were compelled to work by faith and not by sight. Now, however, the soil is blessed, the climate is delightful, and plenty and prosperity attend the labors of the people. To show you the difference of the climate in the country, and of the district of country a few miles this side of it, I need only mention that the morning we left Beaver there was ice along the creeks, but when we got to Toquerville, two days' travel further south, we found the apricots half grown, the peaches as large as peas, the cotton-wood trees green and in full leaf, altogether looking like another country. It is a different climate altogether from what it is in these higher places. The hand of God is in all the operations we are trying to carry out. We have to build up Zion independent of tho wicked; we have got to become self-sustaining, and the Lord is inspiring His prophets to preach to us to lay the foundation for the accomplishment of this work. The day is not far distant when we shall have to take care of ourselves. Great Babylon is going to fall, judgment is coming on the wicked, the Lord is about to pour upon the nations of the earth the great calamities which He has spoken of by the mouths of His prophets; and no power can stay these things. It is wisdom that we should lay the foundation to provide for ourselves. With regard to the Word of Wisdom, I must say I was agreeably surprised to see how generally the people are taking hold of it. We did not see much coffee or tea, and I do not think that one in the company drank a drop of it. I rejoice in this; it is going to make the people more wealthy, it will save us a great deal | of means, besides preventing our being poisoned to death, for these things are poisoned, and the Lord understood that when He gave the Word of Wis lom many years ago. The pe ple are improving in a great many things. There is a very good spirit and feeling among them, and the feeling to carry out the purposes of God is general. I rejoice in this work because it is' true, because it is the plan of salvation, the eternal law of God that has been revealed to us, and the building up of Zion is what we are called to perform. I think we have done very1 well considering our traditions and all the difficulties whilch we have had to encounter; and I look forward, by' faith, if I live a few years, to the time, when this people will accomplish that which the Lord expects them to do.' If we do not, our children will. Zion has got to be built up, the Kingdom of God has got to be established, and the principles revealed to us have to be enjoyed by the Litter-day Saints. There is no principle that God has revealed but what has salvation in it, and we, in order to be saved, must observe His laws and ordinances.' Where is there a man or woman who does not wish to be saved? All wish to be saved; all desire salvation, and to enjoy those blessings which they were created to enjoy. The gospel has been offered to this generation for the purpose of saving them in the Kingdom of God if they will receive it. I rejoice in all the principles revealed to us, and the more I see,' hear, and learn, the more I am satisfied of the importance of the revelations that God has given to us. As President Young remarked in one of his sermons south, "Whatever the Lord reveals to this or any other people does not ignore anything revealed before." No part of the gospel is superfluous. It is the same yesterday, to-day, and for 'ever, and all the inhabitants of this world and all others have got to be saved by it, if saved at all. therefore, that we receive and obey all of its principles. When the first principles of the gospel were revealed to us we rejoiced in them. After them we had other principles revealed, the principle of baptism for the dead, for instance. We did not know anything of that until about the year 1840, on our return from England. I rejoice in that principle. It is a great blessing that there can be saviors on Mount Zion. It is a glorious principle that we can go forth and erect temples and attend to ordinances for the living and the dead; that we can redeem our forefathers and progenitors from among the spirits in prison. They will be preached to in prison by those spirits on the other side of the vail who hold the keys of the Kingdom of God, and we will have the privilege of attending to ordinances in the flesh for the n. Then, again, the blessing that God has revealed to us in the patriarchial order of marriage-being sealed for time and eternity-is not Brethren and sisters, let us be prized by us as it should be. When faithful, and look at the promises of that principle was revealed, the pro- God as they are contained in the phet told the brethren that this gospel of Christ, and never treat kingdom could not advance any fur-lightly any principle, co matter what ther without it; "and," said he, "if it is, whether it be faith, repentance, you do not receive it you will be damned saith the Lord." You may may think this very strange, but the Lord never reveals anything that He does not require to be honored. It is necessary, to us. We love our wives and children, and wish to enjoy their society, but the thought of separation would mar all the happiness that the Saints might otherwise attain. The Saint who aspires to salvation and glory wants a continuation of family ties and associations after death. Without this principle we were like the rest of the world—without any such hope. From the day the apostles were slain until the Lord revealed this principle in the last days, not a man ever dwelt in the flesh who had wife or child sealed to him for eternity, so that he could enjoy their society in the resurrection. That was just our position before this ordinance was revealed, but now, whether we have one wife, two, three, or as many as the Lord sees fit to bestow upon us, when we come forth from the grave our families remain with us in the eternal world. So it is with every principle the Lord reveals-it is good for His people in time and eternity. What would have been our position if this had not been revealed? This principle is plain, clear, and interesting; without it not a man in this Church could have either wife or child sealed to him for eternity, for all our marriage covenants before were only for time, and we, as a Church, had arrived at that point when, in order to insure a full salvation, it was necessary to reveal this principle. It is a great blessing We baptism for the remission of sins, the the example of Abraham, in taking more wives than one, we are universally decried and despised. The Christian world profess to believe in Abraham, and he, through obedience to the command of God in this respect, was called the "Father of the faithful," and the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem will each be named after one of the twelve patriarchs, his descendants, and the sons of a polygamist, and fathers of all Israel. Even the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to lay down his life to redeem the world, was through the same lineage. He was of Judah; He was the King of the Jews and the Savior of the world. These principles are as righteous to-day as in any other age of the world when governed and controlled by the commandments of God. Let us prize all the principles, revelations, and blessings that God has revealed to us; let us treasure them up, do our duty to God, to one another, and our fellow men. No man has any time to sin, to steal, swear, or break any of the laws of God if he wishes to secure a full and complete salvation; but we must all do the best we can, laboring with all our might to overcome every evil, for it will take a whole life of faithfulness and integrity for any Saint of God to receive a full salvation in the presence of God. May God bless us, and give us His spirit, and wisdom to guide and direct us into all truth, for Jesus' sake. Amen. REMARKS by Elder Geo. Q. Cannon, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 7th, 1867. [REPORTED BY DAVID W. EVANS.] NECESSITY OF UNION AND OBEDIENCE TO COUNSEI. There have been a great many excellent remarks made to us since we assembled ourselves together to celebrate the anniversary of the organization of the Church, remarks which, if treasured up in our hearts and practiced in our lives, cannot fail to make us a much better people than we are to-day. It should be clear to the mind of every Latter-day Saint that there is an extreme necessity for us to be united. It is to our union alone, imperfect though it may have been, that we may attribute our suc cess in the past, under the blessing of God. If we have any name or prestige in the earth, if there is anything attached to the name of Latterday Saint or "Mormonism" that conveys the idea of power to the minds of the people, it has its origin in our union, obedience, concentration of effort, and our oneness of action, and the more this oneness increases the more marked and distinct we will be among the nations of the earth. What is it that has made us the pecple we are to-day? It is obedience to the counsels which God has revealed through His servants. If there is anything on the earth that will continue to add distinction and power to us, and elevate us and make us strong and mighty, it is an increase of this obedience which has already given us this distinction. I have thought considerably since we have been together of the counsels which have been given to us, and of the action of the people in the past. There was a time when every Latter day Saint who had the spirit of his religion felt as though he wished to devote himself and all that he had to the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God. This feeling doubtless predo- | minates to-day, but it has been partially buried up and covered by other feelings the love of gain, the desire to acquire property, and feelings akin to these. There was a law revealed to us the law of consecrationthrough obedience to which every man expected to hold all that he possessed subject to the dictation of the servants of God. It is right that we should recollect this law, and continually seek to carry it out. We should feel that we are placed as stewards over the property God has placed in our hands, and that all we have is subject primarily to the counsels of God's servant, and that before we take any step of importance it is our duty to seek counsel from him who has the right to counsel. Imagine the power there would be in this Territory, and it would be felt throughout the nations of the earth, if this entire people, from Bear Lake Valley in the north to the settlements on the Muddy in the south, were thus united, holding themselves and all the wealth that God has so bountifully bestowed upon them, subject to the counsel that God has placed in His Church. What would be the effect of this? If you will allow your minds to expand you may be able to contemplate to some small extent the great results that would follow such a concentration of action on the part of this people. Is it the will of God that it should be so? It is. The Lord has placed a man at our head upon whom He has bestowed great wisdom. There has never been a time when he has lacked the wisdom necessary to guide all the affairs of the Kingdom of God. Joseph of old had wisdom given to him by which he was enabled to save Egypt. God has given to us a leader who has wisdom equal to any emergency, and if we will be obedient to his counsels we shall realize as great salvation as was wiorght out by Joseph for those with whom he was associated. Herein we possess advantages not possessed by other people; we have revelation to guide us, we have the word of the Lord in our midst; we are not dependent upon man's wisdom, nor upon human plans, but we have the wisdom of eternity manifested through the servants of God to guide us. We have the opportunity of building up the Kingdom of God and of carrying out the designs of heaven according to His plan; and if we will do so we shall fulfil the word of the Lord given anciently, when speaking of and comparing his people with the people of the world. Said he, "My servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry; my servants, shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed; my servants shall sing with gladness of heart, but you shall sorrow with sadness of heart and howl with vexation of spirit And ye shall leave your name as a curse to my chosen for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call His servants by another name." It seems as though the day had How many called Latter-day Saints, through disobedience to the Word of Wisdom, have been led away to California and other places where they could obtain these things which they thought so necessary to their comfort, but which God had coun-" selled them to forsake? A great many have been led away through this; and every time we disobey this counsel we bring ourselves more completely under bondage to our own appetites and to the enemies of the Kingdom of God. come when God will slay the wicked, | treasures of wisdom; and they shall and when He will call His people by run and not be weary, and walk and " another name. How will these words not faint; and I, the Lord, give them of the ancient prophets be fulfilled? a promise that the destroyer shall By our listening to the counsel of pass them by, as he did the children him whom he has placed to preside of Israel, and not slay them." Here over us, and being guided in wisdom is a promise that the Lord has given in all things. When we do this we to us on condition that we obey this will be a mighty and a powerful requirement, or rather this counsel." people, and President Young will be It is wise counsel; we have proved what he ought to be to-day, the head its wisdom. What has disobedience' of this people, the mouth-piece of to this counsel done for this people? God in our midst; and when his It has made us in many respects, to counsel is given it will be listered to a certain extent, subject to our ene by all Israel; no one will disobey mies. from one end of the land to the other. How much good could be accomplished if this were the case! What mighty labors could be achieved if this people were in this condition to-day. What hinders it being so? Nothing but the disposition within us to be careless and indifferent to the principles taught us. This condition of things will be brought about, and it might be more rapidly than it is if the people would be obedient and diligent in carrying out the counsels given to them. All within the sound of my voice, probably, have heard that Israel, in the days of Moses, were commanded to sprinkle their door-posts with the blood of a lamb, that they might escape destruction; now if we had been told that Israel were destroyed because they paid no regard to this instruction, who among us would not have said, How foolish Israel must have been to have suffered destruction rather than do such a simple thing as this! Yet what has God said to us in these days with regard to the Word of Wisdom? He has said that "all Saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, and walk in obedience to My commandments, shall receive health to their naval, and marrow to their bones, and they shall find great treasures, even hidden No. 2. As a people we should arise, and with one effort say we will follow the example, in this respect, of him who leads us. Does President Young' drink tea, or coffee, or liquor, or chew tobacco ? No; his life is ex-' emplary, and we should copy after it. There is no man among us more exemplary in these things than he is; and it is a shame to us, as a people, if we do not follow his wise example. The Lord is bearing testimony to us through His Spirit, that we should' carry these things into effect; and 1 trust that the people from one end of the Territory to the other, will mani fest by their future course that they will observe the counsel that has been given at this Conference, and thus seek to be one with the President. There is no need to disguise the fact that he is anxious to have us subject Vol. XII. |