I am called upon this morning, beloved brethren and sisters, to make a
few remarks, and speak unto you concerning the way and manner of
gathering the people of God. In the first place, to show unto you that
there is no religion with which we are acquainted, except that of the
Latter-day Saints, that can, in its exercise and in its operations,
bring to pass the fulfillment of the predictions of the Prophets. All
the types and figures presented to our Lord and Savior to illustrate
truths, weighty and important, show that in the last days there is to
be a gathering together of the people. They will be gathered by the
peculiar attraction that will prevail at the time when they are not
weighed down with mortal tabernacles, but released from this cumbrous
clay, their immortal spirits will be gathered around the throne of
God, there to receive a welcome into the everlasting glory prepared
for the righteous; or to hear the dreadful sentence—Depart, ye
cursed, into outer darkness, where there
is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth!
But, my friends, there is to be a gathering of the people here on
earth. The husbandman, when he sows his seed in the soil, watches it,
and cultivates it with care; he does not wait to reap his harvest in
some other region, but he reaps it on the ground where he sowed his
seed, and there he realizes the benefits and returns of his
labor; not in some other country, but here.
The Savior says, the kingdom of heaven is like a fish net that is
cast into the sea, which took of every kind, both good and bad, and by
and by they brought the net to the shore, and gathered the good into
vessels, and cast the bad away. So shall it be in the last days, in
the end, when the gathering dispensation shall be introduced, and the
Gospel net be drawn to shore; not in some foreign clime or mountain,
beyond the bounds of time and space; but on the shore that skirts the
margin of the water, as testified by this figure; so on earth, the
gathering of the people will be.
We are also told the manner in which they shall come. They shall come
upon swift beasts—upon dromedaries and camels; and the ships of
Tarshish shall bear them home, and a highway shall be cast up for the
ransomed of the Lord to walk in. That highway is not an immaterial
one, that leads to mansions in the sky, but it is a highway that has
to be cast up on earth; and it may be that the very railroads that are
being cast up are one means by which this operation of the gathering
will be greatly facilitated. This may be the subject which the Prophet
had his eye upon when he said, The lion's whelps have not trod there,
and the vulture's eye hath not seen it. At that time it was not cast
up; but was reserved to be cast up in the last days. The lion's whelp
had never trodden there; but, by and by, it might when it was cast
up.
The old Prophet had his eye upon the increased speed of ships; but our
translators have made him to say that swift messengers shall be sent
to the nations afar off in vessels of bulrushes. What do we understand
by vessels of bulrushes? Do we ever see such vessels, or hear tell of
such, except the cradle that was made for Moses to float in on the
Nile? Have we ever read of men, swift messengers going in vessels of
bulrushes?
It is nonsense; such a vessel could not withstand the buffetings of
the winds and the waves, nor ride in safety through the elements
contending with each other, as it were, for empire; or as if the winds
and waves were both armed with eager vengeance, to see which should
first grasp the little speck struggling for life upon the surface of
the boiling element. Who believes anything of this sort? The idea is
inconsistent. But when we come to look at it in another point of view
it is not so inconsistent and obscure. Brother Carn who is present
knows how the German Bible reads. I believe it calls them Pipe ships.
The bulrush is hollow, resembling a pipe, and the old Prophet had
nothing else to represent his idea by, but the bulrush; though he saw
ships in which hollow tubes and pipes were running in every direction,
and he was at a loss for the name "Steamship" to apply to them. Now,
says he, swift messengers shall be sent in Pipe ships, looking at the
time when steam should be used as a propelling power. What is this
steam power for? Is it merely for the accommodation of mankind? Or has
God made this an important agent to perform His work—to facilitate His
purposes in the last days? The matter is unquestionably the design of
the Great Creator; not only so, but there is another thing in
connection with this—the Savior says, in speaking of his coming, it
shall be like the light of the morning, or like lightning that shineth
from one end of heaven to the other, even so shall the coming of the
Son of Man be. What do we behold being constructed on earth to bring
about the designs of heaven? We behold the electric wire running from
one country to another, and already it is in contemplation to
carry it across the Atlantic, to bring all nations in immediate
communication. Does this look like the lightning that spreads from
east to west? Even so shall the coming of the Son of Man be! The
electric telegraph takes it from eastern climes to western. It is so
quick that a speech made in Washington city at twelve o'clock is
delivered in St. Louis at half past eleven the same day. Electricity
flies with so much greater velocity than the earth, that it is half an
hour before the times between Washington and St. Louis; even so shall
the coming of the Son of Man be; or in other words, in the last days
intelligence shall fly with such rapidity, so quick shall it be in the
day of his coming. We conclude that we are approximating very near
that time. We are getting, as it were, in the neighborhood of it. Now,
says he, watch! When you see the fig tree and all the trees beginning
to bud, and put forth their leaves, know that summer is nigh: and when
you begin to see these things come to pass, lift up your heads and
rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh.
I may have begun at the wrong end of my discourse, but if I have, I
will get at the other end of it before I have done; so that you shall
have all the parts of it, if the Lord will give me strength through
your prayers; you shall have the sum and substance of what I was
required to make known to you, but I must have my own way of telling
it.
The gathering of the Saints together is to take place. "But," says
one, "we do not believe that the gathering of the people will take place
in the last days literally; we do not believe that angels will
minister any more to us." The old-fashioned religion is, "We have got
all that heaven was pleased to give, and that can be proven by the good
Old Bible. Let the angels stay in glory, and we will stay on our
farms, and go to church from one year to another, and follow up the
same routine over and over again until we go down to our graves, and
that is the end of our service in the flesh." Do you not see that all
of the Christian world reject the administration of angels, the
Latter-day Saints excepted, and some few others that believe in these things?
There are many in the last days, who believe in Spirit Rapping, and in
such kind of angels that have no mouth to speak. The angels that
visited the servants of God had mouths, and they spoke! Suppose you
were to ask me a question, and I have intelligence and a mouth to
communicate but, instead of speaking to you, I set the table to
jumping, or kick over the chairs and the bureaus, &c. What would you
know about it? You would know the devil was to pay; you would know
there was a total absence of good feeling and intelligence. Man was
created in the image of God, and the holy angels that surround His
throne, the flaming messengers to bear His will to man, are in His
image and likeness. Even the servants of God in the days of old, when
they saw one of those celestial spirits, began to bow down and worship
him, as though he were the God who created the heavens and the earth;
but they were commanded to worship God. There he was, standing in the
image of his Maker, and the Prophet mistook him for the Lord. These
angels are in the likeness and image of God, and men are also in His
image. I believe, if God gave me a message to deliver to the people,
and I did not deliver it in the legitimate way, He would close my
mouth because I would not give it in the way he gave it to me. Spirit
Rappers, below par!
"What is the matter?" "There has some dreadful thing taken
place."
"What is it?" "We cannot tell you any thing about it, only
there is a wonderful ado—a wonderful thing has happened in the land of
Ham." I tell you, those who reject the truth borne to them by the
servants of God, who speak to them in plainness, will be acquainted
with muttering spirits that know nothing for their good: for, "for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believe not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." When people reject the
truth they become the plaything of wild delusive spirits, and are
tossed to and fro by them like a bubble on the wave. True messengers
of God do not come in this way; but says the world—"Angels came in
olden times, but do not come now to earth any more; they have gone to
heaven, and there is nothing more for them to do here." I can speak to
the servant of a king when I cannot speak to the king himself. I could
approach the lower orders of his subjects when I might not approach
the higher circle. If men reject the administration of angels, and
will not believe in their existence, nor regard their words, I do not
know how they will ever obtain access to the king. If they will not
acknowledge his ministers, I do not know how they are going to speak
to the king himself.
Have angels anything to do with what will take place in the last days?
He makes His angels ministering spirits, and they are sent forth to
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. The Lord is
everywhere present by His ministering angels, just like any other
ruler, monarch or king, who has ministers everywhere throughout His
dominions; and God's ministers are everywhere; He has servants
tabernacled in flesh on earth, and they are going through the land in
every direction, and God is present everywhere with them; and He knows
everything. How? When His angels and ministers tell Him of it, like
any other ruler. I have been at some of the prayer circles and
meetings in the sectarian world, and heard their pious minister say,
"Come, sinner, bow to the yoke of Christ; behold the guardian angel
standing waiting to be the honored agent to carry the news to heaven,
that one more soul is converted." If God knows it already, what is the
use of angels to carry the intelligence? God knows everything through
His agents, or servants, and that is the way He is everywhere present.
But if you were to see Him in propria persona, you would see a person
like yourself. How was it with Stephen? Was God scattered to the four
winds everywhere? If He was in particles smaller than any mathematical
calculation could define, you could not see Him. But Stephen, "being
full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the
glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said,
Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the
right hand of God." If God was without body, parts, and passions, how
could Stephen know whether He stood on the right hand, or the left, or
whether He stood upon either side?
However we will pass this by for the present. Angels will have a part
in the work of the last days. What are they to do? Says the
Savior—"The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good
seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares
among the wheat, and went his way." He let them grow together until
the time of harvest; then He "will say to the reapers, Gather ye
together first the tares, and bind them in bundles and burn them: but
gather the wheat into my barn." The field is the world. Who are the
reapers? The angels are the reapers; and still, angels, you
say, are coming to earth no more. This won't do, for the reapers are
the angels, the good seed are the children of the kingdom, and the
tares are the children of the wicked one, and the enemy that sowed
them is the devil. In another place it is said, "And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
And yet the present Christian world say that angels have no more to
do; of course, then, they do not look for anything of this kind;
their faith does not embrace the sayings of the Savior and His
Apostles, touching the winding up scene: and without faith, it is
impossible to please God; consequently they cannot share in the
blessings of the gathering dispensation of the last days, their
unbelief excludes them.
It is said that God helps them that help themselves. I have been
showing you what will be done for His elect in the last days; but will
He do it for them who will do nothing for themselves? I say no; God
helps those who help themselves. I recollect when I was in Pottawatomie
I was determined to raise a crop if I could. I commenced and plowed up
the land, and went into the woods when it was hot enough in the summer
season almost to unsolder a skillet, and hauled out my rails, and
fenced and sowed the land. When snow came, there was a fleece of wheat
over the land like wool on a sheep's back. President Young saw it, and
he said it pleased him; and he said, "I know that God helps those who
help themselves." We may sit down and persuade ourselves that it is
God's will we should do nothing for ourselves, and we may go to
beggary; but if we help ourselves, and bestow the labor for nature to
bring forth, we shall have an abun dance, and God will be faithful in
blessing our labors.
We are looking for these things to transpire in the last days, to
bring about the gathering of the Saints preparatory to the coming of
the Son of Man. We can see the electric wires extending through the
earth; and ships are constructed to bear forth swiftly the messengers
of salvation, to bring home the Saints under the indulgent hand of our
heavenly Father. What does He require us to do? Says He, "I commit to
you, my servants, the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the authority of
the Priesthood, light and intelligence, and knowledge to make you
acquainted with all these things; now I want to see if you will put
forth a helping hand, knowing, as you do, your Master's will, and
understanding His whole plan of operation, and work according to the
ability I have given you; I will put you to the test." What is to be
done? "Go forth and preach the Gospel among the nations, and baptize
them in my name for the remission of sins, and confirm them by the
laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and teach them to
gather; for it is the gathering dispensation, and if they have not
means to gather, it is for you to advance means to bring them." "Now,"
says the Almighty, "I want to try you and prove you, and see if you
will act in small things that you may render yourselves worthy of
being blessed with the means which I will prepare, and which I have
ordained. I want to see if you are worthy." What have we done here for
the purpose of carrying into effect this desirable object? We have
commenced to gather the people, and we have also commenced to raise a
Fund by which the poor Saints are to be gathered; and this is based
upon principles that are applicable to us in the days of our
childhood; but we suppose, when the Almighty begins to put forth His
own hand to accomplish His own work, and sustain the operations
of His servants on this small scale, which we shall know it is small
when we see the mighty engine of God at work, for when we were
children we spake as children, and understood as children, and thought
as children; but when we become men, we shall put away childish
things. We now have to do with small things, that we may advance from
one point to another. What are the small things? Here is a Perpetual
Emigrating Fund, for instance, for the purpose of gathering the Saints
of God. How is this Fund raised? It is raised by voluntary
contributions from everyone who is able to help and who has a heart
and a spirit to engage in the work of God in the last days. It is
raised by the hard earnings of the brethren and sisters. It is the
little mites, and large mites, little sums and big sums, all thrown
together into one purse.
Now go and take this, ye swift messengers, you faithful agents, in
vessels of bulrushes, pipe ships, or, in other words, steamships, and
be messengers of glad tidings to the poor, and wretched, and
oppressed, and meek of the earth. It is an honor to be a messenger,
bearing to them the means of taking them out of their poverty,
wretchedness, and oppression. He says to them, "I have come to bring
you to the family of God; to rescue you from the land of your
oppression and poverty, and put you in a position where you may be
blessed temporally and spiritually." Is not he who hears these tidings
blessed? "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that
bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy
God reigneth!" This messenger goes and brings them to his place by the
means that is put into his hands.
Now I know some, when they are brought here by this agency, think they
have got to their desired haven. They say, "Now I am secure in a
haven of peace, I am among the people of God, and this is all I care
for. Now I will make myself as happy as I can, and I will forget my
fellows that I have left in bondage; I will not remember them who are
oppressed beneath the galling yoke, I am free, let them take care of
themselves." That is the feeling that pervades the breast of many
after they are borne here by means that were produced by other hands
than their own; and say they—"If we can manage any way to postpone the
payment of this debt we owe to the institution that brought us here,
until we can gather around us the comforts of life, then peradventure
we will pay our obligation." But let me here observe, when it is in
the power to pay a debt, or do a good deed, the longer we postpone it,
the greater will be the detraction from the merits of that act; now is
the accepted time, now is the day of salvation, when the hungry, the
poor, wretched, and oppressed call for redemption. While the power of
redeeming them is in our hands, and we will not extend it to them, how
can we expect God to hear our prayers to roll on His great work for
the final redemption of the scattered remnants of His people. And let
me here say, I very much doubt whether God will hear the prayers of
any man that owes a just debt, and has means to pay it, but refuses to
do it: or withholds a blessing from his fellow when it is in his power
to extend it. What is his prayer? "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors," or in other words—"Do towards us, as we do towards
others;" if we withhold benefits due to others, how can God bestow
blessings upon us that are not our due, but are the acts of His mercy
and kindness? When we have shared the benefit of any charitable
be quest, more especially when we hold a portion of it in our
own hands, that ought to be benefiting others, how can we expect God,
or any other philanthropist, to extend to us blessings?
What is the duty of the Saints who have come here by the aid and
benefit of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund? It is their duty to pay back
the debt they owe immediately. "But," says one, "we cannot pay, we
have no means." Very well, we will not oppress you; but you can give
your note, and you can file your obligation with the agent, or such
authorities of the Fund that it concerns, that they may have some
voucher to act upon, or that they can tell at least where the funds
are—in whose hands they are lodged; but do not go to the east and to
the west, to the north and to the south, from the city, without making
it a matter of record in some shape; and when God puts the means in
your hands, by your own perseverance and economy, pay it over and
liquidate the debt, and these means are sent again to relieve someone
else; and the same means that brought you, may perhaps bring out a
thousand persons, if they are faithful and active in restoring it to
the channel of its usefulness. For instance, I take half a dollar, and
it is a debt I owe; I pay it, and that man owes it to another; and by
the time it has passed round it has paid a hundred debts, and relieved
a hundred wants; whereas, if I keep it in my pocket, I prevent it from
being circulated, and doing so much good. Do I get any credit by doing
so? I have the satisfaction of saying I am not out of money; while at
the same time, I have the disgrace, before God and every intelligent
being, which is my due.
Well, then, this money that has been appropriated to bring the Saints
here, let it be refunded with all speed, let it be a matter of
conscience. If you should see your neighbor suspended from a tower,
and hanging by a brittle cord, and by any little struggle he might
break the cord, and be dashed in pieces, whatever you might be engaged
in, you would leave it and run to his rescue, and try your utmost to
save the man who is ready to plunge into this vortex, a gulf beneath
his feet. Look, then, at your brethren in a similar position; and
perhaps if they were struggling to gain life, they would be plunged
into wretchedness forever. This is a debt, a sacred obligation which
you owe, not only to the authorities of this Church and kingdom, but
you owe it to your brethren whose cries and prayers are ascending up
to God; and if you withhold that which belongs to them—that which they
should enjoy, their prayers will recoil on your heads, not in
blessings, but in curses.
We all say here, that we are blessed; we say our labor and toil have
been blessed; I am sure of it. Can we work out our salvation? Can we
witness to God and angels and to our brethren, that we are willing to
put forth our hands and contribute to swell the sum total of this
Perpetual Emigrating Fund, according to the ability God has given us?
Are we willing to put forth our hand and aid in rolling forth this
work, by collecting the people together from wretchedness and want?
What shall we gain by doing this? We shall gain numbers that will
look up to us as their friends and benefactors, and hail us as their
saviors. It is said, that "Saviors shall come up on mount Zion to
judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's." Some
men think the way they are going to be saviors is to get as many wives
as they can, and save them; now, they may slip up on that, if that is
their view, and their feelings extend no further. I will tell you
what a savior is; if I see a family who are starving for want of
bread; and are thirsting and fainting for water, and an individual
should give them bread and water, he has saved them; that is the kind of savior I would give the most for, under some circumstances
that I have been placed in, and I would prize that savior more
precious than gold. If I were in danger of falling from a precipice,
or from a building, as I have said before, and had no means of saving
myself, if some kind friend would come along, and put forth his hand
and help to save me, he is my savior; so if a man rescues me from a
galling yoke of oppression, under which I must faint and die, he is my
savior. Saviors shall come upon Mount Zion, and they shall judge the
Mount of Esau. This is the kind of savior that will judge the ungodly,
and give them their due. "What! Are you going to judge the ungodly?"
Yes, judge the Mount of Esau. You know the Lord has said, "Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated." Where is the Mount of Esau? It is
the world at large, the wickedness of which God hates. Then saviors
shall come upon Mount Zion and judge the Mount of Esau. And says Paul,
know ye not, brethren, that the Saints shall judge the world?
We will hand out our money, for that is almighty in the eyes of this
world. God has put this means in our hands, and it is for us to
advance it to this good purpose according to our ability, and so we
shall become saviors to rescue the oppressed from every land; and when
we have gone to the extent of our power, and done all we can, will
there be any more efficient operations entered into to effect the
purposes of God? There will; He will say—"Now, my servants, you have
done all you can, I will stretch out my own arm!" Says one, "I really
wish I knew how soon it will be when the angels are sent from heaven
to gather up the elect at the winding up scene." I can tell you how
soon it will be.
"Have you got the word of the Lord upon this subject?" I do not claim
that I have, but when I tell you, you will say it is true; and if it
is true, it is just as good as the word of the Lord, and as any other
revelation already given. When will it be that the angels are sent to
gather in the remnant? It will be just at the time when the Saints
have done all that is in their power to do, and can do no more, and
have been worn out in the service of their God: then the Lord will
send the armies of heaven to aid them. He has had an army under His
training from the beginning, and when He gives the word of command
they will collect the balance of the Saints from the four winds; and
not only so, but they will open the graves, and raise the Saints from
the dead. An angel showed a little example of this at the time the
Savior ascended from the tomb. He rolled the stone from the door of
the sepulchre, and the keepers fell as dead men, and the Son of God
arose. There is the work of an angel, of one who was reserved for this
purpose, and there are convoys of angels who are schooled and trained
to this work, and they can open a grave much quicker than an Irishman
can with a spade. At the presence of one of these angels, the earth
trembles, and throws out its dead. The angels will do this, but not
until we have done our best. I have frequently said to my son, "You
take this bag and carry it to a certain place." "I cannot, father."
"Well, take hold of it and try." He takes hold of it, and it is a
pretty good lift for him, and he begins to labor and lift with all his
might; at the moment he begins to try, the father's hand helps him to
balance the load. It is just so in this work. "Now," says the Lord, "I
have tried you, and you have done as I have told you, and my hand is
ever ready to help you. If I were hungry, I would not ask you for
food; if I were naked, I would not ask you for clothing." I do not
know how many spirits of the condemned are at work making white robes
for the just and pure; I do not know how much they are
spinning, and how many white robes they are making, for the Saints and
the redeemed; but they have to work out all their indebtedness in
prison; and if God is hungry or naked, He will not call upon you; for
He has millions of resources in another quarter. He can get along
without us doing the work, but He gives us a privilege of doing it if
we will; and if we will, He will bless us; and if we will not, He
don't care.
There are some men in this kingdom who have an idea it cannot roll on
without them—"I must be there, I am of so much consequence and
importance, that if I should happen to set up my will in opposition to
any measure, the wheels would be retarded in their onward course."
"But," says the Lord, "if you do not wish to serve me, go your own
way; I have plenty at my command, and when you are out of the way I
will let you see that my kingdom will roll on faster without you than
with you; still, if you desire to take a part among the multitude of
my servants in rolling it on, I will make you an honored instrument in
doing so."
I think I have spoken about as long as is necessary. Brother Kimball
wished me to speak upon this subject. Brother Young will be in soon,
and probably there are other matters to be attended to. I might
continue to address you, but I esteem it unnecessary. I believe I have
fulfilled the charge laid upon me—to show the necessity of putting
forth our own hands to pave the way for the exhibition of the great
power of the Almighty in accomplishing His purposes on the earth. I
wish to say a word or two more, and then I am done. It is the desire
of my heart that we may all live, before God, and before one another,
in the way and manner that shall reflect honor upon the cause of the
Latter-day Saints—upon "Mormonism," as it is termed. They may
publish
their squibs in the newspapers, and tell all about our wickedness and
corruptions, but if we only live to reflect honor on the cause of God,
it matters little what our enemies say.
In a communication from an editor to me, he quotes from the 17th
chapter of Jeremiah, where it says, "Cursed be the man that trusteth
in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the
Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see
when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the
wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited." "Now," says he,
"how
exactly is this fulfilled in the followers of Joe Smith, that have
gone to Utah Territory; there they are in a salt and barren land, and
they do not know when good comes." In my communication, I have told
him he is mistaken: for we have no more salt here than is necessary;
but the quotation made me think of Long Island, for the early settlers
were surrounded with salt, and it must allude to Long Island; and if
it would not suit there he might apply it to the early settlers of
Syracuse: it is all in that country.
But to turn the scale: where shall be the habitation of the righteous?
The old Prophet says, "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh
uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his
hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of
blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high:
his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be
given him; his waters shall be sure." Where is the people who have got
more rocks than we have? Do we have bread, and plenty of it? Yes! We
have had fine crops of wheat since the cricket and grasshopper war was
over, and our waters are sure, for here we have them flowing down
every street, in the midst of summer, and they are not salt
waters either, but they are fresh and good. How applicable are these
sayings of the Prophet to the Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake Valley.
Their habitation is the "munitions of rocks," and they ask no odds of
the world, but they are subject to God, who has redeemed this Basin,
and put salt enough in it to save us. It is not a dry and barren
ground, for we can make it rain when we please, and they cannot in
Long Island. The Bible says, "Have salt in yourselves;" we have it
here, and if there comes along a villain who is worthy of it, we can
salt him up in Salt Lake too. [Laughter.]
There is another thing I want to say. We should live before God and
one another so as to reflect honor upon the cause we have espoused,
and never let Satan gain an advantage over it, but like the true
American soldier, let us keep our colors unfolded, and flying free, in
the hour of battle; and let us all the time be right side up with care
in the eyes of everybody. If you light a candle and set it on a table,
everybody in the house can see; so let your good works shine before
men on earth and angels in heaven.
I spoke in relation to some things on Friday evening, about which I
merely wish to say the sentiments I advanced, with regard to certain
doings here, are unalterable in my heart; I care not whether it is
Gentile or "Mormon" that defiles the land in which we dwell. Judgment
begins at the House of God, and the "Mormon" will be the first to feel
the chastening of the Almighty, because we looked for better things of
him: he has light and knowledge, and knows better than to be guilty of
such acts. If we always think of God, and maintain our integrity to
Him, to ourselves, and towards our neighbors, the unvirtuous and
wicked cannot find access into our society. If the gate of the citadel
of virtue is never opened to our enemy, he may strive in vain. He
cannot find access unless the way is voluntarily opened, and he
invited and encouraged. Let every man and woman be on their guard, and
situate themselves so that strangers and bogus "Mormons" can neither
rob you of your virtue nor of your money or goods, that they cannot do
a wrong that will bring a stain upon the fair name of the Saints, or
damn themselves forever. I say, then, let the standard of our
integrity and virtue be erect, and let it never lean to the right hand
or to the left.
I have no blessings upon them that will do these things, even as I
have said, whether they be Jew or Gentile, bond or free; but the men
or women that observe the common laws of propriety, and walk
uprightly, I do not care whether they be black or white, if they mind
their own business, I say, God bless them, and guide them in the way
of life everlasting. But the villain who seeks to lay the axe at the
root of truth, and to bring dishonor upon the Saint, I say, curses be
upon that individual, let him die the death of the ungodly. I do not
wish anybody to apply this to themselves unless they are worthy of it;
and if I am met in the streets and assailed with having spoken rashly,
I say, you are the man, the saddle fits you; but those who are not
guilty, but are secure in the possession of their virtue and good
intentions, may the blessings of the Lord be upon you forever.
Amen.