PERFECTION AND SALVATION--SELF-GOVERNMENT.
A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 18, 1853.
I love to hear my brethren speak. Their testimony yields joy and consolation to my heart. But notwithstanding the pleasure it would give me to sit and hear them continually, it is obligatory upon me to occupy the position I do, and let my voice be heard in connexion with theirs.
We all occupy diversified stations in the world, and in the kingdom of God. Those who do right, and seek the glory of the Father in heaven, whether their knowledge be little or much, or whether they can do little or much, if they do the very best they know how, they are perfect.
It may appear strange to some of you, and it certainly does to the world, to say it is possible for a man or woman to become perfect on this earth. It is written "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Again, "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." This is perfectly consistent to the person who understands what perfection really is.
If the first passage I have quoted is not worded to our understanding, we can alter the phraseology of the sentence, and say, "Be ye as perfect as ye can," for that is all we can do, though it is written, be ye perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. To be as perfect as we possibly can, according to our knowledge, is to be just as perfect as our Father in heaven is. He cannot be any more perfect than He knows how, any more than we. When we are doing as well as we know how in the sphere and station which we occupy here, we are justified in the justice, righteousness, mercy, and judgment that go before the Lord of heaven and earth. We are as justified as the angels who are before the throne of God. The sin that will cleave to all the posterity of Adam and Eve is, that they have not done as well as they knew how.
I will apply this to myself, and it will apply to you, and to every man and woman upon the earth; of course including brother Morley, who spoke to you this morning. If he has done the best he could in the late Indian difficulties in the district where he lives, and acted according to the judgment and light of the spirit of revelation in him, he is as justified as an angel of God.
Though we may do the best we know how at this time, can there be no improvement made in our lives? There can. If we do wrong ignorantly, when we learn it is wrong, then it is our duty to refrain from that wrong immediately and for ever, and the sin of ignorance is winked at, and passes into oblivion.
An inquiry was made this morning, if we know who we are, what our situation is, and the relationship we sustain to each other, to our God, and the position we occupy to the human family. I can answer the question. No, we do not. Do the people understand all the obligations they are under to each other and to their God? They do not. Again, do they try to know, as far as it is in their power? They do not. Are there individuals among us who seek with all their hearts to know and understand the will of God? Yes, many. But as a people, do they, with an undivided heart, endeavor to know the will of God in preference to everything else upon earth? They do not.
There is a reason for this. Brother Morley wanted to know if we had learned ourselves. We have not. When he referred to the spirits in the world, and what we could witness in the infant child in its mother's lap, at this moment like a little seraph, and in the next, more like a demon with passion and rage, I thought we need not confine ourselves to the child for example, for this picture of good and evil is exhibited as frequently in the parent, and even in the grey-headed sire, as in the child. If men and women understood perfectly their position before God, angels, and men, the place they occupy, and the sphere they act in, they would know they are as independent in their organization as the angels, or as the Gods. Yet, in consequence of sin entering into the world, darkness, wretchedness, folly, weakness of every kind, and the power of temptation surround the children of men, as well as the power of God. I say the grey-headed father, and the aged matron will give way to the power of evil, when it comes upon them, as readily, in many instances, as the infant child upon its mother's lap.
I speak what I know, and say, shame on those who are subject to such weakness, when they have had time and opportunity to learn better. Brother Morley says, "Such spirits will be damned." Bless your souls, they are damned already. The reason they act as they do, in a manner so diametrically opposed to the angels and Gods in the eternities that are, is because they have been in a miserable condition since they have been upon the earth.
When men and women give way to these wicked spirits, it is a proof they have not learned their organization, and what they were made for.
As for this people knowing their true position before God, in the midst of the nations of the earth, it is certain they have not yet learned it. Shall we ever learn it? We shall. And further, <we shall be obliged to learn it>; and further still, <we shall be> COMPELLED <to learn it>. How? By flattery? By blessings? By the kind smiles of Providence? By the bountiful fulness of the invisible hand of our heavenly Father bestowing every blessing upon us? Now some of us are ready to say, this will not bring us to an understanding of our true position, and prepare us for what is before us. If the mercies and blessings of our kind and indulgent heavenly Parent will not produce the desired effects upon His people, He will certainly chasten them, and make them know, by what they suffer, how to govern and sanctify themselves before Him.
We ought to pursue the same course with our children when we wish them to obey our commands. It is reasonable and right, after you have held out every kind of inducement possible, to bring them to their senses, and to obedience, if they still continue refractory, to try the rod, and chasten them until they become obedient. That is what our Father in heaven will do for this people, if they will not learn by His blessings and loving kindness.
Do you inquire if I think we are about to be afflicted? If we are not good children, we shall be. We must learn to love righteousness, and hate iniquity, and then we can chasten ourselves, and bring ourselves to the sphere we were designed to fill in our existence, and govern and control ourselves in it, preparatory to power being put into our hands. We should never have but one desire, but one determination; our will should be perfectly centred upon the one object, viz., to find out the will of God, and do it. Let every individual thus school, chasten, prove, view, and review himself, taking himself into custody as a prisoner to be subjected to a severe examination, until his will is perfectly subservient to the will of God in every instance, and you can say, "No matter what it is, let us know the will of the Father in heaven, and that is our will." Then we shall be able to train, school, and practise upon ourselves, until we can control, and bring under subjection, the wicked influences that surround us; we can then begin to pave the way, or throw up an highway of holiness to the rising generation.
This we have to do. It is our business. It is the labor of the Latter-day Saints, which, if carried out, will run through all the various changing scenes of mortal life. It is in every act and dealing, both with ourselves, our families, and strangers. lt fills every avenue of human life, from beginning to end. To gain the spiritual ascendancy over ourselves, and the influences with which we are surrounded, through a rigid course of self-discipline, is our first consideration, it is our first labor, before we can pave the way for our children to grow up without sin unto salvation.
No man, in a short hour or two, can tell everything that is in his heart, when it is filled by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. But I will continue my remarks, and give you a little more.
All persons are surrounded with circumstances peculiar to their location, station, and situation in life. A portion of our old associates believe we are controlled entirely by circumstances; but this people have learned enough to know they have the ability and power to control circumstances, to a certain extent; they will control us more or less, but not entirely. We can lay the foundation in the midst of this people for a train of circumstances to surround the rising generation with a divine influence. We can also produce a train of circumstances that will work their certain destruction. This is in our power, and the first is the labor of the Latter-day Saints.
Some, when their minds are opened to behold the purity of a God of eternity--the purity of heaven, and understand that no impure thing can enter there; when they can realize the perfection of the redeemed and glorified Zion, and then look at the people now, and their actions, and how they are overcome with their weaknesses, how they cannot go out and come in without coming in contact, in some way, with their neighbors; when they look at the universal sinfulness of mortal man; are ready to exclaim, "We shall all go to destruction, salvation is impossible." I do not believe a word of it. If we do the best we know how, and yet commit many acts that are wrong, and contrary to the counsel given to us, there is hope in our case.
The Savior has warned us to be careful how we judge, forgiving each other seven times seventy in a day, if we repent, and confess our sins one to another. Can we be more merciful and forgiving than our Father in heaven? We cannot. Therefore let people do the best they can, and they will pave the way for the rising generation to walk up into the light, wisdom, and knowledge of the angels, and of the redeemed from this earth, to say nothing of other earths, and they will be prepared to enjoy in the resurrection all the blessings which are for the faithful, and enjoy them in the flesh.
It is our duty, and to this we are called so to frame and control circumstances in our lifetime, as to bring blessings upon the rising generation, which we can never attain to while we are in the flesh. But when the vision of our minds is opened to behold the immaculate purity, perfection, light, beauty, and glory of Zion, the heaven of eternity, the place where Saints and angels dwell in the eternal worlds, then salvation for us poor erring mortals seems almost impossible; it seems that we shall hardly be saved. This, however, is verily true, we shall hardly be saved. There never was any person ever saved; all who have been saved, and that ever will be in the future, are only just saved, and then it is not without a struggle to overcome, that calls into exercise every energy of the soul.
It is good for us to follow the example of those who have attained unto salvation; consequently if I wish to be saved, and be an instrument of pointing out the way to others, let me not only preach the doctrine of salvation, but set the example in my conduct, and plead with them to follow it. If our faith is one, and we are united to gain one grand object, and I, as an individual, can possibly get into the celestial kingdom, you and every other person, by the same rule, can also enter there.
Though our interest is one as a people, yet remember, salvation is an individual work; it is every person for themselves. I mean more by this than I have time to tell you in full, but I will give you a hint. There are those in this Church who calculate to be saved by the righteousness of others. They will miss their mark. They are those who will arrive just as the gate is shut, so in that case you may be shut out; then you will call upon some one, who, by their own faithfulness, through the mercy of Jesus Christ, have entered in through the celestial gate, to come and open it for you; but to do this is not their province. Such will be the fate of those persons who vainly hope to be saved upon the righteousness and through the influence of brother Somebody. I forewarn you therefore to cultivate righteousness and faithfulness in yourselves, which is the only passport into celestial happiness.
There is another thing I wish to notice, viz., touching the man brother Morley spoke of this morning, who put away his wife which he had lately taken. He began to tell you how mean it looks to him to trifle in this manner with the greatest blessings of heaven to man. To men who will ask for blessings, and jewels of great price, and seek to cast them away to-morrow, it will be said by and bye, "Take that and give it to the man who is more worthy." And what shall be done with the other? Let him scrub the floor, clean shoes, and make soap. I mean this to be understood spiritually. Of course we shall be so clean in the heavenly Zion, we shall not need anybody to wash for us, When I say we will set such characters to work in the garden, to clean our stables, to curry our horses, or work in the cellar kitchen, it is to be understood spiritually.
You may get jewels of great price, and trifle with them, and think them nothing, but by and bye they will so far outshine you, that you cannot look upon the blaze of their glory without being struck with blindness. The words of the Savior will be fulfilled on such persons, "Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have."
That which they think they possess, they only seem to have. It is put in their hands for a few days, to see if they have wisdom sufficient to use it to the glory and honor of God, that they may have more blessings added to them. When they have proved themselves unworthy, that which they seemed to have will be taken away, and given to another who is more worthy, that he may have more abundantly.
As it respects the wicked actions of the people, while brother Morley was speaking, I thought I could tell you things about some men, that you would not want to hear. To satisfy my own feelings by way of comparison, I will give you a faint idea of how they look to me.
Imagine all the carcases [sic] of the people who have died of the cholera, and of other loathsome diseases, heaped up to rot in one general mass, under the rays of a southern sun, and the stench of such a mass of corruption would not begin to offend my nostrils, and the nostrils of every righteous man, so much as those men do. On the other hand, if every man will do the best he can, and as far as he knows how, it will be well with him, and he will be blessed until there is not room to contain the blessings which will be poured upon him. Sin consists in doing wrong when we know and can do better, and it will be punished with a just retribution, in the due time of the Lord.
Have this people been blessed? They have. Why can they not understand, that they are organized and formed for the express purpose of becoming independent in and of themselves, that they may begin to guard against any evil principle, or the suggestions of evil? But you will readily say, "That is in all men, it is natural to them." So Paul thought. He was surrounded with spirits of evil, and was wonderfully troubled with them, so much so, that when he would do good, evil was present with him. I would have kicked them out of doors. He was a righteous man, and died for the Gospel's sake, and it was right for him to die, if it were for nothing but taking care of the clothes of those who stoned Stephen to death. "Now," says Paul, "I would do good to that man, but evil is present with me." Why did he not kick that evil out of the way of his doing good? Was he bound to be troubled with it? No, no more than you and I are.
Are those who are drinking and carousing to-day (and there may be some doing so who profess to be brethren) obliged to break the Sabbath, and make themselves drunkards and gluttons? No. If the brethren who profess to be Saints, and do wrong, would reveal the root of the matter, and tell the whole truth, it would be, "I have a desire to do a great deal of good, but the devil is always at my elbow, and I always like to keep the old gentleman so that I can put my head upon him, for I want to use him sometimes." That is the reason why men and women are overcome with evil.
Again, I can charge you with what you will all plead guilty of, if you would confess the truth, viz., you dare not quite give up all your hearts to God, and become sanctified throughout, and be led by the Holy Ghost from morning until evening, and from one year's end to another. I know this is so, and yet few will acknowledge it. I know this feeling is in your hearts, as well as I know the sun shines.
We will examine it a little closer. Many of you have fearful forebodings that all is not right in the organization of this kingdom. You shiver and shake in your feeling, and tremble in your spirit; you cannot put your trust in God, in men, nor in yourself. This arises from the power of evil that is so prevalent upon the face of the whole earth. It was given to you by your father and mother; it was mingled with your conception in the womb, and it has ripened in your flesh, in your blood, and in your bones, so that it has become riveted in your very nature. If I were to ask you individually, if you wished to be sanctified throughout, and become as pure and holy as you possibly could live, every person would say yes; yet if the Lord Almighty should give a revelation instructing you to be given wholly up to Him, and to His cause, you would shrink, saying, "I am afraid he will take away some of my darlings." That is the difficulty with the majority of this people.
It is for you and I to wage war with that principle until it is overcome in us, then we shall not entail it upon our children. It is for us to lay a foundation so that everything our children have to do with, will bring them to Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. If we lay such a foundation with all good conscience, and labor as faithfully as we can, it will be well with us and our children in time and in eternity.
What kind of a sensation would it produce in my heart, should I hear at the close of this meeting that the Lord had suffered the devil to destroy my houses, my wives, and my children, and committed every particle of my property to the devouring flames--that I am left destitute, and alone in the world? I wish you all to apply this interrogation to yourselves. What would such a circumstance produce upon this people, provided they did not know the Lord was going to send a judgment upon them, as He has done in former times (though you need not be afraid of it)? how would you feel? Would there not be murmuring, and fault finding, and writing and plotting with apostates, and some fleeing to California, and some running back to the States?
Or suppose, when you arrive at home from this meeting, you find your neighbors have killed your horses and destroyed your property, how would you feel? You would feel like taking instant vengeance on the perpetrator of the deed. But it would be wrong for you to encourage the least particle of feeling to arise in your bosom like anger, or revenge, or like taking judgment into your own hands, until the Lord Almighty shall say, "Judgment is yours, and for you to execute."
Brother Morley wished to know if any one could tell the origin of thought. The origin of thought was planted in our organization at the beginning of our being. This is not telling you how it came there, or who put it there. Thought originated with our individual being, which is organized to be as independent as any being in eternity. When you go home, and learn that your neighbors have committed some depredation on your property, or in your family, and anger arises in your bosom, then consider, and know that it arises in yourselves.
On the other hand, suppose some person has blessed you when you return home, brought you a bag of flour, for instance, in a time of great scarcity, and some butter, milk, and vegetables, thoughts would at once spring up to bless the giver. The origin of thought and reflection is in ourselves. We think, because we are, and are made susceptible of external influences, and to feel our relationship to external objects. Thus thoughts of revenge, and thoughts of blessing will arise in the same mind, as it is influenced by external circumstances.
If you are injured by a neighbor, the first thought of the unregenerate heart is for God to damn the person who has hurt you. But if a person blesses you, the first thought that arises in you is, God bless that man; and this is the disposition to which we ought to cleave. But dismiss any spirit that would prompt you to injure any creature that the Lord has made, give it no place, encourage it not, and it will not stay where you are. You can let the black man, or the white man into your house, as you please; you can say, "Walk in," to both of them.
This is a figure. When the white man presents himself, you know him at once by his complexion; the same when you see darkness and blackness advancing, you know it is from beneath, and you can command it to leave your house. When the good man comes, he brings with him a halo of kindness which fills you with peace and heavenly comfort; invite him into your house, and make him your constant guest.
I have often told you from this stand, if you cleave to holy, godlike principles, you add more good to your organization, which is made independent in the first place, and the good spirit and influence which come from the Father of lights, and from Jesus Christ, and from the holy angels add good to it. And when you have been proved, and when you have labored and occupied sufficiently upon that, it will become, in you, what brother Joseph Smith told Elder Taylor, if he would adhere to the Spirit of the Lord strictly, it should become in him, viz., a fountain of revelation. That is true. After a while the Lord will say to such, "My son, you have been faithful, you have clung to good, and you love righteousness, and hate iniquity, from which you have turned away, now you shall have the blessing of the Holy Spirit to lead you, and be your constant companion, from this time henceforth and forever. Then the Holy Spirit becomes your property, it is given to you for a profit, and an external blessing. It tends to addition, extension, and increase, to immortality and eternal lives.
If you suffer the opposite of this to take possession of your tabernacles, it will hurt you, and all that is associated with you, and blast, and strike with mildew, until your tabernacle, which was created to continue throughout an endless duration, will be decomposed, and go back to its native elements, to be ground over again like the refractory clay that has spoiled in the hand of the potter, it must be worked over again until it shall become passive, and yield to the potter's wish.
One power is to add, to build up, and increase; the other to destroy and diminish; one is life, the other is death. Let us, then, lay a foundation for the rising generation to grow up without being trammeled and hindered in their onward course to glory and happiness by the superstitions, tradition, and ignorance that have blinded and hurt us. Let us do the best we can, and if we make a mistake once, seven times, or seventy times seven in a day, and are honest in our confessions, we shall be forgiven freely. As we expect to obtain mercy, so let us have mercy upon each other. And when the evil spirit comes let him find no place in you.
I recollect telling the Latter-day Saints that no man could judge the nature of a spirit without first testing it; until then, he is not capable to judge of it. Brethren, love righteousness, and hate iniquity.
May God bless you for ever. Amen.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS--HELL--THE SPIRIT WORLD--THE ELDERS AND THE NATIONS--THE LAMANITES--THE TEMPLE.
A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Dec., 3, 1854.
There are two or three subjects that I wish to occupy a short time in speaking upon, and I will commence with observations upon spiritual gifts, applicable directly to "such as sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death," according to the words of the Psalmist.
In the Scripture written by Job, or said to be written by him, you can read, "There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding;" and in the New Testament, "In him (Christ) was life; and the life was the light of men." "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
We could turn to many other passages of Scripture, alluding to what I have in my mind with regard to the inhabitants of the earth. It is believed, or has been, for I have often heard it taught by the Elders of Israel, that every person of accountable age, who did not believe in the Gospel of the Son of God, as it is written in the New Testament, and practise it in their lives, would be damned; or in other words, if a person does not become a Saint, or what we call a Saint, he must be damned. According to the old Scriptures, in one sense, I can agree with them with regard to the expression, and truly say that the inhabitants of the earth who have lived and died, and those who are now living, are all damned.
This idea brings to my mind so much not directly alluding to my subject, that I will break off, and say that we are now fighting the devils, in order to make a heaven of this earth.
Any person knowing and understanding the Scriptures as they are, and understanding the mind and will of God, can understand at once that when he is shut out from the presence of the Lord, when He does not hear His voice, sees not His face, receives not the ministering of His angels or ministering spirits, and has no messenger from the heavens to visit him, he must surely be in hell. Does the wrath of God rest upon all such? Yes, and we have plenty of it, just as much as we know what to do with. Are you not aware that the Latter-day Saints are realizing this, and saying "that it seems as though the devils are let loose upon the Saints?" Do you not know that they are liable to temptation? to feel wrath, malice, strife, envy, hatred to God, dislike to righteousness, and an inclination to dethrone the Almighty, and usurp His authority? If this is not being in hell, and if this is not the wrath of God abiding, to a certain degree, upon the inhabitants of the earth, we will wait until we find out what it is; but I cannot tell it any better in so few words.
The Spirit of the Lord, the light of Christ, and the inspiration of the Almighty, are given to every man to profit withal. All who understand the Gospel of salvation, in reflecting upon the condition of their progenitors, as far back as they can trace them, have this consolation; if they were honest, if they were upright, if they lived according to the best light and knowledge they had, if they served the Lord according to all they could obtain from the priest, and other sources, and lived according to that light, are they damned? Yes, precisely as you and I will be.
It is understood, and is so written, that when the inhabitants of the earth pass through what is called the valley of death, that which is in the tabernacle leaves it, and goes into the world of spirits, which is called hades or hell. The spirits that dwell in these tabernacles on this earth, when they leave them, go directly into the world of spirits. What, a congregated mass of inhabitants there in spirit, mingling with each other, as they do here? Yes, brethren, they are there together, and if they associate together, and collect together in clans and in societies as they do here, it is their privilege. No doubt they yet, more or less, see, hear, converse, and have to do with each other, both good and bad. Jesus himself went to preach to the spirits in prison; now, as he went to preach to them, he certainly associated with them; there is no doubt of that. If the prophets went and preached to the spirits in prison, they associated with them: if the Elders of Israel in these latter times go and preach to the spirits in prison, they associate with them, precisely as our Elders associate with the wicked in the flesh, when they go to preach to them.
This is exactly what I wish to get before your minds, not that but many of you understand these principles, and again many of you have not had the privilege of hearing them. Brother Woodard, who spoke to you this morning, has been in Italy, and has never before had the privilege of gathering with the Saints. He first learned of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the restoration of the Gospel, from the Elders who travelled where he was, and by the Spirit of the Lord he understood.
Brethren and sisters, and all who preach the Gospel of salvation, and, in short, all who inhabit this earth, I wish you to understand that the Lord has pleased to organize tabernacles here, and put spirits into them, and they then become intelligent beings. By and bye, sooner or later, the body, this that is tangible to you, that you can feel, see, handle, &c., returns to its mother dust. Is the spirit dead? No. You believe the spirit still exists, when this body has crumbled to the earth again, and the spirit that God puts into the tabernacle goes into the world of spirits. What is their situation? Is there any opportunity for them whatever? Yes, there is; although there is a great deal of Scripture which the priests have been pleased to make, without revelation, that contradicts this idea; and the traditions of the fathers contradict it, not the traditions of the Prophets and Apostles, but of our fathers, those who have lived in the dark ages of the world, and the great majority of those who live now; for I do not know of a darker period in the history of the world, than that of the nineteenth century, apart from the light of the new and everlasting covenant. It is the ignorance and superstition of the people that contradict future progression in the world of spirits, for the Gospel does not. There is an opportunity for men who are in the spirit to receive the Gospel. Jesus, while his body lay in the grave two nights and one day, went to the world of spirits to show the brethren how they should build up the kingdom, and bring spirits to the knowledge of the truth in the spirit world; he went to set them the pattern there, as he had done on this earth. Hence you perceive that there, spirits have the privilege of embracing the truth.
You may ask if they are baptized there? No. Can they have hands laid upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost? No. None of the outward ordinances that pertain to the flesh are administered there, but the light, glory, and power of the Holy Ghost are enjoyed just as freely as upon this earth; and there are laws which govern and control the spirit world, and to which they are subject.
Can we do anything for them? Yes. What are we trying to build a Temple for? And we shall not only build a Temple here, if we are successful, and are blessed and preserved, but we shall probably commence two or three more, and so on as fast as the work requires, for the express purpose of redeeming our dead. When I get a revelation that some of my progenitors lived and died without the blessings of the Gospel, or even hearing it preached, but were as honest as I am, as upright as I am, or as any man or woman could be upon the earth; as righteous, so far as they knew how, as any Apostle or Prophet that ever lived, I will go and be baptized, confirmed, washed, and anointed, and go through all the ordinances and endowments for them, that their way may be open to the celestial kingdom.
As I have frequently told you, that is the work of the Millennium. It is the work that has to be performed by the seed of Abraham, the chosen seed, the royal seed, the blessed of the Lord, those the Lord made covenants with. They will step forth, and save every son and daughter of Adam who will receive salvation here on the earth; and all spirits in the spirit world will be preached to, conversed with, and the principles of salvation carried to them, that they may have the privilege of receiving the Gospel; and they will have plenty of children here on the earth to officiate for them in those ordinances of the Gospel that pertain to the flesh.
Many people believe that the Spirit of the Lord has not been upon the earth when the Gospel was not among men in its purity; they believe the Spirit of the Lord has been entirely taken from the earth since the apostacy of the Church. I do not believe for one moment that there has been a man or woman upon the face of the earth, from the days of Adam to this day, who has not been enlightened, instructed, and taught by the revelations of Jesus Christ. "What! the ignorant heathen?" Yes, every human being who has possessed a sane mind. I am far from believing that the children of men have been deprived of the privilege of receiving the Spirit of the Lord to teach them right from wrong. No matter what the traditions of their fathers were, those who were honest before the Lord, and acted uprightly, according to the best knowledge they had, will have an opportunity to go into the kingdom of God. I believe this privilege belonged to the sons and daughters of Adam, and descended from him, and his children who were cotemporary [sic] with him, throughout all generations.
Men who are under the influence of their traditions and former notions, will desire to ask scores of questions upon this subject, but I think I can relieve your minds.
The Spirit of the Lord, in teaching the people, in opening their minds to the principles of truth, does not infringe upon the laws God has given to mankind for their government; consequently, when the Lord made man, He made him an agent accountable to his God, with liberty to act and to do as he pleases, to a certain extent, in order to prove himself. There is a law that governs man thus far; but the law of the celestial kingdom, as I have frequently told you, is, and always will be, the same to all the children of Adam. When we talk of the celestial law which is revealed from heaven, that is, the Priesthood, we are talking about the principle of salvation, a perfect system of government, of laws and ordinances, by which we can be prepared to pass from one gate to another, and from one sentinel to another, until we go into the presence of our Father and God. This law has not always been upon the earth; and in its absence, other laws have been given to the children of men for their improvement, for their education, for their government, and to prove what they would do when left to control themselves; and what we now call tradition has grown out of these circumstances.
There is so much of this, that I hardly dare to commence talking about it. It would require a lengthy discourse upon this particular point. Suffice it to say, the Lord has not established laws by which I am compelled to have my shoes made in a certain style. He has never given a law to determine whether I shall have a square-toed boot or a peaked-toed boot; whether I shall have a coat with the waist just under my arms, and the skirts down to my heels; or whether I shall have a coat like the one I have on. Intelligence, to a certain extent, was bestowed both upon Saint and sinner, to use independently, aside from whether they have the law of the Priesthood or not, or whether they have ever heard of it or not. "I put into you intelligence," saith the Lord; "that you may know how to govern and control yourselves, and make yourselves comfortable and happy on the earth; and give unto you certain privileges to act upon as independently in your sphere as I do in the government of heaven."
No matter whether we are Jew or Gentile, as the two classes of people are called; though Gentile signifies disobedient people; no matter whether we believe in the Koran as firmly as we now believe in the Bible; no matter whether we have been educated by the Jews, the Gentiles, or the Hottentots; whether we serve the true and the living God, or a lifeless image, if we are honest before the God we serve.
Brother George Q. Cannon brought me a god from the Sandwich Islands, made out of a piece of wood. If all the people bow down to such a god as that, it is in accordance with their laws and ordinances, and their manner of dealing among themselves; the Lord permits them to do as they please with regard to that matter, and this illustration will apply to all the nations upon the face of the earth. People who fall down beneath the wheels of Juggernaut, and are crushed to death; who sacrifice their children in the worship of idols; if they act according to the best of their knowledge, there is a chance for their salvation, as much as there is for the salvation of any other person.
"Do you suppose the Hindoos have the light of the Spirit of Christ?" I know they have; and so have the Hottentots, and so has every nation and kingdom upon the face of the earth, even though some of them may be cannibals, indulging in a practice the most repugnant to our refined feelings of any we know of among any people; yet that is a practice which the religious, refined, and polished inhabitants of our lovely country shudder at. But let me place any member of this congregation, or the whole of them, in such a state of suffering, from year to year, that they shall never see one day or one hour's comfort, nor satisfaction of human life; when compared with a condition of that kind, the sin of killing and eating a human being would not be as great as many sins committed by the so-called Christian nations.
Can I refer your minds to circumstances of this kind among the people of our lovely country? Yes, brethren and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, scores of them. When a man has power over his neighbour, over his fellow-being, and puts him in torment, which is like the flames of everlasting fire, so that he never dares to speak his mind, or walk across the street, or attend to any branch of business without a continual fear of his oppressor, and of the rod hanging over him for punishment, it is worse than to kill and eat him. That is as the torment of hell, do you know it? Now do not be scared when you hear of the heathen engaging in loathsome practices, for I defy you to bring up a meaner or more degraded set than now exists among the so-called civilized nations of the earth.
When I heard brother George Q. Cannon speak about the traditions of the people where he has been, I thought that some of their traditions were no worse than some of ours. They believe that no one is better capable of teaching the inhabitants of the earth than they; and I defy them to believe that stronger than we believe it of ourselves. It is what we have been taught, and what we verily believe; they have been taught the same idea, and believe it with all their hearts; then don't cast them down to hell for their honest belief.
But when the light of the knowledge of God comes to a man and he rejects it, that it is his condemnation. When I have told all I have been authorized to declare to him in the name of the Lord, if he does not have the visions of eternity, it is all nonsense to him. To know the truth of my testimony he must have the visions and revelations of God for himself. And when he gets them, and turns aside, becoming a traitor to the cause of righteousness, the wrath of God will beat upon him, and the vengeance of the Almighty will be heavy upon him. This comes, not because their fathers lived in darkness before them, and the ancestors of their fathers before them; not because the nations have lived and died in ignorance; but because the Lord pours the spirit of revelation upon them, and they reject it. Then they are prepared for the wrath of God, and they are banished to another part of the spirit world, where the devil has power and control over them.
Have not all our missionaries complained of hard times in their fields of labor? And some lately sent out are coming home. It is hard times for the brethren who are preaching in India. I understand the cause of it, and I wish to tell you, that you may understand it when you go there, or whether you go or not.
Take an artificial globe, and point out the spot where the Lord commenced to build up His kingdom in the times before the flood: follow the history of that people down to the days after the flood; and find on the globe where their children settled, and where the confusion of languages took place; then trace the children of Israel from Egypt follow their tracks along the sea, and in their wanderings through the Red Sea to the land of Canaan; then take the site of Jerusalem where the Saviour was martyred; then follow the paths of the ancient Apostles of Christ, and see where they preached the Gospel; and when you have followed their tracks throughout the extent of their labors, and come to those who did not reject the Gospel, or had not the privilege of receiving it, you have come to the borders of the ground where the good seed can be received.
Jerusalem is not to be redeemed by our going there and preaching to the inhabitants. It will be redeemed by the high hand of the Almighty. It will be given into the possession of the ancient Israelites by the power of God, and by the pouring out of His judgments. The ground where you can sow the good seed, and where it will yield crops that you can gather, is outside of that where the ancient Apostles and Prophets labored. They had the light and power of God with them; and made manifest the hand of the Almighty in delivering the people and working miracles, and saving those that were redeemed; and the people who are the most ready to receive the Gospel are those who have lived without it from the days of Noah to this time.
If you can find an island upon which a portion of the people who were scattered from the Tower of Babel found a resting place, and whose inhabitants were never visited by any of the ancient Apostles and Prophets, and where Jesus Christ did not visit, and who have not received any knowledge of the Father, nor the Son, from the days of the confusion, there is the spot where the Elders will reap the fruits of their labor more than anywhere else.
Previous to our receiving the Priesthood in these latter times, when we were members of the different sectarian churches, we used to read much about the Waldenses whom brother Woodard has been speaking about to-day, and who inhabit the mountains and vales of Piedmont, and from whom the Baptists say they received their authority or priesthood. But their priesthood is no better than the Catholic priesthood. Do you think they as a people will receive the Gospel? No. A few of them will. You recollect that brother Woodard said they were a mixed race, and are the descendants of those who heard, and most of whom rejected the Gospel. He said that but very few of them could read and write; and that the priest was ready to chastise those who could read, if they were known to use their knowledge. Now, they are only like the brute; they are not to blame for their superstition; and they are not the people to readily receive the Gospel. I may say they have but their cast-iron creed into the centre of an iron casting; the creed, notions, and superstitions of their fathers, their priests, kings, judges, and men in authority have been cast into one mould, and there they are stereotyped in cast iron. You may break their iron bands, and set them at liberty, and but few of them will receive the Gospel.
Why is this? Because their fathers heard the Gospel, and most of them rejected it; and the curse of the Almighty is upon them, and upon their posterity until they have wrought out their salvation by suffering; for the last shall be first, and the first shall be last. A nation which has had the privilege of receiving the everlasting covenant, and has rejected it, will be saved in the kingdom of God, but it will be among the very last which will receive the Gospel. Perhaps you will marvel at this. It is no marvel to me, because I perceive natural principles and sound reason for all these providences of the Almighty. All His providences to His people upon the face of the whole earth, are perfectly philosophical. Then recollect, there is a chance for all who are honest in heart. What shall we do with those who are dishonest? Let them remain with the good until the time comes to cast them away, and gather out the good.
We might say much on this point, showing you why things are as they are concerning the inhabitants of the earth receiving or rejecting the Gospel. Do you suppose they believe in Jesus Christ at Jerusalem? Can you make a Christian of a Jew? I tell you, nay. If a Jew comes into this Church, and honestly professes to be a Saint, a follower of Christ, and if the blood of Judah is in his veins, he will apostatize. He may have been born and bred a Jew, have the face of a Jew, speak the language of the Jews, and have attended to all the ceremonies of the Jewish religion, and have openly professed to be a Jew all his days; but I will tell you a secret--there is not a particle of the blood of Judaism in him, if he has become a true Christian, a Saint of God; for if there is, he will most assuredly leave the Church of Christ, or that blood will be purged out of his veins. We have men among us who were Jews, and became converted from Judaism. For instance, here is brother Neibaur ;do I believe there is one particle of the blood of Judah in his veins? No, not so much as could be seen on the point of the finest cambric needle, through a microscope with a magnifying power of two millions. This is a secret that you will perhaps find out, in a coming day, to your satisfaction. The Lord knew how to preach to the Jews, and told them what the truth was. You may as well undertake to command the most degraded of these Indian tribes, and give them arms and accoutrements, and try to put them through the regular military exercise, as to preach to the Jews to make them believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jerusalem is not to be redeemed by the soft still voice of the preacher of the Gospel of peace. Why? Because they were once the blessed of the Lord, the chosen of the Lord, the promised seed. They were the people from among whom should spring the Messiah; and salvation could be found only through that tribe. The Messiah came through them, and they killed him; and they will be the last of all the seed of Abraham to have the privilege of receiving the New and Everlasting Covenant. You may hand out to them gold, you may feed and clothe them, but it is impossible to convert the Jews, until the Lord God Almighty does it.
We have this illustrated in the account of Cain and Abel. Cain conversed with his God every day, and knew all about the plan of creating this earth, for his father told him. But, for the want of humility, and through jealousy, and an anxiety to possess the kingdom, and to have the whole of it under his own control, and not allow any body else the right to say one word, what did he do? He killed his brother. The Lord put a mark on him; and there are some of his children in this room. When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove tho curse from Cain and his posterity. He deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing his journey through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the earth; and because he did this, he is the last to share the joys of the kingdom of God.
Here are the Lamanites, another example. Their wickedness was not so great as those who slew the Son of God. Jesus revealed himself to them after he was slain, preached to them the Gospel. But in the fourth generation the Priesthood was driven from their midst, and after that, the laws, ordinances, and power of the Gospel ceased to be with them. Is their curse as great as that of those in Palestine? No, it is light, in comparison. They began to thirst for each other's blood, and massacred each other, from generation to generation, until they sunk into wickedness, and evil principles the most degrading, and have become loathsome and vile. Still, the curse will be removed from them before it will be removed from the children of Judah; and they will become "a white and delightsome people."
Brother Ballantyne, and many of our brethren in distant lands write, "O, how we would rejoice to have the privilege of visiting our mountain home!" I would rather undertake to convert five thousand Lamanites, than to convert one of those poor miserable creatures whose fathers killed the Savior, and who say, "Amen to the deed," to this day. Yea, I would rather undertake to convert the devil himself, if it were possible.
Then I say to the Elders in those regions, be not astonished if you have to see hard times. And if I had a voice that would reach the ears of all those Elders, I would say, LEAVE THEM, AND COME HOME, THE LORD DOES NOT REQUIRE YOU TO STAY THERE, FOR THEY MUST SUFFER AND BE DAMNED.
Now, sisters, write to your husbands who are in regions where the Gospel has been preached anciently, to come home; and I say to all the Elders who are in lands where the Gospel has been preached previous to our day, come away from that people, and leave them to live and die in their sins and ignorance. For the sins of their fathers are a sweet morsel to them, and they take pleasure in their wickedness; therefore, <let them alone>, and come home, and preach to the Lamanites.
There are many in this city who can bear witness to an incident I will now relate. Last spring, when we visited Walker, the Indian chief, he was dull and sulky, and lay in his tent, and would not come out to meet me. I went into his tent, and the first thing he said was, "Brother Brigham, lay your hands upon me, for my spirit has gone away from me and I want it to come back again." He was full of anger, for his people had been fighting, and he did not know whether to turn on to the side of peace or of war.
We laid hands upon him, and he felt better. At his request, we sung some "Mormon" hymns, and, as we left his tent, he was full of the good Spirit, and would not injure this people, no, not one particle. He was full of kindness, and love to God, and to all His works. He travelled with us to Iron County, and had dreams which amounted to revelations. If I could keep him with me all the time, do you suppose he would have an evil spirit? No, he would be filled with the Spirit of the Lord.
Last Sabbath we had an excellent discourse from brother Aaron Farr; his spirit is good, and so is brother Washington L. Jolly's. Brother Farr closed his remarks by saying, "that we were building fine houses, and neglecting the Temple of the Lord," and brother Jolly referred to the same thing in his remarks. If it would not hurt their feelings, I would say, it is none of your business if we do not build a Temple here for years. I know they feel anxious to have a place for us to administer the endowments in, and so do I.
Among those we administered the endowments to in Nauvoo, do you not think we administered to some who were devils, or in other words, full of the devil? You wish to see a Temple built, and, when it is done, some poor miserable beings will come up, and say, "We were baptized by brother So-and-so. Brother Brigham is a charming man, and what an excellent woman his wife is! Cannot we have our endowments this winter, brother Brigham?" And they will plead with brother Kimball, and sympathise for this or that man, saying, "Do let him have his endowment, for he is so generous and loving; he gave a sister a pair of stockings and shoes; cannot he have his endowment?" Well, he gets his endowment, and what for? To go to California, and reveal everything he can, and stir up wickedness, and prepare himself for hell.
I would rather see this people cleansed, and give the righteous their endowments after they have waited awhile. Let the poor. and those who are humble before the Lord, have the first chance. I should not build a Temple, nor commence to put one piece of hewn stone upon the foundation, or plane a board or stick of timber for that building, until the Temple lot is fenced. If this people will pay one-fifth of the tithing that is due, we can build all that we wish.
I will venture to say that brother Farr and Jolly never counselled their brethren, where they have been laboring, to come up here and pay their tithing; and yet they look to me and my brethren to do it all, to send the Gospel to the nations, to build temples, and watch night and day over the interests of this kingdom, and they have not even mouthed tithing; or, if they have, they have merely touched upon it, and when they get here, they whisper in my ear. "Brother Brigham, handle them carefully on tithing, for they know but little about it."
I wish you to understand me. Wait until this people have paid their tithing, before there is any demand made on the Lord, or on His servants, for a Temple. If this people rise up, and make demands on me for anything that has not been done, or complain about anything that they have done, I am ready to post up the books, and strike a balance sheet, and show whether it is you or your President that is the defaulter.
If all the brethren understood, and would pursue a proper policy, they would do better than they now do. My policy is to get rich; I am a miser in eternal things. Do I want to become rich in the things of this earth? Yes, if the Lord wishes me to have such riches, and I can use them to good advantage. My policy is to keep every man, woman, and child busily employed, that they may have no idle time for hatching mischief in the night, and for making plans to accomplish their own ruin.
We see men in our streets employed only in plotting the ruin of this people. But men who are engaged in the kanyons, in stores, or in any active labor in the day time, when night comes they are glad to rest. Night is the time the idle and the indolent watch for their prey. My policy is to keep everybody busy in building up this kingdom; in building houses; in breaking up land; in setting out fruit and ornamental trees; in laying out fine gardens, pleasant walks, and beautiful groves; and in building academies, and other places of learning.
There are hundreds of young men here who can go to school, which is far better than to waste their time. Study languages, get knowledge and understanding; and while doing this, get wisdom from God, and forget it not, and learn how to apply it, that you may do good with it all the days of your lives. May God bless you. AMEN.
FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY--WARS AND COMMOTIONS.
A Discourse by President Jedediah M. Grant, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 2, 1854.
We are assembled this afternoon to partake of bread, and drink in remembrance of the death and suffering of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I am satisfied that the Spirit of the Lord attends us whenever we meet in the way He has commanded; and whenever we have a meek and quiet spirit, we are prepared to receive that additional influence of the Holy Spirit, necessary to lead us into all truth, through the ordinances of the house of the Lord.
While we sit and contemplate upon the fulfilment of prophecy, delivered by the Prophet of the Lord in this dispensation, and by many more of His servants; while we contemplate upon the fulfilment of the revelations in the Book of Mormon, and in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and think of the events that we have been for twenty odd years expecting and preaching about, now rolling in on the right and on the left; it is calculated to make some of our very anxious people feel more satisfied.
The time has been, that even many of our Elders, when the sun was retiring in the west, looked for some sign in the heavens--for some flaming sword unsheathed, or some visible display of the power of the Almighty, by which they might know of the near approach of the Son of God. Others have feared greatly they would not live to see the fulfilment of the prophecies of brother Joseph, brother Brigham, and others; they have felt very anxious indeed about it. But I am convinced, that that class of Saints which have been so struck with anxiety and fearfulness, may now dismiss their fears, and dispense with all their anxiety, in relation to the predicted events that are coming upon the earth, for they are rolling in with such rapidity--they are rushing upon the astonished world with such velocity, as to exceed even our most sanguine expectations.
The things that are transpiring upon the earth are certainly as great and as momentous as any of the revelations hold forth, or as any of the predictions of the Prophet Joseph have foretold.
Notwithstanding this display of the power of God in fulfilling His word, we need not expect the eyes of the inhabitants of the earth to be opened to understand the meaning of the astounding events that are transpiring around them, for one of the marked signs of the last days is, the blindness of the people; we are told they should have eyes and see not, and ears but hear not, and hearts but understand not. If in the days of Jesus this was true of the Jews and surrounding nations, it is doubly so now in relation to the nations with which we are acquainted.
Though the fulfilment of the words of the Prophets is clear and visible to us as the noonday sun in its splendor, yet the people of the world are blinded thereto; they do not comprehend nor discern the hand of the Lord. The Saints who live in the Spirit, walk by the Spirit, and are governed by the counsels of the Almighty, can see the working of the Lord, not only in our midst--not only in Utah Territory, in the midst of the people of God who assemble in this Tabernacle--it is not only in this latter day capacity we view the work of God, but we let our minds stretch abroad to creation's utmost extent, and we can see the hand of the Lord in all the events of earth. We see it in the revolutions of our own continent; we see it in the scattering and scourging of the house of Israel; in the fading away of nations, on the right and on the left; in the present commotion in our own nation; in the broils and contentions between the South and the North; in short, we see it in all the events connected with our own and other nations living on the continent of North and South America. And when the mind's eye stretches abroad across the mighty deep, throughout Europe, we see the hand of the Lord visibly at work there, not only in the spread of the Gospel, in the prosperity of the people of God, and in the proclamation of the eternal principles of truth through the agency of the Elders of Israel, but in the war-cloud gathering black around, dyeing the ocean with human gore, and drenching the solid earth with blood.
We see it in the preparations of war, and the framing of treaties of peace among strong nations. The world is in commotion, and the hearts of men fail them for fear of the impending storm that threatens to enshroud all nations in its black mantle. Treaties of peace may be made, and war will stop for a season, but there are certain decrees of the Gods, and certain bounds fixed, and laws and edicts passed the high courts of heaven, beyond which the nations cannot pass; and when the Almighty decrees the wicked shall slay the wicked, strong nations may interfere, peace conventions may become rife in the world and exert their influence to sheath the sword of war, and make treaties of peace to calm the troubled surface of all Europe, to no effect; the war cloud is still booming o'er the heavens, darkening the earth, and threatening the world with desolation.
This is a fact the Saints have known for many years--that the Gods in yonder heavens have something to do with these revolutions; the angels, those holy beings who are sent from the heavens to the earth to minister in the destiny of nations, have something to do in these mighty revolutions and convulsions that shake creation almost to its centre.
Consequently, when we see nation stirred up against nation, and on the other hand see other nations exerting a powerful influence to bring about negociations [sic] of peace, shall we say they can bring it about? Do we expect they can stay the onward course of war? The Prophet of God has spoken it all, and we expect to see the work go on--and see all things fulfilled as the Prophets have declared by the spirit of prophecy in them.
The fact of the Prophet declaring an event before it comes to pass does not necessarily make that event. If he should foresee war, and predict it, the bare prediction, independent of the event that is known in the heavens, and which the world must read in the great chapter of events, does not set Europe to boiling like a pot. The Prophet simply tells a fact that is to exist--simply tells an event that is to transpire in the great chain of the providence of the Almighty relating to this earth, in the winding up sceneries thereof.
Why is it that the Latter-day Saints are perfectly calm and serene among all the convulsions of the earth--the turmoils, strife, war, pestilence, famine, and distress of nations? It is because the spirit of prophecy has made known to us that such things would actually transpire upon the earth. We understand it, and view it in its true light. We have learned it by the visions of the Almighty--by that spirit of intelligence that searches out all things, even the deep things of God.
Can the wise men of Europe tell the result of the present war between Russia and Turkey with the allied powers? No, they cannot. If the present war should be suspended for a time, can they tell you when the next will break out, and what will be the result of it? No, they cannot. But if you will listen to the revelations of God through the spirit of prophecy, and to the servants of God, you may learn it all with certainty.
Three days before the Prophet Joseph started for Carthage, I well remember his telling us we should see the fulfilment of the words of Jesus upon the earth, where he says the father shall be against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law; and when a man's enemies shall be those of his own household.
The Prophet stood in his own house when he told several of us of the night the visions of heaven were opened to him, in which he saw the American continent drenched in blood, and he saw nation rising up against nation. He also saw the father shed the blood of the son, and the son the blood of the father; the mother put to death the daughter, and the daughter the mother; and natural affection forsook the hearts of the wicked; for he saw that the Spirit of God should be withdrawn from the inhabitants of the earth, in consequence of which there should be blood upon the face of the whole earth, except among the people of the Most High. The Prophet gazed upon the scene his vision presented, until his heart sickened, and he besought the Lord to close it up again.
When we hear of war in foreign lands--when we hear of the revolutions among nations afar off, we necessarily infer that distresses incident to war and the hottest of the battle will not come nigh unto us. It is natural for man to make favorable conclusions as to his own safety, when danger threatens, but the Prophet saw in the vision, that war and distress of nations will not only occur in Europe, in Asia, and in the islands of the sea, but he saw it upon the American Continent--in the region of country where he first introduced the doctrine of the Son of God; so we may look for calamity in our own borders, in our own nation, as well as in the nations of foreign climes.
Some think, because of the peculiar situation of the country of the United States--the government being so well organized, little or no difficulty will ever come upon this continent, notwithstanding the European wars. Allow me to tell you in relation to that--when the Spirit of the Lord is powerfully manifested in any of the Elders of Israel, the first thing that is presented to his mind is the shedding of the blood of the Prophet, and those who did the deed.
It is no matter how much they deal in compromised measures, or how often they try to adjust difficulties that thicken around them--it is a stern fact that the people of the United States have shed the blood of the Prophets, driven out the Saints of God, rejected the Priesthood, and set at naught the holy Gospel; and the result of rejecting the Gospel has been, in every age, a visitation from the chastening hand of the Almighty--which chastisement will be administered in proportion to the magnitude and enormity of their crimes.
Consequently I look for the Lord to use His whip on the refractory son called "Uncle Sam;" I expect to see him chastised among the first of the nations. I think Uncle Sam is one of the Lord's boys that He will take the rod to first, and make him dance nimbly to his own tune of "Oh! Oh!!" for his transgressions, for his high-mindedness and loftiness, for his evil, for rejecting the Gospel, and causing the earth to drink the blood of the Saints--for this, I say, I expect he will be well switched among the first of the sons.
I expect John Bull will get the next whipping; and I have no idea of the Lord whipping Russia and letting those refractory sons escape who are better taught--who have had a kind Father teaching them and instructing them by the voice of His Elders; sending Prophets to them, to warn them late and early; inviting them by the voice of His Son, by the voice of angels, and by the still small voice of His Spirit, crying unto them to repent of their sins and to turn unto Him; I say, I do not expect He will pass by these refractory sons who have turned a deaf ear to all His instructions, maltreating His messengers, and whip those boys who have not been so well instructed.
I rejoice in the Lord my God, and feel happy in my spirit that the work of God is prospering, not only by the preaching of the Gospel, but by the progress of revolutions among the nations of the earth, and by the deeper corruption of the press and the people. I do not rejoice that the people and the press are waxing more and more corrupt, and that the war cloud darkens more and more, threatening nations with deeper distress; but I rejoice that the words of the Prophet are being fulfilled.
I do not desire thousands to lose their lives by war, and the attendant distresses; the spirit in me is different to this; but I rejoice that the reign of Satan is short upon the earth, and that the work of the Father has commenced on the face of all the earth--in the north, in the south, in the east, and in the west; and it is seen in our midst by the progress of the work of apostacy; for there is half wise and half foolish, as represented by the parable of the Saviour.
How many of the brethren that are brought here by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund from England and other countries will keep the faith, and stay with the people of God, and do right? I am afraid not more than half. All these things betoken the establishment of the work of God, and the growth of our religion, which gives me great joy.
When the people apostatize there is a contrast between the good and the bad, the just and the unjust. I rejoice when I see the righteousness of the Saints in contrast with the corruptions of the world.
In the midst of this people there is faithfulness, virtue, and integrity, and they are the most righteous and the best people upon the face of the whole earth; but when the world look upon us, and upon our morals, they look through dark spectacles and goggles, which blind them; they cannot see, and they therefore think we are the blackest people in crime, and the deepest sunk in degradation. When I see that the world have eyes, but cannot see, ears, but cannot hear, hearts, but cannot understand, it speaks volumes on the end being near, when the Son of God will come in the clouds of heaven to take vengeance on the ungodly, and reign in the midst of His people, and bring to a termination the reign of Satan.
I rejoice exceedingly that the work of God is progressing so rapidly under the sun upon the face of all the world. For war and bloodshed are just as necessary, and just as much the work of God, as repentance and baptism for the remission of sins; and it must progress, for the only means to bring about His purposes, consummate His decrees, and establish eternal righteousness, is by cutting off the wicked from the earth, after He has sought to save them by the plan of salvation. Seeing they would not listen--they would not obey--they would not be instructed--then as a kind father who cares for the welfare of his children, He takes the chastening rod, He unsheathes His sword in heaven, and cuts off the disobedient portion of His children. I rejoice to see this work progressing.
To give you my ideas more clearly upon this matter, suppose the people of God are called out to war--would they wish to cultivate the same spirit that the wicked cultivate? No, they would not. Would they go out to war to satisfy a guilty thirst for blood? No. But they would exercise faith in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and execute the judgments of God upon the wicked by His command.
I know that some cannot see the difference between a man of God taking a sword as did Samuel, and hewing down Agag, and the wicked slaying each other; but they look upon that the same as they do upon one Gentile hewing down another. When the man of God raises the sword, he would at the same time ask God to nerve his arm with strength, and fill him with the Holy Ghost. Thus strengthened, one man would slay a thousand, and overcome a troop, in executing the judgments of God, like the angels that were sent into the camp of the Assyrians in days of old. Do you think those angels were blood-thirsty ? No. They were messengers of the Most High, to execute His judgments, and bring to pass His purposes.
Some think we rejoice to see the wicked in their distress, and to behold the calamity that is coming upon the earth. That is not the true cause of our rejoicing; but we rejoice to see the predictions of the Prophets coming to pass, the reign of wickedness closing, which is the cause of all the ills to which mortality is heir, the cause of God move on in its majesty, and the great work fast approaching the winding up scene of the dispensations pertaining to earth.
Let us hear, see, understand, obey, and serve God faithfully, that we may make our way, through changing elements and the crash of worlds, into the presence of our Father who is in heaven, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
OBEDIENCE--THE SPIRIT WORLD--THE POTTER AND THE CLAY.
A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 2, 1854.
I have been much interested and edified with the remarks of brother Grant: they are good. I wish this whole people could see the propriety of these things as they ought. To me it would be one of the best and most joyful things in the world, if men and women who call themselves "Mormons," or Latter-day Saints, would live up to their profession, and learn to speak the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, and do his will on the earth, as it is done in heaven.
I ask you, brethren and sisters, if you expect to go into heaven, if you do not do his will on earth as it is done in heaven? Can those persons who pursue a course of carelessness, neglect of duty, and disobedience, when they depart from this life, expect that their spirits will associate with the spirits of the righteous in the spirit world? I do not expect it, and when you depart from this state of existence, you will find it out for yourselves.
Brother Grant was speaking about the work of God, in the laying waste of nations by sea and by land. I believe it is all the work of God, and it is all right. Will He sweep them from the earth in order to destroy their power and influence? He will. And when kings, and princes, and captains, and great men, according to the greatness of the world, go into the world of spirits, they will not have as much power as they had here upon the earth. We can hear of their spirits trying to peep, and mutter, and mock, and rap, and cause tables to dance, and chairs to move from one place to another, but that is all the power they have.
While I am in the flesh, I can take a chair, or a club, and make you feel my power to a still greater extent; I could bruise your flesh, and break your bones, but they cannot do anything but peep, and make tables and chairs dance, and rap, and give uncertain sounds. That is wisdom great enough for the world; it does well enough for them; it is all the revelation they deserve; and a few of this people go to those spirits. That man or woman who will not learn the principle of subjection, and become like clay in the hands of the potter, will be led astray by these spirits; and if not by these spirits, something will come by and by with more power.
The Saints are receiving their endowment, and preparing for that which is in the future; to dwell in the heavens, and sit upon thrones, and reign over kingdoms and dominions, principalities and powers; and as this work progresses, the works of Satan will increase, and he will continue to present one thing after another, following up the work of God, and increasing means of deception, to lead astray such men and women, and take them captive. As the work of God increases in power and extent upon the earth, so will the works of Satan increase. I expect that tribulation will be upon the wicked, and continue from this time until they are swept off from the earth. I just as much expect these things as I do to see the sun rise and set to-morrow.
I would like to see all this people do right, and keep the commandments of God. I would like to see them fulfil their covenants, and live up to their vows and promises, and fulfil their obligations, for they have obligated themselves before God, and before angels, and before earthly witnesses, that they would do this.
What you have agreed to do, God will require you to perform, if it should be ten thousand years after this time. And when the servants of God speak to you, and require you to do a thing, the Lord God will fulfil His words, and make you fulfil His words he gave to you through His servants. Inasmuch as you have come into this Church, and made a covenant to forsake the world, and cleave unto the Lord, and keep His commandments, the Lord will compel you to do it, if it should be in ten thousand years from this time. These are my views, and I know it will be so.
Comparing us to clay that is in the hands of the potter, if that clay is passive, I have power as a potter to mould it and make it into a vessel unto honor. Who is to mould these vessels? Is it God Himself in person, or is it His servants, His potters, or journeymen, in company with those He has placed to oversee the work? The great Master Potter dictates His servants, and it is for them to carry out His purposes, and make vessels according to His designs; and when they have done the work, they deliver it up to the Master for His acceptance; and if their works are not good, He does not accept them; the only works He accepts, are those that are prepared according to the design He gave. God will not be trifled with; neither will His servants; their words have got to be fulfilled, and they are the men that are to mould you, and tell you what shape to move in.
I do not know that I can compare it better than by the potter's business. It forms a good comparison. This is the course you must pursue, and I know of no other way that God has prepared for you to become sanctified, and moulded, and fashioned, until you become modelled to the likeness of the Son of God, by those who are placed to lead you. This is a lesson you have to learn as well as myself.
When I know that I am doing just as I am told by him who is placed to lead this people, I am then a happy man, I am filled with peace, and can go about my business with joy and pleasure; I can lie down and rise again in peace, and be filled with gladness by night and by day. But when I have not done the things that are right, my conscience gnaws upon my feelings. This is the course for me to take. If it is the course for me to take, it is the course for every other Elder in Israel to take--it does not matter who he is, or where he came from; whether he be an American, an Englishman, Irishman, Frenchman or German, Jew or Gentile; to this you have got to bow, and you have got to bow down like the clay in the hands of the potter, that suffers the potter to mould it according to his own pleasure. You have all got to come to this; and if you do not come to it at this time, as sure as the sun ever rose and set, you will be cut from the wheel, and thrown back into the mill.
You have come from the mill, and you have been there grinding. For what purpose? To bring you into a passive condition. You have been gathered from the nations of the earth, from among the kindreds, tongues, and peoples of the world, to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, to purify and sanctify yourselves, and become like the passive clay in the hands of the potter. Now suppose I subject myself enough, in the hands of the potter, to be shaped according as he was dictated by the Great Master potter that rules over all things in heaven and on earth, he would make me into a vessel of honor.
There are many vessels that are destroyed after they have been moulded and shaped. Why? Because they are not contented with the shape the potter has given them, but straightway put themselves into a shape to please themselves; therefore they are beyond understanding what God designs, and they destroy themselves by the power of their own agency, for this is given to every man and woman, to do just as they please. That is all right, and all just. Well, then, you have to go through a great many modellings and shapes, then you have to be glazed and burned; and even in the burning, some vessels crack. What makes them crack? Because they are snappish; they would not crack, if they were not snappish and wilful.
If you go to the potteries in Staffordshire, England, where the finest china ware is manufactured, you will see them take the coarsest materials about the pottery, and make a thing in the shape of a half bushel; then put the finest ware in these to secure it from danger in the burning operation. All the fine ware made in Europe and in China, is burnt in this kind of vessels [sic]. After they are done with, they are cast away--they are vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. So God takes the wicked, and makes them protect the righteous, in the process of sanctifying, and burning, and purifying, and preparing them, and making them fit for the Master's use.
These saggars, as they are called, are compounded of refuse articles that have been cast out; so even they are good for something. The wicked are of use, for they are a rod in the hands of the Almighty to scourge the righteous, and prepare them for their Master's use, that they may enter into the celestial world, and be crowned with glory in His presence.
Brethren who hold the Priesthood, how do you like to rebel against those who are placed over you in the Priesthood, to rule and guide you in the proper way? You Bishops, or Presiding Elder, Teacher, Deacon, Apostle or Prophet, how do you appear when you rebel against your head? You look like the woman who rebels against her husband or Lord. It also makes the children as bad as the parents; for if the parents are rebellious against their superiors, the children will be rebellious against their parents. Because the parents do not pursue a proper course, God makes their children a scourge to them.
Parents, if you do not listen to counsel, and walk in the path the Priesthood marks out, the Lord will prepare a scourge for you, if it is in your own family, to chasten you, and bring you to a knowledge of the truth, that you may be humble and penitent, and keep the commandments of God.
There is not much of this in the city of the Great Salt Lake, but look among the settlements north, south, east, and west, and see the rebellion against the authorities of which President Young and his associates have sent to preside over them; there is scarcely an instance where a whole settlement will listen to the counsel of their President.
Do you expect to have peace and plenty, to continue to thrive, and increase in property, in life, in herds, in flocks, and in the comforts of this life, while you are disobedient to those placed over you? You may for a season, but there is a rod preparing for the rebellious, and the righteous will have to suffer with the guilty. I know that by experience.
I will tell you another thing that I know. While the righteous are taking the rod along with the wicked, and it comes upon them severely, (I have passed through it many times,) they have joy, and peace, and consolation, and the Spirit of the Lord God rests mightily upon them, and is round about them, and they say, in the midst of it all, "We are determined, by the help of God, to keep His commandments, and by His help to do the will of our President." For if there is no man on God's footstool that will stand by him, and assist him, I am determined to do all that lies in my power to sustain him while I am upon the earth.
My prayer is, O Lord help me to do thy will, and walk in the footsteps of my leader, light up my path, and help me to walk so that my feet may never slip, and to keep my tongue from speaking guile; that I may never be left to betray my brethren, who hold the Priesthood of the Son of God; but that I may always honor that Priesthood, magnify it, reverence it, and love it more than I do my life, or my wives and my children. If I do that, I know the Priesthood will honor me, and exalt me, and bring me back into the presence of God, and also those who listen to my counsel as I listen to the counsel of him whose right it is to dictate me. If brother Brigham should get a revelation containing the will of God concerning His servant Heber, it would be, "Let my servant Heber do all things whatsoever my servant Brigham shall require at his hands, for that is the will of his Father in heaven." If that is the will of God concerning me, what is the will of God concerning you? It is the same.
Brethren of the Priesthood, let us rise up in the name of Israel's God, and dispense with everything that is not of God, and let us become one, even as the Father and the Son are one. If we take that course we shall triumph over hell, the grave, and over everything else that shall oppose our onward progress in earth, or in hell; there is nothing we need fear. I fear nothing only to grieve my Father who is in heaven, and my brethren who are upon the earth.
Now suppose my wives and my children would take the same course to please me, and be subject to me, as I am to brother Brigham, would there be any sorrow, or confusion, or broils? No, there would be no sorrow, there would be no blues in my family. I am never blue when I do brother Brigham's will; but when I do not do it, I begin to grow blue; and when brother Brigham does not do the will of God, he begins to feel blue. It always makes my family feel blue when they will not do as I wish them; and I suppose it affects almost every family so in this town.
Do you suppose I am afraid of the world? No. I have nothing to do with the world, with the devil, with any of his servants, nor with his commandments. All I have to do with is the Saints. I belong to the Kingdom of God, with my family, and with everything I possess on earth or in heaven, it is the Lord's, and I am His servant, and I devote all I have to Him, and so His cause, it is all at the service of this Church and people. I have said it to my family, and I say it now, when I have finished my course pertaining to the flesh, I am going to deed all my property to the Church; my wives, my children, shall not have it to quarrel about; but I will deed it all to the Church, and the Church shall dictate them from this time henceforth and forever.
That is just as I feel; for if I put myself in the Church, and everything I have, and deed it all over to the Church, then I belong to the Church with all I possess. I have not anything but what the Lord has given to me; He has given me my houses and my land. I have built my houses out of the elements that He organized when He organized the earth. My wives, my children, myself, and all I own, belong to the Lord God; and when I lay down this tabernacle of clay, my spirit will return to God who gave it. What can I retain of this world when I have done with it in this mortal state? I do not know of anything I can take with me. I came into the world naked, and I shall go from it taking nothing with me.
I have seen many cases where, at the death of the parents, the children will quarrel about the property, and fight about it; but my inheritance shall not be divided, it must remain whole; for except the body remains whole, it will die. If you divide the body, and separate the members of it, it will distress the body, make it imperfect, and it will go to misery, wretchedness, sorrow, and death. Well, then, when you die, put your inheritance into a situation that it will never be divided, and there will be no quarrelling about it.
It is just so with this Church; if we are united, and the Priesthood is united, and the families of this Church, with their husbands at their head, are united, we stand, and all hell, with the devil at their head, have nothing to do with us; they cannot move us. But if we are divided we fall.
What do you say to our being one, and clinging together? I speak to the brethren; I do not expect any woman will stick to me only my wives; if the women of every man stick to him, as the men stick to me, then we shall all be stuck together, and live together, and reign together, and get rich together, and increase together, and build up together, and be as one man in all things. Would we not be a happy company? It is that alone that will make you truly happy; and to be perfectly limber in the hands of the potter like clay. What makes the clay snap? Because it wants its own way; and you cannot be happy unless you submit to the laws of God, and to the principles of His government.
When a person is miserable, wretched, and unhappy in himself, put him in what circumstances you please, and he is wretched still. If a person is poor, and composes his mind, and calmly submits to the providences of God, he will feel cheerful and happy in all circumstances, if he continues to keep the commandments of God. But you may fill the house of a dissatisfied person with everything the world can produce, and he will be miserable with all. All heaven could not satisfy discontented persons; they must first be satisfied with themselves, and content in the situation in which they are placed, and learn to acknowledge the hand of God in all things.
There are some ladies who are not happy in their present situations; but that woman who cannot be happy with one man, cannot be happy with two, and a man that is not happy with one wife, cannot be with two, even though they are good women. You know all women are good, or ought to be. They were made for angelic beings, and I would be glad to see them act more angelic in their behaviour. You were made more angelic, and a little weaker than man. Man is made of rougher material, to open the way, cut down bushes, and kill the snakes, that women may walk along through life, and not soil and tear their skirts. When you see a woman with ragged skirts, you may know she wears the unmentionables, for she is doing the man's business, and has not time to cut off the rags that are hanging around her. From this time hence forth you may know what woman wears her husband's pants.
May the Lord bless you. Amen.
CONTENTMENT--HOME MANUFACTURES--THE PRIESTHOOD--TITHING--GATHERING--BUILDING UP ZION--PURIFICATION.
A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Nov. 26, 1854.
I feel grateful for the privileges and blessings we enjoy as a people. This seems to be the feeling of every one that attempts to speak before this congregation. But what are the feelings of thousands of this people that appreciate their blessings and their enjoyments? I know for one that I have never seen a day since I entered in to this Church, but what I felt thankful for the situation in which I was placed. I have been many times poor as to the things of this world, but I never saw the time but what I felt rich in regard to the principles of life and salvation, that God has revealed to us.
I presume there are but few in this valley, and perhaps not one, that has seen closer times than I have, or than President Brigham Young has. I hear a great many people say, and even some of those who labor on the Public Works, that they have nothing but bread to eat and water to drink; well, I have seen the time, a great many times, that I had not bread to eat, but there was plenty of water, though not half so good as we have here in these valleys. I have thought a thousand times how it is possible that men can have nothing under the heavens to live upon but bread and water, when the valleys are full of vegetation, and at the same time they will have plenty of potatoes, beets, carrots, pumpkins, and everything of that kind, and still they say they have nothing but bread and water! That is a mystery that never has been unfolded to me. I have never seen the time in my life but what I had something to eat, if it was nothing but some horse beef, or something of that kind.
Well, there are a great many who labor, and have their three dollars and three dollars and a half a day, and they say there is nothing but bread and water to live upon. Ask them how much of a family they have, and you will learn they have only one wife, and no children, and are paid from 18 to 20 dollars a week, and cannot get anything but bread and water!
I merely speak of this because I have heard it so much. Perhaps they cannot get meat, and perhaps they cannot get butter, nor sugar, nor coffee, nor tea, but they have plenty of potatoes, and they have plenty of beets, carrots, pumpkins, squashes, &c.,&c., for there are thousands of these things in the Tithing Office. I wish the brethren would not come to President Young, nor to any other one, with that complaint any more, until the potatoes are all gone. Why not say, "We have to live on bread, and water, and potatoes, and pumpkins, squashes, and all these good things?" Will you not be so candid as to make that report the next time? I know perfectly well we are comfortable as a people, and you may go into the United States, and into the best cities and towns that there are in the United States, and you cannot find so large a congregation as are here together, which is as well clad as you are to-day. If you could stand where I am, and look upon this congregation, you would be surprised to see the good clothing you have on; it is better than I ever saw any congregation have in any part of the United States, or in any portion of Europe that I ever was in; and we have the least cause of complaint of any people that live upon the face of the earth; this I know. And I know another thing, that a great many people are becoming so proud--well, perhaps it is not pride, but they have got so that they cannot dress and clothe themselves with anything that is not brought here by the merchants. Many will bring in their wool, and their linsey, and their good clothing that they make here from the wool, and give it to clothe the Indians, for they are too proud to wear it themselves. But the day will come when the merchants of the earth will lift up their heads and their voices, and cry out, "We have no place to sell our merchandize."
Will the time ever be that we can make our clothing? We nearly can at this time. We can do it almost universally as a people. If there are any who have not got the sheep, they can buy the wool cheaper than it can be bought in the United States this day. You can buy it at from 20 to 50 cents a pound. I would like to see the people take a course to make their own clothing, make their own machinery, their own knives and their own forks, and everything else we need, for the day will come when we will be under the necessity of doing it, for trouble and perplexity, war and famine, bloodshed and fire, and thunder and lightning will roll upon the nations of the earth, insomuch that we cannot get to them, nor they to us. If you do not believe me I want you to believe the Prophets; read the revelations that came through brother Joseph Smith, and through Daniel and Moses, and through Jesus, and through all the ancient Prophets. They spoke of these things, and declare they shall come to pass in the latter days. Well, what period is it now? Unto us it is the "last days," in which, the Lord says by His Prophets, when you hear of war, and rumors of war, it will not be long before you have it in your own land. Now are we as a people preparing and qualifying ourselves for that day, lest it overtake us as a thief in the night? It certainly will if we do not wake up from our slumber.
There is a blessing that attends this people wherever they go, and every man that comes to us, or is at a place when we come, I never have seen the time but what they begin to get rich. Look at Nauvoo, for instance, and see how poor and penniless we were, living in old log cabins, and destitute; but we began to get rich, and many became wealthy. There is no man upon the face of the earth that will be favorable towards Zion and towards this people, but what he will prosper temporally as well as spiritually. I have never seen a place, since I was born upon the earth, in which I could make one dollar, but that I could make 50 dollars among the Saints in the same length of time. It seems to cost more to build a house here by one half than it does in the United States, still it is easier to build, and to multiply and replenish the earth, and raise food, and everything else, in this place, than in any other that ever I saw. At the same time there are a great many who murmur, and say it is the hardest place they ever saw; that is a curiosity to me, when the blessings of the Almighty attend us wherever we go; for we can build up a city in a few days, or at the furthest in a few years, and it seems to be no trouble at all. Brethren and sisters, let us try to appreciate our blessings, and honor the calling we have received. At the same time there are a great many who disregard their profession, and tantalize others who hold the Priesthood, and try to make it dishonorable; but they cannot do it. I cannot dishonor it, but I can dishonor myself.
The Priesthood is a gift from the Almighty, and He has placed a portion of it upon me to honor, and if I honor that calling, that Priesthood will honor me, it will magnify me before God, and before the world. I do know that when I take a course to dishonor myself, I degrade myself in the eyes of heaven, and upon earth. When I trifle with the Priesthood I trifle with the Almighty; and when I trifle with President Young I trifle with the Priesthood, and that Priesthood will leave me, and I will fall, and I will become disgraced in the eyes of heaven, and of all Saints; and I forfeit everything that I had attained while I held that Priesthood, when I forfeit it; I forfeit my salvation and every blessing I possess.
Supposing we all realized this, do you not think that those who have the Priesthood, and take a course to pollute not only themselves, but their brethren, and their sisters, and degrade themselves, and steal, and lie, and take the name of God in vain, would repent speedily? How do you suppose the Lord looks upon them? Now reflect one moment; He looks upon them with less allowance than I do, and that in proportion to the light and knowledge which He has. And how do angels look upon them when they are sent forth to minister to those who will become heirs of salvation?
We read in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants that when Peter and James desired to depart, John desired to tarry, that he might accomplish a greater work. "Well," says the Lord, "you may have your wishes, and, as John wants to tarry to do a greater work, I will authorize you, James and Peter, to assist my servant John to perform a good work while he shall tarry." Now, if John has angels to administer to him, why not other men who are servants of the living God? It is just as reasonable that they should. I know it is so; I do not believe it, but I actually know it; and that the God which I serve lives and dwells in the heavens; and I feel to honor Him, I feel to reverence Him, and to do a good work by His authority, that I may come into His presence, and give up my stewardship with joy, and not with grief; and dwell with Him at some future time. And when I give up my stewardship to Him, if He considers me worthy, He can restore it to me, with an hundred fold beside.
We are on trial, and let us prove ourselves by paying our tithing, and fulfilling all our duties before God, and see if He will not pour us out a blessing that there will not be room to contain it. How in the heavens can you prove the Lord whether His word shall be verified, if you do not step forward and do as He has told you? Gentlemen and ladies, let me tell you one thing, your withholding does not impoverish the Almighty, for you have not anything only what is His, and you have not anything only what He gave you; and do you suppose He has given all to you that He possesses? No. When He has given every thing that you can retain, that you can watch over, and preside over, He is not impoverished, because there is an eternal increase, and there is no end to His income, and there is no end to His creations, for they go on continually. You have not anything only what you have received from the Almighty from day to day. Where do you get your water, your meat, your bread, and the luxuries of life? Did not He create them all, or, in other words, organize them? Were not the elements thereof placed here upon the earth before you came here? One half of the people may draw away from the truth, or two thirds of them, or a quarter of them, or all but twenty, if you please, and do you suppose it will hinder the salvation, the exaltation, the happiness, and the heaven that pertains to those who cleave to this Church? No, it won't affect them one hair. If you do not pay one dime of tithing it will not impoverish the Almighty, but I will tell you where the effect will be, it will affect yourselves, your own salvation. If you neglect these things, I tell you the Lord will neglect to bless you; it comes on yourselves individually, and it stands you in hand, every soul of you, men and women, to arise and prove the Lord, and see if He does not watch your faithfulness, and is not ready to pour you out a blessing that you have not room to receive.
Since President Young and others have dwelt upon tithing it is coming in first rate, and Bishop Hunter has become frightened; "Good heavens," says he, "what shall we do with the tithing? We have not got room to put it." "Why," says I, "stretch out, Bishop." If he does not stretch out, he will, in comparison, be like an artificial globe, he will become round, he will draw up, that is the trouble. Too many have got the sweeny, and the skins are growing tight on their flesh, and even on their bones. Some of the Bishops and Elders become so contracted that it is too hard for them to pay their tithing when it pertains to them as individuals, for it is an individual salvation. Let us be one in these things, and be up and doing while it is time; and it is time all the time, and it is time in eternity all the time, and always will be; and when we get into the next stage of action it will be time while we are there, and it will be eternity around us. Let us go to work and purify our hearts--our tabernacles--and purify and cleanse our houses, and let us rise up as a people. What say ye? Do you feel inclined to do it? Let us show to the world that we are Saints, for it hurts my feelings to see the steps that some Elders here are taking right in the midst of Israel, rising up in clans to steal from their brethren, and thinking we shall believe it is some one else. Is that righteous? Is that the religion of Christ? Is that doing as you would wish to be dealt by? Such characters will see sorrow, they will see wretchedness, they will see misery; and may God grant that their misery may begin to fall upon them, and increase, that they may never rest until they repent, and wash away their sins, and turn unto the Lord; I wish this on conditions you know. Well, here we pray, and here we desire, that inasmuch as the world raise weapons against Zion, or against God's people, we pray that these weapons may fall upon their own heads, and not upon ours; we pray, inasmuch as they dig pits, that they may fall into them instead of getting us into them.
Bless your souls, I have no fear about any matters pertaining to this people, if they would rise up and be as one man, and act by common consent with the President, as his Counsellors and as the Twelve do. The Twelve feel to be one with the First Presidency, as they are with each other. I do not fear the world, nor do I fear anything that is in it, for where there is union and concentration with that man whom God has appointed, there is a power that this earth cannot handle. Now the world do not know this, but still they are fearful; there is something out of sight which they fear. Again, if those who go forth to preach the Gospel could speedily gather every one of the Saints from Europe, Asia, Africa, the islands of the sea, and from wherever they are scattered, there would be twenty thousand, yes, fifty thousand, converted, where there now are not ten. The lingerers are right in the gate, like a dog in a manger; they will neither eat themselves nor let anybody else eat; and they are an offence in the eyes of the world, and they block up the work from rolling on. I wish they were gathered into a brush heap and burned, that is those who ought to be burned, and the rest gathered with us; for the Lord, in the very first start of this Church, said, "All those who have entered into covenant with me, and come into my Church, let them gather themselves together into one place." Still, do you not see how desirous people are to scatter here and there, and not go as they are told; but they are for getting off by themselves, to partake of the spirit of the world, and the spirit of selfishness; and they want to own everything there is, that no person or being can get within miles of them.
We are commanded to gather into one place, and purify ourselves, and sanctify ourselves, that we may be prepared for His coming; for He will come by and bye, when He gets ready; the time is not very far off, as many suppose; He will not come to the wicked first, but to those who are virtuous, and have kept their covenants; and when He comes to the wicked He will come in the clouds of heaven and in flames of fire, and will take vengeance on them, and on those that know not God, and do not obey His counsel, and His Priesthood, and the power He has placed upon earth. To me, the word comes from brother Brigham as the word of the Lord; but how many there are who disregard it. He is the delegate that God has appointed to be Joseph's successor, and his word is the word of the Lord, whether it is written or not; whether it comes out as revelation or not, it is the word of God to those who believe and practise it; and when this is done the blessings of the Lord God will rest upon this people to that degree that you cannot conceive nor imagine. As for riches, let us seek after the riches of eternal life, and let us seek first the kingdom of God, and its righteousness, and then all necessary things shall be added unto us, both those that pertain to earth, and that pertain to heaven and heavenly things. As to what little I have in this world, I have not anything but what belongs to the Almighty; and if I have got anything here in my possession that I am steward over, if it is wanted I want He should have it, I do not care what it is. I know the earth is full of the abundance of everything that is or ever was upon it; and we are bound to prosper if we take this course, but if we do not we shall experience the opposite; and when the opposite takes place it will be worse, and more sorrowful, and more to be dreaded than anything we have ever had to experience.
I wish many of you had been through the scenes that brother Brigham and many others have. "What, do you want us to pass through the same that you have?" Yes, and more abundantly. Do you think I will cry about it? No; I will rejoice if you only stick to the faith, because it will be for your good--for your happiness; it will give you an experience that you have not got, and I do not know that you can have it until you have been tried. You have never seen the day that you have had to watch with your firelock in readiness; that is, you have not had to watch President Young, with your fire-arms and other weapons of defence, and not only to watch him, but to watch you Elders. This was all the time the case in the former part of our career in this Church, and we were happy then; were we not, brother Brigham? ["Yes, sir."] and rejoiced all the day long that it was no worse with us.
We talk of these things to you a great many times; well, we have passed through a great deal of tribulation. Though there may be individuals who have passed through pretty close places, yet I never saw a place where there was not a chance to get out some time; but have you, as a people, one in a hundred of you, passed through any great trials? Many of you have been brought here free of expense, and did not work to pay one dime of it, until you got here, and got settled. Did we get carried in our early day? No, we had to look out for ourselves, and then take a large back load besides.
Some say they do not want to work here for nothing and find themselves; but we found ourselves, that is, we found ourselves right there. Telling about finding ourselves! God finds us, and furnishes us with everything we have, with the breath we breathe, and the earth we stand upon, and the water that we drink. Do you make all these things? No, the Lord made them, and placed them here upon the earth for our use; He made the wheat and organized it; we have the seed, and all we have to do is to sow one kernel and get a thousand, to sow one bushel and get twenty, forty, or eighty; to plant one bushel of corn and get five hundred; to plant six bushels of potatoes and get three or four hundred. Find yourselves, do you? Did you find the seed? No, you did not, the Lord found it; when He came here He brought it with Him, and He told His sons to sow it, and let it increase.
You are aware that my object in addressing you is to try to influence your minds to do good, and take the right course, and listen to counsel, and to the government of God as it is established upon the earth. Do you suppose I would occupy this stand, were it not that peradventure I might persuade you? I am exhorting you to faithfulness, humility, and to be true to your integrity, and to your God, and to one another, and to pray. There are a great many men will pray when you ask them to pray, but I doubt whether they pray at any other time, but they must keep up an appearance in our midst, and at the same time carry on iniquity right here in the heart of Zion. As some one said here last Sabbath, I wish things would take a little different course, that we should have no necessity of exhorting you to faithfulness. I wish you would exhort yourselves to faithfulness, and then practise it, and then continue in it to the end. Let us go to work and build up Zion as well as build up ourselves, for when we build up Zion we build up ourselves, when we enrich Zion we enrich ourselves. When we build up the Public Works we enrich ourselves, for the public improvements increase the value of our private improvements, and they are connected together. Let President Brigham Young and his Counsellors, and the Twelve, leave this place and go to Fillmore, and property in Fillmore will rise the moment we go there and commence to build a temple. Lots, instead of selling for 25 dollars, will sell for 25 hundred. Take away the temple from here, and place it there, and see what a change it will make; for where the carcase [sic] is, there the eagles will gather together, and you cannot help yourselves. Do you know it? Now let us go to work and build up these Public Works, and make things look nice and comfortable. It will take us but a little while to do a thing if we have means to do it; for the more means there are, the more men can be employed; and after all true riches are in labor and muscle, the sinew and the bone, more than in gold and silver, and fine clothing. Did you ever see a piece of calico make itself? It is produced by bone and sinew.
Some in the world say, "I never can believe the earth was made with hands, or if it was, it is certainly a curiosity for the Lord to measure the whole of it in the hollow of His hand, and it is said He did; He hefted it and weighed it in a balance. What does all this mean? Does it not mean what it says, or does it mean something else?" God made the earth, and He made it with His hands, just as much as I ever made a vessel from clay with my hands. I shaped it, but the elements were made before; I only took the material from the bank and organized it and put it into such shape as my master told me. An apprentice who goes to a trade has to do as his master tells him. Look at it, we are apprentices, and we ought to become obedient to our masters, that we may become workmen who need not be ashamed to present ourselves before our masters, or before those who of right take cognizance of us.
In Europe all the troops that are enlisted have to be taken and drilled, and when they have been drilled for many years, they have to learn to march with heads up, and eyes right or left, and all step alike; after they can do this first rate they must then be examined by the best military men, and when they are approved they are sent to different parts of the earth to take stations. That is good, is it not?
The Saints have to come to as careful discipline, and the day will come when the wicked will have to come to it, and if they do not learn to step right, they will be made to do it. I was speaking about it yesterday, when I went with brother Brigham to see the review; they are improving, no doubt, though our troops were not all there. We were speaking about an open vision that we saw some years ago; it was not seen in the dark, but we saw it with our natural eyes; President Young, myself, brother Phineas Young, and many others saw it. We saw an army start from the east, and go to the south, and there were twelve men in a column, and one column came right after the other, so that when the first stepped, the next stepped in their track; and they had swords, guns, knapsacks, caps, and feathers, and we could see them march with a uniform step from one side of the heavens to the other. This we saw with our natural eyes, and looked upon it for hours; it was the very night that the angel delivered the plates to Joseph Smith.
This army marched to the southwest, and they marched as if there was a battle to take place; and we could hear the clashing of their swords and guns, and the measured head of their march, just as plain as I ever heard the movements of troops on the earth. John P. Greene came to wake me up to look upon it. I am speaking of this to show you how exact in our discipline and government we must be to prepare us for a celestial being; we have got to begin to come to it, and I would like to know when you will begin to prepare yourselves. The whole world have got to see and feel the armies of heaven, and when they come they will come with order, and when they are commanded to act there will be no running away, and there will be no traitors in that army, but it will be composed of virtuous Saints, who are clothed with the power of God, and have the integrity of heavenly beings. They will not sell whisky, and stick up grogeries, and establish distilleries, and engage in various other operations to pollute this people among whom they have enlisted, even under the banners of Christ. Among the wicked there will be disorder, but in the armies of heaven there will be order. Things in heaven are in order, there is a pure government there, and it must be observed, and strictly adhered to; this you read in your Bibles. When the order of that government was threatened, did not Michael the archangel, with the hosts of heaven that were with him, cast Lucifer out, and all his votaries?
The world is in confusion, and shall we pattern after the world, or after the armies of heaven? What do you say as a people? To pattern after heavenly things is my religion, it is what I believe, and is what I would like to practise, and what I would like to see the Elders in Israel practise, and all who profess to be Saints.
To judge from my exhortation at this time, some of those who come in from the States might think we are quite corrupt and wicked here; but the gentlemen and ladies who have come in our midst, know that this is the most virtuous and upright community that they ever lived with; and if they ever become doubtful about it, let them go back to the States after they have lived here. You know that it is said to be the most celebrated place for good order. I say the majority of this people are the best that ever lived, or dwelt upon the earth, according to their experience. Is not that a pretty good recommend? But there are some scoundrels, and when we think of it, we wish it were otherwise. But you remember the figure that Jesus used; said he, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that is cast into the sea, and it brought together all kinds. Don't you see them here? It is that, for one thing, which makes me think it is "Mormonism;" if there were not such devils here I might doubt occasionally; or in other words, might doubt, if there was any chance to doubt, but there is none. Just look at the different kinds of fish. There is a time coming for the net to be drawn in, and all the fish drawn together, both good and bad; the good will be put into baskets, and the bad will be cast away. You recollect the passage. The day will come when he who prove faithful will dwell on this earth in a Holy City, and it will be walled in, and there will be fine buildings of every description in it; we have not a house here that will compare with the most inferior that will be in that city. Why do you not qualify yourselves, and prepare to go into that city and kingdom where you can be still more useful?
Now look at yourselves, and scan yourselves, and see whether you are fit subjects to go there. Are you without spot or blemish? If not, awake and exert yourselves to work righteousness. What will you see outside of that city? Dogs, sorcerers, and whoremongers, and those who love and make a lie, and steal, and disobey the requirements of God, and take His name in vain. Are they going inside? No; but a wall will have to be built to keep the devils out, even in heaven; and still, many do not deem it necessary for Saints to be gathered together and wall in a city!
Awake, all ye Israel, from your slumber, and call upon God, and hasten to His counsel, and obey, and then we shall prevail, and not be prevailed against; then we shall be forever, and see the devil cast out of heaven, and destroyed with his works. I do not expect to live for ever in this old body, for I am going to have a new one. Then let me magnify and keep this body pure, that I may be entitled to a new one, and if I do not keep this pure I shall not be entitled to a better; neither will any of you, except you honor this body. Now, will you go and pollute yourselves, and lose the right and title to a resurrection, to dwell with the Saints, and with God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, who is my brother? You who do not wish to be Saints, who do not care anything about righteousness, and desire to follow the evil habits you have been accustomed to in other countries, will you not please to leave us? Will you lift up your hands and show yourselves? No. I can not get a hand up, you keep down under the curtain; but we will find you out by and bye, and we will cast nuisances out of this city; for in a city acknowledged by God the Eternal Father grog shops cannot be tolerated. Look in the Eastern States; we cast them out there as nuisances, and they never can be tolerated here. Don't you say it will be better to take that course than to have the chastity of our virtuous women violated? Drunkenness and pollution cannot prevail while we dwell here, and when we remove, there will be nobody here but devils. Every place we have left has become a literal hell. Look at Nauvoo, which we tried to build up, and they would not let us, but killed our Prophet and Patriarch, because we preached, and tried to practise, the same righteous course which I am now exhorting you to pursue. That is what they drove us for. I know all about it, I was there, and President Young was there. We never had any peace in the States after we embraced "Mormonism;" even as soon as I embraced it in my own country, men came into my house to drive and mob me. They had no fault to find with me and brother Brigham, but with our religion, because it was severe towards the wicked and ungodly. Now, you who profess to be in the sheepfold, for Heaven's sake be subject to the law and government of the Shepherd.
Have I said enough? I feel just as I say; I am honest, I am a servant of God, and I intend to sustain His cause. When we came to this valley we came to leave wickedness and work righteousness, though we came here because we were obliged to.
Brethren and sisters, may God bless you, and cause peace and plenty to abound among you from this time henceforth and for ever. Amen.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND ILLINOIS--NAUVOO CHARTER AND MUNICIPAL COURT--WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS.
An Address by President Joseph Smith, Delivered on the evening of his arrival from Dixon, June 20, 1843, in the Grove, near the Temple, Nauvoo; about eight thousand people having hastily assembled, under the most intense excitement, in consequence of the attempt of Sheriff Reynolds, of Jackson County, Missouri, to kidnap him to Missouri, by preventing him from obtaining a writ of Habeas Corpus.
Reported by Dr. Willard Richards and Elder Wilford Woodruff.
The congregation is large; I shall require attention. I discovered what the emotions of the people were on my arrival at this city, and I have come here to say, "How do you do?" to all parties, and I do now at this time say to all, "How do you do?" I meet you with a heart full of gratitude to Almighty God; and I presume you all feel the same. I am well--I am hearty. I hardly know how to express my feelings--I feel as strong as a giant. I pulled sticks with the men coming along, and I pulled up with one hand the strongest man that could be found: then two men tried, but they could not pull me up; and I continued to pull mentally until I pulled Missouri to Nauvoo. But I will pass from that subject.
There has been great excitement in the country since Joseph H. Reynolds and Harmon Wilson took me; but I have been cool and dispassionate through the whole. Thank God, I am now a prisoner in the hands of the Municipal Court of Nauvoo, and not in the hands of Missourians.
It is not so much my object to tell of my afflictions, trials, and troubles, as to speak of the writ of Habeas Corpus, so that the minds of all may be corrected. It has been asserted by the great and wise men, lawyers and others, that our municipal powers and legal tribunals are not to be sanctioned by the authorities of the State; and accordingly <they> want to make it lawful to drag away innocent men from their families and friends, and have them put to death by ungodly men for their religion! Relative to our city charter, courts, right of Habeas Corpus, &c., I wish you to know and publish that we have all power; and if any man from this time forth says anything to the contrary, cast it into his teeth. There is a secret in this; if there is not power in our charter and courts, then there is no power in the State of Illinois, nor in the Congress or Constitution of the United States, for the United States gave unto Illinois her constitution or charter, and Illinois gave unto Nauvoo her charters, ceding unto us our vested rights, which she has no right or power to take from us; all the power there was in Illinois she gave to Nauvoo; and any man that says to the contrary, is a fool. The Municipal Court has all the power to issue and determine writs of Habeas Corpus, within the limits of this city, that the Legislature can confer. This city has all the power that the State Courts have, and was given by the same authority--the Legislature.
I want you to hear and learn, O Israel! this day, what is for the happiness and peace of this city and people. If our enemies are determined to oppress us, and deprive us of our constitutional rights and privileges as they have done; and if the authorities that are on the earth will not sustain us in our rights, nor give us that protection which the laws and constitution of the United States, and of this State, guarantee unto us, then we will claim them from a higher power--from Heaven--yea, from God Almighty.
I have dragged these men here by my hand, and will do it again; but I swear I will not deal so mildly with them again; for the time has come <when forbearance is no longer a virtue;> and if you or I are again taken unlawfully, you are at liberty to give loose to blood and thunder. But be cool, be deliberate, be wise, act with almighty power, and when you pull, do it effectually--make a <sweepstakes> for once!
My lot has always been cast among the warmest hearted people; in every time of trouble, friends, even among strangers, have been raised up unto me, and assisted me.
The time has come when the vail is torn off from the State of Illinois, and its citizens have delivered me from the State of Missouri; friends that were raised up unto me would have spilt their life's blood, to have torn me from the hands of Reynolds and Wilson, if I had asked them; but I told them not. I would be delivered by the power of God, and generalship; and I have brought these men to Nauvoo, and committed them to her from whom I was torn, not as prisoners in chains, but as prisoners of kindness. I have treated them kindly, I have had the privilege of rewarding them good for evil. They took me unlawfully, treated me rigorously, strove to deprive me of my rights, and would have run with me into Missouri to have been murdered, if Providence had not interposed; but now they are in my hands, and I have taken them into my house, set them at the head of my table, and placed before them the best which my house afforded; and they were waited upon by my wife, whom they deprived of seeing me when I was taken.
I have no doubt but I shall be discharged by the Municipal Court: were I before any good tribunal I should be discharged, as the Missouri writs are illegal, and good for nothing--they are "without form and void."
But before I will bear this unhallowed persecution any longer--before I will be dragged away again, among my enemies for trial, <I will spill the last drop of blood in my veins, and will see all my enemies> IN HELL! To bear it any longer would be a sin, and I will not bear it any longer. Shall we bear it any longer? [One universal "No!" ran through all the vast assembly, like a loud peal of thunder.]
I wish the lawyer who says we have no powers in Nauvoo may be choked to death with his own words. Don't employ lawyers, or pay them money for their knowledge, for I have learnt they don't know anything. I know more than they all.
Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel; he that believeth in our chartered rights, may come here and be saved, and he that does not shall remain in ignorance. If any lawyer shall say there is more power in other places and charters, with respect to Habeas Corpus, than in Nauvoo, believe it not. I have converted this candidate for Congress [pointing to Cyrus Walker, Esq.], that the right of Habeas Corpus is included in our charter. If he continues converted, I will vote for him.
I have been with these lawyers, and they have treated me well; but I am here in Nauvoo, and the Missourian too. I got here by a lawful writ of Habeas Corpus, issued by the Master in chancery of Lee County, and made returnable to the nearest tribunal in the Fifth Judicial District having jurisdiction to try and determine such writs: and here is that tribunal, just as it should be.
However indignant you may feel about the high hand of oppression which has been raised against me by these men, use not the hand of violence against them; for they could not be prevailed upon to come here till I pledged my honor and my life that a hair of their heads should not be hurt. Will you all support my pledge, and thus preserve my honor? [One universal "Yes!" burst from the assembled thousands.] This is another proof of your attachment to me. I know how ready you are to do right; you have done great things, and manifested your love towards me in flying to my assistance on this occasion. I bless you, in the name of the Lord, with all the blessings of heaven and earth you are capable of enjoying.
I have learned we have no need to suffer as we have heretofore--we can call others to our aid. I know the Almighty will bless all good men--He will bless you; and the time has come when there will be such a flocking to the standard of liberty as never has been, or shall be hereafter. What an era has commenced! Our enemies have prophesied that we would establish our religion by the sword; <is it true?> No, but if Missouri will not stay her cruel hand in her unhallowed persecutions against us, I restrain you not any longer: I say, in the name of Jesus Christ, by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, I this day turn the key that opens the heavens to restrain you no longer from this time forth. I will lead you to battle; and if you are not afraid to die, and feel disposed to spill your blood in your own defence, you will not offend me. Be not the aggressor--bear until they strike you on the one cheek; then offer the other, and they will be sure to strike that; <then defend yourselves>, and God will bear you off, and you shall stand forth clear before His tribunal.
If any citizens of Illinois say we shall not have our rights, treat them as strangers and not friends, and let them go to hell and be damned! Some say they will mob us; let them mob and be damned! If we have to give up our chartered rights, privileges, and freedom, which our fathers fought, bled, and died for, and which the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, guarantee unto us, we will do it only at the point of the sword and bayonet.
Many lawyers contend for those things which are against the rights of men, and <I can only excuse them because of their ignorance>. Go forth and advocate the laws and rights of the people, ye lawyers; if not, don't get into my hands, or under the lash of my tongue.
Lawyers say the powers of the Nauvoo charter are dangerous; but I ask, is the Constitution of the United States, or of this State, dangerous? No; neither are the charters granted unto Nauvoo by the Legislature of Illinois dangerous, and those who say they are, are fools. We have not enjoyed unmolested those rights which the Constitution of the United States of America, and our charters grant. Missouri and all wicked men raise the hue and cry against us, and are not satisfied. Some political aspirants of this State also are raising the hue and cry that the powers in the charters granted unto the city of Nauvoo are dangerous; and although the General Assembly have conferred them upon our city, yet the whine is raised--"Repeal them, take them away;" like the boy who swapped off his jack-knife, and then cried, "Daddy, daddy, I have sold my jack-knife, and got sick of my bargain, and I want to get it back again." But how are they going to help themselves? Raise mobs? And what can mobocrats do in the midst of Kirkpatrickites? No better than a hunter in the claws of a bear. If mobs come upon you any more here, dung your gardens with them. We don't want any excitement; but after we have done all, we will rise up, Washington-like, and break off the hellish yoke that oppresses us, and we will not be mobbed.
The day before I was taken at Inlet Grove, I rode with my wife through Dixon to visit some friends, and I said to her, "Here is a good people." I felt this by the Spirit of God. The next day I was a prisoner in their midst, in the hands of Reynolds of Missouri, and Wilson of Carthage. As the latter drove up, he exclaimed, "Ha, ha, ha, by God we have got the Prophet now!" He gloried much in it; but he is now our prisoner. When they came to take me, they held two cocked pistols to my head, and saluted me with "God damn you, I'll shoot you! I'll shoot you, God damn you;" repeating these threats nearly fifty times from first to last. I asked them what they wanted to shoot me for. They said they would do it if I made any resistance. "O very well," I replied, "I have no resistance to make." They then dragged me away, and I asked them by what authority they did these things. They said, "By a writ from the Governors of Missouri and Illinois." I then told them I wanted a writ of Habeas Corpus. Their reply was, "God damn you, <you shan't have it>." I told a man to go to Dixon, and get me a writ of Habeas Corpus. Wilson then repeated, "God damn you, you shan't have it; I'll shoot you." When we arrived at Dixon, I sent for a lawyer, who came, and Reynolds shut the door in his face, and would not let me speak to him, repeating "God damn you, I'll shoot you." I turned to him, opened my bosom, and told him to "shoot away; I have endured so much persecution and oppression that I am sick of life; why then don't you shoot, and have done with it, instead of talking so much about it?" This somewhat checked his insolence. I then told him that I <would> have counsel to consult; and eventually I obtained my wish. The lawyers came to me, and I got a writ of Habeas Corpus for myself, and also a writ against Reynolds and Wilson for unlawful proceeding and cruel treatment towards me. Thanks to the good citizens of Dixon, who nobly took their stand against such unwarrantable and unlawful oppression, my persecutors could not get out of town that night; although, when they first arrived, they swore I should not remain in Dixon five minutes; and I found they had ordered horses accordingly to proceed to Rock Island. I pledged my honor to my counsel that the Nauvoo city charter conferred jurisdiction to investigate the subject; so we came to Nauvoo, where I am now prisoner in the custody of a higher tribunal than the circuit court.
The charter says that "the city council shall have power and authority to make, ordain, establish, and execute such ordinances, not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States, or of this State, as they may deem necessary for the peace, benefit, and safety of the inhabitants of said city;" and also that "the Municipal Court shall have power to grant writs of Habeas Corpus in all cases arising under the ordinances of the city council." The city council have passed an ordinance "that no citizen of this city shall be taken out of this city by any writ, without the privilege of a writ of Habeas Corpus." There is nothing but what we have power over, except where restricted by the Constitution of the United States. "But," say the mob, "what dangerous powers!" Yes, dangerous, because they will protect the innocent, and put down mobocrats. The Constitution of the United States declares that the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be denied. Deny me the right of Habeas Corpus, and I will fight with gun, sword, cannon, whirlwind, and thunder, until they are used up like the Kilkenny cats.
We have more power than most charters confer, because we have power to go behind the writ, and try the merits of the case.
If these powers are dangerous, then the Constitution of the United States, and or this State, are dangerous; but they are not dangerous to good men; they are only so to bad men who are breakers of the laws. So with the laws of the country, and so with the ordinances of Nauvoo; they are dangerous to mobs, but not to good men who wish to keep the laws.
We do not go out of Nauvoo to disturb anybody, or any city, town, or place; why then need they be troubled about us? Let them not meddle with our affairs, but let us alone. After we had been deprived of our rights and privileges of citizenship, driven from town to town, place to place, and State to State, with the sacrifice of our homes and lands, our blood has been shed, many having been murdered; and all this because of our religion--because we worship Almighty God according to the dictates of our own consciences. Shall we longer bear these cruelties, which have been heaped upon us for the last ten years in the face of heaven, and in open violation of the Constitution and laws of these United States, and of this State? God forbid! <I will not bear it>: if they take away my rights, I will fight for them manfully and righteously until I am used up. We have done nothing against the rights of others.
You speak of lawyers; I am a lawyer too, but the Almighty God has taught <me> the principle of law; and the true meaning and intent of the writ of Habeas Corpus is to defend the innocent, and investigate the subject. Go behind the writ, and if the form of one that is issued against an innocent man is right, he should not be dragged to another State, and there be put to death, or be in jeopardy of life and limb, because of prejudice, when he is innocent. The benefits of the Constitution and Laws are alike for all; and the great Eloheim has given me the privilege of having the benefits of the Constitution, and the writ of Habeas Corpus, and I am bold to ask for this privilege this day; and I ask, in the name of Jesus Christ, and all that is sacred, that I may have your lives and all your energies to carry out the freedom which is chartered to us. Will you all help me? If so, make it manifest by raising the right hand. [There was a unanimous response, a perfect sea of hands being elevated.] Here is truly a committee of the whole.
When at Dixon, a lawyer came to me as counsel; Reynolds and Wilson said I should not speak to any man, and they would shoot any man who should dare to speak to me. An old grey-headed man came up, and said I should have counsel, and he was not afraid of their pistols. The people of Dixon were ready to take me from my persecutors, and I could have killed them notwithstanding their pistols; but I had no disposition to kill any man, though my worst enemy--no even Boggs: in fact <he> would have more hell to live in the reflection of his past crimes, than to die. After this, I had lawyers enough, and I obtained a writ for Joseph H. Reynolds, and Harmon Wilson, for damage, assault, and battery, as well as the writ of Habeas Corpus.
We started for Ottoway, and arrived at Pawpaw Grove, thirty-two miles, where we stopped for the night. Squire Walker sent Mr. Campbell, Sheriff of Lee County, to my assistance, and he came, and slept by me. In the morning, certain men wished to see me, but I was not allowed to see them. The news of my arrival had hastily circulated about the neighborhood; and very early in the morning the largest room in the hotel was filled with citizens, who were anxious to hear me preach, and requested me to address them. Sheriff Reynolds entered the room, and said, pointing to me, "I wish you to understand this man is my prisoner, and I want you should disperse; you must not gather round here in this way." Upon which an aged gentleman who was lame, and carried a large hickory walking-stick, advanced towards Reynolds, bringing his hickory upon the floor, said, "You damned infernal puke; we'll learn you to come here and interrupt gentlemen: sit down there, [pointing to a very low chair,] and sit still, don't open your head till General Smith gets through talking; if you never learned manners in Missouri, we'll teach you that gentlemen are not to be imposed upon by a nigger driver: you can <not> kidnap men here, if you do in Missouri; and if you attempt it here, there's a committee in this Grove that will sit on your case; and, sir, it is the highest tribunal in the United States, <as from its decision there is no appeal>." Reynolds, no doubt aware that the person addressing him was at the head of a committee, who had prevented the settlers on the public domain from being imposed upon by land speculators, sat down in silence, while I addressed the assembly for an hour and a half on the subject of marriage; my visitors having requested me to give them my views of the law of God respecting marriage.
My freedom commenced from that hour. We came direct from Paw-paw Grove to Nauvoo, having got our writ directed to the nearest court having authority to try the case, which was the Municipal Court of this city.
It did my soul good to see your feelings and love manifested towards me. I thank God that I have the honor to lead so virtuous and honest a people, to be your leader and lawyer, as was Moses to the children of Israel. Hosannah! <Hosannah!!> HOSANNAH!! to Almighty God, who has delivered us thus from out of the seven troubles! I commend you to His grace, and may the blessings of heaven rest upon you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
[President Smith then introduced Mr. Cyrus Walker to the assembled multitude, and remarked to him]--These are the greatest dupes, as a body of people, that ever lived, or I am not as big a rogue as I am reported to be. I told Mr. Warren I would not discuss the subject of religion with you. I understand the Gospel, and you do not; you understand the quackery of law, and I do not.
[Mr. Walker then addressed the people to the effect that from what he had seen in the Nauvoo city charter, it gave the power to try writs of Habeas Corpus, &c. After which President Smith continued as follows--]
If the Legislature have granted Nauvoo the right of determining cases of Habeas Corpus, it is no more than they ought to have done, or more than our fathers fought for.
Furthermore, if Missouri continues her warfare, and to issue her writs against me and this people unlawfully and unjustly as she has done, and to take away and trample upon our rights, I swear in the name of Almighty God, and with uplifted hands to heaven, I will spill my heart's blood in our defence. They shall not take away our rights; and if they don't stop leading me by the nose, I will lead them by the nose; and if they don't let me alone, I will turn up the world--I will make war. When we shake our own bushes, we want to catch our own fruit.
The lawyers themselves acknowledge that we have all power granted us in our charters that we could ask for--that we had more power than any other court in the state; for all other courts were restricted, while ours was not; and I thank God Almighty for it. I will not be rode down to hell by the Missourians any longer; and it is my privilege to speak in my own defence; and I appeal to your integrity and honor, that you will stand by and help me, according to the covenant you have this day made.
THE CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES--RIGHTS AND POLICY OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Feb. 18, 1855.
Read by Elder Thomas Bullock.
Brethren, Sisters, and Friends--
We are a people believing in the providences of God, and acknowledging His hand in His dealing with us from day to day.
We are a people whose rise and progress from the beginning, has been the work of God our Heavenly Father, which in His wisdom He has seen proper to commence for the re-establishment of His kingdom upon the earth.
Still further we believe that the Lord has been preparing that, when He should bring forth His work, that, when the set time should fully come, there might be a place upon His footstool where sufficient liberty of conscience should exist, that His Saints might dwell in peace under the broad panoply of constitutional law and equal rights. In this view we consider that the men in the Revolution were inspired, by the Almighty, to throw off the shackles of the mother government, with her established religion. For this cause were Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, and a host of others inspired to deeds of resistance to the acts of the King of Great Britain, who might also have been led to those aggressive acts, for aught we know, to bring to pass the purposes of God, in thus establishing a new government upon a principle of greater freedom, a basis of self-government allowing the free exercise of religious worship.
It was the voice of the Lord inspiring all those worthy men who bore influence in those trying times, not only to go forth in battle, but to exercise wisdom in council, fortitude, courage, and endurance in the tented field, as well as subsequently to form and adopt those wise and efficient measures which secured to themselves and suceeding [sic] generations, the blessing of a free and <independent government>.
This government, so formed, has been blessed by the Almighty until she spreads her sails in every sea, and her power is felt in every land.
The American Government is second to none in the world in influence and power, and far before all others in liberal and free institutions. Under its benign influence the poor, down trodden masses of the old world can find an asylum where they can enjoy the blessings of peace and freedom, no matter to what caste or religious sect they belong, or are disposed to favor, or whether they are disposed to favor any or none at all. It was in this government, formed by men inspired of God, although at the time they knew it not, after it was firmly established in the seat of power and influence, where liberty of conscience, and the free exercise of religious worship were a fundamental principle guaranteed in the Constitution, and interwoven with all the feelings, traditions, and sympathies of the people, that the Lord sent forth His angel to reveal the truths of heaven as in times past, even as in ancient days. This should have been hailed as the greatest blessing which could have been bestowed upon any nation, kindred, tongue, or people. It should have been received with hearts of gratitude and gladness, praise and thanksgiving.
But as it was in the days of our Savior, so was it in the advent of this new dispensation. It was not in accordance with the notions, traditions, and pre-conceived ideas of the American people. The messenger did not come to an eminent divine of any of the so-called <orthodoxy>, he did not adopt their interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. The Lord did not come with the armies of heaven, in power and great glory, nor send His messengers panoplied with aught else than the truth of heaven, to communicate to the meek the lowly, the youth of humble origin, the sincere enquirer after the knowlege [sic] of God. But He did send His angel to this same obscure person, Joseph Smith Jun., who afterwards became a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and informed him that he should not join any of the religious sects of the day, for they were all wrong; that they were following the precepts of men instead of the Lord Jesus; that He had a work for him to perform, inasmuch as he should prove faithful before Him.
No sooner was this made known, and published abroad, and people began to listen and obey the heavenly summons, than opposition began to rage, and the people, even in this favored land, began to persecute their neighbors and friends for entertaining religious opinions differing from their own.
I pause now to ask, had not Joseph Smith a right to promulgate and establish a different, a new religion and form of worship in this government? Every one must admit he had. This right was always held sacred, for upon it was based the religious liberty of every citizen of the Republic. It was a privilege held sacred in the bosom of every class of people; no Judge dared invade its holy precincts? No Legislator nor Governor ventured to obstruct the free exercise thereof. How then should it be esteemed an object worthy of persecution that Joseph Smith, the man called of God to perform a work in restoring the Gospel of salvation unto the children of men, and his followers, true believers in his divine mission, should attempt to exercise the same privilege held sacred by all others, of every name, nature, and description, and equally so by them? Why should he and his followers be debarred the privilege of worshipping God according to the dictates of their consciences? Legally they cannot, and I will further state, that legally they have not. No! whenever the iron hand of oppression and persecution has fallen upon this people, our opposers have broken their own laws, set at defiance and trampled under foot every principle of equal rights, justice, and liberty found written in that rich legacy of our fathers, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Whenever popular fury has been directed against us, no power in the government has been found potent enough to afford protection, and what is still more astonishing, honorable enough to yield redress, nor has any effort succeeded in bringing to justice those individuals who had perpetrated such fearful crimes. No! The <murderer>, the <assassin>, the <midday plunderer>, and <highway robber> roam unmolested, and mingle unquestioned in the society of the rulers of the land; they pass and re-pass as current coin, producing no jar in the sensibilities of refinement, no odium in the atmosphere in which they move.
I ask you, friends, how is this? Are not our religious sentiments as sacred to us as to any other portion of the community? And should it not be the duty, as well as the pride, of every American citizen to extend that provision of the CONSTITUTION to us which he claims for himself? And is not that sacred instrument invaded and broken as much in debarring and excluding this people from its privileges, rights, and blessings, as it would be if your rights and privileges were thus invaded? No, gentlemen, we have broken no laws, our Glorious CONSTITUTION guarantees unto us all that we claim. Under its broad folds, in its obvious meaning and intents, we are safe, and can always rejoice in peace. All that we have ever claimed, or wish to, on the part of the government, is the just administration of the powers and privileges of the National Compact.
It is not our acts, neither our intentions that the people or the Government are afraid or complain of, but their own evil surmisings concerning us.
In our first settlement in Missouri, it was said by our enemies that we intended to tamper with the slaves, not that we had any idea of the kind, for such a thing never entered our minds. We knew that the children of Ham were to be the "<servant of servants>," and no power under heaven could hinder it, so long as the Lord should permit them to welter under the curse, and those were known to be our religious views concerning them. Yet, the misrepresentation of our enemies found willing ears in those prejudiced against us, and we were driven from our homes in consequence of the fears of the people, and the prejudice which had been raised against us in consequence thereof.
Again, in Missouri, in the early part of our history, the fears of the people and Government were aroused, because <they, not we,> said that it was our intention to tamper with the Indians, therefore we must not be allowed to exist in their vicinity; and again the alarm was sounded, and we were driven from our homes, plundered, mobbed, some killed, and all this not for any crime which we had committed, but for fear we might commit one.
Again; it was industriously circulated that we were going to declare our "<Independence>," not that we had, or intended to do so absurd a thing; yet anything, no matter how absurd, seemed sufficient excuse to startle the fears of the community, and they began to drive, plunder, rob, burn our houses, and lay waste our fields, and this was called, "<Mormon disturbances>," and the aid of the Government was invoked to quell "<Mormon insurrection>," "<Mormon troubles>," and "Turbulent Mormons." And although it was found necessary, as they state, to drive us from Missouri and the frontiers, to prevent us from tampering with the slaves and Indians, yet it was found equally necessary, ten years afterwards, when we were a hundred to one at that time, to drive us from Nauvoo into the very midst of the Indians, as unworthy of any other society.
Fears of what we might do with the Indians had by this time subsided, and fears of something else that we might hereafter do, if left to remain in peace, and a desire to plunder, accomplished our exodus from Illinois. Perhaps, however, in this last case our enemies might have entertained some fears that, if we were permitted to remain unmolested, the blood-thirsty assassins who killed our beloved Prophet and Patriarch, Joseph and Hyrum, who were inhumanly massacred while reposing under the pledged faith of the State for their protection and safety, might not be permitted to remain undisturbed in their guilt.
As in the case of the Indians upon the frontier, this also was a false conclusion, for if ever a people would have been justified in redressing their own wrongs, and could have done so with impunity, it was at the time of this horrible murder. But they proved to the world, by their quiet and peaceable demeanor, that they had no such intention, but this was forgotten, and in less than a year and a half we were again assailed, our houses and grain stacks burned, and our brethren shot down in the glare of the light thereof, while attempting to save a pittance to drive starvation not from the doors nor the tents, for there were none of either, but from the famishing hearts of their social circle--of their wives and children.
And again was the aid of the Government invoked to quell the so-called "Mormon disturbances," and still we see the newspapers teeming with these and the like epithets--"Turbulent Mormons." "What shall be done with these turbulent Mormons?" is the cry from one end of the Union to the other. In the name of Heaven what have we done to excite the fears of any People or Government, that the sound of war and blood must eternally be kept ringing in our ears? I answer, nothing. It is the same as before, in the case of tampering with the slaves and Indians, a certain fearfulness that if we are not looked to, driven, plundered of our homes and possessions, slain, and massacred as before, we may do something, they have not yet, to my knowledge, defined precisely what.
Have not this people invariably evinced their friendly feelings, disposition and patriotism towards the government by every act and proof which can be given by any people?
Permit me to draw your attention, for a moment, to a few facts in relation to raising the Battalion for the Mexican war. When the storm cloud of persecution lowered down upon us on every side, when every avenue was closed against us, our Leaders treacherously betrayed and slain by the authorities of the Government in which we lived, and no hope of relief could penetrate through the thick darkness and gloom which surrounded us on every side, no voice was raised in our behalf, and the General Government was silent to our appeals. When we had been insulted and abused all the day long, by those in authority requiring us to give up our arms, and by every other act of insult and abuse which the prolific imagination of our enemies could devise to test, as they said, our patriotism, which requisitions, be it known, were always complied with on our part; and when we were finally compelled to flee, for the preservation of our lives and the lives of our wives and children, to the wilderness; I ask, had we not reason to feel that our enemies were in the ascendant? that even the Government, by their silent acquiesence, were also in favor of our destruction? Had we not, I ask, some reason to consider them all, both the people and the Government, alike our enemies?
And when, in addition to all this, and while fleeing from our enemies, another test of fidelity and patriotism was contrived by them for our destruction, and acquiesced in by the Government, (through the agency or a distinguished politician who evidently sought, and thought he had planned, our overthrow and total annihilation,) consisting of a requisition from the War Department, to furnish a Battalion of five hundred men to fight under their officers, and for them, in the war then existing with Mexico, I ask again, could we refrain from considering both people and Government our most deadly foes? Look a moment at our situation, and the circumstances under which this requisition was made. We were migrating, we knew not whither, except that it was our intention to go beyond the reach of our enemies. We had no homes, save our wagons and tents, and no stores of provisions and clothing; but had to earn our daily bread by leaving our families in isolated locations for safety, and going among our enemies to labor. Were we not, even before this cruel requisition was made, unmercifully borne down by oppression and persecution past endurance by any other community? But under these trying circumstances we were required to turn out of our travelling camps 500 of our most efficient men, leaving the old, the young, the women upon the hands of the residue, to take care of and support; and in case we refused to comply with so unreasonable a requirement, we were to be deemed enemies to the Government, and fit only for the slaughter.
Look also at the proportion of the number required of us, compared with that of any other portion of the Republic. A requisition of only thirty thousand from a population of more than twenty millions was all that was wanted, and more than was furnished, amounting to only one person and a half to a thousand inhabitants. If all other circumstances had been equal, if we could have left our families in the enjoyment of peace, quietness, and security in the houses from which we had been driven, our quota of an equitable requisition would not have exceeded four persons. Instead of this, five hundred must go, <thirteen thousand per cent> above an equal ratio, even if all other things had been equal, but under the peculiar circumstances in which it was made comparison fails to demonstrate, and reason itself totters beneath its enormity. And for whom were we to fight? As I have already shown, for those that we had every reason to believe were our most deadly foes. Could the Government have expected our compliance therewith? Did they expect it? Did not our enemies believe that we would spurn, with becoming resentment and indignation, such an unhallowed proposition? And were they not prepared to make our rejection of it a pretext to inflame the Government still more against us, and thereby accomplish their hellish purposes upon an innocent people, in their utter extinction? And how was this proposition received, and how was it responded to by this people? I went myself, in company with a few of my brethren, between one and two hundred miles along the several routes of travel, stopping at every little camp, using our influence to obtain volunteers, and on the day appointed for the rendezvous the required compliment was made up; and this was all accomplished in about twenty days from the time that the requisition was made known.
Our Battalion went to the scene of action, not in easy berths on steamboats, nor with a few months' absence, but on foot over two thousand miles across trackless deserts and barren plains, experiencing every degree of privation, hardship, and suffering during some two years' absence before they could rejoin their families. Thus was our deliverance again effected by the interposition of that All-wise Being who can discern the end from the beginning, and overrule the wicked intentions of men to promote the advancement of His cause upon the earth. Thus were we saved from our enemies by complying with their, as hitherto, unjust and unparalleled exactions; again proving our loyalty to the Government.
Here permit me to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of Captain Allen, the bearer of this requisition from the Government. He was a gentleman full of humane feelings, and, had he been spared, would have smoothed the path, and made easy the performance of this duty, so far as laid in his power. His heart was wrung with sympathy when he saw our situation, and filled with wonder when he witnessed the enthusiastic patriotism and ardor which so promptly complied with his requirement; again proving, as we had hundreds of times before proved, by our acts, that we were belied by our enemies, and that we were as ready, and even more so than any other inhabitants of the Republic, to shoulder the musket, and go forth to fight the battles of our common country, or stand in her defence. History furnishes no parallel, either of the severity and injustice of the demand, or in the alacrity, faithfulness, and patriotism with which it was answered and complied. Thus can we cite instance after instance of persons holding legal authority, being moved upon, through the misrepresentation and influence of our enemies, to insult us as a people, by requiring a test of our patriotism. How long must this state of things continue? So long as the people choose to remain in wilful ignorance with regard to us; so long as they choose to misinterpret our views, misrepresent our feelings, and misunderstand our policy.
To accuse us of being unfriendly to the Government, is to accuse us of hostility to our religion, for no item of inspiration is held more sacred with us than the Constitution under which she acts. As a religious society, we, in common with all other denominations, claim its protection; whether our people are located in the other states or territories, as thousands of them are, or in this territory, it is held as a shield to protect the dearest boon of which man is susceptible--his religious views and sentiments.
The Government of the United States has never engaged in a crusade against us as a people, although she has remained silent, or refused us, when appealed to for redress of grievances. She has permitted us to be driven from our own lands, for which she had taken our money, and that too with her letters patent in our hands, guaranteeing to us peaceable possession. She has calmly looked on and permitted one of the fundamental and dearest provisions of the Constitution to be broken; she has permitted us to be driven and trampled under foot with impunity. Under these circumstances what course is left for us to pursue? I answer, that, instead of seeking to destroy the very best government in the world, as seems to be the fears of some, we, like all other good citizens, should seek to place those men in power who will feel the obligations and responsibilites [sic] they are under to a mighty people; who would feel and realize the important trusts reposed in them by the voice of the people who call them to administer law under the solemn sanction of an oath of fidelity to that heaven inspired instrument, to the inviolate preservation of which we look for the perpetuity of our free institutions.
It should be the aim of all good citizens, and it is our intention and design as a people, to promote virtue, intelligence, and patriotism; and when any person seeks to invade our virtue, by sowing the seeds of corruption and vice, and, when rebuked therefor [sic], assails our rights and patriotism, as has universally heretofore been done, he exhibits, before this people, his own depraved heart. Should not those persons who are appointed to administer law, observe it themselves? Should not those officers who have been sent among us by the United States, be an example in point of morality, virtue, and good behavior; and do honor to those laws which they came here to execute and administer? And shall they so far forget themselves, as to spend their time in licentiousness, gambling, and seducing the innocent and unsuspecting, and in a variety of ways sow the seeds of sin and immorality, with impunity, and no man dare utter his protest? I tell you nay. With me, with this people you will have war, if needs be, upon this principle. It is incumbent upon us to use our influence for the preservation of ourselves, our wives, our children, our brethren, our sisters, and all of our society from the contaminating influence of vice, sin, immorality, and iniquity, let it emanate from where it will. If it exists in high places, so much the more need of rebuking it, for from thence it will do the most harm.
I claim this as a right, as a Constitutional right; I believe it is legal to exercise all the power and influence which God has given me for the preservation of virtue, truth, and holiness; and because we feel sensitive upon points such as these, should it be construed that we are enemies to the Federal Government? Our history proves that for such things we have been persecuted even unto death, but this deters me not. I would rather have God my friend, and all the world enemies, than be a friend with the world, and have God my enemy; and in this view of the case the Government should also be our friends, for assuredly in the preservation of virtue, morality, and intelligence she may look for the perpetuity of her free institutions, and the preservation of her liberty. And in the moment of her disregard of these principles, when wickedness and sin can run riot with impunity, and not moral influence and force enough be found in the people to check it, and walk it under foot, then may she reckon on a speedy downfall. When moral obligations cease to exert an influence, and virtue hides its face, and the unblushing effrontery of sin and foul corruption takes its place, then may the nation consider there is danger. "When the wicked rule the people mourn."
This then is our position towards the Government of the United States, and towards the world, to put down iniquity, and exalt virtue; to declare the word of God which He revealed unto us, and build up His Kingdom upon the earth. And <Know all men>, Governments, Nations, Kindreds, Tongues, and People, that this is our calling, intention, and design. We aim to live our religion, and have communion with our God. We aim to clear our skirts of the blood of this generation, by our faithfulness in preaching the truth of heaven in all plainness and simplicity; and I have often said, and repeat it now, that all other considerations of whatever name or nature, sink into insignificancy in comparison with this. To serve God, and keep His commandments, are first and foremost with me. If this is higher law, so be it. As it is with me, so should it be with every department of the Government; for this doctrine is based upon the principles of virtue and integrity; with it the Government, her Constitution, and free institutions are safe; without it no power can avert their speedy destruction. It is the life-giving power to the government; it is the vital element on which she exists and prospers; in its absence she sinks to rise no more.
We now proceed to discuss the question, does our faith and practice--our holy religion, as we hold and believe it--come within the purview of the Constitution; or, in other words, is it a religious question over which the Constitution throws its protecting shield? It reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Ours is peculiarly a religious establishment; in it are centred all our hopes of salvation, honor, glory, and exaltation. In it we find our hopes of a resurrection, and of a life of immortality in another state of existence. By it we are actuated in all our business of life, through its influence we have preserved virtue, established truth, and been enabled to endure persecution. By its influence we have surmounted the difficulties of a banishment from the abodes of civilization and this world's enlightenment, and established ourselves in these distant vales, where, until we came hither, there was nothing, either in soil, climate, or productions, to attract the notice of even the adventurous and enterprising; in a country which offered no inducements worthy of consideration to any people but us. And why to us as a people? Because here, far distant from any white settlements, upon a piece of earth not valuable for its facilities either for cultivation, navigation, or commerce, where the whole face of the country presented the most barren and forbidding aspect, we considered we might live and enjoy our religion unmolested, and be free from the meddlesome interference of any person. If our principles and religion were obnoxious to any, they were relieved from our presence, unless they chose to follow us.
If the people of the United States do not like our religious institutions, they are not compelled to mix in our society, or associate with us, or with our children. There is nothing here to tempt their cupidity, their avarice, or their lust. Then let them remain at home, or if they wish to roam in quest of new locations, there are none less desirable than this, for any other purpose than the one for which we have selected it, not for its intrinsic value in a pecuniary point of view, but in order that we might enjoy our religion in peace, preserve our youth in virtue, and be freed from the insults, abuse, and persecution of our enemies.
Why should we have enemies? "Why is it," say our objectors, "that you cannot mingle and mix in society like other religious denominations?" It has been seen that the people would not permit us to dwell in their midst in peace. We have been universally driven by illegal force, by mobs, murderers, and assassins, as unworthy of having a place amongst the abodes of civilized man, until, as a last resort, we found peace in these distant valleys. It is because our religion is the only true one. It is because we have the only true authority, upon the face of the whole earth, to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel. It is because the keys of this dispensation were committed by messengers sent from the Celestial world unto Joseph Smith, and are now held on the earth by this people. It is because Christ and Lucifer are enemies, and cannot be made friends; and Lucifer, knowing that we have this Priesthood, this power, this authority, seeks our overthrow.
I am aware that these answers involve the truth of our principles, the divine appointment of Joseph Smith the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, &c.; but this subject I leave for your consideration and investigation, with this simple declaration, that whether our religion is believed by any other people or not, it is by us, and no power or authority in the government can lawfully or righteously molest us in the peaceable and quiet enjoyment thereof. It cannot be done without law, and surely the government have no right to make any law concerning it, or to prevent the free exercise thereof.
Why should tests of patriotism to the government be required of this people, more than of any other community in the States and Territories? Would it not be considered insulting and abusive in the highest degree, by any other community in the government, to be thus subjected and humiliated? Cannot the people and government perceive in us, as a people, industry, sobriety, order, and well regulated society; also a general diffusion of knowledge and dissemination of moral principle? And do they not know that these are the unmistakable signs and fruits of virtue, truth, love of our country, and high regard for her institutions? And do not such views, feelings, practices, and principles emanate from a pure and undefiled religion, a high sense of faith, practice, and obligation unto Christ our Lord, and his revealed will unto us?
Does our doctrine, containing such views, sentiments, and practices, and exercising so genial an influence upon society; or in other words, does our religion disqualify us from being faithful, good, and patriotic citizens of the American government? Have the American people so far gone astray, and wandered from the light and power of the Gospel, that they cannot understand, recognize, and appreciate the savory element of religious influence, high tone of morality, and exemplary practice of virtuous and holy principles? If so, then indeed have the degenerate sons of worthy and patriotic sires well nigh spent their substance, and are preparing to subsist on husks, with swine. If so, then does the moral dearth well nigh betoken a famine far exceeding the scorching drought, wasting pestilence, and direful calamities of 1854. If so, then will the government, like the storm-driven bark, soon dash to atoms, having neither rudder to guide, nor calibre to withstand, the angry surging of the tempestuous waves.
In the sincere observances of the principles of true religion and virtue, we recognize the base, the only sure foundation of enlightened society and well-established government. In truth and by virtue of divine appointment we combat error, and seek to rend asunder the vail of darkness enveloping the human race.
In the progress of the age in which we live, we discern the fulfilment of prophecy, and the preparation for the second coming of our Lord and Savior to dwell upon the earth. We expect that the refuge of lies will be swept away, and that city, nation, government, or kingdom which serves not God, and gives no heed to the principles of truth and religion, will be utterly wasted away and destroyed.
The word has gone forth from the Almighty, and will not return unto Him void. It becomes us, therefore, one and all, to have on our wedding garments, to have our lamps trimmed and burning, well filled with oil, lest we also be taken unawares, and share the fate of the foolish virgins.
May the Lord bless us with the inspiration of His Holy Spirit, that our minds may be enlightened, our understandings enlarged and strengthened; and may His grace, wisdom, and intelligence be given unto us for our preservation and sanctification according to our day and generation, for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.
THE PRIESTHOOD AND SATAN--THE CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES--RIGHTS AND POLICY OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Feb. 18, 1855.
A portion of this congregation have been brought up in America, and are more or less acquainted with the Constitution, with the Constitutional rights of the people, with the institutions of the country, with the State governments, laws, &c.; and if they have paid particular attention, and have heard brother Bullock read my written discourse, so that they could understand it, they know whether their minds, feelings, and judgments coincide with mine, upon the views that have just been presented.
For one, I can say they are true; they are the sentiments of this people, so far as they are acquainted with the principles of the government of the United States; though a part of our present community have not been reared under the benign influences of the institutions of our parent government. But as far as they understand, I will venture to say that these are the sentiments of all the Latter-day Saints.
In my conversation, I shall talk and act as I please. Still I am always aware, when speaking in public, that there are those present who are disposed to find fault with this people, and to try to raise a prejudice against them; and they will pick up isolated words and sentences, and put them together to suit themselves, and send forth a garbled version to prejudice the world against us. Such a course I never care anything about; for I have frequently said, spoken words are but wind, and when they are spoken are gone; consequently I take liberties in speaking which I do not allow when I commit my sentiments to writing.
The discourse that has just been read, pointing out the path this people have walked in, is merely a brief summary of our experience, of what we have borne, and of what we believe.
Before the Book of Mormon was printed, and immediately after Joseph Smith obtained the plates, and the revelations he received concerning this record being the record of the Nephites, and of the Lamanites, who are the fathers of the present aborigines of our country, and in which the Lord told him that He was about to set to His hand the second time to gather Israel, the war commenced against him; this was long before the book was printed. I will now tell you all a secret, although it has already been read to you; it is this, Christ and Belial are not friends, they are enemies. We ask where Christ's Church is. My conclusive answer is, if the Latter-day Saints do not constitute the Kingdom of God on the earth, the Church of Jesus Christ, it is no where to be found upon it. It is easily proved by the Scriptures that no other church, professing to believe in the Old and New Testament, bears hardly a resemblance to the ancient true Church in the fulness of the doctrines of the Lord Jesus.
So far as morality goes, in many instances I have no complaints to make. Thousands and millions of people live according to the best light they have, but the Holy Priesthood is not on the earth, unless the Latter-day Saints have it. It is the Priesthood again given to the children of men--shall I say it out? ["Yes."] That raises the devil, and makes all hell angry; and the servants of the devil will run to and fro, and publish his lies about Christ and his Church on the earth. They are not angry with me or with you; and the professors of Christianity, the priests, are not angry with us, but they are filled with wrath and indignation with themselves, and with the Almighty. Why are they angry? Because they are men, and like other men. If a man sees his house about to fall, if he sees something or other continually gnawing, and gnawing, and picking, and operating upon the foundation, and discovers that by and bye his house must fall, perhaps when he is asleep, or when he is gone from home, and destroy his women and children, he is all the time worried, and in a stew; all the time watching with a fearful looking for the time when it will crumble to pieces. This is the difficulty with the professing Christian world. Is it so with the Infidel? No, he does not care anything about the matter; but those sweet, loving, blessed Christians, the priest in the pulpit, and the deacon under it, and the sage followers of their own nonsense and the traditions of their fathers are the ones who are at war with the Eternal Priesthood of God.
The Universalists say that we are all going to heaven in a heap together, and if they believe their religion they do not trouble themselves about "Mormonism." Though I confess that I think the most of them are like the old man who was a strong believer in Universalism, and, while walking among his cattle, and musing over his doctrine, stepped up to a favorite ox, and said to himself, "I believe the doctrine of the Universalists, but, old Bright, as well as I love you, I would willingly give you if I <knew> it was true." You find a man who does not believe in any religious doctrines, who does not believe in a future existence, and what does he care about "Mormonism?" Nothing at all.
Who is it that stirs up the devil all the time? Those sanctified hypocrites, those old sectarians, who profess so much sanctity, and so much religion. They see that their old favorite dwelling is crumbling to the dust, never to be rebuilt again before "Mormonism" will triumph. That is what stirs up all the mischief. It was priests who first persecuted Joseph Smith. I will here relate a few of the circumstances which I personally knew concerning the coming forth of the plates, from a part of which the Book of Mormon was translated. This fact may be new to several, but I had a personal knowledge with regard to many of those circumstances.
I well knew a man who, to get the plates, rode over sixty miles three times the same season they were obtained by Joseph Smith. About the time of their being delivered to Joseph by the angel, the friends of this man sent for him, and informed him that they were going to lose that treasure, though they did not know what it was. The man I refer to was a fortune-teller, a necromancer, an astrologer, a soothsayer, and possessed as much talent as any man that walked on the American soil, and was one of the wickedest men I ever saw. The last time he went to obtain the treasure he knew where it was, and told where it was, but did not know its value. Allow me to tell you that a Baptist deacon and others of Joseph's neighbors were the very men who sent for this necromancer the last time he went for the treasure. I never heard a man who could swear like that astrologer; he swore scientifically, by rule, by note. To those who love swearing, it was musical to hear him, but not so to me, for I would leave his presence. He would call Joseph everything that was bad, and say, "I believe he will get the treasure after all." He did get it, and the war commenced directly.
When Joseph obtained the treasure, the priests, the deacons, and religionists of every grade, went hand in hand with the fortune-teller, and with every wicked person, to get it out of his hands, and, to accomplish this, a part of them came out and persecuted him.
Ours is professedly a Christian nation, and those who profess to be Christians should be so in very deed; if they were, they would not hesitate to have a good man and a Christian preside over them. As much as is said against Christians sitting in the Presidential chair of the government, they are the only suitable persons to rule, and should be taught of the Lord by dreams and visions. But after all the hue and cry about "Church and State," there has not been a President, nor a Governor, in our day, but what has been controlled, more or less, by priests who deny revelation, believe not in visions, and receive not the ministration of angels. Presidents, Governors, Members of the Cabinet and of Congress are more or less controlled either by the priests, or by a traditionary religious influence; and at the same time nearly all of them will turn round and curse the priests, and curse religion to the lowest hell, while they are governed and controlled by it. The false religion that is in the world, is what raises this "hue and cry," misguides the people, and opposes itself against the Kingdom of God on the earth. Now if we would only fall in with the wicked all would be right, and then no person would wish to persecute us.
I will mention a few sayings and doings that transpired in Missouri, when they had Joseph and many others in prison. Old General Clark had discretionary power, from Governor Boggs, to kill man, woman, and child, or to spare the women and children, or distribute the whole community of the Saints among the other inhabitants, just as he pleased. The cause of this was laid to "Mormon disturbances," "Mormon troubles;" though the "Mormons" had not been out of their own county, for they owned nearly all the county where they lived, and they did not go beyond their own boundaries except upon lawful and necessary business. We had given up our arms, by their request, to prove our loyalty to the government, and then many of them said, "Now, God damn you, we will shoot you;" and some of the Saints were killed after they had surrendered their arms, in faithful compliance with the requisition.
The starting point of our persecutions there arose by our enemies setting fire to their own houses, and swearing that they were burnt out and driven by the "Mormons." This I know, for it came under my own observation. When General Clark came into Far West with his army, he sent George M. Hinkle, the apostate, to call out the remainder of the brethren on to the public square, and when they were assembled he surrounded them with his men, and said, "Gentlemen, I have discretionary power in my hands, and I will now tell you what we desire. We wish one to go home with this man, and another with that man, and take your wives and children with you, and distribute yourselves through the State. You are the best mechanics and the most industrious people we have; and you have accomplished more here in two years, than our old settlers have in twelve. We wish you to live with us. Why cannot you associate with us? I want you to scatter among our people, and give up your religion, and Prophet, for I will tell you now, in the beginning, you will never see your Prophet, Joseph Smith, again." (Said I to myself, 'That is a falsehood.') "Only mingle with us, and give up your Prophet, your Apostles, and your assembling yourselves together, and we wish you to stay with us, for you are the best citizens in the State." I thought that these expressions did not correspond well with many of his remarks, and being determined not to give up my religion, I at once concluded that he might go to hell, and I would leave the State; and so I did, with the balance of the Latter-day Saints, as they had previously killed many.
Brethren and sisters, our friends wish to know our feelings towards the Government. I answer, they are first-rate, and we will prove it too, as you will see if you only live long enough, for that we shall live to prove it is certain; and when the Constitution of the United States hangs, as it were, upon a single thread, they will have to call for the "Mormon" Elders to save it from utter destruction; and they will step forth and do it.
We love the Constitution of our country; it is all we could ask; though in some few instances there might be some amendments made which would better it. We love the Federal Government, and the laws of Congress. There is nothing in those laws that in the least militates against us, not even to our excluding common law from this Territory. I can inform our lawyers who plead at the bar here, that the Congress of the United States have passed laws giving us the privilege of excluding common law at our pleasure, and that too without any violation of the Constitution, or general statutes. They have also given us privilege to stop drunkenness, swearing, and gambling, and to prevent horse-racing, and to punish men for hurting and robbing each other. The Constitution of the United States, and the whole Federal Government, in their acts, have given us this privilege.
Now I will tell you one thing that I am opposed to, and that this people are opposed to; it is to a man's coming here as an officer, with a bit of sheep's skin in his pocket having some great man's name to it, and beginning to set up his rules of discipline for the people, and saying, "I am a gentleman, I am a high-minded gentleman; can you tell me where I can find a woman to sleep with me to-night?" and setting up gambling shops, and drinking, and carousing, and stirring up strife, and hatching up law-suits; hunting out disaffected spirits, and then lecturing the people on morality, wishing them to become like other communities, and saying to Mrs. Such-a-one or Miss Such-a-one, "Won't you ride with me--won't you take a sleigh ride tonight with me? I am a high-minded gentleman." A prudent father, or husband, says, "Come home here; this is your place; you have no business with strangers." What is the result of this? Why, from most of the high-minded gentlemen, you can hear, "God damn the Mormons, they are opposed to the Federal Government, because they will not let us sleep with their wives and daughters." I am opposed to such men, and am after them with the barbed arrows of the Almighty. To what extent? Let them intrude upon the chastity of my family, and, so help me God, I will use them up. [All the congregation said, "Amen."] Such characters may cry, "Aliens, aliens; the Mormons are all hostile to the government," and they may cry it until they are in hell.
As I have already stated, the President of the United States should be a perfect pattern for all the people to walk after; so also should the Vice-President, the members of the Cabinet, and of Congress, the Governors of States and Territories, and in fine, all the officers in the Government, be patterns for the people to imitate. But what do you find among the leaders of the people? Almost everything but an upright example.
Corrupt men cannot walk these streets with impunity, and if that is alienism to the Government, amen to it. The Constitution of the United States we sustain all the day long, and it will sustain and shield us, while the men who say we are aliens, and cry out "Mormon disturbance," will go to hell. There have been officers here who were not fit to live in our midst, and they ran home, and raised the cry, "Mormon disturbances," "Mormon rebellion," "Mormon war," and, "Treasoners;" but their day is over.
When a man professes to be my friend, and the friend of this people, he will take my counsel, instead of stirring up strife, and practising iniquity. I dislike the wilfully corrupt, and by and bye I will come out thunder-like, as I have done upon others when practising iniquity; and as I did upon a certain individual when he made his glorious speech, and insulted this people, from the highest to the lowest. I chastised him, and he ran off and reported as my sayings those which I did not say. It was told him, while he was on the plains, that President Zachary Taylor was dead and damned, and it has gone through the States, from side to side, that I said so. It was first given out that the "Mormons" said so, and then that Brigham said so; well, I backed it up, because I knew it was true. I have just as good a right to say that President Taylor is in hell, as to say that any other miserable sinner is there. Was he any more than flesh and blood? I have as good a right to canvass him in a religious point of view, as I have to canvass the peasant upon the dung-hill. He has gone there, and so have many others; and the Lord Almighty is removing the bitter branches, as foretold in the Book of Mormon.
The newspapers are teeming with statements that I said, "President Pierce and all hell could not remove me from office." I will tell you what I did say, and what I now say; the Lord reigns and rules in the armies of the heavens, and does His pleasure among the inhabitants of the earth. He sets up a kingdom here, and pulls down another there, at His pleasure. He walks in the midst of the people, and they know it not. He makes Kings, Presidents, and Governors at His pleasure; hence I conclude that I shall be Governor of Utah Territory, <just as long as He wants me to be>; and <for that time>, neither the President of the United States, nor any other power, can prevent it. Then, brethren and sisters, be not worried about my being dismissed from office; for when the President appoints another man to be Govenor [sic] of Utah Territory, you may acknowledge that the Lord has done it, for we should acknowledge His hand in all things.
All people are in the hands of the Almighty, and He governs and controls them, though they cannot perceive, neither do they acknowledge, His handy-work. He exalts the President to be the head of the nation, and places kings upon their thrones. There is not a man that escapes His cognizance, and He brings forth His purposes in the latter days. I can tell you something more, brethren and sisters, and friends, and the United States, and all the world; the Lord Almighty will not suffer His Priesthood to be again driven from the earth, even should He permit the wicked to kill and destroy this people. The Government of the United States and all the kings of the world may go to war with us, but God will preserve a portion of the meek and humble of this people to bear off the Kingdom to the inhabitants of the earth, and will defend His Priesthood; for it is the last time, the last gathering time; and He will not suffer the Priesthood to be again driven from the earth. They may massacre men, women, and children; but the Lord will not suffer them to destroy the Priesthood; and I say to the Saints, that, if they will truly practise their religion, they will live, and not be cut off.
"There is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding," and many who do not hold the Priesthood have ideas which are really true, yet they are not always certain whether they are true or not. The cogitations, concerning this people, of men upon their beds, of the President of the United States, of the members of Congress, and of the rulers of different nations, when they meditate upon the condition of the world, and their final exit from this stage of action, are that there is no evil in the Latter-day Saints. And I tell you, in the name of the God of Israel, that their secret reflections tell them this, unless they are so far depraved by wickedness that the Spirit of the Lord has ceased to strive with them. But as soon as they engage in the turmoil of their daily duties, the hue and cry that "the Mormons are about to do this and that," attracts their attention. Formerly the rumor was that "they were agoing to tamper with the slaves," when we had never thought of such a thing. The seed of Ham, which is the seed of Cain descending through Ham, will, according to the curse put upon him, serve his brethren, and be a "servant of servants" to his fellow-creatures, until God removes the curse; and no power can hinder it. These are my views upon slavery. I will here say a little more upon this point. The conduct of the whites towards the slaves will, in many cases, send both slave and master to hell. This statement comprises much in a few words. The blacks should be used like servants, and not like brutes, but they must serve. It is their privilege to live so as to enjoy many of the blessings which attend obedience to the first principles of the Gospel, though they are not entitled to the Priesthood.
But to proceed; the principal evil is in the rulers, or those who profess to be rulers, and in the dispensers of the law, and not the Constitution, it is pure. Even those who have evil in their hearts, when they contemplate the powers that be, as now exhibited before their eyes, when they think of them upon their beds, and in their most sober reflections, are beginning to realize that God is visiting the earth, that the Latter-day Saints are not as bad a people as they are represented to be by their enemies, that they are not disposed to be hostile to the Government, and that they are a good people. Many who occasionally reflect calmly are beginning to realize that we have something which they know but little about, and to wish that they understood it. When they cast off these reflections fear comes upon them, because the cry, from one end of the Union to the other, is that "the Mormons are agoing to do something." What was said in Nauvoo? "Let Joe Smith and the Mormons alone, and it will be but a little time before they control the election of this State; and the man that Joe Smith says shall be Governor, so will he be; and the men whom he says shall be Representatives, so shall they be; and we will not bear it."
It was the priest in the pulpit thorning the politician, and gouging underneath, saying, "Don't you bear it;" and this because the priest could not bear to stand up in the pulpit and own his shame for vindicating a false religion, for our Elders could silence every one of them, and crimson their faces with shame. Hence their words and determinations were and are, "We will kill the Mormons;" and the priests were pinching the "Mormons" from behind the politicians. How long would it have been before the whole election of Illinois would have been controlled by the Latter-day Saints? Our enemies saw this, and the devil knew it, and was mad, and determined to remove us. He did so, and I thank God for it. The priests and the politicians could discern that "Mormonism" was gathering to its banner its thousands and tens of thousands, and that it would be but a very short time ere the State would be governed entirely by the Latter-day Saints. The whole election would have been controlled by them, if we had not come out, and forbidden our people to vote. We had to do this, to control the ballot box.
They succeeded in killing Joseph Smith and Hyrum his brother, and in driving us to these Valleys. Now, we are here, and what are they afraid of? I will tell you, they are afraid that we shall become independent of them.
The relation between us and the Government may be likened to a man having twelve sons, and all the elder sons pitch upon the younger one, as Joseph's brethren of old did upon him. They persecuted him, and lied to their father about him, and tried to alienate the feelings of the old man from him, and succeeded in a measure in estranging the feelings of the father from the young child. So it is with the General Government and us. We have plead time and time again, and will plead, saying, "Spare us, love us; we mean to be one of the best boys you have got; be kind to us, and if you chasten us, it may be said that we have kissed the rod and reverenced the hand that gave it, and tried again: but be merciful to us for do you not see that we are a dutiful child?" But no, Tom, Bill, Dick, Harry, and the rest of the boys are eternally running to the old man with lies in their mouths, and he will chastise little Joseph. And though the old fellow has not come out in open war upon him, and arrayed the force and arms of the Government to kill the boy, yet he sleeps in his chair, and dreams it over, and talks in his sleep, saying, "Go it, boys; go it, boys; we will not say anything here." And Tom, Bill, Dick, &c., commence pounding on to little Joseph; and the old man is dozing in his chair, saying, "Go it, boys." What will become of this little Joseph? I will tell you. We are a child of the Government, one of the youngest children, and we cling to our parent, and desire to be reckoned in the family, and to hail our brethren as brethren, and be numbered among them either in a Territorial or State capacity. What next? The cry is raised by the older boys that "it never will do to admit this younger child into the Union, he is an alien, and we must exclude him." I will tell you what this will amount to, they will pound and abuse little Joseph until his affections are entirely weaned from his parent, and from his brethren, and he becomes an independent boy. Who will cause this, the "Mormons?" No, the elder brethren will do it. They will urge on their hostility against little Joseph until he is driven into Egypt for succor. Well, if this is not Egypt enough, where will you find it?
"What is agoing to be done with these turbulent Mormons, these outrageous Mormons?" I will tell you what might be done, and what ought to be done. The Government of the United States, and the Presidents of the United States ought to treat the religion of the Latter-day Saints as they do Methodism, Presbyterianism, Quakerism, Shakerism, and many other isms, and say, "Here, I wish you to hold your tongues about the Mormons, for they have just as good a right to their religion as you have to yours." And when the people petition for this or that (as the right of petition should never be denied), it is the duty of those who are addressed to hearken to the petitions of the people, and to let them have officers of their own choice, for the appointing power is elected by the voice of the people, and the mass of the people hold the reins of government in their hands. Then let the people carry out those principles they have adopted and profess to abide by, and when we wish for a Governor, or a Judge, or any other appointed officer, let us have the men we prefer, and not those who will ran away and report falsehoods about us.
Many of the Battalion boys are here to-day, who walked over the plains and deserts; they <know> what they have endured. They left their fathers, mothers, and children on the prairie, and some of them they have never since seen, and will not in this time, for they sleep in the silent grave. They suffered all this in fighting for the country that had cast them out!
Do I love murderers and mobocrats as I do good men? No. Do I pray for them? Yes, that the Lord would judge them out of their own mouths, and that speedily.
We plead all the time to be let alone, and to be permitted to live in peace, and not to be whipped and abused without cause, for we are " flesh of your flesh, and bone of your bone;" then why not let us enjoy our piece of cake, as we let you enjoy yours? For this we plead, and plead, and plead continually, but "No," say they, "we will chastise you because we have the power to do it; we will whip you because we are stronger than you."
I will take the Government of the United States, and the laws of Missouri and Illinois, from the year 1833 to 1845, and if they had been carried out according to their letter and spirit, they would have strung up the murderers and mobocrats who illegally and unrighteously killed, plundered, harassed, and expelled us. I will tell you how much I love those characters. If they had any respect to their own welfare, they would come forth and say, whether Joseph Smith was a Prophet or not, "We shed his blood, and now let us atone for it;" and they would be willing to have their heads chopped off, that their blood might run upon the ground, and the smoke of it rise before the Lord as an incense for their sins. I love them that much. But if the Lord wishes them to live and foam out their sins before all men and women, it is all right, I care not where they go, or what they do.
I have but one fear concerning this people in the Valleys of the Mountains, I have but one trembling sensation in the nerves of my spirit, and that is, lest we do not live the religion we profess. If we will only practise what we profess, I tell you we are at the defiance of all hell. But if we transgress the law God has given us, and trample His mercies, blessings, and ordinances under our feet, and treat them with the indifference which I have thought that some occasionally do, not fully realizing the obligations that they are under to their God, I have feared that in consequence they would be overcome, and that the Lord would let them be scattered and smitten. But only let them live their religion, and I have no more fears with regard to their being driven, and with regard to their enemies having power over them, than I have with regard to these mountains being blown over up on this city. I am willing to fight, or to go; to run, or to stay; or to do anything else that the Lord Almighty requires of me for His Kingdom's sake, and then to lay down my life for His cause. But I swear by the Gods of eternity that I will not suffer men in our streets, and in our houses, to corrupt this people and overthrow them, the Lord and good men being my helpers.
To whom do I allude, but to those who wish to destroy this people? Not one, I am not opposed to any man or set of men who are here, there, yonder, or anywhere else, but I am opposed to wickedness and vice, whereever [sic] they may be found in the whole earth; I am opposed to unrighteousness, and I always intend to be.
I prefer to remark upon subjects as they present themselves to my mind; though I might prepare a course of lectures, and confine myself to given subjects, as I have often done; but when I am in this stand I hoist the gate and let the flood run, not caring which way it goes, or how.
What happened when I chastised a runaway officer? I did not say one rash word to him, nor chastise him half as much as he deserved; but I told him what he was, and how he looked to me; what he was sent here for, and what he should be, if he magnified his office. Before the meeting was out the word was, "O! we are agoing to be driven; here is a mob coming." Said I, "Get out of my way, or I will kick you out; what are you afraid of?" "O! of the Government of the United States?" I replied, "Let me die and go to my Father in heaven, before I stoop to that abominable wickedness; I never will stoop to it so help me God." What was the result of the course I then took? He was chastened, and our Chief Justice who is now here told him in Washington, that he was chastened for his own iniquity, and said to him, "I expect they did not chastise you half enough." Do you suppose that I am agoing to crouch down, and suffer this people to bow down continually to the rod of corruption? No. Come on with your knives, your swords, and your faggots of fire, and destroy the whole of us, rather than we will forsake our religion. Whether it is true or false is none of your business; whether the doctrine of plurality of wives is true or false is none of your business. We have as good a right to adopt tenets in our religion as the Church of England, or the Methodists, or Baptists, or any other denomination have to in theirs. Our doctrine is a Bible doctrine, a patriarchal doctrine, and is the doctrine of the Gods of eternity, and of the heavens, and was revealed to our fathers on the earth, and will save the world at last, and bring us into Abraham's bosom, if we ever get there. Are the officers of the Government the judges of our religion? It is none of their business whether it is true or false. I know whether it is true or not, and that is enough for me; you know, brethren and sisters, and that is enough for you. If they do not believe it, we do not trouble them with it. We say that we will meet you as friends, and as neighbors, as "flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone," but not, as the world meet you, upon the platform of corruption and iniquity. We are not there, neither will we meet you there; but we will hail you as friends, and as brethren, pertaining to the citizenship of the Government; so we hail the officers who are now with us. And if the gallant gentleman who is now in our midst had received the commission of Governor of this Territory, as was reported, and had accepted it, I would have taken off my hat and honored the appointment; and this people would have been just as passive and submissive to him as ever they could be to me. That I will warrant and vouch for. If they wish to send a Governor here, and he is a gentleman, like the one I have referred to, every heart would say, "Thank God, we have a <man> to stand at our head in a gubernatorial capacity; a man who has got a good heart, and is willing that we should enjoy the federal rights of the Constitution as well as himself." I am with all such men, heart and hand. But for a man to come here and infringe upon my individual rights and privileges, and upon those of my brethren, will never meet my sanction, and I will scourge such a one until he leaves; I am after him. But I will say, to the praise of the gallant gentleman referred to, if there was going to be a gentleman called upon to be our Governor, there is not a man, out of the Kingdom of God, that I would listen to sooner, and feel more confidence and cordiality towards, than to him. I wish this meed of praise could be awarded to every officer in the Government, but it cannot. We have some of the most corrupt, damnable, mean curses here that ever disgraced the earth; some who even wish to carry the holy sanctuary in one hand, and a jug full of whisky in the other, and follow a whore and have a saint trail behind them to hold up their garments to prevent their drabbling. They are like the pilot fish to the shark, serving to lead him to his victim. I despise them; and so does every good man. Show your colors, gentlemen, and let us know what and who you are, as I do, that all the earth may see and hear.
Have I any feelings against the man who has a true heart for constitutional rights? I have nothing but love and good feelings for all such. What have I for the sinner, the hypocrite, the unbeliever, the ungodly, the liar, the sorcerer, the whoremonger, and the adulterer? I have nothing but chastisement for them, until they repent of their wicked ways, and turn to God and find mercy. This is according to my priestly office. I informed you, in my discourse that has just been read, that my religion is first and foremost with me, and I will send it to all the earth, to President Pierce, whether he retains me as Governor of Utah Territory or not; and, whether I should be President of the United States, or King of Great Britain, or Monarch of all the world, my religion and my God are first and foremost with me. My kingship, my presidentship, and all shall bow to that eternal Priesthood which God has bestowed upon me. I have been Governor of this Territory ever since it has had one, and in all my official transactions I have acted in accordance with the Priesthood. I never will infringe upon it with anything I may operate in in any office; let them all go by the board, before I will be brought into a situation that will cause me to infringe upon my Priesthood. In all my doings as an Elder of Israel, as holding the keys of the Priesthood to this generation, if I continue to be the Governor of this Territory, I shall magnify my office by my Priesthood. No matter what my Priesthood and calling are, all must bow to my God, and to His commandments. Have I been obliged to violate any law? No. The Priesthood assists me to honor, to preserve, to see, and understand the welfare of the Government I am acting for, and enables me so to do a thousand times more effectually than I could if I had not this Priesthood; and if any one can produce documents to prove that any Governor has magnified his office better than I have, let him bring them forth.
In the free and independent government of the United States, who in the eyes of the Almighty ought to have the privilege of sitting in the Presidential chair, to be countenanced, adored, loved, and reverenced in his capacity, and be justified therein by the heavenly hosts? It is that man who is sanctified before God, and who loves the Lord Jesus with all his heart, or in other words, who is endowed with wisdom from on high, and has revelations, visions, and dreams, giving him understanding to provide for the welfare of every portion of the nation, and a willingness to preserve to every one their fair and just religious rights, as well as political, for the good and benefit of all. In the eyes of eternal justice, only such a man has a right to that office. They are afraid to put a man there who is a professor of religion, lest he favors his own party. A man is a fool that would do that, when he has laws to preserve and keep inviolate towards the Methodists, and all religious denominations.
The Kingdom that Daniel saw will push forth its law, and that law will protect the Methodists, Quakers, Pagans, Jews, and every other creed there ever was or ever will be, in their religious rights. At the same time the Priesthood will bear rule, and hold the government of the Kingdom under control in all things, so that every knee will bow, and every tongue confess, to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus is the Christ. Every one must bow to the Savior, and acknowledge and confess him with their mouths. Can they still be Methodists? Yes. Presbyterians? Yes. And I some expect that many will be brought into close places, as the Jew was by the Catholic priest. The Jew fell through the ice, and was about to drown, and implored the Catholic priest to pull him out. "I cannot," said the priest, "except you repent, and become a Christian." Said the Jew, "Pull me out this once." "Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Catholic Church?" asked the priest. The Jew answered, "No, I do not." "Then you must stay there," and the priest held him under the water awhile. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ now?" "O yes, take me out." "Well," remarked the priest, "thank God that another sinner has repented; you are safe now, and while you are safe I will send you right to heaven's gate," and he gave the Jew a push under the ice.
I most assuredly expect that the time will come when every tongue shall confess, and every knee shall bow, to the Savior, though the people may believe what they will with regard to religion. The kingdom that Daniel saw will actually make laws to protect every man in his rights, as our government does now, whether the religions of the people are true or false. We believe this as sincerely as we believe anything else; and I think that the course of this people has proved it, as far as the acts of the children of men are concerned. All creation could ask for no more witnesses than they have, that the New Testament is true, that Jesus is the Christ, that the holy Prophets are true, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and Revelator. But the Lord has so ordained that no man shall receive the benefits of the everlasting Priesthood without humbling himself before Him, and giving Him the glory for teaching him, that he may be able to witness to every man of the truth, and not depend upon the words of any individual on the earth, but know for himself, live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," love the Lord Jesus Christ and the institutions of His kingdom and finally enter into His glory. Every man and woman may be a Revelator, and have the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, and foresee the mind and will of God concerning them, eschew evil, and choose that which is good.
There are thousands of things I would like to name with regard to ourselves and our Government. Our whole interest is in it; we cling to it as a sucking child to its mother's breast, and we will hang to it until they beat us off, until we can hang no longer, and this will never happen, unless they drive us from it under the pretext of what "Mormonism" is agoing to do. What is the Kingdom of God agoing to accomplish on the earth? It will revolutionize not only the United States, but the whole world, and will go forth from the morning to the evening, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, so shall be the ushering forth of the Gospel until the whole earth is deluged with it, and the righteous are gathered.
The sinner will slay the sinner, the wicked will fall upon the wicked, until there is an utter overthrow and consumption upon the face of the whole earth, until God reigns, whose right it is. As it was said in the days of the Savior, if we said his man alone you may depend ulet tit [sic entire phrase] that through his influence he will take away our place and nation. If you let "Mormonism" alone, I will promise that every honest man and woman in the United States will be in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and be governed by the law of God.
Let them take the counsel of the late Captain Gunnison, who was massacred by the Indians; he was convinced that it would not do to persecute the "Mormons;" for every time we were driven, we have succeeded beyond our most sanguine anticipations. It has happened to us as it did to the old man's stone wall, which was five feet high and six feet thick. The boys could not get his apples, and said among themselves, "We will turn over the old wall;" they turned it over, and it was higher than before. So with us; every time the "Mormons" have been driven they have enlarged their borders. Look out, drive us again and we will take the kingdom before you are aware of it.
We certainly shall gather out all the good as fast as we can, for the people who love truth will hear sound argument, which is our rule of battle, and it is a scientific one. Now come on to war, whenever you think best, and we will gather out the honest until the last seed of Israel is gathered, and there is hardly enough left to elect a President, even among the Know-Nothings.
Only persecute us and we will grow the faster. Say they, "What shall we do, do tell us which way we shall go, for we do not know what to do, nor what to say; if we persecute them they will grow the faster, and take away our place and nation, and will get all the good people to follow them, and what shall we do?" It is a hard case I know.
When strangers come among us they often feel diffident, for we keep to ourselves here in these distant parts, and do not always immediately know whether we are about to receive friends or enemies into our community. We have been persecuted and driven, and been a scoff and a by-word, and when strangers come among us they feel a delicacy in making our acquaintance. I say, brethren and sisters, be frank with strangers, and when you talk with them, or are in their presence, live your religion, and do not vary one particle from the truth.
You say, "I love my God and my religion." Then manifest to them what your religion is, and if they are honest ere long they will fall in with it, if not they will take up their line of march and leave us; and my prayer is that we may be delivered from every inbred corruption.
So far as the time and your patience would permit, I have endeavored to candidly and truly portray our real feelings and views with regard to the General Government, the members of the various Christian denominations, the upright everywhere, and the corrupt and abominable wherever they are to be found; and also to briefly sketch a few of the scenes and incidents of our past and present history.
Let us live our religion, and show the world that we love the Lord Jesus Christ better than anything else. Though the world persecute you, yet cling to the Lord and the Holy Gospel, even if you lay down your lives for the truth's sake. May God bless you. Amen.
THE CHURCH AND KINGDOM OF GOD, AND THE CHURCHES AND KINGDOMS OF MEN.
A Sermon by Elder Wilford Woodruff, Delivered in the Tabernacle, G. S. L. City, Feb. 25, 1855.
I will endeavor to occupy a little time this morning, and while I address my friends, I hope I may have their attention and prayers; for I realize that while any person stands before an assembly of this kind to teach, he needs the Spirit of the Lord to dictate and direct his mind, that he may speak unto the edification of the people.
I am aware that "Mormonism," as it is called, presents a wide field for reflection and contemplation; it presents an extensive surface upon which the mind may roam; it affords a variety of objects for us to converse upon; but, at the same time, we want our minds led in that channel which is according to the mind and will of the Lord.
We have had some very interesting teaching presented to us from this stand, during the last two Sabbaths especially, though I may say that we have good teaching every Sabbath that we assemble together in this house. In fact, the day and age in which we live, those things connected with the past and present history of this people, and the signs of the times, are matters so diverse from the affairs of the nations of the earth, and from the views of the children of men generally, that they cause them to marvel and wonder exceedingly.
I felt to rejoice last Sabbath while sitting in this stand, listening to our President. I will tell you why I felt to rejoice--there was one main reason for my joy; I have been acquainted long enough with this work to know its truth; I have had sufficient experience in it to see and to know that the hand of God is in it, and that it is controlled and guided by the Spirit of the Almighty, and the revelations of heaven; to know, that from the commencement of it, it has been the design of the God of heaven to establish His Kingdom upon the earth to be thrown down no more for ever.
I rejoice that this kingdom is blessed with a leader, or leaders, who are not ashamed or afraid to watch over the interests of Zion--at all times to seek diligently the welfare of the children of Israel; who will point out the path for this people to walk in, whether that path may be popular or unpopular; leaders who will not hesitate to rebuke sin and wickedness, whether emanating from high or low places.
Those who have been acquainted with the Prophet Joseph, who laid the foundation of this Church and kingdom, who was an instrument in the hand of God in bringing to light the Gospel in this last dispensation, know well that every feeling of his soul, every sentiment of his mind, and every act of his life, proved that he was determined to maintain the principle of truth, even to the sacrificing of his life. His soul swelled wide as eternity for the welfare of the human family. He began entirely alone, as far as the influences of the children of men were concerned upon the earth, to endeavor to establish a religion and order of things diverse from anything then existing among men, a religion that was unpopular and contrary to the feelings, and views, and traditions of the whole human family.
Every man that is acquainted with the history of the nations of the world at this time, must know that religion is a very popular thing--it has many followers; and they must also know that the religions of the day are very diversified; and that they are in a great measure framed to meet the conveniences, traditions, and situations of the children of men, with but little regard to the declarations of the Bible, or the revelations of Jesus Christ. Every man that will read the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments, will see that there was an organization in the days of Jesus Christ, a system for the salvation of the children of men. It is laid down plainly and definitely for the inhabitants of the earth to follow. But, if we search throughout the earth at this day, we cannot find a system existing that has scarcely any resemblance to the example laid down by Christ and the Apostles. And I will here say that the persecution, opposition, and oppression that this Church has met with from its first organization, have been in a great measure in consequence of carrying out that very system, those very ordinances, that same Gospel which Jesus Christ and his Apostles established in their day, and which cost the most of them their lives.
The New Testament clearly shows that whenever God has had a people upon the earth--when He has had a Church and kingdom in the world, it has been organized with Prophets and Apostles, and has been endowed with revelations, with diverse kinds of gifts, with healing power, with miracles, with dreams, and I may say with every member that belongs to the body of Christ, necessary for the edifying of the body, for the work of the ministry, or sanctifying of the people. We cannot find anywhere within the lids of the Bible, where the Lord ever had a people He acknowledged, except they were led by immediate revelation. The Lord never had a people in any age of the world without Prophets to lead them, even to the present day; and this is the reason why this Church and kingdom is so diverse from the views, feelings, and traditions of the nations around us, and that has caused it to meet with great opposition, persecution, and opposing spirits from the commencement, and perhaps may continue to do so until the winding up scene.
Many of the Prophets have prophesied that such an order of things as that which Christ and his Apostles established, should again be established in the last days, after ages of apostacy and darkness. When the Jews fell through unbelief, as the Apostle says, the Gospel was taken from them and given to the Gentiles. Did the kingdom go to the Gentiles stripped of any of its powers, or portion of its organization because the Jews would not receive it? No, verily it did not. When the kingdom was presented to the Gentiles, it was presented with Apostles and prophets, with healing powers, with revelations direct from God, and with every gift and grace the Jews believed in and enjoyed while they remained faithful: when it went to the Gentiles it was perfect in its organization, but in process of time they changed the ordinances of the kingdom of God, and fell through the same example of unbelief, and have remained for centuries without the true order of heaven among them.
Ask any portion of Christendom why the ancient order of the Church of Christ is not among them--Apostles, Prophets, revelations, and other gifts, and they will inform you that they were only needed in the dark ages of the world, to establish the kingdom of God, but in this enlightened age are not necessary. It makes me think of a remark made by Mr. Kirkham in his Grammar; he says, "The Lord hung the Bible out of heaven, and retired." It appears so indeed among the Gentile nations, for in process of time the gifts, and graces, and powers of the kingdom of God were taken away, and the men who officiated in the ancient Church of God were nearly all put to death; they were slain because they endeavored to maintain it in its purity, and tried with all their might to establish the principles that God had revealed to the Jew's, for they were the chosen people of God, the promised seed; but they fell because they would not receive the Messiah, the Shilo, their Savior; when they put him to death, and imbrued their hands in the best blood that had flowed through the lineage of Judah, they had to foot the bill; blood was shed, the laws of God were broken, the ordinances were changed, and the Priesthood of High Heaven trampled upon: the Jews must, therefore, suffer to pay the debt they contracted. Jesus Christ told them what would come upon them before he was taken away, for he mourned over them, saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." Again, he says to them, "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the Prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the Prophets. Fill ye up the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Again, "Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." He also told them that their temple would be destroyed, and not one stone be left upon another that would not be thrown down, and thus they had to suffer until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled. Jesus Christ lifted up his voice, and spared not, for he knew what was awaiting that nation; and his heart yearned over them when he saw them as a nation rushing madly on to destruction, and sowing seed that would cause a thousand years of sorrow and mourning by their posterity. They had their agency to act upon as seemed them good, and they became wicked and corrupt, and instituted their own systems of religion and ordinances, instead of the true order of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus told them they would be dispersed among the Gentiles, and be trodden down and afflicted by them until the times of the Gentiles should be accomplished.
We understand from the Scriptures, that have been referred to from time to time in this desk, that the Lord will set His hand again to gather Israel. We heard this subject treated upon a few Sabbaths ago, and what would take place in the last dispensation, even in the dispensation of the fulness of times.
But those who have been taught after the traditions of the fathers, have been taught that the Bible should be spiritualized, that it does not mean what it says, nor say what it means; we have been taught to believe that where the Lord says Israel shall be gathered, it means spiritually. When we read any portion of Scripture, which did not agree with our traditions, every man had his own system of spiritualizing, to make it bend to his own views. Instead of this, we have now learned that God means what He says, and says what He means.
When we read the history of the United States, or the history of General Washington, no man in his sober senses would have the least idea of spiritualizing it. When we read the history of our revolutionary fathers, who sat in solemn council to deliberate upon and sign the Declaration of Independence, because of the grievances they were called upon to bear from the mother country, no man would for a moment dream of spiritualizing these events; but every man would understand that the historian meant them to be read and understood literally.
Now, if we so read and believe the history of the foundation of our national government, or the history of the Jewish nation, or any other nation, that has been written by men who do not make any pretensions to inspiration, if we should never think of spiritualizing their writings, but take them and understand them as they are given to us, why should we take it upon ourselves to spiritualize and twist the words, and the meaning of the words, of that God who rules the nations?
When He gives to us revelations of the greatest moment to us, will He not set forth His mind and will in their true meaning, as He intends they shall be fulfilled, and as He intends we shall understand them? The Latter-day Saints as a people have learned to take God at His word. We admit that there are in the Bible metaphors, figures, and parables.
When Jesus was teaching the women the things of the kingdom of God, he used comparisons which they understood. Hence he says, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." He knew the women understood about making bread. And so he talks to the farmer about sowing grain, that some sow seed on good ground, and others on stony ground, and others among thorns, likening the kingdom of heaven unto it. He used these metaphors to make a deeper impression upon the minds of the children of men; and at other times he used dark sayings in the same way. We understand a figure as a figure, and a parable as a parable, but the meaning of the Savior is plainly manifest in them.
When the Lord says by the mouth of His Prophet, "And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt;" and again, "And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord:" again, when He says, "They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn;" we believe He means what He says, for we have ourselves seen many of these prophecies literally fulfilled in this generation. Again, we believe He means what He says, when the Lord declares through His Prophet, that an angel shall fly through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come. We believe He means what He says. To fulfil this declaration we believe it is necessary for an angel of God to come to the earth and deliver the Gospel, the true Gospel, and the only Gospel that ever was revealed for the exaltation and glory of man.
Why does it require an angel to bring the Gospel from heaven in these last days, when the earth is deluged with Gospel, with religion, with different systems and plans of salvation? Because that none of them are according to the order or organization that God has given to govern and control the human family when they would be controlled by Him. If there had been a true organization of the kingdom of God upon the earth in these latter-days, there would have been no need of an angel to visit the earth to teach men the first principles of the Gospel of Christ, and administer its ordinances to them.
When the Apostles of old dwelt upon the earth, the angel that appeared to Saul of Tarsus, and the angel that appeared to Cornelius, did not administer the Gospel to them, but instructed them to apply to those men whom Christ had ordained to that authority, and who held the keys, the gifts and graces, and Priesthood of the kingdom of God. So it would have been in the last days, if there had been authority, and the true Priesthood of God on the earth; there would, in that case, have been no necessity for an angel to come with the Gospel.
Angels are sent as ministering spirits to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. We believe the Lord means what He says. We believe Israel were led formerly by Prophets who were full of wisdom and truth; and they are again to be led by holy Prophets, that have the Priesthood of the Most High upon them, and power to lead and to teach the children of men. When Daniel the Prophet declared that the kingdom of God should be set up in the last days, and that it should break in pieces all other kingdoms, and have no end, he meant what he said. When we read the prophecies that declare unto us that great wickedness shall be upon the earth in the latter days, and that great plagues will he poured out upon the world; that angels are to pour out the vials of the wrath of the Almighty, and that previous to this all men are to be warned by the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we believe those declarations will have a literal fulfilment.
Before I ever heard of "Mormonism," when reading the Scriptures, I often wondered why it was that we had no Prophets, no Apostles, no gifts and graces, no healings by the power of God, no visions, no angels, no revelations, no voice of God. I often wondered why these things were not continued among the children of men, why they were not enjoyed by the different churches and denominations of the day, and in my conversation with theologians and divines, I often referred to these things, but they all told me that such supernatural manifestations were unnecessary in our day and age of the world, that such power was only necessary in a day of darkness, among an ignorant generation of people; they needed Prophets to lead them; but we who live in the blaze of Gospel light need no such thing; we need no revelation, only that which is in the Bible; we need no visitation of angels now, those things were given to establish the doctrine of Christ, and when it was once established they were no longer needed.
This logic always appeared strange to me. I said then, and I say now, may the Lord give me such periods of darkness as were enjoyed by the Apostles and Saints of old, in preference to the Gospel blaze of modern Christianity. The ancient doctrine and power will unlock the mysteries of heaven, and pour forth that Gospel light, knowledge, and truth, of which the heavens are full, and which has been poured out in every generation when Prophets appeared among the children of men. But the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called.
I do not wish to be understood that we are now living in a dark age of the world, but for the last fourteen hundred years the world have been enveloped in darkness, in which wickedness has ruled, and the powers of darkness have prevailed among the children of men, and the nations have been bound down by false traditions, and incorrect principles, but the day has now dawned, the dark clouds have now broken up and soon will pass away, and the sun of righteousness will arise in its glory, and show forth the light of heaven; and for that I am thankful, and rejoice, and so do thousands and tens of thousands in this dispensation, who have been touched with the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ which has been revealed in our day, by the administering of holy angels, in all its fulness, beauty, power, and glory; this Gospel has caused Prophets, Elders, and Saints to rejoice: it has nerved up their spirits with fortitude and strength, and borne them up against every opposing influence; this has been the case in every dispensation when this light and power have been enjoyed by the children of men.
The Gospel has gone forth in our day in its true glory, power, order, and light, as it always did when God had a people among men that He acknowledged. That same organization and Gospel that Christ died for, and the Apostles spilled their blood to vindicate, is again established in this generation. How did it come? By the ministering of an holy angel from God, out of heaven, who held converse with man, and revealed unto him the darkness that enveloped the world, and unfolded unto him the gross darkness that surrounded the nations, those scenes that should take place in this generation, and would follow each other in quick succession, even unto the coming of the Messiah. The angel taught Joseph Smith those principles which are necessary for the salvation of the world; and the Lord gave him commandments, and sealed upon him the Priesthood, and gave him power to administer the ordinances of the house of the Lord. He told him the Gospel was not among men, and that there was not a true organization of His kingdom in the world, that the people had turned away from His true order, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant, and inherited lies and things wherein their was no profit. He told him the time had come to lay the foundation for the establishment of the Kingdom of God among men for the last time, preparatory to the winding up scene. Joseph was strengthened by the Spirit and power of God, and was enabled to listen to the teachings of the angel. He told him he should be made an instrument in the hands of the Lord, if he kept His commandments, in doing a good work upon the earth, that his name should be held in honor by the honest in heart, and in dishonor throughout the nations by the wicked. He told him he should be an instrument in laying the foundation of a work that should gather tens of thousands of the children of men, in the generation in which he lived, from every nation under heaven, who should hear the sound of it through his instrumentality. He told him the nations were wrapt in wickedness and abomination, and that the judgments of God were ready to be poured out upon them in their fulness; that the angels were holding the vials of His wrath in readiness; but the decree is, that they shall not be poured out until the nations are warned, that they may be left without an excuse.
This man to whom the angel appeared obeyed the Gospel; he received it in meekness and humility, and bowed down before the Lord and worshipped Him, and did the best he could in his illiterate state; he was as it were but a mere plow-boy. He laid hold of it with all his heart, though he saw he would have to wage war with sin, and wickedness, and abominations, and the oppositions of the people; he began to trust in the Lord; and what was the consequence? Wherever the words of the Gospel, which the angel revealed to him, were preached among the children of men, it had its effect. The Church was at length organized with a few humble men. The learned might laugh at them because of their ignorance, but their words were like daggers to their hearts, and like a two-edged sword, piercing and dividing asunder the very thoughts and intents of the hearts of men. The honest in heart began to receive their testimony, and it continued to spread from town to town, from city to city, from state to state, and from nation to nation, until we see the fruits of it here today in this Tabernacle of the Lord in the tops of the mountains.
I say I rejoice before the Lord this day that we have leaders in Israel that are qualified for their place and station to preside over this people, and who will seek their welfare, and are not afraid or ashamed to rebuke wickedness in high places, whether manifested by their brethren or neighbors, if they do wrong. Their minds are quick as the vivid lightning of heaven; they are filled with the visions of eternity; they are not asleep, but they comprehend the elements around them; they read and digest them, and they know exactly what course to pursue; the leaders of this people know what they are doing, what is approaching this people, and what is approaching the world: and we may all know the same things by reading the Scriptures, and by prayer, and through the ministering of the Holy Ghost conferred upon us. What man is there who reads the Scriptures, and believes that God means what He says, and says what He means, but what can see a flood of dreadful events ready to be poured out upon this generation with the rapidity of lightning. No man can escape the influence of these events that are about to burst upon the heads of this generation. The Gospel has gone forth, and when the "nations are warned, another angel will cry, "Babylon is fallen." War, and famine, and the plague will overwhelm the nations of the earth, and none can escape.
As Latter-day Saints, we look upon the signs of the times, we are not ignorant of them, but we understand them. We look upon the events that are rolling upon us with great interest. It matters not what the minds and feelings of men are, the Lord is determined to raise up a people that will worship Him; and if He has to whip, and scourge, and drive us through a whole generation, He will chastise us until we are willing to submit to righteousness and truth, or until we are like clay in the hands of the potter. The chastisements we have had from time to time have been for our good, and are essential to learn wisdom, and carry us through a school of experience we never could have passed through without. I hope, then, that we may learn from the experience we have had to be faithful, and humble, and be passive in the hands of God, and do His commandments. Do I blame President Young because he chastises us? No. Would he be a father to us, a Prophet, and a High Priest of God, if he saw his brethren going wrong, and would not warn and chastise them? The chastisement of a friend is far better than the kisses of an enemy. When I am out of the way, and when you are out of the way, I thank God that we have a man to preside over us, who loves us enough to chastise us; it is for our good, and I believe we have been always ready to receive the chastening rod from our superiors when they thought fit to give it to us, and kiss the rod that chastened us. If a Prophet is called to lead and chastise Israel, shall He not rebuke wickedness when it is not in Israel? The very spirit that vibrates in the soul of President Young, and every act of his life, show, to all acquainted with him, that he will do his duty in this respect, as well as in every thing else wherein he stands connected, while he dwells upon the earth, regardless of all consequences, and will leave the event in the hands of God, and his Counsellors are governed by the same spirit and principles. The Lord has reproved the wicked in all ages, and He will do it again. He also inspires His servants to reprove and rebuke wickedness; He controls all nations, and the destiny of the world is in His hands as much now as it was in the days of Israel when He himself led them out of the land of Canaan.
Wickedness is in the earth, and Satan has great power over the hearts of men, and he seeks to destroy them, and he seeks to destroy this people, and lead away the Elders of Israel; and when he overcomes a man that has made a covenant with God, who has been baptized in this Church and kingdom, he gains a greater victory over him than over one who never made any profession. Why have old grey-headed Israelites turned their faces for generations past towards Jerusalem, and lifted up their voices and mourned in sorrow? Because their fathers had rejected the Messiah and broken their covenants with God. Why are these Lamanites roaming about in misery and wretchedness, living upon reptiles of the earth? Why are they cursed so bitterly, and brought down so low, for they are of the seed of Israel? It is because the chastening rod of the Almighty has rested upon them and upon their fathers. We should be very cautious and careful to keep the commandments of God, and do right, while we have such examples of the dealings of God with the nations who have broken His laws. We shall be corrected in all our errors, that we may become sanctified, and be prepared for those glories, principles, powers, and privileges which the Lord has promised to reveal to us.
The Latter-day Saint, in the vision of his mind, sees displayed on the great panorama of the world all the scenes that are to transpire in the present day, while the wicked are ignorant of what is about to transpire; they do not know what is the matter; while there are cholera, whirlwinds, storms, thunder and lightning, and earthquakes in divers places, and kingdom is rising against kingdom in battle array, they are ignorant of what will be the end of these matters, and the cause of their existence, because the things of God are not before their eyes. They see naturally, but do not understand. They read the Scriptures but do not look for the fulfilment of the words of the Prophets, and they do not understand what those things mean when they are fulfilled before their eyes. Did they understand the Scriptures they could see and understand what is the matter in the world.
But this is only the beginning of sorrow and trouble; the heavens are full of great judgments which are about to be poured out on the world. The words of the Prophets cannot have their fulfilment unless these things take place. Read the Revelations of Saint John, touching the fall of Babylon, and you there have a faint picture of what is about to transpire.
I feel thankful that the Lord has revealed these things for our benefit, and that He has given us power and authority to stand up in the defence of that which is right before the Lord, and to bear testimony of the truth, and to proclaim those things which will assuredly come to pass in this generation. It is better for us to fall in defence of truth, than to deny the words of God, and go to hell. It is better to suffer stripes for the testimony of Christ, than to suffer and fall by our sins and transgressions, and then have to suffer afterwards. I would rather seal my testimony with my blood, and lay my body to rest in the grave, and have my spirit go to the other side of the vail, to enjoy a long eternity of light, truth, blessings, and knowledge which the Lord will bestow upon every man who keeps His law, than to spend a few short years of earthly pleasure, and be deprived of those blessings, and the society of my friends and brethren behind the vail.
There is no man in his sober senses that would not desire this. There is no man that has an understanding of the blessings that God has promised to give to His children, but what will desire that in preference to the fading enjoyments and empty honors of this world. You may surround any man or woman with all the wealth and glory that the imagination of man can grasp, and are they satisfied? No. There is still an aching void. On the other hand, show me a beggar upon the streets, who has got the Holy Ghost, whose mind is filled with that Spirit and power, and I will show you a person who has peace of mind, who possesses true riches, and those enjoyments that no man can obtain from any other source. The servants of God, in every age of the world, have been sustained and nerved up to do their duty by this power; and I will say to the Latter-day Saints, if they will be faithful, and do what they should do, and listen to the counsel given to them, they need not have any fears about anything, for the whole work is in the hands of God, the destinies of nations lie there. It is better for a people to be wise, to get righteousness, to be the friend of God, than to occupy any other position in life.
Then I hope my brethren and sisters will feel in their hearts to sustain the Presidency of this Church, by their faith, works, and prayers, and not suffer them to carry all the load, while we hide ourselves in the rear. If we should do this we are not worthy, we are not worthy of our position as Elders in Israel, and fathers and mothers in Israel. Let each one bear their share; and if we will correct our own follies, and set in order our own houses, and do that which is right, we shall then do some good, and help to lift the load that rests upon those that lead. It was grievous to the feelings of Jesus Christ, to his Apostles, and to Joseph Smith, when they saw the people running into danger, and it is grievous to President Young, when he sees the people reckless in pursuing their own course leading them to destruction; when they are not willing to take his counsel and abide the doctrines he teaches; but when he sees the people willing to obey wholesome counsel, and endeavor to sanctify themselves before the Lord, he feels strengthened and sustained, he feels backed up by the works of the people, and not by one alone. I hope this will be the case with us, that we will set in order our own houses, as wives, husbands, children, as parents, and as officers in the Church and Kingdom of God. If we will sanctify ourselves, and do right, we shall have our reward, and shall be satisfied with it. No man or woman in the Kingdom of God that does wrong can escape sorrow. It is so in the world; the Lord rewards all men according as their works have been in the body. One reason why the Lord will pour out His judgments upon the nations, is the blasphemous spirit of wickedness and corruption that reigns among man.
When the Gentiles reject the Gospel it will be taken from them, and go to the house of Israel, to that long suffering people that are now scattered abroad through all the nations upon the earth, and they will be gathered home by thousands, and by hundreds of thousands, and they will re-build Jerusalem their ancient city, and make it more glorious than at the beginning, and they will have a leader in Israel with them, a man that is full of the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost; but they are held now from this work, only because the fulness of the Gentiles has not yet come in. Tens of thousands among the Gentile nations will receive the Gospel, but the majority of them will reject it, and then the Jews will receive it; and it will go to them with all the gifts, blessings, and powers it possessed when it was taken from them.
We are all Gentiles by nationality, we are of the Gentile nations who hold the sway of the earth. Not only will the Jews have these blessings again, but these poor despised Indians will enjoy the light and glory of the Gospel of Christ; their fathers proclaimed blessings upon them, by the spirit of prophecy and revelation, which are as assuredly to rest upon a remnant of that people as they exist, though they are now the most miserable beings that live upon the face of the earth, nevertheless a remnant of them will embrace the Gospel, and their eyes will be opened and they will understand that they are of Israel. Our missionaries have labored among them, and what effect has it had? But little. Missionaries of different orders have labored among them, with little or no success.
We cannot do a great deal for that people, only pray for them, and treat them kindly, until the power of God begins to rest upon them, and they are waked up by the visions of heaven, and the angels begin to converse with them. They will be inspired by the Spirit and power of God, like other branches of Israel, and the day will come when the poor Utahs, and Piedes, and other degraded tribes in these mountains will again feel they possess souls among men as their fathers did before them. The ten tribes will also come in remembrance before the Lord, and they will again return with out-stretched arms to their lands, and be led by leaders inspired by the Spirit and power of God, and they will come with visions, revelations, and Prophets, and they will be baptized and ordained under the hands of the children of Ephraim, who bear the Holy Priesthood on the earth at that time, and they will be crowned with glory, power, immortality, and eternal lives before God.
This is only a synopsis of the vision of the things that present themselves to our minds, while we sit and meditate upon the scenes that present themselves to our view. No man can contemplate the truth concerning the nations of the earth without sorrow, when he sees the wailing, the mourning, and death, that will come in consequence of judgments, plagues, and war. It has already begun, and it will continue to multiply and increase until the scene is ended, and wound up.
Do I delight in the destruction of the children of men? No. Does the Lord? No. He gives them timely warning, and if they do not listen to His counsel, they must suffer the consequences. He has determined, in the last days, in spite of earth and hell, wicked men, and devils, to establish His kingdom upon the earth; He has proclaimed it in the Bible, that it shall not be thrown down any more for ever. Who owns the earth? Does the devil? No; but he has had it a great while, and holds universal sway, and has held it almost from the beginning; so much so, that if the Lord inspires a man upon the earth, the power of the devil is so great, that that man is, or men are, slain. Even Christ and his Apostles could but exist in tribulation and suffering for a little while, and then were slain. The power of the devil was so great, that the principles of righteousness were driven from the earth, and those that taught them. But, hark! in the last days it will not be so, the time has come for the kingdom to be established, because the earth is ripe, and the set time has come.
The Lord made the earth, and placed man upon it, and He owns it still, and He will cut off wickedness, no matter where it exists, so that there will be room for the good fruit to grow. As true as the Lord lives, if we wish to exist upon the earth in these days, we must be righteous; if we expect to have a place, an inheritance, and dwell on the earth, we must keep the law of God, or we shall be cut off. This will apply to all, to Jew and Gentile, bond and free; this will apply to all men in every nation, and under all circumstances.
It is the decree of the Almighty God, that the kingdom of heaven shall be established, and shall never again be overthrown, that judgments shall lay waste the nations, enough at least to give that kingdom room to grow, and spread, and prosper. This is the truth, and you will all find it so. Those judgments have begun, that will never leave the earth until it is swept as with the besom of destruction, until thrones are cast down and kingdoms overthrown, until each man draws his sword against his neighbor, and every nation and kingdom that exists will be at war with each other, except the inhabitants of Zion. The Lord has spoken it, and it will come to pass.
I again say I am thankful that we have men to preside over us, who are determined to rebuke sin, wherever it shows itself, and God will sustain these men, and uphold them, whether we do or not. I do not care in what circumstances they may be placed, even if it be necessary for them to seal their testimony with their blood, as Joseph and Hyrum have done; it is all right, they only pass to the other side of the vail, where they can operate still better for the salvation of the people. We shall not be left without leaders that have the Spirit of God. This people will always have leaders that are just men, that are good men, and that delight to do the will of God, and would sacrifice life and all things for it if required.
If we are afraid to rebuke iniquity, or ashamed to cast it off ourselves, Israel would go to hell, we should be cut off as a people, and the Lord would raise up another; for He is bound to have a people in the last days who will keep His commandments, and magnify their calling, and prove themselves friends of God, and maintain the principles of righteousness, and honor them before God, angels, and men, that His kingdom may be established in purity, and be prepared for the coming of the Messiah; for Christ is coming again to earth; he is preparing the bride, and here is a portion of it before me to-day.
Will he receive us to himself? Are we prepared for his coming and kingdom and the fulness thereof, unless we are sanctified, and lay aside sin, and do right? No. We must sanctify ourselves, and keep the commandments of God, and do those things that are required at our hands, before we can be prepared for the coming of the Great Bridegroom.
The signs of the heavens are appearing, the fig trees are leaving and showing that summer is nigh. It will overtake this generation, and us also, quite as soon as we are prepared for it.
I pray that we may live in such a manner as not to be among the foolish virgins, but understand the signs of the times, do our duty, maintain our integrity, overcome the world, and be prepared to receive our Redeemer when he comes with joy, and not in grief and shame; which may God grant for Christ's sake. AMEN.
THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD ON THE UNITED STATES--THE SAINTS AND THE WORLD.
A Sermon by President Orson Hyde, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 18, 1855.
Beloved Brethren and Friends--Since it has fallen to my lot to address you this afternoon, I hope you will not only lend me your undivided attention, but favor me with an interest in your prayers, that I may ever speak according to the mind and will of God, upon all those subjects which may engage my attention.
I shall take a text, according to the mode and fashion of the day; yet, I will not promise to confine myself to it, or take any position that may be calculated to forestall the dictates of the Spirit of God in me. You may be surprised when you are made acquainted with the name of the author of my text. Were I to quote from Joseph Smith, or from Brigham Young, a sentiment for my ground work, you might be gratified and complimented; but the world, or outsiders might think it folly, blasphemy, nonsense, and trusting in man. I shall not, therefore, borrow my text from either of the foregoing; but from a distinguished outsider, that thereby I may pay a proper tribute of respect unto that department of God's dependent creatures.
In the last General Epistle of Franklin Pierce, Chief Apostle of the United States of America, written to his brethren of the Senate and House of Representatives in General Conference assembled, first clause of the first verse, you will find these remarkable words recorded:
"The past has been an eventful year, and will hereafter be referred to as a marked epoch in the history of the world. While we have been happily preserved from the calamities of war, our domestic prosperity has not been entirely uninterrupted. The crops, in portions of the country, have been nearly cut off. Disease has prevailed to a greater extent than usual; and the sacrifice of human life through casualities [sic] by sea and land is without parallel."
When we consider that the author of these words was chosen by the sovereign will of the American people to preside over the destinies of our common country, that he was duly set apart for that station, and regularly installed in power, it is but reasonable to suppose that his words are prompted by the conviction and faith of the nation; and he can hardly be expected to give utterance to an incorrect idea, <if the faith of the nation be correct>. He, therefore, being the head and eye of the Republic, discovered that the land declined to produce in its usual strength, that disease had marked out its increased number of victims with unerring precision, and that sea and land had conspired against the lives of the thousands that float on the former, and the millions that walk on the latter.
Why this increase of Providential manifestations in the form of scourges and chastisements? Is it because the nation has reformed and grown better? Is it because the true God is more correctly and devoutly worshipped? Or is it because the present is an age not so enlightened and scientific; and hence, not so well qualified to guard against the casualties and ills of life as former and more enlightened ages? Or is it because the Prophets of God have been cruelly and treacherously slain, and their brethren and friends banished by violent hands, from their homes, into an untried and wilderness country, where it was hoped and believed, by many, that savage ferocity would terminate our existence as a people?
When the Latter-day Saints fled before the fiery blast of persecution's bitter hate, they left, it is true, their goods and their homes as a prize, rich with curses, to those whose guilty hearts and bloody hands rendered them legitimate heirs to their ill-gotten gain. We brought but little with us when we fled; yet we took what the nation can never re-gain until they punish those murderers according to their own laws, chastise the guilty co-adjutors in deeds of cruelty and rapine, and compensate the sufferers for the losses which they so unjustly sustained. We brought away with us from the nation that suffered us to be cast out, the good-will and blessing of our God, even the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. That blessing and good-will cannot return until we return and carry them.
Allow me, in this place, to give you a legal opinion. None of you entertain a doubt but that your claims and titles to the lands sold, under duress, in Missouri and Illinois, are as good and valid now in the eyes of God as they ever were; but I tell you that they are just as good and safe to you at this very moment, in the eye of the Constitutional laws of the land, as they ever were. No deed of conveyance of real estate, executed by any of you in Missouri or Illinois, after you were warned to leave, and threatened with violence if you did not leave, is worth <one red cent>. No court of chancery in the nation, having jurisdiction, could lawfully avoid giving you your lands again, with interest and damage. But would the Government sustain the decision of such a court? There is the rub, and hence the guilt?
But let us see if we can account for the fearful increase of pestilence, scarcity, and destruction of human life spoken of in our text. God is said to be with His servants and people. "Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." If a nation or people cast out the Saints and servants of God from their midst, God goeth with them and leaveth that nation, and leaveth it under evil influences and afflicting agents.
To illustrate the foregoing statements, I will refer you to the history of Joseph's being sold into Egypt. This younger son of the old Patriarch Jacob was a visionary man, and a great dreamer. His visions and dreams seriously annoyed his elder brethren, and greatly aroused their jealousy. At one time, the lad dreamed that he and his brethren were binding sheaves in the field, and they set them up; and all their sheaves made obeisance to his sheaf. This dream nettled them, and made them very angry, under the conviction that one day the boy might rule over them. The dream appeared to foreshadow the fact. At another time, he dreamed that the sun, moon, and eleven stars made obeisance to him.
This dream even aroused the old man's resentment, and drew forth from him a rebuke upon his son; for he thought the dream indicated that he and his mother and his brethren should bow down to him. His brethren greatly envied him; but his father observed the dream and reflected, notwithstanding the rebuke. The fire of jealousy burning in the hearts of the elder brethren against their younger brother, they resolved to slay him, and conspired to perpetrate this bloody deed! Not that Joseph had injured them, or done them any wrong. It was because they feared he would do something, as his dreams evinced. But, behold the inconsistency of his elder brethren! If his dreams were of God, it was a sufficient cause of great joy to them, that they could have a ruler of divine appointment; and hence worse than madness to oppose him. If his dreams were not of God, they had no cause to fear his elevation to the ruling power. But his dreams were of God, and the means which they adopted to prevent their fulfilment proved, under the over-ruling hand of Providence, to be the very means to bring about the things foreshadowed by them.
It is not unfrequently the case, that plans and measures devised by the greatest cunning, ingenuity, and wisdom of the wicked against God's chosen, prove to be the most impressive and happy means to bless and exalt those against whom these plans are laid. Instead of slaying their brother, they agreed to cast him into a pit where there was no water, that he might perish there. But being a little conscience smitten at this specimen of cruelty towards their brother, they agreed to sell him into Egypt as a slave, and thus rid themselves and the country of this troublesome dreamer.
But God was with Joseph in Egypt, in the house of Potiphar, and blessed Potiphar's house for Joseph's sake. Potiphar, a poor benighted heathen, saw that God was with Joseph, and that he made all things to prosper that were in his hands; and therefore committed his house and all he had into the care of Joseph. Step by step did he gain influence and consideration in Egypt; and the favor and blessing of God were manifest upon him, and upon all that he did. God even blessed the whole kingdom for his sake. He apprised him, in the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream, of the approaching famine, and greatly multiplied the fruits of the earth, that they might be laid up in store against the time of need. Thus, the country to which the chosen of God was banished, was enabled to feed the starving millions that fled thither for seven long years, and Joseph was prime minister to the crown, and general superintendent of all the affairs of Egypt. He controlled all the food that had been laid up in store. The famine waxed strong in the land from which he was expelled, and they had nothing laid up in store; for they had no Joseph to warn them of the approaching distress. They had driven him away, and God greatly blessed the land to which he fled.
Soon it fell out that Joseph's brethren had to go down to Egypt to buy corn. "Their sheaves began to bow to his sheaf." Again they went, being sorely pressed with famine in their own land; and Joseph made himself known to them. Prince as he was, Prophet and minister of God as he was, I cannot think, that the propriety of a union of Church and State was discussed at their meeting at all; especially not until they had taken their dinner together. Thanks be to the God of Israel, they had plenty to eat?
Next, the old man himself came down to Joseph, and all the family--"sun, moon, and stars, made their obeisance to him" sure enough! His brethren do not feel towards him now as they did when they sold him! O, integrity! like the magnet that ever attracts its own, thou dost command and draw around thee all thy kindred hosts! Oh, selfishness, and narrow-minded jealousy! you are humbled in the dust--you are prostrated at the feet of him whose life and liberty were the sport of your palmy days. How changed the scene? Yet God be praised.
Can any one, acquainted with the Latter-day Saints' history, see any similarity between their expulsion from the States, and the causes of that expulsion; and the banishment of Joseph into Egypt, and the causes of that banishment? Neither of them had done any wrong, but it was feared that they would. They both would dream, and tell their dreams. They were both superlatively hated and envied by their brethren--were both sent away among heathens to perish, and both have been sustained by the favor of God. We both have had coats of many colors: ours patch upon patch! We have had at least, one coat different from his, probably because such coats were not fashionable in his day, a coat of tar and feathers. Neither of us went away by his own choice; but were forced away contrary to our wishes, and contrary to existing laws. Both went into countries where there is but little rain. The chief difference that I can see, is this. Their sheaves bowed to his sheaf. The sun, moon, and stars bowed to him when they came to him for bread. It has not yet happened so unto us. But when scarcity increases in the land from whence we came, pestilence and plague abound, the channels of business and trade completely broken up, civil war and <know nothing> within, the wheels of diplomacy in the mud without, and foreign foes press sorely on our coasts, then the nation may begin to ask--was Joseph Smith a Prophet? Is God angry with us because we have only winked at his treacherous murder? Is He angry because we have quietly suffered His chosen people to be robbed, plundered, murdered, and driven like chaff before the wind, without interposing in any way to prevent it? Is it because we have turned a dear ear to their petitions and cries for redress?
With all the respect that is due from an humble citizen, to the words of the chief ruler of a great and powerful nation, and with all the modesty that diffidence and delicacy can inspire, I feel it my duty to say, in the name of that God whose I am, and whom I serve, that here lie the causes of the increasing evils in the land, spoken of in our text. For thus the Lord hath spoken. Nations shall be cut off when they are ripe in iniquity. But they are not ripe in inquity [sic], until they kill my servants, and cast out my people;--then will I visit them in my anger, and vex them in my displeasure, and cut off their bitter branches. A desolating sickness shall cover the land. (See Book of Covenants.) Famine shall sorely oppress them--confusion and war shall make their hearts to faint, and their knees to tremble. Would to God that our nation had never given cause for the distress which they now only begin to suffer! Would to God that they, chiefly for their sakes, had never provoked the anger of the Almighty by killing our Prophets, and casting out our people. Yet for us, it is all the better! For if we had not been driven away, we might have remained there to suffer as they are suffering and will suffer. "The wrath of man is often made to praise the Lord," as in this case; and everlasting honors be ascribed to Him for His mercy, His justice, and His truth.
In view of the approaching crisis which has been preached about, written upon, and prophesied of by us for the last twenty years, I would call upon the people of Utah, both Saint and sinner, Jew and Gentile, white men and red, to quit their vain and unprofitable traffic and speculation, and go to with their might to raise wheat corn, and stock. Be not anxious to drive your stock to California. Save all your grain, and sow all you possibly can. Rich deposits of snow are now being made in the mountains, according to your prayers, which betoken a fruitful year. Ask God to bless your labors, and every seed that you sow in the earth. Prepare storehouses in which it can be saved. Remember Joseph in Egypt! The old man himself, and all the boys had to go to him, for he had corn in time of famine. Politicians oppose our gathering together. But if you will have plenty of wheat, pork, and beef on hand, all hell cannot stop them from coming here. Look out for the old man and all the boys to come bending unto you, and I'll venture they will not quarrel with you about the union of Church and State, at least not until they have had their breakfast. We may then tell them that when we were with them, they burned up our wheat in the stack, in the shock, and that which was scattered in the field. They burned our hay and our houses; and left our sick, our women and children in the scorching sun and beating rain, without food or shelter.
We told them when they did it, that we would have wheat when they had none. When these poor starving thousands flock here for food, will it not be glory enough for you to begin with, to feed them, to give them shelter, and administer to their sick? Will not such coals of fire heaped upon their heads be hot enough to satisfy your righteous indignation? If you will do as you are told, your eyes shall witness just such scenes! You may ask, "When shall these things be?" Answer. Just so soon as you can possibly lay up the wheat. If the United States will not make Brigham Young Governor, wheat will. Joseph's brethren never voted to make him Governor over them; but he was elected to that office by a joint ballot of wheat and corn. There is more salvation and security in wheat, than in all the political schemes of the world, and also more power in it than in all the contending armies of the nations. Raise wheat and lay it up in store till it will bring a good price; not dollars and cents, but kingdoms, countries, peoples, tribes, and tongues. "They have sold themselves for naught, and must be redeemed without money!" It will take wheat to redeem them! Raise wheat and lay it up securely, and it will preach the "gathering" more eloquently, successfully, and extensively than all the missionaries that we can send out to sweep through the nations, with the proclamation of the judgments of God abroad in the land!
If I feel at our approaching Conference as I now do, I shall ask to move that our home missions be not diminished, but increased, if possible; and all set to raising wheat, and make Zion a house and city of refuge for the Saints and for the sons of strangers, that they may come and build up our walls, even as the old Prophet hath spoken. Many of you have finished your seeding, perhaps, for the season; but suppose you add another edition, enlarged, if not revised. Trust in God! and if your works be good, and plenty of them, your faith will not be questioned!
I will now call your attention, for a short time, to some occurrences that have taken place in our city.
On Sunday, the 4th day of February, brothers Kimball and Grant spoke very plainly and pointedly in relation to the intercourse of the Saints with the world; and seriously objected to that intercourse when it tended to debase and corrupt the Saints. They were tolerably well posted up in some matters upon which they spoke. I will not say by what means they were posted, whether by private confession of some conscience-smitten guilty participant in things not right, or by the common or ordinary means of knowledge. Suffice it to say, that they meant those and those only who were guilty of improprieties, that can not be looked upon with complacency by this people. The line was drawn between vice and virtue, so clearly and plainly that none need mistake it. Several persons took serious exceptions to the teachings that were then given, and felt themselves insulted, excluded from society, and as the Indians say, "<thrown away>."
The next day, Monday, the Eastern Mail arrived, and brought a very belligerent article from the <Charleston Mercury>. It is said to have been prompted by the Cabinet at Washington, with design to raise a fuss with the "Mormons." The article shows a deep-rooted and heated feeling against the Saints, and takes it for granted that every evil that can be said of us is true. The following is a short quotation from the article--
"There can be no fellowship between Mormon and Christian. They cannot exist under the same social system. They cannot be partners in political power."
Here the line is drawn! All fellowship is denied us. No social relations are permitted. Did brothers Grant and Kimball say anything more than this. Did they not make as many honorable exceptions as are made in the foregoing? We are obliged to pocket all such sayings, and go along about our business.
Brothers Grant and Kimball were only God's looking-glasses, to reflect the sentiment entertained towards us, which, like some other coming events, cast its shadow one day in advance of the mail, and was partially endorsed and responded to before it arrived. If outsiders do not like us to endorse their paper, they should not present it; and when we endorse it to a limited extent, it ill becomes them to object to that own doctrine when the tables are turned.
Aside from all strife or prejudice on either side, to what content are the Saints to unite with the world? They are God's creatures as well as we. He sustains them and has regard for them. We ourselves were once of the world, and should not forget the rock from whence we were hewn, nor the hole of the pit from whence we were digged. How far, then, is it our duty to extend our fellowship and regard for them, that we may be justified in the eyes of God who presides over us all? Remember, ye Elders in Israel, that you are to go to all nations, and preach the Gospel to every creature. While abroad on your missions in the discharge of your official duties, what favors have you a right to ask of the world? If you are hungry, you have the right to ask them for food. If you are in distress or in want, and cannot relieve yourselves, you have the right to ask them for relief and aid. If any one kindly and generously gives you food, clothing, or money for Christ's sake, and because he respects and loves you as a good man, let your peace and blessing rest upon that person, and upon all others that kindly administer to your wants; and then when you all appear before the God of truth, forget not to give a good account of those who favored you on your missions through this world, and say: "When I was hungry, they gave me food; when a stranger, they took me in; naked, they clothed me; and when thirsty, they gave me a cup of cold water." Remember that your comfort and happiness in this life were measurably suspended upon their kind offices towards you; and in turn, their future comfort and happiness will be suspended upon your testimony, and upon your favorable report it will be said unto them, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Enter thou into the joys of thy Lord!"
But when you go abroad on business of a worldly or temporal nature, you have not this claim upon the hospitality of the world; but should pay your way the same as a worldling. But whether you are abroad on ordinary business, or as a minister of God, you have no right to make any more free, or take any more liberties, with other men's wives, sisters, or daughters, than with the men themselves; and the higher you stand in the Church, the more heinous and criminal would be such an offence. Whenever a "Mormon" will do any such thing, you may know that he is under transgression, that the spirit of truth, of honor, of integrity, or of God, is not with him. But if any of you, outsiders, have a "Mormon" wife, who became a "Mormon" before you married her, and you married her with your eyes opened to the fact, I cannot promise that your happiness with her will always be uninterrupted. I say the same in relation to a "Mormon," if he marry out of this Church (a circumstance that never occurred to my knowledge). Any "Mormon" who will seek the company of a lewd woman, either at home or abroad, or that will try to seduce a virtuous woman, is looked upon precisely the same, and with similar feeling to those with which we would look upon the contents of a bilious stomach ejected by the aid of lobelia, or tartar emetic. We spew such out of our mouth. We can look upon no such character as a Christian or a gentleman, though he be the highest "Mormon" official, a civil or military officer, the king upon his throne, or the President in his chair. The higher the station, the more sinful and loathsome the act.
But if a man, in good faith and integrity, with righteousness as the girdle of his loins, take unto himself many wives, acknowledge and sustain them, and honorably care and provide for their offspring, it is all right with me, and with God, so far as I know and understand His law, with the Prophets and Apostles of old, with the Patriarchs and wise men of the East, to which quarter we look for light natural and spiritual. But woe be unto him who, alone for guilty pleasure, corrupts himself--who, to gratify the lower passions, prostrates the fair temple of virtue, and turns the feet of the unwary and light-hearted female, by soft and flattering words, from the high road of honor, life, and immortality, to the shades of misery, shame, corruption, and death. A creature (not a gentleman) once said to me, "I found that she was corrupt, and hence no sin if I paid her; as, with the price of her shame and debauchery, she would supply herself with the means of a living." "Ah!" thought I, "better die than live by such means. Had you given her aid with a word of kind reproof, and kept yourself free from her snare, you would not have patronized or encouraged her in her sin. Your behavior would have been that of a God and a Savior; but as it is, you have acted the part of a devil--joined hands with corruption, and identified yourself with the prostitute, and with the whore." Let any man, however high or honorable he may wish to be thought, give evidence to this community that such is his moral calibre, he will be spurned from the domiciles and homes of the Saints (that are Saints) with that becoming indignation that God and angels will approve. But that man whose mind is unfortified by religious influence, yet who, from the force of moral principle and natural goodness and virtue, keeps himself free and unspotted from those vices, is more to be valued than the fine gold of Ophir, or the diamond that glitters in the monarch's crown. He is as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, or like the oasis in the desert, which lures the weary wanderer to repose his brawny limbs on its verdant bed. He draws around him all that venerate genuine moral worth, and holds an influence that will not allow him, like a certain Judge, to fly the track and cry, "Mad dog," when the hydrophobic virus is concealed under his own tongue.
It is our custom to receive all strangers, who come among us under the name and style of respectability, with kindness and cordiality, and yet with cautious reserve. We try to make them comfortable and happy. But if we discover that an advantage is sought to be taken of our generous good feeling, to practise what our religion, laws, and vital prejudices are strenuously opposed to, I mean that practice so common and popular in the world, sexual intercourse without respect or regard to the solemnities of the marriage vow, then the thread will be cut at once, and such characters dropped and despised by the virtuous and good. The armies of the world cannot force us or frighten us to honor or respect such persons. They will then question our patriotism, and send away all manner of reports, prejudicial to our religious and political standing. But they will be careful about reporting what they have done. They, of course, are the innocent ones! It is my candid and unqualified opinion, that but few, if any, persons living among us, and not of our Church, have ever sent or carried evil reports of us, who themselves have not met with some unexpected obstacle in their way to vice and criminal pleasure and indulgence, or to political ambition and advancement. This may serve as a key to many things. Because strong language is used in relation to such vile practices, it may be inferred that much corruption exists here. But the contrary is true. If licentiousness or illicit intercourse had gained the footing and reputation here that it has in London, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, or Washington, then we might be comparatively silent while such vices carried the popular sway. But anything unusual, and of a corrupting character in our midst, excites in us an indignation that often finds vent in maledictions upon the heads of the demons that attempt to introduce it.
If there were none but Latter-day Saints living in Utah, we should have no occasion to speak upon this subject as we do; but being infested by those "<who profess the pure morality of the religion of Jesus>," such as the <Charleston Mercury> endorses and eulogizes, we are constrained to speak in great plainness. I will now leave this subject, knowing that he or she that is righteous will be righteous still; an they who are filthy will be filthy still.
I discover that some of the Eastern papers represent me as a great blasphemer, because I said, in my lecture on Marriage, at our last Conference, that Jesus Christ was married at Cana of Galilee, that Mary, Martha, and others were his wives, and that he begat children.
All that I have to say in reply to that charge is this--they worship a Savior that is too pure and holy to fulfil the commands of his Father. I worship one that is just pure and holy enough "to fulfil all righteousness;" not only the righteous law of baptism, but the still more righteous and important law "to multiply and replenish the earth." Startle not at this! for even the Father himself honored that law by coming down to Mary, without a natural body, and begetting a son; and if Jesus begat children, he only "did that which he had seen his Father do."
But to return to our subject---the fellowship of the world. Unite with them just as far as you require them to unite with you, and upon the same principle. If they are hungry, feed them when in your power. If they are in distress, trouble, or difficulty. relieve them. Take them in when strangers, if they ask you. Be kind unto them and courteous; yet remember that God has given to you His Holy Spirit as a standard, to which the world should come. It is your duty to honor that standard, and to keep it erect. If the world have fellowship and union with you, let it be in the Spirit of the Lord. But if you allow that standard to fall in your own hearts, or to become recumbent, and you slide back into the spirit of the world and unite with them, you have virtually struck your colors to the enemy, and gone over to his side! The salt has lost its savor, and is become powerless to save. It is only fit to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.
If you love and respect the welfare of the world, never allow yourselves to imbibe their spirit, or to become one with them. For if you do, you cannot be a savior, but need one as well as they; for you both stand upon one and the same level. The world hated the Savior before they hated us, and they killed him because he would never unite in heart and spirit with them. They will kill some of us for the same cause. But blessed are the man and the woman that are hated by the world because they will not be one with them. "Do them all the good you can, and as little harm as possible."
In conclusion, the present is an important era, an era in which the nations are becoming angry. They thirst for each other's blood; and who knows but that all nations will, respectively, file off under the heads of Greek and Roman, or "Gog and Magog," to fight the terrible battles spoken of in sacred writ?
Ye Saints of Latter-days, keep your lamps trimmed and burning, that you walk not in darkness. Ye virgins, wise and foolish, awake, for, behold, the day is near, and the hour fast approaching, when it shall be said--"Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him!"
Allow me here to close by giving you the translation of a stanza from a celebrated German poet--
"Calmly bear the frowns of fortune,
Soothe the heart oppressed with woe;
Sacred keep the plighted promise,
True alike to friend and foe.
Manly pride display to Princes,
Give to modest worth its due,
Cherish truth with all her vot'ries,
Deprecate the faithless crew."
GATHERING AND SANCTIFICATION OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
A Sermon by Elder George A. Smith, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, March 18, 1855.
Brethren and Sisters--I must express my gratification at the address which was delivered for our consideration in the former part of the day. I do not feel as much in the spirit of preaching as I do in that of listening; but as there is still a short time to be occupied, at the request of the brethren I will offer for your consideration a few remarks.
According to the example already given this afternoon, I shall commence by taking a text, which will be found recorded in the 23rd chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew--"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not."
While I call your attention to this passage of Scripture, I have in view the rich items that have been presented here to-day, the light of the Spirit which has been manifest in revealing to us our duty, that purity of life, that submission of conduct, that correct course which are calculated in all things to enlighten the Saints, and prepare them for exaltation and eternal lives. How often, says the Savior, would I have gathered thy children together, O! Jerusalem, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and would have nourished you, but you would not.
These words were uttered by the Savior while looking at the vast city and surrounding country which was then inhabited by the Jews, who were residing there in security, surrounded with plenty, and were at the same time almost universally in open rebellion against the law of heaven.
It has been a very common saying in the world that the Lord was able to do everything, that he could do anything he had a mind to do, and accomplish what he pleased; that he possessed universal power, and could accomplish what he undertook. But what says our text? "How oft would I have gathered you, but you would not." This indicates that he could not do it, because they were not willing; that is the way we understand the language. It is plain also from the text, that if the people of Jerusalem, the children of Israel, would have listened, and would have been gathered, he would have nourished them, and conferred upon them the principles of salvation, the laws of exaltation which it was his desire to give them. Let me say, then, that from the foundation of the world, or, in other words, from the fall of man until the period of the declaration of the words of our text, we find plainly illustrated, in the whole history contained in the sacred book, the principle that the Lord wished to reveal unto the children of men things which had been hid from before the foundation of the world, principles which would exalt them to celestial thrones, but they would not, or, which amounts to the same, He could never find a people, could never communicate with a generation or a very numerous body of men that would obey His commandments, listen to His counsel, and observe His wisdom, or be led by His revelations.
Some of my friends may think I am doing injustice by these remarks to the Zion of Enoch. I am aware that the Lord did in the days of Enoch gather together enough of the inhabitants of the earth to build a city, but in consequence of the rebellion, the wickedness, and oppression of the great mass of mankind, He could not save that city from destruction, only by taking it unto His own bosom; hence went forth the saying of old, "Zion is fled." So far as revealed records show, that is the nearest He ever came to the point of accomplishing the end of His undertaking, touching the redemption of the human family, up to the days of the Savior.
As we have learned, from Elder Hyde's sermon this afternoon, the same thing is illustrated in the history of Joseph; he wished to reveal the will of God to his brethren, but they rebelled, and sold him into Egypt. Moses undertook to give the children of Israel the laws of the Priesthood, to make them a holy people, a chosen generation, a kingdom of Priests, but what was the result? They would not receive it; and although God had delivered them from the plagues of Egypt, from the hands of Pharoah, brought them through the Red Sea, and led them by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, yet, when Moses went into the presence of God to receive His law, to receive those principles that were to magnify them, and make them a kingdom of Priests, a holy people, they, a whole people, concluded that it was best to worship a calf. "Why," said they, "our neighbors worship calves, they have gods, they have idols, and we wish to worship something that we can see, for we do not know what has become of this Moses, and we want a god that we can see and handle."
In taking a passing glance of this subject, we find the same attempt was made in the days of Solomon, the wise king of Israel. The Lord undertook to prepare a place, a house wherein He could reveal unto His people the law of exaltation. He made the attempt, but before that house could be completed, one of the very men through whom the ordinances of exaltation were to be revealed must be put to death by the cruel treachery of wicked men, stirred up by the adversary, which frustrated the design. The keys of the Priesthood consequently had to be kept a secret, and years after, the Prophets were lamenting, mourning, complaining, and finding fault with the people because the Lord could never be permitted to reveal the fulness of His will to the children of men. Micah, after reflecting how often the Lord had attempted to reveal His law, and as his eye by the spirit of prophecy glanced down through the vista of time to the last days, exclaims in a transport of joy, "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
This was just a glimpse that the Prophet had of the establishment of the purposes of Jehovah in the last days. He saw the nations flowing to the tops of the mountains to receive that law of redemption which the world would not receive in the meridian of time, when the Savior made his appearance, and presented himself to the house of Israel, chose his Apostles, conferred upon them the keys of the Priesthood, and sent them forth to bear testimony to the sons of men. The result of his divine mission is manifested in the words of our text, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not."
Says John, when speaking of our Savior, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." Power was given them to become the sons of God, and joint heirs with Christ; hence the principles of exaltation were clearly illustrated by Jesus Christ and his Apostles, yet the people would not receive them. In a few years afterwards we find that every person who preached the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ was doomed to destruction by the hands of wicked men, the power of the adversary increased, Paganism overwhelmed the true Church, and Pagan institutions were substituted instead, and the Christian religion either had to hide itself in the dens and caves of the earth, or bow to the unmeaning mummeries of ancient Pagan Rome. Notwithstanding this, the Lord had His eye upon the great point to be attained, the great object to be accomplished, when He would again attempt to gather the children of Israel together, and nourish them, and teach them of His ways, and learn them to walk in His paths.
The very first moment after the angel of God had communicated to Joseph Smith the revelation of the fulness of the Gospel, what do we discover? We discover that all the blood hounds of earth and hell were let loose upon him. The very first attempt that could be made to bear testimony of the Gospel was to be thwarted by persecution, the editorial thunder was immediately let loose, and as the old Quaker said to the dog that came to his store, being a little offended at the animal, "I will not kill thee, but I will give thee a bad name," so he turns him out and halloos, "Bad dog," judging rightly that somebody would suppose him to be mad, and shoot him. That was the devil's plan when this Gospel was first introduced, the cry was, "False prophet, impostor, delusion, fornication," mixed up with every kind of slander.
Every person who is well acquainted with the history of this Church knows that at the commencement of it the persecutions commenced, and they continued to increase until the death of the Prophet. Forty-seven times he was arraigned before the tribunals of law, and had to sustain all the expense of defending himself in those vexatious suits, and was every time acquitted. He was never found guilty but once. I have been told, by Patriarch Emer Harris, that on a certain occasion he was brought before a magistrate in the State of New York, and charged with having cast out devils; the magistrate, after hearing the witnesses, decided that he was guilty, but as the statutes of New York did not provide a punishment for casting out devils, he was acquitted.
The limited amount of time which I may use this afternoon, compels me to take but a partial glance at certain points that I wish to notice in connexion with our text.
Among the first principles that were revealed to the children of men in the last days was the gathering; the first revelations that were given to the Church were to command them to gather, and send Elders to seek out a place for the gathering of the Saints. What is the gathering for? Why was it that the Savior wished the children of Israel to gather together? It was that they might become united and provide a place wherein he could reveal unto them keys which have been hid from before the foundation of the world; that he could unfold unto them the laws of exaltation, and make them a kingdom of Priests, even the whole people, and exalt them to thrones and dominions in the celestial world.
For this purpose, in 1833, the Saints commenced to build a Temple in Kirtland, the cost of which was not less than one hundred thousand dollars. A mere handful of Saints commenced that work, but they were full of faith and energy, and willing, as they supposed, to sacrifice everything for the building up of Zion. In a few weeks some of them apostatized; the trials were too great, the troubles were too severe. I know persons who apostatized because they supposed they had reasons; for instance, a certain family, after having travelled a long journey, arrived in Kirtland, and the prophet asked them to stop with him until they could find a place. Sister Emma, in the mean time, asked the old lady if she would have a cup of tea to refresh her after the fatigues of the journey, or a cup of coffee. This whole family apostatized because they were invited to take a cup of tea or coffee, after the Word of Wisdom was given.
Another family, about the same time, apostatized because Joseph Smith came down out of the translating room, where he had been translating by the gift and power of God, and commenced playing with his little children. Some such trials as these, you know, had to be encountered.
I recollect a gentleman who came from Canada, and who had been a Methodist, and had always been in the habit of praying to a God who had no ears, and as a matter of course had to shout and halloo pretty loud to make him hear. Father Johnson asked him to pray in their family worship in the evening, and he got on such a high key, and hallooed so loud that he alarmed the whole village. Among others, Joseph came running out, saying, "What is the matter? I thought by the noise that the heavens and the earth were coming together," and said to the man, "that he ought not to give way to such an enthusiastic spirit, and bray so much like a jackass." Because Joseph said that, the poor man put back to Canada, and apostatized; he thought he would not pray to a God who did not want to be screamed at with all one's might.
We progressed in this way while we were building the Kirtland Temple. The Saints had a great many traditions which they had borrowed from their fathers, and laid the foundations, and built that Temple with great toil and suffering, compared with what we have now to endure. They got that building so far finished as to be dedicated; this was what the Lord wanted, He wished them to provide a place wherein He could reveal to the children of men those principles that will exalt them to eternal glory, and make them Saviors on mount Zion. Four hundred and sixteen Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons met in the Kirtland Temple on the evening of its dedication. I can see faces here that were in that assembly. The Lord poured His Spirit upon us and gave us some little idea of the law of anointing, and conferred upon us some blessings. He taught us how to shout hosannah, gave Joseph the keys of the gathering together of Israel, and revealed to us, what? Why the fact of it was, He dare not yet trust us with the first key of the Priesthood. He told us to wash ourselves, and that almost made the women mad, and they said, as they were not admitted into the Temple while this washing was being performed, that some mischief was going on, and some of them were right huffy about it.
We were instructed to wash each other's feet, as an evidence that we had borne testimony of the truth of the Gospel to the world. We were taught to anoint each other's head with oil in the name of the Lord, as an ordinance of anointing. All these things were to be done in their time, place, and season. All this was plain and simple, yet some apostatized because there was not more of it, and others because there was too much.
On the evening after the dedication of the Temple, hundreds of the brethren received the ministering of angels, saw the light and personages of angels, and bore testimony of it. They spake in new tongues, and had a greater manifestation of the power of God than that described by Luke on the day of Pentecost. Yet a great portion of the persons who saw these manifestations, in a few years, and some of them in a few weeks, apostatized. If the Lord had on that occasion revealed one single sentiment more, or went one step further to reveal more fully the law of redemption, I believe He would have upset the whole of us. The fact was, He dare not, on that very account, reveal to us a single principle further than He had done, for He had tried, over and over again, to do it. He tried at Jerusalem; He tried away back before the flood; He tried in the days of Moses; and He had tried, from time to time, to find a people to whom He could reveal the law of salvation, and He never could fully accomplish it; and He was determined this time to be so careful, and advance the idea so slowly, to communicate them to the children of men with such great caution that, at all hazards, a few of them might be able to understand and obey. For, says the Lord, my ways are not as your ways, nor my thoughts as your thoughts; for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For instance, you tell a man he must be baptized for the remission of his sins; then the query arises, "What use is it to dip a man in water?" You tell a man he should repent of his sins, cease to do evil, and learn to do well, and the answer is, "Well, and what is the reason of all that!" Tell him that he should receive the imposition of hands on his head for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and he will feel some as the old woman did where I was preaching and baptizing in England. An old lady came to be baptized; we accordingly baptized her. When the time came to attend to the ordinance of confirmation, I began to confirm the company of new disciples. I had noticed that she lacked soap and water, things that evidently were scarce about her house. When I came up to lay my hands upon her, says she, "Don't you lay your filthy paws upon my head." The fact of it was, she had received all the law of redemption she could receive, and the law of laying on of hands looked so foolish to her that she would not have anything to do with it.
This serves to illustrate the saying, that our ways are not as the ways of the Lord, nor our thoughts as His; neither do the plans which the Lord has devised for the good of man correspond with the plans and views which men devise for their own good. Now if the Lord had considered it wisdom, on the day of the Kirtland endowment and great solemn assembly, to come forward and reveal to the children of men the facts that are laid down plainly in the Bible, and had told them that, without the law of sealing, no man could be exalted to a throne in the celestial kingdom, that is, without he had a woman by his side; and that no woman could be exalted in the celestial world, without she was exalted with a man at her head; that the man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord; had He revealed this simple sentiment, up would have jumped some man, saying, "What! got to have a woman sealed to me in order to be saved, in order to be exalted to thrones, dominions, and eternal increase?" "Yes." "I do not believe a word of it, I cannot stand that, for I never intended to get married, I do not believe in any of this nonsense." At the same time, perhaps somebody else might have had faith to receive it. Again up jumps somebody else, "Brother Joseph, I have had two wives in my lifetime, cannot I have them both in eternity?" "No." If he had said yes, perhaps we should all have apostatized at once.
Now I will illustrate this still further. The Lord did actually reveal one principle to us there, and that one principle was apparently so simple, and so foolish in their eyes, that a great many apostatized over it, because it was so contrary to their notions and views. It was this, after the people had fasted all day, they sent out and got wine and bread, and blessed them, and distributed them to the multitude, that is, to the whole assembly of the brethren, and they ate and drank, and prophesied, and bore testimony, and continued so to do until some of the High Council of Missouri stepped into the stand, and, as righteous Noah did when he awoke from his wine, commenced to curse their enemies. You never felt such a shock go through any house or company in the world as went through that. There was almost a rebellion because men would get up and curse their enemies; although they could remember well that it is written that Noah cursed his own grandson, and that God recognized that curse to such an extent that, at this day, millions of his posterity are consigned to perpetual servitude.
Many men are foolish enough to think that they can thwart the power of God, and can liberate the sons of Ham from that curse before its time has expired. Some of the brethren thought it was best to apostatize, because the spirit of cursing was with men who had been driven from Missouri by mob violence. Yet every word that they prophesied has been fulfilled. They prophesied that the bones of many of those murderers should bleach on the prairie, and that birds should pick out their eyes, and beasts devour their flesh. Men who have traversed the plains of Mexico, California, Nebraska, and Kansas, have often seen the fulfilment of that prophecy in the most marvellous manner. We have seen their names upon trees, on the heads of old trunks, and bits of boards; the names of men that I knew, and I knew just as well, in the Kirtland Temple, what would be their fate, as I know now. But that tried us, some of us were awfully tried about it. The Lord dared not then reveal anything more; He had given us all we could swallow; and persecution raged around us to such an extent that we were obliged to forsake our beautiful Temple, and flee into the State of Missouri.
He there put us into another sieve, and sifted us good, and we were then driven from the State of Missouri, leaving the Prophet and a good many of his brethren in prison. We thus passed on from the year 1837 until the year 1843, when the Lord concluded that the people who had been gathered, since the scattering from Missouri, had been made acquainted with the principles of His kingdom so long, that they must have become strong enough for Him to reveal one sentiment more.
Whereupon, the Prophet goes up on the stand, and, after preaching about everything else he could think of in the world, at last hints at the idea of the law of redemption, makes a bare hint at the law of sealing, and it produced such a tremendous excitement that, as soon as he had got his dinner half eaten, he had to go back to the stand, and unpreach all that he had preached, and left the people to guess at the matter. While he was thus preaching he turned to the men sitting in the stand, and who were the men who should have backed him up, for instance, to our good old President Marks, William and Wilson Law, and father Cowles, and a number of other individuals about Nauvoo, for this occurred when the Twelve were in the Eastern portions of the United States, and said, "If I were to reveal the things that God has revealed to me, if I were to reveal to this people the doctrines that I know are for their exaltation, these men would spill my blood." This shows the improvement that had been, the advancement that had been made, and the light that had been attained. He also said, that there were men and women in that congregation who imagined themselves almost perfect, and who would oppose and reject the principles of exaltation, and would never fully realize their mistake until the morning of the resurrection. I was not there, and did not hear the discourse; but persons were there who could write two or three words of a sentence, and I profess to be good enough at guessing, to tell what the balance was.
In tracing the history of this Church through the records, I make myself acquainted with circumstances, and I cannot but see illustrated before the eyes of the whole people the fatherly care that God had to take in revealing to this people the law of exaltation. Finally, He revealed so much of it that William Law, one of the First Presidency, and one of the most sanctimonious men in Israel, got alarmed for fear that Joseph was going to kill him, and he called the whole of the Police before the City Council, and had them all sworn, and cross examined, to find out if Joseph had instructed any of them to kill him. I told some of the boys at that time, that he knew he had done something that he ought to die for, or he would not be so afraid of his best friends. Joseph said to the Council and Police, "I might live, as Caesar might have lived, were it not for a right hand Brutus;" and the illustration of that saying is most clearly shown by William Law's operations in bringing about the murder of the Prophet. The men who were in his bosom, shared his confidence, and professed to be his warmest and best friends, were the men to treacherously shed his blood.
Why? Because he had revealed one additional principle of the law of redemption, that is, that the man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord; that if a man went to the eternal world without obeying the law of sealing, he would remain forever alone, forever a servant, and could never have any increase; that if a woman entered the celestial world without having complied with the law of sealing, as intrusted by the Savior to his Apostles, she would remain for ever alone, and without any increase; and if either man or woman should reject the principles of that law, they would forever lament and mourn that they might have been exalted to an eternal increase, and an everlasting dominion, but they would not have it.
There was a very high degree of hypocrisy manifested in the manners of this President William Law that always astonished me. I have learned, in writing history, one or two very singular instances.
In 1843 Joseph Smith was arrested two hundred and fifty miles from home; the Saints felt a great anxiety for his safety; hundreds of individuals went out of Nauvoo on horseback, and took possession of all the roads between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and some set out on a steamboat, with a determination to examine every boat on the rivers, and attack any one that had him on board; and some of the most rapid marches on record were performed on that occasion. Among others William Law started out with a party; when he met Joseph, he rushed up to him and took him in his arms, and hugged him, and kissed him before some fifty or a hundred witnesses. He must have loved him wonderfully, for, about half an hour previous to his meeting Joseph, he had got the idea that he had been shipped on board a steamboat into Missouri, and he was dreadfully excited. Brother A. P. Rockwood, or John Butler, can tell you how he talked. "O!" says he, "I would not have Joseph taken to Missouri and killed for any thing in the world, for property would fall more than one half its value in Nauvoo." There is the saying of a man who, like Judas, could kiss the Prophet, when probably there were not many men in the whole city that would have cared a farthing for all the property in the world, when compared with saving Joseph's life.
After the death of the Prophet, the world and the devil thought that they had once more destroyed the attempt of the Almighty to reveal the law of exaltation, as only part of the work of rearing the Temple was then done. The news spread all over the United States that the Governor of Illinois had treacherously pledged the faith of the State for the safety of Joseph Smith, and also how honorably the Prophet had acted in every thing under these trying circumstances, being well aware that his death was intended, and the people were really shocked at such base treachery, but generally exclaimed, "How disgraceful! how disgraceful!! to murder him so treacherously!!! But on second thoughts, it is a good thing he is dead."
By and bye the devil discovered that brother Joseph's blood was not spilled before the Lord had said, "You have done enough, you may rest from your labors." He had conferred upon others the knowledge of the Priesthood; and God raised up another man to be a Prophet unto Israel, to be a President, a Ruler, and Instructor. I once heard a person say, "O! I do wish brother Brigham was as good a man as Joseph was." Now let me tell you, brethren, that if brother Brigham was one particle better man than he is, he could not stay among us, he would have to leave us; he is just as good a man as we are at present worthy of having in our midst. The Lord in mercy to us has given us a great Prophet and a wise Ruler in Israel, that we may exert our powers, influence, and wisdom, under his direction, to prepare for the revelation of the law of exaltation which has been so long promised.
We went to work in Nauvoo and finished the Temple, and had no sooner got it done but we had to leave it to be burned by our enemies; and they then thought that if we were only driven into the wilderness, our sufferings would be so great in the desert that we should all perish, and that would be the end of the matter. The devil wisely got up a new system of treatment; after they had robbed us of every thing we had, and driven us from all the comforts and necessaries of life into the desert, he commenced to adopt the "let alone system" upon us, under the impression that we would die of our own accord. They commenced this under glorious auspices, when we had nothing to eat, nothing to wear, not a drop of rain to water the earth, and a desert all around us, of the apparent fertility of which you may judge, when the mountaineers said that they would give a thousand dollars for the first bushel of wheat or corn that was raised in the Valley. While letting us alone, a considerable change took place; but it was hard to let us alone long, they had to give us an occasional poke, that we might know they were still alive.
While letting us alone the Gospel was introduced into the Sandwich Islands, and into Denmark, and has begun to pour out its blessings in Sweden, Norway, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Africa, Australia, Malta, Gibraltar, the Crimea, and the East Indies, and is spreading all over the world ten times more rapidly than ever. All this came through "letting us alone." I do not know but they may conclude it to be the best to give us another blow up; if they do, it will be precisely as it was with the man who did not like the mustard stalk in his garden, which grew up, and became large and full of seed. The owner saw it had gone to seed in the garden, and became dreadfully irritated with the gardener, and got the hoe, and beat the stalks to pieces in his anger, and scattered the seed all over the garden. That is the way our enemies have operated the whole time, so they may as well take the "let alone system" as any other. Joseph prophesied that if they would let us alone, we would spread the Gospel all over the world, and if they did not let us alone, we would spread it anyhow, only a little quicker.
But to my text, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" Let me tell you, my friends, that the foundation of another Temple is laid, and the very moment the first stone was placed, that moment the devil began to rage again; and if this people will be united, they will be the identical people that will "learn the ways of the Lord," and the Lord will reveal unto them things that have been hid from before the foundation of the world. We find ourselves here, not by our own will but forced by our enemies, in the midst of the tops of the mountains, about a mile above the Christian world, surrounded by mountains whose tops are covered with perpetual snows; and we also find the fulfilment of the prophecy that many people of all nations are saying, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of true God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths."
We are here, and the Lord is determined, if He can accomplish it, if we will let Him, to reveal unto us the laws of exaltation. He is determined to make this people "kings and Priests unto God and his Father;" to give them the keys of exaltation for the redemption of themselves, and of all their dead back to the time when the covenant was broken. If this people will be submissive and obedient to the laws and instructions of His Prophet and His Apostles, obey the teachings that are given unto them, and keep themselves pure, He will reveal unto them all those blessings; and will not say unto us, as he said to Jerusalem, "How oft would I have gathered you, but you would not." If we will be submissive and listen to the revelations of the Most High, remembering that His ways are not as our ways, and His thoughts as our thoughts, for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are His ways than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts; if we will remember this, and act upon it, we are in the way to obtain those keys of power, and profit by them; that is to say, we are right on the grand turnpike to exaltation.
I recollect a story I heard Joseph once tell to a sectarian minister; he had been preaching to him some of the first principles of the Gospel; the minister acknowledged that the doctrines were strictly according to the New Testament, but gave a kind of a pious sigh, and said, "I am afraid there is something wrong at the bottom of it." Joseph replied, "I feel a good deal as the honest Irishman did, who landed in America, and started to go into the country, and see how it looked. As he was walking along the road, he came across a very pious minister of the Methodist order, who came up to the Irishman, and, thinking that he must say something about religion, as he sat in his two wheeled gig, says, 'Patrick, have you made your peace with your God?' 'Ah, faith, sir, and sure we never had a falling out.' That rather shocked the priest, and he gave vent to an unearthly grunt, and said, 'You are lost, lost.' 'Faith, sir, how can I be lost in the middle of the big turnpike?'" I tell you we are in the middle of the "big turnpike," and if we continue in it the keys of exaltation are with us, and the great work of God will unfold to this people things that have been hid from before the foundation of the world. Let us be as clay in the hands of the potter, and strive will our mights to build up this work, and it will not be said of us, as it was of Jerusalem, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you, but ye would not."
May God bless you, and enable us to fulfil and carry out His great and glorious designs, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
OBEDIENCE--THE PRIESTHOOD--SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATION--THE SAINTS AND THE WORLD.
An Address by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, September 17, 1854.
It is some time since I spoke to this congregation, and it is with me as it probably is with many others, the longer I sit, and the less I say, the more I am troubled with fear. Is it the fear of God? No. It is a kind of a fear of the world--a fear of man. Now there is scarcely a person but what has more or less of these feelings, at times. I recollect often hearing brother Joseph Smith say that many times his legs trembled like Belshazzar's when he got up to speak before the world, and before the Saints.
I have been interested with the relation brother Staines has given, although he could not relate all the experience he has had since he came into this Church some twelve or fourteen years ago. If he could remember it all, and relate it, his experience would be very interesting. It is good, and I have been interested with it. I am interested with everything that is good; and in fact, I am interested with a great many things which are not so very good, for there is nothing that I see on earth or in the heavens but what interests me, and gives me an experience. When I see a man take the wrong road--the road which leads to death, it is an experience to me, and it opens my eyes to shun that path. And we are taught that if a man will not learn by precept, or by example, he has to learn by what he suffers. By seeing the bad example of another I can shun that path, and escape the difficulties he goes into. Of course his experience is quite a schoolmaster to me; for if I do not take that road, I do not suffer the inconvenience he does.
During my whole course from the day I first heard of "Mormonism," more than twenty-two years ago, I have never had but one desire, and that is to do what I am counselled, it matters not to me whether it be by the voice of God, or by the voice of His servants, it is all the same with me. When we go forth as the servants of God, we are dictated by the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost will speak the truth, and that is the word of God, it is the revelations of Jesus Christ, and it is the voice of God to us.
When He commands us to go forth and preach His word, and declare His Gospel--faith, and repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, with the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. He says it is the same as though it were spoken by His own voice, and the same condemnation will rest upon the world, and upon those people who hear it and do not abide it, and keep it, and walk in it. This is my testimony, and this is the testimony that God has revealed to us as a people. When he sent forth his disciples in his day he said, If they will not hear you they will not hear me; and if they will not obey you they will not obey me, and if they will not obey me they will not obey my Father. So it is with us, if you will not listen, obey, and practise those things that are laid before you by President Young and his brethren, you would not obey God, if He should speak from the heavens. Why? Because the Almighty has appointed him his delegate, just as much as we have appointed Doctor Bernhisel to be our Delegate to Congress, to lay before them those things that we want in connexion with him. He has not gone to do his own will, but he has gone to do the will of those who have sent him. So it is with President Young. He is our head, he is our President, our Prophet, and Leader, and the Government of the United States have appointed him our Governor. He was before, in a Church capacity. Then his voice to this people is the voice of God, just as much as was Moses God, when God called him and set him to preside among the children of Israel. His word was the word of God to that people, and when they did not listen to him they suffered the penalty. We read there were two-and-twenty thousand fell in one day because of their rebellion. They rebelled against Moses, against his counsel, and against his government, which was of course rebelling against the character who sent him. God sent him and authorized him; and to us President Young is sent, ordained, and appointed by the Almighty, as Joseph's successor, to lead this people. I want the world to know this; I want the people who come into these valleys, and do not believe "Mormonism," to know what we believe. Probably there are but few men in the United States but what know that we look up to President Brigham Young as our leader, Prophet, and dictator. I want you to understand that I actually do, and I believe I have done so to the entire satisfaction of this people. I have proved it by my works from the day I came into the Church until the present time.
Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and was sent of God. He had visits from holy angels from the heavens, who authorized him to commit to this nation the Gospel, the plan of salvation and eternal life, which will save every man and woman that believe it, and practise it in their lives--in their out-goings, and in their in-comings. I know it will save them. You have my testimony, and my testimony is true, and you will find it so, every soul of you who will practise it.
We believe this book, the Bible, to be an historical account of Jesus Christ, and his Apostles and Prophets. We believe it is sacred, and the great majority of this people actually practise it; and there is not a man nor woman in this Church, who believe it, but what have been baptized for the remission of their sins, and that too by immersion, being buried with Christ by baptism. This is what they have done, and that enables them, after they have received the laying on of hands, to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and they are entitled to a membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If they honor that membership, and are faithful, they will continue in it, not in time only, but in eternity, worlds without end. These are my feelings, and my determination is to continue to the end.
I am now in my fifty-fourth year; I am a Latter-day Saint, full in the faith, and not only in the faith, but I have a <knowledge> of the truth of the work. I know that God lives and dwells in the heavens; for I have asked Him scores of times, and hundreds of times, for things, and have received them. Is not that a pretty good proof that He hears me, when I ask Him for things and get them; and is not that a proof that He lives, and dwells in the heavens? I think it is. I suppose He dwells there, He could not dwell anywhere else, but in what particular portion He dwells, I do not precisely know, though He is not so far off as many imagine. He is near by, His angels are our associates, they are with us and round about us, and watch over us, and take care of us, and lead us, and guide us, and administer to our wants in their ministry and in their holy calling unto which they are appointed. We are told in the Bible that angels are ministering spirits to minister to those who shall become heirs of salvation.
Bless my soul, look at the unbelieving world, that is a great many of them, they now believe in spiritual knockings, spiritual communications, and spiritual rappings, and they will ask the same spirit for this, and for that; to know this, that, and the other; and, "Won't you cause that table to kick up its legs, and that chair to dance, and cause a knocking here, and a knocking there?" They believe all this, still they do not believe that God can communicate. And at the same time those that they communicate with are corrupt spirits, and they might know it, and still they say they can speak from the heavens, and communicate this, that, and the other, and tell them where their friends are. If wicked spirits can do this, I want to know, on the same principle, if the righteous have not power to communicate to the children of men? And has not God power to do it? He has. The whole world is now enthusiastic in these things.
I never heard a knocking, or saw a table dance, only as I kicked it myself. I do not want them knocking and dancing around me.
The people of the world do not believe in revelation from God, and they believe that Joseph Smith was a fool to pretend to have revelation direct from heaven, but still they are all engaged in this matter, in getting revelations from evil, corrupt, and comparatively ignorant spirits, and wicked men. Some became spiritual writers by a spirit taking their hand, and writing without their consent. I do not thank any person to take my hand and write without my consent; we do not like such proceedings. We believe they exist, but they are not for us. We receive communications upon another principle, and that is direct from heaven, from God's servants, delegates, or administrators; this is what we believe most devoutly; and we intend to practise our religion, and to be governed by it.
I have no doubt but the gentlemen who have come in this year will discover a difference in the manners and conduct of the people here, when compared with those of the cities from whence we have come. We do not admit of some practices in our city that they admit of in the United States, at least in all of their great cities. We desire to live a <virtuous> and holy life, and do unto others as we wish others to do unto us, and for that reason many of us have been driven from the United States; I say many of us, for a great many who are now here have not been driven here, but have come since we were driven, and we have passed through a great many trials. Brother Staines was speaking about some of them. I was one of the first, in connexion with President Young, who came to this valley when it was a desolate region, and we could not even get a chart from Fremont, nor from any other man, from which to learn the course to this place. I was one who helped to pick out the road. When we started to come here, we had no more provisions with us than those emigrants started with, to whom we have sent flour this season. We had only one hundred-weight a-piece, and came here with nothing but what was in our wagons, only as we hunted and killed game. When we got to the upper ferry of Platte river, half of our company had not a mouthful of bread. That would look a little harder to you than the cricket time, still there was no grunting, nor murmuring, for it was beyond the grunting point; it would not do any good to find fault; it would not provide bread, buffalo, antelope, deer, nor elk.
I recollect one day, I believe it was on the Platte, brother Brigham said to me, "Brother Heber, what do you think about it, do you think we shall go any further?" I knew he asked this question to try me. I replied, I wanted to go the whole journey, and find some white sandstone, and see what there was in the earth. There never was a day when I would not go with him until we found a location. I knew there was a place somewhere, thought [sic] at times the prospect appeared dreary, but here it was on high. It is the best country I ever saw. I have lived in the best portions of the United States, but this country is better. I have lived where Joseph found the plates, and where the angel of the Lord administered to him; it is the heart of the world, but is that place as good as this? No. It does not begin to bring forth wheat, corn, oats, and every other vegetation that the heart desires, like this land. We are going to be comfortable here.
The troops of the United States have come here; see how liberal they have offered for wheat, and not only for wheat, but for oats, barley, corn, potatoes, cheese, chickens, beets, carrots, parsnips, and everything they wish to buy. We do not say so much about the merchants, they have got plenty. You will see how good we will make the transient residents feel this winter.
How comfortable they feel, and rejoice to dwell in the midst of white people. They never thought for a moment we were <white> men and women; but when they came, they found out, to their astonishment, that the people in Utah were quite white, and right from their own country. Bless your souls, we are a free people, it is not a slave country here; still I admit we have to slave pretty hard to raise these fine things. Well now, do not be disheartened; make yourselves comfortable; treat us well, and you shall be treated well, and the best you ever were in your lives; but HANDS OFF. I speak just as I feel. My heart is good, kind, and generous; but there are lots of men more generous than I am, and again there are lots that are not so much so. All kinds of spirits have all kinds of capacities. There are as many spirits here as you can see persons, for they all have spirits in them; and some are more snappish than others, and some are more liberal, kind, and generous, and more divested of selfishness than others. If that is a fact, it proves to me that you can become just as generous as the most generous. Let us try, and what I say to one Saint I say to all the Saints, and to all people that come into this valley, be generous, be friendly, and be Saints.
We want you to be Saints while you stay here; for you know in the days of the Apostles, when they were among the Romans they did as Romans did; and while you are among the "Mormons," do as the "Mormons" do; be generous, and be <white> folks. We are white folks; a good portion of us were born in the United States, and a great many in Old England; and they are our brethren and sisters. My father came from there, and fought for this country, and sustained it; if he did not my grandfather did, it is along in that train some where. We have all come from the old countries, and come into a new country, into the States; and from that we have emigrated into still newer countries--into the tops of the mountains, just as the Prophet said. They declared the Saints would be gathered in the last days, and we are gathering to build a city to the name of our God, and we are going to build a Temple, and houses of worship, that when you come here you may worship with us, and when you are among the "Mormons" do as the "Mormons" do, do right, and keep the commandments of God. I have said a good many times, when a man comes into my house, if he is a Catholic, a Pagan, a Quaker, a Baptist, a Methodist, a Soldier, a Captain, a Governor, or a President, he has got to subject himself to the order of my house; and when I bow down on my knees, I want him to bow down with me. That is my religion, let him bow down and pray with me; and then if I go into another man's house, if he stands up to pray, I will stand up too and pray with him. That is good religion. Do as the Romans do when you are among them. A man can stand up, kneel down, or sit down, and not pray, and be as cross as he has a mind too, but let him be subject to the governor or the government of that house, and when he goes into another kingdom, let him be subject to that kingdom. God says, "If a man keep my commandments he has no need to break the laws of the land!" These are my feelings.
Let us be Saints, and keep the commandments of God, and mind our own business. That is my religion. We want all men to do this, we want all women to observe the same thing--to keep the commandments of God, and keep themselves pure and clean. And if you are not clean, pure, and holy, I would advise you to repent of your sins, and go and be baptized for the remission of them, and sanctify yourselves, and receive the Holy Ghost, that it may show you things to come, and bring things to your remembrance. That is my counsel and advice.
May God bless you, brethren and sisters, and bless this whole people, male and female, old and young, foreigner and every body else; may He bless you with peace and quietness, that we may have a heavenly time, a joyful time during the coming winter. May God bless you with these blessings, and every other, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE GOSPEL.
A Discourse by President J. M. Grant, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 17, 1854.