It is a very pleasant thought that we, as Elders, have when traveling
abroad preaching the Gospel, to look forward to the time when we shall
have the privilege of again meeting with our friends and loved ones in
the valleys of the mountains, to again share their love and to partake
of the spirit of those who compose the body of this Church.
During the past summer and until a few days I have been engaged in
missionary labor, chiefly in the Southern States. Our labors there
have been, as have been the labors of the Elders in other missions,
crowned with a certain degree of success. We have realized the
blessings of God upon us in all our labors in the midst of the people,
for which we feel to rejoice and give thanks and praise to him. The
brethren who have gone from the different parts of the Territory to
labor in the mission have as a general thing, enjoyed good health; and
they are feeling well, as a rule, temporally and spiritually; and
especially the younger brethren who have gone forth bearing the glad
tidings of salvation. There has been evinced a feeling that certainly
is most praiseworthy, a desire to emulate the example set by their
fathers in preaching the principles of eternal truth, often
under unpleasant circumstances. Because, however much the work of God
may progress and be received abroad there is, as there has been, and
doubtless will be, a spirit of opposition which has to be met by every
Elder in the performance of his duty. It is true our young brethren
have the benefit of the experience of their fathers and of men
prominent in the Church, to encourage them, and which is highly
appreciated by them, but after all they have to get the experience for
themselves, in order that they may know what their fathers know, and
that they may be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. I have
scarcely found an exception among the scores of young men who have
been called from the different avocations of life to go forth and
proclaim the Gospel, but what they were worthy bearers of glad
tidings.
There is an idea entertained by the pious world, whose sympathy for
fallen humanity is so great as to be exercised towards us, that the
old and grayheaded of the "Mormon" people, "you can do nothing with,
they having become fossilized in their religious ideas and petrified
in their faith; but the young may be induced to depart from the faith
of their fathers." This, however, has not been the experience we have
had in the Southern States mission with our young Elders. On the
contrary, we have found their faces set like flint toward the building
up of the kingdom of God, and the proclaiming of the principles of
truth. It often occurs in our missionary labors that Elders are called
upon to pass through trying circumstances, but I do not remember of a
single instance in which a young Elder flinched from the performance
of his duty. They have always been ready and willing to add to the
extent of their ability and strength in carrying out any measures
thought necessary for the good of the cause, even to the risking of
their lives. And I am led to believe from what I have witnessed in the
young men who have come under my observation, that the great majority
of our young people, growing up in these mountains have planted in
their hearts the principles of truth, by which they will be governed
in their lives. And in this connection there is this peculiarity. In
our travels in the South we often meet with families who were once
members of the Church, who during the trying times of Missouri and
Illinois, or at some other time in the history of the Church, had
stopped by the wayside—and where they stopped temporally they stopped
spiritually; the cessation of their temporal work was the milestone
that marked their spiritual resting place—but notwithstanding this
falling away on the part of the parents, we found, as a general thing,
that in the hearts of their children there was a love for the
principles of eternal truth; and that if an elder was known to be in
their vicinity they would send for him and make themselves known to
him, and open their doors to him, and ninety-nine times out of a
hundred they would ask to be baptized. This being true of the children
of such families, who are isolated from the body of the Church, we
might reasonably expect that the youth of Zion will be found true and
faithful to the precepts of truth taught to them, through the force
and benefit of example they receive from their parents who are members
of the Church.
In our labors we at times meet with considerable opposition, but we
notice that it, in the long run, in stead of working to our
injury, results in good. And what is true in the South in this respect
is doubtless the case elsewhere. That which our enemies inflict upon
us in the hope of breaking us up or weakening our position is, through
an overruling providence, turned to result in good by bringing the
honest in heart, the Israel of God, to a knowledge of the truth. The
widespread feeling of opposition that exists toward us throughout the
United States, arguing from past experiences, may be set down as a
good omen for the future. But notwithstanding this general hubbub
which the people seemingly have to indulge in semi-occasionally, we
find in traveling and moving among the people very many upright noble
men and women, and we find them belonging to various churches and
religious bodies; and then we meet with others who are not connected
with any sect or denomination, and who are seeking for truth let it
come from where it may. And this class, in my opinion, is not small
throughout the United States; in fact, I might with safety say, that
there are thousands of such people who have not heard the sound of the
everlasting Gospel, there being vast districts of country occupied by
hundreds of thousands of peoples who do not know whether the
Latter-day Saints believe in God or not, whether they accept the Bible
or reject it, people who are totally ignorant in regard to our views;
and among these there are many thousands of the honest in heart. We
find that the spirit of opposition that we have to meet, as a rule,
culminates in violence; and that the more success we have in
baptizing people, the more bitter the feeling manifested toward us by
our opponents.
We are, doubtless, traveling in the Southern States Mission, by way of
making converts as fast as it would be prudent. If our labors should
be crowned with any greater success, that is, to any considerable
extent, the opposition would be correspondingly more ripe, and the
consequence would be, we would have a bigger row on our hands than we
would care to face.
We find a great many prominent, leading men in our travels who are
willing to act fairly and honorably by us; men who use their influence
with their friends in our behalf by endeavoring to place in their
minds correct ideas in relation to us and our situation. To illustrate
this idea, I will relate an incident that occurred during the summer.
The Legislative Assembly of one of the States, Missouri—whose members
had been urged on by sectarian bigotry, had a bill introduced that it
was supposed would act against the "Mormons" in that State. Some of
the distinguished citizens, honorable, fair-minded people, said to
certain of the legislators: "You pass that bill and one-half of the
State will become Mormons; that will evidently be the result. Why?
Because the moment you adopt such measures you are in the wrong, let
them be what they may." There are many men of that way of thinking who
have moral courage sufficient to speak their minds; and the influence
of such men is felt for good. And here let me say to the credit of the
press that, bitter as the opposition is, we scarcely ever find a daily
newspaper of any prominence but what will open its columns for us to
vindicate our course. And in addition to what I have said in alluding
to the class of people who are liberal and cosmopolitan in their
views, we find such people ever ready and even anxious to learn
in regard to our religious belief. And notwithstanding the fact that
among this class are found men of learning and deep research, men who
are looked up to by their fellow men, strange as it may seem to a
people who keep pace with the age, we find the great majority of them
much astonished when they learn that we believe in the Bible, and that
we take the teachings of that Book to substantiate our doctrines.
Among this class who are so uninformed as to our theological status
are Congressman, governors, legislators and others of distinction and
character.
We find also in the ordinary walks of life honest-hearted people. We
find them in the churches and out of the pale of the church. We meet
with men belonging to the sects of the day who say, "If we have not
got the truth, we wish to obtain it." And we meet with others who do
not belong to any religious denomination who say, We have examined the
doctrines taught by the different churches; they will not do. Now we
are willing to investigate what you teach. But, then, we cannot help
but notice this kind of expression in their faces: "Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth?" Can any good come out of Utah? This of course,
is owing to the widespread misunderstanding in regard to our religious
views.
The newspapers today are teeming with articles in regard to the
Latter-day Saints. We are written about by editors and special
correspondents; local editors gather up items respecting us and our
labors among the people of their vicinity; reporters appear to be
greedy for an interview with a "Mormon;" ministers preach about us
from their stands, and lawyers have to allude to us from the forum;
and to such an extent is this spirit and feeling indulged by the
people of all grades and classes, that today "Mormonism" is a living
question in the United States. Recently some politicians endeavored to
work up an issue, and make a live question out of the tariff, and it
was rather amusing to witness after their exertions how slow the
public were to take the bait. And especially amusing did such efforts
appear to those who watch with a lively interest the progress of this
latter-day work called "Mormonism," in view of the fact that if a
couple of "Mormon" Elders go into a town, almost without any effort on
their part to make themselves known, the whole town is stirred up. In
my opinion the "Mormon" iron is red hot, and it is a proper time for
the Elders to beat it into shape.
We observe changes taking place in the minds of the people
continually. Indeed, I can notice marked changes in the people of the
United States during the past six years. For instance, quite recently
I listened to a sermon preached by one of the distinguished ministers
of the United States, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, and was very much
surprised to hear him enunciate an idea like this: "What shall be done
with all the thousands and millions of the human family who knew not,
even of the existence of the Bible. Shall they perish?" "No," said he,
"not if my God reigns in the next world." But, continued he, "what
shall be done? They will have the Gospel preached to them in the
spirit world." Another minister, the Rev. Dr. Thomas, of Chicago, of
the Methodist Church, made similar assertions; but he was not as
strong as Mr. Beecher, and they therefore excommunicated him from the church. But Beecher could make it, and no one dare say nay. So
we find religious ideas undergoing a change, until there is scarcely a
religious denomination today but what has done what the Pharisees of
old did—put new wine into their old sectarian bottles, and the
probable result will be, as Jesus said, their bottles will burst. They
are endeavoring to patch their old sectarian clothes with pieces of
new cloth, and the result will be that they will be obliged to keep
patching in order to keep the garment together. And thus their
religious ideas are drifting to and fro.
And what is true with regard to their religious views is also true
with regard to their political ideas. I had an excellent opportunity
recently to witness a remarkable change in public sentiment. Public
sentiment, you know, is a very strong argument in the minds of some
people. "Why, public sentiment is against you," they say. I remember
listening to Gov. Bross, of Illinois, who spoke in front of the
Townsend House, one night, some years ago. The foundation of his
argument was that thirty-five millions of people in the United States
were opposed to us; that in short, public sentiment was opposed to us.
I had my mind directed to the fickle nature of public sentiment quite
recently in Nashville, Tennessee. Some 25 years ago a certain race of
people were held in slavery there. Slavery was an adjudicated question
at that time. But it was claimed by the opponents of slavery that if a
negro and his wife could be taken out of Missouri through Illinois,
that they were entitled to their freedom because they were then upon
free soil. It was, however, decided in the Supreme Court of the United
States, by Chief Justice Roger B. Tanney, that black men had no
rights that a white man was bound to respect, that, in fact, they were
chattel property. And the people of the United States almost en masse
applauded the decision, a few only dissenting, they being what were
called abolitionists. Wendell Phillips, a distinguished orator,
undertook to lecture in Boston against slavery, and learned as Boston
was, educated as Boston was, the noted lecturer was egged off the
platform, having to make his escape from the mob.
Twenty-five years have gone by since Phillips was mobbed, and now for
the contrast. Some four or five weeks ago I boarded a through
passenger car at Nashville, Tenn., to Cincinnati, there were seated in
the car some 25 ladies and gentlemen. After I got comfortably seated
alongside a person who proved to be a Christian minister of the
Campbellite persuasion, and an editor, we perceived a little
difficulty as the car door. On investigation we learned that a negro
woman held a first-class ticket, and demanded admittance to a seat in
this, a first-class car. She was entitled to a seat there, having
procured a ticket, according to the provisions of the civil rights
bill; but the rules of the railroad company would not permit it. The
manager was sent for, and after some conversation with the colored
woman, addressing himself to the passengers already seated in the car,
he said: Ladies and gentlemen, will you please take seats in the car
to the rear. We did so. It proved to be a smoking second-class car. He
then admitted the old negro woman, who occupied our car. After we had
taken in the situation and were reseated, addressing myself to the
gentleman whose acquaintance I formed on entering the car, I
said, "Mr. Editor, twenty-five years ago, had a man dared to do what
this negro woman has done, you would have hung him to a lamppost.
Now, I will dare say, there is not a paper in the city of Nashville
that will venture to write one line, in condemnation of this piece of
impudence." He acknowledged there was not. And why this change? Public
sentiment had revolutionized in a quarter of a century. The negro
slave of Phillip's day is the sovereign citizen of today.
These are revolutions that are occurring among the children of men that
are of a serious nature. And what is true in a political sense, is
true in a religious sense. It is a very common observation among the
people everywhere that we are not taught religiously what we were
twenty-five years ago, or ten years ago. They are drifting to and fro
religiously as well as politically.
Another feature associated with this: About forty years ago a number
of our Elders traveled through the Southern States—it may have been in
1844. And as they journeyed along, they scattered all over the country
tracts and books, setting forth our faith and doctrines. And today it
is not infrequent, on our going into a neighborhood and talking to the
people, that they will say, "Our minister has been preaching that."
Ah, indeed. Well, can we see him? "O, yes; we will ask him to come and
see you." On our conversing with him, we have found that he has a
Voice of Warning hidden away in his saddle pockets, which he had been
reading, and believing some of its pages, he had been preaching some
of the principles of the Gospel to his own congregation, which they
would believe, and receive without even "a grain of salt." This
willingness on the part of the people to receive principle, good or
bad, from the lips of their own minister, reminds one of the same
state of things that existed in the days of the Savior, as indicated
by these words: "Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in
yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in."
It is a self-evident fact; it is a truth patent to the most casual
observer that the teachings of Joseph Smith have revolutionized the
religious world. And the spirit that is working this change is growing
and extending, until today there is inquiry upon the right hand and
the left.
As a general thing those who receive the Gospel in the Southern States
are to be from what are termed the middle classes, people who are the
owners of small possessions which, when sold, realize them sufficient
to provide themselves a suitable outfit and take them to their
emigrating point. There have been some instances, however, when their
possessions have been sold, even where they possessed good homes, that
the proceeds of the sale have been insufficient to emigrate them. This
has been due, in part, to the peculiar circumstances by which they
have been surrounded. In the first place a terrible war devastated
their country; and since that time they have been under carpetbag
rule. And the consequence is, in many places property has depreciated,
life has been insecure, laws have been trampled under foot, and little
progress has been made.
The people living in Utah can scarcely sense the true situation of the
Southern States people. There has been a dreadful drouth this summer. I suppose the majority—I may say the entire South has not
raised sufficient grain to bread themselves to the first of April. The
corn yield will not, it is said, exceed four bushels to the acre, and
the cotton crop may be a little rising of one-third the usual harvest.
The result will be more or less suffering among the poorer people this
winter. Wages are very low. A man can be employed, a strong,
able-bodied man, either white or colored, for from $6 to $8 per month
including board; and from $10 to $12 when they board themselves. Flour
is 5 dollars per 100 pounds, and other provisions in proportion. I
noticed that dry goods were as high in Nashville as they were in our
settlements in Colorado. Wages are at such a low figure that it seems
almost impossible for the people to live, when they depend upon day's
wages for a living. In addition to this there seems to be a wasting
away of the earth, a weakening in its strength, affecting its ability
to produce abundantly. Fields that a few years ago yielded good crops,
are bordering on sterility today. There are hundreds and thousands of
acres of land that formerly were very prolific have today become
"commons," covered with edge grass and sassafras bushes. And it is
talked about by the landowners, and commented upon by the people
generally; and they believe that something is wrong, but what it is or
where it is, they do not know.
Monopolies and corporations have also a tight grip upon the people.
Where there are iron works, where there are railroads, where there are
factories, they are owned by a few men, and these few men hold such
power, that the people cannot make any move and succeed in it, that
would be opposed to the in terest of the monopolists. And today, it is
one of the strongest points of opposition that we have to meet in that
mission in preaching the Gospel. Laboring men say, If I take you to my
house and receive you as my guest, these men who own this property
will turn me out; these men who employ me in their factory will drive
me away, my family will suffer, as I have nothing laid up. Under the
circumstances, they have not the faith sufficient to meet the issue;
and consequently our labors are not crowned with that success, as they
evidently would be if the people enjoyed their liberty. But even under
these circumstances, many do receive us and proclaim openly their
faith.
In addition to this, all experience that opposition which is as old,
doubtless, as the preaching of the truth; and this comes from the
clergy. And here let me say, that the opposition we meet with from
that quarter, to a great extent, has its foundation in Salt Lake City.
There walk the streets of our city men who produce and feed the flame
of prejudice that exists today in the United States; men who profess
to be the friends of their fellow men; men who come here with a smile
on their faces pretending to do us good, pretended followers of the
meek and lowly Savior. These are the characters that send these
infamous lies abroad in regard to the Latter-day Saints. They are
prejudicing the mind of the people of the United States against our
missionaries and against the truth. When I have visited the cities
where these men came from who have come to Utah as reformers, I have
been deeply impressed, and deeply moved at the condition of their
society contrasted with that of this people.
Some time last summer I had business in Louisville, Kentucky,
connected with our emigration, and was detained there two or three
days, having nothing particular to do but to walk around the city and
see what was to be seen of interest. And in walking the streets of
that city I thought that in all my travels I had never before seen
such evidences of wickedness, corruption and degradation. There are
portions of that city that seem to have become corrupted to such an
extent, that Sodom and Gomorrah would have blushed at the mention
thereof. Men and women could be seen in the most beastly state of
drunkenness, and little children, bearing the marks of the lowest
degradation—waifs of society, growing up as hoodlums, with no sense of
the difference between right and wrong excepting that which nature
itself has planted there, to furnish future material for the gallows.
I thought in contemplating the scene that presented itself in the
streets of the city of Louisville, ay, even at noonday, to say nothing
of that which the recording angels are obliged to look upon in the
darkness of the night—I thought of the reformers who come to Utah
fresh from such haunts of vice and corruption, and then I thought of
you, my brethren and sisters; and you can better imagine my feelings
than I can describe them.
I went to one of their hospitals and sought an introduction to one of
the physicians; on learning who I was he expressed himself pleased to
meet me, and proffered his own services to accompany me over the
building, which I gladly accepted. On passing through the different
wards I saw sights that I trust my eyes shall never be called to look
upon again. He opened his book in which was recorded the names of the
patients who had been admitted during the past twelve months, and I
had the curiosity to ask him to tell me the nature and character of
the disease of these people. He informed me that three-fourths of all
cases were, what is termed venereal disease. This is not hearsay;
these are facts that exist of which the records testify. And from the
windows of this hospital, this living monument of the morals of
Louisville, Kentucky, was pointed out to me the residence of one of
these "reformers" of the Latter-day Saints. And in conversation with
one of these "reformers" who had been here, whose acquaintance I had
formed when he was here—he recognizing me while traveling in a railway
car, and came and shook hands with me, and sat down alongside of me—he
asked me "how our friends were getting along in Utah." "Whom do you
mean," said I, "by our friends?" I mean the ministers who have gone
there," he replied. They are, I think, getting along in their way
pretty well. What have they done? They have established whiskey shops!
They have imported houses of prostitution, and they have brought
hoodlums into our midst, and they thrive under their spiritual care.
They have caused sorrow on the hearts of fathers and mothers, by
ruining the prospects of sons and daughters whom they have led astray
from the paths of honor and credit. Now is not that glorious work to
be engaged in! Do you not congratulate yourselves in having been
connected with men whose object and labor has been to turn men and
women from the truth, from bearing the fruits of morality and
righteousness, and failing in that to join hand in hand, heart and
soul, with those whose mission is to introduce into our midst
the seeds of ruin and decay, to deprive and demoralize your
fellow men. Certainly it is a noble calling to be engaged in. Think of
it! Latter-day Saints. Here are men engaged in the work of trying to
lead our sons and daughters astray, and they are bold enough to
publish boastfully to the world that they would rather see our young
people frequent dens of iniquity, saloons, gambling houses, and houses
of prostitution, than that they should adhere to the "Mormon" faith.
Strange as it may seem, with all the enlightenment of this the
Nineteenth Century, with our glorious constitution, and our
declaration of the rights of man, and the boasted civilization of
today, officials of the government of the United States will back men
up in this damnable work. It may be that an Elder abroad devoting his
time and ability to the conversion of souls would feel this more
keenly than those who are in the midst of it every day.
These are some of my meditations as and Elder in the missionary field.
Our brethren and sisters who have emigrated to the State of Colorado,
are succeeding fairly well; they have their fields fenced in and they
harvested a pretty fair crop this year. The Railroad Companies have
been kindly disposed to them, offering them assistance in various
ways, by way chiefly of affording them employment at remunerative
wages, and seeking after them, in fact to do their work in preference
to others. They have their organizations—the Seventies, Elders,
Priests, Teachers and Deacons' quorums; they have their young people's
Mutual Improvement Societies organized; and I had the pleasure of
attending one of their meetings in the meetinghouse which the people
built two and a half years ago. I remember attending one of the first
meetings that was held in that house, and there were present not more
than 27 all told, and said to them that in the course of four or five
years this same house will not hold the people; and today it is
entirely too small, in fact it would not comfortably seat the young
people of Manassa. The first location was made there in the spring of
1878. Since then some two or three settlements have been organized
besides; our brethren in that quarter are spreading out and wresting
from the barren wastes comparatively comfortable homes. Their
associations with the Mexicans are cordial. While they have been kindly
disposed towards our people, our brethren have acted honorably towards
them, and hence mutual good feelings exist between them. I also spent
a few days with our brethren who are locating Sunset, Brigham City and
St. Joseph. They have had rather a bad year, as to crops, on account of
high waters, the Little Colorado flooding the valleys, and destroying
to a great extent their crops. But the building of the railroad in
their borders has, through Brother John W. Young, the contractor,
furnished them with labor, and it will continue, I understand, for
some 12 or 18 months yet, so they will not suffer so much as they
otherwise would, in consequence of the loss of their crops.
As Elders traveling without purse or scrip, proclaiming the principles
of eternal truth, we need the faith and prayers of the Saints in our
behalf, for the devil, it would seem, is even more determined now than
ever to put it into the hearts of wicked and bigoted men to oppose and, if possible, hinder us in the performance of our duty. And
one item that comes to my mind I will mention. I have noticed when
abroad that if anything in the world would cheer and encourage an
Elder when far from home, it is to receive word from his family that
they were cared for, and did not want for the necessaries of life. And
there is nothing that will weaken an Elder so effectually and so
discourage him in his labor as to receive word from those whom he
holds near and dear, to the effect that they are in need of the
necessaries of life, that they are unpleasantly situated, that the
house they live in does not afford them sufficient protection from the
inclemencies of the weather. In one or two instances Elders have come
to me to relieve their minds of such a burden, and, as I say, there is
nothing that I have witnessed that so effectually unfits a man for
missionary labor as the receipt of such intelligence. Therefore, in
behalf of those who have left their all to proclaim to their
fellow men the principles of eternal truth, let me solicit the good
offices of their friends at home, in behalf of such families who may
not be so well prepared to live during the absence of husband and
father. Any little attention shown them under such circumstances not
only does good to the family, but is appreciated by him whom duty has
called elsewhere; and often, under trying circumstances, the knowledge
of such kindnesses, cheers and encourages him, and makes comparatively
easy labors that would otherwise be hard to bear. Amen.