“Then you agree in principle at least that, since heaven is a pure and perfectly holy place and those who dwell there are in the presence of God and the angels, a man could have more than one wife at the same time and not have it be an evil thing?”
“Yes,” Nathan said reluctantly, “I agree.”
Brigham squeezed his shoulder and chuckled. “That was not much of an agreement, my friend.”
“No,” Nathan said earnestly, “I can see that for heaven. But here? To have two wives at the same time? I’m not sure that is the same thing. It would be terribly difficult, and I’m not sure that it could ever be right.”
“So it’s wrong on earth, but acceptable in heaven?”
“I know, I know,” Nathan exclaimed. “What you say makes sense in a way, but . . . it just seems so wrong, Brigham. I can’t believe God would ever require it of us.”
They were stopped completely now, under the shade of a spreading oak tree. Brigham was silent, watching the anguish playing across Nathan’s face. Finally, Nathan straightened, looking directly at the Apostle. “Has Joseph . . . ?” He stopped as Brigham cocked his head in warning.
“I can’t and I won’t speak for Joseph,” he said.
“I know. I’m sorry. I understand.”
“Good.” Now Brigham smiled, the sternness gone as quickly as it had come. “Let me tell you a story, Nathan. Maybe you won’t see how this is related to what we’re talking about, but it is the same principle.”
Nathan nodded glumly, still greatly distressed. Brigham hadn’t answered anything directly, but he had as much as said it straight out and Nathan was shaken.
“In 1838, while we were in Missouri, Joseph and the brethren wished me to go among the branches of the Church and find out what surplus property the people had. I was to take that property under the law of consecration and forward it on to Far West for the building of the temple there.”
Now Nathan was paying attention. “I remember that.”
“Before I started, I asked brother Joseph, ‘Tell me, who shall be the judge of what is surplus property?’ Said he, ‘Let them be the judges themselves, for I care not if they do not give a single dime. So far as I am concerned, I do not want anything they have. This is for the Lord.’ That was good enough for me, so I went out to ask them for their surplus property as instructed.”
“And did they give it to you?” Nathan asked.
“Well,” Brigham said, a faint smile playing around the corners of his mouth now, “it was an interesting thing. When I talked with the people, I found them willing to do about as they were counseled. ‘Do you accept the law of consecration?’ I would ask. They would nod their heads and solemnly say, ‘Amen, Brother Brigham.’ ‘Are you willing to give your surplus to the Lord?’ ‘Amen and amen, Brother Brigham.’”
Now his voice had turned sardonic. “But when I then asked them what surplus property they had, it was a very different matter. One would say, ‘I have got so many hundred acres of land, and I have got so many boys, and I want each one of them to have eighty acres, therefore this is not surplus property.’ Another would say, ‘I have got so many girls, and I do not believe I shall be able to give them more than forty acres each.’ Then I would point out that that would still leave about two or three hundred acres. ‘Yes,’ came the quick reply, ‘but I have a brother-in-law coming on and he will depend on me for a living. My wife’s nephew is coming of age and will be coming out here. He is poor and I shall have to furnish him a farm after he arrives here.’”
Nathan was smiling now, amused at the picture Brigham was drawing.
“Oh, some were disposed to do right with their surplus property and gave freely. But more commonly when you did find a man with a surplus cow he was willing to give, she was of the class that would kick a person’s hat off, or knock your eyes out, or the wolves had eaten off her teats.”
Nathan had been chuckling; now he guffawed right out loud.
“And you might find a man who had a horse that he considered surplus, but the animal had the ringbone, was broken-winded, spavined in both legs, had the pole evil at one end of the neck and a fistula at the other, and both knees sprung.”
Nathan roared.
“You think I jest?” Brigham said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “That is exactly how it happened.” Then the humor receded. “I tell you, Nathan, there’s a lesson in this. I wanted to see the people practice out of doors what they hypocritically professed before the Lord indoors. Oh, when their children are taken sick, or their wives, or husbands, how humble they then are. They send for the elders to pray for them. ‘If you heal my wife,’ they say to the Lord, ‘then we’ll give ourselves and all we have to thee.’ And so the Lord makes them well by his power. But then what happens? They say, ‘It is mine, and I will have it for myself.’”
It was as if Brigham suddenly remembered why he had started all of this in the first place. “Nathan, it’s one thing to raise the hand to the square and say, ‘Oh, yes, I believe Brother Joseph is our prophet. I believe the Lord speaks to him. Thank you, Lord, for Brother Joseph.’ It is something else to say that same thing when the bullets are flying around your head, or when the bank collapses and you lose all your money, or when Joseph asks you to give up your surplus property, or when evil men spread terrible stories about Joseph. Or—” He leaned forward, peering into Nathan’s eyes. “Or when Joseph tells us that the Lord has commanded us to do something that goes against everything we believe, everything we hold dear. Then—then is when you find out if a man is going to live his religion out of doors as well as in.”
Brigham straightened again. “Anything further that you wish to know, you shall have to ask Joseph.”
Joseph found Benjamin in the backyard, spading up his garden plot. He waved and came through the gate. “Morning, Brother Ben.”
“Well, good morning, Joseph. What brings you by this way?”
“On my way to the quarry, then on up to the temple site.”
“How do you keep it all going, Joseph?” Benjamin asked, planting the shovel in the ground and then coming over to stand beside him.
“Keep all of what going?”
“Supervising the temple, running a store, being a father, translating, leading the Church? It seems like it never ends.”
Joseph smiled gently. “Do you think I want it to end,
Benjamin?”
That took him by surprise. “No, I guess not.”
“It’s a busy life, but I wouldn’t trade any part of it. God is at the helm, and I’m pleased that he sees fit to use me as one of his instruments. It is a joy as well as a challenge.”
“Of course,” Benjamin said, a little chastened. Just the other night he had been having another one of his “walks through the valley of the shadow of death,” as Mary Ann called them. But Joseph was right. Life could be challenging, but there was great joy in it as well.
Joseph clapped him on the shoulder. “But that’s not why
I came by. I’ve come to ask you if you can come to the store tomorrow.”
“Of course. What time?”
“In the morning, say about ten?”
“Fine. Do you need me to bring anything?”
“No, but come prepared to spend a good part of the day.”
One eyebrow came up and Joseph smiled. “I cannot say more, but come prepared to spend some time.”
“All right.”
A shadow passed across Joseph’s face. “Ben, we have been friends for many years. You know how I feel about your family.”
“I do, Joseph. And you know how we feel about you and yours.”
“May I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Tell me about Nathan.”
Benjamin couldn’t hide the startled look that flashed in his eyes. “Nathan?”
“Yes. I sense he is troubled. I also know that he is asking many questions of late. He’s talked to John Taylor. He met with Brigham. George A. says he asked him if they coul
d talk some time.”
Joseph stopped, not bothering to ask the question. He didn’t have to. Benjamin looked into his eyes and knew that he could not withhold what he knew. So he told him. Joseph already knew all about Bennett, so Benjamin told him the rest of what had transpired that day in Carl’s office at the brickyard. He told him about Nathan’s commitment to investigate the matter and have an answer by the time Joshua returned.
Joseph listened carefully, nodding from time to time. “That helps,” was all he said when Benjamin finished.
“He’ll work it through,” Benjamin assured him.
Joseph didn’t answer. He was looking past Benjamin now. “The Lord will test his people. And sometimes it seems like he tests us in ways we never expect.”
“Is this a test?” Benjamin asked quietly.
Joseph looked at him for a long, searching moment. “I have learned this, Brother Ben. There are greater tests than mobs and persecutions. There are greater sacrifices than languishing for months in a jail.”
Benjamin nodded slowly, not sure if that was the answer to his question or not.
“From the beginning,” Joseph went on, “from the very first time I told Nathan about my experience in the grove, he believed. He’s never wavered, never doubted. He’s been one of the most loyal friends and associates I have had. Through it all he has never faltered.”
“I know. He’s like Mary Ann in that regard,” Benjamin said.
“Yes. Your wife is another one. Well . . .” He sighed. “Don’t try to stop him, Ben. Let him dig. Let him question and probe. Otherwise he shall never be satisfied.”
Benjamin chose his words carefully now. “And what if what he finds shakes him, Joseph? He is so sure that this couldn’t be possible. This could hit him very hard.”
If Benjamin was hoping for reassurance he didn’t get it. Joseph just shook his head. “I hope his roots are deep enough.”
Benjamin’s eyes widened. Now Joseph’s eyes were filled with sorrow. “I had considered inviting Nathan tomorrow as well. Now . . . I think it better that we wait.”
Joseph made as if to leave, but had a sudden thought. “Benjamin, I want you to sit down with Mary Ann tonight. Tell her everything. Even about Nathan.”
“But—”
“I know that you agreed together that you would not talk about this to anyone else, but I want Mary Ann to know. You need her wise counsel, Benjamin. You need her great faith. No one else, but you tell Mary Ann.”
“Yes, Joseph.”
“Good. I’ll see you in the morning. We’ll meet upstairs in my private office.”
Chapter Notes
While having Nathan and Benjamin Steed bring a report to Joseph about Bennett’s activities is obviously not part of actual history, it was at exactly this time that Joseph seems to have learned about the full extent of what was happening. In his history the entry for 29 April 1842 reads: “A conspiracy against the peace of my household was made manifest, and it gave me some trouble to counteract the design of certain base individuals, and restore peace. The Lord makes manifest to me many things, which it is not wisdom for me to make public, until others can witness the proof of them.” (HC 4:607–8.)
Brigham’s reasoning about plural marriage in heaven and his comments on the law of consecration are drawn from his own writings and sermons (see American Moses, p. 101; JD 2:306–7).
Chapter 27
Benjamin was surprised as he climbed the stairs to the upper floor of Joseph’s store. Joseph was waiting at the door to his private office and greeted him warmly. When Joseph showed him in, there were only five others there in the small room—Brigham Young; Heber Kimball; William Law, Second Counselor in the First Presidency; William Marks, president of the Nauvoo Stake; and a man Benjamin didn’t know.
“Benjamin,” Joseph said, coming in right behind him, “this is General James Adams. General, this is Benjamin Steed.”
The man was about the same age as Benjamin, perhaps a little older. He arose and they shook hands. “The general is from Springfield and will be with us only through today,” said Joseph. And then to Adams, “Benjamin is a longtime friend and faithful member of the Church.” He pulled a wry face. “He and I used to share the same jail cell.”
Benjamin nodded. And in that same cell Joseph had once administered to him and saved his life, he thought. But he said nothing of that.
“Come in and sit down. The others should be here shortly.”
Even as he spoke they heard footsteps on the stairs, and a moment later Hyrum was at the door. He was accompanied by Elder Willard Richards and two of the city’s bishops—Bishop Newel K. Whitney and Bishop George Miller. As they shook hands all around and were introduced to General Adams, Joseph shut the door. Benjamin was surprised. Was this it? Here was the Prophet, one of his counselors, three Apostles, the Patriarch of the Church, a stake president, and two bishops. General Adams was obviously a member of the Church but he didn’t know anything more about him. And then there was Benjamin Steed. He felt strange and out of place.
Joseph came and sat down at his writing table so that he was facing the group. He looked around at them and smiled warmly. His eyes were wide and filled with pleasure. “Brethren,” he began, “welcome. I appreciate your coming. We are pleased to have Brother Adams with us.”
The general nodded and murmured something in reply.
“The communications I have to make to this council today are of things spiritual. They are to be received only by the spiritually minded. The things which are about to be given to you, and which will eventually be given to the Church, are most assuredly governed by the principle of revelation. They are most sacred and are not to be discussed, except in general terms, outside of this room.”
He hadn’t asked them for assent on that, but he stopped and looked around the room. Each of the men nodded as the Prophet’s eyes fell on them.
When he continued, it was with the greatest of solemnity. “Today, I shall be instructing you in the principles and order of the priesthood, attending to washings, anointings, endowments, and the communication of keys pertaining to the Aaronic Priesthood and so on to the highest order of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
“Brigham and Heber will remember that I spoke to the Twelve of an endowment in the fall of 1835, before the temple in Kirtland was dedicated. We had introduced the ordinance of the washing of feet, but I told them that the endowment about which they were so anxious could not be comprehended then, nor could Gabriel explain it to the understanding of darkened minds.”
Brigham was nodding. “You told us that we must strive to be prepared in our hearts, to be faithful in all things, to be watchful and prayerful, and that if we did, we should sometime get a blessing worth remembering.”
“Yes,” Joseph said, pleased that he recalled it so clearly. “I then said something like this to the brethren there assembled: ‘You need an endowment, brethren, in order that you may be prepared and able to overcome all things.’ You also know that I introduced you in part to the ordinances of washing and anointing. This was preparatory to your receiving the full order of things.”
He stopped and took a deep breath. The room was very still. Every eye was upon him. “Brethren, that time has now come. We are here today to set forth the order pertaining to the Ancient of Days. We are here to communicate all those plans and principles by which anyone is enabled to secure the fulness of those blessings which have been prepared for the Church, those things which are necessary if you are to come up and abide in the presence of Elohim in the eternal worlds.”
His shoulders lifted and fell again, as if he had shrugged off a burden he had been carrying. He looked around at them and smiled. “Brethren, shall we begin?”
“It was glorious, Mary Ann. An ordinance of the most sublime beauty, and revelation of the most profound truths. Oh, I wish I were free to tell you about it.”
“I know,” she said wistfully, “so do I.”
“It is a grand thing,” he went on. “The
endowment itself is richly symbolic of our journey through life and back into God’s presence. And throughout, we were shown how to gain greater power and authority from God until we have all that is required to return to his presence.”
She reached across the table and took both of his hands. “It sounds wonderful, Benjamin. I am envious.”
His head shot up. “But I forgot to tell you that part. Joseph said this is not just for the brethren of the priesthood. In a short time he shall give the endowment to the women as well.”
“Really?” Her eyes were suddenly shining. “Oh, Benjamin, that would be wonderful.”
He leaned back, shaking his head. “I still do not understand why I was included.”
Her eyes softened. “Because Joseph knows what you are and what you have to give.”
He barely heard that. “And when I think that Nathan might have been there if not for his . . .” He blew out his breath. “I’m glad he doesn’t know.”
Mary Ann’s mouth pulled down. “Lydia is troubled, Benjamin.”
“She is?”
“Yes. Nathan is clearly distressed, but he won’t say anything to her.”
“That was our promise to each other.”
“He came back from seeing Brother Brigham greatly agitated. But he would tell her nothing. Benjamin, it isn’t right. She can help him. She needs to know. Melissa needs to know. She is worried sick about what Carl has been doing.”
Benjamin rubbed a hand across his eyes. “You’re right, of course. I will speak to Joseph. Ask him for his counsel.”
He stopped, peering at her intently. “And what of you, Mary Ann? Now that you’ve had the day to ponder all of this, what do you think?”
“I am horrified at what John Bennett is up to.”
“And what of the other?”
She looked down at her hands. When she spoke she didn’t look up. “You think there’s a chance it’s true, don’t you? You think Joseph has been told by the Lord to institute the practice of plural marriage, don’t you?”
He finally nodded. “I think there is a very good chance that he has.”
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