History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

206 BRIGHAM YOUNG SUCCEEDS JOSEPH.
Further: though he made his people obey him, he
shared their privations. Soon we shall find him
rousing his followers from the lethargy of despair,
when their very hearts had died within them, and
when all cheeks blanched but his; speaking words of
cheer to the men, and with his own sick child in his
arms, sharing his scant rations with women and
children who held out their hands for bread.
For a brief space after the election of Brigham the
saints had rest. The city of Nauvoo continued to
thrive; 23 a portion of the temple was finished and
dedicated, 24 the building of the Nauvoo house and
council-house was progressing rapidly.
Their buildings were erected with great sacrifice
of time, and amidst difficulties and discouragement in
consequence of poverty. Money was exceedingly
scarce. 25 The revelation requiring tithing, made in
1838, was first practically applied in Nauvoo; the
tenth day was regularly given to work on the temple
the penny subscriptions of the sisters are mentioned,
which was a weekly contribution, and was intended
for the purchase of glass and nails. Every effort was
made to encourage manufacture, and to utilize their
water-power. At a meeting of the trades delegates
is not a hypocrite;' and on the next page: 'Brigharn, however deceived, is
still a bad man, and a dangerous man; and as much more dangerous, being
sincere in thinking he is doing God's work, as a madman is than an impostor.'
In Id., 136-40, we have a short and succinct narrative of Brigham 's career
up to the assassination of Joseph Smith, probably the best that has yet been
written in such brief space.
23 'Almost every stranger that enters our city is excited with astonishment
that so much has been done in so short a time.' Likewise there was
always work enough for them among the gentiles, who ' did not know how to
make a short johnny-cake until our girls taught them.' Speech of Elder
Kimball, April 8, 1845, in Id., vi. 973. Says John Taylor: 'When we first
settled in Nauvoo, . . .farming lands out of the city were worth from §1.25 to
$5 per acre; when we left they were worth from $5 to $50 per acre. We
turned the desert into a city, and the wilderness into a fruitful field or fields
and gardens.' Millennial Star, viii. 115. Bennett mentions a community farm
near Nauvoo, which was cultivated in common by the poorer classes. History
of the Saints, 191.
24 It was dedicated May 1, 1846, by Wilford Woodruff and Orson Hyde.
Two days later they held their last meeting there. Woodruff's Rein., MS., 3.
2a 'When corn was brought to my door at ten cents a bushel, and sadly
needed, the money could not be raised.' Utah Notes, MS., p. 6.
;