This was written in May, 1842. Remember the date, for I will have occasion to refer to this again before we are through.
This editorial reveals to us what is meant by laboring with your might and "to cease not their diligence." The Lord did not require all the time of the Saints to be devoted on that building, but a tithing—one-tenth of their time or means. That is all He required of them in order that they should fulfill the commandment. This is also set forth in the second vol. of the Times and Seasons, page 567, and in vol., 3 pages 938-9, but I take it for granted that the reference given is sufficient to cover this ground.
TEMPLE BUILT BY SACRIFICE.
Let us here pause a moment and see what it took to build the Temple. That structure cost more than one million dollars; the Saints were poor, and a great deal of the time the Temple was in course of erection they were harassed by their enemies. The Prophet Joseph was forced into exile to avoid his enemies who tried to drag him to Missouri, and therefore he could not devote his personal attention to the building of the Temple as he otherwise would have done; and in this way the work was retarded to some degree by the enemies of the people. Moreover, the building of that structure was not like building one today. The Saints could not order their timber from the lumber yard in a state of preparation for the Temple. There were no iron foundries from which they could obtain the required metal properly prepared; but on the contrary, every detail had to be performed by the Saints. The timber had to be hewed in the far off forests of Wisconsin, carried to Nauvoo, and cut into boards and for the various uses of the Temple. The stone had to be cut and polished from the quarries, and the whole work had to be supplied out of the tithing of the people. If the Lord had required all of their time how would they have supported their families? Of course, He could have cared for them, but it was but the tenth, mark you, of their time and means that was required. And yet some of our friends complain that the Temple was not completed inside of six months! Naturally under these conditions it would take a number of years to complete the building.
We have seen that the Saints were diligent up to May, 1842.[11] Let us now see if they did not continue their diligence. Of course, there were some who were not diligent; but not of the faithful, not of those who followed the Twelve. At the April conference, 1844, the Patriarch Hyrum Smith, addressing the Saints, said:
"I am one of the committee (i. e., Temple committee); the committee tell me the quarry is blockaded, it is filled with rock, the stone cutters are wanting work; come on with your teams as soon as conference is over. It is not necessary for me to tell who will come and do it; I will prophesy that you will do it. There is not one in the city but that will do right if they know it, only one or two exceptions, and they are not worth notice; God will take care of them, and if He doesn't, the devil will." (T. & S., 5:597).
Now, I know that Hyrum Smith was a prophet of God, the Lord declared it, and his prophecy did not fail. This shows the willingness of the Saints to do this work as late as 1844.
In a communication to the Times and Seasons, October 13, 1844, signed "C," we have the following:
"The Temple is rising even faster than could have been anticipated, and has a very imposing appearance."
Again on page 744, of volume 5, Times and Seasons, (December 15, 1844), this is stated: