Brigham Young

“ If men do evil, we tell them of their meanness; whereas, in the other portion of our Government, men dare not speak their minds. They are tied up, bound up; they are in fetters and chains in every particular—as much so as brother Taylor has told you, and a great deal more. He said that if a man was found in Congress who dare speak in favour of innocence, justice, truth, and mercy, he dare not speak. ”

“ Will we fight the "Mormons," and will the Lord give the "Mormons" power to fight against us? Will the North make war upon the South? Will they take the sword one against the other? What will become of us? These forebodings are upon the people. They have dreams in the night which frighten them, and reflections in the day-time which give them sorrow; and they are harrassed from day to day. They are to be pitied ”

“ Hardly a man among them cares for the Government of the United States, any more than he does for the useless card that lies on the table while he is playing out his hand. They disregard the Constitution as they would any old fable in any old school book. Scarcely a member on the floor of Congress cares anything about it. ”

“ Let the Saints live their religion; let them have faith in God, do all the good they can to the household of faith and to everybody else, and trust in God for the result; for the world will not believe one truth about us. I tell you that the Government of the United States, and other governments that are acquainted with us, will not believe a single truth about us. ”

“ What will they believe? Every lie that every poor, miserable, rotten-hearted curse can tell. What are we to do, under these circumstances? Live our religion. Are you going to contend against the United States? No. But when they come here to take our. lives solely for our religion, be ye also ready.
Do I expect to stand still, sit still, or lie still, and tamely let them take away my life? I have told you a great many times what I have to say about that. I do not profess to be so good a man as Joseph Smith was. ”

“ When they reflect upon the maddened zeal of the leaders, they know that they can endure but a little while, and query, "What will come?" What will the Lord bring on the people—upon this happy government? What evil catastrophe is about to befall us? ”

“ They are drunk, not with strong drink, but with their own anger, and rage, and the spirit of the enemy which they have received. They are as wild as California horses. When a lasso is thrown on them, they will run madly against a fence, or a stone wall, or over a person, or anything; they are frantic, and would break their own necks. It is just so with the inhabitants of the earth, and especially so with our Government; and they are hastening with all possible speed, with the larriet around their necks, to jump the precipice and destroy themselves. ”

“ Every man will be judged according to the deeds done in the body. Did they know anything about heaven, or God? No, they did not. Could they even explain one of the first simple lessons in the religion we believe, with regard to mortal man? Could any of them explain what the soul of man is, when it is written in the Bible, and they have read it thousands of times? ”

“ I can answer for the people, and say that they are most perfectly satisfied with the labours of our Committee. When a man can say of a truth, "I have done the very best that I could in my mission," the heart of every Saint on earth acquainted with the circumstances, the angels in heaven, and our heavenly Father are all satisfied. There is no more required of us than we are capable of performing. ”

“ And if we accept salvation on the terms it is offered to us, we have got to be honest in every thought, in our reflections, in our meditations, in our private circles, in our deal, in our declarations, and in every act of our lives, fearless and regardless of every principle of error, of every principle of falsehood that may be presented. ”

“ We ought to live our religion, believe in our God, love and serve Him, be faithful to Him, to one another, to all our covenants, and keep the devils from killing us as long as we can, and that is just as long as we have a mind to. ”

“ They have to be separated from their sins and iniquity; they have to put off the old man, with all his deeds, and put on the new man Christ Jesus. If ever we see the time that we dare not tell men of their evils, and correct them when in fault, you may despair of salvation in this kingdom.
One grand cause of the enmity entertained towards us by officials sent here by the General Government has simply been, that I take the liberty of telling men where they do wrong and wherein they do wrong,—both those who are in the Church and those who are out of it ”

“ Some speak of the nations now on the earth forgetting God, they have not forgotten Him, for they have never remembered Him. They have not departed from His ways, for they never found them; they have not lost faith in Him, for they never had any. There are men sitting here who were brought up Christians, who were trained to believe in the sacred words of truth contained in the Old and New Testament. ”

“ I trust in my God, and in honest men and women who have the power of the Almighty upon them. What will we do? Keep the wicked off as long as we can, preach righteousness to them, and teach them the way of salvation. ”

“ I have heard men preach hours upon the soul of man; and one of the smartest men that I ever heard preach, wound up a long discource [discourse] by saying, "Finally, brethren, I must come to the conclusion that the soul of man is an immaterial substance." I have sat days and weeks, and months, and years to hear men explain the things of God ”

“ If there were any there, when our petition was expected to be presented, who felt in their hearts to favour it, they dared not open their mouths in favour of its being granted; for if they spoke at all, they must speak according to the popular notions of the people; they must go with the tide of popularity. ”

“ And though officers should pledge me their protection, as Governor Ford pledged protection to Joseph, I would not trust them any sooner than I would a wolf with my dinner; neither do I trust in a wicked judge, nor in any evil person. ”

“ It is also true that, when you correct an individual in his errors and try to place him in better circumstances pertaining to judgment and discretion, it is annoying, it is grievous, it is painful to the sensation of that individual. It is very true that chastisements are grievous when they are received; but if they are received in patience, they will work out salvation for those who cheerfully submit to them. ”

“ The Lord has bestowed the everlasting Priesthood upon the children of men for their salvation. It is not believed for a moment, by any person who believes in the Bible, that a man or woman can be saved in their sins. ”

“ Almost every man that has come from the East of late is telling you the political feelings and desires of the Government towards this people. Brother Taylor has just related that a gentleman he met on the road remarked, "What! can you 'Mormons' fight the United States? Can you contend with them? You had better take a more specific policy than you have. Do not speak about the President, nor about any of the officials." ”

“ If the time was that the Elders of Israel could not be chastened and corrected for their wrongs, and be set right, you may know that they have proved recreant to the faith. And if those who are appointed to lead this people dare not rise up and tell them of their iniquity and chastise them therefor [e] , and teach them the way of life and salvation, you may know that your leaders have fallen from their station. ”

“ The Spirit of the Lord has not yet entirely done striving with the people, offering them knowledge and intelligence consequently it reveals unto them, instructs them, teaches them, and guides them even in the way they like to travel. Men know how to construct railroads and all manner of machinery ”