We knew Brother Brigham; he was a glazier and painter, and, in one sense of the word, an illiterate man. But God raised him up to do a great work and to follow in the channel of Joseph Smith. He magnified his calling. He led this people to these mountains, and he built up this country almost from one end of it to the other, by his counsel. The Lord took him to Himself. Brother Taylor followed, until he was taken away. Now, all of these men were what the world would call weak instru- ments in the hands of God.

I have been asked the question many times, "Why did the Lord choose Joseph Smith to bring forth the Book of Mormon and to lay the foundation of this great Kingdom here on the earth? Why didn't He choose Dr. Haws, Dr. Porter, Mr. Beecher, or some great man?" I have never had but one answer in my life to all such men, and that is, "The Lord could not do anything with them, because of their unbelief, and their unwillingness to acknowledge His hand in all things." That is the reason the Lord has chosen weak instruments to do His work.

I wanted the Gospel of Christ; and the first sermon I ever heard preached in this Church I had a testimony for myself that it was the Gospel of Christ. I had a testimony to satisfy myself when I was baptized. I had been looking, praying, hungering and thirsting to find some man on the face of the earth who had the Priesthood, and who could teach me the Gospel. When I heard this ser- mon, I knew the voice; I knew the shepherd; I knew it was true. And from that day until this, I have never seen one moment in my life that I have ever had doubts with regard to it. I have never had any trial in this Church with regard to my faith. My trials have been of another nature.

I have had the administration of angels in my day and time, though I never prayed for an angel. I have had, in several instances, the administration of holy messengers. In 1835, at Broth- er A. O. Smoot's mother's house in Kentucky, I received a letter one day from Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, requesting me to stay in Kentucky and Tennessee and take charge of the Church there. He wanted David Patten and Warren Parrish to go to Kirt- land to receive their endowments. Joseph said in that letter: "You shall lose no blessing by pursuing this course." That letter was a great joy, a great comfort and consolation to me. I had traveled with Joseph Smith to Missouri. I had been acquainted with him, and I knew he was a Prophet of God. In the evening of that day I went into a little back room, in which was a small settee. I was alone. I was overwhe[lm]ed with joy and consola- tion at the letter I had received and the encouraging words it contained. I knelt down and prayed. I arose from my knees and sat down. The room was filled with light. A mes- senger came to me. We had a long conversation. He laid before me as if in a panorama, the signs of the last days, and told me what was coming to pass. I saw the sun turned to darkness, the moon to blood, the stars fall from heaven. I saw the resurrection day. I saw armies of men in the first resurrec- tion, clothed with the robes of the Holy Priesthood. I saw the second resurrection. I saw a great many signs that were presented before me. by this personage; and among the rest, there were seven lions, as of burning brass, set in the heavens. He says, "That is one of the signs that will appear in the heavens be- fore the coming of the Son of Man. It is a sign of the various dispensa- tions."

Brother Kimball, Brother George A. Smith and myself had a similar experience in London, at a house where we were stopping. It seemed as if there were legions of spirits there. They sought our destruction; and on one occasion, after Brother Kimball had left, these powers of darkness fell upon us to destroy our lives, and both Brother Smith and myself would have been killed, ap- parently, had not three holy mes- sengers come into the room and filled the room with light. They were dressed in temple clothing. They laid their hands upon our heads and we were delivered, and that power was broken, so far as we were concerned. Why did the Lord send these men to us? Because we could not have lived without it; and, as a general thing, angels do not administer to anybody on the earth unless it is to preserve the lives of good men, or to bring the Gospel, or perform a work that men cannot do for themselves. That is the reason Moroni and other angels of God visited and taught Joseph Smith. They quoted to him whole chapters in the Bible—in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel—and told him what must come to pass in the last days. It was necessary for these angels to give him the Priest- hood. There was no mystery at all with regard to what was taught him. He knew it was of God. These very principles sustained Jo- seph Smith from the hour the Gospel was delivered to him until he sealed his testimony with his blood.

I have never had any testimony since I have been in the flesh, that has been greater than the testimony of the Holy Ghost. That is the strongest testi- mony that can be given to me or to any man in the flesh. Now, every man has a right to that, and when he obtains it, it is a living witness to him. It deceives no man, and never has. Lucifer may appear to man in the capacity of an angel of light; but there is no deception with the Holy Ghost. We do not par- ticularly need the administration of angels unless we are in a condition similar to that in which Brother Kimball, Brother Smith and my- self were placed, when we could not save our lives without them.

I say to you, as Brother Cannon has, the Kingdom of God is here. The Priesthood is here. The keys of the Kingdom of God are here. They will remain here. It makes no difference whether Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, or anybody else, remains; while these keys are here we have a right to know the mind and will of God; and when we do our duty, when we live our religion, we shall have these principles manifested to us. I know what awaits this nation. I know what awaits the Latter-day Saints.

Many things have been shown to me by vision and by revelation. I know that the Latter-day Saints have need to repent of all their darkness, all their unbelief and all their disunion that they have in Zion. Our power, our salvation, our exaltation, our re- demption, our glory and our prepa- ration for the coming of the Son of Man, depend entirely upon our own acts.

if we are not united, we shall be chastised by the power of God. But the Lord said: "Fear not, little flock, the kingdom is yours until I come." No matter if earth and hell com- bine against us, we are in His hands, and He has said that He will guide and direct the affairs of the Kingdom.

More than 50 years ago the Prophet Joseph re- ceived a revelation which said: "Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the field." These angels wanted to go and reap down the earth. But the Lord said in effect, "No; wait till the earth is warned; wait till the nations of the earth have the Gospel of Christ preached unto them; wait till they have a chance to repent and receive the Gospel, if they will. When this is done, then you may go down."

Brethren, the heavens are full of judgment. And as the Lord told the people at the commencement of this work, "If the nation will re- pent, if they will obey my law and keep my commandments, I, the Lord, will save these judgments; otherwise they shall be poured out, as I, the Lord, have spoken." These things are true. The judgments of God will increase from this hour, until the land is deluged in blood. War will overtake our nation. The civil war, the war between the North and the South, which laid in the dust nearly a million of men and cost the nation many hundred millions of dollars, was only the be- ginning of suffering. Had this na- tion listened to the counsels of Jo- seph Smith and heeded them, this war and the terrible suffering which it entailed would have been avoided. But the judgments of the Lord are not yet ended. He is going to fulfill His work.

Now, my object, and your object, is—at least it should be—to try to do our duty.. I have got to meet the Apostles; I have got to meet the El-

The devil has sought to de- stroy me from the time I was born until the present day. But the Lord has always been on my right hand and saved me. There have been two powers at work—one to destroy me, the other to save me. And I am here today, a weak instrument in the hands of God. But, as God lives, if He will tell me what my duty is, I am going to do it!

I pray God to bless us, and awak- en us that we may see our position on the earth. The eyes of all heav- en are over us. The Father, the Savior, Father Adam, the Patri- archs, the Prophets, and all the Apostles who have lived in our day and generation, are watching over us, and waiting for us to do our duty; and when we perform that, the judgments of God will be mani- fest in the earth. I pray God to give us wisdom, and to help us to be humble, faithful, meek and lowly of heart. Look at the purity of the Savior, from the manger to the grave, and where is there a man on the face of the earth that can feel anything like exaltation or glory?

I have seen Oliver Cow- dery when it seemed as though the earth trembled under his feet. I never heard a man bear a stronger testimony than he did when under the influence of the Spirit. But the moment he left the kingdom of God, that moment his power fell like lightening from heaven. He was shorn of his strength, like Samson in the lap of Delilah. He lost the power and testimony which he had enjoyed, and he never recovered it again in its fulness while in the flesh, although he died in the Church. It does not pay a man to sin or to do wrong.