wealth, which is to be seen on all sides, those who were successful grew and increased in a desire to benefit mankind at large, and that men increased in good deeds in proportion as they increased in wealth, then there would be little or no need for the young men of our community to reflect on the present condition of things, or to desire a different financial condition to prevail among us as a people than that which exists in the outside world. There are very few who retain the finer feelings of the human heart and a strong sympathy for the wellbeing of their fellows after they become possessed of a great abundance of wealth; therefore, while as a rule, riches harden the souls of men, it is a source of deep satisfaction to know there are some bright and shining exceptions. It is as refreshing to the human heart to notice these exceptions, as is the rain from heaven upon the parched earth after months of drought and the burning rays of the summer sun. Once in a while we see or hear of those possessed of immense wealth, who seem to feel that it is placed in their hands as a trust by the Giver of all Good, and they act accordingly, bringing joy and happiness to the homes and hearts of thousands. These bright and shining examples, all young men among the Latter-day Saints should desire to emulate in the event that in the providence of the Lord, they become the possessors of wealth. Were it not for the exceptions to the general rule among the rich, I am fearful that we would lose respect for the wealthy portion of mankind and feel that there was little of the spark of divinity among them. These bright exceptions cause us to retain faith in our fellows. I think that all which tends to increase our faith in mankind is good. That we are fallen beings there can be no question; and that we are able to grow and increase in good deeds to that extent that we really be come almost God-like in disposition there can also be no question. It is within the power of every man to make or mar his life. He is the builder of his own char acter, and I do not hesitate to advise every young man among the Latter-day Saints to seek to the author of his existence with all the earnestness of which he is capable; that before he shall be blessed of the Lord with the wealth of this world, he may first be blessed with wisdom to make a wise and a proper use of it. To my mind there is nothing wherein a member of the Church of Christ needs more of the assistance of heaven to aid him than in the use of riches. As a people we have many examples of men who have made shipwrecks of their faith and turned away from the gospel, on account of their wealth. It seems to be a very difficult matter for a man who is acquiring from twenty thousand to thirty thousand dollars a year to pay an honest tithing; but it is not perplexing to the man of faith working for fifty dollars a month to return onetenth thereof to the Lord. There are citizens in Salt Lake who donated one hundred dollars or more each, by the purchase of tickets to the concert in the Tabernacle for the relief of the Johnston sufferers. Some of the parties making these donations were possessed of limited means. In reading an account of the flood I saw a list of the names of those who made generous contributions, and among the number was that of a gentleman who is reputed to be worth one hundred million dollars. This man gave one thousand dollars, and his donation is recorded as a munificent gift, but it was really a paltry one in comparison with many smaller sums when the man's wealth is taken into account. "widow's mite" is a good illustration of the donations as between the wealthy and the poor in nearly every direction. I am reminded of a case where one of our ward teachers called for assistance at a certain house and the brother was very profuse in his expressions of good-will and his strong desire to assist, but he was simply unable. Some years later the same teacher called on the same man the lat ter in the meantime having been very prosperous, but when solicited for aid in a worthy cause he refused. The former interview was thereupon recalled, when he replied: "Yes, then I had the dispo The RICHES. sition, but lacked the ability, but now I have the ability, but lack the disposition." This circumstance should certainly make a strong impression on the minds of all the young men of our community. A man should not desire riches without the wisdom necessary to make a wise and proper use of them. I have heard of some of the members of the Church saying they did not think that the Lord had anything to do with financial matters. They thought that He directed us in our spiritual affairs, but not in business concern. To my mind this is as absurd as that the Lord will bless us in a small part of our labors and not in the affairs of life that occupy the greater part of our time. There can be no question that the ordinary business affairs of life do occupy the most of our time. I call to mind a certain man in the Church who is reputed to hold to the theory that the Lord has nothing to do with our financial matters, and I do not wonder at his position if all I hear of his transactions is true. I think that it is of as much if not more importance that we as members of the Church of Christ should be directed by the Almighty in business as well as in spiritual matters. The reason that I feel that it is necessary for us to be directed by the Lord in our financial doings is that I have seen so many persons make shipwreck of their faith and lose the testimony of the gospel over money matters. I think I am safe in saying that nine tenths of all the cases that come before the Bishops' Courts, before high Councils and before the Presidency of the Church, arise over some financial troubles. The illustration that I have given of the person having the desire to aid but lacking the ability, but who when possessed of the ability lacked the disposition, to my mind is a very strong one convincing of the necessity of the guidance of the Lord in our financial affairs. All Latter-day Saints are possessed of a testimony of the truth of the gospel; or, if not in possession of this testimony they should make it their first duty to obtain it. After having obtained a testimony their every act should 469 as nearly as possible conform to the laws of the Gospel, that they will not lose the testimony. We are one and all striving to so order our lives that we will be worthy of a place in the eternal world in the presence of our Heavenly Father, and I am convinced that none of us can occupy the position that the Lord does not direct in financial matters, and at the same time stand firmly in the faith of the Gospel should be so fortunate as to obtain riches. There are none of us who are in the least familar with the Bible, but will recall the case of the young man who had kept all the commandments from his youth up, but who when he was told by our Lord and Savior to go and sell all that he had and give to the poor turned away sorrowfully because he had much riches. My advice to every young man in the community, as well as to myself, is to seek earnestly to the Lord for wisdom first above all other blessings. We have been told "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also," It seems to me that no rational man, young or old, who believes that these words are inspired, can hold to the theory that we should not be directed by the Lord in all matters both spiritual and secular. The admonition is in the very nature of a warning to us not to set our hearts on things of this world. Our Lord and Master was born in a stable, and so far as we have any record, lived a life of poverty, and there is little doubt that he was looked down upon by many of the people of wealth who lived in His time. There are many of the poor and humble among the Latter-day Saints who are not thought much of to-day, but who will stand exceedingly high with the Lord on the great day of judgment. It will indeed be a day of rejoicing when the time shall arrive, if it ever does come, when the Saints of God will be blessed with riches in great abun dance, and if the people shall then also abundance is because we have not the reference to the dealings of the Lord with us as His children. their condition. I want every young man in There are the Church, and out of it for that matter, to learn the lesson that riches are good thing unless wisdom shall many things that we desire at His hands, and, judging from the wild rush after go not a hand riches, that is the all-important thing that in hand with them. A desire to possess the wealth of this world leads to the we strive for, I think that the only reason the Lord does not give us wealth in great majority of the crimes from which we REMINISCENCES OF WILLIAM C. STAINES. suffer. It is a difficult matter for a person that has an inordinate appetite for wealth to be strictly honest in his dealings. I have not been as much of a student of history as I should have liked had I been in a position to devote more time to reading; but what little I have read, as well as what I have seen, gives me the impression that decay in morals, as well as in ambition, goes hand in hand with wealth. While those who are possessed of millions, which they have accumulated by industry, go on working with increased energy to enlarge their store, as a rule their children who suddenly find themselves in the possession of wealth, with little knowledge of its value, and who have put forth no exertion to accumulate it, generally spend the money in gratifying their passions, be they good or evil. It is in the days of adversity that individuals and nations have developed. It would seem, judging from the actions of men, that we are almost justified in saying that "abundant possessions" are not among the blessings of the Lord. This is an attitude that I have never felt to assume; but on the contrary, I believe that we are indebted to Him for every blessing that we enjoy, and I rejoice when I see the people growing in wealth. I wish that one and all could have fine homes and nice carriages, and all of those things that add to our comfort and happiness in life, because I feel certain that if such were the case we would be on the increase in wisdom, or the Lord would 471 If not bless us in this direction. I feel that poverty, with the blessings of the Lord, is better than wealth without His blessings. The testimony of the Gospel causes us to cheerfully make any sacri fice that may be required of us for it. As an example, when a person obtains a knowledge of the Gospel he is willing to leave home and possessions, if need be, to gather with the Saints, and he feels that he has been more abundantly blessed of the Lord than those who have not received the testimony and who are permitted to remain in their homes and retain their possessions. wealth is the standard by which we guage the blessings of the Lord then has one man, Jay Gould, been more abundantly blessed of the Lord than any of the Saints. It would require the wealth of thousands of the latter to amount to as much as he is possessed of. The Saints have been promised that they will yet become a wealthy people, but I do not think that the day will ever dawn when we will be wealthy, unless we shall have gained more knowledge than we have at the present time, and we can be in the possession of wealth without setting our hearts on it. Eternal riches should be the high aim that all the readers of THE CONTRIBUTOR should seek for, and if they obtain them they will never have any cause for complaint, even if they never obtain "abundant possessions" in this life. Heber J. Grant. REMINISCENCES OF WILLIAM C. STAINES. THE short article furnished last month from the personal writings of Wm. C. Staines, was the end of his unpublished journal relating to his life among the Indians. The whole story, however, is told in an interesting manner in "A String of Pearls," one of the Faith Pro moting Series; and we will close this volume by giving only a brief account of that eventful period of his life. Brother Staines left his brethren and friends and joined these Indians in their nomadic life, because he believed by so doing he might do some good; that he might elevate them in their ways and habits, and perhaps learn them something of the Gospel. He remained with them for about six months, and met some experiences that few men have had. He witnessed some startling buffalo hunts and saw more than fifteen hundred of those wonderful animals, now almost extinct, killed by the wild Ponca hunters. He became ac quainted with much of the language of the tribe, and whenever occasion permitted he gave an account of the rise of the Church and the principles taught by Joseph Smith, and also of the Book of Mormon. He had a copy of the book with him and left it with the chief, who promised to preserve it while he lived, and have it preserved by his succeeding generations. During eighteen weeks of this life, Elder Staines ate no vegetables or bread. He lived mostly on fresh meat, which consisted of fish, buffalo, elk, deer, antelope, beaver, otter, dog, wolf, skunk, turkey, duck, crow and pigeon. The effect of such a diet caused a kind of scurvy to break out on his right side. Of this affliction he writes: “After remaining a few days in camp, I was one mass of boils, from the size of a pea to that of a small marble, and so close together that they touched each other. At times I suffered a great deal of pain, and at other times I suffered with itching, which was terrible. I often, on a fine day, would go where I could not be seen, get on the sunny side of a hill, strip off my clothes, and, with a flat stick, scrape off the sores." He was with the Indians in their hunts and in their tents; he witnessed their marriages, burials, and dances." But here, when doing my last work, as I then believed (writing a note and the last record in my journal), the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I received the glad tidings that I should live and not die. I was assured that I should again see my friends and brethren in the Church, that I should visit my sister who was (and is now) in England; that I should travel much, and have a home and habitation with the Saints, This, to me, was a greater testimony than anything I had ever before received." About February they had traveled to within ninety miles of the brethren's winter quarters, the Indians expecting to do some trading with the whites in March. At the chief's suggestion Elder Staines started for the camp of the Saints to tell thern of the trade, that they might know the time and place, should they desire to engage in it. After relating his dangers and narrow escapes in this lonely trip Brother Staines writes: "While walking up a small ravine, searching for a secluded place to sleep, I was greatly surprised at seeing a yoke of cattle grazing on the hill near by. I could scarcely believe my eyes, when I soon found them to be not only tame oxen, but actually belonging to my brethren. "This was such an unexpected pleasure, that, foolish as it may appear, I cried for joy. I believed that the owners of the cattle were not far off, so I climbed a hill, and saw, at a short distance, a wagon and the smoke from a camp-fire. "I looked no further for a sleeping place, but started for the wagon. "I had not gone far before I met two brethren, named respectively Matthews At Christmas, some months after he had been left alone with the Indians, his knee and right side became badly swollen and he feared death, and the horrible thoughts of dying among savages and being left to be eaten by wolves came to him, and he poured out his soul to God who gave him the consoling knowledge that he should live. He did and Foutze. They were somewhat live and wrote his testimony as follows: "It is true that I had received many testimonies, with promises that I should live, and had in different ways been convinced of the existence of God, and the truth of the Gospel as taught by Joseph Smith, the Prophet, but this day's testimony was under different circumstances and feelings. I had given up all thoughts of living; I had no fear of dying; my only trouble was about my body being removed and torn to pieces after burial. Mat startled at seeing me, and, after the first you? You are like one raised from "Both the brethren shook me the the last heartily by the hands, and thanked the Lord that I was alive. "The next evening we reached the camp, or winter quarters, of the Saints. |