13 Sunday I spent the fore part of the day at
writing I wrote 2 letters to Mrs
One family letter, the other personal.
On the return of the brethren from meeting they informed me
that President had preached one of the greatest
sermons he had ever deliverd on earth the following are the
items Delivered to me of his sermon by
^but mostly from report which was copied from his report^
He Arose & said By our acts
we have said to the world we are
Christs and we have exhibited it more than any other (of the
Christian world). Evry thread & tie that binds man to man
has been broaken assunder (in consequence of receiveing the of Christ.) Men have left their wives, wives their
husbands children their parents & parents their children, (Brothers
their sisters & sisters their Brothers in order to be gathered with
the of God that they might partake of salvation). This people
have proven to the world by their acts that they have a knowledge of
the way of life & salvation. This people have proven (to all men)
that they can evry endearment (in this life) for ()
& salvation & we prove that we bear this principle through
evry difficulty (which we are called to pass through) it is our duty
to make evry that is required of us so that our , the Holy Angels, & all Just men who sit enthroned in
glory power, & dominion may look upon us in this capacity ie that
is that they may see in their kingdoms that we do prove to them
that we are willing to make evry sacrafize ^if may call it a sacrifize^ on Earth endearing
to man in order that we may secure a seat with them in
Eternal light & glory. (But not withstanding all the light & knowledge
we have of life & salvation) do you not see how easy it is for us
to turn away to the right & to the left & say & do many things which
we afterwards regret & wish we had not done is it not the case
with us all more or less, it is. I see a thousand weakness in myself
that I ^now^ regret and it is so with all those who have the light of
the spirit of God they can see their weaknesses (& regret them
& they will try to over come them. I can not ownly see these things
in myself but I can see them in my brethren for when I learn
myself & I learn my brethren by this rule I know all
of you) we give way to temptation and angry feelings against
our Brother & want to be revenged on them. I ask is this a
righteous feeling, No it is not, and yet we live day by day &
week byafter week & year after year in this year way. the
People will be guilty of a little lying a little swareing a little deceiving
& a little stealing. do you think that you can repent of all your
sins & be forgiven in a moment. no you cannot, evry knows better. this would be sectarianism. the religion
of the world is that a man may commit Murder & when on the
gallows he can repent & be forgiven & go right straight to bosom but this is it is not true. Some say
that I cannot overcome my passions when I am tempted &
tried I cannot help giving way to my feelings I must
give vent to them and scold & sometimes swear swear and
I cannot help it. But I tell you that you can help it you
have got to help it sometime or other or you cannot be saved you
have got to begin to learn to over come. you should begin to im-
prove day by day. Shun the errors as you see them and improve
upon them be better men & women tomorrow than you are to day
Continue to improve there is not a man or woman here
but what can do better here than they do. But says one
Brother Brigham says hard words. So I do use harsh
words. I am Death & Hell on the wicked, but you never
hear me speak evil of my brethren. But I will reprove
wickedness among the Human family. As your leader I
will say let us try to improve our lives. Let us overcome evrery
temper and evil passion [that] arises within you you can shut
your mouth and keep your tongue still and quiet, and the
next time you are tempted you can overcome it easier. Keep
silence & it will give you a great victory. Mothers when you
are cross & attempt to correct your children conquer your-
selves first. Fathers when you feel any of the evil passions
of your natures arise then you need the grace of God to help
bring yourselves into subjection that you may go in the spirit
of untill you get the victory over your feelings. we
are liable to get out of the way. we should not do wrong knowingly
for if we say or do things which are wrong we are under obligation
to confess our faults. it would be a hard matter for to confess
that I had done wrong knowingly. You should be governed by
righteousness. Let every Elder in Israel look upon his brethren
& sisters like little children. When a person does a wrong
in his foolish look upon it as such. (We see the child[re]n
of man laboring hard to obtain wealth they labour night & day
to obtain this object) but wealth will not give you wisdom, but
if you will shun evil and extend the hand of charity to evry living
being & do good to all (as far as you have an opportunity) this will
grow in you & you will increase (in wisdom & knowledge) we
should live so as to enjoy the spirit of revelation that we may
know the will of God concerning us in all things. You should
not live for yourselves alone for if your Affections are not
placed on the Lord Jesus Christ and do not possess charity you will
mis the gate (& not enter into the glory of God yourselves) for you
will not receive the spirit of the gospel. your hearts should be
empted of evry thing but the spirit of the gospel. (that you may be
filled with the spirit of revelation that you may know the voice
of the good shepherd for if this people was to loose the spirit
of revelation & turn from righteousness they would be liable
to be led down to hell but while the people keep the spirit of
God & of revelation with them they would know the voice
of the good shepherd.) If I was to get out of the way
would not all that had the Spirit of God se[e] it, as they did
& & , yes they would. When Sidney Rigd-
on claimed to be the shepherd & leader of this people the people
knew not his voice. But when the true shepherd spoke unto
them they knew his voice and they followed him. It is the
duty of this people & their privilege to live in such a manner that
they cannot be deceived by any deceiver. It is your duty to
live your religion. No man can magnify the priesthood & their
calling unless they live their religion, unless they are filled
with the spirit of revelation, of the Holy Ghost, & of the Holy Priesthood
then they can magnify their calling and do their duty to their
Neighbor & to all men then their would be an end to Bishops &
High Councils trials. Parents are under the deepest obligation
to live their religion And the young men & women also that when
you get married your children may be begotten in Holiness &
born in Holy^iness^ Brought forth into the world in Righteousness &
then you cannot make any thing but Saints of them. Begin
your work right. Carry it on right. Bring up your children right
then when they are old they will not depart from it. [Proverbs 22:6] This is the which God made with that to his seed there should
be no end. And this promise was made to him when he was childless
He received this covenants from the Lord & desired to see them fulfilled
upon the Earth. Abraham was driven from his house after
he was driven f had received the Priesthood. The Lord Bestowed
his Priesthood upon him by a man whose name was
when Abraham received the Presthod the people were so wicked
that no man would receive him But the Lord promised him a
seed through whom the Holy Priesthood should be perpetuated
forever and that to the increase of his seed there should be no end
The Lord promised to Abraham this great blessing. A man can
have no greater Blessing than was promised to him that He should
have children who should have the priesthood. would not
ask the Lord for any greater blessing than this for myself the
Lord promised that the various ordinances of his Kingdom
should be administered through his posterity forever whare ever
the kingdom of God existed. Then let evry child for the future
be begotten in Holiness and remember this one thing live your religion
I now want to speak of another thing. A vary small portion of
our time was spent in the at whare we began to ad-
minister the ordinances according to the words of in the 4th ch
5th & 6 verses "Behold I will send you the prophet before the
coming of the great & Dreadful day of the Lord." "And He shall turn
the Hearts of the Fathers to the children & the hearts of the children to
their Fathers lest I come & smite the Earth with a curse"
received the promise from the Lord that his seed should
be saved. And all the seed of Abraham in all the Gentile Nations or
among the uncontaminated of the house of Israel will be gathered
That have signned they have changed the ordinances, & broaken
their covenants, or you would not see the children of these Mountains
in the degradation in which we now find them. The Lamanites upon
this continant are Manassehites almost exclusively, their is but
little of the seed of among them, they are counted as
the seed of Abraham and they must be saved or they would
not have become so loathsome as they are. they are punished
in the flesh to make an attonement in the flesh for their
sins & transgressions, and when they pass through the veil the
enemy has no power over them. In the day of the Lord Jesus Christ
all the particles of the Blood of Abraham will be gathered together
The seed of Abraham has not been counted for many years
nor never will be again. If an Angel was to commence now
to number them all when he had got the numbers together before
they could be computed there would be a great number more
born during the time of there numerration so they could not be
numbered & this is the reason why his seed cannot be numbered
Brethren & sisters you are of the seed of Abraham & you should live
your legio religion that you may claim the promises of Abraham
This priesthood will turn the hearts of the children to the Ancient
Fathers & the children to the Fathers now & those which are to
come will be made perfect this chain must not broaken for
mankind cannot be saved any other way. This Priesthood must
be linked together so that all the children may be linked to Father
. It may be asked when will this work be done, it will be
done in Temples in our day & in the days of our children. we shall
go into the Temples & be pillars therein & go no more out [Revelation 3:12] & we shall
plant trees & vineyards & eat the fruit thereof. [Isaiah 65:21] I will call it the
Millennium. I carry it in my heart I say it has begun
evry saint carries it with him then let us increase in evry
good thing & we will extend this influence from Zion untill
it roots out evry evil & brings iall in subjection to the kingdom of
our God. We will administer in the which we have now
begun & that is one point gained & we will sealed man
to man by the keys
of the Holy Priesthood this is the
highest ordinance it is the last ordinance of the kingdom of God
on the earth and above all the endowments that can be
given you it is a finall sealing an Eternal Principle
and when once made cannot be broaken by the Devel
when we return to Zion & build the great Temple which
saw & the centre of Zion is Esstablished the glory of God
will rest upon it by day & by night & those that are prepared
will see the face of the & they will see Joseph &
in the flesh in their resurrected bodies. Then will the
armies of Israel be terrible to all Nations then will one chase
a thousand & two put ten thousand to Flight. [Deuteronomy 32:30] Who will resurrect
Joseph`s Body? It will be , , , , or some one
howho has or will receive the keys
of the resurrection it will proba-
bly be one of those who hold the keys of this dispensation & has
deliverd them to Joseph and you will see Jesus & he will eat peaches
& Apples with you but the world will not see it or know it for
wickedness will increase. Joseph & Jesus will be there they will
walk & talk with them at times & no man mistrusts howho they
are. Joseph will lead the Armies of Israel whether He is seen
or not, whether visible or invisible as seemeth him good Joseph has
got to receive the keys of the resurrection for you & . After he is
resurrected he will go & Broresurrect Brother Brother
& Brother , and when that is done then He will
say now go Brother Brigham & resurrect your wives & children &
gather them together while this is done the wicked will know nothing
of it though they will be in our midst and they will be struck with
fear this is the way the resurrection will be all will not be raised at once
but it will continue in this way untill all the righteous are res-
urrectioned. Atfter Joseph comes to us in his resurrected body He will
more fully instruct us concerning the Baptism for the dead & the sealing
ordinances. He will say be baptized for this man & that man & that
man be sealed to that man & such a man to such a man, and
connect the Priesthood together. I tell you their will not be
much of this done untill Joseph comes. He is our spiritual Father
Our hearts are already turned to him and his to us. This the order of
the Holy Priesthood and we shall continue to administer in the ordin-
ances of the kingdom of God here on Earth. Joseph will not officiate
in this low capacity any more neither did Jesus after his Resur-
rection if so he would have baptized but he was above
the Earth and he told Saul to go to a certain man in a certain street
& he would administer to him the ordinances upon the Earth. [Acts 9:10-18] I say
to you dont hurry in the ordinances dondt do what you ought
not it is not time to hurry we should not undertake to do now
what we ought to do 50 years hence. what have we to do to day. Purify
your hearts that you may receive the manifestation of the . When you sow your wheat you prepare the ground then
sow your wheat & watch it untill the hearvest it is Just so in the
priesthood you will be just as busiy as you can be to do the things
which are to be done to day. Now dont be in a hurry I say we are going
to have time enough. I say I will be on the Earth to do all I can. And
after I die & get my body again my resurrected body I mean to come
back to the Earth again and fight the Devils and be here at the . I want to see righteousness prevail & the have peace on the earth
I wish now to speak upon another subject I am here as the
Governor of this And I wish to commence my remarks
upon this subject with the of the United States. Is he the
Master of the United States no he is not. He is selected to sit there
as one of our servants to act for us to do what we wish to have done
so it is with the & the Governors of the several states and
am here as one of them as the servant of the people. Congress
has prepared a constitution for this Territory which they call
the organic act and have granted certain rights to this people as
a community. They have said this Territory should be organized
thus & so with a Govornor & and the
right is given to the people to select 26 Representatives & 13
councellors Annually this body may enact Laws to controll each
of us & all the inhabitants of this Territory including the governor
the Judges the Secretary the supreme coart the District court
& the Probate court. they have said they shall have all the
power given to them by the Legislative assembly we have a Legislative
Assembly & Magistrates courts congress will send certain men
to hold supreme courts & send other men as officers to the to transact business for the Territory of Utah so as to
make it as easy as possible. The United States Judges are not
here as Kings or Monarchs but as servants of the people
And when you see a Judge puting a city under Martial Law they
manifest Boyism & you should pitty them & give them a peace of
cake. If a man wants to be what he is not, it is certain that He
wants to get out of his sphere. When some man know a
hundred words He thinks he knows all of webster some will
try to study a hundred sciences of the day & then know no
more than a child. When a person studies Divinity 5 years
they are ownly fit to be put down upon the ground as a block
to stand upon to get upon your horses. sI see some here who
have come 50 or 100 miles at the squa[w]king of a goose crow &
dont you know if you want a court had there, that the
Judge should go there & hold it. And if a Judge dont know this
it is because he is vary ignorant And He ought to [illegible] learn his
duty. I am perfectly asstonished at these my Brethren to think
that if a man takes a pumpkin & says it is an Apple you must
acknowledge that it is an Apple & swallow it as such or if they
take a rotton potatoe & say it is a peach then cram it down your
throat as a peach. When you see a rotton Potatoe why dont you
acknowlede it is a rotten potatoe. Now I say to you Jurymen
& witnesses pack up your dudds & go home & stay there till you
have business. If I come here & act the tyrant insted of a Gover-
nor you ought to kick me out and all officers ought to be
served in the same way when they get out of the way & act the fool
or els let the people swallow the rotten potatoe & call it a peach
I know the meaning the marrow & the pith of the Laws and the
vary principle upon which they are built much better than the
Judges do. I know the meaning of them & the Duty of all the
officers in this Territory. I say this for your instruction
To see men come here at the calling of a foolish boy, freezing
your toes & killing your horses in the cold month of December is foolish-
nesh. when you want him send for him & pay your respects to
him but they do not understand the Law. take some of the
boys & learn them sumthing and treat them as Gentlemen & make
them treat you as Gentleman. when I see Lawyeiers & Judges rising
up here & saying that our laws are not right & we should not
be governed by them, It puts me in mind of the Anecdote of the
of the fox that went to a hen coop to cketch some chickens the owner had
had put a cord from the platform to a Bell ove[r]head so as soon as the
platform was tuched the bell would ring as soon as the fox jumped
onto the platform the bell rung & away the fox run with all his might but
on looking behind him he saw nothing so he went back to the coop & examined
to see what the matter was. He touched the cord with his foot & it rung but
did no hurt so he Jumped into the coop & got his chicken He looked up
& saw the bell was hollow & had a longue tongue and the Fox exclaimed
you are a poor miserable Hollow headed Devil. & Judges should
be made to keep the Laws of this as well as other citizens & if they
wont do it put them in a the way that they will be made to. And
say to evry man who has no business here pack up your goods & go home
Let the Judges honor me, & our laws & the officers of this Territory
or they will not receive any honor from me.
I see one man on my right who will go strait & tell the judges
what I have said he is a kind of perpetual Telegraph and if any
man come to me & says Brother do you mean me I will
say you are the Man. (Alluding to )
choir sung I will praise my maker while I have breath
Benediction By
The people again Assembled at 2 oclok prayer By
President Brigham Young addressed J M Grant Addressed the people
& spoke much to our I reported He said if President Young
did not entirely lift up the veil so that we could could look intirely through
it was lifted so that we could have a glimps. He was followed
by who bore testimony of the work of God.
