Brigham Young

“ You might just as well have been born in Missouri or Illinois, if your parents had been treated as they should have been. If let alone to enjoy the rights and liberties in common with our fellow-men, we would have beautified the land, made it an Eden and adorned it with everything desirable. ”

“ Are we going to cease to exist? No, this world is only a preparatory place to gain a knowledge of God, that we may be prepared to enter into a higher state of existence and glory, and grow up unto Christ our living head. Learn the ways of the Lord in your youth, and continue therein all the days of your life, that you may be prepared for that higher state of glory that awaits the faithful children of our God. ”

“ And the next is to honor your parents, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God has given us. Observe, children, and hearken. You are taught to worship the Lord, so are the children of the Christian world. They have their Sunday schools, and churches and meeting-houses, and their ministers and teachers who instruct the children. You go to them and ask them if they know anything about that Holy Being whom they worship, and whom they call God. Not that the comprehension of children is equal to that of the aged philosopher, but still you have some understanding. ”

“ Children, we are the pioneers of this country, with one exception, west of the Mississippi river; we established the first printing press in every State from here to the Pacific Ocean, and we were the first to establish libraries, and the first to establish good schools; we were the first to plant out orchards and to improve the desert country, making it like the garden of Eden. ”

“ I would have you look at those who make these accusations, look at certain characters we have and have had in our midst who are called ministers of justice, ministers of the law; they are bosom companions of thieves, liars and murderers; but the honorable and upright they hate because their deeds are evil; and they believe they have a mission, but it is a hard one to accomplish. ”

“ Little girls, permit me to ask you, Won’t you be so kind and so good as to take those pins or the india-rubber cords out of the back of the skirts of your dresses, so that you will look comely. They make you look uncomely, to see your dresses drawn around you, showing your form. Mothers ought to be ashamed of teaching their children such things. ”

“ I think very frequently, in looking upon the actions of men, that I do not have compassion enough; but when I see the wolf among the lambs I am after them, to see that they do not destroy the lambs. And when you are told that you do not know anything about "Mormonism," you may know it is wrong; you know something of it every day. ”

“ Listen to the instruction of your parents, and of your brethren who hold the holy Priesthood, and they will teach you the ways of happiness and of life eternal. If any of you are so unfortunate as to have parents who wander into by and forbidden paths, and who do things that are wrong, follow not after them, but honor them and be kind to them, and teach them by example the better way. Study the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, read the sermons that are published in the Deseret News, as well as all the standard works of the Church. ”

“ He is a personage without any body at all; he has neither body nor parts, he has no head, he has no ears, he has no eyes to see, he has no nose to smell, no mouth to speak, no arms to handle anything, nor a body to which these arms can be attached; he has no legs, he therefore cannot walk ”

“ Mothers should study and children should study to preserve the skin of the children from being ruined by dirt, and the heat of a scorching sun, and to keep themselves clean and pure; but children, now remember, study those books that teach you the way of life and salvation. ”

“ You have seen your fathers, who are farmers, go to their farms, and those who are mechanics, to their workshops, and our merchants to their place of business, without molesting any person, and what a terrible state of affairs this is. ”

“ If I can have quiet and the strict attention of the congregation I think all can hear me. The children, as well as those of older growth and manhood, will please cease their talking one to another, cease the rubbing of feet on the floor, cease to make noise. ”

“ It came from Missouri, centering itself upon Joseph, and fastened itself upon others. We lived in Illinois from 1839 to 1845, by which time they again succeeded in kindling the spirit of persecution against Joseph and the Latter-day Saints. Treason! treason! treason! they cried, calling us murderers, thieves, liars, adulterers, and the worst people on the earth. And this was done by the priests, those pious dispensers of the Christian religion whose charity was supposed to be extended to all men, Christian and heathen ”

“ And now that we are here, we are followed by a set of men who are ready to re-enact the scenes that we have already passed through. But we are now where we can keep and preserve ourselves in the possession of our homes and property. ”

“ Ask your mothers, then, to make your clothes suitable and becoming; and keep your hair smooth and nice. The hair is given to the female for adornment; and therefore let the ladies, young and old, adorn their heads with their hair. ”

“ The Governor left them in the hands of the mob, who entered the prison and shot them dead. John Taylor, who is present with us to day, was in the prison too, and was also shot, and was confined to his bed for several months afterwards. After the mob had committed these murders they came upon us and burned our houses and our grain. When the brethren would go out to put out the fire, the mob would lie concealed under fences, and in the darkness of the night, they would shoot them. At last they succeeded in driving us from the State of Illinois. ”

“ They drove us to the fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains, and it will be a hard matter to dispossess us again; it will prove a job, if undertaken, that they would be glad to let out before they get fairly into it. ”

“ The larger portion of this congregation have been born in this Territory; they know nothing of the outside world; they know but little in comparison as to the cause of their birth and education within the valleys of these mountains. ”