AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY PRESIDENT B. YOUNG IN THE TABERNACLEGREAT SALT LAKE CITY, SEPT. 11, 1853.
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After giving you a brief explanation of the feelings of those who professto be Saints, I wish to give a little counsel-as I have frequently donebefore-to new comers.
I am acquainted with the general disposition of mankind, and also considerablyacquainted with the traditions under which their minds, feelings, passions,judgments, or I will comprehend the whole by saying their consciences, havebeen formed by parents, teachers, ministers, and others, who have exercisedan influence over the young and tender mind; these things are familiar tome in a great degree, and have been for many years. I see them manifestedeach day I live. The branches of the tree shoot forth, and bear their fruit,and men can judge of the nature of the tree, by its fruit.
The feelings and sentiments of this people, the Latter-day Saints, arevaried; they are far from being of one heart, and of one mind, of one judgment,and of one desire; but I have no doubt they come nearer to it, than anyother community upon the face of the earth. This we know.
In reality, the inhabitants of the earth do not vary so much in theirsentiments as they do in the explaining of them to each other. This I havegood reason to believe; when feelings and ideas are explained, people varymore in language than in sentiment, yet they differ widely in their sentiments,feelings, customs, habits, and manner of life.
With regard to the kingdom of heaven now on the earth, of which we forma part, we admit the kingdom of God has come; many of us believed that yearsago, who believed Joseph Smith was a Prophet, who believed he had powerand authority to establish it on the earth. What were the feelings of thepeople, almost universally, in the infancy of this Church? Men of scienceand talent in this Church believed-or they said they believed-honestly,truly, and with all their hearts, that Joseph Smith did not understand anythingabout temporal matters. They believed he understood spiritual things-thathe understood the Spirit of the Lord, and how to build up the spiritualkingdom among men; but when temporal matters were talked of, men were readyto decide at once, that they knew more than the Prophet about such matters;and they did so decide.
Were you to ask how many times men did so, who did so, and on what occasionsthey did so, I could answer you, for I am conversant with every circumstancethat transpired, pertaining to temporal matters, from the first of my acquaintancewith Joseph Smith, as a Prophet of the Lord. The first Elders of this Churchdecided that Joseph did not understand temporal matters. The first Bishopsof this Church said they believed with all their hearts, that they understoodtemporal matters far better than the Prophet Joseph. Are these the feelingsof the people at the present time? They are not, but right to the reverse.I could have said then, the same that I could say now, if Joseph was living-ifhe could have been believed, and confidence could have been placed in him,with regard to temporal matters, wealth would have been poured into thelaps of this people, to overflowing.
The remark that was made this morning is a true one, although the matterreferred to is small, apparently, but it is a fact, there was not enoughconfidence in the people to satisfy them that the Prophet knew how to handlemoney, or what to do with it; they did not believe he knew how to managetemporal affairs. This lack of confidence brought poverty and distress uponthe whole people.
When men came into our midst, who shut up the bowels of their compassion,and held their money with an iron fist, they were held in communion withus, our faith was exercised for them, we mingled with them, and gave themfellowship for a time, yet one man, with his covetousness, tied up the wholepeople. In many instances, men were cut off for their covetousness, andbecause they had not confidence in the Prophet, and held their substancewhen means were wanted to carry on the work of God, to send the Gospel todistant lands, to sustain the poor, build houses, and accomplish that whichwas necessary to be done. While this means was withheld, it brought thewhole Church under condemnation, for this reason all had to suffer.
This was in the days of the Prophet Joseph. Have the people reformedsince then? Perhaps a few of them have; and again, perhaps a great manyof them have not. Many have not had an opportunity to reform, as there isa considerable portion of this community who have not had an acquaintancewith the Prophet; they never associated with him, they have not had an opportunityof sustaining his hands. Again, there is a certain portion of the peoplewho were associated with him. What would the people do now, if they by theirvoice could call him back to their midst? Would they be willing to lay theirsubstance at his feet? I very much doubt it. He was poor, harassed, distressed,afflicted, and tormented with law suits upon law suits, persecution uponpersecution, and thus it cost thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollarsto keep him alive, which a few had to sustain. Is this affliction upon themnow? It is not. The scene is reversed. And as the people once thought, thatmany by one man could be made poor, they now believe, by one man many willbe made rich. At the present day I do not know where the opportunity isto prove the people.
There are individuals here, and members of the Church, that when theycome up to this land, are very careful to leave their substance behind them.And if they have money to lend, they are very careful to lend it to personswho do not belong to the Church. There are such present to-day. They arefearful and unbelieving. They did not believe in the days of Joseph thathe could tell them the truth. But if you asked them if they believed Josephwas a Prophet, and if God sent him to build up the kingdom, "O yes,"would be their reply; and yet they had not confidence to ask him what theyshould do with the thousands in their possession. These are a few factsin the life and experience of the Prophet Joseph.
How is it now? Have the people confidence? They say they have. Are theywilling to take counsel? They say they are. As it was observed here thismorning, when we wish anything done, the people are ready and willing toraise their hands to accede to the propositions made by their leaders. Doyou remember what I told you a few sabbaths ago-this whole people are willingto receive counsel, but who of them are willing to carry it out to the veryletter? The future will prove that. It is not proven by sitting on yourseats and simply raising your hands, as a token, a covenant, a witness toGod and angels that you are ready to take counsel, and also carry it out.
For men of principle, and seemingly of good sense, to believe the ProphetJoseph, who was inspired to build up the kingdom of God temporally as wellas spiritually, did not know as much about the New Jerusalem, is folly inthe extreme, it is nonsense in the superlative degree. Those who entertainsuch ideas ought to have their heads well combed, and subjected to a livelycourse of friction, that peradventure a little common sense might dawn upontheir confused ideas.
Consult your own judgments in such matters. Do you think that God wouldset a man to lead his people, who does not know as much about a picayuneor a farm, as about God's spiritual kingdom or the New Jerusalem? Shameon those who would entertain such ideas, for they debase and corrupt thehearts of the community who imbibe them. According to the sentiments ofsome of the Latter-day Saints, the Lord must have become wonderfully highminded in the last days; I should think he has become too proud, accordingto their belief, to notice farms and merchandise, and other little affairsand transactions that pass around us. He used to notice the very hairs ofour heads that fell, and the sparrows; He took care of the ravens, and watchedover the children of Israel, and supplied all their temporal wants; butwe say now, He does not condescend to such small matters, having given usan understanding, and we know what to do. Are not these the feelings ofthe people? I could refer to some little things by the way example, butit would hit somebody rather too publicly.
Let me ask that brother, if you have not thought in your heart, youwould not go to brother Brigham for counsel, for fear he would counsel youto go to some place you do not want to go? Still you say, "I believethis is the kingdom of God, and I do not want to come in contact with brotherBrigham, I do not wish to meet him, for fear he should come in contact withmy calculations, and what I have decided upon in my mind." I couldput my hand upon some of you who entertain such thoughts.
I will refer you now to the counsel I wished to give the brethren whohave lately come into the city from the East. I have heretofore counsellednew comers, to go to the South, or to the North, for we have settlements360 miles, North and South.
Many of the people here have their friends, who have come in this season,and some are still on the plains, who will be in in a few days. I have beenin the habit of saying to the brethren-You take one hundred families andsettle in such a place; and you take fifty and settle in yonder place; butI never have given such counsel for the guidance of the brethren, that ithas not raised one continual whining, saying, "I want to go to anotherplace, for there is somewhere you want me to go that I do not like;"or,"I rather think brother Brigham thinks I am not tried and provensufficiently, and he wants to put me in circumstances to finish trying me."That is the reason I want you to go here or there, and the reason why youcomplain; for when men are thoroughly tried, they are ready to go to anyplace where they are told to go, and when they are told.
My counsel now to new comers is, to do just what you have a mind to,and go where you please, IF YOU CAN. You may go and settle in any part ofthe Territory that you please; and furthermore, you may go to Californiaif you wish.
I have told you what you may do, I will now tell you what you may notdo. You may try to gather a little company, and go to settle a place wherethere are no inhabitants. You cannot, with my consent, go to any place,unless it is to a city, that is, or will be walled in. If you go from thiscity, go to a neighbourhood where you can be defended from the ravages ofIndians or other evil designing persons.
Brother David Fullmer, this morning, talked about working all our livesupon a wall, if it were necessary; but the wall we contemplate making here,is not a breakfast spell. I calculate to keep walling until the mountainsaround us become an impregnable defence. What we have now on hand is nota circumstance. I will venture to say, that brother Parley P. Pratt hasgot a job on hand infinitely more extensive than the walling in of the wholeterritory of Utah. His work was given to him sixteen years ago, by the ProphetJoseph Smith, in the Kirtland Temple. Parley P. Pratt has yet to build templesin old Scotland. The Scotch brethren might say, "What is the use thenof our coming to these distant vallies, so far from our native country?"Had you not better write to your brethren who are still in Scotland to staywhere they are, think you? He has to build temples there of greater magnitudethan we have yet contemplated. When he will do it I do not know; it is certainhe will do it if he is faithful; but whether he will do it after the earthis glorified, or before that time, I do not know.
I have a word to say to the sisters who have lately come into our city.Do not allow your fathers, your husbands, and your brothers, to go to anyplace to settle, unless it is walled in, or in some other way made perfectlycapable of defending you and themselves from the attack of Indians, or thosewho would seek to destroy you and your property. If they want to drag youoff to some place where you will be exposed to the ravages of Indians, tellthem you are going to stay where you are, and then ask them what they aregoing to do about it. It is not my general practice to counsel the sistersto disobey their husbands, but my counsel is-obey your husbands; and I amsanguine and most emphatic on that subject. But I never counselled a womanto follow her husband to the devil. If a man is determined to expose thelives of his friends, let that man go to the devil and to destruction alone.
You have got my counsel. You need not, any of you, ask my counsel torun over to the west mountains to settle, for there are plenty alone therealready. If you have not elbow room enough, rub my elbows, I can rub ashard as you can. I can tell you something you never have yet thought of.You may number all the families in this city, and with them their cattleand flocks, and there is more ground within its precincts, if properly cultivated,than would support them all from year to year. There are not inhabitantsenough in the city to cultivate the land in it, as it should be. Look aroundand see the hundreds of acres that have not been cultivated at all; onebushel to ten has not been raised, that might have been, on the lots thatthe people have pretended to cultivate. Be not afraid of being too closetogether. The men or women who enjoy the Spirit of the Lord never feel themselvescrowded by that spirit, or by those who possess it; and they never will.When disturbance and difficulty occur, it is because of the opposite spirit,which is a contentious spirit; and those persons who possess it may expectto be crowded when they get to hell, as much or more than they are here;they will not have as much elbow room there as they have here, perhaps.
The Latter-day Saints ought not to feel so. Our cities are open, ourstreets are wide, and we have the sweet mountain air, and a healthy country.Do not be afraid to live together. What kind of air did you breathe, wholived in eleven, twelve, and fourteen story houses in your native country?If you could live in such confined circumstances, why cannot you live here,while breathing air as sweet, I may say, as the New Jerusalem.
I have told you my mind, you can now do as your own minds shall dictate,if you think proper, and be responsible for the same. I have frequentlythought, what would be the consequence in this community, were we to beas strict now, as the authorities of the Church once were? For it used tobe, if a man did not obey counsel after it was given him, he was cut offfrom the Church. Do you not think we are lenient, easy, and forgiving? Letus be kind to each other, and cultivate the spirit of peace, and seek diligentlyto know the will of God. How can you know it? In matters pertaining to yourselvesas individuals, you can obtain it directly from the Lord; but in matterspertaining to public affairs, His will is ascertained through the properchannel, and may be known by the general counsel that is given you fromthe proper source.
I have told you heretofore what I am afraid of, (and, in reality I amnot afraid of anything else,) which is incorporated in the idea-See thatye forget not the Lord your God. If this people will serve him with alltheir heart, mind, and strength, they have nothing to fear from this timehenceforth and forever. You are not to be overcome by your enemies, or putdown and trampled under foot, if you will do this, and continue to be humblebefore the Lord your God. In doing this, no power under the heavens candisturb this people.
If I have any knowledge touching the condition of this people at thepresent time, and the way they are taught, led, counselled, and dictatedby those who go before them to open up the way, it is directly oppositeof that we saw in the days of Joseph the Prophet. He was full of sorrow,trouble, poverty, and distress; but now the people are led into riches,by the example, counsel, advice, and dictations of their leaders. They areon the high way to wealth; and there is danger in it. Here are men thatnever knew enough of the principles of economy to gather substance or saveanything to themselves, until within a few years back; but now they arebecoming rich in a moderate point of view. We do not expect to become wealthylike the Rothschilds, or some other large capitalists of Europe. This peopleare gathering much substance around them, which is a principle of heaven-aprinciple of Zion, but there is a fear within us lest it cause us to forgetour God and our religion. Whether we have much or little, let it be on thealtar, for it is all the Lord's, whether this people know it or not. JosephSmith said to this people, that all the wisdom he had was received fromthe hand of the Lord. All the knowledge, wisdom, economy, and every businesstransaction pertaining to human life in connection with the spiritual kingdomof God on the earth, is given unto us as individuals, or as a community,from the liberal hand of God.
Do you realize this? Or will some of you say, "It is my own wisdomand economy that have accomplished this or that?" If you do, beware,lest the Lord withdraw the light of His spirit from you, that you be leftin darkness, and your former judgment, wisdom, and discretion be taken fromyou. If we receive good, it is of the Lord; then let us serve him, and lovehim with a true heart. As to the world, they may do as they please, forwe care not for it anyhow. Let this people cleave unto the Lord, and righteousprinciples, and all is right and well.
May the Lord bless you. Amen.