I feel thankful, my brethren and sisters, for the privilege of once
more meeting with you in this tabernacle. I feel thankful that so many
of us are spared to meet together.
I need not reiterate in your hearing, that we are living in a most
important day and age of the world, equally important to the Saints of
the Most High as to the rest of mankind; for the present is fraught
with events that should admonish us to live near to the Lord, and to
keep ourselves unspotted from the world. We have been tried in
adversity. Many of us know what it is to be in the very depths of
poverty and privation; and we now seem to have advanced into a
measurable prosperity, in order that we may be proved and tried in
another manner, and let it be known in the heavens and to the just on
the earth whether we are able to abide prosperity as well as
adversity.
There are so many things before me and in my mind, that I hardly know
what to speak upon and call your attention to. I do not know that it
matters much, for the Saints are interested in everything that is
good, comforting, and cheering to the heart. I will say, however, that
what was written beforetime was written for our profit and
instruction, that we, through an understanding thereof, might have
patience and hope. A great enterprise was determined upon by our
Heavenly Father, and for this purpose he seemed to have inspired a
certain individual with the manifestations of his will in dreams, and
visions of the day, perhaps, also, of the night, and that individual
was Joseph of old. It appears that in this son of the Patriarch Jacob,
the germs of greatness and power were manifest, not only to himself in
his own reflections and thoughts, and by reason of the manifestations
he received of the Divine will, but, also, to the satisfaction of his
brethren, that he was likely to aspire to, or be elevated to, dominion
and government over them. This roused their envy and jealousy until
they could not endure his presence. They sought to rid themselves of
him, and contrived various plans and means to accomplish it,
especially after he had told them his dream, that their sheaves had
made obeisance to his sheaf as they were binding in the harvest field.
And then, to cap the climax, he told them he had had another dream, in
which the sun and the moon and the eleven stars had made obeisance to
him. Not only was he to have dominion and power over his brethren, but
his father and mother, as well, were to recognize his power.
This created a jealousy that was satisfied only in his separation from
them, and they sold him to certain Ishmaelitish merchants, who
bore him away, a slave, into Egypt. Little did they think, as they saw
him take his departure with the camels of those merchants, that he was
but a pioneer to open a way before them, and that they would actually
have to follow on his track and seek succor at his hands. But in
process of time it proved to be true, for the country from which he
had been expelled, sold as a bondman and thrust away by force, was
visited by famine, and he, by the interposition of Providence, was
elevated to power in the land to which he had been banished. He had
become a prince in that land, and its revenue and riches were under
his control. His brethren were forced by famine to go down there; so
were his father and their little ones. When they came to him and found
him occupying a princely state, it was overwhelming to them. They
bowed down to him. He was a prince! The Almighty had blessed him and
made him strong in the land to which they had banished him. Their very
jealousy and envy had placed him on the road to greatness and power,
and they were themselves compelled to seek succor from the brother
they had hated and banished.
I have adverted to but few circumstances connected with the history of
these individuals, for it would consume too much time to enter further
into them. But enough has been said to show you the analogy that
follows: We have been expelled from a certain country because our
enemies discovered in us germs of power and greatness which aroused
their jealousy and hatred, and they were determined to be rid of us.
When they saw us leaving, to cross the vast plains that stretched
before us, as we turned our backs upon the homes we had made with
much labor and toil, they flattered themselves that they were rid of
any dominion of ours, either real or imaginary. But little did they
think when they were doing so, that they were forcing us on to a track
they would have eventually to travel themselves. This was hid from
their eyes.
The Saints did cross the plains to leave that country, and here we
are; and who better than ourselves can appreciate the circumstances
that now attend us? The Almighty has blessed us in this country; He
has poured His blessings bounteously upon us, for which every heart
here should beat with gratitude to the Most High. While war is
desolating the country from which we came, we are here in peace, for
which we should be thankful now that we are here. That element that
drove us away, not, perhaps, the first, but that very element is
beginning to follow in our track. What is its policy? The policy, no
doubt, is to cease to invade us by force of arms. But another is
adopted, more easily accomplished. What is it? Why, "We will oil our
lips, and smooth our tongues, and ingratiate ourselves into your
favor; we will mingle and comingle with you as brothers, and lead you
away; we will contaminate you, and by pouring wealth into your laps,
we will make you indifferent to your God, your faith, and your
covenants." The object is to destroy those germs of greatness which
Heaven has planted in our souls, at which they feel alarmed—germs of
greatness which, if cultivated, will lead us to wield a power to which
the nations will have to bow, as the nations had to bow to that Joseph
who was sold into Egypt.
Another circumstance I will call your attention to. In the first
place, every great enterprise is attended with its difficulties, its
hardships, and oppositions, for there must needs be opposition in all
things. We are told that in the year 1492 this American
continent was discovered by Christopher Columbus. Look at the
exertions made by him to obtain the necessary means to effect the
discovery. It required ships, means, and men to enable him to make his
way across the trackless deep to find a country which, to him, seemed
necessary to balance the earth. The Spirit of God came upon him, and
he had no rest day nor night until he accomplished what the Spirit
wrought upon him to do. He went first to one place and then to another
to procure help. He applied to different crowned heads, and received
rebuffs and discouragements. He was poor; the plans of Jehovah are
mostly carried out by humble and poor individuals. So it was with
Columbus; he was poor, but daring and persevering, and with a soul
formed within his bosom to undertake and prosecute the great
enterprise that was to bring to light a vast continent reserved in the
providence of God as the theater of great events in a period that was
then in the future. By the aid of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain he
obtained three small vessels, old and almost rotten, poorly manned and
badly provisioned. It was not because they believed he would be
successful, but like the unjust judge with the poor widow, they
desired to get rid of his importunities. The unjust judge had no very
strong feelings in favor of the widow, but that he might be rid of her
importunings, he hearkened to her prayer. So did they serve Columbus.
They said they would fit him out and send him away, and he might go on
his explorations for the imaginary country he fancied lay towards the
west. If they had had any faith that he would be successful, they
would have fitted him out with the best ships that any navies of the
time could have afforded, manned with sufficient men and sup plied with
all the necessary equipments; and then they would have said, "Go and
prosper, and the God of the seas pioneer your course." But they had no
faith in the enterprise; they wanted to stop his importunings and get
rid of him.
When we look back at our history we find a certain analogy in it to
that of this man. Our enemies wanted to get rid of us. We applied to
the powers that were for aid and succor. What did we receive in
response to our applications? Silence in some cases; contempt in
others. And when we had to sell out, it was not with old rotten ships
that they paid us, but with old rotten wagons, old spavined horses,
and other things equally worthless. Then they said, "Go and do the
best you can." They thought they had given us an outfit that would
last us until our destruction would be consummated; they imagined it
would last us until we got beyond what they pleased to call
civilization; but thinking that, perhaps, we might live through all,
they demanded five hundred of our best men, while in camp in the
wilderness, leaving our camp to the care of cripples and old men and
women, in the midst of an Indian country. But we lived.
Little did Ferdinand and Isabella think that Columbus was leading the
way that all Europe would have to follow. If they had so thought, they
would have given him better ships and a better outfit. But when they
found he had opened a new country, rich and bountifully productive,
behold the surface of the ocean was whitened with the sails of
vessels, bearing their living freights crowding to seek fortune on the
new continent that spread itself invitingly before them. All Europe,
figuratively speaking, followed in his track, and spread themselves
over the face of the land. But see what these adventurers have come
to. This country, discovered by him, is enveloped in war; and
if you live a few years longer, you will see much of the land that has
been blessed with unequaled prosperity, from the east to the west, a
wilderness and a desolation; and this will be in consequence of the
abuse of the blessings bestowed upon it by those who enjoyed them. If
I mistake not, a certain Senator said to a Senator from Louisiana,
"What are you going to do with Louisiana?" "Why," was the
reply,
"Louisiana was a wilderness when we bought her from France, and if she
secede we will make her a wilderness again." If the land does not
become a wilderness and a desolation, we do not see correctly—we do
not understand correctly the revelations which the Almighty has given
us. The Scripture says, that in the last days His people will go forth
and build up the waste places of Zion. But they must first be made
desolate, before they can be called "the waste places of Zion." Then
the hands of the Saints will be required to build them up.
Compare the coming of the Saints here with the banishment of Joseph
into Egypt, and the manner in which Columbus was sent off on his
perilous exploration, and note the conclusion that follows. The world
dreaded the germs of greatness which they saw in the Saints. They
dreaded the power that seemed to attend them. They were almost at war
with us because we were united. They disliked the idea of our being
politically one. They wanted us to be of different parties. But when
they saw we were united, they said, "There is a power that is destined
to make them great, to exalt them." And let me say here to the Saints,
be you united and be one with your leader, and you will as surely
ascend to power and elevation in the earth as Joseph of old did in the
land of Egypt. We are here, and in unity. We are not destroyed. When I
look at our condition at the present time, I cannot but feel that we
should be thankful to the Lord every day of our lives.
I was once in business, in the East, in the mercantile line, and we
used to sell our common unbleached factory at 16 2/3rd cents a yard. A
yard of factory brought a bushel of oats. When I see that the Saints
can now get three yards of factory for a bushel of oats—three times as
much for their produce in this "Godforsaken country," so-called by
some, as we could get when we were in the east, I have said, what but
the hand of God could have done it? I feel that the hand of God is
over this people. Then why, in the day of prosperity, should we permit
our hearts to run after the things of this world, and not permit our
feelings and affections to be centered in this kingdom, and use the
riches of this world as we use the waters of the ocean—not enter into
them to be engulfed by them, but glide over them to power and
greatness as the ship moves onward to her destined port.
I am glad of the privilege of being with you today, and of speaking a
few words to you. In fact, I never felt more thankful to God, nor had
feelings of greater joy in the principles of life than I have today.
I feel glad that I am counted worthy to bear the name of my master
Jesus. We are doing our best to build up the kingdom of our God in
that part of the Territory where my time is principally spent, and I
presume you are doing the same here. I say to the Saints, in the day
of prosperity beware of pride, beware of worldly mindedness, beware
that we be not ensnared by the things of this world. Let me tell you,
the judgments of the Almighty are beginning to be poured out upon the
nations of the earth. A great portion of the nations that will not
repent will be eventually swept away before the just judgments
of Heaven. And if the Elders are sent forth to bear the truth to the
nations, they will go, as it were, in the trough of a wave, as the
billows of tribulation and destruction pass over the nations, retiring
before another wave comes; and thus, by the voice of mercy and the
words of truth, the nations will be prepared for their doom.
Brethren and sisters, be faithful—be true to the Lord our God. Though
you should not get so much of this world's goods, be sure your hearts
are in unison with the God of Heaven. May the peace of Israel be and
abide with you, and with those who guide the destinies of Israel from
this time henceforth and forever. Amen.