John Taylor:

A Letter from Exile

John Taylor, third President of the Church, was born November 1, 1808, at Milnthorpe, England. He was ordained an Apostle December 19, 1838, by Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. He was sustained as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles October 6, 1877, and sustained as President of the Church April 10, 1880, at the age of 71. President Taylor died July 25, 1887, at Kaysville, Utah, at the age of 78.

For this installment of our series on the writings and sermons of the Presidents of the Church, we have selected excerpts from an epistle written by President Taylor and his first counselor, George Q. Cannon. The epistle was read to the members of the Church who were gathered at general conference in April of 1886.

During this period the Church was undergoing severe persecution. Anti-Mormons living in Utah and elsewhere, along with the local and national press and many ministers of other religions, conducted a campaign of slander and hatred against the Church, centering around the doctrine of plural marriage. As a result, the Federal government of the United States passed harsh laws that denied the right to vote, hold public office, or serve on juries, to those who lived in plural marriage. Also, those who entered into plural marriage could be sentenced to a fine of $500 and to five years in prison.

These laws were designed to discriminate solely against Latter-day Saints. Federal officials sent into Utah, along with anti-Mormons already living in the state, vigorously worked to identify and prosecute Church members who were living the law of plural marriage. Wives and children were forced to testify in court against their own husbands and fathers. As a result, men who were law abiding were forced to go into hiding. Among these were many Church leaders, including President Taylor, and his first counselor, President George Q. Cannon.

(Joseph F. Smith, second counselor in the First Presidency, was serving a mission to Hawaii at the time.)

And so it was while he was in hiding from threatened prosecution that President Taylor (and President Cannon) wrote the following.

However grievous the persecutions for which we suffer today, there is much yet to be thankful for. Our land is filled with abundant food. No cry of man nor beast ascends from our borders to high heaven for the want of food; no beggars plead for alms in our streets, and no destitute soul had denied to him that sustenance necessary to supply his wants. And with these blessings of good food, comfortable raiment and sufficient shelter, we have the inestimable blessing of the peace of God, which He gives to every faithful Saint—peace in our hearts, peace in our habitations, peace in our settlements—a peace which the world cannot give, and which, thank the Lord, it cannot take away. Let your hearts, therefore, brethren and sisters, be filled with thanksgiving and praise to our God for His goodness and mercy unto us as a people. He has made promises concerning Zion; be assured He will not forget those promises. Zion may say, in the words of the Prophet Isaiah, “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.” (Isa. 49:14.)

But the Lord replies:

“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee … Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” (Isa. 49:15, 16.)

At no time has the Lord led His people to expect that they would not have to endure trials, or not have their faith fully tested.

Soon after this Church was organized His people were told: “for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy; for if ye will not abide in my covenant, ye are not worthy of me.” (D&C 98:14–15.) We scarcely need remind you that if you live godly in Christ Jesus, while Satan has power, you will suffer persecution.

In the providence of the Almighty, persecution serves a most useful purpose. Every faithful Saint must perceive and acknowledge this. Each one feels its effect upon himself; he sees its effect upon his friends and neighbors. Persecution develops character. Under its influence we all know ourselves better than we did before we felt its pressure; and we discover traits in our brethren and sisters of which, perhaps, we were in entire ignorance. The persecution from which we have been suffering during these past eighteen months, though very painful, has not been without profit to the Latter-day Saints. It has strengthened and infused new zeal, courage and determination into the faithful. It has also caused many who were careless and indifferent to arouse themselves from their lethargy and to renew their diligence in the work of God. It has also brought to light the hypocrisy of many, and caused them to throw off the mask of friendship and fellowship which they wore, and to exhibit themselves in their true character. But it is upon the young of our community that the effect of this persecution has been most marked. Many of the young of both sexes, when all was peace and no war was made upon their parents and friends, seemed to be of the opinion that they could, without any danger to themselves or their faith, be in full fellowship with the world. The names Latter-day Saints and Gentile were alike to them. They appeared to see no reason why they could not be on terms of perfect friendship with both classes. Every Latter-day Saint of experience knows how dangerous it is for children to believe this. But from this delusive dream they have been awakened to rude shock of this persecution. The line of demarcation between the Latter-day Saints and the world has been drawn so sharp and distinct that they find themselves (unless they become open apostates) compelled to take sides with their parents and friends; and the difference between their religion and that which is opposed to it is shown clearly to their hearts and consciences with a force never before known to them. This persecution is driving the rising generation together with surprising compactness. It is making impressions upon the youngest children of the community which the future years can never obliterate. They are learning the truth of the words of the Savior by the painful experience which our enemies are now giving them. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John 15:19.)

As the world must yet know, the faith that was taught by the Lord Jesus to the Apostles, and by them to the world, and that brings forth the same fruits now as then, can only be extinguished in a pure people by their destruction. It is this faith that the Lord has restored to the earth, and that we possess. So long as men and women who receive it remain pure, that faith will live and thrive and bring forth the fruits of righteousness. This every Latter-day Saint has proved. But faith should be cultivated. By cultivation it increases. The present is a time when the Latter-day Saints should devote themselves to their religion with all the ardor of their souls. They should so live as to enjoy the Holy Ghost and its gifts for themselves. These are needed by every man and woman to enable them to endure the trials which they have to meet.

At this point it may not be improper to again solemnly warn the officers and members of the Church against all conduct that tends to immorality and unchastity. We are being continually, though most falsely, accused of teaching and practicing sexual vice under the garb of religion. No charge could be more utterly false; for no system of philosophy, no code of ethics, no articles of religion since the world was first peopled, ever taught more strictly and emphatically than does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the paramount necessity of personal purity in the relations of the sexes. Of this the Saints are well aware. Let us see to it, then, that our actions correspond with our faith; for we may be sure that no prominence of opposition, no ties of family, no influence of wealth can save us from the penalty if we break the law of God in this regard. But a few weeks ago it became the sad duty of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to sever from the communion of the Saints one of its members who had violated the law of chastity. He was a man of education, of experience, of judgement, of long standing in the Church, but neither these nor his exalted position to the Priesthood could save him from the penalty of the law he had so flagrantly broken. And as with him, so with all others. The law must be administered by the officers of the Church with justice and impartiality, with malice towards none, but with due regard to the commands of God and the honor of His holy name. Hear it, O house of Israel! ye who are seeking to attain to the Celestial Kingdom of our Father—none but the pure in heart can see God; none but those who have sanctified all their affections and passions by entire and complete subservience to His laws can dwell in His eternal presence! Let us also remember that the condition of a community, as a whole, depends upon the conditions of the individuals composing it; as are its component parts, so is it in its SIC entirety. If the individual members of a people are wise, just, intelligent, honest, honorable and pure, that community will be distinguished among other communities by those peculiar virtues. To apply the lesson to ourselves, each one for himself, if we wish to see the Church of Christ prepared as a bride for the Savior, we must, individually, live our religion and exemplify in our own lives those virtues which we know must adorn the bride before she can enter the presence of her Lord. This matter of personal purity, faith, diligence and good works is one that we cannot delegate to our neighbor, or make the responsibility of other men and women; but each must do his own duty, each bear his own responsibilities, each set his own house in order (D&C 93:43), each magnify his calling (D&C 84:33), each live near unto God, if he expects God to draw nigh unto him. (James 4:8).