[Brigham Young Sermon] The President now said he would make some remarks, he was well pleased with the proceeding of the camp thus far, he had no doubt the Lord had led us & would continue to lead if wee were faithful. All these matters were right; but there was some items of business he would mention. It was necessary there should be a daily report from the several Tens that their men were all on hand that the roll should be called twice a day to ascertain if any were missing'"he would also speak of the guard his Horse got Killed through carelessness of the guard, they [were] so technical about countersigns [and] keeping the men on their post that they would let a horse choke to death & not go and relieve him. I then asked the privilege of making some remarks with reference to the conduct of the guard as I was the officer of the first watch & knew that the Horse was not killed during my watch & the men attended to their duty faithfully. I then asked [if] a man should be permitted to leave his post during the time of his watch observing that one of my men did do it for a short time but soon returned. The President replied [that] if a man saw any difficulty among the horses or cattle in any part of the camp it was his duty to go and relieve them even if he had to disobey his officer & then report himself and the officer, and with regard to a countersign it was perfect nonsense in this camp and he wanted all gentile technicalities to be laid aside. such regulations as were common in an army of such persons was not applicable to us. And he wanted the Brethren to learn one principle now. There was much said about oppression in this church. he would ask if the Twelve oppressed anybody? The answer by the congregation was no. The earth said he is composed of small particles, so [is] the Knowledge of God [in] small degrees making use of every little principle as it was manifested to the mind. The more a man had of the Spirit of God the more he was disposed to break off every yoke, while many [of] the Elders that were in authority were disposed to tyrannize over those placed under them as had been manifested in the Army (referring to the Mormon Battalion)'- The President also recommended that the several Tens select two men each to cook and that they be exempt from all other duties. -- Fullerton, Nebraska [Norton Jacob Diary, Archives, Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.. Also The Mormon Vanguard Brigade of 1847, Ronald Barney, ed. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2005. 115-116]
[source: The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009)]
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