What is the Mormon idea of its rule as the kingdom of God?" "It is this: we hold that this Church was set up and organized by com- mand of the Almighty; that it has the right to formulate and maintain rules of church discipline applying to its own members; that the extent of its punitive poweres is the Excommunica- tion of the transgressor; that it has no power to punish anyone by deprivat- tion of life, liberty or property or per- sonal injury in any form; that gov- ernments should not regulate the church, not the church seek to control the state; that all men should be polit- ically free and equal, free to vote as they please and to sustain what poli- tics they please, so that they do not infringe upon the rights of others. "We believe this Church will pre- pare the way for the coming of Christ to reign as King. and that this Church will then develop into the Kingdom of God, which all Christians pray will come; that the will of God may be done on earth as it is in heaven. We believe in the full and free agaency of man, and that when the kingdom is established there will be perfect lib- erty on earth, civil, political and re- ligious."

Let no man be alarmed because our soci- ety has commenced gathering to build a city and a house for the Lord as a refuge from present evils and coming calamities. Our fore- fathers came to the goodly land of America to shun persecution and enjory their religious opinions and rights as they thought proper; and the Lord after much tribulation blessed them and has said that we should continue to importune for redress and redemption by the hands of those who are placed as ruler and are in authority over us, according to the laws and constitution of the people, which he has suf- fered to be establish and should be maintain- ed for the rights and protection of all flesh according to just and holy principles; that every man act in doctrine and in principle pertaining to futurity according to the moral agency which the has given unto them; that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of Judgment; and for this purpose he has established the constitution of this land by the hands of wise men whom he raised up unto this very purpose, and re- deemed the land by the shedding of blood.

the Lord Jesus suffered & desended below all things, the Holy prophets & Apostles in evry age of the world have suffered greatly & come up through tribulations in there day & now we have ours, & we shall find at last that all our sufferings trials, & privations are ownly to prove us & more fully prepare us to rightly prise that rest, comprehend the glory, & enjoy the fulness of that reward which we shall receive at the end of the race

There are great changes at your door; there are great changes awaiting Zion; there great changes awaiting our own nation, and there are great changes to come upon Babylon. And the elements financial, social and political, which have been re- ferred to this evening, will be used by the Lord to overthrow this power- ful nation, and I know it, and bear testimony of it; although men gen- erally know not, and seemingly care not to know, but I know the hand of God is in these things, and he will rule and overrule in these material matters, and although not interfer- ing with men's agency, he will so order things that men will on natur- al principles bring about their own destruction and they alone will be to blame for it because their cup will be full.

The Lord has made ns [us] free agents, and it we wish to travel the path to heaven we must obey the laws that will guide us there.

Whenever the Saints are disunited upon anything, their progress in holiness stops right there. We are free agents and can go to heaven or to hell as we please; but upon the matter of the kingdom of God we must be willing to united as one man if we desire to receive salvation, for it is upon this principle that the heavens are governed. We are called to build up this kingdom, and no greater honor was ever conferred upon any beings in heaven or on the earth.

The gospel is free to all; it is with- out money and without price. But none can officiate in its ordinances acceptably to God, except those who have received divine authority to do so. For, says the apostle, no man taketh this honor unto him- self, except he be called of God as was Aaron. But there are a great many gospels, all claiming to be of Christ, and all differing more or less from one another, and from the one taught by the Saviour when upon the earth. When he who has the authority preaches the Gospel he promises, in the name of Jesus Christ, to all that believe and obey, that the Holy Ghost will be given them. By virtue of this promise all such can know for themselves whether it is of God or whether it is of man. If an unauthorized man goes forth, pretending to proclaim this same gospel, and it matters not how able and talented he may be, his doctrine can be detected, be- cause the promises which were to follow the believers in Christ are not realized, the Holy Ghost which imparts its gifts unto men are not received, and hence the fallacy of the doctrines of men is exposed, so that none need be deceived.

Every thing that God has made keeps the law of its creation and honors it except man. I have always marveled at this. Man- kind, who are made after the image of God to answer a high and noble purposes are the only beings in creation that will blaspheme his name and set at naught his authority. They have an agency, and the Spirit of God is of- fered to them as freely as the light of the sun, which shines on the just and on the un- just, if they would receive it.

The inhabitants of the earth have their agency. They must use that agency according to the desires of their own hearts whether they be for good, or whether they be for evil. But the day is at hand when the Lord will show the children of this generation that there is a God in Israel, as He has done in other dispensations when He has reigned. In all the his- tory of the dealings of God with man this one principle, sooner or later, has manifested itself: that virtue exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any people.

The Lord never raised up a better set of men and women since the world was than are they who have embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days. They have the testimony of Jesus Christ with them, and they have been called to pass through many trials thus far in the history and progress of the work of God. It is true that many have broken their covenants and turned away from the Lord, and the reason is that they stopped serving God and undertook to serve themselves, and that led them into darkness.