I feel very much pleased at the arrival of our brethren that take
missions. I know how to sympathize with them. There are a great many
young Elders that are taking missions now. Twenty years ago, I was
laboring in England; I baptized brother G. D. Watt, twenty years ago
last month (July), in 1837. That was the first foreign mission that
was taken by the Elders of this Church.
At that time it was almost impossible to realize what we now see and understand. I went over to England at the time the Church
was broken up in Kirtland. There were very few persons then who could
stand by "Mormonism" faithfully and uphold our Prophet Joseph Smith:
where one would stand valiantly and uphold him, there were twenty who
did not.
That day was a day wherein the Saints were tested; their integrity was
proved; they were put to the test whether they would stand by
"Mormonism" and by the Prophet, or not.
Many people now pretend that they stand by what they call ancient
"Mormonism," or "Mormonism" in their own way, but in brother
Brigham
they do not believe particularly.
No man can believe in "Mormonism," except he believes in the man that
leads the Church of God—in the man that holds the keys of life and
salvation pertaining to this people.
How is it possible for a limb to be attached to a tree, and at the
same time manifest its disapprobation of the tree? That limb will die
and wither away, except it manifests its approbation, faith, and
favor to the tree to which it is connected.
So it is impossible that a man or a woman who disbelieves that brother
Brigham is a Prophet—that he is God's representative and holds the keys
of his kingdom pertaining to this people, can retain the Holy Ghost
and partake of the life and sap of the true vine. Such persons have no
faith of the genuine bearing kind, and consequently there are no works
to correspond.
Will good works produce faith? Yes; there is very little faith without
works; and then again, there never was but very little works without
faith.
How can my body exist when my spirit leaves it? It cannot. Can my
spirit exist without this tabernacle? It can; but the body cannot
exist without the spirit, because the spirit that dwells in my body is
the life of my body, and there is no life without it.
Some say the earth exists without spirit; I do not believe any such
thing; it has a spirit as much as anybody has a spirit. How can
anything live, except it has a living spirit? How can the earth
produce vegetation, fruits, trees, and every kind of production, if
there is no life in it? It could not, any more than a woman could
produce children when she is dead: she must be alive to produce life,
to manifest it, and show it to the world. It is so with "Mormonism."
We must manifest our faith by our works.
I speak these things because they come to my mind. When I arise to
speak, I have never a premeditated subject; I let God, by the Holy
Ghost, dictate me and control me, just as a musician would his violin.
It is the player on the instrument that plays the tune; the instrument
does not dictate the player. So I should be in the hands of God, to be
dictated by him; for we are told that the Holy Ghost, the Comforter,
will teach us all things past, present, and to come.
The Holy Ghost knows the minds of this people, and what is necessary
to deal out to every man and every woman in due season—their portion.
If I am not dictated by the Holy Ghost, I cannot communicate to you
that which is necessary.
Supposing you are all pure, except a very few—say there are twenty or
thirty men in the assembly that are impure, and then there are a dozen
or fifty women that do not keep the commandments of God—when I am
speaking to the disobedient, the Spirit in me alludes to those persons
only.
Why do men or women condemn me when the Word of God is sharp,
and say I am harsh and hard? It is because they are not right; and
that is the way I prove them. You never would complain of the
sharpness of the word of God, if you were not under transgression.
You say I allude to you: so I do; or, it is the Spirit of God alludes
to you through me. You are the persons who are under censure—you are
the birds that flutter, because it hits you. Why should a person find
fault who is not under condemnation? That proves they are.
How shall we manifest our faith by our works? I will speak of that a
little further; and I cannot speak the truth as it is in Christ Jesus,
without I censure many of you. I will ask those who have been here for
four, seven, and eight years past, and from the day that we came into
these valleys, if they have proved by their works their faith in the
words of the Prophet Brigham?
Here are brother Amasa Lyman, brother Woodruff, and other brethren,
who recollect Brigham testifying most strenuously in the Bowery—then
occupied by the pioneers, when we first entered the Valley—of the
propriety of this people laying up grain and other stores for seven
years—because, said he, "The time has come when the words of the
Prophets should be fulfilled, that the earth should rest every seventh
year."
He said it was our duty to lay up grain for seven years, because he
foresaw what would be; he foresaw what we came here for—viz., to be
the saviors of men. I have spoken also of these things constantly.
How oft have you heard these things proclaimed for four years past?
And, after all we have said, who is there that has laid up grain to
last them one year, much less two, previous to the late scarcity we
have passed through?
Those that did lay up a little had to feed that out, or be called
scoundrels constantly. Some of the people considered a man a scoundrel
that would not hand out the last kernel he had, or the last load of
wood he had at his door.
Brother Brigham, myself, and Jedediah have blazed away on this matter
for the last four years; and how many have manifested their faith by
their works? Have one of you got wheat laid up to last you seven
years? No; not one of you have got enough laid up to last three years.
Uncle Sam—I won't call him uncle—he is a likely man, but his children
have degenerated most awfully; and one of his sons who sits in the
chair of state, Mr. Buchanan, is most awfully adulterated and sunk in
degradation, that he would permit an army of 2,500 or 3,000 men to
come here to enforce officers upon us contrary to the Constitution,
and to enforce a Governor upon us, when we have got one of our own
choosing.
The Prophet said that our Governor should rise up among ourselves.
That you will find in the 30th chapter of Jeremiah—"And their nobles
shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the
midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall
approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach
unto me? saith the Lord."
Now that day has come, as true as you live; our nobles will proceed
from ourselves, and our Governor, and our judges, and all of our
officials shall come out of ourselves, from this day forth. [Voices:
"Amen."]
Now mark it, gentlemen and ladies; the day has come for this people to
take care of themselves. The President of the United States has taken
a course—that is, the Lord has let him do it, knowing that no man can
do anything against the truth, but for it; He has organized His work
in that way. The Lord has permitted him to pursue a course
that has brought you to your senses, to know whether or not it is
necessary that you should lay up wheat, because you did not believe
what brother Brigham said; and if you had believed what he said, you
would believe what brothers Heber, Jedediah, and Daniel said, and the
Twelve.
You have never believed me, nor brother Brigham, nor one of the
Prophets, ancient or modern. You say you did believe it, but you did
not think it was so near to us. You should always be the judges,
should you not?
Have I any fears about them coming here? No. If the day has come for
there to be a collision between us and the United States and the
world, they will come, you may depend upon it, because God will stir
them up; but if the time has not come, they do not come here; so you
may set your hearts at rest.
You now see there is a time coming for every man to go to with his
might, and lay up his wheat and his oats, his barley, his peas, and
his beans, and dry your fruit, and lay it up; and then, when you have
done it this year, do it next year, and then prize it as the most
precious thing upon the earth.
The Bible says a man will give all he has got for his life. If you had
a million of dollars in gold or in silver, you would give the whole of
it for food to save your life. Well, then, why do you not take a
course to lay up that very thing that will save your lives and the
lives of others, as Joseph did the lives of the people of Egypt and
his father's house?
Joseph warned the people of a famine that was coming on the land, and
laid up corn; so Brigham and Heber have taught you that we are going
to see a day similar to that, but more terrible—more awful.
How strange it is, brethren, that you are so dilatory in those things
that pertain to your salvation and the salvation of millions besides
us? Am I taking that course? I am. And before I built my storehouse,
I saw these things, and I went to work and set an example that was
worthy of imitation, although it was small; and the Deseret
Agricultural and Manufacturing Society gave me a diploma, but did not
give me any money, although I had done the best, in their thoughts, of
the kind. And I am going to continue.
I have got somewhere between eleven and twelve hundred bushels of old
wheat now in my storehouse, and it will stay there until Brigham
says, "I want it." And I have room for another twelve hundred—yes, for
twelve times twelve; and when that is filled, I will fill another one,
and so I will keep it going. The Lord will put means in my hands that
I will continue to do so, and he will bless every man and woman that
will take that course and continue it; they will increase in their
stores, while those who take the opposite course will decrease and
they will wither away.
Do you not see that the man who will store up knowledge, virtue,
wisdom, and understanding, will increase in those principles? It will
be just so with the fruits of the earth.
I shall continue to teach you these things and arouse your minds.
I have referred to you ladies. I told you, a week or two ago, to take
some of your fine clothes and buy wheat. Let me bring up a
circumstance of a certain woman that came to me and wanted an
everyday dress. She said she had seven dresses too good for
everyday. I said, "Why do you not make an everyday dress of some of them;
for one of them will outwear three dresses made of twenty-five cent
calico?"
I would advise you to take every thing that is unnecessary, and
buy wheat and barley, and such things as you need with it, and lay up
your stores for the time that is to come, that you can feed your own
kindred and friends, who will actually come to you. Lots of my kindred
will come to me, and brother Brigham's will come to him, as Joseph's
father, and mother, and brethren came to him in Egypt. As that is
true, this is, as the Lord liveth.
The Lord says that saviors shall come upon Mount Zion in the latter
days. Mount Zion is here in the tops of the mountains; and has not our
Governor come out of us? He has come out of this Church—out of a
branch of the house of Israel; yes, our Governor and our
Lieutenant-Governor, and our Judges and Marshals, &c.
Now, sisters, I am going to bring before you a circumstance of one
man: he is our barber down here—brother Squires. Although he is
shaving to good advantage, if he had subjects enough, he could make
ten dollars a day—that is, if he could get enough for it. He went
down here close to a piece of land I am keeping, and he worked four or
five days; he took his wife and two children with him, and he averaged
two-and-a-half bushels every day at gleaning the heads of wheat that
were scattered.
Now, supposing those that have got no wheat would take the same
course. Is the wheat there? I presume there could be fifty bushels
gleaned from ten acres with all the ease in the world. Go to brother
Brigham's ten acres, and fifty bushels could be gleaned there; a man
would make his bushel a day. I am telling you how to get your wheat.
Would it not be better for you to leave your mechanic shops, every one
of you, and spend a week in the wheatfield, and see what you could
do? Will we discharge you? Yes; go in peace, and God Almighty bless
you, and make you glean double all the time. Do we want that wheat
saved? We do.
Hundreds of this people have not raised a kernel, and brother Squires
can go with his wife and two children and glean two-and-a-half bushels
a day. It is a pretty good example, ladies. How much better are you
than they—that is, if they do right and keep the commandments of God?
I want to know why one person is better than another, without they
surpass another by their good works?
Says one, "I used to belong to the aristocracy in the States, and I
belonged to that class in the old country." But, gentlemen and ladies,
I belong to the aristocracy, and that is all the difference there is
between you and me.
Supposing you have been brought up in "high life," what made you well
off? Because, in the providence of God, you had a rich father or a
rich uncle, and they made you comfortable; but I had the misfortune to
be a poor boy, and had to go from house to house to beg my bread.
I want to know if I am any the worse for that? Joseph of old was a
shepherd, and was considered one of the most inferior boys in his
father's house; but God made him a king and a Prophet, and a savior
of his father's house and millions of the human family; and so He will
you, and so He will me, so sure as I am faithful, honor my calling,
and be obedient to my superiors, and honor the Priesthood, and God
will honor me; but He will not honor me except I honor myself.
If I had time, I would go into the wheatfield myself, and esteem it a
privilege, in preference of doing what I have to do here.
Need you take the straw and stubble and bring it to your homes? No. Be
like the honey bee; she carries away the honey and leaves the
rest; she goes and gathers the bee bread, and leaves the flowers
behind her, and of this she makes pots or bins to store away the
honey: that is all the bee bread is for. We use it for many purposes.
Brother Squires, instead of taking the straw, broke off the heads of
wheat, and put them in a bag; he took the wheat and left the straw.
Are these things interesting to you? There is not one of you has got
an article of clothing on your back, but what has been obtained
through the industry of men and women.
We talk about smart women: we have the smartest women on the earth,
and the smartest men and smartest boys; and we have also got some of
the meanest men and women there is on God Almighty's footstool; they
are the taglocks, and will be sheared off.
The farmer never takes a sheep into the water to wash him until the
taglocks are first cut off, because they have taglocks so quickly
again, they besmear the wool. They did that where I lived; still there
were a great many things done where I lived that was not done where
you lived.
I merely speak of brother Squires to show you what advantages there
are to be gained by gleaning. Then I will go to the field where men
and women have been and gathered up a few scattering straws, and make
a better sweep of it than they, and then another will follow me up,
and gather a good pile. What is the cause of this? They cannot see
much—only now and then a few stalks.
I will be bound to say, in this county of Salt Lake, that if people
will go to work, they may gather four thousand bushels of wheat from
the gleaning; and I am not straining it one particle; and it is the
best of the wheat that falls to the ground.
Just so with the Saints: the best Saints lay at the feet of Jesus,
serving him and doing the will of God. These things are not only for
you who are present today, but they will go to every city and place
throughout the mountains, to arouse the people, and they will think
more of them than you do that are continually under the droppings of
the sanctuary.
The world and many of the Saints abroad and at home are asleep, and
that day will overtake them as a thief in the night, and it will come
upon them like a whirlwind; and so it will you, if you do not wake up
and listen to our words.
How many times I have heard it—"We believe what brother Brigham says,
and we believe this, and we believe that; but here is brother
Heber—he is a kind of wild, kind of enthusiastic; he is full of visions and
wild notions." Tell me one notion I have had that is not correct. Say
you, "Some things you have prophesied have come to pass, but we do not
know whether the rest will or not."
I do not profess to be a Prophet. I never called myself so; but I
actually believe I am, because people are all the time telling me that
I am. I do not boast of that. I say that every man and woman who will
live their religion, be humble, and be dictated by the Holy Ghost, the
spirit of prophecy will be upon them.
Some of you, ladies, that go abroad from house to house, blessing the
sick, having your little circles of women come together, why are you
troubling yourselves to bless and lay your hands on women, and
prophesy on them, if you do not believe the principle? You make
yourselves fools to say that that same power should not be on the man
that has got the Priesthood, and with sisters that have not got any,
only what they hold in connection with their husbands.
We can tell what will come to pass; and one of you can talk in tongues
and pour out your souls to God, and then one interpret; that
is the course you take, and it is all right: go ahead, and God bless
you and multiply blessings on you; but do not go round tattling about
your husbands and talking against the Priesthood you are connected to.
I do not say many of you do it; but you that do it are poor, miserable
skunks.
Brethren and sisters, let us go to work now, every man and woman,
where you have it in your power, and lay up our grain—lay up our oats,
barley, and everything else that will keep, and go to work and raise
flax, and make clothing.
Now, you said you did not believe a word I said here a few Sundays
ago, that if we would go to work and raise flax, and cultivate it, and
pray for it, and keep the commandments of God, it should have a coat on
it fourfold more. I said that, ladies and gentlemen. You go to, and do
as I told you, and see if it does not come to pass.
Did not the Lord rain down the honeydew upon the trees and upon the
vegetation in Utah? Yes. I can go down on Cottonwood here, and show it
to you, lots of it. If he can do that here, what will he not do, if we
keep the commandments of God? And, gentlemen and ladies, if you will
do just as you are told, without any deviation, you need never trouble
yourselves about mobs—never, no, never.
The Lord said to Joseph, If you will do my will, and listen to my
counsel and the counsel of my servants, it is my business in the last
days to fight your battles and provide for my Saints.
I have no more fears, nor never shall have, if you will do just as you
are told, everyone of you, and stop your contentions, your lying,
your deceptions, and your dishonesty; and let every man do right—let
him do justice, and we will never be troubled with troops, and we will
have one, two, three just as good years of peace as we ever had since
we were born, beginning now; and I know it. Gentlemen, it depends on
your doing right.
Could the Lord stir you up, through the testimony of brother Brigham
or his brethren, to believe it was necessary to lay up your stores,
until the Devil kicked up a fuss to show you that death and
destruction would come on this people? That is true. Do not tell me
that you listen to his counsel, when you do not practice his words.
And, ladies, do not tell me that you take his counsel, when I do not
see you here with bonnets manufactured out of the elements of this
valley. It is a lie before God when you say you listen to his counsel,
and come here before him and sit under his eyes in open disobedience
to it.
Where did you get your bonnets? Were they made here? No; they were
made in the States; they came by succoring those poor curses who
would send us all to destruction, by nourishing these Gentile
merchants here. The best of them would sell this whole people for ten
dollars, and permit my life and Brigham's life to be taken in a
minute. I know this.
What do they care for us? There is not one of them that is in any
degree friendly towards us, and feels to believe and sustain
"Mormonism." There is not one of them but what would be perfectly
willing that the troops should come here and massacre this whole
people, for the sake of a few dollars.
Have we any confidence in them? Yes, as far as deal is concerned; but
when it comes to "Mormonism," I have not a particle. I never saw that
man that had not an inclination in his heart to embrace "Mormonism"
that I ever had one particle of confidence in.
Many of you have sustained Judge Douglas as being a true
friend to this people; and he is just as big a damned rascal as ever
walked, and always has been. He has taken a course to get into the
chair of State, and that is what he is after: he will try to
accomplish that, if he goes to hell the next day; but he will not go
into the chair of State; he will go to hell.
Now, do not be scared; I am going to talk what I feel, and I ask no
odds of anybody, except my leader: I will be subject to him. I will be
amenable to any branch belonging to the true vine of Jesus Christ, and
I will nourish it, and cherish it; but those poor curses, I have not
one particle of confidence in them.
I never knew an instance in the days of Joseph, when he confided in
those poor devils, but what they turned traitor to him, and were the
very men that took his life, aided by the apostates that left this
Church; and I know it, and so do you.
How many times have I been through the mill? Lots of times; and I
expect to go through it again, and then through the bolt, and the
screen, &c.
Joseph never trusted in one of them but what they betrayed him; and I
wish to God I had taken some of their lives when I had a chance: they
were blacklegs, whoremongers, murderers, liars, sorcerers, and
rascals; and you may take many of the leading men of the United States
Government, and they are not one whit better.
These merchants here have collected their millions of dollars from us.
Are they your friends, ladies? There are not many of them, if they
dared do it, but what would seduce you in a minute, if you would yield
to them.
In Kirtland, when we were broken up, which was a serious time, and in
Far West, in Missouri, and Illinois, the priests of the day, the
bigger portion of them, and those they call the best men, were
combined against us.
But let me tell you that the best men in the United States are not
among the rulers; they do not scramble and gamble for office. They
have got the meanest curses for politicians, and the poorest curses
for priests.
What did they say in Missouri, in Kirtland, in Illinois—the Methodist
priest, the Baptist priest, the lawyer, the judge, and the governor,
with all their religion? They positively considered it no crime to
seduce a "Mormon" sister, nor do they now; and that is what they are
after.
Sisters, let us take a course that you may not be brought into these
straits—that you may not have to take your children, and your budgets
under your arms, and flee to the mountains. But if you do not listen
to counsel, and begin today, you will have to do that; but if you
obey counsel, you never will have to go into these mountains—no,
never, while the earth stands.
We will stand on our own dunghill and crow, and the hens will crow,
and the chickens will crow, and they will all crow long and loud, and
you will not be able to tell the difference between a hen and a
rooster, nor between a rooster and a hen, for they will all crow the
same tune. We will stand on our own dunghill and crow, and say what we
please from this day, and they never will prevail against us—no,
never; and I will prophesy it in the name of Israel's God. [Voices:
"Amen."]
Do as you are told, and Brigham Young never will leave the
Governorship of this Territory from this time henceforth and
forever—no, never; and there shall no wicked judge with his whore ever
sit in our courts again; for all who are against Israel are an
abomination to me and to our God.
When you look upon it, you shall know that Heber told the
truth, as wild as he is; but there is no wildness in this boy.
Will we go into these mountains? Will these troops come here? No, no,
no, not yet. We do not want them to come till we are brought to the
test and have not anything to help ourselves with: then we want them
to come and bring the honey and the good things; then we will show
them how it is done. We do not want armies of men to go out of here;
we have got boys here, ten thousand of them, enough to take everything
they have got.
The Lord said there should be no time in the last days; the time is
only measured to the ungodly, but to the Saints there shall be no more
time; it is all time. Go ahead, and we do not care if you let your
beard grow sixteen feet long.
You need not ever trouble yourselves, gentlemen and ladies, about the
army coming here to this land, whether you have your endowments or
not: those that have not got their endowments are just as safe as
those who have, and they will live just as long. Do not trouble
yourselves at all; let these things sleep and you be awake, and watch,
and pray, and be humble, and serve your God, and go and glean wheat.
Bless your soul! If the daughters of Israel go and glean wheat, they
may be like the woman anciently, increase all around: she had been a
barren woman formerly, but gleaning wheat put her in the notion of
getting——I can't say it.
The Spirit that is on me this morning is the Spirit of the Lord; it is
the Holy Ghost, although some of you may not think that the Holy Ghost
is ever cheerful. Well, let me tell you, the Holy Ghost is a man; he
is one of the sons of our Father and our God; and he is that man
that stood next to Jesus Christ, just as I stand by brother Brigham.
If brother Brigham goes ahead, and I stand by him, and Daniel stands
by me, and the Twelve by us, we never shall be separated—never, no,
never.
Men that are engaged in this work and kingdom, if they are one, they
will be tied together, that they never will be separated, no more than
two drops of water.
There is a great curiosity here. Some say they are of Judah, some say
they are of Jacob, some of John, and some of Peter. When we are
restored back to our Father, we shall find that every one of us is in
the tree of life: and what is the difference, as long as we are all in
one tree.
You say there are twelve limbs in the tree of life, and we have all
got to be connected to those twelve limbs or branches. Go and read the
Bible, and see what is said about the tree of life, and those that
partake of the fruit of it. It is all on natural principles. We are
all one family: God the Father is the tree of life; he is the root of
it, and we spring out of it, or else we spring into it by grafting, by
inoculating, and by doing the things of the kingdom of heaven.
Now, there have several left since we proclaimed last Sunday: they
have put right out; some went that very day. Am I not glad? If they
had been here, and waited till today, and heard what I have said,
they would not have gone. We wanted them to go; so they could not hear
what has been said today. They think troops are coming here, and that
we are going to fight. What the devil can we fight, when there is
nothing to fight?
I want you to go and get your butcher knives, your bowie knives, and
jack-knives, and sharpen them. There is nothing to fight, and there
will not be this year; we shall have a year of peace. They may try to
come here, and then they will not come here. If they do not undertake
to come here, then there will not be any trouble; but they
never will force a Governor on us again—no, never—nor their poor,
rotten-hearted judges and marshals, &c., if you will do right.
If these words fail, it is on your backs. I am pretty careful there,
and not careful either. I am going to let it out, and let God speak
and tell you words of consolation, if you will receive them.
Let me tell you, gentlemen and ladies, Brigham's words, and Heber's
words, and Jedediah's words, and Daniel's words have been to many of
you like the sound of a bell: it is a pretty sound in your ears, but
as soon as the sound is gone, it has lost its charms.
You have come here and heard the sound, and you know no more about the
sound when you have gone away, than though you had never heard it, as
good as the people are.
If you would have listened, there would have been this day millions
and millions of bushels of wheat in store. Instead of that, we have
not any, with a very few exceptions, except that which has come in
this year.
We are more choice of it than we would be of gold or of silver. I
would part with money quickly for it. I mean to part with every rag of
clothes that I have to spare for wheat; and if you have got it, I will
sell everything I have got, except a change, and you shall have it
forthwith. I will set you an example.
Will the United States send troops here? Yes. And when they have done,
the other inhabitants of the earth will send them. But, remember, the
Prophets have said that the riches of the Gentile world shall be
consecrated to God and to his people. I think we will have a little of
it along occasionally.
Do not be sad; our God rules in the heavens and in the earth beneath,
and he has almighty power.
Will you go to work now, and lay up your grain? There are a great many
boxes making at the Public Works that will hold from fifteen to twenty
bushels each; but the boxes cost more than the wheat. That I do not
like; still we are willing to make them for you. Some of our Bishops
have been to me, and wanted to know if the design is to cache the
wheat now. No, sir, not till we get it; I am not going to cache
anything I have not got.
Go and build your storehouses, and get your wheat together, and when
the time to cache the wheat comes, we will cache it.
Bless your souls, Uncle Sam is not coming here yet awhile; we shall
not let them. And when they do come, we shall take their cabbage,
stock, and all.
I have told you the truth, every word I have spoken. You think our
Father and our God is not a lively, sociable, and cheerful man. He is
one of the most lively men that ever lived; and when we have that
sociability and cheerfulness, it is the Spirit of the Lord.
God delights in a glad heart and cheerful countenance. Some people
carry faces as long as my leg, and that is about three feet long; and
they are just the biggest hypocrites we have got in this city.
Confidence in them? Yes, I have confidence to believe they are the
meanest hypocrites that ever walked. You may go to their houses, or
wherever they are, and speak about Brigham, Heber, and Daniel, and
they are ready to give them a dab and hoe them down. How do you
suppose I feel about them? Such persons feel about me as they do about
my brethren, all the time. I will not speak a blessing for them, for
they are damned.
What! Speak against the man who holds the keys of life and salvation for you, and the Priesthood of God that has been handed down
directly from him? You poor, miserable creatures—you are not fit to
live. There are not many such characters; but they are those poor,
miserable, sanctimonious ones you find around.
"Oh, Brigham, don't! Don't, Heber! Don't, for God's sake! All
the
world will be on us!" Damn the world. Now, that is just as they feel.
I wish there was a magazine in you, and we could touch you off. You
are not fit to live in hell, nor anywhere else; and you ought to be
touched off before you get anywhere.
Now, I do not mean any of you good folks.
Brethren, be honest; and when you are to work for the Public Works,
work; and when you are to work for me, work; when you are to work for
brother Hyde, work, and earn your wages, and not carry it all off when
you go home at night, in your bags, as some do at the Public Works.
You have quit it now yourselves; but some of you have set your
children at it. Stop it! You have no business to touch a nail, nor a
pin, nor a block two inches long, for they are not your property. What
is it but stealing?
When people come to visit the works, you sit down and spend your time
with an acquaintance. That time is not yours. If I was brother Mabin,
I would not let a man go about those works without he had permission,
and then not to hinder the men from their labors.
I have no fault to find with good men.
You men that come from England, were you idle there? You never were
permitted to be idle in your own land. They have to go to work at such
a time, and work until the time to stop, and go to dinner, and so on.
This is the way the people work in the old country, except those who
belong to the aristocracy. There are not many of them here.
I belong to the humble and meek, and they will inherit the earth. I am
an heir to it with them. God help me to be faithful, good, kind, and
benevolent; that is my prayer.
Let us remember that we will not be rewarded for that we do not do;
but you will be rewarded for that you do, and nothing more.
There are a great many things I might talk about. God bless you,
brethren and sisters. I bless the pure and good; and I bless that man
and woman that will go to and do as they are told; and you shall be
blessed, with your children after you, forever; and those that do not
do it shall go the other way. Amen.
- Heber C. Kimball