October 1863
Hyde, Orson. "Necessity for Watchfulness—the Proper Course to Pursue Towards Strangers—Selling Flour and Grain—the War and Its Effects Upon Slavery." Journal of Discourses. Volume 10. April 6, 1863: pg. 261-264.
Taylor, John. "Remarks." The Deseret News, October 28, 1863: pg. 110. The Deseret News. "The Semi-Annual Conference." October 14, 1863: pg. 96-97. Young, Brigham. "Necessity for Watchfulness—the Proper Course to Pursue Towards Strangers—Selling Flour and Grain—the War and Its Effects Upon Slavery." Journal of Discourses. Volume 10. April 6, 1863: pg. 248-250. Young, Brigham. "Tithing—Building Temples—Gold, Its Production and Uses—Governmental Policy Towards Utah—Providing Bread for the Poor." Journal of Discourses. Volume 10. April 6, 1863: pg. 251-256. Young, Brigham. "Our Relationship and Duty to God and His Kingdom—the True Source of the Prosperity and Wealth of Individuals and Nations, and How to Obtain Them—Counsel to the Saints." Journal of Discourses. Volume 10. April 6, 1863: pg. 265-274. THE SEMI-ANNUAL CONFERENCE Brigham Young Necessity for Watchfulness Brigham Young Our Relationship and Duty to God and His Kingdom Sustaining of the General Authorities Orson Hyde The Wisdom of God Through His Servants—Missionaries' Families to Be Sustained John Taylor Remarks Brigham Young Tithing—Building Temples—Gold, Its Production and Uses |
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THE SEMI-ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Favored by remarkably fine weather, large numbers of the saints from the country settlements were early in the city, and by 10 o'clock on Tuesday morning, the 6th inst., the Bowery was well-filled with people, and numbers continually increased till every seat was occupied, and probably one half as many auditors were found standing around as those who were accommodated under the shade of the Bowery.
On the stand were Presidents Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, and the Apostles, Orson Hyde, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Geo. A. Smith, Amasa M. Lyman, Ezra T. Benson, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow and Franklin D. Richards; Joseph Young, Levi W. Hancock, Albert P. Rockwood, Horace S. Eldredge, John Van Cott and Jacob Gates, of the First Presidency of the Seventies; John Young, Edwin D. Woolley and Samuel W. Richards, of the Presidency of the High Priests Quorum; Daniel Spencer, David Fullmer and George B. Wallace, of the Presidency of this Stake of Zion; Edward Hunter, Leonard W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little, of the Presidency of the Bishopric; John Young and Seth Taft, of the Patriarchs; George D. Watt and J. V. Long, Reporters; and a large number of Bishops from the settlements and recently returned missionaries from Europe.
President Young called the meeting to order, and choir sang:
O God! our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come, &c., &c.,
and Elder Orson Hyde prayed, invoking the blessings of the Most High upon the congregations that might assemble during conference, and upon all Israel at home and abroad.
Throughout the Conference, much valuable instruction was imparted to the saints by Presidents Young and Kimball, the Twelve, and the Elders who spoke, which, in due course of time, will have its place in the News; but for the accommodation of those unable to attend the Conference, we omit our usual summary to give early the opening and closing remarks of President Brigham Young, and the general election of the presiding authorities of the Priesthood.
Favored by remarkably fine weather, large numbers of the saints from the country settlements were early in the city, and by 10 o'clock on Tuesday morning, the 6th inst., the Bowery was well-filled with people, and numbers continually increased till every seat was occupied, and probably one half as many auditors were found standing around as those who were accommodated under the shade of the Bowery.
On the stand were Presidents Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, and the Apostles, Orson Hyde, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Geo. A. Smith, Amasa M. Lyman, Ezra T. Benson, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow and Franklin D. Richards; Joseph Young, Levi W. Hancock, Albert P. Rockwood, Horace S. Eldredge, John Van Cott and Jacob Gates, of the First Presidency of the Seventies; John Young, Edwin D. Woolley and Samuel W. Richards, of the Presidency of the High Priests Quorum; Daniel Spencer, David Fullmer and George B. Wallace, of the Presidency of this Stake of Zion; Edward Hunter, Leonard W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little, of the Presidency of the Bishopric; John Young and Seth Taft, of the Patriarchs; George D. Watt and J. V. Long, Reporters; and a large number of Bishops from the settlements and recently returned missionaries from Europe.
President Young called the meeting to order, and choir sang:
O God! our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come, &c., &c.,
and Elder Orson Hyde prayed, invoking the blessings of the Most High upon the congregations that might assemble during conference, and upon all Israel at home and abroad.
Throughout the Conference, much valuable instruction was imparted to the saints by Presidents Young and Kimball, the Twelve, and the Elders who spoke, which, in due course of time, will have its place in the News; but for the accommodation of those unable to attend the Conference, we omit our usual summary to give early the opening and closing remarks of President Brigham Young, and the general election of the presiding authorities of the Priesthood.
Necessity for Watchfulness—the Proper Course to Pursue Towards Strangers—Selling Flour and Grain—the War and Its Effects Upon Slavery
Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1863.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
I do not expect you will hear much from me during this Conference. If I had faith, or you had faith for me, sufficient to heal me up and make me strong, so that I could speak as I would like to speak, and as often and whenever the Spirit of God would delight to speak through me, I should still talk a great deal to the people.
I have always been satisfied, and am still, that they need a great deal of teaching, for everything is to learn, and everything is to be obtained. We can receive only a little at a time, and it is only the faithful that can receive anything pertaining to the revealed will of God, and they can only receive it “line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little,” and blessed is the man or woman that treasures up the words of life. Much has yet to be taught the Latter-day Saints to perfect them and prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man.
We have heard a good deal today, and we shall hear a good deal more tomorrow and next day, or so long as our Conference shall last; how long it will continue is not now for me to say.
In the remarks that have been made today, a great many things have been suggested to my mind. One thing I will take time to mention, and that is in regard to the stranger that passes through our country in search for gold, or in search for safety, as the case may be. I wish the Latter-day Saints, who live in these mountains, to understand that we are here through necessity, and that hundreds and thousands of Latter-day Saints are coming here now, and hundreds and thousands who are not Latter-day Saints are also passing through from the east to the regions north and west of us, or to other regions where they may hope to make their homes, and all through necessity; they are fleeing from trouble and sorrow. I wish you to realize this. Multitudes of good and honorable men become enrolled in the contending armies of the present American war, some to gratify a martial pride, and others through a conscientious love of their country; indeed, various are the motives and inducements that impel men to expose themselves upon the field of battle; but a portion of those who are peaceably disposed, and wish not to witness the shedding of the blood of their countrymen, make good their escape from the vicinity of trouble. It is chiefly this class of men who are now passing through this Territory to other parts, and I think they are probably as good a class of men as has ever passed through this country; they are persons who wish to live in peace, and to be far removed from contending factions. As far as I am concerned I have no fault to find with them.
But I will say to the Latter-day Saints, when they come to you with well-filled sacks of gold dust to buy your produce, do not be afraid to ask six dollars a hundred for your flour, or more if it is worth it. The love of mankind is an exalted sentiment, and patriotism for home and country is worthy of a place in the bosoms of the greatest and best of mankind, but I cannot see that we do homage to these holy principles by selling our produce to the passing stranger for less than its actual cost to us; and he is as well satisfied to pay a reasonable and fair price for what he buys from us, as to receive it, at half its value. Every intelligent farmer must be aware that flour costs him all of six dollars a hundred. If I oppress you when I teach you to take care of yourselves, then shall I continue to oppress you. Have I ever taught you, by example or precept, to oppress the hireling in his wages? Never. Can you justly accuse me of depriving the poor, or the stranger that is cast among us, of the means of obtaining the necessary comforts of life? You cannot. But I may be justly accused of making men, as far as possible, earn their living; of teaching them to supply their own wants, and to accumulate and gather around them wealth and independence by a persevering industry and a constant frugality and care of the temporal blessings God bestows upon them.
Some would tell you that you are deprived of the free exercise of your rights by “Mormon” interference, while, every day you live, you live in the enjoyment of the rights and privileges of freemen, and staunch upholders of the priceless boon bequeathed to us by our fathers in the Constitution of our suffering country. They would tell you that it is the right of every man and woman to suffer themselves to be prostituted and defiled by the filth and scum that floats among the surging masses of mankind, that are at present lashed into rage and madness by the demon of war. This is not, in strictness, a right which belongs to any human being, but on the contrary, it is the right of every person and of every community to resist pollution and to contend for the privilege of living a virtuous, holy, upright, and godly life, so as to be justified before the heavens and before all the good that dwell upon the earth. They consider that they are curtailed in the free exercise of their rights, because they cannot enter into our houses and pollute our wives and daughters, and because they cannot change our domestic and social system to the lowest standard of this depraved age. It is their right to attend to their own business, and we feel quite capable of attending to ours.
I mean to watch them with a sleepless eye. Understand it, ye Elders of Israel. Whether you do as you are told or not, I shall tell every man to take care that he is ready for every emergency—to sleep with one eye open, and, if he has a mind to, with his boots on and one leg out of bed. I shall not be found off my watch; and if they commence intruding, woe unto them, for they will then know who are the old settlers.
Treat the passing strangers with kindness and respect; treat all kindly and respectfully who respect you and your rights as American citizens. “Peace on earth and good will towards men,” is the design and spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; but when men are harnessed up by hundreds of thousands, and driven to the slaughter, it bespeaks a departure from God and from the popular institutions of freedom; and if Angels can weep, they weep over this human ignorance, blindness, depravity, and cruelty.
What is the cause of all this waste of life and treasure? To tell it in a plain, truthful way, one portion of the country wish to raise their negroes or black slaves and the other portion wish to free them, and, apparently, to almost worship them. Well, raise and worship them, who cares? I should never fight one moment about it, for the cause of human improvement is not in the least advanced by the dreadful war which now convulses our unhappy country.
Ham will continue to be the servant of servants, as the Lord has decreed, until the curse is removed. Will the present struggle free the slave? No; but they are now wasting away the black race by thousands. Many of the blacks are treated worse than we treat our dumb brutes; and men will be called to judgment for the way they have treated the negro, and they will receive the condemnation of a guilty conscience, by the just Judge whose attributes are justice and truth.
Treat the slaves kindly and let them live, for Ham must be the servant of servants until the curse is removed. Can you destroy the decrees of the Almighty? You cannot. Yet our Christian brethren think that they are going to overthrow the sentence of the Almighty upon the seed of Ham. They cannot do that, though they may kill them by thousands and tens of thousands.
According to accounts, in all probability not less than one million men, from twenty to forty years of age, have gone to the silent grave in this useless war, in a little over two years, and all to gratify the caprice of a few—I do not think I have a suitable name for them, shall we call them abolitionists, slaveholders, religious bigots, or political aspirants? Call them what you will, they are wasting away each other, and it seems as though they will not be satisfied until they have brought universal destruction and desolation upon the whole country. It appears as though they would destroy every person; perhaps they will, but I think they will not.
God rules. Do you know it? It is the kingdom of God or nothing for the Latter-day Saints.
Do you know that it is the eleventh hour of the reign of Satan on the earth? Jesus is coming to reign, and all you who fear and tremble because of your enemies, cease to fear them, and learn to fear to offend God, fear to transgress his laws, fear to do any evil to your brother, or to any being upon the earth, and do not fear Satan and his power, nor those who have only power to slay the body, for God will preserve his people.
We are constantly gathering new clay into the mill. How many of the newcomers I have heard say, “Oh that I had been with you when you had your trials.” We have promised them all the trials that are necessary, if they would be patient.
Are you going to be patient and trust in God, and receive every trial with thanksgiving, acknowledging the hand of the Lord in it? You will have all the trial you can bear. The least thing tries some people. Brother Heber and myself going to the island in Great Salt Lake, a week ago last Friday, created numerous surmisings and misgivings with some. I have thought that it might, perhaps, be well to notify you regularly, through the Deseret News, of my outgoings and incomings; and I may as well now notify you that it is my intention to visit Sanpete, and, perhaps, our southern settlements this fall. If I should do so, I hope that my brethren and sisters will feel satisfied, for I shall go, come, stay, and act as I feel dictated by the Spirit of God, God being my helper, asking no odds of any person. Amen.
Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1863.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
I do not expect you will hear much from me during this Conference. If I had faith, or you had faith for me, sufficient to heal me up and make me strong, so that I could speak as I would like to speak, and as often and whenever the Spirit of God would delight to speak through me, I should still talk a great deal to the people.
I have always been satisfied, and am still, that they need a great deal of teaching, for everything is to learn, and everything is to be obtained. We can receive only a little at a time, and it is only the faithful that can receive anything pertaining to the revealed will of God, and they can only receive it “line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little,” and blessed is the man or woman that treasures up the words of life. Much has yet to be taught the Latter-day Saints to perfect them and prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man.
We have heard a good deal today, and we shall hear a good deal more tomorrow and next day, or so long as our Conference shall last; how long it will continue is not now for me to say.
In the remarks that have been made today, a great many things have been suggested to my mind. One thing I will take time to mention, and that is in regard to the stranger that passes through our country in search for gold, or in search for safety, as the case may be. I wish the Latter-day Saints, who live in these mountains, to understand that we are here through necessity, and that hundreds and thousands of Latter-day Saints are coming here now, and hundreds and thousands who are not Latter-day Saints are also passing through from the east to the regions north and west of us, or to other regions where they may hope to make their homes, and all through necessity; they are fleeing from trouble and sorrow. I wish you to realize this. Multitudes of good and honorable men become enrolled in the contending armies of the present American war, some to gratify a martial pride, and others through a conscientious love of their country; indeed, various are the motives and inducements that impel men to expose themselves upon the field of battle; but a portion of those who are peaceably disposed, and wish not to witness the shedding of the blood of their countrymen, make good their escape from the vicinity of trouble. It is chiefly this class of men who are now passing through this Territory to other parts, and I think they are probably as good a class of men as has ever passed through this country; they are persons who wish to live in peace, and to be far removed from contending factions. As far as I am concerned I have no fault to find with them.
But I will say to the Latter-day Saints, when they come to you with well-filled sacks of gold dust to buy your produce, do not be afraid to ask six dollars a hundred for your flour, or more if it is worth it. The love of mankind is an exalted sentiment, and patriotism for home and country is worthy of a place in the bosoms of the greatest and best of mankind, but I cannot see that we do homage to these holy principles by selling our produce to the passing stranger for less than its actual cost to us; and he is as well satisfied to pay a reasonable and fair price for what he buys from us, as to receive it, at half its value. Every intelligent farmer must be aware that flour costs him all of six dollars a hundred. If I oppress you when I teach you to take care of yourselves, then shall I continue to oppress you. Have I ever taught you, by example or precept, to oppress the hireling in his wages? Never. Can you justly accuse me of depriving the poor, or the stranger that is cast among us, of the means of obtaining the necessary comforts of life? You cannot. But I may be justly accused of making men, as far as possible, earn their living; of teaching them to supply their own wants, and to accumulate and gather around them wealth and independence by a persevering industry and a constant frugality and care of the temporal blessings God bestows upon them.
Some would tell you that you are deprived of the free exercise of your rights by “Mormon” interference, while, every day you live, you live in the enjoyment of the rights and privileges of freemen, and staunch upholders of the priceless boon bequeathed to us by our fathers in the Constitution of our suffering country. They would tell you that it is the right of every man and woman to suffer themselves to be prostituted and defiled by the filth and scum that floats among the surging masses of mankind, that are at present lashed into rage and madness by the demon of war. This is not, in strictness, a right which belongs to any human being, but on the contrary, it is the right of every person and of every community to resist pollution and to contend for the privilege of living a virtuous, holy, upright, and godly life, so as to be justified before the heavens and before all the good that dwell upon the earth. They consider that they are curtailed in the free exercise of their rights, because they cannot enter into our houses and pollute our wives and daughters, and because they cannot change our domestic and social system to the lowest standard of this depraved age. It is their right to attend to their own business, and we feel quite capable of attending to ours.
I mean to watch them with a sleepless eye. Understand it, ye Elders of Israel. Whether you do as you are told or not, I shall tell every man to take care that he is ready for every emergency—to sleep with one eye open, and, if he has a mind to, with his boots on and one leg out of bed. I shall not be found off my watch; and if they commence intruding, woe unto them, for they will then know who are the old settlers.
Treat the passing strangers with kindness and respect; treat all kindly and respectfully who respect you and your rights as American citizens. “Peace on earth and good will towards men,” is the design and spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; but when men are harnessed up by hundreds of thousands, and driven to the slaughter, it bespeaks a departure from God and from the popular institutions of freedom; and if Angels can weep, they weep over this human ignorance, blindness, depravity, and cruelty.
What is the cause of all this waste of life and treasure? To tell it in a plain, truthful way, one portion of the country wish to raise their negroes or black slaves and the other portion wish to free them, and, apparently, to almost worship them. Well, raise and worship them, who cares? I should never fight one moment about it, for the cause of human improvement is not in the least advanced by the dreadful war which now convulses our unhappy country.
Ham will continue to be the servant of servants, as the Lord has decreed, until the curse is removed. Will the present struggle free the slave? No; but they are now wasting away the black race by thousands. Many of the blacks are treated worse than we treat our dumb brutes; and men will be called to judgment for the way they have treated the negro, and they will receive the condemnation of a guilty conscience, by the just Judge whose attributes are justice and truth.
Treat the slaves kindly and let them live, for Ham must be the servant of servants until the curse is removed. Can you destroy the decrees of the Almighty? You cannot. Yet our Christian brethren think that they are going to overthrow the sentence of the Almighty upon the seed of Ham. They cannot do that, though they may kill them by thousands and tens of thousands.
According to accounts, in all probability not less than one million men, from twenty to forty years of age, have gone to the silent grave in this useless war, in a little over two years, and all to gratify the caprice of a few—I do not think I have a suitable name for them, shall we call them abolitionists, slaveholders, religious bigots, or political aspirants? Call them what you will, they are wasting away each other, and it seems as though they will not be satisfied until they have brought universal destruction and desolation upon the whole country. It appears as though they would destroy every person; perhaps they will, but I think they will not.
God rules. Do you know it? It is the kingdom of God or nothing for the Latter-day Saints.
Do you know that it is the eleventh hour of the reign of Satan on the earth? Jesus is coming to reign, and all you who fear and tremble because of your enemies, cease to fear them, and learn to fear to offend God, fear to transgress his laws, fear to do any evil to your brother, or to any being upon the earth, and do not fear Satan and his power, nor those who have only power to slay the body, for God will preserve his people.
We are constantly gathering new clay into the mill. How many of the newcomers I have heard say, “Oh that I had been with you when you had your trials.” We have promised them all the trials that are necessary, if they would be patient.
Are you going to be patient and trust in God, and receive every trial with thanksgiving, acknowledging the hand of the Lord in it? You will have all the trial you can bear. The least thing tries some people. Brother Heber and myself going to the island in Great Salt Lake, a week ago last Friday, created numerous surmisings and misgivings with some. I have thought that it might, perhaps, be well to notify you regularly, through the Deseret News, of my outgoings and incomings; and I may as well now notify you that it is my intention to visit Sanpete, and, perhaps, our southern settlements this fall. If I should do so, I hope that my brethren and sisters will feel satisfied, for I shall go, come, stay, and act as I feel dictated by the Spirit of God, God being my helper, asking no odds of any person. Amen.
Our Relationship and Duty to God and His Kingdom—the True Source of the Prosperity and Wealth of Individuals and Nations, and How to Obtain Them—Counsel to the Saints
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1863.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
We have duties which will occupy all of our time while we live upon the earth, if they are properly performed, and they consist in duties which we owe to ourselves, to our fellow beings, and to our God. We acknowledge that we owe duties to God, and we feel that we are under certain obligations to him; indeed we owe our very existence to him, for we are his offspring, and without him we can do nothing; we cannot even make “one hair white or black” without our Father. We cannot, independent of God, make a single blade of grass to grow, nor produce one kernel of wheat or any other grain; in short we cannot perform anything to profit ourselves or our fellow creatures, without the Spirit of our Father and God, and without his smile and blessing. “When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only.” We possess no ability only that which is given us of God. He has endowed us with glorious faculties, with Godlike attributes like those which are incorporated in his own nature, and he has placed us upon this earth to honor them, and to sanctify ourselves and the earth preparatory to enjoying it in its celestial state. We are not, in anything, independent of God. We inherit what we possess from Him, and he inherits his faculties, attributes and powers from his Father. Yet it is so ordained, in the fathomless wisdom of God, that we should be agents to ourselves to choose the good or the evil, and thereby save and exalt our existence, or lose it.
It appears to be very hard for us to learn the attributes and powers which are incorporated in our own existence, and the principles and powers which are in universal nature around us; we seem slow of heart to believe, and are sluggish in our understandings. The religion of God embraces every fact that exists in all the wide arena of nature, while the religions of men consist of theory devoid of fact, or of any true principle of guidance; hence the professing Christian world are like a ship upon a boisterous ocean without rudder, compass, or pilot, and are tossed hither and thither by every wind of doctrine. Those who have embraced the doctrine of salvation have the witness within themselves of its truth. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” But we often find persons among us who have borne testimony of the truth of their religion by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, who again fall backwards into darkness by beginning to express doubts whether their religion be true or false; they begin to exchange the substance for the shadow—the reality for a phantom. “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
We understand but a very few of the simplest and most self-evident truths and principles which govern and sustain us in existence as human beings, and all the rest which we have to learn is as great a mystery to us as the most intricate and delicate piece of mechanism is to the infant child. We need constant instruction, and our great heavenly Teacher requires of us to be diligent pupils in His school, that we may in time reach His glorified presence. If we will not lay to heart the rules of education which our Teacher gives us to study, and continue to advance from one branch of learning to another, we never can be scholars of the first class and become endowed with the science, power, excellency, brightness, and glory of the heavenly hosts; and unless we are educated as they are, we cannot associate with them.
Brethren and sisters, are we preparing for the highest seat of knowledge and literature known to men on earth, and then to go on in advance of them by the means of that Spirit bestowed upon us in the ordinances of our holy religion, which reveals all things, and thus become ourselves teachers and expounders of the mysteries of the kingdom of God on earth and in heaven? Would not this be much better than to remain fixed with a very limited amount of knowledge, and, like a door upon its hinges, move to and fro from one year to another without any visible advancement or improvement, lusting after the groveling things of this life which perish with the handling? Let each one of us bring these matters home to ourselves.
It was said this morning that if we will do our duty God will make us rich. How? By opening gold mines? No. If he makes us rich, he will make us rich in the same way that he became rich, by faithful labor, ceaseless perseverance, and constant exertion and industry. He labored faithfully for all he possesses, and he is willing that we should inherit all things with him, if we will pursue the same course to obtain them that he pursued.
Our lexicographers define riches to be opulence, the possession of landed estates, of gold and silver, etc., and the man that possesses the most of this kind of wealth is rich in comparison with his neighbor. The riches of a kingdom or nation does not consist so much in the fulness of its treasury as in the fertility of its soil and the industry of its people. The common definition may be termed the riches of this world, but are they the true riches? I say they are not, and you will probably agree with me in this. I need not advance reasons to show you the worthlessness of such kinds of riches in the absence of the common necessaries and comforts of life—of those substances which satisfy the cravings of nature and prolong our existence here. Unless earthly riches are held for God and used to advance righteousness, they are held only by a slender tenure.
Brother John Taylor in his remarks referred to Nebuchadnezzar. It is said of him, “And the king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.” “The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws.” And there the great king of Babylon remained until he learned that, “all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” This great king became satisfied that he could not possess power, wealth, majesty and earthly glory only as the King of kings gave it to him.
When God bestows upon us power to command the elements—to speak, and the soil is formed and filled with fertility—to speak, and the rain descends upon it to moisten and germinate the seed that we have planted and to nourish it until it ripens its golden fruit, then shall we possess true riches, and not until then. When we possess this power by the irrevocable decree of heaven, we possess wealth that cannot take the wings of the morning and leave us poor indeed. Can we live to learn some of these things?
We have in our mortal state the trial of our faith, and we are gathered together from the nations expressly to learn the character of our religion and its worth. We have come here to learn God and ourselves. Man is made in the image of God, but what do we know of him or of ourselves, when we suffer ourselves to love and worship the god of this world—riches? Suppose all the people in these mountains in possession of all the riches they want, would it not becloud their minds and unfit them for usefulness in the great work of restitution in the last days? I heard a man say not long since, while preaching, that if he knew where he could get a hatful of gold, he thought he would try a hatful, and did not expect it would hurt him in the least. Let him get one hatful and he would want another, and another, and another, until he would become so attached to it, and it would occupy so large a portion of his affections that he would prefer it to all he has ever learned of the kingdom of God. I would keep it from him and from any other man, and I do not want it myself, though I think I know where I could go and get a hatful, and have known this ever since I have been in these valleys.
I want neither gold nor silver, but I want to build the Temple and finish the new Tabernacle, send the Gospel to the nations, and gather home the poor. “Do we not need gold for this?” Yes. “Then would it not benefit us to dig some out of the ground for this purpose?” The world is full of gold, and we would do better to get some of that in a lawful way, which is already made into coin, for it is easier handled than the gold dust, and better cleansed from particles of sand and other foreign substances. If we possessed true knowledge and power with God, we should know how to get gold in great abundance. The world is full of it, and they do not need but a little of it. We want riches but we do not want them in the shape of gold. Many of us know exactly what we do want, and a great many do not know. I want to build that Temple; I want to supply the wants of the poor, and I try my best according to what judgment and influence I possess, to put every poor person in a way to make their own living.
We all wish to possess true riches; how shall we possess them? God has given to us our present existence, and endowed us with vast variety of tastes, sensations and passions for pleasure and for pain, according to the manner in which we use and apply them; he also gives us houses and lands, gold and silver, and an abundance of the comforts and necessaries of life. Are we seeking to honor God with all these precious gifts, or are we trying to establish interests separate and apart from God and His Kingdom, and thus waste the ability and substance the Lord has given us with riotous living and wanton prodigality? But few rich men have come into this Church who have not sought diligently to put their means into the hands of the devil. There are persons with us now who might have given their scores of thousands of pounds to this Church to spread the Gospel, build the Temple, and gather the poor Saints, but no, they have sought and do and will seek diligently to place their means into the hands of the wicked, or situate it so that they may get it. I wish you to understand, however, that a man giving his means to build up the kingdom of God is no proof to me that he is true in heart. I have long since learned, that a person may give a gift with an impure design.
The Lord gives us possessions, and he requires of us one-tenth of the increase which we make by the putting to good use the means He has placed in our hands. I am sorry to see a disposition manifested in some to go to distant parts to trade and build up themselves and make money, while the ability which God has given them is not concentrated in building up His kingdom, in gathering the house of Israel, in redeeming and building up Zion, in renovating the earth to make it like the garden of Eden, in overcoming sin in themselves, and in spreading righteousness throughout the land. We find what we have always found and shall continue to find, until the Lord Almighty separates the sheep from the goats, and when that will be I do not know.
As far as I am concerned I would like to see the people possess great wealth in this present state—what is now called riches—gold and silver, houses and lands, etc. I would like to see men, women, and children live only to do good. Shall we now seek to make ourselves wealthy in gold and silver and the possessions which the wicked love and worship, or shall we, with all of our might, mind, and strength, seek diligently first to build up the Kingdom of God? Let us decide on this, and do one thing or the other.
I have talked much, on previous occasions, on the law of Tithing. I do not wish to say much about it now, and I would rather not say anything, but I will give you a few facts. It is true that we are continually gathering in new materials—men and women with no experience; these are mixed with those who have been with us for years, and many of them have, apparently, little or no capacity for improvement or advancement; they seem incapable of understanding things as they are; they are as they were, and I fear will remain so. They are first-rate Methodists, and you know they are always the biggest when they are first born. In all their after experience they refer to the time of their religious birth as the happiest moment they ever saw, and are constantly afterwards, as long as they live, praying for and seeking with groans and tears their first love. Instead of this, if they were truly born of God, their path would shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. We do not expect our newly arrived brethren and sisters to understand the ways of God and of his faithful people in Zion, equally with those who have been here for years, until they have had a sufficient opportunity to practically learn what there is to be learned religiously, morally, politically, and every other way.
I think it was yesterday I saw a man from Weber who said a merchant came into that region and wanted to buy up all the grain at his own price. When he found he could not buy it at his own price, he became disgusted, and said the people were a set of damned Brighamites. I took particular pains to give him to understand that it was one of the greatest wishes of my heart that the people throughout the Territory would be Brighamites enough to know how to keep a little bread to feed themselves and their children.
We have been in these valleys fifteen years. Some thirteen years ago we built a Tithing Store and the adjoining buildings; from that day until this, with few exceptions, the grain bins in that Tithing Office have been full of wheat, and we could feed the poor; when the immigration came in, in the fall of the year, we could supply them with bread, and we had something to supply the families of the Elders that are abroad preaching, until now. I have more than once told the people publicly that if they ever saw the time when wheat would bring money in this Territory, the Tithing Office would be found empty; but you never heard me say that God was going to shut up the heavens and bring a famine upon us, though it has been reported that I said so. There will be a famine, and one that will pinch us harder than we have ever been pinched yet, if we do not do right and try to avert it. The Tithing Office is empty, and my office is thronged with hungry people asking for bread, and we have it not to give them. Where is it? It has been grown; God has given it to us; it is in the hands of the professed people of God throughout this Territory, but it brings money, and there seems to exist an unwillingness to pay the Lord his due.
Hear it, O ye people of God, the Lord's house is empty, and the Lord's poor are pining for bread; and when their cries come up before Him he will come out of his hiding place with a just rebuke and a sharp chastisement, to be poured out upon the heads of the slothful and unfaithful of his people. If you bring in your Tithes and your offerings to the Storehouse of the Lord, he will preserve you from being overrun and afflicted by your enemies; but if you refuse to do this, prepare for a gloomy and a dark day. We want something to feed the women and children whose husbands and fathers are in the silent grave. If we hold in fellowship persons who will not render up that which belongs to the poor, we must receive the chastenings of the Almighty with them; they must either be cast out as salt that has lost its savor, or they must render up to God that which belongs to him, and aid in sustaining the Priesthood of God upon the earth. In a “Revelation” given at Far West, Missouri, July 8, 1838, in answer to the question, O Lord, show unto thy servants how much thou requirest of the properties of thy people for a Tithing?
“Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the Bishop of my Church of Zion, For the building of mine house, and for the laying the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church. And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people. And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.”
Again, “Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.”
It may be supposed by some that the Tithing is used to sustain and feed the First Presidency and the Twelve; this is a false impression. I can say, without boasting, that there is not another man in this kingdom has done more in dollars and cents to build it up than I have, and yet I have not done a farthing's worth of myself, for the means I have handled God has given me; it is not mine, and if it ever is mine it will be when I have overcome and gained my exaltation and received it from Him who rightfully owns all things. If we have men in the First Presidency who are not capable of supporting themselves and their families, we shall help them to do so out of the Tithing Office. If any of the Twelve are not capable of supporting themselves, we shall help them; and it is our duty to do so, and it is the duty of the people to have it on hand to be applied in this and in every other way suggested in the law of God for the building up of Zion in the last days.
Men laboring as missionaries, as teachers and preachers of the Gospel, in gathering the poor Saints, or in any other way to benefit the general good of the Saints upon the face of the earth and to do good to mankind, must be sustained, and we wish the Saints everywhere to impart of their substance, that the Priesthood may be sustained in fulfilling the law of the Lord, which reads as follows—“The word of the Lord, in addition to the law which has been given, making known the duty of the bishop which has been ordained unto the church in this part of the vineyard, which is verily this—To keep the Lord's storehouse; to receive the funds of the church in this part of the vineyard; To take an account of the elders as before has been commanded; and to administer to their wants, who shall pay for that which they receive, inasmuch as they have wherewith to pay; That this also may he consecrated to the good of the church, to the poor and needy. And he who hath not wherewith to pay, an account shall be taken and handed over to the bishop of Zion, who shall pay the debt out of that which the Lord shall put into his hands. And the labors of the faithful who labor in spiritual things, in administering the gospel and things of the kingdom unto the church, and unto the world, shall answer the debt unto the bishop of Zion;” etc.
I am anxious for the people to understand these things, and act faithfully in their callings. We cannot excuse ourselves from our duty, which is to build up the kingdom of God, for all of our time, all of our ability and all of our means belong to Him. It is not the privilege of any person to spend his time in a way that does no good to himself nor to his neighbors. Let mechanics and every man who has capital create business and give employment and means into the hands of laborers; build good and commodious houses, magnificent Temples, spacious Tabernacles, lofty Halls, and every other kind of structure that will give character and grandeur to our cities and create respect for our people. Let us make mechanics of our boys, and educate them in every useful branch of science and in the history and laws of kingdoms and nations, that they may be fitted to fill any station in life, from a ploughman to a philosopher. Is the general mind of this people bent upon supplying themselves with what they need in life, and thus become self-sustaining, or are they satisfied to be supplied from a distant market, and contented to spend their strength and their means in buying ribbons and gewgaws which satisfy for the moment, but in the end bring poverty and pinching want?
It is a fearful deception which all the world labors under, and many of this people too, who profess to be not of the world, that gold is wealth. On the bare report that gold was discovered over in these West Mountains, men left their thrashing machines, and their horses at large to eat up and trample down and destroy the precious bounties of the earth. They at once sacrificed all at the glittering shrine of this popular idol, declaring they were now going to be rich, and would raise wheat no more. Should this feeling become universal on the discovery of gold mines in our immediate vicinity, nakedness, starvation, utter destitution and annihilation would be the inevitable lot of this people. Instead of its bringing to us wealth and independence, it would weld upon our necks chains of slavery, groveling dependence and utter overthrow.
Can you not see that gold and silver rank among the things that we are the least in want of? We want an abundance of wheat and fine flour, of wine and oil, and of every choice fruit that will grow in our climate; we want silk, wool, cotton, flax, and other textile substances of which cloth can be made; we want vegetables of various kinds to suit our constitutions and tastes, and the products of flocks and herds; we want the coal and the iron that are concealed in these ancient mountains, the lumber from our saw mills, and the rock from our quarries; these are some of the great staples to which kingdoms owe their existence, continuance, wealth, magnificence, splendor, glory and power, in which gold and silver serve as mere tinsel to give the finishing touch to all this greatness. The colossal wealth of the world is founded upon and sustained by the common staples of life. We are the founders of one of the mightiest kingdoms that ever existed upon this earth, and what we do now should be done with reference to the future, and to those who shall follow after us.
In China the father lays up clay to be worked into pottery-ware by his grandchildren. Who of us are planting out choice trees that will serve for wagon and carriage timber and furniture for our childen's children?
If we had all the gold in these mountains run into ingots and piled up in one huge heap, what good would it do us now? None, and we cannot form any calculation as to the amount of harm it would do us.
It behooves us, brethren and sisters, to live near to God and honor our profession, rather than to become insane after gold and paper money; and to obtain faith to stop the ravages of the epidemic that is carrying our children off by scores. You may, perhaps, think I ought to rebuke it. If I can keep it out of my own house altogether, or partially so, I shall thank God and give Him the glory. Behold the heavy hand of the Lord is upon us in this thing; let us repent, that the plague may be stayed in its desolating progress.
We sustain the Priesthood in one very important way, inasmuch as we feed the widows and the fatherless—for by aiding this or that poor widow to raise her sons to manhood, they may, very likely, go out into the ministry and bring home their tens of thousands to Zion.
Let us reflect and ascertain, if we can, in what channel our thoughts are directed, and what effect our doings produces for the advancement of the latter-day work. Last April Conference I gave some of the brethren a privilege to furnish teams to work on this Temple; how this privilege has been appropriated by them they know best; this I will say, however, we have advanced the work pretty well with the help we have had, which has been rather meager.
The people have acted magnanimously in the way they have sent for the poor this season, and the Lord is not ignorant of their generous endeavors, which will meet with a rich reward, where they have been made willingly and with a good heart. But where money, teams, labor or any other kind of means is supplied grudgingly, it will meet with no reward.
Our hearts should constantly be engaged in the work of God, and our greatest treasures should be our interest in His kingdom. After you have obtained a sufficiency of bread, etc., to sustain your own lives, then may you with propriety let the rest go to your neighbors; I care not what their pretensions are, let them have it, and let them pay a fair price for it.
The Lord has blessed the people with bread, and many of them, instead of giving back to him a portion of it to be dealt out to the laboring poor and others who depend upon it for their subsistence, are selling it to make themselves rich as they suppose. “Wo unto you rich men, that will not give of your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation:
The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved! Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men's goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, who will not labor with your own hands! But blessed are the poor who are pure in heart, whose hearts are broken, and whose spirits are contrite, for they shall see the kingdom of God coming in power and great glory unto their deliverance; for the fatness of the earth shall be theirs.”
There live but few men who care for our Father and his kingdom on earth or in heaven, in preference to earthly riches—For example, I heard that a man did say, not long since, while he was examining a small piece of rock richly filled with gold, after a conversation relating to the present war, “If I had one rod square of such rock as this, the North and South might all go to hell for aught I would care.” This single case illustrates the feeling that is almost universal. I care for the North and the South and if I had sufficient power with the Lord, I would save every innocent man, woman and child from being slaughtered in this unnatural and almost universal destruction of life and property. I pray that the Lord Almighty will so order it that all those who thirst for the blood of their fellow men may be found in the front ranks that they may be cut off speedily and the war come to an end, that the innocent may escape. I care for the North and the South more than I do for gold, and I would do a great deal, if I had the power, to ameliorate the condition of suffering thousands. I care enough for them to pray that righteous men may hold the reins of government, and that wicked, tyrannical despotism may be wiped away from the land; that the Lord would raise up men to rule who have hearts in them, who care for the comfort and happiness of mankind, and let there be a reign of righteousness. I pray for the Latter-day Saints, for the prosperity of the Holy Priesthood in the land, and I pray that the minds of the people may be opened to see and understand things as they are; that we may be able to discern truth and righteousness from the vain and delusive troubles of this world.
Now, if flour should rise to twenty dollars a hundred, which it is very likely to do before next harvest, do not run crazy with speculation, but first quietly see that you have enough to feed your wives and children until you can raise more. Do not sell it for money, but take care of it for those who depend upon you for bread. Should any of us retire to rest with an empty stomach, with no prospect of bread on the morrow, and a cord of United States' notes piled up in our room our sleep would not be very sweet to us; we would be willing to give every one of those notes for one barrel of flour, for a few potatoes, a little meat, or a cow to give us a little milk morning and evening and that we might have a little butter on the table; then under such circumstances of plenty, we can retire to bed in peace, and our sleep will be sweet to us, and we can hail the morning light with a joyful heart and buoyant spirits, ready to prosecute the duties of the new day with a willing and ready heart.
If we will follow the advice we have heard this afternoon, we have heard enough to last us sometime.
I will conclude my remarks by inquiring of the people whether they want to build a Temple, to feed the poor, to send for the poor Saints that are among the nations, and to send the Gospel into all the world. If we to we shall do right, we shall love and serve the Lord with all our hearts; and let us not forget that all we hold of this world's goods is the Lord's, and should be used to promote the cause of righteousness and those principles which will exalt the people to thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers in the world to come, with power to control and govern the elements and every wicked influence.
Which do we choose, the vain and transitory things of this life, or eternal life? Let us maintain confidence in one another, and seek with all our might to increase it. Confidence is one of the most precious jewels man or woman can possess. Should a person have unbounded confidence in me, gold and silver and precious jewels are not to be compared with it; and have I a right to do anything in thought, word, or deed to destroy that confidence, or shake it in the least? The heavens, the Gods, and all the heavenly hosts require me to live so as to preserve the confidence my brethren have reposed in me. Let us endeavor to restore the confidence that has been lost.
I am willing that we should be forgiving. I do not know that I have one single feeling against any man or woman upon earth; I do not love wickedness, and I mean to hate it in myself and in everybody else, and wherever I see it, from this time henceforth and forever. When we see the time that we can willingly strike hands and have full fellowship with those who despise the Kingdom of God, know ye then that the Priesthood of the Son of God is out of your possession. Let us be careful how we make friends with and fellowship unrighteousness, lest the curse of God descends heavily upon us. I do not say that I see anything of this kind, and I do not want to; and I hope there is no such disposition in any person professing to be a Saint, for as sure as the Lord lives they will be brought into circumstances that will show them in their true colors, and reveal the goats that are among the sheep.
Our Heavenly Father will preserve his own, and build up his kingdom, and it will go forth from this time until the earth shall be covered with the knowledge of the Lord.
That we may be found faithful and worthy to enjoy the fulness of the glory of his celestial kingdom is my prayer. Amen.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1863.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
We have duties which will occupy all of our time while we live upon the earth, if they are properly performed, and they consist in duties which we owe to ourselves, to our fellow beings, and to our God. We acknowledge that we owe duties to God, and we feel that we are under certain obligations to him; indeed we owe our very existence to him, for we are his offspring, and without him we can do nothing; we cannot even make “one hair white or black” without our Father. We cannot, independent of God, make a single blade of grass to grow, nor produce one kernel of wheat or any other grain; in short we cannot perform anything to profit ourselves or our fellow creatures, without the Spirit of our Father and God, and without his smile and blessing. “When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only.” We possess no ability only that which is given us of God. He has endowed us with glorious faculties, with Godlike attributes like those which are incorporated in his own nature, and he has placed us upon this earth to honor them, and to sanctify ourselves and the earth preparatory to enjoying it in its celestial state. We are not, in anything, independent of God. We inherit what we possess from Him, and he inherits his faculties, attributes and powers from his Father. Yet it is so ordained, in the fathomless wisdom of God, that we should be agents to ourselves to choose the good or the evil, and thereby save and exalt our existence, or lose it.
It appears to be very hard for us to learn the attributes and powers which are incorporated in our own existence, and the principles and powers which are in universal nature around us; we seem slow of heart to believe, and are sluggish in our understandings. The religion of God embraces every fact that exists in all the wide arena of nature, while the religions of men consist of theory devoid of fact, or of any true principle of guidance; hence the professing Christian world are like a ship upon a boisterous ocean without rudder, compass, or pilot, and are tossed hither and thither by every wind of doctrine. Those who have embraced the doctrine of salvation have the witness within themselves of its truth. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” But we often find persons among us who have borne testimony of the truth of their religion by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, who again fall backwards into darkness by beginning to express doubts whether their religion be true or false; they begin to exchange the substance for the shadow—the reality for a phantom. “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
We understand but a very few of the simplest and most self-evident truths and principles which govern and sustain us in existence as human beings, and all the rest which we have to learn is as great a mystery to us as the most intricate and delicate piece of mechanism is to the infant child. We need constant instruction, and our great heavenly Teacher requires of us to be diligent pupils in His school, that we may in time reach His glorified presence. If we will not lay to heart the rules of education which our Teacher gives us to study, and continue to advance from one branch of learning to another, we never can be scholars of the first class and become endowed with the science, power, excellency, brightness, and glory of the heavenly hosts; and unless we are educated as they are, we cannot associate with them.
Brethren and sisters, are we preparing for the highest seat of knowledge and literature known to men on earth, and then to go on in advance of them by the means of that Spirit bestowed upon us in the ordinances of our holy religion, which reveals all things, and thus become ourselves teachers and expounders of the mysteries of the kingdom of God on earth and in heaven? Would not this be much better than to remain fixed with a very limited amount of knowledge, and, like a door upon its hinges, move to and fro from one year to another without any visible advancement or improvement, lusting after the groveling things of this life which perish with the handling? Let each one of us bring these matters home to ourselves.
It was said this morning that if we will do our duty God will make us rich. How? By opening gold mines? No. If he makes us rich, he will make us rich in the same way that he became rich, by faithful labor, ceaseless perseverance, and constant exertion and industry. He labored faithfully for all he possesses, and he is willing that we should inherit all things with him, if we will pursue the same course to obtain them that he pursued.
Our lexicographers define riches to be opulence, the possession of landed estates, of gold and silver, etc., and the man that possesses the most of this kind of wealth is rich in comparison with his neighbor. The riches of a kingdom or nation does not consist so much in the fulness of its treasury as in the fertility of its soil and the industry of its people. The common definition may be termed the riches of this world, but are they the true riches? I say they are not, and you will probably agree with me in this. I need not advance reasons to show you the worthlessness of such kinds of riches in the absence of the common necessaries and comforts of life—of those substances which satisfy the cravings of nature and prolong our existence here. Unless earthly riches are held for God and used to advance righteousness, they are held only by a slender tenure.
Brother John Taylor in his remarks referred to Nebuchadnezzar. It is said of him, “And the king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.” “The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws.” And there the great king of Babylon remained until he learned that, “all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” This great king became satisfied that he could not possess power, wealth, majesty and earthly glory only as the King of kings gave it to him.
When God bestows upon us power to command the elements—to speak, and the soil is formed and filled with fertility—to speak, and the rain descends upon it to moisten and germinate the seed that we have planted and to nourish it until it ripens its golden fruit, then shall we possess true riches, and not until then. When we possess this power by the irrevocable decree of heaven, we possess wealth that cannot take the wings of the morning and leave us poor indeed. Can we live to learn some of these things?
We have in our mortal state the trial of our faith, and we are gathered together from the nations expressly to learn the character of our religion and its worth. We have come here to learn God and ourselves. Man is made in the image of God, but what do we know of him or of ourselves, when we suffer ourselves to love and worship the god of this world—riches? Suppose all the people in these mountains in possession of all the riches they want, would it not becloud their minds and unfit them for usefulness in the great work of restitution in the last days? I heard a man say not long since, while preaching, that if he knew where he could get a hatful of gold, he thought he would try a hatful, and did not expect it would hurt him in the least. Let him get one hatful and he would want another, and another, and another, until he would become so attached to it, and it would occupy so large a portion of his affections that he would prefer it to all he has ever learned of the kingdom of God. I would keep it from him and from any other man, and I do not want it myself, though I think I know where I could go and get a hatful, and have known this ever since I have been in these valleys.
I want neither gold nor silver, but I want to build the Temple and finish the new Tabernacle, send the Gospel to the nations, and gather home the poor. “Do we not need gold for this?” Yes. “Then would it not benefit us to dig some out of the ground for this purpose?” The world is full of gold, and we would do better to get some of that in a lawful way, which is already made into coin, for it is easier handled than the gold dust, and better cleansed from particles of sand and other foreign substances. If we possessed true knowledge and power with God, we should know how to get gold in great abundance. The world is full of it, and they do not need but a little of it. We want riches but we do not want them in the shape of gold. Many of us know exactly what we do want, and a great many do not know. I want to build that Temple; I want to supply the wants of the poor, and I try my best according to what judgment and influence I possess, to put every poor person in a way to make their own living.
We all wish to possess true riches; how shall we possess them? God has given to us our present existence, and endowed us with vast variety of tastes, sensations and passions for pleasure and for pain, according to the manner in which we use and apply them; he also gives us houses and lands, gold and silver, and an abundance of the comforts and necessaries of life. Are we seeking to honor God with all these precious gifts, or are we trying to establish interests separate and apart from God and His Kingdom, and thus waste the ability and substance the Lord has given us with riotous living and wanton prodigality? But few rich men have come into this Church who have not sought diligently to put their means into the hands of the devil. There are persons with us now who might have given their scores of thousands of pounds to this Church to spread the Gospel, build the Temple, and gather the poor Saints, but no, they have sought and do and will seek diligently to place their means into the hands of the wicked, or situate it so that they may get it. I wish you to understand, however, that a man giving his means to build up the kingdom of God is no proof to me that he is true in heart. I have long since learned, that a person may give a gift with an impure design.
The Lord gives us possessions, and he requires of us one-tenth of the increase which we make by the putting to good use the means He has placed in our hands. I am sorry to see a disposition manifested in some to go to distant parts to trade and build up themselves and make money, while the ability which God has given them is not concentrated in building up His kingdom, in gathering the house of Israel, in redeeming and building up Zion, in renovating the earth to make it like the garden of Eden, in overcoming sin in themselves, and in spreading righteousness throughout the land. We find what we have always found and shall continue to find, until the Lord Almighty separates the sheep from the goats, and when that will be I do not know.
As far as I am concerned I would like to see the people possess great wealth in this present state—what is now called riches—gold and silver, houses and lands, etc. I would like to see men, women, and children live only to do good. Shall we now seek to make ourselves wealthy in gold and silver and the possessions which the wicked love and worship, or shall we, with all of our might, mind, and strength, seek diligently first to build up the Kingdom of God? Let us decide on this, and do one thing or the other.
I have talked much, on previous occasions, on the law of Tithing. I do not wish to say much about it now, and I would rather not say anything, but I will give you a few facts. It is true that we are continually gathering in new materials—men and women with no experience; these are mixed with those who have been with us for years, and many of them have, apparently, little or no capacity for improvement or advancement; they seem incapable of understanding things as they are; they are as they were, and I fear will remain so. They are first-rate Methodists, and you know they are always the biggest when they are first born. In all their after experience they refer to the time of their religious birth as the happiest moment they ever saw, and are constantly afterwards, as long as they live, praying for and seeking with groans and tears their first love. Instead of this, if they were truly born of God, their path would shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. We do not expect our newly arrived brethren and sisters to understand the ways of God and of his faithful people in Zion, equally with those who have been here for years, until they have had a sufficient opportunity to practically learn what there is to be learned religiously, morally, politically, and every other way.
I think it was yesterday I saw a man from Weber who said a merchant came into that region and wanted to buy up all the grain at his own price. When he found he could not buy it at his own price, he became disgusted, and said the people were a set of damned Brighamites. I took particular pains to give him to understand that it was one of the greatest wishes of my heart that the people throughout the Territory would be Brighamites enough to know how to keep a little bread to feed themselves and their children.
We have been in these valleys fifteen years. Some thirteen years ago we built a Tithing Store and the adjoining buildings; from that day until this, with few exceptions, the grain bins in that Tithing Office have been full of wheat, and we could feed the poor; when the immigration came in, in the fall of the year, we could supply them with bread, and we had something to supply the families of the Elders that are abroad preaching, until now. I have more than once told the people publicly that if they ever saw the time when wheat would bring money in this Territory, the Tithing Office would be found empty; but you never heard me say that God was going to shut up the heavens and bring a famine upon us, though it has been reported that I said so. There will be a famine, and one that will pinch us harder than we have ever been pinched yet, if we do not do right and try to avert it. The Tithing Office is empty, and my office is thronged with hungry people asking for bread, and we have it not to give them. Where is it? It has been grown; God has given it to us; it is in the hands of the professed people of God throughout this Territory, but it brings money, and there seems to exist an unwillingness to pay the Lord his due.
Hear it, O ye people of God, the Lord's house is empty, and the Lord's poor are pining for bread; and when their cries come up before Him he will come out of his hiding place with a just rebuke and a sharp chastisement, to be poured out upon the heads of the slothful and unfaithful of his people. If you bring in your Tithes and your offerings to the Storehouse of the Lord, he will preserve you from being overrun and afflicted by your enemies; but if you refuse to do this, prepare for a gloomy and a dark day. We want something to feed the women and children whose husbands and fathers are in the silent grave. If we hold in fellowship persons who will not render up that which belongs to the poor, we must receive the chastenings of the Almighty with them; they must either be cast out as salt that has lost its savor, or they must render up to God that which belongs to him, and aid in sustaining the Priesthood of God upon the earth. In a “Revelation” given at Far West, Missouri, July 8, 1838, in answer to the question, O Lord, show unto thy servants how much thou requirest of the properties of thy people for a Tithing?
“Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the Bishop of my Church of Zion, For the building of mine house, and for the laying the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church. And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people. And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.”
Again, “Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.”
It may be supposed by some that the Tithing is used to sustain and feed the First Presidency and the Twelve; this is a false impression. I can say, without boasting, that there is not another man in this kingdom has done more in dollars and cents to build it up than I have, and yet I have not done a farthing's worth of myself, for the means I have handled God has given me; it is not mine, and if it ever is mine it will be when I have overcome and gained my exaltation and received it from Him who rightfully owns all things. If we have men in the First Presidency who are not capable of supporting themselves and their families, we shall help them to do so out of the Tithing Office. If any of the Twelve are not capable of supporting themselves, we shall help them; and it is our duty to do so, and it is the duty of the people to have it on hand to be applied in this and in every other way suggested in the law of God for the building up of Zion in the last days.
Men laboring as missionaries, as teachers and preachers of the Gospel, in gathering the poor Saints, or in any other way to benefit the general good of the Saints upon the face of the earth and to do good to mankind, must be sustained, and we wish the Saints everywhere to impart of their substance, that the Priesthood may be sustained in fulfilling the law of the Lord, which reads as follows—“The word of the Lord, in addition to the law which has been given, making known the duty of the bishop which has been ordained unto the church in this part of the vineyard, which is verily this—To keep the Lord's storehouse; to receive the funds of the church in this part of the vineyard; To take an account of the elders as before has been commanded; and to administer to their wants, who shall pay for that which they receive, inasmuch as they have wherewith to pay; That this also may he consecrated to the good of the church, to the poor and needy. And he who hath not wherewith to pay, an account shall be taken and handed over to the bishop of Zion, who shall pay the debt out of that which the Lord shall put into his hands. And the labors of the faithful who labor in spiritual things, in administering the gospel and things of the kingdom unto the church, and unto the world, shall answer the debt unto the bishop of Zion;” etc.
I am anxious for the people to understand these things, and act faithfully in their callings. We cannot excuse ourselves from our duty, which is to build up the kingdom of God, for all of our time, all of our ability and all of our means belong to Him. It is not the privilege of any person to spend his time in a way that does no good to himself nor to his neighbors. Let mechanics and every man who has capital create business and give employment and means into the hands of laborers; build good and commodious houses, magnificent Temples, spacious Tabernacles, lofty Halls, and every other kind of structure that will give character and grandeur to our cities and create respect for our people. Let us make mechanics of our boys, and educate them in every useful branch of science and in the history and laws of kingdoms and nations, that they may be fitted to fill any station in life, from a ploughman to a philosopher. Is the general mind of this people bent upon supplying themselves with what they need in life, and thus become self-sustaining, or are they satisfied to be supplied from a distant market, and contented to spend their strength and their means in buying ribbons and gewgaws which satisfy for the moment, but in the end bring poverty and pinching want?
It is a fearful deception which all the world labors under, and many of this people too, who profess to be not of the world, that gold is wealth. On the bare report that gold was discovered over in these West Mountains, men left their thrashing machines, and their horses at large to eat up and trample down and destroy the precious bounties of the earth. They at once sacrificed all at the glittering shrine of this popular idol, declaring they were now going to be rich, and would raise wheat no more. Should this feeling become universal on the discovery of gold mines in our immediate vicinity, nakedness, starvation, utter destitution and annihilation would be the inevitable lot of this people. Instead of its bringing to us wealth and independence, it would weld upon our necks chains of slavery, groveling dependence and utter overthrow.
Can you not see that gold and silver rank among the things that we are the least in want of? We want an abundance of wheat and fine flour, of wine and oil, and of every choice fruit that will grow in our climate; we want silk, wool, cotton, flax, and other textile substances of which cloth can be made; we want vegetables of various kinds to suit our constitutions and tastes, and the products of flocks and herds; we want the coal and the iron that are concealed in these ancient mountains, the lumber from our saw mills, and the rock from our quarries; these are some of the great staples to which kingdoms owe their existence, continuance, wealth, magnificence, splendor, glory and power, in which gold and silver serve as mere tinsel to give the finishing touch to all this greatness. The colossal wealth of the world is founded upon and sustained by the common staples of life. We are the founders of one of the mightiest kingdoms that ever existed upon this earth, and what we do now should be done with reference to the future, and to those who shall follow after us.
In China the father lays up clay to be worked into pottery-ware by his grandchildren. Who of us are planting out choice trees that will serve for wagon and carriage timber and furniture for our childen's children?
If we had all the gold in these mountains run into ingots and piled up in one huge heap, what good would it do us now? None, and we cannot form any calculation as to the amount of harm it would do us.
It behooves us, brethren and sisters, to live near to God and honor our profession, rather than to become insane after gold and paper money; and to obtain faith to stop the ravages of the epidemic that is carrying our children off by scores. You may, perhaps, think I ought to rebuke it. If I can keep it out of my own house altogether, or partially so, I shall thank God and give Him the glory. Behold the heavy hand of the Lord is upon us in this thing; let us repent, that the plague may be stayed in its desolating progress.
We sustain the Priesthood in one very important way, inasmuch as we feed the widows and the fatherless—for by aiding this or that poor widow to raise her sons to manhood, they may, very likely, go out into the ministry and bring home their tens of thousands to Zion.
Let us reflect and ascertain, if we can, in what channel our thoughts are directed, and what effect our doings produces for the advancement of the latter-day work. Last April Conference I gave some of the brethren a privilege to furnish teams to work on this Temple; how this privilege has been appropriated by them they know best; this I will say, however, we have advanced the work pretty well with the help we have had, which has been rather meager.
The people have acted magnanimously in the way they have sent for the poor this season, and the Lord is not ignorant of their generous endeavors, which will meet with a rich reward, where they have been made willingly and with a good heart. But where money, teams, labor or any other kind of means is supplied grudgingly, it will meet with no reward.
Our hearts should constantly be engaged in the work of God, and our greatest treasures should be our interest in His kingdom. After you have obtained a sufficiency of bread, etc., to sustain your own lives, then may you with propriety let the rest go to your neighbors; I care not what their pretensions are, let them have it, and let them pay a fair price for it.
The Lord has blessed the people with bread, and many of them, instead of giving back to him a portion of it to be dealt out to the laboring poor and others who depend upon it for their subsistence, are selling it to make themselves rich as they suppose. “Wo unto you rich men, that will not give of your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation:
The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved! Wo unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men's goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, who will not labor with your own hands! But blessed are the poor who are pure in heart, whose hearts are broken, and whose spirits are contrite, for they shall see the kingdom of God coming in power and great glory unto their deliverance; for the fatness of the earth shall be theirs.”
There live but few men who care for our Father and his kingdom on earth or in heaven, in preference to earthly riches—For example, I heard that a man did say, not long since, while he was examining a small piece of rock richly filled with gold, after a conversation relating to the present war, “If I had one rod square of such rock as this, the North and South might all go to hell for aught I would care.” This single case illustrates the feeling that is almost universal. I care for the North and the South and if I had sufficient power with the Lord, I would save every innocent man, woman and child from being slaughtered in this unnatural and almost universal destruction of life and property. I pray that the Lord Almighty will so order it that all those who thirst for the blood of their fellow men may be found in the front ranks that they may be cut off speedily and the war come to an end, that the innocent may escape. I care for the North and the South more than I do for gold, and I would do a great deal, if I had the power, to ameliorate the condition of suffering thousands. I care enough for them to pray that righteous men may hold the reins of government, and that wicked, tyrannical despotism may be wiped away from the land; that the Lord would raise up men to rule who have hearts in them, who care for the comfort and happiness of mankind, and let there be a reign of righteousness. I pray for the Latter-day Saints, for the prosperity of the Holy Priesthood in the land, and I pray that the minds of the people may be opened to see and understand things as they are; that we may be able to discern truth and righteousness from the vain and delusive troubles of this world.
Now, if flour should rise to twenty dollars a hundred, which it is very likely to do before next harvest, do not run crazy with speculation, but first quietly see that you have enough to feed your wives and children until you can raise more. Do not sell it for money, but take care of it for those who depend upon you for bread. Should any of us retire to rest with an empty stomach, with no prospect of bread on the morrow, and a cord of United States' notes piled up in our room our sleep would not be very sweet to us; we would be willing to give every one of those notes for one barrel of flour, for a few potatoes, a little meat, or a cow to give us a little milk morning and evening and that we might have a little butter on the table; then under such circumstances of plenty, we can retire to bed in peace, and our sleep will be sweet to us, and we can hail the morning light with a joyful heart and buoyant spirits, ready to prosecute the duties of the new day with a willing and ready heart.
If we will follow the advice we have heard this afternoon, we have heard enough to last us sometime.
I will conclude my remarks by inquiring of the people whether they want to build a Temple, to feed the poor, to send for the poor Saints that are among the nations, and to send the Gospel into all the world. If we to we shall do right, we shall love and serve the Lord with all our hearts; and let us not forget that all we hold of this world's goods is the Lord's, and should be used to promote the cause of righteousness and those principles which will exalt the people to thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers in the world to come, with power to control and govern the elements and every wicked influence.
Which do we choose, the vain and transitory things of this life, or eternal life? Let us maintain confidence in one another, and seek with all our might to increase it. Confidence is one of the most precious jewels man or woman can possess. Should a person have unbounded confidence in me, gold and silver and precious jewels are not to be compared with it; and have I a right to do anything in thought, word, or deed to destroy that confidence, or shake it in the least? The heavens, the Gods, and all the heavenly hosts require me to live so as to preserve the confidence my brethren have reposed in me. Let us endeavor to restore the confidence that has been lost.
I am willing that we should be forgiving. I do not know that I have one single feeling against any man or woman upon earth; I do not love wickedness, and I mean to hate it in myself and in everybody else, and wherever I see it, from this time henceforth and forever. When we see the time that we can willingly strike hands and have full fellowship with those who despise the Kingdom of God, know ye then that the Priesthood of the Son of God is out of your possession. Let us be careful how we make friends with and fellowship unrighteousness, lest the curse of God descends heavily upon us. I do not say that I see anything of this kind, and I do not want to; and I hope there is no such disposition in any person professing to be a Saint, for as sure as the Lord lives they will be brought into circumstances that will show them in their true colors, and reveal the goats that are among the sheep.
Our Heavenly Father will preserve his own, and build up his kingdom, and it will go forth from this time until the earth shall be covered with the knowledge of the Lord.
That we may be found faithful and worthy to enjoy the fulness of the glory of his celestial kingdom is my prayer. Amen.
On Thursday afternoon
Elder Amasa M. Lyman presented the authorities of the church to the congregation and they were unanimously sustained as follows:--
Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Heber C. Kimball, his first, and Daniel H. Wells, his second counselors.
Orson Hyde, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Orson Pratt, Sen., John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Amasa M. Lyman, Ezra T. Benson, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, and George Q. Cannon, members of said Quorum.
John Smith, Patriarch of the whole church.
Daniel Spencer, President of this Stake of Zion, and David Fullmer and George B. Wallace, his counselors.
William Eddington, John V. Long, John L. Blythe, George Nebeker, John T. Caine, Joseph W. Young, Howard O. Spencer, Claudius V. Spencer, Thomas B. Broderick, James H. Hart, John Squires and William H. Folsom, members of the High Council.
John Young, President of the High Priests Quorum, Edwin D. Woolley, and Samuel W. Richards, his counselors.
Joseph Young, President of the first seven Presidents of the Seventies, and Levi W. Hancock, Henry Herriman, Albert P. Rockwood, Horace S. Eldredge, Jacob Gates and John Van Cott, members of the first seven Presidents of the Seventies.
William Squire, President of the Elders Quorum; James Smith and Peter Latter, his counselors.
Edward Hunter, Presiding Bishop; Leonard W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little, his Counselors.
Samuel M. Moore, President of the Priests' Quorum; Richard W. McAllister and George Openshaw, his counselors.
Adam Spiers was elected President of the Teacher's Quorum, McGee Harris deceased, David Bowman was sustained counselor.
John S. Carpenter, President of the Deacons' Quorum; Samuel G. Ladd and Warren Hardie, his counselors.
Brigham Young, Trustee in Trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Daniel H. Wells, Superintendent of Public Works.
William H. Folsom, Architect for the Church.
Brigham Young, President of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund to gather the poor; Heber C. Kimball, Daniel H. Wells and Edward Hunter, his assistants and agents for said fund.
George A. Smith, Historian and general Church Recorder, and Wilford Woodruff his assistant.
Elder Amasa M. Lyman presented the authorities of the church to the congregation and they were unanimously sustained as follows:--
Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Heber C. Kimball, his first, and Daniel H. Wells, his second counselors.
Orson Hyde, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Orson Pratt, Sen., John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Amasa M. Lyman, Ezra T. Benson, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, and George Q. Cannon, members of said Quorum.
John Smith, Patriarch of the whole church.
Daniel Spencer, President of this Stake of Zion, and David Fullmer and George B. Wallace, his counselors.
William Eddington, John V. Long, John L. Blythe, George Nebeker, John T. Caine, Joseph W. Young, Howard O. Spencer, Claudius V. Spencer, Thomas B. Broderick, James H. Hart, John Squires and William H. Folsom, members of the High Council.
John Young, President of the High Priests Quorum, Edwin D. Woolley, and Samuel W. Richards, his counselors.
Joseph Young, President of the first seven Presidents of the Seventies, and Levi W. Hancock, Henry Herriman, Albert P. Rockwood, Horace S. Eldredge, Jacob Gates and John Van Cott, members of the first seven Presidents of the Seventies.
William Squire, President of the Elders Quorum; James Smith and Peter Latter, his counselors.
Edward Hunter, Presiding Bishop; Leonard W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little, his Counselors.
Samuel M. Moore, President of the Priests' Quorum; Richard W. McAllister and George Openshaw, his counselors.
Adam Spiers was elected President of the Teacher's Quorum, McGee Harris deceased, David Bowman was sustained counselor.
John S. Carpenter, President of the Deacons' Quorum; Samuel G. Ladd and Warren Hardie, his counselors.
Brigham Young, Trustee in Trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Daniel H. Wells, Superintendent of Public Works.
William H. Folsom, Architect for the Church.
Brigham Young, President of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund to gather the poor; Heber C. Kimball, Daniel H. Wells and Edward Hunter, his assistants and agents for said fund.
George A. Smith, Historian and general Church Recorder, and Wilford Woodruff his assistant.
The Wisdom of God Through His Servants—Missionaries' Families to Be Sustained—How to Be Prospered
Remarks by Elder Orson Hyde, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Oct. 8, 1863.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
I have listened with peculiar interest to the remarks made by our missionaries. Their remarks are truly cheering, and are a faithful index to the feelings and spirit which have influenced them during their absence from us.
I was more particularly struck with the remarks of some who said that they hardly knew what doctrines to preach when they first arrived at the fields of their labor, and others hardly knew that baptism was necessary for the remission of sins. These young men were untaught, untutored, yet the spirit of the Gospel dwelt in them; it was born in them, and they have been reared under its influence to a greater or less degree, yet apparently they knew it not. How unlike the missionaries of other churches is this? They must be educated classically and theologically, and then they go forth to preach to a credulous world systematically a mass of inconsistent and contradictory doctrines—which they call the Gospel.
These missionaries of ours felt very much as I did on one occasion when I first landed in Germany. I was dropped from the coach on the side walk; I could not tell them where I wanted to stop, for I did not know myself, and, thought I, I may as well stop in one place as another. I could not tell anybody what I wanted for I did not know what I wanted. I did not remain in that situation long until I found a way to get to an hotel, where I was soon forced, by the pressure of circumstances around me and the cravings of my appetite, to make known my wants, designs and purposes in the language of the people among whom I was cast. In like manner our young men go out to preach the Gospel; and although they have lived under the influence of the Spirit of the Gospel all their days, yet they find themselves unable at first to delineate only the principles and laws of salvation; but the spirit that is in them soon bursts asunder the fetters that seem to bind them, and they launch forth into a field of intelligence hitherto unexplored by them, and are enabled, in a short time, not only to be filled with a flood of light and truth, but to attain unto a power of utterance that astonishes themselves and their friends. God is in all this; He laid the foundation of this Church and He dwells in the hearts of his servants, and He, by the power of his spirit, originates and gives power to utter the thoughts He wishes to communicate to mankind through His servants. When we trust in Him every obstacle is removed from our path.
When listening to these young brethren, my heart has burned within me with gratitude and joy; I was reminded forcibly of the days of my youth, when I went forth with others to proclaim the same Gospel and was brought into many narrow and tight places. The Lord will always open our way if we are faithful, and allow us a field of operation that will be adequate to all our wants, conditions and circumstances.
Those missionaries who go abroad to labor for the building up of Zion leave their families behind them, and they were particularly charged not to beg of the poor on their missions means to send home to feed their families, and that whatever they might gain by the voluntary contributions of the people among whom they might labor, over and above that which would be necessary for their immediate wants, should be dedicated to the immigration of the poor—to bring home the sheaves they had been enabled to reap. Their families are here, and have not harvested in abundance of the temporal comforts of the earth, but they have managed to live along from hand to mouth. There were contributions and subscriptions made last year to aid the families of our absent missionaries, but how many of them have been faithfully and frankly paid in and how many remain yet unpaid, I am not prepared to say, but, it has been suggested to me that there are still many delinquents who did really feel liberal, but have not since found a convenient time to honor that liberal feeling by paying in what they have subscribed.
It is not too late yet, and the wants of the families of our missionaries have not abated. If we subscribe and promise to pay a certain amount to the Missionary Fund, we are under the strongest obligations to pay that amount, as much so as if we had contracted a debt with the merchants and had promised to pay it at a certain time. When we put our names to a document to sustain the servants of God and promise a certain amount to this end, I consider that we are under a greater obligation than we would be by any common business of life, because here is a promise made to the servants of God and virtually to heaven that we will do so and so to sustain heaven's cause. I would not thank anybody for a loaf of bread after I am dead and gone; I want it while I am living to sustain me and brace me up that I may have strength to do good. Benefits and favors that are deferred amount to little more than a vexation—they can hardly be said to be a blessing; then do not turn your intended benefits into a vexation to vex those whose hearts and whole time are employed in traveling abroad to preach the Gospel, and to gather the poor Saints up to Zion.
I will not confine my remarks to delinquents, but I will say the door is open still, for we have men in the field in foreign countries, who are pouring out their souls in testimony, and they are engaged day and night in this Work, while their families are dependent upon the bounties of the Latter-day Saints at home. Every man and woman who is disposed to contribute with a heart willing to build up the Kingdom of God, there will be an opportunity for you to do so before this Conference shall come to a close; and let us remember that inasmuch as we do it to one of the least of God's people we do it unto our Father who is in heaven. From the Scriptures it appears that the Lord is disposed to receive any favor shown to His servants as though it had been done to himself, and he will so acknowledge it in a future day when the faithful ones would seem to have forgotten all about it, for they will say, “When saw we thee an hungered,” etc., and He will answer them, saying, “Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my servants, ye did it unto me. Ye have sustained my cause yet it is your own cause, for all things are yours,” etc.
Now some persons may begin to narrow up their feelings, and to cherish in their hearts murmurings because God in his providence and in his mercy and kindness, may begin to pour upon this man and upon that man blessings by which he accumulates wealth, and by which he is made comfortable and happy; they are envious and jealous; now, if all things are ours, is there not a time when some of God's people will begin to inherit some of them? Yes. There must be a beginning to inherit all things. If we envy those that are really beginning to participate a little in the inheritance of all things, is not this a strong presumptive evidence within ourselves that we are not heirs to all things, neither are we willing that our brethren should be.
When a man of God is blessed from on high and shall begin to gather around him means sufficient to place him beyond the reach of immediate want, God hath done it—God hath blessed that person—and every Saint will feel thankful to see his brethren so prospered and blessed of the Lord, feeling encouraged that his time will come sometime if he continues faithful. Instead of being jealous of the prosperity of those whom the Lord delights to bless and murmur in our hearts against our brethren and against the Lord, let us learn to be contented with that which is assigned to us, and wait patiently until the Lord shall in his mercy and kindness bless us more abundantly. I do not know any better way to hasten on our day of great blessings than to be liberal in our feelings and labor with all our might to lift up and encourage those who are bowed down, and to sustain the Priesthood of God.
The Lord sees us all and knows what our feelings are—the very thoughts and intents of our hearts are laid bare before Him, and when He sees that we are prepared to endure great earthly blessings, do you think that any trifling circumstance will cause him to delay and wait and put us off and make us wait for his blessings, the same as we make some of the missionaries wait, until their families suffer before we hand out to them what we have promised to give?
God knows the time when to bless and the individual to bless; and when the time comes for His blessings to descend copiously upon this or that individual, they will come. Do you want your day to come when you can be comfortable and have about all you can desire, just hand out to this Missionary Fund liberally, and consider that one evidence more that your time is drawing nigh when you also shall be greatly blessed.
I will not occupy a great deal of time. I bear my testimony, brethren and sisters, that this is the Kingdom of God, and I have labored according to what little ability the Lord has given me to sustain it and to regulate and keep in order, as far as my wisdom, knowledge and understanding would allow me, the things pertaining to this kingdom and to the Saints of God where I have been called to labor. I love this Cause, I love my brethren and fellow laborers in it; I love to speak upon the principles of the Gospel—in short, I love everything that is connected with the welfare of the Saints. Brethren and sisters you have my best wishes, and my prayers by day and night are that God may shield his chosen ones as the apple of his eye.
If there is any confidence to be placed in dreams, I do not know, but I will tell one. [Voice in the stand: “Is there any fun in it?“] There is a little fun in it. I thought I saw a mighty car coming down from the mountains in the East, and it appeared as big as this Tabernacle. I thought it was going to run over and crush everything to pieces; it appeared to be coming in contact with a house up there, and it appeared as though it would roll right over it and grind it into powder, but it just happened to miss it, and it came on towards the City, and by the time it reached the City it had dwindled down to a common-sized wagon; when I examined it more closely, I discovered that it was nothing but a load of firewood coming into the City.
May God bless his people. Amen.
Remarks by Elder Orson Hyde, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Oct. 8, 1863.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
I have listened with peculiar interest to the remarks made by our missionaries. Their remarks are truly cheering, and are a faithful index to the feelings and spirit which have influenced them during their absence from us.
I was more particularly struck with the remarks of some who said that they hardly knew what doctrines to preach when they first arrived at the fields of their labor, and others hardly knew that baptism was necessary for the remission of sins. These young men were untaught, untutored, yet the spirit of the Gospel dwelt in them; it was born in them, and they have been reared under its influence to a greater or less degree, yet apparently they knew it not. How unlike the missionaries of other churches is this? They must be educated classically and theologically, and then they go forth to preach to a credulous world systematically a mass of inconsistent and contradictory doctrines—which they call the Gospel.
These missionaries of ours felt very much as I did on one occasion when I first landed in Germany. I was dropped from the coach on the side walk; I could not tell them where I wanted to stop, for I did not know myself, and, thought I, I may as well stop in one place as another. I could not tell anybody what I wanted for I did not know what I wanted. I did not remain in that situation long until I found a way to get to an hotel, where I was soon forced, by the pressure of circumstances around me and the cravings of my appetite, to make known my wants, designs and purposes in the language of the people among whom I was cast. In like manner our young men go out to preach the Gospel; and although they have lived under the influence of the Spirit of the Gospel all their days, yet they find themselves unable at first to delineate only the principles and laws of salvation; but the spirit that is in them soon bursts asunder the fetters that seem to bind them, and they launch forth into a field of intelligence hitherto unexplored by them, and are enabled, in a short time, not only to be filled with a flood of light and truth, but to attain unto a power of utterance that astonishes themselves and their friends. God is in all this; He laid the foundation of this Church and He dwells in the hearts of his servants, and He, by the power of his spirit, originates and gives power to utter the thoughts He wishes to communicate to mankind through His servants. When we trust in Him every obstacle is removed from our path.
When listening to these young brethren, my heart has burned within me with gratitude and joy; I was reminded forcibly of the days of my youth, when I went forth with others to proclaim the same Gospel and was brought into many narrow and tight places. The Lord will always open our way if we are faithful, and allow us a field of operation that will be adequate to all our wants, conditions and circumstances.
Those missionaries who go abroad to labor for the building up of Zion leave their families behind them, and they were particularly charged not to beg of the poor on their missions means to send home to feed their families, and that whatever they might gain by the voluntary contributions of the people among whom they might labor, over and above that which would be necessary for their immediate wants, should be dedicated to the immigration of the poor—to bring home the sheaves they had been enabled to reap. Their families are here, and have not harvested in abundance of the temporal comforts of the earth, but they have managed to live along from hand to mouth. There were contributions and subscriptions made last year to aid the families of our absent missionaries, but how many of them have been faithfully and frankly paid in and how many remain yet unpaid, I am not prepared to say, but, it has been suggested to me that there are still many delinquents who did really feel liberal, but have not since found a convenient time to honor that liberal feeling by paying in what they have subscribed.
It is not too late yet, and the wants of the families of our missionaries have not abated. If we subscribe and promise to pay a certain amount to the Missionary Fund, we are under the strongest obligations to pay that amount, as much so as if we had contracted a debt with the merchants and had promised to pay it at a certain time. When we put our names to a document to sustain the servants of God and promise a certain amount to this end, I consider that we are under a greater obligation than we would be by any common business of life, because here is a promise made to the servants of God and virtually to heaven that we will do so and so to sustain heaven's cause. I would not thank anybody for a loaf of bread after I am dead and gone; I want it while I am living to sustain me and brace me up that I may have strength to do good. Benefits and favors that are deferred amount to little more than a vexation—they can hardly be said to be a blessing; then do not turn your intended benefits into a vexation to vex those whose hearts and whole time are employed in traveling abroad to preach the Gospel, and to gather the poor Saints up to Zion.
I will not confine my remarks to delinquents, but I will say the door is open still, for we have men in the field in foreign countries, who are pouring out their souls in testimony, and they are engaged day and night in this Work, while their families are dependent upon the bounties of the Latter-day Saints at home. Every man and woman who is disposed to contribute with a heart willing to build up the Kingdom of God, there will be an opportunity for you to do so before this Conference shall come to a close; and let us remember that inasmuch as we do it to one of the least of God's people we do it unto our Father who is in heaven. From the Scriptures it appears that the Lord is disposed to receive any favor shown to His servants as though it had been done to himself, and he will so acknowledge it in a future day when the faithful ones would seem to have forgotten all about it, for they will say, “When saw we thee an hungered,” etc., and He will answer them, saying, “Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my servants, ye did it unto me. Ye have sustained my cause yet it is your own cause, for all things are yours,” etc.
Now some persons may begin to narrow up their feelings, and to cherish in their hearts murmurings because God in his providence and in his mercy and kindness, may begin to pour upon this man and upon that man blessings by which he accumulates wealth, and by which he is made comfortable and happy; they are envious and jealous; now, if all things are ours, is there not a time when some of God's people will begin to inherit some of them? Yes. There must be a beginning to inherit all things. If we envy those that are really beginning to participate a little in the inheritance of all things, is not this a strong presumptive evidence within ourselves that we are not heirs to all things, neither are we willing that our brethren should be.
When a man of God is blessed from on high and shall begin to gather around him means sufficient to place him beyond the reach of immediate want, God hath done it—God hath blessed that person—and every Saint will feel thankful to see his brethren so prospered and blessed of the Lord, feeling encouraged that his time will come sometime if he continues faithful. Instead of being jealous of the prosperity of those whom the Lord delights to bless and murmur in our hearts against our brethren and against the Lord, let us learn to be contented with that which is assigned to us, and wait patiently until the Lord shall in his mercy and kindness bless us more abundantly. I do not know any better way to hasten on our day of great blessings than to be liberal in our feelings and labor with all our might to lift up and encourage those who are bowed down, and to sustain the Priesthood of God.
The Lord sees us all and knows what our feelings are—the very thoughts and intents of our hearts are laid bare before Him, and when He sees that we are prepared to endure great earthly blessings, do you think that any trifling circumstance will cause him to delay and wait and put us off and make us wait for his blessings, the same as we make some of the missionaries wait, until their families suffer before we hand out to them what we have promised to give?
God knows the time when to bless and the individual to bless; and when the time comes for His blessings to descend copiously upon this or that individual, they will come. Do you want your day to come when you can be comfortable and have about all you can desire, just hand out to this Missionary Fund liberally, and consider that one evidence more that your time is drawing nigh when you also shall be greatly blessed.
I will not occupy a great deal of time. I bear my testimony, brethren and sisters, that this is the Kingdom of God, and I have labored according to what little ability the Lord has given me to sustain it and to regulate and keep in order, as far as my wisdom, knowledge and understanding would allow me, the things pertaining to this kingdom and to the Saints of God where I have been called to labor. I love this Cause, I love my brethren and fellow laborers in it; I love to speak upon the principles of the Gospel—in short, I love everything that is connected with the welfare of the Saints. Brethren and sisters you have my best wishes, and my prayers by day and night are that God may shield his chosen ones as the apple of his eye.
If there is any confidence to be placed in dreams, I do not know, but I will tell one. [Voice in the stand: “Is there any fun in it?“] There is a little fun in it. I thought I saw a mighty car coming down from the mountains in the East, and it appeared as big as this Tabernacle. I thought it was going to run over and crush everything to pieces; it appeared to be coming in contact with a house up there, and it appeared as though it would roll right over it and grind it into powder, but it just happened to miss it, and it came on towards the City, and by the time it reached the City it had dwindled down to a common-sized wagon; when I examined it more closely, I discovered that it was nothing but a load of firewood coming into the City.
May God bless his people. Amen.
Remarks
By Elder John Taylor,
G. S. L. City, Bowery, Oct. 10, 1863.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
One thing has been made very obvious to my mind during this conference, and that is the assurance and confidence expressed by every speaker in God and his work, which nothing of an earthly nature could impart; although simple to the believer, this may be a mystery to those who do not comprehend the gospel of Jesus. A certain truth in scripture has been fully exemplified in the experience and teachings of those who have addressed us, namely: “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.” This is as true to-day as it was eighteen hundred years ago. Hence our young men, who have embraced and have gone forth to preach the principles of eternal truth contained in the gospel, seek unto the Lord their God for wisdom, guidance and instruction, as you have heard them relate during this conference; and the spirit of revelation has rested upon them so that they not only understood their own position and relationship to God and the holy priesthood also, to a certain degree, the position of the people of the world among whom they traveled, the position of the church and kingdom of God which they represented, their own relationship to it, and the fulfillment of all the promises of God relating to his people. This unbounded, fearless confidence is not created in men by what are called natural causes, for the confidence and flows, as prosperity or adversity, affects their varied interests.
Here are comparatively a few people in the valleys of Utah who are talking of seeing a kingdom set up, not only in these mountains but which shall rule over the whole earth, that like a little stone hewn out of the mountains without hands, shall become a great nation and fill the whole earth. They look for this with an unwavering, unshaken confidence. They had confidence in this when they were driven from Kirtland, in Ohio; when they were driven from Jackson county, in Missouri, from Nauvoo, in Illinois, and they had as much confidence in it when they were struggling here for a very existence, and did not know where the next mouthful of bread should come from. Their confidence did not fail them when armies came up against them to destroy them, and the power and influence of the United States was arrayed against them. There is a certain unchanging, fixed principle in the bosoms of the elders of Israel that God is at the helm, and that no power, no reverses, no influence that can be brought to bear against the kingdom of God will withstand its onward progress, but its course is onward until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ and he shall reign with universal empire, and the kingdoms, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heavens will be given to the Saints of the Most High God. It is impossible to make the Saints swerve in the least from this feeling. It is in them a principle of life, vitality and revelation. The Hon. Ben. McCullough, one of the peace commissioners, on being told by President Young “that we were in the hands of the Lord and he would take care of us,” replied “that he believed in powder and balls more than in the interference of God.” President Young informed him “that there was a God in Israel, who would take care of this His people,” and said, “we ask no odds of your power, your powder and ball, or your armies.” What has became of the men that composed that army? The majority of them have gone to their own place, and those that have not are on their way there.
How different it is among the nations; look at the position of Poland and Russia, and then notice the critical state of the political affairs of other nations—France, England, Austria, Prussia, to say nothing of the smaller European nations, of Japan and China, or of the United States, of Mexico and of the various powers of North and South America. The whole world seems to be in the throes, and either actually at war or involved in complicated difficulties that threaten their disruption or overthrow. What is the matter? Politicians, rulers and statesmen are afraid that some calamity is going to overspread their respective nations; and kings and emperors do not know how soon their thrones will be toppled over, how soon their kingdoms will be shaken to their very foundations, they do not know how soon they will be denationalized—how soon universal terror, war, bloodshed and devastation will spread their appalling consequences among them. The light of the spirit of God is withdrawn from them and they cannot see their way. They are tremulous because of the present political complications; they know not God, but “their hearts fear because of those things that are coming on the earth.” Without revelation they can only look upon things upon natural principles and dread the result. We know what will be the final ultimatum of the work in which we are engaged, and also what will be the fate of those who make war against it, and of the nations who reject the gospel when it is sent to them.
God is managing the affairs of all nations, and He has made known his will and pleasure to his servants the prophets; He has given unto them the everlasting gospel, which they have received by the principle of revelation, and can by that means draw aside the curtain of futurity, and contemplate events as they are rolling forth, and understand the designs of Jehovah in relation to them; and these men have been sent forth to tell the people of all nations the things that are coming on them.
The elders of this church, my brethren here all around me have been bearing testimony of these things for over thirty years; we have visited the people in their houses, in their villages and cities, have preached to them in their halls, in their streets and market places, and combatted their various notions and traditions which were not of God, presenting unto them the principles of eternal truth God has imparted unto us by revelation. We have also told them that their kingdoms would be overthrown, and their nations would be destroyed, and that God would speedily arise and shake terribly the earth. This has been proclaimed to the people throughout the length and breadth of the United States, Great Britain and her dependencies, to France, Germany, Scandinavia and the Islands of the Sea; the world has had to listen to it, and the nations have looked upon it as an idle song. Now when these things which we have predicted are beginning to come to pass among the nations their knees wax feeble; they are troubled and dismayed because of the complexities and difficulties which are everywhere closing in around them.
Who would have thought a little while ago, that these United States, one of the best governments under the heavens if properly administered, could have been reduced to their present critical position? Who would have thought a little while ago that all the ingenuity, skill, talent, power and wealth that exists in the North and South would be brought to bear against each other for their mutual destruction? Yet it is so. We bear statement after statement, testimony after testimony, of their sanguinary contests; of rapine, murders, burnings, desolation, blood, starvation, weeping, mourning and lamentation until the recital has become sickening to hear, as the prophet said, “it should become a vexation to hear the report.” All this is confirmatory to us of that spirit of revelation which the Lord has planted in our bosoms; and we now begin to understand why we feel as we do. We are selected out from among the nations that the Lord may place his name among us. He has called upon us and we have listened to his voice and obeyed the testimony of his servants. Jesus says, “But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he puteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them and the sheep follow him; for they know his voice, and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”
Like some of old a few of us had been waiting to see the salvation of Israel, and our eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord. It is true we are but a handful compared with the great mass of mankind, for we have been gathered out from among the nations, “one of a city and two of a family.” A few of those who have obeyed the voice of the servants of God have remained faithful and many have not. “When the net is thrown into the sea it gathers in of every kind, good and bad;” and hence we find a continual hewing and scoring, and admonition from the servants of God, we are striving with all our might to lead the people in the paths of righteousness, that they may learn to fear the Lord always. When we are under the operation and influence of the Spirit of God we feel good and happy and joyous, and desirous to do right; but when that Spirit is withdrawn from us and we are left to ourselves, then we are apt to waver, and quiver, and fear lest all is not right, that is a few do this, but the great majority of this people have the word of life abiding in them, and it is daily growing in them, and spreading, and increasing like a well of water springing up to everlasting life, and their souls are like a well tuned harp, when they are touched by the spirit of inspiration there is a kindred chord in their bosoms, they vibrate to the touch, and they are filled with sacred melody. And then there are some among us who do not care a great deal about the things of God; like some of the Ancient Israelites they have learned the language of strangers, and have become blinded by the God of this world, and go to the mines to worship a golden calf, and sell themselves to the devil. We are told that the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. I think that is true, the children of light act very foolishly in some things. Although we can seemingly grasp eternity, and revel in divine things, yet it appears that we cannot understand how to take care of some of the first and plainest interests of life, rendering it necessary for the President to place guardians over us in the persons of Bishops to take care that we do not throw our bread away and have to starve a great part of the year, to watch us lest we wantonly trample under the foot the common necessaries of life when we have them around us, and destroy them the same as the beasts of the field would. The Latter-Day Saints ought to be able to take care of themselves; men that are talking of possessing thrones, principalities and powers, of becoming kings and priests unto God ought to know how to take care of enough wheat to supply the wants of themselves and family.
While we are trying to sustain ourselves, let us do right to everybody else, and as you have been told, treat the stranger with kindness and liberality, and let us not make fools of ourselves, and rob ourselves and families, but let us take a proper, wise and judicious course, for this kingdom will be built up temporally as well as spiritually. We talk of becoming like God. What does he do? He governs this and other worlds, regulates all the systems and gives them their motions and revolutions; He preserves them in their various orbits, and governs them by unerring, unchangeable laws, as they traverse the immensity of space. In our world He gives day and night, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest; He adapts man, the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea, to their various climates and elements. He takes care of and provides for, not only the hundreds of millions of the human family, but the myriads of beasts, fowls and fishes; He feeds and provides for them day by day, giving them their breakfast, dinner and supper, He takes care of the reptiles and creeping things, and feeds the myriads of animalcule which crowd earth, air and water. His hand is over all and His providence sustains all. “The hairs of our heads are numbered, and a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without our Heavenly Father's notice, he clothes the lilies of the valleys and feeds the ravens when they cry.”
“His wisdom’s vast and knows no bound,
A deep where all our thoughts are drowned.”
We would be like him! Be kings and priests unto God and rule with him, and yet we are obliged to have guardians placed over us to teach us how to take care of a bushel of wheat. We are far behind, but we have time for improvement; and I think we shall have to make some important changes for the better in our proceedings, before we become like our Father who dwells in the heavens.
There has been something said about men turning away from the church of Christ. If a man has not the witness in himself, he is not governed by the principles of eternal truth, and the sooner such people leave this church the better.
There is one thing I pray for as much as anything else, perhaps I do not do it understandingly, that is, that those who will not be subject to the law of God and observe his commandments, but will rebel against God and against his truth and priesthood may be removed from our midst and have no place with us. For such persons can never build up the kingdom of God, nor aid in accomplishing his purposes upon the earth, and the sooner we are rid of them the better; and it matters little what draws them away. If we have drank of that water which the Saviour spoke of to the woman of Samaria; if we have laid hold of the rod of iron, and continue to cling to it, if we adhere to the principles of righteousness, and pray unto God and keep his commandments continually, we shall have His Spirit at all times to discern between good and evil, and we shall always know the voice of the good shepherd, and cleave to the principles of righteousness.
May God help us to keep his commandments, in the name of Jesus Christ: Amen.
By Elder John Taylor,
G. S. L. City, Bowery, Oct. 10, 1863.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
One thing has been made very obvious to my mind during this conference, and that is the assurance and confidence expressed by every speaker in God and his work, which nothing of an earthly nature could impart; although simple to the believer, this may be a mystery to those who do not comprehend the gospel of Jesus. A certain truth in scripture has been fully exemplified in the experience and teachings of those who have addressed us, namely: “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.” This is as true to-day as it was eighteen hundred years ago. Hence our young men, who have embraced and have gone forth to preach the principles of eternal truth contained in the gospel, seek unto the Lord their God for wisdom, guidance and instruction, as you have heard them relate during this conference; and the spirit of revelation has rested upon them so that they not only understood their own position and relationship to God and the holy priesthood also, to a certain degree, the position of the people of the world among whom they traveled, the position of the church and kingdom of God which they represented, their own relationship to it, and the fulfillment of all the promises of God relating to his people. This unbounded, fearless confidence is not created in men by what are called natural causes, for the confidence and flows, as prosperity or adversity, affects their varied interests.
Here are comparatively a few people in the valleys of Utah who are talking of seeing a kingdom set up, not only in these mountains but which shall rule over the whole earth, that like a little stone hewn out of the mountains without hands, shall become a great nation and fill the whole earth. They look for this with an unwavering, unshaken confidence. They had confidence in this when they were driven from Kirtland, in Ohio; when they were driven from Jackson county, in Missouri, from Nauvoo, in Illinois, and they had as much confidence in it when they were struggling here for a very existence, and did not know where the next mouthful of bread should come from. Their confidence did not fail them when armies came up against them to destroy them, and the power and influence of the United States was arrayed against them. There is a certain unchanging, fixed principle in the bosoms of the elders of Israel that God is at the helm, and that no power, no reverses, no influence that can be brought to bear against the kingdom of God will withstand its onward progress, but its course is onward until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ and he shall reign with universal empire, and the kingdoms, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heavens will be given to the Saints of the Most High God. It is impossible to make the Saints swerve in the least from this feeling. It is in them a principle of life, vitality and revelation. The Hon. Ben. McCullough, one of the peace commissioners, on being told by President Young “that we were in the hands of the Lord and he would take care of us,” replied “that he believed in powder and balls more than in the interference of God.” President Young informed him “that there was a God in Israel, who would take care of this His people,” and said, “we ask no odds of your power, your powder and ball, or your armies.” What has became of the men that composed that army? The majority of them have gone to their own place, and those that have not are on their way there.
How different it is among the nations; look at the position of Poland and Russia, and then notice the critical state of the political affairs of other nations—France, England, Austria, Prussia, to say nothing of the smaller European nations, of Japan and China, or of the United States, of Mexico and of the various powers of North and South America. The whole world seems to be in the throes, and either actually at war or involved in complicated difficulties that threaten their disruption or overthrow. What is the matter? Politicians, rulers and statesmen are afraid that some calamity is going to overspread their respective nations; and kings and emperors do not know how soon their thrones will be toppled over, how soon their kingdoms will be shaken to their very foundations, they do not know how soon they will be denationalized—how soon universal terror, war, bloodshed and devastation will spread their appalling consequences among them. The light of the spirit of God is withdrawn from them and they cannot see their way. They are tremulous because of the present political complications; they know not God, but “their hearts fear because of those things that are coming on the earth.” Without revelation they can only look upon things upon natural principles and dread the result. We know what will be the final ultimatum of the work in which we are engaged, and also what will be the fate of those who make war against it, and of the nations who reject the gospel when it is sent to them.
God is managing the affairs of all nations, and He has made known his will and pleasure to his servants the prophets; He has given unto them the everlasting gospel, which they have received by the principle of revelation, and can by that means draw aside the curtain of futurity, and contemplate events as they are rolling forth, and understand the designs of Jehovah in relation to them; and these men have been sent forth to tell the people of all nations the things that are coming on them.
The elders of this church, my brethren here all around me have been bearing testimony of these things for over thirty years; we have visited the people in their houses, in their villages and cities, have preached to them in their halls, in their streets and market places, and combatted their various notions and traditions which were not of God, presenting unto them the principles of eternal truth God has imparted unto us by revelation. We have also told them that their kingdoms would be overthrown, and their nations would be destroyed, and that God would speedily arise and shake terribly the earth. This has been proclaimed to the people throughout the length and breadth of the United States, Great Britain and her dependencies, to France, Germany, Scandinavia and the Islands of the Sea; the world has had to listen to it, and the nations have looked upon it as an idle song. Now when these things which we have predicted are beginning to come to pass among the nations their knees wax feeble; they are troubled and dismayed because of the complexities and difficulties which are everywhere closing in around them.
Who would have thought a little while ago, that these United States, one of the best governments under the heavens if properly administered, could have been reduced to their present critical position? Who would have thought a little while ago that all the ingenuity, skill, talent, power and wealth that exists in the North and South would be brought to bear against each other for their mutual destruction? Yet it is so. We bear statement after statement, testimony after testimony, of their sanguinary contests; of rapine, murders, burnings, desolation, blood, starvation, weeping, mourning and lamentation until the recital has become sickening to hear, as the prophet said, “it should become a vexation to hear the report.” All this is confirmatory to us of that spirit of revelation which the Lord has planted in our bosoms; and we now begin to understand why we feel as we do. We are selected out from among the nations that the Lord may place his name among us. He has called upon us and we have listened to his voice and obeyed the testimony of his servants. Jesus says, “But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he puteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them and the sheep follow him; for they know his voice, and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”
Like some of old a few of us had been waiting to see the salvation of Israel, and our eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord. It is true we are but a handful compared with the great mass of mankind, for we have been gathered out from among the nations, “one of a city and two of a family.” A few of those who have obeyed the voice of the servants of God have remained faithful and many have not. “When the net is thrown into the sea it gathers in of every kind, good and bad;” and hence we find a continual hewing and scoring, and admonition from the servants of God, we are striving with all our might to lead the people in the paths of righteousness, that they may learn to fear the Lord always. When we are under the operation and influence of the Spirit of God we feel good and happy and joyous, and desirous to do right; but when that Spirit is withdrawn from us and we are left to ourselves, then we are apt to waver, and quiver, and fear lest all is not right, that is a few do this, but the great majority of this people have the word of life abiding in them, and it is daily growing in them, and spreading, and increasing like a well of water springing up to everlasting life, and their souls are like a well tuned harp, when they are touched by the spirit of inspiration there is a kindred chord in their bosoms, they vibrate to the touch, and they are filled with sacred melody. And then there are some among us who do not care a great deal about the things of God; like some of the Ancient Israelites they have learned the language of strangers, and have become blinded by the God of this world, and go to the mines to worship a golden calf, and sell themselves to the devil. We are told that the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. I think that is true, the children of light act very foolishly in some things. Although we can seemingly grasp eternity, and revel in divine things, yet it appears that we cannot understand how to take care of some of the first and plainest interests of life, rendering it necessary for the President to place guardians over us in the persons of Bishops to take care that we do not throw our bread away and have to starve a great part of the year, to watch us lest we wantonly trample under the foot the common necessaries of life when we have them around us, and destroy them the same as the beasts of the field would. The Latter-Day Saints ought to be able to take care of themselves; men that are talking of possessing thrones, principalities and powers, of becoming kings and priests unto God ought to know how to take care of enough wheat to supply the wants of themselves and family.
While we are trying to sustain ourselves, let us do right to everybody else, and as you have been told, treat the stranger with kindness and liberality, and let us not make fools of ourselves, and rob ourselves and families, but let us take a proper, wise and judicious course, for this kingdom will be built up temporally as well as spiritually. We talk of becoming like God. What does he do? He governs this and other worlds, regulates all the systems and gives them their motions and revolutions; He preserves them in their various orbits, and governs them by unerring, unchangeable laws, as they traverse the immensity of space. In our world He gives day and night, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest; He adapts man, the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea, to their various climates and elements. He takes care of and provides for, not only the hundreds of millions of the human family, but the myriads of beasts, fowls and fishes; He feeds and provides for them day by day, giving them their breakfast, dinner and supper, He takes care of the reptiles and creeping things, and feeds the myriads of animalcule which crowd earth, air and water. His hand is over all and His providence sustains all. “The hairs of our heads are numbered, and a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without our Heavenly Father's notice, he clothes the lilies of the valleys and feeds the ravens when they cry.”
“His wisdom’s vast and knows no bound,
A deep where all our thoughts are drowned.”
We would be like him! Be kings and priests unto God and rule with him, and yet we are obliged to have guardians placed over us to teach us how to take care of a bushel of wheat. We are far behind, but we have time for improvement; and I think we shall have to make some important changes for the better in our proceedings, before we become like our Father who dwells in the heavens.
There has been something said about men turning away from the church of Christ. If a man has not the witness in himself, he is not governed by the principles of eternal truth, and the sooner such people leave this church the better.
There is one thing I pray for as much as anything else, perhaps I do not do it understandingly, that is, that those who will not be subject to the law of God and observe his commandments, but will rebel against God and against his truth and priesthood may be removed from our midst and have no place with us. For such persons can never build up the kingdom of God, nor aid in accomplishing his purposes upon the earth, and the sooner we are rid of them the better; and it matters little what draws them away. If we have drank of that water which the Saviour spoke of to the woman of Samaria; if we have laid hold of the rod of iron, and continue to cling to it, if we adhere to the principles of righteousness, and pray unto God and keep his commandments continually, we shall have His Spirit at all times to discern between good and evil, and we shall always know the voice of the good shepherd, and cleave to the principles of righteousness.
May God help us to keep his commandments, in the name of Jesus Christ: Amen.
Tithing—Building Temples—Gold, Its Production and Uses—Govermental Policy Towards Utah—Providing Bread for the Poor
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1863.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
I have in my mind a few texts which I wish to introduce and speak from, to, or upon.
I have only to say in relation to what Brother John Taylor, in his remarks, has referred to, that I wish the honest-in-heart to continue to be honest—to say their prayers, and especially to keep the law of God; and I would like you to observe the law of Tithing, if you wish to do so, and if you do not, proclaim that you do not wish to observe it, that we may shape our course accordingly, for no person is compelled to pay Tithing, but it is entirely a voluntary act of our own. If we pay it freely it is well; if we are not willing to pay it freely and feel a pleasure in doing so, let us say so and be consistent with ourselves.
We talk a great deal about our religion. It is not now my intention to deliver a discourse on this subject, enumerating facts and producing evidences in my possession which are unanswerable, but I will merely give a text, or make a declaration, that our religion is simply the truth. It is all said in this one expression—it embraces all truth, wherever found, in all the works of God and man that are visible or invisible to mortal eye. It is the only system of religion known in heaven or on earth that can exalt a man to the Godhead, and this it will do to all those who embrace its laws and faithfully observe its precepts.
This thought gives joy and delight to the reflecting mind, for, as has been observed, man possesses the germ of all the attributes and power that are possessed by God his heavenly Father.
I wish you to understand that sin is not an attribute in the nature of man, but it is an inversion of the attributes God has placed in him. Righteousness tends to an eternal duration of organized intelligence, while sin bringeth to pass their dissolution. Were it our purpose, at this time, we might produce extensive, instructive and interesting arguments of a Scriptural and philosophical character, in support of these views. I will merely say that God possesses in perfection all the attributes of his physical and mental nature, while as yet we only possess them in our weakness and imperfection, tainted by sin and all the consequences of the fall. God has perfect control over sin and over death; we are subject to both, which have passed upon all things that pertain to this earth. God has control over all these things; he is exalted and lives in obedience to the laws of truth. He controls the acts of all men, setting up a nation here and overthrowing a nation there, at his pleasure, to subserve his great purposes.
We see man suddenly raised to power and influence, clothed in all the paraphernalia of royalty, endowed with prestige and equipage, and as quickly stripped of all his pomp and show, and laid prostrate in the dust of death.
This is God's work, and the result of a power that is not possessed by us mortals, though we are seeking for it. When we talk of building a temple, let us not forget that we can add nothing to Him. “But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit, the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these?” “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.” He does not ask us for bread and fruit, for he has better fruit than we can raise, and His bread is of a much finer quality than ours; He does not want our bread and meat and clothing, but he has organized all these substances for an exaltation.
The earth, the Lord says, abides its creation; it has been baptized with water, and will, in the future, be baptized with fire and the Holy Ghost, to be prepared to go back into the celestial presence of God, with all things that dwell upon it which have, like the earth, abided the law of their creation. Taking this view of the matter, it may be asked why we build temples. We build temples because there is not a house on the face of the whole earth that has been reared to God's name, which will in anywise compare with his character, and that he can consistently call his house. There are places on the earth where the Lord can come and dwell, if he pleases. They may be found on the tops of high mountains, or in some cavern or places where sinful man has never marked the soil with his polluted feet.
He requires his servants to build Him a house that He can come to, and where He can make known His will. This opens to my mind a field that I shall not undertake to survey today. I will just say, when I see men at work on that Temple who nurse cursings in their hearts, I wish they would walk out of the Temple block, and never again enter within its walls, until their hearts are sanctified to God and his Work. This will also apply to men who are dishonest. But we have to put up and bear patiently with many things that we cannot help under present circumstances, and in our present imperfect state. We would like to build a substantial house, suitably arranged and embellished—a permanent house—that shall be renowned for its beauty and excellency, to present to the Lord our God, and then lock and bar it up, unless he shall say, “Enter ye into this my house, and there officiate in the ordinances of my Holy Priesthood, as I shall direct.” We have already built two Temples: one in Kirtland, Ohio, and one in Nauvoo, Illinois. We commenced the foundation of one in Far West, Missouri. You know the history of the one we built in Nauvoo. It was burnt, all the materials that would burn, and the walls have since been almost entirely demolished and used for building private dwellings, &c. I would rather it should thus be destroyed than remain in the hands of the wicked. If the Saints cannot so live as to inherit a Temple when it is built, I would rather never see a Temple built. God commanded us to build the Nauvoo Temple, and we built it, and performed our duty pretty well. There are Elders here today who labored on that house with not a shoe to their feet, or pantaloons that would cover their limbs, or a shirt to cover their arms.
We performed the work, and performed it within the time which the Lord gave us to do it in. Apostates said that we never could perform that work; but, through the blessing of God, it was completed and accepted of him. Apostates never build Temples unto God, but the Saints are called to do this work.
Do we want to build this Temple, or do we not? It shall be as we please. I am just as ready to dismiss every workman that is now laboring on the Public Works, as you are. I know the people would say, Build the Temple. Should I ask all the workmen whether they are willing to labor on that work, their reply would be, “Yes, the Lord wants our labor, and we are willing that he should have it, although we could get better pay for our labor elsewhere—pay that we cannot get on the Public Works.”
Do you require me as Trustee-in-Trust, to pay you better pay than is paid into my hands by the people to sustain the Public Works? Are you just in your requirements, or are you unjust? Look at it in whatever light you please, no person can justly require more of me than I receive. Whether it is right to do so, judge ye.
Has the Lord required of us to pay Tithing? He has—namely, one-tenth of our increase. Now, if we withhold our Tithing, and the Temple, nevertheless, is completed and ready for the ordinances of the Holy Priesthood to be performed therein, can those who have withheld their Tithing enter that Temple to pass through the ordinances of salvation for their dead, and be just before God? If they can, I must confess that I do not understand the nature of God's requirements, nor his justice, nor his truth, nor his mercy.
That Temple is to be built; but God forbid that it should ever be built for the hypocrite, the ungodly, the apostate, or any other miserably corrupted creature that bears the image of our Creator, to enter into it to pollute it; I would rather never see it built than this should transpire. We intend to build and finish it.
If the Lord permits gold-mines to be opened here, he will overrule it for the good of his Saints and the building-up of his kingdom. We have a great many friends who are out of this Church—who have not embraced the Gospel. We have a great many political friends, moral friends and financial friends; there are thousands of men who are our friends for advantage's sake, for the sake of peace, for the enjoyment of life, for silver and gold, goods and chattels, houses and lands, and other possessions on the earth, for they love to live on the earth and enjoy its blessings. There are thousands who see that this people inculcate and live by wholesome moral principles—principles that will sustain their natural lives, to say nothing about principles that take hold of God and eternity. There are multitudes who desire to live out their days without coming to their end by violence—without being murdered or kidnapped by marauding mobs; they think that the earth is a pretty good place, and they would like to live upon it in peace as long as they can, with their friends and connections. We have a great many friends, and if the Lord suffers gold to be discovered here, I shall be satisfied that it is for the purpose of embellishing and adorning this Temple which we contemplate building, and we may use some of it as a circulating medium.
The Lord will not dwell in our hearts unless they are pure and holy, neither will he enter into a Temple that we may build to his name, unless it is sanctified and prepared for his presence. If we could overlay the aisles of the Temple with pure gold, for the Lord to walk upon, it would please me, and not suffer them ever to be corrupted by mortal feet. Gold is one of the purest of elements, and will not be so much changed as some others, though every element that we are acquainted with will pass through a change. Gold is a pure and precious metal, and the wicked love it through selfishness or an unholy lust, while God and his true people love to pave the streets of Zion with it, to overlay altars and pulpits of Temples with it, and to make utensils of it for the use of the Priests of the Lord in offering sacrifice to him, and also for household purposes.
There are some of the sealing ordinances that cannot be administered in the house that we are now using; we can only administer in it some of the first ordinances of the Priesthood pertaining to the endowment. There are more advanced ordinances that cannot be administered there; we would, therefore, like a Temple, but I am willing to wait a few years for it. I want to see the Temple built in a manner that it will endure through the Millennium. This is not the only Temple we shall build. There will be hundreds of them built and dedicated to the Lord. This Temple will be known as the first Temple built in the mountains by the Latter-day Saints. And when the Millennium is over, and all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, down to the last of their posterity, who come within the reach of the clemency of the Gospel, have been redeemed in hundreds of Temples through the administration of their children as proxies for them, I want that Temple still to stand as a proud monument of the faith, perseverance and industry of the Saints of God in the mountains, in the nineteenth century.
I told you thirteen years ago, that every time we took up our tools to progress with that Temple, we should see opposition. Our enemies do not love to see it progress, because we are building it for God, and they do not love him. If it is necessary I am willing to drop the work on the Temple; but if you require at our hands that the Temple be built, you should be as willing to pay your Tithing as you are to have us build the Temple. Some of us are not dependent on the Temple for our endowment blessings, for we have received them under the hands of Joseph the Prophet, and know where to go to bestow the same on others. You may ask me whether the leaders of this Church have received all their endowment blessings. I think that we have got all that you can get in your probation, if you live to be the age of Methuselah; and we can give what we possess to others who are worthy. We want to build that temple as it should be built, that when we present it to the Lord we may not have to cover our faces in shame.
I now wish to present a few questions to the congregation, for I think there is no harm in asking questions to elicit information. Do the Government officials in Utah, civil and military, give aid and comfort to and foster persons whose design is to interrupt and disturb the peace of this people? And are they protected and encouraged in this ruinous design by the strong arm of military power, to do what they will, if they will only annoy and try to break up the “Mormon” community? Does the general Government, or does it not, sustain this wicked plan? Is there in existence a corruption-fund, out of which Government jobbers live and pay their traveling expenses while they are engaged in trying to get men and women to apostatize from the truth, to swell their ranks for damnation? Is this so, or is it not so? Those who understand the political trickeries and the political windings of the nation, can see at once that these are political questions. Who feeds and clothes and defrays the expenses of hundreds of men who are engaged patrolling the mountains and canyons all around us in search of gold? Who finds supplies for those who are sent here to protect the two great interests—the mail and telegraph lines across the continent—while they are employed ranging over these mountains in search of gold? And who has paid for the multitude of picks, shovels, spades and other mining tools that they have brought with them? Were they really sent here to protect the mail and telegraph lines, or to discover, if possible, rich diggings in our immediate vicinity, with a view to flood the country with just such a population as they desire, to destroy, if possible, the identity of the “Mormon” community, and every truth and virtue that remains? Who is it that calls us apostates from our Government, deserters, traitors, rebels, secessionists? And who have expressed themselves as being unwilling that the “Mormons” should have in their possession a little powder and lead? I am merely presenting a few plain questions to the Latter-day Saints, which they or anybody else may answer, or not, just as they please. Who have said that “Mormons” should not be permitted to hold in their possession firearms and ammunition? Did a Government officer say this, one who was sent here to watch over and protect the interest of the community, without meddling or interfering with the domestic affairs of the people? I can tell you what they have in their hearts, and I know what passes in their secret councils. Blood and murder are in their hearts, and they wish to extend the work of destruction over the whole face of the land, until there cannot be found a single spot where the Angel of peace can repose.
The waste of life in the ruinous war now raging is truly lamentable. Joseph the Prophet said that the report of it would sicken the heart; and what is all this for? It is a visitation from heaven, because they have killed the Prophet of God, Joseph Smith, Jun. Has not the nation consented to his death, and to the utter destruction of the Latter-day Saints, if it could be accomplished? But they found that they could not accomplish that.
Before we left Nauvoo, members of Congress made a treaty with the Latter-day Saints, and we agreed to leave the United States entirely. We did so, and came to these mountains, which were then Mexican territory. When we were ready to start on our pilgrimage west, a certain gentleman, who signed himself “Backwoodsman,” wished to know on what conditions we would overcome and settle California. He gave us to understand that he had his authority from headquarters, to treat with us on this matter. I thought that President Polk was our friend at that time; we have thought so since, and we think so now. We agreed to survey and settle California—we drawing the odd numbers, and the Government the even numbers; but I think the President was precipitated into the Mexican War, and our prospective calculations fell through, otherwise we should have gone into California and settled it. Many of you were not aware of this.
Joseph said that if they succeeded in taking his life, which they did, war and confusion would come upon the nation, and they would destroy each other, and there would be mob upon mob from one end of the country to the other. Have they got through? No, they have only just commenced the work of wasting life and property. They will burn up every steamboat, every village, every town, every house of their enemies that comes within their reach; they will waste and destroy food and clothing that should feed and comfort women and children and leave them destitute and beggars, without homes and without protectors, to perish upon the face of all the land, and all to satiate their unhallowed and hellish appetite for blood; and this awful tornado of suffering, destruction, woe and lamentation, they would hurl upon us, if they could, but they cannot, and I say, in the name of Israel's God, they never shall do it. We will have peace if we have to fight for it. They have not power to destroy Israel, neither will they have. The time will come when he who will not take up his sword against his neighbor must flee to Zion.
We have been preached to a great deal during this Conference, and how do we appear before God, as Latter-day Saints, when there are among us confusion, covetousness, bickering, slothfulness, unthankfulness? May God help us to search our own hearts, to find out whether we are obedient or disobedient, and whether we love the things of God better than any earthly consideration. Will we, from this time henceforth, listen to and pay attention to the whisperings of the good Spirit, and devote every hour of our time to the welfare of the kingdom of God upon the earth, and let the enemies of this kingdom do what they please? For God will overrule all things for the special benefit of his people. May the Lord help us to be Saints.
I will now make a requirement at the hands of the Bishops, both those who are here, and those who are not here and which every individual must see is necessary and just; and that is, for them to see that there is sufficient breadstuff in their respective Wards to last the members of their Wards until another harvest; and if you have not sufficient on hand, we shall require you to secure it and hold it in such a way that the poor can obtain it by paying for it. There are persons who would part with every mouthful of breadstuff they have for that which does not profit them, and bring starvation upon the community. I wish the Bishops to have an eye to this, and to devise employment, that the newcomers and strangers that may be among us may have a chance to earn their bread. Let sufficient wheat be held in reserve by those who have it, or are able to buy it, for this purpose, that none may suffer.
Again I request of the Bishops to be certain that the members of their Wards have their supply of breadstuffs in reserve to last them until another harvest, and we will trust in God for the coming year. Be not so unwise as to sell the bread that you and your children need. Preserve enough to sustain your own lives, and we are willing you should sell all the rest of it as you please; and remember that you cannot buy any from me, unless you pay a fair price for it. Last week a man wanted to buy some flour of me and I partly consented to let him have some at six dollars a hundred in gold dust; he thought he could buy it cheaper, and went away. I was very willing not to sell it him, for when women and children are suffering for bread, I do not want it said that I sold flour. I shall feel much better, and I even say in truth, that I have not sold flour when a prospect of scarcity could be seen in the future. I am willing to pay flour to my workmen, and am willing to hire more workmen, and I will sell them flour for six dollars a hundred; but I am not willing to sell it to go out of the country, and to strangers, if it is needed to sustain those who make their homes with us.
I will conclude my remarks and pray God to bless his people everywhere. Amen.
With this last discourse, the Conference terminated shortly after 1 o'clock p.m. on Friday. A more spirited and united conference was probably never held here or elsewhere among men. From the opening to the close, there was a feeling of confidence and assurance in the triumph of the Latter Day work, everywhere manifest in speakers and in hearers which must in the natural course of events be productive of great good. The glees and anthems sung, in addition to the usual hymns, by the choir contributed much to the agreeableness of the meetings and spoke a volume of commendation for Professor Thomas their conductor.
Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 6, 1863.
Reported by G. D. Watt.
I have in my mind a few texts which I wish to introduce and speak from, to, or upon.
I have only to say in relation to what Brother John Taylor, in his remarks, has referred to, that I wish the honest-in-heart to continue to be honest—to say their prayers, and especially to keep the law of God; and I would like you to observe the law of Tithing, if you wish to do so, and if you do not, proclaim that you do not wish to observe it, that we may shape our course accordingly, for no person is compelled to pay Tithing, but it is entirely a voluntary act of our own. If we pay it freely it is well; if we are not willing to pay it freely and feel a pleasure in doing so, let us say so and be consistent with ourselves.
We talk a great deal about our religion. It is not now my intention to deliver a discourse on this subject, enumerating facts and producing evidences in my possession which are unanswerable, but I will merely give a text, or make a declaration, that our religion is simply the truth. It is all said in this one expression—it embraces all truth, wherever found, in all the works of God and man that are visible or invisible to mortal eye. It is the only system of religion known in heaven or on earth that can exalt a man to the Godhead, and this it will do to all those who embrace its laws and faithfully observe its precepts.
This thought gives joy and delight to the reflecting mind, for, as has been observed, man possesses the germ of all the attributes and power that are possessed by God his heavenly Father.
I wish you to understand that sin is not an attribute in the nature of man, but it is an inversion of the attributes God has placed in him. Righteousness tends to an eternal duration of organized intelligence, while sin bringeth to pass their dissolution. Were it our purpose, at this time, we might produce extensive, instructive and interesting arguments of a Scriptural and philosophical character, in support of these views. I will merely say that God possesses in perfection all the attributes of his physical and mental nature, while as yet we only possess them in our weakness and imperfection, tainted by sin and all the consequences of the fall. God has perfect control over sin and over death; we are subject to both, which have passed upon all things that pertain to this earth. God has control over all these things; he is exalted and lives in obedience to the laws of truth. He controls the acts of all men, setting up a nation here and overthrowing a nation there, at his pleasure, to subserve his great purposes.
We see man suddenly raised to power and influence, clothed in all the paraphernalia of royalty, endowed with prestige and equipage, and as quickly stripped of all his pomp and show, and laid prostrate in the dust of death.
This is God's work, and the result of a power that is not possessed by us mortals, though we are seeking for it. When we talk of building a temple, let us not forget that we can add nothing to Him. “But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit, the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these?” “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.” He does not ask us for bread and fruit, for he has better fruit than we can raise, and His bread is of a much finer quality than ours; He does not want our bread and meat and clothing, but he has organized all these substances for an exaltation.
The earth, the Lord says, abides its creation; it has been baptized with water, and will, in the future, be baptized with fire and the Holy Ghost, to be prepared to go back into the celestial presence of God, with all things that dwell upon it which have, like the earth, abided the law of their creation. Taking this view of the matter, it may be asked why we build temples. We build temples because there is not a house on the face of the whole earth that has been reared to God's name, which will in anywise compare with his character, and that he can consistently call his house. There are places on the earth where the Lord can come and dwell, if he pleases. They may be found on the tops of high mountains, or in some cavern or places where sinful man has never marked the soil with his polluted feet.
He requires his servants to build Him a house that He can come to, and where He can make known His will. This opens to my mind a field that I shall not undertake to survey today. I will just say, when I see men at work on that Temple who nurse cursings in their hearts, I wish they would walk out of the Temple block, and never again enter within its walls, until their hearts are sanctified to God and his Work. This will also apply to men who are dishonest. But we have to put up and bear patiently with many things that we cannot help under present circumstances, and in our present imperfect state. We would like to build a substantial house, suitably arranged and embellished—a permanent house—that shall be renowned for its beauty and excellency, to present to the Lord our God, and then lock and bar it up, unless he shall say, “Enter ye into this my house, and there officiate in the ordinances of my Holy Priesthood, as I shall direct.” We have already built two Temples: one in Kirtland, Ohio, and one in Nauvoo, Illinois. We commenced the foundation of one in Far West, Missouri. You know the history of the one we built in Nauvoo. It was burnt, all the materials that would burn, and the walls have since been almost entirely demolished and used for building private dwellings, &c. I would rather it should thus be destroyed than remain in the hands of the wicked. If the Saints cannot so live as to inherit a Temple when it is built, I would rather never see a Temple built. God commanded us to build the Nauvoo Temple, and we built it, and performed our duty pretty well. There are Elders here today who labored on that house with not a shoe to their feet, or pantaloons that would cover their limbs, or a shirt to cover their arms.
We performed the work, and performed it within the time which the Lord gave us to do it in. Apostates said that we never could perform that work; but, through the blessing of God, it was completed and accepted of him. Apostates never build Temples unto God, but the Saints are called to do this work.
Do we want to build this Temple, or do we not? It shall be as we please. I am just as ready to dismiss every workman that is now laboring on the Public Works, as you are. I know the people would say, Build the Temple. Should I ask all the workmen whether they are willing to labor on that work, their reply would be, “Yes, the Lord wants our labor, and we are willing that he should have it, although we could get better pay for our labor elsewhere—pay that we cannot get on the Public Works.”
Do you require me as Trustee-in-Trust, to pay you better pay than is paid into my hands by the people to sustain the Public Works? Are you just in your requirements, or are you unjust? Look at it in whatever light you please, no person can justly require more of me than I receive. Whether it is right to do so, judge ye.
Has the Lord required of us to pay Tithing? He has—namely, one-tenth of our increase. Now, if we withhold our Tithing, and the Temple, nevertheless, is completed and ready for the ordinances of the Holy Priesthood to be performed therein, can those who have withheld their Tithing enter that Temple to pass through the ordinances of salvation for their dead, and be just before God? If they can, I must confess that I do not understand the nature of God's requirements, nor his justice, nor his truth, nor his mercy.
That Temple is to be built; but God forbid that it should ever be built for the hypocrite, the ungodly, the apostate, or any other miserably corrupted creature that bears the image of our Creator, to enter into it to pollute it; I would rather never see it built than this should transpire. We intend to build and finish it.
If the Lord permits gold-mines to be opened here, he will overrule it for the good of his Saints and the building-up of his kingdom. We have a great many friends who are out of this Church—who have not embraced the Gospel. We have a great many political friends, moral friends and financial friends; there are thousands of men who are our friends for advantage's sake, for the sake of peace, for the enjoyment of life, for silver and gold, goods and chattels, houses and lands, and other possessions on the earth, for they love to live on the earth and enjoy its blessings. There are thousands who see that this people inculcate and live by wholesome moral principles—principles that will sustain their natural lives, to say nothing about principles that take hold of God and eternity. There are multitudes who desire to live out their days without coming to their end by violence—without being murdered or kidnapped by marauding mobs; they think that the earth is a pretty good place, and they would like to live upon it in peace as long as they can, with their friends and connections. We have a great many friends, and if the Lord suffers gold to be discovered here, I shall be satisfied that it is for the purpose of embellishing and adorning this Temple which we contemplate building, and we may use some of it as a circulating medium.
The Lord will not dwell in our hearts unless they are pure and holy, neither will he enter into a Temple that we may build to his name, unless it is sanctified and prepared for his presence. If we could overlay the aisles of the Temple with pure gold, for the Lord to walk upon, it would please me, and not suffer them ever to be corrupted by mortal feet. Gold is one of the purest of elements, and will not be so much changed as some others, though every element that we are acquainted with will pass through a change. Gold is a pure and precious metal, and the wicked love it through selfishness or an unholy lust, while God and his true people love to pave the streets of Zion with it, to overlay altars and pulpits of Temples with it, and to make utensils of it for the use of the Priests of the Lord in offering sacrifice to him, and also for household purposes.
There are some of the sealing ordinances that cannot be administered in the house that we are now using; we can only administer in it some of the first ordinances of the Priesthood pertaining to the endowment. There are more advanced ordinances that cannot be administered there; we would, therefore, like a Temple, but I am willing to wait a few years for it. I want to see the Temple built in a manner that it will endure through the Millennium. This is not the only Temple we shall build. There will be hundreds of them built and dedicated to the Lord. This Temple will be known as the first Temple built in the mountains by the Latter-day Saints. And when the Millennium is over, and all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, down to the last of their posterity, who come within the reach of the clemency of the Gospel, have been redeemed in hundreds of Temples through the administration of their children as proxies for them, I want that Temple still to stand as a proud monument of the faith, perseverance and industry of the Saints of God in the mountains, in the nineteenth century.
I told you thirteen years ago, that every time we took up our tools to progress with that Temple, we should see opposition. Our enemies do not love to see it progress, because we are building it for God, and they do not love him. If it is necessary I am willing to drop the work on the Temple; but if you require at our hands that the Temple be built, you should be as willing to pay your Tithing as you are to have us build the Temple. Some of us are not dependent on the Temple for our endowment blessings, for we have received them under the hands of Joseph the Prophet, and know where to go to bestow the same on others. You may ask me whether the leaders of this Church have received all their endowment blessings. I think that we have got all that you can get in your probation, if you live to be the age of Methuselah; and we can give what we possess to others who are worthy. We want to build that temple as it should be built, that when we present it to the Lord we may not have to cover our faces in shame.
I now wish to present a few questions to the congregation, for I think there is no harm in asking questions to elicit information. Do the Government officials in Utah, civil and military, give aid and comfort to and foster persons whose design is to interrupt and disturb the peace of this people? And are they protected and encouraged in this ruinous design by the strong arm of military power, to do what they will, if they will only annoy and try to break up the “Mormon” community? Does the general Government, or does it not, sustain this wicked plan? Is there in existence a corruption-fund, out of which Government jobbers live and pay their traveling expenses while they are engaged in trying to get men and women to apostatize from the truth, to swell their ranks for damnation? Is this so, or is it not so? Those who understand the political trickeries and the political windings of the nation, can see at once that these are political questions. Who feeds and clothes and defrays the expenses of hundreds of men who are engaged patrolling the mountains and canyons all around us in search of gold? Who finds supplies for those who are sent here to protect the two great interests—the mail and telegraph lines across the continent—while they are employed ranging over these mountains in search of gold? And who has paid for the multitude of picks, shovels, spades and other mining tools that they have brought with them? Were they really sent here to protect the mail and telegraph lines, or to discover, if possible, rich diggings in our immediate vicinity, with a view to flood the country with just such a population as they desire, to destroy, if possible, the identity of the “Mormon” community, and every truth and virtue that remains? Who is it that calls us apostates from our Government, deserters, traitors, rebels, secessionists? And who have expressed themselves as being unwilling that the “Mormons” should have in their possession a little powder and lead? I am merely presenting a few plain questions to the Latter-day Saints, which they or anybody else may answer, or not, just as they please. Who have said that “Mormons” should not be permitted to hold in their possession firearms and ammunition? Did a Government officer say this, one who was sent here to watch over and protect the interest of the community, without meddling or interfering with the domestic affairs of the people? I can tell you what they have in their hearts, and I know what passes in their secret councils. Blood and murder are in their hearts, and they wish to extend the work of destruction over the whole face of the land, until there cannot be found a single spot where the Angel of peace can repose.
The waste of life in the ruinous war now raging is truly lamentable. Joseph the Prophet said that the report of it would sicken the heart; and what is all this for? It is a visitation from heaven, because they have killed the Prophet of God, Joseph Smith, Jun. Has not the nation consented to his death, and to the utter destruction of the Latter-day Saints, if it could be accomplished? But they found that they could not accomplish that.
Before we left Nauvoo, members of Congress made a treaty with the Latter-day Saints, and we agreed to leave the United States entirely. We did so, and came to these mountains, which were then Mexican territory. When we were ready to start on our pilgrimage west, a certain gentleman, who signed himself “Backwoodsman,” wished to know on what conditions we would overcome and settle California. He gave us to understand that he had his authority from headquarters, to treat with us on this matter. I thought that President Polk was our friend at that time; we have thought so since, and we think so now. We agreed to survey and settle California—we drawing the odd numbers, and the Government the even numbers; but I think the President was precipitated into the Mexican War, and our prospective calculations fell through, otherwise we should have gone into California and settled it. Many of you were not aware of this.
Joseph said that if they succeeded in taking his life, which they did, war and confusion would come upon the nation, and they would destroy each other, and there would be mob upon mob from one end of the country to the other. Have they got through? No, they have only just commenced the work of wasting life and property. They will burn up every steamboat, every village, every town, every house of their enemies that comes within their reach; they will waste and destroy food and clothing that should feed and comfort women and children and leave them destitute and beggars, without homes and without protectors, to perish upon the face of all the land, and all to satiate their unhallowed and hellish appetite for blood; and this awful tornado of suffering, destruction, woe and lamentation, they would hurl upon us, if they could, but they cannot, and I say, in the name of Israel's God, they never shall do it. We will have peace if we have to fight for it. They have not power to destroy Israel, neither will they have. The time will come when he who will not take up his sword against his neighbor must flee to Zion.
We have been preached to a great deal during this Conference, and how do we appear before God, as Latter-day Saints, when there are among us confusion, covetousness, bickering, slothfulness, unthankfulness? May God help us to search our own hearts, to find out whether we are obedient or disobedient, and whether we love the things of God better than any earthly consideration. Will we, from this time henceforth, listen to and pay attention to the whisperings of the good Spirit, and devote every hour of our time to the welfare of the kingdom of God upon the earth, and let the enemies of this kingdom do what they please? For God will overrule all things for the special benefit of his people. May the Lord help us to be Saints.
I will now make a requirement at the hands of the Bishops, both those who are here, and those who are not here and which every individual must see is necessary and just; and that is, for them to see that there is sufficient breadstuff in their respective Wards to last the members of their Wards until another harvest; and if you have not sufficient on hand, we shall require you to secure it and hold it in such a way that the poor can obtain it by paying for it. There are persons who would part with every mouthful of breadstuff they have for that which does not profit them, and bring starvation upon the community. I wish the Bishops to have an eye to this, and to devise employment, that the newcomers and strangers that may be among us may have a chance to earn their bread. Let sufficient wheat be held in reserve by those who have it, or are able to buy it, for this purpose, that none may suffer.
Again I request of the Bishops to be certain that the members of their Wards have their supply of breadstuffs in reserve to last them until another harvest, and we will trust in God for the coming year. Be not so unwise as to sell the bread that you and your children need. Preserve enough to sustain your own lives, and we are willing you should sell all the rest of it as you please; and remember that you cannot buy any from me, unless you pay a fair price for it. Last week a man wanted to buy some flour of me and I partly consented to let him have some at six dollars a hundred in gold dust; he thought he could buy it cheaper, and went away. I was very willing not to sell it him, for when women and children are suffering for bread, I do not want it said that I sold flour. I shall feel much better, and I even say in truth, that I have not sold flour when a prospect of scarcity could be seen in the future. I am willing to pay flour to my workmen, and am willing to hire more workmen, and I will sell them flour for six dollars a hundred; but I am not willing to sell it to go out of the country, and to strangers, if it is needed to sustain those who make their homes with us.
I will conclude my remarks and pray God to bless his people everywhere. Amen.
With this last discourse, the Conference terminated shortly after 1 o'clock p.m. on Friday. A more spirited and united conference was probably never held here or elsewhere among men. From the opening to the close, there was a feeling of confidence and assurance in the triumph of the Latter Day work, everywhere manifest in speakers and in hearers which must in the natural course of events be productive of great good. The glees and anthems sung, in addition to the usual hymns, by the choir contributed much to the agreeableness of the meetings and spoke a volume of commendation for Professor Thomas their conductor.