Show DISCOURSE by PRESIDENT youa YOUNG delivered in the tiie bowery f logan city friday afternoon june 27 1873 REPORTED BY DAVID W EVANS I 1 AM very vory much gratified for tho the privilege of coming to this place to seo see the faces of the tho saints to speak to them and to greet greot them as a brother and a fiend if wo we could see and understand things as they are if we could have the vail vall withdrawn from our eyes and behold the things of eternity and the connection and relationship that we sustain to the eternal worlds and to heavenly things our minds would be very much inspired to speak sing pray listen attentively 1 meditate upon and contemplate IT t the wonderful things of god A great deal is said to the latter day saints concerning our religion which does in reality incorporate and circumscribe the whole life of man we need teaching we are like children alth with regard to learning if we could understand the effects effect of the fall fali or of sin upon intelligence telli gence we would see that its tont tent tendency lency is downward that it is retrograde in its nature the things pertaining to ildo life are of the opposite ch character ameter they are exalting increasing multiplying gaining receiving a little here and a little there our minds and understandings expanding by that which wo we learn by reading by the seeing of the eye and tiao the hearing of the ear the bible the book of marmon and the revelations which the lord has given to his people in the latter days contain a great deal about the kingdom of god on the earth oarth wo we have also histories of the kingdoms established by the children of men from these we learn that a great many changes have taken place owing to the revolutions that have occurred in the past and which are still in progress from our own conclusions on these matters there is one fact of which wo we are sensible and understand to a certainty namely that purity preserves sustains and increases while sin and ig ignorance no nce nee in all nil 11 the their thein r orrid forms ha have just the opposite e effect act we nee need d oni eni only loo look at the nations of th theearta the e earth rth for confair confirmation atlon of these ideas we need not go fl nar far ar we may look at the aborigines of our own country W why by are they thoy in their present condition there are rea for this they just as much as we belong to the luman human family the highest class of intelligence there is s upon the face of the earth why are they in their present degoda degradation we see them as they are we see the nations as they are take the jewish nation why are they as they are Is there a cause for it there certainly is we have had a short account from brother george A smith about the land of their fathers we can draw our own conclusions as to the causes which have brought about the tho present resent condition of that land and any of the descendants of the ancient worthies to whom it was given inthe in the nations of the earth at the present day we see imbecility slothfulness and I 1 will say ignorance with all its attendant crimes and debauchery prevailing among the masses of tile tiie people there is a reason for all this the timo time was when nations now unknown which once flourished upon the eastern continent were intelligent and full of the spirit of ehritt thrift and industry who can tell us why they hato have passed away and arm are forgotten brother george A told us this morning that the place where the great city of Ba babylon byln stood or where it is supposed to have stood is now an inaccessible swamp ani and and a desert where is the nation we know nothing about it IL where are the nations of israel wo hardly know anything about them with the exception of the tribe of judah and the half tribe of benjamin which remain scattered among the nations of the earth desolate and forlorn they have been hunted down with dogs log and the time has been when it was perfectly lawful in some nations for every christian christian child who was disposed to do so to stone a jew while passing through the streets and it is not long since they were not permitted to own a foot of land in any of the gentile nations this is not so now but what was the cause of all this their history is not lost neither are they and the S simpio reason they are not is because aau e they wore were the eho cho chosen en of tho the lord they were to bo be held in remembrance mem brance by our heavenly father A remnant of the cople people of israel are to he be saved an and they will yet be gathered together but other nations that thab existed before the flood and many before the days of jesus where are they who knows anything about them they are lost as far as history is concerned and many people since the days of the savior have been blotted from the remembrance of man here are a people dwelling in these mountains who profess to be the saints of the most blest high the beloved of the lord they have received his priesthood and its keys the keys of government and the plan of the government of the heavenly hosts as mg far as man is capable of receiving this divine celestial and holy law when we contemplate the course of the latter day saints we are almost led to inquire what will be their future history it Is true that we have hopes diff different erent brent from those who have lived before us but let this people called latter day saints be blessed for twenty years to come as they have been fW for twenty years ears past and the lord not take akem them in hand but let them take their they own course as they have done and as they are now doing although we consider ourselves quite obedient and willing lin and we like to know the mind and ang will of the lord but let us I 1 say go oil on for twenty years to come in the same ratio as for twenty years past put and who among us would hearken to the counsel of or god let the old stock those who have lived in babylon and who have llave had their trials in the wicked world pass away let them bo be taken out of the thie midst of the latter day saints and the young growth that know nothing young of t the lie lle world be left to themselves to follow the of or their own wills and what would be their condition would we not see babylon to perfection would we not have all that the wicked world could desire in our midst and we delighting therein think of this tilis and draw your own conclusions still we say without boasting a bit that we are the best people there is this is my decision I 1 say that we are the best people there is upon the earth and we have nothing to boast of not the least in the world who is there theme that hearkens arkens he to the will of god or heeds his voice who is there on the face of the whole earth outside of this people who know the mind and will of godor that seek to do his will it may be said that the whole christian world are trying to serve the lord it is true that thai many of them confess him with their mouths and draw near to him with their lips but what is their true condition are their hearts bent berit on doing tho the will of the lord or are they far from him suppose that peter whom the christian world think so much of and whose history is contained in the bible or james forjohn or john or either cither one of the eight who have written and testified to the new testament or either one of the twelve apostles chosen by the savior or jesus himself were to come to the christian world and were to go into their synagogues or into the places of worship they have erected and which they call after st james st mark st SL paul or st peter do you think that any of these personages would be permitted to proclaim their doctrines in those buildings no not one and if there were a priest or divine who after hearing the doctrine of jesus proclaimed should say 1 I see no harm in this doctrine it is bible doctrine the majority of the people would say we do not want you for our public servant if you permit this man to enter the pulpit and proclaim his doctrine this is all the proof necessary that they would not receive jesus and his apostles in this day with all their boasted professions of love for his name an and ana doctrine if they would receive jesus they would receive an a n elder of this church when sent to preach the gospel to themi them if they had been willing to receive an apostle of jesus christ they would have received your humble servant but this we need not talk about what will win be the history of the nations of the earth now existing just as fast as time and circumstances will permit they will be blotted out of existence and will be forgotten and known no more on the face of the earth this would bo be the fame fate of the latter day dg saints if they were to persist in in following tho the inclinations of their own hearts for according to that which they now make mawe manifest pride arrogance and covetousness aro are increasing in their midst and any people or nation that gives way to these evils curtails the measure of its existence and will soon be blotted out and will be known no more for ever over can we believe all this read bead the tiie history of the world and you ou will find that when god has assed blessed 1 a people and placed his name upon them and they afterwards became disobedient the whole catalogue of curses pronounced by him upon his unworthy children have llave come upon them and they have been blotted out those who do not profess to know anything of the lord are far better off oft than we are unless we live our religion for we who know our 11 asters masters will and do it not will be beaten with many stripes while they who do not know the masters will and do it not will be beaten with few stripes this is perfectly reasonable ve we cannot chastise a child for doing that which is contrary to our wills will 9 if he knows no better belter but when our children are taught better and arid know what is required of them if they then rebel of cou course they expect to be chastised and aud azez it is perfectly right that they should be brother george A gave us a little this morning with regard to the law of tithing what ws wits the muse cause of the first or of one of the first curses that came upon israel I 1 will tell you one of the first finst transgressions transgression of the family called israel was their going to other families or other nati nations olys to teleet partners this was one ef of the great mistakes made by the children of abraham isaac and jacob for they would go and marry with other famil leg leq although the lord had forbidden them to do so and had given them a very strict and stringent law on the subject he commanded them not to marry among the gentiles but they did and would woula do it inasmuch as ws they would not do what ho he required of them then he gave them what I 1 call a portion of tile the law of carnal commandments this law told them whom they might and whom they might not marry it was referred to b by the savior and his apostles and and it was a grievous yoke to place on the necks of any people but as the children of this family would run after babylon and after the pride and the vanity and evils of the world arid and seek to introduce them into israel the lord saw fit to place this burden upon them and another great neglect and ment lof lot the law of god by the children of israel was in relation to their tithes and offerings thelah the law of tithing was revealed in very early times to the people of god but they failed to observe it and the prophets whom god sent to israel declared that they had tn transgressed ns the lawf law changed the ordinances and broken the everlasting covenant covenants were made with abraham isaac and jacob but their descendants broke them they would not observe but tasey would transgress the tiie laws which god gave unto them and they continued to do BO so down to the days of malachi Mala maia cill clil the lord through this prophet declared th this Is whole nation have robbed me I 1 also declare that this whole people called the latter day saints are guilty of the same sin they have robbed the lord in their tithes and in their offerings what would the people like do they want to enow what is done with the tithing if the lord requires one tenth of my ability to bs be devoted to building temples meeting house school house houses to schooling our children gather gallier ing the poor from the tile nations of the earth bringing home the aged lame halland halt hait and blind and building houses for them to live in that they may be comfortable when they reach zion and to sustaining the priesthood it is not my pr prerogative to question the authority of the almighty in this nor of his servants who who have charge of it it I 1 am required to pay my tithing it is my duty to pay it if the question is asked brother brigham do dodou you pay your sour tithing I 1 can answer with all propriety in the negative I 1 have never nover paid my tithing and if I 1 turn to the right left front and rear I 1 shall shail seek in vain for a man in tills this church who has paid his tithing strictly there is no man who wiio ha hai paid his tithing I 1 have watched the thing closely ana ani according to my understanding of the literal meaning spirit and intent cf the ter mIam am compelled to come to tb the 0 conclusion that there is not a man or woman in this church who has bas ud paid his or her tithing and I 1 do not know now of an individual in this church who has means enough to pay his back tithing g if it were required of him I 1 have not it would require more means than I 1 have now in my possession for me to do it perhaps I 1 may be asked what is my excuse I 1 do not know that I 1 have any I 1 can eay say that in the days of joseph when my circumstances were very straitened I 1 never had one dollar fifty cents or twenty nive five cents cente but what if it were wanted it went as free as a cup of water from a we well weil 1 joseph was welcome to it was I 1 tried in thi yes for many and many has been the time in my poverty when if I 1 had a dollar or nifty fifty y cents in my possession posse islon I 1 have tho thought 1 I can buy a pint or a half pint of molasses for my children to sop their bread in but it was called for and it went as free as the water of the river here would be to a thirsty person and as for my time from the day that I 1 entered this church until now I 1 have paid no attention to any business except that of building up this kingdom the question may be asked do you not attend to your own private affairs and business yes when I 1 can but I 1 do not know that I 1 have ever spent one minute in attending to business belonging to brigham young 1 when the bus bua iness idess of the church chure 1 i and arid kingdom of god on the earth required his attention yet I 1 would not say that this ls is is 14 any excuse fr f r not strictly paying my tithing I 1 haye paid a great deal of tithing more perhaps thau than any other man or any other ten men who were ever in in the church aud and yet my tithing gr is not paid but I 1 pay tithing and when the grain upon my farm is ripened or the cattle upon it are matured I 1 say to my men belfiure Be fiure and pay the tithing on whatever we have raised but in some instances I 1 have found that it was neglected suppose we were to say to this people will vill you pay a little ti tiling yes we will pay a little tithing ilow how much would you be willing to pay will you pay one dollar to a thousand that you owe of back tithing if you will we shall shail almost have more than we know what to do with if you pay up tip a little of this back tithing I 1 am going to make a pio proposition position take the people of this one valley and they are far better able to build a temple than the whole of the saints were when they lived in the eastern states the saints did not begin to be as able to build a temple then as the people of this single |