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Show Hint AUKS J II1ET GEORGE W fmOSj .If 7700 (I'ucA Slalt Owfirtnct Suniiaj .lIemoon, A'or. 1, 1S91. (iirpoHTKU n AimuiB wlstkil I hare IMened with much attention and deep Into reetlo Ihereiuarki which hare been made In our hearing by I'rraldenl Wood run. I am glad that he haa had the opportunity of meeting with you nn thle ocoaalon, and haa ft It 10 ipeak aa ho haa done, because 1 be-Here be-Here that his tcmarka w III haro ft tendency ten-dency to remove many double and iuerlea from tho mind of Hie Latter-day Latter-day HalnU. That which he lira raid and that which hai been dour go to luilaln with great clearncta Ihu lie-ceially lie-ceially of the leachlug which liar been conitautly given lo the people of Jhls Church concerning the mauuer In which they abould lire Hut they hould lire so a lo bare a llrlng teatl-mony teatl-mony wllhtu Ihemaelrrs rrgardlng Hie teaching! that they recelre, the coun-eel coun-eel that li given, and the courae that 11 puraued, From the beginning of Hie Church In theee days we hare Weil under Ihla neceeally. The work of our Uod haa not been accord log to the Idea of men. Krcrylhlog connected with II, ll may be aald, ha come In contact with prrcoucelred notion. There I scarcely a move that hu U-en made In tho Church that haa not conflicted with traditionary Idea aud the vlewa that men entertained enter-tained concerning Hie courie that houl I be puraued. It waiaolu wterd to Hie ordinandi that were aJnilnl--tered. It wa so In egard lo the gathering. How much that doctrine of gathering came In wnfllct with men' Ideatl "Why cannot wo worship wor-ship tlod In our own land and among our o n i-wple, Jutt a well aa lo break Ujiour home. eeirate ourarlvc from ourklndred.ebaudonour native lacee, aud go lo some far dltaut place that we harunerer icon, and of which wo know but little, there lo worship Uod?" Howcouldpcoplebellore any uch thing ai being necessary unless they llred so aalo hare the testimony of the Hplrll of Uod wlthlu them thai It wa rniulalte for them to tako such a step? Thoeo thai Herd near to Jo I did recelre that testimony, and, Ilka Abraham of old, they broke up Ihelr old associations and went Joyfully Joy-fully and without repining to tho placo which (iod had designated, through lllalerrautaaatheplace of gathering. It has been almoet so liuposilblllty lo keep men and women from gathering. I know thai where thlaUoepel hai gone and there has been n restraining Influence Influ-ence exerted lo prerent men aud women wo-men from gathering, they hare fell aa Ihough they were llng punlahcd, and Ihey could tiol content thenuelrie In the laud where, before they embraced em-braced the (Jjsrie), they etiierted to lire and die. The Lord not only re-rested re-rested Ihla doctrine, coming io much lu contact with old habit and view, but He rurcah-d many other doctrlues, the object appirently being t make this people dltTerrnt from erery other l-eoplo upon the a arlh. In the tint place wa gathered to Ohio and then to .Miourl. Sow, the hoiie of the Litter-fay Halnba were greatly fxelled over the word of Ihelint concerning con-cerning Missouri, and they aupoaed, when they went to -Ctokaon county, that they were about to lay the foundation found-ation nf a Hlako of Zlon that would nerer bo thrown down, nnd that Zlon would arlae and ahlne In hrrbeauay and luhrrstrenglh, aud become the Joy of the whole earth. They were led to cipectthatiuch would be Hie result from the tone uf the word of tho Ijord. The l-ord act with u aiwearl with our children, toaomu extent. He doaa not tell uaererylhlug. I suppoae that If the early Kldera of this Church could haveaeen all that we had lo liana through and the length of time that would elatse before the redemption of Zlon waa achieved, they would haro fainted by tho weyilda and hare felt that human nature could not endure uch trial. I know, In my early recollection recol-lection of the teaching uf Hie l.ldcri, they Imagined, Judging from their remark, re-mark, that It would bo only a few years f-rrore SCIon would tie redeemed. Wheu we were coming to these ralleys I hepi-vntd to be present when some of Ihu Twelre AkmHos were talking concerning the future, and Ihu recollection recol-lection of that conversation la In my mlud now: und 1 know Hist, though they weralnaplredmenaud filled with revelstlon, they did not conceive, as we now can roncelve, of the event tint would take ptaco before Zlon would be redeemed. It wai necuuiry, leemlugly, according to the mind of Iho Lord, that they should beencour-fifed beencour-fifed with tho hope that their alTotla would reiult In complete triumph. At one lime It waa expected that wo should have a complete revolution Hi the manner of mauaglng our financial attain. The Lord gave revelations-some revelations-some of the moit pruclouathat are con tallied In the Hook of Doctrine and Cuvenants concerning tho order of Kuoch, and a plan wa devised by the Almighty, the raoatierfectof anything that can be Imagined, for Ihu rcdeni-tlou rcdeni-tlou of the Inhabitant of the valth from the evlla uuder which they groaued a system of stewardship, that wheuorsr It la carried out will correct cor-rect Iheaaerlla that we wltueei; and tho F.lden were encouraged to enter tit-on that. Great proiulae were mado to Ibem respecting the results that ihuuld follow their acceptance or theae rere-latlons rere-latlons and the counsel cenlsliifd therein; and a great many aangiilno peraone aupwsed that It would be a very little while until that plan would I In full operation, and Mm poor would be relieved; for It I a feature In the renUtlun that Uod gave lo Hie l'rophet Joseph Hmllh that frequent nllualoua are made tu Hie mor, aud they are always remembered. 1 1 eiviii.il aa though the l'rophet' mlud was ex-erclae.1 ex-erclae.1 moru lu relatlou to tbo poor than iilmoct any other subject. Thli seenia bi hare been tho caao alio anciently; an-ciently; foroueof the elixus that Jesua gavelu the dlclie.a of John, when they came lo aak Ulna whether lla wa the one that waa to nnue or ihould they look for another, wu Hut "the poor hare the Uoapel preached to them," And laalah said, 'Tim Lord hath founded Zlon, nnd the poor of Ida people shall truat III It." It seema from theae piaajgei uf Hi-npture that the l-ord ha hud In mind the poor or the earth, who have groaned rr su many agea uuder tho oppression rhitt fiave been huited uhiu them. Z on lis been rounded, tiiuong other ihtn-t-, hir the express purpoao "f corriciln theae oppreaal ill anil puttliu all cud ! them. Thla earth, with Ita ' mmeou-elemeuU, mmeou-elemeuU, with Its wealth of evvryi.iiuK It 'ial li necepsnry for the comfort anil happlmia uf man, was bleated ror man. . II e-asnotcrentedfor few It waa rn ated for erery son and daughter or our Father lu hearen whodwalliiaii lt. It waahol that olio should hare rood In abundance, and another should hoitluled. Itwasnolthat one should haro an abundance of clothing, and another should hare scarcely any. II was not that one ihnuU hare au abundance abund-ance of land, and another haro no land; that one ihould muhi)pn1lr.e liorrea, and cattle, and citriagis, nnd overyllilt.n of this kind, and another go hortotlhrselhlng. Thla wu not the design ir (Iod, aud It I not III d--Ign. Thl Zlon that tlod has rounded I to bring to pas (.change In tblareej-sct; and time revelation plainly foreshadow fore-shadow this. Xot that all will have the same alxed beditcad, ,or the same llleit houae, or the aatne number uf children; not that all will dri In the same kind ot clothlug, or eat the same kind or rood' That I not the npiallty dealgned. Hut lhaa all ahnll haro an npial claim Un (he blessing and bounty of (Iod; one man tiring more than nuothcr hecauao he reuuln-s more; one man having more than another under hi control becauae ho Ji more capable ol managing manag-ing that than another. There will be these dlatlncllor.setwa). I eliectln see them lu eternity. Mankind will not Isi reduced to a dead level. I never exiert to see the time when the children child-ren of (Iod will all have their food measured out to them, or Ihelr raiment, or Ihelr furniture, or their hone, or their caltlo, or oilier elements; but each will have according to Ills need. One man will have more children Ihan another. One man I more capable of managing iroj-erty than another; he will have all he can manago In right-eouances, right-eouances, but not toconaume uiioiilila lu-t. In those early days the Latter-day Halnta, reading those precloua revelations, revela-tions, suppo-cl that .the day bad dawned U-on them when theae Ihlngi would come to pais. Hit they were n l prepared for them. They wero not sulllcleutly trained. Many of Ihem broke their covenant and sel. ILdmeu got tho upiier hand nf them. They had not Mill lunlclent, nor knowledge and ex-I-rlence aufllclent, lo carry out these heavenly principle. And today III doubtful concerning tho number In Hie Church thai would be able now to carry themi-ut, Ihough I do iionoatly bulleve that there I a great progress lu thla direction, and that tho day la not far dlalant when, other thing -r-milting, weihallheableto carry out theae doctrines and brlugahout a better condition i.f attain ou the earth; In fact, already among ua there I n great change In Ihla rerpect, audthero le a dlspoilllou among our pecple lo help and a-sltt, and to dletrltute or their until, ao that there shall not twiuller-Hid twiuller-Hid In our land. 'In our recent examination exami-nation before the Maater In Chancery, I believe Hist everyone not of our Church wa atonlihrd at the rriorta that were made, and the reports were uatatnrd by actual flgurea. I do not think ihey had ever conceived of the amount of help tint we extend aa ft lieople lo the poor In our lllldal. There la not another people on the face or the earth that I kniiw anything about who are anything like aa charitable, aa liberal, and a provident as our k-oIs nro In supplying Die want or the needy. Till speak well for ua, and II show that we are approximating to that condition ol feeling when It will be easier than It1 ever wa for u lo carry out these revelation of which I hareipoken. Well, many were trlod because Ihore revelstlon concerning tho order nf l.uoih were not carried out, and Ihey thought that Joseph waa not a truo prophlt. They argued lu Ihla wait "(Iod know III children, and If lie glveaarevelalloutolll children He know whether Ihey can carry It outor not. Now, ir Joaeph were a prophet nndluaplreJorOod, ho would know whether thus-ople were prepared for thl, and the I .old woull not have In-iplred In-iplred him to give n revelation If they were not pretansl;" and Iho failure of the -ieup!a to do Hill wa laid to Joseph's charge, aa though he had received re-ceived rle revelation, ami had attempted at-tempted to do something that ought not to have been done. The facta are, (Iod reveal HI truth continually to HI children, and Ho lay before them principles to obey u they are able to obey them. Mo It hu been from that day until the present. There hate lieen a great many rerela-Houa rerela-Houa given to ua that wo have not had faith to carry out aa they abould be. This doctrine to which allu.lon ha been made tho dottrlne of celestial marrlaje I heard one nf the Twelve say that If ho wore called upon lo testify, he believed he could lay truthfully that the Latter-day Hal nl were more pleased to hear the inanlf.ato than they ere to hear the revelation given on celrsllsl marriage. Now, I could not say that, aud yet I helluve Ihera I u great clement of truth lu the statement. I Ulluvu that It waa very gnat trial lo thl Church, and I l-rllere, too, that there are ft great many ople glad that the manlfeato ha lcen glren, becaileo they feel re-llored re-llored In their riellng. And doe not thla account. In hart at leaat, ror th liunlfi-ato? If thla statement made by thla AKMtlel true and I nm not prered lo ipieatlon It what doea It betoken? It betokenathat.though thla haa been a dot ttlno of the Church for nearly fifty years, tluroUitlll it large element unnrepired to carry It .out; at leaat, they hare not obeyed It; nnd I know (I apeak It almuat with n feeling of shame) that there hare ticeu acrloua abuses of that doctrine. I liellore that lioth men and 'women have been guilty of many thing that are ohnalvu In the sight of (Iod. I havo said that If there were no other reason than thl, It would be sufllclent, to my jnlud, for the Lord luaplrlug HI tenant to give that maulfeato. Hut theie wero other rea-aom rea-aom for tlila, and a a people we should be prepared, by iho ruuletaiiceatid testimony testi-mony of Hie Hplrlt of (Iod, for Hlese thlnga. I know myself that It wu the will of Uod that tint maulfeato ahoul I he given. I know It wa thu will of CIkI that the word should go to Iho Latter-day Halnl that plurnl mar-rlge mar-rlge (hould n-iae, aud that u e ihuuld conform to the rcuutreraetiti ef the hw of the hud. Juat Ihlnk of the condition the leader of Iirael wtre In) Hera were probably nineteen-twentieth who hat not obeyed that law. They would have beeu Involved with those who had uheyed It. Tney would hove been dla'rauchUed. 'the Lord revealed that tu 'resident Wnidrull. They would bare been deptlvii of lemple and the ordlnince of salvation salva-tion admlnlatired therein, uf Hl(. society cr tho rrleathood, and ptThniia of Ihelr own pereotial propnrty. Now, the Lord saw the ciiiiilltoii that the leadsra of the aodo were In, fan iw nut see ho- wliu It irai in 1 1 "li t cinie to our dellveram-e 'yi! iu IL w.rd? I ban,- heard fitildeut Wvourull'iuyibat be wculj rather go wit and l hot thin yield onn halnbreadlh of that dor trine unless the l-nrtl should coiuinaud him, and he walled, and we all wallet, until the J,ord did glre tho command, and when Ho cave II, Ilia Hplrlt trail-Ibil trail-Ibil to tu that it vu the right thing to be done. Now, brethren and ilateri, I know there aro a great many who feel that, thli being a principle ol tiallxtlon, they may be In danger of losing their exaltation, lierau-e of their Inability to ol-eylhls. I want lo lay lu all such that the lord Judgia 'our hearts; le look at our motive. There, wero a glial many men III ait tlmia who never had the privilege of obeying thla doctrine, becnum the law wa not given lo Ihem. . Do you think that they are excluded from epilation. Do you think thai they will be deprived of celestial glor7 I do not. Kternlly I long period, and we cannot conceive nf II duration. The Nephltes, according accord-ing to alt that ha come dow,u to us, were monogamist. Thla law wa not Riven to thrin, aa far aa we have any account. Yet they weroagteataud a mighty ieoplo beforo the Lo;d. They had l'rophet! ami mighty men among them. I belleva there la not ft faithful man or woman In this Church that ha no had ft le-tlmony for himself mid herself that thl li right. I waa greatly pleased at our Conic re nro when thl manifesto waa presented, to see the unanimity that prevailed. Theie were great many people who shed tears, I umhrstand, over It; but Hie faithful fell that ll wa right, and they volel for It. Now. iho l,ord will accept our ollerlng. He kuow that which we have done. We have striven to the utmost extent of our ability lo convince Ihla nation that thl la a true principle of religion. 1 myself have ti-stlflad lforo Presidents of the United Htate, before Cabinet cMcen, before Judges of the Huprema Court, before member of thu United Htate Henato and llouv or lleprnentatlves, and before committees commit-tees or Congress, that 1 knew thai doctrine doc-trine waa from Uod. I told tin in I felt that If I had not obeyed 11 1 would have liceu damned, becauae Hie I.ord gavotomo n direct command lo obey that principle. He win kind enough to reveal this doctrine to mo before I orer heard that llrother Joseph had received a revelation of that kind. He maulfraied lo nui that that principle would burovealrd to thla Church and l practiced by Ihu Church. I have testified to this, and have endeavored Willi my brethren, who alo have labored In thla direction, tolonvlnra the nation that we were not overstepping over-stepping the IwunJ ol the constitution byiKllerlngatid Chewing ft dnclrlue that had been revealed lo ui. Over a thouiand have gone loprlaon lo show our sincerity. A promliKutolllclat of thla Territory aald too gentleman Ilia other day! 'They ay to me that these people are uoUlucere." "Why," says he, "I know they are sincere I went myself lo tho penitentiary and 1 labored with nil the power I had to convince Irenxo Hnow that he ihould express hi tvllllngtirea to obey the law; but notwlthaundlngall my per-suvlona, per-suvlona, and notwlttntiudtiij Jie had ityiaraudiihalf ssnteuce Uun him, I could not movo him. I Mleve he would haro gone out and Ueu shot rather than lohaveeald hu 'would got nut or prison on audi term. And hero la iMreuai Hnow galngontho stand now before Iho Maater In Cbauccry aud testifying a he doe; and 1 know that mau la slncerulu glvlug that testimony, for If ho tied said one-tenth to mo what he said to tho llisttr In Chancery, hu could havo been freo man." Wo have done ever) thing that we could lo persuade the nation that they were doing ua Injuatlce lu prosecuting ua lor thla, and that tho law wu an unconstitutional uncon-stitutional one. Now some say, "Why, look at these Mormon liconlr, how quickly they will do the thing lliitt liie l'r.-stJeut nf Iho Church tell Ihem to do;" and .they bring that up a an argument agalnat ua, aa though we wuuid continue to defy the law until the l'realdent said, atop. The reason for thla ft very almple one. We havo been acting lu thl In the fear of Uod. Wa believed that It waa right to cirry thla principle uul; and If wo had been entenred to bo killed, I mppnae sumo would have felt that It wu right ror ua to submit to Hint rather than yield tho principle. (Iod gave the command and it required Hie com-maud com-maud of Uod to cauae ua to change our attitude, l'realdeut Wood mil hoht Hie uino authority that the mail did through whom the revel itlnn came Id the-C'hurch. It require,! Hut same authority to ay to u, "ll I enough. Uod haa accepted Juureacilflce. He haa looked down uion you and teen what roil hare passed -through, aud how determined you hare been tokep hi commandments, nnd now he say, It la enough." Ill Hie same authority thatgare in the principle. II la not tho word of man. Now, It la for ua to obey tho law. It Is for ua to bo conilitcnt lu all these things. Wo alwsy have been, and wo Hlllbulnthlilmtauce. I am willing to leare thli matter In tha handa of Hie Lord. Ileknowawhat Ithest.nnd He will govern aud control all thlnga ror our coed, rjotuu have accused ua of defying the law. II hai uot been from the spirit of defiance; It hai boon lo contend for IhosoUod.glven rlghli that u have Inherited. I believe tha day will come when the cuune we have taken lu Ihla will be applauded. The true feeling that ha animated Hie Latter-day Halm will be recognized; that It haa not, been aplrlt of defiance, nor hecauao we do nut honor the government: gov-ernment: but bociiuae. there w si a pcln-rlploof pcln-rlploof human liberty Inrulrcd, nud we felt ll our duly lo see that Ilia principle prin-ciple waa vindicated to the very utter-moat. utter-moat. Then when orcry mean wai eihuled, we submitted und acknowledged acknowl-edged the uprcruacy or Hie law, aud bowed to II. Hut, brethren and ilateri, wu bare left tu ua all Iba prlnclpha of the lospel. Wo have the Holy Uhoat to l our companion. We have the gifts thereof lo be and abide Willi ui. If we will llvo for them, We have, as 1'real-ilftit 1'real-ilftit Woodruir layi, Iho voice nf rove-latum rove-latum In our ml lit. and (Iod will not taku It away front thl Church. He hit rraloreil HI everlasting lvival. hood, It will remain on thu earth. It will exerclsn Hie power thai Uod ha given lolt.untll Ho oomta whoso right lllstorelgu. Uoilm great hleuluga In (Tore for the Lilter-day Halnl. 1 believe that hell ready to iwur Ihem nut iim in. I nm satisfied thai wo will be greatly proaiered of the Lord, nud that He will make up lo In for all our trials and for nil our auxletlr and lullerlngs. After tholrlal Cometh the ilrsalug. And ccttalnly thla .kmp1 have liccn Irlrd. Thoy havu iiaMd through the furnace of afllletlou, Nu huninii tongue ran iliiotlbe, no iwn tan write, that which thla Koplulmvo suffered lu their feeling for the paal few renn-tlw angulih of wlvn.moth-er wlvn.moth-er ntVl children, and the orrow of meuooucerulug Ihelr famlllu; but Uod haa kept a record or It, and It will lend to the inrlflcatlon and exaltation of thUhruple. I have thought many, many timet over the devotion of our wive and our slater their unalter-atilr, unalter-atilr, tinahaken darollon to the prlncl-fh-aof rlghteoutne. No women that I know of, for many centurln at least, hare ed through luch trial u Iho women ol thl Church bare during the (ait few yeara. Yet they haro not faltered. Who haa iH-aril of women turning trallon? They hare not been guilty of thl. They haro lieen moil fallhrul lo erery covenant that they have maje. Now, Uod hua great blenlng lo bestow upou them, and upon Ihelr children, and Un all the ieople. I pray that wa may live to a to receive Ihla, and llvo so closely to tho Isird thai weihall have Hli voice continually lu nur heatts, lo guide ui, lo comfort tu, to "II Ul Willi It aeo and Joy, aud lead in along until we come lack Into Hie prruinceor Uod and the Lamb, which Iftik, In the name of Jeiui, Aineu. |
