Remarks

said he was pleased to meet with such a large number of Latter-day Saints in conference. He had had many reflections since coming here in relation to the past. Thirty-eight years had gone by since he first became associated with the Saints in this city and Territory, and during that period how many of the brethren with whom he had been intimately acquainted had passed away! He dared say there were many present that morning who had never seen the face of President Young, President Kimball, Brother George A. Smith, and others of the early pioneers and settlers of this Territory; and he presumed also there were very few persons now in the Church who had ever beheld the Prophet Joseph. He himself was one of the latter. But the Prophet Joseph’s testimony was still in force; his spirit had continued in the earth at his death; his mantle fell upon the shoulders of President Young; in turn it fell upon those of President Taylor, and now it was borne by President Woodruff. Thus we say that the spirit of the great latter-day work was fully sustained among God’s servants; in other words, the inspiration of the Holy Ghost that rested upon the Prophet Joseph and his brethren in an early day was still with the Church. That Spirit and inspiration would continue in the earth and could not be taken away. The man or woman who had lost the spirit of this work had done so through his or her own neglect—through the non-observance of the commandments of God. During thirty-eight years of close observation he had seen that those Saints who had faithfully kept the laws of the Lord, who were honest in their dealings, had attended to their duties, and been prayerful in their daily life, were firm and steadfast in the truth today. The speaker counseled the Latter-day Saints to examine their acts closely, to sit in judgment upon themselves, as it were, and see, if needs be, wherein they had lost the gifts of the Gospel. They must be a prayerful people or they would assuredly lose the spirit of this work. Apostle Merrill next dwelt upon the subject of tithing, the strict observance of which he strongly enforced upon his hearers. The payment of tithing was an important matter among the Latter-day Saints. Though some had perhaps parted with thousands of dollars in this way, they yet had an abundance of this world’s goods; they were full of faith and greatly blessed of the Lord. In bearing a strong and earnest testimony to the truth of the latter-day work, the speaker urged the Saints always to be honest and forgiving. They must not encourage hard feelings in their hearts against one another; they could not afford to do this, though the world might do it. He said the Latter-day Saints had the grandest organization on earth, and he pointed with pride to their Sabbath schools, Young Men’s and Young Ladies’ M. I. associations, and Primary associations. If we keep the commandments of God, he said, we would be sustained in our work and lifted up to a far higher plane than those who now ridiculed and reviled them, and upon whom they looked with pity because of their ignorance. ¶