Show an 0 OF op ai CHURCH or JESUS or OF lan nar aar teil ten jay PAY jav SAINTS say SAt meus meun arnin 1870 1 t c ACCORDING to ada a dj th e conference heid beld on oct ott oth 1869 the faints met in a conference capacity this morning torning at 10 the meeting lne ine eting airas vas merely of a nature as the saints had beri berl llo ilo notified titled tilled that in consequence of tho absence of 1 dents i id ji and geo gao A smith andallo and also 0 wing to ahe the he present unfinished condition of the tho gallery in the we tabernacle aole conference would be re adjourned until may blay ath the attendance mas was as large hirae I 1 aa as might have been expected under the heavy benow bno ano w storm which has prevailed availed almost almust without intermission since yesterday morning doub doubtless fiess den del de berred many from being present who otherwise would have attended the postponement of conference Conf emice beemer to have havo been opportune as but te ew from the codr country itry set 4 clements tle tie ments could have attended on ac count of the tho stormy weather on the ahe stand eP daniel H wells of the first presidency orbon orson pratt wilford woodruff ir geo Q cannon arld arid joseph P F smith 0 of i f the quorum of the Twelve edwin D woolley and samuel W ric Bic richards hards odthe of the presidency of thel High Priests Quorum george B wallace of the presidency of f this stake of zion albert rockwood horace S Eldredge and john van VAU cott lott C of the first seven beveri presidents of the seventies edward hunter leonard W haidy hardy and aird seme jewe bessec C little mhd presidency of the bishopric john John W hess bishop of farmington V F A hani mond bishop or Huntsville and sever al at other prominent E elders eiders I 1 d drs conference was called to order by president daniel H wells cathe tabernacle choir sang tang sang the tho hymn see seel all creation boin join oin oln to praise th tw eter eten eternal na god il 1 prayer was offered by elder eider john van cott the hymn v who who the tho towers of zion cdon shall rise above the clouds and dud reach the skies was sundby the tabernacle choir PRESIDENT PRESIDE danill DANIIL II 11 WELLS said we have convened in a con conference ference fe tence C capacity y th this 1 s morning but we do not propose to transact tze the business that is usually attend attended edco eddo to on lucli suon occasions asthase as thase matters will be left over until the convening reconvening re of conference on the sih of may ilay president young and party wera a at t kerville To last night all veli veil 0 boton taylor taylon sp spoke 0 k it has been customary for the Latt erday saints to meet on the ath of april althou although ois gli it has been considered wise and necessary to adjourn till another tl ime it ignot is not so much mere fornis forms and ard ad observances that we are after bat b q t wet 1 are re in search bearch of truths and principles yet yea we feel a particular attachment for the tho times timed that have beep been set et apart not no only in this city but I 1 in n other pants parts of the territory and in 1 n carlous carious arious arlous parts of the world where an organized portion of the church exists f car ear T ling ving out oui ou of the purposes poses of jehova jehovah h and und establishing righteousness on the earth ought to be the polar star of our ambition if we have the spirit of the gospel this will bs ha our aim alm this is the object af the first presidency of the twelve and aud of the elders priests teachers and deacons the object for which we me are here he re is not to introduce ideas of our own but to promulgate the laws of there were no philosophers op liers theologians or scientists that knew our relationship to god or his purposes with with regard to the earth be fore he revealed these things to joseph smith the prophet neither they nor we knew wan anything about them etwas it was the lord through his prophet who revealed the sealing ordinances how we might save oura ourselves elves and our families it was he who taught us to be baptised baptized sed for our dead Wea we are indebted to the lord for all the blessings we enjoy the kingdom of god will stand whilst all that is not founded on the rock of truth shall pass away like the baseless fabric of a dream we know in whom we trust and he will sustain his saints and will cause the tho discomfiture and overthrow of their enemies 3 may god bless all who love and favor Z zion 0 o n amen ELDER ORSON PRATT prate addressed the conference forty years ago god organized his church it 16 has not been sustained by human wisdom adom but by the power of god who is its author on the day when the church was organized god gave many instructions relative to the duties of its officers the lord continued to give line upon line and precept upon n precept the command for the saints to as gemble tog together in conference 1 at stated intervals wherever the church chur ch was or gani zed came direct from the almighty when it became necessary to build a temple the plan was not devised by mans wisdom but the lord commanded that three men should be selected unto whom the plan of the temple would be shown bbown and it was doneas dono done as directed and the temple was erected according to the pattern given the ordinances which were administered in the temple were given by direct revelation As the eiders Elders went forth and declared unto the people in the surrounding country what the lord was doing persecution aro arose se the saints were driven from place to place pace and despoiled of their property their persecutors had not riot polygamy then to plead as an excuse for their course the reasons stated b by y them were that the saints professed to have revelations from God that they believed in the laying on of hands and anointing with oil for the healing of the sick and another great objection urged was that the latter day saints were too united in the various parts where the saints located and from which they were to 60 ruthlessly driven they petitioned the state authorities and laid before them their grievances some bome of whom listened likened respectfully and others treated the matter with bontem contempt pt after we had been driven from jackson county missouri our steps were directed towards cowards the theowest th west eWest and whilst wo we were out on the prairies a deputation was sent to inform us that we were required to furnish five hundred men to fight the battles of the country in mexico and although the circumstances under which the request mas made were so peculiarly disadvantageous to the saints yet the quota of men was furnished when we came here we brought polygamy with us it is an eternal part of our religion and we will never relinquish ipie n u shit it belove we love iove the glorious prin c caples g we have received better than we d do our r hombs homes better than we do our jives when compared with our hopes of e eternal exaltation life is as nothing when the government granted to us aa as a community our present civil rights and government they were perfectly aware that we were a poly polygamous gainous people when the homestead law was extended to i 0 asit us it was well known that we believed in and practiced plural mar ariage when the homestead law was made applicable to the people of this thib territory we went forth in good faith and paid our money for our lan land landane dand and we are now coolly informed that we shall not be permitted to possess these lands that we have preempted pre empted cultivated and paid for Is this just it is not nob in tb the e province of congress to say gay what whai portion of the bible meshall or shall not believe belleve in should the bill which has just passed the house of representatives presenta tives become law then alas for the liberty of our common ca country antry tife th e enjoining or compulsory enforcement of the law is is one of the twin relics of barbarism 11 may the lord bless us amen i ELDER WILFORD WOODRUFF spoke our Oar religion is god given and were we to relinquish it because of the fear of man we would be recreant to every heaven born principle civil and religious liberty is the keystone in th the earch arch of the glorious constitution of qun pur country if that be taken away the whole fabric must fall to pieces this thib gov government er is in the hands of f god my M lire life is of but small consequence when compared withey with my hopes of eternal happl happi happiness ess no power will put down this wo work rk for god is at the helm and will guide it safely through president young has done and is doing all in his power to benefit mank mankind nind find thus following in the tho footsteps of the prophet joseph I 1 pray that we may ba be faithful to the holy principles we have received amen ELDER GEO IQ CANNON CANNO iT addressed the conference the lord is calling the saints to paa pass through circumstances that will conduce to t make them a great people we ha have had trials and persecutions and the end is not yet we shall doubtless have to pass through trials that will prove bogod that we supremely all who have read the history this pe people ople opie cannot but acknowledge that it is s not plurality plurality which causes the intense hatred that exists against them if polygamy did not exist something else would be urged as an excuse for attempting to crush us out of existence this we have bitterly experienced in the past it is not a light thing to embrace the gospel of jeus jesus we are engaged in a joyous work and if we have to suffer in sustaining it it is a glorious reflection that we are but following in the footsteps of others who have labored in the same cause although the clouds that seem now to be hovering over us appear dark doubtless god will deliver his people as signally as be he ever has done heretofore for we are laboring for the triumph of a principle that will tend to purify purity the human family when the gospel was first revealed revelation was not believed in how widely revelations are believed in today to day thus it is that although it may be unacknowledged the world follow in our footsteps although it may be in ity their own pe peculiar cullar cuilan way bo so will it be probably in relation to polygamy jf lf the saints will be faithful the lord will deliver them which is my desire in A the name of jesus amen PRESIDENT DANIEL II 11 WELLS if the saints will be directed by the authority of tha th holy priesthood the thing that is aimed at us will miss its mark the blessin blessings el 9 of god cannot be obtained on any other principle than by abiding his law president wells then moved that this conference adjourn to the ath day of may the vote in favor of of the motion was waa unanimous the tabernacle choir sang 0 the hymn commencing daniels wisdom may I 1 know stephens faith and patience show conference was dismissed by prayer bv elder joseph F smith the spirit of god was manifested and felt throughout the meeting and the speakers were blessed with extraordinary freedom and power we irle feel assured that none present who came for the purpose of being edified left without bedlin feeling g an increased desire come what may to sustain the work of god we may look upon this as a harbin harbinger gerof genof of the good time that will be enjoyed at the conference ou thursday the ath of may jonn JPHN NICHOLSON X clerk of conference |