We are again called to pay our last respects to the dead. Upon this
occasion it is one of the daughters of the Lord, a mother of Zion, who
has filled the measure of her creation. Sister Cannon was a noble
woman, a noble mother in Israel who has raised a noble posterity; and
she has now gone to rest after spending her life in upholding the
principles of truth and making them honorable in the earth.
There are some things connected with this funeral that may be
considered unpleasant, I refer to the absence of the husband of the
deceased at Washington, where he is laboring for the interest and
welfare of the people of this Territory, he, under the circumstances,
not feeling to leave his post, but to leave the remains of his
companion in the hands of his friends and to the mercy of God. And
also in the absence of her two oldest sons, one of whom is in England,
the other in Germany, preaching the Gospel to the inhabitants
of those respective countries, neither of whom, therefore, the sons
nor the husband, can be present to pay their last respects to their
noble mother and companion.
On such occasions when mourning the loss of our departed friends, I
cannot help but think that in every death there is a birth: the spirit
leaves the body dead to us, and passes to the other side of the veil
alive to that great and noble company that are also working for the
accomplishment of the purposes of God, in the redemption and salvation
of a fallen world. And the spirit of this our deceased Sister, has
gone to mingle with her little ones who have gone before her, and with
her father and mother and her other family relations, and with her
many friends who, like her, have wrestled with life and the struggles
and troubles thereof, have overcome and gone home. All is well with
Sister Cannon. She is satisfied with her condition today. I feel with
regard to her as I have always felt with regard to faithful Latter-day
Saints, when they have finished their work and gone behind the veil
that there are none of them that would return to their earthly bodies
if they had the opportunity.
In making remarks at funerals, which I have often been called upon to
do, I have taken the liberty of speaking plainly my feelings with
regard to the dead. And I will say here, when I see a man or a woman,
a true and faithful Latter-day Saint pass away, I do not feel in my
heart to mourn. Why should we mourn for the woman whose remains lie
before us? She has been true and faithful to the sacred and holy
covenants that she entered into with God her heavenly Father; she has
received those ordinances in the house of God that will prepare her to
go into the presence of the best men and women that have lived upon
the earth; she has left a noble posterity to bear her name and to bear
record of and to emulate her example; she is freed from pain and
suffering and the anxieties of life, and is now beyond the power of
the enemy of all righteousness; she has opened her eyes in the spirit
world, among her relatives and friends and her own little ones, whose
death caused her grief and pain; she has gone to enjoy the society of
those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb, and to inherit the blessings and glory of eternal life. No,
I cannot feel to mourn for her. It is hard, of course, to part with
our friends; but after all it is with regard to them, as one of old
said. It is better to go to the house of mourning than the house of
feasting. It is natural for us to give expression to our feelings in
tears in laying away the bodies of our beloved friends, and there is a
degree to which we may go which is proper and right; but there are
extremes which are often indulged in, which is neither proper nor
right for Latter-day Saints to copy after. Here, however, as I have
said, we have nothing to mourn about as far as Sister Cannon is
concerned.
When I say that I have never felt to mourn for any faithful man or
woman who has died in this Church, I must make one exception; I did
feel to mourn, and so did all Israel, the death of our martyred
Prophet and Patriarch, Joseph and Hyrum Smith. But we did not mourn on
account of them personally, for they had passed through all that any
martyr ever did or could, but we felt to mourn their loss to the Church as our leaders, to whom we had learned to look for
counsel and advice in every hour of trouble and trial, although there
is something very dreadful in the thought of assassinating men,
whether they be Prophets or Apostles, or whether they be emperors or
presidents. With that exception I have not felt to mourn for any
faithful person who has gathered up his feet and gone to sleep with
the fathers. I have felt rather, that they have gained a victory which
but few of the human family have gained in their day and generation.
For you will find, my brethren and sisters, there are but a very few
comparatively, either male or female, who have had independence of
mind enough, as well as honesty of heart sufficient to receive the
Gospel of Christ. It takes independence of mind, honesty of heart,
faith in God, and firmness of character to live the life of a
Latter-day Saint, in the face of a frowning world, and in the midst of
trials and troubles and persecution.
The spirit of Sister Cannon has left us; her body is here awaiting the
purifying changes it must undergo in mother earth. But whether her
spirit is present witnessing these funeral services, or whether she,
on opening her eyes in the spirit world, would say, "I leave my body
for my friends to bury, I must enter upon my mission," that is
something we are not able to speak definitely about. God not having
revealed it unto us. But this we do know, she is all right, because
she was thoroughly prepared for the change that awaited her; and she
has gone to do all that she can for those of her kindred and friends
that are to follow. And what more can you say? We are left, and we are
doing for Sister Cannon what our friends, sooner or later, will be
doing for us. It will not be very long before Brother Cannon and also
the children and friends of the deceased who remain will join her in
the spirit world, if it is not until the coming of Christ. This
admonition comes home forcibly to the living, "Be ye also ready." And
it applies to us all. And it is for us as parents and Elders of Israel
to labor in the cause of God, while we are permitted to tarry; living
up to the light and knowledge that we have been blessed with. For
there is a time appointed unto all men; and He takes away many
according to the counsels of His own will. He takes whom He will take,
and spares whom he will spare for a wise purpose in Himself. These
things are according to the purposes and ordinances of God to man.
Some labor this side of the veil, others on the other side of the
veil. If we tarry here we expect to labor in the cause of salvation,
and if we go hence we expect to continue our work until the coming of
the Son of Man. The only difference is, while we are here we are
subject to pain and sorrow, while they on the other side are free from
affliction of every kind.
I pray God to comfort the heart of Brother Cannon, in this his sad
bereavement, and to sustain him by the power of His Spirit; and I pray
that his wives and children may be blessed and preserved in the truth,
that at last he and they, together with this his companion, whose
voice is now hushed in death, may come forth in the morning of the
first resurrection, and stand in their family organization clothed
with glory, immortality and eternal lives, to join with the redeemed
and sanctified in exclaiming:
"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"