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Show ' DISCOURSE Delivered at tha Utah Staka Conference, Provo, Sunday, Anrll loth, luuu, by ELDER ABRAHAM H. CANNON. KM(TliO V AN Tilt' R VINTL I am very much gratified at meeting Kith to lMj,e number ol the Latter-day Latter-day Saints of this Stake, and have betn deeply interested in the remarks of Brother keed Smoot. He referred to the individuality ol the mcmbera ol thu Cturch, and it struik me while he w.i speaking that tliat la the strong feature ol what is called Monnormm-lhat all Its members act on their own responsibility responsi-bility and according to their own know.-leJKe, know.-leJKe, if they ate living a they should do. There has never been a time when Ihe people were forced to follow the counsel ol those who presided over them. We believe more firmly thin any other re.iious body, and we carry I t ut more strictly, the principle ol in- dividual agency, be.ievin that this is urdai'ied ol God. While inert, are , pen.lt.es, in a Church sense, attached i to disobedience to counsel there are no physical punishments indicted upon , those who disregard the advice ol their j ercltiiaslical oll.rer. I know that the i rumor has been very d.iiitently circu- I hitcdin many places that when the, Lattrr-daty Sainli had control in tins country, they were not slow to visit I those who were disobedient with ! severe punishment, and even with , j death. Wood atonement, as we be I lieve it. has been misrepresented, and I we have been accused ol seeking the deal'i ol those who disobeyed counsel , or who apostatized from the Church Those who have circulated such rumois have, I believe, wilfully misrepresented facts. If they have supposed they weie I telhnic the truth, they have certainly j neglected their opportunity ol K-uniiiB correct information. I am free to ad-mit ad-mit that we have been a people ol perhaps per-haps too strong; prejudice. We have hal set views. Indeed, a people such as we are could not help but teel many of us have done; yet 1 believe iod is softminK out hearts by the e prrimce. through which we ' pa-Mnic.ami which we have already Lid and will bring u eventually into a , cond'icn wrre will be able to look I with the utmost charilv..uncsullennr and patience upon the weaki.e-.se ol our Irllowmen; and He will Rive us so Mru t a setur of justice thai our Church courU will assume the pwiiiou which they once occupied m the etmwtKin of many people of the world.who were wi ling to Lul.niit their dulereiice- and their irminlea to the arbitration of Hie I Church othcers, ieeJii.it th.it even ! where one ol their o.i comniun.ly i mood upon the one side ami a no... t Mormon upon the other, ! would only t.ke connuui.ee ol fart and I ol ctpiity. end decide arrur.lmKly. I trust that this condition will eMin prevail pre-vail anionic thu people, il it doea nut -ibeady lor I cannot believe ihattt-od mil lustily us tn tieatini; improperly anv nun or woman who live upon the earth, whether he or she area as we do or not We believe that tlie Lord de-hi: de-hi: ns to place power in our hands, because be-cause ol thu pnnciplea by which we will be governed. It i cons?i.ently of the utmost importance that we be brought into a condition where we win have these Chnsllike cjuallt.es which will make our counsel aounht and will compel the good at.d tho noble every-where every-where tosusUtn our decisions. 1 have so much confidence in my brethren who preside in the sv.irils and .Mnkeaot Zion that I cannot now conceive con-ceive of any case that might arise in my experience that 1 would not be willing to tubintt lo them tor judgment; and in hf anna of appeals that have cume to the l irnt I'residemy Irom the various St.ikes of ion, and they sitting as an impartial cjurt ol appeal, 1 think it shows how taretul the llikth Councils are when it I i known that It is very unusual lor one j of their decoiuns to be reverse. 1 can I iippiecinte the fact that thene men living in Utah Stake might become preiudited against a fellow mrmner-I mrmner-I being aoclotely associated, they would P luluialty partake more or lee ol the i' spirit of preiudtce and ill-feeling which ') migtit be aroused against a nun or u woman in this Slake; yet I cannot he-5 he-5 beve that a single member of thin High i Council or any other, lor that mutter would dare, in the lace of the coven-. coven-. 5 m.iU he has made before liod and the i people, lo knowiulgy sustain or pass an ( u ti) ust decree, however much their pre-, pre-, f (udice might be moused against the m j 0 1 vidua) whose cate was investigated. 1 1 know, as 1 know lhat 1 live, that the man who would raiie his voice or his j band lo do a wrong to a member of the 1 Church must answer tor bis wrong to 1 od and to his fellow-man. I know the t Lord has record ol everything we do. f hven the thoughts ol our hturu are re vested unto lliin; anu II we in o'jr 1 iflici.il positions aie tempted to treat 1 tiiiiustly the pour and tiie meek, or the j rich and the proud, we will be held to a , j ktiict account therefor, and tve will be required to make restitution and lo I humble ourselve to the complete atia i taciiun ol the wronged one before we I can receive the meanings tor whuh ue ; 1 claim to be so earnestly striving. Men ; I may err in judgment, und do fmpient y j nuke inialakes; but even under those ctriunisuiiccs, if the one who is mis f judged and considers hunst If wronged j will uuhere slnctly to the coinuiand-? coinuiand-? nients ol Cod, the misjudgment, Ihe wroDg, will be oven tiled lor his good, . I und t.od will vindicate him before the j people and before those whs have done him wrung. ! 2 This is the condition, 1 believe, that j prevails in ion a desire on the part ol the Priesthood to care lor and to protect the interests of the people, to give them all their lighta and privileges, to exercise exer-cise no unrighteous dominion over them, but rather to sutler wrung patiently than lo Me a soul turned to the broad path ! wJ i ol destruction. This has betn the 1 characteristic of the people from the beginning ol the Chun h, notwithstanding notwith-standing the assaults ol their enemies I itp:ii them; and yt every now and agiiin Ihe Church is charged with wrongs by Ihe people of the w rid, because the ' Churrh passes regulations to govern its im-inher. gives counsel for Iheir guid- I anc-, iiiies addresses lor their nilorma- 1 tiunt What would a church be il it were not alive to the conditions that prevailed? It v. mild become a dead hr.inih in the earth, a tree without force, i without beneht, worthy only to he destroyed. des-troyed. It would reach Ihe cnmhiun of other churches among men that have a form ol godliness, but deny the power thereuf. It Is a lact tli.it this Church is alive, through the revelation thst God gives to it, to esii.tnig conditions, which makes it a force among men and gives it ower to attrail the gojd ol the earth to its stand.ird, 1 !.,? never to live to see the day when Una Church is lo be controlled alone by ih-it which is written in the -acred sr rtp'ur e-i. I hope that this Church willheguidd continually by the living spirit ol the Almighty, and that there will never be a condition ol things arise anion); is people wherein ihe face of I, ml will he shut out from lliem. 1 know that men would like to see ion in the condtioi of other stcis, because they know their cratt is in danger with the growth ol this Church and willi the spread ol Us primip!es. Only within a lew days we have heard things Irom a minister in this co mmum l y concerning this people which he knows well are untrue, and which some ol his own congregation have themselves denounced li mo with in the last tew d. This reverend divine declared that this people L.min to these muiinl.uris bcciuse ihey would not Iw tolerated in the States where ttitv dcsin d lo locate. We know, and it is caw lor him to ascertainnot Irom our records alone, , but (ruin the indisputable evidence oi i those who were unlnrndly to us the causes ol our removal anil the m.nner in which that removal was accomi hshed. Mobs were allowed to carry out their wicked designs against an innocent peo I pie. Law bad no influence upon the community in which flu-y lived tore strain men Ir' in acts ol violence again t Ihe Caller-day Saints. I'ure, innocent blood was shed because men in oihce did not have the courage to stand up in delenso ol an oppressed people. And thereiore did this people ir.we their boous homes whn h God will again restore to them ns hiiely as Jle lives, and in a way, too, that will convice the world, il they will but open their eyes, that God is with this people. Then it is claimed that when the people peo-ple came here and looked down from ihei.e mountain heighls(they saw spread beiore them a beautiful and ferule country, rich in gold, silver, copprr, lead ami other minerals; the sod so irmtlul that it only needed the plow to lurn lis surface and Ihe seed to be sown therein, and m a lew months a bountiful bounti-ful harvest would reward the laborer. No wonder, says our slanderer, that the people m looking down Ironi these heights, said with one voice, '1 his is our promised I und! 1 Mipposr there aie ageJ men and women in this congregation who know what this country was when the Pioneers Pion-eers entered it. So tar as the eye could reath there was no verdure, excepting the little strip that bordered ihe lew slrems that lound their way through this parched country. Nothing inviting! invit-ing! A land which seemed to have been deserted evtn by the wild animals, as it was by the luduns. excepting a lew Diggers who sustained themselves by eating lizards and crickets, and the roots which they could dig from the soil! A country so unpromising that llndger ollcred a thousand dolhirs lor the lint bushel of grain lhat could I raided here! It needs not our testimony alone lo convince the world that this was the condition of Ctah or of California, as it was then called; for General John C. Wcmout, in his report to the govern-mcnl, govern-mcnl, puhhahed m the year iKj5, (two years before the l ioneers entered this valley) tells ol the hardships ol hinisell and companions in traversing this land. ;ihcy came upon a few Indians located in some ol the rushes along the lake shore or the river bank, and they were I ready to trade anything they had to ob-I ob-I t.uii Irom these Judians a few roots which they had gathered, so near starving were the.se men; and horse meat, tie said in his report, was a luxury, ilia report was ol such a character char-acter lhat it would not encourage any one to come here with a prospect ol living. Indeed, he aaid, those who ventured into these desolate wilds should carry sufheteut provisions and have so careful a guide that they would not be lost. That was what the 1'ion-cers 1'ion-cers found. When Ihey came to turn with the plow the soil, which, it is now slated, was so fruitful, it seemed as though rain had not touched the stir face lor ages; it was like an imnieiiue ash-heap; and nothing but f.iith enabled these men and those who followed them to believe that God had indeed chosen this land for His people. It was inly when brigham Young said this was the place that God had designed that the people became contented to live here. Alter they had settled in Salt Lake vo icy, President Young sent out parties m every direction, telling them to search out the cotinliy, but Ihev would all return re-turn with the information that this was the place where Hie great city of the hitter days w. to be built and they did so report. Well enough for people to say now that this was a glorious cuun tr! Well enough for men who came years alterwardu, and who have lived hete through the industry and the bless, ing of this people, lo talk of the fertility i ol the soil, Ihe richness ol the land! but how was it with these poor men and women who lor months and mouths weie upon the verge of starvation, their Hour rationed out to them almost by the tlumblelul, so precious was itf They know what God hath wrought. They know what He has done lor this people. They know that it was only turuub Mis blessing, through H-s care, throuch the faith He gave them, that Utah has bet n rrdrrnted and made the garden spot of tl i4 great nation. Then we are accused by this same man, after being reproached for leaving Illinois and the eastern states, of seeking seek-ing isolation, because, forsooth, Mor-monism Mor-monism could not thrive in civ lid communities could not grow in New York, in Chicago, and such p'aces! Why does it not grow in such places? because the majority ol Ihe people-am) people-am) the testimony of reverend gentle men elsewhere can be prrduced to prove it ate corrupt and irreligious, bUsphem-oils bUsphem-oils and inhdelic. Morniomm will thrive m the desert no betlcr than in the ctly where there are good honest souls; for it reach the hearts of the honest, it to,i dies the souls ol the pure, it appeals ap-peals to everything that is grand and Godlike m men ami women. It dots not, however, appeal lo the base pas-sion pas-sion ol men and women; it do snot appeal lo their lusts; it does not thrive in ton option and in tin. This is the reason lhat Moitnonisui does not prosper pros-per in the cities named. Hut measure it with anything that has ever existed upon the earth and Mormouism, so-called, so-called, will shine brighter by the com-pamon- When you bring it side by side with man-made religions, why it is like the brightness ol the sun as compared com-pared with the light ol the most insignificant in-significant star thai the human eye can delect. Mormonism, it is said, Is led by its recruits Irom foreivn lands. True, it has gathered many of the veiy best of its members the very best men and women liom Scandinavia, from l.ng-land, l.ng-land, (mm Germany, ami Inmi oil er coiiuines, and it has brought them to g ther as no other system could have dt.ne, and made them one people, homogeneous in all their afhitrs It is a n arvel to many that siah har mony anu ng people ol different n i-tioiiadities i-tioiiadities could exist. Vet the charge i- ill-founded when it Is stated that from the ignorant we alone gain our strength. I ake Ihe leaders of the people, ami you will find the mniorily ol them are Amerii anborn cnirttis. The early strength of Ihe Church was composed of what was called the best blood ol the nation. New l.ngland, whit h tins stood in the van of progress anil in a love of liberty, yielded some of her b st suns lo swell the ranks of the Church. So go through Ihe whole body of the people, and you will hnd lh.it this Church, when we speak of it in that sense, la strictly an American church. Two of the Hist Presidency are American lorn and bred; nine ol the'l wt-lve Apostles were bom in the United States, also four of Ihe Seven I'restilenis of Seventies; And so right through the Churri. Thus you can sec how poor a l und.itioii this argument rests upon. Yet it we were h-rerjn born, It i no disgrace, so lung as we are honest; for a man is a nun whether born lu the Sutiih Sea Island, in ihe Ingid regions of the north, or in this country ol ours. II a man was born in the U nite House, and ha is dishonest and impure, he brings reproach on his country to boast ol his Americanism. Mormon! mi, It is said, i a hurnt out volcano, so far as spirituality is concerned: con-cerned: Its sirength is irotte: U is as- i timing a materialistic position, and lads lo exercise the rpiriiual iniluence over the people that a religious organization organi-zation ought to do. True, we have not that sanctimoniousness sanctimonious-ness which characterizes some ul our Christian Iriends; we do not have the longdated piety ol the ordinary Sab batn worshiper; we do not have the gtoans ol some Christian people; hut wc have the religious conviction and sentiment deep in our hearts, and weare practicing, though doubtless imperfectly, imperfect-ly, true nhgmn s it is defined by the i Apostles, in lhat wc visit the widows I and the latherless, and we keepaciesr conscience before God. Murmonisni a burnt out volcano! It may be a hidden one, but not burnt out. Its tins are burning. Us strength is increasing; and though the world may seek to gloss over this work this volcano and may seek to heap rcluse upon it lo prevent its hres being discovered, discover-ed, yet ii will come out in the lull strength ol its Godlike power, and ; will reach the position that God bus tie I signed it to till in the earth lor the salvation salva-tion ol the human family. No spirituality spiritual-ity iu the Church! Take ita principles, take its practices, and compare them with the holy word of God as contained in King James' translation ol the liible, and you will find that we have the spirituality, we have the principles, we have (he practices ol the ancient saints who received the Gospel under the administration ad-ministration of Jesus Christ and J lis tlUuple. We tlo not have all the power that we ought to have. God knows ue do not. W e do not have the faith which we ought to exercise in the gilts of the Gospel and in the principles ol our religion. re-ligion. Itut with all our weaknesses, with all our lack in this respect, we still stand at the head God be praised! ol every organization upon the lace of the earth; not through any merit of our own; not that 1 would boast ol such blessings, only that my boasting shall be in praise of God tor if is gooduess in giving us such choice blessings and in making us partakers of this glorious Gospel a privilege that He has extend ed etpially to every other man and woman who lives upon the face ol the earth, and has not confined to these few people now gathered m these mountains. moun-tains. Is there any greater evidence of the divinity of this work than the very argument that is brought against it, that we have so perlect a Church organization? organiza-tion? Wilh ita "resident, (who is the mouthpiece ol God), with his counselors, counse-lors, and the various organizations of the Priesthood as they exist, this Church is so perlect that it commands the admiration ad-miration of the world, who see that it is superior even to that old and long established es-tablished church, the Koman Catholic. The very lact that these organizations continue, and that they exercise such an influence among the people, should he prool post live taut there m something divine is this great work in which we are engaged. This same man seems lo take delight in speakii g ol the sufferings ul the people, peo-ple, and justifies a disregard of law il it only readies ihe Latter-day Sainis. Ik tins Americanism? Is this ihespmtol a patriot? You may judge. I have been pleased lo believe tlut the constitution con-stitution ol our counti y, as it was trained by good and noble men under the inspiration ol God, was sulhcieut as a foundation upon which lo build a superstructure, an conditions might require, re-quire, to protect the citizens of the Republic Re-public and to guard against invasion or disruption by anyone; and yet men who boast ol their patriLtiam, who boast ol tueir love for the country and its laws, and hoist ol their having sustained by ! their words and acts this nation, will, ! even Irom the pulpit, approve id a- Is that are in violation ol law. merely to I reach a people whnte view s aie different to their own, and whose practic e were inrompbte harmony, until sp-cial leg-islaium leg-islaium was invoked, with the laws and c rtmnly with the Ccn dilution olt.nr great nation, lor such patriotism I have no respect. If the law is not suth cii'iit as it now stands to prof ct ihe people, Ihen 1 have be n mistaken in my estimate of tin Rovernuu nl. Itut I km w that I have tint been nminken. I know that God is with this luiion in doing what is right, and I know that He will sustain and uphold it. even w hen wicked men masquerading: under ti e garb of patriots will seek its d situation, situa-tion, ami this people will Bland forth us the s.iviors ol the Constitution. I hat, I know, will be the case, improbable as it now seems; and I want to see t:ns people peo-ple in a position lo tae this responsibility responsibil-ity upon their shoulders. lam not nverse to the cntn imiis of men. I think tfiey do us more good than their praise. I am not averse to their preiudices being exhibited under conditions that will result in our betterment. better-ment. I cannot help, however, but tee) sorry for intelligent men ana women who will wilful y madgn and ahu-e a people such as we are, as so manv have done. Hut the reponsibility rests be I ween them and God. I have no con di in nn lion tor them. Hut I want to a.iy to this people, that wherein their tric lures are iu-t. wherein their criticisms aie proper, we sh uld u.kc them to heart and better ourselves thtrehy. We ought to be free from prtMidu e against ihe world. We want t enlarge our souls, so that love may exist m our hearts lor all mankind. We w.tnt lo improve lhat the world will come to the brightness ol .ion's rising. And in speaking of old and new Utah, we want to make a new t tah. We want In establish es-tablish a new condition ol things in this State. We welcome everyth.ng that ten i is to our enlightenment, lo our eu Uigement, m things lhat ert.in to this life, or to eternity. We welcome new Ctah, with alt Us light. We do not expert ex-pert to return to past condition.. This people are progressive, and they must not rt main on the threshold ol knowledge; knowl-edge; but when they have named one I pi'iiit, acquired some intelligence, then I they must forge ahrad to something m ire exalting, and better and mure ad-! ad-! van ed. Tn.il Is their duty. Schools are established here, and the non-Mormons Like credit for it, but you know that it has been the advice and almost invariably the practire that th1 first building erened in any ol the settlements has been a tHhoul house, that our children might be taught. True, wc do not believe in involving Ihe i iiiniri unity in debt. Wc might have buill at lar less expense these puidic schools of which Ihey now Ivmsi; we might have expended thu money more tudiciously, rud we felt it wisd iin to bond future generations for these in stitulions. Hut we tried to be governed bv a conservative, a c.irelul, a dclens ible policy, anil the results have proved that we were not behind the limes even In this policy; lor before riicse achoot houses were erected, Utah stood in the front rank educationally, it led every stale in the Union, when the time of its occupation was compared. It has not set its seal ol disapproval upon education. Your institution here in 1'royo is the best evidence of the truth of this statement. Nor will we. We do not want to have the intelligence ol man suppressed; we do nut want to lee his talents hidden. We do not want vou people to be blind followers ol me:i. No, we want you to he intelligent. Wc want you to stuoy the questions of the day. We want you to look at the world and its progress, and the Church and its progress. Ye want you to consul, r everything lhat is presented to you a intelligent men ami women. I would think you were slaves il you did otherwise other-wise than this, but I ncetl not appeal lo you. 1 he fact that you came out Irom the world; that you bit jour homes, your families, your blends, your , properly, your evervthing lor this Gospel Gos-pel is an evidence lhat ou are Iree men and women. There is no man or set ol men who could bind your minds in chains ol superstition, or who could tie your limbs, teller your minds and control con-trol you as the world claim you are controlled. con-trolled. They could only do it upon the principles of righteousness and truth, which should appeal to every soul that lives upon tins footstool ol God. The moment any man, be he Ihe President of this Stake, or the bishop of a ward, tries to coerce you, tnes to foist upon you something lhat is untrue, something that Satan has inspired, that moment this people will revolt and turn against him and cast him out, aswi.l God also. Hut you are not worshipers ot men; you are not lovers of men, unless those men prove themselves worthy of your love and your conhdc nee. 'Ibis is seen in the loss ol influence of men who have once stood high in the Church. Sidney Kigdon, Oliver Cow. dery and lavid Whitmer, and a host ol names might be mentioned here of men who stood high in the Church, who were looked upon in their day almost as gods, certainly as pillars ol the Church; but they lost the faith, they turned against the Gospel, and where wo their iniluence inilu-ence and their strength? Why, it vanish van-ish ed as the dew before the morning sun. Some of them had a lew followers who went away witli them; but the honest among those followers returned again sorrowing to the fold. And so it will always al-ways be in (his Church. However pop. ular a man may be, however strong he may be, the moment he turns against the Church ol God that moment he is as Samson shorn ot his lurks, und will have no power with this people. And 1 thank God lor it. Amen. |
