THE WORD OF WISDOM ESPECIALLY SUITED TO INFANTS AND YOUTH-PRIVATIONSIN MISSOURI-NECESSITY OF INTEGRITY, AND STRIFE FOR EXCELLENCE-RESPONSIBILITYOF PARENTS

AN ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG, TO THE CHILDREN WHOFORMED THE PROCESSION AT THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ENTRANCE OF THE PIONEERSINTO GREAT SALT LAKE VALLEY DELIVERED IN THE TABERNACLE.

GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, JULY 4, 1854.

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My remarks on this occasion will be disconnected, in order to answermy feelings, and to satisfy the congregation.

Here is a spectacle that is indeed admirable, and a scene that has calledforth many reflections in my mind, and, no doubt, in the minds of the spectators.

First of all, allow me to remark, that before it was concluded to celebratethis day, the Seventh Anniversary of the entrance of the pioneers into thesevalleys which we now occupy, I had determined to treat some of my familyand friends to a dinner, and had made preparations accordingly. This hasoccupied a portion of my time and attention, but before my preparatory laborwas performed, I was urged to attend on this interesting occasion. Thishas thrown my previous plans, touching this day, somewhat into confusion,still I am filled with joy in beholding this heart-cheering scene. Accordingto the Programme [Program] it seems I am to be escorted by the processionback to my dwelling. I however ask it as a favor of the officers of theday to excuse me, and relieve me from being present, or from taking anyfurther part in this day's proceedings, after the dismissal of this congregation,that I may repair immediately to my house, for, if I have to wait for thecompany to escort me, it will make it late before I can be present to waitupon my friends.

Before I proceed further, I wish to make another request, in behalfof the children, who are not capable of judging for themselves-they wouldtraverse these streets until they fainted. I wish the Bishops and Marshalsof the day to consider this, and my advice is to dismiss them soon; andwhile they are parading the streets, be sure to have plenty of water handyfor them to drink. If these requests can be granted, I shall feel thankful,and I presume you will have no objections to granting them.

On such occasions as this, our Tabernacle does not afford room for settingthe people, I wish the Bishops to hearken to a request I will make of them-Enablebrother Hyde to prosecute the labors placed upon him to build a Bowery,on the north of this Tabernacle, that will convene about twelve thousandpeople; and let it be done before another Celebration comes off, or evenbefore another Conference. I am disposed to take a vote upon this matter.If the brethren and sisters, old and young, will put forth their exertionsand means to assist in accomplishing this work, let them signify it by risingtheir right hands. [All hands were up.] I shall with pleasure render allthe assistance possible.

Were there time, I would like to make a great many remarks pertainingto parents and children, but my time will be too limited.

A portion of the youth of our community is before me, and could I givethese young persons a word of counsel, it would meet my wishes, and gratifymy desires to do them good. I will venture to give them a few items pertainingto life health, vigor, and salvation; and I hope they will not forget whatI am about to say to them.

I will begin by asking the older portion of the assembly, if you donot recollect that when you were two, three, or four years of age, manyof your mothers, as soon as you were able to drink out of a glass, and theyhappened to have a little wine, would compel you to partake of it, contraryto your feeble remonstrances? Do you not recollect when your mother madea little sling to revive her when she was fatigued with labor or exertionof any kind, saying to you, "Drink, my child?" Now, I wish tosay to you girls, never be guilty of such practices when you become mothers.Never, when you sit down at the table to drink strong tea, perhaps as astimulant when you are fatigued, give it to your child. I see this practicealmost daily, or occasionally, at least, in this as well as other communities.Keep the tea, the coffee, and the spirits from the mouths of your children.

I could say many things that would be of great worth to you, pertainingto the rising generation, had I time; but I wish you to recollect and practisethis one item I have briefly laid before you. I wish the daughters of Israelto far exceed their mothers in wisdom. And I wish these young men and boysto far exceed their fathers. I wish my sons to far exceed me in goodnessand virtue. This is my earnest desire concerning my children, and that theynot only walk in the footsteps of their father, but take a course to enjoylife, health, and vigor while they live, and the Spirit of intelligencefrom God, that they may far outstrip their father in long life, and in thegood they will perform in their day. What I say of my children I apply toall.

Young men, my young brethren, will you accept a little counsel fromme? When you go from this Tabernacle make a covenant with yourselves thatyou will taste no more ardent spirits, unless it is absolutely necessary,and you know it is; also make a covenant with yourselves that no more ofthat filthy, nasty, and obnoxious weed called tobacco shall enter your mouths;it is a disgrace to this and every other community. I am well aware of thereflections of many upon this subject. You may say to yourselves, "IfI can do as well as my parents, I think I shall do well, and be as goodas I want to be; and I should not strive to excel them." But if youdo your duty you will far excel them in everything that is good-in holiness,in physical and intellectual strength, for this is your privilege, and itbecomes your duty. Young men, take this advice from me, and practise itin your future life, and it will be more valuable to you than the richesof this world. "Why," say you, "I see the older brethrenchew tobacco, why should I not do it likewise!" Thus the boys havetaken licence from the pernicious habits of others, until they have formedan appetite, a false appetite; and they love a little liquor, and a littletobacco, and many other things that are injurious to their constitutions,and certainly hurtful to their moral character. Take a course that you canknow more than your parents. We have had all the traditions of the age inwhich we were born, to contend with; but these young men and women, or thegreater part of them, have been born in the Church, and brought up Latter-daySaints, and have received the teachings that are necessary to advance themin the kingdom of God on earth. If you are in any way suspicious that theacts of your parents are not right, if there is a conviction in your mindsthat they feed appetites that are injurious to them then it is for you toabstain from that which you see is not good in your parents.

I will now offer a few words of encouragement, and I wish you to listento them attentively. If you wish to be great in the Kingdom of God, youmust be good. It has been told you often, and I reiterate it to-day, thatno man or woman in this kingdom that the Lord Almighty has again establishedupon the earth, can become great without being good-without being true totheir integrity, faithful to their trust, full of charity and good works.If they do not order their lives to do all the good they can, they willbe stripped of their anticipations of greatness. You may write that down,and write it as revelation if you please, for it is true. Again, you mustmake sacrifice, if such you may call it, of every feeling you possess onearth, as a man, as a woman, as a father, as a mother, as a husband, asa wife, as a member of a family or community, for the sake of the kingdomof God on earth-that you assuredly must do. Now remember, that no earthlyobject may stand between you and your calling and duty.

While gazing upon the scene before me, and thinking of what we had passedthrough-scenes of affliction fleeting through my memory, I reflected onthe generation now growing up, and on the past dealings of the Lord towardsthis people in His wise providences. I recollect that in 1830, the Twelveand others were called upon to go to England, after they had suffered muchpersecution and tribulation. Brother Joseph Smith had to leave Ohio andescape for his life. I had also to leave the country to save my life; Iwas going to the west, where Joseph told me to go. I had not been in Missourimore than five months, before the mob commenced to burn houses. I had expendedwhat little means I had left, to purchase an inheritance for my family,but I had to leave Missouri, after being at the trouble and expense of conveyingmy goods there, and preparing for living; I left all behind and went toIllinois. Well, the revelation was that several of the brethren must starton missions to foreign lands, and we fulfilled it in the midst of poverty.This is a proof that the hand of God is able to sustain His people, andhe will continue to provide for them.

If we do His will, He will take care of us as a people, and as individuals.One proof of this, is in my own life and experience. When I left my familyto start for England, I was not able to walk one mile, I was not able tolift a small trunk, which I took with me, into the wagon. I left my wifeand my six children without a second suit to their backs, for we had leftall our property in possession of the mob. Every one of my family were sick,and my then youngest child, who has spoken before you to-day, was but tendays old at the time I left for England. Joseph said, "If you willgo, I promise you, that your family shall live, and you shall live, andyou shall know that the hand of God is in calling you to go and preach theGospel of life and salvation to a perishing world." He said all hecould say to comfort and encourage the brethren. This was our situation,and I say, with regard to the remainder of the Twelve, they had all beendriven like myself, and we were a band of brethren about equal. My familylived. When I left them they had not provisions to last them ten days, andnot one soul of them was able to go to the well for a pail of water. I hadlain for weeks, myself, in the house, watching from day to day for someperson to pass the door, whom I could get to bring us in a pail of water.In this condition I left my family, and went to preach the Gospel. As forbeing cast down, or at all discouraged, or even such thoughts entering inmy heart as, "I will provide for my family, and let the world perish,"these feelings and thoughts never once occurred to me; if I had known thatevery one of them would have been in the grave when I returned, it wouldnot have diverted me from my mission one hour. When I was ready to start,I went and left my family in the hands of the Lord, and with the brethren.

I returned again in two years, and found that I had spent hundreds ofdollars, which I had accumulated on my mission to help the brethren to emigrateto Nauvoo, and had but one sovereign left. I said I would buy a barrel offlour with that, and sit down and eat it with my wife and children, andI determined I would not ask anybody for work, until I had eaten it allup. Brother Joseph asked me how I intended to live. I said, "I willgo to work and get a living." I tarried in Nauvoo from the year 1841to 1846, the year we left. In that time I had accumulated much property,for the Lord multiplied everything in my hands, and blessed all my undertakings.But I never ceased to preach; and travelled every season, both in the winter,and in the summer. I was at home occasionally, and the Lord fed and clothedme. It has never entered into my heart, from the first day I was calledto preach the Gospel to this day, when the Lord said, "Go and leaveyour family," to offer the least objection. It has never entered intomy heart to violate my covenants, to be an enemy to my neighbor, to deceive,to lie, or to take to myself that which was not my own. The youth aroundme, in their addresses this day, have eulogised the life and ability ofbrother Brigham; I want you not only to do as I have done, but a great dealbetter.

I am trying to encourage you to do good, and not evil, that the LordAlmighty may take care of you, sustain you, and give you power and influence,which He will do, if you serve Him with an undivided heart, but if you donot, He will chastise you. Remember it.

When I left Nauvoo, I again left all I had, and was under the necessityof borrowing a span of horses from this man, a yoke of cattle from that,and a wagon from the other; and after gathering up what little moveableproperty I could in this way, I left the country. I had accumulated thousandsof dollars worth of property, and had to leave it in the hands of the mob,and, said I, "Eat it up, destroy it, or burn it down, as quick as youplease, for the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof."

How did I obtain all this property? The Lord gave it to me; He has donewhat has been done. And if the youth will turn their hearts and affectionsto the Lord their God, they will be prepared to enter into the glory weare contending for, they will be prepared to redeem Zion. These young brethrenand sisters will be prepared to return to Zion, bear off the Priesthoodtriumphantly, and build up the kingdom of God among the nations of the earthfar better than we their fathers and mothers have, though we have done thebest we could. Be full of integrity and love for all people, let hope aboundin you, be filled with truth and virtue, and never allow yourselves to doa thing you would be ashamed to do in the presence of the Lord Almighty,or that you would be ashamed of were He to stand in your path, and callyou to an account. That is the way to live, and it is the only way for a"Mormon" Elder to live, or for a "Mormon" mother, ordaughter, or sister, in order to obtain what they wish to obtain. It isthe only path you can possibly walk in to secure that which you desire.There are men who will tell you many things in your houses, and will tryto pervert the truth, and the simple principles of the Holy Gospel, butyou must remember that it is a holy life before God which gives you influencewith Him.

Look, and see the past course of brother Brigham; he is not any differentto-day from what he ever was. Knowing that the Lord wishes him to do a certainwork, he is willing to do it. This has always been his character. You haveseen me rise up here in my authority, when necessary, and I have had tobe like a lion among the people. But who can point out a single act thathas not been full of kindness to this people, collectively and individually?Though sometimes I have to roar to them; and why? Because sometimes theyare foolish. This was exhibited here to-day, and also on the fourth of July.I saw scores of men who had no more sense than to crowd upon the women andchildren, at the risk of crushing them to death. When I see such conduct,I feel like a lion in the cause of the oppressed; and when the dogs andthe wolves undertake to make this people a prey, they may expect that somebodyis ready to roar, and contend for them.

Do you wish to know how men of God feel under such circumstances? Iwill tell you. If an enemy is crawling round this people, trying to makeinroads to destroy them, they can pick up men as fast as they come to them,and throw them out of their way; they can conquer and destroy army afterarmy; and in their feelings a thousand or ten thousand are no more to themthan so many grasshoppers. It is the strength of the Almighty God that isin them. Keep His commandments, if you would have strength in the day youneed it; and when you do not need it, be passive, like children in theirmother's lap, and be always ready and willing to extend the hand of charityand benevolence, and do all the good that is needed to be done, and youwill thereby be able to resist the evil.

I had to go out to the door, when the people were crowding each otherdown, and talk as if I would swallow them up. What for? To injure them?No. Did I tell you to rush on and tread down women and children? No. HaveI ever told you to take advantage of the weak and defenceless, or in anyway oppress the innocent? No, never; and if you do, I shall handle you;and if you get into my way, you will be no more to me than a child's toy.

I am consuming much time, and I wish to dismiss the meeting. But I willstate that if children could know the feelings of their parents, when theydo good or evil, it would have a salutary influence upon their lives; butno child can possibly know this, until it becomes a parent. I am compassionatetherefore towards children. Parents, will you have a little wisdom, andlearn to bring up your children under a proper influence, and under properteaching? Mothers, remember that when your husbands are engaged in the serviceof the Church, and are all the time occupied in the duties of the Priesthood,so that they have not time to instruct their children, the duty devolvesupon you. Then bring your children up in the ways of truth, and be to themboth a father and mother, until they are old enough to perform duties bythe side, and under the immediate eye, of their father. I like to see mothersbring their children to meeting, as soon as they can be brought withoutinjuring them, and when they can tell what they want, and call for waterwhen they are faint. As soon as they are old enough to receive instructions,bring them here to be taught; and when you go home with them, do not putstrong drinks, or tea, or coffee to their lips. I have actually seen womenwhip their children to make them drink spirits; such mothers do not knowwhat is actually necessary they should know. Children should have milk,bread, water, and potatoes; and everything that would lay the foundationfor disease should be strenuously kept from their stomachs, that no appetitesmay be formed for pernicious substances, which, when formed, cannot be overcomeeasily, if at all. The course mothers generally take in the world with theirchildren, produces an appetite in the child that almost invariably leadsto excess. There are scores in our midst who were begotten in a vault ofliquor, and were enveloped in it till the day of their birth. They havecome forth from it, and have a longing desire to still swim in it unto theday of their death. I wish you to understand this, sisters; and when youbecome mothers, know how to train up your children better than the pastgenerations have been brought up.

Brethren and sisters, may the Lord bless you all. If I had time to answermy feelings here to-day, I should enjoy more freedom in my remarks. BrotherGeorge A. Smith has given you the music, and I wished to point out the wayin which you ought to walk. Take him for the music, and my words for thecounsel; all he said was right, and I want you to observe what he told you;and what more you should do, we will tell you in season.