My brethren and sisters: With

PRESIDENT SEYMOUR B. YOUNG. ¶

(Of the First Council of Seventy.) ¶

My brethren and sisters: With you I am in deep sympathy with the remarks that have been made by my brethren during this semiannual conference. I rejoice when I hear the testimonies of my brethren, brethren who stand as leaders of the people. ¶

I believe I echo your sentiment, every one of you, when I state that my heart bounded within me with joy, it had a new mooring, a new rhythm of happiness, when I saw President Joseph F. Smith enter the tabernacle on the first day of the conference, and then, yesterday, as well, heard his voice again in our midst. With you I have been praying for this, for this denoument, and the Lord has heard the prayers of the Saints. President Smith has had a new lease of life, as it were, and we hear his voice again and his teachings, and I pray that this may continue, that his power of health and life may increase, that he may live to be a blessing and a comfort to Israel for •many years to come. ¶

As my brethren have expressed themselves this morning, I agree fully with their sentiments, that "obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." The power of faith also that was in the heart of the Prophet Joseph Smith, prompting him to kneel in humility in the sight of heaven before his heavenly Father, away from the haunts of men — he wanted to be alone, in communion with his heavenly Father ; he wanted to know of his existence ; he wanted to know of his willingness to respond to a ¶

humble prayer of one of his humble children ; and the Lord was never found to fail to respond to such prayer, and he gave the response in full measure. And so, year after year, teaching, in answer to prayer, this humble youth, giving him line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, and finally the culminating power and faith to that degree that he was permitted to bring to pass the righteousness of God in the organization of his Church and to begin the institution of the latter-day gathering of Israel. Josiah Quincy wrote of his interviews with the prophet, a short year previous to the martyrdom of the prophet. He describes him as physically one of the perfect men of nature, and of high spirituality, and then he makes this wonderful prediction, if it may be a prediction, and I believe it will be verified: "It is not improbable that, in the coming generations, this question may be asked in our public institutions of learning, What great American has made the greater impress upon the hearts of h:s countrymen? And this answer will not be unlikely, it will not be improbable, 'That man is the 'Mormon' Prophet Joseph Smith." ¶

The result of his ministry, the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ once more upon the earth, the calling around him of stalwart men, men who were not afraid, to attest and to speak their convictions, men who, though strong of nature and brave of heart and fearless, were yet humble as children, so that the spirit of inquiry could reach them in the humility of their souls. They could see that God had raised a prophet again, and given him his power and his strength ; and in their humility they accepted of the testimony of a great prophet. They knew that he had seen God, the eternal Father. They knew that he had heard the voice of Jesus Christ, and seen his person. They knew that by that inspiration which followed him, and which responded to his prayer on every occasion ; holy messengers came to him and delivered to him the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the way to organize the Church, the plan by which salvation was to reach humanity the world over. And so the gospel began to be preached by this united band of brethren, who gathered around the Prophet Joseph, in the days of the infancy of the Church, and the result has been wonderful to behold. ¶

And I was thinking, like Brother Morris, of the wonderful plan God instituted through his Prophet Joseph Smith, how the very events, the very providential occurrences, and the times, have been so propitious that seemingly everything has worked out for the advancement of this great cause of truth. Do I include with that everything, the opposition, which they have met from time to time? Yes, for that was a schooling to them. It was a necessary schooling. The men who were known as among the leaders of the Church from the time of its organization to the present have been men that were willing to accept of the providences of God. I remember reading something about their experiences in Jackson county, Missouri, in Far West, and in the massacre that occurred at Haun's Mill, 1838, and other places, showing what those new beginners felt, if I may use the sentence, members who had had little experience or none, meeting these awful conditions, where they saw their ¶

brethren, their sisters, their children, shot down : where men and women and children were banished from their homes in winter season. This came to the new converts of the faith. It had made such an impress upon them. this gospel of Jesus Christ had found such a hold upon their hearts that they never flinched nor turned from their conviction. Although caused to wander, to wade through these scenes of oppression and deprivation, yet they remain true and faithful. So the Church had, in the beginning, stalwart men, as it has today, only they are multiplied by thousands and hundreds of thousands. We have our leader with us, the prophet, seer and revelator, the man who says, Thus saith the Lord to Israel, to all the world, if they believe, for his ministry extends to every son and daughter of God that will hear, and to them he has promised, as you have heard today, he will own them to be his children, if they will accept his word. ¶

My brethren and sisters, I have as great a wish that the war would speedily terminate as any man can have ; and yet I feel, as Brother Morris has expressed himself this morning and other brethren during this conference, that in the due time of the Lord he will bring peace to the earth. And when he brings peace to the earth, and establishes his rule and reign of righteousness, it will be established, and we will see the glory and the happiness of that peaceful reign upon the earth. ¶

I hope with all my heart that the teachings of these good mothers and the teachings of these good fathers may be so deeply impressed upon the hearts of our soldier boys that they will go into action, go into the trenched fields and receive their training, and march into the battles with clean hands and pure hearts, as they left you from your firesides. Should they do this, and I believe they will, most of them, and I hope all of them, you will see the blessing of God upon them wherever they go ; and this may be a consolation to every mother's heart. ¶

God bless you all, my brethren and sisters, and hasten the day of peace, and the rule and reign of righteousness upon the earth, is my humble prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶