We understand the laws of domestic | tinue in the way which will lead us and civil government; we know how to the perfection of knowledge which to conduct ourselves like men of the world call ignorance. sense, like gentlemen and christians; we understand natural philosophy and medicine; and are satisfied of the emptiness of the vain philosophy of the world. If believing and knowing what we do constitute ignorance, then let us be ignorant still, and con Now, let me say to you, it is our imperative duty to use a portion of our substance to send for our poor brethren and sisters who are still back in the old countries. May the Lord bless you. Amen. REMARKS by Elder Brigham Young, jun., delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, November 17th, 1867. [REPORTED BY G. D. WATT.] THE SAINTS A PECULIAR PEOPLE-GATHERING OF THE POOR FROM EUROPE. I am grateful for this privilege of speaking to you for a short time this afternoon, and I trust that the Spirit of the Lord will be present to bless and edify both the speakers and hearers. By our experience we can testify that the Spirit of the Almighty is always present where His Saints congregate, and no person can come into their assemblies without feeling the influence of that Spirit, although he may not personally posI have met with religious bodies of people in various nations, but I have never experienced that heavenly influence in any of their meetings that I have invariably felt while assembled with the Latter-day Saints. sess it. There is something about this people that is truly peculiar, and this peculiarity consists in their enjoying the Holy Spirit to a greater degree than it is enjoyed by any other peo ple of the present day and for many ages past. The possession of this Spirit makes us happy under every circumstance of life, except in committing sin. The Lord has enlightened our minds by the spirit of revelation; hence, wherever you find a Latter-day Saint upon the face of the whole earth, you will find a happy person. Faithful Latter-day Saints everywhere triumph over all the ills that humanity is subject to, because they know that the Lord has redeemed them, and brought them forth to bless them with salvation in His presence. We, as a people, cannot sufficiently realize what the Lord has done for us. When we reflect upon the situation of this people in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, and other places, and contrast our present position with our circumstances then, we can, in a measure, realize what the Lord has done for us, and we begin to under- This people are greatly blessed by receiving the Spirit of the Almighty, and by being privileged to go into His house and making covenants with Him, and in return receiving the keys of eternal life from his hands. We are peculiar in this. There is no other people upon the face of the earth that we know anything about who are permitted to make such covenants with the Most High God. If we do not appreciate these blessings it is because we do not live faithfully to the covenants we have made-because we do not do all in our power to fulfil the commandments of the Almighty, and obey, fully and freely, the words and counsels of those who hold God's authority upon the earth, who have led us thus far efficiently, and who can lead us into the presence of our Father and God. people of this city are better prepared to-day to emigrate every Latter-day Saint from foreign lands to these mountains, than the whole people of Nauvoo and surrounding country were prepared to emigrate one hundred families. I believe this statement to be true, and that it will bear scrutiny. While we feel very poor, we are really increasing in wealth; yet as we increase in wealth, our wants increase. If we have a fine carriage, we must then have a fine horse and harness to go with it; but instead of spending our means upon unnecessary luxuries, it is far better for us to sacrifice everything in property that our hearts are set upon, and let it go where it can be used to the gathering of Israel. This is the standard to which all the faithful are approaching, and the sooner we reach it the better for us. We must, sooner or later, give our whole hearts to our Father and God, if we wish to gain salvation. We owe to Him every energy of our souls, and all the earthly wealth we can amass, if He calls for it through His servants. We should look upon God as being unjust were He not to give us the blessings we are entitled to through His promises. There are hundreds in this congregation who know the situation of the poor Saints in the old countries, for they were once in the same condition themselves. It has not improved any since you left; but you were not able to realize it then as you should now be able to. When you were there in the midst of your enemies, when your children wanted bread, and were destitute of clothing and the In comforts of life, there were none to help you to preserve them from perishing with hunger. Here you are comfortable, and the great majority of this people in these mountains are wealthy, and it has all been given them of the Lord. Then, shall These servants of the Most High have called upon us, as a people, to step forward and do our utmost to deliver our brethren and sisters who are now in the old countries. The Lord has placed means in our possession to do this. He has led us forth from the midst of our enemies, where the lives of onr leaders were constantly sought, and where no man durst say, he knew that Jesus was Christ, and that he lives. delivering us, He has given us new life, and all that we require to sustain us and to make us happy and comfortable. Now, shall we use a portion of these means which He has given us to gather the Saints? The we refuse to subject all we have to Him? When we identified our interests with this Church, we made a Covenant with Him to aid all in our power to gather together the honest from every land, kindred, tongue, and people, but we are too apt to forget our covenants, and to be slow in the performance of our duties. An immense labor has already been performed; many thousands are now in this Territory who have been gathered from the nations of Europe, and from other parts of the earth, still there are thousands in those lands who are praying for deliverance, and whose greatest hope in life is to identify their interests with ours in this our mountain home, and join with us in building up cities and temples to the most High God. They look to us for help, shall they look in vain? Shall we not, with uplifted hands, covenant afresh that we will devote the means which God has given us for the building up of His kingdom, and the gathering of His people of the house of Israel? Those who are not living under broken covenants will feel ready and willing to do this. If we do not put forth our hands to strengthen the cause of Zion on the earth with all we have and are, it is a dereliction of duty on our part, to say the least of it, and for which we stand accountable to God. In a few months the emigration of the year 1868 will leave England, and now is the accepted time for the means to be supplied. The sooner we put forth our means for this purpose the better, that our agents may not be pressed for time to make every necessary arrangement. If you will show me a member of this Church, in this or any other country, who has faithfully paid his tithing, although he might only get ten shillings a week, and have to support a large family out of it, if he has been obedient to the counsels of the servants of God, there you will find a man who has prospered continually. It is invariably the case that men who have been honest with God have been greatly blessed of Him, even until they had not room to contain His blessings. I have known men in the old country whose wages did not exceed $2.50 per week, and out of this small sum thay have supported a family of nine persons, paid their tithing, and in three years saved money enough to emigrate the whole of them. This could not have been done if the Lord had not blessed them. This is their testimony. I have seen it, and it is my testimony. We have seen His blessings so often and so visibly bestowed upon the faithful, that there is no room to doubt His word or His ability to bless us with all that we need. words of the Apostle may be very fitly applied here: "And he that doubteth is damned-for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Every intelligent Latter-day Saint, who has made himself acquainted with the dealings of God with this people, has no room to doubt the hand of the Almighty. We cannot doubt and at the same time enjoy the blessings which are for the faithful. May God bless you. Amen. The REMARKS by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 8th, 1867. [REPORTED BY EDWARD L. SLOAN.] SALVATION-ALL KNOWLEDGE THE RESULT OF REVELATION-FREEDOM THE KINGDOM OF GOD-HOW TO CARE FOR THE POOR. OF The subject of salvation is one which should occupy the attention of the reflecting among mankind. Salvation is the full existence of man, of the angels, and the Gods; it is eternal life-the life which was, which is, and which is to come. And we, as human beings, are heirs to all this life, if we apply ourselves strictly to obey the requirements of the law of God, and continue in faithfulness. The first object of our existence is to know and understand the principles of life, to know good from evil, to understand light from darkness, to have the ability to choose between that which gives and perpetuates life and that which would take it away. The volition of the creature to choose is free; we have this power given to us. We have reason to be thankful more than any other people. We have no knowledge of any other people on the face of the earth who possess the oracles of God, the priesthood, and the keys of eternal life. We are in possession of those keys, and, consequently, we are under greater obligations, as individuals and as a community, to work righteousness. I hope and trust we will continually manifest before the Lord that we appreciate these blessings. There is no question but every person here who seriously reflects upon his own existence, his being here, and the hereafter which awaits him, must many times feel that he comes short of doing all the good for which our Father in heaven has brought us forth. This I conclude from my own experience. Every mind that thinks deeply upon the things of time and eternity, sees that time, which we measure by our lives, is like the stream from the mountains which gushes forth, yet we cannot tell from whence it comes, nor do we know naturally where it goeth, only it passes again into the clouds; so our lives are here, and this we are certain of. We do know that we live and that we have the power of sight. We do know and can realize that we possess the faculty of hearing. We can discern between that which we like and that which we dislike. Give a child candy and it is fond of it, it wishes more; but give it calomel and jalap, and it turns from it with loathing. It has the power of discerning between that in which it delights and that in which it does not delight. It can taste, smell, see, and hear. We know we are in possession of these faculties. This life that you and I possess is for eternity. Contemplete the idea of beings endowed with all the powers and faculties which we possess, becoming annihilated, passing out of existence, ceasing to be, and then try to reconcile it with our feelings and with our present lives. No intelligent person can do it. Yet it is only by the spirit of revelation that we can understand these things. By the revelations of the Lord Jesus we understand things as they were, that have been made known unto us; things that are in the life which we now enjoy, and things as they will be, not to the fullest extent, but all that the Lord designs that we should understand, to make it profitable to us, in order to give us the experience necessary in this life to prepare us to enjoy eternal life hereafter. These principles are before us. We are now acting upon them. We feel to exhort ourselves and our fellowbeings, not only those who have embraced the gospel, but all mankind, to hearken to the words of truth and wisdom, to hearken to the still, small voice that whispers to the conscience and understanding of all living beings according to the kuowledge and wisdom which they possess, instructing them in right and wrong, entreating them, wooing them, beseeching them to refrain from evil. There is not a person so sunk in ignorance but has that principle in him teaching him that this is right and that is wrong, guiding him in the way that he will not sin a sin unto death. Can we realize this? Yes. There are many who possess the spirit of revelation to that degree that they can understand its operations upon the creature, no matter whether they have heard the gospel preached or not, nor whether they are Christians, Jews, or Mahommedans. They are taught of the Lord, and the candle of the Lord is within them, giving them light. This principle we are in possesion of, and it should be nourished and cherished by us; it is the principle of revelation, or, if you like the term better, of foreseeing. There are those who possess fore-knowledge, who do not believe as we believe with regard to the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth. Take the statesman, for instance; he has a certain degree of knowledge with regard to the results of the measures which he may recommend, but does he know whence he derives that knowledge ? No. He may say: "I foresee if we take this course we shall perpetuate our government and strengthen it, but if we take the opposite course we will destroy it." But can he tell whence he has received that wisdom and foreknowledge? He cannot. Yet that is the condition of the statesmen in the nations of the earth. If the philosopher can gaze into the immensity of space, and understand how to fashion and make glasses that will magnify a million times, that knowledge comes from the fountain of knowledge. it A man of the world may say: "I can foresee, I can understand, I can frame an engine, make a track, and run that engine upon it, bearing along a train of loaded cars at the rate of forty, fifty, or sixty miles an hour." Another may say: "I can take the lightning, convey on wires, and speak to foreign nations." But where do they get this wisdom? From the same source where you and I get our wisdom and our knowledge of God and godliness. Realizing these things, I look upon my brethren and sisters, and ask what manner of persons ought we to be? We are apt to think wrong and to speak wrong. Our passions will rise within us, and without reflection the organs of speech are put in motion and we utter that which we should not speak. We have feelings which we should not have, and we neglect the great and glorious principles of eternal life. We are grovelling, of the earth earthy. We |