Brigham Young 1872-1877.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
                   Sunday Afternoon, April 28th, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
       THE LORD'S SUPPER--PROGRESSION--CO-OPERATION--INDEPENDENCE.

	I am very happy for the privilege of meeting with the Latter-day
Saints, and I have reason to be thankful that I am able to speak a little
to them.  It brings many things to our reflections and causes many
thoughts to arise.  When we look over the human family what a variety we
see and especially upon the subject of religion.  We take Christianity,
for instance, and as nations, as people, we believe in and on the Lord
Jesus Christ.  Most of Christian professors believe in the ordinances, or
some portions of the ordinances of the house of God.  Most of Christians
believe in the breaking of bread, in blessing it and partaking of it in
remembrance of the broken body of our Savior; also in taking the cup,
consecrating it and then partaking of it, in remembrance of his blood that
was shed for the sins of the world.  And then take up the hundreds of
different denominations and what a motley mass we present in our faith,
feelings, sympathies, judgment, passions and conduct; man against man,
priest against priest, people against people.  Now let the Christian
denominations come here:  "Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in taking
the Sacrament, it is true, but what a pity," say they.  "They profess to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Oh dear!  I wish they did!  Yes, they
seem to manifest great confidence in the atonement, in the ordinances and
commandments.  I wish they were a better people!  What a pity it is that
they are such an outlawed, sinful race of beings as they are!  What a
pity!!"  "How we Christians do pity the Latter-day Saints."  Then again,
how we Latter-day Saints do pity the Christians!  What a spectacle!  And
see us, as Christians, warring with each other!  What for?  For our pure
faith, for our holy desires, for our great charity to each other, for the
love of Christ, for the salvation of the souls of the children of men. 

	Now is not this a spectacle to present to angels?  Why if the
Lord Almighty was not beyond the conception of humanity in charity and
love, in mercy and longsuffering, in patience and kindness to his
creatures, where would we have been ere this?  We would have been
weltering in his wrath, we would have been drinking his hot displeasure. 
But he is more merciful than we are.  I have thought a great many times I
was very thankful I was not the Lord Almighty.  I should be consuming my
enemies.  How I should contend against those who hate me.  I am glad I am
not the Lord.  And to see the Latter-day Saints here following the example
of the Savior when he took his disciples into an upper room, and bade some
of them go and prepare to partake supper with him the last time before his
crucifixion.  He took the bread and blessed and brake.  "Take and eat ye
all of this, for this is my body in the New Testament."  He took the cup
and blessed it; "Drink ye all of this, for this is my blood in the New
Testament."  Here we are doing the same to-day.  What more?  Do this until
I come, for I will neither eat nor drink any more with you in this
capacity until I drink anew with you in my father's kingdom on this earth. 
Will he do it?  Certainly he will.  "Do this in remembrance of me until I
come."  We are doing this to-day.  Do not other Christians do the same? 
They do.  How do we Latter-day Saints feel towards them?  Were we to yield
to the carnal passions of the natural man and we had the power of the
Almighty we would spew our enemies out of our mouths, yes, we would hiss
them from the face of human society for their evils, their malice, for the
revenge and wrath they have towards us.  But we are not the Almighty.  I
am glad of it.  I am happy in the reflection that I have not the power,
and I hope and pray I may never possess it until I can use it like a God,
until I can wield it as our Father in heaven wields it, with all that
eternity of majesty, glory, charity, with his judgment, discretion, and
with every faculty of compassion.  I am happy in the reflection that I do
not possess the power.  I am glad you elders do not, I am really glad you
do not.  Will he ever grant power to his Saints on the earth?  Yes, they
will take the kingdom, and possess it for ever and ever; but in the
capacity they are now, in the condition that they now present themselves
before God, before the world and before each other?  Never, never! until
we are sanctified, until we are filled with the wisdom of God, with the
knowledge of God, will he bequeath the power that he has in reserve for
his Saints; never will the Saints possess it until they are prepared to
wield it with all that judgment, discretion, wisdom and forbearance that
the Lord Almighty wields in his own capacity, and uses at his pleasure? 
How do you feel about it, brethren?  Do not you wish sometimes you had
power to pinch their ears?  Do not you wish you had power to stop them in
their mad career?  Let the Lord Almighty do this.  You think his eye is
upon the work of his hands?  It is.  His ears are open to the prayers of
his children, he will hear their prayers, he will answer their desires;
and when we as a people possess the abundance of that patience, that
longsuffering and forbearance that we need, to possess the privileges and
the power that the Lord has in reserve for this people, we will receive to
our utmost satisfaction.  We shall not have it now.  The Lord says, "I can
not give it to you now."  This church has now been traveling over
forty-two years--forty-two years the sixth day of this month since it was
organized with six members.  What have welearned?  We assembled in
Missouri, at the place of gathering on the borders of the Lamanites, and
there we bought our farms and built our houses; but could we stay there? 
Were we prepared then to enter into Zion, to build up the Zion of God and
possess it?  We were not, we must suffer.  "You Latter-day Saints, you, my
children," says the Lord, "are not prepared to receive Zion."  Why, we
have heard detailed by Elder Carrington the conduct of Elders at the
present time, dishonest in the matter of a few shillings or dollars. 
Dishonest, covetous, selfish, grasping for that which is not our own;
borrowing and not paying; taking that which does not belong to us;
dishonest in our deal; oppressing each other.  Are we fit for Zion?  I say
nothing to the Christian world with regard to this.  Let them bite and
devour as much as they please, it does not belong to the Latter-day Saints
at least.  Could we stay in Independence?  No, we could not.  What was the
reason?  Here are some hearing me talk who were there--some who are aged,
some here who were then children and infants, some who were born there. 
But we stayed a very few years--two or three--and we must get up and
march.  Why did we leave?  Why the enemy is upon us, our enemies are
gathered around us, our foes are besetting us on every hand.  There goes a
house burned up; there is a man that is whipped; there is a family turned
out of doors!  What is the matter with all you Latter-day Saints?  Can the
world see?  No.  Can the Saints see?  No, or few of them can; and we can
say that the light of the Spirit upon the hearts and understandings of
some Latter-day Saints is like the peeping of the stars through the broken
shingles of the roof over our heads, when we are watching through the
silent watches of the night and behold the glimmer of a twinkling star. 
"Oh yes, I see, I see, that we are not prepared to receive the kingdom." 
Another one says, "Yes, I can see, we were too selfish."  Another one
says, "I see, the wicked must be prepared for their doom as well as the
Saints for their exaltation, and that the wicked are a rod in the hands of
God to chasten the Saints."  Here are the two classes--the righteous and
the unrighteous, and the righteous must be prepared by suffering and by
rendering strict obedience to the commandments of heaven.  It seems to be
absolutely necessary in the providence of Him who created us, and who
organized and fashioned all things according to his wisdom, that man must
descend below all things.  It is written of the Savior in the Bible that
he descended below all things that he might ascend above all.  Is it not
so with every man?  Certainly it is.  It is fit then that we should
descend below all things and come up gradually, and learn a little now,
and again, receive "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little
and there a little."  But hark, do the people hear it?  Do the people
understand it?  Scarcely!  scarcely!  Do the Latter-day Saints understand
these principles, and are we prepared to receive Zion?  Are we prepared to
receive the Kingdom and are we prepared for the blessings that God has in
reserve for his children?  Stop, think, consider, look around us!  How is
it?  Are not the sordid things of this life before our eyes, and have they
not thrown a mist before them so that we can not see?  Are we not of the
earth, and still earthy?  Certainly we are of the earth and still earthy. 
What do we know of heavenly things?  It is very true we have the Bible;
but when we come to our elders, men of limited education and moderate
reading, they are able to teach the whole Christian world theology.  Take
them from the anvil, from the plow, from the carpenter's bench, or from
any occupation, if they possess good common ability and the spirit of our
holy religion that God has revealed in these latter days, they understand
more of the Bible and the building up of the Kingdom of God than all the
world besides that are destitute of the priesthood of the Son of God.  And
yet what do we know?  Comparatively we have hardly learned the first
lesson.

	Could our brethren stay in Jackson County, Missouri?  No, no.  Why? 
They had no learned "a" concerning Zion; and we have been traveling now
forty-two years, and have we learned our a, b, c?  "Oh," say a good many,
"I think we have."  Have we learned our a b ab?  Have we got as far as b a
k e r, baker?  Have we got through our first speller?  Have we learned
multiplication?  Do we understand anything with regard to the building up
of the kingdom?  I will say, scarcely.  Have we seen it as a people?  How
long shall we travel, how long shall we live, how long shall God wait for
us to sanctify ourselves and become one in the Lord, in our actions and in
our ways for the building up of the kingdom of God, that he can bless us? 
He defends us, it is very true, and fights our battles.  When we were
driven from Missouri and had to leave the State, I recollect very well,
Gov. Boggs said, "You must leave;" Gen. Clark said, "You must leave;" the
mob said, "You must leave," and we had to leave.  And after we had signed
away our property, I'd see a widow send up her little boy to brother
Such-a-one, "Will you let me go to your timber land and get a load of wood
for my mother?"  "Tell your mother that I have got no more timber than I
shall want, I do not think I can spare her a load of wood."  I recollect
very well of telling the Latter-day Saints, there and then, "I hope to God
that we never will have the privilege of stopping and making ourselves
rich while we grind the face of the poor; but let us be driven from State
to State until we can take what we have got and dispose of it according to
the dictation of the spirit of revelation from the Lord.  Said I, "You
will not stay here;"  but long faces would come down, you know, with a
gentle, mild scrowl [sic], "I can't spare you a load of wood."  Excuse me. 
When are the Latter-day Saints going to be prepared to receive the
kingdom?  Are we now?  Not at all!  We are prepared for some things, and
we receive just as fast as we prepare ourselves.  Well, what can we do,
what more can we do?  We can do just what we please to do.  It is in our
power to do just what we please to do with regard to sanctifying ourselves
before the Lord, and preparing ourselves to build up his kingdom:  Have we
not the liberty to build this Temple here?  We have, although earth and
hell are opposed to it, and arrayed against it.  Have we not the privilege
of preaching the Gospel to the nations?  We have.  Have we not the
privilege of uniting our faith and our efforts for the benefit of the
whole community?  Yes, we have.

	Now come down, for example, to our present circumstances and
condition.  Year after year, I labored with our merchants to unite their
efforts together to supply the wants of the people without taking from
them everything they had got; and when I assembled these merchants some
years before we entered into our present co-operative institution in this
mercantile trade, said I, "Will you unite your efforts and your means, and
start a business here that we can put goods into the hands of the people
that we will not take their last sixpence?  Have a calico dress at forty
cents a yard when it should be only eighteen, twenty or twenty-two, and so
on and so forth."  After a long conference one of the gentlemen present
got up, walked the room back and forward, and finally said, "President
Young, if you will furnish the money we will do as you say,"  as much as
to say, "It is none of your business what we do with the means that we
have."  I dropped the conversation and said to myself.  "Well then, gull
the people, take what they have got."

	You recollect a man here in the time of the Buchanan war by the name
of A. B. Miller.  He was a merchant here for Russell and Majors.  Our
people were not merchandising much then.  Well, the merchants met together
and wanted to put up their goods to a certain notch, a dollar a pound for
sugar, for instance.  This A. B. Miller--a gambler, though there were a
great many good things about him, he just turned in and damned them.  Says
he,  "Gentlemen, to turn in and cut the throats of these 'Mormons,' and
take what they have got, we might do, but for being so damned mean as to
ask a dollar a pound for sugar, I will not do it."

	Now then, is this co-operative institution one step towards bringing
the people to a union?  Yes, but it is a very small one, and there is
danger of it growing into a condition that will cease to be one step in
the right direction.  Let men say, "Here is what God has given me, do what
you please with it," and we shall be in the path of progress.  But how is
it now?  "Brother, have you paid any tithing?  You have made fifty
thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, one thousand or five hundred
dollars as the case may be, have you paid any tithing?"  "Well, no I have
not yet, but I think perhaps, I will by and by;" and this is said with
stammering tongue, faltering voice, and covetous heart.  Who gave you your
money and possessions?  Who owns this earth?  Does the Devil?  No, he does
not, he pretended to own it when the Savior was here, and promised it all
to him if he would fall down and worship him; but he did not own a foot of
land, he only had possession of it.  He was an intruder, and is still: 
this earth belongs to him that framed and organized it, and it is
expressly for his glory and the possession of those who love and serve him
and keep his commandments; but the enemy has possession of it.

	Now then, a few other items, brethren and sisters.  Can you do
anything for the poor?  "Well I do not know, but I can give you fifty
cents to gather the poor."  "Brother, can you pay that debt?  You
recollect you borrowed some money of a widow woman in England.  Do you
recollect you borrowed a little money of such a brother?  Can you pay
that?"  "Well yes, I am going to."  You heard what Brother Carrington said
about it, what fellowship does the Lord Almighty have for such men?  I
think not the least.  What fellowship do angels have for such men?  I
should think not much.  What fellowship do I have for them?  Not one
particle.  What ought to be done with them?  I will answer the
question--they ought to be disfellowshipped by the Saints:  they are not
fellowshipped in the heavens, and they ought not to be here.

	"Well, now then, Brother Brigham, what are you at, what do you want?" 
I want you to do just that which will displease the enemies of the kingdom
of God, and that which will please the Lord Almighty and the heavenly host
to perfection.  What is that?  Do as you are counseled to do by the spirit
of revelation from the Lord.  What is the cry against us?  "Brigham Young
has too much influence!  All the people hearken to Brigham Young!  All
these poor deluded Latter-day Saints take his counsel!"  I wish it was so. 
If this were the fact you would see Zion prosper upon the hills and upon
the plains, in the valleys and in the kanyons, and upon the mountains.  Go
to with your might, seek unto the Lord your God until you have the
revelations of the Lord Jesus christ upon you, until your minds are open,
and the visions of heaven are plain to you.  Then follow the dictations of
the spirit, and watch Brother Brigham, and see if he counsels you wrong. 
I hope to see the time when I can say to the Latter-day Saints, if I
preside over them, go and do this or that, and not ask a sixpence of this
man or a dollar from that, or a hundred dollars from another.  "Here is
what I have, it is the Lord's.  He has given me all that I possess, it is
only committed to my charge to see what I will do with it.  The heavens
are his, the earth is his; the gold and silver are his, the wheat and fine
flour are his, the wine and the oil are his; the cattle upon a thousand
hills are his.  I am his, I am his servants, let the Lord say what he
wants.  Here I am, with all thou hast given me."  How displeasing this is
to the devil is it not?  I can not help it, this is the true track and
path for the Latter-day Saints to walk in.  Walk up, O ye Latter-day
Saints, and wake up!  Come to the Lord, forsake your covetousness, your
back-slidings, forsake the spirit of the world, and return to the Lord
with full purpose of heart until you get the spirit of Christ within you,
that you, like others, can cry, "Abba Father, the Lord he is God and I am
his servant."

	Do you think it would be difficult then for us to accomplish anything
we undertook?  No.  Very true the enemy, this potent foe that we have to
contend with, we know but little about him, very little; but he is
watching every avenue of the heart, rapping at every door and every
window, and if there is a crevice between the clapboards, through the
roof, or the brick or adobie wall, he throws a dart into the feelings of
each and every individual.  "Take care, think for yourselves, judge for
yourselves; do not be led astray, do not you wander off after these
deluded people, and their delusion.  Be careful, there is danger in
believing in the Lord, there is danger in being a Saint; there is great
danger in you yielding your judgment in another man."  Oh, what a pity! 
Where do you get your judgment?  Where did it come from?  What is your
judgment?  I tell you that the judgment of the world now is pretty much
for all to do just as they please if they possibly can, to the injury of
their neighbors, for their own aggrandizement.

	Can I not use my judgment in doing well just as much as in doing
evil?
Am I not just as independent in performing a deed of charity as a deed of
cruelty?  I contend that I am, what do you say?  Have I not got my liberty
just as much, and exercise it just as freely, in feeding the poor and
clothing the naked as I have in turning them out of doors, or in lifting
myself up against God and his anointed?  Has a man got to apostatize from
this kingdom, from the faith of Christ, to be independent?  Am I not as
independent in believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as I am in denying him? 
Am I not as independent in believing the Gospel as I am in believing in
the whisperings and mutterings of these spirits that are floating through
the air, rapping at everybody's door, sometimes tearing the clothes off
their beds, rapping, thundering and telling this, that and  the other? 
You hearken to that still small voice that whispers eternal truth, that
opens the visions of eternity to you that you can discern, understand and
follow, and the foul spirits that throng the air, and that fill our houses
if we let them in, will not have power over you.

	Be just as independent as a God to do good.  Love mercy, eschew evil,
be a savior to yourselves and to your families, and to your fellow beings
just as much as you possibly can, and go on with your independence and do
not yield yourselves servants to obey an evil principle or an evil being.

	God bless you.  Amen.


                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
                     Sunday Morning, April 28, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
    HIS IMPRISONMENT--EMIGRATING THE POOR--THE USE OF RICHES--TITHING.

	A word to the Latter-day Saints.  Good morning.  (Congregation
responded, "Good morning.")  How do you do?  (Congregation replied, "Very
well.")  How is your faith this morning? ("Strong in the Lord," was the
response.)  How do you think I look after my long confinement? 
(Congregation replied, "First rate.")  I do not rise expecting to preach a
discourse or sermon, or to lengthen out remarks.  I spoke a few minutes
yesterday in the school, but I found that it exhausted me very soon.  I
will say a few words to you.  The Gospel of the Son of God is most
precious.  My faith is not weakened in the Gospel in the least.  I will
answer a few of the questions that probably many would like to ask of me. 
Many would like to know how I have felt the past winter, and so much of
the spring as is now past.  I have enjoyed myself exceedingly well.  I
have been blessed with an opportunity to rest; and you who are acquainted
with me and my public speaking can discern at once, if you listen closely
to my voice, it is weak to what it used to be, and I required rest.  I
feel well in body and better in mind.  I have no complaint to make, no
fault to find, no reflections to cast, for all that has been done has been
directed and overruled by the wisdom of Him who knows all things.

	As to my treatment through the winter, it has been very agreeable,
very kind.  My associate, my companion in tribulation, I will say, has
acted the gentleman as much as any man could.  I have not one word, one
lisp or beat of the heart to complain of him.  He has been full of
kindness, thoughtful, never intruding, always ready to hearken and, I
think, in the future, will be perfectly willing to take the counsel of his
prisoner. So much for Captain Isaac Evans.  I will say this to you, ladies
and gentlemen, you who profess to understand true etiquette, I have not
seen a gentleman in my acquaintance that possesses more of the real spirit
of gentility, caution and of true etiquette than Captain Evans.  He has
passed the window where I have lodged through the winter every morning to
his breakfast and every afternoon; he has walked in the street in front of
my office and on the opposite side, and he has never yet been seen gazing
and looking at my buildings, or to see who was at the window, or even look
at my window.  He has never looked into the second room in my office
unless invited there--never.  Can you say that for other gentlemen?  They
are very scarce; there are very few of them.

	I have no reflections to cast upon these courts.  How much power,
ability or opportunity would I have to possess, do you think, if all were
combined, to disgrace them as they have disgraced themselves? I have
neither the power nor the ability, consequently I have nothing to say with
regard to their conduct.  It is before the world; it is before the Heavens
continually.  The Lord has known the thoughts of the hearts of the
children of men, and he has overruled all for his glory, and for the
benefit of those who believe and obey the truth in Christ.  I will say
this:  when they started out with a writ for your humble servant, and I
had news of it before it was served, I told my brethren that all their
efforts would avail them nothing, and that they would end in a grand
fizzle.  Do you think we have come to it?  I think we have.

	Have you nothing to say, brother Brigham concerning the Supreme Court
of the United States?  A few words.  I am happy to learn that there are
yet men in our government who are too high-minded, too pure in their
thoughts and feelings to bow down to a sectarian prejudice, and to hearken
to the whinings and complaints of prejudiced priests, or those who are
wrapped up in the nutshell of sectarianism; men of honor, nobility,
judgment and discretion; men who look at things as they are and judge
according to the nature thereof without any discrimination as to parties
or people.  I am thankful that this fact does exist.  Have they decided in
favor of the Latter-day Saints?  Yes.  Why? Because the Latter-day Saints
are  on the track of truth; they are for law, for right, for justice, for
mercy, for judgment and equity, consequently they are for God.  Would I
admire the conduct of a jurist on the bench who would decide for a
Latter-day Saint if he were guilty?  If he would justify a Latter-day
Saint and condemn a Methodist? No, I would despise him in my heart.  I
might look upon him with pity, it is very true, and without malice, anger
or bitterness, and pity him in his ignorance; but if he was a man of
knowledge and understanding I would condemn him as quickly for justifying
a Latter-day Saint, or one called a Latter-day Saint, or one called a
Latter-day Saint, in evil, as I would a Methodist.  And a man who sits as
President of the United States, as a Governor of a State or Territory, or
as a judge upon the bench, or a member of a legislative assembly, who
would reduce himself to the feelings, and narrow contracted views of
partyism, is not fit for the place.  As I said before a gentleman here, I
think it was last summer, who was stump-speeching through the country and
proclaiming his right to the Presidency "he that most desires an office is
the least fit for it."  Perhaps I made a mistake in that declaration, for
though on general principles it is true, it may not be true in every case. 
Some may desire an office for the sake of the good work that they perform,
seeing that others have abused it.  This is as much as I wish to say upon
these subjects.

	As I shall probably desire to speak a little in the afternoon, I
shall soon bring my remarks to a close. I will say a few words with regard
to the Perpetual Emigration Fund.  Perhaps you have had a good deal said
to you in the course of this Conference concerning gathering the poor, but
if you have I have not learned it.  I have not heard of any man coming
forward and putting down his name for a thousand or two thousand dollars. 
At the commencement of the Conference I donated two thousand dollars for
the gathering of the poor, but I have not heard of anybody adding another
figure to mine or placing one under it.  How is it?  It is very true we
gather the Saints, and when they get here and gather around them the
comforts of life, and become the possessors of a little wealth, the spirit
of the world enters into a few of them to that degree that it crowds out
the Spirit of the Gospel.  They forget their God and their covenants, and
turn to the beggarly elements of the world, seek for its riches and
finally leave the faith. But we had better gather nine that are unworthy
than to neglect the tenth if he is worthy.  If they come here, apostatize
and turn our enemies, they are in the hands of God, and what they do will
be to them everlasting life or everlasting condemnation.  For the good,
for the wise, or for the froward and the ungodly, it is our duty to do all
we can.  It is our duty to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth,
to gather up the pure in heart, and to lend a helping hand to the poor and
needy; to instruct, guide and direct them, and when they are gathered
together to teach them how to live, how to serve their God, how to gather
around them the comforts of life, and glorify their Father in heaven in
the enjoyment of the same.

	When I cast my eyes upon the inhabitants of the earth and see the
weakness, inability, the shortsightedness, and I may say, the height of
folly in the hearts of the kings, rulers, and the great, and those who
should be wise and good an noble; when I see them grovelling in the dust;
longing, craving, desiring, contending for the things of this life, I
think, O foolish men, to set your hearts on the things of this life! 
To-day they are seeking after the honors and glories of the world, and by
the time the sun is hidden by the western mountains the breath is gone out
of their nostrils, they sink to their mother earth.  Where are their
riches then?  Gone for ever.  As Job says, "Naked I came into the world." 
Destitute and forlorn, they have to travel a path that is untried and
unknown to them, and wend their way into the spirit world.  They know not
where they are going nor for what.  The designs of the Creator are hidden
from their eyes; darkness, ignorance, mourning and groaning take hold of
them and they pass into eternity. And this is the end of them concerning
this life as far as they know.  A man or a woman who places the wealth of
this world and the things of time in the scales against the things of God
and the wisdom of eternity, has no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no heart
to understand.  What are riches for? For blessings, to do good.  Then let
us dispense that which the Lord gives us to the best possible use for the
building up of his kingdom, for the promotion of the truth on the earth,
that we may see and enjoy the blessings of the Zion of God here upon this
earth.  I look around among the world of mankind and see them grabbing,
scrambling, contending, and every one seeking to aggrandize himself, and
to accomplish his own individual purposes, passing the community by,
walking upon the heads of his neighbors--all are seeking, planning,
contriving in their wakeful hours, and when asleep dreaming, "How can I
get the advantage of my neighbor? How can I spoil him, that I may ascend
the ladder of fame?"  That is entirely a mistaken idea.  You see that
nobleman seeking the benefit of all around him, trying to bring, we will
say, his servants, if you please, his tenants, to his knowledge, to like
blessings that he enjoys, to dispense his wisdom and talents among them
and to make them equal with himself.  As they ascend and increase, so does
he, and he is in the advance.  All eyes are upon that king or that
nobleman, and the feelings of those around him are:  "God bless him! How I
love him!  How I delight in him!  He seeks to bless and to fill me with
joy, to crown my labors with success, to give me comfort, that I may enjoy
the world as well as himself."  But the man who seeks honor and glory at
the expense of his fellow-men is not worthy of the society of the
intelligent.

	Now, a few words to my friends here--my colleagues the lawyers, and
others.  I gave a little counsel here, I think it is a year ago this last
sixth of April, for the people of this Territory and through these
mountains not to go to law, but to arbitrate their cases.  I will ask if
they do not think they would have saved a good deal of money in their
pockets if they had taken this counsel?  And to see our streets lined with
lawyers as they are!  Why they are as thick as grogshop used to be in
California.  What is the business of a lawyer?  It is the case with too
many to keep what they have got, and to gather around them wealth, to heap
it up, but to do as little as possible for it; to give a little counsel
here, and a little counsel there.  What for?  To keep their victims in
bondage.  Say they:  "Let us stick to him as long as he has a dollar in
his pocket."

	I will tell you a story.  A man was going to market, a pretty wicked
swearing man, with his cart full of apples.  He was going up hill, and the
hindboard as the Yankees call it--the Westerners call it the hindgate,
slipped out of his cart, and his apples rolled down the hill.  He stopped
his team and looked at the apples as they rolled down the hill, and said
he, "I would swear if I could do justice to the case, but as I can not I
will not swear a word."  I will not say a word more than to class
dishonorable lawyers with other dishonest men.

	Now what are the facts?  Why this world is before us.  The gold,
silver and precious stones are in the mountains, in the rivers, in the
plains, in the sands and in the waters, they all belong to this world, and
you and I belong to this world.  Is there enough to make each of us a
finger ring?  Certainly there is.  Is there enough to make us a breast
pin?  Certainly there is.  Is there enough to make jewelry for the ladies
to set their diamonds and precious stones in?  Certainly there is.  Is
there enough to make the silver plate, the spoons, platters, plates and
knives and forks?  There is.  Is there enough to make the goblets to drink
out of?  There is.  There is plenty if we want to make the wine casks of
gold, there is plenty of it in the earth for all these purposes.  Then
what on earth are you and I quarrelling about it for?  Go to work
systematically and take it from the mountains, and put it to the use that
we want it, without contending against each other, and filching the
pockets of each other.  The world is full of it.  If it goes from my
pocket it is still in the world, it still belongs to this little ball,
this little speck in God's creation, so small that from the sun I expect
you would have to have a telescope that would magnify millions of times
almost to see it; and from any of the fixed stars I do not expect that it
has ever been seen only by the celestials--mortals could not see this
earth at that distance.  And here people are contending, quarreling,
seeking how to get the advantage of each other, and how to get all the
wealth there is in the world; wanting to rule nations, wanting to be
president, king or ruler.  What would they do if they were?  Most of them
would make everybody around them miserable, that is what they would do. 
There are very few men on the earth who try to make people happy. 
Occasionally there have been emperors and monarchs who have made their
people happy but they have been very rare.  But suppose we go to work to
gather up all that there is in the bosom and upon the surface of our
mother earth and bring it into use, is there any lack?  There is not,
there is enough for all.  Then do look at these things as they are,
Latter-day Saints, and you who are not Latter-day Saints, look at things
as they are.  And I do hope and pray for your sakes, outsiders, and for
the sakes of those who profess to be Latter-day Saints, that we shall have
good peace for a time here, so that we can build our furnaces, open our
mines, make our railroads, till the soil, follow our mercantile business
uninterrupted; that we may attend to the business of beautifying the
earth.  I see around me a few of my neighbors who are beautifying their
gardens.  How beautiful!  There is one here in the Seventh Ward--Mr.
Hussey's, I never drive out but I want to drive by it.  How much better
that looks than it would be for him to quarrel with his neighbors! 
Beautify your gardens, your houses, your farms; beautify the city.  This
will make us happy, and produce plenty.  The earth is a good earth, the
elements are good if we will use them for our own benefit, in truth and
righteousness.  Then let us be content, and go to with our mights to make
ourselves healthy, wealthy, and beautiful, and preserve ourselves in the
best possible manner, and live just as long as we can, and do all the good
we can.

	Now, brethren and sisters and friends, I have said a few words about
lawyers; but I could pick up other classes of men just as bad, and we can
find fault with all.  Let us be honest, let us be upright, full of charity
one toward another; and live as agreeably as we possibly can here on this
earth that the Lord has given to man to cultivate and improve for his own
benefit, and to prepare it for an everlasting inheritance.  There is a
great deal before us, and it is for us to live so that we will be able to
perform our part well in this great work.  And I say to the Latter-day
Saints, it is for you to put forth your hands this season in emigrating
the poor.  We will receive any amount.  If it is not more than a hundred
dollars or so, we will be willing to receive it.  Talk about this people
being poor, why we will get so rich by and by that we will refuse to pay
our taxes; we have got so rich now that we cannot pay our tithing.  The
rich do not pretend to pay any tithing, or but very few of them.  I think
I have mentioned one fact with regard to our merchants.  A few years ago
in the other tabernacle, I said that our merchants who lived on the
business part of East Temple street and professed to be Latter-day Saints,
if they were not very careful, would deny the faith and be damned, and it
would be by the skin of their teeth if they ever got into heaven.  How is
it with the rest of us?  About the same.  No matter about this.  But here
is one of our merchants--William Jennings--about whom a great many have
remarks to make.  Well, it is no matter about his trade.  I want to say to
the rest of the merchants that he has paid a good many thousand dollars
tithing, more than all the rest of them put together.  That is for William
Jennings.  We are paying our tithing in the Co-operative, I would not
consent to go into the business on any other terms only that the tithing
should be paid on all we made.  But the other merchants, if they pay
tithing on what they make it has to come hereafter, for they have never
done it yet; and I think the more they make the less tithing they pay. 
But you are welcome to give something to the poor; if you will help us a
little with regard to the emigration we will be very much obliged to you,
but you will have to trust in God for the future blessings.

	God bless you, Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
        Delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden City, Sunday Afternoon,
                             May 26th, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
           RICHES--HURRY--FASHION--HELPING THE POOR--MYSTERIES.

	I am happy for the privilege of standing before this congregation and
speaking to them.  I am thankful to see the spirit that is manifested by
the people to inquire after the truth, to learn the way of life.  I
rejoice to see the disposition manifested by the Latter-day Saints to
attend places of worship.  But this is a small part of our faith.  I wish
to say to the Latter-day Saints that the Gospel of life and salvation is
the best institution that we, as mortal beings, can invest in.  Go into
the financial circles of the world, and you will find men gather and
project their plans for business, for railroads, for ship companies, for
merchandizing, and various other pursuits.  You will see those engaged in
these companies associate together, confer with each other, lay their
plans before each other, investigate them, scan every branch, and every
part and particle of their business.  We are engaged in a higher-toned
branch of business than any merchants or railroad men, or any institution
of an earthly nature, and it is pleasing to see the Latter-day Saints meet
together to talk over this matter, and to learn the course they should
pursue to gain the object of their pursuit.  If an inquiry arises in any
of your minds with regard to this, I will answer it by saying that we are
in pursuit of all there is before us--life, light, wealth, intelligence,
all that can be possessed on the earth by mortal man, and then in a higher
state, where there will be a more perfect development of the smattering of
knowledge than we received here, and all that can be enjoyed by
intelligent beings in the celestial kingdom of our God.  Is this our
object?  Certainly it is. We are not in the same attitude that the people
were a few thousand years ago--they were depending on the Prophet or
Prophets, or on having immediate revelation for themselves to know the
will of the Lord, without the record of their predecessors, while we have
the records of those who have lived before us, also the testimony of the
Holy Spirit; and, to the satisfaction of all who desire a testimony, we
can turn to this book and read that which we believe, learn the object of
our pursuit, the end that we expect to accomplish--the end of the race as
far as mortality is concerned--and the fullness of the glory that is
beyond this valley of tears; consequently we have the advantage of those
who lived before us. We are in pursuit of knowledge; and when you meet
together, if you have a word of prophecy, a dream, a vision, or a word of
wisdom, impart the same to the people.

	Let me ask you, my brethren and sisters, Do you want wealth?  If you
do, do not be in a hurry.  Do you want the riches pertaining to this
world?  Yes, we acknowledge we do.  Then, be calm, contented, composed;
keep your pulses correct, do not let them get up to a hundred and twenty,
but keep them as nigh as you can, ranging from seventy to seventy-six; and
when there is an appointment for a meeting be sure to attend that meeting. 
If there is to be a two-days' meeting in Ogden, come to it; spend the time
here and learn what is going on.  Watch closely, hear every word that is
spoken, let every heart be lifted to God for wisdom, and know and
understand every word of prophecy, every revelation that may be given,
every counsel that may be presented to the people, that you may be able to
weigh, measure, comprehend and decide between that which is of God and
that which is not of God.  Refuse the evil, learn wisdom, and grow in
grace and in the knowledge of the truth.  If there is a meeting appointed
for the Seventies, let them come together, and let no man say "I am in a
hurry in my work, and have not time to attend."  Every man that belongs to
these quorums should be on hand at the time appointed, and not say, "I
will work to the last minute, before I start fort the meeting."  Take
time, prepare yourselves, be at the place of gathering promptly, to the
minute, that you may hear the first word, then you will hear every word
that is spoken and every counsel that is given.

	If there is a Bishop's meeting, let every Bishop, Priest, Teacher and
Deacon attend and no man among them say, "I must go and water my grain,"
"cut my hay," or "gather my harvest;" but attend the meeting, sit until it
is out and hear every word.  If you have to speak, speak; if you are to
hear only, hear every word that is said.  If there is a prayer meeting
appointed, go to that prayer meeting; go to the ward meetings, attend
every meeting that is appointed.  I am telling you this, so that you can
get rich.

	I will say to the Latter-day Saints, there can not that community be
found on the face of the whole earth that, as a community, is as well off
as we are here in these mountains.  There are more women and children,
with their husbands and fathers, sleep under their own roof in the midst
of the Latter-day Saints than in any other community on the faceof this
earth, in civilization; and less women and children go without food and
clothing than in any other community in Christendom.  Looking around among
the Latter-day Saints I will ask, How many are there who have been taken
from cellars, from pits under ground, or from their little rooms, where
one pound, or five dollars, would buy everything they possessed on the
face of the earth, and brought to this country and taught how to plant
their potatoes, beans, beets, carrots, how to raise their cucumbers and
squashes, their corn and their wheat, how to milk a cow; feed a calf, take
care of the chickens; how to build a pig-pen and put a pig in it; to take
the offals of the house  and give to the pig, and how to raise a calf or a
colt, experience they never had before in their lives?  Yet they have
learned this economy, and some of them, I am sorry to say, lift their heel
against the Almighty and his anointed.  I am happy to say, however, that
the large percentage of those who have been thus rescued from poverty, and
placed in circumstances of comfort and independence, are still in the
faith.  How many are there here today who never owned a chicken or a pig,
and could not keep a cat because they had nothing to feed one on, who now
ride in their wagons, have their carriages, horses, fine harness, fine
stock of cows, and have butter, milk, cheese and wool at their command,
and granaries full of wheat, and their barns, if they have them, full of
hay?  Do not the facts which present themselves before us, prove that this
very desirable change has taken place in the circumstances of many?  Then
come to meeting.  Appoint your meetings, Elders, and call the Saints
together and instruct them in the things of the kingdom of God.  We have
missionaries that are travelling through our settlements, and no people
need preaching more than the Latter-day Saints.  They know the way, but
they are forgetful, and they want somebody or other to come along and
holloa to them, and say, comparatively, "I will warm your ears, my lady;"
"Brother, I will warm your ears."  "Wake up!"  "What are you doing?  Are
you after this mine?  Are you after that job?  Are you after that piece of
work?  Did you pray in your family this morning?"  "No."  "Why?"  "I was
in too much of a hurry."  Stop!  Wait!  When you get up in the morning,
before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of food, call your wives
and children together, bow down before the Lord, ask him to forgive your
sins, and protect you through the day, to preserve you from temptation and
all evil, to guide your steps aright, that you may do something that day
that shall be beneficial to the kingdom of God on the earth.  Have you
time to do this?  Elders, sisters, have you time to pray?  This is the
counsel I have for the Latter-day Saints to-day.  Stop, do not be in a
hurry.  I do not know that I could find a man in our community but what
wishes wealth, would like to have everything in his possession that would
conduce to his comfort and convenience.  Do you know how to get it? 
"Well," replies one, "If I do not, I wish I did; but I do not seem to be
exactly fortunate--fortune is somewhat against me."  I will tell you the
reason of this--you are in too much of a hurry; you do not go to meeting
enough, you do not pray enough, you do not red the Scriptures enough, you
do not meditate enough, you are all the time on the wing, and in such a
hurry that you do not know what to do first.  This is not the way to get
rich.  I merely use the term "rich" to lead the mind along, until we
obtain eternal riches in the celestial kingdom of God.  Here we wish for
riches in a comparative sense, we wish for the comforts of life.  If we
desire them let us take a course to get them.  Let me reduce this to a
simple saying--one of the most simple and homely that can be used--"Keep
your dish right side up," so that when the shower of porridge does come,
you can catch your dish full.

	I am not going into the details, to instruct my brethren particularly
how to get wealth; but in the first place, do not be in a hurry.  I make
that as a general remark.  Do you want your house neat and clean?  Do you
want to keep your children neat and clean?  Do you wish to see every
portion of your dwelling, from the cellar to the garret, from the
wood-house to the parlor, neat and clean?  Certainly, every sister wishes
this; then do not be in a hurry.  I shall tell you a little circumstance
that occurred some eighteen years ago, when we had been on a visit to the
Indians.  We had reached Farmington, on our way home, and stopped at a
certain house.  I think there were twelve of us in company.  Our teams
were taken care of.  When I alighted from my carriage I looked at my watch
and we went in, sat down, and chatted with the master of the house, while
his wife prepared dinner for us.  I noticed this lady.  She whispered to a
little girl to take her baby out of doors and amuse it; then, when her
baby was out of the way, she moved about without the least noise--not a
word was heard from her.  She brought everything she needed from the
buttery and cellar to the kitchen where she spread her table, and she
mixed and baked her bread, cooked her fruit and meat, and from the time we
alighted from the carriage until she came and whispered in the ear of her
husband, "Dinner is ready," it was just fifty-five minutes.  Said I to
myself, "There is a housekeeper."  I could not help but see this; every
time she walked back and forth she accomplished a certain amount of
business.  I saw this and was gratified.  Now, sisters, you may do
likewise, if you are not in too big a hurry.  Instead of shouting, "Sally,
where's the dish-cloth?"  "Susan, where's the broom?"  or, "Nancy, have
you seen the holder?  I want the holder," be calm and composed; you are in
too much of a hurry.  It is just so with men.  I see them through the
world, I have watched their progress for many years, and I see that many
of them are too much in a hurry.  If we are not in too much of a hurry we
can attend these two-days' meetings, and talk to each other.  Are you full
of faith?  You can tell whether I am or not by looking at me.  You can
tell whether the brethren who have been speaking to you are full of faith
in the Gospel by the look of their countenances.  You can see this if
there is not a word spoken; we can tell by our feelings when we look at a
congregation whether they have faith or not.  I see there is a great
amount of faith in the midst of the Latter-day Saints, and I wish there
was a little more patience and obedience. Perhaps I have said enough with
regard to these meetings.  Elders, appoint your meetings, and invite the
people to come to them.  I want now to go to other matters.

	I will tell you, my brethren, my own feelings with regard to the
conduct of the Latter-day Saints. In the first place I will say that we
are governed and controlled too much by the feelings and fashions of the
world.  We lust after the leeks and onions; we yield ourselves to the
spirit of the world too much.  You will excuse me, for I must say a few
words with regard to this.  It is true we are bound, and it seems that
men's bounds are set by each other, more or less.  If I, for instance,
were to have a coat made to suit my own taste, I do not know any of my
family and perhaps my friends, and especially the tailors, merchants and
business men, but what would say, "You are an oddity," and they would
thin, "Your are not fit for society, because you do not fashion and
pattern after others."  I commence here, you know, at myself.  Well, I
will say that I am bound, I can not accomplish my own wishes in these
things altogether.  Perhaps others can not.  I go to a tailor and say, "I
have a piece of cloth, and I want you to make me a coat."  He cuts that
coat to suit himself.  I do not see a fashion that suits me.  What use or
comeliness is there in putting the legs of the pantaloons on my coat?" 
Well, perhaps the tailor will be a little moderate, and will cut it down
considerably; but if I were my own tailor I certainly should leave
off--what shall we call them?  "Bustles," "Grecian Bends," or what shall
we call them?  Though these coat sleeves are not exactly like the sleeves
of the frocks or dresses worn by the ladies forty or fifty years ago,
which they used to call mutton-legged sleeves, shaped just like the ham of
a mutton.  I recollect there used to be considerable said about them. 
Sometimes a paper would come out and tell of the wreck of a ship, on board
of which were a hundred and fifty passengers; but, they would say, "Thanks
be to kind Providence, the ladies took all the male passengers into the
sleeves of their dresses, and went ashore."  Such narrations as these, you
know, were only meant as a satire upon the fashions of the day.  Now I am
coming right to the point, and I wish to say to some of my sisters, not to
all, that if I were my own tailor I should cut my own coat to suit myself. 
"What would be your fashion" says one?  I will tell you.  I have a coat
here which you can see--if I were to take hold of a swill-pail, this part
of the skirt must drop in; and if I took hold of a milk-pail I must take
the coat around by the other end, and hold it, or else it is in the milk. 
I see no convenience or beauty in it.  That which is convenient should be
beautiful; and I want my coat cut so that when I lift a pail of water, or
a milk or swill pail the skirts shall not fail into it; and so with the
pockets, I would have them convenient.  If I were a lady and had a piece
of cloth to make me a dress, I would cut it so as to cover my person
handsomely and neatly; and whether it was cut according to the fashion or
not, custom would soon make it beautiful.  I would not have eighteen or
twenty yards to drag behind me, so that if I had to turn round I would
have to pick up my dress and throw it after me, or, just as a cow does
when she kicks over the milk pail, throw out one foot to kick the dress
out of the way.  That is not becoming, beautiful or convenient--all such
fashions are inconvenient.  Take that cloth and cut you a skirt that will
be modest and neat, that does not drag in the dirt nor show your garters,
but cut it so that it will clear the ground when you walk, when you are
passing over the floor it will not drag everything on the floor, or in the
street as you pass along.  Put enough into the skirt to look well, and if
we are to go into particulars, of course, we would have to say, we must
use enough to cover the person.  I do not expect mother Eve even did this. 
We could relate some little incidents of our past experience, that perhaps
would not entertain the people, and still, perhaps, they might learn
something from them.  For instance, in some circles it has been
fashionable for a lady to wear, perhaps, twelve yards in the skirt of her
dress, but when it came to the waist, I guess three-quarters of a yard
would have been enough.  I will relate a circumstance of which I heard,
that took place in the metropolis of our country.  A gentleman, a
stranger, was invited to a grand dinner party there.  The ladies of course
were dressed in the height of fashion, their trails dragging behind them,
and their--well, I suppose there was a band over the shoulder to the
waist, but I do not recollect whether the gentleman said there was or not;
but one gentleman present, who knew this gentleman was a stranger, said to
him, with all the loveliness and elegance in his heart that one could
imagine--"Is not this beautiful?  Did you ever see the like of this?"  "No
sir," said the party questioned, "never since I was weaned."  Well, all
this, you know, is custom and fashion.

	Now, I wish to say to my sisters, If you will be just a little more
moderate, I should like it very much.  Some of you, and especially the
young sisters, may say, "Why, Brother Brigham, how do your daughters
dress?"  I will say, to my shame, many of them, and many do not.  Then I
must have a great many, for if I have many that do and many that do not,
that will amount to a great many.  But I guess I will let it go.  Some of
them are modest, delicate, neat, and look beautiful, and do not want
twenty-four yards for a dress, nor seventeen.  But this is uncomely,
uncouth and ill-looking.  What shall I call it?  A camel's back? You will
say they go from the lady to the camel, and from the camel to the lady,
and so on and so forth.  They are called, I believe, "Grecian Bends," but
I do not think this term is exactly proper.  Are they comely in
appearance? No, they are not.  Then I should like my daughters and my
sisters to lay them aside.  They should dress neatly and comely, and to
suit themselves, but not to suit anybody else. We have the ability to tell
what looks well, just as well as anybody else.  We need not go to New
York, London, or Paris to tell whether a coat looks well if it has a
collar half an inch wide.  Do you recollect when collars were not more
than that?  I do, and I recollect when they were about six or seven inches
in width.  Now we need not go to Paris to ask them whether a coat looks
just right with a half inch or a five-inch collar; we are the judges, and
can decide that just as well as anybody else on the face of the earth.  I
would not swap my eyes with any living person for beauty and comeliness. 
I would rather trust to my eyes for beauty, excellency  and comeliness in
dress, than any other person's eyes I know of.  We should be our own
judges.  This, I say, to my sisters.  Pause, reflect, look at the facts in
the case as regards the folly and expense of fashion.  Take the people of
this city, and if you can form a correct estimate of the cost of the
useless articles they wear.  (I think I brought this subject up a year ago
this summer, when here.)  Just take these useless articles that do no good
to the body of the persons who use them, and we would find that the means
expended in their purchase would enable us to relieve many poor,
suffering, distressed creatures abroad in the nations of the earth, and
bring them here and put them in a situation in which they would be
healthy, wealthy and happy.  If we make a calculation on this subject we
shall find that the waste of the Latter-day Saints is immense.  There is a
little town, south of here, the ladies of which--the F. R. Society, took
it into their minds, along in the latter part of the winter, when we
commenced calling upon the people to assist the emigration of the poor
this summer, to give the eggs that their hens laid on Sunday.  If they did
not serve the Lord themselves they resolved to make their hens do it
one-seventh of the time; and over a month ago I heard they had raised by
this method about eight hundred dollars.  Would they miss this? No, they
could do without these eggs very well.  Suppose the ladies of Ogden, who,
on account of the many ribbons and needless articles they require, are
unable to give anything else they have, should give one-seventh part of
the services of their fowls to the bringing of the poor here!  If Ogden
had commenced this last January, thousands and thousands of dollars might
have been raised by this time.  Can you think of such a trifling thing as
this?  Suppose that every man who practices the disgusting habit, says to
himself, "I will stop eating tobacco, and the means I spend in buying it I
will give to emigrate the poor;"  or, that, "what I pay out for liquor I
will give to emigrate  the poor;" and each of the ladies says, "What money
I pay out for my tea or coffee" (and tobacco, liquor, tea and coffee are
four very useless articles)  "I will give to emigrate the poor," how much
could be saved, do you think, in this little community?  Go to the stores,
and ask them how much tobacco they have sold for twelve months past.  Take
these little retail stores, and then go into the retail departments of the
wholesale stores, and we should find in this little town, I will ensure,
that within the twelve months past, more than twelve, yes twenty, thousand
dollars have been paid for tobacco; and I will say ten or twelve, and
perhaps twenty, thousand more for liquor; and then I will say twenty-five
or thirty thousand more for tea or coffee, and I guess I could go up to
forty thousand dollars, right here in Ogden.  It is immense, the people
have no idea of it, unless they go and look for themselves.  Get the
statistics, and then you will know with regard to the facts in the case.

	Now suppose we say we will take the means we are spending for tea and
coffee, liquor and tobacco, and useless articles in dressing, and we will
give this to the poor, we would soon have a wealthy purse.  Who has given
anything this season?  How many of you have given the first five dollars
this season to bring the poor to Zion?  If there is a man or woman in this
house that has given anything for this purpose, do me the favor to hold up
your hand?  (One or two hands were held up.)  I have given a very little,
just a trifle. Sometimes I give a thousand, sometimes two thousand, mostly
two thousand, and that is but a trifle.  I suppose many would say, "Why,
that is no more for you than five dollars for me."  Well, perhaps it is
not.  I have nothing but what the Lord gave me, that is certain; and if he
wanted the whole of it, for the gathering of the poor this year, he is
just as welcome to it as I am to eat with you when you invite me to your
houses.  But one thing I can say of a truth, I have not been in a hurry, I
have taken things moderately, kindly, calmly, and have "kept my dish right
side up."

	Well now, you who want to give a little to help the poor, please hand
it over to Bishop Herrick.  Bishop Herrick, will you please get the
bishops together, and request them to ask every ward in this county to
give something for the gathering of the poor, and see who will assist in
this good work?

	If we will not be in a hurry, and will pray in our families, pray in
secret, attend our meetings, be patient and live so that the Spirit of the
Lord will dwell within us, and witness to God every day of our lives, by
faithful obedience to this requirements, that we are his, I will say we
are bound to get the wealth of the world.  We read in this good book (the
Bible) that "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof."  Everything
belongs to him, and he is going to give it to his Saints; and all our
concern and care  should be, to be sure that we are Saints.  Then it is
all right, it is by a deed or warranty--a warranty deed, and he will
warrant and defend it, if we will serve him, and be satisfied with his
providences, turning neither to the right nor to the left, but serving him
with an undivided heart all the days of our lives.  If it pleases him, and
he wishes us to travel and preach, go to the right or to the left, to the
east or to the west, to the north or to the south, to live here or live
there, to do this or to do that, to have little or much and be perfectly
satisfied and contented his blessings will be secured to us by a warranty
deed, and he will warrant and defend it.

	If we are not Saints it is a great pity.  We have the experience of
those who lived before us, we have the testimony of the fathers, we have
the sayings of Jesus and his Apostles, and we can peruse them and can
exercise faith in the name of Jesus, and be guided by the spirit of the
Lord by which these testimonies were given; and we can know whether we are
Saints or whether we are not.  It has been proclaimed that there is a
great difference between us and the Christian world.  There is.  Is the
difference because we believe in another religion?  By no means.  The
difference arises from the fact that we believe this Bible, wide open,
from genesis to Revelations.  They believe it, sealed up, never to be
opened again to the human family.  They believe it shut, we believe it
open; they believe it in silence, we believe it proclaimed on the hose
top; and when we scan the Bible and the feelings of the Christian world,
we find that it is, as has been proclaimed here--there probably never was
a day on the face of the earth when infidelity reigned more completely in
the hearts of the children of men than it does now.  We, as Christians,
believe in God, in Christ and in his atonement, in repentance and
obedience, and in receiving the Spirit; but what are the facts in the
case?  We are persecuted, our names are cast out as evil, we have the
world arrayed against us.  And who are at the head of this?  The
Christians.  You go to a real infidel--one brought up to disbelieve in,
and pay no attention to, this book as the word of God, and we receive
little persecution from him; none whatever in comparison with what we
receive from those who profess to believe it.  Where are their witness and
testimony that they are right and that we are wrong?  We have the
Scriptures to testify to the right and righteousness of the cause we have
espoused.  They shut up the Bible, say they are Christians, and cry,
"False prophets, false teachers, delusion, delusion, heresy, outcasts,
kill them if you can not get rid of them without, they must leave, we
cannot endure them any longer!"

	Where is their proof, where is our proof?  What criterion shall we go
by?  We have the Scriptures, we have the Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles;
we have the revelations of the Spirit of God to ourselves; we have the
truth within our hearts, and all this is proof to us of the validity of
the faith that we have embraced; and if it is correct, and the Bible is
correct; if it is true, and the Lord has spoken through his servants, they
must be wrong, and their own mouths shall judge them in the latter days;
and if they are to be judged by the Saints of by the Almighty you will
find the secret, and that will be out of their own mouths they will be
judged.  We have the testimony of all this for ourselves.

	How are you going to know whether this work is true, whether the
Bible is true, whether Joseph was a Prophet, whether Jesus was the Savior,
and his Apostles were correct in their teachings?  There is no way for you
and me to know these things but by the Spirit of God; and if we live so as
to enjoy the light of that Spirit, the light of revelation, it will be in
us like a well of water springing up to everlasting life.  If we do not
live thus, we are in the dark as well as they.

	All religion is a mystery. Do we know this?  Certainly.  I have an
experience in this, and so have the elder members of this community:  we
have lived with the Christians.  What have been the declaration and the
sayings of the wisest of the wise among them?  Is God a personage of
Tabernacle?  "I know not."  Does God dwell anywhere, is he a local being,
or is he a traveling being?  "I know not."  Does he possess a body, parts
and passions?  "I know not."  What of his Son Jesus?  What of the evil? 
Acknowledge there is evil in the world--that character that fell from
heaven--the Son of the Morning, has he a located place where he dwells? 
"I know not."  That is the answer.  What do you understand by the
Scriptures?  "We do not know what to understand, they are a mystery, and
beyond our comprehension, we can not comprehend them.  We are students of
divinity but the Scriptures are a mystery to us."  I recollect once, in my
early career, well nigh forty years ago, conversing about two hours with a
cousin of mine, who had finished his studies to be a priest.  As I left
him he said to me, "Cousin Brigham, I have learned more divinity from your
mouth to-day than I have learned in my four years' study. You have told me
things that I know are in the Scriptures, and I know they are correct, for
I feel in my heart and can testify to the truth of them; but," said he,
"they are not in the books, neither in the mouths and hearts of our
teachers; our preceptors do not understand them, and I have learned more
divinity from you in two hours than in all my life before."  This is their
experience.  Have they knowledge?  Go after it, and you will find an
aching void, a shadow instead of a substance, words which are wind,
instead of realities.

	We would take the world of mankind by the hand and lead them to life
and salvation, if they would let us.  It was said in my office, a few days
ago, by a party or failroad men, while conversing with me about us as a
people,  "President Young, you are not known, your people are not known;
we shall know you better hereafter, and they need not publish about you as
they have, or, if they do, we shall know better than to believe them.  Why
do they publish such things?  We are glad to become acquainted with you." 
I replied, "For over forty years I have been striving with all my might,
in my weak capacity, and with my limited knowledge, to make the world
acquainted with us and our doctrines.  There are also thousands and
thousand of Elders who have traversed this earth over, without purse or
scrip, trying to get people to learn who the Latter-day Saints are, and
what they believe in, and why have you not known us?  The Bible, Book of
Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, are published to the world
with other works, giving to the whole reading world the principles we are
proclaiming.  Why are we not known? I will tell you why:  the liars are
industrious, and, according to the old saying, a lie will creep through a
keyhole and travel leagues and leagues while truth is getting up, wiping
her eyes and putting her shoes on.  That is the reason, and you believe
lies instead of truth.  And," said I, "from this time henceforth, when you
read an article about the people of Utah, read it candidly and honestly,
and the Spirit will tell you whether it is true or a lie, and believe the
truth about us."

	I will say again, brethren and sisters, do not be in a hurry. 
Brethren, if you want to get rich, live so as to enjoy the Spirit of the
Lord.  You will then know exactly what to do in all matters.  You want the
spirit of wisdom in all your business transactions, and just as much in
faring as anything else.  We want the Spirit of the Lord from the least
chore of labor that we perform, to the highest spiritual duty devolving
upon the highest man in the kingdom of God.  We want the Spirit of the
Lord to guide and direct us through this world, to teach us in spiritual
things and in temporal things, that we may learn how to gain to ourselves
the riches of eternity, and secure to ourselves eternal lives.

	God bless you.  Amen.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
  Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, June 2, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
                         OBSERVE THE SABBATH DAY.

	I have a request to make of the Bishops and Elders, of fathers and
mothers, and of the brethren and sisters in general.  There are a few
points upon which I feel that I should like the people to receive a little
counsel.  One is, I would be very much pleased, and I do not think I would
be any more satisfied than the Spirit of the Lord would, to have the
Latter-day Saints pay a little more attention to the Sabbath day, instead
of riding about, visiting, and going on excursions.  There has been a
great deal said upon this subject.  We are continually teaching the people
how to be saved, but they seem to forget the responsibilities that are
upon them.  I am as liberal in my feelings with regard to using the
Sabbath for anything and everything, where duty demands it, as any person
living, and believe that the Sabbath was made for man, instead of man for
the Sabbath.  But it is a day of rest.  The Lord has directed his people
to rest one-seventh part of the time, and we take the first day of the
week, and call it our Sabbath.  This is according to the order of the
Christians.  We should observe this for our own temporal good and
spiritual welfare.  When we see a farmer in such a hurry, that he has to
attend to his harvest, and to haying, fencemaking, or to gathering his
cattle on the Sabbath day, as far as I am concerned, I count him weak in
the faith.  He has lost the spirit of his religion, more or less.  Six
days are enough for us to work, and if we wish to play, play within the
six days; if we wish to go on excursions, take one of those six days, but
on the seventh day, come to the place of worship, attend to the Sacrament,
confess your faults one to another and to our God, and pay attention to
the ordinances of the house of God.

	How many ears will hear this, and how many hearts will receive it and
treasure it up?  That is the question.  Words go into the ear and are
forgotten; but I say to you, Latter-day Saints, it is your duty and my
duty to pay attention to the Sabbath day.  When my brethren, my friends,
and my family have business on hand, and manage to start it on a Sunday
morning, I head them off if I possibly can, by throwing some obstacle or
other in the way, or by persuasion get them to omit it on that day.  As
far as I can, I also persuade my own family to observe the hours of
meeting.  Not that I can say that my family is as fond of meeting as I am
myself.  I like to meet with the brethren, and I like to go to a place of
worship; I like to hear, and learn and pay attention to the ordinances of
the house of God.  I teach my family in these respects, and I do not know
that I have any more fault to find with my own family than others have
with theirs; perhaps there may be some credit due to them.  But I say to
the brethren and sisters, in the name of the Lord, it is our duty and it
is required of us by our father in heaven, by the spirit of our religion,
by our covenants with God and each other, that we observe the ordinances
of the house of God, and especially on the Sabbath day, to attend to the
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.  Then attend the Ward meetings and the
quorum meetings.

	Another thing:  I do wish that parents would urge upon their children
to cease playing in the streets as much as they do.  There are sufficient
places of resort in various parts of the city without the boys being
compelled to play in the middle of the streets.  Every time I travel
through the streets I see children playing in them.  And will they turn
out of the way for a carriage?  No, they will not, and some of them will
sometimes even dare you to drive over them; and sometimes people have to
stop their carriages to save the lives of children.  We have been more
fortunate, here, I presume than in any other city in Christendom where
they drive as many carriages as we drive in our city, in having so few
accidents; but this I attribute to the kind hand of Providence.  But we
see children in the street, daring teamsters to run over them, and whether
they are in a carriage, wagon, buggy, or cart it is no matter, they will
not give the road for a horse team.  I will say this to all Israel, to
every man that carries himself discreetly--as a gentleman, if one of my
boys  attempts to obstruct the highway, so that you cannot drive along and
attend to your business, leave your carriage, take your whip and give him
a good sound horse-whipping, and tell him you will do it every time you
find him in the street trying to obstruct the highway.  I will not
complain of you, although I can say this, I think, of a truth, that a boy
of mine never did this, never.  I have no knowledge of it at least.  Look
upon a community like ours, see the conduct of the youth in this respect,
it is a disgrace to civilization; it is a disgrace to any people that
profess good morals.  Well, I wish to say this to the Saints, keep your
boys from the streets, and from playing ball there.  There are plenty of
grounds for them to play upon and use at their pleasure, without going
into the streets; and when we are so numerous that we have no place of
resort for our boys to pitch quoits and play ball, there is plenty of
ground on the earth, and we will thin out a little here and go where we
can have a little more room.  But we have plenty here at present.

	Now, remember, my brethren, those who go skating, buggy riding, or on
excursions on the Sabbath day--and there is a great deal of this
practiced--are weak in the faith.  Gradually, little by little, little by
little, the spirit of their religion leaks out of their hearts and their
affections, and by and by they begin to see faults in their brethren,
faults in the doctrines of the Church, faults in the organization, and at
last they leave the kingdom of God and go to destruction.  I really wish
you would remember this, and tell it to your neighbors.

	And furthermore, how many Latter-day Saints, who live in this city,
and are perfectly able to go to meeting, are away to-day?  We have people
enough in this city to fill this small building to overflowing every
Sabbath, if they liked to hear the words of life.  In the morning, it is
true, there are many in the Sunday school, and that we recommend; but in
the afterpart of the day, where are these school children?  Are they
playing in the streets, or are they visiting?  In going to Sunday school
they have done their duty so far; but they ought to be here.  In their
youth they ought to learn the principles and doctrines of their faith, the
arguments for truth, and the advantages of truth, for we can say with one
of old, "Bring up a child in the way it should go, and when it is old it
will not depart from it."  If we are capable of bringing up a child in the
way it should go, I will assure you that it will never depart from that
way.  Many persons think they do bring up their children in the way they
should go, but in my lifetime I have seen very few, if any, parents,
perfectly capable of bringing up a child in the way it should go; still
most of us know better than we do, and if we will bring up our children
according to the best of our knowledge, very few of them will ever forsake
the truth.

	Now, I beseech you, my brethren and sisters, old and young, parents
and children, all of you, try and observe good, wholesome rules!  Be
moral, be upright, be honest in your deal.  I do not wish to find fault
with the Latter-day Saints, but I assure you, my brethren and sisters, we
take too much liberty with each other; we do not observe the strict order
of right and honesty in many instances, as much as we should, and we have
got to improve in these things.  We have been hearing, today, how the
kingdom of God is going to prosper on the earth.  So it is, that is very
true.  Do we think that we will prosper and abide in it, in unholiness and
unrighteousness?  If we do, we are mistaken.  If we do not sanctify the
Lord God in our hearts and live by every word that proceeds out of his
mouth, and shape our lives according to the rules laid down in Holy Writ,
and by what the Lord has revealed in latter days, we will come short of
being members of this kingdom, and we will be cast out and others will
take our place.  We need not flatter ourselves that we are going to
prosper in anything that is evil, and have the Lord still own us.  It is
very true that he is merciful to us and bears with us.  "Wait another
day," he says; "Wait another year, wait a little longer, and see if my
people will not be righteous;" and those who will not, will be gathered to
their own place; but those who will sanctify themselves before the Lord
will inherit everlasting life.  God bless you, Amen.



                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
           Delivered in the Bowery, Brigham City, June 9, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
         CONTINUED TEACHING NECESSARY--IGNORANCE OF PROFESSORS OF
                    MODERN CHRISTIANITY--PRAYER, ETC.

	If I can speak so as to be heard, I will talk to the brethren and
sisters a few minutes. It requires stillness and close attention to hear
those who speak in this bowery.  A great deal has been said with regard to
the salvation of the human family.  I might say that more should be done,
then we could talk less.  Of necessity, through the weakness of human
nature, a great deal has to be said; but if the people could understand
the principles of life and salvation, and would act accordingly, it would
require a great deal less talking.  Words are wind, they go into the ear
and are forgotten; still there is a certain portion that will be retained
by a few, and they will be profited thereby.  The work in which we are
engaged is not magnified in the least by talking about it; it is only in
the weak capacity of man that these principles become exalted through the
hearing of the ear.  The principles we preach are the gospel of life and
salvation; and we have entered into covenant with God to observe the
rules, ordinances and laws pertaining to this life and salvation.  The
question arises, Do we perform this labor, in keeping the sayings of the
Lord as strictly as we should?  No, we do not.

	Suppose that we name a few of the rules and regulations by which we
are to live. If I attempt to classify them, perhaps I shall get them
imperfectly in the science of the law of God.  But first, to me, after
hearing and believing that there is such a character as the Savior of
mankind, who has acted his part well and performed his duty in purchasing
redemption for the human family, and is now pleading for his brethren, I
at once inquired what he requires of me.  This is the inquiry of my
reflections, and I learn that faith is the starting point.  If I believe
sincerely and honestly, I must obey, and the next step in the plan of
salvation, as laid down by Jesus and his disciples, is for me to be
baptized for the remission of my sins.  To the Christian world, to the
heathen world and the infidel world, we can say that all things are
spiritual, all things are temporal, all things are natural; all things are
natural, all things are temporal, all things are spiritual; and there is
not that being on the earth, and never was, that I have any knowledge of,
that can divide them.  But in the act, and in the performance of the duty
of those who believe in this plan of salvation, we can define our faith in
our secret closet by exercising faith in the name of Jesus, and seeking
unto the Father secretly in our hearts.  Here we find a difference and a
distinction between this and the actual performance of rising up from my
seat, going down into the water and being baptized for the remission of my
sins. Still the work is the same, consequently it is spiritual, it is
temporal, it is natural; it is natural, it is temporal, it is spiritual.

	Well, now, this is the work that we have before us; not that I am
going to have time to preach on these points, or delineate them to any
length; but these are the facts.  If we believe, we obey, we are baptized
for the remission of our sins, which is the commencement of the labor, the
outward performance and manifestation of obedience to God, through faith
in the name of his son Jesus Christ.  Then comes the blessing by the
imposition of hands upon the head of the individual who has received
baptism for the remission of sins, and he receives the Holy Ghost.  This
is the blessing and the consolation of believing in the truth; and this
stimulates the individual to still exercise faith and to continue in
obedience to the commandments of the Lord, to pray always, without
ceasing, and in everything to give thanks; his heart uplifted to God, day
by day, from morning until evening, and from evening until morning, for
the blessings of heaven to be with him, for his feet to be guided in the
path of rectitude, and that he may be preserved from speaking, thinking,
and doing in anywise, that which is wrong.  This is simple and plain, and
can be understood by all classes of the children of men who are endowed
with the common sense and ability that are given to man.

	The duty of the Latter-day Saints is to pray without ceasing, and in
everything to give thanks, to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in all
things, and to be subject to his requirements.  We, as Latter-day Saints,
can say that our duty is laid before us. We can read it, not only in the
faith and feelings of the individuals of the community; but it is actually
printed, it lies upon the pages of our history, and we can read at our
pleasure. We meet together for the express purpose of having somebody or
other tell us that which we know and have known all the time.  We have
read it over and over; we have thought of it and meditated upon it, yet we
meet together and hear our brethren speak to force these things into the
affections of the people; and if we can persuade them to hearken to every
requirement of heaven, then we are not under the necessity of talking so
much.  We are freed from this task and toil.

	What is our duty:  To pray.  Pray always?  Yes.  To pray in our
families?  Yes.  Let no man be in a hurry, but what he can get up in a
morning and pray with his family before he permits himself to partake of
refreshment.  Let every man and every woman call upon the name of the
Lord, and that too, from a pure heart, while they are at work as well as
in their closet; while they are in public as well as while they are in
private, asking the Father in the name of Jesus, to bless them, and to
preserve and guide in, and to teach them, the way of life and salvation,
and to enable them so to live that they will obtain this eternal salvation
that we are after.

Now, besides being our duty to pray, it is our duty to live in peace one
with another. it is also our duty to love the Gospel and the spirit of the
Gospel, so that we can become one in the Lord, not out of him, that our
faith, our affections for the truth, the kingdom of heaven, our acts, all
our labor will be concentrated in the salvation of the children of men,
and the establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth.  This is
co-operation on a very large scale.  This is the work of redemption that
is entered into by the Latter-day Saints.  Unitedly we perform these
duties, we stand, we endure, we increase and multiply, awe strengthen and
spread abroad, and shall continue so to do until the kingdoms of this
world are the kingdoms of our God and his Christ.

	We can read that these are our duties in the Bible, Book of Mormon,
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other sayings that we have from
the Elders, which are just as true as any in these three books; and all
combined are a way-mark pointing us to life and salvation, and we can read
for ourselves.

	We might say, if one man has a difficulty with another, let him, in
the first place, go to him privately and talk with him, and see if he will
be reconciled, or take another, and so on.  We can say of a truth, that if
there be hard feelings in the midst of the Saints, they should be
eradicated from our bosoms by taking the proper course to enjoy the Spirit
of the Lord instead of the spirit of animosity and strife.  All these
things you can define and enlarge upon at your leisure.  It is our duty to
observe our sacraments, to observe our fast-days and offerings; it is our
duty to observe our tithing and to pay them.  There is a great deal said
by our enemies with regard to the members of this Church paying tithing. 
We are as free from taxation  as any other church on the earth, right or
wrong, true or untrue, and we pay as little as any other people, and if my
tithing is required let it be paid.  That is the way to get rich.  We have
entered upon a great system of co-operation for the building up of the
kingdom of God, and, when it is built up, it is ours, we own it.  If we
are Saints of God, and sanctify ourselves through his Gospel, then we
shall be worthy to possess all things.  The kingdoms of this world will be
ours, all will be ours, the heavens and the earth, and the fulness thereof
will be ours, and we are the Lord's, we are his servants, and we possess
all things in common with him.  That word "all," perhaps, conveys too much
to the minds of some; but that is no matter.  With regard to the
Latter-day Saints, in the performance of their duties, we could tell them
what to do to be saved.  The path is as clear and plain as this highway is
here for the travel of teams and the people.  But when we inquire about
the character of our Father, there are some things connected therewith
that men do not understand, neither should they understand them.  It is
not in accordance with the mind and will of him we worship as our God,
that the inhabitants of the earth, in their weak and wicked capacity, and
in ignorance, should understand them.  It was mentioned here yesterday,
and is frequently mentioned by myself and others, that those who profess
Christianity are in the dark, and why?  They mystify everything; they read
the Bible as a sealed book, and they believe it when it is closed and laid
upon the shelf.  They do not know how to read it any other way, they do
not know how to believe it any other way, and it is right and reasonable
that they should not; but as for detailing the reasons why this is so, we
have not time.  Suffice it to say, all things are done in the wisdom of
him who knows all things.  It is not right, I will say, for people to know
the truth and live in disobedience to it; it is not right for them to
understand the ways and providences of God as they are dealt out to the
people on the earth, when they live and are determined to live in
violation of every commandment and law of God; and because they do so
live, ignorance covers them as with a mantle, shuts out the light of truth
from them, and keeps them in darkness; and if the light were to shine upon
them, as it does now and as it did in the days of the Apostles, would they
receive it?  No, they would not.  Light has come into the world, but the
wicked choose darkness rather than light?  Why?  It was told in days of
old that their deeds were evil.  That is the fact to-day--"they choose
darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil," and their
hearts are fully set in them to do evil; and here I might venture to say
to all the inhabitants of the earth, high and low, rich and poor, to the
king upon his throne and to the beggar in the street, if they had the
truth and loved it they would rejoice in it.  But they will not receive
it.  Is not this lamentable?  It is; but we can not help it.  We can
declare the truth to the people, but we can not force them to receive it. 
If the inhabitants of the earth were honest, they would receive the truth;
and there is not a man or woman now living on the earth, or ever did live
on it, who would speak, write, think or act against the Gospel of life and
salvation as they do, were they not in darkness; but they are kept in
ignorance through their own wickedness and unbelief, and they nourish and
cherish the spirit of evil, and that prompts them to reject the words of
life.  We can say this to all the human family; but to the Latter-day
Saints, you believe, now obey; and if we obey, all will be right, and we
shall gain the salvation that we are after.

	I am happy, brethren, for the privilege of being in your midst.  I
frequently shake hands with my brethren and sisters, and they rejoice,
they congratulate me on my freedom.  I have been free.  I do not feel, and
have not felt, that I was bound in the least.  The question can be asked,
Were you not a prisoner for some five months through the indiscreet,
unmanly, inhuman, disloyal and rebellious decision and doings of our
officials?  It seemed so; it had the appearance that I was confined, and
had not my liberty, through the ill-treatment, mistaken ideas, selfishness
and prejudice of the ungodly. But I did not feel that I was in prison, or
that I was confined.  I will say to the Latter-day Saints, my heart has
rejoiced for the privilege of resting.  I have rejoiced for the privilege,
as it was observed here, by Elder Hyde, yesterday, of entering into my
closet, that is, I entered into my closet just as he did into his.  He
kept himself where he had a mind to, and I did the same.  He entered his
closet, and I into mine, or into my house, and there I abode, and
continued to abide, for a time, and was thankful for the privilege. Now I
have the privilege of going here and there without having anyone to
accompany me only those I invite.  I was very happy for the privilege of
being quiet, still and retired in my own house last winter.  My companion,
not my sleeping companion, but my companion in tribulation and
confinement, for the gentleman who was with me, I really think was, in his
feelings, confined more than I, a great deal, and felt so, would urge me
to ride, or to go to this party or that, or to the theater.  I kindly
declined and thanked him for his kindness in offering to accompany me; and
I would say, "you go and enjoy yourself, and I will stay here," and I got
him to go occasionally.

	I say this with regard to myself, that you may know my own feelings. 
But I can say still more--the Lord Almighty has guided and directed the
ship of state in our behalf and for the deliverance and protection of the
innocent and the honest.  Victory has perched on Zion's banner.  We have
obtained that that we could not have obtained had it not been for the
persecuting spirit that has followed on the heels of the Latter-day Saints
within the two years that are past.  How could we, without this very
conduct of our enemies, have ever approached the highest tribunal in this
government to have it give its decision with regard to right and wrong,
law, legality, that that is equitable and according to the spirit of our
government, and that which is contrary thereto?  How could we have
approached that body?  How could we have had our cause before it, had it
not been for the acts of our enemies, with which they designed to bring us
to death?  For there is no question that, in their own feelings, the knot
was tied around the neck of your humble servant, and he hung dangling in
the air.  But God designed this for good, for the deliverance of the
humble and the meek.  What have we to say?  We acknowledge his hand in
these things as well as everything else, and say, God be praised!

	I will not occupy more time, I want others to talk.  I will close by
saying a few things to you with regard to your duties.  Attend to your
meetings, attend to your prayers; attend to your daily labor.  Be honest
and upright with one another; be punctual, keep your word, preserve
yourselves inviolate in all things.  Be chaste, preserve your faith before
God, do not demoralize or prostitute yourselves, and all will be right. I
can say that when a man comes along and turns his cattle into his
neighbor's field without liberty, he prostitutes his own feelings--his
virtue, truthfulness, honesty and uprightness before God and angels.  If
we will preserve ourselves in purity, in the integrity of our hearts, it
will be well with us.

	We have quite a number of the people present from the settlements of
this county generally, and from Cache Valley.  I see you have a little
railroad here, and the people are building it.  I am thankful to see this
enterprise.  Go ahead, brethren, build this road and own it, and do what
you please with it.  It will be a fine piece of improvement; it will open
up this northern country, and give you facilities that you could not
otherwise enjoy here.  How beautiful that is!  How comfortable, yes, that
is the word--how comfortable and easy it is for me to get into a coach, or
a good carriage, and run over this railroad, from Salt Lake City to this
place in less than three hours, as we did yesterday morning.  In less than
three hours from the time we left the depot of the Utah Central in Salt
Lake City, we were in this bowery; and, this evening, we expect, in less
than three hours from the time we leave this bowery, to be in Salt Lake
City--a distance of over sixty miles.  It is very comfortable, very
consoling!  And if we can see these things as they are, they open up a
field for the contemplation of the wise to improve upon, that we may shape
our lives for the benefit of ourselves and the human family and to promote
truth and righteousness upon the earth.

	God bless you.  Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
                    Sunday Afternoon, August 11, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
            THE FULNESS OF THE GOSPEL--ITS POWER TO UNITE--ITS
 COMPREHENSIVENESS--DEFINITION OF ITS PRIESTHOOD--CONDITION OF APOSTATES.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

	If anybody wants to know what the priesthood of the Son of God is, it
is the law by which the worlds are, were, and will continue for ever and
ever.  It is that system which brings worlds into existence and peoples
them, gives them their revolutions--their days, weeks, months, years,
their seasons and times and by which they are rolled up as a scroll, as it
were, and go into a higher state of existence; and they who believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ--the maker, framer, governor, dictator and controller of
this earth--they who live according to his law and priesthood will be
prepared to dwell on this earth when it is brought into the presence of
the Father and the Son.  This is the habitation of the Saints; this is the
earth that will be given to the Saints, when they and it are sanctified
and glorified, and brought back into the presence of the Father and the
Son.  This is our religion, and I bear testimony to it; and this oneness
which the Latter-day Saints possess, which is now so much contended
against and hated by the christian world, in apolitical, financial,
philosophical, and every other respect and capacity, is the power of God
unto salvation, and is not produced by the influence or power of man, and
this witness cannot be impeached--it is impossible to impeach it.  This is
our testimony, and this is one witness, one testimony that the Gospel
which we preach is the Gospel that God has revealed for the salvation of
the children of men, and it will bring all the sons and daughters of Adam
and Eve into a state of glory and happiness that is far beyond their
conception, or any ideas that thy have ever received while in this wicked
world; and this glory the Lord has prepared in his mansion for his
children. "Well," says one, if I am pretty sure to get a state of glory
better than this, I guess I will not take the trouble to inherit anything
more."  Well, run the risk of it, every man on the earth has that
privilege.  The Gospel is preached, sin revives, some die and some contend
against it--some receive it and some do not; but this is the sin of the
people--truth is told them and they reject it.  This is the sin of the
world, "Light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than
light, because their deeds are evil."  So said Jesus in his day.  We say,
Here is the Gospel of life and salvation, and every one that will receive
it, glory, honor, immortality and eternal life are theirs; if they reject
it, they take their chance.  I hope and pray that we may all be wise and
receive the good part, that we may have the benefit thereof.

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

	May the Lord help us to do right.  Amen.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
           Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Sunday Morning,
                             August 18, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
         FAULT FINDING--ADVICE--WHOLESALE CO-OPERATIVE STORE FOR
            LOGAN--DRESS--MARITAL RELATION--ESTABLISHING ZION.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

	May God help us!

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
       Delivered at Farmington, Saturday Afternoon, Aug. 24, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
      INCREASE OF SAINTS SINCE JOSEPH SMITH'S DEATH--JOSEPH SMITH'S
                 SONS--RESURRECTION AND MILLENNIAL WORK.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
      Delivered at the 42nd Semi-Annual Conference, Salt Lake City,
                             October 9, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
  SAINTS SHOULD SUSTAIN THEMSELVES--KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS--ABUSES--POWER
                    OF RIGHTEOUS COMBINATION OF LABOR.

	I want to express my feelings to the Latter-day Saints upon certain
points of business which pertain to our welfare, and I wish to do it
without being obliged to raise my voice so high and so loud as to infringe
upon the organs of speech to that degree that I shall have to stop.  If
the people will be still, they can hear me in my common voice perfectly
easy.  I will not go into all the details with regard to the duties of the
Latter-day Saints, and their desires, as they have manifested them by
gathering out from the world, and assembling themselves together.  They
generally understand them, and they can read for themselves the doctrines
of the Church, and the reasons why we are gathered together.  But I wish
now to impress on the minds of the people the necessity of our taking a
course to be able to exist and to sustain ourselves--to have something to
eat and wear--hats to put on our heads, and coats, mantles, blankets,
vests, shirts, garments and other things suitable to wear and to make our
bodies comfortable, provided that the Lord should knock the underpinning
from under Babylon.  The time will come when Babylon will fall.  If it
should fall now, it would leave us pretty destitute.  We would soon wear
out our head dresses and fine clothing, and what should we do?  Why, we
should be as badly off as the Saints were when they came into this valley,
twenty-five years ago.  They picked up a few buckskins, antelope skins,
sheepskins, buffalo skins, and made leggings and moccasins of them, and
wrapped the buffalo robes around them.  Some had blankets and some had
not; some had shirts, and I guess some had not.  One man told me that he
had not a shirt for himself or family.  If Babylon should happen to tip
over, so that we could not reach out and gather the necessaries of life,
we should be in a bad condition.  I want to put you in mind of these
things, and it is my duty to say to the Latter-day Saints that they should
take measures to sustain themselves--they should lay a foundation for
feeding and clothing themselves.

	You are well aware that there has been a great deal of money spent in
this Territory to get machinery for the purpose of working up the wool and
cotton, and I think you are pretty well aware that there have been a great
many thousand words spoken to the Latter-day Saints in these valleys, upon
the necessity of raising sheep, though we have had a tide of opposition
against this.  Still, wool-raising is now proven to be a success in these
mountains, any and all of the Bishops to the contrary notwithstanding. 
This is a fine wool growing country, no better in the world.  We have
proved this; and we have got a great deal of machinery here to work up the
wool, most of which is now standing still for the want of wool.  Many of
those who have been prevailed upon to raise sheep, have got so covetous
and love money so well that they must sell their wool for money, and send
it out of the country, in consequence of which the factories are now
standing still.  I think there are a few who will recollect that, in the
excitement of purchasing wool here last May, June and July, in many
instances I refused to buy their wool.  If I would have paid a little more
than agents from the east, I could have got it; in some instances I got it
for a little less.  I bought some and let a good deal go, and told the
people with whom I conversed upon the subject, that I would let the buying
of wool alone until fall, then I thought I could send east, buy my wool
and ship it back here, and I believe I could get it cheaper than I could
get it then.  And it is now verily so, for I can send to Philadelphia, New
York, Boston, or anywhere in the eastern country, and buy wool and ship it
back here from 10 to 30 percent. cheaper than I could buy it here last
spring.  I can send west and buy wool and ship it here and save a still
higher per centage.  This is the difference in the price of wool last
spring and the fore part of the summer, and now what our friends and
brethren who own factories will do with regard to purchasing wool, I am
not able to say.  Some of them, probably, are able to buy wool, and quite
a number are not, and they who are not will, in all probability, let their
factories stand still.

	I want the brethren and sisters to take an interest in sustaining
ourselves here in these mountains.  It is the duty of the Bishops to see
that the members of their Wards take a course that will build up the
kingdom of God, not only in providing food and raiment, but see that the
people do their duty with regard to the law of God in preserving
themselves in purity.  My mind is now upon those things which some people
call temporal, and I wish to urge them upon the Latter-day Saints.  I want
them to save their wool and to keep it in this Territory.  If we have not
factories sufficient to work up all the wool that grows in this Territory,
and in these mountains, we will send and get more machinery, and build
more factories, and work up the wool for the people.  It is the duty of
those who grow wool to keep it here.  It is the duty of the wife of the
man who owns sheep to look to it, and see that that wool is not sold and
carried out of the country.  It is the duty of the Bishops to see these
men, and urge upon them the necessity of keeping the wool in the mountains
where it can be worked up; and the Bishops should set the example
themselves.  We expect they do; if they do not, they are not fit for
Bishops.  It is the duty of the Bishops to see the wives of these men and
their children, that they may prevail on their greedy, covetous fathers or
hushands [sic], who would sacrifice the prosperity of the kingdom of God
for a little worldly wealth, and see that they do not run distracted or go
crazy over a little money.  I say the Bishops should see to it, that these
men who have sheep act like rational, reasonable men.  What are you here
for?  What did you come for?  Virtually you all say you left Babylon and
came here to build up the kingdom of God; but our acts speak as loud, and
little louder than our words can.  We witness to one another and to the
Heavens, and to all people, that we believe in building up the kingdom of
God on the earth.  There is an item that ought to be before the Latter-day
Saints with regard to the kingdom as it will be built up.  They ought to
teach themselves--read the Scriptures, the Old and New Testament, the
prophecies, what the Savior and his Apostles have said, and what has been
delivered to us in the latter days, and compare them, and then draw their
own conclusions, and see if they are under the necessity of working
temporally, literally, manually, physically for the building up of the
kingdom of heaven.  I say that we are or it never will be built up.  With
regard to the fundamental facts of our doctrines, we can not show to any
person that we have faith therein, except by our works.  If I were now in
the world, and an Elder was to come along and preach, and I were to go and
hear him, the act of walking to the meeting house or to the private
dwelling house, would be manual labor.  I might believe every word such an
Elder said in preaching the Gospel, but if I never took any steps towards
fulfilling his requirements who would know anything about it?  Nobody on
the face of the earth.  Would there be any manifestation that I had faith? 
Not the least in the world, and if it started to grow in my heart while
listening to the Elder, without works on my part it would soon die out and
cease to exist.  If I do believe, it is a manual labor to get up and say
to the people, "I believe that what this man has said is true."  That is
an exercise of the body, and a temporal labor.  Well, this Elder says, we
should repent of our sins.  I do repent.  He says we should obey the
Gospel, and the first thing after having faith or believing it, is to go
down into the waters of baptism, and to do that is a temporal act,
physical labor; and the act of baptism by him is also a temporal act or
labor.  And so in everything else with regard to the Gospel and the
building up of the kingdom of God on the earth--we must have works or we
can not have faith.  I can not divide between the two.  The Elder is
preaching, I believe, I confess and obey, and I can not, for my soul,
divide the temporal, the manual, the physical labor form the internal
faith and hope and joy which the spirit gives, and which cause obedience
in my acts.

	I wish to make this application right here to the Latter-day Saints. 
If we believe that God is about to establish his kingdom upon the earth,
we believe firmly that we have got to perform a manual, temporal labor to
bring this about.  If the kingdom of this world ever become the kingdoms
of our God and his Christ, it will be by his people conforming to the
plans instituted for the establishment of a kingdom here on the earth. 
You may call it temporal, no matter what it is called, it is territory, it
is dominion.  In the first place we must have territory, then we must have
people; and in order to organize this kingdom, we must have officers and
laws to govern or control the subjects.  To make the organization of a
kingdom perfect, we must have every appendage necessary and proper, so
that the Savior can come and reign king of nations as he does king of
Saints.  We shall be under the necessity of raising breadstuff and then we
shall want to eat it.  We shall have to raise our fruit as well as eat it;
we shall have to raise our vegetables as well as eat them.  We shall be
under the necessity then of making hats or of going without them; we shall
be under the necessity of making clothing--coats, vests, pants, shirts and
so on, or else go without them.  We shall be under the necessity of having
courts organized, unless all are in the Lord and all walk in his way; if
that were the case I do not know that we should want any sheriff,
marshals, constables magistrates, jurors, judges or governors, because the
word of the Lord would govern and control every person; but until that
time arrives we shall want officers, so that we will be prepared to reckon
with the transgressor, and we shall have transgressors in building this
kingdom, for it will be some time yet before all are in the Lord.  The law
is for the transgressor, consequently we must have officers, and we
already have in this kingdom as now organized all the officers necessary,
every quorum, every organization, every court and authority necessary to
rule all the nations that ever were or ever will be upon the earth, if
they serve God, or try to do so.  But if we must have an organization
after the order and wishes of those who are ignorant of the things of God,
we must have political and municipal organizations.  Kingdoms are
organized to suit the conditions of the people, whether the government is
that of the people, in the hands of a few individuals, or centred in one. 
But the kingdom of heaven, when organized upon the earth, will have every
officer, law and ordinance necessary for the managing of those who are
unruly, or who transgress its laws, and to govern those who desire to do
right, but can not quite walk to the line; and all these powers and
authorities are in existence in the midst of this people.

	Now, we have this kingdom organized here upon the earth, and we shall
be under the necessity, by and by, of understanding this, or we will be
left in a very destitute condition.  It is my duty to say to the people
that it is their duty to make their clothing; and permit me to say, still
further, upon the subject of the fashion of cutting cloth and putting it
together again, that it is most useless, unbecoming and ridiculous.  The
present custom of many is such that I would as soon see a squaw go through
the streets with a very little on, as to see clothing piled up until it
reaches, perhaps, the top of the hedge or fence its wearer is passing.  If
I do not say much about such customs and fashions, I shall probably skip
over some naughty words.  In my feelings they are positively ridiculous,
they are so useless and unbecoming.  Do you recollect a fashion there was
a few years ago, that has now nearly ceased when a woman could not walk
through the streets without holding her clothes two feet in front of her
if her arm was long enough?  I shall not say what I thought of those who
followed this fashion.  Now it is on the other side, and I do not know but
they will get two humps on their backs, they have one now, and if they get
to be dromedaries it will be no wonder, not the least in the world.  I
recollect a fashion of cutting up cloth some forty years ago, that was
very peculiar.  A lady would go into a store and say to a merchant, "I
would like to get a dress pattern this morning."  "Very well, what will
you have?"  "Oh, bring down your goods and show them.  This suits pretty
well!  I think I will take this."  "Madame," says the merchant, "If you
will buy the sleeves, I will give you the dress."  This, of course, is
jocosely said.  I refer now to what was called the "mutton-legged" 
sleeve--by comparison it took seven yards for the sleeves, and three for
the dress.  That was the way they dressed then.  How unbecoming!  How
unbecoming it is to see ladies dress as they do in some places at the
present day.  Then another fashion is to wear their dresses short in
front, walking through the streets, and a long train dragging in the dirt
behind.  How unbecoming!  This is not modesty, gentility, or good taste;
it does not belong to a lady at all, but to an ignorant, extravagant, or
vain-minded person, who knows not true principle.  I take the liberty of
saying that these fashions are displeasing in the sight of truth, mercy
and justice.  It is displeasing to the Spirit of the Lord for persons to
array themselves in any way whatever that is disgusting to the eye of the
pure and the prudent.  There is not a Latter-day Saint nor a Former-day
Saint that ever did, or ever will expect to see any such customs or
fashions when they get into heaven.  If they were to see an angel, they
would see a being beautifully but modestly dressed, white, comely and nice
to look upon.

	I would like to advise the Latter-day Saints to avoid these foolish
customs and habits.  Let them pass by and not follow them; they do not
belong to us.  I would like to repeat to the ladies what we have said
hundreds and thousands of times--they should make their own head-dresses
and fashions, independent of all the rest of the inhabitants of the earth. 
Pay no attention to what others do, it is no matter what they do, or how
they dress.  Latter-day Saints should dress in that plain, neat, comely
manner that will be pleasing and prudent, in every sense of the word,
before the Lord, and try and please him that we serve the Being that we
acknowledge as our God.  Not flaunting, flirting and gossiping, as a great
many are, and thinking continually of their dresses, and of this, that and
the other that will minister to and gratify their vanity.  Such women
seldom think of their prayers.

	I am extending my remarks much longer than I intended.  But how is it
about the Word of Wisdom?  Do we observe it?  We should do, and preserve
ourselves in all things holy before the Lord.  How is it about keeping the
Sabbath day?  We have some articles that we would like to read here, but
the people have them to read at their leisure.  We should observe the Ten
Commandments, for instance, that were given to Moses.  If we do that, we
shall be a pretty good people.  But there is nothing in those commandments
about building factories and raising wool, for the children of Israel, at
the time they were given, were in a condition that they did not need
factories, they did not need to raise wool.  If they had goats and sheep
with them, they made mutton, and tanned the skins probably, but I do no
know what they did with them.  It appears that their clothing did now wax
old, and they probably had no need to spin or weave.  But we have need to,
we have got to make our own clothing, or to get it some other way--buy it
or else go without it; and we ought to keep the Word of Wisdom, and keep
the Sabbath day holy, and preserve ourselves in the integrity of our
hearts before God.

	I want to ask if the people pay their tithing?  Bishops, do the
people of your wards pay their tithing?  I will answer the question for
you and say, No, they do not.  Some people in modern times shudder at the
word tithing--it is a term they are not used to.  They are used to
sustaining Priests, to donating for building meeting houses, and
administering to those who wait at the table of the Lord, or that do their
preaching and praying for them.  And this is done by subscription
donation, and passing the plate, hat or basket, but the word "tithing" is
frightful to them.  I like the term, because it is scriptural, and I would
rather use it than any other. The Lord instituted tithing, it was
practiced in the days of Abraham, and Enoch and Adam and his children did
not forget their tithes and offerings.  You can read for yourselves with
regard to what the Lord requires.  Now do the Latter-day Saints pay their
tithing?  They do not.  I want to say this much to those who profess to be
Latter-day Saints--if we neglect our tithes and offerings we will receive
the chastening hand of the Lord.  We may just as well count on this first
as last.  If we neglect to pay our tithes and offerings we will neglect
other things, and this will grow upon us until the Spirit of the Gospel is
entirely gone from us, and we are in the dark, and know not whither we are
going.

	It is the duty of the Bishops to see that their wards pay tithing. 
But we have Bishops who are not reliable--men, for instance, who will take
tithing grain when it brings a good price in cash, and when good beef is
bringing cash they are so kind to their wards, and especially to their
sons, that if a son has got a parcel of wild horses on the prairies that
are not worth a yearling calf a head, they will say to him, "Drive up your
wild horses, my boy, I will trade with you, and let you have neat stock,
yearlings, or two years or three years old, or wheat that is in the
tithing bin, I will take your horses.  I will send down word to the
General Tithing office, that there are so many horses here belonging to
the tithing office."  Such horses are a curse to us, or I can say they
have been to me as an individual.  I have raised stock enough to supply
this whole Territory, if they had been taken care of.  But they were like
the Indian's boy.  The missionary had been telling him that if he brought
up a child in the way he should go, when he was old he would not depart
from it.  But the old chief has got it, just about as it is, and said he,
"Yes, bring up a child, and away he goes;"  and this is the way the horses
go.  And as far the neat stock, if any of it ever gets out of my sight
that I do no know where it is, and can not send and get it, I always
calculate that a thief will have it.  I never trouble myself to look after
it, there are too many men riding on the prairies with their blankets
behind them, and their dinner in their blanket, and their lassoes with
them to hunt up all the stock there is.  This wild stock that is turned in
on tithing is a curse to us.  And where does the wheat go to?  I am not
disposed to, but I could tell names of Bishops who have taken our tithing
wheat out of the bins and it has been sold by them or their families,  And
they have taken our stock that we wanted here for beef to feed the public
lands, and traded it off for wild horses.  This is a pretty hard saying,
but it is true, and I could tell their names if I were obliged to.

	If the people will pay their tithing, we will go and do the work that
is required of us.  It is very true that the poor pay their tithing better
than the rich do.  If the rich would pay their tithing we should have
plenty.  The poor are faithful and prompt in paying their tithing, but the
rich can hardly afford to pay theirs--they have too much.  If a man is
worth enough that he would have a thousand dollars to pay, it pinches him. 
If he has only ten dollars he can pay one; if he has only one dollar he
can pay ten cents; it does not hurt him at all.  If he has a hundred
dollars he can possibly pay ten.  If he has a thousand dollars he looks
over it a little and says,  "I guess I will pay it; it ought to be paid
any how;" and he manages to pay his ten dollars or his hundred dollars. 
But suppose a man is wealthy enough to pay ten thousand, he looks that
over a good many times, and says, "I guess I will wait until I get a
little more, and then I will pay a good deal."  And they wait and wait,
like an old gentleman in the east; he waited and waited and waited to pay
his tithing until he went down, I guess, to hell, I do not know exactly;
but he went to hades, which we call hell.  He went out of the world, and
this is the way with a great many.  They wait and continue waiting, until,
finally, the character comes along who is called Death, and he slips up to
them and takes away their breath, then they are gone and cannot pay their
tithing, they are too late, and so it goes.

	Now this is finding fault with the rich, and I am going to find fault
with the poor by and by.  But if we will pay our tithing we will be
blessed; if we refuse to do so the chastening hand of the Lord will be
upon this people, just as sure as we are here.  You may say I am
threatening you Take it just as you please.  I do not care.  You may
grease it and swallow it, or swallow it without greasing, just as you have
a mind to.  It is true, and we will find it so.

	Will the Latter-day Saints pay their tithing?  Will they keep the
Sabbath day holy?  Will they deal justly with their neighbors?  In my own
feelings I excuse a great many naughty things that are done in our midst. 
I know that men and women brought up in different countries come here with
their prejudices and with the instincts which they have had bred in and
born with them, and which have grown up with them; and many of these
traits of character are obnoxious to others brought up under other
circumstances.  These traditions cling to the people, and cause them to do
many things which they would not do if they had been differently taught. 
Their morals have not been looked after in their youth and as prudently
preserved as they should have been.  Children should be taught honesty,
and they should grow up with the feeling within them that they should
never take a pin that is not their own; never displace anything, but
always put everything in its place.  If they find anything seek for the
owner.  If there is anything of their neighbor's going to waste, put it
where it will not waste, and be perfectly honest one with another.  Take
the world of mankind and they are not overstocked with honesty.  I have
proved that.  In my youth I have seen men, who were considered good,
clever, honest men, who would take the advantage of their neighbors or
workmen if they could.  I have seen deacons, Baptists, Presbyterians,
members of the Methodist church, with long, solid, sturdy faces and a poor
brother would come along and say to one of them, "brother, such-a-one, I
have come to see if I could get a bushel of wheat, rye or corn of you.  I
have no money, but I will come and work for you in harvest," and their
faces would be drawn down so mournful, and they would say, "I have none to
spare.  "Well, deacon, if you can let me have one bushel, I understand you
have considerable, I will come and work for you just as long as you say,
until you are satisfied, in your harvest field, or haying or anything you
want done." After much talk this longfaced character would get it out, "If
you will come and work for me two days in harvest, I do not know but I
will spare you a bushel of rye."

	When the harvest time comes the man could have got two bushels of rye
for one day's work; but the deacon sticks him to his bargain, and makes
him work two days for a bushel of wheat or rye.  I used to think a good
deal, but seldom spoke about any such thing, for I was brought up to treat
everybody with that respect and courtesy that I could hardly allow myself
to think aloud, and consequently very seldom did so.  I thought enough of
such religion, at any rate, that such Christians called me an infidel,
because I could not swallow such things but I could not if they had been
greased over with fresh butter.  I did not read the Bible as they read it;
and as for there being Bible Christians, I knew there were none; and if
their religion was the religion they liked, said I, "Just go your own way,
I want none of it."  I wanted no relgion [sic] that produced such morals.

	If we pay our tithing, and begin to live a little stricter than we
have heretofore, in our faith, cease to break the Sabbath, cease to spend
our time in idleness, cease to he [sic] dishonest and to meddle with that
which is not our own, cease to deceive and to speak evil of one another,
and learn the commandments of the Lord, and do them, we shall be blessed.

	Suppose we should say to a few of the Latter-day Saints, if we could
find those who would answer the purpose, "how would you like to build up a
stake of Zion, a little city of Enoch?  How would you like this?  Would
you like to enter into a covenant, and into bonds, according to the law of
our land, and let us bind ourselves together to go into a systematic
co-operative system, not only in merchandizing, but in farming and in all
mechanical work, and in every trade and business there is; and we will
classify the business throughout, and we will gather together a few
hundred families, and commence and keep the law of God, and preserve
ourselves in purity.  How would the Latter-day Saints like it?  Do you
think there could any be found who would be willing to do this?"  Let me
say to you, my brethren, I have a very fine place to start such a society
as this that would probably sustain from five to ten thousand persons.  I
would like to make a deed of this property to such a society, and enter
into a covenant with men of God and women of God that we would go to and
show the world and show the Latter-day Saints how to build up a city of
Zion, and how to increase intelligence among the people, how to walk
circumspectly before our God and before one another, and classify every
branch of labor, taking advantage of every improvement, and of all the
learning in the world, and direct the labor of men and women, and see what
it would produce; follow it out for ten years, and then look at the
result.  Our friends who visit us here say that we have done a good work,
and we bear testimony that we have been greatly prospered.  It is true
that most of the people in this house came here like myself, comparatively
naked and barefoot.  I left all I had in the States.  I say all--no. I had
some wives and children whom I brought along with me.  Some of them had
shoes to their feet, some had not; some had bonnets, some had none.  Some
of my children had clothing, and some had very little; and we took up our
line of march and left all.  I believe for some four pretty nice brick
houses, and a nice large farm, timber land and so on, I got one span of
little horses and a carriage worth about a hundred dollars, the horses
were worth about sixty dollars apiece, the harness about twenty.  I think
that was everything I got for my property.  We came here and we have been
prospered and blessed.  If I had the privilege of living with a community
that would do as I say for ten years, I would show them that our blessings
now, in a temporal point of view, have been but as a drop to the
bucketful.  But would we bear this?  Would our feelings submit to this? 
Would we not want to go and serve the devil if the Lord were to heap
riches upon us?  We see that what he does now makes men covetous, they can
not even pay their tithing.  Well, do we get all that we want?  No, each
man wants it all, and as long as this is the case with us, I think the
saying common among the boys in my youth will be good--"Every man for
himself, the devil for us all."  Just as long as every man works for
himself we are not the Lord's; we are not Christ's, we are not his
disciples in this point of view, at any rate.  If we had faith to be
baptized, we do not carry out the principles of the salvation that he has
wrought out for us.  He is going to set up his kingdom--a literal,
temporal kingdom.  It will be a kingdom of priests by and by.  If we had
been willing to fully carry out the rules of the kingdom, followed
counsel, and worked together,  for twenty-five years past, the blessings
we have received are not a drop in the bucket to what we would have
received.

	Some twelve or fifteen years I labored faithfully with our merchants
here, before I could get them to break through that everlasting covetous
crust that was over them, and consent to operate together in merchandizing
so as to give the people a chance with us.  And it was the design and the
feeling of men here, belonging to the Church, to aggrandize themselves and
to monopolise to themselves the wealth of the community.  And if another
one sprang up and had good luck they would take him into the corps, into
their fellowship, and he would belong to the order, and that was to make a
few rich, and grind down and make every other man poor.  That was the
design, no question of it.  But I determined with God and the good to help
me that I would break that everlasting covetous crust and I succeeded at
last.  Are we making enough in our mercantile business here now?  Yes, we
are making all we should make.  I suppose a great many would like to know
how we are doing.  It would be no harm for me to tell you perhaps that,
the last six months, the Board of Directors of Zion's Co-operative
Mercantile Institution are able to declare a dividend of ten per cent.,
with five per cent. in reserve, which is added to the capital stock, and
is as good as money.  That is good enough for me, it yields some thirty
per cent per annum.

	If we would work together in our farming, in our mechanism, be
obedient and work as a family for the good of all, it would be almost
impossible for anybody to guess the success we would have.  But we have
got to do it in the Lord.  We must not do it with a covetous heart. 
Always be ready and willing that the Lord should have it all, and do what
he pleases with it.  I have asked a favor of the Lord in this thing, and
that is not to place me in such circumstances that what he has given me
shall go into the hands of our enemies.  God forbid that!  But let it go
for the preaching of the Gospel, to sustain and to gather the poor, to
build factories, make farms, and set the poor to work, as I have hundreds
and thousands that had not anything to do.  I have fed and clothed them
and taken care of them until they have become comparatively independent. 
I have made no man poor, but thousands and thousands rich, that is, the
Lord has, through your humble servant.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
      Delivered at the 42nd Semi-Annual Conference, Salt Lake City,
                             October 9, 1872.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
                           THE ORDER OF ENOCH.

	Suppose we should examine a city in a stake of Zion conducted after
the order of Enoch!  We would like to look, for a few moments, upon the
facts as they would exist.  If a people were gathered together, were they
many or few, who would follow out the instructions given them in the Bible
and in the other revelations that we have, they would have to be very
obedient, and probably many would feel to say, "I wish to manage my own
affairs, I wish to dictate myself, I wish to govern and control my labor,
I can not submit to have anybody else dictate me.  This is servitude, and
is nothing more nor less than slavery!"  I suppose there are some who
would feel thus.  When I look at the Latter-day Saints I think how
independent they are.  They have been very independent, there is no
question of it.  When they have heard the Gospel, though, perhaps, in the
flood of persecution, and the finger of scorn pointed towards them, they
have said, "The Gospel is true, and if my friends will not believe it, it
makes no difference to me, I am independent enough to embrace the truth,
and to gather out from the midst of Babylon and to make my home with the
Saints."  There are plenty of such people here in this house--men and
women, old and young.  There are young people here who have left their
parents and every thing they had on the face of the earth for the sake of
the Gospel.  Middle-aged men have left their wives and their children,
saying, "I am going to live according to the plan that has been laid down
in the Scriptures for the salvation of the human family."  This certainly
exhibits as much independence as mortal beings can manifest, and yet we
have said we will yield strict obedience to these requirements,
preparatory to enjoying the glory that the Lord has for the Saints.  I
will ask, Is there liberty in this obedience?  Yes, and the only plan on
the face of the earth for the people to gain real liberty is to yield
obedience to these simple principles.  Not but that we should find a great
many who do not exactly understand how to yield obedience, strictly, to
the requirements of heaven for their own salvation and exaltation; but no
person can be exalted in the kingdom of heaven without first submitting
himself to the rules, regulations, laws and ordinances of that kingdom,
and being perfectly subject to them in every respect.  Is this the fat? 
It is even so.  Consequently, no person is fit to be a ruler until he can
be ruled; no one is fit to be the Lord of all until he has submitted
himself to be servant of all.  Does this give the people liberty?  It is
the only thing in the heavens or on the earth that can do so.  Where is
the liberty in subjecting ourselves strictly to the requirements of heaven
and becoming one in all our operations to build up the kingdom of God upon
the earth?  By strict obedience to these requirements, we prove ourselves
faithful to our God; and when we have passed through all the ordeals
necessary, and have proved perfectly submissive to all the rules and
regulations which give live [sic] eternal, he then sets us free and crowns
us with glory, immortality and eternal lives; and there is no other path
that we can walk in, no other system, no other laws or ordinances by which
we can gain exaltation, only by submitting ourselves perfectly to the
requirements of heaven.

	Now suppose we had a little society organized on the plan I mentioned
at the commencement of my remarks--after the Order of Enoch--would we
build our houses all alike?  No.  How should we live?  I will tell you how
I would arrange for a little family, say about a thousand persons.  I
would build houses expressly for their convenience in cooking, washing and
every department of their domestic arrangements.  Instead of having every
woman getting up in the morning and fussing around a cookstove or over the
fire, cooking a little food for two or three or half a dozen persons, or a
dozen, as the case may be, she would have nothing to do but to go to her
work.  Let me have my arrangement here, a hall in which I can seat five
hundred persons to eat; and I have my cooking apparatus--ranges and
ovens--all prepared.  And suppose we had a hall a hundred feet long with
our cooking room attached to this hall; and there is a person at the
further end of the table and he should telegraph that he wanted a warm
beefsteak; and this is conveyed to him by a little railway, perhaps under
the table, and he or she may take her beefsteak.  "What do you want to
take with it?"  "A cup of tea, a cup of coffee, a cup of milk, piece of
toast," or something or other, no matter what they call for, it is
conveyed to them and they take it, and we can seat five hundred at once,
and serve them all in a very few minutes.  And when they have all eaten,
the dishes are piled together, slipped under the table, and run back to
the ones who wash them.  We could have a few Chinamen to do that if we did
not want to do it ourselves.  Under such a system the women could go to
work making their bonnets, hats, and clothing, or in the factories.  I
have not time to map it out before you as I wish to.  But here is our
dining room, and adjoining this is our prayer room, where we would
assemble perhaps five hundred persons at one time, and have our prayers in
the evening and in the morning.  When we had our prayers and our
breakfast, then each and every one to his business.  But the inquiry is,
in a moment, How are you going to get them together?  Build your houses
just the size you want them, whether a hundred feet, fifty feet or five,
and have them so arranged that you can walk directly from work to dinner. 
"Would you build the houses all alike?"  Oh no, if there is any one person
who has better taste in building than others, and can get up more tasteful
houses, make your plans and we will put them up, and have the greatest
variety we can imagine.

	What will we do through the day?  Each one go to his work.  Here are
the herdsmen--here are those who look after the sheep--here are those who
make the butter and the cheese, all at their work by themselves.  Some for
the kanyon, perhaps, or for the plow or harvest, no difference what, each
and every class is organized, and all labor and perform their part.

	Will we have the cows in the city?  No.  Will we have the pig pens in
the city?  No.  Will we have any of our outhouses in the city?  No.  We
will have our railways to convey the food to the pig pens, and somebody to
take care of them.  Somebody to gather up the scraps at the table, and
take them away.  Somebody to take the feed and feed the cows, and take
care of them out of the city.  Allow any nuisance in the city?  No, not
any, but everything kept as clean and as nice as it is in this tabernacle. 
Gravel our streets, pave our walks, water them, keep them clean and nicely
swept, and everything neat, nice and sweet.  Our houses built high, sleep
up stairs, have large lodging rooms, keep everybody in fresh air, pure and
healthy.  Work through the day, and when it comes evening, instead of
going to a theatre, walking the streets, riding, or reading novels--these
falsehoods got up expressly to excite the minds of youth, repair to our
room, and have our historians, and our different teachers to teach classes
of old and young, to read the Scriptures to them; to teach them history,
arithmetic, reading, writing and painting; and have the best teachers that
can be got to teach our day schools.  Half the labor necessary to make a
people moderately comfortable now, would make them independently rich
under such a system.  Now we toil and work and labor, and some of us are
so  anxious that we are sure to start after a load of wood on Saturday so
as to occupy Sunday in getting home.  This would be stopped in our
community, and when Sunday morning came every child would be required to
go to the school room, and parents to go to meeting or Sunday school; and
not get into their wagons or carriages, or on the railroads, or lounge
around reading novels; they would be required to go to meeting, to read
the Scriptures, to pray and cultivate their minds.  The youth would have a
good education, they would receive all the learning that could be given to
mortal beings; and after they had studied the best books that could be got
hold of, they would still have the advantage of the rest of the world, for
they would be taught in and have a knowledge of the things of God.

	Bring up our children in this way and they would be trained to love
the truth.  Teach them honesty, virtue and prudence, and we should not see
the waste around that now is witnessed.  The Latter-day Saints waste
enough to make a poor people comfortable.  Shall I mention one or two
instances?  I will mention this one thing any way, with regard to our
paper mill.  Can you get the Latter-day Saints to save their rags?  No,
they will make them and throw them out of doors.  Is there a family in
this community but what are too well off in their own estimation to take
care of paper rags?  I think a good many of them would rather steal their
beef and what they want than stoop to pick up paper rags to make paper to
print our paper on.  Not all would do this, but a few; and the majority
are so well off that they have not that prudence which belongs to Saints;
and I feel sometimes a little irritated, and inclined to scold about it,
when I see women who were brought up without a shoe to their foot, or a
second frock to their back perhaps, and who lived until they were young
women in this style, without ever stepping on to an inch of carpet in
their lives, and they know no more how to treat a carpet than pigs do.  Do
they know how to treat fine furniture?  No, they do not; but they will
waste, waste--their clothing, their carpets and their furniture.  I hear
them say sometimes, "Why, I have had this three years, or five years."  If
my grandmother could have got an article such as you wear, she would have
kept it for her daughters from generation to generation, and it would have
been good.  But now, our young women waste, waste.

	This is finding fault, and I wish I could hurt your feelings enough
to make you think of it when you get home.  If I could make you a little
mad, when you get home if you see a pretty good piece of carpet thrown out
of doors you will go, perhaps, and shake it and lay it up, thinking that
it may be serviceable to somebody or other; and if you cannot do anything
else with it, give it to somebody who has not a bed to lie upon, to put
under them to help to make a bed.

	If we could see such a society organized as I have mentioned, you
would see none of this waste.  You would see a people all attending to
their business, having the most improved machinery for making cloth, and
doing every kind of housework, farming, all mechanical operations, in our
factories, dairies, orchards and vineyards; and possessing every comfort
and convenience of life.  A society like this would never have to buy
anything; they would make and raise all they would eat, drink and wear,
and always have something to sell and bring money, to help to increase
their comfort and independence.

	"Well, but," one would say, "I shall never have the privilege of
riding again in a carriage in my life."  Oh what a pity!  Did you ever
ride in one when you had your own way?  No, you never thought of such a
thing.  Thousands and thousands of Latter-day Saints never expect to own a
carriage or to ride in one.  Would we ride in carriages?  Yes, we would;
we would have them suitable for the community, and give them their proper
exercise; and if I were with you, I would be willing to give others just
as much as I have myself.  And if we have sick, would they want a carriage
to ride in?  Yes, and they would have it too, we would have nice ones to
carry out the sick, aged and infirm, and give them exercise, and give them
a good place to sleep in, good food to eat, good company to be with them
and take care of them.

	Would not this be hard?  Yes, I should hope so.  If I had the
privilege and the power, I would not introduce a system for my brethren
and myself to live under unless it would try our faith.  I do not want to
live without having my faith and patience tried.  They are pretty well
tried.  I do not know how many there are who would endure what I endure
with regard to faith and patience, and then be persevering in the midst of
it all.  But I would not form a society, nor ask and individual to go to
heaven by breaking all the bones in his body, and putting him in a silver
basket, and then, hitching him to a kite, send him up there.  I would not
do it if I had the power, for if his bones were not broken he would jump
out of the basket, that is the idea.  I see a great many who profess to be
Latter-day Saints, who would not be contented in heaven unless their
feelings undergo a great change, and if they were there and you wanted to
keep them there, you would have to break their backs, or they would get
out.  But we want to see nothing of this in this little society. If I had
charge of such a society as this to which I refer, I would not allow novel
reading; yet it is in my house, in the houses of my counselors, in the
houses of these Apostles, these Seventies and High Priests, in the houses
of the High Council in this city, and in other cities, and in the houses
of the Bishops, and we permit it; yet it is ten thousand times worse than
it is for men to come here and teach our children the a b c, good morals,
and how to behave themselves, ten thousand times worse!  You let your
children read novels until they run away, until they get so that they do
not care--they are reckless, and their mothers are reckless, and some of
their fathers are reckless, and if you do not break their backs and tie
them up they will go to hell.  That is rough, is it not?  Well, it is a
comparison.  You have got to check them some way or other, or they will go
to destruction.  They are perfectly crazy.  Their actions say, "I want
Babylon stuck on to me; I want to revel in Babylon; I want everything I
can think of or desire."  If I had the power to do so, I would not take
such people to heaven.  God will not take them there, that I am sure of. 
He will try the faith and patience of this people.  I would not like to
get into a society where there were no trials;  but I would like to see a
society organized to show the Latter-day Saints how to build up the
kingdom of God.

	Do you think we shall want any lawyers in our society?  No, I think
not.  Do you not think they will howl around?  Yes, you will hear their
howls going up morning and evening, bewailing one another.  They will
howl, "We can get no lawsuits here; we cannot find anybody that will
quarrel with his neighbor.  What shall we do?"  I feel about them as Peter
of Russia is said to have felt when he was in England.  He saw and heard
the lawyers pleading at a great trial there, and he was asked his opinion
concerning them.  He replied that he had two lawyers in his empire, and
when he got home he intended to hang one of them.  That is about the love
I have for some lawyers who are always stirring up strife.  Not but that
lawyers are good in their place; but where is their place?  I cannot find
it.  It makes me think of what Bissel said to Paine in Kirtland.  In a
lawsuit that had been got up, Bissell was pleading for Joseph, and Paine
was pleading for an apostate.  Paine had blackguarded Bissell a good deal. 
In his plea Bissell stopped all at once, and, turning to Mr. Paine, said
he:  "Mr. Paine, do you believe in a devil?"  "Yes," said Mr. Paine, who
was a keen, smart lawyer.  Said Bissell, "Where do you think he is?"  "I
do not know."  "Do you not think he is in hell?"  said Bissel.  "I suppose
he is."  "Well," said Bissell, "do you not think he is in pain [Paine]?" 
They almost act to me as if they were in pain.  They must excuse me if
there are any of them here to-day.  I cannot see the least use on the face
of the earth for these wicked lawyers who stir up strife.  If they would
turn merchants, cattle breeders, farmers or mechanics, or would build
factories, they would be useful; but to stir up strife and quarrels, to
alienate the feelings of neighbors, and to destroy the peace of
communities, seems to be their only business.  For a man to understand the
law is very excellent, but who is there that understands it?  They that do
and are peacemakers, they are legitimate lawyers.  There are many lawyers
who are very excellent men.  What is the advice of an honorable gentlemen
in the profession of the law?  "Do not go to law with your neighbor; do
not be coaxed into  a lawsuit, for you will not be benefited by it.  If
you do go to law, you will hate your neighbor, and you will finally have
to pick some of your neighbors who hoe potatoes and corn, who work in the
cabinet shop, at the carpenter's bench, or at the blacksmith's forge, to
settle it for you.  You will have to pick ten, twelve, eighteen or
twenty-four of them, as the case may be, to act as a jury, and your case
goes before them to decide.  They are not lawyers, but they understand
truth and justice, and they have got to judge the case at last."  Why not
do this at first, and say we will arbitrate this case, and we will have no
lawsuit, and no difficulty with our neighbor, to alienate our feelings one
from another?  This is the way we should do as a community.

	Would you want doctors?  Yes, to set bones.  We should want a good
surgeon for that, or to cut off a limb.  But do you want doctors?  For not
much of anything else, let me tell you, only the traditions of the people
lead them to think so; and here is a growing evil in our midst.  It will
be so in a little time that not a woman in all Israel will dare to have a
baby unless she can have a doctor by her.  I will tell you what to do, you
ladies, when you find your are going to have an increase, go off into some
country where you cannot call for a doctor, and see if you can keep it.  I
guess you will have it, and I guess it will be all right, too. Now the cry
is, "Send for a doctor."  If you have a pain in the head, "Send for a
doctor;" if your heel aches, "I want a doctor;" "my back aches, and I want
a doctor."  The study and practice of anatomy and surgery are very good;
they are mechanical, and are frequently needed.  Do you not think it is
necessary to give medicine sometimes?  Yes, but I would rather have a wife
of mine that knows what medicine to give me when I am sick, than all the
professional doctors in the world.  Now let me tell you about doctoring,
because I am acquainted with it, and know just exactly what constitutes a
good doctor in physic.  It is that man or woman who, by revelation, or we
may call it intuitive inspiration, is capable of administering medicine to
assist the human system when it is besieged by the enemy called Disease;
but if they have not that manifestation, they had better let the sick
person alone.  I will tell you why:  I can see the faces of this
congregation, but I do not see two alike; and if I could look into your
nervous systems and behold the operations of disease, from the crowns of
your heads to the soles of your feet, I should behold the same difference
that I see in your physiognomy--there would be no two precisely alike. 
Doctors make experiments, and if they find a medicine that will have the
desired effect on one person, they set it down that it is good for
everybody, but it is not so, for upon the second person that medicine is
administered to, seemingly with the same disease, it might produce death. 
If you do not know this, you have not had the experience that I have.  I
say that unless a man or woman who administers medicine to assist the
human system to overcome disease, understands, and has that intuitive
knowledge, by the Spirit, that such an article is good for that individual
at that very time, they had better let him alone.  Let the sick do without
eating, take a little of something to cleanse the stomach, bowels and
blood, and wait patiently, and let Nature have time to gain the advantage
over the disease.  Suppose, for illustration, we draw a line through this
congregation, and place those on this side where they cannot get a doctor,
without it is a surgeon, for thirty or fifty years to come; and put the
other side in a country full of doctors, and they think they ought to have
them, and this side of the house that has no doctor will be able to buy
the inheritance of those who have doctors, and overrun them, outreach
them, and buy them up, and finally obliterate them, and they will be lost
in the masses of those who have no doctors.  I know what some say when
they look at such things, but that is the fact.  Ladies and gentlemen, you
may take any country in the world, I do not care where you go, and if they
do not employ doctors, you will find they will beat communities that
employ them, all the time.  Who is the real doctor?  That man who knows by
the Spirit of revelation what ails an individual, and by the same Spirit
knows what medicine to administer.  That is the real doctor, the others
are quacks.

	But to the text.  We want to see a community organized in which every
person will be industrious, faithful and prudent.  What will you do with
the children?  We will bring them up until they are of legal age, then
say, "Go where you please.  We have given you a splendid education, the
advantage of all the learning of the day, and if you do not wish to stay
with the Saints, go where you please."  What will you do with those who
apostatize after having entered into covenant and agreement with others
that their property shall be one, and be in the hands of trustees, and
shall never be taken out?  If any of these parties apostatize, and say we
wish to withdraw from this community, what will you do with them?  We will
say to them, "Go, and welcome," and if we are disposed to give them
anything, it is all right.  

	Where are we going to find the greatest difficulty and obstruction
with regard to this organization?  In the purse of the rich?  No, not by
any means.  I have got some brethren who are just as close, tight and
penurious as I am myself, but I would rather take any moneyed man in this
community, and undertake to manage him, than some men who are not worth a
dollar in the world.  Some of this class are too independent.  They would
say, "I'll go a fishing," or "I guess I'll go a riding, where I please." 
Well, if I were to give out word, and say to the community, Send in your
names, I want to see who are willing to go into an organization of this
kind, who do you suppose would write to me first?  The biggest thieves in
the community.  Do not be shocked at that, any of you, whether you are
strangers or not, for we have some of the meanest men that ever disgraced
God's footstool right in the midst of the Latter-day Saints.  Do not be
startled at that, because it is true.  I have told the people many a time,
if they want anything done, no matter how mean, they can find men here who
can do it, if they are to be found on the earth.  I can not help this. 
You recollect that Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a net which
gathered all kinds.  If our net has not gathered all kinds, I wonder where
the kinds are that we have not got.  I say that some of the worst men in
the community would be the first ones to proffer their names to go into
such an association.  I do not want them there.  Is this the fact?  Yes it
is.  I understand it exactly.  But if such a community could be organized,
to show the Latter-day Saints how to build up the kingdom of heaven on the
earth, I would be glad to see it--would not you? If this could be done I
want to say to the Latter-day Saints, that I have a splendid place, large
enough for about five hundred or a thousand persons to settle upon, and I
would like to be the one to make a donation of it, with a good deal more,
to start the business, to see if we can actually accomplish the affair,
and show the Latter-day Saints how to build up Zion.  Not to make a mock
of it.  Not go and preach the Gospel without purse and scrip, and gather
up the poor and needy, and have them bring Babylon with them.  Leave
Babylon out of the question.  Make our own clothing, but do not put
seventeen or twenty-one yards in a single dress, neither be attired so as
to look like a camel.  It is not comely, it does not belong to sensible
people, nor to any people who wish to carry themselves justly and
correctly, before the heavens and intelligent men.

		If the ladies want silks, we have the mulberry here of all
kinds; we have the silkworm eggs here, and we have made the silk.  Go to
work now and raise worms, and wind the silk, and weave it and make all the
satin ribbons you wish for.  We have men and women here, who did nothing
all their lives before they came here but weave satin ribbons and satin
cloth.  This is their business, they know how to get it up.  If you will
raise the silk, dress yourselves just as beautifully as you please.

	By and by when this people learn the value of the mulberry and the
silkworm, you will see the women with their few trees in their yards and
around their lots, and for shade trees in the streets; and the children
will be picking the leaves and feeding the worms, and they will get up
silk dresses here like those in the east Indies.  The silk dresses they
make there you can put them on and wear them until you are tired of them,
and almost from generation to generation.  We can make them here just as
good.  And we can have coats and vests and pants made of our home-grown
material, which a man would wear for his best suit, and hand down to his
posterity.  When we have learned the worth of silk we will make it and use
it instead of linen.  We have a splendid country for raising silk, but not
a good country to raise flax in; splendid for raising wool, grain, fruit,
vegetables, cattle, milk, butter and cheese, and here we are importing our
cheese.  We ought to be making cheese by the hundreds of tons.  We ought
to export it in quantities; but instead of that we are sending to the
States for it.

	Where are your cows?  Have you taken care of them?  If you see a
community organized as they should be, they will take care of their
calves; they will have something to feed them on in the winter, and they
will take care of their stock and not let it perish.  What a sin it is to
the Latter-day Saints, if they did but know it, to abuse their
stock--their cattle, milch cows and horses!  Through the summer they will
work and use them, and in the winter turn them out to live or die as they
can, taking no care of that which God has given them.  Were it not for the
ignorance of the people, the Lord would curse them for such things.

	We ought to learn some of these facts, and try to shape our lives so
as to be useful.  Let the  men make their lives useful.  Let the women
make their lives useful.  Mothers, teach your daughters how to keep house,
and not how to spend everything they can get hold of.  I will just say a
few words on this subject.  We have hundreds of young men here who dare
not take girls for wives.  Why?  Because the very first thing, they want a
horse and buggy, anda piano; they want somebody to come every day to give
them lessons on the piano; they want two hired girls and a mansion, so
that they can entertain company, and the boys are afraid to marry them. 
Now mothers, teach your girls better things than these.  What are the
facts in the case?  If you had been brought up to know what property--fine
furniture, carpets, and so on, was worth, you would take care of it, and
be prudent in the use of it, and teach your girls to take care, instead of
wasting it.  Do you believe it?  This does not hit all, but too many.  I
wish you would hearken to these things.  I am taking up the time, and not
giving to others the opportunity to address you.  We have not said what we
want to say to the Latter-day Saints.  We ought to have a house four times
as large as this, and we ought to fill it; and we ought to sit together
not only four days, but a week and perhaps two weeks, and leave home at
home, leave Babylon in Babylon--leave everything and come here to worship
the living God, and learn of his ways, that we may walk in his paths. 
This is our duty, and what we should do.  But there are so many who can
hardly spend time to go to Conference.  They have so much bnsiness [sic]
on hand, so many cattle to take care of; they have money to let out, or
money borrow; they have men to see to, or something or other, and it seems
as if the affections of the people are hankering after the things of this
world too much, too much!  Stop, Latter-day Saints, and reckon with
yourselves, and find whether you are actually in the path of obedience to
the requirements of heaven or not.  Some suppose that they are serving God
and are on the road to eternal life, but many will find they are mistaken
if they are not careful.  We had better reckon with ourselves and look
over our accounts, and see how we stand before the lord.  See if we are
doing good, if we are bestowing our substance on the poor, that they may
have food to eat and habitations to dwell in, and be made comfortable: see 
if we are sending our means for the poor in foreign lands, and aiding to
send the Elders to preach to the nations and gather up the people and make
them happy and comfortable.  Instead of doing this I fear that many are
wandering away from the commandments of the Lord.  "O fools, and slow of
heart to believe!"  We can get rich a great deal quicker by serving God
than by serving ourselves, do a great deal better, and do a great deal
more good.  The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.  He is
anxious, and is waiting with extended arms and hands, comparatively, to
pour the wealth of the world into the laps of the Latter-day Saints, if
they will not give it away to their enemies.  But now, just as soon as
anything is given to the Latter-day Saints they are looking from east to
west, and from north to south, to see where they can strew that that God
gives them among their enemies--those who spurn the things of God, and
would destroy his kingdom from the earth.  I say, let the Lord keep us
poor rather than forsake our religion and turn away from it!  Why can not
a man serve God with his pockets full of greenbacks, and not lust after
them one particle?  If he can not do it, he is lacking in wisdom, faith,
and knowledge, and does not understand God an his ways.  The heavens and
the earth are full of blessings for the people.  To whom do they belong? 
To our Father in heaven, and he wishes to bestow them upon his children
when they can receive and dispose of them to his name's glory.

	We shall have to stop here.  We are going to adjourn our Conference,
though we have not said half what we wish to say to you and to ourselves,
for we want to be co-workers together.  Now let me say to the First
Presidency, to the Apostles, to all the Bishops in Israel, and to every
quorum, and especially to those who are presiding officers, Set that
example before your wives and your children, before your neighbors and
this people, that you can say:  "Follow me, as I follow Christ."  When we
do this, all is right, and our consciences are clear.

	God bless you.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG.
            Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, 
                     Sunday afternoon, April 6, 1873.
                       Reported by David W. Evans.
          FRIENDS AND ENEMIES--OBJECT OF GATHERING--BABYLON TO 
             BE FORSAKEN--PRAYER--PERSONALITY OF THE GODHEAD.

	 In my remarks to you I want your eyes, ears, attention and faith.
This is the Forty-third Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, and we have assembled together for the purpose of being
benefited. We like to see and hear each other, we like to give and receive
counsel, and we like, above all things, to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord.
In singing, praying, speaking and hearing, and in all duties devolving
upon us upon such occasions as this, the Spirit of the Lord is the best of
all.

	I have a great many reflections with regard to the Latter-day Saints
and the work in which they are engaged. I have many reflections in regard
to the world of mankind. We all enjoy the power of sight, but how
differently we look at and comprehend things! And we are very much like
the people who have lived before us. We are a strange and curious
composition--no two alike. Of all the faces before me this afternoon there
are no two alike. We might possibly find those whose judgment would be
pretty much alike on various subjects, still there are no two whose
judgments are precisely the same. Human life is a great stage, and it
contains a very great variety of scenes and scenery, of thought and
action. Some are not very beautiful, others are, and they are painted with
fine colors. We see all this before us, and each and every person has the
privilege of judging for himself, and upon each different impressions are
produced.

	I see a large congregation before me this afternoon of people called
Latter-day Saints. If the world of mankind were to give their opinion
concerning us they would use terms I heard frequently this
morning--"enemy," "enemies," "our enemies." These expressions would be
frequently heard from the inhabitants of the earth about the Latter-day
Saints, for the impression has existed and has been growing stronger for
years past, that this strange people--the Latter-day Saints--are the
enemies of mankind. I do not wish to convey the idea that all the
inhabitants of the earth consider this people their enemies, but there are
those who wish to have this impression or belief prevail. I hear many of
the Elders of Israel refer to the outside world as enemies. I do it myself
at certain times and on certain occasions, for certain deeds wrought by
those who wish to destroy the truth from the earth, for every person who
would uproot the truth of God is mine enemy, he would destroy me if he had
the power. What shall we say of those who desire peace and whose hearts
are filled with good will towards their fellowmen? We say peace to such
persons, and give them ours and God's blessing.

	Who is the enemy of mankind? He who wishes to change truth for error
and light for darkness; he who wishes to take peace from a family, city,
state or nation and give the sword in return. He is my enemy, he is your
enemy and the enemy of mankind. Who is the friend of mankind? He who makes
peace between those who are at enmity, who brings together those who,
perhaps, through some misunderstanding, have been at variance with and
lost friendship and fellowship for each other, and shows them that their
ill-will is without foundation and existed simply because they did not
understand each other. To illustrate we will suppose that two men come in
the same car to this city. One of them is full of deception and carries
false colors. If he speaks a word that would become a gentleman, it is not
because he feels it, for in his heart he is cursing and damning, and his
purpose is to sow discord and enmity among the people in a neighborhood.
He delights to set the members of one family jarring with each other. He
will teach the youth to believe that such or such persons are their
enemies and it is no harm to burn their houses down, to take their horses,
cut their carriages to pieces, to open the gate of their garden or field
and let somebody's cattle in. Such a person is an enemy of mankind. But
the other one is a friend. If he sees his neighbor's gate open, he shots
it; if cattle are in a neighbor's field, he tells him of the mischief that
is being done. If he sees a fence down, and there is none of the family to
come and put it up, he gets out of his carriage, or off his horse, or if
he is afoot, he steps to the fence, turns the cattle out, puts up the
fence or shuts the gate and prevents further mischief on his neighbor's
premises. Who is your enemy and mine? He that teaches language that is
unbecoming, that presents falsehood for truth, that furnishes false
premises to build upon instead of true, or that is full of anger and
mischief to his fellow beings. I call no other enemies, except such
characters as I have names. There is no question that many have done much
mischief while in ignorance of what they were doing. I have no doubt that
the soldiers who were commanded to nail the Savior to the cross did not
realize what they were doing. They treated him as they did the thieves,
whom they knew to be worthy of death; but through prejudice,
over-persuasion and much talk by the priest, Scribes, Pharisees and
people, they perhaps supposed they were doing God's service when they
crucified Jesus. But is was an enemy that did it, it was a bad act, a very
heinous crime, it--but I pause. The question may be asked, What would have
been the consequence suppose the Savior had not been crucified? I can only
answer by saying that he was. The Scriptures say that offences must needs
come, but woe to him by whom they come. But we will resume our subject.
Who is the man that is an enemy to his nation? The one that breeds
mischief, prompts strife, and brings sorrow among the people.

	Now to the Latter-day Saints--What are you here for? Can you answer
this question? Many of you can. One brother says, "Why, I came here to
join the Saints." "Where did you come from?" "I lived in Scotland. I
worked in the mines, or in the factory, or in iron works." "What did you
come here for?" "When I heard the Gospel preached I believed it, and I
received a desire to leave my neighbors. I believed the Bible and the Book
of Mormon; I believed that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. My neighbors said,
`Oh folly, oh fool. There goes a Mormon,' and they pointed the finger of
scorn at me." This is the spirit of the world, but if there had been no
persecution whatever in the feelings of his neighbors he would have had a
desire to leave his home and old associates to join the Saints, for the
Spirit he received prompted him to do this. Ask a sister, "What are you
here for?" "Why, I came here so that I could live my religion a little
better than I could in Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, France,
Scandinavia," or wherever it might be that she came from. Ask another man,
"What did you gather to these mountains for?" "Well, I think I came here
because of my religion. I used to think I wanted to gather up with the
Saints. I like their society, and when I came up here I really delighted
to be with them." "What are you doing now, brother?" "Well, I am trying to
do about the best I possibly can. Here are a few dollars I want to pay on
Tithing." "Have you paid your Tithing this year?" "No." "Did you pay it
last year?" "No." "Have you not paid Tithing lately?" "No." "What is the
reason?" "Why, I am after gold and silver, and the riches in these
mountains, in this trade, I am after the world, I am after Babylon." This
is the conduct. I do not ask for words, I do not ask anybody to get up and
declare that their affections are turned away from the holy Gospel of life
and salvation, and turned to the world. Let me see their daily walk and
know their life, and I know what their thoughts and feelings are. And the
sister that comes here for the Gospel's sake, her mind is so frivolous and
easily wrought upon that she is led by every wind and breeze of fashion
that blows through the streets here. "Oh, don't you see that lady's
dress?" "Here, look here, did you see that lady walking down the street?"
"Yes." "What a beautiful dress she has got on! Oh dear, how I want such a
dress!" Go down the street and you can see it; go up the street and you
can see it; go into the workshops, and even into the kanyons, and you can
see it. What of it? Latter-day Saints, what of it? "Oh, I do love Babylon
so well." "I do want a new dress." "I do want to go into the mines and
dig." "I have a claim, and I am just going into the mountains to dig,"
says a brother. Another one says, "I have served the Lord about long
enough, and I a going to serve myself now." This is the way with one here
and another there, and if they have not got Babylon they want to get it.
And here comes along a man who professes to be a Latter-day Saint, and the
first you know he is using the name of the Deity in vain, and it is
"curse" this, and "curse" that, with the name of our Father in heaven
attached to it. Is that according to the faith that we have embraced?
Mingle with the Latter-day Saints, and see them playing on the stage of
life, and watch how some of them will change their colors and their coats,
and some come out in one fashion and some in another, according to the
circumstances in which they are placed.

	Here we are assembled in the capacity of a general Conference.
Babylon is in the hearts of the people, that is to say, there is too much
of it. What did you come here for? "Why," says one, "I understood they
were getting rich in Utah, and I though I would gather up with the
Latter-day Saints and get rich also." Without making many remarks on this
subject, I want to say to every one of those who come up here, their minds
filled with Babylon, and longing for the fashions and wealth of the world,
you may heap up gold and silver, but it will leave you, or you will leave
it, you cannot take it with you, and you will go down to hell.

	Perhaps I may be considered their enemy by some of those called
Latter-day Saints, and by outsiders, for telling them these things. That
is no matter, it is for their life and salvation that I tell them. If I
should see men and women going blindfolded to an awful precipice, and not
hail them and warn them of their danger, I should be guilty, and perhaps
their blood would be found on my skirts. I will say, at once, not
prolonging my remarks or multiplying words, that if my brethren and
sisters do not walk up to the principles of the holy Gospel of life and
salvation, they will be removed out of their places, and others will be
called to occupy them. Elders of Israel, High Priests, Seventies, High
Councilors, Presidents, brethren and sisters, no matter who, if you have
an idea that you are going to take Babylon--I use this term, because it is
well understood that Babylon means confusion, discord, strife, folly and
all the vanities the world possesses--if you have the idea that you are
going to take Babylon in one hand, and with the other cling to the Savior
and drag yourselves into his presence, you will find yourselves mistaken,
for he will drop you, and you will sink. You may just as well believe this
to-day, and shape your lives accordingly, as to betray yourselves.

	There are a great many who say, "Why, yes, I say my prayers I do not
use the name of the Lord in vain, I do not injure my neighbor." That is
true. How many of the Latter-day Saints live like this? I am pretty well
acquainted with them. I see and understand their feelings by their works,
and I can say that a large majority of the Latter-day Saints are a good,
obedient, faithful, God-fearing, God-loving people, and yet we fellowship
those who are full of iniquity and evil, individuals who are full of the
spirit of anti-Christ. I talk and tell the truth to the good and to the
evil, and I wish to comprehend the whole; and I tell you to-day that if
our minds are not made up to serve God, if we are not for Christ, and for
his kingdom upon the earth; if we are not willing to devote our time,
talents, means, influence and everything that he has given into our
possession, we are not in the way we should walk. I know that it may be
said, and with great propriety, "Why, my brother, we can not be sanctified
in one day, we cannot overcome every evil and every passion in one day."
That is true, but this holy desire can dwell in the heart of every
individual from the time that he or she is convinced that God reigns, that
he is establishing his kingdom on the earth, that Jesus is our Savior,
that the holy Gospel has presented to us the way of life and salvation,
and we believe it and can receive it with our whole hearts--I say we can
have that holy and pure desire from that moment to the end of our lives,
and in possessing this we have faith and favor before the Lord, and his
grace is with us by the power of his Holy Spirit, and by this we can
overcome temptations as we meet them. This is my experience, that is
pretty good proof, is it not? And I have more evidence than this--this is
the experience and testimony of every Latter-day Saint who has lived his
or her religion since obeying the Gospel. Their testimony will corroborate
mine, and strengthen the faith of all.

	I have not preached much to you this winter, and I pause and think. I
was in the stone quarry the other day, and saw the men breaking a large
granite rock. They first drilled the holes so as to break the rock in a
direct line. I saw one man take up his hammer and give a blow. It was too
hard. Said I, "My father taught me in my youth that light knocks would
split great blocks. Tap light next time." The quarryman did this and
pretty soon the rock divided almost as evenly as though it had been
jointed. I wish to make an application of this to this people assembled
here. If I and my brethren had strength, we would meet together here about
one week, to begin with, then go to our work for a few weeks, and then we
would come together again. By continuing this course, I expect that in
about three months we could get the feelings of this people warmed up like
wax before the flame, so that we could get at their judgment and
affections and we could actually mould them over, and make them realize
the work that they are engaged in. But to do it in one day would be like
driving the wedges so fast that you would split the rock where you would
not want it split. Still, many who want to receive the word can, and I say
to all, you and I must be Latter-day Saints or we are not walking in the
path that God has marked out for us. "What do you mean by the path that
God has marked out for us. "What do you mean by that, brother Brigham? I
want to know what you mean by that, I can not understand it." This is the
difficulty, but thank kind heaven, I have found out in my experience, that
learning a, b, c, d, does not hinder me learning e, f, g. I thank my
Creator that the principle is implanted within us, that we can learn, if
it takes a long time, and by a close application of the ability that God
has given us, we can improve and in time become Saints in very deed. Were
it not for this I should have been discouraged long ago. But I know that
we can learn to be Saints if we are disposed to. Practice your religion
to-day, and say your prayers faithfully.

	Says a brother, "I pray in my family sometimes, and sometimes I do
not feel like it, and I do not pray in my family. Sometimes I am in a
hurry, my work is driving me, my cattle are in mischief, and I do not feel
like praying."

	If I do not feel like praying, and asking my Father in heaven to give
me a morning blessing, and to preserve me and my family and the good upon
the earth through the day, I should say, "Brigham, get down here, on your
knees, bow your body down before the throne of Him who rules in the
heavens, and stay there until you can feel to supplicate at that throne of
grace erected for sinners."

	"Well, but I am in a hurry, and my cattle, perhaps, are in mischief
and my work is driving me." I should say, if the cattle are in the corn,
"Eat away;" if they are in the wheat, "Eat away, eat the wheat, we have
more than we can use any how;" and if the children are in mischief and
this wants seeing to, and that wants seeing to, I say, "Kneel down before
the Lord and there stay until this body learns obedience, until my tongue
learns to praise his name, and to ask for the blessing I need."

	"Well, but are you not afraid you will come to want?" Bless me, if I
had all the gold and silver on the earth and no prayers, I should be in
greater want than I should be with the prayers and without the gold and
silver. I will make an application of this with regard to the feelings of
the people. It is true that you and I can not learn every thing at once,
but we can learn one thing at once and the one thing above all others that
we should make it our business to learn it to yield strict obedience to
the requirements of heaven, and we can learn that to-day just as well as
any other time, and just as well as to spend a lifetime in doing it.

	Now, Latter-day Saints, do you know what you are here for? You know
there is a field opens before us in talking about what we are here for,
why the Lord suffers what we now behold, and why he permits this and
permits that. It is all perfectly reasonable and rational, all according
to his providences and his dealings with the children of men. I can say to
all that you have got to learn this one fact--the Lord will have a tried
people, and if my wife or my daughter can not see and pass by, as things
of naught, the follies of fashion, she has not learned here duty, she has
not learned the spirit of her religion, and is not in the full enjoyment
of the Spirit of God. Fashions are nothing to me, one way or the other.
How long is it since ladies wore bonnets into which you would have to look
with a spyglass if you wished to see their faces, and then from their
faces to the crown of the head. From this fashion they got to one in which
one flower or leaf and five yard of ribbon made a complete head dress.
What of these fashions? They are nothing here nor there, and by trying we
can learn to pass by every needless fashion, and to stop the use of every
needless word, and to carry ourselves correctly before the Lord.

	Now let us consider, are we for the kingdom of heaven? "Oh yes," "Oh
yes," everybody says, "certainly we are." Are we for happiness? Yes,
certainly, the whole world is with us there. There is no person but what
would say, Give me power, give me influence, give me wealth, give me gold
and silver, houses and lands, goods and chattels, tenements, horses,
carriages, friends, families, associations, &c. The whole world will join
in saying, Give us heaven and happiness; but talk to them about
"Mormonism," and they will say, "your doctrine is a speculation." The cry
with regard to brother Joseph was, "He is a money digger, he is a
speculator." Well, how long was it before the whole world was on his track
digging money? It is no disgrace just as soon as the world commenced
digging money, but when there were only a few accused of it, it was a
disgrace. How things are changed! How differently we look upon our bonnets
now! If a lady were to enter this building wearing an old-fashioned
head-dress everybody would be looking at her. If a lady were to come into
this assembly with sixteen yards of cloth--I am talking extravagantly now
to illustrate--in her two sleeves, and only four in the waist and skirt of
her dress, how ridiculous it would appear, would it not? And yet something
very much like that was once the fashion.

	I look at this and make the application. The world would say, "Yes,
if you are going to have happiness, we want some; if you are going to have
gold and silver, look here, we shall come in for a share." Very good, all
right. I used to tell the people--bless your heart, you accuse me of being
in a speculation, and so I am. You cry out that the "Mormon" leaders are
for speculation, for money making. We go in for wealth. I used to tell the
people, and I tell them the same now, I do not go in for a few millions, I
go in for the pile, and I calculate to have it. "How are you going to get
it?" By serving God will all my heart and being a Saint indeed, and when
the earth and its fullness are given into the hands of the Saints, I shall
go in for my share--the whole pile. I used to say, "Why, brother Joseph is
the greatest speculator I have heard of in modern times--he is going to
have the whole earth. Jesus is coming to earth to reign King of nations,
and he is going to share the gold and silver with his brethren. That is
not all--all things are yours for time and eternity--the heights and
depths, the lengths and breadths, crowns of glory and immortality and
eternal lives are yours." Well, I go in for the pile.

	I want to ask, Am I an enemy of mankind? Is a Latter-day Saint am
enemy of mankind? No. I say to the intelligent world, if they did but know
it, we in connection with God, Jesus the Mediator, angels, the good that
are on the earth and the good that have been, are the only friends of
mankind upon the face of the earth. That is a great word to say, and some
may think it is extravagant. They say, "See what our benevolent societies,
our ministers, our kings and our rich people are doing for the poor, and
then say that the Latter-day Saints are the only friends of mankind." I
want to say to all the world that no good or benevolent act, no act that
sustains innocence, virtue and truth and does good to the human family
will go unrewarded of the Creator. So not be discouraged. Have they done
any good? Yes, a great deal of it. The christian world have sent forth
their missionaries and they have done a great deal of good, but they could
do a great deal more of they had a mind to. They hedge up the way and try
to destroy the little good they have done by instilling into the hearts of
the people the necessity of dwelling in darkness and remaining in
ignorance, and preventing them from receiving the Gospel. This is their
practice, and in this they are doing injury, but they have done a great
deal of good.

	What are we hated for? What do men lie about us for, and send forth
their lies to the world right from this place? Are they who do this the
friends of mankind? No, they are their enemies. They plant falsehood in
the hearts of thousands of people. One liar is like a bad king. A corrupt
and wicked king can corrupt a whole nation. On liar can deceive thousands.
They are not the friends of mankind. Why are we hate? Is our religion
obnoxious? Why?

	"Because of this one man power, because of the great influence there
is in the midst of the people to unite them together."

	Do you not read in your Bibles that except ye are one ye are not the
Lord's? Do you not read in the Bible, that you have had all your lives,
that you must love God with all your hearts, that you must be united, that
you must receive the Gospel of Christ? Do you not read that there is but
one faith, one Lord one baptism, one God and Father of all, &c.? Certainly
you do. Well, we believe these things, but does that prove that we are the
enemies of mankind? No, it proves that we are their friends. Why do we
differ from them, and why do they differ from us? I can tell it in a few
words--it is simply because we are disposed to believe the truth, and they
are disposed to reject it. They are disposed to live and drink water, if
they can get it, from cisterns that will hold no water. Is there anybody,
do you think who has transgressed the laws of God? Has anybody ever
changed the ordinances of the house of God? Was there ever any such thing
done as to destroy the principles pertaining to the ordinances of the
house of God? Why, yes, in ancient days.

	Well, we know the reason why, we know why they did it--they hewed to
themselves cisterns that would hold no water? Do we, as Christians, teach
the Gospel according to Saint Mark, St. John, St. Luke, Matthew, Paul,
Peter and James and the rest of the apostles and the disciples of the
Lord? Do we teach the same doctrine as the Christian world? No, we do not.
Do we teach the same doctrine as the Christian world? No, we do not. Do we
teach the same doctrine as Jesus and his Apostles? Yes, we preach the same
Gospel. How many modes of baptism have the so-called Christian world? I do
not know how many. One is by immersion, or being buried in the water.
Another it to get down on your knees and have water poured on the head;
another is to stand up and have water poured on the head; another is to
have somebody dip his fingers in water and touch the forehead with it;
another is to plunge face foremost, and how many more modes of baptism
there are I do not know. How many there are who say that all these are
outward ordinances and that they are non-essential? Did God ever say this?
No. Jesus? No. Any of the Apostles ever say anything of the kind? No, they
did not. Has any man in modern times received a revelation from heaven,
doing away with the ordinances of the house of God? No, only false
revelations; and we ask the simple question, If our doctrine is not true,
and if there is no necessity for the ordinances of the house of God, will
you not be pleased to tell us the name of the man who received, and the
place where he received a revelation from God doing away with his own
ordinances, and declaring that all miracles were to cease? &c. It is true
that we differ from the Christian world in our faith in regard to these
things. Does this prove that we are their enemies? No, it proves that we
are their friends. We believe in doctrines that they do not believe in,
and we disbelieve in some fanciful ideas that they profess to hold as
doctrine. For instance they hold that God is an imaginary being. They
cannot tell where nor how he lives, nor anything concerning his character,
whether he is material or immaterial; but, like many of the most eminent
divines, who have spread it through their pages for the people to read,
they have come to the conclusion that the centre of God is everywhere and
his circumference nowhere-one of the most vain ideas that could be
conceived by any intelligent being. Then what is their idea of the soul of
man? That it is an immaterial substance. Who ever heard of such a thing?
Ask any true philosopher if he can explain the meaning of an "immaterial
substance." It is like the centre of a being everywhere and his
circumference nowhere, or like being seated on the top of a topless
throne. These are self-confounding expressions, and there is no meaning to
any of them. We differ from them in our ideas of God. We know that he is a
Being--a man--with all the component parts of an intelligent being--head,
hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, cheek bones, forehead, chin, body, lower
limbs; that he eats, drinks, talks, lives and has a being, and has a
residence, and his presence fills immensity as far as you and I know. We
differ with them, for we know that the Lord has sent forth his laws,
commandments and ordinances to the children of men, and requires them to
be strictly obeyed, and we do not wish to transgress those laws, but to
keep them. We do not wish to change his ordinances, but to observe them;
we do not with to break the everlasting covenant, but to keep that with
our fathers, with Jesus, with our Father in heaven, with holy angels, and
to live according to them. We differ with them in the tenets of religion,
we cannot help it. We would not believe "Mormonism," as it is called, if
it were not for one thing. I never would have believed it if it had not
been for one simple thing. What do you think that is? It is true. I
believed it because of that. What a strange idea! If it had not been true
I would not have believed it, but being true I happened to believe it.

	Now there is quite a difference between me and the man who stands up
to teach the people what he says is the way of life and salvation, and who
has transgressed every law that God ever gave, who has changed every one
of the ordinances of his house, and broken every covenant that he has made
with the children of men. What do you know, Mr. Divine, about glory,
exaltation, happiness and eternal lives? I will answer for him, and say,
nothing at all. What do you know about God? Nothing at all. What do you
know about his dwelling-place? Nothing at all. What about his person?
Nothing at all. Pardon me for making these expressions, but look on this
stage which I brought before the congregation--the human family acting and
bringing out what they have behind the scenes. What a spectacle it
presents!

	Are we the enemies of mankind? No, we are their only friends, and we
calculate to hang on until we save the last son and daughter of Adam and
Eve that can receive salvation. We calculate to be co-workers with Jesus,
our Savior, until the last man and woman that can be saved is placed in
the kingdom or mansion prepared for them, and none will be lost or turned
away except those who sin against the Holy Ghost. What do you think of it?
An enemy of mankind! Shame on the expression! and shame on those who give
utterance to it when speaking of the Latter-day Saints. We have the
oracles, the law and the commandments; we have all the laws or ordinances
necessary to reach and take hold of our fathers, mothers, grandfathers and
those who have lived before us, and to bring them up to eternal life. What
divine teaches this doctrine? If there is no resurrection, says Paul, why
then are ye baptized for the dead? It is the only expression that alludes
to the doctrine of baptism for the dead in the New Testament, but it is
true. We have this law, we have the ordinances. We have a knowledge of the
covenants necessary to reach and pick up the last man and woman that has
lived on the earth, and we calculate to preach the Gospel to the living
until the line is drawn and Jesus comes to reign King of nations as he
does King of Saints, and the separation is made. But until then the wheat
and the tares will grow together. We are together now, the wheat and the
tares are here.

	Now let us see your wheat heads bow down as though you were fully
ripe or preparing to be so, your whole hearts and labors for the kingdom
of God. The wicked may flourish for awhile like a green bay tree, but by
and by they will be cut down, and the righteous will go forth and inherit
the kingdom, which may God grant to be our happy lot for Jesus' sake.
Amen.


                    REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG
             Delivered at the General Conference, in the New 
               Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Morning, 
                              April 7, 1873.
                       Reported by David W. Evans.
          THE ORDER OF ENOCH--STUDY OF LAW--HOW TO BECOME RICH.

	There are a few minutes to spare, and I wish to lay some matters
before you. I will say, first, that the Lord Almighty has not the least
objection in the world to our entering into the Order of Enoch. I will
stand between the people and all harm in this. He has not the least
objection to any man, every man, all mankind on the face of the earth
turning from evil and loving and serving him with all their hearts. With
regard to all those orders that the Lord has revealed, it depends upon the
will and doings of the people, and we are at liberty, from this
Conference, to go and build up a settlement, or we can join ourselves
together in this city, do it legally--according to the laws of the
land--and enter into covenant with each other by a firm agreement that we
will live as a family, that we will put our property into the hands of a
committee of trustees, who shall dictate the affairs of this society. If
any man can bring up anything to prove to the contrary I am willing to
hear it. But no man can do it.

	Brother Pratt has told you, in his explanations this morning, what
the Lord has revealed and how he has been merciful to the people; and when
we have not been willing to be Latter-day Saints altogether, but only in
part, he has said, "Well, you are the best there is, and I will accept of
you. I can not get anybody else who is willing to be part Saints, and I
will lead you, my people, as long as you will let me, and I will forgive
you your sins this time, and I will accept part of your property if you
will not give it all,: etc., all showing the kindness and forbearance of
our Father in heaven; but he has not the least objection in the world to
our being perfect Saints.

	I have a few things to lay before the Conference, one of which
is--and I think my brethren will agree with me that this is wise and
practicable--for from one to five thousand of our young and middle-aged
men to turn their attention to the study of law. I would not speak lightly
in the least of law, we are sustained by it; but what is called the
practice of law is not always the administration of justice, and would not
be so considered in many courts. How many lawyers are there who spend
their time from morning till night in thinking and planning how they can
get up a lawsuit against this or that man, and get his property into their
possession? Men of this class are land sharks, and they are no better than
highway robbers, for their practice is to deceive and take advantage of
all they can. I do not say that this is the law, but this is the practice
of some of its professors. The effort of such lawyers, if they are paid
well, is to clear and turn loose on society the thief, perjurer and
murderer. They say to the dishonest and those who are disposed to do evil,
"Go and lay claim to your neighbor's property, or to that which is not
your own, or commit some other act of injustice, and pay us, and we will
clear you and make your claim appear just in the eye of the law;" and
officers and judges too often join in the unrighteous crusades for the
lawyers to wrong the just. I have been in courts and have heard lawyers
quote laws that had been repealed for years and the judge was so ignorant
that he did not know it, and the lawyer would make him give a decision
according to laws which no longer existed. Now, I request our brethren to
go and study law, so that when they meet any of this kind of lawyers they
will be able to thwart their vile plans. I do not by any means say these
things of all lawyers for we have good and just men who are lawyers, and
we would like to have a great many more. You go to one of the pettifogging
class of lawyers, and get him to write a deed for you, and he will do it
so that it can be picked to pieces by other lawyers. Employ such a man to
write a deed, bond, mortgage or any instrument of writing, and his study
will be to do it so that it will confound itself. This is the way that
such men make business for their class. We want from one to five thousand
of our brethren to go and study law.

	If I could get my own feelings answered I would have law in our
school books, and have our youth study law at school. Then lead their
minds to study the decisions and counsels of the just and the wise, and
not forever be studying how to get the advantage of their neighbor. This
is wisdom.

	My mind is so led upon the subject brother Pratt has been speaking
upon with regard to the orders that God has revealed that I can hardly let
it alone when I am talking to the people. He said there are many rich men
who are willing to do anything that the Lord requires of them. I believe
this, and there is quite a number of poor men, likewise, who would like to
do anything if they could only know that it was the will of the Lord. I am
about to make an application of my remarks with regard to the willingness
of men. But in this I shall except brother Pratt, for the simple reason
that I do not know a man who is more willing to do what he is told than he
is. If he is told to teach mathematics, he is willing to do it; if he is
told to make books, preach the Gospel, work in a garden or tend cattle, he
is willing to do it, and I know of no man more willing to do anything and
everything required of him than he is. But I want to say to our willing,
kind, good brethren that, so far as obeying the orders which God has
revealed, I can bring the rich into line quicker than I can get many poor
men who are not worth a dollar, and who do not know how to raise a
breakfast to-morrow morning. I have tried both, and know. Who is there
among us who came here rich? It was alluded to by brother Pratt. Look over
our rich men, where are they? Who is there among the Latter-day Saints
that is wealthy? When I came to this valley I was a thousand dollars in
debt. I left everything. I think I got about three hundred dollars, a span
of horses, and a little carriage, for all my property I left in Nauvoo.
But I bought cattle, horses and wagons, and traded and borrowed and got
the poor here by scores myself; and I have paid for these teams since I
have been here.

	When I got here I was in debt only about a thousand dollars for
myself and family to a merchant in Winter Quarters, but I was in debt for
others, and I have paid the last dime that I know anything about. When I
reached here I could not pay one-tenth--I could not pay my surplus--I
could not give my all--for I had nothing.

	Here is Horace S. Eldredge, he is one of our wealthy men. What did he
have when he came here? Nothing that I know of, except just enough to get
here with his family. William Jennings has been called a millionaire. What
was he worth when he came here? He had comparatively little. Now he is one
of our wealthy men. William H. Hooper is another of our wealthy men. He is
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. How much had he to pay as surplus
when he came here. He could pay no surplus, for he was worth nothing; but
he is now wealthy. If he had gone to California I believe he would have
been poor to-day.

	There is any amount of property, and gold and silver in the earth and
on the earth, and the Lord gives to this one and that one--the wicked as
well as the righteous--to see what they will do with it, but it all
belongs to him. He has handed over a goodly portion to this people, and,
through our faith, patience and industry, we have made us good,
comfortable homes here, and there are many who are tolerably well off, and
if they were in many parts of the world they would be called wealthy. But
it is not ours, and all we have to do is to try and find out what the Lord
wants us to do with what we have in our possession, and then go and do it.
If we step beyond this, or to the right or to the left, we step into an
illegitimate train of business. Our legitimate business is to do what the
Lord wants us to do with that which he bestows upon us, and dispose of it
just as he dictates, whether it is to give all, one-tenth, or the surplus.
I was present at the time the revelation came for the brethren to give
their surplus property into the hands of the Bishops for the building up
of Zion, but I never knew a man yet who had a dollar of surplus property.
No matter how much one might have he wanted all he had for himself, for
his children, his grand-children, and so forth.

	If we are disposed to enter into covenant one with another, and have
an agreement made according to the laws of our land, and we are disposed
to put our property into the hands of trustees, and work as we are
directed--eat, drink, sleep, ride, walk, talk, study, school our children,
our middle-aged and our aged, and learn the arts and sciences, the laws of
the Priesthood, the laws of life, anatomy, physic and anything and
everything useful upon the earth, the Lord has not the least objection in
the world, and would be perfectly willing for us to do it, and I should
like, right well, for us to try it. I know how to start such a society,
right in this city, and how to make its members rich. I would go to now,
and buy out the poorest ward in this city, and then commence with men and
women who have not a dollar in the world. Bring them here from England, or
any part of the earth, set them down in this ward and put them to work,
and in five years we would begin to enter other wards, and we would buy
this house and that house, and the next house, and we would add ward to
ward until we owned the whole city, every dollar's worth or property there
is in it. We could do this, and let the rich go to California to get gold,
and we would buy their property. Would you like to know how to do this? I
can tell you in a very few words--never want a thing you can not get, live
within your means, manufacture that which you wear, and raise that which
you eat. Raise every calf and lamb; raise the chickens, and have your
eggs, make your butter and cheese, and always have a little to spare. The
first year we raise a crop, and we have more than we want. We buy nothing,
we sell a little. The next year we raise more; we buy nothing, and we sell
more. In this way we could pile up the gold and silver and in twenty years
a hundred families working like this could buy out their neighbors. I see
men who ear four, five, ten or fifteen dollars a day and spend every dime
of it. Such men spend their means foolishly, they waste it instead of
taking care of it. They do not know what to do with it, and they seem to
fear that it will burn their pockets, and they get rid of it. If you get a
dollar, sovereign, half-eagle or eagle, and are afraid it will burn your
pockets, put it into a safe. It will not burn anything there, and you will
not be forced to spend, spend, spend as you do now. See our boys here, why
if my boys, by the time they are twenty, have not a horse and carriage to
drive of their own, they think they are very badly used, and say, "Well, I
do not think father thinks much of me." A great many things might be said
on this subject that I do not want to say.

	Brethren, we want you to turn in and study the laws of the Territory
of Utah, of this city and other cities, and then the statues of the United
States, and the Constitution of the United States. Then read the decisions
of the Supreme Court. I do not meant the self-styled "United States
Supreme Court for the Territory of Utah;" but the United States Supreme
Court that sits at Washington--the seat of government. Read up their
decisions, and the decisions of the English judges and the laws of England
of other countries, and learn what they know, and then if you draw up a
will, deed, mortgage or contract, do not study to deceive the man who pays
you for this, but make out a writing or instrument as strong and firm as
the hills, that no man can tear to pieces, and do your business honestly
and uprightly, in the fear of God and with the love of truth in your
heart. The lawyer that will take this course will live nd swim, while the
poor, miserable, dishonest schemers will sink and go down. We live by law,
and I only condemn those among the lawyers who are eternally seeking to
take advantage of their neighbors.

	Now we will close, and adjourn until 2 o'clock this afternoon.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered at the General Conference, in the New 
              Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Monday Afternoon, 
                              April 7, 1873.
                       Reported by David W. Evans.
            ASSISTANCE OF THE LADIES OF THE RELIEF SOCIETIES 
         REQUIRED IN PROMOTING THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND THE 
           PRINTING OF SCHOOL BOOKS--LIGHT AND EASY LABOR NOW 
PERFORMED BY MEN MORE ADAPTED TO WOMEN--SHOULD BE
          SELF-SUSTAINING--FRIVOLITIES AND FASHIONS OF BABYLON 
        SHOULD BE DISCARDED BY THE SISTERS--POVERTY OF THOSE WHO 
                           FOLLOW AFTER MINING.

	I will make a few remarks to the ladies of the Relief Societies.
First of all I can say of a truth that, in sustaining the poor and
ministering to the sick and afflicted, much credit is due to them for the
good they have done; but I wish to add a little to their labors. If these
societies will take into consideration the further duties and obligations
that we are under to each other, and the importance of becoming
self-sustaining, we wish to enlist their interest to aid us in making
paper, by taking steps to collect the rags. We have an excellent paper
mill here, and can make our own paper, as well as to send abroad and pay
out our money for it, and then bring it here. We should cease importing
paper, for paper-making is a branch of manufacture fur which we have all
the necessary facilities, and if we carry it on it will benefit us. We
want the ladies of the Relief Societies to enlist the sympathies of the
children, in their respective Wards throughout the Territory, to save the
paper rags; we want mothers to do this, and also to show their children
how to do it. When you see them throwing them out of doors, say, "Stop, my
child, put that into the basket," or other place designated. "We will wash
these rags, and when we get enough of them we will sell them and buy some
books for you to read." If we can only enlist the feelings of the sisters
on behalf of this great interest, it will lay the foundation for printing
the books that we need in our own community, and then we can save this
expense also. This is the first step. We want these cart loads of cloth
saved that we now see kicked around the streets and lying around the
yards. Go to the poorest family in this community, and I will venture to
say that they waste rags enough every year to buy the school books that
are needed for their children, and do even more. This is slothfulness and
neglect, and produces wickedness. To be prudent and saving, and to use the
elements in our possession for our benefit and the benefit of our fellow
beings is wise and righteous; but to be slothful, wasteful, lazy and
indolent, to spend our time and means for naught, is unrighteous; and we
might think of this, and contemplate the facts in the case until our
feelings and interest are so far enlisted that we will save our paper
rags, and take them to the paper mill.

	When this is done I want the sisters to so far use the abilities
which God has given them as to learn to set type, and have your printing
office and carry it on. It looks very unbecoming to me to see a great, big
six-footer stand and pick up little type and put it in its place to make a
word or a sentence, a book or a paper; and when he has got his stickfull,
taking the type out of the stick and setting it on the galley. To see a
great six-footer doing this, and measuring off tape, which is about the
same, has always appeared to me, according to that which I understand, as
if men were out of their place. I have thought so all my days. I have
occasionally seen women in the harvest field, ploughing, raking and making
hay, and sometimes, though very seldom, I have seen them pitch and load
hay. I think this is very unbecoming, this hard, laborious work belongs to
men. But when you come to picking up type, and making a book of it, that
belongs to the women. I know that many arguments are used against this,
and we are told that a woman cannot make a coat, vest or a pair of
pantaloons. I dispute this. It is said that a man is stronger and that he
pulls his thread stronger than a woman does. I will take any of these
ladies to a tailor's shop and they will snap every thread a tailor sews
with. Tell me they can not pull a thread tight enough, and that they can
not press hard enough to press a coat, it is all folly and nonsense. The
difficulty is the tailors do not want them to do it, and they try to shame
them out of it or to make them believe they can not sew a seam, press a
collar, wristband, sleeve or body of a coat, and if women do it ever so
nice the tailors will say it is good for nothing, and so the great, big
six-footer sits there cross-legged sewing. This is not the order of
prudence and economy; neither is it according to the nature of the calling
and the ability that God has given us as men and women, to see a man
measuring tape, and such light work, it is far more suitable for women.
"Well, but," say some, "a woman can not do press work." I recollect what
was said to me in my youth by a journeyman printer. We were working off
Ball's Arithmetic together and we boarded together. I did not eat meal at
that time, and he was very fond of it. We went into the office one day
from dinner and he said to the workmen, "Young never eats any meats;" and
said he, "I can just throw any man that don't eat meat." I said to him,
"Mr. Pratt, if you will step here into the middle of the floor I will show
you how to dirty coats." But he dared not try it. They say ladies do not
eat enough to make them strong-why I have seen scores and scores of them
that could pull a hand press, and we do not use them now; they would have
nothing in the world to do only to take the paper and lay it down. "But
don't you let a woman know she can do this, don't say to a woman that she
is capable of setting type, or of setting a stick of type on a galley, and
making up a form and locking it up with a little mallet that weighs eight
or ten ounces. Do not tell a woman she can do this--no, no, it would spoil
our trade."

	Suffice it to say we want to enlist the real understanding and good
sense of these women, and to tell them what their duty is. We want to make
our own school books. We are paying now from thirty thousand to sixty
thousand dollars a year for school books that can be made here just as
well as to send and buy them abroad. This is carrying out the plan and
principles of building up Zion, whether you knot it or not. We may preach
until Doomsday, and tell how Zion will look, how wide her streets will be,
what kind of dwellings her people will have, what king of carriages and
what fine horses they will have, and what a beautiful looking set of
people they will be, but it is all nonsense to talk about that we will
never reach if we so not stop our folly and wickedness. We have the
privilege of building up and enjoying Zion, and I am telling you how to do
it. We want the women, from this time forth, to go to work and save the
paper rags, and we will make the paper for them. And they can learn to
make type. I can pick hundreds and hundreds of women out of this
congregation that could go into a shop and make type just as will as men,
it is a trifling thing. And they can learn to set type, and they can learn
how to write for our school books. We have plenty of men and women that
know how to write books, and how to teach too. We have just as good school
teachers here as any in the world.

	While on this subject I will say that I am ashamed of our Bishops,
who can not have anybody but a stranger for a school teacher. Let a
"Mormon" come along, who can read all around and over and under him, and
who, as far as learning is concerned, is his superior in every way, but
because he, the "Mormon," does not come in the guise of a stranger, the
Bishop will not hear him. Bishops, I wish you would just resign your
offices if you can not learn any better than to get such characters into
your school houses. Not but what there is once in a while a good man comes
along as a school teacher who is not a "Mormon;" but, as a general thing,
what have these men done? They have planted the seeds of in fidelity in
the hearts of the children, decoyed the hearts of their female pupils and
led them to ruin, and they have turned round and cursed us. That is the
character of some of the men our Bishops get into their school houses.
There are many of our Bishops not fit to set type, measure tape or to
teach a scholar. That is saying a good deal for the Bishops, is it not?
but it is a fact. In many instances they have not wisdom enough to guide
themselves one day without getting into error. They do not know truth from
error, they do not know a Saint from a sinner, or righteousness from
unrighteousness.

	Will you, Relief Societies, devote your time and talents and take
hold of this business? We want you to commence forthwith. Say we take
thirty thousand dollars, and that is only a portion of what we will pay
out for school books in 1873, and devote that to making paper and for
paying brethren and sisters for making books, and then distribute them
among our own people. If this work is done by us there is so much saved.
Will my sisters enlist themselves and endeavor to make this movement
successful?

	We have no societies or persons to assist us in our efforts to school
ourselves and our children; we never have had, and the feeling that is now
exhibited, and which has always been shown towards us since the
organization of the kingdom of God upon the earth, is that those who are
our enemies would rather spend ten, yea a hundred dollars to deprive us of
the least privilege in the world, than give us one cent towards schooling
our children. When we were leaving Nauvoo, in our poverty, we sent our
Elders hither and thither to the principal cities of the Unites States, to
ask the people if they should assist the Saints. Our brethren told them
that we were leaving the confines of the United States, having been driven
by the violence of the mobs from our homes, and how much do you think we
got in the cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and a few smaller
towns? Their hearts and hands were closed against us. From the whole
people of the United States, after making an appeal to them in our deep
distress and poverty, we got but a few dollars, and we were then starting
into the wilderness, and how we were going to live God only knew. Well, we
have got to help ourselves, we have to school ourselves. Has Government
given us the privilege of one acre of land to educate our children here?
No. The school land is kept from us, and we get no benefit therefrom.

	I want to say a word or two here with regard to our schools. There
are many of our people who believe that the whole Territory ought to be
taxed for our schools. When we have means, that come in the proper way, we
can make a fund to help the poor to school their children, and I would say
amen to it. But where are our poor? Where is the man or the woman in this
community who has children and wishes to send them to school, that cannot
do it? There is not one. When the poor complain and say, "My children
ought to be schooled and clothed and fed," I say, no sir, not so, you
ought to yield your time and talents to the kind providences of our Father
in the heavens according to the dictation of his servants, and he will
tell each and every one of you what to do to earn your bread, meat,
clothing, schooling, and how to be self-sustaining in the fullest sense of
the word. To give to the idler is as wicked as anything else. Never give
anything to the idler. "The idler in Zion shall not eat the bread of the
laborer." Well, they do eat it; but it is a commandment and a revelation
as much as any other, that the idler shall not eat the bread of the
laborer in Zion. No, let every one spend every hour, day, week and month
in some useful and profitable employment, and then all will have their
meat and clothing, and means to pay teachers, and pay them well. Not that
they should receive more pay than others. If men have learning, and they
have the faculty of imparting it to others, and can teach children to read
and write, and grammar and arithmetic, and all the ordinary branches of a
common school education, what better are they than the man that plows,
hoes, shoves and plane, handles the trowel and the axe, and hews the
stone? Are they any better? I do not know that they are. What better is
the man that can dress himself nicely and labor in a school house six
hours a day, than the man who works ten or twelve hours a day hewing rock?
Is he any better? No, he is not. Are you going to pay him for his good
looks? That is what some of our Bishops want to do. If they can get a man,
no matter what his moral qualities may be, whose shirt front is well
starched and ironed, they will say--"Bless me, you are a delightful little
man! What a smooth shirt you have got, and you have a ring on your
finger--you are going to teach our school for us." And along comes a
stalwart man, axe in hand, going to chop wood, and, if he asks, "Do you
want a school teacher?" though he may know five times more than the dandy,
he is told, "No, no, we have one engaged." I want to cuff you Bishops back
and forth until you get your brains turned right side up.

	Here I am talking to thousands of men and women who know that if we
are ever helped we have to help ourselves, with what God does for us. We
have heard considerable from some parties in this city about what they
call free schools, which they say they have established here. I say, now,
come out, and be as liberal as you say you are, and teach our children for
nothing. If they knew the "Mormons" were willing to accept of their
charity and send their children to these so-called free schools, their
charity would not weight much. Their charity is to decoy away the
innocent. Send your children to their schools and see how far their
charity would extend. We sent to them when we were in the wilderness
without bread, without shoes, without coats, and ploughing our way through
to get away from our murderers, and asked them for help. No, they would
not give us anything to save the lives of women and children in the
wilderness. When we were right in the midst of Indians, who were said to
be hostile, five hundred men were called to go to Mexico to fight the
Mexicans, and said Mr. Benton--"If you do not send them we will cover you
up, and there will be no more of you." I do not want to think of these
things, their authors belong to the class I referred to yesterday--the
enemies of mankind, those who would destroy innocence, truth,
righteousness and the kingdom of God from the earth. We sent these five
hundred men to fight the Mexicans, and those of us who remained behind
labored and raised all that we needed to feed ourselves in the wilderness.
We had to pay our own school teachers, raise our own bread and earn our
own clothing, or go without, there was no other choice. We did it then,
and we are able to do the same to-day. I want to enlist the sympathies of
the ladies among the Latter-day Saints, to see what we can do for
ourselves with regard to schooling our children. Do not say you cannot
school them, for you can. There is not a family in this community but what
we will take and school their children if they are not able to do it
themselves; and we do not do it through begging in the East and telling
what others have told there about this people, and about their own efforts
to establish free schools here. I understand that the other night there
was a school meeting in one of the wards of this city, and a part there--a
poor miserable apostate--said, "We want a free school, and we want to have
the name of establishing the first free school in Utah." To call a person
a poor miserable apostate may seem like a harsh word; but what shall we
call a man who talks about free schools and who would have all the people
taxed to support them, and yet would take his rifle and threaten to shoot
the man who had the collection of the ordinary light taxes levied in this
Territory--taxes which are lighter than any levied in any other portion of
the country? We have no other schools but free schools here--our schools
are all free. Our meetings are free, our teachings are free. We labor for
ourselves and the kingdom of God. But how is it with others? Have they a
meeting without a plate, basket, box or hat passed around? And, "Have you
got a sixpence for us? Put in your sixpences, your half dollars, your
dollars, and your five dollars." No, it is beg, beg, beg from one year's
end to another. Ever see this is a "Mormon" meeting? I don't think you
have in this city, if you ever did anywhere else. Are the "Mormons"
eternally begging and sending around the hat and the plate, and asking
every stranger, "Have you a sixpence for me?" No, we do not want your
money, we have enough of our own, and we earned it and got it honestly, we
have not stolen it nor lied for it either. Now that I am upon free schools
I say, put a community in possession of knowledge by means of which they
can obtain what they need by the labor of their bodies and their brains,
then instead of being paupers they will be free,l independent and happy,
and these distinctions of classes will cease, and there will be but one
class, one grade, one great family.

	Now, sisters, what do you say? Will you give your attention to this?
We want to erect a house for you to do printing in. Some one, perhaps,
will use some little argument against women doing anything of this kind.
But the truth is women can set type, and read and correct proof as well as
any man in the world, if they learn how. Men have to learn it before they
can do it, and when they tell you that that is not a woman's business, you
tell them they do not know what they were born for. They were not born to
wash dishes, to dress the babies, nor to have babies, they were born to go
into the field and do the work that the women cannot do, and should not do
for fear of exposing themselves. Keep the ladies in their proper places,
selling tape and calico, setting type, working the telegraph, keeping
books, &c.

	See a great big six-footer working in the telegraph. One of them will
eat as much as three or four women, and they stuff themselves until they
are almost too lazy to touch the wire. There they sit. What work is there
about that that a woman cannot do? She can write as well as a man, and
spell as well as a man, and better, and I leave it to every man and woman
of learning if the girls are not quicker and more apt at learning in
school than the boys. It is only occasionally that a boy is met with who
will keep up with the girls in learning reading, writing, spelling and
grammar; as a general thing the girls will go ahead of the boys in these
branches, and yet we are told they are not capable of doing these light
kinds of work, such as I have mentioned. Shame on the boys, and shame on
the great big, fat lazy men! Let these women go to work; and let those who
have children teach them to handle the needle and sew, to make lace, to
raise silk-worms and the mulberry tree, to pick the leaves to feed the
worms, and then to wind and weave the silk, that they may make themselves
good, nice silk dresses. I saw a very pretty piece of silk made into a
garment in St. George, that a woman had made from the silk-worms. She
tended them, reeled their silk, wove it and made some beautiful cloth.
This is far better than teazing the husband or father to get you fine
dresses and then drag them after you in the street. Learn some good, solid
sense. Learn how to raise silk, how to make the silk into dresses, and
make it as neat and beautiful as you possibly can. Then another thing--may
I say it?--girls, learn to comb your hair in the morning, and fix up your
head dress. "Well, but, pa will not buy me a chignon." Well, then, fix
your own hair, that is all you ought to have. Wash your face nice and
clean, and your neck, and comb your hair, neat and nice; put on your dress
comely, and make it look neat and nice. I do not mean protruding out
behind like a two-bushel basket. And when you come down stairs look as if
you were wide-awake, and not as if your eyes needed a dish of water to
wash them clear and clean. Young ladies, learn to be neat and nice. Do not
dress after the fashions of Babylon, but after the fashions of the Saints.
Suppose that a female angel were to come into your house and you had the
privilege of seeing her, how would she be dressed? Do you think she would
have a great, big peck measure of flax done up like hair on the back of
the head? Nothing of the kind. Would she have a dress dragging two or
three yards behind? Nothing of the kind. Would she have on a great,
big-what is it you call it? A Grecian or Dutch-Well, no matter what you
call it, you know what I mean. Do you think she would have on anything of
that kind? Not at all. No person in the world would expect to see an angel
dressed in such a giddy, frivolous, nonsensical style. She would be neat
and nice, her countenance full of glory, brilliant, bright, and perfectly
beautiful, and in every act her gracefulness would charm the heart of
every beholder. There is nothing needless about her. None of my sisters
believe that these useless, foolish fashions are followed in heaven. Well,
then, pattern after good and heavenly things, and let the beauty of your
garments be the workmanship of your own hands, that which adorns your
bodies.

	Now, sisters, will you go to work and help us to get up our school
books? Whether you do or do not belong to the Relief Societies, we want
you to join in and help us, and save your rags to make paper, and then go
and set type and make the books. You who feel like doing this, hold up
your hands. (Hands up.) There is a pretty good showing, enough to carry an
influence-the day is ours. If you will only carry this out we will make
our own school books, and keep the money in the Territory that we now send
out for them.

	Elders of Israel, I want to tell you how to save a little. You want
to get rich. Go to the mines and you will be so poor that you never can
pay any tithing. This is proved. I want to tell you now, how you can pay
your tithing. You trade off your horses and mules and harness, just as
quick as circumstances will let you. Raise the calves that will make oxen,
break them and work with them; and let this community take this course,
using oxen instead of horses, and mules for all their farming and teaming,
and in one year they will save one million dollars, and this will increase
year by year, and that will enable you to give a little to emigrate the
poor Saints from the old country. I want you to swell this Perpetual
Emigrating Fund so that we can send for a good many of the poor this year.
What have you to give? Some will say, "I have not anything, brother
Brigham." "What have you been doing?" "Oh, I have been mining, and it
takes all my time and labor to support my family. I have a splendid
claim--I am just going to have a hundred thousand dollars for it." We have
plenty of this class around, and whenever I see a man going along with an
old mule that can hardly stand up, and a frying pan and an old quilt, I
say, There goes a millionaire in prospect! He is after a million, he
calculates to find a mind that he can get a million for next summer. These
millionaires are all over our country; they are in the mountains, on our
highways and in our streets. But ask them, "Can you give me a sixpence to
buy me a morsel of meat?" "No, I have not got it, I am just going to have
plenty of money, but I have not got it now. Cannot you lend me a little to
keep me from need, I have no bread for my family, but I am going to have a
fortune in a little while." There are numbers of the Elders of Israel in
this position. Ask them if they can pay a little tithing? "No, not a
dollar." "Give anything to help the poor?" "No, I have not any, will you
lend me a little to buy some flour for my family?" and so they go on year
after year. Why? Because they will not take the counsel of the wise. When
you hear a man, outside or inside of the kingdom of God, finding fault,
complaining or casting reflections, that President Young has got so much
influence over the people called Latter-day Saints that they (the
grumblers) are afraid of him, you just tell them that he has not a
hundredth part of the influence he ought to have. He ought to have all the
influence imaginable with them, he is deserving of it, he earns it, and he
knows what to do with it, and he directs and guides for the advancement of
the kingdom of God on the earth. Just think of these men, trailing through
these canons, running after shadows--jack-o'lanterns--all over creation
for something in prospect! They are just like some business men I have
seen in my life--they have got their eye on a picayune, away off yonder in
the distance, and they start after that the stub their toe against a
twenty dollar gold piece; but they kick that out of the way, they do not
see it. By and by they start again, and they pass fifty dollars in their
path, and so they keep on, passing right by ten, twenty of fifty dollars.
"Oh that picayune does so dazzle my eye, for God's sake let me get it!"
They are fools, they know nothing about life, nor sustaining themselves,
they are worse than children. Well, now, brother Brigham ought to have
influence enough over these Elders of Israel to keep them from deceiving
themselves as much as they do; and when they run after this shadow and
tire themselves out and fall in the mud, they lose the spirit of their
religion, find out that "Mormonism" is not true and away they go to the
devil.

	I am going to stop talking to the sisters, and will conclude by
asking them, Will you be printers or clerks in stores? The brethren will
keep every one of you out if they can, and I do not know but I shall have
to go and keep store myself independent of every other institution, and
hire ladies to tend it. I want them also to telegraph for us, set our
type, write our books, and save the rags to make the paper.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
          Delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden, Sunday afternoon, 
                              May 18, 1873.
           UNBELIEF--THE SAINTS REQUIRE CONSTANT INSTRUCTION--
         CONTRAST BETWEEN THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST AND THE RELIGIONS 
         OF MEN--EVIL WOULD CEASE AMONG THE SAINTS IF THEY WOULD 
            LIVE THEIR RELIGION--GATHERING THE POOR--TITHING--
          KNOWLEDGE OF GOD--PROGRESS OF THE WORK IS DUE TO THE 
                        OPERATIONS OF THE SPIRIT.

	The teaching of grown people is the same as teaching the children. We
receive impressions when very young, and grow up to further knowledge; it
is the same in receiving the Gospel. When we talk to persons who have not
previously heard the Gospel, we have to reason with the them on the
propriety of receiving the truth. We also have to reason with and persuade
the Latter-day Saints, and it is to them I wish principally to talk this
afternoon. When the Gospel is preached to the honest in heart they receive
it by faith, but when they obey it labor is required. To practice the
Gospel requires time, faith, the heart's affections and a great deal of
labor. Here many stop. They hear and believe, but before they go out to
practice they begin to think that they were mistaken, and unbelief enters
into their hearts. There has been unbelief since the beginning of the
world. Have you not read the saying of Moses in regard to out mother Eve?
She had heard the voice of the Lord and understood it, saying concerning
the fruit of a certain tree, "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die." When her husband was in another part of the garden, a
certain character came along and commenced to reason with her. "That is
very fine fruit: I understand the Lord says you must not partake of it."
"Yes, for in the day we eat of it he says we shall die." "Well," says he,
"that is not so. You must not believe all that is told you, but think for
yourself. Now I will tell you something. If you eat of that fruit your
eyes will be opened, and you will see as the Gods." He hands her a little
of the fruit, just to try,--no matter whether it was an apple, a grape, or
what it was,--she tastes of it, and does not die, and likes it so well
that when Adam come along she says, "Husband, this fruit if delightful; I
have tasted it, and it is desirable to make one wise; take some." "No,"
says he, "I shall not, the Lord has commanded us not to eat of it." But
just as it is with other husbands, she coaxes and persuades, and finally
he gives way and partakes of the forbidden fruit. Now do you see how
unbelief entered into the world in the beginning? We have to reason with
mankind to persuade them to receive the truth of God. A declaratory
statement is sufficient for those who are prepared to receive the spirit
of revelation for themselves, but with the most of the human family we
have to reason and explain. A really pure person is very scarce; but when
the heart is truly pure, the Lord can write upon it, and the truth is
received without argument, or doubt, or disputation. If we talk with the
Latter-day Saints, we have to reason with them, particularly on temporal
matters. Not I could show, by sound argument and logic, the necessity for
the people to live and labor for the good of all. Anybody ought to be able
to see that when one member of a family is pulling away from the others,
and living for self alone, it injures himself or herself as well as the
whole family. The necessity and beauty of union cannot be better
illustrated than by the example of the chief who called his sons together
just previous to his death, and, taking a bundle of arrows, asked them
each to break it. This they were unable to do. "Now," said he, "unloose
the bundle." They did so, and could take the arrows singly, one by one,
and break them with ease. This will give us as good a proof as we can
desire, than when we are bond together as a unit, we are strong and
powerful, but when we are divided we are weak, and our enemies can obtain
power over us. Take our financial affairs, and they will show the same
principle. But we are prone to unbelief, and have to learn by the childish
principle--a little to-day and a little more to-morrow, and after a while
perhaps we will become truly Latter-day Saints. We profess to be so now.
But to be a Saint in the full sense of the word, is to be something very
nearly perfect. If, however, we are striving to the utmost of the ability
God has given us to prove that we are willing to serve him and perform our
duties, we are justified. We have the kingdom of God to build up, Zion to
redeem; we have to sanctify ourselves so that we may be prepared to be
caught up with the Church of the First Born, and if we improve every day
and hour, then if we die we shall be found justified. But if we continue
to live, we must become Saints in very deed, or come short of the fullness
of the glory of God that is to be revealed. To lead the Saints in this
direction we have to reason with them, and show the necessity for their
observing this precept and that law, this doctrine and that principle,
that they may be persuaded to do the will of God.

	When Joseph Smith first learned from God the principle of baptism for
the remission of sins, he undoubtedly thought that he had learned
something great and wonderful; so, also, when he received his ordination
to the Aaronic Priesthood under the hands of John the Baptist. But he did
not fly off at a tangent, and think he had it all, but was willing and
anxious to be taught further. After receiving this authority, he baptized
his friends. When he organized the Church, he received the higher
Priesthood, after the order of Melchisedec, which gave him authority not
only to baptize for the remission of sins, but to confirm by the laying on
of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. The Aaronic Priesthood holds
power to baptize, but not to lay on hands to confer the Holy Ghost. When
Joseph Smith received this higher power, he did not throw away the first,
but received additions to it. He learned of and administered the
Sacrament, then went to preaching a year or two, and received the High
Priesthood, which he imparted to others. There are men here who heard him
say: "We have added to our faith and knowledge, and have received keys and
authority, until I do not know of anything necessary to build up and
establish the kingdom of God on the earth, but what I have received and
bestowed upon you." He received his knowledge of the things of God by
degrees, until he obtained the last blessing needful to bestow on his
brethren.

	The Latter-day Saints need talking to a great deal--they need
continual preaching and instruction upon almost everything. I am happy to
say there is an improvement, still I hear of strife, brother going to law
with brother, contention in families and in the community. This should not
be. Have we not learned yet to be meek and lowly? Are we not willing to
receive and abide the providences of God with patience? How many are
willing to do this as they should? But very few. That disposition that
came from the fall in planted in our hearts, and will occasionally arise
in the bosom. Will we ever get experience enough so that we can overcome
these temptations that arise in the heart, so that we can say good-bye to
the fashions and follies of the world, and instead of them imbibe good and
wholesome principles? Certainly we will; this is what we are after. The
Latter-day Saints must learn to be one in Christ. We are one in the
ordinances and doctrines; one in the ordinances of baptism, the laying on
of hands, the administration of the sacrament, the blessing of children,
the ordinations of the Priesthood, the endowment; also in the baptism for
the dead, though this was a trial for some at the first. When God revealed
to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon that there was a place prepared for all,
according to the light they had received and their rejection of evil and
practice of good, it was a great trial to many, and some apostatized
because God was not going to send to everlasting punishment heathens and
infants, but had a place of salvation, in due time, for all and would
bless the honest and virtuous and truthful, whether they ever belonged to
any church or not. It was a new doctrine to this generation, and many
stumbled at it, but Joseph continued to receive revelation upon
revelation, ordinance upon ordinance, truth upon truth, until heobtained
all that was necessary for the salvation of the human family. All the
inhabitants of the earth are called of God; they are called to repent and
be baptized for the remission of sins. When I first came into the church
it was a subject of considerable thought to me why people whom I knew to
be as good and moral as they could be, should have to repent. But I could
see afterwards that if they had nothing else to repent of they could and
ought to repent of their false religions, of their narrow, contracted
creeds in which they were bound, of the ordinances of men, and get
something better. These narrow, contracted religions have spread
infidelity in the world. They should repent of these and take hold of the
things of God and receive the truths of heaven. "Well," say the ministers,
"we have lived according to the light we have received." We say, are you
willing to receive more? if so, here is more for you. So far as your faith
in Christ goes, and your morality, we say, amen. But here is something
more. "Ah," say they, "we have got enough, we don't want any of your
Mormonism." Well, now they do, if they only knew it. I had a conversation
recently with a prominent minister of a church in the East and he said, I
do not agree with you in your peculiar views. I answered, are you not for
the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? If you are, so am I.
How is it possible to get up an argument? I will make a bargain. I will
compare my religion with yours. We will start out with the Bible alone,
taking it as the standard. All that the Bible teaches for doctrine and
practice we will take for our guide. If I have an error I will part with
it. Will you do the same? If you can find that you have a truth that I
have not, and that I have an error, I will trade ten errors if I have them
for one truth. Take the religion of Christ from the foundation up, and it
is all true and for the benefit of mankind. Take the whole world with
their contentions and strife, the kings and potentates who make war and
murder the people by thousands, those who shoot and kill, who rob the
poor, who set at naught the counsel of God, bring them together, read to
them the precepts of Jesus, the principles of the everlasting Gospel and
see if there is one principle that would injure them or the world of
mankind in the east. Will they injure a person, a family, a neighborhood?
All would join, if they spoke the truth, in saying no, not one; but if we
lived up to them, they would make the best condition of society possible.
Let the whole world take the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and
Covenants and the writing and counsels of this Church, and see if there is
anything calculated in the least degree, in any of their requirements, to
injure one individual on earth. I will say to these few Latter-day Saints,
and if all were here I would say in your hearts, "we will take his
counsel,"--and I can say before God he desires this people would live
their religion,--there would be no contentions, no stealing, no cheating,
no drunkenness, no lying; wrong-doing would cease, the hand of mercy would
be extended to the poor, kindness and love would be spread abroad, and you
would never hear another jar in the land. I can say that I deserve more
obedience to counsel than I get. Can any man, wo man or child bring up on
thing I have counseled that would injure anybody or bring the least stain
upon the kingdom of God upon the earth? No, they cannot. Why can't we be
of one heart and of one mind? Why is it that my brethren allow themselves
to be stirred up to strife with their neighbors? Perhaps some neighbor has
let down your bars, and the cattle have got it, and you are injured in
your feelings and allow anger to enter into your hearts. Perhaps some
neighbor has borrowed your plow and broken it, or done something else in
which you are aggrieved; you set it down that that person is no Saint.
Perhaps if your own faults were portrayed you would show as many as he
has, but you set it down for a fact that he is no Saint, or he would not
do thus and so. Now cease this. When you think your brother has injured
you, go straight and learn the intention of his heart, and judge according
to that, and not according to the outward appearances.

	Do you say your prayers? How many houses of High Priests, if I crept
into them like a mouse, could I find where they do not pray with their
families, do not ask God to bless their labors, to bless their fields and
farms, their brethren and the kingdom of God on the earth? How many
Elders, Seventies and Bishops would I find in the same condition? The
Bishops should be a perfect example to their wards in all things. How many
are there who are strictly honest and fair in their deal? I have
experienced so much on that subject that I had better say little upon it.
But I say to you, deal justly, act mercifully and eschew evil. Do good to
all men. We say sometimes, "I will not do any favor for that man, he is
unworthy of assistance." I will give you a piece of counsel. Do good to
all. It is better to feed nine unworthy persons than to let one worthy
person--the tenth, go hungry. Follow this rule and you will be apt to be
found on the right side of doing good.

	Suppose we look around here? How many of you sisters have donated
fifty cents to help gather the poor this season? Don't say you have no
money. Have you not had fifty cents to buy a ribbon? How about that ten
dollars to buy hair from somebody else's head when you have plenty on your
own? Take the brethren, too, who wear needless clothing, smoke cigars, &c.
Take all the money that is spent for tea and coffee and squandered in
waste and how much could we get? Why enough to send for the poor, who are
begging and pleading to come, by the scores of thousands. We got a purse
of some four thousand dollars at the late Conference. I put in one
thousand dollars, brother Hooper put in one thousand dollars. That makes
about half the amount. I spoke when I was here, about two years ago, about
Elders who had borrowed money of poor Saints in the old country and never
paid them. I said then such men should be cut off from the Church.

	How much tithing do you pay? The professing Christians, apostates and
others have a great deal to say about the Saints paying tithing. Now let
us compare notes. The Elders of this Church travel and preach without
purse of scrip, and labor at home as Bishops, Presidents, High Counselors,
and Ministers, free of charge. Now take the Christians, how many of their
Ministers preach without pay? Go to their meetings, in their churches,
halls, schoolhouses, or any of their public gatherings, and you have a
box, a plate, or a hat put under your face, and it is, `Give me a
sixpence, give me a sixpence, give me a sixpence!" Show me the Elder of
this Church that does this? We preach the Gospel without purse or scrip
and work for our own bread and butter. Yet the Christian world whine about
our paying tithing. The Saints should pay the tenth of their income with
glad and thankful hearts, and help to bring home the poor. We have
supported and help the poor to the amount of millions. We have picked up
those who were poor and brought them here and taught them how to work and
take care of themselves, and some of them ride in their carriages as proud
as the lords of the old world from whence they came.

	In regard to this whining of the world about Brigham's handling the
tithing, I can say that he has put in ten dollars where he has taken one
out of the treasury, and he has paid more tithing than any other man in
the Church. Everybody should pay their tenth. A poor woman ought to pay
her tenth chicken, if she has to draw out ten times its value for her
support. It is all the Lord's and we are only his stewards.

	The Latter-day Saints want persuading. What for? Their own good. Some
people talk of how long they have served the Lord, and now they want to do
something for themselves. The moment they begin to feel and act like this,
they commence to serve the devil. There are two powers on earth, God and
Satan, and we must serve one or the other. God required obedience to his
laws. If I do this I do nothing more than I do to the United States. We
have enlisted to serve the King of Kings; He has laws, rules, regulations,
&c. Why should we not be as willing to pay taxes to Him as to the United
States. We believe in obeying the laws of the land, we should also obey
the laws of God.

	People have found out that we believe in a plurality of wives. The
people of this Government say we shall not have a plurality of wives. Why
not say: "a plurality of women," and we shan't have any objection to it.
Because this would strike at men in high places. Their idea is, "If you
want women, illegally, and then thrust them into the street when you have
done with them, we care nothing about it; but if God has revealed anything
about plurality of wives, to marry and provide for them, as he did in the
days of the Patriarchs, we don't want any of it." If I have wives given to
me of the Lord, I do not break any constitutional law of the land. But
enough of that.

	I want to persuade the Latter-day Saint to be Latter-day Saints. Bro.
Woodruff was talking about the necessity of making our own clothing. I say
if we go on as we have been doing, and calculate to continue to purchase
from abroad most of what we wear, and a great deal of what we eat, we
shall be left without. Do you know that Babylon is going to fall? Her
merchants will cry out, "there is no one to buy our merchandise." And if
you and I do not learn how to take care of ourselves, and raise and
manufacture what we consume, we shall have to go without. I you do not
know how, go to work and learn how to knot, sew, weave, make ribbons,
raise silk and make up and manufacture your own wearing apparel and all
you need.

	Now, on another subject. There is a God who lives, and who framed and
fashioned this earth, and who brought forth that which is on the face
thereof. He has laws, Everything is controlled by law. The actions of men,
however, are left free; they are agents to themselves and must act freely
on that agency, or else how could they be judged for their actions? But
God reserves the right to himself to control the results of their acts,
and this no man can hinder. Who of the Christian divines know anything
about the God we serve? I never say any one, until I met Joseph Smith, who
could tell me anything about the character, personality, and
dwelling-place of God, or anything satisfactory about angels, or the
relationship of man to his Maker. Yet I was as diligent as any man need to
be to try and find out these things. We know more about God and the
heavens than we care to tell. And if we introduce a principle and try to
reduce it to the comprehension of the people, there will be some even
among the Latter-day Saints who would be hard to understand. Where is the
divine who knows the least thing about that Being who is the Father of our
Spirits and the author of our bodies? If we know something about him is
there any harm in it? Not a bit. The world of mankind are infidels. We
should all be infidel to every false principle. I am infidel in regard to
many things, but to the truth, wherever found, I am no infidel. The
Christian world is infidel to the truth in a great degree. Why? Because
they know so little of the mind and will of God. Step outside of this
kingdom, and who can tell us the first process towards covering the earth
with the knowledge of God? Who is there that can tell us anything about
that angel whom John saw coming with the everlasting Gospel as recorded in
John's Revelations? I never found any one who could till I saw Joseph
Smith. He could tell me what I had so much desired to learn. What do the
Christian divines know about it even at the present day? If they do know
anything about it I wish they would tell us. But if they do not know, and
will not receive the things of God from those who do know, does not this
make them infidels to the truth?

	My testimony is the positive. I know that there are such cities as
London, Paris, and New York--from my own experience or from that of
others; I know that the sun shines, I know that I exist and have a being,
and I testify that there is a God, and that Jesus Christ lives, and that
he is the Savior of the World. Have you been to heaven and learned to the
contrary? I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and that he had
many revelations. Who can disprove this testimony? Any one may dispute it,
but there is no one in the world who can disprove it. I have had many
revelations; I have seen and heard for myself, and know these things are
true, and nobody on earth can disprove them. The eye, the ear, the hand,
all the senses may be deceived, but the Spirit of God cannot be deceived;
and when inspired with that Spirit, the whole man is filled with
knowledge, he can see with a spiritual eye, and he knows that which is
beyond the power of man to controvert. What I know concerning God,
concerning the earth, concerning government, I have received from the
heavens, not alone through my natural ability, and I give God the glory
and the praise. Men talk about what has been accomplished under my
direction, and attribute it to my wisdom and ability; but it is all by the
power of God, and by intelligence received from him. I say to the whole
world, receive the truth, no matter who presents it to you.

	Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with
it, and see if it will stand the test.

	We preach the Gospel, gather the people of God from all nations
tongues and people, and build up the kingdom of God on the earth, and this
calls for manual labor, the affections of the heart, and the devotion of
all our powers. God bless you. Amen.



                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
            Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, 
                     Sunday afternoon, May 25, 1873.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
         IGNORANCE OF THE WORLD CONCERNING OUR FAITH--CHARACTER 
          OF CHRIST'S TEACHINGS--ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH OF 
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF
         FORMER-DAYS--BELIEF ALONE INSUFFICIENT--EXHORTATION TO 
          THE SAINTS TO LIVE THEIR RELIGION AND TO ACQUIRE ALL 
                            USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.

	I have a few remarks to make to those who do not understand the
doctrine of the Latter-day Saints. Forty-three years have passed away
since this Church was organized in Fayette, Seneca County, in the State of
New York; and for over one forty years, according to the ability which God
has given me, I have traveled and preached enough to extend this Gospel to
the door of every hamlet on this continent if the people had been willing
to receive it; yea more--I have taught the Gospel of life and salvation to
the human family sufficiently, if all had been honest to receive it and
will to carry it to their neighbors, to evangelize the whole earth, and
there need not have been, to-day, one person, heathen or Christian,
ignorant of its principles. But now, I learn from day to day, from week to
week and from time to time that very many people in our own land do not
understand our doctrines, and I am frequently asked the question, while
conversing with people, "Do you believe the Bible?" "Do you receive the
Bible as the word of the Lord?" "Then, you acknowledge the Bible?" &c.
This astonishes me, and the cause of such questions being asked I leave
every person to judge for himself, just as I do with regard to the course
of the children of men in other matters, such as truth, error, religion,
politics, &c. If we were to inquire of strangers, who have lived twenty,
thirty, forty, fifty, or sixty years on the continent of America, and even
in the United States, how it is that they do not know better than to
suppose that the Latter-day Saints reject and do not believe in the Bible,
they would reply, "We do not know, only we have heard os." If you go to
the professed infidel, of any class, and ask him, "Do the `Mormons'
believe in the Bible?"--"Why yes, I have heard them preach, and they
believe the Bible more than the whole Christian world do." Well, where and
through whom does this influence come, which leads people to believe to
the contrary? I will not spend time to answer this, but I will say, that
the Latter-day Saints believe more of the Bible than any other people that
live on the face of the earth that we have any knowledge of.

	What does the Bible teach us with regard to the Christian religion,
faith in God, and in his Son Jesus Christ, who was sent in the meridian of
time to redeem the earth, and all things pertaining to it? I will not take
up the negative side of the question, or tell what other believe; but let
me tell what we believe. In the first place, I will take up the sayings of
Jesus to his disciples on a certain occasion. Said he, "Go ye therefore
into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature; he that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be
damned." I shall not attempt to go into the meaning of this saying in
every particular--time will not permit--but suffice it to say that he that
believeth and is baptized will be saved, and he that believeth not will be
cast off. What promise did Jesus give to his disciples when he sent them
out two by two, to preach? What inducement was there, when the Savior was
upon the earth, to believe in him and his doctrine? We can all read; it
would take too much time to tell. His disciples went out and preached
without purse and scrip, and when they returned, they testifies to Jesus
that they had lacked for nothing. Jesus promised to those who believed,
powers and advantages which unbelievers could not enjoy. We read of
certain men and women in Samaria, who had been taught the Gospel under the
authority of John the Baptist, but they had not received the Holy Ghost;
and we are told that certain Apostles went down from Jerusalem to lay
their hands on these Samaritan believers. There was a man called Simon, a
sorcerer, who had bewitched the people, and seeing that the power which
the Apostles bestowed upon them, by the laying on of hands, was far above
his power--although he could deceive, betray and frighten the people, and
do many things just as the magicians of Pharoah's court did when Moses
went to deliver the children of Israel; said he, "I will give you money if
you will bestow that power on me." The Apostles said to him, "You and your
money perish together." The Apostles laid their hands upon those persons
who had been baptized to John's baptism, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Believers in those days had the power which Jesus promised. They might
take up serpents, and they would not bite them; if they drank any deadly
thing it would not hurt them; if they laid hands on the sick, the sick
would recover. They spake with tongues, they prophecied, they had the
discernment of spirits, and all the various gifts of the Gospel of Christ;
and all of these were beyond the reach of the sorcerer, yet he was far in
advance of the common people in powers of deception. But Jesus promised
his disciples more than any man could possess by the spirit of divination.
When we consider this and realize, if we can realize, that, through the
restoration of the Gospel in our day, all these gifts can be again
enjoyed, it is worthy the attention of every person on the face of the
earth who is capable of receiving truth for truth, light for light, and
intelligence upon intelligence.

	Let me hasten along, and refer to the organization of the ancient
Church. According to the testimony of the ancient Church. According to the
testimony of the Apostle, God set in the Church, firstly, Apostles,
secondly Prophets, thirdly Teachers, then Pastors, and so forth. You
strangers may ask your divines, when you return home, what they believe
about God setting in the Church Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers,
Helps, gifts, divers kinds of tongues, and so on, for the perfecting of
the Saints, and for the edifying of the body of christ, until all come to
a unity of faith and knowledge in Christ Jesus our Lord; and let them
answer the question, then you can judge who it is that throws dust into
the eyes of the people, and is continually telling them that "the
Latter-day Saints deny the Bible;" "the Latter-day Saints are a bad
people;" "the Latter-day Saints are aliens to the government;" "the
Latter-day Saints are rebellious." Ask the divines, "Do you believe in
prophecying, do you believe in Apostles, in baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins, and in the laying on of hands for the reception of the
Holy Ghost? Do you believe in breaking bread continually, as Jesus
commanded his disciples at the last supper, when he brake the bread and
blessed it, and blessed the wine and gave it to all to eat and drink,
saying, `Do this until I come again, for I will drink no more of the fruit
of the vine until I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom?" What
do the world--Christian, Jew and Pagan--believe about these things?
Inquire for yourselves. We Latter-day Saints believe in Apostles and
Prophets. We believe in the Melchisedec Priesthood and in the Aaronic
Priesthood, which God bestowed upon his servants long ago. Moses had all
these doctrines and both these Priesthoods in his possession, and also the
organization of the Church; and with all his power he strove to bring the
children of Israel to a knowledge of the Gospel, but they would not have
Christ.

	I pause here. I was brought up a Christian, very strictly, and was
taught to read the Bible, consequently it is natural for me to believe
it--it is according to my traditions, and also from the spirit of
revelation from God unto myself. In all my teachings, I have taught the
Gospel from the Old and New Testaments. I found therein every doctrine,
and the proof of every doctrine, the Latter-day Saints believe in, as far
as I know, therefore I do not refer to the Book of Mormon as often as I
otherwise should. There may be some doctrines about which little is said
in the Bible, but they are all couched therein, and I believe the
doctrines because they are true, and I have taught them because they are
calculated to save the children of men.

	It is said by the Christian world, by government, philosophers,
statesmen, politicians and ministers, that there is no harm in believing
anything if we do not practice it. But let me ask how can we believe in
Jesus Christ--taking his own words for it--unless we do the works that he
did? Go and read his words for yourselves--"He that believeth in me will
do the works that I do." Did he not say this? How then can we believe in
him without doing his works? Did he inspire his Apostles? Did he inspire
him whom we call St. Paul? Did he inspire John upon the Isle of Patmos?
The Christian world will not deny that he did. While John was upon Patmos,
he had many visions and revelations. He complied these after he returned
from the island, and left them in the possession of his friends; and the
Council which compiled this book--the Bible--brought his revelations into
the catalogue of sacred books. If you will read the Book of Revelations,
you will find that John predicts many things regarding these latter days.
He saw the conduct and doings of the seven angels; and then he says, "I
saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
Gospel to preach to them that dwell upon the earth, saying, `Fear God and
give glory to him who made the heavens, the earth, the seas and the
fountains of water.'"

	By reading the Bible we find that the Gospel is contained not only in
the New Testament but also in the Old. Moses and the Prophets saw and
predicted the apostacy of the Church. They saw that the Lord would strive
with the children of men from time to time, that he would deliver to them
the truth and the Priesthood; they also saw that through the wickedness of
the people they would change his ordinances, break the covenants, and
transgress his laws, until the Priesthood would be taken from the earth,
and its inhabitants be left in apostacy and darkness.

	But how are we to understand this angel referred to by John, when he
comes along? This is an important question. How, in the language of
Scripture, are we to know the voice of the Good Shepherd from the voice of
a stranger? Can any person answer this question? I can, it is very easy.
To every philosopher upon the earth, I say, "Your eye can be deceived, so
can mine; your ear can be deceived, so can mine; the touch of your hand
can be deceived, so can mine; but the Spirit of God filling the creature
with revelation and the light of eternity, cannot be mistaken--the
revelation which comes from God is never mistaken. It is the spirit of
truth, and it testifies of Jesus, of his Father, of the things which God
has done for the children of men, and that which he is now doing. No man
upon the earth can be mistaken when he sees by the eye of revelation, when
Jesus shines upon his understanding by the light of his Spirit. Now, then,
how are we going to know the voice of the Good Shepherd from the voice of
a stranger? Take the words of Jesus. He says, "My sheep hear my voice and
they follow me, a stranger they will not follow." Why? Because they know
not the voice of a stranger. When an individual, filled with the Spirit of
God, declares the truth of heaven, the sheep hear that, the Spirit of the
Lord pierces their inmost souls and sinks deep into their hearts; by the
testimony of the Holy Ghost light springs up within them, and they see and
understand for themselves. This is the way the Gospel should be preached
by every Elder in Israel, and by this power every hearer should hear; and
if we would know the voice of the Good Shepherd, we must live so that the
Spirit of the Lord can find its way to our hearts. I have said to the
Latter-day Saints, many and many a time, and I say to them now, live your
religion, that the Spirit of God may by within you like a well of water
springing up to everlasting life. Suppose I were to give way to the spirit
of the enemy and leave the spirit of the Gospel, then, if you were not
prepared to judge between the voice of the Good Shepherd and the voice of
the stranger, I could lead you to ruin. Be prepared that you may know the
voice when it comes through the servants of God, then you can declare for
yourselves. "This is the word of the Lord." My caution and counsel to the
Latter-day Saints, and to all the inhabitants of the earth is--"Live so
that you will know truth from error.

	But do all the Latter-day Saints live so? Oh no, they do not. Many
fall into error and finally leave the Church. They are led away far from
the truth. They become subject to the ten thousand spirits that have gone
forth into the world, and they are deceived in this, that and the other
things, and like the rest of the world, they do not know how to govern
themselves. They are deceived in their own organization and with regard to
themselves; and there is no man that can know himself unless he know God,
and he can not know God unless he knows himself. The children of men give
heed to the deceiving spirits that are abroad, and that is the cause of
the ten thousand errors, wrongs, sins, and divisions which are in the
world, and for this reason the multitude are unable to distinguish between
the voice of the Good Shepherd and the voice of the stranger. But I will
say that if the Lord has not sent that angel of which John speaks, he will
send him as surely as we live.

	Let me refer to another saying of John: After telling about the angel
flying through the midst of heaven with the everlasting Gospel to be
restored to the children of men, he tells us in his eighteenth chapter and
4th verse--"And I hear another voice from heaven saying, `Come out of her,
my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not
of her plagues.'" This was a proclamation to God's people. Israel is
dispersed among all the nations of the earth; the blood of Ephraim is
mixed with the blood of Ephraim is mixed with the blood of all the earth.
Abraham's seed is mingled with the rebellious seed through the whole world
of mankind, and John saw that a command would go forth warning the
righteous to flee from Babylon, and that command was, "Come out of her, my
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not other
plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven," and so forth. This is a
stumbling block to the religious world of Christendom. They cannot see the
necessity of the gathering, they claim that believers in Jesus can live
their religion and serve the Lord as well scattered as gathered, and that,
in time, by the preaching of the various sects, the world will be
evangelized. The Latter-day Saints believe that all their efforts in this
direction, in the future, will be as they have been in the past--useless;
and that the so-called Christian religion is a failure, so far as
evangelizing the world is concerned. Let the world of mankind look at
Jerusalem for an illustration of its effects. In that city various
Christian sects have their places of worship, and many make yearly
pilgrimages to the places made sacred by the life, death and burial of the
Redeemer. Do these Christians in Jerusalem manifest that love, meekness
and forbearance toward each other which always characterize the true
servants and followers of the Lord Jesus? No, for if it were not for the
Turkish soldiers they would massacre each other every day. That is the
effect the principles which they profess have upon them. And everywhere,
throughout the Christian world, it amounts to little more. Its leaders and
professors cry, "Come to Jesus, Come to the Lord," and do this and do
that, but where do we find such things taught in the New Testament? They
are not there. Who among the writers of the Scriptures declares that God
has taken Apostles and Prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers,
government and helps from his Church? Not one. Is there any declaration or
revelation in modern times to the effect that God has taken the gifts out
of his Church? No. Men have left them, they have wandered from and
forsaken the fold of Christ, they have transgressed the laws and they have
changed the ordinances of his kingdom for the laws and ordinances of men;
and they have broken the everlasting covenant which God, in early age,
made with his creatures.

	Let me say to my hearers, not that I wish to take up the subject of
Celestial Marriage, that if you will search the Scriptures, you will find
that the first curse which came upon the children of Israel, as recorded
in the writing of Moses, was for marrying out of their own families; and
then the Lord, after seeing the hardness of their hearts in despising his
law and his covenants, gave to them a law of carnal commandments, and told
them whom they might not marry. By reading the Scriptures you will find
that the Lord commanded the children of Israel to live by themselves, and
not to mix their seed with the unholy, ungovernable and rebellious seed of
the world. The Lord used to give wives to the children of men, but the
people say, "We do not know about that now, we hardly think it will
answer."

	How are we going to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. Do you
think it is a manual labor? Do you think it will become a political
kingdom? Ask the kings on their thrones, ask potentates and statesmen if
they believe the Bible. If they do, they must believe that the day will
come in which God will revolutionize the earth, to that degree that the
"kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God and his
Christ." If they ever do, there must be a heavy labor to perform, and that
labor is upon the Saints of God, and they must enter into it with heart
and soul. It will be both a manual and a political labor., for all will be
brought into subjection to the law of Christ, that he may come and reign
on the earth, king of nations, as he does king of Saints.

	These subjects could be taken up one by one, and it could be shown
from the Scriptures, precisely the position that will be taken and the
course that must be pursued. I have labored faithfully over forth years to
convince the children of men that God rules in the heavens and that he
will rule upon the earth. Suppose that he ruled to-day, would society be
the worse for it? What think ye? Is there a heaven? Is there a heaven of
heavens? Is there a dwelling place for the Gods and the angels? Do you
think they have their political quarrels there? Do you think they get up
different ones whom they will run for their king, governor, or president?
Do you think there is an opposition ticket there? What do the political,
financial and Christian world think about these things? Do you think that
a few capitalists lock up all the means there and make hard times, so that
the people cannot get a dollar? Do you think there is any backbiting and
false swearing there? Do you think they have courts with unjust judges and
packed juries there? No, every person who believes in the Old and New
Testaments, will say that it is a place of perfection, a place where all
have their rights; a place where there is perfect peace and happiness, and
all join with one heart and voice in ascribing honor, praise and glory to
him who sits on the throne, and the Lamb. This is the effect of God's rule
and government. Would the inhabitants of the world be in a worse condition
than they are now if the Lord were ruler of all the earth? Oh, no. All
will join in wishing for perfection, and in desiring a state of society in
which there would be no jars, no contentions, no poverty, no poor, but all
prepared to go into the highest and most refined society. This it the
belief and doctrine of the Latter-day Saints. Learn everything that the
children of men know, and be prepared for the most refined society upon
the face of the earth, then improve upon this until we are prepared and
permitted to enter the society of the blessed--the holy angels that dwell
in the presence of God, for our God, because of his purity, is a consuming
fire.

	I have spoken longer than the time allotted to me. I can say God
bless you. I pray the people--Saints and sinners upon the face of the
whole earth--to hearken to the truth. Open you hearts to the conviction of
the Holy Spirit upon you. I pray that you who have received the truth may
live in it and abide by it, that you may enjoy the blessings of it and be
prepared for the fullness of the glory of God, that will yet be revealed.
I exhort those who do not believe, to listen to and receive, little by
little, the instructions which God will give, until all the inhabitants of
the earth are prepared for Jesus to come and reign in their midst. 

	God bless you, Amen.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
               Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Friday 
                        afternoon, June 27, 1973.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
           CONTINUED OBEDIENCE TO THE LAWS OF GOD IS NECESSARY 
            TO INSURE A COMPLETE SALVATION TO THE LATTER-DAY 
           SAINTS--THE DISOBEDIENCE OF ANCIENT ISRAEL IS SHOWN 
          AS A WARNING TO THE PRESENT GENERATION OF HIS PEOPLE--
           THE NATURE AND NECESSITY OF THE LAW OF TITHING--THE 
            FEWNESS OF THOSE WHO FAITHFULLY OBSERVE THAT LAW.

	I am very much gratified for the privilege of coming to this place to
see the faces of the Saints, to speak to them and to greet them as a
brother and a friend. If we could see and understand things as they are,
if we could have the vail withdrawn from our eyes and behold the things of
eternity, and the connection and relationship that we sustain to the
eternal worlds, and to heavenly things, our minds would be very much
inspired to speak, sing, pray, listen attentively, meditate upon and
contemplate the wonderful things of God. A great deal is said to the
Latter-day Saints concerning our religion, which does in reality
incorporate and circumscribe the whole life of man. We need teaching. We
are like children with regard to learning. If we could understand the
effects of the fall or of sin upon intelligence, we would see that its
tendency is downward, that it is retrograde in its nature. The things
pertaining to life are of the opposite character--they are exalting,
increasing, multiplying, gaining, receiving a little here and a little
there--our minds and understandings expanding by that which we learn by
reading, by the seeing of the eye and the hearing of the ear.

	The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the revelations which the Lord has
given to his people in the latter days, contain a great deal about the
kingdom of God on the earth. We have also histories of the kingdoms
established by the children of men. From these we learn that a great many
changes have taken place owing to the revolutions that have occurred in
the past and which are still in progress. From our own conclusions on
these matters there is one fact of which we are sensible, and understand
to a certainty--namely, that purity preserves, sustains and increases,
while sin and ignorance, in all their horrid forms, have just the opposite
effect. We need only look at the nations of the earth for confirmation of
these ideas. We need not go far; we may look at the aborigines of our own
country. Why are they in their present condition? There are reasons for
this. They, just as much as we, belong to the human family-- the highest
class of intelligence there is upon the face of the earth. Why are they in
their present degradation? We see them as they are, we see the nations as
they are. Take the Jewish nation, why are they as they are? Is there a
cause for it? There certainly is. We have had a short account from brother
George A. Smith about the present condition of that land and of the
descendants of the ancient worthies to whom it was given. In the nations
of the earth at the present day we see imbecility, slothfulness, and I
will say ignorance with all its attendant crimes and debauchery,
prevailing among the masses of the people., There is a reason for all
this. The time was when nations, now unknown, which once flourished upon
the eastern continent, were intelligent and full of the spirit of thrift
and industry., Who can tell us why they have passed away and are
forgotten. Brother George A. told us this morning, that the place where
the great city of Babylon stood, or where it is supposed to have stood is
now an inaccessible swamp and a desert. Where is the Babylonish nation? We
know nothing about it. Where are the nations of Israel? We hardly know
anything about the, with the exception of the tribe of Benjamin, which
remain scattered among the nations of the earth, desolate and forlorn.
They have been hunted down with dogs, and the time has been when it was
perfectly lawful in some nations for every Christian child who was
disposed to do so to stone a Jew while passing through the streets; and it
is not long since they were not permitted to own a foot of land in any of
the Gentile nations. This is not so now. But what was the cause of all
this? Their history is not lost, neither are they, and the simple reason
they are not is because they were the chosen of the Lord, they were to be
held in remembrance by our heavenly Father. A remnant of the people of
Israel are to be saved, and they will yet be gathered together. But other
nations that existed before the flood, and many before the days of Jesus,
where are they? Who knows anything about them? They are lost as far as
history is concerned; and many people since the days of the Savior have
been blotted from the remembrance of man.

	Here are a people dwelling in these mountains who profess to be the
Saints of the Most High, the beloved of the Lord. They have received his
Priesthood and its keys, the keys of Government, and the plan of the
government of the heavenly hosts, as far as man in capable of receiving
this divine, celestial and holy law. When we contemplate the course of the
Latter-day Saints, we are almost led to inquire what will be their future
history. It is true that we have hope different from those who have lived
before us, but let this people, called Latter-day Saints, be blessed for
twenty years to come as they have been for twenty years to come as they
have been for twenty years past, and the Lord not take them in hand, but
let them take their own course as they have done, and as they are now
doing, although we consider ourselves quite obedient and willing, and we
like to know the mind and will of the Lord, but let us, I say, go on for
twenty years to come, in the same ratio as for twenty years past, and who
among us would hearken to the counsel of God? Let the old stock--those who
have lived in Babylon and who have had their trials in the wicked world,
pass away, let them be taken out of the midst of the Latter-day Saints,
and the young growth that know nothing of the world be left to themselves,
to follow the promptings of their own wills, and what would be their
condition? Would we not see Babylon to perfection? Would we not have all
that the wicked world could desire in our midst, and we delighting
therein? Think of this, and draw your own conclusions. Still we say,
without boasting a bit, that we are the best people there is. This is my
decision. I say that we are the best people there is upon the earth, and
we have nothing to boast of, not the least in the world. Who is there that
hearkens to the will of God, or heeds his voice? Who is there, on the face
of the whole earth, outside of this people, who know the mind and will of
God, or that seek to do his will? It may be said that the whole Christian
worlds are trying to serve the Lord. It is true that many of them confess
him with their mouths, and draw near to him with their lips, but what is
their true condition? Are their hearts bent on doing the will of the Lord,
or are they far from him? Suppose that Peter, whom the Christian world
think so much of, and whose history is contained in the Bible; or James,
or John, or either one of the eight who have written and testified to the
New Testament, or either one of the twelve Apostles chosen by the Savior,
or Jesus himself, were to come to the Christian world, and were to go into
their synagogues, or into the places of worship they have erected, and
which they call after St. James, St. Mark, St. Paul or St. Peter, do you
think that any of these personages would be permitted to proclaim their
doctrines in those buildings? No, not one, and if there were a priest or
divine whom, after hearing the doctrine of Jesus proclaimed, should say,
"I see no harm in this doctrine, it is Bible doctrine," the majority of
the people would say, "We do not want you for our public servant if you
permit this man to enter the pulpit and proclaim his doctrine." This is
all the proof necessary that they would not receive Jesus and his Apostles
in this day, with all their boasted professions of love for his name and
doctrine. If they would receive Jesus they would receive an Elder of this
Church when sent to preach the Gospel to them; if they had been willing to
receive an apostle of Jesus Christ, they would have received your humble
servant. But his we need not talk about.

	What will be the history of the nations of the earth now existing?
Just as fast as time and circumstances will permit they will be blotted
out of existence, and will be forgotten and known no more on the face of
the earth. This would be the fate of the Latter-day Saints if they were to
persist in following the inclinations of their own hearts, for according
to that which they now make manifest, pride, arrogance and covetousness
are increasing in their midst; and any people or nation that gives way to
these evils curtails the measure of its existence, and will soon be
blotted out, and will be known no more for ever, Can we believe all this?
Read the history of the world and you will find that when God has blessed
a people and placed his name upon them, and they afterwards became
disobedient, the whole catalogue of curses pronounced by him upon his
unworthy children, have come upon them and they have been blotted out.
Those who do not profess to know anything of the Lord are far better off
than we are, unless we live our religion, for we who know the Master's
will and do it not will be beaten with few stripes. This is perfectly
reasonable. We cannot chastise a child for doing that which is contrary to
our wills, if he knows no better; but when our children are taught better
and know what is required of them, if they then rebel, of course, they
expect to be chastised, and it is perfectly right that they should be.

	Brother George A. gave us a little this morning with regard to the
law of Tithing. What was the cause of the first, or one of the first,
curses that came upon Israel? I will tell you. One of the first
transgressions of the family called Israel, was their going to other
families or other nations to select partners. This was one of the great
mistakes made by the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they would
go and marry with other families, although the Lord had forbidden them to
do so, and had given them a very strict and stringent law on the subject.
He commanded them not to marry among the Gentiles, but they did and would
do it. Inasmuch as they would not do what he required of them, then he
gave them what I call a portion of the law of carnal commandments. This
law told them what they might and whom they might not marry. It was
referred to by the Savior and his Apostles, and it was a grievous yoke to
place on the necks of any people; but as the children of this family would
run after Babylon, and after the pride and the vanity and evils of the
world, and seek to introduce them into Israel, the Lord saw fit to place
this burden upon them. And another great neglect and infringment of the
law of God by the children of Israel was in relation to their Tithes and
offerings. The law of Tithing was revealed in very early times to the
people of God; but they failed to observe it, and the Prophets whom God
sent to Israel declared that they had transgressed the laws, changed the
ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant. Covenants were made with
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but their descendants broke with them. They
would not observe but they would transgress the laws which God gave unto
them, and they continued to do so down to the days of Malachi. The Lord,
through this Prophet, declared--"This whole nation have robbed me." I also
declare that this whole people, called the Latter-day Saints, are guilty
of the same sin--they have robbed the Lord in their Tithes and in their
offerings. What would the people like? Do they want to know what is done
with the Tithing. If the Lord requires one-tenth of my ability to be
devoted to building temples, meeting-houses, school-houses, to schooling
our children, gathering the poor form the nations of the earth, bringing
home the aged, lame, halt and blind, and building houses for them to live
in, that they may be comfortable when they reach Zion, and to sustaining
the Priesthood, it is not my prerogative to question the authority of the
Almighty in this, nor of his servants who have charge of it. If I am
required to pay my Tithing, it is my duty to pay it. If the question if
asked--"Brother Brigham, do you pay your Tithing?" I can answer will all
propriety in the negative. I have never paid my Tithing, and if I turn to
the right, left, front and rear, I shall seek in vain for a man in this
Church who has paid his Tithing strictly. There is no man who has paid his
Tithing. I have watched the thing closely, and according to my
understanding of the literal meaning, spirit and intent of the term, I am
compelled to come to the conclusion that there is not a man or woman in
this Church who has paid his or her Tithing; and I do not know of an
individual in this Church who has means enough to pay his back Tithing if
it were required of him. I have not; it would required more means than I
have now in my possession for me to do it. Perhaps I may be asked what is
my excuse. I do not know that I have any. I can say, that in the days of
Joseph, when my circumstances were very straitened, I never had $500,
$100, one dollar, fifty cents or twenty-five cents, but what, if it were
wanted, it went as free as a cup of water from a well--Joseph was welcome
to it. Was I tried in this? Yes, for many and many has been the time in my
poverty, when if I had a dollar or fifty cents in my possession I have
thought, "I can buy a pint or a half pint of molasses for my children to
sop their bread in," but it was called for, and it went as free as the
water of the river here would be to a thirsty person. And as for my time,
from the day that I entered this Church until now, I have paid no
attention to any business except that of building up this kingdom. The
question may be asked, "Do you not attend to your own private affairs and
business?" Yes, when I can, but I do not know that I have ever spent one
minute in attending to business belonging to Brigham Young, when the
business of the Church and kingdom of God on the earth required his
attention. Yet I would not say that this is any excuse for not strictly
paying my Tithing. I have paid a great deal of Tithing, more perhaps than
any other man, or any other ten men who were ever in the Church, and yet
my Tithing is not paid. But I pay Tithing, and when the grain upon my farm
ins ripened, or the cattle upon it are matured, I say to my men, "Be sure
and pay the Tithing on whatever we have raised." But in some instances I
have found that it was neglected.

	Suppose we were to say to this people, "Will you pay a little
Tithing?" "Yes, we will pay a little Tithing," How much would you be
willing to pay? Will you pay one dollar to a thousand that you owe of back
Tithing? If you will, we shall almost have more than we know what to do
with. If you pay up a little of this back Tithing, I am going to make a
proposition. Take the people of this one valley, and they are far better
able to build a Temple than the whole of the Saints were when they lived
in the Eastern States. The Saints did not begin to be as able to build a
Temple then as the people of this single valley are now. My proposition
is, if you will go to work and pay up some of your back Tithing, we will
build a Temple up here on the hill; we can select a beautiful site for one
there. We calculate to build many Temples, and we will have one here if
you agree to my proposition.

	If we had a few score thousands of dollars now, we should like to
send for the poor. I am sent to from this town, Mendon, Hyrum, Wellsville,
and from almost every settlement in these mountains, by parties who have
friends in the old country, saying, "Brother Brigham, can you send for my
friends? I will send a hundred dollars; will you put four hundred to that
and send for my friends, there are only five of them?" This may appear
strange, but people dwelling in almost every town in this Territory, are
beseeching me continually to send for their friends. I tell them I will
send for all I can. My general practice has been to pay two thousand
dollars a year to help the poor. I gave only one thousand this year; but
if the people, eery year will give in proportion to what I give, we can
bring the scattered Saints here by scores of thousands. I do not ask the
Latter-day Saints to do that which I do not do, I never did, and as old as
I am now, I expect that if I should see a wagon in my mud, my shoulder
would be first to the wheel to lift it out. When money, good or time has
been wanted to help to roll forth the work, I have taken the lead all the
time and said, "Come, brethren, do as I do."

	But with regard to Tithing, this people will be cursed unless they
stop their nonsense, unless they cease running after the fashions and
folly of Babylon, and put as Tithing that means which is uselessly spent.
How long would it take the Lord to cause the waters of every stream that
runs into this valley to sink down into the earth, and to make the valley
as dry as the Holy Land is to-day. It would take him but a very short
time. He could open up the veins of the earth--the earth is full of them,
and it would want only a little change to open them, and cause the water
of every stream in this valley to sink deep into the bowels of the earth.
How long would it take him to pass this word, and for his angels to come
here and say to the clouds--"Gather no more moisture to shed forth the
dews and the rains on the face of the earth?" All he would have to do
would be to send an angel to perform a little meteorological and chemical
change, and the clouds would gather no more moisture, and no more rain
would fall on the earth. Where would your trees be then? What would become
of your gardens? What would come of the forage on the mountains that our
cattle and sheep feed upon? It would be dried up, become dust, and be
blown into some other country, and the rocks would be left bare, as they
are in some of the eastern lands. All this could be cone very easily. Now
we are in plenty, in the very heart of the luxuries of the world. There is
no place in the world where they are enjoyed in greater profusion than
they are here. Go into boasted France, with its forty millions of people,
and out of this large number not more than eight millions enjoy the luxury
of eating meat; thirty-two millions out of the forty, it is said, never
taste it form year's end to year's end. Go into Italy, and the proportion
of those who never taste meat is far greater than it is in France. Compare
the condition of the people in some of the German States, and in any
nation of the face of the earth that we know anything about, with that of
the people in this Territory, and I will say that the people of these
mountains wallow and revel in luxury, wealth and independence more than
any other people on the face of the earth, and yet we have not a dollar to
pay Tithing! We have to pay the public hands now a certain proportion of
money, and store pay, which is money, but ask the people to pay us a
little money Tithing, and they tell us, "We haven't got any." The cry from
Cache Valley is, "We have no money." It is not so. I will venture to say
that if a fine circus were to come into this town, and stay four nights,
they would take away from five to ten thousand dollars in cash, and go to
the next town it would be the same. I am no telling the hard side of the
question, painting the evil side of the Latter-day Saints. I recollect, a
few years ago, there was a fine circus came to Salt Lake City. I tool it
into my head, a few days before it arrived, to say to some of the
Bishops--"Can you raise us so much money on Tithing? Can not you pay
something, Bishop?" Said one, " I have not a dollar in the world." I would
meet another, and ask him the same question, and I asked them in a way
that they would not mistrust me, but they could not raise a dollar, and I
suppose that they would have been willing to have laid their hands on the
Bible and sworn that they had not a dollar in the world. On the day when
the circus came to the Eighth Ward square, I took the liberty of going
there, and I watched whom came, and I found that some of these very men
who said that they had not a dollar in the world, paid out ten, fifteen,
twenty, and twenty-five dollars to let their families into that circus.
They lied before God, holy angels and the whole heavens, before the
servants of God, and unless they repent they will have their portion in
hell. You need not wonder to see men apostatizing who  have been in the
habit of lying to God, to angels, to themselves, and to their holy
religion. Ask them for a little Tithing, and their answer is--"No, we have
not anything." What do you suppose the Lord thinks about such men? He
thinks they will have their portion with the disobedient. This is the
unfavorable side of the picture. Not but what there is a great many, and
in fact, the greater portion of this people, if they can know the mind and
will of God, will do it. They are told it from day to day and from time to
time on a great many subjects. Bother here and throughout all the
settlements of the Saints we have preached the Word of Wisdom, and the
necessity of letting the fashions of the world alone. We give you the
truth of heaven on the subject--we give it to you just as it is in heaven,
or as it is written there concerning the Saints on earth. With regard to
Tithing, we give you the truth just as it is written in heaven, and just
as you will find it by and by. What object have I in saying to the
Latter-day Saints, do this, that or the other? It is for my own benefit,
it is for your benefit; it is for my own wealth and happiness, and for
your wealth and happiness that we pay Tithing and render obedience to any
requirement of Heaven. We can not add anything to the Lord by doing these
things. Tell about making sacrifices for the kingdom of heaven. There is
no man who ever made a sacrifice on this earth for the kingdom of heaven,
that I know anything about, except the Savior. He drank the bitter cup to
the dregs, and tasted for every man and for every woman, and redeemed the
earth and all things upon it. But he was God in the flesh, or he could not
have endured it. "But we suffer, we sacrifice, we give something, we have
preached so long." What for? "Why, for the Lord." I would not five the
ashes of a rye straw for the man who feels that he is making sacrifices
for God. We are doing this for our own happiness, welfare and exaltation,
ad for nobody else's. This if the fact, and what we do we do for the
salvation of the inhabitants of the earth, not for the salvation of the
heavens, the angels, or the Gods.

	These are a few of my thoughts, and a few items for the people to
receive and hearken to. We have come here to talk to and instruct you, and
to put our faith and our work with yours. Our united purpose is to labor
to build up the kingdom of heaven on the earth, and to overcome every sin,
all wickedness, and the power of Satan, until the earth is renovated,
purified, sanctified and glorified. Amen.



                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
              Delivered in the Bowery, Logan City, Saturday 
                        Afternoon, June 28, 1873.
                       Reported by David W. Evans.
          EXTENSION OF THE UTAH NORTHERN RAILROAD--THE BUILDING 
           OF THE MEETING HOUSE AND OTHER PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS 
        URGED ON THE PEOPLE--FAITH MADE MANIFEST BY WORKS--UNITY 
          IN LABOR AND CO-OPERATION IN ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO 
           THE KINGDOM--LABOR BUILDS UP THE KINGDOM--NUMBER OF 
THOSE IN THE CONGREGATION ACQUAINTED WITH THE PROPHET JOSEPH--EARLY
EXPERIENCE IN THE CHURCH--REWARDS WILL 
         FOLLOW OBEDIENCE--OBJECT OF THE LAW OF TITHING--SERVES 
            THE LORD BECAUSE OF THE PURITY OF REVEALED TRUTH.

	I have a little temporal matter which I wish to lay before the
brethren--something pertaining to our work here for the benefit of the
inhabitants of this valley and other places. It is concerning this
railroad. I wish to speak of this to-day. We should pass it over,
probably, if it were left till to-morrow. I wish the brethren to take into
consideration the benefits that are now and which will be derived by the
building of this railroad. Another item I wish to lay before the brethren
is the putting a road through what is called Bear River Kanyon, this side
of Cottonwood, where the railroad will go. If this could be crowded
through, I am told it would be a saving of about fifteen miles of travel
and climbing some very severe points of the mountains. If the brethren
will take hold, under the direction of some one who may be appointed or
who is already appointed, of the grading of the road, it would be quite an
accommodation to the travel from here to Soda Springs. Get the railroad
graded as far and as fast as possible to carry us on. We would like very
much to hold some meetings north, and we would rather get into a car and
go where we wish than to be traveling along through the dust day after
day, consequently we wish to hurry up this matter as speedily as possible.
The arrangements will be entered into by those who have the railroad in
charge, but I thought would ask the brethren, inasmuch as they wish to
travel north, occasionally, to do themselves and the rest of us the
kindness to get a ride upon a pretty good track. We wish to go to Bear
Lake Valley, over into Rich County, but how shall we go? I understand that
this road up the Logan is impassable, and that the dugway road is very
bad. We have some settlements already on the Soda Springs route, and shall
probably have more, and if we could have the accommodation of traveling on
a pretty fair level road we should be very thankful. I shall leave this
and other matters with you, but I would urge the necessity of building the
railroad as far north as the iron can be obtained. I understand there is
enough now coming to go from here to Franklin, and perhaps a few miles
beyond. When this is completed, the traveling and freighting to the north
will probably go over this line, and the business of the people here will
be increased and the value of the property will be enhanced, and you will
advance in proportion to the abundance of your improvement.

	Another item which I wish to urge upon the people is the building of
this meeting house. We have a bowery here, which is very comfortable to
meet in this warm weather, but when it is windy, stormy, cold or wet, the
people should certainly have a house to meet in, instead of being out of
doors. This, of course, will require labor. If we were to go into details
with regard to labor I think we could show very clearly that the time that
is given to us here is not altogether well spent. We might make a great
many improvements to benefit ourselves, and be none the poorer, but it
would increase our wealth. I think this is apparent to every reflecting
mind. Every improvement that we make not only adds to our comfort but to
our wealth. I wish the brethren to consider this. Not that I wish to take
anything from the minds of the people of the good things that we have
heard since we have been together, and especially from brother Taylor, who
has just spoken. I would not like to take a thought or reflections from
the minds of the people concerning those good things pertaining to the
kingdom of God. But recollect that brother Taylor, in his remarks, brought
the spiritual and the temporal together. They always have been and always
will be together, and by our labor we show to the heavens that we are
willing and obedient servants and handmaids. This gives us a claim to the
blessings which our Father in heaven delights to bestow upon the faithful.
By our works our faith is made manifest, and by them shall we be judged,
and justified or condemned. Then let our works be such as will justify us
and tend to the building up of the kingdom of heaven upon the earth. If we
do this, brethren and sisters, we shall prosper and increase.

	We were talking yesterday about the blessings of the people It
appears to me that they have little idea of the blessings which are in
their possession. Still I am sensible that a great many realize and are
very thankful for them, and they wish to improve their time to the best
advantage. But take us as a people and how strange is the course we
pursue! How inconsistent, inconsiderate and vain are the acts of the
Elders of Israel. Is this the fact? Yes, co-operation was referred to by
brother Taylor. The man or woman who is opposed to this is opposed to God.
So said brother Taylor. I say that they who are opposed to co-operation
are opposed to heaven, to their own welfare, to the welfare of their
neighbors, to truth and to everything that is good. The least thought or
act of an individual who is or can be called a Saint, that militates
against a oneness of feeling and action amongst the Saints is opposed to
everything that is heavenly and good. We do not wish to co-operate in
mercantile affairs only, but we wish to bring the minds of the people to
consider the benefit of uniting and laboring together, to make this long
and strong pull all together, of which brother Taylor spoke. This is an
expression that Brother Joseph Smith frequently used concerning the
oneness of the people. If the Latter-day Saints were to take a course to
alienate their fellowship and feelings one from another, each one saying,
"This is my pile, and I am working to increase it," we should then be in
the position, referred to by brother Franklin D. Richards, this morning,
of the man who said that all the world belonged to the Lord, excepting the
little piece of land he had bought and paid for. How inconsiderate,
inconsistent and unwise, in such a course as this! If we are not one, we
are not the Lord's. We can not do his will, nor be his disciples unless we
are one. We must have the same faith and feelings for the building up of
the kingdom of God, and for the salvation of ourselves and others,
jointly, together, or we shall fail in our attempts to accomplish the work
which the Lord has given us to do. We should consider all these matters.
Now take hold with union and bring the rock, lumber, and all other
material that is necessary, and let the mechanics go to work and put up
this meeting house.

	I do not know who has charge of the building of this store here, but
I am very sorry it does not loom up a little faster. I would like to see
this store finished, the meeting house built, the railroad completed
through here, our roads built through the mountains; I would like to see
your farms fenced up, and to see good building in this and other towns.
Improvement belongs to the spirit and plan of the heavens. To improve in
our minds, to increase in wisdom, knowledge and  understanding, to gather
every item of knowledge that we can in mechanism and in science of every
description, respecting the earth, the object of the organization of the
earth, the heavens, the heavenly bodies--all this is of Heaven, it is from
God; but when a person or a people begin to dwindle, to lessen and to take
the downward course, they are going from heaven and heavenly things. You
have seen this illustrated in those who leave this Church. You have known
men who, while in the Church, were active, quick and full of intelligence;
but after they have left the Church, they have become contracted in their
understandings, they have become darkened in their minds, and everything
has become a mystery to them, and in regard to the things of God, they
have become like the rest of the world, who think, hope and pray that such
and such things may be so, but they do not know the least about it. This
is precisely the position of those who leave this church: they go into the
dark, they are not able to judge, conceive or comprehend things as they
are. They are like the drunken man--he thinks that everybody is the worse
for liquor but himself, and he is the only sober man in the neighborhood.
The apostates think that everybody is wrong but themselves.

	Follow the spirit of improvement and labor. All the capital there is
upon the earth is the bone and sinew of working men and women. Were it not
for that, the gold and the silver and the precious stones would remain in
the mountains, upon the plains and in the valleys, and never would be
gathered or brought into use. The timber would continue to grow, but none
of it would be brought into service, and the earth would remain as it is;
but it is the activity and labor of the inhabitants of the earth that
bring forth the wealth. Labor builds our meeting houses, temples, court
houses, fine halls for music and fine school houses; it is labor that
teaches our children, and makes them acquainted with the various branches
of education, that makes them proficient in their own language and in
other languages, and in every branch of knowledge understood by the
children of men; and all this enhances the wealth and the glory and the
comfort of any people on the earth. But take the other course, and they
become like our savages--they soon forget what they have learned, have no
taste for acquiring knowledge, and lose all their ambition and desire for
improvement. For instance, look at the Jewish nation. Here are the tribe
of Judah in our midst. Do you ever recollect any of them building a house?
Think of it, look around now, and try if you can find any of the sons of
Judah so lost to themselves as to be guilty of making any improvements. I
speak ironically. They will bring something to you to sell it to you, and
get your money if they can, for they are every one of them merchants; but
can you find one of them that tills an acre of ground? Search the world
over, and you will find but few Jewish agriculturists, although there are
millions of Jews scattered through the earth, and many of them occupying
important positions in the learned world; but they are not producers, they
are all consumers. The land of Judea has fallen into disrepute, and it has
become a desert, just through the apostacy of those who once inhabited it,
who had the oracles of God among them. This is the fact. Let the
Latter-day Saints neglect their labor, and they will soon find that they
are declining in their feelings, tastes and judgment for improving the
elements of the earth; hence we say, improve, be industrious, prudent,
faithful, make good farms, gardens and orchards, good public and private
buildings, have the best schools, &c. The world give us the credit of
being the most industrious people on the face of the earth; they say that
the Latter-day Saints in Utah have done more than any other people ever
were known to do in the same time. It is the little union that we have in
our midst that has given this impetus to our prosperity. But we have not
enough union, we have not enough of the spirit of improvement amongst us.
You will see men occasionally here who, so far as the spirit of
improvement goes, are like some old "Mormons" who lived in the days of
Joseph. That is, their bodies breathe, and they move and have a being; but
they died when Joseph died. There has been no spirit of progress or
improvement in them since. As far as regards gathering and organizing the
elements, and making the earth beautiful, these old "Mormons" have no
taste for it, and they see nothing, hear nothing, and know nothing, only
they knew Joseph. Say they, "Oh, I was acquainted with Joseph, I knew
brother Joseph." Ask them, "Are you going to build a house?" "Well, I
don't know; I don't know as I care anything about having any better
house." "Well, but your house is full of bed bugs." "I know it is pretty
bad, but still it is as good as I am, and I don't think I shall try to
build." They died when Joseph died.

	I hear it mentioned here, I think this morning, that we all knew the
character of the Latter-day Saints, and the difficulties and persecutions
they have passed through. It came into my mind at that moment to ask this
congregation how many of them knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet, just to show
what "Mormonism " has accomplished in twenty-eight years. I believe I will
do myself the favor, and gratify myself so far as to ask those of my
brethren and sisters now present, who were personally acquainted with
Joseph Smith, to raise their right hands. (A very few hands up.) There is
a few, but very few, not above one to twenty, and perhaps not more than
one to fifty in this congregation who ever saw Joseph Smith. Now if I were
to ask the boys and girls, and all the young folks present, although your
Sunday schools are not here, who were born in these valleys, to raise
their right hands, I will venture to say that we should find that more
than half this congregation have been born in these mountains. What do
they know about what we passed through in Illinois, Missouri, Kirtland, or
New York State? I will give you one item. I lived close by where these
plates were found. I knew that Joseph found them, from outward
circumstances that transpired at the time. I shall not take time to relate
but a little of the delicate, kind, benevolent, Christian-like, I will say
anti-Godlike feelings of the priests and of the people who professed
Christianity at the time that Joseph organized this Church. The very first
thing that was circulated was this--"Did you hear that Joe Smith and his
followers got together last night, blew out the light, stripped themselves
stark naked, and there they had the holy roll?" This was the story started
by the priests in the neighborhood where the plates were found. In the
Branch were I lived, we had not met together three times before our
beloved, kind, anti-Godlike Baptist priests and people declared that we
made a practice of meeting together, stripping stark naked, and there
having the "holy roll." A great many of you do not understand this term.
It came from the shaking Quakers. I shall not attempt to relate here the
conduct attributed to them, but from that sprang the peculiar phrase I
have mentioned in your hearing this after noon. In a very short time we
were all thieves in the estimation of our so-called Christian neighbors.
Said the priest to a beloved sister--"Sister, did you hear of such a man,
he was a member of our church a few days since, but he has joined old Joe
Smith?" Joseph was then twenty-one or twenty-two years of age, but it was
"old Joe Smith." "Sister, did you hear that such a brother stole a lot of
chickens last night?" Says the sister, "No, can it be possible?" "Well,
they say so," says the priest, and he himself had fabricated the entire
story. This sister would tell it to another, and it would go all through
the neighborhood that such a man, who only a few days before had been
considered by them as good a brother as they had in their church, had
become a chicken thief. But you cannot mention any crime that this people
called Latter-day Saints have not been accused of committing by their
so-called Christian neighbors; and these stories would generally commence
by the priests whispering to some sister--"Did you hear of such and such a
thing?" That was enough, all that was wanted, it became a solemn fact by
the time it passed the third mouth. Now what do the great majority of
Saints know of these things? Nothing, for they have been born since our
arrival here. I need not relate much of my experience in this work,
although I have had a pretty large one. But it is not particularly
profitable to me or to anybody else to relate it. Sometimes it is very
well to relate circumstances that have transpired, to show to the rising
generation what we have passed through and what we have had to contend
with.

	Now, if the brethren will take hold and perform the labors devolving
upon them, they shall be blessed in them. They will increase in health and
in wealth. The Lord will bless the people in proportion as they bless
themselves. If they are faithful in following every requirement, they will
be blessed in their families, and no other people on the earth that we
know anything about are blessed in their families and posterity as the
Latter-day Saints are now. Visit town after town in this Territory and let
the Saints turn out their children neat and clean and what can be said of
them? The Lord blesses them in their families. Let them drive up their
flocks, and what will be said of them? The Lord blesses their flocks in
their folds. See them upon the plains, they are blessed there more than
any other people. Then look at their harvests and their gardens and
orchards, and they are blessed therein more than any people we know
anything about. They are blessed in everything they put their hand to. The
climate of these valleys has been modified and mollified for their sakes.
When we first came here, neither an apple nor an ear of wheat could have
been raised in this valley. But is there a finer valley than this now in
these mountains? No. Is there a finer place for people to live in on this
continent? No. There is not.

	If the people take a course to bring the blessings of heaven upon
them, they will increase in everything. If they refuse obedience to the
holy Priesthood, they will dwindle and go into unbelief and apostacy; they
will be contracted in their views and feelings; the fruit trees will begin
to refuse to bear fruit; our flocks will begin to refuse their increase,
and our fields will refuse to bring forth their crops. I will just make
this statement with regard to the country the plates were taken from, from
which the Book of Mormon was translated. I have helped to harvest wheat
there, that yielded fifty bushels to the acre, or from twenty-five to
sixty bushels. For thirty years past, they have not raised twenty bushels
to the acre; for twenty years past they have not raised fifteen bushels to
the acre, and now, in that country, which once was not surpassed by any
portion of the globe for raising fruit and wheat, not an apple is raised
without a worm in the centre. They have been so for twenty or thirty
years. Their apples are good for nothing. Send them to England as they did
forty or fifty years ago, and they are not marketable; they will bear no
price in comparison to good fruit. Five to ten bushels of wheat to an acre
now. Their peaches have gone, their apples have gone, their plums and
their pears have gone, and that land eventually, unless this government
and the people of the government take a different course towards the
Gospel, that the Lord has revealed in the latter days, will become
desolate, forlorn and forsaken. That is the country I was brought up in,
and with regard to its products, I know about as much as any man that
lives.

	Now brethren and sisters, if we wish the blessings of heaven upon us,
let us be faithful to our covenants and callings, faithful in paying
Tithing, in keeping the word of wisdom and in building Temples. The
Tithing is for the building of Temples. Suppose we build this meeting
house here with Tithing. If the people will give us one-tenth part of that
which is due on their Tithing, we shall have all we need to build their
meeting houses, schoolhouses, and Temples. This may seem strange to some,
and perhaps I look at Tithing different from others, and consider the law
of Tithing different from what others would look at and construe the
meaning of the words concerning the Tithing that the Lord requires in the
latter days. I will sum it up and tell you what my views are. Here is a
character--a man--that God has created, organized, fashioned and
made,--every part and particle of my system from the top of my head to the
soles of my feet, has been produced by my Father in heaven; and he
requires one-tenth part of my brain, heart, nerve, muscle, sinew, flesh,
bone, and of my whole system, for the building of Temples, for the
ministry, for sustaining missionaries and missionaries' families, for
feeding the poor, the aged, the halt and blind, and for gathering them
home from the nations and taking care of them after they are gathered. He
has said, "My son, devote one-tenth of yourself to the good and wholesome
work of taking care of your fellow-beings, preaching the Gospel, bringing
people into the kingdom; lay your plans to take care of those who can not
take care of themselves; direct the labors of those who are able to labor;
and one-tenth part is all-sufficient if it is devoted properly, carefully
and judiciously for the advancement of my kingdom on the earth."

	What little wealth I have got, I have obtained since I have been in
this Church. What I had when I came into the Church I gave away to my
friends. I had no family except two children. I can hardly say that
either, for when I came into the Church I had a wife, but in a very few
months after I was baptized I lost her, and she left me two little girls.
I gave away what I had, and I started to preach the Gospel. I was obliged
to do it, for I felt as though my bones would consume within me if I did
not, consequently I devoted my time to preaching. I traveled, toiled,
labored and preached continually. My own brother Joseph, and myself, were
together a good deal of the time, until we went to Kirtland, to see the
Prophet, and the next year moved up. This it the way I commenced, and when
I gathered with the Saints I was about as destitute as any man that ever
gathered to the gathering place; and that summer brother Joseph called the
Elders together and gave them the word of the Lord never to do another
day's work to build up a Gentile city. I have never done a day's work, nor
an hour's work, from that time to this, to build up a Gentile city, but I
have labored continually to build up the cities of Zion. God has blessed
me with means, and he has blessed me with a family. I made a statement
yesterday, which I can make again with all propriety--that in my judgment
it would take more than I have got to pay my back Tithing, and I have got
as much, probably, as any man in the Church. The Lord has blessed me; he
has always blessed me; from the time I commenced to build up Zion, I have
been extremely blessed. I could relate circumstances of so extraordinary a
character in regard to the providences of God to me, that my brethren and
sisters would say in their hearts, "I can hardly give credence to this."
But my heart has been set in me to do the will of God, to build up his
kingdom on the earth, to establish Zion and its laws, and to save the
people; and I can say truly and honestly that the thought never came into
my mind, in all my labors, what my reward will be, or whether my crown
would be large or small, or any crown at all, a small possession, a large
possession, or no possession. I do not know that I shall have a wife or
child in the resurrection. I have never had any thoughts or reflections
upon this, or cared the first thing about it. All that I have had in my
mind has been that it was my duty to do the will of God, and to labor to
establish his kingdom on the earth. I do not love, serve or fear the Lord
for the sake of getting rid of being damned, nor for the sake of getting
some great gift or blessing in eternity, but purely because the principles
which God has revealed for the salvation of the inhabitants of the earth
are pure, holy and exalting in their nature. In them there is honor and
eternal increase, they lead on from light to light, strength to strength,
glory to glory, knowledge to knowledge, and power to power; and the
opposite reduces any individual or any nation on the earth to imbecility,
ignorance, slothfulness, and to the loathsome state of degradation in
which we see some of the inhabitants of the earth now. It is purely for
the love of holy principles, that will exalt the people, that we may
receive and gain more and more, and keep receiving for ever and ever, that
I serve the Lord, and try to build up his kingdom.

	And when we get through this state of being, to the next room, I may
call it, we are not going to stop there. We shall still go on, doing all
the good we can, administering and officiating for all whom we are
permitted to administer and officiate for, and then go on to the next, and
to the next, until the Lord shall crown all who have been faithful on this
earth, and the work pertaining to the earth is finished, and the Savior,
whom we have been helping, has completed his task, and the earth, with all
things pertaining to it, is presented to the Father. Then these faithful
ones will receive their blessings and crowns, and their inheritances will
be set off to them and be given to them, and they will then go on, worlds
upon worlds, increasing for ever and ever.

	Now, brethren, what do you say, will you do as I want you to? Will
you take hold and build this meeting-house, get this road through and make
a little more improvement, and say we will have no idlers in our midst,
but that every day, every week, every month, shall be devoted to something
that is useful to ourselves and to others? If this is our feeling and our
determination we shall be blessed. I feel to bless you. I pray for you
continually. I never cease to pray for the Saints. I pray the Lord to
inspire the hearts of his people, so that the good may not fall away, but
that they may be preserved in the truth, and that they may learn and
understand it more and more, until their affections are so wedded to God
and his kingdom on the earth, that the revelations of Jesus Christ may be
in them like a well of water springing up to everlasting life. 

	Now, I can say, God bless you, and I pray that you may be blessed;
but I pray you to bless yourselves. Brethren and sisters, let us bless
ourselves, by doing the will of God, then we are right.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
           Delivered in the bower, Logan City, Sunday morning, 
                              June 29, 1873.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
                           THE ORDER OF ENOCH.

	I say to the Latter-day Saints, that the only reason why we do not
take up the subject and enter into the organization of Enoch, or a city of
Enoch, is simply because we have not yet been able to find every item of
law bearing upon this matter, so as to organize in a way that apostates
cannot trouble us. This is the only reason. It is a matter that I am
paying particular attention to, with some of my brethren, to see if we
have skill enough to get up an organization and draw up papers to bind
ourselves together under the laws of the United States, so that we can put
our means and labor together and join as one family. As soon as we can
accomplish this, and get an instrument that lawyers cannot pick to pieces
and destroy, and apostates cannot afflict us, we expect to get up this
institution, and enter most firmly into it.

	Yesterday and the day before I had considerable to say to the
Latter-day Saints, reading the dark side of the page. I will say here, I
am not discouraged with regard to this latter-day work, I am not
discouraged with regard to the Latter-day Saints. If we were to pick and
choose to-day, we should find a large majority of the people called
Latter-day Saints, who are ready and willing, with open hands and pure
hearts, to enter into the Order of Enoch, and to live and die in this
Order. This is my faith concerning the people at large, consequently I am
not discouraged. But there are some who need chastening. We cannot call
names, this will not answer. We cannot tell a man that he is going to
apostatize, but we can chasten him as a member of the Church, not as an
individual. In this capacity, while in public, we do not take the liberty
of chastening an individual. But we can say to the brethren and sisters,
we are encouraged. "Mormonism" is onward and upward, the Gospel that the
Lord Jesus has introduced in the latter days is enjoyed by many, and it is
our life, our joy, our peace, our glory, our happiness, our all; and when
we come to the trying scene, as some call it, of sacrificing our property,
and putting it together for the good of the community, I do not expect the
brethren will receive any more trials than they have heretofore, I do know
whether the sisters will.

	Brother George Q. Cannon says the sister have borne a great deal. So
they have, but if they could only stand in the shoes of their husbands who
are good, true and faithful, they would know that they are by no means
free from perplexities. Just fancy a man with two, three, or half a dozen
of his beloved wives catching him on one side, and before he can take
three steps more, catching him on the other, and "I want his," "I want
that," and "this is not right," and "that is not right," and so on; their
minds just pulled to pieces. I say if the hair is spared on their heads
they may consider that they have got blessed good wives. I have as many
wives as many other men, and I keep my hair yet. But as to trials, why
bless your hearts, the man or woman who enjoys the spirit of our religion
has no trials; but the man or woman who tries to live according to the
Gospel of the Son of God, and at the same time clings to the spirit of the
world, has trials and sorrows acute and keen, and that, too, continually.

	This is the deciding point, the dividing line. They who love and
serve God with all their hearts rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing,
and in everything give thanks; but they who try to serve God and still
cling to the spirit of the world, have got on two yokes--the yoke of Jesus
and the yoke of the devil, and they will have plenty to do. They will have
a warfare inside and outside, and the labor will be very galling, for they
are directly in opposition one to the other. Cast of the yoke of the
enemy, and put on the yoke of Christ, and you will say that this yoke is
easy and his burden is light. This I know by experience.

	God bless you.




                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
            Delivered in the Bowery, at Paris, Oneida County, 
                     Idaho, Sunday, August 31, 1873.
                      (Reported by John Q. Cannon.)
        THE GOSPEL INCORPORATES ALL TRUTH--MODE OF ADMINISTERING 
THE SACRAMENT--ABIDING COUNSEL--HEAVENLY BLESSINGS ARE
CONDITIONAL--PROGRESSIVENESS OF THE WORK--PLURAL
         MARRIAGE--TITHING--TARDINESS OF THE SAINTS IN OBSERVING 
                     PRACTICAL DUTIES--CO-OPERATION.

	The Gospel of life and salvation that we have embraced in our faith,
and that we profess to carry out in our lives, incorporates all truth. We
frequently testify to each other that we know that this Gospel is true;
and as I have a great many times said to those that listen to my
conversation, upon the principles of life and salvation, I believe this
work, I believe this Gospel, I believe this doctrine, that is brought to
us through the Prophet Joseph, in these latter days, in this our time, for
the simplest, plainest and most palpable reasons that can be given. "What
is it?" Why, because it is true. The Gospel that I have embraced
comprehends all truth. "How much of it is true?" All of it. "How much does
it embrace?" All the truth that there is in the heavens, on the earth,
under the earth; and if there is any truth in hell, this doctrine claims
it. It is all the truth of heaven, the truth of God, the life of those
that live forever, the law by which worlds were, are, and will be brought
into existence, and pass from one degree or one state of being to another,
pertaining to the exaltation of intelligence from the lowest to the
highest state. This is the doctrine that the Latter-day Saints believe,
whether they realize it or not. Well, now, upon apostacy. What have the
Latter-day Saints got to apostatize from? Everything that there is good,
pure, holy, god-like, exalting, ennobling, extending the ideas the
capacities of the intelligent being that our heavenly Father has brought
forth upon this earth. What will they receive in exchange? I can
comprehend it in a very few words. These would be the words that I should
use: death, hell and the grave. That is what they will get in exchange. We
may go into the particulars of that which they experience. They experience
darkness, ignorance, doubt, pain, sorrow, grief, mourning, unhappiness; no
person to condole with in the hour of trouble, no arm to lean upon in the
day of calamity, no eye to pity when they are forlorn and cast down; and I
comprehend it by saying: death, hell and the grave. This is what they will
get in exchange for their apostacy from the Gospel of the Son of God. This
is their reward, and it is foolishness, not merely nonsense; a person can
have a little nonsense and pass it over; but this is foolishness. There is
not a particle of good sense about it; not light, no intelligence, nothing
that is ennobling, elevating, cheering, comforting, consoling, that
produces friends, or anything of this kind. I call it foolism; I do it
this time, consequently we will not talk anything about apostacy. 

	When people receive this Gospel, what do they sacrifice? Why, death
for life. This is what they give; darkness for light, error for truth,
doubt and unbelief for knowledge and the certainty of the things of God,
consequently I consider it to be the biggest piece of foolism that can be
hatched up, imagined or entertained, or followed out by any human being,
to leave this Gospel for what they will receive in exchange. So much for
apostacy.

	Now a few words my brethren and sisters, with regard to our position.
There are many in this Church who have been with it a long time. This
Church has been traveling for many years. The time that this Church has
been traveling exceeds the time of the children of Israel in the
wilderness.

	[At this point the water for the Sacrament was blessed.]

	I will give you a word of counsel here with regard to consecrating
the bread and the water, which I want the Saints to remember. When you
[addressing the Bishops and Elders] administer the Sacrament, take this
book [the Book of Doctrine and Covenants] and read this prayer. Take the
opportunity to read this prayer until you can remember it. You cannot get
up anything that is better, and not even equal to it; and when you read
it, read it so that the people can hear you. This is what I wish of you;
it is what is right, and that which the Spirit will manifest to you if you
inquire; and if you cannot commit this prayer to memory, the one that is
given by revelation expressly for consecrating the bread and the wine, or
water if the latter be used, take the book and read until you can
remember. If I were to come here next Sabbath, and see you breaking bread,
would this, that I am now mentioning, be thought of? The people have
various ideas with regard to this prayer. They sometimes cannot hear six
feet from the one who is praying, and in whose prayer, perhaps there are
not three words of the prayer that is in this book, that the Lord tells us
that we should use. This is pretty hard on the Elders, is it not? If they
could remember one thousandth part of that which they have heard, it would
have sanctified them years and years ago; but it goes in at one ear and
out at the other--it is like the weaver's shuttle passing through the web.

	Now I am going to tell you some more things, and how long will you
remember them? Until you get home? Perhaps there are a few who will
remember a few words of counsel that I shall give to you. I am here to
give this people, called Latter-day Saints, counsel to direct them in the
path of life. I am here to answer; I shall be on hand to answer when I am
called upon, for all the counsel and for all the instruction that I have
given to this people. If there is an Elder here, or any member of this
Church, called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who can
bring up the first idea, the first sentence that I have delivered to the
people as counsel that that is wrong, I really with they would do it; but
they cannot do it, for the simple reason that I have never given counsel
that is wrong; this it the reason. This people, called Latter-day Saints,
have been laboring now over forty years. Forty-three years last April, the
sixth day, this Church was organized. People have been coming into it,
many have gone out of it, many have died in the faith; but there is quite
a number in it that are now living who have held on to it from the
beginning, and they have been striving to increase in their knowledge, to
enlarge their faith and their comprehension of the principles of eternal
life; but it is slow progress. I wonder if there are any particular
sisters here who have lived humble and faithful, to whom the Spirit has
manifested that their progress and advancement are slow: "That by the
Spirit that I receive from the Lord, the Spirit that is given to me at
times, I an see that we are far in the rear of what we should be, and we
have not come up to that status of perfection and purity that the
Latter-day Saints should reach." Are there any sisters who have
experienced any such thing? Are there any Elders who can bear witness to
these things? I expect there are. I expect there is any number of sisters
in this Church who can bear witness to this, and testify that the people
called Latter-day Saints are very tardy in the practice of the things of
God.

	Now with regard to the blessings. There are blessings that the Lord
proffers to his people. Has he any conditions? This is the question. The
blessings that the Lord wishes to bestow upon his people in the latter
days, as he did upon them in former days, are they proffered to the people
on any conditions whatever, or is it the voluntary act upon the
involuntary people? Are they given to us whether we want them or not?
whether we will enjoy them or not? or whether we will profit by them or
not? How is this, Latter-day Saints? Is this the way the Lord does? You
and I understand this. Every blessing the Lord proffers to his people is
on conditions. These conditions are: "Obey my law, keep my commandments,
walk in my ordinances, observe my statues, love mercy, preserve the law
that I have given to you inviolate, keep yourselves pure in the law, and
then you are entitled to these blessings, and not until then." Now, is
this not the fact? I leave it to you. You have the Old and the New
Testament, from which we can learn doctrine. You have the Book of Mormon
to read, from which we can learn doctrine. You have the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants, which is more especially necessary to this generation. It
does not contain different doctrine to the Book of Mormon and Testaments.
It is explanatory of these three books, corroborates the doctrine that is
taught in them, and points out the path for this people to walk in to-day,
so that we may not err, but know how to order our lives from morning till
evening, from evening till morning, from Sunday morning till Sunday
morning again, from New Year to New Year, and every day of our lives. The
doctrine that the Lord has taught us and given to us through his servant
Joseph, points out the path for us to walk in, and, while walking in this
path, we do not lose sight of one iota of the Gospel, but you must hold it
secure, and always keep it before you by preserving those laws and
ordinances, and continuing to hold them precious. If the Saints will do
this, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, the Spirit of our Father and God will
enlighten their minds and bring to their remembrance things that
transpired in the past, and things to come to pass in the future, and they
may lay a foundation for everlasting life and eternal lives in the
celestial kingdom of our God. You may obtain these blessings by keeping in
mind and observing the principles, doctrine, and the laws and statues that
are delivered to the people of God for their edification, for their
perfection, for their comfort and consolation, to prepare them for
entering into the celestial kingdom. If any profess to live in the
observance of these principles, and do not enjoy the spirit of revelation,
they deceive themselves. No person deceives the Lord. Every individual
that lives according to the laws that the Lord has given to his people,
and has received the blessings that he has in store for the faithful,
should be able to know the things of God from the things which are not of
God, the light from the darkness, that which comes from heaven and that
which comes from somewhere else. This is the satisfaction and the
consolation that the Latter-day Saints enjoy by living their religion;
this is the knowledge which every one who thus lives possesses.

	These are the books, the Old and New Testament, the Book of Mormon
and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and we take all that has been said
to us by the Spirit of Truth, bring it together, live to it, and this
brings us into a condition that we have fellowship with the Father and
with his Son Jesus Christ, and the people of Christ are cleansed from all
sin, walk in the light and no more in darkness. We have received in the
first place the first ordinances pertaining to the Gospel that jesus
introduced, that have been sent to the earth for the salvation of the
children of men. Before the ordinances are performed, however, the people
hear the name of Christ declared; Jesus is preached to the people; faith
springs upon the hearts of the people. We the people believe. The Spirit
of Truth bears witness to our spirits that this is correct. This is the
Christ; he is the Savior of the world; and we begin to have faith in him;
and when we begin to have faith in him, and believe on him, and the Father
who sent him, we begin to look around ourselves and say: "Why is it that
we saw nothing so familiar and perfect years ago? All this is familiar and
plain and simple. How is this? They that declare Christ to us, are they
ready to teach us." "Yes, certainly." "Do you believe?" "Yes." "Do you
wish to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?" "Yes." "Do you wish to
enter into his family?" "Yes." "Do you wish to belong to this quorum of
disciples?" "Yes." "Is there anything for me to do to get there?" says the
candidate. "Yes, certainly," says the Elder. "Well, what is it?" "To go
down into the waters of baptism, this is the first ordinance, and be
baptized by one having authority."

	Well, now, this people have received all this. They have been
convicted of the truth, they have believed the truth, they have repented
of their sins, they have received baptism for the remission of their sins,
and the next ordinance or blessing--the laying on of hands, so that they
may receive the Holy Ghost. What accompanies this Holy Ghost? I have been
telling you: it brings to our remembrance things past, present, and
future, and dwells upon the things of God. Here are the ordinances, and we
have commenced to obey them. We have the promise of receiving blessings if
we hold on to the faith, and not turn away from this principle; and
although temptation may present itself to us, we will resist it, and we
will cling to the things of God, and believe on his promises, and will ask
the Father in the name of Jesus to help us to overcome these temptations,
and we will free ourselves from this darkness, we will break the chain of
doubt and unbelief, and we will emerge into the full faith of the Lord
Jesus. When temptations come to you, be humble and faithful, and
determined that you will overcome, and you will receive a deliverance, and
continue faithful, having the promise of receiving blessings. What are
these blessings? 

	There is a variety of blessings; a different blessing being probably
given to one, two, three or four of this congregation. Thus, one will have
faith to lay hands upon the sick and rebuke disease, and drive it from the
person afflicted. Many may receive this blessing of faith, the gift of
healing. Some may receive faith to the discerning of spirits; they can
discern the spirit of a person, whether it is good or evil. They have such
power, that when a person enters this congregation they can tell the
spirit of such person; then they have received the gift of discerning of
spirits. Some may receive the gift of tongues, that they will get up and
speak in tongues, and speak in many other languages beside their mother
tongue, the language that they were brought up in, that they were first
taught, and be able to proclaim the Gospel of life and salvation that all
men could understand it. These are the blessings; but others might receive
the gift of prophecy, get up and prophecy what is to befall this nation,
what will befall this or that individual, and what will befall the
different nations of the earth, etc. Now, after naming some of the
blessings, I want to come to something else, and draw a line for the
Latter-day Saints to walk up to.

	Suppose that we hear the name of the Savior declared to us, that he
is the Savior of the world, and by his death atoned for the sins of every
man, and we believe that this is the fact; but instead of inquiring, "Is
there anything for me to do? is there any labor for me to perform?" when
we get home we sing and say, "I thank God, and I am satisfied." When the
Elders says, "You must be baptized for the remission of sins," and we say,
"Oh, no, we have received the Spirit of Truth, there is no need of
baptism. We have received all that is necessary. The Spirit of Truth is
given to us; we acknowledge the Savior, and we rejoice in him, and we will
not be baptized for the remission of sins," are we entitled to have hands
laid upon us for the reception of the Holy Ghost? No; every one comes to
this conclusion. Suppose that we make ourselves satisfied with what we
have received, and we can say that Jesus is the Christ--"Yes, I believe
that he is the Christ; but I don't see the use of any of these
ordinances," are we entitled to the Holy Ghost? No. Are we entitled to
faith to heal the sick? No. Are we entitled to receive the spirit of
prophecy? No. Are we entitled to the gift of speaking in, or the gift of
the interpretation of, tongues? No. Are we entitled to the gift of the
discerning of spirits? No. Are we entitled to any power or blessing that
the Lord has promised to his disciples: that if anybody administered
poison to them, it should not harm them, and if their pathway were marked
in the midst of serpents, they could take up serpents and they should not
hurt them? Are we entitled to this protection? What is the answer of the
Latter-day Saints? My brethren and sisters, answer this question in your
own minds. Are we entitled to the blessing of the holy Gospel unless we
obey the ordinances thereof, and all the commandments and laws and
requirements that are laid down for us to obey? Now I know that every
Latter-day Saint will come to the same conclusion that I do--that if we
did not obey, we would not be entitled to any of these blessings from our
Father. There is not a Latter-day Saint but who comes to the same
conclusion as myself--that we would not merit, we would not be entitled
to, we could not claim at the hand of our God those blessings that he has
promised through obedience to his Word. Could we be called the people of
God? We would be in the path of disobedience. We would be in the path that
leads to death. We would be in the broad road that millions are walking in
to death. Now, every one of us comes to this conclusion.

	This people I say are very tardy. I will ask you a question, and I
will let you answer it in your own minds, for you know, and I am satisfied
that the answer I shall give will satisfy the Saints. Can we stand still,
receive so much pertaining to the blessings of the kingdom of God, receive
so much knowledge, just so much wisdom, just so much power, and then stop
and receive no more? How is this, Latter-day Saints? Your answer will be
precisely like mine--I can answer with you all. This people must go
forward or they will be backward. Will all answer this question the same
say? Will the same conclusion be in the mind of every Latter-day Saint,
that this work is a progressive work, this doctrine that is taught the
Latter-day Saints in its nature is exalting, increasing, expanding and
extending broader and broader until we can know as we are known, see as we
are seen? That is the answer of the Latter-day Saints.

	We will say we have received a great deal; very much instruction have
we received. But there are keys to open up other ordinances which I will
mention. Do you recollect that in about the year 1840-41, Joseph had a
revelation concerning the dead? He had been asked the question a good many
time; "What is the condition of the dead, those that lived and died
without the Gospel?" It was a matter of inquiry with him. He considered
this question not only for himself, but for the brethren and the Church.
"What is the condition of the dead? What will be their fate? Is there no
way to-day by which they can receive their blessings as there was in the
days of the Apostles, and when the Gospel was preached upon the earth in
ancient days?" When Joseph received the revelation that we have in our
possession concerning the dead, the subject was opened to him, not in full
but in part, and he kept on receiving. When he had first received the
knowledge by the spirit of revelation how the dead could be officiated
for, there are brethren and sisters here, I can see quite a number here
who were in Nauvoo, and you recollect that when this doctrine was first
revealed, and in hurrying in the administration of baptism for the dead,
that sisters were baptized for their male friends, were baptized for their
fathers, their grandfathers, their mothers and their grandmothers, &c. I
just mention this so that you will come to understanding, that as we knew
nothing about his matter at first, the old Saint recollect, there was
little by little given, and the subject was made plain, but little was
given at once. Consequently, in the first place people were baptized for
their friends and no record was kept. Joseph afterwards kept a record, &c.
Then women were baptized for men and men for women, &c. It would be very
strange, you know, to the eyes of the wise and they that understood the
things pertaining to eternity, if we were called upon to commence the work
that we could not finish. This, therefore, was regulated and all set in
order; for it was revealed that if a woman was baptized for a man, she
could not be ordained for him, neither could she be made an Apostle or a
Patriarch for the man, consequently the sister are to be baptized for
their own sex only.

	This doctrine of baptism for the dead is a great doctrine, one of the
most glorious doctrines that was ever revealed to the human family; and
there are light, power, glory, honor and immortality in it. After this
doctrine was received, Joseph received a revelation on celestial marriage.
You will recollect, brethren and sisters, that it was in July, 1843, that
he received this revelation concerning celestial marriage. This doctrine
was explained and many received it as far as they could understand it.
Some apostatized on account of it; but others did not, and received it in
their faith. This, also, is a great and noble doctrine. I have not time to
give you many items upon the subject, but there are a few hints that I can
throw in here that perhaps may be interesting. As far as this pertains to
our natural lives here, there are some who say it is very hard. They say,
"This is rather a hard business; I don't like my husband to take a
plurality of wives in the flesh." Just a few words upon this. We would
believe this doctrine entirely different from what it is presented to us,
if we could do so. If we could make every man upon the earth get him a
wife, live righteously and serve God, we would not be under the necessity,
perhaps, of taking more than one wife. But they will not do this; the
people of God, therefore, have been commanded to take more wives. The
women are entitled to salvation if they live according to the word that is
given to them; and if their husbands are good men, and they are obedient
to them, they are entitled to certain blessings, and they will have the
privilege of receiving certain blessings that they cannot receive unless
they are sealed to men who will be exalted. Now, where a man in this
Church says, "I don't want but one wife, I will live my religion with
one," he will perhaps be saved in the celestial kingdom; but when he gets
there he will not find himself in possession of any wife at all. He has
had a talent that he has his up. He will come forward and say, "Here is
that which thou gavest me, I have not wasted it, and here is the one
talent," and he will not enjoy it, but it will be taken and given to those
who have improved the talents they received, and he will find himself
without any wife, and he will remain single for ever and ever. But if the
woman is determined not to enter into a plural marriage, that woman when
she comes forth will have the privilege of living in single blessedness
through all eternity. Well, that is very good, a very nice place to be a
minister to the wants of others. I recollect a sister conversing with
Joseph Smith on this subject. She told him:"Now, don't talk to me; when I
get into the celestial kingdom, if I ever do get there, I shall request
the privilege of being a ministering angel; that is the labor that I wish
to perform. I don't want any companion in that world; and if the Lord will
make me a ministering angel, it is all I want." Joseph said, "Sister, you
talk very foolishly, you do not know what you will want." He then said to
me:"Here, brother Brigham, you seal this lady to me." I sealed her to him.
This was my own sister according to the flesh. Now, sisters, do not say,
"I do not want a husband when I get up in the resurrection." You do not
know what you will want. I well this so that you can get the idea. If in
the resurrection you really want to be single and alone, and live so
forever and ever, and be made servants, while others receive the highest
order of intelligence and are bringing worlds into existence, you can have
the privilege. They who will be exalted cannot perform all the labor, they
must have servants and you can be servants to them.

	The female portion of the human family have blessings promised to
them if they are faithful. I do not know what the Lord could have put upon
women worse than he did upon Mother Eve, where he told her: "Thy desire
shall be to thy husband." Continually wanting the husband. "If you go to
work, my eyes follow you; if you go away in the carriage, my eyes follow
you, and I like you and love you; I delight in you, and I desire you
should have nobody else." I do not know that the Lord could have put upon
women anything worse than this, I do not blame them for having these
feelings. I would be glad if it were otherwise. Says a woman of faith and
knowledge, "i will make the best of it; it is a law than man shall rule
over me; his word is my law, and I must obey him; he must rule over me;
this is upon me and I will submit to it," and by so doing she has promises
that others do not have.

	The world of mankind, the world of man, not of woman, if full of
iniquity. What are they doing? They are destroying every truth that they
can; they are destroying all innocence that they can. Priest and people,
governors, magistrates, kings, potentates, presidents, and political world
and the religious world, are on the highroad to eternal misery. There are
exceptions. There are honest persons wherever there is an honest
principle. If the men of the world would be honest and full of good works,
you would not see them living as they do. And the women are entitled to
the kingdom, they are entitled to the glory, they are entitled to
exaltation if they are obedient to the Priesthood, and they will be
crowned with those that are crowned.

	When Father Adam came to assist in organizing the earth out of the
crude material that was found, an earth was made upon which the children
of men could live. After the earth was prepared Father Adam came and
stayed here, and there was a woman brought to him. Now I am telling you
something that many of you know, it has been told to you, and the brethren
and sisters should understand it. There was a certain woman brought to
Father Adam whose name was Eve, because she was the first woman, and she
was given to him to be his wife; I am not disposed to give any farther
knowledge concerning her at present. There is no doubt but that he left
many companions. The great and glorious doctrine that pertains to this I
have not time to dwell upon; neither should I at present if I had time. He
understood this whole machinery or system before he came to this earth;
and I hope my brethren and sisters will profit by what I have told them.

	Now we have been administering the sacrament here to the people, the
bread and the water. It is to refresh our minds and bring to our
understand the death and sufferings of our Savior. Is there any
commandment with regard to this matter? Yes, there are laws concerning it.
You take this Book [the Book of Doctrine and Covenants] and you will read
here that the Saints are to meet together on the Sabbath day. It is what
we call the first day of the week. No matter whether it is the Jewish
Sabbath or not. I do not thing there is anybody who can bring facts to
prove which is the seventh day, or when Adam was put in the garden, or the
day about which the Lord spoke to Moses. This matter is not very well
know, so we call the day on which we rest and worship God, the first day
of the week. This people called Latter-day Saints, are required by the
revelations that the Lord has given, to assemble themselves together on
this day. How many go riding or visiting, or go anywhere but to meeting,
on the Sabbath day. It is probably not so here, but in Salt Lake City, as
a general thing, Sunday is made a holiday for riding and visiting, &c. In
this commandment we are required to come together and repent of our sins
and confess our sins and partake of the bread and of the wine; or water,
in commemoration of the death and sufferings of our Lord and Savior. I
will ask the Latter-day Saints if you are entitled to these blessings
unless you keep the Sabbath day. Now, what do you say? Why, every
Latter-day Saints would answer we are not entitled to the blessing of
partaking of the emblems, or symbols, of the body and the blood of Christ
unless we observe his law. All the Latter-day Saints will answer this
question with me, just as I do, because it is right. There is a great deal
delivered to this people; they have received a great deal--those blessings
pertaining to being baptized for the dead, celestial marriage and many
others, and they should value them, and live so as to enjoy them.

	There has been considerable said here with regard to the law of
Tithing that we received years and years ago. Now, I venture to say, that
if we except some very poor men and very poor women in the Church, who
thing they have paid their mites promptly and punctually, there is not a
man that has paid his Tithing. Now, this may sound strange; for some thing
they have paid pretty well. To draw this matter out and show you how I
feel upon the subject of Tithing, I have not time. But I will say a few
words about some things that have been alluded to by my brethren who have
spoken to you. The Lord requires one-tenth of that which he has given me;
it if for me to pay the one-tenth of the increase of my flocks and of all
that I have, and all the people should do the same. The question may
arise, "What is to be done with the Tithing?" It is for the building of
Temples to God; for the enlarging of the border of Zion; sending Elders on
missions to preach the Gospel and taking care of their families. By and by
we shall have some Temples to go into, and we will receive our blessings,
the blessing of heaven, by obedience to the doctrine of Tithing. We shall
have Temples built throughout these mountains in the valleys of this
Territory and the valleys of the next Territory, and finally, all through
these mountains. We expect to build Temples in a great many valleys. We go
to the endowment house, and before going, we get a re commendation from
our Bishop that we have paid our Tithing. We wish it was so. I do not want
to accuse the brethren; but if your consciences and my conscience does not
accuse us, why, I will not accuse you. When you give a certificate or
letter for a man to have a woman sealed to him, and he full of sin and
iniquity, is not such a certificate false? If we inquire of such, "Do you
want to have another wife sealed to you?" "Yes." "Where is your wife?"
"Why, she has left me." "Why? Because you are so full of the devil that
she cannot live with you, and the Bishop will give a certificate for you
to get another. They also want to be baptized for their dead friends when
they have not paid their Tithing. I do not want to accuse anybody; but I
do not think this to be right. If the Lord will receive the people, if the
Lord will accept of their labors, and will honor and bless them, and say
that their officiated for their dead friends shall be sealed in the
heavens and it shall be recorded by his angel, and in the day of the
resurrection it shall be accounted unto them for righteousness, I am
willing, I have not a word to say against it.

	Now, then, we have received these ordinances, the doctrine the Lord
has revealed for the salvation of the dead; the doctrine that we have
received for the exaltation of men and women, which I could tell you a
great deal about if I had time; but there is only a little time and I want
to say a few things to bring your minds directly to our present condition.
You read in the Doctrine and Covenants with regard to the building up of
the kingdom of God, the order of Enoch, &c. I am anxious in my feelings to
get the Latter-day Saints to begin where the Lord wanted them to begin,
when he commenced to build up his kingdom; that is that we are to submit
ourselves to the direction of our Bishops, or men who shall be appointed,
who shall dictate them in the things pertaining to life, so that they may
be the means in the hands of the Lord of accomplishing the work that he
required at our hands. I had it in my mind to ask if we are not a slow,
tardy people; but I would like to see the order of Enoch introduced. If I
had the privilege that was legal, the legal right, I should have had some
of the brethren and sisters organized together and bound with bonds that
cannot be broken; but I cannot do this at present; for we desire to
commence this on a foundation that cannot be broken up and destroyed.

	Brethren, if you will start here and operate together in farming, in
making cheese, in herding sheep and cattle and every other kind of work,
and get a factory here and a co-operative store--I have been told there is
no co-operative store here--get a good co-operative store, and operate
together in sheep-raising, store-keeping, manufacturing and everything
else, no matter what it is, by and by, when we can plant ourselves upon a
foundation that we cannot be broken up, we shall then proceed to arrange a
family organization for which we are not yet quite prepared. You now,
right here in this place, commence to carry on your business in a
co-operative capacity. In every instance I could show every one of you
what a great advantage would be gained in working together; I could reason
it our here just how much advantage there is in co-operation in you
lumbering and in your herding. You have men here, I suppose, who have had
an arm shot off; they cannot go into the canyons and get out wood.
Another, perhaps, has had a leg cut off; he cannot run here and there like
some of you; but he can do something; he will make a first-rate shopman,
and at keeping books, perhaps, he will be one of the best. He cannot take
the scythe and mow; he cannot attend to a threshing machine; he cannot go
into the woods lumbering; he could not hear well,--but he could go into
the factory, and he can do many things. Well, we can do this and keep up
co-operation, an, by and by, when we can, we will build up a city after
the order of Enoch. And I will tell you, women will not be let into that
city with Babylon upon their backs, nor men either. But we will make our
own clothing, we will make our own fashions, we will do our own work. I
can take fifty men who have not a cent, and if they would do as I would
wish them to do, they would soon be worth their thousands, every one of
them. We desire to go into this order. In it we would not lack means, we
would always have something to sell, but seldom want to buy. This will be
the case if we make our own clothes, &c.

	Another thing I want you to observe in all these settlements, and it
is one of the simplest things in nature; I want you to be united. If we
should build up and organize  community, we would have to do it on the
principle of oneness, and it is one of the simplest things I know of. A
city of one hundred thousand or a million of people could be united into a
perfect family, and they would work together as beautifully as the
different parts of the carding machine work together. Why, we could
organize millions into a family under the order of Enoch. Will you go into
the co-operative system? Will you pay your Tithes? Will you take care of
your hay? Bishops, will you take care of the Tithes? I have scarcely seen
a good stack of Tithing hay until within the last two years. Is it right,
to let hay that is brought in as Tithing go to waste? "Well, but," says
one, "I don't know what to do with it." Got o work, and put it into a
shape that it will last one year, five years, ten years; it will be wanted
by and by. There is about sixteen thousand dollars, I learn from the
trustees, or unpaid Tithing, in this valley. Go to work and build a
meeting-house, and then school-houses. Go to work and start some schools,
and instead of going to parties to dance and indulge in this nonsense, go
to school and study; have the girls go, and teach them chemistry, so that
they can take any of these rocks and analyze them--tell the properties and
what they are. I don't suppose there is a man here who can tell these
properties. The sciences can be learned without much difficulty. Instead
of going "right and left, balance all, promenade," go to work and teach
yourselves something. Instead of having this folly, I want to have schools
and entertain the minds of the people and draw them out to learn the arts
and sciences. Send the old children to school and the young ones also;
there is nothing I would like better than to learn chemistry, botany,
geology, and mineralogy, so that I could tell what I walk on, the
properties of the air I breathe, what I drink, &c.

	I will say to you, my brethren and sisters, I bless you. I bless you
according to the Priesthood that I hold and the keys thereof. I bless you
in the name of Jesus Christ. Now will you live your religion? We had some
talk yesterday about your President; I pray you, Mr. President, under
brother Rich, to live your religion; and I pray the Saints to live their
religion, and I do ask from day to day, in the name of Jesus Christ, and I
direct the Latter-day Saints, to live their religion, and I pray you in
Christ's stead to live your religion so as to enjoy the spirit of
it.--Amen.


                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
              Delivered at Franklin, Cache County, Thursday 
                       evening, September 4, 1873.
                    (Reported by JohnJohn Q. Cannon.)
             ORDINANCES THAT CAN ONLY BE ADMINISTERED IN THE 
                         TEMPLE--ENDOWMENTS, ETC.

	We have taken you a little by surprise, brethren and sisters, in
coming in to your town to-day. This is in consequence of its being so
stormy where we have been, and we though we would not venture to drive
from Soda Springs through to Logan in two days. By taking more time, we
though we would have an opportunity of stopping in the settlements and
having meetings. I will talk to you a few moments, then I will retire to
my rest, and not stay here during the meeting. I fell very wearied; but I
was quite unwell when I left home, and our journey has been quite
fatiguing.

	The remarks that I shall make toyou this evening will be upon the
salvation of the people. There are a few ideas that I will relate to you,
that the brethren and sisters should understand. There are many of the
ordinances of the house of God that must be performed in a Temple that is
erected expressly for the purpose. There are other ordinances that we can
administer without a Temple. You know that there are some which you have
received--baptism, the laying on of hands, the gifts of the Holy Ghost,
such as the speaking in and interpretation of tongues, prophecying,
healing, discerning of spirits, etc., and many blessings bestowed upon the
people, we have the privilege of receiving without a Temple. There are
other blessings that will not be received, and ordinances that will not be
performed according to the law that the Lord has revealed, without their
being done in a Temple prepared for that purpose. We can, at the present
time, go into the Endowment House and be baptized for the dead, receive
our washings and anointing, etc., for there we have a font that has been
erected, dedicated expressly for baptizing people for the remission of
sins, for their health and for their dead friends; in this the Saints have
the privilege of being baptized for their friends. We also have the
privilege of sealing women to men, without a Temple. This we can do in the
Endowment House; but when we come to other sealing ordinances, ordinances
pertaining to the holy Priesthood, to connect the chain of the Priesthood
from father Adam until now, by sealing children to their parents, being
sealed for our forefathers, etc., they cannot be done without a Temple.
But we can seal women to men, but not men to men, without a Temple. When
the ordinances are carried out in the Temples that will be erected, men
will be sealed to their fathers, and those who have slept clear up to
father Adam. This will have to be done, because of the chain of the
Priesthood being broken upon the earth. The Priesthood has left the
people, but in the first place the people left the Priesthood. They
transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broke the everlasting
covenant, and the Priesthood left them; but not until they had left the
Priesthood. This Priesthood has been restored again, and by its authority
we shall be connected with our fathers, by the ordinance of sealing, until
we shall form a perfect chain from father Adam down to the closing up
scene. This ordinance will not be performed anywhere but in ta Temple
neither will children be sealed to their living parents in any other place
than a Temple. For instance, a man and his wife come into the Church, and
they have a family of children. These children have been begotten out of
the covenant, because the marriages of their parents are not recognized by
the Lord as performed by his authority; they have, therefore, to be sealed
to their parents, or else they cannot claim them in eternity; they will be
distributed according to the wisdom of the Lord, who does all things
right. When we had a Temple prepared in Nauvoo, many of the brethren had
their children who were out of the covenant sealed to them, and endowments
were given. Then parents, after receiving their endowments, and being
sealed for time and all eternity, and they have other children, they are
begotten and born under the covenant, and they are the rightful heirs to
the kingdom, they posses the keys of the kingdom. Children born unto
parents before the latter enter into the fullness of the covenants, have
to be sealed to them in a Temple to become legal heirs of the Priesthood.
It is true they can receive the ordinances, they can receive their
endowments and be blessed in common with their parents; but still the
parents cannot claim them legally and lawfully in eternity unless they are
sealed to them. Yet the chain would not be complete without this sealing
ordinance being performed.

	Now, to illustrate this, I will refer to my own father's family. My
father died before the endowments were given. None of his children have
been sealed to him. If you recollect, you that were in Nauvoo, we were
very much hurried in the little time we spent there after the Temple was
built. The mob was there ready to destroy us; they were ready to burn our
houses, they had been doing it for a long time; but we finished the Temple
according to the commandment that was given to Joseph, and then took our
departure. Our time, therefore, was short, and we had no time to attend to
this. My father's children, consequently, have not been sealed to him.
Perhaps all of his sons may go into eternity, into the spirit world,
before this can be attended to; but this will make no difference; the
heirs of the family will attend to his if it is not for a hundred years.

	It will have to be done sometime. If, however, we get a Temple 
prepared before the sons of my father shall all have gone into the spirit
world if there are any of them remaining, they will attend to this, and as
heirs be permitted to receive the ordinances for our father and mother.
This is only one case, and, to illustrate this subject perfectly, I might
have to refer to hundreds of examples for each case.

	With regard to heirship, I can not enter into all the matter
to-night. The subject would require a good deal of explaining to the
people, consequently, I will pass over it at present. I can merely say
this,  however, that we see that the Lord makes his selection according to
his own mind and will with regard to his ministers. Brother Joseph Smith,
instead of being the first born, was the third son of his father's family
who came to maturity, yet he is actually the heir of the family; he is the
heir of his father's house. It seems to us that the oldest son would be
the natural heir; but we see that the Lord makes his own selection. There
are some inquiries now with regard to officiating in ordinances, which I
wish to answer. Some brethren here are anxious to know whether they can
receive endowments for their sons or for their daughters. No, they cannot
until we have a Temple; but they can officiate in the ordinances so far as
baptism and sealing are concerned. A man can be baptized for a son who
died before hearing the Gospel. A woman can be baptized for her daughter,
who died without the Gospel. Suppose that the father of a dead son wishes
to have a wife sealed to his son; if the young woman desired as a wife is
dead and have a mother or other female relative in the Church, such mother
is the heir, and she can act in the sealing ordinances in the stead of her
daughter. But if the young woman desired as a wife have no relative in the
Church, to act on her behalf, then the mother of the young man can be
baptized for her, and act as proxy for her in the sealing ordinances. We
can attend to these ordinances now before the Temple is built here; but no
one can receive endowments for another, another, until a temple is
prepared in which to administer them. We administer just as far as the law
permits us to do. In reality we should have performed all these ordinances
long ago, if we had been obedient; we should have had Temples in which we
could a tend to all these ordinances. Now, the brethren have the privilege
of being baptized for their dead friends--when I say the brethren, I mean
the brethren and sisters--and these friends can be sealed.

	For instance, a man and his wife come into the Church; he says, "My
father and mother were good people; I would like to officiate for them."
"Well, have you any other friends in the Church?" "Nobody but myself and
my wife." Well, now, the wife is not a blood relation, consequently she is
not in reality the proper person, but she can be appointed the heir if
there are no other relatives--if there are no sisters, this wife of his
can officiate for the mother; but if the man has a sister in the Church,
it is the privilege and place of the sister of this man, the daughter of
those parents that are dead, to go and officiate--be baptized, to go and
be sealed with her brother for her father and mother. If this man and
woman have a daughter old enough to officiate for her grandmother, she is
a blood relation, and is the heir, and can act; but if there is no
daughter, the man's wife can be appointed as the heir.

	I want to say a few words with regard to other operations. In the law
that the Lord has revealed he require obedience. I do not know of one
ordinance but what there are laws connected with it, and they cannot be
disregarded by the Saints and they be blessed as though the laws were
observed. We are required to believe in God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ as our Savior; we are required to repent of our sins; then we have
the privilege of entering in through the door of baptism and going into
the house of God. There is another commandment that the Lord has given--it
is that they must have hands laid on them that they may receive the Holy
Ghost and the gifts and graces that the Lord has for his children; but if
we are not baptized, we are not entitled to the other blessings. If we do
not believe in the first ordinance we cannot receive the second. If we do
not go forth and be baptized for the remission of sins, we are not
entitled to the Holy Ghost and its blessing through the law or the
requirements of heaven to the children of our Father. Now, as to the
requirements, we will ask, "Do you know the law? Should you keep the law?"
Yes, certainly you do know by the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which is
for us, and the New and Old Testament; these are a foundation and contain
the first laws that have been given. We have them now in our possession.
Then the Book of Mormon contains the same. The Book of Mormon contains the
same plan of salvation that the Lord requires the world to listen to, and
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants is given for the Latter-day Saints
expressly for their everyday walk and actions. Now, for instance, the
Latter-day Saints are required to go to meeting on Sunday. How many are
there that come to these meetings and repent of their sins, confess their
sins and partake of the Sacrament of our Savior and testify by these acts
that they are actual believers? Do we keep the Sabbath, brethren and
sisters? Do we deal justly one with another? Those things are required of
us. Do we walk humbly before our God? Do we permit ourselves to speak evil
of the anointed of the Lord. Do we permit ourselves, brethren, to take the
name of the Lord in vain? It is certainly written that we should not do
it; that we should not falsify, lie, cheat, etc. Now all these requirement
are made of us. We are required to pay Tithing, we are required to deal
justly one with another and be honest in our dealing; and all these
requirements which I need not repeat over to you, you read and you
understand them. Now are we entitled to the blessings of the house of God
if we keep the commandments he has given to us? Yes. If we observe his
precepts and do them, are we entitled to these blessings? Yes. Are we
entitled to them if we do not keep the commandments? No, we are not.
Brethren go and get their endowments, and they get a recommendation so as
to go into the house of the Lord. Now you go to the Bishop and enquire
strictly as to some of these brethren; "Does such a brother pay his
Tithing? Is he faithful and industrious?" "Well, no." "Is he honest in his
dealings?" "Well,  I guess he means to do right." "Does he always speak
the truth?" "Well, I cannot say that he does exactly." "Does he drink
liquor?" "Well, yes, sometimes he does. Yes, I think he does, although I
never saw him drunk." "Does he take the name of the Lord in vain?" "Well,
I don't know, I have heard that he does swear sometimes." "Does he quarrel
with his wife?" "I don't know; I understand, however, they do not live
very happily together." This man probably wants another wife. Is he
entitled to these blessings." He pays a little Tithing, perhaps, but he
says he is going to pay it in full; and the Bishop says: "He has been
teasing me a long time for a recommendation." "But why did you give it to
him?" I will answer this. " I had to give it to him to get rid of him, so
that he won't tease me any more." This is the answer: Now ask yourselves,
my brethren and sisters, is he entitled to the blessings that the Lord has
for his faithful children?

	Be faithful and obedient to the few words that I have said to you,
with regard to the ordinances, etc., and what we can do and what we cannot
do. I said but a few words, but they are enough.

	I will say to you, may the Lord bless you--peace be to you. I am glad
that I am able to be here; there are others here who will speak to you. I
will tell you honestly I do not feel wee; I do not feel pleased; it is not
gratifying to me when I hear of those who profess to be Latter-day Saints,
living short of their privileges and duties; but when I hear of men and
women living up to the privileges that the Lord has for them, it endears
them to me, and I delight in them; and I can say that I continually pray
for the Latter-day Saints, that the Lord will bless and preserve us, that
we may be saved in the kingdom of God. This is my constant prayer, and I
say God bless you. Amen.


                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
        Delivered in the Meeting-house in Nephi City, Juab County,
                    Saturday Morning, April 18, 1874.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
 CEASE TO BRING IN AND BUILD UP BABYLON--SEPARATE YOURSELVES FROM SINNERS
      AND FROM SIN--HAVE NOT COME WITH ANY NEW DOCTRINE--WE MUST BE
    ONE--WITHOUT WORKS IT CANNOT BE PROVED THAT FAITH EXISTS--THE TIME
   COME TO ORGANIZE THE SAINTS--THE TIME AND ENERGIES OF THE SAINTS ALL
     THAT IS WANTED--GEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES OF PROF. MARSH--SCIENTIFIC
            DEMONSTRATION OF THE TRUTH OF THE BOOK OF MORMON.

	I am thankful that I enjoy the privilege of meeting with the Saints
here this morning.  While I attempt to speak, I pray that I may have the
spirit of the holy Gospel, and have strength to proclaim its teachings to
my own and to your satisfaction.  I also pray that you may give strict
attention.  This prayer is offered to you, my brethren and sisters.  Pray
for the Spirit to open your minds, enlighten your understanding,
strengthen me, and so help me, that I may speak the words of truth to you,
and that your hearts may be prepared to receive them.

	My remarks this morning I design as a text for my brethren and
sisters to speak and act upon.  We have not come to you with any new
doctrine, nor with a new Bible, not by any means.  Yet the doctrine we are
now preaching, in order to bring about a union among the Saints, seems to
be about as new to them as the preaching by the elders when they first
came to their several neighborhoods and called upon them to hear and obey
the first principles of the Gospel of Christ.  I can say, with all
thankfulness and gratitude, that we have never seen the day, from the time
we first became acquainted with Joseph and the Church and kingdom of God
upon the earth, when the hearts of the people were so well prepared to
receive the greater blessings of the kingdom as they are now.  We are
happy in saying this, for it is true; this is encouraging, and fills me
with hope and consolation, that, after laboring and toiling with Joseph,
and since his death, to unite the Latter-day Saints, this is the first
time that we have seen that we can bring their hearts into a union.  This
should be encouraging to each and every Latter-day Saint, and should teach
us that the Lord is merciful to us, that he still remembers us, that he is
sending forth his voice--the voice of his Spirit, into the hearts of his
people, crying unto them--"Stop!  Stop your course!  Cease to bring in and
build up Babylon in your midst."  It is the duty of each and every one of
us to reflect upon the office and calling we possess, and see whether we
are doing the will of the Lord, and if we are not, we should stop and
begin anew to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth.

	I will now read a portion of Scripture from the 14th chapter of the
Revelations of John, beginning at the 6th verse:  "And I saw another angel
fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto
them that dwell on the earth, and to every nations, and kindred, and
tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to
him; for the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made
heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."  I will also
read from the 18th chapter of Revelation, commencing at the 4th verse: 
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my
people, that ye receive not of her plagues.  For her sins have reached
unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."

	I will ask the Latter-day Saints, Do we, as a people, believe that
the angel referred to in the 6th verse of the 14th chapter of John's
revelation, has flown through the midst of heaven, that he has been to
earth, called upon Joseph, delivered the revelation of the Lord, restored
the Priesthood, &c.?  Do we, as Latter-day Saints, believe that this angel
has been to earth, and that he has committed the Gospel unto the children
of men?  We certainly should not be here to-day, if we did not believe
this, and that, too, with all our hearts.  This is the answer given, for
himself and herself, by every Latter-day Saint, "We believe, most firmly,
that the Gospel has been revealed in these last days unto and through
Joseph Smith the Prophet; that the Priesthood and its keys were bestowed
upon him, and through him upon others; and that the proclamation has gone
forth to the nations of the earth--"Come out of her, my people," &c., as
mentioned in that portion of Scripture contained in Revelations, 18th
chap, and 4th verse.

	Has this proclamation been heard by any of the inhabitants of the
earth?  Yes, the Latter-day Saints most assuredly believe that this
Scripture was fulfilled in the rise of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.  By and by the cry will be, as prophesied by John the
Revelator, "Babylon is fallen."  This is in the future; but this people
believe that the voice of the angel has been heard, calling upon the
honest in heart in every nation, to come out from confusion and discord,
and from the transgressions of the children of men.  The cry has come to
them--"Separate yourselves from sinners and from sin."  If we, as a
people, had not believed this, we should not have been here this day.  "Be
not partakers of her sins, lest ye receive of her plagues, for her sins
have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."  This
we believe, consequently I have to say to the people, we have not come
with any new doctrine; we have believed this ever since we were baptized
for the remission of sins.  Have the people come out from the nations? 
Yes.  Have we separated ourselves from the nations?  Yes.  And what else
have we done?  Ask ourselves the question.  Have we not brought Babylon
with us?  Are we not promoting Babylon here in our midst?  Are we not
fostering the spirit of Babylon that is now abroad on the face of the
whole earth?  I ask myself this question, and I answer, Yes, yes, to some
extent, and there is not a Latter-day Saint but what feels that we have
too much of Babylon in our midst.  The spirit of Babylon is too prevalent
here.  What is it?  Confusion, discord, strife, animosity, vexation,
pride, arrogance, selfwill and the spirit of the world.  Are these things
in the midst of those called Latter-day Saints?  Yes, and we feel this.

	I now ask my brethren and sisters who enjoy the Spirit of the Lord,
if we have not traveled as far as we should travel on this road--the high
road to destruction, the great highway, the broad gate through which so
many pass?  The gate is wide, the way is broad, and many there be that go
in thereat; and many calling themselves Latter-day Saints are scrambling
to see how quick they can get in.  The spirit of confusion is in the midst
of this people, and we have traveled this road just as far as we can
travel it and be Saints.  Is this the experience of the Latter-day Saints? 
I can answer that it is; and now, that the Lord is moving upon his
servants to bring the Saints to a oneness, there is a spirit resting upon
them, and if you talk with them, they will say, at once, "Yes, this is
right, we must be one.  This is the doctrine that Joseph taught and the
revelations that were first given through Joseph were for the Church to
gather together.  We were then commanded to come out from the wicked and
to consecrate what we had, lay it at the feet of the Bishops, receive our
inheritance, improve thereupon, and be one--be as the family of heaven
upon earth."  This is the spirit of the people, and they say:  "Thank the
Lord, I have prayed for this for years and years.  I have looked for and
expected it, and I am exceedingly thankful it has come."

	I will now quote another portion of Scripture, which I think you are
pretty well acquainted with, if you read the Bible.  It is one of the last
petitions that the Savior presented to his Father in heaven, while he was
upon the earth--a short prayer which he made on behalf of his disciples. 
He had but very few, for, notwithstanding his many miracles and wonderful
works, very few seemed to cling to and have confidence in him at all times
and under all circumstances; but there were a few who wished to and who
did remain with him until his death, that is they stood a little way off;
they said--"We are going to see what they are going to do with him."  But
before Peter denied him, and before he was taken by the soldiers, he
offered a brief, simple prayer to his Father.  He has been talking with
and exhorting his brethren, and showing them the necessity of living
according to the faith that he had taught them, and he offered up this
petition--"Father, make these my disciples one, as we are one, I in thou,
thou in me, and I in them, that we may all be one; and I pray not for
these only, but for all who believe on me through their testimony."  This
is a simple prayer.  Did he who offered it mean anything, or did he not? 
If he meant anything, what did he mean?  How much did he mean, and how did
he calculate his disciples to construe this short prayer in their lives,
in their walk, faith and practice after he was taken from them?  How far,
how much and wherein did he want them to be one?  Can any of you show to
us exactly what he meant?  If you say he meant that every one who believed
on him should be one in their belief, that is sectarianism.  Take the
mother Church--the "Holy Catholic Church"--and the prayer of its members
is that all may be Catholics:  "Father, I pray thee to make the people all
holy Catholics."  This is the faith and prayer of the Catholics, and the
meaning they give to the petition of Jesus.  The same with the Calvinists;
and when the present themselves before the throne of grace, the burden of
their petition is--"I pray thee, Father, make these people one as we are
one; influence them to leave the Catholic Church, to revolt and come out
from that wicked mother, that wicked harlot, that wicked Church, and
declare themselves believers in that pure and holy doctrine that God has
decreed all things that take place."  Go to those who believe in the
doctrine of freewill, which, you know, comprehends many of the so-called
Christian societies of the world, and they come up with a double and
twisted storm--"God Almighty, make them all Methodists!  Yes, Lets all be
Methodists."  I pray thee, Father, to take away the vail from the minds of
this people, that they may see it is free grace and free will!  God be
praised, lets all be Methodists."  This is how the sectarians explain and
define the meaning of that memorable prayer of the Savior that his
followers might be one; and you will excuse me for my manner of
illustrating it--I did this to illustrate facts just as they are.

	Did Jesus mean this, or did he not?  Had he any allusion whatever to
one hero on the right, and to another on the left, each crying--"Lo! here
is Christ, and lo! there is Christ, He is not yonder?  And another one
point this way, and another that way, and so on to every point of the
compass?  What does all this portray before the mind of the rational
being, the philosopher, one who has the spirit of revelation, and who
understands the words of life and has the keys of life to the people; and
to all who believe in the revelations of the Lord Jesus in the Latter
days?  Confusion upon confusion, discord, strife, animosity, vexation,
perplexity, warring to the knife and slaying each other.  Oh, the number
of Christian wars there have been upon the face of the earth!  We can very
readily and truthfully say that true Christians--the members of the true
Church of Christ on the earth--never take the sword unless to defend
themselves.

	Brethren and sisters, we want to understand what the Savior meant
when he prayed that his disciples might be one.  One in faith?  Yes.  One
in doctrine?  yes.  One in practice? Yes.  One in interests?  Yes.  One in
hope?  Yes, and all concentrated in the kingdom of God on the earth and
the establishment thereof, the fulfillment of the Scriptures, the
gathering of the Saints, and the salvation of the inhabitants of the
earth.  This is the oneness and the union the Savior meant.  Let me here
ask the question, Did the Savior design that we should be one with regard
to Faith in him, repentance of sin, baptism for the remission thereof, the
imposition of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, the gifts and graces
of the Spirit of the Lord, that there might be in the Church first
Apostles, then Prophets, pastors, teachers, helps, governments,
diversities of tongues, the gift of prophecy, the gift of discernment of
spirits; also the gift of Faith, so that if poison be administered it
should not hurt the believer; and if there should be a necessity to take
up serpents, it should be done without danger?  Yes, all this is included
in the oneness prayed for by the Savior; and some of the gifts I have
enumerated have been witnessed by most of us.  I myself have seen
rattlesnakes handled as you would handle a piece of rope.  I remember one
night, when going to Missouri, in the year 1834, I was spreading our
blankets on the tall prairie grass, which was pretty thick and heavy, that
a rattle-snake was under my hands and warned me of his presence by his
rattles.  I called to one of the brethren who was helping, and turning
back the blanket, said to him--"Take this snake and carry it off and tell
it not to come back again; and to say to its neighbors do not come into
our camp tonight, lest some one might kill you."  He took up the snake and
carried it off several rods from the camp, and told it to stay away, and
to tell its neighbors not to come into the camp, for they might get killed
if they did.  Many such circumstances have transpired in the experience of
the Elders of this Church, but we need not stop to relate them, for it is
well known that the gifts of the Gospel are in this Church, such as
healing, faith, speaking with tongues, discerning spirits, prophecy, &c.,
and I need not dwell upon them now.

	I will now ask the question, where is the individual who can draw the
line and show us that, when Jesus prayed that his disciples might be one,
he meant a oneness only in spiritual things, and that it was not to extend
to temporal affairs?  Will any of you draw the line and tell us?  For I am
certain that I have not wisdom enough to define the line between spiritual
and temporal things.  I know nothing about faith in the Lord, without
works corresponding therewith; they must go together, for without works
you can not prove that faith exists.  We might cry out, until the day of
our death, that we love the Savior, but if we neglected to observe his
saying he would not believe us.  We have his own words to prove this. 
There were a great many who pretended to think considerable of him while
he was here in the flesh; but he said to his disciples--"If you love me,
keep my commandments."  This was the proof he demanded, then works and
faith went together.  The same principle holds good with parents and
children.  If any of you have a child which says--"I love you, mamma, Oh,
I love you dearly;" you, to test the sincerity of the child's professions,
say:  "Well, then, my child you will desist from doing that which
displeases me.  Come here, and I will give you a little work to do;" or,
"I wish you to sit down on that chair, and let that crockery alone;" or,
"Do not tear up that cloth, my daughter; if you love me, come and sit down
by my side."  "Oh, I love you dearly," says the little girl, but she keeps
tearing up the cloth, or sticking pins and needles into the flesh of other
children.  "Mamma, I love you most dearly."  "Well, then," says mamma,
"you must not afflict or give pain to your sister, or your brother; you
are naughty to do so, and you must stop this mischief."  But the child
continues her naughtiness, still declaring that she loves her mother,
though she will not do one thing her mother wishes her to do.  Such a
child needs chastisement; if soft words will not answer, severity must. 
Is not this a fact?  You have older children who profess to be very fond
of you; they will say:  "Father, I think everything of you," and yet they
will take a course that is grievous, annoying and disagreeable, and quite
contrary to your feelings and wishes.  Will a father believe the
professions of such children?  Not much, I think.  To use another
comparison:  Suppose a young lady dearly loves a young gentleman, who
states to others that he is equally fond of her, and would be very glad to
express to her his feelings, but he never calls to see her; not though he
may declare to others how much he loves her, the young lady will say--"I
do not believe a word of it, for I know that he would make it known to me,
if he did."  He might declare until doomsday, that he loved her, but,
unless he told her so and proved it by his works, she would say--"That is
all folly, he does not mean what he says."  Neither will you or I believe
that anybody loves us and wishes to promote our joy and comfort, so long
as that person acts contrary thereto; neither will Jesus.  And unless
these Latter-day Saints stop now, and go to work and prove by their acts
that they are the disciples of the Lord Jesus, He will spew them out.

	We have gone just as far as we can be permitted to go in the road on
which we are now traveling.  One man has his eye on a gold mine, another
is for a silver mine, another is for marketing his flour or his wheat,
another for selling his cattle, another to raise cattle, another to get a
farm, or building here and there and trading and trafficking with each
other, just like Babylon, taking advantage wherever we can, and all going
just as the rest of the world.  Babylon is here, and we are following in
the footsteps of the inhabitants of the earth, who are in a perfect sea of
confusion.  Do you know this?  You ought to, for there are none of you but
what see it daily; it is a daily spectacle for your eyes and mine, to see
the Latter-day Saints trying to take advantage of their brethren.  There
are Elders in this Church who would take the widow's last cow, for five
dollars, and then kneel down and thank God for the fine bargain they had
made.

	I have come to this conclusion, which I have preached for years and
years and years, and Joseph preached it up to the time of his death, that
the people must leave Babylon and confusion behind them, and be the
servants and handmaidens of the Lord; they must be His family.  They have
gathered out from Babylon, and they must prepare themselves to stand in
holy places, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man.  I have been
watching and waiting, just as steadily, and as earnestly and faithfully as
ever a mother watched over an infant child, to see when this people would
be ready to receive the doctrine, or the first lessons or revelations
given when the center stake of Zion was first located to consecrate their
property, and be indeed the servants and handmaidens of the Lord, and
labor with all their hearts to do His will and build up His kingdom on the
earth; and I have never seen the time when we could organize one little
society, or one little ward; but, thank God, the time has come, the Spirit
of the Lord is upon the people.

	Is it a new doctrine to us that God's people should and must be one
in everything?  It is an old doctrine; shall I say it is as old as the
hills, as old as the mountains, as old as this world?  Yes, I can say it
is as old as my Father is heaven; it is an eternal doctrine; it is from
eternity to eternity.  Ask yourselves the question, Do you expect to go
the heaven when you depart this life?  "Yes, yes, I am going to the
Paradise of God;" I am going to dwell with the Saints of the Most High in
the presence of the Father and the Son."  How many interests will there be
there?  How many locations, or central places of deposit for the
affections, labors and wealth of all who dwell there?  All in one, all for
God, all for his glory and his kingdom, and the extension of his dominions
through the immensity of space, kingdoms on kingdoms, every heart and
every breath, every voice and every eye, and every feeling for the glory
of God.  Then ask ourselves,--Is the Lord going to have a Church upon the
earth?  Is the Lord going to have a kingdom on the earth?  Certainly,
Daniel saw this in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and gave a description, or
rather a hint, in regard to the establishment of that kingdom, when the
kingdoms of this world would be handed over to the Saints of the Most
High, and they would possess the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom
for ever and ever.

	Are we going to enter into the kingdom?  Are we going to be prepared
for the coming of the Son of Man?  Are we gong to be prepared to enter
into the fullness of the glory of the Father and the Son?  Not so long as
we live according to the principles of Babylon.  Now we are, every man for
himself.  One says:  "This is my property, and I am for increasing it." 
Another says:  "This is mine."  Another:  "I will do as I please; I will
go where I please and when I please; I will do this, that, or the other;
and if I have a mind to raise grain here and take it to market and give it
away, it is none of your business."  It will be said to all such persons,
who profess to be Latter-day Saints:--"I never knew you; you never were
Saints."

	Now I wish to give you a little of our late experience with regard to
the Savior and his doctrines.  We have organized in this United Order,
commencing at St. George.  A thousand thoughts rise in my mind, looking at
the subject generally.  "St. George!  Are you going to sent me down to St.
George?  Why, it is like sending me out of the world!"  But I must not
talk about this:  suffice it to say that St. George is one of the most
beautiful places on this little farm--this world that we occupy--this
little farm of the Lord's, one of the choicest places on the face of the
earth.  I see more wealth in that small place than in any other location,
of its size, in this Territory, or in these mountains; and I always have.

	We have organized a small Branch there, or, rather, I may say a
tolerably large one.  I preached a good deal in St. George.  It seemed to
be the only place we could begin our work; they were the only people we
could organize; but we did organize there.  God designs to make the people
of one heart and one mind from Monday morning to Monday morning again, and
that everything the do on the earth shall promote His cause and kingdom,
and the happiness and salvation of the human family.  "Well," said they,
"we do not understand; we believe we ought to be one, and that we ought to
go into the order of Enoch.  We understand very well that Enoch was so
pure and holy that his city was taken, and the saying went abroad that
Zion is fled.  This we believe as firmly as you can."  Then some others
would say, "There will not be one ward organized after the brethren go
over the rim of the basin."  We organized every ward or town south of the
rim of the basin, and left them in tolerably good working order, so far as
they had advanced.  The only trouble with them was, "they did not
understand."  They would say, "It is right, and the Scriptures tell us
about it; but we do not understand the mode of its operation."  One man
came to me, and old "Mormon," whom I have known over forty-two years, just
as we were organizing and said--"Brother Brigham, I have preached for you
all the time.  I did the same for brother Joseph.  Brother Joseph preached
this doctrine; is it not strange that the people do not see it?"  "Then,"
said I, "you are ready to put down your name?"  His answer was--"I will
think about it."  You do not fully understand your own faith, nor the
doctrines you preach to the people, if you do not understand this
doctrine; and are not as ready to enter it as you would be to lay down
this mortal body and enter heaven if God should call you, or to do any
other duty.  Suffice it to say, God will establish this order on the face
of the earth, and if we do not help Him, others will, and they will enjoy
the benefits of it.

	When we came this side the rim of the basin, we found the people more
willing than south of the rim of the basin to come forward and organize,
for they felt that we have traveled as far as we can on our present road,
without going to destruction.  One Bishop wrote to me--"Please come and
organize us.  I am glad you are coming this way, we want to be organized. 
I know that we have to consecrate to somebody, and I would rather
consecrate to the Lord than to the devil.  We have to consecrate to one or
the other, and very soon too."  He is a very good Bishop; he is full of
the spirit of this work, and can not keep from talking about it.

	We now want to organize the Latter-day Saints, every man, woman and
child among them, who has a desire to be organized, into this holy order. 
You may call it the Order of Enoch, you may call it co-partnership, or
just what you please.  It is the United Order of the Kingdom of God on the
earth; but we say the Order of Enoch on the same principle you find in the
revelation concerning the Priesthood, which, to avoid the too frequent
repetition of the name of the Deity, is called the Priesthood after the
order of Melchisedic.  This order is the order of heaven, the family of
heaven on the earth; it is the children of our Father here upon the earth
organized into one body or one family, to operate together.

	As individuals we do not want your farms, we do not want your houses
and city lots, we do not want your horses and your cattle, we do not want
your gold and your silver, nor anything of the kind.  "Well, then, what do
your want?"  We want the time of this people called Latter-day Saints,
that we can organize this time systematically, and makethis people the
riches people on the face of the earth.  If we are the people of God, we
are to be the richest people on the earth, and these riches are to be held
in God, not in the devil.  God tells us how we may accomplish this, as
plainly and as surely as he told Joshua and the people of Israel how to
cause the downfall of the walls of Jericho.  They were to march around the
walls once a day for seven days, then seven times in one day, and the last
time they went round the walls they blew their horns with all their might,
and down fell the walls of Jericho.  We do not understand all about this,
if we did, we should understand that it was as simple as any of the acts
of the Lord:  as simple as being baptized for the remission of sins.  We
want now to organize the people.  Says one--"Don't you want my money and
my goods?"  We want you to put them into the kingdom of God, into the
vaults that are prepared, into the archives, the safe, the institution to
help to increase means for the kingdom of God on the earth.  And what are
we to have when we enter this order?  What we need to eat, drink and wear,
and strict obedience to the requirements of those whom the Lord sets to
guide and direct; that our sisters, instead of teasing their husbands for
a dollar, five dollars, twenty-five dollars, for a fine dress, bonnet, or
artificials for themselves or their daughters, may go to work and learn
how to make all these things for themselves, being organized into
societies or classes for that purpose.  And the brethren will be organized
to do their farming, herding and raising cattle, sheep, fruit, grain and
vegetables; and when they have raised these products, every particle be
gathered into a storehouse or storehouses, and every one have what is
needed to sustain him.  But the people will stop going here, there, and
yonder, and saying--"I am after the gold,"  "I am after the silver," or
this, that and the other.  They will stop this folly and nonsense, for
they have already impoverished themselves too much by taking so unwise a
course.  Looking at matters in a temporal point of view, and in the light
of strict economy, I am ashamed to see the poverty that exists among the
Latter-day Saints.  They ought to be worth millions and millions, and
millions on millions, where they are not worth a dollar.  Should they
spend their means in folly and nonsense?  No, not a dollar of it, but put
all into the general fund for the benefit of the kingdom.  Organize the
brethren and sisters, and let each and every one have their duties to
perform.  Where they are destitute of houses, and it is convenient, the
most economical plan that can be adopted is to have buildings erected
large enough to accommodate a number of families.  For instance, we will
say there are a hundred families in this place who have not houses fit to
live in.  We will erect a building large enough to accommodate them all
comfortably, with every convenience for cooking, washing, ironing, &c.;
and then, instead of each one of a hundred women getting up in the morning
to cook breakfast for father and the large boys, that they may go to their
labor, while the little children are crying and needing attention,
breakfast for the whole can be prepared by five or ten women, with a man
or two to help.  Some may say--"This would be confusion."  Not at all, it
would do away with it.  Another one says--"It will be a great trial to my
feelings, if I am obliged to go and breakfast with all these men an women. 
I am faint and sick, and do not eat much, and I want my breakfast prepared
in peace."  Then build side rooms by the dozen or score, where you can eat
by yourselves; and if you wish to invite three or four to eat with you,
have your table and everything you call for is sent to you.  "Well, but I
do not like this confusion of children."  Let the children have their
dining room to themselves, and let a certain number of the sisters be
appointed to take charge of the nursery and see that they have proper
food, in proper quantities and at proper times, so as to preserve system
and good order as far as possible, that a love of order may be established
in their youthful minds, and they learn how to conduct themselves.  Then
let there be good teachers in the school rooms; and have beautiful
gardens, and take the little folks out and show them the beautiful
flowers, and teach them in their childhood the names and properties of
every flower and plant, teaching them to understand which are astringent,
which cathartic; this is useful for coloring, that is celebrated for its
combination of beautiful colors, &c.  Teach them lessons of beauty and
usefulness while they are young, instead of letting them play in the dirt,
making mud balls, and drawing the mud in their hats, and soiling their
dresses, and cultivate their mental powers from childhood up.  When they
are old enough, place within their reach the advantages and benefits of a
scientific education.  Let them study the formations of the earth, the
organization of the human system, and other sciences; such a system of
mental culture and discipline in early years is of incalculable benefit to
it possessor in mature years.  Take, for instance, the young ladies now
before me, as well as the young men, and form a class in geology, in
chemistry or mineralogy; and do not confine their studies to theory only,
but let them put in practice what they learn from books, by defining the
nature of the soil, the composition of decomposition of a rock, how the
earth was formed, its probable age, and so forth.  All these are problems
which science attempts to solve, although some of the views of our great
scholars are undoubtedly very speculative.  In the study of the sciences I
have named, our young folks will learn how it is that, in traveling in our
mountains, we frequently see sea shells--shells of the oyster, clam, &c. 
Ask our boys and girls now to explain these things, and they are not able
to do so; but establish classes for the study of the sciences, and they
will become acquainted with the various facts they furnish in regard to
the condition of the earth.  It is the duty of the Latter-day Saints,
according to the revelations, to give their children the best educations
that can be procured, both from the books of the world and the revelations
of the Lord.  If our young men will study the sciences, they will stop
riding fast horses through the streets, and other folly and nonsense which
they are now guilty of, and they will become useful and honorable members
of the community.

	I have been very much interested of late with regard to the studies
and researches of the geologists who have been investigating the
geological character of the Rocky Mountain country.  Professor Marsh, of
Yale College, with a class of his students, has spent, I think, four
summers in succession in the practical study of geology in these mountain
regions.  What is the result of his researches?  There is one result, so
far, that particularly pleases me.  There are some here who know a man by
the name of John Hyde, from London, formerly a member of this Church, who
apostatized and went back; and his great argument against the Book of
Mormon was, that it stated that the old Jaredites and, perhaps, the
Nephites, who formerly lived on this continent, had horses, while it is
well knows that horses were unknown to the aboriginal inhabitants of
America when it was discovered by Columbus, and that there were no horses
here until they were imported for Europe.  Now, since Professor Marsh and
his class began their investigations, they have found among the fossil
remains of the extinct animals of America no less than fourteen different
kinds of horses, varying in height from three to nine feet.  These
discoveries made Professor Marsh's students feel almost as though they
could eat up these mountains, and their enthusiasm for studying the
geology of the regions around Bridger's Fort was raised to the highest
pitch.  In their researches among these mountains they have formed the
opinion that there was once a large inland sea here, and they think they
have discovered the outlet where the water broke forth and formed Green
River.  Here in these valleys and in these ranges of mountains we can
follow the ancient water line.  This discovery of Professor Marsh is
particularly pleasing to us "Mormons," because he has so far
scientifically demonstrated the Book of Mormon to be true.

	Here is the kingdom of God; do you want to enter into it, or not?  do
you want the future blessings of this kingdom, or do you not?  Have your
choice; but whomsoever you list to obey, his servants you will be whether
it is Jesus or the devil; please yourselves, have your choice.  But all
know we can not serve two masters acceptably; if we love one, we shall
hate the other, and if we hold on to one, we shall despise the other.  We
must either be for the kingdom of God, or not.  But we shall organize this
holy order here before we leave.  We give the invitation to all of you to
come and get organized.  Let us be one; let us carry out the order that
God has established for the family of heaven.

	God bless you.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
             Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
                      Sunday Afternoon, May 3, 1874.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
 THE THINGS OF GOD KNOWN BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD--THE LIGHT AND INTELLIGENCE
  OF GOD WITHOUT MONEY AND PRICE--NO TRUE RELIGION WITHOUT SCIENCE--ALL
               WILL BE SAVED EXCEPT THE SONS OF PERDITION.

	It is nearly time to close this meeting, but I desire to speak a few
words.  I have very much that I wish to convey to the Latter-day Saints,
but I can only say, in as few words as possible, a little at a time, upon
a few subjects which I wish to lay before the Saints.  First looking upon
the Latter-day Saints, the inquiry within myself is--Do you know whether I
am leading you right or not?  Do you know whether I dictate you right or
not?  Do you know whether the wisdom and the mind of the Lord are
dispensed to you correctly or not?  These are questions which I will
answer by quoting a little Scripture, and saying to the Latter-day Saints
what was said to the Saints in former times, "No man knoweth the things of
God, but by the Spirit of God."  That was said in the days of the Savior
and the Apostles, and it was no more true then than it is now, or than it
was in the days of the Prophets, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, Adam, or in
any and every age of the world.  It requires the same manifestations in
one age as in another, to enable me to understand the things of God.  I
have a request to make of each and every Latter-day Saint, or those who
profess to be, to so live that the Spirit of the Lord will whisper to them
and teach them the truth, and define to their understanding the difference
between truth and error, light and darkness, the things of God and the
things that are not of God.  In this there is safety; without this there
is danger, imminent danger; and my exhortation to the Latter-day Saints
is--Live your religion.

	Among all intelligent beings upon the earth there is a great mistake
in regard to dispensing to others the knowledge they possess.  In the
political world, right here, and through our government and other
governments, there is a great desire in each and every one, who is
prominent and influential, to manage their political affairs by and with
their friends, and to keep their enemies from knowing anything about them,
which creates a party feeling, and parties promote distrust and jealousy,
which lead to discord and strife.  Such is also the case in the financial
world.  In our trading and trafficking we wish to confine the knowledge of
our business in as small a limit as possible, that others may not know
what we are doing, lest we would lose our good bargains and fail in our
schemes.

	It is more or less the same in the religious world.  We wish to know
a great deal, and do not want our neighbors to know as much as we do, but
wish them to believe that we know it all.  This trait of character is very
common, both here and through the whole world.  We all wish to know
something that our neighbors do not know.  With scientific men you will
often find the same trait of character:  "My studies and my researches are
beyond those of my neighbors; I know more than they know; I treasure this
up to myself, and I am looked upon as a superior being, and that delights
me."

	I say to the Latter-day Saints, and to all the world, this is all
wrong.  We are here upon this earth as the children of our heavenly
Father, who is filled with light and intelligence, and he dispenses that
to his children as they can receive and profit by it, without money and
without price.  Is not this a fact?  It is.  Go to every department of
life, to the mechanics, to the manufacturers, to those learned in all the
arts and sciences, throughout the world, and not one of them possesses an
item of knowledge or wisdom but what has come from God, the fountain of
all wisdom and knowledge.  The idea that the religion of Christ is one
thing, and science is another, is a mistaken idea, for there is no true
religion without true science, and consequently there is no true science
without true religion.  The fountain of knowledge dwells with God, and he
dispenses it to his children as he pleases, and as they are prepared to
receive it, consequently it swallows up and circumscribes all.  This is
the great plan of salvation; this is the "bugaboo" that the Christian
world hoot at so much, and which they call "Mormonism"--it is the Gospel
of life and salvation.

	Confidence is lost in the hearts of the nations of the earth. 
Confidence is lost one towards another, among the religious sects of the
day; confidence is lost in the scientific and mechanical world; in the
financial and in the political world, and it must be restored.  I make
this statement, and there is not a scientist or divine on the earth who
can truthfully controvert it.

	There is a great deal being said and rumored about what we are
teaching the people at the present time with regard to being one in our
temporal affairs as we are one in the doctrine that we have embraced for
our salvation.  I will say to you that erroneous traditions at once begin
to present themselves.  Why we have received these traditions, those who
reflect, read and understand can pass their own decision.  You can not
find a sect anywhere that strictly believes in the New Testament.  Read
over the sayings of the Savior to his disciples, those of the disciples
one to another, and of the people, with regard to being one; and then
bring up the fact that they believed in this doctrine, and that they
taught and practiced it so far that the believers sold their possessions
and laid the proceeds at the Apostles' feet.  Now, what is the tradition
on this point?  To sell your houses, your farms, your stores, your
cattle,and bring the means and lay it down at the feet of the Apostles,
and then live, eat, drink and wear until it is all gone, and then what? 
Do without?  Yes, or be beggars.  Our traditions lead us to this point,
and that throws us into a dilemma, out of which we know not how to
extricate ourselves,  To the Latter-day Saints, I say, all this is a
mistake; these are false ideas, false conclusions.  I am here to tell you
how things are, and, as far as necessary, to tell you how they were, and
then to tell you how they will be.  To begin with, we will unitedly labor
to sustain the kingdom of God upon the earth.  Shall we sell our
possessions, have all things in common, live upon the means until it is
gone, and then beg through the country?  No, no.  Sell nothing of our
possessions.  True, the earth is at present in possession of the great
enemy of the Savior, but he does not own a foot of it; he never did, but
he has possession of it, and they say that possession is nine points of
the law, and it seems to be so.  Well, if I have a foot of land that I
have dedicated and devoted to my heavenly Father for his kingdom on the
earth, I never dispose of that.  I have owned a great deal of land, and I
now own a great deal of land in the United States, and I have never yet
sold a foot of it.  I say to the Latter-day Saints, keep your land,
dedicate it to God, preserve it in truth, in purity, in holiness; pray
that the Spirit of the Lord may brood over it, that whoever walks over
that land, may feel the influence of that Spirit; pray that the Spirit of
the Lord may cover our possessions, then gather around us the necessaries
of life.  Dispose of nothing that we should keep, but continue to labor,
praying the Lord to bless the soil, the atmosphere and the water.  Then we
have our crops, our fruit, our flocks and herds to live upon, to improve
upon, and then go on and make our clothing, build houses, improve our
streets, our cities and all our surroundings and make them beautiful;
beautify every place with the workmanship of our own hands.  Keep what is
necessary, dispose of what we may have to dispose of.  To whom?  To those
who are operating in our mines to develop the resources in our mountains,
and to all who have need.  By such a course the wasting of our substance,
as has been too much the case, will be stopped; and when we labor, let our
labor count something for our benefit.  We ask concerning the rich, Do we
want your gold and your silver?  No, we do not.  Do we want your houses
and lands?  We do not.  What do we want?  We want obedience to the
requirements of wisdom, to direct the labors of every man and every woman
in this kingdom to the best possible advantage, that we may feed and
clothe ourselves, build our hoses and gather around us the comforts of
life, without wasting so much time, means, and energy.  And instead of
saying that I shall give up my carriage for the poor to ride in, we will
direct the poor so that every man may have his carriage, if he will be
obedient to the requirements of the Almighty.  Ever family will have all
that they can reasonably desire.  When we learn and practice fair dealing
in all our intercourse and transactions, then confidence now so far lost,
but so much needed, will be restored; and we will be enabled to
effectually carry out our operations for the friendly and profitable
cooperation of money and labor, now so generally and so injuriously
antagonistic.

 	It has been said that, a few evenings ago, in the 20th Ward, I made
use of the expression that the co-operative stores would be used up or
spoiled; if I did use such an expression, it must have been in connection
with others to qualify it.  The question was asked, "What are you going to
do with the co-operative stores?"  "Why, use them up," and some of the
brethren got the idea that the destruction of these stores was intended,
because, to many, the idea of using a thing up, is to destroy it; but this
was not the meaning I wished to convey.  But I say swallow them up, or
circumscribe them, or incorporate them, from time to time, in more
extensive co-operative plans.  By way of comparison, suppose a rope with
seven strands, and some one is suspicious of its strength and we add a
thousand strands to it, who then can suspect its strength?  Now, comparing
our present mercantile and stock-raising institutions, our factories and
every things else we have in co-operation, instead of weakening this cord
of seven strands, we throw around it a thousand other strands, and weave
them in to strengthen it, is not the first cord swallowed up?  Yes, it is,
in one sense, used up, we cannot see anything of it; and so we shall make
our additions of thousands of strands to every co-operative institution we
have established, and instead of having a few of the people sustain this
parent co-operative store, or the ward store, we will have the support of
the whole people.  That is the difference; can you understand it?  How
careful we should be in the use of language, to prevent, so far as
possible, the drawing of false conclusions, and the going abroad of
erroneous impressions.

	This is a comparison with regard to our co-operative stores and every
co-operative institution we have; we expect that the whole people will
support them and give them their influence; that the whole people will
work for the whole, and that all will be for the kingdom of God on the
earth.  All that I have is in that kingdom.  I have nothing, only what the
Lord has put in my possession.  It is his; I am his, and all I ask is for
him to tell me what to do with my time, my talents and the means that he
puts in my possession.  It is to be devoted to his kingdom.  Let every
other man and woman do the same, and all the surplus we make is in one
great amount for accomplishing the purposes of the Lord.  He says, "I will
make you the richest people on the earth."  Now, go to work, Latter-day
Saints, and make yourselves one, and all needed blessings will follow.

	I will now briefly notice a trait in the Christian world in regard to
their continually misrepresenting us, which they most emphatically do. 
Wherever we go they misrepresent us.  They do not stop to reason, or for
the introduction of good sound logic.  They do not stop to know their own
minds, and to ask themselves questions with regard to facts as they exist,
but are wholly uninfluenced by their erroneous traditions.  We Christians
are divided and subdivided, but we all believe that there are good people
among all the sects of the day.  As a "Mormon" or Latter-day Saint, I
believe this just as much as any sectarian believes it, but I do not
believe it as the sectarians believe it.  We all believe that good people
do live and have lived among the Christian sects.  Says one, "My father
was a good man; or, My mother or my sister was a good woman, my brother
was a good man, my neighbor was a good person; they lived and died
believing in their several faiths; some of them holy Catholics, who died
shouting and rejoicing that the time had come for them to be released from
this tenement of clay.  Others were good Protestants, and they rejoiced
and were exceeding glad when the time came for them to lie down and rest
their weary bodies, and they were happy."  Now, I, speaking as one of the
Christian world, when a man says to me, "Unless you are born of the water
and of the spirit you can not enter the kingdom of heaven," reply, "My
dear friend, my father and my mother were just as good Christians as ever
lived on the face of the earth, and they died as happy as they could be,
and their souls were full of glory.  Tell me that they have not gone to
heaven!  It is all nonsense, it is folly; I do not believe a word of it;
you must be one of those deceivers that the Savior taught should come in
the latter days."  This erroneous tradition is planted in the bosoms of
the Christian world, and from this they take the liberty of saying that
the doctrine preached by the Latter-day Saints can not be true, for if it
is their fathers and mothers are not saved.  Would you like to know the
truth on this point, O Christian world?  Yes, yes, the honest ones would;
I can not say so much for the bread and butter Christians; but when you
meet an honest person, he says--"I wish I knew the truth about this.  Our
beloved brother and father in the Gospel, the father of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, John Wesley, was he not a good man?  Tell me that he is
not saved!"  The Christian world can not endure such an idea.  "John Knox
not saved! and thousands of others not saved!"  They can not endure the
thought.  I can say to them of a truth, but it will need explanation,
there is not one of these men who lived according to the light that he
received, and up to ever blessing God bestowed upon him, but what is
happier to-day than he ever expected that he could be.  But the Christian
world imbibe the idea that, if these good men, who have died, have not
gone into the presence of the Father and the Son and are not in the
kingdom of heaven, they must be in the depths of hell.  This is folly in
the extreme; but the Christians do not know how to comprehend this, how to
understand the words of life.  I can say this for all good people, I do
not care where they lived and died, they will be far happier hereafter
than they ever conceived of while here.  Do you think that the good
Chinaman and Hindo will be saved?  Yes, as much as the Methodist.  But
erroneous tradition prevents the Christian world from seeing and
understanding this.  They ought to stop and reflect, and ask the
question--"Do we understand the Scriptures when we read them?"  I say that
they do not, if they did they would see that we have the words of eternal
life, and would receive our teachings with joy.  I have not time to fully
explain this, but I can say that this erroneous tradition palliates, in a
measure, the conduct and views of the Christian world when their
prejudices arise like towering mountains against these poor Latter-day
Saints.

	We shall labor and go forward, as long as we live, to redeem the
world of mankind.  This is the labor the Savior has undertaken.  The earth
was committed to him by the Father, who said, "My son, go and redeem the
world and all things upon it; pay this debt, and your brethren, who
believe on you and who are one, as the Father and the Son are one, will be
co-workers in the great and eternal work, until all the sons and daughters
of Adam and Eve, that can be saved, will be saved in a kingdom of glory,"
and all will be saved, except the sons of perdition.

	Can the Christian world understand this?  No.  There is not a priest
in the pulpit, nor a deacon that sits under the pulpit, but what, if he
knew the facts as they are, would give glory to God in the highest, that
he lived in this day and age of the world, and thank the Father that he
has revealed his will from the heavens.

	I thank you for your attention, brethren and sisters.  I have
detained you a little longer than I intended to do.  God bless you.

                   REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
           At the Opening of the Adjourned General conference,
         held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1847.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
        THE UNITED ORDER--A SYSTEM OF ONENESS--ECONOMY AND WISDOM
                       IN BECOMING SELF-SUSTAINING.

	I do not expect to be able to speak much during this Conference, but
I make a request of my brethren who may speak, to give us their
instructions and views for or against this general co-operative system,
which we, with propriety, may call the United Order.  If any choose to
give it any other name that will be applicable to the nature of it, they
can do so.  A system of oneness among any people, whether former-day
Saints, middle-day Saints, eleventh hour of the day Saints, last hour of
the day Saints, or not Saints at all, is beneficial; but I wish the
brethren to give us their views for and against union in a family, whether
that family consists of the parents and ten children, or the parents, ten
children, fifty grandchildren, or a hundred and fifty great-grandchildren,
and so on until you get to a nation.  I ask of my brethren who may address
the congregations, to give us their views for and against union, peace,
good order; laboring for the benefit of ourselves, and in connection with
each other for the welfare and happiness of all, whether in the capacity
of a family, neighborhood, city, state, nation, or the world.

	We see the inhabitants of the earth, as individuals and nations,
struggling, striving, laboring and toiling every one for himself and
nobody else; all are anxious to bless their own dear selves.  If you will
permit me I will quote an anecdote in illustration of this trait of
character among the human family.  A man, in asking a blessing upon his
food, prayed, "O Lord, bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, we
four and no more.  Amen."  If we had generosity of feeling sufficient to
pray for blessings upon a fifth person, or upon a whole family,
neighborhood or community, all the better.

	We are not entering into any new system, order or doctrine.  There
are numbers of organizations of a similar character, as far as they go, in
our own country and in other countries.  Our object is to labor for the
benefit of the whole, to retrench in our expenditures; to be prudent and
economical; to study well the necessities of the community, and to pass by
its many useless wants; to study to secure life, health, wealth, and
union, which is power and influence to any community; and I ask my
brethren, while addressing the people during this Conference, to take up
these items of every-day life.  It seems to be objectionable to some, for
the Latter-day Saints to enter into a self-sustaining system, and the
probability of our doing so causes a great deal of talk.  If we were
infidels, any other sect of Christians, or nether Christians nor infidels,
but mere worldlings, seeking only to amass the wealth of this world,
nothing would be thought or said against it.  But for the Latter-day
Saints to make a move to the right or to the left, to the front or to the
rear, a suspicion arises directly in the minds of the people.  I will say
to the inhabitants of the whole earth, that the Latter-day Saints are
going to work to sustain themselves, to do good to themselves, to their
neighbors and to the whole human family; they are going to labor to
establish peace and good order on the earth, just as far and as fast as
they can, and to prepare them for a happier world than this.

	Talk about it, cry about it, deride it, point the finger of scorn at
it, we care not, we are the servants and handmaids of the Lord, and our
business is to build up his kingdom upon the earth, and let all the world
say what they please, it matters not to us.  It if for us to do our duty.

	Now let me present one little matter.  Here are brethren from all
parts of the Territory, to represent the different branches of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We find our brethren in various
parts of the Territory are in possession of a little land; take a man, for
instance, who has got a five acre lot.  He wants his team, he must have
his horses, harness, wagon, plow, harrow and farming utensils to cultivate
that five acres, just as though he was farming a hundred acres.  And when
harvest comes, he is not accommodated by his neighbors with a reaping
machine, and he says--"Another year, I will buy one," and this to harvest
five acres of grain.  Take the article of wagons among this people, we
have five where we should not have more than two; and the money that is
spent needlessly by our people for wagons would make a small community
rich.  Again, take mowing and reaping machines, and we have probably twice
or three times as many in this territory as the people need.  They stand
in the sun and they dry up and spoil, and this entails a heavy waste of
property.  We may take also the article of harness for horses.  If this
community would be untied, and work cattle instead of horses, they might
save themselves from two to five hundred thousand dollars yearly.  Is this
economy or wisdom?  A few years ago we raised our own sweet; but when the
railroad came it brought sugar to us very cheap, and where is our sorghum
now?  There is hardly any raised in the whole Territory.  The people
say--"The sugar is so cheap."  Suppose sugar was only one penny a pound,
and you had not that penny and could not get it, what good would it do
you?  None at all.  If cotton cloth can be bought for fifteen, ten, or six
cents a yard, what does it profit a people if they have not the money to
buy it?  It does them no good.  When they have the ground to raise the
cotton, and the machinery to work this cotton up and make the fabrics they
need, they can do it, money or no money.  And so we go on from one thing
to another, and we would be glad if our brethren, in their remarks, will
give us their views and instructions on these points, and the bearing they
have had upon the people in the past, and how they will affect them in
connection with the United Order which we are now seeking to introduce.

	If a man, merchant, business man, or anybody else has anything to
bring forward to show, as they think, that the United order will militate
against the interests of the community, we invite them to speak the
question.  We are for the best, we are for the right, for that which will
accomplish the greatest good to the greatest number.  I shall now give
place for others to speak.

                  DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG,
        Delivered in the Third Ward Meeting House, Salt Lake City,
                      Sunday Evening June 23, 1874.
                      (Reported by David W. Evans.)
           SECRET OF HAPPINESS--SELF EXAMINATION--JOSEPH SMITH
        A MAN OF OBEDIENCE TO GOD--BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD--TEMPORAL
         AND SPIRITUAL ONE--A DREAM--ORDER OF ENOCH, THE ORDER OF
                     GOD--A GOOD WORD FOR THE WOMEN.

	I am here in this Ward, especially to talk to you, my brethren and
sisters.  I think I have been here only once before--at the dedication of
this house.  I have a few things to say to you, which I hope and expect
will be received and appreciated according to their merit.

	Perhaps quite a portion of this little congregation have left their
homes, their friends, the lands of their nativity for the Gospel's sake,
for the sake of their own salvation and that of their families and friends
who would go with them.  I will appeal to the experience of my brethren
and sisters who have received the Gospel, and ask them this question--Is
not the Gospel dearer to us than anything else and all else on this earth? 
I think I can answer for all Latter-day Saints, and say, "Surely it is." 
We hope for life, salvation and exaltation; we have the privilege of the
Gospel and the ordinances of the house of God, while the inhabitants of
the earth, with the exception of comparatively a very few, have not as yet
availed themselves of this privilege.  We preach the Gospel to the people,
but they are so erroneously traditionated [sic] and so ignorant with
regard to the facts pertaining to the revelations and will of God to the
children of men, that they turn aside from it and think it no evil in
doing so.  They are so educated that they can neglect the Gospel, and feel
measurably justified.  This is an item of experience that we could bring
before ourselves and others more fully than, perhaps, it would be prudent
for me to spend the time to do this evening.  But the Gospel to us is all
in all.  To know the will of God, and do it, is the happiest life that
intelligent beings, the children of our Father in heaven, can live.  There
is no other condition in life that produces the same amount of good
feeling, peace, happiness, joy, comfort, contentment and intelligence that
the service of the Lord will bring.  If a person is very poor and the love
of God is within him, he feels rich and happy, and can measurably do
without food, that is, longer and better than they can who do not have
this experience of the love of God within them.

	The person who enjoys the experience of the knowledge of the kingdom
of God on the earth, and at the same time has the love of God within him,
is the happiest of any individuals on the earth.  We, who believe in and
have obeyed this Gospel, look forward with the anticipation of obtaining a
great amount of knowledge and wisdom.  When we embraced the Gospel, the
spirit opened up to our minds the fact that the wisdom, the knowledge and
the power of God would increase in the midst of the Saints.  This is our
experience:  I, knowing for myself, what the Spirit of the Lord brings to
the understanding, testify what it reveals to others.  The same spirit
that is given to me, to enlighten my mind, is given to others; the same
that is given to you I have received, consequently I speak for personal
knowledge, for that which I have experienced and understand, and that I
live in; and they; who live in and enjoy the spirit of our holy religion
can testify to this.

	There is a portion of this congregation who are young, and know but
little about the United States, or about the people there; and there is a
large percentage of our community who know nothing by experience of the
outside world.  Ask them if they know anything of California?  No. 
Anything about the States?  No.  Did you not come from England?  No, but
my parents did; consequently they have no experience.  They have lived
here, they have grown up with us.  We have brought them up cheerfully and
kindly, and instructed and taught them, and they have enjoyed the spirit
of life and of wisdom and knowledge.  These children who have been born
there in the New and Everlasting Covenant, do not seem to realize this. 
This is for the want of experience, which they will obtain in future life. 
But those of experiemce [sic], those who have left their homes and their
all for the sake of the Gospel, are capable of judging better about these
matters.

	Now we, as Latter-day Saints, hope for salvation; we are living in
anticipation of eternal salvation.  We have left our homes and everything
for the sake of our religion.  Many women in our community have left their
husbands; many men have left their wives and children; young boys have
left their parents and brothers and sisters, and young girls have come
away, and left all.  They had friends, homes, plenty, parents, bothers and
sisters; yet when the spirit of the Gospel came upon them they were so
enamored with it, and it gave such light, knowledge and intelligence, that
they were willing to forsake all, and follow with the Latter-day Saints
for life eternal.  This is the case with quite a portion of our community. 
We all, then, started for life and salvation, and we still have no other
object.

	Now, my brethren and sisters, I wish to ask--Do we not anticipate
further knowledge, wisdom and blessings, and further communications by the
spirit of the Lord, further demonstrations and further witnesses,
revelations, knowledge, etc., in this kingdom?  We do, every one of us. 
We ask the question again, Do we expect that we have already become
perfect, and that we are prepared to be numbered with the sanctified, and
that we are now prepared to be gathered with God's elect, and that, if we
were to hear the voice to-night--"Behold the bridegroom cometh"--we should
be numbered with the wise?  Do we anticipate this?  If we do we are wrong,
for we are not prepared.  We have passed through a great many scenes, we
may say, of tribulation, though I would have all my brethren understand
that I do not take this to myself, for all that I have passed through has
been joy and joyful to me; but we have seemingly sacrificed a great deal,
and passed through many scenes of trial and temptations, no doubt of this. 
We have had to suffer temptation more or less, and we have taken the
spoiling of our goods joyfully.  I have, myself, five times before I came
to this valley, left everything that the Lord has blessed me with
pertaining to this world's goods, which, for the country where I lived,
was not a very little.

	Well, we have passed these ordeals, and we are still going along. 
Now have we profited by all that we have passed through and experienced,
so that we really do consider that we are sanctified and prepared for the
celestial kingdom of God, or do we believe that there is something more
yet to be done?  Why, all hearts reply--There is still understanding in
this kingdom; every heart echoes--We expect to learn more, we expect to
receive more, we are not yet perfect, we are not complete in our stature
as men and women in Christ Jesus.  Now I will just ask, right here--Shall
we ever be learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth? 
No, I say we shall not, but we shall come to the knowledge of the truth. 
This is my hope and anticipation, and this is my joy.  The Latter-day
Saints, as a people, in many respects are shortsighted, we are but babes
or suckling infants in the Church and kingdom of God, comparatively, and
especially since we have been in these valleys.  We have enjoyed peace and
plenty here; we have been blessed in our families, and in our flocks and
herds, and in our fields and crops, and we have gathered around us the
comforts, and even the luxuries of life, and some, to a small extent,
wealth.  Now, in the enjoyment of all this is the kingdom of God first and
foremost with us?  I can say, taking us a people that our hearts are to
much on the things of this life.  We are, perhaps, too skeptical in our
feelings, with regard to the things of the kingdom.  We gather, as we
anticipate, mental strength, and we think we are capable of judging where
we are not capable of judging, and the riches or the good things of this
life, I can not in reality say the riches, but a little of this world's
goods, sometimes blind the mind and becloud the spirit of a person.  I can
appeal to the experience of my brethren and sisters, aged and middle-aged
and youth, and even to the children.  Go to the child, and what does its
joy consist in?  Toys, we may call them, something that produces, as they
think, pleasure; and so it is with our youth, our young boys and girls;
they are thinking too much of this world; and the middle-aged are striving
and struggling to obtain the good things of this life, and their hearts
are too much upon them.  So it is with the aged.  Is not this the
condition of the Latter-day Saints?  It is.  Well, now,take us as a
people, we anticipate life eternal; we think we are the hest [sic] people
on the earth, and we think we have sacrificed more for our religion than
anybody else, though in my belief and in this respect I probably differ
with the most of the Latter-day Saints, for the simple reason that God,
our Heavenly Father, in his religion, does not require men and women to
suffer as false religions do.  Take the religions of the heathen, and
false systems of religion generally and they require sacrifices that the
Lord does not require.  The Lord has offered his sacrifice in the
character of his Son; but he does not require us to sacrifice our children
or ourselves as the heathens sacrifice to their gods; consequently our
sacrifices and our sufferings are not to be compared with those of the
heathens.  There are professing Christians in our midst, who are so strict
in their religious services; and they are those who are so zealous that
they would measure the soil from here to Old Jerusalen [sic] with their
bodies if they could, to pay penance, as they call it.  God does not
require any such sacrifice as this; neither does he require any of these
sacrifices which involve the shedding of blood or the loss of life.  Such
things do not belong to God's religion, they come through sin and
transgression.  Perhaps they who show such manifestations of their faith
strengthen it and do themselves some good.  All that is required of us is
to sacrifice our feelings and to overcome the adversary by subduing the
lust within us for anything but the kingdom of God on the earth, the glory
of God, and the salvation of our friends and families and of the human
family from first to last; that our whole souls may be devoted to the
building up of the kingdom of God on the earth, and for the salvation of
those who sleep, who died with out the Gospel.  We want to sacrifice
enough to do the will of God in preparing to bring up those who have not
had the privilege of hearing the Gospel while in the flesh, for the simple
reason that, in the spirit world, they cannot officiate in the ordinances
of the House of God.  They have passed the ordeals, and are beyond the
possibility of personally officiating for the remission of their sins and
for their exaltation consequently they are under the necessity of trusting
in their friends, their children and their children's children to
officiate for them, that they may be brought up into the celestial kingdom
of God.  All that the Lord requires of us is a perfect submission in our
hearts to his will.  The Latter-day Saints say at once--"This is correct,
certainly it is right that we should have no other object and aim in our
feelings and affections but to do good and to promote the kingdom of God
on the earth.'  But the weakness of man is such, the humanity with which
our spirits is clothed is so frail that we are liable to be overcome. 
These tabernacles are dull, subject to sin and temptation, and to stray
from the kingdom of God and the ordinances of his house, to lust after
riches, the pride of life and the vanities of the world, and these things
are prone to be uppermost in the minds of all; old and young, even
Latter-day Saints.  The infant wants his toys, the children want nice
dresses, and this is correct; and when we understand how to rightly use
the things of the world, there will be the most beautiful children in Zion
that ever lived on the earth.  But we wish the wealth or things of the
world, we think about them morning, noon and night; they are first in our
minds when we awake in the morning, and the last thing before we go to
sleep at night; and we dream about how we shall do this, and how we shall
obtain that, and our minds are continually lusting after the things of the
world.  Is not this too much the case with the Latter-day Saints.

	I will ask this question of the few who are here--What think ye, my
brethren and sisters of experience, you that have enjoyed the light of the
spirit, you that can see the travail of the Saints, do you think that this
people called Latter-day Saints are traveling on the path that they should
go in?  Do you think that they offer their oblations and sacrifices to the
Lord as they should?  What do you think abut it?  What is the general
expression through our community?  It is that the Latter-day Saints are
drifting as fast as they can into idolatry, drifting into the spirit of
the world and into pride and vanity.

	You read in the revelations given to John on the Isle of Patmos,
concerning the latter days, that a voice was heard crying to the Saints ln
[sic] Babylon--"Come out of her, O my people, be not partakers of her
sins, lest ye receive of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto
heaven," etc.  Has this voice been heard?  Yes, the Latter-day Saints have
heard it.  Has the angel flown through the midst of heaven and delivered
the Gospel to the children of men?  Yes, we believe all this.  Do we
believe that the Lord sent his messengers to Joseph Smith, and commanded
him to refrain from joining any Christian church, and to refrain from the
wickedness he saw in the churches, and finally delivered to him a message
informing him that the Lord was about to establish his kingdom on the
earth, and led him on step by step until he gave him the revelation
concerning the plates?  Yes, this is all correct.  Did Joseph receive
these revelations?  He did.  Did the heavenly messengers come to Joseph,
and commit to him the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood?  Yes, we believe all
this.  Did the Lord speak from the heavens through Joseph, commanding his
people to gather out from the wicked before the scourges--sickness,
pestilence, wars, bloodshed, and the various calamities spoken of by the
Prophets and Apostles, should pass over the nations?  Yes, we believe the
Lord has called upon the people who received the Gospel to come out of
Babylon, to separate themselves from the wicked and to stand in holy
places preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man.  All Latter-day Saints
believe all this; then I say, if we do believe it, let us act up to and be
true to our faith and to the knowledge that we have of God and his
kingdom.  This is what is required of us.

	We have passed from one thing to another, and I may say from one
degree of knowledge to another.  When Joseph first received the knowledge
of the plates that were in the hill Cumorah, he did not then receive the
keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, he merely received the knowledge that the
plates were there, and that the Lord would bring them forth, and that they
contained the history of the aborigines of this country.  He received the
knowledge that they were once in possession of the Gospel, and from that
time he went on, step by step, until he obtained the plates, and the Urim
and Thummim, and had power to translate them. This did not make him an
Apostle, it did not give to him the keys of the kingdom, nor make him an
Elder in Israel.  He was a Prophet, and had the spirit of prophecy, and
had received all this before the Lord ordained him.  And when the Lord, by
revelation, told him to go to Pennsylvania, he did so, and finished the
translation of the Book of Mormon; and when the Lord, in another
revelation, told him to come back, into New York State, and to go to old
Father Whitmer's, who lived in a place opposite Waterloo, and there stop,
he did so, and had meetings, and gathered up the few who believed in his
testimony.  He received the Aaronic Priesthood, and then he received the
keys of the Melchisedik Priesthood, and organized the Church.  He first
received the power to baptise, and still did not know that he was to
receive any more until the Lord told him there was more for him.  Then he
received the keys of the Melchisedek Priesthood, and has power to confirm
after he had baptized, which he had not before.  He would have stood
precisely as John the Baptist stood, had not the Lord sent his other
messengers, Peter, James and John, to ordain Joseph to the Melchisedek
Priesthood.  Then, after some of the brethren had been out preaching, he
had a revelation that they should go up to the Ohio.  I knew of them,
though I was not acquainted with them before they went up there.  They
were seen by some of my family, my father saw and conversed with them. 
Then the way opened for a large gathering in the State of Ohio.  Parley P.
Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Samuel Peterson, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and a
few others, went up there and preached the Gospel, and they came among the
members of the society called Campbellites, formerly members of the Close
Communion Baptists, their leader's name being Alexander Campbell.  This
man preached the doctrine that baptism was for the remission of sins, and
that split the Church; but when the brethren came to these societies and
taught them, not only baptism for the remission of sins, but the laying on
of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, they believed it, and were
baptized for the remission of their sins, and received the laying on of
hands for the Holy Ghost, and then received other ordinances.

	Then the Lord revealed to Joseph to go out to the Ohio, and he went
up; and after he went up he then understood and was taught of the Lord to
send men to the west to hunt out a place for the centre stake of Zion. 
They went according to the revelations that Joseph received, and finally
Joseph went up to meet them, in Independence, Jackson County, Mo., on the
borders of the Lamanites.  You can read all this in the Book of Doctrine
and