Show REMARKS by 18 president ident greorge george gre orge Q cannon cat at a priesthood meeting held field at manti sanpete San pete stake conference may 1889 REPORTED BY A WINTER we came to this conference with the hope in our hearts that we should be able to impart instruction unto the saints who should assemble together we have desired to be led by the spirit of god to speak upon such points of doctrine and to gilbuch give such counsel as shall be adapted to the circumstances antl and conditions of the bayle people for myself and I 1 know ow that I 1 speak the feelings of my brethren 1 I would not wish to say one word in any of our meetings unless I 1 felt that the lord would dictate it and accompany it by his spirit we have come here with this desire in our hearts and to say such things to the saints as shall have a tendency to stir you up as well as ourselves to diligence in the things of the kingdom of god we are desirous if there be any evils existing among you that we should be led by the spirit of bod to speak upon them and endeavor to correct them I 1 we have already heard considerable upon matters that are of great importance to latter day saints if these principles be carried out in the spirit in which they have been taught we shall be a better people a more godlike people it should be the aim of every latter day saint to be godly to understand godliness and to carry out godliness in his or her life so that we all shall be like our father in heaven as near as we possibly can be jesus has given us to understand that it is possible for his disciples to be perfect for he says be ye therefore perfect even as your father which is in heaven is perfect 51 he did not mean by that that we should attain to the falness of the godhead in this life but that we should carry our lives and exemplify in our conduct those laws and principles which god has revealed and which axe are the principles of perfection and godliness if we do this every day we shall eventually be permitted to enter into the presence of our gur father and god and jwell dwell with him but unless we take this course we cannot a approach I 1 roach perfection therefore the life of a latter day saint is a life of progress a life of continued improvement the latter day saint who is liv living ing i as he be should do is better today than he was yesterday he will be better tomorrow than he is today if there be any imperfections in his life he is eager to discover and correct them that he may become more perfect and more like our father there are a few points that have rested upon my mind since we came into this meeting I 1 have dwelt upon them in other meetings ot of this kind I 1 think them of great importance in our visits to some of the stakes and wards we have discovered a condition of affairs which has been very painful to us we have found a laxity in relation t to virtue and a carelessness in reference to the use of intoxicating liquors these are great and growing evils in our society I 1 do not mean in the society of the Sa saints ilItS particularly but idour in our cities and in our surroundings the adversary is exceedingly eager to lay snares for the feet of the children 0 men he alms aims to destroy us angry that his plan was not adopted in the beav heavens us angry at his failure in the rebellion 0 against god and at his bis expulsion from the courts of glory angry at his being deprived of a body he and those who fell with him have been eager ever since that dreadful time to destroy their brethren and sisters who did not rebel with them we who are here tonight as well as all who are upon the earth kept our first estate we did not listen to lucifer he was a mighty angel he be had exceeding great power in the presence of df god he used his great influence with the family of god to convince them that the plan which he proposed was the better one and to persuade them to reject the plan of god and his son jesus our elder brother faill palling 1 in this he has a apparently parent ly decla declared r war against the W father and the son and against all his brethren and sisters who were honorably and mun bained their allegiance to god therefore rhe he is continually spreading snares for the feet of the children of men and those under his influence are doing the same those evil spirits to which president woodruff alluded this morning invisible to our eyes yet palpable to our senses are constantly seeking to te into our minds evil thoughts and wrong desires to prompt us to commit sin and thereby grieve the spirit of god and to lead us as cain was led to perpetrate crime which resulted in his becoming perdition but there are also angels around us though invisible to us they are continually inviting inviting us and pleading with us to do till that which is right the spirit of god too rests upon us and it prompts prompt us to keep the commandments of god by means of these influences hafl bences therefore we are receiving experience and we are growing in knowledge now my brethren and sisters what is the great and damning sin today of th s generation what is it that is causing the inhabitants of the earth to rush on the broad road to destruction allusion was made this afternoon to the infidelity of the world the indisposition of mankind to receive the gospel what is the chief cause of this it is the impurity of mankind it is the corruption and licentiousness that have grown rown up in the world until virtue gas has become almost a matter of ridicule to be a virtuous man and a man of the world is to expose ones self to ridicule young men are laughed at in the world if they are virtuous it atia is considered unmanly A man of the world at the present time would scarcely presume to speak as aa though ne were a virtuous man and not guilty of trespasses of this kind of course I 1 would not say that every man in the world is but that virtue is uncommon with men every person who is familiar with the world I 1 think must be forced to acknowledge and if men commit acts acte of this kind there must be others with whom they commit the acts the result is virtue among women is not as general as it should be we see the deplorable effects of the introduction of this spirit in our cities and settlements and they are painful to witness no man can uie take a course of this kind and per sisti in nit it without causin causing the withdrawal of the spirit of ad god and a spirit of evil to take possession of him which will unless he repents with all his heart result in his destruction st he anses faith in consequence of which he goes into darkness there has been no more fruitful cause of apostasy apo stacy in this church than this those who have been familiar with the elders who have fallen and know the cause of their fall will agree with me I 1 am sure in saying that this sin has been the most fruitful cause of the overthrow of elders in this church the lord in two revelations says he that upon a woman to lust after her shall deny the faith A man wha does this commits adultery in his heart he yields to a spirit that drives the spirit of god from him to stand faithful he must repent for the two influences will not dwell in the same bosom the spirit of god will dwell only in holy and pure tabernacles to have it therefore we must be pure not only in our acts but in our words and our thoughts for by the medium of thought we can corrupt ourselves and indulge in lust which will drive the spirit of god away from us leaving us in darkness therefore we cannot be too careful upon these points especially our young people I 1 hope cepe that in sanpete San pete near as a temple is to you there is no necessity for you to marry in order to prevent terrible consequences and exposure in other words I 1 hope there are no children born among the latter day saints here four or five or six months after marriage this is a dreadful evil god has provided ways by which our young people can got get married there are some valleys where it is more difficult to reach a temple than it is in this valley but every young man and every young woman should live so that he or she can get a recommendation men dation from the bishop to go to the temple to be married according to the holy order which god has revealed every girl among us should be taught to value her virtue more than life itself beware young ladies of those who would induce you in any manner to do anything that is not strictly right or that you would not want your parents or friends to know have nothing to do with a man of this kind no matter how much you may think of him and unless he repents the spirit of god will be withdrawn from him and he will be left to himself I 1 teel that too much cannot be said upon this subject to caution our young people every facility should be given to the young to marry sometimes when our children want to marry we put them off this has been done too often for the ha happiness ess of some they have wan wanted to do right they have wanted to honorably fulfill fulfil the law of god clod but have been prevented from doing it by their parents or some one else this is not r right I 1 ht every facility should be furnished to our young people to marry in the proper manner encourage marriage in them when they reach the proper prope age and if they do not have all t they h y would like to start life with let them start far better to do this than for them to ave unmarried ried and in the commission of sin As you doubtless are aware I 1 am a great advocate of early marriages I 1 believe that every young youn man of marriageable age should take lake steps to 0 secure unto himself a TWe partner we have growing up in our settlements as beautiful girls as can be found on the face of of the earth wherever I 1 go in this territory I 1 am struck with the great number of our marriageable girls very intelligent lovely girls the young men in in our midst should marry them they should not be allowed to remain unmarried but girls remain maids until you are a hundred years old if you cannot get men who are men inen of god better to remain married unmarried uh all your lives than to connect yourselves with unworthy mon men and afterwards have to be divorced speaking in regard to drunkenness let every girl be warned against a d drunkard run kard A girl may think well if I 1 only marry him I 1 shall have influence with him and 1 I shall prevent him from ip dulling in this bad habit perhaps h a DS the young man may say when we get t married I 1 am going to quit do not trust any such man do not trust a man who puts the intoxicating cup to his lips let him cease the habit before you marry him for I 1 tell you that in too many instances where girls trust men in this way they will find that they have trusted in vain and very likely they will have sorrow brought ulan upon them through doing so there here should be no druia drunkenness kenness in in our valleys I 1 do not know whether you have any saloons here or in any of your sett settlements leme but I 1 want lantto ito say as one laday latter day saint not speaking in an official C capacity p a c ih ty but as a member of the nh churi u r h I 1 have no fellowship whatever for a man who peddles intoxicating drink to his neighbor the latter day saint so called who sells liquid poison to his neighbor is not a person that I 1 fellowship money made in that way brings a curse to those who earn it it brings no blessing to those who inherit it there is no blessing connected with the sale of liquor or intoxicating drinks to our fellow men latter day saints of all people should be free from this we should set our faces against it if I 1 could speak to all the boys of this country I 1 would say aay never touch anything of an in character never taste tade it you do not know what demon may be unchained within you by b merely tasting this dreadful stuff I 1 1 have ealise cause to know this A young man of my acquaintance was given brandy with the remark that it was cider he had never tasted anything of the kind before and when he drank this it aroused within him a taste against which he will have to struggle all his life it is like un chaining 1 1 a demon that cannot b be con controlled t r 0 1 jagd tb there ere are some men so organized that when they taste intoxicating drink they cannot control themselves therefore it is better never to taste intoxicating drink in any form never put it to your lips never let it pass the portals of your mouths it is far better for men to live without this and I 1 know that they can I 1 have proved that men can do good work without it why is it that our girls do not drink d ri have they not just as much right to drink as a man has they have just as much reason and justification f fi to do it as the boys have but who ever hears of our girls going to saloons what young anan man is there among us though he himself may go to the saloons and drink that would court a girl and expect to make her his wife if he knew she entered a saloon and poured such vile stuff down her throat but why should he expect her to refrain from these things and he have the license to indulge in them Is there one law for the men and another for the women upon these points certainly not Is there a law that a man may smoke and make himself a stink in the nostrils of sensitive men while his sister or the girl whom he is courting may not do the same it is a wrong idea that boys should have privileges in these directions that our girls do no not have it seems tome to me that the smell of cigarette smoke is just as off offensive ensiNe just as hateful and unpleasant when a boy or a man has it about him as it would be if a woman had it about her I 1 do not know that there would be any difference in the odor I 1 speak in this strain this evening because this is a priesthood meeting and here are the teachers the persons who visit the houses of tile the saints teachers do you inquire where these girls and boys are at night do you inquire of the parents if the children keep good hours do you inquire if they are at parties at improper hours and with improper companions and improper surroundings you should do this it is well enough to inquire how they feel toward the presidency of the church or to the twelve or to the presidency of the stake or to their brethren and sisters but there are other questions which mav maj be asked and which are equally as important as these and if you live as you should do dothe the spirit of the lord will suggest these to you when you enter into the house you can very properly enquire concerning the habits of the young people and perhaps by doing so you may stop some soul from committing some more deadly sin and be the means of rescuing some young person either girl or tre boy Y f from rom pursuing the downward path that leads to destruction teachers therefore should be exceedingly cee careful when they enter the houses of the saints to endeavor to obtain the spirit of revelation that the lord will suggest to them the very things to ask and to say parents you should not allow your children either boys or girls to be out at improper hours you should be careful that they do not dot go to balls and parties that are not under proper influences and where they are exposed to bad associations and companionship and also endeavor to check these miserable habits babits that are growing in our midst we must erect barriers against them if we did not take pains we would be flooded with vice it is spreading on every hand band it is trying to introduce itself into every settlement and not only into our settlements but into our very houses and sometimes in such a delusive form that our young people are captivated by it we must guard against this I 1 am glad with all my heart for these church schools that are being started I 1 anticipate the best beat of results from them because I 1 believe they will have the effect to our young people think it is their inexperience that we have to fear the |