The Deseret News from Salt Lake City, Utah • 4

i i JL 1 i- i A 77 THE wlm deserret MR- rr IT aste VV ML roilroll REMARKS by elder walford WOODRUFF at the funeral services of elder william pillpitt dittin fittin in the fourteenth ward assembly rooms kooms saltsall laie lake city sunday morning fab Fc 23 1873 REPORTED BY I 1 IV EVANS I 1 MY ly friends here hero kindly granted me the privilege of making some opening remarks on this occasion ahad I 1 had an appointment in 0 oden ogden den today to day but when I 1 heard of the death of brother pitt I 1 felt as though I 1 wanted to attend hisfuneral if I 1 had heard that one of my own family had dropped dead I 1 should not have been more surprised than thai a I 1 was when wilen I 1 heard of the death of brother pitt ritt I 1 was conversing with him in tile the street I 1 think the day before he was hurt and he was then apparently cheerfulcomfort- able well and happy when I 1 hoard that ho he was dead I 1 immediately went to his house visited his family and an saw his body I 1 will say that I 1 seldom or ever give way to th weeping either for the living pr thedeas the dead but ut upon this occasion when I 1 saw his big body lie wid gid in death all the early scenes of my acquaintance with himin the hem mission rushed upon me like a whirlwind and I 1 confess that I 1 manifested a good deal of weakness in giving way to weeping before the family solomon says there is a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to rejoice and there are times when reason will excuse weeping anthony said baid 1 I come to bury csar caesar not to pra praise so him yet ant- hony did on that occasion por tray before the tho senate and citizens of rome the virtues of caesar in his public life wo we have come to bury brother pitt and I 1 do not consider it wrong to speak of the virtues and good deeds of the dead any more than of thoseof the living my first acquaintance with brother pitt was of such a characters characcharae teras fo vo cause the formation of ties between us of no ordinary nature as it is I 1 may say with allthe as associations so ciati ons of the eldersof israel the world knows nothing about these ties lie the tieslies they form together are very diffie different rent from those formed between the servants servant of god who are associated together in the holy priesthood and by the power of the holy ghost andthe inspiration of the lord our god these are ties that no men comprehend unless they occupy the same position that we occupy I 1 have found this in my whole career with this church and kingdom I 1 love the brethren andthe saints of god because we are associated together in a great noble and godlike cause and these associations are to ourselves i and arid what more can a man do than lay lav down his life for his friend how hov many are there in this room and in this church and kingdom who in in i caseease of necessity would be willing to lay down clown their lives to save their brethren there are thousands of them I 1 wish and feel that it is my privilege to refer to my first maince with brother pitt whose body lies before us today to day the I 1 history of the herefordshire Hereford shire mission is before the world and before the church and I 1 wish in a fewwords to refer to that mission for it was there that I 1 became acquainted with brother pitt brother taylor and I 1 were the first two of the quorum of the twelve who arrived in england in 1840 brother taylor went to liverpool and I 1 went to ieic staffordshire potteries I 1 labored there with brother alfred cordon who is now in the spirit world we were wore pm preaching aching almost every night and we wo baptized soine nearly every meeting it was a very good mission some eighty miles from there in in Hereford shir there were people who had never freen seen a latter day saint and never heard tho the gospel some six hundredof them had broken ro offfrom Wesleyan the metho- dists and called theme themo solvesselves the united brethren they were under the presidency of of elder Thos Kington they were searching for light and truth As a body they had called upon the lord anu ana had advanced lust just as far as they could with what light they had th they prayed to the lord that he would woul open the way before them milt that theymight advance in the things of his hia kingdom while in this position I 1 went one evening to fill an appointment in bho tho town hall at the tho town of hanley there was a very largo largecongregation and I 1 had appointments out for two or three wee weeks in that town and adjacent villages As I 1 went to take my seat beat the spirit of the lord camo came upon me TOO and said to me this is the last meeting you will will holdhoid with this thia people for many days I 1 was surprised because 1 I 1 did not know of course what the lord wanted me to do I 1 told the assembly when I 1 rose this is the last meeting I 1 shall hoidhold holdrith holdhoid with you for many days they asked me after meeting where I 1 was going goin I 1 told them I 1 did not know I 1 went before the lord in my closet and asked him where he wished visited me to go and all the answer I 1 could gettas get was to go to tile the south I 1 1 got into a stage and rodo eighty miles south as I 1 was led by the tilo spirit of the lord the first mans marts house I 1 went into was john Ben bows bowls he lives now down here at cottonwood I 1 had some conversation with brother benbow and I 1 told him that the lord had sent me to that place but without wishing 9 to dwell oil on this subject I 1 will say bay that I 1 learned that they ey hundred people there thero tinder elder kingtonjungton called united bretherenand that they had been praying to the lord for guidance in the way of ilde lifo and salvation then I 1 knew why i by the lord had sent me to that place behe had sent them ithem what they hadbad been praying tying for I 1 commenced preaching the gospel to them kud mud I 1 also commenced gelta baptizing elder pitt being among ththe first who was baptized by me intothis church and kingdom the first thirty days after I 1 arrived there I 1 had baptized forty five pre preachers which flung nearly fifty preaching cahilig places licensed by I 1 law lr into info myray hands and out of the BIX six hundred belonging to elderkins elder elden ring king tons lody body jody iliiii all ill were baptized but ong one in seven months labor I 1 brought eighteen hundredinto ther thee church in that mission and I 1 will say that the tile power of god rested ulon ajon on me and upon the people there was wag a spirit to convince and a pe people opleopie whose hearts wore were open and ready to receive the tile gospel and as jesus said ili in reference to john that all judea and Jeru jenujerusalem beni went out to johns joints baptism I 1 felta feltfeit a sr if all herefordshire Herefordshire was va comingedming to be baptized the third meeting that I 1 held at brother the recto rector of the place sent senta a cons conk constabletabletabie to take mo up I 1 was just about abolt to begin when ho he entered I 1 saidsald eaideald to him ham take hakea a chair until after meet ludiud and livell I 1 willwiil attend to you he ho sat down and when I 1 got through lieho came forward and I 1 baptized him with others he went back and told the rector if you want to take up that man you must go yourself I 1 have havo hefa beia heard heia him preach the tile first gospel serman bermon sermon ever over heard leard in the world almost every evert man that came to meeting mee was baptized I 1 did notsie not gee elder kington for someromo littletime after going there and when I 1 did sea him he came to meas the tile leader of the ix people opleopie I 1 laid before him the gospel he said if it is true I 1 wish to embrace it if not I 1 shallshail oppose oppose it I 1 said that is night right lit but- i made a covenant with him isaid I 1 saidsald to him ayou if you sou will go before the tile lord and ask him it this thia vork work is true I 1 promise you jou in the name of tho the lord jesus christ that you shall receive a testimony for your self isyou will promise disc to obeobo obey oboy he said ho be would and ho he went away to attend to his appointments the next time he came to brother BenBeu bows bowls a few days afterwards I 1 asked him if ho he hadbad enquired of the lord he saidsald lie had what did the lord tell you he told me it was true and he then said lie he was ready to obey the gospel andl andI and I 1 baptized him I 1 I 1 namoname this because as soon as brother pitt ritt heard this gospel lie he obeyed it and he was one of tho the leading men in the tilechoir of the church of engl- and in dimock I 1 now wish to relate a concerning him tile the first meeting I 1 held in elder King tons house brother was present presents I 1 willwiil CT illlil say fay first however that mary biary pitt ritt brother pitts sister was something like the lame man who lay at the gate gale of tho the temple called beautiful at jerusalem she had not been able to walk a step for fourteen years and confined to her bed nearly half that time she had no strength in her feet and ankles and could only on move about a little with a crutz crutch or holding on to a chair she wished to be baptized brother pitt and myself took her in our arms and canton her into anti ube iho water and I 1 baptized her when bbsaha came out of tho mater I 1 confirmed her sho she said she wanted to beb I 1 believed she hadT althaith enodel tobb to bb be healed I 1 hadbad had experience enough in this church to know thabit require required dw a good deal of faithfalth to heal a person penson who 0 had not walked a stop for fourteen yeats years I 1 told her to her faith it should be unto herber ft it so happened that the i day after a lie she iioilo was baptized brothe brollier Brot iierlier richards and president preside fet fit brigham young came camer down to seo see me we met at brother ring King tons tona sister mary pitt wm wad there aisoalso I 1 told president young what sister pitt wished and und that she bhe believed dshe had faith enough to tol be healed we wo frayed prayed for her and laid hands handi upon her brother young was as mouth i and commanded her to be ma made de whole abold she laid down her crutch and never used it if after andthe tile next day she walked three miles i this created a grea great deaideal of a nger auger and madness in the feelth feelings dad cad of the rector of thatthai town we mno had baptized brother pitt and this took one brie erom from his choln choir ofsh seigers igers and he folt felt angry we were vere li bolding a meeting at 3 elder hing King tous tons tona house icib one evening when theato thease things werm taking place the house hadbad very erf eif heavy shuttersshut term tere on the windows at of the first storey we had these shutt erd ord closed and I 1 rose eto to preach reach the roctor rector ame at the head of abbat fifty menraen armed with rocks about the size of a mans feht or I 1 larger ef than that at they nd ed 4 the house ehouse and for a about ut halfbalf an hour the house was vas battered with rocks like a hailhall i allail the tile whole odthe orthe windom window clows of mhd storey being stove in and the tile glass all broken I 1 told brother pitt that I 1 aou would edgo go and ree pee these men hid he saidsald NO I 1 will go you will win be in he went wont out into the tho midst of this mob of about fifty I 1 should judged I 1 do lalk ber he took tiit tiie rhames and alid the rector was the tile leader They stoned brother pitt back to the houe but arwe as wo had finished meeting they left we vf had to clear the thee bousehouse broken glass alid and rocksbefore we could retire to bed I 1 name ariae this is because it wais wass one of brutherbrother first labors with me and wi will say my that from that thit time until the present he lie has been a true and faili fu 1 servi servant tnt of god andlor and of th this church associations of this kind haye have been formed by all the elders israel who have gone abroad into the vineyard to preach tho the goepelgospel wo we go forehand fort forth hand and gather strangers 0 us in inthe the flesh buthut they embrace the same samo testimony and gospel with this tills was the case caso with ith Brot brother llerlier pitt I 1 do hot not mourn for him I 1 did not when I 1 was at his house hode but all nil thene these scenes and earleari early associations on my milly mind and as ig I 1 gazed upon it po 11 2111 him an audand thought of the way lie he hadbad had been stricken down taken away frol from Us when to tb allbut allail human nan app appearance Varance it 0 was butdut an hour before as asi ll 11 were enjoying health and strength and and attending to the duties pf af life I 1 realized that in the midst of ilfelife we are in death tn in his associations with this claunch and wid king kingdom donidonl brother pitt was leader of tile uny nau- voo bi brasshlass ass la band nd for a log longiong time ho be hasliar alsoaiso beebi associated with the various bands here 1 and in his with the people ho he madeloade a great many mends monds to td whom bobb was elteli endeared because be of ill lit histo man any virtues and good deeds and his disposition i and desire cleOre to sarveserve god I 1 am certainly giadglad tos tot eo many maby friends gathered together to honor his ills remains when I 1 realize that a man mad like him has ived lived ined IN ed heard beam the ors ois gospel embraced it and has fulfilled the measure of his day what ennean eancan we say about him bini can we mourn because he is gone gond el biesbles at your soul boul he is with ith joseph today to day and with others of the elderseiders of israel and lie rejoices with them whether Wh ellier his spirit is herm here witnessing his hia funeral services I 1 cannot can nou not say it is not dot revealed to me mo to say that ile lip ia 13 hapl hadl happe happy an and blessed are libe jibe dead thau thai balb die dio in tho the lord nord from henceforth saith thotile spirit for they mt ret from their fabors labors and their works do follow thoro ther ltv icv I 1 do ao pot know kilow whether brother pitt hahas preached much in the world bild but do know that khat lie he bashas labored for the beneat benefit of thesaints ints of god but he will preach now he hab has gone to the other side of the vallvail and he will ivill preach there to large assemblies of spirits he has bem beenfaithful and arid be will receive a crown of life his body will lie lio in the tomb a few vears years and but a few I 1 ria hia 4 death th Is a I 1 loss oss to his affo a andnd chi hiren and the Is grievous but bub now glorious Is the thought thau that theme there is amatory over tho the grate grave in lu ad adm all au died but bubb in christ ch irla nil all are made alive hilve christ was the first fruits of tile the resurrection this thib li a florl glorious odi thou thought I 1 to me when I 1 see bee a latter latte day aay ay saint lie down with the harness on true and faithful until ho hp lias has wound lap jap aphia his work vork out of af that 1800 which we baptized in herefordshire Herefordshire in lit seven month months I 1 hardly know one that has turned against tim tig church there has been ida lea apostasy apo stacystaey out of that branch of the church and kingdom of god than out of the same number from any part of the world that I 1 am acquainted with we vve an am called every day or two to bur bure some of them A agold good many of them are still living some sonic of tb emare ame are bibio bishops bro broi clark bro au audand a food good nia nii many ny of them thern ica scattered tt ered al altall through this territory old father kington is abill living or ot was the last I 1 heardbeard of or him liim though near tile the grave they ane are avas ayas away avay and when iw I 1 went eui cut to boe BOH brother pitt 8 body tile the thought thou giltglit came to ma me chose turn go next may be mine may be yours youns we yve cancau not tell anything aboutit these things should be anau admonition to us to be true and faithful while we dwell here hene the thought that thau wo we can obey and be sanctified by the tho gospel and be pared thel thereby dby to inherit eternal prepared ire Bre ife fe iss is onone bethe of the tho most moat glorious principles eyer oyer revealed to man I 1 flank god 00 that I 1 live in this 4 daf day a 1 and age ago of the world I 1 jhan than thank god that tha I 1 have been a with such suell a claciaclass ss of men and lud women as those who are gathered today in the valleys of the mountains they are the people whom the lord has ebchosen osen lve we have a hope that the world knows not of and it can not tilte enter into their though thought 4 unless they ai are bom of the spirit of god they can not even see the kingdom of god and they can not riot gt get into if it unless they are bornboru of the water va ter and of the spirit hence they I 1 can not share in the joyous ant anticipations el 1 i audand hopes that we possess their eye eve cars and hearts ar amm are not opened to see gee and hearbearand feel the ther power powen pow er of the gospel of christ brother pitt has gone gond benoie before his family to prepare a place for them I 1 say to them let lef your hearts rejoice before the ilip lord youart you arm are left alone he has haa gone before yo he kailkaii will prepare tiletiie way he ia not going to lie in th espirit world i ith gut put havingsomething to dp th therm there ere those who have gone before us havellave something todo to do aswell as wea berm here the they thes are laboring to preprepare theinhabitants auts luts of the spirit irit I 1 world fo tor for the coming of chrischrls chrisichrist the thea same as we arm are trying to prepare the tile inhabitants a bahibabi tanti of the earth for the same great event I 1 do naf wish to occupy a a great eai eal of ume time luf jut I 1 will kay say to my luy brethren and sisters teri this morning ng it is better to go to tile the house biome of mourning than ulian to theule houe boulte hou of fe feasting astill deathbeath is the endofall men tile he living should lay this to hearn heart my associations with brother pitt have been of the thu most joyful and consoling consolin eoncon boling character vve associated together a good while irl ill in that lad land while I 1 dwelt there a and nd we have bl been since both in nau- voo and in this place I 1 was always glad to meet him I 1 met hinihim af of- tenten irl in the streetly street streets ky and we scarcely everment ever mel met without re referring to former imes me and if I 1 eancan only have as good a glory and lleile lieile do down rsvp as lie has die did the tho to death eath of the and have as good a reward I 1 shall think myself very well off oft I 1 consider that when wilen aman has embraced bm eedced the continued faithful full received his endowments and till tile sealing blessings of god upon lisils head as is brother pitt has lie has accomplished the object for which he hp artas as created in clodin closing 1 my remarks I 1 will say may ay that I 1 ai am thankful for the clacia blohs I 1 have had with brother pitt and arid atwith the tile ra met raa ret A of my brethren and und the sai SaT saints tits this is the tile gou gos gospel sisel of christthis is the tiie zionand iring kingdom of or god the hand of god as is stretched out olit for the tho salvation of this people and however dark the clouds may appear apper however ever stron strong persecution oppress oppression loTi and liontion may fhay become to tills this wor work the lord lias bs fromfront its commencement until twy today to day watched over its interests and hassustained and preserved wn it and be hot hervill het vill kiil continue to do so until its consummation until zion mon arises and puts on her ef beautiful garment and all an the great treat ap events les ortho of the lasic days ame are accom- plishedpil then thon in the mornin of tha first i brother rother 13 piti fiti ritt pitt will come forth and he hd and his hib family will iiiili te reunited and tb they andaud all the faithful 1 willwiil illlii recelle receive their exaltation thi thissie is a glorious thought we ave should a I 1 I 1 prize our I 1 families famines and tho associations association swe we have together if it we are faithful wo we bhail ahall inherit glory immortality and eternal life and this thia ia the grea grda greatest test of all ill lillii tile gifts of god to yuanyunn I 1 pray that god will biess biehls you that lie will coni comfort fort tilo the hearts of 01 the family of brother pitt that holie will feed and clothe them and unite unit ethem them together and preserve them in the faith that when they ge gel get ta through iro gh with this world they may meet their companion and be bo prepared with him to receive exal- tationand glory which may god gr ant rant in the name namu of jesus jebus our ke- emer de mant amen REMARKS by ELDER JOHN 21 lylor aylor af at tho he Fun funeral cral cef ger servicescervices vices of elder bider hoi 0 lit JW pitt in ah thewl aith ward mard assembly february uarynary ra 1873 REPORTED BY EVANS 1 I 1 been very much interested lu in the remarks made by bya elder woodruff lu lit regard to his mission to ardd arid more particularly in regard to brutherbrother pitt whom I 1 have always regarded as a high minded honorable man wan one wao who feared god and worked righteousness a abid lldatida aman min fromfram whom in all my acquaintance with him hirt I 1 never heard one ond remark that was way lih lid inimical mical to his character or reputation as a man as a saint or in any capacity we vve han hang 6 oftenofton be butr envery very veny much delighted with the music that hemade for us both in this ton town and in other places races where we have sojourned sojourn ed now nov lie has gone and has lias taken tile tilo samecourse as every person that ever lived with the exception of two or three individuals divi duals there is something peculiar pe- cullar about theo these things that always creates with mea solemnity of feeling not a brother woo wood ruff said that I 1 mourn the loss of a good man when wilen hb hia has gone kone I 1 do not I 1 have not the slightest feeling of this kind but tout when 1 I reflect 0 upon the of the world world that we lavein live ini and kind of humanity in general look back through gilgli the dark lapse of ages that have halve transpired and contemplate the milmii liona upon millions and hundreds of thousands of millions whohave inhabited this tills earth and that they have all of them gone wo we keo ai ico that there is no of theme thinthiu things 98 no arresting the tile course of destiny no stopping the tiie handhaud bandoffof the tho power of ilo lie tile destroyer an eternal decree liasilas gone north forth anait and it is appointed fovall for allail men once to id die it js it impo i Kible for us to evade ti I 1 14 and with navi the tiie exception of the verynery few to whom I 1 havo have before ix referred all men have paid the tile great debt of nature the humanbuman body may be propped up through the tiie ingenuity nursing arld and earecare of moin man for some bome time but like a sweeping flood although you may da dam up tip tiletiie water witter from itsnatural cou coune ro and arrest it IH ilk its progress and keep it back backbaek back for awhile a while yet by and bild by irwill it will rush over its itabarriers seok beok its natural channel pursue jursic Jur suesuc ith its own course courso 0 uc and find its own resting plapiaplace so 60 it is with eith the human bamily we nye come into the world we exist for a shoat short tinie tinley then wu we are taken away no hietter what bur feelings ideas or br faith malth may way be they have nothing to eidcid dovith with this great universal al law which pervades all nature we are here to exhibit our sympathy and for our brother whom we respect and esteem that is allail we canean do who is theme there that cauntay eancan stay the hand of death what talent what ingenuity what philosophy religion science or power of any kind who possesses ses th that power individually in this ala assembly ably or combined to say to the great monster death standbad th thou ou shift not take thy aly victims there is no such suchsueh jar no su power ho no kru such influence such euch a prineprinc principal 2 iuni iral docsdoes not exist and it lieverllever will exist until the tholast enemy is destroyed which the scriptures Scrip tures turey tell us is is death but death shall be destroyed alid and all then even all the human family shall burst the barriers of the tomb and come forth chope who wiio have done good to the resurrection of the tho just than and not till then willwili that influence that fell tyrant be destroyed themthere is soine something thin about that lat Vat interesting ereMin 9 to us whilewhim na the wold wald of mankind are and arid carolest car alessi oless and alid desire not to retain god in their knowledge dge and with wish kh to put away from.