To the Latter-day Saints the Gospel of life and salvation is worthy of
particular attention. In my reflections upon the great work that the
Lord has commenced, its operations appear marvelous to me. I look upon
those who have separated themselves from sin with a great deal of
pleasure and delight; they are a very peculiar people. When the elders
go and preach the Gospel, all who have the privilege of hearing, with
a very few exceptions, are convinced of its truth in a greater or
smaller degree. Perhaps there may be a few who have received
traditions to that degree that the truth cannot find the way to their
hearts; but such persons are very rare. When a man preaches the Gospel
by the power of God sent down from heaven, it is hard for me to
believe that they who hear him are not convinced of its truth. Then,
when I look upon the few of the blood of Ephraim scattered among the
people who have the courage, fortitude and self-will to acknowledge
the truth of the Gospel and to yield obedience to it, I think they are
very peculiarly organized.
This Gospel is adapted to the capacity of the whole human family. Why
are the principles of truth and the people whom embrace them so
ridiculed? I can attribute it to nothing but sin, or a determination
to do that which is wrong. Go to these portions of the world where the
El ders have labored their lives almost out to preach to the people the
words of eternal life and to put them in possession of that which
would save them here and hereafter, and it has been the fact that
hardly a word of truth has been told about us. This is astonishing.
And this work, according to the words of the prophet, is "a marvelous
work and a wonder." It appears to me that if the human family had the
least conception of the principles of life and salvation, they would
not do as they do, or they must believe that they would be chastened,
like disobedient children, who many times, seemingly, are disobedient
expressly to be corrected. There is no need of this, especially among
the Latter-day Saints. What few words I have to say to them is upon
this wise—be perfect, wise, pure, holy, and fear and revere the word
of the Lord, His commandments and requirements.
When we look at the Latter-day Saints we ask, is there any necessity
of their being persecuted? Yes, if they are disobedient. Is there any
necessity of chastening a son or a daughter? Yes, if they are
disobedient. But suppose they are perfectly obedient to every
requirement of their parents, is there any necessity of chastening
them then? If there is, I do not understand the principle of it. I
have not yet been able to see the necessity of chastening an obedient child, neither have I been able to see the necessity of
chastisement from the Lord upon a people who are perfectly obedient.
Have this people been chastened? Yes, they have.
Although we preach the Gospel of life and salvation to the inhabitants
of the earth, and tell them that this Gospel is calculated to save
every son and daughter of Adam and Eve who will hearken to it, whether
it be those who have lived, those who are now living, or those who may
hereafter live, will the present generation have this Gospel? No, they
will not. Why? Because they have so much religion already that they do
not know what to do with it. I have often said to them, "If you will
not believe the Gospel, because you say you have religion already,
will you not please repent of your religion?" Is there any need for
them to repent of their religion? Yes. Why? Because it is not correct.
The whole world of mankind is full of religion, and if they do not
worship one object they worship another. It is just as natural for the
children of men to worship and revere something as it is to breathe,
hence the Christian world is full of religion, and it is the same with
the heathen world. We, too, have our religion, and it is adapted to the
capacity of the whole human family. It does not send a portion of the
people to howl in torment forever and ever, but it reaches after the
last son and daughter of Adam and Eve, and will pluck them from the
prison, unlock the doors, and burst the bonds and bring forth every
soul who will receive salvation.
I ask the nations of the earth what objection is there to this? "Oh,"
say they, "you are different from us." How different? "Why you have
many doctrines we do not believe in." We cannot help it. We have taken
this book, called the Old and the New Testament for our standard. We
believe this book and receive it as the word of the Lord. Not but
there are many words in this book that are not the words of the Lord,
but that which came from the heavens, and which the Lord has delivered
to us, we receive, and especially the sayings of the Savior. We
receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and we believe in Him as
our Savior. There are many persons in this city who ridicule the idea
that Jesus was the Christ; but take those very individuals, both male
and female, and let them square their course through life in all
respects according to the words of the Savior, and would they not be
better men and women than they now are? Yes, they would. Then where is
the harm or evil of believing in a character whose doctrine from
beginning to end is perfectly pure and holy? Although the children of
Judah, universally, and many others ridicule the idea that Jesus is
the Christ, yet take the doctrines that He taught His disciples and
which they preached to the people, and endeavored to practice, and let
any people live in accordance with them, and you will find a pure,
holy and perfect community. There would be no wars, bloodshed nor
contention among them as nations, communities, neighborhoods and
families.
It has been said here that there are some whose feelings cannot
accede to all that is taught by the Latter-day Saints. But let me say
there never was a doctrine taught by Jesus Christ and His apostles, by
the prophets before them, or by Joseph Smith and this people, but
what, if followed out, brings peace to every family and individual who
observes it. Do we enjoy peace? A great many do not. What is the reason? Because they do not faithfully carry out those doctrines.
I am going to ask a question—Is there any necessity, my brethren and
sisters, that you and I should suffer persecution to perfect us? Are
we willing to be obedient, and to sanctify ourselves and to sanctify
the Lord God in our hearts without the rod of chastisement? If we are,
we shall bring in the doctrine that has been taught to the people on
temporal matters. We say, and profess, that we are one, and in a great
measure we are. In our religious and political sentiments we are one;
but in the pursuit of life and happiness, as individuals and families,
we are not one. Now, if we will believe the Gospel, which can do no
harm to anyone—I say this for all ears—it does not contain a single
doctrine but what is true. You may ask the question: Has no one Elder
in Israel ever taught false doctrine? Yes, but no man has who has been
authorized to teach, guide and direct the Saints. Did Jesus, Peter,
James, John or Joseph Smith ever teach a false or incorrect doctrine?
Not that you or I know of; we cannot find it. Now, if we have got
correct doctrines, and will fashion our lives by them we may sanctify
ourselves without being chastened.
We look forward to the day when this people will be pure, holy and
sanctified, and when we will be prepared to build up Zion. Are we
prepared now? No, we are not. We are only professedly Latter-day
Saints; practically, we are only so in part. To be a Saint is to be as
Jesus was; to be assimilated to the spirit and character which He
exhibited while here on earth. Now, I exhort the Latter-day Saints to
live so that each and everyone may enjoy the spirit of the Lord Jesus
day by day, that we may be one in all things, in temporal matters as
well as spiritual.
As I have but a few minutes that I want to speak, I shall now come to
temporal matters. You and I wish to live, and to have the privilege of
pursuing, unmolested, the path that leads to happiness. Now, I cannot
say it of you all, but I can of a few here, that they have been trying
to serve the Lord for nearly forty years. During that period we have
passed through scenes we do not wish to behold again. Five times many
of us here have been broken up, and have left our houses, gardens,
farms, orchards, vineyards and all we had, and have had to run for our
lives. What for? Because we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ—and
tried to practice the doctrine He taught. For anything else? No. Were
all perfect? No. Did some sin? O, yes, we were all sinners. Why were
we obliged to leave our homes? Did we disturb our neighbors, or pilfer
and purloin their substance? No. What did we do? We taught the Gospel
of life and salvation. Not that all were righteous, but our sins—of
worldly-mindedness, covetousness and selfishness—were between
ourselves and our God, and for this the Lord suffered us to be
chastened. The faith that we profess is the best and the only doctrine
calculated to save the children of men.
I say, five times some of this people have been broken up, and the
last time, when we left the State of Illinois, we cut our road through
the timber, we hunted our path over the prairies, and dug our roads
through the canyons, for fourteen hundred miles to this place, because
we were obliged to go somewhere.
Our prophet, before us, told us that if we could get out of the way of
Christianity, so called, and civilization, we could serve God and build up His kingdom, and we could be happy. We came here to
these isolated and lonely valleys. Who led us here? Did our nation
hold out a fostering hand to us? No: to this day they never gave us a
dollar; but now we expect they will give us our homesteads here. Have
the wicked become more righteous? No. Has the world become more
enlightened in the things of God? No, it has not; and the enmity that
did exist, exists still, and has grown, increased and strengthened,
and this warfare between the power of the devil and the power of Jesus
Christ will continue until Jesus obtains possession of the kingdom.
These words are meant for the ears of all, both Saints and sinners.
Did we ask any of the outside merchants in this City to come here?
They are called "gentiles," but we do not know whether they are
"gentiles" or not, for a gentile is one who has none of the blood of
Israel within him. There may be some of this class among the
Israelites. But what do these outsiders follow us up for? They say "we
know you Latter-day Saints are a very nice people, very kind, very
free, generous and benevolent; we know you believe in helping the
stranger, and that is not all, we know you believe in giving all your
substance to your enemies." Is this proved? Yes, right here before our
eyes. Now, I would say to every man and woman on the earth if I could
speak to them, it is no matter what men say, but it is how they say
it, I will tell you what we want—and we know what you want—we want the
privilege of building up the kingdom of God on the earth, and of
living in peace one with another. We want our streets so that we can
traverse them in safety by day or by night, and so that if a midwife
is called up at midnight, or one o'clock in the morning to go to a
neighbor's house she can go there without being plundered or destroyed
before she gets to the place of her destination. And if our daughters
are out visiting until nine, ten, eleven or twelve o'clock at night,
that they can pass along these streets without molestation. We want a
community that does not take the name of God in vain; that does not
lie, or purloin that which is not their own, and that will live day by
day, week by week and year by year in perfect peace. This is not
according to the feelings of a great many, they would rather see
quarrelling and strife. I have learned of so many facts that exist in
the world in relation to contentions, speaking of them in a family
capacity, that to my certain knowledge there is more there with but
one wife than here where there are ten, where this obnoxious doctrine
our brother has just referred to is practiced. So don't worry about
contentions any of you, for they exist all over the world. Look at the
kings and queens, and then at the lower classes; and from them to the
House of Representatives, the lords, dukes, knights and every grand
character you can mention or think of, and how do they live? We know
how they live, they live in jeopardy, in fear, and jealousy, which is
the mother of torment. And the inhabitants of the earth are jealous of
one another, and they have reason to be. Have we any facts in the
case? Yes, thousands of them, all over the world. Take the king upon
his throne, he must pay a doctor more than anybody else, or he will be
poisoned to death. It is so with the queens, if they have not power to
buy everybody around them there is no knowing what day poison will be
put into their coffee or their tea or some of their food. If the
husband steps out of doors, she don't know where he is; and if
the lady is left alone in the house or rides out, the husband does not
know where she is. But you come to the Saints and you know about them.
If we send an Elder to preach the Gospel and he travels the earth
over, when he returns we know where he has been and what he has been
doing, and if he has been guilty of that crime to which the world is
so much addicted he cannot keep it; he must confess it; then he is
not a fit character to be a member of the Church or an Elder in
Israel, and we deprive him of his standing and license. But you take
an Elder in Israel who honors his calling, and though he may travel
the world over, his wife, at home says: "I am perfectly satisfied with
regard to my husband, he would suffer his head to be taken from his
shoulders before he would violate his covenants with me, they are
sacred before God." It is so with our women as well as our men; it is
so with Israel in the latter days. Here I pause, and say, not with all
Israel.
Our sisters need not be worried about any doctrine. Brother Penrose
said it would be better for them if they believed in the doctrine of
polygamy. But they do believe it; they know it is true, and that is
their torment. It perplexes and annoys many of them because they are
not sanctified by the spirit of it; if they were there would be no
trouble. I want to say this much—the sisters do believe it. Where is
the proof? You take a woman in this Church who does not believe in the
doctrine of celestial marriage or plurality of wives, and she does not
believe anything at all about the Gospel, and she will soon manifest
this by her unwise course, and by and by she drops off and away she
goes. But our sisters believe and know that this doctrine is true, and
consequently they feel bound to abide it.
Now, I will return to my remarks about our present condition. We do
not wish to be broken up and compelled to leave our homes again. What
do you want, outsiders? You want all the money the "Mormons" can make.
I do not blame you for it, I never did. It is reasonable and right,
and you are as much entitled to it as to any other money you can get.
But we are not going to let you have it. Is there any harm in this?
"Exclusive," are we? We are not half exclusive enough. There is no
other way to save this people from being broken up again than by
trading with ourselves. I know this as well as I know the sun shines.
I have passed through it, and know all about it. Now, I do not wish to
see this people, of whom I am proud, and in whom I delight, pack up
their goods and go off again. Where should we go? When we were in
Missouri we had a place we could go to; when we were in Illinois we
had a place we could go to, but now, that we have come here to the
middle of this continent, where can we go? Is there another place we
can go to?
If I were to say to the financial world, we have taken it into our
heads to do our own internal business, and not foster those in our
midst who are not of us, what would they say? They would say this is
the first step the Latter-day Saints ever took that manifested wisdom.
How exclusive do we want to be? Just enough so to sustain and preserve
ourselves, to build our own houses, make our gardens and orchards, our
carriages and our own places of amusement, like our theater. I built
that theater to attract the young of our community and to provide
amusement for the boys and girls, rather than have them
running all over creation for recreation. Long before that was built I
said to the bishops, "Get up your parties and pleasure grounds to
amuse the people." This brings my former experience and that of my
friends right to me. Whenever we get into the kingdom of Heaven, where
God and Christ dwell, we shall find something more to do than to "sit
and sing ourselves away to everlasting bliss." The mind of man is
active, and we must have exercise and amusement for the mind as well
as the body.
You go into that theater, and what is there behind the curtain that
would disgrace the most perfect lady on the face of the earth? Not the
least in the world. I have to watch some who come here as actors and
actresses, and if they do not manifest the marks and traits of a lady
and gentleman, I say, "Stop a moment. I want to tell you something.
Your course will lead you wrong, and if you persist in it you cannot
present yourself before the public." So much for that.
We say to the bishops and to everybody, exercise yourselves, provide
innocent amusement for the youth, attract the minds of the children,
and get the upper hand of them and be on the lead. I see mothers
right among us whose course is very imprudent with their children. You
ought always to take the lead of your children in their minds and
affections. Instead of being behind with the whip, always be in
advance, then you can say, "Come along," and you will have no use for
the rod. They will delight to follow you, and will like your words and
ways, because you are always comforting them and giving them pleasure
and enjoyment. If they get a little naughty, stop them when they have
gone far enough. We say to the brethren, humor your wives and children
as far as you can, but when they transgress, and transcend certain
bounds we want them to stop. If you are in the lead they will stop,
they cannot run over you; but if you are behind they will run away
from you. Husbands, always be in advance of your wives, and then if
they undertake to do something that is very displeasing to you they
will run right against you, and then stop and sit down because they
can't go any further. Do you know how to do this? "No," says one,
"I
don't know that I do." Well, then, learn by searching after truth,
according to the revelations given in this book. Search after truth in
all good books, and learn the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of
God, and put them together and you will be able to benefit yourselves.
I will now say to my friends—and I call you all, and all mankind,
friends, until you have proved yourselves enemies—you who do not
belong to this Church, that we have got the Gospel of life and
salvation. I do not say that we have a Gospel, but I say that we have
the definite and only Gospel that ever was or ever will be that will
save the children of men. Hearken to this every one of you, and all
the inhabitants of the earth, and do not say, "you are Mormons, and we
do not want to hear anything about you." Wait until you have searched
and researched and have obtained wisdom to understand what we preach,
or to prove it to be untrue. If you cannot prove it untrue and are not
disposed to receive it, let it alone. If it is the work of God, it
will stand. What do you say, outsiders? What do you say, Christian
world and heathen world? If we have the truth to present to you, which
will do you good here and hereafter, which will save you today and tomorrow and every day, until it saves you in the kingdom
of God and brings you to a perfect state of felicity and happiness in
the presence of the Father, will you have it?
I want to say again to the brethren and sisters—and this is the great
secret we are teaching in the School of the Prophets—be exclusive
enough to sustain the kingdom of God. We want our means ourselves, and
if we trade with outsiders at all we want it to be yonder at a
distance, and not here. What do you say to this, friends? Is it
wisdom? Try it, and see what you would do under the same
circumstances. Have you been driven from your homes? Yes, there may be
a few from the Southern States who have been driven from their homes
and suffered the loss of all they had on earth; but it was not for
their religion. We suffered at the hands of Missourians and
Southerners for our religion; they have suffered for their wickedness.
We have never suffered as they have. But we do not want to suffer
again; we do not want to be driven from our homes again. We like this
country, and we do not want to support any persons in our midst who
will lay a foundation to overslaugh this people so that they will have
to pull up stakes and leave. "A burnt child dreads the fire." Do you
know it? Put your hand in the fire until it has burned you severely,
and it will cause you pain enough to remember it for years, and until
you have forgotten that pain you will not want to put your hand in the
fire again. But we did not put it there, somebody else did.
Have we not the right to our own money? We are not digging for gold
and silver; we are not bringing a society here among whom you can hear
shooting all night long through our streets, or cursing and swearing
or fiddling and dancing. Do you want this "civilization," outsiders?
There may be a few who do not. I will tell you what the priests want.
They want to see a groggery at the corner of every street, and houses
of accommodation between and behind them, and they want to hear
cursing and swearing, and they want to see drinking and carousing and
the drunkard falling in the street and rolling in the mire, then they
could come along with their long faces, crying, "Oh, what a sinful
people!" We do not want any such thing. We want to see every
countenance full of cheerfulness, and every eye bright with the hope
of future happiness.
Do you suppose you can find a person on this earth who is not seeking
for happiness? There may be a few who, if they are not seeking for
happiness, are seeking to get rid of their misery. This makes me to
think of one I heard of who committed suicide in New York, in one of
those fine houses, which you would suppose was a palace, where ladies
and gentlemen live in a perfect paradise, but which are in reality
gambling houses. This individual that I heard of had played there all
night, and in the morning, when his last dollar was gone, he leaned
back on his seat and said, "I am played out," and drawing a pistol
from his pocket he shot himself and fell dead on the floor. This man
sought to get rid of his misery.
The whole world are after happiness. It is not in gold and silver, but
it is in peace and love. Did I say love? Yes. You watch your own
feelings when you hear delightful sounds, for instance, or when you
see anything beautiful. Are those feelings productive of misery? No,
they produce happiness, peace and joy. Well, then, pursue and walk in
that path that leads to that, and walk in it day by day. And
you, sisters, cease trading with any man or being in this city or
country who does not belong to the church. If you do not, we are going
to cut you off from the church, for we are determined not to be driven
or broken up again, and we are determined to deal with love and
sustain our nation, our community. We mean to live here. We came 1,400
miles to get away from that power which is trying to get into our
midst to break us up again. We have subdued the country and made it
fruitful, and have fed hundreds of thousands passing on their way east
and west, and we calculate to stay here if you will do as I tell you,
and cease trading with those who are not of us. Do you suppose that
Jesus did not understand the spirit and the feelings of the world when
He said, "He who is not for us is against us." Every man and woman of
intelligence that ever was or ever will be upon the earth is either
for God or against Him.
When I see the Latter-day Saints I see a motley mass of dispositions,
a perfect curiosity. I was in a store not long since, and they asked
my opinion with regard to the amount of trade that would be done this
season providing we had plenty of goods. Said I, "you must find out
how much money the Latter-day Saints have, and then how much credit
they have, and you will find out pretty nearly how much business will
be done." If we were like other people and would only hearken to
wisdom, these men sitting each side of me today, instead of spending
their money would save it and buy the land that will shortly be in the
market. The government has at last condescended to take into
consideration the propriety of selling their land to the Latter-day
Saints. A few have tried year after year to get up an act to prevent
us from owning a foot of land in America, but they are out of the way.
Now we have the privilege of purchasing our lands, and if our brethren
had any wisdom they would purchase them. "O," but says one, "why we
can get a homestead." I would rather pay my $200 and buy their lands,
and tell them we made the country and now we are willing to purchase
it. We are willing to pay our taxes, and we have proven that we are
willing to fight their battles, and to do anything to promote peace
and happiness in the country. But we say, hands off.
Now, if you don't want to quarrel, take measures to prevent it. That
is what we are after. We are trying to get the people to hearken to
counsel that will prevent a quarrel, and a serious one. If you can
prevent a quarrel in a family you do a good thing. "Blessed are the
peacemakers." We are peacemakers. We are preserving the peace. Is it
our right? You take the Catholics in London, and they would go by a
thousand doors to find one of their own faith to spend three
halfpence. Do not the Jews do it? Yes, they do it all over the world.
They say we are obliged to trade with them, but we are not. We would
just as soon trade with them as anybody else outside the Church. But
do they build up the kingdom of God? No, they hold the very name of
Jesus in derision, and yet they are as full of religion as any sect
there is. You may take the Mother Church, and the whole family of
Protestants, and the House of Judah is as full of religion as any of
them. But are they correct? No, they are not. We offer life and
salvation to the whole human family in the Gospel of the Son of God,
and if they are not disposed to receive it they will suffer the conse quence. It is for the Latter-day Saints to live their religion.
Now, brethren and sisters, do you think it is necessary for us to be
chastened? Can we not sanctify ourselves without the chastening hand
of the Almighty upon us? We can, if we will do as we are told. By
whom? By the Old and New Testaments, and all the revelations given in
them and the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
They all center on one point in this respect—You, Saints, gather
yourselves together, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, live by
yourselves and build up the kingdom of God. We might just as well stay
in Scotland as to be here in the midst of the wicked and ungodly; just
as well stay in Scandinavia as come here, if we have to dwell amid
drunkenness and debauchery. You have gathered out to sanctify
yourselves. Then live your religion, sustain the kingdom of God and
those who sustain it, and let everybody else alone. May the Lord help
us to do it. Amen.