| Show REMARKS irv liy president t pridham young delivered in the iho tabernacle great salt scat lake city april 7 REPORTED BY DAVID W EVANS I 1 will take the liberty of suggesting suggest ipg to tid my brethren who address the congregation that our sermons should be short and if they are not filled with life and and spirit let them be shorter for we have not time at this conference to let all the elders who speak preach a long sermon but we have time to say a few words words in bearing testimony to give a few words of counsel to wil wll courage encourage the saints to strengthen the weak to endeavor to confirm those who are dav enin e rin erin gand and so forward the kingdom langdom of C god ad I 1 have a few words to say to the bishops and others who are leading men in the house of israel including your lumble humble servant now addressing you there are certain rights and eriv illges belonging to the elders in israel and there are certain things that it ia is not their privilege to indulge in you go through the wards in the city and then through the wards in the country and ask the bishops do you keep the word of wisdom the reply will be ses yes no not exactly do you drink tea no collee coliee Co ltee no do you drink whisky no well then why do you not observe the theN word vona VorA of wisdom well this tobacco I 1 cannot give it up and in this besets he sets an example to every man and to every aboy over ten years of age in his ward to nibble at and chew tobacco you ga go jo to another ward and perhaps the bish olf oli op does not chew tobacco nor drink tea il inor coffee but hut once in a while he takes a little spirits and keeps whisky in his house houte in which he will occasionally jn bulge go to another ward and perhaps the bishop does not drink whisky nor chew tobacco but he cannot give up his tea and coffee I 1 and so it goes through the whole church not that every bishop indulges in one or more lof these habits but most of them do I 1 recollect being at a trial not iong long since where quite a number of bishops had been called in as witnesses but buti I 1 could not learn that there was one who did not drink whisky and I 1 think that most of them drank tea and coffee I 1 think that we have some bishops in this city who do not chew tobacco nor drink liquor nor tea nor coffee to ex cess the word of wisdom is one thing and ignorance superstition or bigotry is ia another ano I 1 wish the people to come to an understanding with regard to the word of wisdom for illustration I 1 will refer to a certain brother who was in the church once and president of the elders quorum in nauvoo while living at that place there was a great deal of sickness among the people and he was sometimes called in into to lay hands on the sick but if he had the least doubt about their drinking tea if he even saw a teapot tea pot he would refuse I 1 recollect he went into a house where a woman was sick who wanted him to lay hands on her he saw a teapot tea pot in the corner containing catnip tea but without stopping to inquire he left the anouse li aw 0 u s exe ext exclaiming ng against ritt affer mer ana anu he r practices p r a c es rj J m now ow there is no harm haim in a teapot jea tea pot 1 even exen if it contains tea ifft if it ia 2 leh let le balone iaione dion ilon e and I 1 can say of a truth that where a person is diseased say for instance with canker there is no better medicine than green tea and w where here it is thus used it should be drank sparingly instead of drinking thirteen or fourteen cups every morning non noon and night there should any used noumay you may think I 1 am speaking I 1 remember a tea drinking match once in which fourteen cups apiece were drank so you see it can be done but ufa to drink half a dozen or even three or four cups of strong tea teals is hurtful it itin ini in i jures and impairs the system benumbs the faculties of the stomach and affects the blood and is deleterious in its na nai i ture if a person is weary worn out cast down fainting or dying a brandy sling a little wine or a cup of tea is good to revive them do not throw these things away and say they must never be used they are good to be used with judgment prudence and discretion ask our bishops if they drink tea every day and in most cases they will tell you they do if they can get it they take it when they do not need it and when it injures them I 1 want to say to td the elders in israel this is not our privilege we have a great many privileges but to indulge in liquor or other things to gur pur our oun own injury Is is not one of them we have the live labor build our houses make our farms raise our cattle and horses buy our carria carriages es marry our wives raise and so schoot school 00 our I 1 children and then we have the right to set lefore before before them an example worthy of imitation but we have not the right to throw sin in their path 0 or to lead them to destruction I 1 recollect telling the people here not long ago something in regard to the rights of the elders our rights are numerous if we are so so dispo disposed sedi we have the right to dictate the house of israel in their daily avocations we have the right to counsel them 1 to go t td the gold mines if it is wisdom and god requires it and we have the right to counsel them to stay away from the gold mines when it is not wisdom to go there we have the right to ask them to go arid arld and buy goods and to sell those goods without fraud or deception I 1 am sorry to say we eanno canno cannot tsay say bay this of many of our merc merchants lants we have merchants that say they are of us and with us and that they wish to be saints but bup bu they are not honest in their dealings the they will trade fraudulently and they wilf will take all the advantage they they possibly can I 1 said here a year or two ago that unless such merchants repent they will go down to hell I 1 sa say so today to day they never can enter the cei cef celestial celestial estial kingdom of our god unless they refrain from their dishonest course and become saints indeed to the bishops and the elders in israel I 1 wish to say that we li have ave the right to do right but nob not to sin bin the right to obtain large obnoxious to the refined christians all classes 0 of f whom preach against it the priest I 1 in U the pulpit the judge on the bench the sen alborA and representatives in congress as well as the barkeeper bar keeper and the drunkard wallowing in his filth they are all against it exee exec except t god and the saints yet this is a rl right t that the saints have and which no others legally possess others will presumptuously arrogate to themselves certain rights and privileges but the result will be their overthrow their condemnation and their aamna tion we urge the people continually to be one in their temporal affairs we do not offer prayers to dead saints to peter paul mary and others but we frequently otters others pray the living vi n g saints in christs stead to be reconciled to god if we urge the people eo e to this until we get them to be really of one heart and one mind what will ill iii be the result we shall then possess zion it will then be developed in our midst and we will be as independent as ever the children of zion can be in our capacity will wrath anger strife and selfishness then reign within us no they will not it is our right and privilege to live so that we may attain to this so that we may sanctify our hear hearts ts before the lord and sanctify the lord god in our hearts but it is not my privilege to drink liquor neither is h it my privilege to eat tobacco well bro brigham have you not done it yes Y I 1 es for many years but I 1 ceased its habitual practice I 1 used it for toothache tooth ache now I 1 am free from that pain phin and my mouth la to never uever stained d with tobacco it my privilege e to drink ilk liquor i griar wrier nong gong tea teanna coffee although altho aitho ll an anif anit naturally rall rail a great lover of tea brethren and alid sisters it is not hot our pill privilege to indulge in these things but it is our right and privilege to set an example worthy of imitation when we come to homemade home made cloth I 1 must say it would make clothes good good enough for me to wear then why do you not wear it bro brigham shall I 1 tell you I 1 have hardly worn a suit of clothes for years that has not been pre dented to me if I 1 knew that doing this would be a hindrance to the work of god I 1 would say to the next friend who wished wished to present me with a suit of clothes 1 I thank you but I 1 will not wear them you will please take them back to the store or take them home and put them in ahe the trunk I 1 know the tb thoughts of many are 1 I wish they would serve me so I 1 wish they bouldi and if they will I 1 will never say wear homemade home made again as long as friends wiil will give you that which is imported and you can lay by the money you save to send the elders abroad to preach the gospel to gather the poor to help to gasrel bul bui build I 1 d the temple of the lord or to finish the canal that we may get the rock herel hero for the temple you men owning sawmills bring on the lumber to finish the tabernacle and you carp carpenters enters and joiners come and help heip to use it up we are going to plaster the main body of this building here immediately take down the scaffold at the west end from the body of the building while the east end is being put up and we are going to lay mare mate a platform lat for the organ and then make a plan pian for the seats and we calculate eian elan by y next october when the brethren and sisters bisters come together to have room for all and if there is not room under the roof the doors are placed in such a way that the people can stand in the open ings and hear just as well as inside I 1 expect however that by the time our la Is finished we shall find that we shall want a little more room I 1 mor mon or monism is rowing growing sp spreading 9 a abroad roa swelling and increasing and I 1 expect ii it is likely that our our building will not be e quite large enough but we have it so arranged standing on piers that we can open all the doors and preach to people outside now I 1 want you should recollect bishops elders eiders of israel high priests S seventies ev enties the twelve apostle apostles as th the first presidency and all the house of israel hearken ye 0 10 my people keep the word of the lord llord observe the word of wisdom sustain one another sustain the household of faith and let our enemies mies alone As for those in our midst who love and work iniquity the lord will gather them from among us in his own due time they will grow fewer and fewer until we will be free from them the lord chasten eth his veople people for their good but see the sufferings of the wicked god has always favored the righteous more than the wicked still we have those among us who are afraid well this time we are going to see trouble or I 1 awe we are going to be a afflicted or 1 I t think hin k the mormons cormons will alced 11 have to leave is their cry I 1 want to tell you we are not titi going ng to leave these mountains unless the lord says s so the devil may say so until his t throat ro at splits but we shall not do it an and d woe to the men or people w who ho drive us into the mountains and compel us to hide ourselves in the dens and caves of the earth woe to the people who do this they will f ind find something r they never ae learned yet but they will never do it I 1 am looking for something entirely different the wicked will waste away and destroy each other we are blamed for praying that sin and wickedness may cease on the earth cart h but the only way to effect that is for the perpetration of crime to cease will the people turn from evil refrain from sin and iniquity and serve the lord I 1 would to god they would but they will not do it sin bin must cease on the earth before iniquity and the workers thereof are unknown there is no other way we should not be blamed for pra praying 1 that righteousness may reign hm an and dt that thab peace may come to the people Is there war in our religion no neither war nor bloodshed yet our enemies cry out bloodshed and oh what dreadful men meb these mormons cormons are and those canites Da how they blay slay and kill such buch is ali ail all ail nonsense and folly in the extreme the wicked slay the wicked and thoy they will lay it on the saints but I 1 say again that if the people I 1 I 1 called latter day saints will live min mir their religion they will rever never be driven from the their r chomes in in tl the tue e in mountains ou bu but t if they do sin to that extent thattie th atthe amord god of let them be driven woe to them that come after r xa us for they will find greater desolation than we found when we came igwe will do right we are safe in the hands of god we wish evil to no manor man or woman on this earth but we wish to do good to all our elder elders shave have circumscribed this thia little globe again and again without purse and serif scrip scrip offering the gospel to the nations 0 of the earth will they have it no they prefer death carnage and destruction and jn the end they will receive the reward of the unjust let us take a course in which we shall be justified we wish all people to do right and if the latter day saints will do so andell and will sustain themselves and live within their own means and never let their wants swell beyond them all is right we shall reign and triumph over sin and iniquity it is no more than reasonable right just and equitable e U for us to ask those who wis vis wish to supplant us here to 0 go to other places and build cities p plant ant orchards raise grain and make themselves comfortable as we have done they are perfectly welcome to eat live tule rule and rel rei reign n over one another but let us alone to serve our god build up his kingdom on the earth and live righteously and godly as we should now N ow elders of israel if you have the rl right lit to chew tobacco you have a privilege I 1 have not if you have a rl night right lit to drink whisky you have a night right ri gatt that rat wat I 1 have not if you have a right to transgress the word of wisdom you haye baye a right that I 1 have not if you have the right to buy and sell and get gain to go here and there to do this and that to build up the wicked and the ungodly or their cities you have rights that I 1 have not got I 1 have bave the right to build up zion but chave I 1 have havo no right to build up a city in wickedness it is time to close our mornings meeting |
