Establishment of This Government and Restoration of the Gospel Cause for Rejoicing

I desire that you will give me the benefit of your faith and prayers, that the time which I occupy may be profitable to you as well as to myself. I rejoice in the fact that there are present upon this occasion all of the First Presidency of the Church, that there are present all of the Council of Apostles except Brother Clawson, who is engaged earnestly and fully in his duty of helping to proclaim the Gospel among the nations of the world. I am pleased that the Seven Presidents of Sev- ¶

enties are all in the city and are present excepting one of them, who may have been delayed or detained in the performance of duties resting upon him. The Patriarch of the Church, and I believe the Presiding Bishopric in their entirety are here today. ¶

I rejoiced very much this morning in the telling Gospel discourse delivered to us, following his words of welcome, by the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to hear his voice declaring the mercies of our Heavenly Father, and bearing witness of the truth as established in the day and age in which we live, and expounding and explaining to us those primary doctrines of the Gospel, and reasoning with us upon those advanced principles of the Gospel revealed in this dispensation, with which the world at large has not been acquainted. It was a pleasure to me to hear his testimony to the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world, and to hear him declare in words of soberness the fact that the same Gospel, which was introduced by Him in that former dispensation, has been renewed to us in the dispensation in which we live, and that man was privileged to gaze upon the face of Jesus Christ and of God, our Heavenly Father. ¶

The impress of the spirit of the work of the Almighty should gladden the heart of the aged who have left fatherland, connections and relations, and national ties, that they might be engaged in that wonderful work, having heard that message, "Come out of her, O ye my people, that ye receive not of her sins, and that ye partake not of her plagues ;" that the trials and tribulations that would beset the nations would surely come in the due time of the Lord, and that as the warning cry went forth, declaring the glad message of the visitation of our Father in heaven, and His introduction of that heavenly messenger, the Savior of the world, and that the human family should again hear, in language clear and explicit, the doctrines announced by the Redeemer of the world. Joy abounded in my soul in the re-declaration in the presence of this vast congregation, of these truths, and of the nature of that work which lay upon the shoulders of the men and women to whom that warning had come, and into whose soul the impress of the Spirit from on high had found place and lodgment, and had led them to gather in this land, this land dedicated under our Father in heaven for the accomplishment of His great purpose, the uplift and blessing of the human race. ¶

I rejoice in the declaration that came through the fathers called upon to establish this republic, in the Declaration of Independence, uttered and promulgated and expounded among the people of this land, the principles involved in the Constitution of the United States, and the opportunities that were to be placed within the reach of the children of men, to believe in God and to obey the laws and ordinances of the Gospel, that no one should molest nor make them afraid. While in the application of the great fundamental law, that opened the doors of liberty to the human race, it has been in the keeping of the American people, the law itself remains untarnished. Some, in their misapprehension, or over-zeal in regard to the regulation and care of their fellows, have failed to appreciate the fact that it was the design of providence to guard the consciences of men and open up to them the great privilege of religious freedom. They are at liberty to accept the doctrines of Buddha if they choose, or to believe in the mission and ministry of Mohammed, or to regard and honor the laws and views presented in the Koran, or in the doctrines announced by Moses, following the Jewish theories and ideas ; they also who should believe in Jesus Christ in these latter days, and literally accept His doctrines, should with their fellow men enjoy their right to those laws, and live in harmony with the rules and principles set forth in the doctrines announced in this latter time, even as they were announced in that former day. ¶

My brothers and my sisters, I rejoice when I think of the completeness of the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ; when I remember that the promise was given in the commencement that this work had been divinely established and would never again be taken from the earth; that this organization, with its prophets, its Apostles, its Pastors, its Teachers and its Evangelists, should remain unbroken. I remember that the Prophet Joseph Smith himself ministered under these rules and regulations, and that, after his passing there came to the front that grand man who led us to these mountains, with the band of other grand men, among the truest and best that ever breathed the breath of life, that came with him and continued the work, maintaining each principle and doctrine, announcing the glad message that had been entrusted to their watchcare. Having themselves been in the mission field, declaring the ¶

truth and pointing the way of life to mankind, raising that appeal which led you to gather into your mountain homes, "Come out of her, ¶

O ye my children, that ye receive not of her sins, and that ye partake not of her plagues." ¶

There has been a continuance of the Church organization in an unbroken phalanx, with its Presidency holding the keys and rights of that presidency ; the Council of the Apostles, complete and perfect, stalwart and true men, devoted to the cause, utilizing their talents in every way to extend the good work, and free themselves from the sacred responsibility that God our Father placed upon their shoulders. ¶

I rejoice when I remember that their associates, the Council of Seventy, devoted and true, have kept their faces in the direction of the extension of this great work; and that the great body of High Priests. Seventies, and Elders, in their entirety, have kept aflame in their hearts the message entrusted to their watch-care, and have been true in the fulfillment of the duties that have been imposed upon them. ¶

As I gaze into the faces of this body of men and women, and recognize their worth, understanding the message they have in hand, the sacredness of the obligation that rests upon them, I pray my God that nothing shall ever cause one of them to waver from the truth. Their faces aflame with goodness and gladness, with the teachings and instructions and complete organization, from the Presidency, the Presiding Patriarch, the Apostles, the First Council of ^"ventv, the Hiq-h Priests, the Patriarchs throughout the Church, the preat bodv of Seventies, the great bodv of Elders, they recognize the fact that this world is unconquered by the word of God. They have been sent into the world to fulfil that mission of conquering the world by the declaration of the truth, by the advice and counsel of righteousness, by themselves walking so clean and free from the trammels of crime that they can look at the best people in the world, wherever they may be found, and declare, "I know that God lives1; I know that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the world; I know He is the veritable Son of God, that He has opened the door to the human race, and the doctrines essential to the salvation of mankind are the doctrines announced by Himself. Thou shalt "believe in God the Eternal Father ; thou shalt believe in the Redeemer of the world, and thou shalt witness thy belief by burial in baptism, and in the confirmation and receiving of the Holy Ghost, realizing that this message of morality, and the observance of these ordinances, rests upon every man and every woman in the land, to receive and apply them in their lives." ¶

This body of men standing at the head of this work in a solid phalanx should never turn their backs to their fellow men, but with their faces looking to mankind, should proclaim unto them, "This is the way, walk ye in it." Christ is the Redeemer of the world. The theories and fallacies of men in regard to this matter, seeking to make a myth of Him, are not true. He is the Christ, He is the Way and the- Life. He is the Redeemer of the race, and should be magnified and sustained by every Christian in the universe. Standing before you, T declare my absolute knowledge that He is the Son of God ; that He is my Redeemer and your Redeemer, and that by Him, and through Him, and of Him the race will be reclaimed, and in no other way. ¶

May heaven's blessings abound in your hearts. May you have the power to impress upon your sons and daughters that faith which will lead them along the lines of righteousness, and away from the schemes and devices of designing and misleading spirits, that the wicked may not be successful in entangling them in the meshes of crime. May you be enabled to say, as you point to the head of this work, "There stands the man God selected ; here is the Church organization Jesus established, unbroken from the day it was fixed by the Prophet of the Lord, and God said it never would be taken from the earth or given to another people." It will never be given to this little organization, or that little party withdrawing from this work. Here stands this organization true to God, true to the principles He has announced, true to every requirement placed upon their shoulders, as men have ever been true to the obligations placed upon them. ¶

My brothers and my sisters, I am happy to be with you. I rejoice in the knowledge of the truth of this work, and bear my witness, in connection with my brethren, of its place and purpose and mission in the world, and to say that the men who speak of its overthrow, its displacement, its failure to accomplish its mission, are dreaming myths, for this work will not fail. God has decreed its success, and it is to become the joy of the race. Amen. ¶

Sister Margaret Summerhays sang a soprano solo, entitled "Great peace have they that love the Lord." ¶