I have been instructed while listening to the brethren, and am pleased
with the practical observations that our President has given. They
pertain to the business of every day, and will greatly benefit the
Saints. We have had a great variety from this stand, and the scenes of
life, as we pass through, are varied in their nature.
I am pleased with brother Kimball's feelings, testimony, and views, in
relation to our visit to the capital of the Territory of Utah.
I am aware that the general labor of the Legislature, perhaps, has
been as great as that of any other legislature in the different
Territories, in the same length of time.
Our laws, proceedings, grants, &c., are necessarily different from the
usual routine of other legislative bodies, but our committees were
doubtless as diligent as the committees in any other legislative body.
And when we were in session, we were in order, and in a situation to
act as correctly, and with as much precision and consistency, as any
other legislative body that can be found upon the face of the earth.
Though we may not tie ourselves to all of those strict rules that
others tie themselves to, yet we understand legislating, we understand
the science as far as legislative science is understood by the present
age, which is only in a measure.
I wish, therefore, under all the feelings and circumstances we may be
placed in, that we may each act with an eye single to the welfare of
the people, as much so as the Legislature has during the present
session.
I hope the Saints will treasure up the remarks they have heard today,
and profit by them. I am satisfied that we should bear with each
other's weaknesses, for we are ourselves subject to the same
infirmities as our brethren; we are subject to the same temptations as
those who are similar in their nature; we should, therefore, be
willing to look with the same complacency on the weaknesses of others,
as we would wish them to look upon ours.
I am aware of the feelings that exist in the community through
darkness and unbelief; many neglect their duty as Saints, and they
grow dark in their minds.
I have doubts of that man who neglects his prayers, and I have also
doubts of some who attend to their prayers. I have great doubts of
those who profess to be Saints, have all the privileges of Saints, and
participate in the enjoyments of Saints, yet do not consider that the
duty of prayer is obligatory on them.
They think they can have around them, their wives, and children, and
friends, and engage in the duties of life and take great
responsibility upon them, and yet slide along and lay aside their duty
as a Saint of God in regard to praying.
If a person is in trouble, or in want, he should seek unto the Lord by
prayer, and obtain from Him aid, assistance, and light, and by that
Divine Spirit he may overcome his weakness, break through the cloud of
darkness, and walk in the light of the Lord.
There are instructions in the Gospel, in the words of the men of God,
though the language which they use may not, peradventure, be as
beautiful as words can be arranged, or as that which others can use,
but there is an influence attending the words of a man who speaks by
the Spirit of God.
I relish greatly the instructions which you have received this
morning; to me they are sweet, very wholesome, and good. I like them,
they suit my disposition, they agree with my palate, and I am thankful
for such instructions. I am thankful that we live in a day when the
Almighty so blesses us.
We are gathered out from the land that gave us birth, and from former
associations in life; we are blessed here with peace; the hand of the
oppressor is not upon us, and the arm of the tyrant has ceased to
afflict and fall upon our neck.
We are enjoying happiness, we can worship our God and keep His
commandments, and listen to the voice of His servants without
molestation, without being afraid or annoyed, without expecting a mob
on the right hand and on the left. For these things I am very
thankful.
I am also fully apprised of the truth of our President's remarks, in
reference to that lavish spirit which has existed in the minds of the
Saints in relation to their grain. I am aware that all do not husband
and take care of their grain as they should; they have counted it of
little worth, as dross, as a thing of naught, and have been anxious to
sell their wheat, corn, and such staple articles of food as might have
been secured in granaries, and laid up for a hard time, or against a
day of famine.
In regard to those who have been improvident and not careful, I am
with the President, I cannot pity them if they have to suffer. I have
seen the time, in this beautiful valley, when we first came here, when
we had to bring enough of grain from the States to last eighteen
months, that we were under the necessity of boiling and eating the
hides of our cattle, and of going to the lowlands to dig thistle roots
to subsist upon, that we might not die, but live on the earth.
We did not all have to do this; some of us were comfortable, and had
as much to live upon as we have now, for we took care to save what we
brought with us. Many of those, who are now destitute of grain, are
among those who were lavish with the food that the Almighty caused the
earth to produce.
I will here remark that I hope the Bishops in the different wards of
the city will see that the poor do not go hungry, that they will keep
themselves posted up as to the situation of the poor in their wards,
and send round the Teachers and assistants to ascertain the condition
of the people. I know that there is not grain enough to feed the
people; some will have to suffer for the want of that article of food.
Take the city of Fillmore; they have old grain enough for that place;
they have not raised grain the present season, yet there is one man in
that city who has eleven hundred bushels of wheat. The price there is
two dollars a bushel, and they are selling flour to each other at six
dollars a hundred.
In Sanpete they have wheat, corn, and potatoes, sufficient to last
them until harvest. The main suffering in the Territory of Utah, this
season, will be in Great Salt Lake County. The masses of the
people are here, and the grain is consumed where the masses are;
consequently, you may look for more suffering in Great Salt Lake
County than in any other.
It will necessarily be here that the Bishops and their assistants
will look for the poor. Some will not go very hungry before they beg,
but there are some who will actually suffer very much before they make
their wants known; that class ought to be seen to and felt after, and
ought to be administered to. We should feel for each other, and seek
to relieve, as far as we can, the needy and distressed.
I do not look for much trouble myself; I do not look for the people to
suffer as they did the first winter we came here. The winter is cold
and the cattle are dying, but ere long the weather will break, the
people will get employment, and feel better.
Do not be discouraged in a hard time, be patient until spring comes,
when you will feel pleasant and happy, and then is the time to deny
the faith, if you are inclined to do so; never deny the faith in a
dark day.
I for one am glad that our crops failed. Why? Because it teaches the
people a lesson, it keeps the corrupt at bay, for they know that they
would have to starve, or import their rations, should they come to
injure us in the Territory of Utah.
With the practical lessons we have learned, and their effects upon our
enemies I am glad, and I consider it one of the greatest Godsends
that ever happened to the people of the Saints, since their immigration
to this land. I consider the grasshopper war one of the greatest
blessings to those who see it in the light of the Lord, and who
discern the hand of the Lord in it.
We found our brethren southward in a pretty good spirit, generally
speaking; they needed a little com forting and instruction on this
point. We have some men among us who hold high and important offices
which we respect, and we would be very glad to respect the men, and
will actually respect them, if they will respect the people of the
Territory, and the laws of the Territory. But when a man comes among
us and will not respect us, nor our laws, will not respect our
Governor nor our Legislature, he need not expect us to respect him.
Our brethren southward, I think, through the time of the Legislature,
had the privilege of learning this practical lesson, to respect those
who respect our laws, and not to respect men when they trample upon
the laws of the country, and set at defiance the enactments of the
Legislature.
I believe, on the whole, that the capital of this Territory will not
be injured by the visit of the Members from the various counties. I
believe that the people were benefited, and I believe that the
community at large will be profited through the labors of the
Legislature.
I hope then to see the Saints united more and more, and
notwithstanding we have to be mixed with new clay, and ground over and
over again, I say, come on you new recruits, I am not hide-bound in my
feelings, I reach out my hands to the south, to the north, and to the
universe, and say, come on, we want the new recruits here.
I want to see the Territory filled up in the north and in the south,
in the east and in the west, and to see the valleys flourish and
blossom as a rose. I like to see the hardy men come forth from the
other side of the ocean; I like to see them pouring in by tens of
thousands. The new recruits, as a general thing, have stood well.
Take the Yankees in Kirtland, have they all stood the test? No. One
half, at least, of the Yankee members of this Church have apostatized.
Take the first quorum of the Twelve, how many of them stood by
the Prophet of the living God, and kept the faith? Six only.
Then we may expect that some of our new recruits back out, depart and
deny the faith, and this has been the case from the commencement. I
like to see the new recruits come on, they will get ground up with the
old clay and be just as good. You are only in the morning of
"Mormonism," just in the commencement of it. We have no old recruits,
in one sense, but we are all new recruits, enlisted under the same
banner, worshipping the same God, and united under the same
brotherhood of Latter-day Saints which always pertains to the
Priesthood of God.
Then I like to see the English, the Scotch, Welsh, French, Danes, and
men from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, come forth and
unite under the standard of truth, obey God and be one.
We had no difficulty, while at Fillmore, among the "Mormons," they
kept themselves right side up with care, and with them all was
harmonious and satisfactory.
May the peace of God be with you; may the light of the Holy Ghost
illuminate you; may the words of the Prophet be unto you as a sweet
morsel; and may the leaven of the Gospel work in you; and may the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ bless you forever, which may He
grant, in the Redeemer's name. Amen.
- Jedediah M. Grant