John Taylor

“ What people have we deprived of their rights? Among whom have we sown the seeds of sedition or injury of any kind? Have we gone to the North or South and interfered with any of the Territories or States surrounding us? No man that tells the truth can say so, for we have never done it; we have no need to do it; it is not in our hearts to do it; we cannot do it while we live our religion. The Lord is trying to teach us, if he can, and we are trying to teach each other, if we can; so that we may be elevated and exalted in the scale of intelligence, morality, virtue, honesty, and truth ”

“ We live by breathing the air that God gives us, by drinking the water that He causes to flow for our sustenance, and by cultivating the earth in order that we may partake of the products of the earth. This is one of the first duties pertaining to man, and hence when we meet together to form new settlements as part of the body politic—as part of the kingdom of God, it devolves upon all of us always to ascertain how we can sustain ourselves in the position in which we are placed. ”

“ We have begun to live for ever, and feel to rejoice and be glad under all circumstances, and to sing "Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigned, and will reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet." ”

“ We meet together as men of intelligence, as men possessing natural wants, who have natural bodies, which bodies have to be clothed, to be fed and provided for; we meet together as rational individuals and as heads of families, who have children growing up that need, in the first place, to be instructed in the common laws of life, and in those things that are necessary to promote our common well-being. The first thing that devolves upon all human beings, so far as I can comprehend it, is to provide a way for their own sustenance. ”

“ We sometimes feel a little indignant at the actions of men around us; we think that they act strangely, and so they do. We think that they are very full of prejudice, and so they are; we think that they are very wicked and show a very malignant spirit toward us, and are desirous to injure us, and we have often been astonished at this when we have been abroad in the world; we have seen very honorable, high-minded men and women that fear God and work righteousness, and yet there is an array of prejudice and persecution against them that would almost astonish us. ”

“ The Lord knew in former times how to put a hook into the jaws of the enemies of Israel, and he knows just as well where to place it to-day. The nation in which we live and all nations are in the hands of God; and so are we, and our enemies cannot help themselves nor avert the destiny that awaits them. He will accomplish his purposes towards them, and they cannot help it, and towards us, and they can, not help it. Then we are all in the hands of God, like clay in the hands of the potter, to be moulded, and trained, and fashioned according to the designs of God and according to his will. ”

“ Are they prospering in the south? We acknowledge the hand of God in it. Is the climate tempered in the north? We acknowledge the hand of God in it. Do the rains descend upon our parched land and cause it to bring forth luxuriantly? We acknowledge the hand of God in it; and so we do in everything that we see, and in everything that we have to do with; for we read "that the wrath of the Almighty is kindled against none but those who do not acknowledge his hand in all things." ”

“ Whoever has possessed the Gospel, whether in former or in latter times, it has brought life and immortality to light, to them; it shows men who they are and what they are; it shows them something about God; and it was said in former times that, this is life eternal to know God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. Without the Gospel it would be impossible for men to have any knowledge of God, or of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. Hence, when Jesus asked the question of his disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" ”

“ How often have we had to listen to such stuff and nonsense; like them, serve the devil, commit iniquity, go down to darkness and the shades of death, and live and die without God and without hope in the world, as they would have us to do, and die and be damned. God forbid, we will not do it. (Amen.) Our desire is to serve God; we know the ways of life, for God has taught them to us. We know in whom we have believed, for God has revealed it to us. ”

“ The Lord gives to them seed-time and harvest, summer and winter, and pours the rich blessings of heaven into their laps; He gives them mechanical talent and ingenuity; He inspires them with a knowledge of the arts and sciences; He has been pouring upon them the rich blessings of intelligence and of plenty for ages, but they do not acknowledge his hand. Men boast of their own intelligence, of their own wisdom, of their own power, might, and understanding—this is a general rule, with but few exceptions. ”

“ We know the Gospel is true, because the Gospel has made manifest itself to us, and we feel satisfied with regard to the course we are taking, and God being our helper, we will pursue it to the end. God is our friend, and we are the friends of God. ”

“ And what does the Gospel show us? It shows us who our Father is; it shows us our relationship to Him, and to our earthly father; it shows us our duty towards our children, our duty towards our wives, and wives their duty towards their husbands; it enters into all the ramifications of human existence. ”

“ One of the very first commandments that God gave to Adam was, when He placed him in the garden, He told him to dress or till it, so that he might be able to provide for his necessities. The fiat of the Almighty, at the time when Adam was expelled from the Garden of Eden was to him, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread;" that we cannot avoid. By this inscrutable law we are compelled to attend to some of the first necessary affairs of life, or to go without bread and necessarily die. ”

“ We believe that the kingdom of God is a temporal kingdom as well as a spiritual and eternal kingdom, to use this expression according to our comprehension; and when men are deprived of the common necessaries of life, and have not wherewith to sustain themselves, they have but very little time to attend to religious matters, and they cannot be of much benefit to their brethren in helping to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth. ”

“ It is good to speak on the goodness of God, and it is pleasant and instructive to hear; we enjoy a privilege that is not possessed by any of the inhabitants of the earth except ourselves; it is a privilege which, when properly understood by the Saints, they will esteem to be greater than any other earthly blessing that can be bestowed upon them. ”

“ People think it is strange that the "Mormons" do not develop the gold in these mountains; but those who understand the mind of God, understand that he has a protecting care over his people, and that we are in his hands, and that he will sustain us. ”

“ What is it that we are aiming at, and who are we seeking to injure in the world? Who have been injured by us? There is no man living who can speak the truth and say he has been injured by this people. ”

“ We have been in the habit of reading the words of the prophets in relation to the establishment of the kingdom of God, and what they have said, and the Spirit, by which they were inspired. We have reflected a good deal upon what the Lord would do in relation to establishing correct principles upon the earth in the last days. ”

“ The Gospel places men in communication with the Lord, so that they can understand something of God, and something of His law, and without the Gospel they cannot understand anything about Him; and hence some will think one thing about Him and some another. ”

“ Hence, when we hear of any difficulties, such as we have heard of in the the south at various times, and from other sources, pertaining to the existence of man, it causes a thrill of feeling to go through the whole of the people that form part of the kingdom of God; for if one member of the body suffers, they all suffer with it ”

“ We have been taught to pay our tithing, that we might acknowledge to God that we are his people, and that if he gave us all we ask, we might give one-tenth back to him, and by that act acknowledge his hand. ”

“ I care nothing about the extent of their capacity, reading, or intelligence acquired or possessed; unless they have possessed the Spirit of the living God, they cannot comprehend the affairs pertaining to the kingdom of God. ”

“ How often have we heard President Young, President Kimball, and others say to the people, "Why not go to work and plant orchards, it is a very little thing to talk about; why will you not make good fences, and make good gardens, and build good, comfortable houses, and try to make yourselves happy and comfortable." ”

“ It is sometimes hard for us to realize that we are in the hands of God, and that he controls, and manages, and guides our affairs. This is the thing we wish to understand, and wish the people to understand that our confidence is in Him. ”

“ Thou shalt be blessed above all people; there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle." "The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face; they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways." Then the curses are enumerated that should come upon them if they forsook the Lord their God and observed not his statues. While the children of Israel obeyed the Lord their God the land abounded in wine, corn, and oil, and they vanquished their enemies. ”

“ He does not care about them, so far as they benefit Him, but He does, so far as they develop perfection in the Saints of God, and show that they acknowledge his hand as the author and the giver of every blessing they enjoy. One of the prophets says, "The gold and the silver are His, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." ”

“ As it regards any of those outside influences, we need not fear in relation to them; we need not fear anything they can say and do, for they can do nothing but what God permits. He will let them wander about on Hams Fork, and live on mule flesh for a while ”

“ He is desirous to show us how to save ourselves, how to bless ourselves, temporally and spiritually, intellectually, morally, physically, politically, and in every possible way that He is capable of bestowing his blessings upon fallen humanity. ”