I was sorry for an expression made by one of our officials in relation
to the late killing of three thieves. He considered that they were
dealt with by mob violence. Our officers of the law are provided with
means to defend themselves against those who would slay them. The
three persons that were lately killed were notorious thieves, and
resisted the officers in the discharge of their duty. I thank God that
our officers will not suffer themselves to be shot down by notorious
scoundrels. [The congregation said "Amen."] If there are any who
sympathize with thieves, I want to know who they are, and let them be
cut off from the Church. There has been enough said to such
characters, and they must quit such practices. I say, If they will not
reform, I wish they would resist the officers, and then there is an
end of them and of their depredations upon the honest citizens of
Utah.
The best people in the world are in this Territory, and yet there is
not another community, according to our numbers, so infested by
thieves as we are. Their depredations are perpetrated with such
impunity and barefaced effrontery that it is almost impossible for me
to keep a decent handkerchief. Some women, when they come into my
house to work, if they can steal a few handkerchiefs or pillowcases,
or this or that, and make up a small bundle, they sack it and go. If
you should leave an axe, a wagonwheel, a spade, or anything of that
kind in the canyon, when you go for it, it has been stolen.
I have no fellowship for a man that will bail out a thief, for
he will go to stealing as soon as he is out. Talk about a thief's
keeping company with a girl! If there is a woman in this Territory
that would keep company with such an infernal scoundrel, I hope she
will speedily make her exit to some other country.
Let the people in this Territory be righteous, and we are safe from
all the powers of Satan and from all the evil powers of this earth.
But for thieves, cutthroats, liars, adulterers, and every foul and
wicked person that can be brought out to mingle with this community, I
am sick and tired of it. It is time to cleanse the inside of the
platter; and if a United States' official says it is mob law, let him
say so until he is tired. We will teach men not to resist the officers
in this Territory while they are in the discharge of their duty; and
let me here say to the Presiding Bishop, If he knows of any Bishop who
sympathizes with those thieves who have infested our community, report
him, and we will remove him. And I say to the Bishops, If you find any
in your Wards who sympathize with a person who has been guilty of
highway robbery, and has fallen by the hand of justice, try them for
their fellowship.
I mourn not that a thief is killed, but that any human being would so
far debase himself as to become a mean, low, degraded thief. No matter
if it is your husband, your father, your brother, your child—if he
should fall by the hand of justice for stealing and resisting the
officers of the law to persist in wickedness, have no sympathy for the
evildoer. If any of my family should be guilty of stealing, I shall
request them to leave my house, never to enter it again. I would not
cover over their iniquity, but I would expose it and deal with the
sympathizer, should they by the strong arm of justice be leveled to
the dust. I would disown them. If a child or relative of mine forsakes
the Gospel, the holy Priesthood, his God, and the kingdom of God,
farewell to that child or relative, whether near or distant. I own
none as relatives, only those who love and serve our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. All that belong to my Father's house I own. I love them, I
delight in their society, no matter whether they are poor or rich,
learned or unlearned, if they observe the laws of the kingdom of God
and live according to it.
As brother Cox observed this morning, let us be sure to build up the
kingdom of God, for in doing this we build up ourselves. In the early
history of this Church, Joseph Smith was accused of being a
speculator. So far as I am concerned, I never denied being a
speculator; for, in one sense of the word, it is one of the greatest
speculations ever entered into by man. In building up the kingdom of
God, I am decidedly for self, and so are you. If you wish to obtain
wealth, power, glory, excellency, and exaltation of every kind, be for
God and truth, and he will give to you more than your hearts can
conceive of. We are not going to be satisfied with a few paltry
picayunes. We are not going to be satisfied with a mere preemption
right on the soil in this Territory. Should the Government grant to
every head of a family six hundred and forty acres of land, and to
each wife and child their portion, as was done in Oregon Territory,
that would give to me and to my sons and daughters quite a scope of
country, and the whole people would swallow up all the land in this
Territory. But shall we be satisfied with that? I am going to have a
larger preemption than the Territory of Utah. In a few years this
Territory will not contain my own posterity. In twenty years
from now this spacious hall will not hold them, and in twenty years
more they will more than fill this Territory. I cannot put up with
this small possession.
I have always said to the thieves, Wait until I tell you to steal. The
first thing I mean to take is the State of Missouri, and then I shall
not be satisfied. Next, I shall want the State of Illinois. All this
Territory, Missouri, and Illinois are not going to be sufficient
territory for Heber and me, to say nothing of brothers Wells, Taylor,
Woodruff, and all the faithful brethren. "For thy waste and thy
desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too
narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up
shall be far away. And the children which thou shalt have, after thou
hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too
strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. Enlarge the place of
thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations:
spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou
shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed
shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be
inhabited." In fine, I am not going to be satisfied until the Saints
possess the whole earth to the glory of God. There is no way to
glorify our God and Father but to glorify ourselves; and there is no
way to happify and glorify ourselves, only by keeping his
commandments. Let us be one with the Father, with the Son, and with
one another, being of one heart and of one mind.
Do not steal a horse, for it costs more to hide it than it is worth.
Do not steal Governor Dawson's blankets and beaver robe. I understand
that the officers have found the stolen blankets and robe. Those
thieves also stole some eight hundred dollars in money from a
hardworking man. I hope the officers will also find that. The
officers have been diligent in arresting the marauders and in
recovering the stolen property; but I wish it distinctly understood
that this has been done solely to magnify the law in the preservation
of rights.
One of our friends tells us that he is afraid we shall have trouble. I
told him that we were not afraid of it in the least, so long as we
serve God and keep his commandments. The Lord has already once
overruled the great power and supreme excellency of the military skill
of those who were enemies, and caused them to waste their strength in
walking up and down Ham's Fork, and to eat mule meat to sustain their
lives, and placed them in a constant state of fear and dread. They
saw a few men in the mountains cutting fence poles, or firewood, and
they dared not send out a company to guard in the money that was sent
to pay them. "Come in," cried the officer, "for God's sake; for the
Mormons are around."
It is said that one of the members of Congress, confident of the great
military ability of the officers and the bravery of the army they
commanded at Bull's Run, rode out in his buggy, expecting to shout
with the rest in the exultations of victory. According to report, this
member of Congress was a brave man, tied his horse at a respectable
distance, and repaired to an eminence to see the fight. When the
"Booby Run" commenced, he made for his buggy, but, to his
consternation, found it appropriated. Now this member of Congress was
not only brave, but fleet on foot; for it is said that he arrived in
the city of Washington an hour and thirty minutes before his horse and
buggy. He won laurels at what I call the "Booby Run."
I cannot be intimidated by saying that there is trouble ahead
for us from the Government of the United States, so long as
righteousness shall prevail among the people of God, even if they
should be so unwise as to again attempt to oppress us.
Let every man in this Territory be a vigilant officer, and, when a
thief is found in the act of stealing, take him, dead or alive. There
is one trait in our officers that I delight in, and that is, they will
not stand to be shot down by a set of scoundrels. Let every man be
vigilant to frown down iniquity wherever it shows itself, and suffer
it not to gain a foothold in our country.
We are about to constitutionally organize a State Government, and to
again petition for admission into the family of States, to secure to
ourselves the inalienable rights of American citizens. This we do to
please ourselves and our God. If we can please our Heavenly Father,
our Elder Brother Jesus Christ, and the holy angels, and the Saints
that have lived and died, and please ourselves in righteousness, we
then ask no odds of all hell and their abettors. And if armies are
again sent here, thy will find the road up Jordan a hard road to
travel. As for us, we will honor and preserve inviolate the
Constitution of our country, as we ever have.
I was lately looking over the Constitution we framed for a State
Government six years ago. It is very near as we want it now. We wish a
Constitution that is Republican. In it treason is stated to be one of
the highest crimes in any government, and to consist in levying war on
this State. Who has done this? James Buchanan has, and so have those
who associated with him, in sending an army here; and the very great
majority of the priests and people said Amen. They are as much
treasoners as ever lived on this earth, and the day will come when
justice will be meted out to them. They made war on the loyal citizens
of this Territory; and if they again make war upon us, I know not what
the Lord may do. We will try to do what the Lord wants us to do.
I am for scourging out the ungodly and all who work iniquity among
this people. If our laws are not stringent enough to do this, we will
put a little bayberry into the composition, or a little oak-root bark,
to make it a little more stringent. Those who are against the kingdom
of God must suffer. Those who give way to unhallowed practices would
destroy the kingdom of God from the earth, and I disown all such,
whether they are of my family or not; and I will declare, by-and-by,
that I never knew them, as Jesus will also say. They do not belong to
me; they are not of my blood and kin. "But, father, do you not
remember that we were born at such a time and in such a place?" No
matter; you belong to another kingdom; you cannot come here: we do not
wish your society.
I can tell all the world that we mean to sustain the Constitution of
the United States and all righteous laws. We are not by any means
treasoners, secessionists, or abolitionists. We are neither
negro-drivers nor negro-worshippers. We belong to the family of
heaven, and we intend to walk over every unrighteous and unholy
principle, and view everybody and everything as it is before God, and
put everything in its place.
A good housewife, whether she possesses much or little, will have a
place for everything she has in the house, and make her house orderly
and comfortable, and everything when wanted can be found in its place.
So we will adjust ourselves according to the lawful doings of the
nation, and will not secede from our Government; neither will we be traitors to Jesus Christ, through ungodly rulers, but will
take the privilege to chasten them and guide them into the path of
right, if they will be led therein. This we will do fearlessly and
perfectly regardless of consequences; for, if God is for us, it
matters little who are against us.
It seems that the people ought to see that the Lord dictates, guides,
and directs; that if a people are blessed, they are blessed of the
Lord; and that if we exalt him and his kingdom, love him, serve him,
and build up Zion upon the earth, we are sure to be exalted and
possess the thing we desire, if our affections are centered in God and
truth. "Therefore let no man glory in man. For all things are yours;
Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death,
or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are
Christ's, and Christ is God's."
God bless the humble and the righteous, and may he have compassion
upon us because of the weakness that is in our nature. And considering
the great weakness and ignorance of mortals, let us have mercy upon
each other. How it would rejoice my heart to see the most froward,
young and old, in this community, forsake their evil doings and seek
to do right! But if they will not do this, I cannot fellowship them.
My constant prayer is for the Lord to increase the righteous and
righteousness in the land, and waste away the ungodly, that the power
of the government may pass into the hands of the just. May God soon
grant this sight to our eyes. Amen.