the nape of the neck, as it were,
until nations and empires are overthrown. We came to serve our
God to a place where we could more fully keep his
commandments--where we could fulfil his behests upon the earth.
This is the reason why we came here.
188
Well, then, if we are the only people that God acknowledges as a
nation, have not we a right to the privileges which we enjoy? Who
owns the gold, the silver, and the cattle upon a thousand hills?
God. Who, then, has a right to appoint rulers? None but him, or
the man that he appoints.
188
Who has ruled the earth? Who has borne sway? Man, who, by the
power of the sword, has got possession of thrones, powers, and
dominions, and has waded through seas of blood.
188
You read history, and what is it? A history of the depopulation
of the nations, brought on by the overthrow of empires, and
through the tyranny and ambition of wicked men, who have waded
through seas of blood in order to possess themselves of that
power which they now enjoy.
189
If we go to the United States and enquire into their rights, we
may ask, have they a right to drive back the Indians, from time
to time, and dispossess them of their rights? So long as they
purchased of them it was well enough; but when they forced them
into a swap, just as the Indians did with some of the traders
back here, and made them trade on their own terms, that is
something which they have no right to do; and, to use the
language of one of the Indian Chiefs, "They have not left room
for us to spread our blanket." Have they purchased this Territory
of them? No,--nor made any arrangements to do so; but they have
taken possession of it.
189
What authority has the President of the United States, or the
Representatives of the several States? They have no authority but
what the people give them, according to the institutions of the
United States.
189
What authority had England over this land before they came here
and took possession? None.
189
By what right, then, do nations and governments rule generally?
Do they rule by the grace of God? I will tell you. They rule by
the power of the sword.
189
Read the history of England, France, Germany Spain, Portugal, and
other nations, and you will find they obtain their authority by
their swords; and then, when they have obtained, they go to work
and sanctify it; they appoint and anoint kings by the grace of
God and through the agency of their priests. That is the way they
get their authority, and that is all the authority they have.
189
When the Pope was going to put the crown upon the head of
Napoleon, he said, "Here, let me put that on; I won it myself."
But they generally want the priests to put it on.
189
You may go into any court in the world and say, "Thus saith the
Lord," and they will kick you out. Try it and see.
189
[Voices: "You have tried it."]
189
No man can go and say, "Thus saith the Lord' amongst them; for
they would put a strait jacket on him, if he was a respectable
man; if he was not, they would kick him out. Such is the feeling
of the people and the condition of the world, and yet they
profess to worship God that rules on high.
189
Where does God rule on earth? Is he listened to in any nation? Is
there any that will acknowledge him and his authority? I will
tell you the nearest that I ever saw of it. It was Nicholas of
Russia: he was an autocrat, you know. Some years ago, when they
had the cholera very bad there, a feeling prevailed among the
inhabitants that the wells had been poisoned: a mob arose, and
they were going to kill many; but Nicholas went in amongst them
and said, "My children, this is not so; this is the hand of God.
Let us fall on our knees, and acknowledge our sins, and ask him
to forgive us."
189
That is the nearest to acknowledging God that I have heard of
among the nations; but as to their authority, it is not there.
Their emperors and rulers have been the most beastly in their
conduct and oppressive in their acts of any other nations that
rule under heaven.
189
Now where can you find a nation that acknowledges God? They are
very religious. Why, the Queen of England is said to be "Defender
of the Faith." Then it is not the faith of the Church of
America--it is not the faith of the Church of France, nor of
Germany, nor anywhere else, except the Church of England. Where
did she get her right from? She is the descendant of a line of
kings.
190
Henry the Eighth, some time since, wrote a book against the
Protestants, and the Pope gave him the title of "Defender of the
Faith," which faith he afterwards sought to destroy, rebelled
against the Pope, and started the Reformation, because the Pope
would not allow him to divorce his wife. Hence the Protestant
kings and queens of England have stolen the Roman Catholic title,
to rule or defend the faith of the Protestants by kings and
queens, whom they now anoint.
190
How do they anoint them? They anoint them by their Bishops, who
declare them to be kings and queens by the grace of God. Go back,
however, to their origin, and you will find that their kingdoms
were first obtained by the sword; they stole their kingdoms and
power, and then got priests to sanctify the theft.
190
Go back in England to the time of William the Conqueror, and you
will find that he was a usurper; he was a Norman and a wholesale
robber; and then, when he had subdued the Anglo-Saxons, the
priests turned round and anointed him king by the grace of God.
That is a fair example of the other European nations, and is all
the authority that any of them had.
190
What is the Government of the United States? It does not profess
any religion. There is no religion nor priesthood connected with
it nationally, only they allow, or profess to allow, everybody to
worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences;
but nationally they are a nation of infidels. They have no
national creed, no national religious institutions; and hence the
absurdity of interfering with us, when forsooth they have none
themselves, and they do not want that we should have any.
190
Do they seek to acknowledge God in their acts? Or, is there any
other nation that profess to acknowledge God? There are the
Mahomedans, they had a Prophet, and professed to be governed by
him. There is some talk about his being a false one: he might
have been, or he might have been a true one, for aught I know; I
leave them in the hands of God.
190
The Mahomedans have a certain faith or profession, which is
spoken of in the Koran, or Alkoran. They, however, like the rest,
obtained their nationality by the sword. We cannot find a nation
upon the earth that has obtained its dominion or power to rule
from God. If there is any people, except this people, I know them
not.
190
The Lord has said, "If ye observe my law, ye have no need to
break the law of the land." We have not broken the law of the
land, and we do not mean to, although he has revealed to us his
will and given us certain privileges and immunities that he never
gave to any other people. Still, we have not broken the law, and
there is not another people who maintain the laws of the United
States as faithfully as this people do.
190
Why, they are in storm and trouble every way in the United
States, and here is the most perfect peace and the best morality
that can be found in the world by a thousand-fold: yes, it is a
thousand-fold better than I have seen in any part of the earth
where I have been. There is not a place that can compare with it;
and nothing but the very Devil himself could inspire the hearts
of the children of men to make war against such a people as this.
190
What are we engaged in? We are engaged in building up the kingdom
of God, and many of you have been ordained by the revelations of
the Almighty to hold the power and authority of the Holy
Priesthood. Besides this, you have been ordained kings and
queens, and priests and priestesses to your Lord; you have been
put in possession of principles that all the kings, potentates,
and powers upon the earth are entirely ignorant of: they do not
understand it; but you have received this from the hands of God.
190
The Mahomedans have a certain faith or profession, which is
spoken of in the Koran, or Alkoran. They, however, like the rest,
obtained their nationality by the sword. We cannot find a nation
upon the earth that has obtained its dominion or power to rule
from God. If there is any people, except this people, I know them
not.
190
The Lord has said, "If ye observe my law, ye have no need to
break the law of the land." We have not broken the law of the
land, and we do not mean to, although he has revealed to us his
will and given us certain privileges and immunities that he never
gave to any other people. Still, we have not broken the law, and
there is not another people who maintain the laws of the United
States as faithfully as this people do.
190
Why, they are in storm and trouble every way in the United
States, and here is the most perfect peace and the best morality
that can be found in the world by a thousand-fold: yes, it is a
thousand-fold better than I have seen in any part of the earth
where I have been. There is not a place that can compare with it;
and nothing but the very devil himself could inspire the hearts
of the children of men to make war against such a people as this.
190
What are we engaged in? We are engaged in building up the kingdom
of God, and many of you have been ordained by the revelations of
the Almighty to hold the power and authority of the Holy
Priesthood. Besides this, you have been ordained kings and
queens, and priests and priestesses to your Lord; you have been
put in possession of principles that all the kings, potentates,
and powers upon the earth are entirely ignorant of: they do not
understand it; but you have received this from the hands of God.
191
The kingdom is put upon the shoulders of President Young and this
people to carry it out, and by whom? By the Lord God--by him who
holds dominion throughout the universe; by him who created all by
the word of his power; by him who said, "Let there be light, and
there was light;" by him who spake, and the worlds rolled into
existence. By him you received rights that are not of this
world--rights that flow from the great Eloheim.
191
What are we going to do, then? We are going to establish the
kingdom of God upon the earth. This is our privilege--our right,
if you please. But I consider it a high privilege--the greatest
boon that can be bestowed upon mortals on the earth, to be the
representatives of God. Let me say another thing. The people of
the earth, their legislators, their princes, their kings, and
their emperors, if they ever get salvation, have got to have it
through us: if they obtain a celestial kingdom, they have got to
go through the door that God has appointed, and there is no other
way for it.
191
What are we doing here? We are here to stand up in defence of our
individual rights--to stand up for our farms, our families, and
our property, if it be necessary. Property! Why great conscience!
it is just like the chaff and straw; and I was glad to see when
the vote was taken, that if it was necessary to burn every house
and all our property, every hand went right up for it. I was glad
to see you appreciate these things.
191
Would we fight for these things? Just so far as I am concerned,
they might take what I have got, and go to Gibraltar with it, or
to Halifax; and I would say, You poor, miserable, corrupt
creatures, take it.
191
But this is not all. The Lord has put us into a place where we
cannot dodge, if we wish. We have asked for the blessing of his
kingdom, and he has poured out blessings upon us, and there is no
backing out. God has rolled his kingdom upon our shoulders; and
now I ask, as a poet did some years ago,
191
"Shall we, for fear of feeble man,
The Spirit's course in us restrain?"
Shall we, for fear of those miserable curses,
barter away eternal lives?
Shall we set at naught those principles
that God has imparted to us?
Shall we exchange the pearl of great price,
the riches of eternity, for the dirt and
filth that the Gentiles wallow in?
I know we do not feel like it.
191
Brother Kimball says we have to stand up to what we say, and the
Lord will bring us to it; and I will tell you what I heard Joseph
say years ago. He said, if God had known any other way that he
could have tried Abraham better than he did, he would have put it
upon him. And he will try us to see whether we will be faithful
to the great and high calling that he has put upon us.
191
What are we doing? God has seen proper to establish his kingdom
upon the earth, and here is that kingdom--that stone which has
been cut out of the mountain without hands, and it is rolling
forth to fill the whole earth.
191
A great charge is committed to us as a people: it is for us to
walk up to the rack, resist the powers of darkness, and bear off
the kingdom of God, that the powers of darkness may be rolled
back with all their forces.
191
We are placed in this position to see if we will let the kingdom
of God be trampled under foot of men. It is not a little thing,
but it is one that is associated with our progenitors and
posterity, as eternal beings, having to do with the past, the
present, and the future.
191
The little stone was to smite the image on the toes; and I would
not be surprised if there was to be a monstrous
kicking--particularly, as brother Kimball says, if there should
be any corns on the toes.
192
It is not whether we can stop here, and eat and drink, and say,
poor pussy, and put off the evil day. It is not an evil day; it
is a day of rejoicing--a day of bursting off the fetters from us;
it is a day when every son and daughter of God ought to sing,
Hosannah to the God of Israel! We know we used to sing sometimes,
192
"We'll burst off all our fetters, and break
the Gentile yoke, For long it has beset us, but now it shall
be broke: No more shall Jacob bow his neck; henceforth
he shall be free
In Upper California: O! that's the land for me," &c.
192
We used to sing that years ago, and we can sing it now; but we
have got to do it. Yes, it is "Yankee doodle do it."
192
Well, what are we doing? We are laying the foundation for
salvation for ourselves, for our progenitors, for our children,
and our posterity after us, from generation to generation. The
foundation of liberty, whereby the bond that has been on the neck
of the nations, shall be burst asunder; for it is here that
liberty shall spring from.
192
Here is a nucleus--a band of brethren inspired from on high,
having the oracles of God in their midst,--the only people that
are taught by the revelations of God. Here is the place where the
standard is to be erected to all nations.
192
We were talking, some time ago, about our rights: these are our
duties; we have got through with our rights. There is an old
motto that they have got very conspicuously in England; it is
this--"England expects every man to do his duty."
192
What is a man's duty here? It is obedience to the oracles of God
that are in our midst; and so long as we keep the commandments of
God, we need not fear any evil; for the Lord will be with us in
time and in eternity.
192
"But," says one, "I have got a son, who has gone out upon the
Plains, and perhaps the soldiers will kill him." Let them kill
him. [President Kimball, "There can be more made."] I suppose
there can.
192
Did you ever know your sons were in possession of eternal life,
and that this is only a probation or a space between time and
eternity? We existed before, in eternity that was, and we shall
exist in eternity that is to come; and the question only is,
whether it is better to die with the harness on, or to be found a
poor, miserable coward.
192
All that I said to my son Joseph, after blessing him, before he
went out, was, "Joseph, do not be found with a hole in your
back." I do not want any cowardice--any tremblings or feelings of
that kind.
192
What of our friends that have gone behind the vail--are they
dead? No; they live, and they move, in a more exalted sphere. Did
they fight for the kingdom of God when here? Yes, they did. Are
they battling for it now? Yes; and the time is approaching when
the wicked nations have to be destroyed; and the time is near
when every creature is to be heard saying, "Honour, and power,
and might, and majesty, and dominion be ascribed to him that
sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever."
192
We have got to bring this about, whether we do it in this world
or that which is to come. I have seen the time I could have died
as easily as to have turned my hand over; but I did not feel like
it.
192
[President H. C. Kimball: "You did not have time."]
193
Supposing I live, I have got a work to do; and if I die, I shall
still be engaged in the cause of Zion. Why, great conscience!
what difference does it make? They can only kill the body. And do
not we know that we have an interest beyond the grave?--that we
have drunk of that fountain which springs up into eternal lives?
Then what difference does it make?
193
These are my feelings. If it is for life, let it be for life; and
if it is for death, let it be for death, that the spirit may move
in a more exalted sphere; and then all is well with us. If we
live, we live to God; and if we die, we die to God; and we are
God's any way.
193
We have friends gone behind the vail. There are Joseph, Hyrum,
Willard, Jedediah, and many of our friends that are there, and
they have been moving and acting there for years; and if any of
us are called to go, it is all right: there is a Priesthood there
to regulate things, as well as here; and if we have to go there,
we might as well go by a ball as by a fever, or any other
distressing disease. I want to go with the harness on; and if
others go a little before us, does it make any difference? Do not
you know the old Apostle said, "They without us cannot be made
perfect?" Could they attend to these ordinances that are being
attended to here on earth while they are there? No, they cannot.
Can you do what they are doing? No, you cannot; but when you get
there you can.
193
When in the old country you were striving to get here, many of
you had friends here; and when you came, they would say, "I am
glad to see you, brother William, and sister Jane, or Mary, or
Elizabeth." Now, when a person dies, you say, "I am glad to see
you go, but still I am sorry that you are going."
193
I remember saying so to uncle John Smith. When I went to see him,
I felt that his time was come, and I said. "I am glad you are
going, but still I am sorry to part with you;" and said, "I hope
you will carry my respects to our friends behind the vail." He
said, "I will."
193
We have angels that are ministers of salvation; we have Joseph,
Hyrum, Willard, Jedediah, and lots of others that are engaged in
rolling on the work of the lord in the upper worlds. What if they
want any of us? Why, let us go, old men or young men. What if we
are called by a ball, or die by a fever, what difference does it
make?
193
What! are we all going to die together? God has designed and said
he would establish his kingdom upon the earth, and that the Devil
shall not reign for ever; but he whose right it is shall come and
take the kingdom, and possess it for ever and ever.
193
Now, brother Brigham has said all is right, and he is the
representative of the Almighty upon the earth, and it is for us
to stand by him and obey him; and he says, "Rejoice, and live
your religion, and all shall be well." Is not that the voice of
God? It is. Shall we not listen to it? Yes; and we will maintain
our rights as citizens of the United States.
193
I pray that God may bless you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Parley
P. Pratt, September 7, 1856
Parley P. Pratt, September 7, 1856
REMINISCENCES AND TESTIMONY OF PARLEY P. PRATT.
A Discourse by Elder Parley P. Pratt, delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday, September 7, 1856.
194
Beloved brethren and sisters,--Being about to depart from this
Territory and from the "home mission" to which I was appointed
among you, and to journey to the States on a mission, I rise to
express my feelings and my faith, and to leave my testimony with
you.
194
There are some, I presume, in this congregation, who personally
have been strangers to me, and who have not heard my testimony. I
have been acquainted in this Church and connected with it from
the first year of its organization in the wilderness of western
New York. It was organized on the 6th day of April, 1830, and I
was baptised into it about the 1st of the September following.
194
When I first became a member of this Church, one small room could
have contained all the members there then were in the world, and
that, too, without being crowded; for at times, I presume, there
were not fifty.
194
The first thing that attracted my attention towards this work was
the Book of Mormon. I happened to see a copy of it. Some man,
nearly a stranger to it, and not particularly a believer in it,
happened to get hold of a copy: he made mention of it to me, and
gave me the privilege of coming to his house and reading it. This
was at a place about a day's journey from the residence of Joseph
Smith the Prophet and his father, and while I was returning to
the work of my ministry; for I was then travelling and preaching,
being connected with a society of people sometimes called
Campbellites or Reformed Baptists.
194
I had diligently searched the Scriptures, and prayed to God to
open my mind that I might understand them; and he had poured his
Spirit and understanding into my heart, so that I did understand
the Scriptures in a good degree, the letter of the Gospel, its
forms and first principles in their truth, as they are written in
the Bible. These things were opened to my mind; but the power,
the gifts, and the authority of the Gospel I knew were lacking,
and did really expect that they would be restored, because I knew
that the things that were predicted could never be fulfilled
until that power and that authority were restored. I also had an
understanding of the literal fulfilment of the prophecies in the
Bible, so that I really did believe in and hope for the literal
restoration of Israel, the cutting off of wickedness, the second
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the triumph of his kingdom
on the earth. All this I was looking for; and the Spirit seemed
to whisper to my mind that I should see it in my day.
195
Under these circumstances, I was travelling to impart the light
which I had to others; and while doing this, I found, as I before
stated, the Book of Mormon. I read it carefully and diligently, a
great share of it, without knowing that the Priesthood had been
restored--without ever having heard of anything called
"Mormonism," or having any idea of such a Church and people.
195
There were the witnesses and their testimony to the book, to its
translation, and to the ministration of angels; and there was the
testimony of the translator; but I had not seen them, I had not
heard of them, and hence I had no idea of their organization or
of their Priesthood. All I knew about the matter was what, as a
stranger, I could gather from the book: but as I read, I was
convinced that it was true; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon
me, while I read, and enlightened my mind, convinced my judgment,
and rivetted the truth upon my understanding, so that I knew that
the book was true, just as well as a man knows the daylight from
the dark night, or any other thing that can be implanted in his
understanding. I did not know it by any audible voice from
heaven, by any ministration of an angel, by any open vision; but
I knew it by the spirit of understanding in my heart--by the
light that was in me. I knew it was true, because it was light,
and had come in fulfilment of the Scriptures; and I bore
testimony of its truth to the neighbours that came in during the
first day that I sat reading it, at the house of an old Baptist
deacon, named Hamblin.
195
This same spirit led me to enquire after and search out the
translator, Joseph Smith; and I travelled on foot during the
whole of a very hot day in August, blistering my feet, in order
to go where I heard he lived; and at night I arrived in the
neighbourhood of the little village of Manchester, then in
Ontario county, New York. On the way, I overtook a man driving
some cows, and enquired for Joseph Smith, the finder and
translator of the Book of Mormon. He told me that he lived away
off, something more than an hundred miles from there, in the
State of Pennsylvania. I then enquired for the father of the
Prophet, and he pointed to the house, but said that the old
gentleman had gone a journey to some distant place. After awhile,
in conversation, the man told me that his name was Hyrum Smith,
and that he was a brother to the Prophet Joseph. This was the
first Latter-day Saint that I had ever seen.
195
He invited me to his home, where I saw mother Smith and Hyrum
Smith's wife, and sister Rockwell, the mother of Orin Porter
Rockwell. We sat up talking nearly all night; for I had not much
spare time, having two appointments out, and long day's journey
for a man to walk. I had to return the next morning, and we
conversed during most of the night without being either sleep or
weary.
195
During that conversation, I learned something of the rights of
the Church, its organization, the restoration of the Priesthood,
and many important truths. I felt to go back and fill the two
appointments given out, and that closed my ministry, as I felt
that I had no authority, and that I would go back and obey the
Priesthood which was again upon the earth.
196
I attended to my appointments, and was back again the next
morning to brother Hyrum's. He made me a present of the Book of
Mormon, and I felt richer in the possession of that book, or the
knowledge contained in it, than I would, could I have had a
warrantee deed of all the farms and buildings in that country,
and it was one of the finest regions in the world. I walked
awhile, and then sat down and read awhile; for it was not my mind
to read the book through at once. I would read, and then read the
same portion over again, and then walk on. I was filled with joy
and gladness, my spirit was made rich, and I was made to realize,
almost as vividly as if I had seen it myself, that the Lord Jesus
Christ did appear in his own proper person, in his resurrected
body, and minister to the people in America in ancient times. He
had surely risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, and did
come down on the American continent, in the land Bountiful, on
the northern part of South America, and did minister to the
remnants of Joseph, called the Nephites, and did show his
resurrected body unto them.
196
They did handle him, see him, and examine the wounds that were
pierced in his hands, his side, and his feet; and they bathed
them with their tears and kissed them, and thousands of them did
bear record of these facts. He did deliver to them his Gospel in
its fulness and plainness, in the presence of thousands, and did
command them to write it in a book; and he promised that that
book should come to light in latter days, in time for the great
restoration of all Israel, and the fulfilment of the prophecies
relating to the great work of the last days.
196
I was made to realize this and to bring it home to my faith, my
senses, and my knowledge, with a warmth, love, and assurance that
I could scarcely contain for I had either studied and seen him in
my reflections, or I had heard his voice whispering to me. Do you
not think that I rejoice?
196
As before stated, I fulfilled my two appointments; crowds heard
me and were interested, and solicited me to make more
appointments. I told them that I would not--that I had a duty to
perform for myself. I bid them farewell, and returned to Hyrum
Smith, who took me to a place, about twenty-five miles off, in
Seneca county, New York. He there introduced me to the three
witnesses whose names appear at the beginning of the Book of
Mormon, also to the eight witnesses. I conversed with Oliver
Cowdery, one of the three witnesses, and on the next day we
repaired to Seneca Lake, where I was baptised by Oliver Cowdery,
then the second Apostle in this Church, and a man who had
received the ministration of an angel, as you can learn by
reading his testimony.
196
After being baptised, I was confirmed in a little meeting during
the same day, was full of the Holy Ghost, and was ordained an
Elder. This transpired on the 1st day of September, 1830; and
from that day to this, I have endeavoured to magnify my calling
and to honour the Priesthood which God has given me, by
testifying to both small and great of the things that he has
revealed in these last days.
197
I have testified and do still testify of the truth of the Book of
Mormon--that it is an inspired record, the history of a branch of
the house of Israel that live in America; that it does contain
the fulness of the Gospel as revealed to them by a crucified and
risen Redeemer; and that wherever it goes and its light is
permitted to shine, the Spirit of the Lord will bear testimony of
its truth to every honest heart in all the world. Wherever that
book is candidly perused, the Spirit will bear record of its
truth: and I bear this testimony this day, that Joseph Smith was
and is a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator--an Apostle holding the
keys of this last dispensation and of the kingdom of God, under
Peter, James, and John. And not only that he was a Prophet and
Apostle of Jesus Christ, and lived and died one, but that he now
lives in the spirit world, and holds those same keys to usward
and to this whole generation. Also that he will hold those keys
to all eternity; and no power in heaven or on the earth will ever
take them from him; for he will continue holding those keys
through all eternity, and will stand--yes, again in the flesh
upon this earth, as the head of the Latter-day Saints under Jesus
Christ, and under Peter, James, and John. He will hold the keys
to judge the generation to whom he was sent, and will judge my
brethren that preside over me; and will judge me, together with
the Apostles ordained by the word of the Lord through him and
under his administration.
197
When this is done, those Apostles will judge this generation and
the Latter-day Saints; and they will judge them with that
judgment which Jesus Christ will give unto them; and they will
have the same spirit and the same mind as Jesus Christ, and their
judgment will be his judgment, for they will be one.
197
Some of my brethren feel, once in awhile, as though we were but
men, which is true; and at times we are forgetful, and especially
myself. Sometimes men will come up and say, "Why, do you not
remember me, brother Pratt?" No, I do not, particularly, though
your countenance looks familiar. "What, do you not remember me? I
was along with you at such a place: it is strange that you cannot
remember me." At such times you may think, how will brother
Parley, with his brethren, sit in judgment upon us when he
forgets some things, and cannot remember what we have done to
him? I expect, by the power of the resurrection and the
quickening power of the celestial glory, that my memory will be
perfected, and that I will be able to remember all the acts,
duties, and doings of my own life. I will also remember, most
correctly and perfectly, every act of benevolence that has ever
been done to me in the name of the Lord and because of my
calling; and I will remember, most perfectly, every neglect and
slighting by those to whom I have been sent.
197
I will be able to say to a just person, "Well done, good and
faithful servant; for you did do good so-and-so to me or my
brethren: therefore, enter into the joy of your Lord." I will
also be able to say to others, "Depart from me; for I was an
hungered, and ye did not feed me; I was naked, and ye clothed me
not; I was sick, or in prison, or in a strait, and ye helped me
not; I had a mission to perform, and ye took no interest in it."
197
So it will be with brother Joseph, or brother Brigham, or any of
the Apostles or Elders that hold a portion of the keys of the
Priesthood to this generation, if they hold them faithfully. They
will be able to remember and understand all their own doings and
all the acts of this generation to whom they are sent; and they
will judge them in the name of Jesus Christ. We will be judged by
brother Joseph; and he will be judged by Peter, James, and John,
and their associates. Brother Brigham, who now presides over us,
will hold the keys under brother Joseph; and he and his brethren,
who hold the keys with him, or under his direction, will judge
the people; for they will hold those keys to all eternity, worlds
without end. By those keys they will have to judge this
generation; and Peter, James, and John, will hold the keys to
preside over, and judge, and direct brother Joseph to all
eternity; and Jesus Christ will hold the keys over them and over
us, under his Father, to whom be all the glory. This is my
testimony; and in obedience to these keys, if God will open my
way and spare my life, I will continue to act.
198
I am now about to start to the States, to preach the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and bear testimony of those things which I most
assuredly do know; for this is my calling. I have desired, after
travelling for twenty-five or twenty-six years, mostly abroad, to
stay at home and minister among the people of God, and take care
of my family; but God's will be done, and not mine. If it is the
will of God that I should spend my days in proclaiming this
Gospel and bearing testimony of these things, I shall think
myself highly privileged and honoured. And when the Spirit of God
is upon me, I think it matters but very little what I suffer,
what I sacrifice--whether I secure the honour or dishonour of
men, or where I die, if it so be that I can keep the faith, fight
the good fight, and finish my course with joy.
198
I have all eternity before me, in which to enjoy myself; and
though I am a stranger and a pilgrim on this earth, and whether I
be rich or poor, or live long or short, I shall yet plant gardens
and eat the fruit of them, plant vineyards and drink the wine
thereof, build houses and inhabit them, and, as one of the elect
of God, shall long enjoy the works of my hands. All this shall I
do, though worms eat the body that I now have.
198
There are many who consider the times to be hard, and the
sufferings to be endured so great that they feel to withdraw from
this people. Some say they have no faith in the Book of Mormon. A
word for those. I do not believe that they have read that book;
or, if they have, I do not believe that they have read it humbly,
attentively, prayerfully, and under a good influence. I do not
think they were counted honest, or that they had a heart that had
place for the Spirit of God. If they were at all acquainted with
that influence, or had it in them, they would not only believe
it, but they would know that it was true. They would not only
know and acknowledge it by the Holy Ghost, but they would know it
naturally, just as we know that a man is a Prophet, when the
thing which he predicts comes to pass.
198
Twenty-six years ago, that book was published in English, and
within those years have been progressively fulfilled many plain
and definite predictions that are therein recorded, insomuch that
a professed infidel, one who had not before believed in Jesus
Christ nor in the Bible, may easily comprehend that the things
predicted in the Book of Mormon, many of them, have demonstrated
themselves by their plain, literal, simple fulfilment. I will
mention one thing among a thousand. When that book was printed in
English, an ancient prophecy in it stated that it should come to
the knowledge of the Gentiles in the latter day, at a time when
the blood of the Saints would cry from the ground because of
secret murders, and the works of darkness, and wicked
combinations. And not only the blood of Saints, but the blood of
husbands and fathers should cry from the ground for vengeance on
the workers of iniquity, and the cries of widows and orphans
would come up before God, against those that committed those
crimes.
198
When that book was translated by Joseph Smith, and published in
English, we were living in a constitutional Government, the laws
of which guaranteed liberty of conscience to every man in his
religious belief. It was at a time when no man had been seriously
injured because of his belief; and it was as incredible and
unlooked for that a Saint would be slain for his religion as that
the Government would be broken up; and nobody believed that it
would be broken up; for the principles of truth had ruled,
guaranteeing liberty and protection to all parties. No man had
been persecuted to death for his religion, under the effectual
working of that Constitution. Hence, I want those persons who
have not faith in the Book of Mormon to tell how Joseph Smith
could think of such things; and if the ancient Prophet did not
foretell those things, Joseph Smith did.
199
How came he to tell that the people of his father's house would
suffer? or that husbands and fathers, widows and orphans would
send up their cry for vengeance on the wicked of our day? You
that do not believe in the Book of Mormon, I want you should
account for that prediction. it is plain and simple. I read it in
1830, and no man had then suffered a violent death for his
religion in this generation in our nation.
199
Now, then, imagine yourselves living in the United States
twenty-eight years ago, and causing to be printed such a
production as the Book of Mormon, and I want to know how you
would know of any such thing as is there predicted? I say there
was no probability that it would be fulfilled, but yet I say that
it has been very remarkably fulfilled, so that every public
minister and officer knows that it has been fulfilled, and that
the Union is trembling and being threatened, and our right to law
and protection being questioned.
199
The blood of innocence cries for vengeance, because its enemies
have not administered justice. They have not carried out the
constitutional guarantees, but have suffered innocent blood to
flow. They have not administered justice nor law in the case, but
have allowed wholesale murderers to run at large in Missouri and
Illinois. And many of the people and of their rulers have
consented to the shedding of that innocent blood, and the result
is that the cries of widows and orphans ascend to God. I wish
those who do not believe the Book of Mormon to tell me by what
power or foreknowledge that prediction was published in 1830.
199
I used to read an epistle which stated that if the Gentiles
should reject the fulness of the Gospel contained in the Book of
Mormon, and become filled with all manner of iniquity and
murders, priestcraft, whoredoms, and lying, the Lord would take
the fulness of his Gospel from among them, and send it into the
midst of the remnant of Israel. What have we been doing these ten
years past? Ten years ago, a good portion of this people lived in
the old settled States, and they were in so many places that a
man had to dodge or hide up somewhere, to keep from hearing the
fulness of the Gospel. It was preached in their cities, at their
capital, in their villages, in town and in country, in the groves
and in their court-houses; and thousands upon thousands in the
United States flocked to hear the fulness of the Gospel, which
was preached everywhere.
199
How is it now? With the exception of a few, who are on missions
or business there, a man might travel from Maine to Louisiana,
and scarcely have a chance to hear the fulness of the Gospel; and
if he wished to hear the Gospel, he would have to come here. Thus
we see the literal fulfilment of that prediction. I read it in
1830, and used to wonder how it would be fulfilled. But
notwithstanding the jealousy that existed in the United States in
regard to this people, the Book of Mormon was so common and
preached so extensively, that some of them, right in their
wickedness, Herod-like, happened to discover the prediction in
regard to the fulness of the Gospel's coming to the remnants of
Joseph, and happened to understand it in part.
199
So Herod, in his wickedness, when he heard of the rejoicing of
the Jews and that their Messiah was born, when the wise men read
the prophecies to him, believed those prophecies and tried to
hinder their fulfilment. For that purpose he issued an order to
murder all the young children of Bethlehem of two years old and
under. He must have believed the prophecy, or he would never have
undertaken to hinder its fulfilment.
200
In like manner, the people in the United States were afraid that
"Mormonism" was true, and in their sins they partly believed it;
wherefore the proclamations for murders and for banishment, for
mobbings and plunderings, with a view to hinder its accomplishing
what was predicted it would, and to prevent the fulfilment of
prophecy. Were you to ask them the reason for all this, their
truthful reply must be, "We were afraid that the 'Mormons' would
fulfil a prediction of the Prophets, and carry the Gospel to the
remnants of Joseph." They considered that, Herod-like, to be
treasonable. Some have wondered that a king's being born in
Bethlehem should be treason, not understanding that the kingdom
of God meant an eternal kingdom. And in speaking of the United
States and "Mormonism," they said, "If the fulness of the Gospel
should be preached to the remnants of Joseph, it would be awful,"
and tried to prevent its being so, but failed in the attempt.
200
Myself, Elder Oliver Cowdery, and others crossed the Missouri
line, into what is now called Kansas, and preached the Gospel to
the Delaware Indians. We presented them with the Book of Mormon,
and left a copy or two with those that could read it and
interpret to others. At that time "Mormonism" had not been heard
of any further west of Ohio than we carried the news, and lyings
and misrepresentations concerning it had not preceded us. But
there were sectarian missionaries on the frontiers, Methodists,
Baptists, &c., striving to gain a foothold among Indians; and
they all joined against us. Such was the envy and jealousy of the
spirit in them, they knew not why, that we were ordered out of
the Indian country, on penalty of having the Militia take us out.
200
In Missouri the Saints were watched like thieves, and, when we
became more and more known among the people, were mobbed and
plundered again and again, till eventually we were driven into
Illinois.
200
At those times, I used to wonder how that prophecy would be
fulfilled, contained in the Book of Mormon, which reads, "If the
Gentiles reject the fulness of my Gospel, and are full of all
manner of evil and wickedness, I will bring the fulness of my
Gospel out from among them, and will establish it in the midst of
the remnants of Joseph." I watched it for years, looking for it
to be fulfilled, and marvelled. But we were again mobbed, and
they continued to mob us for eight or ten years, thus helping us
to fulfil that very prophecy. They were made the instruments to
annoy us, till we could have no peace without leaving them and
coming out here into the wilderness.
200
We loved home so well, and our houses, and temples, and farms,
that we would not willingly leave and accomplish the work laid
upon us; therefore we were made to be willing--made to do what we
were pleaded with to do before. You know that an ancient Prophet
said, "My people shall be willing in the day of my power." Here
we are; and just as sure as the things in the Book of Mormon have
been progressively fulfilling until now, and as sure as all the
powers of the Saints and of their enemies have tended to that
point, just so sure will every remaining item be fulfilled in its
time and in its place.
200
Again, the man that believes "Mormonism," believes in the
gathering of the people of God and in the keys of the Priesthood
and Apostleship, and that through those keys the people are to be
built up, preserved, sanctified, and prepared for the coming of
the Lord. Let me ask many that have been gathered through the
instrumentality of those keys, do you believe that to scatter
again is disobeying them? No, many of you do not.
201
Some folks think that "Mormonism" is a certain set of
doctrines found in the books, together with certain ordinances,
and think that one is a Saint if he credits those doctrines and
those ordinances. Suppose an island peopled by persons who by
some providence had the Book of Mormon and the Bible, or either
of those books, but no Priesthood. They are not members of the
Church, even though they be most strictly honest. They may have
read the sacred records and believed them, all the principles
contained therein, and desired to serve God; but the question is,
could they obey the Gospel of which they read in those books,
organize themselves into the Church of Christ, and be governed by
the principles of the kingdom of God, and be accepted of God as
his Church? I say they could not.
201
What could they do? They could believe in Jesus Christ, and pray
to the Father in his name, and observe his moral precepts. But to
obey the ordinances of God--to become his Church and kingdom, is
something which they could not do, unless their prayers of faith
prevailed upon the Almighty to in some manner bless them with the
Priesthood. Otherwise, all they could do would be to rejoice in
the truth, worship God, obey his moral precepts, and wait for
some messenger to come and organize them; and if they were
obliged to live without the Priesthood, they would have to
receive its ministrations in the next world.
201
In what manner was the Priesthood restored to this earth in our
day? Angels ministered from heaven--men who had died holding the
Priesthood of the Son of God, and revealed the Book of Mormon,
and conferred the Priesthood upon our first Apostles, Joseph
Smith and Oliver Cowdery. When they were baptised by the command
of the angel, had received the Holy Ghost by the laying-on of
hands, and been ordained according to the command, they continued
to receive commandments, from time to time, to ordain other
Apostles and other Elders.
201
In the year 1835, in Kirtland, Ohio, they ordained our President,
Brigham Young, also Heber C. Kimball, your servant that is now
addressing you, and many others, by the word of the Lord. Thus
our President and others received the keys of the Apostleship,
and we magnified it until Joseph's death, when two of his Quorum
of Three went behind the veil, and the third, Sidney Rigdon, who
had got in the background, became an apostate. The First
Presidency was re-organized, under the authority proceeding from
the Almighty through Joseph Smith, in the persons of Brigham
Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards; and they, by
virtue of the keys lawfully in their possession, filled up the
vacancies occasioned in the Quorum of the Twelve, and also the
vacancy made in their Quorum by the death of our beloved brother,
Willard Richards.
201
Had we undertaken President-making in this Church simply by our
uninspired notions, Brigham Young held more keys than all our
votes put together; and had we voted against him, we would have
voted ourselves out of the kingdom of God. He and those that
stood by him would have held the keys of the Priesthood, as they
have and do, and would have built up the kingdom, while those who
opposed them would have been like salt that had lost its savour.
It was not in our power to manufacture this Presidency, but only
to uphold and cleave to it; and blessed are we, inasmuch as we
have done this thing.
202
These keys came from Joseph Smith, who received them from Peter,
James, and John, who received them from the risen Jesus, the
Redeemer of men. If we hearken to these keys, we shall be saved,
and inherit celestial glory and exaltation; if we do not, we
shall be damned, and fall short of all the blessings promised to
the saved.
202
Such is my faith; this is my knowledge, this is my testimony, and
these are my feelings and real sentiments. God being my helper,
giving me his Spirit, and counting me worthy to abide in his
kingdom, I mean to continue to the end in upholding those keys,
and, by my prayers and works, to stand by them and live in
obedience to them as long as I live on the earth. If I abide in
the vine, I will have strength, by the power of the Holy Ghost,
to magnify my calling and to inherit a crown of celestial glory:
if I do not, then I will fall, and, I had almost said, become
like another man: but not so; for then I will only be fit to be
cast out and trodden under foot, like salt that has lost its
savour.
202
I crave the privilege of remaining within this kingdom; and I ask
for your prayers, your blessings, your faith, and your
assistance, as a people, and for the assistance and watchcare of
the angels of God, and for the blessings of my brethren that
preside over me. I crave these things, and the privilege of
serving God unto the end.
202
If I go forth and testify of the truth of the Book of Mormon and
of Joseph Smith as a Prophet, a Revelator, and an Apostle of the
living God; also of Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Jedediah M.
Grant, and the rest of my brethren that hold the keys of this
kingdom; and call upon the people to repent and forsake their
follies, their priestcraft, their adulteries, and their errors,
and to obey the Gospel under the hands of the Elders sent out by
these men; and tell them to gather together and obey those
ministers of Christ as long as they live, and then obey their
successors in office:--if I do all this, and live faithful, and
set a good example, it will be the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the
power of God unto all that receive it. If I do not do this, it
will not be the Gospel, but it will be something else. It is
appointed unto all men, whenever this Priesthood is on the earth
and comes within their reach, to repent and be baptised under the
hands of this Priesthood, in the name of Jesus Christ, and to
receive the Holy Spirit by the laying-on of hands by the servants
of God, and to break off from their sins and bring forth fruits
of righteousness. If they do this, and endure to the end, they
will be saved; but if they do not, they will be damned.
202
May God bless you all, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, October 12, 1856
Heber C. Kimball, October 12, 1856
REFORMATION--SATISFACTION SHOULD BE MADE TO PARTIES
AGGRIEVED--PRACTICAL RELIGION, &c.
A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the
Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, October 12, 1856.
203
I can say amen to what was said this forenoon by brothers Spencer
and Grant, and also by brother Brigham; for it is true: and I
presume there was not a Saint in the congregation but what
realized the truth of their sayings.
203
I am satisfied that it is the good pleasure of our God that a
reformation should take place in the hearts of all Israel. I do
not believe that there is any man or woman here so good but what
they can be a little better. There are good people; there are
those that we call the best. By feelings and exertions for this
people and for all the house of Israel are, and have been to the
end, that we may be all of that class which we denominate the
best.
203
The spirit of reformation has been upon me all the while; but for
the last six months that spirit has in a more particular manner
moved upon the Presidency of this Church, and they have cried
unto you as with the voice of an earthquake, and commanded you to
repent and forsake your follies. Their voice has been like the
voice of thunder unto this people, calling upon them to repent
and turn unto the Lord their God.
203
But what is the use of persons being baptised until they first
confess and forsake their sins, and make restitution where they
have injured any one? If persons have lied, it is their duty to
repent and retract their false statements, and confess their
lies. If any have stolen, it is for them to repent and steal no
more; also to restore fourfold, where it is required. I have my
doubts whether a man or woman can be saved upon any other
principle; for this was the doctrine of Jesus, the Son of God,
and it is the doctrine taught in these latter days.
203
Where sins have been committed, there must be an atonement made
to satisfy the demands of justice; and when justice is satisfied,
mercy claims the subject. Have these requirements been complied
with by this people? Many of you have broken your covenants and
lost that spirit to a great extent, that you might and ought to
enjoy; for you ought to be in favour with God continually, that
you might have the power of his Spirit to be with you.
203
Brother Brigham is not responsible for this people any further
than they will follow his counsel. When they observe his counsel,
doing just as he says in all things, then he is responsible. The
only way that you can make him responsible is by observing his
sayings in the most strict manner possible. Am I responsible for
the acts of my wife or wives? Only on condition that they are
subject to my counsels. You can readily understand that their
disobedience releases me from responsibility for their conduct.
204
When brother Brigham predicts that certain things will happen if
the people persist in a certain course, that prediction will be
fulfilled, except the people make a retraction and an atonement
sufficient to satisfy the demands of justice; for that is what
God requires. When that is done, the sins of the people will be
remitted. I speak of this, that you may understand that your
re-baptisms must be agreeable to the order laid down. It is not
simply a man's saying, "Having been commissioned by Jesus Christ,
I baptise you for the renewal of your covenant and remission of
your sins," but you must be subject to your brethren and fulfil
the law of God.
204
Supposing you have sinned against your brethren, or in some way
offended them, will your sins be remitted, unless you go and make
the proper acknowledgments? No, they will not. You have got to
pay the debt; and sin cannot be remitted until you confess it and
make satisfaction to the party aggrieved. You may try another
course as much as you please, but you will find it to be just as
I have told you.
204
If I have offended brother Brigham in any way whatever--rebelled
against him, lied about him, or sought to abuse him what is the
use of my going to the water to renew my covenant, until I have
made satisfaction to him? The proper way would be to go to him
and say, "Brother Brigham, I lied against you wilfully, under the
influence of an evil spirit;" or, "I have ill-treated and wronged
you, and know that I must make satisfaction, and I am ready to do
anything that you say." Satisfaction must be made to the one
injured, or baptism will be of no benefit: the Holy Ghost will
not ratify that act until I have paid the debt. Then brother
Brigham would say, "I forgive you, and pray my Father, in the
name of Jesus, to forgive you also." Then our Father in heaven
would forgive you, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost would forgive
you. And if you get pardon of those you have injured, and of the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, you are free and ready to begin a
new life.
204
You have heard brother Brigham say that if we sin against the
Father, we must confess our sins to him, and get pardon from him;
and if we sin against the Son, we must ask pardon of him, for he
will not pardon you without you do ask him; and if you sin
against the Holy Ghost you cannot get pardon, for that is a sin
which cannot be forgiven. You must do that which is right, and
get the forgiveness of the Father and the Son; then they and the
Holy Ghost will take up their abode with you. That is my faith,
and that is a part of "Mormonism," as I understand it.
204
If men and women make a practice of lying, stealing, and doing
other things forbidden in the law of God, they need not go into
the water until they have sincerely repented and will covenant
and promise that they will not do those things again. Some of you
make a practice of telling little lies, of deceiving and be
rating each other, of disputing with each other, and with the
servants of God. Is that right? You all know that it is not, and
that God will punish you for it. Does the Son know when you do
these things? Does the Holy Ghost know? Do the angels know? I
answer, they do know, and they are displeased with such acts, and
will not associate with you in consequence of them.
205
Some quietly listen to those who speak against the Lord's
servants, against his anointed, against the plurality of wives,
and against almost every principle that God has revealed. Such
persons have half-a-dozen devils with them all the time. You
might as well deny "Mormonism," and turn away from it, as to
oppose the plurality of wives. Let the Presidency of this Church,
and the Twelve Apostles, and all the authorities unite and say
with one voice that they will oppose that doctrine, and the whole
of them would be damned. What are you opposing it for? It is a
principle that God has revealed for the salvation of the human
family. He revealed it to Joseph the Prophet in this our
dispensation; and that which he revealed he designs to have
carried out by his people.
205
What a joy it would be to me if my family were in such a state of
mind that an angel would come and tell me, "On such a day I will
meet with you, and your wives, and your children, if you will
sanctify yourselves." Would not that be a joy and a consolation
to me? Do I disbelieve such visitations? No, no more than I
disbelieve that an angel came to Joseph and Oliver, to Abraham of
old, and to many others.
205
Let us take a course that will be pleasing to our Father, and lay
aside our follies and our sins, and obtain favour with our God,
that his angels may come and associate with us. They would do so
now, if you would believe and practice that which is laid before
you day by day. And if you will strictly follow the leaders of
this people, you never would want for clothing, nor for any of
the comforts of life; for if it must needs be that we be
protected and delivered from our enemies, God would cause a
famine to scourge them, and would rain manna down from heaven to
sustain us, as he did to the children of Israel. But he never
will do that, until it is necessary to our salvation and
deliverance.
205
Now, there is no necessity for such a display of his power,
neither will there be, until we are brought into the midst of
certain trials, as Joseph Smith and his brethren were, about
twenty-two years ago. I refer to the time when he and some of his
brethren went up to Missouri; and those who went up then believed
"Mormonism" in their hearts. There were two hundred and five who
volunteered to go and redeem their brethren. And how was it in
those days, when we were in that strait? Hosts of the people in
Missouri were up in arms against us, both behind and before us,
on our right and on our left. How did God defend us then? He sent
a hailstorm fierce enough to stop their progress. The hailstones
were so large that they cut their horses' bridles, broke their
gun-stocks, and cut holes in their hats: the storm had such an
effect upon them that they would not any longer pursue us. The
waters of the river rose forty feet in one night, and the whole
region was flooded. In that way the Lord defended us, when we
were a small company, and when he knew that we should be
overcome, if he did not stretch forth his hand for our benefit.
205
Let us arise, every man and every woman, and lay off our sins;
and wherein you know that you have sinned, repent and ask
forgiveness, and then cease sinning from this time henceforth and
for ever. Many murmur and are disaffected, after being privileged
with the great blessing of deliverance from the oppression of the
world. Many who have been gathered by the P. E. Fund murmur
against those who have gathered them. When you become disaffected
with brother Brigham and brother Heber, what is your course? You
will associate with those poor murmuring devils whose hearts are
as corrupt as hell itself, and thereby partake of their spirit;
and it is a spirit that suits you: it is one of your own kind and
your own class. Now, you know that your are more apt to
sympathize with the ungodly than you ought to be, and that you
are too apt to think that brother Brigham, brother Heber, and
brother Jedediah are rather hard upon such characters. We are
only hard upon sin and ungodliness.
206
Do not be baptised and then take an unrighteous course, but
repent of and forsake all sin. I have nothing in my heart to
preach to this people but faith and repentance, and to teach them
to have confidence in god, in brother Brigham, and in each other,
and to cultivate, nourish, and cherish that confidence; also to
cherish, comfort, and to sustain brother Brigham from this time
henceforth and for ever.
206
The more I do for this cause, the more God will love me--the more
he will bless me, and he will give me power over the Devil and
over all his imps. Can I do too much for God and his cause? Can I
do too much for brother Brigham? No; for the more I respect him
as the delegate of God, the more God will honour me and my acts.
I know that these things are true; also that some of you are
afraid that you will love him too well. I will tell you how much
you should love him: you should love him enough to strictly
observe his counsels. Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my
commandments." This was a test; for whose loved him would keep
his commandments.
206
I have thought a great many times upon the condition of this
people, and I would that they all should turn unto the Lord; but
I have fears that many will not reform; and I am inclined to
think that they will feel the rod of the Almighty, unless they do
repent.
206
Go to work and build up and establish each other; wives establish
your husbands, husbands establish your wives, and wives and
husbands establish your children in righteousness, and God will
be with us for ever; he never will forsake us in times of
trouble. Cast in your Tithes and offerings into the storehouse of
the Lord, and you shall have a blessing that you have not room to
contain.
206
The Father, and the Son, and all the servants of God of every
dispensation that ever was on the earth, are engaged in inspiring
those brethren who now faithfully hold the Priesthood in the
flesh. You are aware that the Lord said that in the last days he
would have labourers who would labour with their might to gather
up the wheat for the last time; and this is the last time. You
need not ask who administer to brother Brigham; for I will tell
you: They are Moses and Aaron, Elijah, Jesus, Peter, James, and
John, brother Joseph, Michael the Archangel, and the hosts of the
righteous behind the vail: they are all engaged in this great
work.
206
God have mercy upon you, and give you his Spirit to understand
all things aright, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, September 6th, 1857
Brigham Young, September 6th, 1857
RETURN OF THOMAS B. MARSH TO THE CHURCH.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, introducing Brother Thomas B.
Marsh, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City,
on Sunday, September 6th, 1857.
207
Brother Thomas B. Marsh, formerly the President of the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles, has now come to us, after an absence of
nearly nineteen years. He is on the stand to-day, and wishes to
make a few remarks to the congregation.
207
You will comprehend the purport of the remarks he wishes to make,
by my relating a part of his conversation with me yesterday. He
came into my office and wished to know whether I could be
reconciled to him, and whether there could be a reconciliation
between himself and the Church of the living God. He reflected
for a moment and said, I am reconciled to the Church, but I want
to know whether the Church can be reconciled to me.
207
He is here, and I want him to say what he may wish to. [Brother
Marsh then arose, and the President continued.] Brethren and
sisters, I now introduce to you brother Thomas B. Marsh. When the
Quorum of the Twelve was first organized, he was appointed to be
their President.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Thomas
B. Marsh, September 6th, 1857
Thomas B. Marsh, September 6th, 1857
REMARKS BY THOMAS B. MARSH.
207
I do not know that I can make all this vast congregation hear and
understand me. My voice never was very strong, but it has been
very much weakened of late years by the afflicting rod of
Jehovah. He loved me too much to let me go without whipping. I
have seen the hand of the Lord in the chastisement which I have
received. I have seen and known that it has proved he loved me;
for if he had not cared anything about me, he would not have
taken me by the arm and given me such a shaking.
207
If there are any among this people who should ever apostatize and
do as I have done, prepare your backs for a good whipping, if you
are such as the Lord loves. But if you will take my advice, you
will stand by the authorities; but if you go away and the Lord
loves you as much as he did me, he will whip you back again.
207
Many have said to me, "How is it that a man like you, who
understood so much of the revelations of God as recorded in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, should fall away?" I told them
not to feel too secure, but to take heed lest they also should
fall; for I had no scruples in my mind as to the possibility of
men falling away.
207
I can say, in reference to the Quorum of the Twelve, to which I
belonged, that I did not consider myself a whit behind any of
them, and I suppose that others had the same opinion; but, let no
one feel too secure: for, before you think of it, your steps will
slide. You will not then think nor feel for a moment as you did
before you lost the Spirit of Christ; for when men apostatize,
they are left to grovel in the dark.
208
I have sought diligently to know the Spirit of Christ since I
turned my face Zionward, and I believe I have obtained it. I have
frequently wanted to know how my apostacy began, and I have come
to the conclusion that I must have lost the Spirit of the Lord
out of my heart.
208
The next question is, "How and when did you lose the Spirit?" I
became jealous of the Prophet, and then I saw double, and
overlooked everything that was right, and spent all my time in
looking for the evil; and then, when the Devil began to lead me,
it was easy for the carnal mind to rise up, which is anger,
jealousy, and wrath. I could feel it within me; I felt angry and
wrathful; and the Spirit of the Lord being gone, as the
Scriptures say, I was blinded, and I thought I saw a beam in
brother Joseph's eye, but it was nothing but a mote, and my own
eye was filled with the beam; but I thought I saw a beam in his,
and I wanted to get it out; and, as brother Heber says, I got
mad, and I wanted everybody else to be mad. I talked with Brother
Brigham and Brother Heber, and I wanted them to be mad like
myself; and I saw they were not mad, and I got madder still
because they were not. Brother Brigham, with a cautious look,
said, "Are you the leader of the Church, brother Thomas?" I
answered, "No." "Well then," said he, "Why do you not let that
alone?"
208
Well, this is about the amount of my hypocrisy--I meddled with
that which was not my business. But let me tell you, my brethren
and friends, if you do not want to suffer in body and mind, as I
have done,--if there are any of you that have the seeds of
apostacy in you, do not let them make their appearance, but nip
that spirit in the bud; for it is misery and affliction in this
world, and destruction in the world to come. I know that I was a
very stiff-necked man, and I felt, for the first four or five
years especially, that I would never return to the Church; but
towards the latter part of the time, I began to wake up and to be
sensible that I was being chastised by the Almighty; and I felt
to realize the language of Jeremiah concerning Ephraim in the
last days, where he says, "Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a
pleasant child? For since I spake against him, I do earnestly
remember him still; therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I
will surely have mercy on him, saith the Lord."
208
Thinks I, this language suits my condition. I then thought, I
will go back and see if the Lord will heal me, for I am of the
seed of Ephraim, and I felt troubled from that day, and my soul
was vexed with the filthy conversation of those Sodomites.
209
After forming this resolution, I tried to get an outfit, and I
kept trying for two or three years; for I did not want to come
hear sick, lame, decrepid, and dependent; and therefore I kept on
trying; but instead of gaining, I was like the man that undertook
to climb the tree--I slipt down further than I got up. I then
thought to myself, I am getting old, and every year makes me
older and weaker; and if I do not start, I shall soon die, and
then whose fault will it be? I concluded it would be my own fault
if I stayed. I therefore said, "I will go now." That was last
January. I looked round a few days to see what I could raise, and
I raised five dollars and ten cents, and I said, "Lord, if you
will help me, I will go." I felt that he would: therefore I
started with but five dollars and ten cents, from Harrison
County, Missouri, to come all the way to this Valley. I knew that
I could not come here with that small sum, and I did not see how
I was to get any more; but before I got out of the State, the
Lord had changed my fortune, and I had $55.05. I then concluded
within myself that the Lord was with me; but still I had some
hardships; for I travelled on foot in some severely cold weather,
and I found that my chastisement was not over, notwithstanding
the favour of the Lord in helping me to some means. I remarked
that I had fifty-five dollars when I left the States, and that,
too, obtained honestly, without any speculation, trading,
swapping, or stealing; but I earned what I got, and left a good
name behind me.
209
I have given you some items of my apostasy. I will now relate
some of my recent experience.
209
When I got to Florence, or Winter Quarters, where I had to stay,
waiting for an opportunity to cross the Plains, I read many of
the publications and works of the Church, and became strengthened
and informed in regard to the Priesthood of the Son of God.
Although I knew something about the Priesthood before, so far as
the theory was concerned, yet I discovered that I had never
properly understood it; and hence I feel that my faith is greatly
strengthened. I wanted to get posted up and see what the
"Mormons" had learned since I left them; and I learned very much
by reading the discourses that had been preached here.
209
The doctrine of plurality was a great bugbear to me, till I got
to Florence and read the works of brother Orson Pratt; and now I
see that it is heaven's own doctrine, and the Church of Jesus
Christ can never be perfect without it. Had I known as much of
the Church of Jesus Christ and its doctrines before I apostatized
as I now know, I think I could not have back-slidden.
209
I have come here to get good society--to get your fellowship. I
want your fellowship; I want your God to be my God, and I want to
live with you for ever, in time and eternity. I never want to
forsake the people of God any more. I want to have your
confidence, and I want to be one in the house of God. I have
learned to understand what David said when he exclaimed, "I would
rather be a door-keeper in the house of God than to dwell in the
tents of wickedness." I have not come here to seek for any
office, except it be to be a door-keeper or a deacon; no, I am
neither worthy nor fit; but I want a place among you as a humble
servant of the Lord.
209
I did say once, when coming along, inadvertently, They may think
that I am coming to get office, but if they offer it to me I will
not have it, and that will show them I do not want any; but I
took a second thought and said, I will say, The will of the Lord
be done.
209
I have now got a better understanding of the Presidency of the
Church than I formerly had. I used to ask myself, What is the
difference between the President of our Church and a Pope? True,
he is not called a Pope, but names do not alter realities, and
therefore he is a Pope.
209
God is at the head of this kingdom, and he has sustained it. I
was along in the start of it, and then Joseph was the little one;
but, as the Scriptures say, "The little one shall become a
thousand, and the small one a strong nation;" and Joseph lived to
become a thousand, and this people are fast becoming a strong
nation.
209
I am just as confident as I can be in the truth of those things
that brother Heber has spoken of; for I see in my meditations how
the Priesthood has been restored, when the Lord had taken it from
the earth by the death of the Apostles, and how the authority to
administer in the name of Jesus Christ was also taken, and that,
when the authority went, miracles were taken away and the power
of God ceased to be manifested through men during the long period
of the rule of anti-christ and anarchy.
210
I see the propriety of God's vesting the authority in one man,
and in having a head, or something tangible to see, hear, and
understand the mind and will of God. When I saw this, I said, It
is consistent: Christ is the great head of the Church. Christ is
the head of his Church in the same relationship as every head is
to the body to which it belongs; for every head must have eyes to
see, a mouth to speak, and ears to hear. Well, Jesus christ is
the head of the Church, and he has got a man to represent him on
the earth--viz., President Brigham Young. Jesus Christ is still
the head of the Church; and his will to man on the earth is known
by means of the mouthpiece of God, the Prophet, and Seer.
210
When I came to these conclusions, I said, Now I will go there
among them; for I have found out how I may learn wisdom from God.
I want to learn wisdom, and not to be ruled by my own
imaginations.
210
God has given me reasoning powers, and I will use them, so far as
I am capable, in the acquirement of knowledge. But how will I get
wisdom from God? The answer is plain. He speaks through his
mouthpiece, therefore I will go and place my ears close to his
mouth,--for I am not good of hearing,--and I will pray to God in
secret; and to such he has said he will answer them openly. I
will pray for the thing that I want; and the chief desire of my
heart before God is, that I may know that he accepts me.
210
Well, Where shall I go, was the next question, to get a response
to this desire? The answer was, Go to the President of the
Church--to the mouthpiece of God, and then you can be taught, and
there will be no difficulty in learning the mind and will of God.
210
I thank God that he has brought me back here, where I can receive
such instructions, and with a prospect of seeing, notwithstanding
my advanced age, the glory of God. Many of you that are young
will live, as has been said, to see the glory of God manifested
on the earth. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, September 6th, 1857
Brigham Young, September 6th, 1857
FURTHER REMARKS BY PRESIDENT
BRIGHAM YOUNG.
210
A portion of the congregation have heard what brother Marsh has
said; but he spoke so low that you could not all hear. He wants
to know whether this people are willing to receive him into full
fellowship. When he came to Florence, he applied to brother
Cunningham, who was then presiding there, for baptism. Brother
Cunningham at first refused to baptise him, probably thinking
that it would be better for him to wait till he came to this
place; but he afterwards gave his consent to brother Marsh's
being baptised. Brother Marsh now wishes to be received into full
fellowship, and to be again baptised here.
210
There are many here who have formerly been acquainted with
him--with his moral character, and they can judge as well as
myself. Those who are not acquainted with him will be willing to
coincide with the judgment of those who once knew him.
210
I shall call a vote, to ascertain whether the people are willing
that he should be baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, and be acknowledged a member in full
fellowship. I wish those who are willing to receive brother Marsh
into full fellowship as a member in this Church and kingdom to
manifest it by the uplifted hand. [All hands appeared to be
raised.] If there are any who are not willing, they now have the
privilege of manifesting it by the uplifted hand. [Not a hand was
raised.]
210
Brother Marsh, I think that will be satisfactory to you.
210
[T. B. Marsh: "It is, and I thank God for it."]
211
I presume that brother Marsh will take no offence if I talk a
little about him. We have manifested our feelings towards him,
and we know his situation. With regard to this Church's being
reconciled to him, I can say that this Church and people were
never dissatisfied with him; for when men and women apostatize
and go from us, we have nothing to do with them. If they do that
which is evil, they will suffer for it. Brother Marsh has
suffered. He told me, yesterday, that the Christians might hang
up their fiddle in regard to there being no Catholic Tophet or
Purgatory.
211
You are aware that the children of the Mother Church have
dissented from the idea of there being such a place as Purgatory;
but brother Marsh says that there is such a place, and that he
has been in it during the past eighteen years and upwards. I
asked him whether he did not have to pray himself out. He
answered, "Yes." I then remarked--If you prayed yourself out, I
suppose you saved the priests' fees. "Yes," he said; "It did not
cost me a cent of money." However, it cost him a great deal of
labour, trouble, and pain.
211
In conversing with brother Marsh, I find that he is about the
same Thomas that he always was--full of anecdotes and chit-chat.
He could hardly converse for ten minutes without telling an
anecdote. His voice and style of conversation are familiar to me.
211
He has told you that he is an old man. Do you think that I am an
old man? I could prove to this congregation that I am young; for
I could find more girls who would choose me for a husband than
can any of the young men.
211
Brother Thomas considers himself very aged and infirm, and you
can see that he is, brethren and sisters. What is the cause of
it? He left the Gospel of salvation. What do you think the
difference is between his age and mine? One year and seven months
to a day; and he is one year, seven months, and fourteen days
older than brother Heber C. Kimball.
211
"Mormonism" keeps men and women young and handsome; and when they
are full of the Spirit of God, there are none of them but what
will have a glow upon their countenances; and that is what makes
you and me young; for the Spirit of God is with us and within us.
211
When brother Thomas thought of returning to the Church, the
plurality of wives troubled him a good deal. Look at him. Do you
think it need to? I do not; for I doubt whether he could get one
wife. Why it should have troubled an infirm old man like him is
not for me to say. He read brother Orson Pratt's work upon that
subject, and discovered that the doctrine was beautiful,
consistent, and exalting, and that the kingdom could not be
perfect without it. Neither can it be perfect without a great
many things that the people do not yet understand, though they
will come in the own due time of the Lord.
211
As I have but a few minutes for speaking, I will relate a little
of the current news of the day.
211
On Friday evening, the 11th inst., two of the brethren who
accompanied brothers Samuel W. Richards and George Snider from
Deer Creek to 118 miles below Laramie, came in, and reported that
soldiers and a heavy freight train were there encamped opposite
to them and on the south side of the Platte. They could tell that
they were soldiers, from the appearance of their carriages,
waggons, tents, and mode of encampment. We did not learn anything
very definite from these two brethren lately arrived.
212
Messrs. Russel and Waddle are freighting for Government, and some
of their trains were scattered along to the Sweetwater. They have
twenty-six waggons in each train, with a teamster and six yoke of
oxen to a waggon. Some of those trains were on the Sweetwater
when brother Samuel passed down, and quite a number of them are
in advance of the soldiers. The brethren learned that Captain Van
Vliet, Assistant Quartermaster, was coming on to purchase lumber
and such things as might be needed for the army.
212
Last evening, brother John R. Murdock arrived direct from St.
Louis. He left here with the mail on the 2nd day of July, and
reached Independence in sixteen days, making by far the shortest
trip on record, and in eighteen days-and-a-half from here landed
in St. Louis. He tarried there till brother Horace S. Eldredge
and brother Groesbeck had transacted some business, and then
started up the river with a small train. On the 9th of August,
brother Murdock left Atchison, K. T. Troubles were daily expected
to break out in Kansas between the Republican, or Free State, and
the pro-slavery parties; for which reason General Harney, with
the cavalry, a portion of the infantry, and, I think, one or two
companies of the Artillery, were detained there by orders from
Washington, and Colonel Johnson ordered to assume the command of
the army for Utah.
212
Some fifteen or sixteen hundred infantry started from
Leavenworth; and when brother Murdock passed them, one hundred
miles below Laramie, about five hundred had deserted, leaving, as
he was told, about one thousand men on their way to this place.
He passed a few freight trains, which were entirely deserted by
the teamsters, and Russel and Waddle were not able to hire
teamsters to bring those trains forward.
212
Brother Murdock did not think that they could get here this fall,
unless we helped them in. Their teams are pretty good, but they
are very much jaded. Their mule teams are in better condition,
because they regularly feed them on grain.
212
From the time that I heard that the President of the United
States had issued orders for soldiers to come here, they have had
my best faith that the Lord would not let them get here. I have
seen this people, when palsied with agues, fevers, and with
various other diseases, hurled out of doors, driven away from
their cellars full of potatoes, from their meal chests, from
their cows, houses, barns, orchards, fields, and finally from
their happy homes and all the comforts of life. I have seen that
a good many times, and I pray that I may never see it again,
unless it is absolutely necessary for the welfare and advancement
of God's purposes on the earth. I want to see no more suffering.
I will not use the word suffering, for I call it joy instead of
sorrow, affliction, and suffering. If we live our religion and
exercise faith, it is our firm belief that it is our right to so
exercise our united faith that our enemies never can come here,
unless the Lord in his providence sees that it will be for our
good.
212
It is my faith and feelings that, if we live as we should live,
they cannot come here; but I am decided in my opinion that, if
worse comes to worst, and the Lord permits them to come upon us,
I will desolate this whole Territory before I will again submit
to the hellish corruption and bondage the wicked are striving to
thrust upon us solely for our exercising our right of freedom of
conscience.
212
I will say, in reference to President Buchanan, that, for his
outrageous wickedness in this movement, he shall wear the yoke as
long as he lives; he shall be led about by his party with the
yoke on his neck, until they have accomplished their ends, and he
can do no more for them; and his name shall be forgotten; and
"Old Bright," as brother Kimball calls him, shall be free. I am
persuaded that for their horrible, wicked treatment to this
people--the only loyal people in the United States--the only
people who know the worth of the Constitution--they will be
sorely punished.
213
After doing what they already have done to this people--after
sending among us the filth and scum of all creation (as some of
the officers were) as officers of the Government, contrary to the
genius of our institutions, I want to tell them that, though they
continue to send poor pusillanimous curses here to be Government
officers, we will not submit to it, troops or no troops. I shall
tell them this in plainness and simplicity; and they shall find
that in my simplicity I will try to sustain so righteous a
position. And I believe that the point is yielded, both in Europe
and America; and I believe they acknowledge that Brigham is a man
of his word; and I have come to the conclusion that we will not
again have officers thrust upon us contrary to our consent, the
Lord helping us.
213
When brother Murdock left St. Louis, Mr. Cummings, the person who
had received the appointment of Governor of Utah, was going to
Washington, and he could not learn that there was one of the
Territorial officers with the soldiers: hence I do not see but
that I shall have to again preside over our Legislative Assembly
this winter. I do not see that it can be otherwise; and William
H. Hooper will be Secretary, just as he was last winter. They
have refused to pay the expenses of the last Assembly and other
just debts due to this Territory; but God will overrule those
things for our good and the advancement of his kingdom, if we
live our religion.
213
Our enemies will yet be glad to come to us for safety and
salvation; and we will do as brother Kimball has said--we will
save the old veteran fathers; and the time will come when we will
be baptised for them, while those who trample upon the rights of
their fellow men will be weltering in hell. Yes, we will bring up
those old revolutionary sires and save them; for God loves men
who are true to each other and are true to him.
213
If any want to apostatize, I want them to look at brother Marsh.
I wish you could all see and understand what he has suffered. He
has suffered a little; and I could tell you a good deal of the
suffering induced by the weaknesses of men.
213
When the Quorum of the Twelve was first chosen, Lyman Johnson's
name was called first, Brigham Young's second, Heber C. Kimball's
third, and so on. I had seen brother Marsh and others who were
nominated for the Quorum of the Twelve, and I looked upon them as
men of great powers of mind--as men of ability--men who
understood the things of heaven. I looked upon them as angels,
and I looked up to them just as my children look up to me.
213
I considered brother Marsh a great man; but as soon as I became
acquainted with him, I saw that the weakness of the flesh was
visibly manifest in him. I saw that he was ignorant and shattered
in his understanding, if ever he had good understanding. He
manifests the same weakness to-day. Has he the stability of a
sound mind? No, and never had. And if he had good sense and
judgment, he would not have spoken as he has. He has just said,
"I will be faithful, and I will be true to you." He has not
wisdom enough to see that he has betrayed us once, and don't know
but what he will again. He has told me that he would be faithful,
and that he would do this and the other; but he don't know what
he will do next week or next year.
214
I do not know what I shall do next year; I always speak for the
present. But a man that will be once fooled by the Devil--a man
that has not sense to discern between steel grey mixed and iron
grey mixed, when one is dyed with logwood and the other with
indigo, may be deceived again. You never heard me say that I was
going to be true to my God; for I know too much of human
weakness: but I pray God to preserve me from falling away--to
preserve me in the truth. I depend not upon myself; for I know
too much of human weakness and of myself, to indulge in such
remarks.
214
I derive strength from a superior source. I have been drinking
from that source for many years; and, as I told you last sabbath,
I have been trying to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. And, if we
are faithful, we will all be counted worthy to be his disciples.
God bless you! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, September 6, 1856
Heber C. Kimball, September 6, 1856
UNION OF THE PRIESTHOOD--SALVATION OF THE AMERICAN
NATION--PUNISHMENT OF THE SAINTS' ENEMIES, ETC.
A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the
Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, September 6, 1856.
214
I can say, brethren, as far as I am concerned, that I have no
particular anxiety about the final issue of "Mormonism." But if I
have any trouble about the matter, it is about a great many limbs
or vines connected to that vine. Probably you understand what I
mean when I am talking about vines and trees. I speak about these
things because I most humbly desire to touch upon simple
principles--that is, the most simple figures, that the most
simple person in this congregation may understand me.
214
I am not troubled about the learned few--those that have learned
right, and are taught of the Lord: I have no trouble about their
understanding; for children may understand the things that I
present, and any man that is taught directly from God will
understand; he will understand the most simple things, and he
will understand the greatest things; for the greatest things are
the simplest things. Do you not know it?
214
There are thousands of men in the house of Israel, and among the
Elders of Israel, that are now considered to be small men, and
not of much account, that will supersede, eventually, thousands
of men who may now think that they are the smartest. That may be
queer to you; it may be singular to many; but I have known of a
great many instances of that kind.
214
When we go into a fruit orchard or vineyard, we find the
husbandman, as he is called, who has charge of it; and I have
myself seen very inferior trees that never brought forth any
fruit. A great many men would come along and say to the
husbandman, "Why don't you take up that tree? It never will be of
any account." Those men do not understand, as the husbandman
does, or they never would make such a speech.
214
Is there a way to restore that tree, and to make it one of the
most thrifty trees in all the vineyard? Yes, there is. Well, what
course will you take to do that? Take the old stock away and put
a thrifty graft into the root, and then it becomes one of the
most thrifty trees in the vineyard, because the young stock
renews the old, and the old becomes a good tree.
215
So it is with you, many of you: yes, thousands of you will become
mighty men, inasmuch as you honour your calling and receive
nourishment from the Father, or from the root; for it comes from
the root, and then spreads itself all through the vine, and every
vine that is attached to that partakes of the same nourishment,
and to the same extent, and in the same degree as the others.
215
Now, can you realize that? Bless your souls! go into the gardens.
I am going to talk to you as I would to little children; for
there are a great many of you that need to be taught. Go into
your gardens and take a cucumber vine, and do you not know that
in the latter part of the season you will find the largest and
longest at the most extended part of the vine? Do you know that?
[Voices: "Yes."] There is one woman that knows it; but she would
not if she did not work in her garden; and those that do not work
there do not know anything about it. I am talking to you that go
into your gardens to work.
215
You may take water-melons, and you will find the largest at the
extreme part of the vine. Can it be possible that the most
extended part of the vine can bring forth as much as the most
extended limb on a tree? Yes, it can. Where does it come from?
From the root, and from thence into the main limb or vine, and
then into every branch and twig that is connected to that vine.
215
Does not that prove, that you who seem to be small now, can
become great and mighty men in the kingdom of God,--yes, even
Prophets? Does it not prove that you can become great and mighty
men, as well as those that are now more intimately connected to
the vine? Of course it does.
215
Now, you may take an apple tree, a grape vine, a plum tree, and
you may take a cucumber vine, and all these threes and vines are
one in their organization: they are all alike, only one is called
a tree, and another a vine. They are also a little different in
the fruit they bear: one is a peach, or a plum, another a grape,
&c.; and these fruits are different in appearance, yet they are
one in relation to the principle that governs them.
215
One man is called upon to be a Prophet, another to be an Apostle,
another to be a Seventy, another a High Priest, another a
Patriarch, and so on; and don't you see they are all, in general
features, alike? There is not one of them that is not attached to
a root. How could I grow, if I were not attached to a tree or to
a vine? I could not produce fruit.
215
Well, the nearer I approach to my Father and to Jesus in my
conduct, the more I become like Joseph and the servants of God;
and the more I become like those characters, the more perfect a
pattern I become for others; and of course my fruit will be just
like the characters I pattern after; and then, of course, my
fruit will be just like the characters I am connected to. Will it
have the same effect upon you? Why, of course it will. Will it
have the same effect upon you, ladies,--you, sisters? Yes; and it
will have the same effect upon your children.
215
I do not know whether you understand me or not, but I wish you
would have your gardens trimmed and kept clean; and if you do not
have any, go into the mountains and to the timber countries.
215
I merely touch upon these things to refresh your minds, though I
did not think anything about them when I got up; but if you will
go and look at them,--I mean every Elder, High Priest, Apostle,
and Prophet in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints,--you will be benefited; for you ought to be exactly like
one tree. What! bring forth the same fruit? Yes, all be one in
your works for the benefit of Israel.
216
Some time ago I brought up a comparison about an apple tree, and
although I did not know it then, I have got one tree that has
probably got fifty limbs on it, and there is not one but is so
full that I have had to pick apples off it twice, and every limb
is weighed down with fruit. Well, I have tried it since then, and
there is not one particle of difference in the fruit of all those
limbs. Is it good fruit? No; the first limb is not worth a dime,
and all the rest are just like it.
216
Can a pure tree bring forth impure fruit? The tree of which I
have spoken is not impure in its appearance, but it is very
smooth externally, and likely to look upon; but there is not a
particle of goodness in it, or, at least, there is not in the
fruit it produces. That is the case with many of you.
216
Well, then, we say that, if the root is good, the tree is good,
and the limbs, because they are attached to the tree and receive
nourishment from the tree.
216
Well, if the root is not very good, the limbs, the tree, and the
apples will not be very good, because the root is not very good.
216
You take a man that is not very good, and that has a wife that is
not very good, and they cannot produce very good fruit, because
the root is not good. Do you understand that, brother Hunter?
["Yes, Sir."] Is it as plain as cattle? You understand how to
originate good stock, and so do I. You go into England and into
the New England States, and every man that is raising stock is
taking a course to take away the ringed, and the streaked, and
the little, dried-up fixings, and to produce a more noble stock.
It is upon the same principle that this people should become
regenerated.
216
Well, supposing that a man is a long way beneath his fellows, and
is a little, dried-up, knotty, inferior man; can that man be
cultivated? Yes, sir, he can; he can take a course in the
principles of righteousness, by treasuring up truth; and truth is
light, and light is life. Every word of truth that you gather
into your bosoms is light and life; and the most inferior man or
woman can be regenerated through the word of the living God; for
that word will be in you springing up unto everlasting life. That
is the principle.
216
I throw out these few ideas to cause you to reflect. They may
seem eccentric, but they are true.
216
Sometimes I am at work at an apple tree, and sometimes at a
cucumber vine; but what is the difference? They have all roots,
and they have all cores, and they are all produced for a noble
purpose.
216
The aristocracy--that is, those that are called the aristocracy,
came out of the old country: they came as far as Lehi came from
Jerusalem, and so on, till they came into this country; but still
those that remained behind considered themselves the aristocracy.
But let me tell you those men that came here were the true
aristocracy; they were the original stock; they were produced by
the aristocracy, and they are the original stock. Those men were
choice characters, and God spake to them, and they came over
here.
216
That is what they call aristocracy; that is as it is; though I
never studied grammar; but I have looked into the Bible and into
the Book of Mormon, and I have looked into the visions of
eternity, and I know that I am true, and that I am of the true
vine. I am one of the sons of those old veterans, and so is
brother Brigham.
216
Will you let me talk just as I please to-day, ladies and
gentlemen?
216
[Voices: "Yes."]
217
Now, I will refer to brother Brigham, brother Heber, brother
Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Bishop N. K. Whitney, and lots of
other men. Brother Joseph actually saw those men in vision; he
saw us in a day when we were all together. We have been separated
by marriage and thrown apart; but he saw the day when we all came
out of one stock, and that was out of the aristocracy. Yes, we
came directly down through the Prophets, and not only us, but
lots of others--the whole Smith race. I could remember probably
twenty or thirty that Joseph mentioned came down through that
channel.
217
My father's father and his brothers intermixed by marriage with
the Smiths, and uncle John Smith was baptised in Nauvoo for
upwards of twenty of my kindred. They mixed up in marriage, and
in that way the names became changed; for they were the old
veterans.
217
There is another thing that brother Joseph said--viz., that we
were positively heirs of the Priesthood; for he had seen us as
such in his vision; yes, just as much so as my children are that
have been born since I received my endowment. Our fathers were
heirs to that Priesthood, which was handed down from father to
son, and we came through that lineage.
217
Never mind, brethren and sisters, give me your attention a little
while. The gentleman that came to the stand with brother Brigham
is Thomas B. Marsh. I tell you this, that you need not be
over-anxious.
217
Joseph told us these things, and I know them to be true. I know
them by the revelations of Jesus Christ, and so do a great many
men. We are and we were heirs when we were called and ordained to
the Apostleship: we were of that class; yes, we were the sons and
daughters of those that came down through that lineage.
217
We will yet save the Constitution of the United States. We will
do it, as the Lord liveth, and we will save this nation, every
one of them that will be saved. Brother Brigham Young and brother
Joseph Smith stand at our head, and will do that thing, as the
Lord liveth. Yes, we, as their children, with our children to
assist us, will do it. We have got that power, and so have they,
and will bear the kingdom off victoriously to every nation that
is upon God's footstool; and I know it.
217
Let your hearts be comforted; for just as sure as that is rue, so
sure will we have good peace for three years from last winter.
And why? Because we will make peace, and we will sustain it and
support it, and we will bear off the kingdom and establish it. We
will bring forth every one of those old veterans, and we will
place them upon this land that they fought for. Now, mark it; for
we will do it, and all the devils in hell cannot hinder it, if
this people will only live their religion and do as they are
told; and you cannot do as you are told without living your
religion; and if you will do that, we never shall be troubled.
217
I tell you, if we now live our religion every day, inasmuch as
the President of the United States, or the Senators or
Legislators make laws to afflict us, the thing they design to
bring upon us shall come upon themselves; and the affliction, the
snares, the traps, and the gins which they lay for us, they
themselves shall suffer with and be caught in. These words never
shall fail.
217
Brethren and sisters, can you do as you are told? It is the
easiest thing in the world.
217
[President Brigham Young: "Tell them something to do."]
217
We want some thirty or forty yoke of oxen to go out and meet
James A. Little's company. Do you all say yes?
217
[The congregation responded, "Yes."]
217
To-morrow morning, at seven o'clock, we want forty yoke of cattle
to help in our trains. You, Bishops, see to that, will you?
218
["Yes, Sir."]
218
I tell you we have got enough for you to do: we will call on you
for another hitch by-and-by. Take care of your grain, and have
all the sisters help to take care of it, and do not let the
children waste it; for we do not want you to have enough
scattered round to fat three hogs on the crumbs and pieces of
bread that are around your door yards. Will you do that?
218
[President Young: "I guess they will."]
218
My discourse is rather eccentric. It is in detachments. [Voice.
"That is the way they are building the big ship in London."] That
is right, is it not, brother Carrington?
218
["Yes, Sir."]
218
But let us be attached together, and then we are one; let us
yield up our will, and let it run into the tree or branch to
which we are connected. Yield up your wills.
218
I will compare you to a drop of water; inasmuch as you are not
willing to yield up, you cannot be one. Now, just let us all run
into one drop, and let all the branches be connected to that one
tree; and then will we not increase? We will.
218
Now, as to those enemies down here below, they are not going to
trouble us: the brethren will have to go and help them in. Some
of those baggage waggons are nearly to Bridger now, and they
cannot get back. Their teams are failing fast, and the
supposition is, they will have to hire our teams to help them in,
but the soldiers will not come. There is nobody to molest them,
but their minds are not quiet: they are scared almost to death;
and the nearer those baggage waggons get here, the more they are
afraid.
218
As to the army, one-fifth of them have deserted, and the others
are making preparations to do so likewise. And as to old Harney,
the old squaw-killer, they have made him stop to aid the Governor
of Kansas, and, it is likely, to kick up jack. But we do not care
anything about it or them. Let us lay up our grain and prepare
for the siege, for it will come.
218
We commenced last Sunday to declare that we are a free people,
and we will be free from this day henceforth and for ever; and we
never will come under that yoke again. I tell you, as my soul
lives, the bow-pin has dropped out of old Bright's bow, and the
bow has dropped out, and the yoke is now on old Buck-anan's neck.
218
Did you ever see a yoke of cattle, and see one get loose, and the
off-ox swinging round the yoke and knocking everybody's shins? If
you have, that is just the way with old Buchanan: he cannot do
anything, but he will bruise somebody's shins, and they will be
after him, and he never shall rest again--no, never, until the
time comes for us to redeem him. And that is not all. All his
coadjutors, his cabinet, and all his governors--yes, I will say
from here, or from Dan to Jerusalem--they shall go over the dam:
they never shall rest in peace till the Lord Almighty has
scourged them until they are fully satisfied.
218
The Lord God is going to play with them, as he did with Pharaoh
in Egypt; and let me tell you, there will not be much fighting
for us to do, if we live our religion; but God will use them to
accomplish his own works, as the monkey did the cat, when he took
the cat's paw to pull the nut out of the fire. We will make
monkeys of them, and we will make them crawl on all-fours, and
they never will rest.
219
They have afflicted us ever since the day that Joseph got the
plates. They have driven us five times and broken us up, and here
we are. Have they ever repented? No, they have not. Have they
afflicted us as many as seventy times seven? They have, speaking
of it individually. Well, they are not yet punished as they will
be; but they are in punishment, are they not, Thomas? They are.
Our government is God's government on the earth, and he will see
to the interests of his kingdom. He will know the designs of our
enemies, and he will know at all times to take them when they do
not think of it.
219
The President of this nation and his brethren in office, with all
the rulers and all the priests, have sanctioned the destruction
of this people. Yes, the President and all his coadjutors have
sanctioned our death as much as if they had taken our lives, and
they are a bloodthirsty nation. They have killed our Prophets,
Patriarchs and Apostles, and they have slain, or caused to fall,
thousands--yea, thousands of our brethren and sisters, our wives,
our fathers, and our mothers; and they shall see the same
fulfilled upon themselves, and it shall be measures to them
double for all they have dealt out unto us.
219
When we consider all things, are they not to be pitied? They are.
If you will live your religion, you never will have anything to
do but to live your religion and lay up stores and prepare for
the sceneries that are to come; for, as true as the Lord lives,
the people of the nations will come by hundreds and by thousands
for food, and for raiment, and for protection; and that time is
right at our door.
219
This is one thing to rouse our feelings; for God saw that you
would not listen to the words of his servants, but you listen to
your own words, and you did not have confidence to lay up stores.
There is not one man to a hundred that ever did it; and that is
proof sufficient that you did not believe what was said. This is
but a shadow of what is coming: it is in embryo. You will see
such a time as you never saw. But bless you we won't be troubled.
We will live as in the presence of God and of angels. And will we
ever have to go into the mountains? No, never. If you will live
your religion, you never will.
219
[Voice: "That is true."]
219
Do just as brother Brigham tells you; for he always tells you
what is right, and he generally tells you what I say is right;
and if there is anything wrong, he will correct it and give you
the truth. But do I wish to teach you an error? No; I have not
such a desire in my heart.
219
Had I a desire before I was a "Mormon" to propagate an error? No.
Why, bless you, I always was a "Mormon." My father and
grandfather were "Mormons;" and it is "Mormonism" right away
back.
219
You know brother brigham and I know our daddies; and if no other
men on the face of the earth do, you may feel perfectly satisfied
that all is right with us.
219
Now, let us be faithful, let us be humble, let us lay aside our
pride and everything that is calculated to distress us or to
distress our wives; and then let wives lay aside everything that
is calculated to distress their husbands.
219
Wives, lay aside your vanity, and go to work and make everything
that we need, until the time comes when the Lord will consecrate
the whole earth unto this people. But that time is not now.
219
I do not do as many do; for many have looked at these troops that
are coming with a degree of fear. But what are they? [Voice:
"Scarcely worth picking up."]
219
I wish there would never a pin's worth of their property come in
here, because there are those who think more of a pound of tea
than they do of their religion.
219
[President B. Young: "There are not many of that class."]
220
But there are a few. If there were not, I should feel
discouraged; I should feel to give counsel for you to go to work
and accumulate as fast as you could. Bless your souls! there is
nothing but what we could make here.
220
Need we send to the States for anything? No; we need not send
even for sugar; and we can make almost everything under heaven,
and all the rest is in heaven; and they can be sent down here to
us; for heaven and earth are connected by this Priesthood as much
as my body and spirit are connected. All these things are in
heaven--sugar, flocks and herds, wool and silks, and everything
else; and they are not only in the heavens, but in the earth,
just as much as that pitcher was taken out of the earth. It was
in the earth, and the same kinds are also in the heavens.
220
We can make all these things ourselves; and all we have to do is
to organize the elements that God has created or that he
organized; for he did not crete this earth any more than the
potter created this pitcher. The potter took the rough material
and ground it, and put it on his wheel, and made it just into the
shape you see it now.
220
It was so with our God. The elements were already created, and he
took them and shaped them into an earth; and this is the way that
all things are organized.
220
Can we make silk? I have told you that if you go to work and
raise flax, you should have the privilege, in my lifetime, of
reaping four times as much flax as you ever reaped in the States;
that is, you shall have a fourfold crop.
220
Do I believe that such can be the case with sheep? I know it can;
for we have sheared more wool from the sheep here than we ever
did in the States, and have we not done the same by wheat?
220
I heard brother Brigham and brother Wells speaking of a person
that took from an acre and thirty rods ninety-six bushels and a
half of wheat, and there are others who have taken their
fifty-seven bushels an acre. Why, Thomas, you never saw such
things in the States! God bless you, Thomas! you shall become a
sound man, and be a comfort to us in our old age.
220
Well, I have no feelings in me against any one--not against
brother Marsh; but I feel to bless him with the blessings of God,
with the blessings of the earth, from the crown of your head to
the soles of your feet; for this is my calling, and I do not feel
to curse. But as for our enemies, they have cursed themselves
with all the curses they can bear; and the cursing that are on
them they never can get off, neither can those who sustain them.
The Church and kingdom to which we belong will become the kingdom
of our God and his Christ, and brother Brigham Young will become
President of the United States.
220
[Voices responded, "Amen."]
220
And I tell you he will be something more; but we do not now want
to give him the name: but he is called and ordained to a far
greater station than that, and he is foreordained to take that
station, and he has got it; and I am Vice-President, and brother
Wells is the Secretary of the Interior--yes, and of all the
armies in the flesh.
220
You don't believe that; but I can tell you it is one of the
smallest things that I can think of. You may think that I am
joking; but I am perfectly willing that brother Long should write
every word of it; for I can see it just as naturally as I see the
earth and the productions thereof.
220
Let us live our religion, serve our God, be good and kind one to
another, cease all those contentions in your houses, and live in
peace.
221
Sisters, if you have got husbands, nourish them and cherish them;
for they have got an almighty work to do; they have enough to do
to lay up the comforts of life; and you wives are the women to
nourish them that nourish you; for they feed you, and clothe you,
and give you every mouthful that you eat and drink, and they have
brought you to these valleys of the mountains, that you might see
the sons of Jacob become a mighty host. Good heavens! you may yet
see the day when the sons of Jacob will be ten times thicker than
they now are; and I know it will be so.
221
We will build up Jackson County, and I am going to tell them of
it, with your consent, brother Brigham; and if you do not find
any fault with it, I do not know that anybody else has a right
to.
221
Sisters, love your husbands, and encourage them to listen to
their file leaders and to their officers pertaining to this
Church; for this is their calling, and not to sit down and cry,
snuffle, and find fault with their leaders and the other
authorities in the Church; for there is where so many go over the
dam.
221
Brother Thomas has learned that this won't do. He has said he got
mad with brother Joseph, and then he got mad with brother Brigham
and me, because we did not get mad also, like him. The truth was,
we were so busy, we had no time to get mad. It was nothing to us
what brother Joseph did, and it is just so with you: it is none
of your business what brother Brigham does, though you all know
that he would not do anything wrong. Why, bless you, brother
Brigham would die ten thousand deaths rather than walk one hair
to the right or to the left from that which is right.
221
Well, we are not jealous of you. Do your duty, and you will make
every house and every place a palace, and your homes will be as
the gate of heaven, and a source of joy to your husbands. Of
course you must have a heaven of that which you have made.
221
Why, I would go to work and make an altar and a heaven, and I
never would take any other course than that which is honorable
before God; and how can you live your religion without this?
221
You poor, miserable, disaffected beings, if there are any such
here, learn to do right.
221
Sisters, sustain and comfort your husbands; for they have got
plenty to do in these last days. After we have laid up store and
got seven years' provisions, there will be seven years for us to
be on guard, but never can our enemies touch us if we do right.
221
We are up in the tops of the mountains, and our Governor is here.
What do you say to that? And his God is here, and his associates
are listening.
221
Well, if it is time for the Government of the United States to
cut the thread, we are perfectly competent to take care of
ourselves. We would not give a dime for this people to be one
more in number that they are. There are enough of us; for the
Lord is going to manifest his power and to play with our enemies
as he did with Pharaoh and all his host. Now, mark it, and see if
it does not come so, or something similar. All these things are
in this dispensation, and why? Because this is the fulness of
times: it is the time fixed for all to make a sacrifice before
God.
221
God bless you, and may you receive the blessings of brother
Brigham, brother Heber, brother Daniel, the Twelve Apostles, and
the blessings of the Patriarchs of the living God.
221
Peace be unto this people. Peace be in these valleys and upon the
mountains around us! and peace be upon everything that we
possess! But peace shall not rest upon those who will grumble and
find fault with the servants of God. No; and he or she that will
do it shall be as a barren tree.
221
God bless you and make your minds fruitful, and fill you with
revelation, with dreams, and with the visions of eternity, which
is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / George
Albert Smith, September 13, 1857
George Albert Smith, September 13, 1857
REPORT OF A VISIT TO THE SOUTHERN COUNTRY.
Remarks by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, September 13, 1857.
222
The last time, I believe, brethren and sisters, that I had the
privilege of speaking from this stand, was the day previous to my
starting for the southern country. We were then expecting a visit
from a very formidable force, directly from the State of
Missouri. It waked up in my mind the feelings that I used to
have--say from ten to twenty years ago, in hearing the constant
annoyance of an approaching enemy. And according to the report
which has been published of my remarks, I talked rather strong.
But one thing is evident--if I did not talk strong, it was not
because I did not feel strong on the occasion.
222
I left the next morning and wended my way southward. I visited
the different settlements hurriedly, until I reached Parowan, in
the county of Iron, the place of the first settlement in the
southern part of the Territory. When I arrived there, it appeared
that some rumour or spirit of surprise had reached them; for
there were active operations going on, seemingly preparing for
something that was near at hand. As I drove in at the gate, I
beheld the military on the square exercising, and was immediately
surrounded by the "Iron Battalion," which seemed to have held its
own very well since it was organized in that place.
222
They had assembled together under the impression that their
country was about to be invaded by an army from the United
States, and that it was necessary to make preparation by
examining each other's arms, and to make everything ready by
preparing to strike in any direction and march to such places as
might be necessary in the defence of their homes.
222
As it will be well recollected, I was the President of the
company that first made the settlement there. I was received with
every feeling of enthusiasm, and I never found them in better
spirits. They were willing any moment to touch fire to their
homes, and hide themselves in the mountains, and to defend their
country to the very last extremity.
222
Now, there had been no such preaching as that when I went away;
but the Spirit seemed to burn in my bones to visit all these
settlements in that southern region. Colonel Dame was about
organizing the military of that district under the law of last
winter. As the Colonel was going along to organize the military,
I got into the carriage and went on a mission of peace, to preach
to the people. When I got to Cedar, I found the Battalions on
parade, and the Colonel talked to them and completed the new
organization.
223
On the following day, I addressed the Saints at their
meeting-house. I never had greater liberty of speech to proclaim
to the people my feelings and views; and in spite of all I could
do, I found myself preaching a military discourse; and I told
them, in case of invasion, it might be necessary to set fire to
our property, and hide in the mountains, and leave our enemies to
do the best they could. It seemed to be hailed with the same
enthusiasm that it was at Parowan. That was the same Sabbath that
brother Young was preaching the same kind of doctrine; and I am
perfectly satisfied that all the districts in the southern
country would have given him their unanimous vote.
223
I then want to Harmony. Brother Dame preached to the military,
and I to the civil powers; and I must say that my discourse
partook of the military more than the religious. But it seemed
that I was perfectly running over with it, and hence I had to say
something about it.
223
I then went over a lovely country, and passed over "Peter's
Leap," and some other such lovely places. It is rather rough; but
I could not but admire its extreme beauty; and I think, if the
Lord had got up all the rough, rocky, and the broken fragments of
the earth in one, he might have dropped it down there.
223
When I reached the cotton country, I had previously learned that
they were failing in their attempts to raise cotton, and that the
waters of the Rio Virgin were poisoning the cotton. But I learned
that the seed had not come up: but what had come up, perhaps
one-third of it was exceedingly fine. The difficulty was, that
their cotton was planted very late, and the sun heated the sand;
for the soil is nothing but the red sand of Sahara. They planted
in the sand, as there was nowhere else to plant it, and the sun
was scorching it; but they found that all that was necessary was
to keep the sand wet; and when they poured on the water, the
cotton grew. And old cotton-growers told me that they had never
seen a better prospect for cotton, for the time it had been
planted, in the world; and this is the condition of things in
that country, and the prospect is, that they will have pretty
good cotton and about the third of a crop, and the next year they
will be able to raise lots of cotton; for they will be there
early enough, and have seed that can be depended upon.
223
The corn in Tutse-gabbot's field, which was planted early, was
eighteen feet high. If the sand was not wet, it would all blow
away. The country seemed very hot to me; otherwise, I enjoyed the
visit very well. But the brethren insisted that it was a very
cool spell while I was there.
223
I preached to them in Washington City, and I thank the Lord for
the desert holes that we live in, and for all the land that can
be watered,--in all, amounting to but a few hundred acres. There
are but a few rods wide that can be watered in a place; but I
tell you, when the day comes that the Saints need these hills to
be covered with vegetation, they have only to exercise faith, and
God will turn them into fruitful fields.
223
We started from Washington in the night, and the brethren told
me, if I had seen the roads, I would not travel them. But I told
them I did not want to see the roads; for I was determined to go
ahead.
223
We travelled ten miles, and camped by a small spring, called
"Allen's Spring." Some Indians took our horses. We told them we
were afraid they would get into some corn-fields. They told us
they would put them where they would get plenty to eat and do no
mischief. The Indians brought our horses early in the morning,
and we arrived at "Jacob's Wikeup," as the Indians call Fort
Clara, about nine o'clock, and found their crops suffering for
want of water. I saw beautiful indigo, cotton, and corn; and the
stalks of the corn were perfectly dry, while the ears were green
and fit to boil.
224
We also had a glorious interview in this, as in other places,
with the natives of the desert. We remained there through the
heat of the day, and then proceeded down "Jacob's Twist," (a
magnificent kanyon,) to where the California road joins the Santa
Clara, and then followed up the Santa Clara in the dark of the
night--a river upon whose banks many scenes of desperation have
been enacted.
224
About ten o'clock at night, we were surrounded by some hundreds
of the natives that were anxious we should stop over night. They
took care of our horses, built us camp-fires, and roasted us
corn, and made us as comfortable as they could; and I never ate
better corn or better melons in my life. We stopped over night
with them, and not one of them asked me for a thing; which is
remarkable, as the Indians are intolerable beggars. But I was
treated as well as if I had been among the Saints, and I never
enjoyed a treat better.
224
We pursued our visit to the Mountain Meadows, and there were
kindly treated by the families of the missionaries, who lived at
this place on account of the abundant grass for their stock. I
then went to Penter, and there addressed a houseful of people in
the evening, and then proceeded to Cedar the next day. They had
heard they were going to have an army of 600 dragoons come down
from the east on to the town. The Major seemed very sanguine
about the matter. I asked him, if this rumour should prove true,
if he was not going to wait for instructions. He replied, There
was no time to wait for any instruction; and he was going to take
his battalion and use them up before they could get down through
the kanyons; for, said he, if they are coming here, they are
coming for no good.
224
I admired his grit, but I thought he would not have the privilege
of using them up, for want of an opportunity. I also visited the
Saints at Paragoonah and preached to them, and in every place
felt the same spirit. I then came over to Beaver, which is a new
settlement; and the day previous, an Indian came in and told them
there were shod horses' tracks at a spring over the big mountains
about twenty miles to the east.
224
Major Farnsworth, supposing that there was a body of men in the
neighbourhood, and that these were the tracks of the scouts, they
immediately went over the mountains and traced the horses'
tracks, until they ascertained they came from Parowan. I do not
know whether the inhabitants of Parowan intended to whip a
regiment of dragoons, or not; but it is certain they are wide
awake, and are not going to be taken by surprise. There was only
one thing that I dreaded, and that was a spirit in the breasts of
some to wish that their enemies might come and give them a chance
to fight and take vengeance for the cruelties that had been
inflicted upon us in the States. They did feel that they hated to
owe a debt and not be able to pay it, and they felt like an old
man that lives in Provo, brother Jameson, who has carried a few
ounces of lead in his body ever since the Haun's Mill massacre in
Missouri; and he wants to pay it back with usury; and he
undertook to preach at Provo, and prayed that God would send them
along; for he wanted to have a chance at them.
225
Now, I never felt so; but I do not know but it is on account of
my extreme timidity; for I would a great deal rather the Lord
would fight the battles than me; and I feel to pray that he will
punish them with that hell which is to want to and can't; and it
is my prayer and wish all the time that this may be their doom.
This is what I want to inculcate all the time; and at the same
time, if the Lord brings us in collision with them, and it is his
will, let us take hold--not in the spirit of revenge or anger,
but simply to avenge God of his enemies and to protect our homes
and fire-sides. But I am perfectly aware that all the settlements
I visited in the south, Fillmore included, one single sentence is
enough to put every man in motion. In fact, a word is enough to
set in motion every man, or set a torch to every building, where
the safety of this people is jeopardized.
225
I have understood that there are half-a-dozen fellows in Provo
that have but one wife each, and that they are not for fighting,
because they say this trouble has come on account of plurality.
Well, I pity them, because I know the women will leave them, and
that it would not be but a few days before there would be so many
broken-hearted, disconsolate men; for the women among the
Latter-day Saints will not live with such men.
225
I have rejoiced and enjoyed myself on this visit to the south as
much as at any time; for I perceive a hearty willingness to do
and sacrifice anything that was required for the preservation of
Zion; and whenever I got up to preach, I was full, and it seemed
as if I could not stop; and before I got through, I would be
tired.
225
I will say to the brethren and sisters, that I feel to return to
my heavenly Father my thanks that he has thus far frustrated the
designs of our enemies; and I know that he has got the power to
wield and frustrate them at his will; and I know, if we are
humble and united, and moved upon by the right Spirit, God will
fight our battles. And if any of us are called to lay down our
lives in the defence of our religion, God will save us in
celestial glory, and he will preserve us, though all the world be
against us.
225
[President B. Young: "That is true."]
225
These are my feelings, and this is my faith. No matter what day
or hour we are called to go into the presence of our Father in
heaven: for every man and woman that has not got a religion that
is worth more than their mortal lives, and unless we are willing
to sacrifice all that pertains to these temporal feelings, we are
not worthy of salvation.
225
Why, there was an honest Dutchman came to me this morning, and he
had just heard that the President had concluded to let the
soldiers in here. His heart had sunk within him at the thought,
and "Oh! says he, "can I live to see those troops come in here?"
He can live through a great many things besides that. God will
protect his people, and he will fight their battles; and if he
wants a little help, I presume that he will find us ready.
225
I have preached to the brethren to live their religion, and
"trust in God and keep their powder dry." I borrowed it from
Cromwell. Be ready to defend Israel; and when we have done all we
can, the Lord will do the balance. Why, say the world, it is
presumption for you to talk so. Uncle Sam has twenty-five
millions of people, and 100,000,000 of surplus money in the
treasury, and thousands of men in the country that are aching to
be killed. We used to talk to them in this way when we lived down
in their midst; and then, when it came to the sticking point, we
would bow to them; and what did we get by it? Brother Taylor told
you that a thousands had suffered in consequence.
225
I tell you, we have suffered more waste of life and property than
we will to face the music; and let them do their cursedest, and
then every honest Dutchman and every man will get all he wants;
and many of us Yankees will get many of our dirty tricks purged
and pruned out of us: and our picayunary will vanish; it will all
fail; for everything that we have in our hearts that is not right
will be purged out; for our interest will be centred in the
kingdom of God.
226
When I was back in Washington last season, I had a long
conversation with Senator Douglas; and he is a kind of
personification of modern democracy--very thick, but not very
long. He asked a great many questions about our Temple, and I
gave him a description of the foundation, and he asked me if I
expected we would ever be able to accomplish it? The manner he
communicated it was to show that he had his eye upon another
thing than that which he alluded to; but I realised then just as
well as I did when I read his proposition to "cut out the
loathsome ulcer." I said to him, "O Judge, we are not a little
handful, as we were in Nauvoo: we can now do anything we have a
mind to."
226
Some of our national statesmen profess to be Christians and
wonderfully pious. Mr. Morill, of Vermont, said to me, "Your
domestic relations are so at variance with sacred books!" Why,
said I, the Father of the faithful, our father Abraham, seemed to
have the same view of the matter that we do. "Oh," says he,
"Abraham was guilty of a great many eccentric tricks." "Eccentric
as he might be," I replied, "it is in his bosom that all
Christians expect to rest; and we do not expect that he is going
to kick his wives out to please anybody."
226
Many people do not know why it is that they feel so enraged
against us. I found in taking with hundreds and thousands of
persons, in the course of our travels, that there was a
deep-rooted spirit of hatred; and in taking of this I found that
my reasons were superior to theirs; and they felt it and realized
it, and my conversation seemed to suit and carry a good
influence.
226
Our Elders have preached the Gospel freely throughout the world,
and they have tarred and feathered them and put them to death. If
they could have defeated them by arguments, all well enough: but
no,--these weapons proved ineffectual, and they tried mobs and
violence; and now they array the armies of the United States
against us, that under their wings they may send missionaries
among us to convert our souls. Poor cursed slinks! Do not they
know that we were raised among them in the very hot-bed of
sectarian bigotry, and that we know all that the priests know
about their religion, and ten thousand times more?
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, September 13, 1857
Brigham Young, September 13, 1857
THE UNITED STATES' ADMINISTRATION AND UTAH ARMY.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, September 13, 1857.
227
Before the meeting closes, I want to make a few remarks. My
feelings are so complicated that I want to say a few words, and I
do not want to; I want to talk, and I do not want to talk. You
recollect hearing one of the Elders state upon the stand, not
long since, that he came into the Church mad, and had been mad
ever since. And I am too angry this morning to preach.
227
I have been in this kingdom a good while--twenty-five years and
upwards, and I have been driven from place to place; my brethren
have been driven, my sisters have been driven; we have been
scattered and peeled, and every time without any provocation upon
our part, only that we were united, obedient to the laws of the
land, and striving to worship God. Mobs repeatedly gathered
against this people, but they never had any power to prevail
until Governors issued their orders and called out a force under
the letter of the law, but breaking the spirit, to hold the
"Mormons" still while infernal scamps cut their throats. I have
had all that before me through the night past, and it makes me
too angry to preach. Also to see that we are in a Government
whose administrators are always trying to injure us, while we are
constantly at the defiance of all hell to prove any just grounds
for their hostility against us; and yet they are organizing their
forces to come here, and protect infernal scamps who are anxious
to come and kill whom they please, destroy whom they please, and
finally exterminate the "Mormons."
227
I did not arrive till late; and brother Taylor was then preaching
upon this subject, and I was glad of it. He has taught you good
principles. This people are free; they are not in bondage to any
government on God's footstool. We have transgressed no law, and
we have no occasion to do so, neither do we intend to; but as for
any nation's coming to destroy this people, God Almighty being my
helper, they cannot come here. [The congregation responded by a
loud Amen.] That is my feeling upon that point.
228
On the 24th of July last, a number of us went to Big Cottonwood
Kanyon, to pass the anniversary of our arrival into this Valley.
Ten years ago the 24th of July last, a few of the Elders arrived
here, and began to plough and to pant seeds, to raise food to
sustain themselves. Whist speaking to the brethren on that day, I
said, inadvertently, If the people of the United States will let
us alone for ten years, we will ask no odds of them; and ten
years from that very day, we had a message by brothers Smoot,
Stoddard, and Rockwell, that the Government had stopped the mail,
and that they had ordered 2,500 troops to come here and hold the
"Mormons" still, while priests, politicians, speculators,
whoremongers, and every mean, filthy character that could be
raked up should come here and kill off the "Mormons," I did not
think about what I had said ten years ago, till I heard that the
President of the United States had so unjustly ordered troops
here; and then I said, when my former expression came to my mind,
In the name of Israel's God, we ask no odds of them.
228
I do not often get angry; but when I do, I am righteously angry;
and the bosom of the Almighty burns with anger towards those
scoundrels; and they shall be consumed, in the name of Israel's
God. We have borne enough of their oppression and hellish abuse,
and we will not bear any more of it; for there is no just law
requiring further forbearance on our part. And I am not going to
have troops here to protect the priests and a hellish rabble in
efforts to drive us from the land we possess; for the Lord does
not want us to be driven, and has said, "if you will assert your
rights, and keep my commandments, you shall never again be
brought into bondage by your enemies."
228
The officer in command of the United States' army, on its way to
Utah, detailed one of his staff, Captain Van Vliet, who is now on
the stand, to come here and earn whether he could procure the
necessary supplies for the army. Many of you are already aware of
this, and some of you have been previously acquainted with the
Captain. Captain Van Vliet visited us in Winter Quarters (now
Florence); and, if I remember correctly, he was then officiating
as Assistant-Quartermaster. He is again in our midst in the
capacity of Assistant-Quartermaster. From the day of his visit to
Winter Quarters, many of this people have become personally
acquainted with him, both through casual intercourse with and
working for him. He has invariably treated them kindly, as he
would a Baptist, a Methodist, or any other person; for that is
his character. He has always been found to be free and frank, and
to be a man that wishes to do right; and no doubt he would deal
out justice to all, if he had the power. Many of you have
laboured for him, and found him to be a kind, good man; and I
understand that he has much influence in the army, through his
kind treatment to the soldiers. He treats them as human beings,
while there are those who treat them worse than brute beasts.
229
Well, the enquiry is, "What is the news? What is the conclusion?"
It is this--We have to trust in God. I am not in the least
concerned as to the result, if we put our trust in God. The
administrators of our Government have issued orders for marching
troops and expending much treasure, and all predicated upon
falsehoods, while every honourable man would have first made an
economical and peaceful enquiry into the circumstances. And even
now, every honourable man would use all his influence to avert
the present unjust and entirely groundless movement against us;
but Captains, Majors, Colonels, and other subordinate officers
have not the power. Wicked persons, solely for the accomplishment
of their unhallowed schemes, have had the power to array the
Government against us, through their lying and misrepresentation;
but citizens, unorganized into cliques and parties, no matter how
good their intentions and wishes, have not the power to avert the
bow when the Administration of our Government is arrayed against
us, unless they will also unite against the few well-organized
scoundrels who are plundering our treasury and fast urging our
country to dissolution. We have got to protect ourselves by the
strength of our God. Do not be concerned in the least with regard
to all the affairs that are before you; for we shall live and
grow finely, as said a certain woman, who weighed but two pounds
when an infant, and was put in a quart cup. Upon being asked
whether she lived, "O yes," she said, "I lived and grew finely."
It will also be said of the Latter-day Saints, "They lived and
grew finely."
229
You are taught from Sabbath to Sabbath what to do; and if you do
that, all will be well. There is only one thing to fear, and that
is, that you will not be faithful to the kingdom of God. We have
that kingdom; and it will spread its balmy wings over thousands
and millions who have not yet heard the Gospel, and they will
find Israel to be "the head, and not the tail."
229
What is the cause of the hostile feeling against this people?
Brother Taylor has been telling you. God has restored the Gospel
of salvation to earth again. That unites the hearts of the
people, brings together those of different nations,
notwithstanding their various traditions and their different
manners and customs, and makes them of one heart and of one mind.
And what follows? All hell is moved against them, because the
kingdoms of this world--the kingdoms of darkness--are in danger.
A hell is moved against this people, because we are of one heart
and of one mind.
229
The faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is calculated to unite
the people in one, and to bring them back to the unity and faith
of those who obeyed the Gospel anciently, and finally to bring
them back to glory. Then do you wonder that all the sects of the
day are enraged against us? I have told you that I do not wonder;
neither do I wonder that governors and rulers are enraged at our
success. Are there any Democrats, any Whigs, any Methodists, any
Baptists, or anything like the parties and sects of the day among
us? No. What is there? Those who want to do the will of their
Father in heaven; and when they can know his will, their faith is
one, their hope is one, and they are one in all things.
229
It is not alone the United States that is in fear because of the
union that exists with this people, but all Europe trembles this
day in consequence of the faith there is here. Some may think
that it is not so; but I know more about the United States than
men do who come here direct from Washington. I red their history
and their feelings every day. You need not think that the world
are not opposed to us--you need not think that politicians are
not opposed to us, for they are.
229
We have sent a delegate to Congress during the past six years,
and has there ever been an opposing vote in his election? No. The
people only want to know who the right man is, and then they will
support him. Dr. Bernhisel is our delegate; and has it cost him
thousands of dollars to gain his election? No; it has not cost
him a singe dollar; no, not so much as a red cent. We think that
he is the most suitable man for us to send to Washington, and we
say, "Let us send him," and he is unanimously elected. And if we
had a thousand officers to elect--if we had to elect the
President of the United States, you would never see a dissenting
vote.
229
Parties in our Government have no better idea than to think the
republic stands all the firmer upon opposition; but I say that it
is not so. A republican Government consists in letting the people
rule by their united voice, without a dissension,--in learning
what is for the best, and unitedly doing it. That is true
republicanism.
230
Do not be angry. I will permit you to be as angry as I am. Do not
get so angry that you cannot pray: do not allow yourselves to
become so angry that you cannot feed an enemy--even your worst
enemy, if an opportunity should present itself. There is a wicked
anger, and there is a righteous anger. The Lord does not suffer
wicked anger to be in his heart; but there is anger in his bosom,
and he will hold a controversy with the nations, and will sift
them, and no power can stay his hand.
230
The Government of our country will go by the board through its
own corruptions, and no power can save it. If we can avert the
bow for another season, it is probable that our enemies will have
enough to attend to at home, without worrying the Latter-day
Saints. Have faith, and all will be well with us. I would like
this people to have faith enough to turn away their enemies. I
have prayed fervently about this matter; for it has been said
that the troops would come: but I have said that, if my faith
will prevent it, they shall not come. If God will turn them
whithersoever he will, so that they do not come here, I shall be
perfectly satisfied. But another man steps up, and says to the
one that prays for our enemies to be turned away, "Brother, you
are a coward; damn them, let them come, for I want fight to
them." Herein you perceive a conflict in our faith; and that
should not be. If there was a perfect union of our faith, our
enemies could never cross the Rocky Mountains; or, if they
undertook to come some other way, they never could cross the
Sierra Nevada Mountains, nor the Basin Rim, on our north, nor the
deserts at the south. But, says one, "I want to fight." Do all
such persons know that they are not right? If they will examine
their hearts, they will find a wicked anger and a malice there;
and they cannot get into the kingdom of God with those feelings.
230
Learn to control yourselves; earn to be in the hands of God as
clay in the hands of the potter; and if he will turn our enemies
away, praised be his name. But if it should become a duty to take
the sword, let us do it, manfully and in the strength of Israel's
God. Then one will chase a thousand, and two will put ten
thousand to flight." The day will be in which a man will go out
and say to an army of a hundred thousand men, "Do thus, and so,
or we are upon you;" and they will hear the rumbling of chariots
and the rushing of troops, as in the days of Elijah.
230
You recollect of a Prophet's telling what bread and meal should
be sold for in a straitened city the following day. The enemy
thought that there were millions of the Israelites after them,
for they heard the rolling of chariot-wheels, the clashing of
armour, and the trampling of horses, and they fled. The Prophet
had told the king that he would be trodden to death in the gate,
and he was; and a measure of meal was sold in the city for a
penny, in fulfilment of the word of the Lord. The doctrines of
salvation are the same now as they were in the days of Adam, or
Elijah, or Jesus, when he was upon the earth.
230
While brother Taylor was speaking of the sectarian world, it
occurred to my mind that the wicked do not know any more than the
dumb brutes, comparatively speaking; but it is our business to
hunt up and gather out all the honest portion of the nations of
the earth, and give them salvation. We may very properly say that
the sectarian world do not know anything correctly, so far as
pertains to salvation. Ask them where heaven is?--where they are
going to when they die?--where Paradise is?--and there is not a
priest in the world that can answer your questions. Ask them what
kind of a being our Heavenly Father is, and they cannot tell you
so much as Balaam's ass told him. They are more ignorant than
children.
231
We have the knowledge of those things; and we have the greatest
reason to be thankful of any people upon the face of the earth.
If others ought to do right, we more. Be full of love and
compassion to your fellowbeings, full of kindness, such as human
beings can possess, for that is our business. The only business
that we have on hand is to build up the kingdom of God and
prepare the way of the Son of Man.
231
If you do your duty in this respect, you need not be afraid of
mobs, nor of forces sent out in violation of the very genius of
our free institutions, holding you till mobs kill you. Mobs? Yes;
for where is there the least particle of authority, either in our
Constitution or laws, for sending troops here, or even for
appointing civil officers contrary to the voluntary consent of
the governed? We came here without any help from our enemies, and
we intend to stay as long as we please.
231
They say that their army is legal, and I say that such a
statement is as false as hell, and that they are as rotten as an
old pumpkin that has been frozen seven times and then melted in a
harvest sun. Come on with your thousands of illegally-ordered
troops, and I will promise you, in the name of Israel's God, that
you shall melt away as the snow before a July sun.
231
There is one thing that I want, for the satisfaction of Captain
Van Vliet. One of our old senators, Stephen A. Douglas, recently
said before his constituents in Illinois, that nine-tenths of our
people were aliens. We have a larger proportion of foreigners in
this city than in any other part of the Territory, and there are
a good many here to-day who have just come in from the Plains. I
want those who are native born and naturalized American citizens
to raise their right hands. [Over two-thirds of the congregation
raised their hands.] You who have not yet received your
naturalization papers will please manifest it in the same way.
[Less than a third of the congregation raised their hands.] Now,
Captain, you can see for yourself that over two-thirds of this
congregation are either native born or naturalized American
citizens.
231
I have called this vote that Captain Van Vliet may be able to do
as he always does--speak the truth boldly, and tell them of it
next winter in Washington; and that he can, if he sees Senator
Douglas in Washington, tell him that his statement was false, for
he has seen for himself.
231
If it were any use, I would ask whether there is ONE person in
this congregation who wants to go to the United States; but I
know that I should not find any. But I will pledge myself that if
there is a man, woman, or child that wants to go back to the
States, if they will pay their debts, and not steal anything,
they can go; and if they are poor and honest, we will help them
to go. That has been my well-known position all the time.
231
Brother Taylor has said that he bantered the United States for a
trade, and promised them that if they would send all to Utah that
wanted to come, we would send all to the States that wanted to
go. We would get our thousands to their one, if they would make
that trade. But no--they must keep on lying, howling, and trying
to oppress and kill the innocent.
231
When some want away last spring, I told them to go in peace, and
they did so. What are they doing now? Many of them are struggling
to get back, and the rest are wishing that they had never left
here. It is a kind of dear business to apostatize every year. I
would rather stick to the old ship Zion.
232
When I was written to in Nauvoo by the President of the United
States, through another person, enquiring, "Where are you going,
Mr. Young?" I replied that I did not know where we should land.
We had men in England trying to negotiate for Vancouver's Island,
and we sent a shipload of Saints round Cape Horn to California.
Men in authority asked, "Where are you going to?" "We may go to
California, or to Vancouver's Island." When the Pioneer company
reached Green River, we met Samuel Brannan and a few others from
California, and they wanted us to go there. I remarked, "Let us
go to California, and we cannot stay there over five years; but
let us stay in the mountains, and we can raise our own potatoes,
and eat them; and I calculate to stay here." We are still on the
backbone of the animal, where the bone and the sinew are, and we
intend to stay here, and all hell cannot help themselves.
232
We are not to be persecuted as we have been. We can say, "Come as
a mob, and we can sweeten you up right suddenly." They never did
anything against Joseph till they had ostensibly legalized a mob;
and I shall treat every army and every armed company that
attempts to come here as a mob. [The congregation responded,
"Amen."] You might as well tell me that you can make hell into a
powder-house as to tell me that you could let an army in here and
have peace; and I intend to tell them and show them this, if they
do not keep away. By taking this course, you will find that every
man and woman feels happy, and they say, "All is right, all is
well;" and I say that our enemies shall not slip the bow on "Old
Bright's neck" again.
232
God bless you. Amen.
232
MOVEMENTS OF THE SAINTS' ENEMIES.--THE CRISIS.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, September 13, 1857.
232
A would like very well to hear some of the rest of the brethren
speak, if I had entirely got over being angry and had patience to
sit and hear. I think, however, that I shall be able to calm and
control my feelings, though I do not expect to become entirely
settled until the affairs around me are settled.
232
It is a pretty bold stand for this people to take, to say that
they will not be controlled by the corrupt administrators of our
General Government. We will be controlled by them, if they will
be controlled by the Constitution and laws; but they will not.
Many of them do not care any more about the Constitution and the
laws that they make than they do about the laws of another
nation. That class trample the rights of the people under their
feet, while there are also many who would like to honour them.
All we have ever asked for is our constitutional rights. We wish
the laws of our Government honoured, and we have ever honoured
them; but they are trampled under foot by administrators.
233
There cannot be a more damnable, dastardly order issued than was
issued by the Administration to this people while they were in an
Indian country, in 1846. Before we left Nauvoo, not less than two
United States' senators came to receive a pledge from us that we
would leave the United States; and then, while we were doing our
best to leave their borders, the poor, low, degraded curses sent
a requisition for five hundred of our men to go and fight their
battles! That was President Polk; and he is now weltering in hell
with old Zachary Taylor, where the present administrators will
soon be, if they do not repent.
233
Liars have reported that this people have committed treason; and
upon their lies, the President has ordered out troops to aid in
officering this Territory: and if those officers are like many
who have previously been sent here, (and we have reason to
believe that they are, or they would not come when they know they
are not wanted,) they are poor, miserable blacklegs, brokendown
political hacks, robbers, and whoremongers--men that are not fit
for civilized society; so they must dragoon them upon us for
officers. I feel that I won't bear such cursed treatment, and
that is enough to say; for we are just as free as the mountain
air.
233
I do not lift my voice against the great and glorious Government
guaranteed to every citizen by our Constitution, but against
those corrupt administrators who trample the Constitution and
just laws under their feet. They care no more about them than
they do about the Government of France; but they walk them under
their feet with impunity. And the most of the characters they
have sent here as officers cared no more about the laws of our
country and of this Territory than they did about the laws of
China, but walked them under their feet with all the recklessness
of despots.
233
I do not want to be angry, nor to have my feelings wrought up;
but I cannot keep quiet under the continued outrageous tyranny of
the wicked.
233
I have said that if the brethren will have faith, the Lord will
fight our battles, and we will have the privilege of living here
in peace. I have counted the cost to this people of a collision
with our enemies; but I cannot begin to count the cost it will be
to them.
233
I have told you that if this people will live their religion, all
will be well; and I have told you that if there is any man or
woman that is not willing to destroy anything and everything of
their property that would be of use to an enemy, if left, I
wanted them to go out of the Territory; and I again say so
to-day; for when the time comes to burn and lay waste our
improvements, if any man undertakes to shield his, he will be
sheared down; for "judgment will be laid to the line and
righteousness to the plummet." Now the faint-hearted can go in
peace; but should that time come, they must not interfere. Before
I will suffer what I have in times gone by, there shall not be
one building, nor one foot of lumber, nor a stick, nor a tree,
nor a particle of grass and hay, that will burn, left in reach of
our enemies. I am sworn, if driven to extremity, to utterly lay
waste, in the name of Israel's God.
234
I know that the Saints, both the brethren and sisters, pay that
our enemies may not come here; for their entrance is designed by
our Government to be the prelude to the introduction of
abominations and death. And you cannot talk to a brother, or even
to a sister, but that she will tell you that, if she consents in
her feelings to have our enemies come here, she feels
uncomfortable, and her heart sinks within her. If I consent in my
feelings to have them come here, my heart sinks within me, my
buoyant spirits are gone, and I have no comfort; for I know the
hellish designs concealed under the present movement. But we are
free, and every man says, "Stand by the kingdom." When this is
the case, every man is like a troop; they are like lions.
234
Admit of corrupt administrators sending troops here, and what
would be the result? All hell would follow after. I naturally
dislike to have any trouble, and would not, were I not obliged
to; but we are obliged to defend ourselves against the
persecution of our oppressors, or have our constitutional rights
rent from us, and have ourselves destroyed. We must either suffer
that, or stand up and maintain the kingdom of God on the earth.
234
We have known all the time that the kingdoms of darkness were
opposed to the kingdom of God--that the powers of earth and hell
were combined against it. Christ and Baal cannot make friends
with each other: you cannot mix oil and water, righteousness and
wickedness. This is the kingdom of God; all others are of Devil.
They never can be united in this world, nor in any other: there
is no possibility of the two kingdoms becoming one. Those who
believe and obey the Gospel of the Son of God, and forsake all
for its interests, belong to the kingdom of God, and all the rest
belong to the other kingdom. There is a distinction, and the line
must be drawn; and you and I have to stand up to it, even though
it may take from us our right eyes and right hands. We must stand
up to the line and maintain the kingdom of God, or we will all go
to destruction together.
234
I am perfectly willing that the brethren should stop all
improvements, if they choose, and spend a few years in seeing
what our enemies will do; though their efforts against us will
only tend to use them up the faster. If the people prefer it,
they may stop their improvements and take care of their wheat,
and cache a supply of grain, flour, &c., where no other persons
can find it; though we can raise train here all the time,--yes,
all the time.
234
Suppose that our enemies send 50,000 troops here, they will have
to transport all that will be requisite to sustain them over one
winter; for I will promise them, before they come, that there
shall not be one particle of forage, nor one mouthful of food for
them, should they come. They will have to bring all their
provisions and forage; and though they start their teams with as
heavy loads as they can draw, there is no team that can bring
enough to sustain itself, to say nothing of the men. If there
were no more men here than there are in the Seminole nation, our
enemies never could use us up; but they could use up themselves,
which they will do. The Seminoles--a little tribe of a few
hundred in Florida--have cost our government, I suppose, in the
neighbourhood of 100,000,000 dollars; and they are no nearer
being conquered than when the war commenced. And what few have
removed have been induced to do so by compromise; and it would be
far cheapest for the Government to pay the debts they honestly
owe us, and leave us unmolested in the peaceful enjoyment of our
rights.
234
Would not our enemies feel well in going to the kanyons for wood
the first night to cook their suppers with? The idea puts me in
mind of an anecdote told by one Brown about the man who took the
first barrel of whisky up the Missouri river on a log-raft.
234
They might stay amid blackened desolation till they had ate up
what they had brought, and then they would have to go back.
235
It has been asked, "Have you counted the cost?" Yes, for
ourselves; but I cannot begin to count it for our enemies. It
will cost them all they have in this world, and will land them in
hell in the world to come, while the only trouble with us is that
we have two or three times more men than we need for using up all
who can come here to deprive us of our rights.
235
As I said this morning, ten years ago on this ground I stated
that we would not ask any odds of our enemies in ten years from
that date; and the next time that I thought of it was ten years
afterwards to a day. "They are now sending their troops" was the
news; and it directly occurred to me, "Will you ask any odds of
them?" No; in the name of Israel's God we will not; for as soon
as we ask odds, we get ends--of bayonets. When we have asked them
for bread, they have given us stones; and when we have asked them
for meat, they have given us scorpions; and what is the use in
asking any more? I do not ask any odds of those who are striving
to deprive us of every vestige of freedom and to destroy us from
the earth.
235
Suppose that we should now bow down, and they should order their
troops back, and then send a Governor and other officers here,
how long would it be before some miserable scamp would get into a
fuss with the Indians in Utah County, or in some other county,
and get killed? Then the Governor would order out the
Militia--probably two or three hundred men--to kill off those
Indians. Well, the brethren, knowing that the aggressor is a
white man, do not want to turn out and, like Gen. Harney, kill
the squaws; and they say, "We shall not go." Then the Governor
would say, "They have committed treason;" and it would be, "Send
an army here, and shoot and hang them." Our enemies are
determined to bring us into collision with the Government, so
that they can kill us; but they shall not come here.
235
If the troops are now this side of Laramie, remember that the
Sweetwater is this side of that place. They must have some place
to winter, for they cannot come through here this season. We
could go out and use them up, and it would not require fifty men
to do it. But probably we shall not have occasion to take that
course, for we do not want to kill men. They may winter in peace
at some place east of us; but when spring comes, they must go
back to the States, or, at any rate, they must leave the
mountains.
235
We have no desire to kill men, but we wish to keep the devils
from killing us. If you hear that they are near the upper
crossing of the Platte, they will probably stay there till they
can collect 50.000 troops. We will say that 9 and 3 equal 17; and
if that is so, how long will it take to get those troops here?
Let an arithmetician figure out how long it will be before 9 and
3 will make 17; for that will just be as soon as our enemies will
get 50,000 troops here.
235
We have got to be called treasoners by our enemies. Joseph was
taken up six times, if I remember rightly, on the charge of
treason. Once he was brought into court by some enemies who
thought they could prove that he had committed adultery, and that
they termed treason. At another time our brethren wanted to vote
in Davies County, Missouri, and said they would cast their votes
and have their rights with other citizens; whereupon Joseph was
taken up for treason. Another time, he was taken up on a charge
of high treason; and when he came before the grand jury, his
enemies wanted to prove that he had more than one wife, asserting
that that was high treason.
236
Our enemies are constantly yelling "Rebellion! treason!" no
matter how peaceful, orderly, and loyal we may be. And now to
come out in open opposition to their cursed, corrupt practices,
will of course be counted treason. But let me tell you that the
real, actual treason is committed in Washington, by the
administrators of our Government sending an army to take the
lives of innocent citizens. Every man is allowed by the
Constitution to have what religion he pleases and to profess what
religion he pleases. That liberty is guaranteed by the
Constitution; "but you, 'Mormons,' an army must be sent against
you, because you are Latter-day Saints." Yes, an army must be
sent to drive us from the earth.
236
There is high treason in Washington; and if the law was carried
out, it would hang up many of them. And the very act of James K.
Polk in taking five hundred of our men, while we were making our
way out of the country under an agreement forced upon us, would
have hung him between the heavens and the earth, if the laws had
been faithfully executed. And now, if they can send a force
against this people, we have every constitutional and legal right
to send them to hell, and we calculate to send them there.
236
When I get over being angry, I may preach something else; but the
past travels and sufferings of this people through mobocracy are
before me.
236
I am not speaking of the Government, but of the corrupt
administrators of the Government. They make me think of a sign in
New York, upon which was lettered, "All manner of twisting and
turning done here." It is just so in Washington city; they can
twist and turn in any and every way, to suit their hellish
appetites.
236
Were I an officer sent to Utah for the purpose of aiding the
unhallowed oppression of the innocent, (and in this connection I
disclaim all personalities,) I would know the facts in the case
before I would make any hostile move; and sooner than side with
tyranny and murder, I would resign my commission, and say, "Take
it and stick it in your boot, and go to hell, and I will go my
way." And I would rather go and raise my own potatoes for my
wives and children than to hold office under such a set of
administrators and bow down to their wicked designs; though, if I
were of the world, I should probably do as the rest do.
236
I have already told you that the main cause of an army being now
sent here is a political scheme for the purpose of getting money
out of the United States treasury. Politicians and traders
combine to lay plans, no matter how devilish, for getting their
hands into the treasury of the United States, that they may have
money with which to sow corruption and gratify their debauched
natures.
236
Some men do not realize what they are doing. I said, a few weeks
ago, that the deeds of some men are out of sight. Our merchants
here have fanned the flame, and what for? To peddle off my blood
and yours for gold and silver. Although that design may have been
out of their sight, yet such is the case; but they will not make
money by the operation. Should the crisis come, they will find
themselves in poor pasture, with nothing but greasewood and sage
to feed upon. It will not do for them to sell us for money; for
we are worth more than the Methodist society was sold for in
Canada, where they were sold at three cents a head.
237
I am aware that you will want to know what will be the result of
the present movement against us. "Mormonism" will take an
almighty stride into influence and power, while our enemies will
sink and become weaker and weaker, and be no more; and I know it
just as well now as I shall five years hence. The Lord Almighty
wants a name and a character; and he will show our enemies that
he is God, and that he has set to his hand again to gather
Israel, and to try our faith and integrity. And he is saying,
"Now, you, my children, dare you take a step to promote
righteousness, in direct and open opposition to the popular
feelings of all the wicked in your Government? If you do, I will
fight your battles."
237
Our enemies had better count the cost; for if they continue to
job, they will want to let it out to sub-contractors, before they
get half through with it. If they persist in sending troops here,
I want the people in the west and in the east to understand that
it will not be safe for them to cross the Plains.
237
It has cost the Government hundreds of thousands of dollars more
for the Indians in other territories than it has in this; and I
have saved the Government hundreds of thousands of dollars, by
keeping the Indians peaceable in Utah. Hundreds of miles have the
Indians travelled to see me, to know whether they might use up
the emigrants, saying--"they have killed many of us; and they
damn you and damn us, and shall we stand it?" I have always told
them to hold on, to stop shedding blood, and to live in peace.
But I have been told that the first company of packers that went
through here this season, on their way from california to the
States, shot at every Indian they saw between Carson Valley and
Box Elder; and what has been the result? Probably scores of
persons have been killed; animals have been taken from nearly all
the emigrants that have passed on that road; and the Indians in
that region have now more stock than they know how to take care
of; and they come into settlements with their pockets full of
gold. The whites first commenced on the Indians; and now, if they
do not quit such conduct, they must stop travelling through this
country; for it is more than I can do to keep the Indians still
under such outrageous treatment.
237
The people do not realize what they have done by driving us into
the midst of the Lamanites. They prevented Joseph from
associating with the Indians; but they, through their ignorance,
thought that we were going to Vancouver's Island, or on the
borders of the Pacific; but lo! they have driven us into the
midst of the Lamanites. These Lamanites begin to have a knowledge
of their forefathers, and they are cultivating the earth. Here
were the most degraded classes of Indians to be found; but now
there is not a tribe so enlightened, nor one that has so good a
knowledge of its real position and standing before the Lord as
have some of these Utah Indians. It is now very different with
them to what it was when we first came here. It is now becoming a
universal practice with them to punish the guilty, and not the
innocent: they have been taught that from the time we first came
here. Talk with them, and you will learn that they have a good
deal of knowledge. They must be saved, for they are the children
of Abraham.
237
The Lord in his mercy has suffered our enemies to do that which
we could not have accomplished for many years; and, let a war
commence, and there is no knowing where we shall next land in
Jackson County, Missouri. They will learn that "Mormonism" is a
living creature.
237
All the world have to learn that the Lord is God, and that he is
the God of his children. He will protect his anointed; he will
defend his own family; and all we have to do is to do his will;
and every man, woman, and child ought to seek to learn the will
of God and do it. When that is the case, we need not fear all
earth and hell. Do not offend God by not doing as he wants you
to.
237
May the Lord God bless you, brethren and sisters. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / John
Taylor, September 13, 1857
John Taylor, September 13, 1857
COMMUNISM--SECTARIANISM--THE GOSPEL AND ITS EFFECTS, ETC.
Remarks by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, on Sunday Morning, September 13, 1857.
237
It is rather a strange anomaly, particularly in the estimation of
the world, that a people so numerous as the Latter-day Saints
should be gathered together in one place, having the one faith,
and believing in the same doctrines. It is the more strange
because there have been various social and political movements,
aided by philosophy, established among men in various ages of the
world; and almost, if not all of these have signally failed.
237
Among the number of social movements in our day, there is that of
Robert Dale Owen, who thought he could ameliorate the condition
of mankind by a sort of communism, having a fellowship of goods
among them--a sort of common stock principle. Everything
pertaining to this speculation, however, has flatted out; and in
all his schemes and movements, whether in England or in this
country, they have signally failed.
237
It is so also with Fourierism--a species of French philosophy,
established by one Fourier, a Frenchman, and advocated by Greeley
of the New York Tribune. They had tried it in France, and then
came over to this country; and not far from New York a society of
this kind was established. They had a good deal of property, and
I am informed they established something of the nature of what is
called the free love principle; but within twelve months back,
while I was residing in New York, everything they had was sold
under the hammer.
237
Mr. Cabet commenced lecturing in France, and had very extensive
societies there. About the time we left Nauvoo to come to this
land, Mr. Cabet, with a company of his men, came there. This is a
species of communism; they are called "Communists," believing,
with Mr. Owen, in a community of goods. They published a
newspaper in Nauvoo, and one or more in France. I baptized one of
their editors while in Paris on my mission--a man who is now in
this valley, by the name of Bertrand.
237
Mr. Krolokoski, who was also an editor of the same paper with Mr.
Bertrand, came to me to have a conversation about the first
principles of the Gospel. After a long conversation, he said,
"Mr. Taylor, do you propose no other plan to ameliorate the
condition of mankind than that of baptism for the remission of
sins?"
237
I replied--"This is all I propose about the matter."
237
"Well," he said, "I wish you every success; but I am afraid you
will not succeed."
238
Said I, "Mr. Krolokoski, you sent, some time ago, Mr. Cabet to
Nauvoo. He was considered your leader--the most talented man you
had. He went to Nauvoo when it was deserted--when houses and
lands were at a mere nominal value: he went there with his
community at the time we left. Rich farms were deserted, and
thousands of us had left our houses and furniture in them, and
there was everything that was calculated to promote the happiness
of human beings there. Never could a person go to a place under
more happy circumstances. Mr. Cabet, to try his experiment, had
also the selection in France of whom he pleased. He and his
company went to Nauvoo, and what is the result? You have seen the
published account in the papers. We were banished from civilized
society into the valleys of the Rocky Mountains to seek for that
protection among savages which Christian civilization denied
us--among the peau rouges, or red skins, as they call them. There
our people have built houses, enclosed lands, cultivated gardens,
built school-houses, opened farms, and have organized a
government and are prospering in all the blessings and immunities
of civilized life. Not only this, but they have sent thousands
and thousands of dollars over to Europe to assist the suffering
poor to go to America, where they might find an asylum. You, on
the other hand, that went to our empty houses and farms--you, I
say, went there under most favourable circumstances. Now, what is
the result? I read in all of your reports from there, published
in your own paper in Paris, a continued cry for help. The cry is
to you for money, money: 'We want money to help us to carry out
our designs.' The society that I represent comes with the fear of
God--the worship of the great Eloheim: they offer the simple plan
ordained of God--viz., repentance, baptism for the remission of
sins, and the laying-on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Our people have not been seeking the influence of the world, nor
the power of government, but they have obtained both; whilst you,
with your philosophy independent of God, have been seeking to
build up a system of communism and a government which is,
according to your own accounts, the way to introduce the
millennial reign. Now, which is the best--our religion, or your
philosophy?"
238
"Well," said he, "I cannot say anything."
238
He could not, because these were facts that he was familiar with.
238
What has become of that society? There are very few of them left.
They have had dissensions, bickerings, trouble, and desertions,
until they are nearly dwindled to nothing.
238
I might enumerate many societies of a similar nature, commenced
in different parts of the world and at various times. The
results, however, would be proved to be the same: they commenced
in the wisdom of man, and ended as speculative bubbles. Truth,
based on eternal principles, alone can stand the test.
238
If Owen, Fourier, Cabet, and other philosophers have failed,--if
all the varied schemes of communism have failed,--if human
philosophy is found to be at fault, and all its plans
incompetent, and we have not failed, it shows there is something
associated with this people and with "Mormonism" that there is
not with them.
238
Now the question is, What is this principle?--why is there a
difference?
238
The first account I ever heard of this Gospel was simply
preaching what are termed the first principles of the Gospel of
Christ. There was nothing very ostentatious about it--nothing
very grand--no great pomp or parade. The Elders were in many
instances uneducated: they had no particular advantages among
men; but they had received certain principles, certain doctrines,
that were plain and easy to comprehend--things that were
childlike and simple, and that recommended themselves to every
intelligent, unbiased mind.
239
What was it we first learned in relation to this Gospel? Was it
something very profound and philosophical, that some sage either
in this or some other country had discovered --the plan of some
politician or statesman?
239
Verily no; it was no such thing. What was it? It was a
proclamation made, declaring that a holy angel from heaven had
appeared--that he had revealed himself unto a young man that was
born in the backwoods of America--a farmer's son, without any
particular educational advantages; that this angel, having
appeared unto him, had revealed unto him an ancient record that
gave an account of the aboriginal inhabitants of this country;
that in this record there was an account of Prophets having
existed on this continent in former days, of Jesus having
appeared, and of angels having administered unto them,--an
account of their having been in possession of the Gospel, having
the same doctrines, the same blessings, the same privileges and
powers that were associated with the Gospel on the Asiatic
continent; and that this record agreed with the Bible in
doctrines, ordinances, teachings, and blessings.
239
And furthermore, these men referred us to the Bible, and showed
us that this book was spoken of--that it was to come forth--that
it was the "stick of Joseph," and that it was to be one with the
"stick of Judah,"--one in prophecy, one in revelation, one in
unfolding the purposes of God, and one in bringing to pass the
great events that were to transpire in the last days.
239
We heard of these things, and to many of us they seemed foolish.
We heard the cry of "False prophet and deceiver!" The first thing
that I heard from a priest, after hearing this Gospel preached by
Parley P. Pratt, some twenty years ago, was the cry of
"Delusion!" I was immediately informed that "Joe Smith was a
money-digger," that he tried to deceive people buy walking on
planks laid under the water, and that he was a wicked and corrupt
man, a deceiver, and one of the biggest fools in creation, and so
forth. I heard every kind of story; and the priests have kept up
the same things, pretty much, to the present day.
239
I remember, when I first had an Elder introduced to me, I said to
him, "I do not know what to think about you 'Mormons.' I do not
believe any kind of fanaticism: I profess to be acquainted with
the Bible; and, sir," said I, "in any conversation we may have, I
wish you to confine yourself to the Bible; for I tell you I shall
not listen to anything in opposition to that word."
239
From the report which I had heard of "Mormonism," I thought it
was anything but a religious system. I was told about the French
prophets--I was told about Matthias, Johanna Southcote, and of
all the follies that had existed for centuries; and then they put
"Mormonism" at the end of them all.
239
In my researches, I examined things very carefully and
critically. I wrote down six of the first sermons I heard
preached by Parley P. Pratt, in order that I might compare them
with the Bible, and I could not find any difference. I could
easily controvert any other doctrine, but I could not overturn
one principle of "Mormonism."
239
I have travelled to preach these doctrines in most of the United
States and in the Canadas; I have preached them in England, in
Scotland, in Wales, in the Isles of Man and the Jerseys, in
france, Germany, in the principal cities of America and Europe,
and to many prominent men in the world; and I have not yet found
a man that could controvert one principle of "Mormonism" upon
scriptural grounds. If there is a man, I have yet to find him.
240
The first proclamation by the Elders was, that the ancient Gospel
had been restored. We had had Methodism, Presbyterianism,
Dunkerism, Shakerism, Catholicism, Quakerism, and every other ism
that you could think of; but there was none that had the ancient
Gospel,--no, not one.
240
I was, however, well acquainted with theology. I consider that if
ever I lost any time in my life, it was while studying the
Christian theology. Sectarian theology is the greatest tomfoolery
in the world.
240
There are certain principles in reason which are unalterable. Two
and two made four 1,800 years ago, and they still make the same.
Two parallel lines never would meet: they will not now. A Gospel
that was true 1,800 years ago could not be false now. If they,
then, have the same Bible, and profess to have the same Spirit,
and to be educated men, why do they not see alike? If there are
any of whom we have spoken possessed of good common sense, it
would lead them to union, and not to discord; for the scriptures
tell us, there is "one Lord, who is above all, in you all, and
through you all."
240
We used to quarrel with one another, when we were among the
sectarians, about our peculiar doctrines. One was a brother
methodist, and another was a brother Presbyterian; and we used to
fall out about which was right--whether the doctrine of freewill
or of fate was right; for we did not know which was
right,--through both were right, if we had understood them. There
was also much wrangling as to whether infants that died went to
hell or not. Some sent them to heaven, and some to hell, where
they were to be pitched up with pitchforks, and stung with
scorpions, and wasted there everlastingly.
240
This is the doctrine of the Catholic Church. I have got a book at
home that I obtained in france, which represents sinners falling
into a tremendous fire; and there are dragons, scorpions,
serpents, and every kind of reptile searching like fiends for
their prey. Naked sinners are depicted falling into devouring
flames, and a great dragon, with open mouth, forked tongue, and
horrid teeth, ready to receive them. If they should miss it,
there are scorpions, and serpents, and devils, with three-pronged
pitchforks, waiting a little below, that they may get the sinners
and give them a good roasting.
240
You are here, a conglomeration from all the different churches.
The day when you came into this Church was the time when you
showed your honesty. What! are there honest-hearted Methodists
and Presbyterians? Yes. And honest Baptists? Yes. Persons have
been brought into this Church of all those different kinds of
faith, and you are actually all one.
240
[President B. Young: "That scares the world."]
240
Yes, as President Young says, that scares the world. Why are they
no one? Because they have not the Gospel as it existed in its
purity.
240
Peter preached it, Jesus, and James, John, and Paul preached it,
and the Apostles and Elders preached it on this continent; for
the Gospel in the Book of Mormon and the Gospel in the Bible both
agree: the doctrines in both books are one. The historical part
differs only: the one gives the history of an Asiatic, the other
of an American people.
241
Stephens and Catherwood, after examining the ruins that were
found at Guatemala, in central America, and gazing upon
magnificent ruins, mouldering temples, stately edifices, rich
sculpture, elegant statuary, and all the traces of a highly
cultivated and civilized people, said--"Here are the works of a
great and mighty people that have inhabited these ruins; but now
they are no more; history is silent on the subject, and no man
can unravel this profound mystery. Nations have planted, and
reaped, and built, and lived, and died, that are now no more; and
no one can tell anything about them or reveal their history."
241
Why, there was a young man in Ontario county, New York, to whom
the angel of God appeared and gave an account of the whole. These
majestic ruins bespeak the existence of a mighty people. The Book
of Mormon unfolds their history. O yes; but his was of too humble
an origin, like Jesus of Nazareth. It was not some great
professor, who had got an education in a European or an American
college, but one who professed to have a revelation from
God,--and the world don't believe in revelation; but nevertheless
it is true, and we know it.
241
Those men who profess so much intelligence that they cannot
listen to the world of the Lord, and have so much egotism and
philosophy that they cannot listen to sound reason and common
sense, cannot be edified by these things, while we, who have not
such lofty pretensions, enjoy them.
241
Now, what did Jesus teach? He said, "Go ye into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature: he that believeth and is
baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my
name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new
tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover." (Mark xvi. 16-18.)
241
This is what Jesus taught: this is the Gospel that he and his
disciples taught. Who teaches this Gospel now? Do the Methodists,
the Presbyterians, the Dunkers, the Baptists, or the Catholics?
Could you find anybody that taught the doctrines that Jesus
taught his disciples to teach? I have not found them anywhere;
and yet the thing is so plain that he that runs may read.
241
Go and preach the Gospel to every creature; and he that believeth
and is baptised shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall
be damned. "O yes, we believe that." Well, then, read on. "O no,"
they will say; "stop there if you please." But it reads: "And
these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they
cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not
hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall
recover."
241
"But," say they, "you must not read that." But it is in the
Bible. "True," say they; "but it is a spiritual thing: it means
those that are sick spiritually--they shall be healed. "It
means," say they, "the sin-sick soul."
241
It is like the school ma'm who came to a difficult word, and not
understanding it herself, told the child to say "hard word," and
pass on. You must not say that which is contrary to their belief.
241
Now, if we look a little further, we shall find that the
disciples were instructed to "tarry at Jerusalem until they were
endowed with power from on high." It was necessary that they
should be qualified. Did they tarry? They did.
241
Why was it necessary for them to tarry? Had they not been with
Jesus? And had they not ate and drank with him? Yes. Had they not
seen his miracles? They had; and they were called to go and
preach the Gospel. And were they not prepared? No, not until they
had received the necessary qualification. It was not every
upstart that could go and preach the Gospel.
242
There are some, now a days, that go to college; and by their
learning they think they will preach a Gospel without God. There
are others who go because they are fools. Now, when the Lord
qualified the Apostles to go forth and preach the Gospel, he
endowed them with wisdom and inspired them from on high, and they
spake as the Holy Ghost gave them utterance; and the word that
they spake was not the word of man, but the word of God, dictated
by the Spirit of God, pointing out to the people the way of life.
242
Why was it necessary for those Apostles to tarry at Jerusalem?
They had an important mission to perform; their testimony was
going to seal the doom of nations. Their message was, "He that
believeth and is baptised shall be saved, and he that believeth
not shall be damned."
242
Could the Methodists, Baptists, or Presbyterians say this? No. No
one professes to say that their word will seal the doom of
nations, among modern Christians.
242
Those men, however, who stayed at Jerusalem till they were
endowed with power from on high, made this profession. They
assembled in an upper room, and the Spirit of the Lord God rested
upon them, and they spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance.
There were no Methodists, or Presbyterians, or Baptists there.
242
As soon as it was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and
some said, "Why, these men are drunk: we have got a lot of
drunken scamps here--the followers of Jesus of Nazareth." But
Peter said, "O no, this is not the case; it is but the third hour
of the day." The Jews never got drunk before nine o'clock in the
morning; so that was a sufficient argument.
242
Peter said, "These men are not drunk as ye suppose; but this is
what was spoken by the Prophet Joel--"And it shall come to pass
in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon
all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, and
your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream
dreams; and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out
in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophecy." (Acts ii.)
This is not drunkenness, but it is the power of God beginning to
be made manifest: these are the servants of the living God, the
Apostles of the Lord, set apart to preach the principles of
eternal truth to the nations of the earth; and they are speaking
as the Spirit gives them utterance.
242
The Apostles began to tell them about Jesus, that he was the Son
of God, that they had rejected him, crucified, and slain him.
They testified that he was not an impostor, as the people had
supposed, but that he was the Messiah.
242
When they heard these things, they were pricked to the heart, and
cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
242
You have heard this kind of cry in those revival meetings among
the sectarians: people would get convinced and under a sort of
contraction of mind, and they would want to know what they should
do to be saved.
242
Now, here was a lot of people gathered from all parts of the
surrounding country, speaking different languages; and Peter was
preaching to them to believe, repent, and be baptised: and while
reasoning upon the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, they cried out,
"What shall we do?" Did he tell them to go to the anxious seat to
be prayed for? No, he did not know anything about such a seat:
the Devil had not yet invented it. Did he tell them to go and put
their names into a class-book, and that they would receive them
on probation, and then, if they were worthy, they would be
received as members? No: this is something in advance of Petter's
time; it is something of Christian civilization.
243
It was necessary that we should have the enlightenment of
the 19th century to reveal these things. Did he tell them to
pray? No, he did not. Prayer is well enough in the season
thereof; but they had something else to do.
243
Is it not right to go into your closet and pray? Yes. But when
you have ordinances to attend to, then that is your business.
What did Peter say to them? He said, "Repent, and be baptised
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
243
You perceive that he told the people the same that Jesus told him
to teach.
243
"In the first place, you tell us to repent, and then to be
baptised in the name of Jesus christ for the remission of sins;
and what then?"
243
To have hands laid upon you for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
243
"What will the Holy Ghost do for us, Peter?"
243
You have seen its effects upon us. It shall bring things past to
your remembrance; it shall show you things to come; it shall make
prophets of you; your sons and daughters shall see visions; the
heavens shall be opened unto you; you shall know of your origin,
comprehend who you are, what you are, where you are going to, the
relationship which exists between you and your God; and there
shall be a channel opened between the eternal worlds and you; and
the purposes of God shall be made known unto you.
243
What did the Elders of this Church preach to you? The very same
things which Peter taught. And have not the same effects, or
signs, followed them that believe? They have, as you all know
this day. (See 1st Cor. chap. xii.)
243
I will tell you how I felt when I was investigating the doctrines
of "Mormonism." I compared them to try if they agreed with the
Scriptures; but when I tried to pick "Mormonism" to pieces, I
could not do it. And now, said I to the Elders, you promise me
that if I embrace the doctrines you teach, I shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost: what will this produce? They told me it
would produce the same as it did anciently. If I had not
experienced those things and seen them manifested around me, I
would have got up and called those men impostors. I would have
said, "Sirs, you promised me and others blessings which we have
not experienced, and this people and you, sirs, are impostors.
243
I do not call the priests of the day impostors, because they do
not profess anything of the kind that I have spoken of: they are
simply false teachers, "teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men," as the Scriptures say.
243
We red the Book of Mormon, and found it contained the same
doctrines the Apostles taught on the Asiatic continent.
243
And what has this Gospel done? It has caused you to leave your
families, your connections, your homes, and your associations in
life. Many of you have left thousands and thousands of dollars'
worth of property; you have wandered over oceans, deserts,
plains, and mountains; you have been mobbed and scourged from
city to city, and from State to State, and you have endured all
this. Why? Because of that hope which is within your bosoms,
which blooms with immortality and eternal lives. You have asked
this question to yourselves, "Who am I, and what is the design of
my existence?" and the Gospel has unfolded these things to your
understandings. You feel that you are eternal beings: you feel
that you are living for eternity and not for time only.
244
I have heard it recommended, by some poor fools in the shape of
editors in the United States, to send missionaries here to
convert the people. I told them to send them, and promised they
should have a hearing. They thought if they came here and
introduced some of their good Christian ideas and practices and
some of their pure morals, that you would see such a striking
difference that you must be enamored with them, and that you
would be broken up.
244
Why, said I, poor fools! Do you think that this people have left
their friends, associations, and everything that would render
life precious among men, and wandered off among those who are
called fanatics and fools--those who are everywhere spoken
against?--and do you think that they are going to be led astray
by your poor-pussy priests?
244
Are you to be like the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and
Catholics? No; you are to have one faith, one baptism, one Lord,
one Holy Spirit.
244
You are terribly tyrannized over, according to what I hear; and
many of you want to leave.
244
I engaged, when I was back in the States, that if they would send
all to Utah that wanted to come, we would send all back that
wanted to go. That would be a fair bargain, you know; but I think
they would have the heaviest job on hand.
244
[Voices: We know they would.]
244
What was your object in coming here? Was it to rebel against the
General Government?
244
[President B. Young: To get away from Christians.]
244
Brother Young says it was to get away from Christians--from that
unbounded charity which you had experienced amongst them. In
consequence of their treatment, you had to come away to seek a
home in the desert wilds, and to obtain that protection among
savages which Christian philanthropy denied you.
244
We came here because we could no help it, and now we have got an
idea to stay here because we can help it: this is about the
feeling.
244
What was it that implanted the idea of gathering and union in our
bosoms? It was the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and that principle is
implanted in our breasts by the power of the Holy Ghost, which
earth and hell cannot eradicate.
244
There are certain ideas of God, and futurity, and the nature and
fitness of things implanted in the human bosom, even while in the
world; for there are many things which lead to reflection.
244
Why do this people feel so comfortable when an army is
approaching? Are you not afraid of being killed? No, not a great
deal. Why are you not mourning and sorrowing, and why are you not
distressed and troubled? Because you have got a principle within
you that cannot be conquered in time nor in eternity: you possess
the principles of eternal life in your bosoms, that cannot be
subdued. You know what your relationship is with the Eternal God,
and his Spirit gives joy and consolation to your bosoms.
244
I have heard men and women rejoice in france and in germany as
much as in any parts of the world, and in their own tongue
blessing and thanking God that ever he permitted the light of
truth to beam upon their minds. you feel the same: you have got
the treasure in earthen vessels; you have got that within you of
which Jesus spake--a well of water "springing up unto eternal
life." You are looking forward to the time when thrones,
principalities, powers, and eternal lives will be given unto you
in the kingdoms of our God.
245
Again: You know that you are in the kingdom of God; for God,
among other things, has revealed this to you. And while the
Communists, Fourierites, and others have sought to bring about a
reign of righteousness without revelation, God has revealed unto
you a kingdom that shall abide for ever, by the principles of
eternal truth and by the revelations of God. You know that you
are associated with this kingdom: you feel it; and no man can
deprive you of this feeling, nor rob you of that Spirit.
245
Satan has had the dominion over the world for centuries, and no
nation or people has acknowledged God or bowed to his sceptre.
They have anointed their kings, they have hewn down and trampled
upon the rights of man, and their hands reek with blood. In this
condition they have had priests to come and anoint them kings!
But they are wholesale murderers and robbers.
245
Who has reigned by the grace of God in the nations? And who has
had authority from heaven? Who has acknowledged God in all their
ways? Has any kingdom or dominion under heaven? Not one! You go
into any kingdom, or let a Prophet of God go into any cabinet, to
any governor, or potentate, and say unto them, Thus saith the
Lord! and they would kick him out. [Voice: "They would kill
him."] Would they do it in the United States? They would
anywhere.
245
To behold man, whose breath is in his nostrils, who flourishes,
and is cut down like the grass that exists, and withers and dies,
that expands and bursts like a bubble--poor, pusillanimous
man--assume government, authority, and power, without any
authority from God, to regulate the kingdoms of the earth, shows
his littleness, weakness, egotism, and pusillanimity, and reminds
one of boys playing marbles or building cob-houses.
245
Why was this earth made? and who made it? We are told in the
Scriptures that "all things were created by him and for him;
whether they be principalities, powers, or dominions, all things
were created by him and for him." Has he had the dominion? If so,
when and where has he had it? He did partially rule for a short
time among the ancient Patriarchs, and also among the Jews; but
all the rest of the nations have ruled without him and taken to
themselves the glory. They have assumed to themselves certain
positions and powers, and, aided by their peers, lords,
governors, and immediate associates, they have oppressed the
human family, and brought them into bondage.
245
The nations have forgotten God. They have forsaken God, the
fountain of living waters, and hewn out to themselves broken
cisterns, that can hold no water; and like dogs, wolves,
panthers, and beasts of prey, they have done nothing but tear
each other to pieces.
245
Red the history of nations, and examine the paintings they have
in their National Galleries, and you will find they represent,
almost exclusively, scenes of blood, deadly struggles, triumphant
victories, or sanguinary battles, and the groaning, troubles,
sighs, sufferings, and death of the human family.
245
This has been the way that things have been carried on by kings
and governors; but where and when has there been a person to
save, and bless, and act as a father and benefactor to the world?
And where has there been a servant of God listened to? Jesus came
among his friends; but they would not listen to him. He sent his
servants--his Apostles, but they put them to death. He has sent
again in the last days; he has anointed his servant Joseph Smith,
and afterwards Brigham Young, to speak as his mouthpiece to the
people, for the government of his Saints not only here, but to
all that will hear and obey the Gospel throughout the world.
246
God has determined to have a people that will serve him.
What have you heard taught here? Nothing but the law of God and
obedience to the laws of the land. Nobody but the most
blackhearted villains that ever lived would have gone among our
enemies and represented things otherwise.
246
You comprehend liberty, and you will have this boon. Many of your
fathers have fought for this, and you are resolved to enjoy it.
Will you endeavour to disannul the Government? No; but we will
rally round the Constitution that was purchased by the blood of
our fathers, and will support it.
246
These are our views; and while we do not trample under foot the
Constitution, we will take care that others do not do it.
246
[The congregation responded, "Amen."]
246
What has been the difficulty with you for some time past? You
have had doctrines of purity revealed unto you; you have been
taught principles of righteousness, to repent of all your evils,
to purify yourselves, that, as Saints of the living God, you
might come and receive blessings at the hands of the Almighty.
246
While you have been doing this, the spirit of psychology has been
operating in the hearts of men, even the spirits and powers of
darkness; devils have been railing, and men thundering out their
anathemas; all hell has been to pay, and "no pitch hot," and why?
Because you have been adhering to the principles of truth, and
been doing better than you have before.
246
What was the reason that they crucified Jesus Christ? Because he
adhered to the truth; and those very men that persecute us would
crucify him, if he was here to-day.
246
[Voices: "Yes, they would."]
246
Well, what is the matter? The Lord has given to us a Prophet who
receives the word of the Lord for us. These revelations have led
us from principle to principle, from doctrine to doctrine, and
from ordinance to ordinance, until we are found as we are at the
present time.
246
We feel well, our spirits are light and buoyant, and our hopes
strong in the God of Israel. If we could not trust in God, we
should indeed be without hope. How many have gone from here to
teach the principles that God has revealed? Thousands of the
Elders of Israel. They were sent to do the people good, and have
been more disinterested in it than any other people.
246
Have you, Elders, gone because you were sent by missionary
societies? No, you have not. Have you gone because you had drafts
and acceptances on banks and merchants? No: you have gone without
purse or scrip. President Young, brother Woodruff, brother Hyde,
brother Franklin, myself, and others, have travelled thousands
and thousands of miles without purse or scrip, trusting in the
living God.
246
Did we have to beg? No. I do not believe in begging: God will
take care of us. It is not so with other ministers. You tell them
to trust in God for the support of their bodies, and they are not
willing to do it. They will be quite willing to trust in God for
the support of their bodies, and they are not willing to do it.
They will be quite willing to trust in God for their spirits; but
they dare not trust him for their bodies.
246
Go to the United States, and I will engage to give $50,000, if
you will find a thousand men in all the United States that will
go without purse or scrip to the nations of the earth to preach
the Gospel. Come, now, I will banter the world with this offer.
246
On the other hand, if President Young wants a thousand men, they
will be ready in one day, if it is necessary. Is it not so,
brethren?
247
[Thousands of voices responded, "Yes."]
247
This state of things exists in the world because they are
governed by filthy lucre.
247
We have embraced the Gospel because we knew it was true. I have
travelled with brother Young thousands of miles, preaching the
Gospel, and with brother Woodruff, brother Hyde, brother Smith,
brother Franklin, and many others around me. What did we do? We
went trusting in Israel's God; and we are doing the same now.
What did we go for? Because we loved the human family, and
knowing that God had revealed principles that would exalt men and
women in the kingdom of God. We wandered forth to preach those
principles voluntarily. We did it because we loved mankind.
247
Why have this people confidence in President Young and others?
Because they have seen them leave their homes and go forth and
endure every privation to promote their welfare in time and in
eternity. They could not have confidence in a priest that would
not go to preach except he had $10,000.
247
Furthermore, this people have confidence in their leaders,
because in times of trouble and trial they have stemmed the
torrents and been foremost in the battle. It is not a kind of
soft, smooth eloquence to tickle the ears of men, but it is stern
matters of fact that the people know.
247
As Paul said, "Can anything separate us from the love of God? No,
brethren; we are cemented together by eternal ties that the world
does not know, nor can it comprehend. Talk to us of bowing to the
Gentile yoke! Nonsense. What would be your feeling if the United
States wanted to have the honour of driving us from our homes and
bringing us subject to their depraved standard of moral and
religious truth? Would you, if necessary, brethren, put the torch
to your buildings, and lay them in ashes, and wander houseless
into the mountains? I know what you would say and what you would
do.
247
[President Brigham Young: Try the vote.]
247
All you that are willing to set fire to your property and lay it
in ashes, rather than submit to their military rule and
oppression, manifest it by raising your hands.
247
[The congregation unanimously raised their hands.]
247
I know what your feelings are. We have been persecuted and robbed
long enough; and, in the name of Israel's God, we will be free!
[The whole congregation responded, "Amen." And President B. Young
said, "I say amen all the time to that."]
247
I feel to thank God that I am associated with such men, with such
a people, where honesty and truth dwell in the heart--where men
have got a religion that they are not afraid to live by, and that
they are not afraid to die by; and I would not give a straw for
anything short of that.
247
The great God has set his hand to roll forth his purposes; and
the hand that opposes it shall be palsied. The power of God shall
be felt among the nations that reject the truth. All is right in
Israel, and we do not want to hurt anybody; but we feel to bless
everybody, and our hearts are full of blessings for all who will
work righteousness.
247
Shall we still bless the human family? Yes. Shall we rally around
the Constitution of the United States, and protect it in its
purity? Yes; we will save it when others forsake it.
248
In the day of our sorrow and affliction, when hunted by our
enemies, was there anybody to pour in comfort to the wounded
bosom? Have there been any of the priests and editors to take our
part? Where are they?
248
Brethren, I feel thankful that God has revealed unto us the keys
of the kingdom of God and given us a knowledge of the things that
shall transpire in these last days.
248
I ask my heavenly Father that I may be counted worthy and
faithful to endure to the end, that I may obtain the crown that
is in reversion for me.
248
I do not care anything about shooting: I have been shot. Neither
do I care anything about dying; for I could have died many a time
if I had desired to; but I had not got ready. But I do care about
those principles of truth which I have received; and I would not
exchange my position for that of any emperor, king, or potentate
in any nation under heaven.
248
God will put a hook in the jaws of our enemies and turn them
aside; and the day is not far distant when empires will crumble
to pieces and the hand of God be against the nations; and they
will know that there is a God in heaven, and a hand that is
stronger than theirs.
248
Brethren, all we have to do is to live our religion, to obey the
counsel of our President, be humble and faithful, and not exalted
in our own strength; but ask wisdom of God, and see that we have
peace with God, with our families, with one another, that peace
may reign in our bosoms and in our community.
248
I pray God to preserve you in peace unto the day of redemption,
in the name of Jesus. Amen.
yournal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, September 20, 1857
POSSESSION OF THE ONE SPIRIT--BLESSINGS PERTAINING TO THE
RIGHTEOUS--TRIAL OF THE SAINTS, ETC.
A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the
Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, September 20, 1857.
248
There is but one course for this people to take, in order to be
Saints; and that is to do right, to be just, to be true, and to
be honest. I will tell you, gentlemen, it is not the character of
a Saint to lie, to deceive, and to take the advantage of one
another: that is not the character of a Saint. It is to receive
the truth from God, from his Son Jesus Christ, and from the Holy
Ghost.
248
Just as sure as I abide in the vine, so sure am I to partake of
that Spirit that is in the Father; and it comes down through the
Son, continuing down through that vine till it comes to me.
248
Well, I am standing very near the head of that vine; that is, the
vine that is springing out of the Father, even in the latter
days. Brother Brigham is the head of the vine, and I stand right
by him, and every man that holds the Priesthood stands right by
us, and should have the same Spirit that we have, and the same
that was in Jesus Christ.
249
Now, if I have got the Holy Ghost in me, I am dictated by the
Father, and by the Son, and by the Holy Ghost; and everything is
clean and right between me and the Father. Then what is there to
hinder me asking the Father, in the name of Jesus, and receiving,
if all is right and there is no obstruction?
249
If there is an obstruction, that obstruction is not in the
Father, it is not in Jesus, neither is it in the Holy Ghost; but
if there is an obstruction, it is in me. I caused it, did I not?
Yes, I did. But if we have the principles of this Gospel dwelling
in us, that is by the Spirit of truth; and they are life.
249
Every word of truth you receive and treasure up in your bosoms is
light and life, for light is life; and if these principles are in
us, and we cultivate them, I tell you there is no spirit of death
in us. But we abandon the principles of death, and there is no
place in us for death; but it is light, and life, and
intelligence; and if those principles continue to dwell in us, we
will be like a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
249
How can a man lie when there is not an untruth in him? How can he
take the advantage of his brother? How can he act the hypocrite?
How can he be dishonest, when there are none of these things in
him? How can he do any of these evil things, when there is
nothing but light and truth in him?
249
I am aware that a great many people have not an idea that light
is life, and truth is light: they do not believe it nor
comprehend it; but it is so. Have I a disposition to lie to my
brother? If I had said anything, and brother Brigham was to say,
"Brother Heber, how is it? Is it so?" I would not dare to lie to
him; for he holds the keys of life, light, and intelligence to
this whole nation: he holds the keys of light and truth; and you
might as well lie to God as to lie to him; for the man that would
lie to him would lie to God.
249
Now, if any man follow the practice of lying, deceiving, or
working any manner of iniquity, I do not care if he pretends to
be a Saint to-day, his corruption will surely be made manifest;
and although he may have a name to live and to dwell among this
people, yet, if he continues that course, he will go to
destruction, both body and spirit.
249
Take a person that practises evil, and you will see that person
uneasy: such individuals are never easy a minute. But you take a
person who has got the Spirit of God, who is humble, meek, and of
a child-like spirit, that is the man: I do not care if he is in a
mud-hole, neither do I care if he has forty mobocrats after him,
or if he is a-straddle of a cannon, he is happy.
249
This makes me think of brother Amasa and brother McGinn: the mob
took them and rode them on a cannon. Well, this is easier than it
is to ride on a rail.
249
They asked them to preach; so brother McGinn preached to them,
showing the reverence of the animal creation towards their God,
and said, "The hen put down her head and took a drink of water,
and then lifted up her head in thanks and adoration to her God.
Well, you see, there is a good deal of thankfulness and reverence
in a hen." "Amen," says brother Amasa: "Lord, make us all hens."
That was about the winding-up of the discourse; and by preaching
these things they gained the affections of those mobbers, so that
they let them go.
250
Brethren, let us take the counsel that we received from brother
Spencer; and let us be humble and be Saints; and let every man
honour his calling and make it honourable; and by so doing, God
will honour that man, and he will honour every man who honours
that man and who honours his religion. If every man will live his
religion, serve his God, and honour his Priesthood, we never will
be troubled from this day henceforth and for ever; no, never.
250
Will our enemies come among us? They won't come this year; they
may try as much as they please.
250
[President B. Young: "Except we let them in."]
250
No, never can they come here, except we let them in.
250
Well, as the evil is measurably turned away this year, if the
Saints will be faithful, they will be foiled next year, and then
more abundantly the year after that, and so on. But they will
keep sending their troops and forces from year to year and from
time to time, and you need not lay down your watch. The day has
come when the devil is coming with all his combined forces: he
has laid a siege against the kingdom of God, and it never will
cease till this kingdom triumphs.
250
It is for you to be just as good judges of the truth as I am; and
you will be, if the truth dwells in you.
250
Brethren, let me tell you that I have no spirit in me to shed
blood. I never had it in me but once in my life, except I have it
in me when I am angry. Once I was inspired by the Almighty with
that spirit, and that was in Nauvoo; and so was brother Brigham,
and I felt to say that I was sorry that peace was declared. We
had just got ready when the gap was shut up.
250
Do I want to shed the blood of my brethren and sisters, or to see
it shed? No: and neither do you, unless the Holy Ghost dictates
for us to shed the blood of our enemies; then it is just as right
as it is for us to partake of the sacrament. But I wish they
would take the hint, and go the other way, and not attempt to
come here. We do not want to hurt them; but if they come upon us,
and we have to repel them by the force of arms, God Almighty will
give us the power to do it: now, mark it.
250
You know, I said that I had wives enough to whip the United
States; and why? Because they will whip themselves, and my wives
would not have to resist them.
250
This is a good day; and what is there for us to do? It is for us
to take a course to lay up our grain, our corn, our barley, and
oats. A great many of you have been brought up on oatmeal
porridge. I have been in the old country, and seen you live on
it, and have eaten it with you; and so has brother Hyde.
250
There are thousands of people in England that would consider they
were perfectly happy, if they could get one spoonful of oatmeal
each day for life. I have heard brother Brigham state the same
thing. Why, here are women, and men, too, who sing before us,
with whom I have eaten oatmeal porridge; and I like it, for it is
digested very quickly, and leaves people very comfortable.
250
And now, take a course to lay up your stores and prepare for the
worst. We are blest, this year, above all the blessings that have
been since the earth was organized.
250
Here is brother James Smithies: he is working some land on shares
for me upon the Church farm. He has this year raised one-third
more than any previous year, and on less ground. And this people
are blest in proportion like that. Who has done it? God has done
it, and has blest this people, because they have repented of and
forsaken their sins, and confessed them, many of them.
250
Well, if we take this course, he will continue to bless us and to
multiply blessings upon us; but, let me tell you, brethren and
sisters, if you persist in evil, in lying, and in your
deceptions, the curse of God will be upon you, and you will be
cursed.
251
I do not allude to any, only those of that character; and if
there are any of that character present, I will say to them, If
you feel disposed to persist in your wickedness, you shall see
sorrow, while the virtuous and the honest shall increase in
blessings; their crops, their stock, and all that they have shall
increase. There is no blessing that can be withheld from a
righteous man or a righteous woman: the heavens cannot withhold
its blessings; but all the blessings of the heavens and of the
earth are theirs, because they are heirs.
251
We are to become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
What blessings are to be withheld from Jesus Christ? There is no
blessing pertaining to this earth but what belongs to Jesus: then
there is no blessing that will be withheld from the faithful.
251
Brethren and sisters, we are heirs with him to the estate of his
Father, just as much as two sons and one daughter and their
faithful children are legal heirs to a father's estate. When a
father dies and makes his will, he wills that property to them
that are faithful to him; and so it is with us; and it is
natural.
251
I feel to ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, to help my
brethren to live their religion, honour their Priesthood and
calling; and I pray you, brethren, to live your religion and
serve your God, that we may see the power and the magnitude of
our God in the last days. I tell you there never were any people,
since the world was organized, that have seen such mighty and
romantic power of God as this people will see.
251
Is there a collision between us and the United States? No; we
have not collashed: that is the word that sounds nearest to what
I mean. But now the thread is cut between them and us, and we
never will gybe again; no, never, worlds without end.
251
[Voices: "Amen."]
251
You may think that I am not correct; but I am in the habit of
telling the truth when in fun as well as in earnest; and men that
cannot are not worth much.
251
We have never been the aggressors, but they have raised the
weapons of war to exterminate us as many as five times, and they
have robbed us of all we had. I have but three little articles in
this world that I obtained before I was a "Mormon,"--an earthen
vessel, a tin tea-canister, and a chest that brother Brigham made
for me: he made me several, but that was the first one.
251
I have been robbed, and plundered, and afflicted, if you call it
affliction; but I do not call it affliction. I have heard many
tell of what sorrowful times they have had; but they are as good
times as ever I had in this life. I leave it to brother Brigham,
if I have not been as happy in the mud as I have been anywhere.
Some of you have seen these times in Iowa: I think some of you
were there. I had happy days during those times; and I am happy
and thankful that I live in the tops of these mountains, right on
the backbone, where we have got on some good spurs. I tell you we
boast that we are on the tops of the mountains; but let us boast
in the Lord and in his strength.
251
We have received the Gospel of repentance--of baptism for the
remission of sins; and we have received the Holy Ghost, and it
has brought us here. Well, a great many tell what sorrowful times
they have had. "O dear, I think I have a perfect right to lie
like the Devil; for I think what I have passed through ought to
atone for all I have done." It is a poor coot, let me tell you,
that will make such excuses. Let me tell you, that does not pay
for one lie.
252
Supposing you lie, or steal, or commit adultery, and so on,--what
you have suffered is not going to pay for this debt.
Independently of these things, what are trials for? To prove our
integrity--to try us, whether we will stand to God and to his
kingdom. The Bible says that we are to come up through great
tribulation; that is, the hardest kind of trials. You know, the
harder you put on the robes to the wash-board, the better they
are washed.
252
I want to bring up a comparison. Brother Brigham is the head of
the limb: and which has the hardest work to bear--he that has to
lug all that is attached to that vine, or you that are branches
of that vine? Which is the hardest, and which has the most to
carry--the tree, or the one apple that clings to the tree? Which
has the most suffering to pass through--one individual apple, or
the tree itself?
252
Your troubles, and trials, and perplexities are nothing more than
one apple, in comparison to brother Brigham's cares; and still I
presume there are lots who think that they have more trouble than
brother Brigham or brother Heber. But you do not appreciate your
privileges and blessings: you are not thankful to the giver, or
to the benefactor; and that makes you troublesome, and you feel
as if you could not endure it: you feel that you are passing
through more than all the rest of the Saints.
252
Do you suppose that I calculate to get any pay for what I pass
through? No; but I am thankful, and praise the Lord every day of
my life that I was true to Joseph, and to Hyrum, and the brethren
that have gone. What would those give that were not faithful, if
they had been as true as brother Brigham and brother Heber? They
would give all they have got; yes, they would sit down and be
skinned from head to foot, and have every nail pulled out of
their toes and fingers. I am thankful that I was faithful; but I
am sorry for them: but that man that has murmured, and
complained, and tried to make brother Joseph a dishonest and
unhallowed man, has great need to mourn for himself.
252
If I were in the position of some, instead of letting a week pass
before I made an atonement to the satisfaction of those offended,
I would go right off and do it at once. Some men come upon this
stand who have acted unrighteously, and forsaken and betrayed us,
and thereby brought death and destruction upon thousands of men,
women, and children. They will get up and say, "I have sinned
against God and in his sight; and now, brethren, I want you to
restore me to perfect fellowship and friendship."
252
Do you not see that they want to be restored, every limb and
joint, to the perfect embraces of this people? Well, we have to
take them at their word and receive them into fellowship. Do I
feel to say, yes, receive them? Yes, I do. But are they in full
fellowship when they have been out of the Church ten or twenty
years? How can such a man be restored to full fellowship without
a time for making restitution to the complete satisfaction of all
the parties aggrieved--until we can say, "Well done, good and
faithful servant, enter into our joys and partake of our
blessings?" This is my faith. If a person takes a course to
injure me, although he might not injure, yet it is the same as
though he did: the will is taken for the deed.
253
I look to my head and to my governor--the man who holds the keys
of the kingdom of heaven on the earth. I have thought, a great
many times, of what the Lord has said, through his servant Joseph
the Prophet, that not a hair falleth from the head of a righteous
man without the notice of our heavenly Father. Do you think that
God does not notice little lies and deceptions--little this,
that, and the other?
253
Do you believe, brethren and sisters, that that man who does not
appreciate the kindness of his benefactor that feeds him, and
clothes him, and administers to his wants,--do you suppose that
he will be thankful to God for his favours? No; the men or the
women who do not appreciate the kindness of their benefactor, are
not thankful to God. They are under condemnation; they are in the
gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; and I know it.
253
Did I ever receive a kindness or a blessing from a person without
being grateful for it? No, never; but, say I, "Thank you for
this, because it comes when I am in need of it." Well, supposing
I mete out to a person from year to year, and he or she does not
appreciate it, but says, "It is nothing more than your reasonable
service, Mr. Kimball, to give me a living." Well, we admit of
that; and it is no more than reasonable that you should make some
kind of acknowledgement and show kindness to me.
253
I would not give a dime for you, except your love is manifested
by your works--by your faith and works. Love or hatred is
manifested in this way. Do not I prove to that man that I return
the compliment to him by my kindness? The man or woman that will
not return the compliment is not of much account.
253
I have said for years that never--no, never again will I be
subject to such cursed scoundrels as the United States Government
have sent here as officers. I say, in the name of Israel's God, I
will not.
253
[Voices: "Amen."]
253
James Buchanan now occupies the chair of state. He and his
counsellors, his coadjutors, his cabinet, and Congress have met
and planned the destruction of this people--of brother Brigham
and his associates in particular; and the priests of the day say
amen to it; and they exhort the people to say amen to it; and the
whole people of the United States are under condemnation. They
consented to the death of Joseph, Hyrum, David, Parley, and lots
of men, women, and children. The ground is planted with men,
women, and children, from Nauvoo to this place; and the world
have consented to it, and they say it is just.
253
The Government, the President, the heads of the military
departments and of all the governmental affairs have consented to
these things.
253
When we were poor, and lived on cow-hides and cattle, skunks and
thistle roots, brother Brigham and his brethren paddled this way
and that way, and sought out his place.
253
While we were in Winter Quarters, 500 men were demanded. They
travelled over the Plains and gained a part of Mexico, which is
this land. Then came grasshoppers and crickets, and eat up our
crops; and our enemies have all the time been saying that it is
just--they deserve it.
253
Now, brethren, if you can comprehend what I have said, they shall
suffer all that we have, and it shall be doubled upon them, and
then it shall be pressed down.
253
I know that while you and I have no feelings of anger, we are
right. Jesus says, "With what measure ye mete, it shall me
measured to you again." The Scriptures say that Jesus said this;
but if he did not, it is just as true as anything that is
written: it is God Almighty's truth. Yes, they will meet it in
the United States, beginning at the head.
254
But we are free! They have laid a snare to entrap us and to kill
brother Brigham; and they want to hang him between the heavens
and the earth, and every other man that will support him: but as
the Lord God Almighty lives, they shall meet that also; and if I
had the power, I would tell it to them so that they could hear
it. Do I fear them? I do not fear anything that is upon this
earth.
254
Do I fear my God? No; but I love him, and I fear to offend him.
He is my Father, and I sprang out of his loins, just as my son
William Kimball's children sprang out of his loins; and every man
and woman that has been upon this earth was once in our Father's
loins, just as much as my children ever were in mine; and Jesus
was the first born, and we are heirs of our Father and our God,
and we will gain the prize through much tribulation.
254
Let me tell you that ten years will not pass away before God will
play with this nation as he did with Pharaoh, only worse.
254
I tell you these things, that you may know that wherein you
measure out you have got to receive back; and where you lie, you
have got to take that lie back; and where you offend your God and
benefactor, as the Lord God liveth, you have to take that back,
or you will get a scourging,--that is, where your benefactor is a
man of truth and is walking in his calling.
254
If I abuse brother Brigham, it is my business to make
satisfaction to that man. Well, I would not offend him nor any
good man in this congregation; no, I would not. If I offend him,
I do it ignorantly; and if I did, I would repent of it. I did
offend him once or twice in my life, and I repented in tears and
in sorrow; and I wish to God there had never such things existed
since I was born. Well, I was ignorant, and I was a child. Well,
if I have got to make those recantations, you have, too, when you
offend or do wrong to each other.
254
I am teaching what you call strong doctrine; but I am teaching
nothing but what is true. It was true to me, and it is equally
true to you. It is the duty of every Elder, Teacher, high Priest,
and Deacon to begin to live a new life. Why? Can you do any
better than you are doing this day? Yes.
254
This year I have built a barn 102 feet long. Well, then, the next
year I may build two such barns. This proves that the more a man
does the more he is capable of doing. But because I made ten rods
of fence last week, does that prove that I can make twenty this
week? If you, sisters, knit one stocking this week, must you knit
two next week, and kill yourselves? Or, if you have put ten yards
of cloth in your skirt this year, should you put in twenty next
year? No; but put in six next year. But I want to show you the
extremes.
254
I was speaking here, last Sunday, by the permission of brother
Brigham, of brother Eddington. He is an honest man; or, if he is
not, we will prove him.
254
[President B. Young: "You will prove him to be an honest man."]
254
Well, brother Eddington seemed to fall in with the idea. We want
the ladies to bring in their surplus clothes for brother
Eddington to sell for wheat and other grain. I speak of the
females, because they have got the most clothes in their hands.
If you have got five dresses, hand two over to him, and let him
buy wheat, corn, barley, pork, mutton, tallow, &c.; and then he
will pay you in those articles for your coats, jackets,
pantaloons, and bustles! Just put in your bustles there, and get
them full of wheat instead of bran!
254
I have foreseen the necessities of these things.
255
Go and take your clothes, and do not be afraid that you will
never get any more; for, let me tell you, if you will lay up
these stores, you will have clothing till it shall be a drug and
a trouble to you.
255
You do not believe that, some of you; but I tell you, if you do
not believe it, and if you do not know it, it is because you are
not living your religion. But the day will be, and it is right at
our doors, when thousands and millions in the United States and
in the old countries will come to us and render to us all the
rich things that this earth affords, in exchange for food.
255
Brother Eddington says that where there is none person that
brings clothing there are twenty that have wheat to dispose of.
Go into the country north and south, and there is not one woman
in ten that has got as much cloth as you have on your backs
to-day.
255
There are many before me that have got an abundance of as good
clothes as ever were put on, while those who live in the country
have scarcely any.
255
Do not be afraid of brother Eddington, for he is an honourable
man, and will pay you in wheat, corn, buck-wheat, tallow, or
anything else that he can command. Well, you take a course to
sustain him and buy wheat; and if you do not want it, there are
others that are ready to take it; and the day will come when you
will hand over your rich clothing and jewellery for it.
255
Do you not know that brother Brigham told you he would not deal
it free again?
255
[President B. Young: "We will buy them too."]
255
Brother Brigham Young does not lie, nor his brother Heber.
255
Well, now, am I going to save men and women by lying. No; I will
save myself by telling the truth; and I will take the truth all
the time, and others may take lies, and see which get to heaven
first. I tell you, you will find us as far apart as are heaven
and hell.
255
"Well," says one, "Are you going to do this?" Yes, I am going to
put one suit of clothes on and sell the rest, except a change;
and see if the day does not come when I will have so many clothes
that my wives will not have boxes to put them in.
255
I realize that I am a poor man--a worm of creation; but I just
know that when I dwell in the truth--in Jesus Christ,--when I
dwell in his light and partake of his Spirit, I am right. I would
give more for one hundred men of this character than I would give
for this whole people, if they were not of that character. Can
they whip the world? Yes; men of that character will whip
everything that can be put on that road, from this place to Dan,
and from there to Beersheba. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, September 20, 1857
Brigham Young, September 20, 1857
SUPERIORITY OF PURE MOTIVES--ASCENDANCY OF THE KINGDOM
OF GOD--OBEDIENCE TO COUNSEL.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, September 20, 1857.
256
Brother Heber wants to know whether he has said anything wrong.
So far as I am concerned, and so far as the truth is concerned,
he has not. He is very careless in the use of language; but I do
not so much care how he or any of the brethren express their
ideas, when their hearts are right before God.
256
When we have only the one desire to promote the kingdom of God on
the earth, the people will be right.
256
Brother Heber is very full of comparisons; and I will liken
brother Heber's language to the conduct of some of this people.
He talks just as ideas happen to come into his mind; and some of
the people act just as it happens at the moment, not thinking
what they do. And yet their desire is to do right; and the
greatest faults that most of them see in each other arise through
weakness and ignorance, and not through an evil design. They
desire to do right, just as brother Heber desires to talk as
straight as a line; but he has so long been in the habit of
making his own dictionary and using his words out of it, that it
would be difficult for him to change his style now.
256
No matter what the outward appearance is--if I can know of a
truth that the hearts of the people are fully set to do the will
of their Father in heaven, though they may falter and do a great
many things through the weaknesses of human nature, yet, they
will be saved. You will hear among such persons observations that
appear very much out of the way; but, at the same time, they will
say that "it does seem that when I would try to do good, and to
do my best, evil will come before me."
256
If there is an outward appearance of mistakes or evils, we ought
to have the Spirit of the Lord to look at the designs of the
actors, and know whether they act from impure or sinister
motives. If their motives are pure--no matter whether their
outward appearance is particularly precise, their acts will be
discerned by the Spirit of the Lord, and will be appreciated for
what they were intended. If people act from pure motives, though
their outward movements may not always be so pleasant as our
traditions would prefer, yet God will make those acts result in
the best good to the people.
256
I wish the people to know that they have to come to the position
that, in their feelings and affections, the kingdom of God must
be all in all to us. If we are not in that position, you will
find that we will be scourged and afflicted until we are. With us
it must be the kingdom of God all the time: it must be that or
nothing. The time has come in which that must be the common
feeling with the Saints.
257
As to the world's being in fellowship with us, it never was and
it never can be. We cut off the Gentiles just before we left
Nauvoo; and they have cut us off from their fellowship. The
thread is cut that has hitherto connected us; and now we have to
act for ourselves and build up the kingdom of God on the earth,
which we will do, by the help of the Lord; for he has decreed
that his kingdom shall take the ascendancy over all other
kingdoms under heaven.
257
It was observed by brother Spencer that the time had come for
this work to be making far more rapid strides than it has
hitherto done. You will find that it has not been by any act of
our own that this thread has been cut; but we will now have to
sustain ourselves, or we will go under. We have not desired
it--we have not naturally wished for this crisis to come; but
inasmuch as it has come, if the people, in the strength of
Israel's God, sustain themselves, they will be sustained.
257
If we are united, we are independent of the powers of hell and of
the world, which terms are synonymous with me. We are now free
and easy; and if we succumb to the wicked, our hearts sink within
us and we sicken and die; but when my feelings are decided that
we will defend ourselves against all who come here to destroy us
or to oppose the establishment of truth on the earth, I feel
perfectly free and light as the air. Does brother Spencer feel
so? I presume that he does, and also that every Saint feels as
free as the mountain breezes.
257
I am free and easy, and I am not concerned about having too much
rest; though, when my feelings are at rest, and I have not an
hundred tons weight upon my shoulders, a feeling comes over me
like this--"Are you not becoming slothful?" As soon as I have a
good sound reflection upon the matter, I feel to thank God that
he will let me rest at times, and not always require me to bear a
burden like carrying a hundred tons.
257
Be faithful; and if you are attentive to your duties, God will
take care of the rest.
257
We talk of enjoying, multiplying, and increasing in the things of
God. All that we can do is to prepare to receive anything that
God may see fit to give. I do not know but that I am just as well
prepared to receive revelations this morning as I shall be
millions of years hence. I do not know but that I shall be
prepared to do the will of God, according to my capacity, as well
to-day or to-morrow as I shall be when I have spent millions of
years in his presence.
257
You hear people in the sectarian world talk about preparing to
die; but the religion that we have embraced teaches us to prepare
to live. If we were now going to exchange this world for another,
I do not know but that we are as well prepared as we shall be in
years to come. I have felt that I never should be better prepared
to receive the glory of the spirit-world than I am now, according
to my present capacity. While brother Heber was talking about our
travels in 1834, I remember that brother Joseph said the camp
should be cursed. We had some wicked men in the company, and
Joseph discerned the spirits of those men, and said that the camp
should be cursed and that they should feel the heavy hand of the
Lord. Brother Heber came to me and said, "I do not know that I
could have done any better, even though it had been to save my
natural life;" and he did do well and continued to do so. And I
will say that I do not know that I can do any better than I am
doing.
258
You and I may be ready to fight: we may be ready to plant seed,
and, if called upon, to cache grain in the mountains, and to do
whatever the Lord may require at our hands. Let us do whatever
may be required. If we are called upon to take our women and
children into the mountains, let us do that; if to burn, let us
be on hand to burn; if to build more, let us be on hand to burn;
if to build more, let us do that; and whatever we are required to
do, let us do.
258
We called up a Bishop, the other night, to go on an express; and
when he came to my office, I said to him, "Brother Thomas, are
you ready?" He replied, "Yes." Though he did not know what was
wanted of him, yet he was ready. He asked, "When do you want me?"
I replied, "Early to-morrow morning" (now, yesterday morning);
and he was there at the time--which is the way that men should
feel and act.
258
The main object of my present remarks has been to have the people
know whether they are taught right--to have them know whether
they are receiving the word of the Lord from this stand--to have
them know whether they are led right.
258
As to being afflicted, never fear that: only fear that you are
not living as well as you might, and then there is no danger. You
know how you have been led, and I can say that you try to walk in
the path that leads to improvement and purity and to never do a
known evil. When you know that an evil is before you, pass it by,
and do that which tends to good, and all will be right.
258
If you are not led right, or if you are afraid that you are not
going to be led right, just find out a better way; for that is
your privilege, if you are not already led right. And if you will
live so as to know God better than any other man, of find some
one that knows God better, and of whom you can learn more of
God--a man that knows better how to dictate the affairs of the
Church, all will be right.
258
I wish that every man would live so that he could have communion
with angels--so that Jesus would come to visit him. I wish I
could see this people in such a position; but there is yet too
much sin in our midst: our traditions cling to us so strongly,
that we cannot yet break through into that liberty; but we will
see the day, if faithful, in which we can converse with angels.
There are persons in this congregation that will converse with
angels just as freely as we converse with each other.
258
Be faithful, and God will not only fight for us, but he will also
lead us to victory. What has been said today is true. You know
that brother Heber almost always testifies to the truth of what
he says; but I do not care whether you think that what I say is
true or not, for that does not concern me. You may judge of the
truth you hear to-day and of that which you will hear in times to
come; for we shall be judges of ourselves as well as of our
enemies, and we shall also judge angels. God bless you! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / John
Taylor, September 20, 1857
John Taylor, September 20, 1857
EDUCATION--REVELATION, OBEDIENCE, ETC.
A Discourse delivered by Elder John Taylor, in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, September 20, 1857.
259
I listened with very great pleasure to the remarks made this
morning both by President Young and President Kimball, and it
always affords me pleasure to listen to anything that is
associated with the kingdom of God and its interests; and, on the
other hand, I feel as ready and willing to communicate anything
that the Lord may have committed unto me.
259
[Asked a blessing on the bread.]
259
In relation to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is something that
is full of importance and information, and is associated with our
present and eternal welfare: it enters into all the ramifications
of life where we can understand it. It is not a sing-song sort of
a thing, such as we hear taught among the sectarians; but there
is something tangible about it: it consists of eternal
principles, unfolding light and intelligence, and is adapted to
the nature of man as a mortal and immortal being,--principles
that affect us in time and in eternity, in life, in health, in
sickness, in death, and which lead to life everlasting.
259
We heard some remarks made this morning upon education--about
words and language, and so forth. In relation to the education of
the world generally, a great amount of it is of very little
value, consisting more of words than ideas; and whilst men are
verbose in their speaking or writing, you have to hunt for ideas
or truth like hunting for a grain of wheat among piles of chaff
or rubbish. It is true that a great amount of it is really
valuable, and it is for us to select the good from the bad.
259
The education of men ought to be adapted to their positions, both
as temporal and eternal beings. It is well to understand the arts
and sciences; it is well to understand language and history; it
is well to understand agriculture, to be acquainted with
mechanics, and to be instructed in everything that is calculated
to promote the happiness, the wellbeing, and the comfort of the
human family.
259
That education which but amounts to a little outward appearance
and applies only to a few conveniences of this life is very far
short of that education and intelligence which immortal beings
ought to be in possession of. The education of the present day is
generally misapplied; indeed, men have misapplied the education
which they have received for generations and generations.
260
The priests in egypt had mysteries immediately associated with
themselves, and the calculation was to keep their people ignorant
of those things which they knew, that they might govern them the
more readily and that they might reign and tyrannize over them.
Among the various nations in different ages, their sages and wise
men held their intelligence as a secret mystery to be divulged
almost or altogether to their disciples, who generally conveyed
it in unknown characters, symbols, or hieroglyphics. The
Egyptians had their priests, the Assyrians their magi and
astrologers, the Greeks their philosophers, and the Jews their
wise men, and all more or less mysterious or cabalistic.
260
This was a misapplication of information, or that which they
might possess; although, in many instances, the information
amounted to nothing in reality.
260
The same is applicable, in a great measure, to our lawyers,
doctors, and priests: they make use of terms that nobody can
understand but the initiated. If you study medicine, law, or
botany, and many of the sciences, you must study Latin first,
because the doctors and professors make use of that language to
convey their ideas in; and the calculation is for all except men
of science or linguists to be befogged and bewildered,--yes, all
except the initiated few who have been able to bestow the same
amount of time as they have in learning some of the dead
languages.
260
Whom does their learning benefit? Certainly no the multitude. I
will tell you my idea of true intelligence and true eloquence. It
is not as some people do--to take a very small idea and use a
great many grandiloquent words without meaning--something to
befog and mystify it with--something to tickle the ear and please
the imagination only: that is not true intelligence. But it is
true intelligence for a man to take a subject that is mysterious
and great in itself, and to unfold and simplify it so that a
child can understand it. I do not care what words you make use
of, if you have the principles and are enabled to convey those
principles to the understandings of men.
260
It is true, at the same time, that a man who has a good use of
language can present his ideas to better advantage than one who
has not, in some instances, and in some he cannot; for the Lord
gives some men a natural talent and powers of description that
others do not possess and cannot acquire. But the great principle
that we have to come to is the knowledge of God, of the
relationship that we sustain to each other, and of the various
duties we have to attend to in the various spheres of life in
which we are called to act as mortal and immortal, intelligent,
eternal beings, in order that we may magnify our calling and
approve ourselves before God and the holy angels: and if we
obtain knowledge of this kind, we shall do well; for this is the
greatest good of the whole: it embraces everything that we want.
260
In relation to the principles of eternal life, we are told that
these treasures we have in earthen vessels were given of the Lord
and retained in those vessels through our faithfulness.
260
Now, then, if men, without much of the advantage of what is
termed education in this world, are filled with the Spirit of
God, the revelations of the Holy Ghost, and can comprehend the
relationship of man to God, can know their duties, and can teach
a people, a nation, or a world how they may be saved and obtain
thrones, principalities, powers, and dominions in the eternal
worlds,--if men can understand these principles by the gift of
the Holy Ghost and the revelations of the Most High, and are
enabled to place them before the people so that they can
comprehend them, then, I say, these are the men of education--the
men of intellect--the men who are calculated to bless and ennoble
the human family. This is the kind of education that we want; and
the more simple those principles can be conveyed the better: they
are more adapted to the wants and intelligence of the human
family.
261
Here is the difference between us at the present time and the
priestcraft and kingcraft and the craft of the various systems
among the nations. They have tended to befog, bewilder, bind
down, and lead the masses into ignorance; but the principles of
the Gospel are calculated to expand the mind, enlarge the heart,
unfold the capacity, and make all men feel their relationship to
god and to each other, that we may be all partakers of the same
blessing, that we may all be intelligent, that we may all be
learned in the things of the kingdom of god, and all be prepared
for the celestial inheritance in the eternal worlds. This is the
difference between the system that we have embraced and the
systems of the world--they are of men, this is of God. Among the
Gentiles, they tread upon one another and ride into power and
influence on the ruin of others; and they do not care who sinks,
if they swim. The kingdom of God exalts the good, blesses all,
enlightens all, expands the minds of all, and puts within the
reach of all the blessings of eternity.
261
Do you repudiate education, then? No--not at all. I appreciate
all true intelligence, whether moral, social, scientific,
political, or philosophical; but I despise the folly that they
hang on to it and the folly that they call education.
261
What did any of us know as rational, eternal beings, until we
were educated in this Church?
261
It is true that we are eternal beings; but did we know or
understand any thing about the principles of eternal life?
Nothing. Yet we have believed that we were going to live for
ever. But did we know anything about where we came from, or what
was our origin, or what was the object of our creation? We did
not know anything about where we were going. We had a dreamy idea
of heaven--of a God without body, parts, and passions--of a
heaven beyond the bounds of time and space; and the hell we
believed in was a bottomless pit. We had a dreamy idea of these
things; but what did we know? Was there any authority, religion,
or philosophy that could unravel these mysteries? No, not any.
261
Then of what practical use is their philosophy or religion to us?
It did not unfold unto us our position; it did not show us how to
obtain eternal life: it could not do it. Of what use was our
intelligence as applied to our position?
261
How many times have you listened to preaching from a speaker who
was considered quite an eloquent man? He would study his sermons
well, and perhaps write them. They were full of words--the
language was eloquent; but, after all, it was mere verbosity,
empty sound, and barren in ideas. Then you would go away and say,
"What an eloquent sermon Mr. So-and-so preached! He preached the
best to-day I ever heard him. It was such a treat--so rich, so
great, and so deep!" "What was it about?" "Oh, it was so deep
that I could not understand a word of it," as brother Brigham
says.
262
"Well, what was it about?" "I do not know; but I heard it, and it
was so deep and so profound that I could not understand it." "But
how was it that you could not understand what he was preaching
about, when he was so eloquent, so refined, and made use of such
elegant language?" Shall I tell you? The man did not know what he
was preaching about himself; and as he could not understand it
himself, he could not explain it to you. How could he lead others
to comprehend that which he did not know himself? These are
facts: this is the education of the world. If you examine the
philosophy of France and Germany, and other parts of the earth,
you will find them to be on a par with the religious world: they
are going to ameliorate the condition of mankind and to perform
wonders, according to their professions. If you attempt to reason
with them about their philosophy, like the Paddy's flea, when you
attempt to put your finger on them they are not there.
262
[Voice: "All the difference is, there is nothing there."]
262
All their philosophy is mere chimeras of the brain. I met with so
much of it in those countries that I was sickened with it.
262
A gentleman came to me in Paris--an Englishman, and, pointing to
a species of very light cake, asked me what it was called. (It is
a kind of bread that is so light that a man can eat all the time
and not fill himself, and you could blow it away with a puff of
your breath.) I told him I did not know what they called it, but
I would give it a name; I will call it fried froth, or
philosophy, just which you please,--fried bubbles, or the bubbles
of learned men; for it reminded me of their philosophy.
262
I believe in the solid bread, and I do not care if it comes in
big chunks; for then it is better than when there is not enough
to satisfy the appetite. Truth and intelligence have a tendency
to enlarge the capacity, to expand the soul, and to show man his
real position--his relationship to himself and to his God, both
in relation to the present and the future, that he may know how
to live on the earth and be prepared to mingle with the Gods in
the eternal worlds.
262
Now, if men will teach me these principles, I do not care what
words they use. If truth comes, tail or head foremost, I am not
very particular.
262
It is the principles of truth which cement us together and make
us act in union and strength: it is those principles that buoy up
our feelings, animate our souls, and make us feel joyous and
jubilant under all circumstances. It is light, it is truth, it is
intelligence, it comes from and leads to God, exaltation, and
celestial glory. We feel joyous because we have the principles of
eternal life within us. It is because we have partaken at the
fountain of life, and know our relationship to the Lord, and have
a position in his Church and kingdom.
262
Being, then, in possession of the truth--of a knowledge of those
principles which develop the revelations of God, and knowing that
he has given unto us the Holy Priesthood, restored Prophets,
Apostles, and Revelator to give revelation unto his people,
therefore have we confidence in our God and our religion.
262
And what is that revelation, this order, and this organisation
for? They are to enlighten us, to enlarge our minds, to teach us
all principles associated with our present and eternal welfare.
This revelation is the word of God, the eternal truths of heaven,
the everlasting Gospel, the word of life and salvation.
262
No matter what words are used, it is the principles we are after,
and our religion interests and affects us in all the
ramifications of life: it does not set up God as some austere
being that we cannot approach, but it tells us he is our Father,
and that we are his children, and that he cherishes in his bosom
a paternal regard for us; and we have experienced something of
the feelings that exist between father and son, mother and
daughter, parents and children; but we could not apply that unto
our God and consider that he was our Father before we embraced
the Gospel.
262
We have been taught by the simple principles of the Gospel to go
to our Father who is heaven, and that he will hear us. We have
also been taught that if we, as earthly parents, will not give
our children stones when they ask for bread, and that if we will
not give them scorpions when they ask for fish, God, as our
Father, will not give us one thing when we ask another, but that
he feels as much concerned about our welfare as we possibly can
do about that of our children.
263
This is the way that we now regard our God; but this is not the
way we used to look at him: we used to be all the day long
subject to bondage, through the fear of death. Do we feel
anything of that now? No, we do not: that feeling is taken away.
Now we feel that if it is required of us to die, it is well; if
to live, it is well. We feel that we are eternal beings and have
laid hold of eternal life, and therefore all is well. We feel
altogether different to what we did before we heard this Gospel:
it teaches us our duty to each other; it teaches us to reverence
God's name, and not blaspheme it as the Christians do.
263
I will tell you how it is in the world. In the world the masses
do not care what the devil they do, if men do not see them; and I
am sorry to say that we also are cursed with a few such
scoundrels. They do not care about God seeing them, for they have
not the fear of God before them, but they have fear of men.
263
We never ought to do a thing that we would be afraid of God
seeing us do; and if we are not afraid of God seeing us, we
should not be afraid of man seeing us.
263
Well, then, we are taught our duty to our God by our brethren.
And who are our brethren? The officers and authorities of this
Church--the servants of the living God. Who is President Young?
The mouthpiece of God to this Church and to the world. Has God
any other? Yes, lots of them appointed by him, but he is the
head.
263
[Blessed the sacramental cup.]
263
Formerly every man used to take his own way: we used to claim a
great many rights, privileges, and immunities that belonged to us
individually. Well, we enjoy many of them yet; but we did not
acknowledge the authority of God, and we could not do it, for the
simple reason that we knew nothing of it.
263
There was no one to come with "Thus saith the Lord"--no man that
could go forth and say he was commissioned of Jesus christ;
therefore there was no authority. There was no umpire--no
standard of truth to go to, to decide any doctrine that you might
have in your mind. But now we have "Thus saith the Lord God."
263
Is there any other place under heaven where there is anybody to
say "Thus saith the Lord?" If there is, I have heard nothing
about it; I have not read nor heard of it, and I am satisfied
there is no such thing.
263
I suppose there are in the neighbourhood of from 1,000,000,000 to
1,200,000,000 of inhabitants upon the earth; and nowhere but in
this place can there be found a man to say, "Thus saith the Lord
God,"--nowhere but here, or where those are who have been sent
from here.
263
Are there men of intelligence in the nations? Yes, as to the
world's intelligence--as to the intelligence associated with the
arts and sciences, natural philosophy, and mechanism, they are as
intelligent as any that can be found, without God. There are also
many learned professional men, princes, statesmen, and
potentates. The latter have the power to govern the nations over
which they rule, and yet among the whole of them not a man can be
found that can say, "Thus saith the Lord God."
263
Well, if this is the case in relation to them, and if this is the
position of the world, is it not time for the Almighty to
interfere? I speak of them, for many of the thousands who are now
before me are come from the different nations, and they
comprehend what I say, and they know that this is true.
264
What is our position? Are we not favoured ten thousand times more
than any other people under the heavens? Are we not put in a
position to have communication with the Lord? Have we not the
principles of life given unto us from day to day and from week to
week? Have we not the opportunity of hearing the word of the Lord
from his chosen servant--the only mouthpiece to lead the people
that he has under the heavens?
264
Can we appreciate this and realise our position? Can we really
appreciate our blessings? Do we really feel as we ought to in
relation to these matters? Why, we begin to experience, in part,
the riches of eternity. They begin to be unfolded before we can
fully appreciate them.
264
We are favoured at the present time, but we cannot comprehend our
blessings fully: we can only see in part, comprehend in part, and
shall not fully comprehend until the fulness of the blessings of
God shall be revealed; then we shall be able to appreciate our
position, our relationship to God, and the great blessings we
enjoy, as servants of the Most High.
264
We are only little children now. This is the way I feel. I feel
as a little child, and I pray to God, O God, expand my mind that
I may understand and comprehend the things of God, and not act
the fool, but be a wise man, and be able to comprehend the
blessings that are around me.
264
Why, the kingdom of God is established, the Prophet of God and
his servants are among us, and we are now enjoying the very
things that Prophets prophesied of as they looked through the
dark vista of ages unborn and contemplated these blessings that
we enjoy.
264
They told about the time when the kingdom of God would be
established upon the earth, when he would restore the ancient
order of things, when his Spirit would be poured out, when light
and revelation would be communicated, when his purposes would be
developed, and when the little stone would be cut out of the
mountain without hands. They saw, in vision, that a little
nucleus here in the mountains would arise, and that the mountain
of the Lord's house would be established above the hills, and
that all nations should flock to the standard, as doves to their
windows.
264
They saw the things in visions that we are now doing; they sang
and prophesied and rejoiced at what we have now commenced--the
building up of the kingdom of God.
264
Well, now, can we really appreciate these things? Do not we often
feel as we did in the Gentile world? We used to say, "I will be
damned if I do not have my own way." I tell you that you will be
damned if you do.
264
But how much of that feeling exists? I could not but think of it
when I heard the remarks of brother Kimball this morning. They
led me to reflect upon this subject. Some of us think we are
smart men; some of us think we know what is for our good as well
as our leaders, and that our judgment is quite as good as theirs;
and some feel like saying, "We will be damned if we submit to
them." But you will be damned if you do not.
264
Now, I will suppose that you were God, and that you had inspired
some men to go forth and preach the Gospel, to gather the people,
to establish a kingdom upon the earth,--that you had got a few
together, and they gathered others; finally, you issued your will
and your law to the people: what would you think if they turned
round and said they would do as they pleased? Says one, "I do not
know;" and says another, "I do not know." Supposing they should
say, "We think we understand better than you do," how would you,
as God, regulate the affairs of the earth? What could you do with
a people that would not be obedient to your law? Just the same as
God did with the antediluvians, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah,
or the Jews. If you could not do anything with them, how could
God?
265
The Presbyterians used to say that people ought to thank God for
the privilege of being damned. But I would not thank anybody for
being damned; but I think, however, that such men as would not
submit to his authority and rule ought to be damned, whether they
like it or not. Nothing but obedience to his law, obedience in
families, obedience to Bishops and to the Priesthood in all its
ramifications, and especially to President Brigham Young as the
head, to carry out his law to the whole people, can accomplish
the purposes of God or our salvation as a people.
265
If the Lord can have a people to listen to his law, there may be
a chance to establish his kingdom upon the earth: if not, the
only way he can establish his kingdom is to remove them from the
earth, or give up his kingdom until another time; for it is
impossible to establish his kingdom without having a people
obedient to him.
265
What does that obedience imply? Obedience in all things,--that
the Twelve should be obedient to the Presidency, the Seventies to
the Twelve, and so on through all the ramifications of the
Priesthood,--obedience of wives to husbands, children to
parents,--and that a general order of this kind should be
established in every neighbourhood, in every house, and in every
heart.
265
Well, this is the feeling that ought to exist; and where this
feeling does not exist the Spirit of God does not exist; and
where there is not a feeling of obedience, the Spirit of God will
be withdrawn: people cannot retain it and be in rebellion against
the authorities and counsels of the church and kingdom of God.
265
When the kingdom of God is established and his word is listened
to, the spirit of obedience extends through the ramifications of
the body of Christ, even as the sap extends through the trunk of
a tree till it reaches to the extreme branches and twigs, and to
every part of it. It is just like some of those large streams
issuing from the mountains and dividing into smaller streams
until they reach to every field and garden throughout the city.
265
Well, now, suppose some of you should say, or suppose a branch
should say, "I want to be independent, and I will not be
dependent upon the larger branches." I ask, how will you help
yourselves, except you take a course to be cut off? And then
where will your sap come from? You will wither and wilt down.
265
Suppose you undertake to water the garden, and you say that you
will not be dependent upon that larger stream. "It is true," say
you, "that I got my water from that stream; but I will not have
anything to do with it now." Will your vegetation flourish, if
you discard the larger stream from whence you get your water? It
will not. So in regard to the water of life, and so in regard to
a tree. Jesus said, "A branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless
it abide in the vine;" nor can you do anything without obedience,
for the moment you rebel you are in this position.
265
If we, as a little company gathered together on the tops of these
mountains, in possession of the great and glorious privileges
that we enjoy,--if we cannot magnify our calling and honour the
Priesthood conferred upon us, how do we expect salvation to flow
to the world? How can we expect men to do what we do not do?--to
listen to and obey us, if we do not obey our superior officers?
266
Furthermore, as the servants of God here living in these
mountains, the Lord is determined to try to prove us in every
way; and we are, as it were, just broken loose from the old
barren stalk: The old ship is about being launched, and we are
thrown upon God and our own resources, both in a governmental and
a mental capacity. The Devil will be enraged--the powers of hell
let loose upon us.
266
Now, let me ask how we are going to stand, except we are guided
by the revelations of God? And let me further ask how you are
going to get the revelations of God, except you live your
religion and obey those set over you? Let me further ask, What is
the use professing to be the people of God if we do not live our
religion and magnify our calling?
266
I speak of these things merely for argument's sake. I believe
that, so far as I have seen, the general feeling among this
people is to do right; but I merely speak of them, for it is
necessary that we should have line upon line, precept upon
precept: it is necessary that we should understand our true
relationship.
266
For instance, there is an army coming up here. Can any of you
tell what will be the result, except the proper authorities
dictate? Do you know what will be the best? But suppose we get
through with this, and I suppose that some of you may begin to
guess for this year: but can you for next? Is there a man here
that can tell how and where to hide his family and his grain? Are
there any in this congregation who know anything about it and
that give counsel to this people either for present or coming
emergencies? This is bringing things to a focus. Now, you wise
men, or men of education and literary attainments, or
philosophers, speak and display your wisdom. If you cannot, and
if we have not any knowledge in this matter, what next? Why, we
have got to be dependent upon the authority that is over us; and
if we cannot submit, how can we be governed by it?
266
This principle pervades all, whether in a civil or military
capacity or in any other capacity. We used to have a difference
between Church and State, but it is all one now. Thank God, we
have no more temporal and spiritual! We have got church and State
together, and we used to talk of baptism and repentance, and we
used to whip out sectarian priests with their own Bible, and we
thought that we were tremendous fellows.
266
But in what part of the Bible do you find what we are to do this
year or the next? This will be part of a new Bible, for when it
takes place it will be written, and then that will be a Bible,
and then the world will find that we shall have a "Mormon Bible."
266
Men have been opposed to the Book of Mormon because it was a new
Bible. The poor fools did not know that wherever there was a true
Church there was revelation, and that wherever there was
revelation there was the word of God to man and materials to make
Bibles of. We are all of us now in the harness, and the issue is
fast rolling upon us: it is therefore necessary that we
understand our position. We have all had the opportunity of going
away from here; but I do not know that you can have that
opportunity now, for I see a proclamation here, and you cannot go
without permission.
266
We have no vague theories: you have now to ask leave to go. The
time has come for decisive action; and whether you are called to
act in a religious, civil, or military capacity, it is all in the
kingdom of God and the will of God is to be done upon the earth
as angels do it in heaven.
266
We are not fit to occupy our places in the kingdom, either as
High Priests, or as Seventies, or as Apostles, or as anything
else, except we are willing and obedient: and the same thing
applies to our families. Then let us seek to submit ourselves to
the law of God and do it.
266
I do not know but I have talked long enough. God bless you, in
the name of Jesus! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Wilford
Woodruff, September 27, 1857
Wilford Woodruff, September 27, 1857
BLESSINGS--TRIALS--OBEDIENCE TO COUNSEL, ETC.
Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, September 27, 1857
267
We are glad to see the brethren return home from their long
missions or short ones. We are glad to greet them, to hear them
talk, to see their faces, and to hear their testimony that the
Lord has been with them, These things are a pleasure to us who
remain here in Zion. There are a multiplicity of evidences that
God is with this people, and that the Lord has been with his
Elders, wherever they have been, from the beginning of this work.
267
There has been something peculiar connected with the Elders of
this Church from the beginning. You may take the rest of the
world, politically, temporally, spiritually, or any other way;
and there never has been such an example in the eyes of heaven,
earth, or hell as has been in the Elders of this Church, in
preaching this Gospel to the nations of the earth. The hand of
God has been in the work from the beginning, and it is in it yet;
and the hand of the Lord has been with them to succour them all
the time. The revelations given from heaven, through Joseph,
concerning the Elders, have been fulfilled to the very letter.
267
There are many things that are consoling; and one is, to know
that the Lord is with us--that he does reveal his mind and will
in the ordinances of the house of God, and through the
administration of blessings whether by Patriarchs, or by the
Twelve Apostles, or in the endowments. We find those blessings
are fulfilled to the very letter.
267
The brethren to-day have spoken in reference to the blessings
that are given to our brethren when they go out on their missions
to the various nations of the earth. I remember the day very well
when we blessed those missionaries that went to India and to
Europe; and I must say that I never had such a variety of
feelings as I had at that time.
267
In blessing brother Luddington, I recollect that I was mouth, and
I well remember that I could see nothing but seas, waves, and
storms. The seas appeared to be heaped up, and I knew that he was
going to see storms and be exposed to troubles and dangers. But
there was one thing that we did bless those brethren with that I
rejoice in, and that is that they should return home again.
267
Well, our words have all been fulfilled to the very letter, and
this gives us consolation. If we go forth, and have the
Priesthood and Apostleship upon us, the Holy Spirit of God,
though it may not be visible, does dictate to us; and it is so in
ordaining: it is so in going to battle against the nations of the
earth, who have given their consent to the shedding of the blood
of the Prophets.
268
Brother Brigham feels calm and serene as a summer's morning; and
in his desire to save Israel he wishes to save also the lives of
our enemies, if possible. Why is he so calm and steady? It is
because God is with him; and though armies are approaching and
ready, apparently, to swallow up this people, yet he and his
brethren feel calm, and the Lord reveals unto them, by the Holy
Spirit, how to govern and control this people. They have had a
long experience in proving the Almighty God, who holds the
destiny of the Saints and the sinner. And has he ever failed us?
No, never.
268
Some of our brethren have told their trials here to-day, and they
have said that they have not done much; but the greatest work
they have done has been in saving themselves. But this is not all
they have done. They have done something else; they have
accomplished the purposes of God in India--as much so as though
they had baptised every king and queen in those islands: they
have literally fulfilled the revelations of Jesus Christ in
carrying the Gospel unto them, because those nations could not
have been left without excuse and the earth prepared for the
judgments of God, if those Elders had not gone and preached to
the people of those nations. No matter if they had not have
baptised one, they are as much justified as we who first went to
Herefordshire, England, and baptised twenty or thirty priests in
a day. They have fulfilled the commandments in carrying the
Gospel to the nations.
268
It is no testimony to me that a man is not faithful, because he
has not baptised numbers of princes, lords, governors, and kings;
not at all. The Lord has sent them there: he has tried them and
put them in strait places; but has he left them? No, he has not.
Has he not brought them forth? We have had the testimony of
brother Musser, who is here; and we see that it is the hand of
God that has been over them, and we are glad of it; and we do not
expect that the Lord will send the Elders out there again until
they have other missionaries and messengers that they cannot
stone, tar, or feather, but messengers that will come with their
sharp sickles: then they will find that they have messengers that
they cannot conquer nor overcome.
268
I feel to rejoice in these things and to know that the Lord is at
work with this people. We are living in a fast age--an age
fraught with great events, and every day is bringing to pass more
of the predictions; and more revelation is being fulfilled in one
year, now, than has been fulfilled in centuries before. We are
living in a day when that flood of revelation is coming to a
focus; and that focus we stand in, and we are seeing it fulfilled
day by day.
268
The wicked rage and the heathen imagine a vain thing; and they
say, "Let us go and take a prey and a spoil; let our eye be upon
Zion, and let her be defiled." But they know not the thoughts of
the Lord, neither understand they his counsel. God will work for
us and defend us, if we do our duty, and Zion will soon be free.
We will not suffer the oppressions of our enemies as we have
done.
268
You need not fear: all we have to do is to be passive in the
hands of the Lord, and follow the counsel of our leaders, and not
be particularly anxious that the Lord should reveal to you or to
me his mind and will and intentions concerning our present
difficulties; but pray earnestly that the Spirit of the Lord may
be upon those men who stand at the head. All we have to do is to
live our religion; and when the Presidency say "Come here," or
"Go there," let us be on hand to obey, and all will be right.
269
Let the people be quiet and pray that God may reveal his mind and
will to those at the head. We may have our ideas of what we
should do in this or that case; but there is no man so well
qualified to lead, govern, and direct for the salvation of the
people as that man whom God has appointed. We have as good
leaders as we need. There never was a better leader given to
Israel, nor one more capable of leading this people to salvation,
than Brigham Young: he is filled with the Spirit of God day by
day. If the United States make war upon this people, the Lord
will hold them responsible for it, and the measure they mete will
be measured unto them again; and if they are ripe and the cup of
their iniquity full, they will be shattered to pieces--their
union broken up and destroyed. They will be visited with thunder
and lightning and hail and the judgments of God; and every man
that will not draw his sword against his neighbour will be
obliged to flee to Zion. They are sending their armies here to
destroy us; but I ask none to weep for Utah or spend their
sympathy for us,--not even my relatives or the priests, the
doctors, lawyers, or editors; no, not even one soul--from the
President of the United States down through the whole nation, who
have given consent to our death; for they will have plenty to
bear themselves, and they may save their weeping for themselves
and their children. The Lord will teach them that their proud
looks and haughty feelings will be laid low. It is right to pray
and it is right to keep our powder dry. Pray for the Presidency
of this Church--pray for them to have the Spirit of revelation.
We have never seen a day when "Mormonism" was taking such a
stride as it is at the present time. They may come over the
Plains singing their songs about what they will do when they get
to Utah; but many of them will find a place in hell before they
get here.
269
There have been many truths taught here to-day. Many who have
been here for years do not know or realize the great blessings we
are enjoying in these valleys of mountains. Our granaries are
filled with bread and we enjoy peace and the comforts of life. We
come to the Tabernacle of God and associate with holy men, and we
should be holy ourselves: if we are not, it is our own fault.
269
You have all the blessings which the celestial kingdom and laws
of God impart unto men on the earth, while the Gentile nations
have suffered ruin, wickedness, and abominations of every kind to
increase in their midst until they are ripe for destruction. Do
they not thirst for the blood of the Saints and every man who is
righteous? Do they not delight in wickedness? They are full of
wrath and anger, and they are ripe for the damnation of hell.
Yes, the nations of the earth are ripe to-day.
269
Then we should be faithful and diligent in all things committed
to our charge. Even though the Lord has suffered some of the
brethren to go through strait places, in days which are past and
gone, and he may still call us to go through strait places, yet
he will sustain us when we trust in him.
269
The Lord has suffered some of our Prophets and Apostles to be
martyred; and what for? That the cup of the iniquity of the
nations might be full and that his servants might be crowned
heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ to a martyr's
crown.
270
Through the persecutions of the enemies of truth, many of the
Saints have been worn out; but, as a body, the kingdom and people
have been led off as victorious conquerors. We stand now and hold
the keys of the American continent; we stand in the strong
chambers of the mountains; and can the Lord God give us the
victory? He can and he will, and he has been preparing us for
this by pouring out upon us his Holy Spirit, uniting the people
who have been willing to repent and forsake their sins; and I
hope we shall continue faithful to the end.
270
I am glad, and my soul rejoices in these things, and I believe
that the people are ready to shoulder their guns and walk into
these kanyons and line them from here to Fort Bridger in defence
of the Constitution of the United States and the rights which
both the laws of God and man guarantee to us.
270
We have had to stoop to our enemies heretofore and bear many
things from them worse than death; but if there is anything that
gives us joy and consolation--at least, I can speak for
myself--it was when I heard the brethren say, "you are free,
brethren,--you are free; and you may prove yourselves before God
and men that you are willing to defend yourselves against tyrants
and oppressors."
270
When I heard this, I was full of joy; and who would not be? Who
would not rather die than bow down to the yoke of the enemy? It
would sweeten death to a man to know that he should lay down his
life in defence of freedom and the kingdom of God rather than to
longer bow to the cruelty of mobs, even if the mob have the name
of being legalized by the nation.
270
I thank God and I rejoice that this people are determined to be
free from mobocracy and oppression, and that they are determined
to have peace, if they have to fight for it; and if the yoke is
ever put on again, it will be by ourselves: and I say, God bless
this people and the missionaries that have gone to the
nations,--no matter whether they have baptized one or a thousand,
if they have done the will of God.
270
Notwithstanding the lightnings may flash, thunders roll, and
earthquakes bellow, the Lord will extend his hand over his
servants and protect them as he has done those that have returned
unto us. And the Lord will remember our brethren that are on the
Plains; and let us remember them in our prayers, that the Lord
may be on our side; and let us be on hand and be ready at any and
every call, and the kingdom will spread abroad, and it will smite
the image not only on the toes but on the head; which may God
grant for our sake. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, September 27, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, September 27, 1857
SPIRITUAL DISSOLUTION--IGNORANCE OF THE WORLD.
A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the
Bowery,
Sunday Afternoon, September 27, 1857.
271
I was going to say I was glad that I live. Bless your souls, I
expect always to live. Most of the people are always talking
about death. I do not know anything about it, and I never wish to
know anything about what is called death, and I never shall,
except I sin and turn away from this Church and away from Jesus
Christ. When I turn from him, I follow a character that is called
Death; but while I live my religion, I never shall die,--that is,
my spirit never will die.
271
My tabernacle that is now standing before you, that you see with
your eyes, I expect will decay just like an old house. When it is
done with, it decays, and turns back to the mother earth, from
whence it was taken; and it is so with my body; it is so with
yours; but it is not so with my spirit, if I live my religion.
271
If I do not live my religion, but turn away from the principles
of light and life, my spirit will die. You have heard me speak of
that a great many times, and so you have brother Brigham. There
are thousands upon thousands whose bodies will die by the power
of the second death; and then they never will return again. Many
call that annihilation.
271
It is just the same with that as it is with this pitcher: it was
made in England; it was once in its mother element, and it was
taken out of the earth, and went through a certain process. It
was then modelled and fashioned into the shape in which you now
see it.
271
Now, will the day come when this pitcher will return to its
mother earth? It will; and it may be thrown into some part of the
earth where it may be thousands and millions of years before that
pitcher or the elements of which it is composed will be brought
back again; and so it will be with thousands and millions of the
people: they never will be brought back into the shape they were
in once.
271
Some men enquire, "Why?" Simply because they have dishonoured the
spirit and bodies that God gave them; therefore God will make a
desolation of those bodies and spirits, and he will throw them
back into the earth; that is, that portion that belongs to the
earth will go back there. And so it will be with our spirits:
they will go back into the elements or space that they once
occupied before they came here.
272
Now, you may believe what you have a mind to about it; it is just
as easy to conceive of a dissolution as to conceive of anything
else. Chemists take elements and dissolve them and separate them,
and can it not be done with our bodies? I answer yes, and with
our spirits too, just as easy as a chemist can take a
five-dollars piece and dissolve it into an element that is like
water. Can that be restored again? It can: it can be dissolved,
and it can be brought back again. And upon the same principle can
our bodies be dissolved and restored again.
272
You know I am always at work at something that I can make you
understand. As to eloquence, brother Taylor told you last Sunday
what it was. "What is it?" says one. Nothing but truth, and that
in its simplicity. My prayers are--and if your prayers were
always right, you would pray so also--that our leader, brother
Brigham, would convey things in a plain and simple manner. And
you should also pray that I might do it; for I know there are
many things laid before this people that hundreds of them do not
understand.
272
I have often talked to this people about their ceasing from their
evil ways. You hear the same things every sabbath. Brother Case
has been teaching it, and my exhortation today is, Cease from
your dissensions.
272
Well, there are scores of people in this congregation who do not
know what that means. When brother Brigham says a thing is so and
so, and I answer that I do not believe a word of it, that is
justifying my conduct. Do you not see it is? You would not
believe that there are people in this congregation who are so
ignorant that they do not understand this; but there are. Some
are so ignorant that they will make fun of this, and they are of
all the most ignorant. You never saw a learned man or a learned
woman, who was a gentleman or a lady, that would ever ridicule a
man or woman for not being better educated.
272
There is a difficulty with many of the Elders who go to England,
to the United States, and to the islands of the sea: they do not
explain things in that simple manner which they ought to do; but
they use words that are above the capacity of the people.
272
Go into Philadelphia, New York, Rochester, and many other great
cities, and you will find the most ignorant people that are in
the world. In those very cities there are thousands and hundreds
of thousands that do not know as much as my old cow.
272
You may think that is extravagant; but there was a Baptist priest
as ignorant as that--a Mr. Barrett, who kept an academy called
Barrett's academy, in London. He did no know what baptism or
repentance was, and we could not teach him, he was so ignorant
and stupid.
272
But let one of my wives go up to a cow of mine, and say "So," and
the cow knows what that means, and will stand still. Then my wife
says to her, "Don't you kick one bit while I am milking you. If
you do, I will whip you;" and the old cow stands still till the
last drop of milk is drawn.
272
There are a great many men and women who do not know as much as
that: but you can teach cattle, for there is instinct in them;
and you can teach a horse, for we have seen it done in this city.
Did not God cultivate a donkey one time? He did. Yes; the Lord
cultivated the ass, and he spoke and rebuked the Prophet: and
cannot he do the same now? Did he not speak to a raven and tell
it to carry food to Elijah?
272
These are a few preliminary remarks. I have said what I have
said, and you may take from it what you please. We have to learn
the principle of obedience and do as we are told.
273
As a general thing, this people will listen and do what brother
Brigham and brother Heber say; but there are some who will not do
what their Bishops say. Does that show obedience? You cannot obey
him and then disobey his brethren that are with him. If a wife
cannot be obedient to me, will she be obedient to anybody else? I
don't think she will; but I think, if you place anybody else in
my situation, she will disobey him, and she will disobey every
other one that she may go with, and there is no end to her
disobedience.
273
I have got to be obedient to whom? To my leader. It does not make
any odds what he says. If he says, "brother Heber, go and build a
barn thus and so," and he gives me a sketch of that barn, and I
go to work and build it, there is obedience. Well, after I built
it, there is something about the barn that he does not like, or
that does not suit him, and he says, "brother Heber, I want you
to go and take that away and put up such and such things;" and
then he tells me to take down the barn. I go and do it. Then he
tells me to build it again, and I do it. That is obedience. You
see it, do you not?
273
I cannot honour God nor angels unless I am obedient to my leader;
neither will God honour me, except I will honour the words of
those men whom he sends. Do you know it? You know you have got to
come to that standard, every man and every woman. "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send
receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent
me." (John xiii. 20.)
273
If I could not see the spirit of obedience in you, I could not
warrant you, neither could I warrant any man or woman, nor could
any Prophet or Patriarch warrant you salvation. We must be
passive in the hands of the authorities, as this pitcher was
passive in the hands of the potter that made it.
273
Gentlemen, ye Elders of Israel, whether you are old men, young
men, or middle-aged, you have got to learn the lesson of
obedience.
273
Now, brethren, do you not think it is about time that we began to
learn? Does middle age or does old age excuse a man? No, it does
not. Well, then, what will justify a man in doing wrong? Not
anything. To do as I am told is my duty. It is written in the
Bible somewhere, "obedience is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken, than the fat of rams." If I want to honour God, let me
honour those whom he has sent and whom he has placed to dictate
and control the affairs of his kingdom.
273
I frequently talk about the clay in the hands of the potter. The
Lord said to Jeremiah, "I will show you a thing that I cannot
tell you. Go down to the potter's house, and I will be there, but
you shall not see me; and I will make that potter mar a vessel."
Jeremiah went down to the potter's house, and the Lord showed him
the very thing he had promised; for the potter undertook to make
a vessel, and the clay marred in his hands, and he cut it off the
wheel and threw it into the mill; "and now," says he, "take it
out again and shape it into a ball, and turn it into a vessel of
honor." He did that very thing, though it is not written. The
Scriptures say that out of the same lump he made a vessel first
unto dishonour, and then unto honour.
274
I used to preach upon that in Nauvoo, and Joseph said it was the
true interpretation. Now, Jeremiah was a man like brother
Brigham, brother Heber, Amasa, and thousands of the servants of
God that were valiant. There are thousands here that have never
seen a potter's house. But if I was in one, I could take a lump
of clay and show you; and perhaps, being out of practice, it
would mar in my hands: then I would throw it back into the mill
and grind it, and afterwards I would take it up again and make a
vessel unto honour. And thus the Lord said to Jeremiah, "As you
see that clay mar in the hands of the potter, so shall it be with
the house of Israel. They shall go and be in prison till I bring
them out and make them vessels unto honour." That is to be done
in the latter days, when the Lord is to say to the dry bones,
"Come forth," and so on. Go and read the Bible, and you will
learn about it. It will be just so with thousands and tens of
thousands who will embrace "Mormonism:" they will go back into
the mill again, through disobedience.
274
I do not believe, of all the Branches of this church that were
raised up twenty-five years ago, that there is one man out of
twenty who now stands firm and is living. Of the two thousand
whom I and my brethren baptised, when we first went to old
England, I do not believe there are five hundred now in this
Church.
274
Brother Brigham and I paid from ten to fifteen thousand dollars
to emigrate Saints from that country to the States. But where are
they now? They have not all remained with us; and, in fact, it
was not six months before many of them turned round and cursed
us. They would not live their religion: they were stupid, and
wanted their own way like a mule. All such characters will go
overboard, and they will have to lie there till the Lord Almighty
says, "Go and deliver the Gospel to them again." I am talking
what I know and what I realize.
274
Brethren and sisters, you have all got to be tested; but I know I
cannot force things into your minds; I can only tell you things
as I see them. There are a great many of this people that are
exulting, and they feel as though they could whip a hundred men
each: but you are not going to have very much trouble this fall.
274
Those troops seem to feel determined to come here. There are
about 1,400 of them; and, with their officers and servants,
altogether there will be upwards of 2,000. Captain Van Vliet
advised them to turn in somewhere and fix up and stay for the
winter; but he had no orders about the matter: therefore all he
could do was to give them good counsel. But when he found they
could not be prevailed upon to take his advice, he told them that
if they attempted to come in here we should slay them. When they
heard this they shouted with anger, and the next day they
travelled thirty miles towards this place: they made two days'
march in one.
274
While brother Jones was there, they exulted over us and sang all
manner of songs, telling how they were going to kill brother
Brigham and all those who would uphold "Mormonism;" and they
seemed to be as crazy as fools. They swore that they would use
very woman in this place at their own pleasure--that they would
slay old Brigham and old Heber; and they actually think that
there are many--especially women--that will feel glad should they
enter this valley, that they may be reprieved. Indeed they carry
on in a most disgraceful and disgusting manner.
274
How long is it since brother Brigham proffered to release all the
women in this Territory who wished to be released? At the last
October Conference. That woman is to blame who wanted to be free
and did not take the liberty that was given; and I say to all of
mine that want to go, Go, and I will give you all the writings
you want; and, besides that, I will give you the means to help
you away.
274
These are my feelings in relation to those who want to go away. I
say you shall have the privilege; for we will prepare the way so
that you can go, if there are any who wish to go; and such has
always been the case. But, as it happens, there are none who want
to go, that we know of.
274
In relation to those soldiers coming here, they never can come,
so long as the Lord God Almighty gives us strength to resist
them. And that is not all. There is no man that can rule over
this people but Brigham Young.
274
[The congregation shouted, "Amen."]
275
And as long as we uphold him as the man holding the keys of this
kingdom, he shall rule as Governor of this people. What a foolish
thing it would be for us to drop brother Brigham and say that a
wicked man should have that position! Oh! the hell and the sorrow
that this people would see! But we never will have any other man
so long as he liveth; and then it shall be his successor in
office--the man whom God Almighty appoints, and no other man.
275
The brethren talk about our freedom. Why, we are just as free as
the old veterans of the revolution were before they got their
independence.
275
We have declared our independence But, gentlemen and ladies, we
have got to maintain that by the strength of Jehovah. And that
man and that woman who cannot stand up to the test, I ask you to
leave as quick as you can; for when the time of the test comes,
as the Lord God Almighty lives, if you then leave us or betray
us, that is the end of you.
275
Do not exult over our enemies; but when you have an opportunity,
get down upon your knees and cry unto the Lord God till you get
his Spirit, and be as clay in the hands of the potter, and learn
to do as you are told. This is the thing to learn. The virtue is
not altogether in taking a fiddle and playing the tune, but it is
something of a job to dance to the tune.
275
This year's trouble will not be much. It is not going to amount
to a great deal; but it will amount to this--a collision between
this people and the United States; and the gate will be shut down
between us and them. This is already done to a certain extent;
but many of you do not see it.
275
We have been telling you these things for years; but did you
believe them? Yes, and so did the devils. The devils believe and
tremble; but where is the practice, gentlemen? Where is your
practice, ladies? Your practice has been chiefly exhibited on
your heads, around your necks and shoulders, and all over you.
Does this correspond with what is about to take place with
us--when there is about to be a collision with us and the
world--when we have got to maintain the kingdom of God? As
brother Brigham says, it is the kingdom of God or nothing.
275
Brother Case was talking about our being an independent people;
and I say we are independent--just as independent as we ever
shall be, until we completely gain the victory. This we have got
to do by faith and by good works. We have to work out our
salvation with fear and trembling, as God Almighty willeth us to
do; for all men are subject to him, to do his will, keep his
commandments, and bring to pass his righteous purposes.
275
I would advise my brethren from this day to attend faithfully to
their duties wherever they may be called upon to act; and I would
advise my sisters to stay at home and attend to their domestic
concerns, and prepare diligently for the approaching day of
trial. Prepare for the worst; for you need not expect any better
times than you now see.
275
I have told you you have seen the best times that you would see
until the kingdom of God is established for this world has to
become subject to the kingdom of God and his Christ.
275
When the United States have done their best, then other nations
will tackle us, and so things will go on, until every nation is
brought into subjection to the kingdom of God. Go and read it in
the Bible. I could not say anything else, if I should try.
276
All the difference between ancient and modern prophets is--we are
fulfilling what they told, only it was not all written. The
scenery is the same; and then, again, it is not. This is the
fulness of all dispensations; and it so much bigger than any of
the others, that all the rest are embodied in it.
276
Everything spoken of that has not been fulfilled will have to be
fulfilled in this dispensation. The kingdom of God is set up in a
degree: it is in embryo, and it will continue to receive
strength. The child has proclaimed its liberty, although it has
not got its full growth. The child is free; but he has got to
whip out all the wicked and bring them into subjection to the
kingdom of God, or to the kingdom of his Father. We are the boys
that are being brought to this test. God is going to test every
one of us--men, women, and children.
276
I will here say, in the name of Israel's God, that I will not be
trammelled in the purposes of God; neither should any other one.
I have said the day of petting is past with me, and it should be
past with all good men. I heard my leader say, the other day,
that he could manage the affairs of this people and of the United
States and of Europe with more ease to his mind than he can
listen to the little, peevish, trifling complaints that women
bring to him. A good deal of it is little peevishness.
276
What kind of matters do they trouble him with? Why, one woman
runs and--"Brother Brigham, my old hen has laid an egg; and I
herd that if I set it on one end it would be hen, and if on the
other it would be a rooster; and I want a rooster." That is a
simile.
276
I am speaking of this for you to let him alone. If you have
difficulties, brethren and sisters, go to your Bishops, and let
those Bishops investigate the case; and if it is worthy of his
notice, let your Bishop go to brother Brigham and have his
counsel upon it.
276
When our President says that these little things trouble him, I
say they should never go to him at all. It is generally women
that have to go--that class of them that seem to wish to do all
the business.
276
You will frequently see from twenty to sixty women round that
Tithing Store. If I have any business there, I go and do it, and
then go about my other business. The brethren there are weary;
and I want brother Hunter to have his days set to deal out to the
people. You should be at home gleaning wheat or knitting. Let me
advise you, sisters, to be humble and prayerful before your God.
Pray for your husbands, if you have got any; and if you have not,
pray for those men who lead you and bear off this kingdom.
276
You do not have to go out to fight; and you should think of this
when you are gadding about from one place to the other--you that
have so much visiting to do that you even visit on Sundays too. I
want to know why such ones are not serving their God and taking
care of that which is put into their hands?
276
Now, am I hard upon the sisters? No. The good woman sits here and
says it is heaven to hear to listen to such teachings. I do not
wish to say anything to such persons; but it is those that are
guilty that I am after.
276
Do I want to hurt your feelings? No; I would no for my right arm.
But stop going to brother Brigham with your little family
affairs. I hardly ever go to brother Brigham's office but there
are some sisters there--sometimes from ten to twenty in a day;
and some few come to me, but not many.
277
Do I advise a woman to leave her husband? No. But, say I, Go
home; make peace, and be comfort to your husband. Do I advise a
man to leave his wife? No. But I tell him to go home and nourish
her, comfort her, and clothe her, and then see that she does her
duty. I will admit there are some men who are hard and
overbearing; and then there are some women who cannot be
controlled.
277
I have one or two women that I cannot control, and never did; and
I would as soon try to control a rebellious mule as to control
them. I have not given them a word of counsel for the last eight
years but what they have murmured or rebelled against and called
me a hard man. I have not told you who they are; but I know them.
277
Is it wrong to speak of these things? I have one or two women
that I cannot control, and never did. "Do you support them?" says
one. Yes, as well as the best women I have. And if you want to
know why I do it, it is because I want to get along with it as
well as I can in this life. But I can tell you that if the time
comes when I am obliged to desert and lay waste my habitation, I
will then lug them no more.
277
Let us do a good work and be a good people. Do I give you the
credit of being the best people on the face of God's earth? I do.
There is not a better people on the face of God's footstool; and
they are generally doing just as well as they know how to do.
277
I see the evil that is coming next year, except God frustrates
their designs,--which he will do, if we are faithful. Our enemies
may undertake to send from fifty to a hundred thousand troops
next year; and if we are faithful, God will frustrate their
designs. We can plead with the Father, and then it will depend
upon our faithfulness as a people.
277
If there is a good woman that has not got a good man, she can be
a good woman as she is; and if there is a good man that has not
got a good woman, he can be a good man without one. Before I
would live in a quarrel, I would take my johnny-cake and go into
the woods! And if I was a man that worked on the public works,
and I could not live in peace, I would take my victuals with me,
and I would stick to God and to his kingdom, and I would not
quarrel. You know I am not a quarrelsome man. This is what I call
disputation.
277
Let us do right, keep the commandments of God, and live in peace
and quietude. Is there a man in this congregation that has any
difficulty with me? No, there is not; or if there is, I do not
know it. If I have any difficulty with any one, I tell them of
it; and then if I am in the fault, I repent and make
satisfaction, if any is needed; and if they are in fault, I
expect them to do the same. That is the Spirit of God, is it not?
It is the Spirit that should exist with every man.
277
Mr. Buchanan and his coadjutors are striving to oppress Utah and
deprive us of our constitutional rights. They have taken the
Eastern mail from us, and they will endeavour to take away
everything they have given us, and will make their heaviest
efforts to destroy this people. But if this community will
entirely cease to do any evil and will unitedly live their
religion, God Almighty will so confound their enemies that they
cannot bring an army into this country. He will do that, if you
will do as you are told.
277
When I think of those things that exist among some of this
people, I am grieved. "Do you not quarrel, brother Heber?" says
one. No, I do not. But when a woman begins to dispute me, about
nine times out of ten I get up and say, "Go it," and then go off
about my business; and if ever I am so foolish as to quarrel with
a woman, I ought to be whipped; for you may always calculate that
they will have the last word.
277
I know that there are some quarrelsome individuals, but I do not
want any such spirits about me.
278
When I sleep, I have fifteen shooters, six shooters, and all
other kind of shooters; and the devils do not come there: and if
they succeed in troubling me, they have to get into some other
person's body. I have left the Devil's kingdom and have enlisted
in the kingdom of Jesus, and I never intend to turn away from it.
278
As for our enemies, they never can injure us; but they will make
their heaviest strides against us. And it will not be long before
the world will turn over the riches of the world to us, and I
know it. If you will only live faithful, you will never be driven
to the necessity of burning up your houses, your lumber, or your
fruit trees.
278
Our peach and apple trees are beginning to bear fruit, and we may
just as well eat the fruit from them as not. But if we do not
live our religion, we may have to go into the mountains and take
it Indian fashion.
278
The United States have robbed the Indians, and now they are
trying to afflict us; and they will go to hell with all the
nations that forget God.
278
Brethren and sisters, God bless you! May the Lord God Almighty
bless you, every one; and you may consider the blessing just the
same as though I had my hands upon your heads; for every one of
you shall be blessed who will do right and uphold his servants.
278
Now, let brother Brigham alone, will you not? I do not suppose
there are any who want to annoy him. But let me say to all of
you, if you have any difficulties that you cannot settle, go to
your Bishops; and then, if the case is worthy of further notice,
your Bishops can go to brother Brigham and get the proper
information and settle the difficulty accordingly. You have no
idea how he is troubled; for of all the trouble and perplexing
things on the earth, the little complaints and murmurings of
women are the most tedious.
278
God Almighty bless you, brethren and sisters! and I bless you,
and I bless the air, the earth, the mountains, and everything
that is in these regions. I bless the elements in these
mountains; and my prayer is that the fathers of these
Lamanites--the old prophets and old patriarchs--will visit them
by night and by day; and they will do it when the proper time
comes, and they will visit this people when they are worthy and
when it is necessary. God Almighty will arouse every tribe and
every nation that exists in the East, West, North, and South, and
they will be on hand for our relief. Now, mark it; for the day is
nigh at hand, and it will be here sooner than you can lay up your
corn, your barley, your wheat, and the comforts of life: yes,
they will be here for our relief.
278
I feel that I am pleading with this people to stop all bickerings
and to be Saints in very deed. We give you the name of being the
best people upon the earth. Brother Brigham says that this people
are doing the best they can. I will admit that. But when a man
steals, that man is not living righteously. When a woman steals,
I do not believe that she is doing the best she knows.
278
This people, as a community, with but here and there a solitary
exception, are doing about as well as any other people could do
upon the face of the earth. I believe and know that I do the best
I can to please God and my brethren: I leave it to them if I do
not. I did last week: I laboured till I thought I should faint;
and I would rather die than be in rebellion. Do I take a course
to hurt brother Brigham, brother Spencer, brother Woodruff,
brother Amasa, or any other Saint? No, I do not.
279
God bless you! I want my brethren to live near me, so that I can
see them. God bless you, brother Phineas, and brother Case, and
the old Patriarch! and God bless you, John and William, and Betsy
and Sally! Is not that manifesting good feelings? That is the way
to be happy. Now let us go home and take a course to be
industrious and happy and to secure a livelihood.
279
There is considerable sickness from colds in our city: it is a
kind of epidemic. It has been in the horses and mules, and now it
is turned upon us; and let us fast and pray that the sickness may
cease, and it shall not continue upon the hose of Israel; for I
rebuke it in the name of Israel's God, and you shall rebuke it,
and it shall be turned away from us, and it shall go to our
enemies, and they shall see sorrow. They cannot come here. But if
they will be peaceable and behave themselves, they shall live,
and we will have compassion upon them, though they are in our
hands as much as any people ever were in the hands of another
upon the face of the earth; but in the mercy of God they have
been spared because they are ignorant. But would to God that they
were composed of the priests of the day and the thousands that
have caused Joseph and Hyrum and many others to lie down in the
dust! Would not we have joy, if they were along here? [Voices:
"We would."] Yes, and so would I. But these troops are all
foreigners--almost all of them: they are what we call the low
Dutch, the Irish, the english, and of almost all nations. They
are ignorant of the wicked course and object of this movement
against us; and so are many, if not all of the officers who lead
them. But they must go where they are ordered by their superiors,
or resign. However, they cannot get here to work their
abominations, destruction, and death. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Orson
Hyde, October 4, 1857
Orson Hyde, October 4, 1857
MURMURING AGAINST DIVINE AUTHORITY--FAITH IN PRAYER--UNITY OF
SPIRIT.
A Discourse by Elder Orson Hyde, delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday morning, October 4, 1857.
279
Brethren and Sisters,--I feel to occupy a portion of the time
allotted to us this morning, in calling your attention to some
matters which I hope and trust may be for our benefit, for our
security, and for our prosperity.
279
We are all aware, or should be, of the condition that we are in
and the circumstances by which we are surrounded. We have duly
considered them, for we have had time for reflection: we have had
time to weigh the matter in our own minds; and it is now for us
to be fixed and firm in our purpose, that we deviate not in our
actions, neither in our feelings from the path that is marked out
for us, but cheerfully, resolutely, and patiently pursue that
track. There is no doubt at all but that we shall have trials to
pass through--all, perhaps, that we are able to bear; for all
strength that is given to us will be tested, and will be tried,
and will be proven.
280
It is now for us to avoid one fatal rock, I may say, upon
which the Israelites of old wrecked to a certain extent; and that
is, that when they were gloriously delivered by the hand of our
God and brought into the wilderness by a mighty hand and by an
outstretched arm, they murmured against Moses and they murmured
against God because they could not enjoy the luxuries--the good
things of Egypt, such as they were wont to enjoy while in
bondage.
280
How soon did they forget the mighty miracles that were wrought
for their deliverance! There was a time that the Israelites could
do nothing. They had come to the shores of the Red Sea: they
could not advance; their enemies were in their rear, and they
could not advance. When they looked forward, it seemed impossible
for them to pass onward; and when they looked back, destruction
awaited them; and in the midst of this they exclaimed, perhaps,
"What shall we do?"
280
It appears that there was nothing to be done, and hence the word
was to them to stand still and see the salvation of God. In due
time Moses was directed to smite the waters of the Red Sea: the
waters were divided and Israel bade to go forward.
280
It appears that the Lord will open the way wherever he requires
his Saints to go, however dark and hedged up it may seem. Yet,
when the time comes for us to take one step, the way will open;
and it is not likely that we can see the final issue or the
result of our journey at first. If we could see the end, there
would be no trial of our faith; but all the time we must walk by
faith, and not by sight.
280
It is a good deal in this respect as it was with the disciples of
old: it was required that they should take no thought what they
should eat, what they should drink, or wherewithal they should be
clothed.
280
It was also required that they should take no thought what they
should say, for they were told it should be given unto them in
the very hour what they should speak; and so it will be given to
the faithful and pure before the Lord in this age of the world in
the very hour that it is required and in the very time that it is
needed.
280
They will see how to take one step and where to place one foot;
and if they cannot see where to put the second, they must wait
till they can see where to put it.
280
This was the case with the children of Israel when they were bade
to go through the Red Sea; for whether they could see the track
open all the way across is very questionable with me; but as they
saw where to take one step, so they were required to advance all
the way through that mighty deep, and they went through dryshod;
and the very means ordained for their salvation were the very
means for the destruction of their enemies.
280
But after the children of Israel had such a glorious triumph and
sang the songs of deliverance, how soon they murmured against the
authority of God and the Holy One who was appointed to lead them.
They wanted the flesh, the leeks, and onions of Egypt; and the
Lord was forced to come out of his hiding-place and cut them off
from the face of the earth; and there fell in one day
three-and-twenty thousand. This is written for our example, that
we through faith and patience of the Scriptures might have
comfort.
280
It is written, "A prophet shall the Lord our God raise up like
unto me:" that is Moses speaking: "And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among
the people." I am not going to say who that Prophet is; but I am
going to present some few things for your consideration, and you
may draw your own conclusions.
281
Did Jesus Christ ever lead forth the people of God like unto
Moses? Did he not say, "How often would I have gathered you as a
hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not?" Did he lead them
with an outstretched arm? He wrought miracles and did all the
good he could; but I cannot see that Jesus ever led the people as
did Moses. He performed his work and fulfilled his mission: but a
Prophet was to be raised up like unto Moses; and hence I draw the
conclusion that this is the only Prophet or the only dynasty of
Prophets through whom the Lord would speak.
281
I know that some think the Lord is going to establish his kingdom
through other prophets than those amongst us. Well, if the law is
to be given through others, why is the responsibility placed upon
us to go and preach the Gospel to all nations? If it is not to
proceed from this Priesthood wholly, why should the Twelve
Apostles be required to open the Gospel to all the nations of the
earth, if there were other channels through which the Gospel
might be preached? By this I come to the conclusion that
whosoever will not hear this Prophet will be destroyed from among
the people.
281
This is the only people who profess to have Prophets of this
character, even like unto Moses; and the word is that whosoever
will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the
people. A Prophet shall be at the head to lead, as it was with
Israel when Moses led them. Did he not say, "I will take and lead
you as in days of old?" Well, then, the ministration and signs of
Moses are to be enacted again. Joel shows us how they are to be.
Read the 2nd chapter of Joel all the way through, and that will
show you how things are to be.
281
"Why," says the Lord, "I sent my angel before my people hitherto;
but I have said that in the last days I will go myself before my
people." He has declared that he will utter his voice before his
army, for his camp is very great.
281
We shall be led into straitened places--into tried places; and
now it is for us to prepare ourselves, to fortify our hearts, to
fortify our spirits, that we never murmur against God nor against
the Moses that he has given us; for I tell you that the man that
God has raised up is no more responsible than we are; and I have
thought not so much.
281
Can he make one erroneous move? If our prayers are offered up to
the Lord in his behalf--if our hearts are set upon doing that
which we know to be right, then we are right; but if not, we are
wrong. If he is wrong, our prayers are not heard.
281
Well, then, you see, the weight of responsibility reaches back
upon our shoulders; and we are the ones to take that
responsibility and to have faith in the words and in the prayers
which we utter before the Lord.
281
Brethren and sisters, be agreed in this respect, and be sure that
when you ask for a thing you do not doubt it; but hold on to it
and believe that you receive the things you ask for, and you
shall have them. What mind of spirit is it that comes and says,
"Now, I will go and ask for this or that; I do not know whether I
will get it; it is a question whether my prayers are heard; but I
will pray because it is my duty?"
282
Now, a double-minded man is not a man of faith. We should
consider what we want and what is the mind and will of God to
grant us. Say, "So and so is the mind of God," and satisfy
yourself that the prayer you are about to offer is really the
mind and will of your Father in heaven; then bow down and ask for
that thing or for those very things. And when we have asked for
any blessing, never let a doubt arise in our minds as to whether
we shall receive the blessing, but believe that our prayers are
heard, and then they will be answered.
282
Let me say, brethren and sisters, do not pray for too many things
at once. What would you think if your son were to come and say,
"Father, I want a yoke of oxen, I want a cow, I want a horse, I
want some money, I want this, and I want that?"
282
"Why," says the father, "you ask for so many things that I cannot
give you anything at all." That son is covetous; he reaches for
everything, and I cannot give them to him; and hence the father
concludes that he won't give him anything; when, if the son had
come and said, "Father, if you can let me have a cow, I shall be
glad," and then stop at that, the father would say, "Yes, I will
give you a cow;" and he is pleased to do it. The son takes care
of her, and by-and-by he comes and says, "Father, won't you give
me a horse?" "Yes," says the father. And so, you see, he gets all
that he wants, but not all at once.
282
Our Father in heaven says, "Where two or three of you agree as
touching ONE thing, and ask in the name of the Son, it shall be
given. Our Saviour had his eye upon this when he said, "If thy
eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light; but if thy
eye be evil, (some say double,) thy whole body shall be full of
darkness."
282
If your affections are divided, can you love two individuals or
two objects alike? Water, when its power is concentrated, turns
machinery; but when you divide it and apply its force upon many
wheels at the same time, it accomplishes little; whereas its
condensed force upon one wheel will effect the desired object.
282
This is true in relation to prayer; but is it true in relation to
the plurality of wives? Can a man really love more than one wife
at the same time? I may answer this question in the negative or
in the affirmative, and either may be considered correct
according to circumstances.
282
It was the prayer of Christ that his disciples, though many,
might be one,--that is, to have no mind or will of their own, but
all partake of his spirit and his mind; and thus, they being one
in him, he could easily love them all. But if one set up a will
of his own--rebelled in his feelings against a union with each
other and with his legitimate head also, he might pity the folly
of that rebellious one, but could not love him as those who
rebelled not.
282
If a man have forty wives, and they all receive his mind and
spirit, and are thus one in him, he can as easily love them all
(because they are one,) as a father can love a half-score of
children who copy his mind and spirit. But if a woman rebel in
her feelings against a good man, and yield to the temptations of
the Devil, she may know that her husband may pity, but cannot
love her, because she has ceased to be one with him and to
partake of his mind and spirit. If, therefore, your husband be a
good man, and you copy his mind and his spirit, he cannot help
loving you, though he have forty other wives in the same
situation.
282
Now, you wives, partake of the spirit of your husbands, and you
will be loved: but you set up a standard and a spirit aside from
his, and he never will love you; no, he never will. I speak to
the knowledge and experience of some: yes, too many know that
this is true.
282
And ye husbands, drink into the Spirit of your God and of your
superiors in the Priesthood on earth; and if your wives are good
women, they will love you; but if you do not, they will not love
you; they won't have confidence in you.
283
You husbands, go to work by your own spirit and set up a standard
independent of the Holy Ghost, and will God love you? No, he
won't. If you do not drink into the spirit of your superiors,
will they love you?--will they have confidence in you? No, they
won't.
283
Well, you see it is all flowing in our legitimate channel. If God
has ten thousand children, or a million, or ten millions, and all
partake of one spirit, and they are one, does he not love them
all? Yes, he does. But if one steps aside from the path marked
out, will he love him? No, he won't. But if the ignorant sin and
go astray, he may send a messenger after them and get them back.
He may rejoice over them and pity them when they are away, and
rejoice over them when they come back.
283
Now, brethren and sisters, consider these principles: weigh them
well in your minds; for the greatest evil that I know of in this
people is the little bickerings in families. I am happy to say
that even this evil is diminishing; yet there should be none at
all.
283
The spirits of men and women should ever be guided and tempered
by the Holy Ghost; and I believe that the desire and intention of
a large majority of the people are to keep the spirit of their
superiors and of their God--to drink it and live by it.
283
Would to God that all the women that are adopted into families
would partake of the spirit of their husbands, if they are
upright men. They have no right to an independent standard, any
more than I have a right to a standard independent of the Holy
Ghost. I should have an independence to turn away from all sin;
for that is the Spirit of God, and that is the right kind of
independence, and that is the only kind that is justifiable.
283
I feel, brethren and sisters, that I should not go amiss--that I
should not go astray from the path of duty, were I to call upon
families to repent of their sins in this respect. I have laid
before you, this morning, some of the greatest evils there are in
families--an unwillingness of the members of those families to
keep the spirit of their head. Some of them are unwilling to do
it: it is too much the case. I only direct these remarks where
they are applicable; and therefore those to whom they do not
apply will not take them: and perhaps there will be some to whom
they are applicable that will say, I do not believe that
doctrine. To such I would say. You are the very one; you are the
very character to repent and submit yourself to the proper
government of God.
283
In relation to murmuring against God, brethren and sisters, do
you not know that the Israelites were reproved and that they were
slain because they murmured against their God? Well, now, in the
same light do families stand who murmur against their head and
partake not of the spirit of their head; for, say the Scriptures,
"Whoso will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among
the people." Remember that it is by patient continuance in
welldoing that we seek for honour, happiness, and eternal
life,--by patient continuance all the time, and not when we come
into trying places to turn aside; but to abide in the covenants
and be patient, seeking for honour, immortality, and eternal
life.
284
Well, now, you brethren, do not you go home and say that just
suits me--that is my doctrine, and take liberty thereby to
tyrannize over your families. If it just suits you, and if it is
your doctrine, all right. But one thing let me tell you--Seek the
spirit of your head; and if you will do that, you will never take
advantage of the remarks of the servants of God to mistreat your
women. But, at the same time, the principle must be laid open
before you, so that you can understand it. No doubt you all know
it and understand it perfectly well; but it is necessary once in
a while to "stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance." Do
not murmur against God, against Moses, nor against your
legitimate head: no, do not do it; for "Whoever will not hear
that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people."
284
Well, now, brethren and sisters, these are about the remarks that
I wanted to make. There are a great many things in which we have
improved; and in respect to the things of which I have spoken,
there is no doubt but you have greatly improved; but I tell you
there is room for a mighty stride of improvement in this respect.
This is the way I feel about it.
284
I do not wish to divide your attention upon a thousand things,
but I wish to call your attention to this thing and say, Repent
of all your deviations from the path of duty; and I believe that
you know this is a true doctrine--that you are satisfied that it
is true. Cast away from you every feeling of rebellion and of
murmuring that will lead you to oppose your legitimate head, and
drink down the spirit of your superiors, and abide by it; and
then you are one: and when you are one, God can love you all at
the same time. Why, when I love a person, I not only love the
head, but I love the face, the hands, the feet, and all the
members of that body. Well, then, if we are all members of the
body, does not God love us all? Certainly he does. Then away with
the idea that a man cannot love but one object at a time: away
with this, I say, and let us all be one. Then if any part of us
is loved, we are all loved. I believe that I have said all that I
wanted to say. May God bless you and save us all in his kingdom.
Amen.
284
There is one word more that I want to say, and it is right in
connection with what I have said. I won't turn your minds away
from what has been spoken; but I want to tell you that brother
Brigham, brother Heber, and brother Daniel's responsibilities
laid upon them make them feel more than any other men can feel.
They are enough to burst iron hearts, aside from their family
responsibilities. Pray, therefore, that their strength may be
equal to their day; and while you pray for them, work to your
prayer. And if you ask, "How shall I work to it?" I will tell
you. If you get some little difficulty on your mind, you Bishops,
you Elders, you members, do not run to brother Brigham, to
brother Heber, nor to brother Daniel. You have prayed to God that
their burdens may be lightened; then do not throw your troubles
upon them, but pray to God to nerve their bodies and their
spirits, and to give them power and strength sufficient for their
day.
284
You would not say to the mule or jackass that is bending beneath
his burden, "Oh! poor animal!" and then jump on to him yourself:
you would not do that. Then, when you see the Presidency of our
Church--our leaders--when you see them bowed down, if you cannot
go to do them any good, do not go to them with any of your petty
troubles and difficulties. We want all these miserable petty
cases put away or settled between parties and their Bishop, and
mercifully relieve our head from unnecessary, petty, and
vexatious troubles.
284
God bless us and enable us all to do so, through Jesus Christ!
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Erastus
Snow, October 4, 1857
Erastus Snow, October 4, 1857
PREPARATION OF HEART FOR DIVINE BLESSINGS--RESPONSIBILITY--
FAMILY GOVERNMENT
Remarks by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 4, 1857.
285
I feel like offering a few of my reflections in connection with
those remarks we have heard this morning from Elder Hyde. I feel
that they are timely and good for the congregation of the Saints
to reflect upon and treasure up. I would not say anything to draw
the minds and reflections of the people from those sentiments
which have been presented by Elder Hyde this morning, but rather
to enforce and impress them upon the minds of the congregation,
that every person capable of understanding may be able to
treasure them up, that these principles may abide in our hearts;
for, says the Saviour, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in
you, they shall be in you as living water, and ye shall bear much
fruit."
285
Now, this people are not perishing for lack of knowledge: they
have not a lack of the words of the Lord. But if this people
perish for lack of knowledge at all, it is because they do not
retain the word of the Lord which is delivered to them: it is not
because it is not planted in our hearts, but because our ground
is not properly broken up. The ground of our hearts is not
prepared, that the word that is sown may bring forth fruit. This
is the trouble and the reason why we do not advance and bring
forth more fruit, and grow more thrifty in the work of the Lord
our God, and increase in faith, in power with God, in unison with
him and with those whom he has set over us, and with one another.
285
The trouble is not in our God, neither is it in our fellow
servants--those whom he has set to be our leaders, our teachers;
for God is with them, and he would be with them much more
abundantly, if we as a people were more ready to listen to them,
and there was place found in us for their words, and their words
take effect in our hearts. Then his Spirit and power would
increase upon us, and there would be no lack. The lack is in
us--in the people, and always has been, and is not in our God. He
is waiting and anxious to pour out blessings, and glory, and
honour, and exaltation upon his people, far more than we have
ever received, and far more than we are capable of receiving; and
the only reason we have not received it long ago is because there
was no place found for it.
286
The great labour of the Lord and of all his servants is to
prepare the hearts of the people, to concentrate the feeling of
the people, to concentrate their faith, and to make them one, and
to prepare their hearts to bring forth the fruits of the kingdom
of God. This is the labour of preaching and praying, of
exhorting, inviting, and beseeching all the time,--to move upon
the hearts of the people and convince them of the necessity of
union,--to impress it upon them, that they may remember all those
principles which alone can exalt them. And, as was said by Elder
Hyde, the responsibility of our conduct rests upon ourselves, and
not upon our leaders. The responsibility that is resting upon our
leaders is alone the responsibility of doing what the Lord wants
them to.
286
The responsibility of what befalls this people is no more upon
brother Brigham than it is upon me, and no more upon me than it
is upon you; and every individual soul in all Israel has his own
responsibility to bear, and he cannot throw it off. Whether it be
good or evil--whether it be joy or sorrow--whether it be
affliction or blessings, the responsibility thereof rests upon us
individually.
286
Brothers Brigham, Heber, and Daniel, who are they but our
fellow-servants--those that the Lord has given us to be our
leaders and the mouthpieces of the Lord unto this people--the
legitimate channel through which to lead, govern, and control
this people? But are they responsible any more than you or I? No,
not one whit. When they have discharged their duties, they are as
free from responsibility as you or I. When they have done what
lies in their power to do, they are exonerated before their God,
although they feel as no other men on earth can feel, because
there are others placed in their condition; and it is impossible
for any others to feel as they feel and have the same interest
they have for the welfare of this people.
286
It is God who rules and leads; it is God who controls the
destinies of all men. Every man is in his hands, to be used as he
will. Whithersoever this people are led, they will be led through
that channel he has intended; and whether they go to the east,
west, north, or south,--whether they burn their dwellings and
flee to the mountains, or remain here,--whether they fight the
Gentiles, or turn their backs upon them,--whatsoever they have to
do, it will be the Lord Almighty that does it; but he will do it
through the channel he has appointed.
286
But will the responsibility of thousands be upon those men that
are set over us to lead us? No, it will not. I am well aware that
there are a great many people who in their childish simplicity
feel that any act that they do is nothing to them.
286
So far as taking thought or having trouble in our spirits about
what is to come or what will be the result of things, it is well
that we should set our hearts at rest and be at ease and feel
quiet, and our spirits calm as a summer's morning and resigned,
and our feelings prayerful and peaceful. But as far as feeling
indifferent and like throwing off the responsibility from our
shoulders upon our leaders, this should not be; neither should we
claim exemption from the responsibility of anything in Israel.
Every one should have a share of that responsibility, and they
cannot throw that responsibility off; for upon my head devolves
the responsibility of directing my hands and my feet and other
members of my body in their exercises. It is equally the duty of
every other member of the body to administer to the head. The
hands have to feel the head, and the head has to be properly
guarded and shielded, that it may be active and the brain
vigorous, that every movement may be wisely directed and every
energy of the body directed in proper channels.
287
Our God deals with us as a people. He does not deal with brother
Brigham, brother Heber, or brother Daniel separately and
distinctly from this people, or the people distinct from them. We
cannot be separated; we are one. We are the Twelve Apostles, the
High Priests, the Seventies, the Elders, the Priests, the
Teachers, the Deacons, the Bishops. Every quorum of the
Priesthood, every man in Israel, and every woman in Israel are
members of the same body--branches of the same vine, and partake
of the same spirit, unless they are branches that are withered
and dried up. God will deal with us as a whole all the time.
287
How was it with Israel of old, as has been referred to by Elder
Hyde? They were led by the hand of God all through the
wilderness. God led Moses. Sometimes they were led in one
direction, and sometimes in another. They were brought up against
the Red Sea; and did not they, in their blindness, chide with
Moses because he had led them thus? Looking at things naturally,
they could say, "You might have gone round and avoided this
snare: we might have taken another road, instead of running right
into this kanyon, between these two mountains, and against the
Red Sea, where there is no chance to dodge; and so we are to
perish by the armies of Egypt close in our ear and the sea before
us." These were the feelings of a great many weak in faith and
ignorant people among them; and they were ready to pick up stones
to stone Moses because he had done it.
287
There are a great many instances of the same kind during their
forty years' sojourning in the wilderness. Sometimes they were
led into the wilderness when they might have followed some
streams of water, had the Lord have led them in that channel. And
when they were led into different circumstances there were always
some who complained and threw the responsibility upon Moses,
exonerating themselves.
287
Some wished to turn back unto Egypt, and a great many plans were
in view to extricate themselves from difficulties; except fleeing
to the Almighty, who had led them into those difficulties; and
time and again the Lord rebuked them and manifested his power to
deliver them. But who led them? Did Moses lead them? No. The
Almighty led them. Moses was his servant, and led them as the
Almighty directed him.
287
Why did not the Almighty direct him to lead them round the Red
Sea instead of through it? And why did he not lead them to follow
the streams, instead of taking them across the desert? Why did he
not lead them a straight course from Egypt to Canaan, instead of
keeping them forty years in the wilderness? Who was most to blame
for it? Was the responsibility upon him, or was it upon the
people? Why was it upon the people? Because they were a
stiffnecked people, a hardhearted people, and an ignorant people.
287
We read in the Scriptures that they were so stiffnecked as to
provoke the Lord, and he came out upon them in his wrath and
consumed them from his presence,--sometimes by fire that came
forth from his presence, at other times by causing the earth to
open and swallow them up by thousands, at other times by
pestilence, and at other times by fiery flying serpents which
came among them and bit them that they died.
287
Why was the anger of the Lord kindled against them? Because of
the hardness of their hearts and the stiffness of their necks. It
was not because of Moses. Only in one instance did Moses offend.
That was not in any of his movements in leading and controlling
Israel, but because he did not sanctify the Lord God of Israel
before their eyes when he smote the rock of Horeb. This was the
only instance in which the Lord condemned Moses; but he directed
Moses how to lead Israel, and Moses led them in the way he was
directed; and they were tried forty years in the wilderness,
until most of them were worn out and perished.
288
Were they a wicked people above all other people, that their
carcasses should thus fall in the wilderness? What think you,
brethren and sisters,--ye that are called Latter-day Saints, were
they, as a people, more wicked than the rest of mankind, that God
should have dealt with them thus? I answer, No. But of a truth
they were the best people upon the face of the earth, and the
only people that had the Priesthood of God among them.
288
They were the people whom God had delivered from Egyptian bondage
with an outstretched arm; and by his power, they were the only
people God could make use of. They had faith sufficient that he
could govern and control them; and so far from being the worst,
they were the best people upon the earth; but upon them rested
the responsibility and they did not improve upon their privileges
and appreciate their blessings as they ought to have done; and
for this reason were they set forth as examples to all who should
live after; and the responsibility of their carcasses falling in
the wilderness, the responsibility of their being led into the
desert, the responsibility of all their trials and troubles was
not upon Moses and their leaders, nor upon their God, but upon
themselves; for, had they been pliable, submissive, willing, and
obedient, and had their spirits been pliable before the Lord,
willing to be moulded and fashioned, they could have been led
forth conquering and to conquer, and been planted in Canaan just
as well in two years as in forty. And if this people were capable
of receiving it, the Lord could as well give them the kingdom
to-day as forty years hence. And if the people of the United
States would have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, given
through the Prophet Joseph, they might have been a more
prosperous and powerful nation to-day.
288
The history of all religious generations and dispensations is
similar, and shows this fact to us, that human nature is the same
in every age of the country, and among every country, and among
every people,--that all men are subject to like weaknesses and
have to be taught gradually.
288
Children grow from infancy to manhood; and whether God leads our
footsteps in correct paths or not, he is only leading us to
school: he is only directing our course in a round of experience
by which he trains us, and makes us one, cements our hearts
together, and rids our spirits of iniquity and abomination. He
wants to teach men and women how to walk together in union and be
great--to teach this people how to be bound to him and to those
that he sets over them, and to teach his Saints how to reign in
the house of Israel as his servants.
288
I do feel conscious that if the men of Israel do their duty and
live their religion, reformation will go forth from them through
their families, and it cannot be stayed; and every branch of
every family in Israel will feel the effects of that reformation:
every woman and all her children will feel it.
288
If a man of God lives his religion and is controlled only by the
Spirit of Zion in his family, and if he has a turbulent,
disobedient spirit in his family, that spirit will be subject or
that individual will be separated from his family, upon the same
principle that turbulent persons that repent not are severed from
this Church by the vote of this people; and when that turbulent
person is severed, he will dry up and wither, and will be
gathered and burned with the ungodly.
289
It may be that heretofore the fanning-mill has blown out more of
the men that it has of the women; but if it has done this, it is
because the sieve is not quite fine enough. But as the work of
reformation goes forward, it will sift to the very bottom; and
every member of every family in Israel will feel the effects of
the driving element that will sanctify them for the Lord Almighty
or separate them from this people.
289
Every man in Israel is responsible in a certain degree for the
conduct of his wives and children. He has covenanted that he will
assume that responsibility; that is, he will assume the
responsibility of the sins of his wives, if he fails to discharge
his duties towards them in teaching and leading them in the ways
of life and salvation.
289
I assume the responsibility of the acts of my wives and children
so far as they are obedient to me; and when I discharge my duties
to them, reprove them in their transgression, set a godly example
before them, live my religion, and show forth the spirit thereof
in my course with my family, and they will not drink into the
same spirit and receive good at my hands, those consequences
shall roll from me upon them; and it becomes my duty to separate
myself from those sins and from the rebellious members of my
family, that we may not all be cursed because of the
transgression of one or two individuals.
289
But if I do not discharge my duties towards them, admonish them
when they are out of the way, instruct them in their duties, and
walk as a man of God before them, the consequences and
responsibility of every individual's transgressions, even those
of every wife and every child I have, and of every evil that is
done in my house, shall rest upon me. God has laid it upon me.
289
Sometimes we may err by being remiss in duty--too lenient in our
families, and some of us may be under condemnation by being too
careless about transgressors in our families; for if we hold
fellowship with transgressors and spirits that are in rebellion
against God and that twill not repent and humble themselves,--if
we close our ears to it and go to sleep while wickedness is
stalking unrebuked through our habitations, we become partakers
in that transgression, and the consequences thereof will stick to
us.
289
But if the head of a family reproves iniquity and seeks to purge
it from his presence--from his family, then his hands are free
from stain of guilt; he is not a partaker in the transgression,
and by his doings he says he will no longer hug to his bosom that
individual,--he will no longer eat and drink with him or her as a
member of the body of Christ,--he will no longer be held
responsible for their sins.
289
So should every man and every family rid themselves of evil and
transgressors in their midst; for God deals with every family as
a whole, as he deals with this people as a whole; and every man
in Israel is responsible, and that responsibility he assumes when
he assumes the responsibility of a family.
289
If there is no sieve fine enough yet to separate the dross from
the wheat of the female portion of this community, I tell you, in
the name of Israel's God, there is a fine one preparing, and it
will separate the chaff from the wheat from every family in
Israel, as sure as there is a God in Israel, until the families
of Israel shall be sanctified before the Lord--until they shall
be one, even all the families in Israel, that the Lord God shall
accept and not be ashamed of them.
290
There are many ways by which this may be accomplished; but the
Lord in his own due time will bring it to pass. We naturally
cling to our families, loving and cherishing them; so does every
man that feels the weight of his responsibility--that is set over
this people to administer in any department thereof: he feels his
heart full of compassion, and he desires the salvation of every
member thereof. So does our Father desire the salvation of every
member of his family.
290
Many among us, in their ignorance, manifest a weakness of soul in
training up their offspring. Their weakness is such that they
cannot administer chastisement unto their children; but they love
them with a foolish, blind, ignorant love, that gratifies every
desire and allows them to have their own way and pursue the
channel of their own inclinations unrebuked, unchastened, until
they grow up wild, as it were, without any proper impulse being
given to their minds. If I feel satisfied in thus allowing my
offspring to follow the bent of their own inclinations, God will
hold me responsible for their evil acts.
290
If any man have members in his family whom he cannot control by
the principles of the Gospel, far better were it for him, if they
want to go to the States or to any other country, to give them a
good outfit and send them off, get them out of the way, and let
them go their own way: far better this than to harbour them where
they were like a viper in his bosom corrupting and corroding in
the midst of his family.
290
The female portion of this community have to bear their share of
this responsibility; and we know they are the best set of women
that exist upon the earth; and that all the world will bear
witness to, when they talk about plurality.
290
Men of some discretion in the Gentile world ask questions about
the operations of the plurality of wives among us. "How many
wives live in each house? How do they get along in their
associations? Are they all the time quarrelling and fighting?" A
man said to me once, "My wife would not stand it five minutes, if
I should bring a woman in my house to have a share of my company
and my affections: I should have a hell upon hearth, and no house
that I could build would be big enough to hold my wife. It is
marvellous to me how you can live, and how it is you are not
killed."
290
They cannot understand it, because, they are governed by their
passions, and not by principles; and it is the hardest thing in
the world for them to be convinced that this people are governed
by principle. This is the doctrine we have been preaching abroad,
and it is the very thing the Gentiles will not receive; and they
marvel and wonder that we do not tear each other's eyes out. They
say this would be the case with them: in a little while they
would be bald and blind and full of wounds, bruises, and
putrifying sores; or, like the Kilkenny cats, use each other up
all but the tails, and then the tails would jump at each other.
So it would be among them indeed; for there is no law of the Lord
that would keep the people together a minute in the peace and
order that exist here.
290
Existence among this people is of itself one of the greatest
privileges. The world of mankind may soon know that God is with
us, and that he is at the helm, that he is the founder of this
work, and that the women as well as the men are the best upon the
earth, and that we are determined to live and be governed by
principle and not passion.
291
Have we all learned to be altogether thus governed? No, we have
not. But we are learning it: the men and women of Israel are
learning it; but some of them are very dull scholars, and would a
great deal rather go off and play than take a lesson; and they
whine and cry over it, and sit on the dunce block rather than
study and learn their lessons; and they will be dunces, because
nothing but foolishness is bound up in their hearts. But many of
us are learning to be governed by principle, not passion, and
learning that we must become one,--that there is somebody else
that has feelings besides them,--that there is somebody else
worthy of respect and love besides them,--that there are some
good qualifications in some other being,--and some other woman's
children have some claims as well as mine; they are learning to
let principle rule them.
291
Well, go on: let the good work continue. This is my prayer all
the time. Are all the families of Israel and every woman striving
herself to play well her part and reverence her husband as her
lord; for he is her lord. Will she ever have another? No, never;
and if she ever expects to have another, she has not learned
"Mormonism" aright. She may tear herself loose from him and
attach another, but she may have a worse one: she ought to have a
worse one. If she cannot learn to honour him, the next one she
gets, if she is permitted to have another, ought to be a worse
one. How shall women honour their husbands? Just as we honour
brother Brigham in his place, and the authorities of the Wards in
their places; because upon him is laid the responsibility of that
family, and he cannot get rid of it. He is in duty bound to purge
them of their follies, and they are in duty bound to listen to
his reproofs and honour him and pray for him, that he may be led
aright.
291
Do the women, when they pray, remember their husbands? Do you
pray for brother Brigham? Yes, you should always pray for him.
But when you pray for him, do you pray also for your own husband,
that he may have the inspiration of the Almighty to lead and
govern his family as the lord? Do you uphold your husband before
God as your lord? "What!--my husband to be my lord?" I ask, Can
you get into the celestial kingdom without him? Have any of you
been there? You will remember that you never got into the
celestial kingdom without the aid of your husband. If you did, it
was because your husband was away, and some one had to act proxy
for him. No woman will get into the celestial kingdom, except her
husband receives her, if she is worthy to have a husband; and if
not, somebody will receive her as a servant.
291
We have one God, the Father of us all, who is graciously kind to
us; and those who call upon his name receive his Spirit; but the
spirit we have got to be in is for every woman to be one with her
husband, and every man to be one with those that are set over him
in the Lord, Thus we become as branches of one vine, partaking of
the same spirit.
291
Does every woman pray for her children and with her children?
Does she teach them to reverence their father and honour him? If
she does not teach them thus to honour him in her own words and
examples, her children learn disobedience from her. Show me
disobedient children, and I will show you disobedient parents,
the world over.
291
Where there are disobedient and rebellious children in the midst
of Israel, tell me who their father and mother are, and I will
point out to you disobedient, rebellious, disaffected parents;
and if there is a woman in any family whose children dishonour
their father, I will show you a woman that dishonours her husband
and shows him disrespect, from which the children take their
example.
292
We do not want such women in Israel: we do not want their
offspring, nor anything that pertains to them, except they
repent. If they will have their children learn righteousness, let
them seek it themselves, and pray to God in their apartments for
their little ones. It is the mothers in Israel that have the
charge of children; the men of Israel are abroad among the
nations of the earth to preach the Gospel and fight the battles
of Zion, to go abroad and return once in a few years, perhaps, to
visit their family and become acquainted with their children. God
wishes the mothers in Israel to assume that responsibility, and
assume it by the Holy Ghost, that there may be a generation
raised up that shall be fit for the Lord to use.
292
Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, ye mothers in Israel, and
fast, and hunger and thirst after righteousness. Pray for and
with your little children in your apartments. Is it enough for a
father to gather together his wives and children when he is at
home, and pray with them? That is his duty; and every mother
should take pattern by his example, and with their own offspring
follow his example and call down the blessings of heaven upon
them, and they will learn from her. While they listen to her
prayers, they will learn to lisp from her mouth the words of
prayer and thanksgiving to God; and faith will rest upon them,
and the Holy Ghost will rest upon them, and they will be inspired
with faith and power, and draw down blessings upon her and upon
their father; and the blessings of God will rest upon them from
their mother's womb, if they pursue this course.
292
May the God of heaven help us to pursue this course, one and all,
is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, October 4, 1857
Brigham Young, October 4, 1857
ULTIMATE VICTORY OF THE SAINTS.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday, October 4, 1857.
292
I will say a few words before the congregation is dismissed.
292
As but few can be in our offices to learn the news that is
brought in, I will say that on the 2nd, Friday last, a messenger
arrived with intelligence that the soldiers were going up Ham's
Fork.
292
Previous to that I had sent by Lieutenant-General Wells a copy of
the Proclamation proclaiming martial law, and ordering the troops
not to come here. They treated it as I presumed they would. They
say that they are sent by the President, are subject to superior
officers, and intend to abide their instructions; and I expect
that they will, until some other power checks their progress.
292
The brethren are well, and the spirit of peace and contentment
rests upon them. They are doing their duties--living to and
serving their God.
292
Keep the "'Mormon' creed," and especially just now in regard to
the remarks made by brother Spencer. Some may think they will
have to deviate in attending to digging their neighbours'
potatoes; but this is now the very business for the brethren to
do. This is now their duty, and what the brethren ought to do.
293
I do not know that anybody's heart burns, except it is to
get a little nearer to our enemies and for the troops to
undertake to come in here. Well, we are in the hands of the Lord
our God, and he will overrule things just as he pleases.
293
Many want to know what the result will be; and they want the Lord
to give them revelation. Get revelation, if you can. I have told
you before, and I can tell you now, that the result will be that
"Mormonism" will be higher and greater in power and influence
than ever it was before. Our enemies will sink, while we will
increase in power and strength, and enjoy an influence that we
never enjoyed before; and the Lord will have his own way in
bringing about these things. I know that all will be made right;
and an all wise, overruling Providence will bring us off
victorious. He has led us to victory and peace, and has given us
power and influence that we can sustain ourselves; and I believe
that it is the calculation of all to sustain themselves against
all that can come to annoy, destroy, desolate, and drive the
Saints of God. God will fight our battles; and he will do it just
as he pleases.
293
You know that it is one peculiarity of our faith and religion
never to ask the Lord to do a thing without being willing to help
him all that we are able; and then the Lord will do the rest.
293
The main object I had in coming to meeting this morning was to
let you know that my health is better. Last Sabbath I did not
think it prudent to come out; but I am at my post, and God is at
the helm.
293
Let us walk in the precepts of our Saviour--those that he has
marked out for us, and God will bless us; and I bless you, my
brethren and sisters, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
293
I mean to save my brethren and sisters, God being my helper. God
bless you! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, October 6, 1857
Brigham Young, October 6, 1857
ADVANTAGES OF TRIALS AND EXPERIENCE--REFORMATION OF CONDUCT, ETC.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made at the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Tuesday Morning, October 6, 1857.
293
Quite a goodly number have assembled to our Conference to
transact business in a Church capacity. We shall first present
and attend to the business, and then to such instructions,
teachings, exhortations, &c., as may come before the Conference.
293
I think there are quite a number of brethren present who have
lately returned from their fields of labour. We would like to
have them come to the stand, and we will give them the privilege
of occupying a portion of the time. I think brother Jacob
Hoffheins has not been on the stand since his return; and I see
several others who have not.
294
We shall first present the authorities of the Church to the
Conference this morning, though such has not been our general
practice. I believe the brethren are pretty much in readiness,
and have all got their guns ready for shooting. We will first
attend to the business, so that if it is necessary to repair to
the kanyons we can do so.
294
I do not know how long we shall hold this Conference, and
therefore no one needs to ask me. There is a time for all things;
and I never saw a better time than now to secure potatoes and
other crops, and thus do our preaching in the season thereof and
digging potatoes in the season thereof. And I could almost wish
that our Conference would be dismissed this morning, and all
hands go and secure the potatoes, squashes, corn, &c.
294
We have heretofore spent a great deal of time in Conferences
unmolested, and we shall again have a great deal of time to spend
in this capacity undisturbed. We must have what is good for
us--that which puts us in mind and brings to us principles that
are free. Should we live in peace, year after year, how long
would it be before we were glued to the world? Our affections
would be so fastened to the things of the world that it would be
hard for us to spend little time in Conference; it would be hard
to go on missions; it would be contrary to our feelings to attend
to anything but our own individual concerns to make ourselves
rich.
294
It seems to be necessary for the Lord to bring this people into
circumstances to show them that the things of this world are mere
nothingness in their present state--are but a shadow. They are
to-day, and to-morrow they are not. This shows to us that all
things pertaining to this world are subject to change, and such
changes as we cannot control. We find that kings are raised up
and emperors placed in power, and then they are hurled down. We
see men who are popular, wealthy, and rich become poor. History
and our own experience prove all this, and that riches take the
wings of the morning and fly away. To-day we are rich--to-morrow
we are poor. Next week we may be rich, and the week after poor
again. It is the Lord that gives and the Lord that takes away;
and it is a blessing that we have the privilege of this
experience in our present condition.
294
Look at ourselves--run over our own experience, and we shall
discover that ourselves, our neighbours, our friends, our
acquaintances, and all people do not always know when they are
happy. In other words, if you could crowd an individual or a
community into heaven without experience, it would be no
enjoyment to them. They must know the opposite: they must know
how to contrast, in order to prize and appreciate the comfort and
happiness, the joy and the bliss they are actually in possession
of. Can you realize this? How many there are who will exclaim,
"If I had but known it, I was happy in such a situation! How
happy I might have been, if I had only known that I was happy,"
294
You will see individuals who are easy and comfortable, that would
like to change their situations; and when they change, they find
that they have changed for the worse. They then turn round and
say, "How happy I could have been, if I had known how to
appreciate my own happiness! I had nothing to annoy me; I was in
comfortable circumstances; I enjoyed good health, and had all
that I could ask for to make life desirable; but I did not know
at the time that I enjoyed one of the comforts of life."
295
Is that the experience of any of you? I know that it is of a
great many of you. Then learn to be happy when you have the
privilege. For many years we have had the privilege of living in
peace and making ourselves comfortable in these valleys of the
mountains; and do you recollect that but a short time ago it
seemed as though almost every one had wandered his own way? The
people had almost forgotten and lost sight of the principles of
truth and righteousness, of the religion that we have embraced,
and the whole plan of salvation. They had almost lost sight of
the redemption of the nations of the earth, and each one had
turned to his own way. Can you recollect that situation of the
people?
295
We have reason to be thankful that we have forsaken backslidings
and returned to the Lord in a great measure; but we are still far
from being as we should be, taking every individual, though the
great majority of the people are doing the best, or about as well
as they know how. This I believe with all my heart; and they feel
very anxious to live so that they can enjoy more and more of the
knowledge of God: they are very anxious to know how to obtain
more of the revelations of Jesus Christ; and some are fearful
that the people are not doing right, and that they do not live up
to their privileges.
295
Some of the brethren were conversing in my office the other day,
and I discovered that a part of them had a great anxiety for us
to know more of godliness, and had a feeling that this people
must do better--must more strictly refrain from evil and walk
more humbly before their God. I said to them, "Brethren, I will
take you for an example, with myself; and I tell you, for one,
that I do not know how to do any better than I do; and if the
Lord wants me to do any better, he must let me now it; for I
cannot do any better of myself. Can you say the same?" They said
they could. So it is with the people: the most of them are doing
the best they know how. There are a few who sin, and a few who
will do wrong--to things that they ought to be ashamed of. They
are scarce: but there is once in a while one of that class in
this community; and we expect that there will be, just so long as
the wheat and the tares grow together. There is once in a while
one that we would like to be rid of--would love to have leave us
and this community.
295
It is astonishing that any should prefer to act wickedly, and yet
there is a reason for all this. We expect it--at least I do: I
look for it. I do not look for anything else but that there will
be tares in the field until the time of burning. I will just say,
for your consolation and mine, that I think the field is now
pretty well weeded out, though the roots are here, and they will
spring up occasionally, and once in a while things are done that
are disgraceful. Some will do things that the Devil would be
ashamed of and would not think of doing. But I am thankful that
there are but few of that class here; and I pray that the evils
may be lessened and that the people may be purified before the
Lord.
296
It is truth--it is God's truth--it is eternal truth, if people
did but know it, that it is much better to be honest, to live
here uprightly, and forsake and shun evil, than it is to be
dishonest. It is the easiest path in the world to be honest,--to
be upright before God; and when people learn this, they will
practise it. If they could only believe this, it does appear to
me that they will forsake every evil practice, every evil
thought, and banish them from their minds, and try to practise
virtue and truth, and to live in that way that they will overcome
every evil disposition, and live so that they can control their
reflections, and that their reflections will tend to virtue,
truth, and holiness; for this is our privilege, until we became
pure in our hearts, and find that the principles of righteousness
dwell within us. Then, as it was said by the Saviour to his
disciples, He will be in us a fountain of living water, springing
up into everlasting life.
296
That is the principle--the fountain that Jesus our elder brother
dwells in; and we can have the same privilege of overcoming sin
in ourselves until we have no desire to do anything but right--no
desire only to build up His kingdom upon the earth, and have the
Spirit of the Lord Jesus to be in us a fountain of living water.
Let us do so, and thereby be prepared for every emergency that
shall come upon us.
296
Let us secure our crops. I feel to exhort the brethren to secure
their crops so as to be ready, if our enemies come upon us, to
defend ourselves. Let us obey our officers, not loving the world
nor the things of the world above our duties. The Lord will
prepare the way and provide all things necessary for us; and if
we suffer a little, it is good for us. If we suffer for food, for
raiment, it gives us an experience that we will know how to
appreciate the comforts of life when we have them in our
possession.
296
We will attend to the business of the Conference first, and then
dismiss until afternoon.
296
[After putting the motion for himself to be sustained as
"Prophet, Seer, and Revelator," the President remarked:--]
296
I will say that I never dictated the latter part of that
sentence. I make this remark, because those words in that
connection always made me feel as though I am called more than I
am deserving of. I am Brigham Young, an Apostle of Joseph Smith,
and also of Jesus Christ. If I have been profitable to this
people, I am glad of it. The brethren call me so; and if it be
so, I am glad.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Charles
C. Rich, October 7, 1857
Charles C. Rich, October 7, 1857
SUFFICIENCY OF THE GOSPEL--OBEDIENCE TO TRUTH--UNION--GOOD SPIRIT
AMONG THE SAINTS--THE LORD WILL DELIVER HIS PEOPLE.
Remarks by Elder Charles C. Rich, made at the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Wednesday Afternoon, October 7, 1857.
296
Brethren and sisters, I can truly say, as others have said, that
I have been edified during the Conference and greatly benefited
by the spirit that has been made manifest and the testimony that
has been borne by the brethren. It has cheered my heart, and I
have not had a better time for years.
296
We have great reason to rejoice, notwithstanding some people
might think that we have reason to mourn. But I do not think so,
neither do I think that you feel so. I think there is but one
feeling, and that is peace and joy. Notwithstanding all the
appearances that are around us, we have abundant reason to
rejoice; for we have something to rejoice about and in, if we
comprehend our position, which I have no doubt the great majority
do.
297
We have had the privilege of embracing the Gospel of salvation;
and inasmuch as we have embraced it with honest hearts, it has
been salvation to us: and what is there besides this that we
should rejoice in, or that should make us rejoice? For my part, I
feel, as has been expressed by some of the brethren who have
spoken from this stand, that this Gospel contains all that I
desire; consequently, I have no feelings nor desires to go
outside of it, simply because it bestows upon you and me
everything that will do us good and that will save us. All that
is outside of it will damn us in time and in eternity;
consequently, we have no need of that which is outside of this
kingdom.
297
If we understand the principles of truth as we should, we shall
have no desires to go after anything but what is right, simply
because it would do us an injury; therefore, it will be well for
us to examine ourselves, and know whether the principles that are
in our bosoms are of God. If they are, they will bless us in time
and exalt us in all eternity. If they are not, they will be an
evil to us in time, and as long as we have them in our bosoms;
consequently, it would be well for us to know something about
ourselves, and what we have in our bosoms, and the principles
that we practise from day to day continually.
297
We profess to be Saints--to have received the Gospel of
salvation; and if we have embraced it with pure motives, it is
salvation to us--and that, too, at the present time. When we look
at the world we find them talking about being saved; but all the
salvation they are looking for is a long way from this, which I
think will be the case. But we receive the Gospel for the purpose
of being saved. It proposes salvation to us on the onset, at the
commencement, and from that day to all eternity.
297
If we do not embrace the principles of life and live by them, we
do not partake of the principles of salvation at the time we
receive them; but if we live by them, they continue to save us
from that time onward.
297
For instance, when we heard the sound of the Gospel, it proposed
to us that we should have the same spirit that was poured out
upon the ancient Saints--upon Christ's disciples. This was the
doctrine that his servants declared to us. When we received their
testimony, we went forward and were baptised for the remission of
sins; and what followed? I will tell you what followed: we were
enabled to bear testimony that we had received the truth, and we
obtained thereby a knowledge that our Father in heaven
lived--that his son Jesus Christ had been crucified for the sins
of the world.
297
But did we not discover that we were saved--saved from ignorance
that had beclouded our minds? We had received something that we
did not before know. We could then rejoice in the truth when the
whole world were in darkness on this subject; and what further?
Why, there was one truth after another made manifest to us--one
truth after another revealed. Well, if we have embraced those
truths that have been made manifest, we have received the
blessings that are given from time to time,--yes, from the time
that we embraced them up to the present; and they have saved us.
297
The Gospel requires to be honest to our God, to ourselves, to our
brethren. We should not steal, we should not commit adultery, and
there are a great many things that we should not do and that the
principles of eternal truth would forbid. If we had not among us
any who commit any of these sins, those evils would not be in our
midst. If the principles that dwell in the bosom of our God are
in us, we will do nothing under any circumstances that we know to
be wrong.
298
When some men's evil deeds are discovered, they will say that
they did not do the evil with which they are charged. They will
deny it. This is a mark of the greatest degradation and infamy.
298
Evils are of two classes; and what are they? First, people do
wrong because they do not know how to do right: second, they do
wrong because they are disposed to do wrong: and do you not see
that in either case they are wrongs? We are not half as well
saved as we should be; consequently, to be saved, we want to
learn to know what right is. If we are dishonest and want to do
wrong, we are wicked. Nevertheless, it is wrong both ways; and we
are not saved by pursuing such a course.
298
You know it is said that in the last days the knowledge of God
shall cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep. We can
bear testimony that the Spirit of God is poured out upon his
Saints. We see it day by day and from time to time, and we are
increasing in the knowledge of the truth.
298
Inasmuch as we are trying to be saved, we are all the time
increasing in the principles of truth; we are continually
treasuring them up, and we can use them for our benefit.
298
We may easily discover that a person cannot use that which he has
not got. He must first learn a principle before he can act upon
it. Well, if we do not know the truth, the best way is to get
somebody that does know to lead us; and perhaps, by diligence, we
may arrive at the knowledge thereof. This has been a course of
safety pointed out to the Saints from the beginning, and it is
the same now.
298
When we have learned one truth, we are prepared to learn another;
for every truth seems to unfold some other truth. When a matter
is presented to a person who has acknowledge of a great many
truths let him compare it with the many truths that he knows, and
they will agree; for all truth will agree. If it is not truth, it
will come in contact; therefore, the more truths we are in
possession of, the more keys we have to test other truths by; and
the longer we live in this way, the more we know of our Father
and the principles that pertain to his kingdom, and the less
disposition we will have to do wrong: we will be more inclined to
do right, and to carry out the principles of his government. We
will do this because it is the safest and best course to pursue:
hence, if we have a disposition to be blest and saved, we shall
be disposed to take this course.
298
I feel rejoiced in one principle that I see manifest among the
Saints in these days, and that is, the principle of union. Of
course we have, as a community, always been more united than any
other people; but we still come short of that fulness of union
which should exist among us. But I consider that we have done
first rate.
298
It is an easy matter to do right, if we only pursue the right
course: at least I have always found it so. I never had any
difficulty to be agreed with those I was associated with. The way
that I am united with my brethren is simply this: I calculate to
adopt the same policy that the Lord manifests through his
servants that have a right to dictate me. I do not calculate to
have anything in my heart that is not right; then you see there
will be no difficulty, if I pursue this course, to be united with
my brethren that preside over me.
299
I have been a member of the Church over twenty-five years, and I
have been preaching all the time: at least, I have been a
preacher, whether I have been preaching all the time or not. I
have never seen the time but I have always found those who were
leading me to be right; and I have never seen the time but I
could bear testimony that they were right; for I knew it by the
Spirit of God that was in me. I knew it was the privilege of
every Saint to have this knowledge.
299
When we are agreed and live our religion, we are prepared to
receive the blessings that are poured out upon us. We cannot
claim the blessings that are in store for us, except we pursue a
course that will put away all our sins and iniquities far from
us.
299
I do not say that I am perfect, but I can say this--that I never
intended to do a wrong thing. I have done the best I could. To be
sure I have been away from this place most of the time among the
wicked: at least I term them wicked. They say they seek after God
and everything that pertains to godliness. But if ever I was glad
to get home among the Saints it was this summer.
299
I have thought that the spirit that is among this people and the
quiet feeling that seems to prevail when difficulties are
approaching was most heavenly; and I have sometimes felt and
queried as to whether I did not feel too well. But when the
brethren have been pouring out their feelings from this stand, I
have felt to rejoice. I feel that we have got further along than
I thought we had before I came back here.
299
I have been looking for the time of deliverance, but I did not
expect it so soon. But I know it cannot come too soon to meet
with a hearty welcome. I have been through some of the
difficulties, as some others have said, and can tell you, in all
that I have passed through from the beginning, I have felt paid
as I have gone along. I have always felt that the course to do
right was the best, and that there would be the most joy and
happiness in doing right.
299
So far as our enemies are concerned, I feel about them precisely
as our brethren have expressed themselves. I do not fear them;
but I feel that the Lord will take care of his Saints and of his
kingdom. All we have to do is to do as we are directed, and all
will be well.
299
A great number of the Elders have been on missions, and we have
been bearing testimony to the world of mankind that this is the
kingdom of God--that God has set his hand to recover the house of
Israel. We have been bearing testimony of this, and we still
continue to bear it, and the Spirit of God flows into our hearts
when we testify to this. Have we any fears that the Lord is not
able to deliver his Saints? We ought not to have any.
299
I will tell you how I feel. It is best for us to do right; and
there will be more salvation flowing to us through doing right
than pursuing any other course. This is the course of salvation.
Whatever our heavenly father dictates, that is the thing for us
to do, whether it is to fight or let it alone. I have been in
difficulties where there actually was fighting, where the Saints
had to defend themselves against their enemies; but the time had
not come for us to take the stand that we have now taken. But the
Lord directed matters then, and he is directing matters now. We
have seen difficulties from the beginning, from the time that the
Lord established his kingdom upon the earth until the present
time.
299
Every person that has a portion of the Spirit of God can see the
manifestations of the power of God, from the time that the
kingdom was established until the present. We have no need to
fear for the kingdom; but it is for us to do our duty, and then
all will be well with us.
300
I do not wish to occupy time that should be occupied by my
brethren. I say that I feel well: I never felt better, and never
had less fears of our enemies than I have at the present time.
300
That we may live so as to be sanctified through the truth--that
we may secure salvation in this world, and in that which is to
come, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Erastus
Snow, October 7, 1857
Erastus Snow, October 7, 1857
TESTIMONIES OF RETURNED MISSIONARIES--TRIALS LEAD TO
EXALTATION--FAITH IN GOD.
Remarks by Elder Erastus Snow, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Wednesday Afternoon, October 7, 1857.
300
I have listened during the progress of this Conference with very
great satisfaction. Every one that speaks bears testimony to us
that our God has not forsaken us, and that the prayers of this
people are still acceptable before him, and, notwithstanding our
weaknesses and our sins, that we are a blessed and a happy
people, and that our God is near at hand to multiply his
blessings upon us.
300
I have rejoiced in listening to my brethren who have recently
returned from their missions. I feel that I am one of them, and I
thank my heavenly Father for that good Spirit which has so
bountifully attended their labours and returned with them.
300
I do not believe that it has ever fallen to my lot, since we have
been a people, to hear, at any one time, so large a number of our
returned missionaries stand forth before the people to give in
their testimony and speak of the dealings of god with them, as we
have heard during this Conference. They universally bear the same
testimony, rejoicing in their labours, manifest the goodness of
our God upon them and upon the people where they have laboured;
and it is evidence to my mind of the increased favour of God upon
this people, and that it is the faithful prayers of this people
that sustain our sons and our brethren who are sent forth by the
voice of this people as their representatives to preach the
Gospel to the nations.
300
It appears that there is no one who lifts up his voice to speak
in the midst of this people but is constrained to speak good for
Israel. There seems to be no doubt upon the minds of the
people--no forebodings of distress in the hearts of the Elders of
Israel. What there may be lying in our path--I was going to say,
we neither know nor care; but we do know that the straightforward
path is strewed with blessings, glory, honour, exaltation, and
eternal lives. Let us not, therefore, turn either to the right or
the left from the path our God has marked out, whatever there may
be of trial alongside of the path.
301
I feel firmly convinced of this, whatever may be by some
accounted trials, that when we reach them, if the light of the
Lord is in us, we shall pass them without stopping to consider
whether they are trials; and we shall look back upon them and
count it all joy. To us it will be glory, honour, and exaltation,
and stepping-stones to that which we are seeking for--the very
means, in the hands of god, of preparing us to receive all that
he has in store for us.
301
Is it not enough for us to know that our Father in Heaven will
suffer nothing to come upon us, only that which is to prepare us
to receive the good he has in store for us? Ask this people, Are
the soldiers coming in here? Are we going to have a fight this
fall? Are they coming in on our Emigration, Road, or going round
by Fort Hall? What will the United States do? Will they raise
50,000 volunteers next spring? Shall we burn up what we have got
and take it Indian fashion? What is to be the result of all these
things?
301
Ask anybody to tell you; and who is there that will describe the
course God will mark out before this people and the course our
enemies will take towards us, or the precise details of the
programme that is before us. Who is there that can tell us?
301
Ask this or that Elder if he has any revelation on the subject,
or appeal to the congregation of the Saints; and who is there
that can answer it? I confess I cannot answer it, nor have I ever
heard it answered by anybody else in detail; and I conclude the
Lord will take his own course; and doubtless he will show us the
programme as fast as we are prepared to act it, and that will be
fast enough.
301
The Lord hath shown us both ends of the drama. As to the
particular scenery of the different parts of the drama, it will
be made manifest from time to time. When the curtain is raised,
we shall see it, if we are on hand to play our part. I am fully
persuaded we have a good manager, and he is our God: it is he
that is moving upon the checkerboard of nations, and he
understands the game and will make the right moves.
301
Go back and take a retrospective view of this people and the
dealings of God with us from the time of the organization of this
Church, the persecutions through which this people have passed in
Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and the various places where we have
been located; and when has the Lord beforehand made known all the
particulars of the scenery through which we were destined to
pass? He has always given us general items and sufficient to
encourage every faithful man to do his duty and trust in him for
the result. But if all the details were made known unto us--if we
could see every minutia portrayed, would there be a chance for
the exercise of our faith in the same degree as now? Would there
be chance for the faith of this people to be shown in the same
degree?
301
For my own part, I feel perfectly satisfied to leave it in the
hands of our God, where it is, and where it should be, to make
manifest unto us just as much from time to time as he sees is
necessary to bear up and sustain this people.
301
It is through faith that the Lord performs his wonders among his
people; and in enduring that trial of their faith he gives a
blessing; and often the Lord shapes trials in a manner different
from our expectations. We, in our limited capacity may mark out
in our minds a programme; and when he moves upon the
checker-board, he does not move the men we have in our minds, but
he shapes and moves in another way; and we should be satisfied
with the result. He will get the game, and in the end will move
into the king row and be able to move both ways.
301
I feel first-rate. All is right with the Lord; all is right with
his kingdom, and with everybody that is right. And may the Lord
help us to keep his commandments for ever! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Amasa
M. Lyman, October 11, 1857
Amasa M. Lyman, October 11, 1857
BENEFIT OF EXPERIENCE--PATIENCE UNDER SUFFERINGS--RECOGNITION OF
THE
HAND OF GOD IN THE VICISSITUDES OF HIS SAINTS, ETC.
A Sermon by Elder Amasa Lyman, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 11, 1857.
302
The circumstances of our meeting this morning has brought me to
this place to occupy a portion of the time allotted for the
worship of to-day. I cannot say, as I have heard men say at
times, that I have thought of nothing to say; for it has been my
study and my labour, since my connection with the work of God in
the last days, to learn what to say, in order that I might have
something whereof to speak, in case that I should be required to
say anything; and I would always wish to be able, through the
blessing of God and the manifestation of his Holy Spirit, to say,
at any time when it might be my duty to speak, something that
will be calculated to benefit those to whom I may speak. I know
of no other blessing, or glory, or wealth accruing from our
living and our labours in the world, but that which we learn of
the truth, that will bless us and make us free from the dominion
and influence of error.
302
We talk about experience, and we have had a great deal of
experience, and we are constantly in the school of experience.
But I am inclined to think that it may be the case with us in
that school as in other school. We sometimes improve by what we
experience, adding to our store of knowledge; and then, again, we
may experience very considerable from which we derive no
particular benefit, like the scholar hat attends school, but from
inattention, a failure to apply himself properly to his lessons
and to the acquirement of the knowledge that is imparted, he
fails to comprehend the truth to the extent that he might
otherwise have done; and hence he is not benefited to the extent
that he might have been, although he has been in the school.
302
Well, as Saints and as children of God, we are in the school; and
if there is any higher purpose connected with our being in the
school--connected with living in the world, and connected with
all our labours in the world, and what we are supposed to be here
for,--if there is any higher object than the attainment of the
knowledge that will save us, I do not know it: I never have heard
of anything greater or more glorious, or more to be esteemed,
than our being saved. It is simply for this that we are being
taught and that we are learning: it is for this that we are
required to be obedient: it is for this that we are obedient.
303
When we have been obedient to every requirement--made every
possible attainment that can be made, what is our condition? We
are saved from the bondage of sin and darkness, the consequences
of ignorance. Well, then, it will be profitable for us to think
of what we experienced--to think of the experience through which
we have passed. Has it been a varied scenery, embracing an almost
countless variety of changes and of circumstances, involving a
good deal of comfort, pleasure, and happiness, with a
corresponding amount of sorrow, affliction, and wretchedness?
303
Have we profited from it all? When we have supposed that the hand
of chastisement was upon us, and we have been afflicted, has that
affliction been to us a source of knowledge to benefit and to
perfect us in our sphere of action? We were passing through this
as a necessary school of experience. And when we have passed
through it, has it left with us an increase to the store of our
knowledge? Has it profited us to an extent that we have
comprehended more of the truth that influences our Father in the
heavens? And have we learned more of the principles which
constitute our happiness and that will be the bliss and the glory
of the saved and the sanctified? Has this been the case with us,
or have we done as many others have--passed blindly through the
school of experience, passed through the sufferings, endured the
sorrow, and experienced the joy, the pleasure, and the happiness,
and still are unenlightened--still are ignorant?
303
I believe we may, with profit to ourselves, look over our
experience; and why? So long as we have been connected with the
Church, if we have not been following, as Saints, in the path of
our own making, in yielding obedience to the requirements of the
work of God,--if we have been obedient to the counsel that has
been given,--is we have acted up to the calls that have been
made,--if we have done these things, we have done them for this
purpose, for our salvation, our deliverance, and for our
improvement, that it might tend to increase our happiness and our
comfort.
303
Under this view of the matter, should we to-day really conclude
that we have really been made sufferers, and that we have in
reality been afflicted, and that we have really been made to
participate in some wretchedness and misery, we cannot conclude
that we have passed through these things for any other purpose
than that we should have been brought to a comprehension of the
truth by them.
303
If it was not our misery that prompted our Father in his dealings
towards us--that gave character to his operations with us, then
he had an object in view. He commenced with us to accomplish his
own purposes, to bring about an increase of his own glory in our
salvation. Well, when that increase shall be accomplished, we
shall know that it was not our sorrow or our affliction that he
sought: it was because he wished our salvation, that we were made
to partake of the cup of suffering, that we should partake of
sorrow before we could reach happiness and bliss as a reward for
it.
303
Well, then, in what way should we look at what we have endured
and at what we have suffered? Why, simply as lessons--as
admonitions imparted to us for our benefit, for our profit, and
for our learning, and that we might increase in knowledge, and
this might produce an increase of the legitimate principles of
happiness: and it was simply a conscientiousness that we were
free from sin that led us to persevere in the pursuit of further
happiness, by endeavouring to obtain a more extensive knowledge
of the truth. It is for this, then, that we have endured all that
we have endured. Have we regarded this in this light, while we
have been passing through those scenes that have marked our
history from the commencement of the work of God to the present
moment?
304
It was said of the Saints anciently, that they took joyfully the
spoiling of their goods; and no doubt they did. It has probably
been the case in this dispensation, that the Saints have taken
joyfully the spoiling of their goods. But to how great an extent
have we taken patiently the spoiling of our goods as trials that
were calculated by our Father in heaven only for our good?
304
We have been in the habit, in consequence of the feelings that
pervaded our minds, of looking at the doings of our Father in a
limited light; and we have been in the habit of looking at his
operations in this way, and whatever was required of us to-day we
regarded as being the fulness of his purposes and of his
operations with us; and if we should comply perfectly or readily
to-day with the requirements made of us, we have thought that we
had attained all that was to be obtained.
304
Well, is this so? No. He has been making requirements of us
continually: requirement after requirement has been made of us.
He has required us to accomplish a work to-day; and each
succeeding day, from the beginning to the present time, has
brought some change in his requirements. He has required us to
travel in one direction, for instance to-day; and then the
accomplishment of the same work which he has to do requires us to
take a directly opposite course to what we were pursuing. Well,
then, if taking up one course to-day and another to-morrow seems
to be undoing the work of yesterday and to be diametrically
opposed to the work of yesterday, can we recognize the hand of
God in it? If we have recognized his hand in these things, we
have had a profitable experience by them.
304
"But," says one, "how can it be that God should require one thing
to-day, and then something else to-morrow? We thought he was a
straightforward dealing individual--that there was no
variableness nor shadow of turning in him." Well, this is the
character of him; but, perhaps we have been in difficulty, and
could not recognize the hand of God, and could not recognize the
blessing in the present apparent suffering. We could not
recognize the hand of God as on yesterday, when we thought we
were in better circumstances than we are to-day. Where is the
difficulty? It is simply that we have not recognized the hand of
God so clearly as in the day that we have considered to be more
rich with blessings and prosperity; and what is the reason?
"Why," says one, "We could not see the design of these things."
Well, if we could not see their ultimate design, there must have
been a reason why we could not see; and we will consider that
there was a purpose in this, as well as in the Lord sending the
Gospel which has reached our ears.
304
Suppose that we should have known that it was his purpose to
bring us to this place; why, we never could have believed that we
were following his counsel when we were travelling to every other
place; for in our journeyings we travelled towards almost every
other place before we came here; and, in fact, every other place
that we have visited we visited before we came here; and still we
were following the purposes of God every time and in all those
windings. Well, if we could not know it then, it will be good to
know it now--to discover it and to look at it in a way and to an
extent that will profit us. It will be well to look at the true
position we have been in, now that we understand that all the
scenes that we have passed through have been for the
accomplishment of his purposes.
305
If we did not understand his purpose at the beginning, we must at
some time comprehend it, or we never can see his hand in it--we
never can be blessed with that freedom from ignorance, from
error, and from darkness; but the chains that have hitherto held
us in error and in bondage will continue to hold us until we
reach that point. Then to see and to comprehend, by the light
that dwells within us, that God is with us, and that he is round
about us, and that he is fulfilling his purposes all the time,
however varied our circumstances may be--however they may change
from time to time, if we can but know that God is in it, what
will be the result? Why, contentment that will be unbroken; it
will be a feast to our souls; it will be the banquet of happiness
for our minds to feast upon; and then, however difficult our
circumstances may be considered, we shall have an inward joy, a
peace, a satisfaction, and resignation to the will of our Father,
that we could not have while we were bound down by the chains of
ignorance and error.
305
Well, is there anything that we should know? Yes, if we would be
happy, we should know that if the clouds of adversity lour around
us--if there are indications of a storm continually threatening
us, then, if we have not assurance and a knowledge of the truth
that will enable us to look through the clouds that have
thickened around us to the triumph of the cause that we are
engaged in, the scenery will become discouraging to us; and
consequently, we shall become unhappy. The consequence will be
that we shall be fearful; and it will be that fear that produces
unpleasant feelings and which is the result of ignorance. It is
required of us not so much to read and comprehend the future
which is not revealed, but like the schoolboy that is rapidly
passing over lessons given by his preceptor, and who glances over
them without seeing their importance, but simply commits the
words to memory and passes rapidly along to something else. We
should read and learn these lessons in our experience; and let us
in all these windings see that there is an importance attached to
every lesson of experience through which we are called to pass.
305
Then, if we can see the hand of God in all these changes and
trials, and if we can see to the extent that the relationship is
perfect in our comprehension, between the purpose of God an its
accomplishment, then we are settled upon a basis from which we
cannot be moved, and we are then standing upon a rock which
cannot be shaken; and while the Spirit of God is upon us, we will
not become wretched; but so long as that Spirit can find a place
in us, we can not become alienated from the things of God.
305
It was said in old times that when the Lord commenced his work in
the latter times, he will actually accomplish it. Well, now, we
have actually come upon the stage of action to take our part when
that work is about to be done, and we are to constitute a portion
of his agents to accomplish that work. And when we have done that
which is needful for the accomplishment of his work, then we
shall see the consistency of God's hand dealing with us.
306
For the last twenty-five years, and especially when the kingdom
of God was first established, it became necessary with our
Father, as with any other workman, to have the requisite material
for the building, and then in the next place to have that
material in a suitable condition to accomplish the work with. The
same as when the Presidency of the Church designed to build a
Temple--a holy place to the name of the Most High, what is
requisite? In the first place, it is requisite to prepare for a
foundation; and then, in the next place, the material to lay that
foundation is required, and the Temple commences to be built; and
as the material is prepared, the work of the building goes on,
and the material is adjusted in the foundation of that Temple
according to the plan of the architect. Well, so with our Father,
to accomplish his work in the last days; his first move was to
find men that would engage in it, and then to send men forth to
attract the attention of others--of those who would give heed to
it.
306
This called forth the preaching of the Gospel as it was first
sounded in our ears. Did we understand anything of the work of
God in the last days? I speak from my own experience, and answer,
No. We believed the truth as it was first announced to us, but
not in all its extent nor what it really amounted to; but what
developments it would show we were ignorant of. But still being
attracted by the sound that brought with it the Holy Spirit, we
followed it; and what has been the result? We are here to-day; we
have passed through all the varied scenes that have filled up the
history of this people; we have been associated with all the
changes and vicissitudes that fill up the work of God for the
last twenty-five years, and we are here to-day, and our
experience is what we have passed through in that length of time.
306
And how have we profited by it? Is the great superstructure of
the kingdom of God built up? Is the organization of the Saints
complete? Are they perfect? No. Then what has been doing? Why,
the people have been receiving instruction; they have been taught
from year to year; lesson after lesson has been given; one field
of experience has followed upon the track of another; we have
been practising upon those things revealed through the Priesthood
upon the earth; and, by following this Priesthood, it has brought
us to these times and to this place. Well, it has done how much
of the work of God? How much of the foundation is laid? How much
of the Temple is built?
306
Why, you can go out here and see the Temple that is being built
on this ground, and you can see how much. Just as much has been
built as there has been material brought on to the ground and
adjusted in its place according to the design of the architect.
Is this all that has been done towards the building of the
Temple? No. Here has been a canal built, and there has been rock
quarried and laid on the way in almost every place from here to
Big Cottonwood Kanyon. But is the Temple built? No: but just so
much as is adjusted there to-day tells us that so far the Temple
is built. Will it be any different when the topstone is laid?
Will it make any difference with the parts that are already
adjusted? No: they will still maintain the position that was
assigned them; but that was not given them until they were every
whit prepared, according to the plan of the architect, to take
their place in the building.
306
Well, look at our place as Saints of the Most High God, and what
is there developed in relation to the building of it? The Gospel
has been preached, perhaps, to every nation under heaven, or they
have heard the sound borne by our own report, either in Zion or
in the nations abroad. But what has been done? Why, the people of
the Saints have been wandering from State to State, from country
to country, unsettled, having no abiding-place, no permanent
home.
307
Was it necessary for us to wade through all these scenes? Yes; it
was necessary that we should move and remove, until we gained the
place we now occupy. It is necessary, before the kingdom of God
can be built up in strength and in power, to stand for ever, that
there should be developed in the people a sufficiency of the
knowledge of salvation to hold them to the truth just as firmly
and as steadfastly as these rocks are held to their place in the
foundation of the Temple, so that there will be no disposition to
apostatize. And the people must be possessed of capacity, like
the rock in the building; they must be possessed of strength to
bear the weight upon them in the superstructure.
307
This is the work that has been going on, and we have to learn,
experience, and appreciate this; and until we do, we only learn
as the brute beasts, who may experience, but know no reason.
307
The Lord has been leading us for our profit and for our learning;
he has been leading us in a course of experience, and we shall be
continually subject to changes and vicissitudes until our
experience becomes sufficiently fruitful in knowledge that we
shall be bound to the work of God. "How?" says one. Why, by a
knowledge of the truth; and when we know the truth in relation to
the work of God, shall we cherish a desire to depart from it?
Does a man ever apostatize when he knows the work is true and
that God is working for his own glory, and when he all the time
sees this? No, never. You never see a man apostatize that in the
days of his apostacy ever knew this or appreciated it. Why, if he
knew this, he would not apostatize.
307
Apostates are found as we pass through the country, and they will
say, "I knew the work to be true, twenty years ago, when you,
brother Lyman, or somebody else, came through our section of
country and preached the Gospel; I knew that it was true then."
307
Then, why did you apostatize and leave the Church? Have you found
out that it was false?
307
"Well, I do not know that I have, but it was that 'Mormonism'
that was preached twenty years ago that I knew."
307
Well, if you knew that which was preached twenty years ago, you
would have recognized it to-day, because this is the first fruit
of that which you were acquainted with; and if you had known it,
you would not have departed from it. You did not know the Gospel;
you did not understand it: you might have known or felt conscious
that what some man told you was true. But what is the spirit of
the Gospel to that man that comprehends it? It is that which
comprehends all truth and all good; and there is no truth,
neither is there any good outside of it; and there is,
consequently, no chance for the individual that views the Gospel
of Jesus Christ in this light to adopt those kinds of conclusions
that lead men away from the truth and that cause them to
apostatize.
307
If we realize this, then we are secure, and we are prepared for
any contingency that may arise; and if God does not build up his
kingdom with us and with the people that are gathered together to
the place that he has appointed, there is but one reason why he
does not do it, and that is, they do not understand enough of the
principles of salvation; therefore, his kingdom cannot be built
up entirely and completely.
308
Now, the fact of a man's being gathered with the Church and with
the Saints does not constitute his salvation in the kingdom when
the kingdom shall triumph; for men will apostatize and go away
from the Church, until they know that it is worth everything
else, that it is everything that is good, and that it is all that
can bestow permanent happiness upon man. Until they understand
this, they are in danger, because there are agencies in the
world, throughout the world, and a train of corrupt influences
that are in lively exercise among men and that have gained power
in consequence of the ignorance of mankind; so that until there
is as much of the knowledge of the truth within the people that
constitute the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as
will sustain them till there is no disposition to look after
anything else, until they consider nothing outside the kingdom of
any value, they will be in danger of stepping aside and doing
wrong. What is it that will save us? Why, simply knowing that the
truth is so broad that it fills the infinitude of space and
embraces all true happiness, glory, immortality, and eternal
life--all that man will possess when he is associated with the
redeemed and sanctified.
308
When we have this understanding and these views of the subject,
will we ever go away from the truth? I say, No, we will not. What
will we go away for? There is no money to be made; there is no
blessing to be obtained; there is no power or riches that can be
gained or acquired, or that can be hoped for; there is nothing
outside of the truth.
308
Does a man get away from the truth by apostacy? No; he simply
revels in the darkness, with truth all around him: the truth
pervades the whole country where he may dwell and where he may
travel; he cannot get outside of it. Then what has he done? He
has closed his eyes and said, "I will not see;" and by doing so,
what has he effected? He has only run around the circle of truth,
until he is worn out and comes back and finds that the truth is
still there. When he opens his eyes, there is the truth; God is
there, his influences are there, his Spirit is there, his work is
there; and he finds that he has not gone away from God, neither
has he gone away from the truth; but he has simply closed his
eyes and refused to see that light and truth which were presented
to him.
308
What has he got to do? He has got to take up the truth where he
thought he had left it, be obedient to its requirements, live to
it, and put it on like a garment; he has got to shake off the
shackles of darkness, and emerge into the light and liberty that
the Gospel brings.
308
"Well," says one, "where?" Why, in that very place where a long
time ago you closed your eyes against the light and the truth.
You may apostatize, go away, and stay as long as you please; but
you must get a good deal of money, or you will not have enough to
get through with. I have never seen an individual that could get
enough that would last him through.
308
Men may go round the world, and they cannot get away from the
truth. It is simply because we do not understand the Gospel as a
system of truth that we are subject to doubts and fears. If we
did understand it in that light, we would not be carried away,
for the best of all reasons, that we would not have any
inclination to go away from the truth. If we love it, do you
think we will apostatize, or become alienated from it? No, never.
308
Do you see what is requisite to learn, to prepare for those
dangers to which we are liable? Why, it is simply to comprehend
the truth; and when we do this, what shall we see? We shall see
that God has a hand in all things--that he designs to build up
his work and to establish it with us, but not until there is a
sufficiency of the light and manifestations of the Spirit of
truth in us that we could not be separated from it.
308
All this scenery that we have been passing through has been
preparing us, just as the labourer, in taking the rock from the
mountain, has been preparing it for its proper place in the House
of God.
309
Well, what is necessary next? Why, you know, the stone mason,
when he commenced on the rough ashlar that was in the quarry,
commenced with heavy tools; and when he had knocked off some of
the rough corners and smoothed down the exterior appearance of
the stone, he then used lighter tools and continued to use
lighter still, until the piece under his hand was prepared and
polished and fit for its place.
309
Well, what will we have to be when we are as smooth as some of
the nicely polished pieces of stone that will be in the house of
God? We will have to do a great deal more in "Mormonism" than to
join the Church and make a journey of some ten thousand miles.
Men have been journeying all the time, but very few have
journeyed so as to be saved in the kingdom of God; and what is
the reason? Why, in their travelling there has been something
that has been neglected. Well, if nothing has been neglected with
us, and we are to be removed no more, but to become abiding
fixtures in the kingdom of God, why, then we can see that it has
been necessary that every evil should be drawn out, and that the
Spirit of truth in every part of our organization should become a
living pulse that should vibrate and reach every individual
action and that should purify every individual thought, and that
the fountain of life and thought within us might become well
purified by its sacred and life-giving influence, that it might
purge out from us all that unhallowed leaven within us and round
about us, and in which we find ourselves involved as we pass
through the journey of life.
309
We get angry, we get out of humour, "out of sorts," as the
printers term it; hence we do not have that equanimity of thought
which it is desirable that we should possess. Our passions rule
us, and we do not rule them; the passions, the feelings that may
be within us, overcome us, and we say we did not think anything
about it. We do not think that we are to control ourselves, that
this is our business upon the earth, that we came here to learn
our Father and the principles which influence him--to learn how
he has put on power, and how he has surrounded himself with glory
and strength, come off victorious, and never become subject to
evil.
309
Well, are we learning it when our passions are running away with
us like a wild, untrained team with the carriages that they are
attached to? "Why," says one, "we shall do as the Spirit dictates
us." There is a saying that I have read somewhere, that says the
spirit of the prophet should be subject to the prophet; hence I
infer that I should not always prophesy because the spirit of
prophecy is in me; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy, which we should have all the time. But although we
should have the spirit all the time, we should only use it when
it would be prudent and profitable to do so. It is so with all
our conduct in life; it is so with all those duties that fill up
our time and that occupy our attention in the domestic circle;
for there is where we should begin to build up the kingdom of
God,--first in ourselves, then with our wives, next with our
children, and then all build up the kingdom of God together.
310
Well, but we have been told that this was our sectarian
traditions, to think of building up the kingdom of God in our
hearts. But I want to tell you, not because you have not heard it
before, but because it is a thing that you have been told again
and again; and what is that? To live your religion; and to live
your religion is to have every principle pertaining to the
building up of the kingdom of God, to its perpetuity and
perfection, developed in you; and what will be the result? Why,
then, when you are adjusted in the Temple of God and assigned
your position, you will not run away, but you will remain and
become as a pillar here. What is a pillar? It is fixture. You
know they are put in a building to remain there while the
building stands. If the building is designed to be an eternal
place--a dwelling-place for God, then they are to remain there
for ever.
310
You want to live so that your minds will be filled with his
Spirit; and to do this, you need not take a mission to the sun,
to the moon, or to the stars, to find out their distances or how
much they weigh? But are you acquainted with your homes? You
answer, "Yes." Well, then, do right at home, do not, in a word,
do anything to bring about a pandemonium instead of a paradise;
but do that which brings peace--that which produces the spirit of
peace and of heaven.
310
But where division of sentiment, diversity of feeling, and
discord exist, the principles of heaven are not there; the
principles of peace are not there. Study these principles, and
for what purpose? Why, that it may stir up the spirit of peace
within you,--that the spirit of peace may be, not a casual
visitor, but a constant attendant,--that he may take up his abode
with you; and when an individual takes up his abode with you,
then you do not consider him a transient visitor, but there is
his home--there is where he lodges, where he stays, where he
imparts blessings,--if he is a minister of blessings, where he
imparts good, if he has any good to impart. And if you open a
door that this Spirit will take up his abode with you, then that
fountain which will be opened up will become very plenteous in
its supplies; it will become so to you because you welcome the
Holy Spirit there, and you study to cultivate within you such a
feeling that the Spirit will love to tarry with you day by day;
and its book of instructions will be opened to you, so that each
succeeding day will give you an increase of knowledge, and you
will find yourselves able to comprehend one degree of light and
knowledge after another, until your whole soul will be swallowed
up in your love for the truth; your affections will be bound up
in the truth, for which you will be willing to sacrifice all; and
you will throw away all the old fogyism that was around you; and
if you have acted as if you thought the world was yours, then you
will think that it is your Father's, and that he only lent it.
You will acknowledge his ownership to it, and you will give
yourself to him and to his cause continually.
310
What will this prepare you for? For any contingency that may
arise; and you will be contented in the storm and confident of
what the result will be. If the storm-clouds lour around you, you
will be comforted by the sunshine of the Spirit of God; and
however dark the clouds that may lour around, you will find that
Spirit to be your companion; you will see the sunshine that opens
to you the prospect of happiness, of glory, and of eternal life
when the clouds shall pass away.
310
Why will this be the case? Because you have prepared yourselves
that the Spirit might be in you, having cultivated it all through
your lives. Then you have a devotion to the truth, and the Spirit
of truth will tarry with you, and by-and-by you will become fully
devoted to the truth; your affections will become pure and holy;
and then when you are purified and made holy, you will not depart
from the truth, nor go into darkness and apostacy, because the
sunlight of truth is within you.
311
This is what I want you to learn; and why? Because the days, the
times that are around us require that we should be firm in our
purpose, and not only that we should put up our hands or raise
our voices to high heaven to sustain the kingdom, but that we
should be prepared with every feeling that is within us to devote
ourselves to the truth, knowing that it is all in all, and that
there is nothing outside of it that is worth possessing.
311
Knowing this, then, let us be devoted to the truth, not blindly,
but because the affections that are within us are claimed by a
knowledge of its excellency above everything that can be
possessed--above every good that can be attained, and then we
shall be secure.
311
Brethren and sisters, if we will cultivate this principle and
seek to subject ourselves to the truth, all things are right
around us. There can be nothing wrong to the man who is swallowed
up in the truth--whose whole affections are swallowed up in the
beauty and excellency of that truth which he has learned. There
is no feeling in him to apostatize--there is no room for such a
feeling, and consequently he will not apostatize.
311
Such a man would not apostatize at seeing the little plans our
enemies are forming for our destruction. But when we have endured
all the sufferings that our enemies can bring upon us, let us so
live that we may come from the battle-field unscathed, unharmed,
and be victorious; then we shall find that the least of the foes
over which we have triumphed will be the enemies outside.
311
If we can triumph over our feelings, our affections, so that our
whole souls can become subject to the principles of heaven, then
we shall easily conquer the other foes. These are the things to
be conquered; and when these are conquered, the others are at our
feet.
311
What is continually declared to us through the mouth of the
Presidency of the Church? All will be right, if we do right.
Well, now, how can you neglect these things and do right? You
cannot. But if we do right, what does it do? It saves our backs
from the rod--it secures to us the protection of our Father; and
if we fail to do right, he will do with us as he has been doing.
He has led us through all the meanderings of our course; his hand
has been over us all the time; and what has been his design? It
has been his design to develop a people to do his own work--to
move them until they should find the place where his kingdom
should be built up in strength and in power.
311
Well, cannot we see it is idle for us to gather around us hopes
that we can be saved and redeemed, or that God will redeem and
save us any farther than the principles of truth are developed
within us? If we do see it, it leaves hope to us and an
inducement to live better; and if there are lesser sins that find
place and that still exist in the more narrow circles of our
life, let the work of purification go on until there shall not be
a fault-finding wife nor a husband that shall exact anything that
is not right in the circle of his home.
311
When this is the case, where will wickedness find a place to be
nestled and nourished? Where there is no evil in the heart, there
is no evil committed. Let us strive for this with all our
energies, and let us take the word with us to our homes; for the
way is for us to take this home to ourselves. Let this be the
case in every home, and the work is begun.
312
Brethren and sisters, may God bless you with wisdom, faith,
prudence, humility, and every grace that is necessary to
strengthen you, that you may take hold of this work and carry it
home with you! The most of it is to be done at home, where you
wash dishes and attend to the duties of domestic life; this is
the sanctuary that is to be made pure and holy.
312
And that everything may go on right, that God may help you to
purify yourselves and to reach this point--this consummation, is
my prayer. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Lorenzo
Snow, October 11, 1857
Lorenzo Snow, October 11, 1857
THE BLESSINGS AND PRIVILEGES OF THE SAINTS--OBEDIENCE TO COUNSEL.
A Discourse by Elder Lorenzo Snow, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, October 11, 1857.
312
I presume, brethren and sisters, that we all feel measurably
thankful and grateful that we have had the privilege of receiving
the fulness of the Gospel--that we have been counted worthy to be
gathered out from among the nations, to meet in these valleys of
the mountains for the purpose of receiving instruction, learning
the mind and will of our Heavenly Father, and of preparing
ourselves for those things that are coming upon the earth.
312
But, at the same time, I presume to say that we do not all of us
fully comprehend the blessings and privileges that are prepared
in the Gospel for us to receive. We do not fully comprehend and
we do not have before our view the things which await us in the
eternal worlds, nor, indeed, the things which await us in this
life and that are calculated to promote our peace and happiness
and to answer the desires of our hearts.
312
The Lord has established certain constitutional desires and
feelings in our bosoms; and it is so with all mankind--with the
whole human family. There are implanted and interwoven in their
constitutions certain desires and capacities for
enjoyment--desires for certain things that are in their nature
calculated to promote our peace and wellbeing, that answer their
feeling and promote their happiness. But how to obtain the
gratification of those capacities and desires, the world do not
know nor understand. But the Lord has seen fit to put us in the
channel and in the way of understanding those things by being
faithful and walking in the light of the Holy Spirit, and
receiving truth, and eventually coming in possession of
everything that our hearts desire in righteousness, to promote
our peace and happiness and the highest things that pertain to
glory and exaltation in the eternal worlds.
313
We frequently, in the multitude of cares around us, get
forgetful, and these things are not before us; then we do not
comprehend that the Gospel is designed and calculated in its
nature to bestow upon us those things that will bring glory,
honour, and exaltation--that will bring peace and glory. We are
apt to forget these things in the midst of the cares and
vexations of life; and we do not fully understand that it is our
privilege, and that the Lord has placed it in our reach to pursue
that Gospel whereby we may have peace within us continually.
313
All this trouble and vexation of mind is but a matter of the
present; and if we keep the light of the Spirit within us, we can
so walk in the Gospel that we can measurably enjoy and happiness
in this world; and while we are travelling onward, striving for
peace and happiness that lie in our path, in the distance, we
shall have a peace of mind that none can enjoy but those who are
filled with the Holy Spirit.
313
Now, let a worldly man once conceive that it is in his power,
after a succession of years of trial and difficulty, to come in
possession of worldly riches and wealth, and of all things that
his heart can desire, what is he not willing to do? Why, he is
willing to labour and toil; and although dressed in poverty and
in rags, and with but little of the comforts of this life, yet,
so long as he has a sure testimony that eventually he is coming
in possession of all the desires of his heart, he urges forward
undaunted and full of courage. He has within him a secret desire
and hope that the people around him do not comprehend. When the
people think there is nothing like peace and happiness about him,
he is full of peace; and he has a secret and strong assurance
that he is coming in possession of that which he has wished for
and that his heart is seeking for.
313
In the Gospel we have received, by the light thereof and by the
power thereof, we see that by-and-by we are coming into
possession of those things that we have so long desired and
laboured for. Those who are not in possession of this Spirit do
not understand that the Lord God of our fathers has revealed
himself unto us; and although many of them have had a like
opportunity, yet they have not made use of it to acquire that
knowledge.
313
Through a continual course of progression, our heavenly Father
has received exaltation and glory, and he points us out the same
path; and inasmuch as he is clothed with power, authority, and
glory, he says, "Walk ye up and come in possession of the same
glory and happiness that I possess."
313
In the Gospel those things have been made manifest unto us, and
we are perfectly assured that, inasmuch as we are faithful, we
shall eventually come in possession of everything that the mind
of man can conceive of--everything that heart can desire.
313
Well, then, in the midst of poverty and deprivations, or in the
midst of comforts and conveniences, still these hopes are the
secret springs of our joys. We see that our heavenly Father does
provide us with everything we need; we see that we are in the
sure path to come in possession of those richer blessings that
are promised; and nothing in this world can, or ever will, place
an impediment in our way to prevent us from receiving those
blessings.
313
Is not our liberty, our comfort in the everlasting Gospel, the
assurance that we shall receive all the reward that is made sure
to the faithful children of God? Then where is the man that is
not willing to set fire to his substance--that is not willing to
yield everything for the salvation of himself and the people, if
that be the principle upon which salvation is to be obtained?
314
Let a man have the visions of the Almighty unfolded to his view,
and see in yonder heavens the government of the eternal
worlds,--let him see the liberty and joy that are to be
participated in, and let him see that the Gospel gives all to
this man, and he is willing in his heart and in his feelings to
yield everything to the will of God, that he may come in
possession of those things. Will such a man pursue a course that
will eventually throw him out of the kingdom? Will he give up
those blessings and those prospects for a little comfort, or for
a little of this world's goods, or to enjoy the comforts of this
life for a season?
314
Where is there cause to mourn? Where is there cause for the
Saints to wear long faces? Where is there cause for weeping or
repining? There is none; but it is life or death that is set
before us. Principalities and powers are ours, if we continue
faithful; sorrow and banishment, if we disregard the Gospel.
314
What can we wish for more than is comprehended in our religion?
If we will stand firm upon the rock, and will follow the Spirit
that has been placed in our bosoms, we shall act right in the way
of our duties--we shall act right to those who are placed over
us,--we shall act right, whether in the light or in the dark.
314
Where is the man that will turn aside and throw away those
prospects that are embraced in the Gospel which we have received?
In it there is satisfaction, there is joy, there is stability
there is something upon which to rest our feet, there is a sure
foundation to build upon, and upon which to yield that which is
required of us.
314
When the enemy is near, and when the stormy clouds arise, and the
war-clouds approach, even then we can feel free and quiet, and be
satisfied that all is right in Israel. It is only for us to be
ready to do our duty, to serve our President with all our heart,
with all our might, with all our feelings, with all our property
and energies, and with all things that the Lord has put into our
hands.
314
Let the power that God has put into our hands be used; for herein
lies a continued advancement in dominion, in power, and in
knowledge. We should be ready at all times to exercise all the
power, means, and influence we possess in the service of our God,
and resignedly follow out the directions of our President and
those that are appointed over us.
314
Let us be like little children, ready and willing to do as we are
commanded by the powers that we should obey. Let us be obedient
to the voice of truth, and ever be found in the path of duty; and
there let us continue. Let a man do this, and he continues to
advance; he will grow in the knowledge of God, and in influence,
and in everything that is good. We may well be said to be a
people of one mind, for we are the Saints of the living God. The
Saints who are brought from the nations of the earth--those who
have been gathered together in one, are the ones who hold the
birthright to reign on the earth.
314
It is a good thing, brethren, to be a Saint. We are as children;
we have to pass through the state of infancy, of childhood, and
of youth, before we can arrive at manhood; and we have to learn
by degrees.
314
There are some who do not learn and who do not improve as fast as
they might, because their eyes and their hearts are not upon God.
They do not reflect, neither do they have that knowledge which
they might have: they miss a good deal which they might receive.
We have got to obtain knowledge before we obtain permanent
happiness; we have got to be wide awake to the things of God.
314
Though we may now neglect to improve our time, to brighten up our
intellectual faculties, we shall be obliged to improve them
sometime. We have got so much ground to walk over; and if we fail
to travel to-day, we shall have so much more to travel to-morrow.
We should try to learn and understand how we may best perform our
daily duties, and learn what enjoyment it is our privilege to
receive.
315
Wives and children fail in a great many instances to enjoy
that which they might enjoy, because of tradition--because of not
employing their minds in reflection. Take an individual family in
Zion, for instance, and you will see that there is not that
amount of enjoyment that there might be, provided they would act
up to their privileges; for then they would receive the blessings
in store for them.
315
The husband has to learn to give proper counsel and direction; he
has to learn how to manage his wives and his children, and it
takes him some time to learn how to manage wisely and to bestow
comfort upon each member of his family.
315
Our children, if we are diligent in cultivating in ourselves the
pure principles of life and salvation, will grow up in the
knowledge of these things, and be able with greater facility than
ourselves to promote the orders of heaven and establish happiness
and peace around them. But our traditions are so interwoven with
our nature that it requires more time and effort on our part for
us to learn.
315
It does not trouble some women to follow out the counsel of their
husbands; they will serve them in faithfulness--they will honour
and respect the power of the Priesthood that is upon their
husbands. In this respect they do well and enjoy themselves in
doing so, as every woman will; but in the relationship that
exists between them and other wives of that man, you are very apt
to see a little discord.
315
And some men will at once fall into the channel of obedience,
while it takes other men quite a length of time to learn that
principle and carry it out. While a man is full of the Spirit and
power of the Almighty, he perceives the line of duty in a moment.
315
There are men who will follow the counsel of President Young in
every particular; but set such a man to preside over men who have
not that fulness of light that he has, and he will find
difficulty in governing those men: they have to think about it
and study about it.
315
It requires more energy and more strength of purpose in a man to
follow out the counsel of one who is just above him than it is to
follow man that is a long way ahead of him. So it is in regard to
the women; they can follow the counsel of their husband and do as
he wishes much better than they can regard one another. But we
should do our duty, if it not so pleasing to ourselves.
315
We are all imperfect and full of weaknesses; we have not become
perfect in the things of God; and hence we have to suffer for one
another. Now, in my dealings with the brethren, I have more
difficulty in getting along with the man that is ignorant than
with him who can see his duty. I perceive that the ignorant man
is weak--that he is blind; and inasmuch as I have to suffer from
his wrong, because he has not learned to control his passions it
becomes a greater virtue in me to be patient with him; for there
is more required of me.
315
Well, so it may be with some women. You very seldom find that
husbands and wives are perfect; but perhaps it is very well that
the husband is not perfect, because, if he was, he would be
placed at a great distance from his wives. It requires a great
exertion on the parts of wives to keep pace with their husbands.
316
You all perceive more imperfections in those around you than you
do in yourselves. It is much more difficult for wives to learn
than it is for husbands, because women have not the degree of
light and knowledge that their husbands have; they have not the
power over their passions that their husbands have: therefore,
they have to suffer one for another until they get power over
themselves like unto those that have advanced more fully in the
knowledge of our God.
316
There is a struggle all the time, and it requires exertion on our
part to know how to manage, how to move, and how to come in
possession of the greatest amount of happiness. Let wives pursue
an even course with regard to their husband; let them bear with
his faults; let them be united and live in peace, and they will
increase in light and intelligence. Let the one that has got the
most light learn to be the most forbearing, for the sake of her
husband and for the sake of the principles of truth. If the Lord
has made one woman more perfect than another, and given her more
intelligence than her sisters, let her show more mercy and
patience in overlooking their faults. By this means a wife will
gain influence and favour with her husband, with her sisters, and
with her heavenly Father. She thus advances herself and puts
herself in a position to enjoy all that is for the righteous. The
whole is summed up in this--DO RIGHT.
316
The man that has the most influence will enjoy the most, and the
most is required of him. It is so with you women. If any of you
have more knowledge and influence than the others, more is
required of you; you have the more to endure.
316
Let families put themselves in possession of all the good they
can--be in a position to do right, and be continually in the path
to exaltation and glory. We should all think of these things and
practise them. If you want to know how to be great, good, and
happy, and how to advance faster in the principles of exaltation
and perfection, why, then, set yourselves to work to find out how
you can do the most good. You, women, do this, and learn how you
can best serve your husbands. You, men, learn how you can best
serve President Brigham Young.
316
Well, it may be more glory for you, sisters, to serve your
husbands, than to serve each other; but you have got to learn to
do both, and you will get all the honour and glory that you are
capable of receiving. But some do not conceive of this: they
think that it matters not whether they love their husbands or
not, so long as they do not let them know it. But if they do not
put themselves in the way of acting properly, they bring darkness
and trouble upon themselves.
316
For instance, if one of my fingers is injured, I feel that injury
all over my body. So also if a man has several wives, and one of
them gets injured, he feels the injury that is put upon that
wife. Some women think, if they can do all that is required by
their husbands, that is all that is required. That is very good;
but it is a wild, fanciful notion to think that this is all that
is called for. But if you will set to with all your energy to
bless your husband in serving him and those around him, and
endeavouring to make them all happy, because they desire
exaltation and happiness, then you are in the line of your duty.
This requires an exertion; it requires faith, prayer, and the
Spirit of the Lord to enable you to carry out this operation.
316
But you, sisters, have made rapid advances in consideration of
where you stood a few years ago. Well, still continue in the good
work and attend faithfully to those things that pertain to your
duties and to the stewardship appointed you. See that the little,
riffling misunderstandings in domestic concerns do not poison
your happiness.
316
And you, brethren, attend to those duties that pertain to your
calling and Priesthood, and know that the Lord has called us to
receive the fulness of the Gospel.
317
We are his Saints, his sons, and his daughters, and all
things are open to us; the treasures of time and of eternity are
ours--everything is ours, if we will serve our God in
faithfulness, even to the sacrifice of all we possess. There lies
the preparation for happiness hereafter.
317
Brethren and sisters, may the Lord bless you! I ask it in the
name of Jesus. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Amasa
M. Lyman, October 7, 1857
Amasa M. Lyman, October 7, 1857
PEACE, CONFIDENCE, AND ULTIMATE VICTORY OF THE SAINTS, ETC.
Remarks by Elder Amasa Lyman, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Wednesday Afternoon, October 7, 1857.
317
I can say that I have been gratified, edified, and blessed in
various ways since the commencement of our Conference. I have not
been anything but blessed, that I know of. So far as our meeting
here is concerned, I have been highly gratified in hearing from
our brethren who have just returned from abroad. The spirit with
which they have expressed their feelings and delivered their
testimony here is a living evidence that the cause of God and of
truth is onward--that it is progressive--that it is increasing in
the earth.
317
When we were young and had but just commenced to testify of the
Gospel, we could not hear the same testimony that we hear now:
still the Spirit of God was always good, and the testimony of the
servants of God that were inspired by it was always good, and the
days that are past were very good days, and the times past were
very good; but to day is a better time than any other that I ever
saw: the circumstances that surround us to-day are better than
any with which we have ever been surrounded since we have been a
people.
317
Our prospects are brighter than ever they were before; and the
clouds that gather around us, if there are any, are hardly
perceptible, from the increased amount of light that is shining:
they vanish, they disappear in the increasing confidence, faith,
intelligence, and knowledge that exist in the people.
317
We need not question this, if we but for a moment contemplate the
quietude, the harmony, and the peace that pervade the homes of
the Saints--the place where they dwell. There is no excitement
such as is generally attendant upon an expected war; but it seems
the time approaches nearer that was to effect the establishing a
line of division between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of
this world--that there has been a full and corresponding increase
of confidence on the part of the people in relation to the truth
they had embraced; so that I can hardly see or determine, from
anything that has outwardly taken place, that there is anything
that has happened, except it is their progress in the truth and
their advancement in knowledge.
318
Nobody seems to be alarmed; all seem to feel confident that the
contest that is in prospect is to decide the question: it does
not seem to be who will prevail; it does not seem to be asked at
all who will conquer; but the matter is all settled, that Israel
will prevail.
318
This has been written a long time ago; and we are happy if we can
see it and understand it--if we can appreciate it so as to
inspire within us that confidence that would be requisite to our
salvation.
318
Now, is it because we all understand--is it because we all
comprehend the truth, that we are in this position? What will be
the sequel of our history? We may as well read it to-day, is the
result of our comprehension of the truth? It will be the same
ever and always: the history of the future will never reveal that
we have departed from the truth--that we have professed to know,
to understand, to comprehend, and feel the blessings of the
truth, and then have at a subsequent period of our lives departed
from it.
318
I do not know altogether what may inspire your hearts or what may
have an influence upon your minds; but I believe that I know--I
feel satisfied in my own mind that I know why it is that I have
no fears as to the issue of matters that we are interested in. To
sum it all up and tell what it is, in the shortest possible way,
would be simply to say that I cannot see any place for a failure;
I cannot see any place, nor conceive of the existence of a
possibility of a failure. "Why," says one, "There is no room for
a failure. The truth upon which is predicated--upon which is
based the declarations of the servants of God in ancient times,
that when God should set his hand to build up his kingdom, that
he would build it up, that it should set his hand to build up his
kingdom, that he would build it up, that it should be
established, that it should triumph over every other kingdom and
stand for ever, that truth is so broad, so extensive, that there
is no room for a failure--there is nothing on which to hang a
doubt, or on which to ground a single exception."
318
I am not preaching now of what may be my fate but I am speaking
about the fate of the work we are interested in, that we are
engaged in, that has brought us together, that holds us together,
and that at the present moment is influencing us.
318
I may apostatize--I may leave. What! could I really leave the
truth? It is generally implied that if we leave anything, we get
away from it; but, for my part, I do not know where to go to get
away from it. I might stand still, shut up my ears, harden my
heart, and say that I would not have it; but I could not get away
from it.
318
I suppose there is no such fate for me: I hope not. But for the
work of God there is nothing but victory--the triumph that has
been spoken of and written about by many of the ancients.
318
Have we found the time when that triumph is to take place? I
think we have good reason to believe that we have, if for no
other reason than that we have searched for and found the place.
319
If Abraham went to seek a country that he knew not of, so have we
been seeking a country. I do not care whether we were in the
company of the pioneers who came to Salt Lake Valley first, or
whether our pioneering has been in other places, preaching and
calling upon the inhabitants of the earth to embrace the Gospel
and trying to induce them to gather together. We have all been
pioneering--we have all been exploring under the direction of our
Father--for what? For a place on which to build up his kingdom
upon the earth. What else have we been doing? Why, we have been
doing some other things that are equally necessary as the finding
of a place.
319
When the experience that we have gained is sufficient for the
accomplishment of his work, if we have at the same time found the
place at which the work could be accomplished, then two points
are gained preparatory to building up his kingdom and carrying
out his purposes. Without either of these, he could hardly be
calculating to accomplish his work, unless he works differently
from what we generally understand that he does.
319
When we shall in a future day look back over our travels in
connection with the history of this Church, we shall not set them
down as awful persecutions, as we may have regarded them in days
that are past. We shall look at them as we now look at the
wanderings of Israel in the wilderness between the land of Egypt,
where they were held in bondage, and form which they were led to
the land of Canaan, which was given to them as a possession.
319
Why did they not travel directly? We generally understood it was
because they were rebellious; it was because they would not learn
so much of the truth as was necessary to qualify them for
entering into the rest of God. This prolonged their travel in the
wilderness, and they travelled and travelled, and continued to
travel, till there was a people that could be led--that could be
controlled--that could be managed and led to possess the land,
and to do the thing that was designed to be done at that time.
The Lord had it in his heart to accomplish a work with the people
of this dispensation in the proclamation of the Gospel--to call
them to the knowledge of the truth; and then, by the revelation
of his will from time to time, he taught them the things that
they could believe and that they could receive, and he imparted
those things that were suitable for them. The things that they
could not and would not receive were withhold from their sight
until other times and other circumstances surrounded them--until
there was a disposition developed in the people that they would
receive them; and under this kind of guidance we have travelled
west, even under the direction of God; then the Devil has kicked
us east, and then we have travelled west again; and finally our
journeying has led us to this place--the first place that the
Saints have ever occupied where the kingdom of God could be built
up.
319
This makes me calculate that the time has come when the kingdom
of God should be built up--when it should become a nation, a
kingdom, a power upon he earth, whose increasing enlargement
should be the diminution, the decline, the falling away of all
other powers of the earth.
319
Well, then, should we be driven away from here, or should we be
trodden down here? To admit this is to admit that this is not the
kingdom and work of God. This is the work of God, and this is his
kingdom; and we are here--not because the Devil would have us
here, for he is very sorry that we are here; neither are we here
because our enemies have desired to have us here, but because it
was the design of our Father to bring us here. His own right hand
has brought us here, and his Spirit has led us and dictated his
people and servants until he has brought us here.
320
However this may appear to us, it is the Lord's own doing. Why
so? Because he could not accomplish his purposes without it. And
if it is the Lord's work, then there is no failure--then we are
not to be destroyed, we are not to be driven away, we are not to
be wasted any more, we are not to be trodden down any more by the
iron heel of oppression; but we are here to gather strength, to
put on power and might, and to be in the midst of the nations
what our Father has designed from the beginning of his kingdom
upon the earth in these last times.
320
What should we be driven away from here for? Has God any purpose
to serve by our being annoyed--by our being again driven away? If
he has, it is something that I do not know of. He has brought us
here through immense labour and toil. We thought it was awfully
hard when we came here: we nearly had to waste away all that we
had, all that was given to us,--not what we had of our own in
reality, but what was given to us: we have had to lose nearly all
that we had to get here, and now we are in the place where God
designs we should be.
320
Will he build up his kingdom on the earth? Yes he will. Well,
then, we shall not be driven away. Has he found the people--the
material out of which to build his kingdom? Yes, he has. We have
been travelling and preaching backward and forward to prepare us
for these things. Is there a people here that is capable of being
governed, and not only that are capable of being governed, but
capable of becoming governors?
320
Where did these governors come from? Why, they have been
manufacturing all the time from the time that we first heard the
Gospel. We have been trying to be obedient to its behests and
requirements. From the time that men began to learn obedience and
gain knowledge, God has been preparing and manufacturing them out
of the material of which he is going to build up his kingdom.
320
In Nauvoo, when our enemies repealed the charter, we were better
off than we were before; and I do not suppose that we have
retrograded, but we have come out here and have made a
Government--a State Government; and then Uncle Sam thought he
would have a finger in the pie, and he made us a Territory, and
we have got along very well.
320
I expect that the next time we are made anything, it will be the
kingdom of God, and no amalgamation and it will be made of the
material that God has manufactured in the course of the training
that we have had. This is what we are here for.
320
We have found the place and the material of which to build the
kingdom; and this leads me to think that we shall not be driven
away; for I can see the hand of God in our coming here; and
"Why?" one may ask. Because he said, in the beginning, that this
was his work--to build up his kingdom; and knowing that there
must be a place to build it upon, and then seeing the Lord lead
us to a place, and seeing his servants building it up through his
guidance and counsel, cannot I see the hand of God in it? I can;
for he told me this in the beginning.
320
Then is it not his hand? It is. Can you see it? Many will answer,
"Yes." Then why not be contented? This is the reason that the
peace of heaven pervades the land where we dwell, and why fear is
banished from our hearts.
320
The Spirit of truth, the Spirit of the Highest dwells in the
Saints and inspires them with confidence, and victory is the song
of every heart. The Saints do not sing any other song. The songs
are made in prospect beforehand; but they all speak of
victory--they are all songs of triumph.
320
Now, I do feel well: as the western man says, I reckon I do. Why
do I feel so well? Because I cannot find anything to feel bad
about. I have a great many things to think about; and what are
they, and where are they?
321
If I can only maintain my relationship unbroken with the cause of
God, and remain identified with it, why, then I am saved; and
why? Because the kingdom of God will make me just as great as I
can be, and greater that I know enough to speak of now. Why?
Because I will know more then. It is all embraced in the kingdom
of God.
321
Is not this simple thing, that this is God's kingdom and that he
has allowed our enemies to kick us till they have kicked us to
this point? And when they reached at anything else they have
always been restrained; but while the devil was kicking us to
this pint, the Lord was well satisfied, and he kept his hand over
him and said, "Now, old fellow, do not kick too hard; these are
my people: when you have kicked them so far, all well; but you
must not kick any farther."
321
Now the Lord has got us here, our enemies want to drive us off
farther still. But now comes the declaration that meets with a
hearty response--ISRAEL IS FREE!
321
Free from what? From labour, from toil, from watch? No, not at
all. Then what are we free from? From the restraint that we have
been under. Now, we are declaring boldly that we are the kingdom
of God, and that in the strength of God we are determined to
defend it and to defend the truth.
321
Now, all these things considered are among the things that make
me feel well. This is the reason that I think we shall
prevail--that is, in the strength of our God.
321
I do not feel any other way than that we are a part of the work
of God, and that the decree of the Almighty has fixed it
immutably and unchangeable that his kingdom shall be built up,
and that as it rises in its greatness and grandeur he has fixed
our exaltation and glory, if we are so happy as to maintain our
relationship unchanged in harmony and beauty.
321
Is it so with you all? This is the way I feel; and it is this
that makes this day the best day that I ever saw. This is why I
rejoice; this is why I have no fears but that our cause will be
triumphant; and we will triumph so long as we live with it and do
not separate ourselves from it by any sin.
321
Brethren and sisters, this is a theme big enough to talk about a
long time. There can be a great deal said about it; but I will
not trespass upon the time, but conclude by saying, God Bless
Israel in every land and clime, that they may triumph, that God
may remember our enemies, that they may not be forgotten, but
that they may be remembered and have their reward in full; and if
they can be taken care of without much trouble, let us be
satisfied; and if the Lord requires us to take care of them, let
us do as we have been doing while preaching the Gospel. This is
my feeling.
321
May God bless you all, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Lorenzo
Snow, October 7, 1857
Lorenzo Snow, October 7, 1857
WISDOM GAINED BY EXPERIENCE--THE TRIALS AND THE FINAL
TRIUMPH OF THE SAINTS, ETC.
Remarks by Elder Lorenzo Snow, made in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City, Wednesday Morning October 7, 1857.
322
There is one thing, brethren, that I reflect upon, that pleases
me very much; that is, to see, under our present circumstances,
the feeling of calmness and serenity which manifests faith in the
Lord. The calmness and serenity that is in the minds of the
Saints in regard to the circumstances of war and threatenings
that are around us at the present time is a principle that we, as
the people of God and as wise men and wise women, need very much
to inculcate within ourselves. We should be perfectly calm and
serene, without excitement, otherwise we will be excited and
consider that the circumstances around us are of a dangerous
nature, and thus shall not be able to act prudently and in a way
that would be pleasing in the sight of our Father in heaven.
322
Sailors and mariners become wise, useful, and qualified for their
stations only by experience. Storms, tempests, and hurricanes
have to occur in order to give them that experience. If all was
calm, and storms never arose at sea, where would the mariner get
the experience that is necessary for him to have, that when
storms do occur and difficulties arise, when the ship sails out
upon the ocean, he shall be prepared to manage and guide his
vessel safely into port. If there are individuals on board that
have never experienced storms, or perhaps have never ventured
away from land before, when storms arise, you see that
trepidation of spirit that you do not witness in those that have
had experience.
322
So it is with ourselves in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have to
learn by the things that take place around us and act in the
stations assigned us by the circumstances that transpire and the
experience we gain.
322
As a general thing, I presume to say that the people before me
to-day feel that all is well--that all is right, notwithstanding
an armed force is only about 147 miles distant from us, full of
their hellish designs for our destruction, and have formed their
schemes for the purpose of entering into our settlement for the
destruction of the principles of righteousness and to gratify
their hellish lusts. The least idea never entered their hearts
that the people would be found here that would dare to oppose
them. I presume the Saints feel that all will be well as a
general thing, and to see these feelings existing in the bosoms
of the Saints this day is pleasing and gratifying to my feelings;
and I feel assured that whatever shall take place--whatever
course shall be pursued by our enemies or be taken by ourselves,
all will terminate for the glory and exaltation of the Saints of
the living God. The kingdom of our God is bound to prosper and to
go forward.
323
While we are here studying the interests of Zion--of the honest
in heart among the nations of the earth--how we can gather them
together, that the fetters under which they are now labouring may
be broken,--while we are doing this, on the other hand our
enemies are scheming for the destruction of these righteous
principles, for the purpose of binding the yoke more strongly
upon our neck--of destroying those pure and holy principles that
have been revealed for the salvation of the honest in
heart--principles that are calculated to exalt, to happify, and
glorify.
323
Such principles have been revealed--such principles have been
restored--such principles have been held forth by the Elders
among the nations as you heard yesterday. For these principles
this people have been driven several times; they have forsaken
their homes; they have forsaken their enjoyments and the
privileges they might have had among the nations; and they would
now willingly burn up their dwellings, if they were so commanded.
We understand, from the feelings of our bosoms, and we find, as a
general thing, that the people are willing to continue their
efforts for the promotion of these principles, that they may
still remain upon the earth, and that the honest in heart may be
delivered. For the dissemination and final triumph of these holy
principles, all that is required on our part is to sustain and
support them, so far as the God of heaven shall lead us by his
Holy Spirit. Where the Lord plants us there we are to stand: when
he requires us to exert ourselves for the support of these holy
principles, that we are to do; that is all we need to trouble
ourselves about; the rest our Heavenly Father will take care of.
But it need not surprise us that difficulties and storms
arise--that we see hurricanes playing about us--that we see
war-clouds gather thick and fast about us; this need no be
surprising. Where there is no trial there can be no deliverance;
where there is no temptation the power of God cannot be made
manifest to any great extent.
323
You, brethren, that have been baptised for the remission of your
sins, receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy
Ghost, and the Holy Ghost has been poured out upon you, did you
not have to make your sacrifice? Did you not have to give up some
things you had formerly held dear to you? Did you not have to
come to this place that you might receive the blessings of God?
And after you had done all this, did you not receive what you had
anticipated and been promised?
323
Take the children of Israel from the days when they were called
from Egyptian bondage, and take ourselves from the day we were
organized through brother Joseph as the kingdom of God upon the
earth; you will see that in every instance his power and
deliverance were manifest to a greater extent that we could have
anticipated. Take it individually or take it collectively, we
have suffered and we shall have to suffer again; and why? Because
the Lord requires it at our hands for our sanctification.
323
In the days of brother Joseph the mob came and took individuals:
brother Joseph suffered them to take him; he suffered them to
take possession of the brethren's houses--to come in and shake
hands with him, as traitors; and in every instance, they
sacrificed every principle of virtue, of honour, and purity.
324
This course of conduct continued year after year. We suffered
them to come upon us in Jackson County, and they there sacrificed
every principle of virtue and righteousness. In Nauvoo, also, the
devils incarnate were there again laying their hellish plots for
the destruction of every holy principle; and after the death of
Joseph the Prophet, President B. Young and others of the servants
of God swore that if their enemies laid their hands upon them
they should die. But the brethren never declared this until they
had suffered from their enemies until forbearance was no longer a
virtue.
324
We suffered these things day after day and year after year; and
why? Because the Lord suffered it and required it of us. Men may
be good and righteous; yet the Lord causes them to undergo trials
to a certain extent. And when the Lord gave us the privilege of
giving away our lives and letting the enemy have power over us,
our enemies never troubled us.
324
When we kindly, generously, and with the utmost courtesy asked
the President of the United States, if he could, possibly, to let
us choose rulers out from amongst ourselves; and if that was not
agreeable, to go so far as to let us have kind, decent sort of
men--men that have some interest here--men that would themselves
obey the laws which they came to administer; the Government were
offended, and hence they are sending an army--men that wear
epaulettes. Probably these are the citizens which they consider
will be interested in our welfare.
324
The power of the Almighty bears record in every heart that the
position for us to take is not to suffer them to come in here;
and this is the universal feeling in this community; and it is
the power of the Holy Ghost which testifies to every man and to
every woman that this is our position.
324
The Lord has preserved us in every position; and although we have
suffered, he has been with us by the power of his Spirit. He has
suffered us to give up our arms and to exhibit his mercy. He did
this in Far West and in Nauvoo. He suffered brother Joseph to
give himself up, and now we see what they have done. But now it
is altogether different; we are in a different position from what
we were then. The Lord has revealed to brother Brigham to take
the stand which we are taking.
324
I was speaking yesterday of the contrast between this people and
the world. We are here in the capacity of a Conference; we are
labouring, striving, and struggling for the deliverance of the
honest in heart throughout the world; we are labouring for the
establishment and continuance of holy principles.
324
There are men on this stand whose testimony you have heard; and
those very men would suffer themselves to be cut in pieces, inch
by inch, before they would suffer those principles to be trampled
upon. It is their business to make people happy,--to put them in
possession of eternal life, so that sorrowing and crying may
cease from the earth.
324
Look 147 miles eastward; there our enemies are contemplating what
they may do--how they may come or send an armed mob here. They
would hire and bribe a posse, if they could, to come and take
President Young; and they are all the time plotting and scheming
how they may subvert this people. When our brethren were amongst
them, they were all the time singing their lustful songs and
damning those holy principles which we have embraced. Look across
the wild sage plains--over the deserts to the United States, and
the same spirit is there; they are studying how they may rid the
United States of the principles of righteousness. Now, which will
prevail?
324
[President B. Young: "Truth will prevail?"]
324
Yes, the truth will; the Saints of the Most High will prevail. It
is the Lord Almighty that has called his Saints; he has chosen
his sons and daughters.
325
It is not our work, but it is the work of our Heavenly Father,
and we are called to be engaged in it. The storms must arise--the
oppressor must lay his hand upon the people, or it could not be
taken off. And you, brethren and sisters, whose husbands are
yonder in the kanyons, who have gone forth to defend Israel, pray
for them that they may be victorious, and pray that you may be
united unto each other.
325
I think, as Elder Hyde observed here the other day, that probably
the greatest unpleasantness may be found in families. Now, you
sisters, just unite your hearts together; and if there is
dissension in your midst, get rid of it, and put away those hard
feelings; then you can bow together as the children of God and as
the wives of your husbands, united together in all things; you
can then call upon the Lord, and he will give you power to obey
your husbands; and do you pray that they may be able to execute
the designs of the Almighty, and that the enemy may have no power
over them.
325
If you have difficulties, go and settle them, and do your duties
as the Saints of God, and pray that the Holy Spirit may rest upon
your husband; and that will nerve him up more than your
flour--more than your extra shirts. Just tell him that you are
calling upon God in his behalf--that you are praying that the
enemy may have no power over him. Sisters, be united in these
things, and the blessings of Israel's God will be upon you; your
husbands will come home safely, they will be full of the Spirit
of the Lord, and the wicked will fear and tremble to see the
calmness and serenity that rests upon the people of God.
325
May the Lord bless you, brethren and sisters. It is a time of
rejoicing: never did I feel better than I do this day. Everything
signifies that the day of our deliverance is at hand. If there
should be a little difficulty in getting the child born, all will
be perfectly right. I tell you the child is bound to pass through
its childhood, its boyhood; and whatever it may cost, the victory
must be ours. A man or a woman is just as well the other side of
the vail as here; it does not matter a particle in relation to
their going forward in the principles of exaltation.
325
Our duty is to do right here and everywhere--to keep right all
the time with our God; then all is right with us, whether we are
here or on the other side of the vail.
325
Leave things in the hands of God, and I tell you the physical
conquest is ours as well as the spiritual one. Remember those
little striplings who went forth some twenty or twenty-five years
ago, without first learning to preach the Gospel: they had not
the wisdom of the colleges nor of the schools, but they went
forth not having any natural hopes of an intellectual conquest;
but they went forth and they stopped the mouths of the priests,
and men of learning were in dead silence before them through the
power of God which attended their preaching.
325
The Lord said unto his servants, "Ye are not to be taught, but to
teach." (Doctrine and Covenants.) He also said, Be valiant and be
diligent in laying up wisdom; but take no thought for the morrow,
but all things shall be brought seasonably to your minds in the
very hour that you need them. This is the work of the Lord, and
it is the way the Lord works.
325
Well, here comes another conquest to be gained: they have forced
us into this, and the result will be precisely the same in the
physical as in the spiritual.
326
Are we studied in war? These fellows have been studying it from
all the books that have been written from the days of Adam down
to now, and they are full of military science as the priests were
full of divinity. But remember that but a little stone from the
sling of David put to death the Goliath of the Philistines; and
so it will be in the deliverance of Zion. If the brethren go
forth depending upon their physical arms, they cannot do much;
but if they go forth depending upon the Spirit of the Almighty, I
can assure you that the conquest will be as glorious as in the
day when we went forth to preach the Gospel under those
circumstances which I have named. I just know it, for it is God's
work.
326
Women will find that they hold a good deal of power and influence
in relation to blessing their husbands; therefore, let your faith
and your hearts be united together, and pray for your husbands
and for your children, whose fathers have gone forth to fight the
battles of Zion. Children, pray for your fathers, and that will
cheer them up. But if a man looks back and sees that there is
nothing but confusion and disorder in his family, he is apt to
slacken his efforts; his heart gives way; he has not the power
nor the hardihood that he would otherwise have, providing that he
knew that all was peace--that all was right at his home.
326
Think of this, you sisters. I tell you a great deal depends upon
your conduct. I presume there are persons with families, who, if
called to go out to fight, would pray God that they might never
return again. This should not be.
326
Brethren, be united; pray for brother brigham, for brother Heber,
for brother Daniel, and the brethren with him in the mountains;
and the enemy can never--no, never get possession of them. It is
for you and me--yea, even if it costs our life's blood, to defend
those men. If you or me saw a weapon presented at President
Young, it is our business to step in and save his life, if it
costs our own; and you will see the day when you will understand
this; you will see the day when you will be ready to stand in the
gap.
326
Now, if I saw a sword drawn, would I not lift my hand to prevent
its injuring the Prophet of God? Yes, if it was at the risk of
taking off my hand. This is right; and if this people are willing
to sacrifice all for the purpose of preventing our enemies coming
in here, they never will come into our midst. We are willing and
ready to burn everything, and then we are in a right position;
and I believe this is the general feeling, and this indicates to
me that the Lord is on our side.
326
Some people are not sufficiently schooled to know how to make
sacrifices. When we are satisfied of the course the enemy will
take, that will be enough; we shall then know what to do.
326
The Lord bless you, brethren and sisters! Be willing to follow
counsel--the counsel of President Young, also of your Bishops,
and then all is well. Zion stands and prospers, and it will not
be long before the enemy will melt away as before the morning
sun. Zion will spread and increase until she holds dominion over
all the nations of the earth.
326
The Lord bless you all for ever, is my prayer. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, October 7, 1857
Brigham Young, October 7, 1857
TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT--REVELATION GIVEN ACCORDING TO
REQUIREMENTS--SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND CONQUEST, ETC.
Observations by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery,
Wednesday Afternoon, October 7, 1857.
327
I rise to bear my testimony with the rest of the brethren who
have spoken. Several who have lately returned from foreign
missions have addressed you during this Conference. As has been
observed here, we are all missionaries; and when our mission will
be ended I am not able to say. I expect that in all probability
our bodies will have to rest for a time, by-and-by: when they
fall back to their mother earth, they will have a rest. But as
for the mission being at an end with a faithful person, I do not
know anything about its closing merely because the body has been
laid in the grave. In this Church I have always felt myself to be
a missionary, and I always desire to be ready and willing to bear
my testimony to the truth. That has been about the mount of my
preaching for the last twenty-six years. As for sermonizing, I
have but seldom attempted it, but I have borne my testimony of
the truth to the people.
327
I had only travelled a short time to testify to the people,
before I learned this one fact, that you might prove doctrine
from the Bible till doomsday, and it would merely convince a
people, but would not convert them. You might read the Bible from
Genesis to Revelations, and prove every iota that you advance,
and that alone would have no converting influence upon the
people. Nothing short of a testimony by the power of the Holy
Ghost would bring light and knowledge to them--bring them in
their hearts to repentance. Nothing short of that would ever do.
You have frequently heard me say that I would rather hear an
Elder, either here or in the world, speak only five words
accompanied by the power of God, and they would do more good than
to hear long sermons without the Spirit. That is true, and we
know it.
328
My testimony is that this is the kingdom of God on the earth. The
people that sit before me, in connexion with the many thousands
that are upon the earth, are the people of God. If we have become
so taught that the Lord sees that we shall be capable of
managing, governing, and controlling the kingdom of God upon the
earth in a more perfect manner that it has been heretofore, you
may rest assured that this people are bound to victory. Just as
fast as we are capable of rightly dispensing the principles of
power, of light, of knowledge, of intelligence, of wealth, of
heaven, and of earth, just so fast will they be bestowed upon
this people. Could we in wisdom ask to have things bestowed upon
us, if they would be to our injury? Every honest heart would at
once say, "No." One of the Elders observed that he prayed the
Lord not to reveal too much to him, lest it should prove a
stumbling-block and cause him to deny the faith. Pray that the
Lord will reveal nothing to this people for their injury, and
that he will only reveal that which will be for their good.
328
Brother Lorenzo Snow, while he was speaking in the forenoon upon
the principle of self-government--victory over every besetting
sin, spoke of the inward work required to be done, as every
person in his experience knows that the spirit wars against the
flesh, and the flesh against the spirit. So far as our spirits by
the power of God, by the Holy Ghost--by the Spirit of the Lord
Jesus, are assisted to overcome every seed of iniquity and sin
within us, we may expect to gain the victory over our evil
passions; and in that proportion this people will gain victory in
a national capacity. That is as true logic as ever was introduced
in this world. This people might have been independent--might
have been a kingdom, had they been capable of receiving,
disposing, and controlling that kingdom to the Divine acceptance
of our Father in heaven. As brother Amasa said, the Lord has a
school upon the earth, and we are his scholars; and the Devil
also has a school attended by a great number of scholars. While
we have been learning how to sustain the kingdom of God upon the
earth, the Devil and his pupils have been learning how to sustain
the kingdom of darkness. From the very nature of the two kingdoms
upon one planet, the crisis must come when there will be a
literal open warfare, just as much as there now is a warfare
within us against evil; and if we, as individuals and as a
community, have gained the victory over our passions to such a
degree that our Father knows that we are capable of actually
sustaining the kingdom of God upon the earth, just so true we
shall be a kingdom by ourselves. If we are not yet capable of
maintaining and rightly managing that kingdom, it will not at
present be given to us in the fulness thereof; but the time will
come when it will be given and established in its perfect
organization on the earth.
328
A great many--yes, the most of this people have kept up a
spiritual warfare until they have become almost masters of their
passions; yet we still see some of them who do sin. Brother Rich
has said that they sin ignorantly; but I say that some sin
knowingly, and others sin that would know better if they had
stopped to reflect. And you will see men and women commit acts
which make them appear as though every particle of thought of the
honour and true dignity of humanity had left them. Keep your
spirits in subjection to the principles of truth and life, and do
not let evil spirits control you.
328
How often you hear men and women confess their sins and say, "I
committed this, that, and the other wrong." Why do they want the
evil within and around them? Why do they suffer their spirits to
be subject to evil influences, and their tabernacles thereby be
disgraced by the commission of wicked acts? What would you give
to have such acts obliterated, if there was a price set upon them
and you could pay it with property? Can you keep your spirits in
subjection to righteous principles all the time? Yes; but many do
not?
328
Keep your spirits under the sole control of good spirits, and
they will make your tabernacles honourable in the presence of
God, angels, and men. If you will always keep your spirits in
right subjection, you will be watching all the time, and never
suffer yourselves to commit an act that you will be sorry for,
and you can see that in all your life you are clear. Do not do
anything that you will be sorry for.
329
You may take the Quorums in this Church--the First Presidency,
the Twelve, the Presidents of the High Priests, the High
Councillors, and the Presidents of the Seventies; and a person
may go to each of those Quorums for counsel upon any subject, and
he will invariably receive the same counsel. Why is this the
case? Because they are all actuated by the same Spirit. Do you
know why some men give counsel different one from another?
Because they undertake to give counsel without the Spirit of the
Lord to dictate them. But when the Spirit dictates, then each one
knows what to do, and their counsel will be the same. Adam, Seth,
Enoch, Noah, all the Patriarchs and Prophets, Jesus and the
Apostles, and every man that has ever written the word of the
Lord, have written the same doctrine upon the same subject; and
you never can find that Prophets and Apostles clashed in their
doctrines in ancient days: neither will they now, if all would at
all times be led by the Spirit of salvation. If men will so act
as to order their lives aright and continually keep the
commandments of God, they will be able to administer the
blessings of the kingdom of God.
329
There is no clash in the principles revealed in the Bible, the
Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants; and there would
be no clash between any of the doctrines taught by Joseph the
Prophet and by the brethren now, if all would live in a way to be
governed by the Spirit of the Lord. All do not live so as to have
the Spirit of the Lord with them all the time, and the result is
that some get out of the way.
329
We want a people that will be pure and holy; and I wish that the
principle that brother Lorenzo Snow spoke of this morning could
be understood and practised by all, you would then gain your
spiritual conquest. If we have not gained that, we must labour
until we do. And although we cannot tell the result of all the
affairs that are in motion, yet we know that the kingdom of god
will prosper, that his name will be revered, that the spirits of
darkness will have to give way to the kingdom of God, and that
"Mormonism" will triumph, and that no power can hinder it.
329
But there are still many things for us to learn pertaining to our
salvation.
329
The great stumblingblock in the midst of the people is, that
their minds are not yet wholly weaned from the evil habits and
practices of the world. With some, the end of strife and
covetousness has not yet come. You can yet see one brother take
another by the throat, figuratively speaking, and say, "Pay me
what thou owest." You may see another come up and say, "I owe
you, but you need not ask me for the pay, for I will not pay
you." Which is the worst? If there is any difference, the one who
refuses to pay is the meanest.
329
If a man is so mean as to say to you, "I owe you, but I shall not
pay you," it is best to say to him, "All right--I can live
without it."
329
The Lord will rule; and if we continue steadfast to the kingdom
of God, it will save us; but if we do not, we shall be left off,
and the old ship Zion will sail right a-head and safely carry her
passengers into port. If the people could understand, they would
be able to discern that we must gain that spiritual victory I
have already spoken about, before we can have the privilege of
proclaiming the building up of the people of God in the
mountains.
329
We have a nation here in the mountains that will be a kingdom
by-and-by, and be governed by pure laws and principles. What do
you call yourselves? some may ask. Here are the people that
constitute the kingdom of God. It may be some time before that
kingdom is fully developed, but the time will come when the
kingdom of God will reign free and independent.
330
There will be a kingdom on the earth that will be controlled upon
the same basis, in part, as that of the Government of the United
States; and it will govern and protect in their rights the
various classes of men, irrespective of their different modes of
worship; for the law must go forth from Zion, and the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem, and the Lord Jesus will govern every nation
and kingdom upon the earth.
330
A great many have thought that every person will then be in the
Church, but that will not be the case. There will then be as
great a variety in religious belief as there is now; one will
believe one thing, and another will believe something different,
while the Devil rules among men.
330
Will the kingdom of Jesus triumph? It will; and the legislators
of that kingdom are in this congregation and will remain, and the
laws of that kingdom will be made in accordance with the
revelations from Jesus Christ.
330
Many have thought that all will believe in the revelations of the
Lord Jesus Christ when the kingdom of God is fully established;
but they will not; and if those characters were in heaven, they
might believe, but would not obey the revelations of Jesus
Christ. There are multitudes in this Church who have not yet
learned these truths; and there are multitudes in the world who
would not know Jesus, were he to pass before their eyes, and
would not understand what he meant, if he were to speak to them.
Such will be the case in the millennium.
330
The kingdom of God will grow out of this Church, and the time
appears to have been hastened faster than we anticipated. This is
the best time we ever saw. We are happy, and we make a heaven of
every place to which we go, which is the reason we are happy. How
long it will be before the kingdom of God sends forth its laws, I
do not know. Brother Erastus Snow remarked that no one can
foretell all the events that may arise from our present
difficulties; but I can tell you a part. God will reign and will
bring forth victory to the humble and faithful; that I know, and
so do you.
330
I have never found any fault with the Lord for not bringing
victory sooner; for I know that if our enemies intend to try to
come here by way of Emigration Kanyon, we shall be ready to met
them; and if they intend to come round by the Malad, we shall be
ready to meet them; and if they undertake to come by Fort Hall,
we shall also be ready to meet them. If they thought that we were
or would be asleep, they might undertake to come here.
330
I recollect a dream that my father had. He dreamed that he was
travelling, and that during his journey he came to a tremendous
mountain of snow and saw that his pathway was hedged up. But some
one said, "Take one more step." My father replied, "But that will
be the last." However, he took that step, and then his guide
said, "Do you not see that there is room for you to take
another?" When he had taken another, his guide told him to take
still another in advance; and there was a passage all the way
through. So it will be with us. The Lord will not reveal all that
we at times wish him to. If a schoolmaster were to undertake to
teach a little child algebra, you would call him foolish, would
you not? Just so with our Father: he reveals to us as we are
prepared to receive, and I hope to continue to learn. There is no
cessation, in time nor in eternity, to the progress and increase
of the righteous. If we will but put away every selfish feeling,
we can come in possession of all the blessings that are in store
for us.
331
Some of the speakers have been exhorting you to let your prayers
ascend in behalf of the brethren who are in the mountains; but
your prayers cannot prevail if there is disunion among you.
331
The teachings given us from Sabbath to Sabbath must be learned
and lived before we can enjoy the kingdom of God in its fulness.
331
I am thankful that I do not hear, of late, since the Spirit has
been generally diffused among the people, "O Lord, give
revelation through brother Brigham." I wish to fulfil what we
have received before I ask for more. I said to brother Joseph,
the spring before he was killed, "you are laying out work for
twenty years." He replied, "You have as yet scarcely began to
work; but I will set you enough to last you during your lives,
for I am going to rest." All I can do or ask now is to do the
work, so that it will be right and acceptable to him when he
comes here again. And that is not all; for you have or should
have the candle of the Lord continually burning within you. Then
I ask you if you still need revelation? You will say, "Yes, just
as much as we need a candle to enable us to see to walk in our
streets at noonday." A person that is filled with the Spirit
knows just as much as he has occasion to know; for the Spirit of
our God is a Spirit of revelation.
331
The time has arrived when we have either to be trodden under foot
by our enemies and die, or to defend ourselves and our rights;
and which will it be? Every man and woman feel their hearts fail
them when they think of submitting to the oppression and unlawful
abominations practised by our enemies, and sought by them to be
introduced into our society; and we will not submit to such
wicked and unlawful treatment, whether it comes from United
States or united hell, for the terms are synonymous as the
Government is now conducted. I tell you and I tell our enemies
that we are here, and we intend to stay here. [The congregation
responded, Amen."] They have a job on hand, if they persist in
their efforts to deprive American citizens of their rights. I
told Captain Van Vliet that I did not care how many troops they
sent. "Why," said he, "The United States, with an overflowing
treasury, can send out ten, twenty, or fifty thousand troops." I
replied, "I do not care anything about that." The Captain then
asked whether I had counted the cost; and I said, "Yes, for this
people I have; but I cannot estimate it for the United States;
for if they actually persist in their present tyrannical course,
before they get through they will want to let the job to
sub-contractors." They do not know the Captain of the armies of
Israel; and although they profess to believe in him, they do not
realize that he is about to hold a controversy with them for
their iniquity.
332
Their belief reminds me that brother Joseph B. Nobles once told a
Methodist priest, after hearing him describe his god, that the
god they worshipped was the "Mormons'" devil--a being without a
body, whereas our God has a body, parts, and passions. The Devil
was cursed and sent down from heaven. He has no body of his own;
therefore he is constantly endeavouring to obtain possession of
the tabernacles belonging to others. Some have grumbled because I
believe our God to be so near to us as Father Adam. There are
many who know that doctrine to be true. Where was Michael in the
creation of this earth? Did he have a mission to the earth? He
did. Where was he? In the Grand Council, and performed the
mission assigned him there. Now, if it should happen that we have
to pay tribute to Father Adam, what a humiliating circumstance it
would be! Just wait till you pass Joseph Smith; and after Joseph
lets you pass him, you will find Peter; and after you pass the
Apostles and many of the Prophets, you will find Abraham, and he
will say, "I have the keys, and except you do thus and so, you
cannot pass;" and after a while you come to Jesus; and when you
at length meet Father Adam, how strange it will appear to your
present notions. If we can pass Joseph and have him say, "Here;
you have been faithful, good boys; I hold the keys of this
dispensation; I will let you pass;" then we shall be very glad to
see the white locks of Father Adam. But those are ideas which do
not concern us at present, although it is written in the
Bible--"This is eternal life, to know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."
332
What is the nature and beauty of Joseph's mission? You know that
I am one of his Apostles. When I first heard him preach, he
brought heaven and earth together; and all the priests of the day
could not tell me anything correct about heaven, hell, God,
angels, or devils: they were as blind as Egyptian darkness. When
I saw Joseph Smith, he took heaven, figuratively speaking, and
brought it down to earth; and he took the earth, brought it up,
and opened up, in plainness and simplicity, the things of God;
and that is the beauty of his mission. I had a testimony, long
before that, that he was a Prophet of the Lord, and that was
consoling. Did not Joseph do the same to your understandings?
Would he not take the Scriptures and make them so plain and
simple that everybody could understand? Every person says, "Yes,
it is admirable; it unites the heavens and the earth together;"
and as for time, it is nothing, only to learn us how to live in
eternity.
332
I will prophesy a little, and I will say that my word shall be as
true as any word ever spoken from the heavens. If this people,
called Latter-day Saints, will live to the truth, the thread of
oppression which is cut will never be united again, and we shall
have the privilege of saying, "here is the kingdom of God, and
here are the people that God owns and blesses," and we shall
reign triumphantly for ever and ever. But if you do not live your
religion, that period may be postponed a little longer. You know
that cases sometimes rest in court for want of witnesses and
documents. But if we live our religion, from this afternoon, this
is the kingdom of God, and we are free and will live in it; at
any rate, the kingdom will prosper.
332
I feel to bless this people, and they are a God-blessed people.
Look at them, and see the difference from their condition a few
years ago! Brethren who have been on missions, can you see any
difference in this people from the time you went away until your
return? [Voices: "Yes." You can see men and women who are sixty
or seventy years of age looking young and handsome; but let them
apostatize, and they will become gray-haired, wrinkled, and
black, just like the Devil.
332
If we will stand up as men and women of God, the yoke shall never
be placed upon our necks again; and all hell cannot overthrow us,
even with the United States to help them. It is not pleasant to
the natural feelings to be obliged to talk in this manner about
fellow-citizens with whom we have been reared; but when they act
like the Devil, it is impossible for us to bow to their unjust
and illegal mandates without becoming as corrupt as they are. It
is an honour to resist the wicked; and my name will be had in
honour, and so will Joseph Smith's, and so will your names, for
not bowing to their iniquitous doings.
333
We are the happiest people when we have what are called trials;
for then the Spirit of God is more abundantly bestowed upon the
faithful. If the Lord requires it, I would as soon consume all I
have and go into the mountains with my family as to do a good
many other things. The women and children might suffer a little;
but, as I told you the other day, we are upon the backbone of the
continent, and we intend to enjoy that freedom which is our
right. If our enemies will behave themselves, all right; and if
they do not, they may take what follows. We could have used up
those now in our borders, and have taken their trains; but we do
not wish to hurt one of them: but let them undertake to come in
here, and they must abide the consequences. And in reality,
instead of their speaking against my character, they ought to
send in presents for having lived till now.
333
The question now is, Shall we close Conference to-day? I know
that many of you have much work to do. I do not know how soon you
will be needed in the mountains. I deem it most prudent for all
to go to their work and to be always prepared with five days'
rations; and then, when the word comes, you are ready for the
mountains, and the women and children will be safe here.
333
If you now wish to close this Conference, all right; and if you
want to continue it another day, you are at liberty to do so; and
I am willing to do as I have a mind. The last missionary who
spoke said that a captain could not please everybody; but I have
tried to first to please my Father in heaven, and have not cared
so particularly about the will of the people. I have said,
"Father, let me know your will, and I will do it." And there is
not a person in this congregation but will do my will, if he will
do the will of his Father in heaven. If all would do so, they
would be free from those little nasty sins that some are
occasionally guilty of and that I am ashamed of.
333
If you say, "Adjourn this conference now," all right. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Heber
C. Kimball, October 18, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, October 18, 1857
DIVINE COMMUNICATIONS TO THE PEOPLE THROUGH THEIR LEADERS--PEACE
THE
RESULT OF OBEDIENCE--PROSPERITY OF THE SAINTS.
Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 18, 1857.
333
I feel first-rate. I can say one thing for a surety, and that is,
that God is on our side, and that he does hear prayers. He hears
mine; that is, I suppose I pray for the thing that others pray
for, and it comes to pass; and I think he hears my prayers, and
it is just as well as any other way, if it is answered.
333
I just as well know that what brother Brigham has said to you
to-day is ours and will be ours for ever, just as well as you
know that I am in this stand to-day before you.
334
I will tell you how I pray. I ask my Father and my God, in the
name of his Son Jesus Christ, Father, will you speak to brother
Brigham--will you speak to our leader--will you speak to my
President--will you dictate him just as you would dictate matters
if you were here in the flesh? That is my prayer, and that should
be the prayer of this whole people; and I just know, for this
time henceforth, if he lives a hundred years, he never will be
led to do a thing except the very thing God would do himself, if
he was here. I just know it, brethren. You all understand,
naturally, that the food that you partake of goes into the head
first, and then passes through to the extremity of every limb to
every fibre and to every member of that body, does it not? Well,
then, do you not see that everything must first be received by
the head, and that there is where God will communicate? And when
he communicates to the head, if you are all members of that body
and connected with that head, like the limbs of a tree, how can
you help partaking of that same Spirit, the same knowledge with
the head? You cannot help it. He cannot be a person of much sense
that cannot believe this.
334
These are my feelings. I want to point your minds to it; and when
our President--our leader wants a man to do anything, God will go
with that man, even as he is with brother Daniel H. Wells; he
will attend to the business that pertains to the mountains, and
he is almighty in the place in which he is authorized and
appointed to act, and so is every other man. If he will go there
and honor that calling, God will honour him, and he will honour
every man who will honour him. God never will honour you except
you honour the Priesthood and pay due respect to it and to every
commanding officer in the Church and the kingdom of God.
334
If this people will do as they are told from this day, I will eat
peaches, apples, plums, and the products of these valleys in
Great Salt Lake City till we go to Jackson County, and I know it.
[President Young, "I believe it."] Brethren, I am telling the
truth, and I am telling it as it is in the bosom of our God and
of our leaders. It is the first time we ever eat peaches--that
is, of our own raising, since we came into this Church; and it is
the first time we ever eat apples; and it is the first time we
ever were a free people.
334
Now we are living under the blessings the Prophets foretold. They
said the time would come when we would sit under our own vine and
fig trees, and our own peach trees and apple trees, and would
eat; and that we should build, and another should not inhabit.
334
Brethren, our enemies never will inhabit these valleys if we do
just as we are told from this time forth; and we will inhabit
these valleys and will have power and victory over our enemies
from this time henceforth and for ever. Good heavens! I cannot
live your religion: I can only live for myself. Every man, every
woman, and every child must live the religion of Jesus Christ,
and the religion you are taught by your leaders, according as you
are dictated. Do you not see it? You have got to do it.
334
Can I live the religion for my wife and my children? I cannot.
But if they will take my counsel, I will lead them just as
brother Brigham leads me, and as God leads him; and we will go
right into heaven, just like taking the head of a vine and
drawing it right into our Father's kingdom: every branch goes
with it that sticks to the vine, with the fruit thereof that
cleaves to the branches.
335
Do I feel well? I never felt better in my life. I felt pretty
well in Nauvoo, at the time brother Brigham was speaking of;
though I did regret--perhaps I did wrong--but I did regret that
peace was proclaimed so quick; for I tell you there were about
one or two score of men I wanted to see under the sod; then I was
willing to make peace: but I had to, as it was. We have made
peace a great many times, and the United States have taken a
course to make us do as they wished us; but let me tell you that
day is past and gone, and we will now proclaim the course they
will have to take; and they will have to make peace with us, and
we never shall make peace with them again. Brother Brigham will
designate the course they have got to take; and if they come
here, they have got to give up their arms: they cannot come in
here with a gun on their shoulders, or a pistol in their belts.
335
War has commenced, and the Devil will never cease his operations
upon us; but if we live the religion of Jesus christ, we are just
as free today as we ever shall be; and when it comes to-morrow,
we are free to morrow; and we are free this year, and will be
free next year, and will be just as free twenty years from now as
we are now, only a little more so: we increase and advance as we
live.
335
Well, we shall prosper, and we shall not burn up our houses; we
shall not cut down our orchards, nor throw down our walls, nor
our barns; and I am not going to stop building, because I just
want to secure my fruit; I want to secure it and take good care
of it.
335
Am I discouraged? If this people do right, you will live for ever
and prosper and aggrandize these valleys. Well, now, will you
stop increasing? When you stop increasing, that is the end of
you; when you stop multiplying, that is the end of you; when you
stop improving, that is the end of your improvements. Many
persons, if they had a peach-pit or an apple-seed, would not put
them in now. I am going to put in more now than I ever did, and
raise them; and I will give them to those that will take them and
be choice of them and live their religion. Those that will live
the religion of Christ will have orchards.
335
Well, these are my feelings. God is with us and with brother
Brigham, and he will lead him right from this time henceforth and
for ever.
335
God bless you! God bless the boys in the mountains, for they
shall live to let live; and the angel of life will be with them
and with all those that do the will of God and the will of those
that lead. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, October 18, 1857
Brigham Young, October 18, 1857
PRESENT AND FORMER PERSECUTIONS OF THE SAINTS, ETC.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 18, 1857.
336
I purpose to have read to you this morning some of the
communications that have passed between our enemies and
ourselves, for the people are anxious to know the feeling of the
two parties; they are very anxious to learn the news. I am
perfectly willing that they should know all, for my feelings and
yours are very different from those of the world. You are aware
that among the nations the soldiers are never permitted to know
anything about the plans of the officers: statesmen withhold from
their constituents every policy they possibly can, and the
statement of one of them is verily true pertaining to their use
of the English language--that is, to secrete ideas instead of
revealing them. Men study to talk a great deal, when at the same
time they know but very little, and often even strive to conceal
the little they do know. Among its other capabilities, the
English language is better adapted than any other in existence to
the using of thousands of words without conveying an idea.
336
If the Government of the United States have sent soldiers to this
Territory, I do not know it; for I have had no official notice of
such a circumstance, and you will perceive that I treat them
accordingly. If they are sent by Government, they are sent
expressly to destroy this people; and if they are not sent by the
Government, they have come expressly to destroy this people;
therefore I shall treat them, as I have informed the officer in
command, the same as though they were an avowed mob,--not as I
would those who have heretofore mobbed us, but as parties who
have come to mob us now.
336
I have informed Colonel Alexander that had his command been the
men who have heretofore mobbed us, and the lying scribblers, and
the wicked rabble, who have all the day long been trying to
incite mobs against us, they never would have seen the South
Pass.
336
You will perceive from the communications which brother John T.
Caine will read, the feelings of the two parties,--myself
representing the Latter-day Saints and Colonel Alexander
representing the officers of what he states to be a portion of
the United States army. Whether it is or not, I have no business
to know, and shall not know, until I am officially notified.
336
Brother Caine will now read the principal letters in the order
best adapted to your comprehending their purport.
336
[Brother Caine read an unofficial letter from President Brigham
Young to Colonel Alexander, dated Oct. 14; one from Lieu. General
Wells to President Young, dated Oct. 15; one from Colonel
Alexander to Governor Young, dated Oct. 12; and one from Governor
Young to Colonel Alexander, dated Oct. 16.]
337
There are a good many here who have not witnessed the scenes of
persecution that some of us have. I was asking father Morley,
this morning, whether he thought the enemy could now ride into
our corn-fields and through our gardens and shoot down our
cattle, and plunder and burn our houses, as they did in Missouri.
337
When the mob in Missouri commenced burning our habitations, we
frequently sent to the Governor, petitioning him to stop
mobbings; but, instead of doing that, he rendered them
assistance, by ordering about 3,500 men to go and lay waste the
city of Far West, and destroy men, women, and children. Those
orders General Clark had, though at their close the Governor said
to him, "I shall leave it discretionary with you whether you kill
all the Mormons or not." We saw them coming, and some thought
they were sent to disperse the mob, in answer to our petition;
but the mob were expecting them and seemed to understand the
movement.
337
The first act that I saw General Clark's army perform was to
throw down about half a mile of fence that opened into a six
hundred acre field of corn. The mob mingled with the army, and
they rode and drove their animals into and through that
corn-field. At night, they took the rails and burned them for
firewood, and let their horses run loose in the field. That I saw
and knew; hence I was just asking father Morley whether he
thought our enemies could now ride into the corn-fields of the
"Mormons." He said that he thought they could not. His blessing
makes me say, Hallelujah to God.
337
It is pretty hard for us to come here with nothing; and we have
come as near coming here with nothing as the Lord did to creating
the heavens and the earth out of nothing; and I have frequently
thought a little nigher. I do not think that he was under the
necessity of borrowing; but I was. I believe that the Lord has
material enough to build all he wants; but I had almost nothing.
Some of us worked in the Temple in Nauvoo until about five days
before we left, which gave us but little opportunity for
outfitting, though many were crossing the river before that time.
337
If I remembered rightly, I then owned one span of horses and a
buggy that brother Daniel Spencer gave me. I traded for waggons,
other things that I needed, and for an old horse. I then had
three horses and three waggons. I bought, and borrowed, and
traded, and got the brethren to help me out; and a good many
others borrowed on my credit. Suffice it to say we left our
houses and lands and thousands and thousands of bushels of grain.
337
This year has made me think of the season that we were obliged to
leave Nauvoo. That was one of the most productive seasons ever
know in the State of Illinois. It has been asked me by some of
the brethren, "Do you think we shall have to leave our fine
crops? The earth seems to be loaded as well as it was in Nauvoo."
We have not got to leave; we shall not be obliged to leave our
crops and our houses to our enemies: we can sustain ourselves. It
makes me rejoice that we are now in a situation that, if this
people will live as they should live, they will no more have to
be driven as we have been hitherto. Should we ever be obliged to
leave our houses, the decree of my heart is that there shall
naught be left for our enemies but the ashes of all that will
burn. [The congregation responded, "Amen."] They shall not have
my house nor my furniture, as they have had hitherto.
338
That privilege gives me joy and comfort; and I will now say to
those who are not acquainted with such scenes, (for many of you
are not,) that if you see the time that you are obliged to lay
waste and leave your homes, you will say, right in the time, and
afterwards, that you never felt so well in your lives; for the
Spirit and power of God will rest upon you in proportion to the
necessity of the case. I know that those who have been in our
past troubles--those who have been in the midst of death and
destitution can bear testimony that they never enjoyed so much of
the Spirit of the Lord at any other time in their lives. I do not
know that anybody complained in Nauvoo, except brother Kimball;
and he was only sorry that the war closed so soon, for we had our
eyes upon a good many of those infernal scoundrels, and we wanted
to sod them.
338
We have sought for peace all the day long; and I have sough for
peace with the army now on our borders, and have warned them that
we all most firmly believe that they are sent here solely with a
view to destroy this people, though they may be ignorant of that
fact. And though we may believe that they are sent by the
Government of the United States, yet I, as Governor of this
Territory, have no business to know any such thing until I am
notified by proper authority as Washington. I have a right to
treat them as a mob, just as though they had been raised and
officered in Missouri and sent here expressly to destroy this
people. We have been very merciful and very lenient to them. As I
informed them in my unofficial letter, had they been those
mobocrats who mobbed us in Missouri, they never would have seen
the South Pass. We had plenty of boys on hand, and the mode of
warfare they would have met with they are not acquainted with.
338
I would just as soon tell them as to tell you my mode of warfare.
As the Lord God lives, we will waste our enemies by millions if
they send them here to destroy us, and not a man of us be hurt.
That is the method I intend to pursue. Do you want to know what
is going to be done with the enemies now on our borders? If they
come here, I will tell you what will be done. As soon as they
start to come into our settlements, let sleep depart from their
eyes and slumber from their eyelids until they sleep in death,
for they have been warned and forewarned that we will not tamely
submit to being destroyed. Men shall be secreted here and there
and shall waste away our enemies, in the name of Israel's God.
338
I have thought that perhaps the Lord designs to furnish us a
little clothing and ammunition; and if he does, he will permit
our enemies to try to come in here; but if he sees that that
would be an injury to us, he will turn them another way.
338
I intend to publish the communications between the army and
myself; for I wish the whole United States to understand it.
338
Colonel Alexander complains of our mode of warfare. They have two
or more field-batteries of artillery with them, and they want us
to form a line of battle in an open plain and give them a fair
chance to shoot us. I did not tell the Colonel what I thought;
but if he had a spark of sense, he must be a fool to think that
we will ever do any such thing. I am going to observe the old
maxim--
338
"He that fights and runs away
Lives to fight another day."
338
Should our enemies venture upon violent measures, I design to so
manage affairs that none of our boys will be killed; and in my
answer to the Colonel, I have told him pretty plainly what we
shall do under certain contingencies.
339
Did he not granny it off admirably about the prisoners, when he
wrote, "I need not assure you that not a hair of their heads will
be hurt?" He dare not hurt them, neither has he the first
particle of reason for hurting them. He has released and sent in
the younger brother with an express, under the alleged
consideration of his having a wife and three children entirely
dependent upon him. I wonder that the Colonel had not a young
officer to send with him.
339
The boys report their order of march to be the 10th Infantry in
front, the baggage in the centre, the 5th Infantry in the rear,
and several flanking companies travelling through the brush as
best they can. Don't you think they would look well coming from
the United States in that way? That is the way in which they were
travelling at our last advices, and it was said that their
picket-guard declared they would not watch.
339
If the soldiers knew the facts in the case as do their officers,
they would probably nearly all leave the army; but the officers
keep the soldiers in the dark. The last report is that the
officers had been telling the men that I had written a very
favourable letter to Colonel Alexander, and that they were
intending to come in.
339
When I think, Are they in your houses? Are they in your fields? I
can answer, No: they are in the mountains; they are in the cold
and snow; and if they continue, as those officers appear to
intend to, upon the side of despotism and mobocracy, they justly
ought to be served as we would serve all mobocrats. But we are
here and we are free, as brother Kimball has said--just as free,
in one sense, as we ever shall be. We need not think that we are
always going to be unmolested by the efforts of mobs, until
wickedness is swept from this earth. If we live, we shall see the
nations of the earth arrayed against this people; for that time
must come, in fulfillment of prophecy. Tell about war commencing!
Bitter and relentless war was waged against Joseph Smith before
he had received the plates of the Book of Mormon; and from that
time till now the wicked have only fallen back at times to gain
strength and learn how to attack the kingdom of God.
339
Colonel Alexander preached to me a little, stating in his letter,
"I warn you that the bloodshed in this contest will be upon your
head." But that warning gave me no thought. But if the blood of
those soldiers is shed, it will be upon the heads of their
officers.
339
What they will do I neither know nor care; for it will be just as
the Lord God wills it. If he sees that we need their substance,
he will turn things to that end; and if he designs them to be
wiped out, he will either cause them to undertake to come here or
will overrule some other plan to accomplish that end.
340
Another year I am going to prepare for the worst, and I want you
to prepare to cache our grain and lay waste this Territory; for I
am determined, if driven to that extremity, that our enemies
shall find nothing but heaps of ashes and ruins. We will be so
prepared that in a few days all can be consumed. I shall request
the Bishops to see that the people in their wards are provided
with two or three years' provisions. There is already enough
raised in many places this season to supply the people from two
to three years, and I wish them to take care of it; though I
expect that in all probability we will raise a great many crops
before our enemies again attempt to come here to disturb us; and
I expect that we are fully able to defend ourselves, and that our
enemies will not be able to come within a hundred miles of us. I
know that ten men, such as I could name and select, could stop
them before they got to Laramie. And if we had seen fit to have
sent such men this season, they alone could very easily have so
stopped our enemies that they never would have got through the
Black Hills. I count five such men equal to twenty-five thousand,
and believe that two of them could put ten thousand to flight. I
believe we are now where that could be done. I will take five or
ten such as I can name; and if two can put ten thousand to
flight, I am sure that ten are perfectly able to do it.
340
Who has sought for war? Have we? No. We have preached the Gospel
to Saints and strangers, when strangers would come and tarry long
enough to hear it. We do not want to stand here and talk about
war. There is nothing so repugnant to my feelings as to injure or
destroy. But what is upon us? Nothing, only another manifestation
of the opposition of the Devil to the kingdom of God. War has
been declared against the Saints over twenty-seven years, and our
enemies have only fallen back so as to gain strength and pretexts
for making another attack. Will that spirit increase? If it does,
and we love our religion, let me tell you that we will increase
faster than our enemies will. This Territory and people are
perfectly able to set apart men of the right stripe and maintain
a standing army that can keep off the armies of our enemies. And
if the world combine against us, so we are but one, then all will
go on well and work together for our good.
340
Our enemies, in the last treaty they made with us, should have
stipulated that we should have gone only a short distance, so
that we would not be out of their reach. They had better have
made that stipulation; but they did not have wisdom, or they
would have stopped us from going so far away. They drove us away
from their society and allowed us to travel so far over the sage
plains, that it is impossible for an army to bring provisions
enough to last them here.
340
I have been told that the first artillery company, upon its
arrival at Laramie, loaded up all the grain they could haul to
feed their mule teams; and when they reached the Devil's Gate
they sent forward after their grain from their freight trains,
and then they had not enough to last them to Ham's Fork. It is
impossible for them to load up teams with sufficient forage to
last them to Green River; and the more men they send the more
there are to eat up what the mule and ox-trains haul; and the
consequence is that the more men they send the worse it is all
the time.
340
If they undertake to send fifty thousand men to Utah, I will
venture to say that they cannot raise so large a company in the
United States but what would cut each other's throats before they
travelled a thousand miles across the Plains, to say nothing
about any other persons molesting them. They would be cursing,
damning, and howling all the way. I know that the comparatively
few scattered here and there over the country and in the
mountains can spoil their march before they could get here.
340
If the Lord sees that we need to be afflicted, he can apply the
rod. I do not say this to urge you to your duty; for if you will
not live your religion for the blessings that God bestows upon
it, you will not live it anyhow; and the man who will not live
his religion ought to be damned. Never serve God because you are
afraid of hell; but live your religion, because it is calculated
to give you eternal life. It points to that existence that never
ends, while the other course leads to destruction, to
dissolution, where they will be destroyed from the earth and from
the eternities, and return back to the native elements.
341
What blessing can be bestowed upon man equal to that of eternal
life? The greatest blessing that can be bestowed is that of
eternal existence--to place mortal beings where they can endure
for ever--where they are free from sorrow and pain, and possessed
of keys, thrones, and dominions--where they can be perfectly
swallowed up in happiness and bliss. What greater gift can be
bestowed upon beings? None. Therefore, if we will not live up to
our religion, according to our ability, we ought to be damned.
341
We have the privilege of honouring the stations we are in; we
have the privilege, in the Lord's hands, of preparing for
exaltation. We are compared to the making of pottery upon the
wheel; but the Lord never intended to show in that comparison
that we were helpless beings and had no agency. Clay has so
little intelligence that it is often so full of lumps that it
will mar; but it is not to blame for that: but the Lord says,
"You, intelligent Israel, are to blame, if you do not obey my
voice; and if you are disobedient, I will serve you as the potter
serves the clay that has very little intelligence. You, Israel,
are capable of choosing, you are capable of refusing, you are
capable of performing, you are capable of hearing counsel from my
mouth and of carrying out those principles that I tell you; but
the clay upon the wheel has no such intelligence; and if you do
not obey my voice, it will prove that you are not worthy of
intelligence, any more than the clay upon the potter's wheel:
consequently, the intelligence that you are endowed with will be
taken from you, and you will have to go into the mill and be
ground over again."
341
I wish the people to hasten and gather together and secure all
that they have raised in the fields; and when this little
skirmish is over, I am going to instruct the people to begin to
prepare for going into the mountains, also to raise their grain
another year, and to secure that which we now have by putting it
where our enemies cannot find it.
341
You want to know where you can go. I know of places enough where
I can hide this people and a thousand times more, and our enemies
may hunt till doomsday and not be able to find us.
341
I do not know but we shall call upon the sisters to go into the
fields and raise potatoes while their husbands go out to war; and
if they can do that, then perhaps we will see whether they can go
into the fields and raise wheat while their husbands are
defending Zion. In such an operation we shall call for
volunteers; we shall have no compulsion about it. So soon as I
learn that a woman would sooner go to the enemy's camp, just so
soon I will send her; and you may mark it. I shall not warrant
such a one safe, only until she reaches the enemy's camp. I told
a man yesterday--one that I understood wanted to go away, "If
that is your feeling and faith, I want you immediately conveyed
to those troops." I want to forth with send to our enemies every
man and every woman that does not wish to do right, but wishes to
join them in their crusade against this people. You may enquire
why I take that course. I answer, So as to send them to hell as
quickly as possible.
341
That reminds me of a circumstance that transpired here some years
ago. A man from Boston, on his way to the gold diggings, stopped
a few days in this city and heard me preach. Soon afterwards I
met him in the street, and he asked me if I knew where hell was.
I told him I thought that he was on the road to that very place;
and when he crossed over the Sierra Nevada mountains into the
gold diggings in California, if he discovered that he had not
found hell, to come back and let me know. As I have not since
heard from him, I presume he found it, which I now think a person
will who goes East as well as West.
342
The President of the United States, his Cabinet, the Senate,
the House of Representatives, the priests of the various
religious sects and their followers have joined in a crusade to
waste away the last vestige of truth and righteousness from this
earth, and especially from this part of it. yes, they have joined
together; and we have to maintain truth and righteousness, virtue
and holiness, or they will be driven from the earth. With us, it
is the kingdom of God, or nothing; and we will maintain it, or
die in trying,--though we shall not die in trying. It is
comforting to many to be assured that we shall not die in trying,
but we shall live in trying. We will maintain the kingdom of God,
living; and if we do not maintain it, we shall be found dying not
only a temporal, but also an eternal death. Then take a course to
live.
342
Read the history of the world from the time that Cain killed Abel
to this day, and see whether you can find an instance when, in a
mountain country, fifty resolute, united men have been overcome
by five hundred. If brother Joseph Smith had taken a company and
come to this country, as he intended to do, he could have been
living here now, in spite of earth and hell. Yes, he could have
done this, if he could have brought only fifty men with him; for,
with them, he could have defied the whole world; and you know
that he would have had thousands of the upright gathered with him
before now; though, if he had been here with only fifty good men,
he could have bid defiance to all his enemies.
342
Did their enemies ever overcome the small band of Waldenses in
the mountains in Piedmont? No. They slaughtered army after army
sent against them and maintained their position, notwithstanding
to reach them was only like sending an army here from San Pete,
or from here to San Pete. They were within easy reach of their
enemies.
342
Would Scotland ever have been so far overcome by England as to
unite with that power, if her chiefs had not indulged in petty
feuds with each other? No, it never would. But the chiefs were
like our Indians: some were in favour of this one, and others of
that one being crowned chief; and by contending with each other
they lost the advantage of their position, or to this day
Scotland might have been an independent nation, even though
surrounded by water on all sides except the one joining England.
342
I instance those examples to show you that, if you will give me
the right kind of men, I will take a few hundred of them and be
at the defiance of the armies of the world; and that, too, upon
natural principles. If God is for us, that of course makes us
still stronger; but if he is against us, let us not strive to do
anything in opposition to his will: let righteousness triumph.
But I know that we are right.
343
When I used to be preaching in the world, priests would come to
me and enquire about my doctrine. I would tell them my
principles--every principle that I could get plainly before them
that would be for their good; and after giving them my doctrine,
I would ask, What do you Methodists believe? They would tell me.
I would reply, I know all about that. Next would come the
baptists, and I knew all about them. Then came along the
Presbyterians, and I would say, I know all about your doctrine.
And I would have the Quakers and the Shakers; and when I talked
to them, I knew all they believed. I understood the whole
concern, and my religion embraced all the truth they all had and
a great deal more. I could put on paper all the knowledge of
salvation that all the religious sects possess, and put that
paper into a snuff-box, and never miss the room it occupied. I
would say, I know how much truth you have embraced; you have
bounds to your religion, but I have no bounds to mine: the faith
I have embraced is broad as eternity.
343
I would say, Brother Methodist, have you a truth? If you have,
let us hear it: that is the Bible; that is my doctrine: I believe
it. "I read in the Bible that the Savior was crucified," say the
Methodists. I reply, I have embraced that in my faith: that is
true; and every particle of truth that you believe I have
incorporated in my faith; therefore you perceive that you must
take the stand that you will defend error and falsehood, or there
is no chance for a discussion or contention; for I believe all
the truth that you believe. Now, all the truth I have I want you
to embrace, and then go ahead; and then there is no chance for an
argument.
343
We wish for all the truth and all the righteousness we can get
hold of; and every heart that loves this religion, called
"Mormonism," exclaims, from the centre and circumference of his
soul and feelings, "Let the Lord be God." Without that, all will
be worthless; with that is everything. Without that we are
nothing; we cannot endure; and all our prospects are blasted and
scattered to the four winds. In reality, we are nothing only what
the Lord makes us. In a short time, if the Lord is for us, all
will be right.
343
Take things upon natural principles, and I will organize this
community so as to be prepared for any and every emergency. And
the truth compels me to say, about our enemies, that all hell are
crying to come here; and I must either say, Come in here and
practise your principles of death and destruction, or I must say,
I will contend against you, though I have prayed most fervently
for the Lord to keep that event off. But the Lord says, "Will you
be for me, or will you take upon you their cause?" I will say,
"We will be for the Lord; for he is the God we serve."
343
We are free. There is no yoke upon us now, and we will never put
it on again. [The congregation responded, "Amen."] That is the
way for every man and woman to feel. When it is necessary, and
the Lord calls me to do so, I would just as soon preach about war
as anything else, or go and fight a battle as to do anything
else.
343
You hear a great many people talk about a virtuous life. If you
could know what an honourable, manly, upright, virtuous life is,
you might reduce it to this--Learn the will of the Lord and do
it; for he has the keys of life and death, and his mandates
should be obeyed, and that is eternal life.
343
I pray God to bless you all the time; and I bless you in the name
of Jesus Christ! Let us be of one heart and mind; and do you not
see that the Lord is going to make us of one heart and mind, or
we will be suffered to be scourged?
343
In Missouri most of the brethren signed what they called a "a
deed of trust." The brethren were forced to sign away their
houses, lands, and property; for they were going to make us bear
the expense of the war. When the brethren had done this, they
would kick up their heels; and old Judge Camron saw it, and
swore, and ripped out an oath and said, "They are whipped, but
they are not conquered." One fellow said, "I will swear we can
make them consecrate: old Joe has been trying, but he could not
do it." I suppose a few have urged it upon the brethren to
consecrate. But do you not see that we are coming to where the
Lord will make us consecrate?
343
God bless you! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Amasa
M. Lyman, October 18, 1857
Amasa M. Lyman, October 18, 1857
THE SAINTS' BLESSINGS--DIVINE PROTECTION, ETC.
A Discourse by Elder Amasa Lyman, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, October 18, 1857.
344
I have been highly gratified to-day and edified in what I have
heard and in what has been expressed, not only here by the
Presidency who addressed us this morning; but the greatest or
highest source of gratification in all this matter to myself is
that I feel as they feel and as they have expressed themselves; I
feel the spirit that is in them, and I feel that it imparts to me
the same blessing that it imparts to them. If it is in them a
source of light, eternal life, it is the same to me; if it is a
source of comfort to them, it is to me. I feel this in relation
to our position at the present time and the circumstances that at
present surround us, which are different from those that have
surrounded us in days that have gone by.
344
As was remarked by President Young this morning, in his
correspondence with our enemies outside, the time has been when
we were at the mercy of those that were around us--those that
wished us no good--that never have done us aught but evil. But
our circumstances have so changed, and the work in which we are
engaged has so far progressed, that it has brought us to the
circumstances in which we are placed even now. It has not only
brought us to know the truth, but we have the privilege, the
ability, and the capacity, through the blessings of heaven, to
take care of and defend ourselves.
344
What are the honest convictions that are within us? They are that
we can defend ourselves; for we are where we dare speak in favour
of the truth; and I thank God that we are today so far removed
from the seat and power of our enemies, that they are unable to
reach us in the summary way in which they have done heretofore.
This to me is a gratification and a comfort: it enables me to
look upon those things around me with feelings different from
those in which I have been in the habit of contemplating them.
344
In times that are past we have been forced by the surrounding
influence to look upon things around us as though they were only
to be enjoyed for a short time--that though we had something one
day, there was but little assurance that we would have them the
next. If blessed with home, with our firesides, and habitations,
and those things that rendered us happy, we had but little
assurance that to-morrow would not sweep them all away. But here,
in this place in which we are at present located, we have our
homes, through the blessing of God, we have our associations, and
we have all that we have in our possession to happify our
situation and cause hope to live within us for that which is
still better; and we are so far removed from the land of our
enemies, that we can hope consistently that they may be continued
unto us for many days.
345
As has been remarked to-day, look at it naturally, as men not
connected with the work of God in which we are engaged, and we
are blessed; we are in a place that is blessed, and the very
place of which we have almost, at times, been inclined to
complain and to feel that we were sharing in a hard lot--that we
were forced to live and to dwell in such a place as we now
occupy. But the things that we have thus regarded as hardships
are blessings to us.
345
If you never had been able to appreciate them at all in their
truthful character until now, just now open your eyes, and do not
keep your eyes closed against the truth; but open them and look
upon our situation--the circumstances that surround us, and you
will feel, if you feel as I do, to thank God--for what? For the
rugged mountains that are around us--for the barren and desert
country that lies between us and the land of our enemies. You
will feel, in the spirit of the persecuted of other days and
other climes and dispensations, to bless God for the strength of
the hills, and that the Plains that lie between us and our
enemies are sterile and barren; for in these things are our
protection.
345
"But," says one, "would not God protect us?" Certainly; and how
has God protected us? He has protected us by bringing us to the
land where we now dwell--a land where, if there had been great
labour bestowed upon it, it could not have been better prepared
to constitute a home for the naked, the driven, the afflicted,
and the despised people of God. It is every way calculated to
give security to the people of God. For this reason I feel well.
345
If I have ever seen the hand of God--if I have ever seen or known
his dealings with his people, or have ever seen a manifestation
of his wisdom, it is more than ever manifest in his bringing us
to this land, where the distance is so great from the land of our
enemies. The character of the country intervening between us and
them is better to us than millions of millions of armed men to
protect us: it affords us a protection that cannot be found in
the armies of the earth, were they all marshalled in our behalf.
345
Well, then, I feel to thank God that we are here; I feel to bless
him for every foot of desert country that intervenes between this
and our enemies. There is not a foot of barren soil between us
and them but for it I feel to thank God. I regard it as a bulwark
of strength to protect the infant kingdom of God while it should
gather to itself strength, that it might exist in the midst of
the nations of the earth.
345
For all these things I feel well today; I feel happy, and I would
that all the Saints could feel happy. "Well," says one, "I would
feel happy, if I could." What is the reason you cannot be happy?
Where is the evidence of the truth that the people are not happy
in this country? Where are those who are not satisfied in this
country? I do not believe that there is a dissatisfied soul in
the whole length and breadth of the land where the Saints dwell
that enjoys the Spirit of God. Why? Because here is the only
place that man can live and enjoy the Spirit of God without
restraint: here is the place where the peace, the bliss, the
prospect of happiness can be cherished in the mind of man, free
from restraint.
345
Well, then, this is the place in which to be happy. But shall we
be protected? Shall we be preserved? Shall we be upheld? Shall we
be sustained? I say, shall we continue to enjoy these blessings?
This is a question that we may answer for ourselves.
346
"But," says one, "has not President Kimball said that we should
be victorious?" Yes, he has said it again and again, that we
should, if we would but do right. This is why I say it is a
question for us to answer for ourselves. Now, will we do right?
What do we say within ourselves? What is the feeling that lives
within us in relation to this matter? Will we do right? I have no
doubt but what we may all think that we will do right.
346
If we conclude that we will all do right, let us make up our
minds for the struggle; for it will require all our power. We are
not going to do right without an effort; we will not attain to
that which is right without an effort; neither will we retain the
blessings when we have them without an effort, and one that is
constant and unremitting--as constant as the life that we seek
and the blessings that we calculate to secure to ourselves.
346
When we engage in this struggle, it should not be with half a
purpose, nor with our affections divided; a part of our regards
running out to the things that are around us, and that are but of
little moment, without regard for God and his work and the
consummation and perfection of our own salvation; but we should
commence this struggle with all the energies of our souls
concentrated upon this one point--that we will do right, and as
fast as we learn the right, do it.
346
We have been told what it is to do right, and that is to learn
the will of God and do it. We know the will of God in relation to
a great many things, and you would think you were abused and
underrated in relation to your knowledge, if you were told that
you did not know how to do better than you sometimes do.
346
We know the will of God in relation to a great many things,
because it has been sounded in our ears ever since we commenced
in the work of God: it has been told us from day to day and from
time to time.
346
You know that it is peace that we want. Our President has told us
that he has sought for peace with our enemies. We have all
desired peace with our enemies outside; but we shall not have
peace in the complete sense of the term till we make it at home.
346
Have we made peace within ourselves and in our homes? Have we
made peace in that territory over which we preside? Is the same
unanimity of feeling, the same union, the same singleness of
purpose developed within us, as individuals and families, that
marks the action and the conduct of this great people when the
public safety and the interests of the people require effort?
When labour is to be performed or sacrifice to be made, and it is
called for, is it made? Yes; the experience of the past few weeks
shows this is the case. If you ask for men, they are on hand; if
you ask for means, they are rendered without a grudge; they come
freely, and then more than you have asked for.
346
What does this prove? Why, it proves that the feelings of
unanimity exist in the body of this people. If this feeling
exists to this extent in the mass of the people, one would
suppose that it certainly would exist to a corresponding extent
in individuals. Is this the case? Are we as ready to turn out, to
make exertion, to lose sleep, to watch by night and by day, to
weary ourselves again and again, that we may live acceptably
before God--that we may bring ourselves into perfect subjection
to the spirit of the Gospel that we have embraced,--are we, I
say, as ready to do these things as we would be to respond to the
call to shoulder our guns and go into the mountains, as our
brethren are doing and have done?
347
Are we willing, with the same hearty good feeling, with the same
perseverance, to subject ourselves to the spirit of the Gospel
and cultivate it within us with just as much industry, with as
much indefatigable zeal as that with which we go into the
mountains and labour by day, sleep out at night, and endure the
weather, fair or foul, without grumbling, without fault-finding;
so that our whole soul and our whole affections are in the cause?
If we leave our homes for the love of God, and if we live our
religion at home and honour the Gospel that we have embraced,
what would it secure to us? It would secure to us a reward for
all the difficulties, for all the losses that we have sustained.
Would it save us from burning our dwellings and leaving the land
covered with piles of smoking ruins? Yes; for this is the
condition upon which we are promised these things.
347
I want to see the people go to work, as his servants have said,
individually, throughout the length and breadth of this nation
and kingdom of Israel, here in the valleys of the mountains. I
want every man and every woman to say, "As for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord," and when we learn his will, then go to
work and do it. I want you to commence a war of extermination on
the evils that are between you and your God in claiming this
promise.
347
I do not in my heart desire to see men, women, and children flee
into the mountains. But we should be willing to go, remain here,
or do whatever is required, and feel that in so doing we were
doing the will of God.
347
How do you feel, brethren and sisters? Do you feel as though we
would do right and keep the commandments of God, and claim the
promises that have been made us to-day, that, if we would do as
we have been counselled, we should come and go, confront our
enemies, and conquer them, and not many fall in the struggle.
347
[Blessed the sacramental cup.]
347
I presume that there is not a soul that belongs to the Church of
the Saints, here or elsewhere, that feels a living interest in
the prosperity of Zion, but what would wish that they might be
enabled to pursue a course of life that would secure to them this
blessing--that our brethren, a part of ourselves, those that are
united to us by the ties of the Gospel, are called to go abroad
to face our enemies, to be exposed as they may be to the chances
of death, can secure this blessing and get the blessing and
protection of our Heavenly Father.
347
Be perfect in your sphere; be constant, and you shall be
preserved while in dangers that are around you, until you shall
accomplish the object of your mission, return to us unscathed and
unharmed, and rejoice in the blessings accruing from the victory
gained.
347
Do you want this, mothers? Fathers, do you want this blessing? If
you do, do as I have exhorted you this afternoon--put away
everything from you that is evil, and cultivate the Spirit of
truth within you, that your prayers may ascend up before God, and
that they may be acceptable. Call down his protection upon the
absent ones, as well as upon yourselves. Do not be careless--do
not settle down in thoughtless indifference, thinking that
because the servants of God have promised victory, that it must
come, independently of your exertions. It is only upon this
condition that safety is secured to you and to me, and that is,
that we DO RIGHT.
347
It is only as the conditions are complied with, that the blessing
is obtained; it is only as we live for them; it is only as we
render ourselves worthy to receive, by the course of conduct that
we pursue. This is the nature of the blessing that will come home
to us; this is the blessing that our Father will bestow; and
beyond this will we receive blessings? No. Well, then, have we
not every reason to be faithful? Yes; and why? Because everything
depends upon it.
348
Then, brethren and sisters, let us remember this brief lesson,
and let us take it home with us when we go. "Well, then," says
one, "if we take it home with us, and do a requisite amount of
praying, it will be right, will it not?" It will depend upon the
way you pray. I want you to go home and pray acceptably; and,
lest your prayers be hindered, be careful not to allow any spirit
to live around you or in you that would not be pleasing in the
sight of God.
348
Do not quarrel at home, because it will not do you any good. Now,
that is reason enough. Do not cherish any bad feelings. "Why?"
says one. Because they will not do you any good; and that should
be reason enough. Do not allow yourself to do any wrong.
348
I want you to go home and do all the right that is required of
you. You are only required to do right as far as you know what is
right. You are not required to do right in the President's place,
nor for anybody but yourself. And the wrongs done by individuals,
should they all be piled up until they made a pile that would
reach the gates of the celestial city, would not justify you in a
single wrong.
348
Then let us go home and turn aside this other calamity and this
other chastisement that will come upon us if we do not do right.
If we do not do right, the result will be that we shall have to
suffer that which we are told: but we shall not suffer, if we
will do right. If we do suffer, it will be because we have not
done right; and we shall know in a few years whether we have done
right or whether we have not.
348
If I could live for all the Saints or for anybody else besides
myself--if I had any time that did not need to be occupied for
myself, I would not mind doing right for others; but I cannot,
for I have only time enough to do the good that I am required to
do myself, in order to do my share in this work: therefore I want
you to do your share.
348
You, each one, do your piece of work; carry it to your firesides,
to your fields; keep it with you, so that it may be in you all
the time. Keep your face Zionward every day and every night and
all the time that shall be allotted to you; and when you will all
do this, what will be done? Why, we shall secure an insurance
against the destruction of the comforts that are around us and
desolating our country. If we are not forced to desolate our
country, there is one thing that is certain--our enemies will not
occupy it; they will not dwell in it, and it will not be cursed
by their running over it.
348
If these are not inducements for us to live our religion, I do
not know what are. It appears to me that they should be
sufficient to secure the interest and the affections of every man
and woman that has a knowledge of the truth.
348
This is a point that I feel particularly and specially interested
about: I care but little about big things or mysterious things.
If we can only, as a people, take hold of these small matters
that affect us at our home, which, if not attended to, will roll
obstacles between us and our God, and then ask God our Heavenly
Father to do for us as we would do for each other--to bless us as
we want to be blessed--to be charitable to us as we are
charitable to each other--merciful to us as we are merciful to
one another, what will be the result. If we always do these
things, there will never be anything in the way of our prayers.
348
But if we withhold our hand, and do not bless our brethren and
sisters as we should, will God hear us when we pray to him? I
tell you he will not. We might pray until we were so hoarse that
we could not speak; we might pray in thundertones, till our
prayers could be heard from one end of the continent to the
other, and still he would not listen to us.
349
He has told us what spirit we should pray in and how we
should act towards those around us. Then let us go and cultivate
these things in our homes, in our family circles; for this is the
most effectual way to carry out these principles.
349
If all the men in the Territory or three-fourths of them are
called away, do they quarrel? No. Some of them write home to me
and say they have been for ten days assembled together in a
motley crowd of four or five hundred men, in circumstances not
near so comfortable as those by which we are surrounded here at
home; and there has not been a sign of difference or of
contention or quarrelling in their midst.
349
Well, is this a sign that everything is all right in Zion? I do
not know. I wish that the same feeling pervaded the circle of
every family in the mountains that pervades those brethren in the
mountains. Well, sisters, cannot you help to make it so? You can.
You have been told how to make it so. Be charitable to one
another's faults, just as you would be charitable to your
c
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Brigham
Young, October 25, 1857
Brigham Young, October 25, 1857
EXTENT OF THE LATTER-DAY WORK--THE FREEDOM OF THE SAINTS
DEPENDENT
ON THEIR DOING RIGHT--SATAN'S REVELATIONS, ETC.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, October 25, 1857.
350
We have heard considerable preaching this morning; and to me,
what we have heard is full of pith and marrow.
350
This people are to the world an object of derision and hatred; to
God, of care and pity. There are but few of us, when we compare
ourselves with the rest of the inhabitants of the earth. We now
have a day of trial. It has been observed that the Saints feel
well: they never felt better.
350
Some present may not know that my oldest and my youngest brothers
have been preaching to-day. There are but three boys between
those two, and we are all here on hand.
350
As has been observed by brother John, my eldest brother, this is
the first time that we have ever had the privilege of doing
anything, only submitting to our enemies. Now, for the first time
since this Church was organized, we are in a position for
defending those rights common to all American citizens; and our
true and lawful course to abide by the Constitution of the United
States in the defence of those rights will probably give the
wicked a pretext for complaint; so that in measuring out
oppression to us, our enemies will have a new set of pretexts,
instead of feasting on infernal lies so much as they have
hitherto done.
350
Colonel Alexander accuses us of what he terms a very uncivilized
method of warfare. If we are to do as they do, we shall have to
get drunk, to swear, to quarrel, to lie, and believe in lies, and
indulge in many other like traits of civilization, in order to be
prepared to act as they do. I do not know anything about those
men that are now in the mountains, only in the capacity of a mob.
I have no business to know them as anything else, neither shall
I, until I have been officially notified that the Government of
the United States wishes to send troops here and build stations.
350
I suppose that the boys have annoyed them a good deal; but at the
same time, I would much rather clothe them and feed them, if they
would agree to go back in the spring and leave us in peace, as
they found us. We are obliged to maintain our rights; for every
blackleg, horse thief, counterfeiter, and abominable character
are united with the hireling priests and lying editors and wicked
leaders of our Government to falsely accuse the "Mormons," with a
view to our destruction. Can they now truly accuse them of
anything? Yes--of burning up a little grass, as brother Attwood
told them, when they asked him why we burnt the grass--"That we
may have a better crop next year," which you are aware is
customary in prairie regions. We have done that; therefore our
enemies can now concentrate their power to shoot at the target
they have compelled us to raise in self-defence, whereas
heretofore they have shot without an object to fire at.
351
There is one thing in particular with regard to this people--they
prove their faith by their work; and there is no other way for us
to prove it. While brother John was speaking of the labour of
this people to preach and send the Gospel to the nations of the
earth, I thought that, take us as a people in this day, in the
situation we have been in, and then look over the history of the
Church of the living God on the earth from the days of Adam until
now, and I will ensure that you cannot find the equal to the
excessive labour of the Elders of Israel in our day in spreading
the truth through the world to save mankind. I have no idea that
it was done in the days of Enoch; for the human family had then
spread over the earth but little, and the Elders did not have to
travel scores of thousands of miles without purse or scrip among
the wicked. So also in the days of Noah: they had but a short
distance to travel. In the days of the Israelites, of the
Prophets, of Jesus Christ, and the Apostles, what was their
labour in the extent of its field, compared with that of this
people? Very small. You may trace the course of their travel, and
you will find that it was far less than that of the Elders of
Israel in our day.
351
We have laboured diligently, and suffered everything but death to
preach the Gospel to our fellow beings; and thousands of our
fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, and connections
have gone into their graves through their sufferings, from being
robbed of everything we had, and scattered, to find shelter where
we best could. Are we going to suffer it any more? No, God being
our helper. We are perfectly free, on condition that we do right;
and upon that condition we never will be in bondage again.
351
You will recollect that this is the first time that this Church
can say, "We are free." Do we wish to be free from the United
States Constitution? No. There is not a word in it but what we
can subscribe to with all our hearts. Do we wish to be free from
the laws of the United States. No. They are as good laws as we
can ask for. Neither do we wish for any better laws than are the
most of those enacted in Missouri and Illinois. What, then, was
the difficulty with this people? Magistrates, sheriffs,
constables, military officers, &c., walked those laws under their
feet, and trampled upon them as a thing of naught, in order to
get at this people and drive them from their hard-earned homes. I
have said, and say it again, if those laws had been executed,
they would have hung Governor Boggs and Governor Ford, with many
others, between the heavens and the earth, or shot them as
traitors to the Government. It is not the laws and the
Constitution of our country that we wish to be free from, but it
is from the power of those who profess to be law-makers and
law-executors, but who trample every wholesome law under their
feet.
351
We are now as free from them as is the mountain air we breathe;
and we could wipe the few enemies now in our borders out of
existence in a very short time, if I would give the word to do
so. But they will judge themselves out of their own mouths and
receive their just reward at the hands of him whom they have
listed to obey. I believe the Lord has wisdom enough to make them
destroy themselves,--though, if it were left to me solely, under
the guidance of the spirit pertaining to man, probably I should
have had them in eternity before now. But the Lord dictates,
governs, and controls: I do not, neither do I wish to.
352
It is said that if we do right we shall overcome. I will tell you
one mark you have got to come to, in order to do right. If you
can bring yourselves, in your affections, your feelings, your
passions, your desires, and all that you have in your
organization, to submit to the hand of the Lord, to his
providences, and acknowledge his hand in all things, and always
be willing that he should dictate, though it should take your
houses, your property, your wives and children, your parents,
your lives or anything else you have upon the earth;, then you
will be exactly right; and until you come to that point, you
cannot be entirely right. That is what we have to come to; we
have to learn to submit ourselves to the Lord with all our
hearts, with all our affections, wishes, desires, passions, and
let him reign and rule over us and within us, the God of every
motion: then he will lead us to victory and glory; otherwise he
will not.
352
Brother John referred to some persons receiving revelations. I
say to such persons, Go ahead, and get all the revelations you
can. If brother Joseph visits you every night, go ahead, and tell
him to bring brother Hyrum, father Smith, Don Carlos Smith, St.
Paul, Peter, James, and John, and Jesus Christ, if you can induce
him to do so. But I could almost lay my hand on that Bible and
swear that the man or woman who gets such revelations has been
guilty of adultery, or of theft, or has been rebellious and
apostatized in feelings, but has come back again, and now
professes to have such revelations. Hell is full of such
revelations; and I could almost testify that a man or woman who
receives them has been guilty of some outrageous crime. I have
had men come to me and tell the wonderful great dreams and
visions which they have, when those very persons have apostatized
heretofore, have denied their God and their religion; and I knew
it. Many come to me and tell me what wonderful visions they
have--that their minds are open to eternal things--that they can
see visions of eternity open before them and understand all about
this kingdom,--many of whom have at some time been guilty of
betraying their brethren, or committing some atrocious crime. I
never notice them much. I sit and hear them talk about their
wonderful knowledge, but it passes in and out of my ears like the
sound of the wind. It is for me to see to this kingdom, that it
is built up, and to preserve the Saints from the grasp of the
enemy. The visions of the class I have mentioned are nothing to
me. They may exhibit their great knowledge before me; but when
they have done, it is all gone from me.
352
Some are very anxious that I should have visions. I have all that
the Lord gives to me; and all that he keeps back he may; for that
is no concern of mine. We are on the old ship Zion; and if God is
not at the helm, the old ship will wreck and go to the Devil. As
for my taking charge of the kingdom of God on the earth,
exclusively and independently of direction from heaven, I Shall
not do any such thing. If the Lord does not direct the old ship
and act as captain and pilot, it will go to destruction, and I
care not how quick.
352
He is at the helm, and will stay there. If you and I will bring
our feelings to the point I have just spoken of, he will continue
to guide the welfare of Zion and all its rights.
352
All is right. Sing hallelujah; for the Lord is here. He dictates,
guides, and directs. If the people will have implicit confidence
in their God, never forsake their covenants nor their God, he
will guide us right, and we are free as the air of these
mountains. The yoke of the wicked is off, and I am determined it
shall stay off.
353
If any man or woman in Utah wants to leave this community, come
to me, and I will treat you kindly, as I always have, and will
assist you to leave; but after you have left our settlements, you
must not then depend upon me any longer, nor upon the God I
serve; you must meet the doom you have laboured for. If any wish
to go away, come to me and I will assist you to go in peace and
safety to the army or anywhere else; but if you come again with
bitter feelings to this Territory, we shall meet you as we would
a mob.
353
After this season, when this ignorant army has passed off, I
shall never again say to a man, "Stay your rifle-ball," when our
enemies assail us; but shall say, "Slay them where you find
them." But the army that are now upon our borders are in
ignorance, and know not what they are doing, nor the spirit that
prompts them, or they would ere now have been visited with swift
destruction. On account of their ignorance and their being sent
by rotten demagogues and corrupt speculators, I feel like letting
them alone, unless they turn to me here; which if they do, sleep
will depart from their eyes and slumber from their eyelids until
they sleep the sleep of death or beg quarters at our hands--God
being our helper.
353
I do not altogether know why I should not feel it right to slay
them where they are. But I do not; consequently, I withhold; and
if that course should be right, I believe it will be manifested
to me; and if it is not so manifested to me, and anybody else can
know of a surety and will take the responsibility, go ahead.
353
I have joy and comfort in seeing this people trying to lie up to
the spirit of their religion--to the spirit of the Gospel; and I
should be glad to see the spirit of reformation continue among
them. I would be pleased to have it within myself, and do better
than I now do, or do more, or do something I do not do. But
unless the Lord will reveal to me something more than he has, I
cannot do any better than I am doing; for I do not know how. I
have done as well as I could since I have been in this kingdom. I
can hardly refer to the time when I have not done the best I knew
how, and I can hardly refer to the time when I put my hand to do
a thing unless I knew it to be right.
353
I am not a visionary character nor subject to excitement in my
feelings. My life, you know, is an even continuation; and I hope
it will be until I lay down this tabernacle. If we take this
course and trust in the Lord, he may send armies here or not,
call upon us to fight, or let us raise grain, build houses, &c.,
or send us to the nations; it matters not. If we bring our
feelings to this, we shall never be brought into bondage to the
wicked again; but we will be free.
353
Do you not know, brethren, that the day will come of which the
Lord says, "For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will
bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron;" and yet
if those things were now delivered into our hands, there would be
selfishness. I have seen that spirit manifested, and I am afraid
of it. I am more afraid of covetousness in our Elders than I am
of the hordes of hell. Have we men out now of that class? I
believe so. I am afraid of such spirits; for they are more
powerful and injurious to this people than all hell outside of
our borders. All our enemies in the United States or in the
world, and all hell with them marshalled against us, could not do
us the injury that covetousness in the hearts of this people
could do us; for it is idolatry.
354
As brother John observed, one devil can keep all Babylon in
confusion continually, because they are already so wicked; but it
takes armies of devils to take care of the Saints, lest they
overcome the kingdoms of darkness. The Devil's forces are
particularly marshalled against us. If I can contend against the
powers of darkness and get this people to control themselves so
as to have no principle or feeling about them only to do the will
of our Father in heaven, I do not fear all hell. Were all the
United States arrayed against us in these mountains, I would
rather have ten men who are Saints, and will do more with them to
overcome all our outside enemies than this whole people, with
their affections not sanctified to the Lord. Do you understand
that, ye Saints? Or is it to you like some visions that are told
to me--going in at one ear and out at the other? We, as a people,
will be chastened until we can wholly submit ourselves to the
Lord and be Saints indeed. May God bless you! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / Orson
Hyde, October 25, 1857
Orson Hyde, October 25, 1857
PRIVILEGES OF THE SAINTS--TRIALS, ETC.
A Discourse by Elder Orson Hyde, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, October 25, 1857.
354
I arise to make a few remarks to you, and I do it with a great
deal of pleasure and satisfaction.
354
I feel, in the first place, to express my gratitude to God for
the privileges that we enjoy, that we are permitted to meet
together and hear instructions from time to time, by which our
minds may be fortified against evil, that we may receive strength
to resist the powers of darkness and every evil principle that
may suggest itself to our minds. I trust that our hearts have
become so softened by the power of truth and so opened by its
blessed influence, that we are prepared to receive any impression
which the truth may be calculated to make upon us, that it may
affect us to the glory of our Heavenly Father.
354
I feel thankful that we are blessed with gifts and qualifications
in our midst that can set right and give a proper tone to all
things that go forth from us, so that we are not left to spell
out our own course by the limited light and intelligence that we
possess. We have not only the Spirit of God in our own hearts to
guide us in the path of duty, of principle, and of doctrine, if
we live our religion; but we have the Spirit of God also in our
President to set us right when wrong. I feel thankful that we are
looked after with such an anxious and watchful eye--with an eye
to our happiness and well-being and to our future exaltation.
354
I hope that we shall appreciate these gifts while we have
them--that we shall profit by them, and do all in our power to
preserve them unimpaired in our midst, that we may long derive
benefit from such sources. To be sure, it is a day of trial to
the Saints; and yet it is a matter of gratification to see that
the Saints, as a general thing, take their trials so calmly, and
to see that they are willing to pass through the fiery ordeal;
for we know that the final issue will be glorious, and we shall
see the desire of our souls and be satisfied.
355
This proves that we are satisfied with our lot and that we are
living our religion in a goodly degree; and I hope and trust that
the good Spirit that seems to prevail in our midst will be
cultivated and its dictates carried out, that we may do nothing
to grieve it away from us, but be ready to follow its
suggestions--to fulfil its requirements and the requirements of
those that preside over us. It is a day of trial to us; but our
trials are light, and the test that we are subjected to is but
light, compared with the final test to which we shall be
subjected when the Son of Man shall be revealed from heaven,
taking vengeance upon them that know not God and obey not the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.
355
I have mentioned once or twice concerning the trials that await
the Saints at that time. We look forward to the day when the Son
of Man shall come in his glory as the greatest event and most
sublime display of power and glory that were ever beheld by
mortal eye; and it is requisite that we should be prepared for
that scene. We shall be prepared, if we listen to the Spirit of
the Lord as it is manifesting itself, and so continue to do
during our probation here; for the Son of Man shall be revealed
in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and
obey not the Gospel. The Prophet asks the question, "Who can
dwell with devouring fire or with everlasting burnings?" He
answers and says, He that has clean hands and a pure heart; he
can dwell with devouring fire.
355
We are to be operated upon by the Holy Ghost, and undergo such a
material change by its power that we can abide the day of burning
in which the Son of God will be revealed with the same comfort
that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did in the fiery furnace.
They were cast into that devouring element and moved as
pleasantly and as agreeably as the fish moves in the sea, its
native element. When that day comes, it will be made to appear
who is pure; for it will bear upon every individual; and those
who are not right and pure will be devoured and destroyed. If we
are faithful, we can abide that day and feel that we are wrapped
in nothing more than in a blaze of glory, because we shall be
prepared for it. But if we do not live our religion, we shall be
consumed in that day; and it will be a day that no creature can
dodge. Hypocrisy and deceit will then be no shield. Pure and
unadulterated goodness alone will enable us to stand in that day.
We shall then know who possesses the qualifications of Saints,
and who does not; and we shall have to be tested, and that
strongly, compared with that to which we are now subjected. The
two will be so different, so widely apart from each other, that
we cannot now imagine the difference.
355
But I do not know that it is profitable to go on so far ahead and
picture out the tests or trials that we may be subjected to; yet
still it may be necessary to show what we shall have to possess
and guard against, that we may be ready for the day of
exaltation.
356
At that time, we are informed that the wicked will call for the
rocks to fall on them and hide them from the presence of him that
sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. Why will
they do this? If the flaming fire has the same effect as we may
suppose it will have, it will be very natural for them to call
upon the rocks to hide them from the face of the Lord. They will
prefer this to standing the test. This will be the cry, "Fall
upon us, ye rocks, and hide us from this terrible test." But the
rocks and mountains hear them not! The ungodly must be consumed
by the devouring fire. There are stepping-stones to this test;
and when we get to that point, that will be no greater trial than
the present is now. It will not be any greater stumbling-block to
us; it will be no more terrible than our present trial, if we
live our religion; for we shall be prepared.
356
Brethren and sisters, we not only have the evidence that I spoke
of this forenoon, but we have more. I desired, in my remarks this
morning, to point out to the sinner and to the ungodly, if you
please, or to those that do not belong to the Church; I wanted to
show that they possess evidence in themselves--that they have it
in their own hearts and in their own feelings, that this is the
work of God; I wished to convince them that God had given them a
testimony, that they might know for themselves. He has so ordered
things that hypocrites and false-hearted individuals might know
for themselves that this is the work of God and that he would
accomplish it in his own way. For this reason he said that
"sinners in Zion should be afraid, and fearfulness surprise the
hypocrite," and that they should go away; they should leave
because they are afraid for their own persons; they are afraid
for their property; they are afraid because the atmosphere that
surrounds the servants of God is not congenial with their
unhallowed natures, and they are fearful. This evidence is in
their own hearts, and when they go, they carry the lighted candle
of evidence with them.
356
There are some who have been acquainted with the Church from
place to place and from time to time. There are some that have
followed all the time, and they can neither take hold of it nor
throw it away. Have they not had testimony that his is the work
of God--that this is the truth of heaven? Has not the Holy Spirit
raised convictions in their minds that this is the truth of God?
Have they not been convicted of its truth? I will venture to say
that they have been pungently convicted, and they have had all
the lies that the Devil could put them in possession of and help
them to, in order to resist the force of truth. Why have they not
yielded obedience to the laws of the kingdom of God and taken
upon them the yoke of Christ? It does seem to me that persons
holding that position are ready to turn to the enemy or to any
other quarter as may best suit their interests and circumstances.
They are on the top of the fence, and rather leaning over to our
enemies' side. "He that is not for us is against us."
356
It does sometimes appear that unwise persons not guided by the
Spirit of God should take a course, with some such hangers-on, to
make them take sides, one way or the other,--to compel them to
take to their own convictions before God, or else go away.
356
We find that God will overrule all actions that are performed,
even injudiciously, to the best good and to the perfection of his
people who trust in him, and to the best good of those also who
would hang on, yet neither enter themselves nor let anybody else
enter. Now, there are individuals that will not come into the
Church themselves; and if they can lay a stumbling-block in the
way of their friends, they will do it. They will say to a
Gentile, or to a person who may be favourably impressed with the
truth, "We have never joined the Church, and there is no
particular need of it. We may appear friendly to the society, but
not join it. Then we are under no rules or restrictions, and may
do as we please."
357
We read a man's character and feelings by his actions. You have
been acquainted so long, and the truth has made so small an
impression that it shows there is no real love there for it. Such
individuals are even ready to talk to those who come in here and
to bias their minds, and then they come to the conclusion that
this is not the work of God; for they conclude that those persons
who have talked to them, having had such opportunities, must
know.
357
If such individuals should have a jog that would knock their
sensibilities into them, I do not know but God would work it for
their good. I believe it is said that all things shall work
together for good to those that love God and keep his
commandments. We have convictions of those things; we are
confident that all shall work for our good, not only in our
hearts, but when we can see wisdom manifested that is evidently
manifested by the hand of a superior being; but we cannot but
acknowledge the hand of God. We have the testimony in our hearts
of the truth, and what we feel and see all the time should
stimulate us to cling to the Lord with all our hearts, might,
mind, and strength.
357
The Saints in former days had a great deal to overcome; they had
not only their weaknesses, but they had armies to overcome; and
we find they put to flight the armies of the aliens. They had
many trials. They were clad in sheep-skins, and goat-skins.
Inasmuch as we believe that the cattle upon a thousand hills
belong to the Lord, I do not know but that their very hides may
be dressed, and we wear them instead of broadcloth. Well, now,
those skins properly dressed, as I have seen some specimens in
this town, may be our clothing when we get into the hills, and
they will last some time to go through the mountains. Necessity,
we say, is the mother of invention. The sisters may ask what they
shall do for petticoats? I can tell you. (Voice: Let the women
wear pantaloons.) Necessity being the mother of invention, we
will seek them out something suitable; we have got common sense,
and a good deal more too, if we will live our religion. Our
father went to work and made coats of skins; and I suppose that
mother Eve had a coat of skins as well as father Adam. But
whether hers was a petticoat, we are not told.
357
We have been talking about the ancient order being restored; and
if we live to return to that order, we shall live to be dressed
in the skins of animals. I do not know how these things may be,
but yet we judge, if we are driven to such necessity, we may have
to adopt that style.
357
Let us prepare our minds for all things and to live where and
when others may perish and die. We have got to learn that when
the day of burning comes to be ready to live upon the barren
rocks, where others would starve to death. If we get wisdom to
live where they would perish, then we shall be the more
completely independent. Thank God, we are beyond their reach. The
Almighty God in his wisdom and kindness has given us
understanding, and I have every reason to believe that he will
deliver us and provide for us, if we live our religion and cleave
unto him; for I tell you that some of the most simple things will
be for our deliverance, and at the same time for the destruction
of our enemies; and we can do all that is required, by his hand
helping us. We are nothing of ourselves; but when we are inspired
by the Almighty and take such a course as will give us confidence
in God, we cannot perish. Then we have reason to rejoice and be
glad.
358
Here is the evidence that this is the work of God. I remarked to
brother Hardy, to-day, that last winter we preached some strong
things in his ward (12th ward). Myself, brother Hardy, the
Bishop, and brother Joseph A. Young doubled teams; and I then
said, Where will these things lead us? I did not stop long to
reflect; but, said I, we have the Spirit of God, and it will be
all right; and I feel more satisfied now that his arm will bear
us off triumphant. At that time fearfulness began to take hold
upon the hypocrite, and we saw that sinners began to tremble and
fearfulness to surprise the hypocrite. I tell you, perfect love
casteth out all fear, if fear has no place in us; for our love
for the truth casteth out all fear.
358
"Fear not, little flock," says Jesus, "for it is your father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom." I believe it is said in
one revelation, "unto you the kingdom has been given, and power
to overcome all things that are not ordained of God." I believe
it is said so, in so many words, that you shall have power to
overcome all that has not been ordained of God. What more can we
ask for? Power has been given us, that that power may be in us,
that it may be as a flaming fire; and I tell you the Almighty
will be in us by his Spirit; he will go before us and clear the
track. He does not require us to do anything without his first
clearing the track, preparing the way for us to accomplish it.
358
That Zion is free is a satisfaction to the sons of light and
causes joy in their hearts. In fact, we have lived so long under
the Priesthood, that I, for one, do not want to live under any
other government. If it is necessary, however, to take some other
along, as the man did who made the stone soup, by putting in
everything necessary to make the soup rich, palatable, and
nutritious, before he put in the stone, concluding that the stone
might give a favourite name to the soup, without imparting to it
any injurious flavour or quality, I shall not object.
358
However, I will tell you that the government of God is the only
legitimate government upon the earth; and when he reckons with
nations, rulers, and privates, he will pronounce all guilty of
"high treason" who have opposed his kingdom, fought against his
Saints, or in any manner interrupted them in the execution of his
mandates. Then let us contend for the rights of our Sovereign,
the God of heaven and earth, and for the rights of his kingdom.
And may God in his mercy shield us by his all-powerful arm, and
may we live so that his angels won't be far off; but that we may
have their aid and their cooperation!
358
Brethren and sisters, may God bless you! And I feel in my soul to
bless you and to bless all that bless Zion. But let the wrath of
God be upon the Mother of Harlots, and upon all that wish evil to
Zion; and may the Lord God be round about his Saints, and his
wisdom be manifested conspicuously in all their movements, is my
prayer. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / George
Albert Smith, November 1, 1857
George Albert Smith, November 1, 1857
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP A NATURAL AND UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE--SINCERITY
NO TEST OF TRUTH--PRIESTLY AUTHORITY, ETC.
A Discourse by Elder George A. Smith, delivered in the
Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 1, 1857.
359
Our Father who is in heaven has placed us in this world in the
present generation, and has placed before us laws and principles
by which we may obtain exaltation and celestial glory.
359
In the acquisition of any department of science, the laws thereof
must be ascertained and the application properly made, or it is
not in our power to become acquainted with its branches, so as to
master it and realize the benefit of its effects. So, also, in
entering into the kingdom of the Most High God, we enter by a
door preparatory; and, to all those who have been traditioned in
the false religions of the present age, this door seems to be but
little understood.
359
I have watched the movements of persons coming into the Church of
Christ from sectarian churches for many years, and I discover
that they are almost entirely enveloped in a kind of cast-iron
shell; and it is with the greatest of difficulty that they divest
themselves of it--of their prejudices and traditions. It is the
work of years; and although many come into this Church while
young, without an extensive knowledge of sectarian principles,
yet such is the force of tradition, even in them, that they have
to stop, consider, and question whether principles are really
true and received from a proper source, or whether they are
false.
359
There is a feeling in the human breast to reverence something. We
find it among the untutored savages; we find it among what are
denominated the heathen nations--among those who are considered
pagans, bowing down to worship images, the workmanship of their
own hands.
359
I had the pleasure, while in the States, of being subject to the
Sabbath-keeping rules of the railroad company. I wished very
devoutly to have the privilege of spending my time with the
Saints in Saint Louis: but, to avoid travelling on the Sabbath,
the railroad decree had gone forth that we should not leave
chicago; so, on the Sabbath, I went to Saint Mary's Cathedral for
the purpose of hearing a Catholic discourse.
359
I was there gratified by hearing a very eloquent gentleman
explain the reason why the paintings, crucifixion, and emblems of
this kind are used in the Catholic churches. He said that it was
not understood with them that a person bowing before a likeness
or a picture of a saint did so with the intention of worshipping
that saint or picture; but that the design was to inspire in the
heart of the worshipper a disposition to emulate the virtuous
deeds and good actions of that saint. Hence, said the orator, a
portrait of the Virgin Mary, placed in a proper position where
females, especially the young, can come before it and offer their
adoration, inspires in their minds chaste and virtuous ideas,
holy thoughts, pure principles, and ardent desires to live as
perfectly, to be as humble, and to observe the laws of
righteousness as fully as did the virgin whose picture they stand
before.
360
I bring this up simply to illustrate the principle upon
which the Catholics answer the objections raised by the
Protestant world against the use of images, &c., in their
churches, thus accusing them of idolatry.
360
There are reasons well known to every reader of history why
pictures were introduced into the Catholic churches. Although
they assign for this the reason given by the eloquent gentleman
in St. Mary's Cathedral, Chicago; yet they were not originally
used in the Catholic churches nor in any of the Christian
churches previous to their becoming mixed with Romanism.
360
When it took its origin, the empire of Rome was both a religious
and a political institution: its emperors and senators had
attached to them sacred authority; and their religion embodied
within it the power, perfection, and consolidated union of the
pagan institutions of that age, which consisted in a series of
systems of idolatry.
360
Hence, by order of the government, temples were dedicated
particularly to their god of peace, to be opened in the time of
peace and to be shut in the time of war; temples were also
dedicated to the god of war, to be opened in time of war and
closed in time of peace; for at certain times the gods of peace
and plenty were to be invoked; at other times the god of war was
to be courted.
360
The Christian religion silently advanced until it became a power
to be courted by men who thirsted for dominion. When Constantine
got possession of the throne, the empire had become to a
considerable extent Christianized, and it became necessary to do
something to consolidate the feelings of the whole. To destroy
idols entirely would be taken with a bad grace by the higher
order of the Roman people. In order to meet this difficulty,
Constantine substituted pictures instead of idols. Instead of the
statue of Minerva, he had the picture of the Virgin; instead of a
temple dedicated to Jupiter, a church dedicated to St. Peter;
instead of a statue of Apollo, a likeness of some of the
Apostles, or of some saint or personage, imaginary or real; thus
completely co-mingling the Christian religion with idolatry. Then
men started up to assign reasons for this, and these reasons were
presented in the eloquent style of the address I heard in St.
Mary's Cathedral.
360
Heathen and pagan idols are built for the same purpose. You ask
the priest of a heathen temple if the real intent is to worship
that stone or that image of gold, silver, brass, or iron, and he
would tell you that it was only a representative of
something--that you could not see the real god, and the image was
introduced as a substitute.
360
Among the early inhabitants of the world who rejected the true
religion, many began to pay their adoration to the sun, moon,
stars, &c. These soon adopted personages that they considered
would represent the objects of the adoration. Hence, we find
Jupiter is represented as the king of gods, or as the god of
thunder, more particularly,--the thunder, representing his
weapon, being the most powerful agent they had any idea of; and
his image or statue was worshipped by the early inhabitants of
the earth as the representative of that power. There was
generally attached to these deities an idea of terror.
361
In studying the principles of mythology held by the Greeks, who
are considered the most classical people of early ages, we
discover that to almost everything they associated the idea of
terror; hence, when a man passed from this world to the next,
they considered it necessary to place a little change in his
coffin to pay his passage across the river Styx. They had a
personage named Charon, who, in their mythology, operated as
ferry-man; and the very moment the spirit of the dead crossed the
river, it came in contact with a dog, Cerberus, with three heads,
and, instead of hair, covered with snakes: that dog answered as
watchman to keep the departed spirit from returning to the abodes
of men.
361
The human imagination was tortured to bring up the most hideous
pictures. In following these imaginations, they had a variety of
detail; and in these we find that scarcely any two writers agree.
The Greeks were about as united in the worship of their gods as
the Christians are who profess to worship Jesus. They went in,
however, for worshipping all the deities, and some of them to a
great extreme.
361
For instance, go to Athens, in the day of its glory, as did the
Apostle Paul, and you might see the statues of all the gods of
the ancients; and, among the rest, and altar to the "unknown
God." There was a God they did not know; but they were determined
to hit every case and be prepared to worship everybody, like the
man in a storm at sea--it was good Lord and good Devil with him,
for he knew not in whose hands he should fall: therefore, to be
sure that they worshipped all, they set up an altar to the
unknown God, that, if they should fall into his hands, they could
claim that they had worshipped him; and that is about the sum and
substance of the so-called Christian worship of the present age.
361
You may go into any society of people, almost, and ask them what
they worship, and they would as soon tell you they worship the
unknown God as not. You may take up their creeds, and they give
it out that they worship a God that has neither body, parts, nor
passions and yet has three persons. Their ideas are so perfectly
confused, and their knowledge so supremely ridiculous on this
subject, as to make it clear to those enlightened by the Holy
Ghost that they are entirely ignorant and totally in the dark on
this matter. They must have made their creeds without thinking
whether the words composing them had meaning or not.
361
When I was 18 years of age, I was sent on a mission preaching the
Gospel. I called one Sabbath to see a friend of the Baptist
persuasion. The old gentleman wanted I should go to the Baptist
meeting with him. As I had no appointment until evening, I went
with him. I had not been there a great while before he made an
effort to have them let me preach. They, however, did not feel
disposed. Their minister was gone, and one of the deacons got up
and read an old-fashioned, close-communion, dry chip-and-porridge
sermon; and besides the deacon being a miserable, poor reader, I
was not very much interested.
361
When the meeting was dismissed, the deacon came up to me and
asked me where I lived. I told him; and I in return enquired of
him what church that was. He said it was the Church of Christ.
Said I, "What Apostle built it?"
361
"The Apostle Paul," he replied.
361
I said I was not aware that Paul had been in this country
preaching and building up churches.
361
"Well," said he, "it was built up upon his doctrine."
361
"Indeed," said I: "What Apostle presides over it?"
361
"We don't have any in these days."
361
"Then it is not the Church of God."
361
"Yes, it is," said he;" Apostles and Prophets are done away."
362
"Not so," said I; and I drew out the New Testament and read, "God
hath set in his church first Apostles," &c. "Now," said I, "the
very fact of there not being Apostles and prophets in your Church
proves that it is not the Church of God; and I don't want
anything to do with it."
362
Says he, "You are a strange follow: I never thought of that
before."
362
I told him to read the Scriptures, and said, "You may for ever
read such sermons as you have been reading to-day, and they will
keep you blind. Unless there is a principle in the organization
of the Church inspired from the Almighty--unless there is an
authority that is governed by the power of God and his Spirit,
men might just as well worship dumb idols, the fancy gods of the
ancient heathen, or the pictures of the Catholics, as to go to
meeting or perform any other kind of worship. If you undertake to
go to any place, you have got to take the right road: you must
start right. If you start wrong, you are sure to come out wrong;
and the further you go in a wrong direction, the further you are
off the starting-point."
362
I have heard it said, in the course of my travels, that if person
think they are right, they are right,--that if persons are only
sincere, all will come out well. That may answer for people to
talk about who know they are wrong, and are trying to carry
themselves into the idea that it is just as well to be wrong as
right. But if we wish to enter the kingdom of heaven, we have to
enter by the door; for, says the Saviour, "I am the door. By me,
if any man enter in, he shall have life."
362
But suppose you enter through somebody else; where has the idea
originated that there is the least possible prospect of coming
out right from starting wrong? Suppose a man should start to the
States, but instead of that he makes his way into the Western
desert, saying, "It don't make any difference which way I go;"
what would be the result? He would wander in the desert and
perish. Suppose a man, in attempting to serve the Lord, by
mistake should serve the devil; is the Lord going to reward him
for serving the Devil? Not at all.
362
When Joseph Smith commenced to proclaim to the world the truth,
the way of life and salvation, in the manner he was inspired of
the Lord to do, every religions denomination, Protestant,
idolater, or what not, the moment they heard of it, commenced a
dismal howl of "False prophet! False teacher! Imposture!
Deception!" &c. Why? Because there was a light directly from the
Almighty; a man had come forth that taught in the name of the
Lord; a personage bore testimony of the plan of salvation, that
would actually overthrow, dissolve, use up, annihilate, and
destroy everything that did not come from God.
362
"Well," says the old priest, "if this goes abroad, what will be
the result? The people will see the light, the true doctrine, and
they will quit coming to my meeting and paying me for preaching;
and I cannot grunt and groan over them and play the hypocrite
with them any longer; and I shall have to go and get an honest
living: I will therefore stir up the people to kill and destroy
the man."
362
This was the spirit and design of every one over whom the spirit
of the Devil had dominion. The very instant the first message of
truth began to be proclaimed to the children of men, all the
devils in hell and all the devils on earth and the spirits of
demons were stirred up, and went to work at once to frustrate,
destroy, and overthrow this work.
362
"Where did you get your authority?" say they.
362
By the inspiration of the Almighty the holy Priesthood was
conferred, and we were ordained to the Apostleship and Priesthood
to go forth and preach to you the plan of salvation. Where did
you get your authority?
363
"It came down from the ancient Apostles, through the Church
of Rome, and by the way of the Waldenses," says the Baptist, or
by the way of the Reformers.
363
But were not those reformers expelled by the Church of Rome?
363
"Yes."
363
If they, then, had their authority from the Church of Rome, that
Church must have had the power also to divest them of that
authority. If we admit that the Romish Church had this power and
authority, we must go back there to find it; and if we take that
testimony, it proves that all the reformers have no authority.
363
The Baptists attempt to show that their authority came through
Waldo. Who was this Waldo? He was a merchant, and hired a man to
translate for him the four books of the Gospel. He went to
preaching without any inspiration, revelation, or light from
heaven: he had only the light which he could discern from the
translation made by an excommunicated monk. He was zealous and
doubtless honest in his intentions, but without the inspiration
of the Holy Ghost, Priesthood, or authority from God.
363
Now, as I said before, if you start wrong, you will be wrong all
the way. Without a messenger from God, without the revelation of
the Most High, it is all folly and useless to attempt to follow
the Saviour. It is written, "if any man lack wisdom, let him ask
of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be
given him."
363
The Saviour said, "If any man will be my disciple, let him take
up his cross and follow me." You may follow all the men and
devils in the world; but, unless you follow Christ, you cannot be
his disciple; and the more men and devils you follow, the worse
you are off.
363
When we talk about following Christ, we hear it said that we
should believe in him with all our hearts, repent of our sins,
and be baptised for the remission of them. Before the Saviour
commenced his mission on the earth, he went to Jordan to be
baptised, that he might set an example for us to follow. Take any
other track, and you go wrong. The right track is the only plan,
the only design, and the only intention that can bring us to the
enjoyment of salvation; and it is not only in starting right that
salvation depends, but when we start it is necessary to continue
to the end.
363
Now, it is plain and reasonable to me why it is that the nations
of the earth seek to destroy the Saints. They pretend that the
Bible is their platform, and it condemns them on every page, both
their doctrines and practices. In order to maintain their false
systems, they have created a kind of aristocracy, called
Priesthood, who are hired to explain away the sayings of the
scared book. By this means, having itching ears, they have heaped
to themselves teachers to turn away their ears from the truth
unto fables.
363
These false teachers have a strong hold on the minds of the
people; the rulers bear rule by their means, and most of the
people love to have it so. If anybody comes to change this order
of things, almost every man is up in arms against him. They are
so perfectly organized that it takes but a few devils to keep
them in subjection.
363
This makes me think of an old Chinese fable. A man travelling
through the country came to a large city, very rich and splendid;
he looked at it and said to his guide, "This must be a very
righteous people, for I can only see but one little devil in this
great city."
364
The guide replied, "You do not understand, sir. This city is so
perfectly given up to wickedness, corruption, degradation, and
abomination of every kind, that it requires but one devil to keep
them all in subjection."
364
Travelling on a little further, he came to a rugged path and saw
and old man trying to get up the hill side, surrounded by seven
great, big, coarse-looking devils.
364
"Why," says the traveller, "This must be a tremendously wicked
old man! Only see how many devils there are around him!"
364
"This," replied the guide, "is the only righteous man in the
country; and there are seven of the biggest devils trying to turn
him out of his path, and they all cannot do it."
364
The Devil has these Christian Priests and the whole world with
them so perfectly at his disposal, that it only takes a very few
devils to keep them all in subjection; and the whole legion of
devils have nothing to do but look after the "Mormons" and stir
up the hearts of the children of men to destroy them--to put them
out of existence.
364
If you will examine the public prints of the United States for
the last two years, you will find in them the most bloodthirsty
articles, cruel declamations, and awful imprecations, originating
from the pens of religious priests and their dupes. Say they, "If
we talk with the Mormons on principles or religion, the Bible, of
course, sustains them; if we talk with them on human rights,
those principles sustain them; if we talk with them on the
Constitution and laws of our country, these sustain them; if we
talk with them on the dealings of God with man, they get the
better of us; and our only way is to try and destroy them from
the earth."
364
This is the spirit that is being stirred up in the hearts of the
children of men. There have never been in reality but two
kingdoms on this earth--the kingdom of God and that of the Devil;
or, I will say, those who are willing to observe the principles
of truth and those who are not. The later array themselves
against the Saints.
364
A gentleman, with whom I came in contact while at Washington,
made this objection against "Mormonism." Talking about the
institution of plurality of wives, said he, "it never will
answer; it will break up all the whore-houses in the country; for
women would not abide in such establishments and sustain them, if
they could only have respectable and comfortable houses. This
polygamy system will smash up that (Christian) institution
altogether."
364
The spirit of opposition to "Mormonism" takes hold of the king on
his throne, the president in his chair, and all those
would-be-sacred priests--those holy hypocrites who stir up the
hearts of the people to seek to overthrow the work of God. High
and low, great and small are united in one grand union for the
destruction of the Saints of God, though they be deadly foes on
all other questions.
364
To endure this hatred--to be cursed, despised by his fiends,
jeered at by his neighbours and all who ever knew him, and to be
set down as a poor, cursed, worthless, good-for-nothing "Mormon"
fool, requires a courage in any man or woman who will step
forward to receive the pure principles of this Gospel, that is a
stranger in the heart of the greatest warrior that ever faced an
enemy on the battle-field.
364
It is the animosity of the Adversary that fills the hearts of the
children of men to overflowing, so that they desire to destroy
the Saints--so that they are filled with anger, violent wrath,
and indignation. But they know not the reason of these things.
365
Go and ask a Christian priest why he wants to put down
"Mormonism;" and if he would honestly acknowledge the truth, he
would say, "It will upset our trade, and," as the gentleman said
in Washington, "it will destroy our peculiar institutions." The
politicians say, "If the Mormons adopt the principle that honest
men are to come into power, and they succeed with that principle,
we shall be rooted up and our means of gain be taken from us."
365
You understand that a petition was sent from the Legislature of
this Territory, begging of the President of the United States to
send no more damned scoundrels here, but to send good men. Then
it went on to tell him, if he did not send good men, we were not
going to have them. It was considered by Congress and the great
men of this Government as one of the greatest outrages, and
equivalent to treason, because we said we would not receive the
cursedest scoundrels that could be scraped from the very scum of
the earth, and bow down to them and lick the dust of their feet.
365
We are right in this mater, whether we act as Saints of the Most
High God or as citizens of the Republic of the United States.
There could not be a greater outrage committed on any community
than to place over them, contrary to their choice, corrupt
demagogues to rule their destiny. The idea of forcing these
corrupt dogs on a community to rule it is what I call dogmatism.
365
I am not very familiar with the dictionary, but I will tell a
story that will illustrate my meaning. A fine fellow, who
considered himself smart, had married a learned lady, and he felt
very proud of her learning and education; and in order to be on a
par with her, he used many very pretty words, and, now-and-then,
one he did not understand the meaning of himself. On one occasion
he used the word dogmatism improperly. Says she, "My dear, what
is the meaning of that word?"
365
He drew down a hard face and said, "Dogmatism, dogmatism, my
dear,--why, it is full-grown puppyism."
365
I do consider that to undertake this kind of measure is
full-grown puppyism, whether it is to exterminate men for their
religion or to annihilate them from the earth for political
motives.
365
Every human being has rights; and it is a true principle, in all
governments upon the earth, that governors should rule by the
consent of the governed. But there is not a people on the face of
the earth that I know anything about, except the Later-day
Saints, that are actually governed in this way. In our
government, all our movements are by the unanimous consent of the
governed; and we are the only people on the earth that observe
this constitutional principle. Other people may try to do it to
some limited extent.
365
When men are placed as rulers and governors to control the
destinies of any people, they must do it by the consent of that
people, or it is unlawful, unconstitutional, unjust, unholy. God
himself does not rule the children of men upon any other
principle. "You can serve me, live under my dominion, observe my
laws, if you choose," says the Lord: "If not, you may serve the
devil and reap the reward that follows."
365
I forgot, however, that I was preaching a religious sermon when I
ran off into politics; but I have had my head a little charged
with politics of late; and consequently, when I undertake to
preach, it is natural for me to shoot off in that direction.
365
We, as a people, have to depend, to a great extent, upon the
policy we adopt. We have got to respect ourselves, at least, if
the world will not respect us. It will not be many years until
the world will understand that when they speak of us we are to be
respected. They will realize, feel, and understand this more and
more.
366
To be sure, we have submitted to them, suffered our houses to be
burned, and ourselves to be driven from our homes; we suffered
our friends to be murdered, and we have fled into the wilderness:
for 20 years we have fled before our enemies. But it is a long
road that never has a turn. The day will come when our enemies
will flee before us. There must be a change. Although they may
despise us, let them remember--an old adage has it--that despised
enemies are dangerous.
366
The time will shortly come when it will be considered better
policy for men to stay at home and mind their business than to be
marching a thousand miles to murder the "Mormons." The day will
come when it will be considered more for the health and happiness
of the human family to let the "Mormons" alone.
366
Brother Hyde, in addressing us this morning, spoke very strongly
about cutting out an ulcer. When any man goes to cutting off a
member of his body, he mars it. If he only chops off his big toe,
he cannot hop quite so good as he could before. So, when the
Government of the United States--our dear uncle, whom I have
always been so afraid of, chops off one member of the great
confederacy, the work of dismembering begins.
366
Peace has been taken from the earth, and there is little or no
confidence among the children of men; and while all the devils in
hell and all the priests upon the earth are at work to unite for
the extinction of the kingdom, it is in the mountains, pursuing
the even tenor of its way, every man minding his own business.
But, confusion will increase in the midst of the wicked--those
who are our enemies, and, as says the revelation, "the wicked
will slay the wicked."
366
The Lord says it is his business to take care of his Saints. The
safest place on the earth is in Zion. If you were in the city of
New York, San Francisco, St. Louis, or in any of those great
cities, and had 10 dollars in your pocket, a valuable penknife,
or a gold watch, and should happen to be walking in the streets
at night, you would be under the necessity of keeping a constant
guard, peradventure your life should be taken for the property in
your pocket. Policemen are not of much use. if you place two
policemen in a street, there will be four robberies; if you place
four, there will be eight robberies: they nearly all colleague
together, and no man that is decently dressed can lie down or
walk the streets in safety or quiet in any of those cities
without risking his life almost as much as he would in facing an
enemy on the battle-field.
366
These are solemn truths: they are what I have seen. Somebody is
after a stranger every moment he is in the streets, to rob him.
Is it so here? No. This is the safest place on this earth; and as
we learn more righteousness, divest ourselves more and more of
selfishness, and become more and more instructed in the intrinsic
value of earthly substance, compared with eternal riches, the
principle of safety will increase and the Millennium will
actually commence with this people.
367
There is yet in the hearts of our people, although the
reformation has done a great work, a spirit of selfishness. We
have got to divest ourselves of this principle; we have got to
become so perfectly stript of it that we will love the Lord our
God with all our hearts and our neighbours as ourselves, that our
hearts will not be set upon our own property or upon the property
of others, so as to covet the things that pertain to this world,
and that, with our whole soul, mind, and strength, we will desire
to serve the Lord our God,--that we would just as soon set fire
to our own dwellings, sacrifice our property, and flee into the
mountains, to dwell there in dens, caves, and holes, as did the
ancients, as dwell in palaces and enjoy the soft raiment of
kings.
367
Every man and woman should cultivate in their hearts a desire to
love the Lord, keep his commandments, and appreciate the spirit
and the freedom of the Gospel and the privilege and blessing of
the fulness of the holy Priesthood more than all the treasures
upon the face of the earth.
367
Do you recollect that when the children of Israel were invading
the land of Canaan, to drive out the Canaanites and inherit the
land, in some instances they coveted the property of their
enemies? In one instance, an individual stole a wedge of gold and
a Babylonish garment. Because of this, God was offended and
suffered Israel to be driven before their enemies. Let us not be
caught in this snare, but cast out from our hearts every
principle of covetousness, and let our desires be to serve the
Lord.
367
If our enemies will let us alone, we are rich enough, and can
enjoy all the comforts of life that we need to make us healthy
and happy, and we will spring forth a mighty people. If they do
not let us alone, God will preserve us and reward us for all the
sacrifices we have to make. Covet not anything that is theirs;
let not our spirits desire it, but in all things do as we are
counselled, and pray God for wisdom, knowledge, and intelligence
to live righteously, soberly, and be devoid of idolatry, to be
prepared to dwell as Gods and reign and have dominion in our time
and season.
367
Had it not been for the faith and works, the union and exertions
of the Saints, we might this day have had our streets paraded
with the martial forces of our enemies. But God has blessed us
for our faith and exertions--for our willingness to listen to the
counsel of him whom he has appointed to direct us, to be our
father and counsellor in Israel. Because they have to spend their
time in the mountains, some men may feel as though it is a waste
of both time and labour to no good. Others say, "We have been
robbed so many times of our homes, and so many of our friends
murdered, we would now like to draw the sword and slay our
enemies." If it had not been for this principle in the breasts of
many, I do not believe our enemies would ever have crossed the
South Pass.
367
I believe, if we, as a people, were of one heart and mind, and
would place ourselves in the right position before the Lord, and
ask him for what we need, that we never would have any serious
annoyance from our enemies. But it is a great labour to place the
whole people in this position.
367
I believe, for the time the work has been progressing, that the
people of Enoch's city were not more united than are the
inhabitants of these valleys. I believe the greatest work has
been performed towards bringing the children of men back into the
presence of God, since Joseph Smith commenced to preach the
Gospel to this generation, than ever was since the creation. It
requires all our faith and watchfulness to continue the work and
roll it on fast enough to keep out of the way of our enemies.
367
If there are any among us who have not obeyed the Gospel, now is
a good time for them to repent of their sins: or, if there are
any who have not renewed their covenants, now is a good time for
you to repent of your sins and be re-baptized for the remission
of them; and let it be our whole intent and only desire to serve
the Lord our God all the days of our lives. May the blessings of
Israel's God rest upon us, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 5 / John
Young, October 25, 1857
John Young, October 25, 1857
THE PRESENT CRISIS--THE PROSPECTS OF ZION AND THE FALL OF
BABYLON.
A Discourse by Patriarch John Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, October 25, 1857.
368
I am glad to be here and to bear my testimony of the truth. I
shall speak such things as may be presented to my mind by the
Holy Ghost. I know that I have the prayers of the Saints and of
the faithful servants of the Lord. I realize that their prayers
are always in behalf of those that are mouthpieces for the Lord.
368
I realize for myself that this is a time when it is necessary
that every man and every woman should enjoy the Spirit of the
Lord. The time has been when men and women in this Church and
kingdom could pass along without a great deal of the Spirit of
the heavens to rest upon them; but I want to observe to my
brethren and sisters, that that time has gone by; and no man or
woman that professes to be a Saint of the Most High can stand any
longer in this Church and kingdom unless they have faith in the
Son of God.
368
Our Prophets and Apostles have long been teaching to the people
that the time was near at hand when everything that could be
shaken should be shaken--that that which would not be shaken
should remain. You have often heard it proclaimed from the stand
that the time was near at hand when the line would be drawn. The
time has come that was spoken of by the Prophet Micah, when we
should discern betwixt him that serveth God and him that serveth
him not.
368
I realize, my brethren and sisters, that this is the day when we
need to have communion with the heavens--the day when we want the
Holy Comforter to abide with us continually; for I know it is a
graying time with the Saints; it is a turning-point; and I know
that none but the pure in heart can stand.
368
There never was a time since the Church was organized, that I
have any knowledge of, when there was more necessity for the
people being united then there is at this time; for we are told
that "union is strength;" and this is what we want at this time.
We all very well know and understand that we have no friends
abroad in the world out of this Church.
368
When I consider this, I am glad that I can say to-day and bear
testimony that there is now more union among the Saints than ever
there was before, since I have been in the Church.
368
Can I speak good concerning Israel to-day? I can. I have no
misgivings in my feelings; for I tell you, my brethren and
sisters, the Lord God Almighty is on our side. He is for us; and
who can be against us? I know there are persons who are against
us in their feelings. A few such are now before me who have their
misgivings: their faith is not concentrated. Sometimes they look
on one side of the picture, and sometimes on the other; and
sometimes, perhaps, the devils make them believe that we are all
going to be blown to the four winds by our enemies.
369
I can tell you the Devil does not sleep in these times; and
I do not believe that he has slept any for a long time; but he
works powerfully with the children of disobedience: therefore I
exhort you to be obedient.
369
"Well," says one, "I thought we were obedient." It is true there
is a very large majority that are; but this does not prove that
they are all so; and I know they are not.
369
I am thankful that things are as well with us as they are. I am
thankful that we have got Prophets and Apostles; and I know that
the Spirit of the Gods has rested upon them, and it is resting
upon them; and as long as the people will be obedient and do as
they are told, they have nothing to fear; for nothing can harm
them. But I can tell you what the Devil is doing. It is as the
Apostle said--"We are not altogether ignorant of the devices of
Satan."
369
Now, Satan is hard at work, and the Lord is at work, the angels
of heaven are at work, the fallen angel of heaven are at work;
and I tell you, in the name of the Lord, there is a mighty war.
"Well," says one, "who will conquer and overcome?" The Lord
Almighty will overcome; his Saints and his servants will
overcome.
369
I believe that the Scripture would apply very well to this people
which Jesus used to his disciples--"Fear not, little flock; for
it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
369
You perceive that they were small in numbers, for he called them
little. I can say to my brethren and sisters, "Fear not, for it
is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Zion is
free, and I rejoice in it. Talk about revelation; if there has
not been some of the greatest revelations given within one year
to the Saints of God, then I know nothing about it. Says one, "I
wish you would tell of one of them." Well, I will; for nothing
short of the Spirit of the living God, right from the Gods of
eternity, could have brought our military into the organization
that they are in now. I want to know how the Prophets of God
could have done that without revelation? They could not have done
it. Was there ever such an organization before? No, never since
the days of Moses. Then they had their captains of hundreds, of
fifties, and of tens; and no Prophets have gone into the
organization since that time; and I contend that this is by
revelation; and it was by the revelations of Jesus Christ that
these things were made manifest.
369
I feel thankful that we are where we are at the present time. We
have been driven; and sometimes I look at the present prospects
of the Church and compare it with the days of its infancy, and I
am perfectly astonished at the marvellous strides the work has
taken. We have been driven from one place to another and
afflicted, until, last of all, we have been driven into the
mountains, to fulfil the words of the Prophets; for it could not
have been done in any other way. The language of the poet will
apply very well here--
369
"God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform."
369
I thank my heavenly Father to-day that there is so goodly a
number of the Saints in the valleys of the mountains; and I know
that God will work all things together for our good. Our enemies
gave the kingdom one more jog than they intended to have done.
Before this we had always been in a place where they could pick
up a rock and throw it, and it would fall on to us; but now they
have to pick it up a good many times before it will reach us.
369
[Voice: "And it will fall on to them."]
370
The time has come when this Church and kingdom can no more be
amalgamated with any other kingdom. What was the reason that the
Lord could not destroy Sodom? It was because Lot was there, and
the Lord told him to go out; and when he had gone out, the city
and people of Sodom were destroyed. The Lord has destroyed wicked
nations at various times, and he has declared that he would
destroy the nations of the earth, and that Babylon should fall;
but that cannot be the case so long as this Church is
amalgamated, in any sense of the word, with it; therefore the
Lord has designed to cut the thread, and our independence was
declared the 24th of last July; and I was glad of it, and I feel
glad of it to-day. There is a good deal for us to do; and we are
required to straighten up and live our religion, so that we may
be enabled to sustain ourselves through the mighty struggle that
is to come.
370
I realize that it is time for the Saints to look about
themselves; and every man and every woman should be on the
watch-tower, wide awake, and have almighty faith in the Son of
God, and call mightily upon his name. Although brother Brigham
said here at Conference that there was not time to pray much, he
meant that we should not spend too much of our time in praying, I
suppose the war was uppermost in his mind, as it is in everybody
else's; but, in speaking to some brethren about it, I told them
that it was all "Mormonism."
370
You know there are some who neglect to pray, and there are others
who pray too much,--or, in other words, they do nothing else. But
I think some of our sisters might be a little more diligent in
their faith, prayers, and good works, while the brethren are in
the mountains to stand in the defence of Zion.
370
I understand that some of the sisters have a great many things to
attend to. I have understood that since our brethren have gone,
the sisters have undertaken to set things in order in the family.
But I think they had better let that alone. I know the Devil will
try every stratagem; and if he cannot make an inroad in one
place, he will in another; if he cannot get into the brethren, he
will try to get into their families, and he will work there and
set them at variance with each other.
370
I tell you it is time for us to cease quarrelling with each
other. We should be united in our families, in our
neighbourhoods, and in the kingdom of God. If we are united, we
shall stand and overcome: there is no mistake about that at all.
And if there should one-half of the people apostatize and go
away, the other half are pretty sure to stand. I heard brother
Brigham say that, if there are not more than fifty that keep the
faith and are united, the kingdom will be sure to stand.
370
It is a great thing for the brethren and sisters to be untied in
the cause of truth. I have travelled a great deal among the
brethren, especially in the southern settlements, and I never saw
half the union, the strength, the faith that is in the people at
this time; and as long as you will continue humble and faithful
to the Gospel, and keep the power of God in you, then our enemies
cannot have any power over us.
370
In every place where I have been and heard the Saints pray, they
have prayed for the Lord to confuse our enemies, to clothe them
with darkness, and to cause fear to come upon them. Has the Lord
heard our prayers? Yes, he has; for I have noticed dark clouds to
be travelling along the eastern mountains, and they move up and
down as the troops move; and my prayer is, that they may be
clothed with snow. That has been my prayer for some time; and I
still continue to pray for darkness to cover them.
371
Say one, "You are a hard-hearted man." I cannot help that. I love
to pray for my enemies; and in doing so I have fulfilled the word
of the Lord in that thing. I do not pray so much for our enemies
that are out here; but it is for the whole world. You know all
mankind--every class and society of mankind have got their
artillery pointed against this people.
371
The Devil and his emissaries are out against us. They want to
destroy our Prophet and to glut themselves with the blood of
innocence. There is not a spot where the Lord can tarry over
night outside of these valleys of the mountains; the rest of the
world is Babylon, in the strictest sense of the word.
371
Oh, how the Devil does labour to diffuse the spirit of Babylon
among the people. To do this he has sent his emissaries across
the Plains a thousand miles to bring destruction upon the Saints
of God; but the Lord Almighty has defeated them in their plans.
The angel of the Lord has stood in the way as much so as in the
days of the Prophets; and if our asses have not spoken, our boys
have, and the way of our enemies is hedged up so that they cannot
get here; and they never will, so long as the people will do as
they are told. This is a comfort to my heart. How I have longed
to see this day when the kingdom of God should be free--when the
Saints should enjoy their rights and privileges as Saints of the
Lord. This is what we have been labouring for. It is what Joseph
and all the Apostles have laboured for day and night,
unwaveringly.
371
When I look back upon the exertions which have been made to
spread the truth among the nations, to gather up Israel, I see
that it is beyond all that can be imagined. I am not master of
language enough to tell the thing as I see it; but suffice it to
say that this is the Zion of the Lord--this is the only place
where the Lord has a people. He has no place only with the
Latter-day Saints, because the Lord will not dwell in unholy
temples. He loves the pure in heart, and he dwells with them.
371
Brethren and sisters, let us be encouraged; for the day is ours,
the kingdom is ours, all is ours; for the Lord is on our side,
and we have nothing to be afraid of from our enemies. We have
more to be afraid of from ourselves than anything else; and as
long as men and women will do as they are told and keep it in
their hearts to do good continually, they are safe.
371
There is no need to fear about anything. Some of the brethren and
sisters feel fearful; sometimes they are weak: they do not feel
to do wrong--they have no wish to violate any law, but they are
subject to temptations and weaknesses.
371
There are some who know what it is to be driven from their homes,
and that in the dead of winter, cold and barefooted; and many of
those persons are here, and heave survived and come up to this
place with the Church. There may be trials equally as severe as
those already past; but if we do right, all will be well with us.
There never was a truer thing said, than that if this people have
to leave here, it will be for our good, for our salvation,
temporal and spiritual, and they will be better off than ever.
But still, if the people will keep humble and so as they are
told, they will stay here as long as they have a mind to, and
then go back and build the Temple in the centre stake of Zion.
371
Perhaps I do not feel right, but this is my feeling all the
time--that the Lord Almighty will deliver us, and we shall find
everything to work together for our salvation, for our good and
welfare, and for the welfare of Zion. I never heard nor read of
any people under heaven, when they were obedient to the Prophets
of God--to those that led them,--I say I never heard of such a
people being given into the hands of their enemies.
372
When the Nephites were given up to their enemies, it was
when they became wicked and disobedient, and made derision of the
Prophets and Apostles that were sent unto them; but when they
were obedient to their Apostles and Prophets and to the servants
of God, then their enemies had no power over them. So it is and
will be with this people.
372
I can speak good of Zion, for I know the people are obedient. I
have really thought in some places that the people would be
willing to sacrifice everything, if called upon to do it, and
also to lay down their lives for the cause of God and to carry
out the counsel of the servants of the Lord.
372
Every man and every woman seem determined to put forth their
hands to sustain the servants of God in the cause in which we are
engaged. It is generally said that actions speak louder than
words, and with us it is as brother Grant used to say, "Yankee
doodle, do it;" and as long as this people do this, all will
prosper with Israel.
372
The Saints who are filled with the Spirit of the living God like
to go and hear the servants of the Lord proclaim the words of
life and salvation.
372
I feel thankful, my brethren, that things are as well as they are
with us; and I feel thankful every day and every moment of my
life, and I see and realize a great deal more than I can express;
but I can truly say that I am not discouraged in the holy
warfare. I have always believed, from the first moment that I
heard this Gospel, that it is the work of God, and that it will
stand when all other kingdoms will go to ruin and sink into
oblivion.
372
We know that the kingdoms of Babylon must fall, and that this
kingdom must rise; for we know it is the kingdom of God; and I
have always known it ever since I embraced the work. I have had
no doubts in relation to its authenticity and truthfulness; but
all the ground I have gained and all the advancement I have made
has been at the point of the sword. To be sure I have been slow,
but the matter seems to be rooted and grounded in me; and my
prayer is that the Lord Almighty will preserve me in the faith,
and that he will keep me as in the hollow of his hand.
372
Everything goes to prove that this is the kingdom of God. I
remember that in the rise of this Church I used to argue with the
priests; and when they would contend that this was the kingdom of
the Devil, I would remark that it must fall; for a kingdom
divided against itself must fall to pieces.
372
This is the kingdom which Daniel spoke of, and I know it; and I
know that there are hundreds and thousands in these valleys of
the mountains that would lay down their lives before they would
deny one word of the principles of the Gospel to please anybody.
There are many who would suffer themselves to be massacred sooner
than deny the word of the Lord; but under all circumstances they
will testify to the truth.
372
I want my brethren and sisters to do right--to live by faith,
that they may be strong and powerful, and have mighty faith in
the Son of God, and power over our enemies, and strength to
overcome them; and we shall, ere long, become strong and terrible
in the sight of our enemies, when the children of Zion shall
return to the land that the Lord has designed for the building up
of a temple in the last days.
373
I do not wish to take up a great deal of time; but I do wish to
let the people know that I feel everything is right with us as a
people. I do not say it is so with every individual; but I know
that there are a very large majority who are right, and they show
their faith by their works. This pleases me, and it pleases all
the servants of God. I rejoice in these things continually; and,
brethren, let us be faithful, and we shall be immovable; for they
that trust in the Lord are to be as Mount Zion, that cannot be
moved.
373
When I am abroad, I try to do what I can to strengthen the
Saints, to build them up in the most holy faith, and to bless
them, that they may proper and become a sanctified people, that
we may all be prepared for the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ;
for he has declared that he would come to those that look for his
coming without sin unto salvation.
373
I believe that the time is not far distant when the servants of
God will commune more visibly with the heavens than they now do:
the time will come when they will commune with the angels; and I
believe there is a right place for it to begin.
373
I have understood, of late, that some of our brethren and sisters
have got a little ahead in this respect; but they had better let
such things alone, and be humble and faithful, and remember that
we cannot get higher than the head; for the fountain is as high
as we can go. If there are any who have a disposition to go ahead
of their leaders, I think they will find themselves in
difficulty. Brother Brigham says, "Tell them to go ahead." But I
can tell you they will go till their heads go against the dunce
block, and that will bring them up all standing.
373
I do not like to see men and women that want to be a little ahead
of anybody else--a little ahead of Prophets of God. The Spirit of
the Lord is liberally enjoyed by the Saints generally; and if
they continue, they will hold converse with the servants of God
who are behind the vail. But that time is not yet.
373
Some of the brethren and sisters tell of their receiving visits
from Joseph, Hyrum, brother Grant, and others. Such persons must
look out for their ship; for, if they do not watch, just as sure
as you are born, they will run under and be overcome. When a man
or woman comes and tells me that he or she is visited by the
Prophets and Apostles that are gone beyond the vail, and that
they have these communications day and night, and all the
time,--that they have the opportunity of conversing with the
spirits of just men made perfect,--I will just say that the Devil
is in them, and not the Lord. I wonder if the Lord loves them so
much better than the Prophets that he would send to them all the
heavenly hosts?
373
I do not know that it is my business to say anything about this;
but brother Kimball told me I might say what I pleased. I can
tell you the Devil has left the great chair in hell; for his
emissaries could not accomplish what he desired they should;
therefore he has come to see to it himself. Why, bless you,
Lucifer has nothing to do in the world; for one of his imps can
keep all Babylon going and keep them in eternal night. But let a
man go through the world, having the principles of salvation in
him, and I tell you the Devil and his hosts will growl. But here,
in the Territory of Utah, it is different: we can stand forth and
boldly declare our views and religious opinions.
373
Still, brethren, you need not think that you have yet got rid of
them; for the devils will be after the Saints of God: therefore
be careful and keep them out of your tabernacles.
374
"What shall I do?" says one. Why, keep your mouth shut when you
have no need to open it, and the devils won't get in at your
ears. James, the Apostle, said that the tongue was an unruly
member, and that it set all the rest on fire; and there is
considerable truth in the saying. If you cannot keep your tongue
still, put it between your teeth and hold it there until you can
control it; and I will promise that, if you will do that, the
Devil cannot do much with you; but I can assure you that he will
play upon the tongue. And you know when he gets the women going,
their tongues are as limber as a bird's wing.
374
I am not in the habit of saying much about the women. But they
are said to be the weaker vessel but I tell you some of them
carry mighty heavy sail. I advise you, sisters, to take in your
extra sail. Talk of being the weaker vessel, and carrying such a
superabundance of sail! Sisters, live in peace with each other,
and do not allow yourselves to be fault-finding, but peaceable
and happy together.
374
Some may enquire, "Do you not mean your own family?" Yes, I do
exactly; for I expect they need it as much as any other.
374
I saw the Devil's looking-glass once. In it the faults of others
are written in capital letters, but our own are all kept in the
dark. When the Devil presents his magnifying-glass, do not allow
him to overcome you. I have told you to shut your mouths; and
now, when the Devil's looking-glass is brought before you, I tell
you to shut your eyes. You have no occasion to read; for if you
do, you will read the faults of every creature but your own,
especially of those that you are most intimately associated with.
374
The Devil does not care how he cheats a man or a woman out of
their souls, so that he is able to accomplish that. He desires to
torture us all that he can. Let us get the Spirit of the Lord,
and retain it; for the work of our common adversary is to
overcome the kingdom of our Father, and he works in various ways
and tries every stratagem in his power whereby he can afflict the
Saints of God.
374
One of the Apostles has told us that if we would resist the
Devil, being steadfast in the faith, he would leave us; and I
know that he won't have any power over us if we are faithful. I
desire to be delivered from his grasp and power; for I know he is
a powerful foe. He has spread his vail of darkness over the whole
world, and he is acknowledged to be the prince and power of the
air: in a greater or less degree he controls the elements, and
endeavours to do it to the destruction of the Saints; but the
Lord Almighty controls him and listens to the voice of his
servants who trust in him, and he holds them as in the hollow of
his hand and under the pavilion of his wings.
374
The reason that the people are now so much untied is because they
are living better than ever they were before; and the time is
near at hand when there will be a highway cast up for the people
of God, and their deliverance will be wrought out. The principles
of salvation are portrayed from this stand; and if we deviate
from that way, Satan will have power over us.
374
Many of you who are acquainted with the works of John Bunyan will
doubtless recollect the place where he talks about the trials of
Christian, and his description of the lions and the tigers in the
way, so placed and stationed on each side of Christian that, if
he should deviate from the narrow path, he is in the power of the
lions and tigers; but if he keeps in that path; he is safe.
374
Now, the Almighty has laws by which he works, and he has pointed
out the path, which is so plain that it has been said that a fool
may see to walk therein.
375
Let us be careful and do our duty, for we have got the game to
play. Let us be faithful and honourable and keep the Spirit of
God. Let us so conduct ourselves and so order our lives before
our heavenly Father, that we will feel the approbation of heaven,
so that we shall have the testimony of Jesus, the Spirit of the
Lord, in us day after day.
375
When we have this spirit in us we can say, All is well. Then,
when I meet a man or a woman and ask them how they are, I can
feel well, for I can see the Spirit of truth in them. I have met
a number of the Saints of late, and enquired, "How is it with
you?" "Oh, all is right; the truth triumphs." There never was a
time, since the kingdom was organized in the last days, when the
Saints felt so well as they do now. It is so in every place. The
Saints feel this same Spirit on the other side of the planet and
upon the remotest island of the seas. They feel better, and why?
Because ZION IS FREE! The Saints know this, feel it, and bear
testimony of it.
375
We hear of wars and rumours of wars; and these are some of the
sings which Jesus spoke of when he said, "And this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come." (Matt. xxi. 14.)
375
The messengers of salvation have been sent from this
place--scores and hundreds of them: they have travelled thousands
of miles over deserts and mountains to go to hell, if you please,
to bear testimony of the truth. I have a testimony in my heart
that the servants of God who have been out for the few years past
have been faithful, and they have been to almost every nation
upon earth.
375
What will come next? Why, they will be warned by thunderings, by
lightnings, by pestilence, and by fearful sights,--men's hearts
failing them for fear of those things that are coming upon the
earth. After their testimony, these things will come; and I know
that the time is near at hand when Babylon will fall.
375
Let us be a sanctified people, and keep our everything that is
calculated to drive us asunder; for "union is strength;" and the
Lord has said that except we are one we are not his. I desire to
see this people united in one.
375
The Lord saw that it was necessary that there should be a
reformation; and he inspired his servants to call upon the people
and to wake them up out of their sleep; and if this had not been
done, how would it have been? How good the Lord was to wake us up
by his servants who stand upon the watch-tower of Zion! They have
called upon the people to wake up, and the people have complied;
and I thank my heavenly Father for it. There is now a good
feeling throughout the Territory where I have been; there is
union among the people; but still there are some things that I
could wish were otherwise.
375
If you will be humble and faithful to the counsel of the servants
of God, not a hair of your heads shall fall. I have felt to say
to the brethren whom I have blessed, "If you will trust in the
Lord, there is no weapon formed against you that shall prosper."
I see now the reason that I was so led; and I feel to assure them
that the Lord is able to preserve them by the Priesthood, and I
do not think nor feel that the brethren will have any fighting
this season, but am rather of the opinion that the Lord intends
to fight the battles himself, and to send them down to hell.
375
I am not a man of blood; but I want to see the cause of Zion
flourish. I know the feelings of my brethren who have been driven
by the poor, miserable devils from Kirtland to Missouri, and from
there to Illinois, then across to Mississippi, and over the
Plains to the valleys of the mountains; and yet the poor curses
cannot let us alone.
376
I can tell you that the time is near when He will reign
whose right it is to reign; and when the Son of Man comes again,
we intend that he shall have a place where to lay his head, and
not be as he was when he came before. We are but few, but we are
able to do mighty things in the strength of Israel's God. Our
enemies have got the arm of Jehovah to fight against, and he will
work for the salvation of Zion; for the cause of the Lord hangs
upon his arm; and inasmuch as we do right, he will make this a
sifting-machine, and the hypocrites will be found out, Satan's
kingdom will be overthrown, the Saints of God will possess the
land, and it will not be a great while before the Church will go
back and take possession of their inheritances.
376
I can say, for the benefit of our brethren that are out in the
mountains, that there are hosts of angels with them all the time.
I have prayed that the Lord would be a strong tower, a
hiding-place, a buckler, and a shield to his people; and I know
he will be.
376
I see that the Saints are going to be free: they are no more
going to be bound with the cursed yoke of the Gentiles. You will
never feel it from this time henceforth and for ever. We have
worn it long enough, as long as he wants us to wear it.
376
The servants of God want the chaff and bran to be sifted out.
There is no danger of the pure wheat being hurt; for it will
stand through all the processes. The pure gold will endure the
burnings, and troubles, and drivings.
376
Jesus had enemies when he was upon the earth. He has them now,
and always will have until he subdues the kingdom of Satan and
reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. And that this time may
be hastened is my constant prayer.
376
May the Lord bless us all. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6
Journal of Discourses,
Volume 6
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 / Joseph
Smith, April 6, 1844
Joseph Smith, April 6, 1844
CHARACTER AND BEING OF GOD--CREATION--SALVATION OF THE DEAD--THE
UNPARDONABLE SIN--RESURRECTION--BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT, ETC.
A Discourse, by President Joseph Smith,
delivered at the Conference held near the Temple,
in Nauvoo, April 6, 1844.
Reported by W. Richards, W. Woodruff, T. Bullock, and W. Clayton
Smith
Beloved Saints,--I will call the attention of this congregation
while I address you on the subject of the dead. The decease of
our beloved brother, Elder King Follett, who was crushed in a
well by the falling of a tub of rock, has more immediately led me
to that subject. I have been requested to speak by his friends
and relatives; but inasmuch as there are a great many in this
congregation who live in this city, as well as elsewhere, who
have lost friends, I feel disposed to speak on the subject in
general, and offer you my ideas so far as I have ability and so
far as I shall be inspired by the Holy Spirit to dwell on this
subject.
Smith
I want your prayers and faith that I may have the instruction of
Almighty God and the gift of the Holy Ghost, so that I may set
forth things that are true and which can be easily comprehended
by you, and that the testimony many carry conviction to your
hearts and minds of the truth of what I shall say. Pray that the
Lord may strengthen my lungs, stay the winds, and let the prayers
of the Saints to heaven appear, that they may enter into the ears
of the Lord of Sabaoth; for the effectual prayers of the
righteous avail much. There is strength here; and I verily
believe that your prayers will be heard.
Smith
Before I enter fully into the investigation of the subject which
is lying before me, I wish to pave the way and bring up the
subject from the beginning, that you may understand it. I will
make a few preliminaries, in order that you may understand the
subject when I come to it. I do not calculate or intend to please
your ears with superfluity of words, or oratory, or with much
learning; but I calculate to edify you with the simple truths
from heaven.
Smith
In the first place, I wish to go back to the beginning--to the
morn of creation. There is the starting-point for us to look to,
in order to understand and be fully acquainted with the mind,
purposes, and decrees of the great Eloheim, who sits in yonder
heavens as he did at the creation of this world. It is necessary
for us to have an understanding of God himself in the beginning.
If we start right, it is easy to go right all the time; but if we
start wrong, we may go wrong, and it will be a hard matter to get
right.
Smith
There are but a very few beings in the world who understand
rightly the character of God. The great majority of mankind do
not comprehend anything, either that which is past or that which
is to come, as respects their relationship to God. They do not
know, neither do they understand the nature of that relationship;
and, consequently, they know but little above the brute beast, or
more than to eat, drink, and sleep. This is all man knows about
God or his existence, unless it is given by the inspiration of
the almighty.
Smith
If a man learns nothing more than to eat, drink, and sleep, and
does not comprehend any of the designs of God, the beast
comprehends the same thing. It eats, drinks, sleeps, and knows
nothing more about God: yet it knows as much as we, unless we are
able to comprehend by the inspiration of Almighty God. If men do
not comprehend the character of God they do not comprehend
themselves. I want to go back to the beginning, and so lift your
minds into a more lofty sphere and a more exalted understanding
than what the human mind generally aspires to.
Smith
I want to ask this congregation--every man, women, and child, to
answer the question in their own heart, what kind of a being God
is? Ask yourselves; turn your thoughts into your hearts, and say
if any of you have seen, heard, or communed with him. This is a
question that may occupy your attention for a long time. I again
repeat the question--What kind of a being is God? Does any man or
woman know? Have any of you seen him, heard him, or communed with
him? Here is the question that will peradventure from this time
henceforth occupy your attention. The Scriptures inform us that
"This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true
God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."
Smith
If any man does not know God, and inquires what kind of a being
he is,--if he will search diligently his own heart--if the
declarations of Jesus and the Apostles be true--he will realize
that he has not eternal life; for there can be eternal life on no
other principle.
Smith
My first object is to find out the character of the only wise and
true God, and what kind of a being he is; and if I am so
fortunate as to be the man to comprehend God, and explain or
convey the principles to your hearts, so that the Spirit seals
them upon you, then let every man and woman henceforth sit in
silence, put their hands on their mouths, and never lift their
hands or voices or say anything against the man of God or the
servants of God again. But if I fail to do it, it becomes my duty
to renounce all further pretensions to revelations, inspirations,
or to be a Prophet; and I should be like the rest of the world--a
false teacher, be hailed as a friend, and no man would seek my
life. But if all religious teachers were honest enough to
renounce their pretensions to godliness, when their ignorance of
the knowledge of God is made manifest, they will all be as badly
off as I am, at any rate; and you might just as well take the
lives of other false teachers as that of mine, if I am false. If
any man is authorized to take away my life because he thinks and
says I am a false teacher, then, upon the same principle, we
should be justified in taking away the life of every false
teacher; and where would be the end of blood? and who would not
be the sufferer?
Smith
But meddle not with any man for his religion; and all governments
ought to permit every man to enjoy his religion unmolested. No
man is authorized to take away life in consequence of difference
of religion, which all laws and governments ought to tolerate and
protect, right or wrong. Every man has a natural and, in our
country, a constitutional right to be a false prophet as well as
a true prophet. If I show, verily, that I have the truth of God,
and show that ninety-nine out of every hundred professing
religious ministers are false teachers, having no authority,
while they pretend to hold the keys of God's kingdom on earth,
and was to kill them because they are false teachers, it would
deluge the whole world with blood.
Smith
I will prove that the world is wrong, by showing what God is. I
am going to inquire after God; for I want you all to know him and
to be familiar with him; and if I can bring you to a knowledge of
him, all persecutions against me ought to cease. You will then
know that I am his servant; for I speak as one having authority.
Smith
I will go back to the beginning, before the world was, to show
what kind of a being God is. What sort of a being was God in the
beginning? Open your ears and hear, all ye ends of the earth; for
I am going to prove it to you by the Bible, and to tell you the
designs of God in relation to the human race, and why he
interferes with the affairs of man.
Smith
God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and
sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the great secret. If
the vail was rent to-day, and the great God who holds this world
in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his
power, was to make himself visible,--I say, if you were to see
him to-day, you would see him like a man in form--like
yourselves, in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for
Adam was created in the very fashion, image, and likeness of God,
and received instruction from, and walked, talked, and conversed
with him, as one man talks and communes with another.
Smith
In order to understand the subject of the dead, for the
consolation of those who mourn for the loss of their friends, it
is necessary that we should understand the character and being of
God, and how he came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God
came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God
from all eternity, I will refute that idea, and will take away
and do away the vail, so that you may see.
Smith
These are incomprehensible ideas to some; but they are simple. It
is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the
character of God and to know that we may converse with him as one
man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us;
yea, that God himself the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth the
same as Jesus Christ himself did; and I will show it from the
Bible. I wish I was in a suitable place to tell it, and that I
had the trump of an archangel, so that I could tell the story in
such a manner that persecution would cease for ever. What did
Jesus say? (Mark it, Elder Rigdon.) The Scriptures inform us that
Jesus said, "As the Father hath power in himself, even so hath
the Son power"--to do what? Why, what the Father did. The answer
is obvious--in a manner, to lay down his body and take it up
again. Jesus, what are you going to do? To lay down my life, as
my Father did, and take it up again. Do you believe it? If you do
not believe it, you do not believe the Bible. The Scriptures say
it, and I defy all the learning and wisdom and all the combined
powers of earth and hell together to refute it.
Smith
Here, then, is eternal life--to know the only wise and true God;
and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be
kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before
you,--namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from
a small capacity to a great one,--from grace to grace, from
exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of
the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings and to
sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power.
And I want you to know that God, in the last days, while certain
individuals are proclaiming his name, is not trifling with you or
me.
Smith
These are the first principles of consolation. How consoling to
the mourners, when they are called to part with a husband, wife,
father, mother, child, or dear relative, to know that, although
the earthly tabernacle is laid down and dissolved, they shall
rise again, to dwell in everlasting burnings in immortal glory,
not to sorrow, suffer, or die any more; but they shall be heirs
of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. What is it? To inherit
the same power, the same glory, and the same exaltation, until
you arrive at the station of a God and ascend the throne of
eternal power, the same as those who have gone before. What did
Jesus do? Why, I do the things I saw my Father do when worlds
come rolling into existence. My Father worked out his kingdom
with fear and trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get
my kingdom, I shall present it to my Father, so that he may
obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt him in glory. He
will then take a higher exaltation, and I will take his place,
and thereby become exalted myself. So that Jesus treads in the
track of his Father, and inherits what God did before; and God is
thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all
his children. It is plain beyond disputation; and you thus learn
some of the first principles of the Gospel, about which so much
hath been said.
Smith
When you climb a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend
step by step until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the
principles of the Gospel: you must begin with the first, and go
on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will
be a great while after you have passed through the vail before
you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in
this world: it will be a great work to learn our salvation and
exaltation even beyond the grave. I suppose I am not allowed to
go into an investigation of anything that is not contained in the
Bible. If I did, I think there are so many over-wise men here,
that they would cry "treason" and put me to death. So I will go
to the old Bible and turn commentator to-day.
Smith
I shall comment on the very first Hebrew word in the Bible. I
will make a comment on the very first sentence of the history of
creation in the Bible--Berosheit. I want to analyze the word.
Baith--in, by, through, and everything else. Rosh--the head.
Sheit--grammatical termination. When the inspired man wrote it,
he did not put the Baith there. An old Jew, without any
authority, added the word. He thought it too bad to begin to talk
about the head! It read first, "The head one of the Gods brought
forth the Gods." That is the true meaning of the words. Baurau
signified to bring forth. If you do not believe it, you do not
believe the learned man of God. Learned men can teach you no more
than what I have told you. Thus, the head God brought forth the
Gods in the grand council.
Smith
I will transpose and simplify if in the English language. Oh, ye
lawyers, ye doctors, and ye priests, who have persecuted me, I
want to let you know that the Holy Ghost knows something as well
as you do. The head God called together the Gods and sat in grand
council to bring forth the world. The grand counsellors sat at
the head in yonder heavens, and contemplated the creation of the
worlds which were created at that time. When I say doctors and
lawyers, I mean the doctors and lawyers of the Scriptures. I have
done so hitherto without explanation, to let the lawyers flutter,
and everybody laugh at them. Some learned doctor might take a
notion to say the Scriptures say thus and so; and we must believe
the Scriptures; they are not to be altered. But I am going to
show you an error in them.
Smith
I have an old edition of the New Testament in the Hebrew, Latin,
German, and Greek languages. I have been reading the German, and
find it to be the most correct translation, and to correspond
nearest to the revelations which God has given to me for the last
fourteen years. It tells about Jachoboy, the son of Zebedee. It
means Jacob. In the English New Testament it is translated James.
Now, if Jacob had the keys, you might talk about James through
all eternity, and never get the keys. In the 21st verse of the
fourth chapter of Matthew, my old German edition gives the word
Jacob instead of James.
Smith
The doctors (I mean doctors of law, not of physic,) say, "If you
preach anything not according to the Bible, we will cry treason."
How can we escape the damnation of hell, except God be with us
and reveal to us? Men bind us with chains. The Latin says
Jachabod, which means Jacob; the Hebrew says Jacob, the Creek
says Jacob, and the German says Jacob. Here we have the testimony
of four against one. I thank God I have got this old book; but I
thank him more for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I have got the
oldest book in the world; but I have got the oldest book in my
heart, even the gift of the Holy Ghost. I have all the four
Testaments. Come here, ye learned men, and read, if you can. I
should not have introduced this testimony, were it not to back up
the word Rosh--the head, the father of the Gods. I should not
have brought it up, only to show that I am right.
Smith
In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the
Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the
world and people it. When we begin to learn in this way, we begin
to learn the only true God and what kind of a being we have got
to worship. Having a knowledge of God, we begin to know how to
approach him and how to ask so as to receive an answer.
Smith
When we understand the character of God and know how to come to
him, he begins to unfold the heavens to us and to tell us all
about it. When we are ready to come to him, he is ready to come
to us.
Smith
Now, I ask all who hear me, why the learned men who are preaching
salvation say that God created the heavens and the earth out of
nothing? The reason is, that they are unlearned in the things of
God and have not the gift of the Holy Ghost. They account it
blasphemy in any one to contradict their idea. If you tell them
that God made the world out of something, they will call you a
fool. But I am learned, and know more than all the world put
together. The Holy Ghost does, anyhow; and he is within me, and
comprehends more than all the world; and I will associate myself
with him.
Smith
You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made
out of nothing; and they will answer, "Don't the Bible say he
created the world?" And they infer, from the word create, that it
must have been made out of nothing. How, the word create came
from the word baurau, which does not mean to create out of
nothing; it means to organize--the same as a man would organize
materials and build a ship. Hence we infer that God had materials
to organize the world out of chaos--chaotic matter, which is
element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an
existence from the time He had. The pure principles of element
are principles which can never be destroyed: they may be
organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no
beginning, and can have no end.
Smith
I have another subject to dwell upon, which is calculated to
exalt man. But it is impossible for me to say much on this
subject. I shall, therefore, just touch upon it; for time will
not permit me to say all. It is associated with the subject of
the resurrection of the dead--namely, the soul, the mind of man,
the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and
doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning. But
it is not so. The very idea lessons man in my estimation. I do
not believe the doctrine. I know better. Here it, all ye ends of
the world; for God has told me so; and if you don't believe me,
it will not make the truth without effect. I will make a man
appear a fool before I get through, if he does not believe it. I
am going to tell of things more noble.
Smith
We say that God himself is a self-existent being. Who told you
so? It is correct enough; but how did it get into your heads? Who
told you that man did not exist in like manner upon the same
principles? Man does exist upon the same principles. God made a
tabernacle and put a spirit into it, and it became a living soul.
[Referred to the old Bible.] How does it read in the Hebrew? It
does not say in the Hebrew that God created the spirit of man. It
says, "God made man out of the earth, and put into him Adam's
spirit, and so became a living body."
Smith
The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is coequal with
God himself. I know that my testimony is true; hence, when I talk
to these mourners, what have they lost? Their relatives and
friends are only separated from their bodies for a short season:
their spirits which existed with God have left the tabernacle of
clay only for a little moment, as it were; and they now exist in
a place where they converse together the same as we do on the
earth.
Smith
I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it
logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and
yet that it had a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no
beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That
which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time
when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal with our
Father in heaven.
Smith
I want to reason more on the spirit of man; for I am dwelling on
the body and spirit of man--on the subject of the dead. I take my
ring from my finger and liken it unto the mind of man--the
immortal part, because it has no beginning. Suppose you cut it in
two, then it has a beginning and an end; but join it again, and
it continues one eternal round. So with the spirit of man. As the
Lord liveth, if it had a beginning it will have an end. All the
fools and learned and wise men from the beginning of creation,
who say that the spirit of man had a beginning, prove that it
must have an end; and if that doctrine is true, then the doctrine
of annihilation would be true. But if I am right, I might with
boldness proclaim from the housetops that God never had the power
to create the spirit of man at all. God himself could not create
himself.
Smith
Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a self-existent
principle. It is a spirit from age to age, and there is no
creation about it. All the minds and spirits that God ever sent
into the world are susceptible of enlargement.
Smith
The first principles of man are self-existent with God. God
himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory,
because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws
whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself.
The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to
advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct
the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with himself,
so that they might have one glory upon another, and all that
knowledge, power, glory, and intelligence which is requisite in
order to save them in the world of spirits.
Smith
This is good doctrine. It tastes good. I can taste the principles
of eternal life, and so can you. They are given to me by the
revelations of Jesus Christ; and I know that when I tell you
these words of eternal life as they are given to me, you taste
them, and I know you believe them. You say honey is sweet, and so
do I. I can also taste the spirit of eternal life. I know it is
good; and when I tell you of these things which were given me by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you are bound to receive them as
sweet, and I rejoice more and more.
Smith
I want to talk more of the relation of man to God. I will open
your eyes in relation to your dead. All things whatsoever God of
his infinite wisdom has seen fit and proper to reveal to us,
while we are dwelling in mortality, in regard to our mortal
bodies, are revealed to us in the abstract and independent of
affinity of this mortal tabernacle; but are revealed to our
spirits precisely as though we had no bodies at all; and those
revelations which will save our spirits will save our bodies. God
reveals them to us in view of no eternal dissolution of the body,
or tabernacle. Hence the responsibility--the awful responsibility
that rests upon us in relation to our dead; for all the spirits
who have not obeyed the Gospel in the flesh must either obey it
in the spirit or be damned. Solemn thought!--dreadful thought! Is
there nothing to be done? No preparation--no salvation for our
fathers and friends who have died without having had the
opportunity to obey the decrees of the Son of Man? Would to God
that I had forty days and nights in which to tell you all! I
would let you know that I am not a "fallen prophet."
Smith
What promises are made in relation to the subject of the
salvation of the dead? and what kind of characters are those who
can be saved, although their bodies are mouldering and decaying
in the grave? When his commandments teach us, it is in view of
eternity; for we are looked upon by God as though we were in
eternity. God dwells in eternity, and does not view things as we
do.
Smith
The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon
us is to seek after our dead. The Apostle says, "They without us
cannot be made perfect;" for it is necessary that the sealing
power should be in our hands to seal our children and our dead
for the fulness of the dispensation of times--a dispensation to
meet the promises made by Jesus Christ before the foundation of
the world for the salvation of man.
Smith
Now, I will speak of them. I will meet Paul half-way. I say to
you, Paul, you cannot be perfect without us. It is necessary that
those who are gone before and those who come after us should have
salvation in common with us; and thus hath God made it obligatory
upon man. Hence God said, "I will send Elijah the prophet before
the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he
shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the
hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite
the earth with a curse."
Smith
I have a declaration to make as to the provisions which God hath
made to suit the conditions of man, made from before the
foundation of the world. What has Jesus said? All sins, and all
blasphemies, and every transgression, except one, that man can be
guilty of, may be forgiven; and there is a salvation for all men,
either in this world or the world to come, who have not committed
the unpardonable sin, there being a provision either in this
world or the world of spirits. Hence God hath made a provision
that every spirit in the eternal world can be ferreted out and
saved, unless he has committed that unpardonable sin which cannot
be remitted to him either in this world or the world of spirits.
God has wrought out a salvation for all men, unless they have
committed a certain sin; and every man who has a friend in the
eternal world can save him, unless he has committed the
unpardonable sin. And so you can see how far you can be a
saviour.
Smith
A man cannot commit the unpardonable sin after the dissolution of
the body, and there is a way possible for escape. Knowledge saves
a man; and in the world of spirits no man can be exalted but by
knowledge. So long as a man will not give heed to the
commandments, he must abide without salvation. If a man has
knowledge, he can be saved; although, if he has been guilty of
great sins, he will be punished for them. But when he consents to
obey the Gospel, whether here or in the world of spirits, he is
saved.
Smith
A man is his own tormentor and his own condemner. Hence the
saying, They shall go into the lake that burns with fire and
brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is as
exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone. I say, so is
the torment of man.
Smith
I know the Scriptures and understand them. I said no man can
commit the unpardonable sin after the dissolution of the body,
nor in this life until he received the Holy Ghost; but they must
do it in this world. Hence the salvation of Jesus Christ was
wrought out for all men in order to triumph over the Devil; for
if it did not catch him in one place, it would in another; for he
stood up as a Saviour. All will suffer until they obey Christ
himself.
Smith
The contention in heaven was--Jesus said there would be certain
souls that would not be saved; and the Devil said he could save
them all, and laid his plans before the grand council, who gave
their vote in favour of Jesus Christ. So the Devil rose up in
rebellion against God, and was cast down, with all who put up
their heads for him.
Smith
All sins shall be forgiven except the sin against the Holy Ghost;
for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a
man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy
Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then
sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost,
there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun
does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ
when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan
of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that
time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many
apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Smith
When a man begins to be an enemy to this work, he hunts me; he
seeks to kill me, and never ceases to thirst for my blood. He
gets the spirit of the Devil--the same spirit that they had who
crucified the Lord of Life,--the same spirit that sins against
the Holy Ghost. You cannot save such persons; you cannot bring
them to repentance: they make open war like the Devil, and awful
is the consequence.
Smith
I advise all of you to be careful what you do, or you may
by-and-by find out that you have been deceived. Stay yourselves;
do not give way; don't make any hasty moves: you may be be saved.
If a spirit of bitterness is in you, don't be in haste. You may
say that man is a sinner. Well, if he repents, he shall be
forgiven. Be cautious: await! When you find a spirit what wants
bloodshed--murder, the same is not of God, but is of the Devil.
Out of the abundance of the heart of man the mouth speaketh.
Smith
The best men bring forth the best works. The man who tells you
words of life is the man who can save you. I warn you against all
evil characters who sin against the Holy Ghost; for there is no
redemption for them in this world nor in the world to come.
Smith
I could go back and trace every subject of interest concerning
the relationship of man to God, if I had time. I can enter into
the mysteries; I can enter largely into the eternal worlds; for
Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
(John 14th chap., 2nd v.) Paul says, "There is one glory of the
sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the
stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also
is the resurrection of the dead." (1st Cor. 15th chap., 41st v.)
What have we to console us in relation to the dead? We have
reason to have the greatest hope and consolations for our dead of
any people on the earth; for we have seen them walk worthily in
our midst, and seen them sink asleep in the arms of Jesus; and
those who have died in the faith are now in the celestial kingdom
of God. And hence is the glory of the sun.
Smith
You mourners have occasion to rejoice (speaking of the death of
Elder King Follett); for your husband and father is gone to wait
until the resurrection of the dead--until the perfection of the
remainder; for at the resurrection your friend will rise in
perfect felicity and go to celestial glory, while many must wait
myriads of years before they can receive the like blessings; and
your expectations and hopes are far above what man can conceive;
for why has God revealed it to us?
Smith
I AM AUTHORIZED to say, by the authority of the Holy Ghost, that
you have no occasion to fear; for he is gone to the home of the
just. Don't mourn; don't weep. I know it by the testimony of the
Holy Ghost that is within me; and you may wait for your friends
to come forth to meet you in the morn of the celestial world.
Smith
Rejoice, O Israel! Your friends who have been murdered for the
truth's sake in the persecution shall triumph gloriously in the
celestial world, while their murderers shall welter for ages in
torment, even until they shall have paid the uttermost farthing.
I say this for the benefit of strangers.
Smith
I have a father, brothers, children, and friends who have gone to
a world of spirits. They are only absent for a moment. They are
in the spirit, and we shall soon meet again. The time will soon
arrive when the trumpet shall sound. When we depart, we shall
hail our mothers, fathers, friends, and all whom we love who have
fallen asleep in Jesus. There will be no fear of mobs,
persecutions, or malicious law-suits and arrests; but it will be
an eternity of felicity.
Smith
A question may be asked--"Will mothers have their children in
eternity?" Yes! yes! Mothers, you shall have your children; for
they shall have eternal life; for their debt is paid. There is no
damnation awaits them, for they are in the spirit. But as the
child dies, so shall it rise from the dead, and be for ever
living in the learning of God. It will never grow: it will still
be the child, in the same precise form as it appeared before it
died out of its mother's arms, but possessing all the
intelligence of a God. Children dwell in the mansions of glory
and exercise power, but appear in the same form as when on earth.
Eternity is full of thrones, upon which dwell thousands of
children reigning on thrones of glory, with not one cubit added
to their stature.
Smith
I will leave this subject here, and make a few remarks on the
subject of baptism. The baptism of water, without the baptism of
fire and the Holly Ghost attending it, is of no use: they are
necessary and inseparably connected. An individual must be born
of water and the spirit in order to get into the kingdom of God.
In the German, the text bears me out the same as the revelations
which I have given and taught for the last fourteen years on that
subject. I have the testimony to put in their teeth. My testimony
has been true all the time. You will find it in the declaration
of John the Baptist. [Reads from the German.] John says, "I
baptise you with water; but when Jesus comes, who has the power
(or keys), he shall administer the baptism of fire and the Holy
Ghost." Great God! where is now all the sectarian world? And if
this testimony is true, they are all damned as clearly as
anathema can do it. I know the text is true. I call upon all you
Germans who know that it is true to say aye. (Loud shouts of
aye.)
Smith
Alexander Campbell, how are you going to save people with water
alone? For John said his baptism was good for nothing without the
baptism of Jesus Christ. "Therefore, not leaving the principles
of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not
laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of
faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on
of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal
judgment. And this will we do, if God permit." (Heb. 6th chap.,
1st to 3rd v.)
Smith
There is one God, one Father, one Jesus, one hope of our calling,
one baptism. All these three baptisms only make one. Many talk of
baptism not being essential to salvation: but this kind of
teaching would lay the foundation of their damnation. I have the
truth, and am at the defiance of the world to contradict me if
they can.
Smith
I have now preached a little Latin, a little Hebrew, Greek, and
German; and I have fulfilled all. I am not so big a fool as many
have taken me to be. The Germans know that I read the German
correctly.
Smith
Hear it, all ye ends of the earth--all ye priests, all ye
sinners, and all men. Repent! repent! Obey the Gospel. Turn to
God; for your religion won't save you, and you will be damned. I
do not say how long. There have been remarks made concerning all
men being redeemed from hell; but I say that those who sin
against the Holy Ghost cannot be forgiven in this world or in the
world to come: they shall die the second death. Those who commit
the unpardonable sin are doomed to Gnolom, to dwell in hell,
worlds without end. As they concoct scenes of bloodshed in this
world, so they shall rise to that resurrection which is as the
lake of fire and brimstone. Some shall rise to the everlasting
burning of God; for God dwells in everlasting burnings; and some
shall rise to the damnation of their own filthiness, which is as
exquisite a torment a the lake of fire and brimstone.
Smith
I have intended my remarks for all, both rich and poor, bond and
free, great and small. I have no enmity against any man. I love
you all; but I have some of your deeds. I am your best friend;
and if persons miss their mark, it is their own fault. If I
reprove a man and he hates me, he is a fool; for I love all men,
especially these my brethren and sisters.
Smith
I rejoice in hearing the testimony of my aged friends. You don't
know me: you never knew my heart. No man knows my history. I
cannot tell it: I shall never undertake it. I don't blame any one
for not believing my history. If I had not experienced what I
have, I could not have believed it myself. I never did harm any
man since I was born into the world. My voice is always for
peace.
Smith
I cannot lie down until all my work is finished. I never think
any evil, nor do anything to the harm of my fellow-man. When I am
called by the trump of the archangel and weighed in the balance,
you will all know me then. I add no more. God bless you all.
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 / Orson
Hyde
Orson Hyde
THE WORK OF REFORMATION--THE UNITED STATES' ARMY--LABOURS
OF "MORMON" MISSIONARIES--JUDGMENTS OF GOD, ETC.
A Discourse by Elder Orson Hyde.
11
Dear Brethren and Sisters,--I am highly pleased with the
privilege I now enjoy of speaking to you. I wish to call your
attention to a subject which, to me, is of vast importance, and
no less so to you.
12
The commencement of what has been termed our reformation was more
than a year ago; and first attended with the desire only of
correcting some irregularities among us and of awakening the
Saints to righteousness, to purity of life, to sanctification,
and holiness before the Lord. Our efforts were attended with
results highly satisfactory to the upright and the good. We were
led on by this spirit of reformation to expose and rebuke the
evils of those among us who did not belong to the Latter-day
Saints. This kind of preaching made them angry; yet their anger
did not cause us to soften our speech or to modify the tone of
high moral sentiment which we wished and were determined should
be enforced. "Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you; but rebuke
a wicked man, and he will hate you." This truth we saw abundantly
exemplified. Their pens were then set in operation against us,
and many false accusations were sent to the States by them, over
fictitious names, no names at all, and also over their own real
names. But the latter class, not being fortified with truth and
honesty, felt unable to endure the just frowns of a community so
belied. They had recourse to flight; and then told the awful and
pitiful tale in the States, that they barely escaped with their
lives,--a fine cover for their unrighteous deeds. They hoped by
this feint and hypocritical pretension to excite public sympathy
in their favour, and to arouse indignation against the Saints.
Jesus spoke plainly of just such persons, saying: "Ye are they
who justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts;
for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
the sight of God."
12
For this very plain preaching, which they were compelled to hear
or hear of, they threatened us with troops of the United States;
and they left no stone unturned to excite the Government to send
troops. This idea was a momentary damper upon some spirits; but
sober second thought asked the question--"Shall I, through fear
of an army being sent here, be guilty of collusion with sin and
of failure to expose and rebuke it?" The noble-minded and
fearless servants of God said, "No! No!! No!!!" The work of
reformation and purification went gloriously on; and by-and-by
the word of assurance and comfort came to us through our Prophet
and Seer--the fearless Brigham, who dares to do right--"Sanctify
yourselves before me; put iniquity far from you; assert your
rights, and stand up to them; and behold, and lo! I will fight
your battles, and the children of Zion shall be victorious; and
the name of your God shall be magnified in the eyes of your
enemies. Trust in me; be valiant and fear not, and the kingdom is
yours." I may not repeat the word of the Lord through his servant
verbatim, but give it according to memory. I am not, however, far
wrong.
12
On the 24th day of July last, rumour came to us that United
States' troops were actually being fitted out to come here to
chastise us. Just ten years ago that very day, when the pioneers
first entered the valley, brother Brigham said, in view of the
injustice and cruelty inflicted upon us by our enemies, "If the
United States will now let this people alone for ten years to
come, we will ask no odds of them or any one else but God." The
saying passed out of his mind and out of the minds of the
pioneers who heard it, until ten years from the very time, when
he and some thousands of others were in Big Cottonwood Kanyon,
celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Saints' entrance into
this valley.
13
This announcement of troops by the express brought the saying
vividly to many of the minds of the old pioneers. No heart
appeared sad--no countenance gloomy; but the lamp of joy was
evidently lit in every heart and blazed in every countenance. We
regarded it as an omen of deliverance by the arm of the Almighty.
From that very hour the prayers of this entire people, old and
young, male and female, by day and by night, have been and still
are offered up unto the God of heaven, in the name of his son,
Jesus Christ, that the army sent here by the United States may
never be able to accomplish their design; for the design of the
Government in sending them, and that too, upon evidence known to
be incorrect, proved to us that iniquity was to be sustained and
righteousness suppressed. Will our prayers be heard and answered?
I believe they will. I do believe that God is about to come out
of his hiding-place and to vex the nation according to his word
through the martyred Joseph (See Book of Covenants, second
European edition, page 282.) Do I believe that the United States
will be divided? Yes, I do; and the prayers of all the Saints
throughout the world should be to that effect; for they wage war
against the kingdom of God, and have fallen upon that stone with
an army; and let them be broken, even according to the words of
Jesus.
13
"If the army now invading Utah should be overthrown," says an
unbeliever, "are you not fearful that a much larger one will be
sent to chastise you?" No sir; I am not. If we honour our God by
keeping his law, no army of this world can ever prevail against
us; and the greater its numbers, the greater and more complete
its overthrow. If the Red Sea be not the trap in which the enemy
will be caught, there will be a snow or hailstorm, a whirlwind,
an earthquake, fire from above or from beneath, or the sword of
the Lord and of Brigham. I only fear that we may not live so that
God will hear and answer our prayers. If we get any important
petition granted by any legislative body, we must have some
influence enlisted in its favour; and if we expect God to grant
our petitions, we must so live before him as to have influence
with him. To have influence with the king is next to being king
ourselves.
13
We do not desire to shed the blood of our enemies. We have never
desired it. But our prayers should be, that the power and
strength arrayed against us may be broken by the providence of
God, or by the arm of his power; that they may be smitten with
confusion and darkness; that the means they may adopt for their
success may be providentially overruled for their overthrow; that
they may be wasted away like the early frosts, and be scattered
about like chaff before the wind, until, as the martyred Joseph
said, just before he was murdered by Governor Ford's mob, there
shall not be a potsherd of them left. This prayer should not be
confined to our enemies on our immediate borders; for they are
only the blind tools of a power that has decreed our overthrow;
but should extend, with increased faith and zeal, to that very
power that handles these tools.
13
Brethren, the army sent to operate against us has been stopped in
the vicinity of the ruins of Forts Bridger and Supply. By what
power or agency were they stopped? Col. Alexander assured
Governor Young that he had abundant means or power at his command
to come into Salt Lake Valley. Add to this the fact that one
Mormon was taken prisoner by the Colonel's order, and it is said
that orders were found on his person to annoy the enemy in every
way he could, but not to kill any or fire a gun. I know nothing
of any such orders. Still the enemy claim that they found such
orders upon the person of their "Mormon" prisoner. Now, if
Colonel Alexander really believed his own statement to Governor
Young, that he had abundant means at his command to force his way
into the city, and if he believed the pretended orders said to be
found with his "Mormon" prisoner to be genuine--that nobody was
to be killed nor a gun fired, why did he not march in with his
army? He had plenty of force to do it, and the assurance,
according to his showing, that the "Mormons" were not to kill any
nor fire a gun? What kind of reason or apology can he make to the
Department for not marching directly into the city. That is his
business, however, not ours.
14
It was not "Mormon" numbers, according to his views, neither
"Mormon" bullets that arrested the progress of the army; but it
really was the united faith and prayers of the Saints of God that
set bounds to their progress. Having, therefore, this evidence
that God Hears and answers our prayers, it should inspire us with
redoubled zeal, union, faith, and energy to continue to call upon
the Lord until every power that lifts an arm against his kingdom
crumbles and falls like the mighty image that the Babylonish
monarch beheld in the visions of the night.
14
Our enemies have eyes, but they cannot see. They may say that the
tardy movements of the forces in concentrating, together with an
unexpected snowstorm, in which many of their animals perished,
were the causes of their hindrance on Ham's Fork; but who caused
the tardy movements of the collecting forces? and who sent the
snowstorm? The same invisible hand that forced off the wheels
from Pharaoh's chariots that caused them to drag heavily. The
prayers of the Saints by day and by night are more potent that
the multitude of soldiers, armed with Sharp's and the Minie
rifle. Yet the Saints should be liberally endowed with both.
14
If we continue in all humility before the Lord, full of faith and
diligent in prayer, with hearts full of integrity, and honour the
words of our Prophets and leaders, and the United States continue
their hostile movements against the Saints, it shall be with them
as it was with the man upon the scaffold lifting at the granite
rock, when the scaffolding gave way and fell, and with it the
man; and the stone, falling on the top of him, ground him to
atoms.
14
The United States' army is sent by the President. He is the
highest power which they know or recognize. Did they know any
higher, they would never have come here. Has that army a chaplain
Prophet that can obtain the word of the Lord for them, or one
whose prayers the Lord hears? We say no, and they cannot say yes;
neither dare they. The policy of the Government will not allow of
a chaplin Prophet to lead its armies; and a man inspired of the
Lord--one who can say, "Thus said the Lord"--would not lead them
under their present policy.
14
The whole army and nation are blind enough to be led by mere men
who lay no claim to the inspiration of the Almighty, and not one
among them that can receive the word of the Lord. The man whose
prayers the hears can obtain his word touching the duties of the
sphere in which he is legitimately called to act. Yet the nation
despise the "Mormons" because they are led by a man who can
receive the word of the Lord for them, and whose prayers the Lord
hears and answers. The evidence of this is before us, day by day,
and year by year. A fashionable chaplin, who is master of much
flowery language, may formally tell the Almighty how great and
glorious he is--how high is his throne, and how vast are his
dominions; and yet the God of Israel will never thank him for the
information, neither praise him for his sweet rhetorical
sentences. But the man that is chosen of God, and armed with the
power of revelation and the visions of heaven, is the man to lead
the Latter-day Saints. No less will satisfy them. To the rule of
no other will they willingly submit. Govern Utah who will,
Brigham Young or his duly chosen successor can alone govern the
"Mormons." Freemen have the right to choose their own rulers. The
world often will the men whom God appoints, but the Saints choose
them. Here is the difference. The Saints may be killed--that is,
their bodies; but their spirits can never yield to the powers of
this world. And our God says that, if we will be valiant, pure,
and faithful, we never shall, worlds without end.
15
What is the real design of the Government in sending troops to
Utah? This winter, or during this session of Congress, special
legislation is contemplated; a stringent law against polygamy to
be enacted; and the troops are sent here in advance to the
passage of such an act to make themselves comfortable and
strongly establish themselves in these valleys and hold
themselves in readiness to enforce that law when enacted. Then
they would say, "Now, Mr. Mormon, we have got you!" Anything for
a lawful pretence to raise a fuss with the "Mormons," to destroy
them from the earth! But everlasting thanks to Zion's God! He has
said, "Sanctify yourselves before me, assert your rights, and I
will back you up and fight your battles. You have long pleaded
with the Government and people of this nation, and they would not
hear you; and now, verily, said the Lord, I will plead with the
nation for you."
15
According to our faith in God is our boldness to meet whatever
may come. Brethren, let us be valiant. A mighty host may gather
against us; but if God be with us, we may have a seven months'
job in burying their dead; and their weapons of war may furnish
us fuel for years, so that we shall not have to go to the kanyons
for this indispensable auxiliary to our domestic comfort and
happiness. A mighty slaughter is to occur in the armies of the
Saints' enemies in some country where firewood is scarce, and a
high value placed upon their weapons of war for that purpose.
15
It is said that a new Governor has been appointed for Utah,
judges, secretary, &c. I do not pretend to know much about
governmental usages or etiquette; but, to my coarse
understanding, it would seem no more than proper for some
department at Washington to have notified Governor Young of such
appointments direct, and also of the object in sending an armed
force with them, if, indeed, such force be really sent by the
order of Government. The fact of our mail being unanimously taken
away from us, in connection with the silence on the matters
before spoken of, left us to conclude that death and destruction
were determined on as the let and portion of the "Mormons" in
Utah. The public papers that happened to reach us seemed also to
breathe this kind of spirit, which were our main index to the
real intentions of the Government. If, therefore, persecution and
death must come, we concluded that we might better make the job
cost our enemies all in our power, by selling our lives and
liberties as dearly as possible. These were and are the feelings
of the masses. Our leaders speak for themselves. In this position
we have been greatly encouraged from a source that we deem
infallible, provided we live in obedience to the commands of Him
who holds all power both on earth and in heaven. I deem it
unnecessary, however, to argue the merits of the case, but
patiently await its issue,--at the same time to be active in the
vigorous discharge of every known duty to God and man.
16
Our Elders and missionaries have laboured throughout the nations
of the earth incessantly for the last twenty-seven years. We have
endured and suffered shame. The great ones of the earth have
generally spurned us from their presence. The holy and sanctified
clergy have been most bitter against us. We have been very often
like our Master, without a place to lay our head. We have slept
by the wayside, under the trees of the forest, in sheds, and in
barns, without money, and often without food; yet we have been
cheerful, and in reality have lacked nothing. Our feet have bled
with walking, and our hearts with sorrow over the blindness of
the people; yet we have been joyful in our God. The four quarters
of the globe and the islands of the sea have heard our voice and
testimony. We have laboured and have not fainted. Though weak,
combatting the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and though our
enemies have reproached us with being a set of ignoramuses,
dupes, villains, impostors, and fools, we have cried aloud and
spared not.
16
In the midst of all this, our Prophets have been murdered, our
brethren and sisters, friends, and families mobbed and driven
from place to place, and from time to time living in tents,
waggons, and in the open air. They have been maimed, crippled,
and slain without mercy; and none have laid it to heart. "Your
cause is just, but we can do nothing for you," is the heartless
sentiment of an unbelieving and persecuting world. These are some
of the circumstances under which the "Mormons" and "Mormon"
missionaries have carried the Gospel to the nations of the earth.
But those few that have ministered to the wants and necessities
of these labourers and of these persecuted people shall in nowise
lose their reward.
16
These missionaries and labourers are now called home. The Lord
says, "It is enough." "Come out of her, my people," is now the
voice of God to his servants in every land and nation. The vials
of his wrath cannot be poured out until you, like Lot, flee from
the countries doomed to feel the vengeance of God. To you, my
faithful brethren abroad, the Spirit of Christ has often
whispered, during the last six months, "Go home--go home." Your
guardian angels have said it to you in dreams and in visions, and
we expect to see you come. Scores have already arrived. God bless
them and you too, if you listen to the whisperings of that voice
that speaks truth to the heart.
16
What now remains to be done? Your testimony is borne--your words
have bone into all the earth. Read in the Book of Covenants, page
102, and you will find the answer in part--"After your testimony
cometh wrath and indignation upon the people; for after your
testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause
groanings in the midst of her; and men shall fall upon the ground
and shall not be able to stand. And also cometh the testimony of
the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the
voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving
themselves beyond their bounds; and all things shall be in
commotion; and surely men's hearts shall fail them, for fear
shall some upon all people," &c.
16
Again, the sign given in the Book of Mormon, showing when the
times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled and they abandoned to
the judgments and wrath of Almighty God, and showing also when
the covenants of the Father with the house of Israel shall be
fulfilled, is this important declaration--"I will take the
fulness of my Gospel from among the Gentiles," &c. It might be
considered treason to quote further. With our Elders and
missionaries comes the fulness of the Gospel from among the
Gentiles, who, like the leaky ship, are abandoned to the mercy of
the winds and the waves.
17
I, for one, care but little about the stoppage of the mails; yet
it would afford me some satisfaction to have the current news of
the day. There is, however, an upper telegraph which the powers
of this world cannot cut, neither suspend in any way. By that we
can know all the news that are really essential to us as a
people, if we strive to be in communication with it. This upper
telegraph is the revelation of God. All things that are really
essential for us to know will be made manifest unto us by the
Lord; "for he doeth nothing, but he revealeth his secrets to his
servants and Prophets." This is the sort of mail that we should
patronize. It is conveyed with despatch and with safety. It goes
at all times of day and of night, and is sure to bring an answer
to our communications. The Government would think it strange to
read from our records, made and penned more than twenty years
ago, the very things which it is now doing in relation to us. But
to read the issue, it would think stranger still. I read both
more than twenty years since; and when I see things fulfilling
every day and every year, it inspires me with assurance and joy.
Have light in yourselves, says Jesus; and if our eye be single,
our whole bodies will be full of light. God knows all things that
are going on in the universe; and if we possess his mind, his
Spirit, and his will, we may know at least some things that are
going on in the world, even without a mail.
17
Brethren, the Lord is hearing and answering our prayers. The time
to favour Zion is come. And now, I beseech you, let there be no
contentions or disputations in your midst; for Jesus says,
"Blessed are ye, if there be no disputations among you.:
Dishonesty, covetousness, nonsense, and folly should all be
purged from our hearts and purged from our wards; and if the
guilty will not cast away such principles, let him go to the
army, to the States or wherever he likes, so that he does not
abide in our midst. "He shall gather out of his kingdom all
things that offend and that do iniquity." Cleanse the inside of
the platter or territory, so that God and angels may dwell with
us for our defence. Bishops, High Priests, and Seventies, arise
in the majesty Jehovah's strength, and cause the moral atmosphere
that surrounds you to be pure and healthful, if you have to raise
a storm of thunder and lightning to effect it. Fear not! only
hurt not the oil or the wine. Be wise, and yet be strong.
Remember that a good man does not steal, neither lie. He is not
an idler, suffering his family to want. He does not take the
advantage of his neighbour. He does not absent himself from your
ward meetings, neither decline bearing his part of the burdens
that are laid upon you. You will generally find a good man right
where you want him, in person, in spirit, and in the means that
he controls. He never has many excuses to make, but is on hand.
He is always ready. A good man pays his Tithing, pays his
devotions to God in all sincerity and faith, pays his just debts
so far as he is able, is careful about contracting debts, lives
well, yet prudently, and generally has something to bestow for
charitable purposes. He never has much difficulty with his
neighbours, readily yields to the counsel of his Bishop or other
superior officer, worships no horse, ox, mule, ass, farm, or
house, but worships the true God of heaven. Remember that all
victory and glory that God is well pleased with are obtained by
our diligence and prayers of faith.
17
Remember your fasts, your solemn assemblies, sacraments, and
charities. Mark those in your wards that do not attend your
meetings. Thieves and iniquitous persons do not, as a general
thing, like to attend the house of worship. Slothful, prayerless,
and worldly-minded persons often calculate to go to or return
from the kanyons on the Sabbath, or go visiting on that day, or
manage to hunt cattle on the range, or transact some business by
which they can have a plausible excuse for not attending the
house of worship. The flaming truths which they would be
compelled to hear--the rebukes and chastisements there dealt out
to such characters are not agreeable to their ears.
18
The persons that cannot profit by merited rebukes and
chastisements cannot profit by blessings and communion with the
Saints. Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, be active in the
discharge of your duties. You are watchmen in your wards, and
stand in a similar relation to your Bishops that the Apostles do
to the Presidency. Great responsibility rests upon you. Every
person in your wards should be known to you, and his business or
occupation also. You should not only know the man or the woman
and his business, but should likewise know his spirit and be able
to weigh it in the balance of truth.
18
Shepherds of Israel, watch well your flocks. Keep them healthy
and vigorous. Encourage good with kind and generous words, and
fear not to deal with offenders or rebuke sin in a manner that
corresponds with the nature thereof and also with the dignity of
your high and holy calling. The great object is to be alive and
awake to every duty, and to be "armed with righteousness and the
power of God in great glory."
18
Our enemies are trying to come here to teach this people
civilization and pure Christianity by killing our men and
sleeping with our women. It seems that we have been prejudged and
condemned to death. The halters are prepared by the waggon-load,
and knots already tied (so says report). If they had the chance,
they would probably go through the forms of law trials with us,
with great kindness and moderation affectedly; but death is in
the pot, and we must eat it. As we have been foreordained in
Washington to be hung or shot, we must suffer it, built or not
built. If we repent, we must be damned; and if we do not repent,
we must be damned. The ropes are all prepared! But if we do our
duty, that proud Haman will yet see the despised Jew in a
position which he will have cause to envy. Though the course of
our enemies stands in their power and not in their justice, yet
they shall come to an inglorious end, and none shall help them;
and let all Israel say, Amen.
18
May the blessings of the Highest be and abide with the upright in
heart, now and for ever! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 / John
Taylor, November 1, 1857
John Taylor, November 1, 1857
"THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR NOTHING."
A Sermon by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 1, 1857.
Reported by G. D. Watt
18
I shall take the liberty, this afternoon, of selecting a text. In
the Second Epistle and last verse of the Gospel according to St.
Brigham to Colonel Alexander, will be found the following
words:--"WE SAY IT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR NOTHING."
19
We revere the testimony of ancient men of God, as recorded in
what are often termed "the Scriptures of divine truth;" and it is
quite common for men to refer to what the Prophets have said and
to reason from their words. Now, I have been of the impression,
for some length of time, that the sayings of modern men of God
are of as great importance as the sayings of ancient men of God,
and a great deal more applicable to our condition.
19
In looking at the Epistle to Colonel Alexander, and considering
the important things said in it, I was particularly struck with
the last words, which compose my text--"The kingdom of God or
nothing."
19
In other days, men have had their theories and their ideas about
Christianity, Paganism, &c., which were referred to this morning.
But we believe in living Priesthood--in present revelation--in
the Church and kingdom of God as it now exists on the earth, as
well as in things that were spoken of by ancient Prophets:
consequently we believe in adapting our lives and actions to the
position that we now occupy as servants of the true and living
God--as God's representatives on the earth--as those who are
destined to lay the foundation of that kingdom which shall stand
for ever.
19
What is the kingdom of God? This is a question that is in almost
everybody's mouth. Every Saint is interested in this question. We
need not go into the nonsense of sectarianism: we will let it go
entirely, hook and line; for we know enough about it to care
nothing about it, nor about the absurd ideas entertained by
sectarians of the Kingdom of God.
19
The question is, What is the kingdom of God? How do we stand
related to it? What is our position and what are the duties
devolving upon us to-day, tomorrow, and every day of our lives,
as servants of the living God?
19
In the Epistle I have referred to, there is something said about
the struggles we have endured, the privations we have suffered,
the difficulties we have passed through, the wrongs and
indignities that have been heaped upon us continually, and the
persecutions that have been multiplied upon us as a people, even
from the day of the organization of this Church to the present.
There was in it a strong, marked, and determined expression. It
gave Colonel Alexander and whomsoever it concerned to understand
that it was time that these things should cease--that this people
as well as every other people should have their rights, and these
rights they were bent upon having at all events, not fearing the
result,--that we, as a people, are determined to be free; for
with us it is--"The kingdom of God or nothing."
19
When we talk about kingdoms, we talk about governments, rule,
authority, power; for wherever there is a kingdom, these
principles exist to a greater or less extent. The kingdoms of
this world have their powers, authorities, rule, regulations,
law-givers, &c., according to the kind of government they adopt.
Hitherto we, as a people, have been amalgamated to a great extent
with other nations. It is true we have had a Church government,
Church laws, Church discipline, and by the holy Priesthood
associated with this Church we have governed the people. Still we
have been subject to another government, power, and authority, to
Gentile rule, Gentile dominion, Gentile laws, to Gentile usages
and customs, to which we have been willingly subject, so far as
they were righteous; and it was told us by the Lord, that if we
observed the laws of God, we need not break the laws of the land.
19
The laws of man we have kept faithfully, adhering tenaciously to
the principles of the Constitution of the Government, under which
we have lived. We have not transgressed them in one iota, but
have maintained our relationship honourably with the nation we
have been associated with.
20
The first thing we did when we came to this land was to organize
a government for our protection, which was according to the
pattern set us by our neighbours--Oregon, for instance; then
represented our case to the United States.
20
We came out here because we were disfranchised, exiled, robbed of
our rights as American citizens, and forced to wander in the
wilderness to seek among the savages of the forest that freedom
denied us by Christianity. Did we in this transgress any laws of
the United States, depart from any usage, or act contrary to any
established custom or law of the Government? We did not. We
applied for the sanction of Congress to our doings, and it was a
matter of astonishment and surprise that we should take such
steps, after the usage we had received. Our course was applauded
by statesmen, senators, members of Congress, and the authorities
of the United States generally; and all our transactions,
constitution, and laws were approved gladly, considered right,
and according to the usages and laws of the United States.
20
By-and-by we petitioned for a Territorial Government and obtained
it. Our enemies have all the time been complaining of us that we
have infringed upon the Constitution and laws of the United
States. But I ask, Wherein have we done it? Who appointed our
Governor? The President of the United States, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, according to the usage which
exists, but indeed contrary to any right they possessed; still he
did it. Who appointed our Judges, United States Marshal,
Secretary of State, and Indian Agency? The President of the
United States.
20
Has there been another Governor appointed? I suppose there has;
but he has not yet been qualified. No man has authority to act in
the gubernatorial capacity in this Territory at the present time,
according to the laws of the United States, but Governor Young.
No Governor has a right to act here, although he may have been
appointed by the President of the United States, until he comes
here and is qualified. No man has ever come yet to be qualified,
and consequently Governor Young stands legitimately in that
place.
20
What law have we transgressed? I have tried to find out. We have
examined the Constitution of the United States and the laws
pertaining to these matters; and if anybody here or elsewhere can
point out any law that we have transgressed as American citizens,
they know more about it than I have been able to learn; and I
should like such a person to put me in possession of that
information.
20
What next? Why, on the back of this, after lying about us,
slandering, abusing, and imposing upon us, trampling upon our
rights, and sending the meanest curses among us that ever
disgraced the footstool of God--men they are ashamed of
themselves, they have now sent an armed force contrary to law and
right and to the principles that ought to prevail in the United
States. They have no more right to do this than I have to cut any
of your throats.
20
There is no authority guaranteed to the President of the United
States to perpetrate so diabolical an act as the one he has
engaged in. Why is it that this is done? Is it because we are
worse than other people? No. After raking up everything they
could, before I left the States, the only thing they could find
against us as a people was that we had burned some books
belonging to the United States' Court; and since that I have seen
published affidavits, totally denying any such thing, by the
Clerk of that Court.
21
The President of the United States has now taken upon himself the
responsibility of sending into this Territory an armed force to
trample upon the rights of 100,000 American freemen, on purpose
to subserve a political interest, for the benefit of his own
party. It becomes a serious question with us what to do under
these circumstances.
21
Shall we lie down and let those scoundrels cut our throats? is
the first question. Shall we untie our neckcloths and tell them
to come on and cut and carve away as they please, and knock down,
drag out, and introduce their abominations among us--their cursed
Christian institutions--to prostitute our women and lay low our
best men? Shall we suffer it, I say?
21
There are certain things that are sacred to us and to every man
and woman. If we submit to a thing of that sort, we submit to see
the very institutions of our own nation trampled under foot--the
Constitution of our country desecrated and rent in pieces. We
submit to see the bonds severed that have bound this nation
together, and blood, anarchy, and confusion prevail.
21
If they have a mind to cut each other's throats, we have no
objections. We say, Success to both parties. But when they come
to cut ours, without ceremony, we say, Hands off, gentlemen. We
are not so religious as to sit down meekly and tamely submit to
these things. We understand something of the difference between
what some call treason, or treasonable acts, and base submission
to the will of a tyrant, who would seek to bring us into servile
chains--into perfect submission to his sway.
21
We are engaged here in protecting ourselves, our wives, and
families,--in guarding everything that is sacred and honourable
among men from invasion and oppression of some of the most
corrupt wretches that ever disgraced the footstool of God.
21
"This is pretty plain talk," say you. I meant to talk plain: I do
not wish to be misunderstood. I have lately been conversant with
some of their proceedings, having been in their neighbourhood for
some time recently. Some of our brethren, who went among them
with messages, have said that such was the filth and obscenity of
their language--cursing, swearing, and every meanness, that,
rather than stay all night with them, they chose to go off some
distance and lie on the ground. If these are the feelings of our
brethren, some of whom are rough and uncouth in their manners, we
know not how our sisters would feel in such delectable society.
21
We will not submit to such a state of things for ever. If you,
our enemies, are determined to invade our rights, trample upon
our liberties, snatch from us the rich boon we have inherited
from our fathers, to make us bow in vile subservience to your
will, we will resist you: we will not submit to it. We will say,
Stand back and give us our rights. We will act the part of
freemen, and we say it shall be "The kingdom of God or nothing."
21
Why is it that we are persecuted? It is because we believe in the
establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth--because we
say and know that God has established his kingdom--because the
principles of righteousness are introduced among the children of
men, and they expose the evils, corruption, priestcraft,
political craft, and the abominations that everywhere exist. They
lay naked before all men the abominable acts of the human family.
It is not because there is evil among us, but because there is
goodness, truth, holiness. It is because God has spoken, and his
word has had effect on our hearts, to govern and influence our
conduct.
22
It is because of these things that the present crusade has been
set on foot against us, and no doubt it began to rage at the very
time that you were humbling yourselves before God, when you
commenced the reformation and were repenting of your sins and
making restoration. At the time the Spirit of God began to be
manifested among you, the spirit of the Devil began to rage among
them against you, stirring them up to pluck you down, root you
up, and destroy you from the face of the earth.
22
Why was it that you had the reformation among you, that you were
stirred up to repent of your sins and make restitution? It was
because you had the holy Priesthood in your midst--the spirit of
prophecy and revelation,--because you had men among you who could
commune with the Most High and contemplate his purposes and
designs towards the human family. It was because they saw evils
existing among you and dare tell of it, and the Spirit of God
pointed the word at your hearts, which brought you to repentance.
22
If we had corruption, grog-holes, rowdyism, and every kind of
pollution among us, and were this place permitted to be a perfect
sink of iniquity, where the gambler, horse-racer, black-leg, and
every evil character would be tolerated, then we should be hail
fellows, well met, with our enemies. The wicked would bow and
scrape to us all over the earth: they would call us gentlemen
everywhere, and we should be respected. It would be as it was
with a few of our brethren who had to play a ruse upon some of
the Missourians. The "Mormon" boys were flying from a mob and had
to pass a meeting-house when the people were coming out from
their prayers. These pious souls suspected that the brethren were
"Mormons."
22
"You are 'Mormons,' damn you," said they.
22
"We are not, damn you. Let go of my horse, or I will knock your
damned head off."
22
"Oh, we discover you are not 'Mormons,' gentlemen: we are under a
mistake;" and they let them go.
22
Who is it that is acquainted with this people and does not know
that they are better, more pure, more virtuous and true to their
God and his laws, and more faithful to the laws and Constitution
of their country than any other people? I know the difference,
for I have been among others and seen their actions.
22
What is the cause, then, of the evil planned against us? IT is
because we are the Church and kingdom of God. Have we ever left
our houses to interfere with other people anywhere? Did you ever
hear of a crusade by a set of "Mormons" upon any other people?
Did the "Mormons," when in Nauvoo, go to Carthage, La Harpe,
Warsaw, or to any place, and interfere with the rights of
anybody? Have we done it here? Have we gone to Mexico,
California, Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, Minnesota, or to any of the
surrounding districts, to interfere with their business or
rights?
22
If there has been such a crusade, I have remained altogether
ignorant of it, as to when it took place, who were engaged in it,
and how many.
22
If we do not interfere with anybody else, what right has anybody
else to interfere with us? I speak now as an American citizen. I
speak, if you please, as a politician. On this ground I ask what
right any people or number of people have to come and interfere
with us? There is o such right in the catalogue, gentlemen.
22
They, however, do interfere with us; and what is the cause of it?
It is because of the kingdom of God--because of the truth of
God--because of the Spirit of God and certain principles that
exist among this people. And what are they? It is polygamy that
they are so incensed against. They need not draw down such a long
face about that, for they themselves do a thousand times worse
than that, were it even as heinous a crime as they say it is.
23
It is not polygamy that they are so horrified at. I know their
meanness and abominations, and have told them of them scores of
times. There have been from the foundation of the world two
principles and powers--the principles of darkness and the
principles of light, the principles of truth and the principles
of error, the Spirit of God and the spirit of the Devil;--and
there has been a mighty struggle between these two principles and
powers.
23
Hitherto the good, the virtuous, the pure and upright, the men of
God, the Saints of the Most High have been trampled under foot
and cast out--have wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins,
dwelt in deserts, dens, holes, and caves of the earth, of whom
the world was not worthy; and the spirit and power of darkness
have prevailed over the powers of light, error over truth, and
the spirit of the Wicked One over the Spirit of God, to a certain
extent; so much so, that truth, equity, and righteousness have
always been at a discount, and men of God have been deprived of
their rights and robbed of their inheritances.
23
God has had a certain design to accomplish, associated with the
human family; and I suppose that everything which has taken place
has been just. I am not going to find fault with God or the
Devil. I suppose the Devil is as necessary as any other being, or
he would not have been.
23
The righteous have been trampled under foot, but it is well with
them. It was not their day. The time for them to reign and have
dominion was not come. While wrapt in prophetic vision, they
could view the events that were to transpire in the last days,
and prophesied of a kingdom that should be set up and stand for
ever. They looked with joyful anticipation to this day. They
expected a time when a certain power would exist on the earth,
that would be more powerful than the powers of darkness, when the
righteous should no more be trodden under foot, cast out, and
oppressed,--when the kingdoms of this world should become the
kingdoms of our God and his Christ, over which he should rule for
ever.
23
Men in our day have got hold of many odd ideas. The Millerites,
for instance, have talked about Christ's coming to reign on the
earth at a certain time; and they were all going to be
transfigured, changed, caught up, &c. In France and elsewhere,
they had their social systems; but they knew no more about God,
Christ, or anything of this kind than the Devil, I was going to
say; but they did not begin to know as much as the Devil about
God and his ways. These Socialists talked about a great
millennium, and people went to them, expecting them to be a very
righteous, praying people. They were something like the man whom
the Indian thought was a "Mormon;" but when the Indian found out
that he did not pray, that convinced him to the contrary. They
did not regard God or his laws, but took up a little twig of
Christianity and planted it on to their infidelity. They were
going to ameliorate the condition of the human family and bring
about the millennium.
23
In relation to the kingdom of God, what is it? Is it a spiritual
kingdom? Yes. Is it a temporal kingdom? Yes. Does it relate to
the spiritual affairs of men? Yes. Does it relate to the temporal
of men? Yes. And when it is fully established upon the earth, the
will of God will be done upon the earth precisely as it is done
in heaven.
23
It is the will of God we are trying to do at the present time, in
trying to fulfil his law, submit to his ordinances, and obey his
commandments--not in one little item, but in every action of our
lives, seeking to be perfectly submissive to the admonitions of
the Almighty.
24
Was the kingdom that the Prophets talked about, that should
be set up in the latter times, going to be a Church? Yes. And a
State? Yes, it was going to be both Church and State, to rule
both temporarily and spiritually. It may be asked, How can we
live under the dominion and laws of the United States and be
subjects of another kingdom? Because the kingdom of God is
higher, and its laws are so much more exalted than those of any
other nation, that it is the easiest thing in life for a servant
of God to keep any of their laws; and, as I have said before,
this we have uniformly done.
24
Who made this earth? The Lord.
24
Who sustains it? The Lord.
24
Who feeds and clothes the millions of the human family that exist
upon it, both Saint and sinner? The Lord.
24
Who upholds everything in the universe? The Lord.
24
Who provides for the myriads of cattle, fish, and fowl that
inhabit the sea, earth, and air? The Lord.
24
Who has implanted in them that instinct which causes them to take
care of their young, and that power by which to propagate their
species? The Lord.
24
Who has given to man understanding? The Lord.
24
Who has given to the Gentile philosopher, machinist, &c., every
particle of intelligence they have with regard to the electric
telegraph, the power and application of steam to the wants of the
human family, and every kind of invention that has been brought
to light during the last century? The Lord.
24
Who sets up the kings, emperors, and potentates that rule and
govern the universe? The Lord.
24
And who is there that acknowledges his hand? Where is the nation,
the people, the church even, or other power that does it? You may
wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in
any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
24
What is the cause of all the darkness, confusion, and misery that
abound, the imprisonment and chains, and the thousand evils that
afflict mankind, embracing all the wars, bloodshed, and distress
of nations? It is because they do not acknowledge the hand of the
Lord in all things nor understand his will. They pursue their own
course, and do not seek the wisdom and intelligence of God.
24
Why is it that thrones will be cast down, empires dissolved,
nations destroyed, and confusion and distress cover all people,
as the Prophets have spoken? Because the Spirit of the Lord will
be withdrawn from the nations in consequence of their
wickededness, and they will be left to their own folly.
24
Who has a right to rule the nations, to control kingdoms, and
govern all the people of the earth? Are you a father? Have you
wives and children? Do you feed, clothe, and provide for them?
Yes. Have they a right to rebel against you? If they did, what
would you think of such children?
24
Such is the position of the whole human family; such is the
position of the whole world--of every society, religious,
political, social, or otherwise; and none of them acknowledge God
or are obedient to his laws.
25
Now, then, suppose you had a farm, and you put people on it to
work--you fed and clothed them, and expected them to be obedient
to you; but instead of that, while you were feeding, clothing,
and taking care of them, they were abusing you, departing from
your laws, transgressing your precepts, and listening to somebody
else who was your enemy, instead of listening to you;--would you
let them remain for ever on your farm, or would you by-and-by put
somebody else in their place that would be more faithful to you?
25
The transactions of men are even more outrageous against the
Lord, and the only excuse for them is their ignorance. What! are
Christians ignorant? Yes, as ignorant of the things of God as the
brute beast.
25
Let us look at it a little further. If you wished the welfare of
your family, would you not chastise them? You would, if they did
wrong. Would you not try to make them submit to your law? You
certainly would; and if they would not, after you had pleaded
with them and chastised them, you would disinherit them. The Lord
said of Abraham, "I know he will fear me and command his children
after him to do it.? It was this principle that recommended him
to the favour of God.
25
What would you think of the conduct of a God who would let the
human family continue for ever to transgress his law without
interfering? You would think he was getting foolish and in his
dotage--that he did not understand himself nor correct principles
in allowing a lot of bad boys to rise up and increase around him,
letting evil principles exist instead of righteous ones, and the
wicked afflict and persecute the good with impunity.
25
The time was to come, and is now, that God has set up his kingdom
upon the earth, and he is determined that men shall be in
subjection to his laws. Can the Lord go to any other people but
this and declare his will? He cannot. There is not a nation,
kingdom, power, or people,--there is not a political, moral,
social, philosophical, or religious society in the world that
would receive the word of God, except this people.
25
If there cannot be a people anywhere found that will listen to
the word of God and receive instructions from him, how can his
kingdom ever be established? It is impossible? What is the first
thing necessary to the establishment of his kingdom? It is to
raise up a Prophet and have him declare the will of God; the next
is to have people yield obedience to the word of the Lord through
that Prophet. If you cannot have these, you never can establish
the kingdom of God upon the earth.
25
What is the kingdom of God? It is God's government upon the earth
and in heaven.
25
What is his Priesthood? It is the rule, authority,
administration, if you please, of the government of God on the
earth or in the heavens; for the same Priesthood that exists upon
the earth exists in the heavens, and that Priesthood holds the
keys of the mysteries of the revelations of God; and the
legitimate head of that Priesthood, who has communion with God,
is the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to his Church and people on
the earth.
25
When the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven, that
Priesthood will be the only legitimate ruling power under the
whole heavens; for every other power and influence will be
subject to it. When the millennium which we have been speaking of
is introduced, all potentates, powers, and authorities--every
man, woman, and child will be in subjection to the kingdom of
God; they will be under the power and dominion of the Priesthood
of God: then the will of God will be done on the earth as it is
done in heaven.
26
This places man in his true relationship to the Most High; and
while others are boasting of their own intelligence, powers,
authority, rule, greatness, and might, our boast, glory, might,
strength, and power are in the Lord. Do we have any temporal
blessings? We acknowledge the hand of God in it. Do we have
spiritual blessings? We acknowledge the hand of God in it. Do we
do wrong and receive chastisement? We acknowledge his hand in it,
and consider it a blessing. Are we in difficulties? We
acknowledge the hand of God therein, and consider that it is
necessary we should be tried and proved in all things, that we
may be counted worthy to associate with the intelligences that
surround the throne of God. Do we have prosperity? We acknowledge
the hand of God in it, and pray him for wisdom to use properly
what he has put in our hands. Do we possess scientific
knowledge--knowledge on agriculture or any other kind of
knowledge? We acknowledge his hand in it. Are we here in these
mountains, surrounded, as a people, by the barriers of the
everlasting hills, brought out from our enemies to inherit these
valleys? We acknowledge the hand of God in it. Does an army come
to make war on us? We acknowledge the hand of God in it. We feel
that we are in his hands, and say "It is the Lord; let him do
what seemeth good unto him, and we will seek to do what is right
on our part. Have we to go to war? We will acknowledge the hand
of God in it. If we are told not to kill our enemies, we will not
kill them, but cultivate a spirit of meekness and humility, doing
what the Priesthood of God dictates--what the servants of the
living God tell us. In peace and prosperity, war and adversity,
we will lean on the hand of God, and acknowledge it, and say,
"Hallelujah! the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth."
26
What is it we are seeking to do? Is it to get a farm, a house, or
a possession of any kind? Who is anxious about such things, which
are here to-day and gone to-morrow? They are well enough in their
place.
26
Some of you are tried because you do not have many things you
would like to have. If you had those things, you would not be
tied in that point, and it is therefore necessary you should be
placed in that position. It may be necessary, after awhile, that
you should be tried with more of the things of this life than you
know what to do with.
26
With none is the Lord God angry except those who do not
acknowledge his hand in all things. What does it matter whether
we are farming, building, planting, fighting, or anything else,
if we are doing as we are told? Who cares? I do not. Let matters
come in whatever way they have a mind to, it is all right, if we
do right.
26
As eternal beings, associated with eternity that was and with
eternity that is to come--beings that dwelt in eternal light
before we came here, we are now seeking for salvation, preparing
for celestial inheritances in the eternal worlds. This is what we
are after: we are trying to lay a foundation for ourselves, for
our progenitors, and for our posterity, that will endure and
extend while countless ages roll; and we are taught the
principles by which we may obtain this salvation by the holy
Priesthood--by the revelations of God communicated to us through
that Priesthood.
26
And now, having been forced from the United States, after having
been driven time and time again from our homes by our murderous
enemies--having fulfilled all the requirements that God or man
could require of us, and kept every law necessary for us to
observe,--after all this, and more, I say, shall we suffer those
poor, miserable, damned, infernal scoundrels to come here and
infringe upon our sacred rights?
26
["NO!" resounded throughout the Tabernacle, making the walls of
the building tremble.]
27
NO! It shall be "The Kingdom of God or nothing" with us. That is
my text, I believe; and we will stick to it--we will maintain it;
and, in the name of Israel's God, the kingdom of God shall roll
on, and all the powers of earth and hell cannot stop its
progress. It is onward, onward, ONWARD, from this time
henceforth, to all eternity.
27
[Voices of "Amen."]
27
"Are you not afraid of being killed?" you may ask me. No. Great
conscience! who cares about being killed? They cannot kill you.
They may shoot a ball into you, and your body may fall; but you
will live. Who cares about dying? We are associated with eternal
principles: they are within us as a well springing up to eternal
life. We have begun to live for ever.
27
Who would be afraid of a poor, miserable soldier--a man that gets
eight dollars a month for killing people, and a miserable butcher
at that--one of the poorest curses in creation? Mean as the
Americans are, they will not, many of them, hire for soldiers.
But the Government must hire foreigners for eight dollars a month
to come out here to kill us! Who is afraid of them? Let them come
on or stay and wiggle, it is all right.
27
We are the Saints of God; we have the kingdom of God, and the
devils in hell and all the wicked men on the earth cannot take it
from us. We shall rule and have dominion in the earth, and they
cannot help themselves. They can take their own course. They may
fight against us, if they like, or they can back out and leave
us; but the kingdom will go on. They may take what course they
please: the kingdom is ours, and we are Christ's, and Christ is
God's.
27
It is for us to live our religion, keep God's commandments, and
we shall be saved: we shall thus have the honour of doing
something for the kingdom of God, in rolling back the flood of
darkness that is enveloping the universe, and preparing ourselves
for dominion on the earth and eternal exaltation in the kingdom
of God for ever.
27
God bless you and preserve you in purity and holiness before him,
that you may inherit all you anticipate, I pray in the name of
Jesus Christ! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 / Heber
C. Kimball, November 8, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, November 8, 1857
TRUTH, LIFE, AND LIGHT--GOD ACTS THROUGH AGENTS--OBEDIENCE
PRODUCED KNOWLEDGE, WHICH SUPERSEDES FAITH--THE SPIRIT OF
MAN--REVELATION AND OBEDIENCE THERETO, ETC.
Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, November 8, 1857.
Reported by Leo Hawkins.
28
I have almost a good mind to talk a little,--that is, if you want
I should; but I certainly do not want to, without you want I
should. And then again, if I felt really like it, I should talk,
whether you wanted I should, or not. The reason I make that
expression is because I am called to a holy calling, with our
President, or brother Brigham. He is my leader, and I am his
brother and servant. I am his fellow-servant,--that is, I am one
with him; and my calling actually required me to talk, and to
teach, and to instruct, and to exhort, and to invite all men to
embrace the Gospel and plan of life and salvation.
28
Jesus, in the 1st chap. of John, 4th verse, says, "In him was
life, and the life was the light of men."
28
Also, in the 8th chap. and 12th verse, "Then spake Jesus again
unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
28
And in the 14th chap. and 6th verse, "Jesus said unto him, I am
the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father
but by me.:
28
Well, you have heard me express, several times, that truth if
life, and life is light. Well, it is true, because Jesus says, "I
am the life and the light of the world; and no man that is born
upon the face of this earth can obtain eternal life except they
go by me. They must come by me or through me to obtain eternal
life."
29
Brethren, I want you to understand, if you will treasure up
principles of truth as you would treasure up gold and silver and
precious stones--if you will treasure up truth, every truth that
you treasure up, that truth is life, and that life is light. Do
you not see that if you treasure up the principles of truth in
you, and you have your treasury full of them, then, of course,
your treasure is saviour of all? Why? Because life is light, and
light is life. Do you not see, if you have got the true
principles dwelling in you, if you treasure up truth, you are
bound to have life; and then, if you have life, you are bound to
have light; and if those true principles dwell in you, and they
abound, do you not see you cannot be unfruitful? You are bound to
be fruitful in the knowledge of God and in the accomplishment of
his purposes.
29
If you do not take a course to treasure up truth, you never will
be prophets and prophetesses; for it is in treasuring up truth,
and life, and light. If these principles be in you, and they
abound, you will be like a well of water springing up into
everlasting life. It will be everlasting, do you not see, if it
springs up; and that will bring us back to the fountain of life,
from whence springs life and light. Do you not see it spring from
God. It emanates from him; and if it is in us and abounds, it
will be in us as a well of water springing up into everlasting
life, from whence it sprang.
29
Well, here are a few ideas before you,--something I had not
thought of before I got up. Well, I am called and ordained to be
a teacher and to instruct; but if you do not receive my
instructions and the principles of truth that emanate from me,
then you are not profited; for the Lord says, "If a man offers
you a gift, and you do not receive that gift with gladness and
joy, then, of course, the man that offers the gift is not
blessed; but if the receiver receives it with joy, then the man
that gives the gift has joy in giving it. Do you not see it?
Well, upon the same principle, if God confers gifts, and
blessings, and promises, and glories, and immortality, and
eternal lives, and you receive them and treasure them up, then
our Father and our God has joy in that man. Do you understand me?
I do not know whether you get my idea or not; but, to save my
head, I cannot talk any plainer. You know I am called simple.
Well, I wish I was simpler and could convey things with greater
simplicity that I do. Why? Because I have not a spirit within me
to wish to talk one word to you except good sense, and light, and
information, and instruction to the child that sits before me
to-day. Do you not see God is not pleased with any man except
those that receive the gifts, and treasure them up, and practise
upon those gifts? And he gives those gifts, and confers them upon
you, and will have us to practise upon them. Now, these
principles to me are plain and simple.
29
Do you suppose that God in person called upon Joseph Smith, our
Prophet? God called upon him; but God did not come himself and
call, but he sent Peter to do it. Do you not see? He sent Peter
and sent Moroni to Joseph, and told him that he had got the
plates. Did God come himself? No: he sent Moroni and told him
there was a record, and says he, "That record is matter that
pertains to the Lamanites, and it tells when their fathers came
out of Jerusalem, and how they came, and all about it; and, says
he, "If you will do as I tell you, I will confer a gift upon
you." Well, he conferred it upon him, because Joseph said he
would do as he told him. "I want you to go to work and take the
Urim and Thummim, and translate this book, and have it published,
that this nation may read it." Do you not see, by Joseph
receiving the gift that was conferred upon him, you and I have
that record?
29
Well, when this took place, Peter came along to him and gave
power and authority, and, says he, "You go and baptise Oliver
Cowdery, and then ordain him a Priest." He did it, and do you not
see his works were in exercise? Then Oliver, having authority,
baptised Joseph and ordained him a Priest. Do you not see the
works, how they manifest themselves?
29
Well, then Peter comes along. Why did not God come? He sent
Peter, do you not see? Why did he not come along? Because he has
agents to attend to his business, and he sits upon his throne and
is established at head-quarters, and tells this man, "Go and do
this;" and it is behind the vail just as it is here. You have got
to learn that.
30
Peter comes along with James and John and ordains Joseph to be an
Apostle, and then Joseph ordains Oliver, and David Whitmer, and
Martin Harris; and then they were ordered to select twelve more
and ordain them. It was done. Do you not see works were manifest?
They received the truth, and thus you and I are here today; and
if it had not been for the practice, you and I would not have
been here, would we?
30
Well, practice makes perfect: it makes perfect men and perfect
Apostles, and Prophets, and Elders, and Teachers, and Deacons;
and how can you be perfect without it? It is by our practice and
living up to our profession that we increase and grow in grace
and in the knowledge of the truth.
30
There are a great many things, probably, that are taught you from
this stand--that is, from individuals. They are taught to you;
and you, probably, have not got faith and confidence in them.
Well, now, I do not care whether you have or not: if you will go
and do as you are told, you shall have a knowledge, although you
had not a particle of faith when you began. That is curious
religion; but there is no knowledge on any other principle, only
by obedience.
30
Some time ago I brought up a figure. Say I, John, Timothy, Jack,
Peter--I do not care who they are--you go up above the arsenal
and dig a well, and dig ten or twelve feet, and you shall find a
good spring of water. "Well," says brother John, I have no
confidence in that, that there can be water got there, neither
have I any confidence in you as an Apostle." Say I, I do not care
whether you have or not: go and do as I tell you, and you shall
be paid for it. You go and dig a well, and dig twelve feet, and
find a good spring of water. Now, do you not get the knowledge of
that water without a particle of faith or confidence? It is in
the works.
30
Some say, "What is the use of my doing this, or that, or the
other thing? I have no faith in it." I do not care a dime for
your faith. They produce the knowledge; and then, do you not see,
knowledge swallows up faith before you ever had it?
30
Did you ever know anything to swallow a thing when it was not?
Yes, the Methodists' God has neither body, parts, nor passions;
and yet they have swallowed him.
30
Well, now, this is a kind of curious doctrine, but it is true
doctrine; for I never knew much faith in exercise in a man,
except that man had good works, by going and doing as the
servants of Gad say, to produce faith and knowledge.
30
Now, I will ask you a question--a scriptural question. I do not
know where it is. It is in the Bible. I cannot refer to chapter
and verse. I want to refer you to the case of Naaman, the
Assyrian, who was smitten with leprosy. How much faith had he? He
had not a particle; but his servant, who had faith, prevailed
upon him to go down to Jordan. When the Prophet spoke to him and
told him to go and dip himself seven times, and he should become
whole, he had not a particle of confidence in it. He went down
with his riches to buy health, but he could not buy it: he had to
do as the Prophet told him. He went down and dipped himself seven
times and was healed. Do you not believe, then, he knew things?
Said he, "I know now they are the men of God. I know now that God
lives, and their words are true; for I did as they told me, but I
had not any confidence in them, and I was healed."
31
Does not that agree with me? I merely bring that up that you may
not find fault with my doctrine. Do you not see that is the
principle that we must be actuated by? I care not whether you
have any faith or not: you go and do as you are told to do, and
that produces knowledge; and how long will it be before we shall
be presented into the presence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
It will not be but a little while. Now, there are a great many
people, even to this day, with all the reformation that has been
in our midst, who make a practice of telling lies. It is
impossible for them to tell a story, except they put into the
interstices of that story lies of their own manufacturing. Do you
not see that destroys? They make a practice of it. They cannot
transact business except they must lie a little. How long, do you
suppose, it will take that man to get to heaven and to enter into
celestial glory, where lies or anything that is impure cannot
exist? It will take him as many millions of years as there will
be millions of years to come.
31
Perhaps some people may think that if we do lie and are
dishonest, and so forth and so on, when we die, the death that
comes upon us and the change that comes upon us will change and
take away those lies, and we shall find ourselves basking in
truth. So such thing. I may tell a lie to you--I may be dishonest
to my neighbours and ungodly, then I may get up and go out of
doors; and I want to know what better am I when I go through that
door than I was this side of it? Has it changed my nature?
No--not one particle.
31
I will refer to brother Morley's words. He says, "The mind makes
the man." That is true. What is the mind? It is that character
that was made and fashioned after the image of God before these
bodies were made,--that is, our spirits. What is the mind? It is
the spirit that was made before this body. Do you know it? Well,
now let me tell you, it is that spirit that makes the man. I care
not how humble he is--if his nose is three feet long and all his
body was disfigured--I will tell you, if there is a good spirit
in that man, and that spirit cultivates wholesome doctrine and
lives to God, you love him. It is the spirit that is in the man
that makes the man, which is the mind that you were speaking of,
father Morley. You meant so, did you not, father Morley? ["Yes."]
Well, you did.
31
Well, our change from this state of existence does not change our
character. The character must be made and formed before it goes
through the vail, if he is going to continue with the servants of
God, the Prophets.
31
Now, brethren, you have got a spirit in you, and that spirit was
created and organized--was born and begotten by our Father and
our God before we ever took these bodies; and these bodies were
formed by him, and through him, and of him, just as much as the
spirit was; for I will tell you, he commenced and brought forth
spirits; and then, when he completed that work, he commenced and
brought forth tabernacles for those spirits to dwell in. I came
through him, both spirit and body. God made the elements that
they are made of, just as much as he made anything. Tell me the
first thing that is made on earth that God did not organize and
place here in this world. Not a thing.
31
Well, it is the mind or spirit that is in the man that makes the
man. Was that spirit a wicked spirit when it was organized and
brought into existence? No--no more than our little children are
sinners. But we have been led--that is perverted, or rather led
away from these true principles--led into evil principles by
others. Well, then, of course, we are not exactly as we were when
we were organized. No; we have taken other men's books and
reasonings, and fell into other principles--led away from
nature,--some say, "nature's darkness." I do not know anything
about such a thing as nature's darkness. If we were as we were in
our first creation, we should be as innocent as little children,
every one of us. Perhaps you do not see these things as I do; but
I have not any notion of my own to communicate unto you.
32
You see I am the simplest fellow there is. I wish to God I was
more simple than I am: I should be nearer to what I was in
nature. I do not know how to use what they call big words. I
never studies them. I have no taste particularly for them; and if
I had, I should not know where to put them, and should be very
apt to stick the head to the feet, and the feet to the head. I do
not know where to apply them. Well, what are they? You may ask
brother Taylor, and he will tell you they are conflabberation of
all languages. Conflabberation! Well, that's a good word, is it
not? That is, they are French, English, Irish, Dutch, Hebrew, and
Latin, and they are all kinds of words; and there are not many of
them that have good sense. Well, they are a mixture; every
language is a mixture. I have not studied them.
32
Do you want to blame me? Cannot you understand me in my simple
way of communicating to you? After all my simplicity and simple
words, and trying to simplify my words to the capacity of the
people, there are lots of you who do not understand the words I
use--the words I was taught from my youth in my simplicity.
32
Well now, brethren, I tell you I have said what I have said; and
my God grant that it may inspire your hearts--that it may exalt
your minds--that you may treasure up these truths, as far as they
are truths; and I know nothing to the contrary but what they are
truths; and if you do, or anybody else, I would be pleased to be
corrected,--that is \, to have the real thing presented instead
of them. Is it to my injury, because I did not happen to get it,
and somebody steps forward and puts it there? Does it injure me?
No: it communicates to me that I had not got,--that is, a truth;
and truth is life, and life is light. Do you not see what I get
by it?
32
In regard to our situation and circumstances in these valleys,
brethren, WAKE UP! WAKE UP, YE ELDERS OF ISRAEL, AND LIVE TO GOD
and non else; and learn to do as you are told, both old and
young: learn to do as you are told for the future. And when you
are taking a position, if you do not know that you are right, do
not take it--I mean independently. But if you are told by your
leader to do a thing, do it. None of your business whether it is
right or wrong. You will get water, if you dig away. That is
rather presumptuous doctrine with some people; but with me it is
not.
32
I have heard men teach in this stand that I was under no
obligation to do anything, except I had a revelation. I do not
believe the doctrine at all. I don't care who preached it. I am
not the leader--I am not the Prophet, nor the chief Apostle. I do
not hold the keys independently. I have no keys, only what I hold
in brother Brigham; and then brother Brigham has the word of God:
he must do thus and so. He comes to me and says, "Brother Heber,
I want you to do thus and so." Wait till I go home, get into my
private room, and ask God that I may get a revelation! Ain't that
pretty, brother Taylor? Well, I will not talk just as I think. If
I did, I would knock this pulpit head over heels, when I think of
such folly. Go and get a revelation, when God has spoken through
my head!--and then the tail goes off, and gets down on his knees
to get a revelation, when the head has got one!
33
Now, I have heard that doctrine preached here, that they must
have a revelation before they are bound to receive that word and
go and practise it, just as it would have been with those men I
employed to go and dig that well by the arsenal. "Wait, sir." I
will not wait a minute. Go along, or I will employ men that will
do it. "I am going to get a revelation to know if there is water
there." They do not know that by believing on any man's testimony
they increase in knowledge, wisdom, and the power of God. They
forget that. Do you not see that I can learn more to be led than
I can to lead, if I have the right man to lead me? Brother
Brigham is my leader: he is my Prophet, my Seer, and my
Revelator; and whatever he says, that is for me to do; and it is
not for me to question his one word, nor to question God a
minute. Do you not see?
33
I will tell you what it is right for me to do. If there is time,
(and if there is not, it is not necessary,) go along and bow down
before the Lord God. Say I, "Father, help me to be faithful and
do the words of Brother Brigham, my leader, that I may see glory
in it, and that I may see immortality and eternal lives in it."
33
I am teaching you, Elders. Now, if I am not right, I am wrong. I
leave it to you to judge whether I am right or wrong. It is
curious for me to talk, but it is not for me to question his
words any more that it was Naaman, the Assyrian. Said he, "What
better are the waters of Jordan? Why are not the rivers of
Damascus and the water round Jerusalem just as good? Why is there
not as much virtue in them as there is in Jordan? Why, there is;
but the virtue is in the man of God telling him what to do. There
was virtue in doing what the servant of God told him to do. If he
had told him to have gone and got into a mud hole, it would have
had the same effect as that water. It is in the words of the man
of God, and God lets his angels go along wherever he goes, and
the angel of God goes along and touches the man with the touch of
his finger, and says, "Be thou made whole!" Why? "Because the
servant of God says so, and I have come here to help to fulfil
it." Either side of the vail they are active to see that your
words are fulfilled. If they are not, they are not with us, nor
we with them.
33
What difference does the vail make? None at all. To us there is a
vail, but to them there is no vail. They can see through the side
of a house as well as through the air. I know that by experience.
"Well, now," some one says, "What good does it do for two or
three thousand men to be in the mountains? Why, I don't know that
it is any of our business. It says, "Uncle Sam cannot come. We
are ready; we are on the spot." Well, what else? It gives those
men an experience that they cannot have on any other principle.
They are getting an experience--of what? To cultivate them for
something greater, which will come next year; and if it does not
come then, it will come some time. I do not say it will come next
year. You never heard me say it would; but you and I want to live
our religion and do as we are told, not questioning a word for a
moment. You have got to stop that. It is enough for others to do
that, without our meddling with those things. I am speaking to
the Elders of Israel.
33
Well, these things are all right. You learn to do as you are
told; and those that have not been baptised into the Church, I
say, Go and be baptised, and put on Christ by baptism, that you
may receive the Holy Ghost and be one with us: that is all I have
got to say to you.
34
Bless your souls, I pray my Father to bless brother Brigham, with
his Counsellors, that they may be one; to bless the twelve, that
they may be one with us; to bless the Seventies, that they may be
one with the Twelve, and the High Priests one with the Seventies,
and the Elders one with the High Priests, and the Priests one
with the Elders, &c.; that we may all be one and partake of the
same Spirit, and same power, and same Holy Ghost, and same
religion. That is my exhortation to you: I cannot preach any
other.
34
If that takes place, I want to know what any power has to do with
us? As we relax our power and live our religion--do you not see,
as we relax, that the Devil will gain power upon us? Suppose,
now, I was to take a rough-and-tumble with a man and wrestle with
him: I wrestle a spell pretty valiantly, and almost gain power
over my antagonist; I have almost gained power over him, and I
begin to slack up to get a little breath: do you not see that
that antagonist is bound to put me down if I slack up? Well, if
you slack up your religion, living faithfully, praying,
exhorting, and living to God, do you not see our antagonist is
gaining power over us? But let me tell you, gentlemen, we will
take it just as God dictates; and if he says rough-and-tumble,
let us take it rough-and-tumble, and pitch them headlong where
they belong.
34
Well, now if you will do just as you are gold, you will increase
in knowledge ten thousand times faster than you will be pray six
hours; and if you follow that course, you will not advance in
your religion one-hundredth part so much as that man that will do
just as he is told, no matter what.
34
If you are told to watch, watch. Can you pray when you are
watching? I do: I pray all the time. Well, live your
religion--that is not your religion, but the religion of Jesus
Christ, and serve your God. Cease all your contentions. Are there
not contentions enough in the world? Are there not contentions
enough with that army and with the devils in hell, without there
being any with us? These things should subside: they should take
an avalanche, like the snow. You know the snow will take a slide
down the sides of the mountains. They call that an avalanche. I
should call it a hell of a full of a fuss,--that is, it is a
convulsion. Well, excuse me for that language.
34
Well, there are those troops over yonder. They are not here, are
they? Well, some of you thought they were coming here, and
several ray away, supposing they were coming. Well, I am glad of
that, and I wish every other one that feels so would put off. We
will help them. Brother Brigham has fulfilled his word: he said
if he could find any man or woman that wanted to go, he would
send them to that happy place. Well, he has sent Mrs. Mogo. No
doubt she will die a happy death.
34
This great Mr. Johnson, the Commander of those troops has come, I
suppose. Brother Groesbeck has come in with his company from the
States. God gave him wisdom, and he is here, and he escaped those
troops. Mr. Johnson says he is going to obey the President's
orders, and says he will come in; but by the time he goes up and
down Ham's Fork a few times, it will take away his strength. If
you do not believe it, try some other Ham's Fork. I had as lieve
sit on a bayonet as a fork. He has had a fever all the way, and
will have a chill when he has lost his strength. He will have an
all-killing chill. He will not come here. We have told you all
the time they will not come. But he may attempt to come, and then
he may not. That is just as God has a mind to.
35
I feel the Lord designs the thing should move along and no blood
be shed, because I do not consider God is so anxious that we
should be blood-thirsty men as some may be. God designs we should
be pure men, holding the oracles of God in holy and pure vessels;
but when it is necessary that blood should be shed, we should be
as ready to do that as to eat an apple. That is my religion, and
I feel that our platter is pretty near clean of some things, and
we calculate to keep it clean from this time henceforth and for
ever, and, as the Scripture reads, "Lay judgment to the line and
righteousness to the plummet." We shall do that thing, and we
shall commence in the mountains. We shall clean the platter of
all such scoundrels; and if men and women will not live their
religion, but take a course to pervert the hearts of the
righteous, we will "lay judgment to the line and righteousness to
the plummet," and we will let you know that the earth can swallow
you up, as it did Korah with his host; and as brother Taylor
says, you may dig your graves, and we will slay you, and you may
crawl into them.
35
I do not mean you, if you are not here. I mean those corrupt
scoundrels. Well, this is just as brother Brigham has said here
hundreds of times.
35
If those troops could have come in here, let me tell you, all the
finest and smartest devils would have entered into the smartest
bodies and come here to overturn us. You will not catch a mean,
low, inferior, stupid devil in a smart man. I will tell you the
Devil has his smart men. Says he, "You get into a smart body."
Smart spirits do not get into inferior bodies. Would you? No.
Well, then, do you suppose they would do what we could not do
under the same circumstances?
35
Was not Lucifer a pretty smart lad? Just look at it--son of the
morning--when all heaven wept when he fell. He was a smart man.
It takes a smart men--that is, one who thinks he is, to act the
devil. Well, I merely speak of these things.
35
Well, they would come from Dan to Beersheba, and from California
to France,--that is, wicked and abominable spirits would have
come into this valley when those troops came, do you not see? The
blacklegs, and highway robbers, and whoremongers, and whores
would have gathered into this place, if those troops could have
come into this place to have slain our leaders. Let me die an
honourable man living my religion rather than to bow down to
their cursed yoke again, as the Lord God liveth. They have made
us stiffen our upper lip, and now we have got to keep it stiff--I
mean the upper lip; and if you grow as you ought, five years will
not pass away before your lips will be five times as thick as
they are now. Joseph had a high lip, and he was a beautiful
men--one of the most lovely men I ever saw, especially when the
Spirit of God was in him; and his countenance was as white as the
whitest thing you ever saw.
35
Let all these domestic broils and family difficulties cease, ye
Elders of Israel; and if you have got things that will not sleep
and will not rest, live your religion, and I would take my
johnny-cake and go into the mountains and spend my days defending
the house of Israel, before I would stay at home and quarrel one
moment. Is it not better for you? Well, now stop these little
broils at home in your families: that is the end of all trouble
with us; and God will bless us and will bless the earth, and the
air, and the elements, and we shall be blessed with fruits and
grain, and with every other thing that our hearts can desire.
35
Is there anything that we ever saw of thought of but what is in
the elements, the air we breathe, and the earth we walk on?--and
blessing be to God that I live on an earth that lives. Well, that
is a curious idea. I heard a Methodist preacher preach that once
at Miller's Corners, in Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York, and
thought it was a curious idea. Well, it is truth.
36
Now, I will prove this to you, if any of you doubt it, by true
philosophy--by natural philosophy. Do you believe that a dead
woman can conceive from a live man and bring forth a live child?
Do you believe it, any of you mothers? Do you believe it, any of
you fathers? No, you know better. Well, if a woman will not
produce when she is dead, then the earth cannot produce living
things if it was dead.
36
Does the earth conceive? It does, and it brings forth. If it did
not, why do you go and put your wheat into the ground? Does it
not conceive it? But it does not conceive except you put it
there. It conceives and brings forth, and you and I live, both
for food and for clothing, silks and satins. What! satin grow!?
Yes. What produces it? The silkworm produces it. Does the
silkworm produce except it conceives? No, it eats of the mulberry
tree. Where does the mulberry tree come from? It comes from the
earth. Where did the earth come from? From its parent earths.
36
Well, some of you may call that foolish philosophy. But if it is,
I will throw out foolish things, that you may gather up wise
things. The earth is alive. If it was not, it could not produce.
If you find a piece of earth that is dead, you cannot produce
anything from it, except you resurrect it and restore it to life.
If that is not true philosophy, it is nothing that I have
produced. It is what every man knows, if he can only reflect. But
I thought it was curious doctrine when that Methodist spoke of
it.
36
How could my head produce hair, if it was dead? Neither can the
earth produce grain, if it is dead. Now, brethren, do you not see
the propriety of our blessing the earth--the earth that we
inhabit and cultivate? If you do not see the propriety of it, for
heaven's sake do not bless the sacrament again. Do not take a
bottle of oil to the prayer-circle to be blessed, when you do not
believe the earth can be blessed.
36
If you have got half-an-acre, you can bless it, and dedicate it,
and consecrate it to God, and ask him to fill it with life. Well,
then, if you can bless half-an-acre, why can you not bless a
whole acre? And if you can bless an acre, why can you not bless
all this Territory? Just reflect for a moment. If you can bless a
gill of oil, then you can bless a pint. When you bless a pint,
you can bless a quart, and so on until you can bless a bottle of
oil as big as this valley.
36
Bless God! Yes, I bless my Father and my God pertaining to this
earth; I bless his Son; I bless everything in heaven and on
earth. Now, you may call that improper, when you do it, all of
you, indirectly. Bless my Father! Suppose I had an earthly father
here, and he had received the Gospel and was a Patriarch, I would
bless him and put all the blessings of him that I had power and
strength; that is, I would put all I had on to him; then I could
get it back; then I could bless his father, and his father his
father, and the blessings I would put on my father would go clear
back until it came to the Father and God from whence it came, and
then it comes down to us again, just as the sap and nourishment
in the three: if it does not go into the root, it never would go
into the top; and every limb and branch pertaining to that tree
has to give up a portion of the nourishment they receive, and
then we are all impregnated with the roots.
37
Well, I am talking these things as plain as I can. Perhaps some
of you do treasure them up. Be we live on an earth that lives: if
we do not, we cannot produce nor get produced from it. You never
will get peaches if you do not plant and let the earth conceive;
but if the earth conceives, and you nourish it, you are bound to
have peaches, and apples, and currants, and plums. If you
cultivate and partake of the elements that God has made, you will
have houses, and barns, and granaries, and everything else. God
has made it. All we have to do is to take it from the earth. But
you say it is all dead, do you? Oh folly! There is nothing that
is dead that lives, nor shall we ever die temporally nor
spiritually; for that tabernacle that I live in is life; and when
it goes back to the earth, it goes back into a living creature.
For what purpose? To become analyzed, and cleansed, and purified,
that I may receive it again, more glorious than this body. How
can I obtain it? On no other principle only to do just as I am
told. You have got to learn that lesson. I have got to learn it;
and if I have got to learn it, I can prove that you have got to
do as I do.
37
You are very exact in military tactics. Here is Squire Wells, and
he is under the direction of our Governor; and then every other
officer in his turn must be dictated and governed as he is
dictated. Does Squire Wells run to every man? No: he gives his
order to the officer next to him, and so on till it goes down to
the fourth corporal. See how accurate you have to be in that
discipline. Should not you be more so in the kingdom of your
God?--and if you do not, you are not making progress.
37
Why are you not wide awake? Cultivate, make, take, and increase,
and bring forth those things that you need. You do not believe
the gate is going to be shut down, do you? Mr. Johnson says there
shall not an article or a train come in, except the Governor lets
him come in. The Governor will not, except he grounds arms; and
if he will ground arms, he will ground arms; and if he no ground
arms, then he no ground arms, and he cannot come here. Gentlemen,
your leaders all say he cannot come here. Why, if he want to come
here himself, with a few of his council,--if they really want to
come to see the Governor, they have the privilege; but they would
have to ground arms. I am not going to take that word back. They
have got to ground arms from this time henceforth. But we have
shouldered arms, and it is present arms; and do you not see that
the next thing is to take aim?
37
Joseph, when he was in Nauvoo, on the house top, drew his sword
from the sheath and said it never should be sheathed again.
Brother Brigham has said the same, and brother Heber will back
him in it, and so will every officer in the kingdom of God. What
say you, brethren, will we go it? If so, raise your right hands
and say Aye.
37
[One loud "AYE" rang through the congregation.]
37
We are not going to bow down to the wicked any more. I had rather
die as I am and fight my way than ever to go into their hands
again. They probably, if they had had only sense enough, might
have caused us to bow down our heads and got the bow on Old
Bright's neck. They will not pay the debts contracted by their
own officers. They send the most damnable and contemptible
scoundrels that they could to rule over us, and they abused us
all the time, and God wanted they should. If they had not,
perhaps we should have bowed down and got the yoke on our neck.
Now, perhaps, they will try to draw back and say, "Let us give
them a State Government and a few hundred thousand dollars, and
see if we cannot pet them." When you see a thing of that sort,
look out for the Devil: he will be behind that curtain. When I
see anything of that kind, I am suspicious.
37
We shall prescribe a course for the United States to take after
this. Well, you do not believe that, do you? Do as you are told,
and see if it does not come to pass. You cannot tell whether I am
a true man, unless you listen to me.
38
Well, these are my feelings. God bless you, brethren; God bless
you, sisters; God bless this earth, and these valleys, and every
honest person that comes into these valleys! If their soldiers
desert and come in here, may the Lord God bless them, that they
may have the Spirit of God on them while they stay here! We live
to let live, and we will treat them with kindness and gentility,
if they stay here and behave themselves. But they cannot whore it
here; for gentlemen, if there is anything of that kind, we will
slay both men and women. We will do it, as the Lord liveth--we
will slay such characters. Now, which would be the most worthy to
be slain--the women that had had her endowments and made certain
covenants before God, or the man that knew nothing about it? The
woman, of course. She must be guilty according to her knowledge.
These little officers that were brought up as pets at West Point
boasted all the way what they were going to do with our leaders:
they were going to take our Governor and hang him, and take his
wives and use them at their leisure; and they were going to serve
Heber in the same way, and all others that lifted their tongues
against our enemies. They have not yet done it, have they?
38
Well, these are my feelings. They are out there: they have been
sitting on Ham's Fork so long, it has begun to ulcerate, as that
nasty fop, Douglas, uses the term,--that little nasty snot-nose:
you cannot call him anything half so mean as he is--the nastiest
of all nasties that God could suffer on the earth. We have been a
friend to him and everybody else, and we have no done any harm.
We mind our own business. We came to this land because we were
just obliged to do so; and I have been broken up and driven five
times; but, as the Lord God liveth, I do not go again, nor any
other man or women that will live their religion. Let us do
right, as a people, and we never will go from this place until we
please and God pleases to have us.
38
We were brought here for a purpose to secure us, and for us to
stand to our rights and privileges as citizens of the United
States, and claim protection. What are they coming up here for?
To kill your leaders; and when they kill us they will kill every
man and woman that will sustain those men. Well, they are not
here--God be praised! Hallelujah! Glory to God in the highest,
peace on earth, and goodwill to all good men! My soul says
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, my soul, and give glory to him, and
let all Israel say Amen!
38
[The assembly responded, "Amen."]
38
Am I not happy? These are the people of God. They shall live and
they shall prosper, and everything that is attached to the
righteous shall be righteous and grow righteous. Yea, I bless the
earth and everything that is on this earth; but I feel, in the
name and by the authority of Jesus Christ and my calling, to
curse that man that lifts his heel against my God and his cause
and kingdom; and the curse of God shall be upon him: the angels
of God shall chase him, and he shall have no peace. The President
of the United States and his coadjutors that have caused this
thing shall never rest again, for they shall go to hell.
38
Brother Morley says he has no right to teach. I am blessing them
with the power that is on your head. Why do you not do it? That
is the blessing of a Patriarch, to bless the house of Israel. I
bless you as a people--not only this people here today, but I
bless all that are in the east, west, north, or south. God bless
our head and every member that is attached to it! Bless the house
of Israel, with the head of the vine, and with every wine and
every branch that pertains to it, with every particle of fruit,
that it may be choice in the house of God in these mountains!
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 / Brigham
Young, November 15, 1857
Brigham Young, November 15, 1857
SOURCE OF TRUE HAPPINESS--PRAYER, ETC.
A Sermon by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 15, 1857.
Reported by G. D. Watt
39
I am happy for the privilege of standing before the Saints. It is
a great pleasure to me to associate with those whose feelings are
concentrated in the establishment of peace and righteousness upon
the earth.
39
Before I heard the Gospel as again revealed in its purity through
Joseph the Prophet, I was tolerably well acquainted with the
spirit, disposition, tact, and talents possessed by the children
of men; and though I was then but about thirty years of age, I
had seen and heard enough to make me well acquainted with the
people in their acts and dealings one towards another, the result
of which was to make me sick, tired, and disgusted with the
world; and had it been possible, I would have withdrawn from all
people, except a few, who, like myself, would leave the vain,
foolish, wicked, and unsatisfying customs and practices of the
world. Sorrow, wretchedness, death, misery, disappointment,
anguish, pain of heart, and crushed spirits prevail over the
earth; and apparently, the whole of the intelligence of mankind
is directed in a way to produce cruel and unnatural results.
39
Since I have been in this Church and kingdom, I have endeavoured
to learn and treasure up wisdom and good understanding, and then
not to forget them. I have endeavoured to gather to myself every
principle that would promote righteousness in me and those who
would hearken to my counsel.
39
Read the history of any kingdom or nation, and trace through all
the channels from the history of nations and kingdoms to that of
families and individuals who have not known God nor observed his
commandments, and you will find that sorrow and disappointment
have been intimately mingled in all the gaiety, luxuries, and
pretended enjoyments of their mortal lives. They have found a
bitter sting in their happiest moments and a deadly poison in
their cups. There is no man or woman on the earth who can enjoy
solid satisfaction--unalloyed peace and comfort, but in the holy
spirit of our religion--in the Gospel of salvation: that is the
only source of true happiness. Read the history of those who can
command the wealth of the world to minister to their happiness,
and they find it not in authority, station, nor wealth. From the
monarch upon his throne to the most degraded beggar upon the
streets, all who enjoy not the Gospel are destitute of the source
of true happiness. It is not to be found among them.
40
When the portals of heaven are opened and the Priesthood of God
is given, he so blesses the people that they can truly understand
the principles that tend to peace, to glory, immortality, and
eternal lives. That and that alone can give true satisfaction to
our spirits, which are organized to receive and continue to
increase in principles of light, intelligence, power, and
glory,--organized to be preserved to eternally associate
together--to have the privilege of beholding each other's
faces--of enjoying each other's society and the society of holy
beings who have been tried as we have and have to be, and to
enjoy, love, converse with, and look upon the faces of those
beings who have been glorified throughout all ages that are
countless to us. Their identity has been preserved, and they
enjoy the smiles of their friends and associate with their
companions who have in a mortal state passed through the same
ordeals they endured while in this existence. Fathers and mothers
associate with their children, children with their parents,
brothers with sisters, and sisters with their brothers--all in
their family circles dwelling in the midst of the glorified. What
else can satisfy a truly intelligent human being--the immortal
spirit that is tabernacled in a mortal tenement? Nothing.
40
What would induce an intelligent individual to suffer his eyes to
be put out and to live without seeing objects around him--the
faces of his family, friends, and connections? Would money? What
would hire an intelligent person to be deprived of the sense of
hearing? Could money buy his hearing? What would hire you to
suffer the destruction of the organ of speech, or to be deprived
of any of the more important members of your organization? The
things of this world could not induce you to suffer the
destruction of any of the vital powers of your organization; yet
the world are seeking after the paltry, perishable things of time
and sense. They are their glory--their pretended comfort--their
god, and their daily study and pursuit. But the members which God
has placed in our tabernacles are worth all the world to us. We
have the power of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and
feeling, enabling us to converse and associate with each other;
and money cannot buy these blessings from us.
40
Stop then, and consider what use you will make of these powers.
Will you go wild after the things of this world, as do the
majority of the inhabitants of the earth, with whose ways you are
well acquainted? How long will they endure? Their breath is in
their nostrils; to-day they are--to-morrow they are not. What
prospects have they for futurity? Have they any promise? Yes.
What is it? Death. Have they the promise of life eternal? They
have, upon certain conditions; but they are no more about those
conditions that did certain characters that Paul wrote about:
they are even like the dumb beasts that are entirely ignorant of
futurity. Fatten an ox and lead him to the slaughter, and he
knows nothing of what awaits him. So it is with the great
majority of the inhabitants of the earth: they have no knowledge
of their future condition; they merely know that death will
terminate their present career. We are blessed with the words of
eternal life, with the everlasting Priesthood, and the keys
thereof, with principles that, if rightly acted upon, will secure
to us those blessings we now enjoy, and which you hear the
brethren often speak about.
41
I am happy; I am fully of joy, comfort, and peace: all within me
is light, for I desire nothing but to do the will of my Father in
Heaven. I delight not in unrighteousness, but in righteousness
and truth. I seek to promote the good and happiness of myself and
those with whom I am associated. We have the privilege of
securing to ourselves that eternal bliss that can never fade
away, and of preserving our identity, that, when millions of ages
have rolled away, we can then behold each other as we do today,
and can converse together. One thousand years hence, probably
many of this congregation will talk over difficulties we are now
passing through.
41
You hear some of the brethren surmise that we are going to have
trouble. You need not expect any trouble, except you take a
course to bring it upon you. You need never expect to see sorrow,
unless your own conduct, conversation, and acts bring it to your
hearts. Do you not know that sorrow to you can exist only in your
own hearts? Though men or women were in the mountains
perishing--though they be in overwhelming depths of snow,
freezing to death, or be on a desolate island starving to death
for want of food,--though they perish by the sword or in any
other way, yet, if the heart is cheerful, all is light and glory
within: there is no sorrow within them. You never saw a true
Saint in the world that had sorrow, neither can you find one. If
persons are destitute of the fountain of living water, or the
principles of eternal life, then they are sorrowful. If the words
of life dwell within us, and we have the hope of eternal life and
glory, and let that spark within us kindle to a flame, to the
consuming of the least and last remains of selfishness, we never
can walk in darkness and are strangers to doubt and fear. Yet we
see people among us who are still selfish, and that principle we
must abandon: we must strip off selfishness, and put covetousness
far from us. We must become of one heart and mind, in order to
fully enjoy the blessings we anticipate.
41
Brother Phineas correctly observed, in his remarks, that if ten
men are united in these mountains, they are not to be overcome by
their enemies. Are this whole people perfectly united? I fear
not. When I undertake to present before this people the true
principles of the Priesthood, I almost shudder, because so many
do not yet understand them and cannot receive them. I go into my
room where we have our prayer-circle, and among twelve men there
will perhaps be twelve different prayers offered up--one praying
for one thing and another for another thing. You may reduce the
number to three, and let them be clothed for secret prayer; and
while one is praying aloud, each of the others will be praying
for that which the one that is mouth is not praying for, unless
they are better taught in regard to prayer than is the Christian
world. Ask the people if they understand the principle of prayer,
and many reply, "We do not know: we pray with all our might;" and
at the same time it is a scene of confusion and distraction of
mind.
42
We are in a land of liberty; and our fathers have taught
us--especially those born in America, that every man and woman
and every child old enough to speak, argue, read, reflect, &c.,
must have minds of their own, and not listen to anybody else.
They are taught to shape their own opinions, and not depend upon
others to direct their thoughts, words, or actions. That system
of teaching reminds me of the old saying, "Every man for himself,
and the Devil for them all." Such views, though entertained by
the human family at large, must be checked in this people. Yet
when I undertake to strip off the garb of erroneous tradition,
and to teach the people true principles of faith, prayer, and
obedience, there are many who cannot receive those principles in
their understanding and hearts. I have told you, and will now
tell you again, that you have to bring your minds right to the
authority of the Gospel--to the true Gospel line. Let an Elder
pray here, and then ask a brother in the congregation what has
been prayed for, and he cannot tell you. Ask a sister what has
been prayed for and she cannot tell you. She may say, "I was so
fervent in prayer myself that I did not hear what was prayed
for." And so it is with hundreds of people who congregate here.
And I think that I may venture to say that you will scarcely find
an individual in the whole congregation that can tell what the
person who prays has prayed for. Do you not know that to be a
fact? I will appeal to your own minds.
42
When a man opens or closes a meeting with prayer, every man,
woman, and child in the congregation who professes to be a Saint
should have no desire or words in their hearts and mouths but
what are being offered by the man who is mouth for all the
congregation. If all would follow out that principle, where would
it lead the people? They would act with one heart and mind in all
their acts through life, and promote the kingdom of God on the
earth.
42
How many times I have attended prayer-meetings among the
Methodists, in my youthful days, when perhaps one hundred men and
women would all be praying aloud at once? I did not then know but
that it was all right. I neither said nor cared anything about
it. It often used to be father Joseph Smith's custom, when he
took the lead of a fast-meeting, to request all present to pray
aloud at the same time, and there would be as many different
prayers as there were persons. Where was the concentration on a
single and united thread of faith? It is like the cable that
holds the ship. Unwind a cable, and you will find several hundred
small cords; unwind the small cords, and you will find fourteen
strands in each cord; unwind each strand, and there are thousands
of fibres; and you have parted the cable of a ship fasted to a
sure anchor, and the ship is free and wafting unmanageable before
the furious tempest. So it is with prayer. You say you want to be
united and want the blessings of heaven.
42
How many times have I said here, within the last three months, I
pray that God would so lead us and our enemies that there will be
no blood shed? And how many have come to meeting and prayed in
their hearts that "our enemies would come on, for we want to slay
them, for we have been mobbed and hunted enough;" and another
would pray the same prayer, with a disposition to desire the
spoil. One of the brethren prayed in camp that the snow might
fall 40 feet deep on our enemies. I am satisfied if it falls only
four or five feet deep.
42
I will tell you my faith in regard to the brethren now in the
mountains. General Wells takes the charge; and when I write to
him, I counsel him to do as the Holy Ghost shall dictate him, and
inform him that whatever he may order and perform, he has my
faith and influence to sustain him.
43
I pray God to turn away our enemies, to put hooks in their jaws
and turn them wherever he will, with their gold, their horses,
and all they possess. They do not know the "Mormons;" they are
strangers to this people, and are full of wrath and malice
towards us; but they know not why. They know not that they are
stirred to anger against us by the enemy of all righteousness.
Should those who instigated the sending of this army undertake to
come here, there will be another scenery, for they are more or
less acquainted with us and know that we are the most upright
people on the earth; and they will not be able to shield
themselves in the garb if ignorance. I will not talk about them,
for you know their history, and you know and have seen much of
the squalid wretchedness of the wicked inhabitants of the earth.
Is there honour or virtue among them? Where is the man or woman
among them that is to be trusted? If there is here and there any
semblance of goodness or virtue, it is at once overcome by every
fiendish art in their power. Women are overcome by sycophants, by
those who rule the nation, and those who have power and influence
in the various States, parties, and religious sects. Man is
overcome by man; they cuddle, and wink, and gamble, and run
to-and-fro in abominations of every grade, and lift their voices
for and against each other, as did the Paddy in his petition to
the king for an office, wherein he stated that he would vote for
or against him, fight for him or fight him, just as he wished it.
43
Colonel Alexander--probably one of the best men in the army now
near Bridger ruins, told one of our messengers, when replying to
a piece of advice I had given him to resign his commission rather
than be found operating against an innocent people, that he was
compelled to remain in the army; for, if he resigned, he knew not
how to manage to sustain his family. He said, "I have no other
means of support: I cannot throw up my commission, for then I
should have no means to support my wife and children." As an
American, shame and confusion would overwhelm me, were I to even
think of trying to sustain my family by siding with tyranny and
oppression. That is the only circumstance I wish to name. They
are sent ostensibly to civilize this people. But I do not wish to
talk much about such nonsense. The whole world are wrapt up in
the garment of corruption, confusion, and destruction; and they
are fast making their way down to hell, while we have the words
of eternal life.
43
How ought we to live? Look at yourselves and see whether your
faith is concentrated with those who are appointed of the Lord to
lead you and have rule over you. See whether all your desires are
one with theirs. If not, it must come to that point. Let every
Saint, when he prays, ask God for the things he needs to enable
him to promote righteousness on the earth. If you do not know
what to ask for, let me tell you how to pray. When you pray in
secret or with your families, if you do not know anything to ask
for, submit yourselves to your Father in heaven and beseech him
to guide you by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and to guide
this people, and dictate the affairs of his kingdom on the earth,
and there leave it. Ask him to put you just where he wants you,
and to tell you what he wants you to do, and feel that you are on
hand to do it. These are a few of my reflections upon that point,
and only a very few of them.
43
Let this people be brought to the straightforward thread of the
Gospel; and what more have we than what has been taught us from
the beginning of this work? Nothing. And the only difficulty
there has been is, that we were not prepared to receive it. Do
you know how to direct your own minds? Where is there an honest
man or woman on the face of this earth--one who has any knowledge
of the Supreme Being, any feeling of the operation of an
invisible agency, but what pleads with that God, whether they
know him or not, to dictate their minds, affections, and conduct?
Where is there and honest man or woman on the earth, but what
that is their desire?
43
Many do not know what to pray for. They need some one to dictate
them. Will the Lord come and personally dictate them? You know
that he will not. Will he send his holy angels to talk with you?
You could not endure their presence: you are in a sinful world.
What do you need? That invisible agency, called the spirit, to
dictate your minds.
44
The whole world are sadly in want of what they call a
master-spirit. That is what the Government of the United States
are deprived of. There is not one to be found among them, neither
in the Cabinet of the President nor in the Senate of the United
States. They are all gone, and there is no one in their midst
competent to lead and dictate in the affairs of our General
Government; but, as they say, it is with them a period of
mediocrity. It has been acknowledged by Great Britain that the
master-spirits are fled: there are none in the British
Parliament, and they know not what to do. Let this people come to
that condition, and say that they have no person capable of
dictating and leading them, and you will be in the whirlpool of
delusion. It will be every man for himself, and you would not
know to do: you would not know how to dictate your own affairs.
It is this which overwhelms the world in confusion and makes it
Babylon, while the Priesthood elevates mankind and dictates the
husband, the wife, and the children, and all they have.
44
A feeling exists in the minds of many of this people that they
would be glad to submit to their presiding Elder or Bishop, but
they do no think that he has knowledge sufficient to lead them.
Says a wife, "I would be glad to submit to my husband; but I wish
I had a husband that I could look upon as my superior--that I
could look up to and receive his words and counsel: that would be
my highest delight. O that I had a husband capable of dictating
me; but, alas! I have not." Go among some of the children, and
they say, "I would be glad to mind my parents in all things, but
I believe that I know more than they do."
44
Go into one of our cities, and you find somebody on the whiz,
whiz, like the wind passing through a broken window in December;
and so it goes throughout the settlement. Somebody has imagined
that the President does not understand his duty and is not
capable of dictating, and that is all the Devil wants to begin
with. If he succeeds in getting one toe into the stocking, he
will work until he get his whole foot in, and confusion and
discord will reign predominant. How many times have you observed
such instances? You have not lived in the Church one year without
seeing them.
44
In such cases a presiding Elder may not always know but what he
has done something wrong, and may be suspicious that this or that
is not right. My maxim is, and it is a rule I have established in
the Legislature of this Territory, never to oppose anything
unless the one making the objection can present something better.
Do not oppose when you cannot improve. If you are not capable of
dictating your brethren, do not say that you will dictate them
until you have found out a better path than the one in which they
are walking. Before you oppose your Bishop as a man unworthy of
your best feelings, first point out a better path to him; and
then you shall have the right of going to the higher authorities
to show that you know more than your Bishop.
45
Is there a fault in some of the presiding Elders? Yes. What is
it? Some of them are subject to a feminine, pusillanimous
feeling. A man rises up and says, "I will dictate and oppose my
Bishop," and some of the Bishops will dodge, and say, "I do not
know but that I am wrong: wife, am I right or wrong?"--and say to
every brother they meet, "What do you think about it?" and run
round and get the opinion of everybody, to know whether they will
sustain him or not. When men learn their duty and calling, and
walk up to the best light they have, then, if they do not know
precisely how to guide to the best advantage, they are right, if
they do the best they can, and can tell all who find fault, "I
ask no odds of you: I have done as I have, and have done the will
of God, according to the best of my knowledge." And let every man
treat his wives and children in the same way; and when a wife
says, "O no, my dear, I think I understand this matter as well as
you do, and perhaps a little better; I am conversant with all the
whys and wherefores, and am acquainted with this little
circumstance better than you are, and I think in this case, me
dear, that I know better than you;" reply, "Get out of my path,
for I am going yonder, and you may whistle at my coat-tail until
you are tired of it." That is the way I would talk to my wives
and children, if they intermeddled with my duties. And I say to
them, If you cannot reverence me, tell me where the man is you
can reverence, and I would speedily make a bee-line with my
carriage and servants and place you under his care.
45
I told the people in Nauvoo, before they wished me to stand as
their President, that if there were any Latter-day Saints that
did not wish to take the counsel of the Twelve, they could go to
hell their own road: we asked no odds of them, for the Twelve
were capable of building up the kingdom of God on the earth. You
know whether I here ask much odds or not. I also told them that
if they were not Saints at that critical juncture, they ought to
repent of their sins, and get the Holy Ghost, and not live
another twenty-four hours without the Spirit of revelation within
themselves, for who knows but what you are the elect; and you
know that false prophets were to arise in the last days, and, if
possible, deceive the very elect, and that many false shepherds
would come and pretend to be the true shepherds. Now, be sure to
get the spirit of revelation, so that you can tell when you hear
the true Shepherd's voice, and know him from a false one; for if
you are the elect, it would be a great pity to have you led
astray to destruction. But if you are not the elect of God
through the sanctification of the Spirit of truth upon your
hearts, then you can go as quickly as you please, for we do not
want you.
45
We feel just the same now. Every man and woman that will not
strive to sanctify themselves before the Lord God, and to possess
within themselves the spirit of revelation to know the voice of
the true Shepherd from a false one, the quicker they go out of
the Territory the better it will be. Take ten men whose hearts,
when they pray, are upon one sentence and upon one idea at a
time, when they ask God for anything, or to bring this or that to
pass, do you think that the powers of hell can hinder what they
ask for? No. It is as true as the heavens--as firm as the
mountains that rest upon these valleys--as sure as eternity, that
nothing can fail which they agree upon; for God will grant it.
46
What is our difficulty? When I go to my prayer-room, among men
who have been with me for years, there is too great a diversity
of feeling and desires to be in accordance with the Gospel. There
is too much of Babylon in that. When that is the case, and when I
am praying for one thing and others for another, our faith comes
in contact and we do not receive what we ask for. How many times
have I said that I would rather have one hundred true Saints in
the mountains than five millions that are not Saints, if I had to
contend against the whole world? What, with the sword? Yes. Let
me have the Gideonites that can kneel down and lap the water, and
one will chase a thousand to flight. Whether the Lord will
require this people to use the sword, or not, I do not know,
neither do I care; but I believe that if the faith of this people
were united, all hell cannot get armies in here to disturb our
settlements.
46
How gladly I would tell the people what to pray for. But if I
tell them, in ten minutes afterwards they pray for something
else. It is too much so in the Quorum of the Twelve and among my
Counsellors. Go into meetings, and you may hear thirty different
prayers, if there are so many offered up, for everything but what
I tell them to pray for. You may think I undervalue you. I do
not. I tell you that if we strive with all our powers. by-and-by
the time will come that we will be Saints indeed. I have not said
that we are Saints. We are trying to be, and we profess to have
the keys that will lead us in the path of eternal life. When we
become so advanced that we are no more in darkness and doubt, nor
in any way under the power of the Devil, then we have a certain
victory over ourselves and over every foul spirit; the Lord God
is sanctified in our hearts, and we are his servants and
handmaids--his children, that can never be destroyed.
46
Take the congregation now before me, and they pray a thousand
different prayers. To-night, mothers, wives, and little children,
observe how the head of the family prays, and see if he does not
pray for nearly everything but what he should pray for. Perhaps I
am wrong, but I think that he will be sure not to pray for the
things he ought to. He will pray that himself and family may have
plenty to eat and live in peace, and probably stop at that. His
prayer will be something like a certain old man's blessing at his
meals: "O Lord, bless me and my wife, my son John and his
wife,--us four and no more: Amen." You will hear the brethren
pray, "O Lord, bless me, and my wife, and children; but the rest
I care nothing about." When you pray, pray for the things that
the kingdom needs, and be not so very careful about yourselves.
Your selfish notions out to be out of sight. Pray God to promote
his kingdom and preserve you in it, and not as I have known a
tolerably good man to pray. He was so ignorant that he would
cheat a widow woman out of her last cow, and then go down on his
knees and thank God for his peculiar blessings to him! Do not be
so abominably ignorant. Instead of thanking God that you have
been able to wrong one man out of a horse, another out of a yoke
of cattle, &c., pray that he will give you the disposition to
make the most righteous use of the property he has entrusted to
your care. Pray that this people may be preserved--that the
kingdom of God may roll on--that our Elders on the islands in the
Pacific, in the United States, and in foreign lands may be so
blessed as to come safely home. Pray for the honest in heart, and
that the ungodly may be so filled with fear and trembling that
they may leave us, that we may live here as Saints, and build up
the kingdom of our God, and prepare for the return of this people
to the centre stake of Zion, where we can lay the foundations for
a New Jerusalem. Pray for the promotion of this cause and
kingdom, instead of praying that you may be able to wrong
somebody out of something.
47
All eternity is before you, and everything you can ask for will
be given to you in due time; for the heavens and the earth are
the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. If I have horses, oxen, and
possessions, they are the Lord's and not mine; and all I ask is
for him to tell me what to do with them. A great many say that
the Lord takes and gives as he pleases, and I think that if I act
as the Lord does I shall do pretty well. Again, some say that the
Lord is going to fight our battles, and enquire, "What is the use
of our brethren being out in the mountains?" He will use his
people as he pleases; and in the sequel you will find that God
fought the battle, and not we.
47
It has also been observed that God will provide for you. Still
many want to shade a little, rather than to work hard for an
honest living. Such practices must be put away, and this people
must become sanctified in their affections to God, and learn to
deal honestly, truly, and uprightly with one another in every
respect, with all the integrity that fills the heart of an angel.
They must learn to feel that they can trust all they possess with
their brethren and sisters, saying, "All I have I entrust to you:
keep it until I call for it." The world have no confidence in
each other; but that principle must prevail in the midst of this
people: you must preserve your integrity to each other.
47
Live your religion. How much you are exhorted--how much have we
pleaded with you to live your religion--to live in the light of
God's countenance--to live with the Holy Spirit so reigning in
you as never to be led astray, that you may know how to promote
the kingdom of God on the earth. Let selfishness be out of sight,
and ask the Lord to preserve you in the truth, and do with you as
he pleases, and dispose of you to his glory.
47
May God bless you. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 / Orson
Hyde, November 1, 1857
Orson Hyde, November 1, 1857
INJUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TOWARDS THE SAINTS,
ETC.
Remarks by Elder Orson Hyde, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 1, 1857.
Reported by J. V. Long
47
Dear brethren and sisters,--I arise to address you for a short
time this day. I shall be as brief as possible and detain you but
a very short time.
47
The last Eastern mail, I think, brought me a pamphlet or tract
written by Elder Orson Pratt, of Liverpool, England.
Subject--"Gathering of the Saints and building up the kingdom of
God." The whole matter is handled in a masterly way, free from
blind obscurity, unchecked and unrestrained by fear, and
untramelled by the religious or political dogmas of the age. It
is the product of a clear head, of a strong heart, and of an
unflinching hand. In short, it is Heaven's eternal truth. I do
exceedingly regret having mislaid it, for I would like to send it
to Senator Douglas, with a request that he read it faithfully
before he applies the knife to "cut out the loathsome ulcer."
Having read it, then, if he shall be disposed and able to cut,
cut away and carve up to suit his own peculiar appetite and that
also of his friends. Will some person having said tract or
pamphlet be kind enough to mail it to Honourable Stephen A.
Douglas, Washington City, D.C.?
48
But, let all men, however, know, that if what the honourable
gentleman calls the "loathsome ulcer" be cut out according to his
views and suggestions, the United States will be cut off from
being a nation, and her star of empire set, and set in blood!
48
The "Mormons" can hardly be made to believe that the United
States intend to set in good faith towards them until they hang
the murderers of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and punish the murderous
incendiaries that killed our men and burned our grain and houses
on Green Plains, Illinois. Nor yet, until they punish Missouri
and cause the wrongs of the Saints in that State to be redressed.
Whenever the United States Government shall begin its work of
justice, at that end of the "Mormon" question it will find it not
so vexed nor yet so knotty as many complain of its being. And
moreover, such a course pursued by the Government would tend to
convert the "Mormons" to the belief that sincerity, good faith,
and even-handed justice towards them were the paramount
considerations and rules of action of the Federal Government.
48
A few officials, so notoriously corrupt that they became
frightened at their own shadow, ran away, having greatly feared
that what they justly merited might come upon them. An army is
raised at their instigation to force them back upon us again, or
some others, not the men of our choice, and to aid them to punish
us for alleged crimes which they have trumped up But it will be
hard for the "Mormons" to bring their feelings to accept any
federal officers at the point of the bayonet or at the cannon's
mouth, nor yet while troops are about them or on their borders.
The contest appears very unequal, it is true; yet a wasp may
worry a bear; and God, by his providences, has sometimes
over-thrown the strong by the agency of the weak. In that God do
we hope for succour and trust for strength and deliverance.
48
When we were driven from Missouri and Illinois, leaving all our
property, except what little we could take in the hurry, there
was no army sent to reinstate us, neither to punish our
persecutors. Then thousands of our men, women, and children were
forced away from their homes at the point of the bayonet, at
mid-day and at mid-night, in the burning rays of a scorching sun,
and in the gloomy shades of a wintry night. Our judges,
magistrates, and civil and military officers were all forced to
go, and no army was sent to reinstate them or to punish the
persecutor and the oppressor. Oh, ye rulers of the land, look at
your injustice! When the innocent cried to you for help--when the
persecuted for conscience' sake implored your fatherly
interference, and, with tears of blood, said to you, "Help us,
lest we perish," you then said that our cause was just, but you
had no power. But now that the wicked and guilty profligate cries
to you to protect him in his corruption and force him upon us
contrary to our wishes, you find yourselves invested with all the
power necessary to urge an unhallowed warfare against the very
people whom you refused to protect. O Lord God Almighty, in the
name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, I ask thee to let the arm and
sword of they justice interpose, and decide this matter according
to thy righteousness, and get to thyself honour and a name that
shall never be forgotten.
49
It may be said that sovereign, independent States are different
from a dependent Territory. This is a door through which many
specious technicalities are sought to be introduced in
justification of the present action and former neglect of the
General Government. But "Mormons" care nothing about such
technicalities. They hold the Government responsible, and so also
does the God of nations and of armies. Therefore, however
strongly it may be urged that the General Government's intentions
are good towards us, this singular people will not believe a word
of it until said Government shall redress their wrongs in
Missouri and Illinois. Whatever explanation may be given to the
present movement of troops for Utah is immaterial. It will stick
to the present Administration, in its true light and character,
like the mark of Cain, Nero, and Herod--a religious persecution
against an innocent patriotic people who know their rights and
dare assert them! Though every "Mormon" in America should be
slain, it will only add to the enormity of the present
Administration.
49
As well might we be made to believe that the student could solve
every problem of Euclid, who had never learned simple addition,
as to believe the Government our impartial friends while they
decline to redress our wrong. The conduct of the "unjust judge"
towards the "poor widow" might raise the blush of shame upon our
national cheek, if the nation possessed as fine sensibilities and
as much discernment as that "unjust judge". He saw that his own
peace, ease, and happiness depended upon his avenging the "poor
widow." And if the peace, ease, and happiness of these United
States, in future, do not depend upon their redressing "Mormon"
wrongs, (though they may not fear God, neither regard man,) then
the Lord does not speak by me . The nation will soon find out
whether "wrath and indignation some upon the people in the shape
of earthquakes, thundering, and lightnings, tempests,--the waves
of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds; and all things
being in commotion, while fear comes upon all people." The
nations may have occasion to consider the treasures of hail and
snow reserved for the last days--even the day of battle for the
controversy of Zion. They may yet learn that the nation and
kingdom that will not serve Zion shall perish; yes, that such
nations shall be utterly wasted.
49
The prophetic glass before the eyes of the ancient
Seers brings the rays of Jehovah's power to a focus on this
earth, in these our days. For kings and rulers to manage their
responsibilities in these critical times is an affair which no
servant of God, truly enlightened, covets or desires. It will
soon be known who are guilty of treason and rebellion against the
only true Sovereign of earth and heaven. It may be necessary for
the alien enemies to establish a precedent in relation to
treason. Then the judgment with which they judge may be dealt out
to them in equal measure, pressed down, &c. Woe unto the world
because of offences! They must come to try the Saints and to
establish a rule by which the Saints, in turn, may judge the
ungodly.
50
The kingdom and government of God are the only legitimate
jurisdiction that ever did exist. And other kingdoms and
jurisdictions stand before God in the same light that many
divorces stood in the days of Moses. "For the hardness of your
hearts, Moses wrote you this precept; but from the beginning it
was not so." For the hardness of men's hearts, God has suffered
them to exercise temporary jurisdiction. But does this temporary
jurisdiction authorize them to oppose him when he begins to take
to himself his great power and to reign? No. The little stone cut
out of the mountain without hands will roll and fill the whole
earth, while the great image will be broken and fall, and the
kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God. Now,
therefore, O ye kingdoms of this world, resist the decree of
Jehovah, if you can and if you will. Fall upon this little stone
cut out of the mountain without hands, and be broken, if you
wish. But know ye that the way of the transgressor is hard, and
his final cup is bitter. God bless the meek and pure! Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 / Heber
C. Kimball, November 15, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, November 15, 1857
SHEDDING BLOOD--GOD'S PROVISION FOR HIS SAINTS
Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 15, 1857.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
50
If this people will live up to their profession--that is, every
Elder, High Priest, Teacher, Apostle, and every person in the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they never will be
troubled; that is, we shall never be under the necessity of
shedding much of the blood of our enemies. You have heard me say
often that I do not believe God designs that we should delight in
shedding blood.
50
In a revelation which God gave to Joseph Smith, he says, "It is
not pleasing in my sight for man to shed blood of beasts, or of
fowls, except in times of excess of hunger and famine." Go and
read it for yourselves. If he is not well pleased with us when we
shed the blood of beasts when we have no need of it, would it not
be much more displeasing to him were we to shed the blood of man
unnecessarily? It is not the Spirit of God that leads a man or
women to shed blood--to desire to kill and slay. When the time
comes that we have need to shed blood, then it will be necessary
we should do it, and it will be just as innocent as to go and
kill an ox when we are hungry or in the time of famine.
50
Brother George A. referred to one revelation where the Lord says,
"It is my business to provide for my Saints." Some people rest
assured that God is going to open the heavens and rain down
manna, or send the nations of the Gentiles in here and let us
take the spoil, because he has said he will provide for his
Saints in the last days.
50
Many have not even planted a peach tree, an apple tree, a plum
tree, nor a currant bush in their gardens. There are many
gardens, within half-a-mile of this Tabernacle, destitute of
fruit trees of any kind. And again, you may see many city lots
that are not cultivated nor planted with corn, wheat, potatoes,
or any other vegetable; but the people who own them expect that
God is going to provide for them without their co-operation.
50
I will ask you a question, you that have not raised even a kernel
of grain on your gardens--What is the reason of this? Is it not
because you have not planted it? You have not had a peach nor an
apple. Why? Because you have not planted the trees; and do you
ever expect to? No, not while the earth stands, water runs, and
grass grows. Such people never will be provided with these
necessaries, except some other man provides them.
51
Here is the earth, the air, the water, and you have been exhorted
to cultivate these valleys and raise grain, and provide for
yourselves individually and collectively. But, say you, God said
to Joseph, "It is my business to provide for my Saints in the
last days."
51
"Behold, it is said in my laws or forbidden to get in debt to
thine enemies; but behold, it is not said at any time that the
Lord should not take when he please and pay as seemeth him good;
wherefore, as ye are agents and ye are on the Lord's errand, and
whatever ye do according to the will of the Lord is the Lord's
business; and he hath set you to provide for his Saints in these
last days, that they may obtain an inheritance in the land of
Zion. And behold, I, the Lord, declare unto you, and my words are
sure and shall not fail, that they shall obtain it; but all
things must come to pass in their time. Wherefore, be not weary
in welldoing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work.
And out of small things proceedeth that which is great."--Doc. &
Cov., sec. xxi, par. 6
51
We have been driven from our native land and birthplace, many of
us, and God has brought us into these rich valleys, and says he,
"Go to and cultivate, and raise grain, and provide for yourselves
seven years' provisions. That is the way he is going to provide
for you--to tell you, like a good father tells his sons, how to
provide for yourselves. "Here I will provide land for you, and
seed," &c. Now, go to and cultivate the soil, increase the seed,
and provide for your wants. Now, that is good logic--good
reasoning: it is not vain philosophy.
51
In this congregation there are hundreds of men who have not a
mouthful to eat, only as they get it from their neighbours from
day to day, or from week to week; and if others had not gone to
and raised provisions, they would have perished, every one of
them, for a temporal subsistence. Is God going to rain down
manna? He will not do it until we are brought into circumstances
to require it. Will he remove a mountain? No--not until the house
of Israel are brought into such straitened circumstances that
there is no way for their escape, except God removes a mountain
for their deliverance.
51
The Lord says, "In the last days it is my business to fight the
battles of my Saints." If it is his business, he will take his
children to do it; and we are his children. You may think that
comes right in contact with the revelations of Jesus Christ; but
it is not so. Why does our President, our Governor, order out
three thousand men to be in the mountains? To fulfil your
prayers. What do you pray for? "O Lord," say you, "I ask thee, in
the name of Jesus Christ, to hedge up the way of our enemies,
that they may never come here." We had to send some three
thousand men to fulfil your prayers. Who is going to fight the
battles of the Lord, if not his people? They have got to stand in
defence of this kingdom and Church of God in the last days.
51
If our enemies are prevented from coming here, they are prevented
because of the Saints of God. Would they have been prevented from
coming here if our brethren had not gone out there and hedged up
their way? God will take his few valiant servants in the last
days, and with them use up the world and bring every kingdom and
dominion into subjection to the kingdom of God.
52
Do you suppose you are going to sit here on your seats and in
your habitations, and never step forth to the help of the Lord?
Nearly one year ago, the last who came in with handcarts were
brought in out of the mountains. Would they have been in our
cities and congregation to-day, had we not gone out and brought
them in? Through our faith and works they were saved from death;
and many of them have brought forth sons and daughters unto God
in the valleys of the mountains. Would they have done this if we
had not stepped forth and manifested our faith by our works in
delivering them from death?
52
I think there is a Scripture somewhere that says, "By your works
you are justified;" and again, "Obedience is better than
sacrifice." It is the works that God expects. I may have faith as
much as I please, and sit in my house and keep my boys at home,
and exhort this people to stay at home; but will that hedge off
the way of our enemies? No.
52
Will our enemies come here? No, except we let them. God gives us
that privilege. We have the right to let them in here or keep
them out; and we choose to keep them out, and we shall do it by
the help of God, and we shall prevail over every nation, tongue,
and people; and every president, king, governor, judge, and every
Latter-day Saint that lift their hands against this Church and
kingdom shall be confounded and frustrated in their attempts.
What! a Saint do this? Yes, a Saint that turns back unto the
Devil takes into his tabernacle the worst spirits, which make him
many times worse that he was at the first.
52
When pigs are washed in soap-suds, they look clean, and you would
think them almost nice enough to live in the house; but no sooner
have you washed them that they will go into the nastiest mud-hole
they can find and muddy themselves all over from head to foot.
Now, do they not look worse than before they were washed? It is
just so with you, when you turn from your righteousness; you are
worse than before you entered into the Church of Christ.
52
Make your preparations this present season to go to and cultivate
the soil, and raise everything you can, and then we shall have
plenty. We have done the best we can; and if our enemies come
upon us, God will throw them into our power, and they will become
subject to us. "How," says the Lord, "Take that spoil and
consecrate it unto my people." The Lord will provide for his
Saints when necessary, and in his own way.
52
Are these things interesting to you, brethren? They are what you
have to do, every man of you that belongs to the house of Israel.
Are there goats in our midst? Bless your souls, if there were
not, there would be more diseases than there now are. It is said
that goats because of their strong smell, have power over
diseases. Take a little assafoetida and put it on a child's
stomach, and certain contagious diseases will not come unto it,
probably because the assafoetida stinks so much worse than
anything else.
52
I do not say there are many goats now. There is, however, one
goat,--I do not know whether it is in the congregation or not.
His face is longer than Lorenzo Dow's; and when you see such a
man as that, you may know who I mean. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 / Orson
Hyde, November 15, 1857
Orson Hyde, November 15, 1857
OPPOSITION TO THE GOSPEL AND THE WORK OF GOD--HONESTY, ETC.
A Sermon by Elder Orson Hyde, delivered in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, November 15, 1857.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
53
A question arises in the minds of some few, and perhaps in the
minds of a great many--"How will our present difficulties
terminate? I would like to know the sequel. We have been kept in
suspense for a length of time, and I would like to know the final
issue."
53
In my opinion, there is no person that can know the final result
of the present movements until it is seen. We have faith in
relation to it, and the assurance of the Almighty that all will
be well; but the exact how and manner in which it will be brought
about we cannot tell; for it is by faith that we move, and not by
sight. But in the course of some remarks which I may make, you
may, perhaps, be led to a satisfactory conclusion as to what the
final issue may be, and not only the final issue, for we are
already satisfied about that, but with regard to the progressive
stages leading to it.
53
It is said in the good Book that "Not many wise, not many mighty,
not many learned are called; but God hath chosen the poor of this
world and rich in faith to be the heirs of his kingdom." We are
furthermore told that he has "chosen the weak things of this
world, and things that are not, to bring to naught the things
that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence." Now I will
quote from a modern writer:--"Say first of God above, then man
below, How can we reason but from what we know?"
53
I will go back to the days of the commencement of this Church,
when a young man of no particular literary qualifications was
called upon to bring to light truths that have been hid for
ages--truths in themselves grand and sublime; yet, when brought
forth, they were clothed in language not so eloquent as might
please the ears of many of the learned. They were not dressed up
in the style of modern oratory; and because of this, they were
rejected by the fashionable and religious world. The religious
world had been taught and completely moulded after the fashion
and learning of this world, so that a man could not be considered
a qualified orthodox preacher, unless he had been through college
and acquired the learning of the age.
53
Here, then, an illiterate youth rises up with a system of true
religion, that lays the axe at the root of every other system in
Christendom. Look at the odds that were apparently against this
young man, even Joseph Smith, the martyr, the Prophet of the Most
High--without learning--without resources or friends to back him
up--with the whole tide of popular sentiment arrayed against him,
backed up by all the learning of the world. If we look at him
through a worldly eye, the odds were materially against him.
54
You are acquainted with the history of the Church, and well
know how matters went on. You know the many trials to which
Joseph the Prophet and his friends were subjected, and the
difficulties with which they had to contend. But was there ever
an instance when the enemy gained an advantage over the truth of
heaven or thwarted the purposes of this illiterate young man? No.
Did they not call to their aid all the learning and craftiness of
the world in proportion as the cause he advocated increased? And
did they succeed any better? When the cause became more extensive
among men, did opposition succeed any better that at the
commencement? Not a all.
54
In process of time, the Elders went forth preaching this Gospel;
and remember, there were not many learned--not many mighty that
were called, and I may say, none at all. With the limited
abilities they possessed, they went forth to proclaim a system of
truth that laid the axe at the root of the false religions and
false philosophy of the world; while the learning, popularity,
and resources of the world were arrayed against us, which we had
to meet; poor and limited in abilities, in learning, and worldly
qualifications, we were despised and regarded as a set of
outcasts.
54
With all the powerful odds against us, the truth greatly gained
ground. Let me appeal to the experience of all present, while I
ask you if you have ever known an instance where a faithful
Elder, who has kept his garments clean and unspotted from the
world, has ever been confounded while administering the word of
life as proclaimed through that illiterate young man, Joseph
Smith? To be sure, a few who may have got the "big head," or been
puffed up in their own imaginations, have been foiled, or those
who have been in transgression. God despises a victory gained by
such characters. He will not acknowledge or own a victory gained
in this cause by a corrupt and wicked member of his Church. I do
not know positively how that is, however, and I will not stop to
investigate it. Suffice it to say, it is the pure in heart that
God delights to work with. Just like any good mechanic, when he
wishes to make a nice piece of work, he wants tools that are
sharp and clean to do it with. He will not work with dull and
rusty tools to execute a nice job of work.
54
So it is with our heavenly Father: although he may use seemingly
awkward instruments, yet they are polished after his mind and
will; and he, being the master builder, knows what pleases him
best.
54
Has the greatest champion against "Mormonism" ever been confident
enough in his own success and triumph in any debate with the
Elders of this Church to publish his own arguments with those of
his opponent? I do not know but there have been such instances,
but not one now occurs to my mind; while, on the other hand, our
faithful Elders have not been afraid or ashamed to publish both
sides of the question for all eyes to look upon.
54
Often we have seen pieces in public journals, and also books
published against us in burning zeal, and flaming with vengeance
against us, and seemingly calculated to overthrow us, exposing
what they called the wickedness of the "Mormons," beguiling and
duping their hearers with cunningly-devised falsehoods. Very many
cases of this kind we have seen, and have also seen their end.
The Almighty has put his hand over them, and they have sunk so
low that the strongest prejudiced hand against us will not now
reach down to bring them up. Their power has become weakness, and
their influence is blasted for ever by the breath of the
Almighty.
55
Does the everlasting Gospel lose its influence with the good
and pure of mankind? Upon those who are not disposed to work
righteousness alone is its influence lost--upon those who shout,
"Great is Diana of the Ephesians;" but with the honest,
simple-hearted sons of men it is just as sweet now as ever it
was; and to them its charms increase, notwithstanding all the
trials and difficulties they endure for its sake.
55
"This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached for a witness unto
all nations, and then shall the end come." Was it the Gospel of
the kingdom that was preached in ancient days--in the days of the
Apostles, that went into all the earth, and their words unto the
ends of the world? It was the Gospel, but I conclude that it was
not the Gospel of the kingdom; for that was to be revealed at the
time when the kingdom of God should be established on the earth,
to stand for ever. "And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached as a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end
come."
55
Where has this Gospel been preached? Through the United States of
America, in Europe, Asia, and Africa. I do not say that it has
been sounded distinctly in the ears of everybody living; but I do
say that the sound has gone into all the earth, and their words
to the ends of the world.
55
I recollect a certain saying in a revelation that was given to
the Saints in the early days of this Church. The Lord said,
through Joseph Smith, that it became every man, after being
warned, to warn his neighbour, that all may be without excuse. If
all the people who have heard the word had been as faithful in
warning their neighbours as the few Elders who are now under the
sound of my voice have been in warning those with whom they have
been associated, and to whom they have been sent, and among whom
they have laboured, would not the whole world have been fully
warned at this time? Yes.
55
In another revelation to the first Elders of this Church, who had
been forth preaching in their weakness, (being called in at
Kirtland, Ohio,) the Lord told them to wash their feet in
testimony that they were clean from the blood of this generation,
and goes on to say, "Let those who are not of the first Elders of
my Church remain in the vineyard, for their garments are not yet
clean." Those first Elders had laboured but a short time in the
vineyard--perhaps one or two years, when it was said, "Your
garments are clean."
55
There are Elders who have laboured from sea to sea, from island
to island, from country to country, and have spent the vigour and
strength of their days in the work of proclaiming the Gospel. May
we not say, upon the same principle, that their garments are
clean from the blood of this generation? If so, what does it
imply? That we shall not be held under condemnation if we never
preach to them again. And there is another thing implied in this:
If this generation shall rise against you to slay you for your
religion, and because you are righteous, your garments being
clear of their blood, and you slay them, their blood is upon
their own heads. This is what I understand by being clear from
the blood of this generation. It is an important saying. In my
opinion, it means more than a casual observer would attach to it.
It is a deep saying. If you have warned, them--have called upon
them to repent--offered them the blessing of eternal life through
the Gospel, and they thrust it from them, let what will happen to
them, your garments are clean from their blood.
56
Now we see that the Gospel has gone into all nations, countries,
and kingdoms; for the man that has been warned should have warned
his neighbour, and the nation that has been warned should have
warned its neighbouring nation, &c.; so they are without excuse
before God, whatever excuse they may plead before man.
56
We can see the unabating success of the Gospel from the time
Joseph got the plates until now, and the defeat and downfall of
every opponent that has risen up to oppose its progress. If there
had been any purpose in God that this work should be overthrown,
would he not have suffered it to be done before this? For all
means that could possibly be invented by the powers of earth and
hell have been brought to bear against it, and every man who has
risen up against it has gone down, and his published works have
become a stink in the nostrils of even this wicked generation, to
say nothing of the Saints. The wicked themselves are even ashamed
of their sayings and of their writings against the cause of
truth. Their expositions of "Mormonism," as they call them, are
hardly cold from the press until they are dead, their influence
killed, and there is no sale for their books. The words of the
Apocalypse very appropriately apply to their case--"No man buyeth
their merchandize any more."
56
I will venture to say that no publication has ever been issued
against this work, only for the purpose of getting gain. Men have
not been inspired to oppose it for the sake of the souls of men,
but to save their craft, their salary, their party, their honour,
and their credit in the sight of men.
56
The system of truth revealed through Joseph Smith is not clothed
in language so eloquent as this literary generation would desire.
As a general thing, you know, a real polished scoundrel wears the
finest cloth--the most fashionable garb, that he may be looked
upon as an honest man by those who judge from outward appearances
and not righteous judgment. The truth is not always clothed in
the nicest style, or according to the ideas of this world; but
the Lord sends it forth in the shape of a stone of stumbling and
rock of offence. He is not pleased to conform to the views of
this generation. They have got to take salvation just as he
offers it to them, or else take damnation: they can have their
choice. It is not for them to serve up the dish they shall eat;
but it is for the Almighty to dress it as suits himself; and if
the sinner take it, it will heal him.
56
The patient does not prescribe nor tell the doctor what he wants
of him,--that is, supposing the doctor to be what he ought to be.
He examines the patient, knows the nature of the disease, and
prescribes accordingly. The patient takes the medicine, and asks
no questions for conscience sake.
56
So it is with our heavenly Father. The world is diseased; and he
has prepared a remedy, and served it up as suits himself, not
consulting the vitiated appetites of this consumptive generation
to whom he administers it. It is like a root out of dry ground:
it is without form or comeliness, without beauty, that men should
not desire it. Awkward and unclothed as it is with worldly
wisdom, behold, the illiterate Elders of Israel are sent with it,
and they have marched through the colleges and literary
institutions of the learned world, and have defeated those who
dared to come out to oppose and put them to flight; and all their
learning, iniquity, cunning, and worldly wisdom were turned into
foolishness.
57
A little boy, filled with the Spirit of the living God throws out
an idea that completely knocks in "pie" all their calculations. A
simple sentence from the mouth of an uneducated youth often
dissipates their profound wisdom in folly and nonsense. They know
not what to do. They attempt to grasp a thing without form or
comeliness. They know not where to get hold of it; and then they
think they have hold of it, it slips through their hands. Such
has been the great success of the preaching of the word.
57
Now, then, if they resort to force of arms or to brute force to
overpower us, may we not safely calculate that the results will
be similar to those in the mental contest?
57
"Say first of God above, then man below,
57
How can we reason but from what we know?"
57
So far, we do actually know and understand. It is demonstrated by
our experience, and we are prepared to say that it is truly so.
Behold, the wicked are unwilling to be converted by the gentle
means the Lord God of Israel has introduced. They are satisfied
that they cannot prevail against us by argument; and even
polygamy, in all the glaring forms they may please to give it,
offers obstacles to formidable for them to encounter by argument,
Scripture, philosophy, or truth. But "overcome it must be," say
the enemy; and "we will not rest until we have resorted to the
last extremity. We will try the force of arms!" "Very well, if
that is your mode of warfare," says the Almighty, "I do not
desire it; but I will show you that I am not only a man of
reason, Scripture, and truth, but a man of war too. If force of
arms is your plan and mode of attack, you will find me ready to
meet you in that and in every method you may adopt."
57
Behold, they rise up in war against the Saints. The Saints
heretofore, when attacked on moral and Scripture principles, have
stood up to oppose the enemy. If they had not done this, the
enemy would have overpowered us. We have always met him with the
truth and the simple arguments which God has furnished us with,
and have always been successful; and perhaps, had we stood up to
oppose him with force of arms, we might have been equally
successful: but I cannot say how that is. The time, probably, had
not come for us to take that position; and consequently, when it
came to force of arms, the enemy must needs be made the
aggressor. He was permitted to prevail against us for the time
being; and whether that was not the very means of putting us in a
position whereby we could successfully oppose him in that way,
when the time did come, we can easily judge. I guess it is all
right and has worked for our good; and herein we can discern that
our heavenly Father has exemplified a glorious truth to us, that
all things shall work together for good to them that love God and
are the called according to his purpose.
57
If we had taken this position in Missouri or in Nauvoo, before
breakfast they could have ordered their affairs and come upon us,
and it would have required a standing army of the angels of God
to defend us. But the time had not yet come; therefore the Lord
suffered them to prevail until he should get us where he wanted
us' "And then shall the prophecies of my servants be fulfilled in
the scenes that shall transpire with you." It never could have
been said, "The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established
in the tops of the mountains," if we had remained in the valley
of the Mississippi.
58
The Lord considered it necessary that we should be removed into
the chambers of the Almighty, or to some place prepared to
receive us, where he might display his power, and get for himself
a name and honour that shall never be forgotten. Sometimes a
defeat is equal to a victory. I recollect of reading an account,
the saying of a celebrated General, after he had gained a victory
and lost a great portion of his men. One of his officers
congratulated him on his victory. "Ah!" said he, "Another such
victory would entirely ruin me."
58
Sometime victory is worse than defeat. I consider that the defeat
the Saints have suffered is tantamount to victory, and better
than victory, because we have come to a place which the Lord
wanted us to occupy.
58
We say, against all the learning, science, skill, talent, &c., of
this world, which were arrayed against us, making the odds almost
enough to discourage any people but the Latter-day Saints, We
have prevailed; and when they come to force of arms, this must
also be overcome. They will use the force of arms; for, say they,
"The 'Mormons' must be overcome, or they will take away our place
and nation, and we shall be overthrown, and there will be no
stopping these people, if we let them go on any further." And
some think it has gone so far now that they cannot stop it. I
endorse the sentiment. They have let it go too long for their
purpose.
58
I believe, when the Almighty conceives a work to do, he will
carry it through in some way or shape. Behold, we are here, a
little people collected together in the mountains, and are short
of the munitions of war, while on the other hand the whole world
if full of them. We are short of clothing, but tolerably plenty
of food. And then look at the terrible odds that is arrayed
against us. See their thousands of well-trained troops and the
millions of money at their command. They can bring any sized army
into the field, all armed and equipped with a splendid outfit.
This is a powerful odds against us.
58
The science of war has been studied by them from the beginning.
They have kept a school at West Point, in which they have trained
and qualified their officers to take command, and they are
schooled in all the tactics of modern warfare, except ours.
58
At the call of the President of the United States, there are
thousands who will enrole as volunteers, and will be all armed
and equipped, with money in their pockets and grub in their
sacks, and no end to it either.
58
Are all these any worse for us to overcome, in our present
condition, that is was to overcome the learning, strength, and
moral influence and power that were arrayed against us when we
were but a handful, and called to go and preach the welcome
message of the Gospel? Is the odds any greater? I say not. The
God who taught and sustained us in proclaiming this Gospel in its
simplicity will also sustain us in whatever opposition may arise
against us, provided we have the Spirit of God in our hearts, and
were not in transgression, we could handle them without mittens,
because the Lord was with us.
58
Just so sure as we as a people are pure and undefiled before God
our heavenly Father, there is no power that can prevail against
us. I do not care if they have all the paraphernalia of war the
world can produce, the Almighty has got weapons of warfare they
never thought of, and means of defence for his people, and he
delights to throw his shield over those who serve him and keep
his commandments. The odds may appear against us in the eyes of
the world; but when we contemplate that God is for us, and that
all the holy angels in heaven are enlisted in our behalf, and we
have purity, and sincerity, and truth in our hearts, these are
bulwarks which they cannot scale. God grant that we may be
shielded with this kind of armour!
59
I want not to speak in relation to a few things that pertain more
particularly to individuals. You know, to be honest, when there
is no temptation to be otherwise, is no particular credit to us.
For me to have a chance to put forth my hand and steal my
neighbour's food, when I have plenty, and I do not do it, is no
particular credit to me for being honest. Suppose I am clad with
all the clothing I desire, and my family also is well provided
for in this article, for me to go and steal clothing would be
outrageous in the extreme, and there would be not credit due to
me for refraining from such an act. The time to test our real
merit and integrity is when we are pinched with hunger and thinly
clad: then is the time to test us. I do not say that a person
going to steal under those circumstances would be any more
justified. For a person to be forced to steal food, to save his
life, is a circumstance that very rarely occurs with a just and
righteous man. Should a good man, however, be reduce to such
extremes, there is generally among the Saints, provision made
against such emergencies, rendering stealing unnecessary under
any circumstances. We have heard of some instance where garments
have been washed and hung out, and have been taken by some person
in the day time, and shirts and other articles not necessary to
mention.
59
Brethren and sisters, I wish merely to say, Let our hands be
clean, and try to the utmost of our power to get what we really
need, and get it in an honourable and lawful way. We do not want
to spoil the victory that lies right before us by dabbling in
things that are not our own, neither convenient. If I were to
apologize for such acts upon the principle of scarcity and want,
it would be a license for everybody to "pitch in" that had a
disposition to do so, and nobody would be safe. Let us be on the
watch--watch ourselves, and suffer not any unlawful act of ours
to tarnish the glorious victory that awaits us. Let us hold on
and do the best we can, and let our neighbour's things alone,
unless we can persuade him to sell them to us, or give them to
us. Do not let us weaken our own confidence before God. But we
need to march, shoulder to shoulder, upon the principles of
purity and integrity; and as we have stood shoulder to shoulder
heretofore, and carried this Gospel to the nations of the earth
and been pure in heart before God, have we ever failed in
accomplishing the purposed of Heaven? No. And I tell you,
inasmuch as our hearts are pure as a people, full of integrity
and the Holy Ghost, no power shall ever prevail against us from
this time henceforth and for ever. I feel in my soul and pray God
to bless the pure in heart, who seek to do his will, live their
religion, and honour their God; and we shall yet see the desire
of our souls and be satisfied.
60
The priests of Christendom now say, "We cannot stand before this
man," and they warn their flocks to keep away from the Latter-day
Saints. "Are you reading that 'Voice of Warning?' Lay it out of
your hands and put it out of your houses, for it is a dangerous
book. Put away from you their tracts and books, for they are
dangerous; and keep away, keep away from those dangerous men that
are turning the world upside down." That is the cry throughout
the world. What will be the cry when they come up against us and
try the force of arms? It will be--"Let us not go up against
Zion, for the people thereof are terrible: keep away, keep away."
The one cry follows in the wake of the other. What makes the
people of Zion terrible? Answer: Strict honesty and integrity
before God. That is what will bring the cloud by day and the
shining of a flame of fire by night; and upon all the glory there
shall be a defence. God will surround the people of Zion as it
were with a wall of fire, and he will make bare his arm in the
eyes of the nation that wars against her, and she will be like a
beacon light to seafaring men; and men will come and bring their
clothing and their treasures, and we shall have an abundant
supply of such things. Let us take care of what we have, keep it
clean and patch it up, take care of our sheep and raise all the
flax and wool we can, and the Lord will make up the balance; and
if we do right we shall find that we have an overflowing treasury
of every good thing; which may God grant, for Christ's sake.
Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 / George
Albert Smith, November 15, 1857
George Albert Smith, November 15, 1857
OPPOSITION TO "MORMONISM," ETC.
Remarks by Elder George A. Smith, made in the Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, November 15, 1857.
Reported by J. V. Long.
60
We have been very much interested, brethren and sisters, by the
address of Elder Hyde; and no doubt the value of the sentiments
advanced have been duly appreciated. As a people having a
knowledge of the first principles of the Gospel of salvation, we
are qualified above all others to appreciate the value of the
truths of heaven when they are revealed to us. It is of the
utmost importance that we divest ourselves of every corrupt and
selfish principle and of every species of "covetousness, which is
idolatry." To live before the Lord with honesty is a matter of so
much importance that it cannot fail to be duly appreciated by the
Saints of the Most High.
60
Whenever these principles are presented before them, the contrast
between the situation that we have hitherto been placed in and
our present condition is also very striking, as has been shown us
by the contrast drawn by Elder Hyde.
60
When we had to face the science, the learning, the eloquence, the
skill, and the intellect of the entire world--a single handful of
us against the whole world--God bore us off victorious. His hand
has preserved us. His Spirit inspired us, so that the mighty were
confounded, the eloquent were put to silence, and the learned
were constrained to say to their fellowmen, "Do not listen to it;
do not read their books; do not hear them, nor go where they are.
You may be deceived."
60
In almost every instance, what has been by all philosophers and
wise men considered the worst argument that ever was used has
been resorted to--that is, brute force. You convince a man by
brute force, and he is of the same opinion that he was before.
You force a man to accede to your laws and rules, and his mind is
only enslaved; and then, when it breaks loose, it is ten thousand
times worse than if no brute force had been used. Notwithstanding
this, the world cry, "Extermination and destruction."
61
In looking over the papers that have been brought from the
States, we find that a great proportion of them have been
speculating on the cost of exterminating the "Mormons;" and there
is one very uncomfortable speculation about it. One of them, in
estimating the cost of a war of extermination against the
"Mormons," said, "We shall have to expend from fifty to a hundred
millions, and then we shall have nothing to show for our pay but
naked, barren rocks." This is the condition of affairs; but it is
a war of principle, and "Mormonism" must be exterminated, though
it is not at all a profitable business.
61
Now, there never was a man, from the time that this work
commenced, that ever made himself popular by opposing it; and in
future, whatever may be their attempts, it will be the ruin of
every man that undertakes it; and this has been the case with
every man that has attempted to make such a speculation. It never
did and never will pay political expenses.
61
The God of heaven has raised up this people. He has carried them,
as it were, in his arms. He has cradled them in adversity and has
brought them into these mountains; and here he wishes to nourish
and preserve them. I never lift my heart to the heavens without
praying to the Almighty to gather out of the midst of his people
all those who do offend and work iniquity, and to gather out of
the midst of Zion every corrupt heart--every man that will not
turn from his sins, forsake his wickedness, and love the Lord his
God with all his heart and his neighbour as himself.
61
Such a people will have the blessings of God: such a people
cannot be overthrown by all earth and hell combined. Then let us
be such a people; and if corruption exists in our hearts, let us
cut it out; for I can tell you we shall be sifted as with a
sieve; and while our enemies are endeavouring to destroy us and
desiring to murder us, to exterminate us, to deprive us of our
existence, to wipe us from the earth, to blot out the name of the
kingdom of God, they are only suffered to crowd upon us that we
may be tried and purified.
61
We should not desire the shedding of blood; but we are required
by every law of nature, by every principle of righteousness, and
by every constitutional principle upon the face of the earth,
whether civil, political, or military, to defend ourselves and
prevent our being broken up by others. This is a naturally
inherited right, and God requires us to defend ourselves. And
inasmuch as we have to defend our sacred rights, we should do it
in the name of the Lord, with all humility, with a desire to
sustain his kingdom; and, let what will come, trust in God for
the result and be satisfied with it.
61
Elder Hyde, in drawing the comparison in reference to the
millions of our enemies--to the great wealth that they possess,
showed their advantages in number and wealth. But let me ask this
question, Have they got a thing that the Lord did not give them?
Have they got a solitary farthing that the Lord did not bestow
upon them? If they use that which he has given them for evil,
they will have to give a minute account of that stewardship.
61
The boasted national surplus funds are directly calculated to
produce extravagant and unprincipled legislation, and will have a
tendency in the end to strip them of funds and leave them in
poverty, while the straitened circumstances of the Saints will
only be the means of purifying, driving away, and scattering from
their midst those who do offend and work iniquity.
62
I feel to rest satisfied that the Almighty will control all those
things for the good of this people. The Lord has said it is his
business to take care of his Saints. If you are taking care of a
child and are rearing it up to manhood, you have to look after
its education, correct its morals, regulate its conduct, and
inflect punishment when necessary, that the child may realize the
difference between good and evil--between doing right and doing
wrong. Peradventure the Lord wishes to have a tried people, and
he has determined to try the Saints sufficiently, and he will
protect them in his own way. The Lord will apply the rod.
Sometimes he has scourged the people of Israel in one way, and
sometimes in another. Sometimes he has scourged them with
pestilence, with wasting, and destruction, and sometimes with
famine, or by delivering them into the hands of their enemies;
and in all these way he has scourged his people that they might
know and realize that God is over them, that he control all
things.
62
There was a sheriff that came to an old lady and said to her,
"Well, old woman, I have taken your son Jim, and I have locked
him up on jail, where he will never do any more mischief." "Oh,"
says she, "is it possible that Jim has gone to jail?" "Yes," the
sheriff replied; "I have put the little whelp where he never will
do any more mischief; and I thought I would come and tell you
what had become of him." The old lady felt sorrowful and
mortified at the bitter way in which the sheriff told it. "Well,
Mr. Sheriff," said the old lady, "I hope, when the Lord has
punished poor Jim all that he deserves, that he will burn the
rod!"
62
This is the sentiment that I have with regard to the means made
use of for the purpose of punishing and sifting us, or turning
those who are corrupt and causing them to flee away, or of waking
us up to our duty. When the Lord gets through with them,. like
the old woman, I would be obliged to him if he would burn the
rod. Doubtless he will look after this matter, if we do our duty.
It is only for us to look to the right--to live our religion, and
all will be well.
62
I know that this is the work of God, and that he will sustain his
servants; and if we will love truth, though few, compared with
our enemies, we shall have light, life, power, and dominion,
while our enemies will lift up their eyes in hell, where there is
no water. May God prepare us for all that we have to encounter,
is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Journal of Discourses / Journal of Discourses, Volume 6 / Heber
C. Kimball, November 22, 1857
Heber C. Kimball, November 22, 1857
FAITH AND WORKS--SUBMISSION TO AUTHORITY--THE LORD'S
PROVISION FOR HIS SAINTS, ETC.
A Sermon by President Heber C. Kimball, delivered in the
Tabernacle,
Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, November 22, 1857.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
63
I can say for one, that that is a beautiful hymn which brother
Dunbar has just sung: ["DESERET, dedicated to Governor Young by
W. W. Phelps."] And what has been said to-day by brothers Albert
Carrington and George D. Grant is good, and their words, as far
as I have heard, are salvation to all who hear and practice,
because they are true.
63
You all the time hear me talking about truth. Truth is light, and
light is life. If these principles are cultivated by us, with our
families, what is there to hinder us from walking into the
presence of God, or into the presence of those who stand between
us and him? I do not believe that we can emerge right into the
presence of God, although we may see him, not in the flesh, but
we can in the Spirit, if he touches the eyes of our
understanding; but we cannot see him with these bodies of flesh.
Joseph always told us that we would have to pass by sentinels
that are placed between us and our Father and God. Then, of
course, we are conducted along from this probation to other
probations, or from one dispensation to another, by those who
conducted those dispensations.
63
If we are, as some are, guilty of doing wrong, and treasuring up
and practicing principles that lead to death, we cannot attain to
principles of exaltation. It is for me to do right and to do as I
am told. Still, when brother Brigham tells me to do a thing, I
may have that in me that would equivocate and say, "Will not such
and such a thing do better?" I know he is interrupted in that way
continually. Supposing I say, "Yes, that is true," when he
speaks, and every man in Israel says the same, what has the Devil
to do with us then? As brother Brigham says, "The Devil can do no
more than stand and grin at us." For a man or woman to try to
frustrate his purposes is not true philosophy, but it is the
Devil in our camp. He says the enemies on our borders cannot come
in here, and I say the same.
63
Good works produce good faith, and faith without works is dead.
Do not tell me about your faith, when you have not a particle of
works with it: it is all of no account. Our works must be good:
they must be confined to truth and the knowledge of God; and how
can you get that knowledge without good works? Such doctrine as
this is according to the words which God has given to his
servants, ancient and modern.
64
When the Lord spoke through Joseph Smith, it was "the word of the
Lord to my servant Orson, to my servant W. W. Phelps, or to my
servant Oliver: Go and do thus and so, and you shall see my
glory." If they do not go, they do not see his glory, nor obtain
his favour, do they? Because their works did not correspond with
the word of God.
64
You never will see glory and happiness, angels, nor anything
else, except the angels from beneath, if your works do not
correspond with your faith and with what you are told to do. No
man will ever enjoy the presence of Angels, Prophets, Apostles,
Patriarchs, Jesus, and the Father, and the sanctified who have
passed beyond the vail, that does not live up to these
principles.
64
It is well enough for me to throw out what light and knowledge I
have upon any matter, and brother Brigham can judge as to its
correctness or incorrectness; but it is not for me to equivocate,
when he has given the word of decision. That is the course I have
tried to learn; and if I am not right in this matter, I stand
here ready to be corrected by any person who knows better. If we
all were to take that course, our enemies never--no, never would
have power over us.
64
It is the head that governs the body, the same as the helm guides
the ship; and if the captain does not manage the helm in person,
he puts a man there that will run the course that he dictates.
Says he, "It is blowing a heavy gale: make calculations to steer
to such a point of the compass, that you may have a little
lee-way." The captain of the ship does not take the helm, but he
directs the one who has hold of the helm the course to steer.
64
"And verily I say unto you, the rest of my servants, Go ye forth
as your circumstances shall permit in your several callings unto
the great and notable cities and villages, reproving the world in
righteousness of all their unrighteousness and ungodly deeds,
setting forth clearly and understandingly the desolation of
abomination in the last days; for with you, saith the Lord
Almighty, I will rend their kingdoms: I will not only shake the
earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble; for I, the Lord,
have put forth my hand to exert the powers of heaven. Ye cannot
see it now; yet a little while and ye shall see it, and know that
I am, and that I will come and reign with my people. I am Alpha
and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Amen." (Doc. and Cov., sec.
iv., par. 24.)
64
With you, mine Elders, my servants, I will rend the kingdoms of
this world, and with you I will provide for my Saints in the last
days.
64
That may be a new idea to many of you. Is he going to take the
world and by them provide for his Saints? No; but he will take
his Elders. The righteous have got to provide for the righteous
in the latter days, as Joseph in Egypt provided for his father's
house and those that believed on him, like a good father
providing for a good family, for good wives, and good children.
64
When I have provided for my wives and children, that is my
business, is it not, although I dictate them to do the work? I
bring this up as a comparison. Says the Lord, "That is my
business. When you have done all things according to my word, you
need not further trouble yourselves."
65
Now, the Elders of this Church have been forth and exhorted,
invited, and persuaded the world to embrace the Gospel. I have
travelled by self hundreds of thousands of miles, and other have
travelled more than I have, and some of you have not travelled
any, only from your native land to this, which is but a trifling
journey. We are now a thousand miles away from our enemies in the
United States, and the President of the United States is over
three thousand from us, and at the same time he has his myrmidons
over the mountains there. What are they sent here for? To destroy
us--to kill your leaders--to kill the Prophets, Apostles, and
Patriarchs, with every man and woman that will sustain those men.
65
I have seen the day when it was as much as our lives were worth
to sustain Joseph Smith--the apostates were so thick around us,
and persecution was so great. The day was when brother Brigham
was the only Apostle on the earth, with the exception of Joseph,
and Sidney, and Hyrum, that could say to brother Heber, Go, and
you shall be blessed. I am reckoning brother Hyde with us, for he
went with me on that mission to England. In connection with
brother Joseph, brother Hyrum, and brother Sidney, brother
Brigham said, "Go, brother Heber, and in the name of Israel's God
you shall be blessed, and it shall prove the salvation of
thousands."
65
John Boynton, one of the Twelve, came to me and said, "If you are
such a damned fool as to listen to Joseph Smith, the fallen
Prophet, and go to England under these perilous circumstances, if
I knew you were shipwrecked on Van Dieman's Land I would not
assist you to get you from that land."
65
I will speak to Lyman Johnson's credit: I will give every man
credit for the good he does. Lyman Johnson steps up and says,
"Brother Heber, I do not feel so. I am sorry you are going, and
consider you are foolish; but if you are determined to go, I will
help you all that is in my power; and he took from his shoulders
a good, nice camlet cloak and put it on to mine; and that was the
first cloak I ever had. This was in the month of June, 1837.
[Voice: "He shall be blessed for that."]
65
I was then destitute of the comforts of life, and that cloak I
wore three times across the sea, and Parley P. Pratt wore it four
times; and in all it crossed the sea seven times. It seemed as
though it would never wear out.
65
Those circumstances were the; most trying circumstances that ever
I was brought into. Joseph had to flee from that land to save his
body from being slain, and so had brother Brigham and every other
man who would sustain the Prophet, the apostasy was so great; and
they were most hellish in their wickedness.
65
I went and performed the mission according to the words of the
Prophet of the living God, and was gone eleven months and two
days from Kirtland, being on that land eight months and two days,
in which time there were about two thousand souls added to the
Church and kingdom of God, with the help of Elders Willard
Richards, Orson Hyde, and Joseph Fielding.
65
When I came back from England there were but a few left in
Kirtland. There was one little society of men that pretended to
take the lead and oversight of the people, and they were guided
by a peep stone.
65
God had blessed and prospered me exceedingly, and the words of
Joseph, Hyrum, Sidney, and Brigham were all fulfilled to the
letter, which you all know. I was poor and weak, and did not know
but a little in regard to this work in the latter days. My
knowledge was in proportion to my experience. At the same time, I
knew enough, by the help of the Holy Ghost, to confound the wise
and to bring to naught the foolish things of this world. God has
taken just such weak instruments as myself to bring to pass his
great purposes. And you need not find fault with them: if you do,
you find fault with God, who sent them.
66
Now, I will tell you what I am going to do. I have heard my
leader express himself, and I am going to do as near like him as
possible. I am going to do what is right, whether you like it or
not; for I would rather have the favour of my leader, and Joseph,
and Peter, and Jesus, &c., than of all the world besides. I am
going to flour up my wheat, put it into boxes and cache it, right
straight, whether you do it or not. Now, you need not go to
brother Brigham and ask him where he is going to put his, not
where I am going to put mine; for we shall not tell you.
66
There are tens of thousands in these valleys that would not touch
or meddle with those things, if they knew where they were; and
then again, there are others that would. There is now and then an
individual that is dishonest. They made a practice of stealing in
the Old and New World, where they came from, and they think it is
no harm. If they go to work for a man and do a little job on his
house, and he has fifty nails or screws, and there are twenty
left, he will put them into his pocket and take them home, and
kneel down and thank the Lord that he has got a few nails or
screws, and thinks it is the providence of God that has thrown
them in his way and that there were a few left. Such practices
bring evil and destruction upon us. I was telling you what I
should do--that I should flour my wheat and cache it, and perhaps
I shall lay some of it by in the wheat; but I shall flour it
chiefly; for if it comes a tight time, I shall cache some
portions of my mill, and then I shall not have a mill to grind
any. I will have it made into flour and put it where it will keep
seven year. And I am also going to cultivate the earth more
thoroughly and efficiently this present year to come that I ever
did in my life, and so will every other man that does right. I
told you I am going to do a brother Brigham did. Those who think
it is not good philosophy, try the opposite. You will never get
me to contend against him while I have my senses. I will
cultivate my trees--my apple trees and plum trees, and set out
currant and rose bushes, though I would rather put in a plum tree
or some kind of tree that will yield something for the sustenance
of the body. I will also repair and re-repair, and take care of
what I have got. I mean to take my sons, from the oldest to those
who are old enough, and I will qualify them to cultivate the
soil, and will fit them out and put them into the mountains to
watch for, and, if necessary, to fight for the interests of the
house of Israel from this day forth, until the Lord God Almighty
upsets their kingdoms. I never will put them to the plough again
when they are required to stand against our foes. I will say,
"Boys, take that team and plough, and that hoe, and put in the
grain to provide for you while you are there;" and then, if they
come home relieved by the manager, they can help to harvest it
and take care of it. I will support my sons in the mountains to
sustain this people, and in the vineyard, while I live, if it is
necessary, as fast as they come to maturity, or to mechanism,
cultivating the earth, &c., so as to know and understand all
branches of business and be qualified to teach their children;
and so will every other good man and woman who live their
religion. For, says the Lord, with you, mine Elders, I will rend
their kingdoms; with you I will provide for my Saints in the last
days.
66
We have invited the nations to receive the truth, but they will
not, nor let us go to them; and now God is going to compel them
to come in by famine, war, and every kind of desolation; and they
will come faster than we can provide for them. Then let us awake,
and not lie down and sleep, and go home and act as though we had
not heard anything.
67
I am telling what I am going to do: I have heard our leader talk
so. Then I will do as he says. I would not give a dime for a man
that would not. Get out of my way, you poor stinking curses that
would pursue a course contrary to the word of the living God! I
am at war with such spirits. I want to know how we can be one,
unless we are one with the head? When the head speaks, let every
man and woman listen and obey.
67
I do not care so much about the women obeying as I do the men. I
am not talking about them, but you, Elders of Israel, that have
the Priesthood. Women have not a particle of Priesthood, only
what they hold in connection with their husbands; neither have
the men, except that which they hold in connection with those who
hold the keys of the kingdom at head quarters. Do not step out on
one side and say you have Priesthood independent. You have not a
particle in that way. I was ordained to be an Apostle under the
hand of Oliver, and David, and Martin; and then it was confirmed
by Joseph of the First Presidency. Now, I want to know what
authority of Priesthood I have only as I act in concert with
those who gave it to me? They are God's agents and had power to
ordain me.
67
Brother Brigham is my head; therefore that power is all in him. I
act in oneness with him in all things, and sanction his purposes;
and in so doing I sanction the purposes of God, of angels, and
all heavenly beings. But, let me turn away and be independent of
him, and where is my Priesthood, or where is my authority?
67
What power has one of my wives to act independently of me? She
has not a particle of power. She must act in connection with me,
as I do with my head, or the limb acts in connection with the
tree from which it springs. You see dead limbs on trees. Will
they ever come to life again, after they are dead? No. They must
be cut off and thrown back into the earth, to return back to
their mother element, and become again quickened by the law they
were ordained to keep; and if they are not quickened by that
power, they will never be restored again to that tree. No more
will you. You have got to keep that law pertaining to that tree,
limb, or government, or you will never be restored again,--never,
no never, while the earth stands.
67
Will any man ever be redeemed upon any other principle than what
we are redeemed upon? No. Men must abide the same law, or God
Almighty will never redeem them. If they violate that law, they
bring damnation upon themselves, and must suffer the consequences
of it. Still, I believe the greater part of the inhabitants of
the earth will be redeemed; yea, all will be finally redeemed,
except those who have sinned against the Holy Ghost or shed
innocent blood; and they never can be redeemed until that debt is
paid. And I do not know any way for them to pay it, unless they
are brought back again to a mortal existence, and pay the debt
where they contracted it.
67
God will make every man pay off the debt he contracts; for a
restoration must take place, which has been spoken of by the
mouth of all the holy Prophets since the world began.
67
When a man breaks a law of God, he must pay that debt, unless God
forgives him; and he has a right to do that, the same as I have.
Still, my forgiving him does not pay the debt; for if he has
stolen ten dollars from me, and he comes to me and asks my pardon
for stealing the ten dollars, I forgive him. But does that
restore the ten dollars of stolen money?
68
How does it look for a man holding the Priesthood to be
dishonest? When a man is employed by me, he has no business to
meddle with a thing unless I tell him to. Still, he may do many
good things I do not tell him to do. God says he is not pleased
with a man that has to be commanded in all things.
68
I have had men work for me, who, if there was the least thing
left after the job was done, would take it to themselves. This is
done in the public works by some few individuals. I do not like
such things. Brother Brigham has lost, from time to time,
thousands of dollars' worth of property in this valley. I have
chastised men for taking things from him myself, when I have seen
them do it,--men old enough to be my father, and men of middle
age, and those sweet delicate females. How do I look upon you?
You rob me of the most precious gem when you rob me of the
confidence I have in you. And I am that kind of a being, it
seems, that it is very hard to have that confidence restored
again.
68
Let me do a dishonest act towards brother Brigham, and it is a
hard case for his to overlook that, or to regain the same
confidence in me he formerly had. I am not a man that goes to him
to prejudice his mind against any person; no, I never do such a
thing. Still there are a great many things I could lay before him
that would hurt his mind against some. I do not do it. No: I make
you appear well before him. Others take the opposite course. Do I
like it? No: I have no friendship for such; for, say I, "You
would injure me, if you could, as well as any other man."
68
I remember the teaching Joseph gave me. My policy is to be honest
and virtuous; and the wives and children and property of the
Elders of Israel are held sacred in my bosom as I would wish them
to hold mine; and that man who is not of that character is not a
friend to the kingdom of God, and they cannot enter there; for
the liar, hypocrite, whoremonger, and those that love to make
lies, the sorcerer, and dishonest person are without the gate,
according to the word of God. Such things have got to be done
away.
68
I wish I could live the remaining portion of my life among a
people where everything I had would be as safe as in my own
possession; and when my wife goes into a neighbour's house to
visit, she may not come home with seven devils more that she took
away with her. That gives the Devil and his emissaries power over
us. You will see sorrow, if you do not stop this chin-music, and
tattling, and speaking evil one of another. Here are troops over
here: they want to come in; but it has been said from the
beginning that they will not come in. And they will not, for we
will not let them. We have sent our boys out there, and they are
going to keep them back; and they will do it from this time
forth, if you will do right. Now, supposing you go to cache your
wheat, corn, flour, service berries, dried fruit, &c., and a
little sugar made from the cane of our own raising, some may say
this time is all lost, if our enemies are not coming in. Well, is
it not all the better to spend our time digging holes and caching
our stuff that to spend it in being in the mountains.
69
Brother Brigham says he does not intend to burn up the houses,
and cut down our fruit trees, and push over our walls, and this
thing and that, until we come to the last pinch; and then you
will see a flame, such a one as you never saw in Salt Lake. I
will burn up my houses, my barns, and granaries, should the Lord
require it. You have heard me say, many a time, I would have more
joy to see my family in the mountains--to see the in rags, in
sheep-skins, and goat-skins, than to see them enjoying all the
pleasure God ever gave to man and serving the Devil withal; and I
would rather do it, if it is to be next year, than ever to
succumb to the acts of such an ungodly, pusillanimous President,
with his coadjutor, as those that govern our nation.
69
These are some of my views: you are welcome to them, and I charge
you nothing for them. I received them from God, and they cost me
nothing. And, as far as they are correct, receive them in your
hearts, and they shall be unto you as a well of water springing
up into everlasting life; and every man, woman, and child will
grow and increase by observing them.
69
If you do not do these things, you will see sorrow. My heart
says, "O Lord God, have mercy on this people, and help them to do
thy will, and keep them in they truth. I pray and weep, lest the
unrighteous among us lead away the righteous. Is it better for
them to die? Yes; it is better for you to die according to your
covenants a thousand times than to turn to wickedness and then
lead away the righteous. But I doubt very much if you can lead
away a people that are inclined to righteousness. You cannot lead
away the elect; "For they will hear my voice, and strangers they
will not follow."
69
There will always be a majority of this people that will stand
while all hell boils over, and they will overcome; and I bless
them, in the name of Israel's God, with the blessings of life and
with the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for ever; and I
bless all those that bless and protect Israel. Amen.