Brigham Young

“ And there is one saying I heard here to-day that I will repeat:—Whenever any one lifts his voice or hand to persecute this people, there is a chill passes through him, unless he is lost to truth and the Spirit of God has entirely left him. ”

“ Suppose this Church were so popular that a man could not be elected President of the United States unless he was a Latter-day Saint, we would be overrun by the wicked. I would rather pass through all the misery and sorrow, the troubles and trials of the Saints, than to have the religion of Christ become popular with the world. It would in such case go as the ancient church went. I care not what the world thinks, nor what it says, so they leave us unmolested in the exercise of our inherent rights Take a straightforward course, and meet the jeers and frowns of the wicked. ”

“ Have not there been Saints enough before us for us to learn by their experience, and revelations enough given for the Saints now not to be in the background? It is mortifying that the children of this world should know more about these things than the children of light. We know more about the kingdom of God. Take these young men, sixteen or eighteen years old, or these old men, or some who have just come into the Church, and let them go into the world, and, with regard to the kingdom of God, they can teach kings and queens, statesmen and philosophers, for they are ignorant of these things ”

“ We can see each other, hear each other, converse with each other, and, if we keep the faith, all things will be ours. The Saints do not own anything now. The world do not own anything. They are hunting for gold—it is the Lord's. If my safe had millions of gold in it, it would be the Lord's, to be used as he dictates. The time will come when those who are now dissatisfied will not be satisfied with anything; but the Saints who live their religion are and will be satisfied with everything. They know the Lord controls, and that he will control and save the righteous. ”

“ Joseph said, many and many a time, to us, "Never be anxious for the Lord to pour out his judgments upon the nation; many of you will see the distress and evils poured out upon this nation till you will weep like children." Many of us have felt to do so already, and it seems to be coming upon us more and more; it seems as though the fangs of destruction were piercing the very vitals of the nation. ”

“ We wish to increase; we do not wish to become aliens to the kingdom of God.
When people's eyes are opened and they see and understand how heinous it is to turn away from the truth, were they to reflect, and ask, "Shall I ever leave the faith? ever turn away from the kingdom of God?" ”

“ Then, continue to do right, that we may be His Saints; sow, plant, buy half a bushel of wheat here, and a bushel there, and store it up till you get your five or seven years' provisions on hand.
The war now raging in our nation is in the providence of God, and was told us years and years ago by the Prophet Joseph; and what we are now coming to was foreseen by him, and no power can hinder. Can the inhabitants of our once beautiful, delightful, and happy country avert the horrors and evils that are now upon them? ”

“ He has provided for the Saints. No matter what scarcity there is at present, He gave them bread. If they go without bread, they cannot say the Lord has withheld his hand, for he has been abundantly rich in bestowing the good things of the earth upon this people. Then why are we destitute of the staff of life? Comparing ourselves with our substance, we might say we have sold ourselves for naught. We have peddled off the grain which God has given us so freely, until we have made ourselves destitute. ”

“ What is proved by people's leaving us, before the heavens, before the angels, and all the prophets and holy men who ever lived upon the earth? You will see every man and woman, when they once consent to leave here, I don't care what name they are known by, whether Morrisites, Gladden Bishopites, Josephites, or any other ite, they make friends with the wicked—with those who blaspheme the holy name we have been commemorating here this afternoon, and they are full of malice and evil. ”

“ And here let me say to you, that instead of our having plenty here, with nobody to come to buy our substance—to purchase our surplus grain—the demand for what we can raise here will increase year by year.
Are we going to live our religion—to be the servants and handmaids of the Almighty? Are we going to continue in the faith, and try to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth? If we are, the prophecies will be fulfilled on us. We shall have the privilege of seeing the blest, and will be blest.
I look at things as a man looking philosophically ”

“ My faith does not lead me to think the Lord will provide us with roast pigs, bread already buttered, etc. He will give us the ability to raise the grain, to obtain the fruits of the earth, to make habitations, to procure a few boards to make a box, and when harvest comes, giving us the grain, it is for us to preserve it—to save the wheat until we have one, two, five, or seven years' provisions on hand—until there is enough of the staff of life saved by the people to bread themselves and those who will come here seeking for safety. ”

“ Be steadfast, always abiding in the truth. Never encourage malice or hatred in your hearts; that does not belong to a Saint. I can say in truth, that with all the abuse I have ever met, driven from my home, robbed of my substance, I do not know that a spirit of malice has ever rested in my heart. I have asked the Lord to mete out justice to those who have oppressed us, and the Lord will take his own time and way for doing this. ”

“ We want to live so as to have the Spirit every day, every hour of the day, every minute of the day; and every Latter-day Saint is entitled to the Spirit of God, to the power of the Holy Ghost, to lead him in his individual duties. ”

“ It was truly said here to-day, that the spirit we have embraced is one, and that we will flow together as surely as drops of water flow together. One drop will unite with another drop, others will unite with them, until, drop added to drop, they form a pond, a sea, or a mighty ocean. So with those who receive the Gospel. ”

“ Without the power of the Holy Ghost, a person is liable to go to the right or the left from the straight path of duty; they are liable to do things they are sorry for; they are liable to make mistakes; and when they try to do their best, behold they do that which they dislike.
I mention my intended trip, because I do not want to hear, when I return, that Brother Brigham: or Brother Heber, or somebody else, "has slipped away"—that "there is something the matter"—"something that is not right"—somebody saying "there is an evil of some kind, and we want to know it;" ”

“ There will be war, famine, pestilence, and misery through the nations of the earth, and there will be no safety in any place but Zion, as has been foretold by the Prophets of the Lord, both anciently and in our day.
This is the place of peace and safety. We would see how it would be if the wicked had power here, but they have not the power, and they never will have, if we live as the Lord requires us to. (Amen, by the congregation.)
Buy flour, you who can; and you, sisters, and children too, when harvest comes, glean the wheat fields. ”

“ Whenever any person wants to leave here, the thread is broken that bound him to the truth, and he seeks the society of the wicked; and it proves to every one who has the light of truth within him, that this is the kingdom of God, and that those who leave are of Anti-Christ. ”

“ Let us preach righteousness, and practise it. I do not wish to preach what I do not practise. If I wish to preach to others wholesome doctrine, let me practise it myself—show that example to others I wish them to imitate. ”

“ Do not be anxious to have this people become rich and possess the affection of the world. I have been fearful lest we come to fellowship the world. Whatever you have, it is the Lord's. You own nothing, I own nothing. I seem to have a great abundance around me, but I own nothing. ”

“ As war is wasting the productive strength of the nation, do you not think it becomes us to raise sugar, corn, wheat, sheep, etc., for the consumption of the old, the blind, the lame, and the helpless who will be left, that we may be able to feed and clothe them when they come here? ”

“ When I am travelling, I stop my whole train and say, "Boys, let us drive those cattle out, of that grain and put up the fence." If I can do any good in administering among the people, in trying to have them comprehend what is right and do it, that is my business, and it is also your business. ”

“ We will feed and care for them, for there are thousands of them who are good people, who have lived according to the best light and truth they knew. And by-and-by the prejudices that exist against us will be wiped away, so that the honest can embrace the truth. ”

“ I look at things before us in the future as a politician, as a statesman, as a thinking person. What is going to be the condition of this people and their surrounding neighbors? Do we not see the storm gathering? ”

“ We have proven to the heavens and to one another that we are not yet capacitated to receive all the Lord has for us, and that we have not yet a disposition to receive all he has for us. Can you understand that there is a time you can receive and there is a time you cannot receive, a time when there is no place in the heart to receive? The heart of man will be closed up, the will will be set against this and that that we have opportunity to receive. ”

“ If the earth rotates upon its axis each given point upon it moves 24,000 miles in twenty-four hours; while, if the sun goes round the earth, it must travel over a circle, in the same time, of which 95,000,000 is about the semi-diameter. He had not faith to believe that the earth could turn on its axis in twenty-four hours, but I showed him that he had to have millions and millions more faith than I had, when he believed the sun went round the earth. ”

“ They say, you can ride all day in some places but recently inhabited and not see any inhabitants, any plowing, any sowing, any planting; you may ride through large districts of country and see one vast desolation. ”

“ It is not our open enemies who will come here. I told the people last year that the flood and tide of emigration were conservative people, who wished in peace to raise the necessaries of life, to trade, etc—peaceful citizens. ”

“ It is the business of a Latter-day Saint, in passing through the street, if he sees a fence pole down, to put it up; if he sees an animal in the mud, to stop and help to get it out. I make such acts my business. ”

“ In such case no person would turn either to the right hand or to the left, in consequence of the motives, the sayings, or the doings of this one or that one; but they would march straightforward in the path that leads to eternal life; and if others stepped out of the way, they would walk straight along. ”

“ He has bestowed upon us gifts to be developed and used throughout all eternity—the gifts of seeing, of hearing, of speech, etc—and we are endowed with every gift and qualification, though in weakness, that are the angels ”