Work, and Keep Your Promises

WORK, AND KEEP YOUR PROMISES. BY HEBER J. GRANT OF THE QUORUM OF TWELVE APOSTLES.

I desire to impress upon the minds of the young men the fact that there is no telling when or where benefits may accrue to them or their associates, or at some future time, even to their pos- terity, provided they faithfully do their best in the daily battle of life. I will give some personal experiences to verify this. In 1890-91, earnest efforts were being made to establish the beet-sugar industry in our territory. Because of the financial panic of 1891, many who had subscribed for stock were unable to pay their subscriptions, and I was sent east to secure the funds needed to establish the industry. Having failed in New York and Hartford to obtain all of the money required, I was subsequently sent to San Francisco where one hundred thousand dollars was secured from Mr. Henry Wadsworth, cashier of Wells, Fargo & Co's bank in that city. I am confident that my having been faithful when a boy in his employ, at the time he was agent of Wells Fargo & Co., in Salt Lake City, had some influence in causing him to loan to my associates such a large sum, at a time when there was a great demand for money. One of the parties who signed bonds with ^ me when I engaged in the insurance business, was Brother Horace S. Eldredge, and as each bond required two signatures, he suggested that I ask Captain William H. Hooper to sign with him. I explained that I knew the Captain only slightly, and feared he would not care to become one of my sureties. Brother Eldredge thought otherwise, so I solicited the Captain's signature, but he promptly declined. I walked direct to my office and had been there but one or two minutes when a

191 WORK; AND KEEP YOUR PROMISES.

messenger from the Deseret National Bank, where I had just left

to see me. the Captain, called and said that Mr. Hooper desired the Captain and our conversaMy answer was that I had just seen that had no particular desire tion had been of such a character I

The messenger insisted that he had seen for another interview. therefore, to call the Captain since I had, and I finally concluded, again. On reaching the bank, the Captain said: "Young man, give me those bonds." He signed them, and then said, "When you have met were here a few moments ago, I did not know you. I and have you on'the street now and then for a number of years, After you went out, spoken to you, but really did not know you. learning that you were a son of JedeI asked who you were, and

diah M. Grant, at once sent for you. It gives me pleasure to sign

your bonds. I would almost be willing to sign a bond for a son of In this case, Brother Jedediah if I knew I would have to pay it. however, I have no fears of having that to do." He related a the Captain's number of incidents about my father, which showed love for, and confidence in, him. What the Captain told me, filled my heart with gratitude to God for having given to me such forgotten. a father,and Captain Hooper's remarks have never been so live and labor that They impressed me with a strong desire to have passed away my children would be benefited, even after I have made. The action from this life, by the record which I shall of Captain Hooper profoundly impressed me with the benefits de- Although my father died when rived from having a good father. years after his death I was I was a babe nine days old, twenty his honesty and faithful labors. The inci- reaping the benefits of happened twenty-three years ago. Many, dent referred to above come to me because of the honesty and many blessings have since integrity of my father. A. W. White & Co. While working in the same building with was not employed with and also Wells Fargo & Co. (although I

latter bank,) I learned quite bank work, except the collecting in the well, by assisting the book-keepers and tellers, the banking business, a situation as acting cash- which knowledge qualified me to accept and Trust Company, during the absence ier of Zion's Savings Bank to Europe. Had I not been willing of my predecessor on a mission time while in White's and to sacrifice a portion of my unoccupied

192 IMPROVEMENT ERA.

Wells Fargo's banks, I would not have been qualified to accept the position in Zion's Savings Bank. I maintain that it is the absolute duty of each and every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to so order his life that his example will be worthy of the imitation of all men, thus bringing credit and blessings to himself and his posterity and also making friends for the work of the Lord, which should be the loftiest ambition of every Latter-day Saint. In line with the lesson taught in "Never Despair," quoted in my last article, I desire to impress upon the minds of the young men that because they have not succeeded in the past, or have failed to live proper lives, they should never feel that there is no hope for them in the future. There is no teaching of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, which is plainer than that laid down by him to the effect that there will be none of our past sins held against us, provided we repent and forsake them, in the future laboring diligently for the right.

Look not mournfully into the past; it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present; it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart.

I commend my readers to learn by heart and put in practice the inspiring poem by Longfellow, "The Psalm of Life." I will .

quote two verses, not that they are better than the others but they are more applicable to the subject on which I am writing:

"Trust no future howe'er pleasant, Let the dead past bury its dead, Act, act in the living present, Heart within and God o'erhead.

"Let us then be up and doing, With a heart for any fate, Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait."

It has been said, "All things come to him who waits," but I

193 WORK, AND KEEP YOUR PROMISES.

with the instruchave no faith in this saying, unless in connection tion contained in the lines:

"Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait."

I have pleasure in quoting from the National Fourth Reader an article which greatly impressed my youthful mind:

DANIEL WEBSTER AT SCHOOL.

When Webster firstentered Phillips Academy, at Exeter, he was country-like appearance, and bemade in consequence of his unpolished, class, the butt of ridicule by some cause he was placed at the foot of the This treatment touched his keen sensibility, and he of the scholars. to his friends where he boarded. They informed spoke of it with regret place assigned him in the class was according to the standhim that the that by diligence he might rise above ing regulations of the school, and of the laughter of the city it They also advised him to take no notice would become weary of it and would cease. boys- for after a while, they which The assistant tutor,Mr. Emery, was informed of the treatment him with special consideration Webster received. He, therefore, treated [would told him to care for nothing but his books and predicted that all desired effect. Webster applied himself end well This kindness had the signal success. He soon met with his with increased diligence and with laughed at him hang their heads with reward which made those who had S am assistant tutor called up the class lt the end of the first quarter, the took Web- in their usual order. He then walked to the foot of the class, in front of the class, to the head, ster by the arm, and marched him, sir, that is your proper place. "There, where, as he placed him, he said, the coun- those who had delighted to ridicule This practical rebuke made He had outstripped them. try boy feel mortified and chagrined. the successful student. He ap- This incident greatly stimulated with plied himself with his accustomed industry, and looked forward of the second term, to see whether some degree of solicitude to the end his relative rank in the class. Weeks slowly he would be able to retain term arrived, and the class was again nassed away; the end of the to their scholarship and de- summoned to be newly arranged, according preceding term. portment, as evinced during the in silence and suspense, Mr. Emery, While they were all standing

194 IMPROVEMENT ERA

their teacher, said, fixing his eye at the same time upon the country boy: "Daniel Webster, gather up your books and take down your cap." Not understanding the design of such an order, Daniel complied with troubled feelings. He knew not but what he was about to be expelled from school for his dullness. His teacher perceived the expression of sadness upon his countenance, but soon dispelled it by saying: "Now sir, you will please pass into another room, and join a higher class; and you, young gentlemen/' addressing the other scholars, "will take an affectionate leave of your classmate, for you will never see him again!" As if he had said: "This rustic lad whom you have made the butt of ridicule, has already so far outstripped you in his studies, that from your standpoint, he is dwarfed in the distance, and will soon be out of sight entirely. He has developed a capacity for study which will prevent you from ever overtaking him. As a classmate you will never see him again." It would be interesting to know who those city boys were who made

the young rustic an object of sport. What have they come to? What have they accomplished? Who has heard of the fame of their attainments? Scholars should be careful how they laugh at a classmate because of his unpolished manners or coarse raiment. Under that rough exterior may be concealed talents that will move a nation and dazzle a world, when they, in turn, might justly be made a laughing stock on account of their inefficiency.

Webster having learned the lesson "to labor and to wait," the result was that he became one of the greatest statesmen of America, one of the foremost men of his or any other age. Some of his great speeches are marvels of eloquence, and make plain to all who read them the wonderful ability which he possessed. The following from the Cosmopolitan quoted in the December Era, is of interest in this connection,

"Successful writing means work. * * * * Great geniuses do not have the power to throw off masterpieces. They are men who labor patiently, sometimes developing one thought through weary months. Upon one occasion, Daniel Webster, after an apparently extemporaneous speech in the United States Senate, was congratulated upon the genius that enabled him to use an expression which seemed to his auditors to be particularly felicitous. 'Extemporaneous?' he replied. 'Why, that was the work of my three weeks' fishing trip last summer;' thus illustrating the saying that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains."

WORK, AND KEEP YOUR PROMISES. 195

Not only are the words from I Chron. 22: 16, "Arise therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee," true as to the benefits which will come to us in this life, but the Lord has prom- here that we shall be rewarded in the life to ised if we are faithful

come:

"Whatever principles of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it

will rise with us in the resurrection; "And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life

his diligence and obedience, than another, he will have so much through the advantage in the world to come. foundations "There is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven before the predicated. of the world, upon which all blessings are to "And when we obtain any blessing from God it is by obedience predicated." (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. that law upon which it is 130: 18-21.)

law of success, here and here- I assert with confidence that the humble and a prayerful heart, and to work, after, is to have a work, WORK.

"Blessed work! If ever thou wert curse of God, What must his blessing be?"— J. B. Silkirk.

will give success to The Lord is no respecter of persons, and If I can only impress upon the minds of the all who work for it. inexpressible eloquence of work, youth of Zion the eloquence, the I shall feel fully repaid.

us. If there is ever "Adverse circumstances should not discourage a time to be ambitious, it is not when ambition is easy, but when it is hard. Fight in darkness, fight when you are down, die hard and you won't die at all."— Beecher.

"He who has resolved toconquer or die, is seldom conquered, such Corneille. noble despair perishes with difficulty."— time duties? They are "What are the aims that are at the same of others."— Kant. the perfecting of ourselves, the happiness

I hope that no young man will throw away any of his time for "something to turn up." I commend to all the words waiting

196 IMPROVEMENT ERA.

of Sidney Smith: "In order to do anything worth doing, we must not stand shivering on the bank and thinking of the cold and danger. Jump in and scramble through as well as you can." And also the following, by the same author: "Let every man be occu- pied in the highest employment of which his nature is capable, and die with the consciousness that he has done his best." Let us en- deavor to discover the occupation for which we are best suited by the natural abilities which the Lord has given us, and then labor to improve upon these talents.

"For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receiveth not the gift? Behold he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift." (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 88: 33.

Being an only child, my mother reared me very carefully; indeed, I grew more or less on the principle of a hot-house plant, the growth of which is "long and lanky," but not substantial. I learned to sweep, and to wash and wipe dishes, but did little stone throwing, and little indulging in those sports which are interesting and attractive to boys, and which develop their physical frames; therefore, when I joined a base ball club, the boys of my own age, and a little older, played in the first nine, those younger than myself played in the second, and those still younger in the third and I played with them. One of the reasons for this was that I could not throw the ball from one base to the other; another reason was that I lacked physical strength to run or bat well. When I picked up a ball, the boys would generally shout, "Throw it here, sissy!" So much fun was engendered on my account by my youthful companions that I solemnly vowed that I would play base ball in the nine that would win the championship of the Territory of Utah. My mother was keeping boarders at the time for a living, and I shined their boots until I saved a dollar, which I invested in a base ball. I spent hours and hours throwing the ball at a neighbor's barn, (Edwin D. Woolley's,) which caused him to refer to me as the laziest boy in the Thirteenth Ward. Often my arm would ache so that I could scarcely go to sleep at night. But I kept on practic. ing, and finally succeeded in getting into the second nine of our

197 WORK, AND KEEP YOUR PROMISES. played in club. Subsequently I joined a better club, and eventually Territory. Having thus the nine that won the championship of the the base ball made good my promise to myself, I retired from arena. to do the never seen the day when I was not willing I have which I doubt) meanest work, (if there is such a thing as mean work, inspired Prophet rather than be idle. The Lord has said through his Joseph Smith: things, for For behold it is not meet that I should command in all

slothful and not a wise he that is compelled in all things the same is a servant, wherefore he receiveth no reward. in a good cause, and Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged to pass much righteousdo many things of their own free will, and bring * T1GSS agents unto themselves. For the power is in them, wherein they are lose their reward. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise he is commanded and receiveth But he that doeth not anything until heart, and keepeth it with sinfulness, a commandment with doubtful Sec. 58: 26-29.) thelsame is damned. (Doctrine and Covenants and when I think of the think this should apply also to boys, I wasted by me,with the hours and days and weeks and months partially with sole object of learning to be a baseball player, I am impressed engaged in a good cause the thought that I was not anxiously Sidney Smith's advice to be engaged in the high- neither following est employment of which my nature was capable. I am convinced upon all parents and officers in of the deep obligation which rests energy of our minds to theY M.I. Associations to exert the best M thing, direct aright the labors of the youth of Zion. There was one experience as ball player, namely, owever, accomplished by my to myself. the fulfilling of a promise made to impress upon the minds of In my last article, I endeavored careful to fulfill all promises being the young men the necessity of so as to strengthen thereby, through the force made to themselves Every young man shou d of habit, the promises made to others. labor to to qualify himself for do this, and also have an ambition be able to accomplish that he will the full extent of his ability, so of truth for him to do in planting the standard all that is possible

firmly on the earth.