In consequence of misunderstanding on the part of the Temple committee, and their interference with the business of the architect, I gave a certificate to William Weeks to carry out my designs and the architecture of the Temple in Nauvoo, and that no person or persons shall interfere with him or his plans in the building of the Temple.
Arrival of Saints from England.
Before the elders' conference closed,[A] the steamer Amaranth appeared in sight of the Temple, coming up the river, and about noon landed her passengers at the wharf opposite the old post office building, consisting of about two hundred and forty Saints from England, under the charge of Elder Lorenzo Snow, who left Liverpool last January, after a mission of nearly three years. With a large company of the brethren and sisters I was present to greet the arrival of our friends, and gave notice to the new-comers to meet at the Temple tomorrow morning at ten o'clock, to hear instructions.
[Footnote A: The conference of the elders continued from the 10th of April to the 12th, it will be remembered. See page 347.]
After unloading the Saints, the Amaranth proceeded up the river, being the first boat up this season.
About five p.m. the steamer Maid of Iowa hauled up at the Nauvoo House landing, and disembarked about two hundred Saints, in charge of Elders Parley P. Pratt and Levi Richards. These had been detained at St. Louis, Alton, Chester, etc., through the winter, having left Liverpool last fall. Dan Jones, captain of the Maid of Iowa, was baptized a few weeks since: he has been eleven days coming from St. Louis, being detained by ice. I was present at the landing and the first on board the steamer, when I met Sister Mary Ann Pratt (who had been to England with Brother Parley,) and her little daughter, only three or four days old. I could not refrain from shedding tears.
So many of my friends and acquaintances arriving in one day kept me very busy receiving their congratulations and answering their questions. I was rejoiced to meet them in such good health and fine spirits; for they were equal to any that had ever come to Nauvoo.
Thursday, 13.—Municipal Court met at nine a.m. to hear the case of Dana v. Brink on appeal, but adjourned the case to the 19th.
At ten a.m. the emigrants and a great multitude of others assembled at the Temple. Choir sung a hymn; prayer by Elder Heber C. Kimball; when I addressed the Saints. [The following synopsis was written by Willard Richards:]
Remarks of the Prophet to the Saints Newly Arrived from England.
I most heartily congratulate you on your safe arrival in Nauvoo, and on your safe deliverance from all the dangers and difficulties you have had to encounter on the way; but you must not think that your tribulations are ended. This day I shall not address you on doctrine, but concerning your temporal welfare.
Inasmuch as you have come up here, essaying to keep the commandments of God, I pronounce the blessings of heaven and earth upon you; and inasmuch as you will follow counsel, act wisely and do right, these blessings shall rest upon you so far as I have power with God to seal them upon you.
I am your servant, and it is only through the Holy Ghost that I can do you good. God is able to do His own work.
We do not present ourselves before you as anything but your humble servants, willing to spend and be spent in your service; and therefore we shall dwell upon your temporal welfare on this occasion.
In the first place, where a crowd is flocking from all parts of the world, of different minds, religions, &c., there will be some who do not live up to the commandments; there will be some designing characters who would turn you aside and lead you astray. You may meet speculators who would get away your property; therefore it is necessary that we should have an order here, and when emigrants arrive, instruct them concerning these things. If the heads of the Church have laid the foundation of this place, and have had the trouble of doing what has been done, are they not better qualified to tell you how to lay out your money than those who have had no interest in the work whatever?
Some start [in faith] on the revelations to come here. Before they arrive, they get turned away, or meet with speculators who get their money for land with bad titles, and lose all their property; then they come and make their complaints to us, when it is too late to do anything for them. The object of this meeting is to tell you these things; and then, if you will pursue the same course, you must bear the consequences of your own folly.
There are several objects in your coming here. One object has been to bring you from sectarian bondage; another object was to bring you from national bondage to where you can be planted in a fertile soil. We have brought you into a free government,—not that you are to consider yourselves outlaws. By free government we do not mean that a man has a right to steal, rob, &c.; but
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?"
God may translate the scriptures by me if He chooses. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. If a man has not faith enough to do one thing, he may have faith to do another: if he cannot remove a mountain, he may heal the sick. Where faith is there will be some of the fruits: all gifts and power which were sent from heaven, were poured out on the heads of those who had faith.
You must have a oneness of heart in all things, and then you shall be satisfied one way or the other before you have done with us.
There are a great many old huts here, but they are all new; for our city is not six or seven hundred years old, as those you came from. This city is not four years old; it is only a three-year old last fall: there are very few old settlers.
I got away from my keepers in Missouri; and when I came to these shores, I found four or five hundred families who had been driven out of Missouri without houses or food; and I went to work to get meat and flour to feed them. The people were not afraid to trust me, and I went to work and bought all this region of country, and I cried out, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" And the answer was, "Build up a city and call my Saints to this place;" and our hearts leap with joy to see you coming here. We have been praying for you all winter from the bottom of our hearts, and we are glad to see you. We are poor, and cannot do by you as we would; but we will do for you all we can. It is not expected that all of you can locate in the city. There are some who have money and who will build and hire others. Those who cannot purchase lots can go out into the country; the farmers want your labor. No industrious man need suffer in this land. The claims of the poor on us are such that we have claim on your good feelings, for your money to help the poor; and the Church debts also have their demands to save the credit of the Church. This credit has been obtained to help the poor and keep them from starvation, &c. Those who purchase Church land and pay for it, this shall be their sacrifice.
Men of considerable means who were robbed of everything in the state of Missouri, are laboring in this city for a morsel of bread; and there are those who must have starved, but for the providence of God through me. We can beat all our competitors in lands, price and everything; we have the highest prices and best lands, and do the most good with the money we get. Our system is a real smut machine, a bolting machine; and all the shorts, bran and smut runs away, and all the flour remains with us. Suppose I sell you land for ten dollars an acre, and I gave three, four or five dollars per acre; then some persons may cry out, "You are speculating." Yes. I will tell how: I buy other lands and give them to the widow and the fatherless. If the speculators run against me, they run against the buckler of Jehovah. God did not send me up as he did Joshua. In the former days God sent His servants to fight; but in the last days, He has promised to fight the battle Himself. God will deal with you Himself, and I will bless or curse you as you behave yourselves. I speak to you as one having authority, that you may know when it comes, and that you may have faith and know that God has sent me.
Some persons may perhaps inquire which is the most healthful location. I will tell you. The lower part of the town is most healthful. In the upper part of the town are the merchants, who will say that I am partial, &c.; but the lower part of the town is much the most healthful; and I tell it you in the name of the Lord. I have been out in all parts of the city, and at all hours of the night to learn these things. The doctors in this region don't know much; and the lawyers, when I speak about them, begin to say, "We will denounce you on the stand." But they don't come up; and I take the liberty to say what I have a mind to about them. Doctors won't tell you where to go to be well; they want to kill or cure you, to get your money. Calomel doctors will give you calomel to cure a sliver in the big toe; and they do not stop to know whether the stomach is empty or not; and calomel on an empty stomach will kill the patient. And the lobelia doctors will do the same. Point me out a patient and I will tell you whether calomel or lobelia will kill him or not, if you give it.
The Mississippi water is more healthful to drink than the spring water, but you had better dig wells from fifteen to thirty feet deep, and then the water will be wholesome. There are many sloughs on the islands from whence miasma arises in the summer and is blown over the upper part of the city; but it does not extend over the lower part of the city. All those persons who have not been accustomed to living on a river or lake, or large pond of water, I do not want to stay on the banks of the river. Get away to the lower part of the city, or back to the hill where you can get good well water. If you feel any inconvenience, take some mild physic two or three times, and follow that up with some good bitters. If you cannot get anything else, take a little salts and cayenne pepper. If you cannot get salts, take ipecacuanha, or gnaw down a butternut tree, or use boneset or horehound.
Those who have money, come to me, and I will let you have lands; and those who have no money, if they will look as well as I do, I will give them advice that will do them good. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Hyrum Smith made some remarks concerning the prophets. Every report in circulation not congenial to good understanding is false—false as the dark regions of hell.
Closed by singing and prayer.