It is nearly time to close this meeting, but I desire to speak a few words. I have very much that I wish to convey to the Latter-day Saints, but I can only say, in as few words as possible, a little at a time, upon a few subjects which I wish to lay before the Saints. First, looking upon the Latter-day Saints, the inquiry within myself is—Do you know whether I am leading you right or not? Do you know whether I dictate you right or not? Do you know whether the wisdom and the mind of the Lord are dispensed to you correctly or not? These are questions which I will answer by quoting a little Scripture, and saying to the Latter-day Saints what was said to the Saints in former times, "No man knoweth the things of God, but by the Spirit of God." That was said in the days of the Savior and the Apostles, and it was no more true then than it is now, or than it was in the days of the Prophets, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, Adam, or in any and every age of the world. It requires the same manifestations in one age as in another, to enable men to understand the things of God. I have a request to make of each and every Latter-day Saint, or those who profess to be, to so live that the Spirit of the Lord will whisper to them and teach them the truth, and define to their understanding the difference between truth and error, light and darkness, the things of God and the things that are not of God. In this there is safety; without this there is danger, imminent danger; and my exhortation to the Latter-day Saints is—Live your religion.
Among all intelligent beings upon the earth there is a great mistake in regard to dispensing to others the knowledge they possess. In the political world, right here, and through our government and other governments, there is a great desire in each and every one, who is prominent and influential, to manage their political affairs by and with their friends, and to keep their enemies from knowing anything about them, which creates a party feeling, and parties promote distrust and jealousy, which lead to discord and strife. Such is also the case in the financial world. In our trading and trafficking we wish to confine the knowledge of our business in as small a limit as possible, that others may not know what we are doing, lest we should lose our good bargains and fail in our schemes.
It is more or less the same in the religious world. We wish to know a great deal, and do not want our neighbors to know as much as we do, but wish them to believe that we know it all. This trait of character is very common, both here and through the whole world. We all wish to know something that our neighbors do not know. With scientific men you will often find the same trait of character: "My studies and my researches are beyond those of my neighbors; I know more than they know; I treasure this up to myself, and I am looked upon as a superior being, and that delights me."
I say to the Latter-day Saints, and to all the world, this is all wrong. We are here upon this earth as the children of our heavenly Father, who is filled with light and intelligence, and he dispenses that to his children as they can receive and profit by it, without money and without price. Is not this a fact? It is. Go to every department of life, to the mechanics, to the manufacturers, to those learned in all the arts and sciences, throughout the world, and not one of them possesses an item of knowledge or wisdom but what has come from God, the fountain of all wisdom and knowledge. The idea that the religion of Christ is one thing, and science is another, is a mistaken idea, for there is no true religion without true science, and consequently there is no true science without true religion. The fountain of knowledge dwells with God, and he dispenses it to his children as he pleases, and as they are prepared to receive it, consequently it swallows up and circumscribes all. This is the great plan of salvation; this is the "bugaboo" that the Christian world hoot at so much, and which they call "Mormonism"—it is the Gospel of life and salvation.
Confidence is lost in the hearts of the nations of the earth. Confidence is lost one towards another, among the religious sects of the day; confidence is lost in the scientific and mechanical world; in the financial and in the political world, and it must be restored. I make this statement, and there is not a scientist or divine on the earth who can truthfully controvert it.