Show DISCOURSE by president eidet es zet det BRIGHAM YOUNG toung yo UNG de der jt vered livered in the nem new tabernacle salt lake city april ath 8 1871 REPORTED BY DAVID DANID W EVANS EVAN S I 1 mave HAVE a few words to say to the congregation and I 1 wish perfect silence this I 1 is s a very large room and for any person to fill the space within these walls with his voice ho needs streng strength strengths tb of lungs and stomach and the attention of the congregation we have been witnessing this afternoon the worlds great objection to mormonism for we have had the of beholding the unanimous vote of the people when the names of the officers of the church were presented for election or rejection we ha the same oneness and unanimity this afternoon which characterize the latter day saints sainta on all occa ocea occasions and this it lt ii 14 objectionable to the world they say it is antidemocratic antidemocratic though we think not I 1 looked look ed over the congregation pretty diligently to discover a contrary vote but I 1 could coald not see such a thing when the vote was called all hands were up I 1 thought while witnessing this spectacle what harm barm is there in a people being of one heart and one mind but to use a common phrase I 1 could not see the point I 1 cannot discover any iniquity in a peoples being baing one if they are disposed t to chose evil instead of good sin instead of righteousness darkness instead of light falsehood faTse hood instead of truth where is the utility in being divided and quarrelling about it and I 1 if ff they have embraced believe in and love the truth or if they desire and are seeking for it I 1 ask where can be the harm in being one in this this is the one man power I 1 that there is so much said about now ask yourselves andlee me ask you who has been to you individually and told you to vote just as you have voted here today has haa any man visited your habitations to tell you that when you came to this house you must all vote tote precisely alike I 1 will pause right here and will request that if any person present has been so instructed ted he or she will let us know it I 1 do not see any person rise and I 1 need not look for aay any one to do so from the simple fact that not a word on this subject has been said to the latter day saints our doctrine is true and we like it our faith is one and we are one in it ltv ity our object is one and we pursue the straight and narrow path that leads to it this is for those who have only one ear half an ear or no ear at all for the truth or for those who wish to leave the truth though I 1 do not suppose there are any here this afternoon that wish to leave the truth for error that wish to forsake righteousness holiness and truth for unrighteousness corruption disorder confusion and death people do however leave this church but they leave leavo it because they get into darkness and the very day they conclude that there should be a democratic vote or in other words that we should have two candidates for the presiding priesthood in the midst of the L latter latten t day saints they conclude to be apostates there is no such thing as confusion division strife animosity hatred malice or two sides to the question in the house of god there is but one side to the question there you ask the kingdoms of the world if they have such an organization as the kin kingdom of god and they will tell you they ey have not they have no organization organ tion amongst them so perfect and complete well weil is it right for the people of the world to elect their presidents and rulers yes if they wish to for four years yes or for one year or for six months or one month if they wish to but when the tho lord appoints presidents he doe does not change them every month or year or every four years should they be changed nothey no they should not should they be changed in human governments no they should not and the nation that would delight ina lna in a good government the best possible for its preservation and strength should pattern in its organization atter alter the kingdom of god on the tho earth here are our tribunals and courts and our courts are courts of error to judge every matter and cause according to its merits and demerits well where is the harm in this I 1 wish the tho world or any scientific men in it would detail tho the error in in a people being one and I 1 will go still further and say being ona on 3 in the lord as we are commanded and recommended commenced to be even in the wicked world where there is so much confusion where is the good that arises from contention and opposition lon ion 1 I have not seen it and as I 1 have said I 1 cannot see the point but here in utah that one man power is such a terrible thing I 1 would ask who is that man and where is the tho power and what is the power it is the power of him who brought us into nto I 1 existence and he is the MAN max who wields it and he ho is the father of us all and the god and father rather of our lord jesus christ he is the maker and possessor of this earth that we inhabit and is the producer of all things upon it Is he one yes Is his trinity one yes Is hla hia organization one are the heavens one yes although we have a short account in what are called the scriptures of truth that on a certain occasion there was a little uttie confusion in heaven the lord has revealed something of this in these latter days what was the result one third part of the hosts of heaven walked out I 1 do not think the election lasted a great while if they had two candidates di I 1 and it appears they had and I 1 do not think they stopped very long at the polls or were very long counti counting Dg the votes to find out who would bo be president or who would not for they turned them out was there any reason for this would it be democratic to get up an election in b heaven eaven eaten and have opposition why yes according to the feelings and unger understandings standings of the political ital world it would be very democratic but I 1 would say to the tho political world if they were before me nie that the opposition they are so anxious to promote contains the tho seeds of the destruction of the government that we live in this is the plant or tree from which schism springs and d every government lays the fou foundation n dation of its own downfall when it permits what are called democratic elections if a party spirit is developed the formation ot of one party will be speedily followed by another and further farther furthermore more the very moment that we admit this we admit the existence of error and corruption somewhere where is it right bight points out its hiding place and says that truth and truth only will endure and that falsehood and corruption and error of every description are from beneath are aro of the enemy and the lord almighty suffered this schism in heaven to see what his subjects would do preparatory to their coming to this earth which we need not talk about today to day but the division did not take place in those who were redeemed from the earth and exalted and brought up into the presence of the father and the son to live in their presence and in their glory and be partakers par takers of their power but bat it was among another class and we are now in the midst of them there is but one thread that can bo be followed that will endure forever but one path that we can walk in that is eternal and that path is the path of perfection purity and holiness by ft this a and ana X this only have the gods been exalted alted acted the angels angeli live and the heavenly hosts bask in purity parity we are trying to prepare for it can error live no it is the very plant of destruction it destroys itself it withers wit ners it fades it falls and decays and returns to its native element every untruth all error everything that is unholy unlike god t will in its time perish every government not ordained of god as we have just been hearing will in its time crumble to the dust and be lost in the fog of forgetfulness and will leave no history ot at its doings why with all the knowledge and learning now in the world we have the history of only a very scanty portion of those who have peopled our earth irom the days of adam until now and we in our turn should go into the land of forgetfulness were it not for our organization and the oneness which prevail in our midst says jesus unless ye are one ye are not mine the counsel contained in this saying is the best that could be given who could have given better advice to his friends than thau jesus gave to his disciples be one for union is strength is it not yes go into the political world and you will find that union is strength it is the same in the mechanical world and if we take every artand art and science and all the pur pursuits suits of the human family in oneness there is strength sald said be ye one as I 1 and my father are one he in me and I 1 in him I 1 in you ac now I 1 finish this by saying if there is a person on the nace face of this earth that can give a true and philosophical reason why we should not be one I 1 wish he would bring it forth for the tho latter day saints want to have the best organization that can be and they want the best of everything that can be got we want the truth and the whole truth and we look forward with gladness to the time when we can caa say we have nothing but the truth we can not say that now we have an immense amount of error and we are very far from being perfect boutwe hope to see the time that we can sav say say that we have truth only the whole truth and nothing but the truth I 1 want to say a dew few words for the benefit of my brethren the elders and of all the latter day saints male and female old and young and then for the benefit of strangers christians and ministers of the different religious sects if they could ali all hear me rue today to day I 1 can tell you yon the tho difference in one grand principle between your our rel rei religion lolon and ours it is this we would not mate everybody bow down to our religion if we had the power for this would not be godlike but other religionists would it is not discovered by the world and it is not perceived enough by the elders of 0 israel the reasons why we do not prosper and travel faster and further lurther than we do we have not time to talk about perhaps today to day daw but I 1 will say this our religion 7 the religion of heaven differs very much from mans religion it has just been told us that the divines are in the habit of taking a text from the scriptures but when they do so they almost invariably prea chrom from it I 1 hardly handly ever heard a man in my life when in the we christ christian lan ian world preach to his text but directly from it this makes con confusion fusion fasion now suppose that we were to issue our edicts to the whole world of mankind for them to obey the gospel we preach and had the power to compel them to obey could we do it according to the dictates of our religion wo we could not we could invite them and could tell them how but we could not say and aln maintain aIn taIn vain the faith 1 that we have embraced you must bow down d own and profess our religion and submit to the ordinances of the kingdom of or god I 1 will alve give you a reason for this if this were our duty uty nty and it were legitimate if we had the power for us to make every person on the earth submit to the code a of laws and ordinances that we have submitted to it would prove that god is in fault in not making them do so but if we become godlike we will bojuso be just as full of charity as he is we would let pagans worship as they please and to the chrIst christians lans ians and and all sects and parties in the tho world we would say do just as yoa yon please for your volition is free and you must act upon it for yourselves before the heavens our religion will not us to command or force any man or woman to obey the gospel we have embraced and we are under no obligation to do this for every creature has as good a right according to his organization to choose for himself as the tho gods to use a comparison all have a right to eat bread or let it alone they may make and eat unleavened cakes as the people did anciently if thoy they choose and no person has a right to say to another why do you eat wheat bread corn bread or no bread at all why do you eat potatoes or why do you not eat them why do you walk or why do you sit down why do you read this or that book or why do you go to the right or the left for every one has a right to do as he likes in these respects respect res sall sali all ail being independent tin in their capacity and choice here is life for you here is salvation for you choose ye this day whom y ye e will serve if the lord be bo god serverio serve him Rim or you may serve Baal just at your pleasure if the elders of israel could conid understand this a little better we would like it for the simple reason that if they had power given them now they manifest the same weaknesses in the exercise thereof as any other people they have not an eye to discern between the spirit power and principles by which the gods live and those which govern and control the children of men and yet between the two there is an infinite difference can you find a christian denomination which would not make ns us bow down to their creeds if they had the power not one we have hive plenty of evidence to prove this we have history enough to prove that when they have the power their motto is you you yon shall but there ia Is no such thing in the economy of heaven life Is before belore us death is before us we can choose for ourselves and this is one of the differences between the religion of heaven and the religions of men do we profess to say that the various religious systems of the world are the religions of men if they are not dot what are they if the sects and parties nave not been formed by man and the tile wisdom of man what power did form them I 1 will now say a few faw words with regard to our faith falth our religion in common with everything of which god is the author is a system of law and order the earth on which we live hangs and floats in its own element rotates uron upon its axis and moves at an immense velocity without our perceiving it either asleep or awake it performs its revolutions the atmosphere moving zest g with it so as not to injure disturb or molest any being on its face but how long would it retain its position and move unwavering unwaveringly gly in the orbit assigned it without law can you tell us you astronomers how long would the moon and the members of our planetary system retain their positions were it not for strict law who gave that law he who had haa the right the world do not know him but he will call around one of these days and let them know that he is in being I 1 will say to saint and sinner that if we do not know him he will call by and by and let us know that he lives and will bring us to judgment if we do know him happy are we if we obey his laws he is not a phantom he d does not exist without law order rule and strict regulation and the ast avs laws all a by which he is governed are the laws of at purity he has instituted laws and ordinances for the government and benefit of the children of men to see if they would obey them and prove themselves worthy of eternal life by tiie the law of the celestial worlds and it is of these laws lawn that our religion is composed this holy priesthood thau thai we talk about is a perfect system of government the best way I 1 can think of to express my idea of priesthood of the son of god is to call it a perfect system of laws and government by obedience to these laws we expect to enter the celestial kingdom and be exalted we have had a few words with regard to temples we are going to build temples this law is given to the children of men I 1 will carry this a little further farther and say |