PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF.
Before the meeting closes I feel dis-
posed to make a few remarks to my
friends. I had a very pleasant inter-
view with Dr. Reiner at our office, and
I related to him a certain principle
which was presented by Joseph Smith
at a conference in Illinois, before some
fifteen thousand people. In speaking
upon religious liberty, he said: "If I
were the emperor of the world, and I
had control of all the human family,
I would sustain every man, woman and
child on the face of the whole earth,
in the enjoyment of their religion, let
that religion be what it may." I have
told the doctor that those were my
sentiments. They are my sentiments
today. I was much pleased with my
interview with our friend, and I have
been pleased with his address here to-
day. I do not feel to find any fault
with it.
I will say, for his benefit and any
others that may be present, that one
reason why we are strenuous in our
faith and belief with regard to this
being the Church of Christ, is because
the Gospel we have received is the Gos-
pel that Paul taught, and he said:
"Though we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than
that which we have preached unto you,
let him be accursed." [Galatians 1:8] Another reason
is that the gifts and graces which were
in the Church in the days of Christ and
the Apostles are with us today and
have been with us since the organiza-
tion of this Church.
Now, I have a favor to ask of this
congregation. This congregation is
composed largely of Elders and mem-
bers of the Church. There are many
Elders here who have traveled abroad
in the vineyard. Now, I say that many
of the gifts and graces and miracles
that were manifest in the days of
Christ and the Apostles I have seen
manifest in the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, and so have you.
Whoever has traveled as an Elder of
Israel throughout the nations, and has
been true and faithful unto God in ad-
ministering in the ordinances of the
house of God, has had the power of
God upon him sufficient to receive those
gifts and graces at the hands of the
Lord. They have been with the Lat-
ter-day Saints. Now, I want every
Elder who has ever preached abroad,
and every man and woman who has
ever been present when any of these
gifts and graces have been manifest—
when the sick have been healed, devils
cast out, the lame made to leap, the
blind to see, the deaf to hear—I want
every man and woman who have seen
manifested any of these gifts and
graces that were in the ancient Church,
to raise their right hand. I do not want
anybody to bear testimony of this ex-
cept those who have seen it. -[In re-
sponse to this request, a large majori-
ty of the congregation raised their
hands.]- I have seen the sick healed, I
have seen devils cast out. The blind
have seen, the deaf have heard; and all
the gifts and graces have been with us.
While I was in Herefordshire I helped
carry a sister into the water who had
not walked for twelve or fifteen years,
and we baptized her. When we con-
firmed her she said she believed she
had faith sufficient to be healed. Presi-
dent Young and Dr. Richards called up-
on me and I told them of this case. I
wanted them to administer to her with
me in confirming her. We laid hands
on her, and President Young was
mouth. That woman rose to her feet,
and next day she walked several miles
in the town where she lived. It was a
public case, one that was known to
the whole town. Some acknowledged it
was a miracle, but said it was through
the power of the devil. Those prin-
ciples have been with us from the be-
ginning, and will be with us until the
winding up scene, as far as we do our
duty. We have this testimony before
us, and the same is manifest in any
congregation of the Saints anywhere.
Some time ago I met a man and a wo-
man against the Valley House here.
The woman said to me, "Do you know
me?" I said, "No, I don't." "Do you
know this man?" "No, I don't." "Well,"
said she, "he was born dumb, and
when he and I were baptized in Here-
fordshire, you laid hands on him and
his speech was given to him, and he
has been able to talk from that day to
this." I do not speak of these things
boastingly. We have no chance for
boasting, because any man who has
these gifts knows they are of God, and
not of man. I never saw a minute in
my life when I felt I had occasion to
boast of any gift or blessing that God
gave to me. Whatever power I have
received, whatever I have been able to
do, has been by the gift of God.
I pray God my Heavenly Father that
we may always live in that way and
manner that when we arrive on the
other side of the veil we shall receive
all those gifts and blessings that belong
to the Saints of God who have been
true and faithful in any age of the
world. This people are called to preach
the Gospel. We have traveled to al-
most all nations. Thousands, upon
thousands have been brought into the
Church. Many of them are gathered
here in the valleys of the mountains.
We trust that the course we are pur-
suing may be such that we may be
justified before the Lord. There is no
doubt but there is opportunity to im-
prove in many of these things. With
regard to religion, every man has a
right to his religion. It is between him
and God; and it is between us and God.
Inasmuch as we do our duty, when we
get through we shall inherit all the
blessings that have been promised unto
us; and so will any people that keep the
commandments of God.