I wish to say a few words to the congregation, but if they are not
perfectly still it will be very difficult for them to hear, as usual.
I wish to speak to the people on salvation, and to teach them, as my
brethren have been doing, how to preserve themselves. The object of
the teachings at this Conference, and I may say for years past, has
been to teach the people how to save themselves daily, in a temporal
point of view, and also spiritually, that when the morrow comes they
may be saved that day, and the next day, and so continue in a state of
salvation every day that they live. According to the traditions of our
fathers the salvation of the body and the salvation of the soul have
no connection the one with the other. This is not in accordance with
the doctrine which has been revealed to us in this our day. The
kingdom that the Lord is about to establish and has commenced on the
earth will, in every part and portion be a literal kingdom, a
temporal kingdom and a spiritual kingdom; but while we are in a
temporal state, and possess our temporalities, our abilities must
correspond with the spiritual kingdom that we believe in. Consequently
we have a kingdom that is actually spiritual, and to the natural eye
it looks like a temporal kingdom. Still it is the kingdom where God
dwells, even in these earthly tabernacles, consequently these
tabernacles must be preserved in the truth, in righteousness, purity
and holiness, or the Lord will not dwell therein.
We are called upon as individuals, each of us who form this community,
to come out from the wicked world, from Babylon. All those who believe
the history given by John, the "beloved disciple," know that the time
would come when the Lord would call upon all people, who believe in
Him, delight to do His will, and seek to understand the requirements
of heaven, to gather out from the midst of Babylon. John wrote plainly
in reference to this gathering, and we have believed it. We are called
upon to come out from among the wicked, as it is written, "Come out of
her, O my people," that is, come out of Babylon. What is Babylon? Why,
it is the confused world: come out of her, then, and cease to partake
of her sins, for if you do not you will be partakers of her plagues.
This people, whether they wished to separate themselves or not from
the rest of mankind, have been forced to do it. Ask the Latter-day
Saints, if after embracing the Gospel, they had the privilege of
associating with former friends and neighbors on the same terms as
they did previous to receiving the Gospel, and their answers will be,
that the thread of affection that formerly existed seemed to be
severed, that former friends forsook them, they passed them by and
turned their eyes another way, and would hardly speak even when they
met in company. Is not this the fact? It is as far as my experience
has gone, and I have had a tolerable opportunity of testing the
matter. We have been forced to separate ourselves, been under the
necessity of leaving the society of those who did not believe as we
did. We have been driven from our homes time and time again without
the privilege of disposing of our property, and have taken joyfully
the spoiling of our goods repeatedly, until we were under the
necessity of fleeing to some land where there were none whom we could
annoy.
If we have annoyed our neighbors so seriously, the question naturally
arises, From what did this annoyance proceed? Was it from drinking and
carousing, or hallooing in the streets by night? Was it from revelling
by day or night? Was it from intruding on the rights of our neighbors?
No, not from any of these causes by any means. What was it, then? This
people believe in revelation. This people did believe, and do believe
that the Lord has spoken from the heavens. They did believe and do
believe that God has sent angels to proclaim the everlasting Gospel,
according to the testimony of John. It was this that gave rise to the
malice, hatred and vindictive feelings that have been so often made
manifest against them. Some may say it was the political world. It was
not so, although they had a share in it. It may be said that it was
the moral world, but why should they entertain these feelings towards
us? Are the Latter-day Saints immoral? O, no, their faith teaches men,
women and children to be as moral as people can be. This cannot be the
reason then. It was neither the political nor moral world; then whence did this hatred proceed? From the fanatically religious world.
There was the rise and foundation of that hatred and malice that
ultimately forced us to separate from the rest of mankind.
What are the teachings of the Christian world? Many of you have had an
experience among them, and can answer this question very well. I have
had an experience in their midst, though I never bowed down to their
creeds. I never could submit to their doctrines, for they taught that
which was not in the Bible, and denied that which was found in the
Bible, consequently I could not be a convert to their fanaticism. I am
not today. When I can hear a man, on his knees before a congregation,
pray for God to come down into their midst and be one with
them—"Come, O Lord, and dwell with us, open the heavens to us, give
unto us the Holy Ghost, send Thine angels and administer to us," and
then get up and preach to the people that there is no such thing as
revelations, no gift of the Holy Ghost, no such thing as the Lord
speaking from the heavens, or men knowing anything about Heaven, I
cannot receive nor bow in obedience to such absurdities. I have asked
of the Christian world, "Where is heaven, where does the Lord dwell?
What kind of Being is He, and is He a Being of tabernacle?" To all of
which their reply would be "We do not know;" and they have mystified
the character of the Deity—our Father and our God—to that degree that
every person is left in the dark, feeling his way to the grave through
a dark, cold, unfriendly and benighted world as best he may. Is this
the state of Christendom? Yes, verily it is. They have mystified
everything concerning God, heaven and eternity, until there is no man
on earth, when you turn from the Latter-day Saints, who is capable of
teaching the people the way of life and salvation. This is the grand
difficulty, this is what stirs up the people. The priests are at the
root of the matter. In the whole history of this people you cannot
find an instance of a mob ever being led on except by a priest; and
then the political world would take the advantage of it and come in
for their share of the spoil.
Now, although it is so popular to cry delusion when referring to this
Latter-day Gospel, I frequently ask myself, if it does not
circumscribe all that is good and true, possessed by either the
infidel or the Christian world, by our Mother Church, or any of her
daughters? If the world were to embrace the Gospel we teach, would
they believe all that is true in the faith of the Catholic? Yes, every
iota. Would they believe all that is true in the faith of the
Episcopalian, or in the faiths of the whole Christian world? Yes,
every particle, every excellency, every good word and work they
possess is circumscribed by and contained in the Gospel as taught by
the Latter-day Saints. Then go to the scientific or philosophical
world, and this Latter-day work circumscribes all the truth they
possess. Well, then, we ask, why are we worse than other people? Do we
teach our people to swear or to take God's name in vain? Oh, no, to
the reverse; we forbid it. The Lord says, "Thou shalt not take the
name of the Lord thy God in vain." Is this good in and of itself? It
is. Are we worse than other Christians? If so, wherein? Do they pray?
So do we. Do the Christian world believe in being strictly honest? So
do the Latter-day Saints. Do the Christian word believe in intruding
upon the rights of their neighbors? No; neither do the Latter-day
Saints. Do the Christian world profess to believe in charity?
Yes; and the Latter-day Saints more abundantly. Do they believe in God
the Father and in God the Son? Yes, so do the Latter-day Saints. Do
they believe in the Holy Ghost? They say they do; so do the Latter-day
Saints. Then wherein do we differ? Why, the Latter-day Saints believe
that God has spoken from the heavens. The Christian world do not
believe this. They do not believe that the Lord has called upon His
people to come out from amongst the wicked world; but the Latter-day
Saints do believe so. Is there any harm in their believing so? I
frequently ask myself if there is any harm in a man having his own
family around him, or in associating with his friends and neighbors?
No, there is no harm in this; the Christian world believe that it is
a man's privilege to do this. Is there any harm in the Latter-day
Saints doing the same thing? Not the least. There is no law against it
in heaven or on earth that we know of. Then wherein are we worse than
our Christian friends, that is, the so-called Christian world? Are
they Christ-like, or are they not? This is a matter we can test by
reading the Bible, if we choose to do so. Do they lack wisdom?
Apparently they do. If they, as individuals, do not acknowledge it,
their neighbors acknowledge it. Do they ask of God? If they do, they
do not receive. Where is there a Christian sect, now on the earth,
except the Latter-day Saints, who preach the Gospel that Jesus
taught—faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, the
laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, the gift of
tongues, the gift of healing and the discerning of spirits? Who, in
all the Christian world believes such a doctrine? None that we know
of, except the Latter-day Saints. It is this which separates us and
draws the division line. Well, is there any harm in our gathering out
and living according to the revelations that have been given to us?
Not the least. Do we injure any person in so doing? No, we do not.
This people have got to be self-sustaining, if they believe in the
revelations given to them. You will find by and by that this same
Babylon, which the Saints of God are required to leave, will fall.
Will there be anybody left on the face of the earth? Yes, probably
millions. Who will they be? Why the servants and handmaidens of the
Almighty, those who love and serve Him. Now, I will ask the question,
suppose this is true concerning the gathering out of the Saints, and
that Babylon, or a confused and wicked world, will cease its
operations as they are now going on, and the time spoken of shall have
come, when the merchants will mourn and weep because there is no one
to buy their merchandise, will the inhabitants of Zion go down to buy
their silks and satins and keep up his trade? No. By and by there will
be a gulf between the righteous and the wicked so that they cannot
trade with each other, and national intercourse will cease. It is not
so now, they can pass from one to the other with ease. But if this is
the Kingdom of God and if we are the Saints of God—I leave you all to
judge for yourselves about this—are we not required to sustain
ourselves and to manufacture that which we consume, to cease our
bartering, trading, mingling, drinking, smoking, chewing and joining
with all the filth of Babylon? You may judge for yourselves in
relation to this. But I can say that we have been striving for
twenty-one years in these valleys, and before we came here, to bring
this people to this point. When we look at ladies and
gentlemen we can see that their wants are many, but their real
necessities are very few. Now let the Latter-day Saints see that their
necessities are supplied, and omit their wants for the present, and
until we can manufacture what we want. We want you henceforth to be a
self-sustaining people. Hear it, O Israel! Hear it neighbors, friends
and enemies, this is what the Lord requires of this people.
We have been driven from our homes time and time again. I have been
driven from a good handsome property and home five times without
having the privilege of selling it, or making fifty cents from it, and
what for? Because I was a thief? No. Because my brethren were thieves?
No. Because they were liars? No. Because they were swearers? No.
Because they were swindlers? No. Because they were adulterers or
fornicators? No. Because they loved and made lies? No; but because
they believed that God had spoken from the heavens and had bestowed
upon His servant Joseph the keys of the holy priesthood of His Son.
The Latter-day Saints believed this, and because they did so the
Christian world said, "Up, get ye out of this place, we want your
houses and possessions." And they took them; but I will swear to them
that they will never take them again. (The congregation said, Amen.)
When Colonel Kane was here I and others said to him, "Colonel, you
will find this the entering wedge for the division of our government."
Said we, "If the Government of the United States consent to rout this
people again, and take it into their own hands to break us in pieces,
they will go to pieces." Did they? Did they have war? Answer the
question yourselves. Have they made peace yet? Answer for your selves.
Is there any such thing today as the thirty-four United States that
once composed the Federal Union, or is there not? Answer this question
for yourselves, and then I will answer it, by saying there never will
be again, unless they are brought together and cemented by the power
of God.
Well, again I ask, what worse are the Latter-day Saints than other
people? Have we the privilege of planting and eating the fruits
thereof like others? Yes, politically, morally, religiously and
financially. Have we the privilege of building and inhabiting our
houses? Yes, we have, and there if no law against it. But this is not
the question at all. I will say to my brethren who have talked to the
congregation, the question is not whether we have the right to be
self-sustaining or not, but will we be self-sustaining? This is the
question, and we say we will be. What do you say brethren and sisters?
All of you who say that we will be a self-sustaining people signify it
by the show of your right hands.
[The motion was put and unanimously carried.]
This is what terrifies the Christian world, not the moral nor
political portion of it; but it is the fanatics, the priests who are
afraid, and they continually seek to stir up strife and mischief. They
are not all so; but our past experience has given us good reason to
come to this conclusion.
Bro. George A. related something in the historical discourse delivered
by him yesterday and today, about the brethren going to solicit
donations. In reference to this I will say that when we found we were
obliged to leave Nauvoo, to deprive this nation of all excuse, and to
clear our skirts of their blood, we wrote to all the governors of the
States and Territories and also to the President so liciting aid and redress. We did this to deprive them of the chance of saying
at the day of judgment, "you could have had an asylum with us if you
had applied for it." The result of our appeal you have already heard;
redress or sympathy there was none, but "you, Mormons, may seek a home
on Mexican or some other soil."
As for the donations, here are Bro's Benson and Little, who went with
Colonel, now General Thomas L. Kane, to Philadelphia, Boston, New York
and other places, and solicited aid of the mayors and city councils of
the various places they visited, for this people who had been robbed,
plundered and driven, and who, in answer to a requisition from the
Government, had sent 503 men, the flower of their strength, to the
Mexican war, leaving their fathers, mothers, wives and children
destitute, sick and dying on the naked prairie. The result of the
appeal for donations was the raising of a trifling sum. I will venture
to say that we have given hundreds of dollars to them where they have
given us one, consequently we are not in their debt, neither are we in
debt to our merchants, not in the least. We did not ask them to come
here; we do not ask them to stay, neither do we ask them to go
away. We do not ask them to give us their goods, neither do we ask
them to take them away. They are at perfect liberty to open their
stores and exhibit their goods for sale, and we have the privilege of
letting them alone; and that is not all, I mean that we shall do so.
Are we going to cut off all communication and deal with outsiders? No.
If they want a house built, we will build it for them, if they will
pay us the money. If they want our grain, they are welcome to it, if
they will pay us the money for it. And we will take that money, and
make the percentage they have made. We have as good a right to it as
they have. We will furnish this little corps of United States men,
here on the hill, all the hay, flour, oats and barley, and everything
that they want; but we must have their money in return for it. We do
not want them to stick their trade into the hands of our enemies, and
thus furnish them money to use against us, while they pay us for our
produce in rags at an extravagant advance above cost. This we do not
want, and we will not have it. Why, how tight are you going to draw
the reins? I want to tell my brethren, my friends and my enemies, that
we are going to draw the reins so tight as not to let a Latter-day
Saint trade with an outsider. We will trade with you, if you will give
us your money; we are entitled to it. We made and broke the road from
Nauvoo to this place. Some of the time we followed Indian trails; some
of the time we ran by the compass; when we left the Missouri River we
followed the Platte. And we killed rattlesnakes by the cord in some
places; and made roads and built bridges till our backs ached. Where
we could not build bridges across rivers we ferried our people across,
until we arrived here, where we found a few naked Indians, a few
wolves and rabbits, and any amount of crickets; but as for a green
tree or a fruit tree, or any green fields, we found nothing of the
kind, with the exception of a few cottonwoods and willows on the edge
of City Creek. For some 1200 or 1300 miles we carried every particle
of provision we had when we arrived here. When we left our homes we
picked up what the mob did not steal of our horses, oxen and calves,
and some women drove their own teams here. Instead of 365 pounds of breadstuff when they started from the Missouri River, there
was not half of them had half of it. We had to bring our seed grain,
our farming utensils, bureaus, secretaries, sideboards, sofas, pianos,
large looking glasses, fine chairs, carpets, nice shovels and tongs,
and other fine furniture, with all the parlor, cook stoves, &c.; and
we had to bring these things piled together with the women and
children, helter skelter, topsy turvy, with broken down horses,
ringboned, spavined, poll evil, fistula and hipped; oxen with three
legs, and cows with one tit. This was our only means of
transportation, and if we had not brought our goods in this manner we
should not have had them, for there was nothing here. You may say this
is a burlesque. Well, I mean it as such, for we, comparatively
speaking, really came here naked and barefoot.
Instead of crying over our sufferings, as some seem inclined to do, I
would rather tell a good story, and leave the crying to others. I do
not know that I have ever suffered; I do not realize it. Have I not
gone without eating and not half clad? Yes, but that was not
suffering. I was used to that in my youth. I used to work in the woods
logging and driving team, summer and winter, not half clad, and with
insufficient food until my stomach would ache, so that I am used to
all this, and have had no suffering. As I said to the brethren the
other night, the only suffering I ever realized in this Church was to
preserve my temper towards my enemies. But I have even got pretty much
over this. Do what you please, and we will not be angry; it is not
becoming in Saints to be so. Let us do right ourselves, and we will
find honor. Let the Latter-day Saints live their religion, and they
will be the most honored of any people in the world by saint and
sinner. Will we associate with outsiders? Yes, we will invite them to
our houses, and go to theirs, if we have a mind to. We will treat
gentlemen as gentlemen, friends as friends, speculators as
speculators, and we will treat our enemies as enemies, by letting them
alone.
Now, some of the people, I expect, will think they are never going to
have the privilege of trading or doing anything again with outsiders.
I will tell you how I feel with regard to such persons—they are the
very ones we want to apostatize. All men and women that long after sin
and sinners, iniquity and corruption we want to apostatize immediately
and go their own way, go with those who are corrupt.
Our outside friends say they want to civilize us here. What do they
mean by civilization? Why they mean by that, to establish gambling
holes—they are called gambling hells—grog shops and houses of ill fame
on every corner of every block in the city; also swearing, drinking,
shooting and debauching each other. Then they would send their
missionaries here with faces as long as jackasses' ears, who would go
crying and groaning through the streets "Oh, what a poor, miserable,
sinful world!" That is what is meant by civilization. That is what
priests and deacons want to introduce here; tradesmen want it, lawyers
and doctors want it, and all hell wants it. But the Saints do not want
it, and we will not have it. (Congregation said, AMEN.) Why, with all
the boasted attainments of the world in art and science they are as
far from being really civilized as our Indians here, and farther in
reality. A true system of civilization will not encourage the
existence of every abomination and crime in a community but will lead them to observe the laws Heaven has laid down for the
regulation of the life of man. There is no other civilization. A truly
civilized person is one who is a real gentleman or lady; in language
and manners he is truly refined, and gives way to no practice that is
unhallowed or uncomely. This is what we are after, and trying to
attain to.
We have been driven here to these mountains and have been followed up.
We want to be followed up by gentlemen; we want gentlemen to associate
with. We want to associate with men who aspire after pure knowledge,
wisdom and advancement, and who are for introducing every improvement
in the midst of the people, like the company who are building this
railroad. We thank them and the government for it. Every time I think
of it I feel God bless them, hallelujah! Do they want to skin us? I
hope not. Do they want to destroy us? I think not. They want to meet
us as friends, and we want to meet them as friends, and to share
equally with them in the business of the country. Do we believe in
trade and commerce? Yes. And by and by we will send our products to
the east and to the west. And how long will it be before they will be
sending for our dried peaches and apples? How is it now for growing
fruit in the country in which Joseph obtained the plates from which
the Book of Mormon was translated? I remember when it was the cream of
the world in this respect. But can they raise an apple or peach there
now that is sound and good? No, they cannot. And where we used to
reap and cradle sixty bushels of wheat to the acre they don't get
more than from five to ten now. The land is barren, waste and
desolate; the curse of God is upon it, and it will be so wherever the
Latter-day Saints have to leave. Talk about these rich valleys, why
there is not another people on the earth that could have come here and
lived. We prayed over the land, and dedicated it and the water, air
and everything pertaining to them unto the Lord, and the smiles of
Heaven rested on the land and it became productive, and today yields
us the best of grain, fruit and vegetables. But if the Latter-day
Saints were compelled to leave here it would not be five years until
the soil would cease to yield to sustain a community as it does now.
Do you believe this, outsiders? No, you do not. No matter, I say it,
and we know it, and if we know it that is satisfactory to us, without
being any interruption to the faith or views of any person in the
world.
There is an idea abroad that the "Mormons" are going to give way; but
there is no fear that the kingdom of God—"Mormonism" —will ever
give
way. The only thing for you and me to fear, is whether we will build
up the kingdom, whether our souls are in the kingdom or not. Here is
the fear; it is not with regard to the kingdom, it will stand forever
and ever; but you and I may not. The kingdom is pure; you and I are
not pure. The doctrine we preach is pure and holy, and if we will
abide it, it will make us pure and holy. Are we as good now as the
rest of the Christian world? They say we are fools to believe in
revelation. But I ask, What harm does such belief cause? It leads men
and women to truth and righteousness, and leads every individual by
whom it is entertained to purity and holiness of character on the
earth. It also teaches us to deal justly, love mercy, feed the hungry,
clothe the naked, visit the widow and the fatherless, the poor and the
homeless, and to deal kindly with all the inhabitants of the
earth. To take the young and tender mind and teach it all that it can
grasp, until it can comprehend all the science and philosophy of the
day, and then the revelations of the Lord Jesus resting upon it teach
that which cannot be learned by the wisdom of man. What harm is there
in a faith like this? If Universalism is true, and the Lord is going
to save all, He would certainly save those who believe thus as soon as
He would a murderer or an infidel. You ask the outside world, an
infidel or a Universalian, and they will say we are as well off as
they are. Then I ask what harm is there in a man or woman being a
Christian? Is there any harm in it? If there is, will you not point it
out to us? We say to the priest and the people, if you have anything
better than we have; hand it over, it is ours. If we have errors by
the thousand, and you have truth, we will give you all our errors for
one truth. Is there any harm in being Saints, or in our producing what
we need? No. I look upon the people, and I can say our wants are many,
but our real necessities are very few. Let us govern our wants by our
necessities, and we shall find that we are not compelled to spend our
mo ney for nought. Let us save our money to enter and pay for our land,
to buy flocks of sheep and improve them, and to buy machinery and
start more woolen factories. We have a good many now, and the people
will sustain them. You may call this tyranny, and say it is abridging
the privileges of the Latter-day Saints. No, it is not; God requires
it, angels require it; the ancient apostles and prophets required it,
and why should not we require it? It does not infringe upon me in the
least, why should it upon you? We will make up our wool and our flax,
and manufacture our silk, we will do this here. There is no harm in
it, no law against it, and we have the indisputable right to do it.
I will tell you how I feel, God bless every good man. God bless the
works of nature, God bless His own work, overthrow the wicked and
ungodly and them that would destroy their fellowbeings, that war and
contentions may cease on the earth O Lord, remove these from office
and place good men at the head of the nations, that they may learn war
no more, but go to, like rational and civilized beings, sustain peace
on the earth and do good to each other. May the Lord help us. Amen.