We assemble together in the capacity of a conference for the purpose
of being taught concerning our duties as Latter-day Saints, as members
of the Church of Christ, and it is of the utmost importance that when
we thus meet, that we should have the presence and assistance of the
Spirit of God. I should not dare this morning to arise with the
intention of speaking to you if I did not hope that I should have the
assistance of that spirit. I could not of myself tell that which is
best adapted to you and to your circumstances. It requires the
all-searching Spirit of our God to reveal unto us, his servants,
those items of doctrine, of instruction, of counsel, and if need be,
of reproof and warning, which will be of benefit to the Latter-day
Saints who are assembled as we are today.
We are living in a momentous time. At no period in the history of the
children of God in this dispensation have events been of more
importance than those which are now taking place in our midst and
around about us. I have been exceedingly thankful for one thing. Amid
the threats and menaces and all the attempts which have been made
against us to curtail our liberties, to embarrass us, and if possible
destroy our religion, one feeling has been uppermost in my mind, a
feeling of thankfulness that the Lord our God in this manner is
permitting us to see the fulfillment of the words he has spoken
through his servant the Prophet Joseph Smith, and through others who
have also been inspired of him. Among the earliest predictions that
were made concerning this work by the servants of God, was one
to this effect, that the time would come when we should not only be
opposed by a small circle, a few individuals confined to a
neighborhood, but as the work should spread and increase the
opposition to it would be in proportion to its growth and its
expansion, until it would not be the act of the mob, or the acts of
mobs confined to counties or confined to States, but that the time
would come that in a national capacity blows would be aimed at us by
the nation of which we form a part. Today, my brethren and sisters,
these predictions are being fulfilled in our sight. Not one word that
God has spoken concerning this work will fall to the ground
unfulfilled, and the very enemies of this work—those who are most
anxious to destroy it, and to prove the falsity of its claims are the
very instruments in the providence of our God, used to fulfill his
word and accomplish his designs. Do you think for one moment that
Senator Edmunds in framing the bill called by his name, or in
presenting it to the Senate for its action, had any idea in his mind
that he was an instrument in fulfilling the predictions of God,
through his servant Joseph? Have you any idea that the House of
Representatives in passing that bill, after it had passed the Senate,
supposed for one moment that they were helping to establish the claims
of Joseph Smith as a prophet of the living God? Or do you imagine that
President Arthur, in selecting the five Commissioners to go to Utah
Territory to act in accordance with the provisions of this same law,
supposed that he was helping in any manner to establish the claims of
what is called "Mormonism" to divinity, or that the Commissioners
themselves, in coming here, have once thought that they were playing a
part in the great drama of the last days, that they in their sphere
were helping, or are helping to establish the truth of this work, the
downfall of which is sought to be accomplished? And yet these are the
truths connected with this work; these are the facts. The man who
framed that bill, the man who introduced it in the Senate, the
judiciary committee who passed upon it, the Senate who adopted the
report of its committee of judiciary and passed the bill, the House of
Representatives who took the bill up and made it law, so far as their
action was concerned, and the President of the United States who
signed the Act and who appointed the Commissioners under it, and the
Commissioners themselves who were thus appointed—all these men in
their official capacity have helped, though they thought they were
doing the very opposite, to establish the truth of the predictions of
the Prophet Joseph, and of President Young and of the Apostles who
have been inspired of God from the commencement of this work until
this time, and who have predicted that these events would most
assuredly take place.
Thus we see, that the wrath of man is made to praise God. The acts of
men are converted to the glory of God, and fight as they may, contend
as they may, resist this work as they may, this work, the foundation
of which God has laid, they can do naught against it. On the contrary,
everything they do contributes to its establishment; contributes to
prove its divine authenticity, to show that there is an overruling
power greater than that of man, even the power of the Most High God,
and that he causes the nations of the earth and the powers of
the earth to praise him, to add to his glory and to the accomplishment
of his purposes.
Before leaving this subject, there is one thing worthy of remark—I
have been exceedingly struck with it. The man who introduced the law
of 1862 was a native and representative from the State of Vermont. The
man who introduced the bill of March 23rd, 1882, was a Senator from the
State of Vermont—Senator Edmunds. The President who signed that bill
was from the State of Vermont. We had another bill passed June 23rd,
1874, known as the Poland law, special legislation for Utah Territory.
The framer of that bill, its champion, the man who did more than any
other single man towards pushing it through the House of
Representatives, and having it become law, was a Representative from
the State of Vermont. The champions of the Edmunds law in the House of
Representatives, some of them were from the State of Vermont, notably
Mr. Haskell, Representative from Kansas, a Vermonter by birth. It is a
remarkable thing that Vermonters should be the chief instruments in
framing, urging and securing the passage of legislation against us. On
the other hand the man who, in the name of God, was the chief
instrument in laying the foundation of this great work in these last
days, the Prophet Joseph Smith, was a native of the State of Vermont,
and Hyrum Smith, his brother, whose blood mingled with the Prophet's
at Carthage jail, was also a native of Vermont, Brigham Young, Heber
C. Kimball, Erastus Snow, the Snow family, Albert Carrington, the
Farrs, the Calls, the Hatches, and numbers of the leading families in
this church were born in that State. How remark able it is, is it not,
that we should have received so many blessings through men born in the
Green Mountain State, and that our chief enemies, apparently stirred
up by the adversary to destroy the work which their fellow citizens,
men born upon the same soil, were the means, in the hands of God, of
establishing—that they, Vermonters also, should be stirred up to seek
for its destruction.
We may expect from this time forward the same warfare; no cessation,
no letting up, so far as the hatred of the wicked is concerned. A part
only of the predictions of the Prophet have been fulfilled concerning
this latter-day work. We have been told from the beginning that
opposition to this, the work of God, should not be confined to one
nation, but that it should extend to other nations, and that they who
array themselves against us, as others have done in the past, will
continue to do so until the whole earth shall be warned and its
inhabitants be left without excuse, and the kingdom of God be
established in power and in great glory upon the earth.
A great many of our brethren and sisters have thought, and may still
think, that we are likely to see very hard times, as the result of the
attacks now being made upon us. The hearts of some may almost fail
them in looking forward to the future, anticipating that there will be
such intense hatred and such active exertions made against us that it
will be very difficult for us to sustain ourselves. No doubt we shall
have all we can endure. No doubt the Lord will require us to pass
through and endure ordeals that will test our faith to the uttermost,
and it will seem at times as though we were about to be overwhelmed. The powers of darkness will gather around us and everything
will look so threatening, so black and so impenetrable, that except to
those who look at these things with the eye of faith, it will seem
almost impossible for us to escape. There will be, doubtless, many
such hours and many such times in our history in the future as there
have been in the past. But what of that? As the trial may be, so will
be the strength to endure it. There is a wise desire of the Lord our
God in permitting these tests to our faith, to see whether in the
midst of gloomy and threatening surroundings we shall falter, shall
shrink and become timid and be overcome, or whether in the midst of
this gloom, in the midst of these forbidding appearances, our faith
will still be strong in our God, and in the promises, the precious
promises, which He has made to us. Now we may calculate upon this just
as sure as he has spoken.
There is this that is most extraordinary connected with us as a
people. God in the beginning made a promise to us, which has been oft
repeated, that notwithstanding all our enemies should do against us,
we should have peace, peace should reign in our hearts and in our
habitations, peace should be in our land and brood over us as a
people. This is one of the great promises God made to us in the
beginning. Read the closing verses of the 45th section of the Doctrine
and Covenants and see what God has said concerning Zion, and the
promises that are therein embodied respecting us as a people; that
when other nations should be at war—when neighbor should rise against
neighbor, when every man that will not take his sword against his
neighbor must needs flee to Zion for safety, in Zion there should be
peace. Now, as I have said, it is one of the most extraordinary
features connected with this work of our God, that when it seemed as
though the whole power of the nation was combining from every part of
the land, execrations loading the air against the "Mormons" of Utah
Territory, petitions coming up by thousands, popular prejudice
appealing to popular prejudice and entreating the use of bayonets, of
cannon and musketry to destroy us, and when it seemed as though
Congress was in such a mood that it was ready to pass any law or to
frame any enactment to accomplish those ends; that in the midst of all
this unreasoning excitement, in Utah Territory, in the breasts of
Latter-day Saints wherever they dwelt in these mountain fastnesses or
scattered abroad among the nations of the earth, there was a spirit of
unfailing peace, a spirit of quietude, a spirit of serenity, a spirit
of calm and undismayed resignation, awaiting quietly and patiently the
good providence of our God, knowing that in and of themselves they
were helpless to defend themselves against these attacks, but having
unshaken confidence in the promises which God had made to his people.
O most wonderful! Most wonderful exhibition of calmness! Most
wonderful exhibition of consistent faith! Most wonderful exhibition of
fortitude, of courage, and of unfailing trust in the almighty power of
that God whose existence so many in the world deny. A rare example to
the nations of the earth of the willingness of a people to put their
trust in their God, even to the very uttermost. Now, my brethren and
sisters, if there is any great peculiarity connected with us as a
people that is noticeable it is this: You can notice it in
yourselves; you can notice it in your brethren and sisters; you can
notice it in your children; Presidents of Stakes can notice it; the
Bishop can notice it; the Bishops' counselors can notice it; the High
Councilors are witnesses of it; the entire body of Priesthood must see
the exhibition of these qualities among the people to this wonderful
extent. God be praised for it. I feel to praise Him from the bottom of
my heart that He has poured out upon His people this spirit of peace.
We have laid down in peace, we have slept in peace, we have risen in
peace, we have gone out in peace, we have come in peace, we have
prayed in our families in peace, we have gone forth to our labors in
peace, we have returned therefrom in peace, we have met together in
our assemblies in peace. The peace of heaven, the peace of Almighty
God, has descended upon this people, and it has rested upon them in
their congregations, in their social associations. God has given unto
us this precious blessing. It is beyond price. How thankful we ought
to be, that amidst all these murderous threats that have been made
against us, He has given unto us this feeling which has deprived us of
all fear. Such a spectacle is unexampled in the history of the earth
and of its inhabitants—that is in our day. Look where you will,
travel where you will, mingle with people where you may, you behold
nothing like this; and thus, God is bearing witness to the inhabitants
of the earth that he is able to fulfill his promises, to protect his
people, and to pour out upon them that precious and heavenly gift that
is beyond all price, and they dwell in it and they enjoy it—their
wives and their children enjoy it; and there is no fear in the hearts
of any faithful man, or woman or child within the confines of our land
or in any of the adjacent territories where our people dwell. Why, if
we had no other blessing than this, it would be worth all the world to
us. But we have, in addition to that, other blessings. God is teaching
us many lessons. He is teaching us to put our trust in him. He is
teaching us that "sufficient for the day is the evil thereof." Why
should we borrow trouble for tomorrow, as long as we enjoy today, as
long as we have peace today, so long as we have the presence of the
Holy Ghost today, let the morrow take thought for the things of
itself. Let us enjoy this day in peace. Let us lay down this night in
peace, putting our trust in God for the morrow. If we thus live day by
day—for it is written that the just shall live by faith—if we thus
live day by day, I tell you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
there is no power upon the earth or in hell that can disturb the
peace, the quietude, the prosperity and success of this people or
interrupt the progress of this great and glorious work of our God. I
dare prophesy that in the name of Jesus Christ, for I know that it
will be justified, every word of it. God has stretched forth his hand
to accomplish a work, and that work will roll forth. Men may die, men
may be slain, men may fall on the right hand and on the left, but the
column will still press forward, it will still march onward gathering
in from every land and from every nation the honest, the meek, the
lowly, and those who love righteousness and who desire to serve our
God. I can truthfully say I do not believe that there ever was a time
when threats were made against us, when greater peace and less
fear rested down upon the servants of God than at the present time. I
look at our President—I always did watch the captain of the ship with
peculiar interest, when on the ocean surrounded by icebergs, or when
in the midst of great storms, as I have been a few times, I watched
his eye and his demeanor, and I fancied, and I think very correctly,
that I could form a good idea of our peril by watching him. I have
been in storms when everybody on board, excepting the Elders, expected
to go down. I did the same thing when a boy, watching the Prophet
Joseph, the few opportunities that I had of doing so, I did the same
with President Young when he lived. In times of threatening danger and
of anxiety I noticed the spirit that moved upon him as well as its
operations upon myself. I do the same today with President Taylor: I
have watched his bearing and have listened to his words; and I have
taken notice of his spirit, as I have also of the brethren associated
with him: "I have witnessed but one spirit, and felt but one feeling,
and have had but one thought impressed upon me by their demeanor; and
this spirit and the impression it makes corresponds exactly with my
own. I feel that I am in accord with him and with them, and while this
is the case I feel that there is no real danger for Zion; that God our
heavenly Father, is still watching over us, and is permitting us to
pass through these trials for an express purpose." As I have already
said, the predictions of the holy Prophets could not be fulfilled
unless these things did occur. And why should we shrink from them? Why
should we feel sorry about them? Why should we wish it otherwise? I
can truthfully say, that I never saw a single moment from the time
that I left here to go to Washington until I returned that I felt the
least discouraged, or anything approaching a feeling of despair or
gloom, or anything of the kind connected with the work of God;
although, as you know, I was afflicted and bowed down in sorrow
because of domestic affliction; but aside from that (and even that did
not discourage me) at no moment when in the midst of the worst contest
I ever engaged in, did I have a feeling of discouragement or gloom. I
knew very well that all that was taking place was in accordance with
the plan of our God, with His purposes and His designs. These things
must be, in order to accomplish the work of God, in order that every
man may be judged according to his works, and in order that this
nation, as a nation, may be held to a strict accountability for its
acts, or the acts of its representatives. I have nothing, therefore,
to regret about this. My feelings I have expressed in this stand since
my return; they were expressed by the brethren that spoke upon these
subjects.
Referring to the acts of the Commissioners, I am exceedingly thankful
for everything that has been done. I have never desired to see us as a
people reduced to the degraded level of wicked men and wicked women;
no, not for one moment. What, my sisters who have entered into holy
covenants, in sacred places, who have in their priestly garments been
administered to by the Priests of the Most High God in the holiest
sanctuaries that are upon the earth, for them to be placed upon the
same level with common prostitutes! My soul revolts at the thought.
And my brethren who have in like manner gone into holy places and
taken upon them sacred covenants, in the name of the Most High
God, and have had the holiest ordinances that God ever revealed to man,
administered unto them by that authority which He has given—for them
to be reduced to the level of adulterers and whoremongers! God forbid
that such should be the case. From the very moment that I read that
oath (the oath prescribed by the Commissioners) I thanked God in my
heart for it. I would not have it otherwise. I would not have the
rules changed in the least degree, unless, of course, our brethren who
represent the political interests of the people could by applying,
have them changed: but I did not believe they could accomplish this,
and I am thankful, therefore, that the rules were not changed, because
they draw a sharp line of distinction between the Latter-day Saints
and the wicked. It sustains the claim that we have made all the day
long, that it is our religion that is assailed; that it is the
solemnization of the holy marriage ordinances that the blow is aimed
at, and not the illicit commerce of the sexes. And I am glad too that
every man and every woman that ever were open to the charge of having
engaged at any time in plural marriage are in the same condition; that
the rule has been so rigidly made and so sweeping in its character, as
to include all who have lived in plural marriage. It is an honorable
distinction to belong to a class whose only offense is that they
married women, or married men, instead of living together in violation
of God's law. If there are any who think they did not act honorably in
thus living, let them ask forgiveness. If they have done something
they are ashamed of they can sue for amnesty. While those who have
done nothing that they are ashamed of, or that the whole world should
not know of, are relieved from the unenviable task of seeking
forgiveness.
God is ordering this matter just right; and if we should fail in any
point, he will make it up, He will supplement it by his overruling
power and wisdom. He is watching our affairs. He knows exactly our
circumstances; and he knows exactly how much we can bear; and when we
have to pass through deep waters he will be near us; when we have to
pass through the fire, he will be on our right and on our left hand.
He will not forsake us in our hour of distress and tribulation, but he
will be nearer to us then, if possible, than at any other time in our
lives. Therefore, of all people upon the face of the earth, we have
the greatest cause to rejoice because of these things.
I was very much struck with some remarks—I did not hear all of his
discourse, having been called out to attend to some business that
could not be postponed—by Brother Lorenzo Snow; they struck me with a
great deal of force. I refer to his allusion to the three Hebrew
children and the glory that followed their submission to the will of
God, and their resistance to the decree of the pagan, the heathen
king. I believe that glory will be added to the name of our God by our
fortitude and our endurance, and by our maintaining the right. No
great principles, like those to which we are wedded; no great work
like that in which we are engaged, can be established in the earth, in
the present condition of mankind at least, without great sacrifice on
the part of those connected with it. We need not expect anything else
than this. The Lord, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, in
early revelations, told to the church: You are laying the foundation
of a great work; how great you know not. And the same words are just
as applicable to us today, notwithstanding the growth of the work up
to the present time. We with the light we now possess even, cannot
conceive of its greatness. It has not entered into our hearts, neither
are we capable of conceiving of it. But we are laying its foundation,
nevertheless; and God has chosen us for this work. He has inspired us,
and he has blessed us thus far in our endeavor to carry it out, and he
will continue to do so to the end; and victory and glory will be the
result of our faith and our diligence in keeping his commandments.
There is one thing that I wish to refer to; it is a delicate subject,
still I feel to touch upon it. The idea was suggested to me a short
time ago, while in conversation with one or two of the brethren who
were speaking about the influence that is now being brought against
the Church, how fortunate it was that there were some who had not
obeyed the law of God in regard to plural marriage. There was, as I
thought, a spirit of self-gratulation among some who have not obeyed
that law, because they could now act as they appeared to think, in
some sort, as saviors to the people. I hope there never will enter the
minds of the Latter-day Saints, a feeling of that kind, or division of
feeling upon this point. I believe there are very excellent, very
worthy, very true and very faithful Latter-day Saints of both sexes
who have not entered into the practice of plural marriage; and it is
not for me to cast reflections upon any of my brethren or sisters
about not having obeyed that principle, unless there has been posi tive
disobedience. It is not for me to judge the circumstances, the
feelings and the motives, and the hearts of men and women, my brethren
and sisters in the Church. God will do this; that is his province.
But, on the other hand, I hope there never will be a feeling grow up
in the midst of the Latter-day Saints to congratulate themselves
because of their reluctance, or their refusal, to obey the command of
God, and to think that they have done more wisely in refraining from
obeying that command, and that their position is a better one because
of their lack of obedience; or, because circumstances have been such
that they have not obeyed or been required to obey that law. I hope,
I say, that no such feeling will ever be known among us—to judge each
other and to comment upon each other, and to indulge in
self-gratulation because of anything of this kind.
The Lord has said: "Again I say unto you, if ye observe to do
whatsoever I command you I, the Lord, will turn away all wrath and
indignation from you, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
you."
Now, I want to say for myself personally, if I had not obeyed that
command of God, concerning plural marriage, I believe that I would
have been damned. That is my position; but I do not judge any other
man. I am so organized that I could have lived, if necessary, and God
had commanded it, as a Catholic priest is supposed to live, without
knowing woman. I believe that with God's help I could have done that
all the days of my life, if it had been necessary for my salvation;
but, on the contrary, when I had taken one wife, after I had returned
from one of my missions, a spirit rested upon me that I could
not resist; I felt that I should be damned if I refused or neglected
to obey that law of God. It was not prompted by any improper feeling;
it was not prompted by a feeling of lust, or a desire for women; but
it was an overpowering anxiety to obey the commandments of God. Since
I have passed through the ordeals I have, connected with this
principle, I can see the wisdom of it, and acknowledge the hand of God
in it. For if I had taken wives without being thus prompted and
impressed, there might have been times in my experience when I would
have questioned myself and said: Perhaps you were too hasty in
embracing this principle. But under the circumstances I could not do
that. I have never known the time that I could do that. I knew that
God had commanded me, whether He had other men or not; and I did obey
it because of this overpowering command, believing, as I have said,
that I should be damned if I did not. Whatever may be my fate in
regard to this principle—I have been deprived of my seat in Congress
because of it; and whatever be my fate hereafter, I have no
reflections against myself to indulge in concerning my action in the
matter. I have done that which I conscientiously believe to be the
will of God; and I believe the majority of my brethren and sisters
have done the same, have obeyed the principle in the same way. Do I
believe that God will bear those out who have thus embraced that
principle; do I believe that He will sustain them? I know that He will
sustain those who have obeyed it; I know that He will sustain this
people. The Prophet Joseph Smith said, and so taught, when he first
communicated this principle, that there had come a time in the history
of God's people, when if they did not obey that law, all progress
would cease, that the kingdom could go no further. And He commanded
the servants of God, His associates, the Apostles, to obey it, under
penalty of losing the Spirit of God, under penalty of their ceasing to
progress in the work of our God. Now, there was on the one hand
condemnation; on the other hand, the fear of the world, the prejudices
of the world, the punishment which the world would inflict upon those
who should disobey laws already enacted against such practices. What
could they do? We are today precisely in the same position that other
servants of God have been in, who have been required by men's laws to
do things which their conscience and all their reason, and the good
spirit within them revolted against. That is our position today.
Whatever men's laws may be we cannot deny the truth of God, the
revelations of God. I cannot do it, I would be damned and go to hell
if I were to do it. There is no alternative for me but to suffer all
the penalties that man may inflict upon me; and I cannot evade them
only as God shall preserve me. That is my position today. Whatever
man may do, I must be, I hope to be, true to myself, and to my
convictions, and to my God. I must endure all things; I cannot evade
them. And there are hundreds in the same position, hundreds of men,
hundreds of women. And is there any law of man, is there any penalty
that man can inflict that compares with the penalty that God will
inflict upon those that will disobey His commandments? I must trust my
God; I must rely upon His protecting arm; I must throw myself under
His protecting care, or I must perish. There is no other course for me; that is the only alternative before me. To be untrue to
my God, to be untrue to the revelations of my God; to be untrue to the
convictions of my nature; to be untrue to the women—wives—whom I have
covenanted for time and all eternity to love, to revere and to
protect, and to my children, children borne to me by those women—to
be untrue to these, or to endure all the consequences that man may
inflict upon me for disobeying laws which are framed against my
religion. I am willing to trust to my God. He has never deserted me in
the deepest trouble and distress, in the midst of the most fiery
ordeals, He has been at my right hand and on my left, as he has been
at yours. He has been around about us, and I am still willing to trust
Him. He has never failed—His word and promise have always been sure
and reliable.
Now, my brethren and sisters, you who have not entered into this
covenant, do not imagine, do not let the adversary instill into your
hearts that you are now saviors to the Latter-day Saints. Do not do
it. Let me warn you against it; it is a dangerous thought. You will
find it delusive, for it is not true. If God saves this people, as I
firmly believe he will, it will be through those men and through those
women whom men have placed under a ban; whom men have said shall have
no power because of the laws that are enacted against them. I tell
you, the salvation that will come to this people, will be through the
faithfulness of the men of God and the women of God who, in the face
of an opposing world, contrary to their traditions, to their
education, to their preconceived notions and to the popular
prejudices of the day—who have in the midst of all this stepped
forward in the vanguard and obeyed the command of God, and have dared
to endure all the consequences, and been willing to endure all the
penalties. Mark it, it is true. I believe that which I now say to you
as firmly as though an angel of God had spoken it; and you will see it
fulfilled, every word of it. Let not the fears of the world, let not
the threats of men extinguish the love of God, extinguish the faith of
God in your hearts and make you tremble concerning these things. Let
no such feeling as this take possession of you. I do not want to be
defiant; I never had that feeling; but if I cannot obey, I must
suffer. That is the position I have taken. If I cannot obey the law of
man, I must suffer the consequences: I prefer to do so rather than
suffer the consequences of disobeying the commands of God. It is
better for me to do this than to do the other. I do not wish to defy
man; I say, if you wish to enforce the law, that is your business.
Now, brethren and sisters, let us go from this Conference in calmness,
pursuing our various occupations, and endeavoring to profit by the
teachings that we have had in the past. If this people could only have
carried into effect the teachings they have had from the servants of
God from the beginning, how different would our position be today!
Elders have worn themselves out. Presidents, Apostles, and Prophets
have worn themselves out and have gone to their graves, laboring with
this people, and teaching them words of life and salvation, words that
it would have been to their eternal interest to have listened to and
to have obeyed. We are like the man who, moved with pity, took the
frozen snake and put it into his bosom to restore its life, and in a little while, after the warmth of his bosom revived the
frozen reptile, it stung him and killed him. We have nourished in our
bosom the viper that is doing us more injury today than anything
else. If we had listened to counsel, if we had obeyed the commandments
of God; if we had been united, if we had not looked so much to our
temporal advantage, or that which we thought to be our temporal
advantage, how different would our position be today! But this people
are like children; the servants of God entreat them and talk to them,
but how quickly they forget! They imagine that the counsels they
receive are prompted by some spirit that is not exactly the Spirit of
God. But we will find that we have to come to it. I believe that God
will throw us in circumstances that will compel us to come to the
position that He has designed we shall occupy, however reluctant we
may be about it. I tell you there is more to be dreaded, there is more
to be feared—and you may attach what importance you like to my words,
but I know they are true—there is more to be feared today in our
midst from the growth of wealth in a few hands, in a single class,
than there is from all the legislation that can be enacted against us
by the Congress of the United States, more to be dreaded by us as a
people. That condition is upon us, the growth of wealth in the hands
of a few individuals, threatening us with greater danger today, than
anything that can be done by outsiders; more than the Commissioners
can do, more than the registrars can do, more than the judges of
election can do, or all that can be done by the Congress of the United
States. I know that this is true. God does not design to have a people
of this kind. He does not design that there shall be classes among us,
one class lifted up above another, one class separated from the rest
of the people, with diverse interests; interests that are not strictly
in accord with those of the masses of the people. Because when this is
the case, there is a lack of union. Men are more disposed to
compromise principle who have great moneyed interests at stake. In
fact, it is a characteristic of human nature that, as a class, this
class is a compromising class; their temptation is to yield principle,
to yield ground; and it cannot be helped from the very nature of
things, because of their circumstances. I can see it in myself; I do
not preach something to you that I do not preach to myself. I have to
guard against it, and my brethren have to do so. It does not belong to
any one man or class of men, it belongs to human nature this feeling
of which I speak. God designs in the organization of his kingdom on
the earth to prevent this. If it is not prevented, then the Zion of
God is not established. Is anyone injured by its prevention? No. The
time must come when the talent of men of business shall be used for
the benefit of this whole people, just as the talent of President
Taylor, just as the talent of President Joseph F. Smith and that of
President Wilford Woodruff, and that of the Twelve Apostles, and that
of the leading Elders of this Church; as their talent is used for the
benefit of Zion, so must the talent of men who are gifted with
business capacity be used in like manner—not for individual benefit
alone, not for individual aggrandizement alone, but for the benefit of
the whole people, to uplift the masses, to rescue them from their poverty. That is one of the objects in establishing Zion, and
anything short of that, as I have said, is not Zion, it is not the
Zion that the Prophets have foreseen, it is not that which God has
promised. We may as well, therefore, every one of us, shape our
thoughts to this end and endeavor to keep it in view, for I tell you
God will not permit anything very different to this for any length of
time. He will scourge us, and drive us if necessary. He will tear us
up by the roots; and as sure as God lives it will be so, if we cannot
come to it without violent means of this kind, He will have a people
that will do these things, and He will bring us into a position to do
it, and anyone who thinks differently deludes himself or herself; it
is not so written in the book; it is not the design of God. I would
feel very sorry if I thought it would do so. I suppose I am as selfish
as other men. I would like to benefit my own family. I have to war
against this feeling as all have. I do not know that I am any worse
than any other people, but I know this feeling has to be warred
against. The tendency of human nature is to look after one's own dear
self, to look after one's own family, to use one's talent for one's
own and their benefit, without bestowing any benefit upon the people
of God. Yet I know it is not a right feeling.
God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and fill you with the Holy
Ghost, and inspire those who speak to us by the power or God, in the
name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
- George Q. Cannon