THE GOSPEL-GROWING IN KNOWLEDGE-THE LORD'S SUPPER-BLESSINGSOF FAITHFULNESS-UTILITY OF PERSECUTION-CREATION OF ADAM-EXPERIENCE

A DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG, DELIVERED IN THETABERNACLE, GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, OCT. 23, 1853.

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I wish to bear my testimony, before this congregation, to the religionwhich is called "Mormonism," and preached by the Elders of theprofession in all the world; and that, we believe, is the Gospel of salvation,and calculated to save all the honest in heart who wish to be saved.

This is my testimony concerning it-It is the power of God unto salvationto all who believe and obey it. The words "obey it," I have addedto the text as it is given to us by King James's translators. To say itis the power of God unto salvation to them that believe, and that be theend of it, then the people could not be saved by it. It is quite possiblesome may argue the point as it is held out in the New Testament reading,and in their own estimation justly. But to me one argument is sufficientto lay the matter at rest in my mind-a person who disobeys the Gospel, andoperates against it, may not only believe it, but know it to be true. ThereforeI read the Scripture thus-"This Gospel that we preach is the powerof God unto salvation to all who believe and obey it."

My testimony is based upon experience, upon my own experience, in connexion[connection] with that obtained by observing others. To me it has becomepositively true-no doubt remains upon my mind, whatever, as the power ofthe revealed will of Heaven to man upon the minds of the people, when theprinciples of salvation are set before them by the authorized ministersof heaven. The heavenly truth commends itself to every person's judgment,and to their faith and more especially to the senses of those who wish tobe honest with themselves, with their God, and with their neighbor. YetI must admit that all men are not operated upon alike; the evidence of truthcomes more forcibly to the understanding of some than others. This is owingto numerous influences. The Gospel may be preached to an individual, andthe truth commend itself to the conscience of that person, creating buta little faith in its truth, to which there may be an addition made. Ifpersons can receive a little, it proves they may receive more. If they canreceive the first and second principles with an upright feeling, they mayreceive still more, and the words of the Prophet be fulfilled. He, seeingand understanding the mind of man, and the operations of the different spiritsthat have gone abroad into the world, and knowing the ways of the Lord,and the vision of his mind being opened to those things we call mysteries,said-"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understanddoctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line,line upon line, here a little, and there a little." That is, He givesa little to His humble followers to-day, and if they improve upon it, to-morrowHe will give them a little more, and the next day a little more. He doesnot add to that which they do not improve upon, but they are required tocontinually improve upon the knowledge they already possess, and thus obtaina store of wisdom. It is plain, then, that we may receive the truth, andknow, through every portion of the soul, that the Gospel is the power ofGod unto salvation that it is the way to life eternal; still there may beadded to this, more power, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The Apostledoes not say, grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth, as Jesusdid; no, but it reads, "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of ourLord and Saviour Jesus Christ," which implies a growing in strength,wisdom, and understanding, as he did.

It is the privilege of all saints to grow and increase in understanding,and to spread abroad. If they receive a little, it is their privilege toimprove upon that little, and so receive more, and they become perfect inthe Lord-knowing and understanding perfectly His ways. Then the manifestationsof His providence among the children of men cease to be a mystery to them.Kingdoms and thrones, princes and potentates, with all their earthly splendor,may be hurled to the dust, and revolution upon revolution may spread scenesof affliction and blood among the inhabitants of the earth, yet their eyesare open to see the handy work of the Lord in all this. They realize thatHe is capable of endowing His ministers and servants on the earth with thesame power as He possesses in Himself, that He scrutinizes every particleof His work, and that not a hair of their heads can fall to the ground withoutHis notice.

I bear my testimony that the Gospel you have embraced is the way oflife and salvation to every one that believes it, and then obeys it withan honest intent. The inquiry may arise in the minds of some, as to howfar they shall obey it. Every son and daughter of God is expected to obeywith a willing heart every word which the Lord has spoken, and which Hewill in the future speak to us. It is expected that we hearken to the revelationsof His will, and adhere to them, cleave to them with all our might; forthis is salvation, and any thing short of this clips the salvation, andthe glory of the Saints. Consequently, we are here to-day, engaged in theadministration of the ordinance of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Howdoes it appear to you, and what are your sensations, when the servants ofthe Lord present to you the emblems of His body? Do you believe you receivelife? Do you realize that you receive any benefit? Do you feel that youwill receive fresh strength, or additional, knowledge, through this holyordinance? Or, do you do it because others do it? Do you partake of thesetokens of the love of the Redeemer because it is a mere custom? Sufficeit to say, varied are the feelings among the human family upon this subject.

If you ask a certain class of the Priests of Christendom what they thinkof the bread and wine administered for the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper,they will declare that the bread is the actual flesh, and the wine the realblood, of him who was slain for the sins of the world.

If you ask another class of men what benefit they derive from partakingof the Sacrament, from eating and drinking the emblems of the body and bloodof Christ, they reply, "It is merely a token of our fellowship witheach other." Is there any life, any power, any real and substantialbenefit to be obtained by adhering to, and obeying faithfully, this ordinance?What do the Latter-day Saints think about it? Do they understand the truenature of this ordinance? Perhaps they do, and again perhaps they do not.

It is an easy matter for me to understand the information the Lord hasimparted to me, and then communicate the same to you. Will the bread administeredin this ordinance add life to you? Will the wine add life to you? Yes; ifyou are hungry and faint, it will sustain the natural strength of the body.But suppose you have just eaten and drunk till you are full, so as not torequire another particle of food to sustain the natural body; you have eatenall your nature requires; do you then receive any benefit from the breadand wine as mere articles of food? As far as the emblems are concerned,you receive strength naturally, when the body requires it, precisely asyou would by eating bread, and drinking wine, at any other time, or on anyother occasion.

In what consists the benefit we derive from this ordinance? It is inobeying the commands of the Lord. When we obey the commandments of our heavenlyFather, if we have a correct understanding of the ordinances of the houseof God, we receive all the promises attached to the obedience rendered toHis commandments. Jesus said-Verily, verily I say unto you except ye eatthe flesh of the Son of God, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.Again, "He that eateth me," "shall live by me." Again,"Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life.""For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."

Can you understand these sayings of the Saviour? These sayings are butisolated portions of the vast amount of instructions given by him to hisfollowers in his day. Had a thousandth part of his teachings to them beenhanded down to us, and all his doings been faithfully recorded and transmittedto us, we should not have known what to do with such a vast amount of information.The Apostle says, "And there are also many other things which Jesusdid, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that eventhe world itself could not contain the books that should be written."

Allow me to explain this text. The Apostle could not possibly mean whatthe language of the quotation implies-that the whole earth would have beencovered with books to a certain depth; no, but he meant, by that saying,there would have been more written than the world of mankind would receive,or credit. The people then were as they are in this day-they are continuallyreaching after something that is not revealed, when there is more writtenalready than they can comprehend. Instead of saying the world could notcontain the books, we will say there would have been more written than thepeople would carry out in their lives.

I will now tell you what the Saviour meant by those wonderful expressionstouching his body and blood. It is simply this-"If you do not keepthe commandments of God, you will have no life of the Son of God in you."Jesus, as they were eating, took the bread, and blessed it, and broke it,and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body.And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drinkye all of it; for this is my blood of the New Testament; which is shed formany for the remission of sins." What were they required to drink itfor? What are we partaking of these emblems for? In token of our fellowshipwith him, and in token that we desire to be one with each other, that wemay all be one with the Father. His administering these symbols to his ancientdisciples, and which he commanded should be done until he came, was forthe express purpose that they should witness unto the Father that they didbelieve in him. But on the other hand, if they did not obey this commandment,they should not be blessed with his spirit.

It is the same in this, as it is in the ordinance of baptism for theremission of sins. Has water, in itself, any virtue to wash away sin? Certainlynot; but the Lord says, "If the sinner will repent of his sins, andgo down into the waters of baptism, and there be buried in the likenessof being put into the earth and buried, and again be delivered from thewater, in the likeness of being born-if in the sincerity of his heart hewill do this, his sins shall be washed away. Will the water of itself washthem away? No; but keeping the commandments of God will cleanse away thestain of sin.

When we eat of this bread, and drink of this water, do we eat the literalflesh of the Son of God? Were I a priest of the Roman Catholic church, andhad been trained from my youth in that faith, I might believe fully, withmy whole heart, that my prayers would transform the bread of the eucharistinto the literal flesh, and the wine into the literal blood, of the Sonof God. But notwithstanding my faith on that matter, the bread and winewould be just the same in their component parts, and would administer tothe mortal systems of men, or of beasts, the same amount and kind of nutrimentthat the same quantity of unblessed bread and wine would. If bread and wineare blessed, dedicated, and sanctified, through the sincerity and faithof the people of God, then the Spirit of the Lord, through the promise,rests upon the individuals who thus keep His commandments, and are diligentin obeying the ordinances of the house of God. So I understand all the ordinancesof the house of the Lord. You know we used to get down upon our knees andpray for the remission of sins; and we would pray until we got peace ofmind, and then we thought our sins were forgiven. I have no fault to findwith this, it is all right. Many in this way have been made to rejoice inthe hope of eternal life, to rejoice in the gift of the Spirit of the Lord,and in the light of His countenance. Many received heavenly visions, revelations,the ministering of holy angels, and the manifestations of the power of God,until they were satisfied; and all this before the ordinances of the houseof God were preached to the people. They obtained those blessings throughtheir faith, and the sincerity of their hearts. It was this that calleddown heavenly blessings upon them. It was their fervency of spirit, andnot their obedience to the celestial law, through which they received suchblessings and it was all right. What is required of us when the law comes?We must obey it, as old Paul did. He was a servant of God in all good conscience,when he took care of the clothes of these who stoned Stephen to death: butwhen the law came, sin revived in him, and he said, "I died."That is, his former notions of serving God, his former incorrect traditions,all appeared to him in their true light, and that upon which he had trustedfor salvation as baseless as a dream, when the law of the Lord came by JesusChrist; and in it he found the promises and the gifts and the blessingsof the holy Gospel, through obedience to the ordinances. That is the onlylegal way to obtain salvation, and an exaltation in the presence of God.

In this light do I view all the ordinances of the house of God. I donot know of one commandment that may be preferred before another; or ofone ordinance of the house of God, from the beginning to the end of allthe Lord has revealed to the children of men, that is not of equal validity,power, and authority with the rest. So we partake of bread and wine, obeyingthe commandments of the Lord; and by so doing we receive the blessing.

But how do the people feel? Perhaps you will refer the answer of thisquestion to myself. Were I to answer it, I should say, they feel every way.Permit me to refer particularly to the brethren and sisters who have latelycome to this place-they have all the variety of feelings that is commonto the human heart. They know how they feel; they are my witnesses. Themost frivolous and trifling circumstance that can transpire, will producein them the most keen and cutting trial. What can we say about it? For oneI will say, let them come, the small trials and the large ones; let thembe many or few, it is the same; let them come as the Lord pleases. BrotherHeber C. Kimball was speaking this morning about this people being drivenfrom pillar to post, and he told the cause of their many trials. I willask a question concerning this matter. If you had not been driven from YorkState, the persecution become so hot as to send you up to Kirtland, Ohio,would you have known as much as you now know? Persecution did not commencein Kirtland, nor in Jackson County, but it commenced at the time Josephthe Prophet sought the plates in the hill Cumorah. It did not commence afterI came into the Church, but I found it at work when I entered the Church.

Suppose Joseph had not been obliged to flee from Pennsylvania back toYork State, would he have known as much as he afterwards knew? Suppose hecould have stayed in old Ontario County in peace, without being persecuted,could he have learned as much as he did by being persecuted? He fled fromthere to Kirtland, accompanied by many others, to save their lives. Thereare men now in this Church, whom I see before me, and in full fellowship,who haunted my house for days, weeks, and months to kill me, and I knewit all the time; and Joseph had to flee to Missouri.

Would he have known as much if this persecution had not come upon him,as he afterwards did by its coming upon him? When the people left Kirtlandthey went to Jackson County, Missouri, and Joseph commenced to lay out acity to be called Zion; and not now, but after a time, when the Lord hasaccomplished His preparatory work, it will be built, even the New Jerusalem.The brethren were persecuted also in Jackson County, and driven out; theyhad trial upon trial, persecution on the right hand and on the left. Suppose,when they went to Jackson County, all the people of Missouri had hailedthem as brethren, fellow citizens, and as neighbors, and had treated themaccordingly, and they had been protected in their religious liberty, wouldthe people that were driven from Jackson County have known as much as theynow know? Could they have gained the knowledge and wisdom they have obtainedby means of their persecutions? You can answer these questions to suit yourown minds. When they had to flee from Ohio to Missouri, it certainly gavethe people an experience they could not have obtained in any other way.When they were driven from Jackson County, and went to Clay, Ray, Caldwell,and Davies counties, persecution still followed them, and every man andwoman who acknowledged Joseph Smith to be a Prophet, had to leave the Stateforthwith.

I feel inclined now to give some of you a gentle touch on the left side.Brethren, how glad I am to see you; how pleased I am to see you; where haveyou been these few years back? Where have you been living? Where did yougo after you left Missouri? "Why I stayed there." I say, therewas not a man who would say that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, could staythere; they had all to leave the State; and you will now show yourselvesat this late day, and try to have us believe you are first-rate Latter-daySaints. My thoughts are, "YOU POOR DEVILS!"

I hope I do not hurt any of your feelings. If you will do right fromthis time henceforth, and help with your mights to build up the Kingdomof God, I will hold you in fellowship after you have thus proved yourselves.But you may regard it as an established fact, that I have no fellowshipfor you yet; and I have as much as the Lord has. Still, if I have anythingto fear, it is that I fellowship people too much, when they are not worthy;that is, I reflect-"Can I be more merciful than the Lord?" ButI have not got light enough nor wisdom enough to fellowship men who livedin peace with those who sought to kill us.

Ask yourselves whether you think this people would have received asmuch as they have received, if they never had been persecuted. Could theyhave advanced in the school of intelligence as far without being persecuted,as they have by being persecuted? Look for instance at Adam. Listen, yeLatter-day Saints! Supposing that Adam was formed actually out of clay,out of the same kind of material from which bricks are formed; that withthis matter God made the pattern of a man, and breathed into it the breathof life, and left it there, in that state of supposed perfection, he wouldhave been an adobie to this day. He would not have known anything.

Some of you may doubt the truth of what I now say, and argue that theLord could teach him. This is a mistake. The Lord could not have taughthim in any other way than in the way in which He did teach him. You believeAdam was made of the dust of this earth. This I do not believe, though itis supposed that it is so written in the Bible; but it is not, to my understanding.You can write that information to the States, if you please-that I havepublicly declared that I do not believe that portion of the Bible as theChristian world do. I never did, and I never want to. What is the reasonI do not? Because I have come to understanding, and banished from my mindall the baby stories my mother taught me when I was a child.

But suppose Adam was made and fashioned the same as we make adobies;if he had never drunk of the bitter cup; the Lord might have talked to himto this day, and he would have continued as he was to all eternity, neveradvancing one particle in the school of intelligence. This idea opens upa field of light to the intelligent mind. How can you know truth but byits opposite, or light but by its opposite? The absence of light is darkness.How can sweetness be known but by its opposite, bitter? It is by this meansthat we obtain all intelligence. This is,"Mormonism," and it isfounded upon all truth, upon every principle of true philosophy; in factthe Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true philosophy in existence. Thereis not one particle of it that is not strictly philosophical, though youand I may not understand all the fulness of it, but we will if we continuefaithful.

Let the brethren who have been persecuted and driven from city to city,inquire of themselves if they like it. Some of you may give a negative tothis inquiry. You recollect brother Taylor telling about a woman in FarWest who had her house burnt down some four or five times; she finally said,"she would be damned if she would stand it any longer." If hereyes had been opened to see, she would have thanked the Lord for that, morethan for anything else; that persecution was more precious to her than riches,because it was designed to teach her to understand the knowledge of God.Do I acknowledge the hand of the Lord in persecution? Yes, I do. It is oneof the greatest blessings that could be conferred upon the people of God.I acknowledge the hand of the Lord in levelling His people to the dust ofthe earth, and reducing them to a state of abject poverty.

Time and time again have I left handsome property to be inherited byour enemies.

Suppose we were called to leave what we have now, should we call ita sacrifice? Shame on the man who would so call it; for it is the very meansof adding to him knowledge, understanding, power, and glory, and prepareshim to receive crowns, kingdoms, thrones, and principalities, and to becrowned in glory with the Gods of eternity. Short of this, we can neverreceive that which we are looking for.

For example, I will refer to your crossing the plains. How could youin any other way have known the hardships incident to such a journey? Anddo you not feel ashamed for getting angry at your cattle, or for lettingpassion arise in your bosoms? Suppose you were rolling in wealth, and perfectlyat your ease, with an abundance around you; you might have remained in thatcondition until Doomsday, and never could have advanced in the school ofintelligence any more than Adam could have known about the works of God,in the great design of the creation, without first being made acquaintedwith the opposite? "Is there evil in the city and I have not done it,saith the Lord." There is no evil that is not known to the Lord. Hehas been perfectly acquainted with all the persecutions the Saints havepassed through. His hand was there, as much so as it is in building up andtearing down kingdoms and thrones on earth; and even the moth we trampleupon is not overlooked by Him. Everything is under His watchful eye; heunderstands all the works of His hands, and knows how to use them to Hisown glory. He has given the children of men the privilege of becoming equalwith His Son Jesus Christ, and has placed all things that pertain to thisworld in their hands, to see what use they will make of them.

Joseph could not have been perfected, though he had lived a thousandyears, if he had received no persecution. If he had lived a thousand years,and led this people, and preached the Gospel without persecution, he wouldnot have been perfected as well as he was at the age of thirty-nine years.You may calculate when this people are called to go through scenes of afflictionand suffering, are driven from their homes and cast down, and scattered,and smitten and peeled, the Almighty is rolling on His work with greaterrapidity. But let you and me live and die in peace, and in our lives wesend the Gospel to the nations, from kingdom to kingdom, and from peopleto people, will it advance with the same speed if it receive no persecution?If we had received no persecution in Nauvoo, would the Gospel have spreadas it now has? Would the Elders have been scattered so widely as they noware, preaching the Gospel? No, they would have been wedded to their farms,and the precious seed of the word would have been choked. "BrotherJoseph, or brother Brigham, do not call upon me to go on a mission, forI have so much to do I cannot go," would have been the general cry."I want to build a row of stores across this or that block, and placemyself in a situation to make $100,000 a year, and then I can devote somuch for the building up of the kingdom of God." The Elders would havebeen so devoted to riches, they would not have gone to preach when the Lordwanted them. But when they have not a frock to put upon the backs of theirchildren, or a shoe for their feet, then they can go out and preach theGospel to the world.

Well, do you think that persecution has done us good? Yes. I sit andlaugh, and rejoice exceedingly when I see persecution. I care no more aboutit than I do about the whistling of the north wind, the croaking of thecrane that flies over my head, or the crackling of the thorns under thepot. The Lord has all things in His hand; therefore let it come, for itwill give me experience. Do you suppose I should have known what I now know,had I not been persecuted? I can now see the hearts of the children of menwith the same clearness as I can your persons in the light of day. I knowwe have been sunk in the depths of poverty and wretchedness, by the handsof our enemies, but in this we have seen the works of the Lord, and theworks of darkness intermingled; this has taught us to discriminate betweenthe two, that we may learn to choose the good, and refuse the evil; or inother words, to separate the chaff from the wheat.

I am a witness that "Mormonism" is true upon philosophicalprinciples. Every particle of sense I have, proves it to be sound, naturalreason. The Gospel is true, there is a God, there are angels, there area heaven and a hell, and we are all in eternity, and out of it we can neverget, it is boundless, without beginning or end, and we have never been outof it. Time is a certain portion of eternity allotted to the existence ofthese mortal bodies, which are to be dissolved, to be decomposed, or disorganized,preparatory to entering into a more exalted state of being. It is a portionof eternity allotted to this world, and can only be known by the changeswe see in the composition and decomposition of the elements of which itis composed. The Lord has put His children here, and given them bodies thatare also subject to decay, to see if they will prove themselves worthy ofthe particles of which their tabernacles are composed, and of a gloriousresurrection when their mortal bodies will become immortalized. Now if youpossess the light of the Holy Spirit, you can see clearly that trials inthe flesh are actually necessary.

I will refer again to the brethren and sisters who have lately comeover the plains. My counsel to them today is, as it has been on former occasionsto all who have come into these valleys, Go and be baptized for the remissionof sins, repenting of all your wanderings from the path of righteousness,believing firmly, in the name of Jesus Christ, that all your sins will bewashed away. If any of you inquire what is the necessity of your being baptized,as you have not committed any sins, I answer, it is necessary to fulfilall righteousness.

I have heard of some of you cursing and swearing, even some of the Eldersof Israel. I would be baptized seven times, were I in your place; I wouldnot stop teazing [teasing] some good Elder to baptize me again and again,until I could think my sins forgiven. I would not live over another nightuntil I was baptized enough to satisfy me that my sins were forgiven. Thengo and be confirmed, as you were when you first embraced the religion ofJesus. That is my counsel.

Furthermore I counsel you to stop and think what you are doing, beforeyou commit any more sins, before you give way to your temper. The temper,or the evil propensities of men, when given way to, are the cause of theirsinning so much. The Lord is suffering the devil to work upon and try Hispeople. The selfish will, operated upon by the power of Satan, is the strongestcord that vibrates through the human system. This has been verified a thousandtimes. Men have sacrificed their money, their health, their good names,their friends, and have broken through every tender tie to gratify theirwills. Curb that, bridle the tongue, and then hold the mastery over yourfeelings, that they submit not to the will of the flesh, but to the willof the Holy Ghost; and decide in your own minds that your will and judgmentshall be none other than the will and judgment of the spirit of God, andyou will then and sin no more.

Many of the brethren who have led companies through this season arescattered through the congregation. I will tell a story you will scarcelybelieve. In the first place, I will remark, it has been very common forthe companies crossing the plains to send into the city for provisions tobe sent out to them. Again, many of you new comers have suffered for wantof food on the plains. Would you have suffered as you did if you had beenin possession of the experience you now have? "No," you reply."No," says this father, and that mother, and this man that broughtthrough a company, "had we the experience we now have, when we leftthe Missouri river, we could have come through, and none have suffered forfood, and less of our stock would have been destroyed." This experienceis good for you. It helps you to learn the lessons of human life, for theLord designs His people to understand the whole of it-to understand thelight and the darkness, the height and the depth, the length and the breadthof every principle that is within the compass of the human mind.

Now for the hard saying. Brother David Wilkin's company, Joseph Young'scompany, John Brown's company, and other companies, had more provisionsfor their journey, when they left Missouri river, by a great amount, thanthe first emigrants had who started to come to this valley, not knowingwhither they went, carrying with them their farming implements into a countrywhere they could obtain nothing to sustain themselves in life until theyraised it from the ground. When you started for this place, you had moreprovisions, according to your numbers, than the first pioneer companieshad who came here six years ago. Can you believe this statement? I can proveit to you. Here are hundreds who can testify to the truth of this statement.And you complain of suffering! If you suffer, it is for want of experience.This is positive proof to you, that were it not that the Lord turns us intothese difficulties, and leads us into these trials, we could not know howto be glorified and crowned in His presence. If these companies were againto cross the plains, they would have plenty, and some to spare to feed thepoor, and take up the lame, and the halt, and the blind, by the way, andbring them to Zion, and then have a surplus. Are you to blame? No. If youare to blame for anything, it is for complaining against the providenceof God, instead of feeling thankful for the knowledge and intelligence theLord has given you in this experience. When you are in the like situationagain, you can save yourselves, and those associated with you. Your experienceis worth more to you than gold.

Brother Kimball referred to Zion's camp going to Missouri. When I returnedfrom that mission to Kirtland, a brother said to me, "Brother Brigham,what have you gained by this journey?" I replied, "Just what wewent for; but I would not exchange the knowledge I have received this seasonfor the whole of Geauga County; for property and mines of wealth are notto be compared to the worth of knowledge." Ask those brethren and sisterswho have passed through scenes of affliction and suffering for years inthis Church, what they would take in exchange for their experience, andbe placed back where they were, were it possible. I presume they would tellyou, that all the wealth, honors, and riches of the world could not buythe knowledge they had obtained, could they barter it away.

Let the brethren be contented, and if you have trials, and must seehard times, learn to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in it all. He directsthe affairs of this world, and will until he reigns King of Saints. Thevail which is over this people is becoming thinner; let them be faithfuluntil they can rend it asunder, and see the hand of the Lord, and His goingsforth among the people, with a vision unobstructed by the vail of ignorance,and bless the name of the Lord.

Brethren and sisters, inasmuch as I have the right and privilege, throughthe Priesthood, I bless you in the name of the Lord, and say, Be you blessed.These are my feelings to the Latter-day Saints, and would be to all thehuman family, if they would receive my blessings, in the name of Jesus Christ.Amen.