Brigham Young

“ Pertaining to the officers that brother Hyde has alluded to, there is no statute law in the United States, in neither the constitution nor the statutes at large, but what allows the Latter-day Saints every prerogative they could ask for. There is no right or privilege that we could ask to enjoy—none that any other people could reasonably ask to enjoy, but what is guaranteed unto us by the constitution and laws of the United States. ”

“ I know of men bearing the character of Latter-day Saints, who, because a "Mormon" dealer would not let his goods go out of the store without pay, or a good prospect of pay, would go to the gentile stores and get trusted, and then say, "O what a good man that gentile is!" while, at the same time, he is as full of hell as an egg is full of meat, and all he wants is a chance to spew it out. ”

“ Those whom the Government sends here are a most miserable set; and, as a general thing, they do know enough to tell a decent lie. But this is not altogether to be wondered at, for they are under the same difficulty as we are sometimes: it is hard for them to tell a man who has got brains in his head from one who is filled with pudding. ”

“ I do have that power and influence here that no other man on this earth has in the midst of his community, with the exception, perhaps, of some whom we call heathen, and the members of the Church of Rome. ”

“ They will meet you with bland expressions, with soft silky hands, and velvet lips, and will blarney around you; but let a mob come, and they are ready to point out their victims here and there, and be glad to see us destroyed. ”

“ Officials who feel to traduce the name and character of the Latter-day Saints, whether they be judges, marshals, Indian agents, or holding any other office under the United States' Government in this Territory, have to violate and trample under their feet their oaths to be loyal to the Government and laws by which they profess to be governed, in order to intrude in the least on the rights of this or any other peaceful, law-abiding community. ”

“ There are few men who, like myself, feel the burden of this; but take the mass of the community, and it is, "How do you do, Mr. Devil?" And for a pound of tea, or a pint of whiskey, it seems that many might be bought. And when a "Mormon" undertakes to sell goods here, many of the people think that he ought to give them away, or sell to them upon credit, which they never try to cancel. And if the "Mormon" merchant deals upon a business principle, the people will flock to the gentile stores, where they will trust them. Why will they trust them? Because they know that they will get their pay. ”

“ There are but few here that actually know the face of a Saint from that of a devil; and that is one reason why we are exhorting the people all the time to obtain the spirit of revelation, that they may know whether they are right themselves or not, and whether their neighbours are right or not; and that when truth is presented to them they can partake of it and receive it with a keen appetite, as food which their spirits rejoice in ”

“ Had he succeeded, he would have been the most influential man in the Government. simply because he had become the President.
It has been the practice for years, in the United States, for each party to have what they call a Corruption Fund, to which the members contribute their fifty cents, five dollars, or fifty dollars. What for? To carry on an election. There is not an election for a President of the United States that probably costs less than one-half of the worth of the State of New York or Pennsylvania. Hundreds of millions are expended in the presidential election at each four years. ”

“ If we cannot always discern the children of men, it is no wonder that they are blind, and cannot send men here capable of making a decent lie. If they have not already told every falsehood about us that they can invent, they will be mighty sorry when they think of it ”

“ There is no people on this earth, in a national capacity, but what have been operated upon to return to what they themselves, in their own government, have prepared the way to accomplish. That is the overruling hand of God in the midst of the people, when they know it not. ”

“ Horse teams and mule teams will haul rock as well as oxen, though it is generally supposed that they cannot. We will sell our cattle to pay our debts; for, if some poor, miserable people tell the truth, and we have to leave here, I do not want to go away in debt to our enemies; for the Lord has told us not to go in debt to our enemies. If I can get the brethren to do as we want them to do, in a short time we will not owe a Gentile one half dollar. ”

“ God suffered him to be slain for His testimony, that it might become a law through being sealed by his blood, which was the case the moment his blood was spilled, the same as with the law of Jesus Christ when he spilled his blood. ”

“ Speaking as the world view men and things, in the eyes of the vast majority of mankind, the Devil is the greatest gentleman that ever made his appearance on this earth. In accordance with their estimate, you cannot begin to produce a person who is so much of a gentleman as the Devil himself. ”

“ Men who think, know that all such persons are devoid of the principal item, viz., good sense to discern that they do not rightly understand things themselves. They are like the chap who thought he knew it all, and a doctor said to him, "Between you and me, we know everything." ”

“ They spend their scores of thousands and hundreds of thousands to get the name of having an influence—of being a man who can wield a certain amount of power. This is also the feeling with Cabinet officers, Senators, Representatives, and Governors of States; and even the clerks in the different departments at Washington will, if they have the money, give a large portion of their salary just to get a clerkship. Office-hunters will throw a hundred dollars here, and fifty dollars there, to secure their election or appointment. ”

“ It would please me much if the congregation that assembles here from Sabbath to Sabbath could hear the details of the foul slanders of men that have been here, that they might know what they will spew out. The great majority of this people have no idea what rottenness those characters carry within them ”

“ There is but one fact that makes our enemies mad at us, and it is a principle visible and tangible to the natural senses, though I would not say that it is the internal working of the natural senses to the natural man. ”

“ We want men to stay at home, unless they come to do the clean work and provide for themselves and animals.
We have wagons rigged for transporting heavy blocks of stone, and we are going to try hauling them with horses. If you do not believe that horses and mules can haul heavy stones as well as oxen, come and see my horses and mules do it; they will do it better than oxen. ”

“ The house of Israel is scattered upon every island and among every nation: they have to be gathered by the Gospel's being preached to them; and we expect to have the Devil to fight. Joseph said, years ago, that he had all hell on his back, and all the world. ”

“ We can look men out of our community, and they will run and howl, thinking that their lives are in danger.
I presume that there are still hundreds and thousands of communications daily sent to the President of the United States by applicants for office, whom, if he could take up on chips, as we can, and set them out at Washington, he would most gladly so dispose, of. But what is to be done? Why, give the poor, miserable dog a crumb, or an, old bone, and say, "Get out, now! ”

“ I think that scores of men have come to me and said, "Brother Brigham, don't you want a team to work on the Public Works? I really want to let a team go on to the Public Works." We have not needed them until now. We are going to sell our oxen to pay our debts, and we will now let the brethren work with their teams, as they have desired. ”

“ They also get fine ladies to electioneer with different influential gentlemen, and they exert their influence in the various States where they reside. The female portion of the community have elected the President for years and years. And the Corruption Fund is made use of by the different parties, one man throwing out five hundred dollars for one place, another a thousand, another two or three thousand. ”

“ What do they do in Congress? Before the last presidential election, there was not as much business done by that army of men as would rightly occupy the time of any legislative body for a very few days. ”

“ We mean to pursue our course, build up the kingdom of God on earth, and establish Zion. We have also got to assist in rebuilding Jerusalem; for, as brother Kimball has said, if it is built up, we have got to assist in doing it. ”

“ Candidates for Congress will deal out a thousand dollars to a certain set of men to go to one district and electioneer, and five hundred to another, and two hundred to another, according to the influence of the people in the district. ”

“ So it is with them; they are all the time afraid of justice. When they come here they are afraid that justice is going to overtake them, instead of the "Mormons" doing them harm; and they do not like justice. ”

“ We do not want any such proffered blessings, but we want them proffered upon the principle that you hire your own board or bring it with you, and bring your horse-feed and maintain yourselves, just as you do at home about your own work, and come and do the labour necessary to be done. We do not wish any man to say, "Here I am ”