We have always had larger congregations on such occasions as this than
we have had buildings to accommodate; and had it not been that I
requested the brethren of the city to tarry at home, so as to give
room to these who should come from a distance, the house would have
been crowded to overflowing, and there would have been a large
congregation outside. I do not know that, this side of the day of rest
that we are looking for, we shall ever have a building large enough to
accommodate our congregations. When we have overcome the enemy to
righteousness and have a thousand years to work unmolested, I think
that we then can build a room that will contain as many people as can
hear the speaker's voice. We have the privilege, it is true, of
assembling in the open air, where most of our Conferences have been
held.
We now enjoy the anniversary of our General Conference. The Church is
thirty-one years old today. It seems but a short time—but a few days,
since there were only six mem bers in this Church. It seems but a short
time since I desired most fervently to see someone who was a
foreigner baptized into this Church. I well remember how anxious I was
that an English preacher belonging to the Independents, and with whom
I was acquainted, should come into the Church, that he could go to his
native land and preach the Gospel there. What were the feelings of the
few, thirty-one years ago today?
Brother Kimball observed in his remarks, that he could recollect the
history of this Church from its beginning, and understood the
persecutions against this people. The Book of Mormon was translated
near where we then resided, as we might say, in our own neighborhood.
It was translated about as far from where brother Kimball then lived
as it is from here to Little Cottonwood; and where Joseph first
discovered the plates was about as far from where I then lived as it
is from here to Provo. Here we would have considered the discoverer of
those plates and the translator of the Book of Mormon as one of
our neighbors. We are in the habit here of traveling more frequently
and further than we were there. From the time that Joseph had his
first revelation, in the neighborhood where brother Kimball and I
then lived, appears but a few days. Since then this people have passed
through, experienced, and learned a great deal.
If there is a person in the midst of the Latter-day Saints—one who has
named the name of Christ as a Latter-day Saint, that can ask for any
more literal testimony than we have, I do not know what he would ask.
He might wish to see some person that had power to bring fire down
from heaven. Should such a person appear, the exercise of that
power would by no means prove that he was a messenger of salvation. Or
suppose that I should see a man capable of raising the dead every hour
in a day, could I merely for that believe he was sent of God? No.
Some may think it strange, but should I see a man come along here and
cast his cane on the floor, and it became a serpent and ran out of the
door, would I anymore believe that man to be sent of God? No, I would
not. Were I to see a person fill the air with living creatures, turn
the dust into life, or the river Jordan into blood, do you suppose I
would any more for that consider that man sent of God? Not in the
least. There is but one witness—one testimony, pertaining to the
evidence of the Gospel of the Son of God, and that is the Spirit that
he diffused among his disciples. Do his will, and we shall know
whether he speaks by the authority of the Father or of himself. Do as
he commands us to do, and we shall know of the doctrine, whether it is
of God or not. It is only by the revelations of the Spirit that we can
know the things of God.
Suppose that we should see a man capable of raising the dead and he
should say, "Consequently, I ought to be the leader of the Church—the
legitimate heir that God has appointed to perform his work in the last
days," would I for that believe him? No. I have never seen the day,
since I arrived at the years of discretion, when it would have made
any difference in my feelings. Almost one of the first things I read
in the Bible was that Saul, in his darkness and unbelief, called on the
Witch of Endor for a revelation, and she had power to raise Samuel
from the dead. What proof was that that she was a Saint of God? If the
people want anymore witness than they have, I do not know what they
would call for. Seek for the Spirit of Truth, and that will bring all
things to your remembrance that Jesus spake and performed—all that
has been, is, and that which is to come, so far as may be necessary.
That is the Spirit by which Joseph spoke.
I am thankful that we live to see this day, and have the privilege of
assembling ourselves in these valleys. We are not now mingling in the
turmoils of strife, warring, and contention, that we would have been
obliged to have mingled in, had not the Lord suffered us to have been
driven to these mountains—one of the greatest blessings that could
have been visited upon us. It has been designed for many generations
to hide up the Saints in the last days until the indignation of the
Almighty be over. His wrath will be poured out upon the nations of the
earth. We see the nations steadily driving along to the precipice. The
Lord has spoken from the heavens, and he is about to fulfil the
prophecies of his ancient and modern Prophets. He will bring the
nations into judgment, and deal with them and make a full end of them.
Do you wish to see it done today? Are you prepared for the crisis that will eventually come? No.
I have frequently thought upon the preparation that is necessary.
Suppose the word should come, "Return and build up the Center Stake of
Zion," are we ready for it? No. I have often alluded to our mechanics.
We have not a mechanic that would know how to lay the first stone for
the foundation of the wall around the New Jerusalem, to say nothing
about the temples of our God. Are you prepared for the day of
vengeance to come, when the Lord will consume the wicked by the
brightness of his coming? No. Then do not be too anxious for the Lord
to hasten his work. Let our anxiety be centered upon this one thing,
the sanctification of our own hearts, the purifying of our own
affections, the preparing of ourselves for the approach of the events
that are hastening upon us. This should be our concern, this should be
our study, this should be our daily prayer, and not to be in a hurry
to see the overthrow of the wicked. Be careful; for if they were all
to be overthrown at once, how many would there be left that are called
Saints? Not as many as I would have remain. We are prepared for the
day that is approaching: let us then prepare ourselves for the
presence of our Master—for the coming of the Son of Man. The wicked
and the ungodly are preparing for their own utter overthrow, and the
nation in which we live is doing so as fast as the wheels of time can
roll, and ere long sudden destruction will come upon them. Seek not to
hasten it, but be satisfied to let the Lord have his own time and way,
and be patient. Seek to have the Spirit of Christ, that we may wait
patiently the time of the Lord, and prepare ourselves for the times
that are coming. This is our duty.
We are blessed in these mountains. This is the best place on the
earth for the Latter-day Saints. Search the history of all the
nations, and every geographical position on the face of the earth, and
you cannot find another situation so well adapted for the Saints as
are these mountains. Here is the place in which the Lord designed to
hide his people. Be thankful for it; be true to your covenants; be
faithful, each and every one. How frequently we hear from each other,
"Be ready to receive the truth. If it is contrary to our feelings—let
it be ever so opposite to our own feelings or affections—receive the
words of counsel from those who are appointed to lead us." How my
heart longs to see the brethren and sisters in a condition that when
the words of truth and virtue—righteous words of counsel—are poured
upon them, they will meet like drops of water meeting each other. How
I long to see the brethren, when they hear the words of truth poured
upon them, ready to receive those words because they are perfectly
congenial to their feelings, and every soul exclaim, "Those words
savor of the Spirit that is in me; they are my delight, my meat, and
my drink; they are the streams of eternal life. How congenial they
are, instead of their being contrary to my feelings."
If I or any other man give counsel that meets with opposition, that
intrudes upon the affections, meditations, and feelings of the people,
and is harsh to their ears, bitter to their souls, it is either not
the words of truth, or they have not the fountain of life within them,
one of the two. If the Lord speaks from the heavens, reveals his will,
and it comes in contact with our feelings and notions of things, or
with our judgments, we are destitute of that fountain of truth which
we should possess. If our hearts are filled with the Spirit of truth,
with the Spirit of the Lord, no matter what the true words from
heaven are, when God speaks, all his subjects shout "Hallelujah!
Praise God! We are ready to receive those words, for they are true."
Much has been said in regard to the Government in which we live. We
say that it is the best form of human government upon the earth. The
laws and institutions are good, but how can a republican government
stand? Did you ever ask yourselves this question? I wonder whether our
great men of the nation have ever asked themselves this question. The
heads of different departments—governors, judges, cabinet officers,
senators, representatives, presidents—I wonder whether they ever ask
themselves the question, "How can a republican government stand?"
There is only one way for it to stand. It can endure; but how? It can
endure, as the government of heaven endures, upon the eternal rock of
truth and virtue; and that is the only basis upon which any government
can endure. Let the people become corrupt, let them begin to deceive
each other, and they will all deceive themselves, as our Government
has. When we made application to the General Government for a
restoration of our property and rights in Missouri, if Martin Van
Buren had said, "Yes, I will restore your lands to you, and will
defend you in the possession of your rights, if I have power; and if I
have not, my name shall not remain as President of the United States,"
he could have reinstated us in our rights. A few words from the
General Government to the Government of Missouri would have restored
to us our lands and stayed the operations of the mob. If Van Buren
had said, "Be still, or I will chasten you and keep sacred the oath of
my office," we should not have been mobbed, and the nation would not
have been as it is today.
Our present President, what is his strength? It is like a rope of
sand, or like a rope made of water. He is as weak as water. What can
he do? Very little. Has he power to execute the laws? No. I am an
American-born citizen—born under the Green Mountains in Vermont, from
whose summits you can look down upon the Atlantic States; and I feel
chagrined and mortified when I reflect upon the condition of my
nation. Of late, at times, I have almost wished that I had been born
in a foreign nation. I feel disgraced in having been born under a
government that has so little power, disposition, and influence for
truth and right; but I cannot help it. What is the cause of their
weakness and imbecility? They have left the paths of truth and virtue,
they have joined themselves to falsehood, they have made lies their
refuge, they have turned aside the innocent from their rights,
and justified the iniquitous doers. They have justified thieving and
lying and every species of debauchery; they have fostered those who
have purloined money out of the public treasury—those who have
plundered the coffers of the people, and have said, "Let it be so; you
secrete my faults, you assist me to plunder and deceive, and I am with
you to cover up your iniquity." Shame, shame on the rulers of the
nation! I feel myself disgraced to hail such men as my countrymen,
though I think I shall live through it. I will endure it as well as I
can; but the corruption, the iniquity, and the deception of men in
high places no man can tell.
I have previously related one little circumstance, which occurred not
long ago, illustrative of the mode in which payment of claims against
the Government is sometimes secured. A certain gentleman had attended
many sessions of Congress, trying to get payment of a claim due
to widows and orphans; but could not. In a short time, the claim was
adjusted. Brother George A. Smith, when in Washington, saw a gentleman
who had been years in endeavoring to get a claim allowed and paid;
one thousand dollars more to grease the wheels, and through it
went—the claim was paid. We have long been trying to get our claims
paid for expenditures in quelling Indian disturbances in 1853. When
the appropriation had reached the last move to be made, it could not
go. "What is the matter?" "Somebody is throwing sand on the axletree,
and the wheel is stuck." "What must be done?" "Thirteen hundred
dollars must grease it." It then moved through—the appropriation was
made. It is so all the time—every day. These instances are
comparatively of little moment, and I merely allude to them to show
how minutely corruption prevails where justice should exist.
These corruptions flow very naturally from the indebtedness contracted
to attain power. In elections, the successful become indebted to their
friends; and they promise them the patronage of the President, that
they shall be sent as a minister to such or such a country, or be
appointed a judge here or there, or a governor yonder. They cannot
obtain their election without paying largely for it, both in promises
and money; and to recover the means, they must either become thieves
or repudiate their debts. "Such a one owes me so much for contributing
to his election, and he will not pay me." It often happens that he
cannot, unless he steals it.
The whole Government is gone; it is as weak as water. I heard Joseph
Smith say, nearly thirty years ago, "They shall have mobbing to their
heart's content, if they do not redress the wrongs of the Latter-day
Saints." Mobs will not decrease, but will increase until the whole
Government becomes a mob, and eventually it will be State against
State, city against city, neighborhood against neighborhood,
Methodists against Methodists, and so on. Probably you remember
reading, not a week ago, an account of a Conference being held in
Baltimore, in the course of which they seceded from their fellow
churches in the free States. It will be the same with other
denominations of professing Christians, and it will be Christian
against Christian, and man against man; and those who will not take up
the sword against their neighbors must flee to Zion.
Where is Zion? Let us be prepared to receive the honorable men of the
earth—those who are good. Are there any good people among them? Yes,
hundreds and thousands and thousands right in our Government, rotten
as it is; but they are so priest-ridden that they have no mind of
their own—they have not strength and fortitude. And I ask you, and I
can appeal to your own experience, place any of us back in the midst
of our old neighbors, would it not be hard to break out and say, "We
are Latter-day Saints and followers of Joseph Smith; we believe
'Mormonism:' good bye?" There are hundreds and thousands in this
situation in the States, who desire to see truth, righteousness, and
right prevail; but they have not strength and power of mind to break
loose and say, "We will be for God and none else." They follow the
customs of their fathers, and more or less cling to the faith and
religion of their fathers. They are bound down with priestcraft. I
look forward to the days when their bands will be broken. I pray this
people to do right. Purify yourselves, sanctify yourselves, and
prepare to receive those persons into everlasting habitations. It is time to close our forenoon meeting. This afternoon,
probably, we will take up the business of the Conference, and continue
our meeting; and when we are through and wish to adjourn, we will do
so. We all feel like praying for the prosperity of the kingdom. The
whole body is continually seeking the welfare of each individual part.
The eye wishes the foot well, the foot wishes the head well, and will
walk to get food for the head and stomach, and they are united, and we
shall become more and more united. And I pray that the Lord will pour
out his grace on his sons and daughters, and I pray the Saints to
improve upon it until we are sanctified. God bless you! Amen.