Devotion to the Work and Personal Testimony

My life and labors are devoted to this work. While it is true that I have not been able to do my full and complete duty, because of my physical condition, yet I trust that my labors during the past fifteen or sixteen years have proven to this people, and to the brethren of the authorities, that I am loyal and patriotic to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have never been ashamed to testify to the divinity of this work, when I felt that I had the Spirit of God. I have held the name of the Prophet Joseph Smith as sacred. When I was in the mission field, I said to the Elders: whenever you are moved upon by the Spirit of God, and! the spirit of testimony, you are to testify that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, and I promise you it will make you all the trouble you can bear. I have never been afraid of the world, nor the children of men, when I have enjoyed the Holy Spirit. ¶

I look over my past labors in the ministry, and I discover there were some things that I didn't know. I find at times that I have been over zealous ; in fact, I believe that I have been almost fanatical, that I have said and done things that I now wish I hadn't. I have heard this, my brethren and sisters, and I am in no doubt about it: that I hold the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, the High Priesthood ; I am a Seventy-Apostle. I don't think I lack any Priesthood. I don't think there is anything in this Church to be done that I can't do, if the proper authorities tell me to do it, but there are many things they don't tell me to do, so I let it alone. It has taken me a long time to learn to mind my own business, to look after my own department, and not try to interfere with Bishops or with Presidents of Stakes in their labors. I wish they all would learn the same lesson. ¶

Now, I am an officer — a sort of a lieutenant — in the army of the Lord. We have a large body of Priesthood who have been given advantages and opportunities that Seventies never had in the early history of the Church. There is a possibility of doing a great and good work; and we have made a great effort, under the instructions of the Presidency and Twelve Apostles, to place these Seventies in a condition that they can represent the Church of Jesus Christ as witnesses of the Lord. I realize, brethren, that the Bishops of the wards have to look after their wards ; the Presidencies of the stakes have to look after their work; and the supply of capable men is depleted owing to their being absorbed in many organizations. Whenever they find efficient capable men they take them to build up their work; but I want to ask you, in the name of all consistency, please don't take all the able men, or the greater part of them, and leave us only raw recruits to send into the world to preach this Gospel. I want to say to you Latter-day Saints, if you think your inexperienced boys can go out and disturb the world, you are mistaken. When I was in the South, the people paid but little more attention to us than if we were fice dogs. If ever I locked horns with anybody it was with some poor clergyman in the woods. Elder John Morgan used to tell us — and I honor his memory; I love him as I love few men — he used to tell us : "Boys, don't go into the cities, if you do, it may cost you your lives ;" and we stayed out. But it is different now. ¶

I have been in California for a few weeks, and I tell you I am in sympathy with Elder Robinson, and my heart goes out to the Elders. If I had been called upon in Ocean Park to stand before the intelligent class of people there, I don't know what I would have said. We need intelligence, and pure knowledge, to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth. ¶

I desire to read a little extract from "Impressions," by Charles Erskine Scott Wood: ¶

"Where any number of men are gathered together, there are sure to be some better than others ; some more rational, and some less intelligent than others. There are good lawyers and bad lawyers, intellectual doctors and stupid doctors, [I have learned that in the last three years] wise clergymen and foolish clergymen. In short, as the mass of humanity in any one place and time will contain both extremes and all shades of humanity, so any considerable portion of the mass will contain various examples of the good, bad, and indifferent. Therefore, it is not proper to judge of any general class or organization of men by some few particular individuals, either good or bad. The question is : What is the average character, and what is its general influence, taken as a whole, and through the course of years. And though an institution on the hill may be a power for good, yet if it exhibits some special attraction for the narrow and intolerant, that is certainly a fault." ¶

I am trying to be wise, and I am trying to be prudent, and I confess to you I am having a terrible time. It is old men for counsel, young men for war. I believe I am a better warrior than I am a counselor. I have been away from home, and the first thing I picked up was an anti-"Mormon" newspaper, and I am sorry I picked it up. What did I find in it? I found they were trying to prove that President Brigham Young and my father were murderers, and that they taught that as a principle ! Now, I say it is unjust. I say it is unkind. I say it is improper. But what are we going to do ? Why, we are not going to do anything; but I often feel it is wrong for us to be hushed into silence. ¶

This work is true. The character of this people is a marvel to me, and it has a pathetic side to it. I have traveled among this people from Mexico to Canada, and I know whereof I speak. I say to the young and rising generation: I am willing to take off my hat to these horny-handed, white-headed broken-down men who have made it possible for us to exist in this mountain country. I say God bless these aged men. If you want examples,any object lessons, go down to Saint George and see what it has cost to settle that country. It is a number of years since I was there, but I found ninety widows. Some of the best men in the whole earth have died to make that country habitable. Then I would like to take you on a trip down to Arizona, in the St. Johns country. I preached Faith there once, but I want to tell you I haven't got enough faith to stay in such an undesirable country. You talk about good people ; you talk about righteous people; I tell you there are people in this city who are not worthy to unlatch their shoestrings. That hard country, and their obedience to the Priesthood of God, has made those men great characters. You can't discourage them. They will build a dam across the Colorado River every five years, if it washes out the next day ; and live on dry bread and molasses Yet, that is their home ; that is their country; there they worship God. Then you go up in the Big Horn country, then up into Canada, and then think what it has cost to make this country what it is. But, every time some of us weak-kneed young fellows encounter a difficulty we break for the woods, and we give up our rights and sell them for a little pottage. I tell you that the Almighty is not pleased with some of the rising generation. They stick up their noses at these homely men. It is such .homely men and women of character who have made this country, and this Church, what it is today, and I say God bless them. ¶

Brethren, I want to call your attention to one thing ; I am a sort of transgressor. My father died when I was fifteen years old. I have not committed any crimes, but there are some things in my history that I regret. Environment has a great deal to do with a man, and men who have colonized these outlying districts do not look upon some habits as seriously as men who have never indulged in them; if they did, it would be an injustice to themselves. You never saw a man in your life do a wrong thing, who was happy over it. You never saw men violate a commandment of God and feel jubilant over it, but if they have the Spirit of the Lord they feel miserable. I say to you Latter-day Saints, and I say it to myself : I have preached this Gospel for fifteen years, and I now understand the doctrine of repentance. A man can't repent simply because an Apostle tells him to repent; he can't do it until he gets the spirit of repentance, which is a gift from God ; and some of us don't get it very quickly. Some of us don't get the spirit of repentance and see things right until our hair is gray. Brethren, let us be tolerant ; let us be kind and considerate. It is the proper thing to despise sin and wickedness ; but I think it is wrong to despise the man that has a weakness, and make him feel that he is good for nothing, and that there is not much chance for him. I think I can safely say to you Latter-day Saints : You will all be saved, every one of you ; the only difference will be this, some will be saved sooner than others. Every man that has transgressed and done wrong must pay the penalty of his transgression, for salvation costs something, and you have to pay the price or you don't get it. ¶

While I was in Venice, California, or Ocean Park, I saw three great battle-ships, the Wisconsin,the Tennessee and the California. I had the privilege of going on board the Tennessee. They left Venice on Friday morning at ten o'clock, and I saw those beautiful war vessels leave the harbor. I had not been on the pier long when I noticed a young man, called a jackie, one of the boys of the Tennessee. He was looking longingly over the ocean at those retreating ships. I asked him why he was not with the ships,' and he said : "I was fifteen minutes late." I asked him : "What will they do with you? What are you going to do ? Why don't you take the railroad and run up to a station where they will stop, and get on your war vessel?" He said: "O, it don't make any difference, I will go down to San Pedro and get on the Dakota, and they will place me in chains and feed me on bread and water; but" said he, "I had a mighty good time." He had had a good time at Los Angeles, but he was fifteen minutes late, and accord ing to his story he was to be disciplined, and he was to eat bread and water, and be placed in chains. I asked him what he did it for, and he said : "Well now, look here Mister, I did it and it is done, and I am trying to get a little sunshine out of this thing." That was a knockdown argument and I never said another word. If he could get any sunshine out of it I was willing for the poor fellow to have it. ¶

Now, brethren, let us be kind and considerate for each other. ¶

The Lord bless you. Amen. ¶