We are living in peculiar times; we are operating in an eventful era;
we are associated with a peculiar dispensation, and we have a labor to
perform which in many respects differs from that of all other ages or
times. The dispensation that we are connected with is called in
Scripture the dispensation of the fulness of times in which, it is
recorded, God will gather together all things in one, whether they be
things on the earth or things in the heavens. There are ideas
associated with this dispensation that are in many respects
distinct, and dissimilar from those that have been enunciated and
proclaimed in former ages and dispensations; and inasmuch as the
present dispensation is to embrace everything that has been connected
with all past dispensations—all the prominent features as well as the
minor ones that characterized the Church and kingdom of God in former
days, that were essentially necessary to its growth and developments
must re-appear in connection with the work of God in this our day. If
the manifestations and developments of other dispensations have been
made known to us, we have had revealed to us doctrines, theories,
organizations and systems that have existed among the whole of them;
because it is emphatically the dispensation of the fulness of times.
If they had anything that was peculiarly characteristic in the days of
the ancient Patriarchs, we have the same revealed to us. If they had
anything prominent and important in the dispensation of Noah, we have
it, and if Noah was called upon to preach the Gospel to the world in
his day, before its destruction, so are we.
If in the Abrahamic or Mosaic dispensations God revealed important
principles, we have a clear knowledge of those things made known to
us, and the reasons, the whys and wherefores, pertaining to them. If
they had anything among the ancient Prophets and men of God, we have
the same principles developed. If in the days of Jesus they had
manifestations, revelations, doctrines or organizations, those things
are made known to us. Or if the people upon this continent, to whom
God revealed his will—either the people that came from the Tower of
Babel, or those who came from Jerusalem during the reign of
Zedekiah—if anything was revealed to them, we have had it revealed
unto us. And this is why certain things exist pertaining to
organizations, etc., referred to by Brother Hatch.
We have here on the ceiling of this building pictured to us, Moroni
making known to Joseph Smith the plates, from which the Book of Mormon
was translated, which plates had been hidden up in the earth; and in
connection with them was the Urim and Thummim, by which sacred
instrument Joseph was enabled to translate the ancient characters, now
given unto us in the form of the Book of Mormon; in which is set forth
the theories, doctrines, principles, organizations, etc., of these
peoples who lived upon this continent. People talk about their
disbelief regarding these things. That is a matter of no moment to us.
I do not intend to bring any argument upon this question, caring
nothing about what people believe. We know certain things, and knowing
them we regard them as matters of fact. If we were to take the world
and its ideas and theories, we should find that there is hardly one
person in every thousand who believes the Bible. The Christian world
professes belief in the Bible; that is, they believe it when shut, but
not when open. Consequently, I do not propose this afternoon, at
least, to address myself to infidels, whether they go under the name
of Christian or any other name. I am speaking of certain principles to
a people who believe them to be true; and I wish to refer more
particularly to some events associated with the dealings of God with
his earthly children.
When John was on the isle of Patmos, certain things were revealed to
him that were to transpire in the last days, and he prophesied of
them. While wrapped in prophetic vision, gazing on the purposes of God
as they were to be unfolded in later times, among other things he saw
an angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel
to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred,
tongue and people; saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory
to him, for the hour of his judgment is come. This was a declaration
made by this ancient Apostle and Prophet of God while banished for his
religion, as certain men today would, if they could, banish us. We now
declare to the world that this part of the visions of John has been
fulfilled; that the angel has come and appeared to man upon the earth,
conferring upon him this heavenly charge, namely, the responsibility
of opening up a new Gospel dispensation; and we declare that God
himself took part in it, and that Jesus, the Mediator of the new
covenant, accompanied him, both of whom appeared to Joseph Smith, upon
which occasion the Father, pointing to the Son said, "This is my
beloved Son, hear him." Following this the Gospel was to be preached
to every nation. What Gospel? The same Gospel that was preached to
Adam, and to the Patriarchs and men of God of every age; the Gospel of
salvation and deliverance from sin through the atonement of Jesus
Christ, the resurrection from the dead, life immortal and all the
blessings associated therewith. And when this Gospel was first
proclaimed in this age, who knew anything about it? Nobody; it was not
and had not been among men for centuries. The world of mankind had
been left without direct communication from the heavens, and as
a natural consequence while groveling in the dark, they followed the
devices and desires of their own hearts; they were governed by
man-made systems, and bowed to the dictum, to the notions, the
theories and follies of men. There was no Apostle, no Prophet, no
inspired man of God holding His Holy Priesthood to say, Thus saith
the Lord, this is the way, walk ye in it.
In connection with this I may allude to an incident in my personal
experience, to show the state of the world religiously some forty or
fifty years ago. Not being then acquainted with this Church, a number
of us met together for the purpose of searching the Scriptures; and we
found that certain doctrines were taught by Jesus and the Apostles,
which neither the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians,
nor any of the religious sects taught; and we concluded that if the
Bible was true, the doctrines of modern Christendom were not true; or
if they were true, the Bible was false. Our investigations were
impartially made, and our search for truth was extended. We examined
every religious principle that came under our notice, and probed the
various systems as taught by the sects, to ascertain if there were any
that were in accordance with the word of God. But we failed to find
any. In addition to our researches and investigations, we prayed and
fasted before God; and the substance of our prayers was, that if he
had a people upon the earth anywhere, and ministers who were
authorized to preach the Gospel, that he would send us one. This was
the condition we were in. We knew all that the Methodists knew then,
and all that they know now. We knew all that the Presbyterians knew
then, and all that they know now. We knew all that the Episcopalians
knew then, and all that they know now. We knew all that the Roman
Catholics knew then, and all that they know today; for we made
ourselves conversant with the doctrines and examined them thoroughly,
as well as the theories of all men who pretended to have knowledge of
Gospel light. We prayed earnestly; and in answer to our prayers, the
Lord sent us Elder Parley P. Pratt, who gives an account of this in
his autobiography which has been published since his death. Brother
Pratt, in relating the circumstances, says that Brother Heber C.
Kimball came to his house one night after he had retired; that Brother
Kimball requested him to get up, which he did, and then began to
prophesy to him. He told him there was a people in Canada who were
seeking for a knowledge of the Gospel, and they were praying to God to
send them a minister who should reveal to them the truth. Brother
Kimball then commissioned him to repair to Canada, telling him that
the Lord would bless him and open up his way. Just previous to that
time the Saints had been engaged in building the Temple in Kirtland,
Ohio, and were all very much embarrassed as to means, Brother Pratt
with the balance having devoted everything he had to spare for that
purpose. Among other things that Brother Kimball told him was, that
where he was going he would find means to relieve himself and that
many of the people would embrace the Gospel, and that it would be the
means of introducing the Gospel to England. And furthermore, said he,
your wife who is now childless shall have a son. In the course of time
she did have a son, and they named him Parley. I do not know
but that he may be present; but I was going to say, I knew him before
he was born. [Laughter.]
I speak of this to show that there was at that time nobody, of whom we
had any knowledge, from whom we could obtain any information with
regard to the Gospel of the Son of God, or that could teach us the
doctrines Jesus and His Apostles taught, as contained in the
Scriptures. Brother Pratt came and found us, and he came in answer to
our prayer; at least, that is my faith in regard to the matter. And
were all these things accomplished? Yes: I was baptized myself and
others, and I baptized many others in that country; and it was the
means also of sending the Gospel to England. John Goodson, who
apostatized long ago, John Snyder, a good, faithful man who was one of
the committee of the Nauvoo House, and who died in the 17th Ward of
this City, Isaac Russell, and Joseph Fielding, uncle to Brother Joseph
F. Smith, were of our number, embraced the Gospel, and were afterwards
called to accompany Brother Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde to England
for the purpose of opening up the work in that land; and I was the
first person that wrote a letter to England on the subject of the
Gospel; I did it at the request of Brother Fielding, who got me to
write for him to a brother and brother-in-law of his who were
ministers in England. These were the men that helped to introduce the
Gospel into England in that early day. I speak of this for the
information of many of you.
When Brother Pratt came to me I was, perhaps, as well read in the
letter of the Bible as I am today, and as soon as he commenced to
talk about Prophets, I said, Yes, we believe in them. And he talked
about Apostles and I remarked, Yes, we have been looking for such men,
but we cannot find them. He talked about the organization of the
Church as it was anciently; and about the gift of tongues and the gift
of healing, etc., and we were delighted with his message, it was
something we were seeking for, and it was all new to us. We had heard
rumors about the Mormons, just as people hear rumors nowadays of us;
and the rumors we heard were not of the most complimentary character,
any more than are those that are circulated about us today, or those
that were circulated about Jesus and the former-day Saints. You know,
the pious, hypocritical clergy of that day put the Savior down as the
vilest creature that ever lived, and influenced the populace against
him; for said they, if he heals the sick, give God the glory, for we
know that this man is a sinner; and when he cast out devils, this
same class attributed it to the power of Beelzebub, the prince of
devils; and they spoke of him as being a bastard, and cast all manner
of reflections upon him. The Savior in speaking to his disciples gave
them to understand that inasmuch as they had persecuted him, they
would also persecute them; and said he, further, when they persecute
you in one city, flee to another; and he also told them to be
exceeding glad when they were persecuted for righteousness' sake.
What, to be lied about by adventurers and political demagogues who
seek to rob and plunder you? Yes; that is a good and favorable sign.
If we were guilty of the infamies that they seek to lay at our door,
that would be another matter. But whilst we are not as good as we
might be, we do know that what they say and publish to the world about
us, which has had a tendency to arouse the feelings of the
general public against us, are infernal falsehoods. "Blessed are you
when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner
of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding
glad," etc., in this we but share the lot of the honorable of other
ages, the men of God who stood the abuse of their fellow man, and who,
in many instances, were persecuted much worse than we are. Our present
assailants have not learned how yet; but they are trying upon a small
scale to introduce the inquisition, and may, by and by, in some
degree, succeed in carrying out their nefarious objects. This is their
work, if they can stand it we think we can. There are thousands of
honorable men who will look down with contempt upon all such
unprincipled and mendacious efforts.
After the Lord had spoken to Joseph Smith, and Jesus had manifested
himself to him, and after Moroni had revealed to him the hidden plates
containing the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent,
which, in the wisdom of God, have been translated into our own
language in the form of the Book of Mormon, and which, in connection
with the Bible, is to be the means of confounding false doctrines, the
one being corroborative of the other in principle and doctrine and in
relation to the designs and purposes of God—after this it was
necessary that the Priesthood held by men in former days should be
restored in these latter days, that people now, as men in those days,
might be authorized to act in the name of the Lord. Hence John the
Baptist, who held the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, came and laid
his hands upon the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, using
these words: "Upon you, my fellowservants, in the name of Messiah, I
confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the
ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism
by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken
again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering
unto the Lord in righteousness." After having been ordained to this
Priesthood which is after the order of Aaron, it was necessary that
they should have another Priesthood which is after the order of
Melchizedek, and after the order of the Son of God. And consequently
Peter, James and John came and conferred that Priesthood. Why did they
come? Because they were the last who held the keys of that Priesthood.
After this order of Priesthood was introduced, the organization which
we possess today was gradually effected, which is as full and
complete, perhaps, as ever existed upon the earth. How perfect it was
in the days of Enoch we are not told, but everything that they had
revealed to them pertaining to the organization of the Church of God,
also pertaining to doctrine and ordinances, we have had revealed to
us, excepting one thing, and that is the principle and power of
translation; that, however, will in due time be restored also. And if
they in their day built a Zion, we have one to build in our day, and
when this shall be done and everything is in readiness, the Zion which
the people of Enoch built and which was translated, will descend from
above, and the Zion of the latter days which this people will build,
will ascend by virtue of this principle and power, and the former and the latter-day Zion will meet each other, and the dwellers in
both will embrace and kiss each other, so we are told in the
revelations of God.
We are indebted to no one excepting God, our heavenly Father, for the
organization which we possess; and as a little circumstance with
regard to its practical working occurs to me, I will mention it. Among
other places, we sent to Bear Lake a copy of the form of petition
which we are now presenting to Congress. I think it was on Wednesday
that it was sent out from here, and on Saturday night it was returned
with thousands of signatures. That is the way we do things here. In a
few days we had some fifty thousand signatures, and I presume before
this there are some ten or twenty thousand more from the more distant
settlements. What does it manifest? Union and sympathy one with
another, all testifying to one thing, which I was very glad to see.
People have said that we know that polygamy is not a principle of our
religion; but here are petitions signed by some seventy or eighty
thousand, all of whom testify to their faith in regard to this
principle. I think the testimony of seventy or eighty thousand persons
living right among it, and most of whom are born in it, ought to be as
strong as that of a few quidnuncs who know little or nothing about it.
The Gospel was then revealed, what for—for you and me, or for this man
and that man? No; it was for the benefit of the world; it was in the
interests of humanity; and it was to be proclaimed to every nation,
kindred, people and tongue, by men commissioned of God to do so. That
duty belongs to the Twelve especially, to either do so in person or
see that it is done. I have traveled myself tens of thousands of miles,
and so have my brethren, visiting the nations of the earth in their
most prominent cities declaring to them the principles of the Gospel
as God has revealed them. And could we find men upon the earth that
could successfully oppose us? I declare before God I never found one,
taking the Bible as a standard; neither can anyone be found today
that can do it, and that is the trouble.
In that day, we are told, the meek shall rejoice in the Lord; and the
poor among men shall rejoice in the holy one of Israel. God has had
his people scattered among the nations, and his testimony was to go
forth to all lands; and it becomes the duty of the Twelve, the
Seventies, the High Priests and Elders to carry this message and
present it to them in the spirit of the Gospel, not, to cram the truth
down the throats of men, as certain individuals would cram their
peculiar views down our throats. But when we were sent forth we were
sent to teach, and not to be taught. We could not learn anything from
them about the Gospel, for they did not know it. They could not teach
us, hence the Lord in sending out the first Elders told them they were
sent to teach and not to be taught. We went in the midst of opposition
and persecution, mobbings and drivings, and were subjected to every
insult, indignity and infamy that wicked and corrupt man could invent,
and we have put up with such things all the time, and many have had to
lay down their lives in the conflict, and they will, as others
formerly did, when the time comes, gain a better resurrection. And we
are still struggling on, in the face of a general opposition, trusting
in our God to sustain us, while we shall continue to sow the precious
seed of the everlasting Gospel, and maintain in our own midst
the principles of life eternal, and freedom, liberty and equality to
the human race. And our sons who have grown up are now doing what we
have done; and they too are full of the Spirit, full of life, light
and intelligence, having, as we had and still have, the interests of
humanity at heart, as they move among the people as messengers of life
and salvation. Our course is onward; and are we going to stop? No.
Zion must be built up, God has decreed it and no power can stay its
progress. Do you hear that? I prophesy that in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. For Zion must and will be built up despite all
opposition, the kingdom of God established upon the earth in
accordance with the designs and purposes of God. That is true, and you
will find it to be true if you live long enough, and if you die you
will find it to be true; it will make no difference. "But shall we not
be persecuted?" Yes, and does not Jesus say, Blessed are ye when men
revile you and persecute you, etc.—would you be deprived of that
blessing? "But we have had enough of it." O, have you? No matter, you
will have to put up with it. "But," say you, "have we not certain
constitutional rights?" Yes, on paper, but when you get through with
them, the paper does not amount to much; it is like pie crust, easily
broken. We do not pay much attention to these things. Honorable men
will be governed by constitutions, and laws, and principles, but
dishonorable persons will not. Therefore, we have to do the best we
can, taking a righteous course that we may be entitled to the
blessings of God. "What will be the result of this?" I care nothing
about what the result may be, it is a matter of very little importance
to me. "Do you expect such things?" Yes, and have done for years; I
have never expected anything else associated with the Gospel. When I
first embraced it I considered it a lifelong affair; and when I came
to look at it squarely in the face, if I could have satisfied my
conscience by getting along without it, I would have done so; but I
could not, and I apprehend that many of you have been in the same
situation. I believed it was true, and so did you; and after I was
baptized and had hands laid upon my head for the reception of the Holy
Ghost, I knew it was true by the operations of the Holy Spirit upon my
heart. And this is the common experience of all Saints. Some people
seem to think that we are going to throw away our religion at the
"drop of the hat." I do not know of any such feeling among this
people. There have been men who learned to endure things quite as bad
as those which afflict us. My mind runs back to Daniel who was a man
that feared God. There was a set of political plotters in his day—and
probably a fair share of religious ones associated with them—who
conspired against him, for Daniel was a man of God in great favor with
the king; and the only way they could accomplish their plans was by
laying a trap to catch him through an edict of the king. They did it
by getting the king to issue a proclamation that no man should ask a
petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of the king, that if
he did he should be cast into the den of lions. This was done
expressly to catch Daniel, but the king was not made acquainted with
the secret. Their request was granted and the decree established by
the king's signature, which then could not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altered not. When
Daniel heard of this, we are told that he went into his house, and the
windows of his chamber being open towards Jerusalem, he bowed down
before his God, and prayed and gave thanks to him, as aforetime, three
times a day. He did not falter, although he knew the nature of the
decree and the laws which governed it; but he knew too that the God
whom he served was able to deliver him. They watched him, of course,
and finally complained against him; and he was adjudged guilty of
violating the law. The law had to take its course, although the king,
when the thing was made known to him felt very sorrowful, and set his
heart on Daniel to deliver him. He did not feel like some feel towards
us; although there have been praiseworthy efforts made by a few to
maintain constitutional principles, and we recognize them as the
sentiments and feelings of honorable men, who wish to see correct
principles maintained in our land. There was no appeal in Daniel's
case; or as a certain class of Christians today would say, "Daniel
had to go." They cast him into the den of lions. The king went to the
den early the following morning, feeling much concerned about him, and
he cried out, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom
thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?"
Daniel spoke up and said, "O King, live forever. My God hath sent his
angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me."
Now, he dared to do that which showed there was some manhood in him.
We have another example in the three Hebrew children, who refused to
bow down to a golden image that had been set up. Shall we call it
monogamy? [Laughter.] The conditions were that if they did not bow
down to this golden image, they should be cast into a burning fiery
furnace. They did refuse to obey this royal decree, saying, "Our God
whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace,
and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not (said
they), be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods,
nor worship thy golden image which thou hast set up." This, of course,
was considered a great indignity on their part to refuse to bow down
to this God. These three men were cast into the furnace and their
persecutors in their animus and religious zeal, heated it to such a
degree—evincing in this respect the same feeling we see manifested
toward us in a different form—that the men who cast Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego into the furnace were themselves destroyed by the flames.
And it seems the King himself was curious to look into the furnace to
know of their fate, and in doing so, to his astonishment, he beheld
four persons in the midst of the flames, one of whom appeared to be
like unto the Son of God. Nebuchadnezzar then called to these three
men to come out, which they did; and even the smell of fire was not
found upon their clothing, nor was a hair of their heads singed. Such
was the faith of those young men, and such their conduct that all
honorable men could approve and appreciate the nobility of their
course; and even the Gods could admire them; and their integrity to
God was the means of their being promoted to the favor of the King,
and to distinction in the land. Let us hope that the descendants of
those people in these days, in the trials that they have to
pass through, which are now being enacted in Russia, in Europe, and in
other places, and apparently commencing in this land, may be found as
true to their integrity as were these noble examples of manhood and
faith in God.
But to return to the Christian's idol. The pious, zealous, religious
and hypocritical in our day, uniting with political demagogues, have
set up a God for us to worship, which they boastfully represent as the
embodiment of everything that is pure and virtuous, embodying the
enlightenment and civilization of the nineteenth century. Their god is
overlaid with gilt and tinsel, but inside it is pregnant with the
social evil with its twin adjuncts feticide and infanticide. Like a
great Moloch it is crushing out female virtue, trampling upon
innocence, and prostituting and destroying millions of the fair
daughters of Eve. Yet this loathsome, filthy, debauched, degraded
monster is held up for our veneration and worship by its corrupt
Christian devotees as the essence of everything that is great and
grand, noble and praiseworthy; and we are called upon to fall down and
worship this loathsome monster under the threat of unconstitutional
pains and penalties, and the violation of every principle of liberty
and protection guaranteed under the Constitution.
Shall we worship this unnatural, lascivious Moloch? Shall we bow down
before the shrine of this fetid, corrupt and debauched monster? No!
We will worship the Lord our God, yield obedience to his behests, and,
if we are faithful, live our religion and keep his commandments, the
God whom we worship will deliver us out of the hands of our enemies,
and we shall triumph over all our foes.
There have been men living nearer our own times who could meet the
inquisition with its fagot, rack and thumbscrew, and in the midst of
their sufferings could commit themselves in all serenity and calmness
into the hands of God; and we can surely do the same. If the rulers of
this nation can afford to tamper with the sacred rights of the people
guaranteed by the Constitution of this great nation, and ruthlessly
tear down the temple of freedom erected at the cost of so much blood
and treasure, instead of anticipated glory, they will bring
destruction upon the nation and ruin and infamy upon themselves. The
sacred bulwarks of freedom once tampered with, the floodgates of
anarchy and confusion will be thrown open and dissolution and ruin will
follow in their train in rapid succession. It is for us to sustain and
maintain the principles guaranteed in that sacred palladium of human
rights—the Constitution of the United States, and to contend inch by
inch in every legal and constitutional manner for our own rights and
human freedom, leaving misrule, anarchy, violations of law and the
trampling under foot of the rights of man and constitutional
guarantees to religious fanatics and clamoring demagogues; and if they
can afford to tamper with those sacred guarantees, we certainly can
afford to have them do it. It is for us to seek more exalted ideas, to
abide by constitutional law, to maintain inviolate the principles of
human freedom, and to contend with unwavering firmness for those
inalienable rights of all men—life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness; and to seek continually to our God for wisdom to accomplish
so great, noble and patriotic a purpose.
One of the first things I ever heard preached by the Elders of
this Church was that the world would grow worse and worse, deceiving
and being deceived. Should we be surprised at its coming to pass?
Another thing that I have heard from the beginning is, that people
would persecute us, commencing with neighborhoods and villages, and
then it would extend to cities and counties, and then to States, and
then to the United States, and afterwards to the world. We have got
about fifty millions of people on our backs now—and it is a pretty
heavy load to carry, too; but the Lord will see us through. We are
acting in the interests of humanity: we are proclaiming salvation to a
fallen world, and in this we are carrying out the word and will of God
made known and manifested directly to us. We are warning the people of
their position, and we will continue to send forth our missionaries
for this purpose until God says, it is enough. And if they persecute
us in one city, we will do as Jesus told his disciples, we will flee
to another, searching out the honest in heart. Persecution has been
our lot from the beginning, and it has followed us to this day. I am
reminded of a circumstance that occurred in Missouri, which I will
mention to show the kind of feeling that Joseph Smith was possessed
of. Some 25 years ago, in Far West, a mob—one of those semi-occasional
occurrences—had come against us with evil intent, placing themselves
in position to give us battle; and there were not more than about 200
of us in the place. We had one fellow who was taken with a fit of
trembling in the knees, and he ordered our people to retreat. As soon
as Joseph heard this sound, he exclaimed, "Retreat! Where in the name
of God shall we retreat to?" He then led us out to the prairie facing
the mob and placed us in position; and the first thing we knew a flag
of truce was seen coming towards us. The person bearing it said that
some of their friends were among our people for whose safety they felt
anxious. I rather think it was a case in which the wife was in the
Church but not the husband, and the mob wished these parties to come
out as they, he said, were going to destroy every man, woman and child
in the place. But these folks had a little "sand" in them, as the boys
say; they sent word back, that if that was the case they would die
with their friends, Joseph Smith, our leader, then sent word back by
this messenger, said he, "Tell your General to withdraw his troops or
I will send them to hell." I thought that was a pretty bold stand to
take, as we only numbered about 200 to their 3,500; but they thought
we were more numerous than we really were, it may be that our numbers
were magnified in their eyes; but they took the hint and left; and we
were not sorry. (Laughter.) The Lord, through simple means, is able to
take care of and deliver His people, but they must put implicit faith
and confidence in Him; and when they are crowded into a tight place
they must not be afraid to make sacrifice for the sake of maintaining
the truth, and all will be well with us whether living or dying, in
time or in eternity.
Well, what shall we do? We will serve the Lord; we will live our
religion; we will be true to our covenants, keep his commandments and
be one, and we will sustain one another, and not sustain men among us
who have it in their hearts to cut our throats; let them alone to
pursue their own course, and let them draw their sustenance from their own kith and kin; and let us pursue the even tenor of our
way, operating together as a band of brethren; and if any have sinned,
let them sin no more; and inasmuch as this people are found faithful
to God and true to themselves and their fellow men, I will risk the
results of what our enemies may do to injure us. We are in the hands
of God, and this nation is in His hands, and he will do with us and
them according to the pleasure of His will.
Brethren and sisters, God bless you, and God bless the honorable of
the earth, and may the wrath of the wicked be made to praise Him, and
the remainder may He restrain. Amen.