Chapter I (2)

We do not profess to be polished stones like Elders Almon W.
Babbitt, George J. Adams, James Blakeslee, and Eli P. Maginn, &c.,
&c.; but we are rough stones out of the mountain; and when we roll
through the forest, and knock the bark from the trees, it does not
hurt us, even if we should get a corner knocked off occasionally;
for the more we roll about, and knock the corners off, the better
we are; but if we were polished and smooth when we get the corners
knocked off, it would deface us.

Joseph Smith never professed to be a dressed, smooth, polished
stone, but to have come rough out of the mountain; and he has
been rolling among the rocks and trees, yet it has not hurt him
at all: but he will be as smooth and polished in the end as any
other stone, while many who were so very polished and smooth in
the beginning get badly defaced and spoiled while they are rolling
about.

Elder Parley P. Pratt said--Some are going to Zion, and the rest
{22} want to know what they shall do. The Lord, through Jeremiah
(III, 14,15) says, "I will take you one of a city, and two of a
family, and I will bring you to Zion; and I will give you pastors
according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and
understanding." Inasmuch as you hearken to counsel, you will know
what the will of the Lord is concerning you in all things. Meet
often together to worship God and to speak to each other of the
things of God. Gather as soon as you can. Come up to the mountain
of the Lord's house, and there learn of these things, that the
Scriptures may be fulfilled.

Elder Orson Pratt said--I do not know that I can say anything to
impress the subjects which have been spoken upon more fully upon
your minds than has been done. There are some things, however, I
wish to mention. We have learned from what we have heard this day
that great blessings will be given to the faithful when the Temple
is finished. I will speak of some of the consequences that will
follow, if we do not obey.

When the Temple is reared, God will manifest Himself in a peculiar
manner. If we are obedient, He has told us He will make manifest
to us things we are ignorant of. He has said He will reveal things
which pertain to this dispensation that have been hidden and kept
secret from the foundation of the world.

No former age or generation of the world have had the same things
revealed: all other dispensations will be swallowed up in this. He
declares, in His revelations, the consequences of not building the
house unto His name within such a time. The Lord says, If you build
the house in that time, you shall be blessed; but if not, you shall
be rejected as a church with your dead, saith the Lord. So, if that
house is not built, then in vain are all our cares; our faith and
works, our meetings and hopes are vain also; our performances and
acts will be void.

The servants of God who are faithful and do their duty will get
the blessing; and we are determined to do our duty, and lay these
principles before the Saints, so that they may have the privilege
of contributing. We will turn this responsibility upon the heads of
the Saints; then our garments will be clear, and the Lord is able
and will be willing to endow all the faithful in some other place.

This Church, in its infancy, was directed to do a certain work, and
the consequences pointed out. The Lord gave a revelation several
years since to the Church to appoint our wise men, and send up
our moneys by them to buy land; if not, we should not have an
inheritance, but our enemies should be upon us. We went through
and told the Saints these things; but did the churches do as God
commanded? No, they did not. But the revelation was fulfilled, and
the enemies of the Saints came upon them, and drove them from their
houses and homes, {23} and finally from the State of Missouri. This was
in consequence of their disobeying the commandments of God through
His servant Joseph.

Many suppose they must get direct revelation from God for
themselves. Not so. He has a prophet, and he says the Church shall
give heed to the words of the Prophet, as he is to hold the keys of
the kingdom of God in this life and in the world to come. Then it
is of much consequence that you give heed to his word.

Says one, Suppose we are not satisfied that this is the work of
God? You can ask God if the work is true, and He will give you a
testimony. You can put every confidence in the Book of Mormon and
in Joseph, the Prophet; and if you are not satisfied, go to God. I
doubt in my own mind if men can stand what they will have to pass
through, unless they do get a witness for themselves; and I pray
you to give heed to the words which the Twelve have taught you, and
ask God to help you.

The conference was adjourned until ten o'clock tomorrow morning.

_Sunday,_ 10th. Conference met according to adjournment.

Meeting was opened by singing, and prayer by Elder Maginn; after
which Elder Wilford Woodruff addressed the assembly from Amos
III:7--"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his
secret unto his servants the prophets?" According to the testimony
of the Scriptures in all ages of the world, whenever God was about
to bring a judgment upon the world or accomplish any great work,
the first thing he did was to raise up a Prophet, and reveal unto
him the secret, and send him to warn the people, so that they may
be left without excuse. This was the case in the days of Noah and
Lot. God was about to bring judgments upon the people, and he
raised up those Prophets who warned the people of it; yet they gave
no heed to them, but rejected their testimony; and the judgments
came upon the people, so that they were destroyed, while the
Prophets were saved by pursuing the course marked out by the Lord.

Jesus Christ testified to the Jews of the things that awaited them
as a nation, the fall of Jerusalem, and their dispersion among
the Gentile world; but they did not believe it. Yet the secret of
all these things was revealed to the Prophets and Apostles. They
believed it, and looked for its fulfillment; and it came to pass as
it was predicted, though contrary to the expectation of the Jewish
nation.

In like manner do we look for the certain fulfillment of those
tremendous events upon the heads of the Gentile world which have
been spoken of and pointed out by all the holy Prophets and
Apostles since the world began, they having spoken as they were
moved upon by the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost,
events which more deeply {24} concern the Gentile world than the
overthrow of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews did the
Jewish nation; for while they stumbled at the stone they were
broken; but when it falls upon the heads of the Gentile world, it
will grind them to powder.

The full set time is come for the Lord to set His hand to
accomplish these mighty events; and as He has done in other ages,
so has He done now--He has raised up a Prophet, and is revealing
unto him His secrets. Through that Prophet He has brought to light
the fullness of the everlasting Gospel to the present generation,
and is again once more for the last time establishing His Church
upon the foundation of the ancient Apostles and Prophets, which is
revelation, Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone.

In the Church is now found judges as at the first, and counselors
as at the beginning; also Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors,
and Teachers, with gifts and graces, for the perfecting of the
Saints, the work of the ministry, and the edifying of the body of
Christ.

The Lord has raised up His servants, and sent them into the
vineyard to prune it once more for the last time, to preach the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to warn the nations, that they may be
left without excuse in the day of their visitation; also to gather
the honest in heart and the meek of the earth, that Zion may be
built up, and the sayings of the Prophets fulfilled.

One of the secrets that God has revealed unto his Prophet in these
days is the Book of Mormon; and it was a secret to the whole world
until it was revealed unto Joseph Smith, whom God has raised up
as a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator unto His people. This record
contains an account of the ancient inhabitants of this continent
and of the cities with which they overspread this land from sea
to sea, the ruins of which still remain as standing monuments of
the arts, science, power, and greatness of their founders. It
also points out the establishing of this our own nation, with the
conditions for its progress, and those predictions contained in
the Book of Mormon--the stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim,
will as truly be fulfilled as those contained in the Bible--the
stick and record of Judah; and both these sticks or records contain
prophecies of great import concerning the Gentile nations, and
especially this land and nation, which are not yet fulfilled, but
must shortly come to pass: yea, their fulfillment is nigh, even at
the doors.

Though the secrets which God is revealing through His servant the
Prophet in these last days may be unpopular and unbelieved in by
the world, yet their unbelief will not make the truth of God of
none effect, any more than it did in the days of Lot and Noah, or
at the fall of Jerusalem.

When Jesus Christ said there should not be left one stone upon
{25} another in the temple that should not be thrown down, the
Jewish nation did not believe it, neither would they receive such
testimony; but they looked at outward circumstances, and were
ready to say, "Who can prevail against us? What nation like unto
our nation? We have held the giving of the law, the oracles, and
the Urim and Thummim; the lawgiver has never departed from between
our feet; we have held the power of government from generation to
generation; and what nation hath power now to prevail against us?"

Through this order of reasoning they were blinded, and knew not
the day of their visitation: they understood not the things that
belonged to their peace; they rejected their Lord and King,
contended against the word and testimony, and finally put Him to
death on the cross, with many who followed Him. But this did not
hinder the fulfillment of His predictions concerning that nation.
The words of the Lord had gone forth out of His mouth, and could
not return unto Him void. The things that belonged to their peace
were hid from their eyes, and they were counted unworthy as a
nation. The kingdom was to be rent out of their hands and given to
another; the die was cast, and judgment must come.

Jerusalem was soon surrounded by the Roman army, led on by the
inspired Titus; and a scene of calamity, judgment, and woe
immediately overspread the inhabitants of that city, which was
devoted to destruction,--such a calamity as never before rested
upon the nation of Israel. Blood flowed through their streets;
tens of thousands fell by the edge of the sword, and thousands by
famine. Women were evil towards the children of their own bosoms
in the straitness of the siege, the spectacle of which shocked the
Roman soldiers as they entered the city. The Jews were crucified in
such numbers by their enemies that they could find no more wood for
crosses, or room for their bodies; and while despair was in every
face, and every heart sinking while suffering under the chastening
hand of God, their enemies rushed upon them in the city to strike
the last fatal blow; and, as their last resort, they rushed for
safety into the temple, which was soon on fire, and they sank in
the midst of the flames with the cry of their sufferings ascending
up on high, accompanied by the smoke of the crackling spires and
towers.

The remaining population were sold as slaves, and driven like the
dumb ass under his burthen, and scattered, as corn is sifted in
a sieve, throughout the Gentile world. Jerusalem was razed from
its foundations, the ruins of the temple thrown down, and the
foundation thereof ploughed up, that not one stone was left upon
another. Christ said that Jerusalem should be trodden down of the
Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, which has
been the case to the very letter until the present generation.

{26} Will not God in like manner as truly and faithfully bring to
pass those great, important and tremendous events upon the heads
of the Gentile world which have been proclaimed by the Prophets
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and many other holy Prophets;
also by Christ and the Apostles on the continent of Asia, as well
as by Lehi, Nephi, Alma, Moroni, and others on this continent--all
of whom have proclaimed these things as they were moved upon by the
Spirit of inspiration, the power of God, and the gift of the Holy
Ghost?

The Apostle says that "No prophecy of the Scripture is of any
private interpretation, for the prophecy came not of old time by
the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost."

Isaiah's soul seemed to be on fire, and his mind wrapt in the
visions of the Almighty, while he declared, in the name of the
Lord, that it should come to pass in the last days that God should
set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His
people, assemble the outcasts of Israel, gather together the
dispersed of Judah, destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea and make
men go over dry-shod, gather them to Jerusalem on horses, mules,
swift beasts, and in chariots, and rebuild Jerusalem upon her own
heaps; while, at the same time, the destroyer of the Gentiles will
be on his way; and while God was turning the captivity of Israel,
he would put all their curses and afflictions upon the heads of
the Gentiles, their enemies, who had not sought to recover, but to
destroy them, and had trodden them under foot from generation to
generation.

At the same time the standard should be lifted up, that the honest
in heart, the meek of the earth among the Gentiles, should seek
unto it; and that Zion should be redeemed and be built up a holy
city, that the glory and power of God should rest upon her, and
be seen upon her; that the watchman upon Mount Ephraim might
cry--"Arise ye, and let us go up unto Zion, the city of the Lord
our God;" that the Gentiles might come to her light, and kings
to the brightness of her rising; that the Saints of God may have
a place to flee to and stand in holy places while judgment works
in the earth; that when the sword of God that is bathed in heaven
falls upon Idumea, or the world,--when the Lord pleads with all
flesh by sword and by fire, and the slain of the Lord are many,
the Saints may escape these calamities by fleeing to the places of
refuge, like Lot and Noah.

Isaiah, in his 24th chapter, gives something of an account of the
calamities and judgments which shall come upon the heads of the
Gentile nations, and this because they have transgressed the laws,
changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant. The
Apostle Paul says to his Roman brethren, that if the Gentiles do
not continue in the {27} goodness of God, they, like the house of
Israel, should be cut off. Though Babylon says, "I sit as a queen,
and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow," the Revelator says,
"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning
and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong
is the Lord God who judgeth her."

Jesus communicated the parable of the fig-tree, which in putting
forth its leaves betokens the approach of summer; and so likewise,
when we see the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and in the
heavens and the earth of which He spoke, we might know that His
coming is near--that the generation in which those signs appeared
should not pass away till all should be fulfilled.

These things are about to come to pass upon the heads of the
present generation, notwithstanding they are not looking for it,
neither do they believe it. Yet their unbelief will not make the
truth of God of none effect. The signs are appearing in the heavens
and on the earth, and all things indicate the fulfillment of the
Prophets. The fig-tree is leafing, summer is nigh, and the Lord has
sent his angels to lay the foundation of this great and important
work.

Then why should not God reveal His secrets unto His servants the
Prophets, that the Saints might be led in paths of safety, and
escape those evils which are about to engulf a whole generation in
ruin?

_Monday,_ 11. Conference met at Boylston Hall at nine o'clock, a.m.
Present of the quorum of the Twelve, Elders Brigham Young, Parley
P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, George A.
Smith, Heber C. Kimball, and Orson Hyde.

Opened with prayer by Elder Page.

Elder Brigham Young stated the object of the meeting. The first
item of business is the spread of the Gospel of salvation. I want
to state what devolves upon the Twelve. Nine years ago a revelation
was given which was fulfilled in 1835; and when fulfilled,
the Prophet lifted up his head and rejoiced before the Lord.
Previously, the responsibility of spreading the Gospel rested on
him; now it is on the Twelve. This is the relation we hold between
the living and the dead--to direct how you may escape.

Last winter we were directed to send men to the nations of the
earth. Elder Addison Pratt had been to the Sandwich Islands, and
proffered his services. We have power to ordain them, and call upon
the Church to assist in sending them. Here are four men willing to
go, and we do not wish them to cease trying, unless it be to die
trying. One of them is ill. If he stays, he will die. I would go,
or die trying.

We call on the churches to fit out these men with necessaries.
Elder Eli P. Maginn and Elder Philip B. Lewis we call on to fit
them out. If {28} Elder Lewis does not, Maginn will do it himself.
This takes the responsibility from us.

If the Saints will not help, the curse of God will rest upon
them. If the Temple at Nauvoo is not built, we will receive our
endowments, if we have to go into the wilderness and build an altar
of stone. If a man gives his all, it is all God requires. Brother
Kimball has received one dollar since he came to Boston, and
seventeen dollars and a half before, towards building the Temple. A
book is kept of all sums given. This book will also be opened. All
is recorded. I have received twenty-three dollars, and I have spent
about forty-five or fifty dollars. I am rich, and expect to be so
throughout all eternity, with the help of God and my brethren.
I can get home, if I can sell land. Some of the Twelve are more
destitute; but they are the best set of boys you ever saw.

During the persecution in Missouri, when the mob came against Far
West, Elder Kimball stood near me in one of the companies; and
every time they formed, he rammed down another ball into his old
musket, until he got five balls in. We are a good-feeling set of
men, because of the Spirit which is in us. What produces it? The
impulse of the heart. We should feel the same on the desert of
Arabia, or on the islands of the sea; we feel happy wherever we
are. When we ask for victuals, and get turned away, as we often
have been, we feel just as well.

The Spirit which is in me prompts me to look forward to something
better. We have a prospect of selling shares of the Nauvoo House,
and of obtaining subscriptions for the Temple, and we feel better.

Here are twelve men, and I defy all creation to bring a charge of
dishonesty against them. We had to give security for the faithful
performance of our duty as agents for the Nauvoo House and Temple.
This has been heretofore unheard of in the Church. I glory in it.
The financial affairs of the Church rest on our shoulders, and
God is going to whip us into it. When men are in future called to
do like Brigham, I will be one to bind them; this is a precedent.
We are the only legally authorized agents of the Church to manage
affairs, give counsel to emigrants how to dispose of goods, &c.

Some men come into this Church through designing purposes. Mr.
Cowen, who lives about 30 miles above Nauvoo, wanted Brother
Joseph to make a settlement at Shoquokon. Several of the brethren
went there and preached, and some families moved up with the
intention of settling. Mr. Cowen was all love--a charming fellow,
and calculated to magnetize. He is now in the Eastern country, and
going amongst the brethren. He gives one a kiss, and says he, "I
am not a Mormon, but expect to be: Brother Joseph and myself are
confidential friends. Can't you lend me five hundred dollars? I
have got land, and I will give you {29} a mortgage." At the same
time, he knew quite well that his land was in a perfect swamp, and
that the place was not fit for a settlement. Even the captains of
steamers could with difficulty be persuaded upon to call there,
either on account of goods or passengers. His name is John F.
Cowen, and he stands five feet six inches high. There are others.

I would ask the Latter-day Saints, Do you know your benefactors?
Do you know the source from whence you derive your knowledge? Take
in the publications and periodicals of the Church. They give you
intelligence of all matters pertaining to this dispensation with
revelations for the guidance of the Church.

I know that men who go through the world with the truth have
not much influence; but let them come with silk velvet lips and
sophistry, and they will have an influence. It is your privilege
to be discerners of spirits. If you don't know me or the Twelve,
walk with us fifty years, and perhaps you will know us then; and if
such a man as Cowen comes along, will you trust him or me? No power
can hide the heart from the discerning eye. If we are ignorant,
what knowledge have the rest of the people? I sit down with all my
ignorance, and read people's hearts as I see their faces, and they
can't help themselves.

No one has ever stepped aside but I have known it. I know the
result of their actions, and they cannot help themselves. If you
find out my heart, you are welcome to it. If any of the Twelve take
a wrong path, or a course by themselves, I know the path, and know
the end of it. They are soon in the ditch, crying for help. I sit
down and let others run. I strike with a crooked stick to hit the
whole.

Now, the Twelve must be helped home, and there must be something
for the Temple and the Nauvoo House. We have got a plot of the city
of Nauvoo for lithographing. If any wish to advance the money to
lithograph, and have a few thousands struck off, they shall be paid
till they are satisfied. There was not wealth enough in New York
and the regions round about. [He here exhibited the map of Nauvoo.]
He concluded with a few remarks relative to the circumstances of
Elder Hyde, who had just returned from his mission to Jerusalem.

Elder Parley P. Pratt spoke as follows:--In the middle of last
April I arrived at Nauvoo houseless and with a large family.
Brother Joseph said to me, "Brother Parley, stay at home and
build a house." I was behindhand in instructions and information,
while others had been at home learning the great things of God. I
have now come East principally on business, though I always have
a mission, wherever I am. I speak for my brethren: they have an
absolute claim; it belongs to them, and they want it. It is justly
theirs. I ask for nothing for myself.

Elder Heber C. Kimball said, I suppose you all understand what {30}
Elder Young has said, and I consider his counsel good. He is my
superior and my head in the council of the Twelve. If I go astray,
it will be through ignorance. We must be subject to the powers
that be; and there are no powers but what are ordained of God;
and if we reject their counsel, we shall be damned. Some of our
finest-looking and smartest men have fallen.

I consider those trees in the forest which have the largest and
highest tops are in the greatest danger: they are blown down;
and there is no way of restoring them but to cut them off. Let
the stump go back, and new sprouts come out. Those who have most
responsibility are in most danger. We must be careful how we treat
God's officers.

No man ever fell, unless it was through rejecting counsel. I as
well as my brethren see this. My superior knows more than I,
because he is nearer the fountain. To get knowledge, begin at the
foot of the stream, and drink all up till you get to the fountain,
and then you get all the knowledge.

It is necessary for the people here to obey counsel. God has sent
me forth, through his servants, to take my part in this great work,
and the work is true. I know there are but few in this Church
who will be able to walk in this narrow path. We must keep the
celestial law in the flesh. The more simple we teach, the better
for us.

It is a wrong idea of Elders whipping sects. Try and win the
people; salt both sheep and shepherd too; get them up so that they
will lick the salt out of your hands. [An infidel here handed money
to Brother Kimball, who prophesied that he would be a Saint and an
Elder, and all his family should be Saints.] Give them good salt,
gain the affections of the shepherd, and the whole flock will come.
Now, we get sheep up to lick; and when the old shepherd of the
sheep comes up to lick salt, the Elders will hit him over the head
with a cane. Their religion is as dear to them as ours to us. Don't
feed too much salt at once, but give a little at a time, or they
are cloyed.

Elders of Israel, be wise! Give short discourses, as long ones cloy
your hearers, who will say, "A good discourse, but I got tired."

Never infringe on the right of other people, and never tear down
other people's houses until you have built a better. We are sent
to preach repentance, and let people alone. How do you like to go
into other Churches and hear them abuse us? Do as you would be done
by. Persuade men, and not compel them, unless the time spoken of by
the Savior comes, when the Lord shall say unto His servants "Go out
into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my
house may be filled." (Luke 14 ch., 23-25.) Let men be humble, kind
and affectionate.

Footnotes:

1. William H. Folsom named above afterward became prominent as an architect in Utah. He was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in March, 1815, and died in Salt Lake City, 1901, at the advanced age of 86 years. When a boy he moved to Buffalo N.Y. with his parents. When in his twenty fifth year he heard a Mormon Elder preach and was converted to the gospel and joined the Church. As a consequence of this act he was ostracized by his people. He took his family and moved to Nauvoo and established himself as an architect and builder, and assisted in the construction of the Nauvoo Temple.

Brother Folsom was expelled from Nauvoo at the time of the general exodus of the Saints and settled for a time at Keokuk. He subsequently moved to Council Bluffs, and in 1860 went on to Salt Lake valley. His ability as an architect and builder was soon required by President Brigham Young. President Young conceived the general plan of the now celebrated "Mormon Tabernacle" at Salt Lake City, but William Folsom took President Young's suggestions and worked out the plans. While others scouted the idea of the structure, Folsom had faith in it, and as a consequence he has associated his name inseparably with the building, that stands as one of the world's centers of interest and curiosity. He was the architect and superintendent of construction of the Manti Temple, and was an able assistant in the construction of all the Temples in Utah. He was the designer of the Salt Lake Theater, and of many other buildings that are this day admired for their architectural grace and durability.

2. This was Austin Cowles, for some time counselor in the Nauvoo stake of Zion (HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, Vol. IV, p. 323) and subsequently a member of the High Council. The nature of the charges made against George J. Adams at this time is not known.

3. This article is much of the complexion of one published many years later--1882--by Josiah Quincy of Boston, who visited the Prophet about eight or nine month later, and published an account of his visit, and his impression of the Prophet his "Figures of the Past," under the title "Joseph Smith at Nauvoo."

4. This was an adjourned meeting from one of the same character which had met at the same place of the 19th of August previous, which after hearing Anti-Mormon addresses and appointing committees to draft resolutions against the Mormons, adjourned to meet again on the above date, 6th of September. (See HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, Vol. IV pp. 537-8).

5. The former chairman was Major Reuben Groves. (See minutes of the 19th of August, above note.)

6. This was a Brief Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Church prepared for one I. Daniel Rupp, of Harrisburg, Penn. It was published in 1844, a "History of Religious Denominations," p. 409.

7. Having reference to certain plates known as the "Kinderhook Plates," found at Kinderhook, Illinois, April, 1843. See this HISTORY, Vol. V., pp. 372-378.

{31}