He personally attended as many of these quarterly conferences as he could, without neglecting the executive branch of his calling, which necessarily occupied much of his time, and kept him at or within easy reach of Salt Lake City. But where he could not go himself, he sent members of his quorum, so that the Saints received much teaching and instruction from the Apostles, more perhaps than at any previous time in the history of the Church. The result was a great spiritual awakening among the Saints.
The work abroad received increased impetus by a greater number of elders being sent to the world. A missionary himself nearly all his life, it was but natural for President Taylor to be interested in the work of preaching the gospel abroad.
Pioneer Day—the 24th of July—1880, was celebrated with unusual grandeur in Salt Lake City. One feature of the splendid procession which marched through the gaily decorated streets of the city was three cars filled with representatives of the various countries where the gospel, as restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, had been received. A man and a woman, dressed in native costume, represented each country; the women bearing shields with the national colors and the name of the nation represented. In the tabernacle, these nationalities were arranged on a platform in front of the pulpits; and after Apostle Orson Pratt, the Church historian, finished reading a brief account of the introduction of the gospel to the various countries of the earth, the nationalities, twenty-five in number,[[1]] with their shields and banners, stepped forward in line, facing the congregation. President Taylor then rose behind them and said: "The Lord commanded His servants to go forth to all the world to preach the gospel to every creature. We have not yet been to all the world, but here are twenty-five nations represented today, and thus far we have fulfilled our mission; and it is for us to continue our labors until all the world shall hear us, that all who are desirous may obey, and we fulfill the mission given us."
That mission, during the presidency of John Taylor, was faithfully pushed forward among all the nations who would receive it.
At the April conference of 1879, President Taylor was voted the use of the Gardo House as a family residence. The Gardo, located on the corner of South Temple and First East streets, at that time was doubtless the largest and finest residence in Salt Lake City. I call attention to this fact, not because of any petty pride the subject of this writing had in mansions, splendid furnishings, soft carpets, statuary, paintings,—the gewgaws that flatter and engross small minds—but to call attention to a prophecy made by Elder Heber C. Kimball, who, when President Taylor's circumstances were the poorest, boldly prophesied that he would yet live in the largest and best house in Salt Lake City—a prediction that was fulfilled when President Taylor took possession of the Gardo House as his family residence.
It was with considerable reluctance that he accepted the proposition of his brethren. His habits of life were simple; free from ostentation, as were also those of his family; and had he followed the bent of his own inclination he would have remained in his own humbler home. Not until the change was repeatedly urged upon him did he consent to it. The spirit in which he accepted the house as a residence may be best judged from his own words at the conference which voted its use to him:
"I will state that I feel very much obliged to my brethren for the generous feeling manifested to myself. Permit me, however, to say with regard to some of these ideas presented to the conference by Brother George Q. Cannon, and which, as he he has said, he has frequently presented to me and others of the Twelve, that while I duly appreciate the feelings and views of my brethren, and am not ignorant of the proprieties of life, individually I would not wish to change my position. Personally I care nothing about the outside show, the glitter and the appearance of men; but I do care about the great and eternal principles associated with the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. And as stated it was some time before I could make up my mind to accept a proposition of this kind, and I accept it now simply in the capacity of your servant for Christ's sake, for the benefit of the kingdom of God, and that all things may be conducted in a proper manner."
The general conferences of the Church—those mammoth semi-annual gatherings of the Saints of God, where representatives from all the Stakes of Zion assemble to hear instruction, council, reproof and the word of the Lord—under President Taylor's administration were spirited, valuable and soul-stirring. The one held in April, 1880, known as the Jubilee Conference, was especially so. The Church had just completed the fiftieth year of its existence. Half a century before it had been organized in a log room, possibly fourteen feet square, with six members. During that time a knowledge of the work had spread throughout the civilized world, and among some of the tribes of the heathen.
The Church had survived the ridicule of the worldly-wise, the clamor of bigots, the intrigues of demagogues, the violence of mobs, its banishment from civilization. Neither fire nor sword, nor intrigue, nor ridicule, nor banishment, nor its journey through the wilderness, nor any other thing had prevailed against the Church of Christ. It was fitting, then, at the close of the first half century of its existence that the Saints should rejoice mightily before the Lord.
To ancient Israel every fiftieth year was a jubilee. In it the inheritance which had been sold in the days of misfortune or poverty was restored to the original possessor, and his family returned to the old homestead. The poor debtor was released; the man who had sold himself to his brother, to be his hired servant, was set free, together with all that was his, his wives and his children and they returned to their inheritance.