| Show DISCOURSE by elder john sohn taylor bowery ang aug 23 1857 nE PORTED reported BY G D WATT in listening to the re marics remarks made by president Mun eun iball this this morning 11 I 1 felt my myself elf eif very much edified very much instructed and very much bl blessed ies in fact where the spirit of the lord is end and the oracles of god dwell there must of necessity be truth intelligence and certain certainty ty many of those things as ho he justly remarked that seem seena li liht and trivial and d of little importance to many are pregnant with meaning amm aft full of interest and are of tile the utmost importance to the saints that dwell in these valleys and to the world of mankind if they only pay attention to and be governed by teem them are more or less fond of nalia show pomp and parade but the kingdom of god does not always come with observation as the scripture says tile the great and a nd precious principles of eternal truth like pearls and precious cious clous gems are often hid bid from the view of the human buman family famil what is the reason that the world of mankind do 0 o not appreciate the principles that are so plain and so manifest to us u how is it that all of our friends relatives and association and the neighborhoods bo where we have resided have not fallen in with the gospel of jesus christ why is a it 3 that all these things have not been received and I 1 appreciated by the millions of the human family who have had bad precisely the same opportunities ites that we have had it is because they do not t appreciate pre preci clate ate them because beca ise lse they can not see and understand der stand the h haht t shone in darkness dar kness kneas anait and it comprehended it not but to those who received it it was life lifa and salvation why is is it that a swine cannot discern the value of pearls and tramples them under its feet because it does not understand it has not the intelligence and does not comprehend the difference between the filth fifth that surrounds it and precious gema pema yon highl cast a prec precious ions lons jewel at a hog and irand it would turn and rend you but throw that to a man of understanding 0 and intelligence t and he would ask for more that is the difference god has so ordained that straight shall be the gate and narrow the way that leads to life 1 and but few there be that findig find it it if the in genf the be world if the princes and potentates I 1 ten tates of the earth if the statesmen and great men am among on the nations could comprehend things as we comprehend them could understand under tile the gospel as it has been revealed lo 10 us if they could know anything of our high callings glorious hope and of the principles that animate our bosoms they would many of them lay down their honors and their thrones and aud come down and ask sk for tor admission into this kingdom but hey they have got lo 10 receive the he kingdom kin dom of god like a little child just the same as you and I 1 or they cannot enter it they have got to ent edt enter er by y the door into thed the theo sheep leep fold and hence there isa ma test for every mail man to try him by and hence the difference between us and them and therefore a difference in regard to our views and position which necessarily produce a difference alffie diffie rence in in our beelin feeling 11 s i T they hy think differently they speak differently i the they y look k upon things in a different point of view than we do they look upon us its as being enthusiastic sia foolish wild and visionary and among the rest as being polluted and they would fori sooth sympathize with us some of them and think we are in the most dreadful position of any people under the face of the heavens that we fare fire degraded and fallen but they know not the spirit that animates our bosoms t they ey know not nat the hope that god has inspired iii in our hearts they know not the thino bilings pei pel pertaining ining to 0 o the kingdom og 0 god they are as ignorant of them and of their own destiny as the brute beast which is made to be taken and destroyed r st 1 it was a very correct figure that the apostle made use of former formerly y when lie he spoke of men beisig as ignorant as brute beasts which were made to bi be taken and destroyed man holding a relationship with wilh things that have been licen with things that are and with things that are to come being an eternal being having existed before existing astin now and destined to exist while endless ages shall endure when he understands his relationship lation ship to god how he be is associated with his F progenitors ogern agern ors the position in which he stands to i the tha b he church and kingdom of god on the he earth the blessing he is able to seal on his posterity worlds without end and the great things h he e is is I 1 destined to enjoy if faithful there is as much difference d f between his views and the world of or mankind in general as there is between midnight darkness and the light of the sun in its meridian I 1 glo glory I 1 i men that are in darkness do not understand 0 why it is that we think as we do that we act as W we do that we endure as we do that men can be united as we are that people will leave their homes and traverse seas oceans deserts moun bains plains and sterile waste wastes in order odder to meet with a people so much despised by a great majority of mankind they do not know why it il 1 is because they do not understand the counsels of god how is it in relation to them they have no revelation no knowledge of god and hence they are like the brute beasts and know nothing but what they know naturally as beasts obtain their knowledge ac they know nothing of their own position or of their heir relationship to god they know nothing notting about their pi of their own destiny I 1 in tha iha future of what is is within their reach while le here on the earth parth nor how to secure blessings on their posterity in fact they are ignorant of all the great and vital principles which have a tendency to animate enliven and give vitality and power to ait alt the he acts of the bong sons of god and hence they are ill lil like ke the brute beasts you can tae take an ox or a hog and put it into a stable and feed it and it will get fit there what for for the thi knife if you could only give it a little litt e revelation reve lalion if you yon could only make that ox or lio iio hog anderst understand ind that it was being prepared to be killed and ealen I 1 wonder how fat you could make it it ajust so lowith with the world they are ignorant of their heir position and they glory in their own sham shame just as much as a hog does in wallowing in tile the mire and they are we just as ignorant of their destiny this is the position of the world and that is the reason why you see things as they are why there is BO so much darkness and nd I 1 only wonder there is so much light among them as there is you wonder why men act so much like fools I 1 wonder they have as much intelligence as they have and the only reason why they have so much is that the he spirit of god is not entirely withdrawn from them regard to principles of science mechanism etc they the possess a great deal of information inform lon ion but they do not know li ow that every good and perfect gift proceeds from god and they th ey wont acknowledge it nor him and hence t the h e little li liht lit they enjoy relative neto nato to religious reh reb sious matters in in relation to ind and eter eternity ter pity rity to their pre predent present ent real position and destiny and to the things which god has communicated to us a Is it to be wondered at then that men acting in in that way should feel strange and act strangely 9 you cannot expect the conduct ofa ora of a gentleman to proceed from a brute beast you cu cannot expect an anything thing but a grunt runt from a hog hop it is is their nature nat lre ire d an iid ild 1 it is is the nature of the wicked to act as they have hae done and as they are doing and if you see animosity hatred evil vii vil strife vicious vicious feelings bad practices ness corruption of 0 every crade grade and every kind of abomination prevailing prevail inc inz na il it is is because of their nature oae one of those thop little byrons composed by watts for children describes it right ri ht lat let do dogs q d delight ligat to bark barb and bite for god has bas them so let bears and growl and Itis it la their nature too not desirous to retain god in their knowledge they have given themselves up to every kind of evil and are led captive b by y the devil and scriptures say his servants ye are whom ye to obey now w what hat is it that ealic enlightens lefens our minds we were like them precisely Is Js there any man here who knew anything about god until it was revealed to him himo Is there a man or woman here understood even the first principles of the abs pel of christ until they were revealed to thern I 1 have traveled a great deal and been in different nations and I 1 have never yet met with a man that did to what are we indebted for that knowledge to the administration of an angel wb which eh made manifest the order of god to joseph smith and he revealed it unto others to that we are indebted for the first principles of the gospel call can you find anybody anywhere in any part parl of the tile earth who professes to teach religion that will v ill lii tell the people to repent of their sins be baptized in the name of jesus christ for the remission of them and receive the imposition of hands bands for tie the tle gift of he the holy ghost and who dare promise them that they shall receive it in its power as the apostles did formerly I 1 cannot 1 I have not met with such a people nor vou you you have not I 1 wa was well verse versed in tit the e scriptures myself glien vilen when this gospel came alonz but I 1 wag was as ignorant as a bate biti about these things and so is is every body else I 1 have not coma come in contact with a man who understood correct principles in relation to the principles of the gospel or who knew tile the way to enter into tha the kingdom of god who could know it without Godie god revealing it and it is to that revelation that we ae ate indebted eI for tile the intelligence we have acce ived concerning these matters and to the spirit of prophecy and reteia tion that has been communicated with it br kimball said he be did not profess to bea be a prophet of god I 1 bear testimony that he is a prophet pro 0 of kr G god goj od an and wily why do I 1 do that becat because se I 1 have known in many ay thin thins things s that I 1 could relate here that 1 heard d him aim prophecy pr 0 checy years 5 ears aco ago have been fulfilled to the very letter and I 1 bear testimony of it on another ground any man that has the fhe testimony of jesus has the spirit of prophecy for the hs testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy s so 0 says the old oid bible and aud consequently such a M man ln is 13 a prophet concerning the first principles of the gospel at first they came cams b by y revelation they were communicated ted to a young man who iid ild lid did not possess what is termed worldly wisdom education or intelligence telli gence but he came and told it out just as god told it to lihn him was there anybody that could controvert it no it was not because it was in the bible that ile tie taught it but because god had communicated it to him and he went and told the things which he ae had received did you ever meet wa with r man anywhere that could controvert the principles joseph smith taught did you ever find a theologian or priest of any description that could contradict tra dict these things successfully did I 1 I 1 never lid did I 1 have nev ney never neven er met with a man lean under the heavens that could successfully contradict one principle of it never NO NEVER neven and I 1 do not expect ever to be able to why is it that hat people cannot contradict it because it is the eternal truth of he avenand emi bated from the great eloheimo Elo eio heimo heiro and is one of those eternal principles of truth which god has communicated munica ted to the human family and truth like god is unchangeable and cannot be controvert ed darkness flees before it and error hides its head wherever it appears it was so in regard to the first principles of the gospel and it has ha been so in regard to principles that have been revealed and communicated from time to time both by joseph smi la by bv president young youn yond by br kimball and by a all ali if th the e authorities of or this church who have been inspired by the iio ilo holy y ghost in relation to the position we now occupy the things thin thib that were spoken this morning are as correct as true and uni as as any thin thing thins 9 that could be adduced by any man I 1 do not care where lie he comes from nor what may be his intelligence li gence I 1 GO co not care whether lie he is kin pres preb ident potentate or statesman of any description or what his intellectual qualifications it matters not T the I 1 e principles that were spoken here are in and of themselves emze ives correct and I 1 want to speak a little in relation to some of these thing thins in order that men who have not examined them may understand der stand them diore more minutely you believe the principles because you heard them thern of course and so do I 1 I 1 so do we all and every truth recommends itself to the minds of tile the human family yet at ahe same time we are not all of us at a all ali 1 times prepared to judge of the correctness of all ail a I 1 I 1 tile the things we have heard this his morning might mi sound to same some croakers and ignoramus i se who have never examined the subject and do not understand der tand stand principle like treason reason a as though we were in ill open rebellion against the united states and ard opposed to the government we are associated with as though we were going to trample down all law rule and a nd order no such thin thing we weare are the only people in these united state states at the present time who are sustaining them I 1 can prove this and that it is others who are trampling them theia under tinder foot and not us whilst they ar are e committing acts themselves that are treasonable in their nature and pursuing a course opposed to the he constitution and tile the very genius of the institutions of the united states they want to lay jay the sin at our doors that they themselves are guilty of would I 1 as a citizen of the united states come out in ic ie bellion against the united states and act contrary to my roy verily no would br young verily no would br kimball or br well weli no not true patriots pit pi riots true americans Americ do they not feel the fire of 76 burning in their bosom bosoms assuredly they do would they do a thid thing thai that is wrong no and they will also alio see that others do not do it that is the feeling the spirit and principle that actuate them 1 there are thousands of you you who are americans cans who have been born in this land whose fathers athers fou fought 11 lit for the liberties we used to enjoy but ut have not enjoyed forsom eyears past anere are thousands of such men here who feel the same spirit that used to burn in their fathers bosoms boson hoson sou son s the he spirit of liberty and equal nights rights the spirit 11 i rit of according to every man mail that which be 1 0 angs 1 s to dimand him nd of robbing no man of his rights your fathers and grandfathers have met the tyrant when lie he sought to put a yoke on your necks as men and true patriots they tiley came fo forward and fought for their rights and in defence of that liberty which wg thelt children childr er ought to en enjoy you feel the same spirit that inspired tit them ez the same blood bat hat that coursed in their veins foys foya in yours you yon feel true patriotism and a |
