Referring to the ideas advanced by our brother who has just sat down,
in regard to the suffering of the children of men upon the earth, I
will say it is a subject worthy of reflection. Have the enemies of the
kingdom of God on the earth the power to bring more suffering upon the
people who love and serve him, than they have to bring suffering upon
themselves? I answer, They have not. We cannot find, in all the
history extant, that mankind have ever exerted themselves more to
destroy the kingdom of God from the earth than they have to destroy
themselves. All their endeavors to overthrow the holy Priesthood
of heaven and its righteous rule among men have always tended a
hundredfold more to their own overthrow and utter destruction. Like
the leaves of autumn, they have fallen to the ground and are
forgotten. It was prophesied by Joseph the Prophet that the bones of
those who drove the Church from Missouri, and killed men, women,
and children, should bleach upon the Plains. This has been fulfilled.
Did they suffer more than the people of God whom they drove from their
homes—from their firesides in winter—from their fathers and mothers
and friends, and the land of their nativity? Yes, there is
scarcely a comparison. Their sufferings in crossing the Plains to the
gold regions of California have been greater by far than ever the
sufferings of the Saints have been in crossing the Plains to Utah.
These are facts that are present with us. The bones of those who drove
the Saints from Independence, from Jackson County, then from Clay and
Davis Counties, and last of all from Caldwell County, from whence they
fled into Illinois, have been scattered over the Plains—gnawed and
broken by wild beasts, and are there bleaching to this day, while the
Saints who have died on the Plains have, without an exception, had a
decent burial where they have died—have had friends to condole with
and comfort them in their dying moments, and to mourn for a season
with their bereaved relatives. These comforts and blessings were
denied the murderers of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and of scores of the
Saints, and they were left in the bitterness of death without a friend
and without mercy. They suffered immensely more than did the Saints
whom they persecuted; they received that which they sought to bring
upon the Saints, and that too in good measure, pressed down, and
running over.
I have said and will say that there never was a colony settled on this
continent, since its discovery by Columbus, with so little suffering
as have had the Latter-day Saints who settled these valleys.
I will now leave these ideas, and turn my attention on to the remarks
made by brother Lorenzo Snow in the forenoon. The principles and
doctrine couched in those remarks are of great interest to the human
family. I will take the liberty to treat upon the same principles, but
shall carry the ideas still further, though in my own language and
style of delivery. I will use a few words of Scripture concerning the
evil that now exists and has existed upon the earth, referring to
certain characters who have always been upon the earth and are still
upon it, who are actually, to a great extent, "lording over God's
heritage." I would plant my remarks here; and then for the context, I
will use another saying—"For it is God which worketh in you both to
will and to do of his good pleasure." I have but little time to
expound and explain minutely, but will start at the beginning. God has
created man in his own image, upright. Man in his creation is but a
very little lower than the angels. In what degree and capacity is he
lower than the angels? Angels are those beings who have been on an
earth like this, and have passed through the same ordeals that we are
now passing through. They have kept their first estate far enough to
preserve themselves in the Priesthood. They did not so violate the law
of the Priesthood and condemn themselves to the sin against the Holy
Ghost as to be finally lost. They are not crowned with the celestial
ones. They are persons who have lived upon an earth, but did not
magnify the Priesthood in that high degree that many others have done
who have become Gods, even the sons of God. Human beings that pertain
to this world, who do not magnify or are not capable of magnifying
their high calling in the Priesthood and receive crowns of glory,
immortality, and eternal lives, will also, when they again receive
their bodies, become angels and will receive a glory. They are single,
without families or kingdoms to reign over. All the difference between
men and angels is, men are passing through the day of trial that
angels have already passed through. They belong to the same family
that we do; but they have proven themselves worthy only of an
exaltation to the state of angels, whereas we have the privilege of
obtaining not only the same exaltation they enjoy, but of going
further until we become Gods, even the sons of God.
My next reflections are upon the state of mankind, their position
before God in their creation and being upon the earth in the
connection of the spirit and tabernacle, and the influences that
surround them. There are certain influences that we have no control
over: man is controlled by surrounding influences in a greater or less
degree. For instance, we cannot avert the consequences of the fall as
it is called, of Adam, which came through his transgressing certain
words or laws given to him by his Father and God. In consequence of
this, sin came into the world, and death by sin. We are more or less
controlled by the influences that have been introduced into the world
by the power of Satan upon the children of men, and will be so long as
we live in the flesh.
Permit me to diverge a moment from the legitimate chain of the subject
before us. I do not myself wish, nor do I ask any man in the world to
create a spirit of reformation to sing and shout ourselves "away to
everlasting bliss." There never was any such reformation desired by
me. All I have ever asked for or contended for is a reformation in the
life of this people; that the thief should stop his stealing, the
swearer his swearing, the liar his lying, the deceiver his deceiving,
and the man who loves the world more than his God and his religion
wean his affections from those objects and place them where they of
right belong. I do not wish anybody to cherish a wild enthusiasm, so
common in the world, which is produced by the excitement of animal
passions, and makes people weep and cry out in an insane manner. I
wish the people to make themselves acquainted with facts pertaining to
God, to heaven, to mankind upon the earth, their errand here, for what
they are created, the nature of their organization, who has power over
them, who controls them, how much they can control themselves, &c.,
&c.; and then let us see whether we can be men and conduct ourselves
like Saints, or live and act like the wicked.
My reflections led me to inquire who it is that has influence over us.
Can you inform me why people do wrong when they know the path of right
and can walk in it as easily as we can walk home in broad daylight? Is
the cause of this to be found in the heavens? No. Is it to be found in
the spirit God has placed in our tabernacles? No. Where is it to be
found? In the power of the Enemy of all righteousness, who holds
dominion over our flesh, which flesh is intimately connected with the
spirit God has placed within it. Herein is a warfare.
Brother Lorenzo was striving to lay before the people the necessity of
their letting good overcome evil, instead of letting evil overcome
good. His remarks supplied to me a number of texts, showing the
precise situation of mankind before the Father and his angels, and
before all the heavens. Men try to lord it over God's heritage. I
understand that saying in this wise: The spirits that are in men are
as pure as the Gods are; then why do they consent to do evil? Because
of the influences of evil that are in the flesh. Over it the Enemy of
all righteousness has held dominion, has exercised a right, and has
apparently triumphed. When mankind give way to evil and suffer the
flesh to rule and contaminate the pure spirit tabernacled within it,
they lord it over God's heritage. When men consent to evil, the spirit
within them does not answer approvingly. Though the inhabitants
of the earth are in darkness and blindness, yet they are not so
ignorant as they represent themselves to be. There is a spirit in them
that reproves them continually when they do wrong, until they have
sinned away the day of grace, and a mantle of darkness is thrown
around them to shut out forever the light of God. Until then, they
are checked continually, are taught, and chastened or justified as the
case may be.
When people do right, they rest upon their beds, sleep sweetly, and
rejoice in righteousness in their secret moments. When they do evil,
it brings sorrow and deep pain to them in their private reflections.
"But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty
giveth them understanding." In every man there is a candle of the Lord
which burns with a clear light; and if by the wickedness of a man it
is extinguished, then farewell forever to that individual. The people
say they do as well as they know how. This may be true. It is also
true that there is a great amount of ignorance. But who among this
people does an evil without knowing it? Is there a man in this kingdom
who betrays his God and his brethren, without being perfectly
conscious that he does an evil? I think not. Is there one who treats
the name of the Deity with lightness, using his name in vain, that
believes himself justified? I think not. Is there one who takes
advantage of his neighbor or a fellow being, deceiving and wronging
him, that believes he does right? I think not. When men do wrong, they
know that they do wrong. Is there a person in this community that can
lie, and feel justified in the belief that he is telling the truth?
Does the thief feel justified in doing right when he steals his
neighbor's goods? No. The blackest vagabond, and renegade that walks
the streets of this city or Territory is conscious when he does right
and when he does wrong. Notwithstanding all this, there is a great
deal of ignorance.
Just as long as we live within the purview of the reconciliation of
the Spirit of God, that visits us from time to time, revealing the
truth and the righteousness of our God, and yield to that and
never cast it from us, whether we live or die, there is a salvation
for us. There is a salvation for all the sons and daughters of Adam
and Eve, no matter where they have lived or when, nor whether
Christian, Mussulman, Jew, barbarian, or Gentile, that do not deny the
power of God and sin against the Holy Ghost. You may discover that I
am a Universalist. I am; and I am also a Calvinist, for the Almighty
decreed all this before the worlds were. As I progress in my remarks
you can see plainly that a widely extended field opens to our minds.
Is every man and woman capable of receiving the highest glory of God?
No. We are surrounded with circumstances that control us to a certain
degree. My father and mother moved into the State of Vermont, and it
happened that I was born there. I cannot help that. They might have
stayed in Massachusetts, close to Boston. If they had, I should have
been born there, and I could not have helped that. My father's name
was John Young, and my mother's maiden name was Nabby How. I cannot
help that. My father was a poor, honest, hardworking man; and his
mind seemingly stretched from east to west, from north to south; and
to the day of his death he wanted to command worlds; but the Lord
would never permit him to get rich. He wanted to command all, and that
too in righteousness. I cannot help all this; I have no power to
control such circumstances. When I was about twenty months
old, my father moved from Vermont into the State of New York, where I
lived with him until I became a man. I cannot help that. There are a
thousand circumstances I cannot help or control that are thrown around
me without any action of my choice.
I cannot help being here. We might have gone to Vancouver's Island;
and if we had, we should probably have been driven away or used up
before this time. But here we are in the valleys of the mountains,
where the Lord directed me to lead the people. The brethren who are
in foreign countries desire to gather to the gathering place of the
Saints, and they have for the present to come to Great Salt Lake City.
They cannot help that. Why did we not go to San Francisco? Because the
Lord told me not: "For there are lions in the way, and they will
devour the lambs, if you take them there." What now can we do? Why,
instead of being merchants, instead of going to St. Louis to buy
goods, we can go down to our Dixie land, the southern part of our
Territory, and raise cotton and manufacture goods for ourselves. These
are circumstances we are creating with which to surround our children,
and to form the foundation of the future prosperity of this community.
They will be more or less governed by the circumstances we create for
them. They will make their own bonnets, ribbons, hats, coats, and
dresses of every kind. While we are governed and controlled by
circumstances over which we have no power, still we possess ability
and power in our different spheres of action to call into existence
circumstances to surround ourselves and our children, which will more
or less control them; and, if they are planned in righteousness, will
tend to lead us and our children to heaven. I have power to call upon
the brethren to go south and raise cotton and indigo, the olive, and
the grape. I have done it. In doing this, it throws them under the
influence of new surroundings and new circumstances. They in their
turn can, by perseverance and faithfulness, under the dictations of
the Spirit of truth, bring forth a train of happy circumstances to
bless them, to bless their wives, to bless their children, and to
bless the kingdom of God.
I have power to send brethren to the east or to the west to buy our
goods. I have power to say, John, William, or Thomas, Go and find a
gold mine; but I am not disposed to exercise this power in that way.
God has given this power to me. Let the brethren who have been called
to go south go willingly, with their heads up and glory, hallelujah!
in their hearts; for they are pioneers of future greatness, power, and
independence to Israel. They possess power to do this. When the
husbandman goes into his field, he has power to plough up the soil.
When it is ready, he has power to plant corn in rows or otherwise; he
has power to sow wheat or oats in drills or broadcast, and harrow in
or cover the seeds, that they may grow. What we sow we shall also
reap. We have great power committed unto us, and yet we are confined
by certain laws that we cannot avert or control.
The power of choice all intelligent beings inherit from the Gods of
eternity; it is innate. This statement might even be applied to the
brute creation; but it is not my purpose to extend my remarks in that
channel today. The Latter-day Saints can take the road that leads to
life everlasting, if they choose; or, if they choose, they can take
the road that leads to apostasy. As individuals, we must guard our
affections from becoming contaminated with the love of earthly
riches, or anything that is of earth, whether animate or inanimate.
Uncertainty is strewed around us, and disappointment is the constant
companion of those who worship at the shrine of the god of this world.
If we center our affections upon any earthly object, whether within
our reach or out of our reach, should we be bereaved of that object,
we are left to mourn and lament in darkness because of our ignorance
and folly. Let our love be for God and truth, righteousness and peace,
being contented and happy with present endowments; and as the way
opens to further progression, greater possessions, walk forward in the
light of God and hold what we obtain for him and his cause, coveting
not what we possess, and not with an avaricious desire reaching after
what we cannot possess. If we do opposite to this, our whole existence
will be creped with disappointment and mourning. Then let us keep the
world and its allurements aloof from our affections. We may have the
ability to build for ourselves beautiful houses, to plant choice
orchards and vineyards, to adorn our grounds with flowers and
sweet scented shrubs, and have lovely families, and possess horses and
chariots, silver and gold, this, that, and the other, in abundance.
But if our affections are placed upon these things, we shall either go
out of the kingdom of Christ and miss being exalted sons of God, or
will see our error, repent of our folly, learn to control our
affections, desires, and passions, and willingly let "God rule within
us to will and to do of his good pleasure," having no mind only that
which is of heaven.
Have we a will? Yes. It is an endowment, a trait of the character of
the Gods, with which all intelligence is endowed, in heaven and on
earth—the power to accept or reject.
Then, wherever the wisdom of God directs, let our affections and the
labor of our lives be centered to that point, and not set our hearts
on going east or west, north or south, on living here or there, on
possessing this or that; but let our will be swallowed up in the will
of God, allowing him to rule supremely within us until the spirit
overcomes the flesh, and the world, Satan, and the flesh are
vanquished and lie under our feet. Then and not till then will the
righteousness of God reign triumphantly. It may be asked whether I
have any idols? Yes, I have most darling idols—my God and my religion,
and they are all the idols I wish to have. "Have you no wife that you
idolize?" If I have, let the Lord take her and give her to somebody
else. "Have you no children that you idolize?" If I have, let the Lord
have them. I possess that which is apparently mine; but why should I
call them mine, until I have passed the ordeals mortals must pass, and
they are sealed to me by the authorities of the Gods in a way that
they cannot be taken from me? They are now in my possession, and I
hold them by the undisputed right of that possession. Anything we have
upon this earth we only seem to have, for in reality we own nothing.
No person on the earth can truly call anything his own, and never will
until he has passed the ordeals we are all now passing, and has
received his body again in a glorious resurrection, to be crowned by
him who will be ordained and set apart to set a crown upon our heads.
Then will be given to us that which we now only seem to own, and we
will be forever one with the Father and the Son, and not until then.
There is a great difference in the individual capacity of people. Some
can receive much more than others can: hence we read of
different degrees of glory. How many kingdoms glory of there are, I
know not; and how many degrees of glory there are in these kingdoms, I
know not; but there are multitudes of them. Paul speaks of three,
Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw three, and multitudes more have we
seen by the Spirit of revelation, according to the capacity of our
understandings. Can we so live and direct ourselves as to receive
glory, immortality, and eternal lives? We can. Then love not the
world, nor the things of the world. Desire not that which is not for
us, but desire only that which God has ordained for our benefit and
advancement in the science of eternal life; then can we advance with
accelerated speed in the things of God.
But is it not visibly manifest that the great majority want to lord it
over God's heritage. Wicked kings lord it over the consciences of
their subjects, priests over their people, and masters over their
servants; and wicked dispositions tell us to do this and to desire
that which pertains to folly: they prompt almost constantly to lord it
over God's heritage. Where is God's heritage? It is in our affections,
our love, delight, glory, and happiness. Let us honor God's heritage,
sanctify it, and bring all into subjection that surrounds it and is
connected with it, sanctifying the Lord in our affections. We see all
the world trying to lord it over God's heritage. It is in the spirit
that the evil principle and power is trying to overcome and rule over
the divine principle planted there. This constantly leads the children
of men astray.
What power is legally ours? That which was given to Adam and the human
family in former days. Power? Yes. Dominion? Yes. Glory? Yes. Honor?
Yes. That which pertains to this world? Yes. That which pertains to
the next? Yes. Let us understand this power and this privilege that
God has guaranteed to the human family. He has first imparted power to
mankind to control the elements; and when this is employed faithfully
to magnify righteousness, then excellence, magnificence, splendor,
beauty, honor, glory, and Godlike power will follow as the results.
This power must be guided by the Almighty. Let the people be led by
the revelations of Jesus Christ, and the finger of God will be made
manifest before them day by day in their progress to eternal
happiness; for this is the privilege of the faithful.
Shall we not choose for ourselves? Yes. Have we not rights? Yes. Have
we not power? Yes. Have we not authority bequeathed to us from the
heavens—a legacy from God to hold dominion over the elements? Yes.
Then go to like men, like angels, like Him we read of, whom we love
and serve and worship, who in his former capacity organized the
elements as we are taught to do for our own benefit, beauty, comfort,
excellency, and glory, and beautify the earth and make it like the
garden of Eden, so that the angels will delight to come and dwell
here, and Jesus Christ will delight to dwell with his brethren on the
earth. This is our right. We are not destitute of rights and
privileges. We have the right of choice. We have the right to dictate,
to plough, plant, sow, reap, gather, mow, clothe ourselves and
families, and gather around us in abundance all the comforts and
blessings of life. Have we a right to inflict evil upon our neighbor,
upon the divinity within him, or upon the divinity within ourselves?
No. God should rule in the way and manner he pleases by the
revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will lead the Saints to victory and glory. By-and-by we will possess more rights
than we now possess, but not until they are given to us. God has
decreed from all eternity that we should have rights, power, and
authority over the elements to organize and bring them into use and
make them beneficial and subserve the wants of the human family.
I wish to see this people manufacture their own clothing, and make as
good cloth as is in the coat I now have on, and as good silk as is in
the handkerchief around my neck, and as good linen as is in the bosom
and wristbands of my shirt. When we administer the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, I wish as good wine as can be made in any country, and
that too made by ourselves from grapes grown in our own mountain
valleys. I want to see the people wear hats, boots, coats, etc., made
by ourselves, as good as ever was made in any country.
If you will obey my counsel, you will constantly increase in the
riches and the comforts of life; though every time I speak upon this
subject I wish to keep in view that if we cannot handle the things of
this world without unduly placing our affections upon them, I pray God
to keep them out of our possession. I would rather have this people
clad with sheepskins and goatskins than to have them possess the
wealth of this world without feeling that they could trample it all
under their feet at any moment. Earthly wealth and greatness should
only be used to subserve the purposes of God upon the earth. This is
what brother Snow was speaking upon this morning. I have briefly
noticed the same subject, using my own style and language. Let the
divinity within the people overcome that wicked, corrupt, hellish
influence the Devil has power to introduce.
Do not imagine that I am in the least finding fault with the Devil. I
would not bring a railing accusation against him, for he is fulfilling
his office and calling manfully; he is more faithful in his calling
than are many of the people. God is not yet going to destroy
wickedness from the earth. How frequently we hear it reiterated from
the pulpit that he is going to destroy all wickedness. No such thing.
He will destroy the power of sin. When we have lived to see millions
of worlds created—yea, more in number than the particles of matter
that compose this earth and millions of earths like this, if so many
could be numerated by man, and people live on them to pass through the
ordeals we are passing through, you will never see one of them without
a devil. The work the Savior has on hand is to reduce the power of
the Devil to perfect subjection; and when he has destroyed death and
him that has the power of it, pertaining to this world, then he will
deliver up the kingdom spotless to the Father.
I have not told the Saints my feelings, but I will here say that it is
my daily prayer that God will change the power and authority of our
political Government into the hands of the just. Amen.